A Daily Reid: no law in Magamerica

The one-eyed men running our government turn out to be a gang of screw-ups

The way that autocracy works is that there is no rule of law. There are laws on the books, sure. But those laws are only enforced against the autocrat’s real or perceived opponents and enemies. The laws are not made to apply to the autocrat, or to any of his designees.

And so in America’s emerging autocracy, it doesn’t matter than three-quarters of Americans believe that Signalgate is a serious problem. It doesn’t matter that public disclosure laws outlaw the sharing of critical information outside of designated governmental systems, especially about U.S. military attack plans, or that a judge has ordered the regime to preserve those Signal records. And it doesn’t matter if the same government has literally punished “a longtime Department of Homeland Security employee who told colleagues she inadvertently sent unclassified details of an upcoming Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation to a journalist in late January.” If it’s left up to the regime itself, there will be no consequences, legal or otherwise, for the mind-bogglingly careless, dangerous, and likely illegal disclosure of American plans to militarily attack Houthi rebels, during an emoji-heavy Signal chat between the most senior members of the bungling Trump cabinet.

And since there are no more inspectors general, after Trump fired them all, there won’t even be an investigation.

Because as Richard Nixon put it,”when the president does it, it is NOT illegal.” Or apparently when the president’s men do it.

Welcome to Magamerica.

So if Americans want our national security and operational security protected, it can’t be solely left up to the regime. People are going to have to demand it.

Pete Hegseth is glaringly unqualified to be our secretary of defense. That was clear before the weekend TV host was confirmed by Republicans for the job. It’s even clearer now.

Our military pilots know it.

Even some Republican electeds know it.

And the guy from Barstool Sports…

And Mike Waltz is brazenly unqualified, too.

And the American people are going to have to demand their ouster.

Back to the future

Meanwhile, we’ve now gotten a look at some members of the doge gang, courtesy of a super softball interview with Brett Baer on Fox “News.” You won’t be surprised at the asthetics.

It’s giving 1950s, other than that one guy not wearing a tie.

Here’s a clip, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

More on the interview here. And if you care to sit through the whole thing, you can do that here.

In an autocratic system, you can be snatched on the street by masked men and disappeared at any time, simply because of your political beliefs.

And no court can prevent you being sent away to the regime’s preferred gulag. And in Magamerica, Louisiana is that preferred gulag.

Lawyers for the US government on Thursday argued in court in Boston that they had transferred a doctoral student at nearby Tufts University to immigration detention in Louisiana before a court had ordered that she should not be removed from Massachusetts without prior notice.

At a hearing on Thursday morning in federal court, a lawyer for the student, a Turkish national, withdrew an emergency motion filed the previous day requesting that the government produce her after she was shipped off to Louisiana. The motion and one from the government were sealed.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was sent to detention in the south on Wednesday after being snatched off the street outside her home on Tuesday.

The court had ordered Ice not to move her out of the Massachusetts court district but justice department lawyers on Thursday said Ozturk’s transfer to Louisiana took place before the judge ordered her to be kept in Massachusetts.

At Thursday morning’s federal court hearing in Boston, district judge Indira Talwani issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained.

US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (Ice), which is part of DHS, said on Thursday that Ozturk was being held at a detention center in Basile, Louisiana, and had spoken to her lawyer. A senior DHS spokesperson also confirmed Ozturk’s detention and the termination of her student visa.

Defying federal judges … disappearing lawful visa holders … and also this, which if it is not a breach of human rights laws, I can’t imagine what is:

I would be interested to know what Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or other organizations think about Kristi Noem’s “slave play.”

Oh, Canada

Canada says the old relationship with the U.S. is over.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada's old relationship with the United States, "based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over".

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa after a cabinet meeting, Carney said Canadians must "fundamentally reimagine our economy" in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

He said Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs that will have "maximum impact" on the US.

Trump announced on Wednesday he would target imported vehicles and vehicle parts with a 25% tax, stating: "This is permanent."

The winner of the American withdrawal from the world will be China. Bet on that.

Taking the weekend off

A personal note: I’m going to be off the grid for the rest of the weekend, grabbing a bit of R&R. Will see you lovelies back here at Joy’s House on Monday.