PJRO
@pjro.bsky.social
Retired national security analyst. Pro-democracy at home and abroad (think FDR).
In all seriousness, Megyn Kelly's daughter probably is going through hell now because of what her mother said. Unconscionable.
November 15, 2025 at 5:12 PM
In all seriousness, Megyn Kelly's daughter probably is going through hell now because of what her mother said. Unconscionable.
Maybe they'll say "It's too bad that DOJ can't release documents associated with an open investigation." Trump ordered DOJ to re-open the investigation of people linked to Epstein, right?
November 15, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Maybe they'll say "It's too bad that DOJ can't release documents associated with an open investigation." Trump ordered DOJ to re-open the investigation of people linked to Epstein, right?
Trump wants to keep "Epstein's island" front and center to prevent any focus on Trump's visits to other Epstein properties.
November 14, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Trump wants to keep "Epstein's island" front and center to prevent any focus on Trump's visits to other Epstein properties.
I wonder if Vance agrees with Trump when he identifies suckers and losers.
November 14, 2025 at 2:50 AM
I wonder if Vance agrees with Trump when he identifies suckers and losers.
I'd really like to see the results broken down by age category.
November 13, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I'd really like to see the results broken down by age category.
By now Johnson and Trump have a Plan B to protect Trump from the Epstein files.
November 12, 2025 at 3:03 AM
By now Johnson and Trump have a Plan B to protect Trump from the Epstein files.
You probably won't address this, but Summers led the charge to convince Yeltsin to take an unworkable path to economic reforms, which completely devastated Russia. We're still paying for the backlash (Putin's revenge).
November 11, 2025 at 8:19 PM
You probably won't address this, but Summers led the charge to convince Yeltsin to take an unworkable path to economic reforms, which completely devastated Russia. We're still paying for the backlash (Putin's revenge).
Virginian here, Senator. Don't you dare surrender ACA!
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Virginian here, Senator. Don't you dare surrender ACA!
It's a budding dictatorship. We shouldn't use the term "fascist" at this point, and everyone knows what a dictatorship is.
November 9, 2025 at 4:16 AM
It's a budding dictatorship. We shouldn't use the term "fascist" at this point, and everyone knows what a dictatorship is.
Good essay, and overdue. However, I believe that you are wrong when you say "I doubt that anyone would look at that system and think: Now, there’s a great model for the U.S. government."
November 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Good essay, and overdue. However, I believe that you are wrong when you say "I doubt that anyone would look at that system and think: Now, there’s a great model for the U.S. government."
Here's my understanding. Essential (aka "excepted") employees are required to work during the shutdown. ICE got a bundle of money in Trumps' BBB and can pay its people without waiting for further action by Congress. Most other essential employees aren't getting their pay before Congress acts.
November 8, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Here's my understanding. Essential (aka "excepted") employees are required to work during the shutdown. ICE got a bundle of money in Trumps' BBB and can pay its people without waiting for further action by Congress. Most other essential employees aren't getting their pay before Congress acts.
The people who broke the law ought to be punished! Instead, our courts have been saying "don't do it again."
November 7, 2025 at 10:47 PM
The people who broke the law ought to be punished! Instead, our courts have been saying "don't do it again."
Perhaps Dems should start blaming all of the people around Trump, including those in Congress, who are not supposed to let their President look so ignorant and out of touch. It's evidence that the entire MAGA GOP must be forever buried for their disservice to their Dear Leader and the country?
November 7, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Perhaps Dems should start blaming all of the people around Trump, including those in Congress, who are not supposed to let their President look so ignorant and out of touch. It's evidence that the entire MAGA GOP must be forever buried for their disservice to their Dear Leader and the country?
The GOP will replace that $300 billion in revenue with additional borrowing. That's what the GOP does, because it hates taxing the wealthy.
November 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM
The GOP will replace that $300 billion in revenue with additional borrowing. That's what the GOP does, because it hates taxing the wealthy.
I probably would prefer LBJ's 70 percent applied to salaries and dividends as well as to stock buy-backs (which were illegal back then). Also, Bill Clinton had a good idea: no business deduction for paying for compensation beyond one million dollars.
November 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I probably would prefer LBJ's 70 percent applied to salaries and dividends as well as to stock buy-backs (which were illegal back then). Also, Bill Clinton had a good idea: no business deduction for paying for compensation beyond one million dollars.
You are misquoting Oz. He clearly said 135 Billion pounds. (I think your share would be 400 pounds.)
November 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
You are misquoting Oz. He clearly said 135 Billion pounds. (I think your share would be 400 pounds.)
I've maintained for decades that the way to avert or end a shutdown is to allow only emergency and medical flights, closing all airports for regular business/pleasure travel. Few air traffic controllers, and fewer TSA agents, would work (for no pay). The wealthy and middle class would revolt.
November 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I've maintained for decades that the way to avert or end a shutdown is to allow only emergency and medical flights, closing all airports for regular business/pleasure travel. Few air traffic controllers, and fewer TSA agents, would work (for no pay). The wealthy and middle class would revolt.
Any guesses as to where SCOTUS will draw the line on Trump's tariffs power?
November 5, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Any guesses as to where SCOTUS will draw the line on Trump's tariffs power?
I held my nose as I voted for Jones, but it was the correct and obvious decision when weighing his negatives against those of the Trump/MAGA/GOP leadership that he will oppose.
November 5, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I held my nose as I voted for Jones, but it was the correct and obvious decision when weighing his negatives against those of the Trump/MAGA/GOP leadership that he will oppose.
She'll be prosecuted if she ever reports something that she learned within the Pentagon that wasn't in a press release, right?
November 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
She'll be prosecuted if she ever reports something that she learned within the Pentagon that wasn't in a press release, right?
When a judge has ruled "what you have done is illegal," a reporter should state that the law was broken and tell the reader what penalty (jail time?) has been imposed for breaking the law. Is this asking too much?
November 2, 2025 at 5:59 PM
When a judge has ruled "what you have done is illegal," a reporter should state that the law was broken and tell the reader what penalty (jail time?) has been imposed for breaking the law. Is this asking too much?
Correct. Only 70 percent of the states ratified the ERA amendment before the March 1979 deadline. I just don't interpret this as evidence that the GOP under Reagan went to where "the country" was on this issue.
November 1, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Correct. Only 70 percent of the states ratified the ERA amendment before the March 1979 deadline. I just don't interpret this as evidence that the GOP under Reagan went to where "the country" was on this issue.
OTOH, polls showed that people ("the country") strongly supported the ERA amendment until Reagan turned it into a major campaign issue. www.jstor.org/stable/419066
The ERA Won. At Least in the Opinion Polls on JSTOR
Mark R. Daniels, Robert Darcy, Joseph W. Westphal, The ERA Won. At Least in the Opinion Polls, PS, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Autumn, 1982), pp. 578-584
www.jstor.org
November 1, 2025 at 9:11 PM
OTOH, polls showed that people ("the country") strongly supported the ERA amendment until Reagan turned it into a major campaign issue. www.jstor.org/stable/419066
Most Americans understand the basic difference between a dictatorship and a democracy. There are different forms of each, and they can be "more or less," but imho nuances can be distracting rather than helpful. MAGA is actively moving America towards dictatorship and away from democracy. Period.
October 31, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Most Americans understand the basic difference between a dictatorship and a democracy. There are different forms of each, and they can be "more or less," but imho nuances can be distracting rather than helpful. MAGA is actively moving America towards dictatorship and away from democracy. Period.
The Christian right also is full of ethnic nationalists who hold that Israel is for Jews, like Germany for Germans, China for the Chinese, France for the French, America for (them), . . . .
October 30, 2025 at 11:30 PM
The Christian right also is full of ethnic nationalists who hold that Israel is for Jews, like Germany for Germans, China for the Chinese, France for the French, America for (them), . . . .