Flotsam and Jetsam - They Liked It

Stacy McCain, Tuesday Speech YUGE Win for Trump; Democrats Self-Destruct on Live TV. Beege Welborn at Hat Hair, And Then There Was Last Night... "Lemme get this out of my system right off the bat: last night was a hoot - a complete, glorious, flag-waving hoot." Byron York@ByronYork, "CBS News quickie poll among people who watched Trump speech. They liked it." PJM's Matt Margolis thinks Democrats Will Be Panicking Over This CNN Poll of Trump's Speech. Shem Horne @Shem_Infinite, "Hahaha wow. I mean I loved the speech obviously but this reaction is so positive it's stunning. America is back." Ace, CBS Fake News: 76% of Viewers Liked the Speech. "More Republicans than Democrats watched the speech, so this poll finding is a little skewed, but it's a poll for CBS Fake News, so it's also skewed deliberately to the left." GregGutfeld @greggutfeld "Great point by @DanaPerino - Trumps speech could go on for 80 minutes simply listing what he's already done in the first month. Last year, Biden's biggest achievement, and only achievement - was that he made it through the speech." Libs of TikTok@libsoftiktok, "“I voted for Democrats my whole life. They never did anything they promised.... “I vote for a Republican once in my life, and this dude does everything he promised on steroids! Everything I voted for I’m getting!” BOOM"

Clown World@Clownworld

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair watched an MSNBC Panel: Democrats Really FUBAR'd the Moment, Huh? Teri Christoph at RedState says Rep. Al Green's Obnoxious Antics at Trump's Speech Just Backfired—Here Comes the Brutal Reality Check. OTP, GOP Rep. Introduces Censure Resolution Against Al Green. Stephen Kruiser at PJM,  Dems at Trump's Speech Beg for Shovels to Dig Their Own Graves. Ace, Trump Announces Capture of ISIS Mastermind of Abbey Gate Bombing That Killed 13 American Servicemen During Biden's Disastrous Afghanistan Bug-Out, "The terrorist will be arriving in the US soon to face "the swift sword of American justice."" They couldn't stand for that.  Jerry Dunleavy at JTN writes Trump announces extradition of Afghan bombing conspirator, delivering accountability for families. 

From Behind the Black calls Democrats: A party so filled with hate it can’t even cheer a child because Trump introduced him. Becky Noble at RedState, wants you to Meet the Sole Democrat Who Stood for Cancer Survivor DJ Daniel During Trump's Address to Congress. Amy Klobuchar @amyklobuchar, "Cuts to NIH disrupt life-saving research across the nation. The Trump administration's actions threaten progress in treatments for cancer, heart disease, and more. We must push back and continue making these critical investments." Dustin Grage@GrageDustin "Amy, you literally refused to even stand for a cancer survivor last night." Ace, DJ Daniel and the Democrat Id of Unreasoning Demonic Hatred for Anything Good and Normal. "During his political masterclass, Trump made a not-so-bold prediction: No matter what he said, the terminally online (literally: they were all scanning social media feeds during the speech) misery zombies of the Democrat Party would scowl and jeer:" Roger Simon, Can a Political Party Have a Personality Disorder? The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee "REMINDER: It Is Offensive And Possibly Illegal To Photoshop Anything On These Democrats' Signs That Would Make Them Look Foolish https://buff.ly/vbcE6QI." Lincoln Brown at PJM says About Last Night: A Little Instruction on Progressives Can Be Helpful "First, and this will likely take all of you by surprise, it is a good bet that not all of the Democrats wanted to sit on their hands or wave those insipid signs. Some of them cringed inwardly over Al Green's hissy fit, and I'll wager that more than a few of them wanted to stand and applaud when DJ Daniel was presented with his Secret Service badge. Not many, for sure, but some of them did. At one time, at least, many Leftists, myself included, had a grudging respect for and degree of envy of the patriotism, faith, and joy of conservatives. But you never want to let on that you feel that way." Leah Barkoukis identifies, This May Be the Most Absurd Line From the Democratic Rebuttal to Trump's Speech. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) capped off a humiliating night for the Democratic Party by claiming President Trump doesn’t believe America is an “exceptional nation.” From the Center Square, Fetterman: Dem responses only helped Trump.

From the Brussel's Signal, Before Trump, no one had a plan to bring Ukraine war to a conclusion. Althouse hosts a clip of Maro Rubio, "It's been very clear from the beginning that President Trump views this as a protracted stalemated conflict. And frankly, it's a proxy war..." ""... between nuclear powers — the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia. And it needs to come to an end. And no one has any idea or plan to bring it to an end. The plan of the Ukrainians up to now — and their allies on Capitol Hill and people you talk to in other countries — is let's just keep giving them as much as they need for as long as it takes. That's not a strategy."" Blaze sees How Trump’s fiery Zelenskyy meeting could lead to 5 MASSIVE victories. At Breitbart, ‘Replacing Me Won’t be Easy’: Zelensky Says He’d Just Get Elected Again in Fresh Ukraine Elections, so why not try it? PJM's Rick Moran reports U.S. Pauses Intelligence Sharing After Pausing Arms Shipments to Ukraine. Sundance at CTH, CIA Director John Ratcliffe Confirms President Trump Paused "Intelligence Sharing" (ie The Drone Targeting System) With Ukraine, President Trump Has Exposed the U.S Side of the Proxy War by Disabling Ukraine Access to U.S. Missile and Drone Targeting Systems, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Confirms That any EU/NATO Peacekeeping Troops in Ukraine Will NOT Have Article 5 Protection by USA Military and EU Leaders Meet Again Thursday to Discuss Ukraine Plan and Military Defense Without USA Support. Good for them. War on the Rocks says Willpower, Not Manpower, is Europe’s Main Limitation for a Force in Ukraine. From Da Fetched, Adam Schiff’s Ukraine Connection Under Fire as Ciaramella Resurfaces. Dave Strom at Hat Hair VIP, says Europeans Defend Democracy By Plotting to Strip Hungary of Voting Rights and Canceling Romanian Elections.

Capt. Ed cites Axios: Trump Admin in Direct Talks With Hamas; UPDATE: Trump Issues 'Last Warning' Ultimatum. 

Rachel Parker @Emmanuel_Rach "NEW: Alberta lawyer Jeffrey Rath says a delegate is planning to travel to D.C. to pitch President Trump on Alberta statehood. “It’s quite evident that we’re being governed by idiots in Ottawa… there’s a number of us in Alberta that have had enough.” From Sundance, President Trump Notes Justin from Canada Trying to Use Opposition to Tariffs to Stay in Power and President Trump Notes Farmers Will Benefit Within U.S. Market from Strategic Price Advantage. The Peacock, Trump grants automakers one-month exemption from tariffs. ET, Markets Hold Steady After Lutnick Signals Possible Tariff Compromise. The threat is better than their actual implementation. OTP, Stocks Surges After Trump Delays Car Tariffs. Da Wire, Honda Yanks Production Of One Of Its Top Cars From Mexico After Tariffs: Report "The move would be the first from a Japanese automaker over Trump's announced tariffs."

Sarah Anderson at PJM, Supreme Court Rules Against Trump's Bid to Stop $2 Billion in USAID Funding. "On Wednesday morning, in a 5-4 emergency decision, the Supreme Court upheld a decision from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali that essentially says that Donald Trump can't withhold $2 billion in USAID money from existing contractors. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the three liberal members of the court." Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Shocker: SCOTUS Rebuffs Trump on $2B USAID Payments, 5-4 ... Sorta. WaEx Alito ‘Stunned’ Supreme Court Rejection Trump Foreign Aid Freeze Case.  Ace, Supreme Court Rules 5-4 to Maybe Allow a Single Judge to Tell the President How He Must Execute His Office

Once again Amy Coney Barrett joins liberal Chief Justice Roberts.

Overseas AIDS grifter organizations sued to have Trump turn back on the money spigot. A DC judge decided that he was now Acting President, and ordered Trump to do so. Roberts issued a stay of that order, signalling that maybe the Justices would exercise some authority over the leftwing #Resistance judges attempting to control the presidency through judicial fiat.

But now the fraudster Amy Coney Barrett joins Roberts in once again joining with the three hardcore liberals to overturn that stay and order Trump to disburse the money.

But it's not quite that bad -- yet. While Barrett did join Roberts and the hard-left liberals, the order removing the stay did not empower the judge to execute his original order. Rather, it seeks clarification from the judge to state specifically which monies he believes Trump must spend.

He's claiming that the AIDS grifters already performed the work that "earns" them the $2 billion. The Supreme Court seems to be saying that if some work was performed, that must be compensated, but they want to know how much of the $2 billion would go to work already performed. It's not the full $2 billion, is it?

I can see how money already "spent" might be hard to claw back. Maybe if they show it was spent fraudulently instead of negligently. NewsMax, Civil Service Board Reinstates Thousands of Fired USDA Employees. "Cathy Harris, a member of the U.S. Merit System Protection Board, in a written order blocked the USDA from firing probationary employees, who typically have less than one year of service, for 45 days while a challenge to the terminations plays out." Matt Vespa at TownHall says No, Libs, You Shouldn't Celebrate the Recent USDA Decision Against Trump "The USDA decision is a “blow” to the Trump administration, but not because it doesn’t answer the legality of the firings, it’s only a 45-day moratorium on USDA layoffs. These very people could end up being fired again, as there are options aplenty for what the Trump team can do in this matter."

It's not all bad news, streiff at RedState reports Biden Official Who Trump Fired and Was Reinstated by an Obama Judge Has Been Fired Again "The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed President Trump to re-fire Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger pending the disposition of Dellinger's lawsuit for reinstatement. This is a very important decision as it overturns the order by District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson forcing the Trump administration to reinstate Dellinger." Sundance, DC Appellate Court Reverses DC Judge Berman-Jackson, President Trump Has Authority to Remove Special Counsel Dellinger.

Althouse, Why did the WaPo Fact Checker call it "false" to say — as Trump did — "We have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work"? "I'm reading Glenn Kessler's "Fact-checking 26 suspect claims in Trump’s address to Congress/President makes false claims about border crossings, regulations, the economy, inflation and many other issues" (free-access link). 

There are 2 problems with this fact check.

First, the numbers Kessler gives do not undermine the assertion that there are hundreds of thousands who don't come into work. There are something like 2.1 million federal employees (if you leave out the military and the postal service). Even if we restrict ourselves to the 10% who work only from home, there are over 200,000. If you add in the people who telework most of the time, that's another 400,000+. Kessler makes it look as though his numbers are powerful, but they support Trump!

Second — and harder to notice — there's a quibble about the meaning of "not... showing up to work."Trump is using the expression to mean not coming into the workplace. Kessler may want to argue for the industriousness of the workers: They're showing up to work at home!

At ET, 6 Charts That Explain DOGE-Related Cuts So Far, "The agency has targeted $105 billion in federal spending in six weeks." Liberty Nation News, Big Media and USAID Backed Globalist Journalism Network, "What the usual suspects – Soros, Gates, et al. – are up to now." NewsBusters on the Art of Deception: The Soros Empire Gaslights on Connection to USAID Funding. NYPo, $375B EPA slush fund handled by John Podesta gave billions to charities founded only months earlier. "In one case, former Vice President Kamala Harris handed over a check for nearly $7 billion to Bethesda, Maryland, based group Climate United Fund, which does not appear in the IRS’s charities database, and has no federal filings."

At WokeSpy, Luna Blasts Bondi Over Epstein Files: “I’m Not Confident” the Full List Will Ever Be Released. Neither am I. Jerry Dunleavy at JTN, Trump DOJ uses footnote to rescind Merrick Garland memo targeting parents as 'domestic terrorists' "AG Bondi has tossed out a controversial Biden-era memo that directed FBI policing of school board meetings after the National School Boards Association group wrote to Garland likening parent protesters to “domestic terrorists.”"

Steve Richards at JTN reports the House Judiciary finds Biden’s temporary protected status expansions were ‘de facto mass amnesty’ "Many of the 1.4 million recipients of the special TPS designation were illegally paroled into the country, the committee found.." Ace, Woke Mayors Face Questions About Their Sanctuary Policies for Wanted Murderers, Drug-Dealers, and Rapists "The Democrat All-Stars were questioned by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. The Democrats on the committee defended sanctuary city policies. The only mayor they asked hard questions of was Eric Adams, who they kept accusing of having made a quid pro quo deal with Trump. They repeatedly demanded he resign." John Ketchum at CJ, thinks it's The Beginning of the End of New York’s Migrant Crisis, "The city will wind down operations at the Roosevelt Hotel." OTP, Vance At Southern Border With Hegseth, Gabbard. Sauron's Eye whines Vance says Trump hopes to build the entire southern border wall by 2029.

From Fox, Elizabeth Warren gives mocking gesture while helping to block bill keeping males out of women's sports "Footage of the senator's gesture prompted widespread backlash on social media, especially by women's rights activists." NewsBusters notices Agitated MSNBC Finds It 'Very Painful' That GOP Is Defending Women's Sports. 

Capt. Ed reports Here We Go: DoJ Opens Title VII Investigation Into Anti-Semitism in California Universities. "Remember when the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) allowed their students to set up "Zionist check points" to create a "Jew exclusion zone"? Or when a UC Berkeley professor offered extra credit to students who attended an anti-Israel rally just 18 days after October 7? Or when UC Davis students blocked access to Jewish students as part of their protest against Israel in May 2024?"

Paul Thacker, MD at RCI has a long one on The COVID-Era Smearing – and Resurrection – of Trump NIH Appointee Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Return to Mediocrity ready and willing at The Other McCain.