[Bones McCoy]

Who falls next:

a) The latest Ayatollah.
b) Another Trump administration woman.

Place your bets:

Pam Bondi out as Trump's attorney general

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd9gjwdw9ygt

Rolling coverage.. Imhotep knows why.

Pam Bondi is out of her job as US attorney general in the Trump administration, reports the BBC's US news partner CBS.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will work as acting attorney general, and Bondi will be offered another post in the administration, CBS says.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Does this make any practical difference to the Government? How long will (apparently Lee Zeldin) take to get up to Bondi's level of high performance?

[Spoonman]

Who falls next:

a) The latest Ayatollah.
b) Another Trump administration woman.

Place your bets:

Pam Bondi out as Trump's attorney general

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd9gjwdw9ygt

Rolling coverage.. Imhotep knows why.

Pam Bondi is out of her job as US attorney general in the Trump administration, reports the BBC's US news partner CBS.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will work as acting attorney general, and Bondi will be offered another post in the administration, CBS says.

I'll go (b) for Gabbard.

[satnav]

By sacking Bondi, Trump has probably bought himself a bit of time. Wasn't she due to face a congressional committee very soon as a result of the dreadful performance she put in the last time she faced the committee. Any new appointment will probably be given a couple of months to get up to speed on the Epstein stuff.

All the failings can be attributed to Bondi and it could a good 6 months before the new attorney general is in a position where they finally have handed over any incriminating stuff on Trump.

[Abernathy]

Bondi, Leavitt, Noem, Gabbard. There definitely seems to be some sort of pattern there. Trump seems to like to appoint charmlessly belligerent, dim-witted, and mendacious bimbos to key posts in his administration.

Do we know why ?

[Abernathy]

I've been thinking about the morality of Trump's decision to attack Iran. In short, just what does Trump think gives him the right simply to attack another sovereign country ( this of course applies to Venezuela too) ? He appears to have done so with complete impunity. But by doing so, he is essentially no different from Vladimir Putin and his illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Similarly, Trump is threatening to perpetrate what are recognised as war crimes on Iran - promising to bomb the country "back to the stone age", threatening to destroy the entireity of Iran's power-generating infrastructure. How the fuck does he get away with this ?

[Youngian]

Unlikely they'll be no consequences for the US abandoning even the pretence to conforming to international institutionalism and stability. More likely this a Suez moment and the games up for Pax Americana. The US can no longer give the right answer to the opening question in diplomacy: Is this a rational power that will follow its predictable self interests?

[Andy McDandy]

Unless another nutcase head of state decides to declare all-out war on the USA, he has nothing to fear. The bulk of his base don't give two shits what happens to anyone who isn't their immediate family, and any war that happens overseas won't touch much back home. America is a natural fortress, and more or less self-sufficient. Taking the Cartman option ("Screw you guys, I'm going home!") will be seen as assertiveness rather than petulance or weakness. Any criticism or censure, just jealousy.

Basically late Victorian Britain, but with nukes, and with less superficial charm.

[Boiler]

How the fuck does he get away with this ?

Andy has explained it more eloquently and comprehensively than me, but in three words - because he can.

[Bones McCoy]

Bondi, Leavitt, Noem, Gabbard. There definitely seems to be some sort of pattern there. Trump seems to like to appoint charmlessly belligerent, dim-witted, and mendacious bimbos to key posts in his administration.

Do we know why ?

It seems like a variant on an old business practice.

Business sells another a service courtesy of its slickest, sharpest suited sales guys.
Fucks about and fails to deliver.
If the customer protests too much they'll arrange a meeting.
Sharp suited guys fail to appear, instead a little female intern is sent to carry the can.
Most decent customers won't unleash a tirade in that situation.

It also worked for Thatcher.
Third term in and she's talking shit.
But the bulk of the "gents" in the cabinet and the press won't "speak badly to a lady".

It's a little different with Trump.
He also selects for vicious untalented types whose job depends 100% on absolute loyalty.

With Trump, the same is true of his male admins - Rubio, Huckabee, Patel, Johnson.
He's simply less prone to discarding them like burned-out wives.