MAGA

Busy Friday, Part 1…

by MyBaconPress

Well, lets’ see. Has anything worth writing about happened in the last couple of days? Some people call the “news” we get in this country on Fridays, “Take out the garbage day.” NORMALLY, it’s just fluff stories and light stuff. Sometimes, though, something important slips in under the radar – and right past the masses, hopefully. This was not that Friday.

Donny lost his fraud trial in New York. No, that one starts in March. This is the civil case brought by Letitia James. The judge, Arthur Engoron handed down his much anticipated ruling. $365 million dollars from Donny, two of his criminal kids, and a couple of their cohorts. The lions share goes to Donny, though, at $355 million dollars. You’d think he’d LOVE that. He got the biggest numbers. The Best numbers. Nobody has EVER had numbers like him.

In addition, he’s barred from doing business in New York for three years and can’t work with any bank, any where, that is registered to do business in the state of New York. Being the financial capitol of the world, that’s pretty much any bank large enough to do crime, er, business on his scale. I was disappointed.

Up until the ruling, it was assumed Art – can I call you Art? – Okay, it was assumed Judge Engoron was going to bar him from doing business in New York for the rest of his life. He even wrote up the order. THAT is what I wanted. Then I remembered. This is just the first conviction in a long line of convictions. This was a civil trial, not a criminal trial. This cost him money, but other trials he’s facing could very well cost him his freedom. That is to say, most rational Americans expect him to be in prison within three years…

He testified in one of his depositions he has about $400 million cash on hand. The way he lies, that might well mean he has $1.28, but let’s use his numbers. He just got hit with $355 million to New York. He’s already been ordered to pay $83 million to E. Jean Carroll for ‘Defamation Loss II,’ the sequel to his famous ‘Defamation, What Not To Do’ trial,’ which cost him an additional $5 million. That comes to $443 million dollars. Wait, no it doesn’t. I mean, it does, but there’s interest. According to Letitia James, that starts at around $99 million, and counting, pumping the beginning balance he owes to $542 million dollars.

I suspect most people think he’s going to tap into “campaign contributions” to pay some or all of the bill. It’s not supposed to be legal. NONE of this has anything to do with his maladministration nor a campaign but, since when does Donny care about legal? I don’t know how long MAGA can keep this up. (Actually, it’s only about $8 bucks to each of the 70 million MAGA who voted for him last election, despite his crimes and failures.) He’s also still got a compelling interest in his website ‘Truthiness Social.’ Hey, that has the word ‘Social’ in it. It must be communism.

Now comes the stalling. I’ll give Donny this: I’ve learned a LOT about the legal system in this country and how the rich manage to manipulate it to their advantage, thanks to him. Donny is OLD. He’s been “working the system,” as the saying goes, for a long, long time. He knows just about every trick. Supposedly, has to post a bond in the amount due for each trial he wants to appeal. In most states, bankruptcy can delay judgement payments but not discharge them. Will someone lend him money? I mean, he’s now been officially adjudicated a liar and a fraudster. Who’s going to part with a half-BILLION dollars to a known scallywag?

I’ll tell you this: Letitia James landed a big, hard blow on that tiny, little snowflake. She certainly staggered him – but she didn’t knock him out…

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I wonder how MAGA feels about their man Vladimir Putin today. Do they still love him for being the “strongman” or have they noticed, yet, that “strongmen” often kill their political opponents, like Vlad just did to Alexei Navalny? Navalny ran a long standing campaign against Putin for years and years. At one point, Navalny escaped Russia and kept taking pot-shots at Putin from a distance. Putin’s people found him and poisoned him, nearly killing him. He survived, though. THEN, the dude went BACK to Russia and filed to run against Putin in an election.

So, Putin did what Trump wants to do. He tossed his political rival – Navalny – in prison on what most of the world saw as trumped up charges. Navalny managed to keep up the attacks so Putin had him moved to a FAR north gulag, where they could kill him slowly and without any prying eyes. And they did. They say he died after a “fall at the Arctic penal colony where he was being held.” A LOT of Putin’s political critics die from sudden, unexpected “falls” these days. I guess gravity is cheaper – and easier to administer – than poison. Currently, the State is refusing to produce the body.

The thing about dictators is that murdering people they don’t like is a common arrow in their quivers. It’s not just Putin. Duterte did it. Erdogan does it. Xi does it. They ALL do it. Hell, Idi Amin used to EAT his opponents. I suspect MAGA thinks dictators are a great idea because they think they’re safe from the dictator’s wrath. I don’t think they understand, well, anything, really, but they seem to miss the idea that ANYBODY can become the enemy of a dictator, at ANY time, for ANY reason. Sometimes, all you need to be is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In the book ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ the protagonist, Guy Montag, lives in a dictatorial society, based on Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union at the time it was written, and realizes at one point that he’s on the wrong side. He runs for his life, at night. He loses the helicopter chasing him but watches on television as the cops in the chopper kill “him.” The public had been tuned in to the chase, see, so they could know that opposition to the State was a bad idea. When Montag lost the helicopter, the State had to produce results anyway, so they gunned down a silhouetted figure, insisting they got their guy. Weirdly, I’ve always felt badly for that character we never even met, except to see him die. He just lived his life, likely followed all the rules, but died anyway in a misguided show of strength on the part of the State.

I’ll tell you this: MAGA should look more closely at the dictator state they think they want. It doesn’t usually go really well for the masses…

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So that’s it. That’s everything that came out this Fri – wait, what? Oh, yeah. It also looks like Willis is winning and the House MAGA are losing, but you’ve got things to do and so do I. Let’s look at those tomorrow…

Ousters…

by MyBaconPress

Well, it looks like the Hamas genocide effort- from the river to the sea – isn’t going all that well for them. Meanwhile, Israel’s genocide effort – every Palestinian is probably Hamas – is moving forward at a steady pace.

Anybody not wearing blinders has seen Israel’s answer to the October 7 attack progress from ‘proper response’ to ‘over-reaction’ to ‘brutal response’ to straight up ‘brutality’ before becoming ‘war crimes’ and very obviously working toward genocide.

Biden is in a tough spot. The US is obligated to support Israel no matter what. We get a lot of intel on the Middle East from Israel. But Israel is wrong in this fight. They’ve surrendered the moral high ground by continuing, and amplifying, their brutal campaign and they’re using American-made weaponry to do it.

Biden wants Netanyahu to stop. Netanyahu isn’t going to stop until every Palestinian is dead – unless someone makes him stop. And who the hell can make him stop?

I’ll tell you this: I don’t WANT to be a part of a genocide. I don’t want my tax dollars used to kill innocent people just so Netanyahu can achieve his personal dreams. I don’t want the US to provide any more weapons until Israel stands down. They can make their own, genocidal weaponry. Oh, crap, you don’t suppose they’ll be building ovens soon, do you?

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Ah, ha, ha, ha! The cons in the House have voted to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas – over the border, no less. All they had to do was disregard their own decision to scuttle the bipartisan border bill because Donny needed something to run on. That’s kind of stupid, in and of itself.

For one thing, cons don’t give two figs about evidence. They could have passed the border bill and STILL pretended that nothing was being done – in the same way they continue to pretend the economy is, secretly, still struggling. For another thing, though, Donny is only going to whine about how everybody is picking on him and what a poor baby snowflake he is anyway. Why the hell does he need an issue?

It turns out, MAGA HAD to move forward with their, um, trumped up impeachment if they wanted to get someone impeached. And they WANTED to get someone impeached. They needed it. They needed it bad… They apparently feel like they need to impeach somebody in order to try to make the case that Dems are as bad as their criminal, rapist, con-man, ex-president. They’re SO desperate to impeach somebody, anybody, they’ll even make things up. So, when their plans for Joe fell apart, they turned to Mayorkas. The thing is, there was a timing issue they were facing.

They were tracking the special election being held in New York. You know the one. One of theirs, George Santos, got so deeply into his criminal activity, they booted him from Congress. Think about that. The cons will put up with TONS of stuff. Almost anything, really. Criminal activity isn’t just part of the conservative mantra, it’s a requirement. How badly did George have to mess up to get cons to kick them out over his criminal behavior? I guess it’s just too bad, for him, that he isn’t Donny. Anyway, dumping Santos meant that a special election had to be held to fill his seat and the Democrat in the race won!

So, late Tuesday night, they had the vote. It passed, 214-213. One vote. On Wednesday, the vote would have failed because the new Democratic Congress critter takes his seat immediately when filling a vacated seat. That’s some pretty weasel stuff, right there. They don’t even have a case (the same vote lost just last week), they don’t have any evidence of a crime because they don’t have a crime. Oh, but they got their impeachment.

Do you suppose MAGA is dumb enough to believe this, even after watching the whole thing play out, in public, on national television, seeing the machinations of the GOP to create out of whole cloth some cockamamie story and then act on it? Yeah, of course they are. Being that stupid should be painful…

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Putin told a Russian state journalist he prefers Biden to Trump because Biden is a better politician. Putin likes Biden better than Trump! I wonder, NOW will the Putin-loving cons help Ukraine? Of course, the cons will say it’s because Putin can push Biden around easier but the whole world watched as Putin got his way with Trump over and over and over again, though it’s true he didn’t “push him around.” He didn’t need to. Trump was totally complicit…

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Well, the Kansas City Chiefs got their big parade to celebrate their big win in the NFL’s Big Game – and shooting ensued. 1 dead, 10 injured. What the hell is wrong with people? Two shooters have been arrested. (Please, gods, don’t let them be Niner fans who couldn’t take the loss. Don’t let them be Niner fans who couldn’t take the loss. Please don’t let them be Niner fans who couldn’t take the loss…)

In other after-the-game action, the Niners have parted ways with Steve Wilkes. I’ve had heartburn with the guy most of the season. I challenged myself to come up with a one-sentence summary of the Stupid Bowel and came up with this: If DeMeco Ryans is still the Defensive Coordinator, the Niners win that game. Yes, simplistic. I had one sentence to work with. But, I suspect, quite correct.

It’s not that Wilkes’ defense was bad, exactly. It’s just that it wasn’t good anymore. The team tried to work with the guy. They brought him down to the sidelines so people around him could help him. They got him an assistant. I’m sure they worked with him in the background as much as possible. The defense remained real average.

When writers wrote about it, they said things like, “Wilkes defense has struggled as he tried to put his own spin on it.” He did, too, try to put his own spin on it. And the defense struggled. I think his job was in serious jeopardy after the playoff games with the nearly non-existent defense in the first half of both games. I suspect he got help at the half in both games. The point at which I suspect he reached serious jeopardy? Wilkes said the problem was “lack of effort” on the player’s part.

But we all know: it’s a poor craftsman who blames his tools. It’s also a great way to lose a locker room overnight. The main thing that changed between 2022 and 2023 is the DC. The rest of the team was pretty much the same. I suspect the organization thought Steve was out when that became so clear. But, obviously, one doesn’t fire their Defensive Coordinator going into the Putrid Brawl. The thing is, do you know who else I suspect noticed that old Steve was likely getting coached at the half? Why, that would be Andy Reid, the very savvy Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. And Andy made a plan.

I suspect Andy decided to play a simple and straight-forward offense in the first half. Steve looked good. Steve can handle simple. THEN Andy brought the “good stuff” in the second half, when it was too late for someone to help poor, lost Steve, who clearly didn’t have a clue. But even if there was some question as to whether Wilkes could be salvaged or not, I feel CERTAIN he lost his job when his head coach had to burn a timeout because the Defensive Coordinator had called SUCH a wrong defense, even the announcers commented on what a poor call that was.

I know. That was a lot on Steve Wilkes. But I think it was cathartic for me so thank you for your patience…

Oversights…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, so there’s a scathing new report out suggesting that the Biden administration has been downplaying Biden’s retention of classified documents. First we were told it was only a few. Then, there were a few more. Then, a few more. A special counsel was assigned.

In the end, the special counsel determined that Biden had willfully retained some documents but that no charges were warranted. This is likely because Biden cooperated with the whole thing. The special counsel took great pains to rip on Joe Biden for being old. That was not necessary but I was okay with it. It demonstrates the guy didn’t like Biden but STILL couldn’t recommend charges.

Do you think that will shut MAGA up, though? Where have YOU been living, under a rock? Of course it won’t shut MAGA up. They’ll see NO difference, whatsoever, between Biden having documents, turning himself in over them, cooperating with the investigation and giving them all back and Donny’s efforts to keep the documents, first claiming he didn’t have them, then that they were his to keep, then lying about giving them back, then trying to hide them. THEN trying to “negotiate” the documents return, finally losing them in a warrant search of Mar-a-Lardo, only to discover he likely has even MORE in his secret locked room.

Biden shouldn’t have had those documents and he is paying a political price (MAGA whining) for having them. Donny shouldn’t have had the documents HE had, either, but his crimes are about obstruction of justice – which Joe DIDN’T do. Joe cooperated, Donny didn’t. Joe gets a scathing report that attacks his age, Donny got charged. It’s all in keeping with the law and known legal practices but MAGA is going to scream and shout about this for a long time to come. Thanks, Joe.

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Turns out? It’s not likely to matter. Scientists have discovered that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc), a vast system of ocean currents that is a key component in global climate regulation is slowing at a far faster rate than previously expected. Great.

So, what IS the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, you say? It’s a conveyor belt in the Atlantic ocean that moves warm and cold water around, regulating much of the Earth’s climate. As global warming advances, the glaciers in Greenland are melting and dumping massive amounts of cold, fresh water into the ocean. This, in turn, slows the Amoc and changes the planetary climate – for the worse, it you’re human (and many of us are).

Scientists told us this was going to happen decades ago. Conservatives shouted that scientists wouldn’t know their ass from a hole in the ground and the scientific consensus was wrong. They knew this because some talking head in the conservative bubble who knows nothing told them so. So, thanks to a political position du jour, humanity didn’t respond fast enough.

Scientists say the change is likely to happen so fast, adaptation will likely not be possible. Oh, they ALSO say it will be “devastating.” But absolutely, let’s keep debating whether there are kids in school who get cat boxes in the bathroom because they think they’re cats. (There aren’t and they don’t. That’s just more MAGA crazy…)

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One of Donny’s missteps. The other day on the campaign trail, he pointed out that Nikki Haley’s husband isn’t out, campaigning with her. ”Where is Nikki’s husband?” he asked, pointing out the absence. Interesting choice. See, Nikki Haley’s husband is a combat veteran and active duty military member deployed overseas. Nikki responded, “Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about.” Then she got to add, “Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief.”

This does two things: One, it highlights Donny’s draft-dodging cowardice and, Two, it begs the question; where is Melania, or anybody else in the Dumbass family for that matter? In 2016, Donny had nearly his whole crowd there. Barron stayed out because he was too young and Tiffany mostly missed it as well, though she did make some appearances.

But he had Ivanka, Dumbass Jr, and Eric with him all the time. Melania made the occasional appearance as well. I presume DJ and Eric are out because they need all of their time to fight the criminal charges they may be facing. Ivanka managed to avoid criminal charges, being the smartest of the crowd, and I suspect she’s staying away to keep from getting close to charges again.

We even know Melania renegotiated her marital agreement with Donny a few months back. The presumption at the time was she was getting more money for Barron before Donny loses it all in court battles but it surely included some provision that she pretend she likes him on the campaign trail a time or two. Still, it seems as though it would be fair for Nikki to ask the same as Donny, “Where’s Melania?” One thing’s certain, she sure as hell isn’t out “serving” anyone, particularly this country…

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We don’t know where Michael Haley is (and we probably shouldn’t) and we don’t know where Melania is (and we REALLY don’t care) but we all know where Taylor is. She made it to LA and is now on her way to Nevada. It looks like she’s going to make it to the game, just in time to tell all the Swifties to vote for Biden…

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Donny’s comments are becoming increasingly unhinged. On Saturday, he claimed that in an unspecified NATO meeting, he told a head of state that if they’re delinquent, the US wouldn’t support or defend them. He added, “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” That, in and of itself is hilarious coming from the serial deadbeat Donny is known to be. But it’s also dangerous.

Trump brags he destroyed a woman’s right to choose. MAGA supports him. Trump brags that while daily carnage plays out in the streets, he will make no effort to protect Americans from Americans with any kind of gun regulation. MAGA supports him. Trump sings praises of dictators around the globe and insists he’d be a dictator on day one, pretending it would ONLY be day one. MAGA supports him.

Now he’s suggesting he would stand idly by while Putin attacks NATO allies. He would, too. And MAGA will support him. It’s sure a good thing the conservative corrupted supremely kangaroo court is going to keep him on the ballot and give him another chance to destroy our republic. He couldn’t QUITE pull it off on his first try. By all means, let’s keep giving him opportunities until he finally bumbles his way to success. Effin’ morons…

Positioning…

by MyBaconPress

I think Nikki Haley is making a smart play by staying in the GOP primary. She doesn’t NEED a win. She only needs to stay. As Donny’s troubles pile up, she’ll be in the best position to stand up, should he fall down…

His recent mental lapses (yes, he can still recognize an elephant!) are an excellent opportunity for her, as well. She can attack HIM and his current failings without ever attacking MAGA or his pretend record. She can say, “Yeah, he WAS great, but he’s failing now.” Hang in there, Nikki. Stay in his head. Highlight his decline…

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Have you heard? I’m sure you have by now. Taylor Swift is not a young woman superstar pop singer in love with a young man rising star (and not bad actor) football player. Not at all. She’s a “Psyop!” Which, I guess, makes him her “Psyde kick.” MAGA just loves using words they think make them sound smart and “Psyop” fits the bill while also sounding like they’ve got some super-de-duper inside information, so they MUST be in the know. See? Secretly, they’re the smart ones. (It’s a VERY well-kept secret…)

Hey, maybe you’re a normal person so…a “Psyop” is a ‘Psychological Operation’ used to disseminate information the government wants spread and/or suppress information the government does NOT want spread. MAGA thinks rational Americans need the government to tell them Donald Trump is a bad man, a threat to the nation, and that people shouldn’t vote for him. Funny, I figured it out all by myself.

So, to that end, if you’re MAGA, the Stupor Bowl is already rigged for the Chiefs to win – I guess because Taylor Swift doesn’t already have a large enough stage from which to spread her message. AFTER the Chiefs rigged win, see, THEN ‘Tay/Trav’ (okay, that mashup needs a bit of work) can announce that Donny’s a dumbass and people should vote for Biden. (No word on why they couldn’t make that announcement if the Chiefs lose.)

That’s some elaborate insanity, right there…

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In court, where facts matter, Donny isn’t even trying to make a case that he might be innocent of any of the charges brought against him. Instead, he’s looking for technicalities and loopholes. He stalls, disrupts the court, and tries to aggravate judges into over-reactions that can lead to mistrials or work as a basis for an appeal. He never even tries to introduce evidence that might indicate innocence. That part, at least, makes sense. He’s guilty (allegedly). How could he show innocence? He has no choice but to rely on “work-arounds.”

So now he’s filing anything and everything he can think of. Some of it is way out there. So far out there, other lawyers laugh at him and his “team” for even making the filing. His primary “lawyer” is taking a lot of mockery from her fellows. ”Why would she even file that?” ”Doesn’t she know better?” With her, I couldn’t possibly say if she knows better BUT…

Each of those filings gets ruled on. Each one causes a delay. Each one buys Donny a little bit of time. As an example, Donny doesn’t have to part with the $83 million dollar judgement until the case is settled. He even has to put the money up if he wants to appeal so he needs this case to not close yet. The only tool he has to that end is insane filings. ”I can’t be tried by someone with blue eyes!” or whatever. Yeah, he’s going to lose those, too, but he wins a bit of time. And what does he want to DO with that time?

He’s actively looking, right now, for somebody rich enough to help him pay off the judgement. They’re called “mega-donors.” They’re the super rich people now allowed to buy our government thanks to the High Kangaroo Court’s corrupt Citizen United decision. But I’ll tell you this: I find myself wondering why the stable genius billionaire needs help paying what, to him, should be a mere $83.3 million dollar tab. I mean, if you’re a billionaire, isn’t $83 million dollars pocket change?

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Hey, it cuts both ways, though, yes? He filed a defamation case in the England about the Steele Dossier. In keeping with his true calling and maintaining his seemingly endless string, he lost. BUT – and this is kind of fun – the court there never even considered the merits of the case. He lost because he brought it too late. He lost on a technicality…

The Defame Game…

by MyBaconPress

It’s always his mouth, isn’t it? Well, no. Apparently, sometimes it’s his fingers but MOST of the time, it’s his own, awful mouth that gets him in trouble. This one has a ‘coming-home-to-roost’ feel, though. In the NY fraud case in which Donny inflates and deflates values depending on how his answers affect him financially, one of the things that seems to bother him the most (weirdly, really) is that, officially, his Florida not-a-home-because-he-swore-it-wouldn’t-be is worth $18- to $21-million dollars. That’s in the record.

He is SO obsessed with that one point, it caused him to write one of his biggest hits, the classic, ‘Mar-a-Lago Worth A Lot!’ He does it at every show, without fail. Of course, like many of his standards, it’s an epic and wandering bit. By now, we all know the chorus:
  ’Mar-a-Lago, worth ten times!
  I be hassled by those Slimes!
  It sell fast, 1 point 8 billion!
  Who knows? Maybe more, a trillion?’

Yeah, catchy. The thing is, the value of Mar-a-Lago is set by the county assessor’s office based on, you know, an assessment… and, apparently, a bit of negotiation between the county and the property owner – Donny – who actually got the county to lower their original assessment. It lowered his property tax, you see. EXACTLY what he’s being charged with in New York. The point is, Mar-a-Lago is officially valued at $18 – $21 million dollars but he keeps insisting, based on his muse, I guess, that it’s worth $1.8 Billion, minimum.

But that’s not the story I wanted to tell you…

The story I wanted to tell you involves his OTHER New York civil trial, in which he’s already been found responsible for raping Ms. Carroll. THAT one inspired an entire concept album that gave us a string of hits, including ‘E. Jean is Not My Lover,’ ‘I Never Even Knew Her’, ‘Not My Type,’ and ‘Isn’t That Marla?’ Of course, ‘Isn’t That Marla?’ isn’t as well known outside certain circles. For MY money, though, it was the ‘B’ side, ‘Unfortunately…or Fortunately,’ that sold that record. But I digress.

As you no doubt recall, the ruling in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial was made a long, long time ago. He was ordered to pay $5 million dollars in damages. His minions coughed that up in about 20 minutes, though, so he didn’t give two figs. ”Please support Trump. He needs your help to win back the White House. Stop Joe Biden! MAGA! (Please make your checks out to the New York State Unified Court System, Attn: E. Jean Carroll.”)

Of course, he ran right out and started in on her again. So, she sued him again. Now the court is trying to decide how much is enough to shut this guy’s vicious, flapping maw once and for all. Donny’s team tried to downplay the damages and pretend she wasn’t harmed, so everybody should just forget the whole thing and go home. E. Jean Carroll’s team made their case that this guy is worth a LOT so the disgorgement needed to be substantial or he won’t even feel it and, therefore, won’t stop. TO that end, they presented, to the jury, Donny’s claims that Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.8 billion dollars. This is for deciding punitive damages, the “punishment” part.

Frankly I enjoyed watching Carroll’s team use Donny’s own lying words against him. I enjoyed seeing his braggadocio come back to bite him, rather than impressing everyone with how rich he is. I once wrote in these pages that I would like to see the county assessor’s office send him a letter telling him they’ve decided to use HIS valuation so here is the new property tax amount along with the back taxes he owes for shortfalls in the past. Mine was just a fantasy. Carroll’s team made it real. I laughed out loud.

When all is said and done, Donny has been ordered to pay $83.3 million dollars in damages. No, that’s wrong. The minions need to cough up $83.3 million dollars. Donny can’t be expected to pay. He’s got a writer to defame…

Cognition…

by MyBaconPress

I read this in a Huffpost article called ‘Donald Trump Challenged Nikki Haley To An ‘Aptitude Test’ And You Know What Happened.’ Donny had this quote: “In fact, when I heard the word ‘cognitive,’ you know, I’ve taken two of them now,” Trump continued. “I took one with Doc Ronnie, who’s now a fantastic, you know, White House doctor and a fantastic congressman from Texas. Admiral. The White House doctor. Jackson. Ronny Jackson. And he’s now a great congressman from Texas. I took one then, and I took one recently. I think the result was announced and it was, I aced it twice. I aced it.”

Trump added, “But I would say that, you know, I’ve actually called for a cognitive test for anybody running for president because I actually think that’s a good idea. It’d be nice to have an intelligent person be president.”

The first paragraph shows Donny’s ‘wander around’ technique of managing words he can’t say or sometimes an idea he can’t quite connect. It happens in nearly every public speech I’ve ever heard him give. He gets to a word and, for whatever reason, he can’t say the word. He keeps talking, though. He kind of verbally wanders around the word he’s trying to say, all the while riffing, freestyle, on what he meant to say, until he gets the word down or finds a replacement word, then goes back to his speech like it never happened.

You can see it in that first paragraph as he tries to recollect who he took the test from and who that guy is. It’s one of those, “Whose that actor? He was in… It was a wolf thing… He did… Uh, Jackman, Hugh Jackman!” In Donny’s case, though, it was more like, “I took it from a doctor. Who’s that doctor? He was the White House Doctor, what’s his name? He’s an admiral. Oh, Jackson, that’s it! Ronnie Jackson.”

Coupla things. 1 – Someone in his inner circle needs to try to make him understand, one does not “ace” a cognitive test. It’s more pass/fail. 2 – The last line of the second quoted paragraph suggests that Donny thinks he’s taking an IQ test when he takes a cognitive test. Which means he thinks the fact that he can still identify an elephant makes him a genius. 3 – Finally, he might want to STOP bragging that, twice now, someone has felt the need to have him take a cognitive test. TWICE!

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There’s a possibility that Alina Habba may have lied to a Federal judge. Nice, eh? One of the jurors in the E. Jean Carroll case wasn’t feeling well and there was some Covid concern. The judge, most likely, would have just replaced that member with an alternate and Donny would have been free to give his promised testimony the day before the New Hampshire primary.

But then Habba, Donny’s “lawyer,” said SHE wasn’t feeling well, either, and may have been exposed to Covid, so the trial was delayed. The thing is, she was later photographed out in public and at campaign events with Donny. She didn’t look sick at all.

Donny’s testimony, if he makes it at all, is most likely to be more of his current hit, “Oh, poor, poor me,” (assuming he can remember who he is long enough to get his self-pity into the record). I would GUESS it won’t amount to a hill of beans. It certainly is not going to off-set all the new evidence he keeps generating in the case. But here’s the thing; one does not get to “call in sick” as a “mental health day” when one is an attorney and a trial is happening. If she told the judge she was sick and she wasn’t? Federal judges tend to take ‘lying to a Federal judge’ seriously. Stay tuned…

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Okay, here’s exactly how badly MAGAGOP wants to stop immigrants from coming to America. Cons in Congress have been negotiating with the Biden administration. They’re holding hostage the funding for Ukraine and Israel until a deal gets hammered out on the southern border. It was a pretty “asshole” move but I already indicated it’s MAGA. The “asshole” part is implied and expected.

But now? With Donny’s win in New Hampshire, MAGAGOP has decided he’s got a lock on the nomination (duh…) and – get this – Donny wants to use the immigration “issue” in his campaign. If the two sides reach an agreement, he has less he can say. So MAGAGOP is turning sour on the deal. Moscow Mitch “the bitch” McConnell cleverly said, out loud where people could hear, “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him.” Like…make an agreement on immigration policy?

So, when one can simply set aside their oh-so-urgent, absolutely imperative, gotta do it NOW, issue for a little while in order to boost their preferred candidate’s campaign? I’ll tell you this: I really had believed the immigration issue was important to them. Now that it, too, has been revealed to be nothing more than a campaign wedge issue, I’m not going to worry about it too much any more.

(Shakes head) Effin’ cons…

Races…

by MyBaconPress

Sometimes, I get tired of the charade. With DeSantis out, Nikki Haley is the only other candidate trying to give Donny a run for his money. I respect what she’s trying to do. That is, offer up someone – better. But the Republican Party is dominated by MAGA, not Republicans, and MAGA only has eyes for Donny. The media is pretending that if everything breaks just right, she might have maybe a chance to possibly show something that gets MAGAs attention in New Hampshire. After that? All Donny. Everyone knows it. This “race” has never been between Donny and DeSantis or Haley. It’s a race between Donny and Jack Smith. Sadly, with each passing day, Donny seems to be pulling ahead. (Remember, he doesn’t have to beat the charges. He has only to stall long enough for MAGA and Putin to put him back into the Oval…)

Meanwhile, on the left, who cares? We get Biden, like it or not. Well, in fairness, there is a guy named Dean Phillips running (Who? Yeah, that’s my point.) One can also choose Marianne Williamson if you prefer a love and Kumbaya platform. Hey, again, they’re offering up alternatives,which I like. But they’re not strong enough alternatives to be real alternatives so…what’s the point?

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Right now, there is a flood of people coming up from south of the American border, trying to get into the United States because, ostensibly, the United States is still better than the place they’re running from. But if Donny DOES end up back in the Oval, I suspect that tide will slow, stop, and reverse as the Hispanics go back – and thinking Americans will be racing to go with them. MAGA has actually, almost succeeded in turning the United States of America into a country decent people flee…

Necesito practico mi español, ahora…

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Every accusation is a confession. The right has been trying to paint Biden as cognitively impaired due to his age. As soon as we heard it, we should have known Donny is suffering from dementia. He gave a speech in which he questioned, several times, why Nikki Haley didn’t do more to protect the Capitol from his attack on J6. That’s his standard Nancy Pelosi riff. Nancy and Nikki don’t look, act, or sound alike. How could he get the two confused?

He has also said, more than once, that he ran against and beat Barack Obama. That one is even worse. I mean, Nancy and Nikki don’t look, act, or sound alike but Barack and Hillary REALLY don’t look, act, or sound alike. There are other examples that he’s losing it. Often, he can’t even manage the English language.

I think the pace of his faltering is picking up as the criminal charges pile up. Pressure, you know. Maybe senility will make him a better President. His handlers can, perhaps, convince him he DIDN’T say to kill all his enemies – or that the deed was done, for example.

It continues to boggle my mind that the specter of Donald Trump back in the White House is a real and present danger to the United States of America…

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Well, that was a serious weekend of football. I’m okay with it because my Niners managed to pull out a victory at the end but props to Green Bay. They played very well and they nearly pulled off bumping the number one seed.

I’m a Niner fan but I also like other teams. The Bills, for instance. That poor team is very, very good but things just…go wrong for them for some reason. Decades ago, the Bills went on something of a tear. They went to four straight Stupor Bowls. They lost them all, but they’re STILL the only team to make it to the big game four straight years and that accomplishment commands respect. The FIRST one they lost, their kicker pulled a game-winning kick wide right for the miss. Yesterday, they were in a position to tie their playoff game and go into overtime. Their kicker pulled the game-tying kick wide right for the miss. Now they get to watch the rest of the post-season on TV…

It crossed my mind that the NFL might very well LIKE having Taylor Swift at their games and that in order to have Taylor at the games, TRAVIS has to play. THAT means, the Chiefs need to stay in. Yeah, I know. Conspiracy theory. People like to pretend that Bill Belichick is the greatest coach of all time. (There’s LOTS of hyperbole in football.) I’d say that honor actually belongs to Andy Reid, the coach of the Chiefs. I threw in that last part so you know I understand. The Chiefs are a VERY good team and don’t need the NFL to “help” them get in…

More MAGA Mania…

by MyBaconPress

I’m hearing a lot of talk about how Donny is going to dominate the Republican primary process. It seems true, to me. Then again, it’s true because the Republican party has been, essentially, taken over by MAGA. Sane Republicans left the party. Not all of them, but lots of them. When the party started bending the knee to Stinky Don, many people saw the extremism and didn’t want to be associated with it. Of course, they didn’t become Democrats. They’re still conservatives. They’re just not “burn the country down” conservatives, like MAGA.

But the Republican party tends to let ONLY registered Republicans vote in their primaries, and THAT’S the problem with conservatives leaving the Republican party. Of COURSE Stinky Don is best-positioned to win the nomination. He’s not being supported by the majority of conservatives, only the MAGA wing, the only segment that can cast votes in the primaries.

To me, that’s the real question. Will the conservatives who left the party and, therefore, were not allowed to voice their preference for someone other than trump, come out and vote for him, anyway? If you’re not MAGA, even if you ARE conservative, you can see that Donny is a criminal, a traitor, and an incompetent. I know the cons like to say it about Biden, but Donny seems to losing command of his faculties. MAGA can’t (won’t) see that, either. Will not-so-MAGA conservatives vote to return him to the White House even after knowing his intention to not leave again, ever? I’m not so sure. I hope not.

But I’ll tell you this: having to rely on conservatives for sanity is an increasingly lengthening long-shot…

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This is really key: MAGA will not compromise. Pretty much everything they want to do, they want in a “my way or no way” approach. Case in point? MAGA Mike, the Speaker of the House that managed to sneak into the job after the ousting of Mike McCarthy for making a deal with the Democrats, is on the verge of making a deal with the Democrats – and MTG is publicly calling for his removal from the Speakership. Why? Well, the deal isn’t her perfect dream. (It, simply, does not harm enough people…)

The thing is, politics is the art of compromise. Sure, it’s frustrating. There’s always something I’d like to see that gets left on the table at the end of the bargaining. But that’s usually true for both sides. That’s a compromise. MAGA sees compromise as weakness. They’ve decided to take a stand.

MAGA ALWAYS decides to “take a stand” when Democrats are in power. When Stinky Don was infesting the Oval, conservatives increased the national debt by $8 TRILLION dollars. They didn’t even bat an eye. You can look this up. The Republican party raises the national debt the most, not the Dems. Going back to Reagan, it goes up record amounts under Republicans, almost always.

In fairness, there was Obama. Bush 43 had left him quite the economic mess, what with two wrong wars caused by conservative panic and a crashed economy caused by conservative deregulation. Bush 43 had raised the debt a LOT but he did it “off books,” trying to hide the increases. One of the first actions of the incoming Obama administration was to count all the money 43 had tried to hide and it sent the debt soaring. Then Obama had to stimulate the economy Bush 43 had crashed and that cost a lot, too.

But that’s the thing, isn’t it? When Democrats raise the national debt, it tends to be because they’re trying to recover from the economic damage caused by Republicans. When Republicans raise the national debt, it’s almost always because of their precious tax cuts for the wealthy.

In THIS case, though, the cons just don’t want to fund the government because there’s not enough stuff in there to attack people coming in at the southern border. MAGA is perfectly happy to let Americans suffer (not themselves, of course) in an effort to make sure desperate people running for their lives suffer even more. And if “MAGA Mike” makes any kind of deal, any kind of compromise, with Democrats? He’ll go from being “MAGA Mike” to being a RINO in a heartbeat – and he’ll be out as Speaker. Lovely…

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MAGA reminds me of a LOT of things but I realized the other day, it’s NEVER anything good. Ever. Sometimes, they remind me of carnival hucksters. Sometimes, they remind me of Nazis. Sometimes, they remind me of whining little babies. Sometimes they grow up, but never more than, say, second grade. These people are paranoid, delusional, and LOUD. They remind me of the homeless guy walking down the street SHOUTING at his demons.

I’m often stunned at how deeply MAGA has penetrated our society. We wouldn’t (I hope) knowingly allow that homeless guy into the halls of Congress but he managed to get there anyway, in the form of MAGA. And there are several million people out there who want to be just like him. I really don’t get it…

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As every rational person knows, abortion and the overturning of Roe has been a deal-killer for voters from sea to shining sea. Republicans have been trying to run campaigns without talking about it. ”Hey, let’s all pretend we didn’t do that, okay?” Um, no. Thinking Americans KNOW you did it. Trying to downplay it, isn’t going to work.

Especially with Stinky Don out there taking bows for it. “For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I’m proud to have done it.” Well, yes and no. Roe was one of those wedge issues politicians like to keep around but never solve. They’re great campaign tools but once they’re addressed and solved, what do they run on after? So they don’t. They just leave the issue out there. That’s why we have so many problems with obvious solutions that just never get resolved – candidates want to run on those “issues” again.. (I wrote a song about it. You can hear it, here…)

So, Republicans campaigned against Roe but never took the steps to actually remove it and Democrats campaigned in support of Roe but never took the steps to actually protect it. Until Donny. He just doesn’t understand subtlety. In his “culture war” he actually packed the High Court with enough ideologues to get the job done. They overturned Roe, and the cons have suffered ever since. People, even many conservative people, liked having the choice or, at the very least, understood the importance of access to medical care for such things. If you’ve been around the sun enough times, you remember, before Roe, the regular, heartbreaking news stories of so-called “back-alley” abortions – and the often horrifying consequences that came with them.

I think, Republicans haven’t won an election since (except where gerrymandering protects them, of course). So, the Republicans are all trying to ignore the abortion issue, acting like they don’t know HOW that happened, the overturning of Roe. Then comes Donny, ever the dumbass. ”I did it. I did it. Women across the country are going to suffer because of me for years to come. That was all me. I’m so proud of myself. Suffer, bitches…”

Yeah, Don, we know you did. We’ve been voting accordingly and I suspect we’re going to KEEP voting accordingly. So you just keep wagging your tongue on the subject. Do everything you can to remind people, it was Republicans who took rights from the American people, not the Democrats. Make sure they know you’d do it again and that you intend to strip MORE rights from Americans. Just keep talking…

MAGA Kneels…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, I kind of love this. Donny sued the NY Times over a story they did that he didn’t like. He thought he’d hit them hard in order to show what a brilliant tough guy he is. The Times published a story about the trumpster “wealth” and tax practices. Donny didn’t like it. So, he sued the NY Times, the reporters who wrote the story, and the story’s source, estranged niece Mary Trump for $100 million dollars. (Hey, a guy has to get money somehow…and he certainly isn’t going to earn it honestly…)

First the reporters, then the paper itself, were dismissed from the case. Of course, it was a complex case and, again, he was asking for $100 million. The problem? The story was essentially correct and laws protecting the free press kicked in. Now DONNY has to pay the NY Times and the reporters $400,000 in restitution over his frivolous lawsuit! (They’re still pursuing Mary – for now…) File a frivolous lawsuit in an attempt to get $100 million dollars and end up having to PAY $400,000? Priceless!

At this point, MAGA is going to have to start selling their cars to pay Donny’s penalties. He seems to be racking up punishments faster than MAGA can refill his coffers. If they don’t get busy, he might have to pay out some of his own money. (Heaven forfend!) Then, MAGA can sit around complaining that they don’t have any money and blaming Joe Biden for it. That’s not right, MAGA. You voluntarily gave your money to a con man and you keep doing it. You know what they say, ‘A fool and his money are soon parted.’ Excellent demonstration of the concept, I’ll give you that.

So, that’s $400,000 to the NY Times, $370 million to the state of New York, and maybe $150 million more to E. Jean Carroll. Remember, that’s just January. MAGA keeps whining about what the national debt will do to our kids. I think they’d better start paying attention to what their god-on-earth is doing to THEM…

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They won’t, though, pay attention to what he’s doing to them, I mean. The Iowa Caucus is coming up. Stinky Donny has a huge lead, despite the fact that he hasn’t campaigned as much as the others because he’s been choosing to go to court, trying to defend his indefensible criminal activities.

MAGA knows they’re voting for a criminal. They just don’t care. MAGA is in full-on delusional mode these days and the more evidence that comes out showing what a useless puke Donny is, the harder they fight to defend him. That’s some serious “irrational,” right there…

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In the hearing in the ‘House Committee to Harass Hunter Biden,’ Democrat Jared Moskowitz said, “You come up here and talk about Hunter Biden’s behavior, and you’re so disgusted, but the guy that you all kneel to associates himself with a pedophile.” (He’s talking about trump’s loyalty and devotion to Jeffery Epstein.) MAGA pretended to get angry at the suggestion that they “kneel” to trump. Snowflake Clay Higgins interrupted, “I kneel to Christ!” Uh-huh. Somehow, I doubt that. What I do NOT doubt, is that if Donny told you to kneel before him, you would.

And you might as well. You ALL kneel before him, metaphorically, all day, every day. Why pretend to be offended by something we all watch you do on a daily basis?

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I got scolded in social media for the way I think of MAGA. The person wrote, “…thank you for characterizing me and all MAGA the way you’ve been taught.” It’s true. I HAVE been taught how to think about MAGA – by MAGA!

MAGA pays Donny’s bills – because, they insist, the courts, and not the criminal, are corrupt. MAGA stays loyal to Donny despite his absolute, complete, and easily proven failures as President and the piles of evidence and charges against the guy. They insist upon their delusions and pretend to get furious with those who refuse to delude themselves along with them. I see them as abused wives explaining why they shouldn’t have “made him to do that.” NOBODY questions the idea that MAGA, any MAGA, any time, would kneel before Donny upon command, but to be outside MAGA and say so out loud? Oh, the huMANity!

Dear MAGA: if you don’t want to be lumped in with MAGA, don’t be such an effing MAGA. It’s pretty simple, really…