Mr T Macguyver

A few points just to get ahead of all the tedious replies: 1) I think Biden’s end of term pardons were outrageous and wrote that they were impeachment worthy. 2) one of the reasons I thought they were outrageous was that they were all but guaranteeing that the cycle of abuse would get worse. 3) Trump pardoning every one in his administration can simultaneously be proof that the cycle is getting worse, while also be wrong on the merits, but understandable given the game theory dynamics at play. 4) Trump outrageously abused the pardon power in his first term. Biden compounded that. Trump has already abused it outrageously in his second term. He will abuse it more than necessary because he will want to protect obvious bad acts by his loyalists and defend against inevitable bad acts by Democrats. I carry no brief for anybody here. I want to amend the constitution to either check or remove the pardon power.

A few points just to get ahead of all the tedious replies: 1) I think Biden’s end of term pardons were outrageous and wrote that they were impeachment worthy. 2) one of the reasons I thought they were outrageous was that they were all but guaranteeing that the cycle of abuse would get worse. 3) Trump pardoning every one in his administration can simultaneously be proof that the cycle is getting worse, while also be wrong on the merits, but understandable given the game theory dynamics at play. 4) Trump outrageously abused the pardon power in his first term. Biden compounded that. Trump has already abused it outrageously in his second term. He will abuse it more than necessary because he will want to protect obvious bad acts by his loyalists and defend against inevitable bad acts by Democrats. I carry no brief for anybody here. I want to amend the constitution to either check or remove the pardon power.

Americans… this is a good faith question. I’m not baiting or trolling. Why are you so scared of condos and walkable cities? Does not having to drive for your groceries freak you out? What about it makes you uncomfortable? Please be honest.

In the ongoing back and forth between Iranian and U.S. decision-makers over the terms of the ceasefire and future negotiations frameworks, U.S. President Donald J. Trump has claimed that Iran holds no cards in the negotiations, despite Iran actively holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage.

Canadian Lauren Chen and her husband, who were recently allowed back into the United States by the Trump Administration after fleeing to Canada following their involvement in a Russian-backed intelligence operation which provided millions of dollars to Chen in order to spread Russian propaganda to American Conservatives via her now-defunct Tenet Media, was invited to today’s event celebrating Easter at the White House.

Perhaps only the NYT could drop this in the middle of a story, spend not a moment musing about it, and move on.

A lot of Americans on my timeline: "Europeans don’t understand why we’d lose millions in tech to save a pilot. They don’t care about their troops". That's not true. We care deeply and that’s exactly why we didn’t agree to send our people into Iran in the first place.

100,000 troops in Europe. Zero help on Hormuz. Bring them home now. No more free rides.

The "leave no man behind" doctrine is actually a strategic weakness disguised as a virtue. Name one other military on earth that destroys 6 aircraft and fights a ground battle inside a sovereign nation to recover one pilot. You can't. Because no other military confuses tactical sentimentality with strategic logic. Soldiers serve the mission. The mission doesn't serve the soldier. The US has now established that Iran can shoot down an F-15, then watch America spend $300M and expose Delta Force trying to prove it didn't happen. That's not military doctrine. That's politics with weapons. A military that cannot accept the risk of loss cannot win wars. The US hasn't won one since 1945.