Donald Trump's boast that he was close to ending the war in Ukraine was in ruins on Wednesday, with his much vaunted peace plan in tatters.
In the Before Times, George Will was the dean of conservative letters, so attention ought to be paid to his latest column: "Trump, Hegseth and a sickening moral slum of an administration" - The Washington Post No operational necessity justified Hegseth's de facto order to kill two survivors clinging to the wreckage of one of the supposed drug boats obliterated by U.S. forces near Venezuela. His order was reported by The Post from two sources ("The order was to kill everybody," one said) and has not been explicitly denied by Hegseth. President Donald Trump says Hegseth told him that he (Hegseth) "said he did not say that." If Trump is telling the truth about Hegseth, and Hegseth is telling the truth to Trump, it is strange that (per the Post report) the commander of the boat-destroying operation said he ordered the attack on the survivors to comply with Hegseth's order. Read more
Donald Trump has handed a company partnered with Donald Trump Jr. a multi-million dollar deal in what has been described as a "cloud of conflict".
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a cabinet meeting Tuesday that "50%" of visas in Minnesota are fraudulent. Noem claims people "married their brother" or claimed "they were somebody they are not." This comes after President Donald Trump criticized Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, saying they are "incompetent" and criticizing their handling of Somalis in Minnesota.
Pete Hegseth, in a 2016 talk, cited the same military law as the lawmakers he's now calling seditious.
The U.S. labor market slowdown intensified in November as private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. With worries intensifying over the domestic jobs picture, ADP indicated the issues were worse than anticipated. The payrolls decline marked a sharp step down from October, which saw an upwardly revised gain of 47,000 positions, and was well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate from economists for an increase of 40,000. Larger businesses, entailing companies with 50 or more employees, actually reported a net gain of 90,000 workers. Read more
In an utterly nauseating chapter in the history of the Department of Defense and the United States of America, antisemitic white supremacist Jack Posobiec, viciously Islamophobic Laura Loomer, accused teen sex predator/drunk driver Matt Gaetz, and rightwing agitprop specialist James O'Keefe are all duly credentialed members of the Fourth Estate actively participating in DOD press briefings.
The top 1% have seen their wealth increase by $4 trillion over the past year, an increase of 7%. Their wealth hit a record $52 trillion in the second quarter. The top 0.1% saw their wealth grow by 10% over the past year. Since the pandemic, the top 0.1%, or those with a net worth of at least $46 million, have seen their total wealth nearly double to over $23 trillion.
Dec 2 (Reuters) -- The city of San Francisco sued Kraft, Mondelez, Coca-Cola, and other makers of ultra-processed foods on Tuesday, accusing them of knowingly sickening California residents with addictive and harmful products. City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging the companies employed tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry to design and market products intended to addict consumers. The lawsuit accuses the companies of violating California laws on public nuisance and deceptive marketing. Read more
Obamacare premiums are set to spike for tens of millions of Americans next month. Plenty of rank-and-file Republicans are happy to sit back and ride it out. Some vulnerable GOP lawmakers up for reelection are scrambling for a last-minute fix to renew the enhanced federal health care subsidies keeping costs down. But even if party leaders and President Donald Trump were to rally around a plan in the coming days -- and there's no sign of that happening -- many conservatives are likely to revolt. Read more
"Any and all Documents, Proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts, signed by Order of the now infamous and unauthorized AUTOPEN,' within the Administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., are hereby null, void, and of no further force or effect. Anyone receiving Pardons,' Commutations,' or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The so-called "Peace Negotiations" between US "envoys" Trump's billionaire real estate investor pal, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's billionaire son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Putin's Muscovite kleptofascist cronies is looking a lot like a get-acquainted process before some mega-huge investment deal. These negotiations included Kurill Dmitriev taking Witkoff and Kushner on a walk through central Moscow ahead of their meeting with Putin, and plans now are formalizing a proposed framework that would involve U.S. businesses, potentially including Witkoff and Kushner's firms, in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and economic revitalization of Russia through joint ventures. Russia has reportedly expressed a preference for U.S. businesses, rather than European ones, to be involved in such economic projects as a way to secure long-term peace. This is part of ongoing discussions about a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Read more
What Happens Next Will Be Ugly and Dangerous.
Longtime Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was reportedly considering a run for Congress in Texas if the Supreme Court upholds new district maps in California. The new map approved by California voters would eliminate Issa's San Diego-area seat if the Supreme Court upholds it. On Monday, Punchbowl News reported that Issa was eyeing a seat near Dallas if the ruling does not go his way. In a recent statement, Issa insisted he would run again regardless of what the court decides.
Trump revealed he'd had the MRI scan over two weeks after the exam, while talking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Japan. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during a Nov. 14 trip, he again did not say what had been scanned, and said the testing was "standard." "I have no idea what they analyze, but whatever they analyze, they analyze it well, and they said that I had as good a result as they've ever seen," he said. Speaking to reporters Sunday, the president again said he had "no idea" what was scanned. "What part of the body? It wasn't the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it," he said, before saying he would release the records. Leavitt read the new memo from the doctor during her daily briefing Monday, and said it shows how transparent the administration is.
We hear a lot about the canaries in the coal mine these days. But we were reminded last week that dead canaries are littered all around us. We never imagined that death could undo so many. 1 Read more
