SaturTabs

• Via the Baltimore Banner: Rejected at her door, ICE nabs a Maryland woman in her car after smashing her window. Well, at least we are all now safe from a 52-year-old seamstress. Watch the video. For those who don’t speak Spanish, Berrios was asking for the warrant, which ICE did not provide. I hope these guys are proud of their work, rounding up a middle-aged woman and traumatizing her daughter.
• Via the NYT: Trump Signs Orders Punishing Those Who Opposed His 2020 Election Lies. The vengeance tour continues. He is punishing Chris Krebs for being an honest professional about the 2020 election security and Miles Taylor for writing an op/ed about his resistance from within the bureaucracy in the first Trump administration.
• Via CNN: US consumer sentiment plummets to second-lowest level on records going back to 1952. Gee, I wonder why?
• Via the BBC: US fires Greenland military base chief for ‘undermining’ Vance.
• Via Politico: Feds move to drop criminal case against man they previously called a major gang leader. Just to show that a) just because the administration declares you are a terrorist, doesn’t make it so, and b) due process of law is a must.
• Via Axios: Kash Patel replaced as acting ATF director by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
• Via CBS News: H.R. McMaster receives accidental call from President Trump.
• Via the NYT: L.A. Woman Is Arrested After Pointing Gun at Officers, Police Say. I will readily admit that I do not know enough about the situation to make a full judgment, but I can’t help but note that what she did sounds an awful lot like what gun advocates, especially of “stand your ground”/”castle doctrine” folks, profess to believe in. Maybe, just maybe, there are too many guns?
• Via NRO: GOP Senator Expresses Mild Concern on Tariffs: ‘Whose Throat Do I Get to Choke If This Turns Out to Be Wrong?’

one of the Republicans who must sweat his reelection chances in 2026, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, was not exactly subtle in his questioning of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this turns out to be wrong?” Tillis asked. He added, “I’m not condemning it because I’m not a trade expert. . . . I’m just trying to figure out whose throat I get to choke if it’s wrong and who I put up on a platform and thank them for the novel approach that was successful, if they’re right.”

Well, since he is a part of the party implementing this stuff, I guess some auto-asphyxiation may be in order. Especially since he could have voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment to help forestall where we are. Mitch McConnell is a prime candidate for not using his power to accomplish that feat as well.

And here’s a thought: maybe go talk to some talk experts if you don’t understand what is going on? You are not a helpless bystander. You are a US Senator!

From the linked piece:

A prolonged trade war would have serious repercussions for the Tar Heel State’s economy. According to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, last year North Carolina exported a record $42.8 billion of goods to the world, making it the 15th largest state exporter of goods. In 2022, according to the latest data available, exports from North Carolina supported an estimated 145,000 jobs.