politics

Not All Bad…

by MyBaconPress

There’s a Senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, who is set to lead Trump’s new department, and possibly massive bureaucracy, the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ for her state. She says she wants to make the federal government “squeal.” I hope she wasn’t envisioning the infamous scene from ‘Deliverance.’ But I’m curious what she did mean.

I expect all of this cost-cutting the GOP keeps talking about to fall on the weakest and most vulnerable citizens, in general. Oh, sure, they may make noise about cutting from programs that assist the wealthiest and government subsidies that benefit corporations but the wealthiest and the corporations have powerful voices in the government these days. (That’s the beauty of fascism, in their eyes.) THEY won’t lose out, so the weakest will be the scapegoats, right?

But, in fairness, the first program Ernst suggested dumping was this so-called high speed rail line in California. It’s probably the single largest boondoggle I’ve seen in the state for a long time. It’s MASSIVELY over budget. It has taken FAR longer to become active than originally projected. It was supposed to travel from one large population center to another but has since been pared down to travel between two places nobody needs to get to in a hurry.

Oh, and it’s NOT “high speed rail.” Not if you think if high speed as a bullet train. This one is expected to go faster than a regular commuter train but not nearly the speed of bullet trains of Japan or Europe. In short, I have opposed the pretended high speed rail project in California since I first heard of it but it just keeps going forward. I suppose there is a huge amount of money being funneled to a small number of self-described “important” people as long as the project continues, so the project continues.

Listen, I’d even go so far as to say I would support a high speed rail line that traveled from, say, LA to Sacramento or the bay area if it was a) high speed and b) functional. But this ain’t that. The project currently sucking up money has failed. It just won’t die…

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Okay, I confess, I have extreme trepidation about this incoming team. For the most part, it’s going to be ugly and most Americans – and much of the world – will suffer. But within that framework, there are going to be sort of “fun” things to watch. Like the inevitable battle of egos between Donnie and Elon.

Trump and Musk are, without a doubt, two of the most self-important blowhards the world has ever seen, will ever see. They BOTH see themselves as god-level geniuses with some kind of mystical vision that allows them to understand things the small folk just can’t. They never see anybody they love more than the face in the mirror.

Right now, they’re working together but there WILL come a time when their interests diverge. There WILL come a time when both outsized egos will KNOW they have the right answer – but their answers won’t match. THAT is when you’ll see the breakdown between them. Set up an office pool. You can do it by the month, week, day, or even hour. When did Trump’s ego clash with Elon’s ego to the point they consciously uncouple?

Yeah, I know. That’s kind of a small comfort, isn’t it? Yeah, it is. I fear it’s what we get for the foreseeable future, small comforts. We have to take them where we can get them, right?

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I STILL say it’s better to remain engaged with your MAGA than to shut them out. For one thing, you KNOW MAGA is getting false information that’s misleading them. THAT doesn’t make them bad people and if you back away, where are they supposed to get better information? BUT…for another thing – and this one might be a bit more difficult to take – if the corporate media is feeding MAGA misinformation on the right, what makes you think the SAME corporate media, the one that benefits so nicely from the ongoing battles between Americans, aren’t feeding misinformation to the left, as well?

Yeah, it’s more subtle. The left is not as vulnerable to outright misstatements. I have long held that the media misdirects the right on facts and they misdirect the left on intentions. The media fools the right on details of events but fools the left on what people might DO about it. And, sometimes, the media deceives the left using “editorial decisions.”

Do you remember Hunter’s laptop? On the left, we, at first, didn’t even know about it. The media really DID suppress info about that laptop so as to not hurt Biden’s chances in the election. I still don’t think the laptop had anything of actual value on it. That’s not the point. The point is, it WAS Hunter’s, the media DID know about it, and they DID suppress the “story” until after the election.

AND, in a very real sense, the media suppressing that story on the left allowed the right to just run with any and all conspiracy theories it wanted. The left never got any chance to push back in the run up to the election so the right was out voting on that, at least in part, and the left didn’t even know it existed. I’m saying, don’t get smug. We don’t have a monopoly on truth.

If we stop talking to our political opposites, we surrender any chance of uncovering the stories intended to manipulate the left. We actually make it easier for the corporate media to foment anger via “editorial decisions.” My actual and honest first choice would be to seek a way to make media – left AND right – more responsible in it’s reporting.

One of the things I noticed early on about conservative media was their insistence that cons don’t risk listening to lefties. I actually heard Rush Limbaugh say to his audience once, “You don’t need to do any thinking. That’s what you have me for.” The right created that wedge as a tool to assist their destruction of the Constitution, and it worked. What makes you think adding to the “divided house” will help in any way? Bear in mind, our actual enemy is the one percent, who understand how tariffs work, not Uncle Conservative, who doesn’t…

Tales That Don’t Track…

by MyBaconPress

Is it true conservatives are ALREADY embracing the Biden economy as Trump’s own? The economic “glory days” they remember from Trump’s first term were the months at the beginning where America was still enjoying the benefits of Obama’s economy. The more Trump messed with it, the worse it got. No, MAGA won’t confess that. It’s just true. THEN, they just ignore the part where it crashed and burned because of his terrible handling of the pandemic. But that part is true, too.

So when Trump started running on how bad the economy is today, I thought enough people would know the difference to understand he was lying. They didn’t. It turns out, young people are still turning toward Trump and even though Trump hasn’t taken the oath of office he’ll ignore, I hear he’s already taking credit for the health of the economy, these days.

There’s a certain element that explains some of the young people’s support: dishonest media. For the last 40+ years, conservatives have been lying to people about what works and what doesn’t and why this and how come not that. Those of us who have completed a higher number of trips around the sun still remember Better America. No, it wasn’t perfect but it was FAR better than this bizarro crap.

So when I hear some talking head pretend there’s such a thing as “Supply Side Economics,” I just shake my head in disgust that people might do that to others. But young people? All they’ve ever heard is that supply side economics IS a thing. That same media works tirelessly to keep them from realizing the longer this supply side crap is in play, the harder their own life has become. There’s a direct relationship. But you have to understand the details to see the connection, and too many people are bored by the details.

I’ve never ONCE argued that the United States was in perfect, or even excellent shape. We’ve had problems since the start. (Largely because of small-minded people.) But we were addressing them, one by one. Maybe we would have made it, given enough time. I thought we were on a good track until Reagan.

But over the course of those 40+ years, young people have never heard correct information about how economies work and instead, have been treated to misinformation and disinformation of the far right. Now, we see the young people out there, supporting the destruction of the nation because they think it’s necessary. But it’s not their fault. They know not what they do…

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The right has been wrong, of course, on the economy. It’s in FAR better shape than they were willing to admit before the “election.” Yes, prices DID go up at an infuriating rate. But people who know understand; that wasn’t “inflation.” It was “greedflation.” Companies were raising prices because they could, and blaming inflation for doing it. But there hasn’t been any systemic inflation in quite some time. It’s all just greed.

Now Trump has offered them a new excuse to start raising prices again: his tariffs. He’s promising some BIG numbers – as high as 20% on things from most foreign countries. He’s threatening even HIGHER tariffs for stuff coming from China. ALL of this will raise prices and make it harder to make ends meet, not easier. AutoZone, Columbia Sportswear, and Stanley Black and Decker have all made clear that if the tariffs go into effect, their prices go up. It will be that way for most imports, which is most products in America, these days.

The excuse will be that the corporate costs went up due to the tariffs so they HAD to pass those costs along. But I’d bet a dollar the prices will go up FAR more than the tariffs will drive because corporate America will have a new excuse to gouge. And gouge they will…

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So, Musk and Neil DeGrasse-Tyson are in a bit of a dispute. Musk thinks he’s going to send humans to Mars. DeGrasse-Tyson thinks he’s not. DeGrasse-Tyson is speaking the truth. His observations are NOT political – they’re economic. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to pay for a project that takes humans to Mars. To do that just for the sake of doing it? When the hell have investors done that? If they don’t expect a financial return for their investment, they don’t invest. It’s pretty simple, really.

Musk says he knows it’s a bad investment so he’s not looking for investors. He’ll just cover the trip, himself. But you’ve STILL got to get people to buy in to the idea enough to actually go, knowing he doesn’t even plan to bring them home. You go. You shout “We MADE it!” You die. There’s probably no optics problem, there. There’s another, more important point, though.

The idea to go to Mars is at least partially driven by the damage we’re doing to Earth. Elon thinks he can just go to Mars and terraform that planet to better match THIS planet. Quick question; why not just fix THIS planet and skip all that other trouble? I mean, if he’s ready to turn Mars into Earth, couldn’t he turn Earth into Earth?

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Every time the gun argument heats up, sooner or later someone insists that guns don’t fire themselves. It can’t happen, we’re told. Apparently, it can. A man insists he had his Sig Sauer P320 holstered as he was coming down the stairs in his house when the gun just…fired. The gun shot the guy in the leg – all by itself. More than 100 other people have come forward to say the same thing; the gun goes off by itself.

Thoughts and prayers, right? Well, no. Not in this case. The guy has been awarded $11 million dollars. (Sig Sauer says they’ll appeal, of course.) His attorney said, and you can’t make this up, “This gun is a danger to gun owners and anyone within the vicinity of this gun.” Apparently, the guy should have bought one of those safe guns that represent no threat to anyone anywhere…

While I’m on the topic of guns? I have a personal theory. Dictators are, generally speaking, not too comfortable with an armed populace. There have already been a couple of less-than-credible-but-still-reported attempts to shoot our incoming dictator. How long do you suppose it’s going to be before a tiny little light goes on in his tiny little brain and he decides it’s too dangerous to him for the masses to have guns? I suspect that conservative sweetheart Donald J. Trump will, sooner or later, be the one who actually comes to “take people’s guns.”

At this point? It’s just a hunch…

Book ’em, Dano. Please? Finally?

by MyBaconPress

WOW! Just wow. I mean, like, wow, wow, WOW! Yet another criminal complaint against Trump has been filed, this one in Ohio. Guess why. No, you have to guess, but I’ll give you a hint. It involves cats and dogs and people eating them…

See it turns out, Ohio has a law that allows a private citizen to swear out a criminal complaint. If someone does, it goes before a judge to check the merits of the case. If it survives that scrutiny, it becomes just another criminal complaint to be handled. And all of that is what happened. A warrant for the arrest of Donald J. Trump and JD Vance has been issued by the State of Ohio.

During his debate against Harris, Trump insisted that Haitians were up in Ohio eating their neighbor’s cats and dogs. They’re not. It’s a made-up story and the woman who made it up has made that completely clear. Still, even after he was told, point-blank, that, no, that’s not a real thing and it’s not happening, he maintained his false story. Authorities in Springfield, Ohio insist no such thing is happening but Trump saw someone blathering on TV (or so he says) and decided to believe the blatherer. He probably wants to make that person Secretary of Ag or something.

The thing is, as we know, when Trump speaks, MAGA acts, and they have been faithful. Haitians in Springfield started getting death threats and enduring other threatening behavior. (MAGA likes to make clear: one does NOT tell the truth about Trump…ever! It’s the law – or soon will be.) That threatening behavior is the basis for the criminal complaint.

So our President-elect, aside from being a felon and adjudicated raper, is now a wanted man in Ohio. Bizarro America is NOT a great place, but it’s going to have it’s elements of fun, you know?

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Well, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, one of his “defense” ministers, and a leader of Hamas, Mohammed Deif. I’d say the hardest one to serve is going to be on Deif, who was reportedly killed by Israel. But all three are charged with committing war crimes. That seems appropriate, in view of events in Gaza and spreading.

Warrants from the ICC carry little to no weight. Theoretically, those three might be arrested if they travel to certain countries. In practice, that doesn’t really happen. The ICC has no enforcement authority. Israel goes around acting badly because they have a bodyguard, the United States, who will defend them, no questions asked. The ICC certainly isn’t going to get involved in that, and, again, Deif is too dead to be charged.

Besides, with Trump coming in, Israel is about to be unleashed completely and I see the Palestinians being “cleansed” from the river to the sea…

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The left just never seems to get it, you know? We keep thinking sexual assault should be a deal killer for people nominated to some of the highest offices in the land. We expect those charges to derail their confirmations because of, well, decency. Fools. Take a look at the list. It’s long and getting longer. Sexual assault is treated like a peccadillo to be overlooked and/or brushed aside but worse, it seems to be a requirement to working for Trump.

Apparently, Trump is surrounding himself with people who “get him…”

By Thursday afternoon, one of Trump’s fellow perverts – to be clear, I mean Matt Gaetz – had to withdraw his name from consideration for the job of Attorney General. It won’t be that big of a deal for Trump. I’m sure he has a long list of fellow child molesters totally unqualified to do whatever job Trump assigns so he’ll just get one of those. He must have seen SOMEBODY on television that he can choose.

It may be a bigger deal for Gaetz. He stepped down from Congress in order to quash the ethics investigation that was about to do him so much harm. (I base the ‘do him so much harm’ comment on the reality that whenever the idea gets floated of releasing that report anyway, Republicans crap their panties and run. MAGA Mike insists releasing the report would “open a Pandora’s Box.” One has no such concerns when the report says, “Nope, no evidence. All is well.”)

He THOUGHT he was going to be USAG. That hasn’t worked out. But, hey, it’s possible he’s going to be closely associated with an AG office, here, in the very near future…

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In yet another example of how the corruption of the criminal courts is proceeding, Judge Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over Trump’s so-called “hush money criminal trial” that was REALLY an embezzlement trial he lost, is hearing an argument put forth by the defense that the charges against Trump should just be dropped. After all, they argue, being convicted of the crimes one actually committed is VERY inconvenient to one’s future. Failing that, they’re asking the court to, you know, just wait for sentencing until after Trump is finished “Presidentin’,” despite the 40+ felony convictions connected with the case.

Some of us doubt Trump ever intends to leave office under any circumstances. If nothing else, such a ruling by Merchan would give Trump even greater incentive to stay in office.
“We’ll sentence you when you come out.”
“Well, then, I’m not coming out!”

In fairness, I can see how serving the time for your crimes might interfere with the duties of the President. I’m a reasonable guy. I’d move forward with the sentencing. But I’d let him out on a work-release program by day. He could just spend the evenings and weekends in the clink, and come out and harm the nation during the day…

I’ll tell you this: when laws stopped applying across the board, the US was in trouble. These days, the phrase “rule of law” sounds like a punchline of some kind…

A Few Points…

by MyBaconPress

Well, whaddaya know? The corporate media is FINALLY getting around to commenting on Trump’s various proposals. It turns out, they see some…problems. It sure was helpful of them to wait until AFTER the “election” to say so. The latest? You’ll never guess. Despite the fact that Trump promised, over and over, to lower gas prices with “Drill, baby, drill” – a popular chant from the right – it turns out the companies that do those things don’t see any need to drill any more.

It turns out, they LIKE the balance they have between energy available to the customer and the dividends they’re paying to investors. The US is ALREADY the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas. (Because nothing says “fighting climate change” better than becoming the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas.)

Oh, AND, as it happens, American refineries are not set up to refine the kind of crude we pump from under the North American continent. We can do a little but we can’t do a lot and the oil companies would require a HUGE capital investment in their refineries to do more. Not to put too fine a point on it, that would RAISE prices at the pump. See how that works? When a company has to spend more to get a product to market, they have to charge more for their trouble.

NOW the only remaining question: was Trump lying outright or does he really NOT KNOW the actual US position? I sure am glad the guy without a clue is going to be in charge. It’s… inspiring…

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Truthfully, I’m not sure why Trump is so ready to fight for Matt Gaetz. He is surrounded by a LOT of toady bootlickers ready to pander to his every whim. Any ONE of them would do the job just as badly. Why fight for the guy who assaults underage women and… Oh, right. Never mind…

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Well, MTG is STILL out there, calling for a “national divorce” from the left. She says the left and the right are just too far apart and we can’t get past our irreconcilable differences. At this point? I think I finally agree with something MTG says. I wish the left could leave, too. We’d go back to being a decent country and MAGA could trash the rest…

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Right now, the Dems are working overtime trying to fill judicial vacancies. Right now, cons are working overtime trying to stop them. Dems want responsible people who know and respect the law. Cons want toadies to Trump who will rule as directed. (See Aileen Cannon.) Cons have a few absences in the Senate and, as a result, can’t stop the Dems.

At one point, Sen John Kennedy (R-La) – no, not the good one from history, the guy from Louisiana, said he’s frustrated. THEN he said, “Because a number of President Biden’s nominees, particularly at the courts of appeal, they think they’re qualified to be a federal judge if they’ve seen ‘My Cousin Vinny,’ and I don’t agree with them.”

That’s a bit of a self-own, isn’t it? A quick check of Trump’s staff proposals shows not one, not two, but THREE people Trump has nominated based on the fact that he’s seen them on TV and thinks they must be smart. So OBVIOUSLY the GOP has to start bitching that the DEMS are posting people based on movies. It’s the offset to Trump actually posting people based on who he likes to watch on television.

Kennedy, you won’t be surprised to learn, is simply sucking up to Trump, who wants all of these confirmations to stop. The more decent judges the Dems put in place, the fewer lackeys Trump gets to name – and Trump ONLY likes lackeys…

Bending Over A Dollar…

by MyBaconPress

I was at the VA the other day. The thing I was most struck by on that particular visit was how openly they’re discussing concerns about ongoing funding for medical care for veterans. I hope their concerns are unfounded. I suspect their concerns are well founded.

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I hear Melania is not going to be living at the White House. I guess, again. She didn’t spend much time there during the first Trump maladministration. I ALSO hear (it’s pure rumor, though) that she has a lover who works in the building right next door to Trump Tower. It makes more sense that she would stay with her boyfriend, whom she likes, instead of her husband, whom she does NOT like. She DOES like the money, though. She kind of has the best of both worlds. Why the hell would she move to DC?

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There’s an old phrase, ‘Bend over a dollar to pick up a penny.’ It refers to overlooking serious savings in favor of some nickel-and-dime savings. Do you want to talk about fraud, waste, and abuse in government spending? Do you want to look at government corruption? Don’t look at social services programs. IF you find anything at all, it will amount to a few hundred dollars someone scammed. Look to the Pentagon. Those guys are defrauding, wasting, and abusing government spending in the millions and millions of dollars.

Yes, I know I started this column with a comment about the VA being concerned about their funding. And isn’t that exactly the way? It’s not health care for vets that’s wasting the money. It’s operations of the Pentagon. Active conflicts, sure, but “black programs” nobody – not even Congress – can look at? Are you aware that the Pentagon has never once passed an audit? Not ONCE. That’s not responsible and quality spending. That’s just downright wasteful.

Think of it as being in a small boat. There’s a tiny leak in the bow, and a two inch hole in the stern. Sure, you can spend all your time focused on the seepage in the front, but if you do, you’re going down. Your focus is in the wrong place. That’s how I feel every time I hear about some “welfare queen” who stole even a few thousand dollars. No, it isn’t right and I’m not defending that. I’m just saying that focusing on THAT and not paying any attention to what goes on at the Pentagon is working the seepage and not the two inch hole.

There are too many examples we all know about to highlight here. But I’d bet a dollar nobody will look at or even mention the Pentagon. No one dares…

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I can’t decide if it’s sad or funny, watching the left float various ideas for how to contain Trump and his incoming maladministration. Maybe the ACLU will do something. States have a plan. Maybe (the Republican controlled) Congress won’t confirm so-and-so.

Sorry folks. I don’t mean to be dark but you’d better plan ONLY for how you survive this. Don’t look for someone else to step up and do the right thing. The left has NO power. The right has no shame. They’ll do what Trump tells them to do. Even if they grumble about it, they’ll do it.

Did you see where RFK, jr came out publicly and criticized Trump’s diet? Truthfully, I thought Trump would pull his nomination over the criticism. Instead, we were treated to a photo of RFK, jr munching down on McDonald’s with Trump. RFK, jr said Trump had a terrible diet (this from the guy who brags about eating road kill), and so Trump made RFK, jr eat that same food… and be photographed doing it…

Funny, it didn’t look like McDonald’s so much as crow…

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Well, it looks like Trump really IS going to let Elon Musk lead a task force to make government more efficient – I guess because he did that for X? Since Musk bought X – back when it had a more memorable name – the value of that site has dropped 80%. Did you know that? 80%!

Musk gets a LOT of credit for a LOT of things he never really did. Musk didn’t invent the Tesla. He just took the company over – and pushed out the guys who DID invent the Tesla. (Musk later got a “co-founder” status in court.) Do you believe it was Musk, himself, sitting at a drafting table, working out the engineering details of catching a rocket returning to Earth? No, that was his team. But we HAVE seen Musk at work with X.

Musk took a fully functioning website that was very, very popular (though not very profitable) and managed to KEEP it not profitable while also making is as UNpopular as it had once been popular – all while crashing the value of the company. Yeah, I’m feeling very good about this. After all, what could go wrong?

Ethics? Decency? How Quaint…

by MyBaconPress

Ever since I tuned into the reality that mainstream media is working overtime to smooth the ruffled feathers of the left by telling us all the various and sundry ways the Dems lost, it’s harder to watch than normal. Nobody seems to know, for sure, what Trump will do once he’s back in office but there IS a general consensus that it will try to benefit the wealthy and harm everybody else.

And, who owns that very mainstream media that wants everyone to just simmer down and “understand” how the election went against America? Why, the very wealthy people who own and operate all of that beautiful, misleading media. Wow, what a coincidence.

No matter where you look, the talking heads on the television are trying to convince us that, no, really, Hispanics came out in droves for the guy who insists they’re all criminals and garbage and promised to deport their loved ones and co-workers. Who wouldn’t?

But if I’m being fair, I can see an angle where that makes sense. Incoming immigrants from south of our border really ARE taking jobs from Hispanics, right? Brown people taking brown jobs. Maybe the brown people already here are just trying to protect their own livelihoods. Yeah, maybe.

Now try that with black people who supposedly trust the man in the white pointy hat MORE than the black woman to understand the black community. No, explain the women first. You know, the people in this country whose lives and livelihoods are on the line every day, now, because of Donald Trump. Of COURSE they supported him more than they supported the woman who has the lived experience.

All right, sarcasm aside, there really IS a single thread that might run through most of these people: they don’t believe him. I know, it’s kind of amazing, but they really don’t. Now, from that, I could make the case that they have no idea what Trump will do or what he stands for because they don’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. They voted for him anyway – all while bitching that Kamala didn’t detail her positions enough for them. I guess she should have stuck with mere “concepts of a plan.” THAT, they understand in detail. (Likely because they fill in the details.)

I continue to interact with MAGA in various ways. I hear it a LOT. “Oh, that’s just Trump.” I watched the most recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher and someone suggested he was just spitballing and the conservative person on the panel eagerly agreed – yes, that IS what he does. I see him tossing out every idea and then letting his listeners pick and choose those they like best. But once he’s in, he’ll only DO those things HE wants to do.

It’s a tough call as to how he’ll deal with the small folk who supported him. On the one hand, he doesn’t need them anymore. He has the power he sought, thanks to them, and now can toss them aside. BUT…he loves the adulation. He might keep pandering to them because they’ll come to his rallies and scream their love for him. More likely, he might keep pandering to them because they keep sending him their money – and the only thing he loves more than money is his own visage in the mirror.

I really wish I had the code. I wish I could tell when Trump was seriously threatening America and the American way of life and when it’s all just a gag to be laughed at and dismissed. Because I lack the key, I believe the words he says. And he scares me. I guess I’ll have to listen to the mainstream media and just…get over it…

Or will I?

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“If you’re in trouble or hurt or need–go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help–the only ones.” – John Steinbeck, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

See? I’m not alone in my belief that the higher one looks on the economic scale, the LOWER the moral standards of the people one finds there. Over time, I noticed a pattern and then developed a rule-of-thumb I call the ‘Third Generation Rule.’ (Yes, there ARE exceptions. That’s why it’s a rule-of-thumb and not an axiom.) It goes like this:

The first generation of the process is the person who amasses the wealth in the first place. This is often accomplished before the person has kids of their own and that’s the cleanest model for measuring but, occasionally, there are people who get rich later in life. The reason it’s important is this: THAT person usually has worked in their lifetime. They know the value of a dollar and they understand hard work. (Often, it’s someone else’s hard work they’ve exploited but still, they had to get their own hands a bit dirty.)

The first generation tries to instill that appreciation for hard work in their own offspring, the second generation. They try. But because the first generation struggled so mightily, they tend to make life easier for the second generation – while STILL trying to instill the qualities and attributes that came from the struggle. At some point, the second generation realizes they’re being asked to work as little more than a test of some kind. Generally, they vow they won’t do that to THEIR kids. And, usually, they don’t.

The third generation comes up pampered and sheltered and showered with their every desire. NOTHING in life is difficult for them because they have the money to buy themselves out of most situations and they’re surrounded by people who watch out for them. It looks like a pretty sweet life, doing only what you want, when you want. The thing is, it lacks challenge and without challenge there is no character. No, that’s not just MY opinion. Here:

“Not only so, but we[b] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3)

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened…” Helen Keller

“Nothing is harder to direct than a man in prosperity; nothing more easily managed than one in adversity” Plutarch

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.” Horace

Many years ago, we started hearing Republicans in Congress suggesting that if we want the best people in Congress, we have to pay competitive wages with the private sector – and Congress started raising their own pay. A LOT. Since that started, the quality of the people in Washington has gone down. A LOT! It’s the Willie Sutton thing.

Yeah, you know the story. A bank robber named Willie Sutton was asked by reporter Mitch Ohnstad why he (Sutton) robbed banks. Sutton replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” He didn’t HAVE to add, “Duh!” It was implied. As salaries went up in Congress, it became a choice opportunity for poorly developed people to get in there and get their beaks wet, as the saying goes. Criminals go to where the money is.

After a time one begins to realize that the people we glorify for their wealth are not the best among us. In fact, generally speaking, they’re usually the worst. Only a person of limited character could do the kinds of things necessary to gain that kind of wealth. At it’s worst, people used to BUY human beings, work them – literally – to death, then just…buy more and put THEM to work. Those are NOT moral people and we would be fools to pretend it wouldn’t still happen if it was possible. Outside of entertainment, one very rarely hears of someone becoming wealthy through completely honest and honorable means.

The Kennedy’s, for example, supposedly got their wealth running moonshine during prohibition – a criminal enterprise. Granddaddy Drumpf got rich through human trafficking. He ran prostitutes – often women who didn’t want to be prostitutes. Granddaddy Bush got rich selling Zyklon B gas to the Nazis during WWII. (His company was convicted and fined.) One sees it over and over and over again. It’s almost stunning in it’s predictability.

But the movement to get as many wealthy people into government as possible has been going on for some time now. Our Congress has gone from solidly middle class to all rich, all the time and the quality of that government has been in steady decline ever since. Consider, our first Congress got paid only eight dollars a day and set up the entire nation. Today, Congress critters start at $174,000 a year and can barely keep the government open. By and large, they’re a sad and useless lot.

This most recent “election” has put the dot at the end of the sentence. We’re about to be ruled by some of the worst, least developed human beings in history. Hey, did you know? That has a name: Kakistocracy – and we’re about to live in one! Kakistocracy is “Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens” or “Government by the worst men.”

I’ll tell you this: It’s going to be a very rough ride for those of us who still believe in ethics and decency…

So, What Happened To Cheaters Never Prosper?

by MyBaconPress

I’m told we hurt their feelings. They had no choice but to vote for Trump because people on the left said they were acting like fascists and Nazis – and all because they were acting like fascists and Nazis. Now, in fairness, they may not have KNOWN they were acting like fascists and Nazis. One would have to know what a fascist or Nazi IS. But not knowing doesn’t mean not doing.

Still, we “called them names?” Like they never call the left names? Really? Okay, I get it. When the right calls the left names, that’s just good politics that MUST happen. When the left calls the right names, that’s just big ole meanie pants stuff that forces them to vote for hatred, racism, and evil. I mean, obvs.

What a bunch of snowflakes…

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Apparently, Trump chose Matt Gaetz for his Cabinet of Destruction and some Republicans are unhappy with the choice. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas (soon to labeled too far left by the right) is opposed to Gaetz in view of the charges Gaetz faces for sleeping with underage women. Gaetz, apparently, like’s ’em young, just like Trump and Trump’s good friend Jeffery Epstein. I guess it’s no wonder they get along.

I saw an article from ‘The Federalist’ attacking Cornyn. The article simply dismisses the charges against Gaetz. The House was JUST about to release a report into Gaetz’ questionable activity when Gaetz got nominated and then stepped down from Congress. Now the Congressional investigation has no authority so the report was shelved. Cornyn wants the report released anyway.

Cornyn’s position is that Gaetz is going to have to go through a show confirmation and it would help to have that report on Gaetz. Do we really want an AG that sleeps with underage women? And, listen, apparently, it’s common knowledge around the halls of Congress. Word is, he used to like running around showing videos of the girls he slept with.

MAGA Mike Johnson clearly stated that the Speaker has no role in Ethics Committee Actions. He said that was true for “many important reasons.” Then he said maybe he DOES have a role in protecting Gaetz from scrutiny. He said releasing the report would only “open a Pandora’s Box.” Now, reading between the lines, that sounds like the report is NOT a favorable finding for Gaetz. There would BE no Pandora’s Box if the report said, “Nope, he didn’t do it,” so the one thing we can know is that the report does NOT say he didn’t do it.

Remember, this was ‘The Federalist’ I was reading. They manage to repeat standard conservative canards all while suggesting Gaetz was probably not so guilty. That woman who testified under oath that he did as accused? What does she know? Hell, she was too young to know the law at the time. (No, the story did NOT say that. They just implied it. I clarified the language.)

This “article” simply dismissed the investigation into the allegations as Democrat fodder and pretends that, of course, the Republicans would release the report if it had found anything “so damning they warrant review.” Uh-huh. Because honesty and full disclosure are hallmarks of conservatism, yes? Oh yeah, and about halfway through that article, Cornyn was pronounced a “swamp creature.” Then, ‘The Federalist’ simply dismisses the charges against Gaetz as a hoax – even as the House Ethics Committee keeps their report secret because it would open a Pandora’s Box.

It’s a little bit funny, watching Republicans realize what they’ve done. Apparently, Cornyn didn’t expect Gaetz as AG when he voted for Trump. I’d say that was foolish of Cornyn. I learned a long time ago – and from practical application – always expect the very worst of Trump – and then be amazed when he goes even lower…

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Yeah, prices ARE too high. It’s one of the excuses being proffered by corporate media as to why Trump won. Prices are too high, as though Biden is personally running around the country during the night with a price gun in his hand, raising prices just for fun. (Those are actually corporate decisions and corporations are greedy, greedy, greedy.)

Still, I really, honestly, do not understand how voting for the guy who promised, over and over, to make prices even higher was a better move…

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I don’t know. Maybe it was just hope, springing eternal. More likely, it was denial. But as the shock has faded, I’ve gotten more down to earth about whether MAGA will start to see the error of their ways with application of what they’ve done. I became increasingly aware that thinking they might start thinking was just a desire, devoutly to be wished.

Then, I was reminded by a friend of Covid-19. Oh, yeah. If Covid-19 didn’t get them to see reality, nothing will get them to see reality. “Wait until if affects them?” Covid-19 was killing their friends and family, too, yet they maintained their wrongheaded position throughout, without a moment’s hesitation or reticence. They haven’t faltered since.

These guys are SO into ‘owning libs’ they would do anything to themselves – or allow anything to be done – just to claim the prize. Once a person has contracted MAGA, it’s very rare to see a recovery. MAGA tends to be forever, with no known cure. That’s going to make our future even darker, if you can believe that possible…

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I thought Serrano won. This part won’t make any sense to you if you didn’t tune in the Tyson/Paul fight on Netflix. Curiously, I didn’t watch Tyson/Paul. As bad-to-the-bone as Tyson was in his heyday, he’s 58 now. Jake Paul is 27. I expected Paul to win, and he did. The actual only fight I saw was the under card, or the so-called “Co-main event.” A title fight between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor.

Taylor cheated. There’s no other way to say it or interpret her head butts. Yes, buttS! Not one. Not two. Not even three. FOUR times, Taylor headbutted Serrano. The ref finally deducted one point over it. He should have stopped the fight and awarded the win to Serrano.

Serrano out-fought Taylor, if the rules are important to you. One of Taylor’s cheating head butts tore open Serrano’s eyelid and from that point forward, she couldn’t see very well. She STILL put on a great show. The decision should have gone to Serrano.

Weirdly, I’m not a fight fan. I haven’t watched boxing or MMA or anything of the like for decades. I find it rather brutal and barbaric. I appreciate the skill but it seems a super high price to pay for entertainment, so I don’t know why I watched even the part I did. But I did. The first fight I’ve tuned into in YEARS and it ended like this? The cheater gets the reward?

MAN, cheating is on a roll these days, isn’t it?

Is My Hair On Fire?

by MyBaconPress

Corporate media keeps trying to offer up excuses as to how Trump won. He cheated, that’s how he won. Corporate media keeps telling us it was this failure or that failure but none of it makes any sense. Corporate media is trying to hide inconsistencies and get everybody to believe this was a fair and honest race. It was not.

Am I going to attack the Capitol? No. My plan is to let Trump be Trump. I believe certain things about him. I’m told by his acolytes I’m wrong, but I don’t think I’m wrong. I think Trump can’t contain himself and who he is will surely come forward. His last administration was disastrous, despite the lies the right (and apparently corporate media) want you to believe. And that was when he had some grown-ups around him, holding him even a little in check.

Now? No guardrails. No voice of reason. He’s going to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. How long do you think it will be until people – ALL people – are up in arms? The right has been carefully manipulated with lies they accept, believe, and defend. But those ARE lies. Sooner or later, the lies will fail and the scales will fall from their eyes. At that time, we’ll STOP being Americans vs MAGA and we’ll become the masses vs the would-be masters.

I mean, look. There are only two possibilities, right? Either I’m right about Trump and disaster is about to befall every one of us, MAGA included. Or MAGA is right and the world is about to become a utopia, perfect in every measurable way. Only time will tell which side was right about this whole thing so I intend to wait and watch. And listen, I actually HOPE I’m wrong. It would be awesome if he was even half as good as they think he is. But I’m a pretty good judge of people and I feel quite comfortable with my assessment of him. We are in very great danger.

One more thing. Despite hearing MAGA claim it was a beautiful, wonderful success, after four years of his last “effort,” medical facilities were piling bodies in refrigerator trailers as makeshift morgues. He had lost 2.7 million jobs. Unemployment was 6.4%. The number of people who had lost health insurance rose by 3 million. The Federal debt had jumped from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion. (That’s $7.2 trillion dollars – in four years.) Oh, and he had an approval rating of just 34%, which, I suspect, will be FAR lower four years from now…

I’ll tell you this: that doesn’t sound like Utopia to me…

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When a person joins the military, they take an oath to protect and defend the CONSTITUTION of the United States. Not any one person, the Constitution. According to the Guardian, Trump’s advisors are considering a ‘Warrior Board’ to determine which officers are not loyal enough to TRUMP and remove them.

By that standard, every officer should be removed. NO officer should be more loyal to Trump than to the Constitution. An officer who is seen by this board as “acceptable,” according to MY thinking, would be in direct violation of their oath and unfit for their role.

And, what happens to the officers who are deemed “unacceptable” because they continue to respect the Constitution more than an individual and get purged? I think they’ll continue to have a role in protecting this once-great nation. The truth is, I suspect true Americans are going to need them to lead whatever fight is coming.

Yep. This is going to get ugly…

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As I watch Trump fill out his Cabinet of Destruction, I find myself wishing I could be a fly on the wall in the various planning rooms of the countries we once understood as our allies. They must be in quite the panic. They KNOW that Trump is a direct conduit to Putin, so they can’t share good intelligence anymore. Worse, they see the clown car filling up and, likely, know better than to trust anything coming from American sources as well.

EVERY non-MAGA on the planet expects the US to withdraw support for all things good and align themselves with the worst on the planet. All hail Putin, for example. How do our allies respond to THAT? They’ll have no choice but to withdraw themselves. I’m guessing they’re hoping that’s the LEAST of what they’ll have to do but there must be some planning going on for the kind of ‘worst case scenario’ the US is about to become.

As a metaphor, the United States is about to become the equivalent of a three-year-old waving around a loaded firearm. Pure danger. Not just to themselves but to anyone around them. I wish there was some positive spin I could put on this but…I just don’t see any. We the people are about to become the most dangerous place on Earth.

At this point, the next office betting pool should be about what’s going to destroy humanity first. There are SO many possibilities. Invariably, the fight comes down to this: what’s best for humanity vs profits. Sadly, this country has been answering ‘profits’ for far too long and now there’s going to be a focus on MORE profit at whatever cost. Sadly, humans are the cost.

Are you going to lose your health care? Yes. Of course you are. Will THAT kill you? It will certainly kill some. You lose the health care you’ve got when they repeal the Affordable Care Act – promising a “better” option any day now – and then can’t get replacement coverage because you have preexisting conditions.

Will it be pregnancy? For some, yes. I guess the dudes are safe on this one, but fertile women are in great danger. Sure, most pregnancies work out just fine. Many do not. Women just have to hope their own pregnancy goes well because doctors won’t be able to help, should the worst occur. If I was a fertile woman, I think I wouldn’t risk it and that means I’d close my legs – to men, anyway…

Medication? Do you take things? The FDA is about to become essentially useless and the pharmaceutical companies get to do what they want. I guess we’re all just supposed to rely on their professionalism and innate compassion. Remember Oxycontin and how they lied and lied and lied, addicting and killing thousands of people? THAT was what they wanted. Well, they didn’t necessarily want people to die. They wanted the profits. But IF people died? Hey, they got the profits. Feel free to use that as your model as to how corporations, in general, are going to respond to lack of regulation.

Will it be poverty? For some, for sure. Poverty DOES kill, and a society built around supporting an insatiable greedy few at the expense of the masses will certainly see increases in deaths – just not among those insatiable greedy few. And with the canceling of various programs designed to help people financially, poverty is sure to go up at an unimaginable rate.

Will it be societal instability? That’s surely around the corner, as desperation increases. John F. Kennedy warned us, “When you make peaceful revolution impossible, you make violent revolution inevitable.” We’ve seen the various plans they have to make peaceful revolution impossible. YOU make the leap. The dangers I’ve listed ahead of this one will LEAD to this one.

I suspect most people will try the ‘go along to get along’ route for as long as they can. But as the attacks on the masses continue, one after another, anger will rise. Do you remember the ‘Arab Spring?’ Egyptian cops had gotten quite comfortable beating people up to make their point and people just accepted it – until one video of a beating went viral and suddenly, they didn’t anymore. That’s how it happens. To be clear, I’m not advocating societal violence. I just expect it. That’s likely to kill a LOT of us.

My money is on climate change, though. With everything I expect from this incoming group, I think climate change is going to get a turbo-charged boost. Humanity was already in great danger and now the US is being led by people who think climate change is some kind of scam, best ignored lest it interfere with any of those blessed profits. But, while facts CAN be denied, they can NOT be ignored. Climate change is happening and is about to burst forth with all new power.

Since it’s already moving faster than originally expected due to feedback loops, turbo-charging the process is about the dumbest thing humanity could do. So, of course, look for MAGA do cheer wildly and insist on doing even more, even faster. In THEIR mind, they’ll be “proving” how wrong scientists are – right up until their house floods or burns or falls down in an earthquake caused by fracking.

Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be dark, here. I see exactly two options in viewing the upcoming disaster. One, you can try optimism. Two, you can be realistic. I strongly recommend ‘realistic.’ Simply sitting back and hoping for the best is likely to get you killed…

Don’t Help The One Percent…

by MyBaconPress

No, you’re right, I didn’t post anything yesterday, even though I normally do on Sunday. Why, you ask? (No, we didn’t.) Well, I took a tumble and broke two ribs. Yeah, that sucks. It’s going to suck for a while. But just to put a cherry on top, my computer decided on Saturday it never wanted to boot again. I’m capable of opening the thing up and seeing if there’s anything I can do to correct the situation but, because of the ribs, I can’t move it to get it somewhere I can work on it. It has NOT been a great weekend for me…

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I keep seeing calls from my lefty friends to separate themselves from their MAGA, where ever MAGA might be. I would like to ask you to please reconsider that decision. I continue to believe MAGA is deceived. I continue to believe that, having achieved the goal for which they fought so hard, they’re about to find out, the hard way, what they actually voted for.

Consider this: the day after the election, the three most popular searches on Google were: ‘Can I change my vote,’ ‘Did Biden drop out,’ and ‘What are tariffs?’ Now, the ‘Did Biden drop out’ thing could be people trying to see if Biden dropped on his own or was pushed out. But I seriously doubt any rational Americans wanted to change their vote TO Trump and, for my money, ‘What are tariffs?’ tells a great deal of the story.

We have started hearing, for example, about companies letting their employees know they will NOT be receiving expected Christmas bonuses this year. Sure, it could just be an excuse for corporations to avoid bonuses. Of course it could. But the story is, in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs, companies are using bonus money to, instead, try to stockpile materials and supplies as much as possible.

When the workforce complains that the foreign company pays the tariff (like Trump said), the CEO has to explain that, no, the seller will pay the tariff and pass the cost on to the consumer. Sure, MAGA can lie – or express their honestly held but mistaken belief that the foreign company pays the tariff. But prices – and inflation – are going up whether MAGA acknowledges it or not.

I’ve heard MAGA say they don’t care if the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) gets repealed because they have “Oregon Care” or “Covered California” or whatever name their state gave their program. They’re going to be very surprised to find their health care gone and no protection for preexisting conditions back on the table.
“Wait, I get my insurance from Covered California, not the Affordable Care Act.”
“Covered California IS the Affordable Care Act.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is. You lost your health insurance because YOU voted to lose your health insurance.” Doing ‘your own research’ AFTER the election? Too late..

I could point out these kinds of details all day and half of the night but MAGA isn’t going to believe it until MAGA lives it. It IS a bummer that ALL of us have to live it while they learn but that’s the way it is. By now, many people realize that the true fight is NOT left and right. It’s the One Percent vs the rest of us and, for the moment, the One Percent has won.

MAGA is about to discover how important they really were to Trump. He doesn’t need them anymore. He’s going to do what he wants to do and he’s not going to give two figs for what his small folk supporters think, want, or prefer. Sure, he will probably still hold rallies for awhile. He LOVES the adoration. But I suspect that as MAGA realizes what he’s doing to them, the crowds will get smaller and smaller and the rallies will come to an end.

The One Percent won this fight using a lesson Lincoln tried to tell us. A lesson HE got from the Bible, so I’ll go straight to the source. “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” (Matthew 12:25) Turns out? Jesus was exactly right about that. So, the One Percent went to a LOT of trouble to divide our “house.”

They set up “Stink tanks,” like ‘The Heritage Foundation,’ The American Enterprise Institute,’ and ‘CATO,’ (among others) to intentionally feed misinformation to the masses. They used Fox Not-News. They didn’t care who bought the false message, just so long as people started buying the message. They funded seats in colleges in order to spread “the conservative message.” But it wasn’t the “conservative message.” It was the “One Percent message.”

In short, MAGA is deceived because the One Percent WANTED them to be deceived, thereby dividing the house against itself, and using that division to seize power. I’ve got to say, so far, it has worked brilliantly. BUT… in achieving their “victory,” they have effectively eliminated the opposition. EVERYTHING that happens because of Trump’s installment will clearly BE Trump’s doing. No more blaming others.

The thing is, conservative media won’t stand down. In fact, I would guess they’re going to double down. I suspect they’ll continue to blame others even though there are no others to blame. I think they’ll need to ramp up their message in order to keep people in the fold. But even MAGA will start to understand reality as it invades their world, and many will turn away. That will be an opportunity to reunite the house.

To be sure, some MAGA will stay loyal. There are always true believers. But some people who supported Trump are already feeling the betrayal and more and more will every day. The only way the One Percent can maintain their current standing is to KEEP us divided. If you distance yourself from your MAGA, you’re doing exactly what the One Percent want – no, need – you to do.

Don’t help the One Percent keep control. This is going to be an ugly fight. We’re going to need every person we can get – and that includes reformed MAGA. If we all retreat into our own little bubbles, we’ll never come back together and that, I fear, really will be the end…

What’s Real?

by MyBaconPress

I don’t expect good things, with this. Gavin Newsom is out there making a big show of ‘Trump-proofing’ California, as the Guardian called it. Is he, though? I mean, he’s trying and I appreciate that. But here’s the deal. Federal law supersedes state law. California has access to abortion enshrined in their constitution. It means nothing. Several states had outlawed abortion in their constitutions and Roe v Wade rendered those provisions inactive. That’s why they were ready when Roe was overturned.

I appreciate Newsom’s efforts. At this point, I’d like to see California (and, perhaps the rest of the west coast) secede from the union and form a new, better country. That won’t happen, though. Remember the Civil War? There’s no provision for secession.

If you want to register protest, you have to do it where they live. Close your wallets. I mean that. Don’t buy anything you don’t absolutely HAVE to buy. That will be difficult, of course. If such a concept was successful, many people would lose their jobs as factories shut down. (If nobody is buying, nobody is selling, so there’s no need for manufacturing.)

The people refusing to buy would feel the pain along with everyone else. Then again, we’re all about to feel the pain anyway. It might offer some small comfort to have at least a modicum of control over how the pain spreads.

Think of it like that movement women are embracing. They’re beginning to go with a movement in which they refuse to sleep with anyone (well, any men) until women’s rights are restored. I think that’s solid thinking. It’s called the “4B movement.” It originated in South Korea and the “B’s” in question are Korean words that basically mean women are keeping themselves TO themselves so long as they don’t have bodily autonomy. Yeah, everyone feels that. The question is, who feels it first and who feels it worst?

Newsom’s efforts are inspiring but they will amount to nothing in the long run. Federal law supersedes state law. Truthfully, closing our wallets is the ONLY thing I can think of to defend ourselves…

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Here’s irony. One of the ways Trump scared hell out of his acolytes was to tell them Kamala was “going to start World War III.” Okay, so, it wouldn’t be Kamala in the first place. We’ve enjoyed the BIDEN administration, not the Harris administration. Two conflicts HAVE started, but the actions I expect from Trump will only inflame them.

Trump withdraws US support for Ukraine. Europe steps in to make up the shortfall. The US withdraws from NATO. Putin feels emboldened to respond to European “interference” and all of Europe is engulfed in war.

Trump tells Netanyahu to go ahead and finish off the Palestinians. The Middle East isn’t going to just sit around and watch that happen. Suddenly, THAT entire region is burning and fighting and killing.

It sounds, to me, like TRUMP is about to start World War III by encouraging the growth and escalation of the conflicts…

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Not that it’s going to make any difference, but the more I think about it, the less I believe it. I mean, look, we had several states working feverishly to eliminate as many Democratic votes as they could, but along with that, we KNOW the Russians were calling in bomb threats all over Georgia. No, not “all over.” In expected Democratic districts. We have no idea how or where else Russia might have intervened and now that corruption is the rule of the day, we’ll never know.

But it turns out ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ was ‘Real, Real, Real,’ after all…