Thursday, March 26, 2026
After telling you that war is peace, get ready for the Ministry of Truth to say that the Save America Act about voter ID is a fiscal issue permitting passage under reconciliation
In the Senate, Thune resurrects idea of reconciliation
... Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted, “It’s hard to imagine how the SAVE America Act could be passed through reconciliation. And by ‘hard’ I mean ‘essentially impossible.’”
Lee, a member of the Budget Committee, has led the push for the chamber to debate SAVE and even pursue a so-called talking filibuster to pass the bill via a simple majority. ...
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that “I don’t see any way that any part of the SAVE America Act [with] any teeth gets included in a reconciliation package.”
“On top of that, I think it’s very difficult to pass a reconciliation package. We don’t have big tax cuts coming. That’s really what got the last one done,” Scott said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to get you know 50 of us to agree on something.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who opposed last year’s reconciliation measure, said, “It would seem on its face, because there’s so much policy involved, that it would be difficult to do.”
“It’s kind of interesting to see if they’re just going to be pushing maybe some of the funding that could fit within reconciliation. But I don’t know how the policy fits in there.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, who has been part of hashing out the agreement between Democrats and the White House to reopen DHS, also declined to support reconciliation, saying “I don’t think that’s a good approach.” ...
The chamber’s conservative House Freedom Caucus called the idea “gaslighting” from Senate Republican leadership. ...
Michael Moore's human molotov cocktail sets the world on fire
Iran war is a ‘catastrophe,’ G7 ministers warn — but there’s little they can do to stop it
... “To make it crystal clear, this war is a catastrophe for the world’s economies,” Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister warned early Thursday.
“European partners and Germany highlighted from the beginning that we have not been consulted before. Nobody asked us before. It’s not our war,” he told reporters during a visit to Australia. ...
Michael Moore says Trump is a ‘human Molotov cocktail’ supporters get to throw
... “His ideology is called Donald J. Trump. He believes in Donald J. Trump. If it’s good for him, then it’s a good thing. Not good for him, it’s a bad thing,” Moore said. ...
Holds up.
Trump provides 77.3 million who voted for him an out, acknowledges he appointed Supreme Court justices who now sicken him lol
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Trump says Justices Barrett, Gorsuch ‘sicken me’ after Supreme Court tariff ruling
President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized two of his Supreme Court appointees — Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — for voting with other justices in the bombshell 6-3 decision that ruled his signature reciprocal tariffs were illegal, saying they sickened him and are “bad for our country.”
“Two of the people that voted for that, I appointed,” Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner at Union Station in Washington, D.C., without naming the two justices. ...
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Trump Job Approval just keeps making new lows at Real Clear Politics, now down to 41.1% from 41.3% just yesterday
Trump's Job Disapproval is at a new record high 56.5%.
Roger Kimball polishes a turd
... Some say Trump exaggerates and overstates things. Perhaps, on occasion, he is given to mild hyperbole. But consider, sed contra, this masterpiece of understatement: “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both militarily, economically, and in every other way.” The Roman practice of decimation, rarely employed, was a brutal punishment for cowardice. The offending unit would be divided into groups of ten. One man from each would be selected by lot. The unlucky ticket holder would then be killed by his colleagues.
What the US and Israel have visited upon the Iranian regime is far more extensive than decimation. Most of its leadership has been erased. ...
More.
Trump outmanuevered: Iran decision to let vessels from non-hostile nations through the Strait of Hormuz will make any U.S. military action interfering with that to blame for disruptions
Oil prices fall as Iran signals safe passage for ‘non-hostile’ ships through Strait of Hormuz
... Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Tuesday that “non-hostile vessels” would be able to pass through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, provided they coordinate “with the competent Iranian authorities.”
The social media post appears to establish a protocol that has emerged in recent days, with some ships from China, India and Pakistan able to pass through the waterway as Iran flexes control over it. ...
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Trump threatened to bomb Iranian power infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz wasn't open by last night, and the latest UKMTO JMIC Advisory Note indicates that it is not open
Normal transits are about 138/day vs. four on March 22 and six on March 23.
Iran is charging $2 million in protection money in exchange for safe passage of some vessels through the Strait of Hormuz
Not only do the Iranians control the Strait, they've turned it into a racket.
Vessels have been tracked passing between Qeshm and Larak, presumably for visual inspection, instead of through the main track of the Strait of Hormuz.
... More than 20 vessels of over 10,000 dwt have thus far made the detour, which goes between Iran’s Qeshm and Larak Islands. ...
More.
Monday, March 23, 2026
Leon Panetta: Trump has no choice but to go big or go home
... He advises Trump to abandon his magical thinking and “face the fact” that he must use the military to open the strait, neutralise Iranian defences along the coast and deploy ships to escort oil tankers through.
“There’s no question there’s going to be lives lost and it’s clearly going to expand the war but I don’t see the alternative. He’s got to do it. He’s talked a great deal about the strength of the United States. This is a test of whether the United States can be able to deal with that situation which otherwise is not only going to prolong the war but create a lot of economic damage to the United States with those soaring fuel prices and cause what some have said is a potential worldwide recession.”
Panetta added frankly: “There’s not much choice. You’ve got to do what you have to do and, if you can open the strait, it might give you a better chance to then have a basis on which you can negotiate hopefully some kind of ceasefire. That’s the only way that he can go at this point; otherwise he will clearly have failed to find a solution.” ...
More.
He's right.
Iranian parliament Speaker threatens to target U.S. financial institutions on Sunday, Trump chickens out by breakfast Monday
Iran threatens U.S. Treasury buyers as Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum looms
Published Mon, Mar 23 2026 12:28 AM EDT
... In a social media post on Sunday, Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that U.S.-linked financial institutions holding American government bonds would be targeted alongside military bases.
“U.S. treasury bonds are soaked in Iranians’ blood. Purchase them, and you purchase a strike on your HQ and assets,” Ghalibaf said. “Alongside military bases, those financial entities that finance the U.S. military budget are legitimate targets,” he added in the post. ...
Sunday, March 22, 2026
Two weeks in the news
The economy has Strait of Hormuz deadline for Trump: Two weeks
... For now, the C-suite has its own view of the matter: it’s roughly two weeks and counting for the Trump administration and any allies that join the effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or corporate executives have to assume that the conflict will drag on until at least mid-year, with all of the negative consequences that come with that for the global economy. That was the conclusion on a call among members of the CNBC CFO Council earlier this week with energy and commodities market expert John Kilduff of Again Capital, who joined CFOs to share his view of the oil price outlook from inside the trader and investor community. ... If the military and government do not have good answers by April 1, “The crunch is coming.” ... by the end of the year, even in the U.S., “We’re going to have a major energy crisis on our hands. … I think the shortages would certainly have come to California by then,” Kilduff said. ... "if this goes on much more than two weeks or so, we’re going to reprice the barrels of oil here considerably higher,” he said. ...
Because they have nothing better to do
ICE agents might as well try security theatre after deportation theatre flopped at the box office earlier.
ICE agents will be deployed to U.S. airports on Monday: Homan
... “We will be at the airports tomorrow, helping TSA move those lines along,” Homan said, adding that ICE will assist in areas like guarding exit doors to relieve TSA agents for screening travelers. “We’re simply there to help TSA do their jobs in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise.” ...
If stuff like guarding exit doors is an area that doesn't need the TSA's "specialized expertise", why are TSA agents doing that stuff in the first place, and why are we paying for it?
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