Kash Patel Is Incredibly Disqualified

 

Antisemitic far-right broadcaster Stew Peters responds to Kash Patel claiming that he is not familiar with Peters, despite appearing on his show multiple times: "Clearly, Kash Patel is lying. He absolutely does know who I am." https://t.co/gc5MlT7NVs pic.twitter.com/UqX9mAFFlE

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) January 30, 2025

He straight up lied. There's no beating around that point--he also lied about the 1/6 choir--he bragged about producing their single and now wants to pretend he doesn't know much about that "community".  He pretends he disagrees with Trump's clemency for the violent offenders sentenced for their 1/6 activities, but that doesn't square with his broad, conspiracy-theory based defense that the FBI (the agency he wants to lead) was behind it--

When what was behind it was Trump inviting these people to "Stop the Steal", a slogan based on a whole-ass lie, and Patel himself can't even admit Trump lost the 2020 election. 

Trump Pardons Domestic Terrorists

 

Trump and his confederates (word choice definitely intentional) like to play off what happened in 1/6 as, variously, a love-in, a prayer circle, a tourist group, but many of these people were violent, were previous offenders and some have already started being violent-minded assholes again. Take Stewart Roades of the Oath Keepers, seditious conspirator, whose sentence was actually only commuted because he really is an admitted piece of work. He was just seen at the Capitol Complex with some GOP Reps, because I guess they are some kinds of piece of work, too.

He's got family who are nervous about him being out and about, and he's not the only one.

The First Longest Day

Some people will look at the above video and assume that the Ketamine Cowboy was just feeling very patriotic regarding the installation of his preferred candidate in his new-found home. I am not one of those people. Trump gave a very specific sign regarding what he was all about with the seating of his guests in the Capitol Rotunda--where just four years and a two weeks ago his thugs invaded and committed acts of vandalism and violence--he seated his billionaires in the front row. His Krupp, his Farben, his Siemens, his...

Frick. Do you see where I am going with this? 

The day of service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. was a day of disservice to the fight for equality.  On the day we mourn the loss of the formidable Cecile Richards, the reproductiverights.gov website has gone down, because women I guess don't have those anymore. We are being saved from "gender ideology" (never hurt me one day in my life) only to be left without choices for our own bodies. 

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. 

Never Getting Over It

 

At first, I was just not going to get over 1/6/2021, but now that I think of it, I'm not getting over how in only four years, anyone convinced themselves that the disinformation-fueled violence was not just "not a Trump problem", but for some people it was even "good, actually...", so much so that if Trump pardons 1/6 rioters, some will shrug as if Trump having that power makes it right, and insurrectionist boobs like Marjorie Taylor Greene can even suggest a holiday for that event. 

Something very bad got uncorked that day, and we aren't even down to the dregs of it, I'm afraid. 

Feeling Blue Anonish

.@elonmusk conspired with foreign leaders to get Trump elected and make himself the de facto President of the U.S. There is no reason to certify the results of this election. The result was achieved via a foreign influence operation and psychological warfare on our citizens. pic.twitter.com/q3vtKOUwl8

— Andrew—New YouTube Channel @LiveFromTheResistance (@AmoneyResists) December 23, 2024

I mean, my rational brain has no proof of anything going on that would stop Trump (Musk and Vance and their various going concerns through Trump) from taking office, but some part of me really, really thinks there ought to be? 

Like it's dumb and not happening and no controlling mechanism that I know of--but still?

I would very much prefer it if a kind of lunatic corrupt, insurrectionist jackaloon was not going to be made president just because a whole bunch of my fellow countrymen seem to be dumb, spiteful, mis-and dis-informed shooting pigeons. As if there actually were grown-ups somewhere who could call a do-over or takesies-backsies or something. I know these aren't real things!

How About South Korea, Huh?

 

The political roller-coaster of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration then suspension of martial law was extreme even by the standards of South Korea. https://t.co/snAiREZDmH

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 4, 2024

I have literally no insight into South Korean politics, but I really think that guy chose poorly.

TWGB: The Farce of Law

 

Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked for the dismissal of the election interference case against Trump (without prejudice) and has dropped the challenge to Judge Cannon's dismissal of the classified documents (espionage) case--with respects to Trump, not with respects to his accomplices. 

People are pointing fingers. I see a lot of shit being shoveled Merrick Garland's way. I remember the disappointment folks had with Robert Mueller when Barr terminated his investigation and called for the report, which never did exonerate Trump, except in the eyes of TrumpWorld--and people who hadn't been paying attention. Look--I am not a lawyer, and I don't know what all goes into grand juries, planning a case, and dealing with the sheer firewall of money and privilege that comes with a guy being a former president. like Trump's lawyers were able to throw a lot of chaff up in the sights and gum up the works pretty nicely--no matter what the evidence was. 

There was a pretty damn serious PR game going on, too. And it looks to me like the clear news aspects of what Trump had done, and what those around him had done, got lost.

It seems like a lot to reckon with in a short time. I defer to the expertise of people who are experts about these things, and don't confuse my disappointment with a valid criticism--it truly is not my place to judge that part. I know my limits. 

On the other hand, the political aspect of this farce and who to blame for it all is something I feel competent to judge:

I blame Republicans. The Republican party is without honor. Since the Bush years, I have never gotten a fix on which part of them was dishonesty and which part ignorance, and I have long since stopped caring as both attributes are disqualifying. 

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: 

Is He Trying to Sabotage Himself?

 

Trump: We will build a missile defense shield.. We’ll put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker pic.twitter.com/ZN0yHTGf2M

— Acyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2024

We clearly don't have any need for the equivalent of the Iron Dome here in the continental US, but even if we did, would we want someone just walking around with CTE and a dollar store sheriff badge in charge of it? Because that would be the dumbest thing since putting roadkill-eater and brainworm-haver Bobby Kennedy in charge of anything at all to do with health--given that he has no education on the subject but "his own research" and a ton of basically shit opinions.  He'll ban fluoride, vaccines and abortion--and then, I think we might see some real fuckery. 

Look, I don't know what desperate and weird thoughts animate these kinds of celebrity stunt-casting proposals, but just like his odd McDonald's photo-op and his garbage truck bizarreness, these are things flailing campaigns might do. 

TWGB: The Russia, Russia, Russia Thing Still is Not a Hoax

 

So apparently, some fake and dumb shit is circulating on the internet that is sourced from Russia. This is no surprise after three elections with Trump, but for the newly TWGB-stooled folks, it has to do with creating election-related insecurity. Some of it has to do with Haitians--wow! Really? Following on the gross and racist lies that came from the Trump campaign recirculating white supremacist bullshit via Vance from actual white supremacists? Except in swing state Georgia, not sort of red Ohio? And the Russians pulled some shit about swing state Pennsylvania, too. 

They are being "tactical". As in, bloody obvious. 

The problem isn't whether Trump is "colluding".  It really hasn't been, although hit dogs holler. It's been "Why is Trump the guy Russia favors?" because they sure the hell don't want a strong leader for us. They would want a basically supine eager-beaver. And this is, sadly, what Trump is. Just a lil' puppy having excitement pee running down his leg to be acknowledged by someone he thinks has the kind of "real power" he wants. And this pretty much is what Neckbeard Chamberlain would be giving us as well. 

TWGB: Technical Difficulties and Complicated Business

 

Whoa, whoa! New and extremely accurate Trump campaign slogan just dropped!

Actually, I'm just being an asshole. This refers to (mostly) the thing where Trump's mic conked out and he threatened he was not going to pay the contractors because not paying contractors is his favorite thing next to loving up dictators and fingering strange. 

It is definitely not a great look when someone on the Trump campaign is pouring the Sleepytime Tea. Is Don Snoreleone okay?

No, he isn't--he's falling asleep at his own rallies he shows up for. Just like he did at his hush money trial. Aw, tiny dancer, you've had a busy day today!

But maybe "complicated business" also very accurately describes the urgency of Trump's campaign to project their man is so very dominant in the  things he maybe is doing in his campaign.

Like the support of obvious Disney villain Elon Musk who wants to recycle easily debunked and very lawsuit-worthy Dominion lies and profound familial psychological study in using one's pecker like a pogo stick RFK Jr 

Tina Peters and the TrumpWorld View

 

Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters was sentenced today to nine years in prison for trying to hack voting machines in order to "prove" voter fraud, and I think what the judge had to say in her case really said a lot about TrumpWorld:

“You are no hero,” state District Court Judge Matthew Barrett told Peters. “You’re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again.”

“Your lies are well documented, and these convictions are serious. I’m convinced you’d do it all over again if you could,” Barrett told the 68-year-old former Mesa County clerk, who was accused of using another person’s security badge to allow someone else to gain access to her county’s election system.

 She's a hero in her own mind. Just like Mike Lindell, who has gone broke, is a hero in his own mind. Like Rudy Giuliani, broke (allegedly) and disbarred, must believe. The Big Lies of TrumpWorld, and what they would do to "prove" them, give them mission: a sense of purpose, but also--attention. 

TWGB: Resorting to Crimes

 

Former President Donald Trump "resorted to crimes" to attempt to stay in office after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, federal prosecutors allege in a newly unsealed court filing released Wednesday.

In the filing submitted by special counsel Jack Smith,… pic.twitter.com/lr2ut8tFn2

— PBS News (@NewsHour) October 2, 2024

You know, it seems like it was just yesterday that current Trump running mate JD Vance was trying to focus on the future instead of discussing whether Trump lost the 2020 election, and I love that for him. Corey Lewandowski was also stuck in the same groove when asked--unable to admit His Nibs lost in 2020. 

Judge Chutkan has done the world a favor by airing out Jack Smith's brief regarding how the Trump Team, with reckless disregard for the truth, democracy, the Constitution, public safety or any other damn thing, resorted to crimes in an attempt to defraud the American people regarding our presidential election. Trump and his people did everything they could to delay his reckoning regarding January 6th, but he can't actually delay people being forewarned and forearmed--he lied about one election, and he is just bound and determined to lie about this one. 

What Trump tried to do in 2020 was election interference. This right here right now, is letting you know what he does and plans to try again. Disenfranchising people in swing states, by fraudulently messing with our votes, is something I take very personally. He says bad things happen in Philadelphia, and I may be a bad thing happening in Philadelphia myself, but I am a very legitimate voter and you DON'T try to throw out my vote without me taking it very personally.  

My feminist foremamas didn't hit picket lines and get forcefed in prison for me to not get pissed when someone tried to first of all steal my vote and then use it to support anti-woman policies like banning abortion, birth control, or any other thing that liberates me and my sisters. And I fucking mean as a White lady to correct the past by supporting the right to vote and the right of having the votes counted of the Black and Brown people Trump (and the Republican party) want to exclude.

One Rough Hour, One Rough Beast

 

Trump says his idea for stopping crime is to allow for “one really violent day”: “One rough hour, and I mean real rough...” pic.twitter.com/6XeVXL6R8b

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 29, 2024

When someone shows you who they are the first time--believe them. This is Trump, ostensibly talking about crime. But what I think he means here is--what he calls "a crime". And that could be any damn thing. Making his hair look bad on television.  Saying he didn't win in 2020, or that Russia helped him in 2016. Crimes are crimes in the run-up to a dictatorship, and then things the dictator doesn't like are crimes. 

It's a "crime" that people believe him capable of crimes. It's a "crime" that his rallies aren't attended to his liking. They have a fix for that, in North Korea. 

I remember thinking that the Telegraph and other right-wing comms in advance of 1/6 reminded me of "The Turner Diaries"--specifically, the "Day of the Rope" part. Multiple posts from Trump-affiliated right-wingers were looking to do something to "antifa". And I don't think they were at all confused that "antifa" means "anti-fascist". This is why there was only Trump fans there.

TWGB: Blame America First

 

It is impossible to overstate how despicable and dangerous Trump's demagoguery is, even if he loses again. It’s blame America first. He surpasses even the far left in calling America a bad actor, irreparably broken, a hellhole that only he can save you from. He’s the anti-Reagan. https://t.co/PT0Bdk5kho

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) September 24, 2024

It gets worse from here--Trump literally extolls the participation of Soviet Russia in WWII because he was (supposedly) talking to some rando, and literally does not know any better than to think maybe Russia wins all the wars.

Trump on Russia: Somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. That's what they do. pic.twitter.com/OCvRTPvP0j

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 24, 2024

They lost the Crimean War, they lost in Afghanistan, they lost against Japan. Russia looks bigger and better than they actually are and project strength because of paranoia. Trump doesn't know anything (a hallmark of conspiracy theorists) and so falls for anything that sounds like a fact. I wonder if he got his "news" from Tucker Carlson hosting a Holocaust denier, who happens to call Churchill the villain of WWII. 

Listening to the Felon

 

Trump: A criminal is a criminal, they generally stay a criminal and we do not have time to figure it out. pic.twitter.com/LJ1NRSVXtA

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 28, 2024

Trump isn't any nicer since he was shot at--he says so himself! His attacks on Vice-President Harris are nasty but unfocused. ("Low IQ"? Really?). And maybe he really did mean he would "fix" things so "his Christians" wouldn't have to vote anymore as in--there wouldn't be any more elections. But in the above clip--he really makes a point, doesn't he?

A sex pest like Trump stays a disgusting misogynist. A white-collar fraud stays a fraud. Trump's 34 convictions, like his 2020 loss and his two impeachments, stay on his record. It's completely true that SCOTUS can partially immunize this mess--but we can look right at him and realize that whatever his deal is--

We do not have time to figure it out. Trump says a lot of things. We shouldn't go tiptoeing through the tulips picking and choosing which crazy things he "really, really" means. (We are way past the "seriously" vs. "literally" question.) He's a conman and a thug, and that should be enough. We had whatever you want to call 1/6--he'd do it again. He lied about the election being stolen--he'd do it again. He took classified docs for whatever reason--he'd violate national security for his own weird reasons again. He screwed up the national response to COVID and crashed the economy--he can't be trusted in an emergency.

"Unity" Trump and the New Attitude

 

Trump: Crazy Nancy Pelosi followed by a hammer motion. pic.twitter.com/TpXuwZlv0Z

— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) July 19, 2024

As the pundits were desperately hoping for--Ecce Homo: the Man Reborn,  who was definitely not going to ramble on, self-pityingly, spitefully, mockingly, calling Nancy Pelosi crazy while once again referring to the tragic assault on her husband, referring to the "China virus" in a way that has inspired racist animosity against Asian people, degrading the discourse as you know....

He always does. Was he supposed to change, now? After all this time? On his biggest stage, he gave an extended-play version of his regular rally speech, with a cameo from our old friend the "late, great Hannibal Lector" and a wistful concern that Kim Jong-Un misses him. 

I'm only mildly surprised we were spared his feelings about the water pressure in his toilets. 

Biden is old. Sure. He gets tired. Sure. He gets tongue-tied. And then there are the things that deliberately come out of Donald Trump's sewer of a mouth. 

Was there anything upbeat at all in his speech to the RNC, coming after the brilliant use of the lead-up by showcasing the values of the current party as represented by Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan and Dana White?

Well, there was a shout-out to Tom Homan, a former Trump Administration official who is a significant contributor to Heritage Foundation's Project 2025--which we were not supposed to think about as being the Trump Agenda except for being constantly reminded of it. But then again, Trump also gave a shout-out to Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who is "doing a great job". At what, I'd bet you two ham sandwiches you could not say. Does Trump think he's still governor? 

J. D. Vance: The Pence Replacement

 

Collins: The last time I checked, Joe Biden didn’t approve of the chance to hang his Vice President. Does it give you any pause to be Trump’s Vice President given how he treated Mike Pence?

JD Vance: I'm extremely skeptical that Mike Pence's life was ever in danger

Collins: I… pic.twitter.com/P0WQ8hfKRg

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 15, 2024

Well, I feel like this is a theory that may get tested in some way, but Vance is on the record saying he would definitely violate the bejesus out of the Constitution on Trump's say so in the way Pence refused to, which totally explains how Vance (who once described Trump as "Hitler") got picked for the job. 

I mostly savage Vance around this blog for being a yellow-bellied Putin-appeasement monkey, but I also want you to know he's an authoritarian Christofascist fucknut with extreme anti-abortion views who thinks women should stay with abusive husbands "for the children" (yes, a deeply unhealthy POV). He's a climate change denier and a faux-populist--he talks some kind of game about the working class but despises actual working people. 

He's basically what you'd get if you tried to Weird Science-up a VP candidate by feeding a computer the Project 2025 manual and hooking it up to a My Buddy doll. 

And We Never Mention 1/6 Again?

 

Donald Trump was shot at. I guess. Luckily, he only got a bloody ear out of it. One Trump fan died protecting his children. It's a terrible thing. A 20-year-old registered Republican with an AR-15 climbed up to a shed roof, was not stopped by local law enforcement, and fired in the direction of the stage.

That's very certainly a terrible thing. We have a problem with gun violence in this country. Senseless deaths and horrific injuries occur all the time. 

The knee-jerk response of many Trump Republicans was to immediately blame "The Left", President Biden, DEI, CRT, the Jews and Ukraine, because all the money intended for the Secret Service apparently went to missiles and now they have to hire dumb girls, or something. That's right, before they even knew who the shooter was or had any idea why he was shooting (which we still don't know).

Oh, and one more thing: we better not criticize Fearless Leader or bring up January 6th ever again. 

Needless to say, that's not something I'm about to do. Donald Trump getting shot at isn't going to make him a better person and this shooting certainly doesn't cancel out what happened on January 6th. I still believe he has no business being president and the reckless lying about election fraud that led up to the massive violence of that day, the bloodshed, the Confederate flag being led through the Capitol, the violence intended to our political system. is something the Republican party must atone for--