SATURDAY NIGHT FUNNIES

 

Your CiC, aiding the Russians who are bombing Ukraine daily.

 

Trump's "national interest" =trying to save MAGA arses in the upcoming election.

The MAGA fever appears to be breaking:

Zacharia is out!

 

She didn't even make it as long as a Scaramucci!*

Katie Zacharia Is Ousted After 5 Days as White House Press Secretary 

The ouster came as Ms. Zacharia was shadowed by questions about how she had presented her legal career and handled her first press briefing.

*A Scaramucci (or a "Mooch") is a humorous political unit of time equal to 10 or 11 days. [1, 2, 3]

• Origin: It is named after Anthony Scaramucci, who served as White House Director of Communications for just 11 days in July 2017 during the first presidency of Donald Trump.
• Usage: People use it as a tongue-in-cheek metric to measure the short-lived tenures of political figures, public officials, or corporate leaders.
• Synonym: Often shortened to a "Mooch" (e.g., saying someone lasted "4 Mooches" in a job).

Hegseth's plan to live-stream an execution by firing squad cancelled by his CiC

 

People who know better and care about this country apparently got to Trump, and so he cancelled Hegseth's ghoulish plan to make a public spectacle of the execution of the Fort Hood killer.

NYTimes:

“This episode highlights the impulsive and dysfunctional civilian leadership from the White House and U.S. Department of Defense,” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. “Secretary Hegseth deserves to be admonished for his lack of judgment, lack of strategy and poor communication — not just in regard to this one episode but throughout his disastrous tenure as secretary of defense.”

 Mr. Hegseth’s plan to livestream the killing of Mr. Hasan prompted dozens of retired admirals, generals and other officers to publish an open letter opposing the plan.8 

 “Livestreaming this execution would clearly violate the basic human dignity of the condemned prisoner,” they wrote on Wednesday. “It turns what should be the solemn and grave punishment of a member of our society for committing the most serious crimes into a carnival for the enjoyment of voyeurs and spectators.”8 

 “This type of exploitative broadcasting — that debases human dignity — will taint the honor of the military that employs it, and a nation that allows it,” they added. 

 From someone who knows more about army regulations than Secretary of Defense Hegseth: 

"Perhaps a better reason for canceling the idea of live streaming the execution, the president could’ve decided to follow military regulations in the first place.

 Who is permitted to witness a military execution? Under Army Regulation 190-55, paragraph 2-5, authorized witnesses include: 

1. The commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks and designated military officials. 

2. Members of the execution team and necessary security personnel. 

3. The condemned prisoner's attorney, if requested. 

4. A military chaplain or other authorized clergy. 

5. At least two selected news media representatives (without audio recording or filming equipment). 

6. Members of the condemned prisoner's family, if requested. 

7. Authorized representatives of victims and their families. Also, the regulation expressly prohibits anyone under age 18 from witnessing an execution.

The latter prohibition, of course, would have been blatantly violated with live streaming, which would have included streaming to the handheld devices held by children and teens. 

 And, of course, one might’ve thought that the commander-in-chief would’ve asked for the rules before first agreeing to live streaming. But Mr. Trump doesn’t believe in attending to such pesky details, even though he is the commander and chief." --Tom Debley, Walnut Creek, CA

******************************

The fact that this live-streaming of an execution was even considered and that many MAGA were salivating over being able to watch this gruesome spectacle shows what we've become in the Era of Trump. 

Shameful. Disgusting.

OFF FOR A FEW DAYS

 

Looking forward to a few days on this beautiful little island:

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

 Many historians and presidential scholars place significant blame on Donald Trump for a decline in America’s global standing and world opinion. While conservative scholars and supporters argue his "America First" policies successfully challenged trade imbalances and forced allies to pay more for defense, mainstream historical consensus and data tracking show a sharp drop in international favorability linked to his actions. [1, 2, 3]

Academic and Historical Consensus

Low Rankings in International Relations: In comprehensive academic surveys—such as the C-SPAN Presidential Historians Survey—historians consistently rank Trump near the bottom of all U.S. presidents. Specifically, in the International Relations sub-category, Trump was ranked 43rd out of 44 evaluated presidents. [1, 2, 3]
Foreign Policy Decisions: In studies conducted by organizations like the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), specific actions taken by the Trump administration have been labeled among the worst foreign policy choices in U.S. history. For example, historians ranked Trump’s 2017 withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement as the seventh worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president. [1, 2]

Specific Areas of Blame by Historians

Scholars and foreign policy experts point to several key drivers that shifted world opinion during his tenure:

Abandonment of Multilateralism: Historians argue that withdrawing from major international agreements—such as the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), and Trans-Pacific partnerships—severely eroded the perception of the United States as a reliable global partner. [1, 2]
Strained Relations with Traditional Allies: Analysts point out that his public criticism of NATO, antagonistic trade tariffs on friendly nations, and personal conflicts with European and North American leaders fractured decades-old alliances. [1, 2]
Erosion of Democratic Soft Power: Historians note that America’s "soft power"—its ability to influence world events through the appeal of its values and culture—suffered significantly. Events like the challenge to the 2020 election results and the January 6 Capitol riot are cited by scholars as major blows to America’s global image as a model democracy. [1, 2, 3]

The Data Corroborating Historians' Views

Scholarly evaluations often align with global sentiment tracking from the era. Longitudinal data from the Pew Research Center indicated that during Trump’s presidency, favorable views of the U.S. dropped to historic lows in numerous allied countries, including Germany, the UK, Canada, and Japan. Large percentages of international respondents described his leadership style as arrogant and dangerous, driving a direct correlation between low confidence in the president and low favorability of the United States overall. [1, 2, 3, 4]