Flotsam and Jetsam - Almost a Month In

And Kenin Spivak at Real Clear Wire has a Report Card on Trump’s First ‘100’ Days "In sum, Trump has made extraordinary progress. If he stays on this policy path and makes a few adjustments in messaging and implementation, the administration ultimately will prevail against most legal challenges, and Trump will be one of the most consequential presidents in U.S. history." 100 days? It hasn't even been a full month. At Da Wire they're trying Keeping Up With Trump: Here’s Everything He Did Week Four. Jarrett Stepman at Da Signal, Trump’s Dark New Deal. "Trump and his team have brought vigor and competence to a White House that seemed to have been missing for a long, long time. Even when they make mistakes, they own up to them and carry on." KT at Ace's wants to know What has surprised you (and others) most about Trump 2? Althouse compares Trump to JFK, "[John F.] Kennedy concluded that, if outright confrontation failed, then circumvention of the process must be relied on..." "... executive orders instead of legislation, extensions of authority for the team players, isolation of the less responsive parts of government. Let the uncooperative agencies atrophy, while a few vigorous men took on more and more general tasks…. More important is the extent to which he viewed his own administration as a raid of mobile 'outsiders' on the settled government of America. . . "

At NYPo, Douglas Murray says Trump wants peace and an end to the war in Ukraine – it’s by far his toughest objective. CA Skeet at PJM wonders Could Trump Actually Pull It Off?, Gaza, that is. It might be tougher than Ukraine. Breitbart reports Trump Establishes National Energy Dominance Council Led by Secretaries Burgum, Wright. Real Clear Energy explains How Alaska Can Seize the Opportunity of a Trump Presidency. At WUWT, World Becomes Brighter as Trump Reverses Biden’s Incandescent Light Bulb Ban. ET hears a Judge Declines to Halt Trump’s Firing of Inspectors General, "The fired inspectors general were forced to drop a request for a temporary restraining order." NYPo, DHS moves to fire 12 CISA employees who policed ‘misinformation’ and pause ‘all election security activities’. At Da Caller, Trump Using His Pen To Obliterate Gender-Cult Insanity For Good and Intel Agencies Begin Dismantling DEI In Response To Trump’s Order. At Twitchy, This is it Boys! This is WAR! Leftwing Activist Declares Civil War on MAGA and it is HILARIOUS. Molly Ploofkins @Mollyploofkins, "A Civil War against MAGA is coming."

The left wouldn’t survive a civil war against MAGA. Most of your men are women and the women are all crazy.

Our Side Vs. Your Side pic.twitter.com/SCXgdpED1b

— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) February 15, 2025

Insty, IT’S COME TO THIS: Watch: Unhinged Chiefs Fan Blames Trump for Eagles’ Victory, and I Can’t Stop Laughing. Sarah Arnold at TownHall, hears Every Show Cancelled at the Kennedy Center in Protest of Trump. Great! More cost savings. Fire the staff and shutter the joint. Why does DC get a federally funded venue? Nick Arama at RedState want you to WATCH Maddow's Weaselly Response to Being Wrong on Elon and US Gov't Buying Teslas. 

At Da Blaze, Thin-skinned German minister melts down over Vance's speech: 'Not acceptable'. Matt Taibbi at Racket sends "A note to the foreign minister", Germany Opens Big Fat Pie Hole. Victor Davis Hanson @VDHanson, "Snarky Europeans Scowl At Truth-teller Vance. Europeans sat aghast after Vice-President J.D. Vance dared to suggest that their socialist democracies have become illiberal, intolerant, authoritarian—and on the wrong side of global populism. Like some addict that knows his habit is killing him, and yet who cannot resist another fix, so the Euros war on fossil fuels and hollow out their middle classes. . . " Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley, "Vance's speech was truly Churchillian-no less than the famous Iron Curtain speech daring the West to confront the danger of communism. Roughly 80 years later, Vance called allies to account for the growing threat not from foreign adversaries but themselves." wretchardthecat @wretchardthecat, "JD Vance's denunciation of the demise of conscience speech in Europe is devastating because the secular establishment denies such a thing is even possible, or ridicules its existence (except for Islam) and have left the field open to speakers like Vance to rampage through." Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "Apologize for telling them that they shouldn’t arrest people for silently praying? That’s your position?" Quote Chrissy Houlahan@RepHoulahan, "I’m struggling for the words to describe my disappointment with Vice President Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. I feel as though all of Europe and half of America deserve an apology. VP Vance chided and derided Europe for the very things that our great nationShow more" Lois McLatchie Miller at Spec World says Vance is right — Britain really has ‘thoughts-and-prayers’ policing. "As America recommits to fundamental freedoms, the cultural chasm with Europe has never more visible." From Twitchy, Mollie Hemingway and Others Sink NYT Journo's Attempt to Make JD Vance a Censorship Hypocrite. The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Europeans Beg JD Vance To Become President Of Europe https://buff.ly/4k0D8gV"

Sundance at CTH, Ukraine President Zelenskyy Suggests NATO Should Plan for American Withdrawal and Create European Army and Marco Rubio Talks to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as Preparations for U.S-Russia Discussions Planned in Saudi Arabia. From Spiked, The EU’s holiday from history is over "Trump's Ukraine plan has shone an unforgiving light on Europe’s dependence on America."

 Ashley St. Clair

Stacy McCain maintains The ‘Red Pill’ Remains Undefeated. "Late Friday the political world was shaken when MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair revealed that last year she gave birth to Elon Musk’s 13th offspring. Quickly, I sought out Rollo Tomassi’s take on this development, which was of course highly amusing." Rollo Tomassi@RationalMale, "Foreshadowing?" Quote Ashley St. Clair @stclairashley "I want men to be great as a boy mom. We need men to save this country and vote. Please stop staying home. This country and our children need strong men to pull out of this dark “my vote doesn’t matter” hole and VOTE!!" NYPo, Pete Hegseth works out with soldiers in the snow as military reasserts pride in strength. Annapolis Cap Gaze, Trump’s move to eliminate DEI from military has academies reviewing curriculum, clubs. 

Scott McCay at Am Spec has Five Quick Things: The Glitch McConnell Solo Act. "Politicians who won’t go away gracefully are not figures suitable for pity."

Matt Margolis at PJM explains Sorry Libs, DOGE Was Barack Obama's Idea. Hat Hair, That Was (D)ifferent, Yo: 'We Don't Need to Wait for Congress to Cut Wasteful Spending'. PathfinderInitiative @tpfinitiative "Obama himself stated he didn’t need Congress to cut wasteful government spending. So don’t waste my time with your pathetic lies; here’s the clip for all to see. Now watch as your foolish argument withers and dies in the face of cold, undeniable truth." John Ringo SF Author @Jringo1508 "I keep pointing this out to people. Pointing it out again. Obama created DOGE to solidify his control of the Federal Government no matter who was POTUS. Trump and Musk just hacked it. Never pass something you don't want used against you." Quote, "Victor Bigham @Ravious101 "Replying to @elonmusk "THIS is such a good story, I had to copy and paste it here for y'all. I came across a lawyer, Tom Renz, who actually read Trump's DOGE Executive Order and, expecting some illegal power grab, found it to be airtight. Turns out Trump and Musk didn't create anything. Obama did. Show more" Sundance reports Musk Sends Termination Notice to Dozen Workers at U.S. Digital Services Office, The Preexisting Agency DOGE Replaced. Breitbart, Exclusive: Sen. Joni Ernst Gives the Inside Story on How DOGE Was ‘Ready to Go’ in Cutting $2 Trillion in Waste. Madeline Leesman at TownHall, Here Are the Top DOGE Takedowns So Far. Althouse wonders Do the American people feel outraged when federal workers lose their job?. "Or are we happy to see all this vigorous economizing? I keep seeing articles that seem to assume that it's a good issue for Democrats: How terrible that humble workers are getting fired! Is that the public opinion, or do people think the federal government is over-inflated and not terribly beneficial? Trump got elected for a reason. What's the evidence that people want to see a preservation of the status quo? The latest article I'm reading is "Records show how DOGE planned Trump’s DEI purge — and who gets fired next/A DOGE team plans to fire federal workers who are not in DEI roles and employees in offices that protect equal rights, internal documents show" (WaPo)(free-access link). . . . I suspect the majority opinion in America is: good." Matt Vespa at TownHall, What This Swing State Focus Group Said About Trump, Elon, and DOGE Is a Gut Punch for Dems.

LifeZette posts Karoline Leavitt Crushes Dems’ Fake ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Narrative [WATCH]. Mat Vespa, Wait, That's How the Judge Who Ruled Against Trump's Foreign Aid Freeze Got Confirmed? Publius @OcrazioCornPop, "BREAKING: The Senate has confirmed radical left-wing activist Amir H. Ali to serve as a LIFETIME District Judge for the District of Columbia by a narrow vote of 50-49. This confirmation was made possible by the absence of @SenatorBraun (R-IN), who, if present, would have made the vote 50-50. Vice President Kamala Harris, who would typically cast a tie-breaking vote, was in Hawaii and unavailable, so it would have FAILED! . . " Adrian Vermeule@Vermeullarmine, "What’s so striking about liberal law professors is that they can’t even understand contrary views, perhaps because of lack of exposure to them. The contrary view is of course that the Constitution itself requires subordinate officers in the Justice Department chain of command to implement the President’s agenda. The oath to the Constitution is an oath to obey that very rule." Quote Barb McQuade @BarbMcQuade, "Here is the oath all executive branch employees take. It is to support and defend the Constitution, not to “implement the president’s agenda.” If the two purposes diverge, the Constitution prevails." So each bureaucrat is his/her/its own Supreme Court? John Lucas at Da Fed maintains Trump Need Not Bend To The 19-State Lawfare Coup Trying To Thwart His Treasury. Tyler O'Neal at Da Signal looks at the DEEP STATE ALLIES: Who Are the Leftist Groups Suing to Block Trump’s Reforms?. Rep. Van Duyne to Newsmax: Dems Embarrassing Themselves Over Elon Musk.

Charlton Allen at Am Think thinks about USAID’s Samantha Power: From journalist to global power broker—without accountability. AMP America sees Elizabeth Warren’s Monster Has Turned Against It’s Creator. From NewsMax, EPA Deceit May Just Be Beginning of the End For Worst of Dems. At City Journal say it's Time to Pull the Plug on “Environmental Justice.” "Biden’s agenda was really a way to funnel billions of dollars to progressive activist groups."

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, cites the RNC: Joe Biden Spent 39% of Presidency On Vacay, and wasn't really on the job the rest of the time. And, Carville: Dems Aren't This Stupid -- It Must Be Sabotage. Self-sabotage. At Althouse, Here's a pretty obtuse New Republic article: "It’s Time for Democrats to Woo the Man Vote." "That's by Susan Milligan. Subheadline: "The post-Dobbs emphasis on the women’s vote didn’t help the party among women—and it may have affirmatively alienated millions of men. It's time to treat men as an interest group."" "You're hoping to prey upon the lost. You don't care, but you want to use them. Are they even lost? You hope they are. But if they're enjoying Trump and his sidekick Elon, you'll have a hell of a time luring them away with that "message" you think you have and only need to communicate "more effectively." Scott Pinsker at PJM is Decoding Democratic Doublespeak: Their ‘Masterplan’ to Defeat Trump Is Revealed. Better messaging!

Josh Blackmun at The Volokh Conspiracy sees "Fools" Rush In the Department of Justice. The fallout continues from the Eric Adams case. "Yesterday, I wrote about Danielle Sassoon's resignation, and Emil Bove's response. Today, Hagan Scotten, another Assistant United States Attorney resigned with a formal letter. . . . What we have here are two very different conceptions of the federal criminal justice system. On the one hand, Sassoon and her colleagues defend the traditional notion that "independent" prosecutors have the power to define what is in the public good. They can define when public officials abuse their power, and can punish those actions with criminal sanctions. (We saw similar arguments during the first Trump impeachment.) Those defending Sassoon are invested in the DOJ club, and the continuation of its longstanding practices. President Trump, through Bove, articulate a different perspective. The President, as head of the executive branch, can make his own determination of what is in the public good, and determine when public officials are abusing their power. Trump, perhaps more than any living person, is uniquely situated to make this sort of judgment. From the moment he was sworn in, he faced nonstop litigation (remember the Emoluments Clauses?) and two impeachment trials. After he left office, he was indicted in several courts based on novel and dubious theories of criminal liability. Who can forget the efforts to disqualify him under Section 3--which also led to a unanimous Supreme Court reversals? And despite all that happened, Trump still won re-election. Distinguished prosecutors thought they knew what was in the public good. The voters disagreed. There will likely be more resignations. But I think little more is left to be said here. There are two diametrically-opposed views on display. And only one such view can prevail." ET, Adams Denies Alleged Deal With DOJ to Drop Corruption Case, "The NYC mayor’s statement was in response to a claim in the resignation letter of Danielle Sassoon, the former acting Manhattan U.S. attorney." At NewsMax, Rep. Raskin Slams DOJ Deal Dropping Adams Corruption Charges. From NYPo, Top NY Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins calls on Mayor Eric Adams to resign. 

Jim Verdi@jjverdi, "It’s gonna be wild when Jack Smith winds up being the one going to jail." Quote Sean Davis @seanmdav "How on earth is it legal for a law firm with clients and business before DOJ to provide $140,000 in free gifts to a top DOJ official? DOJ rules and federal regulations explicitly prohibit officials like Jack Smith from accepting or soliciting gifts. Smith, who did not receive a x.com/Cernovich/stat…Show more." Da Caller, The Left’s Sue-Everything-That-Moves Strategy May End Up Delivering Trump Ultimate Victory. Da Caller, Soros-Backed DA In The Hot Seat After Man On Bond Goes On Cop Shooting Spree.

From NYPo, Illegal migrant ‘gotaways’ who evade arrest after crossing border dropped 93% during Trump’s first month in office. Althouse, I think that's what they call the Fox Butterfield Effect. "I ran across this headline in The Washington Post: "Soldiers are arriving at the border — but hardly any migrants are crossing/Trump’s order to send troops to the border comes as the number of migrant crossings is plummeting. Residents in some border cities wonder what the soldiers will be doing." Here's a Cato Institute description of the Fox Butterfield Effect: A former reporter for the New York Times, Fox Butterfield, became a bit of a laughingstock in the 1990s for publishing a series of articles addressing the supposed quandary of how crime rates could be falling during periods when prison populations were expanding. A number of critics sarcastically explained that crimes rates were falling because bad guys were behind bars and invented the term “Butterfield Effect” to describe the failure of someone to put 2 + 2 together." Campus Reform notes Texas university removes ICE raids guidance for faculty after Campus Reform report NewsMax, Military Increases Surveillance of Mexican Cartels, General Says. 

Althouse, "Trump Might Have a Case on Birthright Citizenship.", "So say lawprofs Randy E. Barnett and Ilan Wurman (in the NYT). . . . Then Barnett and Wurman ask: "Has a citizen of another country who violated the laws of this country to gain entry and unlawfully remain here pledged obedience to the laws in exchange for the protection and benefit of those laws?"

PM reports CNN's Kaitlan Collins boosts Luigi Mangione's legal defense fund—deletes post after backlash. Dave Strom at Hat Hair, CNN's Kaitlan Collins Promotes Luigi Mangione Defense Fund, "the assassin who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson." Not a good look. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Demure, Relaxed, & In Her Lane and FMJRA 2.0: Aspiring to Mediocrity ready and waiting at The Other McCain.