"I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you" (Updated)

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And you’re a big doo-doo head, too!

Fight back on their level. I was once in one of those horrible commie “struggle sessions” when a mouth-breathing participant wrathfully accused me of “using big words”. “So”, I responded, “you’re saying I’m a sesquipedalian?”

He didn’t get it, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Anyway, back to the Capitol:

“Kindergarteners Can Give Me A Yes Or No”

California Rep. and Mexican import Salud Carbajal tells Hegseth he's an 'embarrassment' to the US, should 'get the hell out' of the DOD

California Dem tells Hegseth he's 'unfit to lead' after defense secretary dismisses 'silly question' about Trump loyalty

Civility has left the building

The outburst from Rep. Salud Carbajal was immediately followed by a call for decorum as lawmakers from the House Armed Services Committee were questioning Hegseth about the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2026 budget request.

Tensions started escalating on Capitol Hill as Carbajal asked Hegseth a series of yes or no questions, beginning with the deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines in Los Angeles to quell the unrest generated by anti-ICE protests. 

"Let's call it for what it is. It's political theater. Hegseth, are the Marines in Los Angeles ordered to protect property by any means necessary?" Carbajal asked him.

"Sir, I would say the ICE officers and police officers being attacked is not political theater," he responded, before Carbajal cut him off and said "just yes or no?"

"The National Guard and Marines have the full authority to protect federal ICE agents," Hegseth continued.

"Yes or no? Can you just say yes or no? This isn't Fox anymore. Just yes or no," Carbajal said.

At one point, Carbajal told Hegseth that "Kindergartners can give me a yes or no" and asked him, "Do you think political allegiance to Trump is a requirement for serving our nation, either in uniform or a civilian in the department?"

"Congressman, you know what a silly question that is," Hegseth responded.

"You know what? I'm not going to waste my time anymore. You're not worthy of my attention or my questions. You're an embarrassment to this country. You're unfit to lead. And there's been bipartisan members of Congress that have called for your resignation. You should just get the hell out and let somebody competently lead this department," Carbajal concluded.

UPDATE: None of this is improving the image of Democrat politicians. Really, a United States Senator?

Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned Padilla’s removal despite his childish outburst:

“This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful,” Newsom said on social media. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

Taking a break from brunch at the French Laundry, Gavin lashes out at the mocking meanies making fun of him

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Everyone dumped on Governor Noisom’s speech this week (sample:”Gavin Newsom's Big Address to the Nation Was a Lie-Filled Disaster”) and, distraught at watching his presidential aspirations derailed, the man’s trying to get everyone “To Just Shut Up!” That’s going no better than his speech or, for that matter, his high-speed train to nowhere.

PATHETIC: Gavin Newsom Gets Townhall Media Video Criticizing His Speech Demonetized

Paula Bolyard, PJMedia:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been cosplaying a tough guy in recent days, daring President Trump to arrest him for his weak response to the ICE riots roiling his state. But just under the surface is an insecure man-child who wildly lashes out at his critics. 

Case in point: He's trying to shut down negative coverage of his recent prime time speech by claiming copyright violations and getting content creators demonetized. 

My Townhall Media colleague Larry O'Connor, on his YouTube show "Larry," eviscerated Newsom's Tuesday night speech, calling it his "latest meltdown." 

"We call out Newsom’s lies and challenge the liberal narrative on immigration enforcement and public safety. Don’t miss this hard-hitting exposé on the state of California under 'Governor Hair Gel,'" the description read. Perfectly legal under the First Amendment, especially considering that this was an elected official giving a public speech in his official capacity. 

But then this happened: 

Newsom actually used iHeart Media, which hosts his podcast, to issue a copyright claim against Larry's review of his speech. As a result, YouTube demonetized the video, making it impossible for Larry to get paid for his work. 

The funny thing is that Newsom had begged media outlets to cover his "fiery but mostly flaccid" speech. My colleague Matt Margolis wrote: 

The real disaster unfolded when Newsom decided to play big shot with a televised address to bash Trump. Desperate for airtime, he stooped to groveling at the feet of Fox News’ Sean Hannity, practically begging for coverage. Hannity even aired the pathetic plea on live TV.

“Governor Newsom just texted me and was asking me whether or not we will be taking some of his press conference at the bottom of the hour...”

The speech, purportedly crafted to boost his profile amid the deadly LA riots, was widely panned as performance art. Matt explained: 

This wasn’t just a speech—it was a flailing performance packed with lies, tech glitches, and the pathetic spectacle of Newsom groveling for airtime from a network he usually sneers at. He tried to cast himself as California’s last line of defense, but what the country saw was a dishonest, unsteady politician who can’t even handle a live broadcast, let alone a crisis. And if Newsom thinks he can ride these anti-ICE riots into a successful presidential campaign, he’s got another thing coming. 

Newsom was Mr. Potato Head putting on his angry eyes for the cameras. The stunt failed spectacularly—and he knows it. The copyright claim tells you everything you need to know about his insecurities. 

Oh, and here's the video Gavin Newsom doesn't want you to see: 

Smart to move so quickly

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29 Maplewood Drive, Cos Cob, came on the market 7 days ago @$1.950 million. No buyer readily appearing, today the price was dropped 10% to $1.750. In this market, and especially in this price range, no offers within hours is a definite signal that a property’s overpriced, and the agent and owners are did well to recognize that and act so swiftly.

The exclusions listed in the realtor-to-realtor notes, however, puzzle me; It’s an estate sale, so I can understand a child or grandchild wanting to hold on to something to remember their relative by, but the kitchen island? A TV and its stand? I mean, we’re not talking about a valuable pizza oven here, or even a generator brimming with nostalgia.

“Please Note: The small kitchen island, the TV, and the white console under the TV in the living room are excluded from the sale.”

Thereby proving that they should have been fired in the first place

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The first time around, Trump left too many swamp denizens in place, free to actively work to undermine tha man and his policies. He learned from that mistake, and the cockroaches having been exposed, they’ve scuttled away, but not far.

Biden DOJ Attorneys Find New Home In Swamp

Droves of former Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) officials are joining left-wing litigation firms to pursue lawsuits against the Trump administration.

The lawsuits, many brought by organizations now staffed by members of the prior administration, have slowed aspects of Trump’s agenda and contributed to the administration’s escalating frustration with the judiciary.

While some Biden administration attorneys have gone to established groups like Democracy Forward, others are starting their own firms with an explicit mission of obstructing President Donald Trump’s efforts.

“Democrat lawyers at Democrat law firms illegally conspired with Democrat government officials to violate the constitutional rights of President Trump, his top aides, and his supporters before November’s election,” Mike Davis, founder of the Article III project, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “And now that they’re out of power, they’re trying to interfere from the outside. This is yet another reason why the Senate must get to work and confirm President Trump’s nominees to ensure the will of the American people is respected and implemented.”

In April, numerous former DOJ attorneys joined Democracy Forward, a left-wing firm involved in dozens of current lawsuits against the administration, including cases challenging federal worker firings, grant terminations and plans to deport illegal migrants to El Salvador.

Biden DOJ officials who joined the firm include former Deputy Associate Attorney General Jodie Morse, who played a key role in the Biden DOJ’s task force dedicated to abortion, and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Netter, who opposed several states pro-life laws in court, along with three other senior attorneys.

Netter’s name already appears in several cases against Trump enacting his policies. He worked on a lawsuit challenging Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s appointment as acting librarian of Congress, as well as the case before Judge James Boasberg challenging removal of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, according to court records.

Democracy Forward brought four other former DOJ attorneys on board in May, as well as Biden’s former Deputy Associate Attorney General Paul Wolfson, the group announced.

Rachel Rossi, who served as director of the Office for Access to Justice at the Biden DOJ, became the president of Alliance for Justice (AFJ) in April. AFJ most recently came out against all of Trump’s new judicial nominees, the first picks of his second term.

Omar Noureldin, who was senior counsel in the Biden DOJ’s Civil Rights Division run by Kristen Clarke, joined Common Cause as senior vice president of the Policy & Litigation Department in May. Common Cause backed initiatives to remove Trump from the ballot during the 2024 election and has opposed Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship.

“As our lead policy and legal expert, Omar will continue our fight to keep power where it belongs—in the hands of the people—not the politicians,” Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón told the DCNF. “An experienced attorney, he will help us put an end to the rampant corruption in Washington, stop the hostile takeover of the media, and get big money out of politics. He goes to work every day to make sure the government works for us, not just the wealthy and well-connected like Elon Musk.”

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland moved in May to global giant Arnold & Porter, which has multiple pending cases against the Trump administration….

“It is an honor to return to Arnold & Porter, where I first learned how to be a lawyer and about the important role lawyers can play in ensuring the rule of law,” Garland said in a press release.

Former Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen announced on LinkedIn in May he would be joining WilmerHale, which sued the Trump administration in March after Trump issued an executive order limiting the firm’s government contracts and security clearances. Wilmer Hale is represented by leading conservative attorney and President George W. Bush’s former U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement in the case challenging Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump slammed WilmerHale for “welcoming” former special counsel Robert Mueller and his aides after their probe that ultimately did not find collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, writing in the order that WilmerHale is “bent on employing lawyers who weaponize the prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process and distort justice.

‘Ways To Combat The Trump Administration’ 

Former civil rights division attorney Stacey Young, who ran an internal DOJ advocacy group that pushed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, launched a group called Justice Connection to support fired employees in February.

Justice Connection is now starting a pro bono legal network for DOJ employees who believe they are “targeted” by employment actions or investigations, the group announced Tuesday. Volunteers for the pro bono network are themselves former DOJ employees.

Peter Carr, who was fired from the DOJ in April but previously served as the spokesman for special counsels Robert Mueller and Jack Smith, is now running communications for Justice Connection. He directed the DCNF to the group’s press release.

“Since taking office, this administration has torn through DOJ’s workforce with recklessness and retribution — firing, threatening, and demoting hundreds of career civil servants simply for doing their jobs,” Young said in a statement. “Attorneys in the Justice Connection Legal Network are now helping those employees determine the best path forward when facing a crossroad and representing them throughout the process when they’re unfairly targeted.”

Another Biden DOJ trial attorney who left the department in February, Clayton Bailey, announced in May his new firm, The Civil Service Law Center, to represent fired federal workers. The firm filed a class action lawsuit June 3 against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on behalf of employees who were terminated.

“Since leaving DOJ, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to combat the Trump Administration’s unprecedented efforts to dismantle the federal government,” Bailey wrote on LinkedIn. “To that end, I am excited to announce Civil Service Law Center LLP, a new public service oriented law firm focused on representing displaced federal workers in federal court.”

The firm “is committed to defending the dedicated federal employees who go to work every day to serve the American people,” Bailey told the DCNF.

Former Office of Management and Budget (OMB) attorney Daniel Jacobson is supporting at least five cases seeking to re-animate Biden-era grants terminated by the Trump administration, the DCNF previously reported. He launched his own new firm shortly after leaving the government in January to help those “impacted by the Administration’s funding actions.”

Several members of his new firm, like John Robinson and Kyla Snow, worked for the Biden DOJ. Snow defended the administration’s efforts to pressure social media platforms to censor content in the free speech case Missouri v. Biden.

Panic at the DOJ: Lawyers ready to flee as Trump loyalists are set to commandeer the agency

“Many federal employees are terrified that we’ll be replaced with partisan loyalists – not just because our jobs are on the line, but because we know that our democracy and country depend on a government supported by a merit-based, apolitical civil service,” Stacey Young, a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told Politico.

Another former DOJ official said they believed Trump’s second term would be “worse” than the first. “It’s just a question of how much worse it’s going to be,” they told the outlet.

Bonus Material:

Cry Us a River: Julie Kelly DESTROYS Fired J6 Prosecutor for Her Fake Crocodile Tears

Sara Levine was a temporary assistant US attorney under the Biden administration. In February, Interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin gave her an unceremonious pink slip for her role in prosecuting the January 6 show trials. 

Naturally, Levine's next move was to find any microphone she could, including in front of Congress, to protest her dismissal. Unfortunately for her, Julie Kelly, one of the most outspoken critics of those January 6 prosecutions, was paying attention, and she lit Levine up for her fake crocodile tears. 

Kelly posted a thread on X that includes Levine's tearful testimony. Watch: 

What would we do without experts?

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Shot: ABC “News” March 31 2025: Trump's tariffs could cause a recession, experts say.

Stocks slide as Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom

…. The market rollercoaster came a day after Goldman Sachs raised its odds of a recession within the next year from 20% to 35%, citing the tariffs. The move marked the latest in an upsurge of recession fears on Wall Street in recent weeks.

A policy of wide-ranging levies on foreign goods could tip the U.S. into a recession, experts said. They pointed to risks of a slowdown for businesses mired in higher tax costs, as well as a shopping slump as consumers curtail spending to pad their savings to help weather price increases and a possible economic downturn.

The degree and duration of Trump’s forthcoming tariffs remains unknown, experts added, but they pointed to such uncertainty as another reason the economy could fall into a recession.

“If both businesses and consumers start to worry and pull back their spending, that is what can tip the U.S. over into a recession,” Kara Reynolds, an economist at American University, told ABC News.

Tariffs could threaten economic growth and employment since duties slapped on imports risk increasing costs for businesses that rely on raw materials from abroad, some experts told ABC News.

Experts widely expect importers to pass along a share of the tariff burden to consumers in the form of higher prices, which could make the firms less competitive as they may struggle to retain customers who suffer sticker shock.

If business performance suffers, firms will likely freeze or reduce investment, threatening economic growth.

“As business investment goes down, that can trigger a recession,” Anne Villamil, a professor of economics at the University of Iowa, told ABC News.

Even the looming risk of tariffs can make shoppers uneasy, potentially sinking the economy further, experts said.

Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. In March, consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level since 2021, according to a survey conducted by The Conference Board.

As consumer attitudes sour, shoppers could encounter tariff-induced price increases, leaving buyers even more frustrated.


"It's already showing up in consumer confidence," Jeffrey Frankel, a professor of capital formation and growth at Harvard University. "There is chaos and uncertainty around the tariff policy."


Chaser: GM to Invest $4 Billion in U.S.-Based Manufacturing Plants As Auto Tariffs Hit Mexico

In a big win for the Trump administration's tariff strategy, General Motors (GM) announced plans to invest $4 billion in three new U.S. assembly plants, including the production lines for the Chevrolet Blazer and Chevrolet Equinox, which the company currently builds in Mexico.

This move comes amid President Donald Trump's imposition of 25% tariffs earlier this year on imported vehicles and auto parts, to encourage more production in the United States. The automotive tariffs took effect for imported vehicles in April and for foreign-made auto parts in May.

…. The U.S.-based automaker stated in a June 10 press release that the new domestic plants will boost production of gas-powered vehicles and some electric models over the next two years.

…. Plans to construct three plants in Michigan, Kansas, and Ohio are underway and are expected to add between 3,000 and 4,000 U.S. jobs once all production is in place. The Detroit manufacturer said that the largely idle Orion Assembly Plant, Orion, Mich., which was formerly set up to build all-electric trucks like the Chevrolet Bolt, will now produce gas-powered full-size SUVs and light-duty pickup trucks starting in early 2027.

Meanwhile, the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kan., will start producing the gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox in mid-2027 and the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt EV by the end of 2025, while the Spring Hill Manufacturing Plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., will make the gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer, Cadillac Lyriq, and Vistiq EVs, as well as the Cadillac XT5.

According to GM, the investment in these three plants is expected to give it the ability to assemble more than two million vehicles per year domestically.

(And here’s another win, this one for consumers)

GM has been reassessing its production footprint in North America since the tariff policy was announced and will pull back from further additional spending on electric vehicles, after putting a heavy emphasis on those models over the past few years.

Company executives stated that they would take a “wait and see” approach until they had more clarity on the regulatory environment, including the auto levies, before making any decisions.

And now …

Double Chaser, because two are better than one.

Salena Zito March 25 2025:

Trump Makes the Deal of a Lifetime for U.S. Steel

WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania — Local steelworkers, community leaders and economic experts said President Donald Trump's announcement Friday that a deal was struck between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel will go down in American history as the most enduring economic "big, beautiful deal" the 47th president has made.

It is a deal robustly supported by the rank-and-file steelworkers from the three plants that make up the Mon Valley Works. The deal is believed to reverse the decline of steel that began under former President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s.

"I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, U.S. Steel will REMAIN in America and keep its headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh," said Trump, who had been engaged in intense negotiations over a sale between the iconic American company and Nippon Steel.

"This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel ... and the largest investment in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," he said.

….

USW Local 2227 President Jack Maskil, Vice President Jason Zugai and safety chairman Gary Picketts, who have all clocked into their jobs at the Irvin Works mill for decades, said they were thrilled and relieved the deal would save not just their jobs but the jobs of men and women in the surrounding communities who will now be able to work here for generations.

"We had faith in the president from the very beginning," Zugai said from the West Mifflin plant. "I never doubted he would come through for us."

"This is huge for Western Pennsylvania workers, families, communities, and, of course, the U.S. Steel family," said plant manager Don German, who has worked side by side with the local union, the community and upper management to get the word out that they supported it wholeheartedly.

"I'm so happy for those employees, both management and union, that have just started their careers at U.S. Steel. This is a huge weight lifted and a huge opportunity to keep steel in the Steel City," German said.

A person familiar with the deal said the benefits include $14 billion in capital investment projects at U.S. Steel, with approximately $11 billion of the $14 billion invested by 2028. These are investments that U.S. Steel could not make as a standalone company.

Those new capital investments include $2.2 billion to revitalize the only remaining blast furnace mill in Pittsburgh, $200 million for a new research and development center in Pennsylvania to bring world-leading technology to U.S. Steel, $1 billion invested by 2028 in a new Greenfield steel mill, and $3.1 billion in Indiana to transform the historic Gary Works mill.

There will also be a $3 billion investment in the Arkansas plant, including $1.8 billion for advanced electrical steel production for power grid transformers, $800 million in Minnesota to enhance iron ore mining, and $500 million in Alabama for tubular upgrades to supply American oil and gas dominance.

The investments and technology transfer will protect and create 100,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, according to an independent analysis by Parker Strategy Group. The analysis estimated that the investment would protect 11,400 jobs and create and support 14,000 new jobs, including over 10,200 in construction.

The deal preserves U.S. Steel's headquarters in the iconic Pittsburgh skyscraper, the tallest building in Appalachia, and the company will maintain its production locations and capacity in the United States. As part of the agreement, American jobs are protected and cannot be offshored.

The deal also guarantees that the majority of U.S. Steel's board must be U.S. citizens, and key management, including the CEO, will also all be U.S. citizens. The deal outlines that U.S. Steel's trade actions will be determined solely by U.S. citizens, with oversight from the U.S. government, and free from any interference.

As outlined, the deal will improve domestic supply chains in the trucking and rail industries, increase the production of American automobiles, and boost energy production in the natural gas and coal industries, as well as boost the building of pipelines and power grid transformers.

The deal maintains U.S. Steel's stature as an American icon, as well as stabilizes economic development in the Mon Valley, where three of the plants — the Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock, the Clairton Mill Works in Clairton, and the Irvin Works in West Mifflin — are located.

Hudson Institute fellow Paul Sracic said that while Trump is considered headstrong by his critics, this deal shows Trump was willing to look past his own preconceived ideas of what U.S. Steel should look like and toward the reality that billions of dollars of investment in well-paying steel jobs in the Rust Belt was too much to pass up. [FWIW — Unlike Biden’s handlers, who blocked the deal]

"Instead of just killing the deal, he used his opposition as leverage to get even more investment dollars than Nippon Steel had originally offered," Sracic said.

"In every way now, Trump can take credit for this investment. It was his application of steel tariffs during his first term which led Nippon Steel to seek out the purchase in the first place," Sracic continued.

It's important to realize that Nippon Steel wants U.S. Steel's production to allow it to compete better with Chinese steelmakers, such as the state-owned Baowu Steel, which has been accused of stealing technology from the U.S.

"Through his application of tariffs, Trump has managed to secure U.S. jobs and helped to directly take on China," Sracic said.

The money Nippon Steel will bring to U.S. Steel is crucial to its survival. U.S. Steel operates integrated blast furnace plants in places like Braddock.

They are more expensive to operate than newer, non-unionized electric arc furnace mills, located mainly in the South, and need to be relined every decade, a very costly endeavor. U.S. Steel does not have the resources to maintain these facilities on its own.

Sracic noted that just a few years ago, U.S. Steel announced it was canceling its plans to invest $1 billion in Mon Valley Works, the umbrella name for all three plants in Braddock, West Mifflin and Clairton.

Other domestic steel companies, such as Cleveland-Cliffs, which once was a rival bidder for U.S. Steel, are closing down plants and laying off workers. Without new investment, workers at U.S. Steel's old blast furnace plants were looking at a repeat of the 1980s, with plant closures, massive layoffs and decimated communities.

"Trump can now rightly claim credit for saving these communities and the jobs of the workers who, unlike their union leadership, have served as one of his most loyal sources of support since he first ran for president in 2016. The future is now bright in Pennsylvania," he said of the plants here and in Bucks County.

Former President Joe Biden, who stubbornly refused to consider the deal, created a self-inflicted massive political wound from his failure to move on a deal, a decision that frustrated many members of his inner circle in the White House.

Steelworkers here said they believed Trump could get a better deal when he said he was against the sale during last year's presidential election. That is why when Trump came to Pittsburgh on election eve, they stood behind him at the rally in the city to voice their support.

Because of Trump's deal-making prowess, this partnership will solidify the working class in the Republican Party for generations.

"We've seen a massive realignment in U.S. politics, with union workers who used to be loyal to the Democratic Party switching in droves to the GOP," Sracic said, noting the contrast between what Trump has done in saving places like the U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works and Carter's refusal in the 1970s to meet with workers from Youngstown, Ohio, when those plants were shut down.

"Under Trump, this is a very new Republican Party. Just as Roosevelt earned the trust of working-class voters in the 1930s and made them Democrats for the next 60 years, Trump is locking in these voters for the next generation," he said.

McCormick said the deal is an example of "America First" foreign direct investment because of the binding commitments Trump hammered out that both protect existing jobs and create new jobs by drawing in capital under strong American control.

This was the deal the rank-and-file union steelworkers wanted but that was not sought by the international union leadership. This highlighted a common disconnect between the rank and file who live and work here and distant leadership that has no skin in the game.

It's difficult to overstate just how devastating the demise of the old steel mills was to the region. The economic rug was pulled out from under the area, and this not only affected factory workers but destroyed everything, including restaurants, barber shops and stores. 

While new industries have emerged — health care and education in Pittsburgh, for example — they don't provide the kind of opportunities, especially for those who are not inclined to pursue higher education, that the old mills offered.

"It's important to understand this was not just economic trauma; it was psychological trauma," Sracic said, adding, "Steel. Just think of that word. It calls to mind something strong — Superman was the 'Man of Steel.' 

"But also something solid, something you can depend on. In a practical sense, it also formed the backbone of the nation, necessary for everything from bridges to bullets. Take away steel, and everything collapses, or so it seemed by the mid-1980s. There is no more security."

McCormick added, "Only Donald Trump could have made this happen, and I'm grateful for him having me, congressman Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser from our Pennsylvania delegation in the Oval Office yesterday to discuss it."