The Fix Is In

I’m seeing more things fall into place that tells me that this Administration plans on hanging around a lot longer, without taking any chances on losing power on such a flimsy premise as “The Will of the People.”

TFG signed another executive order to further complicate the voting process, with a key point being that they won’t count any ballot that is not in hand by Election Day, no matter when it was postmarked.

You see the play there, right? With control of the post office operations (whether by presidential appointment or being privatized into the hands of another corporate toadie), they can open or close the stream of mailed ballots depending on whether TFG or his party is ahead or behind. I would also bet that batches of mailed ballots from known Blue strongholds will somehow become “misplaced,” “destroyed,” or taken out into the Potomac and sunk like a mob rat.

Another point is an added requirement to provide proof of citizenship at registration. “But wait, I’m already registered!” you may wonder. Have you seen the Red State efforts to “rid the voter rolls of ineligible or non-voters?” They take as much care in researching that as the DOGE teen squad does when “carefully ridding the government of waste,” which is to say they hack and burn anyone and anything that looks like a Democrat. So then, when someone who’s been registered all their lives suddenly gets bounced and has to reregister, they better hope they have a copy of their birth certificate or social security card. Doubly so for a woman who changed her name when she got married.

This is now, as “voter ID requirements” have always been, a method of removing low-income, young, or immigrant voters to better put a thumb on the scale for Republicans. The more barriers to voting, the better for Republicans.

The Baltimore Sun finally got one of their headlines right:

Unfortunately, I don’t think they meant it the way I see it.

If there’s an election at all, it’ll be rigged so tight we’ll have to be lubed up just to get in the door of the polling place. TFG already thanked his benefactor, Elon, for winning him the last election, and I doubt that was just about money. Money is readily available from the existing Republican donor class; Elon’s wasn’t anything special. But his people’s hacking skills were.

Why am I still calling this out? It’s because I think we need to make a fuss about it and bring it up at every turn, to get the idea out there and degrade it before it’s put into the hands of the judiciary. And buy that, I mean the Supreme Court, aka the only court Republicans currently recognize, because it’s the one stacked in their favor. The new Mainstream Media isn’t going to do it anymore… they’ve been bought and threatened into compliance already, just like the rest of the business world. No one wants to do anything to upset the Orange King, lest they incur his wrath.

And that’s the real key to the whole Executive Order thing. A president has no power over elections; the states do. So, in theory, his EO is meaningless. Of course, SCOTUS may invent a reason why it isn’t. But the real hammer is the threat of withholding funds to states that refuse to comply.

What with FEMA on the way out the door, he won’t have that angle to use, but there are still government funds for numerous other services, like highway funds, research grants, development and construction money, etc. Blue states on a budget might think twice before defying the EO on voting, lest they upend their books even worse than they already are.

The only real power left is that of individuals acting in unison, a true grassroots movement. The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to be. Immigrants are already being “disappeared” out in broad daylight; it’s only a short matter of time before they start coming for native citizens they don’t like.

With modern surveillance techniques, we’re bound to see a time when they pick up what we’re writing before we can even press publish. Hey, who’s that at the door? Who are you? I’m calling 9-1 mmmph!

 

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In other news, happy 70^th birthday to one of my long-time idols, AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, one of the greatest to ever strap on a Gibson SG. Back in The Day, AC/DC was the soundtrack to every party I ever threw. We always saved them for the peak of the night, when everyone was rolling.

I’ve got tickets to see them in Pittsburgh this May, and I can’t wait. I’ve seen them five times, from 1985 to 1996, so wow, it’s been 29 years. (Attending that last show cost me the opportunity to film a home porno movie. True story.)

Angus, the eternal schoolboy, certainly isn’t as young as he once was.

Angus Young

Angus Old

He doesn’t have the kind of energy he used to, but Jesus, who does? That he’s still out there at all, at 70, is a miracle. And it’s not like he’s just standing there. You’ve seen him play. He hops around like a rooster on speed for two hours a night. Forever the Energizer Bunny.

So, happy birthday, A-Bomb. If this is your last tour, you’ve certainly earned some rest. You’ll always be remembered as one of the best.

The Greatest Grift Yet

This Administration may have finally figured out how to accomplish something that generations of their Republican brethren have been trying to do: get rid of Social Security as we know it.

Two weeks ago, an internal memo proposed changes to the claims process that would “debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving benefits.”

The plan is to kill the use of the phone to handle claims and direct everything to the internet. The only alternative for millions of seniors who are not internet savvy will be to make their claims in person at Social Security offices. They estimate this would create 75,000 to 85,000 more visits per week, which would represent a 14% increase over what they have now.

To drop the other shoe, they also plan on terminating 7000 workers and closing dozens of offices, thus creating a demand that will vastly overpower the apparatus available to handle it, sending the whole process into chaos.

They know all this right now and are still moving forward with the plan. Ostensibly, they say they’re trying to reduce fraudulent claims. But it’s a solution in search of a problem. The amount of Social Security fraud is less than 1% of total expenditures, with numerous processes in place that verify identities and claims. The goal here is not fraud prevention but to sabotage the Social Security system, effectively denying Americans their well-earned benefits.

Then what?

Once the system is in complete shambles, Republicans will emerge with a new plan to replace the mess they created, one which relieves the government of responsibility and privatizes the whole operation. That way, Wall Street bankers, traders, and hedge fund bros can sit on the money, invest it in any shady operation they can dream up, like the ones that tanked the economy in 2008, and then charge us fees to receive the payments of our own money. That’s the whole reason Republicans don’t like Social Security as it is… they can’t skim the take. They can’t stomach that there’s a huge pile of money of which they receive no part.

And once it’s privatized, you watch how the amount that employers contribute falls off the table or disappears completely. That’s the other fat cat dream… stop diluting profits by paying into Social Security. It’ll end up like so many pensions in the early 2000s… converted into 401ks where the business doesn’t contribute nearly what they did to the pension funds.

The haste Republicans are making to break the government structure shows that they’re looking to cause chaos sooner rather than later, which will be all the better to declare martial law or some other ruse to use to postpone or eliminate the midterm elections. If they thought they were going to face an enraged electorate in 2026 and risk losing the House, they wouldn’t be acting so recklessly right now.

They’ve even got the military under their thumb, with Trumpie toadies taking over the high command, who will be loyal to him rather than the Constitution. That means they’ll have no qualms about turning military weapons on protesting American citizens. It’s all set up for them now, thanks to the 2025 Project.

They’re packing the lifeboats and jumping in, leaving the rest of us to go down with the ship.

I used to think that this whole notion I’m touting was far-fetched. I never thought it would get this bad. But everything I see going on leads to this conclusion. The Republicans and 1%ers are setting themselves up to rule indefinitely and leaving us to forage about for ourselves. We’re not their concern, we’re just an asset to manage.

We need to make our assets heard, pronto, or American life as we know it is over.

Update: TFG wants Social Security cuts expedited. (Thanks for the link, C&L.)

When Bias Escapes the OpEd Page

Please consider this article from last week in the Baltimore Sun. On the surface, it looks like bad news for Maryland’s Democratic governor. But when you read the story, you can see it’s not necessarily so.

Note that last year, the Sun was purchased by the owner/operator of Sinclair Broadcasting, a nationwide network of conservatively-slanted TV stations, including Fox-affiliated outlets. The change in editorial slant was more like a U-turn, but unlike before, the “slant” now occupies the news sections.

To summarize the first few paragraphs, a Maryland poll shows lousy ratings for TFG, his pet Elon, (or is it the other way around?), and a majority approval for the Governor. Governor Moore’s approval rating was 55%, versus 36% and 30% for the other two. But the Governor’s numbers fell by five points so that’s what makes the headline. Don’t underestimate the importance of headlines; for many readers, that’s all they ever see of a story, so it makes an impact. Multiply this effect by every relevant story the paper runs and you can see the desired effect take root.

So this article could just as easily have said, Poll shows “Governor’s approval almost twice that of Trump and Musk.” But they want to leave a negative imprint on the reader instead.

They could also have highlighted that “Among Democrats, 83% of the respondents approve of the job Moore is doing.” That’s a big chunk of the base. Only 17% or less opposed? Sounds like he’s doing what he was elected to do.

The poll goes on to inquire about how economic conditions are being felt by residents. They lead with “only 42% say economic conditions for them and their families fall in the “excellent” or “pretty good” range.” To me that sounds pretty good. To think 42% of the state thinks they have it good? Compare that to Arkansas or Mississippi. They also lump the 58% who think they’re doing “only fair” and “poor” together. If “fair” is even half of that subtotal, that means 71% of the state thinks they’re doing “excellent,” “pretty good,” and “fair.” Those are stats I’d campaign on, but the Sun has reported them like a dirty secret scandalously revealed. Again, compare those stats to those of the red “parasite” states.

There’s also a paragraph on the question of whether the state is “moving in the right/wrong direction.” I’m always troubled by this question because there are any number of reasons someone might say an entity is moving in the wrong direction, even when they support the person in charge. Personally, I think that this state and every state is moving in the wrong direction because of what’s happening in DC. And if I responded as such to the poll, you can see how they'd use that stat as an attack on the governor, which was clearly not my intent. You should always disregard this question when it comes to polls.

Performance Art

It looks like the Republicans were campaigning for Oscars of their own lately, given all the performances they put on for the people.

In February, TFG signed a useless executive order outlawing something already outlawed.

Naturally, Fox “News” promoted it because they’ll promote anything that stokes grievances about brown immigrants. Obviously, illegal immigrants are already ineligible for federal benefits of any kind. They can’t get unemployment, Social Security, WIC, or anything else. This bill signing wasn’t anything more than the usual “tough-guy” posturing TFG enjoys so much. And I guarantee he’ll be reciting this later as “proof” of the effectiveness of his Administration, while his lapdogs lap it up.

In another issue that is as hilarious as it is sad, the Unqualified Stand-In for the Secretary of Defense, in his sweeping efforts to pretend there are no gay people in the armed services, authorized the removal of a photograph of the legendary aircraft, the Enola Gay. (Not because of the “Enola” part.)

I feel that one might be quietly walked back just because the idea is so preposterous. Hegseth was so determined to play the role of Military Macho Man, he let his minions, who don’t know history from hysterectomy, trash a famous image of a national treasure just because it has the word “gay” in it.

Just to be sure the “banned” subject matter isn’t forgotten, let me display for you, from deep in the Bluz Archives, this shot of my Great Uncle Ants (giant guy on the right) with the Enola Gay, from when he served with the SeaBees in the South Pacific.

Uncle Ants was the star of this old story I once told, about how he came in from a night out at the bars, stumbled over what he thought was his even more drunk brother, wrestled him up the stairs to bed, scolding him the whole time, only to find out he’d lugged a rolled up carpet up to the second floor.

It was also while Uncle Ants was in the South Pacific that my grandfather figured out a way to get some booze to him and his bunkmates while they were in a dry war zone.

I think Sec. Hegseth should have to go through some of the people that were on the ground in WWII, before screwing around with their history and artifacts.

There was another grand performance at the State of the Union address last week, and I’m not referring to that ranty, rambley, run-on ridiculata spewing from TGF, nor the cane-raising protest from Rep. Al Green. I mean the burly security guards hustling a lone, elderly US Representative off the floor and out the door. I bet their Moms were proud of them. I know the MAGAs were, because there’s nothing better to them than a Black guy getting kicked out of a venue.

The next week, Rep. Green was actually censured by the House. It’s funny how talking back to a president has never been something for which anyone has ever been removed or censured before. I wonder what the difference is now…

Not pictured: The other dipshit who called President Obama a liar during his SOTU address.

Yep, that’s right. Everything’s OK if a Republican does it. (And that’s just taking the polite angle and blaming politics. There’s a good chance the real reason involves something… darker.)

Last Friday, I saw that the Baltimore Catholic Archdiocese has decided to start offering the rite of Confirmation to 9-year-olds.

Seriously.

Like any 9-year-old is savvy enough to make a decision about his spiritual well-being. Hell, I don’t think 14-year-olds (like me at my own confirmation) are qualified either, but that’s still better than this! The kids are only doing whatever their parents have told them to do. But sure, let the Church put on a big song and dance about how these kids have “chosen” to entertain Catholic beliefs. They can pretend all they want.

Luckily, it’s not like these Confirmations are binding. The kids can still come to their senses a little further down the road, like I did. As George Carlin said, “I was a Catholic right up until I reached the age of reason.” Eventually, many will open their eyes and ears, take a good hard listen to what they’re being fed, see that much of it is fantasyland, and the rest is nonsense, with few of the positive platitudes actually playing out in real life. Feeding the poor, healing the sick, welcoming the strangers? That’s just for church. In real life, the people wrapped the tightest in their religion are the first ones to disregard all that pansy empathy stuff, stick out their hand and ask, “Where’s mine?”

Granted, this push may be more because they can count the confirmed as individuals in their congregations. In other words, it’s stat padding.

When people eventually fade away from the Church, they don’t usually go through any kind of notification process wherein they formally tell the Church that they are leaving. They just stop showing up, which allows the Church to keep the person on the books.

It would be nice to think that if there really was a “crisis of confidence” and the Church wanted to make an honest effort to gain and retain followers, they would adjust their policies, procedures, and messaging to connect with more people. But apparently, that’s too hard, so they’re cooking the books instead.

Amen.

Hitting Home

Sorry for the late post this week, I was crammed yesterday. Onward…

Last week, in Nan’s Notebook, she asked a good question about how the current Administration’s actions directly affect us. Not big-picture stuff like the end of the Nation as we know it, but tangible effects felt by real citizens. I was going to answer, but once I thought about it for a second, I realized there was enough for a full post. So, not wishing to carry on so long in someone else’s Comment section, I decided to bring it here.

Yes, there are several important ways TFG is screwing me, right now, aside from his failed (and never actually intended) promise to lower grocery costs.

·      The threat of losing Social Security and Medicare colors everything right now. Republicans have the opportunity to accomplish that for rich benefactors have been yearning for decades, which is killing or curtailing our social safety net. Without these things, personal savings vehicles become paramount.

·      To that end, the new economic uncertainty we see around us cost my 401k over $10,000 in just the last week and a half. I just finished moving the rest of my 401k investments around into safer but lower-yielding options. (And I had them in fairly conservative entities to start.) I had considered such moves before the 2008 Big Bank collapse but never pulled the trigger. Consequently I got my ass handed to me, financially. It took me years to recover from those losses.

·       Tariffs on steel and other construction goods will increase the cost of new cars. My job involves managing a fleet of cars for my company. Driving up the price of a new car will affect the efficiency of the operation. If the cost gets too high, the Powers That Be may end this particular program and fold up the fleet for good, rendering me unemployed.

So, to summarize, I could easily lose my job, Social Security, personal retirement savings, and affordable insurance. How’s that for tangible effects? I used to have a solid retirement plan that would be executed in the next couple of years, but now that plan is on hold—all because the richest men in America want more.

Other more speculative issues include:

·      The end of our democracy, leaving me and everyone else disenfranchised. I think we’ve seen our last clean presidential election, and I’m not even sure about the midterms. I believe that the reason all this chaos has been unleashed, including touching Social Security, the famed “Third Rail of Politics, is because they don’t plan on allowing the rest of us to weigh in again with our measly “voting rights” again. They paid a lot of money to get things the way they’re going now and they won’t let “the people” anywhere near the levers of power again. GOP Congressmen are condemning their own angry supporters at town halls as paid actors or just running away. They don’t seem to have any fear of reprisals. They’d rather rely on their faith that the newly rigged system will keep their place at the trough so that they don’t have to justify their behavior to the unwashed masses out of the need to con them into giving him their votes again.

·       This international belligerence may prod some wingnut, foreign or domestic, to set off a nuke in Washington DC. Living nearby in Baltimore, I’m in the danger zone, depending on the device involved.

·       I have to worry about wearing my new Ohio State/College Football Championship hat because it’s red and might get mistaken for a MAGA hat. That could get me shot while I’m sitting in the car at a red light.

And there’s more, there’s always more because we don’t know what atrocities this asshole is going to unleash next. It certainly won’t be anything that can quantifiably make our lives better. And we don’t even have to wait for the next shoe to drop; he’s got a big speech on TV tonight where I’m sure the next outrage will be revealed.

It’s not like I’ll be tuning in, though. I’d rather watch a monkey pleasure himself than listen to that guy give a speech, despite the conceptual similarities between the two. I’ll get the gist of it in tomorrow’s news and blogs.