Crime

It’s The Morality, Stupid…

by MyBaconPress

I hear a LOT, these days, from lefties who are suggesting strategies for the next election. Oh, we could do this or we should do that. Uh-huh. So far, 47 has been a wrecking ball of lawbreaking. Evidence suggests he took the White House through cheating in the first place and since getting there, he has pretty much ignored the law in general. He does what he wants to do, legal or not, AND empowers toadies to do the same. So, um…

What in this HELL makes you think that come “election” time, he’s suddenly going to gain some great respect for the Constitution and stand down and accept the outcome of any election, whether he likes it or not?

My whole life, ‘voting’ has been the “solution” to whatever political problem ailed us. Don’t like the guy? Vote him out. Much of my life, that worked. I’m not sanguine that it’s going to work anymore. I suspect we’re going to start seeing Republican “wins” by, like, 94% all of a sudden, especially The Felon in his NEXT “election.”
“No, he can’t run again.”
“Haven’t you been paying attention?”
“No, the Constitution says…”
“The Constitution specifically says he can’t even hold office THIS time, yet there he is. What does HE care what the Constitution says?”
“Well the Supreme Court said…”
“The Supreme Court ruled the exact opposite of what the Fourteenth Amendment actually reads. They ruled by preference, not the law. When it gets to them, they’ll just pretend they read that a person can only serve two terms at a time, or some such.”
“But that doesn’t make sense.”
“Neither did their ruling on the Fourteenth Amendment. Or Citizen’s United, for that matter. The current SCOTUS IS the ‘Deep State,’ these days…”
“Well, crap!”

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Around the turn of the century, Measles was declared eradicated. Then the moral-defect crowd decided, for political reasons, that vaccines are bad. Now? Kids are dying. Excellent work.

Have you noticed that when The First Felon in infesting the White House, the United States also becomes embroiled in some medical emergency? It’s almost as if he brings the pestilence. The LAST time, it was worldwide. THIS time it seems contained to the US, which seems appropriate, but the end result for Americans is the same: we’re screwed because we don’t have a competent leader when we need one.

LAST time it was “drink bleach and get a black light into the body.” And THAT was when he was surrounded by competent doctors with competent medical opinions. NOW all he has is RFK, Jr. – the very picture of medical incompetence.

Okay, that was fun to write but in fairness, RFK, Jr sent vaccines to address the problem in Texas. (And, of course, it’s Texas.) Weird, but that’s what happened. I’m guessing there’s a pending rebuke for actually turning to actual science to solve a science problem. That’s generally a no-no in MAGA land…

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I use a source called ‘Ground News’ to track the amount of coverage a given story is getting in the press. It’s not perfect. It doesn’t cover opinions as much as journalism for example. Since most of MAGA media consists of “opinion” – the euphemism they use for “false stories” – I can’t be sure of the extent they’re hearing about the recent White House ambush on Zelenskyy.

But as far as journalism, there’s not much happening. The right is mostly not covering the outburst. The left has been focused. Journalists on the right have taken a somewhat ho-hum attitude. That’s because it’s yet another betrayal by Trump. I’ll tell you this: I ALWAYS expect the worst from him and he never lets me down. And yet, every time he behaves exactly the way I expect him to behave, I STILL feel disappointed. I keep hoping (against hope) that maybe, just this ONE time, he’ll demonstrate some basic, human decency. Intellectually, I KNOW he won’t. He can’t. And yet, I hope. I guess that makes it more of a wish.

WHY is it a betrayal? Because the US is obligated by treaty, along with other NATO nations, to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression, specifically. You see, when the USSR collapsed, Ukraine was left with a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons. In fact, at the time, they held the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

Do you think Putin would have invaded Ukraine had they kept those weapons? I doubt it seriously. But they didn’t keep them. In fairness, when Ukraine was released from USSR control, those weapons represented a huge cost I doubt they were ready to shoulder but there are options. They might well have found a way. But they didn’t need to. Under the Budapest Accords, Ukraine chose to eliminate their nuclear stockpile in exchange for security guarantees. They received their guarantees. They kept their part of the bargain. Now 47 can’t bring himself to honor the promise if Zelenskyy doesn’t a) pay him and b) grovel appropriately.

Now, obviously, Trump doesn’t understand what a real tough guy looks like, but Zelenskyy IS one. He’s not going to grovel and he’s certainly not going to say “nice things” about the invader. The First Felon is out of his depth, here. He should just let grown ups handle things and shut his pie-hole.

Just as an aside, according to Reuters, ‘Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said there were “whispers from the White House that they may try to end all U.S. support for Ukraine… I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world.”‘

Today she describes herself as “sick to her stomach.” Tomorrow she’ll vote with the majority anyway. Honor seems to be yesterdays news, along with decency, honesty, and empathy. This is just the latest example of MAGA moral decline. They’re cheering the aggressor and deriding the victims…

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I’m glad to know I’m not the only one concerned about the MAGA moral decline and it offers me hope to know there are still sane Republicans in this country. David Brooks is one such and he DOES NOT like what’s going on. After 47 ambushed Zelenskyy in the White House in an apparent attempt to get some good footage for the Kremlin, Brooks said this: “Donald Trump believes in one thing. He believes that might makes right. And, in that, he agrees with Vladimir Putin that they are birds of a feather. And he and Vladimir Putin together are trying to create a world that’s safe for gangsters, where ruthless people can thrive. And we saw the product of that effort today in the Oval Office.”

“And I have — I first started thinking, is it — am I feeling grief? Am I feeling shock, like I’m in a hallucination? But I just think shame, moral shame. It’s a moral injury to see the country you love behave in this way.”

At this point, deeply loyalist MAGA are probably lost to their fate but there are still moral Republicans and they need to keep speaking up. Our once-great nation is lost but decent Americans NEED the world to see that we’re not all bad…

Keep Shouting…

by MyBaconPress

Well, wow! THAT was something, wasn’t it? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to the US in an effort to gain security guarantees in exchange for access to Ukraine’s rare earths. I haven’t seen much of JD Vance since the “election” but he was there this time. His role seemed to be in reminding Zelenskyy that 47 doesn’t do ANYTHING unless he gets a verbal handjob talking about how great he is, so Zelenskyy had better bow low in supplication. “You CAN’T say ‘Thank you’ enough…”

THEN Vance accused Zelenskyy of not negotiating with Putin. Zelenskyy corrected that false information. Of course, this is the ‘fact-free maladministration’ and facts are viewed as something of a mortal sin in the White House these days. So, obviously, Vance and Putin’s Puppet just had to push back – against facts. Something of a shouting match ensued.

At one point, The First Felon started trying to pressure Zelenskyy to say “something nice” about Putin. Zelenskyy refused. I get that. Imagine someone coming into your house and murdering your entire family. Everyone knows who did it. An arrest is made quickly and when the killer gets to court, the judge says he’ll hand down the sentence only AFTER you say “something nice” about the killer. THAT is the situation Zelenskyy is in, and 47 wants Zelenskyy to say something NICE about Putin?!? Frankly, I think Zelenskyy showed great restraint in that room. Oh, but as always with this crowd, the plot thickens.

It turns out, there was secretly a member of Russian State TV, TASS, embedded with the hand-picked press pool in the room that day. Reuters wasn’t allowed in. AP wasn’t allowed in. But TASS got in. When I heard THAT part, I understood The First Felon’s focus on getting Zelenskyy to say something nice about Putin. My guess? That was Trump’s assignment. “Make him to say something nice about me on camera,” Putin ordered, “We take from there.”

If there was something nice to say about Putin, and Zelenskyy HAD said it, the Russians would have put that crap on a loop and put it out into the world in a matter of minutes. It would have been a tremendous propaganda coup for Russia. But Trump failed. (I wonder if he still gets paid…) Zelenskyy MAY have been too smart for Trump’s clumsy efforts but, mostly, I just don’t think there IS anything nice to say about Putin so Zelenskyy was just being honest.

When the White House was asked how a Russian state TV “reporter” got into the room, the answer was – get this – he wasn’t supposed to be there. Remember, this was a hand-picked press pool, but this guy just wandered in? They pointed out that after Trump failed to secure the required footage, the TASS “reporter” was escorted out. (No, they didn’t quite phrase it that way. That’s just what happened…)

Wait, can we roll that back a little bit? Did you say someone just…wandered into the Oval Office? In the White House? Can people DO that, just wander in to the Oval Office? It’s very curious how a TASS “reporter” managed it – and only long enough to witness 47 trying to get Zelenskyy to say “something nice” about Putin. Very curious, indeed.

I’m sure, by now, MAGA thinks 47 was in awesome form, pretending to be a tough guy, and that Zelenskyy got what he deserved, but, really, MAGA is the least dependable source on the planet these days. They know nothing. Much of the rest of the world understood exactly what happened: Trump made a fool of himself. Again. Yet another blunder from the Blunderer-in-Chief.

Also, this marks not one, but TWO more failures on The First Felon’s part. One, he failed to cajole Zelenskyy into giving Putin the footage he wanted and, two, he failed to resolve that war. Technically, he had ALREADY failed on that one, having promised peace within 48 hours of being elected. But NOW he hasn’t even settled the issue 48 hours after a meeting on the topic. Nope, make it three failures.

He ALSO failed to secure the deal to gain access to Ukraine’s rare earths. Fail, fail, fail. It turns out, diplomacy and negotiation involves more than just shouting “Make a deal!” at someone. And, by the way, has anybody heard the details of the “deal” he wants Zelenskyy to make? Based on Trump’s previous fealty to Putin, I’d guess that Trump “recommends” that Zelenskyy just give Putin what he wants and call it even.

I’ll tell you this: I’m starting to believe that Trump may not be the master of the deal that he pretends to be, outside of criminal activity, I mean…

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You’re looking for money. You need it and you need a LOT. Why are you rooting around in the couch cushions for loose change and ignoring the huge jar of cash sitting on the counter? In my mind, that’s the equivalent of what Musk’s criminal DOGE group is doing. They intend to find savings in order to partially pay for the tax cuts they want. THAT, they insist, means eliminating people from jobs that need to be done. But so long as they can SAY those jobs don’t need to be done, they’re good, right? Setting aside, of course, that people can SAY anything. It’s still the same as seeking loose change in the cushions.

Meanwhile, there are billions of dollars being handed over to huge corporations that are in very good shape and don’t need any help at all. How is THAT not fraud, waste, and abuse? In America, corporations are the true welfare queens. Corporate welfare is about twice what the US pays in social welfare. But rich people benefit from corporate welfare, so the rich people are coming after social welfare.

Oh, it should be added that social welfare almost always creates value. People get their money back. That makes it an investment. Corporate welfare, on the other hand, doesn’t really benefit anybody since the corporations that receive it don’t need it. As it happens, when you give something to someone who doesn’t need it, he just throws it on the pile. It doesn’t help anyone. So, of course the rich people are coming after social welfare.

Republicans are working day and night to throw millions of people out of their jobs and their health insurance but Elon will still get his subsidies. We don’t even know how much Elon takes, for sure, because some of his welfare comes through the Pentagon. And NOW, his criminal position allows him to secure even more of your money. How could THAT be a conflict of interest, MAGA wonders.

If the criminal DOGE was interested in saving money, they’d look at corporate welfare. Since they’re not looking at corporate welfare, they must have some OTHER goal in mind. Every day we’re moving closer to needing those guillotines. Then? We’ll need an economic system that works well for everyone, not just rich people…

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

The First Felon is ramping up his blame machine. The economy is about to experience a huge downturn. It’s the direct result of the current incompetence in the White House but, since 47 is pathologically incapable of taking responsibility for the things he does, he’s marching people out to blame, um…(checks notes) – Biden. Wait, Biden? Oh, of course he is.

Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Biden DID set him up. Biden left ALL of the economic indicators in favorable positions as he shuffled out the door. Inflation was down, gas was more affordable, unemployment was down. Consumer confidence was rising. The stock market just kept hitting new record highs. Things were looking good. But to hear Trump tell it, hidden in the weeds in there, somewhere, Biden left an economic bomb.

The really amazing part is, not ONLY did Biden leave a bomb set to go off, he managed to set it to go off only AFTER 47 started making his own moves. If I understand correctly, had The Felon simply not made any changes, the bomb would never have gone off. But that’s not the end of it. SOMEHOW, Biden tricked 47 into firing people by the tens of thousands AND initiate an incredibly stupid, totally unnecessary trade war against, well, against the whole world.

That means that Biden set a bomb so detailed, SO intricate, Donny couldn’t even describe it, let alone diffuse it. AND… he performed this feat of amazement even though he was trapped in the throes of debilitating senility. That, right there, is a master class in the senile genius of incompetent accomplishment.

Well, it’s either that or 47 is lying AGAIN in an effort to deflect blame for his own failures…

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MAGA Mike the Johnson is lying, too. By now, you’ve likely seen the videos of Congress critters holding town halls in which the crowd is openly hostile and shouting at their representative to do something. That’s gotta suck for the representative, but I suppose it’s the price one pays when one aligns themselves with evil. They’re not going to do anything to stop this, but they have to take the shouting from furious people.

MAGA Mike says the people shouting are paid protestors. Well, unless someone asks for proof. THEN, he admits he doesn’t know if they’re paid but instead pivots to “they’re Democrats,” ignoring the fact that they are also constituents. He says they come early and fill the seats. He calls it an “old trick.” THAT part, I believe. He would know the strategy. It certainly explains videos of cons shouting down their Democratic representatives, right?

The thing is, the cons were shouting because they didn’t know the truth about what the left was doing. The left is shouting because we DO know the truth about what the right is doing. That is to say, we’re shouting for the right reasons. So, keep shouting…

Not Making Sense…

by MyBaconPress

I guess making America great again involves crashing consumer confidence in the economy, since that’s what’s happening. Consumer confidence dropped more in February than it has in four years. (Quick question: who was in charge those last four years?)

According to the Guardian, “Views of current labor market conditions weakened,” the business research group, The Conference Board, said on Tuesday. “Consumers became pessimistic about future business conditions and less optimistic about future income. Pessimism about future employment prospects worsened and reached a 10-month high.”

I wonder how mass firings of tens of thousands of workers and a trade war could have done that?

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Raise your hand if you’re as sick of Susan Collins’ Shtick as I am. She says she’s “very concerned” about the mass firings in the Federal government. She’s forever saying in the media that she has “questions” about things, then being a loyal, faithful, and true vote for evil and destruction. We’re not fooled, Susan. STFU…

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I’ve head about this planned one-day economic shutdown set for Friday. I’m all in but I also don’t think one day will be enough. It’s likely MAGA has heard about it and will make a greater effort to BUY on that day to offset decent people’s actions. In my opinion, we should strive to squelch our conditioned tendency to buy anything at all for as long as it takes. I mean, one has to buy basics and such but anything that CAN be put off, should be put off. Just a thought…

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Suddenly Gavin Newsom is acting all MAGA. He had decided that cities need to eliminate homeless people or they’ll be punished. The cities, I mean. The homeless people are already being punished. As it happens, although the problem shows up in individual cities and towns around the state, homelessness is a STATE problem.

There’s ONE way to fix the homelessness problem in California – and everywhere else. Stop Wall Street types from buying single family homes and require them to divest from those they already own. Period. EVERYTHING else is just a waste of time and money. It equates to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Stopping Wall Street types from buying single family homes in California would take an act by the state legislature. It SHOULD be nation wide, but the GOP clowns in Congress are ONLY concerned with tax cuts for the greedy rich and don’t give two figs about Joe Six-pack. City by city won’t work. It MUST be state wide.

So, essentially, Gavin is blaming the victims, whether that be the homeless themselves or the cities they live in. Force the big investors out. The problem will go away in about the same ten years it took to balloon to this size. DON’T force the investors out and the problem will not ever go away. It can’t. It doesn’t happen often, in life, but it really IS that simple…

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Apparently, Russia is praising Washington’s new “more balanced” stance on Ukraine. That appears to be Russian for “telling the same lie we tell.” 47 has taken to saying Ukraine started the war. That’s some intractable stupidity, right there. And, listen, gaslight away, but the whole fucking world knows who started that war. When I hear someone say otherwise, I don’t stop and think, “Oh, time to reassess.” I think, “What a moron…”

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

Listen, I know corporate media has a tendency to find a topic and hammer on it, but have you SEEN the number of aircraft incidents that are occurring around US airports, these days? On Tuesday, a Southwest Airlines jet had to pull up again after touching down because a private plane taxied onto the runway.

It was an error (or perhaps disregard) on the part of the pilot of the private plane. They call it a “near miss.” (George Carlin pointed out that it’s a “near hit.”) I don’t think one can righteously pin this on 47’s attack on the FAA. But the overall perception of flying as suddenly FAR more dangerous since his attack is getting worse by the day.

I’ll tell you this: I won’t be surprised to hear that people are actively avoiding flying, these days, if they can manage it. The airlines will start whining about the money they’re losing but the system MUST be perceived as safe if people are going to participate and with The First Felon running the show, nothing seems safe anymore…

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I think MAGA is being conditioned to believe that Musk’s actions are “audits.” He’s not slashing and burning agency after agency because it’s a good way to cut his own taxes. He’s “auditing” them, and that just HAPPENS to result in a scorched-Earth practice that coincidentally “frees up” money to pay for tax cuts for the super rich. A classic lose-win.

Dear MAGA: these are NOT “audits,” no matter what they tell you. An audit takes time. It’s actually a lot of work. I don’t care HOW good you are at the computer, one can NOT just look at a computer printout and make valid decisions about spending. It doesn’t work that way. It’s okay that you don’t understand that, but, maybe, not supporting positions one doesn’t understand is the better part of discretion…

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As every thinking American knows, DOGE is illegal and Musk’s actions are illegal. MAGA conditioning renders MAGA incapable of anything more than a “So what?” But people with better moral compasses have been trying to pin down 47 on whom, exactly, runs DOGE. It could be anybody, we’re told, but whoever it is, it certainly isn’t Musk. Uh-huh…

The problem is, there are proper, legal procedures to establish a new Federal agency AND to install a director of that agency and, obviously, the criminal maladministration has done neither. Ergo, the illegality of the whole thing. But Elon’s self-serving role seems to be a weak point in the whole scheme, legally, and interested parties are looking closely. So the White House recently named the actual director, a woman named Amy Gleason.

Musk, so the story goes, is just a senior advisor to The Felon. GLEASON is making all the decisions. She was in Mexico when the announcement was made, wholly unaware of the developments in the demented minds of GOP. Meanwhile, it’s MUSK who shows up for the press conferences, MUSK who issues the orders, MUSK who fires people, and MUSK working to protect the actions of his, er, Gleason’s illegal agency.

Hmm. Have you noticed? Sometimes, 47’s stories don’t make complete sense…

What Gets Destroyed Today?

by MyBaconPress

I’m not a fan of Elon Musk. (Oh, have you noticed?) I get irritated every time I hear one of his fan boys talk about how brilliant he is. Bill Maher, for example, will broach NO comment against Elon and insists he’s a genius. Musk is not a genius. He’s an opportunist. It’s a common complaint I have about all of these self-described “geniuses” because, in truth, they don’t DO anything except invest in companies – often to the detriment of that company.

People actually believe Elon developed the Tesla, for example. He didn’t. He bought into the company when it was distressed and exploits a legal agreement to describe himself as a founder. He wasn’t a founder. He bought it. (His seed money for all of his “successes” came from his father’s allegedly illegal emerald mine in South Africa.)

But in this country, once a belief takes hold, it can take on a life of it’s own. When I complain that Musk has never accomplished anything in his life, he’s only stolen things, I get a lot of push-back. So I wanted to share something from the author of an upcoming biography of the conman, a writer named Seth Abramson.

“It does not take intelligence to, having thrown money at a politician, use the clout you accrued from that to advantage your own businesses—businesses you are well aware you have nothing to do with the success of, which is why you mess around with their patents to hide that fact.”

“If you assign intelligence to just spending money, you’re in a cult,” Abramson added. “If you attach intelligence to simply owning a successful company whose work on a day-to-day basis you have nothing to do with and who you are considerably more of a hindrance to than a help to, you’re in a cult.”

“It is also a particularly American disease to confuse wealth with intelligence and corporations with those who own them. In most of the world the conversation we are having would seem utterly preposterous, as again there is no evidence of Musk having *intellectual* achievements.”

Weird. As it happens, those words apply neatly to another lying gasbag of self-promotion we all know and increasingly hate…

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Speaking of Musk, he sent out an email to all Federal workers demanding that they report to him what they did last week. Failure to comply will be interpreted as a resignation. Well, no, that’s not right. He sent the email demanding to know what people did last week. Then he posted the threat on social media.

Based on what he’s done to Brand X and hate-filled trolls who lurk there, I’m of the opinion that most people missed the “threat” part, since fewer and fewer people use his quickly-crashing site.

I hope people don’t comply. Some will, of course. There are STILL people out there who think he’s doing an awesome job. Sadly, there will always be some. They’ll be cheering for 47 even as he fires THEM and leaves THEM out in the cold. “Oh, he burned me so bad! Isn’t he great?”

The deadline is today at 11:59pm. CAN he tie any responses he gets to actual employees? CAN he read something like 2 million emails? No, we’re told, but AI can. AI? Is that the same AI that regularly draws human beings with six fingers? Would you trust YOUR job to AI? We know you’re going to LOSE your job to AI sooner or later, but in the meantime, do you want AI determining your employment viability? I’ll bet it makes mistakes…

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The First Felon, himself, has now declared “inflation is back.” HIS words. Now, obviously, even though it was under control when Biden left office and the only person responsible is him, it’s clearly not his fault, at least in his mind. Nothing is EVER his fault, in his mind. Most especially when it is.

Most of the world knows that 47 won by cheating but the narrative is that he “won” on groceries. Even HE says as much. He promised, over and over, to bring down the prices of pretty much everything. He hasn’t done anything toward that end. In fact, every move he makes seems calculated to put inflation on steroids and let ‘er rip.

Truthfully, no political bunk here, but so far, the only thing I’ve seen him do is play golf and work day and night to “get even” with anybody he feels has slighted him. And the dude’s paranoid, among other things, so in his mind, EVERYONE has slighted him.

President Muck is the only one I see doing anything that might pass for “work” from that crowd and the work he’s doing is destructive and illegal. Oh, and stupid. He’s doing things stupidly. Blindly firing people, then trying to get them back? Yeah, that’s stupid. And it hasn’t been a one-time bad deal. He keeps doing it, over and over, demonstrating a rather remarkable inability to learn.

That’s the exact same tactic he used after he bought the very popular Twitter and turned it into the trash heap it is today. MAGA loves it. They can’t WAIT to see their own government in a trash heap. But most Americans are keeping a careful distance from that particular gutter.

This is just a sidebar, but can anybody explain to me Musk’s obsession with the letter ‘X?’ He changed the name of Twitter to X, which was stupid. He slapped an X at the end of the word Space for his rocket company to get the oh-so-not-cleaver ‘SpaceX.’ He even has a son named X (for short) and a daughter named Exa. In fairness, he has eleven other kids NOT named with the letter X so, there’s that. I’d love to X him out of the picture entirely. He’s one of the very few immigrants I’d like to see deported to his home country, but apparently, they don’t want him there, either…

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The Felon is so stupid he doesn’t even know who started the war between Russia and Ukraine. That’s some pretty basic stuff, right there. It turns out? It was a bad idea to put a neurotic moron in the White House…

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The Wrecking Ball Crew is now out there pretending they might send a $5,000 dollar “DOGE dividend” out to everyone. I guess that’s supposed to buy people’s silence? I mean, what’s the point? It’s not bad enough that DOGE is taking millions of dollars, now they’re pretending that the money they “save” should be sent out to people? Well, how does that “save” anything?

I think of it as an attempted buyout. We take the $5k, see, then, in exchange, we accept the incoming authoritarian regime peacefully. “Would you sell your government for 5,000?” It would be FAR better to simply go back to destroying Twitter and leave the government functioning. Let a smarter, more qualified person take on the task of finding and eliminating redundant positions, rather than just bombing agencies, then trying to revive the bodies of the victims it turns out you still need.

How about you KEEP your $5,000 dollars, leave agencies working the way they’re supposed to, and get the fuck out of my government? How about that?

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The Felon fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown. Instead, 47 wanted to hire Bozo the clown because he saw him on television a couple of times and the dumbass actually believes that makes Bozo qualified. Sadly, Bozo was unavailable. Fortunately, 47 can still choose from a frighteningly large group of other clowns – and they’re all standing patiently in line, waiting THEIR turn to destroy things…

The Midas Touch…

by MyBaconPress

All I see is unrestrained greed. Rampant and unrelenting greed. Republicans in Congress are working, literally day and night, to pass a massive tax cut to the richest people in the world. Another tax cut. They don’t need it. It won’t help anything. In fact, it will make things worse. But it’s all they can think about, throwing another penny on the pile. In order to pay for it, they see no option but to gut the social safety net.

As a direct result of the privileged class’s previous greedy moves, many Americans rely on the social safety net to survive. So here’s the question. If the richest people cut the social safety net and many Americans rely on the social safety net to survive, what happens to those who rely upon it once it’s gone? What does it say about a person who genuinely doesn’t give two figs about starving someone to death, so long as they gain another penny?

The ancient Greeks had an allegory for this about a king named Midas. You’ve heard of him, I’m sure. He’s the model for the term, ‘The Midas Touch.’ What most people know of that story is that everything he touched turned to gold. Many people think that would be a pretty great deal. These days, The Midas Touch is often used as a kind of a compliment for people who make piles and piles of money. We say it about the obscenely rich. “That guy has the Midas Touch.”

But it wasn’t a compliment in ancient Greece. It was a warning. You see, King Midas was a man born to great wealth and comfort, yet consumed by greed. It didn’t matter how much he had, he wanted more. One day, Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, and his friend, a satyr named Silenus, were traveling through Midas’ kingdom. They got separated and Silenus decided to take a nap in Midas’ rose garden. Midas found Silenus there, recognized him, and invited him in and treated him well before taking him back to Dionysus.

As a reward for his kindness, the god told Midas he would grant him any wish. Midas knew what he wanted. He wanted everything he touched to turn to gold. The god suggested Midas think a little more about the wish, but that was the wish he wanted, so Dionysus granted it. It sounds great, right? Midas woke up the next morning and touched his bedside table and the table instantly turned into solid gold! Midas was exhilarated and started touching everything he could see. Everything he touched turned to gold. What a lucky man.

Or was he? The part of the tale we’ve just seen is pretty much all people remember about Midas and they don’t think any more about it. But they should. Midas had a lovely morning, running around touching things, turning them to gold. His greed was in overdrive. His avarice ran rampant. But after a couple of hours of turning things to gold, Midas began to feel a bit peckish.

He went to his dining table where he saw a rose. He picked it up to enjoy it’s fragrance – but it turned to gold. No scent. “I’ll have to enjoy the scent of flowers without touching them,” he thought. Then he reached for a grape. It, too, turned to gold. Uh-oh! He tried a slice of bread with the same result. Gold. Even the water he attempted to drink turned to gold. Suddenly, the “gift” which had been bestowed upon him began to frighten him. How could he eat if his food turned into gold? One cannot survive eating gold. As he began to understand his problem, his beloved daughter came into the room and when Midas hugged her, she became a golden statue.

Midas now understood that his endless greed was a curse, not a blessing. He begged Dionysus to remove the curse. Dionysus told him to wash his hands in a particular river and, when he did, everything Midas had touched returned to it’s original state. Midas hugged his daughter again and realized his avarice had nearly destroyed him. He became a very generous and grateful person and led his kingdom into a new age of prosperity for all.

Midas had the opportunity to learn from his mistake and make life better for everyone. Like any good story of redemption, that’s what he did. But today, people have lost sight of the parts of the allegory that teach the lesson. We stop at “everything he touches turns to gold” and leave it at that, as though that’s enough, and it’s a good thing. The people who hoard the wealth like to spread the idea that they amassed that wealth because they’re blessed. God wants them to have it. Outside of entertainment, one rarely sees any great fortune that was acquired or maintained by means God would approve.

Oh, yeah. God. Jesus meant what he said when he said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” That’s pretty clear admonishment that the accumulation of wealth hurts one’s chances of getting into Heaven. So greedy people made up a story. “The Needle,” they claimed, ” is a small gate at the back of a walled city a laden camel could not pass through.” That’s not true. No such “small gates” exist. Jesus meant an actual camel and he meant an actual needle’s eye. He was saying, flatly, rich people don’t go to Heaven.

The United States of America is said to be the wealthiest country on Earth. But like all things wealth-related, that’s something of a lie. The US has the richest rich people and that pulls up the average. The rest of us? WE struggle with a lower quality of life than most of the developed world. And now? The richest people want even more – and they don’t CARE how it affects the world around them.

Had Midas not learned a lesson and changed his ways, his kingdom would have been doomed by greed. Today’s One Percent do not seem inclined to learn any lessons or change their ways. It’s as if they turned their own children into gold – then just kept touching more and more and more anyway. The children, THEIR children, are not relevant. Only the gold matters.

When an entire society becomes enthralled by the madness of greed, we don’t prosper. We suffer. When the only “acceptable” pursuit in a society is the pursuit of more money, we pay a price. An incalculable price. Neil Young wrote it into a song years ago, “They ‘give’ you this, but you pay for that.”

In the story of Midas’ Touch, one man stood to become inconceivably wealthy while the rest of his world suffered his greed. In the US, today, an incredibly small number of people, comparatively, will enjoy the wealth. Everyone else will suffer. Today, the United States is consumed by the Midas touch, but the Midas touch is the madness of greed. Greed for greed’s sake. Greed to the exclusion of all else. Greed to the point of destruction.

It’s greed so deeply entrenched, leaving people starving in the streets just so the wealthy can have a little bit more isn’t just acceptable. It’s the point. Apparently, it helps to pretend the victims of the avarice are at fault. “You’re poor because you’re lazy.” “You’re poor because you don’t manage your money well.” “You’re poor because God wants you to be poor.”

None of that is correct. The victims of the money grab are poor because they’re the victims of the money grab. And now, the masses are to be victimized again and even more, to satisfy the greed of an obscenely rich few. The United States of America certainly has the Midas Touch these days. One can only hope we realize the error of our ways before it’s too late. But I don’t see any evidence of that. All I see is greed. Unbridled, uncontrolled, unconstrained greed. The US has allowed itself to become mired in the madness of greed and it’s rapidly becoming greed to the point of destruction…

Corrupting Voting – Along With Everything Else…

by MyBaconPress

I wonder if women who voted for 47, knew they were voting to vote for the last time. A LOT of women still have that thing, that…oh, what is it? It’s that thing MAGA hates so effing much they’ve purged it from their hearts completely. It’s like, Oh, I remember: Empathy! A LOT of women still have empathy. That makes it harder to vote for the cruelty of MAGA. As far as MAGA is concerned, that means they’re weak and they shouldn’t vote.

There’s this bill, you see, reintroduced in the House, known as HR8281, or ‘The SAVE Act.’ It’s another one of those cute little acronym names of bills. ‘SAVE’ stands for ‘Safeguard American Voter Eligibility.’ See? Cute, right? Not only do you give your idiotic bill an acronym for a name, the acronym has to sound like it does something positive. They could just as easily have gone for the ‘WASH Act’ (Women Absolutely Stay Home) but that doesn’t sound as helpful.

Of course, the publicity around it, the optics, are about preventing all that “voter fraud” that never happens when all those busloads of undocumented immigrants aren’t driven around from polling place to polling place to cast illegal ballots – all under the watchful eyes of the evil Democrats.

As everyone knows (and I DO mean ‘everyone,’ even MAGA), the actual vote rigging that occurs happens when states like Virginia purge Democratic voters with not enough time to cure pretended defects, bomb threats to Democratic districts that leave active polling places “empty” long enough for…what? And Elon’s $290 million dollar donation and all those things “Elon knows about those voting machines.”

But listen, just because ‘busloads of illegals’ never happens, and has never happened, doesn’t mean Republicans shouldn’t do something to stop it, right? Since they’ve discovered they can squeeze their eyes closed tightly and fervently rock back and forth while chanting “illegals voting, illegals voting” they’ve KNOWN it must be true for a long time – and it must be stopped.

No, of course there’s no evidence. This is a self-convinced thing, not an actual thing. Still, this thing that doesn’t happen MUST be stopped. Enter the ‘SAVE Act.’ They can stop all those illegals, see, by requiring people to bring a paper birth certificate to their physical polling place to cast a ballot. And if the name on your birth certificate doesn’t match your current, legal name, you’re out.

THAT will certainly catch all those illegals, who, likely, don’t have “acceptable,” good-old American birth certificates. As it happens, there are many US citizens who don’t have birth certificates for one reason or another, as well. But more importantly? If you’re a woman (and many people are) and you’ve taken your spouse’s name (as many have done), your current legal name doesn’t match your birth certificate. Oh, tough luck! No voting for you.

Keep the bitches in the kitchens where they belong, I guess. I honestly don’t know how that makes America great again but then, my mind isn’t a morass of pretzel-twisted “thinking” simmering in a sauce of fear, anger, and shortsightedness so, I guess I’m not meant to know…

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Granted, it’s not much, but we have to find silver linings where we can, right? Republicans are supporting the firings of huge swaths of the work force. That’s going to leave a LOT of people with a LOT of time on their hands. Presumably, they’re going to be angry at the unfair treatment. (And it IS unfair to lose your job because some putz doesn’t understand basic things.)

Maybe it’s not related, but in Syria, drought caused southern farmers to head north, to the cities, looking for work. They didn’t find it because the cities weren’t ready for the influx. Do you know what THAT left? A LOT of people with a LOT of time on their hands, and they were angry. How did that play out? Oh, yeah, revolution that resulted in the overthrow of their king and the fall of THAT corrupt government.

There could have been a lesson to be learned from that. Leave it to MAGA to not learn and instead, add to the growing number of very angry people with a LOT of time on their hands. I mean, what could go wrong?

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“LONG LIVE THE KING.” Do you know who recently wrote that? The First Felon. Do you know who he was referring to? Himself. As king. You know what? Fuck that guy!

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I heard KKKaroline Leavitt whining in a press conference that the maladministration doesn’t like the term “Constitutional Crisis.” Apparently, they think it’s a bad thing for the press to report what the usurpers are actually doing, creating one constitutional crisis after another.

But before taking reporter’s questions, KKKaroline said, “Many outlets in this room have been fear-mongering the American people into believing there is a ‘constitutional crisis’ taking place here at the White House.”

“I’ve been hearing those words a lot lately,” she said. “But, in fact, the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court judges in liberal courts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump’s basic executive authority.”

She lies with such practiced ease, doesn’t she? In fact, the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our executive branch, where an out-of-control, unelected civilian is bulldozing the government while Putin’s puppet looks on. The courts are supposed to step in. That’s their job. It’s IN THE CONSTITUTION! If the White House stopped flaunting the constitution, the courts wouldn’t say anything. Oh, AND, the judges in question come from across the political spectrum so the part about “liberal courts” is just a lying smear, too.

Another irritating lie 47 is trying to sell? This government has a ‘mandate.’ They don’t. The official numbers suggest more eligible voters did NOT vote for The First Felon, with the largest numbers being those who didn’t vote at all. Add in the factual detail that many likely Harris voters were illegally purged just before the election, the chicanery of the bomb threats at so many polling places in expected Democratic districts, AND Musk’s super-de-duper understanding of “those machines, the ones that count the votes” as Trump put it, he didn’t even really win, let alone receive a “mandate.”

241 million people were eligible to vote. 77 million voted for hate and destruction. 75 million voted for Harris. 89.5 million were either prevented from voting or couldn’t be bothered. Neither 47 nor Harris got them out. Setting aside the obvious cheating, that means most people didn’t want either one of them. That’s not a mandate.

It doesn’t matter, either way. The wrecking ball continues to swing and they’ll just keep lying and lying and lying to cover their asses and maintain MAGA conditioning. And it’s going to KEEP swinging until the American people rise up and take the power back – and, at this point, that’s the only way we’re getting it back…

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Okay, one last thing. I recently wrote about 47 having the Resolute Desk removed from the Oval room and suggested he was being petty about ‘Time’ magazine’s depiction of Elon sitting behind it. That could still be true, but it seems more likely, to me, that he had it removed because Elon’s kid picked his nose then wiped it on the desk. You remember, that was when the kid told The Felon to shut up because he wasn’t the President and should just go away.

You’ve got to admit, four year olds can be a bit gross but most people handle things like that with a cleaning spray and a cloth. Mr. Overreact is having the desk refinished…

*Edited to correct the House Bill number from 22 to 8281, as it should have been.

Petty Prevarications…

by MyBaconPress

It doesn’t happen very often, but it turns out, there are only two ways this thing can be. Either MAGA knew what they were signing up for, or they didn’t. If they did, if they KNEW 47 was going to hand the government over to Musk to watch the richest man on the planet attack the weakest and most defenseless people, well, there’s going to be a special place in hell for them. THEY, at least, get what they deserve.

If they didn’t though, they should really step up and say so. We’ve seen a few brave souls doing that, stepping up to confess they got played. I would guess that’s a hard thing to do, especially in this current social climate where cons reduce everything to their ridiculous “culture war.” People don’t LIKE confessing they got conned. It’s hard to blame them. They feel stupid and they’re embarrassed. Some of them will admit it, at least to themselves, and change tack. They’re not likely to swing left, of course, but they’ll pull back from supporting the conman, as well.

But after arguing with people about voting for 47, then actually doing it, then seeing the results of that vote, some become even more dedicated to their position. It would not be the first time in history someone supported something spectacularly wrong and then stuck to it in a desperate but vain attempt to prove they were NOT wrong. That’s called false pride.

But make no mistake, there ARE people out there who are all in on this. They’ll make excuses. They’ll defend his actions. For whatever reasons, they’re going to enjoy the destruction…

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Well, shit’s on now. Musk is coming after your social security. It turns out, Musk is a moron, not a genius. He’s been lying about finding people receiving Social Security checks. The problem? The people in question, he says, are 150 years old. I suppose people are supposed to believe the Social Security Administration has been mailing checks to people who are 150 years old. I suspect even MAGA isn’t dumb enough to accept that.

As it happens, the COBOL program the Social Security Administration uses, fills in a date by default when the birth date isn’t entered. That date? May 20, 1875. That date was used by the programmers who wrote the program because that’s the date the International Bureau of Weights and Measures was created. It’s an homage.

Musk is using it as a lie. In fact, he just lies and lies and lies. Like 47, he makes things up on the fly. He has claimed billions in fraud. He hasn’t proven one cent. Do you know why? He’s lying! Even when he DID try to show where he found fraud, he lied. He overstated what he found, likely because he’s not an auditor and doesn’t understand what he’s looking at, and many of his claims are just smoke and mirrors. It happens SO often and has gotten SO bad, if Musk says he found a quarter on the sidewalk (which he would DEFINITELY pocket, being so needy) I would consider it a lie until he proved it. Going forward, I recommend you do the same. Musk is a liar and he’s lying all the time. MAGA may never figure it out, but the rest of us can see clearly.

Look, it makes sense that in an organization as large as the US government, there are going to be some errors. There is going to be some fraud, waste, and abuse. That’s why we had inspectors general. They caught things. Never forget, the woman Ronald Reagan immortalized as the greatest fraudster in history, the so-called “welfare queen,” received that “honor” by getting caught! People might get away with it for a while, sometimes. Then they get caught. Then they go to jail (or in one infamous case, become President of the United States.)

It looks like ELON is the fraud, his efforts are a total waste, and his actions are abuse. Technically, that means I’VE found more fraud, waste, and abuse than Muck – and it didn’t cost you a penny. You’re welcome…

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This will be fun. 47 recently claimed that Ukraine shouldn’t have started the war with Russia. Yes, that’s exactly backwards, but what do you expect from this “stable genius?” Every knowledgeable person on the planet knows that Putin attacked Ukraine. Russia started this war without cause, a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Surprisingly, some Republicans stood up to correct the record.

“To the extent that the White House said Ukraine started the war, I disagree. I think Vladimir Putin started the war.” – Louisiana Senator John Kennedy.
“I do not agree that President Zelensky is to blame in any way…this was a rogue invasion by Russia” – Maine Senator Susan Collins.
“When it comes to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I blame Putin above all others” – South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham.
“It is quite clear who started that war. It was absolutely Russia, at Putin’s directive.” – Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Those four have now committed the ultimate GOP sin; they’ve spoken factual truth. For now, for the moment, they sound smarter than 47. 47 doesn’t like people who are smarter than him – which is why he hates everybody. So, here’s the game: Let’s see how long it takes each of them to step up to a microphone somewhere and “clarify” their position to ‘Ukraine started the war.’ I mean, ‘Strong backbone’ is NOT a standard feature of Republicans, these days…

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I dunno. I think he’s being petty. A short time ago, ‘Time’ magazine featured a depiction on it’s cover that showed President Muck sitting behind the Resolute Desk. NOW, 47 has removed the Resolute Desk from the Oval Office. To be clear, this is not a completely unheard of move. Presidents can choose from something like six different desks. It’s just that the Resolute Desk has become sort of a tradition since being gifted to the White House. The First Felon says it’s only temporary as the Resolute Desk needs some work.

I know it’s a tiny little thing but I don’t believe him. The whole world has been watching Elon pulling on The Felons’ leash since taking over. 47 doesn’t seem to like it but he absolutely takes it. The word is, see, Elon can prove Elon’s efforts to steal the “election” at The Felon’s request, so Elon gets to call the shots. THAT means 47 has no voice in these matters and when ‘Time’ shows Elon behind the Resolute Desk, 47 can’t say anything. But he CAN remove the desk. Sure, it’s petty but when have you ever even HEARD of anyone as petty as Trump? If this is the only measure he’s got to “get even,” that’s what he’ll do.

Then again, maybe the Resolute Desk just needs some refurbishment…

No One Is Coming To Save Us…

by MyBaconPress

Karl Marx once wrote that religion is the opiate of the masses. That may have been true when he wrote it, but today? I’m pretty sure it’s social media. As happy as MAGA may be with the coup and destruction of the country they hated so much, Americans are angry and sad. But beyond saying so in social media – venting, if you will – we’re not doing much except sitting back and watching it happen.

There’s a possibility it’s shock. We’re all walking around in a stupor, of sorts. We simply can NOT believe what we’re seeing with out own two eyes and we’re waiting to wake up from the nightmare. I suspect there’s also an element of expecting someone else to step up and do… something. There’s THAT, too. Do… what?

I honestly believe we’re at a point where the people need to take to the streets. No one is coming to save us. If we don’t save ourselves, we ain’t gettin’ saved. The One Percent have started a full-on attack. I don’t care WHAT they say, their motivation is unmitigated greed. They want it ALL, and they want it NOW!

We can all see that the Republicans are “in on it.” It’s obvious. What seems to be LESS obvious is that the Dems are “in on it,” too. ALL of our politicians became bought-and-paid-for toadies of the wealthy after the Citizens United ruling. ALL of them. That explains why all we see from Democrats is some talking and posturing. Ooh, they’re getting ready to make their big move. Oh, they said some things. THAT’LL show ’em.

All the Dems are EVER going to do is talk. The press will cover things, kind of. Foreign press will cover them better but Americans don’t read. I suspect we’re all pinning our hopes to the courts. Maybe the courts can/will stop this. They HAVE stepped in on a few things and slowed them down, right?

Not really. In the first place, slowing things down isn’t enough. “Yes, your once-beloved country is falling into a brutal, fascist dictatorship, but now it’s going to take SIX months instead of three!” BFD. The One Percent planned this thing very well. They carried it out carefully, methodically. It took them a little over forty years but they control ALL of it. They corrupted one thing after another until there ARE no valid institutions left to step in.

There’s an expression, “Hope against hope.” It means to continue to hope for a thing, even though that thing is impossible, or nearly so. THAT – hope – is all the population has brought to the table so far. Yeah, we all know inspirational phrases, but inspirational phrases don’t stand up well to actual reality. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the sword draws an awful lot of blood before the pen gets a chance to speak.

The Dems aren’t going to save us. The courts aren’t going to save us. I don’t think the military is going to save us, either. No law enforcement will step in. There is no brave soul in the bowels of the government that might use some obscure law. The Avengers aren’t coming.

God? Get real. There’s a famous saying scratched into the wall of a German jail, “If there is a God, he will have to beg for my forgiveness.” I know there’s a lot of talk about a super de duper being that watches over us and cares for the weak. I also know the Holocaust happened – and God watched. Just… watched. 60 – 80 MILLION people died in WWII. I guess God was having a nap. He seems to be asleep now, too. That guy is NEVER around when we need him. No, we have one, last shot at saving ourselves – and we’re not doing it.

All we have left is collective action by the masses. I’ve been watching for street protests. When? Where? Crickets. Oh, I’ve seen a couple of small gatherings of people, but it’s not enough to make the point. Instead, we’re just venting in social media. We complain that it’s wrong. It’s unfair. It’s criminal. Then we go about our day, happy we got THAT off our chests. Virtue signalling accomplished.

We have two steps left and ONLY two steps. Loud and long civil unrest. After that? Luigi Mangione. Failing that, all out war. I suspect we don’t take any action because our society has become so callous and brutal. We fear losing everything. But we’re losing everything anyway, so what have we got to lose?

Sadly, this, too, parallels the rise of the Nazis in WWII. The German population stood by then, too, and watched it happen, likely for the same reason. As it happens, they were too civilized to push back. In a few short years, they became the least civilized people on the planet. Now it seems to be the turn of the US. We’re too civilized. We’re too lazy. We don’t want to lose Netflix.

The richest man on the planet is literally taking food from poor baby’s mouths because he wants more – and we’re waiting, watching, hoping against hope. I learned a phrase when I was in the service: poop in one hand and wish in the other, see which one fills up first. Musk is doing the pooping and America is doing the wishing, and I can see, quite clearly, which one is filling up first. I’m starting to wonder who should be more ashamed, MAGA for bringing this to us, or the rest of us for our feckless response…

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Hey, if you DO want to try to get involved, you can go to this website, ‘Indivisible.org’. (This is the link. It might not be blue on your computer. For some reason, color doesn’t come through well on my site.) It’s called ‘Indivisible.’ It’s nationwide. They’re organizing. Find your group…

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As predicted MAGA does wear the mark of the beast on their foreheads. It’s bright red. It says, ‘Make America Great Again…’

It Started With Lies…

by MyBaconPress

This is not going to be an easy read and I apologize for that, but it’s important…

“The crematorium is a big building with a wide chimney and 15 ovens. Under a garden there are two enormous cellars. One is where people undress and the other is the death chamber. People enter it naked and once about 3,000 are inside it is locked and they are gassed. After six or seven minutes of suffering they die.”

“The gas canisters were always delivered in a German Red Cross vehicle with two SS men. They then dropped the gas through openings – and half an hour later our work began. We dragged the bodies of those innocent women and children to the lift, which took them to the ovens.”

Those words were written by a Greek Jew, Marcel Nadjari. He was a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. He was among about 2,200 members of the Sonderkommando – Jewish slaves of the SS who had to escort fellow Jews to the gas chambers. Then they had to collect gold fillings and women’s hair, burn the bodies, and throw the ashes into a nearby river. They did all of that at gunpoint, forced to comply.

“After deportation trains arrived at the killing centers, guards ordered the deportees to get out and form a line. The victims then went through a selection process. Men were separated from women and children. A Nazi, usually an SS physician, looked quickly at each person to decide if he or she was healthy and strong enough for forced labor. This SS officer then pointed to the left or the right; victims did not know that individuals were being selected to live or die. Babies and young children, pregnant women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and the sick had little chance of surviving this first selection.

Those who had been selected to die were forced into gas vans or gas chambers. In order to prevent panic, camp guards told the victims that they were going to take showers to rid themselves of lice. The guards instructed them to turn over all their valuables and to undress. Then they were driven naked into the “showers.” A guard closed and locked the doors. In some killing centers, carbon monoxide was piped into the chamber. In others, camp guards threw “Zyklon B” pellets down an air shaft. Zyklon B was a highly poisonous insecticide also used to kill rats and insects.

Usually within minutes after entering the gas chambers, everyone inside was dead from lack of oxygen. Under guard, prisoners were forced to haul the corpses to a nearby room, where they removed hair, gold teeth, and fillings. The bodies were burned in ovens in the crematoria or buried in mass graves.

Many people profited from the pillage of corpses. Camp guards stole some of the gold. The rest was melted down and deposited in an SS bank account. Private business firms bought and used the hair to make many products, including ship rope and mattresses.” – Holocaust Encyclopedia

My focus in this piece is not the victims. Today, I want to focus on the perpetrators. I want you to think about the people who committed these crimes. Not those forced to participate at the end of a gun, but the people holding the gun. How, I wonder, did an entire country devolve, morally, to a point where they could brutally murder thousands of people a day – every day?

These were once normal people. People with whom one would exchange greetings as they passed in the streets. They were bankers and builders, accountants, electricians, engineers. They were store clerks and store owners. They came from every walk of life. They went on picnics. They went to work. They went to church.

But in a very short period of time, those nice, normal people were brought to a morality so low, they could walk thousands of people into gas chambers and make jokes about the suffering all the while – or, at the very least, support those who did. Cruelty became normalized.

But how? It started with lies. At first, those people were just supporting the party, repeating the talking points. Yes, they were lying and they knew it, but they were conditioned to dismiss that “small” sin for the greater good – the glory of the party – so they did. Over time, the small, little trespasses and offenses became bigger and more aggressive. When their leader called for greater outrages, the people complied – for the party.

Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Krystalnacht, the night of the broken glass, was a pogrom against the Jews in 1938. Five short years, those same, “normal” people who might have doffed their hats in the street were attacking Jewish businesses and the people who owned them. The name of the event, Krystalnacht, refers to all of the glass in the streets after the rampage. The German government, at the time, looked on and took no action.

It was an open declaration of war against Jews. Eventually, the idea of holding a gun and shooting defenseless, innocent men, women, and children became normalized, necessary, even. By 1941, the so-called “Final Solution” was conceived and implemented. Much of the population of an entire nation went along. At first, people were murdered with bullets, man-to-man, woman, or child. But that became expensive and Nazi leadership wondered what kind of followers they were developing. What effect, they wondered, of all of that face-to-face, close-up killing?

I think about those people from time to time, the people who went along. What happened to them after the war? How did they go on? Even if they escaped prosecution for their crimes, how could they escape themselves? After what they did, knowingly, how did they look themselves in the mirror? How does one recover from murdering thousands of innocent people, every day of the week, every week of the year? How does one justify murdering millions for the sake of a talking point? Is it possible, did they ever stop seeing the faces of their victims?

I know that describing 1945 Auschwitz seems to have little relevance to today. It was, after all, the extreme of the Nazis. It represented a level of moral decay the world had not seen for decades. An entire nation, plunged into horror – on purpose, for the benefit of a few, small-minded, bitter and selfish men seemed impossible to repeat. It all started with casual lies, but was cultivated and nurtured until it grew into the worst ANY person could ever be, right? Maybe.

Something I’m sure of: if you had asked the German people to behave in that way in 1933, they would have been appalled at the suggestion. If you could have told them that by 1938, they would be actively attacking their neighbors and friends, their perceived opponents, in the streets, they would have guffawed and said you were an hyperbolic extremist. The idea of the Holocaust would have horrified them, back then, in the same way it horrifies civilized people today. But they didn’t STAY horrified. They were conditioned and led to it, inexorably.

Pointing out the dedication of MAGA to their own falsehoods, today, meets with the same derision, but it’s the same, entry-level moral defect that set the Germans on their horrifying path so many years ago. MAGA sees themselves as decent, honorable people. They’re only supporting the party. They KNOW they’re lying – and they know lying is a sin -but “it’s for the greater good.” Is it though?

A position that depends on lies for support, doesn’t deserve to be supported. MAGA talking points represent entry-level moral decay the world has not seen since the Nazis. An entire nation, plunging into horror – on purpose, for the benefit of a few, small-minded, bitter and selfish men. It all started with casual lies, but is being cultivated and nurtured until it grows into… what?

The last time huge swaths of a nation took to lying for political purposes, turning their backs on their own morality, there was no “greater good.” If I suggested to MAGA they could be easily led to commit similar atrocities today – up to and including killing people – they would guffaw and call me an hyperbolic extremist. They would – must – simply deny reality, especially since, in that reality, they already have.

Remember Covid-19? Human beings KNOW how to battle illness, even when we don’t yet know the details of the illness. You wash a lot. You “social distance.” You wear masks in an effort to protect people around you. But not MAGA. There were political points to be scored by refusing the masks. One’s popularity increased if they attended “Covid parties.”

Decent, still-civilized folks tried to explain to MAGA that they were putting people’s lives at risk with their frivolous attitudes. To MAGA, it was all a joke, a chance to deride “libtards.” They made fun of people wearing masks or later, who took the vaccine. They wore “neck gators” instead of proper masks, even after, or perhaps, because, it became known the neck gators actually spread the illness. People died by the thousands.

MAGA was conditioned to dismiss those victims and not think of them AS people. They reduced those human beings to their “comorbidities.” THAT let MAGA off the hook. In their minds, people weren’t dying because of MAGA unethical behavior. They were dying because they had comorbidities and, because they had comorbidities, they got what they deserved. It was their own fault for having asthma – or for being old.

“All we did was refuse masks,” said MAGA. “That’s not the same as physically attacking people.” That’s technically true, but it’s a rationality that exposes a moral decay deeper than mere lies, an easy disregard of human lives. It was a kind of passive killing; stubbornly refuse to do the ONLY thing available that might help – then watch people die. Standing by and watching people die is not the same as pulling a trigger. Blame the victims. Tease them for being victims. “We didn’t DO anything!”

But they did on January 6th, didn’t they? They actively attacked. They beat people with weapons, sprayed bear spray, crushed people in doors, broke glass and smashed fixtures. They killed people or so deeply traumatized them, they killed themselves. To this day, MAGA protects themselves, or tries to, with lies. I suspect some of them are ashamed of what they did, as evidenced by the fact that they deny their own actions. They downplay events, minimize conduct. But for many of them, they’re simply trying to deflect poor optics.

The deeper MAGA goes in defending themselves and/or their leader, the more loyal they’ll become to the movement. They have to. They know they’ve already committed some horrible crimes but they need to continue to see themselves as decent, honorable people. If they allow themselves to realize the transgressions they’ve already committed weren’t actually for the greater good, they would have to confess their complicity, their guilt.

Today’s piece is a warning. If you’re one of those waiting for MAGA to feel the effects of their choices and reject MAGA as a result, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. MAGA is not going to fall away no matter how bad things get. They can’t. They likely don’t realize it, but they’re already all in, fully committed. It would take only the tiniest of sparks to get the fire blazing.

Ironically, the relatively minor nightmares they’ve already committed have locked them in to future horrors. There’s already shame. If they didn’t do the things they’ve done for the right reasons, they’re guilty. So they’ll suffer any pain they need to suffer in order to stay, in their minds, on the right side of issues – “for the greater good.”

But if you’re MAGA, you’re already on the wrong side of the issues. If you don’t reconsider your loyalties and change paths, you WILL, one day, find yourself unable to look in the mirror. Lies and comforting stories can only get you so far. It doesn’t matter that you can pretend, to me, J6 was a peaceful love-fest. YOU KNOW what’s true! You can lie to me forever. You can NOT lie to yourself. Not for long, anyway.

The talking points were just the beginning. MAGA has already been conditioned to engage in violence, first passively, then, actively. Whatever else may be true, YOU will always know what YOU did. You’re living a life you’re going to want or need to hide from later. If you stay on this path, you will, sooner or later, participate in, perhaps celebrate, something far, far worse.

I’ll tell you this: the fix is simple – embrace truth. Stop with the “talking points.” The more dedicated you are to truth, the less likely you can be brought to atrocity. Don’t live a life you need to hide from. You can’t hide from yourself…

Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest…

by MyBaconPress

It starts at ‘Stupid’ then looks for ‘Stupider.’ Sure, ‘The Gulf of America’ is stupid. And it’s wrong. Not just because the place is the Gulf of Mexico and has been for hundreds of years, but because ‘America’ is an inexact shorthand. But now I see that Republicans want to change the name of Greenland to – I swear, I didn’t make this up – ‘Red, White, and Blueland.’

It’s “clever,” see, because they changed one color reference to another – and the new one ALSO references the national flag of the United States. That’s some subtle genius, right there. SO subtle, in fact, the “genius” part just looks moronic…

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In response to US insanity and the attempt to take over Greenland and give it an embarrassingly stupid new name, Danes are signing a petition to buy California. For THEM, it’s satirical. They’re just trying to make a point. But, listen. I’m all in. C’mon, Denmark. You likely can’t save all of the US, but you CAN save California. Please?

I REALLY don’t WANT to live in the failed and corrupt United States of MAGA dreams. I preferred the rule of law. I preferred the Constitution…

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As of Wednesday, inflation is up 3%. The price of eggs is up 15%. So far, he’s done a LOT to make rich people richer. He hasn’t done squat to reduce the cost of living for work-a-day Americans.

On February 8th, he said this – and, no, I didn’t change a thing. This is exactly what he said. “I hear so much about the word ‘groceries.’ I used to use ‘groceries’ a lot on that trail. Uhh, a word that’s, like, sort of, an old fashioned word, ‘groceries.’ But ‘groceries’ is the word that’s the most accurate word and, uh, the price of groceries went through the roof. Bacon was… levels like nobody’s ever seen. Uh, you take a look at eggs today, I mean, the eggs are double, triple, quadr- they’re going through the roof.”

It’s a bit of a word salad but if I can make out his message, it seems that he knows groceries are very expensive. He’s reminding everyone he promised to lower the prices when he got elected. Of course, he’s ALSO accidentally reminding everyone that he hasn’t done that, at all. In fact, everything is going up again.

I’ll tell you this: he’s either an incompetent fool who simply has no idea about how to do the things he promised to do, or? He lied. There is no third possibility. He’s incompetent or dishonest. I think both. Promises made, promises ignored…

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I guess we’re going to call this “SwastiKarGate.” I wrote Thursday that I thought MAGA conditioning was going to be updated to get MAGA to buy Teslas in an effort to help the failing company. THEN, it came to my attention that 47 had arranged to buy $400 million dollars worth of the rolling crematoriums to put our soldiers in, so I posted a correction to the story. But THEN, I was informed that, no, it wasn’t 47 trying to funnel money to his boss’s company. It was BIDEN, all along. That’s the story a “state department spokesperson” told, anyway.

The story, as nearly as I can make it out, is that the armored electric vehicles were a line item in a State Department budget in December and that Tesla was the only company to respond to the request last May. (Yeah, before December. That is, apparently, before the line item. It’s weird that Tesla “responded” before the line item was put in place, right?)

I tried to verify that story but I couldn’t find anything about Biden even suggesting armored electric vehicles that was written before two days ago, when the story broke. Nothing. I would have guessed someone, somewhere would have written a story about it at the time. We know the Biden administration tried to squelch some news stories and some media complied, but Fox Not-News? ONAN? No, the right wing outlets, at least, would have written about it at the time – and they would have been outraged.

Even weirder, for some reason, 47’s maladministration scrubbed the website to remove references to Tesla and replaced them with “electric vehicles.” Apparently, 47 was concerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest. No word on WHY 47 – who blames BIDEN for everything – would suddenly move to protect Biden from the appearance of a conflict of interest, nor what that conflict might be, since Biden wasn’t the one handing the government over to the private citizen getting fat government contracts.

But do you know what? From one point of view, it doesn’t matter which administration tried to make this deal (but it really is the corrupt 47). Electric Vehicle technology is NOT up to the rigors of war. Not yet.
“Sgt. Tank Commander, why didn’t you respond to the surprise attack by our enemy at Fort Commandeer?”
“I tried to, sir. My tank was still on the charger…”

But, hey, if a Trump administration spokesperson says some words, well, a Trump administration spokesperson said some words. So, there…

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Okay, this HAS to be my favorite story of the week. During President Musk’s presser in the Oval Office – the one he brought his kid to and invited 47 to sit in on? The four-year-old reportedly said to The Felon, “You’re not the President and you need to go away.” How cute!

Do you know who DOESN’T have opinions on the legitimacy of Presidents? Four-year-olds. Oh, but ‘little pictures have big ears,’ right? It’s completely normal for four-year-olds to repeat things they hear around the house – even if those things are inappropriate to say out loud in other company. Famously, four-year-olds have terrible social filters. It’s WHY they’ll casually pick their noses in front of people.

So, if four-year-olds don’t have opinions on the legitimacy of Presidents, but THIS four-year-old says, out loud, that 47 isn’t the President and needs to go away, where did Elon’s four-year-old son hear that 47 isn’t the President?

And STILL, 47 doesn’t say anything. It’s completely clear, 47 is owned and operated by Musk. $290 million dollars. That comes out to about a buck and a half for Trump. The rest was to buy – and destroy – our government…