Mark D

Well, I would say that there are lots of constitutional and legal provisions that have unintended consequences. Most amendments to the constitution were passed to deal with things like that. The issue is whether or not there are actual problems severe enough that changes must be made. Republicans are grossly exaggerating the numbers of birth tourist babies because the real objection is simply one of principle. Nothing wrong with objecting on principle so they should push for an amendment.

@mdelling @DavidAFrench And the 18th was not absurd policy. There are people who would support it today, they’re just in the minority. What you mean is that it was *bad* policy, which is different. Is there anyone, anywhere, prepared to actually support birth tourism from a rival nation?

Populists ask, "What has conservatism ever conserved?" Well, it's about to conserve birthright citizenship.

@aakashgupta @HistoryBoomer School science project: how long does it take an M&M to reach terminal velocity and how fast is it going? What’s its momentum? Do the same for a bag of M&Ms.

The physics on this are worth running because "thousands of feet" sounds terrifying until you remember that height stops mattering after a few seconds. An M&M weighs about 0.9 grams. Terminal velocity is determined by the ratio of mass to cross-sectional area. For something that light and that round, terminal velocity lands somewhere around 10 to 15 mph. A raindrop hits you harder. J.B.S. Haldane wrote the best explanation of this in 1926: "You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes." The square-cube law means small objects have proportionally more surface area relative to their mass. Air resistance wins. Whether you drop an M&M from 100 feet or 10,000 feet, it hits the ground at the same speed. It reaches terminal velocity in seconds. After that, gravity and drag are in equilibrium and the candy is just floating down at jogging pace. The content is dumb for a dozen reasons. Physics danger to bystanders is not one of them.

@historyinmemes What happened is Neil Armstrong‘s giant balls shifted a little during the flight that made the whole thing go unstable.

Neil Armstrong Ejected just seconds before his lunar training vehicle crashed.

@RhythmDoc01 @DavidAFrench The 18th amendment, prohibition, turned out to be absurd policy, so what did they do? They repealed it with another amendment.

@DavidAFrench Do…do you think that convinces people mad about the conservative movement being ineffectual that they should be more, or less, respectful of constitutional norms? It *might* be the case that the kids of birth tourists are citizens. But that’s an absurd policy!

@NotCubby @DJSnM @tonyblackburn No by then Elon will have abandoned his moon base for a bigger one on Mars

@DJSnM @tonyblackburn At this rate, Artemis will have its choice of which of Elon’s moon bases it wants to land at when the landers are ready in 2036.

I remember watching the first man on the moon landing some 50years ago which was very exciting as this new mission is. Can anyone tell me why it is that they are not actually going to land on the moon but circle round it. It’s not a criticism I’m just interested to know why they are not actually going to land on the moon.

@devilfear2u @IAPonomarenko Two things can be true at once: Europe should spend more on defense and that America put bases in Europe primarily for its own benefit not as acts of charity that the ungrateful Europeans no longer deserve.

BS… At least the last 7-8 administrations have been asking you to get your shit together and start investing in your own defense. Yet, before the Ukraine war, everybody kept cutting their budgets and riding on rainbow ponies… Then one day you wake up with “we do not have a military, we don’t have ammunition, we don’t have energy…” No shit, Sherlock… 🤷‍♂️ We have 50+ installations in Europe. We probably need a couple max and that’s it… So no, those bases are there for you.

What if I told you that for decades, this was largely a U.S. policy -- that Europe largerly disarmed, weakened its defense industries, and handed its security over to the United States, making itself dependent? What if I told you that for decades, this arrangement suited both sides just fine? America secured its monopoly status as the world's military hegemon and the undisputed leader of the West, gained the ability to project its power across the globe, and had a massive market for its defense industry free from European competition -- all while extending its protection over its vassals-allies in return. And Europe was perfectly happy to relax under that American umbrella and spend its money on social programs and comfortable life. And then Donald Trump, at the helm of a superpower, decided that everyone owed him. That he wants a weak, dependent Europe and a vast market for American military exports -- but has no intention of honoring the part of the old bargain that involved actually protecting that same Europe. Doesn't anyone else find it hilarious that the Trump admin first screams at the top of its lungs demanding that Europe defend itself and become independent -- and then turns around and expresses displeasure that European countries are switching to their own weapons instead of signing contracts with the American defense industry?

@JoyceWhiteVance Sauer also said only a “tiny minority” of countries observe jus soli but this tiny minority is every country in North and South America.

This morning SG Sauer argued “Unrestricted birthright citizenship” contradicts the practice in other countries. But conservatives on the Court have a long history of rejecting any reference to foreign law, for instance, on the death penalty. What’s next, imposing Sharia law?

@SydSteyerhart This will be at least 7 to 2.

This decision will determine whether or not anything human makes it out of the near future. The outcome entirely lies in the hands of a middle aged white woman who adopted two Haitians into her family.

@jrossean @jkimballcook The Supreme Court doesn’t decide questions of policy whether something is a good idea or a bad idea they just determine constitutionality. The process of amending the constitution exists for a reason.

What’s your honest take on birthright citizenship? Someone showed me an apartment building in Irvine where people come 7 months pregnant from China to have their kids so they can be citizens and get into college easier because they’re American. Seems like an abuse but honestly don’t have a strong opinion.

"the 14th amendment doesn't cover children of illegal aliens because there was no such thing as illegal aliens when it was ratified" is the same argument as "the 2nd amendment doesn't cover automatic weapons because they didn't exist then"

@maschotta_adam @allenanalysis @anders_aslund Good points about the future but we aren’t there yet.

@mdelling @allenanalysis @anders_aslund If you think the navy is the main deterring factor moving into to the age of space, autonomous warfare and artificial intelligence then you need to broaden your knowledge. Or at least think more macro. You wouldn’t even know what autonomous weaponry your country is building.

Marco Rubio: “If Europe won’t allow us to use the bases we man and fund for their defense when we need them — we ought to close them down and remove our troops from Europe.” Europe’s response to being threatened: Spain: airspace closed. Italy: Sigonella denied. France: airspace closed. Switzerland: airspace closed. Poland: no missile batteries. UK: not our war. Canada: never. Germany: no. Japan: officially no. Australia: no. Rubio is threatening to pull troops from Europe. Europe already pulled the welcome mat.

@IgnotumVincere @PressSec This is like Trump issuing an executive order dictating what color backyard fences must be. He literally has no authority to do this. States can simply ignore it.

@PressSec No surprise the left will use lawfare to try to stop this. What are activist judges for, after all. I’m sure you have prepared to fast-track the appeals.

🚨HAPPENING TODAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Trump To Crack Down On Mail-In Voting With New Executive Order dailycaller.com/2026/03/31/tru…

@DBCWriter @PressSec Trump has no authority over election law.

Good. The Democrats thought they could open the borders and let millions pour in here and they would vote for them year after year. Well, sorry to tell you, Dems: it's not happening. No more letting illegals vote, no more letting dead people vote, no more letting people who live in other states vote when they've been gone for years, no more letting your dog vote... Well, maybe we can let Fido vote... but only if he votes for Trump!

@TSBirdey @gtconway3d You must be trolling for fun. They said the same thing about George W. Bush.

@gtconway3d Democrats know when Trump brings peace to the Middle East they will never hold power again. They are rabidly desperate for America to fail.

They're starting to turn on him in a way we've never seen before.

@maschotta_adam @allenanalysis @anders_aslund We aren’t even close to that. We would need a navy double the size of what we have now.

@mdelling @allenanalysis @anders_aslund Maybe in the times of post WW2 till this decade. The capabilities of the US military far exceed that of needing bases in the regions. This cabinet knows that and are making the strategic moves necessary to exit. They should call his bluff then.

Show me where in my original post I said “Europe gets no benefits out of them” Nowhere. The US benefiting and Europe benefiting are not mutually exclusive. The colloquial term is win-win. Both Europe and the United States have benefited from those bases. But it was not for the benefit of Europe that motivated us putting them there during the cold and keeping them there when it ended.

You literally just did when you said… >>>Those bases aren’t for the defense of Europe<<<< but for US power projection. You claimed Europe gets no benefits out of them, benefits like “defense”. Just because defense is invisible until the enemy is at your shores doesn’t mean Europe doesn’t benefit. Is it just natural for lefties to lie from one sentence to the next or do you have to work at it?

@StrongerNavy The problem was America and Iran’s creation so America and Iran should fix it. End of story.

@ianbremmer @Orinocopat The US could do an operation midnight hammer twice a year for the next 25 years for what this war is costing.

@Orinocopat the destruction of iran’s nuclear capabilities could have been achieved with a repeat of the 12 day war and then no disruption of the strait. trump chose to go for regime change out of overconfidence and lack of policy competence. the consequences have been disastrous.

trump now says only one goal in iran war: to ensure they don’t develop nuclear weapon upside: new war goal achieved downside: pretty much everything else

@SaiyemI @ianbremmer @Orinocopat Hey somebody has to make the call,

@ianbremmer @Orinocopat Who are the Americans to decide who should or shouldn't have nuclear weapons?

@TomcatJunkie @CourtneyRigo Seems a bit harsh 70% better. No chemistry between the leads. Tom’s acting wasn’t very good. Locker room scene was silly. Movie carried by the cool action scenes.

59% on Rotton Tomatoes…. This tells you everything you need to know about film critics.

@Rainmaker1973 A surgeon is controlling it. It’s not really a robot

Microsurgery robot stitches up a corn kernel showing millimeter-level precision