In what universe does information about exactly what (and where) American warplanes are targeting, the timing of airstrikes, and what weapons will be used in those airstrikes not qualify as "classified information"? That is a jaw-dropping concept, but that is one of the excuses being lamely trotted out for the massive security breach that recently happened. The secretary of Defense just decided on his own, willy-nilly, that such information was somehow perfectly acceptable to talk about on unsecured systems (possibly even including private, non-governmental phones)? That's without even adding in "with a journalist in on the chat" -- but that is indeed the tack some are attempting to take right now. It's all just no big deal, they insist. Nothin' to see here, folks!

Two of the people who participated in the Signal chat appeared before a Senate committee today, and they both tried to float this excuse, incredulously insisting at first that no classified information was shared on the chat. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard even refused to admit that she had even been on the chat. Later in the hearing, Gabbard and C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe "added caveats to their answers, saying that no classified information under U.S. intelligence agencies' purview was discussed." They both said that the question of any other information being classified should be asked of the Defense secretary. This is laughably unbelievable.

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That headline is obviously meant as a callback to a time when Republicans expressed all kinds of alarm about top secret information being mishandled by high-ranking government officials. In particular, Hillary Clinton's emails. Republicans in Congress gleefully investigated Clinton's email server and what had been sent via a non-standard communications channel -- six ways to Sunday, in fact. They denounced the breach of national security in the strongest possible terms. Later, it became the go-to "whataboutism" response to just about anything Democrats would bring up in relation to just about any Republican. The phrase: "But what about her emails?" or just: "But her emails!" became such a cliché that it was even mockingly morphed (by elision) into merely: "Butter emails!"

Ah, those were the days, eh? When Republicans expressed alarm (real or faked) about national security leaks?

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President Elon Musk and his figurehead Donald Trump inched closer to a constitutional crisis (once again) last week. It still hasn't been fully resolved, so we've all got more of this to look forward to next week as well.

Trump invoked a law from the 1700s this week which would allow him personally to determine who gets deported. No due process, no hearing before a judge -- none of that. Just Trump deciding: "I don't like this guy, let's kick him out." The Alien Enemies Act is only supposed to apply when the United States is at war with another nation, and has only been used three times -- the most recent being the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. But as far as Trump is concerned, it doesn't matter than we aren't at war, he just doesn't want to deal with the courts at all.

The courts, unsurprisingly, disagreed. A federal judge ordered that nobody be deported using the Act, and further that any planes that were in the air with people on them actively being deported be turned around and brought back. The Trump administration refused to do so, and two flights landed in El Salvador (after the judge handed down his order), and everyone aboard was sent to a notorious prison where they will spend the next year doing forced labor.

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Judicial independence is under attack in America right now. The president and his supporters are calling for impeaching judges -- not for any "high crimes and misdemeanors," but instead for issuing rulings they don't like. And today, in a remarkable "be careful what you wish for" moment, a Republican senator has announced he will introduce a bill to restrict federal district judges from making any rulings that apply nationwide. This is somewhat amusing, seeing as how Republicans use this tactic all the time when there is a Democrat in the White House.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is in the Democratic doghouse right now, after he (and a few other Democrats) recently voted with the Republicans to keep the government open, rather than forcing a shutdown which would have allowed Elon Musk to shift his efforts to eliminate the federal government into warp speed. It was a real "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for Schumer, but his performance and leadership have been heavily criticized (and denounced) by other Democrats ever since. Which isn't a good place for the highest-ranking Democrat in the entire federal government to now be. So should Schumer stay in his Senate leadership position, or should he go?

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It's hard to feel sorry for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. After he and his fellow conservatives on the court ruled last year that presidents could essentially do whatever they felt like, with no fears of ever being legally held to account for any of it, Roberts is now shocked -- shocked! -- that President Donald Trump does not have sufficient respect for the judicial system. This isn't wholly a problem that Roberts created, but he certainly contributed to it in a big way.

Trump, once again, is inching his way closer and closer to just flat-out ignoring federal judges' rulings when they don't go his way. The specific case of this right now is the order a federal judge issued last week that Trump cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport anyone he feels like without any due process whatsoever. Trump then came pretty close to openly defying this order within hours of it being handed down. But this isn't the only case where Trump is flirting with openly defying judges -- it's merely the most recent.

Trump reacted to the judge in the case in a fashion that any parent of a cranky toddler would instantly recognize -- he threw a tantrum. He called for the judge in question to be impeached (after hurling a few insults at him). Translation: "Wahhhh! I didn't get my way!" Donald Trump is, above all else, the world's biggest sore loser.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

First, let's just quickly check the weather report from the Emerald Isle, shall we?

(Heh.)

But surprisingly enough, the country that caught my eye this particular Paddy's Day wasn't Ye Ould Sod, but instead our neighbor to the north. And it wasn't the fine stout product from Sir Arthur Guinness that intrigued my beer-loving sensibilities this year, but instead... Moosehead?

That's right. Moosehead beer (lager, actually, if you want to be pedantic). From Canada.

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As is now the new normal, there were so many things happening in the political world this week it is hard to keep track of them all. But what is currently in the center ring is the vote happening in the Senate on the continuing resolution to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year.

Senate Democrats were put on the spot because the House Republicans actually managed to pass a bill on their own. Few expected that this would happen, since House Republicans have a terrible track record for being able to pass much of anything -- especially budget bills. So the Senate was caught kind of flat-footed on this one. They had expected to hammer out some sort of agreement between Senate Democrats and Republicans, pass it, and then jam it down the GOP House's throat (which is the usual way these things work out). Instead, they were jammed by the House (who, immediately after passing their bill, adjourned -- thus making it hard to call them back for any necessary vote, should the Senate pass their own version of the bill).

This put Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Democrats between a rock and a hard place. The C.R. bill needed 60 votes to advance, and with Senator Rand Paul voting no it meant a total of eight Democratic votes would be necessary. Senator John Fetterman made it known that he was a "Yes" vote, and then yesterday Schumer himself decided to join him. This makes it likely that the vote will succeed (which happened as we wrote this -- the bill did advance, as expected) and the government will avoid shutting down.

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Senate Democrats are currently trapped between a rock and a hard place. They face a lose-lose situation, so it's no wonder they haven't figured out a viable path forward yet. Anything they do, at this point, is going to disappoint the voters in their base in one way or another (which is really just the natural result of being in the minority in both houses of Congress and not holding the Oval Office).

What's at stake is the federal budget for the rest of this fiscal year and an impending government shutdown. But the Republicans, led by President Elon Musk and his hapless sidekick Donald Trump, hold all of the cards here. The Democrats are looking at a pair of twos, to continue the poker analogy (or perhaps even worse -- a hand that's only ten-high?).

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Program Note: Today is the final day I was too preoccupied with real-life stuff to write a new column (new columns will resume tomorrow), so I conclude my little look back at the COVID pandemic with a much later article than the last two. I wrote this before we were all completely out of the woods (pandemic-wise), mostly because I was exasperated with the silliness of the baby boomers dictating to all following generations: "You shall be known by a single letter" (which wasn't true at the time, for most of us), and also with the silliness of merely drawing an arbitrary line on a calendar and declaring "This generation will end at this year, and the next generation shall begin here!" To me, a "generation" implies a shared event or a shared perspective that is outwardly defined (such as the post-World War II baby boom), and not by an arbitrary division of years.

In any case, the term still hasn't caught on (at least, that I am aware of), so maybe I'm still just trying to (pun intended) make it "go viral." So here is my rare foray into sociology (or whatever you want to call it), just in the hopes that people start using it one day.

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