How Are Things In Venezuela

The usual suspects have been agitating for "regime change" in Venezuela for years. Now that it's happened, have any of them followed up? Checked in to see if Venezuela has achieved greater freeance and peeance? Or anything?

My broader point is that all of the "humanitarian interventionists," who always have a little list of "bad guys" who need to go, but not these other bad guys for some reason (they fund the think tank, usually), push for these things to happen. Then, when they do, they just stop caring.

Sure Why Not

Maybe it stops as soon as everybody agrees Trump WINS and Iran LOSES because they are LOSERS.

Life In The Cuck Chair

It takes all kinds.

WASHINGTON — Bryon Noem‘s family members are hoping he finally leaves his wife, embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after the ultimate “humiliation” from her alleged affair with a top adviser — but fear he’ll continue to stay in his marriage due to his Christian faith and commitment to his vows.

Members of the extended family of Bryon Noem told The Post on Friday that the South Dakota businessman has long felt it was his religious duty to stand behind his wife — even as the very public scandal rocks their marriage.

Insurance

The thing about insurance is it doesn't actually bring people back from the dead, though I understand why this wouldn't occur to the Trumpers.

I don't doubt that some shipping Cos might be thrilled to take that "risk" for a guaranteed payoff for themselves, but that doesn't mean they'll find many takers.

For commercial seafarers like Salgado, there’s little President Donald Trump could say right now that would convince them to sail through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has promised to provide government-backed insurance policies and naval escorts to keep ships moving. But threats from Iran to attack any ships in the region outweigh the promises of support.

“As long as they keep firing rockets or drones to merchant vessels, this unsafe feeling will remain there,” he told CNN from a tanker in the Persian Gulf.

Morning

Slacker Saturday

Sure Why Not

If there wasn't so much death involved, we could laugh at Trump's habit of creating problems and then trying to fix them. T

he Trump administration on Friday announced a $20 billion reinsurance program for oil tankers and other maritime traffic in an effort to get vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

Seems Bad

Especially with Hegseth's view that logistics planning is for pussies.

SCOOP: The Army in recent days canceled a training exercise for the headquarters element of the 82nd Airborne Division, fueling speculation among soldiers that they may be called upon for a still undefined mission as the war with Iran widens.

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) March 6, 2026

Not just for that reason, of course.

The Art Of War

It's all about logistics (both for the actual military and at home).

Donald Trump’s decision not to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve drained by his predecessor Joe Biden has left consumers exposed to an oil price shock following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, analysts have warned.   

... 

The reserve currently contains 415mn barrels of oil, or about 20 days of total US consumption — well below its 714mn-barrel capacity. Drawing down too much of the oil too quickly could damage the salt caverns holding it, say experts. It would cost more than $20bn to refill, according to the US Department of Energy.

Reassuring

At least there is a lot of clarity about why this is necessary.

Asked whether Americans should be worried about retaliatory attacks at home, Trump acknowledges the possibility. “I guess,” he says. “But I think they’re worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die."

Later, Assholes

Never posted about this positive news from Tuesday.

North Carolina Democrats who’ve crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans since Donald Trump returned to office were handed resounding defeats last night in the state’s early, benchmark primary, the Charlotte Observer reports.

At least four Democrats who supported measures to ban trans student-athletes from play, support ICE, and declare a gender binary in line with the president’s demonization of the LGBTQ+ community went down to defeat, some by extraordinary margins for incumbent lawmakers.

These are state, not national, Dems, but I do think the incredibly disheartening thing about 2025 versus 2017 was that "siding with Donald Trump is bad, probably" was the CW in 2017, while "the American people are demanding that we be more like Donald Trump and try to work with him" was the initial consensus in 2025.

Sure he won the popular vote this time but, my brothers in Christ, could you not understand that he was historically unpopular when he started office? And that likelihood of Donald Trump becoming more popular was not very high?

(Gallup approval ratings)

Says It All

The interview captures that Congressman Greg Landsman (D-OH) is too stupid to tie his shoes, but he is just expressing badly the basic reasoning of decades of justifications for every stupid Middle-East-and-adjacent (Libya) military adventure.

And the subheading is nicely done.

The other part (in the interview) is a repeat of the basic Sensible pundit view from the Bush era which was,  "Do I trust George Bush not to fuck this up? Certainly. not. But we should do it anyway, you traitorous hippie."  Applied to Trump now, of course.

I don't think the too much Dem support (any support is too much, you can argue about how much there is, actual and obscured) for this has much to do with electoral considerations. But, as was the case in the Iraq era, the independents and Republicans who might vote for Democrats are the ones who are against this shit.

And, unlike then, this shit is already not popular.

Sure Why Not

 This is what you do on the school bus when you are 9.

“We were in the clothes we’d been wearing for like 24 hours,” Kappy says. “We get on this bus, and it’s a couple-hour bus ride and people were kind of leaning on their spouse’s shoulder and falling asleep. And this idiot starts walking up and down the bus with his camera and anyone who fell asleep, he would put his finger in their nose and take a picture.”

“I said [to myself, ‘If] that idiot comes near me when I fall asleep, I’m going to punch him,’” Kappy told us. “And I said to Dave: ‘This is a U.S. congressman?’”

That congressman? Markwayne Mullin.

An annoying 9. 

Morning

Funky Fridays.

Happy Hour

Get happy

Director Of Homeland Security

Markwayne flashback.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said he does not wear a seatbelt while driving in Washington, D.C., lest doing so prevent him from acting quickly in case he’s carjacked.

Why are these tough guys always so scared, and what does he imagine "acting quickly" would involve (brave Sir Mullin, I expect).

Does She Get Her Old Face Back

The replacements are almost always worse, but at least we can laugh for 5 minutes.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, already frustrated with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, was incensed by her performance this week during congressional hearings and is considering firing her, lawmakers and people familiar with the discussions tell NBC News.

Never blame The Boss.

 

Sen. John Kennedy tells us President Trump called him after DHS Sec Noem testified that the President signed off on her $200 million ad campaign in her contentious hearing. “Put it this way, his recollection and her recollection are different.”

— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 3:38 PM

...already!

A Perfect Job For Kid Rock

I actually appreciate the directness. "We" usually obscure this stuff.

President Trump told Axios in an interview Thursday that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader — just as he was in Venezuela.

Sure Why Not

I think #5 makes him more pro-trans rights than Gavin Newsom.

Not Just Being Snarky

You cannot get the Dems to actually oppose a war in a way that matters. And they truly believe that "the war is bad, but we gotta support droney I mean the troops" is very clever stuff.

The Schumer Special

Give Dem senators a vote to oppose the war then have a bunch of them support paying for the war they pretend not to support.

Not sure who is impressed by "I voted against it before I voted for it."