Pure and Simple Disgust

 

RAMAPHOSA: I am sorry I don't have a plane to give you

TRUMP: I wish you did. I'd take it. If your country offered the US Air Force a plane, I would take it

RAMAPHOSA: Okay pic.twitter.com/TgvODTok9P

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 21, 2025

I took a bit of a vacation from political blogging because every time I look at Trump and company, all I can feel is pure and simple disgust. I can barely scrape it together to rhetorically fluff the corruption and assholery into something mildly amusing, anymore. In the clip above, the president of South Africa has been subjected to an ambush of white genocide claptrap by a senile racist lunatic, and levels Trump with a quip about his obvious corruption--and Trump, unknowingly sells it: of course he would take a plane from anyone. He's a taker, a crook. 

And everyone knows it. 

Of course, this is about the "free plane" from Qatar, which has now been accepted by the Department of Defense. There is no such thing as a free plane. It will need to be hardened for use as a base f operations for the US C-i-C, and it should be inspected minutely for any surveillance devices.  And the funny old thing is--Trump asked for it. 

A Little TrumpWorld Idolatry for Your Sunday Services

This feels unhealthy to me, but of course, it's parked right there at Trump International Golf Course now, because why not? It's a Trump property, and if he wants to decorate with assorted artworks promoting the man, the myth, the legend, I guess that's his business. It's just that when he does stuff like this,

it's hard not to feel like he's sending a very political message:

The White House moved the official portrait of former President Barack Obama to a new location in the building’s Grand Foyer, replacing it with a painting of President Donald Trump with his fist raised in the air right after last year’s assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The portrait appears to be based on a photo of then-candidate Trump, bloodied and surrounded by Secret Service agents, still onstage after being shot at the campaign event. That image, along with Trump’s words to “fight, fight, fight,” became a hallmark of Trump’s bid for a second term.

"Appears to be"? Of course it is.  Trump didn't just suddenly find himself like a martyr, you know. His cult believes that what didn't kill him made him stronger. 

Signal Amid All the Noise

 

🚨🚨🚨Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world https://t.co/FxTndiEMdk@DashaBurns @politico

— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) April 2, 2025

While we're all here dangling on a financial precipice, I just wanted to point out that this story yesterday, following on from Signalgate and the revelations that pretty much TrumpWorld (im)proper  is using the app and the Waltz himself regularly uses his private email account.  It's kind of a big deal that people would have time to be bothered about if.....

(Waves hands about frantically)  If not for all this. Which almost makes you wonder (or not "wonder") whether everything being on fire is supposed to distract you from all the other fires. 

Greenland Gets a Visit from the Creepy Neighbors

 You know, you could imagine a world where the US was a good neighbor, the kind you could borrow salt from in a pinch, the kind that didn't threaten territorial expansion, where Usha Vance could have had a nice little three-day vacation, seen the sights, taken in a sled dog race, mingled with the locals--without being protested. Sure, they might not have been as thrilled to see her husband, but that would only because Jerkwater Dipshit Vance is kind of a pill. 

We don't live in that world now. We live in a world where people went door-knocking to see if anyone wanted to visit with the Second Lady and everyone in Greenland was like, "Hard pass." 

This is why what could have been a nice little weekend became three hours at Pituffik AFB, where VP Vance, with servicemembers as a backdrop, made a kind of creepy speech in Greenland's general direction, with comments that sounded along the lines of, "Nice but very cold place, would be a shame if something happened to it," and "Denmark could never love you the way we could."

JD Vance Follows Orders

 

There's something people don't like about J D Vance, and my personal take on it is that he's very inauthentic in some ways. Even his inauthenticity feels fake. Yesterday, he tried to make invading Greenland seem plausible by saying that Greenland is necessary for the United States for...reasons, and Denmark is a "bad ally." 

I don't think there is a convincing argument in there, because, I mean, what did Denmark or Greenland ever do to us?  (I'll give you a minute. There you go. Exactly.) 

Anyway, the Second Lady is part of an "aggressive" delegation going to Greenland this week because the idea of taking over Greenland being sort of stupid isn't actually going to stop this misadministration. No one is loving the idea--it's sort of an anti-diplomacy.

But unconvincing as it is, JD's job is telling stories. So, this is his story until Trump or Peter Theil or whoever needs another one. 

Every Picture Tells A Story

 

https://t.co/4WcVZ6oW4w pic.twitter.com/RvHmjuyWIN

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) March 22, 2025

I am trying not to see Steve Witkoff's interview with Tucker Carlson in the worst possible way and there is not actually a not-bad way to view it. First of all, Tucker Carlson? Second if all--we are just going to pass on with a straight face that the former KGB agent prayed after the Butler incident as if that is not serious applications of narcissist lube?

And of course we are, because Witkoff is another fucking significance-junky looking to get high off ego strokes. This is a personality the Kremlin is totally aware of. But what sends me is the idea of a portrait.

Trump's "charity" slush funds was all about Trump portraits.  All Trump ever wanted to know about himself was that he oughta be in pictures. (Can someone help me with a thing where I wonder why Trump sees himself as Norma Desmond, Grizabella and Evita?) He's a just a diva. And Witlesskopf is playing very stupid and credulous, too.

And it doesn't appear to be an act. 

Not for the first time, I find myself wondering if anybody knows how to play this game? Look, stupid rich fuckboys, I THOUGHT, at least were sent out in the world with some idea that the world was going to try to blow smoke up their skirts and to be careful of being rolled. Ane here these putzes sit, heaven's own bocce balls. Innocent as little fawns in a sunlight-gilded bower in the eye of a sniper rifle. 

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? 

This is Juvenile Damage

JD Vance claims that efforts to suppress misinformation and hate speech "are going to destroy Western Civilization. They're gonna destroy Europe, and they would destroy the United States of America if we allowed them to fester. Thank God we have a president now who believes in… pic.twitter.com/EKIIF4rXoD

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 4, 2025

March 4, 2025

Sometimes I wonder what JD Vance stands for, but to me, the persistent thing about him is that he tells stories. He creates narratives. He likes a good yarn. Jesuitical Dissembler Vance is insisting that lying is good, actually. I guess if you have a problem with it, you are probably "virtue-signaling." 

See what happened there? Lying is good and being concerned with what is true is fatally dangerous. (I personally despise the term "virtue -signaling" FWIW--people have VALUES and CONFESS THEM and LIVE BY THEM publicly if they are sincere in any fashion. Scoffing at the notion means you are basically an amoral putz.)

An Observation

 

There seem to be two main schools of thought with respects to dealing with Trump's narcissism. One is that he needs a constant supply of ass-kissing, so give it to him so that you can deal with "Nice Trump." Behave a certain way, and you can expect positive results. The other is that he's just a shameful cretin and treat him like one until he slinks off fuming.

Trump strikes me as being as socially hierarchical as can be imagined; very kiss up, punch down. Even if we didn't suspect (or know) that he's compromised, he would treat Putin more deferentially because in his eyes, this is a multibillionaire with nukes. This is why it's okay for Elon Musk to go about the White House dressed like a large teenager, but Zelenskyy, who is dressed in solidarity with his people at war, gets a chiding. 

Cowardice Chasing Stupidity

Welcome to a stupid enterprise--emissaries from the Trump Administration appearing in Riyadh ready to deal away things they have no control over to appease Russians who our best intelligence indicates have no intention whatsoever to end the war in Ukraine.  They sat there and discussed what we were willing to stipulate without Europe or (and ESPECIALLY) Ukraine there, like their input would not matter. 

Because what the hell is the country that was actually invaded even doing in the picture, right? Let alone our NATO partners, huh? Like, what ABOUT Poland?

The picture above is a portrait of "cowardice chasing stupidity". Collectively, they might know what they are doing has no fucking chance in the world of leading to anything productive because of course not--but they are all dancing to Trump's incredibly foolish tune. 

What is Intelligence, Anyway?

 

 

Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed for Director of National Intelligence and sworn in and we're just going to see about that, aren't we? 

Does it sound like I have issues with this? Well, yeah. I was a little surprised that Sen. McConnell was the only Republican who voted against her, but it seems that the Senate GOP have decided that they aren't picking these fights with Trump and are just going to let him have what he wants. I do not think they are being honest with themselves about what he wants or what the results will be of giving it to him. 

The position of DNI was created in response to intelligence failures leading up to 9/11. The point of the office was to coordinate our various intelligence agencies and correlate the information into more cohesive overviews. But intelligence is only as useful as the people looking at the products. 

And I simply don't have faith in Tulsi Gabbard's judgment. 

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. 

The "Riviera of the Middle East"

 

There's something hilariously ghoulish about Trump's desire to own Gaza. We've gone from MAGAs claiming he's for America First and against war, to him talking about re-taking the Panama Canal, Greenland, and maybe making Canada the "51st state"--and now he has dreams of turning Gaza, a place he says is associated with so much death--

And turning it into the "Riviera of the Middle East." 

That's right, we will have to first permanently relocate the people already in Gaza. Then remove all the rubble and rebuild. And of course there will need to be a military presence....

The Shart of the Deal

 

So, while Elon Musk was in Germany entirely not beating these allegations of being a Nazi, the far-right dipshit he supported here in the States was alienating allies, first, by a really dismayingly confrontational call with Denmark over Greenland, and then by starting a completely unnecessary trade war with Colombia.

For Trump fans, this is one cool demolition derby. For people who give a shit, this is absolutely nutso. None of it is necessary. It's all unforced political and diplomatic errors.

We have a military presence on Greenland. We could get more access with honey than vinegar. We do not have to OWN it. (Don't get me started on the absurdity Trump is putting on with the "Canada/51st state" shit.)  Are we resettling some of our people up north? (Is this a meta-commentary on global warming?  We've had a great trade situation with Colombia, and they have worked with our DEA and immigration authorities historically very well! 

So what is the problem? Trump is! He needs to be a big macher. He needs to make things worse and then maybe pull them out and take credit for the crisis that was of his making.

See? The Shart of the Deal. He makes the mess and pats himself on the back for other people cleaning it up. 

When Russia Has Shown You Who They Are

 

All the videos of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight showing the damage show holes in the wreckage have entry holes on the port side and exit holes on the starboard side, likely with a slight angle from below. pic.twitter.com/z4NxEapLWd

— Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) December 25, 2024

Russia shot down that plane just like they shot down MH17 in 2014 and just like they shot down Korean flight 007 41 years ago. Soviet or Putin, we have a structure of murderousness and lying; and taking no responsibility for the loss of many human lives. 

Russia needs disinformation to exist, and this is why I deplore the idea that the structure for seeking out disinformation is being dismantled in the name of "free speech." Democracy can only exist with a well-informed public, yet US conservatives like the idea of a disinformed public softened up by foreign powers because they have so far benefitted from it. 

If I hadn't in the last 40 years of my political awareness seen a brilliant reason to not support the GOP ever--holy shit! Watergate, Iran/Contra and the yellow cake /WMD's lies are like tiddlers in comparison to any and every pretense that Russia is a reasonable honest nation we can do business with. We are absurdly weakened by such a stance. 

A Man, a Plan, a Canal--A Dumbfuck (UPDATES)

 

I’m sorry, Panama pic.twitter.com/WmUwtw5jpu

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 22, 2024

Just as with Canada, which Trump wants to be our 51st state or first province, whichever the case may be, the dotard who wanted to buy Greenland is looking to expand and retake the Panama Canal. I don't know who put him on this current tip. Maybe some import-export guy from Vandelay with a Mar-A-Lago membership. All I'm saying is, this is the next four years. 

Tiresome, innit?

UPDATE: He's talking about Greenland again. For all I know, the Trump Administration will be looking at invading Mexico not just because of the cartels, but if they are going to call Baja "California" then goddamn it....

UPDATE:

“… the United States feels ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” https://t.co/LcNGY8SRX9 pic.twitter.com/Hg3Lo007us

— DrLeoStrauss - same handle @bsky.social (@DrLeoStrauss) December 23, 2024

Well, shit.

The End of Assad

 

I haven't really known where to start this week. Tblisi? Romania? But it's Syria. Good gracious if I were ever to believe, God. The rebels took over everywhere. Everything, after so many years, fell. And Bashar al-Assad's Russian friends have been run off, too. And he has fucked off to Moscow. (Actually, I know he was in Moscow last week and never noticed him leaving. When the heck did he leave to fuck off on back?)

I don't know if Assad-cheerleader and avid consumer of RU agitprop, Tulsi Gabbard is at home crying into her Putin shaped comfort woobie, but the quality of her often-offered pro-Assad and pro-Putin opinions are about to take an uncommon beating.  Which she totally has earned. 

I also don't know how Trump and them feel about what Romania has done with respects to their dodgy election. I personally think Trump should have been disqualified as an insurrectionist, but we just don't do stuff like that here, regardless of what our Constitution says. 

I do winder if some of the people who voted for him are feeling the buyer's remorse yet. And what exactly would happen if we tried to stage a "do-over" here. 

But this post isn't about the US--it's about this:

TWGB: Putin First.

 

Citing a Trump aide, Woodward reports that there have been “maybe as many as seven” calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left the White House in 2021. https://t.co/LJGGhxxIux

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) October 8, 2024

Sorry to whoever is on the line, but if Putin wants to dish, Trump is asking you to bounce. I, for one, think Biden is right seeing Putin as the epitome of evil, but the funny old thing is--Trump puts him first. He slipped him COVID-19 tests when they were hard to come by and had as many as seven calls with him since leaving office. 

That's not diplomacy. People who aren't holding any office have no business doing "diplomacy" because they are not responsible for making any pledges about what the government can or can't do. And Trump is in no position unless.

Unless.

It's because he thinks something he can do for someone in the future is contingent on whether they can help him be the one able to help them in the future. 

One dirty hand washing the other with mud, you might say. 

A Cause for Celebration

 

The deal we made to bring home wrongfully detained Americans would not have been possible without our allies.

They stepped up and stood by us.

So for anyone who questions whether allies matter, today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world. pic.twitter.com/KSikbcgnUA

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 2, 2024

In an historic multinational effort months in the making, 16 prisoners detained in Russia were exchanged for eight people held in the US, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. It is a testament to the power of diplomatic relationships and teamwork, and a great day for the former prisoners and their loved ones. 

The above message from President Biden acknowledges our allies, but let's give him his due--this is his expertise and dedication in negotiations finalized while he was making the decision to end his candidacy, knowing there was yet more things he wanted to accomplish and irons that might be left in the fire. This is a man who may be old, but doesn't live in the past and has done his part to try to shape the future. 

A swap like this doesn't occur overnight, and Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva would not have been released without Russia getting prisoners of their own in exchange. It speaks volumes about the nature of the negotiations that Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian dissident was part of the exchange, and that Alexei Navalny could have been (was he murdered so as never to be released--one can't help but wonder). It shows the concern for Russia's pro-democracy possibility.

This diplomatic success is a cause for celebration.

A Little Foreign Policy Discussion?

 

Forgive me if I'm disregarding "the discourse" about President Biden's press conference regarding foreign policy--it's very stupid. Biden is exceptionally knowledgeable about world affairs and has simply done a fine job as president in fraught times. He isn't going to make everyone happy. A press conference isn't going to rescue him from a fickle media or self-aggrandizing "smart guys".  They want bumper stickers, he's got volumes of actual experience, just with a few "typos". 

While this pivotal/not pivotal press conference has been taking place, the former president has been sitting down with Viktor Orban, who had just been enjoying the company of Putin and Xi. Orban is pretending he's on a peace mission. Let me show you the Russian definition of peace:

It's not just that they want to keep Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. They don't want Ukraine to be a country. This is not peace. It's the ragged bloody end of genocide. (Actually, why should they be rewarded by keeping anything they stole via murder? ) This is the "peace" Trump says out loud where people can hear that he would resolve "before inauguration". Oh and get back WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich.