Max Boot

In case you’re hunting for a holiday gift…! 🙏

Here we go again.

What Senator Cotton says here would be a bad defense for the Germans convicted in WWI and WWII war crimes trials -- including for firing on shipwrecked in fully operational lifeboats.

This line of response hurts the US and US servicemembers. It will cause long-term damage unless we get this right.

Himes: "I think it's really important this video by made public ... it's important people see what it looks like when the full force of the US military is turned on two guys who are clinging to a piece of wood and about to go under just so they have a visceral feel for what it is we're doing"

Trumpian Corruption Is Worse Than Ukrainian Corruption The people of Ukraine want an honest government, even as American and Russian kleptocrats circle their country.

In Ukraine the state itself is investigating the government, the cabinet, even the president’s closest advisers. By contrast, it is impossible to imagine Kash Patel’s FBI investigating anyone in Trump’s White House. Any Russian who investigates Putin goes to jail. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

This doesn’t add up. If the drugs were not heading to America, how could the people on the boat be a threat to America? www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets Adm. Frank Bradley said U.S. intelligence had identified the 11 people on the boat and determined the military was authorized to kill them as part of Trump’s campaign against alleged drug-smuggling ve...

"Bradley told lawmakers that the orders he received from Hegseth were to kill the individuals on the approved target list, which included everyone on the boat, then destroy the drugs and sink the boat, those sources said."

They were civilians.

EXCLUSIVE: Watch a Coast Guard helicopter sniper disable a go-fast drug vessel in interdiction operation. foxnews.com/video/638606174511

Notable that POTUS is posting a Fox News story about the USCG disabling and interdicting a vessel suspected of carrying drugs.

Demonstrates his awareness of alternatives to blowing up suspected drug boats.

And that killing people is very much a deliberate and completely unnecessary choice.

The number of convicted criminals in immigration detention is about 1.8x what it was when Trump took office.
The number of people with no criminal record whatsoever — who are detained solely for immigration reasons — has shot up **25.5x**

open.substack.com/pub/austinko... (via @austinkocher.com)

Pete Hegseth Is Seriously Testing Trump’s ‘No Scalps’ Rule Lawmakers are finally waking up to the problems the defense secretary has created.

Footage of the two men’s desperate final moments made some viewers nauseated, leading one to nearly vomit. “It was worse than we had been led to believe,” one person told us. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

On left:

President Trump Statement Sept. 2, 2025:

"The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States."

On right:

(Under penalty of law) military leaders told Congress headed to Suriname.

Opinion | Populists are replacing meritocracy with something far worse Undermining expertise is a pretext for consolidating power among the ultra-wealthy.

Fareed Zakaria: As the populist right trashes meritocracy, it is replacing it with something older, cruder and more corrosive: a naked plutocracy — rule by the very rich. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Whats the difference between an order “to kill the people” and a “no quarter” order? I can well believe Hegseth said the former but not the latter, but isn’t the consequence the same? If this is accurate, Bradley’s denial seems to be very narrowly worded. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...

NEW info on shipwreck attack. It gets worse.

The 2 survivors climbed atop wreckage and waved to overhead.

"Some of the people viewing the video thought ... could have been an attempt to surrender"

Others "said the most logical explanation was ... signaling for a rescue."

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Our latest polling averages over at 50+1 show Trump hitting a new low in his job approval rating (39.4% among adults) and Dems meeting their previous high in the generic ballot (+4.4) fiftyplusone.news/latest-polls

Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn’t radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawmakers | CNN Politics The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications device...

"Bradley told lawmakers he ordered a second strike [because] survivors could hypothetically have floated to safety, been rescued, and carried on with trafficking the drugs.

The other source with direct knowledge of the briefing called that rationale “f**king insane.”

www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/p...

Opinion | What Trump Is Really Doing With His Boat Strikes

Phil Klay: I suspect the question the administration cares about is not “is this legal,” “is this a war crime,” “is this murder” or even “is this good for America,” but rather, “isn’t this violence delightful?” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...

BERMAN: Would it be legal for police in Arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers on a boat in a lake?

TOM COTTON: The premise of your question is not well-founded


BERMAN: The answer is no. It would not be legal to kill them.

Second Strike Scrutiny Obscures Larger Question About Trump’s Boat Attacks

It would be a crime if officers instead simply gunned down suspected drug dealers in the street. Similarly, a military force is not allowed to target civilians, and being a suspected criminal does not make someone lose civilian status.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

Video shows second strike hit before survivors could flip boat, lawmakers say The footage was shown on Capitol Hill, where Adm. Frank M. Bradley, who oversaw a deadly attack on alleged drug smugglers, faced a day of difficult questions about the operation.

Some uniformed personnel were disturbed by what they witnessed, said one former U.S. official familiar with the matter. “Basically it was, why are we killing people who are stranded and pose no threat?” the former official said. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Pete Hegseth * G @PeteHegseth X.com Your wish is our command, Andrew. Just sunk another narco boat. Andrew Kolvet • @AndrewKolvet • 3h Every new attack aimed at Pete Hegseth makes me want another narco drug boat blown up and sent to the bottom of the ocean. x.com/SenSchumer/sta...

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announces another boat strike in response to a request/wish from Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet.

And... WE WON! The court just granted the TRO against these illegal firings by the Trump administration at my old home the State Department. Kudos to all of the great partners in this case--onto the preliminary injunction hearing.

Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn’t radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawmakers | CNN Politics The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications device...

🚨🚨🚨This collapses the one 'argument' Hegseth had against it being a war crime:

"The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat .. DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RADIO OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers."

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Himes: "The end result was two individuals without any weaponry, without any tools of any kind, clinging to a wrecked boat ... the decision was taken to kill them and that is in fact what happened. And that was pretty hard to watch."

Trump hires new White House ballroom architect Although the president and the original architect had clashed over the size of the project, the decisive factor was the small firm’s limited capacity to handle such an enormous project.

Trump taps new ballroom architect, replacing the one he hand-picked (and clashed with, as Trump micro-managed project and pushed to increase its size).

with @jonathanreports.bsky.social

Trump envoys press plan with Ukraine as sanctions eased on Russia President Donald Trump's envoys were to meet Thursday with Ukrainian negotiators for the third time in two weeks to press his plan to end the war as his administration eased economic pressure on Russi...

Two days after Witkoff and Kushner met Putin, the Treasury Department partially suspended sanctions on Russia announced last October
www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Stakes High, Europe Races to Save Its Financing Plan for Ukraine

“European officials may end up offering Ukraine a financial Band-Aid when they had hoped for a financial bazooka.” Tragic loss of nerve. The $244 billion must be used to help Ukraine survive Russia’s illegal onslaught. Belgium is being cowardly.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/w...

The cable, sent to all U.S. missions on December 2, orders U.S. consular officers to review resumes or LinkedIn profiles of H-1B applicants - and family members who would be traveling with them - to see if they have worked in areas that include activities such as misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety, among others.

Holy shit.

Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Also: what is the evidence that the drugs were bound for the United States? More likely heading to Africa or Europe.