Althouse: At the Wednesday Night Café...

February 12, 2025

At the Wednesday Night Café...

... you can talk all night.

63 comments:

Jersey Fled said...: I’m stunned.

https://x.com/epaleezeldin/status/1889840040622321778?s=61; 2/12/25, 8:14 PM
Jaq said...: Ukraine provoked the invasion.

Those big red splotches on the map around Donetsk and Luhansk show an intense bombardment. Overall, there were over 1400 shell and mortar detonations on February 18, [2022] about 2,000 explosions over the next two days. From the two maps, it looks like about two-thirds to three-fourths were on the Russian side of the line. This level of activity marks a big change. In early February, the previous thirty-day average was around sixty explosions per day.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/will-tensions-ukraine-boil-over-200725

Blinken used the now familiar line that Russia was shelling its own people, just like they shelled their own nuclear power plant right on their own border, and blew up their own pipeline, blew up the dam that provided water to Crimea, etc, etc, etc.

This war was anything but "unprovoked." The provocations began in 2014 with the CIA backed coup and the setup of 12 CIA bases on Russia's border with the mandate of training operatives to infiltrate Russia to commit assassinations and sabotage, with John McCain in the crowd in the now familiar USAID funded street protests that get turned into regime-change operations, talking about the "new government" that we were going to install, one that couldn't wait for elections, it was too important!; 2/12/25, 8:17 PM
Jupiter said...: This afternoon, President Trump watched as new DNI Tulsi Gabbard was sworn in by new AG Pam Bondi. I hope Mark Cuban was watching.
No pussies were grabbed in the making of this video.; 2/12/25, 8:27 PM
Jupiter said...: Bondi then went next door and gave a press conference, during which she announced lawsuits against three New York Democrats for violating American immigration laws.
She is one Hell of an improvement over the nation's first female AG, Merrick Garland.; 2/12/25, 8:32 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: NPR: "Judge declines to block Trump administration's resignation offer to federal employees"

#Not all judges.; 2/12/25, 8:32 PM
MikeD said...: "did you know that since 1946 no president nor any of his appointed staff of secretaries up to and including the treasury secretary has had access to the US government’s payment system?"
https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/doge-due-diligence-at-treasury; 2/12/25, 8:34 PM
Breezy said...: Lefty friends are thinking and shrieking that they are now frogs on a slow boil. Should I tell them?; 2/12/25, 8:38 PM
Jupiter said...: Watching Bondi's easy rapport with Trump and Gabbard, and her spirited defense of Elon Musk, it is evident that Trump's transition preparation has formed a united team of highly capable, dedicated and serious people who genuinely like each other. Wait 'til Kash Patel and RFK Jr join them. And don't forget Karoline Leavitt and Stephen Miller.; 2/12/25, 8:41 PM
Jupiter said...: And Vance, and Hegseth!; 2/12/25, 8:44 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Erik Erickson made an excellent point at the beginning of his radio show today.

While the anti-Trump coalition has been dog whistling "Coup" and "Constitutional Crisis", the whistle seems to be falling on deaf ears. Why is that? Where are the protests (riots) in the streets? I mean Trump is executing a cue (against himself) right? What happened to ANTIFA?

DOGE is the answer. Trump cut off the shenanigan's funding.

No money, Yes peace. Toto I have a feeling we're not in 2017 anymore.; 2/12/25, 8:45 PM
Jupiter said...: And if I'm not actually hallucinating, Trump and Putin have agreed to an exchange of visits to each others' countries. Xi's gotta be loving that! Do you think they'll arm-wrestle for Greenland? I wouldn't put it past either one of them.; 2/12/25, 8:48 PM
FullMoon said...: That sexist puts too many women in important positions.; 2/12/25, 8:50 PM
Mason G said...: "I’m stunned."

NGOs need to have the "G" amputated. If they want money, let them solicit donations from those who support the organization's goals.; 2/12/25, 8:54 PM
Big Mike said...: Democrat politicians at the state and local level have been loud in their determination to actively thwart the efforts of a federal law enforcement agency — ICE — in its efforts to round up and deport dangerous criminals who entered the US illegally. Trump supporters like me thought they have been tugging on Superman’s cape, and we wondered which would be the first collection of idiots to FO after all their F-ing Around. Would it be LA or San Fran or some other city in California, or would it be the State of Illinois and Chicago?

Today we learned that it would be none of the above — Attorney General Pam Bondi is going after the state of New York, Governor Hochul, and state Attorney General Letitia James. Turns out they weren’t just blustering about defying federal laws, they were actively warning thugs and gang members — gang members! — of impending raids. That’s sort of a federal crime, donjya know, and a real one, not a Letitia James or Al Bragg made-up crime.

I used to be a hiring manager, and one of the things you hope for in a new hire is someone who hits the ground running hard. That certainly seems to describe Pam Bondi. Anyone who thought that Trump chose a pretty, petite, blonde female strictly for eye candy needs to understand that she is a pretty, petite, blonde female Republican, so put your stereotypes into a bag full of rocks and toss it in the river.

I wonder when she’s gonna do that hive of lefty extremism and villainy called Madison, Wisconsin?; 2/12/25, 8:55 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The criticism of Musk over having his son with him at the Oval, completely missed the point of what Musk was talking about. Musk was talking about how the future of the USA is at risk. To not connect the two is to betray a prejudiced mindset. IMHOP; 2/12/25, 9:05 PM
gadfly said...: Donetsk is a Russian -speaking region of Ukraine controlled pre-Trump by Ukraine's Party of Regions and its standard-bearer, Viktor Yanukovych. Paul Manifort worked for Yanukovych. Donald Trump’s campaign chairman was a key player in multi-million-dollar business deals with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs — one of them a close Putin ally with ties to organized crime — which foreign policy experts say points to legitimate questions about the pro-Russian bent of the Trump candidacy.

Yanakovych got ran out of Dodge to hide in Russia long before before Blinken ever got involved with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy - you know, the guy that Trump tried to bribe which ended with impeachment #1.

Putin started the war by invading Ukraine - thats all there is to this issue.; 2/12/25, 9:07 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: trump just bought Eric Adams with the sword of damocles over his charges dismissed by doing it without prejudice meaning if he dont do what he's told by trump they'll just charge him again because he is guilty as a fuk! Beautiful MERIKA! Bondi in the pocket as she does I AM YOUR RETRIBUTION song!; 2/12/25, 9:09 PM
Mason G said...: "The criticism of Musk over having his son with him at the Oval, completely missed the point of what Musk was talking about."

They're not missing the point, they understand it just fine. And very much want to avoid talking about it.; 2/12/25, 9:14 PM
Megaera3 said...: Lem Vibe Bandit: was just observing last night on another website that the anti-Trump/DOGE street protests the media were airing seemed weirdly feeble and spiritless, not to mention sparsely populated. Guess that's what happens when a lot of wannabe participants have to be at the office instead, or get fired. And all the covert financing for Rentamobs and supporting Antifa goonage has been nuked from orbit.

Eventually I might find myself missing the giant puppet heads and the pink pussy hats and all the magically prefabricated "handmade" protest signs, but honestly? I don't think I will.; 2/12/25, 9:16 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Headline: "CNN anchor Anderson Cooper apologized to former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu for telling him “don’t be a d--k” during a discussion Tuesday about the activities of Elon Musk’s government efficiency agency."

The house of cards that is the progresive agenda has been propped up by tax dollars. Cutting off the lifeblood means it's going to die. The people that see it, are starting to lose their shit... on the air. The fact that it needs money to survive, means that there was no groundswell of support for any of it... ever. It was all a Potemkin village mirage.; 2/12/25, 9:17 PM
Mason G said...: "the anti-Trump/DOGE street protests the media were airing seemed weirdly feeble and spiritless"

I'm not sure how inspiring this one is, but anyway...

https://x.com/MatthewFoldi/status/1889682169020199255; 2/12/25, 9:26 PM
gadfly said...: Lem: Elmo the Musk and DJT are breaking the law, taking actions not permitted under our Constitution. So our country is gravely at risk from the Hitler-like approach to the government in place.

So what happens if we refuse to pay our taxes since there is no intent to honor the rule of law anyway? They cannot lock everyone up. And I hope that you are not awaiting a tax refund or you want inflation to cease or you believe this economy will not sink to a depression.; 2/12/25, 9:29 PM
lonejustice said...: Just got back from a 10 day vacation in Puerto Angel in southwestern Mexico. Beautiful mountains, great small fishing village with great swimming. Beachfront hotel. Good Mexican food with 40 peso ($2.00) ice cold Corona beers served to you right on the beach, and the best tequila ever. I am mellow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMVjToYOjbM&t=174s; 2/12/25, 9:44 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Video: These are trained snakes; 2/12/25, 9:57 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The Federal Government is getting an enema, a colonoscopy. It never had one before.; 2/12/25, 10:01 PM
effinayright said...: MikeD said...
"did you know that since 1946 no president nor any of his appointed staff of secretaries up to and including the treasury secretary has had access to the US government’s payment system?"

https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/doge-due-diligence-at-treasury
************

Oh yeah?

Then if they tried, what law prevented them?; 2/12/25, 10:06 PM
Jamie said...: Glad you had fun, lone! We've been considering a trip to the Guadalajara area, hesitating because we'd have to drive with our dog through sketchy regions. But a friend just moved there with Texas plates, sticking to the toll roads, so....maybe.

Mexico ought to be a powerhouse. Huge resource stores, hard-working people, fantastic location, climate, ocean access. I'm hoping that beheading (figuratively) the cartels will give Mexico the chance it deserves.; 2/12/25, 10:10 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: National Review: "Witness at First DOGE Hearing Confronts Lawmakers with Scale of Covid Fraud: ‘They Stole $1 Trillion’"; 2/12/25, 10:16 PM
effinayright said...: gadfly said...
Lem: Elmo the Musk and DJT are breaking the law, taking actions not permitted under our Constitution.

So our country is gravely at risk from the Hitler-like approach to the government in place.
****************

Gadfly, just STFU.

Your political/legal glossolalia isn't a good look.

As for "the Hitler-like approach": no one remembers Hitler seeking to reduce government fraud, waste and abuse, and thus SHRINK its size and power. That's not what fascists DO.

Other than that, your ass is GENIUS!!!

SNORT

p.s. we notice you NEVER try to defend, explain, or respond to criticism here---that's the mark of a troll, or a neuron-depleted cretin.

Take yer pick.; 2/12/25, 10:17 PM
effinayright said...: DINKY DAU 45 said...
trump just bought Eric Adams with the sword of damocles over his charges dismissed by doing it without prejudice meaning if he dont do what he's told by trump they'll just charge him again because he is guilty as a fuk! Beautiful MERIKA! Bondi in the pocket as she does I AM YOUR RETRIBUTION song!
**************

Once again, as you so often do, you commit the Fallacy of the "Argument from Bad Faith", imputing hidden and sinister motives you have UTTERLY NO KNOWLEDGE OF, to people you have never met.

You're an intellectual drag on this blog. Minus 30 points, I figure....; 2/12/25, 10:24 PM
Big Mike said...: Headline: "CNN anchor Anderson Cooper apologized to former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu for telling him “don’t be a d--k” during a discussion Tuesday about the activities of Elon Musk’s government efficiency agency."

@Lem, I’d have been much more impressed with former Governor Sununu had the headline started “After spitting out his broken teeth, CNN anchor felt compelled to apologize for calling him a d-k …”; 2/12/25, 10:29 PM
Jupiter said...: When men consecrate themselves to battle, oaths and salutes are customary. But around 6:40 in this video, it's just hugs and kisses. Were I the enemy, I don't think I would find that comforting.; 2/12/25, 10:29 PM
Jim at said...: Elmo the Musk and DJT are breaking the law, taking actions not permitted under our Constitution.

No. They aren't. If they were, you'd be able to cite it. Chapter and verse.; 2/12/25, 10:45 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Gadfly- spittle-flecked mad comments like yours amuses me. Enjoy the next 4 years.; 2/12/25, 10:59 PM
Ampersand said...: The "gold bars off the Titanic" scandal crystallizes my sense that we are just now coming to grips with the horrible fact that a powerful clique has been looting the wealth of our nation for quite some time. I knew things were bad. I had no idea that they were as bad as they now seem to be. This is banana republic Hugo Chavez/Fidel Castro level theft. The Biden Crime Family were, among other things, pikers.; 2/13/25, 12:07 AM
gadfly said...: MAGAt Rep Anna Paulina Luna upon supposed examiation of thousands of newly released documents has concluded that there were two JFK shooters. But then, she wasn't born until 1989.

I helped bury JFK in Arlington, so I know better that the shots from from Lee Harvey Oswald's carbine from the upper floor of the School Depository building did the job.

The Zapruder film shows President Kennedy being shot from behind and not from the infamous grassy knoll, in corroboration of the official autopsy findings.; 2/13/25, 1:58 AM
Mark said...: Tesla just got awarded a $400 million contract for armored vehicles.

Elon's $270 million donation just got its first kickback.
Whats this I heard about radical transparency?

What a joke. Cutting departments only to enrich himself as you all get on your knees and suck Elon off.; 2/13/25, 2:33 AM
wendybar said...: Oli London
@OliLondonTV
·
Follow
Democrat Rep. Summer Lee labels President Trump a “white supremacist” while demanding “repatriations.”

“White supremacy is rampant in this county, just look at the current Administration…they have contributed to racial terror.”
https://twitter.com/i/status/1889768580448715166

Tomi Lahren
@TomiLahren
·
Follow
Replying to @RNCResearch
Sorry, your reparations already went to illegal immigrants.
2:32 PM · Feb 12, 2025; 2/13/25, 2:54 AM
wendybar said...: Ian Miles Cheong

@stillgray
·
Follow
This Democrat claims that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are mediocre white men who are terrified of "black excellence." Oh?
https://twitter.com/i/status/1889765399526252973

GenX-Hole
@debra_malo4088
·
Follow
Replying to @libsoftiktok
The guy sending rockets to Mars is "mediocre," but career politicians who do nothing but complain are "excellent." Got it.
2:56 PM · Feb 12, 2025; 2/13/25, 2:56 AM
Josephbleau said...: “Your problem is not inflation, abortion, immigration, or even fentanyl. Your problem is that you don’t have enough power. You’re not voting against fentanyl. You are voting for power. You are voting for the power to beat fentanyl—as well as inflation, abortion, immigration, and whatever else needs beating (but nothing that doesn’t).“ From Grey Mirror.

So the power is in congress, Not in the Executive. Now the Executive is just the department of administration. To develop breakthrough change you need to elect larger majorities in congress in 2026. Learn to put the horn in the matador, not the cape.; 2/13/25, 3:08 AM
wendybar said...: "More significant is, what are the Democrats protesting against? The revelation of massive fraud and waste in the federal government. Do Democrats really want Social Security payments to go to dead people and illegal aliens? Well, yes, actually, they do.

The Democrats still pretend to be the party of working people, but they aren’t fooling anyone. Which side are they on? They are on the side of fraud, corruption and incompetence, and they are terrified by the fact that DOGE is lifting the lid on decades of Democratic Party malfeasance."
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/which-side-are-they-on.php; 2/13/25, 4:50 AM
wendybar said...: Oilfield Rando
@Oilfield_Rando
·
Follow
So the people who made us rename everything from military bases to football teams to pancake syrup are very upset about this Gulf of America thing aren’t they
7:52 PM · Feb 12, 2025; 2/13/25, 4:55 AM
Iman said...: ‘fly is Zelig? On the gassy hole…; 2/13/25, 5:30 AM
Jaq said...: "Putin started the war by invading Ukraine - thats all there is to this issue."

Sure, if you ignore all of the stuff that we did. If Biden didn't want the war to start, when the Russian foreign minister claimed that Blinken told him right before Russia entered the civil war with its own army that Ukraine was going to enter NATO no matter what, and that NATO was going to place nuclear missiles in Ukraine, just a couple of hundred miles from Moscow, if Biden wanted to avoid the war, he could have denied that the US intended to place nukes in Ukraine. But he didn't, did he? It's because he wanted the war, he believed that we could win the war, that we could collapse the Russian Federation and go in their and loot its resources and isolate China, which would then be next in the series of wars for world domination that we have been fighting.; 2/13/25, 5:53 AM
Jaq said...: "Donald Trump’s campaign chairman was a key player in multi-million-dollar business deals with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs"

It seems like that was all Ukrainian lies, introduced into the 2016 campaign and printed on the front page of the New York Times in August of 2016. None of the "hand written Black Ledger" was used in court, and Manafort was convicted under the same FARA laws that Hunter Biden broke routinely.

You guys always accuse Trump of what it is that your side is doing. It's an old and effective propaganda technique, but the problem for you is that too much information is available now for it to work long term.; 2/13/25, 5:56 AM
Jaq said...: BTW, Hillary's campaign manager had received tens of millions of dollars in stock from a subsidiary of Gazprom, a "green energy" subsidiary. You know what a green energy company is overseas? It's a vessel in which the Democrats pour billions of dollars, and receive back kickbacks of hundreds of millions. Oddly, the stock became worthless as soon as the news that Hillary had lost came out.

Nancy Pelosi's son also had close involvement in a green energy company, this one in Ukraine, whose purpose was to receive grants from the Democrats, and, well, you know the rest.

But the real interference in the 2016 election came from Ukraine, you just repeated their lies from that era, and it was blamed on their enemy, the Russians, because that's not just your playbook, it's their playbook. Goebbels wrote it, it's a science.; 2/13/25, 6:05 AM
Jaq said...: Oh yeah, and remember that the Organized Crime Reporting Project, or whatever it was called, was a CIA cutout funded by USAID. It would not surprise me one bit if they were involved in smearing Trump with unsubstantiated allegations of connections to Russian organized crime.; 2/13/25, 6:08 AM
Breezy said...: My experience in corporate America included a relatively gentle approach to layoffs. The people affected would receive significant severance or retirements, the rest would be advised of the action and why, and there would be time spent from management answering questions about it.

The Fed Govt approach now underway is much harsher, largely due to the severity of the issue. Departments closed suddenly, people layed off with no background information, no opportunity for the remaining to ask questions, etc. This required harshness is caused by the bureaucrats and politicians who enabled us to get to this state of affairs, though. DOGE has to be quick and brutal in order to correct as much as possible as early as possible in this presidential term. Our debt is unsustainable. The corruption is mind-boggling. The thousands of govt employees, so-called public servants, only served themselves. The brutality of the cutting is a just consequence for the malice and ineptitude of those we used to trust with our tax dollars. They seemed to think they were entitled to plunder and pilfer, never face consequences, keep their job, and have a large pension.

I indirectly know of a few people who’ve lost their jobs, and while I’m sorry for them personally, I’m not sorry it’s happening at this scale and speed. Maybe in the future our govt will be more attentive to managing spending and right-sizing the employee base, but I’m not holding my breath.; 2/13/25, 6:25 AM
Leland said...: Now gadfly is admitting he was part of JFK's assassination and cover up. Didn't have that on my bingo card.; 2/13/25, 6:31 AM
Iman said...: ‘fly is Zelig? ‘fly is Gump?

shoo ‘fly…; 2/13/25, 6:49 AM
Big Mike said...: Donald Trump’s campaign chairman was a key player in multi-million-dollar business deals with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs

That statement certainly has all the hallmarks of Ukrainian disinformation.; 2/13/25, 6:49 AM
Jaq said...: Kursk was a trap for Ukraine, maybe on purpose by Russia, or maybe Russia just lucked into it. Ukraine sent some of their best military assets into Kursk, where they are methodically destroyed by Russia, and they left their defenses back on the home front in Ukraine denuded, and those defenses are collapsing village by village, with less and less resistance by the day.

Not just that, but the invasion of Russia solidified support for Russia in those countries which are not vassals under the thumb of the United States.

Imagine that you are an amateur general, an actor famous for skits like playing a piano with your penis, and suddenly the fate of the nation is place in your hands as commander in chief, and it's your first real war. You see you are losing, so you start directing the war yourself, ordering crazy operations to defend the indefensible, sending soldiers to certain death is part of command during wartime, but sending soldiers pointlessly to certain death is not.

Zelensky is a coward who fears the neonazis who keep him in power, the kind of people who assassinated one of the Ukrainian negotiators who came to the peace deal with Russia way back in March of 2022, that Biden killed. These neonazis would rather lose the war outright, and continue to fight a terror war against Russia than negotiate peace. Their hatred of Russia is that implacable. They will kill Zelensky if he signs a peace deal, and he knows it; it's just like Arafat, who once told Bill Clinton that if he signed a peace deal, he would be signing his own death warrant.; 2/13/25, 6:50 AM
Enigma said...: @Leland: Now gadfly is admitting he was part of JFK's assassination and cover up. Didn't have that on my bingo card.

Given his Socrates portrait photo and the very name 'gadfly,' I figure @gadfly has been around for 2,500 years and is responsible for most major events in world history. See the Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil, see Black Sabbath's N.I.B.

Mind your words, or watch out!; 2/13/25, 7:03 AM
Big Mike said...: Effective this morning, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is formally ending a review that it initiated during the Biden administration to assess the potential health risks posed by gas-powered stovetops.

The Democrats’ war on gas stoves is over. We, the Normal people, have won (for now).; 2/13/25, 7:13 AM
Big Mike said...: If you like your gas stove, you can keep your gas stove.; 2/13/25, 7:13 AM
Iman said...: Kaitlin Collins and her resting c**tface… yay!; 2/13/25, 7:25 AM
Leland said...: Now we are cooking with gas.; 2/13/25, 7:32 AM
planetgeo said...: Dinky (and gadfly), sounds like all the Trump winning is having the same effect on you as that could swimming pool had on Costanza.; 2/13/25, 7:41 AM
Rusty said...: "State Department Removes Tesla’s Name From Planned $400M Contract Amid Musk Scrutiny"
Which is it, Mark?; 2/13/25, 7:49 AM
Aggie said...: @Gadfly sez: "...I helped bury JFK in Arlington, so I know better ....". That's some.... sterling deductive logic there, Socrates. 'I was at a funeral, so I know how the victim died'? And I see you're back to primary-school-playground pejoratives, just to make your thoughts really persuasive and compelling. Aren't you glad the documents are finally seeing the light of day ? Who's your President, making it happen?; 2/13/25, 8:00 AM
wendybar said...: @debivino1961
For the love of god
@janschakowsky

@RepSchakowsky
the word “Manufacturing” has absolutely nothing to do with why women aren’t working in that field! I sure hope the people of Illinois decide to vote Republican next election because you are a disgrace!

Congressman Gabe Evans

@repgabeevans
·
18h
Us: Let's lead the way and bring jobs back to America 💪🇺🇸

Democrats: "Manufacturing" is a sexist term against women!

https://x.com/i/status/1889757514738147692; 2/13/25, 8:08 AM
gilbar said...: gadfly?
tell MORE, about how you "helped bury JFK in Arlington" ??
what sort of shovel did you use?

Actually, i'm kinda concerned about you.. a few questions
* what day is it today?
* what city are you in?
* how many animals starting with the letter "B" can you name?

dementia is a sad disease. I'm Sorry For You; 2/13/25, 8:09 AM
Nihimon said...: Ma'am, do you read Eko? I find the writing style interesting, and suspect you would, too.

https://eko.substack.com/p/good-behavior?r=5nzwk&triedRedirect=true; 2/13/25, 8:37 AM