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White House Spins Boat Strike War Crime - the Wednesday AM Quickie 11/3/25

By Corey Pein —

If you're old enough to remember the Iran-Contra scandal, it's hard not to reminisce these days, with the Trump regime green-lighting more CIA shenanigans in Latin America. One of the key figures in that Regan-era affair, CIA gunrunner Eugene Hasenfus, died yesterday. We need more Congressional hearings designed for the TikTok era. - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

World Tour: Trump and Hegseth Commit War Crimes Even Before Invading Venezuela

  • Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández Released from US Prison After Trump Pardons Him for Industrial Cocaine Trafficking and Bribery Meanwhile in Tegucigalpa, Liberal centrist leader Salvador Nasralla took a slight lead in the presidential election returns over the Trump-backed right-wing favorite Nasry Asfura. via the New York Times, HuffPost, and Reuters.
  • On Trump's Orders, US Cancels Citizenship Ceremonies and Immigration Applications for 1.5 Million People Meanwhile, Minnesotans, including Squad Rep. Ilhan Omar, denounced Donald Trump's outrageous gutter racism targeting the state's Somali immigrant community. via the New York Times, Reuters, and Sahan Journal.
  • Putin Threatens Europe with War After Fruitless Five-Hour Meeting on Ukraine with Trump Envoy and Son-in-Law "'There are three pillars on which we will not compromise,' a Russian official briefed on the matter said on condition of anonymity. 'One is the territory of the Donbas. The second is a limit on Ukraine's armed forces. The third is the recognition of territory by America and Europe.'" via NBC News, Reuters, and Al Jazeera.
  • Floods Kill More Than 1,300 in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand; 1,000 Missing "'This is not just a natural disaster, it's a human-made crisis,' said Rianda Purba from the Indonesian Environmental Forum, an activist group. 'Deforestation and unchecked development have stripped Batang Toru of its resilience. Without urgent restoration and stricter protections, these floods will become the new normal.'" via the AP, the New York Times, and Al Jazeera.
  • Indian Government Demands Smartphones Come Pre-Installed with Spyware App That Can't Be Deleted "'When the government forces a special app, with special powers, onto every new phone, it is effectively putting its own lock inside your house,' said Apar Gupta, a lawyer and a founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation." via the New York Times and Reuters.
  • Hong Kong Authorities Police Public Reaction to Apartment Fire Disaster "It's crucially important not to treat those demanding answers for the tragic fire as criminals," says Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. via Reuters, the Hong Kong Free Press, and the South China Morning Post.
  • Human Trafficking Scandal Involving Russian Military Recruitment Rocks South Africa Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, is among those accused of illegally duping South African men into fighting for Russia in Ukraine. via BBC News, Al Jazeera, and the Guardian.
  • Eurovision Song Contest Organizers Vote Tomorrow on Israel's Eligibility Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian teenagers; and in Gaza, another journalist. via Reuters, Al Jazeera, and the AP.

Republicans Rattled By Double-Digit Shrinkage in Tennessee Special Election

A year ago, Donald Trump carried Tennessee's seventh congressional district by 22 percentage points. Yesterday, Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Matt Van Epps won a special election in that district by only nine percentage points – representing a massive 13-point shift against Trump's party in what should be one of their safest districts. Turnout was high, and Republicans outspent Democrats by nearly $1 million. "It was too close," one House GOP leadership aide tells Politico. Another House Republican predicted before the race that a single-digit margin would mean "the conference may come unhinged." That is, more than usual.

"We may not have won tonight, but we changed the story of what’s possible here," the Democratic candidate, Aftyn Behn, said last night. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said "Behn's overperformance in this Trump +22 district is historic and a flashing warning sign for Republicans heading into the midterms."

Dotard Trump Sleeps Through Another Meeting

Donald Trump repeatedly dozed off during a two-hour cabinet meeting at the White House yesterday, the second time in less than a month he's done so in public with cameras on him. The Washington Post analyzed videos of the meeting and found "that during nine separate instances, Trump’s eyes were closed for extended periods or he appeared to struggle to keep them open, amounting cumulatively to nearly six minutes." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells the New York Times that Trump was "listening attentively" during the entire meeting and that the "epic moment" when he delivered a racist rant against Somali immigrants (see above) "put an exclamation point" on the proceeding. Trump also complained about "the word affordability" being "a Democrat scam" and recent coverage of his drowsiness, saying "right now I think I'm sharper than I was 25 years ago." Oh sure boss.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Trump's USDA Plans to Withhold SNAP Funds from Democratic States "Genuine question: Why is the Trump [regime] so hellbent on people going hungry?" asked New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. via the Washington Post and the Associated Press.
  • Tech Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell Pledge to Seed 25 Million 'Trump Accounts' with $250 Each, a Gift to Wealthy Families "The reliance on the charitable contributions of philanthropy or corporate leaders leaves us vulnerable to their whims and the fickleness of their charitable inklings," warns New School of Social Research economist Darrick Hamilton, who calls the Trump Accounts "regressive." via the Washington Post and the AP.
  • Pentagon Inspector General to Release 'Signalgate' Report on Hegseth's Sloppy Secrecy Practices Soon "The expected release of the report comes at a sensitive moment for Hegseth, who is currently under scrutiny in connection to a separate incident" involving apparent war crimes in the Caribbean. via NBC News and the Washington Post.
  • 'A Fight Worth Having': LA County Supervisors Vote to Ban ICE, and Other Cops, from Wearing Masks Meanwhile in Illinois, state officials warned rental car companies that they could be held liable if immigration agents swap the plates on their vehicles. via the Los Angeles Times and NBC News.

SOME NUMBER

$14 billion

That's how much Elon Musk's "charitable" foundation had in assets last year, the New York Times reports. It was the fourth year in a row that the foundation failed to give away the minimum amount of money required by law to maintain its tax-exempt status.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

12/3: Sam and Emma are in the studio today and their guests are Jessica Burbank, an investigative reporter and contributing writer at Drop Site News, on to discuss her work on surveillance company Flock Safety, and K. Sabeel Rahman, professor of law at Cornell Law School, on to discuss his piece in Dissent Magazine: The Case for a Third Reconstruction.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

HEGSETH MIGHT BE F*CKED

Is it the "fog of war" or the fog of christofascism?

Here's Houston Public Media's writeup on the cruel and pointless ordeal of Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia and his family.

PARTING WORDS

"I don't need a bear for Christmas. I want to get rid of the bear for Christmas."

-- Altadena, California resident Ken Johnson, speaking to KTLA about the 500-pound black bear occupying the crawl space beneath his home since last week. California Department of Fish and Wildlife plan to respond to Johnson's call for help "soon," but have been busy with other situations. Many wildlife were also displaced by January's devastating fires.

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