A Very Ugly Truth

 

Despite the dark horizon envisioned Sunday evening, there was a momentary market rally on Monday based on, of all things, fake news, possibly furthered in part by a single optimistic Tweet that there would be a pause on the tariff scheme. Despite the various iterations from Trump that yes, the tariffs were going to happen anyway, there was a wonderful rally Tuesday, based on I don't even know what. Wishful thinking? 

People still seem stuck on the idea that the tariff thing is a bargaining position, not a structural reorganization based on, as near as I can tell, a near-total misunderstanding about how everything to do with the economy actually works. 

But at some dark, terrible point, you have to stare into the tan Shinola'd visage of the aging dumbfuck pictured above who did that to his hair and went out in public, as he has done for decades, and realize the simple truth. 

He's really very stupid. He's not taking some deal, even though all manner of countries have been trying to get hold of him. (70? All of them?) He's already got the deal he wants.

They are literally kissing his ass, he says. And I have told you about his relationship with ass-kissing.  It's his life support system.  He has every eye on him. People are telling him he's wrecking everything--and like a toddler wreaking havoc, he's loving it.  And he gets to prove something--he was right, and all the smarty-pants people who said otherwise will find out.

What Are the Odds He Believes This?

 

Trump: A tariff is a tax on a foreign country. A lot of people like to say it’s a tax on us. No… It’s is a tax that doesn’t affect our country. pic.twitter.com/NNyNthZbKg

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 17, 2024

This isn't how tariffs work. People have been pointing out this is not how tariffs work. The benefits of tariffs are mixed. But if consumers are concerned about high prices, tariffs are not going to do anything about them. Economists say it would result in Americans paying more--it is a tax on us. Trump's concept of a trade war against foreign countries is just not how things in a global economy work. The answer--inflation. 

I'm not 100% Trump understands what his immigration policy would do to supply chains here in the US, and I'm relatively sure that if he hasn't got the tariffs thing right in his head, he definitely doesn't understand how devaluating the dollar is also terrible for consumers.

But you or I might be thinking about things from the point of view of people with "normal" incomes. We do things like work for a living or have a "fixed" income from a pension. We would actually feel those costs--the people who help set Trump's economic policy and the people who can afford Trump country club memberships would not. I don't think it matters whether Trump understands these policies, I think it's that he does not care and will say absolutely anything to be elected.

Could be Nothing, But...

 

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly hid free yacht trip to Putin's hometown https://t.co/8yf1w7OMJe

— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 10, 2024

I mean, it was 20 years ago. However, it was part of 20 years of corruption and undisclosed gifts on Thomas' part, so even if it doesn't mean something more sinister--how bad does it need to look?

I'm not sure how far AOC filing articles of impeachment against Thomas and Alito will go, or how far a request for the DOJ to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate Thomas's possible tax violations will go, but something has to give.

(This post is a nice place to remind everyone that when 13 years of Justice Thomas's financial disclosure forms were amended about a dozen years ago, it was because he failed to include his wife's income from Hillsdale College and the Heritage Foundation. We've obviously been hearing a lot about the Heritage Foundation lately)

TWGB: Here's to the Losers

 

Once upon a time, in a far-off land called TrumpWorld, a would-be king promised there would be "so much winning" that people would get bored of winning.  I still don't know what that means, and I've studied it like it was my job. It sounds like something a conman would say. But lately--there has not been a lot of winning. One term, two impeachments, three marriages, four indictments, five deferments, six bankruptcies  (six point drop after missing the first GOP primary 2024 debate), seven trials, probably going on eight (Arizona? Michigan?) or even nine. 

The losers for August 30th include Pete Navarro, who can't claim executive privilege that Trump didn't claim for him and will go to trial in a whole minute for contempt. He seems to have thought Trump won in 2020, (or alleged to), but the sign held up behind him reminds us Trump most certainly did not. And any rational person would realize that, by the utter lack of Trump in the White House right now. Navarro tried to wrest the sign away from the protester and was advised he was on camera and you know. 

Loser. 

Two-Tiered Justice System Stuff

 

They are different people. They did different things. Of course they aren't being treated the same. You could explain it to a five year old. https://t.co/MZDuZgNbaq

— Vixen Strangely (@VixenStrangely) June 20, 2023

Josh Hawley, who is a US Senator and not some dumb guy on a barstool in Shithouse Falls, MO (does he even live in Missouri?) is going to pretend that Hunter Biden is being treated with the softest of kid gloves while poor, poor, mistreated waif Donald Fucking Trump, a goddamn billionaire who actually was president once (hopefully never again) and was supposed to be Mister Manly Alpha Male personified, is the most persecuted forlorn little disregarded pumpkin in the whole pumpkin patch. 

A pumpkin who apparently did felonies. Not misdemeanors. Felonies. 

Call me slow on the uptake. I wondered at the idea of a two-tiered justice system from the real perspective of the poor and minority persons in this country getting the short end of the stick regarding charging and sentencing alike. It didn't naturally occur to me that what Republicans were getting at is that they thought Democrats were just forever getting off with light sentences or whatever and somehow, SOMEHOW!!!! Republicans were just being charged left and right and for no reason, and especially poor, sad, elderly, possibly addle-pated Mr. Trump. a man bereft of opportunities to defend himself, barely capable of funding a legal team on his own, who has to struggle to fight his multiple felony charges in different venues. 

The justice system's discrimination against blue-eyed blond billionaires is notorious, no? 

No? Isn't there a history of the DOJ just fucking with Republicans until the sun don't shine?

Not especially. 

TWGB: The New Territory

 

The January 6 Committee has referred Trump (and others) to the DOJ for a swath of crimes unimaginable. But the thing I want to direct you to is what I have always seen as the main problem: Trump furthering a conspiracy to make false statements and also to defraud the US. The takeaway had to be--the big lie (That significant voter fraud existed) is over--it was never true. 

Trump of course lies. Like he breathes. The voter fraud thing was the kind of lie that known liars should have known to check--but they didn't care, did they? 

Anyway, his lies are so done that we will even see his tax returns. Which weren't even under audit. Which is one thing he fraudulently claimed. 

No former president has ever been treated this way. But then again, no other president ever needed to be. He's in new territory because he engaged a whole new dimension of crimes and misdemeanors.  He'll surely blame everyone under the sun, but it all comes back to himself.

Comeuppance

 

When your day started out like:

New York Attorney General Tish James announces a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and his three adult children for alleged fraud and misrepresentation. https://t.co/CQT6q6yZEY https://t.co/Cb3nAnqKOe

— POLITICO (@politico) September 21, 2022

(And she said it like, "SDNY, Manhattan DA, DOJ, you follow?")

and then the Eleventh Circuit went:

BREAKING: Appeals Court panel *grants* DOJ request for a stay of parts of Judge Cannon’s ruling. pic.twitter.com/dx2aGZGjDU

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 21, 2022

(I mean they cut Judge Cannon up over jurisdiction and the declassification canard and the whole shebang. Turns out, when national security is at stake, the concerns of the USG are more important than the ego of a former president.) 

And now you're sitting on Hannity's show like:

Oh my God!

Trump says that there doesn't have to be any process in declassifying documents. In fact, he can do it just by thinking about it!

Then he wonders if the FBI was looking for Hillary's emails when they raided Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/vmmVnYI309

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 22, 2022

(2016 was six years ago. The FBI was finished with Hillary Clinton's emails six years ago. There are more important things Trump was hoarding in #Docugate or whatever we are calling this scandal.) 

That's a bad fucking day. Absolutely no notes required.

Nunes Left Congress for This

 

Anyway, you know the TMTG media thing that Trump launched after he left office and that looked like a pump and dump thing because the project seemed to have little material investment and lots of puffery?  The thing that started being investigated right away because wow, if it looks bad, maybe it is bad?  Anyway, subpoenas were issued to TMTG by the SEC and a grand jury for the SDNY--but Trump and Don, Jr. and a handful of other folks were already off the board. Apparently. It's amazing how that happens. 

So, according to the records, Devin Nunes, who left Congress for this, is still the CEO. It's very likely that the merger stuff between TMTG and Digital World was already in the can when he came aboard, and per Truth social posts, TrumpWorld is denying that Trump is really off the board. It's all a misunderstanding and a witch hunt. Except...

Is it? There's something really weird about a "successful" billionaire always being investigated to the extent Trump is (you know, like Trump University, and the Trump Foundation, and the tax fraud..) and always seeming to be dodging accountability (like, being himself or having associates in contempt of court for not turning over documents, which is still going on--would you believe?) that makes it seem like, maybe, just maybe, this Trump character isn't a great businessman, but a kind of possible...crook?

I'm not saying I know for sure. Maybe he's just extraordinarily unlucky. I mean, imagine the odds that Trump "foes" (also known as public servants who were just doing their jobs) like Jim Comey and Andrew Mccabe were selected for intrusive IRS audits by an agency run by a partisan Trump pick? Then throw in the odds that Michael Cohen fell under their gimlet eye as well (although that one doesn't necessarily feel as remote). 

The astronomical bad luck, am I right? You'd have to have some especial low opinion of how the world works (or at least, how certain people work in it) to see a not-so-hidden hand there, given how obviously bullies actually work in the open, yeah? 

Anyway, Devin Nunes, who left an influential seat in Congress for this, once sued an internet cow among other people who said very bad things about him on the internet, all of which were true. I think his current position is udderly ridiculous, and he should be cheesed off about it. 

Mazars: It's Not Us, It's You

 

The Trump Organization's longtime accounting firm Mazars said it no longer wants Trump's business, as it doesn't trust the financial documents the Trump Org has given them. https://t.co/2DJrMmR7bY

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 14, 2022

There's a little joy in reading this "Dear Donald" letter only once you really entertain the implications: Mazars is saying we relied on information the Trump Organization provided to us and after looking at everything in a new light, we can't stand by the financial statements that lending institutions were basing their estimation of your financial ability to pay loans back on. They have apparently also turned over more than a half million docs to the NY AG's investigation.

Turning it over a little further, the Trump Organization has to find accountants that will want to deal with a sprawling business that seems to have multiple sets of books, and lend their reputation to sorting out Trump's. That could be a problem, you think?  Even if current loans weren't in jeopardy, refinancing them in case several were about to come due in the near term could be an issue, perhaps? 

This is the sort of thing that should have been obvious in 2016, if not before: Donald Trump is financially corrupt and corruptible and had come to use foreign lenders more often.  Does he separate his own financial interest from the interest of the US? Can he make that kind of moral judgment?

Who knows if his secret document stash was a kind of collateral for potential foreign investors, so to speak?  That this person was ever in the White House will never not shock me.

That he is still considered a GOP leader and likely 2024 front-runner is a disgrace.

Some Very Legitimate Business!

 

You know, it's not for me to question the ethics of a congressman who announces he's leaving the US House right about....now-ish, because he already has a really plum job lined up. It might look like he cast around for a job because his new district didn't look as friendly. Sure, some people might say that the only reason Trump wants Devin Nunes on board is their political relationship (and Nunes' abiding loyalty to Trump) but I don't know. He does have recent media experience, if you want to count trying to sue Twitter and a parody cow account. 

Hm. I don't know if that goes against the branding of Trump Media & Technology Group as being all about the freedom of speech, but that might be the least of the problems with anything bearing a Trump brand. 

My original take on Trump's media group is that it's got some big scam energy. Looks like that's not just me--the SEC is very interested in how this plan came together. There's good reason for it besides Trump being involved at all, but I've got to say, when you've got a twice-impeached former president who is going around still making Big Lie noises about the last presidential election, and that guy just happens to be someone who can't operate a charity anymore, ran a fraudulent "university" for six years, and has always been kind of money-laundering adjacent in his business practices--I mean, really? This guy whose Trump Organization is under indictment? Whose taxes may have been fiddled for years? 

I just have a hard time believing that really honest people would be putting their money where Trump's mouth is. It seems like the offering always was about employing the One Weird Trick of knowing when to dump out of it. But then again, some people do put their trust in Trump, I mean like Deutsche Bank--they were always willing to give the sucker a better than even break. Maybe Patrick Orlando just likes the cut of Mr. Trump's jib.

Ah, well, people do stupid things with their money I guess. The poor trusting souls, they are. 

TWGB: If It Walks Like a Duck

So, the news that the NYT got hold of about 20 years of Trump's tax return information follows a story about how a bankrupt Donald Trump tried to hijack his father's estate in desperation, which follows on Mary Trump's suit against the Trump family for what she as her father's heir should have received, which comes after news that Eric Trump will definitely have to sit for a deposition regarding Trump Org business, and that New York state is definitely looking at a tax fraud investigation against Trump.

This adds to our understanding that Donald Trump isn't so much a self-made man as his father's well-funded failure, and that he's been keeping himself going by various forms of grift, such as using his charity as a slush fund and starting schemes like Trump University. But this week has, among other things, hammered home that the trouble with Trump's finances are also a White House issue, in that he's staying in the taxpayer-funded housing on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to avoid having to stay in less luxurious taxpayer funded housing. He's grifting taxpayer dollars all the time. And his kids are probably not just following in his footsteps, but are also liable as hell.

Trump never was the amazing businessman he ran on for the presidency, he just played that guy on tv. 

If Trump were not elected to the presidency, this kind of financial scenario would make it impossible for him to be given a security clearance because he's basically wearing his leverage on his sleeve. (And he has been! Everyone knows this!) He had to demand Ivanka and Jared Kushner get their security clearances despite what where most likely business-related red flags (of which theirs were the tip of the iceberg to his) as it was.

But the big picture also has Trump scrambling to hold on to the office of the presidency not because he thinks he can do a great job with his second term (he can actually barely articulate what he even plans to do in a second term, which given all he has not accomplished in his first is seriously telling), but because he thinks he is shielded from having to face the music. Someone will shield him from the consequences. The taxpayers, or other interested parties, surely would....

Do what? And that's the problem we've got, yes? Trump needs someone to come to the rescue over his overleveraged ass and he's holding the whole damn US at stake. Winning the White House in 2016 convinced him that that Article 2 gave him special protection and that he owed whoever helped him win in 2016. So it's all very well and good that he says "America First", now (if for the low special customer price of $750 a year) but what exactly is he supposed to say when his notes are due?

(Spasibo i dobroy nochi?)

Anyways, at his press conference where he took very few questions and definitely wanted to talk about SCOTUS, he said the press should compare his financial statements, which he has released, to the tax information, but I think that's why New York State is actually after him in the first place.

(And not to leave this unsaid, my thoughts are with the family of Brad Parscale, who on this Sunday of all Sundays had some kind of bad patch, and I genuinely don't want people associated with Trump needlessly harmed or self-harming. And I also have Michael Caputo and his family in mind regarding his recent cancer diagnosis, which can spin anyone off their axis a bit. I'm the kind of g who prays for folks so they can testify someday. I'm not without a heart.)

UPDATE: This is also the best place to drop that Rosenstein was probably responsible for reining in the Mueller investigation to avoid info on Trump's finances  (Oh was that link deficient--here) due to it being Trump's red line for blowing up the investigation altogether. But Trump might as well have been saying "Yes, this is where the whole problem is please look at my finances" so?!?!?!?!?)

UPDATE: Trump has about 3400 conflicts of interest, which are about 3400 more conflicts of interest than any candidate for office should have, let alone a person who is already an incumbent.

A NY State of Mind

In a power move or so today, the state of New York did two key things that I am really excited by--the state senate approved a bill to vacate double jeopardy where a person was convicted of federal crimes only to be pardoned by the president, and also resolved to release NY state tax information to the US congress upon request. This comes a couple of days after AG Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the IRS and the Department of Treasury for not complying with legally mandated records requests. 

This all serves as a great reminder that even if GOP Senators, House Members, and Cabinet members want to toady up to the White House, states can still signify, and of the many investigations currently ongoing into President Trump and all his dealings, there are currently NY state cases regarding his taxes and how he used his "charitable" foundation as a slush fund. He doesn't have any leverage regarding the state, whatever he may have over the US DOJ.

I love New York for other reasons--it's a beautiful state! But today reminded me of the importance of state governments and why federalism remains an important part of our republic. 

Interesting Strategy

Trump's response to the NYT story that broke yesterday about his incredible mega-losses in business during the late 1980's and early 1990's seems to be that he fooled around with his taxes, a possible fraud (which we already kind of knew, right?!).

This really just adds to the argument that it's necessary to see Trump's present-day returns. Nice strategy!

The Transparent President

One of the (several) conceits of the Trump Administration is that he is the most transparent president ever. I mean, he won't show his taxes, and he tries to keep White House visitor logs secret. He would very much like to crow that he is a very transparent president while not complying with subpoenas and asking his cabinet to do the same. 

So, I guess what you might say is Trump is very transparent....about the things he would prefer you don't see. You can always tell where you stand with Trump by the specific things he would actually directly tell you he prefers to remain hidden. 

And he actually does come right out and say things he would rather you believe at times, like just a bit ago, when he mentioned a thing in the Mueller report about former White House Counsel Don McGahn.

So, Trump is trying to make it very clear that Mueller was NOT fired despite being surrounded by Angry Democrats (of whatever ever-changing number they may happen to be) and he explicitly denies first of all telling McGahn to fire Mueller, because he could have (could he?) done it himself.

Because the actual problem is if he did so 1) McGahn didn't do it, which means it is not true that Trump is always obeyed and 2) If McGahn didn't do it, but was told to, and then was told to pretend he hadn't, we've got a bit of subornation of perjury to talk about.

In other words, Trump is trying to use Twitter to make a kind of legal case for himself and to prop up his glum ego--it is sad to be president and know people steal letters off your desk or pretend they will do things you ask them to, but actually won't because they can wait until your mood is better and hope you forgot.

It's probably not exactly true that Trump is a transparent president, but it is pretty much the truth to say you can see through him. He exposes himself like a series of selfies, or a parted trench coat.

But why particularly focus on Twitter on McGahn, when the thrust of the Barr-created narrative should have been that he did not obstruct, but here he is, Tweeting about one of the more egregious examples of potentially suborning perjury and interfering with the investigation? Eh--transparency! You can't help knowing what he's thinking about! Could he have just not mentioned it in any format? Yes, if he wasn't this boy, right here, asking you to love him.

The downside is we can also get up close and personal with Trump's really dark side, because he doesn't hide it all that well. He really did plan to "lock her up" with respects to Hillary Clinton. In his recent interview with Sean Hannity, he went on about Page and Strzok, Clinton's emails, and continued harping on the never-verified wiretap claim. You can see his state of mind--he wants to either pretend he is being railroaded out of office whether he is subject to impeachment or even if he legitimately loses an election. He wants to be a victim like the pitiable little snowflake he is.

Is it not so unfair that as a public servant, he needs to be held up to any public scrutiny? Is he not the biggest martyr? Pity him and the rigged system that has thwarted him by....making him president, even if he is a know-nothing racist goober.

Anyway, he says he's transparent, but I can see him. I see him alright.  And so can journalists, which is why I guess he really hates the news media. So transparent--in how he prefers not to be seen.

They All Start to Sound Like Trump

Democrats in Congress aren’t smart enough to understand the President’s tax returns and probably don’t even understand how to do their own... https://t.co/wooGn3jVp8

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) April 15, 2019

I was going to just overlook the nastiness of claiming that Democrats in Congress (in fact, she indicates in the clip, the current group of Democrats...as if there was something, I don't know, just very special, about them) because I thought maybe this was something she just threw out there in the course of an interview. But then I saw she put that up on her @PressSec Twitter feed.

So, she's officially calling congressional Democrats not "smart enough" to understand the president's tax returns. The folks who construct tax laws. Grown adults who can do a bit of readin' and figurin'. (Oh heck, I reckon if they got stuck, they could even look in a phone book and get an accountant or two on the case, you think?) It's not just insulting, it doesn't even work all that well as an insult, let alone as a reason for them not to review Trump's returns.

What a very good spokesperson for Trump she is though, echoing comments he has made about certain Democrats as "low IQ". It's ugly and unprofessional, but in exactly the way Trump is, too.

UPDATE: There are already ten accountants in Congress, anyway. But she wasn't trying to be factual. Her comments were about being nasty.

Blasphemies,Heresies and Profanities

Newly-sworn congressional freshmen Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have already  caused a little concern amongst those of the concerned-person class with some gasp! genuine thoughts about the tasks the new Congress should see to. I'm not especially concerned, myself--I appreciate seeing them dive into their new positions with enthusiasm.

The most "tsk-ed" about was Rep. Tlaib's comment about what her entrée into the House of Representatives meant to her (and her constituents, and her young son):

Among them has been the Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who had some strong words for the president. Speaking at an event shortly after being sworn in, Tlaib, the first Palestinian American elected to Congress, recalled a conversation she had after she won.

She said: “And when your son looks at you and says, ‘Mama, look, you won. Bullies don’t win,’ and I said, ‘Baby, they don’t’ – because we’re gonna go in there and we’re going to impeach the motherfucker.”

Tlaib had been clear about her intentions in impeaching Trump throughout her campaign. She tweeted in March: “Why am I running? Because this is about electing the jury to impeach (POTUS) and I will make a heck of juror.”

One might say her language was indecorous. But that's the only complaint I guess I understand. I don't think her choice of the word "motherfucker" is anywhere near so troubling as the President's continued condition of being one. Her expression of desire to impeach the president had been a subject both of her campaign and one she has explained quite well in a published opinion piece. The position of impeaching this particular president isn't a purely political one--if the issue is looking for reasons to impeach him, I would say we are actually spoiled for choice. It would probably be more apt to say that the determination with which Trump has been defended despite his various transgressions by members of the GOP is a political decision on their part which merely looks cynical now, and could prove disastrous for them later. The saying of this truthful thing though, was treated by some persons on both sides of the aisle as a bit of a blasphemy.

I'm pretty much unbothered by either her scatology or ideology here. I am more worried by the erosion of norms that Trump's behaviors have manifestly resulted in, than the clear, unpretentious language, used by the incoming representative.

In another mini-furor, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez caused some consternation by….dancing? Ha! Ok, well, that, too, but she also made a suggestion that the millionaires and billionaires could stand to pay a higher marginal tax rate of about 60-70% to actually fund our government properly.  This would be in line with previous historical tax rates, and can actually be backed up with solid economic figurin'.

TWGB: Ready Individual One?

One way to set the stage for a busy news Friday is to note that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently sort of read President Trump for filth by saying things that Trump critics don't even find surprising:

“So often, the president would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it, and I would have to say to him, ‘Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law. It violates treaty,’’ Tillerson said, before reiterating a claim he made before he was ousted on March 13—that “there’s no question” Russia meddled in the 2016 election.

Trump did not take that well, and of course made a Tweet about it. But leaving that specific kind of knee-jerk response to things happening around him, here is a sample of Trump's "Boom" Twitter stylings (the venting Trump seems to do to keep his head from exploding when the pressure is on):

Yeah. I'm not going to bother refuting that hot mess. I'm just pointing it out as a symptom of a person who is not suffering from a case of anything "very legal and very cool" .  This is a person who is actually being sued over his bullshit charity, and over the emoluments clause. New York is also investigating possible tax fraud based on a well-researched report on how Trump got so "rich" (tax evasion, inheritance and super groovy loans!) This is a person who, during the 2016 presidential campaign, settled for millions over Trump University that was an actual scam (a settlement not so long ago approved, by the way).  Even if there is no Trump/Russia collusion, there is the definitely not okay hush money paid to mistresses which are basically illegal campaign donations, and his probably illegal campaign coordination with the NRA. Trump's way of life is experiencing legal jeopardy because of things he does, and then kind of denying that they even happened even though we are looking right at him. It has mostly worked for him, but I don't think he's ever tried to spin so many plates at one time.

Take the response he made to the filings today regarding former lawyer Michael Cohen and former campaign manager Paul Manafort:

I think a Tweet that claims he's totally cleared is pretty weird considering he is basically factually named as "Individual-1" who seems to have suborned perjury and directed campaign fraud, which are crimes. A really good explainer of the Friday filings is laid out at Lawfare. But I'm struck by the idea that  Trump's response to this is a flat-out denial, when we were told by Trump that his lawyer Rudy Giuliani (who apparently occasionally experiences nightmares),  has an 87 page rebuttal to Mueller's claims.  Or, well, maybe there actually isn't anything. 

Tillerson told us Trump doesn't like to read things--is Trump counting on his fan club also not reading the black and white reality that a good part of Trump's 2016 campaign performance was fraudulent and that he really doesn't care what "legal" means even though he gave an oath to uphold the Constitution? 

Well, I guess that is probably close to the truth. As I see it, the unredacted Flynn and Manafort bits of this week's filings are likely disturbing, but the parts that have been made plain as day are well and truly bad enough. And I still think we've only seen the part of the iceberg above water. 

The Gift of The Wiseguy

This isn't a very nice prank, but it does have some seasonal appropriateness:

A man who appears to be the person who left a gift-wrapped box of horse manure outside the home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Saturday spoke with AL.com via phone late Sunday evening, calling the incident an "act of political theater."

L.A. psychologist Robby Strong provided AL.com with convincing evidence that he is the man behind the now-infamous incident, which attracted the LAPD's bomb squad and other law enforcement personnel to Mnuchin's home in the city's Bel Air neighborhood.

He defended his decision to drop the box of manure - which he says he got from a horse-owning friend - off at Mnuchin's house as a "prank" aimed at raising the awareness of Americans about the idea that "Republicans have done nothing for the American worker" and other political topics.

"The thing I live by is a rule of transparency and I was exercising my First Amendment rights," Strong told AL.com. "A few years ago when [a Supreme Court ruling] said that corporations are persons and money equals free speech, that is so absurd and my rule of thumb is now that if corporations are free speech, then so is horses***t."

He also likened his act to that of the individual whose birthday we now celebrate, who became famously irate at the money changers who gouged regular folks in the name of religion.

It makes a certain kind of timely poetic sense--if this tax bill was rushed to be signed for the holidays, then it is practically simple good manners to return a gift to the Trump Administration in kind. And while we enjoy the benefits of a court ruling that labelled money as "speech", and then produced politicians who would only recognize their big money donors as their true constituency, how then are we to discern why boxes of poo or any other physical item of value, can't be speech, if it is used as a means to convey grievance to the effect that people in high places have forgotten the people who don't have dollars at their ready disposal, but can bestir great loads of shit?

And why not horseshit? For twenty years, we have known of the great good Christmas spirit of Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo, and for years before him, there was the Caga Tio of Catalan.  Christmas, lest ye forget, is based on the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which represented a turning of the tables where the rich and poor would change places and prank gifts were a part of the merry-making.

I rather hope, then, that Robby Strong is granted a little leniency for his high spirits .In fairness to the family Mnuchin, I do believe it would have been fairer had he spread it around, though. Surely there are many others who deserve something carbon-based, and not actually coal, in their stockings.

Merry Christmas. Mister Trump!

In the vein of Twitter diatribe that I think of as "Trump Going 'Boom!'" the Peerless Feeder had to engage with social media to soak up likes and retweets and outrage and whatnot--again. So, in his recent obsession, the FBI is chockfull of wacky liberals out to get him who for entirely partisan reasons tanked the email investigation against Hillary Clinton and ginned up the Russian hacking investigation that his campaign/administration got swept up in (because of all the Russian contacts people in the Trump orbit actually had and the ridiculous mendacity they chose to use to half-assedly hide it)-which now makes career professionals like FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI Counsel Jim Baker his targets for cranky Twitterage.

It's adorable, really--he once pretended he fired James Comey because he was too hard on Clinton (is she supposed to be the phony--or was the investigation?) and now Trump is pissed that the investigation didn't go far enough? The little joys of an extended interobang ( ?!!!) to imply that FBI Deputy Director McCabe might not outlast the period of time he indicated before he retired (when he would be eligible for pension). Does this sound like Trump is going to fire a man before he is eligible for pension--out of sheer spite? To me, a little!  And Trump also says he is learning that James Baker is being reassigned from Fox News. Because he isn't in the loop on personnel and learns everything he needs to know from "the shows" despite never watching tv?  Ah!

Also, he now thinks official reporting of the unemployment rate is spot on despite calling it fake news during his campaign, and doesn't realize that the news covers the stock market on the daily. And he conveniently forgets the robocall and the rally he himself personally held for Roy Moore, the pedophile, whose name will now be associated with Trump's desperate support because his hand in Congress is weak! "Good Republican candidates will win BIG!" for a value of "Good" that means they win and a value of "BIG" that means he will fake it later.

I don't know why he had to explode on Twitter just now, when we are finally able to say "Merry Christmas" and mention "Jesus Christ" and all that. Maybe he's worried about some spirits regarding former associates, or the past, or maybe his present, or maybe he's thinking about Christmases yet to come.

Anyways--Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge  Trump!

God Damn You All to Hell!

It's pretty much what we should have expected: a Republican POTUS and both houses of Congress being Republican--tax cuts were the irresistible force against which pretend moderate Republicans proved no immovable object. So tax cuts, for corporations and rich folks, is what got passed.  It's great news for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who dreamed of screwing with poor people's access to health care benefits and giving tax cuts to the wealthy since he was just a nipper, the passage of the Senate tax bill means he gets to vote on his best favorite thing again. I do believe his release from the first passage of this monstrosity was damn-near sexual. If this is the culmination of his congressional career, I surely wouldn't mind if he did decide to call it a day and retire. 

I know Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell puts this day right up there with employing Constitution-stretching measures to deny Barack Obama his SCOTUS pick, and Merrick Garland his vote. Mitch McConnell does not care about anything but Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell is probably biodegradable, but I would recommend lead lined interment for that toxic SOB when fate finally closes his chapter.  

The failed attempts to repeal the ACA gave us some kind of hope, didn't it, that Republican Senators, at least a few of them, wouldn't pass a giant giveaway to the rich and pass that cost along to future generations in the form of increased federal debt. The dramatic postures of folks like Sen. Corker, Sen, Flake, Sen. Collins and Sen. Murkowski, almost looked like hope that they wouldn't fuck up the economy for sheer partisan fanservice to GOP donors and wealthy motherfuckers. (I am leaving out Sen. McCain because of his condition, but if he was entirely healthy, he'd probably be doing the same damn two-step.)

Corker, of course, was "bribed" as were several other Republican Senators of means (well, they probably would have gone for it anyway) by a provision that benefits real-estate partnerships.  The kind even the President might be familiar with. Does a man who has already announced his retirement from the Senate and already has a net worth of nearly $70 million really need this juice? He's getting it. Senator Flake, despite what anyone thinks, is as Republican as a Republican can be. He never had to be bribed to screw over the poor and middle class and his posturing about DACA was just that. Posturing. 

Senator Murkowski wore her Incredible Hulk earrings to this vote in memory of Sen. Ted Stevens because finally, the Senate was voting to violate ANWR with stupid fossil fuel drilling for stupid jobs that will not grow the Alaskan economy and will hurt wildlife there, because she is a Republican, and believes stupid things.  Pro-tip: Wearing Hulk earrings to a showing of "Thor: Ragnarok" --totally appropriate. While voting to spoil a wildlife refuge, kill an important provision of the ACA that keeps people covered and premiums down, and will hurt your constituents? Not appropriate! 

And let's talk about Sen Collins, who was hailed as a hero for stopping the repeal of the ACA. She was going to wait and see if she got certain provisions regarding health care coverage, and didn't. And criticizing her for voting yes on this turd is sexist! (Why was the coverage so focused on Collins? Because she made it seem like she had a reason to vote no and was reachable. Our bad, obviously--but criticism of a US Senator isn't sexist--it's about whether she's good on her word. Was she being seen as reachable because she's a woman--or because she said she was? Hm. Seems like it's on her.)

I don't see an upside to this vote. I think what trickle-down optimists feel about the bill regarding economic growth are just wishful thinking. The debt issue bothers me, the curtailing of government support on the state level is frustrating, the idea that this bill was in part crafted to "stick it" to Blue States is abominable. This bill favors foreign investors and practically incentivizes off-shoring.   It does many things Trump the candidate implied he would never do, and sets the stage for "entitlement program" (Ahem! "Earned Benefit"!) programs getting cut to "pay" for a giveaway to the already well-off. This is reverse-Robin Hood. This is a tactic of shock and awe devoted to increasing income inequality. 

This is bullshit in each and every way, but it is entirely and solely Republican bullshit. Trump owns the economy that stems from this, as does every participant in this vote. I only hope Democrats run hard against this shit. It is a recipe for so much suffering. Trickle-down is a lie.