Searching for Immortality, Gold, and Glory in Stone and History

 According to the new book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan top Trump administration and DOJ officials met in White House situation room at least twice in order to come up with a damage control plan in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Titled, "Regime Change; Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," the expose' reveals the President, while the topic of the discussion, wasn't in the room either time. When asked why, last night, Haberman explained, "Because he doesn't like talking about it." 

 Actually, there a a few things Donald Trump doesn't like talking about these days. It's why Swan said, "If you don't pin him down, no matter what the question he will give you 20 minutes on the reflecting pond. Everything is geared to deflect and divert." When asked how Trump gets away with it, they both said, in effect, because the White House press corps has been whittled down and is now manned, almost exclusively, by reporters who are sympathetic to, that's right, Donald J. Trump. 

No doubt, the current President finds life much easier and more convenient that way. Unfortunately, that isn't how this democracy is supposed to operate. Although, as stated last night, right now Trump is obsessed not with democracy and how it works, but rather leaving his distinctive mark on the nation and world. 

Both Haberman and Swan painted a disturbing picture of a man steeped in delusion and ego who seeks raw power without any sense of morality. The prime example being, when they last met him a couple of months ago for a fact checking interview. He produced a two-page paper, "written by a historian." It described him as the most powerful man in the history of the world. More powerful than a list of ruthless dictators and conquerors ranging from Stalin and Mao to Hitler and from Genghis Khan to Napolean among others. Trump didn't care what they did. All he was interested in was their acquisition and use of power. 

Trump told the pair he had met the historian at an event honoring hall of fame pro golfer, Gary Player. Since neither of them had ever heard of the guy, Swan did some research on him. He found the, "historian's," academic credentials were a tad questionable. It turned out the man was Player's long time golf caddy.  

When Benjiman Netanyahu came to Washington to pitch his idea for a war with Iran, according to Swan and Haberman most the people in the situation room weren't buying it. It's unclear how strongly they objected though, since the reporters maintain, Trump has an almost, "mystical hold," over his staff and cabinet. (They've seen him get away Scot free so many times--he tried to overthrow the government for God's sake--then watched him easily win the 2024 election. By now they believe he can pull off anything.) Despite this, the reporters say the consensus in the room was Netanyahu's hard sell was full of holes and bullshit. Trump, however, emboldened by the success of the adventure in Venezuela, "had a hunch," that after a massive first strike, the government in Iran would crumble. 

Yes, according to the two New York Times reporters, the United States went to war in Iran because Donald J. Trump had a fucking hunch it would be over quickly. 

That certainly worked out well, didn't it?  Thousands of Iranians and 13 U.S. service members are dead and only God knows how many are wounded. Vice President J.D. Vance, who apparently opposed the start of the war to begin with, has been sent overseas multiple times to try to clean up the mess. Some reports say it is Trump's way of punishing Vance for his opposition.  The truth is probably closer to the reason Trump wasn't in the room during the Epstein strategy meetings--he doesn't like talking about it.

The original memorandum of understanding, which Trump broke within 24 hours--both sides had agreed not to threaten each other with military force--appears to have granted Iran pretty much everything Trump said he'd never allow. It includes proposals that allow Iran access to scads of cash and leaves what remains of their ballistic missile arsenal intact. It also allows Iran to keep some of their nuclear material for peaceful purposes with the caveat of international inspections.  Does that sound familiar? It should, it is exactly the same deal Obama got during his Presidency, only without all the war and death shit. For those with selective memories, Trump had torn up that agreement during his first term. As late as last week he claimed the Iranians laughed at Obama and called him, "stupid son of a bitch," for making the deal that included a massive cash payout. 

To say American negotiating strategy felt like a Second City improve bit is understating things.  The Vice President told the media the U.S. delegation had tried to reach the nuclear inspectors by phone, but because it was 2AM when the calls were made none of them picked up. In addition, Vance assured the press that much of the cash handed over to the Iranians would be used to buy various grains and soy products grown by American farmers. The VP made sure everyone knew a very Trumpian deal was taking shape.    

None of this surreal nonsense has pleased republican hawks in congress and elsewhere. Louisiana GOP Senator, John Kenedy put it this way, "Unless you were homeschooled by a day drinker no one's confident that Iran is going to do anything."  At least one Fox talking head urged Trump to get personally involved in the talks. He also fumed about Vance's performance, at one point saying he should be fired. Of course, the only problem with that is the Vice President of the United States can't be fired, not by the President, or even Rupert by God Murdoch. Once elected the VP can only be impeached or politically exiled to the Senate, or by being sent on trips to places like, Burgenstock, Switzerland for increasingly incomprehensible diplomatic meetings.          

Haberman and Swan both insist that unlike in his first term, Donald Trump no longer reacts to or even cares about polls. He is that far gone in his search for immortality, gold, and glory, in stone, his bank account, and a well-crafted history--even if that history is written by a golf caddy.  

And just think, there are two and a half more years of this growing madness to go. Sleep well tonight, America. 

6-23-26

Temporarily Embarrassed in Oklahoma

 Socialism never took root in Ameriica because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

Ronald Wright

And so it was yesterday here in Oklahoma. Yesterday the state held its primary elections. Oklahoma has a closed primary, meaning when it comes state offices and Congressional seats democrats can only vote for democratic hopefuls, republicans can only vote for republicans, and independents can stay home until November. That was the case yesterday with one exception. 

State Question 832 was on a sperate ballot handed to both democrats and republicans. In addition, if independents wanted, they could vote on this single issue. Unless you are Elon Musk or the ghost of John D. Rockefeller SQ 832 cannot be considered a prime slice of socialism. It didn't guarantee medical care, and it certainly wasn't designed to provide state sponsored affordable housing. If passed the question would have raised the state's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour. Not all at once, but through smaller increases spread out over three years. 

It was rejected 55.4% to 44.6%, proving Ronald Wright's assessment is still dead-on target. Further proof is provided by looking at county by county results. State Question 832 passed in the states three most populous counties and arguably richest. The measure carried in Oklahoma, Cleveland, and Tulsa counties. It came reasonably close in Commanche County, home to Lawton, the state's largest town not in either the Tulsa or OKC metro areas. In the 74 remaining counties, the losses were staggering. From McCurtain County in the southeastern corner--72.6% no, to Beaver County in the panhandle--85.3% no. In Garfield County up north--70.2% no, and in Bryan County in the south--62.2% no.  

Such is the fate of any idea, or candidate considered even faintly progressive in a statewide election in Oklahoma. 

Meanwhile, on the GOP side of things were only slightly less depressing. The republican gubernatorial primary saw five different candidates spending wads of cash and getting a lot of help from sources unknown. Gertner Drummond, brother-in-law to the Food Network celebrity, Ree Drummond (aka the Pioneer Woman) barely edged out Mike Mazzei, who was endorsed by Donald by God Trump himself. Both candidates had been frequently and savagely attacked in TV ads paid for by dark money groups. Mazzei, especially despite the endorsement, was accused by anonymous people of being some sort of democratic mole who was a secret supporter of Hillary Clinton. (Yes, the mere mention of her name still drives MAGA types into fits of uncontrollable rage.) 

Mazzei and Drummond each received a little over 26% of the votes cast, forcing a runoff later this year. Chip Keating, the son of former Governor, Frank Keating, who had promised to build a world class multi bazillion dollar energy research center named after Trump, won a little over 18%.    

In the end, all five of these clowns repeatedly pledged allegiance to the Holy Fat Man, although interestingly, it was the two candidates who were the most restrained about it who will face each other in the runoffs. The other three, who used dark money in repeated character and political attack ads are going home to figure out what went wrong. 

Finally, in Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District, iron worker and union man, Trey Martin faced off against educator, Jena Nelson in the democratic primary. Martin apparently had some semi-serious labor money backing him. His TV spots were more frequent and every time I opened my mailbox there was one of his mailers. He even had what identified itself as the League of Labor Voters manning phone banks, calling registered democrats in the district. Actually, the guy had me at the first mailer I saw. I mean any politician in Oklahoma who has the incredible audacity to boast about his union activism and an endorsement by Senator Bernie Sandders, is my kind of crazy.  

Unfortunately, my kind of crazy hardly ever wins. Nelson, who ran a low-key campaign in comparison won with 56.7% of the vote. She will now face the republican incumbent, Stephanie Bice in November. The Oklahoma 5th District is the last congressional district that was won by a democrat, however thanks to some, let's say, creative boundary drawing by republicans it is still a tough nut to crack. 

The truth is, while there might be a blue wave in other locales this November, Oklahoma will remain a bright red rock with no signs of erosion. That's because in Oklahoma, even though not all of the nearly two and a half million voters consider themselves, "temporarily embarrassed millionaires," far too many do and always will. 

6-17-26

All-Day, All-Night Donnie John

 We will probably never learn what is contained in the witches' brew of pharmaceuticals Donald Trump uses to keep himself up all night. It's probably safe to assume meth amphetamines aren't included since one of the chief side effects of meth is weight loss, something our man in the White House has never been afflicted with. If yesterday and early today proved anything, whatever the unholy concoction is, it works. 

After last night's gladiatorial festival held at the White House, within two hours of the last fight, Trump hit the road to Geneva. He arrived there this morning to attend the G-7 conference and possibly personally sign a peace deal with Iran which is scheduled for Friday. The bloodletting on the south lawn didn't end until a little after one am. However, the President, still pumped from all the violence held in honor of Flag Day and not coincidently his 80th birthday--and no doubt those mysterious drugs--continued posting on social media all through the early morning hours.  

Most had to do with the fight itself. One read, "The weather was supposed to be horrendous, and it turned out PERFECT! So much for weather predicting." Of course, El Don can't tell the whole truth to save his life. One of the reasons the fights ran well past midnight was because bad weather delayed their start for 45 minutes. When it came to the combat itself, the President wrote, "Most people have never seen anything like that kind of human power and speed before. The White House never looked more beautiful." 

One supposes a huge industrial steel arc of lighting, tiers of temporary seating, and a canvas covered stage surrounded by cyclone fencing can be considered beautiful. Others, however, might think the entire scene a crudely offensive affront to both Presidential and national dignity. But hey, as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Meanwhile, Trump's long awaited peace deal was announced. At least that it is being billed as. No one is quite sure what is in it because the details haven't been released to the media. In fact, the President and Vice President made sperate statements which differed on details just enough it made the situation a tad murky. 

The morning Mr. Trump told everyone ships were beginning to move through the Strait of Hormuz, although it isn't clear if it has been completely swept clean of Iranian mines. The Donald made the announcement with all the pride of a conquering hero. This didn't deter some cynics from pointing out the strait was closed only because of Trump and Netanyahu's war in the first place. Others were quick to remark on rumors that the agreement included freeing up around $300 million in Iranian cash assets which had been frozen. If true, it put the administration in the position of having to send all that cash back to Iran, just like the Obama administration did over a decade ago--something Trump has repeatedly condemned Obama for doing.  

While irony is certainly not Donald Trump's strong suit, he is quite accomplished at hypocrisy. Both tend to go hand in hand when he is involved. 

Yes, we will simply have to wait until Friday to actually see what is exactly on paper. Or not. By then the whole thing might fall apart thanks to Netanyahu's continued attacks in Lebanon. Israeli politicians on both his left and right are all over him because of the agreement and he desperately needs the war to continue in order to keep him out of a courtroom and quite possibly jail. 

Indeed, it would seem both he and Donald Trump made major errors months ago when the war began. Trump trusted the Israeli Prime Minister and Netanyahu never dreamed Trump would call it quits so quickly. Not to mention neither man even considered the Iranians might close the Strait. (Even if Netanyahu did, he'd never let Trump in on it.)

But back to Trump's late night posting adventures. Recently a person on YouTube with a channel titled, Ask AI loaded over 32,000 of Trump's social media posts into Anthropic's AI program, Claude. It was asked to analyze the President's language, behavior, and personality. Claude wasn't told anything about Trump's job, politics, or personality. What Claude found was that no matter what the topic, Donald Trump most frequently put himself at the center of events, no matter what. Also, roughly one in 11 of all those posts were filled with self-praise. Additionally, Claude found El Donald frequently described himself as both the victim of unfair treatment and a triumphant winner at the same time. 

Which might explain a post early this morning which had nothing to do with fight night at the White House. It read, "Dumocrats want FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) because that's what they used to go after me for three years during my First Term. I'm against FISA if it doesn't come with The Save America Act (FULL version) firmly attached to it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" He then highlighted the provisions of the Save America Act, which, among other things, forces voters to present photo ID's and proof of citizenship, plus severely restricts mail in ballots.   In other words, despite his, "victimhood," Donald Trump is willing to fund FISA in order to make it harder for Americans to vote.  

Who says Donald Trump doesn't understand self-sacrifice? His Truth Social account didn't go quiet until around 4am. He arrived in Switzerland between 9 am and 10am EDT. 

That's right, baby. Better living through chemistry.

6-15-26

Donald Trump: An Interview, a Basketball Game and Finally Back to His Sort of People

 Even though it is only Wednesday it has already been quite a week for our man in the White House, Donald J. Trump. On Sunday he appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," for an interview with journalist, Kristen Welker. They sat down together somewhere in Wisconsin on a farm. The building had a solid roof without any leaks but also had very little insulation. When heavy rain came and went both Welker and Trump had to raise their voices considerably to be heard over the noise. Whether that was a factor in what happened during the interview is up for speculation. 

What we do know is that in the long history of Donald Trump's unhinged rants what we saw Sunday was quite possibly his most off the rails performance to date. In fact, off the rails doesn't really do it justice. Maybe we should go with off a cliff. How else can you describe it when the President of the United States tells the journalist interviewing him, "You're either crooked or stupid." 

That's our Donald alright. When challenged, especially by a female, he comes back hard. The extended rant and abrupt end of the interview--Trump stormed out--led at least one wag to say that while Trump still likes the title of President, he no longer wants the duties of the office. He'd prefer to attend sporting events and plan grand memorials to himself. While we can't be sure of that, Sunday's interview showed us he is a man who has run completely out of patience. Out of patience with a war he started but can't finish. There wasn't a plan B because he couldn't conceive he would need one. Now, because the Iranians didn't cave in, every time he opens another door to end it, he finds a crouching tiger. Out of patience with an increasingly disillusioned electorate. Out of patience with the rising costs of everything. (It's tough to gaslight people when they are the ones buying groceries every week.) And certainly, out of patience with all these fucking questions. (Why won't these people just believe me anymore?)

It has been my personal belief Donald Trump's somewhat tenuous grip on reality truly started to slide away on election night, 2020. By early January 2021 we saw the first real manifestation of the insanity. A lot of people had told him no. His brain simply couldn't handle it. The lie about the election results became an all-consuming obsession. So much so, you could probably strap the old coot into a lie detector right now and he would pass it. Indeed, after all the questions about the war that isn't a war and the economy, the brakes on the crazy train didn't completely fail until Kristen Welker kept insisting there was no proof any election, including the most recent one in California, had been rigged. 

when reminded no evidence had ever been presented in court, the President of the United States responded, "You have more evidence, there's more evidence than ever presented." To quote the TV character, Amy Farah Fowler, "It's hard to argue with street smarts like that." 

Moments later, after a few more insults ("Your elections are crooked and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked.) Donald Trump stormed off the set as Kristen Welker whined, "But I flew all the way to Wisconsin to interview you."

Not to worry though. Donald Trump resurfaced on Monday in New York City. He was there to watch the New York Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals. 

To put this in a little historical perspective, the Knicks haven't appeared so therefore haven't hosted a finals game since 1999. The last time they won a championship since 1973. To say tickets to the game on Monday were the hottest thing in town was an understatement of epic proportions. Now, in comes Donald Trump, who moved out of New York years ago and quite honestly hasn't had anything nice to say about it since. In addition, unlike Barack Obama he has rarely if ever shown any interest in the sport.  

Because of security concerns a Knick's street/watch party outside of Madison Square Garden was cancelled, denying fans without tickets a chance to get in on the action even if from the periphery. Then Garden officials announced security to get in the building would be so tight, fans should arrive two hours prior to the tipoff. Finally, thanks to Trump's caravan, traffic in Manhattan, especially around Madison Square Garden was snarled for hours. 

When Trump and his party showed up in a private box, the whole bunch was roundly booed. The general consensus was the boos were equally divided between those who don't like Trump's politics and others who were simply pissed off at the inconvenience his presence caused. Long time Knicks super fan and film director, Spike Lee arrived wearing a Knicks jersey with the name, Pope Leo, across the back. ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith, who is normally friendlier to Trump than many on the network said his attendance was, "Selfish and narcissistic."

Proving Smith was right, multiple reports say Donald Trump, while attending the biggest New York Knicks game in 27 years fell asleep during the middle of it. The game itself was a barn burner 115-111 loss for New York, their first since April. The next day, Knicks fans everywhere demanded Trump be banned from the Garden and all future Knicks playoff games. As one pointed out, "we won the first two. The only thing that changed was he was there." Game four is tonight. As far as anyone knows, Donald Trump won't be in the Garden.

Yes, the Master of Madness and Chaos has moved on. He is, no doubt, back in Washington preparing to appear at the super-duper display of muscle, sweat and violence the UFC fights promise to deliver on Sunday. One assumes this crowd won't boo him since it is restricted to military guests, donors, and fans of, not the New York Knicks, but Donald John Trump. 

You know, the sort of crowd he likes best. People who won't try his patience with any questions. 

(For those interested in double talk, half-truths, outright lies, and insanity, the entire transcript of the Kristen Welker-Donald Trump interview is available online thanks to the NBC News website.) 

6-10-26

Bill Pulte is the Man Who Will Figure it Out

 The office of the Director of National Intelligence didn't exist until after the horrors of 9/11, 2001. When the pre-attack intelligence was finally analyzed, it was found there were clues something was up well before the disaster. The most glaring of which was a report that a handful of Saudi nationals were learning how to fly commercial sized jets but showed no interest in being taught how to land them. 

The problem was that this ominous indicator, and others were spread out over various U. S. intel services and at the time there was no single person, or department who saw them all in detail. In other words, there wasn't anybody in charge of piecing together the puzzle. The answer was to create a clearing house, as it were, for all the different departments and agencies to send their findings to for analysis. The Director of National Intelligence and his, or her staff boils it all down, then through meetings and daily reports tells the President on what is going on and advises him what actions he might take or consider taking. 

As one can imagine, with all this different information flooding into one office the Director, whoever he, or she is, needs to have a good deal of intelligence and security experience. In fact, it says just that in the job description that was written by the Congress which authorized the office. In short, anyone who wants the position has to know the business. 

Well, at least until Bill Pulte came along. 

Brother Pulte graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in broadcast journalism. After graduating, he interned with Huron Capital Partners and later worked for Penske Capital Partners. He then started his own company--with a lot of help from his grandfather--Pulte Capital. It became wildly successful within a couple of years. So much so, Forbes Magazine named to their 30 under 30 list.     

Despite the success the rest of the board of directors considered him a pain in the ass ego maniac. Not long after Pulte's grandfather died, the board gave him the heave ho. In 2019 he became chums with Donald J. Trump. By 2024 he was what you would call a big-time donor to the Republican National Committee, the Trump campaign, and other republican causes. In 2025 he became Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. 

While it isn't a job that normally grabs headlines Bill Pulte managed to do so. When Trump began looking for reasons to prosecute his political enemies it turned out Pulte was just the man for the job. It was Pulte who, "referred," NY Attorney Gomersal, Letticia James, Senator Adam Schiff and others to the DOJ for federal prosecution--the charges being, Mortgage Fraud. It didn't matter all the indictments either fell through, or failed to get out of grand juries, that was all Pam Bondi's fault. (And probably one of the reasons she got fired.) What mattered was that in Uncle Donald's time of need, Bill Pulte came through for him. 

Which brings us back to the Director of National Intelligence job. The other day, Donald Trump named Bill Pulte the Acting Director. He will now be in charge of analyzing intel data received from 18 different agencies, then deciding which parts of it should be acted on by the President of the United States. To put it mildly when the announcement was made, people from all corners and sides of politics and the media went what is commonly referred to as ape shit crazy. The appointment was so spectacularly insane (Hell, no one could even confirm the guy had any security clearance at all.) it led one talking head to speculate it was a diversion to keep the attention away from Todd Blanche's nomination as Attorney General. 

When asked about Pulte's complete lack of experience, Donald Trump initially said something along the lines of, "he's a smart guy, he'll figure it out." When the outrage and disbelief persisted--one GOP Senator said there was absolutely no chance the upper house would approve Pulte's nomination--the president reassured everyone the appointment was strictly, "temporary," He insisted interviews of permanent candidates were ongoing.  To prove it, Pulte remains in his capacity as Director of the FHFA. 

Ah yes that's quite reassuring. The guy in charge of the President's daily intel briefing, during a war, is not only a raw rookie, but splitting his time between two completely different jobs. 

The brutal truth is there is probably a reason for this madness. Donald Trump needs someone in the intel community to do two things. First, finally come up with some sort of proof the 2020 election was stolen, even if there is none. Second, he needs a person who can somehow, someway throw a wrench into the 2026 midterm elections. Thanks to the mortgage fraud nonsense he figures Bill Pulte might be his boy. He is a complete loyalist who finds out of the box excuses, no matter how flimsy, to go after Trump's enemies, which right now includes an ever-increasing number of pissed off voters. Trump wants a a man who will scare the bejesus out of people. Somebody capable of accusing everyone from polling station volunteers to county employees, and even Ma and Pa Kettle of criminal election fraud. You know, make all those fuckers never want to participate in democracy again--which is the ultimate Trump endgame. 

Yes, Bill Pulte might not know diddly squat about intelligence, but that sort of thing seems right in his wheelhouse. 

Call me paranoid if you want, but the fact is, Bill Pulte's appointment as Acting Director of National Intelligence by law can last 210 days, or nearly seven months. Right now, the 2026 midterm elections are five months out. And for a man of his loyalty and zeal, that might just be all the time he needs.  

6-7-26

President Donald J. Trump and a King Named Ozymandias

 Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and only Congress can change it.

Federal Judge, Christopher Cooper in his decision which ordered Donald Trump's administration to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Judge Cooper's ruling did not go over well with the Narcissist in Chief, Donald Trump. Trump had named himself to the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center months ago, then packed it with loyal toadies who made him Chairman. The new board's first significant act was to arbitrarily rename the place, The Donald J. Trump John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Seemingly within days after the board's, "unanimous," decision Trump's name was slapped onto the building's facade for all to see. After artists who were scheduled to appear at the center began cancelling in droves and others flat out refused to perform, the Trump chaired board decided to close the place for two years in order to renovate it. (And possibly let everyone cool off and accept the new name--as we know, in this country what outrages today is normal tomorrow.)

In addition to removing Trump's name from the center--his name has to come down from the facade within two weeks--Cooper ruled that while repairs can continue the center must re-open. He did, however, leave open a way around the it by saying if the board decided the re-opening isn't feasible, given the renovation work the center could be closed again.  

Predictably, the President threw a snit fit the likes of which are usually associated with five-year-old spoiled brats. On social media, one of his many posts read, "Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into NEVER NEVER LAND. In other words, If I can't do what I want, how I want all by myself, I'll shut the fucking joint down.  

Along with that post came the inevitable personal attacks on Cooper and his wife. He called the jurist, "a Trump hating Judge," and a "Radical Left Democrat," although in the President's defense, he pretty much considers all democrats, "radical left." He accused Cooper's wife as also being, "an, "anti Trump Hater," a claim which actually might have some validity. Cooper's wife, Amy Jeffrees is an attorney who worked on the Jan. 6th committee and has represented former President Joe Biden and fired FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, who Trump once called, "a dirty cop." 

Unfortunately for the board and their chairman, no matter what his politics, Cooper's logic in the ruling seems pretty unassailable, Congress, by statue, named the Kennedy Center and only Congress can change it. In short, no matter what he thinks, Donald Trump's ego alone can't change a law.

Meanwhile, the White House south lawn is now dominated by a giant arched lighting grid set to illuminate the June 14th UFC mixed martial arts fights. The fight is supposed to be part of the 250th celebration of the nation's founding--because, you know, noting says America quite like two half naked guys kicking the living shit out of each other. The date is also Donal Trump's 80th birthday which might have something to do with it. Crowd estimates are hovering around 90,000 which seems a bit optimistic for an event that isn't selling any public tickets. Large numbers of the U.S. military will be invited but allowed in only if they meet the official height and weight requirements and are clad in short sleeved, dress uniforms. Just to make sure the nation's dignity is completely debased, the televised fighter weigh-ins will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. 

The event is supposedly being paid for by the fight organizers and various sponsors, although there have been reports that the budgets of a couple of different government departments have been dipped into to help pay for it. The organizers will split the profits if there are any, so one has to suspect the birthday boy himself, Donald J. Trump will get a cut. because, as we all know, that's the way he rolls. 

When it comes to the days long music festival/fair set for the mall so many acts have cancelled Trump has scheduled himself as a headliner one night. He says it will be a balls to the wall MAGA rally, which the whole thing was to begin with, even if no one was admitting it. The only, "big name," music act remaining on the card is Vanilla Ice. He is a white rapper who had a single hit a few decades ago, then watched his street cred tank when he showed up in the movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Apparently Kid Rock and Ted Nugent weren't available for the festivities, although late negotiations might be feverishly underway as these words ate being typed. 

It isn't clear right now if Trump is aware of his sinking poll numbers, or if he is, he believes them. Maybe he just doesn't care. What is clear is that instead of trying to help the people of the republic like he promised to do, he is frantically trying to remake it in his own graven image. 

It's enough to make you think of a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  It is called, "Ozymandias." Maybe Donald Trump could add his name to that piece of work's title too. 

6-1-26

Brute Corruption and Adultery: Ken Paxton is MAGA's Man in Texas

 A little while ago, Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race down in the Lone Star state. He chose Paxton in the GOP primary run off instead of the republican incumbent, John Coryn. This was despite the fact Cornyn was a staunch conservative republican who had been in the Senate long enough he had achieved a good deal of power and influence in the upper chamber. 

However, none of that sort of stuff means anything to our man, Donald. He demands complete loyalty, not to just his party, or nation, and most certainly not the people of Texas. He wants utter fealty to Donald John Trump alone--a sort of low-grade Nazi-Hitler thing without the snazzy uniforms. Paxton, who in 2020 sued states like Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin because they harmed Texas by voting for Joe Biden, was just his kind of guy. It didn't matter Paxton's suit was thrown out by the Supreme Court as prima facie bull shit, Trump knew he had a real soldier down in Austin. 

This past Tuesday in the GOP primary runoff election Ken Paxton kicked John Cornyn's ass by 27 points. The margin was so decisive it moved Trump to publicly say, "I don't care about the mid-terms. Look what happened yesterday." Indeed, the old man was feeling his oats--or more likely his Egg McMuffins. He had proven once again, he was in total control of the republican party. If you aren't with him 100% start looking for a new job and if you were a big enough irritant, over your shoulder for the FBI. 

What was also proven Tuesday is the MAGA wing of the republican party doesn't give a rat's ass about character when it comes to choosing candidates. Of course, Trump's re-election proved it first, but Paxton's runaway win confirmed it with an exclamation point. He is, by any measure the single most corrupt politician and quite possibly the most despicable human being west of the Mississippi. 

The list of his malfeasance both in politics and life is breathtaking. Boiling them down, in 2008 Paxton has been accused of voting for state contracts that were awarded to a company he secretly owned stock in. In 2015 he was accused of securities fraud.  In 2020 his own staff in the AG's office reported him to the FBI, accusing him of bribery and abuse of his office. The scandal involved a hot shot Austin real estate developer and a woman Paxton had an affair with beginning in 2018. Also, in 2020 he canned the staffers who reported him to the FBI. They sued him for violating the Texas Whistleblower Act. In 2022 the Texas State Bar Association sued Paxton for professional misconduct over that effort to overturn the 2020 election results in other states. In 2023 he was impeached by the republican controlled Texas House of Representatives over the bribery and abuse of office charges, but the state Senate let him off the hook. In 2025, Paxton's wife of 38 years, state Senator, Angela Paxton filed for divorce citing, "biblical grounds." It appears adultery was part of those, grounds. Apparently, her husband's hottie from the 2020 scandal was around even after he told her it was over and asked for her forgiveness. 

And just think, I didn't even mention the multiple homes he owns. He has claimed at least three different ones as his primary residence in order to get lower mortgage rates. 

Like the man who endorsed him, Ken Paxton has managed to slip the noose on all these alleged crimes and scandals, at least so far. Now he faces Texas State Representative, James Talarico in the general election. Talarico, who has three collegiate degrees, one a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, is scandal free. He is comfortable talking about his faith and is calm under fire. Paxton is already accusing him of being radical leftist. He has even claimed Talarico is running a vegan campaign, whatever that is. (Talarico's response was, "I began eating Texas Bar-B-Q before Ken Paxton was charged the first time.) 

Democrats are hopeful the Senate seat can be flipped, however such hope has been misplaced before. There was huge optimism surrounding Beto O'Rourke's run against Ted Cruz. It fell short by three points. We know to win, Talarico has to count on not just democrats, but large numbers of independents and more than a few republicans. The latter will be an especially hard nut to crack no matter how repugnant Paxton's behavior has been. Cornyn ran ad after ad highlighting Paxton's scandals and look where that got him.

If there is a bright spot in all this for James Talarico it is that in the republican runoff, the number of votes cast in total was around 1.3 million. Currently in Texas there are 6.6 million registered republicans. That's a hell of a lot of republicans who chose not to vote at all. In fact, one Texas analyst said that almost everyone who turned out Tuesday was hard core MAGA. It's an easy claim to make considering the outcome. 

Another analyst put it this way, "MAGA doesn't care about character or traditional politics. They simply want someone to throw cherry bombs on the floor of the Senate. They want a Maximus who will stand and shout, Are you not entertained?"

And that, ultimately is what James Talarico is up against. He can only hope is there are enough sane people left in the party of Lincoln who will walk away from that peculiar brand of nihilism and if not vote for him, at least sit this one out. 

It might not be much of a shot, but at least it is one.

5-29-26