What jurisdiction does the SDNY have over the president of another country?
Well, they can apply to have him extradited. (Good luck with that.)
Or, if he travels to the US without diplomatic immunity, they could have him arrested while he was here. Whether being kidnapped and brought into the US counts is dubious. Certainly having the US government do the kidnapping, as in this case, seems like cause to throw the case out of court. Even before the (low) quality of the actual case is addressed.
"Well, he just executed the arrest warrant from the Southern District of NY for among other things illegal possession of firearms and intent to acquire such."
What jurisdiction does the SDNY have over the president of another country?
@Hartmut, if Western Europe has really reached that sort of conclusion, that the US executive branch (with cover from the judicial) can do as it pleases, w/o any attention to even the niceties of form, well... There's three more years before control of the executive can legally change hands. I would suggest Europe thinks hard about taking action:
Get serious about the mutual defense parts of the EU treaties, rather than NATO. How does France feel about a nuclear-capable Germany?
Accept that it's going to be damned expensive.
Kick the 80,000+ US military and their kit out of Europe. Soon.
Work hard to get Britain to jump the right way.
And part of me also thinks, don't ask me to constrain the Trumpists overseas, I've got a civil war to fight.
Such a strange state of paralysis we are in as a nation. The Democrats cannot keep up with the galloping norm-crushing or find any path of resistance that is not through the slow crawl of the courts. The media is hapless, and hopeless, and toothless, and hamstrung by oligarchic editorial capture. That leaves civil resistance, but it doesn't seem like we are really ready to hit the streets and risk an authoritarian backlash and the suspension of habeas corpus that we know the authoritarians are jonezing to try out.
Every last bit of this could be ground to a halt if the milquetoast Republicans who have "raised concerns" would break ranks and side with the Dems to restore accountability. I don't see that happening. The GOP has so thoroughly demonized (literally) the Dems that I can't see any of them choosing to work with the Enemies of Christendom.
Michael Cain, I thought the snark about 'just executing a warrant' was obvious enough. The pretense, whether it was cocaine and submachine guns or counterfeit aspirin and single shot soft air rifles, is simply ridiculous. They could as well justify their actions with him jaywalking, not paying for a bus ticket or parking violations. It was an act of war without war being declared or congress even discussing anything that could serve as a legal pretense. And it was another test case what he can get away with. Will he try a fait accompli with Greenland next? I think that has ceased to be a mere academic question after to-day. I think it would actually take less military effort to sweep in and take over than what they did in Caracas.
In addition to Trump's threats about crude oil resources in Venezuela, a Delaware court is nearing the end of the process to sell off Citgo's US assets. Citgo is majority owned, indirectly, by Venezuela. Citgo's big Gulf Coast refineries were specifically tailored to handle Venezuela's crappy crude oil. As I understand that case, much of the proceeds from the sale will go to the companies whose Venezuelan assets were nationalized. None of the big oil majors bid on the Citgo assets. You have to wonder if any of them will be interested in taking on the billions of dollars of deferred maintenance the oil infrastructure in Venezuela requires.
Jesus. This from David Frum's piece in the Atlantic today, lands sinisterly:
Because the anti-Trump side is preoccupied with domestic politics, it sometimes overlooks how Trump is corroding American leadership in the world. The Venezuelan regime is broadly unpopular in Latin America; its socialism of plunder has sent millions of desperate people into Colombia and other states. But U.S. intervention is deeply mistrusted in the region, associated much more closely with bringing dictators to power than with toppling them. The administration could have courted greater legitimacy for its actions by cooperating with regional partners, such as Colombia and Brazil, which have both tangled with the Maduro regime in the recent past. Refusing such cooperation is not merely an incidental vice of Trump’s foreign policy. That vice is at its core. Military action in Venezuela today without allies may prefigure action tomorrow against allies—for example, to invade and annex Greenland. The big strategic idea of the second Trump administration is that major powers are entitled to dominate their neighbors: Russia to dominate Ukraine, China to dominate its neighborhood, and the U.S. to rule over Venezuela, Greenland, Panama, and ultimately Canada—Trump’s desired “51st state.”
David Frum's politics are not mine, but I am determined to keep an eye on rational rightwingers, in case they ever have any influence on the GOP (hard to see at this point). If anybody wants the full piece, just let me know.
...for among other things illegal possession of firearms and intent to acquire such. Where in the constitution does it say that one needs a congressional approval for that?
If I recall what I've seen this morning correctly, the indictment that is the basis for the arrest warrant says "fully automatic firearms". Full-auto weapons are only legal under some very narrow conditions. I don't remember if a non-citizen can qualify. So far, at least, the Supreme Court has upheld state and federal restrictions on full-auto weapons.
Well, he just executed the arrest warrant from the Southern District of NY for among other things illegal possession of firearms and intent to acquire such. Where in the constitution does it say that one needs a congressional approval for that?
Let's see how much pocket change Maduro has to buy a pardon.
Of course, if is state charges, that would require a transfer to the feds first.
Meanwhile, His Orangeness has declared that the official government of Mexico is not actually in charge of the country but the cartels and that will have consequences soon. Hm, a few days ago he declared that Columbia would be next. Such inconsistency. Not to forget similar threats towards Iran. As usual the open support of the US and Israel for the protestors in Iran gives the radicals on both sides* the licence/license/pretense to use indiscriminate violence.
Btw, Israel is currently facing some headwind with a plan to introduce a capital crime that can only be committed by Palestinians.
China and Russia are delighted, I presume, about the current events. It's exactly what they need for their own propaganda.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said
Consider the level of ineptitude he has demonstrated running this country. Figure that he will likely to send the worst of the worst (albeit pretty on camera) to supposedly run a country where, inevitably, none of them speak the language.
People with appropriate linguistic expertise are requested to find a word we can use when "fiasco" is just way too mild.
International law and strategic consequences aside, they never learn:
U.S. officials ran a war game ...
The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt ... “The thing that really worries us is that they don’t appear to have any serious plan for what happens afterward,” said Phil Gunson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group ... Mr. Maduro’s overthrow — whether by military coup, popular uprising or U.S. military action — would shatter Venezuela’s brittle authoritarian government and produce “chaos for a sustained period of time with no possibility of ending it,”
I note that, not only has there been no Declaration of War. There hasn't even been any sign of a Congressional resolution, such has provided a fig leaf for our various wars since World War II.
How long before Trump emulates his hero and calls it a Special Military Operation? Or will he go all in, and call it a spetsoperatsiya? (No chance he can manage спецопера́ция.)
Will His Orangeness compare his dict-napping in Venezuela to Israel's capture of Eichmann given that he in essence accuses Maduro constantly of murdering millions of US citizens (per year or per month?)?
Since I dislike listening to political speeches regardless of the speaker's politics, I had Grok do a recap of the speech.
"The approximately 20-minute video shows Zohran Mamdani being sworn in as mayor on the steps of City Hall, repeating the oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, New York State Constitution, and City Charter. He addresses a crowd in chilly January weather, expressing humility and solidarity with New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds, including immigrants, workers, and those in neglected areas. Mamdani thanks supporters, family, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, progressive figures like Bernie Sanders (who officiated the oath), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Nydia Velázquez, and commits to serving all residents regardless of political differences..."
I haven't been able to get that wonderful version of Auld Lang Syne out of my mind. And since the line in the original Burns poem is actually:
"For auld lang syne my jo" (i.e. not "my dear"), where jo means dear or darling, I've been obsessively remembering my favourite Burns poem John Anderson my jo, John, and how I read it to my beloved father (who adored Burns) when he was appallingly felled by a stroke, and how I could hardly get through it without my voice badly breaking. Much as I could hardly get through Danny Boy when I sang it to him during that time.
John Anderson my jo, John, When we were first acquent; Your locks were like the raven, Your bony brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw; But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson my Jo.
John Anderson my jo, John, We clamb the hill the gither; And mony a canty day, John, We’ve had wi’ ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, And hand in hand we’ll go; And sleep the gither at the foot, John Anderson my Jo.
There is a version of Eddie Reader singing this on Youtube, but I don't think it is nearly as good as some of her other versions of Burns's poems, and certainly not as moving as russell's posted Auld Lang Syne.
I like to think that there's an approaching epiphany with respect to electricity, as they realize the administration doesn't care at all about higher residential power rates, they only care about forcing the use of fossil fuels, denying the use of renewables, and making the generic ratepayer foot the bill for all the (risky) new generating capacity that will have to be built for the AI data centers.
Michael, now is the time to let you know that I continue to find State of the Discussion extremely useful, especially if a lot has happened since I last looked. Thank you!
Style.min.css is a WordPress core file. There are two disadvantages to changing it: (1) changing core files occasionally has unpleasant side effects, and (2) the change will be overwritten every time a WordPress update is applied. There are better places to put additional CSS.
I think I've found the source of the "comment links are not changing color if you've previously clicked on them"
style.min.css
needs to have an addition:
a:visited{color:red}
(or some other color). It seems that otherwise links, whether visited or not, get whatever color is inherited. Just tried with a local copy of the OW main page, and it works.
That's absolutely beautiful, russell. I don't know if you've posted it before, but IMO you could post it every new year's day. By the end, I was truly emotional.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “2026, as f**ked up as 2025”
What jurisdiction does the SDNY have over the president of another country?
Well, they can apply to have him extradited. (Good luck with that.)
Or, if he travels to the US without diplomatic immunity, they could have him arrested while he was here. Whether being kidnapped and brought into the US counts is dubious. Certainly having the US government do the kidnapping, as in this case, seems like cause to throw the case out of court. Even before the (low) quality of the actual case is addressed.
"
"Well, he just executed the arrest warrant from the Southern District of NY for among other things illegal possession of firearms and intent to acquire such."
What jurisdiction does the SDNY have over the president of another country?
"
@Hartmut, if Western Europe has really reached that sort of conclusion, that the US executive branch (with cover from the judicial) can do as it pleases, w/o any attention to even the niceties of form, well... There's three more years before control of the executive can legally change hands. I would suggest Europe thinks hard about taking action:
And part of me also thinks, don't ask me to constrain the Trumpists overseas, I've got a civil war to fight.
"
Such a strange state of paralysis we are in as a nation. The Democrats cannot keep up with the galloping norm-crushing or find any path of resistance that is not through the slow crawl of the courts. The media is hapless, and hopeless, and toothless, and hamstrung by oligarchic editorial capture. That leaves civil resistance, but it doesn't seem like we are really ready to hit the streets and risk an authoritarian backlash and the suspension of habeas corpus that we know the authoritarians are jonezing to try out.
Every last bit of this could be ground to a halt if the milquetoast Republicans who have "raised concerns" would break ranks and side with the Dems to restore accountability. I don't see that happening. The GOP has so thoroughly demonized (literally) the Dems that I can't see any of them choosing to work with the Enemies of Christendom.
So very fucked up.
"
Michael Cain, I thought the snark about 'just executing a warrant' was obvious enough. The pretense, whether it was cocaine and submachine guns or counterfeit aspirin and single shot soft air rifles, is simply ridiculous. They could as well justify their actions with him jaywalking, not paying for a bus ticket or parking violations. It was an act of war without war being declared or congress even discussing anything that could serve as a legal pretense. And it was another test case what he can get away with. Will he try a fait accompli with Greenland next? I think that has ceased to be a mere academic question after to-day. I think it would actually take less military effort to sweep in and take over than what they did in Caracas.
"
In addition to Trump's threats about crude oil resources in Venezuela, a Delaware court is nearing the end of the process to sell off Citgo's US assets. Citgo is majority owned, indirectly, by Venezuela. Citgo's big Gulf Coast refineries were specifically tailored to handle Venezuela's crappy crude oil. As I understand that case, much of the proceeds from the sale will go to the companies whose Venezuelan assets were nationalized. None of the big oil majors bid on the Citgo assets. You have to wonder if any of them will be interested in taking on the billions of dollars of deferred maintenance the oil infrastructure in Venezuela requires.
"
Jesus. This from David Frum's piece in the Atlantic today, lands sinisterly:
Because the anti-Trump side is preoccupied with domestic politics, it sometimes overlooks how Trump is corroding American leadership in the world. The Venezuelan regime is broadly unpopular in Latin America; its socialism of plunder has sent millions of desperate people into Colombia and other states. But U.S. intervention is deeply mistrusted in the region, associated much more closely with bringing dictators to power than with toppling them. The administration could have courted greater legitimacy for its actions by cooperating with regional partners, such as Colombia and Brazil, which have both tangled with the Maduro regime in the recent past. Refusing such cooperation is not merely an incidental vice of Trump’s foreign policy. That vice is at its core. Military action in Venezuela today without allies may prefigure action tomorrow against allies—for example, to invade and annex Greenland. The big strategic idea of the second Trump administration is that major powers are entitled to dominate their neighbors: Russia to dominate Ukraine, China to dominate its neighborhood, and the U.S. to rule over Venezuela, Greenland, Panama, and ultimately Canada—Trump’s desired “51st state.”
David Frum's politics are not mine, but I am determined to keep an eye on rational rightwingers, in case they ever have any influence on the GOP (hard to see at this point). If anybody wants the full piece, just let me know.
"
...for among other things illegal possession of firearms and intent to acquire such. Where in the constitution does it say that one needs a congressional approval for that?
If I recall what I've seen this morning correctly, the indictment that is the basis for the arrest warrant says "fully automatic firearms". Full-auto weapons are only legal under some very narrow conditions. I don't remember if a non-citizen can qualify. So far, at least, the Supreme Court has upheld state and federal restrictions on full-auto weapons.
"
Well, he just executed the arrest warrant from the Southern District of NY for among other things illegal possession of firearms and intent to acquire such. Where in the constitution does it say that one needs a congressional approval for that?
Let's see how much pocket change Maduro has to buy a pardon.
Of course, if is state charges, that would require a transfer to the feds first.
Meanwhile, His Orangeness has declared that the official government of Mexico is not actually in charge of the country but the cartels and that will have consequences soon. Hm, a few days ago he declared that Columbia would be next. Such inconsistency. Not to forget similar threats towards Iran. As usual the open support of the US and Israel for the protestors in Iran gives the radicals on both sides* the licence/license/pretense to use indiscriminate violence.
Btw, Israel is currently facing some headwind with a plan to introduce a capital crime that can only be committed by Palestinians.
China and Russia are delighted, I presume, about the current events. It's exactly what they need for their own propaganda.
*I do not include the civilian protestors.
"
Consider the level of ineptitude he has demonstrated running this country. Figure that he will likely to send the worst of the worst (albeit pretty on camera) to supposedly run a country where, inevitably, none of them speak the language.
People with appropriate linguistic expertise are requested to find a word we can use when "fiasco" is just way too mild.
"
International law and strategic consequences aside, they never learn:
U.S. officials ran a war game ...
The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt ... “The thing that really worries us is that they don’t appear to have any serious plan for what happens afterward,” said Phil Gunson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group ... Mr. Maduro’s overthrow — whether by military coup, popular uprising or U.S. military action — would shatter Venezuela’s brittle authoritarian government and produce “chaos for a sustained period of time with no possibility of ending it,”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/us/politics/venezuela-maduro-fallout-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BlA.jrlx.gJPz0yuSJoGR&smid=url-share
"
I saw this in a comment on Blue Sky: Wag the Dog meets Grand Theft Oil.
"
No, no! 2026, far more f*cked up than 2025!
I note that, not only has there been no Declaration of War. There hasn't even been any sign of a Congressional resolution, such has provided a fig leaf for our various wars since World War II.
How long before Trump emulates his hero and calls it a Special Military Operation? Or will he go all in, and call it a spetsoperatsiya? (No chance he can manage спецопера́ция.)
On “Moving towards Epiphany”
I guess now we have the answer to the 2025 Question of the Year:
Which will Trump invade first, Canada or Greenland?
"
Will His Orangeness compare his dict-napping in Venezuela to Israel's capture of Eichmann given that he in essence accuses Maduro constantly of murdering millions of US citizens (per year or per month?)?
On “Dayyyyum”
Since I dislike listening to political speeches regardless of the speaker's politics, I had Grok do a recap of the speech.
"The approximately 20-minute video shows Zohran Mamdani being sworn in as mayor on the steps of City Hall, repeating the oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, New York State Constitution, and City Charter. He addresses a crowd in chilly January weather, expressing humility and solidarity with New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds, including immigrants, workers, and those in neglected areas. Mamdani thanks supporters, family, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, progressive figures like Bernie Sanders (who officiated the oath), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Nydia Velázquez, and commits to serving all residents regardless of political differences..."
Mamdani's 2026 NYC Inauguration Analysis
On “Moving towards Epiphany”
I haven't been able to get that wonderful version of Auld Lang Syne out of my mind. And since the line in the original Burns poem is actually:
"For auld lang syne my jo" (i.e. not "my dear"), where jo means dear or darling, I've been obsessively remembering my favourite Burns poem John Anderson my jo, John, and how I read it to my beloved father (who adored Burns) when he was appallingly felled by a stroke, and how I could hardly get through it without my voice badly breaking. Much as I could hardly get through Danny Boy when I sang it to him during that time.
John Anderson my jo, John,
When we were first acquent;
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bony brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson my Jo.
John Anderson my jo, John,
We clamb the hill the gither;
And mony a canty day, John,
We’ve had wi’ ane anither:
Now we maun totter down, John,
And hand in hand we’ll go;
And sleep the gither at the foot,
John Anderson my Jo.
There is a version of Eddie Reader singing this on Youtube, but I don't think it is nearly as good as some of her other versions of Burns's poems, and certainly not as moving as russell's posted Auld Lang Syne.
"
I like to think that there's an approaching epiphany with respect to electricity, as they realize the administration doesn't care at all about higher residential power rates, they only care about forcing the use of fossil fuels, denying the use of renewables, and making the generic ratepayer foot the bill for all the (risky) new generating capacity that will have to be built for the AI data centers.
"
Than you, Russell. That was lovely. You all might find this comforting: Turning Toward the Morning
"If I had one thing to give you, I would tell you one more time that the world is always turning toward the morning."
"
Michael, now is the time to let you know that I continue to find State of the Discussion extremely useful, especially if a lot has happened since I last looked. Thank you!
"
style.min.css
needs to have an addition:
a:visited{color:red}
Style.min.css is a WordPress core file. There are two disadvantages to changing it: (1) changing core files occasionally has unpleasant side effects, and (2) the change will be overwritten every time a WordPress update is applied. There are better places to put additional CSS.
On “An inscrutable Merry Christmas”
What's really wonderful in Japan is "Christmas fireworks".
Because it can't be a real holiday without fireworks!
On “Moving towards Epiphany”
BTW, you can treat my comment as an evidence for "one bugfix/person/year".
Happy New Year one and all!
"
I think I've found the source of the "comment links are not changing color if you've previously clicked on them"
style.min.css
needs to have an addition:
a:visited{color:red}
(or some other color). It seems that otherwise links, whether visited or not, get whatever color is inherited. Just tried with a local copy of the OW main page, and it works.
"
That's absolutely beautiful, russell. I don't know if you've posted it before, but IMO you could post it every new year's day. By the end, I was truly emotional.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.