Alina Habba has had a really bad week. First, the Eleventh Circuit, by Judge William Pryor of all people, affirmed a $1 million sanction against her and Trump for a frivolous defamation suit. Now, the Third Circuit affirmed her disqualification as Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, rejecting the Trump administration’s efforts to circumvent the law limiting unconfirmed officers from serving more than 120 days, or having the attorney general call them “special” (though “special” they may be) to circumvent the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

Not only was this turn of events a foregone conclusion, but it created chaos in the courts for no better purpose than Trump wanted his former personal lawyer (before the million dollar sanction was affirmed, at least) to be rewarded with a cool title (bearing no relation to any legal work she had ever done before) no matter what. Continue reading →

The prosecution and conviction of Juan Orlando Hernández, former president of Honduras, and sentence to 45 years imprisonment was one of the big victories in the unfortunately named War on Drugs, a metaphor that’s gone full tilt when it comes to killing.

For your Christmas wish list… pic.twitter.com/pLXzg20SaL

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 1, 2025

So why then, would Trump state his intention to pardon JOH, as he’s known? Continue reading →

The Washington Post reported that there was a second strike of the first boat alleged to be transporting drugs out of Venezuela.

A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck.

The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.

As previously argued, the first strike was illegal. But even if one assumes that’s debatable, there is no question that the second strike was murder. Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth gave the order to kill everybody. Continue reading →

The shooter turned out to be an Afghan migrant, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, admitted under a bipartisan program to allow Afghanis who worked with and aided our military to enter the United States to avoid being put to death by the Taliban. He entered while Biden was president, and was granted amnesty when Trump was president. There was nothing about this that would have raised concerns, until Lakanwal shot two West Virginia National Guard persons, one of whom has since died and may, perhaps, have President Trump attend her funeral.

While the motive has yet to be determined, the hysteria has rushed forward. Initially, Trump has directed the suspension of immigration processing for all Afghan immigrants, because one committed a heinous act. Ilya Somin explains why this collective “punishment” is wrong, discriminatory and counterproductive. Continue reading →

For the first time since my baby boy was born, he will not be with us for Thanksgiving. First, the lost boys were gone, and now he has moved on to the sharing stage of life, spending Thanksgiving with the family of his special person.

Last year, they came here, home, for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. It’s only fair that they go elsewhere this year. Fairness is good, but it doesn’t change the fact that I miss having them here for Thanksgiving. Continue reading →

My slightly snarky take is that poor Ka$h feels left out of the “Pleasing Trump Club” after show-toady Pete Hegseth twitted that he’s directing that retired Captain, Astronaut and now Senator Mark Kelly be “investigated” at the command of his master. With Pete proving his devotion, what’s Ka$h to do?

The six Democratic members of Congress who recorded a video informing troops that they could refuse illegal orders said on Tuesday that they were being investigated by the F.B.I.

The group, made up of veterans of the military and the C.I.A., said the bureau had contacted the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms requesting interviews with them, though it is unclear what, if any, laws they might conceivably have violated with their video.

Former legal director of the ACLU, David Cole, explains the First Amendment ramifications of using governmental investigations to silence speech that displeases Trump. Continue reading →

On the one side, you have a person who has flown fighter jets in combat, gone into space and had his wife shot in the head. Some might call Mark Kelly a true American hero. On the other side, there’s the draft dodger with bone spurs and the laughably unqualified show pony toady with hair gel who can’t keep a top secret (or staff). But that does not mean the former can’t do wrong and the latter should call Senator Kelly to account if he did.

So did he?

Unlike the others in the video, Mark Kelly is a retired naval captain, which makes him subject to recall to active duty and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. While Trump called this conduct “seditious,” subject to the punishment of “DEATH!!!”, it was clearly not sedition. But is it otherwise actionable under the UCMJ? Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth seems to think so. Continue reading →

When the case was commenced, it was still called Facebook, well before Zuck decided to blow his wad on a metaverse no one wanted or needed. You remember Facebook, the social media site that overcame then-dominant MySpace that has since become grandmothers fav hangout. If there is one certainty in social media, it’s that domination is fleeting and what was cool and hip one day is played out the next. Remember when AOL was so powerful that it bought Time Warner? There are now a total of 12 of us who still use our archaic AOL email addresses, waiting for nostalgia to kick in so we don’t look like the dinosaurs we are.

So it came as no surprise when Judge James Boasberg tossed the Federal Trade Commission action against now-Meta. Continue reading →

To those of us who did not have the experience of serving as a Judge Advocate General officer in the military, the video made by members of Congress may seem like an invitation for soldiers and sailors to decide for themselves what orders are illegal and should not be carried out. David French, however, was a JAG and explains that, while the video may not have provided a good explanation, the procedures and law are not quite so mysterious.

Notably, Trump, who called it seditious and punishable by death, was neither a member of the military nor a lawyer. French began by giving two examples, the order to bomb Iraqi insurgents in a farmhouse and the order to kill a prisoner who committed an atrocity. As to the first, David calls the question one of “distinction.” Continue reading →

The themes should be familiar to any regular reader here, that the president has ordered the military to engage in conduct in violation of law and the Constitution and that it is incumbent on the military to refuse to obey illegal orders. For his part, Trump has determined that the law is whatever he says it is and it is the duty of every loyal member of his administration to accept the law and facts as he declares them to be.

Members of Congress, all of whom are either military or intelligence service veterans, crafted a video asserting this, reminding the military that its sworn duty is to the Constitution, not Trump.

Continue reading →