The Frankish Reich

Julie is looking pretty rough. Ridden hard and put away wet.

The Springfield Haitian Diet. Future #1 bestseller.

I said that many here seem overly concerned with grocery prices. I will still feed your family of 4 a healthy, nutritious meal for about $15. But I'm gonna charge you to subscribe to my Eat Good n Cheap with Frankie channel.

Or to rephrase: will Biden follow his successor's advice and keep out of it and let this play out? Sometimes it doesn't make sense to always play the Biden vs. Trump card. There is no perfect response here, and almost certainly the U.S. will be involved in some manner. To be determined, not just now, but in the next months and years.

Think Von Miller. Not washed, but maybe not ready to compete at a high level in 2024-25. And then if he is back to form next year, there's no reason to expect him to be as big an impact player as he was pre-injury. Again, think Von Miller this year as compared to Von Miller pre-Bills knee injury.

I don't want Hegseth to become Sec of Defense. But why on earth would this matter? Dude got into Princeton, which is generally more stringent than West Point. Lots of athletes (in particular, as Hegseth was) get into West Point without stellar academic credentials ...

Julie Kelly loooves RFK Jr, except when he talks about the harmful effects of factory farming and high fructose corn syrup glop. The glop produced by ADM, which has made her husband a very wealthy man. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/us/politics/rfk-jr-corn-trump.html

Right. So let's say you're concerned about grocery prices. That certainly seemed to be the case here. Maybe you want an FTC commissioner who will stop behemoth Kroger from sweeping up all competitors? I guess not. https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2024/12/11/why-the-kroger-albertsons-merger-was-blocked/

Interesting analysis. For your convenience, it's all in one piece here: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1866032875348381907.html

Well, that's one way to get the technical "fiancee" out of the way. America's First Transbassador, the Honorable Kimberly Guilfoyle!

And I believe none of this happens without the incredibly evil, brutal, and stupid October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. That set into place a cascade of actions. Hamas and its Iranian overlords were shocked by the resolve of Israel to utterly destroy Hamas. They seemed to think that taking it to a 2-front war through Hezbollah/Lebanon would give them the advantage back. Wrong again. Not just evil, but an epic miscalculation. I don't think anyone knows how this will play out eventually, but the world of the Middle East is not returning to what it was on October 6, 2023. Meanwhile, Russia is looking at the same fate, emerging from its Ukranian flex as a much weaker power.

In what world should Lloyd Austin get 93 votes and Hegseth struggle to get 50? In a normal world. In a world in which accomplishment, experience, and expertise in your field counts for something. Austin: West Point grad. Completed Airborne and Ranger schools. Chief, Joint Operations Division. 3rd Infantry Division, Assistant Commander for Maneuver. Led troops from Kuwait to Baghdad in Iraq invasion. Awarded Silver Star. Commanding General of U.S. forces in Iraq. CENTCOM commander. Led effort to defeat ISIS. Hegseth: Princeton grad. National guard deployments to GTMO, Iraq, Afghanistan. Bronze star. Final rank of major. Asked to leave post at helm of a nonprofit. TV commenter.

And by the way, what moron signed that Executive Order that tried to ban Tik-Tok from the United States?

The world is complicated. There is no such thing as "keeping out of it." The old Machiavellian "my enemy's enemy is my friend" won't work here. The rebels in Syria are Iran's enemy. They're Russia's enemy. Does that make them our friends? No. Do we try to support stability in Syria under their control? That could be a folly and make us more enemies. Do we stand back and see how it plays out? That may open the door for Iran to step back in as the regional superpower. To do something is to choose sides. To do nothing is to choose sides. Remember that the next time you want to dismiss all this as "we don't have a dog in this fight" Trumpism.

It now appears that she was a Syrian asset, and only indirectly a Russian asset.

Timing? I think we're about to find out that the FBI played a pivotal role in catching the United Healthcare killer.

I did a quick search - use the search function! - and couldn't find any mention of him other than by those you mention.

Maybe Nancy Mace would take the job? Seems like the kind of sober-minded leader America needs. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14152809/Nancy-Mace-caught-gross-video-two-women-man.html Ahh, the New Conservative Libertines. Do as I say, not as I do.

I agree. I thought the Kavanaugh thing was ridiculous. You can't ask a 50-something man to refute allegations about something an accuser said happened when he was 17. But this is different. Guy's own mother said he was out of control just about 7 years ago, when he was well into his 30s.

My problem is I'm not immediately recognizing that as the same guy in the hostel photo. But ... I guess? Valedictorian of posh school. Ivy League student. There will be an interesting backstory here ...

Appears likely they got the right guy. Excellent police work. Just superb. By the way, don't believe for a second that he just happened to be in a McDonald's in Altoona PA and that a McDonald's customer just happened to recognize him. I suspect he was on the radar for a day or two before he was actually nabbed.

What "purity test?" I've mentioned before that we screen/background check people before appointing them to important jobs. What's different here?

For about the tenth time now: Vanguard and Blackrock manage mutual funds and ETFs. There are probably tens of millions of investors in those funds. Saying that any of the underlying holdings of those funds/ETFs are "owned" by Vanguard or Blackrock is silly.

Fair verdict. Ill-advised prosecution. Glad to see it.

Right. And that one Super Bowl was with the legendary Stan Humphries at QB.