politics

Lessons In Deception…

by MyBaconPress

Today is Sunday so I’ve decided to stand aside and let the First Speaker of the Doctrine of Universal Harmony (still me) offer up some lessons. Today’s focus is on lying and the effects of lying. It turns out, lying is a bad thing and, in the long run, liars tend to suffer from their defect of morality MORE than the people they attempt to deceive.

Personally, I spend a great deal of time trying to excuse the disgraces of the MAGA rank and file based on the idea that they’re deceived – and it’s true, they are. But, apparently, I’m willing to bring more grace to our situation than their God, who seems to take a VERY hard line on this.

“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NASB)

Okay, in truth, you’re being judged already by the world around you, but according to this, you’ll be judged in the afterlife, too. And, according to this, you’ll be judged whether you were deceived or not. If you’re one of those people clinging desperately to Christianity in hopes of seeing a long lost loved one again when you get to Heaven – according to the Bible, you ain’t gettin’ to Heaven…

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape. (Proverbs 19:5)

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Have you heard The Felon blaming DEI for, well, everything? The inherent message to MAGA DEI taunts is this: you hired someone who was NOT a white male, therefore you didn’t get the best possible person. How bigoted is that? The automatic insinuation is that the most competent people are, obviously, white males. The insinuation is that if you hired a woman, it was because she’s a woman – so she couldn’t possibly be competent. The insinuation is that if you hired a black person, it was because he’s black – so he couldn’t possibly be competent. The obvious subtext is that the ONLY way to get the most competent person is to hire a white male.

Dear MAGA, if you ONLY hire white males, you can only get the best possible WHITE MALE person, not the best possible person. You might want to sit down for this, but it’s possible a woman or a person of color or, Heaven forfend, a woman of color IS the best possible person – and, yes, even if she’s a lesbian.

And if the clown car in the White House is any indicator (and it is), there’s no reason to automatically presume the white person is the best person. From MY point of view, there’s a huge pile of, um, very much NOT the best people (even though they’re white) running things now…

There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16 – 19)

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One of the refrains we commonly hear in relation to The Felon is, “Promises made, promises kept.” Oh, GOD, they love that. It’s wrong, of course. The ACTUAL slogan SHOULD be, “Lies told, lies responded to.” It’s far more accurate.

He makes promises all the time. He breaks them just as often. The price of eggs is up, not down. Promise made, promise broken. Wars still rage around the world. Promise made, promise broken. He STILL hasn’t built his wall and Mexico never DID pay for it. Promise made, promise broken. Tariffs won’t increase inflation. Promise made, promise broken. (MAGA just ignores the broken promises so they can maintain their delusions of his pretended “skills.”)

But he cracked down on DEI. Lie told, lie responded to. He released the J6 rioters because it was “just a day of love.” Lie told, lie responded to. Most undocumented immigrants are NOT violent and/or dangerous criminals, but he’s going to deport them viciously, anyway. Lie told, lie responded to. He said he was going to lower prices but every action he has taken, so far, will absolutely RAISE the cost of living. Lie told, lie responded to. He imposed his tariffs because he said international trade should be a zero-sum game. Lie told, lie responded to.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. (Isaiah 59:2-3)

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“Our nation, our beloved Canada, is under threat. It is an economic threat, but it’s also a threat to our values of decency and inclusion. It’s a threat to our sovereignty and our very future as a nation. The threat comes, of course, from the President of the United States (sic), a convicted felon and known predator. He’s threatening massive tariffs to try and break us as a people. But the threat is also being driven by the hate algorithms of the oligarchs like Elon Musk. And there is the threat from people in our own country, who would sell out our birthright to appease the gangster class from Mar-a-Lago. That is not going to happen.” Charlie Angus, Canadian MP

One of the things the greed class who now own our government seem to forget is that, for the most part, nobody is dependent on any one source of anything, for anything. When 47 was 45, he decimated the American Soy Bean production with tariffs. The world just went elsewhere. He could have, should have, learned. But he didn’t, maybe can’t. The First Felon thinks he’s being “tough” on our closest ally, Canada, by imposing tariffs. Canada is free to – and more importantly, able to – sell their goods elsewhere.

Meanwhile, America NEEDS Canadian crude oil, for example. Canada exports oil to the US so there’s infrastructure in place, but they also export to other places so there’s infrastructure in place for that, too. If Canada responded to Trumps delusional tariffs by, say, turning off the oil spigot, Canada would feel that for a short time, but then they would ramp up their other sources and be back on track. That’s actually what I think Canada should do. “We’ll turn the oil flow back on once those tariffs are lifted, eh?”

The US would feel that MUCH worse and for MUCH longer and…, oh, hey, lookee here. In this morning’s Guardian, the first headline I see is, “Trump warns Americans that tariffs may cause ‘pain.’” THAT’S Trump’s big plan?!? In order to “punish” Canada into submission, he intends to harm the hell out of AMERICANS?!? MAGA is very much a defect of morals…

Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:43 – 44)

Is It Worth It?

by MyBaconPress

Okay, so, tell the truth. Don’t you find it ironic that Trump’s plane crash happened at Reagan National Airport? The tower at Reagan National was understaffed by Air Traffic Controllers that night. Reagan was the one who attacked Air Traffic Controllers in the first place. It was an ideological position. (He wanted to bust their union and didn’t give two figs about safety.) Control towers in the US have been undermanned ever since and air travel in the US has NEVER been the same.

After the crash, The First Felon blamed, well, everyone but himself. He pointed the finger at most every Democrat and delusion currently in play in MAGA ethos. Obama? That one might have been a mistake. We’ve had two Presidents since Obama, Donny. One of them was YOU. If Obama had a bad policy and you didn’t change it, it was your policy, too.

He also blamed current MAGA boogie man, “DEI.” (I don’t think he meant ‘Don, Jr, Eric, and Ivanka, the unqualified nepo-hires of his first mess.) He said he knows it could have been DEI because he has common sense. I think he meant NONsense. He said the last administration put so many DEI hires in place, like dwarfs – he blamed dwarfs – as to set up this very dangerous situation. He blamed dwarfs!

Then, when he was asked if it was safe to fly, he reassured everyone that indeed, it is. I don’t mean to put too fine of a point on this but if the DEI hires are so prevalent as to make flying dangerous, then it can’t be safe to fly, too. Which is it, Donny?

What Trump won’t tell MAGA is that he allowed the director of the FAA, Michael Whitaker, to resign the day The Felon was sworn in, leaving the department without a leader. Whitaker was effectively pushed out by co-president Musk because Whitaker wanted to impose some $600,000 in fines against SpaceX. Oh, he also disbanded the Aviation Security Advisory Committee.

So far, one of the few things people agree on is that the control towers at airports are dangerously understaffed. One element of this crash being investigated was that ONE person was managing both incoming fixed wing craft and helicopters, even though those jobs are normally separated. So, naturally, the day before the crash, according to ABC News, the maladministration sent buyout offers to Air Traffic Controllers. Leave your job with eight months pay! Excellence in action, I guess. Then the crash happened.

So on Friday, the maladministration “clarified” that Air Traffic Controllers weren’t subject to the hiring freeze nor eligible for the buyout. They were just sent the offer, um, randomly, for no real reason. MAGA is a defect of morality. Republican ideology is dangerous and the world has a body count to prove it…

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I guess one could make this up, but we’re stuck with Trump so we don’t have to. He sued ABC for saying he’s a rapist. The judge in the case said he’s a rapist. Legal experts said ABC would have won their case. They buckled anyway.

He sued CBS for interviewing Kamala but not him. They invited him. He turned it down. So then, when he saw the Kamala interview, he randomly decided they had carefully edited the interview to make her seem better than she is. Get THIS: In his suit, he accused CBS of, “malicious, deceptive and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive and mislead the public.”

Every accusation is an admission with this guy. Every one. Nearly every word this guy vomits is a malicious, deceptive and substantial distortion calculated to confuse, deceive and mislead the public. Still, CBS is considering settling. They want to merge with another company and The Felon has control over the FCC. They anticipate he’ll make life tougher for them if they don’t bend the knee, so it looks like they might do it.

47 controls the FCC and the stations need broadcast licenses to do their job. You’d better get used to British accents when you’re getting your news because very, very soon, all we’ll get from the American networks is “truthiness.”

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Speaking of fictions standing in for facts, I’m seriously considering giving the Stupid Bowl a pass this year. I can’t say, for sure, I won’t watch. I’m a huge football fan and there is some aspect of FOMO, ‘Fear Of Missing Out.’ I have personal identity tied up with being a football fan and that makes it harder to turn away. But it’s possible. Right now, I don’t WANT to watch.

I made a mistake, once. (I’ve made LOTS of mistakes but this one specifically applies.) I took the average time of a football play and multiplied it by the number of plays in a game. When you sit down to watch a football game, you’re committing three and a half hours of your life to the viewing experience. My calculation showed me I was getting right around eleven minutes of actual action for my three and a half hour investment. (That’s when I took to recording the game, then coming in late and skipping all the crap. If you time it just right, you can even catch the live ending of the game.)

The Stupid Bowl won’t be asking for three and a half hours. No, it will be FOUR and a half hours of your life – for the SAME eleven minutes of football. My reward for that time investment? I get to watch a team I don’t much care for, the Eagles, win the game, or a team I REALLY don’t like, the Chiefs, win the game. (Both teams are very good. I’m just not a fan.)

Okay, so there IS the halftime show and the commercials have a reputation. It turns out, when I sit down to watch football, I don’t WANT to see a concert. I want to watch football. So, for the last several years, I actively avoid the halftime show. Also, the commercials have become seriously over-rated. There were, like, two Stupor Bowls with really good commercials. The rest has been hype – and if there IS a good one, you can probably catch it in “previews” these days. And not one word of that has anything to do with the Chiefs getting the “boosts” they’ve received to get there in the first place.

See, the Chiefs went into this season with a chance to do something no team has ever done and only two teams in the history of Super Bowels have ever even had a CHANCE to do, win three in a row. The league knows the possibility of a “three-peat” is a great ticket seller. So, throughout this season, the officials have given the Chiefs the occasional…boost, just a little help, here and there. The Chiefs are a very good team so they didn’t need a LOT of help, just that little boost, here and there.

I should add, the NFL strongly objects to the charge they’ve been helping the Chiefs. It hurts their product if people realize it isn’t on the up-and-up. Chiefs fans deny it, too. But everyone else? If you’re a football fan and know the game, I have only to mention the First Down that wasn’t and the catch that bounced and you KNOW exactly which plays I’m referring to with no further explanation needed. And, yes, those things are debatable. That’s part of the fun of being a sports fan.

But tell the truth. As they broke away to commercial while the officials “reviewed the play,” you KNEW in your heart of hearts, how those calls were going to go, right? Benefit, Chiefs. “Bad calls happen.” That’s the official explanation – AFTER the Chiefs have been named the winner and are on their way to the big game. It’s true, too. That’s what makes it a plausible explanation. But “plausible” doesn’t make it “true.” When the so-called “bad call” advances the NFL’s goal – selling more tickets – was it a “bad call?”

I can’t say if the NFL will continue to help the Chiefs. It seems the goal of just getting them there for the possibility would sell all the tickets they need. They can let the game play out properly and not really care about the outcome. In fact, if the Chiefs lose, the NFL would be in a good position to use that tactic again, down the road.

Bear in mind, at some point, the NFL redefined itself as an “Entertainment League,” not a “sports league.” Just like Big Time Wrestling…

It’s All Trump’s Fault…

by MyBaconPress

A military helicopter crashed into a commercial aircraft in the air. It was in DC. Both craft fell into the Potomac river. Everybody died. This is clearly Trump’s fault, right? I mean, he has responsibility for the FAA. Why wasn’t he better prepared? Why didn’t he have boats in the water? He should have KNOWN the two craft were going to crash and been on scene and ready to respond. Better, he should have prevented it in the first place. It was all Trump’s fault.

See that, MAGA? Anybody can do it. It’s easy. Sure, it’s stupid but it’s easy. Do you hear how you sound, twisting truth to blame Democrats for fires that couldn’t be predicted and couldn’t be controlled? If the LA fires are Newsom’s fault, the crash in DC is clearly Trump’s fault…

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It was early Tuesday morning when first I heard it. I can’t say I was surprised. Unlike MAGA, I expect lies and bullshit from Trump and his gang. When he started promising – PROMISING – he was going to lower the cost of food on Day One, I knew he was lying. Hell, everyone knew he was lying. Except MAGA, of course. All THEY know is that they luuvv him. They don’t even care that he doesn’t love them back. They love him, and that’s enough.

Trump started walking back his prices lie shortly after successfully stealing the “election.” He may not get it done on Day One after all, he allowed. “It’s hard,” he whined. MAGA voted for him, in part, because things were expensive and he promised to lower prices. As any MAGA will tell you, he always keeps his promises. Except when he doesn’t, of course, but we don’t count those.

Then, in that early morning, I was treated to the new line. “It’s patriotic to pay more.” Mr. ‘promises made, promises kept,’ not only did NOT keep his promise, he’s now trying to convince them that his economic crash is going to be a good thing – a matter of national security. I’m sure that by that afternoon, MAGA was all in, across the board. It’s patriotic to pay more.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man murdered by radical, loyalist MAG- er, Nazis, said that stupidity is not an intellectual defect. It’s a moral and social defect. He watched the society around him, Germany, devolve from a land of poets and thinkers to a land of cowards and criminals. He taught that people are made to be stupid or rather, they allow this to happen to themselves.

I just KNOW there’s a reason I was compelled to put that Bonhoeffer paragraph here, on a bit about how easily MAGA is manipulated. I wonder what it could be…

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I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t really think every single person who stormed the Capitol on J6 was violent. A LOT of them just walked in, following the crowd, like Lemmings. But there were some. There were some seriously violent, seriously dangerous people in that crowd. Trump released all of them. Shoving matches with guards? Yeah, that’s okay. Smash windows to gain entry? What love. Hey, who doesn’t want a little bear spray in their face? Beat cops with poles and other weapons? That’s just enthusiasm. Kill a cop? You have a nice day.

It’s part of Trump’s insurrection lie. He doesn’t WANT history to show that he orchestrated a violent insurrection as part of a tantrum, so he’s desperately trying to gaslight everyone into thinking it may not have been. (Sorry, Donny. History has ALREADY recorded the event. Even if you re-write it in American history books for a short time, the world has already recorded the event. You suck and the world knows it.)

One of those “day of love” people was taken into custody again on gun charges a day or two after being released. One was killed the other day. I guess all that “fighting cops” got good to him, so he got into a fight with a cop during a traffic stop and the cop killed him. Now one of them is wanted on charges of soliciting a minor, someone he KNEW to be under age 17 at the time. He’s currently in hiding.

SOME of the people who Trump pardoned were just examples of Bonhoeffer’s definition of stupidity, your standard, morally defective MAGA. Some of the others are very dangerous, very unstable people. People who SHOULD be in jail. The Felon let them ALL out because it was easier than making sure he only let out the lemmings…

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Can you imagine hating your own country SO MUCH, you cheer while a madman does this?

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I heard the first “news” briefing from the White House on Tuesday. The new Press Secretary is a young woman named Karoline Leavitt. Apparently, she’s the youngest press secretary in history. She’s feisty! She wears a cross but in her case, it seems more like she’s mocking Jesus. “This is what we have for you if you interfere with our plans.” (Don’t worry. He won’t. I’ve notice God (and/or Jesus) are NEVER around when you need them. Oh sure, they’ll help you score a touchdown, but when the Anti-Christ starts prowling the Earth like a lion, looking for people to devour? God seems to be in his Holy Hidey Hole, probably laughing his ass off…)

Leavitt was asked about her loyalty to facts as opposed to her loyalty to Trump. She said, “I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day.” (You know, the standard bullshit from a Republican administration.) She then launched into a rather banal litany of lies, obfuscations, and misstatements.

Okay, stay with me, here. We’re circling back to Leavitt. The Felon put a hold on government funding of nearly everything the government funds. (Slight hyperbole alert, here.) His Office of Management and Budget put out a memo declaring the hold. It wasn’t a legal move. It wasn’t a smart move. Hell, it wasn’t even a nice move. Congress allocates funds. The administrative branch has no legal way to intervene. Lawsuits were filed.

As you can imagine, EVERYONE freaked out. Red states crapped their panties at a prodigious rate. Red state governors responded aggressively, fully aware that most of their constituents receive some kind of government assistance. (Red states tend to be “taker” states, accepting all that largess from Blue states, but bitching about it the whole time.)

24 hours after issuing that memo, the Trump maladministration issued a second memo, rescinding the first. Here comes the circle-back. Leavitt posted a message in social media. She wanted to clarify that the funding freeze would “remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.” Her youthful exuberance. “This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” Leavitt wrote in a post on Brand X. “It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”

Ah, weasel words from The Felon. Who knew? So now, a judge, ironically named McConnell, says he’s inclined to grant a restraining order request based, in part, on Karoline Leavitt’s post. It’s not legal for the criminal maladministration to stop that money and the courts agree. It doesn’t mean Trump won’t do it anyway. It’s just not legal. “I’m inclined to grant the restraining order,” McConnell reportedly said. “I fear…that the administration is acting with a distinction without a difference.”

That’s a hell of a start, there, KKKaroline. Getting a restraining order against the entire maladministration so early on must be seen as a feather in your crap. Keep up the good work…

They Hate Everything…

by MyBaconPress

The Felon is just attacking everything, and I mean, everything. Really, it’s in keeping with the MAGA message. Think about it, have you EVER heard a MAGA say anything nice about anything? Politically, I mean. All these people do is bitch, moan, complain, and bitch some more. They hate everything.

EVERYTHING is done wrong in their tiny minds, and they know better. Their “answers” are always the same: you have to be meaner. You have to be crueler. You have to punish people. “Yeah, come on punish people! Oh, and we want to watch – just let me get my hand down there.” MAGA has been conditioned to hate everything (except rich people, of course) and hate everything, they do. They celebrate cruelty. They praise the destruction. They revel in disaster. Even their own, as it happens. It gives them something to bitch about, see?

Trump came in and told them they need a new house and he’s going to build it for them. Then he burned down their old house – and walked away. “Wait, when do you get to the building part?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got the concepts.”
“But wait, my house!”
“We’re working on a plan. A great plan. A beautiful plan. You’ll love your new house, believe me.”
“WHEN?!? When will I see my new house? Where do I live in the meantime?”
(Crickets.)
“Hello? Are you listening? Is anybody out there? You burned down my house. When are you going to replace it?”
“Hey, I’m selling my farts in a jar for only $99.95, or a two-fart set for $300. Want to buy one?”
“Uh, sure, I’ll take a two-fart set.”
“Good MAGA. You made a great choice. (I love the poorly educated…)”
“Hey, I wonder what happened to my house?”

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When it comes to MAGA, every accusation is an admission. It just KEEPS being true. When Biden was President, 47 said the US was a laughing stock. It wasn’t then. It is now. He said we weren’t welcome in the world. We were then. We aren’t now. 47 said Biden was going to start a World War. (He said both WWII AND WWIII but we’ll go with three.) We got along with the world MUCH better under Biden than we’re getting along with the world under The Felon.

Our allies are mad at us. Our adversaries are mad at us. He’s destabilizing the American economy, which, in turn, will destabilize the world economy. Everyone knows he’s a petulant and gullible fool and the world WILL be taking advantage. It has only been one week. I think it’s safe to say, we already see wreckage in his wake…

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Let’s pretend for a moment, that we haven’t installed a king for life and that American politics might actually continue as they once did in the foreseeable future. If there ever are fair elections again in America – I should really just stop there – but if there ever are, then we, the people need to focus on retaking Congress in two years.

Americans (and the world) are looking at this disaster as though it’s an automatic, four-year sentence. But if we can take the Congress, it could be a two year sentence. We could impeach this son-0f-a-bitch and get rid of him, once and for all.

To be sure, he can, and will, do a lot of damage in two years. Look at the wreckage he has initiated in only one week. But if we can stop him in two years rather than four (or, God help us, more) perhaps we can save ourselves, after all.

But with each passing day, it’s looking more and more like bloodshed is going to be the only real answer. He’s not doing this damage accidentally, because he’s stupid. He’s doing it on purpose – yes, because he’s stupid. And the poorly educated MAGA are just gleefully cheering him on. Burn it all down!

I’ll tell you this: I don’t support violence, but I DO wonder how long heavily armed Americans are going to stand by and let this happen…

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From now on, they’re not ‘Teslas.’ They’re ‘Swasticars.’ They’re overpriced. They’re just as likely to burn you alive as get you where you’re going. (I think of them as rolling crematoriums.) It’s no surprise such a rich wage-thief is a fan of fascism but we don’t have to support it. You have LOTS of options. Don’t buy a Swasticar…

MAGA can buy them. Of course, then they’ll be paying huge money to drive a WOKE car. Does MAGA support their Nazi co-President and go WOKE? The whole world’s watching…

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The reason it’s going to take so effing long to convince MAGA they may have made a mistake is this: right now, 47’s maladministration is rounding up brown people and deporting them. They’re doing it in a “shock and awe” kind of way, and they’re being as mean and disrespectful about it as they can get away with. BUT…

MAGA is being told in their media that The Felon is ONLY rounding up undocumented hard-core criminals, the MS-13 types. If that were true, I suspect there would be little to no objection among Americans. Who the hell wants dangerous, hard-core criminals in their midst? (Okay, OTHER dangerous, hard-core criminals might, I guess.)

But that’s what they’re being told. The evil directly in charge of this program, Tom Homan, says it flatly. Well, kind of. He shines a bright light on the bad guys. He downplays the NOT bad guys getting caught up in the process. He calls them “collaterals.” (As in collateral damage, accidental deaths that occur in war.) He pretends the “collaterals” are the fault of sanctuary city policies. He’s like the assoholic who beats his wife, then stands over her battered body and shouts, “WHY do you make me do that?!?”

The thing is, the US has long-since deported undocumented, dangerous, hard-core criminals as they’re caught. We sometimes make them serve a sentence here, then deport them, and sometimes, we just deport them, but we don’t want them here and we send them away. We always have.

ICE went into a restaurant and detained ALL the workers, even if they were American citizens. They arrested an American veteran. They targeted farm workers. I guess nobody told MAGA about those. See, there probably aren’t that many MS-13 working the day shift as wait staff at restaurants or picking crops in the fields. As is always the case, MAGA fear tales fall apart upon closer inspection…

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Tangentially related, evil Tom Homan is the guy who originally conceived the family separation plan. Did you know that? In his tiny little mind, the idea is be SO cruel and unfeeling as to turn people away. Who would want to try to come to America if it might cost them a child? They came anyway, and it DID cost many of them their children.

So, when he sent people back to Brazil, he made sure to make a BIG show of it. They used a military plane – which, by the way, cost thousands of dollars more than it should have – and when the passengers deplaned, they were all in handcuffs and manacles. For a misdemeanor.

This caused Columbia, a favorite trading partner of the US, to refuse deportation flights from the US. I’m sure they didn’t want the optics of Americans being cruel to people on Columbian flight lines. 47 threw a hissy fit and imposed a 25% tariff on Columbia, promising to raise it to 50% in a week. Columbia then imposed it’s own 25% tariff on American goods. THEN, they came to an agreement. Columbia will still take deportees, but Columbia will send a plane to pick them up.

Meanwhile, you’re about to start paying a LOT more for coffee…

Chastening the GOPerverts…

by MyBaconPress

The week 1 summary has spilled over to a second day. My favorite bit about week 1 was the Cassidy Hutchinson incident. Ms. Hutchinson is a rather attractive woman. She is young and she worked in Trump’s first maladministration. Apparently, the lecherous old men, rapists, sexual assailants, philanderers, and other stalwarts of the GOP spent time hitting on her, trying to arrange for sexual favors.

The GOP is planning a revenge tour against people who did the right thing. People investigated Trump’s crimes. Now Trump plans to harass those people to “get even.” It’s not like he has anything more important to do. Ms. Hutchinson had been a loyal MAGA, working only a few steps from the Oval Office. She was disgusted by the events of January 6th. Her loyalty to the United States overrode her loyalty to Trump, an unforgivable sin in MAGAland. She testified honestly to the J6 committee and now MAGA hates her. (They just hate truth, in general. It almost always harms their position.)

As they ramped up efforts to harass her, they were going to subpoena her electronics, so they could “get the details” of all those pretend messages where the Dems were supposedly “coaching” her to say bad things about The Felon. Then, in an unexpected move, MAGA Mike the Johnson stepped in and convinced the GOP that they should NOT subpoena her electronics. Apparently, she has LOTS of messages from LOTS of GOPerverts who were trying to sex her up – and they don’t want those messages made public, so they had to stand down, chastened.

Now I want to know what’s on her phone! What are the messages? Who sent them? MAGA Mike seems to have some detailed knowledge on the topic. Was HE hitting on Hutchinson, too? (Did his son get the warning?) They were willing to engage in revenge porn against Hunter Biden. Why are they suddenly so shy about their own attempts to get laid being made pubic? Let’s continue to shine a light on the ethics and behavior of the leaders of the GOPerverts. Whose wives should be angry? Just how disgusting ARE these guys?

Sadly, she can’t reveal them. The threat of revelation is the only thing that’s going to protect her, now. But on the up side, the threat of revelation will protect her – for now…

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The brown person round-up is already having the effect it was supposed to have. Brown people are terrified to be seen these days. It’s also having an unintended consequence that was predictable – and predicted. Brown people are hiding. They’re not coming out. They’re not going to work.

Sure, it’s a good time, pretending brown people might be the source of all human problems, but in real life, brown people do a LOT of the work other people don’t. Back when we were declaring SOME people “essential workers?” Those who HAD to keep working, even if it threatened their health because those jobs (unlike most white collar jobs) just couldn’t be suspended? Yeah, LOTS of those folks are brown.

Now, thanks to 47’s Heritage Foundation policy, they either won’t come out and go to work, or they DO come out and get arrested and deported. Either way, nobody is picking crops. Nobody is cleaning buildings. Nobody is showing up to building sites. In short, nobody is doing that same “essential” work.

Nice job, MAGA. You thought you were voting for cheaper eggs, which, by the way, have now hit a record high price. Now your whole LIFE is about to become significantly more expensive. Bigotry ain’t cheap…

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47 has this trait that just drives me crazy. I mean, he has LOTS of traits that drive me crazy but this one, in particular is just mind-boggling. Okay, maybe the mind-boggling part is that it’s SO apparent but MAGA just keeps falling for it, over and over. No matter what the situation, no matter what the word, no matter what the details, no matter how recently something happened, The Felon always, always, ALWAYS pretends he’s already an expert and knows everything there is to know about it. (Keyword: pretends.) Then he makes some grand pronouncement on the topic and that’s that.

And see, that’s the problem. There’s no shame in not knowing something, especially something new – unless one is deeply, desperately insecure. I think it’s why mental health experts tend to classify him as a psychopathic narcissist. He can never confess – to himself, I think – that there’s anything he doesn’t already know. It’s a trait you see in most three year olds trying to show they’re “big kids.”

On any topic, a layman (or a fool) is immediately recognizable to an expert. 47 talks about things he doesn’t understand, then, because he’s SO deeply insecure, he cannot confess he may have been mistaken. No matter how ridiculous his initial pronouncement proves to be over time, he sticks to whatever stupidity puked from his mouth in the moment.

I can’t speak to why he doesn’t just keep his mouth shut for a minute. It’s an old saying. ‘It’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.’ The fact that he thinks he’s proving himself smart, or competent, or even capable? No. He’s just removing all doubt…

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

Steve Bannon railing against Elon Musk reminds me of… well, it reminds me of me, railing against 47. Just because I’m right doesn’t mean anybody is paying attention. Bannon recently said Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, should sit Musk down and “sort it out immediately” before he does something that interferes with the president’s agenda.

Isn’t that funny? Bannon, apparently, still hasn’t received the memo. Bannon, apparently, still thinks Trump gives two figs about MAGA and what MAGA wants. Bannon hasn’t realized: Musk’s desires ARE “Trump’s agenda.” The Heritage Foundation has written the orders. Musk bought the White House for him. MAGA can only bring votes and he doesn’t NEED votes anymore. 47 will help Musk, not MAGA. MAGA can pound sand.

To be sure, he’ll never TELL them to eff off. He still wants them to buy his cheap, foreign-made and overpriced junk. And they will, too. That guy could offer his farts in a jar for $99.95 each, two for only $300.00, and these guys would be lining up to buy the two-fart set.
“Two for $300.00 dollars? Well, that’s a DEAL!”
“Uh, you could just buy two of the single farts and save $100.00.”
“But this is a SET. Libtard.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling really dumb…”

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

Boy, the NFL is sure trying to push back against their obvious favoritism of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. I guess they’re afraid that people knowing they’re directing outcomes might affect the betting line. (Hey, I remember when people argued Big Time Wrestling was real, too.)

Their problem? MILLIONS of people who know the game watch, week in and week out, as Mahomes and the Chiefs get very helpful calls from the officials. People who played and excelled in the NFL are vocally groaning with the bad calls. It has gotten to the point where people (except fans of the team, of course) have to WORK to pretend Kansas City isn’t receiving favorable officiating.

I saw a list, probably put out by a Kansas City fan, showing how other Quarterbacks get more roughing the passer calls than Mahomes. But it’s not the NUMBER of calls that matter. It’s when they happen that make the difference. KC will get the call to keep a drive alive. KC’s opponents will have drives killed by bad calls. There might only be one or two bad calls an entire game but if they come at the right time, for the “right” team, they make a difference. And they always seem to come at the right time for Kansas City…

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

Hey, is it at all possible that when 47 SAYS ‘tariffs,’ he MEANS ‘sanctions?’ I mean, despite the reverence of MAGA, he’s really kinda dumb and it’s possible he doesn’t know the difference…

Without Consent…

by MyBaconPress

Apparently, we’re all women now!

Anti-trans bigotry has led them to yet another foolish move. In his inaugural address, The Felon declared, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.” That’s not the silly part, though.

One of his Executive Orders, the one against Trans people, defines a female as, “a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell,” while a male is a “person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.” MAGA doesn’t see the problem and smart people are already chuckling, right?

See, here’s the point: AT CONCEPTION? We ALL start female. There are NO “persons” that produce the “small reproductive cell” at conception. It takes about six weeks before the Y chromosome kicks in and starts adding the things that make males male.

Yet another charge as confession. We woke up, male and female, and went about our business. Then, with the stroke of a pen and in ONE DAY, he turned us ALL into women, probably without the consent of our parents. It’s an outrage. An outrage, I tell you!

Or he’s an idiot. You choose…

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

If we’re going to declare a zygote to be a human being from the moment of conception, we now have to answer the related questions: does the woman get to drive in the high density lanes? (Two people!) Can the “baby” be insured? (Every miscarriage means a pay-out.) Shouldn’t the man start paying child support from that moment? (Hell yes, he should.) There are other questions. We’ll need answers…

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

It can be easy to forget that California has a LOT of conservatives living here. We’re called a ‘blue state’ but there is a LOT of red, here. We even have Republican members of Congress. Let us, each and every one, pay very close attention to what those Republican members of Congress do when MAGA Mike the Johnson tries to condition FEMA money for natural disasters on whether or not we say nice things about The Felon.

Then, let us, each and every one, vote accordingly. Disaster recovery should be non-partisan. Even a MAGA might be able to recognize that. Especially when their house burned down and they need some help getting back on their feet. (They can get back to their posturing AFTER they’ve accepted all that socialized help they hate so much. You know… for others… at other times…)

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

I’m just pointing out, they agreed to a cease-fire. Both sides agreed. But Israel has YET to cease firing. Either they didn’t understand what they agreed to, or they didn’t care…

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

Politics is a weird game, isn’t it? The Felon came to California to ‘tour the LA wildfire damage.’ He’s been pretending Gavin Newsom “should have done more” about the fires. He’s been wrong, each and every time. We’ve covered it, here. There’s no municipality on the planet with a hydrant system built to fight that kind of wildfire. Yeah, the reservoir needed repair. Who knew there would be a fire when they started the work? Okay, yes, 100 extra trucks would have helped. Marginally. They would have needed thousands of trucks to fight that fire – and they still would not have been able to keep up with the Santa Ana winds.

Simply put, anybody who thinks there was something that anybody could have done, especially at the beginning of this disaster, has never fought a fire. (And, yes. I have.) But because Trump has seen a fire truck, he counts himself an expert and he has an opinion. A stupid opinion, but, hey, it’s an opinion. He has not held back, even a little bit.

So, 47 came for the photo op – to ‘tour the wildfires.’ Traditionally, the Governor accompanies the President (or in his case, the “President”) during such visits. So Trump made a show of being there, all the while stupidly “certain” that Newsom should have done more. Meanwhile, Newsom made a show of appreciating Trump’s visit, all the while absolutely certain he’s next to the dumbest person on the planet. They both made nice for a while. Now they can get right back to the charges and counter-charges. Weird…

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

Well, at least he didn’t pardon ONLY violent criminals. He also pardoned the founder of a website called ‘The Silk Road,’ Ross Ulbricht. That was a site set up to allow drug dealers to work together to buy and sell drugs using Bitcoin. (It turns out, crypto-currencies are very useful in criminal activities and very little else…)

During the campaign, he said he thought it was a BAD thing, to release violent criminals and drug dealers into the country. Then he got “elected” and the first thing he did was release violent criminals and drug dealers into the country. I don’t know. I’m starting to suspect he may not have been completely truthful on the campaign trail…

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

Well, there go the Inspectors General. You know, the people who sort of bird-dog different agencies to make sure they’re acting honestly and ethically? Yeah, those guys. Trump dumped them. Apparently, in violation of Federal law, by the way. But I guess he’s used to that. Now he doesn’t want ANY honest people around him.

Many of them were posted BY Trump in his first term. They seem confused. One of them said, “IGs have done exactly what “the President” (sic) said he wants: to fight fraud, waste, and abuse and make the government more effective. Firing this many of us makes no sense. It’s counter to those goals.”

Now, MAGA will say, “Since he’s so honest, he doesn’t need anybody watching over him.” I say an honest man doesn’t care if someone watches his honest and ethical behavior. But he just couldn’t risk it…

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

Since Monday, the GOP has endorsed releasing violent criminals into society. They have endorsed releasing drug dealers. They have endorsed eliminating people who ensure ethics in government. Now they have endorsed Pete Hegseth, an alleged alcoholic woman abuser. (Last November, they endorsed a sexual assailant and known Felon.)

Hegseth was confirmed on a 51-50 vote. (Ironically, 5150 is the California Penal Code section for a crazy person, and we live in crazy world now.) It was a tie, broken by Vance. The worst vote in decades, maybe ever. Even Moscow Mitch “the bitch” McConnell said, “Mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ isn’t enough to fill these shoes.” He said effective management of the Defense Department is “a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests. Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass that test. But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been.”

McConnell was rightly outraged after 47’s J6 insurgency, but almost immediately bent the knee and turned his attention to protecting The Felon. He, more than most, could have prevented this with the impeachment but instead, sought to protect his Party over his country. He succeeded, too. His party persists. His country? Not so much. Nice work, there, Mitch. History will record you properly…

Battling Leprechauns…

by MyBaconPress

In order to deceive his base, The Felon attended a church service. (Be advised: it proves that the Anti-Christ CAN enter churches without bursting into flames…) Church services happen pretty early – especially for an alleged Adderall addict known to keep late nights, so he kept nodding off. The Bishop who gave the sermon, Marian Edgar Budde, wrapped it up by suggesting, gently, that he stay in touch with his claimed Christian faith and have mercy on the weak and the defenseless.

You could see the fury on his face. Hell, you could almost feel it. Like any child, he has difficulty sitting still and/or hiding his true emotions. Melania didn’t like it, either. Her eyes squeezed into even slitier slits. Oh, and MAGA is pissed off, too. How DARE that… woman suggest a Christian follow the teachings of Christ?

What, do you think she didn’t know what kind of reaction she might get? I thought it was a pretty brave thing to do, even though she DID have cover. CAN MAGA attack a Bishop for suggesting people follow the teaching of Christ? HELL YES, they can.

Jesus wouldn’t recognize their behavior, but Satan is laughing his ass off, thrilled by their support…

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

“It was NOT a Nazi salute!”
“It sure looked like a Nazi salute.”
“NO! He has Asperger’s (or something) and just threw his heart to the people in a clumsy way.”
“Uh-huh. And I might be using my middle finger to point to the birds in the sky, but I’m guessing you’d receive that as the universally recognized gesture it is.”

Oh, and for the record, the actual Neo-Nazis of the world? They had a collective waking wet dream when they saw it. “We’re BACK, baby!” Here’s a tip: when the actual Nazis of the planet recognize and celebrate your gesture as a Nazi salute, it’s a Nazi salute.

If you don’t LIKE that people know you’re aligned with people who throw Nazi salutes, maybe it makes MORE sense to separate yourself from the group that celebrates Nazi salutes rather than trying to convince the world around you it was just some kind of seizure…

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

Really, it’s gaslighting. I mean, the whole world knows what happened on January 6th, 2021. Even MAGA knows what happened, though they’ll lie about it. We all saw it – and MAGA was there. We all know The Felon instigated it. History WILL record that Donald Trump attempted an insurrection and sent his minions to carry it out – because that’s what happened. Even if MAGA re-writes it here, in this country, the rest of the world has already dutifully recorded his treason.

Telling me it was a “day of love” isn’t going to convince me it was a day of love. Showing me photos of empty corridors where the traitors were NOT, isn’t going to convince me there were no traitors elsewhere in the building at that time. Pretending there were a few “minor incidents” isn’t really going to minimize the violence that took place on that day at his behest.

The Felon is quoted as saying, “…they were protesting the vote and you should be allowed to protest the vote.” I’m guessing that if Americans tried to test that theory by, say, “protesting the vote” in that way, at HIS front door, he would have a very different attitude. We know from his first maladministration that he would run, terrified, to the Situation Room for protection.

But the gaslighting continues. It wasn’t what it was. You were seeing things. Up is down. White is black. No, there was no noise coming from the attic. (FYI: That last is a reference to the actual movie, ‘Gaslight.’) Frankly, it’s cowardice.

He sent his minions and they were only too happy – gleeful, even – to comply. Sure, they had anger and hatred on their faces and in their hearts but they were having a GREAT day. Smashing windows, beating cops, spraying bear spray all over the place, looking for a good place to lynch Mike Pence – what fun! And, of course, pure love.

So he released a few violent people and even a couple of killers. Hey, why not? We have a cover story, so it’s okay. The MAGA tale regarding J6 has not convinced me of anything. I doubt it has convinced any other rational person of anything. It HAS shown me that MAGA is afraid to take responsibility for their actions and is afraid to own that day for what it was.

Trump pretended foreign countries were sending killers into America and now TRUMP has sent killers into America. You can TRY to gaslight me, but I know what happened…

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

Those LA fires are going to highlight the housing crisis again. I read an article in ‘The Guardian’ that said people are renting (luxury) apartments for $20,000 dollars a month. Burning down the available housing isn’t going to help that situation in any way.

But now that we have a corporate king running the show, nobody is ever going to do the ONE thing that MUST be done to alleviate the housing crisis, block Wall Street from buying single family homes. “No, sorry, there’s no place for you to live. Oh, hey, but you CAN rent an AirBnB if you’d like…”

Since nobody is going to stop it, the problem is going to get worse. Historically, lack of housing was one of the key instigators of the French Revolution and ‘The Terror.’ I’m feeling like the Fates have grabbed a couple of nasty key moments in history (The French Revolution and the rise of the Nazis), rolled them into a ball, and tossed them out over the United States to be lived again.

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

Hey, have prices started coming down yet? He promised. He said on Day One! This is Day Four. By now, prices should be so low, companies should be giving their stuff away, right? No, huh? So far, it seems the only thing dropping is a new group of excuses. Why, it’s almost as if he never intended to lower prices on Day One…

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

I once became aware of a man who spent much of his time battling Leprechauns. (This is a true story. He was the next-door neighbor of my cousins.) He had painted ‘Leprechauns go home’ on his roof and regularly invaded my cousin’s peace acting against the Leprechauns. One of his actions nearly decapitated my cousin. I mean, he REALLY believed those Leprechauns were attacking – and he was up for the battle.

In what we could pretend might be completely unrelated, The Felon wanted to politicize natural disasters, so he made up a story about how FEMA (read: Leprechaun) is not helping after a hurricane and that they were actually just getting in the way. The key point here? He made that story up in his own twisted, little mind. It was pure fiction. But now he actually wants to take actual action against FEMA because of his delusions.

It’s sad – and it can be dangerous – when a demented mind goes to battle against Leprechauns…

Thoughts On Day One…

by MyBaconPress

I’ll start here: Dear World, I will NEVER believe that we, the American people of the United States, elected this guy. I can’t prove it. You won’t see me in court making false claims. But too many weird things happened out in the open. We saw them. How many happened that we had no idea about? Trump has an idea, though. He said of Co-President Musk, “He journeyed to Pennsylvania where he spent, like, a month-and-a-half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania, and he’s a popular guy, and he was very effective. And he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide. So it was pretty good, pretty good. So thank you to Elon.”

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

Hey, remember when MAGA pretended to be all butt-hurt that Americans were calling them Nazis? Quick hint: if you don’t want people to call you Nazis, maybe don’t go around throwing Nazi salutes, yeah?

Musk throws Nazi salute

And, for clarity, he did it twice. It was no accident…

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

The Felon took the oath but never laid his hand on the Bible. He made Melania stand there, holding the Bible, but he never once laid his hand on it. One can only imagine the flames that would have certainly ensued. (That’s just a joke, of course. I’d have to imagine the Anti-Christ can handle touching a Bible…)

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

He ran on (among other lies) terrifying his base about the idea that other countries were “opening their prisons” and sending dangerous criminals. Day One? HE opened American prisons and released around 1,500 dangerous criminals. Every charge from a con is an admission…

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

He withdrew from the World Health Organization. That’s some serious dumb, there. I mean, he has personal experience with letting his guard down regarding worldwide illnesses and infections. Remember Covid-19 and the millions his fecklessness killed last time? I don’t think a person is stupid for making mistakes. Anybody can make mistakes. But making the SAME mistake – with such dire consequences?

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

Many on the left are worried about the damage he’s going to do, legislatively. They should be. But I’ve been thinking he’s going to unwind any and all efforts to battle climate change and on Day One, he pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The resulting natural disasters sure to follow will take up most of everyone’s time, just trying to survive. Europe says they’re going to “stay the course,” but I’m betting the US can pollute faster than the EU can clean it up…

On the other hand, his position focusing on fossil fuels, the energy of yesterday, means he’s putting the United States way, way, WAY behind the power curve when it comes to renewables. Other nations get to develop those technologies and the US will be left behind. That’s just pure stupid…

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

In an early test for his bought-and-paid-for, crony-filled Supremely Kangaroo Court, he signed an order trying to end birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is guaranteed in the Constitution. It was put there by the 14th Amendment. Executive Orders aren’t supposed to have the weight of overruling the Constitution. The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit, challenging the order. Will his court uphold the Executive Order or the Constitution? Isn’t it mind-boggling that Americans can’t just know the ‘roos will support the Constitution? We’ll have to wait and see what they do…

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

I’d bet that the rest of the world is going to keep calling the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico. (Me, too, by the way.) I mean, is he really SO racist he can’t even SEE the word ‘Mexico’ without freaking out? Then again, running around with his Sharpie, changing the word ‘Mexico’ to ‘America’ on every map in the country should keep him busy enough to distract from the real damage. Quick, somebody find this guy a Sharpie…

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

When Biden tried to get a law to help with the border, MAGA screamed that he could have just done it with an Executive Order. The Felon spent some of his day rescinding many of Biden’s Executive Orders – because one can. Easily. A law? Well, that’s a bit harder. It looks like Biden was right to want a law, after all…

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

Steve Bannon (the bringer of the Base) swore he was going to get Musk (the bringer of the money) out by inauguration day. Co-President Musk was right near Trump. Bannon wasn’t even there. It looks like Bannon’s efforts to eliminate the billionaire boys club from Trump’s world have been… less than successful. You might want to pay attention, MAGA. This is your future…

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

Sooner or later, I have to believe MAGA will start to bitch, pretending the left is being mean to them by pointing out all the various and sundry ways they’re getting burned by the lying Felon. Suck it up, snowflakes. We’re just trying to help. You refuse to see by yourselves, so we point it out. You’ll still refuse to see, of course. But we’re just trying to help…

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

Drill, baby drill? Nope. I mean, he’ll open the lands. The oil companies will take the leases, too. Having the leases artificially fattens up their bottom line. But will they actually drill? Well, according the the oil companies, no. THEY say they’re happy with the current production and have no plans to increase it…

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

One of those Executive Orders The Felon rescinded, by the way, lowered prescription drug prices. The Felon thinks people should have to pay whatever the pharmaceutical companies want to charge, based on their whims (and the desperation level of the patient.) Fortunately, MAGA probably doesn’t use prescription drugs so they, likely, won’t notice the sudden spike in drug prices…

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

Elon’s getting an office in the White House complex. This way, he can be close to his co-president and have immediate input with The Felon. MAGA can still attend rallies and buy his cheap crap – none of which is made in America. Hey, they can even write letters if they want to. They’re allowed to sing his praises and worship his every step.

But Elon gets the immediate access and the office down the hall…

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

So, Day One was a whirlwind of destructive activity. There were a lot more EOs signed. The Heritage Foundation was ready to go. It wasn’t even a full day. He released violent prisoners and took action aimed at harming Americans – not to mention the rest of the world. Lawsuits are already flying. Day One and the United States of America is thrown into chaos and uncertainty. It’s going to be a long, long ride – and there ARE no safety rails. Good luck…

January 20, 2025 – RIP USA…

by MyBaconPress

Well, here we are, the darkest day in United States history, January 20, 2025. With apologies to FDR, another date that will “live in infamy,” the day our Republic failed. By the time you read this, it’s possible the end has come already, the inauguration is over. It’s possible the vicious Executive Orders are ALREADY flying around, harming human beings everywhere. It’s more likely he’s going to bask in the glow of the moment and start his destruction tomorrow, though.

The Great Experiment has come to an end. Benjamin Franklin said we had a Republic – IF we could keep it. We couldn’t. We allowed large concentrations of wealth to bring us down. To be sure, you’ll still be able to look at a map and find a stretch of land identified as ‘The United States of America.’ But the land of our founders is over. The opportunity and equality they (kind of) sought is no more. The oligarchs have won and it looks like they intend to press their advantage to the fullest. That’s going to suck for the work-a-day Joe.

You’ll see what used to be the flag representing the United States flying at full height in defiance of history, respect, and decorum. The new paradigm. The Felon’s ego couldn’t handle the idea that the nation was showing respect to someone else on his “special day.” A classy guy would have left the flags in their proper place and mentioned why in his speech. Trump threw a tantrum.

I’m sure MAGA is happy, for the moment. They think they’ve finally gotten what they want. I think they’re in for a surprise. I think they’ve been useful tools of the oligarchs and the tools are no longer needed. The oligarchs have what they want. The One Percent gets to stand near him, meet with him, shake his hand. MAGA is left out in the cold.

I go back and forth on whether MAGA will ever figure out they’ve been duped. I can tell you that the resistance is going to be easier if MAGA does figure it out and we, the people (I mean, the masses) work together to stop this nightmare.

Perhaps it’s a good idea to take a look back and see how this all started. Be advised, this is generalized and simplified. This column isn’t long enough to go into detail on each element, and you don’t want to take that much time reading it. So… a synopsis…

It was the brainchild of Charles Koch but it took the acting chops of Ronald Reagan to introduce the idea of “Voodoo Economics” in 1980 with a straight face. It’s actually called ‘Supply-side economics,’ but since there’s no such thing, it really IS just Voodoo. Bush 41 coined the term when he was running against Reagan. When he became VP, he suddenly didn’t worry about Voodoo economics. But he was right the first time.

The next step was perpetrated by two guys. Newt Gingrich hired a guy named Frank Luntz to distort language in a way that made it easier to attack America with words. So, for example, the Inheritance Tax became the DEATH tax, see? Gingrich directed the GOP to use the NEW, inaccurate terms and NEVER the proper terms. New language gave them a weapon. It didn’t matter that the words were inaccurate. It mattered that they were scary. I don’t know if Luntz is rich or not, but when the guillotines come out, he deserves a place near the top of the list.

Now they had their fake idea in place – ‘trickle down’ – and they had a glossary of terms scary enough to manipulate uninformed minds. The next part was a weapon delivery system. So, they started buying up media outlets, mostly AM radio stations. They found Rush Limbaugh. Listen, Rush was an evil son-of-a-bitch. He deserves his place in hell. His lies did incalculable damage to the United States. But he was funny. People tuned him in because he made them laugh. They didn’t even realize he was poisoning their minds. But he was…

It got so bad for a while, one couldn’t turn on an AM radio station without hearing some talking head puke out some scary sounding nonsense intended to frighten or enrage. The problem was, they were really only using scary words to describe day-to-day events. They needed more. They needed to be able to frighten their listeners every day.

So, they started funding seats in colleges and setting up “Stink Tanks.” THEY called them “Think Tanks,” like the legitimate Brookings Institute, but they were designed and built to create plausible sounding mis- and dis-information. Now the stink tank could issue a made up talking point and AM radio would magnify it and put it on a loop. Brainwashing via repetition. But there was STILL a problem. There were rules limiting the penetration the vile messages could reach. They couldn’t, for example, own two radio stations in the same market or a radio station and a newspaper.

We had those rules for exactly the reason the oligarchs needed to get rid of them; they prevented a single message from permeating the body politic. It was a competition of ideas. The reason the oligarchs had to change it is, their ideas sucked. Most people still knew they were false. One side could easily and effectively push back against the other side.

Bill Clinton helped them out with that one when he signed the legislation eliminating the rules of ownership in 1996. Have you noticed the dates? This was sixteen years on and the One Percent just kept their eyes on the prize. Clinton also helped them launch ‘Fox Not-News.’ He had to give them a special waiver. (Bill Clinton is VERY rich now.) Thanks to Clinton, the oligarchs GOT their consolidation. It was mind-boggling. A big company would buy a group of stations, reducing competition, all while droning on about how competition is better. Well, yeah. It was. So they got rid of it…

Finally, they had the language to scare the crap out of people, the Stink Tanks to create false stories, and the delivery system to broadcast those fraudulent (and oh-so-scary) stories into the world. Now all they had to do was stick to their scary glossary and fine-tune the messages. They added new scares and outrages when something proved effective, quietly dropped others as they proved less effective.

Libertarians started infiltrating the Republican Party. They presented as Republicans but brought and highlighted the Libertarian message. They had to do it that way. People had become familiar with the Libertarian message and dismissed it as too extreme. Too many people didn’t recognize it as it slipped from Republican tongues, though.

The messages that made it through? Give the rich people all the money and they’ll do good things with it. (Still waiting.) Government is ALWAYS bad and ALWAYS fails. (False.) Private corporations, on the other hand, are ALWAYS good and ALWAYS the most efficient. (Extra false.) Poor people are the reason poor people have problems. (Nope.) Dark-skinned people are scary. (Not so much…) Taxes on rich people harm society and restrict innovation. (Exactly backwards.)

Later, they added the false patriotism and sprinkled in a bunch of nationalism. They refer to conservatives as “Americans” and non-conservatives as anything else, the scarier the better, implying that non-conservatives are not Americans. As predicted, they carried a cross and wrapped themselves in the flag. But the cross and the flag were props, nothing more. They were manipulations intended to deceive – and deceive they did.

MAGA doesn’t know ANY of this, of course. THEY think they’re a “grass roots” movement that sprang up organically – because that’s what MAGA media told them. People on the left were caught out by the extent to which the One Percent went to regain mastery of the American system. I continue to believe MAGA is going to be caught by surprise when they realize they no longer wield any power. They were useful idiots – and they’re no longer useful.

So here we are, January 20, 2025. Forty-four years since Reagan fired the first shot. But the oligarchs were patient, and their patience has paid off for them. At least, for now.

I find myself wondering if Americans still have that revolutionary spirit, or if we’re just going to acquiesce. Are we too worried about Tik-Tok to pay attention to the loss of our country, our freedoms? WILL we hit the streets in protest? I hope so. I can’t tell you how sorry I am it has come to this. It turns out, John F Kennedy was right all along. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

Fixed…

by MyBaconPress

In fairness, it CAN be difficult to understand, the idea of an economic system that prevents people from amassing too much wealth. But even if we can’t understand it, we can see the value of it, now, right before our eyes.
“Well, yeah, but how do you define ‘too much wealth?'” some ask.
“Fair question. Difficult answer. But I’ll say that having enough to buy the government is WAY too much. Having enough to buy more than one government? Well, that’s excessive beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.”

Among the fixes FDR initiated that the One Percent have now successfully eliminated was to limit the abuses owners can inflict upon workers but more importantly, he limited how much people could take out of society by taxing wealth increasingly as it went up. It’s literally true that once a person reached a certain point in wealth, they couldn’t keep most of the rest, anyway, so… they re-invested. Not, “might someday.” They actually did.

The combination of worker protections and the prevention of wealth hoarding made America great in the first place. Check you history. The United States was a struggling place, economically, until FDR introduced the New Deal, now known as Democratic Socialism. Then we became the economic powerhouse of the world – by limiting how much a small handful of self-serving people could stuff into their own pockets. Now we’re back to the corrupt Robber Barons of old – and one should properly expect the economy to struggle again, just like it did before.

To be sure, people still got rich. They just didn’t get SO rich they could use their money to undermine government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It was a better system and I hope we go back to it, or something like it, after the revolution…

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It looks like Michele Obama is going to skip the inauguration. I think that’s a good move. In this moment, I think ALL Dems should skip the inauguration. I know, I know, the left puts on the good show. The left makes nice. The left shows decorum. But we shouldn’t.

I don’t call for all-out war and I certainly wouldn’t want to see the left acting like the right in most cases. But I’d be okay with overt shows of displeasure, at the very least…

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Have you seen how much those oligarchs gave to Trump for the inauguration? Millions and millions of dollars flowed in – all in hopes of currying favor with The Felon. The final numbers aren’t available, yet, but, so far, it looks like they gave him $250 million dollars. He CAN spend that on inaugural parties and such, but he doesn’t have to. He CAN just slip it into his pocket and, officially, it isn’t even a bribe. Sweet deal, if you’re able to buy him. Kinda crappy for the rest of us, though.

Speaking of which, Steve Bannon, who did NOT get Musk removed “before the inauguration” as promised, is claiming that the “tech bros” showing up to the event should be viewed as total surrender to Trump. Bannon couldn’t get them out, but he could CLAIM success anyway. Still, I’d bet they’re there to check out what they’ve bought.

Now the inauguration has been moved indoors. “It’s too cold,” said the tough-talker. For him, it might be too cold. He IS very old. Of course, it might ALSO be that he’s afraid people will see his, um, crowd size and laugh at him again. I haven’t heard much about this aspect, but it’s ALSO possible he’s afraid to be out in public in crowds. Many people DO seem to want him dead, and we’re a heavily armed nation. Someone could make it happen, if they were of a mind to.

Mostly, though, I remember that he IS the anti-Christ and worries, first and foremost, about himself. I’d say he just wants to be comfortable and warm, so he’s staying inside. MAGA spent money to come to Washington DC to attend the inauguration. Now they get to watch it on television. They could have done that from home and saved a bunch of money.

So The Felon will be comfortable and warm, sitting inside, surrounded by all his oh-so-wealthy donors. MAGA? No, MAGA is left out in the cold. It’s an apt metaphor – and they’d better get used to it…

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Did you see the games yesterday? NFL football, I mean. I suspect if I had to explain that to you, YOU didn’t pay attention to the games. Sorry, this bit isn’t for you. I went 1 for 2 on my expectations. I WANTED the Houston Texans to beat the Kansas City Chiefs but expected the Chiefs to win. I expected the Detroit Lions to beat the Washington Commanders, too.

The Chiefs DID “win,” but not without TWO separate assists from the officials. TWICE, officials called ‘roughing the passer’ on the Texans even though replay clearly showed no such offense. In both cases, the called penalty gave the Chiefs new life after the Texans had stopped them. Apparently, the rule is, no touching Patrick Mahomes under any circumstances. That’s hardly fair and it gives the Chiefs a tremendous advantage. Nobody else gets the kind of consideration Mahomes enjoys.

There’s big money shaping up, here. With some very generous assists from the league all season long, the Chiefs have the opportunity to win a third straight Stupid Bowl. It’s referred to as a “three-peat.” The term was coined by Roger Craig of the SF Forty-Niners back in the 1990s, when the Niners had a chance to do it. They didn’t make it. Nobody has ever done it. The Chiefs have a chance.

I’ve been warning from time to time, NOT to bet on the NFL. The games are clearly rigged. People tell me that one can still bet. You just need to figure out what the NFL wants and bet accordingly. But what does the NFL want, in this case? Do they WANT a team to finally achieve the three-peat? Then bet on the Chiefs. BUT… maybe, they want everyone to bet on the Chiefs, boosting the odds against the opponent, then have the Chiefs fall short. HUGE money for the NFL “partner,” Fanduel.

Did you notice that according to this bit, I’m expecting the Chiefs to go all the way again? Why even wait for the games, if the NFL has already determined the outcome, at least for the Chiefs? And with those kinds of calls, it looks very much like the NFL has already determined the outcome…