The Real Social Security Fraudsters, He Says

 

Howard Lutnick, late of Cantor Fitzgerald, who is not, by any stretch, a poor man, has sorted out who the real fraudsters and abusers of Social Security might be--the people who would complain if they failed to receive a check. If they failed to receive their check, that they were counting on, because they paid into the system during their entire working life? I mean, say what, now?

“What we have to do is stop sending money to someone who’s not hurt, who’s on disability for 50 years,” he claimed. “It’s ridiculous, and they have another job.”

At one point in the wide-ranging, nearly two-hour conversation, Lutnick also said that if Social Security “didn’t send out their checks this month,” his “mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain.”

“She’d think something got messed up, and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” the billionaire businessman said.

Russia Doesn't Want Peace/ Updated

 

⚡️ Ukraine accuses Russia of false flag attack on Sudzha gas metering station in Kursk Oblast.

Russian media earlier claimed Ukrainian forces had struck the key gas transit facility, which plays a crucial role in Russian gas exports to Europe.https://t.co/mFhLKRg9CZ

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 21, 2025

Europe knows it.  The US should know it. But Trump wants to talk about rare earth minerals and the operation of nuclear power plants because he's a greedy dullard. Putin doesn't only no want peace, but there is nothing in anything he has done this week that has actually suggested anything of the sort. 

In other news, US intelligence confirms that Ukraine troops are not surrounded in Kursk--a thing Trump keeps saying. So why does he say it?

Here's the scary thing--I think he doesn't exist in a world where facts matter. There is no strategy anywhere in here. It's all an old man's fantasy (two, if you also count Putin's imperialistic fantasies), and people are living and dying in it. 

*****

A Transformative Arc of Potential Energy

 

Several Tesla vehicles were set on fire in Las Vegas early Tuesday morning, according to police.

This is wrong—violence and vandalism are never the answer.
pic.twitter.com/01l75YXARH

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 18, 2025

I have a deep and intractable vein of cynicism that runs through the entirety of my being--are all the Tesla fires politically demonstrative, or  is it possible that arson and cutting short the life of a piece of technology is not symbolic of a rage against the machine-manufacturer, but a smoke signal that the brand's issues are more immediate? I have wondered what the resale value of a Tesla is and whether that picture is likely to improve. Also, what flat sales mean for Tesla dealerships. And also, whether insurance payouts might be a motivator in some instances.

I'm not accusing people of a widespread conspiracy of bad faith. It's just if there WERE opportunists in the mix, I would totally not be surprised. 

As for me, I dislike criminality as a form of immediate protest. It gets one in more trouble personally than its effectiveness generally warrants and threatens to negatively color the message instead of raising the right kind of consciousness. I like protest movements to follow the rules of drama--start small and build to a place of pity and fear. I am very on the side of Swasticar Art and so on. Damaging other people's property, however, is a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE THING--which can also be done in entertaining ways and might be instructive, but by all means, I do protest it! How Awful! My stars and garters!

Playing a Weak Hand of Trump Cards

 

Trump has been saying that Ukraine "doesn't have any cards" but I've noticed that Trump kept publicly sweetening the deal (no NATO for Ukraine? cede territory?) just to get Putin to this point--a phone call, as if suspecting Putin is the actual harder person to bring to the table and hoping he could do it with an "all carrot, no stick" approach. 

People sometimes ask what Lincoln or Reagan would have made of the peculiar character who leads their party. Today I'm thinking of Theodore Roosevelt, who said, "Talk softly and carry a large stick." Trump might talk loudly, but who knows what "big stick" he would ever use on the one man he never criticizes? 

 He got his phone call, though--after being made to wait and being cut up by Putin amongst his real homies. His 30-day ceasefire was pretty much rejected, as Putin heaped thoroughly unacceptable conditions into the mix. Trump seems unfazed that he has been disrespected, again. 

Trump, the irascible, the petty, the critic of or his critics--he doesn't feel any need at all to respond to Putin? What gives? 

Fresh New F*ckery Incoming

 

President Trump on JFK Files: "We are tomorrow announcing and giving all of the Kennedy files...I don't believe we are are going to redact anything...it's going to be very interesting...approximately 80,000 pages." pic.twitter.com/0NW4QdLSzL

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 17, 2025

Remember when the White House traipsed some little right-wing influencers off with their photo op and their binders of nothing-burger Epstein files? 

Well, I think this is kind of like that, except it smells to me that they are doing this on the same day that Trump is going to be in contact with his buddy Putin and has been talking about pre-surrendering Crimea and continuing to lie about Ukrainian forces surrounded and so on. They have a good idea which showcase the goofballs in our media are going to pay attention to on this cursed game show.

 It feels like a distraction that will be as enlightening as a flashlight with a dead battery. I mean, we will see....

It's Especially NOT Funny Because It's True

 

pic.twitter.com/ZUeYUHMNjA

— Secular Talk (KyleKulinskiShow@bsky.social) (@KyleKulinski) March 17, 2025

MAGA doesn't care about this. MAGA says these friends of child traffickers say some things we agree with, so we will ignore that they also exploit working class Americans and threaten our retirement, our Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare and so on. Because THEY SAY SOME THINGS MAGAS LIKE.

So, it doesn't matter if they support dictators abroad, want a dictatorship here, support billionaires first, not America, and wipe their asses on the Constitution.

They say some things the MAGAS like. Are they ever true, correct, necessary things? They are just over the shit rainbow and think being along for the ride is winning--even while they are riding on a soon-to be jettisoned sidecar. 

Trump's Ukraine/Russia Delusions Do Not Go Unnoticed

 

Ukraine: *exists*

Ukrainians: literally just sleeping in their beds at 4 AM.

Russia: invades, bombs,kills, destroys, rapes, lots, kidnaps

Trump: "You don't want to pick on somebody that's a lot larger than you."pic.twitter.com/R9uDjR487G

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) March 14, 2025

Trump's kiss-up, punch down bully philosophy really shows in this nugget from Friday--but it's pure Kremlin propaganda. A few years ago, we were hearing from Tucker Carlson that Russia just wanted some space because they were feeling threatened by their neighbor, whom they already been at war with. In what way is Ukraine "picking on" Russia? By defending itself? By having done so successfully? 

But this is just a little bit of this week's weird double-speak--here's part of Trump's social media stupidity:

It's not actually true. At a point when, if there were about to be honest negotiations, it would be extremely important for this Administration to be clear on the intelligence regarding Ukraine's actual military situation--Trump has, essentially, got the matter fucked up. 

For obvious reasons (I think Russia has owned Trump for years and he made Tulsi flipping Gabbard his DNI) I think this is a horrible sign.