It might have something to do with Putin putting Russia on a aggressive total-war footing -- while in the meantime, Trump says he doesn't care what happens to Germany.

Trump just says anything that pops into his muddled head, and doesn't think if it's true or not. It's just meaningless verbiage.

Small children think this way; people don't always outgrow it.

Trump was never a Democrat. He gave to politicians of both parties, so he could call in favors.

TC knows Trump is on the way out, and is positioning himself for the Era After Trump. I don't think it will work out well for him.

bsky.app/profile/luci...

Oh, and one last question in the matter: *What kind of fool would want a position of authority that he has no competence to be in?* Who would want that kind of trouble? In Patel's case, it appears he's simply too soused to have ever asked such questions. [11/end]

That's not easy to say -- but Vance, at least, is not demented, and will know he could be held accountable after he leaves office. Vance spins with the wind; maybe we'll see some normalization? Yeah, maybe. We'll see. [10/more]

Yes, but that's for the good too, since the turnover weakens the authority of the bogus leaders. A related question: what happens to the bogus leaders when Trump checks out and JD Vance becomes POTUS? [9/more]

Much the same is presumably true in most other US government agencies. Anyway, it appears plausible, if not certain, that Patel is on his way out -- though again, the inclination is to say: "So what?" Patel will be replaced by somebody much like him, right? [8/more]

The Trump Regime is a thin layer on top of organizations that generally despise the leadership, being willing to inform on misconduct, and maybe more importantly willing to deceive the bosses. People in the agency mislead Patel as much as they can; his control is very weak. [7/more]

Patel has become the target of jokes -- one of the best being a photo of Patel, and of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as members of Trump's "Liquor Cabinet". The Iranians, whose propaganda has been shrewd, skewered Patel with a Lego-style animation as a falling-down drunk. [5/more]

Add to that the fact that THE ATLANTIC article was well-documented; unsurprisingly, FBI personnel seem eager to take shots at Patel. It's just a nuisance lawsuit anyway, unlikely to go anywhere, intended to discourage others from taking shots as well. [4/more]

Patel responded by threatening THE ATLANTIC with a $250 million USD defamation lawsuit, to which the publication's officials replied, in so many words: "Bring it on." In the first place, it is very difficult for a government official to sue a publication. [3/more]

In at least one case, door breaching gear had to be obtained, Patel having locked himself in a room and then, it seems, passed out. There were also tales of "frequent job absences", misuse of the FBI's executive jet, and so on. [2/more]

DAYLOG WED 22 APR 26 / KASH PATEL SINKING: Last week, THE ATLANTIC published an expose on FBI Director Kash Patel, saying that he spent much of his time drinking, with meetings having to be rescheduled because of hangovers and such. [1/more]

Well, yeah.

I don't think the Dem chokehold on DHS happened by accident.

#dailyhaiku #VirginiaRedistricting

Well ... yeah.

Huh? Why would Russian oil tankers be traversing the Strait of Hormuz? I don't think that makes sense.

I'm suspecting the US Navy is not exerting itself to conduct the blockade.

The Republican capacity for self-delusion knows no limits.

I checked earlier and it seemed NO was ahead -- but NO was from rural areas, not so many votes to count, while YES was Northern VA, Richmond, Norfolk. YES is handily ahead now.

The Reagan Revolution ultimately degenerated into an alliance between two groups: rapacious businessmen and white supremacists. That includes some people who are both, Elon Musk as the most prominent example.

As Newsom put it, it's a "emergency / break glass" issue. For California, the redistricting is temporary, and goes back to the bipartisan commission with the next census in 2030 -- by which time we can assume the emergency is over.

BLUESKY DOWN shows BSky is under attack again.

Yeah sure, but I'd still think it was fun flying around those zippy little interceptor drones.

In the videos, when they score, Ukrainian troops like to shout: "YEST!" -- which literally means "it is", but implies "got it!"

Just because the work is deadly serious doesn't mean it's never fun.

Yeah, JDV is hard to figure. Trump is nasty but has a strange charisma; JDV is just nasty.

I'm thinking he'll be an improvement -- a "bad" instead of a "bad & deranged" president. He's a weathervane, and he'll realize that people WILL go after him once he leaves office if he doesn't fly right.

He is unlikely to be around in 2.5 years. How President Vance will work out remains very unclear.

I'm thinking he'll ultimately take the humiliation route, and claim he won. TACO.