The Frankish Reich

I am quite familiar with that ….

Change England to Portugal and I'm there. I'll even take Ellen's girlfriend; just not Ellen.

Yeah, the Deep State Six Ways to Sunday Secret Police tricked Matty Orgies into banging hookers. I guess that's the Seventh Way. One might ask why these Republican manly men always seem to have to pay for it.

Poorly educated and proud of it!

My educated guess: they couldn't prove that he knew the girl was under 18. Besides, she wasn't much under 18. The witnesses are, well, hookers, and hookers have criminal records, drug problems, you name it, so if they were called as witnesses in a prosecution all of that would be fair game. So they decided not to indict. Now all of those things that made it bad for criminal charges (the hookers, etc.) make it very, very bad for a confirmation hearing for the highest legal job in the country. Two very different things. Not a criminal; not an appropriate choice for Attorney General. Why Trump thought he was is, well, a Trump thing.

Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut for, like, a day or two ... apparently too much to ask.

Oh, I'm not expecting anyone I'll like.

Yeah, well I don't do NPR language standards. And you gotta admit Gaetz has a wonderful head of hair.

Nothing personal with her. Just not an appropriate choice for the job.

What happened to Gaetz's Spine of Steel? A steel folding chair?

Could be. Awkward in that Trump has already named his personal criminal defense attorneys as Gaetz's underlings. But hey, Trump.

Goodbye Gaetzy. And what a luscious high-hair scalp it is. Maybe Ronnie will appoint you to Rubio's seat. That way he can spend lots of quality time with more people who can't stand him. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/21/trump-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-says-hes-withdrawing.html

No. I'm saying that Trump jumped the gun on Hegseth. Typically you vet candidates thoroughly before announcing them. Obviously they would have asked him the usual "anything in your past that we should know about that could affect your confirmation?" And just as obviously he didn't disclose the rape allegation. Maybe he still would have been nominated, but Trump's transition team would've been ready with their talking points instead of being caught with their pants down. So it could just be that they're back to business as usual, doing a thorough vetting ahead of time.

Many allegations about Gaetz and party drugs. Of course, we haven't seen the report. And, of course, Elon. I'm not saying that this worries me about him being a security risk; I'm just saying a regular prospective fed employee wouldn't get a clearance. https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1

Here's a nonpolitical comment. Really. The Secret Service needs to be reorganized. I don't know a helluva lot about Bongino, but my understanding is that he came from the Special Agent/protective division. Secret Service also has other investigative divisions (the whole counterfeit currency thing, but others too.) I don't know what exposure if any Bongino has to those tasks. I believe there's a pretty strong divide in the USSS culture that reflects these widely different functions. The Federal Protective Service more closely matches the personnel security functions of the USSS. It would make sense to merge those two so that the USSS Director isn't in charge of very different functions.

I dunno, but from recent history I'd guess that Trump doesn't want to get burned again by candidates who "forgot" to disclose that there was a police report out there accusing them of rape. Or something like that.

So stupid. The article starts off by admitting that Gaetz has a history - until 2021. When he was 39. It then jumps to "but Trump was a victim of trumped up charges," but nowhere refutes the charges against Gaetz. Of course, there is an investigation of Gaetz out there, the one he wants suppressed. It was conducted by a majority Republican House committee. Let's see it and put all this talk to rest.

No! Preppy. Beautiful. Nothing overdone.

Good thing it's from the unreliable Wash Post. Otherwise I might think Gaetz is toast. We'll let you guys stick to your Twitter Monkey Kellys. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/gaetz-investigation-house-ethics-committee-vance/ House Ethics Committee investigators probing sexual misconduct allegations against former congressman Matt Gaetz obtained records showing that he paid more than $10,000 to two women who testified before the committee, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive material.

I don't think the Ukraine long range missile decision was wise. But on the economy and tax/deficit policy: nothing Biden/Harris proposed is getting passed. That is dead. Many things Trump wants to do will get passed or he will do them (tariffs) by executive action. The universe of choices is not Harris Plan vs. Trump Plan. It makes sense to talk about a sensible alternative since there are still a few actual Republicans left who might be swayed in a non-damaging tariff direction.

Or maybe we can just say this: Kamala's taxation plans were flawed in a way that would have damaged the economy. Trump's taxation (tariff) plans are flawed in a way that will damage the economy. I guess I don't understand the knee-jerk reaction that amounts to "yeah, it's bad policy, but the other guy's policy was even worse." Trump is in charge now (well, in two months); how about not doing stupid things?

^^ Right. Starting on January 20 there will be no murders of young women. Always have to overplay their hand.

You just had to remind me of that, didn't you. Next thing you'll tell me that Taylor Swift isn't on a downward arc.

Target down 20% this morning. Earnings miss + fears of what new tariffs will do.

This is pretty good! See, Babylon Bee, you can do it when you really try.