MAGA

The Brightest Lights…

by MyBaconPress

Ever since Zohran Mamdani got elected Mayor of New York City, every corporate talking head from across the dial has been required to come out loudly in favor of “Free Market” Capitalism, as though there’s some threat to it out there. The most recent I saw was Bill Maher on his show ‘Real Time’ from his November 14 broadcast. He went so far as to show a nighttime satellite photo of South Korea, brightly lit up because of all of that beautiful Capitalism it has, like this:

South Korea at night.

See? Only Capitalists can afford lights, right? THEN, he showed a nighttime satellite photo of North Korea, so dark it looked like they had to pool their resources to buy even the single light bulb they share as a nation:

North Korea at night.

Pretty convincing stuff, eh? Well, unless you know that North Korea is a Communist nation. It’s not Democratic Socialist at all. Trying to convince me that Democratic Socialism is bad by showing me the failures of Communism is a bit like me trying to convince you ice hockey sucks because that “strategic battle” between the pitcher and hitter is pretty boring. Did I convince you? HOW? Telling you something I don’t care for about baseball has nothing to do with ice hockey. If it convinces you, it’s because you know nothing of hockey or baseball.

It’s weird that Maher might have made such an error, isn’t it? Love him or hate him, I think everyone would agree that Bill Maher is not a stupid person. Still, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and pretend he made an honest mistake because the alternative is to point out that he’s intentionally trying to deceive by knowingly presenting false information, more commonly known as “lying.” If one has to lie in order to defend their position, their position probably doesn’t deserve to be defended, right?

Do you know the happiest country on Earth, the country with the overall happiest population? Finland, a Democratic Socialist state, though they call it ‘The Nordic Model.’ (It’s technically listed as a Constitutional Monarchy.) It’s a mixed economy. But no country has included more elements of Democratic Socialism and they’re the happiest country on Earth eight years running now. Besides, NO country is perfectly whatever it claims to be.

Take the awesome and perfectly perfect US. We claim – no, we insist – that we’re a “Free Market” Capitalist nation and nothing else, ever. Well, until some corporation makes some catastrophic Capitalistic mistake and runs, hat in hand, to the US government to demand a little socialism in the form of a financial bailout. It happens here in the Greatest Country On Earth™ FAR more often than you might think. The American corporate motto seems to be ‘Socialism for me, brutal Free Market Capitalism for thee.’

Oh, and for Bill Maher, since I know he’s probably reading, here’s a nighttime photo of Finland, all lit up:

Scandinavia at night

In fact, that’s all of Scandinavia, all Democratic Socialist and all lit up. Using the Maher standard of measuring the success of a given economic system based on how brightly a country shines at night, it looks like Democratic Socialism is doing okay…

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I can’t say I feel badly, exactly, about what’s happening to Marjorie Taylor Greene. She seems to have gained access to more accurate information recently. I don’t know her source, but she has been coming out on the right side of an increasing number of issues, recently, and it’s weirding me out. She has become SO fact-oriented, the Trumpster kicked her out of MAGA. (“No facts in MAGA!”) Now she’s getting death threats and other abuse.

Nobody deserves death threats or other abuse for expressing their opinions, right or wrong. Still, it’s nice that she’s getting an opportunity to see how her team, Team Evil, treats people with whom they disagree. I’ll tell you this, though: if she wants to join Team USA, I think we should let her. I do not, can not, forget who and how she’s been, but Maya Angelou taught us, “When you know better, do better.” MTG seems to know better, now, and she seems to be trying to do better. Right thinking people ought to support that…

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“It’s not just that they’re doing things that I don’t agree with politically, it’s that there’s so much malice and vindictiveness attached to all of it….” Bill Bryson, author of ‘A Short History of Everything.’

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Here’s the thing about the MAGA anger that 47 isn’t doing what he promised. This is the first time they’ve known, known without question, that Donny is lying to them. I mean, when he says he and Xi have a great relationship, who can say? We certainly weren’t in the room while they were talking. Maybe they do. ARE fishermen off the coast of Venezuela drug runners? Donny said they were and I’ve never had the chance to talk to them. Maybe they were.

They can do that all day on a wide-ranging variety of subjects. Pretty much everything, in fact, they can’t or won’t check. But they don’t have to check to see if prices are lower or higher. It smacks them in the face every time they walk into a store. They’ve still got Donny’s whiny voice in their heads, “Prices are low, the lowest they’ve ever been. We’ve got the best prices.” Meanwhile, they’re buying off-brands or not at all because things are so expensive.

I suspect that as they internalize the reality that Donny is straight-up lying to them about the economy, they’ll start to see other areas where he may have been less than honest. How about job losses? Over the course of last month, I’ve seen many headlines about larger companies laying off workers. How many? 100 people! 1,000 people! 10,000 people! 466,000 people! 2 million people! A trillion people! (I learned that from Donny. BIG numbers are better.)

Okay, 153,000. That’s the estimated, actual number. It’s estimated because the regime isn’t offering that information any more. (We get excuses, instead.) The actual numbers make Donny look bad, so he stopped reporting them. But I’d bet some of those 153,000 people were MAGA and when Donny tells them the economy is booming, they wonder why it exploded all over them. In short, Donny’s lies aren’t distant anymore. They’re not about things MAGA doesn’t understand and may or may not be true. Donny’s lies are hitting home, THEIR homes and for the first time, they see it…

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Big day for the Niners today. Brock Purdy, their starting Quarterback who has missed a ton of games with a bum foot, is coming back. So is one of their better Wide Receivers, Ricky Pearsall. That should improve the offense. Well, at wide-out anyway. Backup Quarterback Mac Jones did a VERY good job while Brock was out. I hope Brock plays well or the QB controversy gets somewhat louder.

The Defense is still the big question mark. The team has lost their veteran leaders for the season. They’re playing with backups and rookies. The up side? They have a very good Defensive Coordinator in Robert Salah, and they have a soft stretch in their schedule. It gives them something like five weeks to tighten up and get it together. Here we go, Niners…

Failing and Flailing…

by MyBaconPress

It just makes your head want to explode sometimes, doesn’t it? The “Justice” Department is joining California Republicans in their lawsuit to stop California from doing what Texas did: gerrymander the state to favor one party, the Democrats. California ONLY did what they did a) temporarily, and b) because Texans gerrymandered Texas to favor one party, the Republicans.

Not only did the “Justice” Department NOT sue Texas, the Texas rigging was 47’s idea. He proclaimed he “deserved” five more seats in the House and Texas gerrymandered to accommodate his selfish ambitions. In joining the suit against California but not Texas, the administration made some pretty startling comments.

“California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” mused Pam Bondi, the US attorney general. “Governor Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.”

“Texas’ redistricting scheme is ALSO a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Pam Bondi could have added, but didn’t, “but Governor Abbott’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Texans will be just fine.”

The thing is, this whole kerfuffle kicked off when the Roberts Supremely Corrupt, Kangaroo Court ruled that Federal courts do not have jurisdiction to hear cases regarding partisan gerrymandering. A federal court can still step in, for now, if the gerrymandering is seen as racial, though, so that’s how the GOP and the criminal regime filed their official California whine.

They claimed the new map was drawn “to favor Hispanics.” Well, they had to say something, right? The suit had to pretend the gerrymander was racial. So, that’s what they did. Evil is evil, not stupid. But “We want to cheat but we don’t want YOU to cheat,” isn’t a very inspiring message. Nor is it particularly convincing. I’d bet racial considerations were not a factor so I imagine Team Evil will lose the fight…

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I saw a headline in Friday’s ‘Guardian.’ It read, “Democrat Eric Swalwell faces federal criminal inquiry for alleged mortgage fraud.” When I read it, I laughed out loud. I guess Team Evil thinks they’re really on to something with these pretended charges. The thing is, we all KNOW the regime is just making things up in an effort to harass their political opponents.

We also know that several of the minions working in the regime could easily face the exact same charges – and, apparently, the evidence is stronger against Donny’s Dumbasses than it is against the Dems facing those charges. So far, the charges haven’t held up and I doubt this one will, either. Swalwell will start at ‘Selective Prosecution’ and move from there. I remember a time when Republicans pretended to think that frivolous lawsuits were a bad thing…

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Part of the “clean” GOP Continuing Resolution (CR) that just passed when the Dems took a dive is a provision that allows GOP Senators to give themselves up to a million dollars each if their name and phone number appeared in a legal document during one of Donny’s many, many trials. The list wasn’t released to the public. No other information was presented. They weren’t violated in any way. But they get a fistful of dollars – ’cause they want it.

Other members of the GOP are pretending the provision was a surprise. They say they’re angry about it and they’re going to remove that provision. You know, eventually. They’ll get to it, sooner or later, you betcha, cause it was bad, bad, bad. Or they won’t and the GOP will gift themselves millions.

But if you’re a working American who can’t make ends meet in our corrupt society? No, nothing for you. In fact, you’re already leeching way too much, living way too high on the hog with all of those generous SNAP benefits. Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps – assuming you have boots, of course. You don’t even get a penny, cause we don’t make those anymore…

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From time to time, I get called out by conservatives for calling them Nazis. I get that. I wouldn’t want to be called a Nazi, either. Now, for the record, I don’t actually call them Nazis. I say they’re acting like Nazis. Maybe they’re NOT Nazis but when one lives life like a Nazi, one should not be surprised when others suspect that maybe one IS a Nazi. Okay, so maybe I’ve misjudged. Let’s take a look, shall we?

When the Nazis – the actual Nazis – were sending people to prison, literally by the trainload, they stole the personal effects of their victims. They took wedding rings and gold crowns from teeth. If the victims of the Nazis had owned cell phones, they would have taken those, too. Anything of value, the Nazis stole it.

As it happens, when the ICEholes roll up one of their victims and haul them away, they steal their personal effects, too. Wedding and engagement rings, cell phones, anything of value, the ICEholes steal it. If (when) it turns out a victim was detained “in error,” you know, because they’re an American citizen or some other frivolous reason like that, they victim in question is released – but the ICEholes keep their valuables.

I say again, if people are going to do the same things the Nazis did, I’m going to continue to insist that they’re ACTING like Nazis, because they are. If you don’t like it, change the behavior…

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As the walls close in on Donny and his Epstein involvement, he has decided to focus on Democrats. He’s siccing the DOJ on various high-profile Democrats to ascertain the association between them and Jeffrey Epstein. I suspect, the idea is an attempt to frighten lefties into standing down. “Oh my God,” he thinks liberals will say, “He might implicate our hero Bill Clinton so we’d better disregard our desire to see what Trump did to those girls.”

Here’s the thing: Bill Clinton isn’t my hero. Furthermore, I’m not MAGA. I don’t make decisions about guilt based on political affiliation, like MAGA does. My determinations are based on the facts at hand. If it turns out Bill Clinton – or any other Democrat or independent, for that matter – took advantage of the “delights” Jeffrey Epstein had on offer, they should stand trial and go to jail if convicted.

I don’t know a lefty who feels differently. I don’t know a MAGA who can say the same…

At What Cost?

by MyBaconPress

Well, crap. The Dems did it again. They were holding out against the Continuing Resolution in an effort to force the GOP to fund ACA subsidies – and they were winning. The holdout was causing pain, but most people understood the reason for the fight and we were behind them. A major telling factor would obviously have been an election in which Dems got their asses handed to them. Then they could know they had lost the support of the people and alter their course accordingly.

Well, we just had special elections. The Democrats swept the special elections. That should have told the Dems that people still support their efforts. The Dems were doing the right thing. They were. So, after the left swept the special elections, telling the Dems they still have the support of the majority of Americans, how did they respond? They collapsed. Capitulated. Quit. Bent the knee. Greased up and bent over.

Tim Kaine was the only real surprise. But it only took eight traitors – and they showed up for the Republican party. With friends like those, right? So, maybe SNAP recipients will get paid, but millions are going to lose their health insurance, because eight DINOS didn’t have spine enough to do the right thing, right?

The Democrats, as a whole, are pretending it was just these eight, out-of-control rogues breaking with the party. I’m not pretending with them. The surrender was managed. These eight were carefully chosen to “break ranks” because they’re not on the ballot in 2026. Then all the others can harrumph and finger-wag appropriately, acting like they think a bad thing happened. But what happened was, the plan was carried out.

So now, millions lose health care – perhaps spelling the end of Obamacare entirely. Remember, wide-ranging participation has always been a cornerstone of the program. Ejecting millions through outrageous price hikes works against that. Welcome back, preexisting condition denials and settling for catastrophic care coverage because it’s all you can afford.

People will still come out, I suspect, and vote blue to block. Yes, the Dems suck. Of course they do. They’re on the One Percent payroll, too, remember? But they still don’t suck as badly as Republicans. Not yet, anyway. Nobody will vote FOR them, but those voting AGAINST the GOP don’t have anywhere else to go so the Dems will “win,” uh, “not lose” again, as in “Hey, we didn’t lose for a change!”

Democrats took a dive but those premium increase letters are going out. The GOP can lie about it all they want to, the letters are concrete evidence and people – human beings – WILL react. Walk into a grocery store. Go ahead, I dare you. Bring your wallet. Bring your friend’s wallet. Bring your loan application if you want coffee. Listen on your iPhone with your iBuds in your iEars to Donny telling you how cheap everything is, then pay $300 dollars for a single bag of groceries. (Slight hyperbole alert.)

Donny and the Hoods can lie all they want, but they’re not going to be able to lie about realities pummeling people in the face all day, every day. You can TELL me I’m not bleeding, but all that blood is calling you a liar. So, I expect people will keep getting madder and madder at the GOP and they’ll keep voting blue, accordingly, but it isn’t because blue is a good choice. It’s because they’re the slightly-less-crappy-but-only alternative. The future is so dark, I’ll probably need a torch…

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Trump is clearly the face of the evil we’re all suffering in the US today, but he’s certainly NOT the architect. He’s not nearly smart enough for that. Instead, the architects are a bunch of self-serving millionaires and billionaires who simply can NOT understand why everyone wasn’t born into fabulous wealth. They work for a group called ‘The Heritage Foundation,’ a conservative stink tank.

BECAUSE they’re a bunch of self-serving millionaires and billionaires, they’re completely out of touch with the reality of day-to-day living in this country they’ve corrupted. That’s why it’s so easy for them to rip away safety nets from people who live in a country that requires safety nets to give people a decent chance. ‘The Greatest Country On Earth™?’ Maybe, but only if you’re rich enough.

That’s why it didn’t bother Donny to cut off food aid to millions of hungry people and immediately spend millions of taxpayer dollars throwing a ‘Great Gatsby’ themed party and spending who knows how many more millions turning the once-respected White House into the gaudy ‘Golden House of Trumpery.’ Donny says he’s “classin’ the joint up,” but from what I’ve seen, it’s pretty vulgar…

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This is just a random thought but, Donny is out there murdering people in boats claiming they’re drug runners bringing fentanyl. He has offered no proof and that area of the world is known for cocaine, not fentanyl. Still, that’s the claim and despite the Constitution, Donny has decided they must die, on his word alone, because the drugs he claims they bring kill lots of Americans (and probably MAGA, too.)

Purdue Pharma introduced a product called OxyContin, a powerful prescription pain killer that just happened to be incredibly, incredibly addicting. But Purdue lied, and lied, and lied and insisted OxyContin was not addictive. OxyContin shattered lives and killed more than 645,000 Americans (and probably MAGA, too.) So far. Purdue Pharma gets to negotiate a settlement.

I think Donny should show a little consistency for a change. Either let the people in the boats negotiate settlements, or, first choice, put the owners and executives of Purdue Pharma into a boat on the Caribbean and tell Donny they’ve got fentanyl…

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The US Mint in Philadelphia pressed the last American penny yesterday. Donny says it will save the treasury $56 million dollars a year. That’s not nothing, but I’ll bet that small change and small savings will cost Americans (and MAGA, too) a LOT more money in their day-to-day lives. What, you think businesses are going to round DOWN? SO… in one fell swoop and with a single stroke of a pen, Donny just made everybody’s life more expensive…

BIG Lies…

by MyBaconPress

Dr Ooze, said in a speech that Americans were on track to lose 135 BILLION pounds before the midterms. 135 billion pounds? Wonderful! We’re EACH going to give up around 400 pounds. Actually, I’m a little concerned. I confess, I carry a little extra wight – but not 400 pounds! For most of us, losing 400 pounds is like the Dumbass insisting he can lower drug prices by 1,500%. First you get to zero, then you keep going.

This regime just LOVES to make up numbers and they MEAN for the made-up numbers to be as impressive as they can be. THAT means BIG. The numbers have got to be BIG. If the numbers are BIG, the achievements are big, too, right? So Donny can’t just lower drug prices by 100%. Anybody could do that. (They can’t.)

It’s GOT TO BE 1,500% to impress MAGA, and Dr. Ooze isn’t impressing anybody by claiming Americans will merely lose 40 pounds each. Who could be impressed by THAT? No, it has to be 400 pounds because that’s a bigger number. Idiocracy, thy name is America…

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Well, there’s talk of a plan to end the shutdown. It comes out of the Senate. It would have to since the House has gone walkabout. It appears to have support from enough turncoat Dems to pass the Senate. It does not include the health insurance subsidies the Dems have been holding out for. The Senate’s Republican leader, John Thune, has promised he would allow a vote on a bill to deal with the credits by the second week of December.

He won’t. The GOP has gone so far as to withhold food from hungry people in an effort to put pressure on Democrats to surrender their demands. “You want health care? STARVE, peasants!” Now, all of a sudden, they’re going to just get reasonable and do the right thing? Uh-huh. You bet our lives!

Even if Thune does do the right thing, MAGA Mike the Johnson has said he won’t bring such a measure to the House floor. Besides, how can he bring anything to the House floor when the House Republicans are out quivering in their hidey-holes, fearful of having to address the problem of Donny’s very close friend Jeffrey Epstein in public and on the record.

My feelings on the topic were best summed up by Greg Casar, chair of the congressional Progressive Caucus. He said: “A deal that doesn’t reduce health care costs is a betrayal of millions of Americans counting on Democrats to fight for them. Republicans want health care cuts. Accepting nothing but a pinky promise from Republicans isn’t a compromise – it’s capitulation.”

I guess it’s back to desperation catastrophic coverage and preexisting condition denials for “The Land of Opportunity™!” A citizen of ‘The Greatest Country On Earth™?’ These days, I feel more like a victim…

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Have you SEEN the ramping up of disdain from all corners when it comes to Democratic Socialism? If you’re a talking head on American television, left or right, you MUST come out against Democratic Socialism. It’s BEST if you also mischaracterize Democratic Socialism. Call it Communism, that scares ’em!

I heard Bill Maher talking about how it never works, socialism. That’s wrong. He MEANS communism. Right now, the happiest, the freest, the most successful (if you measure success by best-serving the largest number of people) countries on Earth are Democratic Socialist. The act that made America great in the first place was FDR sprinkling in elements of Democratic Socialism to the US as a way to stabilize normally erratic so-called “Free-Market” Capitalism. He called it the New Deal.

This latest round of pearl-clutching started because Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, just became the mayor of New York City. The so-called “Free-Market” Capitalists run scared every time socialism rears it’s head. The thing is, socialism rears it’s head from time to time because it seems to be a better system and the masses keep figuring it out, then figuring it out again.

Mamdani once said in passing during a speech in 2021, “But then there are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it’s BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel), right, or whether it’s the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment.”

“Ooh, he said, ‘…seizing the means of production,'” terrified Capitalists cry, “He MUST be a commie! If seizing the means of production means one MUST be a commie, look to Donny, who just strong-armed his way into a deal giving the US government a stake in Intel. And MP Materials. And Lithium Americas. And Trilogy Metals. Not to mention the US government’s “golden share” of US Steel Corporation. Apparently, we’re communists already, da comrade?

Here’s what all the naysayers have in common: they’re all rich. Okay, maybe not rich rich but they’re doing very, very well, compared to most of the regular working stiffs. Pick a system, any system. The people who are doing well in that system probably like it very much. Why would they see problems? The very BEST one could hope for is a flaccid acknowledgement that it could use some “tweaks” here and there.

The thing people have to understand is this: Democratic Socialism is a capitalist system. It’s just controlled Capitalism. Those of us being crushed under the weight of so-called “Free-Market” Capitalism think it could use a little control…

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The Niners had a football game yesterday. Somebody should have told them. It looked like the team failed to show up so the coaches went into the streets and grabbed up anybody they could find who might fit the uniforms and put them out on the field. They played accordingly. If the game HAD been played by amateurs, well, they did a fine job. Hats off!

But if the people who showed up for the Niners identify as professional football players in the NFL? They might not want to tell anybody for the next couple of days. Maybe, let the memory of that stinker fade a bit. The Rams were firing on all cylinders and the Niners were still looking for their keys.

It seems strange, but that loss put the once-first-place Niner’s playoff hopes in jeopardy. They still have a winning record. They’ll still show on the “in the hunt” sections of playoff predictions. But the NFC is very competitive and the Niners are trending in the wrong direction. With their defense collectively in the Intensive Care Unit, they don’t have much hope of turning things around. RATS! Oh well. There’s always next season. Always. Next season…

On Morality…

by MyBaconPress

I may not be able to provide you with an accurate description of what ‘obscene’ looks like, but – in the words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart – “I know it when I see it.”

Elon Musk’s $1 TRILLION dollar pay package? Yeah, that’s effing obscene…

Meanwhile, Joe Six-pack struggles desperately. We have two fights currently going on here in this once-great nation: the GOP is working to kill Obamacare by taking away the premium subsidies so many Americans rely upon to make ends meet. If Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, ends, so do prohibitions against discrimination for preexisting conditions.

Look, the ACA isn’t great. It was, after all, conceived by conservatives as an alternative – a crappy, still-profitable alternative – to universal health care. But it’s better than, “Screw you, die.” Still, despite the fact that so many MAGA rely on those subsidies, they remain loyal.

THAT fight (over the ACA) led to a second fight, the funding of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. In order to pressure the Democrats into allowing the end of ACA subsidies, the GOP has opted to NOT help desperate Americans get their hands on some food. A court pointed out that, by law, they are required to help. They STILL said, “No.” MAGA is going without, but they remain loyal.

By the way, both of these fights put the lie to the slogan, “Richest Country On Earth™,” don’t they? Millions and millions of people here in “The Richest Country On Earth™” can’t see a doctor without financial help and millions of people can’t even eat without financial help. But Elon Musk gets a $1 trillion dollar pay package, and MAGA cheers.

As the First Speaker of the Doctrine of Universal Harmony, I can’t really blame rank and file MAGA for their moral collapse. After all, they were led to it by other people – people who consider morality nothing more than an impediment, an obstacle to be overcome on one’s way to fabulous wealth. I DO, however – I must – hold them at least partially responsible. After all, they did let it happen.

They didn’t bother to question actions that ran directly against everything they had been taught growing up. They may not know that the reference comes from Matthew, Chapter 7, verse 16, but they know, we all know, the phrase, “You will know them by their fruits.” It’s a common phrase in the lexicon. It means, “Watch what they do, ignore what they say.” Because people can SAY anything. But every harmful action the GOP commits and MAGA supports, qualifies as a “fruit,” what someone did.

Early on, MAGA was told that “spin” was just a lie – making it okay to lie in defense of one’s political talking points of the day. They didn’t know what spin actually was, so they believed it. They’ve been lying in defense of political talking points of the day ever since – and many of them don’t KNOW they’re “bearing false witness.” THEY think it’s just “spin.”

I can’t trace the entire decline, here. It has taken over forty years. It’s been a slow drip of a process. One cannot, overnight, get a normally moral person to kill, for example. That takes time. But MAGA media has put in the time and modern MAGA is there, now. They’ve been there since Covid-19, when they were convinced to fight science (coincidentally killing people) because it served a handful of rich people, politically. “Oh, grandma died because I went to a Covid party? No matter. At least my Precious didn’t look like he made a mistake.”

Does it strike anyone else as ironic that the two things so-called Christian Nationalists hate most is true religion and actual patriotism? So, as is common, I’m here to help. Today, MAGA supports and defends the physical embodiment of the seven deadly sins, Donald “Felon 47” Trump, and he actually embodies ALL of them: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Wrath, and Sloth. He’s heavy on the sloth. But those are attitudes, the kind of attitudes that lead to the crimes he has committed.

When he confessed on the Access Hollywood recording to groping women, many thought it was just talk, he was just bragging. Bragging is an action that results from the sin of Pride. When he was found responsible for groping E. Jean Carroll in the exact way he had described on the Access Hollywood recording, we knew he wasn’t just bragging. It’s Pride, but it’s also Lust. He commits sexual assaults against women because he believes he’s entitled to do so. I suspect there’s an element of Wrath in there, too, but MAGA stays loyal.

When he was convicted of cooking his business books to hide a tryst with a porn star that he engaged in while married to his third wife, that was Avarice. Greed. I suppose one of the problems with that list of sins is that people don’t know what ‘avarice’ is so it’s easy to overlook. Avarice is greed. MAGA stayed loyal.

But those were apparently gateway crimes. Now he has moved on – to murder. People are calling the murders “extrajudicial killings.” THAT is “spin.” They’ve offered an easy-to-digest name for the action, but these are murders, pure and simple. There’s no evidence those boats he’s blowing up are carrying drugs, but we know for certain, they’re carrying human beings. When two of those human beings were caught, they were simply “repatriated.” Sent home with no thought of a trial. There’s only ONE reason that might happen: no evidence. The “drugs” part is only a story. The “killings” part is very, very real, the fruit. So far, MAGA has stayed loyal.

They’re ignoring another phrase we’ve all heard, “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” One cannot support an immoral act without becoming part of that immoral act. Silence is consent. MAGA doesn’t like being judged for their actions and I don’t blame them. It’s not like they’re being judged for heroic deeds. Actions speak louder than words and MAGA has been judged for their actions. They are currently being judged for their actions. They will be judged in the future for the actions.

There’s always an aspect of “We didn’t know” that must be considered. After all, often, they didn’t know. But they should have. At some point, they’ve all had the opportunity to look more deeply into things. They’ve all be encouraged by some “libtard” to review their information. They simply refuse. That’s not passive or accidental involvement. It a choice, a fruit. One can only hope that, sooner or later, MAGA realizes their actions – not their words – will always represent their true hearts, because the rest of the world knows them by those actions…

Lack of Understanding…

by MyBaconPress

Well, THAT didn’t take long. Mamdani wins in New York and the MAGA propaganda began right away. Mamdani said he wants to open city run grocery stores to make groceries more affordable for people. Price gouging corporations would HATE that idea. Mamdani said the stores wouldn’t sell alcohol, cigarettes, or lottery tickets. Mamdani said those thing would not be on offer because the city stores will target healthier options.

Oh, but you can’t fool a MAGA. Unless you try, of course. They just KNOW that Mamdani will leave those particular things out – are you ready for this? – because he’s Muslim. They know it’s the first step to Sharia Law, here in the US. Of course, they also “know” that he’s a communist. He’s not. He’s a Democratic Socialist, a form of Capitalist economics. A BETTER form, by the way. No wonder the Capitalists are scared.

Now the Democrats need to get a little scared, too. THEY think they “won” these elections so all is well. They didn’t and it isn’t. The GOP leaves little choice for anybody with any decency – vote for the Democrat. The Dems are taking credit for Mamdani’s win. They didn’t participate in it. In fact, they tried to torpedo the whole campaign.

Mamdani’s win proves that people are looking for change. Not the same ole, same ole that keeps making rich people richer and everyone else poorer and poorer – and, yes, I know the cons are FAR more aggressive and open about robbing the struggling, but you know the Dems have done precious little to change things when they’ve had the opportunity.

Oh, and as a side note, Mamdani’s win proves something else. Bernie would have won. If the Dems had not rigged the 2016 primaries to bump Bernie and replace him with a FAR less interesting and far more incendiary candidate – sorry, Hillary – the country might never have had to deal with the nightmare that is Donald Trump…

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Okay, so here’s why I think it’s important to maintain contact with MAGA. Just one example. California just passed Prop 50, the redistricting proposition. California passed Prop 50 in an effort to gain five more seats in the now-corrupted House of Billionaire’s Representatives. California passed Prop 50 in an effort to gain five more Democratic seats in the House of Billionaire’s Representatives, because Texas decided to redistrict in the middle of a term in an effort to create five more Republican seats.

Texas decided to redistrict in the middle of a term in an effort to create five more Republican seats because Felon 47 told them to. He said he “deserved” five more seats. Texas, of course, does as their Precious demands, bending the knee and dropping into a supplicant genuflect so quickly they’re often in danger of kneeing themselves in the nose. Texas politicians are like slugs: spineless and slimy – if you touch one, your hand feels nasty for hours afterward. But here’s the thing: MAGA doesn’t know Donny told Texas to redistrict.

MAGA thinks Texas was just finishing up a redistricting process begun after the 2020 census. The story they’ve been told is that Texas put up a map that was rejected. They had to rework it so it just got settled and this new map is the result. The thing is, much of that story is true. It’s all true, in fact, right up until the part about them just getting the maps settled now, in 2025. In fact, those maps were set in 2023 and intended to remain in place until the next census. This change happened because Donny demanded it. But telling MAGA that story causes them to believe it’s the left making the power grab, not themselves.

When I have these conversations with MAGA, I’ve learned NOT to try to convince them they’re wrong. Based on the information they have, they’re not. I focus, instead, on the fact that we get different information from the media we consume and I ask – and I really want to know – why?

MAGA media has downplayed Donny’s involvement in the Texas redistricting so they can paint California as an out-of-control rogue player trying to rig the election. That is to say, MAGA media is pretending that California is doing the very thing Donny is actually doing to rig the election in Texas. It’s just that MAGA doesn’t know it…

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Surely, someone has explained it to him by now. I know, one cannot dispute the nattering narcissist, but maybe someone could pull him aside quietly and explain that one CAN NOT reduce prices on anything by more than 100%. The first time he speculated otherwise, I teased him (of course) but let it slide as a misspeak, the kind of hyperbolic braggadocio he loves to use. He’s got the biggest hyperbolic braggadocio, the best hyperbolic braggadocio. Nobody’s ever seen hyperbolic braggadocio like his.

But he keeps saying it. I suppose MAGA media sane-washes him for their masses. MAGA just won’t be told what he actually said, only that he “lowered prescription drug prices.” But the rest of us see him blathering his bunk, the actual language. He keeps saying he lowered drug prices by as much as 1,500% and at his age, that does nothing to mitigate people’s concerns that he’s losing – or has lost – his mind.

Now, in the name of his hyperbolic braggadocio, he has taken to telling people, all people, even MAGA – people who actually go into grocery stores – that he has lowered food prices, too. But I say again, people who actually go into grocery stores! People who actually have to pony up a LOT more money than they used to for the same groceries. (He thinks he invented that word, ‘groceries’).

We KNOW he is – at BEST – wrong. Most of us believe he’s flat-out lying. He seems to actually believe he can LIE his way to success. That has been a pattern of his life, though having millions of dollars surely greased the wheels. But everyone is feeling the pain of corporate coddling, assuming one took their ID to go grocery shopping. Sure, the on-again, off-again tariffs create price instability, but anyone who thinks the corporations aren’t taking advantage of Donny’s dumbassery and padding their bottom line, probably isn’t qualified to comment honestly on the topic.

During a Fox Not-News interview, he said, “They have this new word called ‘affordability.'” THAT’S NOT A NEW WORD, DUMBASS! ‘Affordability,’ as a word AND as a desire, has been around for a long, long time – at least for those of us who weren’t born into millions of dollars. Donald Trump is an out-of-touch elitist who is definitely showing signs of dementia. I wonder if MAGA will ever notice…

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We all pretty much know that the double helix of DNA was unlocked by a duo named Watson and Crick, right? That happened in 1953. Dr. Watson just died yesterday, aged 97 years. Watson was a bit of a racist so his legacy is somewhat marred, but the DNA thing was pretty big and he was part of it. It’s just weird to think that our understanding of DNA is so… new…

In The Dock…

by MyBaconPress

Well, the world got a little bit brighter Tuesday morning with the announcement of the passing of that Dick Cheney. He was 84, meaning he likely lived 83 years too long. Cheney once set the standard for American evil, corruption, and greed. Donny has long-since shattered every low Cheney ever hit, of course. Donny makes Cheney look like a choir boy. After all, Cheney was bad, but he wasn’t the anti-Christ. (Though millions in Iraq and Afghanistan might disagree.)

See, Cheney was one of the main architects of George’s Wars. Remember when Bush 43 invaded the wrong country looking for Osama Bin Laden and when Bin Laden wasn’t there, he invaded a second wrong country? Yeah, that Dick was leading the charge. Coincidentally, and purely by accident, I’m sure, that Dick’s company made lots and lots (and lots) of money, so, for them, it was all worth it. After all, HE didn’t know any of the people who died.

Cheney once shot a friend in the face with bird-shot – and made the friend publicly apologize! “Sorry, Dick. I didn’t mean to be where you were shooting your gun.” Way to follow the rules of gun safety there, Dick. The best summary of Dick Cheney is that people took to calling him ‘Darth Vader’ – and he liked that.

To be fair, Cheney did NOT like 47, not one little bit. In a weird way, he thought of himself as a patriot – despite the damage he did to the nation – and he did not like nor endorse Donny’s destruction. Dick and his daughter, Liz, both, decried Donny’s J6 insurrection and Dick publicly endorsed Kamala in the 2024 “election.” I don’t know. When your standards aren’t violated until you get to Donny-level corruption and incompetence, I suspect late-in-life conscience development is too little, too late. Now, if we can just get Donny to follow Dick’s lead…

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This really sucks. Hundreds of previously unpublished documents have been uncovered that prove that Exxon funded right-wing stink-tanks to spread climate change denial across Latin America. We – humanity, that is – missed our mark of staying under a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures. Did you know that? We’re… I want to write ‘slowly but surely,’ but the sad reality is, we’re surely destroying our own living environment very, very fast. All in the name of profit and in the service of stupidity.

In the US, the oil companies did this exact same thing with climate change going back some seventy-five years. They got out in front of climate scientists who warned of the danger of ongoing fossil fuel use and spread their message that climate change is a hoax far and wide. They hired “people” to create fraudulent and misleading charts, graphs, supporting data, and any other information they could create to combat the challenge to their profits.

Obviously, the denials haven’t changed anything. Our demonic misleader can remove all of the information he wants from government websites. He can deny it’s happening until he’s blue in his orange face – OMG, he would be BROWN! Would the ICEholes have to deport him? Climate change isn’t going away.

Truer than it should have been...

That cartoon says a lot. See the kids? Do you want to sacrifice children to a future that looks like that? No, neither do a lot of other people – so they’re not having kids. I do not claim that’s the only reason, but it IS a factor often cited by people who chose not to have kids…

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Was there ever a more apt metaphor for the state of our once-great nation than to have The First Felon throwing a “Great Gatsby” themed party at Mar-a-Lardo on the very night he was denying food aid to millions by withholding Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) payments? Well, I suppose it could have been a Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette party. That would have been appropriate, too.

I think the photos of the event should be saved. I think we’ll need to identify the kinds of people who attend parties like that while SNAP benefits are being cut off and Americans are going hungry. You know, later, when the new Reign of Terror begins. Then again, maybe the hungry masses will be satisfied with the information that there’s plenty of money for remodeling the White House. Isn’t that worth missing a meal or two? I mean, sure, you’re starving but Donny gets to crap in a solid gold toilet, so, there’s that…

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Donny has come out and publicly said he feels “very badly” for the Andrew formerly known as a prince. Of course he does. He has said he feels badly for Ghislaine Maxwell, too. He probably felt badly for his one-time very good friend Jeffrey Epstein, too. He hasn’t mentioned feeling badly for the victims, I’ve noticed. Probably just an oversight…

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Well, THAT was fun. It was pretty much a blue sweep. Mamdani becomes mayor of New York. Democrat Mikie Sherrill becomes governor of New Jersey. Democrat Abigail Spanberger becomes governor of Virginia. Democrats maintained a 5-2 advantage on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court by keeping three liberal justices. Proposition 50 passed in California.

Here’s the part that bothers me. Democrats are going to think they’ve won something. Democrats are likely to think people support them. Democrats are probably going to decide they’ve fixed their likability problems and people are coming home to the fold. The Democrats will be wrong. The Democrats didn’t “win” anything. The Republicans – most especially ONE “Republican” – lost. That’s different.

People voted Democrat because in this once-great nation, voters get up to TWO choices: malignant, horrifying nightmare, or wholly incompetent confusion. People voted against the nightmare. People voted against the Republicans. Specifically, people voted against 47. Of course, he’s having none of it. Donny is NEVER at fault, most especially when he is. So his big comment? “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters.”

Trump wasn’t on the ballot? I think you were, Donny. I think you were…

Billions For Me, Nothing For Thee…

by MyBaconPress

Have you noticed that the only time Donny has any concern, whatsoever, for “legal authority,” is when he wants to do some harm? He said he wasn’t going to pay SNAP benefits, in an effort to pressure Democrats in Congress into letting him take health insurance from millions of Americans. A court – no, TWO courts told him he had to pay.

His response? “Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available,” he lied. Since when does he care about “legal authority?” He says the two courts issued “conflicting rulings.” One said, “You’ve got to pay,” and the other said, “Yeah, you’ve got to pay.” Some conflict. It’s just a stalling tactic. Now he can ask another court to “clarify” and that will buy him some time to be even crueler to the American people. He loves that, petty cruelty to others.

He seems able to come up with money for whatever project he wants to undertake or whatever foreign country he thinks we should bail out. The money is flowing freely for himself and his friends. The shutdown doesn’t seem to be slowing him, even a little bit. But when it comes time to do something good for the American people? Suddenly, he may not have “legal authority” and he just can’t get ‘er done. There’s no money or there’s no will or both…

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Let me ask you something. The cons keep pretending that all the Dems have to do is give the cons what they want, THEN they’ll come to the table to discuss health insurance. They insist they want to address the problem and that they will, they pinkie-swear, if only the Dems will voluntarily surrender the only leverage they have in the negotiation.

But surrender isn’t the ONLY way to address this, right? Since Team Evil insists it wants to address health care and it plans to address health care, and since the one thing keeping the Dems from voting for the Continuing Resolution (CR) re-opening the government IS health care, why not open the government BY addressing health care, right?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been paying attention. I suspect that if the Dems DO sign off on the CR, the cons will just… forget about their “promise” to address the heath care collapse in this, the “Greatest Country on Earth™.” If, ultimately, everybody wants the same thing, as they claim to want, why should the thing everybody claims to want be such a deal-killer? You know what? I think Republicans are lying…

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I keep watching this criminal empire known as the Trump regime working. I keep thinking of a phrase I know. It might be Biblical, I’m not sure. It goes like this: for whenever two or more of you are gathered, it could be a conspiracy. It depends upon the conversation…

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Erika Kirk seems to have gotten over the loss of her husband Charlie. She appears to be getting quite comfortable with Junior Dumbass Vance. Did you SEE that hug? She’s running her fingers through his hair, fercrissakes. At one point, she just held him, looking up at him. His hands lingered on her waist, only for a moment, but it was a moment that stretched into an eternity as they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes. It looked like a full body hug, to me. Not the kind one gives a friend. The kind lovers do.

Except for that passionate, lingering embrace at Ole Miss, I have no evidence that JD and Erika are having an affair. But Usha Vance had better start planning for upheaval now, because it sure looked like they want to have an affair. Erika solves some of JD’s racism problem. Usha makes it look like he might not be racist at all and by today’s MAGA standards, that’s pretty much unacceptable. Usha is Indian by heritage. She’s Hindu. She’s… OMG, is this right? She’s 39 years old. She’s looking older, these days. Her close association with evil seems to be taking a toll.

But Erika? Erika is blonde. Erika pretends to be Christian. Erika is younger at 36. Erika wears leather pants and if she holds her legs together really tightly, they feel an awful lot like couch cushions to JD. Okay, I don’t really know about that last one. But her close association with evil just seems to energize her. Erika never really struck me as all that broken up by her husband’s murder.

Hell, she immediately turned it into a marketing opportunity. She stepped right in as new CEO of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk’s very personally profitable non-profit that seeks to distort reality to young people. Now she trades on Charlie’s name to keep support. “Oh, Charlie would have wanted this!” I’m not sure Charlie would have felt all that good about that hug but I’m pretty sure Usha shouldn’t. It didn’t look right at all…

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Quick update: MAGA Mike has adjourned the House yet again, ONE MORE TIME, in an effort to keep from having to deal with the Jeffrey Epstein fallout. Donny must have done some pretty terrible things to those girls…

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Every time a new poll comes out showing how unpopular MAGA is, Team Evil just dismisses the poll. “No, I don’t believe that.” They’re SO certain the polling is wrong, they’re hiding from their constituents and refusing to do Town Halls and such. But I DO believe much of the polling.

In this redistricting fight, the GOP is likely to win. That is, they’ll be in a position to keep control over Congress whether that’s what the American people want or not. Just like the founders intended. But if Team Evil keeps attacking everybody, left and right alike, people on the right are likely to rebel. Maybe Dems get one chamber back because the right stays home. It’s possible.

Polls suggest the right is getting more fed up with the pols, especially the rightie pols. MAGA KNEW Donny and Company intended harm to people. They were eager for it. They just thought the harm was intended for other people. Now that it’s becoming clear, even to a MAGA, that the regime intends harm to ALL Americans, even to a MAGA, they’re less ebullient about Donny’s promises. That might have an effect in upcoming “elections” the right doesn’t expect.

It kind of sucks that disgust on the right is the last hope of saving a once-great nation…

MAGAmerica Today…

by MyBaconPress

It’s only nepotism when the left does it:
Remember when cons were all apoplectic about the possibility that Hunter Biden might have been trading on his famous father’s name? They couldn’t beLIEVE the outrage! Now, a company backed by Donny Jr has been contracted by the US military to build drone engines.

Somehow, cons don’t see any problem. Curiouser and curiouser…

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A tale of two countries:
Andrew, the Andrew formerly known as a prince, isn’t a prince anymore. In fact, he’s lost all of his titles. He has to move out of the royal mansion he has lived in for more than twenty years and get (and pay for) his own digs. He won’t be part of any royal functions going forward. He is as “out” as a royal could possibly be short of one of England’s rather infamous beheadings.

Why? His known association with Jeffrey Epstein. To be clear, there have been no charges to answer (yet) and no trial confirming criminal behavior. He hasn’t – and likely won’t – confess to his participation. He denies it, entirely. And STILL, he’s losing it all. That’s England.

Across the pond, Americans have someone with a known association with Jeffrey Epstein, too. To be clear, there have been no charges to answer (yet) and no trial confirming criminal behavior. He hasn’t – and likely won’t – confess to his participation. He denies it, entirely. But he gets to be ostensible President of the United States and stuff his pockets full of stolen money while punishing anybody who has ever ruffled his feathers.

The Brits handled it far better…

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Profiles in negotiation:
So, if I’ve got this right, after Donny’s visit with Xi in China, there now exists a trade environment between the US and China that matches the trade environment that existed in January of this year. Let’s look at the same idea another way, shall we?

After over eight months of shenanigans, unnecessary pain, suffering, and expense, Donny has now managed to get US/China trade relations back to where Joe Biden had them in the first place. Art of the Deal, I guess…

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Okay, this is weird. There’s a guy named Taylor Taranto. No, that’s not the weird part. He’s a MAGA convicted of live-streaming a bomb threat. He was arrested as he drove near President Obama’s house with a bunch of guns and ammo. You know, because of all of that violence from the left. The DOJ issued a sentencing memo in which they asked for 27 months in prison. When a prosecutor issues a sentencing memo, they include other, pertinent information about the defendant so the judge knows exactly with whom he’s dealing.

The original filing mentioned Taranto’s J6 charges – and briefly described the day’s events, writing that “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol.” Uh-oh. That’s an accurate, if short, description of Trump’s Insurrection at the Capitol. But Donny doesn’t allow accurate descriptions of Trump’s Insurrection at the Capitol.

Most especially when it turns out, as it does in this case, that the defendant, Taranto, was one of the many political pardon beneficiaries Donny issued on day one, only to see the guy re-arrested for other violent crimes and threats later. Those stupid pardons are pretty much the only “Day One” promise he’s kept. Well, that and being a dictator on Day One. He seems to be keeping that “promise” too. (It’s more of a threat, really.)

And HOW did Tartanto gain access to President Barack Obama’s home address? I mean, is it in your Rolodex? I suspect one does NOT just call information and ask. Well, I suppose you can ask, but you ain’t gettin‘. So how did Taranto get it? Why, the filing covered that, too. Taranto got the address when Donny posted it online.

The two prosecutors who signed the sentencing memo, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, found themselves locked out of their government devices a few hours later. Now they’re on leave. They’ll probably be fired. They dared to tell the truth. The judge praised them both at the sentencing hearing for doing “an excellent and commendable job” on the case and said it was some of “the best” work he’s seen with the “highest standards of professionalism.”

That’s the most vicious and damning thing a judge could possibly say to a Trump regime prosecutor. “Highest standards of professionalism?” Screw that. The only thing that matters to this crew is the highest standard of loyalty to the lowest standard of a human being. “Highest standards of professionalism?” How is THAT a compliment to the team that wants to water crops with ‘Brawndo?’ (You’ve got to watch ‘Idiocracy’ to understand…)

That original filing, the one that mentioned Donny’s J6 insurrection, was replaced with a shorter sentencing memo that did NOT mention Donny’s J6 insurrection. Nor did it reveal that it was Donny himself who had “doxxed” Obama, giving Taranto access to the Obama home. It still asked for 27 months, though.

So, here’s the weird part: The original filing seems to have… disappeared. The judge in the case, Judge Nichols, a Trump appointee, said it’s “not entirely clear, to me, how that first brief was sealed,” noting that he had not authorized it’s removal. The judge said he had read both prosecution briefs and if the DOJ wanted to keep the first one hidden they would need to file a motion to seal it or strike it. The DOJ, the judge said, is “going to have to justify that.”

So where did it go? It seems senior officials at the US Attorney’s office “persuaded” a court clerk to block online access to the filing. The original sentencing memo is now described in the court docket as “filed in error.” That’s some solid damage control. I mean, journalists have the filing, sure, but MAGA will never see it. They won’t accept anything not authorized by MAGA media and truth is definitely NOT authorized by MAGA media.

You know what? I’m not enjoying MAGAmerica…

Eat Tiny Tim…

by MyBaconPress

Did you see Donny wandering off during his visit to Japan? He tried to look very intense and solemn doing it, wandering, but the serious look on his face was really at odds with him wandering, alone, across a room, while the brand new Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, looked on in disbelief. She had to catch up to him and redirect him to where he was supposed to be.

Don’t you think somebody briefed him before the event? Big somebody, brave somebody, tears in his eyes and said, “Okay, Mr Greatest President of All the Presidents in the History of Presidenting, you’re going to walk with that woman up to the flags. Do you see the flags, sir? No, the two great big ones at the front of the room. No, sir, THOSE flags. Yes, very perceptive of you, sir. Nobody could have found those flags better than you, no sir.

“You salute the American flag and then take one step to the right. Yes, the hand you write with. That’s right, one step. Yes, sir. ONE, sir. The woman is going to bow to her flag. Yeah, you got something she can bow to right here, yes sir. Good one, sir. Anyway, you take one step to the right, let her bow, then the two of you turn around together and you’ll walk to the raised platform for a photo-op, got it?”

He didn’t have it. I’ll give him points for not trying to have sex with the flag this time. He saluted, she indicated the one step to the right, he wandered off aimlessly. The look on Prime Minister Takaichi’s face? Priceless. I can’t say, for sure, he would have walked straight into the wall, but I can’t say, for sure, he would not have, either…

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Well, here goes nothing. I guess I should say, ‘here comes nothing.’ And I DO mean ‘nothing.’ That is, if you’re an American citizen. And why would an American President look out for American citizens when he has Argentinians he can care for? If you’re Argentinian, you’re about to gain a boon – up to $40 billion dollars for your country and America importing (apparently diseased) Argentinian beef – even though that harms American ranchers. A new ballroom for the boss, no food for everyone else.

But if you’re an American? Starve, bitch! Let them eat cake! The GOP will be cutting off Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as of Saturday. That’s money people have needed and counted on for a long time. It’s just… gone, now. Happy Thanksgiving. That will certainly destabilize things. The GOP message? “Eat Tiny Tim. Solve two problems at once…”

The official story is that it’s all about the budget battle. I suspect the GOP was planning on doing this anyway, because it’s cruel and it hurts millions. The shut-down simply became a convenient excuse. Now they get to shut down SNAP AND use it as an excuse to take away health insurance, too. That’s a pretty good deal for the GOP.

The Republicans will try to blame the Dems by claiming they can’t issue SNAP payments because the government is shut down. Democrats will retort that SNAP has a rainy-day fund for just such an eventuality. That is to say, Congress could authorize the payments. They just don’t wanna. And why not?

Cons* think authorizing the payments takes political pressure off of Chuck Schumer. The GOP plans to starve American children in an effort to apply political pressure. And what do they want Schumer to do? Why, vote for their Continuing Resolution to fund the government but not the Affordable Care Act subsidies for millions and millions of Americans is all.

Allow me, please, to summarize.
GOP: “We’re going to gut your Affordable Care Act by taking away the subsidies needed by so many to cover premiums.”
Dems: “We oppose that idea. We not going to support your efforts.”
GOP: “Then we’re going to starve babies. We have no choice. See what you made us do?”

Americans know that this is the one moment, their only opportunity, the only leverage the Democrats have. If they don’t fight back right now, they won’t be able to fight back later. The GOP is claiming that if only the Dems will open the government, THEN the GOP will come back and negotiate in good faith. Uh-huh. I’ve seen this movie before.

The psychopath is holding a gun to the head of a hostage. The psychopath orders the cop to surrender his gun or the psychopath will shoot the hostage. The cop relinquishes his gun. The psychopath murders both the hostage AND the cop. It’s the whole ‘psychopath’ thing and there’s a whole group of them running the show, these days.

Meanwhile, MAGA has been convinced by their conservative corporate media that the DemocRATS are responsible because they keep trying to protect the interests of the citizenry. Starting Saturday, the debate moves from theoretical to practical. People will simply have no food. Empty stomachs will belong to both left and right. Interestingly, though, more red stomachs will suffer than blue.

Don’t get me wrong, there are millions and millions of needy people who depend upon government assistance to make ends meet in this, ‘The richest country on Earth™.’ But more of them wear red hats than don’t. In order to convince his supporters they need to let him take away their health insurance, he’s taking away their food, too.

The saddest part about that whole reality? MAGA is going to keep cheering for him. “Yes, Precious! Beat us! Starve us! Make us suffer! We love you!” I’m just shaking my head…

* I haven’t explained this in awhile, so really quickly: I use the term “cons” to describe conservatives often. It IS shorthand for ‘CONservative,’ but in my mind, it also correctly identifies the movement of ‘CONfidence men,’ AND identifies them as ‘CONtraians.’ It’s a three-fer! It was only later that I learned that it’s a three-fer with a bonus. In French, ‘Con’ is a slang term for ‘Asshole…’

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I sure do wish he would stop challenging people to take cognitive tests. Remember when he said America was a laughing stock? Obviously, it wasn’t at the time, but it is now. It’s just straight-up embarrassing. He genuinely doesn’t know these aren’t IQ tests. The thing about being an evil dictator nobody is allowed to challenge and certainly not correct, is that nobody can TELL him he’s challenging people to see if they can identify elephants, too. If HE thinks he’s taking IQ tests, everybody around him will pretend he’s taking IQ tests.

But the rest of the world knows he’s being tested for dementia on a regular, on-going basis. Doctors don’t do that without a reason. You don’t just get a brain scan as part of a standard physical. As I watch him wander aimlessly in Japan, I understand: there’s a reason…