get happy

I thought that would be obvious for people who read me regularly, but of course that's a Trump initiative I support! I'm just curious about how it came to him...

I am sure some senators do work hard - though I think that is less true now than it used to be - but it's hardly a demanding job if you don't want it to be. Progressives are already plotting a primary challenge to Sen. John Fetterman when he’s up for reelection in 2028. But whether Fetterman’s around to be primaried at all is another question. The freshman senator seems to be leaving all doors open, insiders told NOTUS: reelection, retirement and even a long-shot run for president. Some think he’s likely to leave the Senate, which they say he doesn’t seem to enjoy much. “I don’t think he’s running,” one former Fetterman staffer told NOTUS. “He didn’t like the job, he missed home, and now is a pariah within the party. I think he wants no part of being in D.C.”

I do hope this is the new MAGA cause.  Fuck those disgusting big ass Democrat trucks.  Real Americans drive Kei trucks. Just to see how far they will go...

I can't even get mad at that one. Well-played, FIFA. Give the Mad King a shiny gold object.

I think some journalists need to sleep with their sources to get the full story, if necessary.

Apparently the "Jan. 6 pipebomber" was a Trump-supporting election conspiracy believer.

I have no deep thoughts about Netflix purchasing Warner Brothers other than "consolidation is probably bad" and "maybe better than Paramount buying it."

Funky Friday

enjoy

Even when it isn't his money, he doesn't pay. If it’s not one thing at the Kennedy Center these days, it’s another. Even before Democrats opened an investigation into alleged “cronyism and self-dealing,” the Trump-era leadership was already fending off reports of plummeting ticket sales and internal dysfunction. Now add a fresh headache: Several artists say the center has been stiffing them on their fees. Representatives for three performers tell THR they’re still waiting on checks months after their shows. Veteran booking agent Wayne Forte — whose roster includes the Tedeschi Trucks Band and former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett — says two of his developing acts, Ashes & Arrows and Brazilian guitarist Lari Basilio, played the Millennium Stage back in September and have yet to see a dime. The Kennedy Center staffer who handled their bookings was let go in October, Forte says, and efforts to reach a replacement apparently have gone nowhere.

Notable because it's there. The answer is that Trump is living his best life in this second and final turn in the White House. Coming up on one year back in power, he’s turned the office into an adult fantasy camp, a Tom Hanks-in-Big, ice-cream-for-dinner escapade posing as a presidency. The brazen corruption, near-daily vulgarity and handing out pardons like lollipops is impossible to ignore and deserves the scorn of history. Yet how the president is spending much of his time reveals his flippant attitude toward his second term. This is free-range Trump. And the country has never seen such an indulgent head of state. Yes, he’s one-part Viktor Orbán, making a mockery of the rule of law and wielding state power to reward friends and punish foes while eroding institutions. But he’s also a 12-year-old boy: There’s fun trips, lots of screen time, playing with toys, reliable kids’ menus and cool gifts under the tree — no socks or trapper keepers.

I regularly think about how a bunch of older/retired Times guys would assemble into Bari Defense Voltron whenever she was criticized. CBS News staffers are less than thrilled with the idea of Bari Weiss, the network’s new editor-in-chief, booking herself as the moderator for a televised town hall that will feature Charlie Kirk’s widow. “How embarrassing,” one network staffer told The Independent. “Bari’s been Editor-in-Chief for five seconds and has revealed that all she really wants is to be on TV herself.”

 Though I admit I don't quite understand why this crosses the line that just blowing up the boats didn't.

I don’t think everything about The Economy has been good over this time period, and I am no6 going to argue that The Kids who entered the labor force in this period had it great, but for 10 years, unemployment has been

They have arrested a suspect for the "Jan. 6 pipe bomber." Should be interesting!

Go

Every day

A reasonable - if not necessarily correct - inference from the House Minority Leader's applause of the pardon of his colleague is that it is a precedent he thinks it is desirable to support for many more colleagues.

Jeffries has praised Trump's pardon of Cuellar and said the border is secure thanks to Trump.   Just today!

I've never seen a Waymo in action, but people who have describe them as being annoying, even if they're working "perfectly," in that they hesitate a bit more than normal drivers.  That's how you keep them driving safely, of course, but it isn't surprising that they have a new idea. For years while training on the streets of San Francisco and eventually transporting passengers, Waymos were the most polite drivers on the road. Pull up to a stop sign at the same time as a Waymo and it would wait, as if to say, “No, please, after you.” If you were trying to go around another car making a left, a Waymo was sure to let you in. In short, they were drivers you wouldn’t want to get stuck behind while in a hurry.      The training wheels are off. Like the rule-following nice guy who’s tired of being taken advantage of, Waymos are putting their own needs first. They’re bending traffic laws, getting impatient with pedestrians and embracing the idea that when it comes to city driving, politeness doesn’t pay: It’s every car for itself.

 About every 5 years, George Will says something reasonable. The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself. As the recent “peace plan” for Ukraine demonstrated. You don't have to hand it to him, but it is notable. 

Absent some sort of stock/financial crash or a global pandemic, the real economy is unlikely to implode very quickly, though the inevitable consequences of Trump's policies have taken a little bit longet than I expected. The U.S. labor market slowdown intensified in November as private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday.   With worries intensifying over the domestic jobs picture, ADP indicated the issues were worse than anticipated. The payrolls decline marked a sharp step down from October, which saw an upwardly revised gain of 47,000 positions, and was well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate from economists for an increase of 40,000.

Wasted Wednesday.

 Get happy