It Started With Lies…

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…

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…

A Daily Decline – Into Madness…

SO… we’ve come to the “attack judges” portion of our rapid slide into fascism. JD Vance said, “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” completely ignoring the fact that the judges ARE allowed – required, in fact – to control the executive’s illegitimate abuse of power. And the places the judges have stepped in have ALL been abuses of executive power.

In order to support THIS lie, Vance added, “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal.” That depends on whether the military operation was in keeping with the law or not. It MIGHT be illegal. It might be appropriate.

President Musk took to Brand X on Saturday and boosted a post from a user who wrote, “I don’t like the precedent it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, but I’m just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us?” That’s an EASY one. The Republicans could just obey the law. Simple.

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Pete Hegseth has brought back the Fort Bragg name. The original Fort Bragg was named after a confederate traitor who lost many battles for the confederacy. During a Democratic effort at political correctness, the name was changed to Fort Liberty. Americans think things should NOT be named after traitorous confederates. (MAGA disagrees.)

SO, one of the first actions of this maladministration was to slap the Fort Bragg name back on the post. Well, kind of. The original Fort Bragg was named after a confederate general, Braxton Bragg. That’s why it was changed in the first place. The NEW Fort Bragg is, apparently, named after a Pfc Roland L. Bragg, an American soldier of WWII who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

I have no heartburn with that. Sure, it’s a smoke and mirrors trick, putting back ‘Bragg’ by naming it after a different ‘Bragg.’ But it’s STILL a hat-tip to the idea that American military bases should NOT be named after traitors…

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I saw a SwastiKar the other day with one of those stickers, “I bought it before I knew what an asshole he is.” Then I see that sales of the SwastiKar are falling and the stock is dropping. I would never own one, knowing what I do about their tendency to burst into flame in crashes, burning the occupants alive. But if I DID have one, I’d be focused on unloading the thing at the first possible opportunity. (It wouldn’t be easy. Those things are stupid expensive and people who buy them are, likely, trapped in them, financially, for a while, too.)

As Muck has burst onto the scene, the sales of his cars have become, well, verboten. Or at least discouraged. Cons have been conditioned to hate electric vehicles (EVS). They’re told they should stick to fossils, so, mostly, they do. The left embraces EVS, but they aren’t interested in buying from a guy who throws Nazi salutes. NOW who is Tesla going to sell to?

I’m going to make a prediction, here, connecting those two dots. First, MAGA has been conditioned to believe that ALL electric vehicles are bad. Second, recently, sales of the SwastiKar have fallen off badly around the world. Not coincidentally, the stock price is falling, too. So here’s the prediction:

I believe that MAGA conditioning will be updated very soon to include the idea that Musk and Musk alone has solved the “environmental damage” of the EV, making it okay for MAGA to buy SwastiKars. Then MAGA will be “encouraged” to buy Teslas. If MAGA doesn’t start buying them, soon, nobody will be buying them.

Otherwise? What happens to companies when nobody buys their products? Tesla’s board ought to dump that anchor around their necks while they still have a chance. Musk is killing the brand…

UPDATE: Also, Thursday, 2/13. Wrong, already! I’m still trapped by all that time I lived in a decent, honest country, so I completely overlooked the possibility that the now corrupt US government would order several hundred armored SwastiTrucks. That, too, will bail out Tesla. It’s a good thing Elon and Donny are being so fucking transparent about the obvious conflicts of interest…

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Gulf of America. What a moron. Which one? There are three, North America, Central America, and South America. Calling the US “America” has always been wrong. Then again, maybe he meant to be inclusive. In order to get it right, at the very least, it should be the Gulf of the Americas. (I know, when has MAGA ever been concerned about getting things right?)

Google has updated their maps app so it reads ‘Gulf of America’ if you’re in the US. People have been suggesting ways to send feedback to the algorithm. I went through the steps and sent my feedback. THEN, I realized, there’s a better way.

Google has now made clear they will readily deliver false information if they have a reason to do so. THAT makes them an undependable source. Go through the steps to send feedback if you want to, but then? Stop using Google! Not just the maps, the whole thing. There ARE alternatives.

There are other search engines. I use DuckDuckGo. (Yes, that’s what it’s called. I didn’t name it.) Dump Chrome. I use Firefox. It works fine. In ANY browser, there’s a place where you can choose a default search engine. Find that place and put in one of the others. (They usually offer a list.) Don’t use Chrome, don’t use Google. If you want to ‘send a message,’ send it by impacting their money by NOT using their products where you have a choice. Your money is what gave them the power to destroy your nation. Take it away from them by not using their products…

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As a closing thought, after WWII, curious people went to Germans and asked them how such a thing could have happened in a country full of thinking people, in a functioning republic. The general answer was that people were waiting for a big moment, some grand abuse that made it clear they were sliding into fascism. No such moment ever came. It was all a slow drip, one smaller outrage after another, that culminated in what the world knows today as Nazi Germany.

We’re now living the SAME slow drip here in the United States. There will never be a big moment, so don’t wait for it. These slow drip abuses ARE the big moment…

Fakes and Frauds…

This is weird. Some of the people who call themselves MAGA, ALSO call themselves Christians. Now, as we all know, MAGA is a group that thrives on other people’s tears, just like Jesus taught, right? Apparently, MAGA has a new definition of Christian, the kind where nobody has to follow any of the teachings of Christ, but they STILL get to call themselves Christian and they STILL think they’re going to Heaven.

Trump, though, has a personal pastor he prefers. She’s a “prosperity theology” minister. The First Felon signed an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office and chose Pastor Paula White-Cain, his personal spiritual advisor, to lead it. Just look at this woman.

Possible woman, possible mannequin.

When I first saw that photograph, I thought someone had set up a sex doll in the White House as a joke. Then I realized the mouth is wrong for that so I suspected a mannequin. But, no. This is an actual person. She’s SO heavily reconstructed, she doesn’t look real anymore. No wonder she advocates prosperity theology. I’m guessing she needs a LOT of money for all that plastic surgery and hair dye and those dead, distant eyes.

“Prosperity theology” is pretty much the exact opposite of every word attributed to Jesus. It teaches that the most faithful people are rewarded with great Earthly wealth and power. Can you see why rich people cling to the concept? It justifies all that selfish evil they commit in order to become rich in the first place. As a bonus, it also blames poor people for being poor. If they only had more faith… Uh-huh…

But SOME of the MAGA so-called Christians, hate-filled though they are, correctly reject the idea of prosperity theology. They’re very unhappy 47 chose this particular person for the role. They wanted someone THEY count as Christian. They’re surprised Mr. ‘Two Corinthians’ has a distorted view of the Bible.

Some guy named Scott Ross posted that, “Arguably, this is the worst and most dangerous thing President Trump has done—putting a false teacher at the helm of faith outreach. Lord, have mercy on our country and this administration.” Mr. Ross has no concerns about the people Trump has already killed or the people he’s setting up to die in the very near future. THIS is “the worst and most dangerous thing President Trump has done…”

Do you know what she isn’t, though? A white male. 47 didn’t hire the best person for the job, right? She’s clearly DEI, right? I really wish that, for once, MAGA would pick a position and stay on it…

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During the campaign, Trump was invited to an interview with ’60 Minutes.’ He declined, knowing he can’t sit for a real interview with a real reporter. Kamala Harris was also invited. She CAN do real interviews. So she did. That really irritated The Felon. She came off looking good. He really hated that. So, of course, he sued CBS. He’s pretending CBS carefully edited Harris’ interview to make her look good. When he filed the suit, he claimed $10 BILLION dollars in damages. IS being exposed as too scared to sit for an interview really worth $10 Billion dollars, particularly since HE was the one, um… exposing himself?

CBS is battling the suit. Trump’s team demanded the full, uncut recording of the interview. I presume they were expecting to find the edited out parts where she drooled and stumbled over her words. CBS complied. They handed the footage over. Oh, THEN they released the footage to the public, both the raw video and transcripts. NOW how can Trump lie about it? Fear not, he will anyway.

Wait, what’s this? Oh, he has filed an amended petition, doubling the amount of damages he suffered to $20 Billion dollars. He has added completely impartial Ronnie Johnson, er, Jackson to the suit as a Texas consumer who was defrauded by the interview. Trump needed a Texan on the suit in order to justify having the case judge-shopped IN Texas.

When lying ‘Fox Not-News’ lost their defamation case against Dominion voting machines, it cost them nearly ONE billion dollars and they have, well, not straightened up, exactly, but they DO make more of an effort not to get caught just making things up these days. It hurt ‘Fox Not-News.’ So, obviously, Trump is filing for $10 Billion, no $20 Billion to make sure he hurts CBS and ’60 Minutes.’ It’s just an intimidation tactic.

I’ll tell you this: I remember when Republicans HATED frivolous lawsuits…

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Apparently, President Musk is coming after the VA, now, and Pseudo-President Trump seems on board. That’s certainly unexpected. It’s clear ONE of them expects to be dictator, here, in the very near future. They’ll have to fight it out between themselves to determine which one gets the nod, but either way, it’s unusual for dictators to anger the military. Dictators often rely on the military to protect their evil selves…

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Okay, so I watched. It became clear to me I was going to by Sunday morning but I never did get any too excited about it. Well, until the game started and Philadelphia dismantled Kansas City. That was something. Kansas City looked lost from the start. They couldn’t even score until late in the game when Philly started protecting players.

There was one odd call, early in the first quarter, followed by another odd call that kind of made up for the first one. After that, the officiating seemed pretty good. Mahomes got hit the way other football players get hit and didn’t draw any special flags. That really seemed to rattle him. Apparently, the special flags during the regular season really did help – a LOT.

In truth, a lot of Supper Bowls are one-sided blowouts and this game was no different. It’s weird to see a team that successful play like a cellar-dweller in the biggest game of the season, but it happens a lot. So, one starts paying attention to other things.

Apparently, MAGA booed Taylor Swift. That’s got to be weird for her. Who the hell boos Taylor Swift? MAGA, that’s who. Swift committed the unforgivable sin of supporting Biden in the last “election.” Oh, sure, they’ll still buy her music, but in public, when they want to make a show? Just consider the source, Taylor, and Shake It Off…

The LAST time 47 infested the White House, the Eagles won the Stupor Brawl. As is/was tradition, the winning team received an invitation to the White House. So many of the Eagles refused to go, the White House cancelled the event. So, naturally, when THIS game came up, The First Felon used his awesome powers of perception to pick the winner and, obviously, he’s going to choose Kansas City, whose Quarterback has a publicly MAGA wife. (That team might even have gone to the White House, had they won, and been invited.)

The game didn’t work out well for Trump (or Brittany Mahomes, for that matter) so he left early. The team that stood him up was throttling the team Trump had picked to win. I wonder if the Eagles will get an invitation to the White House. I wonder if they’ll go…

Paths of Destruction…

Oh, the damage he does…
47 shows up and one of the first things he does is attack the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The NEXT thing that happens? Planes start falling from the sky (or crashing into each other) at a startling rate. Sure, MAGA will blame Biden… or Obama… or China or some other unrelated person, place, or thing. BUT…

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A new gold standard of evil?
Since 1945, Adolph Hitler has been the gold standard of evil for most of the world. Whenever anyone wanted to point to peak evil, they pointed to Hitler. I suspect, by the time he’s through, the world will point to Donald TRUMP as the new exemplar of pure evil.

Remember, you have to compare Trump to Hitler at the rise of Hitler’s power, not the end. BY the end, Hitler was responsible for 60 million deaths, but he didn’t start that way. Trump only has one million, so far. His move to compete for the title has seen him remove every environmental regulation he could get away with. And as soon as he can, he’ll remove the rest. Yet another move that’s great for corporations, terrible for humanity.

I suspect the ONLY thing that will prevent 47 from formally taking the title will be in rendering the planet completely unfit to support human life at all. I mean, killing off billions of people will easily grant him the title of “most evil,” but nobody will be around to say so…

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Let’s hold a different image…
I believe that people are composed of energy and that the energy of people can intertwine. The simplest example of what I mean is that thing where you get to thinking about someone you once knew and saw often, but you’ve lost touch with through the years. Suddenly, your phone rings and on the other end is the very person in question. If you’ve been alive for very long, you’ve experienced the phenomenon.

Mary Kay cosmetics (stay with me, here) has a message they teach their sales consultants: ‘What you think about, you bring about.’ They MEAN, picture yourself getting the sale. But the idea works with a lot of things. People write books about it from time to time. ‘The Power of Positive Thinking,’ that kind of thing. The catch is, the thoughts don’t HAVE to be positive to bring about results. Negative thoughts can yield negative results.

Right now, around the world, people are envisioning Trump succeeding in his efforts to destroy the US – even if they don’t mean to be doing so. MAGA, of course, is so happy as to be barely containable. Ecstatic, in fact. MAGA is wishing and hoping and hoping and wishing for him to burn the whole place to the ground. They can’t WAIT for him to start hurting people – the more harm, the better – and they don’t even care that they’re going to be among the harmed. They just want him to fuck things up and they keep a clear image of his “successes” in their minds. “Ooh, look what he’s destroying today.” (Can you imagine, living a life of cheering the Four Horsemen?)

On the other hand, sane people are living in day-to-day dread, anger, and sadness that he’s burning the whole place to the ground. We’re focused on it. We think about it. We worry about it. We fret the details. Yes, it’s for different reasons, but the end result is, WE keep a clear image of his “successes” in OUR minds, too. My concern is, what we’re worrying about, we’re bringing about.

The thing is, that means everybody, MAGA or otherwise, is maintaining a clear image of his “successes.” If you oppose what The First Felon is doing, you have to stop doing that. You don’t mean to be, obviously, but you might be helping him. You have to change the image you’re holding so you can change the energy you’re enabling.

When I realized all of this, I developed a different, random mental image of him. He’s just laying there, looks like he’s asleep. He even has a trace of that moronic smirk of his. He looks peaceful and serene and he’s cradled in a well-padded, well-appointed box. I make NO effort to determine HOW he got there. That’s not important. I’m going to let the universe take care of that part. What IS important, is that I’m no longer focused on his “successes,” either through happiness nor fear.

If I’m watching him on TV or something, of course, I see him, moving, talking, breathing, just fine (for him, I mean). But in my mind’s eye, when I think about him, the picture is different and I hold THAT image instead of fearing his success. If you oppose him, YOU need to change the picture, too. If we all use the same, basic, image, THAT will be the energy we’re putting forward.

I don’t know if it will work. Even if it does, I can’t say how long it might take. But I CAN tell you that since I took up the practice, it has gotten easier to do. It wasn’t difficult to learn to switch to my replacement image, and it’s only been about a week that I’ve been trying. Oh, and I’m very much happier, not adding energy to his destructive path. Try it yourself. You’ll be much happier, too…

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I really need to lighten the mood…
I know it can be hard to tell, but I DO try to be fair. I’m definitely in the camp of those who suspect the NFL has “managed” the outcome of games in an effort to sell tickets. I think the fact that they’re legally registered as a ‘Sports Entertainment League’ puts them roughly, on par with ‘Big Time Wrestling,’ a “league” famous for fixing outcomes. But nobody was betting on the wrestlers. Most people KNEW it was fixed and wouldn’t be so stupid. I doubt it was even possible.

Now, though, the NFL has “partnered” with sports betting site ‘FanDuel.’ They’re expecting over a BILLION dollars to be bet on the Stupid Bowel, alone. “Managing” the outcome of games would also qualify as bet-rigging, wouldn’t it? Fixing games might be okay under their legal makeup but would definitely open the NFL up to civil lawsuits over rigging the games and affecting bets.

I wanted to mention it because I think it’s the best argument against those (of us) concerned that some unnamed players (rhymes with ‘catacombs’) have been receiving helpful calls all season. It IS possible the NFL is just trying to take extra-special care of their extra-special star. They didn’t used to do that. Quarterbacks used to be football players, too.

Actions Speak Louder…

Illusions…
It’s weird, but it seems the ONLY person on the planet who thinks Donald Trump is the actual, acting President IS Donald Trump. EVERYONE else seems to believe the person running the show, title or no title, is Elon Musk. ‘Time’ magazine put a photo of Muck behind the Resolute Desk on the cover. 47 pretended not to care, but asked if ‘Time’ was still around, suggesting he didn’t know that. That’s Trump-talk for ‘I don’t like what they printed.’

But then Trump failed to follow through with his usual bluster and start calling Elon names. Remember when people started suggesting Steve Bannon was really in charge? He got the ‘Trump Dump’ and was out, with a few insults on the side. But with Musk? Trump just tucks his tail and lets Elon run wild. In Trump world, that suggests Elon has something on Trump so Trump has to behave…

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Confusion…
The truth is, we shouldn’t get confused. In a very real sense, this is not the coup. This is simply the culmination. The actual coup took place January 21, 2010. That’s the day the Robert’s Supremely Corrupt Kangaroo Court handed down their traitorous ‘Citizen’s United’ ruling. That’s the day politicians – ALL politicians, left and right – started being purchased by those with money. You either played the game of the rich and powerful, or you found work elsewhere.

That’s why it will prove to be a mistake to wait for the Dems to “do something.” For one thing, there’s not much they CAN do, but even if there was something, they wouldn’t do it. They’re not allowed to. They can pretend to fight back, but their job is to lose, so lose they will…

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Louder Than Words…
Finally, we’re starting to see some action in the streets. Signs are being painted. Bullhorns are being dusted off. People are protesting. It’s only a start, but it’s a start. We need a LOT more of this. Bigger, louder, and longer protests. I think people should follow Elon around, everywhere he goes, and warn everyone in the vicinity to lock their doors as he shows up. I think people should chain themselves to buildings. I’m glad to see people taking action. It’s the tool we have available, protest.

It’s not going to stay easy, though. Right now, the protests are smallish. This is not a huge thing, yet. As they become larger, 47 will push back. There will be confrontations that result in even larger protests. There will be confrontations that result in injury and possibly even deaths. “Overwhelming force” is the dictator way. He’ll call out cops. He’ll call out the National Guard. This criminal MAY call out the regular army.

But the American people are the “overwhelming force.” What we have working for us, perhaps the ONLY thing we have working for us, is the numbers. MOST Americans do NOT want these things to happen. MOST Americans recognize that, yes, the government has issues, but burning the whole thing to the ground is NOT the best answer to correct things.

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A Few Connections…
SO… 47 claims he “got the water flowing” in California. He did, too. It has long-since been part of MAGA dogma that California mismanages it’s water supply. It’s not true. California gets that blame because of droughts caused by the fact that much of California is a desert. But on top of THAT, there’s always MAGA’S climate change. (MAGA fought the truth. MAGA owns it, now.)

Much of LA burst into flame, recently, and the hydrants couldn’t do their thing because of the simultaneous demand all over the system. As far as MAGA was concerned, that was proof they were right. It turns out, they were STILL wrong. But, because The First Felon had flapped his jaws on the topic, he had to do SOMETHING to, you know, “show California how it’s done.”

To that end, he ordered two Federal dams to release a bunch of their water so the water could “get to LA” – and, of course, because of DEI. (I don’t know, you figure it out.) MAGA got to enjoy a little waking wet dream over their he-ro. But, of course, it was a show and in this case, a costly one.

In the first place, the fires were contained before he ordered his pretended-to-be-helpful water release. But the really important part? THAT WATER HAD NO WAY TO REACH LA! That water never got to LA. The farmers in the area had to beg the Feds to stop the release before their farms were flooded. The water flowed to an empty lake bed, where it will now evaporate, unused. Clever boy, Donny.

But that water wasn’t just sitting around waiting for someone to figure out how to use it. It was for farming. You know, during the time farmers actually farm and NEED THE WATER? In an effort to pretend he was “in command” and knew what to do, He WASTED up to 5 BILLION gallons of precious California water. Wasted. Now we ALL know who really mismanages California’s water: The First Felon, Donald J. Trump.

Dear MAGA, you’re going to feel that, right alone with everyone else, this summer, when you go to the grocery store and food is through-the-roof expensive because your “he-ro” wasted the necessary water trying to prove he isn’t an idiot (but accidentally proving he is). The farmers won’t have what they need. YOU will pay more. Of course you’ll blame Biden. Or Obama. Or “Newscum.” You’ll be wrong. And wrong. And wrong, again. Donald J. Trump is to blame. Nobody else. Donald J. Trump. What a waste…

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Don’t take the bait…
I don’t know who needs to hear this but when it comes to 47, one has to learn to give everything he says about 24-48 hours before reacting. It’s almost amazing how often that boy flaps his jaws about stuff he doesn’t understand and never intends to do. He’s just blathering. You can usually tell because one of his enablers will quickly step forward to “walk back” whatever stupidity he uttered on a whim.

Donald Trump is 99% mouth, and, really, too lazy to take action on the remaining 1%. He even sits to sign his illegal Executive Orders. If he tells you he’s going golfing, you can take THAT to the bank. Everything else? Wait a beat. Give him a minute. Someone, somewhere will explain to him why this plan or that intention won’t work – and he’ll walk it back.

Because he’s a psychopathic narcissist, he NEEDS you to believe that no matter what it is, no matter how obviously stupid, “people loved it.” He’ll always tell you, “People loved it.” But then he backs off of it and it goes away. I’m saying, don’t put your money down on a condo in Gaza. That ain’t happening. He said so. He said, “People loved it, (editor’s note: see?) but now’s not the time.”

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A Possible Positive?
Obviously, I bash The First Felon a LOT in these pages. He makes it so easy. But he’s got California’s pretended super-fast choo-choo in his sights and if he can put a stop to THAT boondoggle, I’ll be happy to give him credit (ACTUAL credit) for the deed.

That train has been a flop since the start. It has cost (read: paid someone) BILLIONS of dollars and there is absolutely, positively NOTHING to show for it. Even the scope of the project has been scaled back. Now, if it ever goes at all, it’s supposed to run between Bakersfield and Fresno. I don’t mean any offense, here, but who the hell wants to go to either Bakersfield or Fresno? And, more importantly, why would you need to travel between those two towns at a higher rate of speed? I mean, obviously, someone might need to get to Bakersfield or Fresno but nobody needs to get there quickly.

I’ve long since believed that train is funneling money to someone, somewhere. At BEST, it’s been a make-work program, generating jobs. I have to believe there are other jobs to be done that would, indeed, make work but ALSO be functional for something. If I have to root for 47 to get the thing stopped, I’m rooting…

It’s No Joke…

Q: What’s the difference between Greenland and Donald Trump?
A: Greenland is not for sale.

That’s a joke Amy Klobuchar told. It’s funny because it’s true…

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The day his tariffs were supposed to take effect with Mexico, he lied and said they had reached an agreement. Mexico’s President has already explained to him that fentanyl is brought in by Americans and that they have ALREADY initiated a program to re-direct undocumented people. (You haven’t heard about any “caravans” for a while.) She also made clear that the Mexicans have a hard time stopping the drug trade because of how easy it is for the cartels to buy American guns. The Mexican President explained it to him right after his initial threats of tariffs. He knew all this from the start. He just wanted to look tough for the deceived.

The White House said Canada ‘misunderstood’ Trump’s trade war as, well, a trade war. I think 47 ‘misunderstands’ that words have meanings. Canadian stores are pulling American made products – even AFTER the tariffs were put on “pause.” The pause happened, incredibly, because Canada reiterated some of the things they were already doing anyway.

Hey, just as a sidebar, weren’t all these punishing tariffs supposed to pay for the massive tax cuts the GOP is planning to give the richest Americans? NOW how is he going to pay for those? I mean, he wouldn’t cut services to needy Americans just because he and his disgustingly rich cronies want even MORE money, would he? Would he?

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People think he’s crashing the economy because he’s a moron. While there IS no evidence to disprove the premise that he’s a moron, in THIS case, it’s all about the buying opportunities a crashing economy grants to the oligarchs. He’s tearing things down because HE can profit in that environment. You? Well, there’s always the Hunger Games…

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Wow, the Democrats are responding to all of this traitorous insanity with, wait… (checks notes) some VERY fiery words. Ooh. President Musk charged in and shut down USAID. Jamie Raskin “handled” it. “We are not going to allow this to happen,” he said, “This will not stand.” Oh, but he wasn’t finished. He kept going, “Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payments systems of the treasury but you don’t control the money of the American people. The US Congress does under Article 1 of the Constitution.” THAT showed Musk. But Raskin STILL wasn’t finished, “We don’t have a fourth branch of government called ‘Elon Musk.'” Ooh, sick burn.

After THAT kind of tough talk, Muck, of course, apologized and left, realizing he had been outplayed. Or not. In REAL life, USAID is shut down. (Apparently, he DOES “control the money of the American people.” He has your Social Security Number, too.) In fact, a group of congressional Democrats from the House and the Senate were denied entry to the treasury building when they went down there to talk to the DOGE traitors – so they held a rally outside. Cons are acting, Dems are talking. You know? It’s only been two weeks, but I’m starting to think the Dems talking points aren’t having much effect.

In truth, I’ve long held that it’s the Democrat’s job to lose. They pretend to put up some kind of a fight, but they lose. It’s a facade. It’s meant to LOOK like there are two parties and they are in opposition. It’s even possible they’re beginning to realize the facade is failing, though. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz said he was “putting a hold” on all of the Felon’s State Department nominees until USAID is restored. To be clear, that won’t STOP the nominees. It just slows them down, a bit, so it’s basically nothing more than a show.

The two parties, though? The GOP is the “Assholes who support the One Percent” group and the Dems are the “Empathetics who support the One Percent” group. But either way, they’re ALL supporting the One Percent.

Work-a-day Americans have NO representation in American government anymore, and we haven’t since the Roberts Supremely Corrupt Kangaroo Court issued their ruinous Citizens United ruling…

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I know this is a nothing-burger. I KNOW it. Still, I just wanted to point it out, even though I suspect YOU know it, too. A reporter asked 47 what would happen if Iran assassinated him. He looked a little surprised, then talked tough. “They would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions.”

He hadn’t “left instructions.” The thought never crossed his mind until he was asked. He just talked tough and pitched out a threat. I think the reason it caught my ear is, that’s his way. He just makes things up in the moment and then pretends they’re true and have always been true.

That’s just a stupid person trying to cover up the fact that they’re stupid. We’ve all known someone like that. But THIS stupid person acts on his random thoughts and that’s very dangerous to everyone else…

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This is from the Wiener Holocaust Library. For some reason, watching Trump and his goons attack the civil service triggered some history for me and I sought the details. If you’re an American, someone who loved this country, read it and weep. If you’re MAGA, you’ll read it and likely rub one out – but this didn’t end well for anybody…

Gleichschaltung was the process of the Nazi Party taking control over all aspects of Germany. It is otherwise known as coordination or Nazification. The process primarily took place between 1933-1934.

The Nazi’s started with the Civil Service , issuing the Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on the 7 April 1933. This act legalised removing anyone of non-Ayran descent from the civil service.

In the judicial system specifically, this act removed any judges that were deemed non-compliant with Nazi laws or principles. This act was reinforced by the German Civil Service code of 26 January 1937, which retired any judges or judicial official who would not intervene in cases and rule in favour of the Nazis. The People’s Court, a court created by the Nazis in April 1934 with judges chosen specifically for their Nazi beliefs, replaced the Supreme Court. With these measures in place, the Nazification of the judicial system was complete.

Gleichschaltung was applied across every possible aspect of government policy.

To take control of cultural policy, the Nazis appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for Public Engagement and Propaganda on the 13 March 1933. Goebbels became responsible for controlling the national media, film, theatre, arts, and other cultural aspects. Goebbels soon radicalised each of these areas, ensuring that they advocated Nazi ideas.

Whilst Gleichschaltung aimed to reach every aspect of rule in Germany, this was not always possible. Local governments proved more difficult to infiltrate, and even at the end of 1945 only 60% of local mayors were Nazi Party members.

Despite this, on the whole, Gleichschaltung was largely successful. By the end of 1934, the Nazis had managed to infiltrate and take control of every major aspect of German government.”

I just thought everyone should see where we are in the “MAGAfication” of America. And MAGA pretends to be all upset when thinking people say they’re behaving like Nazis. But, step by damning step…

Pain For Thee, Not For Me…

President Musk started it. He said that in order to get the national debt under control, people are going to have to go through some “hardship.” He KNOWS aggressive cuts to government spending are going to cause pain and suffering. He acknowledges the fact. His attitude? “Tough cookies.” It’s easy for him, of course. As the sometimes richest thief in the world, HE won’t feel a thing. Not even a twitch.

Sub-President Trump – the man being told what to do by Musk and The Heritage Foundation – has now endorsed that same idea. The work-a-day Joes are just going to have to feel some pain to get things back to right. Of course, sub-president 47 has a couple of coins to rub together, too. He won’t feel anything, either. No, all this ‘hardship’ is meant for the working class.

The LLC – that’s the “Lazy Leisure Class” – started buying tax shifts 40+ years ago. I call them tax shifts, not cuts, because whenever they pass a so-called “cut,” some of the lost revenue gets shifted to the working class. The rest is managed by cuts in service. For 40+ years, the working class have been taking on more and more of the leisure class’s tax burdens and losing services in the process.

Two adages I live by: 1) When your outgo is greater than your income, your upkeep will be your downfall. 2) Government decisions should be focused on which option best serves the largest number of people.

We’ve just gone over the first one. Tax cuts for the wealthy have long-since reduced the nation’s revenues to the point where we can’t meet our obligations. (That’s been the goal, by the way.) They’ve trimmed around the edges as much as they could. Now it’s down to the meat and potatoes so “people will have to suffer.” But what about the second one?

Which option best serves the largest number of people? It’s simply not true that there is only ONE choice – only ONE option to deal with this mess the wealthy have created. There are two. Yes, when revenues fall short, one CAN cut costs. But it’s often true that one can ALSO increase revenues, and in THIS case, it’s absolutely true.

If we follow the path of the LLC, 340 MILLION people (minus a handful of the super rich) suffer. And I DO mean, “suffer.” On the other hand, we could raise revenue by increasing taxes on the highest incomes. Under THAT idea, NO ONE would “suffer.” Such an increase would only hit people who wouldn’t even miss whatever got paid out.

It’s important to remember, for the leisure class, this whole conversation is purely philosophical. It’s about the idea that they don’t WANT to pay their fair share. It’s not a burden. They wouldn’t even miss it. They just don’t want to. (Or, they think their awesome, regal selves shouldn’t HAVE to.) But for the working class, this is increasingly becoming existential.

I think option 2 – raise taxes on the highest incomes – best serves the largest number of people. Honestly? I think we should go back to a 94% rate on everything over $2.5 million dollars. That was the rate in 1944 and 45. (Technically, it was 94% on everything over $200,000. The $2.5 million is that amount adjusted to today’s dollars.) The justification? War is expensive – and it is. Since the US has become a State of perpetual war, we should just set that rate and leave it there.

SO… based on this reality – and it IS reality – it becomes obvious that NOBODY has to “suffer” or bear “hardships” or feel any “pain.” But I would bet the working class is going to feel pain. We’re a country of morons, governed by rich, greedy morons. EXPECT the wrong decision. EXPECT to suffer – so they don’t have to…

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I’m not sure why this has to be said, but if you plan to bring a letter of reference to a job interview, perhaps don’t include references from people who have, themselves, been subject to scandal and/or discipline.

In an effort to lend credibility to the RFK, Jr nomination, a letter was presented to Congress, ostensibly from doctors, who think his moronic delusions about vaccinations and other things are just peachy, thank you very much. Except, they aren’t all doctors and many of those who are, um, actually WERE and those who STILL are have all faced disciplinary actions.

There may be a nicer way to say this, but it’s easy for morons to impress morons. “Doctors” who ignore valid science (I mean science supported by the scientific method, not someone’s “feels”) might well believe RFK, Jr is “on to something.” Most of us just think he’s ON something – and it isn’t something good. I suspect that worm ate more of his brain than he realizes, missing part of his brain and all.

Vaccinations save lives. Vaccinations do NOT cause autism. People who insist otherwise are expressing their luxury – the luxury of never having had to visit someone in an iron lung. Or even the luxury of not knowing what an effing iron lung is in the first place. You’ve been spared that knowledge by vaccinations. And now you want to despise the vaccinations that have done so much good for so many people? We heard it from Forrest Gump; stupid is as stupid does…

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Um… you DO realize, don’t you, that the trade agreement 47 is citing as SO unfair to the US is the actual trade agreement 47 negotiated with Mexico and Canada during his first maladministration, right? Now he’s inflicting tariffs on our neighbors and allies – and, yes, China, too. I HAVE noticed the Chinese tariff is somewhat lower. Is that because China makes all that cheap crap he sells to his believers?

He says he’s doing it because of the trade deficit and fentanyl. According to experts (read: people who actually know what they’re talking about) most of the fentanyl brought into America is brought BY Americans. Not Mexicans. Not Canadians, eh? Americans. So, THAT excuse is clearly bunk.

If he wants American companies to come home, he should repeal all those glorious tax benefits rich people bought themselves TO move their manufacturing overseas in the first place. He doesn’t need tariffs.

I’ll tell you this: I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a common thread in ALL of our national financial “problems.” The already grotesquely rich want more – and cannot be satisfied…

Lessons In Deception…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is It Worth It?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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