- Tuesday March 18th, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
White House: Trump and Putin Speaking by Phone
The White House says President Donald Trump and Russian President
Vladimir Putin have begun a highly anticipated call as the U.S.
administration looks to persuade the Russian leader to sign-off on a
30-day ceasefire proposal as a possible pathway to end the war.
The White House is optimistic that peace is within reach even as
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains skeptical that Putin is
doing much beyond paying lip service to Trump.
Tuesday’s call comes after Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the
American proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of
State Marco Rubio. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however,
remains skeptical that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces
continue to pound Ukraine.
Israel Resumes War on Hamas; Terrorists Call It 'Death Sentence' for Hostages
Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing
more than 400, local health officials said, and shattering a ceasefire
in place since January with its deadliest bombardment in a 17-month war
with Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas
refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials
said the operation was open-ended and expected to expand. The White
House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel's
actions.
A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu's decision to return to war
amounts to a "death sentence" for the remaining hostages. Izzat
al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to save his
far-right governing coalition and called on mediators to "reveal facts"
on who broke the truce. Hamas said at least six senior officials were
killed in Tuesday's strikes.
Judge who ordered deportation flights of Venezuelan gang members be returned faces calls for impeachment
After Obama-appointed Judge James Boasberg issued an order Saturday
halting President Donald Trump's rapid deportation of Venezuelan gang
members, Texas GOP Rep. Brandon Gill swiftly announced plans to file
articles of impeachment in an effort to remove him.
Gill made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, noting
he would be filing the motion this week. In a subsequent tweet from
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur turned Trump advisor responded simply,
"Necessary."
Republicans have been piling on Boasberg after he issued a 14-day
restraining order halting the Trump administration from deporting
violent Venezuelan gang members who entered the U.S. illegally, via
powers laid out in the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act.
Last used during World War II, the Alien Enemies Act was implemented in
advance of a potential war with the French at the time, due to fears
that immigrants would sympathize with France. The law provides the
president broad powers to imprison or deport noncitizens during a time
of war.
Bondi on continued deportation flights despite judge’s order: ‘Absolutely’
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Trump administration would
“absolutely” continue to remove Venezuelan immigrants on deportation
flights despite a ruling from a federal judge ordering them to pause
their efforts.
“These are foreign terrorists, that the president has identified them,
and designated them as such, and we will continue to follow the Alien
Enemies Act,” Bondi said Monday on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Saturday temporarily blocked
President Trump from invoking the Alien Enemies Act, which would grant
him the authority to detain and deport individuals of countries deemed
foreign adversaries with little due process.
Bondi ripped Boasberg for attempting “to meddle” in foreign affairs.
DOGE Finds 12M Aged 120 and Older at Social Security
More than 12 million people aged 120 and older were found to be listed
in the Social Security database, the Department of Government
Efficiency reported early Tuesday.
Of that total, roughly 3.2 million people now have been marked as being deceased, DOGE said with an update on its website.
"For the past two weeks, @SocialSecurity has begun a major cleanup of
their records," the announcement said. "Approximately 3.2 million
numberholders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked as deceased.
More work still to be done."
North Korea issues 'nuclear war' warning and threat to 'wipe out' US forces
North Korea has threatened the United States that their "war
reinforcements" to Northeast Asia will be "contained and wiped out"
while Japan is preparing to deploy long-range missiles that are capable
of hitting targets in Pyongyang and China.
The US Marine Corps sent additional F-35B stealth fighter aircraft to Iwakuni in Japan from Arizona on March 8.
Pyongyang's state-run media Korean Central News Agency said on Sunday
that Washington's recent actions cement its place as a "hostile and
confrontational entity."
"The additional deployment of offensive war reinforcements to cope with
contingency in the Korean Peninsula is hourly increasing the
unpredictability of actual armed conflict and a nuclear war," KCNA
added. "The U.S. anti-communist outposts...are within the constant
sighting and striking range of the DPRK's indefinite forces," it said.
"Any war reinforcements of the U.S. will be completely contained and
wiped out."
Newsom says he never supported anti-police ‘lunacy.’ Grant records tell a different story
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) denounced the anti-police movement of 2020 as
“lunacy” in a March 6 podcast interview with conservative activist
Charlie Kirk. A Washington Examiner review of California grant records,
however, found that Newsom’s administration was actively funding
millions of dollars in grants intended to reduce the use of police
officers at the time of his interview.
The Newsom administration’s program has its roots in legislation that
was developed by a hard-line anti-police nonprofit organization.
The grants, worth roughly $9.5 million, were part of the state’s
“Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Grant
Pilot Program,” which seeks to discourage the use of police officers
for a "crisis unrelated to a fire department or emergency medical
service response for vulnerable populations." Examples of events these
unarmed responders should be deployed for, according to California,
included those involving "mental health, intimate partner violence,
community violence, substance abuse, natural disasters, or other
crises."
Judge says Fani Willis violated open records law, orders her to pay $54K in attorneys' fees
A judge has ordered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to pay
more than $54,000 in attorneys' fees and to turn over documents after
finding that her office violated Georgia's Open Records Act.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant represents former Trump campaign staffer
Michael Roman, one of the 18 people indicted in August 2023 along with
President Donald Trump on allegations that they illegally tried to
overturn Trump's 2020 election loss in Georgia. Merchant sued in
January 2024, alleging that the district attorney's office had failed
to turn over public records she had requested.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause found that the
failures to comply with the records law “were intentional, not done in
good faith, and were substantially groundless and vexatious.” Because
Willis and her office “lacked substantial justification” for not
complying, Merchant is entitled to attorneys' fees and litigation
expenses totaling just over $54,000, Krause found.
Krause ordered Willis to search for and turn over all records
responsive to Merchant's requests. The documents and payment are to be
delivered within 30 days of Friday's order.
Sen. Ernst Asks DOD to Audit Contractor With China Ties
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, wants the Department of Defense to investigate
a U.S. defense contractor whose owner has extensive ties to China.
Ernst wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking the
Pentagon to audit S&L Aerospace Metals LLC, which has secured $60
million in defense contracts for fighter jets, attack helicopters and
guided missile launcher parts over the last 20-plus years.
Jerry Wang is the New York-based CEO of the company and is a member of
the Chinese United Front Work Department, serving as director of the
Chinese Overseas Friendship Association, Ernst wrote.
Houthis Defy Trump Warning to Iran, Claim New Attack on US Warships
Yemen's Houthis on Tuesday claimed their third attack on American
warships in 48 hours, despite U.S. strikes on the Iran-backed rebels
that have sparked mass protests organized by the group.
The rebels also condemned Israel's wave of strikes on Gaza, which the
health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said killed at least 416
people, vowing to escalate their own operations in support of ally
Hamas.
The Houthis had targeted ships in the Red Sea after the start of the
Gaza war and until a January ceasefire, claiming solidarity with
Palestinians.
But last week, they threatened to renew attacks on Israeli shipping
over Israel's aid blockade on the battering Palestinian territory,
triggering U.S. backlash and tit-for-tat retaliation.
Federal judges’ Trump hate is only harming the courts themselves
President Trump is demonstrating a skill at backing his opponents into corners that he didn’t show in his first term.
Of course, it helps that his enemies are, unaccountably, cooperating.
One of Trump’s best moves has been, repeatedly, to get the Democrats to
take the “20%” side on the so-called “80/20 issues.” (To be fair,
sometimes they’re more like 70/30 issues, but close enough.)
DOUG SCHOEN: I'm a lifelong Democrat. My party is failing and needs to learn from a winner
Democrats need to show they are a competent alternative to Republicans, yet they won't even discuss it.
Right now, it is clear that the Democrats are at a pivotal moment, and
we need to choose an agenda that genuinely addresses Americans’
concerns.
In the mid 1990’s, when former President Bill Clinton ran for
re-election, he chose an agenda that spoke to the American people, not
his party’s most extreme wing.
It is critical that Democrats use a similar method today.
First and foremost, there has to be recognition that, while the
electorate does want fundamental change, it is not enough to say, "we
need to stand up to Trump and demonstrate against him."
