Wow, have you noticed the meteoric rise in gas prices at the pump? Conservatives will tell you it’s because Biden cancelled a pipeline that wasn’t finished and cancelled 9,000 leases that weren’t being used, so, don’t listen to them. This price climb started, like, an hour after Saudi Arabia announced they were going to cut production. They hadn’t actually cut production, yet, and the price of a barrel was basically unchanged but the announcement gave the oil companies an excuse…and they pounced – like they always do. Let’s get into some tin-foil hat stuff, okay?

Joe Biden has been running around extolling the virtues of his “Bidenomics” program. People are still reporting the economy as bad, just not for them. I suspect this is mostly conservatives who think, because a Democrat is in the White House, they live in a Mad Max style, dystopian hell-scape of want and deprivation, so the economy must suck for someone, somewhere, even if they, personally, are doing okay. But the numbers on the economy bear out Biden, not “hell-scape.”

Republicans look like they’re about to nominate and run, eyes wide open, a known sexual predator, a grifter, a person who steals from a kids-with-cancer charity, a tax fraudster, and a traitor to the nation – all in one guy! (Apparently, that’s the best the Republicans have. That ought to tell you something about the Republicans…) That’s got to be a heavy lift for the Republicans. Leaving Joe Biden with a strong economy gives him even MORE of an advantage in the upcoming race.

I submit that corporations, in general, like Republicans better than Democrats. Republicans have a tendency to let corporations do whatever they want and not pay any taxes for the privilege so, why wouldn’t they? If Joe Biden gets to run crime-free (personally, not the country) in a strong economy, he should have a tremendous advantage over the other guy. Is it too much to suspect the oil companies are raising their pump prices specifically to harm the economy in an effort to undermine Biden?

Okay, tin-foil hats off, now. It was just a question…

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

Lauren Boebert got kicked out of a play. The theater said they kicked her out because she was vaping, making noises, and taking photos using a flash, basically, disrupting other patrons. We all saw the early release of her latest film, ‘Getting Kicked Out.’ She manages a very professionally delivered flip of the middle finger to one of the security guards on her way out. She’s just classy like that. As it happens, the theater was offering a rather respectful analysis as to why she was asked to leave. Some of the key stuff expanding the story-line got left on the cutting room floor.

But last night, I had an opportunity to see the Director’s Cut. Oh-Em-Gee! The early release left out…(wait for it)…the sex scene! That’s not hyperbole. The security camera has Boebert and her date fondling each other while in the audience. She’s working his junk. He grabs her by the, no, not that, (checks notes) breast, yeah, that’s it, he grabs and fondles her right breast. By now, though, the theater has identified them as potential troublemakers and have trained the house security cameras on them, likely in case of any later legal challenges. So, we all got to watch.

I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m not sure I have that much to say in a negative way about two people who really seem to enjoy each other, sexually. (It does look like they’re having fun.) In a public theater? Probably a bit questionable. In a public theater packed to the rafters? Likely a little TMI for the crowd. In a public theater packed to the rafters, where children are likely present? NO decent person would. But in a public theater packed to the rafters, where children are likely present, AND one of the fondlers is a recognizable member of the Congress? That’s just straight-up bad judgement, that’s what that is.

I’ll tell you this: I’m not sure this latest, filmed, revelation is going to do much to quell the charges that she worked as a professional escort for some period of her life. She seemed quite comfortable with the public display of sexuality and, I guess, quite…skilled? Hey, at least she’s good at something…

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I wonder if the House Freedumb Caucus allows Kevin McCarthy to borrow his testicles for weekends. They certainly have absolute control over them during the week. They want – no, they NEED – to impeach Joe Biden. They (Matt Gaetz, specifically) threatened McCarthy’s Speakership if he didn’t comply. So, he announced the unilateral launch of an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. The unilateral decision put him squarely at odds with a member of the House named…(checks notes) Kevin McCarthy who is on record saying an impeachment inquiry without a house vote has no validity. (He was right.)

People started ripping on McCarthy for starting an impeachment and THEN searching for charges. He very cleverly pointed out, he didn’t say “impeach.” HE said “inquiry,” leaving miles of backpedaling room. I suspect it was an attempted end-run around the crazies but it hasn’t worked out well for him. Now, the dumbest caucus is irritated with him again. He’s trying to walk a narrow line but how does one predict crazy?

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

During a recent speech, 45 made clear he’s WAY ahead of Obama in the polls. (That’s what he said. Obama.) I guess he would be. Frighteningly, he also declared that if his opponent is elected, said opponent will lead us into World War II! Holy crap, again?!? I thought WWII ended in 1945!

I’ll tell you this: I haven’t seen NEARLY the “mental impairment” from Biden as I’ve seen from the trumpster. I’ll keep watching, though…

Principles? Naw, principles are problems. Just look at the cons. They abandoned principles, in general, years ago, preferring positions of the moment. But there have been a few issues I thought they really, honestly held. I even disagreed with them but they seemed steadfast. Cons are such a fickle crowd, it was a bit refreshing they had at least one thing they actually believed in. But no. That, too, was all smoke and mirrors. I’m referring to guns, here. Well, I guess I’m referring to Hunter Biden, here, because the gun is just an excuse to get him. But they DO have to turn their back on what they claim as a core belief: guns are awesome in all circumstances and everybody, everybody, everybody should have guns!

Hunter is under investigation. He is a drug addict. In his life, he’s done drug addict things. Drug addicts might be the only group in the country that makes dumber decisions than a MAGA con and Hunter is no exception. So, he skipped filing his income taxes for a couple of years and, one time, he bought a gun.

The taxes eventually got paid, along with penalties and interest, of course. They CAN still prosecute over the fact that he skipped out in the first place, but generally, the IRS doesn’t pursue those kinds of things if they have the cash. He owned the gun for eleven days, then his girlfriend got rid of it. But, when he filled out his “I wanna buy a gun” form? He checked a box that said he wasn’t a drug user. He lied on a Federal form. According to the MAGA cons, there can be no larger crime than lying on a federal form so they want Hunter jailed until Christ returns. No, longer.

Prosecutors tried to work out a deal. After all, a plea bargain is, generally, the way these things are addressed. MAGA cons screamed in outrage, because they hate “political” prosecutions! “You’re going to just treat Hunter Biden the way you do everybody else? NOOOOOO! THAT’S HUNTER BIDEN! HANG HIM HIGH!” So, now Hunter has been indicted. Now he goes to court. Now he confesses – again – about the taxes but shows the receipts and apologizes for checking a box he shouldn’t have and gets sentenced to, what, a diversionary program? That was the plea deal so the MAGA cons have cost the country a bunch of money they wouldn’t otherwise have spent. (That’s because they’re the party of fiscal responsibility…wait, what?)

Now I’m going to need to see someone go through ALL of those registration forms for anybody who checked that box and see if any of them show up in videos anywhere using guns and drugs at the same time. For the record, alcohol, for all of our blather to the contrary, is a drug. Time to prosecute…

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

I’m a little irritated with the Dems, right now. Yes, the Dems. They COULD have passed a debt ceiling increase large enough to cover the coming two years of MAGA disruption when it became clear the House was going to the cons. They knew it was coming. Unless they’re completely mindless (and at their average age, that’s entirely possible) they KNEW the MAGAs were going to harm the country with a bunch of debt ceiling posturing. The Dems could have stopped it. They could have removed that particular weapon from the hands of the destroyers. But they didn’t. They passed the lowest number they could at the time, setting up these lovely little confrontations.

In a surprise to absolutely NO ONE, MAGA cons KEEP disrupting the process. They KEEP threatening to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States as a form of fiscal responsibility. (“Hey, we charged some things on our credit card but in order to prove we’re fiscally prudent, we’re not going to pay the bill!” Yeah, that works…) THEY seem to “think” they’re making some larger point about spending. It’s all for show but it’s not JUST a show. It does harm. Their past threats have already caused a downgrade in America’s credit rating. Thanks, Republicans.

You know the worst part? This country would not even be in this debt situation if the Republicans hadn’t started passing tax cuts for the wealthy. They don’t say it out loud (mostly) but the whole goal of the constant tax cuts for the rich was to financially choke the Federal Government to death. (I believe the actual quote was “drown it in a bathtub.”) They’re succeeding, too. You can see it everywhere.

These days, the United States of America is like a once-grand hotel. Opulent and a bit imposing when it was built, it now stands as a testament to days gone by. It still LOOKS like the once-grand Hotel USofA, but only if you drive past quickly enough and don’t look too closely. If you DO tarry, sit and look around, you can see the decay setting in everywhere. The curtains are tattered a bit, here and there. The carpet is a little ratty at the edges. The marble could use a good cleaning. The garbage cans aren’t emptied often enough. The paint is cracking and peeling, here and there. The uniforms of the staff are dated and worn. Once the resort of choice for travelers the world over, vacationers are looking for other places, these days, and Hotel USofA’s greatness is little more than a fading memory.

There simply is not enough money available to maintain Hotel USofA at the standard the world had come to expect. Oh, there’s plenty of money. It’s just that a choice has been made. A small group of greedy people will keep the money. Hotel USofA will slowly deteriorate, her decline proceeding slowly, but inexorably. All the while, people will shake their heads in sadness and occasionally comment on what a shame it is that the Hotel USofA is being handled so badly.

More than any other single factor, Republicans have done this to us and they’re going to KEEP doing it to us, if we let them, until the entire place simply collapses under the weight of the lack of upkeep. I’ll tell you this: I say it’s time we abandon stupid and destructive Republican policies and positions and get back to running a great place by taxing the people who are hoarding the money and putting it back into Hotel USofA, like we used to when she was built in the first place…

Sometimes, the weirdest things pop into my head. Oh, here’s one now. It’s not exactly a Constitutional crisis, really, but it’s serious and inquiring minds…well, you know.

IF, despite his treachery and treasonous behavior, 45 is somehow allowed to run in November of 2024, will the states list him on the ballot by his given name or his inmate number?

Joseph R. Biden (D)
Inmate 1875150 (R)
Giant Asteroid (I)

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It’s great to see House Republicans focusing on the big things, the important things. You know, like impeaching President Biden. Cons always seem to feel like everything has to be “same,” so they’re are trying to create a stink around Joe Biden (standard politics, really) by trying to give the appearance that Biden is as criminal in HIS behavior as their party leader, the 4 time indicted, sexual predator, tax evading, charity thieving, criminally conspiring Donald J. Trump. Good luck with that.

Now all they need is a charge. They can pretty freely choose anything they want since they’re making it up as they go along. I think the current front-runner “accusation” is that Biden may have spoken on a telephone with someone. Cons HATE that. Gonna get him, now! It will take some time to gin up the process, get going with “investigations,” make the case, send the whole mess to the Senate, where it can die the death it deserves.

On the bright side, it will use up massive amounts of the limited time the cons have left in power. If they spend all of their time trying to “get” Joe Biden for…oh, I don’t know, something…they don’t really have any extra time for any of their other, evil agenda. So go ahead. Impeach away.

In the meantime, I hope you’re paying close attention. There’s the hard-hitting impeachment. Republicans in Wisconsin are threatening to remove a recently elected state supreme court justice if she rules on cases they don’t want her to rule on. Republican Jim Jordan is trying to interfere with Fani Willis’ case in Georgia. (She told him no.) Republicans in the House have called to defund Jack Smith’s office. (He’s doing a VERY good job.)

A while back, in North Carolina, the GOP lost the Governor’s Office in a race so the Republican controlled state legislature stripped the Governor of most of his powers. Republicans in every red state are trying to gerrymander districts SO blatantly to their own advantage they can’t get any courts to accept their plans – but they keep trying. They’re changing the rules on voting. In short, these guys have come out, loud and proud, as anti-democratic and opposed to the ideals of the Republic.

I’ll tell you this: I know there’s nothing anybody can do about the MAGA cons but if ANYBODY else, liberal, conservative, or middle of the road, votes Republican, I’ll assume you hate America. There can be no doubt the GOP is trying, in every way it can and at every turn, to destroy our once-great nation. EVERY GOP vote helps them. Do NOT help the Republicans destroy the country. DO NOT vote Republican…

Ah, my first rent increase in the new house. Lovely. The letter said it was prompted by a review of prevailing rents in my area and, darn it, my rent was just too low. All I can see in my future is an upward spiral, a kind of a chase, just TRY and keep up. Once a year, every year, up goes the rent. Sooner or later, a letter will show up that pushes me beyond what I can do to keep up. What then?

Do you think I’ll ever see a letter in which “prevailing market rates went down” so my rent has been reduced $100.00? Here, let me help: NO EFFING WAY! Rents go down, mine will, at best, remain the same. More likely, just a smaller increase. And, really, more to the point, when is the last time you heard about rents going down in Santa Rosa, California? Not since 2014, for certain, I’d wager.

It’s not like I blame my landlord entirely. On the one hand, he’s just a cog in the brutal free market, doing the same thing most everyone else does these days: squeeze the market, grab every dime, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. But, on the other hand, I’m also keenly aware there’s no rule that requires a landlord to raise rents annually, no matter what. I’ve had several landlords through the years that seemed to reward the fact that I take good care of the homes I rent by NOT raising my rent year after year after year.

I got on Zillow and used one of the down and dirty calculators, how much house payment could I afford in my situation? It should be noted, it’s a generalized calculator that only takes into account basic financial situations but it’s still a solid indicator, if not a perfect predictor. Turns out, I’m ALREADY paying more in rent than the calculator says I’d be “comfortable” paying for my own house. That’s before the increase kicks in. Oh, that’s not an option, though. Just TRY to find a house priced at a point where that might be the payment amount. (Full disclosure, there ARE a few mobile homes I could get into but then I have the rent problem for the space and those landlords are actively more vicious than others.)

I listen closely whenever some politician or group announces some new plan to “address the housing crisis.” Money for this, money for that. Mostly, that money is a funnel from the government to rich people. They build a few tiny homes – at $300,000 dollars? EACH? HOW?!? Well, that’s $90,000 for the tiny and $210,000 to “grease the wheels.” Meanwhile, we’ll pass laws making it illegal to sleep on the sidewalk.

There IS a solution, though. One. Earlier, I mentioned 2014. That’s the year corporations started buying single family homes in earnest. In response to the Wall Street created “housing crisis” and economic crash brought to you by the derivatives market in 2008, the law changed in 2011, now allowing them to buy single family homes. They had been limited to apartment buildings and commercial ventures before that. They were a little slow to jump on the new opportunity but when they did, they did aggressively.

2014. Not quite ten years ago. Now, ONE pooled money investor owns enough single family homes to house the entire population of Iceland. Sure, the population of Iceland isn’t huge but that’s only ONE COMPANY. There are hundreds of them out there, now, each buying everything in sight. More and more, private buyers simply cannot compete. Those who do manage the feat, though, would be loathe to see the value of their new investment go down, so they’re not on board with any fixes. In fact, everybody in the sequence makes huge money on the artificially overpriced houses so there’s nobody in a position to do so who will ever even try to interrupt the process. After all, the only people who suffer is…well, every human being in our increasingly destabilized society – even the profiteers.

The solution is simple: return to the regulation that prevented pooled money investors from buying single family homes. That’s it. That, alone, would eventually fix the problem, assuming more building. But just building won’t do anything to correct the artificially inflated housing values so won’t start putting, say, first time buyers back into the market very quickly. It IS a solution, but it’s not the BEST solution. The BEST solution is to require the corporations that HAVE cornered the market in housing to divest, as well. That would help return pricing closer to actual value. Sure it would stabilize, likely SAVE, society but a few people might not make as much money. Heaven Forbid!

So there’s your answer, the ONE THING, I guaran-damn-tee you, would fix the problem but will never happen; require corporations to, at the very least, STOP consuming housing, especially in view of their unfair advantages. (Until 2014, you NEVER heard of offers over asking, no inspections, any condition, you choose your escrow length. How can a private buyer compete with that?)

In the meantime, this is a CHOICE, so S.T.F.U. about homeless people. Despite the rhetoric, they don’t want to be homeless, either. They didn’t create the problem. They have no power to correct the problem. They’re not going to dry up and blow away just because they lost their housing. They still need to eat. They still need to…um…eliminate waste. They still exist. They are, by and large and for the most part, victims of the unfettered greed of our once-great nation.

And can we PLEASE stop pretending that we might just build our way out of the problem? So long as the pooled money investors (rich people) can buy up any house that shows up on the market, how does building more help the victims? Sure, it helps the predators – they get more houses. But you build 1,000 houses and NOT ONE goes to a private buyer? How did you help solve the problem?

I’ll tell you this: There’s a bit of hyperbole in the above. I’m prone. But the numbers are merely exemplars to make the larger point and the point is sound – and the bit about one company being able to house all of Iceland is true and correct and, again, they’re only one company. So when you hear somebody claim they have a “solution” and their solution doesn’t involve stopping the pooled money investors? It’s not a “solution.” It’s window-dressing that will make a few rich people a little bit richer. We get a little, tiny bit closer to needing the guillotines every day…

Recently, America’s credit rating was downgraded. Do you know why? Republicans. (They, of course, blame the Democrats. That’s supposed to fool us…) Specifically, Republican refusal to work out a debt limit deal. For them it’s always a game of brinkmanship. No, that’s not quite right. It’s always a game of brinkmanship when a Democrat is in the White House. If a Republican was in the White House, they’d pass the debt ceiling increase easily and quickly. That’s not hyperbole. We’ve SEEN them do it over and over. But put a Democrat in the White House and listen to the Freedumb Caucus howl.

Invariably, it’s because the Republicans want Congress to do something stupid or dangerous. Sometimes, it’s just a stunt so they can go home and impress their “base” with how much they hate America. And, oh, hey, look…they’re at it again! Oh, and, hey, it’s the same idiots – every time. This whole far right, “I refuse to learn anything, ever!” thing is getting quite old, wouldn’t you say? I’m just going to say this: if you don’t understand how government works, and you don’t even WANT to understand how government works, you shouldn’t be in government. But there they are, thrashing America’s credit rating.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the House Freedumb Caucus. Several of these massively over-paid, under-worked, bought-and-paid-for congress critters are convinced a government shutdown would be no big deal. They’ve been convinced each time they’ve crashed the government. Their shutdowns hurt people and the nation but – and this is key – the shutdowns don’t hurt the Freedumb Caucus members at all. By now, we all know the rules of far right MAGA cons: if it isn’t about them, they don’t care.

The far right want to abandon Ukraine. This is STILL because they’re in thrall to Putin. They LOVE that guy. Their attraction to killers and thieves is fascinating, isn’t it? US support of Ukraine makes it harder for Putin to try to rebuild the old Soviet Union, and we all know how much the cons love the Soviet Un, no, wait, that can’t be right. But, there they are, supporting Putin, anyway.

Some of them also want to try to save Donnie during the debt ceiling fight. By now, everybody knows Trump is going to prison – unless someone can step in and subvert the process. So, several of the far-right, America-hating Freedumb Caucus are trying to do exactly that. They don’t actually have that power but, hey, what do they know? They want to tie the debt ceiling to defunding Jack Smith. Suddenly, the GOP is ALL FOR defunding law enforcement. It’s their standard position on everything: whatever is contrarian and hurts the most people, that’s where they’re at…

Their story is always the same: they’re not going to add to the national debt by raising the debt ceiling. MAGA cons buy it. Everyone else knows how it works. In short, the national debt has already been raised. That was the budget discussions. This is just the agreement to PAY for that which we have already spent. The question isn’t “Should we spend that much?” The question is, “Do we pay our bills?” Far right cons like the answer, “Um…maybe. Maybe not.” That’s always great for a credit rating. Try getting a loan on the comment that, hey, maybe you’ll pay it, maybe you won’t.

A Nebraska GOP representative named Don Bacon (no relation) said of the far rights tactics, “It’s not realistic. This theory that you’ve got to have 100% of what you want and if you don’t get 100%, you’ll take zero – it’s not the way it works.”

I’ll tell you this: A Republican who gets it? He must have been saved by the Bacon…

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

Mark Meadows doesn’t get to go to Federal Court. He wanted to. He tried to. There’s a rule called Federal Removal. If a Federal employee was doing his Federal job when he is accused of a State crime, he can get his trial removed to a Federal court under certain conditions. Meadows tried to pretend that he was “just doing his job” in helping the trumpster try to overthrow the government. The courts saw things differently (read: realistically). The courts acknowledge that he may have been doing his job while he committed his crimes but the crime part, was NOT part of his job. So? No. Sorry, Mark, you have to stay in State court. The consensus seems to be the ruling demonstrates the likelihood of others (sexual predator Donald J. Trump, for example) being removed, as well: nil.

I continue to NOT be a lawyer. I didn’t really understand why the removal was so important to them. I’m under the impression that nothing really changes except the building the trial occurs in. Same prosecutor, same laws, different building. So what? Faster path to Robert’s corrupt Supremely Kangaroo Court? Maybe. They’re not supposed to take cases outside of legal interpretations but one never knows what these corrupt cons will do. So, I tried to find out – and now I know. Cameras. That seems to be the big concern.

Cameras are not allowed in Federal Courts. People are forced to rely on reports from people in the room (often accompanied by courtroom drawings.) Georgia state law is different, though. In Georgia, cameras are not only allowed, they’re common. Georgia sees it as a matter of “public trial.” The public has a right to know so, here, watch it yourself. Awesome. But that’s the core of the problem for the cons, right now.

How much harder is it going to be for Fox Not-News to misrepresent what happened when there is a FLOOD of video all over the web showing what actually happened? In order for cons to maintain their willful ignorance, they’re going to have to log off of the internet completely. That, or risk stumbling over video after video proving their support for a criminal traitor. For them? It’s absolutely must-NOT-see TV. (I’ll be glued to the set…)

Of course, the disinformation machine that is the conservative media bubble will simply not show any of the video from the trial. They’ll mention it, sure, but nothing concrete. “Trump was in court again today. Oh, those DemocRATS! Moving on…” Many of the cons will, simply, never see the video. Unless YOU help.

FLOOD your social media pages with clips and cuts from the trial. If they come to visit, they’ll be inundated with truth, evidence, and facts. (They know this, too. You likely won’t hear from them for awhile as they keep a low profile in an effort to avoid learning anything.) There’s no need to cop an attitude while doing so. You’re not trying to beat them up. You’re trying to help. You’re trying to bring a little sunshine to their darkness. You’re spreading the good word.

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The next time you hear a con pretending that what happened at the Capitol on J6 was just a “normal but unauthorized tour of the building,” ask them this: Are you suggesting that, in order to see into the Senate chamber, “normal” tourists are asked to climb through a smashed out window, knowing there’s a man with a gun on the other side who has promised to shoot the first person to climb through? Hell, I’m surprised ANYBODY would take THAT tour.

But that’s how Ashli Babbitt died, trying to climb through a smashed out window. You know, like ANY normal, standard tour…

OH, NO! They have all the evidence they need. ALL of it. It’s a MOUNTAIN of evidence. Why, there’s so much evidence, they’re having trouble finding places to store it. Yep, by God, they’ve got evidence. And the evidence they have is so…evident. It’s totally evident how evidentiary their evidence is and, evidently, they’ve got the evidence! They’re going to show it to you, too. Any day, now. You’re going to be SO impressed when they do. You’ll never be able to question their credibility, again, because all that evidence is so completely convincing and they’re juuuuuust about to pull it out and show it to you. You love it when they pull it out and show it to you, don’t you? I know you do. And they’re going to, you watch. They’re just waiting for the exact right moment. Then, they just need a couple more days to dot a few i’s and cross a few t’s. Then? Evidence, evidence, evidence! It’s gonna be RAINING evidence…

So far, that’s the official crazy line from House Freedumb Caucus members on just about everything. So far, not one scintilla of actual evidence of Joe Biden crimes have been produced. Oh, but they’re about to be. Any day now. So far, it’s always “about to be” and never, for some reason, “today is the day.” Now, this treasure trove of “Yes, we have it but, no, you don’t get to see it” evidence, OBVIOUSLY necessitates the need to impeach. Any day, now. Just take their word for it. It’s going to be the impeachiest of impeachments. This guy is going to be SO impeached, he’s probably just going to cry. Hell, he’s so guilty we should just skip the impeachment altogether and and go straight to sentencing, don’t you think?

“So, what’s the charge?”
“Um, it’s the gun thing.”
“Joe Biden has a gun thing?”
“No, not Joe, Hunter.”
“Oh, I thought we were talking about Joe.”
“We ARE talking about Joe!”
“Oh. Man, I’m so confused. What’s the link?”
“Oh, secret, secret, secret. You’ll find out at the inevitable impeachment that is absolutely going to happen any day, now.”
“I feel like we’ve been here before.”
“No this time, it’s completely different…”

I’ll tell you this: I’m starting to suspect that all of this talk of all of the evident evidence is nothing more than…blather…

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

So…not for nothing, but, what happened to “Pinko?” It’s a perfectly good slur. Why did the cons drop it? They like ‘Communist.’ They like ‘Marxist.’ So why not ‘Pinko?’ I LIKED ‘Pinko’ and I hope it makes a comeback during at least ONE of his delusional, fever-dream rants…

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OMG, speaking of delusional, fever-dream rants, have you heard about the recent threats, I mean, campaign video posted to his “Social Bullshit” website? (I may have the site name wrong.) Here’s a transcript. “This is the final battle^*1. With you at my side^*2, We will demolish the “Deep State”^*3, we will expel the war-mongers from our government ^*4, we will drive out the globalists ^*5, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, ^*6 and Fascists. Will will throw off the sick political class that hates our country ^*7, we will route the fake news media ^*8 and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”

1 – No, it isn’t…
2 – He means with YOU fighting and dying while HE watches on television…
3 – Replace government functionaries with Trump-loyalists…
4 – Actually, I’d be okay with this one. A little less DOD would be A-ok with me…
5 – ‘Globalist’ is a well-documented, anti-Semitic slur…
6 – HERE, right HERE! ‘Pinko would have fit perfectly!”
7 – Nearly as I can tell, the REPUBLICANS are the “sick political class that hates our country,” so, I guess I’m with him on that one, too…
8 – If he would get rid of Fox Not-News, Newsmax, Onan, Info Wars, and the like, I might even vote for him. (I wouldn’t. I love the country…)

So that’s IT! If you’re not a hate-filled, bigoted, white, “Christian” (not an actual Christian. they’ll have to go, too…), conservative, free-market, freedumb-loving moron, you have to go. Then, all they have to do is add a single word to the ‘Statue of White Liberty’ in New York’s harbor: “Don’t.” ‘Don’t… give ME your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Don’t send these, the homeless, tempest-tost (sic), to me! Fuck those guys…’

You know what? Conservative America sucks…

Well, I’ve got to say, I didn’t expect this. I’ve realized that, in a weird way, I actually feel badly for Enrique Tarrio, the disgraced leader of the disgraceful Proud Boys hate group who helped plan the J6 assault. I’ve kept an eye on this one. Tarrio had a defense unique from most of the rest: he wasn’t there. He planned it and set it up but he didn’t DO it. I was interested in how that worked for Tarrio because there’s one other defendant that might have tried the, “I wasn’t even there,” defense: Donald Trump. I saw Tarrio’s sentence as a possible marker as to what the trumpster might be looking at for his similar (but more important) role. Tarrio was sentenced, Tuesday, to 22 years in a Federal prison.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. Tarrio was a willing participant in criminal activity that landed him 22 years in jail. That’s just the way it works. I don’t feel badly about that. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time,” as the saying goes. But there’s this ONE aspect to this whole thing that I focus on from time to time as I watch these guys, one after another and into the hundreds now, being hauled off to prison, STILL singing Donald Trump’s praises: They thought, they believed, they had found their Savior, their Jesus. And what wouldn’t you do for Jesus? It’s a matter of faith.

Obviously, I’m not alone in this but I, personally, have tried to help some of his faithful see reality by pointing to, you know, reality. They WILL NOT have it! Full stop. It turns out, one cannot argue faith, even poorly placed faith. Enrique Tarrio is a grown man who makes his own choices and will pay the price for his actions. But I believe the motivation for his choice, in this case, was his faith in Trump. Faith commonly leaves (often) weak-thinking but, otherwise, good people vulnerable to hucksters (or trumpsters) who get them to do unthinkable things.

Heaven’s Gate: group suicide as a matter of faith.
People’s Temple: mass suicide (and a few murders) as a matter of faith.
Branch Davidians: “sacrifice,” including women and children, in a battle with law enforcement as a matter of faith.
Manson’s “Children:” crime spree and murder as a matter of faith.
The Nazi’s in the 1930s: 22 million dead, as a matter of faith.
Enrique Tarrio: 22 years as a matter of faith.
Stewart Rhodes: 18 years as a matter of faith.
Joe Biggs: 17 years as a matter of faith.
Ashli Babbitt: a bullet to the brain as a matter of faith.

Abraham, he of the Torah, Bible, AND Koran, came within moments of murdering his own son – as a matter of faith. IF the voice in his head, the same voice that “told” him to kill the kid in the first place, had not stayed his hand, Abraham would surely have brought down that knife, ending his son’s life – because he believed his GOD had told him to do so. THAT story is actually presented in churches as a positive image of faith in God. “Now, that, there, is some loyalty! Try to live up to THAT.” I’ve always seen the other side of it: he was going to murder his own son – because a voice in his head told him to. Schizophrenia as faith.

The smaller cults, Heaven’s Gate, People’s Temple, Branch Davidians, come and go pretty quickly. Commonly, they start to decline right around the time their founder announces that God has told him he has to start having sex with the underage girls in the group “for the good of the community.” That move is a challenge many women don’t expect or accept. If they question it, he has his pat answer, “Well, no,” he says, as he gazes, lustfully, at the breast buds of the woman’s 12 year old daughter, “I don’t want to, but it doesn’t matter if I want to or even if I understand why. God has commanded it and my faith is just that strong. How strong is YOUR faith?” That’s the crack that begins the end. (Amazingly, though, many of the women will just…hand their daughters over. “Well, if God said so…”)

The larger cults, the Nazis of Germany, the Catholic Church, Cult 45, and the like are more difficult to break down. They’re SO big (and SO popular) they gain converts that never leave – even if the main cult figure disappears. One can still find Nazis or Neo-Nazis around the world, singing Adolph Hitler’s praises. Catholics are STILL taking their sons to church and paying the churches legal bills so the church doesn’t have to. Cult 45 is currently being rounded up and sent of to prison, one by one. The trumpsters are happily paying the stable genius, billionaire business man’s legal bills, too. Every one of them, misguided by their faith.

I feel badly for the victims, the members deceived by the leader they revere. All they wanted was something to believe in, someone who could make them feel safe, someone who could give them a feeling of belonging. They wanted someone who would show them a better way to live. They were looking for peace and reassurance. Instead, they get death or prison. Poor choices, sure, but poor choices made by weak thinkers preyed on by sociopathic narcissists. These people did (and do) terrible things but – aside from the bigots – I’m not sure they’re terrible people. In many regards, the rank-and-file are just as much victims as the people they attack.

It’s a difficult nuance to put into words and I’m not sure I’ve done a good job of it, here. I think Enrique Tarrio SHOULD go to prison. I’m sure he committed the crimes for which he has been convicted. In Tarrio’s case, I suspect it was only a matter of time before he landed himself in prison anyway, but I STILL can’t shake my perception that put his faith in the wrong person at the wrong time and that choice has, essentially, cost him the rest of his life. (In America, convicts don’t get out of metaphorical “prison,” even after they serve their sentence and get released…)

To me? THAT is an additional crime, not chargeable, perhaps, but attributable to Trump. HE told them he was their champion. They believed him. HE told them he, and he alone, could save them. They believed him. HE told them he would protect them. They believed him. HE told them they HAD to fight for him or everything they love would be lost – and they believed him. HE told them he would “make them great” and restore their freedom. They believed him. He didn’t help them, he hurt them. He didn’t protect them. He’s begging THEM to protect him. He hasn’t saved them and he hasn’t been their champion. They DID fight for him and now? One by one, they’re being hauled off to prison.

I’ll tell you this: I guess there’s no charge for fooling people who WANT to be fooled but I hope his reckless, selfish, deceptive misguidance is taken into account during the sentencing phase of trump’s trials – and included accordingly…

When the cons came in, they took everyone by surprise. They did a LOT of damage, surreptitiously, and planted a LOT of seed in the minds of many, many people. Unfortunately, the seeds were poison, wrong information. Now we have millions of Americans who just think…backwards…and an entire generation of young people who never lived in New Deal America and, instead, got…this.

One of the right’s first, and most successful, assaults on America came about with Reagan’s 1981 busting of the Air Traffic Controllers union by firing something like 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers who had gone on strike. He put a bow on that “tough-guy” stupidity by instituting a lifetime ban for any controller who had stuck by the strike. The administration began firing controllers August 5, 1981. Beginning August 6, 1981, it became MUCH more dangerous to board an airplane. To this day, 42 years later, the profession has never fully recovered from that damage.

But it started something. Over the years, the American middle class had become the largest and most powerful middle class in history (<– that’s not hyperbole) and it stayed that way from the 1940’s until Reagan. He showed the way. The unions had created that large middle class. Eliminating the unions seemed the answer to greedy employer’s dreams. Bill Clinton, working with the Republicans in Congress, really opened the floodgates. He hadn’t been President long but he supported and signed NAFTA and the stampede of off-shoring American jobs took off.

During that time, corporate CEO’s took to running their boards, as well. They began to be compensated in stock and options. The money from stock and options is classified as Capital Gains. This isn’t “earned income.” It’s classified as “unearned income.” THEN, Reagan lowered the Capital Gains tax rate to 20%. This at a time when earned income was still being taxed at roughly 40%. This meant that the people with the bulk of the money were also being taxed at a lower rate than anybody else.

Now, the whole POINT of compensating your CEO in stock is that as he or she improves the company’s fortunes, the CEO, personally, makes more money. It didn’t take them long to look at the P&L and see that employee compensation is usually the largest single expense line. (It usually includes their own compensation, but they never see that part.) It’s a very short leap to “fewer employees, each making less money, means more money for me!” Okay, when you look at it that way, I can see the attraction – IF you’re the one making the money. Everyone else? Not so much. But YOU live with the results.

When you walk into, say, a bank, and see 7 teller stations with only one, maybe two, people behind the counter running around like crazy trying to keep up with the line now 22 people long, you can know that’s a choice by the CEO. He wanted more money. Can’t find help in the local store? Fewer employees=more money for the CEO. Self check-out? Brilliant! Bag your own stuff, we don’t need ANY employees! Awesome! MORE money for the CEO. But most of us aren’t CEO’s. We’re the workers (you know, the people who do the work that generates the revenue the CEO gets to keep) and we’re on the “getting screwed” end of that deal.

None of this is new, of course. People have been trying to organize and employers have been fighting it for generations. But in the 1930s, the value of unions became clear and people began organizing and fighting. I mean, REALLY fighting. Bloodshed and deaths were fairly common in those union fights. I would not say the unions ever had the upper hand but they gained enough power in the country to raised the standard of living for everyone. Union busting has been around as long as union organizing (obviously) but it got good under Reagan. When companies started off-shoring most of their jobs (because of Clinton and Republicans and NAFTA) the unions took it on the chin.

We’ve heard for years that all of the “good jobs” were off-shored. The part they leave out is that they were the “good jobs” because they were the union jobs. Cons succeeded in smearing the unions and their intentions and motivations and union membership fell precipitously. But this has been going on for a long time and it looks like, perhaps, the people have had it. I’m seeing union actions and union participation increasing a lot these days. I’m also hearing corporate media decry unions. Casually, but definitely. (I recently heard a talking head on Bloomberg radio say, “There hasn’t been a successful union action in this country in 40 years.” This only a few days after the UPS driver’s union won their fight…)

Cons still don’t get it, of course. They’re still convinced that giving all the money to the richest people will have the best results for themselves. They’re still wrong. (They’re easily deceived because they WANT to be deceived.) But they only represent somewhere between 35 and 40% of the population. The OTHER 65% of Americans DO get it and they’re embracing unionization more and more. It’s a good thing.

It’s going to take awhile, of course, but the return of union power will bring about positive change for the working man. The bosses have benefited from “divide and conquer” and the workers will benefit from NOT being divided. The phrase ‘workers of the world unite!’ is directly from the Communist Manifesto. (I think that’s what scares the rank-and-file con the most.) But the idea of unions is as purely CAPITALISM as price gouging.

I need gas to get to work. The people who provide gas get to charge whatever they want for the product they control. Pay or suffer. It’s the American way. Well, the workers have something the bosses need, too. Labor. Controlling the labor pool through unions gives the workers a voice at the table and THAT will result in better standards of living for everybody – even non-union workers, who benefit from prevailing wage rates established by unions.

I’ll tell you this: I’m glad to see it happening. I hope the movement catches FIRE and becomes the normal way of things again. Life was better for a FAR larger group of Americans back then and it can be again. I thought, this being Labor Day, I should mention it…

I play a Tyler Childers song called ‘Nose On the Grindstone’ that includes the line, “It takes twice as long to build bridges you’ve burned.” I suspect Mr. Childers had something different in mind but I think that line is about to apply to CNN.

They tried to lure viewers by abandoning their straight news and moved right a bit, style-wise, anyway. But their content became less trustworthy. The right isn’t particularly interested because CNN isn’t crazy-right enough and the left has lost interest because CNN went too far. They burned those bridges. Now they’re trying to recover. I think they’re going to discover that surrendered credibility is very difficult to recover.

I’ll tell you this: I suspect that’s a life lesson the MAGA cons are slowly (oh, so VERY slowly) learning right now…

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Speaking of surrendering, (Were we? Sure, why not?) pretty much everyone on the left has noticed that the trumpster is selling shirts with his mug shot emblazoned on them and a caption that says, “Never surrender.” By definition, a mug shot is part of a surrender.

To be correct, the caption should say, “Surrender occasionally.” Maybe “Only surrender four times (so far).” They could even use, “Surrender, but be pissy about it…”

“Never surrender” only confirms their break with reality…

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The mug shot is crazy, isn’t it? I know he’s trying to look tough and resolute but, to me, he looks psychotic. Then I hear him talk and it seems confirmed. This guy is off his leash and running wild, metaphorically.

Everybody knows 45 HAD to skip the “debates.” It wasn’t a choice. If he HAD gone, he would have been goaded (rather easily, I imagine) into adding evidence to the charges he faces. So, instead, he went and let has-been Tucker Carlson “interview” him. Trump said he thinks BIDEN is “the most corrupt President we’ve ever had. And he also has the distinction of being the most incompetent.” Gees, project much, Donnie? He suggested Biden is being paid by China, the right’s homage to Trump’s Russian handlers.

Donnie mentioned the “Nine wonders of the world.” Classic trump. EVERYONE knows the phrase is ‘SEVEN wonders of the world.’ Donnie knows it, too, so he spent a few seconds dissembling. “He said nine but I think…” there was some incoherent mumbling, then “He would have been better off if he had just stuck with the nine and said, ‘Yeah, I think it’s nine.'”

Quick question, who the hell is this mythical “he” to whom you refer? (Hey, maybe it’s one of Donnie’s alternate personalities making fun of the Donnie personality live and on – okay, an obscure podcast but…) Anyway, he then went back to his point about the seven wonders of the world, like he had never even said nine. He built to his crescendo and went to his greatest hits.

“Now we have a President who can’t put two sentences together.” (Projection.) “Can’t speak, can’t walk, can’t talk.” (More projection, although I’ve got to agree, Biden ain’t great on airplane steps.) The rant took him to his love spot, “They cheated on the election.” Oops. He moved right off of that line, knowing the prosecutors were watching. THEN he called the left fascists and said, “…they’re radical left lunatics and they’re destroying our country.” The radicalized right LOVES to call the left radicals. They think they’re hiding in plain sight that way.

I’ll tell you this: As to “destroying our country?” I can’t think of a single, harmful event in the last 40 years that can be attributed solely to Democrats but I can think of many, many harmful events that are the DIRECT result of conservative mantras, “beliefs,” and actions…

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After the cons revoked a woman’s right to manage her reproduction at the Federal level, the fight moved back to the states, just like they wanted it to. THEIR thinking was, they could shut it down, state by state, if only the Feds would stand down. It hasn’t worked out that way. Turns out, people WANT to be able to manage their own reproductive freedom. So, the state fights are FAR harder than the myopic anti’s thought it was going to be. That’s never a problem for cons, though. They KNOW they can’t win people over with facts and evidence so they turn to what they do best: lies and scare tactics.

Ohioans want to put an amendment into their state constitution that guarantees people the right to make their own reproductive decisions. Cons went right to work, lying and scaring. They’re putting out ads suggesting the law allows children to get abortions and “gender-related surgeries” without their parents permission. (Not true.) They ALSO took a shot with one of their old faithful standards; infanticide. Also not true, but cons LOVE to pretend ALL abortions ONLY happen the day before the scheduled delivery.

Turns out, that’s one of their cruelest deceits. Late-term abortions make up less than 1% of all abortions performed and they ALWAYS represent a huge loss to the parents. These are parents who wanted the baby, maybe had the nursery all laid out. Maybe they had even started a college fund. Then, something horrible happened and they had to face one of the most difficult and painful decisions of their lives – only to be met by anti’s calling them “murderers.”

I’ll tell you this: I feel, I’ve always felt, and, I think, I always WILL feel like a position that depends on lies to be defended, doesn’t deserve to be defended…

The Guardian has an article today, ‘Is Bill Belichick’s Glorious Patriots Reign Approaching An Ugly Conclusion?’ I just want to say, Bill Belichick never had a “Glorious Patriots Reign.” He came into the organization with a clever plan to cheat – and it WAS clever, but it WAS cheating. He got lucky in drafting Tom Brady as his backup QB – in the third round. The success of his scheme caused extra-talented players to want to play on his team, so he carried on successfully for a few years after the NFL told him to stop cheating. (No, they didn’t DO anything to the team and they have tried valiantly to keep anyone from finding out what the Pats did, but too many people know.) BUT…

The greatness of the team began to fade pretty quickly after the cheating stopped but they DID have Brady and Gronk and all the other players who were attracted there without knowing the real reason for the success. Those players had to leave, too and that did happen over time. Now? All we’re really seeing is the true Bill Belichick.

Petty, I know. I get a little petty with sports “accomplishments” that should never have been. Players who get to keep their “records,” even after everyone knows they were juiced are a particular pet peeve. We forever have to hear how “great” they were and, collectively, pretend we don’t realize, “Oh, yeah, they cheated.” Rubs me wrong every time I have to hear how great the Patriots were during that period. Yeah, they were great. But they were great at cheating…

(Editors note: none of this Patriots rant is intended to reflect on the players, themselves. I have no information that the players knew what the coaches were doing behind the scenes…)

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We watched the mindless minions storm the Capitol and then get what I thought were light sentences, considering what they had done. But the leaders who have been tried so far? Not so much on the “light sentence” thing. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years. Now two of the front men of the Proud Boys, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl, have been sentenced to 17 years and 15 years, respectively. THEIR leader, Enrique Tarrio, is scheduled to be sentenced next Tuesday. He wasn’t at the Capitol on J6. (He wanted to be, but had been ordered out of town by a judge for a different crime he had committed.) But, before the “big day,” he helped organize the assault and he personally chose Biggs and another guy, Ethan Nordean, to run things on the ground that day.

It will be interesting to see what Tarrio gets as a leader and organizer who wasn’t actually present that day. It will be a great indicator of what the primary leader and organizer, Donald J. Trump, will face…

In a related note, another one of the Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, was sentenced on Friday. 10 years. He’s very upset. He promised the court that he would stay out of politics if they showed him some leniency. They gave him 10 years. (That’s less than the other misleaders, so far.) He raised his fist and shouted, “Trump won.” He can just wander around his cell muttering “Trump won” for the next ten years. Trump STILL didn’t win…and this Bozo went to prison for him.

I’ll tell you this: In the phrase “blind loyalty” the keyword seems to be “blind…”

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I’ve been hearing a lot of comments from the “lawyers” for team trumpster about how the trials should be held starting in, oh, say, 2026, maybe 2027, or maybe even just leave it perpetually at TBD (To Be Determined). They say there’s a LOT of reading. I suppose that could be a problem. I wonder why the trumpster’s financiers – his struggling acolytes – don’t pay for lawyers who can already read. That would speed things up a lot…

It’s not like ANYBODY fails to understand 45’s goal: get “elected,” get out of jail free. All he has to do is keep the witch hunters from showing his cauldrons, eyes of Newt, potions, bones, talismans, and Book of Spells and Conjurations to the jury before then. Easy.

Maybe not. 45 has been a “legal bully” for decades. The courts are a place he has been able to manipulate most of the time – until now. It’s one thing for the trumpster to run out the clock on, say, paying a piano seller who got screwed doing business with the Trump group. Threatening and assaulting the United States Constitution is another matter altogether. People take that more seriously, more personally.

The collective gaggle of judges in these cases seem to be coordinating so they don’t have scheduling conflicts and they seem to be determined to try these cases before November of 2024.

MAGA cons, for their part, maintain pretty much the same rebuttals. “Uh-uh!” “Did not!” “That’s not what I saw!” and my favorite, “Evidence doesn’t count.” Yeah, it’s dumb but it’s what they’ve got so they’re sticking to it…

What is it we can say about “blind loyalty?”