I was watching the Oct 28, 2022 episode of ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ when the subject of Elon Musk came up. Bill (we’re on a first name basis, apparently) said he likes Elon and thinks Elon gets a raw deal. One of the guests began to make a point. She mentioned his Starlink system, Bill mentioned Tesla, she added “the reusable rocket.” Bill, defending Elon, exclaimed, “Bad guy, right?” Oh, I see. Musk’s companies have done some beneficial things so he’s automatically on the good list? Hmm…

The Volkswagen Bug. The Autobahn. The V-2 rocket, forerunner to the Saturn 5 that took man to the moon. All created under one Adolph Hitler. As it happens, even after those accomplishments, I’m just not ready to include Hitler on the good guy list. But, apparently, Bill Maher might consider it. Who knew?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, how long ago was it? Back in September, I think. Chief Kangaroo of the US Supremely Kangaroo Court, John Roberts, came out sniveling that people might associate the stupid ideological rulings of that packed court with the “legitimacy of the court.” Well, duh… HE, of course, was trying to pretend people shouldn’t do that. Just let them make their “rulings” based on ideology and not the law and never question the court’s legitimacy. But then…

The GOP needs an extra moment this “election.” It turns out, the IRS was about to hand over Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee in connection to an investigation regarding the former president’s tax compliance. There’s a specific law on the books – it has been in place since the Teapot Dome scandal in the early 1920’s – that gives certain members of Congress the legal right to obtain ANY American’s taxes and says the IRS “shall furnish…” the returns. SHALL, not might, could, or if they’re in the mood.

Trump, of course, refuses to let anyone see his taxes. The reason, according to my guess, is that he’d be in even deeper trouble with the IRS than he is now with the State of New York for tax fraud. It seems Trump overstates asset values on loan applications and understates them on taxes. If he did that in New York, why wouldn’t he do it on the Federal level? The thing is, as most people know, Trump has taken on this mythic (read: fraudulent) ethos and his acolytes just (and only) believe everything good about him – whether it’s true or not. Now, theirs is a matter of faith and proof that Trump is a fraud likely won’t affect their devotion to him in any way. But any sling, any arrow might do some damage, especially to the candidates who channel the Dumbass in their own “elections.”

There’s not much question that if Trump’s fraudulent tax returns were turned over, some of the information in them would certainly “leak” just before these mid-terms. There’s a slight, outside chance that such a leak might impact Republican candidates, especially the craziest of them who repeat Trump’s obnoxious Big Lie. The cons can’t have that. Enter John Roberts, who single-handedly stopped the taxes from being delivered before the votes are cast. Sure, it’s directly opposed to a law that has been on the books for 100 years but it’s ideologically sound and helps his beloved GOP. Now, back to Roberts sniveling about “legitimacy…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Very few things in this crazy world startle me anymore but the level of control the conservative media has over it’s consumers continues to be one of them. The “leadership” of the Republican Party has dropped all pretense of American ideals – except to confuse the base. Loving America, the idea, is imperative to their long-term goals. But loving America, herself, as she is? No, not so much. These guys are actively trying to elect acolytes who want to choose who wins an election, not based on the number of votes but only on whom they prefer to see in office – and the rank and file have NO IDEA, no effing clue, there’s anything anti-American about that.

Some crazy broke into Nancy Pelosi’s house. He said he was sick of all the lies coming out of Washington DC. Yeah, yeah, politicians lie, call me when something new happens. But these guys have been conditioned to believe that if they don’t like something they hear, if they happen to disagree, well, clearly that’s a lie. They long ago rejected facts and evidence so there’s no using those to help. It’s all just down to their “feels.” They’re actually ready to kill based on how they feel today!

South Dakota has a Republican candidate this year who just got arrested for molesting his daughter. They won’t care. The con bubble will call it a political attack and they’ll vote for him, anyway. Same with Herschel Walker in Georgia. Clearly the guy has been sleeping around casually for decades and paying the bills for the abortions when he can get them and (sometimes) the kids when he can’t. Running as a staunch anti-abortion candidate after paying for multiple abortions is clearly hypocritical. Again, they won’t care. There IS no line. That’s why the dumbass can be called a super Christian and not know one word from the Bible. They want to believe he’s a Christian, so he’s a Christian. (In fairness, he’s no less Christian than many of the other folks who claim the title…)

The right wing media bubble will confirm whatever story comes down the line – until there’s a threat of a lawsuit. They just want what they want – and what they want is to destroy the Republic. They would argue with me, of course. They don’t KNOW they’re being manipulated and used as tools to overthrow the Constitution. Many will never know. Some will come to understand what they’ve wrought at some point, commonly once they see the actual fruits of their efforts. But, of course, by then it will be FAR too late.

The slow motion coup is nearly complete. Reagan was the first tool. (Maybe the first weapon.) Bush 41 didn’t play along so he only got to be a one-term guy. Bill was on-board, though. Clinton’s efforts toward the destruction of a once-great nation resulted in massive wealth for himself and hobnobbing with the wealthiest people on the planet. 43 did as he was told. Halliburton seems to have done the telling. Obama doesn’t get much blame but he DID lock Americans into a corporate medical insurance scam that hasn’t done much to provide actual medial care. And it all led to Trump. Make no mistake. The cons are only the tools the One Percent used to achieve their means. Once the Republic is a thing of the past, the cons will be shunted aside just as easily as the people who understand things. The media will still offer the indoctrination, though. One never knows when the lemmings will need direction…