TWGB: Pimping the White House

 

One man's idea of luxury is another man's idea of flypaper tacky; in rather the same way one man's idea of a distinctive hairstyle is another man's notion of a molded drain clog fastened to a moldering skull, but if I squint a bit, I can see what the tastemaker at the White House is going for with his gilded style complete with dance hall:

It's an homage to the Gold Rush brothel keeper who founded the family fortune. You know, a little something of l'esprit de bordel. You or I might cringe at it, but Trump is not one to turn his nose up at wherever his money has come from and has always had a soft spot for pimps. Professional courtesy? Or perhaps what passes for respect.

Some people of course simply note that this glitz is reminiscent of Mar-a-Lago, where former friend Jeffrey Epstein poached pubescents. People do say all kinds of things. For example, when I saw that Trump had the Rose Garden paved over, I might have wondered if there was anyone under the cement, in rather the way a troublesome witness might be deposited underground at one's golf course, but with less fanfare.

I also say all kinds of things, though. 

But then I saw the umbrellas and really understood:

The entrepreneurial vision of the man.

The White House Seal of Approval

 

REPORTER: You just announced a new nominee for US Surgeon General who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America's top doctor?

TRUMP: Because Bobby thought she was fantastic ... I don't know her pic.twitter.com/ZYjtiPk4sH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2025

Someone else picked her--I don't know her. You just can't get any more ringing a recommendation than that! 

Yeah, she's problematic and underqualified. But she gets advice from trees and whatnot, so it's gonna be OK! I am not kidding:

Means also went to "weekly group meditations and spiritual lectures at Self Realization Fellowship in order to tune in with Spirit... worked with a spiritual medium who helped me try to connect with my spirit guides for support and guidance... did full moon ceremonies with grounded, powerful women... talked (literally out loud) to the trees, letting them know I was ready for partnership, and asking them if they could help... did plant medicine experiences with trusted guides and wrote extensively about my experience and insights."

Now, now, you might be thinking--isn't that harsh? And of course, who am I to question what one has to do to find love in this mean old world?  But when I see posts like this:

Waltz Gets a Signal

 

When anything happens in TrumpWorld that sort of comports with reality, like the Signal chat-loving NSA Mike Waltz getting the boot, I want to do a blogpost about what the heck seems to be going on, but am always tempered by it being TrumpWorld, and the facts probably being muddier and dumber than what we initially hear. Of course, the fellow who initiated the notorious SignalGate chat is out, and so is his deputy, Alex Wong. 

Of course. A proper Administration might have done that weeks ago, and sent SecDef Hegseth packing as well. 

But this is TrumpWorld. It probably isn't the chat itself so much as Waltz having a perceived "unfriendly" journo in his saved phone contacts that did him in. And the contributions of MAGA influencer Laura Loomer. 

Marco Rubio is, like Elon Musk in the other day's cabinet meeting, wearing multiple hats, now. All I know is, Waltz shouldn't be replaced with Witlesskopf because that would be horrible--so that's what will probably happen. 

So, This Happened Yesterday

 

Trump who gets invited to the BEST FUNERALS, showed kids at the White House Easter Egg Hunt his post-assassination attempt collector's card while the stock market was tanking.

That's it. That's the picture. That sentence is the whole blog post. I've been doing this a minute and how do you even add to that? 

"Hey kids, do you know who ELSE was almost killed and rose again? Your favorite president, who got so many eggs you can't even find them all." 

Proof of Life

 

I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return. pic.twitter.com/U9y2gZpxCb

— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 18, 2025

At least we know he's alive--there was a part of me that wondered if the White House dug in because they were trying to cover up that they had gotten a man killed. But no, it's just that they want to be able to do anything they want to do to anyone without regard for their rights under the US Constitution. And being the sort of person I am, while this proof of life is a welcome sign that both the US government and El Salvador feel the need to respond to pressure--this is not yet a good sign, it's a photo op--

See, he's alive, but he is still held, it's because the US is paying for El Salvador to keep him, and the Trump Administration feels no shame about any of that. 

Yet.

I think it is important that we look at the opinion authored by Judge Harvie Wilkinson rejecting a request from the DOJ to pause an order that they facilitate Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador:

"The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order," Wilkinson, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, wrote. "Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."

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. 

He's Still Crazy, Though

 

The market performed extremely well after Trump announced by way of social media that things would be somewhat less stupid, but make no mistake, they are still fairly stupid. We still have the potential for a recession. We still have a trade war with China, and 10% reciprocal tariffs, and it's a 90-day pause, not an admission that the whole tariff scheme is stupid, and we might not even be in for 90 days of an actual pause since Trump is, in fact. nuts. 

Basically, Trump reacted to the reaction. He admitted himself that the pause was because people were "yippy." Are we looking at a case of masterful strategery on his part?  Let's just say it caught some advisers by surprise (mid-defense of Trump's policy, no less), but we're pretty sure not everyone.

I'm not sure too many people would be shocked to find there has been gambling in this establishment. 

TWGB: He Does What He Wants

 

People can point to things like Trump bailing on the dignified transfer of four deceased troops for a weekend of golfing as sign that Trump doesn't care, but I think that would be missing the point with Trump's admirers: if Trump doesn't care, they don't. The screencap above is from Fox News, where Jesse Watters is extolling who Trump is." He doesn't give a fuck."

Trump, with respects to tariffs, is described as being at the "peak of not giving a fuck."  That's actually coming from the White House. Also from the White House, this self-congratulation:

It was a good thing you did, Donny, wishing the economy into a cornfield. 

But is not giving a fuck what you actually want from the leader of your country? Like, if old Darcy down at the diner stops giving a fuck and pours coffee in someone's lap, she's liable to get fired. If Sean at the SuperMart goes off and rams a row of carts into someone's 4X4, he's out. And here's Donny, hero of the guys who always wanted to say "Take this job and shove it!" who ends a busy week fucking with the world economy with doing whatever he feels like. 

We're Sticking it to Those Penguins, Though

 

The funny/not funny thing about Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" is the way the White House apparently just willy-nilly came up with a plan to suit the ill-informed whims of a mentally ill man who doesn't know what he's doing.  The places being tariffed are internet domains, the alleged tariffs the location have on us is somewhat fictitious, and the formula for levying a "reciprocal" tariff is a bit of slap-dash treating a trade deficit like a tariff and, hoo boy. 

This is "nuking the hurricane" territory.  His sycophants are arguing, "Well, we have to trust him! He's Mr. Art of the Deal, right?"

(Um. No, he isn't. He's a glorified failure who cheats.)

Anyway, at least we are sticking it to those very duplicitous thieving Heard Island penguins, whose exports include, per their trades minister, Binky: "bit of extra fish", "shiny pebble" and "piles of poo for some reason, you weirdos." 

Isn't that a kind of grim satisfaction in the teeth of losing a healthy economy?

Young and Not Very Credible

 

Leavitt: Shame on you and shame on the media for trying to cover these individuals. This is a vicious gang. pic.twitter.com/KXqnpNxWCU

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 31, 2025

Karoline Leavitt responds to a reporter ABOUT an outrage--that the US government is sweeping up innocent individuals off the street and having them clapped into a hellhole, WITH outrage--HOW DARE YOU!

Easy! Because it's true and it's newsworthy. 

Much ado was made about Leavitt being the youngest press secretary for the White House, and I have to admit to rolling my eyes at that. It isn't an accomplishment when she was selected to be a cute shiny face to lie to people, and being too young, possibly immature, to understand what she needs to know or that "spinning" on behalf of a corrupt regime isn't merely a good paying job, but a moral excrescence. 

The journalists inquiring about due process aren't bleeding heart libs--they care about a thing called the rule of law. Leavitt's emotional misdirection has the benefit of seeming unaffected, because it may very well not be a sophisticated act from someone who should know better. She may be unaware that in small "l" small "d" liberal democracies, legal protections exist to protect the innocent. 

Of course, in TrumpWorld, it is a lot to imagine she would also care.  Her lack of credibility is just as bad as Spicer or Huckabee Sanders before her. 

Do They Just Not Tell Him Things?

 

this is an absolutely shocking statement from POTUS. Four US troops died in Lithuania, news of it was reported hours ago, and Trump is completely clueless pic.twitter.com/auvOq2TgXg

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2025

I know this is a bit late--but when Trump says he wasn't briefed on something (the Signal chat, the four deceased servicemembers) I'm beginning to wonder:

Does his staff simply not tell him things, or has his mind gotten to the point where they do tell him things, and if it isn't one of his already well-worn obsessions, it rolls off his smooth carnauba-waxed brain?

It's very disconcerting to think about either way. 

Fresh New F*ckery Incoming

 

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

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 17, 2025

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

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

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

TrumpWorld is Riding Until the Wheels Come Off

 

Just so we are clear, when the GOP hit the TrumpWorld Trifecta--they motioned to keep riding the 2025/47 Agenda until the wheels came off. Apparently, though, the vehicle they have chosen is a Cybertruck, so the wheels will come off sooner rather than later.  (Panels, also, too!)  

Best of luck to the State Department on that Tesla contract. Ride in the best of health and luck, which you will need. 

Yes, I am comparing TrumpWorld right now to the Swasticar, 

Musk has fouled the brand of the companies he acquired because of being a wealthy dumbass, not founded because he's not actually what he represents himself as. I don't know why his Frankendick still gets ridden like it is. But it's clearly made up of dead to the game actual founders, who took Elon's money and decided they were good with him doing his thing to their brands.

Cowgirl Kristi Rounds Up the "Dirt Bags"

 

Cosplay Kristi is at it again on Meet the Press pic.twitter.com/y8PcxHbk7y

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 2, 2025

This is just a little throwaway post on my part, but I've totally got why secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem has to cosplay being a border security worker when she's on tv--

Trump really only seems to know what's going on from tv. If he sees her in a uniform--she's working. It's a reality show mentality from someone who does not entirely exist in reality. She gets it. Give her her props because she figured it out. And even uses appropriately menacing language. "Dirtbag!"

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. 

Jimmy Carter ( 1924-2024) A Good Man

 

It is not to be unexpected that a centenarian has passed, but if there have been obituaries I might have, as the sobriquet goes, "read with great interest", this is one I write with rue. Everything I suppose I will read will be some version of: "a good man and a terrible president". He was, in the office of the presidency, well-intentioned but poorly suited--and I don't think seasoning and acquaintance with the ways of DC would have remedied his "outsider" status. As for his status as a man on this earth, he was always in the right place--in service to others, actively living his faith, housing the homeless, looking for social justice, fighting to eradicate tropical disease. 

It's hard to take a view of the Carter presidency without the accumulated history of the last 40 something years. I'm not even going to try. He was born in a segregated state, his rise politically would always be admixed, but he tried to be on the right side. He was for human rights and included those of women. He saw the environment and health care as also being about justice. 

Trump on Any Day Ending in "Y"

 

Trump announces he wants to throw “everyone on the [January 6] committee” in jail. pic.twitter.com/33hEYGByu1

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) December 8, 2024

Trump "Met the Press" and in his interview with Kristen Welker, he said all kinds of incredibly fascinating things. He still only had "concepts of a plan" with respects to health care. He's going to deport the "Dreamers" and is looking into ending birthright citizenship (which is actually in the Constitution). He lied about how many murders have been committed by undocumented migrants. He admitted he "can't guarantee" his tariffs won't raise prices (because they will).  He's going to get rid of Christopher Wray as head of the FBI for no other reason than wanting his own attack-dog there. 

Oh yes, and he wants the 1/6 Committee in prison for noticing he defrauded people by lying about the 2020 election and directed a crowd of rioters at the Capitol to "Stop the Steal (AKA the lawful certification of the election)" and then the Committee really went wild and pointed it out. 

TrumpWorld is always a bit more mad that people point out wrongdoing then that they are guilty of it. Trump is allergic to accountability. It makes him break out in vendetta.

Another One Bites the Dust?

 

Some people might think there's a real problem with Pete Hegseth's SecDef nomination once the whistleblower stories about getting kicked out of vet organizations for being a rape-y, drunken peculator start flying and the word starts trickling that he's always drunk at Fox News and the thing where he's an open Islamophobe and Christian Nationalist and you know, how his own mom deplored his serial adultery and abuse of women. 

I think it's really bad when the Trump transition starts floating "Tater Tot Ron" DeSantis as a possible replacement. 

But you never know. After all, if you want to get out there and show you aren't a problem person, just a hard-drinkin' man's man and a hard-lovin' ladies' man and also, you ARE SO completely competent to do a big boy job, you can always go on the propaganda network you work for and have your mom explain it. 

(Don't laugh. Elon Musk's mom tell folks they are just jealous of her smart boy all the time, and no one picks on him anymore. ) 

It's All Right

 

President Biden has announced that he is issuing a pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, and for one thing--good. 

Although he had previously said he wasn't going to, I rather hoped he would and am not one bit disappointed. If the power of the pardon is supposed to be for the sake of mercy--why not one's own son? Is his son less deserving by virtue of blood? And if the father seriously believes that the son was persecuted and prosecuted for his political sake, is that not something he can at least do for him?

Some are calling it an "abuse of power." A pardon is an official act. I don't even understand what that argument is supposed to mean. Is he gaining something other than his son not being further punished? 

Is it a norm? Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger. George H. W. Bush granted clemency to his son. Neil. Trump pardoned his daughter's father-in-law, Charles Kushner, and has now appointed him to an ambassadorship. You tell me: what is a norm, here? 

If someone wants to say it enrages MAGAs, again: good. They can bite their My Pillows in rage. They are outraged by things all the time. It's what they do. I don't care.

History is Looking at Us

 

Vice President Harris: The patriots at Normandy, Selma, Seneca Falls, and Stonewall… They did not sacrifice only to see us cede our freedoms and submit to the will of another petty tyrant. The United States is the greatest idea humanity ever devised. In 7 days, let us turn the… pic.twitter.com/oCrGbk4EAg

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 30, 2024

This isn't about crowd-size or partisanship: do we believe in the arc of history bending towards justice? Do we believe in justice flowing like a river?  Do we believe in this nation, conceived in liberty, shining like a city on a hill? Do we believe in the huddled masses yearning to breathe free? Do we believe in the faith of our pilgrim fathers there was a promised land for them? Do we believe that women matter? Are we here for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? And one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? 

Are we the last great hope of the world? 

Or do we think this country is a garbage can? 

Can we have a better movement than what Trump gave us on 1/6/2021?  Like the movement we always did have?