8 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. So the capitulating coward occupying 1600 Penn NW DC has climbed down some on tariffs against China.  He is as brave as Sir Robin.  But not as smart nor as funny. 

   Log in to Reply

2. So, Qatar gifts Tr**p a $400 million jet, to be transferred to the FDFQ Library Foundation after 2028, and Attorney General Pam Bondi decides it's all very cool and very legal. But a few little details that raise many levels of questions:

   Bondi worked as a foreign lobbyist for the nation of Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in the role which she held in 2020 and in the run up to the World Cup in 2022.

   In this role, she lobbied Congress on behalf of Qatari interests. She also worked in a separate lobbying position for the Washington, D.C.-based firm Ballard Partners, where she also lobbied on behalf of Qatari interests and several conglomerates including Amazon.

   So: did she have a role in arranging the deal? Is she trying to flim-flam her way around the Emoluments Clause? What does Qatar get in return? Should she be trusted to represent our nation's best interests, and to be fair if Amazon runs afoul of our laws? Things of that nature.

   Log in to Reply

   1. Ignore the squirrels.

      It isn't even possible to make a random 747 plane into an Airforce One. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

      This is like Trump adding gold medalions to the White House office (David Kurtz at TPM):

      This whole episode has all the trademarks of another Trump boondoggle. While the apparent lawlessness of such an arrangement is alarming, there’s an emperor has no clothes aspect to the whole thing. Trump wants what he wants, and no one wants to tell him no. And so everyone pretends it’s possible, even to the point of entertaining wildly corrupt scenarios to make it happen. But in the end, the whole thing collapses under the weight of its own ridiculousness.

      Log in to Reply

      1. I hear ya about the squirrels, PH, but my comment was less about the plane and the prez than it was about actions and entanglements pertaining to "our" Attorney General. I'm bothered, even if it isn't a top-50 issue these days. 

         Log in to Reply

   2. AG Pam Bondi's younger brother Brad ( can't make that shit up) is running for president of the D.C. Bar Association. If elected, he'd have real power to enforce $rump's will on the Capitol’s's attorneys. Imagine a disbarment proceeding initiated because the Blondies don't like the cut of your jib, your pro bono clients, or the cases you've brought or won.

      NPR is the only one covering this story, as far as I've seen.

      Log in to Reply

3. Looks like the Federalist Society is having second-ish thoughts about Trump due to all the chaos.

   Iah Milhiser at Vox.com sat in at the Federalist Society conference, and has a fascinating article. 

   One point is that chaos succeeds at destroying the government and firing a bunch of government employes, but to make lasting Conservative changes, you actually need competent personnel to carry them out. Firing all the newest and youngest employees is stupid, and the competent ones (i.e. those who have marketable skills outside the government) are the first ones to leave. 

   Log in to Reply

4. Our Energy Path – Learning From Others

   Let's check in on others who are further down the path we're headed

   Log in to Reply

5. Who kissed whose ass here? Has anybody figured that out? (pardon the awful grammar,please)

   Log in to Reply