Tuesday, March 19, 2024

TWGB: Where Did it Go?

 


So, it looks like Trump is broke. He got Chubb to do his E. Jean Carroll thing, but they'll be fucked if they are standing his fraud trial bond. His lawyers say he can't get that bond, and no shit. This man had debts before he even ran for president. He has big loans from all kinds of people. And he barely owns any properties at all in full or outright. This is actually a pretty old story--Trump never has been worth what Trump says he is.  Trump's value has been about Trump's word--and we know what his word is worth now. 

Even after the NY AG seizes his properties, he may still owe. That's where we are. Because I don't know for sure that he put anything up for collateral for the Chubb bond for the Carroll case, but probably? And what isn't encumbered? 

But here's my naïve question for you all, my readers, in all seriousness, if Trump has been overstating his property valuations to get favorable loan terms, and evading taxes on his business wherever he could, and engaging in various frauds, like Trump University and his slush fund charity and so on, and money laundering and the like--where does his money go that he can't find a half billion in liquidity? Is it a thing where the money is gone and he's just a whole shitting inept businessman who frauded his face off and still ended up in a hole? Or did he invest elsewhere (offshore, you could say) where the money is available to him and he isn't letting other motherfuckers get hold of it? 

Do you think if he graciously lets us see his tax returns for the last couple of years like a responsible presidential candidate, we'll even know? 

Monday, March 18, 2024

Is the Royal Family's Comms Broken?

 

I am not a celebrity follower in general and in my world, this is what the Royal Family is to me--like, reality stars and not people who actually influence things. That said, something is very really broken here--because my social media is blowing up with "fake, fake, fakity, fake" regarding every attempt the Windsors are making at pretending all is well.

 Now, doing protocol or press is not my forte, but the Royal Fam could have just issued a statement like, a few weeks ago, that said "The Princess of Wales is still recuperating from her surgery and is unavailable for press and other events, but she appreciates the affection and well wishes she has received and looks forward to greeting with the public again as soon as she is able. In the meanwhile, please respect her privacy as she works towards her recovery."

Nonspecific but optimistic. No time frames. Appreciative but setting boundaries.

The Trump White House handled Melania's kidneys ever so much better, and they were a clusterfuck. What the whole entire hell? 

This weirdness is what makes it feel like, somewhere, someone is shitting the bed. If there's something badly amiss that can't be said--say nothing. Do nothing. Do not fake things are okay It's worse, so much worse for people to feel lied to than for them to just hear a permissible silence. Discretion--not deception. 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Happy St. Pats to Everyone but RFK Jr.

 


Sometimes an entire family is needed to properly slap a cabbage-headed man into something like reality, but also, it hardly works when he's long been away with the fairies. Some people have noted that despite the talk of anti-vax RFK. Jr. selecting anti-vax sports figure Aaron Rodgers as his running mate, he's liable to declare some wealthy idiot named Nicole Shanahan who has enough money to maybe get him on some ballots as his running mate. 

I guess I don't know for sure she's an idiot. I guess it depends on whether she agrees to be the Kennedy idiot's running mate. For all I know, the idiot he runs with is Jesse Ventura, although, despite his lad working for RT, I never thought Ventura was quite that kind of idiot, except possibly in the "fire doesn't melt steel bars" kind of way. 

Anyway cheers to St. Pat, who got the snakes out of Ireland. I truly would love it if there was a saint who would ger the sheer idiots out of politics. But I am proud to support Joe Biden because of his anti-malarkism. 

It's a brilliant start. 

TWGB: Aiding and Abetting

 

Trump really loves his 1/6 convicted felons as if they were his very own co-conspirators, doesn't he? Some observers of today's Trump rally speech got exercised over his use of the term "bloodbath" as in, if he is not elected this year, there will be a bloodbath. Don't be stupid--this was just his usual hyperbole. It's his continued defense and support of his last bloodbath, where something like 140 law enforcement officers were pounded mercilessly by his little fan club, we should be looking at. 

It's a pity-looking at Trump's rallies these days is a little like returning to the scene of a crime where Father Time is stealing what insurers cannot replace and bankers cannot lend, and which, like any Trump property, might have been severely over-valued anyway--his fragile little mind. He thinks renaming Fort Bragg is somehow a repudiation of US successes, not a repudiation of Confederate failures. 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

TWGB: The Only Winning Move

 


The disqualification trial of Fulton County DA Fani Willis saw a decision that enabled the case to continue, as Willis stays on while her top prosecutor, Nathan Wade, leaves the case--but we also learn that the judge in the Trial, Scott McAfee, faced threats and was concerned about getting security for his family. This is appalling, but not an unusual feature of TrumpWorld. McAfee, a conservative, will be treated by MAGA as having been somehow biased (I checked Twitter--they are GRUMBLING) when it is hard to objectively state what was uncovered in the trial more than a mere appearance of impropriety. 

He made as fair a decision as he could. He chided Willis for her conduct. It's not enough. 

From what I can tell, the lesson of TrumpWorld is similar to the lesson of playing "tic-tac-toe" in the 1983 movie WarGames--the only winning move is not to play. It means a little something different here though--it's the choice of game. You don't win at appeasing MAGA. You win only by doing your job. In other words--how about a nice came of chess?

Mike Pence knows this one. He just recently explained why he could not endorse Donald Trump, his old running mate, for president. Trump required him to do something illegal and unconstitutional to show his loyalty and he could not. In return, his life was threatened, and Trump to this day considers Pence "disloyal". It seems clear that to Trump's mind, you cannot serve two masters: the Constitution and Trump.  It also stands as a stark warning to other would-be GOP VP nominees--he will not be someone you serve with, just someone you serve. I can only ask what the conscience of a conservative has to say about that.

Friday, March 15, 2024

The Fine Red Line

 

I think it was an act of moral courage for Senator Schumer to express criticism of Israel PM Netanyahu and concern for the lives of innocent Palestinians. Leaving aside whether he was the best person to make this message because of his own Jewishness and long-standing support of Israel, that there needed to be daylight between what the United States supports and what Netanyahu's government is carrying out was a necessity, because OUR US government must be accountable. The ongoing suffering of people who had no choice in the horrific and malicious actions of 10/7 is inhumane. The idea of so much suffering on both sides without a clear path to reconciliation, and ultimately peace, feels unthinkable. 

There have been protests in Israel that suggest that many people do not feel like Netanyahu has done everything he can to get the hostages home and end the current war. Although Schumer called for elections what he did not do is imply who should win them--rather, he indicated that a referendum on the desires of the people in our democratic ally would settle what their vision is for the future of the Israeli state--without leaving it in the hands of someone who had done everything he could to prevent a two-state solution. 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Celebrity Apprentice, But For VP

 


First it was an ad for cosmetic dentistry, and now she's touting custom insoles--just what, you may ask, is up with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem? 

My personal best guess is, she's angling to raise her profile for VP by doing Celebrity Apprentice challenges because she can't count on Corey Lewandowski to put in a good word for her.  I mean, what is one supposed to do--stay in South Dakota? It's the Indiana of just a scootch over to the west. And as with Mike Pence, there's only so much right wing signifying you can do as a governor before you sort of wonder how it will pay off. Or not pay off, as the case may be. 

Does it feel like she's using her office a little bit for commercial purposes in a conflict of interest? Like, is she expecting something in return (or has she received something in return we don't know about)? Who knows? Maybe she only went into politics because she wanted to be a spokesmodel someday, and never got that Star Search contract. But as I've said before, the GOP secret to conflicts of interest is, if you always work in your own self- interest, there's never a conflict! 

TWGB: Where Did it Go?

  So, it looks like Trump is broke. He got Chubb to do his E. Jean Carroll thing, but they'll be fucked if they are standing his fraud t...