Nothing is Sacred

I apologize for not posting yesterday; we were in the midst of snowstorm recovery. I figure we got at least 8” at the old Chateau Bluz. Shoveling out was a 2-day operation. The second day, there was a solid 2” layer of compacted ice and snow that we had to pry up in frozen planks.

This was after about an hour of wintery mix, which compacted the snow on our patio table by at least an inch.

Now to the business at hand.

There’s nothing really to talk about except the latest heinous ICE murder of an innocent protester. You’ve all seen the footage by now. A VA nurse goes to the aid of a woman ICE had just pushed down, they tackle him, take him to the ground, begin beating the shit out of him, then they find a gun in his back holster. They remove the gun and then unload their weapons into his back. He was hit with 9-10 shots. (I’ve seen differing reports.)

I had a lot to say about all of this, but in the days since the murder, most of it has appeared as memes in my FB feed.

We hadn’t even wrapped the previous ICE killing before this new one. MAGA and the Administration were still referring to Renee Good as a paid protester/terrorist.

Before Alex Pretti’s body was even cold, the Trump Administration’s talking heads were lying about what happened, calling the victim out as someone who was attacking the ICEholes. Again, they had the lies locked and loaded for immediate use.

The most common theme from the Administration, and then from the obedient MAGA masses, was that the victim deserved his death because he brought a gun to a protest. This line of defense essentially negates 50 years of Republican Second Amendment activism.

With one incident, MAGA has invalidated both the First and Second Amendments.

As is their way, Republicans are ready, willing, and able to pivot from any position they’ve taken and support the exact opposite if it serves their immediate needs. This party literally stands for nothing but their own continued power.

As the number of protesters increased exponentially after the Pretti murder, the Administration added another angle of defense for future use: Don’t hurt the ICEholes’ delicate feelings:

My local paper, newly turned conservative mouthpiece, the Baltimore Sun, covered TFG’s inevitable backpedal from the controversy, to blame his staff for following his own orders.

If you think ICE Barbie or the ghoul Steven Miller used talking points that TFG hadn’t supported, you’re not paying attention. But at the first sign of trouble, he hung them out to dry. After all, priority one is that nothing is ever, EVER, Trump’s fault. That’s what underlings are for: convenient receptacles for blame.

Also note the underlined portion of the article for the incredible soft-pedaling of what could be a major flip by Republicans turning on the Teflon President, by saying the Administration’s “accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.” That’s more evidence of a partisan news outlet shilling for the party they back.

The biggest but least acknowledged portion of all this is where AG Bondi announced that they would pull ICE out of Minnesota if the state turned over its voter rolls.

And there it is. This has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with rigging elections. There is no legitimate purpose for the Federal Government to parse state voter registrations, especially this lot. This whole thing is a revenge operation to punish a Blue State and attempt to turn it Red.

They underestimated how severe the backlash among Minnesotans would be. I’m proud of them and deeply awed by their dedication to not buckle under pressure from the federal overlords. These are people who are putting their own asses on the line for freedom.

I just hope the rest of us do the same when ICE eventually comes to our towns.

Impeachment Now

I’ve seen some stories about how various unnamed Republicans have stated that invading Greenland would be their bridge too far and cause them to support impeachment. That strikes me as closing the door after the horse left the barn. By the time troops are involved, it’ll be too late. We will have damaged our status with Europe, NATO, and the world to a level that may be beyond repair. I hope there are aides or cabinet members on whom Russia does not have Kompromat, so that there may be someone left in the building who can talk him out of such a disastrous move. Every day, the Current Occupant is demonstrating his inability to do the job through nationally destructive, self-promoting, and self-rewarding activities.

Parking Venezuela's oil money in a Qatar account that he alone controls? Charging a billion dollars per nation to join his little self-glorification panel and demanding enrollment? Letting his personal army loose on blue states (this month, Minnesota) to cause chaos and destruction on immigrants and citizens alike? Leaking Ukrainian spy intel directly to Russia? Blowing foreign boats out of the water because they might be up to something, even though they are not equipped to reach US soil? And, of course, demanding the right to buy Greenland or take it by force? It’s all madness.

Congress should be looking at impeachment right now. And by Congress, I mean Republicans. They used to at least have a veneer of respectability while they were fleecing the taxpayers to reward the rich. Today, the grift is right out in the open. He needs to go now because we cannot count on fair elections this fall. His actions are NOT those of a man who expects to have his power diminished in the midterm elections or leave office peacefully in 2028.

We all know that legally, he does not technically have the power to stop elections. But he sure as hell has the power to alter the results to his liking. There are several ways he can accomplish this.

Regarding the midterms, he may try to conjure up an emergency that gives him the cover to declare the elections are postponed (until such a time when the heat dies down and he expects to win fairly, OR just indefinitely!) Yes, it’s illegal, but who is going to enforce that? He still has SCOTUS in his pocket (until they prove otherwise), and it’s not like the Justice Department or military will do anything to defy him. They’re all loyalists now. So just because he gives an illegal order that’s beyond the scope of his power doesn’t mean it won’t happen. All the guardrails are gone.

Update: Apparently, there are still some grown-ups in the room from the US military.

Further, he can influence Red State governors to postpone their states’ elections and use that to claim that it wouldn’t be fair to only allow Blue State electees to the new Congress. Again, it doesn’t make sense, but who’s going to hold him to the law? He's got Fox "News" and the rest of the Right Wing Media bubble to make the case for him.

He can also count on the GOP owners of voting machine companies (like the new owners of Dominion) to convert some blue votes to red. And there’s Elon Musk, who he may convince to repeat whatever he did in 2024 to deliver the presidency (but surprisingly few Senate seats) to the Republicans.

Probably the easiest (and most likely) way to sway the Midterms has already begun. With the new rules regarding the Post Office delaying the date-stamping of mailings, plus banning mail-in voting via executive order (again, beyond the scope of presidential powers), it creates more reliance on in-person voting, which he can then suppress by physical means. Then all he has to do is send his ICEholes to the Bluest precincts’ voting stations, especially in Latin-heavy areas, where their mere presence will suppress turnout. I’m sure they can determine with precision which places will provide the most bang for their buck in sandbagging Democratic candidates. And again, to whom can the Democrats appeal? Trump loyalists are at every enforcement point. Checkmate.

Then, with two MORE years to insulate himself, it won’t be much of a reach to create a way to give himself a third term, despite it being 100% unconstitutional. He’ll find a way, and his flunkies will rubber-stamp it.

That’s why Congress needs to start the impeachment ball rolling now. The GOP needs to grow a pair and a spine to go with them, and call out the Emperor with no Clothes. They can start with a public Congressional investigation of the Epstein files. Screw what Justice is withholding; there are tons of evidence that’s already public, or under someone else’s control. Start taking public testimony from the victims about how, in addition to chasing little girls, they were also buggering little boys and killing people who became inconvenient. Maybe that might jar a couple of Republican consciences enough to seek better leadership.

And they need to go after Vance and the rest of the Cabinet, too, who are likely to continue in the direction TFG is waddling. This administration has turned a great nation into a joke. The whole world is laughing at us, a once-great nation and player on the world stage, reduced to a self-destructive, self-absorbed, and self-fellating bunch of crooks.

Fargin' ICEholes

Well, they did it. No one’s talking about the Epstein files anymore. In addition to the invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president, the administration has engineered a civilian killing at the hands of ICE and threatened Greenland with an armed invasion. He is literally producing more criminal outrages than we can deal with at a given time.

The execution of Renee Good was especially chilling. This wasn’t someone who was throwing Molotov cocktails or waving signs; she was dropping off her child at school. The worst you can say about her is that she stopped to give her two cents to the ICE Brigade and momentarily blocked the road. One bull clawed at her door, then told her to move along. Meanwhile, after she offered pleasantries, the other one yelled to stop, put himself in front of her car, then executed her in “self-defense,” once he took a step to the right to get out of her way, like he was doing the Time Warp. You can clearly see the front wheels turning away from him as she tried to leave the scene.

Almost immediately, ICE Barbie Noem declared the victim was a terrorist/paid protester trying to run her guy down, despite video evidence aired almost immediately that offered proof to the contrary. These were charges that would take time to establish, but they levied them before the body even went cold.

That’s how we know the fix was in. They had that story locked and loaded for when this incident occurred. I suspect there may have been a direct order to create such a shooting, all the better to sow fear and demand public compliance. I wonder if anyone is investigating such communications, either directly to the executioner, Jonathan Ross, or to his superiors for relaying down to the boots on the ground. Someone get ahold of that editor for The Atlantic. Knowing these Bozos, he was probably on the thread too.

Here’s another reason this shooting could have been premeditated:

This guy knew he was going to shoot. He put himself in front of the car he knew was fleeing, to secure the “personal danger” excuse, put the phone in his left hand, to grab his gun with his shootin’ hand, and shot an American citizen in the face, while recording the whole scene. I mean, what’s the point of killing some uppity liberal if you can’t show the action to the boys back at the base?

As commanded, Republican Congress people, assorted political hacks, Fox “News,” and MAGA idiots publicly backed the shooting. They’re always fine with shootings, as long as it’s not one of theirs getting shot. They demanded reverence and half-staff flags for Charlie Kirk. They made dyke jokes about Renee Good.

And as is their MO, the Republicans are asking people to believe what they’re telling them, rather than their own eyes. They claim she was trying to kill the ICE men, that she was a terrorist, and that she was a paid protester. None of that was remotely true. But the main point is that even if all of that were true, none of those charges carry the death penalty, let alone the Getting Shot in the Face in Front of Your Neighbors, For Trying to Go Home penalty.

I hope there are repercussions from this, I really do. I doubt it, but I hope it. Already, they’ve announced they’re sending more ICE holes to Minnesota. They want more confrontations, not less. All the better to drive home the point that they’re in charge and resistance is futile.

The only hope for justice for Ms. Good will have to be from state charges. The fix is already in as far as the Justice Department goes. His innocence is already signed, sealed, and delivered at the federal level. That’s where they truly have us in a vise. To whom can we complain to seek justice? All the apparatuses of justice are rigged in their favor, with loyalists at every key position, all the way up to the rigged Supreme Court.

I was going to mention the Greenland fiasco-in-the-making, but I figure it will be the top story next week after the invasion, so I might as well wait until then.

Character Witnesses

It’s about time we got someone with some strategic chops to run things on the progressive side. Last week, a leader emerged; someone with creativity and style to go with the Xs and Os of political maneuvering. Of course, I mean:

Congrats to Mr. Todd, who, if the above statement is true, is responsible for bringing the sublime to the ridiculous. Someone needs to get this guy on the DNC’s payroll at once and put him to work. This guy understands that if there’s one thing an authoritarian hates, this administration in particular, it's ridicule. Getting laughed at really chafes their undercarriages, hence their repeated attacks on comedians.

The sign on the right says: “Frogs Together Strong.” Brilliant.

It’s the perfect foil. The fascist regime is trying to set the stage for a larger takeover of Blue cities, claiming the crime is out of control and creating a hotbed of insurrection (the magic word), which requires federal help to tamp down. (And purely coincidentally, perhaps indefinitely postponing the next elections.)

However, the prevailing images of this “insurrection” are those of people marching around in giant inflatable costumes, which are impossible to take seriously or as a threat to anything.

So if Fox "News" and the conservative-media bubble can run a continuous loop of Portland fires from years ago, or uprisings in Colombia, and pass them off as current events, then we should plaster the media with images like this:

It’s the least we can do, considering we’re long past the onset of a fascist takeover of the government. There is a paramilitary force roaming targeted cities, heavily armed, disguised, answerable to seemingly no one, abducting people off the streets without due process, based on nothing but their skin color, accent, occupation, car decals, or decorative flags. We’re knee deep into the “Show me ze papers” phase of this 1930s documentary.

And now, people who dare to object are officially considered terrorist enemies of the state and subject to arrest as well. The First Amendment is dead and buried, thanks to the Commandant-in-Chief and his diminutive Attack Weasel, Steven Miller. The lights may be out upstairs at Trump Towers, but Miller is wide awake and running things, clearing the path for domination by the white male businessman.

So now, when the administration inevitably tries to activate the Insurrection Act, even with a biased SCOTUS, there will be a large hill to climb to claim that a bunch of puffy Barneys are a threat to the nation worthy of suspension of our voting and civil rights. I’m not saying it won’t work, but the whole affair will look ridiculous. They might as well wrap it up in a giant bow that says, CHARADE.

You know and I know that the upcoming “No Kings” Day protests are going to be a big deal. I think this administration knows that it’s their best opportunity to cast the protesters as violent guns for hire. So how does he make this case against a group that will be determined not to give him what he wants?

False flag operation. I guarantee that there will be a couple of real mercenaries sent there to stir things up while under cover as suburban protesters. They won’t let an opportunity like this go to waste, with so many opponents gathered together. It will only take one incel with a Molotov cocktail to trigger the SS to come in to knock heads and round people up.

Bondi. Pam Bondi.

I want to add one short note about the disastrous Congressional testimony given by AG Pam Bondi. During her session, she evaded questions with a maniacal dedication, mixing in personal insults aimed at her questioners, delivered for the benefit of her boss.

I don’t aim to give her any breaks; her deposition was an insult to the rule of law. But if you think about it, she literally had no other choice.

If she answered those questions truthfully, her boss would not only fire her, but command her replacement to gin up some charges against her.

If she lied, that would be the same crime on which she’s chasing targeted Democrats: lying to Congress. Granted, on this day, no one would pursue charges. But then, when she eventually does cross TFG (everyone does, at some point), she’ll be sure to get the same treatment. So as a result, we witnessed that performance piece, engineered to eat up time, retain her status and power, and entertain an audience of one.

The country deserves better.

Well, at least the part of the country that didn't vote this clown show into office.

We're There

 I don’t see how anyone with eyes can miss that we have arrived at a fully Fascist state of federal government. All the pieces keep piling up, and the conditions are getting checked off one by one.

Authoritarian rule. We see this in every aspect of TFG’s actions, from the obligatory adulation required of his cabinet meeting attendees, to the massive banners with his face on them, to placing toadies in leadership positions in the military, Justice Department, and even the Supreme Court, whose only required qualification is loyalty to him, to assuming control of even the entertainment venues like the Kennedy Center so none of his critics have a platform in town, and much more.

Extreme nationalism. We see the blatant “Christian” nationalism all over his immigration policies, namely, conducting large sweeps to round up all the brown people who speak with an accent and send them to foreign black sites for the kind of systematic torture we once used only on known terrorists. And while they SAID they were going after criminals, their actions have shown that breaking the law is a secondary concern compared to getting rid of foreigners. This also includes foreigners from allied countries who are here to spend money training Americans to work in the factory they are building. That project is now like those foreigners: gone. This administration revels in cutting off its nose to spite its face if it means they get to make their projected numbers of deportations.

Suppression of dissent. They just showed their hand in the last two weeks, didn’t they, with the demanded firing of Steven Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. Additionally, there are lawsuits against the New York Times and other outlets that publish content displeasing to the Orange King. Now they’re coming for the comedians. There’s nothing fascists like less than being mocked. The mockers are still out there (for the time being). We’ll see how long it is before they start picking up the individuals rather than merely stealing their microphones. The death of Charlie Kirk thrust into the spotlight the raging double standard between when one of their guys kills someone and they mock the deceased, versus when one of their guys gets killed and they demand blind tribute. It’s truly staggering lack of self-awareness when they celebrate the hateful words of one of their heroes, but then, when an adversary merely quotes what their hero said, they get fired.

Also note that when what appears as “dissension” bubbles up from within, in the form of research studies that conclude something that makes them look bad, they don’t fix their actions; they change or bury the report.

This works with economic news as well as investigations into the world’s largest pedophile ring.

Glorification of violence. TFG has his own loyal army now, each soldier with no identity, no official orders, and no oversight. All they have to do is be loyal, instill fear, and kidnap some people from public streets, schools, churches, courthouses, and Home Depot parking lots, for delivery to dungeonesque holding sites. The private army is how he gets around the Posse Comitatus Act (wherein the US Military is forbidden to be used on American soil against its people). Meanwhile, on-air personnel for the favored State-Run Broadcasting company espouse the random execution of homeless people, which causes zero “official” backlash. The terror and violence are the point. It allows them to make even bolder moves with impunity. Many of us are against such Fascism. Not as many are willing to take a bullet to the head over it.

Scapegoating. This has always been a main part of the Republican Playbook. Whatever happens, they blame someone else. It’s Black people, or Muslims, Latinos, or gang-bangers, liberal professors, gay people, trans people, and most of all, Democrats. It’s never the fault of the white, male, conservative, even when the most damning of evidence is clear to see. A guy in a MAGA hat with a Trump sticker on his AR-15 and a “Fuck their Feelings” bumper sticker on his Ford F-350, with Fox News blasting from external speakers, could shoot up a parking lot filled with nuns, and Republicans would blame a gay classmate he had 15 years ago. That’s the Republican Way. Nothing is their fault; everything is their opponent’s fault. Repeat indefinitely.

There are also some hallmarks we’ve passed that weren’t on the first graphic, like:

Openly grifting. It’s "hands out" for everyone on the team. Just like with the Mob, bring in any scam you can think of, as long as the Boss gets a taste.

And then the hand-picked lackey running Justice has no other priority than to do the president’s bidding, which is prosecuting anyone who ever made him look bad. It doesn’t matter if there’s ever been a crime committed or if there’s any evidence. What matters is getting the case in front of the public, preferably before a Trump-associated judge who will give the prosecution every advantage. Making life tough for one’s enemies makes others think twice before becoming one of them.

But only they get to receive such largesse.

They’re happy to dismiss a resolved suit when military veterans were due to receive compensation from the credit union that screwed them out of millions. Big corporations and their executives are the only ones allowed to receive such a windfall. The rest of us are merely here to be used as natural resources.

Secrecy

It’s ironic that their use of non-secure public chat applications is what keeps their evil machinations secret from the public.

Presidential administrations are required to keep records of all conversations, emails, and texts for the permanent historical record. That’s the last thing they want, so they use “disappearing” text apps so their words only appear temporarily, and there’s no record that can be used later to jam them up in court. And the only reason we even know about it is that they’re too stupid to use it properly. Remember when someone from the DoD (sorry, I mean the DoW) accidentally sent their battle plans to a reporter? That was a firestorm for about ten minutes. I’m sure they’re back to doing the same thing now, only someone probably had their teenage son set up a distribution list for them.

The Department of War has also just instituted a required oath from beat reporters that they swear they won’t report anything that’s not cleared by the brass for release, which means nothing useful whatsoever. Just the company line. That’s not how Freedom of the Press works. But they don’t care about the First Amendment outside of how they wave it overhead to cover their own calls to violence, and disregard it when a comedian gets under their skin.

So, to sum up:

Whatever you wish the Germans did in 1933, it’s time to do that here, now.

 

Completely Unrelated Note

Lastly, to pull out of this dive-bomb of a bummer post, let me wish a Happy 67^th Birthday to my forever Queen of Rock' n Roll, Joan Jett. I got to meet her several times, and she was always a real joy and super kind to her fans, even if she didn’t know what to do with the birthday card I handed her, moments before she took the stage in Cleveland.

Kirk Out

 I first saw the news on Facebook that Charlie Kirk was shot while I was at my first baseball game of the year. My first thought was, "If this were one of ours, there's going to be hell to pay." And that thought was confirmed within minutes as the threats and promises of retaliation against Democrats, Liberals, and Trans people (aka "them/they") came flooding out. It was almost as if they already had this stuff in the chamber, ready for the first provocation. 

Now, for the obligatory disclaimer, I'm neither celebrating nor calling for anyone to be killed. No Democrats are, really, outside of the delusions of the Right Wing bubble. Although I'll admit that many will not be too broken up if a certain orange charlatan takes one too many bites of well-done steak, a chunk of cholesterol breaks off and lodges in a cardiac artery. But no one is actually condoning violence, except the usual suspects, including the recently deceased. 

South Park really had this guy down in their second episode of the season. One of the subplots involved Cartman fighting with another student, whom he accused of "stealing my schtick" of being aggressively anti-gay, anti-minority, anti-trans, pro-gun, etc. They showed Cartman going to campuses and "debating" college students, where he would basically dismiss everything they said, change the subject to one where he could spout off one of his familiar talking points (one for which the student was neither prepared nor interested), and then claim victory over another stupid college student. I understand the network has since pulled the episode from streaming. I'm sure it was the network. Matt and Trey never would have considered it.

I'm not celebrating, I'm just saying that the world is better off without a guy who says stuff like that. Every single point up there is abhorrent. But for the outrage and vitriol spewed forth online, you'd think someone dropped a log on Rush Limbaugh's grave.

I saw a lot of posts hurling accusations at "Them," like, "They killed Charlie Kirk, wait until we start killing them." Remember that at that time, no one knew who the killer was. All the death threats and impending violence were predicated on an assumption, and you know what happens when you make an assumption... "You make an ass out of you, and umption." (Per Samuel L Jackson in The Long Kiss Goodnight.) In fact, every MAGA post from the time of the shooting to the time they identified the suspect was WRONG. Wrong in facts, wrong in tone, and wrong in morality. It was as if they were all just waiting for the right cover to start taking people out, rolling out the military, and declaring martial law.

The Democrats I know and saw were saying things like, "Let's see what happens, let's wait until we have a suspect, let's not jump to conclusions." But things like "waiting" and "facts" aren't really in the MAGA arsenal.

Let's get this straight. This is a brief record of violence coming from the Right. 

Just try to think of a notorious violent act perpetrated by someone on the Left, for political reasons. And I mean real things, not like the usual Fox "News" allegations that the Clintons had people murdered and unsubstantiated garbage like that. I can't think of a single one. Modern political violence is solely the province of the radical Right and the MAGAs.

So, then we had a couple of days of FBI announcements that proved to be untrue, from having a suspect in custody (they didn't) to claims of anti-trans messaging on the shell casings (it wasn't). Law enforcement went from withholding all available information to eventually pleading for help from the locals. It wasn't until a nearby resident and his minister convinced his son to turn himself in that federal and local law enforcement had any degree of success. 

It turned out that this killer was just like so many of his predecessors: Male, white, straight, Christian, Conservative, gun enthusiasts. How very cliche. 

It turned out that this guy was a follower of Nick Fuentes (whose devotees are known as "groypers"), as evidenced by the groyper catch-phrases etched on some of the bullet casings. Groypers apparently had beef with Kirk followers after Kirk called for the Epstein files to be released. One can only conclude that this whole episode is inter-family MAGA on MAGA violence.

Many people thought this would calm the Right Wing fury raging through the nation, as evidenced by these memes:.. 

But that would be wrong... Because the Right never admits when they're wrong, nor do they accept blame for anything, ever, they began looking for angles to keep the blame on the Left. 

One angle was that by alleging that the killer's trans-female roommate, for some reason, radicalized him. The even funnier angle was blaming his one semester at a Utah state university, several years ago, for brainwashing him into a Radical Left activist. That's right... one semester, at a Utah university. Totally a hotbed of liberalism. It was either that or the trade school he's been attending since then. 

This is what it's come to: relying on their own cloistered echo-chamber to drum up believable lies for their followers to latch onto. This is one of the reasons why they spend so much time denigrating higher education: it makes a great instant scapegoat and requires no nuance or detail. Just blame college.

I think this, too, will eventually die down, and we'll go back to watching in horror as the current occupant destroys another sector of the country, the way his ICE-holes just did down in Georgia, costing them a multi-billion dollar factory. You have to hand it to him: he fucks with his own people just as badly as his opponents. 

He set up an apparatus where it only took one "concerned citizen" to report that there were a bunch of foreigners hanging around this building. No one bothered to research what was going on there, or they might have found that a team of South Koreans (our allies) was there to train Americans on battery production for a fabulous new business. But no, they just sent in the Gestapo to round up the ferners and treat them like war criminals. They were bound, bent over, humiliated, deprived of daylight, let alone liberty, all without due (or any) process. And then the asshole wants to be surprised when they refuse to come back.

Jesus H. Christ, these people are idiots. I'm starting to think that the best thing that can happen is that the government does get shut down at the end of the month. At least that might limit the damage they're doing to the country.

Odd Bits – The Unintended Consequences Edition

I haven’t done one of these in a long time, but I have several subjects circling the drain in hand, but none substantial enough to whip into a dedicated post. So here goes…

TACOS to Go

While I’ve been greatly amused by the memes and comments referring to TFG as a TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out), I hope they don't stay too long. Sure, I love that it annoys the hell out of him, but there’s a problem.

We NEED him to “chicken out” on his bonehead plans and ideas. If he doesn’t “chicken out,” then it creates more pain for everyone (who’s not rich). If he’s going to float more economy-bombing tariffs, we need him to put things back to normal. We need him to back out of invading Greenland or Panama. We need him to not abandon NATO or Ukraine.

The thing with this guy is that he’d rather blow everything up than come off looking unmanly. His ego won’t allow his image to be tarnished in such a way, so he’d rather endure the collateral damage than be seen as weak. That’s why the other autocrats can play him like an orange clarinet; they know how to puff up an ego to get what they want.

Even to the extent that his claim that all this is a negotiating strategy… asking for the outrageous and “settling” for what he wanted in the first place, I believe he’d scuttle it all if he thought it made him look soft. After all, this is a guy spending millions in tax dollars for a self-glorifying military parade!

So yeah, we’ve had our fun, but let’s not cut off our collective nose to spite our face. We need him to step away from his most destructive ideas, so maybe we shouldn’t dare him to stand firm.

Besides, there are still other avenues to be used to make a guy uncomfortable.

Family Feud

I’ve also enjoyed the blowup between Elon and TFG. It’s not like watching Mommy and Daddy fight; it’s more like watching those degenerate neighbors down the street out in the yard throwing used auto parts at each other. This is a cockfight between two of the biggest dicks in Washington, so there’s not exactly anyone to root for.

It’s funny how NOW Elon brings up the Epstein list. And no matter how much we’d like to get a look, you know it’s never coming out without heavy scrubbing. If this administration ever releases it, it will contain only Democrats and Republican never-Trumpers.

Is anyone really surprised that TFG is allegedly on the list? Hell, there are only 17,000 pictures floating around of him and Epstein or his Madame hanging out together. You think they were only talking about the real estate market?

Elon should be careful about backing the opposition. That’s one more tool TFG could use to postpone or cancel the mid-terms or the 2028 elections. “They’re trying to buy the election,” he’d scream. “I have no choice but to shut it all down.”

I still think that’s the plan all along. As I’ve said before, they’re all acting like they will never have to be re-elected again. They’re being openly racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and all the other phobics. I say they already know the fix is in.

LA Law

You could consider the escalating unrest in Los Angeles as a test run for the next election season. TFG commandeered the National Guard to have them go in and terrorize protesters. The fact that none of the protests were likely to become violent until the Gestapo showed up won’t gain any traction in the newly compliant news media. They’ll dutifully show the most lurid bits, which TFG will use to claim he needs to declare martial law and shit-can the election.

He’s just getting us all used to this kind of thing; once again, creating the problem and then wanting to take bows for “solving” it.

Good News and Bad News

It’s great that Abrego Garcia is coming back home, but you knew it wasn’t going to be cut and dried. The administration brought him home only to make up some new charges out of whole cloth, so he’s essentially going from one jail to another. All the better to make an example of here at home, I guess.

At least he’ll get a trial now, but who is going to defend him? He’s going to need a good lawyer at a time when the legal profession is under tremendous pressure to not cross the government, lest they face career-killing consequences. I hope there’s at least one sharp legal eagle out there who’s itching to do some high-profile pro bono work. This guy’s going to need it.

The Message Matters

One of the things Democrats will have to improve on, to win the 2024 elections, is their messaging. Even though many statistics are favorable, there remains a general impression of economic and social disaster everywhere we turn. A lot of that is because Conservative messaging is so pervasive, overwhelming, and ultimately effective. As we’ve learned over the last decade, the more a lie is repeated, the more it’s taken as fact.

Here’s an example of the kind of under-the-radar messaging that we see and seem to accept, even though if you scratch the surface at all, it falls apart.

My beef with this cartoon is that the big red arrows are a mirage, all of which would certainly be worse if Republicans were fully in charge. Let’s look:

US Debt: The deficit has come steadily down under President Biden. And it could come down a lot more if there was even a smattering of Republican support for repealing TFG’s tax cut for the rich, which not coincidentally, was the biggest contributor to the deficit in the first place.

Republicans love to rail about the deficit when they’re not in charge, using the opportunity to cut programs that don’t benefit them or their wealthy benefactors, but only make up a minute portion of the debt. Then as soon as they’re back in control it’s like, “What deficit? Let’s cut taxes!” Each time, they claim the tax cuts will pay for themselves via economic boom, but it never, ever, happens. The big companies don’t use the money to hire more or pay more, they just pocket it or use it for stock buybacks, which greatly benefit the stockholders (which usually includes their own board members with the most stock in hand.) Republicans do not care about US debt other than as a way to chisel out more Federal money for themselves.

Inflation: The US has the lowest post-COVID inflation rates among similarly developed countries. It came in hard with COVID but has been lowering ever since. The reason people are not feeling it at the store is because of corporate price gouging, not inflation. If inflation was truly the reason for high consumer prices, the big suppliers and retailers wouldn’t be posting record profits. They are keeping prices artificially high and blaming it on inflation or “supply chain” issues, that they know people don’t fully understand.

Putting it plainly, suppliers are setting prices far higher than it would take to account for any hikes in supply prices. They do that because they want to. And if you’re prone to conspiracy thinking, you could say that they’re keeping their prices high because they know that President Biden is taking the heat for it. Big business generally supports Republicans, who they know are eager to keep regulations low and enable all efforts to maximize profits, regardless of any possible harm to US citizens and the environment.

Crime: This is always the big Go-To for law and order Republicans… big city crime! New York! Chicago! All cesspools of rape, robbery, and murder. Except when you look at the real statistics that show much higher crime rates in the Red States. More gun deaths, more homicides, more poverty, all courtesy of Republican leadership and policies.

The siren call about crime is really just racism. They want to appear “Tough on Crime” so they appoint police chiefs who will install policies like “Stop and Frisk,” which means police are urged to question and detain basically anyone they want, to see if there’s something for which they can arrest them. Basically, it’s a blank check to go out and pick up all the black and brown men, bring them to jail, and store them there until the DA eventually lets them back out.

Republicans: always tough on crime, unless it’s white-collar crime. Then, it’s just the cost of doing business. What’s a few hundred thousand between fellow MBAs? But everyone else is guilty until proven innocent.

Homeless: I don’t really know of any recent stats or reporting on homelessness, although we all know that home ownership is becoming increasingly hard to obtain, and rent is skyrocketing. But I’ll ask you this: What have Republicans ever proposed to address homelessness?

I’ll tell you, nothing. Their best idea to combat homelessness is to put more people in jail. (See item above.) Republicans want the homeless not to be seen in places Republicans go. They’ll move them around or shut down encampments, but a real solution? The next one will be the first one.

Border Crisis: I’ll agree that the border is a mess. There needs to be a coherent national policy on immigration. The snag is that the Republican philosophy on immigration is for there not to be any immigration (from the South. Members of the Swedish Bikini Team, as well as Eastern European mail-order brides, are always welcome.) So it’s no wonder they reject anything Democrats put on the table to bring order to the chaos. Plus, it’s a winner of a campaign issue with their MAGA base.

So they make up a bunch of shit about terrorists pouring over the border, which no one can corroborate, or that they’re smuggling Fentanyl into the country, while most of the supply is coming from US citizens making round trips. But like with abortion, they'd rather use it to campaign than solve it, because it’s an effective way to terrorize Middle America into voting for the party that promises to keep the invading brown people from overwhelming their towns, drugging their kids, and raping their women.

So yes, once you realize that these scary red arrows are just big Red Herrings, the Dems should definitely address why Biden’s support is so scarce. Our Constitution literally depends on it.

Move Along, Nothing to See

I see Tucker Carlson at Fox “News” release his take on what the January 6^th videos showed:

It’s laughable that anyone could even put forth with a straight face, the idea that a video showing nothing of importance happening in one place and time, proves that nothing ever happened elsewhere? Even chimps are smart enough to know that kind of argument doesn’t hold water. I know Fox viewers can be convinced of anything they want to believe, but seriously? We all saw what happened live on TV!

The MAGAs were crawling over the Capitol walls like in that scene from Starship Troopers when the giant alien bugs attacked the outpost.

Or in World War Z when the fast zombies attacked the walls in Jerusalem.

Using the “Tucker Method”, we can use video and photographs to prove anything. For example, did you know that World War I never happened? Here’s proof: this is a picture of English and German soldiers celebrating Christmas in 1914.

(Source)

See? No fighting, no mustard gas, just a Charlie Brown tree and some Christmas caroling.

Also, World War II didn’t happen either. See? Here’s a picture from the South Pacific in 1944.

(Source)

Bob Hope was doing a show for vacationing tourists. See how everyone’s just sitting around, all nice and calm? There are no tanks or machine guns or missiles, just good times with friends.

The Korean War didn’t happen either. Here’s the ironclad proof:

(Source)

See, it’s just Bob Hope and a couple of guys hanging out, and having a chat. He’s probably telling them about all the hot sightseeing spots in the Solomon Islands. No guns, no Jeeps, no mobile hospital units where they laugh just to keep from crying.

Viet Nam? An illusion, just some bad PR. This is Viet Nam in 1970:

(Source)

This is Bob Hope, 26 years into his world tour. He must have been very popular. This looks like a Monsters of Rock concert. I don’t see any napalm or rampant heroin use. Who knows why all the hippies were protesting back home; this looks like fun!

You know, maybe this is how we prove to the MAGAs that BLM protests were predominantly peaceful.

(Spencer Platt-Getty Images)

This is just a nice little parade through Manhattan, certainly not a reason to start billy-clubbing people. No brick-throwing, no buildings on fire, just a stroll through The Big Apple.

Of course, it helps to also be right. The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful. (Not including Portland, obvs.) One should note that the stats say police used force in 9% of BLM protests, but in only 3% of all other demonstrations. Sounds like the BLM crowd got special treatment, which I’m sure has nothing to do with flare-ups of violence.

Yesterday, Speaker McCarthy said that he will “slowly roll out” 1/6 footage to other outlets. I’m sure he needs the time to have his flunkies edit out everything that Tucker decided not to use. Why else would Fox receive the whole trove at once, while everyone else has to wait for installments?

The only footage that should be held back is that which shows secret rooms, paths of egress, and such so that it can’t be used to formulate a more lethal invasion the next time the MAGAs are displeased and decide to take another sightseeing tour of the Capitol.

“Ooopsie! This is the Speaker’s office? I thought it was the restroom. Sorry about the mess…”