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Source: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-rss2.php

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<title>More on the Attack in the Caribbean</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/more-on-the-attack-in-the-caribbean/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-on-the-attack-in-the-caribbean</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/more-on-the-attack-in-the-caribbean/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2025 16:54:09 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Policing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[al-Qaeda]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Axios]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Drug War]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[due process]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islamic State]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Precedents]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[revolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Atlantic]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293411</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It is unusual and a problem.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-dominant-color="5c5d61" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #5c5d61;" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="488" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-293355 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-768x366.avif 768w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Trump’s Truth Social Feed</figcaption></figure>
To add to my post from yesterday (<a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/us-blows-alleged-drug-smuggling-boat-out-of-the-water/">US Blows Alleged Drug Smuggling Boat Out of the Water</a>) here’s a run down of why the strike is unusual and a problem.
For example, here’s Brian Finucane (a legal scholar whose credentials include “over a decade as an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State”) writing at Just Security (a publication based out of the NYU Law School), <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/119982/legal-issues-military-attack-carribean/#">Legal Issues Raised by a Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean</a>.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
Despite labelling the targets “narcoterrorists,” there is no plausible argument under which the principle legal authority for the U.S. so-called “war on terror”—the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force—authorizes military action against the Venezuelan criminal entity Tren de Aragua.
[…]
Further, though Trump and others in his administration have emphasized the prior designation of Tren de Aragua as an FTO, such designation does not by itself convey authority to use force. Nonetheless, such FTO designations are widely and mistakenly perceived as authorizing such action within the executive branch. Thus, designation of Tren de Aragua and a number of other Latin American criminal entities as FTOs in February <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/107850/us-military-mexico-illegal/">foreshadowed</a> this week’s attack in the Caribbean, despite providing no actual legal authority for it.
</blockquote>
The designation of TdA as an FTO is clearly the pathway the administration is taking to justify this and future attacks. But it is worth underscoring that simply designating a group as a foreign terrorist organization does not convey the legal authority to kill suspected members with impunity. Further, the notion of an FTO is that it is a politically motivated group willing to engage in political violence against US interests. Criminal activity is not the same thing.
The following is noteworthy as it further confirms the various reactions, mine included, that see this as a real deviation from the past.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
Working in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy has for many years conducted maritime interdictions of suspected drug smugglers under a <a href="https://www.usff.navy.mil/Press-Room/News-Stories/Article/4251998/us-coast-guard-uss-sampson-conduct-drug-interdiction-in-eastern-pacific/">law enforcement paradigm</a>—including during the current Trump administration. In such <a href="https://www.usff.navy.mil/Press-Room/News-Stories/Article/4251998/us-coast-guard-uss-sampson-conduct-drug-interdiction-in-eastern-pacific/">operations</a>, U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement personnel board the suspect vessel and take the crew into custody.
The attack on the smuggling vessel in the Caribbean was so extraordinary because there was no reported attempt to stop the boat or detain its crew. Instead, the use of lethal force was used in the first resort. According to Secretary of State Rubio, President Trump was given the option of conducting a maritime interdiction but instead elected to blow up the vessel to send a message. Such use of lethal force raises a number of distinct legal issues.
</blockquote>
Please note: no known attempt to stop the boat, but lethal force was the first resort. This is central to understanding how unusual this is as official policy touted directly from POTUS.
I would note “law enforcement paradigm” includes presumptions of innocence and due process of law. It does not mean summary execution based on mere suspicion.
From his conclusion (emphasis mine).
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
The Trump administration’s military attack on this alleged smuggling vessel is not only extraordinary and unsettling in its own right, but also because of the context in which it occurs and for what it may portend for future action. 
The use of lethal force in this attack appears gratuitous and the administration has not explained why law enforcement tools were inadequate to address the situation. Of a piece with the deployment of troops to U.S. cities, the strike is an unnecessary and performative use of the U.S. military—a use that is legally fraught at best. (Indeed, Trump threatened Chicago with a troop deployment in the same Oval Office appearance in which he announced the strike.) And the use of lethal force against these supposed terrorists is ominous both because the Trump administration has vowed further such strikes in Latin America and because this administration has deployed the “terrorist” label more broadly domestically, including against <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/united-states/trump-administrations-wars-terror-old-and-new">migrants and political opponents</a>.
</blockquote>
I commend the whole piece, which notes a long list of areas of law and practice that are raised by this action.
I think that dismissing this action is a mistake. One of my fears is that the broader public will just see this as eliminating “bad guys” and shrug it off. 
I will stress again that, in addition to the moral and legal objections, there is no reason to assume that this kind of action will actually stop drugs from entering the United States. So, even if one thinks that this is justifiable, it isn’t an efficacious policy. The President of the Philippines, Roberto Duterte, a person that Trump admires, thought that killing suspected drug dealers was the way to go. Guess what: there are still illegal drugs in the Philippines.
I will note that El Salvador’s President Bukele has managed to drive down gang violence, but it meant putting a lot of innocent people in jail and dispensing with due process. Side note: There is still crime in El Salvador.
In terms of precedents, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/04/trump-drug-war-attacks-strategy">Axios quotes</a> former U.S. Attorney Patrick Sullivan:
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“We’ve never seen this before,” Sullivan told Axios. “This is a totally different approach. No one fired a missile at a go-fast boat and just destroyed it. It’s just totally unheard of.”
</blockquote>
Ok, why does it matter? I would point to this essay in The Atlantic: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/archive/2025/09/the-military-wasnt-built-to-fight-crime/684101/?gift=RsHHrMN1rwB-IvHsulacfK13ZnksBTKHz-EKFWMkOFo&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share">Trump Is Crossing a Line That Dates Back to the Revolution</a>.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
Both domestically and internationally, the U.S. armed forces are tackling threats once assigned to police officers, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Coast Guardsmen, and other law-enforcement personnel. They are escorting immigration officers as they arrest undocumented immigrants in American cities, combatting crime with their presence in the U.S. capital, and stopping drugs at the southern border. Off the shores of Venezuela, U.S. ships are massing in a show of force against drug traffickers, a threat long addressed through interdiction at U.S. points of entry or in international or U.S. waters—not through lethal strikes.
[…]
The new tactics represent a shift away from the vision, dating back to the colonial revolt against an overbearing superpower, that U.S. armed forces should defend the country from external threats but not be used to routinely enforce the law.
</blockquote>
While I would be concerned about the boat incident even if were singular, or if the issue was just expanding the drug war, we need to note the broader context. Trump is using pretexts like “emergencies,” “invasions,” and “terrorism” to engage in dubious, if not highly problematic, deployments of federal assets in the US and is further using such logic to disappear human beings from US streets and send them to foreign prisons.
We are not talking here about some singular puzzle piece with hysterical inferences being drawn. The use of “emergency” powers and the politicization of the military, all the while stoking fear to justify such actions, are all classic authoritarian moves.
I would add that the notion that enough force can be deployed to make crime go away is an ahistorical fantasy.
I will add, since it is on the minds of many, yes, some policies can be deployed to help alleviate crime. Most of them take money, and none of them are perfect. Further, the fact that some Democrat somewhere said something wacky does not mean that any of what Trump is doing is justified, nor is the blame to be laid at the feet of the wacky.
Blame the person doing the thing.
If your sister was super annoyed and you kicked her, your Mom isn’t going to accept, “She made me!” 
If a woman is raped, it is never appropriate to point to her dress and say, “She was asking for it.”
At any rate, back to the Atlantic piece:
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
Under the Trump administration, the mission has changed. Terrorist threats are no longer limited to groups or individuals plotting violent attacks against America, and invasions don’t just come from foreign adversaries. A threat could be someone carrying drugs bound for the United States; an invasion could be a collection of migrants crossing the border. And just as the military has used precision strikes to eliminate al-Qaeda and Islamic State leaders thousands of miles from U.S. shores, it can now target drug runners operating far closer to home.
</blockquote>
If it is unclear as to why this is a problem, let me know, and I will try to better explain it.
I recommend the whole piece, by the way.
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ronny Jackson’s Rank Restored</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/ronny-jacksons-rank-restored/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ronny-jacksons-rank-restored</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/ronny-jacksons-rank-restored/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[James Joyner]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2025 15:23:14 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Military Affairs]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Joe Biden]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ronny Jackson]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Navy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Washington Post]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293413</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The former White House physican (and current Congressman)'s demotion for misconduct has been reversed.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="473f3d" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #473f3d;" decoding="async" width="819" height="1024" sizes="(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ronny_Jackson-819x1024.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-293412 not-transparent"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a class="external text" href="http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=953" rel="nofollow">Rear Admiral Ronny L. Jackson</a>, US Navy photo in the Public Domain</figcaption></figure>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/04/ronny-jackson-demotion-physician-trump/">WaPo</a> (“Trump officials restore Ronny Jackson’s military rank after Biden-era demotion“):
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
The U.S. Navy restored the retired rank of Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a former White House physician and an ally of President Donald Trump, reversing a Biden-era decision to demote Jackson from rear admiral to captain after a Pentagon report upheld misconduct allegations against him.
According to a copy of a June 13 letter from Navy Secretary John Phelan, which <a href="https://x.com/RonnyJacksonTX/status/1963331659614347547" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jackson shared on social media</a> on Wednesday, the Navy reinstated the congressman’s rank after “finding good cause to reopen” his retired grade determination. The reinstatement was effective immediately, the letter said. A person familiar with the letter confirmed the reinstatement, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivities surrounding personnel decisions.
Phelan, who was appointed by Trump, and the Navy did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Thursday. Jackson had refused to publicly acknowledge the demotion after it became public last year and continued to identify himself as a “rear admiral” on his congressional website, on social media and in other materials. Trump and other Republicans also had continued to publicly describe him as an “admiral,” although it is not clear if they initially knew of the Navy’s decision.
Democrats on Wednesday criticized the Navy’s move, calling it a subversion of the military’s process.
“He was demoted to captain because an [inspector general] found he mistreated subordinates and drank on the job as a White House physician,” Chris Meagher, who served as the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs under President Joe Biden, wrote in a text message. “Unfortunately, through this action and others, this commander in chief and this defense secretary continue to show the American people that loyalty to power is more valuable than integrity in uniform.”
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/07/ronny-jackson-demotion-white-house-medical-unit-navy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first reported last year</a> that the Navy in 2022 demoted Jackson, who served as personal physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Trump between 2013 and 2018, after the release of a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/03/03/ronny-jackson-report-dod/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pentagon inspector general’s report</a> that found he bullied his staff and made inappropriate sexual comments about a female subordinate during his time within the White House Medical Unit.
</blockquote>
Jackson was under investigation when he retired to run for Congress. (This, after he <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/ronny-jacksons-nomination-becomes-more-imperiled-as-accusations-mount/">withdrew his name from consideration for Secretary of Veterans Affairs </a>because of the scandal.) He was allowed to provisionally retire at the one-star rank to which President Obama had appointed him. 
There’s ample evidence of misconduct in the IG report and no evidence of partisan motivation for the action. Conversely, the reinstatement seems clearly motivated by partisanship. Jackson is a Republican congressman and a close ally of President Trump. It’s doubtful, indeed, that they would have reopened the matter otherwise.
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Thursday’s Forum</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/thursdays-forum-254/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thursdays-forum-254</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/thursdays-forum-254/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293386</guid>
<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://outsidethebeltway.com/thursdays-forum-254/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>46</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>US Blows Alleged Drug Smuggling Boat Out of the Water</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/us-blows-alleged-drug-smuggling-boat-out-of-the-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=us-blows-alleged-drug-smuggling-boat-out-of-the-water</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/us-blows-alleged-drug-smuggling-boat-out-of-the-water/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:35:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Economics and Business]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Policing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[cocaine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Colombia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Drug Policy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[due process]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mexico]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[war on drugs]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293354</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Who needs due process when you have drones?]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-dominant-color="5c5d61" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #5c5d61;" decoding="async" width="1024" height="488" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-293355 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-768x366.avif 768w" /></figure></div>
Via the NYT: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/us/politics/trump-venezuela-boat-drugs-attack.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jE8.KUaC.uY-bXfWs4NlL&smid=url-share">Trump Says U.S. Attacked Boat Carrying Venezuelan Gang Members, Killing 11</a>.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States had carried out a strike against a boat carrying drugs and killed 11 “terrorists,” the administration’s latest military escalation in Mr. Trump’s war against Venezuelan drug cartels that he has blamed for bringing fentanyl into the country.
Mr. Trump offered few specifics about the strike during his news conference on Tuesday, but later in the afternoon he posted more details on Truth Social.
“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narco terrorists,” Mr. Trump wrote. He said the strike “occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.”
</blockquote>
My guess is that a lot of people will applaud this, and many others will just shrug it off. The administration has already created a patina of legality by declaring certain criminal gangs/cartels as “terrorist organizations.”
Like many of his domestic declarations of “emergencies,” what we have here is Trump pushing boundaries of his power to allow him to use violence with impunity. There is no concern whatsoever for due process of law by this administration. Rather, this is Trump declaring that merely being a member of a certain organization can be a death sentence without trial.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
The strike is an astonishing departure from traditional drug interdiction efforts. In the past, U.S. authorities focused on seizing drugs and identifying suspects to build a criminal case. A second senior U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said there would be more such attacks against cartel boats.
The action comes amid a major buildup of U.S. naval forces outside Venezuela’s waters. The administration has also stepped up belligerent rhetoric about fighting drug cartels and labeled Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, a terrorist cartel leader.
“The president is very clear that he’s going to use the full power of America, the full might of the United States, to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they’re operating from, and no matter how long they’ve been able to act with impunity,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio before boarding a plane in Florida to head to Mexico.
</blockquote>
It is worth noting that drug smuggling is not a capital crime, and even if it were, a trial is required to establish guilt and assign punishment.
Recognizing that drug smugglers don’t deserve a lot of compassion, if the president can set aside the rule of law whenever he wants, then everyone is at risk lest their actions be deemed part of some other “emergency” or be declared “terrorism.”
It also seems worth noting that while I am sure many Americans will see this as a solution to the drug problem, it won’t be. I have noted many times that while anti-drug policy is not a primary area of expertise for me, it is impossible to have been a scholar of Colombian politics and not have learned a great deal about the subject (and I have taught master’s level courses on the topic).
The 1990s saw a literal war against drug cartels in Colombia, including billions spent by the US government. This did not stop the flow of cocaine into the United States. As long as there are literal tons of dollars to be made, there is going to be drug smuggling.
I would remind everyone how small a massive shipment of <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/on-fentanyl-and-the-border/">fentanyl</a> is: a one-kilogram bag can contain 50,000 doses. Also, most fentanyl is smuggled over land borders by US citizens. Are we going to start raining hellfire missiles down on Corollas in line at the Ciudad Juarez/El Paso border crossing when we “know” drug smuggling is going on?
It seems worth noting that the likely result of these kinds of strikes is a decrease in supply, which, as any Economics 101 student knows, will increase the street price of that which does make it to market. This will increase the value of the drugs and therefore incentivize more smuggling. It can also lead to more violence in the US as gangs fight over lucrative supply and territories.
Violence like this can have a temporary effect on smuggling and supply, but decades upon decades of trying have demonstrated that stopping drug flows completely is essentially impossible. The demand is what drives all of this, not the supply.
(It seems worth noting that Nixon declared the first “war on drugs” and Reagan doubled down on it. For anyone keeping score at home, they were both presidents a loooong time ago. Clinton funded Plan Colombia–it didn’t work.)
Here’s the video and some commentary from Adam Isacson, who works on this topic for the Washington Office on Latin America.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Lethal force against a civilian vessel in international waters is a war crime if not in self-defense, which this video does not show. Only non-lethal actions, like warning shots or disabling fire, are allowed. “Being suspected of carrying drugs” doesn't carry a death sentence. <a href="https://t.co/6Zal0bkY9w">https://t.co/6Zal0bkY9w</a>— Adam Isacson (@adam_wola) <a href="https://twitter.com/adam_wola/status/1963005611659907274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
In the thread, he does note the following regarding terminology (and provides a reminder of the time a family of missionaries was blown out of the sky because US intelligence thought it was a drug plane).
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">On our internal Signal chat, we're figuring out the appropriate term for this act. "War crime" (above) isn't right—unless you accept the framing of a Navy ship at "war" with "terrorists" in the Caribbean. Extrajudicial execution? Unlawful killing? Informed suggestions welcome.— Adam Isacson (@adam_wola) <a href="https://twitter.com/adam_wola/status/1963021373866971642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>26</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>ICE Trucks</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/ice-trucks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ice-trucks</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/ice-trucks/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Borders and Immigration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[In Front of Our Noses]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Policing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Department of Homeland Security]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Government Spending]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Immigration And Customs Enforcement]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293349</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Don't confuse them with the ice cream man.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="afb3b9" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #afb3b9;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="724" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ICE-promo-photos-1024x724.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-293350 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ICE-promo-photos-1024x724.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ICE-promo-photos-768x543.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ICE-promo-photos-1536x1086.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ICE-promo-photos.avif 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: DHS on X.com</figcaption></figure>
Via the Independent: <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-dropped-over-700-000-204056885.html">ICE dropped over $700,000 on tricked-out trucks with Trump’s name on the back for rap video recruitment ad</a>.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/feds-migrants-ice-facility-manhattan-173909579.html">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a> spent over $700,000 tricking out a pair of trucks designed to look like Donald Trump’s private jet for a series of social media posts to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-wants-target-gen-z-180014196.html">boost recruitment efforts.</a>
A video posted by the Department of Homeland Security with music by rapper DaBaby shows a Ford Raptor pickup truck and GMC Yukon SUV <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/dc-sues-trump-over-hostile-131034049.html">rolling around Washington, D.C., </a>and parked in front of the White House, Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
The trucks have a navy blue paint job with red and white racing stripes and a gold ICE logo. The words “defend the homeland” appear on the side, and “President Donald J. Trump” is printed in gold on a rear window.
According to federal procurement records seen by The Independent, the government paid more than $505,000 for the vehicles from at least three dealerships. The government spent another $227,000 on the wrap jobs provided by at least four companies.
</blockquote>
That certainly sounds like money well spent! (It is so tiresome to hear about “wasteful government spending” and then see things like this.)
Worse, the inclusion of Trump’s name on the trucks is just another case of authoritarian personalism, made worse by associating the leader with a specific paramilitary operation.
Government employees should be working for the American people, not for a singular leader.
Here’s the video.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><a href="https://t.co/nZkBEj4evQ">https://t.co/nZkBEj4evQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/2VHsk6zt66">https://t.co/2VHsk6zt66</a>— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1956448344865419490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Wednesday’s Forum</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/wednesdays-forum-258/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wednesdays-forum-258</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/wednesdays-forum-258/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[James Joyner]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 10:40:33 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293338</guid>
<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://outsidethebeltway.com/wednesdays-forum-258/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>43</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Speaking of Propaganda…</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/speaking-of-propaganda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=speaking-of-propaganda</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/speaking-of-propaganda/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 14:23:16 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democratic Party]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fascism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Propaganda]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rolling Stone]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293327</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Stephen Miller and Fox News.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="864c60" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #864c60;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Miller-at-CPAC-2025-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-285726 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Miller-at-CPAC-2025-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Miller-at-CPAC-2025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Miller-at-CPAC-2025-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Miller-at-CPAC-2025.jpg 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/54361580375/in/photolist-2qPJhPJ-2qPCMhL-2qPKj6f-Jf7A4W-2qPJpeB-2qPHfHt-2qPHg9y-2qPKifs-2qPKi14-2qPCLfv-2qPJovT-2qPKhPC-2qPJih2-2qPKit3-2qPJp1A-2qPHg17-2qPCLDw-2qPJpvU-2qPHgpi-2qPJiyQ-2qPKiVA-2qPCLYE-2qPKiVa-2k1DyYU-UK3wf3" target="_blank">“Stephen Miller”</a> by <a>Gage Skidmore</a> is licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 2.0</a></figcaption></figure>
It is easy to be enured to all that is going on, but here we have the Deputy Chief of Staff of this administration delivering a hateful, spittle-inflected rant on Hannity’s TV show, and then the clip is edited and posted on X.
He calls the Democratic Party (or, you know, the “Democrat Party”) “a domestic extremist organization.” He goes on about how the party does not represent citizens but is “exclusively” dedicated to representing “hardened criminals” as well as “gangbangers” and “illegal aliens.”
This is a dangerous attempt to delegitimize political opponents and to set up in the minds of viewers that if force is necessary to deal with illegal immigrants, then surely force may be needed against those who represent them.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Stephen Miller on <a href="https://twitter.com/seanhannity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@seanhannity</a>: “The Democrat Party is not a political party. It is a domestic extremist organization." <a href="https://t.co/CImsq4EVYv">pic.twitter.com/CImsq4EVYv</a>— Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1960162849025589382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
Can Miller’s overt fascism be denied at this point?
In terms of DC, Rolling Stone notes: <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-dc-crime-free-zone-claim-1235419598/">Trump Declares D.C. a ‘Crime Free Zone’ Despite 442 Crimes Reported in Past Week</a>.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
Following his <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-military-moves-risk-civil-conflict-1235418756/">National Guard takeover</a> of Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/donald-trump/">Donald Trump</a> has declared the capital “crime free.” 
[…]
According to available <a href="https://crimecards.dc.gov/all:crimes/all:weapons/1:week/citywide:heat" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crime statistics</a> from D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, there were 442 crimes reported in the district in the past seven days. These include 50 reports of violent crime: one homicide, 23 instances of assault with a dangerous weapon, 24 robberies, and two cases of sex abuse. There were also nearly 250 thefts reported over the past week.
</blockquote>
Like <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/in-front-of-our-nose-lies-and-propaganda/">Noem claiming the LA would have burned down</a> without the National Guard, there are a lot of lies flying around about Trump’s ability to use deployments to fight crime. This, while he talks openly, as does Miller above (and as Trump has), about deploying to other cities.
Meanwhile, stuff like this has Miller written all over it.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">In the dead of night, while most Americans were sleeping, the Trump admin ripped 180+ kids out of their beds in foster homes and shelters & loaded them into vans headed for deportation flights to Guatemala. It took lawyers around the country working through the night to stop them <a href="https://t.co/b23ZhYYujT">https://t.co/b23ZhYYujT</a>— Lindsay Toczylowski (@L_Toczylowski) <a href="https://twitter.com/L_Toczylowski/status/1962214982168486023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
And a coda for the post.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Stephen Miller's dream has finally come true. <a href="https://t.co/AlmEa21OQr">https://t.co/AlmEa21OQr</a> <a href="https://t.co/94wzBiUugK">pic.twitter.com/94wzBiUugK</a>— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) <a href="https://twitter.com/drmistercody/status/1960453688008565211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>59</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>In Front of Our Nose: Lies and Propaganda</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/in-front-of-our-nose-lies-and-propaganda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-front-of-our-nose-lies-and-propaganda</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/in-front-of-our-nose-lies-and-propaganda/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 14:01:33 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[In Front of Our Noses]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Policing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[CBS]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[due process]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Propaganda]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293325</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Secretary Noem strikes again.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="6d7a86" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #6d7a86;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Noem-MAGA-hat-1024x683.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287438 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Noem-MAGA-hat-1024x683.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Noem-MAGA-hat-768x512.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Noem-MAGA-hat-1536x1024.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Noem-MAGA-hat.avif 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: The White House</figcaption></figure>
First, the Trump administration is not just going after the “worst of the worst.” Not only are they clearly targeting based on skin color, but they are also not affording due process to those arrested. 
Second, the notion that LA was saved from burning to the ground and that the place was facing uncontrolled riots is simply a lie.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Kristi Noem: "I do know that LA wouldn't be standing today if President Trump hadn't taken action." <a href="https://t.co/Ebu74ZmIxH">pic.twitter.com/Ebu74ZmIxH</a>— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1962162663837806867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
Unless there was some immediate fact-check of all of this, it is irresponsible of CBS to have her on to spout this nonsense. I honestly do not know what the best answer is, as part of me thinks that we need to see them being so brazen in their lies, but I also know that a lot of people have a really hard time understanding how untruthful she is being.
Even better, she went on the offensive after the interview because she didn’t like them editing out her litany of trumped-up, unproven allegations against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. And yes, by sharing, I help propagate, but it is noteworthy that they are adding new allegations constantly, now to include the solicitation of “nude photos from minors.” All of this is a remarkable hit job to cover up the initial mistake of sending him to CECOT and to justify whatever else they try to do.
This is not law enforcement, not seeking justice. This is abuse of power.
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">SHAMEFUL: CBS attempts to whitewash the TRUTH about MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator Kilmar Abrego Garcia. WATCH for the truth. <a href="https://t.co/UNaHj6V52z">pic.twitter.com/UNaHj6V52z</a>— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1962257234777317491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
The real gut punch of all of this is the degree to which there is a clear lack of any concern about how human beings are being treated. Noem has acquired power and prestige by being willing to be dishonest and cruel.

]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Tuesday’s Forum</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/tuesdays-forum-258/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tuesdays-forum-258</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/tuesdays-forum-258/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293144</guid>
<description><![CDATA[OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through Patreon or making a one-time contribution via PayPal. Thanks for your consideration.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through <a href="https://www.patreon.com/join/OutsideTheBeltway">Patreon</a> or making a one-time contribution via <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/OutsideTheBeltway">PayPal</a>. Thanks for your consideration.
]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>35</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>AG Monday</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/ag-monday-14/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ag-monday-14</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/ag-monday-14/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Nerd Corner]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Popular Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Self-Promotion]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Star Trek]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Star Wars]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293294</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This week Steven and Tom discuss and debate fan service.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="a54922" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #a54922;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="406" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AG-banner-1024x406.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-282149 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AG-banner-1024x406.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AG-banner-768x304.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AG-banner-1536x608.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AG-banner.avif 1669w" /></figure>
We’ve mentioned fan service in past episodes. Now, we take it head on.
Tom and Steven have a lot to say about fan service, because it’s a big part of geek culture today. But was it also a major part of our earlier geek lives? How much more of geek culture, especially on the screen, is dominated by it today? Is it always a bad thing, the death of creativity and quality? Or, in the right hands, can it be used for good.
Sequels! Remakes! In-jokes! Deep cuts! Updates! Transmedia! Spirited debate between Steven and Tom! It’s all here.
Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of culture. We were geeks before it was chic!

]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Labor Day Forum</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/labor-day-forum-5/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=labor-day-forum-5</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/labor-day-forum-5/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293142</guid>
<description><![CDATA[OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through Patreon or making a one-time contribution via PayPal. Thanks for your consideration.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through <a href="https://www.patreon.com/join/OutsideTheBeltway">Patreon</a> or making a one-time contribution via <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/OutsideTheBeltway">PayPal</a>. Thanks for your consideration.

]]></content:encoded>
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<slash:comments>29</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Our Trump Deranged World</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/our-trump-deranged-world/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=our-trump-deranged-world</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/our-trump-deranged-world/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Bailey]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 31 Aug 2025 19:12:26 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Abraham Lincoln]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[checks and balances]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[corruption]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Deep State]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[diversity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[free trade]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Political culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Predictions]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rhetoric]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Solar]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taylor Swift]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Trump Derangement Syndrome]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Xi Jinping]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[The slur "Trump Derangement Syndrome" unintentionally captures something real about our world. ]]></description>
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Our political discourse reflects our political culture, which in turn reflects our broader culture—which is just another way of saying it reflects the home in which we live. If there’s a pervasive problem in our political discourse, our house is not in order.
Bad political rhetoric is nothing new. It’s arguably part of the human condition. Aristotle, Cicero, the Framers, and George Orwell all warned about the dangers of sloppy, misleading, or demagogueish rhetoric. In the very last paragraph of The Federalist Papers, Hamilton cautioned against “the military despotism of a victorious demagogue.” If Hamilton could imagine this in the 18th century, then what we face today is far from unprecedented, at least as a concern. Still, even if the problem is perennial, the form and expression it takes changes with our institutions, technologies, and cultural habits.
The phrase that prompted me thinking about all of this is a regrettably all-too-familiar one: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
It’s everywhere.  If you’re on any social media, it’s hard to go a day without coming across it. I’ve even heard it floated as if it were a real diagnosis, formally recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. (Cue the Arrested Development narrator: “It is not.”)
So here’s my confession: this phrase triggers me. Hugely. At times, I’m nearly as emotionally triggered by the phrase—especially when it’s lobbed at me or my friends or political allies—as I am by some of the deplorable actions taken by Trump himself. So much so that I am tempted to wonder if there’s a “Trump Derangement Syndrome Syndrome,” a condition for people triggered by the phrase.
Why does this phrase bother me so much? One possibility is the simplest:  I suffer from TDS, and I have it bad. Maybe I do turn every molehill into a mountain. After all, the phrase does capture something real about the difficulty of staying level-headed in the Trump era—a difficulty I personally find exacting and exhausting. But before I stick with this self-diagnosis, let me make a case for why at first blush it’s simply a bad phrase.
Its purpose isn’t clarity but dismissal. It’s shorthand for:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>You’re irrational. </li>
<li>You’ve lost your senses. </li>
<li>I don’t need to refute your arguments, because they’re obviously flawed. </li>
<li>In fact, I don’t even need to listen to you</li>
</ul>
It’s performative, not substantive. Like “Let’s Go, Brandon!” it says a lot without actually expressing what is intended to be conveyed. And what it ultimately says is: You and your words don’t count.
Here the work of philosopher Harry Frankfurt can shed light on this rhetorical turn. In his 2005 book On Bullshit, Frankfurt draws a helpfulful distinction between lying and bullshitting. A liar knows the truth and tries to conceal it. To paraphrase one of his own examples, if I say I have $100 in my wallet in my right pocket, when I know I don’t even have my empty wallet with me, I am lying. Bullshitting, Frankfurt argues, is different. For the bullshitter, facts (and the truth more generally)  are irrelevant. The bullshitter’s concern is not accuracy but the effect of his bullshit on the audience. Liars intentionally deceive about the truth. Bullshitters don’t care whether what they say is true or false. Their only concern is their effect.
Trump, who I and others have called a con-artist, is a bullshitter without parallel in the modern era. When he claims to have had “the biggest electoral mandate in 129 years” or the best polling numbers of all time, he’s not lying in the traditional sense. He hasn’t checked the data; he doesn’t know or care. His aim is simply to score points and inflate his worth. The truth or falsity of the claim is irrelevant. If the facts help him, fine. If not, also fine.
Of course, Trump Derangement Syndrome is just one of many emotionally charged, rhetorically loaded bullshit expressions that saturate our political discourse. Left and right alike wield them. These shorthand terms (or tropes) don’t illuminate reality or advance discourse or deepen understanding; they signal team loyalty, score points, and shut down conversation. They’re rhetorical weapons, not tools of understanding.
Here are a few familiar examples:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>“The swamp.” Allegedly this term indicates the corruption in D.C. But Trump himself has flaunted corruption in the open, so it’s obvious that one person’s swamp is another person’s agenda at work.</li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>“The deep state.” Bureaucratic inertia is real, as is bureaucratic resistance to the will of elected officials, but this phrase is a vague catch-all for distrust of institutions, giving them a shadowy, X-Files conspiratorial quality. </li>
<li>“Woke.” Originally this vaguely meant awareness of injustice. Now it’s a slur against diversity and inclusion—values that many people endorse but are here treated as sinister simply by labeling them as woke. </li>
<li>“Fake news.” This is an oldie but goodie, effectively meaning simply “news that Trump doesn’t like.” </li>
<li>“Snowflake.” This is my personally least favorite. Why? Because every morally sane person has feelings, and most everyone’s feelings can be fragile and hurt by others.  Worse yet, from my perspective, it seems that the people who most often hurl this invective are comically un-self-aware of their own supreme delicacy. (Exhibit A: the outrage over Cracker Barrel’s rebranding.) </li>
<li>“Globalists.” To whom does this refer? Often it points to people who favor free trade and the open exchange of ideas, but its connotation hints at elitists who favor one-world government.  It’s intentionally open-ended. </li>
</ul>
There are, of course, other equally charged phrases, but what unites all these phrases (and others like them, whether invoked by the RIght or Left) is that they end rather than advance conversation. They don’t encourage nuance; they don’t try to shed light on complexity; they’re not attempts at bringing a topic closer to reality. They’re rhetorical bombs designed to derail rather than to reveal. They are effective bullshit. They score points without helping us better understand reality.
Which brings me back to Trump Derangement Syndrome. On one level, it’s classic Frankfurtian bullshit: dismissive shorthand meant to belittle. But on another level, it may unintentionally capture something real about our world. I think this is the reason, finally, I’m so triggered by its use as a slur.  
Trump exerts an extraordinary gravitational pull on our political culture. Imagine a planet many times larger than Jupiter suddenly entering our solar system. Its gravitational force would be wildly disruptive. That, in effect, is President Trump. He is the newly inserted mega-planet of our political solar system, with a far greater reach on our thoughts and actions than Putin, Musk, Xi Jinping, or (dare I say) Taylor Swift.  Through relentless ambition, a towering ego, shameless self-promotion, and the destruction of virtually every traditional norm of discourse, he has hoisted himself into becoming the central figure around whom everything orbits. This is not accidental.  He wants his name and face on buildings, universities, and museums. He wants his taste in music memorialized and honored. He wants the world and our thoughts remade in his image.
And beyond all predictions, he has largely succeeded. Both supporters and opponents are caught in the gravitational pull of his orbit. His supporters adore him, excuse anything, and cheer him on at his rallies like the groupies that they are. His opponents struggle to maintain hope in a normal future. 
There is a disturbance in the Force, and that disturbance is Trump’s gargantuan ego and personality.
Supporters and opponents alike–we all think about Trump. Every day. Whether we love him or hate him, he lives rent-free in all of our heads. In that sense, the entire country—and arguably the world—suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Trump Derangement Syndrome isn’t a sign of an individual’s pathology, it’s a sign of a very real change in the world. 
The consequences of this oversized gravitational pull will be measured for decades. But one of its most immediate and obvious effects is the explosion of rhetorical bullshit in our discourse. My every instinct suggests the distribution of bullshit tilts heavily to the right, but I can’t pretend it isn’t prevalent everywhere. When politics feels existential, truth takes a backseat to team loyalty. A measured fidelity to facts wherever they may fall seems like a luxury—or worse, a betrayal.
Neither our own political system nor, frankly, any decent political system ought to orbit around one man. The Framers deliberately built checks and balances to prevent concentration of power. Even Abraham Lincoln, in the depths of the Civil War—the moment we came closest to dictatorship, no matter how justified—said, “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.”
Lincoln recognized he was not the center of the universe–both in fact and in aspiration. Trump, by contrast, demands to be. And when a political culture bends around one man, the result is not just bad policy or bad governance. In fact, it’s bullshit. 
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<item>
<title>Lazy Sunday Tabs</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/lazy-sunday-tabs-5/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lazy-sunday-tabs-5</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/lazy-sunday-tabs-5/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 31 Aug 2025 14:59:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Tab Clearing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Paul Krugman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[POLITICO]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Atlantic]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293297</guid>
<description><![CDATA[That squeeze is creating an existential crisis for many small- and medium-sized American retailers. While big-box stores have the market power to negotiate lower prices from suppliers and the capacity to absorb a chunk of the tariff costs, that approach is not sustainable for more specialized companies.]]></description>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="937c68" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #937c68;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-285198 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-768x576.jpg 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby.jpg 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo by SLT</figcaption></figure>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>From Paul Krugman: <a href="https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-arent-markets-freaking-out">Why Aren’t Markets Freaking Out?</a></li>
<li>Via The Handbasket: <a href="https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/federal-agent-dc-violent-arrest-delivery-worker-video">Federal agent during violent DC arrest: “Liberals already ruined” this country.</a></li>
<li>Via The Atlantic: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/08/trump-mortgage-fraud-prosecutions/684062/?gift=RsHHrMN1rwB-IvHsulacfMK9RUgj-dZMlQU_XIdGj0s&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share">Show Me the Person, and I’ll Show You the Crime</a>.</li>
<li>Via the Seattle Times: <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/federal-agents-arrest-firefighters-working-on-wa-wildfire/">Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire</a>. “It is unusual for federal border agents to make arrests during the fighting of an active fire, especially in a remote area.” Gee, you don’t say?</li>
<li>Via Politico: <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/27/dhs-aims-to-limit-how-long-foreign-students-can-study-in-the-u-s-00532433">Trump administration plans to limit how long foreign students can study in the US</a>. I continue to marvel at the stupidity of making getting a US degree less and less attractive. It is yet another example that xenophobia trumps all other factors. (See also, arresting people while fighting fires).</li>
<li>Via Politico: <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/31/were-trapped-trumps-tariffs-lock-us-businesses-in-china-00535666">‘We’re trapped’: Trump’s tariffs lock US businesses in China</a>. Brought to you by the party of entrepreneurs and small business.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
That squeeze is creating an existential crisis for many small- and medium-sized American retailers. While big-box stores have the market power to negotiate lower prices from suppliers and the capacity to absorb a chunk of the tariff costs, that approach is not sustainable for more specialized companies.
</blockquote>
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<item>
<title>A Reminder</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/a-reminder-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-reminder-2</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/a-reminder-2/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 31 Aug 2025 14:46:04 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Site Update]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293303</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Kindness goes a long way.]]></description>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-dominant-color="32343b" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #32343b;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="479" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Be-excellent.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-293304 not-transparent"/></figure>
I was otherwise occupied yesterday, so I did not get involved in the conversation in <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/saturdays-forum-254/">Saturday’s forum</a>. Rather than try and weigh in on a dead thread, let me just remind everyone that these are truly difficult times, and we are all on a bit of an edge. Some of us are also more affected by these times than are others.
I have thoughts about a lot of it, but rather than go into them, could I just make a general appeal that we all try to be kind? 
I know we welcome spirited debate, and I fully acknowledge that we all can get on each other’s nerves. But maybe sometimes compassion should trump other reactions, yes?
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<title>Trump’s National Security Non-Process</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/trumps-national-security-non-process/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trumps-national-security-non-process</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/trumps-national-security-non-process/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[James Joyner]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 31 Aug 2025 14:09:29 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Brent Scowcroft]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[CIA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Deep State]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[JFK]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Karen DeYoung]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Leaks]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MAGA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[National Security Council]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Obama Administration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[State Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[think tank]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Yemen]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=293292</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A very different way to run a railroad.]]></description>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="524135" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #524135;" decoding="async" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/trump-rubio-hegseth-1024x576.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-283255 not-transparent"/></figure>
A report in today’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-turns-to-small-group-of-advisers-shrinks-national-security-council-65b12aa5">WSJ</a> (“Trump Turns to Small Group of Advisers, Shrinks National Security Council“) is among several recent accounts of the way the administration has altered, if not simply upended, the longstanding way Presidents make national security decisions. 
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
When President Trump ordered airstrikes on <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-strikes-iran-over-its-nuclear-program-8917c714?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Iran’s nuclear facilities</a> in June, U.S. diplomats who would normally be told of the decision were left in the dark.
After the attack, officials from Middle East countries pressed officials in Washington and at U.S. embassies in the region for information about whether the attack signaled Trump was launching a broader regime-change campaign, officials involved in those conversations said.
Almost no one had an answer, other than to refer them to Trump’s public announcement of the bombings. They hadn’t received talking points on what to tell other governments.
It was a sign of how far Trump has gone to create an ad hoc, centralized approach to national security decisions. He has downgraded the role of the National Security Council staff, which other presidents have relied on to oversee developing policy options, ensure presidential decisions are carried out and coordinate with foreign governments.
The NSC’s staff is now fewer than 150 compared with around 400 in previous administrations. Trump ousted national security adviser Mike Waltz after three months, assigning Secretary of State Marco Rubio to handle the job along with his role as top diplomat. The moves have left Trump reliant on a handful of senior advisers.
</blockquote>
This is a topic squarely in my professional expertise. I’ve given the Security Studies lecture on the “US National Security Process” to our students for the last dozen or so years, with the most recent version just a few days ago. While what President Trump is doing isn’t exactly unprecedented, it breaks with the traditions of the last half century or so.
Congress created the National Security Council, among many other things (including the CIA and the Air Force) with the National Security Act of 1947. The utilization of the NSC changed radically from Truman to Eisenhower to JFK to Johnson, but settled into something much like the system Trump inherited from Biden by early in the Nixon administration. For a whole lot of reasons, decision-making power had shifted from the various cabinet agencies (notably State and Defense) to the White House by that point.
This reached its apex late in the Obama administration. By this time a decade ago, a series of reports, notably <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-the-obama-white-house-runs-foreign-policy/2015/08/04/2befb960-2fd7-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html">Karen DeYoung</a>‘s “How the Obama White House runs foreign policy,” captured the frustrations of cabinet secretaries, military commanders, and others about micromanagement from “little twerp[s] from the NSC” micromanaging their operations. A series of think tank reports were published over the next year recommending that the next administration streamline the NSC, whose staff had become bloated, and return it to its traditional coordinating role. Pretty much everyone agreed that the ideal model was that led by Brent Scowcroft during the Bush 41 administration.
The Trump 45 administration did indeed cut the staff, most of which they distrusted as “Obama holdovers” even though they were career professionals seconded from the interagency, but didn’t really streamline the system. Mostly, they just didn’t use it. The Biden team largely reverted to the Obama model, albeit with a slightly smaller staff.
By all accounts, since Waltz’ firing, the Trump 47 administration sees the NSC—whose staff is again much smaller—as there to implement the President’s decisions, not help him make them. Many are less than happy.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“In many respects, the national security process has ceased to exist,” said David Rothkopf, author of a history of the NSC under several administrations and a staunch Trump opponent. Trump, he added, effectively is the national-security system—“the State Department and the Joint Chiefs and the NSC all rolled into one.”
The current system denies Trump the views of experts within the government that could inform his policies, said the critics. What’s more, officials charged with executing Trump’s orders often don’t know in detail what they are required to do, leading to delays, mistakes or even inaction, the critics added.
Trump’s process has encouraged freelancing by senior officials to gain the White House’s attention and advance their own priorities.
</blockquote>
In fairness, that’s not exactly unique to this administration. However, it does diminish the expert advice available to the President. 
Doing my best to steel man a view with which I disagree, Trump and his core team see it differently. What I call “experts” or “national security professionals,” they call “the Deep State.” While easy to dismiss as conspiracy-mongering, they are not without a point. Because Trump’s worldview is so wildly out of step with the consensus of career diplomats, intelligence analysts, and the military brass, the advice coming from the interagency is almost always “Sir, that’s a bad idea. Here’s why we’ve always done it this way.”
Trump 45 largely deferred to “his generals” when they told him that. Eventually, he came to resent not getting his way on policy. After all, he’s the elected President. This time, he’s much more confident that he’s right, they’re wrong, and they should shut up and carry out his orders.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
During his short tenure, Waltz staffed the NSC with seasoned congressional aides and officials who had served in Trump’s first term. Some were quickly ousted after being accused of disloyalty by far-right MAGA influencers such as Laura Loomer. Others resigned following Waltz’s removal.
Waltz and Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, then chief of U.S. Central Command, persuaded Trump in March to order weeks of airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, even though most members of his national security team were against the operation.
The U.S. needed to husband its dwindling munitions stockpile for a potential war with China, they argued, adding that the U.S.-designated terrorist group was unlikely to surrender under U.S. bombing. 
Two months into the campaign, Trump abruptly reversed course, announcing that the Houthis had agreed to no longer attack American ships. But Houthi attacks on Israel and against other countries’ ships have continued.
After Rubio took over as national security adviser in May, he argued for deep staff cuts to revert the NSC to its original function as more of an interagency coordinator and less of an advisory body. That approach best suited Trump’s top-down style, officials said.
Current and former Trump administration officials said the approach minimizes the risk of leaks that plagued his first term and allows the president and his close confidants to implement decisions swiftly, instead of debating them at length.
“There is just a lot of whiners in the bowels of the NSC who are complaining that they are not getting their voice heard, when, in fact, maybe their voice doesn’t need to be heard,” said Gordon Sondland, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the European Union in his first term.
</blockquote>
Trump has every right to ignore advice that doesn’t align with his vision for foreign policy, which is radically different from that of any President in the post-WWII era. But it certainly carries substantial risk.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“They don’t have the same kind of bottom-up process that perhaps we’re most accustomed to,” said Condoleezza Rice, who served as national security adviser during the George W. Bush administration, at the Aspen Security Forum in July. “I don’t think you can stand outside and prescribe an NSC process. It depends a lot on the president.”
White House envoy Steve Witkoff often calls Trump immediately after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders. But summaries of those conversations rarely filter through to the government.
“We don’t expect anything more” from Witkoff than briefings for Trump and the senior national security team, said Leavitt.
With a slimmed-down NSC, sometimes Trump himself is out of the loop.
He was surprised to learn in July that the Pentagon had paused weapons deliveries to Ukraine during an inventory review until the freeze became public. Trump reversed the decision about a week later.
</blockquote>
Even if Trump’s vision is right, it serves him poorly not to have good staffing. In his first administration, he was hamstrung by the fact that the #NeverTrump movement essentially disqualified most of the foreign policy hands that would have otherwise naturally staffed a Republican administration. But a decade has solved that problem; there is now a pretty large coterie of MAGA-friendly national security types. The infamous Project 2025 has a rather robust foreign policy agenda, much of which is already being implemented. But, again, if you agree with that agenda, it would be much more likely to be carried out effectively with a less ad hoc coordination process.
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