The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues

[Monty]

The Space Force is getting their rock…ets off.

The U.S. military will launch an unarmed nuclear missile across the Pacific Ocean overnight Nov. 4, in a pre-planned firing that marks the Pentagon’s first weapons test since President Donald Trump demanded immediate nuclear tests.

According to marine navigational warnings, the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile will strike a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Although Trump announced last week that he was directing the Pentagon to “immediately” resume nuclear weapons testing, the public affairs office for Vandenberg Space Force Base said the test “is routine and was scheduled years in advance.”

Okay, I can buy this was scheduled in advance. Years? Nah, that’s unlikely to me. But at least it’s not actually exploding a nuclear device. This next bit, though, doesn’t make me feel all sanguine.

It’s unclear whether Trump was referring to nuclear test explosions, which the Department of Energy traditionally conducts independently of the Pentagon. The president has repeatedly refused to clarify his intent when questioned by reporters. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the new Trump-directed tests will be “noncritical,” meaning that they won’t include an explosive nuclear chain reaction. But noncritical tests already occur regularly.

So either he’s ordering nuclear devices to be exploded or he’s ordering something that’s already happening on a regular basis and has been for decades while nobody’s told him that’s the case. Neither option is a good look.

Yep, he’s putting the “dic” in “dictator” as he continues the Revenge Tour.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has continued its personnel purge, forcing out additional agents and supervisors tied to the federal investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The latest firings came despite efforts by Washington’s top federal prosecutor to try to stop at least some of the terminations, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The employees were told this week that they were being fired but those plans were paused after D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro raised concerns, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters.

The agents were then fired again Tuesday, though it’s not clear what prompted the about-face. The total number of fired agents was not immediately clear.

The terminations are part of a broader personnel upheaval under the leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel, who has pushed out numerous senior officials and agents involved in investigations or actions that have angered the Trump administration. Three ousted high-ranking FBI officials sued Patel in September, accusing him of caving to political pressure to carry out a “campaign of retribution.”

Spokespeople for Patel and Pirro didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesday.

The FBI Agents Association, which has criticized Patel for the firings, said the director has “disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution."

“The actions yesterday — in which FBI Special Agents were terminated and then reinstated shortly after, and then only to be fired again today — highlight the chaos that occurs when long-standing policies and processes are ignored," the association said. “An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination.”

Yeah. That’s the way it would work in a democracy. What we’re seeing now is how it works in a dictatorship.

The felon yet again tells Jewish people how to be Jewish.

President Donald Trump dropped an Election Day bomb pertaining to the New York City mayoral contents on Truth Social Tuesday morning.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” declared the president, who all but endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s independent campaign for Gracie Mansion on Monday.

Leaving aside the simple fact, the felon himself is antisemitic, let’s check out how his “advice” played out.

Mamdani wins election. Condiment from India soon to be decorating presidential walls. (The bolding is mine.)

Election Day 2025 is here as voters across the country head to the polls. And while Tuesday’s elections don’t involve the presidency or control of Congress, there are plenty of intriguing statewide and local races and ballot measures that could offer a window into the mood of the electorate heading into next year’s midterms.

Results so far have favored Democrats in a major way. In New York City, voters elected Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state Assembly member and democratic socialist, as their next mayor. Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who joined the race as an independent after losing in the Dmeocratic primary.

And two Democrats just became state governors.

Democrats also won both of the governor’s races that were on the ballot. Abigail Spanberger, a former U.S. representative, was elected in Virginia to replace outgoing Republican Glenn Youngkin. She will become the state’s first female governor. Mikie Sherrill also comfortably won the governor’s race in New Jersey, keeping the state under Democratic control.

Court order? It is to laugh!

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, aka Election Day across the US, Donald Trump took to his favorite platform, Truth Social, to exclaim that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

This statement quickly sparked shock and confusion, as court orders recently directed the US Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, to continue paying full or partial benefits for November after 42 million Americans were set to lose them due to the government shutdown. Just a day earlier, on Monday, the USDA said it’d abide by court orders and pay partial benefits by tapping a contingency fund.

But Trump’s Truth Social post appeared to suggest that he’d defy the courts. And needless to say, people were a little taken aback.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote: “After a judge ordered Donald Trump to make SNAP payments, the wannabe king declared he will defy a court order and won’t help people afford groceries. Trump’s message to 42 million Americans: eat dirt.”

[Monty]

And my personal favorite, Proposition 50 passes in the Golden State!

California voters have passed Proposition 50, CBS News projects, approving a measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats that will redraw the state’s congressional districts.

The measure is intended to make several Republican-held congressional districts in California more favorable to Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections in an effort to counter recent redistricting in states including Texas that favors Republicans.

[Smapti]

“Melania! The Democrats shit in my pants again!”

[Monty]

@Smapti

Here is a link to the story about the felon’s response to the mayor-elect.

[enipla]

@dougrb

USDA emailed grocery stores around the country telling them not to offer special discounts or deals to SNAP recipients amid the freeze, warning that doing so would violate the program’s “Equal Treatment Rule.” That rule requires stores to sell eligible food items to SNAP-EBT customers at the same prices and under the same conditions as other shoppers.

Fuck them. How are they gonna know? Show your SNAP card and get a couple free items. Just work out the the details.

Shit there really don’t have to be many details. Free wheat bread, free baloney, free American cheese and a condiment of your choice IF you show your SNAP card. And-Or a package of spaghetti or Raman noodles.

God, the GOP are stupid. Hungry people revolt.
And actually GOOD the GOP is SO, SO stupid.

[Great_Antibob]

@enipla

Fuck them. How are they gonna know?

That was my first reaction.

But then I thought about it some more. And the main issue is the same one we’ve been dealing with in the country as a whole: there are assholes everywhere. You just know one of the employees or some MAGA customer or whoever is going to report the store and maybe to local news and make it a federal issue.

Some mom and pop corner store? Sure, they can get away with things. Big grocery chain? It takes just one jerk to mess things up for everybody else

[Happy_Lendervedder]

If they want to try and make a single mom getting free bologna and white bread to feed her kids into the bad guy, I say go for it. Or if they want to try and make Meijer or Publix the bad guy for feeding people who are going hungry, I say go for it.

If Republicans want to demonize private companies for choosing to use their own inventory to feed the working poor and impoverished, I say go for it. The more cartoonishly villainous the right wing becomes, the sooner we can truly neuter these anti-American fucksticks.

[Dr.Drake]

@enipla

Hungry people revolt.
And actually GOOD the GOP is SO, SO stupid.

A revolution would certainly change things, but I don’t know that it’s a good outcome. It might be necessary, but nonviolent change is better.

[Railer13]

@Great_Antibob

You just know one of the employees or some MAGA customer or whoever is going to report the store and maybe to local news and make it a federal issue.

Exactly right.

Instead, the store(s) should have a sign that says something like “Hungry, but can’t pay for your groceries? Just tell us, and we will give you food, no questions asked.”

[enipla]

@Dr.Drake

A revolution would certainly change things, but I don’t know that it’s a good outcome. It might be necessary, but nonviolent change is better.

This is very true because “An army marches on it’s stomach”.

@Happy_Lendervedder

If they want to try and make a single mom getting free bologna and white bread to feed her kids into the bad guy, I say go for it. Or if they want to try and make Meijer or Publix the bad guy for feeding people who are going hungry, I say go for it.

This though. Don’t forget Kroger etal.

And we have to remember that it looks like there are more MAGA’s on SNAP than Democrats. That they are drilling holes in their own boat and blaming others for it would be comical… if we where not in the boat too.

[Nyvaak]

@dougrb

Shutdown coincidence? Plane crash in Louisville

That was my first thought too, dougrb. But it seems unlikely; the AP story I read said, in part, “ . . . based on videos of the crash the aircraft appeared to be struggling to gain altitude as a fire blazed on its left side around one of its engines.”

Here is a link to the article, but it may be paywalled. My apologies if anyone is unable to read it

[Nyvaak]

Nevermind.

[kaylasdad99]

@Ellecram

I hope some grocery stores can find a way around this.

There is. Make the same offer to everyone. Emphasize that it will last until SNAP benefits have been restored and anyone who chooses can forego the deal. Trust that more Americans than not will forego it if they don’t need it.

[DesertDog]

What on earth is And so it begins! supposed to mean? The beginning of the end of the most venal, corrupt administration ever?

@Dr.Drake

nonviolent change is better

It is but I’m not sure it’s an option any more.

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@DesertDog

What on earth is And so it begins! supposed to mean?

I believe it means “I am now going to try to destroy New York City because they failed to genuflect to me.”

It’s the cry of a wanna-be dictator.

[Great_Antibob]

Yeah, very much in the “you’re making me hurt you” camp. He also seems to attract a lot of those types

[bobot]

It probably means that he’s going to announce tarriffs (?) against NYC, or send in ICE. Or both.

[OldOlds]

@enipla

Fuck them. How are they gonna know? Show your SNAP card and get a couple free items. Just work out the the details.

Or, for that matter, if they aren’t actually using their SNAP cards, since there’s no money on them, would it even violate the rule?

[Horatius]

@bobot

he’s going to announce tarriffs (?) against NYC

“It’s basically a foreign country at this point!”

[Johnny_L.A]

@Great_Antibob

Some mom and pop corner store? Sure, they can get away with things.

This is a Facebook post. Sorry. Westside Pizza in Blaine, WA says:

Kids Eat for Free Until SNAP Benefits Are Restored. We are not here to take sides or to make this offer political, we simply believe that no child should go hungry. Starting today, any child from a family in need who visits Blaine Westside Pizza’s dining room will receive a FREE KIDS MEAL until SNAP benefits are restored to Washingtonians.

A post on Instagram adds:

• No purchase necessary
• No questions asked
• Limit one ‘Kids Pizza’ per child present
• Dine-in only

We’re proud to be part of this community, and during this time, we want to do what we can to support the families who support us.

From our family to yours – if you need us, we’re here.

Westside Pizza is a chain of pizza restaurants in Washington.