Tag: donald-trump

The Reason Trump Won’t Declare Martial Law

Follow the money

Drip, drip, drip. The daily dilly dallying on the margins that the Trump administration keeps doling out continues. Horror after horror is revealed on this fascist march into demolishing the world’s oldest democracy. But the money keeps rolling in.

Freddie collins uXWPg9uMwt8 unsplash.

The ongoing debate as to whether or not these despicable actions are distractions is in and of itself a meaningless distraction. We’re essentially living under a dictatorship already, and yet the putzes with power can’t really go there. Doing so would cut their mother’s milk off at the teat.

There’s a reason for the pace of things. There’s a reason why Trump hasn’t just declared a full national emergency and implemented martial law and shut the place down. That reason is political fundraising. That’s where the money is. That’s where the suckers are.

Without elections the con men and women can’t shake down the public, corporations, and foreign countries for political donations. Cut off that cash flow and you cut the power, quicker than flipping a switch. It’s not just money for candidates and causes. It’s money for consultants, think tanks, and the advertising dependent media. Declare martial law and the spinning wheel stops.

In order to keep the money flowing there needs to be an opposition. Without one it would be all about selling meme coins, fake gold phones, and silly shoes. The shake downs would still continue, just on a different levels. Gifts, grifts and gunpoint.

Of course the silver lining is all of those fundraising emails would stop.

(Image from Freddie Colins on Unsplash)

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Pedophiles, Pulpits, and Politics

The irony is delicious. But it’s tough to swallow.

It’s entertaining, yet frustrating watching the MAGAts fight with each other over this Epstein saga. Frustrating because nothing will really come of it. Entertaining because even stupid comedy makes you laugh now and again.

Sam maylyn dNoi8yt04s8 unsplash.

This is one of those rare moments when the age-old rule of politics that you shouldn’t get in the way of your opponents digging a deep hole for themselves should not apply. I wish whatever the Dem party is these days would just take the gloves off and start smacking them as the Pedophile Party with every communication. But that would be fighting dirty with dirty and Dems don’t do that on that high road they trapped themselves on.

There’s not only political hay to gain in this chapter of our decline, but there’s plenty delicious irony to boot. The party that loves its churchgoers might be causing a few twitches in the pews. But then again, those congregations have their own problems with perverts in the pulpits. The party that turned a sex trafficking ring into a conspiracy theory doesn’t seem to like it when they realize their propaganda actually worked on their own followers.

Those family values folks in Congress keep voting to keep this under wraps now that their own are under threat. But that actually makes some political sense. Too many of their donors are probably on whatever list may or may not be. If not they themselves.

What’s even funnier is the guy at the center of this can’t keep his mouth shut and actually keeps admitting there’s actually a there there every time he tries to shut it down. Attempting to blame the Democrats for creating and covering up the list actually suggests there is one. I’m guessing a copy might be in his former wife’s casket along with a few other secrets.

I’d use tired and insulting metaphors like circus or clown show to describe this gang and this moment, but that just devalues even the shadiest touring attraction that might ever have existed. Those crews were at least smart enough to know when to pull up stakes and leave town.

(image from Sam Maylyn on Unsplash)

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Should We Teach Our Children To Lie Better?

The truth is everybody lies.

I remember my grandfather saying “Politicians always lie. That’s why they get elected. It’s a dirty business. Stay away from it.” Keep in mind, he was a good acquaintance if not a good friend with all the local elected politicians. It was always weird seeing him be friendly with them at church or other social gatherings. So, from my perspective there was always a disconnect that’s been a part of my view of politics and politicians for most of my life. I doubt I’m alone.

Jametlene reskp Q79XFGuTFfM unsplash.

Of course politicians aren’t the only ones who lie. Corporations do. Ordinary humans lie to other humans. Hell, these days, even AI chatbots lie. It’s all an expected part of the game of life, regardless of what the ninth of the Ten Commandments say.

Most legal systems are built on the premise that one side of the other is going to lie in some form or the other and it’s up to a judge or jury to determine where the truth my lie. But rarely does the losing side get punished for using lies as a defense.

What I do wonder though is why we waste so much time teaching our children not to lie. Given that we know full well they are going to grow up in a world where lying is not just the coin of the realm, but the realm itself, why bother? We do spend time teaching them to beware of the lies being told by salespeople, politicians, friends, etc… But I don’t think many parents spend time providing their progeny with better deceptive skills to be successful.

It’s a weird disconnect. Of course we want our kids to own up when they do something wrong. But eventually they figure it out anyway and everyone goes around living the lie about not lying. Rinse. Repeat.

Bad liars are easy to spot. So I guess arming youngsters with better skills wouldn’t’ necessarily be a bad thing. These days, even the bad liars seem to be rewarded for getting away with it, so a better skill set might unlock better achievements. But then again, choosing sides between Kant and Aristotle on the virtues of truth telling and situational ethics isn’t really good fodder for a dinner time conversation with the kids.

There are many old sayings that end with “_________makes liars of us all.” You can fill in the blank with “the world,” “fear,” “marriage,” “The Internet,” etc…. You can pick your target for blame. Just don’t pick yourself.

Perhaps hallucinating AI chatbots will one day level the playing field of liars by “reasoning” this down to the lowest common denominator. Regardless of what their makers say, they can only learn and spit back what humans have already learned and regurgitated back into the world. We’re all lousy liars, some lousier than others. We lie to the tune of our own rhyme or reason in the moment. And we certainly haven’t learned to pretend other as we endlessly recycle our inability to do different.

Image from Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

What’s Next After No Kings Protests?

We’re all asking the same question. There are no easy answers.

The No Kings protests this weekend were quite a recipe for hope. I won’t post any crowd number estimates because despite what you may hear or read there’s no real way to know numbers. What is knowable though is the large number of locations across the country that participated, indicating a depth and breadth of support against this horrible fascist regime we allowed to take over.

No kings protest la.

I’m including this link to Scott Dworkin’s post that contains a collection of No Kings protest photos from all 50 states. It’s a great look at that breadth and depth. But those are snapshots of moments in time. The energy that compelled so many to join protests this weekend needs to somehow be harnessed so that any momentum is not lost.

Certainly since the head of the regime we’re all protesting against has done the only thing he can do, which is double down with his threats, now more specifically calling out Blue State cities and populations.  We need to turn that recipe for hope into a full blown meal.

So, how do we keep it going?

That’s going to be tough, but this is a tough fight. I’m one who believes that we should extend weekend protests into the work week. Disrupt the work week and it will have a larger impact than just a weekend event. Especially given how the media seems too afraid to provide anything approaching real coverage, and the Trump adjacent media is just going to ignore it or make shit up. Unless there’s violence they want to exploit.

As an example of that, I sent out the above link from Scott Dworkin to some sadly still MAGAt worshipping relatives. From most I got the usual brush off. But two responded that they had no idea the protests were so large across the country. Guess where they get their news?

Perhaps that’s a simple cue we can use for our own good intentions. Accept the media won’t cover what needs covering. Assume those you know won’t see it if they do. Become your own source for providing information. Keep in mind, It won’t do any good to send inaccurate info or just be argumentative. Just send out the info with a message that says “in case you didn’t see this.”

I know that’s tricky ground for many with family tensions about this moment. But, in my humble opinion, it’s a step in the right direction and a necessary one. Big steps were taken this weekend. We need to keep moving forward. The other side is and will. Let’s make it tougher, not easier for them to do so.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Hostile and Political Amazon

The dangerous farce continues (and sometimes it’s quite funny.)

I guess someone at Amazon read my post from a few weeks ago about how it is possible to bring a bully to heal. I doubt it. But it is fun to watch Jeff Bezos make the Trump administration sweat a bit under similar circumstances. At least for the moment. 

In response to the Trump tariffs, which are already driving up prices and driving down consumer confidence, Amazon has announced that they will be displaying the amount of price increases that are due to tariffs on its product pages.

Of course this generated an immediate response from the White House with the press secretary, standing at the podium beside the Treasury secretary, labeling Amazon’s move as a “hostile and political act.” 

Oh my. 

Three things to quickly comment on:

First, when you need to trot out Treasury Secretary Bessent to try and clam waters you’re losing. As I’ve said before, he reminds me of the LaLa guy. Remember him?

Whatever Bessent says seems to make as much sense.

Second, we just reached the 100 day mark of this dangerous farce of an administration and the meaningless polls are telling us folks are unhappy. You don’t need polls to know that, see that, or feel that. The unease in the air is thicker than this Spring’s pollen count.

You can only create a fake reality in the movies. And even then, those fake realities fall apart in the end. 

Third, most early bets are Bezos will fold and pull back on this. But one can only bend a knee so far before it breaks. Or they don’t let you launch any new satellites.

And the bending begins.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

There’s a Corner and Trump Has Backed Us Into It. Again.

The farce continues

The headline of this post came to me first. Sometimes that happens. Then I had a memory flashback suggesting that I had used that headline before. I have. That was in early August of 2023. That’s why I added the “Again.”

The first time was right after the orange menace was indicted for the third time. As excited as some were for the legal victory in that moment, I felt then that we were still in great peril. That feeling proved accurate. It chills me to read what I wrote then:

There’s no back to find our way to, regardless of the legal outcomes. Frankly there’s no back to find our way to even if somehow this monster suddenly disappeared from the planet. The damage has been done. And I don’t think we collectively have what it takes to bridge the gaping wounds, much less comprehend them. Our political systems are incapable of stopping the slaughter of children with guns. Our spiritual institutions keep remaking foundational tenets into something unreconcilable with their founding. And we’re going to fix this?

The wounds are fresh. The pain is real. There’s a monster in our midst and it’s going to take extraordinary measures to defeat it. Nothing will be the same if we do. Nothing should be the same as we try. And if there’s any healing to come it’s not going to happen without amputations that alter the way we navigate the world.

We keep repeating this cycle. We’re still in that same corner as we sit watching, hoping, perhaps praying for some legal or moral victory to change any of the actions the Trump administration is tossing about. I know there are many, like me in that previous post, who wish he would somehow disappear from the planet. But neither legal victories nor acts of God are going to change the course of destruction we’re on and have been. The damage has been done and more keeps happening daily. Some bizarre force is keeping us in trapped in a corner. It’s also keeping Trump there too. He seems to enjoy it. Most, not all, of the rest of us do not.

Let’s take this Abrego Garcia deportation case. The Trumpsters have already tossed aside (for the moment) a Supreme Court ruling against them, redefining it as one in their favor, turning no into yes, day into night, and reality into fantasy. By doing so these fluffed up maniacs have dug a hole so deep that they can’t climb out without damaging their own machismo, dragging all of us deep into it as well.

It’s a serious moment that requires serious people to actually act seriously. A rare combination that’s tough to find these days. Whether it’s this issue, an unexplainable tariff/trade war, threatening law firms and universities, or whatever this administration is tossing into the bottomless blender of bluster, behind the scenes they are still ardently working towards success in an issue that might just render moot all of the moments of new horrors they unveil daily.

The subtext beneath all of this is a plot line that threatens to make any and all of these horrid actions seem like distractions. I’ve said all along that this administration is acting as if they don’t care about the outcome of future elections. They would not be acting this way if they were. Yet that’s the frame we seem incapable of breaking when discussing each of new eruption.

If we’ve learned anything (there’s no proof we have) it is that this dictator and his henchmen mean what they say and it’s no mistake that they keep hinting of a third term, or president for life scenario. Yes, there will most likely be elections. There are elections in Russia, Hungary, and pick your favorite autocracy. This will be the battle that decides all, and we need to face each new challenge within that context.

There’s a straight line that can be drawn between the moment this Abrego Garcia case finally winds its way back to the Supreme Court for a decision and the fate of future elections. The chess moves are simple to see.

If the Supreme Court defers in any way that subjugates the due process clause of the 5th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, then all bets are off. Game over. If the Supreme Court, or rather the conservative members of that court, put the administration in check by ruling against it, the next move is either surrender or tossing the pieces from the board, scrambling it all and declaring the game invalid.

I’m frankly not sure which outcome is worse. The Supreme Court abdicating ends all but the waiting game for the next shoe to drop, continuing the charade of hoping for some moment of truth that will set us all free. Upsetting the game board acknowledges where we actually are, but are afraid to admit. Both sides are cowering in that corner, afraid to face that moment of truth.

Dark times.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be

US Government Idiot Watch

Make no mistake, the folks Donald Trump has chosen for his cabinet are mortal. They are also fools.

According to Jeffery Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, they were communicating via the messaging app Signal, about recent military plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen. Bad enough in and of itself, but they also included journalist Goldberg in on the plans. 

According to Goldberg:

The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.

I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.

This is going to require some explaining. […]

And explain he does in this article which includes images from some of the messages between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President J.D. Vance, Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and more. Don’t worry. Goldberg does a better job of protecting sensitive data than the culprits do.

Obviously everyone but those in the cult of knee-benders and compliant media knows already that these guys are incompetent fools. Perhaps now the media will start calling this ship of fools out for what it actually is. 

I don’t wonder at their incompetence or reckless behavior. I just wonder why they aren’t using government secure channels to do their dirty work. Has Elon Musk locked them out of that too?

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

You Can Delete Photos. You Can’t Delete Human History.

Tough Guys Can’t Handle The Truth

Stupid. That would be one way to describe it. Impotent would be another way. Either way, it shows just how scared the racist white boys running the Pentagon are of catching hell from the orange makeup wearing racist in the White House.

The Pentagon, under the cover of building back a warrior ethos, is taking the president’s edict to purge anything that smacks of DEI and is now removing thousands of images and social media posts that reflect any suspected moment in American military history that might offend the delicate sensibilities of these cowardly racists. Looks like they can’t handle the truth.

Yes, it’s just another in a long list of horrible things happening. Yes, it’s just another attempt in the history of humans to erase their own history. Yes, it’s bullshit.

It’s intriguing that this latest move didn’t really catch the news until it was discovered that one of the photos to be deleted was of the “Enola Gay,” the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb. Because you know, it has the word “gay” in the title. I’m guessing whatever AI is being used flagged that one. But remember this is the gang that wanted to remove training videos of the Tuskegee Airmen and Women’s Air Force, before they lost whatever they think their courage was.

Perhaps you remember that this is the same crowd who says you can’t rename forts named after traitors or remove Confederate monuments because that erases history. If duplicitous irony was a rake they’d hit themselves in the face with the business end not the handle.

You can delete photos. You can remove social media posts. You can’t erase history. Sadly, you also can’t erase or remove ignorance, stupidity, and cruelty. 

 You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

The Stranger In The Room: The Zelenskyy Ambush

Don’t we at least deserve competent evil doers?

In most meetings when big decisions are going to be made or deals are poised for closing all of the hashing out of details is done ahead of time, before the principals show up to make a show of it. But when one side doesn’t want the deal to close or has nefarious designs on tricking the other there’s an age old tactic used to help derail things. It’s called “The Stranger in the Room.”

The “Stranger in Room” during the Zelenskyy visit to the White House was J.D. Vance. 

Here’s how the game is played. 

“The Stranger” is present in the meeting, often as a second, third, or even lower functionary. Often as innocuous decoration. But “The Stranger” is brought in with the purpose of blowing things up, so that the principal doesn’t have to get his/her hands dirty.

Often it’s with an innocuous comment. Sometimes it’s with a serious question. Occasionally, though rarely, it’s with a completely defiant statement. I’m sure you’re familiar with the variant of having an assistant call someone out of a meeting for an important call at just the right time. 

Vance’s role was to derail the meeting once things looked like they weren’t going The White House’s way, perhaps even scotch things from the beginning. He succeeded, but the masquerade was shorn of its cover when his principal, Trump, decided to open his mouth, and escalate things further, letting his ego take over revealing not only the game, but how ineffectual Vance was at playing his role.

It’s now quite obvious that Trump and his cadre of criminals thought they could snooker Zelenskyy. But they snookered themselves, endangering the future of Ukraine, Europe, and the world order in the process. Zelenskyy was right that they aren’t playing cards. Which is a good things, because the idiots he’s dealing with can’t even cut a deck, much less deal it. 

Look, I know these are evil assholes intent on horrible things. It’s just a damn shame we don’t even have competent evil assholes.  But then again, when damage is done it doesn’t matter if it was brought about by ignorance or malice.

(apologies for the weird formatting. WordPress is doing odd things today.)

 You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

Another Important Voice Speaks Out: Marc Elias Answers Elon Musk’s Attacks

Speak up now. While you still can.

Those who care about voting rights know who Marc Elias is. He’s an outspoken lawyer who has helped turn many cases and laws generated by those who seek to dismantle the right to vote into dust. So, it’s easy to see why he draws attacks from the right and wherever Elon Musk is with whatever drugs he’s taking. Musk recently singled Elias out on Twitter claiming that Marc Elias was “undermining civilization.” Elias has responded with a letter that you can read in full at this link. I’ll quote a short passage below from Elias’ conclusion below:
I will use every tool at my disposal to protect this country from Trump. I will litigate to defend voting rights until there are no cases left to bring. I will speak out against authoritarianism until my last breath. I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey. Defiantly, Marc Elias
We need to see and hear more of this from voices that matter. Quite frankly we need to hear from all voices who understand what’s at stake. I encourage you to read and share the full letter. I also see and hear from quite a few folks on social media about helpful ways of challenging what we’re in and what’s to come. If you ask me social media has basically devolved into silos largely of common cause, so in a sense, while it is good to find that common cause, we’re preaching to the choir. Media has been that way for a while. We expect our political leaders to speak out, but it’s rare when they do so meaningfully. Yes, they are afraid. So am I. But at some point we’re all going to be measured. Perhaps in addition to social media, or as an alternative, it would be beneficial if more folks started blogging (or whatever they hell we call writing on the Internet these days). There are plenty of venues on which to vehemently disagree. Use them. Use your voice. At least while we still can. You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.