There is no ducking just how utterly absurd it all is. A failed and deeply incompetent president who incited a coup attempt, was also found liable of sexual assault, and then was convicted of felonies … won the popular vote and electoral college with the help of conservative Christians who claim to hold the moral high ground on everything.
Disinformation and propaganda worked.
Such a voting choice has consequences, and so we now all get wind of the games that will be played. You most probably already could see much of this because you were paying attention last time, hence did not vote for the felon.
So what insights has the last week brought?
- UK: “Brexit.” US: “Hold my beer and watch this“, then proceeds to initiate a global trade war.
- Will he be calling it what it really is, an “Inflation Promotion Act”?
- Sigh! … you know the gameplan here, it’s the same old cycle but ramped up. Big promises, bigger failures, and endless scapegoating.
- There is an existing trade deal that the US reached with both Mexico and Canada. These tariffs breach that deal. The guy who organised that deal must be very angry when this got announced (apparently it was some previous president called Trump).
Then it all hits the brick wall of reality, Mexico’s response on Wed Nov 27, “We will also raise Tariffs if the US does so first“.
Then frantic “polite” phone calls, and you-know-who dials things back and then claims on Nov 28 (Yes thanksgiving day) “It worked, Mexico will close the border, I’ve won” …
While his sycophants go orgasmic, Mexico polity explains later that same day (Nov 28) …“Er … nothing has changed and we have not actually agreed to do anything, we did not even discuss tariffs“.
Rinse and repeat stuff like this for the next four years where he does nothing, but claims victory anyway.
OK, let’s move on from this and see what other crazy stuff has popped up during the past week.
It’s been a rather different Thanksgiving
I’ll just drop this here without comment …
Some get it, you really really do not have to tolerate having “MAGA” around for dinner. If you really have a choice, then choosing not to dine with people who have happily endorsed rape, treason, xenophobia, sexism, racism, and authoritarianism, is a good choice …
- It’s not about cutting people off because you disagree about politics, it’s about not dining with people who have rejected tolerance, decency, empathy, kindness, and compassion, and are utterly toxic.
As for this next one, yea, I might not show up for dinner either if my dad openly called my beliefs a mental disorder …
OK, let’s move on and look at some other weirdness.
“They all look the same“
We learned from Fox News that everybody who hates Trump looks alike …
- Because they’re both black, so Fox #racism
- Wait isn’t that MTG that said this? … all these grossly obnoxious bleached-blond bad-brained fools look the same to me, I can’t tell them apart.
The Cult of Trump
- The DOJ has never had the capacity to contend with a cultish, delusional political faction that comprises an immense swath of the citizenry.
- However, it is also worth appreciating that in a survey of folk that voted for Trump, 80% said they just wanted him to lower grocery prices. They said Trump saying he’d deport folk and all the other MAGA fascist stuff was just Trump joking. Just Trump being Trump. Just locker room talk. Only 4.8% of all voters actually voted for MAGA fascism. Now they are about to find out … the hard way … that they should have believed him when he said all that.
- Future generations will be embarrassed by this period in history … and angry … if we actually make it that far.
- We really should strive to see if maybe there’s a way to separate the questions of “should egg prices be lower” and “should the FBI director be a 4chan shitposter” into two separate elections.
Speaking of “Everything being run by Psychos“, lets now look in and see how that is going.
Whacky Appointments
Oh FFS, Kash Patel to run the FBI! …
- He has managed to find the least qualified for the FBI, a conspiracy nutter.
- Trump’s picks are perfect … if you intend to destroy 248 years of progress. You’d have trouble scripting a more satirical staff. Or to put that another way … hello Banana Republic.
It was in last week’s edition that I was pointing out that Pete Hegseth has creepy cult leader ambitions, and now here is a bit more on that …
- Here is the link to the article … and a quick insight from it … “Hegseth’s church is a member of CREC, and Hegseth has spoken positively of Wilson’s writings. Wilson and his allies have a rigid patriarchal belief system and don’t believe in the separation of church and state. They support taking away the right to vote from most women, barring non-Christians from holding office and criminalizing the LGBTQ+ community.“
- This religious nutter will soon be running the Dept of Def.
Pete is not the only one, here is another (and there are many more) …
- For completeness here is a link to the details being linked to above.
- Why settle for just one weird cult, when you can have somebody who has associations with lots … not only is she connected to the New Apostolic Reformation dominionists, but she also has strong backing from wealthy Scientologists.
There was also the appointment of yet another convicted felon …
- Charles Kushner: -Involved in some kind of sex crime/hotel hooker brother in law setup ✅ -convicted for 18 tax crimes ✅ -convicted for campaign $$ crimes✅ -convicted for witness tampering ✅ -sentenced to prison✅ -Ex con ✅ -family/extended family member ✅ -hate black/brown people ✅ -corrupt AF ✅
Time to move on to our next bastion of weirdness.
Christian “Love”
- Reaction of most non-believers: Basically pointing at it to mock and laugh at.
- One small flaw, Herod the Great died before Jesus was born. Additionally, there is no evidence that there was ever any slaughter of babies as described by Matthew. Most scholars hold the view that the story is folklore.
Can it all get even more absurd?
Sure it can, so here you go.
Absurd “Solutions”
- Totally has the “If we stop testing, the cases will drop” vibe
- This is how they will hide how many women have died because of the abortion bans!
Voting really dos have consequences, so let’s do a quick scan of how close it actually was.
Those that did not bother to vote
Just a small number of votes would have made a massive difference in the House …
- For a few months the margin will likely be 217-215.
- One of the 1st orders of biz Republicians is expected to be them extending Trump tax cuts, and to supersize them, at a cost of $5-7+ trillion. Under a D majority that number would likely be trillions less. Vice-versa on spending cuts. Possible $7T delta/7500 votes is a LOT of potential $$$ per vote.
Least you be tempted to descend into despair, remember that there really are good people out there.
There really are good people out there
She is spot on, the real problem is indeed “Conservative Christian Men” …
Some you encounter really can also surprise you in a good way…
Another twist is that you also often find allies in surprising places.
Often it really is complicated
Siding with a taxpayer-funded ministry …
- Briefly: Paxton is effectively suing a taxpayer funded Christian ministry for helping unhoused people
- The problem is real – “the unhoused people are urinating, defecating, fornicating, fighting, and leaving needles in the area” … but shutting down their only access to help is also not a solution, Paxton has no Plan B, all he will do is move the existing problem elsewhere … “Texas Republicans aren’t releasing any policy plan to increase affordable housing or give those unhoused people access to licensed social workers and potential jobs. They just want them to disappear. If they die from lack of help, the Republicans don’t care” … but the ministry does, and so they should be supported, not demonised.
- What is inevitable is that Paxton is only going to make things worse, as is the way with all that this deeply corrupt individual touches, and then blame others.
- I might not believe what the ministry believes, but I do wholly support what they do, and salute them for their actions.
- Being against something Ken Paxton wants to do, is invariably the right thing to do.
Weirdest of the Weird
Some manage to turn being weird into a very entertaining performative art.
Apparently I don’t exist …
- These are of course the same guys who also claim that not just planet earth, but also the entire universe is just 6,000 years old.
- Oh and least I forget, they also believe that unicorns and flying fire-breathing dragons are real. (I bet you thought that last bit there is simply a joke, but no, I’m not kidding, they really do assert all this on their website)
- They are basically so nutty that even other young earth creationists consider them to be totally crazy.
There was also this bit of weird self-memeing by Nancy Mace …
- Batshit is just batshit … but … batshit for Jesus with those giant crucifix earrings while spreading hate? … yes, still batshit.
- She appears to be channeling Michelle Bachmann (who is famous for doing crazy in congress long before it became so popular)
Andrew Tate is clearly not the sharpest clown in the circus – on social media in the tweet he says “When I was human trafficking” …
- For context, he is currently being charged by Romanian authorities with trafficking minors, sex with a minor, money laundering and attempting to influence witnesses. I think we can also add to the list of charges “stupidity” after this rather public confession.
Political Cartoons from the past week
As always, there are many excellent cartoons. Here are a few samples. Each comes with a link to the cartoonist putting the cartoon out via BlueSky. If you are on Bluesky then you can use the link to follow them.
Reactions to the Xodus
Elon Just loves Bluesky
- Briefly … when the good place started to take off, some trolls from the bad place tried to come on over to the good place and swamp it with child porn. Things went wobbly for a bit, but then the moderators got on top of it and tossed them all out, and so now the troll master is using what happened to claim it is a safe space for child porn.
- Meanwhile … as a reminder … this is the same Elon who is best buddies with an actual pedophile and helped get him elected. (Yes, I’m saying it because there is credible evidence that Trump really did rape a 13 year old … it’s hard to spot because it is buried in the middle of the very very very long Wikipedia article that documents the vast number of sexual misconduct allegations made against the Felon)
When faced with troll accounts that some setup to target and harass people, is is really easy to block and report in the good place. This is where something really does get done …
Some wonder why anybody would even bother to create such accounts, and Mina has an excellent answer for that …
Finally…
- In case you missed that Pete Hegseth mom story, then here you go – Pete Hegseth’s Mom Said He Abused ‘Many’ Women in Bombshell Email
The thorny issue that divides us …
Speaking of Elon, there was also his choice last week …
- I can wholly guarantee you that all 12 of his kids along with their moms were indeed very very thankful that he choose not to spend any time with them.
Let’s finish with a quote from the Book of MAGA, chapter 8, verse 15 …
… because … hey 81% of Evangelicals … your vote is a very clear message. This is what you voted for, and it tells us a great deal about who you really are.