The Frankish Reich

The same way you make coffee grown in North Dakota and bananas grow in Maine? It’s been funny listening to Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talk about this, as the rationales they offer diverge quite a bit. Bessent goes to some trouble to dress it up in the language of economics, casting it as a canny investment for America: “The success of Argentina’s reform agenda is of systemic importance, and a strong, stable Argentina which helps anchor a prosperous Western Hemisphere is in the strategic interest of the United States,” he tweeted this month. But Trump’s been explicit: He’s doing it to prop up his buddy Milei. “I’m with this man because his philosophy is correct,” Trump said of Milei last week. “And if he wins, we’re staying with him, and if he doesn’t win, we’re gone.” Whatever the rationale, it’s not clear their strategy is helping much. The Argentine peso sank to record lows yesterday, with little indication that the midterms were going to turn in Milei’s favor (who could have guessed that voters may not like the idea of being run by an American-puppet government?) and traders seemingly unimpressed by Bessent’s pitch of the currency as a prudent investment. The United States is now the proud owner of $20 billion in increasingly worthless Argentinian currency. America First, baby! https://www.thebulwark.com/p/dont-cry-for-me-argentina-heres-40b-trump-america-first-moo

Even you Trumpies have to admit that there's a curiously large number of Republicans engaging in "fun" racist and Nazi chats ...

1. Put tariff on Argentine exports and China exports. 2. Watch Argentina suffer economic consequences, and watch China stop buying U.S. soybeans. 3. Redirect tariff money to U.S. soybean farmers. 4. Give Argentina $20 (up to $40) billion dollar unsecured loan through weird currency transaction meant to obscure what's really happening. 5. Tell Argentina we'll buy more of their beef because beef is expensive here. 6. Watch demand for U.S. beef fall, beef prices to ranchers go down. 7. Watch ranchers complain; redirect tariff revenues to ranchers 8. Rinse, repeat. Command economy has entered the room through the backdoor.

All true. But nothing is free. Those big donors aren't donating simply because they think America needs a grand ballroom. They'll be expecting something, someday, and probably soon.

No, he was too busy making gas prices come down and beef prices go up. And installing Panera patios at the White House.

I have to admit I'm rather disappointed in the lack of development of the conspiracy theories here. Where's DR when you need him?

Meanwhile, Mike Johnson still refuses to swear in duly elected Rep Grijalva from NM. She will be the tipping point on the Epstein resolution. The House isn't even in session, so that vote won't happen. He's just b!tchily refusing to allow her to start representing her constituents. These people looove their predator friends. And also meanwhile: we see Prince Andrew out there essentially showing that Patel was lying when he said he wasn't aware of girls being procured for anyone but Epstein himself.

Older? Check. White? Yeah, that too, but not relevant here. Vaccine? No. Not yet. Got shingles? Yep. I did. Some serious advice because, after all, it seems I kind of like most of you angry older white men: get that damn vaccine. Shingles hurt like hell. Actually went into my ear and in a nerve down half of my face. Like someone stabbing an ice pick into my brain. Sharp nerve pain that only lasted a couple seconds at a time, but enough to wake me from a deep sleep jolted by pain. Like having a bad tooth that needs a root canal when you bit down hard on something, but totally random 100 times a day. Still have some weird tingling/numbness from time to time. Kicking myself for not getting the vax when I was first eligible.

The ballroom thing? Yeah, whatever. It's not like the East/West wing stuff is all that historical anyway. But tearing out the Rose Garden for that pathetic patio? That's a crime.

You're right ... i was just kidding because, you know, Jets ...

Looks like he's a running QB whose injuries from that style have caught up with him before he ever developed the ability to play as a more traditional pocket passer. So now you have a guy who isn't a huge running threat and is still very poor at making the timing throws/reading defenses. I think this was his last chance. Too bad because I thought he was fun to watch when he flashed that athleticism.

I think Arch Manning makes it known that he will never play for the Jets, the Jets trade the #1 overall pick, and they draft a few defensive players and sign Kirk Cousins.

Am I crazy to be more concerned about Andy Dalton than Bryce Young? Dalton is almost 38, but this is the year of the old man QB, right?

We'll let Elon continue to manage what's left of your brain. By the way, I am neither a Twitter nor a Blue sky subscriber. I don't want some algorithm telling me what I want to see. I know most people here don't read, so when I see a headline like this one I look for tweet or whatever that I can paste here.

Ten percent for the big guy? Only ten percent? How about the company partners and officers all share in the proceeds!

Comey's lawyers raise a real legal issue, not just a filing made for publicity purposes. Please try to pay attention instead of being mesmerized by Anna Bower. Like me.

Just for the sake of argument since it's probably unlikely that they admit that they were deliberately juicing ... ... PED effects last a whole lot longer than a six-week suspension, or even six months (the time of signing, when their suspensions became known). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/effects-performance-enhancing-drugs-may-last-decades/ https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/scientific-research/long-term-changes-human-skeletal-muscles-after-anabolic-steroid The world anti-doping administration suggests 2 year suspensions may therefore be too short if the goal is to take away any advantage gained from prior PED use. I was only half kidding when I said that Beane is trying to exploit a market inefficiency in signing players recently busted for PEDs ...

Seems to me that Mac Jones and Brock Purdy are pretty much equal. Part of that is the plug and play Shanahan offense of course.

Yes. In a second.

I watch what people do and say. And I stand corrected about Glen Greenwald. He's a self-hating foot fetishist. He could learn a thing or two from Sexy Rexy. By the way, Boots (the series) is getting more into the gay thing and unfortunately is getting less interesting and less plausible. Too bad. Remember, JD served honorably in the same manner as Al Gore - as a military news man and body man for the brass.

I blame mostly the Supreme Court for this state of affairs, as they are fundamentally changing the long-understood relationship between Congress and the White House.

I know almost nobody here seems to care about the political process. But I'm gonna put my faith in @sherpa and @Homelander in this particular discussion. Q. Why is this shutdown/continuing resolution different and more difficult to resolve? A. Because no matter what Senate Republicans and Democrats agree to, Trump has decided that he has the power to unilaterally ignore the parts of any spending agreement that he doesn't like. And these are, of course, the Democratic priorities. So let's say Thune and Schumer agree to a partial restoration of Obamacare subsidies that does include some partial reimbursement to hospitals providing ER services to aliens in exchange for reopening the government at otherwise current spending levels. Then Trump decides to to send those reimbursements to the hospitals ("impoundment" in government nomenclature). The Anti-Impoundment Act says he can't do that; White House lawyers say that may not be enforceable as an improper restraint on presidential powers, and the Supreme Court seems ready to agree. So you cut a deal where each side gives up something in exchange for something else, but you're left with a totally one-sided deal. How can you bargain like this? It's like making a bet where one guy reserves the right to not pay up if he loses. This was the Supreme Court's logic when they shot down the line item veto. A bill is the result of political compromise, and a president lining out the things his party doesn't like and keeping in the stuff they do totally destroys the bargaining process.

Well, if you think it's wonderful watching "student athletes" play AAA football for the highest bidder a year or two at a time, then I guess you're right.

This one may get interesting. Jets, Saints, Dolphins, dark horse Raiders ... anyone else I'm forgetting?

For me, the difference is games I want to watch on a random Sunday in early December. I think we forget how bad the bad old days were. After Thanksgiving I lost a lot of interest in the Bills and the NFL in general. We're spoiled now.