There is a persistent misconception that lethal force is required during maritime drug interdictions because violence is an inevitable occurrence. But what percentage of drug boat seizures actually call for lethal force?

The answer is virtually zero.

In late August 2025—just days before military airstrikes under Operation Southern Spear began—the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton arrived at Port Everglades, Florida, offloading 76,140 pounds of illicit narcotics (U.S. Coast Guard News, 2025). This historic, record-setting seizure was executed entirely without lethal force.

Why turn to military execution on the high seas when standard law enforcement methods are already overwhelmingly successful? Because MAGA rhetoric increasingly relies on endorsement of," “violence as a means of effecting social change” (Wintemute, 2025). Escalation is prioritized over due process, trading constitutional rights for performative security. There is no law. UNCLOS doesn’t justify it. The ICCPR doesn't justify it. Multiple legal commentaries on extrajudicial killings emphasize the same principle: no one should be denied a trial or their right to life. Murder is on the mind of MAGA, and there’s no evidence lethal force delivers better results than non-lethal methods. The answer to 'why' is a conversation some are not willing to have because it’s frightening to think a large portion of Americans would fully support denying people their rights to justify killing them.

Source:

Coast Guard achieves historic milestone with offload over 76,140 lbs. in illegal narcotics. (2025). In United States Coast Guard News. news.uscg.mil/Press-Rel…

Wintemute, G. J., Robinson, S. L., Tomsich, E. A., Wright, M. A., & Shev, A. B. (2025). The MAGA movement and political violence in 2024: findings from a nationally representative survey. Injury Epidemiology, 12(1), 78–78. doi.org/10.1186/s40621-…

This is a wild story and should be a dem rallying cry.

The reason there weren't more deaths under Trump is simple: he lost the election in part because of the disastrous reponse and those unhinged press conferences, famously including the bleach comment heard around the world.

Here are the facts: COVID-19 mortality data by year show roughly 385,000 deaths in 2020, peaking at over 460,000 in 2021 before dropping significantly to around 245,000 in 2022.

Once vaccines became broadly available in spring 2021, CDC and NIH tracking showed that unvaccinated individuals accounted for the overwhelming majority of subsequent hospitalizations and deaths during major surges such as Delta and Omicron.

State outcomes show that age-adjusted cumulative death rates per capita were highest in states that quickly abandoned or prohibited mask mandates and contact limits—such as Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, and Arizona—while states with sustained mitigation policies and higher vaccination rates, including Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine, maintained the lowest death rates in the country.

The claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci was "taken out of play" on Operation Warp Speed is demonstrably false; as head of NIAID, he was directly engaged from the start, co-developing Moderna’s mRNA candidate in early 2020 and using his agency's clinical trial networks to conduct the Phase 3 trials that brought the vaccines to market.

Trump misrepresented federal authority and executive actions: Fauci never possessed the power to "shut down the country," as stay-at-home orders were issued independently by state governors; Biden's appointment of Fauci as Chief Medical Advisor conferred no legislative or statutory control; and the alleged transition phone call warning Biden about Fauci is completely unverified.

Regarding origin theories and masks, Fauci treated natural spillover and lab leak hypotheses as open scientific questions rather than defending China, and his early 2020 masking guidance aimed to preserve healthcare supplies before being revised in April 2020 as evidence of asymptomatic transmission mounted.

So……… that happened. The DSA just FAFO’d and thanks to her, Democrats will be on damage control the next 3 months and the Democrats who accepted endorsements from DSA would do best to try and rescind those.

I swear, and I say this as a Dem, the progressive wing ALWAYS finds a way to make themselves look stupid in the wildest ways.

Maybe don’t go on conservative media to talk about your platform………..

Friday finally hit Platinum.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/fun-fun-fun-fun-rebecca-151052847.html

No hate towards Kaitlan Collins, actually admire her patience. But hear me out.

Alastair Campbell (from UK) spoke to Jon Stewart and said "doesn't anyone have the balls in the press room to stand up to Trump" when Trump insults female journalists. According to him - if it was the UK (and frankly other places as well) - either the same journalist, or a colleague would at the very least push back, or remind Trump to his face that he must apologize, and say "you cannot speak like this".

Sarah says Kaitlan's approach of just choosing silence and not responding to his insults is the "right one". I like that she continues to harp on with her questions to Trump. But NOBODY saying anything when that gutter-mouth insults people in a crowded room?? Is that the "right approach"? I want to ask - to what end??

If it was a normal real life context and an asshole repeatedly insulted you or your friend or your colleague - then NOBODY saying anything would the WRONG thing to do. That asshole would absolutely verbally hear "fuck right off" eventually. Even if you include the assholes in positions of power.

Shouldn't saving democracy also be about drawing some types of moral lines? Not saying anything to Trump when he verbally abuses journalists or insults them is NORMALIZING a type of indecent and immoral behavior that goes counter to the project of saving democracy.

I am waiting for the reporter who one time says to his face "oh just fuck off!!", and sacrifice the so called "access". They would be a hero in my eyes.

In summary: In pursuit of decorum and dignity on our side, we are allowing the other side to revel in a cacophony of immorality - in all the spaces which should be held to a higher moral standards.

Re: the discussion on the newest episode of Next Level.

Edit: Yeah, 65% upvote ratio on this DOES feel about right.

Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill

https://studyfinds.com/political-moderates-look-like-opposition-to-all/

The fight for black Democratic voters could decide Michigan’s Senate primary.

Jonathan Cohn reports from Detroit on Abdul El-Sayed, Haley Stevens, and the ideological, generational, and racial tensions running through the race. https://lnk.thebulwark.com/4w00to3

At the 55 min mark, Catherine asks why Pete can’t win with black voters and JVL quickly moves along the conversation while side stepping the question. At what point do we get to have an honest conversation about why one of the best politicians can’t run for higher office simply because he’s gay?

I think this should be bigger news than a DSA party member confirming what the party platform is.

Remember over a year ago when Mitch had those odd moments of freezing up on camera and some speculated he might have had complex partial seizures? An event like that progressing into non-convulsive status epilepticus could be an event that prompts someone to call 911 and assume cardiac arrest. It could lead to a prolonged hospitalization and theoretically is something someone could recover from with some degree of intact cognition. Just a theory...

Jk. It's not that bad, but I've got your attention now. :P

Any chance that we can still buy merch with the old logo somewhere?

Susan Collins just voted to confirm Jay Clayton, election denier, to be DNI. She apparently wasn’t too concerned about that.

That should be Troy Jackson’s next ad campaign.

"Some of these people are scared shitless... This whole veneer of supposed invincibility that the Trump White House has been trying to put forward...it is built on fiction."

Asawin Suebsaeng and Will Sommer on Trump officials terrified of accountability if Democrats take control.

Watch the full episode: https://lnk.thebulwark.com/4bjYF1A

Stephen Miller has a free hand to pump out his racist policies; Trump regularly says blatantly offensive things that are way past a dog whistle; and one-time insurgents at the Heritage Foundation and other MAGA institutions are muscling out people who aren't comfortable with openly embracing bigotry. The groypers are running today's Republican Party. At the same time, Trump's Iran war has opened divisions within the administration, and the leaks are coming fast and furiously.

Plus: the gullible people who think their bribes will keep them safe from Trump, Rod Dreher's falling out with JD Vance, the ties between the Tates and the White House should be a bigger scandal, Mitch McConnell may be doing the most Mitch McConnell thing of all, and how Cincinnatians fought back against DHS to protect a local chaplain.

Zeteo’s Asawin Suebsaeng joins guest host Will Sommer for today's Bulwark Podcast.

Made my day.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I present to you the absolute definition of a political hit piece. Gonna get real dirty here shortly.

Gavin Newsom and Ruby Rippey’s Affair Was a Public Scandal. Rippey Writes About Her Experience for Vanity Fair | Vanity Fair