Insanity Plus Power…

I guess the very successful No Kings Day protests in the face of the failed tin-pot dictator military parade has pushed demented, old Felon 47 even further over the edge. Frankly, I’m not sure that everybody who participated in the protests was a Democrat. I’m sure there were a LOT of independents and probably even some Republicans, those who still have higher regard for the Constitution than they do for one evil man.

But this morning, he’s on the war path against Democrats. In a post on his stupid site, he wrote, “ICE Officers are herewith ordered…to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.” “Herewith ordered…” So now his social media posts act as policy directives? By what authority?

“In order to achieve this,” he continued, “we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside. These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democratic Power Center.” He rambled on a little more but it was mostly regurgitating MAGA culture war stuff. Gotta keep the faithful in a frenzy, you know…

I don’t think it’s protest vs parade related but the vile Felon has also issued an Executive Order – I’m not making this up, it’s in ‘The Guardian’ – that VA doctors are now free to refuse to treat Democrats and/or unmarried veterans if they so choose. Technically, I suppose a doctor so inclined could refuse to treat a Republican, too. According to the article, “Language requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status has been explicitly eliminated.”

According to the Guardian article, “Doctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity.”

I suspect refusing to treat people based on political affiliation would violate a doctor’s Hippocratic Oath but I also suspect there are MAGA doctors out there who might actually refuse treatment to a veteran wearing a blue hat. On the other hand, based on the hiring stuff, perhaps the VA could use the opportunity to purge themselves of MAGA-infected doctors. I mean, what’s good for the goose, right?

In what can only be an amazing coincidence in this atmosphere of GOP-induced, anti-Democrat fervor, a MAGA nutball, Vance Boelter, decided to help out with the “problem” of Democrats existing and murdered Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding John Hoffman (shot nine times) and his wife (shot eight times). He had a long list of other people he thought should die because they hold different opinions than his. It’s important to note in this era of “cops” doing police work while wearing masks to hide their faces, that he gained access to the legislators he shot by dressing up as a cop.

This insane, loyal MAGA texted his friends and said, “…I wish it hadn’t gone this way.” Really, dude, all you had to do is NOT murder people and it would NOT have gone that way. YOU had all of the control in this situation. To the best of my knowledge, to this point, Felon 47 has not issued any statement whatsoever regarding the murders. He seems to only decry attempted violence aimed at Republicans for some reason. It’s almost as if he’s okay with violence toward Dems.

Boelter is in custody, right now. In OG America, this would be the end of his life. He would be charged, tried, likely convicted, and spend the rest of his days in prison. But in Bizarro MAGAmerica, this dark and evil SOB might well enjoy a pardon from the criminal-supporting, so-called “President.” What was it he said about emptying all of the prisons and putting criminals on our streets? MORE accusation as admission. I mean, it NEVER fails…

I’ll tell you this: I think he’s losing – or has lost – his mind. I really do. I mean, I KNOW there are other very old, very feeble MAGA out there, just as terrified by Democrats, just as angry about all the false stories they believe about Democrats, just as wrong-headed, fear- and anger-driven and fuming that people are allowed to think things other than what they think. But none of them have access to the Oval Office. That makes the demented Orange Man the most dangerous MAGA in the world. Insanity plus power never ends well…

No Kings Day Wins…

Well, I’m happy to report… no, I’m VERY happy to report that HUGE crowds of people turned out for the No Kings Day protests. In city after city all across this once-great nation, thousands of people came out to protest him. You can search on ‘No Kings Day’ in YouTube and then watch video after video of people in one city after another carrying signs and singing songs and decrying the guy.

By and large, the marches were peaceful events. I’m sure some bonehead caused some problem someplace. All told, there were thousands, maybe millions, of people out there. There has to be a weakest link. But for the most part, the protests were peaceful. LA is an obvious exception but Donny inflamed LA for days before THIS day. I’ve got 47 down as the instigator of violence in LA.

Santa Rosa put out quite the crowd. People lined Farmers Lane from one end to the other on both sides – and Farmers Lane is one of the longer streets in Santa Rosa. It was quite heartening to see. Just for fun, I searched on ‘No Kings Day counter protests.’ I literally got nothing. No, I got a long list of the No Kings Day protests, including protests in other countries. No counter protests to be found.

I’m even happier to report that his stupid and ridiculously expensive, very wasteful, very damaging, tin-pot dictator military parade drew, what, hundreds? A couple of thousand? I don’t know, but it was a very sparsely attended event. I’m pretty sure more people came out for the No Kings Day march in Washington DC before his big, stupid parade, than attended his big, stupid parade. So he just sat there, pouting. At one point, it honestly looked very much like he was going to cry.

There were rows and rows of bleachers set up, giving you an idea of what his expectation was. He thought this was something people were really going to want to see, so he put up plenty of seating. That was a mistake. Donny forgot his stagecraft. He KNOWS to group the few attendees closely together to make it look like a larger crowd than it is. He does that at his rallies all the time. But he didn’t do it this time. Clearly, he hoped for more people. But more people were out protesting him than supporting him. Good.

They should have set up just one bleacher section. Then everyone who came would have grouped up in the one stand and the bleachers would have appeared, I don’t know, maybe nearly full. By allowing them to spread out, the whole world got to see exactly how unpopular the stupid thing was – AND how unpopular the stupid thing is. Mostly, the people who showed up, were ordered to show up. The vast majority of people who had a choice, chose to NOT attend.

Of course, MAGA media will report the exact opposite. They’ll claim the marches were flops and the parade was a huge success. Then they’ll move on to something else as quickly as possible. I’m guessing MAGA media will be all in a tither about some culture war crisis today. They’ll want to get the topic off the failed parade and whip the devoted into a frenzy on something else. Change the subject.

The Felon, himself, will start insisting that the crowd at his stupid, ego-fluffing parade was as large as the vast crowd at his inaugurations, which may be true, considering the small number of people that showed up for those. I think the tiny crowd at his first inaugural is still the largest crowd he has ever drawn.

Honestly, I’m a little worried about how he might react to his parade failure today. He doesn’t cope well with failure. Because the whole world got to witness his humiliation, he might well order increased ICE raids or some such. It’s what he does. He meets failure with cruelty. Since he fails most of the time, he’s cruel most of the time.

That part sucks and I empathize with whomever he chooses to victimize in an attempt to make himself feel better, but for the moment, I’m going to enjoy the outcome. No More Kings whipped the ass of his ‘Look-at-me’ military parade. In America, that’s how it should be…

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As we all know by now, there’s a rule of thumb that seems to apply to Team Evil so perfectly, so completely, it might well be deemed an axiom in the near future. The rule? ‘From Team 47, EVERY accusation is an admission.’ It just seems to be always true. It’s almost mind-boggling how often it rings true.

For example, during the campaign, Donny said that Kamala would crash the economy. She didn’t get the chance – but he did. It seems to be his goal to destroy the American dollar. He said Kamala would take away your freedom. But it’s not Kamala sending in marines in an effort to deny Americans freedom of speech, it’s Donny. There are myriad more examples and I’m sure you can come up with a few of your own without much (any) effort.

But think about this: ‘From Team 47, EVERY accusation is an admission.’ During the campaign, The Felon threatened that Kamala would start World War III. “The world is in more danger than it’s ever been because of the power of weaponry,” 47 said, “and I will be the only one—I can say this with great surety—I will prevent World War III.”

So…um…holy crap! Have you SEEN the way he’s “preventing” World War III? Everywhere this clown goes, he brings aggression, ignorance, and violence – an extremely dangerous combination. Not only has he NOT stopped conflicts on Day One because of how easy it would be – promise made, promise broken – he has NEW conflicts boiling. ‘Every accusation is an admission’ meets ‘I will prevent World War III.’ This is going to get ugly, isn’t it?

No Kings Day…

No Kings Day. I like it. I hope it catches on. Long after Evil Donny is dead (and…please, God, what are you waiting for?), I hope America celebrates No Kings Day, year after year. It should always be THIS date, too. You know, the anniversary of the founding of the army – just so we can remember the evil we managed to shuffle off in the end.

Now all we have to do is shuffle off the evil. I’ll see you there…

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Every decent economist in the world, people who deal in facts and numbers, say that 47’s Barfy Bill is going to add somewhere between $2.4 trillion and $5 TRILLION dollars to the national debt. SO, the White House, people who deal in wishes and delusions, have come out with an estimate of their own. THEY say it will drop the national debt by $8 trillion dollars because of course they do. That’s an $11 trillion dollar difference.

I know these guys are incompetent, but to miss by $11 trillion dollars? That seems like a bigger error than simply forgetting to carry the one, you know? They pretend, just like the cons have always pretended, that the tax cuts for the wealthy will stimulate such major economic expansion, they will pay for themselves AND reduce the deficit. They can say so with such confidence because of all of the other tax cuts cons have forced through that have never done any of that. “Hey, it’s never worked before, why wouldn’t it work now?”

In this moment, I’m trying to think of something these clowns have NOT lied about. It’s like, every word that came out of Donny’s mouth during the campaign was the exact opposite of what he intended. MAGA continues to lap it up, though. MAGA media puts Donny’s lies on a loop and pretends they’re honest statements that make sense if you look at them correctly, and MAGA just gets conditioned. They hear it so often, they just accept that it must be true and the fact that not one of his statements turns out to be true never sways their faith.

I can’t decide if that would be comforting or confusing. But MAGA seems to be awfully confused…

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Well, by now we’ve all seen the Alex Padilla video, yes? If not, here’s what happened. Senator Alex Padilla (D, Ca) went to a Press Conference held by incompetent Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He wanted to ask her a question. As he began asking, he was seized by cops. He quite clearly says, “I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have a question for the Secretary.” He’s then forced out of the room and into the hall, where he’s placed, face down on the floor, and handcuffed! Is now a good time to mention, a sitting Senator? Apparently, he wasn’t arrested or even detained for more than a few minutes.

But this was a presser intended to spew a misleading narrative about how badly the ICE agents running around the country violating people’s rights are being treated by the citizens they run into who still believe in the Constitution. It was NOT intended as an honest give-and-take. Noem didn’t WANT to answer an honest question and, let’s get real, she couldn’t if she had to. In a statement, Padilla insists “We will hold this administration accountable.” No word on how he plans to do that.

The cruelest regime’s response? Oh, he didn’t identify himself. He wasn’t wearing his Congressional pin. They’re pretending Padilla rushed Noem in a threatening way. He DID, after all, enter the room. Scary stuff.

If you watch the video, he clearly DOES identify himself, so THAT lie dies an instant death. Instead of seeing Padilla rush Noem, I see agents pushing Padilla backwards, so, another clear lie? I could NOT see his Congressional pin so that part may have been true, but are we now required to have a Congressional pin to ask a question of our government?

Incompetent MAGA Mike the Johnson described it as “wildly inappropriate” – but, ever the loyalist toady, he was talking about Padilla because, of course he was. Johnson added that he thinks Padilla’s behavior “merits immediate attention” by Congress and “at a minimum, it rises to the level of a censure” by the Senate.

OG America had a thing called the First Amendment. It allowed for freedom of speech. It was a good thing, FAR better than this crap…

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MAGA is still, mostly, happily on board with everything 47 is doing because they think it’s the pain before the gain. Think of it like chemotherapy. Chemotherapy sucks – but it beats the alternative. Going through the trials of chemotherapy might be miserable, but if it gets rid of the cancer? Well, it was probably worth it, right?

But chemotherapy is about trying to kill the cancer before you kill the patient. It’s a delicate balancing act and, sometimes, one loses their balance. Sometimes, the chemo kills the patient before the cancer gets the chance. Chemotherapy isn’t something to play around with. It isn’t something you do unless you have no other good options.

And, the thing is, OG America didn’t HAVE cancer. I know, MAGA was told some stories. 47 said it was cancer. But it wasn’t cancer. Do I argue that OG America was perfect in every measurable way? No, of course not, but cancer? No. So NOW the patient – that is, America – is going through chemotherapy for no reason.

I find myself wondering if MAGA will EVER figure out that they’re being lied to. I wonder how they might react if they find out they’ve been suffering chemotherapy without having cancer? All pain, no gain. Well, for them, anyway. The prescribing doctor – 47 in this metaphor – is making BANK, along with those who own the process. For them, administering the “treatment” is very, very profitable. I find myself wondering if MAGA will EVER figure that out…

Dangerous Distractions…

He manufactured a crisis in LA so he could engineer a disaster in Washington DC…
Okay, so, here’s the thing. Obviously, Donny is manufacturing a crisis in LA. Maybe he’s doing it to distract Americans – and MAGA, too – from Elon’s claim that 47 is in the Epstein files, information 47, himself, has inadvertently confirmed as “old news.” (But, not old enough, right?) Maybe he’s doing it to distract from his Big Barfy Bill that promises to do so much damage to so many Americans – and MAGA, too – just to comfort the comfortable.

Then again, maybe this is just his opportunity to begin introducing more authoritarian measures that lead to his complete control. I like choice D – all of the above. Clearly, MAGA doesn’t care about the Epstein files. MAGA is SO enthralled by him, they’d hold the poor girl down for him. They likely don’t know the details of the Big Bill being pushed through Congress by America-hating Republicans. Hell, even GOP Congress critters didn’t read it, why would the rank and file?

MAGA has been conditioned for some time to think violence against protestors, those protesting something they disagree with, anyway, is the right choice, the best choice. (They all supported that puke, Cliven Bundy, who thought he should be allowed to graze his cattle on government land for free.) So, right now, MAGA is probably quite happy. I guess they haven’t thought it through. They don’t seem to realize that ANY protests will be met with violence.

So as a quick recap, American citizens came out to protest (and probably impede) ICE raids against people decidedly NOT dangerous criminals. ICE thought force would be the best choice. That IS, after all, the first action of a small mind. The LA police were called out to provide crowd control. That should have been it. ICE eventually stands down or the protestors tire out and go home. We’ve seen protests before. That’s the way they play out.

As a kind of interesting sidebar, conservatives think (because it’s what MAGA media is telling them) that ICE was going into a dangerous, Tren de Aragua safe-house to bust some really bad dudes. They think lefties are trying to protect violent criminals. They are NOT being told it was a ‘Home Depot.’ I’ve never been fearful of running into Tren de Aragua working in a Home Depot in my life. Would they shank me or just direct me to the plungers, thank you very much?

By the way, 47 is lying about the whole thing, so one more on the pile is no big deal, right? He’s letting his believers think that all of LA is burning, just one big battleground where “libtards” are protecting the very worst of the worst and he has no choice but to face that with greater force. The entire protest is actually confined to a couple of streets in downtown LA. It’s not even all of downtown LA.

Anyway, Donny seized the opportunity to escalate events by calling out National Guard troops. THEN, he made it even worse by calling in the Marines. Now, this is 47, so you KNOW the decision is stupid. He called out 2,000 National Guard troops. 315 or so of them have been deployed. The others are milling about with nothing to do. So he called out 2,000 more. Where the hell is DOGE when you need them? Talk about fraud, waste, and abuse.

We’ve seen this movie before. In 1970, students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio were attacked by National Guard troops, killing four of the protestors and wounding nine others, and highlighting how stupid it is to ask people trained to kill to act as police, instead. Neil Young wrote a song about it called, ‘Ohio.’ “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming…”

Now everybody is wondering how the military is going to react. The actions of ALL military members are governed by a set of standards called the Uniform Code of Military Justice – the UCMJ. Weirdly, military members are MORE subject to the UCMJ than they are the US Constitution. That is, one surrenders some of their Constitutional rights when one signs on the dotted line. The military can, legally, tell you what you can and cannot read, for example. Did you know that? They surrender some of their constitutional rights while potentially risking their lives to protect yours.

The UCMJ requires military members to reject illegal orders. An illegal order is one that violates the Constitution or would be a crime in other terms. An officer can’t legally order a soldier to rob a bank, for example. By definition, our military is supposed to be apolitical and fight our nation’s enemies, not her own citizens. We have one law, the Posse Comitatus Act, that prevents American soldiers from acting in police capacities in the US. But we have another, the Insurrection Act, that gives the President (or, in this case, 47) broad authority to use the military in the US.

In my mind, the soldiers deploying is no big deal. It’s obviously legal for a commander to tell his troops where to stand. But when that commander tells his troops to open fire on American citizens? That will be a moment for the military member, a very risky moment. Two conflicting laws, ‘You absolutely can NOT’ vs ‘You have to.’ How does one decide? I, for one, would not fire on Americans, most especially Americans protesting criminal activity on the part of the government. I don’t want to be the focus of a new Neil Young song. “Tin soldiers and Trump is coming…” But I might face Court-Martial for that decision.

It’s possible the troops are hand-picked and loyal only to Donny and not the Constitution. Those guys will open fire. I wish I could say I was surprised by the events as they’re playing out, but I’m not. I’ve expected Donny to manufacture some crisis in order to try to clamp down and he seems to have found the crisis he likes. All he had to do was harass innocent, law-abiding, contributing human beings for a short while.

This fight is going to take up a lot of ink in the press for a short time, and it should. But please. Let us NOT forget 47 is working to distract us from the fact that Musk says he’s in the Epstein files, nor should we allow ourselves to be distracted from this evil Big Bill that promises to do so much harm to so many, just so the richest rich people can be a little more comfortable. We’re multi-tasking now, people…

Every Day, A Little Worse…

Well, it looks like 47 is getting the violence he wants down in LA. ICE agents, carefully masked because they’re so proud of the work they’re doing, started raiding businesses in LA looking for brown people to harass. Citizens started pushing back. At first, it was just a bunch of people shouting unkind thing to the agents, while the agents desperately hid behind their face coverings. People got in the agent’s way, slowed them down.

Because these “agents” may or may not be actual ICE agents, they started pushing back. But violence is the only “tool” they have. One good pepper spray and “less than lethal” method led to another and now the situation is charged and tense – exactly what 47 wants. He’s even calling it an insurrection. I suppose, according to the definition, it IS. But this looks to me, like the tree of liberty needing a little blood of patriots – true patriots, not MAGA, the rabble claiming “patriotism” while decrying every single aspect of the United States.

The people pushing back in LA are pushing back because they want the process to follow the law and the Constitution. These are NOT a bunch of whipped up morons attacking the Capitol building in an effort to thwart the law and interfere with the Constitution, like 47’s J6 MAGA did. I’d say standing up to improper authority is an insurrection worth having, if that’s the way the regime wants it. And, clearly, that’s the way the regime wants it.

Meanwhile, conservative media is focused on the fact that some of the protestors have burned the flag, a common gesture of disapproval when one’s government is engaged in unpopular and/or criminal behavior. That will certainly keep MAGA whipped up against the left.

I understand the protestor’s fury. Still, I suspect they might be falling for a trap, and it’s a very old trap indeed. “When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.” – John Lennon

As a sidebar, apparently, there’s one more lesson the developers of self-driving cars need to teach their vehicles – stay away from protests. People know better than to drive around near protests. They take other routes. Apparently, Waymo cars do NOT know to avoid protests – and three of them have been destroyed by protestors. I don’t approve of that, by the way. The cars didn’t do anything. Neither did the company.

I think valid protestors should unmask violent “protestors” and dox them. I suspect the violent protestors are agent provocateurs, bad guys pretending to be good guys but doing bad things in an effort to smear the good guys. Either way, this could be the opening 47 needs to deploy troops all over the US so, welcome to the police state. Having an armed soldier on every street corner sure looks like “freedumb” to me…

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In the Elump cat fight, did Elon say he was going to back Democrats? I heard him say he would work against any sitting politician that voted in favor of 47’s Big Barfy Bill but I didn’t hear him say he would back Democrats. Supporting an alternative Republican is an option, too, right?

But Donny is upset Elon might back Democrats. I guess, of all people, he SHOULD be upset. He knows better than most exactly how effective Elon and his team can be when it comes to manipulating the outcome of elections…

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Look, I know that in the bigger scheme of things, this is a nothing-burger, at least to me. I just think it’s funny. Evil Stephen Miller, a chief architect of Team Evil is married to a woman named Katie, and Katie works for Elon Musk. When Elon was driven out of town, he took Katie with him! No word, yet, on how Evil Stephen will respond.

Elon is trying to have enough children to field two opposing baseball teams – maybe even with a few subs in there, as well. He pays women to carry, deliver, and care for babies he fathers and, apparently, he pays well. Katie might want some of those millions for herself. I’m looking forward to the announcement that Katie Miller is carrying Elon Musk’s next baby…

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When Biden stumbled climbing a flight of steps up to an airplane, 47 pretended that it happened because Biden was so old. We saw the video over and over. On the left, it was a good laugh. On the right, it was “proof” of Biden’s incompetence.

Now Donny has stumbled climbing a flight of steps up to an airplane – and we have the video. I guess he’ll be claiming HIS stumble is a sign of “greatness” but I suspect it’s because HE’S so old, too. Now let’s put Donny’s stumble on a loop and watch it over and over, as though it proves something. No, on second thought, let’s not. I don’t want to have to look at him that much…

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The Southern Baptists are having a convention, trying to lay out a framework of things to oppose. They’re opposed to porn, which is not surprising. They’re opposed to sports betting, which I actually agree with. They’re opposed to same-sex marriage, which I definitely disagree with, and they’re opposed to “willful childlessness.”

Willful childlessness? In this day and age, in this once-great, now failing nation, in this darkening nightmare of a reality, NOT having children is the responsible choice. Children need to be fed and clothed. They need education and health care. They need a stable environment. ALL of those things are becoming increasingly challenging to manage under the current regime and the superstitions of the Southern Baptists won’t change any of that…

The ‘Culture War’ Rages On…

So, here’s a tale of pettiness we should not soon forget. During racist sweeps of brown people, ICE grabbed up a guy named Kilmar Abrego-Garcia and sent him to a foreign prison with no charges, no trial, no chance to respond to charges or prove his innocence. Prison. He was sent to prison.

People were upset. Things like that aren’t supposed to happen in America. Due process is guaranteed in the Constitution for any person standing on American soil. One does NOT have to be a citizen or even properly documented. If you’re on American soil, you have a right to due process. It says so quite plainly in the US constitution.

But the current regime had taken an action and they intended to stick to it, right or wrong, and in this case, they were wrong. They insisted he was a member of MS-13 and he had the tattoos to prove it. 47 even paraded around a Photoshopped photo of Abrego-Garcia’s hand to prove he was MS-13. Unfortunately for them, it only proved Donny is still as dumb as a brick.

Lawsuits were filed over the illegal act and the regime was trying to defend it’s action. They admitted in court that his deportation was the result of an administrative error but insisted there was nothing they could do about it any more. Abrego-Garcia was gone. (The lawyer who confessed the error was fired for the confession because, honor, you know?)

The courts ordered the return of Abrego-Garcia but the regime demurred. Sorry, no can do. Yes, we sent him there and they’re only holding him because we’re paying them to, but there’s no way for us to get him back because we said so, so there. But it wouldn’t go away. It’s almost as if the regime kept taking guff over the case just because they were absolutely, completely and provably wrong.

So now, the regime has a new idea: they’ll bring him back, despite that being impossible, and they’ll put him on trial for crimes. Genius! So now, Team Evil has complied with the court but still won’t confess they messed up. Instead, they’re going to prosecute him for human trafficking. They’re pretending he was a major mover and shaker in a scheme to transport undocumented people around the country.

Oh, AND, just for good measure, they’ve thrown in that he “solicited nude photographs and videos of a minor…” I mean, if you’re going to smear a guy, there are few ways better than “pedophile.” Ask Elon. That was his angle against The Felon. Sure, it hurts the prosecution of actual pedophiles in the long run, but it will bolster Team Evil’s case today so, there it is: pedophile. No, he’s not charged with that, because that’s the best way to handle pedophiles, I guess – make the claim but don’t prosecute it. Hey, at least they’re consistent. They won’t come after Trump for being an alleged pedophile, either, despite the Epstein files…

Historically, it pretty much sucks to find yourself a pawn caught up in some political fight. There’s always this conflict between decency vs winning, honor vs victory. Kilmar Abrego-Garcia’s life has been turned upside down and will continue to be attacked and devastated just because a powerful person hates brown people but won’t admit it’s only because he hates brown people.

This thing could get very, very ugly for Abrego-Garcia. (As if it hasn’t already, right?) It could cost him everything and ruin his life. He could end up in prison on pretend charges and stay there until the fever passes and the law prevails once again – but that could be YEARS. A decade or so from now – maybe more – some politician will issue an apology to Abrego-Garcia’s family while skirting the idea that he was nothing more than a pawn in a larger game somebody else was playing. I’m sure that will be quite comforting…

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Well, I’m glad he said it. 47 is irritated at the protests surrounding ICE raids in Los Angeles. For the last couple of days, people have been coming out, trying to disrupt the process. It has been quite confrontational. For reasons I can’t understand, when ICE shows up to raid some workplace or people’s homes, the officers are wearing masks. I’ve seen a LOT of cops doing a LOT of work around the country and the world. What I never see is cops hiding their faces. When cops are doing good, legitimate police work, they have no NEED to hide their faces.

But here comes ICE, carefully hidden behind masks. So, Donny has written that “…from now on MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???” It’s a fair question. Why DO these cops need masks? If the work they’re doing is honorable work, shouldn’t they be PROUD of themselves? Don’t they want their children to see what they’re doing, should they happen to show up on television while doing their job?

I can absolutely understand why protestors want to protect their identity. Look at the Kilmar Abrego-Garcia story just ahead of this one. That guy got thrown into prison because he had tattoos on brown skin. NOW he faces trial for human trafficking just because one deeply troubled moronic narcissist can’t admit a mistake. 47 didn’t even MAKE the mistake and he STILL can’t confess that it was a mistake. That is some deep insecurity. So protestors SHOULD wear masks. They need to keep themselves at least somewhat protected from the retribution this regime might rain down on them.

But the cops? No. I don’t get it. The law recognizes a thing called consciousness of guilt. That comes into play when an accused person is pretending they didn’t mean to commit a crime or they weren’t aware of it – but took specific action to protect themselves from the consequences of their deeds. You know, like the ICE agents are doing when they hide behind masks to make raids.

As the conflict has continued, The Felon says he authorized 2,000 National Guard troops to deploy for crowd control. Later, he thanked the National Guard for their great work supporting the ICE agents in their evil quest. Apparently, the Guard just got there this morning so, I’m not sure how much support they’ve provided, yet.

Hey, who, here, remembers Kent State? Remember when the National Guard – that is, American military – was called out on protesting college students and opened fire, killing four Americans? Sure you do. Neil Young wrote a song about it: ‘Ohio.’ American troops killing American citizens was a bad look then and will be a bad look now. Sure, MAGA will eat it up with a spoon. This state-sponsored violence feeds right into their “culture war” fever dreams. But no loyal American would stand still for deploying the American military against American citizens…

And In THIS Corner…

Oh, rats, did I miss it? Thursday, a feud erupted between 47 and Musk. It was inevitable. These are two of the softest walking egos I’ve ever seen in my life. Each man thinks HE and he, alone, is God and the other is a pretender. Since the beginning, this has been the most predictable spat in the history of predictable spats.

It was never a matter of “if,” only “when.” I noticed that Steve Bannon is out there trying to take credit for brilliant insight, claiming he and he, alone, had predicted the inevitable breakup that everybody on the planet knew was sure to happen. Sure, Steve. Thanks for that. Now go away. Bannon also suggested deporting Musk. That’s an idea I can get behind.

As nearly as I can piece this together, Musk started being a problem for the regime. He was getting into spats with various secretaries and, really, he and his DOGE team made lots and lots of mistakes. It got to the point where he was asked to leave. He did, but he didn’t go quietly. He decided to publicly denounce 47’s pet project, his “Big, Barfy Bill” that will do so much damage to so many Americans – and MAGA, too.

He even threatened to use his vast resources to remove any Republican who voted for the bloated thing. The threat seems real as he also exposed the fact that they wouldn’t be there without his help. Had he not messed with the tabulators in the “election,” according to him, 47 wouldn’t be President and the GOP would not control Congress.

Donny, obviously, took the criticism in stride and expressed his deep belief in the First Amendment and Musk’s right to his opinion. Ha, ha, just kidding! He actually threatened to cancel contracts and subsidies to Musk’s various companies – pointing out that doing so would save “billions and billions” of dollars – sending Tesla stock into yet another tailspin.

Musk, ever the gentlemen, responded by claiming the reason the Epstein files haven’t been released is because the name ‘Trump’ is everywhere in them. As if the world didn’t already know that. Donny and Epstein were very close friends for something like 15 years. Of COURSE Donny’s name is all over those files. He would absolutely release them if he wasn’t in them.

So this was shaping up to be a wonderful spectator event and I ordered more popcorn. But then I woke up on Friday morning and Musk had offered an olive branch. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the downturn in fortunes of Musk’s companies. When Donny said he would cut the contracts, Musk replied with “bring it on” but the stocks headed down because everybody knows the companies depend on those government contracts for their existence.

Whatever it was, Musk said he would stand down and wanted to talk to 47 on Friday to patch things up. NOW what am I going to do with all of this popcorn? Hold the phone. Donny said no. Someone asked him if he would talk with Musk and 47 replied, “You mean the man who has lost his mind?” He added that he was “not particularly” interested in talking to him right now.

Donny’s skin is the thinnest in the history of skin and the Epstein comment really WAS a low blow. Musk put 47 in a very difficult position. Now he has no choice but to release the files to prove he’s not in them – his word alone carries NO weight – but he can’t release the files because his name is all over them. That’s not the kind of bind one can just apologize their way out of. “I’m sorry I exposed you as a pedophile,” just doesn’t get it done.

So on Friday, the White House trotted out Epstein’s lawyer to verify that Epstein had no dirt on Donny. He knows, he says, because he asked. Um, so what? I don’t know this guy. Maybe he’ll say whatever someone wants him to say – or pays him to say, who knows? Hell, maybe Epstein DID tell his lawyer that. Maybe Epstein lied. It happens, you know. Virtually the ONLY way 47 can prove he’s NOT in those files is to release the files unredacted. He’s not going to do that, which, of course, should tell you a lot. And now Elon dragged it out again. No, there will be no forgiving that.

The GOP Congress critters took turns coming out to support The Felon in the exchange. Musk threatened to support primary challengers against sitting critters if they support this nightmare bill but MAGA is convinced that Donnie’s words of support go further than Musk’s money, despite the fact that Musk’s money is what just gave them the control they have. I think Musk should stop with the public spat but make sure each Congress critter knows he intends to follow through with his plan.

So by Saturday, it looks like Musk lost. Still, I expect that Musk is about to find out what actual, deep, true pettiness looks like. Just stopping isn’t enough. It was noted that, as of Friday, the SwastiKar Donny bought from Musk is still sitting out there in the White House lot but I’m guessing that car will be gone before too much longer. Musk has to come out and publicly kiss the ring and do as he’s told or he’ll be in 47’s sights from now on – and may be anyway.

I don’t know what I was hoping for but it turned out to be a bit anticlimactic. A charge here, a threat there, a loss of $150 billion dollars in market cap and, boom, it’s over. It was fun but it was short. Too short. I’ve still got all of this popcorn left…

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AGAIN? Yet ANOTHER moron attacking Jews in the US in “protest” of the Israeli government WAY over there, in Israel? Does the idiot who attacked THIS time think the people he injured and killed had some kind of direct line to Netanyahu and were calling in and supporting his actions? Maybe, secretly, Jews in the US were laying out the war plans and telling Netanyahu what do to?

Do you know what I’ve seen? I’ve seen Jews out there with other protestors, standing against the actions of Israel in Gaza. It turns out, morality, not politics or religious affiliation, dictates which side a person stands on over this damned little war and plenty of Jews see the actions of the Israeli government as wrong, immoral, and indefensible. Hell, the attacker may have attacked and killed allies in his goal of stopping the killing in Gaza. What a dumbass…

Fraud, Fraud, and More Fraud…

I’m pretty sure this “story” is distraction trolling but if you were going to execute Joe Biden in 2020 and then replace him with a robot, why would you NOT make the robot work better? Then again, Biden did a pretty good job, so the robot did okay with policy and just looked like it was in cognitive decline at a key moment? Why would one NEED a robot that acts like it’s in cognitive decline? Humans do that just fine, all by themselves?

Is it possible this is just the right’s response to Biden’s success a President? I mean, he should NEVER have run the second time, but his time in office was quite successful. He cleaned up the mess 45 left him and had the strongest economy in the world again, which he then left to 47, who has ALREADY decimated the good Biden did. It took him less than 100 days. That’s some serious incompetence. The best incompetence, the strongest incompetence.

There are really only two ways this thing can be: either 47 really WAS trolling (likely) or he really believes Biden was executed and replaced in 2020. I wish I could guess definitively but based on some of the other crazy things 47 claims to believe, one cannot simply dismiss the idea that he might actually believe it based only on how completely stupid it is…

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While he was on the campaign trail, 47 used to whine that foreign countries were releasing criminals onto the streets of America. SO… have you noticed the number of criminals HE is releasing onto the streets of America? He started, of course, with the J6 rioters he sent to disrupt the 2020 election, many of them violent and, thankfully, several of them already re-arrested and returning to where they belong. Now?

He keeps pardoning people convicted of fraud. He has pardoned so many fraudsters, I’ve lost count. You don’t suppose it’s one of those “kindred spirit” kind of things do you? Like, it takes one to know one? HIS kind of people? When he does it, he SAYS it’s because they’re all (conveniently) “victims of Democratic injustice,” but the common factor among the pardons seems to be million dollar contributions to him or his PAC (which means him).

To be clear, these people were investigated, charged, tried, and convicted. It didn’t happen because of any political party. It happened because they were criminals engaging in crimes. Oh, and for clarity, they were NOT only defrauding liberals. On the up side, there doesn’t seem to be any political consideration surrounding these decisions. It’s just pure greed on The Taco’s part. It’s simple: pay a million dollars, buy your loved one (or yourself, but that might be redundant) a pardon.

I’ll tell you this: I’d bet that even MAGA doesn’t like that so much. It’s just straight up pay-to-play. The GOP used to see themselves as the party of law and order. That’s a pretty tough image to maintain when there’s a sign on the White House back door: ‘Pardons, $1 million dollars, each.’ I’m pretty sure that’s not what MAGA voted for…

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I suppose this will be the beginning of the rift. Musk has come out against The Felon’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’ You know the one. It’s the one that promises to add trillions of dollars to the national debt while gutting the social safety net and hurting millions of Americans, just so rich people can be richer.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Muck posted on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.” It’s weird to say this, but Musk is right on this one. He wasn’t done, either. He added in a second post: “Congress is making America bankrupt.” Then came the threat: “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.”

In this Citizen’s United corrupted government OF the rich, BY the rich, and FOR the rich, he can do it, too. The fix to America’s financial woes will NOT be found in tax cuts, no matter how many times that failed and ridiculous story gets floated. It’s probably the single dumbest economic move a government could make at this point so, of course, the GOP is all in.

I get it, MAGA. The ONLY thing you care about is seeing my liberal tears. They may prove harder for you to see through your own tears, though, and I guarantee you, you’re going to suffer everything I suffer. If you live in a red state, you’re, likely, going to suffer even more…

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Okay, so, tell me. How many Republicans have YOU seen since the House passed 47’s “Big Beautiful Bill” expressing dismay about some provision in the bill they “didn’t know was in there?” I’ve seen several. They didn’t even read the thing. It could have a provision in it that says all Congress critters have to give ALL of their money to Donny, and they wouldn’t know it because they didn’t read it – but they voted for it because they were told to vote for it.

I guess, on some level, that makes sense. That’s the problem with such an absolute lockstep compliance with party orders. Since you’re going to vote as ordered anyway, why bother reading the bill? And now the GOP members are answering that question. We should have read the bill because someone might slip some really stupid stuff in there. If nothing else, it would have given them a chance to come up with a better defense for their indefensible actions had they known what their constituents might ask them about.

“Freedom” for gun silencers? That’s in there. Shackles on states trying to regulate AI? That’s in there, too. Courts can’t enforce their rulings? You betcha, THAT’S in there. All Congress critters with initials ‘MTG’ must regularly humiliate themselves and publicly grovel before the President? No, they didn’t put that in there. They didn’t have to. That happens already…

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Hey, speaking of idiots, Joni Ernst. When one of her constituents noted that people will die because of the provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill and the decimation it brings to Medicaid just so rich people can be richer, Ernst trotted out her “defense.” “Oh, we’re all going to die.” Do you think she drives with her eyes closed? Sure that would be dangerous but, hell, we’re all going to die anyway, right?

I suspect that her eyes are wide open. I suspect she knows darn good and well that, while we ARE all going to die, we ALL do what we can to forestall that outcome as long as we can. Killing people and justifying it with a blithe, “we all die” didn’t play well and it shouldn’t play well…

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My, how the mighty have fallen! And in only 136 days. It’s impressive, in it’s own way. To be the leader of the free world one day, and be a humbled, failed, laughing-stock of a state only 136 days later. C’mon, that’s big stuff. That took effort. It was no accident. We’re now run by the stupidly blind leading the stubbornly stupid. These days? It’s downright embarrassing to be an American. Thanks, MAGA. We owe it ALL to you…

Costs…

So, the story was, they were going to find, capture, and deport bad guys living in this country illegally. Key words? ‘Bad guys.’ If you’re undocumented and you cause a bunch of trouble and/or hurt people in this once-great nation, you’re going to be removed. Truth be told, I feel pretty certain that nobody would argue about that. Nobody wants criminals in this country, legal or otherwise. Why do you suppose so many Americans are upset about 47’s criminal regime?

But even 47 deserves due process. He has committed many crimes right out in the open for the public to see. Hell, his cronies insist it’s an honorable thing he does – commit crimes right out in the open for all to see. I STILL prefer that he get due process and I prefer the same for undocumented people, bad guys or not.

The reason? The “or not” bit. It turns out, a LOT of the people being rounded up are not “illegal” or even undocumented. MOST importantly, they’re not committing crimes. 47 is making a big show about keeping his campaign promise to eliminate the unsavory elements doing so much harm to this society and that notion is key: one MUST believe that brown people are de facto criminals. MAGA media has been pressing that message for a long time, now, so the consumers of said media have been properly conditioned. Many of them DO accept that 47 is merely deporting bad guys.

But ICE is showing up at work places to arrest people who have jobs and are contributing members of society. I’m not well-versed on the details of being a gang member, but I presume punching a clock for an eight-hour shift is not high on gang member lists. Showing up at work places seems like low-hanging fruit.

I’ll tell you what’s worse, in my opinion. Arresting them at court hearings on technicalities. One of the stories (read: lies) MAGA media feeds to it’s consumers is that after court dates are given for review of, say, applications for asylum, the people in question don’t show up to court. As it happens, and you will likely not be surprised to hear, something like 95% of those people DO show up for their hearings.

So now ICE is stationing agents outside the door, waiting for documented people who are doing the right thing – that is, doing it the right way – to leave the building after their hearings and then arresting them for deportation. Again, these are NOT Tren de Aragua gang members, rushing to court to make sure the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted in their residency status. These are people who – in every measurable way – are trying to “do it the right way.”

ICE is just out there, tearing apart families and creating fear and confusion. That, of course, is the real point: the fear and confusion. Honestly? It seems like state-sponsored terrorism, to me. They’re using force or the threat of force to impact politics. And, yes, it IS political. That’s WHY they won’t allow due process. So many of these people would be able to show that they have some status that allows them to stay legally, the regime would be hard-pressed to fulfill their daily quota of arrestees.

The basic message the regime is sending is that there IS no “right way” to do it. If you’re brown, there IS no legal path to citizenship for you. If you’re white, they’ll expedite your arrival. Hell, they’ll pay for the flight to get you here. But if you’re brown? Forget about it. Obviously, there’s no racism here, right?

I wonder if MAGA is still completely on board. We ALL want violent criminals out of the country if they don’t belong here – and we want them locked up if they DO belong here. NOBODY is defending the “violent criminal” lobby. But now we’re down to just terrorizing families – even if they ARE trying to follow the rules and come to the country legally. The BEST counter-measure to this terrorist activity is due process – and it speaks volumes about what Team Evil knows about their victims that the one thing they refuse to engage in is due process…

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The estimate for Cadet Bone Spurs’ big military parade – the kind EVERY dictator aspires to – is in the $90 million dollar range. Oh, but, strike that. THAT doesn’t include the damage such a parade is expected to do to the streets of Washington DC. The current estimate to repair the roads after the infrastructure carnage is around $16 million dollars more.

That’s not being reported in right leaning media for some reason. I guess MAGA wouldn’t be happy to know they’re losing their benefits due to ‘financial challenges that must be managed’ at the same time the country is just pissing away $106 million dollars for a parade intended to serve NO purpose other than satisfying the Orange Man’s ego.

Meanwhile, the damage from his on-again/off-again tariffs is starting to show up in the prices for goods and services on the store shelves. His words indicated things would get better – and that means EVERYTHING would be more affordable. His actions have created the exact opposite. Despite claims that tariffs would NOT be felt by the American consumer, the tariffs are starting to be felt by the American consumer – and the pain has just begun.

Small businesses are suffering more than large businesses. Fewer resources, you know. In the end, though, the American consumer is going to suffer the most for Taco’s tariffs. The thing I would point to as the primary indicator that prices are going up because of 47’s ill-advised tariffs is the volume with which the White House is insisting that prices are falling. But my morning coffee jumped from around $15.00 for just over a pound to $19.00 for the same container. Oh, AND, i just paid $15 dollars for 18 eggs yesterday.

Why it’s almost as if the words he’s spewing don’t match the actual reality of the facts on the ground in any way, shape, or form. I wonder which I should believe, what I’m being TOLD is happening, or what I’m actually experiencing? I guess that’s a very difficult equation for some people…

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So… there’s a story from MAGA’S “culture war” and a story about the economy sitting side-by-side. Neither story is playing out the way the Drumpfster promised or insists is happening. He’s not deporting “bad guys,” he’s deporting “brown guys.” The economy is not booming. It’s crashing and burning. I don’t guess MAGA will have any problem with the deportation thing, but the money thing? That’s going to hit them where they live – right along with everyone else…

What Works?

National “Intelligence” Director Tulsi Gabbard is said to be looking into ways to get Taco to take his Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) that might work for him. Every OTHER Oval Office occupant (except 45, of course) gets a short, written summary of events and expectations. What those guys did was, they read it. By all accounts, that’s more than 47 can be asked to do. Read. Who does that? What he DOES do – apparently a LOT – is watch TV.

So, in order to try to get him the information he should have, the information he needs to do his job, the National Security Agency is considering creating a ‘Fox Not-News’ type set. “Taco watch TV. Taco LIKE pictures!” The talk is about creating a set that mimics his favorite propaganda outlet, hire one (or some) of the outlet’s talking heads to read to him, and let him pretend it’s real “Fox Not-News” stuff. Just like a big boy!

I suppose I should add, in fairness, a White House spokesliar has insisted the claims are false. Actually, he called it, “libelous garbage from unnamed sources.” But actions speak louder than words. During his LAST criminal regime, it was said the NID tried to put his name into the briefings once they realized he was more likely to read them if his name was in them prominently. “Not about Taco? Taco no care!”

Perhaps we’ve identified the reason his answer to question after question is some form of, “I don’t know about that,” “That’s the first I’ve heard of that,” and “You’re telling me about it now, for the first time.” He’s one of the people on the planet who is NOT expected to get his information from the “news.” He can get actual information about what’s really going on but all he wants to do is watch TV…

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“Oh, you’re starving?”
“Yes, very much.”
“Oh, well, there’s food over there. Help yourself.”
“Thank God. Over there?”
“Yes, yes, right over there. Just go get with that group and you’ll be taken care of.”
“Bless you. Thank you.”
“SQUAD 2, OPEN FIRE!”

If that isn’t an international war crime, I don’t know what is. An Israeli group set up a food distribution point for starving Palestinians, then gunned them down when they came to get the food. I’m not sure even the Nazis were that creative when it came to killing their opponents.

You know what? Setting up food distribution points, then gunning down the starving people who show up desperate for food is NOT going to “eliminate Hamas.” Every bullet fired into the crowd creates young new recruits – and I’m having difficulty trying to figure out why they wouldn’t want to fight back…

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I’ve seen several columns speculating on why Taco has it in for Harvard. Maybe it’s because Harvard didn’t let Barron in. Maybe it’s because Harvard didn’t let Taco, himself, in. Maybe this, could be that. Here’s MY guess: he’s a petty, small-minded, little person who insists on getting his own whiny way at all times and in all things and anybody who challenges that thinking needs to be punished…

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So, can I have a minute to understand this? He said he wants to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but continue to have the government guarantee the mortgages? How is that NOT corporate Socialism? I mean, isn’t that the very definition of privatizing gains but socializing losses? If Capitalists get their greedy little fingers around Freddie and Fannie, won’t that make it harder for first time home buyers and/or credit-risk borrowers to buy a house? How is that NOT the exact opposite of the exact reason Fannie and Freddie were created in the first place?

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We all know this. Hell, we make jokes about it. But, we keep doing the same thing, hoping it will get better. Oh, what am I on about? So-called ‘Free-Market’ Capitalism. Oh, and what we ALL know? It doesn’t work. No, really. Haven’t you noticed? Every few years, the so-called “free market” crashes and burns. WHEN that happens, the Capitalists always “shift” to Socialism just long enough to let the citizenry bail them out. Then it’s right back to “Free market good, Socialism bad.” Rinse and repeat.

All I’m saying is that if Socialism has to keep bailing out Capitalism, how bad could it be? The US had a long period where the economy stabilized somewhat. It was the forty-plus years of FDR’s ‘New Deal.’ The thing is, FDR’s ‘New Deal’ was, essentially, a watered down version of what the world calls ‘Democratic Socialism.’ One NEVER hears about a Democratic Socialist nation turning to Free Market Capitalism from time to time to bail themselves out of some financial crisis they put themselves into.

If you REALLY want to make America great again, you have to tax high incomes at high rates and regulate business activities so they don’t harm the society. I base that statement on the track record of other countries but also the US from around 1940 to 1980, when Reagan introduced ‘Tinkle Down Economics.’

Free Market Capitalism doesn’t work and is unsustainable. Democratic Socialism DOES work and IS sustainable. I’m hoping that, after the revolution, we institute Democratic Socialist principles and really seek to make America the best she can be…