Dear Everybody:
The biggest news today was the ruling by the 13th Circuit Court of Appeals that Alina Habba was not legally appointed US Attorney and that therefore she has been acting illegally in that capacity, just like Lindsey Halligan. (Unlike Halligan, some of Habba’s cases may not have to be dismissed because other lawyers signed onto the legal papers.)
The other big news continues to be the ever-increasing scandal involving the killing of two people who survived one of Hegseth’s boat attacks and who were clinging to the wreckage when he ordered them blown out of the water:
--More and more legal experts are weighing in, saying that this killing was a war crime and/or straight-out murder under international treaties we have signed and that it is punishable by international tribunals we have agreed to."
--The video clearly shows the boat being blown up and then a second attack.
--Both Armed Services committees in Congress say it requested specific information on those strikes many weeks ago, but the Pentagon and the White House both refused to turn over any information and/or the video.
--The Pentagon’s official manual says in its section on the rule of law, says in Section 5.9 that persons placed "hors de combat" may not be made an object of attack. It defines "hors de combat" to include "persons otherwise incapacitated by" several things, including "shipwreck."
--The manual cites a case involving the sinking of the hospital ship Llandowery Castle and then killing the people in the lifeboats: "In the present instance, it was perfectly clear to the accused that killing defenseless people in the lifeboats would be nothing else but a breach of the law. As naval officers by profession, they are well aware" of this.
--The conservative National Review’s headline was "Hegseth’s ‘We intended the strike to be lethal’ is not a defense."
--Trump’s only defense of Hegseth is the claim that he didn’t order it: "I don’t know what happened and Pete said he didn’t even know what people are talking about."
--Trump then threw Hegseth under the bus, saying, "I wouldn’t have wanted a second attack. The first strike was lethal. It was fine." (Unfortunately, this pretty much convicts Trump, too.)
--Ron Filipkowski: "Basically Trump’s defense on the double strike boat murder is that it didn’t happen, but if it did, it was all Hegseth."
--Meanwhile, Hegseth continues to double down. No, wait, first he called it fake news. Then when he realized the video was already out there, he doubled down. He posted, "Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them," and then posted an AI-altered cover of a children’s book with a drawing of a turtle in full battle gear shooting at people in boats and the title, "Franklin Targets Narco-Terrorists."
--And the Republicans are right there with Hegseth. GOP Rep Scott Fitzgerald said about the strikes, "If you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound."
--GOP Senator Markwayne Mullins: "Why do we care if we take them out in international waters?"
--The rumor is that the six lawmakers who released that statement on soldiers not following illegal orders had seen the video and heard what happened to the two men in the water, and that’s why they felt they had to release the statement.
--Senator Mark Kelly: "If orders are illegal, not only do they not have to follow them, they are legally required NOT to follow them."
--Kelly was on TV and Dana Bash asked, "Do you believe if there was a second strike to eliminate any survivors that it constitutes a war crime? Mark Kelly: "It seems to." Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?" Kelly: "No. Going after survivors in the water is unlawful!"
--An interesting and possibly relevant side note: A US President cannot pardon someone who is being charged with war crimes by the Hague.
The third big story is that Governor Walz went on TV Sunday and called for Trump to release his MRI and his other medical results, saying, "Here we got a guy on Thanksgiving where we spent time with our families, ate, played Yahtzee, the guy is apparently in a room ranting. It’s not normal behavior. It’s not healthy. Has anyone in history ever had an MRI and had no idea what it was for?"
--This led to reporters asking him why he didn’t, and Trump responded: "They were perfect like my phone call where I got impeached." (That answer alone should make you doubt his mental competence.) The reporter then asked, "Can you tell us what they were looking for?" Trump responded, "I have no idea. It was just an MRI. It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it. I got perfect part, which you would be incapable of doing! Good night, everybody! You, too." (Again, the answer doesn’t exactly give you confidence in his mental capacities.)
--Zobear: "If Trump denies they did an MRI of his brain, then it sounds like they did an MRI of his brain."
--Then his press secretary (who always lies) said, "As part of President Trump’s comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health."
--Trump told reporters: "I’ll release the MRI. If you want it released, I’ll release it." He said the results were perfect.
In Epstein news:
--There are hundreds of Bannon-Epstein email exchanges.
--Bannon was staying at Epstein’s house a few months before he was arrested in 2019.
--Bannon worked closely with Epstein on how to spread the influence of far-right networks around the world.
--Bannon and Epstein appear to have played a part in a meeting with Mohammed bin Salman that took place shortly before the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Afterwards, they wrote each other, celebrating the killing and talking about the "sausage grinder" Khashoggi had gone through.
--Steve Banon: "If we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison, myself included."
--Bannon promised to send Epstein "somewhere beyond extradition" in an email.
In Trump’s cabinet news:
--Kash Patel granted waivers to Deputy Director Dan Bongino and two other newly hired senior FBI staff members so that they didn’t have to go through the process of background checks. He also exempting them from passing the polygraphs necessary to get them access to the most sensitive classified information.
--Kash Patel keeps flying to see his girlfriend on government planes and the taxpayer’s dime. He has also assigned her her own Secret Service security detail--also paid by the taxpayers.
--The Senate Republicans are very upset over RFK, Jr.
Josh Harwood: "Trump has assembled a government of the very worst human beings. Bondi, Patel, Miller, Noem, Kennedy, Trump himself--crazy or corrupt or both, lacking character and judgment, doing incalculable harm to our country."
--Candace Lucas: "I’m concerned every single person in Trump’s administration is mentally ill. They should all be locked up."
--Palmer Report: "Hitler’s government was known for petty infighting and treachery, but most of his top operatives and middle and lower echelon workers were terrifyingly cunning and efficient...Paradoxically, one of democracy’s greatest allies right now is the staggering stupidity of Trump and everyone around him. That...might just carry the day for democracy, however temporarily painful it may be."
In Trump Dementia Watch news:
--Trump: "The Radical Left Losers are taking faking ads, not showing REAL polls but rather saying I’m Polling at low levels...those ads should not be allowed to run because they are FAKE!"
--Trump: "I have the best numbers for any president in many years--any president."
--Trump: "You have countries where every Saturday the people go out and they wash their sidewalks in front of their stores or their houses. They scrub they scrub their sidewalks so we aren’t quite at that level yet, I don’t think, Cathy, we’re not quite there yet, but maybe we will. They go out and they scrub. I think it’s so beautiful to hear that and to see those stories, but we’re gonna make it clean."
--Trump: "So beautiful, you ride down those roads, everything should be perfect. You shouldn’t have medians falling down into the roadway. Median, you know, the metal things that are always somebody had a great, a great lobbyist, because I’ve never seen them look good. I’ve been looking at those things with the little? Right? They’re always broken bad, but here they’re really bad."
--Trump to troops: "I’d love to have your job."
--Alix: "Trump’s 2 a.m. meltdowns and dictator cosplay aren’t part of a predetermined strategy--they’re a sign of collapse. A malignant narcissist, weak and unhealthy, colliding with the one thing he can’t escape: DEATH. And his team knows it. Which is why they’re going full-fascist now."
--Heather Cox Richardson: "This is brutal. The final scene of a Narcissist is always a descent into madness."
--Daily Kos: "A collapsing narcissist doesn’t calm down--they become increasingly volatile, reckless, and destructive. The 2 a.m. meltdowns, the dictator fantasies, the increasingly unhinged statements--these aren’t strategic moves. They’re symptoms of moral disintegration.
In STAR WARS news:
--Mark Hamill: "Who could have ever imagined when I played a fictional rebel who joined the Resistance to oppose a criminal Authoritarian and wanna-be-king, it would be happening in real life."
--Astra1965: "Yes, well, your film actually recruited us all to the ANTIFA cause."
--Dean Oberdillah: "We just need to find someone who knows how to blow up the Death Star. Anyone know a person who may have done that?"
--2007Cowalker: "It’s interesting that with their masks, ICE agents dehumanized themselves much more successfully than they’ve dehumanized their visibly suffering victims. ICE might as well be faceless stormtroopers storming the area."
--Wimsey: "I always thought the people who loved these movies would show up in force against the Empire. Thank you for being part of the Resistance!"
--Tracey: "May the force be with us all!"
In historical news:
--Jim O. Novak: "Note: Adolf Hitler first blamed the Jews, the socialists, the commies for Germany’s failures. Later it was incompetent, cowardly generals. By the end, the German people were at fault. Never did Adolf accept any responsibility for anything--despite having literally absolute control for over a decade."
In other news:
--Trump’s people are talking about the answer being high deductibles. They are also talking about having people shop around for the best deal on specific medical procedures, like hip replacements.
--In Louisiana, the ex-Speaker of the House is charged with stealing a piece of historic cypress, taken from a 1300-year-old tree in the bayous, from the state capitol building. The cypress is worth $25,000 and was last scene in the Speaker’s office in Gonzales, Louisiana. He claims he doesn’t know what happened to it.
--In AI news, Chat GPT was asked to rank all the presidents of the 21st century. It listed them as: first--Obama, second--Biden, third--Bush, dead-last--Trump
In good news:
--Trump was found liable for $1 million dollars in legal fees for his frivolous lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and James Comey. The judge said that with the lawsuit, he committed "sanctionable conduct."
--The ACLU of Oregon is suing Trump and his administration, claiming federal officers’ use of force against them during protests outside the Portland immigration facility violated their First Amendment rights.
--Trump and his lackey Bill Pulte announced that they intended to investigate Dem Rep Eric Swalwell for "mortgage fraud" just like Adam Schiff and Letitia James, but today Swalwell filed a civil suit alleging all kinds of skulduggery on Pulte and Trump’s and the DOJ’s part and throwing a monkey wrench into their trumped-up charges.
Best comment of the day, from a meme on the internet: "Another disappointing day in the obituaries."
Keep calm and carry on,
Connie Willis