@#68 ... Can we all agree that in the future, we should be required to show proof that we're Republicans in order to be able to vote. ...

My sarcasm detector lit up on that comment.

That aside, perhaps that seems to be the end aim the GOP is striving to work towards, for years.

Another option ...

MAGA false flags?

More from the article ...

... That trio of rulings has stymied the administration's efforts to advance an expansive view of executive power that would allow the president to install loyalists without Senate confirmation and fire those he perceives as disloyal without cause.

Across the country, federal judges have told him he can't do either.

In Washington state, a federal judge ruled last month that Trump's firing of a U.S. attorney who had been appointed by the district's judges was unlawful. Allowing the president to terminate a court-appointed U.S. attorney "would upend the framework created by the Constitution and the statutes, which together balance the president's right to appoint and the Senate's right to confirm," the Barack Obama appointee wrote. The Justice Department is appealing that decision.

In California, a federal judge on Friday said Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, has been serving unlawfully. Trump doesn't have the right to keep Essayli in charge while he operates as the office's No. 2, the George W. Bush appointee said.

And in New York, a federal judge ruled last week that Article II of the Constitution didn't give Trump the right to fire Maurene Comey, once a star prosecutor in Manhattan who was terminated last summer without explanation. "[I]n purporting to fire Comey pursuant to Article II and the laws of the United States, Defendants invented a new and expansive theory of executive power," the Obama appointee wrote. ...

@#11 ... has reportedly been arrested again, this time for allegedly threatening to kill federal judges ...

That, and cop-assaulters, seem to be one aspect of Pres Trump's kind of pardonees.

@#7 ... It seems obvious to me that as Netanyahu lost his election, this is his punishment/retribution for those who voted against him. ...

Looks similar to my view.

But then there's this ...

... Gov. Mikie Sherrill sent a letter to 12 port and terminal operators in the state, warning them they "could be subject to millions of dollars in penalties" long after President Trump leaves office. ...

I note the optimistic "after Trump leaves office" part.

... "Inflation is solved. Everything is great. Everybody respects us again, we have a great country," ...

Countries seem to be more avoiding us and less respecting us.

Inflation is still higher than wage increases. So, not solved.

etc.

More from the article ...

... Former officials and outside experts said the disruptions risk leaving policymakers with an incomplete picture of threats facing the country, echoing intelligence failures exposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks. The slowdown comes as the administration weighs whether to resume strikes on Iran after the midterm elections on Tuesday.

The problems emerged during Tulsi Gabbard's tenure as director of national intelligence, amid deep tensions between her office and the CIA. While those tensions have subsided since her resignation in June, problems stemming from the clash persist, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.

The CIA last year stopped co-authoring assessments with the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an analytical group within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the officials said, reducing the number of reports that pull together the intelligence community's views for decision-makers on subjects including Iran. One US intelligence official said the CIA has begun engaging as co-authors on some of the group's assessments in recent months.

Lawmakers and their staffs also briefly stopped receiving intelligence reports from Gabbard's office in the days after the US military intervention in Iran in June 2025 and again after the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro in January 2026, according to two people familiar with the matter. Gabbard's team had accused lawmakers of leaking to the press.

The disruption in intelligence sharing has not been previously reported.

CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons said the CIA "participates fully" in the process of providing intelligence assessments through the Presidential Daily Brief, which is led by ODNI, and through the NIC.

Now, some former officials are working on a bipartisan basis at Stanford University's Hoover Institution to draw up plans to rebuild the intelligence community in the next administration, four former US officials said.

"All of these things are adding up in a really complex world where policymakers need to have a more sophisticated, nuanced, and integrated view of the world, and they are getting less," said Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of national intelligence during Trump's first term. ...

... questioned why Republicans should "suffer the slings" ...

So, Pres Trump is cutting off the aid for political reasons?

Will he reinstate the aid after the midterms?

@#2 ... Only polls that matter are the ones tomorrow. I don't trust anything else. ...

Agreed.

The before-Election-Day polling just indicates how voters respond to the pollsters, at the time they were asked.

However, when the voters get to the election booth and cast their vote, they have only their conscience who knows how they voted.

@#4

Yup.

... "First Lady Melania Trump will personally bring representatives of Russia and Ukraine, two nations actively at war, together at the White House," the first lady's office said on Tuesday, touting the limited ceasefire as an "unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American First Lady." ...

I hope her efforts result in the end of Russia's invasion of a sovereign Ukraine.

... Many Hurricanes in a season, yall scream it's due to climate change. Then there's no hurricanes and I guess that's also due to climate change, right? ...

Yup, that's right.

It is just as correct now as it was the last time your current alias brought this up.

Did it not learn anything from that thread a couple three months ago?

Hint: look at the Niño wind shear and its effect upon the formation of Atlantic hurricanes.

... facing federal charges ...

So... not convicted yet?

Will these cases be thrown out, like many others Trump's DoJ has brought forward, due to ~lack of evidence?~

Tangentially related ...

More from the zrticle ...

... ncomes for Americans failed to keep pace with inflation in the third quarter of 2026, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The data showed Americans' real income fell 0.6% during the 12 months ended in September. In June, real income was down 0.3% over the previous 12-month period.

Real income declined by as much as 3% annually in 2021 and 2022, when inflation reached two-decade highs, before rebounding from 2023 through 2025. However, wage growth has slowed in recent years, and rising inflation following U.S. military strikes against Iran has eroded workers' purchasing power.

The BLS reported that wages and salaries increased 3.1% during the 12 months ended in September. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index showed prices for goods and services rose 3.7%. ...

This does not bode well.

Pres Trump loses another ...

More from the article ...

... ITEP examined 706 profitable companies. Together, they reported $1.88 trillion (1.40 trillion) in US profits but paid an average current federal income tax rate of 10.4 per cent, less than half the statutory 21 per cent rate.

A total of 114 companies paid no current federal income tax. Another 258 paid effective rates below 7 per cent, averaging just 1.7 per cent, according to ITEP's October 2026 analysis.

The figures reflect current federal income taxes disclosed in company financial reports, rather than final payments recorded by the Internal Revenue Service. Paying no current tax does not establish that a company broke the law.

Why Low Corporate Tax Payments Matter

ITEP estimated that the 706 companies received $198 billion (147.8 billion) in federal tax subsidies by paying less than the statutory rate. The figures highlight how tax provisions can substantially reduce companies' current liabilities.

Matt Gardner, an ITEP senior fellow and report co-author, told Fortune that reduced rates among large corporations pose a broader concern than zero-tax cases alone. He argued that lower payments by highly profitable companies weaken the corporate tax system.

Corporate profits remain substantial. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported profits from current production at an annualised $4.71 trillion (3.52 trillion) in the second quarter of 2026. This measure adjusts for inventory valuation and capital consumption. ...

@#12 ... Right wingers had better never ever sneeringly utter the name of George Soros. ...

You really think that reality and facts might cause them to reassess their comments?

More from the article...

... It was the 50th time that the race has run through all five boroughs of the city. There were just over 2,000 competitors in 1976, the seventh running of the race, including only 88 women. About 60,000 runners stepped up to the starting line Sunday, with nearly half of them women.

"I think the marathon is one of the best days in New York City, you see the humanity, everyone accomplishing these amazing goals and dreams," said Jesse Hammerman of Staten Island.

There were runners from more than 140 countries competing Sunday, including defending men's Kipruto. He won in thrilling fashion last year, edging Alexander Mutiso by three-hundredths of a second. ...

@#6

OK, all that aside...

Are Pres Trump's tactics now even pushing away our Middle East allies?

The remaining allies of Pres Trump seem to be dictators and/or autocrats.

Why might that be?

@#5 ... It's almost like he's playing himself in a SNL skit. ...

I dunno.

SNL skits of late seem to have a lot more thought behind them than Pres Trump's utterings.

And, fwiw, back in the day, I remember going to see this performance group in an off-off-Broadway performance in NYC with my friends while I was in college. It was a couple three months before the first SNL was broadcast. The performers called themselves, Not Ready For Prime Time Players.

Was it a test of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players who became the original SNL cast?

Wish I knew.