Kyle Varner, MD

As a general rule, if a federal agent on duty commits a state crime, how does the supremacy clause play out? I have this suspicion that courts would rule that if it is plausibly related to the job duties, states cannot prosecute. But I don't know that....

I read the order of dismissal where the judge used the phrase "void ab initio."

I take it to mean that, in the eyes of the law, the first indictment never happened. Which should mean the statute of limitations was not tolled.

I am sure this will come up in court and it will be interesting to see.

Regarding Taiwan's political status: ask the Taiwanese. Regarding Esequibo: ask the people living there! Belize? Talk to the Belizians. Faulklands? Talk to the people of the Faulklands.

Simple stuff, really.

Whatever happened 100 years ago may be important in an academic sense; the lives of the people who live in these places now is what matters now.

Why Argentines feel entitled to have an opinion on the governance of the Faulklands is beyond me. They don't live there.

Whenever these historical national grievances come up, I always default to saying, "let's ask the people who live there" and then nationalists whine about something that happened 100 years ago.

Doing this to solid GOP voters will dampen enthusiasm and suppress turnout. Doing it with Democrats will fire them up. Doing it with independents will give them a sour taste about the tariffs.

You probably can't get better bang for your advertising buck than signing people up for this experience.

You can literally send tax collectors to voters doors to disappoint them when they are expecting a product that they ordered online.

And everyone who gets the product knows exactly why the delivery guy has to collect a tax.

Rather than advertising about politics, advertise these products--target voters in key districts not with a political message, but with an ad to buy a product.

Those who buy the product will get a knock on the door asking them to pay a tax that everyone knows is Trump's doing.

That's all.

I have a unique advertising idea that any Democratic super PAC is very welcome to steal:

Currently there are a variety of products people order from abroad which result in a FedEx driver knocking on your door and asking you to pay a tariff before you can receive your product.....

What I find most interesting about this election is that turnout was around 2022 levels. While you would expect potential big swings based on turnout differentials in low turnout races, this is probably 80% of what turnout will be in 2026.

That fact should scare Republicans more than raw margins.

I suspect this will also stop the issuance of work permits. This is diabolical and wrong. Our new reality.

But he can accept gifts for the country. Those gifts remain the property of the country, not him personally. There is an entire established process for this, actually.

I don't think it is a good idea to choose presidential and VP candidates in a first/second place scheme. They need to work together, and that may or may not work out. Far better for them to run as a ticket from the beginning, or for the presidential candidate to pick their VP.

I think that maintenance idea is brilliant.

Many, or even most, of them will resign if they are asked to do that. And they will be replaced by people willing to take such an oath.

And then in 24 hours, the news cycle will move on. 😢

If I worked for the DOJ, I would have long ago started shopping for a private sector job. I suspect a lot of lawyers are doing just that, and once they have that lined up, they will resign, or be willing to stand their ground and get fired.

I have been wondering about this--seems like if the president wants to jail his enemies, he should probably be quiet about it.

They won't want to be honest about the shooter, but they will probably not be able to fabricate a motive once the shooter's identity is known. It will be plainly obvious at that point to everyone.

Two options are equally likely: they are close to making an arrest, or they have nothing at all and don't know what to say.

Even if he isn't, he will likely be rapidly identified by sleuths online. I bet within an hour or two.

Whether he is the perpetrator, however, is anybody's guess. That's been a theme here, and we may go through several more cycles of this kind of thing.

The aging, latent police reporter in me can't help put pause to remark on the unforced error of the SAC in Salt Lake's FBI field office making the unforced error of announcing they have recovered a “footwear impression.” A shout-out to toss or destroy those shoes, ASAP.

That's a detail you keep.

People with an agenda who are searching for ways to advance their agenda.

Sounds like they have a person of interest in custody. So, it is anybody's guess if they actually caught the perpetrator. They aren't even sure.

Information environment has reached its grotesque conclusion in that there is a very real killer out there who has not been identified, apprehended, or investigated, a detail practically inconsequential to nearly every commentator’s purposes.

I just take a small amount of joy in knowing that those Trumpist swine have some emotional distress linked to their support of Trump. Not enough emotional distress, to be sure, but a little.

Trumpists deserve to be cut off from their families, and their tears are delicious. 😋

I have long been of the opinion that the Epstein stuff was a lot of smoke with probably very little fire, with respect to secret files that may implicate others in crimes.

Trump's behavior on this issue makes me rethink that opinion.

really a rhetorical masterpiece right there

More informed voters = less Trump support

More intense campaigning = more informed voters

Ergo

More intense campaigning = less Trump support

QED

With respect to this bill, I think many senior Dems are basically salivating at the political consequences of the Medicaid cuts. They'll fight it, sure, but they still want it to pass.

It will hurt a lot of people, and that will have political consequences.

If someone believes that it is hopeless, then they shouldn't be whining, they should be moving.

If the situation is hopeless and they are staying put, wtf is wrong with them? Get out while you can. Or stay and fight.

Stay and wallow in doom? Pathetic.