Category: Uncategorized

The Wolverines… Are Already “Eating Their Own”, On China Tariffs — In Northern Florida….

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We mentioned this case three weeks ago. It is of particular interest (even though it is only one of hundreds of suits on the tariffs!) in that a higher up jamoke in the Federalist Society (the guy who — in Tangerine 1.0 — steered the judicial nominees, through their Senate hearings!) had sued Tangerine 2.0, since the China tariffs were/are putting his paper / stationary businesses… out of business.

The government moved to transfer the case out of Florida — to the International Court of Trade (in Manhattan). That is where it is probably going to land — but the able judge just gave the paper biz another week to formulate a response to the transfer request. This guy will eat Tangerine alive on the law, if given half a chance:

…Upon due consideration of Plaintiff’s unopposed motion for extension of time
(Doc. 12), it is

ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiff has until May 5, 2025, to respond to Defendants’ motion to transfer.

DONE AND ORDERED this 22nd day of April, 2025….

Now you know. Onward to a sunny warm Monday — having kicked the flu, entirely this afternoon. Forgive the prior fogginess. [It was all good fun, no doubt, Mr. Leo — when it was just poor brown people being snatched and grabbed and loaded onto planes, at night with no hearings… but when it starts to make your lily-whyte notionals business bleed — well, Hell! Yep, you better bloody well stand and fire! Hilarious.]

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In Which Powerline Boys Are… All Verklempt, At “Harsh Language”?! Damn.

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The level of sophistry here on display is just genuinely… charming.

The Powerline boys would have us believe that Democrats use of some “harsh language” is a felonious assault on American life.

Funny.

These idiots felt “grab her by the pussy” was just fine. They felt that “I moved on her like a bitch” was just fine. They applauded it when Trump mocked a reporter with cerebral palsy — by flailing his arms around. That was just fine.

And when he was found liable for lying about a forcible sexual assault of a woman in a department store dressing room — to the tune of $48 million… They thought that was “just fine” as well.

[And when he clearly hid a bribe payment — to a sex worker, from a campaign fund — to shut her up about paid sex work with him… They were just fine with that.]

And that’s before I mention that he is a 32 time convicted felon. They are all “just fine” with that as well.

Now he’s hired a sloppy but camera-ready TV talking head to run the US Defense Department, who apparently drinks at lunch, abuses women (that, according to his own mother!) and talks on insecure lines about battle plans in real time to journalists, his wife and his friends.

He’s hired a director of the FBI who thinks it’s a good idea to libel and slander a judge in her courtroom and have her falsely arrested.

He’s hired a head of Health and Human Services, who believes castor oil is the solution to the viral disease called measles (btw, boys — maybe you missed the memo: there is a now 50 year-old FDA approved vaccine for measles, which is nearly 100% safe and effective). But instead, there are already dozens of children dead in Texas… due to this nonsense, and the PowerLine boys are just fine with that as well.

So forgive me if I tell them… “Fuck off.” [And that’s pulling his tariff illiteracy… off the table altogether.]

Harsh language is sometimes required — when morons can’t hear the message being sent more politely. Fuck polite — he is destroying the economy and the country.

How do you like them apples?

Finally, Some “Plain Talk” — From Paul — On Trump “Losing The Trade War”, With China.

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It doesn’t fully appear until Paul responds to a commenter — in the comment boxes, but I will take it. See the quote below in blue.

But before we get to that, I do want to mention one other fairly new and strident view from Mirengoff: earlier in the post proper, Paul directly called Trump a liar about the existence of negotiations with China to reduce the tariff levels on both sides. That was courageous, but it was obvious to anyone with working forebrain. [Paul — and many WSJ reading Americans — are very angry at the economic damage Trump is willfully doing now.]

When China immediately denied the existence of talks, we all knew that once again, Trump had been caught in a lie. And in the big picture — that lie matters very little except that it increases the probability that China knows it has the upper hand and can therefore beat Trump like a drum.

So as Paul’s retirement savings in his tax-deferred accounts dwindle — due to Trump‘s utter stupidity – suddenly he finds his “big boy” voice. But as I say, I will take it!

…Thanks for your comment and question.

I think the U.S. will have lost if Trump ends up backing down (while speciously declaring victory, presumably). In that event, Trump will have looked silly and China will believe (as I think it suspects) that he’s relatively weak — a big talker who can’t live up to his talk when faced with a strong adversary.

In addition, if China is taking unfair advantage of the U.S. as Trump says… it is, then we will have lost the trade war if Trump backs down because he will have failed to reverse the imbalances that led him to start the war.…

And all of that is before we get to the very simple economic point that Trump is wrong about trade imbalances. Specifically — comparative advantage is what one looks for in a trading relationship, willing to pay up for someone who has a comparative advantage in order to get their implied discount, whether it be labor, raw materials, or engineering capability transferred to the trading nation at least in part— while the trading nation hands over valuable goods or services for which it possesses a comparative advantage. That is how we get to 1+1 = 3.

But Trump was never good at math.

It is tragic that Hinderaker and his boys still won’t say out loud what we all can see. But gratifying to see Paul admit the above.

Out.

I’ll Discuss This One — When Done With The “Flu Brain Fog”…

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This case was argued on Monday, April 21 at the Supremes.

Friday afternoon, the Court directed the parties to give it guidance on whether the Secretary of HHS has independent authority to appoint task force members, or if he needs new and case by case consent of the Congress to do so:

…KENNEDY, SEC. OF H&HS, ET AL. V. BRAIDWOOD MGMT., INC., ET AL. (24-316)

The parties are directed to file supplemental letter briefs addressing the following question: Whether Congress has “by Law” vested the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services with the authority to appoint members of the United States Preventive Services Task Force. U. S. Const. art. II, §2, cl. 2.

The briefs should address this Court’s decisions in United States v. Hartwell, 6 Wall. 385 (1868), and United States v. Smith, 124 U. S. 525 (1888). The briefs, not to exceed 15 pages, are to be filed simultaneously with the Clerk and served upon opposing counsel on or before 2 p.m., Monday, May 5, 2025…

We shall see, but I suspect the Justices are struggling with 1868 cases, where horse and buggy transmitted and facilitated various workings of government — wondering whether to adopt those compromises reached — and processing them wholesale, in the internet enabled, instant electronic delivery age.

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He Lawlessly Tried To Cripple American Innovation — Now, He Wants Praise — For Stopping… The Crippling?! Damn.

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Tangerine 2.0 has flip-flopped again — on student visas. But you won’t hear any additional complaint from me.

It seems he’s finally figured out that the futures of United States bioscience, med-tech, pharma and computer sciences sectors are driven by the US student visas program. See this, from Politico:

…The Trump administration has restored the student visa registrations of thousands of foreign students studying in the United States who had minor — and often dismissed — legal infractions.

The Justice Department announced the wholesale reversal in federal court Friday after weeks of intense scrutiny by courts and dozens of restraining orders issued by judges who deemed the mass termination of students from a federal database — used by universities and the federal government to track foreign students in the U.S. — as flagrantly illegal…

Yikes — he sure is a putz. But this will help US industry — immeasurably — if he will stick with it. Although I guess all he’s really doing is ending the crippling — that he created. Geez.

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DC Court: Trump Cannot Unilaterally Rescind NLRB Sanctioned Collective Bargaining Agreements. Yawn.

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A case we’ve not covered before here; but as expected. This all should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention.

Tangerine 2.0 has long preposterously imagined that he alone possesses powers that — in no one’s wildest fantasies — would one expect competent jurists would ever countenance — so too, tonight:

…Upon consideration of Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [Dkt. No. 9], it is hereby GRANTED; it is

FURTHER ORDER that Section 2 of the Executive Order, Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs (Mar. 27, 2025), is unlawful as applied to the Defendants who are heads of agencies with employees represented by the Plaintiff; it is

FURTHER ORDER that the Office of Personnel Management’s Guidance on Executive Order Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Programs (Mar. 27, 2025) (“OPM Guidance”), on the Executive Order is unlawful as applied to the Defendants who are heads of agencies with employees represented by the Plaintiff; it is

FURTHER ORDERED that all Defendants, with the exception of President Trump, are enjoined from implementing Section 2 of Executive Order…

Yep — that’s like 3 for over 100, now breaking for him. [That is, with a batting average like that — he’d never get to the plate for even the Toledo Mud Hens, in Spring ball.] Hilarious.

नमस्ते

[U X2] Tangent: Travis Hunter (All Everything!) Selected No. 2 By Jacksonville (Home State)…

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Many will recall that I closely followed the careers of both Hunter and Sanders at my University of Colorado Buffs, mentioning their exploits here numerous times. Perhaps ad nauseum. But that pink suit is… the biz-ness, no?!

Now they are on — to what are undoubtedly going to be $50-$100 million careers. Here’s that:

…Jaguars Jump Up to No. 2 to Snag Travis Hunter in Massive Deal at Start of NFL Draft…

The Jaguars send the No. 5 pick in the first round, along with the No. 36 pick (second-round), No. 126 (fourth-round) and next year’s first-round pick for the right to take Hunter, according to ESPN. The Browns send pick No. 2, No. 104 (fourth-round) and No. 200 (sixth-round) back to Jacksonville…

Blockbuster — to open the draft at Lambeau! Now we wait to see who gets Shedeur Sanders — cool — though in fairness, this is a year rich with top flight quarterbacks, and fewer teams that really need a franchise quarterback… So Shedeur has slipped beyond the first round and may not be taken util later this evening, in the second or even third round. But he too, will make vast millions of dollars and deserve it!

Updated (three times) — late Friday night (and I don’t think anyone expected this!): Shedeur remains undrafted at the end of the third round. In the fifth round, at 144 overall, Shedeur is drafted by the Cleveland Browns. That’s puzzling at best — but Tom Brady, a six time Super Bowl winning QB, wasn’t drafted until the sixth round his year. Still…

That’s… crazy.

नमस्ते

[U X2] Perhaps Someone Explained The Law Of Libel, To Kash Patel?!

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Updated Sat. @ Noon: Libel Per Se — several people with purported eye witness accounts say “…Shannon Crawford |
The person left her courtroom, walked by the agents and even rode the elevator down with one. How is that on her? Because it just sounds like incompetent agents that look like fools…” If these accounts hold up, Kash Patel will owe millions for libel (just like Giuliani in 2020).

And John better go get his facts straight. What he wrote here on Sunday morning is libel per se. End update.

Welp, as has been widely reported, a post on X-itter that Kash Patel (as director of the FBI) put up yesterday… has been deleted. See at right.

In the United States, accusing someone of a felony falsely (in this case, of obstruction of justice — by a well-respected sitting judge) is called libel per se. So, if Kash Patel is unable to win a conviction — on his wild eyed claims about the Milwaukee judge… this post from his personal account arguably leaves him personally liable for libel per se. Damages are presumed.

And you may well imagine that libeling a well respected judge in Milwaukee by claiming she committed felonies – specifically the felony of obstruction of justice – could well run into the millions of dollars of damages.

It was willfully-reckless, it was hasty (at best!), and it was attention-seeking. All of which are unbecoming in an FBI director. But as you can see hundreds of us have screenshots of what he said/wrote — and he won’t be able to walk away from it.

The people who cleave to Trump are almost to a person, universally… evil. And Kash may have just stepped in a Rudy Giuliani sized mud-hole.

[Separately, in passing — and it may be petty of me, but I must remark that the idea that Melania is wearing a traditional most devout and virtuous Catholic mourning veil — at the Pope’s funeral today (remember “I don’t care — do you?“)… is nearly blasphemous. I would safely bet that she hasn’t been inside a Catholic Church on an ordinary Sunday morning since she was a child.] Ugh.

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George Santos Gets 87 Months: Justice.

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This man’s depravity defined both Tangerine 1.0, and the MAGA supplicant GOP of 2018-2021.

He committed intentional fraud in his fundraising efforts, lied about his background, constantly, had used several different aliases and claimed to be “Jew-Ish”. All to grab more money from unwitting donors. I am more than happy to see the end of this story — in a federal lock up for close to eight years:

…George Santos became a punch line to an unfortunate joke before his career on Capitol Hill even began. In December 2022, just weeks before he was sworn in as a member of Congress, the New York Republican was exposed as a prolific liar, having created a detailed personal narrative that bore no resemblance to reality.

But it wasn’t long before Santos’ troubles grew considerably worse: The GOP politician wasn’t just a fabulist, he was also a criminal. Five months into his congressional career, the Justice Department charged the then-congressman with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. Soon after, prosecutors filed additional charges against Santos, accusing him of, among other things, identity theft and charging a supporter’s credit card and then transferring the money to his personal bank account….

Excellent!

नमस्ते

[U] I’ll Wait To See If Kash Patel Has Any Actual Evidence Here…

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Updated at 6 PM CDT: Hinderaker would prefer to bring a lynch mob for her — rather than see any actual evidence. Not surprising; it’s in his DNA. But ugly just the same.

Me? I want Kash to show me the evidence, before I decide. Yawn. End, updated portion.

For the moment, color me decidedly skeptical about the idea that he has solid evidence to suggest that a Milwaukee County judge obstructed the federal law officers’ investigation.

As I say, cases are decided on evidence in court, not headlines — ones garnered by any wanna be rockstar FBI head. Here’s the NYT:

…Federal agents arrested a county judge in Milwaukee, accusing her of shielding an immigrant from the authorities….

I do know that in Chicago occasionally, judges have allowed asylum seekers / migrants (who were being tracked by federal ICE agents, during Tangerine 1.0) …the able judges allowed the bailiffs to let the asylum-seekers slip out the back door at 26th and California, while the federal agent sat in court — waiting for them to appear.

So, even if we accept that that is what happened here in Milwaukee, there is a strong argument that a judge has the right to police her own courtroom. And if the federal agents did not notify the bailiff that they wanted a hold for the particular detainee… the judge is perfectly free to grant them either furlough or bail — especially while the ICE agents are out getting donuts(!). That is presumptively lawful.

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