Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Speaks, Zelenskyy Caves

Or the other way around, actually. Earlier in the day yesterday, it was announced the Ukrainian strongman Vlod Zelenskyy (can we at least all agree on the the second "y"?) had thought better of his defiance at the White House, and had decided to agree to the agreement with Trump giving the US half interest in certain Ukrainian mineral deposits in exchange for unspecified security arrangements. Later that evening a triumphant Trump gave the annual address to Congress that would have been a State of the Union address had it not been less than two months into his second first term. Allie Beth Stuckey@conservmillen, "This time, Trump isn’t here to make friends. He’s not here to reach across the aisle. He’s not here to be nice. He’s here to put American interests first, no matter what his enemies think. That’s exactly what I voted for." 

Live blogs of the address at Hat Hair, and TownHall, and of course, Sundance at CTH posted a link to the whole thing in case you want to see it, or re-savor it. Althouse didn't live blog it, but encouraged her commenters to. At PJM Sarah Anderson thinks The First Lady's Guest List for Tonight Is Fascinating and NewsMax, Rep. Jeffries to Dems: Be 'Strong, Dignified' at Trump Address. Nope, just couldn't do it. Scott Pinsker sees SABOTAGE: Inside the Democrats’ Plans to Disrupt Trump’s Speech. Rusty Weiss at RedState, Karoline Leavitt Rips Dems Over Report They Plan to Protest Trump's Speech With Noisemakers, Egg Cartons. And sabotage they tried. Sister Toldja at RedState, wants you to WATCH: The Boss Move JD Vance Made Before Al Green Was Escorted Out of Trump's Speech. Daily Wire @realDailyWire, Speaker Johnson orders Rep. Al Green to be escorted out from the House chamber after interrupting President Trump multiple times, angrily waving his cane. Also, booing, jeering, waving little signs, and not standing for people who were introduced.  Sundance notes “Seven Ways from Sunday” Group Select One of Their Own to Deliver State of the Union Rebuttal. Slotkin is a former CIA gal. 

From Althouse, Asked what was the "best moment" of Trump's speech, 2 of the NYT's 9 opinion writers said it was Al Green disrupting the session. "Meanwhile, at home, I was comparing the scene to January 6th. You don't like what's going on in the Capitol? Disrupt! Try to stop the proceedings!" Sarah Anderson at TownHall, Worst Moment of the Night? Democrats Disrespect a Little Boy with Cancer. Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "Nicole Wallace just went after a little kid with cancer, saying “I hope he never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump’s supporters.” Even Jen Psaki looks uncomfortable." 

OTP, Trump Declares, ‘America Is Back!’ RedWave Press @RedWave_Press "President Donald J. Trump opens his speech: “To my fellow citizens, America is back!” Insty cites ROGER KIMBALL: Trump bulldozes through joint address to Congress. "The president presented a bracing tour d’horizon in his opening sally. He ordered federal workers back to work: “They will either show up for work, in person, or be removed from their job.” As I write, the Trump administration is ending “weaponized government,” restoring free speech, underwriting English as the official language of the United States and pursuing a policy of “drill, baby, drill” to exploit America’s energy resources." From Fox, Reactions roll in after President Trump addresses Congress, polls show massive positive reception. OTP, Trump Renames Wildlife Refuge After Child Killed By Illegal Aliens. Curtis Houck@CurtisHouck, "No question, this will be one of the lasting, positive images of this year's presidential address to a joint session of Congress (#SOTU in years 2-4 of a presidency) -- President Trump honoring Jocelyn Nungaray, who was murdered by illegal immigrants (allegedly, case still in the courts), by renaming a nature preserve on the Gulf of America in her honor as an animal lover." He got in a double dig with that "Gulf of America" reference. Althouse is unhappy with "The cartels are waging war in America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing." "Said Trump, in his speech last night.", objecting to the word "war." It's a common enough metaphor. The US hasn't been in a declared war since WWII (although IIRC, the Iranians declared war on the US without us bothering to declare it back). But the word is used for everything from Vietnam to poverty, so it doesn't seem too outré to me.

At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 03.04.25, Twitchy: The Look On Nancy Pelosi’s Face Tells The Whole Story For Democrats, Democrats Can’t Bring Themselves To Applaud Kid Who Survived Brain Cancer, and “How Did That Work Out?” Trump Calls Out Democrats’ Failed Lawfare To Their Faces.

After the Disaster in the Oval Office: Dems lead Zelensky, Ukraine off a cliff with pressure to reject mineral deal (Michael Goodwin at NYPo), Trump Pauses Military Aid to Ukraine; UPDATE: ZELENSKYY APPEARS TO CAVE (Dave Strom at Hat Hair). Bonchie at RedState, Zelensky Does an About-Face With Glowing Statement to Trump, but It May Be Too Late. Capt. Ed at RedState hears Zelensky: Okay, Let's Make a Deal And Sorry About Last Week; UPDATE: Trump to Announce Tonight. Sundance, Hours After President Trump Cut Off Support, Zelenskyy Retreats and Says Now Willing to Work Toward Peace. Althouse, "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a new framework for a partial ceasefire with Russia on Tuesday..." "... posting on X that Kyiv would be willing to release prisoners and agree to a truce that would ban long range attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure." Charlie Martin at Insty, REMEMBER, TRUMP DOESN’T UNDERSTAND NEGOTIATION: Zelenskyy Grovels to Trump in New Statement, Wants Deal. Ace says Zelenskyy Pulls a George Costanza, Claims He Was Just Kidding When He Quit the Peace Talks, "The headline is a reference to this Seinfeld episode. What? That? I'm a joker, you know that. I kid!"

The Unsinkable Mollie@MZHemingway, "Yesterday, Susan Rice said of the Trump-Zelensky meeting, "There is no question this was a set up." She revealed full knowledge of the mineral agreement, complained that it didn't include "concrete" security agrees (meaning, apparently, commitment of US troops on the ground if conditions merit), and then mischaracterized Trump's behavior, counting on most Americans to not have watched what transpired over the entire hour in the Oval Office. . ." Dave Strom, Konstantin Kisin Hits the Nail on the Head About Zelenskyy's Disastrous Performance (video). Sundance, Lutnick: Zelenskyy’s Not a Peacemaker, He’s a Troublemaker. Ward Clark at RedState, European Leaders Spout Weirdly Identical Social Media Posts Supporting Ukraine. Jester Politics simply says Let Europe Handle It. From Da Fetched, Bolton Melts Down on Live TV, Demands Rubio’s Resignation After Trump’s Zelenskyy Meeting. At the Pop Times, Vance Family Targeted by Pro-Ukraine Activists, Rushed to “Undisclosed Location.” The Critic notes It is not unpatriotic to question war. Insty looks at THE ROOTS OF TRUMP’S REALPOLITIK: “As often happens, Trump breaks with American presidential traditions more in style than in substance. In reality, the 45th and 47th president is in a tradition of realist presidents, going back to Theodore Roosevelt more than a century ago, who have viewed world politics as a great-power club, rather than an arena for idealism.” BRICS News @BRICSinfo, "JUST IN: Italian Prime Minister Meloni rejects offers from France and UK to send troops to Ukraine. "You can go—not with my soldiers." Richard @ricwe123, "It's astounding to see EU President Ursula von der Leyen laugh when asked if one of her own children is in the military, quickly dismissing the idea with a "No, of course not" Meanwhile, she's in London making decisions about sending other people's daughters and sons to die in Ukraine. The hypocrisy is mind-blowing."

At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 03.04.25, EBL: Zelensky is about to learn the meaning of FAFO, Brave The Dark, Good: Europe can defend Ukraine from now on, Louder With Crowder: Should Trump Ditch Free-riding NATO After Zelensky Blowup?, L’Ombre de L’Olivier: Can Ukraine Win Now? also, Clash of Worldview and CDR Salamander: Securing Ukraine’s Future Security.

From NewsMax, Canada's Retaliatory Tariffs on US Goods to Start Tuesday, PM Trudeau Says. OTP, Canadian Leader Threatens To Turn Off Power To US After New Tariffs. ABC, 'Dumb': Canada, Mexico blast historic Trump tariffs, threaten retaliation. NewsMax again, BlackRock Buying Panama Canal Ports for $22.8 Billion. Abraham Accords Peace Institute @Peace_Accords, "Despite regional tensions, Abraham Accords ties remain strong. The Abraham Accords Peace Institute's analysis shows that in 2024, economic relations and trade continued to grow between Israel and all of its peace partners in the Arab world. . . " VodkaPundit at PJM, Egypt Wants to Curb-Stomp Trump's Gaza Plan, but Who Pays for Theirs? At Da Wire, Houthis Re-Designated As Terror Group By State Department, "Former President Joe Biden rescinded the designation in 2021." 

Breitbart reports US Manufacturing Expands For Second Month Under Trump, Driven by Stronger Demand and Policy Shifts. Matt Vespa thinks Republicans Might Have a Nuclear Option for Making the Trump Tax Cuts Permanent. 

At Althouse, "Senators Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker released videos on their social media accounts simultaneously, using identical scripts..." "It's ludicrous. But that got our attention and made it viral. And yet, I think that what is viral is the fakeness — the rote performance — and not the substantive message. I watched the whole thing intently, but I didn't notice what they said, only the bizarre overlap." Mary Chastain at LI, 22 Democrat Senators Caught Making Same Video to Bash Trump, Musk, "Hive mind." Ace, Not an Op: 22 Democrat Senators Blitz X With 22 Near-Identical Messages, Now It's 23, "Do they not understand that this is creepy AF?" From NewsMax, Musk, Sen. Lee: Who's Writing Dems' 'Puppet' Script? Matt Margolis at PJM, Senate Democrats Suffer Humiliating Messaging Disaster and Democrats Seem Desperate to Prove That Republicans Are the Adults in the Room. Kurt Schlichter at TownHall asks Where Do You Go After 'Literally Hitler'? At Da Caller, Dems Fretting Over Billionaires Have Been On The Billionaire Dole For Years. Joel Kotkin at Spiked is looking forward to The Democrats’ coming civil war. "Voters are tired of failed ‘progressive’ dogmas, even in the Democrats’ urban heartlands. But will the party listen?"

George@BehizyTweets "BREAKING: Congressman Pete Sessions is introducing a bill banning universal mail-in voting and electronic voting machines and shortening the early vote period from months to THREE DAYS. This is a GAME CHANGER! . . . " Democrats with kill it in the Senate. VodkaPundit at Insty wonders WHERE IS THE GOP’S NEXT GIULIANI? GrannyKiller Cuomo Runs For Mayor. “For some reason, the egos of disgraced New York Democratic politicians are so large that they never seem to think they’re too disgraced to run for office again. Just like Anthony Weiner before him, disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo thinks he can run for New York City mayor and people will forget the sex scandal that drove him out of office.”

VodkaPundit at PJM, The Government Is Paralyzed? Oh, No! Anyway… NewsMax, House Dems Consider Govt Shutdown Over DOGE. Fine, this time don't pay the Federal workers for their added "vacation" days. Peter St Onge, Ph.D. @profstonge, "The Fed's GDP estimates crash on Biden hangover and falling government spending. More is coming. Because the more DOGE cuts — and the more wars end — the richer we’ll be. But the worse GDP will look on paper." A Michele Tafoya vid at Hat Hair, Open the Books. Just DOGE it. Althouse has a vid on Fact-checking DOGE's "Wall of Receipts." NYPo, DOGE announces this government agency’s staff has been trimmed to one: ‘Statutory minimum.’ Department of Government Efficiency @DOGE, "The Inter-American Foundation, an agency whose primary action was to issue foreign grants ($60M budget), has been reduced to its statutory minimum (1 active employee). Examples of grants that were cancelled in the process:
- $903,811 for alpaca farming in Peru . . . "  Da Hill reluctantly admits Social Security Administration says it’s identified $800M+ in savings and Pentagon: $80M in savings found in initial DOGE scrutiny. Drop, bucket.  OTP, FBI HQs Among 440+ Federal Buildings Listed For Sale. NewsMax, Sen. Kennedy Introduces Bill to End Federal Funding for NPR, PBS and Can DOGE Audits Save U.S. From Debt Market Collapse? Elon Musk @elonmusk, "Taxpayer-funded propaganda!" Quote FischerKing @FischerKing64, "Tonight NPR repeated the Charlottesville hoax as fact. The federal government is still funding radio programming - repeatedly debunked - that Trump praised neo-Nazis."  Elon Musk @elonmusk. "Yet another scam stealing your tax dollars has been stopped" Quote Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "The NGO receiving $18 million per month for an empty illegal migrant shelter contract started in 2021 after a “BIDEN TRANSITION TEAM MEMBER JOINED THE NON-PROFIT” These are crimes of the century. People need to go to prison."

NewsMax, Musk Calls Social Security 'Biggest Ponzi Scheme' Ever. Lifezette, Musk Drops Bomb: Calls for NATO Exit, Demands Answers on Ukraine Billions. At WokeSpy, Elon Musk Explains How Soros’ “Non-Profits” Have Been Leeching Off U.S. Taxpayers for Years. From Da Fetched, Elon Musk Sounds the Alarm on “Severe Propaganda” Behind Attempts on His Life. Dave Strom, The Open Borders Crowd Attacks Elon Musk Because He is an Immigrant. No, they use the fact that he's an immigrant to attack him for threatening their gravy train. Mia Cathell at TownHall, Guess Who Has Ties to USAID, "Ex-Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki's sister worked for nearly a decade at a radical non-governmental organization (NGO) that has raked in millions in taxpayer funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)." Twitchy, She MAD! Maxine Waters Tries Forcing Her Way Into HUD to Deliver Anti-DOGE Letter and HOOBOY (Watch). MRCTV @mrctv, "Democrat Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove accidentally reveals her party's plan to fight Trump & Musk's DOGE. "We are gonna continue to speak lies to his truth, to his stealing and to his cheating."

Lifezette, DOE Launches Portal for Reporting Woke DEI Indoctrination in Schools. Stephen Kruiser at PJM, Let's Get This 'Nuke the Dept. of Education' Ball Rolling ASAP. USDOE, Secretary McMahon: Our Department's Final Mission. Get rid of the department. 

Misty Severi at JTN reports how the Head of FBI New York field office forced out after weeks of turmoil. "Dennehy reportedly upset Attorney General Pam Bondi over his office's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files last week." Ace, Head of FBI's NY Field Office Resigns Under Pressure, "He was told to resign or be fired. He took the coward's way out. NBC "News" notes that the head of the office is a #Resistance operator."  Fox, AG Pam Bondi says FBI delivered 'truckload' of Epstein files after she put out hard deadline, "Epstein files will be dealt with 'as fast as we can,' Bondi said." See, it works. Do it some more. 

Margot Cleveland at Da Fed, Leftist Judge Creates Full-Blown Constitutional Crisis — Soon To Be Cured By SCOTUS "Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee, entered that ruling late Saturday evening in a two-page order. Judge Berman Jackson’s order then further mandated that five executive branch officials “recognize plaintiff’s title and position as Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel,” and “not obstruct or interfere with his performance of his duties.” And just like that, a mere two months into the president’s second term, a solitary federal judge created a constitutional crisis." Misty Severi, House Republicans launch judicial task force that targets 'rogue, activist judges'. "The new task force, titled the "Judicial Activism Accountability Task Force," will be led by Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Eli Crane of Arizona."

Guy Benson at TownHall, By the Numbers: Another Democrat Narrative Bites the Dust. InteractivePolls @IAPolls2022 "CBS Poll: 64% of Americans believe Trump's policies are reducing migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border. —— Trump Deportation program approval Approve: 59% (+18) Disapprove: 41% • White: 65-35 (+30) • Black: 48-52 (-4) • Hispanic: 50-50 (=)" Capt. Ed, Trump Has Cartels, Traffickers Running Scared, Says ... "the New York Times? Really?" At Breitbart, Trump Shutting Down Biden’s Texas-Based Soft Sided Migrant Detention Centers, Says Source. Julio Rosas at Mostly Peaceful Media, How The Far-Left Are Disrupting ICE Raids In Los Angeles.

Shelley G  @ShelleyGldschmt, "BREAKING HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with the Dept of Education and GSA, announced a comprehensive review of Columbia University’s federal contracts and grants in light of the university's failure to adequately respond to rampant antisemitism on campus." From Campus Reform, Department of Justice anti-Semitism task force plans visits to 10 college campuses, including Northwestern and Harvard. Capt. Ed, Trump to Campus Agitators: Get Out. Eyal Yakoby @EYakoby, "BREAKING: Yale Law has put Helyeh Doutaghi on ‘Immediate Administrative Leave’ after it was revealed she was part of a US-designated terrorist organization." Eyal Yakoby @EYakoby, "If a student on a foreign visa who supports Israel violently takes over a building, assaults university staff, and shuts down classes, then they should also have their visa revoked. But that's simply not happening." Quote Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald "How about if foreign students in the US on a student visa participate in a campus protest in favor of Israel rather than against it, or protest in favor of Trump and against Democrats? Should they also be deported? Or is deportation only for protesting against Israeli actions? x.com/OlafOlaf2668/s… Show more." 

Ftrom Da Wire, Pam Bondi Tells American Bar Association To ‘Immediately’ Abandon Diversity Mandates. “The Department of Justice stands ready to take every action necessary to prevent further abuse.”

Althouse, Does the Democratic Party need to change? It can't. It won't. "I'm reading "Senate blocks ban on transgender athletes, as Trump pushes forward/The Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to advance legislation banning transgender athletes from competing in female sports" (WaPo).Every single Democratic Senator voted against the bill. That is, they stuck to their principles on the #1 issue that clearly — massively — hurts them." Insty, TRUMP KEEPS GETTING THE DEMOCRATS TO TAKE THE LOSING SIDE ON THE LOPSIDED ISSUES: Scott Rasmussen @ScottWRasmussen, "In other words, Senate Democrats sided with the 13% of voters who believe biological males should be allowed to compete in women’s sports." Quote CBS News@CBSNews, "Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a measure that sought to ban transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity. https://cbsn.ws/3QP0msZ" Fox Sports reports Tennis legend has fiery response after Senate Dems fail to back bill keeping boys out of girls' sports, "Martina Navratilova has been critical of Dems in the past." Rick Moran at PJM, Female Runners Protest Against a Trans Competitor by Dropping Out of a Championship Race. Ashe Schow at Da Wire reports a Major Court Rules Parents Have No Right To Know A School Is Transitioning Their Child. "This is the first time a federal court of appeals has waded into parental rights when it comes to transgender issues."

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