Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Plays Battleship

 At CTH sundance hosts President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth Make an Announcement, the "Golden Fleet". Two new battleships ASAP, ultimately 10-20! I think he's aiming at deterring Chinese from taking Taiwan. VodkaPundit at PJM, CUBA: Is Trump About to Do What No Other President Could? Could the sanctions on Venezuela sink Cuba too? Capt. Ed at Hat Hair VIP, Will Trump End Two Marxist Regimes For the Price of One? From Ace, Communist Cuba "On Edge of Collapse" Due to Trump's Oil Embargo of Cuba's Key Ally Venezuela "Late last week, Trump seized a second Venezuelan tanker. Now he's tracking a third tanker from the "dark fleet."" Joe Chalfant at TownHall hears Rand Paul Isn't Liking Trump's Decision to Seize Venezuelan Ships.

At News Wax, Witkoff: Ukraine Talks Over Past Few Days Were Productive and Trump Announces La. Gov. Landry as Envoy to Greenland. From Fox, Trump admin recalling around 30 ambassadors as part of State Dept realignment, official confirms "Diplomats will be reassigned elsewhere at State Department rather than fired, senior official says." Sundance sees the Deep State Apoplectic with Trump’s Use of Emissaries to Deliver Results. "The “emissary” is the person who carries the word of President Trump to any person identified by President Trump. The emissary is very much like a tape recording of President Trump in human form. The emissary travels to a location, meets a particular person or group, and then recites the opinion of the President. The words spoken by the emissary, are the words of President Trump. The IC cannot inject themselves into this dynamic; that is why it is so valuable." News Wax claims Russia Has Lost Over 1% of Its Men in Ukraine War. I keep hearing Russia is on the edge of collapse, and they keep not collapsing. Also at News Wax, FCC Set to Ban New Foreign-Made Drones. Did the Ukrainians just use drones to attack a charge from Russian horse cavalry?

Ace woke up and noticed Epstein Files Reveal Bill Clinton Cavorting With Very Young Women on Pedo Island; Democrat Flacks and Leftwing Media -- But I Repeat Myself-- Claim Trump Is "Curating" the Photos to Make Slick Willy Look Bad, "Plus a rousing chorus of "But Trump!!!"" To be perfectly honest, I hope DOJ is putting Democrats with Epstein out first. They deserve it. News Wax, FBI Ignored Epstein Child Porn Warning for Nearly 10 Years. Joe Chalfont again, AG Pam Bondi Faces Possible Impeachment After Epstein Files Release Disappoints. Of course, that was the plan all along, make it impossible to meet the deadline and do the necessary redactions. Republicans shouldn't have fallen for it.

Capt. Ed hears Crockett to Vance: You're Only VP Because Trump Tried to ... What?? Tried to murder Pence? Bob Spencer at PJM, They’ve Thrown Everything Else at Trump. Will THIS Be the Charge That Sticks? If Democrats gain control, they may try it.

At NYPo, the Divine Miranda Devine: Trump’s ‘loud’ speech rightly counted off all the ways his admin delivered for America in 2025 and Trump approval rating rebounds as new poll shows him hitting three-month high. Jessica Tarlov hurt worst. Reagan Reese at Da Caller, White House Unveils Year-End Success Of City Crime Crackdown. Roger Kimball at Am Great says Trump Never Sleeps—But the Media Keeps Dreaming "As the media frets over Trump’s “fatigue,” he dominates the world stage, confronts woke institutions like the Smithsonian, and proves once again that reality keeps wrecking the anti-Trump narrative." From LifeZette, Trump: ‘We Have a Problem. The Insurance Companies Own the Democrat Party.’ From RCE, Dakota Access Pipeline: Common Sense Energy Vindicated. From Breitbart, Trump Administration Halts Offshore Wind Farms, Citing National Security. At YaHoo! CNBC anchor who blasted Trump’s ‘insane’ tariffs is now shocked by ‘very, very low’ inflation. How to capitalize in 2026. From Campus Reform, Education Department: Biden’s student loan repayment plan to be terminated "The Trump administration is poised to strike down a Biden-era scheme to shift student loan repayment burdens onto American taxpayers."

A pair at Althouse, First Ladies read a Christmas story, "It's not a competition. We cherish diversity of expression. It's all a matter of taste..." and "I didn't bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to de-platform," "Said JD Vance, quoted in an NPR article by the Associate Press with the mean-spirited headline "Vance refuses to set red lines over bigotry at Turning Point USA's convention."" I notice the media and the Democrats (but I redund) refuse to set red lines over anti-Semitism.

Adam Housley @adamhousley "I can assure you it is. As I’ve been reporting. California is absolutely in excess of 60 billion right now and believed to be more than 100 billion." Quote Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen Reports @honestpollster, "I bet you California fraud is 10 times worse than Minnesota." RedState's Nick Arama thinks Eric Swalwell's Incredibly Cringey CA Gov Ad Shows Just How Clueless and Out of Touch Dems Are.

From the Free Bacon, In Deleted Social Media Posts, Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Repeatedly Drew Equivalence Between 9/11 and the US Response "The far-left Senate hopeful also claimed the 'greatest threat' to US security was '"homegrown" and "radicalized" White men'." NYPo ed board alleges Bernie Sanders is blocking cancer treatment for kids for his own selfish reasons. TownHall's Matt Vespa hears the Question That Caused Dems on the Panel to Melt Down on CNN, the 2024 Democratic Party autopsy.

Dave Catron at Am Spec discusses The Fulton County 2020 Election Bombshell. "A case study in how a deeply unpopular political party manages to win elections." It is now a reasonable assumption that without the illegal votes in Fulton County, Trump would have won Georgia in 2020. Brianna Lyman at Da Fed finds a Noncitizen who Says She Voted In Multiple Georgia Elections: ‘They Gave Me A Paper To Sign.’

Sundance explains Why There Will NEVER Be Indictments Against Govt Officials for “Russiagate” – And Other Crazy Stuff.

Shipwreckedcrew, DC Appeals Court To The Rescue Of Progressive NGOs -- While Picking A Fight With The Supreme Court At The Same Time? "Are the Appeals Court Judges looking for the votes of two SCOTUS Justices -- Roberts and Barrett to save NGOs AND preserve their own jurisdiction for when the Trump Admin. leaves office?"

Ace, AGAIN: Violent Deranged Homeless Man, Set Free By Leftwing Judges Over and Over Again, Randomly Slashes and Permanently Blinds a 75 Year Old Woman "Below the fold, a cop says that this homeless criminal is "notorious" for randomly attacking people. Yet he was allowed to roam the streets, menacing and attacking citizens." End Wokeness @EndWokeness, "0 AP stories on Jeanette Marken 0 PBS stories on Jeanette Marken 0 NYT stories on Jeanette Marken 0 NPR stories on Jeanette Marken 0 WSJ stories on Jeanette Marken 0 BBC stories on Jeanette Marken 0 CNN stories on Jeanette Marken 0 WAPO stories on Jeanette Marken 0 Reuters stories on Jeanette Marken 0 MSNBC stories on Jeanette Marken." Hat Hair's Beege Welborn hears Chicago Whacko Accused of Setting Human Torch on Train Had Tried to Light Off City Hall. Ace, again, Brown Custodian: I Warned Security About the Sketch Guy "Casing" the School Who Would Ultimately Shoot It Up "Is this something? I don't know. There are often dropped balls in cases like this. I don't know if this is just a normal dropped ball or an ideologically-dictated dropped ball." Probably just a normal dropped ball. But the role of DEI in weakening policing can't be dismissed. Hat Hair's Dave Strom hears Australia Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud: You Must Give Up Your Freedom for Multiculturalism.

Reuters whines that Musk wins appeal that restores 2018 Tesla pay deal now worth about $139 billion. "Elon Musk's 2018 pay package from Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, once worth $56 billion, was restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday, nearly two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as "unfathomable.""

Christmas Bonus, from Capt. Ed, Noem: Self Deport Now, And Qualify For An Amazing Bonus! "since we only have three shopping days before Christmas, Noem is offering a special deal to potential holiday travelers who want to go back to their home countries for the holidays." Secretary Kristi Noem @Sec_Noem, "This Christmas season, the U.S. taxpayer is generously TRIPLING the incentive for illegal aliens to leave voluntarily. Through the end of the year, illegal aliens who self-deport using the CBP Home App can receive a $3,000 exit bonus. Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will not return." Cathy Salgado at PJM, ICE Seeks Custody of Illegal Alien Killers in Sanctuary Districts, but sanctuaries prefer to keep their killers. Ward Clark at RedState, New Congressional Report Savages Biden's Failure to Take Precautions to Thwart Terror Threats at Border. WokeSpy spies that California Moves to Reissue 17,000 CDLs Despite Federal Noncompliance Warnings. From Da Wire, Massachusetts Mayor Can’t Understand English, Needs Translator In Court "Mayor Brian DePena immigrated to the United States in the 1980s."

Capt. Ed, 'Kill Switch'? Bari Bombshell Explodes on 60 Minutes; UPDATE: Bari Speaks. At TownHall Matt Vespa has The Tweet That Perfectly Captures the Reaction to CBS News' Bari Weiss Reportedly Spiking This Story Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze, "A lot of angry journalists over this one but just imagine if this ran before Dan Rather went on the air with George W. Bush fake documents Fuck you, you have absolutely earned your reputations." And, Here's Bari Weiss' Memo on the CECOT Story. Notice Anything Wrong? Scott Jennings @ScottJenningsKY, "Sounds like good reasons to hold a piece tbh, and proof of a one-sided hit job (par for the course for this particular reporter). @bariweiss the adult in the room here." Quote Sara Fischer @sarafischer "Some nuggets in here @axios: - Can confirm WH, State Dept and DHS all provided on record comment in response to CBS News journalists’ request for comment ahead of the segment. None of those comments made air https://axios.com/2025/12/22/60-minutes-episode-leaked." Ace says Surprise: The "Reporter" Who Leaked and Whined That Her Hit-Piece Got Held Up Turns Out to Have a History of Batty Leftwing Propaganda Pieces, "Chuck Ross for the Free Beacon:" From the Free Bacon, '60 Minutes' Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, Who Cried Foul Over Delayed Immigration Piece, Was Behind 'Intentionally False' Hit Piece on Ron DeSantis That Even Democrats Said Was Wrong. From Althouse, "My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason..." ""... that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready." Said Bari Weiss, quoted in "'60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.' Sharyn Alfonsi, a '60 Minutes' correspondent, criticized the network’s decision to remove her reporting from Sunday’s edition of the show" (NYT)," and "What we have is Karoline Leavitt's soundbite claiming they are evildoers in America (rapists, murderers, etc.). But isn't there much more to ask in light of the torture that we are revealing?", ""Tom Homan and Stephen Miller don't tend to be shy. I realize we've emailed the DHS spox, but we need to push much harder to get these principals on the record." Wrote Bari Weiss, in an internal memo justifying her action, noting the failure to "present the administration's argument.""

Driscoll at Insty OH, TO BE IN ENGLAND: Jimmy Kimmel to say ‘fascism has had a great year’ in Channel 4 Christmas message. "The Daily Mail is of course suitably outraged: Jimmy Kimmel’s Christmas message to British public sparks outrage: ‘He should’ve stayed fired.’ Viewers in Britain and America alike hit out at the comedian for his anticipated anti-Trump rant and expected omission of censorship issues plaguing Sir Keir Starmer‘s government. ‘He’s going to whine about free speech and fascism,’ said GB News presenter Alex Armstrong on X. ‘He won’t be referring to our govt, will he? It’ll all be Trump. [Channel Four] deeply out of touch as usual.’ Commentator Paul Thacker also pointed to the recent arrest of comedian Graham Linehan for making anti-trans jokes as evidence of the ‘double standard’ in choosing Kimmel for the alternative message. ‘The British establishment chose Jimmy Kimmel to speak out against fascism and in favor of free speech. This is the same government that only recently arrested comedian Graham Linehan,’ Thacker wrote."

And Another Thing from T. Beckett Adams. Republicans crave media approval (or they have a humiliation kink,) "What else are we to infer from the recent Vanity Fair episode?"

CJ explains Why Southern States Are Outperforming Others in Education, "Students need orderly classrooms to learn. . . . Many blue states, however, view school discipline as a necessary evil, to be limited as much as possible." At Real Clear Education, Rebuild the College-to-Work Pipeline, Connect the Systems That Already Exist.

Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer, "BREAKING: In wake of our campaign, UN Hamas apologist Francesca Albanese has been removed from Georgetown University. L: Her “Affiliate Scholar” page R: Now deleted http://isim.georgetown.edu/profile/francesca-p-albanese Thank you, @Georgetown. It's time to expel all terror supporters from our universities."

Plus much more from the Wombat at In The Mailbox: 12.22.25.