You might perhaps expect Trump’s own Ex-Chief-of-Staff John Kelly calling him a fascist just two weeks prior to the election would move the needle … but apparently not.
For those of you reading this from Inner Mongolia and are thinking, “Wait, he said what?”, then here is a quick recap for you (via CNN)…
John Kelly, the retired Marine general who was Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, entered the 2024 fray in stunning fashion, saying the former president fits “into the general definition of fascist” and wanted the “kind of generals Hitler had” in a series of interviews published Tuesday.
Kelly’s comments, two weeks from Election Day, are the latest in a line of warnings from former Trump White House aides about how he views the presidency and would exercise power if returned to office.
In addition to the fascist comments, Kelly — who was Trump’s chief of staff from 2017 to 2019 — told The New York Times that the former president “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.”
He also confirmed to The Atlantic that Trump had said he wished his military personnel showed him the same deference Adolf Hitler’s Nazi generals showed the German dictator during World War II, and recounted the moment.
“‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” Kelly told The Atlantic he’d asked Trump. He added, “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.”
For completeness, here is the NYT tweet with a link to the full article there … (This is a gift link to the actual NYT article) …
The Atlantic was also covering it …
What Kelly, one of Trump own insiders, is saying are deeply serious allegations.
In the pre-Trump age this significant moment would have been a deal-breaker, but these days it is simply “Tuesday”. I’m guessing you have seen it, many others are picking it up …
Why so little impact?
Well the thing is this, to those that have been paying attention, this is not news, the knowledge that he is like this is already well-understood. As far as his cult are concerned, it’s all “Fake News”, so it gains no traction amongst the delusional who have been mesmerised and conned by him for many years and are now too deeply invested for it to have any impact.
Did any other crazy stuff happen this past week?
You need not wonder. These days that’s a certainty, so let’s take a look.
Billionaires For Tax Breaks
The Billionaire Owner of the LA Times stepped in and stopped them endorsing Harris. Their editorials editor quit in protest …
- Several other LA Times editors have also quite and thousands of subscriptions have been cancelled.
- Meanwhile the LA Times owner, Pat Soon Shiong has been in talks with Trump about getting a senior Health care Role.
Over at the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” Washington Post, Jeff Bezos the Billionaire owner stopped them from publishing an editorial endorsing Harris. So they also have going down to f**k democracy road and sided with Fascism …
- These outlets are supposed to report the news, not become the news.
Had WaPo and LaTimes endorsed Kamala, it would have been a non-story. A nothing burger. Their unspeakable cowardice is now TOP OF THE NEWS, and a horrible look for those formerly respected papers.
Journalism 101: If somebody claims it is raining and somebody else says it is sunny, it’s literally their f**king job to go outside and check, then report back and tell you who is telling the truth.
- The article is here – Gift Link
- Quote: “I am endorsing Kamala Harris for president, because I like elections and want to keep having them.“
CNN
CNN have able been catching some flack.
Aaron is not wrong about this …
- CNN are going to both-sides us straight into fascism.
- Side Note: CNN Poll numbers (Rolls eyes) but don’t fret about that. Many polls have been seriously compromised by the Republican Flood the Zone ones. If it really was as dire as some claim, then Kamala would be sticking with swing states, and not going to Texas (as she did this past week to help out senate candidate, Colin Allred, who is a few points from success). She was relaxed enough with her internals to feel free enough to spend a bit of time working on getting a Senate majority that she will need to be effective.
McDonald’s
For some reason, this prediction popped up last Sunday …
… but this is what actually happened …
Probably more to do with the E-coli outbreak … but … it’s still nice to think that Karma also played a role.
Christian Nationalism
Micah Beckwith, the GOP’s candidate for Lt. Gov. in Indiana, claims that … “the Bible was the most quoted book of the Founders” and asserts that James Madison took the three branches of government “right from God’s holy word” via Isaiah 33:22.
- Sigh! … literally none of that is true, he is parroting the bogus claims from that pseudo-historian Barton.
Stephen Wolfe, author of “The Case For Christian Nationalism,” says it was “a complete mistake” for the Founders not to acknowledge “the Lordship of Christ” in the Constitution
- Nope, it was a very specific wise choice and not a “mistake”. The founders were well aware of the dangers.
Right-wing pastor George Pearsons lists biblical figures who confronted political leaders while insisting that Christians must be involved in politics.
- If Christian nationalists ever call out Trump “over his arrogance” or “regarding his immorality,” please let us know. Their silence is rather telling.
Christian “Love”
For many “Christians”, that whooshing is the sound that the actual teachings of Jesus make when it all goes flying right over their heads.
Misogynistic Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon used his Sunday sermon last week to tell women that God expects them to be quiet in all regards: “Like a golden ring in the snout of a pig, so too it is with a woman who is not modest.“
- You really do have to feel a lot of sympathy for this lunatic’s wife. For example, last April he explained that he caught his wife reading a book without his permission and banned her from reading it. Yes “Jesus!” is indeed the correct response there, and to be clear, not in the religious sense, but as an expletive.
- Here is a zinger of a quote from him: “I have four people in my life that I dictate the hours in their day. I dictate what time they go to the bathroom. When we eat, what we eat, what we wear. They are my children. Those are the people that I have almost limitless authority with,” … so yea, time to roll out that expletive once again.
- It’s guys like him that have literally inspired The Handmaid’s Tale.
- What he is successfully doing is making a very compelling case for becoming a None.
Joe Nicola is a Missouri pastor who says mental illness is caused by “demon possession,” compared a Nazi flag to a “rainbow” one, and wants to destroy public education. He’s also a Republican candidate for State Senate.
- What could possibly go wrong if he gets elected?
Tim Walz
Nick is not wrong about this …
- Walz’s advisors: “We need you to stop calling them “weird”“; Walz: “Sure, no problem”, and proceeds to Call them dipshits
Some Can be Subtle
Hypocrisy
Rep Nancy Mace takes credit for the funding she herself voted against …
- Pete wins the Internet for that response.
Thankfully people do keep the receipts …
MAGA Really is a Cult
MAGA cultist Lance Wallnau’s new nickname for Kamala Harris is “Caligula Harris”: “She will prove to be, if she’s given power, one of the most tyrannical and unsympathetic and cruel forces of abuse of power that you’ve ever seen.“
- Translation: “I’m afraid that THOSE people will treat me the way that I want them treated.“
- Because the Trump campaign is devoid of credible policy proposals, all they have left to play is fear and gaslighting.
- If you click the link to check the clip and then wonder what that slurping noise is, it is basically Lance vigorously licking Trump’s ass.
Also this past week MAGA cultist Lance Wallnau warns that “if Trump wins, boom! There will be instantaneous manifestations of demons all over the country.“
- Demons are not real, they don’t exist.
- However, even if he believe it, he need not worry because Trump will not win.
MAGA Pastor Kent Christmas (yes, that’s his real name) warns that a vote for Kamala Harris means “changing the DNA and sexually altering three-year-old babies” and that anyone who does it must “pay the price.“
- It’s very creepy to see how this Pastor is literally obsessed about sex and kids
- It’s also rather bizarre to observe a pastor endorsing the convicted felon, a guy who incarnates the 7 deadly sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.
Disconnected from Reality
What causes Hurricanes?
According to MAGA Pastor Jack Hibbs, it is the removal of Bibles from Schools …
- Weather Tip: Hurricanes don’t check your beliefs or the location of Bibles in schools before deciding where to land.
Mark Meckler says that if you want to know real, true, unfiltered American history, “there is no better place to learn that than from WallBuilders.” We say that if you want to learn real American history, do not take recommendations from Mark Meckler.
- For those that don’t know, the wallbuilders is an outlet run by the Barton Pseudo-historians. You already know this, but it still needs to be said – actual historians consider their rantings to be BS.
- Barton’s grasp upon reality was well illustrated a few years ago by his claim that abortion causes climate change. This is literally palaeolithic “thinking” (Bad things happening, therefore we must have angered the gods). I guess we can toss him a few points for acknowledging that Climate Change is real.
Rep. Keith Self has also been drinking Barton’s cool-aid … he is unable to provide any evidence for the various claims he was making this past week:
- Claimed: the Constitution requires the president to be a natural born citizen “because that’s what God required of the leader of the Israelites in the Old Testament.“… Nope.
- Claimed: “Lots of our laws are based on the Bible,” … Nope.
- Claimed: “The founding fathers were Christians, not Deists“. … Nope, it’s a tad more complex. The Founding Fathers are not one united whole, but instead, as you might expect, had a range of religious beliefs, including Christianity, Deism, and non-Christian Deism. They were generally educated men of the Age of Enlightenment, hence not particularly enthusiastic about religion.
The False Profit$
Johnny Enlow and Steve Shultz assert that Christians must just grit their teeth and accept that the “prophets” who assert that Donald Trump has been chosen by God are right.
- Well … they are correct, these “prophets” are indeed “right” in the sense that they are on the far-right of politics … but when it comes to their prophecies and all they say, they have a well-established track record of being wrong about everything they predict, over and over and over.
Whenever I’m faced with people who claim to have a direct line to god, then the following is what springs quite naturally into my mind …
Abortion
- The actual CNN article is here.
- The scientific paper published Oct 21st is this – “National Trends in Infant Mortality in the US After Dobbs” (sorry it is paywalled there)
- Nobody saw this coming … oh wait that’s not quite right because literally everybody saw this coming except the supposed “pro-life” fools.
- She probably thought she had it in the bag when it was an older gentleman, BUT SURPRISE
Now this below is a very powerful ad …
Four Seasons Total Landscaping
I’m sure most of you know the story with them, but for the few of you that missed it, the backstory is that a few years back in 2020 Trump announced a Press Conference at the Four Seasons, but they screwed up, booked the wrong place, and ended up, not in the hotel, but in Four Seasons Total Landscaping garden centre, then decided to push ahead with the press conference anyway.
Michelle Obama
She has been out and about helping out and making rather sensible points …
She really knows how to genuinely, empathetically, and informatively hit it right out of the park …
Seriously now, she is really really good at this …
It’s also understandable why she needs to get Harris over the line…
Camara guy is about to get fired
“Sing out, Louise! You’re losin’ the house!“. Even MAGA can only take so much shit …
Elon Musk
Have you ever wondered why Elon has gone full Trump?
It’s tempting to think that it is just another Billionaire after tax breaks, but no, in his case, it’s a tad more critical.
Here is a handy chart via the NYT this past week that explains how f**ked he will be if Trump does not win …
- Here is that NYT article from Oct 21 (Gift link)
Political Cartoons from the past 7 Days
Be Encouraged, the tide is turning
Here is a MAGA Pastor who has declared that he is out and will no longer support Trump …
Here is the longer interview with that same Pastor where he explains what changed his mind…
Finally…
MAGA Standard Response when faced with vile stuff is usually “It was taken out of context.” …
- Below you can see the cognitive dissonance the woman on the right is *physically* experiencing in this one, it forces her to run away.
- Shout out to that one lady on the left who did not run, but said, “No, Morrow shouldn’t be running the schools in NC“, she is still reachable.
They also engaged with Morrow directly …
Their video for the Scranton, PA Trump Rally is up now …
I also rather liked this excellent ad …
Finally, from this past week there was also this …
Be Encouraged …
