It seems to be turning out that putting an alcoholic talking head into the role of Defense Secretary may not have been the smartest move possible. In fairness, it MAY have been the smartest move possible from these guys, but clearly, that’s not the same as the smartest move possible.

After the recent debacle of inviting a reporter to his private chat group in which the national defense team all got on a group chat to discuss an attack on Yemen with real details of the attack being offered in real time, now it turns out Whiskey Pete Hegseth is taking his wife to work with him – AND taking her into high level meetings with foreign officials in which sensitive information was discussed.

As a real quick sidebar, one of the things MAGA has been told about that crack team is that they were on secure government equipment when the chat took place. Only MAGA was told that. The rest of us knew they were on their own phones. Obviously, debates occurred. The envoy to Russia defended that fact that he was in Moscow, with Putin, at the time of the attacks by pointing out that he couldn’t have shared information with Putin because he didn’t have his personal phone. When he went into Russia, he claims, he left his personal phone behind. Debate ended. They WERE on personal equipment.

I heard a representative from Signal, the app they were using, praising the security of Signal but careful to point out that people’s handheld phones were imminently hackable by bad guys and THAT represents the security risk. Not the app, the phones themselves. And since the contact information of many of them has been found to be readily available online, it makes sense that bad guys DID hack those phones the very moment they were named to their positions.

But, getting back to Whiskey Pete, the fiascos aren’t finished. SO… which liberal, trump-hating, smear rag is saying Jennifer Hegseth was included in high level meetings with foreign dignitaries in which sensitive information was being discussed? Why the ‘Wall Street Journal.’ Jennifer was a producer on Fox Not News. That’s where she and Pete met. We have no information as to her security clearance but then, security is clearly not a high priority for our current national defense team.

It turns out, he ALSO brings his brother to these meetings. Philip Hegseth is currently traveling around with Pete on a tour of Asia. Just for clarity, that would be on YOUR taxpayer dime. I mean, where’s DOGE when you need it? I’m pretty sure I’ve uncovered some fraud, waste, and abuse. Hegseth is the fraud, he’s wasting everybody’s time, and he’s abusing his authority…

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I continue to think it’s important to remain engaged with your local MAGA. I see more and more posts and comments about how thinking Americans are just shutting out MAGA or vice-versa. Stopping communication is among the worst things you can do. It actually helps the oligarchs. Their strategy is heavily dependent on the biblical idea that a house divided against itself cannot stand. It’s just that the oligarchs have stood Jesus’ words on their ear. They know the line is true so they decided to divide the house on purpose, because a divided house cannot stand – against them.

I suspect it’s a universal observation that the “information” MAGA receives from their “news” outlets is different that the information thinking Americans receive from THEIR news outlets. That shouldn’t be, but is. The vast majority of “news” and/or “information” outlets are owned or funded by the One Percent. They make “editorial decisions” about which stories get amplified in right-leaning or left-leaning news and the stories are NEVER reported the same way. The spin is always different, too.

So if the oligarch’s goal is to divide the house with conflicting information, it becomes our job to try to heal the divide. The ONLY way I can think of to do THAT is to stay engaged. Talk to them about current events. It doesn’t HAVE to end in a shouting match, especially if you’re not trying to prove you’re right or they’re wrong. They believe their sources the same way you believe yours.

Just compare notes. You CAN get away with, “On my side, I’m hearing this. What are you hearing on your side?” THEN – and I confess, this is the hard part – DON’T guffaw or roll your eyes when they tell you. Listen to them. Don’t argue with them. Highlight the fact that their news is different than what you hear. The seed needs to be planted as to why, exactly, we’re not getting the same information. Oh, and ALWAYS consider the possibility that YOU are the one with the faulty information. Deceptive corporate media is just that – deceptive.

The point, here, is: don’t cut off your MAGA friends and family. Stay engaged. It serves the oligarchs for you to set your face against MAGA (and vice-versa) and you best undermine the oligarchs by refusing to do so. Don’t argue, discuss. When there’s no fire in the exchange, it’s possible to have a (likely short) conversation. And that’s another point. Listen to their information, share yours, move on. The longer you linger the more likely it devolves into a shouting match.

You can actually fight the oligarchy by not fighting with MAGA, but you have to keep in contact and discuss things. Maybe they’ll learn something. Maybe YOU’LL learn something. Maybe the masses can all get angry, together, at being played like a fiddle by the wealthy…

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Yesterday, there was a world-wide protest against Tesla. Well, no. The protest was against Elon Musk, the immigrant who hates America the most and who means it more harm than any of our brown brothers and sisters from south of the border. But the Tesla Swasticar has become the focal point of objections to Musk and the entire world fell out in front of dealerships.

Mostly, the stock of the Swasticar is crashing. It makes some small gains, here and there, but I would guess that over time, we’re going to find out those small recoveries are manipulations of some kind. Shareholders are asking Musk to step down as CEO. They think he should focus on his business or focus on the government, but they’re clear trying to do both is not working. Musk’s destructive government actions are hurting the brand.

But, listen, don’t hurt the cars, themselves, okay? While I would NEVER own a Swasticar because of how dangerous they are in crashes, right now they’re just a symbol of our outrage that this billionaire is destroying our government. Recently, in Las Vegas, someone attacked a dealership with Molotov Cocktails and burned some of the cars up. (Kind of ironic, if you ask me. Leave them alone. They’ll burn themselves, given half a chance.) Now the person responsible has been arrested.

That guy accomplished nothing except blowing up his own life. I imagine it felt good in the moment. I imagine it felt like striking a blow of some kind. But burning two or three cars didn’t have much effect and now the guy is going to jail. Worse, because of Musk’s money and the corruption everywhere MAGA treads, the guy will probably go to jail for a LONG time, just to make a point. At the very least, if you’re going to go to jail for the cause make sure you do something concrete, something that makes a difference MORE than just sending a message.

For now, standing outside the dealership with a sign seems to be effective – and you get to go home in the evening, leaving you free to come back and hold your sign tomorrow, too. Do that and KEEP doing it as long as Musk is associated with Tesla. The ONLY thing the oligarchs are interested in is money and, for now, it’s the best weapon we have against them, denying them money…