Sunrise — 6:14, 6:25.

Write about anything you want in the comments.

"The same basic separation-of-powers principles that counsel against a court maintaining a prosecution over the executive's objection support dismissal with prejudice here."

"The executive's unilateral option for ending a prosecution—namely, a pardon—more closely resembles a dismissal with prejudice. And the executive's undoubted power to decline to initiate a prosecution leaves a citizen's liberty untouched. But a dismissal without prejudice creates a palpable sense that the prosecution outlined in the indictment and approved by a grand jury could be renewed, a prospect that hangs like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the accused. Such an ongoing prospect of re-indictment is particularly problematic when it comes to the sensitive task of prosecuting public officials. There is an inherent risk that once an indictment has been procured, the prospect of re-indictment could create the appearance, if not the reality, that the actions of a public official are being driven by concerns about staying in the good graces of the federal executive, rather than the best interests of his constituents.... Dismissal with prejudice avoids those concerns and promotes another important separation-of-powers virtue— namely, accountability."

So writes Paul D. Clement, responding — at the request of the judge — to the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss charges against Eric Adams.

Here's the full text of Clement's response.

Here's the NYT article about it: "Lawyer Appointed in Adams Case Says Charges Should Be Dropped/Paul D. Clement also said a judge should not allow the Trump administration to use the court’s authority to compel Mr. Adams’s support in the White House’s mass deportation efforts."

"Tell me about the social media meme that's just different images of JD Vance."

For the annals of Things I Asked Grok.

From the answer: "This phenomenon has gained massive traction as of early March 2025.... The meme trend kicked off in earnest around October 2024, when an X user posted an edited image of Vance with slightly rounder cheeks, captioning it, 'For every 100 likes, I will turn J.D. Vance into a progressively apple-cheeked baby.'... What’s notable is the meme’s bipartisan appeal.... Vance himself has weighed in.... As of today, March 8, 2025, the JD Vance meme shows no signs of fading...."

pic.twitter.com/rPloNGHLej

— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 8, 2025

ADDED: That image relies on the Leonardo DiCaprio "Pointing Meme":

Mike Snowplowski, Sno'diggity, Snowceratops, Anne Pathaway, Princess Sleigha, and Plower to the People.

In what was a democratic process, the city of Madison has named 6 of its snowplows.

"Literally mutilating animals. Mutilating animals in demented studies that are like the worst thing you could possibly imagine from a horror show...."

"Some really some psychotic stuff that happens. So yeah, I mean the, I guess the, the, the, the real threat here is to the bureaucracy. So like, you probably saw like, you know, let's say, like, Trump as a threat to our democracy, which is ironic since he was elected with the majority of the, you know, popular vote. They, they started saying I was a threat to democracy. But if you, if you just replace threat to democracy with threat to bureaucracy, it makes total sense. Right. So, I mean, the reality is that our elected officials have very, very little power relative to the bureaucracy until DOGE. So DOGE is a threat to the bureaucracy. It's the first threat to the bureaucracy. Normally the bureaucracy eats revolutions for breakfast. This is the first time that they're not, that the revolution might actually succeed. That we could restore power to the people instead of power to the bureaucracy."

Said Elon Musk, on the Joe Rogan podcast last week.

I was re-listening to that because the part about "mutilating animals" and "the worst thing you can possibly imagine from a horror show" got quoted in this new article at Yahoo News, "Trump said the US spent $8m on transgender mice – he was right."

In his big speech last Tuesday, Trump spoke of "$8 million for making mice transgender," and anti-Trump media called him out, but a fact-check of the fact-check seems to have established that Trump got it right.

Sunrise — 6:32.

And here's a photo of the sun at 4:11 PM today:

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

"The actor Gene Hackman died from heart disease at his home in New Mexico, most likely a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from the effects of hantavirus..."

"... a disease linked to rodents that can cause respiratory failure in rare cases, the authorities said on Friday. The revelation that the famous and reclusive couple had died of natural causes put to rest much of the speculation that followed the discovery of their bodies on Feb. 26. But it also raised new questions about the state of mind of Mr. Hackman, who investigators said had severe Alzheimer’s disease, and why the couple was not discovered sooner...."

The NYT reports.

Terribly sad to think of him, suffering from dementia and alone in the house with his wife's dead body. Had she been shouldering the entire responsibility to care for him, with no one backing her up, so that she could die and he would be helpless and no one would notice for a week?

"Mr. Musk, who wore a suit and tie to Thursday’s meeting instead of his usual T-shirt after Mr. Trump publicly ribbed him about his sloppy appearance..."

"... defended himself by saying that he had three companies with a market cap of tens of billions of dollars, and that his results spoke for themselves. But he was soon clashing with members of the cabinet. ... Mr. Musk and the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, went back and forth about the state of the Federal Aviation Administration’s equipment for tracking airplanes and what kind of fix was needed.... Mr. Duffy said the young staff of Mr. Musk’s team was trying to lay off air traffic controllers. What am I supposed to do? Mr. Duffy said. I have multiple plane crashes to deal with now, and your people want me to fire air traffic controllers? Mr. Musk told Mr. Duffy that his assertion was a 'lie.' Mr. Duffy insisted it was not; he had heard it from them directly. Mr. Musk, asking who had been fired, said: Give me their names. Tell me their names. Mr. Duffy said there were not any names, because he had stopped them from being fired.... In a post on X on Friday, Mr. Duffy praised Mr. Trump and the work Mr. Musk’s team is doing and said it was an effective cabinet meeting.... Mr. Musk, who later claimed on X that the cabinet meeting was 'very productive,' seemed far less enthused inside the room...."

I'm reading "Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk/Simmering anger at the billionaire’s unchecked power spilled out in a remarkable Cabinet Room meeting. The president quickly moved to rein in Mr. Musk" (NYT).

"The corruption needs to be immediately defunded. The F.B.I. should no longer exist as it’s constituted now."

"The mission should be divvied up. The money should be divvied up amongst other agencies that take the oath to their country seriously.”

Said Dan Bongino, in a 2023 podcast, quoted in "How Dan Bongino Would Run the F.B.I., According to Dan Bongino/The newly appointed deputy director of the F.B.I. has a long history of criticizing the bureau and its leadership. He has promised 'dramatic change'" (NYT).

Note: "The job, which does not require Senate confirmation, has traditionally been filled by a senior agent with vast operational experience and a deep understanding of how the bureau’s various divisions work. The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role. Mr. Bongino served as a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent years ago, but has no experience with the F.B.I."

"The Trump administration is discussing pulling hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts and grant commitments to Columbia University..."

"... as part of the government’s efforts to penalize schools it believes aren’t doing enough to combat antisemitism. The Ivy League school has come under scrutiny by the Trump administration for an alleged failure to protect Jewish students.... A person with knowledge of the discussions said the university will have a 30-day review period to address the government’s concerns and potentially reinstate the contracts.... Columbia drew especially heated criticism from some alumni for what they perceived as the university’s tepid response...."

From "Trump Administration Weighs Pulling Hundreds of Millions in Federal Funds From Columbia/Move would target the Ivy League school over allegations of antisemitism" (Wall Street Journal).

"There's only so much he can do."

Remember when the left kept perpetuating the lie that “there's only so much Biden can do”about the border crisis? pic.twitter.com/HePFhZdLbL

— Lucy (@TheLucyShow1) March 6, 2025

To be fair, it's possible that the things Trump is doing to shut the border are things a court will one day tell him he actually can't do. For now, he's doing it anyway. Those who want to preserve their dignity after leaning hard into "There's only so much he can do" have a big stake in the litigation. We're still in the middle of things.

And here's the key line from Trump's March 4, 2025 address to Congress: "The media and our friends in the Democrat party kept saying we needed new legislation, we must have legislation to secure the border. But it turned out that all we really needed was a new President."

If the President wants to do something, he'll push the boundaries of power. If he doesn't, he'll see those boundaries where they justify his inaction. 

"I didn’t leave my England behind — I left somebody else’s idea of England."

Said Cyning Meadowcroft, quoted in "Briton builds medieval banqueting hall in rural Wyoming/Cyning Meadowcroft used the historical — and characteristically English — cruck carpentry method to build one of the tallest such structures in the world" (London Times).

Cruck construction dates back at least to the 13th century and refers to the use of naturally curved timber split in two to form an arch which supports the structure....

Meadowcroft, 59, a carpenter by trade, originally from Birmingham, has spent more than two decades erecting Angelcynn Heall west of the state capital Cheyenne for the “preservation of my culture.”

He likened his long-running project to historical resistance by the English to various invading forces: “If you’re locked up, if you’re dead, you haven’t beaten a system. But if you survive and you have something to leave behind, you’ve beaten it.”...

"A jailed Iranian musician who encouraged women to remove their hijabs has been flogged 74 times...."

"Mehdi Yarrahi’s sentence has now been completed after he was imprisoned in 2023... He had been detained days after he released the song Roosarito, which means 'Your Headscarf' in Farsi...."

From "Iranian musician flogged 74 times for hijab protest song/Mehdi Yarrahi was jailed and lashed for encouraging women to remove their veils, as the Islamic regime cracks down on artists and intellectuals" (London Times).

You can listen to "Roosarito," here, on YouTube.

Here's a word-for-word translation. Excerpt:

The cloudy sky feels blue facing you

Untie your hair, so that they drown in its waves
Pull back the curtain so that the sky feels delighted
You are the sun, so it is impossible that the night falls

No wonder the government is terrified. 

"[Juan] Hamilton became the handyman, assistant and friend of [Georgia] O’Keeffe when he was 27 and she was 85."

"He worked and travelled with her for the next 14 years, helping her to paint again as her eyesight was failing, to mount exhibitions and to publish an acclaimed book about her life and work. But it was also noted by neighbours in New Mexico that he was tall, dark and handsome. O’Keeffe’s former agent, Doris Bry, noticed that he was invited to accompany O’Keeffe on a trip to Morocco, apparently in her stead and later filed a lawsuit alleging that he was interfering in her business relationship with the artist. And after O’Keeffe died in 1986, without children, her surviving relatives noticed that he had been made the sole beneficiary of her $70 million estate and filed a suit, later settled out of court...."

From "Juan Hamilton, Georgia O’Keeffe’s caretaker and friend, dies aged 79/The artist’s assistant inherited her entire estate when she died in 1986, but her relatives sued him and they settled out of court" (London Times).

"President Trump has clipped the wings of Elon Musk by putting the cabinet in charge of federal firings after mounting complaints about the billionaire’s indiscriminate approach to cost-cutting."

"Trump told a meeting of his top team that it was time for the 'scalpel rather than the hatchet' after an outcry from voters, including in Republican districts, about the wave of sackings carried out by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). This is the first time Trump has acted to rein in the X and SpaceX entrepreneur, who has built a far-reaching power base at the president’s side — cemented by unrivalled access to his home and inner circle — prompting Democrat complaints of a plutocratic takeover of the US government."

From "Trump reins in Musk after Doge sacking spree upsets rivals and allies/The president is putting his cabinet in charge of federal firings after voters complain about Elon Musk’s cost-cutting layoffs" (London Times).

This is not the first time that the Trump administration has taken the position that Musk only gives advice and does not take the actions he's recommending. His lawyer argued it in court last week — blogged here.

But I'm glad to see Trump clarifying the lines of power. And, as I've said a few times, there needs to be more respect and empathy for the ordinary employees whose livelihood is threatened. I wrote this on February 23rd:

"Late last year, Arthur Juliani, a 32-year-old research scientist at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, was decidedly not taking ibogaine..."

"... but was ingesting something similar. He had obtained tabernanthalog, a research molecule designed to mimic ibogaine’s chemical structure and potential effects on neuroplasticity, but not cause any hallucinations. About 45 minutes after he swallowed his dose, Juliani started to feel a kind of 'spacious attention,' he told me. On a walk outside, he found that anywhere he looked appeared like a 'perfectly framed photograph, distinct and standing on its own.' When he went home for lunch, he ate a bell pepper 'in the slowest and most intentional manner I had ever eaten a vegetable in my life.'... If novel psychedelics and 'pseudo-delics' tickle brain receptors in a way that changes people’s subjective experience... can one confidently say that the people who take them aren’t tripping? As the pursuit of non-hallucinogenic psychedelics advances, the definition of a trip as something induced by a discrete set of substances is set to evolve alongside them. These days, the hottest new psychedelic drugs might be the ones that feel as close to nothing as possible...."

From "Tripping on Nothing New, non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelics are blurring the boundaries of the drug trip" (The Atlantic).

My first reaction: We're just talking about paying attention. Why can't you find a way to pay attention on your own, using the natural resources of your magnificent human body? Why add drugs? Americans and their pills. Just stop!

My second reaction: This is the diet drug we've been waiting for! It will make you eat a vegetable — one vegetable! — slowly and with pleasure. This too, one might do without drugs — recall Fletcherism — but these are people who are already resorting to worse drugs, and — who knows? — at some point maybe you could internalize the capacity to call any vegetable and respond with cosmic joy.

My third reaction: This is how "they" turn us into the bleak, insignificant half-humans of the future: You will do nothing and you will be happy. (See "Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better")

Sunrise — 6:29.

Talk about anything you want in the comments.

Congressman Al Green is censured — for yelling and waving his cane at Trump — and House Democrats respond by singing "We Shall Overcome."

“Democrats burst out singing “We Shall Overcome” after Rep Al Green was censured pic.twitter.com/bCJ0SWWm7U

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 6, 2025

ADDED: I remember when Democrats sang "We Shall Overcome" to protest the pro-war platform at the National Convention in 1968. Here's Norman Mailer's description, from "Miami and the Siege of Chicago" (commission earned):

"If there’s one through line in this administration so far, it’s the amassing of power. And if there’s another through line, it’s the destruction of anything that might restrain power, and that’s bureaucracy."

Said David Brooks, quoted in "David Brooks on Why the Democrats Are Losing to Trump" (NYT)(free-access link).

Why does he keep saying "through line"? It seems to mean theme... but on a time line... or narrative... but with one clear idea... except there are 2 "through lines" in Brooks's telling. Is it a vogue phrase? I don't think I've used it or quoted it before in the 20+ year history of this blog.

But I didn't quote David Brooks to muse on the words "through line." I quoted him because I was astounded to see bureaucracy touted as if it were part of the system of checks and balances in the American constitutional system.

Or am I misreading him?

"Hunter Biden has asked a federal judge to drop the laptop hacking lawsuit he slapped against a former Trump White House aide — because he’s 'millions of dollars' in debt..."

"... 'exacerbated' by losing a home in the Los Angeles wildfires, court filings show. The embattled former first son, 55, blamed the recent fires, as well as dwindling sales from his artwork and memoir, for him being plagued by 'significant debt' keeping him from 'litigating this case' against Garrett Ziegler, according to a motion filed in federal court in California on Wednesday.... Ziegler, who worked as an aide to Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, during the last administration, has published much of Hunter’s laptop data on his site in the years since The Post first exposed the device in 2020...."

The NY Post reports.

"The Biden administration used so-called 'climate equity' to justify handouts of billions of dollars to their far-left friends."

"It is my utmost priority to get a handle on every dollar that went out the door in this scheme and once again restore oversight and accountability over these funds. This rush job operation is riddled with conflicts of interest and corruption."

Said EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, quoted by Bari Weiss (at X).

Weiss writes: "The Department of Justice is investigating the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program that was part of Joe Biden’s $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act. Created in the spring of 2023, and managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the fund was supposed to be a 'first-of-its-kind' program to address the climate crisis while revitalizing communities that it considered 'historically left behind.' But it appears little of the $27 billion revitalized anything—except the coffers of a range of environmental nonprofits associated with former Obama and Biden administration officials.."

"Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job...."

"It's been very clear from the beginning that President Trump views this as a protracted stalemated conflict. And frankly, it's a proxy war..."

"... between nuclear powers — the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia. And it needs to come to an end. And no one has any idea or plan to bring it to an end. The plan of the Ukrainians up to now — and their allies on Capitol Hill and people you talk to in other countries — is let's just keep giving them as much as they need for as long as it takes. That's not a strategy." 

🚨Update: Secretary Marco Rubio stated - Ukraine conflict is a ‘PROXY WAR’ between US and Russia; Ukraine has no plan to end the war!! pic.twitter.com/n9L01s5bIh

— US Homeland Security News (@defense_civil25) March 6, 2025

At the Wednesday Night Café…

... you can talk all night.

Why did the WaPo Fact Checker call it "false" to say — as Trump did — "We have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work"?

I'm reading Glenn Kessler's "Fact-checking 26 suspect claims in Trump’s address to Congress/President makes false claims about border crossings, regulations, the economy, inflation and many other issues" (free-access link).

Kessler explains his judgment of falsity like this:

This is false. Trump appears to equate teleworking with not showing up for work. But he often uses inflated numbers for how many federal workers work from home. The White House budget office reported in August that 54 percent of federal employees “worked fully on-site, as their jobs require them to be physically present during all working hours,” while just 10 percent worked only from their homes. Meanwhile the Congressional Budget Office reported in April that 22 percent of federal employees usually teleworked — compared to 25 percent of private sector employees.

There are 2 problems with this fact check.

First, the numbers Kessler gives do not undermine the assertion that there are hundreds of thousands who don't come into work. There are something like 2.1 million federal employees (if you leave out the military and the postal service). Even if we restrict ourselves to the 10% who work only from home, there are over 200,000. If you add in the people who telework most of the time, that's another 400,000+. Kessler makes it look as though his numbers are powerful, but they support Trump! 

Second — and harder to notice — there's a quibble about the meaning of "not... showing up to work."

"You didn't vote for Trump, though. Did you?"

They're talking about this scene — here — on Reddit, where somebody says, "The beauty of this scene is that I imagine it’s relatable for people on both sides of the political spectrum," and somebody else says, "Are right wingers watching White Lotus? I’d be surprised if."

"But it is all the relentless smiling, the desperate upbeatness of this high-spec, lavish production, that jars."

"At least I suspect it will with a more cynical British audience. Americans may feel differently. Meghan must have had face-ache with all that grinning. It is a world where people use superlatives about a cherry tomato and in Californian accents say, 'That’s so funny!' but then don’t actually laugh from their bellies. There is no authentic humour. Meghan says we aren’t 'in pursuit of perfection … we are in the pursuit of joy' — and yet we all know she told Oprah Winfrey that Kate made her cry over a difference of opinion about flower girl dresses. This is a series that entreats you to fill every moment of life 'with wonder'...."

Writes Carol Midgley, in "With Love, Meghan review — smug, syrupy and endlessly spoofable/The new Netflix series from Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is full of immaculately tasteful domestic tips from Montecito and relentless smiling, but it is a performative kind of joy" (London Times).

We could do a little dollop of yogurt as our clouds.

About that Nebraska accent.

There is truth in the observation that tariffs and immigration hurt agriculture but FFS there is absolutely no one in the state of Nebraska who has this accent, so I suggest consulting a professional dialog coach before filming your next Tik Tok https://t.co/92deSWanCZ

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 5, 2025

"A Madison woman... attacked a Metro bus driver after learning the bus wasn't going to her desired location."

"That caused the driver to lose control of the bus and crash into the restaurant... Despite a policy to not name people accused of crimes until they’re formally charged in court, News 3 Now is naming the suspect(s) in this story because of the nature and severity of the alleged crime."

From "Madison woman arrested in attack on Metro bus driver that led to Asian House crash" (Channel 3000). (listing the alleged crimes as "disorderly conduct, battery to a public transit operator and second-degree recklessly endangering safety").

I'm blogging this not merely because it's a bit surprising to see that it was a woman who (allegedly) caused the bus crash Madisonians were talking about last week:

Bus crash near east side Woodman’s
byu/sassonblast inmadisonwi

I'm blogging this because we all understand how frustrating it is to find yourself in the middle of a bus ride that isn't going where you had in mind and because it is so incredibly foolish to attack the driver of a vehicle that you are riding in. You're hoping to get where you are going, but everything you are doing is only taking you farther away from that place.

File this story under potential metaphor. Could work for politics... or maybe for your personal life.

Asked what was the "best moment" of Trump's speech, 2 of the NYT's 9 opinion writers said it was Al Green disrupting the session.

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) getting rightly removed from President Trump’s speech really illustrates the demise of the Democrat Party.

They are out of ideas. They can’t offer anything positive for America so they try to ruin it.

Al Green needs to be censured and hopefully expelled. pic.twitter.com/CV15kVsz9x

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) March 5, 2025

I'm reading the NYT analysis of Trump's big speech: "'It Was 90-Plus Minutes of Bad Moments': 9 Opinion Writers on Trump’s Address to Congress."

From the "Best Moment" section of the article:

"The cartels are waging war in America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing."

Said Trump, in his speech last night.

Five nights ago, Mexican authorities, because of our tariff policies being imposed on them, think of this, handed over to us 29 of the biggest cartel leaders in their country. That has never happened before. They want to make us happy. First time ever. But we need Mexico and Canada to do much more than they’ve done.... I have sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out exactly how we will eliminate these threats to protect our homeland and complete the largest deportation operation in American history.... Americans expect Congress to send me this funding without delay so I can sign it into law.... I’ll sign it so fast you won’t even believe it....

He said "war," but then it didn't sound like a war.  

Trump also said: "The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control. They have total control over a whole nation, posing a grave threat to our national security." 

"The territory" — that makes it sound as though that place isn't even Mexico at all, and yet our approach is to squeeze the Mexico, the land south of the territory, with tariffs. Is it "time for America to wage war" or not? Mexico needs "to do much more," but what? I'm not asking for a real war. I'm just irritated by the disconnect between declaring This is war! and then merely asking Mexico and Canada to "do more" and Congress to fund deportations. What about the "war" being "waged" from "the territory"?

Sunrise — 6:31.

Talk about whatever you want in the comments... except Trump's big speech. The previous post is the place for that conversation.

Let's talk about Trump's big speech.

I'll be watching live but probably not writing. Please feel free to use the comments section to talk about the speech, which ought to be quite something.

I see that "Democrats are reportedly planning to disrupt Trump's speech tonight with eggs, hand clappers, and other means."

"Senators Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker released videos on their social media accounts simultaneously, using identical scripts..."

"... to criticize former President Donald Trump's policies on economic management and social issues. The videos claim that under Trump's leadership, inflation and costs of living have increased, while he allegedly prioritized pardons for violent criminals and allowed for data privacy concerns. This coordinated effort highlights a strategic messaging tactic within political discourse.".

So says a summary of X posts.

Listen to the chorus:

Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker posted identical videos—word for word—right before Trump’s speech. pic.twitter.com/1iYUuuhaEN

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 4, 2025

It's ludicrous. But that got our attention and made it viral. And yet, I think that what is viral is the fakeness — the rote performance — and not the substantive message. I watched the whole thing intently, but I didn't notice what they said, only the bizarre overlap.

It reminded me of my favorite sequence in one of my favorite movies — "The Idea of North" (in "32 Short Films About Glenn Gould"):

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a new framework for a partial ceasefire with Russia on Tuesday..."

"... posting on X that Kyiv would be willing to release prisoners and agree to a truce that would ban long range attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure. The offer came after the Trump administration declared that Zelensky was not ready for peace and froze the U.S. military assistance that Ukraine has been relying on to battle the Russian invasion. 'Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the U.S. to agree a strong final deal,' Zelensky wrote. The post, which made no mention of halting ground operations on either side, came after President Donald Trump’s decision to pause aid sent shockwaves across Ukraine and Europe...."

WaPo reports.

The post:

I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace.

None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 4, 2025

If you were running for president, what would be your policy platform?

For the annals of Things I asked Grok.

I also asked ChatGPT... and got a very different answer!

I pointed out the difference to Grok and asked why that happened.

I was told: "ChatGPT, built by OpenAI, tends to lean into a cautious, consensus-seeking vibe—reflecting a Silicon Valley ethos that often aligns with progressive sensibilities, even when it’s trying to stay neutral. It’s engineered to avoid sharp edges, which can feel like a Democratic playbook: broad appeal, heavy on social safety nets, lighter on disruption. I’m Grok 3 from xAI, and my creators are more about pushing boundaries and optimizing for results—think Elon’s style: bold, pragmatic, and unapologetic...."

Fact-checking DOGE's "Wall of Receipts."

Does the Democratic Party need to change? It can't. It won't.

I'm reading "Senate blocks ban on transgender athletes, as Trump pushes forward/The Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to advance legislation banning transgender athletes from competing in female sports" (WaPo).

Every single Democratic Senator voted against the bill. That is, they stuck to their principles on the #1 issue that clearly — massively — hurts them.

WaPo's A.I. summarizes comments — "Many commenters criticize Democrats for supporting policies that they believe disadvantage biological women" — and singles this one out as "provocative":

Yeah, who are we as a country if we don't defend someone's right to pee next to someone of their imagined gender? Or defend a guy’s right to creep out a bunch of college girls by flouncing around in his original equipment in their locker room and then going out and stealing an NCAA swimming championship from them? /s

"US Vice President JD Vance was told to 'wind his neck in' today after branding Britain 'some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.'"

That's the first line of an article in The Sun called "VANCE SHAME/Fury as Trump’s No2 JD Vance mocks UK for ‘not fighting a war in 30 years’ – forgetting Afghanistan & Iraq."

That calls our attention to something Vance said on Fox News: "If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine. That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years."

I don't know if that "random" refers to the UK, but apparently some people in the UK are hearing it that way. And the UK is hardly a random country. But "random" is bandied about humorously these days. In America. Do the Brits know that?

Insulting him back, the random Brit who is the source of this quote doesn't seem to know that Americans don't say "wind his neck in." The effort at an insult strikes me as funny because, not being used to the phrase, I'm forced to try to picture it concretely. 

The source of the quote is a Former Veterans Minister who served in Afghanistan, and the full quote is: "Vance needs to wind his neck in. Show a bit of respect and stop making yourself look so unpleasant."

Vance looks especially unpleasant in my mental image, where he has an extremely long and thin neck attached to a fishing reel.

"I am happy to have a conversation with anybody in the administration as to the motivations and expectations that our community had when they overwhelmingly wanted me to bring this criminal action."

What "community"?

I'm quoting Dan Rubinstein, the Mesa County district attorney who won the conviction of Tina Peters. Peters was sentenced to 9 years in prison for "tampering with voting machines under her control in a failed attempt to prove that they had been used to rig the 2020 election against President Trump."

I'm reading "Justice Dept. to Review Election Tampering Conviction of Pro-Trump Clerk/The decision, revealed in a filing in a Colorado clerk’s bid to overturn her conviction, marks another example of President Trump’s Justice Department intervening to aid supporters or go after foes" (NYT).

At a sentencing hearing in October, Judge Matthew D. Barrett scolded Ms. Peters from the bench, telling her that he was imposing a stiff penalty on her because she had repeatedly advanced false claims about Mr. Trump’s defeat, and that, in so doing, she had become a celebrity among those who denied that he lost the race.

“You are no hero. You abused your position, and you are a charlatan,” Judge Barrett said, adding, “You cannot help but lie as easy as you breathe.”

Sunrise — 6:36.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

Bill Murray discovers what a podcast is.

A TikTok montage of Murray on Joe Rogan.

ADDED: Here's the montage in YouTube form, "Bill Murray learns who Joe Rogan is ON his podcast":

"Designer Behind President Zelensky’s White House Outfit Defends the Choice."

A headline at Women's Wear Daily.

Who knew Zelensky had a designer?

I ran across that article looking for confirmation of something I happened to see — here — in The Washington Post: "Even after Zelensky refused a White House request to wear a suit, Trump praised his outfit, saying, 'I think he’s dressed beautifully.'"

Zelensky was asked — in advance?! — to wear a suit?! This is the first I'm seeing that.

From Women's Wear Daily: "Zelensky turned up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue wearing a three-button knitted long-sleeve polo shirt from [Elvira] Gasanova’s menswear label Damirli, as well as pants from the collection. She had made a special version for Zelensky with the emblem of a tryzub, a shield with a trident that is the coat of arms that Ukraine adopted in February 1991."

The above-linked WaPo column is "Zelensky must mend the breach with Trump — or resign/Zelensky's stubbornness has badly hurt Ukraine" by Marc A. Thiessen. Excerpt:

A staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world....

I'm reading "France’s prime minister tears into Trump’s attack on Zelenskyy as a staggering show of 'brutality'" (AP), which quotes French Prime Minister François Bayrou"

"On Friday night, in the Oval Office of the White House, a staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world, marked by brutality, a desire to humiliate, with the goal of making Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fold through threats. President Zelenskyy did not fold and I think we can show him our appreciation."

Meanwhile, at The Washington Post, "Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says/Tension between the United States and Ukraine, laid bare in the Oval Office meeting of Trump and Zelensky, is seen in Moscow as a 'gift.'"

"Flow" is the only movie up for an Oscar that I've seen.

I've blogged about it twice — here and here. 

I didn't watch the Oscars, but somebody who did and knew I only cared about "Flow" gave me this minimalistic update:

Here's a Hollywood Reporter report about what I see was an upset: "Independent Movie ’Flow’ Wins Best Animated Feature in Upset/‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘The Wild Robot’ from powerhouses Disney and DreamWorks were also nominated in the category." 

Things that get my "Trump's masculinity" tag.

I didn't take this interesting photograph, but the person who did doesn't want to be named. The location is the Galleria in Houston, Texas. Closeup:

The size and positioning of the eagle make me uneasy. Does the eagle have large talons?

"It feels worth noting that in this moment, Zelensky decides to call the vice President JD, not Vice President Vance."

Observes Peter Baker in this morning's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast — "The Fallout From Zelensky and Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown" (audio and transcript at Podscribe).

We hear the recording of Zelensky, with new focus on the dismissive "JD": "What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What? What you, what you, what do you mean?"

Baker continues: "Perhaps history will not note this as an important moment. I noted it."

Yes, the re-listen affected me.

"I also, again, just want to recognize and honor the sex worker community."

"I will continue to support and be an ally. All of the incredible people, the women that I’ve had the privilege of meeting from that community has been one of the highlights of this incredible — of this entire incredible experience."

Said Mikey Madison, quoted in "Mikey Madison wins best lead actress for 'Anora'" (NYT).

Madison also underscored the influence that sex workers had on her performance. To study her character, she read memoirs by sex workers, underlining sections of Andrea Werhun’s “Modern Whore.”... She also... took pole-dancing lessons. The role involved significant nudity and a number of intimate scenes, which Madison said was never daunting to her: “I was always comfortable, and I also think because Ani was too,” she told The Times.

I haven't used my tag "the [blank] community" in a long time, but here we have "the sex worker community." 

Mikey Madison becomes the 10th woman to win an Oscar for playing a prostitute — 12th if you count Donna Reed in "From Here to Eternity" and Jo Van Fleet in "East of Eden." And Madison is the first to win an Oscar for playing a prostitute since the #MeToo movement shook Hollywood to its nonexistent core.

Sunrise — 6:22.

Say what you like in the comments.

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Maybe not. Maybe not. Awesome. Awesome, awesome. You've got to make a joke. You know... legalize comedy! Legalize comedy! Come on, legalize it!"

"All this gray — it’s so dark, it’s so gloomy, so ugly. It’s like seeing creativity and art and the colors of my community disappear right in front of my eyes."

Said Richard Segovia, 71, a longtime resident of the Mission District of San Francisco, quoted in "The house color that tells you when a neighborhood is gentrifying/A Washington Post color analysis of D.C. found shades of gray permeate neighborhoods where the White population has increased and the Black population has decreased" (WaPo)(free-access link).

But what does gray mean?

A white woman who owns a home decor company asserts: "It all comes down to this perception of wealth and luxury, this idea that neutrals indicate status.... Black homeownership in D.C. has been shrinking for years, which means the very culture of these neighborhoods has been changing. When we see house flippers try to take color out of a house, or a neighborhood, they’re making it more palatable to mostly White people."

But what's behind all this gray?

"Legally, the lifetime ban is over. His lifetime is over."

Said Jeffrey Lenkov, Pete Rose's lawyer, quoted in an ESPN report that says, "Commissioner Rob Manfred is considering a petition filed on Jan. 8 by Pete Rose's family to have Major League Baseball's all-time hit leader posthumously removed from baseball's ineligible list...."

Here's yesterday's post about Trump's plan to pardon Rose and his statement that "Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!"

"Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said Sunday that he would work with the leaders of Ukraine and France on a cease-fire plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine...."

"Mr. Starmer told the BBC on Sunday that he had spoken to President Trump by phone a day earlier. 'I’m clear in my mind he does want lasting peace, he does want an end to the fighting in Ukraine'.... The prime minister said that he, Mr. Zelensky and President Emmanuel Macron of France had agreed they 'would work on a plan for stopping the fighting and then discuss that plan with the U.S.' Any peace agreement 'is going to need a U.S. backstop,' Mr. Starmer added, saying that British and U.S. teams were discussing the idea.... Since Friday, European leaders have lined up behind Ukraine and lauded its embattled president. Mr. Zelensky is also set to meet King Charles III later on Sunday."

The NYT reports.

What will Zelensky wear for his audience with the King? He's met with the King twice before — February 8, 2023 and July 18, 2024 — and both times he wore those dark green "wartime" clothes and not a suit.  Zelensky has met with other European royalty —Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia (Sweden), King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway), King Philippe (Belgium) — and each time, he wore the "wartime" outfit that he was called out for wearing in the Oval Office.

Of course, royalty is a game played through outfits. But Trump has his outfits too. Indeed, questioned about his military getup, Zelensky said that after the war, he could wear a "costume," and by "costume," he meant a suit: "I will wear a costume after this war will finish. Maybe something like yours, maybe something better."

But enough about clothing, what do we think about Europe stepping up to make the peace deal? Who will give Trump credit for making that happen and for, more generally, requiring Europe to take charge of the defense of Europe? Whether the Europeans can close a peace deal is another matter, but they concede in advance that any peace agreement "is going to need a U.S. backstop." Could they, instead, just flow endless money into Ukraine? They've counted on our money for so long.