Flotsam and Jetsam Returns

We arrived home from Hawaii, after two days of flying (Maui to LA on Wednesday, LA to Balmer on Thursday). A pretty nice trip, but very busy. So did I miss anything? 

I see the Schumer Schutdown is still in force. Did any one notice the difference? Jeff Charles at TownHall, Trump's Latest Shutdown Threat Is Making Democrats' Skin Crawl. News Wax, Trump: Only Cutting Dem Programs, 'Taste of Their Medicine'. 

And we have peace plan in Gaza agreed to by all sides? Althouse, "After months of deadlock, Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a long-awaited breakthrough..." ""... that could point toward an end to the two-year war in Gaza. 'This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen,' Mr. Trump said on Truth Social." The NYT reports." and Fetterman praises Trump: "We can have true peace in the region now." I'm not counting this chicken just yet, there's still plenty of opportunity for Hamas to fuck things up, but it's certainly a great step forward. The Nobel committee, of course, bypassed Trump this year, choosing instead to give the Nobel Peace prize to a virtually unknown Venezuelan opposition leader. Althouse says Now, we can keep talking about it for another year. "Trump did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. Not Trump won."

President Trump revealed plans to put National Guard troops into both Portland and Chicago, both cities where civil authorities have forbidden to the police to assist ICE when threatened by Antifa black-shirts, effectively declaring insurrection against the Federal government. Both cities found friendly federal judges willing to go out on a limb and forbid Trump from doing so. Althouse, "Untethered from reality." "I'm reading "Live Updates: Ninth Circuit Questions Why President Can’t Send National Guard Into Portland/A judge in Chicago is still hearing arguments on the Trump administration’s plans to send troops there. Both cases center on the legal limits of a president’s power to order troops into American cities against the will of state and local authorities" (NYT): The federal case in Oregon turns, in part, on the amount of deference the courts must give to the president’s decisions about when and where to deploy the National Guard. The federal government is arguing that the courts cannot review those deployment decisions at all. Stacy Chaffin, who is representing Oregon before the appeals court, the Ninth Circuit, told the panel of judges on Thursday that the usual policy of deference did not apply if the president’s assessment of the situation in Portland was “untethered from reality.” ADDED: It might seem crazy to have a legal test premised on connection to reality, but I think we are that crazy. The "rational basis" test is used all the time. It's important to see that the President is asking for even less scrutiny than that. He's arguing that his decision is unreviewable." Jonathan Turley roasts Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Calls for the Arrest of ICE Officers.

Trump's bête noire Letitia James, Attorney General of New York, has been indicted in Virginia for claiming residence on mortgage applications for houses she clearly did not intend to reside in. She is, of course, ironically whining about how unfair it is for a politician to go after another politician. NYPo, NY AG Letitia James indicted on federal bank fraud, false claims charges. John Sexton at Hat Hair, Letitia James Indicted for Mortgage Fraud. Meanwhile, the Peacock reports Ex-FBI Director James Comey pleads not guilty after Trump called for his prosecution. The Biden FBI investigated several Republican Senators in the course of it's J6 investigation, examining their phone records. Politico whines Sen. Josh Hawley falsely says FBI ‘tapped’ senators’ phones during Jack Smith probe, "The Missouri Republican referenced FBI documents which revealed the time and duration of calls made and received by lawmakers." Atop Da Hill, FBI fires 2 special agents who worked on Jack Smith probe: Reports "FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News on Wednesday that agents involved in “Arctic Frost” had been fired, but he did not specify how many. NBC News also reported the FBI took action against a third agent involved in the investigation. . . . Patel added that the subpoenas of the phone records were placed in a “lockbox” and classified as prohibited access, a move that would have required the approval of former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director Christopher Wray."

A judge gave would be assassin of Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh a lighter sentence because it claimed to be trans. At City Journal, Impeach Judge Boardman, "Her lenient sentencing of Justice Kavanaugh’s would-be assassin has shaken public confidence in the courts."

At Da Caller, Republican Buys Dominion Voting Systems, Forces Them To Drop Lawsuits Against Conservatives. "Dominion Voting systems has been acquired by founder and chairman of Liberty Vote Scott Leiendecker, in a deal which included dropping lawsuits against conservatives. Leiendecker, former GOP election reform advocate, has officially become the sole owner of Dominion after making the deal contingent on dropping several remaining lawsuits against prominent conservatives and One America News Network (OANN)."

The arsonist who allegedly set the Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles has been identified, and arrested, and turns out to be a Biden donating, Trump hating environazi. At Breitbart, a Report: Palisades Arson Suspect Ranted About Trump, Climate Change. From Ace, The Pallisades Arsonist, Murderer of 12 and Destroyer of $150 Billion in Proparty, Donated to Biden and Threatened to Burn Down His Sister's House (When the Kids Were Inside It), "Whatever we do, we must never send criminals to prison or lunatics to the asylum. That would be Letting Trump Win. Pallisades inferno arsonist Jonathan Rinderknecht donated to Biden:"

Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for Attorney General of Virginia, was revealed to have said his former Republican rival, then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert deserved two bullets in his head, and his wife deserved to see her daughter die in her arms. USA Today, 'Two bullets to the head'? Virginia Democrat's texts should end his AG campaign. He sort of apologized eventually saying “Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics.” It certainly doesn't seem that way. His running mate for Virginia Governor, continues to support him, Insty, THAT’S AN ENDORSEMENT, THEN: Abigail Spanberger Refuses to Withdraw Jay Jones Endorsement amid Text Scandal. Wesley Yang @wesyang, "If the Democrats don't change their position on gender (which is that forbidding girls to draw a boundary between themselves and any boy who says he is a girl is the Civil Rights Movement of the 21st Century) and only try to change their messaging to get around the fact that their position is unpopular today while seeking to win the power to keep brainwashing little girls from the earliest age that they must accept boys who say they are girls as real girls or be ostracized and punished by the state, they end up sounding like Abigail Spanberger does in this clip -- like a wheedling, evasive, dishonest, inhuman, bureaucratic non-entity." Quote YoungkinWins @YoungkinWins, "WATCH: @SpanbergerforVA repeatedly REFUSES to say if men should be allowed to compete in girls’ sports and use girls’ locker rooms/bathrooms:"  Althouse, "If your li'l girl comes home and said she was forced to undress in a locker room with a biological boy, what would you say? She's crying!" "Why wasn't the Democrat, Abigail Spanberger, sharp enough to come up with something to say?"

Stacy McCain, on how a Typical Democratic Voter Inadvertently Explains the Great Mystery of Our Time. Did you ever wonder how the Democratic Party got so crazy? For example, how is it that the governor of Illinois is inciting violent mobs against federal immigration authorities and meanwhile, in Virginia, every Democrat is rallying to the defense of Attorney General candidate Jay Jones, who openly fantasized about murdering political opponents? To summarize briefly: Bad causes attract bad people."

Find even more links at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.08.25 The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Opening Day 1974 up on time and under budget.