Tom sent this to me this morning noting that not all AI is terrible….
"what digby sez..."
Month: November 2025
Let’s hold a competition
As I mentioned in my first Saturday offering, Donald Trump in a Truth Social post Friday morning directed A.G. Pam Bondi to investigate others associated with the late, convicted sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. He is desperate to deflect attention from himself and the Epstein files the public demands released. Trump left off “Thank you for your attention to this matter” in this case, but Bondi got the message five by five. But note that Bondi took a full 3 hours and 37 minutes to respond to Donald Trump’s 10:35 a.m. order via Truth Social.
Surely you can do better, Pam. Usually, Trump’s people are pretty snappy about shouting, “Yes, sir! How high?” whenever he says jump.
Why not a competition on the White House South Lawn? Let’s see who can jump faster and higher for their king. Consider it a trial run for the UFC fight the former reality TV star has planned there for the country’s 250-year anniversary. His entire boot-licking cabinet, plus Stephen Miller and OMB Director Russ Vought. Open the games with a solemn quote from King Lear: “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?“
The prize? A preemptive pardon bordered with gold leaf.
Make it a benefit for one of Trump’s phony charities where proceeds wind up in his pocket. He’d love that. The world will take bets on the winner and on which competitor will fill her/his rivals with lead shot.
* * * * *
Is this a private fight, or can anyone join?
No King’s One Million Rising movement
50501
May Day Strong
Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit
The Resistance Lab
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found
Donald Trump is acting like a cat obsessively scraping the sides of the litter box to hide any signs of the poop he’s already covered up. He is desperate, desperate not only to derail release of government-held Epstein files but to change the subject. Or turn whatever is in them into a story about anybody else. Anybody Democrat.
Heather Cox Richardson summarizes succinctly:
In a transparent attempt to distract from the many times his own name appears in the documents from the Epstein estate members of the House Oversight Committee released Wednesday, President Donald J. Trump asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Democrats whose names appeared in the documents. He singled out former president Bill Clinton, former treasury secretary Lawrence H. Summers, and Reid Hoffman, who founded LinkedIn and who is a Democratic donor.
Although the attorney general is the nation’s chief law enforcement officer and is supposed to be nonpartisan in protecting the rule of law, Bondi responded that the Department of Justice “will pursue this with urgency and integrity.” Maegan Vazquez and Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post note that reporters have already covered the relationship of Epstein with Clinton, Summers, and Hoffman for years, and that in July, Justice Department officials said an examination of the FBI files relating to Epstein—a different cache than Wednesday’s—“did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
“Don’t bother me with details, just do it.” That is the clear message Trump sent Bondi via Truth Social post.
Courtesy of a Wall Street Journal graphic, we can see what Trump is desperate to cover up. Trump isn’t just mentioned in the emails released by the Epstein estate. He’s mentioned in over half and far more than the people he’s siccing AG Pam Bondi on.
Wag the Dog
Turning from cats to dogs, Trump sees Venezuela as an easy target for deflecting attention from the Epstein files. See Wag the Dog, the 1997 film summarized thusly: “Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.”
Two months ago, Charlie Sykes asked, “Is The Dog About To Be Wagged?” He noted a deployment of stealth fighters to Puerto Rico.
“Why would you need F35 stealth fighter jets for a counternarcotics mission?” asked Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin.
Since then, Trump has diverted the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, to the Caribbean. It arrived “on Tuesday, adding to the capability of the United States to strike boats suspected of carrying drugs or targets on land in Venezuela as the Trump administration weighs further military steps aimed at ousting the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.”
Sykes added in September:
And what better distraction from badeconomicnewsEpsteinglobalhumiliations than a quick, bloody war with a country led by a leftist dictator? A country not only rife with gangs and drugs, but with massive oil reserves. What’s not to like?
Yes, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would like to topple the government of Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro. And Secretary Pete Hegseth is eager to flex his Crusader tattoos. But as I say regularly, Republicans love a twofer.
Canada’s Daily Scrum News considers how starting a war with Venezuela might help Trump’s Epstein file problem:
To understand why requires returning to the core definition of wagging the dog. In political terms, it describes a leader facing a domestic storm so powerful, so revealing, or so personally damaging that the only available move is to create a crisis bigger than the scandal itself. The external threat becomes the story; the internal decay becomes background noise. The war, or threat of war, becomes an anesthetic powerful enough to mute outrage, paralyse critics, and redirect the nation’s emotional energy outward. It is not a conspiracy. It is a pattern, one that has appeared throughout history: during impeachment proceedings, economic downturns, collapsing approval ratings, corruption investigations, electoral disasters, and national humiliation. It is the oldest sleight of hand in the repertoire of empire.
And, hoo-boy, does Trump have a plateful of economic problems of his own creation.
And then comes the most explosive destabilizer of all: the Epstein files. Their contents, their implications, and their potential connections pose a direct threat to the highest circles of American power. The release of information, the opening of sealed documents, and the revelations about networks of influence, wealth, and exploitation create an existential political crisis. The question is not what is in the files, but who. The fear is not speculation—it is exposure. In this atmosphere, with the public demanding accountability and figures across the political and financial elite preparing for reputational devastation, the impulse to shift national focus elsewhere grows irresistible.
This is where Venezuela becomes the stage.
Donovan Martin Sr, Editor in Chief of The Daily Scrum considers the possibility that starting a war with Venezuela might have been a premeditated move by Trump:
In the end, the question becomes whether this escalation is a strategic defence of national interest or a strategic defence of political survival. The indicators point heavily toward the latter. The American public, and the global community, now stand at a pivotal moment. If the path to war with Venezuela proceeds unchallenged, the world may soon witness not only a catastrophic conflict but one born not of necessity, not of emergency, but of calculated distraction. A war designed not to protect America, but to protect the president. A tail powerful enough to drag the entire dog into the fire.
How very Trumpish.
* * * * *
Is this a private fight, or can anyone join?
No King’s One Million Rising movement
50501
May Day Strong
Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit
The Resistance Lab
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense
The San Diego Zoo offers an hour of soothing meditative music and baby Condo feeding. I was surprised at how soothing it really was.
Here’s one featuring the zoo’s aviaries:
Some of you old-timers will remember these bits with Joan Embry:
Ok, ok, here’s an adorable baby tiger:
When President Donald Trump told reporters on Sept. 5 he’d started looking at sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, he said it was because of something he saw on television.
He said the city was being destroyed by paid agitators. “What they’ve done to that place, it’s like living in hell,” he said, a comment that became an internet meme as some Portland residents juxtaposed it with tranquil images of the city.
Trump didn’t say which channel he watched; he said at one point he saw something “today” and at another “last night.”
The evening before, on Sept. 4, Fox News aired a two-and-a-half-minute segment spotlighting protests outside a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Portland. Similar footage aired the morning of Trump’s remarks. The president went on to announce Sept. 27 on Truth Social that he would send troops, saying that he was “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
He later said he’d told Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, that “unless they’re playing false tapes, this looked like World War II. Your place is burning down.”
ProPublica examined months of Fox News’ coverage and reviewed more than 700 video clips posted to social media by protesters, counterprotesters and others in the three months preceding the Sept. 4 broadcast.
The review found that the news network repeatedly provided a misleading picture of what was happening in Portland.
They used footage from 2020 and mislabeled the dates off actions on the screen. And:
Fox News chyrons about Portland the week of Trump’s remarks carried phrases like “violent demonstrators,” “protesters riot,” “anti-I.C.E. Portland rioters” and “war-like protests.” One host said protesters were attacking federal officers.
The same thing happened later when Trump saw a segment on Nigeria and ordered Hegseth to get ready to invade to “save the Christians.”
Fox news is Trump’s most important adviser. That’s not news, we know that. But with Trump being so unrestrained and violent, their lies are even more dangerous than they used to be. And they know exactly what they’re doing.
BREAKING: Tucker Carlson announces he is releasing evidence tomorrow proving the FBI is lying about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania by Thomas Crooks
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) November 13, 2025
Joe Rogan and Elon Musk pointed out the INSANE inconsistencies
– The assassins house was… pic.twitter.com/NSnlNvzSxJ
Just so you know…
BREAKING: Tucker Carlson announces he is releasing evidence tomorrow proving the FBI is lying about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania by Thomas Crooks
Joe Rogan and Elon Musk pointed out the INSANE inconsistencies
– The assassins house was PROFESSIONALLY scrubbed
– His home was scrubbed so well there wasn’t even silverware left in the home – No footprint on the internet
– No social media footprint (completely wiped)
– He was in a BlackRock commercial
– Joe Rogan says some individuals inside BlackRock may have “recognized that it’s beneficial to them if he gets assassinated”
– There was never a formal report
– There was never press conferences where they detailed all the information they know currently and where the investigation stands at the moment
– He was a very young g kid there with a rangefinder (used to measure distances, very suspicious)
– CNN streamed it live, which Joe Rogan does not believe they did for any other rally. And certainly not for a rally that’s in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania
– They wouldn’t let people be on that roof because the Secret service lady said it was sloped and it was dangerous
– The snipers that were on the other roof was a, a steeper pitch (It made no f*cking sense)
– Random people saw him and pointed him out on the roof with a gun for a long time before it happened
– The kid had 5 phones
– His body was immediately cremated
– There was some indications that there was a phone that had been traveling from outside the FBI offices in D.C to where this kid lived multiple timesWe need answers.
I don’t know what they are suggesting. If it’s a cover up by the Deep State, by this time Trump, Bondi, Patel and the rest are all in on it. Considering that it was an attempt on Trump’s life it must be really deep.
That’s Joe Rogan, the guy everyone says is the avatar of the Real American to whom we are required to pay attention. Tucker Carlson is going full Nazi. And Elon is well, Elon.
The extremism is now mainstream.
We are the worst country in the world:
The Trump administration has directed visa officers to consider obesity — and other chronic health conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes — as reasons to deny foreigners visas to the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told U.S. consulates and embassies around the world about the changes in a Nov. 6 cable, according to a copy obtained and verified by The Washington Post. The move broadens current medical screening beyond contagious diseases and gives visa officers new justification to reject applicants, in the Trump administration’s latest effort to curb the flow of immigration.
“You must consider an applicant’s health,” said the State Department cable, which was reported earlier by KFF Health News. “Certain medical conditions — including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions — can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care.”
The cable then suggests that consulates consider obesity in determining whether to grant visas, mentioning that it can cause sleep apnea, high blood pressure and clinical depression.
I frankly don’t know why anyone would ever want to come here at this point. We are a pariah country and for good reason. Apparently, our government has decided that we are the Master Race and cannot allow any inferior foreign vermin to enter.
Update:
Zeteo’s Asawin Suebsaeng and Prem Thakker have a terrifying little bit of news for us today:
The confidential drafting process for Donald Trump’s still-unpublished National Security Strategy, laying out the president’s vision for the world, has stunned some in government who’ve seen the pages so far. A federal staffer tells Zeteo that one version of the draft they saw reminded them of “fascist internet trolls getting worked up about something they saw on Twitter.”
[…]
“An NSS is not supposed to look like this,” one of the sources says bluntly.
What does it say?
Knowledgeable sources tell Zeteo that a recent draft of the classified version states that American foreign policy and national-security strategies have been an abject failure since the end of the Cold War, and began losing their way long before that – circa 1898. The draft document takes a hardline stance against what the Trump administration deems destabilizing population flows and migration to a variety of nations, in the Western hemisphere and elsewhere.
According to these sources, the draft NSS obsesses over the spiritual and cultural health of our country and Western civilization, and presents the idea of fostering strong and so-called traditional families as the backbone to security and peace across the globe.
The NSS draft also states plainly that it is in the US national-security interest to help foster the success – and elections – of MAGA-aligned and like-minded, right-wing, populist-nationalist political parties in Europe, and specifically highlights Vice President JD Vance’s February speech at the Munich Security Conference as a model.
The draft document rages against the “erasure,” per two of the sources, of European culture and civilization due to factors like migration rates. It denounces speech regulations and efforts to ban far-right parties, including Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
It name-checks political developments in countries such as Poland and Hungary as glimmers of hope, and as a possible path forward.
They are not concerned with China and Russia (natch — Trump’s buddies) and are focusing instead on this “narco-terrorist” nonsense with a n eye toward some serious imperialist dominance in our hemisphere. It’s not surprising but it is terrifying.
Two nutcases, Stephen Miller and Michael Anton, a longtime “MAGA intellectual” who left the State Department in recent months, are the authors of this crazy report and I’m sure good old JD and Marco are happy to sign on. (Trump is so addled with gold dust and trinkets that he is completely clueless.)
I’ll just leave you with this:
There is so much about the draft papers that have caused some who’ve seen it to privately complain that it reads like openly fascist European rantings from the first half of the 20th century.
Good God.
It’s those feckless poors again
While the West Wing burns the midnight oil trying to manage its Epstein-related crisis, the Boss is still grousing about the hungry. Seeing how much attention SNAP benefits garnered during the shutdown, he may perceive people on food assistance as a political threat to be stomped.
“It really puts the country in jeopardy,” Trump told Fox News. Because those lazy poors will leave jobs that pay their rent to get free food.
The shutdown ended on Thursday after a record 43 days. But SNAP recipients were still awaiting their payments—and Brooke Rollins, the secretary of the Agriculture Department, which administers the program, dismissed these concerns in a CNN interview on Thursday. “SNAP is a broken program. SNAP is full of corruption,” Rollins said, claiming the administration had found the names of 186,000 dead people on SNAP lists in 29 states—but she offered no evidence that the dead people were receiving benefits.
Dead people on SNAP (who don’t eat), dead people on voter rolls (who don’t vote), dead people on Social Security (who don’t receive checks). It’s a wonder that MAGA Republicans find time for the needs of our struggling billionaires.
The Trump administration dug in its heels during the shutdown to stop funding SNAP from an emergency fund. What’s next?
“SNAP has not faced this extent or level of threat before,” said Jamila Michener, a government and public policy professor at Cornell University. It’s not like a program for low-income people is ever sitting safe and pretty in the United States, she said. But in such an unpredictable administration, “there could potentially be new threats” to food assistance and other vital programs.
With so much attention, SNAP watchers are hopeful that the public will understand food stamps better than before and fight against cutting or significantly altering the program. But “it’s in the spotlight, and I don’t know that that bodes well,” Chrisinger said.
Until the shutdown, SNAP hummed along rather efficiently, an incredibly complex machine fine-tuned over the decades. This interruption created new fractures and fault lines, and the differences in how states responded to the SNAP halts were “staggering,” Chrisinger said. “The chaos of this, politically and legally, is showing some of the cracks.”
That chaos presents a gold-leafed opportunity for a gold-digging president to kick down while he’s kissing up to dictators. Trump “beautifully” slashed $187 billion from SNAP in the bill he signed in July to fund tax breaks for the rich and connected. Meanwhile, the CBO projects that “about 4 million people, including children, seniors, veterans, and individuals with disabilities, will see the food assistance they need to afford groceries terminated or cut substantially.”
I stand corrected. The other day I stated that Trump has no ideology. Except for decreasing the surplus population. And in making the group above work for their food until they join the dead already on the list.
Even if SNAP survives Trump’s scrutiny for now and the program continues, it’s not great if he keeps harping on it. Framing the program as wasteful, inefficient, and fraudulent could sway public opinion about SNAP, Jones Cox said. Trump could use his bully pulpit to continue spreading misinformation about who receives SNAP and what they use it for, and that could influence legislation and the way states administer the program, Michener said.
“In this moment, it feels like nearly anything is possible when you are dealing with an administration that is in many ways expert at identifying where the cracks in our systems and our rules and our norms are, and leveraging those to the greatest extent possible to cause pain in the ways that [they] want to cause pain,” Michener said.
Yeeesss, pain.
* * * * *
Is this a private fight, or can anyone join?
No King’s One Million Rising movement
50501
May Day Strong
Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit
The Resistance Lab
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense