DL Open Thread: Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Why Trump (Again) Jumped In Bed With Israel.  In pro rasslin’ terms, he thinks Israel is winning and he ‘wants the rub’:

Obviously wars are unpredictable. They don’t necessarily end when you want them to. Consider the fact that October 7th 2023, a shattering defeat for Israel, now from the vantage point of mid-2025 was an unmitigated catastrophe for Iran. It set in process a chain of events which shattered the “axis of resistance” which was the wellspring of its regional power, and it now stands at the mercy of the U.S. and Israel. You don’t know how wars will play out. But right now, Israel has created the circumstances which allow Donald Trump a risk-free “win” of immense magnitude. That is the issue here. Set aside whether or not doing this is wise. I’m talking about why we’re suddenly here. Why two or three days ago the White House was clear they weren’t getting involved and suddenly it all changed. The evolution here is that the Israelis have created an opportunity Trump simply cannot resist. A big, big win with very little risk in the short term. All the force is on one side of the question and nothing is pushing back in the opposite direction. It’s less an evolution of views than simple physics.

Of course, there’s more than the short term. But that’s not how Trump thinks.

Senate Passes Crypto-Crooks Bill.  Create another woefully-unregulated  legalized scam, enrich Trump?  Why not?  At least our two Senators voted against the bill.  The crypto industry literally bought this result:

The biggest hurdle for the industry has always been legislative: securing regulations that confer legitimacy without adding onerous requirements. And for that, executives and lobbyists had to turn their full attention to Capitol Hill.

Ahead of the 2024 election cycle, a network of Silicon Valley crypto executives and political strategists set their sights on Washington. They formed a number of crypto-focused super PACs which spent a total of more than $130 million to influence tight congressional races across the country.

Candidates backed by the super PACs, which supported both Democrats and Republicans, had a staggering success rate, winning 53 of 58 races.

I think Elizabeth Warren has it right:

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unforgiving in her criticism, arguing that the legislation’s “thin regulation” mirrored the deregulatory approach that helped create the 2008 financial crisis.

“It’s the same move a second time,” Ms. Warren said in an interview. “Why is the industry here asking for regulation? They want the gold star of U.S. government oversight without really having significant oversight.”

Bernie To National Dems: Get Dark Money Out Of Primaries.  You know, to represent the people for a change.  Radical idea, I know:

At a moment when many Americans are troubled by the role that top Republican donor Elon Musk played in shaping Trump administration policies, Sen. Bernie Sanders and seven fellow senators are calling on the Democratic Party’s leaders to make a sharp break with their own billionaire donors by banning super PAC and “dark money” from Democratic primaries.

The Vermont independent and his colleagues are seizing on this moment of turmoil for the Democratic Party to demand that Democrats “begin cleaning our own house” by restricting the influence of wealthy donors and powerful corporate interests in Democratic contests. Sanders is attempting to shape the direction of the party with his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has drawn out tens of thousands of people to protest Musk and President Donald Trump’s policies.

Sanders and the seven other senators — Democrats Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Chris Murphy (Connecticut), Jeff Merkley (Oregon), Peter Welch (Vermont), Tina Smith (Minnesota), Edward J. Markey (Massachusetts) and Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) — argue that many voters have lost faith in the political system because wealthy donors such as Musk have played an outsize role shaping the outcome of elections.

Noem Hospitalized.  Apparently, she unwittingly (redundant, I know) ate Mexican food.

Fascists Arrest Yet Another Democratic Politician:

Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller and a mayoral candidate, has lashed out at Donald Trump and “his fascist regime”, after he was arrested on Tuesday by masked federal agents while visiting an immigration court and accompanying a person out of a courtroom.

Posting on X, Lander wrote:

We will all be worse off if we let Donald Trump and his fascist regime undermine the rule of law.

Lander was arrested, according to video footage of the incident, as he and his staff walked with an immigrant – who he later identified as “Edgardo” – who had their case dismissed pending appeal earlier in the day, per AMNY.

Lander can be seen and heard in videos of the incident asking the immigration officials if they have a judicial warrant. Additional footage of the arrest shows Lander telling the officials:

I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant.

In a statement to the Guardian, assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin from the Department of Homeland Security said Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer”.

Upon his release, Lander said he “certainly did not” assault an officer.

Call them what they are–Trumped-up charges.

We close with some more interesting context from Rep. Wilson-Anton on the absence of Rep. Parker Selby, in which she restores some much-needed humanity to the situation:

“It’s a really difficult situation, and my heart goes out to her and to her family and loved ones. I know my family has dealt with a similar situation going back a few years, and it’s really difficult. And when you see a loved one go through a stroke in particular, it’s — depending on the level of the stroke — it can be really devastating,” Rep. Wilson-Anton said. “I will say, it’s been six months now — we’re almost finished with the first leg of the session, and as far as I know, no one has spoken to her. And that’s concerning to me because not only is she representing over 20,000 people, we haven’t heard from her.”

“I question how that’s even possible. If she can’t authorize things to be done on her behalf now, how can she step down legally? I don’t know,” Rep. Wilson-Anton said. “I think if she was able to make decisions for herself, she would’ve already put a statement out. She likely would have already resigned. And folks that know her know she didn’t even want to run again this time — people around her really pushed her to.”

Yet Speaker Mimi persists in claiming that her hands are tied:

“The fact is that only Rep. Stell Parker Selby can make this decision, and over the past several months, including just today, I’ve spoken with her and her family about this. The voters of the 20th District elected her to serve, and neither I nor any other member of the House can make this decision or speak on behalf of those constituents.”

Let’s cut the crap here.  The Speaker has not asked Selby to resign because she doesn’t want her to resign.  I look for such a resignation sometime after the end of this year’s session, with a Special Election to follow.

What do you want to talk about?