Former F.B.I. Director James Comey was escorted to the Secret Service offices today for a voluntary interview about a social media post he wrote:

On Thursday, the former FBI head posted a photo of the numbers “86 47” spelled out by shells on a beach he said he came across. Comey quickly took down the post after Republicans and Trump allies said he was calling for the president’s assassination.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” Comey said of the number “86,” which can refer to something being tossed away or taken out. The corresponding “47” matches Trump’s current term in office as the 47th president. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Legal experts on the First Amendment interviewed by CNN seem unanimous that there's no criminal case to be made here. [More...]

A new open thread is long overdue. I'm about to start a long conference call for work, but I'll be back over the weekend.

Donald Trump in the Middle East: It's like he won the jackpot of the highest paying slot machine in Vegas. With the Saudis backing Jared to the tune of a few billion; Jared's lavish construction project of luxury homes on an Albanian island (with the route to the permits and endorsement by the Albanian prime minister (or President, whichever he is) probably paved over by Richard Grennell, a current or former partner in Jared's Affinity Partners, who is now one of Trump's special envoys in the Middle East; Tiffany's billionaire Lebanese father-in-law who went all out for Trump in Michigan; Israel apparently not telling Trump he and Jared won't be the ones to get the contract to rebuild Gaza, turning it into the Riviera of the Middle East; Eric traveling to the Middle East to announce a new office tower being built there that will bear Trump's name (for an undisclosed sum) -- Trump will be a much wealthier person when he leaves office than when he came in. Even if he ends up leaving like Nixon in disgrace, he will just say he couldn't care less, he'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

He will also be leaving us without a work force to do necessary jobs Americans think are beneath them because of his absurd deportation priorities.

Democracy? Been there, done that, he'll say. Time to let the oligarchs and billionaires running the largest corporations in the world take over.

That's how I see the state of our union. Time for my call. I'll add some source links when I return.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The transcript of Donald Trump's interview on CBS "Meet the Press" is a very sad read.

Donald Trump doesn't know if the immigrants he is rounding up for deportation have due process rights under the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

KRISTEN WELKER: Your secretary of state says everyone who's here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?

PRES. DONALD TRUMP: I don't know. I'm not, I’m not a lawyer. I don't know.

KRISTEN WELKER: Well, the Fifth Amendment says as much.

PRES. DONALD TRUMP: I don't know. It seems – it might say that, but if you're talking about that, then we'd have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth.

How can he defend the Constitution if he isn't sure what it says, or thinks its meaning is up for debate by his legal team?

More...

Will the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for Trump voters?

When they protest in Iowa as folks did today at a public appearance by Republican Chuck Grassley, jeering and groaning at his responses, it seens a tad more significant than protests by Trump-hating Democrats, if for no reason other than its unexpectedness.

There's also the court hearing today at which DOJ prosecutors twisted the facts. And of course, Trump's disclosure that he's willing to deport American citizens to foreign prisons. Is this enough for his voters to turn their back on him? Probably not. But maybe it could be the beginning of the fall of Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's immigration policy. [More...]

Our last open thread is just about full.

Today's latest: Chief Judge James Boasberg has issued a lengthy order keeping his ban on Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people.

In a 37-page order, the judge, James E. Boasberg, said the order should remain in place so that the Venezuelan immigrants could have the opportunity to challenge accusations that they belong to the gang, Tren de Aragua, before the Trump administration can fly them out of the country under the wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act.

[More...]

This is an open thread for all things related to Donald Trump's second administration, including Elon Musk, his non-elected co-leader, and Stephen Miller, who holds the keys to the non-governmental lawyers he hired to write all the memoranda and policy .

I think everyone's head is spinning from the speed at which his (often bizarre) announcements come. Every time I've started writing one up, he's done something else that warrants public awareness and all go unfinished. But everyone who reads this site is well aware of Trump's actions, from announcing his intent for the U.S. to take over Gaza and opening a tent area at Gitmo to house undocumented immigrants with criminal records and orders of removal, to his cabinet, agency and Ambassador appointments, and his pardons. I really don't need to spell them out.

Shorter version: The U.S. is now being run by a bunch of billionaires with no political experience.

This is an open thread on all Trump 2 related topics.

NBC and Peacock tonight are airing a three-hour special Saturday Night Live Show for its 50th birthday. It starts at 8:00 pm ET and 5:00 pm PT. "Its stars are calling the "greatest reunion show" in TV history." The "red carpet" starts at 7 pm ET.

There will be a slew of SNL "alums".Paul McCartney is the musical guest, and Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and others will perform.

If you missed the “Ladies and Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music" show, it was pretty awesome. Here is a list of the musical guests it featured. It is still streaming on Peacock.

Long live SNL, with special thanks to Lorne Michaels.

This is an open thread for all things related to TV, movies, streaming and the like. (I just put up another open thread for politics).

Republicans are throwing easy questions at Robert Kennedy. I am watching the hearing. I guess I've never heard him speak before. He has a condition called spasmodic dysphona.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are putting him on the spot as to whether he'll forego taking a cut of lawsuits suing over vaccines, whether he believes medical care is a human right, whether he supports a right to choose.

Caroline Kennedy and another relative of Kennedy's wrote scathing letters to Congress urging he not be confirmed.

Trump 2 begins today. Elon Musk is so excited. He spoke to Trump supporters about optimism and how much they are going to accomplish.

Melania is hiding her face with a black hat going for a mysterious look. Either that or she's hiding a black eye.

The White House website has already been scrubbed of Biden. It's all Trump now.

Trump seems to have delegated an enormous amount of power in Stephen Miller. Miller moved his family to Florida, got office space and chose his own group of lawyers to vet the Executive Orders he's been salivating for the past four years. He's keeping them tightly under wrap until the moment Trump wants them to drop. [More...]

On his final day of office, President Biden issued scores of pardons to family members, congresspersons (Liz Cheney), Anthony Faucci, and others who have been threatened or targeted by Donald Trump.

Trump made a slew of threats before the election. He hasn't stopped. Biden today said:

“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement released as the inauguration ceremony was underway at the US Capitol.

Biden stressed that those receiving pardons had not done anything wrong.

Los Angeles continues to burn. (WSJ, free link). I hope the insurance companies have enough money to pay all the homeowner and commercial claims. The damage is devastating:

Economic losses from the blazes have been estimated at tens of billions of dollars. Tens of thousands of people were displaced, roughly 33,000 acres were aflame and more than 200,000 were without power across the wider Los Angeles area. More than 360,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, said Robert Fenton, Jr., a regional administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

[More...]

Donald Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge in Manhattan today, having been convicted of 34 felonies.

He avoids a fine, restitution, probation, home confinement and prison. But the felony convictions stand, unless overturned on appeal.

This is the first time in American history that a man who has been convicted of a felony will occupy a desk in the oval office.

In only ten days, the carnival barker almost half of Americans have come to hate will be back in that office. Remember who put him there -- the people who voted for him. Shorter version: The majority of American voters are off their rocker. They, as well as Trump, are the problem. It will take a generation to reverse the damage he will inflict and the loss of prestige to America.