Blue Tsunami Post-Mortem

Well, it’s been quite a week, hasn’t it? Last week at this time, I was on edge about what would become of our nation. Now, I have a pretty good idea that we’ll be OK. America spoke overwhelmingly last Tuesday and said, “That’s enough of this horseshit.” The massive blue tidal wave was a direct repudiation of everything this Administration’s two years in office.

Many, like the VP, want to place the blame on the war. That’s correct, to a point. The Iran War was a big factor. But then so was Trump family corruption, draconian immigration policies, ICE running wild with impunity, the return to marginalizing minorities and women, loss of Roe v. Wade, and stripping the military of women, brown people, and those who would obey the Constitution over its titular head officer. The war was just one more piece of the MAGAt-infested puzzle.

The icing on this 50-tiered Fuck You Cake was the Republican losses in the very districts they gerrymandered to obtain.

Apparently they forgot that their plans for the new Texas districts relied on keeping the gains they saw last time from the Latin community… The very people they’ve been terrorizing with beatings and forced deportations. (ICE Motto: “Pick’em all up now, sort’em out later. Or not.”)

I guarantee that in no time, you’ll see Republicans criticizing Democrats for the condition of the states they just inherited, as if they haven‘t been run into the ground by decades of Republican control.

I just hope that the Dems use their newfound powers for a two-pronged mission: Undo the damage foisted upon us by the current administration to bring costs back down to a workable level (meaning, unlevy the tariffs, restore financial and environmental safety rails, repopulate the necessary departments, etc.) and hold those who have flouted the law to account. They can do both.

Once they start sending consumer cost-reduction bills to the Oval Office, let him explain why he’s vetoing such beneficial bills. That will provide ample ammunition for the 2028 presidential race.

The biggest obstacle is going to be the GOP’s favorite cudgel to wield:

It happens over and over again: Republicans run up the deficit on massive tax breaks for the rich, then cry “poor” once the Dems want to do the spending. And this time, it’s going to cost significant money just to re-staff the departments illegally disbanded or stripped of assets by DOGE. And they should immediately offer reinstatement to any military officer who was forced out by the fake tough-guy in charge.

They should start working their program now, even before the new crew takes over. Look at all those unseated Republicans keeping the seats warm. I’d bet a good number of them, having just been liberated from their jobs, might also realize they’re liberated from Trump’s control as well. Ever notice how the only Republicans who have spoken out against him are the ones no longer concerned with reelection? Maybe some of them would like to buy their souls back while they have a chance, and vote for things the president would oppose. And again, at worst, make him, or the Speaker, explain why bills that help consumers shouldn’t pass. Each lame duck can step up and vote to stop the sideshow, or be remembered as one of the clowns.

The spurned MAGA horde has not been taking their ass-whipping quietly. And like their pre-election statements, their post-election declarations are factually faulty too. This one killed me:

I mean, I can’t even, with this. So, they mean to tell us that the fossil fuel companies, whom the president himself asked to provide a list of 10 regulatory and policy requests they’d like him to enact without study or examination, that these people are manipulating gas prices to make him look bad and cost him political power? Are you out of your fucking minds? Christ on a crutch, that’s dumb. But that’s the MAGA base. Nothing is too dumb to put forth when defending the indefensible.

The other big thing I’m seeing on the socials is the continued ramping up of Muslim fear, now that Al-Sayed was elected senator in Michigan. The MAGAs are sure that it’s a sign that Sharia Law is coming.

I’d like them to explain to me how a new Muslim Senator, along with a Muslim mayor and a few Muslim Representatives, can undo the nation’s constitutional protections and install a set of laws based on a single religion. It’s just not happening. Plus, it’s ironic because there’s significant overlap between Sharia Law and what the Christian Nationalists are trying to impose. The biggest difference seems to be the headwear.

I’m way more concerned with what this cancer intends to do:

So now this ghoul has even more power, now that he’s been named White House Chief of Staff. It didn’t surprise me that the president went this way on a replacement for Susie Wiles. It’s his MO… when in doubt, double down. Sure, Miller’s hellish and intentionally horrifying immigration policies contributed heavily to Republican defeat across the country, but do you really expect this guy to do any actual soul-searching and maybe make a change? Hell no. He claims he’s right and doubles down. That’s the playbook. Maybe if we’re lucky, Miller will get too bogged down with office logistics to cause any more damage.

But I doubt it. Let Natalie handle the day-to-day stuff, and he’ll stay down in the laboratory, whipping up new ICE-based atrocities to let loose on Blue States.

This cartoon perfectly sums up the current MAGA worldview:

Basically, it’s a fact-free delusion. As is their custom, they take an actual liberal position, twist it into something objectionable, and then attack that. It’s the classic Straw Man logical fallacy.

In this case, Dems want a functional immigration policy that lets people immigrate, not “open borders.” Dems don’t push for the elimination of police, just for them to stop killing suspects in the street and planting evidence, and writing false reports about it. Dems want tax money to benefit all citizens, not earmarked to pander to the rich. That’s not Socialism; it’s just what the rich call anything that crimps their profits. And the “Trans” issue? I’m sorry, this is just a lot of hype over a microscopic portion of the populace. Republicans love to flog the Trans thing because it’s got the “ick” factor they used to have with gays, until gay-bashing fell out of favor. I’ll worry about this stuff once everything else is handled.

I can’t really blame them, though. It’s all they have. And they’re convinced it’s all true because that’s what they hear every day on Fox “News” and the other conservative media bubble outlets. If they could debate on actual facts, they would, but that would be a losing proposition. The only recourse is to push bullshit like this, that sounds good to the ignorant, and hope no one investigates.

Threshold

As of today’s writing, we’re right up to the door, through which we’ll soon meet our new reality. Tomorrow’s election (that has been going on for over a month) will show us whether we’re still a nation of laws or if we’ve become a military state.

Regardless of the personalities involved, the midterm elections contain crystal-clear choices: either we vote for an authoritarian dictatorship in the making and those who have supported it, or for those who still, at least marginally, work for the American people.

The last two years have witnessed a disinformation campaign, the likes of which have never been seen since the 1930s.

When in doubt, ask an actual Liberal; don’t take the word of the Conservative Media Bubble.

All they have to run on are lies and smears, so that’s what they do. It’s up to us to combat their lies with facts.

What Republicans want for this country is not good for its citizens. Look at this new report:

Is that not the literal definition of modern Republican philosophy? Screw “The People” so we get a more profitable quarterly report. I don’t know what air these bloodless business barons think they’re going to breathe once the atmosphere turns to hot pudding. Maybe they have a special bio-dome built under Branson, MO, set up as a rich man’s refuge.

The president has said that he wants his minions to vote as if he’s on the ballot. He should be more careful what he wishes for because everyone else can take him up on that. I don’t know if there’s ever been a more reprehensible political figure in America than this guy. What exactly are his merits?

 And this is just the short list.

Once the vote totals start rolling in, we’ll finally see how they really intend to nullify the will of The People. This is one indicator, coming from the White House Chief of Staff:

:

More granularly, it might look like this:

It’ll be easy to convince his 30% MAGA alliance; the rest of us won’t buy it. That may be where the military comes in. He’s already made it known to the military leaders who are left (after yet another purge of leadership) that they should prepare for deployment on American soil. This is why.

When there are inevitable protests, he’ll send in the military to bust them up, literally. It won’t matter if the protests are peaceful; his soldiers will guarantee that they’re not. And that will provide his “cover,” shaky as it is, for declaring martial law and attempting to nullify the elections. Is that legal? Hell no. But who’s going to stop it? They’ve already weeded out anyone they suspect of having enough backbone to disregard illegal orders.

All he needs to do is create enough chaos to create an “emergency” he can use. It may not work long-term, but it will also serve as a beta test for 2028, when he’s due to leave office. I’ll say it again: He will never leave office willingly, not without trying all manner of disruption, with no angle off the table. Why do you think he’s so keen on that ballroom with its fortified bunker and his gunner’s nest / self-congratulatory arch?

So, anything that goes wrong can be planned for and addressed for the next go-round. For example, judges that rule against his plans may experience one of those “accidental” falls from a high window. And maybe there’s another “emergency” that he can use to convince enough members of Congress that replacement judges don’t really need Senate approval. He and Steven Miller have two years to work on it. That is, of course, unless Mother Nature or a high-fat, high-density diet render the point moot.

I’m also seeing a great deal of speculation on social media about his plans for Iran in the near future. (Like tomorrow night or Wednesday.) Multiple sources have made it known that he will be targeting civilian populations and infrastructure with serious bombing that may include nukes. Senator Chris Murphy emerged from a high-level briefing, looking shaken, and said that the Administration’s plans for Iran are “insane” and will “lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”

Understand that the use of nukes may prompt other nuclear powers with ties to Iran to retaliate with nukes of their own, maybe even on US soil. Or they may just unleash computer attacks on our electrical grid and plumbing systems.

Consider that the military has recently conducted drills on how to dig mass graves. Maybe that’s for Iran, maybe for here. We also know that there have been orders for military bases to create plans to operate without grid-provided power for up to 90 days. Whatever is going on, they’re trying to prepare the military for the worst-case scenario. And note that there have NOT been any briefings for the public. They must figure we’ll just have to fight it out on the streets, Mad Max style.

Or just make it easy on them and die en masse, making it that much simpler for them to rule over the ashes.

Remember that this whole scenario was created by the president, himself, when he tore up Obama’s agreement with Iran, which contained terms that we would be delighted to see back in force. Terms that were obtained without shedding a single drop of blood, and more importantly, were working. Part of those terms were regular, unlimited, on-site inspections by monitors.

Look at the terms of the Obama agreement versus the last deal this Administration proposed for a ceasefire:

And here’s more on the costs involved, human lives and otherwise:

So there would be no need for all the posturing about Iran having nukes if he hadn’t been so butt-hurt over an Obama success, and created the “emergency” he now claims he needs war to remedy.

So remember this when voting, if you haven’t already. And if you have, remember this when the Republicans start bellyaching about how long the vote count takes, and that because it takes “too long” it must be fraudulent. They created that situation too!

Once again, they created a set of circumstances for the express purpose of using it to dispute an outcome they don’t like. Are those the kind of people you want running the country?

See you on the other side.

RIP

Oh, one more thing… My Pittsburgh community lost an idol last week with the passing of rock star, Donny Iris.

I got to see Donny twice; once in a small Toledo club in 1984, then again at my college’s arena in 1985. Both shows were stellar. Donny had some amazing pipes that could nail that high note time after time. Most people, if they know him, know the songs “Ah Leah” or “Love Is Like a Rock.” One of my favorites was the title track to his third solo album, “The High and The Mighty,” which features an incredible rock n roll scream, which he hit spot-on when I saw him. Check out the first 20 seconds:

Day-After Update

I was up until two in the morning last night watching Americans turn the House and Senate blue in a complete shellacking of Donald Trump and the Republicans. I was all, “AMERICA!”

There is no other way to read this but as a complete and total repudiation of this president and everything he’s doing to the country.

The results were so complete and thorough that there’s no way to claim foul play. Perhaps the word had gotten through in the preceding week; he almost seemed resigned to his ass-whipping. There were no ICE agents at polling places, as many (including myself) thought there would be. And in his online and Fox “News” communications last night, he was more concerned with ducking the blame than contesting the results.

When I went to bed, (and now as well), the Dems had 54 Senators, with a chance to pick up two more in Alaska and Mississippi (of all places). Every one is important because that's one more who Special Interests have to buy off to ensure that no major changes get passed. (See: Manchin, Sinema.)

Now we’ll see how he’ll react to his new station in life. All this war escalation talk could just be another TACO moment. OR, he could be ready to “punish” Americans for rejecting him and go full throttle, damn the consequences to Americans. We’ll see.

But in the meantime, “Well done, America.”

Fuck yeah.

Ruling Out a Democratic Win

This is one of the stories I clicked on last week, from my news feed:

There’s a lot that set me off right from the get-go. Let’s start with the journalistic trope about when they ask you to “rule something out.” I hate that because it only serves journalists who want a big scoop, whether they create it out of thin air or otherwise. The press always wants people to rule things out so they can frame a story as “Hey, this is possible,” or “Hey, he said he’ll never do this,” the latter of which they keep for a future story when he eventually does the thing in question.

If I were a politician (or athletic team coach, business exec, or anyone else the press would care to interview), my inclination would be to never rule anything out ever. Why eliminate an option you might need, even if you don’t currently see it as necessary? It just ties your own hands.

“Sorry, it’s my policy to never rule anything out because you never know what the circumstances will be when it’s time to make a decision.” Those would be my exact words every time I’m asked for a rule-out.

So I can see how AG Blanche might want to dance this dance.

However…

There ARE certain things I could easily rule out because they’re immoral or blatantly illegal. Like, I could say that if the Steelers won the next Super Bowl, I could rule out my running down the street clad only in a pair of Steelers Crocs and a Terrible Towel. (This is Baltimore, after all. A guy could get seriously killed for that here.) And if I were the nation’s top attorney, I would certainly know that taking steps to alter election results is not within the federal government’s powers, “Doomsday” or not, so I would rule out doing so. The AG did not do that, leaving the door open for future interference. And by omitting a definition of “Doomsday,” it leaves it wide open to interpretation.

I’m confident, however, that “Doomsday” equals “The Republicans lose control of Congress.” It’s the usual mindset: “Heads, I win; tails, you lose.” There’s no fraud unless the Democrats win. Such a nice world they’ve created for themselves, huh?

So yes, such actions would definitely be illegal. But why would that ever stop them from happening? Who is the authority here, to whom people could appeal? The Justice Department itself is the perp. They’re not going to sue on behalf of The People, or do anything at all. The courts are hit and miss, until you get to the Supreme one, which stands 6-3 with the perps. I presume they’d do rock-paper-scissors to see which one of the three “reasonable ones” gets to dissent, while keeping the 5-4 win. The whole process is guaranteed to take lots of time. And what happens during this Constitutional crisis? The White House claims emergency powers and has its toadie Speaker of the House refrain from seating the new Congresspeople.

What? That’s not a legal maneuver for the White House? They’ll just put it on the same legal carousel with the original interference and start bleeding the clock.

You can’t rely on game rules when the refs have thrown out the rulebook.

The thing I’ve heard that I most believe is that the Administration is setting up California for the next big emergency. You can see they’ve started by demanding the state withhold ballots from 20k people they say are illegally registered. They’re getting it all teed up so that after the Dems sweep through results, they can use that to create an emergency, from confiscating ballots and voting machines to sending troops/ICE, suing the state, and ultimately refusing to seat any of California’s Representatives. Because California has so many, that alone may be enough to keep the Republican majority.

As for the line I circled in the screenshot above, the administration is also trying to torpedo Democrats from taking the Senate. You’ve heard about the two Republicans who have the same name, running for the seat? Despite this having already been adjudicated within the state court system, and the two candidates have been easily differentiated on the ballot (one having the word “incumbent” by his name), the president is still crying foul and claiming it’s a Democratic conspiracy. It’s all a big conspiracy unless the Republican they want wins, or the Democrat wins by less than the amount of votes the “other” Republican draws, in what’s expected to be a very tight race. So once again, it’s “rigged unless we win.” So much victimhood, so little character.

Do you know what I don’t hear? Republicans making an effort to draw attention to their nominee of choice by emphasizing his middle initial, or stressing that he’s the incumbent. You know, running some effective advertising.

OR, just as a wild, last-gasp ploy, trying to put forth an agenda that makes life better for Alaskans, as opposed to continually smearing the opposition and anything they can tie to the opposition.

But then, you just can’t draw water from an empty well.

Homeless Thoughts - The War Crimes Edition

I’ve got a little to say about a lot of topics, so we’re going with the Homeless Thoughts theme this week.

Nobody’s Safe

The Ilhan Omar “investigation” and raid should be scaring people more than it is. The Government (meaning the president) decided that someone shouldn’t be a citizen, despite the complete lack of improper immigration procedure or commission of a crime. She’s foreign-born and a critic, so he wants her gone. So they raid her house and confiscate her phone and who knows what else, and can now claim they found any number of things and leak them to Fox “News”.

It’s not like a lack of actual proof has ever stopped modern Republicans from leveling public charges at their enemies. (OR, verifiable evidence in hand ever stopped these guys from claiming innocence. Epstein.)

And with complete control of ICE and the entire immigration apparatus, he can just say she’s not here legally and ship her off. Sure there may be lawsuits and appeals, but in the meantime, she’s gone, and probably not dropped off back where her parents came from. Why wouldn’t he send one of his harshest critics to one of those crooked prisons-for-hire, to be tortured and abused until she dies or the country comes to its senses again? The Supreme Court already approved deportations to countries the subject has never been to. This administration wanted that power for a reason.

Starlink Hijinks

Reuters confirmed that the order to kill/slow down Starlink in Ukraine came from inside the White House. The president, of course, said he didn't know anything about it, but I read another account (of which I cannot verify the veracity) that the document pertaining to the issue was clearly visible in an Oval Office photograph, on his desk in plain sight.

All that did was allow Russia to target Ukrainian cities while curtailing their defense systems, resulting in the deaths of many civilian men, women, and children.

Between this, the Russian diesel purchase, waiving the congressionally ordered Russian war sanctions, and his general lapdog stoogery when it comes to Putin, is there any other conclusion but that the president is a Russian asset? I can’t think of a single foreign policy decision he’s made that doesn’t benefit Russia.

Closer to home, if he can have his frenemy Elon turn off the internet in another country to serve his financial and political ends, he can have it done here too, to hinder opponents from gathering in protest, or transmitting pictures and video of his storm troopers shocking, shooting, or shitting on people exercising their First Amendment rights. Just look how Zuck killed the No Kings account on Meta during last weekend's No Kings events.

In the meantime, he’s assisting an invading country to kill innocent people, those for whom he is supposed to be an ally. They can’t get this guy to The Hague soon enough.

Foyled Again

I’m not too concerned about our being without an Ambassador to Greece for the short term. I’m sure that just as they roll out one connected dumbass using a patronage job to enrich herself, they’ll roll in another. It amuses me that the Inner Circle are nervous about what she’s going to say about them. Given her time with Don Jr., I’m sure she’s got some damaging inside scoop. But don’t expect to actually hear any of it… I’m betting all her threats are merely a way to grab one last payday before fading from the headlines and into the Society Page. They’ll give her a big check*; she’ll eff off and go away.

* I don’t mean that literally. But wouldn’t it be funny if they actually gave her a giant check, like she won Publisher’s Clearinghouse? It probably won’t be an actual, traceable check. Probably cash, or some nice gold bars. Or maybe stock in Truth Social.

Leaf Them Alone!

This administration certainly has it out for trees. They whacked all the weeping willows outside the Kennedy Center, and now they cut down a buttload of old-growth trees to make way for a bigger golf course, the latter happening in conflict with a judge’s direct order. Weren’t there also some cherry trees destroyed earlier, which had been given to us by Japan?

Republicans have zero respect for nature other than what they can harvest from it in the form of natural resources. I’m sure they didn’t give the destruction of these trees a second thought. They literally do not care. If they did, they wouldn’t be selling off giant parcels of National Park lands to industries seeking to tear up the land. Eventually they’d sell it all off, if a bunch of them didn’t still need a place to shoot guns and kill stuff.

The Old College Try

Since the football season started, I’ve been seeing a lot of political commercials during the games, all Republican-sponsored. To describe these ads without use of the term “bullshit” is challenging. It’s all the same fictional stuff, attacking Democrats either in particular or in general. You know, Communist, hates America, wants to have open borders and take your guns.

It’s sad because that’s all they have. If they could point to a single accomplishment that helped the TV viewers, they would. But they have nothing other than a big tax cut that WE didn’t get. The best they can do is to steal credit for the construction projects authorized under Biden’s infrastructure bill, which they unanimously voted against. But there they are at the Grand Opening.

I watch a lot of Ohio State football, so I noticed that even on these national telecasts, there are always a bunch of ads regarding the Ohio Senate and Governor’s races. They’re targeting the locals, but I’m sure they hope that, in their minds, the sentiment of the ads will transfer to the viewers’ local races.

Why aren’t the Democrats running ads during football games? Liberals watch sports too! It would be nice to see the other side represented, to break up the constant drumbeat of “Democrats are the Enemy.” There’s a whole laundry list of pertinent topics Dems could mine. Tying the president and his policies around all Republican necks should be job one. Republicans could have stopped most of this if they only had the balls to stand up to Trump. They are as culpable as he is.

Or, they could do more positive ads that refute the falsehoods from the rival ads.

If I could do an ad, one would be along the lines of, “If you want to know what a Liberal really thinks, ask one; don’t just take Fox’s word for it.” You could do a whole series, debunking the lies that Conservative media spread about what Liberals think. (See the last line of the first paragraph on this topic)

Poll Taxing

There’s a big reason why the Administration keeps claiming that all the polls showing Republicans heading for disaster in the midterms are wrong. They have to because if they want to claim the election results are rigged, they can’t have the polls predicting the eventual outcome all along. I mean, they will, but it’s one more thing that can be used to refute their claims in court.

Facebook Follies

I follow a group on the topic of 70s, 80s, and 90s music. Last night they ran a group picture of about a half-dozen women with the Republican Look. You know, big makeup, raccoon eyeliner, dyed blonde, lips like life rafts… The post said, “Name this music group.”

I don’t usually respond to stuff like this, but I thought of something I couldn’t keep to myself. I submitted: The Mar-a-Lago-gos.

Fuckers removed my post! They said it was against their rules to post political material. I was like, “How is the original post not political?” All the replies I had seen before I left mine were similarly themed, all riffing on how they looked like Trump/Mar-a-Lago women. (When I went to screenshot the picture today, the whole post had been taken down.)

I don’t get it. Luckily, I didn’t lose any sleep over it. It was too good a joke to waste, but I knew I had another outlet. You’re welcome.

Today in Biased News Coverage

Let’s see how the old Baltimore Sun has been skewing its news coverage lately, shall we?

Director's DVD Commentary: The full article is only there to show my work. You needn't read the whole thing, although you can if you wish. 

The Sun used to be a relatively liberal newspaper until they were bought by the owner of the conservative media empire, Sinclair Broadcasting. Since then, they never miss an opportunity to skew their main news coverage (not just the op/ed page) to support Republican positions.

What they’re spending the most time on lately is the proposed amendment to alter the state constitution to allow a partisan gerrymander, one that the electorate has already approved in prior elections (but was invalidated for various technical reasons).

This is from several weeks ago:

The headline screams “41%...Opposed.” Wouldn’t another perfectly logical way to say that is “59% don’t oppose?” Shouldn’t the majority view carry the headline? Not anymore. What the paper wants you to think is what matters to them. Maybe they’re just reeeally into supporting the unheard minority.

Then cut to last week, when they found a new poll whose numbers they like better:

So it’s not that they want to highlight the minority; they want to highlight the Republican viewpoint.

They pulled the same trick with this NYC poll:

“Almost half of New Yorkers don’t support…” Wouldn’t the traditional headline read “Most New Yorkers support…” Of course it would, but the Sun ownership has a huge stake in keeping things status quo as far as the business environment goes. The last thing they want is to give up tax cuts to pay for social programs that make lives better. So here, people who just scan the headlines come away with the impression that (what they call) Socialism is unpopular.

Also note the tone of this headline:

The Dems are surging, so the outlook now “darkens.” Ooh, scary. They could have just as accurately said, “races toward Dems as… their chances look rosy.” But no. Dems bring darkness and gloom. They don’t actually say that, but the wording implies it. There’s intention behind how news media uses language. On the surface, words are words, but they can always be shaded. Like in one line from the article, “To seize control of the Senate, Democrats must…”

“Seize control.” They could have said “Assume control,” which is neutral, but they didn’t. Seizing sounds violent and chaotic… kinda like January 6^th, when MAGA idiots tried to “seize control” of Congress to prevent the legal transfer of power. They knew what they were doing.

This next article isn’t about the headline, but the way they employ euphemisms to describe things they really don’t want to examine. (This is an AP article, so it’s more representative of play-it-safe mainstream media than local political bias.)

This story appalls me, so it’s not just the language that’s drawn my concern. Putting weapons like these into the hands of sadistic, amped up, blockheads is one more step toward permanent martial law. Have you ever seen those videos of ICEholes shooting pepper spray into the faces of protesters? People are sitting down and holding signs, and these thugs reach around the signs and blast them in the face from a foot away. 

Do you trust THESE guys with portable torture devices that don’t leave marks? The likelihood of abuse is overwhelming. These gloves will be a primary method of crowd control and dispersal. These guys will be tagging people just for fun and then bragging and laughing about it back at HQ.

So, in the article, we find language like this: “The shocks had a profound impact…”

Translation: “They hurt like living hell.”

Victims were left with… “Fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again.”

To continue: “After experiencing the effects of the GLOVE… participants stated just seeing the GLOVE was enough to make them want to comply.”

Translation: The shocks were so painful they made the recipients spin around three times and then shit themselves. When prompted to respond with “Thank you, sir, may I have another, they emphatically declined.”

When discussing my childhood, I often say, “I received 2 spankings in my life. The reason I got two, because I did not want three.”

That’s what they want with these shock gloves: instant compliance. And that might be fine during hand-to-hand combat during a war, or breaking up a prison riot. But they plan on using these things on lawful American people, exercising their right to assemble. We are not supposed to be a country where the police torture civilians without verifiable cause. Holding signs and yelling does not qualify, nor does driving away from a confrontation.

When the film surfaces of ICE using these things capriciously, I’m going to come back to this post. It will happen. They won’t keep their new toys in the box for long; they’re itching to take them out and play.

Hearing Impairment

I trust everyone’s heard about last week’s Jack Smith magic show, wherein the former DOJ prosecutor made a Senator’s ass disappear during a phony-baloney Senate hearing? We really are fortunate that these Republican morons are so inept. If their evil ever got mixed with competency, we’d be in a heap of trouble. 

In a nutshell, the Senator from Missouri produced “proof” that Jack Smith had been at an Atlanta Hawks home game and therefore must have met with Georgia DA Fani Willis to collude on persecuting (then) former President Trump. As it turned out, this “proof” went “poof” when it was pointed out that the “Hawks” game was actually a “Hawkeyes” (as in Iowa) game being played in Maryland. The Senator’s team made a rash leap of wishful thinking in conflating the two teams (and leagues).

But there’s something else that really alarms me about that grand “gotcha” scheme that I haven’t seen anyone discuss.

Even if Smith WAS in Atlanta for this basketball game, that’s all they really had. The rest was 100% conjecture; an unverified, unproven assumption.

And as Samuel L. Jackson says, “When you make an assumption, you make an ass out of you, and umption.” (The Long Kiss Goodnight, 1997)

This is what they were going to run with… he was in town; therefore, he must have been having secret meetings to blah blah blah…

By that logic, when I was in Pittsburgh for a family reunion last August, I must have been meeting with the Steelers general manager about securing a spot on their roster for me as their new punter.

My assertion has exactly as much validity as theirs, which is to say, none.

But none of that matters in the Republican bubble. All they need is an assertion to bat around, and it will take on a life of its own, to be swallowed whole by all Bubble inhabitants. And this time, they couldn’t even get a lame accusation off the ground due to ignorance, overzealousness, and ineptitude. As a result, that exchange became the only thing for which this hearing will be remembered.

The Baltimore Sun tried, though. While they barely mentioned this hearing, they did include a single paragraph on the front page in the Trump Watch section, where they put all the day’s Trump news. The only detail they included was a piece of Smith’s statement that he had concrete evidence that the president committed criminal offenses. You’d think that would be the line to hide, but they probably assumed their new readers would disregard it, just as they’ve disregarded concrete evidence of every other offense for which he’s been accused, charged, and convicted. The complete lack of damage that they could get to stick to Smith was conspicuously missing.

Senate Republicans tried to “Fauci” him by creating scenarios where they expected him to lie and perjure himself. But rather than taking the Fifth across the board, like Dr. Fauci, Smith calmly rebutted every charge with accuracy and precision, without even raising his pulse. He made them look ridiculous. Granted, by the time the conservative media edits the footage, it will look like he admitted to treason, heresy, and stepping on cracks to break his mother’s back. The next Administration, if we ever get one, needs to make this guy Attorney General.

In another story from last week, that got zero play from the local paper, Whiskey Pete announced cuts to 20% of his admirals and generals, as well as new recruitment efforts to pull exclusively from conservative religious colleges.

This should be highly alarming to anyone interested in keeping our democracy. The SecWar has been busy over the last year and a half, ridding the military of anyone who might balk at violating the Constitution. The only people he wants in place are conservative, religious white men who will be predisposed to following orders without question or hesitation. Why, you may ask?

When it comes to this Administration, the answer is always, “self-preservation.” There may not be time to roll out the big plans for the midterms, but they’ve got two years to lay plans to prevent our traditional peaceful transfer of power. They’re building the infrastructure (arch/weapons depot/sniper base, sub-ballroom bunker/arsenal), and now they’re working on who is going to staff it up. It is unconstitutional to use the US military against American citizens on American soil. Now they’re bringing in people who won’t care. As they frame anyone who might resist as Anti-American, Commie, Transsexual, Hippie, Freeloading, Gang-bangers, it makes it easier for them to see us as sub-humans, appropriate for extermination.

He is NOT leaving peacefully, no matter what any election says. We’ll see their beta testing in November.

Bluz Newz Update

Noting last week’s post about my new retirement-life focus of preventing the dog from shitting in the house, I regret to say that is no longer the case.

Our boy took a steep decline last week, to the point that he could no longer stand up or stay up, even to eat. In addition to that, he had very limited vision, couldn’t hear well, had been panting and breathing hard almost all the time, and had open sores popping up. He’d been on a raft of drugs, including pain pills, liver and thyroid pills, anti-seizure meds, supplements of all kinds, and so forth.

Friday night, Sweetpea made a little bed for herself beside him in the kitchen, where he had been lying all day. She spent the night with him and, in the morning, came to the painful conclusion that we had to let him go.

We had a flyer from a service called CodaPet that will come to your house and handle everything from drug administration to removal to cremation, so she made an appointment for noon that day.

Throughout the morning, our boy heard from all his best human friends. Some called, and Sweetpea would put the phone to his ear. Others came over to say goodbye and received licks and wags. One of our neighbors, who is the dog’s favorite person in the world, came over and stayed.

We ushered our boy across the Rainbow Bridge peacefully and lovingly. He just drifted away in the arms of his family, surrounded by love and kind words.

He was a good boy.

The rest of the weekend was exceedingly tough, especially on Sweetpea. I’ll probably post about the

aftermath at another time. It’s going to be bumpy for a while as we get used to another “new normal.”

 

Note: I highly recommend CodaPet if they service your area. The vet they sent was wonderful… thoughtful, professional, compassionate, patient, and caring. I don’t know how anyone could do that job for a living, always being around people during their worst days, surrounded by grief. But this lady was an angel. If you ever are unfortunate enough to require such services, these people do a tremendous job. Perhaps the state of Alabama could learn a thing or two from them.

He's Not Leaving, Pt 847

In a temporary win for democracy, the Supreme Court ruled last week that the president cannot use the post office to screen mailed ballots, limiting them to voters he likes. The main thrust seemed to be that it is too late to change the rules, as ballots are already beginning to go out.

Local Note: This morning I received an email from my local elections board that my ballot has been mailed. I plan to turn it around ASAP and bring it to a ballot drop-off receptacle. Unlike Texas, Maryland allows more than one per county. We have one right down the street.

This is the second time SCOTUS has decided this matter based on timing. They ruled the initial suit was filed too early. Now it’s too late. It seems like they’re bending over backwards to avoid ruling on the principle of the case.

Unfortunately, I believe we’ll see this matter surface again. It seems Justice Kavanaugh left them some breadcrumbs to follow for 2028. In a concurrence, he wrote, “In my view, based on the briefing the Court has received at this interim stage, there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service's statutory authority," thus clearing the way for Republicans to draw at least one more vote in a third go-round. Alito and Thomas, the two dissenting votes, were just fine with this manner of voter suppression. I wouldn’t put it past Gorsuch and Roberts to do a 180 and find for the Felon when the chips are down, and the dominoes are about to start tipping.

Another part of the order that was killed called for all states to create identical mailing ballots. I’m sure they really wanted that… That would mean the Post Office would only need to devise one sorting profile for the machines nationwide, which would cover all ballots. Again, even the issues that seem benign on the surface have malignant purposes. Sifting out ballots would be a breeze.

I keep saying it: If the president is still alive in 2028, he’s not leaving office willingly. If he can’t win the election, he’ll cancel them. If he can’t cancel them, he’ll disrupt them. If he can’t disrupt them, he’ll create an emergency and claim wartime powers to ignore them.

Yes, I know it’s all illegal, and there’s no precedent, but so are most of the things he’s done in the last year and a half, and no one has stopped him yet. With his blanket immunity, the Justice Dept. refusing to investigate anything that falls between the cracks, and using ICE as his enforcement/defense mechanisms, he is impervious to outside pressure. (Save for maybe the Russians.) The FBI won’t help; they’re now just as partisan and corrupt as Justice:

Don’t believe me about TFG’s intentions? Check out this message from him last weekend. If this doesn’t chill your shit, nothing will:

Who do you think those drones are meant to be fired at? China? Iran? Venezuelan fishermen? These armaments are meant for us, ie., anyone who dares defy his authoritah via direct protest. OR, say, a splintered militia made up of military and police members who are willing to disobey direct orders and dig him out of the White House like a tick.

I can just imagine an automated machine gun stand on the top of this arch, remotely controlled from inside the White House. It could have two settings: Just Hit the Legs, and Kill’em All. Whiskey Pete would love it. I won’t be surprised if he outfits the ballroom with the same weaponry.

So he’s digging a massive bunker/safe house under his ballroom, arming monuments, and revoking freedom of the press. Oh yeah, he did that too when he banned MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House. He said that anyone who publishes news he doesn’t like will get banned. The president now decides what can be published. First Amendment is gone in a whirlwind of Big Mac wrappers and methane. I wonder what other Amendments he’s going to nullify because he doesn’t like someone who uses them.

None of these are the actions of someone who will leave power willingly. He knows that as soon as he loses the protection of the presidency, he, his inner circle, and some of his children are going to jail. He has zero incentive to go peacefully and every reason to use every method imaginable to cling to power. His lack of scruples or ethics practically guarantees it. 

Update 9/23/26:

Welcome to the party, CNN!

At Least the USPS is Improving at Something

The day after my last post, about how the current attempts to sabotage the midterm elections are likely to succeed regardless of legality, a new story broke about how the post office is continuing to develop a voter suppression technique despite being forbidden by the courts.

Long story short, (and aside from the fact that it is illegal for the post office to have any role in voting systems, other than just delivering the mail, AND the likely illegality of states having to filter their voter rolls through a federal “approved” list), the plan is for the USPS to take a sample of around 400 outgoing ballots from a batch of 10,000, bump them up against the federal list, and if even a single one is deemed ineligible, the entire group of 10,000 will be returned to the state.

You can see how that would inevitably entail tens of thousands of ballots being sent back and forth, eating up all the available mailing time before the election.

This is how you know it isn’t about preventing ineligible votes. This system is designed to stop the whole process in its tracks; otherwise they’d just pull the ineligible votes and send the rest on.

A whistleblower provided an account of the work continuing on this voter-prevention system, despite the court having already instructed the Post Office to cease all such activities, so you can see how seriously the Administration takes court orders. “Just carry on, and by the time it all shakes out, it will be too late.”

This is also a scenario that defeats the use of drop boxes. You can’t leave your ballot in a drop box if you never receive it in the first place. I think the states should seriously look into either emailing ballots or making them available online. It shouldn’t be hard to limit downloads or emails to those on their list of registered voters. Of course, the Republicans will scream bloody murder about a new avenue of alleged “voter fraud,” but they do that about any practice that circumvents their voter suppression tactics. That’s how mail-in voting became an issue in the first place.

Another story that broke last week was how a Tarrant County election commission in Texas decided to eliminate 92 voting locations. This action immediately followed a “town hall meeting” wherein the overwhelming majority of attendees supported NOT removing voting locations. Tarrant County abuts Dallas and contains Fort Worth, and is one of the “Bluer” areas in Texas, and key to the Democrats picking up a Senate seat. Making it more inconvenient for your opponent to vote is a cornerstone of Republican voter suppression, whether it’s actions like these, or removing voting machines from key precincts, removing or decreasing early in-person voting days, or draconian water prohibitions when in line to vote.

They know that white-collar (upper class) can spend all day in line and their employers will accommodate, while blue-collar (middle/lower class) workers’ employers are much less lenient. Someone has to be there to make the donuts. Not to mention the loss of hourly wages while standing in line.

And regarding another voter suppression angle I covered last week, there was an article in the paper regarding using the military to appear at polling places.

The AP article quotes Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying that there are no plans to send troops to the polls.

That’s fine, except that it has no bearing on whether ICE is sent. ICE is not part of the traditional military and is not under their chain of command. The president, via the Department of Homeland Security, can send ICE anywhere he wants. I guarantee they will be out and about on Election Day, on the prowl for brown voters they can pick up or scare off. I suspect this article is just one more way that mainstream media is trying to keep a lid on things, to keep people happy and complacent.

We can no longer afford to be complacent about anything. Big changes are afoot, and without our active resistance, the move to a fascist authoritarian regime is imminent.

One more quick observation. Do you know how TFG has been filling up Truth Social with fantastical AI depictions of himself in godly/heroic scenarios? There was a telling passage in the new book, "Regime Change" (Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan) that might explain it. They report that he was enthralled by AI technology, particularly about how you can just tell ChatGPT something and it will spit out what you want. He had a lot of questions about it and how it worked. (This is unusual, since he's not normally curious about anything.) So I wouldn't be surprised that rather than merely forwarding the fawning work of others, he was creating these things himself, or at least telling Natalie what he wanted. 

The Fluffer Brief

Last week the nation was introduced to the enigma that is Natalie Harp, the president’s new most trusted aide. She eased into our consciousness a month or two ago, when people wanted to know who the hot blonde was that was tagging along with the president. Some speculated that she was his new wet nurse, there to take his vital signs and change his dirty diapers. It stayed that way until the news blew up regarding her exact duties, which, rather than handling “duty,” she’s been handling the president’s ego. Dubbed the “Human Printer,” she provides her boss with hand-picked selections of good news and positive reviews (from MAGA sites) and any other slice of curated information he may require. In this situation, I don’t even think it’s about sex, just ego-stoking. It’s an old man enjoying the attention of a pretty girl.

The book, “Regime Change,” by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, illuminated just how devoted she is, describing personal letters she wrote and left for the president, stoking his confidence and declaring unwavering devotion. She’s basically a presidential fluffer.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, again, got his name in the news with a jibe that mentioned Natalie, which met with a tidal wave of organized indignation from the Administration’s talking heads and MAGA toadies, in a volume and level of vitriol that far outweighed the original slight. In other words, it struck a nerve in the Oval Office.

The funny thing is how they weren’t mad at the shots taken at his incompetence as a military leader, his chronic sleepiness, his golfing, insider trading, or taking a bribe-plane from Qatar. No, all the faux-outrage was focused on the “riding with Natalie” part. Maybe it really IS about sex after all. He’s mentioned many times how he doesn’t want to be “Cartered” by a military mishap. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be “Clintoned” either.

Now, is there anything wrong with a president having devoted staff? Nope, assuming they’re qualified and security-cleared. This president has been surrounded by nothing but sycophants for his entire career. He never seems to run out of them.

And yes, it’s alarming that someone who appears rational on the outside is so slavish in her attachment to such an utter imbecile, who has neither attractiveness nor cleverness, nor consideration, nor inquisitiveness to warrant such affection. A lot of people flock to power; this seems a bit overboard. Who else in Washington would fling themselves into the rear storage compartment of the president’s SUV rather than leave his side for a moment to take a trailing car? That is some seriously weird shit.

While everyone was discussing this story last week, there was one angle I haven’t seen covered, which may explain her MAGA-ier-than-usual Trumpmania.

What if she’s a Russian plant? Consider these possibilities:

·         It sounds completely within the realm of something an old KGB man like Putin would do. Russians know the long game. They have the patience to wait until their asset becomes sufficiently entrenched to receive the payoff.

·         Even if they didn’t develop her from scratch, they could have approached her when she worked at OAN, home of the Super-MAGA talking heads. Hell, for this opportunity, they may not have even needed to pay her off; just provide the inroad. She may have already lacked the dignity necessary for such an assignment.

·         They know he has a “type,” which she fits to a tee. They also know exactly how the president operates, thriving on praise and adulation; the more cloying, the better. They could have coached her up on what he likes, on what he needs from his inner circle. The more fanatical the attention, the more he eats it up.

·         Even with the president under Vlad’s control, they still could have needed an ear on the inside because this president may not always remember to report everything back to his handlers. That’s the problem with employing a “useful idiot.” No matter how useful he may be, he’s still an idiot. They may have needed a secondary source.

Now, I’m not saying this is all true. I don’t have any inside information, so this is pure speculation. But it’s plausible, no? Sadly, this is what we’ve come to in this country, where a president being on the take with the Russians is easily within the realm of possibility. “The Manchurian Candidate” seemed far-fetched at the time. Now it sounds like another Monday.

I guess I’d better be careful though. This could be a Pelican Brief situation, so maybe I should start looking over my shoulder and start checking under the car before I go out. Good thing our house is only one floor. At worst, any fall from one of our windows would result in grass stains rather than broken bones. Unless, of course, they got broken beforehand…

  

 

Director’s DVD Commentary: In case you never read John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, or saw the movie, it’s about a young law student who writes a speculative “what if?” brief about land use crossing with ecological concerns, which ended up with a couple of Supreme Court justices murdered and assassins looking for the student. The movie stars Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.

Lincoln Would be Pissed

It finally broke nationally that the aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, is in dire straits, and not just that of Hormuz. Conditions aboard the Lincoln have deteriorated to the point where several sailors have tried to jump overboard. They’ve been deployed for over nine months, without shore leave or apparently any supply shipments.

We’ve known for years that TFG gives less than a flying F about our servicemen (and even less of an F about servicewomen). Back during his first term, he was quoted by one of his generals as saying those serving in our military were “suckers and losers,” apparently for putting their lives on the line in exchange for relatively little monetary reward. He doesn’t understand service, nor honor, nor sacrifice, so volunteering for such duty doesn’t compute to him.

Also, please recall that in 2019, he diverted funds away from our rank-and-file servicemen. I wrote about it thusly:

“Did you see where he wants to pull the money from?  Among other uses, he’s targeting funds earmarked to upgrade soldiers’ housing. Apparently, there are significant numbers of servicemen and their families living in moldy, rat-infested houses. Sure, everybody gets all weepy and patriotic about military men and women, but let’s divert the money meant to keep them from living in squalor.

I’m certainly no military expert, but I don’t understand, even if a longer-than-usual deployment is necessary, how they are not flying in supplies to restock the ship. Why can’t they send some plumbers to get the busted pipes back under control? Maybe start helicoptering some of the crew to shore and back, just to keep them going. Nobody functions well in a never-ending grind of both mental and physical faculties, not even our best and brightest.

At least Sen. Ossoff is bringing the heat.

Today, we’re faced with the fact that our military members are being treated more harshly than those who were on the USS Indianapolis.

 “Ya got city hands, Mr. President. Been countin’ money all yer life.”

At least with the sharks, you know what’s coming. I’m sure there are a lot of sailors on the Lincoln who enlisted after believing all the hype about becoming macho he-man weapons of war, only to be left to sleep in their own filth for three seasons. They must feel completely abandoned by their country and their leaders, who had to be pressured into taking the most meager of actions.

Which brings me to all the military sycophants I’ve seen on social media over the years, adorning themselves in yellow ribbons, flag lapel-pins, and sappy patriotic memes, who are now dead silent on what’s happening under their guys’ watch. I know one of my best friends served on an aircraft carrier in the 80s, who would completely understand what his modern peers are going through. Yet there has not been a word from him or any of the others in their social media feeds.

I guaran-damn-tee you that if this exact situation happened under Biden or any other Democratic administration, they’d be screaming bloody murder and there would be non-stop news coverage of the outrage. Instead, all these “Seal Team Six” war movie fans are now more like “The Silence of the Lambs.” It makes you wonder if there is anything really there under the charade. Is there anything they really stand for? Under all the bumper stickers, ribbons, and dewy-eyed reverence for our soldiers, is there any substance when you dig down deep for our soldiers and country?

No, just like their patriotism, it’s a mile wide and only skin deep.