What he thought and realized, and when, is more than I know, and more than you know. We do not know that he was mistakenly invited: how does that happen in a top-secret meeting? He was apparently identified as well as anyone else. I suppose he was silent. But how is he eavesdropping? Please make that clear? In a meeting so constituted, attendees are supposed to listen, and what is the expectation of privacy? (Ans.: zero.) And how is he to know that he is not supposed to be there? Maybe he was exactly and precisely supposed to be there.

If you had read the article you’d have a better understanding, because Goldberg describes his thoughts.

I know nothing personal about the Atlantic editor, beyond what I have seen of him and read. But he appears to be an honest and honorable man in a job that requires both, but you calumnize him in favour of people we know are vicious, mean, and contemptible. Why?

He’s the same guy who lied about the suckers and losers hoax, the Iraq war, and Russiagate. In this particular story he lied about the CIA operative, when in fact it was Ratcliffe’s chief of staff. A real honest and honorable man.

The so-called checks and balances are working just fine, if you can’t tell by the various injunctions and rulings, and any “subverting constitutional norms and safeguards” will be ironed out in court, the way it always has been. — NOS4A2

Musk's actions speak louder than words. He knows how to come across in interviews. As for 'ironed out in Court', Trump and Musk have already crashed through the guardrails on multiple occasions, a deliberate strategy crafted by Stephen Miller to 'flood the zone', knowing that the judicial system wouldn't be able to keep pace with the scale and rate of Trump's orders. There are now more than 30 legal challenges to Trump executive orders, but even if some are found illegal much of the damage may not be easily remedied. And, not co-incidentally, Musk is campaigning for the impeachment of 'activist judges', those being any judges who have the temerity to stand in the way of Trump's juggernaut - something which even the purportedly Trump-friendly Supreme Court has issued a warning on.

As regards the USAID and Foreign Aid, regardless of whether there was wastage and fraud, those funds that were held back had already been approved by Congress, and Foreign Aid in particular is scrutinized by no less that four congressional committees. If Congress hadn't been completely cowed by Trump, there's no way he and Musk could have perpertrated these outrages which are indubitably going to affect many millions of people in the developing world and beyond. "World's Richest Man Sets Records for Misanthropy" would be an appropriate headline.

He (Goldberg) was mistakenly invited and stayed, silently, eavesdropping, long past the time he realized he was not supposed to be there. — NOS4A2

Classic victim-blaming. At first, Goldberg didn't know if it was a scam, and didn't really know until the actual action sequences that Hegseth posted. And - he's a journalist! He did what any journalist would do, and did it entirely responsibly. At first, he only posted that he'd been included - it wasn't until he was accused of being a 'bottom feeder' and liar that he posted the entire chain, which, in any case, MAGA was saying was not classified information (another lie on their part.)

The whole thing is a sorry saga and a complete indictement of the amateurish nature of the MAGA administration. There are many vignettes of Hegseth stridently demanding that Hillary Clinton be prosecuted for a far less serious offence than what he did. In any normal administration, he would have been dismissed on the spot.

I know nothing personal about the Atlantic editor, beyond what I have seen of him and read. — tim wood

Here's a profile (gift link). He's a serious journalist, and The Atlantic is a highly-respected magazine, founded 1857 by Ralph Waldo Emerson and others, and now being published successfully with financial backing from Laurene Powell Jobs.

Listened to JD Vance's speech in Greenland.

To me it seems like an acknowledgement that the delusions of Trump of annexing Greenland are in fact truly what they have seemed to be: totally delusional fantasies. And now the message from JD Vance is that "Denmark hasn't done enough for the defense of Greenland" and that "Greenlanders, if they choose sovereignty, should come closer to the US".

OK, let's just think this through.

For starters, if Greenlanders opt for sovereignty, that means that they aren't going to be part of the US. And what Denmark can say is the following: "We hear you loud and clear, we will put more to the defense of Greenland". And that's it. They'll put more resources to defend Greenland. What can the US say if a) Greenlanders don't want to be part of the US and b) Denmark reinforces the defense of Greenland?



Nothing.

As there is not even an Astroturf movement in the US for annexing Greenland, so this is a nonissue after what JD Vance said. Just one of those brainfarts of Trump, which he won't let to be. The US could perhaps engage the Greenlanders on having sovereingty, but that doesn't make sense. They could easily do the same thing with Denmark and the end result is that Greenland won't be a part of the US. If it's either independent or part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

So here the promise from the Inaugural address of Trump won't happen: that the territory of the US will become larger.

It still might happen in Panama.

Musk's actions speak louder than words. He knows how to come across in interviews. As for 'ironed out in Court', Trump and Musk have already crashed through the guardrails on multiple occasions, a deliberate strategy crafted by Stephen Miller to 'flood the zone', knowing that the judicial system wouldn't be able to keep pace with the scale and rate of Trump's orders. There are now more than 30 legal challenges to Trump executive orders, but even if some are found illegal much of the damage may not be easily remedied. And, not co-incidentally, Musk is campaigning for the impeachment of 'activist judges', those being any judges who have the temerity to stand in the way of Trump's juggernaut - something which even the purportedly Trump-friendly Supreme Court has issued a warning on.

As regards the USAID and Foreign Aid, regardless of whether there was wastage and fraud, those funds that were held back had already been approved by Congress, and Foreign Aid in particular is scrutinized by no less that four congressional committees. If Congress hadn't been completely cowed by Trump, there's no way he and Musk could have perpertrated these outrages which are indubitably going to affect many millions of people in the developing world and beyond. "World's Richest Man Sets Records for Misanthropy."

It doesn’t matter if the funds had been approved by Congress, and certainly no one in Congress approved of waste and fraud. It is the executive branch that gets to decide the contracts and the staffing. They’re just not allowed to sit on congressional funds, and will have to use it appropriately. This was the ruling of the court, as well. So it’s already been settled.

Today, an appeals court overturned a lower court’s ruling that the dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional, because all cuts are approved by government officials, not DOGE, not Elon Musk, not Congress.

If Musk’s actions speak louder than words, then maybe we shouldn’t focus on his words, and focus on his (and DOGE’s) actions. The waste and fraud already removed has been extraordinary, and if they can balance the budget it might just save the government from insolvency, and people can continue to get proper aid.

It doesn’t matter if the funds had been approved by Congress — NOS4A2

It does. It is illegal. And no evidence of the alleged waste and fraud is ever presented beyond wild internet memes about millions of condoms for Gaza and the like. It’s all just rhetoric used to justify egregious behavior. All of DOGE’s boasts about how much money has been saved have been debunked.

if they can balance the budget... — NOS4A2

Another myth! Trump has no interest in balancing the budget, and none of what Congress is proposing will achieve that end. Trump's proposal to cut taxes will far offset the amounts being saved by Musk's chainsaw, which will hardly make a dent in the overall financial situation.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/06/nx-s1-5318072/how-much-money-has-doge-saved-budget-deficit-congress

https://wapo.st/42lkKbL

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksargen/2025/02/21/federal-spending-cuts-the-math-to-lower-deficits-doesnt-add-up/

mandatory programs account for 60% of total outlays. When net interest payments and defense spending are included, the amount of nondefense discretionary spending is only about 15% of total outlays). In 2024, this category totaled about $1 trillion. ....

...it is important to realize that improved government efficiency will not be sufficient to put the federal budget on sound footing. In fact, the plan House Republicans are putting forth would add $2.8 trillion or more to public debt over the next 10 years according to the Committee for a Responsible Budget. The assessment of the Cato Institute, which favors limited government, is that the House budget “pairs wishful thinking with modest fiscal restraints.”

One of the main impediments to deficit reduction is that an extension of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act would reduce federal revenues by an estimated $4.5 trillion over 10 years. And this tally will balloon to nearly $8 trillion if tax cuts that Trump proposed during the presidential campaign for Social Security, tips, overtime work and other items are included.

The idea that DOGE is going to 'balance the budget' by indiscriminate cuts is a myth. Most of the cuts are ideological, driven by Trump's animus towards 'the deep state' (read: the state).

It is the executive branch that gets to decide the contracts and the staffing — NOS4A2

Within the limits marked out by the Legislature. Not all contracts are equally supported by law.

e’s the same guy who lied about the suckers and losers hoax, the Iraq war, and Russiagate. In this particular story he lied about the CIA operative, when in fact it was Ratcliffe’s chief of staff. A real honest and honorable man. — NOS4A2

Same old same old. I heard him denigrate John McCain's military service - as a loser. I don't get your reference to the Iraq war. And Russiagate has never gone away; it's only a question of how much he's in bed with Putin. And what was his lie about the CIA operative? You deal in pronouncements, not facts; your mendacity is disgraceful. Try dealing in facts.

It does. It is illegal. And no evidence of the alleged waste and fraud is ever presented beyond wild internet memes about millions of condoms for Gaza and the like. It’s all just rhetoric used to justify egregious behavior. All of DOGE’s boasts about how much money has been saved have been debunked.

It might be illegal to you and some Obama-appointed district judge, but not to the Appeals court. And unlike every agency in American history, the official DOGE website posts its work, what it has found, what it has removed. And it has turned out that—if true—everything it has removed is a massive waste of money and spent on causes that contradict the administration’s objectives.

So all this rhetoric about Nazis and oligarchs and threats to democracy, which people use to justify terrorizing others and brandish swastikas—actual, not imagined, egregious behavior—is complete hokum.

Another myth! Trump has no interest in balancing the budget, and none of what Congress is proposing will achieve that end. Trump's proposal to cut taxes will far offset the amounts being saved by Musk's chainsaw, which will hardly make a dent in the overall financial situation.

Trump has repeatedly claimed he wishes to balance the budget, so claiming he has no interest in it is false on its face. And to be sure, Musk used the metaphor of a scalpel, measuring thrice cutting once when approaching the cuts. So the image of a chainsaw wielding Musk is just that, an image, not any reflection of the reality of what is occurring.

The idea that DOGE is going to 'balance the budget' by indiscriminate cuts is a myth. Most of the cuts are ideological, driven by Trump's animus towards 'the deep state' (read: the state).

Musk basically said the proof is in the pudding, and that we can check back in by the end if he was right or wrong. So it’s not a myth because it hasn’t happened yet. It’s an effort towards a goal, at worst, a laudable and perhaps necessary one. And these mischaracterizations and conspiracy theories only serve to distort the truth.

Same old same old. I heard him denigrate John McCain's military service - as a loser. I don't get your reference to the Iraq war. And Russiagate has never gone away; it's only a question of how much he's in bed with Putin. And what was his lie about the CIA operative? You deal in pronouncements, not facts; your mendacity is disgraceful. Try dealing in facts.

I pronounced the fact he said what he said. It’s in the article the author wrote. You’re just ignorant of that fact, and ironically you had learn about these things from me.

As there is not even an Astroturf movement in the US for annexing Greenland, so this is a nonissue after what JD Vance said. Just one of those brainfarts of Trump, which he won't let to be.

I watched Trump reiterate his desire to have Greenland yesterday. He looked like a deflated balloon, with a glazed look in his eyes as he said the words. I suspected someone has told him it’s not going to happen.

I suspected someone has told him it’s not going to happen. — Punshhh

In polls, 70% of Americans don't want to annex Greenland and 84% of Greenlanders don't want to join the US. Notice that even our own MAGA-follower here hasn't come to defend Trump's great ideas of annexing Greenland tells how the MAGA people think about this subject. It's not what they voted for Trump to do and spend time on.

How delusional can this get?

JD Vance put up his best effort to portray this enormous brainfart as being something logical. Yet that US officials went house to house looking for someone that JD and Usha could visit, and nobody would welcome them, tells what a disaster this has been. And the Greenlandic travel agency, Tupilak Travel, that at first agreed to host the couple, issued the following statement:

“When the American consulate called yesterday to ask if the wife of the U.S. Vice President, Usha Vance, could visit our store on Friday, we replied that she was welcome. After all, everyone is welcome in our store.

“However, upon further consideration, we have now informed the consulate that we do not wish to host her visit, as we cannot accept the underlying agenda and do not want to be part of the media spectacle that will inevitably follow,” it read.

“No thanks to [a] nice visit… Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,”

So Vance avoided a really nasty photo-op with frightened and angry Greenlanders demonstrating against the couple. Because last time when Trump's son was in town, the whole visit came as a surprise and the local drunks from a bar happily joined a photo op.

This actually simply shows the bizarre ineptness of the Trump White House.

Trump comes up with these brainfarts and the people closest to him, his own family members and the vice president, try to do something about it. Does he somehow use his State Department or the CIA to organize a scheme to get Greenlanders on his side? No. Trump is genuinely interested in the American flag flying over Nuuk, not Greenland to be an independent state with very close ties to the US, which would be something even more an irritant to Trump as the few Greenlanders could defend their country even less than Iceland can.

Hence this is a non-starter. Unfortunately this isn't the only brainfart that Trump has. His hatred against international trade is even more dangerous.

Speaking of brain-farts, “annexing” is the incorrect term and a conspiracy theory. The proper term in English is “cession”. American offers to buy Greenland have occurred many times and invoking the Monro doctrine has occurred throughout US history. For instance, the US occupied Greenland to protect it from the Nazis, who were occupying Denmark at the time. Given the constant shift towards totalitarianism in Europe at the present moment, perhaps Greenlanders would prefer better company after all.

The waste! The fraud! The abuse! Oh my!

Oh wait— it’s just more exaggerated, delusional bullshit. How shocking.

The latest corruption: Trump has pardoned a campaign donor, who's represented by AG Pam Bondi's brother:

Trump pardons Nikola founder Trevor Milton

Milton and his wife together made contributions last October to President Trump's reelection effort totaling over $1.8 million, federal records show.


CNBC reported that the pardon came two weeks after federal prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos to order Milton to pay restitution of $680 million to Nikola shareholders, and another $15.2 million to Peter Hicks, a victim of his wire fraud.

Because of the pardon, Ramos could not order restitution of any kind.

The proper term in English is “cession”. — NOS4A2

Assuming the Kingdom of Denmark gives away Greenland. If not and Trump takes it anyway, that is an annexation.

Given the constant shift towards totalitarianism in Europe at the present moment — NOS4A2

:snicker:

Perhaps in Hungary, something like that indeed...

The latest corruption: Trump has pardoned a campaign donor, who's represented by AG Pam Bondi's brother:

Trump pardons Nikola founder Trevor Milton

Milton and his wife together made contributions last October to President Trump's reelection effort totaling over $1.8 million, federal records show. — Relativist

This is what Trump's America is.

Make American Good Again

Is this what it means to “make America great again”?

Does a great nation spurn loyal allies and genuflect before tyrants? Does it seek to swell its size and wealth while cutting lifelines to those sick and starving abroad? Would a great nation embrace oligarchs, both domestic and foreign, while belittling and mistreating the most vulnerable? Would it hunt down homeless migrants and ship them without due process to foreign hellholes? Would it exalt kissing up while kicking down? Would it toss friends to wolves?

America’s true greatness always has stood on its goodness. Yes, we have sinned, often grotesquely — with centuries of slavery, Indian genocide, land theft and foreign invasions. The Vietnam and Iraq wars stain our national conscience, as do Jim Crow, segregation and Japanese internment. But when we have sinned, we also have repented, even if grudgingly and late.

When instead we have done good, we have shown our true greatness. By rebuilding Europe with the Marshall Plan; by enabling a dignified and healthy old age with Social Security and Medicare; by lifting barriers to the polls with the Voting Rights Act; by opening our doors to those of all colors and creeds who seek only to build a better life for their children. And, yes, by showing empathy toward the suffering and shunned.

Being good in all these ways has not made us chumps. We can be at once both generous and self-interested. Our soft power abroad draws on our most generous and noble acts and traditions. Our moral capital has won us tangible capital in both trade and military alliances. Holding true to our democratic traditions has drawn to our side the world’s wealthiest and most powerful democracies.

Why on earth would we scorn the friendship of Canada, the EU, Japan and South Korea for the meager recompense of Russia’s battered economy and beleaguered military? Why would we betray Ukraine, which has stood bravely against aggression?

Nor does being good mean being weak. Our military might empowers us to defend our ideals while supporting others who adhere to those same ideals. But being mighty is not an end in itself. Nor is being vast or rich. If we seize Greenland, Gaza or the Panama Canal, or bring our friends to their knees with massive tariffs, we may make ourselves richer in material terms even as we forsake our highest ideals.

Those ideals, the true roots of our strength, have made America good. And only by being good again can we be truly great. — George Fisher, The Hill

This is video of the chilling arrest by plain-clothes ICE operatives, of Rumeysa Ozturk, 30 y.o. PhD student at Tufts University, ostensibly on the grounds of her expression of pro-palestinian support. She was driven several hours then flown to an ICE facility in Louisiana for deportation. Her arrest has been challenged in court and her deportation has been stopped pending appeal.

Hmm

A secretary can invite anyone to meetings with visiting counterparts, but attendee lists are usually carefully limited to those who need to be there and attendees are typically expected to possess security clearances given the delicate nature of the discussions, according to defense officials and people familiar with the meeting. There is often security near the meeting space to keep away uninvited attendees. — Hegseth Brought His Wife to Sensitive Meetings With Foreign Military Officials · WSJ · Mar 28, 2025

Trump officials will screen NIH funding opportunities
^{— Sara Reardon, Jon Cohen, Jocelyn Kaiser · Science/AAAS · Mar 26, 2025}

Less and less separation, independence, ... Political imposition, scientific grants to align with government messaging, ... Creepy.

With RFK providing guidance on the importance of fresh air and sunshine

Following up on Sheremeta's comments posted Mar 28, 2025:

• Intimidate/threaten to gain power:
  Examples include Brad Raffensperger, Russell Bowers, Gabriel Sterling.
  Paramilitary or radical groups ready to help him?
• Consolidate power:
  He ditched JAG; there are other examples.
  Going by Project 2025? The Heritage Foundation?
• Establish police state:
  Raids, camps, deportations (crime is actually down).
  Insurrection Act? Jan 6 pardons?
• Constrain opposition:
  Overhaul of the Department of Justice and the FBI.
  Investigate/discredit district attorneys.
• Undermine free press:
  He's been saying "Fake news" for years.
  MSNBC, AP, Reuters have been hit.
  Many of his followers now just trust him.
  (By the way, he's also said "Rigged election" for years.)

Seems doubtful that he could come up with his moves by himself.
Anyway, I guess we'll see. (Though hopefully not.)

Another grifter buys his way out of jail by gifting Trump

Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola who was sentenced to prison last year, was pardoned by Donald Trump late on Thursday, the White House confirmed on Friday.

The pardon of Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating the potential of his technology, could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution that prosecutors were seeking for defrauded investors.

Milton and his wife donated more than $1.8m to a Trump re-election campaign fund less than a month before the November election, according to the Federal Election Commission. — TheGuardian

For a forensic analysis of Milton’s grift, see this episode of Cold Fusion TV. Basically he claimed to have invented a feasible electric freighter when he had no such thing, and staged outrageously fraudulent video demonstrations to fleece investors of billions. He’d be a viable candidate for the Trump cabinet in future, one would think.

And it has turned out that—if true—everything it has removed... — NOS4A2

The track record indicates an extremely low probability of truth, so this statement is meaningless.

Nosferatu is a vampire.

[/quote] Nosferatu is a vampire[/quote]

A work of fiction, I understand.

I just watched another news story of an unhinged Tesla terrorist casing an owner’s house in the dead of night and slashing every tire. This is the first time I’ve seen one smart enough to cover the cameras before engaging in the activity, but of course the owner had a camera on his door and captured the entire act.

This particular act wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment meltdown of the mentally ill, as usually is the case, but the use of a mask and duct tape suggest some level of planning, so the owner guesses it was probably a neighbor or someone who followed him home.

The continued escalation of this brand of terrorism, now common to the fringes of the anti-Musk cult, will eventually come to murder or retaliation.

The continued escalation of this brand of terrorism, now common to the fringes of the anti-Musk cult, will eventually come to murder or retaliation. — NOS4A2

And the cause of which is? Not to defend obvious crimes, but cause has a broader significance. Think of it as a kind of tea party - if not especially well-guided or thought out.

But what do you think will happen if Musk-Trump stop (US) social security?

I don’t know what causes one to engage in political violence against innocent people and their property. I am unable to project myself into that state of mind. There was another video I watched where a woman was driving in a cybertruck and she was boxed in by another car, after which the driver got out and physically attacked her. She claimed to have bitten him to fight him off. These sorts of attacks are now commonplace.

One part hatred, one part mental illness, maybe. Who knows?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the poor Tesla owners and Musk.

Funny how every nutjob killing kids at a school shooting or if they go postal is a lone gun man. But these are terrorists.

I also pray for our local useful idiots that someday their one braincell will finally be triggered into cleavage.

if they can balance the budget it might just save the government from insolvency — NOS4A2

@NOS4A2 again high on something or dreaming. The budget won't be balanced, not for a long time.

Last year the federal government spent $6.75 trillion and spent far more than it collected, thus the deficit for 2024 was $1.83 trillion. That's 27%, more than one quarter of every dollar that the US spends. Social Security, Health care, defense and the interest on the debt took over three quarters of every dollar spent.

And then there's the accumulated debt and the interest on the debt, which is now a bigger cost than defense spending in the US even with the low interest rates, now averaging about 3,3% for the debt that the US holds:

Net interest has been exploding over the past few years, with payments rising from $223 billion in 2015 to $345 billion in 2020 before nearly tripling to $881 billion in 2024. In 2025, CBO projects net interest will total $952 billion, a near-record 3.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and interest will eclipse its record as a share of the economy in 2026.

And how volatile this might be, think that 3,3% is quite low in historical perspective:

It could easily be double of this, and that 6% would be a real difficulty.

So just think about that in balancing the budget. Good luck finding well over one trillion in "waste". And notice the effect that such decrease in spending will have in the economy. So balancing the budget is in my view, a fantasy now.

Then there's the Trump tax cuts: "Extending the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) would decrease federal tax revenue by $4.5 trillion from 2025 through 2034. The House budget resolution allows a $4.5 trillion increase in the deficit from tax cuts over the next decade so long as spending is cut by $1.7 trillion."

Sorry, but there's only one way this will end sooner or later. With a dollar crisis. Or then you can use that hefty inflation and use the inflation tax. Or then you can just default.