Saturday, February 22, 2025

Flotsam and Jetsam - Did Zelenskyy Try to Out-Hustle Trump? Patel Starts Cleaning the FBI House

Let's start with 4 Mins of VDH Wisdom Gems on the 'Trump Restoration' via Hat Hair:

Beege Welborn adds "I was sold at '...and the more radical third term of the Obama revolution, using or employing the waxen effigy of Joe Biden...' The man's a national treasure."  At PJM Kevin Downy notices Trump, Vance, and Musk Go Where No Men Have Gone Before, and It's Hilarious and Stephen Kruiser sees JD Vance Keeps Groin-Kicking Dem Sacred Cows. Don Surber says They forgot the Forgotten Man. Trump didn't.  Cam Edwards at Bearing Arms is up in arms about Anti-Gunners Clutching Pearls Over Trump's 2A Executive Order. NewsMax reports Trump to Take Control of USPS, Dismiss Postal Board. Jim Hoft at Gateway is pretty stoked that Trump DOJ Declares Multi-Layered Protections for Administrative Law Judges Unconstitutional, Dismantling Longstanding Shield for Unelected Bureaucrats. Las Vegas Sun, President Donald Trump fires Gen. CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as expected. As Matt Vespa notes There Was No Way the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Was Going to Survive This. "And the president made that announcement official tonight, nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to replace Brown." "Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon." Steve Greenhut at Reason worries Has the Imperial Presidency Arrived? "There's little question that Trump is taking the concept of the imperial presidency to its apogee." Dave Strom thinks This Was Unnecessary and Stupid. "Steve Bannon also, is not a Nazi, but he deliberately made what could be interpreted as a Nazi salute to troll the left. He thinks it is funny, and to insiders, it is because they get the joke. It is a slap at Pravda and the propagandists. It is also profoundly unhelpful to the MAGA cause." WokeSpy sees JD Vance Receives a Standing Ovation at CPAC, Doubles Down on Illegal Immigration and Free Speech. Matt Margolis thinks The Media Wants You to Blame Trump for Team USA’s Defeat. To be fair, they want you to blame him for anything bad.

Sundance at CTH hosts the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Swearing-in Ceremony and President Trump Presser Secretary Lutnick is going to be a very key component in the MAGAnomic agenda, likely second only to President Trump. Just as Wilbur Ross was key to unlocking the economy in President Trump’s first term, so too is Secretary Lutnick going to play a pivotal role. Long before President Trump won the election, Howard Lutnick was one of the few people who really understood the construct of MAGAnomics, how economic nationalism was crucial, and how the strategic use of tariffs creates massive GDP growth." From LifeZette, Howard Lutnick Reveals Trump’s Plan to Eliminate IRS, Causing Uproar in D.C. Leah Barkoukis at TownHall reports Duffy Announces Review of California's High-Speed Rail Boondoggle, the train from nowhere to nowhere else.  Insty, THAT’S WHAT TRUMP IS DOING, “Bring Back The Assholes” that make shit work.

At NYPo, Secretary of State Marco Rubio accuses Zelensky of trying to ‘hustle’ US in peace talks, rare-earth deal "by claiming in public that he unilaterally rejected a deal to sign away half of his nation’s rare earth minerals — while telling American negotiators in private that he would discuss the matter with Kyiv’s legislature." FromSundance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio Discusses Ukraine, “I was personally very upset with Zelenskyy ” and President Trump Discusses Self-Centered Zelenskyy, “I’ve Had it”. Autism Capital@AutismCapital, NEW: Marco Rubio claims that President Zelenskyy acted two-faced with him and President Trump and warns him not to hustle the United States. . . " At Hat Hair VIP Beege Welborn says One of These Things Is Not Like the Other: Zelensky's Story and the US Version, but Dave Strom worries Is Trump Unnecessarily Alienating His Political Allies? At Da Mail, Zelensky surrenders to Trump and 'will sign mineral deal within hours', essentially making Ukraine a US protectorate. "The deal was seen as crucial for satisfying Washington's demands for a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia to end their three-year long war." At ET, Vance Optimistic That Russia–Ukraine Peace Is Coming. Katja Hoyer at the Spec wonders Can Germany rise to the challenge of protecting Europe? Do we trust them to?

Althouse sees the Rubio interview and wonders Is absorbing Canada "a real thing"? Capt. Ed at Hat Hair approves: Trump Envoy to Hamas: Release All Hostages Now, Or 'Total Annihilation'.

Sundance hosts AG Pam Bondi Delivering the Oath of Office to FBI Director Kash Patel – Full Speech Remarks. The Calvin Coolidge Project @TheCalvinCooli1, "New: Kash Patel delivers a new statement on becoming the FBI Director: “I promise you the following: there will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI, and we will do it through rigorous constitutional oversight starting this weekend.” Insty, Meanwhile, advice from a wired-in reader: "What Kash Patel needs to do is hit the ground running with a lightning strike round of firings, disciplinary actions, DOJ investigations and prosecutions. Which has already started but needs to be ramped wayTF up. Knock them back on their heels. Put every single senior agent in a personal defensive state. Plus a lot of the junior ones. Go after them like … well, like the FBI. They’ll start turning on each other." Streiff at RedState reports Kash Patel Orders 1,500 FBI Agents and Staff Out of the Building on Day One. "Some 1,000 agents and staff will be reassigned to cities the Trump administration has designated higher crime locations where they can fight crime rather than engage in political shenanigans. Another 500 staff will be reassigned to Huntsville, Alabama, which is the DC equivalent of exile to Siberia. This is Director Patel's first step, and it shouldn't come as a shock. He told us it was going to happen. . . You can also bet that a non-trivial number of those ordered out of the building will retire rather than move. That would be sad, and we'd be filled with regret over the loss of their talent, but we shall have to somehow soldier on." Jacob Sullum at Reason wonders, Will FBI Director Kash Patel Be a Principled Reformer or a Trump Hatchet Man? Embrace the healing power of "and." 

Cutie Pavlich at TownHall sees Bondi Starts Clearing Out ATF. At Twitchy, Pam Bondi Provides Current Status of Epstein's Client List (This Will DEFINITELY Rattle Some Nerves). Althouse, "The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients?"/"It's sitting on my desk right now...." Sundance, AG Pam Bondi Says She Has the Epstein Client List on Her Desk. "So, have you seen anything that you said, Oh my gosh? No, not yet" Matt Margolis, AG Pam Bondi: The Epstein Client List Will Be Released Soon. John Sexton, DOJ to Drop Biden-Era Case Against Space X "Back in August 2023 the Biden Department of Justice announced it was filing a lawsuit against Space X for discriminating against refugees in hiring. In essence the DOJ said Space X was giving American citizens preferential treatment. .  . Elon Musk objected at the time, saying Space X had been warned not to hire anyone but permanent US residents to avoid violating arms trafficking laws. 'Becca Downs at TownHall reports Democrats Continue to Double Down After Schumer, Garcia Receive Letters From DOJ Over Concerning Remarks. "Garcia himself shared the clip on his official X account. "And what I think is really important and what the American public want is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy, for the future of this country," he said during the interview."

Stacy McCain is still reporting from CPAC, CPAC Scenes.

Jason Coursey @JasonCoursey, "Not my idea but someone suggested DOGE should be renamed Federal Agency for Financial Oversight." Don Surber says Shut up, Mike. I just want my money back. "While that is true even if DOGE cuts are “only” a trillion dollars a year that is a saving of $10 trillion over the next decade. A one-time rebate of $200 billion to taxpayers next year would stimulate the economy and likely produce more tax revenue as well as reducing the need for welfare." Reason is kind of whiny about DOGE, Americans Say Government Is Corrupt and Inefficient but Are Lukewarm About DOGE, "Democrats seem willing to tolerate a lot to get a larger government, but Republicans aren’t much better," The Sunny Side of Donald Trump's Power Grabs, The president is positioning himself to have much greater control over a smaller, enfeebled federal bureaucracy," Pete Hegseth wants to cut $50 billion from defense budget but To Cut Government Spending, Trump Targets Pocket Change, the penny. Cut the nickel too and move the decimal place. Inflation is at least multiplied costs by ten in my lifetime alone. Time to acknowledge that. Ace, hears Jasmine Crockett, Who Is Absolutely On Trump's Payroll, Announces That She Will Block Trump's Plan to Give Taxpayers $5,000 Out of the Money DOGE Saves, Because $5,000 Doesn't Mean Anything to US Citizens. "Seriously, Steven Miller's running her as an agent provocateur, right?" Wokespy, Ratchet Rep. Crockett Thinks You Can’t Use a $5,000 Refund. Breitbart hears Whitehouse: DOGE Committing ‘Smash-and-Grab Robbery’ on Federal Government. 

Insty, OLD AND BUSTED: “Firemen First.” "The New Hotness at the Washington Post? Locksmiths First! Long lines and canceled rentals: Firings bring chaos to national parks. At California’s Yosemite National Park, the Trump administration fired the only locksmith on staff on Friday. He was the sole employee with the keys and the institutional knowledge needed to rescue visitors from locked restrooms. . . Mary Katharine Ham responds: "Every revelation is basically, “we do things in incredibly effed up ways and this has revealed the incredible effed uppedness of our ways that no private entity could ever withstand, but we can with your money, and the real problem is you have noticed our sacred effed up ways.”" No one’s like “Gee, maybe it’s a problem that a significant number of tourists get stuck bare-assed in our spartan, drafty shitters and have to wait for Todd the ancient locksmith of Yosemite to traverse El Capitan with the one piton that doubles as a skeleton key.”" MSN whines Judge clears way for Trump administration to pull thousands of USAID staffers off the job. "U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols rejected pleas to keep his temporary stay on the government's plan to remove all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts. His ruling also allows the administration to start the clock ticking on its planned 30-day deadline for USAID workers abroad to move back to the U.S. at government expense." Herr Professor Jacobson at LI says SCOTUS Punts On Whether District Court Can Prevent Trump From Firing Official, "Ruling on the merits is “held in abeyance until February 26, when the TRO is set to expire.” Da Fetched, Fired USAID Employee Rages Against Trump, Warns of ‘Next Pandemic’ They'll start it, if they have to! Mia Cathell at TownHall sees The USAID Nightmare Continues "Democrat mega-donor George Soros, the lead financer of the institutional left in America, used U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID) disbursements to fund color revolutions in the Balkans, according to U.S. spending hawks." Sarah Hoyt warns against DOGE Battle Fatigue, "Look, guys, I’m going to say it again: Change kills. Even good change. People are as likely to drop dead of a heart attack after they get married as they are after they get divorced or widowed. Your body is a dumb beast. It doesn’t get “good and bad” it just gets “change.” And, ooh, boy, it hates change."


From Ars Technica, Elon Musk recommends that the International Space Station be deorbited ASAP.  Althouse, "Elon Musk has called for NASA to deorbit [its] International Space Station (ISS) 'as soon as possible'..." "... because the $150 billion lab has 'served its purpose.' In Thursday post on X, he wrote: 'It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the [ISS]. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let's go to Mars.'" The Daily Mail reports." Dave Strom, reports a Musk Biographer Claims There Is Zero Evidence Elon Musk Is Smart, which speaks more to his own dimness. 



Leah Barkoukis at TownHall, Dem's Explanation for Trump's Approval Rating Shows the Party Has Learned Nothing From Election Loss "Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) offered her take on a recent survey showing President Trump with a positive approval rating, arguing it was a sign that Democrats need to “do better at education.”" From Fox, Federal department cafeteria empty for years under Biden: source, ""You have federal workers showing up to protest President Trump’s plan to make government work for the people on a federal holiday, but they refuse to show up to work when they are collecting a paycheck courtesy of American taxpayers. It’s just nuts," a source close to the situation told Fox News Digital." Kevin Killough at JTN reports Ruling against Biden admin emission reporting rule remains in place after appeal dismissed. "By dismissing the appeal, the lower court’s ruling remains in place preventing the rule from being applied in other states." 

That thing that doesn't happen happened again. From Da Fetched, Top Pennsylvania Democrats Charged with Election Fraud. "Vice President of the Borough of Millbourne Council, Md Nurul Hasan, Council Member Md Munsur Ali, and former Council Member Md Rafikul Islam were each charged with 16 counts of election fraud for falsifying voter registrations."

John Sexton at Hat Hair hears Mayor Bass Removes Fire Chief After Claiming She Wasn't Sufficiently Warned About High Winds. Can she find another black lesbian to head the Department, or will she just elevate one of the remaining two?

NewBusters mrcFreeSpeech exposes NewsGuard’s Deep Ties to Biden Admin. From Charles Glasser at Insty, AN IMPORTANT CALL TO ARMS: Many of the contributors and readers here are well aware (some with personal experience) that, according to Ars Technica: "The FTC issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment until May 21. “Tech platform users who have been banned, shadow banned, demonetized, or otherwise censored are encouraged to share their comments in response to the RFI,” the FTC said. “The FTC is interested in understanding how consumers—including by potentially unfair or deceptive acts or practices, or potentially unfair methods of competition—have been harmed by the policies of tech firms.” Now, there’s a lot I disagree with in the TA report at the link, but they do a prtty (sic) good job of showing names of “the usual suspects” who want to keep demonitizing un-approved viewpoints." Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "CNN EVICTED FROM THE PENTAGON after Hegseth booted them." Twitchy, Out-of Touch Hosts of ABC’s The View Told to Dial Back Barrage of Off-Putting Trump-Hate. ReMix, AfD-supporting lawyer fined €3,000 for criticizing German government, has gun license revoked and complaint filed with bar association. "Markus Roscher, a German lawyer, was fined €3,000 under a controversial speech law for criticizing government officials on X, highlighting growing concerns over free expression and political dissent in Germany."

Riley Gaines
Nice Deb at Am Great, Trump Threatens to Yank Federal Funding From Maine After Governor Defies His Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports. Capt. Ed, It's On: Trump, Maine Gov Play Chicken Over Males in Girls' Sports. Sundance, President Trump Calls Out Maine Governor Janet Mills for Keeping Men in Women’s Sports. Ace, Trump Tells Maine's Woke Governess: If You Continue Letting Men Beat the Shit Out of Girls In Sport, I'm Cutting Every Dollar of Federal Funding, "He also tells her that if she opposes this, she won't be in elected politics any longer. He doesn't limit the threat to federal educational spending. He's talking about all federal spending." At RVN, WATCH Riley Gaines Torch NCAA’s ‘Backdoor Loopholes’ in New Transgender Policy. "According to the updated NCAA policy, student-athletes who were “assigned male at birth” will not be allowed to compete on women’s teams. However, they will be allowed to practice with women’s teams and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes." Althouse sees Sticking to principle, End Wokeness @EndWokeness, "Riley Gaines gets trans activist to say he believes we should let Olympic athletes compete in the Paralympics." From the College Fix, Princeton course applies ‘queer’ and ‘trans* theory’ to ‘architectural histories.’ Lincoln Brown at PJM hears Colorado Wants to Prohibit Dead-Naming Dead People.  Driscoll at Insty says the DE-GLEICHSCHALTUNG* HAS BEGUN: "And as David Marcus asks: Detransitioning is actual ‘gender-affirming care,’ so why won’t insurance cover it? In North Carolina, Prisha Mosley is suing the doctors who performed procedures to make her appear male. According to the lawsuit: “These individuals whom Prisha trusted to care for her lied to and misled her into these treatments and procedures for the purpose of making money off of her and bolstering their credentials in the emerging field of so-called ‘gender-affirming care.”"

The Tax Prof notices Top Law Schools Are Dropping ‘Diversity’ From Their DEI Branding. At the College Fix, CU Boulder ends ‘underrepresented minority’ med school scholarship after being sued. From Inside Higher Ed, What Are College Presidents Saying About Trump? Not Much. "President Donald Trump is seeking to aggressively reshape higher education in ways that threaten programs and federal funding. College presidents are largely staying silent." At the Martin Center, College Closures Are a Blessing in Disguise. "Too many colleges shortchange students. Let’s have fewer of them." Bloomy, regrets that Citi Scraps Diversity Goals, ‘DEI’ Term Under Trump Pressure.

From Hollywood in Toto, Why That ‘SNL’ Tom Hanks MAGA Sketch Matters, "Viral video captures what's intellectually dishonest about show in 21st century."

Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Denim on the Beach and FMJRA 2.0: A Rare Winning Week up and garnering clicks at the Other McCain.
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