Benito Ocasio and Robert Richie Square Off at Super Bowl LX

 It's finally here, America. That's right. In this contentious age of political and social division, of the old saw, "You are either with us, or you are against us." An age in which the daily news is dominated by discord, accusations, increasing violence, and overt graft and corruption.  This is the one weekend we can all kick back together and celebrate not a religious observance, or even some idealized national hero. This weekend, Sunday specifically, we can all come together to feast and drink while enjoying the Super Bowl football game.

No politics, no arguments spinning out of control, just all of us as one, cheering oversized, really fast guys clad in 21st century armor as they run around knocking the living shit out of each other. All of it spiced throughout with ultra pricey ads we haven't seen endlessly--yet--and the type of rock 'em sock 'em half-time show we can dance together to.

Oh--wait.

As soon as the National Football League announced the musical acts for this year's Super Bowl the MAGA tribe, from top to bottom, began howling like gut shot wolves. Yes, the same people who were utterly outraged when the restaurant chain, Cracker Barrel changed their logo--they took out the bullwhip because these days, unless you are a nostalgic descendent of slave owners, or a BDSM enthusiast they are sort of out of fashion--declared the lineup was too, "woke."    

The presence of the group, Green Day was bad enough. However, what really stoked their apoplexy    was the announcement that, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, aka, Bad Bunny, would be the headliner. The guy is Puerto Rican, for God's sake. (Although the last time we checked, Puerto Ricans are American citizens.) Not only that, but most of his songs are in fucking Spanish. That's not American--even though it is estimated 45 million people in this country age five and older speak Spanish at home. 

The Grand Poohbah of all things MAGA, Donald Trump was so incensed he announced he wouldn't personally attend the game. Of course, knowing Trump, there could be other reasons for his non-attendance. Like maybe because the game is being played in a stadium located just outside of San Francisco where he is about as welcome as an invading Mongolian horde in Constantinople. Or perhaps it's even because the two teams playing, Seattle and New England, are based in states which haven't exactly embraced his peculiar brand of politics and ethnic, let's say, relocations. 

In response to Bad Bunny and Green Day, the MAGA faithful initially demanded they be replaced by good old Country and Western acts. It's a genre of music not usually associated with the Bay Area. Beyond that, while it isn't clear what the popularity of C&W is in Seattle, at least in the mid-1980s and early 1990s Boston was the single worst market for it in the nation. During that period of time not a single radio station in the metro, AM, or FM programmed Country and Western. 

Add it all together and the NFL found it pretty easy to respond, "no," to their demands. Besides, they've never liked Trump in the first place. So much so, years ago the owners who actually run the league, wouldn't let him on the action when he attempted to buy a franchise. (Let's face it, those guys run businesses. Even back then they knew he was more adept at running cons.) 

So, Turning Point USA came to the rescue. This year those far-right hot dogs have organized an, "Alternative half-time show." You know, kind of like Kellyanne Conway's, "alternative truth," regarding the attendance at Donald Trump's first inauguration. The headliner for Turning Point's show will be none other than, Robert James Richie, aka Kid Rock. Mr. Rock comes from a fabulously well to do family in Romeo, MI. His father owned multiple car dealerships, and he grew up on an estate which was large enough for an apple orchard and a barn to house the family's horses. Wikipedia notes that some time in the 1980s young Robert James became interested in Hip-hop music and began to score gigs as a breakdancer, rapper, and DJ.  

In short, Kid Rock became rich in his own right and famous by appropriating everything he isn't and never has been. No wonder he and Trump are such pals. 

In fact, such good pals it is practically guaranteed one sone he won't be singing is, "Cool Daddy Cool" most infamously featured in the soundtrack of the movie, "Osmosis Jones." In that little ditty, Kid Rock belts out the lyric, "Young ladies, young ladies, I like 'em underage. Some say that's statutory; bit I say it's mandatory." 

Indeed, it isn't exactly a line Donald Trump wants to hear right now. But hey, at least it wouldn't have been sung in Spanish.   

2-5-26

Tulsi Gabbard is Working Very Hard

She's working very hard on trying to keep the election safe. And she's done a very good job. And they, as you know, got into the votes, you got a signed judge's order in Georgia. And you're going to see some interesting things happening. They've been trying to get there for a long time.

Donald J. Trump speaking about the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard's presence at the Fulton County, GA election board along with the FBI.

There she is. After being conspicuously missing in action during the brief but violent adventure in Venezuela and the whole uproar over Greenland, Tulsi Gabbard has suddenly re-emerged--in Georgia. The Director of National Intelligence (These days an oxymoron if there ever was one.) is, as Trump puts it, working, "very hard," confiscating voting records from an election held six years ago. One supposes that in the interests of national intelligence she was and still is searching for those nearly 12,000 votes El Donald demanded republican election officials find for him in the days after that election.

Although, despite what MS NOW's Ali Velshi reported this past weekend, if those republicans had found the votes or more accurately manufactured them, as Trump wanted, it would not have changed the results of the 2020 presidential race. Joe Biden would have won with 287 electoral votes instead of 303.

That's right. Even if Gabbard comes up with that computer flash drive Rudy Giuliani was so convinced he saw Shaye Moss pass to Ruby Freeman the election remains a done deal. (Moss later told a congressional hearing it was a ginger mint. Later a jury believed her and awarded her and her mother $148 million--which Rootin Tootin Rudy is still on the hook for.) The fact is that Trump, with Georgia in his pocket on election night, still needed an additional 19 electoral votes to win.   

So, we might reasonably ask ourselves, what is Tulsi Gabbard actually trying to do in Georgia? The answer could be Trump simply wanted Gabbard, who leans toward isolationism, out of the way while he and his boys kidnapped the leader of a foreign nation then threatened to destroy NATO over what amounted to a psychotic vanity project. 

Or, could this be a dress rehearsal for what is planned immediately following the mid-term elections later this year? Along with the added benefit of gaining access to a lot of individual voter information. You know, home addresses, party affiliation, those sorts of things. It isn't happening in a vacuum. Various outlets have reported U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi recently called Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz and told him all of those ICE and Border Patrol thugs would be pulled out of his state if he allows the feds to inspect Minnesota's voter rolls and records. 

When you throw in the re-districting scams initiated by Trump and his legislative toadies in places like Texas, Missouri, and other locales it starts to make sense. The only GOP controlled state who has refused him so far is Indiana and Trump has threatened those legislators with everything from primary challengers to hints of prolonged naps with the fishes.  

Well, he has to do something doesn't he. All the signs point toward a massive defeat in November for our man in the White House and his merry band of muggers, hustlers, and midway barkers. This past weekend in bright red Texas democrats regained a vacant seat in the house, based on the old districting plan. Meanwhile in a Texas state senate election held in Ft. Worth, the republican candidate, Leigh Wambsganss was utterly destroyed by democrat, Taylor Rehmet.

Wambsganss, thanks primarily to Lt. Governor Dan Partrick, had raised scads and scads of campaign funds. Plus, despite what Donald Trump said afterward, the President had sent out three social media messages urging republicans to get out to vote for her. Rehmet won the district by 14 points. He was the first democrat to do so since the mid 1970's. In 2024 Trump carried it by 17 points. 

Oops.

It would seem all those rubes who actually believed Donald Trump when he said he'd fix their cost of living in a day have come to realize their needs and concerns aren't on his agenda. Indeed, a war over Greenland, a new White House ball room, and a proposed massive Arc de Trump in Washington D.C. wasn't what they were thinking about when they cast their ballots. 

Neither was forcibly snatching school children off the streets. They were, however, wondering how they were going to pay their rent, food, energy and medical bills. 

Yes, Trump might be fucking delusional, but those who depend on him for power aren't. This November and possibly during the primaries if you live in any blue state and select cities in red ones, you can count on regiments of ICE and Border Patrol agents intimidating voters at polling stations. Afterward, if things go the way they're headed right now, you can also count on the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard seizing the records--or as a cynic might say, proof--of election results from a lot more places than just Fulton County. 

After all, she is working very hard.

2-2-26

Lying About What We Don't See is One Thing; Lying About What We Do See is Another

On Sunday, after the execution of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Kash Patel, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told an interviewer of FOX News, "you cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have a right to break the law." 

The Minnesota Gun Owner's Caucus responded immediately by saying, "There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota." '

After an online MAGA type complained Alex Pretti wasn't carrying the state required ID--a fact presumably discovered after his body was searched--the group responded by saying, "It's a $25 ticket." What they left unsaid, given what had happened the day before was, a $25 ticket is not equal to a Capital Crime punishable by a death sentence. Especially a death sentence carried out by an impromptu firing squad at the scene without the inconvenience of a trial. 

Yes, it looks as if the DHS and its policies have accomplished the unimaginable. Their KG B/Gestapo tactics and lame excuses have gone so far, they've managed to alienate at least one pro-gun lobbying organization. It is not a group usually associated with, "radical leftists."

Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino, Tom Homan, Kash Patel, and ultimately Donald Trump have only themselves to blame for the current unpopularity and outright distrust of all the various parts of the Department of Homeland Security. Lying about what is going on is one thing, however lying in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary is another. We all saw Alex Pretti holding a camera, not, as Noem initially said, "brandishing a gun." We watched as Renee Good tried to steer her vehicle around that agent, not over him. People are filming all this awful shit; don't any of you gruesome carnies get that? 

Apparently not. During a Sunday interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Bovino (who has the look and smell of Casablanca's Major Heinrich Strasser going for him) insisted Alex Pretti, while packing a firearm, was attempting to impede the arrest of a known criminal, illegal immigrant. He even hinted Pretti was trying to direct traffic so as to interfere with the arrest. Bovino claimed Pretti initially approached the Border Patrol officers, but the tape shows one of them approaching him while he was at a distance. Pretti only began to move toward them after they shoved a woman to the ground. The agents attacked him as he tried to reach her. After he went to the ground an agent sprayed him in the face with pepper spray, while another kicked him savagely in the back. 

During the middle of this one-sided dog pile a third agent reached in and pulled a gun out of the crush, then slid it away on the sidewalk. After Alex Pretti's legally owned and carried weapon was taken from him another agent yelled, "Gun, gun." That's when a now unarmed, ICU nurse at a veteran's hospital was shot at least ten times. A Doctor at the scene was initially denied access to Pretti so the agents could count the number of bullet holes in his body.

After his interview with Bash, Bovino told a press conference, "The suspect put himself in that situation. The victims are the border patrol agents there." He failed to explain why the "victims," removed all the evidence of the shooting afterward. 

Noem told the media, Alex Pretti was a would-be assassin who had come to the protests armed in order to commit a "massacre." Her sole piece of evidence backing up the accusation was that Pretti was carrying his legally permitted gun.  Then, along with others, including Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullins, and Trump himself, she blamed Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey for inciting violence and insurrection.  According to Mullins, "They both have blood on their hands."

This morning a retired U.S. Army general said that while ICE and the Border Patrol might be dressed as the military, "They conduct themselves like a poorly trained militia." He's giving them far too much credit. They conduct themselves exactly the way Stephen Miller and Trump want them to. Like a gang of outlaw bikers stoked up on cheap vodka and Nazi crank.  

1-26-26

Constitution? We Don't Need No Stinking Constitution and America Sleeps Easier as Adrian Arias and Babyface Liam are Busted

 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches an seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

Text of the fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

For those not up on their history, or U.S. law, the Constitution is the bedrock upon which all other federal and state laws must abide by. It cannot be changed or removed except by a fairly long and complicated legislative process, or by a nationwide vote of the people. 

What the fourth amendment boils down to is that in this country, unless a person is actively committing a crime, you must get a judge to issue a fucking warrant for probable cause before searching a suspect's home and other property or taking them into custody.  

Well, unless, of course, you are the current Department of Homeland Security and those wild and crazy folks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (ICE) At least that's what they believe. On May 12th, 2025 acting ICE head honcho, Todd Lyons sent out a memo, meant to stay secret, which stated ICE agents didn't need a judge to issue a warrant for anything, or anyone they search and seize. From that time on the agency could rely on what is known as an administrative warrant. It is a piece of paper written by, not a judge, but by ICE agents themselves.

 In other words, according to that memo, ICE agents are now allowed to give themselves permission to enter homes and drag people out of their cars whenever they want to. It is something the British were doing willy nilly 250 years ago. Their searches and seizures pissed off the colonists so much it became a major contributing cause to the American Revolution and later, the creation of--that's right--the fourth amendment of the Constitution.  

No wonder, Lyons wanted to keep it secret. 

It's unclear if ICE agents had given themselves written permission, or not on Tuesday of this week. That day, they hauled Adrian Arias from his running car after he pulled into his suburban Minneapolis home's driveway. (ICE claims he tried to flee after they approached him.) He had just returned from picking up his 5-year-old kid, Liam, from his pre-school class. 

That's when things became really weird. 

Five-year-old Liam was also, "detained," by federal agents. What actually happened depends on who you believe. According to witnesses, agents made the boy knock on the house's front door and ask to be let in as they stood next to him. Witnesses also say the child's mother, who is pregnant was inside, along with her 13-year-old. Thanks to agency's current reputation in the twin cities, friends urged her not to open the door. The feds were, they said, using her five-year-old as bait so they could snatch her too. These days, it is not an unreasonable assumption. A person who is said to also live at the house arrived in front of the place and told the agents he would watch Liam, but ICE guys steadfastly refused the request. They wanted to see the kid's terrified mom, or they'd take him with them.   

The ICE version varies some--which isn't surprising. First, they said Liam was abandoned by those inside the home. They claimed the people inside refused to open the door, even after they promised not to arrest them. (Imagine that.) According to Vice President J.D. Vance, who was in town that day, but not at the scene, to leave Liam there by himself was to let him freeze to death all alone. Then the story morphed into Liam's father demanded that the boy remain with him, no matter what. Whatever the case, Adrian Arias and his son were immediately, without legal representation, or even a phone call, shipped to an ICE detention center in Texas. 

According to Vance Liam's father was being arrested because he is in the country illegally. On Thursday, the family's immigration attorney told the media they had originally come from Ecuador. In December 2024 they met Border Patrol officials as they crossed into Texas and requested asylum. They were allowed to enter the United States legally and their asylum hearing and a decision on their status is still pending. To date, Adrian Arias has never been charged with or convicted of any crime in the state of Minnesota. The criminal record of his nefarious accomplice, Babyface Liam, is unknown.

Ah yes, the very definition of the worst of the worst--both of them. Now that they are off the streets, are you sleeping any easier America? Are you...great again?

1-23-26

Meanwhile, Back in Minneapolis

 Only federal officers are upholding the law. (in Minneapolis and perhaps St. Paul and the rest of Minnesota) Local and state police have been ordered to stand down and surrender 

Stephen Miller, Donald Trump's low rent Levrentiy Beria

In order to prove how much federal, "officers," are upholding the law, the other day ICE agents dragged a disabled woman who is a U.S. citizen named Aliya Rahman from the front seat of her car then hauled her away. The DHS immediately claimed Ms. Rahman was an agitator who was attempting to obstruct ICE agents who were simply performing their duties. You know, upholding the law. 

Aliya Rahman has a different story. She says she turned onto the street as she headed to a medical appointment. She found it blocked by the agents who approached her car shouting obscenity laced commands at her. She attempted to complain to them about her impending doctor's appointment and told them she needed to get through. By then, the ICE agents had surrounded her car and at least one was standing in front of it. Knowing what happens in Minneapolis when women try to get their vehicles around an armed ICE enforcer, Rahman told them she couldn't move.

A video of the incident shows one Ice agent smashing out her passenger side window. Then others physically dragged the crying and screaming woman out on the street where she was cuffed and taken to a local detention center. She wasn't allowed to bring her cane and later was denied medical treatment. She eventually passed out while in custody. 

Then we come to Chongly, "Scott," Thao. Scott is a 56 year old naturalized U.S. citizen of Hmong descent who immigrated to the United States from Laos when he was four years old. He took the oath of citizenship in 1991. That would mean he became a citizen before most of the clowns who dragged him out of his home were born. On Sunday Mr. Thao was at his house with various family members singing karaoke. ICE agents with weapons drawn busted through his door without warning, or a warrant, or at least one they were willing to show. They dragged Scott out of his place into the 14-degree F. weather while he was wearing nothing but a tee-shirt, boxer shorts, slippers, and a thin blanket he had been handed by his grandson. 

After hanging on to Mr. Thao for a while the ICE agents brought him back. They offered no apology or reason for his detention. The official ICE excuse for this NKVD type behavior was that Scott Thao was living with two accused child traffickers and that he, "looked like one of them." Well yeah. He is Asian and to the average ICE guy, all Asians look alike--not to mention Hispanics, Somalis, and anyone else who isn't Aryan in appearance. Scott's family told the media the grandfather has never known the two alleged illegal immigrant child traffickers, and they had never lived in his house. 

It looks like the whole thing was just a merry mix up. Hey, shit happens when you are upholding the law. Just ask the ghost of Renee Good. 

Speaking of which, in the case of Ms. Good, demands for an investigation into her execution aren't going anywhere. The DHS and DOJ say there is no reason for one. According to the DOJ that isn't the case with Good's wife, Becca, or Governor Tim Walz, and Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey. Reports are the Justice Department has launched criminal investigations of all three. Rumors are the charges will include obstruction, or maybe instigating an insurrection, or perhaps, the most serious of all, they just won't shut up. These days all three options are on the table.    

While all this was going on the Washington Post reported 1,500 members of the American 11th Airborne have been alerted to stand by for possible deployment to Minnesota. The fighting 11th is based in Alaska and is specifically trained for cold weather warfare, something those 3,000 federal officers in Minnesota aren't. (Although, to be honest, right now, those deadly goofs don't look like they've been trained at all.)

MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell, the most unabashed Trump hater on any cable news network, claims the nightmare in Minneapolis and yes, the chest thumping, saber rattling over Greenland are both distractions. He maintains they are loud and elaborate ruses to keep the media and public from thinking about the Epstein files. 

Unless the wild and baseless accusation bounding around unsavory parts of the internet that the files contain proof Trump once gave Bill Clinton a blow job is true, that's a bit of a stretch. 

The thinking here is it's far more likely the President of the United States has simply gone bat shit crazy. Not only that, but since he managed to surround himself with a bunch of fascist Rasputin types, none of them are willing, or even want to reign him in. 

Donald J. Trump began his second term exactly one year ago today. It is now completely uncertain whether this nation, as a constitutional republic, can survive three more years of him.

1-20-26

The First Step to Oceania, or a Case of Larceny on a Grand Scale?

 An attempt to take over a part of a NATO member state by another NATO member state would be a political disaster. it would end the world as we know it...

Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland

The problem being, of course, is that might be exactly what Donald Trump wants. At this moment in time it sure seems like it. Indeed, it increasingly looks like Trump is attempting to divide up the world into three super states controlled by three presidents for life. You know, like the world envisioned by George Orwell in his novel, "1984." Trump gets Oceania. Putin runs Eurasia. While Xi controls Eastasia. That's right, three happy Presidents for life owning their respective parts of the globe.

There are some catches to that grand plan, however. No one else on this blue ball, with the possible exceptions of Xi and Putin, want any part of it. That includes every NATO ally, the Ukrainians, the island nation of Taiwan, certainly the Japanese, the South Koreans, and probably the North Koreans. We can also throw in everyone south of the Rio Grande and south of the equator in the Pacific. In fact, the vast majority of Americans think the idea stinks. 

El Donald, while remaining insistent on carrying out his first step to create Oceania--the takeover of Greenland, by force, if necessary--has been met with fierce domestic resistance. CNN commissioned a poll conducted by SSBS. It found 75% of Americans oppose a takeover of Greenland, while 25% think it's a keen idea. Among democrats and independents who lean toward voting democratic, 94% are opposed to a takeover. Close to 80% of independents who say they don't lean toward either party were opposed to it. Knowing Trump, he'll probably write off those numbers to mass Trump Derangement Syndrome. The number which might grab his attention though, are the 50% of republicans and republican leaning independents who are also against any sort of takeover.

That's a lot of, as Mr. Trump likes to describe internal party opposition, RINOs. No matter what he calls them, the anti-invasion sentiments run deep. Yesterday Nebraska republican Congressman, Don Bacon said in an interview that if the President orders American troops to invade Greenland, "It would be the end of his presidency." Bacon added, he would, "Lean toward voting to impeach Trump," if he gave the order. 

After meeting with American Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Rasmussen described the talks as, "frank"--which is diplomatese for, we got into a big ass argument. According to Rasmussen the end result was, "We agreed to disagree." By the time press conference was over, Rasmussen basically told the media, Americans have had military bases in Greenland before and they're welcome to have them there again. But there is no way in hell America will, "own," Greenland. Greenlandic Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt told the press simply, "We don't want to be owned by the United States." 

As these words are being typed, the Danes have begun sending troops to Greenland. The French, Germans, British, and Swedes have also sent either small units, or military officers to serve as observers and liaisons. 

Earlier this week, Donald Trump--a well-known congenital liar--said, "Greenland is covered with Chinese and Russian ships all over the place." Sweden's Minister of Defense, Pal Jonson dismissed the claim as, "an exaggeration." Greenlandic authorities insist it has been well over 10 years since anyone there has seen a Chinese war ship. 

However, it might not matter. All this jabber about national security and Russia and China might be just a cover for another, far more Trumpian motivation. After all, the initial reason for the Venezuelan intervention was drug trafficking. Then it was removing Maduro because he was a socialist son of a bitch who had facilitated, "the killing of millions." By the time Maduro landed in New York we all knew the truth. Trump never cared about the drugs, or who was running the day-to-day shit in Venezuela. (He let Maduro's VP stay in office, even though she's as much of a socialist as he is.) In the end, it was just about the oil. They had it and Trump wanted it.

Now it turns out, Greenland could contain vast reserves of unexploited rare earth minerals. The sort of stuff the tech manufacturers need to keep pushing out their magical electronic devices. The Sort of stuff China currently has a lock on. It all could be worth billions to someone who controls the island--someone who doesn't mind fucking up its environment forever by extracting it. 

Why yes, that does sound like just the type of job for our man, Donald J. Trump. It not only adds to his fabulous wealth, but it also has the happy benefit of diverting everyone's attention away from the Epstein miasma and the continuing nightmare in Minneapolis. 

Well, you never know with Don Trump. Creating a geopolitical dystopia and committing larceny on a grand scale are both within the scope of his talents. Let's face it, even though the guy is as crazy as a bed bug on acid, one way or the other, he usually gets whatever he wants. And, as we've learned, he always wants more. It's the nature of this particular beast. 

1-16-26

Uninvestable in Venezuela: The Acting Presidente's Plan Hits a Snag as Sights are Set on Greenland

 If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it's uninvestable.

Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil

Last night Jon Stewart told his audience Donald Trump, had edited his Wikipedia page by adding to it the title, "Acting President of Venezuela." Stewart was wrong. What had happened was some merry prankster had created a fake Wikipedia page saying Trump was that country's Acting President. Just because it was a hoax though, didn't mean Trump thought it was a bad idea. The fake page caught his eye and Mr. Trump took a screen shot of it, then posted it on his favorite social media platform--which is probably why Stewart got things wrong. 

Now, let's get back to the not so enthusiastic oil execs. Reports are ConocoPhillips CEO, Ryan Lance told the Acting President of Venezuela his company was the largest non-sovereign Venezuelan credit holder. Lance wanted assurances the entire debt would be restructured along with the nation's energy system. Trump's answer to him was, "We're not going to look at what people lost in the past because that was their fault." 

Nice people skills there, El Presidente. 

He also let everyone know how he felt about ExxonMobil by saying, "I'll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn't like their response. They're playing too cute." That's right, baby. No one gets a cut unless Donald J. Trump says so. Woods went on to explain why ExxonMobil was being so "cute," about jumping into Venezuela this way: "We've had our assets seized twice," he said, "and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require pretty significant changes from what we've historically seen there." 

Meanwhile, down on the streets of Venezuela heavily armed militias units have begun to set up roadblocks and check points. Their intent isn't really known right now, even by the nation's Acting President. In fact, the situation is so fluid and volatile, United States citizens have been ordered to immediately leave the country. Maybe another reason ExxonMobil is being, "too cute." It's also an indication that if the Acting President is going to accomplish a single one of his stated goals, he is going to have to put tens of thousands of American troops in harms way in Venezuela. If he thinks otherwise, he has eaten the brown acid. And if he does deploy the American military en masse, he has just committed the United States to another endless quagmire of guerilla warfare.     

This same weekend--the guy is a busy bee--Trump the Conqueror addressed his fixation on Greenland. He told members of the media, "We don't want Russia or China going to Greenland, which if we don't take Greenland--you're going to have Russia or China as your next-door neighbor. That's not going to happen. I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way." The hard way, being the armed takeover of an ally's sovereign territory and the ultimate destruction of NATO. 

Perhaps it should also be mentioned, the Acting President of Venezuela is obviously unfamiliar with world geography. If he would just take a glance at a global map, he would realize Russia is already a next-door neighbor of this quickly dissolving republic. Only the 60 miles of the Bering Strait separate Russia and Alaska, which, the last time we looked, is part of the United States. 

Well, what do you expect from a man who, when asked if there are limits to his global power responded, "Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me."

How reassuring. Just ask Stormy Daniels, E. Jean Carroll, and all those suckers who bought into the Trump University scam what they think of Donald Trump's morality and mind. 

Back home, while all this was happening, reinforced squads of ICE agents continued their rampage through the streets of Minneapolis. Their most current shouted warning to protesters and the press since the murder of Renee Good has been, "Haven't you learned anything?" In other words, we killed her and by God, we'll kill you too. And we will get away with it. 

Yes, it is chaos and madness on so many fronts it's hard to keep up with it all. Think not? Hey, the new White House web site which claims the January 6th rioters were actually peaceful and patriotic protesters who were attacked by the D.C. police, didn't even make the cut. 

In the novel, 1984, George Orwell wrote, "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." 

And that's where we are at in America. Right now. 

1-13-26