The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 03/03/25
Source: The New Republic
“‘Sick’: GOP Senator’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Hints at a Darker Story.” (03/03/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/192204/sick-gop-senators-harsh-takedown-trump-hints-darker-story
Can Elon Musk find any fraud before Trump’s base notices the con?
Source: Washington Post
by Philip Bump
“Myriad claims made by Musk and his team have been shown to be false. (Journalist Marcy Wheeler is keeping a running list.) The most notable example of this pattern was that a site purportedly articulating ‘savings’ effected by Musk’s team was riddled with errors, overstating some savings by billions of dollars and claiming as ‘savings’ money that had already been spent. There has been no demonstrated evidence of fraud, except when using the term ‘fraud’ or ‘waste’ in the way that was always intended: to describe spending that doesn’t comport with how the political right wants to spend federal money.” (03/03/25)
The Facade of US Power Crumbles in Orchestrated Oval Office Meltdown
Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by Jianlu Bi
“The meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump at the White House ‘devolved into a shouting match’ in the Oval Office. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Zelenskyy’s approach, with Trump accusing him of ‘gambling with World War III.’ Meanwhile, Zelenskyy voiced concerns that deals with Russia would not be kept and that Ukraine needed stronger security guarantees. The recent clash between the two wasn’t merely a diplomatic hiccup; it was a stark illustration of the West’s eroding credibility and the precarious position in which Ukraine finds itself. The fallout from this meeting reverberates far beyond the walls of the Oval Office, exposing deep fissures and eliciting widespread repercussions that shake the very foundations of the global order.” [editor’s note: Yet another distortion of what actually happened there – SAT] (03/03/25)
https://fpif.org/a-diplomatic-debacle-when-the-wests-facade-crumbles/
IL: Crimo pleads guilty to 2022 parade shooting
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to a deadly shooting at a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb that killed seven and injured dozens. It is a surprise reversal for Robert Crimo III, who previously pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and attempted murder charges. Crimo, 23, entered his guilty plea on Monday moments before opening arguments were due to begin in his trial. He is accused of shooting at celebrating crowds from a roof in downtown Highland Park, about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of Chicago. Authorities had arrested him on the day of the shooting after a manhunt. Crimo pleaded guilty before Judge Victoria Rossetti in a Lake County circuit courtroom, and did not say anything else before he was dismissed.” (03/03/25)
DOGE Gets Serious in Its War on the Administrative State
Source: The Daily Economy
by Iain Murray
“If DOGE and agency heads succeed in their mission, it will be nothing less than the greatest deregulatory achievement seen in the modern world.” (03/03/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/doge-gets-serious-in-its-war-on-the-administrative-state/
US Farmers to Get First Tranche of New $30 Billion Welfare Scheme
Source: Bloomberg
“American farmers will soon start receiving the first tranche of $30 billion in funding approved by Congress to fight a downturn in the markets, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Speaking at the Commodity Classic event in Denver, Rollins said that the first $10 billion in assistance should start moving in the next few weeks.” (03/02/25)
Conflicts of Interest, episode 765
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will the Trump, Zelensky Argument End US Support for Ukraine?” (03/03/25)
https://rumble.com/v6q1otk-will-the-trump-zelensky-argument-end-us-support-for-ukraine-coi-765.html
The flimsy UK, France, Ukraine “peace plan” discussed Sunday
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Anatol Lieven
“Full details are yet to emerge of the ‘peace plan’ that the UK, EU and Ukrainian leaders worked out in London on Sunday, and are to present to the Trump administration. But from what they have said so far, while one part is necessary and even essential, another is obstructive and potentially disastrous.” (03/03/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/uk-france-ukraine-meeting/
Germany: Driver kills two with car in Mannheim
Source: Reuters
“A car drove into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim on Monday, killing at least two people and seriously injuring several others, overshadowing carnival celebrations in the region where police had been on alert for attacks. Police detained the car’s driver and later said he had acted alone, with no broader threat seen for the public. The suspect is a 40-year-old German man from the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate who did not appear to be politically motivated, they said. People were seen lying on the ground at the scene and at least two were being resuscitated, a witness told Reuters. It was unclear whether the driver acted deliberately or if there was any connection to Germany’s carnival celebrations, which culminated on Rose Monday with a number of parades, although not in Mannheim, which held its main event on Sunday.” (03/03/25)
How to Kill a Bureau
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“First, Trump fires the holdover director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a radically anti-business agency. He appoints the new treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, as acting director. Bessent orders the agency to stop everything – ‘rulemaking, communications, litigation,’ Bloomberg Law reported. ‘A source inside the bureau who asked to remain anonymous said the order appeared to shut down the CFPB altogether, for the time being.’ So far, so good.” (03/03/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/03/03/how-to-kill-a-bureau/