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I wouldn't bet against it. I also wouldn't bet against Trump getting a net gain out of this episode in terms of accelerating changes he's planning to make, not just with FAA and the armed forces, but across his whole government. I acknowledge this particular story is still hot and it feels too soon, but he has faced certain defeat many times on numerous fronts and came out of them better and stronger than before. Put it this way: I'll believe he takes a political loss on this when we see it, and not before.

Wow, eleven days. That was fast. But then, with the fire hose of abject terribleness on full blast from the start of this redux, I can see how it's simply too hard to effectively defend it. Good strategy. Cut your losses and retreat to somewhere friendly where they don't talk about inconvenient things like the truth sitting in plain sight of everyone. Take care and all the best.

Eleven. Don't shortchange us. Every day closer to the end counts.

I don't think we should sign Bregman for six or more years, and I don't think signing Flaherty for any more than two years tops is a good bet. Can you imagine the mishegoss that would occur if we signed Flaherty and he sucked and then got hurt? The peanut gallery would be screaming for Harris's head.

Check that: the Red Sox are not in need of a third baseman, although Bregman is on record as being willing to move to second base for the opportunity to play there. So among the non-Astros teams, they would appear to have the inside track on Bregman if they want him.

You might be right, although I will sense the Tigers are going in a direction similar to Tampa when they actually go in a direction similar to Tampa. We’re not the only team not signing Bregman. The Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Cubs, all of whom are in need of a third baseman, have also not signed Bregman. Only the Astros have a live offer for Bregman at 6/156, so for us to sign him, we would have to substantially beat that offer in, I assume, guaranteed money and possible more years—if he even wants any years here. Not sure where you stand, but I would not want to commit to Bregman for six or more years, and I would think none of the other teams outside of Astros are eager to, either. As for Flaherty, his track record makes him too risky that he’ll either be hurt or just flat out suck (a la 2023). Plus, his lipping off publicly by essentially blaming Harris for costing the Tigers the ALCS by trading him this past July can’t help his case to re-sign here.

Presidential.

I don't know why you apparently think Harris is not working on bringing more talent to the team, but the evidence indicates that is wrong.

To Shiv's point (I love that name—"Shiv"), he's talking about the red hats who voted people into government for the purpose of destroying the government, under the naive notion that taxes will plummet and they'll get to keep almost all of their money from now on. The people they voted in have a slightly different agenda: destroying the government by stripping it for parts and pocketing the tax money that they will never, ever give back to mere red hats. Never. Ever.

They are actively working on this as we speak.

If you're dreaming of no political forum, then you can always forego posting in the political forum and leave it to the people who don't share your dream.

well, that was fast ...

If we can’t politicize an incident in which a US army helicopter crashes into a civilian aircraft after the government offers buyouts to every one of its employees with the specific goal of decimating the civil service and replacing lifetime experts with political hack appointees; the SecDef goes on the air to whine about DEI instead of managing a fatal incident on US soil involving aircraft he is responsibility for; and the President of the United States goes on social media to start blaming everyone and anyone instead of fulfilling the traditional role as Comforter-in-Chief—if we can’t politicize an incident even under those circumstances, then we might as well just shut down the political forum right now and stick to baseball.

I do not regret selling off NVDA at 125 this past summer.

Perhaps they will go to some sort of spread the seed strategy, with designated studs doing double and triple duty. Or, to promote a more family friendly regime, perhaps they will invade ex-Republics or -satellites, kidnap the white boys, Russify them, and marry them off to local (and kidnapped Russified girls) when they mature enough? Think this all sounds too beyond the pale? “Desperate times …”

Almost certainly because she is being coached, perhaps by the senators themselves.

Good lord, have any of these people ever worked in a typical organizational situation before? None of them say anything that’s even remotely close to the right thing. Everything they say is off-putting and just weird.

But how are they going to wake up if they insist it’s Biden’s responsibility are not theirs?

Here are a couple different articles that articulate what the strategy behind all the chaos is. This is not incompetence, per se, as some wish to believe. This is purposeful and thought through. The Substack article is especially interesting, at least to me: The chaos isn’t accidental—it’s strategic and the point. In Trump’s second term, as he floats a third, what might seem like disconnected acts of governance are deliberate steps toward consolidating power. Each executive order, federal funding freeze, staffing shake-up, gutting of agencies, and emergency measure serves a singular purpose: dismantling democratic norms, overwhelming the system, and flooding the public with so much news that many actions go unnoticed. We are left distracted and confused, vulnerable communities lose access to essential services, organizations scramble to deal with potential funding losses, and accountability is eroded through illegal firings of inspectors general. This deliberate chaos is meant to create ripe conditions for a power grab. By keeping the public overwhelmed and resistance fragmented, the groundwork is laid for authoritarian control to solidify with little effective pushback. This isn’t governance—it’s the authoritarian playbook in action. As Stephen Miller bluntly stated earlier today, “there’s no lawful constraints” on the president’s ability to fire executive branch employees, dismissing established legal protections as “unconstitutional.” Weaponizing Chaos The recent federal funding freeze is a prime example of Trump’s use of chaos as a governing strategy. By halting grants and loans under the guise of an ideological “review,” the regime has destabilized schools, nonprofits, local governments, and critical programs like Meals on Wheels. The ripple effects are being felt nationwide, with every state reporting Medicaid outages, leaving millions uncertain about their healthcare and basic services. This manufactured disorder isn’t just disruptive—it’s a deliberate attempt to weaken public institutions and consolidate power. Officials will be left scrambling to answer vague, ideologically loaded questions like, “Does this program promote gender ideology or democracy?” Meanwhile, communities reliant on federal funding are panicking. Critical institutions that keep America safely running are paralyzed and when the dust settles, Trump will position himself as the savior—but only on his terms. ..... We Are Not Powerless While the chaos feels overwhelming, it’s critical to remember that we are not powerless. Trump’s tactics rely on confusion, fear, and division—but the reality is that there are more of us who believe in democracy than those who seek to dismantle it. The courts, though under strain, remain a vital tool to slow down these sledgehammer tactics. Legal challenges can delay or derail authoritarian overreach and buy time for organized resistance to grow stronger. The key is unity. Organizations, activists, and everyday citizens must recognize the power of collective action and coordinate their efforts. Resistance cannot afford to be scattered or reactionary—it must be strategic, proactive, and prepared. This has succeeded in Ukraine, where people, from the smallest villages to major cities, organized to resist aggression and corruption with remarkable speed and determination. Many need to snap out of their complacency. Our strength lies in numbers, in the courts, and in our ability to organize. The key is unity. That's what really stands out to me. The whole point of the fire hose is to confuse us, distract us, divide our attention, such that we are immobilized into inaction. Our chances for success lie only in our ability to slash through the jungle of horse**** the Trump cabal is carpetbombing us with and come together to identify and fight those specific parts that give us the best chance to cripple and defeat them, so we can put fascism and autocracy as far onto the backburner as possible, to buy us as many more decades of peaceful, cooperative governance as we can manage to. That may sound like some naive pie in the sky, but shouldn't that be our goal?

Yes, I can totally, absolutely believe it.

They campaigned on deporting undocumented people who committed crimes here, suggesting visions of violent MS-13-type criminals, but it won't be long until they evolve to all undocumented people committed a crime just by coming here, so deport them all, and that includes pregnant girls and women and their kids.

Might as well just stop at "****ed".

I would prefer they look at the screen and tell me where to go on it while I drive. I don't want to just hand it to them and not know how they got to where they got. Don't feed me fish. Teach me how to fish instead. But to your point, in my experience, the large majority of the time they just reach to grab the phone out of my hand. Talk about off-putting. Maybe they feel comfortable doing that because that's how they do it with their parents or grandparents. There was actually one guy a year or two ago who snapped at me in an passive-aggressive manner for not letting him snatch the phone out of my hand to show me something. I told him, I'll give him my phone when he gives me his. He had to have been in his 40s, so you'd think he'd know better.

Maybe they'll wow him with a side trip to Disney World and he'll end up staying?

High walk rate notwithstanding, he does controls the part of the strike zone that gets swing and miss, plus he limits hard contact. His xSlash last year was .173/.265. I think he's worth the ~$8MM gamble.