The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

French President Emmanuel Macron called leaders from key European Union nations and the United Kingdom to his ornate Elysee Palace on Monday for an emergency meeting on how to react to the U.S. diplomatic blitz on Ukraine, which left the once rock-solid partner as a potential political liability.

The first visit by top U.S. officials to Europe has left the impression that the Trump administration was ready to embrace the Kremlin while it cold-shouldered many of its age-old European allies.

Despite belligerent warnings for months ahead of Donald Trump’s reelection as U.S. president, EU leaders publicly ignored the ominous forebodings and somehow hoped Trump would stand side by side with Europe, while the continent would finally start to act on beefing up its defenses and become less reliant on the firepower of Washington.

But a flurry of speeches by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during their initial visits to Europe last week questioned both Europe’s security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles. Macron said their stinging rebukes and threats of non-cooperation in the face of military danger felt like a shock to the system.  

The tipping point came when Trump decided to upend years of U.S. policy by holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Then, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia on Saturday all but ruled out the inclusion of other Europeans in any Ukraine peace talks...

The good news is Europe's leading countries are getting their act together on Ukraine and other security issues.  The bad news is that it took "a flurry of speeches" to shock them into believing what the Malignant Fascist has been doing and saying for years.  The era of wishful thinking is, hopefully, past.  Sadly, now that the Malignant Loser is aligning the U.S. with Putin's Russia, it's going to be up to Europe to stand in the breach. They'll never be able to trust the U.S. again.  Sic transit gloria, America.

The bad:

The Trump administration carried out more mass firings across the Health and Human Services Department this weekend, continuing a chaotic purge of the federal workforce that career officials and lawmakers warned would hurt key programs and impair efforts to track threats to public health.

The cuts hit staffers at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, several people with knowledge of the firings told POLITICO. The administration also terminated some staff at the office responsible for emergency preparedness and response.

The firings were part of a culling of roughly 3,600 probationary employees across the sprawling department that began earlier this week with terminations primarily at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health.

Trump officials on Friday cast the layoffs imposed by billionaire Elon Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency as methodical decisions meant to spare HHS’ core functions. Yet those inside the agencies disputed that portrayal over the weekend, describing deep cuts that at times seemed indiscriminate — with even some Trump political appointees unaware which of their employees were being fired or why.

Those cuts included officials working on Medicare and Medicaid initiatives aimed at improving care for beneficiaries at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and at the CMS office that oversees Obamacare, as well as officials at the FDA offices that regulate prescription drugs and medical devices. The layoffs at FDA included some staff who review medical device products, three of the people with knowledge of the firings said, raising fears they would slow the agency’s ability to evaluate and approve new devices.

HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response was also hit, prompting sharp criticism from public health experts who warned it would damage the government’s frontline response to threats like bird flu. The administration is already expected to eliminate most of the CDC's public health fellows — some of whom received termination notices this weekend — including fellows at the Laboratory Leadership Service who do public health research, according to a former HHS official...

What we're seeing at HHS is being repeated at other critical departments and agencies throughout the federal government, as the Malignant Fascist and President Musk --two peabrains in a pod -- continue their nihilistic, mindless rampage.  Get ready for a wild ride this tax season, by the way!  "Move fast and break things" is their mantra, and the American public their victims. 

The ugly:

New York State Police charged five people Friday with murder in the killing of a missing man who authorities said died following repeated acts of violence and torture for more than a month by multiple individuals who later discarded his body in a field.

The victim, Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old transgender man originally from Minnesota, was reported missing on Feb. 9. Police said he arrived in New York in September and had lost contact with loved ones.

Major Kevin Sucher, commander of the state police troop that includes the Finger Lakes region, said the facts and circumstances of the case were “beyond depraved” and “by far the worst” homicide investigation the office has ever been part of.

“No human being should have to endure what Sam endured,” he said, during televised news conference. Police did not share many details of the case, noting it remained under active investigation. 

When asked if Nordquist’s torture and death were considered a hate crime, Capt. Kelly Swift the New York State Police Troop E’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation said police hadn’t ruled it out but stressed the investigation was continuing. Investigators also need to determine Nordquist’s relationship with the suspects as well as the suspects’ relationships with one another.  

Those arrested include Precious Arzuaga, 38, and Patrick Goodwin, 30, of Canandaigua, New York; Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester, New York; Jennifer Quijano, 30, of Geneva, New York; and Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima, New York. All five were charged with second-degree murder after police on Thursday searched a room at the Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, the last place Nordquist was known to be staying.

All five were being held in police custody, pending arraignment. It was unclear whether any had obtained an attorney.

The investigation has so far revealed a “deeply disturbing pattern of abuse” that ultimately resulted in Nordquist’s death, said Swift, who called it “one of the most horrific crimes” she has ever investigated in her 20-year law enforcement career.

"Beyond depraved" and "horrific crime," says it.  Also, pure evil.