Flotsam and Jetsam - We Have a New President!

Well, technically he's second hand, but after Biden, he feels new. I summarized the runup to the inauguration yesterday, and even finished before noon when Vice President Vance took the oath of office and 12:01, when Trump took the oath. It was an eventful day, of course. I don't see how the President kept up, I got tired just following it on TV (with a break for a cold beach walk). While much of the day was pomp and circuses, for which I care little, as promised Trump hit the ground running, issuing many executive orders, among the more notable, pardoning or commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 J6ers with an order to immediately release those currently detained, stopping the use of Biden's "One app", and declaring that for federal government purposes there are only two sexes. Of course, you can see the entire inauguration, from sundance at CTH, President Trump Inauguration Day Livestreams from Washington DC.

Stacy McCain calls it the END OF AN ERROR: Joe Biden Leaves in Disgrace as Trump Returns Triumphant, "As commenters have already noted, doesn’t it feel good to say “former President Biden”?" Ace, in all red, capital, italic font with the trademark flaming skull, DONALD JOHN TRUMP, THE 45th AND 47TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SWORN IN FOR SECOND TERM; "CONVICTED FELON" TRIUMPHS OVER CORRUPT MEDIA AND CRIMINAL DEEP STATE. At Hat Hair, Capt. Ed thinks It Could Be Morning in America, 2.0; UPDATE: 'Welcome Home' and  Beege Welborn says, All Hail the Return of Intelligence, Beauty, and Grace. Foxes BRET BAIER: Inauguration Day spotlights America's perpetual promise. The Free Bacon feels The Joy Is Back in Town: Trump Greeted as Liberator in Triumphant Return to White House. PJM's Stephen Kruiser, Never Mind the Weather — It's a Bright and Sunny Day for America. At Da Signal, ‘Liberation Day’: 8 Takeaways From Trump’s Second Inaugural Address. From Spiked, This is not the dawn of a new fascist era. The Hat Hair staff, Donald Trump Is Ready to Fight. So Are We. Hat Hair, Scott Jennings: 'Watching Him Indict These Gangsters to Their Faces...'. From NewsMax, Trump to Call for 'Revolution of Common Sense' at Inauguration. At Althouse, "Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents — something I know something about." "We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore a fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law,"  and "Trump to call for a 'revolution' in common sense." "Says the crawl at CNN, which I'm watching with the sound off." Ace, in red font, "A Revolution of Common Sense:" Trump's Inaugural Address, ""For Americans, January 20, 2025 is Liberation Day." "For many years a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power from our society while the pillars of our institutions lay broken.""

 

Luke Rosiak@lukerosiak, "Do they know that the speech was public and we could actually hear it ourselves?" At Ace, Quick Update on "Team DeLulu" Cope "Team DeLulu" are the mentally ill progressives and communists who swear -- or swore -- that they had inside information that Trump would never take office. They claimed that they were shown the signs of this by astrology, tarot readings, Reading their period blood (!!!), and various BlueAnon "leaks" from government insiders. Why do they call themselves "Team DeLulu"? It sounds like Team Delusion. Do they realized they're deluded? Are they making fun of us for wrongly thinking they're deluded? I do not know. Who can fathom the mind of an idiot. The latest theory I heard was this: That government agents were preparing to swarm-arrest Trump for electoral fraud, but what they needed to cinch the case was for him to take the oath of office, which would... I don't know, complete the crime or show intent or something. So this entire transition and inauguration has been a legal trap for Trump, and now he's just moments from being carted off to Levinworth to await his hanging.."  

Giorgia Meloni

Some inaugural fripperies. RadioGenoa @RadioGenoa, Giorgia Meloni will be the only European leader in Washington at Trump's swearing-in." At Hat Hair They Say That Like It's a Bad Thing: Meloni Only European Leader at Inauguration. Althouse was absorbed by the spectacle, 45 minutes and 47 seconds..., Famous faces at the inauguration church service: Joe Rogan, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos..., I don't think I've ever watched an inauguration so closely. The indoor setting brings the focus to the individual faces..., Biden and Trump are now riding together in the same limo — unaccompanied by wives or VPs, "What do you imagine they're saying to each other?", Posing on the front steps... ready to fight... or dance, "No, Trump Did Not Hold the Bible Upside Down at Lafayette Square," "That's a NYT headline from September 18, 2020. . . But just now on CNN, as Trump entered the church, the historian chosen to provide depth and context— Timothy Naftali — repeated the longstanding and long-discredited misinformation," and Man in shorts, upon seeing John Fetterman at the inauguration in his favorite basketball shorts and hoody. NYPo, Fetterman Doing Hoodie and Shorts Chic. I'd at least break out my best khakis. Sundance, President Trump Introduces the Village People to Perform at the Victory Rally in DC, and Yes, He Dances. At NYPo, Carrie Underwood sings ‘America the Beautiful’ a cappella after major snafu at Trump inauguration: ‘Help me out here’. Bob Hoge at RedState, Country Superstar Overcomes Technical Malfunction at Inauguration, Smashes It Out of the Park.

Here is the splendid @carrieunderwood performance at the Trump Inauguration. This is what a professional looks like. With grace, when the military band audio failed, she sang her song with the audience. All American and perfect. pic.twitter.com/Qce0AHj6fJ

— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) January 20, 2025

Matt Margolis at PJM, ‘This Is What Victory Feels Like!’ Musk Gives Epic Victory Speech and What Elon Musk Did at the Inaugural Rally Will for Sure Trigger the Liberal Media. The "main stream" media immediately found a second with an out stretched hand and deemed it a Nazi salute. Andrew Kerr@AndrewKerrNC, "Very bold of CNN to insinuate the richest man in the world did a Nazi salute just three days after the network lost a bombshell defamation suit." Quote Media Lies@MediasLies "CNN is accusing Elon Musk of doing a Nazi salute on stage. Full context shows Elon was gesturing that his heart goes out to the crowd.They’re grasping at straws today." Even Jonah Goldberg@JonahDispatch "The thing at the 55 second mark, where he grabs his chest and says "my heart goes out to you" is supposed to be a deliberate Nazi salute? Sorry, not buying it." At Twitchy, We Did NAZI That Coming: CNN Beclowns Itself Over Elon Musk's Gesture From the Heart. Mary Katharine Ham@mkhammer, "I shouldn’t cuss, but fuck you, we’re not doing this anymore." Quote PBS News @NewsHour "Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena. . . " Libs of TikTok@libsoftiktok, "Where's the media outrage????" 

All interspersed with the fete came the executive orders. Matt Vespa at TownHall, Here Are Trump's First Executive Orders. The White House, Initial Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions. WaEx, Trump announces mass clemency for all Jan. 6 defendants, except for 6 under review. Capt. Ed, BREAKING: Trump Signs Clemency Action for 1500+ J6 ‘Hostages'. Mary Chastain at LI reports Donald Trump Pardons 1500 J6 Prisoners, Continuing to Look at Six Commutations, "He ushered it out of the room so they could be released now." NBC News@NBCNews, "A conservative activist who has been on the board of a group supporting Jan. 6 defendants has been named interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., the position that has overseen the hundreds of cases brought in the Capitol siege investigation." Sounds like he has a light case load. Jake Lang - January 6 Political Prisoner@JakeLangJ6, "JUST ANNOUNCED THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IS DROPPING MY JANUARY 6 CASE!!!!!! 4 YEAR AND 4 DAYS IN THE GULAG WITHOUT A TRIAL IM FINALLY COMING HOME!!!! GOD BE MAGNIFIED!!! MOUNTAINS DO REALLY MOVE IN JESUS NAME!!!"

NRO, Trump Signs Order Restoring Sex Binary in Federal Policy, Rooting Out Gender Ideology. Capt. Ed, Make Biology Great Again: Trump Orders End to ‘Gender’ Wokeness. Althouse, "The Executive Order establishes Government-wide the biological reality of two sexes and clearly defines male and female." ZeekArkham ,@ZeekArkham "So they’re wearing the pink pussy hats again. They didn’t wear them to protect women in sports. They didn’t wear them to send back illegals who s*xually assaulted women. They didn’t wear them in support of Laken Reilly and the other girls who were m*rdered by illegals. They didn’t wear them to support Nancy Mace after she was attacked. They’re all a bunch of hypocrites who want to selectively choose their outrage." At Hat Hair Megyn Kelly, BEHOLD the Incoming Executive Order on Mens Is Mens and Womens Is Exactly That. 

Atop Da Hill, Trump officials shut down CBP One app. Ace, Border Patrol Trucks Are En Route to the Southern Border, "A Revolution of Common Sense." Bill Melugin@BillMelugin_, "Migrants in MX weep as they learn that Trump has terminated the CBP One cell phone app that Biden used to essentially wave a magic wand and allow 900,000+ otherwise inadmissible migrants into the U.S. via mass blanket humanitarian parole. Up next - CHNV migrant flights will go." The Peacock whines Facing Trump's mass deportation plans, some sanctuary cities shift their tone, "In some cases, local officials have shied away from the “sanctuary city” label and pledged to work with federal immigration authorities — a departure from Trump’s first term."

At ET, Trump Signs Executive Order to Fire Top Career Federal Managers More Quickly, "The new chief executive hopes to replace federal government managers who fail to follow or implement his policies." Rusty Weiss at RedState, Trump Rips Security Clearances From the 51 Spies Who Lied, Then He Hit Them With Another Bombshell, investigations. @amuse@amuse, "FIRED: CNN is reporting that the David Pekoske the TSA Administrator who put @TulsiGabbard on “Quiet Skies” terrorist watch list has been fired. The Hammer of Justice is here..." Quote Pete Muntean@petemuntean, "BREAKING: The head of the Transportation Security Administration has been FIRED by the Trump administration, multiple sources tell me and @priscialva. In a memo to TSA employees, David Pekoske says he was told "my time as your administrator will end as of noon today." Ace, Elections Have Consequences: The TSA Official Who Put Tulsi Gabbard on the Terrorist Watch List Has Been Fired. "The President so nice they inaugurated him twice:" Matt Vespa reports The Purge of the Top Brass in the Military Has Begun. Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok. "BREAKING: The Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Linda Fagan, has been terminated over her failure to address border security and her excessive focus on DEI - FOX." Libs of TikTok@libsoftiktok, "JUST IN: General Charles Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters he plans to stay in his position. Brown is obsessed with race-based diversity quotas. He signed a memo stating his "goal" is to reduce the number of White Males in the Air Force. This man cannot be let anywhere near the Trump administration. cc @realDonaldTrump @PeteHegseth." Spectrum, Trump fires four of Biden's presidential appointees, including Gen. Mark Milley. Capt. Ed, Clearing the Decks: Acting FBI Director Resigns Hours After Assuming Role "No matter, though. Trump's transition team quickly replaced Wray and Abbate with two other well-respected FBI leaders in the field as Patel awaits a confirmation hearing in the Senate:"

Ilya Somin at the Volokh Report  worries about Trump's Illegal First-Day Executive Actions "Several of his announced actions are likely to be illegal, especially some related to immigration." It wouldn't be the first time an executive order was found to be illegal, that why we have courts. Trump admitted as much last night when asked about his order rescinding birth-right citizenship. Jeff Charles at TownHall calls it Predictable: Lefty Nonprofits Sue Trump Administration Over DOGE Hours After President is Inaugurated. Andy Ngo @MrAndyNgo, "Already". See pic. 

Dave Strom sees even NYT admit, NYT Poll: Americans Are MAGA Now. At the WSJ, How MAGA Is Taking Back the Culture, "In sports, entertainment and marketing, displays of conservatism are crowding out progressive postures." Twitchy. WINNING: Marco Rubio Confirmed as Secretary of State. Eyal Yakoby@EYakoby, "BREAKING: Pro-Palestine demonstrators have set up a guillotine outside the Capitol to protest Trump. There is a violence wherever you see this flag. Matt Margolis, Even Biden's Own State Department Credits Trump for Getting a Hostage Deal. VodkaPundit at Insty, FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: "Trump ‘Transition Official’ Says All the Gazans Really Need Is ‘a Sense of Hope.’ Really? Trump’s biggest weakness might be how small the pool is of good hires. But this one has got to go. Lee Williams at TAG, Trump Owes It to Gun Owners to Eliminate the ATF. Dave Strom, Vivek Being Shown the Door? Last week I opined that Vivek's talents would have been wasted if he were appointed to the U.S. Senate to replace J.D. Vance. He was needed at DOGE, working alongside Elon Musk to dramatically slim down government. Apparently my opinion was not shared with the Trump folks working at DOGE. Vivek apparently is seen more as a showman than a workman, and people inside DOGE will be happy to see the back of him as he goes off to run for governor of Ohio." I won't pretend to know, but there sure were two pretty big egos at the head of DOGE.

VodkaPundit at Insty yesterday morning, I DUNNO, THERE ARE STILL NEARLY TWO HOURS LEFT: Dear Joe: NOW Are You Done Breaking the Country? 'Bonchie' at RedState sees a Completely Defeated Biden Slur Through One Final Shot at Trump Before Leaving Town. "Biden doesn't want to admit that because even though he's been as thoroughly defeated and embarrassed as any president in recent memory upon leaving office, he still longs to be seen as a historic statesman. I hate to break it to him, though: That ship has sailed." Don't go away mad, just go away.  Matt Margolis, Biden's Final Act As President Was a Massive Cover-Up for the Biden Crime Family. At TownHall, Scott Jennings Owns Dem Commentator on CNN, Destroys Biden and His Legacy in the Process. 'Becca Downs at Townhall, Adam Schiff's Response to Preemptive Pardon May Shock You. Bad Hombre@joma_gc, "Notice Adam Schiff’s silence now that he is the lying crony receiving the pardon in the scenario and the person doing the pardoning is Joe Biden." Twitchy, COWARD Liz Cheney Snaps at Trump AFTER Biden Preemptively Pardons Her and WHOO DAWGIE That Was DUMB, Tim Murtaugh @TimMurtaugh "You accepted a pardon." Sean Davis@seanmdav, You’re a pardoned war criminal. No one cares what you think about anything. You should be preparing for your deposition and testimony since you’re now banned from pleading the Fifth." Quote Liz Cheney@Liz_Cheney "Trump’s remarks in the Capitol Visitor Center today were a reminder that neither lies nor the liar who tells them get better with age. The Select Committee evidence is available on multiple websites and, as a criminal defendant, Donald Trump has had access to all the transcriptsShow more". At Twitchy, Executive Traction: Democrat Defending Biden Receives Rare Factual Slapdown from WaPo ‘Journalist’. Jacob Sullum at Reason reasons Biden's Preemptive Pardons Undermine Official Accountability and the Rule of Law "His last-minute acts of clemency invite Trump and future presidents to shield their underlings from the consequences of committing crimes in office." NPR whines Biden's FBI director expressed 'vehement' opposition to Peltier commutation. Ace, Surprise: Defender of Normzzz and Protector of the Criminal FBI Pardons Terrorist Who Murdered Two FBI Agents. "Every Democrat president eventually gets around to pardoning leftwing terrorists. Bill Clinton pardoned the Puerto Rican FARC terrorists who set off bombs at the New York Stock Exchange, for example. But they're not allies with the revolutionary/terrorist left. Oh dear no! It's just that they're always pardoning leftwing terrorists because it just happens to work out, coincidentally, that leftwing terrorists are always deserving of presidential clemency. And so Biden pardons another terrorist."

At HE, The Democrats have perfected the art of losing. At RCP, Tech Billionaire Mark Pincus: "Red-Pill Moment" To Learn Trump Never Really Called Nazis "Very Fine People" In Charlottesville. Greg Gutfeld says much the same about his switch from Never-Trump.