The Conversation -- May 16, 2025

Marie: I knew before Donald Trump won the 2016 election that he was a shallow jerk -- as Graydon Carter had put it, "a short-fingered vulgarian." But, I thought, everybody in a high-profile position wants to do a good job if only because he doesn't want to be humiliated. So maybe, I reasoned back then, Trump will be only moderately awful. Well, I sure was wrong about that. During his first term, he proved to be the worst U.S. president in history. Now, in his second term, he's much worse. Why is that? Doesn't he want to be the best president ever and win the Nobel Peace Prize and get his orange face chiseled into Mount Rushmore? Well, yes, yes, he does, I've finally realized. The problem is that he is so grotesquely ignorant and understands so little about this country that he imagines he is doing what it takes to be the best president ever. He thinks all of his authoritarian power-grabbing and money-grubbing and intimidation and cruelty and chest-thumping are the markers of great leadership. ~~~

Here's somebody who does get it: Springsteen in Manchester, England: ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Levenson of the New York Times: “Bruce Springsteen opened his 'Land of Hope and Dreams' tour in Manchester, England, on Wednesday with a forceful denunciation of ... [Donald] Trump, accusing him and his administration of trampling on civil rights and workers, abandoning allies and siding with dictators. Even for an avowed liberal like Mr. Springsteen, it was a notably piercing broadside at a time when some artists have seemed to avoid directly confronting Mr. Trump as they did in 2017, after he took office the first time.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the transcript of Springsteen's remarks, via his Website.

Sheik to Dump on Trump the Chump. Jeremy Bogaisky of Forbes: "The royal family of Qatar, owner of one of the largest private jet fleets in the world, has been quietly getting rid of some of its biggest planes. It may have found the perfect taker for one of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets in ... Donald Trump, who has been frustrated with the multi-year delays in replacing Air Force One. While many have speculated that the Qataris have offered Trump the luxurious plane to curry favor with the famously transactional president, there may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore. The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus."

Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: “The F.B.I. is disbanding a squad that handles investigations into members of Congress and fraud by federal employees..., a move that comes as the Trump administration seeks to eliminate or marginalize units responsible for public corruption cases. The squad’s members are likely to be reassigned, potentially asked to do immigration work, and its work is expected to be merged with one of the other corruption units in the bureau’s Washington field office, according to a person familiar with the changes. The special agent in charge of criminal matters at the field office — who was recently responsible for investigating the Biden administration’s green energy grants — was also pushed out of his job.... The moves, some of the most drastic to date by the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, could reduce the bureau’s capacity to fulfill one of its core missions: leading major investigations into public corruption cases that have included, among many others, the two federal prosecutions of Mr. Trump led by the special counsel Jack Smith.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Oh, Lordy, somebody go online and find Kristi a National Guard outfit: ~~~

~~~ Hamed Aleaziz & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “The Department of Homeland Security has requested more than 20,000 National Guard members to help with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to two U.S. officials with knowledge of the plans. The request to the Defense Department came after ... [Donald] Trump asked the Department of Homeland Security last week to increase its ranks by pulling in 20,000 officers from state or federal agencies. Lawyers at the Pentagon were reviewing the request with 'interior immigration enforcement,' according to a Defense Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. It was unclear what role state National Guard members would play and whether they would be involved in rounding up people for deportation, the official said. It was not immediately clear if the states would also have to approve the plan. National Guard troops have generally played a supporting role to domestic authorities in enforcing immigration issues at the border, including logistics, security and other assistance. But the Defense Department official said that if the request were approved, it would be the first time National Guard troops were used to help enforce an immigration crackdown in the United States.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: So here is a Daily Mail story, and as Daily Mail stories often go, it's so bizarre you may not believe it. But Carl Gibson of AlterNet writes that the Daily Beast corroborated it: ~~~

     ~~~ Shawn Cohen of the Daily Mail: "She's been called 'ICE Barbie' for treating her Cabinet position like a TV production, but now Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing for an actual reality show pitting immigrants against each other 'for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship'. It may sound like a joke, but the idea is for real and is outlined in a 35-page program pitch put together in coordination with the DHS secretary, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Noem is even offering up officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to tally votes for the made-for-TV contest. The pitch comes from Rob Worsoff, a writer and producer known for Duck Dynasty, the A&E reality show about a Louisiana family and its hunting empire, and Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker. The proposed series is called The American, named after the train that contestants would ride around the country, competing in regionally specific 'cultural' contests such as rolling logs in Wisconsin. It would lead to a grand finale with the winner getting sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol." ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: Okay, bizarre AND wildly offensive. You remember how as the Roman Empire fell apart, it (at least apocryphally) staged popular events in which Christians were thrown to the lions and slaves fought each other to the death? That's what this is: poor people desperate to gain access to the U.S. fighting each other in a public spectacle. Like Trump, Noem has no idea what her job is and, in any event, lacks the character to do that job.

Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “The Senate on Thursday rejected a resolution written by Democrats that would have required that the Trump administration tell Congress what steps it has taken to comply with court orders involving U.S. deportees imprisoned in El Salvador and to report on the country’s human rights record. The measure failed on a party-line vote of 45-50. Republicans were unanimously opposed. Supporters said the resolution was intended to determine if U.S. security assistance had gone to support the detention of U.S. residents in a country that might be violating human rights. It would have amounted to a strong rebuke of President Trump and a challenge to his aggressive deportation drive, which Democrats see as an unlawful overreach.”

Jack Healy, et al., of the New York Times: “A federal judge this week dismissed charges against nearly 100 migrants detained under a Trump administration effort to arrest undocumented migrants for trespassing on a newly declared 'national defense' zone along New Mexico’s border with Mexico. The order from a federal magistrate judge, Gregory B. Wormuth, added to the confusion and legal turmoil that have gripped New Mexico in the month since ... [Donald] Trump declared a ribbon of land along the 180-mile length of the state’s southern border to be an Army base. Around 400 migrants had been charged with willfully violating security regulations — misdemeanor charges that can carry up to a year in jail. The arrests, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was praising just last Friday, had swamped local jails and every day brought dozens of shackled migrants into a federal courtroom to face the novel charges.... Judge Wormuth, a former federal prosecutor, said the federal government had failed to show that the migrants actually knew they were unlawfully entering a restricted military area. He has dismissed charges against 98 migrants so far as he works through the docket.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: “Justice Department official Ed Martin, whose nomination to serve as U.S. attorney in D.C. stalled in the Senate, is under investigation by an ethics office that handles attorney discipline in Washington, he said in an office-wide goodbye email Wednesday. On his last day as interim U.S. attorney before heading to the Justice Department, Martin alerted his office’s roughly 350 attorneys and 400 staff members to the matter while claiming his confidentiality had been violated. Martin alleged that the legal ethics office, called the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, had inappropriately notified a unit of his U.S. attorney’s office of the probe.... Democratic lawmakers and groups have accused Martin of abusing his power, seeking the suspension of his law license or other penalties. In complaints lodged with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel’s chief, Hamilton P. 'Phil' Fox, they alleged that Martin has used the threat of prosecution to intimidate and chill the speech of perceived adversaries such as lawmakers, protesters, journalists, medical journals and others he said opposed the agendas of ... Donald Trump or billionaire adviser Elon Musk, even in instances when they did not commit a crime but acted simply unethically.'” (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: BTW, if you've been bought into Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's claim that the shortage of air traffic controllers is all Biden's fault (i.e., the "four years that came before"), then take a look at this chart. While the number of air-traffic controllers did drop precipitously from a high in 2012, it continued to drop during Trump's first term. The only period of increase on the chart (which runs from 2011 to through 2023) is during Biden's administration. Update: See yesterday's comments for a brief discussion of controller staffing. As NiskyGuy pointed out, it's not as simple as I make it out to be. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maya Miller & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: Donald Trump's “surprise firing of the head of the Library of Congress and efforts to install Trump loyalists at the iconic institution have stirred bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill.... Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader..., suggested that the White House had overstepped its authority and that both Congress and the president play roles in deciding who leads the library.... [Dr. Carla] Hayden[, whom Trump fired]..., was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2016 and confirmed for a 10-year term by the Republican-controlled Senate.... She was highly regarded by lawmakers. Opponents of the president’s staff changes argue that his attempted takeover at the library breaches the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. They are particularly concerned that it could imperil the integrity and independence of the Congressional Research Service, the premier nonpartisan research arm of the library that is little known to the public but revered by lawmakers.”

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court appeared divided Thursday about whether to scale back nationwide orders that have blocked ... Donald Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship, in a case with implications for judicial power and what it means to be an American.... But the case before the justices is more of a referendum on the use of nationwide injunctions that have frustrated many of Trump’s efforts to dramatically shrink the size of the government workforce, halt federal spending and end diversity programs. Presidents from both parties, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices from across the ideological spectrum have raised concerns about the power of a single judge to temporarily block a president’s agenda nationwide.... Judges in lawsuits joined by 22 states and D.C. have issued nationwide orders blocking Trump’s birthright citizenship executive action, which civil rights groups, Democratic-led states and most legal scholars say is at odds with the nation’s history, the Constitution and past court rulings that enshrined birthright citizenship.” (Also linked yesterday.)

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New York. Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: “New York University is withholding the diploma of a graduation speaker who delivered an unapproved speech on Wednesday that referred to what he called 'the atrocities currently happening in Palestine.' The move by N.Y.U. to discipline the student speaker, Logan Rozos, is the latest flashpoint between free speech principles and discipline for pro-Palestinian advocacy on American college campuses. It comes as universities across the country brace this commencement season for pro-Palestinian speeches and displays from students and for the anger that pro-Israel voices often express in response. John Beckman, an N.Y.U. spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the university 'strongly denounces' Mr. Rozos’ decision to express “his personal and one-sided political views.' The student 'lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules,' Mr. Beckman said....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The parts of Rozos' speech published in the article are not, IMO, antisemitic. If there is any place in the U.S. where a person should not "play by the rules" and should exercise his free-speech rights, it's at a university event. I have a degree from NYU. I'm with the kid.

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Vatican. Look Out, Leo! Henry Gomez & Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass in Vatican City on Sunday, the White House announced Thursday.... Vance, who is Catholic, met briefly with Pope Francis before his death last month." (Also linked yesterday.)