The Frankish Reich

$40,000 SALT deduction. AYFKM? Subsidy for California and NY residents. And who pays $40,000 in state and local taxes? People with a lot of income. We call them "rich."

Here's the law in asylum cases: to be granted asylum or refugee status (they're the same thing, it just depends where you apply) you have to show that there's a good chance you'd be persecuted (think: killed, beaten, thrown in jail and severely mistreated without process) based on your race. There's always a question here: are they trying to drive you off your land so they can benefit from having the land? Or are they trying to throw you off the land because you're white? This is typically a case-by-case thing. Sometimes they just want the land or your stuff, and they'd do the same thing if you were, say, a South Asian/Indian ancestry land owner. The offensive thing here is that Trump has declared that basically every Boer farmer is being persecuted because he's white. He shortcut the analysis, but only for white people.

You are inadvertently making my point. Even if Biden was wholly out to lunch, people were in place who knew their fields and made generally sound decisions. You might not like the political bent of those decisions but they were rational and consistent. Compare Peter Navarro vs Scott Bessemer, Pete Hegseth, RFK, Howard Lutnick, Tulsi Gabbard, Pam Bondi…

Thank you for the reminder. Ukraine is still a country thanks to Biden.

Not addressed to me, but whatever ... ... I thought Mayorkas was a weak DHS Secretary. He didn't have the nerve to stand up to the pro-immigrant types who had huge power within the Democratic base. But he knew the subject matter. You can argue that this didn't help him a bit, but he knew the field. The fact that you didn't like the Biden/Democratic policy is no excuse for a Trump/Republican cabinet full of people who simply do not know the subject matter. Not knowing the subject matter means you cede real power to the Stephen Millers, who are not Senate-confirmed and are largely immune from any oversight. That, of course, is on purpose. There is a reason they didn't float Miller as DHS Secretary.

I saw Elon on CNBC this morning. He's still an impressive visionary on the business side. But I do think he's either bs'ing or deluded about his self-driving taxi concept. Why? Because I've been a pretty regular Waymo user when I'm in AZ. It strikes me as miles and miles ahead of what anyone else - including Tesla - is doing. Elon stubbornly refuses to admit that Waymo's use of LIDAR gives it a big safety advantage. Google/Waymo are winning this battle. Waymo is making it's first tentative move into a so-called "bad weather" climate - DC (where it will hook legislators like it hooked me) - and from there it's likely to go national. Buffalo last, I'm guessing ...

Stephen Miller is floating the idea of suspending habeas corpus for immigrants. You would think the official in charge of implementing any such suspension would have a passing familiarity with what that means. But it turns out she is more interested in furthering her brand than in actually learning what her job is.

Why is this not surprising? Absolute joke of a cabinet.

2019: the Democrats wouldn’t let me reduce the deficit! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna981866 2025: the Republicans wouldn’t let me reduce the deficit. trust me, I really, really wanted to

That was perhaps the worst extended comparison in the history of amateur journalism. Vodkapundit indeed.

You need to retune your sarcasm detector ...

So if the president calls it an invasion, that's it? The courts disagree. Trump's own intelligence report disagrees. Use of a metaphor ("we are being invaded!") does not negate due process.

Read the Fifth Amendment. Show me where it distinguishes between citizens and aliens.

Silly "military" spending of the sort the USA does too. A replica tall ship that goes on goodwill missions around the world to publicize the glorious Mexican Navy. See the hundreds of U.S. military bands.

So now who's covering up the truth? Or maybe the truth is, as is often the case, more boring than the conspiracy theory.

^The truth: they hate our constitution.

Thank you for reviving some of my old classics.

Thanks for the regular reminders. The Epstein Bombshell is a dud.

I'm saying she's the continuation of Biden. Career politicians whose skill is in politicking, not in managing or policy. Remember when everyone was saying that Senator Kamala never introduced any meaningful bill? Lazy, not interested. At least young Biden was all to happy to slap his name on a bill for any hot-button issue at the time.

First, for @sherpa: it's often called a "classification of officers," but perhaps more accurately is a "classification of leadership potential." The idea is actually fairly sound in any organization. The Quadrant 1 folks - clever and hardworking - are the ones who make policy/strategic decisions, but often are a too studied in their decision-making to serve in the highest ranks. The clever and lazy are what von Hammerstein thought were the best suited to high leadership. They use their "laziness" to come up with shortcuts to making sound decisions, relying, of course, on the clever/industrious below them. The dumb and lazy are, well, most employees. Give them basic tasks and count on them to not have any ambitions to be some kind of chief strategist. And the dumb and industrious? Well, they're dangerous because they have no idea of their own limitations and they do what the great John Wooden warned against: "Never confuse activity with achievement." So where do I put our recent presidents: - Trump: dumb and hyperactive. Not classically "industrious," but will never put his trust in someone long-term who actually knows what he's doing. We see that now with the ping-ponging between being swayed by Peter Navarro vs. Scott Bessent. If any advisor threatens his absolute power, he gets fired. Has to constantly be doing something when very often doing nothing is preferable. - Biden: dumb and lazy. - Obama: clever and lazy. Tried to sell himself as a policy wonk; he wasn't really one of that group. - Bush 43: dumb and lazy. Dumb can mean getting swept away by some clever advisor (Cheney/Rumsfeld), so obviously the Biden/Kamala/Bush types aren't ideal. - Clinton: clever and industrious. Yeah, that can get you in trouble, which is why von Hammerstein didn't find it ideal for the top. - Bush 41: kinda dumb, kinda industrious. I find it hard to classify him. I used to think Reagan fit in the dumb/lazy category. I've changed my mind over the years. I really think he was quite clever, but generally intellectually lazy. But ultimately very successful. It was, as Von Hammerstein would say if he were around today, a feature of Reagan, not a bug. - Carter: smart and industrious, probably a victim of that overthinking things quadrant 2 guy who wasn't suited for top leadership. - Ford: dumb and lazy, refreshing in retrospect, given who he was bracketed by Nixon - largely before my time - is the prime example of the dangers of the smart/industrious type. Always scheming, always trying to outmaneuver someone, ultimately his downfall. Have we had another dumb/hyperactive president? Not that I know of. That's why in modern America Trump stands alone. The Dunning-Krueger poster boy. The von Hammerstein "avoid at all costs" guy.

Her office personality may grate. But she seems aware that she isn't any kind of policy wonk and likely would enjoy all the pomp and circumstance with little policy input. That's her life. No, not at all. I think you're missing the point.

"I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and hardworking; their place is the General Staff. The next ones are stupid and lazy; they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the mental clarity and strength of nerve necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is both stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always only cause damage." I view Kamala as the stupid/lazy type. Not the worst because she would keep out of her own way and let people who know what they're doing run things. Trump? Stupid and hyperactive. Constantly floating new (90% stupid) ideas, whether it's "I know more about viruses than anyone and why not inject bleach" to "I love tariffs." And that's why he's the worst possible President. Dumb and doesn't know it.

Corey Lewandowski shlongs her on the regular. So it works on some.

Sherpa, as a former military man you are surely familiar with Kurt von Hammerstein's classification of officers. As von Hammerstein stated, Quadrant 4 is the dangerous one. I'll even take Quadrant 3 over that one.

Was that about Melania? Because why on earth would someone say such a thing? https://nypost.com/2016/07/30/melania-trump-like-youve-never-seen-her-before/