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. 

TWGB: Terminal Main Character Syndrome

 

A young DOGE staffer has left because the Wall Street Journal had some questions, as in, "Is this racist account you? " I'm sure Elon Musk is shocked--shocked! That there are little racist pishers in his Kekistanian domain.  Wow. So exotic and not-vetted. 

What's really funny about this is, when our actual confirmed Secretary of State, former US Senator and former presidential candidate Marco Rubio, made a big statement about not going to the G20 in Johannesburg:

I wanted to ask the Real President (tm) Elon Musk if this was the result of his bitch titties being in a wringer over the concept of the US confronting the Woke Mind Virus on what used to be his terf. I mean, "turf".

Of course, I do. I was just confused because the US is obviously in a transitional period and our pronouns stopped being US and seem to be he/huh! regarding Astroboy. 

He's not the president that MAGA voted for, but he's what they got. Up in our databases, taking our numbers, deciding the size of the government HE thinks we deserve. Regardless of what any vetting into him might show, or what his conflicts of interest might be. 

Boos for the US

Trump's tariffs are an incredible unforced error nationally on our part, because we never had that level of animosity with our neighbor to the north before (I guess since the war of 1812). I don't know that Trump understands what Candian energy means for New England states in winter, or to what degree imposing these tariffs makes him the asshole, but we are going to readily see the problem in action because our good allies are going to reciprocate--because why shouldn't they? 

Trump doesn't understand water conservation in California and probably thinks BC needs to turn a spigot somewhere so I'm not going to try to parse his wrong-headed grievances. The last North American Trade agreement was the USMCA which was a Trump Administration coup! (As far as successful Trump Administration coups go!) and now he wants to say it's all been problematic? 

We're Gonna Nuke a Hurricane This Time, Aren't We?

 

So, last night I posted, then pulled, a blogpost about Rep. Andy Ogles' proposed Amendment to have Trump serve a second term.

That man's brains are going to be banana pudding with no vanilla wafers by then, but ok. https://t.co/XzTnGe2lts

— Vixen Strangely (@VixenStrangely) January 24, 2025

I was expanding a little on the idea that Trump is very old, actually, and manifestly not as competent as he was even during his incompetent first term. So, what the hell would be left to re-elect?  When I got up the next morning, I realized how ill-conceived that idea might be. Trumpism is juche. It is revolutionary and divorced from typical Republicanism and seeks independence from reliance on other nations by just like, taking whatever it is they have we rely on. You know, capitalist juche. No allies, just a little bit of taking hints from Russia and China. And constant propaganda. 

It wouldn't matter if Trump's mentis was compost.  The GOP has gotten used to ignoring that Trump is, in fact an idiot. Only a really bad fuck up might save us. 

The problem is--how bad? And tonight, the GOP confirmed Pete Hegseth, a white knuckle black out drunk and possible rapist and spousal abuser, with nowhere near the experience he ought to have, for Secretary of Defense. 

Because what could go wrong? What have we got to lose? 

Show Me Where on this Body of Christ the Gospel Hurt You

I don't know why Bishop Mariann Budde asking Trump to "Be Best" blew so many MAGA's little minds, but I think it has to do with the idea that while Christ might have told people that whatever you do to the least of these, you do to him--but like, what does that have to do with Christianity?  It gets read not as a plea to the better angels of Trump's nature, but a call out, because they understand he has no such better angels--

And that is exactly what they like about him. It doesn't just say something about him--but themselves. And if it made them feel bad or less than what their professed faith actively calls them to be in so many words, they would rather lash out at being made to feel bad, than actually reconsider the morality of brutalizing other people, doing actual harm to them.

Which sounds weak and insecure to me.

Just a thought. 

Not Looking Back in Anger

 

The Biden Administration wasn't perfect, but it was professional. You want the most benign, bloodless take I can make on it--there you go. We'll be asking ourselves for a long time what else could have been done:

Did they do all they could to prevent Trump 2.0 and bring him to any kind of justice? Did they try hard enough to whip inflation--or at least, leave a bigger impression that's what they were doing? Did they do enough for Ukraine? Could they have done less for Israel and prevent the worst of the suffering in Gaza?

Here's what I do know; hindsight is 20/20. The Biden Administration, like Biden himself, weren't perfect and weren't able to do everything they wanted to do. Biden himself would say, "Don't compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative." You can pick apart what might have been different, in terms of policy, in terms of politics, that might have given us a second Democratic term. You can ask if Biden should have, oh, right about after the midterms, said that he wanted to concentrate on seeing out his term and promoting a new candidate to lead his party. 

What Do MAGA have Against Sign Language?

 

Charlie Kirk called out by US National Association of the Deaf as sign language controversy escalates https://t.co/L5dW9CSvqV #deaf #interpreters #ASL #signlanguage

— Deaf News Today (@DeafNewsToday) January 12, 2025

I see Chris Rufo has also decided he needs to be mad about sign language interpreters, too.  Deaf people deserve to have access to information in a way that is immediate and relatable to them. It actually doesn't distract anyone--mostly. If you are distracted, maybe this is a cognitive problem about YOURSELF you need to get addressed. 

But as a person who finds aural processing a little more difficult in my older years who uses CC for tv--it sucks and is not reliable. I can hear, but I am aware it is not always adequate for people who can't. Also, CC is absolutely not great at all for someone who might be deaf or hard of hearing and also has an issue with reading facility, like dyslexia. 

Generational Wingnut Welfare Cases

 

Rep. Brandon Gill: "Listen, I think that the people of Panama, I think that the people of Greenland, I think that the people of Canada for that matter should be honored that President Trump wants to bring these territories under the American fold." pic.twitter.com/T6IJzunB0c

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 8, 2025

This obnoxious weird and wrong little man is married to Dinesh D'Souza's daughter.  D'Souza had to apologize for being very badly wrong about the 2020 election. His little son-in-law is just being part of the family--pay him little mind, because little mind is all they have 

Post-script: A lot of the GOP have adopted the "should be flattered" talking point, but to get at why this stupidity makes me furious--it's not a serious opinion. Telling a country "We will economically or militarily threaten you because we want something you have" is,a war of choice--and it amounts to saying "If someone threatens to rape you, you should be flattered." 

Trump Sexual Abuse Verdict Upheld

 

A federal appeals court has issued a written opinion upholding Trump's defamation verdict which found him liable for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll:

"We conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” the 2nd Circuit said. “Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”

There is something about this case that fascinates me: the first defamation case found him liable with a $5 million dollar verdict. The second, at which he briefly testified, awarded an additional $83.3 million in damages. Something about Trump was very unsympathetic to a jury. 

The Gaetz Report

 

We heard that the ethics investigation into Matt Gaetz would show illegal drug use (cocaine, molly), paying for (lots of) sex, including with a minor, and well, yeah. He did that stuff.  He left a pretty considerable trail of payments to women--$90K to various women. It's fairly unsavory:

The report noted that while all the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual, one woman told the committee the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have "impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent."

Another woman told the committee, "When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated."

For his part, Gaetz had tried (unsuccessfully) to sue to block the report from coming out.  This is because he knew it would look bad--full stop. He's not unaware of his conduct, he's just unclear on why it should have anything to do with how people judge him.

You really do hate to see a person go so wrong from the unfortunate effects of a very comfortable and privileged upbringing. 

Drone-Mania!!

 

You know, while the quality of mercy is not strained with respects to highly performative Republican arsehats, the benefit of the doubt has been badly overdrawn, and when former PA gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano posts something like the above, well, I presume "cultural illiteracy" as well as several other kinds. The kneejerk, Pavlovian tendency to seize any passing whaaambulance in their jaws is something MAGA's will simply have to see to on their own. 

While many no doubt assume their audience is stupid, I'm pretty sure.... well, you KNOW.

But with respects to the headline-writer at The New Republic--is it the "worst"?

There is--another. Nancy Mace speculates they could be from something "outside our universe." 

Feels Soft and Squishy

 

This is just a quick observation, but there's some overlap between the people who insist on men being manly men and mewling babies who are a-scareded of WWIII with Russia. Charlie Kirk isn't talking to Russian people in the above screencap (do they care who he is?) or even to Putin--he's telling his followers that what Russia is doing (invading Ukraine, threatening to go further, sabotage against European energy/communication infrastructure) is not their problem. People who want to do anything about that are the problem.

The question isn't "Do American people want war with Russia?" Of course not. The question is "Did the Cold War actually end?' and maybe not. The next question is, "What is Russia actually doing to us?"

Well, a campaign of disinformation, election interference, paying western-based influencers to spread RU propaganda, weakening our long-established ties with our allies...and the actual heroes in Europe--the people physically defending their own homeland with bravery and ingenuity, are somehow being treated as if they are "prolonging a war" by not rolling over for a genocide.

We had a great generation in this country that despised the idea of a genocide in Europe, who appreciated the fight for freedom and democracy. On the right, I see genocide-deniers and people who want to see we are not even a democracy.  I don't care for propagandists who have no moral convictions to even bother having the courage of, except possibly for culture war (a distraction, and a dangerous one that divides our country and weakens it). 

This sort of thing feels very weak and squishy to me 

Seeing things in Pictures

 

While Elon Musk is channeling Fonzi, 

The withered husk of Trump

is a played out Ponzi. 

His expression wry, 

his head seems bare

as if worry at last has

worn off his hair.

Shit--Here's a Good TrumpWorld Final Pitch:

 

Difficult time. The US elections are in a few hours. Just want to wish you all peace, guys. But if things go bad, save your families. You know where to go. We do care of YOU.

God bless. pic.twitter.com/qZbol82lxU

— Maria Butina (@Maria_Butina) November 5, 2024

But I'm pretty sure Trump is actually headed for Venezuela because he keeps saying so. Also being back in Russia has done wonders for Butina's health you can tell. She's looking greeeaaaaaatt. 

Look, I could point to all the misogyny Trump dumped out just today, suggesting he might like to hit Michelle Obama, imagining Kamala Harris in a ring with Mike Tyson, his running mate calling Harris "trash", or his racism and the racism of his campaign, such that the campaign only just last week--the final week of the campaign, they fired a white supremacist and that the bizarrely hateful MSG rally still reverberates. 

But I'm going to point to the fact that there is something wrong with thinking after the investigation into the 2016 election, after the first impeachment, after 1/6, some people don't recognize what hundreds of national security professionals have: 

Two Messages to Think About:

 

Trump Abortion Bans have had devastating consequences for women across America.

Donald Trump is the architect of this health care crisis. If elected, he will go even further to ban abortion nationwide and strip away reproductive freedom in all 50 states. pic.twitter.com/eglE7Smdrr

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 1, 2024

VS.

Sorry we want MALE only voting. The 19th might have to go. 👨🏼#JohnMcEntee #McEntee2028 pic.twitter.com/OJzXadROgo

— McEntee 2028 (@JohnMcEntee28) October 28, 2024

I don't know that it gets any starker than that--do I have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or am I the appendage of male society?

If I was not already a Democrat, this stark comparison would be everything I really needed to know. And it is not a joke--it's a vintage concern in the age of Trump. 

I am not going back.  I don't want any woman to feel like she has to accept she has to go back to when we didn't have choices and we didn't have voices. 

 

Portrait of a MAGA Patriot

 

Someone's angry MAGA mee-maw became profanely enraged when advised that she can't come in to vote with her Trump shirt so she goes ahead and votes in her foundational garment. 

Hallelujah. Be a suffragette, Ms. MAGA. Don't let them mothers tell you how to be.  Vote for that serial sexual abuser, you dusty old sister-shafter. 

Anyway, Trump's lil mini-me JD Vance rolled his eyes so hard his eyeliner flaked and responded:

"What a patriot."

A lot of people took this to mean he supported being abusive to poll workers, and wow! That truly seems to be the MAGA vibe. 

TWGB: This Polished Coprolite

 

So, Monday I found myself thinking about Trump wanting and accepting Purple Hearts even though his probably fake bone spurs prevented him from actually serving our country when young when Trump stood in front of a backdrop of ruin and disaster and human tragedy--and accepted a french fry pin for doing a dopey photo op in a swing state from someone who for some reason decided that the way to handle Trump is to go the "Dear Leader" juche approach. Trump, while there, having disrupted relief efforts, defended his lies about FEMA that already resulted in the arrest of a man who threatened violence. 

It's really, really hard to imagine a shittier human being--but just watch! He gets shittier!

He since went on to say, in all sincerity to a person asking about what he would do regarding education that he would end the gender re-assignment surgeries that absolutely are not happening in schools. You can't get Tylenol in a public school without a permission slip. Teachers are buying crayons and construction paper out of pocket. And this deeply disturbed person thinks hours-long surgeries are being given out for free to minors? With no parental consent? And he said it all to demonize schools, teachers, trans kids. To spread hate as fertilizer for his own benefit.

It's beneath contempt to think that anyone takes this seriously. It's "children who identify as cats use litter boxes at school" level stupid. Anyone with a modicum of critical thought would understand why you don't say something that weird and wrong out loud where thinking people could hear--

A Whiff of Musk

 

For some reason, Elon Musk has decided to ally himself with a white nationalist supposed billionaire US candidate for president, which just seems so out of place for a billionaire silver spoon immigrant from South Africa who thinks he wants to be DD Hariman and probably just wants a Space Force uniform. Is it the fascism? Is it the gimmicky anti-trans scapegoating that tries to amplify a """"problem"""" where no real problem exists? 

Is it the desire to keep really lucrative government contracts that might be in doubt because of various levels of fuckery? 

Shit I dunno. But instead of thinking about that really hard and popping a blood vessel about what he's done to Twitter, which is where I live, and which I will never call "X: because that is stupid, and undoes a really great cohesive social media theme, with the birdhouses and "Tweets" and other things that all kind of were bird-related, he just made everything dumb and generic and let Nazis post everywhere--I'm thinking about how Musk might be inviting himself to go to prison.

Because he's trying to buy votes and also has manufactured a fake Harris website and has also, too, has some kind of dumb lottery going and his GOTV thing is also not even effective and is really stupid.

No. Really. 

TWGB: Occupied America

 

Trump seems to be closing in on the finish line by wallowing in increasingly "blood and soil" fascist, anti-immigrant rhetoric, so I want to point out that there is a kind of irony that he wants to pretend there is an "occupied America." This depends upon a Pizzagate-level bit of idiocy--that a whole town could be occupied by a gang and it wouldn't be front-page news. Just like there could supposedly be a rash of pet-murders and it wouldn't be a major thing if it were actually true. And just like the mayor of Springfield had to come out and debunk Trump/Vance lies, the mayor of Aurora had to do the same. 

"Occupation" is an interesting term. I can think of, for example, the Bundy ranch militia occupation, which had checkpoints and everything. But you know what I really think about? MAGA occupation of the public sphere in terroristic ways. Like way FEMA operations in North Carolina were recently disrupted by a local RW militia. One man has since been arrested. 

You want to know who has also been threatened? Meteorologists. That's insane. But they are getting threats for talking about climate change. As opposed to, I guess, talking about weather machines in the possession of Zionist Communist multi billionaires, or whatever the stupid conspiracy theory is today. 

You could well ask, as former President Obama thoughtfully asked--"When did this become okay?" This is certainly not how it used to be. We didn't, for example, think of a riot at the Capitol as Speaker Mike Johnson recently stupidly put it, part of the election process. Maybe we could have once counted on responsible adults calling out Italian satellites, Venezuelan voting machines, German servers, Chinese thermostats and the like as being deadass stupid. 

TWGB: He'll Dance to Anything

 

Wow. This is a new low, even for Trump.

“It Was a Setup,” “Could have been the parents” Trump tries to blame Gold Star families for the Arlington incident
pic.twitter.com/7eO9CZ3tag

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 31, 2024

Maybe the Gold Star families, who invited him and have signed statements to the effect that they think his being there was cool and totally legal--fucked him over by posting pictures and videos. That's what HE SAID, babies, not me. He tried to suggest the people who were there to back his ass up backed his ass over. So he suggested he didn't know anything about the strategy of his dumb stunt and maybe he was stunted upon. Maybe it was the White House that he was going to claim bailed on a solemn event they totally were clued into.  Kamala Harris called him on it, and now that stunt is supposed to be "he said and she said". 

I'm not here to belittle the Gold Star families because their grief is real and how they feel is real regardless of the facts on the ground. Their loved ones saved people in assisting the evacuation that day and died in a suicide bombing from ISIS-K. Nearly 170 Afghan people also were killed by that blast. The war had been 20 years long. And many servicepeople cycled through that assignment.  They can cast their blame any and everywhere it feels valid. But we all know that serving in the armed services can mean being placed in danger. Their safety was not guaranteed, they guaranteed the safety of others and that was their great sacrifice and why Section 60 is hallowed ground. 

Nothing I can say makes that right. Throughout the war on terror, we have not stopped the tactic of extraordinary violence. The results are appalling and personal. I demur from politicizing it. I have my own ideas about why the withdrawal sucked, but it was a group effort. And yet, for the Abbey Gate tragedy, I still blame ISIS. There was one airport, and there were so many people who were running out of time to be safe.   It was time to leave, and the crowd itself was an exploit. An opportunity for terror. One last kick in the slats before leaving. One demonstration of the ideology that faced the country we tried to rehabilitate into something like a Western image.