Tuesday, November 11, 2025

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Fifth Edition. He's not okay.

 

October 1, 2025

Trump's dementia is clearly accelerating, as his weird speech to assembled senior military officers demonstrated.

In response to the speeches assertion that cities like Chicago should be used as training grounds, Gov. JB Pritzker called for Trump to be removed from office under the 25th Amendment.

I've been saying that for months.

The Atlantic noted:

The president talked at length, and his comments should have confirmed to even the most sympathetic observer that he is, as the kids say, not okay. Several of Hegseth’s people said in advance of the senior-officer conclave that its goal was to energize America’s top military leaders and get them to focus on Hegseth’s vision for a new Department of War. But the generals and admirals should be forgiven if they walked out of the auditorium and wondered: What on earth is wrong with the commander in chief?

Trump seemed quieter and more confused than usual; he is not accustomed to audiences who do not clap and react to obvious applause lines. “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” he said at the outset. (Hegseth had the same awkward problem earlier, waiting for laughs and applause that never came.) The president announced his participation only days ago, and he certainly seemed unprepared.

I've also been stating that he's not okay. 

It's now becoming undeniable even where it had been ignored. Donald Trump is not okay.

October 2, 2025

A growing momentum on Trump's insanity.

This is huge.

In this clip, an off mike Speaker of the House Mike Johnson basically admits that Trump is "unwell", and only defends it by saying that some Democrats are as well.

He doesn't defined Trump's insanity, and he claims not to have seen the speech to the Military.

There's growing momentum now for the 25th Amendment to be invoked.  It's openly being called for, and here one of Trump's closest allies doesn't try to defend his sanity at all.

MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He is unwell. 

MIKE JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too

DEAN: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?

MIKE JOHNSON: I didn't see it

DEAN: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a president who is unwell.

Things like this have a way of happening suddenly.  Since Trump's very publized speech to the senior officers, there has been a lot of public commentary on his being "unwell" and now senior politicians are saying so openly. Some are Democrats who aren't afraid of saying it, even though they've been reluctant to up until now, such as Madelene Dean.

Dean:   “Is it racist? You put a sombrero on a Black man who’s the leader of the House. You don’t see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead,” 

Johnson:  “I’m working on it. And personally, it’s not my style. I love you and I respect you, OK?”

Dean:  “That’s why I’m talking to you".

We covered this quite a while back, but the 25th Amendment requires the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide", to issue a written declaration that the president is unable to discharge his duties.  So who all has to buy in on that?  The majority of the cabinet, but just a simple majority.

Who all is in the cabinet?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

Attorney General Pam Bondi

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer

Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler

Chief of Staff Susie Wiles

Okay, let's make some reasonable assumptions.

Getting J.D. Vance on board only really requires that a majority of the cabinet go along.  I suspect Vance would be pretty willing to stab Trump in the back if it elevates him to the Oval Office, and as I've said here all along, the NatCons have been planning on this development since day one.

So who might go along?  Keep in mind that there are a whopping 22 cabinet officers (an absurd amount).  In order to invoke the 25th Amendment, 12 would need to be willing to vote that Trump is bonkers.

Let's put them in "probable" (red), no way (blue) and unknown categories (orange) and see where that takes us, keeping in mind that unknown, is unknown to me.  Others might have a pretty good idea of how everyone is likely to go.

1.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio would definitely remove Trump and is undoubtedly willing to save his own career rather than be hitched to a mentally declining unpopular President.

2. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.  Bessent might seem like a surprise here, but he's been clearly uncomfortable saying the stupidest stuff and would likely like to be relieved of that burden.

1.  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.  Hegseth is hitched to Trump's wagon, and knows it. The only way he might consider otherwise is an open threat/promise that if he goes along, he keeps his job (the NatCons probably like him), but if he doesn't, when this gets worse, he'll be sent packing before his work is done.

3.  Attorney General Pam Bondi.  This probably seems like a surprise too, but recently Trump's been forcing Bondi into clearly unethical and stupid positions.  She's pretty smart, and would likely vote to save herself.

4.  Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.  Burgum's role in the administration is a self serving marriage of convenience.  He'd hitch his wagon to any Republican President.

2.  Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. I don't know much about Rollins and probably should put her in orange, but she served Texas Governor Perry, which speaks for itself.

3.  Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.  Lutnick has come across as a complete Trump toady and likely knows that if Trump falls, he's going to be sent packing.

1.  Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.  Chavez-DeRemer has really flown under the wire, but she seems pretty sharp.  She's Hispanic, and her father was a Teamster.  I suspect that she'd lean towards removal as she's drawn little attention and would continue to draw little attention in a new administration.

4.  Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr..  This one speaks for itself.

2. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner.  Turner's an unknown.  His political career has been tied to Trump, but whether he's so loyal that he'll go down with Trump is another question.

3. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy No idea whatsoever, but I suspect he would not go along.

5. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Wright's weltanschauung in his department is too aligned with Trump for him to go along.

6. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Speaks for itself.

5.  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins Collins served as an active duty and reserve chaplain.  He's very conservative, but I suspect that military officers have his ear.

6.  Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.  Noem is from the far right, but she's savvy and she's not going to go down with the Trump ship.

7. Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin.  Zeldin is a Trump ally. He won't vote to remove Trump.

7.  Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought.  Vought is a far right NatCon and pretty smart, which puts him in the cynical camp.  Trump's only a vehicle for the NatCons, and he'll be willing to change lines if it means it keeps the NatCons in control under a NatCon Vance.  Indeed, his participation would nearly guaranty that it would.

8.  Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.  Gabbard has a demonstrated independent streak and has been in both political parties.  She'll act to advance and save herself.

4. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe.  Quite unknown, but I suspect would lean towards removal.

5. United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.  Unknown, but would likely lean towards removal.

6. Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler.  Unknown, but would likely lean towards removal.

7.  Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Probably loyal to Trump.

So, if my math and ponderings are correct, which they may very well not be, things are probably nearly tied, in knowns, right now.  I figure there are 8 out of the needed 12 who would remove Trump, if four more signed on.

Of the unknowns, there are seven. Of the diehard Trump loyalist, seven.  I figure five of the unknowns, one more than needed, would likely go for removal, but that's a pretty thin margin.  Some on the fence would likely want a greater margin.

You can bet these conversations are going on right now, however.  They are openly going on now in Congress.

October 5, 2025

Don is using the budget shutdown to cozy up to Project 2025, making his removal less likely as the NatCons will get what the want from the document under the cover of the budget shutdown. Russell Vought, for example, can now be moved to the no removal column.

It was a crafty move on somebody's part.

October 15, 2025

I'd love to go to Argentina. I'd like to be like Biden. I'd like to go to the beach. My legs are not quite as thin as his. My legs are slightly heavier…My body is a little bit larger than his. I'm not sure it would be appreciated on the beach.

Donald Trump.

October 20, 2025

The destruction of the facade of the East Wing of the White House began today in anticipation of the construction of a ballroom that will never get built.

Construction of the gaudy structure will advance until the 25th Amendment or advanced old age remove Trump from office, at which point the East Wing will have to be repaired on the taxpayers dime. Worst case scenario is that Trump somehow managed to babble through a full term, which would be a disaster for the nation, after which the structure will be taken down and a new East Wing built.

October 21, 2025

So I just wanna say, thank you all. Uh, simply, behind me, so, is a knockout panel. This panel, the next time you come here, will be opened up and gone. No – uh, no problem with any of the surrounding areas. These, this room will be fixed. This will be like a cocktail – the whole floor will be cocktails or pre-briefings or whatever it may be, lots of different things. So the entire floor. So you come in, the entire floor sets up. We didn’t have to do any of that. Usually, you have to do that. You need different rooms to go along with a ballroom.

Donald Trump.

October 22, 2025

Trump now claims the justice department owes  him $230M dollars.

He's clearly insane.

October 24, 2025

October 24, 2025

cont:



Oh yeah. . .that's clearly the reaction a totally stable secure genius would have . . . 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

And with that petulant temper tantrum, we'll close out this edition.

October 30, 2025

The United States, with a demented child in the Oval Office, is going to resume the testing of nuclear weapons.

Trump  is clearly, to use the legal standard, "a danger to himself or others".  

Apply the 25th Amendment.

Well that's embarrassing.


Trump was clearly clueless and walked right when the Japanese Prime Minister stopped to review the honor guard, leaving her to have to catch up.  People guided Trump around like a demented elderly person. . . which of course he is.

And the saluting.

Ronald Reagan started saluting at U.S troops.  It's moronic.  It was then, and it still is. Trump's a civilian, he shouldn't be saluting anyone.

November 4, 2025

Donald Trump pardoned  Changpeng Zhao without knowing who he was.

This from the guy who complains about autopens.

November 5, 2025

You go to a grocery store, you have to give ID. You go to a gas station, you give ID. But for voting they want no voter ID. It's only for one reason: because they cheat.

I don't have to show an ID at the grocery store or the gas station.  And I don't believe Trump ever goes to the grocery store or the gas station.

Cont:

1300% lower than last year. We love the creamed corn. I don’t know who came up with that. Bob Corn, or maybe Jack Cream. Hey look, a woman from Saudi Arabia!

Trump on creamed corn. 

I don't know if they care about that in Saudi Arabia, but here it means a lot. We got the princess here from Saudi Arabia. She's got a lot of cash.

Trump on the cost of a Thanksgiving meal.

November 7, 2025

Our energy costs are way down. Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down. And the press does not report it… Thanksgiving meals 25% down. So I don't want to hear about the affordability.

Trump.

November 11, 2025

Office Hours: Trump's mental decline appears to be accelerating. So why isn’t the media reporting on it?

Related threads:

Lex Anteinternet: The Vandals.


CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 104th Edition. Mike Johnson, toady, and other matters.



Lex Anteinternet: The Military Address of September 30, 2025. The Trump Speech.


Last edition:

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Fourth Edition.

Monday, November 10, 2025

Court Watch, Part III.



This is the U.S. Federal Building & Courthouse in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  This building, built in 1960s, is s survivor of the brutal domestic terrorist attack that wrecked the Murrah building that was across from it.  A memorial to the victims of that attack is now located there, across from the courthouse.




Oklahoma City U.S. Federal Building & Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Bombed by a guy whose views were regarded as extreme at the time, but which would be regarded as solidly MAGA today.

August 27, 2025

The Trump Administration's moronic lawsuit against Maryland's Federal Bench was tossed out.

There's no surprise to this at all.

On a locally controversial matter:

University of Wyoming sorority free to admit who it wants, including transgender students, judge rules: The 2023 federal complaint against Kappa Kappa Gamma for welcoming a transgender woman was dismissed Friday for the second time.

This puts the Wyoming Federal Court basically at odds with the direction of the Trump Administration as well. 

August 30, 2025

Well, there's absolutely no surprise.  Trump's illegal tariffs were affirmed to be illegal.

D'uh.

The Court's decision starts:

The Government appeals a decision of the Court of International Trade setting aside five Executive Orders that imposed tariffs of unlimited duration on nearly all goods from nearly every country in the world, holding that the tariffs were not authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. Because we agree that IEEPA’s grant of presidential authority to “regulate” imports does not authorize the tariffs imposed by the Executive Orders, we affirm.

Even here, however, the Court granted a stay of thirty days on the implementation of its order, which a private litigant would be unlikely to have received, and the government shouldn't have received here.  The order should have gone into effect immediately absent the government posting a bond to cover the damages, which would be all the tariffs collected while the matter was on appeal, and all that it has already collected, which should need to be fully refunded.

But a refund won't happen and the implementation of the ruling is delayed by 30 days, so the government can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which doesn't actually have to take the appeal.

Whether the S.Ct upholds it, or proves to be a pure political arm of the government, is another matter.

There were three dissents in the en banc decision.

September 3, 2025

A Federal Court has ruled Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles to be illegal.

September 17, 2025

Wyoming Sorority Members Not Giving Up Legal Case Over Transgender Member

September 26, 2025

In an act that's outrageous, former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted by a grand jury on two out of the three charges the government brought before it.

The Trump administration, and hence the Republican Party, has gone over to outright fascism with acts of this type.   The test now is whether the Courts can withstand the onslaught.  

October 1, 2025

Judge Says Ousted UW Dean Can Keep Suing For ‘Retaliation’ Demotion

October 13, 2025

In addition to Comey, now Letitia James has been indicted.  More such indictments are apparently coming.

Trump's efforts to deploy the National Guard into cities is universally failing in the Courts.

Comey is being prosecuted for lying to Congress, which Pam Bondi just did herself.


October 16, 2025

And now John Bolton has been charged with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information by a grand jury.

The Department of Justice has become a department of persecution for Trump.  It'll take years to undo the damage that has been done.  Moreover, because of the extent of this, it's my prediction that many who are now involved in these Trump efforts will face bar sanctions, and likely some prosecutions, in the future.

October 17, 2025

An Illinois court ordered ICE agents to wear body cameras.

October 25, 2025

Way milder than it could have been, but at least somebody tried to do something:

If the TRO is granted, construction will stop, but I would have asked for the structure to have been returned to the status quo ante.

October 29, 2025
November 10, 2025

The Supreme Court rejected a petition for a writ of certiorari by a court clerk which would have presented an opportunity to overrule Obergefell.

Last edition

Court Watch, Part II.

Vox populi. Trump booed at a Commanders game.


He deserved it, for a lot of reasons.

I don't think Trump realizes how widely detested he really is.  He was booed down at CSU as well when Sen. John Barrasso piped him in during a game.

Courthouses of the West: "President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes."

Courthouses of the West: "President Donald Trump is using the law for parti...: In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed me as a federal judge. I was 38 years old. At the time, I looked forward to serving for the rest ...

"President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes"

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed me as a federal judge. I was 38 years old. At the time, I looked forward to serving for the rest of my life. However, I resigned Friday, relinquishing that lifetime appointment and giving up the opportunity for public service that I have loved.

My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom. President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. This is contrary to everything that I have stood for in my more than 50 years in the Department of Justice and on the bench. The White House’s assault on the rule of law is so deeply disturbing to me that I feel compelled to speak out. Silence, for me, is now intolerable.

Mark L. Wolf, U.S. District Court Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Monday, November 10, 1975. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

 

The massive Great Lakes freighter went down with all 29 hands.

The storm.

The ballad commemorating the ships loss would come out the following year.

Italy and Yugoslavia signed the Treaty of Osimo resolving the long running dispute over Trieste.

The Communists forces of the MPLA  defeated the FNLA in a battle over the capital of Angola, Luanda.

The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism.  The Resolution would be revoked in 1991.

Last edition:

Thursday, October 30, 1975. King Juan Carlos I of Spain became acting head of state of the country after Franco conceded he was too ill to govern.

Saturday, November 10, 1945. Heart Mountain Closed.


Today In Wyoming's History: November 101945  Heart Mountain internment center closed.

Indonesian troops staged a  major counterattack at Surabaya.  This is Indonesian Heroes Day in commemoration of the event.

The death penalty was carried out on five Germans convicted for the murder of six American airmen in the Rüsselsheim massacre.


Last edition:


Friday, November 10, 1775: Founding of the Marine Corps.

 


November 10, 1775: The Birth of the U.S. Marine Corps


This was done by a resolution of Congress, stating:
Resolved, That two Battalions of marines be raised, consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken, that no persons be appointed to office, or enlisted into said Battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required...
These heraldry dates are subject to some challenge.  It is true that a Marine corps was founded on this day in 1775, but along with the Navy, it was disbanded in 1783.  It was brought back in 1798 due to the need to build up the Navy due to tensions with republican France, the first undeclared war in the nation's history.

There's a collection of lessons here, one being that the founders of the republican feared and detested the idea of a standing military. They regarded a standing military as a threat to democracy, which in fact it is.  That's the reason that the nation's entire defense was based on state militias.  However, as a second lesson, it proved impossible to do, and as a result both a standing Navy and a standing Army had to be created, although the size of the Army was tiny.

A second lesson in this story is that Presidents have, right from the onset, crept up on war, and then later on outright engaged in it, without the required declaration.

Given the climate of the times, all of this should be absolutely frightening.

Last edition:

The UK and the US reaction to kiddy diddling, proving that the UK was right all along.

So, the Andrew formerly known as Prince has to get his own house due to Epstein, while in the US the House won't reconvene and take up the Epstein list.  Turns out the British were right all along, we're not capable of governing ourselves.