Elect a Clown, Expect the Circus

Botch

Yup, that was it; thanks guys!  

Braggart

lousubcap said:

The GWN is rightfully pushing back- @Canugghead, @GrateEggspectations, @paqman , @zaphod, @GlennM and many more that I have failed acknowledge-
Canadians support using oil as a weapon against America if Trump follows through on his trade war against the US’s northern neighbor. According to a new poll, there is strong nationwide support for putting export taxes on oil shipments if needed to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs. Overall, 82% of Canadians would be in favor of raising the price on oil exports to the US if Trump tries to put levies on Canadian goods but exempts oil. While export taxes on energy have been considered politically divisive in Canada, the robust backing shows the level of anger among the Canadian public over the 78-year-old Republican’s repeated threats.

"Most" Canadians support using oil as a weapon...

Here in Alberta, the region where the oil is produced and overwhelmingly looked down on by the rest of the country, we have alternate views.  Using oil as a weapon would only serve to kneecap Alberta's entire economy, which seems to be a matter of convenience for our current federal govmnt.

Imagine living in a place where the federal govmnt has done everything in their power to cripple and disable your main industry while blatantly benefiting by removing the proceeds of said industry for the betterment of their voting base in other regions, the very regions that refuse to allow said industry to move their products across their borders.

Google "equalization payments" in Canada to better understand Alberta's pet peeve.

Now that oil and energy seem to be rather important as a lever of trade, the feds and the rest of Canada recognize how important it is for national security.  Of course when the winds of trade once again become less hostile (more favourable?) oil and energy will once again be looked down on and the rest of Canada will roast their golden goose.

Bitter much?  We (Albertans) are and have a long history of reasons to be.

zaphod

Oil certainly has an ... interesting ... social, economic, and political history in Canada.  Weirdness is the rule.

For example, here in BC we pay the highest gas prices in North America even though we produce crude (113.2 thousand barrels per day). We just have no refineries. So all the oil gets to coast, then down to refineries in the States and then back to us.  Refinery maintenance season means pump prices go up. Refinery fire in SanFran last week meant pump prices here went up. A butterfly flapped it's wings and the effect is our pump prices go up.

Alberta certainly has it's own history, as do the off-shore Atlantic oil rigs off the Newfoundland shore. It is an ongoing sore point for many people, for many years.

lousubcap

This week gas prices where I am (in flyover country) jumped 35¢/ US gallon.  There is so much at play with gas prices...

DoubleEgger

Legume

"I'm not racist, I just like their policies"

JohnInCarolina

Legume said:

"I'm not racist, I just like their policies"

“I’m not a racist, but the good guys lost in Django”

DoubleEgger

That worm must have eaten the part of his brain that controls fiscal responsibility. 

Kennedy’s credit card balances range between $610,000 and $1.2 million in accounts that carry interest rates of 23.24% to 23.49%, the filing shows.

Legume

WTF

Buckwoody Egger

DoubleEgger said:

That worm must have eaten the part of his brain that controls fiscal responsibility. 

Kennedy’s credit card balances range between $610,000 and $1.2 million in accounts that carry interest rates of 23.24% to 23.49%, the filing shows.

wowzers

could definitely be motivation for a narcissistic or desperate person to lie and do whatever to get some money

i can imagine someone out there in magaland would say that debt makes him relatable.  probably saying something logic bending like “see, he’s just like the rest of us but he has more debt because he’s rich”

didn’t someone else recently make deals with all sorts of devils to get elected and stay out of jail?

Botch

Buckwoody Egger said:
could definitely be motivation for a narcissistic or desperate person to lie and do whatever to get some money.

didn’t someone else recently make deals with all sorts of devils to get elected and stay out of jail?

One thing the DoD checks very carefully before granting Security clearances is the employee's financial records, for that exact reason.  This is very frightening wrt not just jfkjr.  

JohnInCarolina

DoubleEgger

Buckwoody Egger said:

DoubleEgger said:

That worm must have eaten the part of his brain that controls fiscal responsibility. 

Kennedy’s credit card balances range between $610,000 and $1.2 million in accounts that carry interest rates of 23.24% to 23.49%, the filing shows.

wowzers

could definitely be motivation for a narcissistic or desperate person to lie and do whatever to get some money

i can imagine someone out there in magaland would say that debt makes him relatable.  probably saying something logic bending like “see, he’s just like the rest of us but he has more debt because he’s rich”

didn’t someone else recently make deals with all sorts of devils to get elected and stay out of jail?

Apparently he is worth $30M so he has the means to pay it off. The fact that he pays that much in interest shows you how fat that brain worm got. 

Buckwoody Egger

DoubleEgger said:

Apparently he is worth $30M so he has the means to pay it off. The fact that he pays that much in interest shows you how fat that brain worm got. 

i hereby officially thank him for his contribution to the margins of the credit card firms. the more they make off of him subsidizes all the cash back incentives for the folks that pay off their card every month. 

JohnInCarolina

Only the best people, version 2.0

JohnInCarolina

DoubleEgger

Did Trump stop everyone from eating the dogs and cats in Ohio? 

lousubcap

Post weekend Clown Show summary:

"President Trump on Friday announced he was revoking the security clearances of former President Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he was also barring these and other lawyers from entering federal buildings. Matt Viser reports for the Washington Post; Miranda Devine reports.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday indicated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers have access to her agency’s data, including to the personal information of federal aid recipients. Noem said the access was “authorized” by Trump. Aileen Graef and Veronica Stracqualursi report for CNN.

Elon Musk on Friday announced he will rehire Marko Elez, a DOGE staffer who resigned over ties to a social media account advocating for racism and eugenics. Patrick Svitek reports for the Washington Post.

Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old DOGE staffer, has been previously fired from a cybersecurity internship over leaking internal information to competitors, according to a message seen by Bloomberg News. Jason Leopold, Margi Murphy, Sophie Alexander, Jake Bleiberg, and Anthony Cormier report.

The Treasury Department was warned last week that DOGE’s access to the federal payment network represents an “unprecedented insider threat risk,”according to internal emails reviewed by WIRED. Vittoria Elliott and Leah Feiger report.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance can discuss ongoing criminal and civil cases with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputies under the Trump administration’s new rules on White House-Justice Department communications, according to a memo seen by the Washington Post. Perry Stein and Jeff Stein report. 

The Trump administration personnel are questioning candidates for top national security positions on whether the 2020 was “stolen” and whether the Jan. 6 riot was “an inside job,” sources say. Ellen Nakashima and Warren P. Strobel report for the Washington Post.

The Trump administration has appointed Tom Krause, who has been leading DOGE’s review of federal payments, to perform the duties of Fiscal Assistant Secretary, a Treasury Department position previously held by David Lebryk. Michael Stratford reports for POLITICO.

Trump on Friday dismissed the head of the National Archives, Colleen Shogan, on Friday, according to White House Director of Presidential Personnel Sergio Gor. Raquel Coronell Uribe reports for NBC News.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the weekend instructed its employees to halt nearly all their work and work remotely “unless instructed otherwise.” Trump on Friday appointed Russel Vought, a Project 2025 architect and Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to be the Bureau’s acting Director. Colby Itkowitz, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Sarah Ellison, and Patrick Marley report for the Washington Post.

The Trump administration is moving forward with a plan to restart the detentions of migrant families in private prisons, a move that could result in arrests of children, sources say. Julia Ainsley reports for NBC News.

The Trump administration on Friday doubled the number of news organizations evicted from their Pentagon offices, rotating CNN, The Washington Post, the Hill, and War Zone out in favour of Newsmax, the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller, and the Free Press. David Bauder reports for AP News."

JohnInCarolina

I think we are at that constitutional crisis point.  If this isn’t it, it’s certainly a harbinger of what’s to come:

lousubcap

"The president insists he’d like to annex at least one sovereign country during his second term, and it’s starting to look like he prefers America’s treaty ally Canada. The president spoke with Fox personality Bret Baier in a seven-minute interview recorded Saturday at Mar-a-Lago and which aired just before the Super Bowl. 

 Baier asked if Trump’s desire for Canada to become the 51st state of the U.S. is “a real thing,” as Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly told a private meeting of business professionals last week. The U.S. president replied, “Yeah, it is. I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $250 billion a year with Canada and I’m not gonna let that happen,” he said. “It’s too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially, in subsidies to Canada? Now if they’re a 51st state, I don’t mind doing it,” he said. 

 Fact check: Trump is wrong about those alleged subsidies to Canada. It’s not $250 billion; not even close. “The U.S. trade deficit in goods with Canada was about $63 billion in 2024,” PolitiFact reports, and clarifies, “The overall trade deficit with Canada falls to about $41 billion when factoring in a U.S. surplus in services.”

 And for the record, “A trade deficit is not a subsidy,” PolitiFact notes. “Rather, the money going from the U.S. to Canada is to buy goods and services with a monetary value,” they add."

I did not listen to CHEETO!! BTW CHEETO makes Nixon look like a saint!

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap

Tuesday Clown Show summary:

"Trump yesterday pardoned former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, whose 2011 corruption conviction included a charge of attempting to sell former President Obama’s vacated Senate seat. Niha Masih reports for the Washington Post.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove yesterday instructed the Justice Department to drop the corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, claiming the indictment limited Adams’ ability to cooperate in the immigration crackdown and that it could interfere with the mayoral primaries. William K. Rashbaum, Dana Rubinstein, Glenn Thrush, Michael Rothfeld, and Jonah E. Bromwich report for the New York Times.

Trump removed the Office of Government Ethics Director, David Huitema, from his post, the agency said. Myah Ward reports for POLITICO.

Seventeen Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency employees working on U.S. elections security have been placed on administrative leave pending review in recent days, a source said. Christina A. Cassidy reports for AP News.

The Homeland Security Department has asked the Treasury Department to deputize some of its law enforcement workers to assist in immigration enforcement, a document viewed by the Wall Street Journal shows. Tarini Parti and Richard Rubin report.

A 19-year-old DOGE staffer’s posting to new State Department and Homeland Security senior advisor roles has raised concerns about his access to sensitive information, U.S. officials say. Faiz Siddiqui, John Hudson, and Isaac Stanley-Becker report for the Washington Post.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yesterday he is renaming Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Roland L. Bragg. Before a 2023 change, the base’s name honored the Confederate general Braxton Bragg. John Ismay reports for the New York Times.

The U.S. Army will no longer allow transgender people to join the military and will stop facilitating gender transition procedures for service members, according to a court memo from Defense Secretary Hegseth. Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart report for Reuters."

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"The United States-Russia relations are “balancing on the brink of breakup,” Moscow’s deputy foreign minister said yesterday. Separately, a Kremlin spokesperson refused to confirm whether Trump and President Vladimir Putin have recently spoken, as Trump claimed. Astha Rajvanshi reports for NBC News.

The U.S. aid freeze has begun impacting efforts to hold Russia responsible for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, according to documents seen by Reuters. Anthony Deutsch and Dan Peleschuk report.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defence units intercepted and destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones overnight. Seven were downed over Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, while the rest were destroyed in the country’s southern and western regions, the ministry said.

The Ukrainian military said it shot down 61 out of 83 drones launched by Russia overnight, while just more than 20 of the unmanned aerial vehicles failed to reach their targets, the military added.

Russian state news agency RIA quoted the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying that Moscow had not received any satisfactory proposals to start a ceasefire conversation with Ukraine."

WildmanWilson

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1972138119936066?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

Sounds familiar 

Legume

The party of law and order 

WildmanWilson

 Trump: I am cutting wasteful spending by our Government. 

Democrats: IMPEACH HIM! We told you that Trump would be a dictator on day 1!! 

Elon: We are $36T in debt, let’s find ways to cut Government spending. 

Democrats: NO ONE VOTED FOR ELON MUSK! 

RFK Jr.: I want to make America Healthy Again! 

Democrats: WHAT!?! Noooo!!! You can’t do that!!

Trump: I will be putting a 25% Tariff on Mexico and Canada for refusing to work with America to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs coming into our Country. 

Democrats: WTF!! Americans will now have to pay higher prices for Avocados and Coronas. 

Tulsi: We should discuss the U.S. DoD funded bio labs in Ukraine. 

Democrats: OH!! HELL NO! Tulsi is Putin’s puppet!! 

Trump: I am deporting criminals who are in our Country illegally.

Democrats: Ummm?!?! Who will to pick our crops????

RFK Jr.: I want to put an end to the rise of Chronic Diseases in children.

Democrats: Hey, dummy…that is literally Big Pharmas job!! 

Trump: We should look into ending all Federal Income taxes. 

Democrats: WTF!! What about egg prices?!?

Elon: We should investigate how members of Congress making low end 6-figure salaries become multi-millionaires. 

Democrats: PANIC!! Billionaire Musk will have access to your home address and social security number! 

Trump: I want to move forward with eliminating Federal Income Taxes on Overtime & Social Security.

Democrats: AHHH!!! YOU ARE LITERAL HITLER! 

Hegseth: We shouldn’t spend billions protecting foreign borders, while completely ignoring our own.

Democrats: WHAT ABOUT EGG PRICES?!?

RFK Jr.: We need to ban toxic dyes and bring awareness to the negative impacts on Fluoride in our water. 

Democrats: SOMEONE, STOP HIM!! He is a crazy conspiracy theorist!!! 

Trump: I am protecting women sports by signing an Executive Order to ban biological males from biological females sports. 

Democrats: HORRIBLE!!! Only evil people would do such awful things to transgender women!!!

Elon: Should we audit the IRS next?

Democrats: The Rocket Scientist is, like, the dumbest billionaire, like, ever!!"

lousubcap

Wednesday Clown Show summary:

"Trump yesterday signed an executive order empowering DOGE to oversee the federal government hiring process and directing agency officials to prepare “large scale” cuts to the federal workforce (including that “each agency hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart,” with caveats for national security and public safety). Theodore Schleifer and Madeleine Ngo report for the New York Times.

Trump on Monday ordered a pause in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law aimed at curbing corruption in multinational companies, claiming it has been “abused” and impeded foreign policy objectives. Isabella Kwai reports for the New York Times.

Trump yesterday fired the Federal Labor Relations Authority Chair, Susan Tsui Grundmann, a White House official said. The firing appears to violate federal laws that protect the agency’s board from removal, reports Lauren Kaori Gurley for the Washington Post.

A 25-year-old DOGE staffer was “mistakenly” and “briefly” given permissions to control the Treasury payments system, court records released yesterday show. According to affidavits by Treasury Department officials, the staffer did not modify the databases before the permissions were corrected. Michael Stratford and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.

The FBI has gathered a list of 3,600 probationary employees as part of the Trump administration’s drive to size down the federal workforce, potentially paving the way for dismissals, sources say. Devlin Barrett reports for the New York Times.

Two top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have been demoted amid growing frustration with the pace of immigration crackdown efforts among Trump officials, sources say. Nick Miroff reports for the Washington Post.

The Office of Personnel Management has submitted draft regulations that would make it easier for federal agencies to fire officials who push back against “the elected President’s agenda,” according to documents obtained by POLITICO yesterday. Nick Niedzwiadek and Alfred Ng report.

Elon Musk’s financial disclosure reports will not be publicly released, a White House official said yesterday. The source also indicated Musk received an ethics training this week. Theodore Schleifer and Eric Lipton report for the New York Times.

The White House yesterday barred the Associated Press from covering an Oval Office event over the organization’s decision to not use the “Gulf of America” name in its coverage, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace said.

Trump yesterday named several nominees to financial regulatory posts and named the members of his intelligence advisory board. Michael Stratford, Declan Harty, and Katy O’Donnell report for POLITICO; Praveena Somasundaram reports for the Washington Post."

JohnInCarolina

JohnInCarolina

fishlessman

you cant make an omelette without breaking a few eggs