Dear MAGA,

Do you see it yet? Your boy is betraying you. He told you he was going to do things you like, and he DID follow through with the deportation thing. In fact, I’d say he’s gone over the top with the deportation thing, revoking legal residency status and not just focusing on the undocumented. I understand that part of the reason you haven’t really noticed is because MAGA media is telling you he’s only deporting bad people, whether in gangs or not. I suspect they haven’t even mentioned the professional soccer player whose only “crime” was a tattoo.

He promised another darling-issue-of-the-right, closing the Education Department. He seems on track to do that, too. I mean, he can’t, legally, close the department. But he CAN understaff and underfund the thing until it withers and dies on the vine. I understand you all will be out cheering that move, too.

I suspect that, ultimately, you don’t have a clear handle on exactly what the Department of Education does and it has been thoroughly demonized in MAGA media so you’ll see this as a good thing. It’s another one of those things he can kind of hide since it likely won’t affect you directly. Well, unless your child or grandchild needs a student loan or is disabled and suddenly can’t find a school that will accept him or her. But, c’mon, how many kids are disabled? And really, how many people rely on student loans, right?

So, yeah, he has done a couple of things he said he was going to do. But I STILL say he’s betraying you. Deportations and closing the Department of Education are high-profile things so they get a lot of ink. But, really, they don’t directly affect you as far as you know, so it’s all okay, and I get that. It’s easy to look away from things when they’re happening to other people.

But I still say, on the big things, he betraying you. He’s like a spouse who does household chores right on time but is STILL sexing it up with some hottie at work. Sure, give credit for the household chores but the real concern is sexing it up with the hottie at work, right? Some issues are bigger than others. Cheating on you with someone else is BIGGER than not getting the garbage out or the dishes done, right?

He said he would help with grocery prices. The price of eggs became the exemplar. He hasn’t done that at all. In fact, some of the oh-so-fun things he’s doing to the undocumented community are bound to RAISE your grocery prices. You’re going to feel that, just like everybody else. The tariffs aren’t doing anything to bring down prices, either. Just the opposite, in fact. After telling you he would help, after bragging that he “won on groceries,” he has done nothing to lower grocery prices and has, in fact, made the problem worse. When you asked him about it, he told you to shut up about the eggs.

He’s coming after your health insurance, too. Gutting Medicaid to the tune of $880 billion dollars is going to see many of you losing your health insurance. There are several states out there with trigger laws. If the government cuts their Medicaid contribution to the state for the Affordable Care Act, the state version is cancelled. Automatically. 47’s government is cutting the Medicaid contribution to your state for the Affordable Care Act.

Now you’re left to seek out more expensive, less covering insurance – and God help you if you have preexisting conditions – because health care companies sure as hell won’t. Maybe that won’t be so bad. Do you know anybody in their 60s experiencing what the industry calls ‘preexisting conditions?’ I know I do.

He told you over and over on the campaign trail that he wouldn’t cut Social Security. He’s currently in the process of cutting Social Security. He’s been laying the groundwork by issuing certain threats: checks may not be sent on time; drastic cuts in service are planned; transparency and accountability are reduced; and Social Security insolvency is coming sooner rather than later.

In fact, he’s trying to shut it down completely. He’s using a perfectly legal order from a judge – the one that stops Elon’s team from accessing YOUR personal data – as his excuse, but it will STILL result in no Social Security check at the beginning of the month. I guess that’s fine for people who don’t really need it. Is that you? Do you need it? Look, if it’s just buying you a new guitar every month or some such you may not care that you won’t be getting back all of that money you’ve paid into it your entire working life.

Fortunately, you still have your 401k, or what’s left of it. The stock market hasn’t been reacting well to the regime’s current moves and as the market drops, so does your 401k. That’s less of a problem when you can fall back on your Social Security check but now? What do you fall back on now?

He’s putting you in this position so he and his rich buddies can have a tax cut. Yeah, I know, he’s going to include YOU in the tax cuts as well, right? Except, the increasing cost of living is going to eat up any savings YOU might see in your little pittance of a cut. YOU get less so THEY can have more. Elon is the richest person on Earth – and STILL… he wants more! Is there EVER an end? I mean, how much is too much?

Listen, I’m not saying any of this to to mock you. Yes, I know we’ve had our differences and I understand MAGA may not see me as the most credible of sources but you have eyes. You can see for yourself that the things I’m telling you here are true and correct. You don’t have to confess to me that you know he zigged when he said he would zag. Metaphorically, you can smell your spouse’s lover on your spouse when they get home. You KNOW what’s happening.

Stop worrying about what people might say if you step up to protect yourself. You have an obligation to protect yourself and he had no right to betray you. You didn’t side with him so he could betray you. Pride often keeps people trapped in situations they should be trying to escape. But it’s not your fault – hell, it’s not a fault at all – that you believed him when he promised you everything you dreamed of. He promised. But his actions aren’t supporting his promise. You know it. You can see it. Hell, you can smell it.

The only question now, is, what are you going to do about it? You don’t have to stay loyal to a person who isn’t loyal to you. Everything he says pretends he’s still loyal to you but everything he DOES proves he’s not. Which do you pay attention to, what he says or what he does? Because what he says might feel good or be comforting in the moment, but what he DOES is going to hurt you, directly, badly, and soon. Listen, I’m only trying to help…

There’s a logical fallacy I know called ‘distinction without a difference.’ It occurs when an author or speaker attempts to describe a distinction between two things where no discernible difference exists. I think this is the situation with the Education Department. Well, no, that’s not exactly right. I think it occurs in EVERY department that the Administrative branch can’t legally shut down – only Congress can close a department established by Congress – but claim they CAN cut off it’s money and fire the workers.

So, what’s the difference? The various buildings in question aren’t the departments. Besides, these “business geniuses” want to sell the buildings. The departments, themselves, are the functions of the office along with people who perform those functions. The fact that the buildings still exist doesn’t mean the department still exists if nobody does the work. I’m not sure why it’s legal for the current maladministration to dispose of the people and take the department’s money. How are they not, de facto, “closing” the department?

In my opinion, if you eliminate all the workers, you have, for all intents and purposes, “closed” the department. I continue to believe that’s true even if you “only” eliminate so many workers the department can’t function anymore. This all reminds me of that nasty con assoholic, Grover Norquist, when he said, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

It seems to me that if Congress authorizes any given department – you know, like they NEVER have with DOGE – there is an implicit presumption that the department will be staffed and funded. I’d like some help from any of my legal friends. Could a member of Congress sue the maladministration? Don’t get me wrong, I’m clear they won’t. Congress is CLEARLY complicit in the coup. I’m just asking if, in the long-lost Better America, could a member of Congress have sued the Administrative branch for not properly funding a department Congress has established?

The really irksome part is that there’s a goal, here: privatization. It works like this: you underfund and understaff a department, any department. THEN, when that department starts to fail, as it must, you pretend it’s because “government can’t do things right.” THEN you allow private industry to swoop in and take over because, you pretend, private business never makes mistakes (I mean, how stupid ARE you?) and will ALWAYS do the job better and for less money.

I want to say it’s a moron’s game but it’s really just destructive greed. We’ve been privatizing things for quite some time now. That dumbass idea appeared decades ago and cons have continued to push and push and push for “privatization.” Here are three LAWS of privatization:
One, privatization ALWAYS leads to reduced services and reduced efficiency in the long run.
Two, privatization NEVER lowers costs in the long run. BUT…
Three, some self-important, greed-head blowhard gets to stick his grimy and crooked little fingers into the government trough and make off with a nearly endless supply of money.

Of course, in the minds of the self-important, greed-head blowhards, the third law, there, is FAR more important the the first or the second. It’s summed up beautifully in the rock band Weezer’s immortal words: “gimme-gimme, gimme-gimme…”

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So, how is this not extortion? The First Felon abuses his office and threatens to remove the security clearances and cancel the contracts of a law firm he doesn’t like, primarily because they commonly represent left-leaning issues, or participated in one of the oh-so-many, true and honest legal cases against him. (He’s a petulant little prick, you know.)

So… no, I’m just going to post the paragraph from the Guardian, “To avoid the consequences of Trump’s order, the White House said (emphasis added), the firm had agreed to “take on a wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society”. The firm reportedly agreed to disavow the use of diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in its hiring and promotion decisions and to dedicate the equivalent of $40m in free legal services to support Trump administration policies on issues including assistance for veterans and countering antisemitism.”

“Nice little law firm ya got, here. Be a shame if something were to happen to it. I mean, we could protect you from any harm, for, say, $40 million dollars in free services? How does that sound to you?”

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I think it’s funny to watch Gavin Newsom tacking right – he would say “toward the center” – in an effort to kick off his presidential campaign for 2028. Is there ANYBODY who STILL doesn’t understand that 47 WILL BE “47” for life? I mean, sure, there will be “elections.” Hell, Russia has “elections.” We, the people, get THOSE kind, now. You know, the kind where ‘Dear Leader’ “wins” with 94% of the vote. (That’s 94%, because, realistically, nobody could win 100%. 94% makes it look “honest.”)

So go ahead, Gavin. Keep trashing your own reputation by snuggling up to Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk in an effort to woo the right. But do yourself a favor: stay out of tall buildings, lest you suddenly “decide” to unexpectedly jump out of a window…

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So, which speaks more loudly to you, the car sales promotional event The Felon hosted at the White House to promote “Teslers,” or the fact that after just under a year and a half on the roads, Musk’s SwastiTruck – and I mean ALL of them – are being recalled – for the eighth time? Eight times in just under eighteen months! That’s one crappy vehicle people are overpaying for.

Apparently, the rolling crematoriums just… fall apart while you’re driving down the road. Well, no, they don’t “fall apart.” They experience a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” That’s so much better.

Climbing in to a SwastiTruck gives you options. You might, in fairness, get to where you’re going. You MIGHT burn to death, trapped inside after an accident when it bursts into flame. Then again, you might just experience a refreshing blast of cooling air up your knickers as bits and pieces of your car fall off while you’re cruising down the road. “You pays your money, you takes your chances.” How exciting!

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Pretty much everybody wants violent foreigners deported when possible, despite what MAGA media tells their adherents. I don’t agree with MAGA on undocumented people who aren’t violent, but I honestly DO understand their position on those who slip past the gates. “They should do it the right way,” is fair, if a bit simplistic. (The “right way” involves a huge number of barriers.)

But now? 47 is revoking Green Cards and other forms of staying here AS legal residents. In short, they DID “do it the right way.” He’s sending them away, anyway. So now there IS no “right way” to immigrate to the US? That kind of makes MAGA look like gullible fools, doesn’t it? “Do it the right way” was the fallback position. It was hard to debate. Now The Felon has destroyed that one, too, leaving them all just looking like a bunch of xenophobic, bigoted rubes.

It’s also a pretty narrow focus on whom, exactly, they want out of the country. So, if you’re brown or poor, there’s no “right way” to enter, but rich white guys are always welcome. Hell, they can even BUY their way in with a $5 million dollar “Gold Card.”

It’s also irritating that he’s revoking people’s LEGAL status based on nothing more than his unsubstantiated assertions that this person or that is a “terrorist sympathizer.” If it’s true, show me the evidence. It SHOULD be easy. “Oh, no, we could NEVER do that,” they say, “it’s a matter of national security.” My, how convenient.

So we’re just left to take the word of someone who lies so often the actual news stories are about when he accidentally tells a truth? I prefer a credible source…

Well, this DOES seem like the other shoe, doesn’t it? Cast your mind back all the way back to, um, yesterday. I wrote that The Felon had invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and then a court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) a few hours later. Well, guess what? The maladministration ignored the court’s order! They moved forward with the deportations, claiming the plane had left US airspace before the judge issued his TRO.

Oh, but that’s not all. They also ignored a different court’s order requiring 24 hours notice before any deportations and proceeded to deport Dr Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old, Rhode Island-based, kidney specialist. She is/was a professor at Brown University. She was a legal resident and had not committed any crimes.

My guess is, MAGA media isn’t going to give the Alawieh story much ink. She’s a surgeon. She’s smart, well educated, and skillful. She’s EXACTLY the kind of “good immigrant” the trumpster claims to want instead of gang members. She was in the country legally. The US suffers a very clear loss because of her deportation. MAGA media will have to focus on her one and only “offense.” She’s Lebanese, with all of that… (shivers) brown skin.

Instead, MAGA media will focus on the first of those mentioned because those being deported were said to be gang members. Who knows? Maybe they were. 47 lies about everything so maybe SOME were. Maybe ONE GUY was suspected of once passing a gang member on the street somewhere so, suddenly, they were ALL gang members.

The ‘gang members’ angle plays into MAGA paranoia and fear. They’ll be a-okay with “deporting vicious gang members” – even if a court told the government to wait. They’ll roll over for it because… “vicious gang members.” MAGA will accept the government ignoring court orders because MAGA will be told the court is wrong so the government HAD to.

The part they SHOULD focus on, but won’t, is that the government is now openly ignoring court orders. The idea that one might even agree with their excuse in this case, doesn’t change the fact that open defiance of the courts STARTS with an “agreeable” case but then quickly moves to any area they choose – because precedent will have been established with the “gangs” case.

It’s an old trick, by now. Our government did something like it a long time ago, when they established so-called “Drunk Driving Checkpoints.” They were sold to the public as a way to stop drunk drivers, and who isn’t down with that? They’re still called ‘Drunk Driving Checkpoints,’ of course, but they’re really just “checkpoints.” They’re hardly looking only for drunk drivers.

They’ll stop you for no valid reason. They’ll search your car. They’ll run a legal check on you. EVERY time there’s a “Drunk Driving Checkpoint,” we get stories about them taking people into custody for all kinds of things that are NOT drunk driving or things they couldn’t/shouldn’t know about if they’re only checking for glassy eyes.

But now? Checkpoints are just part of the process, right? Even if we grumble about them – and they ARE unconstitutional – they keep happening. The same will be the case with ignoring court orders the government doesn’t like.

MAGA used to bitch and bitch about the heavy-handed government engaging in illegal things. But, of course, that was when it wasn’t really happening. Now that it is? They’ll cheer. But it was the “other shoe” of an authoritarian takeover. With them openly defying courts, we’ve passed the point of no return. This is going to get ugly…

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Our current national nightmare began so many years ago when “poorly educated” conservatives were conditioned to believe that there was such a thing as “Supply-side Economics.” There isn’t. It’s a nonsense term but it SOUNDED like it meant something and stupid people, fearing they might LOOK stupid, embraced the name and the concept as presented in the hopes that they looked, for once, like they might understand something complex and confusing.

The concept of Supply-side or “trickle down” economics is simple enough: give all the money to rich people, then sit back and enjoy all the wondrous benefits the benevolent billionaires bestow on the working class. Well, at this point, a fair argument could be made that we’ve done the first part – we gave all the money to the richest people. If you want to split hairs and say, “I’ve still got some money,” I’ll agree, but you don’t have much and you won’t have what you have for long. Worse, there are thousands of people out there who don’t have any. For all intents and purposes, they have “all the money.” Certainly, they have all of the control.

They sold the idea that laws, rules, and regulations were “impediments to innovation” and that they made it more difficult to make money – and that was said to be a BAD thing. The MAGA mind lapped it up. Here’s the thing: yes. Regulations DID make it more difficult to “innovate.” Like that time PG&E wanted to “innovate” disposing of poisonous chemicals in a small town’s drinking water supply, saving PG&E lots of money, but poisoning the people of the town.

It DID cost PG&E more money to dispose of their waste properly. And all because people wanted to drink clean water and not be poisoned. How selfish is that? They should have been shareholders. Sure, they’d still be poisoned but they’d get back a few pennies on their investment so it would be okay, right? Oh, wait. The major shareholders weren’t poisoning the water the major shareholders drank. That was a special “innovation” for Joe Six-pack, alone. The One Percent didn’t even send a card when children died from the poison.

Oh, but they’re going to get to “innovate” now, aren’t they? Pay attention. ALL of their great, coming “innovations” are going to cost the work-a-day Joes more and more money. Our world is about to become a nightmare of desperation while the One Percent enjoy their privileged and easy lives. But knowing they were now free to trample over the masses wasn’t enough for them. As long as our old Constitutional Republic existed, there was a chance (a minuscule chance, admittedly) someone might do the right thing and try to rein them in.

So, they used our money to buy – and then destroy – our government. The richest man in the world is telling the same people who were supposed to – expecting to – reap the rewards of billionaire largess that they want too much and they’re taking far too much based on the idea that the working class thinks it should STILL get the Social Security we were promised.

This all has historical precedent. It’s all happened before. I’ve long said that when FDR introduced the New Deal, he saved the country, or at the very least, he bought the country some time. But in point of fact, if history is to be our guide (and what else do we have?) FDR introducing the New Deal saved the One Percent. They didn’t know it then, and they understand it even less now, but it happens over and over and over again, throughout history.

The One Percent gains all the advantage in society. Legally, economically, socially, they can’t lose. EVERYONE else suffers. EVERYONE else pays the highest of high prices for the comfort of the very few. Our billionaire class numbers around 748. The population of the US is right around 343.6 million. 343.6 million people get to suffer so that 748 people never have to touch the ground. That’s just wrong. It’s exactly what the founders were trying to escape, not create.

We are probably the most heavily armed population on the planet and in the history of the planet. We don’t have to take their crap. Cons have been shouting all along that they MUST keep an armory in their homes in case the government falls to tyranny. Well the tyranny is here now and the armories are intact. So, no, we don’t have to take their crap, though we will – for a while. But history demonstrates that authoritarian regimes ALWAYS push too far, ALWAYS take too much. They ALWAYS abuse the population one time too many.

Our billionaire class numbers around 748. The population of the US is right around 343.6 million. When they make peaceful revolution impossible, they make violent revolution inevitable. At this point, the only remaining question is, when does it start?