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!

It's All Part of the Plan

Our Clown-in-Chief said more stupid things last week, most of which occurred at his Big Texas Circle Jerk. One of the more terrifying tidbits was that he expects The War That Isn’t a War to end after the elections.

There are a couple of angles to this.

First off, you could say he knows he can’t end the war before then. So then, any other time will be, by definition, “after the war.” But that’s just the literal aspect.

The second point, the one that scares me, is that the means by which he intends to end the war will be so distasteful that he needs it to be after the elections, or else it will negatively affect the vote. As if there aren’t a dozen other atrocities that weigh on the scale right now.

The first thing that comes to mind is the use of nukes, which will roil the oil market and send gas prices into the stratosphere for decades, and probably dam up the Strait for good. After that, oil will seem like a quaint idea when we can’t get enough fertilizer to grow nation-sustaining crops.

And, of course, there is the horrific, massive loss of innocent life that happens any time a nuclear bomb is used. Of course, to this Administration, the fact that these will be brown people with weird names mitigates the damage.

Then there is the possibility of in-kind retaliation, either by a foreign state or an independent terrorist with a suitcase nuke. After a national tragedy like 9/11, the nation came together. If such an emergency happens again, I don’t think we’ll see such a unified front. The race to blame political opponents and exact revenge will short-circuit everything else. And it’s exactly the kind of thing TFG would use to declare martial law and assert power indefinitely.

It’s funny that in the best possible outcome, he’s just blowing his usual torrent of lies and exaggerations. But you never really know with this guy.

 

The other big item was his $5,000 bribe to vote Republican in November. The fact that he continually proposes handing out cash, without it ever happening, practically guarantees that zero cash will ever be forthcoming. No one is taking this “offer” seriously, except maybe a few MAGAs who are still waiting for their special NFTs to turn a profit, or their gold shoes to show up.

The national Republican apparatus was quick to cast doubt on the prospect, but they may not be in on the possible endgame.

Consider the fact that Republicans can be relied on to do two things:

·         Spike the deficit when they’re in power by slashing taxes for the rich.

·         Demand a balanced budget when the Democrats are in power.

It seems to be their most effective weapon, even though anyone who’s been paying attention for the last 45 years can see the pattern. We Americans have the national attention span of a flea.

So if this giveaway spikes the deficit even more, it only adds to the case Republicans are sure to bring in the future: that spending needs to be slashed because of the deficit. (Assuming we can ever actually remove the current occupant.)

What’s one of any future Democratic administration’s priorities? It had better be de-Trumpifying the government, via un-naming things he smeared his logo on or built in his own honor, restoring the governmental departments that have been gutted, and rehiring tens of thousands of government workers to staff them. That’s going to take a lot of money, and we won’t have it. And no matter how the Congressional makeup turns out, the fat cats will buy off just enough Democrats to guarantee that no substantial changes are made to the tax code that require that the rich kick in more.

So, spiraling the deficit is the Republicans’ insurance policy to keep the government the way they just made it: built by and for the Rich. Doing it via handout makes it seem like they’re trying to help the little guy.

But tell me, in what way is robbing every citizen of $10,000* and then giving them back $5,000 considered “help?”

*Or whatever the number comes to that we’ve overpaid for tariffed goods, medical services brought on by getting sick via our uninspected food or unvaccinated virus carriers.

They’re counting on us to forget about all that, just like we forget who contributes the most to the annual deficit. I vote that we remember this ploy in this and every November.

 

Blogging Note

If you have a blog using Blogger/Blogspot, have you noticed if your blogroll has stopped updating? As of today, mine has been stuck at what it showed five days ago. I’ve seen at least one other blog with the same problem, so I know it’s not just me. Any ideas as to the cause, or what to do about it?

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 2026 Beta Test

Despite the serious intonations of wizened media types, I remain unshaken in my belief that there will be a massive attempt to steal the midterm elections, and it will probably succeed. I agree with Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman:

The plain truth is that all the main players in this administration know that without control of Congress, their options for remaking this country into the Fifth Reich will be limited to Executive Orders, which can be easily reversed by a subsequent administration.

They also know that a Democratic Congress means investigations out the wazoo, and in this round, the prosecutors will have things like “evidence” and “proof.” Democrats may not be able to get the Orange Cretin out of the office, because the Senate will be unlikely to convict (short of a Democratic sweep this November), but they can get some of these fake-patriot clowns to make a public vote in support of the most unpopular president in history.

So, the Felonious Guy might not care about maintaining a Republican Congress in a general sense, but he understands that things will be tougher on him without one. He’ll be motivated to do whatever it takes to claim victory in the fall elections. A Republican Congress will also make things easier for him to create a third term as president. Having guys “on the inside” always does.

Yes, I know that many of the ploys the MAGA types intend to use are illegal; it’s just that it won’t matter. Take, for example, the idea of sending ICE into urban voting centers. They could quite possibly prevent Latin Americans from voting, as well as any other brown person with an accent. No one is going to risk their life and livelihood just to cast a vote in a midterm election.

Is that illegal? Sure it is. But once it’s done, it can’t be undone. Votes will be prevented, courts will say it was illegal, but there won’t be any recourse. Do you seriously think the current court system will allow an additional voting day to remedy the problem? Hell no. The Justice Department won’t even pursue the charges.

That’s their ace in the hole. Republicans own Justice, and the highest court will back them up. The only illegal actions are those that these conservative toadies SAY are illegal, Constitution be damned. There’s always a way to cherry-pick a decision so it only counts in a particular case. And the Court has already shown that they will play either side of a principle, depending on which way favors Republicans. They are not interested in consistency; they’re interested in acquiring and maintaining power, specifically power of rich, white, pseudo-Christian men over women, immigrants, non-Christians, and people of color.

It’s a similar situation if he can gum up voting by mail. If his minions at the Post Office can just delay ballot mailings to (or from) key zip codes, that’s all it will take. Again, the damage will be done with no chance for remedy. They won’t allow more time; hell, they fight the current grace period as it is (to count votes mailed by the deadline but not yet delivered).

Also note that some say curtailing mail-in voting will hurt Republicans too. I disagree because they have an easy workaround, as I side-swiped in the previous paragraph. They don’t have to kill ALL ballots. It’s certainly within their capability to curtail ballots going to and from key zip codes or precincts. Detroit can expect a trickle of ballots, but I bet Kansas will find clear sailing.

This Administration is going to fight against fair elections in every way they can imagine, and dare anyone to challenge them. Again, to whom are you going to complain? They run the power structure.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how to combat this, other than calling it all out as often as possible. I suppose state or local government could call out the National Guard or police to run interference at the polls, but I just can’t see that happening. I think it’s more likely that the Guard and the cops will side with ICE, if only for a chance to use their cool new electrocution gloves.

This fall will be a trial run for 2028. If the Republicans can pull off a coup here and avoid seating a Democratic majority, a third Trump term will be a done deal. The 2026 midterms are the beta test. The president will do everything in his power to avoid losing the protections of the office because he knows that he, his family, and his inner circle are likely to go to jail. He has zero incentive to respect the rules of our democracy and every motivation to burrow into the White House like a tick.

I would love to be wrong about all this; I really would. We’ll know for sure in a couple of months.

 

In Other News: RIP

Wow, it’s been a real bumper crop of celebrity deaths in the last weeks.

Frank Beard, drummer for ZZ Top. I’ve been listening to ZZ Top for almost as long as they’ve been around, over 50 years, at least. I always loved his drum fill right as the main riff for La Grange kicks in. Ironically, so many of his obits list his credits on Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs, because they’re all from the album where they used a drum machine in the studio.

Hayden Panettiere, actress best known (to me) as the indestructible cheerleader on Heroes. It’s such a shame when someone so young passes. I haven’t seen an official cause of death but I’m guessing it’s a delayed reaction from being crushed under the weight of her giant, heavyweight boxing champion ex-husband.

Dolly Parton, singer, saint. Geez, who doesn’t love Dolly? I look at Dolly the way I look at Taylor Swift. She didn’t make my kind of music, but I admired the hell out of the person she was. She did more good work in a morning than most politicians do in their whole careers.

Tim Curry, actor, singer. Are they really sure he’s dead? They thought Pennywise was dead too, but he always comes back.

Jaye P Morgan, singer, game show panelist. I had a big crush on Jaye P during my early teen years, from her appearances on The Gong Show, because she was sexy, witty, and bawdy. Might have been my first “MILF,” had I even known what that was in the late 70s. I imagine her carrying on right now, with Gene Gene the Dancing Machine.

Sunsetting

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been collecting more examples of the tricks used by a biased media outlet to taint what should be the “straight news” into partisan messaging. I have a prime example, right in my backyard: the daily newspaper, The Baltimore Sun. Last year, The Sun was purchased by the owner of the conservative media group Sinclair Broadcasting, and ever since, it has been coloring news stories with an anti-Democratic slant.

Granted, they have plenty of opportunities, given that the city and state are run by Democrats, so any and all “bad news” is immediately linked to a Democrat in power, especially Governor Wes Moore.

Rather than publicize a report stating that the Governor had kept many of his campaign promises, The Sun ran a front-page story arguing that he hadn’t kept them properly, claiming they were too vague or that fixes were already in process.

Gee, a candidate makes insufficiently specific promises… welcome to politics. Funny how they never run stories about Republican politicians taking credit for major projects at ribbon-cutting ceremonies, after having voted against Biden’s infrastructure bill that authorized the project. But then, it’s OK if you’re Republican.

But the point here is that they never cover a story that contains good news for Democrats without adding a big BUT. In fact, the “BUT” is usually the story. Like here:

And here:

They have to include reasons why it’s not really such good news, usually from hand-picked analysts, conservative think tanks, or one of the few Republican politicians in the state.

Take this article about a Fourth of July speech the governor made:

What did he say in the speech? No idea; they just question his motives and go on about what was wrong with it, as per their reliably negative “analysts.” They’re trying to torpedo, ahead of time, any chance a handsome, charismatic, young, Black, Democratic governor has to run for president in 2028. If you look at the first page of The Sun regularly, you’d conclude that their reason for existing is to provide a never-ending litany of smears of the Governor.

I understand and support that the media is supposed to maintain an adversarial relationship with the government, but we’ve never seen any such malicious coverage of the last two Republican governors, and that was before Republicans ran the paper. Digging up a black lining for every silver cloud is not balanced journalism; it’s putting your thumb on the scale. And even still, there’s a place for that, which is called the Op-Ed page, not the front page.

You can always count on The Sun to follow the traditional Republican talking points, like with this story:

Yep, whenever their own words are released and make Republicans look bad, they don’t apologize or look inward on what they can do better; they look to expose the leaker and prosecute. So rather than excoriate the Administration for using the “War Room” to devise plans to bury the Epstein Files information, The Sun/Sinclair National Desk attacks the efforts to expose such an atrocity. And if they can identify and punish this “transgressor,” all the better to dissuade future leaks. Yay! Democracy in action!

Note that this “columnist calling for a criminal probe” is one who works for the New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch, or in other words, Fox “News.” As per the modern conservative media playbook, they have one of their own people start talking about something, then have their other outlets report that “people are talking about something.”

Here’s another beauty from The Bubble:

What they completely omit from this story is the most obvious explanation: Republican talking points are far, FAR, more likely to be false or at least less true. So any objective reading of a situation will come down to a fair reading of the facts, which usually support the Democratic talking points rather than the Republican. We know it, and they know it… a great many Republican assertions are straight out of Fantasyland. It doesn’t even take AI to see that, just a rational look at the facts and data. So this article isn’t so much a stark, raving falsehood; by ignoring a major factor, it’s more like an aggressive misdirection. It nonetheless leaves the reader with the impression they want from the start, that the media has a liberal bias, all the better to claim victimhood, ignoring the fact that media ownership today is overwhelmingly Republican. And it’s getting worse:

Trump’s FCC just cleared the way for large media conglomerates, who own dozens of TV stations, to get even larger, to further provide a single perspective (a conservative one) for the nation’s viewers. With the Paramount/Warner’s merger about to go into effect, even more media outlets are about to be compacted into even fewer hands, and those hands will be overwhelmingly Republican.

Ultimately, that’s the most efficient way to garner good headlines… make sure your own people are the ones providing them.

Here’s one more story, this one from today’s paper:

It’s another traditional “Democrats in disarray” story, this time, about how the moderates are supposedly worried about the Progressives gaining favor. Why is The Sun writing about it? Because the last thing they want to do is run against progressives. They’ve been beating the Moderates for years. They just label them as extreme and go from there. Progressives promise the same things Republicans do: to make their constituents’ lives better. But Progressives actually plan for and try to do it. And when it works, like it’s doing in New York City, it scares the Republicans shitless, because they have absolutely nothing tangible to offer their voters, other than the millionaires among them, who make out like bandits.

So they call the Progressives “Communists,” which is funny because it’s the Republicans who are actually forcing private companies to go into business with the government.

Personally, whether it’s Socialism, Communism, or Capitalism, I tend to ignore the labels. The Democrats should be one message on blast: that they seek to spend money to make people’s lives better, not to provide more tax breaks and loopholes for those with the most. Costs down, wages up, tax the rich to pay for it.

Make food safe, address climate change, and install an immigration system that actually allows immigration. When in doubt, look to make things better for people as opposed to corporations.

If it wasn’t for the insatiable greed of the 1%, it would already be that way.

Just Say Thanks, Then STFU

House Republicans needed a distraction last week, probably from the fact that they haven’t done diddly-squat to better the lives of American citizens, so they decided to re-litigate the COVID pandemic by demanding testimony from Dr. Fauci.

As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Fauci is a national hero. He, alone, among the first Trump administration, spoke to what was in the national interest, as opposed to repeating whatever nonsense his boss was spouting. Congress should have been thanking the good doctor for pulling the country out of the COVID mess, despite constantly having to swim upstream against the torrent of snake oil and misinformation emanating from the administration.

I still hold great antipathy toward these anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-science idiots. I still blame them for the fact that my father’s last days were spent scared and alone in an ER hallway where he couldn’t have visitors, because all the rooms were filled up with COVID patients, in a Florida county where only about 35-40% of the people were vaccinated.

The Republicans’ aim was to compare Fauci’s public words and actions to passages taken from a personal diary, and to somehow get him to say something under oath that contradicts materials stated therein, to conjure up a perjury charge.

The first thing that came to mind upon learning all this was to wonder where they get off publishing a man’s private diary. I mean, WT actual F?

As someone who has journaled on and off throughout my life, I can attest that things found in my old journals should not be taken as raw facts. A journal was a place where I vented, or worked out my shit, on paper. I may have said, from time to time, that I’d like to see a particularly manipulative girlfriend’s head in a camera bag (quoting a Sam Kinison bit from the era), but that would hardly constitute a threat or even a committed position. I didn’t want actual harm to come to anyone; it was just me letting off steam, so I’d be able to function normally during periods of intense heartbreak.

Also, using a journal against its writer seems like nullifying his Fifth Amendment rights by disallowing his right to avoid self-incrimination via his own words and thoughts. It should be unconstitutional.

Note: I’m talking about figurative things like opinions and feelings, not a step-by-step written log of how the writer killed someone and where he buried the body. Or, details on running a massive child-trafficking and sexual abuse operation for rich guys.

So under the circumstances, I think Fauci was wise to plead the Fifth to every question.

There are no grounds too shaky for the current Republican justice system to create charges. Someone would definitely find an answer that didn’t exactly match something from the past, no matter how carefully he answered. As we know, these guys come up with charges first, before bothering with evidence. So as we learned from the movie “War Games,” back in the 80s, sometimes the only way to win is not to play the game.

Fortunately, he did get to read an opening statement, to get some shots in against ringmaster and head clown, Rand Paul. It was the most savage opening salvo since Roman Maroni in “Johnny Dangerously.”

It’s a pity that we live in a time when scientists are criticized by those who don’t understand even the basics of science. Rep. Paul pretends to have high-level medical credentials, but he really doesn’t.

But even he surely knows that at the onset of a novel virus, no one knows what it will do, how long it will last, or how to fight it. By definition, you need data that amasses over time. It’s not lying to say something that has to be corrected later in such a situation; it’s just someone being wrong. Being wrong is the basis of science. You learn as much from being wrong as from being right; you learn what not to do or what doesn’t work, and you adjust from there.

So it makes perfect sense to cast a wide net with basic precautions like masks, spacing, and avoiding large quantities of people in public places. What got Fauci into trouble is that some of that cost some big donors some money, a cardinal sin amongst Republican politicos.

See, that’s a defining difference between the parties. Democrats were trying to save people. Republicans were trying to save profits, and short-term profits at that. They were too amped up over the next quarter’s bottom line to realize that temporary pain would lead to solid recovery later, once the virus could be treated.

So, now that Republicans need a distraction from this month’s policy atrocities, Dr. Fauci made a good target at whom to point their fingers.

Always remember, Congressional Republicans need something to run on this fall, and they’ve literally done nothing to help their constituents. Well, other than for the racist ones who cheer the harassment and seizure of brown people to pen up and torture for a while before sending them out of the country, to someplace where they may or may not be from. But that’s all they’ve got. All the bridge openings and ribbon cuttings originated under the Biden Administration. Sure, they’ll show up to take credit for actions they voted against, but it’s hollow. There will always be someone around to point out who actually got the shit done.

I can only hope that the next national health crisis holds off until we can elect a new administration, one who works to restore faith by basing health initiatives on science rather than who can benefit from providing a “cure.” Because if some pathogen starts running wild in the next three years, we will be totally and completely screwed. There is no one left to do anything that will help. They were hawking malaria pills to cure COVID last time, because key people could make money from it. Maybe next time we’ll see them pushing Viagra to cure the next bird flu.

At least then the “side effects” can occupy people until they eventually drop dead.

I See Dead People

Or do I? We don’t know anymore. Between the habitual lying, political dirty tricks, and distrust of media, it’s hard to make heads or tails of the “Is he or isn’t he” situation with Schroedinger's Senator Mitch McConnell.

Yesterday, McConnell’s people released a picture that’s supposed to end the controversy over his condition and/or deadness. The problem is… OK, one of the problems is that the pic easily could have been created via AI, or even old-school photo-shopping.

I’ve seen lists of things considered hinky about the photo, indicating that it’s a fake. BUT, there are also ways to dispute each of those points. I’ve seen enough fake news coming from liberal sources of late that I no longer trust them out of hand. This could be one more.

But is there any wonder why? It’s 100% in character for Republicans in general and Senator Mitch in particular to scam their way into holding onto power. If he dies (officially)  before 8/3/26, state law requires an emergency election to fill the seat temporarily. Such a scenario could put a crimp into plans to keep the seat in Republican control, with the likelihood of former Rep. Massie running and splitting the Republican vote enough so that a Dem slips in. We know Republicans have no qualms about rigging election scenarios. And we know that Mitch has no qualms about bending rules to remain in power, for himself and his big-moneyed backers.

(Source: USA Today 2019)

Also, if Mitch is really as spry as he appears in the picture, he could have easily done a 30-second FaceTime or Zoom with the Governor and quash the whole thing. Something like this:

McConnell: “Mahwnin Govnah, les putta hoe thang a’baid.”

(Translation: “Good morning, Governor, let’s put this whole thing to bed.”)

But they didn’t do that; they sent out a picture, something that’s easily altered, which they had to know would keep the controversy coming.

So it’s no wonder there’s speculation over the veracity of the claims that Mitch is up and around, working on his rehab. Their actions, past and present, guaranteed that people would question their story. It’s like the Party that Cried Wolf.

At least Mitch isn’t casting Senate votes. As long as he’s away, that’s one less vote the Republicans have to screw the working class. When Mitch finally does kick the bucket, or news comes out that he already has, I won’t shed a tear. I may even do a small dance. No one has done more harm to our Republic since Newt Gingrich. His utter lack of principles, other than “protect the rich,” has made him Ground Zero for hypocrisy and unethical leadership. That hypocrisy, along with a total indifference to public opinion, allowed him to hold up an Obama Supreme Court nominee for 10 months, because it was too close to an election, and then rammed through a Trump nominee only eight days before an election, with a straight face. He considers this abomination to be his greatest legacy.

I agree, it’s a legacy of shame.

Then, in similar news, we’ve got the confirmed death of Senator Lindsey Graham. They didn’t bother trying to hide his death, I presume, for a couple of reasons. First, it was sudden… ruptured aorta, I heard. That’s one of those “Hey, what the”… and you’re dead kind of things. Depending on who was around, they may not have had time to formulate a strategy.

Or, maybe because it’s in South Carolina, they know they’ll be able to easily elect another presidential boot-licker. One out, one in, no sweat. Because there’s a Republican governor, he can appoint a replacement to relieve the short-term stress. From there, they’ll hold a general election for Senator in the fall. There shouldn’t be much stress about winning the seat in deep-red South Carolina. They’ve been re-electing a Republican chameleon who changes positions on command for decades.

It’s sad that these stories detracted from a couple of sadder passings, of Sam Neil and Bonnie Tyler.

Neil starred in several of the Jurassic Park movies (which I loved). Tyler was a tremendous singer with several big hits (and not much else). I’ll miss them both.

First Amendment Bluz

Last week showed that everything is indeed bigger in Texas, including Constitutional atrocities, as the state school board eviscerated the First Amendment by requiring Biblical passages to be taught in public schools.

Later in the article above (in a portion I clipped out for size), a supporter claimed it was OK because our 250 years “started as a nation of unwavering Christian values.”

Yes, so unwavering that the founding fathers specifically prescribed against the government having any hand in religion in the very First Amendment to the Constitution. But in Texas, the only Amendment they recognize is a mile-wide interpretation of the Second.

Optional religious student groups have been in place for a while now, and I don’t really have a problem with that, given the “optional” part. But once it’s required, it changes everything, especially considering they’re not including Quran or Talmud readings, or even the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s manifesto.

I can only hope that in the mandated teaching of this material, the teacher works in the Biblical exhortations to feed the poor, welcome the stranger, and turn the other cheek. Unless, of course, the Texas Board of Education releases their own version of the Bible and snips out of those Commie, Leftist, Liberal platitudes for which that book was originally known. Republicans aren’t really interested in freedom of religion; they’re concerned with freedom to be Christian. (Only without the pesky liberal Jesus stuff.)

Filing lawsuits to stop this indoctrination won’t do any good; there is a zero percent chance that the current SCOTUS will kill this action. In fact, upholding actions like this is exactly why the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation put the six conservative members there.

The infamous Project 2025 document contains many actions aimed at allowing what the Constitution clearly forbids. This is one of them.

So the only way any of this changes is at the local level. At least these new requirements won’t take place until 2030, by which time these evangelical school board members could be replaced by others who understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This is me, not holding my breath, though.

The Republican machine is strong in Texas and tightening its grip on Texas politics every day. As the population of prospective Blue voters increases, so do Republican operations to curtail their voting power through gerrymandering and the usual Election Day roadblocks to voting: reducing voting machine numbers in urban areas, reducing windows for early voting, sabotaging vote-by-mail, etc. And, of course, the Feds can send ICE into all the Latino precincts to scare off the Hispanic vote. With ICE’s propensity to scoop up and detain anyone foreign-looking, US citizen or not, who would risk their life and livelihood just to cast a vote?

The Republicans have complete power in the state now and will now give it up without a fight, dirty or otherwise.

Fixing Social Security 4 Dummies

I’d like to thank House Speaker and Trump Flunky Rep. Mike Johnson for handing Democratic candidates another perfect line of attack and ad fodder:

If ever there’s an issue to galvanize Baby Boomers and Gen X, it’s a threat to Social Security and Medicare, and Speaker Johnson just put it on the radar, front and center.

Know that by saying, “They have to be adjusted and fixed,” he does NOT mean endowed with more funding; he means cutting payments to us and raising/delaying the qualifying age.

Without intervention, given the next expected Cost of Living Adjustment, Social Security is calculated to be solvent for only seven more years. That should get the attention of everyone in their 50s, 60s, and up, or in other words, a ton of highly likely voters.

Republicans cannot be counted on to help with this in any fashion other than cutting payouts. They and the donors to whom they are obligated are against any more money coming from the wealthy. Their only solution is to cut the payments back to the public.

And this is coming at a time when inflation is soaring, and the cost of living is higher than ever, along with jobs being lost to AI and a general downturn in domestic production. Millions of Americans count on Social Security to keep their noses above water, even though they always say not to rely solely on Social Security. But many never had the opportunity to work for jobs offering pensions or 401 (k) participation. Many had health problems that sucked up their money, or kids going to college, ongoing disabilities or long-term under-employment.
The glaringly obvious solution is to raise the “cap” over which Social Security taxes are no longer paid, which for 2026 is $184,500. That means that the country’s million, billion, and trillionaires pay zero into Social Security after that first $184.5k. That’s a lot of dough to leave on the table.

Add to this that there’s no valid reason the cap exists, other than rich people want it that way so they can keep more money. Therefore, the rest of us end up paying a much higher percentage of our income than these rich bastards do. So they’ve done a good job of buying off one party completely, and enough of the other party to keep the status quo.

No, I don’t have any proof of the latter, but keep in mind that even when the Democrats had control of both Houses and the Presidency, there was never a real attempt to fix Social Security by raising revenue via any means. That tells me it hasn‘t been a Democratic priority for anyone but Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and maybe a few others.

Depending on how much the cap changed, raising it on Elon Musk alone could set up Social Security for decades or longer, and he would still have billions left over to buy into and destroy the next tech company he fancies.

One action fixes the entire problem, benefits hundreds of millions, and slightly inconveniences a couple of gazillionaires. It should be a slam dunk.

The question is, will anyone in Congress seriously get on board, in numbers enough to get it done? I think that should be a question put to every single Congressional candidate from now until it happens.

In every Q&A session, every town hall, every campaign stop, every interview, someone needs to ask, “Why is it more important for the cap to stay in place, benefiting millionaires, rather than changing it to benefit millions of average citizens?” Make them explain why they’re not taking aggressive action to raise the cap. Have them explain it like we’re five, and be ready to debunk the inevitable but fallacious claims that the cap provides capital to create jobs and pay increases. It doesn’t, or else we’d be flush with well-paying jobs right now. No, they have to explain why the rich are getting the special treatment at the expense of the rest of us, many of whom are barely clinging to keeping a roof overhead and food in the fridge. Get their answers on the record and use them to bombard the candidates with attack ads.

This needs to be made into a disqualifying position in the next and every subsequent election, for everyone running, regardless of party affiliation. No support for a cap raise, no vote for you.

We don’t have time left to screw around here. We can see the disaster coming, and the longer we wait, the harder and less effective any fix will be.

 

N. Carolina Eggs-ecutions

A couple of things bubbled up in my social media feed last week, and I want to talk a bit about them. First up, North Carolina wants to enshrine magical thinking into law:

The actual bill is more of a “personhood” item, bestowing full human rights to fertilized eggs. The fallout from that is that the NC GOP is pushing to allow “deadly force” to stop women they believe are having abortions. I’m sure you can see the can of worms that this opens.

“They believe.” That’s a pretty low bar to get over before murdering someone. One can believe anything. Will that now be a Get Out of Jail Free card for every guy who wants to knock off his wife or girlfriend?

“I’m sorry, Your Honor, I swear she was on her way to get an abortion. I had no choice but to beat her to death.”

Will this make murder the penalty for using an IUD? Or having a miscarriage? The language in the bill has chilling ramifications, and it’s all based on the massive assumption that “human life begins at fertilization,” which the bill characterizes as “a matter of indisputable scientific fact,” a highly contentious statement. (Ridiculous statement, in my opinion.) They reason that if one can use deadly force to defend one’s own life, it can be used to defend this prospectively defined human being/clump of cells.

So I can just see this being used as a tactic outside Planned Parenthood or other reproductive health clinics. A group of morons ring the clinic and shoot anyone who comes near, because “they believe” someone is about to have an abortion.

There are a whole slew of other ripples this bill would force us to handle. Are these cell clumps/fetuses counted in the census? Do they count as dependents and tax deductions? Can they inherit estates? Can they receive monetary gifts or own bank accounts?

On the bright side, so far, this is just a bill being introduced. It still has to pass both houses and be signed by the governor. Republicans may have the numbers to pass it; they enjoy a 71-47 advantage in the NC House and a 30-20 lead in the Senate. They have this edge because North Carolina is the “Poster State” for gerrymandering, and the state districts have been carved up to deliver the maximum GOP seats. The Governor, whose election is NOT affected by gerrymandering, is a Democrat, and House Republicans are one vote short of a veto-proof super-majority. That means the vote would be razor-thin to uphold a veto, but one bought-off or threatened Democrat could tip the scales.  But it would be politically perilous because popular sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of broader reproductive rights, not narrower.

Democrats in North Carolina (and nationally) should make this a billboard issue to make the point that Republicans are not finished with their assault against women. Unless cooler heads prevail and they chuck this insidious proposal, hang this bill around their necks and make them wear it like a scarlet letter.

***

The other thing I found noteworthy is this cartoon.

I found it on social media and saved it for later use, and then later saw it pop up on a couple of blogs I follow. So I know I’m not the first to run it, but I feel I have to because it’s perfect. It’s an absolutely accurate depiction of what’s going on right now, as well as during the last 20 years.

I’ve been saying for years that all the Republicans have to run on is fear; fear of brown foreigners, gays, Liberals, non-Christians, Atheists, etc. They use that for misdirection away from their true intentions (like creating a rich, white, ruling class, siphoning tax money from the lower and middle classes upward to the 1%, and invalidating the rights of non-white and non-male. Because they don’t have a platform that offers tangible benefits to the average American, they have to guide our attention elsewhere, and fear is a potent weapon. So they get everyone worked up about these scary assertions, many of which disappear immediately upon the end of Election Season, and ride the big wave of fear and distrust right into office. At that point, all their attention turns to the enrichment of themselves, friends, and cronies. And with this Administration, self-aggrandizement, persecution of enemies, and setting up a permanent thumb on the scales of elections to come.

We need to keep our eyes on what’s truly important, like fixing the economy, eliminating those damaging tariffs, making health care affordable (and getting it back in line with the science), repairing our international standing, and installing a rational immigration policy that doesn’t include concentration camps. (And a host of other cleanup items to undo the damage caused by this clown-shoes game show host.)

And I’m hopeful there will be resources available for the gargantuan task of removing “his” name from everywhere he smeared it.

Don't Believe the Hype

I think the state of Maryland is a shining example of how elections should be conducted. They have ample time for early voting, sufficient voting machines, and automatic mail-in ballots to all who request them. They provide ballot tracking back to the voter, to ensure confidence that one’s vote is counted.

That said, they really stepped in it this time around.

When they mailed out the ballots for the upcoming midterm primary elections, they provided the wrong party’s ballot to some voters. That necessitated a complete scrap of the mailed ballots and a remailing to all voters who chose mail-in ballots. They said there was an error on the part of the third-party vendor who physically mailed the ballots.

You can guess how that went over in the media:

Top story, front page.

Right out of the gate, the Republicans are on the warpath, declaring a fraud in process. The local conservative-shilling newspaper was right there to put up front-page headlines. Together, they’re acting like it was the Governor himself, stuffing envelopes and licking stamps, with a nefarious giggle. And they completely ignore what’s being done to correct the error.

They’ve already sent out emails and mailings (both of which I have received) with instructions to disregard the first ballot and only return the second. And if, like me, one has already turned in his ballot, instructions are to vote again with the new ballot because none of the old ones will be counted. (Inevitable Fox “News” headline: “Governor tells Marylanders to vote twice!”) The new ballots will have clear watermarked language on them, saying that these are the only ballots to be counted.

Also, keep in mind that this is a primary, so Democrats aren’t competing with Republicans. If cheating was the goal, why do it now during intra-party elections?

So, all the old ballots they receive will not be counted. If they have any sense, they’ll destroy them all. And it should be evident among the ballots received that they don’t get counted unless they have the watermark. Simple process.

I don’t see what else they can do to rectify the situation. I believe the votes will be counted fairly and accurately. I’m just pissed that they gave Republicans a lever to yank on, to claim foul when Maryland goes even Bluer than usual. And I especially dread when the Feds want the State to turn over all the ballots for review. I’m uneasy with the party known for cheating the system being handed the very material they can most easily use to cheat. The mistake may not be fatal, but it makes the job that much harder. It’s all a giant unforced error.

Or was it? Maybe there’s an operative or two within this vendor that were planted for the purpose of sowing suspicion about election integrity. It wouldn’t be that hard to arrange. There are enough Congressmen being paid off by moneyed interests, why not some putz in a mailroom? If you ask me, they should have picked some other state that doesn’t vote so predictably Blue.

So, when you inevitably see national news of the Maryland primaries being called into question, take it from a Marylander: They’re conning you. The error is being mitigated and will have no impact on the final vote tally. But they don’t want you to think about that, only the hysterical charges and hyperbole with which they describe all their opponents’ actions.

It's More Than a Naked Emperor

There’s a persistent myth being pedaled by Republican outlets that all Democrats have to run on is not being Trump. While “not being Trump” is a tremendous selling point to people whose EEGs show activity, it’s hardly the only nail in the toolbox. Last weekend, this editorial cartoon appeared in recently turned Republican mouthpiece, the Baltimore Sun:

Clearly, they’re seeking to persuade low-information chumps that the Dems have no substance other than hating their leader, which is truly ironic, given the ethos that currently holds Republicans together. Seriously, you’d really have to have your head in the sand to not see the legitimate concerns that Democrats can use to wrest power from the craven minions of the rich. Or watch Fox “News.”

Merely getting rid of the current president does little to fix what his team has done to the country. Republicans need to be voted out en masse. If they weren’t directly in on it, they were still sucking up to the perpetrators and allowing such gross negligence to prosper.

Democrats have an entire playbook to run on, and that’s Project 2025. None of it is contingent solely on the current occupant of the White House. It was written by Republicans and designed to be used by any Republicans in office. Last election, Republicans, to a man, denied having anything to do with this playbook, yet once they swept into power, they began enacting its directives immediately.

If I were a presidential (or congressional) candidate, that would become my Bible. I’d read from it on the campaign trail and highlight the damages done by the current Administration following its instructions. And none of it has to do with Trump. It’s all about consolidating power among rich Republicans and changing enough laws to ensure they stay in power.

It’s all right there…

·         Bouncing immigrants out of the country,

·         Declaring their political opponents to be “terrorists,” to facilitate rounding them up at a later date,

·         Setting up ICE as a personal military organization, loyal only to the Administration, to get around Posse Comitatus as a tool to intimidate and neutralize political opponents,

·         Buying and allowing the consolidation of national media to present a Conservative-friendly viewpoint

·         Altering census methodology to undercount city residents and foreigners,

·         Making it harder for lower and middle class citizens to vote, gerrymandering Red States to make a changing of the guard damn-near impossible,

·         Making women jump through hoops that few men do, eliminating reproductive rights to keep women under the thumb of paternalism,

·         Railing against “DEI” to cover removing people of color from the military and government, and removing initiatives that helped them get there,

·         Packing the courts, Supreme and otherwise, with their own Federalist Society shills by any means necessary,

·         Abandoning renewable energy options and relying solely on the fossil fuel industry for power, which goes hand in hand with general climate-change denial, and much more.

Any of these items could be a marquee part of a political campaign. Yet the Baltimore Sun (and apparently the Chicago Tribune, from whence the cartoon originated) wants everyone to think that all Liberals want to do is persecute some poor half-senile public servant. No such luck. The Dems need to run the races of their lives to overturn this headlong rush into an American Dystopia, where the rich live like kings, and the rest of us rob, cheat, and kill each other just to get by. That will only happen by putting a spotlight on what is happening right now and how it’s affecting average Americans.

Republicans don’t have many legitimate positions that help the working class, so they have to create boogiemen to scare the votes out of them.

All we can do is cling to the truth and call out the BS when we see it. Eventually, more people will realize that the Emperor and his minions have been streaking this whole time.

But note that we can’t count on the national media to help… It’s all they can do to get a paper printed without typos or incorrect grammar-induced misconceptions. Like this headline from this morning:

What they’re telling me is a great relief! Looks like even after I’m dead and gone, it’s not too late to choose what happens to my carcass. I wonder if I still have to fill out forms, or if I just float off to the nearest psychic?

Jokes about the headline aside, the article presents an interesting option that I’d never heard of before.

Talk about "soiling oneself..." I can see the appeal of literally returning to the earth after passing, but then using the soil as fertilizer to grow your own stuff? I don’t know about that.  I’d have to think long and hard about eating the fruits of my labor that had been literally nourished by a departed loved one.

I can just see the eventual harvest…

“Hey, that tomato looks like Grandpa!”

I wouldn’t even want to consider growing an ear of corn…

Odd Bits - The Germ-Ridden Edition

Last week’s post about fake assassination attempts ran longer than I initially intended, so I omitted some other news events I wanted to cover. I’ll address them today.

One Flu Over the Sniper’s Nest

SecDef Whiskey Pete removed the requirement that all troops receive flu shots, making them optional. I’m wondering if this is a new war strategy. Given his lack of safety precautions for the various bases in the Middle East, which have been left exposed and have taken heavy damage, he may be counting on some of his guys getting captured. His hope could be that rather than intel, they’ll give the enemy the flu. Or at least get gross bodily fluids all over enemy camps.

He says it’s about the principle that one can’t force a man to do things to his body against his will. And the “a man” part is a telling factor because these MAGA goons certainly don’t recognize the bodily autonomy of a woman. This is just more evidence that the new Conservatives consider women to be second-class citizens/property. Only men’s rights are worth fighting for. More on this in a bit.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Double Standard

The state of Virginia voted to approve a new Democratic-skewed congressional map, which was immediately nullified by a Republican judge. Shortly after, the Supreme Court voted to allow racial and any other kind of gerrymandering, as long as the developers of the map don’t explicitly state that they want to screw the minorities. As with most Republican legal positions, they want it to be legal when they do it but illegal when anyone else does.

Now, I’m in favor of eliminating gerrymandering of all kinds. I think there should be a bipartisan commission in each state that draws fair and representative districts. BUT, as long as the Republicans are cooking the books in Texas, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and the other Red States, I think the Democrats need to do the same. Standing on principle is pointless if you’re the only ones doing it. I refuse to take the noble stand while the opposition flouts the rules of decency and amasses enough power to retain it for generations. We can already see that their goal is to create a rich, white, male utopia at the expense of everyone else. They’re not even hiding it any longer. We need to avail ourselves of every tactic there is to seek a more even playing field. Otherwise, our vaunted Democratic Republic will disappear in a swirl of grift, racism, and religious fervor.

Texas Tea-ching

The state of Texas has been cleared to require the posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom, breaking many decades' worth of precedent separating church and state. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” That sounds pretty clear to me, and requiring the posting of religious tenets of one religion is obviously in violation.

If I were a teacher in Texas, I’d find a way to add the tenets of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Pastafarianism to my classroom wall décor.

To me, the best take on the Ten Commandments came from legendary comedian George Carlin, who, using logic and common sense, whittled the Ten Commandments down to two:

·         Thou shalt be honest and faithful…

·         Thou shalt try real hard not to kill anybody.

I was going to embed the video, but it no longer seems to be on YouTube in its entirety.

SNAP Crappola and Pop

The GOP is trying to work up more requirements on what one’s meager SNAP benefits can be used to purchase. The latest attempts would eliminate, among other things, soda and rotisserie chicken. Republicans won’t be happy until all that poor people can get from the government is a thin gruel, preferably after waiting in a blocks-long line. To them, if you’re poor, it’s your fault, and this is all you deserve.

I’m looking for the next proposal, where someone creates a poor-folks’ MRE, like the military’s “Meals Ready to Eat.” Then the government could pass out boxes of these pre-approved rations and be sure they couldn’t possibly be enjoyed. Obviously, they will be produced by whichever giant agri-business greases the right politicians. Mark my words, it’s coming.

United States Male Service

A federal court has upheld Louisiana’s ban on receiving the abortion pill by mail, which will somehow affect the rest of the country. It is a major piece in the GOP agenda to keep women pregnant and under male control. See, much like mail-in voting, by eliminating the mailing of the abortion pill, women have to go to places that provide such services. That’s where the Republican suppression techniques kick in. They can harass people coming and going, legislate against such places via zoning restrictions or other capricious legal maneuvers, or continue the effort to ban specific drugs and procedures. It’s another way for a small portion of Americans to impose their religious inclinations on the rest of the country, regardless of anyone else’s moral or ethical code. It’s the Republican mantra: agree with me, or you’re not a “real” American.

Passport Trolling

When I read that the president is pasting his scowling puss onto American passports this summer, I was overjoyed that I already applied. In fact, my new passport came last Friday, sans the mug of the Orange Troll. That’s the last thing I’d want to flash around in various international ports. Talk about making yourself a more obvious target. There should be an option where on the first page it says, “Please don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for him.”

Despite all the warnings that this would take a good bit of time, I received my passport roughly three weeks after I applied. Now I’m just waiting for them to return my old junior high school passport.

Funny thing though… Sunday morning, I received a status update email from the government, saying they just mailed my passport and I’d receive it on Tuesday, the passport I’d already received two days earlier. Just goes to show, this Administration can’t even succeed without looking like a screw-up.