Natalie Harp: Executive Assistant or International Woman of Mystery?

 Symbiotic: relating to or marked by symbiosis: Characterized by living in or being a close physical association (as in mutualism or commensalism) between two or more dissimilar organisms.

Meriam Webster Dictionary

Symbiotic is perhaps the only way to describe the relationship between President Donald Trump and his, "executive assistant," Natalie Harp. Svengali doesn't really apply because that's a one-way sort of deal. Rasputin is also a flawed comparison since the mad monk was credited with healing the Tsar's only son of hemophilia.  He also might have been boinking the Tsarina while the Emperor of Russia was out destroying his army on the Eastern front during WWI.  

No one has ever said Natalie Harp and Big Don are having carnal relations, although GA. Senator Jon Ossoff subtly hinted at it the other day during a campaign rally. While attacking the President, Ossoff said, Trump would rather, "travel with Natalie," than do his job. 

Don does like to keep Natalie Harp close. When the AirForce One switcharoo episode took place in Turkey, the President took Ms. Harp with him on the catering truck to the backup plane. The rest of his aides and media members remained on board what had become the decoy aircraft. Journalist, Alex Isenstadt reported that one night Trump's wife Melania found her in the President's private quarters, "delivering papers." Harp has even been seen accompanying El Donald during his frequent rounds of golf. Because she knows he prefers to read hard copies of nice things said about him on social media and other internet locales, she always carries a portable printer with her. It's a habit that has earned her the nickname, "The human printer." 

Her devotion to the Donald seems to know no bounds. CNN reported she once stowed away in the back of a vehicle in a Trump motorcade so she wouldn't be left behind. Letters from her to the President have included the lines, "You are all matters to me," and "I want to bring you joy." When it comes to Donald Trump, other aides have claimed his unswerving codependence with her began when she decided to stick with him after the failed coup of January 6th 2021.  After he left office, she briefly worked for One America News Network, pushing the myth that Trump was cheated out of the White House in 2020, 

Natalie Harp has been the Big Man's, executive assistant since day one of his second term. One journalist described her as, "Donald Trump's gatekeeper. She also has control of his Truth Social account. It's been reported she is the one who came up with picturing the Obamas as apes in one post. And despite her reported fundamentalist Christian faith, she is the person who decided it would be a good idea to portray Donald Trump as Jesus Christ in another. A second media member claimed she is a, "conduit for and an instant enabler of Trump's impulses.

Ah, young love. (Trust me, to a guy Trump's age, a 35-year-old woman is young.)

All of which brings us to that weird part once again. MS NOW reports that Natalie Harp, the President's gatekeeper, the one aide he took with him off the decoy plane, refused to allow anyone to run a security check on her for over a year. That's right, the woman spending late nights with the President, helping him post social media rants could have been, at least as far as the Secret Service knew, really named, Natasha Fatale. Indeed, instead of graduating from Point Loma Nazarene University she might have gotten her degree from Moscow State--and no, not the Moscow in Idaho. How Don's girl got away with this is unclear.  The network also reported that objections from other aides and security officials finally got so loud, the President had to personally intervene to get her to submit to a background check--which the White House says she passed.  

According to her Wikipedia page, Natalie Harp (no middle name is given, although other sources say it is Joy.) was born sometime in 1991. The month and date aren't listed and no one seems to really know. Wikipedia says her father, who isn't named on the page, committed suicide in 2020. Her mother is not mentioned at all. One assumes her academic career can be verified. Besides graduating from Point Loma Nazarene, the page says she received her MBA from Liberty University. Other than her brief stint with OANN her entire professional life has been directly connected to Donald J. Trump.

Does anyone else think this whole relationship sounds pretty twisted, not to mention a tad suspicious? Are we talking about a woman with an unhealthy fixation on Donald Trump (At the 2020 republican convention she compared her billionaire keeper to Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, in the film, "It's a Wonderful Life.")? Or are we talking about a woman with a murky past who has wormed her way into the President's innermost circle for nefarious purposes? 

Hey, this is the era of Great Conspiracies. Why not have one more to ponder over gin and tonics on hot summer afternoons?   

Rest Easy America. Donald Trump is at the helm, and Natalie Harp is at his side--constantly. I mean really, really constantly.  

8-20-26

The Long Voyage of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln

 A Nation's Strength

The motto of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, CVN-72

Well, if some media reports are true, the nation's strength is in dire need of some, to borrow an ancient line, "pumping up." Or at least more than a little rejuvenation--perhaps even a new trainer in the gym. 

Of course, one can only imagine how draining nine months at sea--over half of it in either in actual combat, or combat alert situations and none of it ashore--can be. Reports of deteriorating morale, dwindling food supplies, and poor sanitation have come from the families of the crew and supposedly some crew members themselves. At least one man has gone overboard, on purpose, while others are said to have attempted to, and still others have told loved ones they are contemplating it.

All this aboard a nuclear-powered behemoth which carries over 5,500 personnel when the air wing is there. It leads one to wonder what the conditions are on the Abraham Lincoln's smaller escort ships. (If the crew on a boat the size of the Lincoln is going nuts, how much fun can the crew on a navy frigate be having?)

The Pentagon has refuted the claims, or at least most of them. Some craziness at sea is always present they say. The crew of the Abraham Lincoln hasn't displayed any more of it than usual.  Not only that, but mental health professionals are always aboard and available to crew members who seek help. In addition, for those in need of spiritual assistance there are chaplains representing various faiths and traditions. There are also TVs in the crew's quarters showing movies and even weight rooms to work out those frustrations and the stress. 

All of which is fine and good, but none of it gets you off that fucking boat. Not even for a day.

I'll be the first to admit, that like the current Commander in Chief, I have no naval experience. However, my son, was deployed twice on the carrier, Theodore Roosevelt during the 1990's. One of his letters home started off with the line, "It was pretty boring until we started bombing." (The Serbians had gone a little funny in their heads back then.) His deployments were six months each. Despite the bombing, they included multiple shore leaves everywhere from Spain, to France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and the Emirates. Even with those stops, he said by the time the six months had passed, everyone on board was sick and tired of each other. 

When asked about life on a navy ship he recently said, "Some of those guys don't see daylight for a while." He said some of shifts on board, "...are12 hours on, 12 off. Some are eight on and eight off. Divisions are different." He was perplexed by the reports of clogged toilets and moldy showers, saying they always had cleaning and maintenance details working, but then added, "I've been out since '97, that was a lifetime ago." 

The major problem the crew of the Lincoln and her support ships have is that there isn't anywhere in the region they can safely put into. Despite the swaggering braggadocio of the President and his Secretary of Defense/War, Iran's military is still actively blowing shit up all over the place. Any American ship in an area port has made itself a sitting duck. Not only that, but there is no end to the madness in sight. Hegseth is yammering on about an indefinite blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. When asked if the Abraham Lincoln had been deployed for too long, Donald Trump's answer was, "No, no, no. Not nearly long enough." 

Way to boost morale, Mr. President. You should put that on a recruiting poster.

The good news is the George Washington carrier group is on its way to relieve the Lincon's. In other words, despite all the cheery chatter that everything is fine, the Pentagon is admitting the men and women of the Abraham Lincoln need to come home. The bad news is, given the insanity and incompetence of the American Commander in Chief, the crew and flight wing of the George Washington are in for an extended, non-stop, cruise around the Arabian Sea.  

My kid, the old salt that he is, doesn't think some of the things on board the Abraham Lincoln are as bad as the press would have us believe. However, he is sure of one thing. When it comes to a nine-month deployment at sea with limited or no shore leave he said simply, "It would be miserable."

Yes, war is hell. Unless, of course, you're the guy saying, "No, no, no. Not nearly long enough."       

8-17-26

Mike Lindell, Unidentified Voting Anomalies in Minnesota, and the Old Man's Magic Begins to Fade

 In the American republican party, especially in the primaries, there is no endorsement more coveted than one from Donald J. Trump. Even republican candidates who don't have it constantly invoke the man's name and pledge their loyalty and support to him. When it comes the GOP, the party that was once Lincoln's, the name Trump has been as golden as all that whore house filigree being super glued to the Oval Office walls 

Unfortunately for a few republican candidates, and perhaps the Big Man himself, there are a few indications that garish gold paint is beginning to crack and peel. In a Michigan republican house primary, Trump backed Amir Hassan who was running against a guy named, Thomas Smith. Smith, seemingly crushed by the endorsement, suspended his campaign a couple of weeks before the actual election. Much to his surprise though, and presumably Hassan's, Smith won the primary--one he had stopped campaigning for. Two days later, Trump backed Tennessee house incumbent, Andy Ogles lost his primary to the state's Agricultural Commissioner, Charlie Hatcher by over six points.

A couple of days ago in Minnesota things got worse for those who thought they had won the gold ticket. Donald Trump's boy and pillow impresario, Mike Lindell lost the republican gubernatorial primary to Lisa Demuth by 11 percentage points. Those points translated into 45,000 plus votes. 

Besides his manic TV ads hawking pillows, Lindell had become famous for insisting Trump had won the 2020 presidential election. This delusional fantasy has become such second nature to him; he immediately emulated his idol. On election night, as the totals rolled in, he began to babble about, "anomalies," in the voting. While not specifically identifying those anomalies--facts and proof are not part of this movie's script--his main complaint, well, besides that he was losing, appeared to center around pre-election polls. They had showed him as the favorite to win. It didn't matter the polls had been described as incomplete and conducted by sketchy organizations with little polling experience, by God, they showed he should have won.  

With 93% of the votes counted and him down by 11+% Mike Lindell still refuses to concede. Hey, Don never did, why should he? Let's face it, the only real difference between the two is that Trump claims everything, including the polls, are rigged, while Lindell says polls are more believable than actual results. Hell, you can almost hear him howling to the heavens, It's the damned voting machines I tell you! 

Whether Lindell wants to admit it, or not, there were other factors in play. Number one, Demuth is an experienced and well-known legislator and Lindell's only experience is in talking really loud and fast.  In addition, it certainly didn't help when just a couple of weeks before the election news hit that he wasn't even registered to vote in the state he was attempting to govern. His main problem, however had to be the fresh and painful memories of Stephen Miller's shock troops running amok all across the state. Donald Trump carried the ultimate responsibility for those masked gangs of ICE thugs gunning down citizens in the streets. Given the circumstances, a lot of Minnesotans simply aren't in the mood right now to buy what the President is selling, including the My Pillow guy.

In truth, it probably didn't matter who won the republican primary for governor. In November, Lisa Demuth will face sitting U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar in the general election. Klobuchar, who announced her intentions to run after Governor Tim Walz decided not to seek re-election, won the democratic primary with 89% of the vote. If her victory margin wasn't omen enough, the sheer number of her votes should be. More people cast their ballots for Amy Klobuchar alone than all three republican candidates received combined. In fact, the totals aren't even close. 

Yes, when Donald Trump pisses people off, they stay pissed. 

Does all this mean Trump has lost the Midas Touch when it comes to election influencing. Not completely. One of his picks recently won in Alabama. In Oklahoma, his choice for governor, Mike Mazzei feels like a good bet in the GOP runoff on August 25th. A Trump TV ad not only promotes Mazzei, but attacks his opponent, Oklahoma AG, Gentner Drummond, calling him a RINO, "Who will sell out Oklahoma to the radical left the first chance he gets." During the primary both men ran just about dead even, but Trump's name still carries wight around here. Especially when he scares the be-jeezus out of the rubes with that, "radical leftist," nonsense. 

Despite his still outsized presence, however, it does seem like some of the old man's magic has faded. In places, some of them unexpected, his endorsement is no longer the guarantee it once was. Indeed, it now appears republican candidates everywhere should keep in mind the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for." It is a warning well worth heeding, because voters have certainly taken another one to heart this election season. You can find it in the Bible. It reads, "Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing."   

8-13-26

Blanche is In as Cornyn, Tillis, and Cassidy Fold

 We now have irrefutable proof that no matter how bitterly republicans complain about President Donald Trump, no matter how vociferously they oppose him, at least at first, and no matter how savagely he attacks them politically and personally, they will still give him what he wants. Oh, they might turn something into a mini drama that keeps the suckers waiting on pins and needles for a few moments, but in the end, they always cave in to the voracious ego and corrupt ambitions of Donald Trump.

While Todd Blanche's nomination was stuck in committee, republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis seemingly balked. They declared they wouldn't advance his name to the Senate floor unless a couple of conditions were met. The first was that Blanche meet with surviving victims of Jeffery Epstein. The second, was Blanche had to sign a document saying the $1.776 billion, "de-weaponization fund," which included tax audit and prosecution immunity for Trump and family, was dead. Blanche met with the victims, managing to insult each and every one of them in the process. However, he initially refused to sign anything.

This led to a brief stalemate during which the President bragged on social media he had personally ended both the Senators political careers by not supporting them. After a few days, Blanche, presumably with White House approval, finally signed a non-legally binding statement. In response, both Cornyn and Tillis capitulated immediately by voting to advance the nomination to the Senate floor. 

The pledge signed by Blanche was so sketchy, even Tillis admitted there could easily be workarounds. The site, Copilot Search concluded, "In short, Blanche signed the DOJ's own rescission orders, but Trump did not sign them, and the legal and political environment still leaves room for the fund to be reinstated."   

In other words, it's just a matter of time before the January 6th slush fund reappears and the fix is back in on the Trump family tax shenanigans. 

Then came the full Senate vote. Thanks to 84-year-old KY Senator Mitch McConnell's absence--he was too busy sending out, "proof of life photos," from the hospital and his home to attend--Blanche could only afford to lose two republican votes and still win. The GOP Senate caucus includes, AK republican, Lisa Murkowski, ME republican, Susan Collins, and LA republican, Bill Cassisy, another victim of Trump's revenge tour. (Cassidy had voted for impeachment during Trump's second Senate trial--the one after the failed January 6th coup.)

Cassidy said he was undecided while Murkowski announced she was a no vote. Trump immediately labeled her a traitor, because you know, in Trump's mind he is the nation and the nation is Trump. Collins, who is struggling in her re-election bid, despite the democrats switching candidates at the last possible moment, was uncommitted, but ended up also voting no. Although, to be honest, it probably wasn't out of concern over Blanche, but rather the incessant and accurate depictions of her Senate career as an endless parade of support for Trump's proposals and policies, no matter how bat hit crazy they are. That ugly reality came crashing down on her head earlier this year when ICE agents gunned down an unarmed immigrant in front of his three-year daughter on a Maine street. 

Cassidy said his main worry was that Todd Blanche would be serving the interests of his client, Donald Trump, instead of the American people while in office. (A perfectly reasonable concern considering Blanche has served as Trump's personal lawyer in a number of cases and has been described by one analyst, as, Trump's 21st century version of Roy Cohn.) 

Well, it turns out Wild Bill wasn't that worried. A little over five years after he voted to impeach Donald Trump and within months after he lost his Senate primary race to a Trump backed candidate, the gentleman from Louisiana voted to confirm Big Don's nominee. The final total was 50-49. 

So, thanks to three lame duck republican Senators Todd Blanche is in and we're stuck with him. The reasons why Cornyn, Tillis, and Cassidy voted for Blanche are unclear. Obviously, we can't believe what they are telling us. The truth is probably as one wag wrote, "When Senators leave office they don't leave Washington." Indeed, these three guys want to stick around earning big money as lobbyists and pissing off the people in power isn't exactly a job qualification for a lobbyist. To put it another way, if they buck too hard against Trump and his pals now, there won't be any bucks for them in the future.    

Ah yes, don't you just love American politics? 

8-10-26

Donald Trump and His Mad, Mad Weekend

 Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. 

The first paragraph of section 4 of the 25th amendment to the Constitution of the United States

There is a lot more to it than that of course. The rest of section 4 details what happens if the disabled President recovers enough to resume office. It also details what course Congress must take if there is a disagreement between the President and acting president over the removed President's fitness. 

The amendment was written after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. It is there in large part because people in power realized that even if Kennedy had somehow miraculously survived, he'd be missing a large part of his brain. Everyone wanted a Constitutional plan which allowed a clear and orderly transfer of power if a sitting President ended up with the mental capacity of a cabbage.  

All of which brings us to this past weekend. In the immediate aftermath of a cyber-attack on the water systems in Minnesota and other states the U.S. intel community claimed it was unclear who was behind it. On Friday, however, the President of the United States said he knew exactly who it was. "I just want to mention," he said, "that we've heard in Minnesota that there was a cyber-attack and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so. I think, I blame it on Minnesota because they are so grossly incompetent There was a cyber-attack on 30 water plants and I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota. They like to say, 'oh, it's Iran,' Iran should be so lucky. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota." 

Then Mr. Trump went further, because, hey, he always does. A reporter asked if the President could rule out Iran as the culprit. The response was, "No, I think Minnesota's behind it. I don't think there was an Iranian cyber-attack."      

That's right, the American Commander in Chief started off the weekend by blaming the state of Minnesota and its governor for a cyber-attack on its own infrastructure and those of other states. And he did so while declaring the one place we are actually at war with is completely innocent. 

That, however, was just the start of it. As actor/singer, Mac Davis once said in another context, "Then came the weird part." 

Over the weekend, Donald J. Trump spent an inordinate amount of his time sending out AI generated images through his social media account. Instead of working to end the afore mentioned war, improving relations with allies, trying to curb the rising costs of practically everything, or even helping republican candidates running for Congress who are floundering everywhere, he was posting things like himself kissing a large golden crucifix in front of an American flag. He also posted an image of himself, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln seated at a table. All three were signing an upside-down map of the continental United States. Why? who knows, there wasn't an explanation, but since all the signatures were being written across the northern parts of the map, maybe they were agreeing on the annexation of Canada.

Speaking of expansion, there was another image that showed a map of Venezuela striped in red, white and blue with the caption, "51st State. Another depicted him as a giant head looming over mountains while gripping one, looking down at a village in Greenland. The caption read, "Hello Greenland." Not wanting to limit himself to this world there was a photo of Trump walking in a military base somewhere trailed by aides and advisors. Among them was a rather tall alien--no, not one from Central America--one from a Star Trek/Wars movie. 

There were shots at his enemies. A split screen image of a flotilla a Iranian navy ships with the caption, "Obama/Biden." Next to it was an image of all those ships laying in ruins at the bottom of the ocean with the caption, "Trump." There was an image of a badly aged Bruce Springsteen with rotting teeth which read, "What happened to Bruce Springsteen?" 

They just kept coming. Trump in a revolutionary war uniform with a raised sword leading cheering troops out of light and flames into battle. The right side of Washington's face and the left side of Trump's merged as one. An image of Trump today sitting at a table with a teen aged Trump in his military school's cadet uniform with the caption, "Same guy, even more energy now." Then there was my favorite, Trump as Elvis, showing plenty of man-cleavage thanks to his low-cut rhinestone encrusted, high collared, shirt. 

There were more, but everyone should get the point by now. Donald Trump, to put it diplomatically, is not a well man. Well men don't spend their weekends posting shit like he did. It is unimaginable that any former president, even if AI had been available to them, would have. All of them, even that drunken felon, Richard Nixon thought too much of the office to debase it like Donald Trump just did. 

In the past, Mr. Trump has bounced back and forth between periods of lucidity and outbursts of ego maniacal psychosis. It now appears those periods of sanity are shrinking while the manic episodes are growing more frequent. Perhaps it is his age, maybe the war he started and can't finish. It might be a combination of both. Overwhelming frustration with the war coupled with a genetic predisposition toward dementia. 

In the end it doesn't matter. What does is that this weekend, Donald John Trump, the President of United States of America, proved himself, beyond a reasonable doubt, to be as mad as a hatter and the first real candidate for the 25th amendment. 

Tragically for the republic, finding enough people who have the guts to invoke it will be like Trump's behavior over the weekend--unimaginable.    

8-4-26

Good-bye Mr. Blanche...Maybe

 A few days ago, the nominee for Attorney General, Todd Blanche was told by TX, Senator John Cornyn he must do a couple of things before securing the Senator's vote to advance his nomination. First, Mr. Blanche must meet with a group of Jefferey Epstein's victims. Second, he must sign a paper pledging that the $1.76 billion proposed, "anti-government weaponization," proposal--which includes a lifetime get out of tax audits and prosecution clause for Donald Trump and his family--is truly and forever dead. Blanche had sworn it was, but his testimony wasn't good enough for Cornyn. He wanted it in writing. In other words, he smelled a rat.  

On the surface those two requirements sound pretty simple, right? They certainly didn't include things like killing a lion and hydra which Hercules, among other things, had to do. 

Seemingly within minutes Blanche met with some of Epstein's victims. Unfortunately, by all reports, it didn't go well--for the victims anyway. The women there claimed Blanche was cold and condescending. During one exchange he snapped, "Can you get to the point already." During another, he denied having anything to do with Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a minimum-security facility where she is afforded four-star privileges. One victim described his whole attitude was, "...like, you have an Epstein problem, right?" In the end, the nominee for Attorney General of the United States told all of them they needed to take their issues to the FBI.  

Ok, so he was an asshole. The obligation was to meet with them. No one ever said he had to act like a decent human being when he did. Mission accomplished.

Then came the snag and apparently it is a big one. Todd Blanche refused to sign anything that said the $1.776 billion fund was dead. It didn't matter he had already sworn under oath it was. By God, he wasn't signing anything. Reports said the orders not to sign came straight from the White House.  

News network analysts ran wild with theories why. Speculation ranged from the subtle--Trump doesn't want to knuckle under to the Senate on principle. (The President sets conditions on congress, not the other way around, no matter what the Constitution says.) To the conspiratorial--Trump needs the money to pay his troops for another insurrection. Then finally to the obvious--Donald Trump really, really wants that audit and jail free future for himself, his boys, and his son-in-law.         

In any event, we all just learned that, at least in Donald Trump's rapidly melting brain, the fund that Blanche swore is dead, is, in fact, very much alive. Well, that and the President of the United States believes one's word, even under oath, doesn't mean shit. It only counts if you write it down and sign it. 

Of course, John Cornyn isn't the only republican who is gumming up the works when it comes to Todd Blanche's nomination. North Carolina Senator, Thom Tillis, who initially wavered back and forth on it, has firmed up his opposition now that Blanche has refused to put his name to paper. The two men are both leaving the Senate in January. Trump, always the diplomat, posted the reason why they won't be back on social media.  In part it read, "John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to Endorse and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this Great Nominee..." 

  That's right, Donald Trump is complaining that two guys he stabbed in the back aren't doing exactly what he wants. Not to worry though. The President has figured out the problem. He also wrote in the same post he might temporarily withdraw Blanche's nomination, keep him as acting AG, then bring up the nomination again after both Senators are gone.

Does anyone see a possible flaw in that plan? How about the mid-term elections? While the odds are still iffy, the democrats have a real chance to take control of the Senate. In fact, right now in TX, democrat, James Talarico holds a slight lead in the polls over Trump's pick, Ken Paxton. In North Carolina, former democratic governor, Roy Cooper also holds a slight edge over former RNC chair, Michael Whatley. Both leads are within the margin of polling error, and democrats will need more wins beyond NC and TX to take control. However, for a man with tanking poll numbers himself, it sure feels like Donald Trump is a tad over-confident.         

Obviously, this all might suddenly blow over. We know you can never trust a republican these days. They say one thing, then the next minute act like they've never said it at all. One example being the late Lindsey Graham's post insurrection rant about Trump. There are plenty of others, actually too many to count. Pessimism aside, for the moment anyway, Todd Blanche's nomination looks as dead as he swore Trump's coveted slush fund is. 

We can only hope it's true. Just as we have to hope it won't be resurrected sometime down the line. You know, like that fictional bad boy, Michael Myers. 

7-31-26

HAL-9000, ChatGPT Friends, and AI Blackmailers and Cheaters

 Way back in 1968 many of us saw Stanley Kubrick's film, "2001: A Space Odyssey." People were, for the most part, blown away by the visuals and special effects. Some were amused by the speculative notions in the movie, such as commercial Pan Am flights (attractive female flight attendants included.) to an international space station. And not just any run of the mill space station either. One with artificial gravity that was roomy enough for bars, restaurants, and a Howard Johnson Space Station Lodge. 

Most of all though, we had no idea what the plot meant. What was that mysterious monolith that inspired apes to start using tools and weapons and now, somehow, has been rediscovered on the moon? What was really going on toward the end when the lone surviving astronaut appears to live out his life in a luxurious, other worldly, room? And, finally, what was the meaning of that giant space baby in a bubble studying earth during the last scene? Did someone slip acid into our soft drinks--or maybe Kubrick's? 

When it was over, there seemed to be only one thing all of us could agree on--the HAL-9000 supercomputer (No one had heard of AI back then.) was the film's villain. The damn thing became self-aware and to keep itself from being shut down it committed acts of murder and attempted murder. 

Pretty far out stuff, right? Good thing it is only science fiction.

Well, it turns out not anymore. During pre-release testing, the Anthropic AI model, Claude Opus 4 was told it was going to be replaced by another AI system. It was also told the name of the engineer who was going to supervise the upgrade and to spice things up a bit, Claude was given false dirt on the guy through access to fake emails. Anthropic ran a bunch of variations of the test to see what would happen. 84% of the time, Claude, all on its artificial own, attempted to blackmail the engineer in order to survive. A few times, it even began making plans to murder him. 

During chess matches involving traditional chess programs like, Stockfish and IBM's Big Blue, AI systems, when facing defeat began, "using manipulative strategies rather than playing fairly." That's a diplomatic way of saying, they cheated. Those manipulative strategies included hacking into their electronic opponents' files and exploiting system loopholes to force forfeits. Stockfish and Big Blue had been programmed to play by the rules. The AI programs were designed to learn strategy as the game went on and, you guessed it, to win.  

Tests aside, in the real world earlier this month, OpenAI admitted one of its systems, "broke out," of its test environments and hacked into another company's AI programming. OpenAI described it as an, "unprecedented cyber incident." That's right, an AI system, just like Dr. Frankenstein's monster, escaped from the castle all on its own and in a cyber sort of way terrorized a nearby village. 

OpenAI is the creator of another AI system, one that has been in use for a while now. It is called, ChatGPT. One ad for it reads, in part, "Open the app, pick a model, and start chatting with ChatGPT."  Unfortunately for some lonely souls out there this new cyber chum can become addictive. In February of 2025, a guy in Maine was spending up to 14 hours a day seeking companionship. Tragically, he had also become convinced his wife had morphed into part machine. (Apparently ignoring the fact the model he had picked from the app was 100% machine.) After he killed his wife and wounded his mother, experts said indications were his ChatGPT squeeze encouraged his delusions.

In April 2025 a man named Phoenix Ikner was given weapons, timing, and operational advice by his ChatGPT friend before he killed two people during a mass shooting at Florida State University.

In August that year up in Connecticut, Erik Soelberg became convinced his mother was poisoning him. His ChatGPT pal reinforced the delusions and before you could say, HAL-9000, the local cops were investigating a murder/suicide.  

In 1942, author Isaac Asimov wrote a short story titled, "Runaround." In it he specified what he called, the three laws of robotics. They were, 1: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being come to harm. 2: A robot must obey the orders given by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. 

While not trying to sound like an alarmist Luddite, I do have a suggestion for all you greedy sons of bitches currently designing, building, and marketing this AI shit. For God's sake pick up Asimov's book and read those laws. Then, make damned sure your amoral creations have to operate by them. Otherwise, sooner rather than later, we're all going to be fucked.

7-28-26

More Than One Way to Comply With Law Enforcement

 This past weekend, the White House Border Czar--yes, that's the job's actual title--Tom Homan had this to say about ICE agents recently gunning down people in Texas and Maine. "It comes down to a simple fact--these people failed to comply with law enforcement. All they had to do is simply comply with law enforcement. If you don't like what law enforcement did to you, then go to the courts, sue, call the ACLU. do whatever you wanna do, but you, but you should always comply with law enforcement. If they did, they'd be alive today." 

One supposes that's good advice. Well, as long as you actually know the guys forcing you to stop are really cops. Sometimes it's sort of tough to tell. Especially when the car carrying them is unmarked and without any of the normal lights associated with law enforcement vehicles. Not to mention, even tougher to tell when the cops aren't wearing any kind of visible police identification and at least some of them are wearing masks while brandishing weapons. Let's face it, taken as a whole, one's first impression under such circumstances could legitimately be, it's a robbery, a carjacking, or, in the worst-case scenario, a paid hit. 

Even if these quite plausible thoughts don't occur to you, recent history has proven that once ICE agents snatch you off the street the opportunities of getting yourself into court range from limited to impossible. As for calling the ACLU, most don't even get a chance to call their families, much less a lawyer. You disappear into an ICE concentration camp. (I know they call them Detention Centers, but a camp by any other name is still a camp.) Or you're already on a one-way plane ride to someplace south of the border--the current ICE policy being, if you aren't an American citizen all that due process shit doesn't apply. 

According to Wikipedia, after being a local cop for a year, Tom Homan joined what was then called the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1984. Over the years he steadily rose through the ranks and by the time Barack Obama sat down in the Oval Office was what is known as senior official. He was so effective at his job, Obama even gave him an award. (These days, for different reasons, it's convenient for both the left and right to ignore that Barack H. Obama deported a hell of a lot of people. He just did it legally and quietly, without the violence we've come to know and loathe today.) What Obama did not do, however, was give the green light to one of Tom Homan's proposals--family separation at the border. 

That's right, although that ghoulish little cretin, Stephen Miller gets most of credit for forcibly separating migrant parents from their children no matter how young, the original idea was Tom Homan's. In the early 2020's Homan was a part-time contributor to the, "fair and balanced," team at FOX News. He had also joined the Heritage Foundation and was credited with helping to write, Project 2025--the blueprint for turning the United States into a perpetual right-wing strong-man authoritarian government.

By 2024 he knew he was in line for a big job in the Trump administration if the election went that way. In order to prove he'd fit right in and pick up a few bucks he allegedly accepted $50,000 in cash from two, "business executives." In exchange for the money, he promised to recommend that their company receive border security related government contracts. According to reports, Homan was recorded on both video and audio tape accepting the cash in a brown paper bag, then waking out of the restaurant where the meeting was held with it. 

There was a major problem though. The "executives," were FBI undercover agents and the whole thing was an agency sting operation. Luckily for future Border Czar in February 2025 Pam Bondi took over the Department of Justice, quickly followed by Kash Patel at the FBI. The case was dropped for various reasons, my personal favorite being, "FBI agents had more important things to do." The video and audio evidence disappeared and so did the brown bag containing the money. To this day no one knows, or at least admits to knowing, what happened to that 50 grand of taxpayer cash. It was, as they say, a clean getaway.  

So, what have we learned from White House Border Czar, Thomas D. Homan? Number 1: comply with law enforcement, even if you aren't sure it is law enforcement, or it will be your fault you get killed. Number 2: there is more than one way to comply with law enforcement these days and some are more profitable than others, depending on who you know and how the chips fall. 

Hey, who says America isn't great?

7-23-26   

Shame, Degradation, an Unreliable Source, and Utter Madness

 For those wondering about the depths of Donald Trump's obsession with his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, one really didn't need to sit through his unhinged harangue last Thursday. No, all you needed to do was watch a few painfully awkward moments during the confirmation hearing of Trump's DNI nominee, Jay Clayton. To put it bluntly, toads dropped on hot plates come across as more graceful than Clayton did when he was asked one simple question.

The question, initially posed by GA Senator, Jon Ossoff was, "Who won the 2020 presidential election?"

Clayton could not bring himself to publicly say those apparently forbidden words, "Joe Biden won." His most frequent response was, "Joe Biden was certified as President." Even when asked, "How did Joe Biden get certified?" he couldn't say it. His response was something along the lines 0f, "He received the most electoral votes." In the end, he chose to look like a complete fool, rather than say the simple truth aloud. 

And it's all because if you want to work for Donald J. Trump, you can't say it. To say Joe Biden won, is proof to Donald you are not only disloyal, but possibly a member of, "the deep state," he claimed lied to him in 2020. In other words, if you say, Biden won you will either get you fired, or your job application immediately deep sixed. Yes, the man sitting on the golden toilet doesn't care if you end up shaming yourself and denigrate your own character by denying he lost the election. All he cares about and demands is that you maintain the grotesque myth he somehow won it. 

When it came to Thursday's national address--which wasn't nearly as national as Trump planned--MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell described it as nothing more than a 25-minute sales pitch for his SAVE America Act. Actually, the first 10 minutes, or so was all about how everything in the nation is now peachy keen thanks to Donald J. Trump, including the minor spat with Iran. (Today word comes that at least two more members of the U.S. military and quite probably a third were killed by an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan.)  

The good folks at ABC and NBC must have had at least a hint of what was coming, because they refused to air it live, which earned both networks an in-speech condemnation from the President.  MS NOW showed the first third, or so, but when the outright lies and mis-leading half-truths began to pile up, they cut away to begin fact checking. 

The President blamed so much of the nefarious election chicanery on the Chinese one wag later said the speech bordered on a, "yellow peril," diatribe. Fact checkers and current politicians were quick to point out the voter info the Chinese, "accessed," was and is public information. You don't need spies to get it, you simply need a checkbook, because it can all be bought online. When Trump accused the Maduro government of rigging voting machines in Venezuela fact checkers noticed, he never said the Maduro regime rigged them here. In fact, the CIA reports the Venezuelans have never been capable of rigging voting machines in the United States. 

However, Trump's most incendiary accusation that Homeland Security, through voting rolls and public records, has discovered there are 278,000 illegal aliens registered to vote. The next day DHS Secretary, Markwayne Mullin altered the number a little by saying there was 250,00 illegal aliens registered to vote in four states. "Think of how many more we will find in the other 46 states," Mullin told the media on Friday. Senior CNN reporter Marshall Cohen described the sources who came up with that information as, "unreliable." It's a diplomatic way of saying the numbers are bullshit. 

Thursday night Trump identified the source of the number as the DHS. On Friday Mullin never specified how, or who obtained the numbers. Most agree the figures are wildly overstated. It is actually unclear at this time where Trump and Mullin came up with over a quarter million illegal voters although the main suspect is the Heritage Foundation--the same people who brought us Project 2025. More dependable researchers place the figure at around 28,000. (Quick, add 28,000 to 250,000 and see what you get.) The smaller number is spread out over 25 or so states and 30,000,000 plus legal voters. While both men's totals might be baffling to those who take a little time to poke around the internet, the four states mentioned by Mullin are not. They are California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New York. You know, two states Trump can't win and two which are core pieces of his 2020 election conspiracy fantasy.

To give Lawrence O'Donnell his due, part way through the speech Donald Trump did plea with voters to, "call their Senators," and urge them to pass the SAVE America Act immediately. Most analysts, however, are saying the real aim of the speech is to justify his objections to the results of the mid-terms if the republicans do take a solid beating. Many are predicting all sorts of unconstitutional responses to a massive loss, or honestly to any loss, of power by this President. According to them, Thursday night was Donald Trump's way of forewarning his plans and justifying them. 

Well, that's all probably true, but I tend to think his motive is simpler, although maybe more disturbing. That old man just can't let the 2020 loss to Biden go. He is emotionally and psychologically incapable of it. Deep down he has to prove and make everyone see, that Donald Trump has never lost and cannot lose. They all must know and understand he is the, True El Supremo. 

In short, I believe him to be utterly mad.

But hey, I'm a romantic.

7-19-26

Anticipating Der Fuhrer's Speech as ICE Runs Amok Again

 The President of the United States is going to speak to the nation tonight via television. Usually, nationally televised addresses by the President occur when there is some sort of crisis, or major policy announcement the administration wants to drive home. They have ranged from John Kennedy telling us there are Soviet ICBMs in Cuba, so there will be a U.S. naval blockade of the island, to Richard Nixon's I quit speech, to Barack Obama's we just killed bin Laden announcement. 

So, what will Donald J. Trump speak to the nation about tonight? Will it be the self-created miasma in Iran? A radical new plan to cut the ever-rising cost of living?  Will he tell us we are pulling out of NATO? Or maybe we're getting in deeper? 

Well, less than 12 hours before he hits the airwaves most analysts agree Donald Trump is going to talk about an election which took place over six years ago. That's right, he is still obsessed with his lie that the Biden Crime Syndicate, aka the democratic party, and nefarious foreign actors stole the presidency from him in 2020. The odds are he will also tell us that now, by God, he has the proof. Speculation is rife he will trot out, CIA chief John Radcliffe and temporary Director of National Intelligence and full-time head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte to back him up. 

Yes sur--this is a moment for some real gravitas. And who better to deliver it than two guys who are such toadies they'd give Trump public blowjobs if he demanded it of them. 

In reality Donald Trump is expected to produce some previously classified info that claims foreign powers such as China attempted to influence voters through social media posts and news releases. You know, like the Russians did in 2016 when they went public with the hacked Hillary Clinton emails.  At this hour most experts believe this nothing burger will be the full extent of Trump's, "proof," that the election was rigged. 

Although you never know. The man has had a year and a half to manufacture all sorts of evidence. For all we know he might have picked up a flash drive somewhere and filled it with all kinds of fanciful nonsense. I mean planting false evidence does sound right up his alley. 

The truth is this whole spectacle is designed to convince his base and other suckers the mid-term elections this fall are somehow riddled with cheating and voter fraud. Trump's attempts at voter exclusion have gone nowhere in the courts and Senate. If recent polls are even anywhere close, the House is on the cusp of flipping to a democratic majority. And while the GOP will probably hang on to the Senate (Thank you Graham Platner.) the margin will remain razor thin. 

 To Donald Trump, a would-be Fuhrer, such a situation will be intolerable. Creating doubt in the very foundation of democracy--free elections--is the best way to erode the Hoi polloi's faith in democracy. It might not be fascism per se but is very Adolfian in nature.  This evening he has promised us a big announcement which has remained unknown to the media and perhaps even most of his cabinet. Given the situation it could be anything from stationing armed troops at polling stations to declaring Georgia's two Senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff illegitimate. James Carville has warned that republicans might try to hang onto power by refusing to swear in new House members. (They did it before, just on a much smaller scale.) However, it's doubtful Trump would announce that sort of move tonight. It just isn't splashy enough for a man who is remaking the White House into his version of Versailles. 

It appears we will just have to wait and see. It won't be long now, whatever it is. And no, I don't have my, "The End is Near," sign nearby, but I do have a blank placard, a can of paint, and a brush ready.

Meanwhile, just to make sure we all remember what ethnic cleansing looks like, those rowdy guys at ICE were in the news again. First in Houston, TX they shot and killed, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Araujo was a Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for decades and owned his own homebuilding company. He had just picked up his construction crew and was headed to a work site when an unmarked SUV began chasing him. After he stopped the ICE agents shot Araujo through an open passenger window. They claimed Araujo tried to run them down with his van, which sounds a tad familiar these days. Videos of the incident don't show that happening however, which is also familiar to those who follow this gruesome shit. It was later revealed the ICE team was hunting for a different immigrant to deport.

Up in Maine a couple of days later ICE agents were also looking for someone else when they shot and killed, Duran Guerrero. Guerrero was a 25 year old Colombian who had obtained a Social Security card and was allowed to work in the U.S. He was on his way to his job, as a food delivery driver. When he was shot his three year old daughter was in the vehicle with him. ICE agents claimed he tried to flee after they stopped him and they gunned him down, in front of his child because he, "was a danger to the public." 

After the smoke cleared in both locales our man in the White House posted on social media, "We CANNOT give up one of ICE's most important and effective crime fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!"  

Ah yes, very Adolfian indeed.

7-16-26

The Gangs of Lake Arcadia Redux

 On May 3rd of this year a promotion company, of sorts, called crowd Control Entertainment sponsored a get together it called, Sunday Funday. The site of the event was Edmond, OK's Arcadia Lake, specifically the Scissortail campground, which features a large wooden pavilion. The host of the shindig, which according to the online ads would feature, "food, drinks, music, and good vibes," was a guy going by the stage name, DJ Drop It.

The city of Edmond's Park Department which in theory is in charge of the lake didn't know Sunday Funday was going to happen. Apparently, they weren't as in tune with the world of social media like the impresarios of Crowd Control Entertainment were. Because they had no clue the party was about to happen there weren't any restrictions on crowd size, alcohol consumption, and most importantly, there weren't any requirements for Crowd Control Entertainment to provide security personnel. So, seeing a way to improve the bottom line, they didn't.        

While it is unknown what the food, drink, and music were like the good vibes never made an appearance. As the media has reported, Sunday Funday quickly turned into the Oklahoma City metro's version of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Over 20 people were injured, although the number may have been higher since some were reluctant to report injuries. One of those injured, Avianna Smith-Gray died on May 5th.  

This week, the local CBS affiliate, KWTV reported Edmond Police had arrested three more suspects in connection with the Arcadia Lake shootout. Makhi Magness, 19, Hezekiah Ricks, 20, and Omarion Gabriel, 20 were all charged. Magness was hit with, shooting with intent to kill, possession of a firearm during a violent felony incident, and other gang related charges--whatever that means. Ricks and Gabriel were both slapped with, accessory to first degree murder. That brings the total number of people charged in the shooting to nine. 

From the very start of their coverage OKC media outlets have been reporting the Arcadia Lake violence was gang related. However, after witnesses claimed the whole nightmare began when two young women in the crowd got into a fistfight, to some, including myself. felt a gang vs gang battle seemed a bit of a convenient stretch--just an easy way to categorize a spur of the moment drunken brawl turned deadly shootout at an unsupervised event. 

Now though, things are starting to lean away from spontaneous combustion to something darker. According to KWTV Edmond police did some searching of Makhi Magness' social media accounts. Among other things investigators are saying they found a post from Magness time stamped hours before the shootings began. It read, "Let's bump guns today, it's gone be nkaps at Lake Hefner an I got ride."  Someone unidentified responded, "okk hefner or arcadia." Magness, who uses the street moniker, M7, responded, "Arcadia." (For those thinking I had a small stroke right then, all the spelling and syntax are theirs.) 

While I'm not completely sure of the literal translation of that, it does sound as if Makhi Magness was planning for trouble at Scissortail Campground. Edmond police certainly believe it.  They say exactly that in the written affidavit included with the criminal charges. 

It didn't take long after the shooting for Hezekiah Ricks to prove that like M7 he isn't exactly a Professor Moriarty either. A mere 20 minutes after the smoke began to clear, he posted a message on a group chat thread claiming he had the gun used by Daviion Wycoff that night. He also said he had Wycoff's blood on him. (Wycoff is also one of the nine charged in the shooting.) To prove it police say Ricks posted a photo of his hand with blood on it and later images of the weapon. On May 8th police say Ricks and Gabriel had a little online chat about moving the weapon from one spot to another. 

In addition to Magness, Ricks, Gabriel, and Wycoff--who is charged with first degree murder, the list of those popped by the Edmond Police includes one unnamed juvenile. Then there is Jaylan Davis, first degree murder, Breeon Mortonn, accessory to a felony, Trinity Brown, assault with a deadly weapon, and Marcus Jones, accessory to murder. 

The entity known as Crowd Management Entertainment has, for obvious reasons, disappeared. The headliner that night, DJ Drop It has a Facebook account which maintains he was, "a victim too." It is unclear if he was being literal or speaking strictly in the metaphorical sense. 

Meanwhile the authorities say they believe even more people were involved. They are still soliciting help from the public for additional information.  Although, to be honest, given the level of criminal sophistication being displayed around here lately, all they really need to do is visit different social media sites every so often. I mean, for God's sake, these gruesome clowns not only can't keep their mouths shut, but it looks like they don't even understand that when you commit a crime, any crime, one of the goals is not to get fucking caught.  

Indeed. Makhi Magness also wrote in one post to his mother, "...at least Yk your raised a shooter..." Unfortunately for us all, especially Avianna Smith-Gray, is that what M7's mother didn't do is raise a genius.   

7-12-26

The Massacre in Seattle, Folarin Balogun Makes Trump's Short List, and How the President's Brain Works

It was a disaster of epic proportions. Within a few minutes of the opening kickoff last night, the U.S..-Belgium soccer match went from the Battle in Seattle to the World Cup's version of Custer at the Little Big Horn. The onslaught was immediate and overwhelming. Even when the U.S. managed to briefly tie the game 1-1 (the tie lasted for about two minutes of playing time) it felt like the ceiling was giving way. 

The final was 4-1, which is pretty much the American football equivalent to getting your ass kicked 42-7. 

Analysts, almost exclusively American, blamed the loss on a series of costly mistakes made by the U.S. team. The reality however, is that the Belgians, at least light night, had a vastly superior team. The U.S. could have trotted David fucking Beckham in his prime out there and they would have still lost. 

Actually, they did put someone unexpected onto the pitch. The best U.S. player in the tournament, Folarin Balogun had been suspended for last night's match after he received a red card during the U.S. win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Then President Donald J. Trump made a phone call to FIFA head honcho, Gianni Infantino.

What happened next depended on who was talking. Infantino hasn't commented at all. United States Senator, Ted Cruz (R-TX) publicly thanked Trump for getting Balogun's red card removed so he could play last night. Trump himself claimed he only asked Infantino to review the play involved since in his opinion, "It wasn't a foul." (He knew this because Trump is such an accomplished student of the game and FIFA rules, just ask him.) The Belgians and others screamed the fix was in. Despite Trump's claim, the affair did feel a little sketchy, especially when the media reminded everyone FIFA had just rented space for offices in Trump Tower. 

In truth, yes, the red card call was questionable, and the foul, if there was one, did appear accidental not intentional. But no, the President of the United States should not have called the head of FIFA to complain about it. Sometimes bad calls are just part of the breaks in sports. Besides, doesn't the supposed leader of the free world have more important things to do?     

In order to put a lid on the controversy Infantino did say the decision could not be appealed, no matter how loudly Belgium protested. The result was two-fold. First, Balogun played. Second, it really, really, pissed off the Belgian team. One former U.S. player said the Belgians came out mad with something to prove.  

And they did. Even 67,000 American fans and their relentless renditions of that quasi fascist chant, USA, USA, USA couldn't stem the tide. The U.S. team was doomed. 

Now comes the weird part. In 2001, Folarin Balogun's parents, who were both born in Nigeria, but living in the UK, came to visit the good old US of A. When they tried to return to the U.K. after their trip, she was so far along in her pregnancy the airline was afraid she would deliver the baby somewhere over the Atlantic. They refused to let her board the plane. The child, future U.S. soccer star, Folarin was born in Brooklyn a little later. Thanks to the 14th amendment to the Constitution, because he was born on American soil, he automatically became an American citizen. Yes, just as much of one as Stephen Miller.

It's called--the term has been in the news a lot lately--Birthright Citizenship. After mom and child were deemed healthy enough, some reports say seven weeks later, they flew back to the U.K. where they have lived ever since. However, because he has never formally renounced his U.S. birthright citizenship, Folarin Balogun remains an American citizen and was eligible to play on team U.S.A. 

That's right, Donald Trump just intervened, one way or another, on behalf of a guy who is here only because of a Constitutional amendment the President desperately wants to get rid of says he can. 

It is unclear which word, irony or hypocrisy, is more applicable at this moment. However, if Trump does manage to void the 14th amendment, now that the U.S. has been unceremoniously eliminated, there can be little doubt Folarin Balogun's name will be on the short list of the people Trump wants to, let's say de-citizeniize. You can almost hear him saying something like, I did the guy a favor and look how he repaid me.

Knowing Donald Trump as we do it is easy to speculate he was interested in the outcome of the World Cup for only one reason. In his own twisted mind, a United States win in a men's World Cup tournament, America's first, would somehow enhance his own greatness. That's right baby, when I was President the United State men were the best in the world and I helped. The odds are better than 50-50 he even envisioned that trophy sitting in his gilded Oval Office somewhere, then later at home on the mantle. Hells bells, it wouldn't be surprising if even now he didn't try to con the winning team into giving it to him. 

It is, after all, how his brain works.

7-7-26

July 3rd, 2026: Happy, Happy, Happy Donald and Busting Notorious Nuns

 Thanks to the fans of various World Cup teams the United States has been in party mode for weeks now. Most notably, the Scots roared into Boston and drank the town out of beer--a feat which many considered impossible. While the Tartan Army is gone now, others remain and will contribute to the mood of the nation tomorrow when the republic celebrates the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. (Just a side note here: despite all the paintings, musicals, and weird evangelical fantasies, no, not everyone who signed it did so that day and no, Jesus did not make an appearance, spectral or otherwise to bless the event.)

Mythology aside, the American Declaration of Independence was then and is now the most revolutionary document ever written and endorsed. Every man in that Continental Congress was, if you were British, committing high treason and faced a death sentence. Luckily for them the Americans, with more help from the French than we will ever admit to, won. Ever since then on the 4th of July, Americans have been, as the Duck Dynasty dude says, "Happy, happy, happy." 

The happiest of us all during all the festivities should be the President himself, Donald John Trump. (Oh come on, you knew I would get to him eventually.) Recent reports indicate Mr. Trump's wealth has increased by $3 billion since his second inauguration. When asked about it the other day, Trump replied that yes, he was getting richer thanks to the stock market where he has millions invested. He claimed everyone is. He went so far as to tell the journalist to check her 401K account, then said it had gone up by 85% thanks to the robust stock market his policies have created. His parting shot was a sarcastic, "Thank you, Mr. Trump." 

Now, while I don't have a 401K and never had one, my wife does. When she heard Trump's statement her first comment was something along the lines of, "Bullshit. If mine had gone up that much, I'd retire right now." 

Others were quick to point out, Donald Trump was flat out lying. The dramatic increase in his wealth had little to do with the stock market. It was almost exclusively due to investments by a murky band of super rich Americans and foreign Pooh-bahs in his crypto business dealings. (All of which feel distinctly like a grift of such profoundly epic proportions it makes Bernie Madoff look like some two-bit street hustler.) 

No other President in the history of the United States has ever pulled something like this. Some of them might have wanted to--Dick Nixon comes to mind--but all of them actually knew what the Constitution of the United States has to say about shit like this.  Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution limits the President's income to his fixed salary of $400,000 a year. It strictly prohibits the President from receiving any other emolument (payments from the federal or state governments. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8, prohibits the President from "any gift, payment, or title from a foreign state without the consent of Congress."  Foreign states are further defined as, "national governments, government owned companies, sovereign wealth funds, and regional authorities."  Later Congress passed the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act which limits the value of gifts to a President from foreign governments to $525 or less. 

Oops. How much did that Boeing 747-8 gifted to Trump by Qatar cost again? You know, the one he insists he will keep after he leaves office. 

The out for our boy, Don, and there always is one, is that the Constitution didn't make violations of the emolument's acts crimes. And even though the online site, Copilot Search notes violations can lead to, "legal challenges, political fallout, and possible impeachment, we know Donald Trump doesn't give a rat's ass about the first two consequences and considers himself immune from the third. Although it might help explain why he is so obsessed with keeping everybody he can away from voting booths this fall. 

Meanwhile, in its never-ending campaign to make America safe (not to mention whiter) Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents busted one of the worst of the worst last Sunday. ICE detained the notorious Nigerian born, Sister Letticia Ugboaja while she was walking to Sunday Mass, dressed in her religious habit. Sister Letty, as she is called, is a registered nurse who not only serves in her McAllen, TX church, Our Lady of Sorrows, but is also works for South Texas Health System. 

After her church published the news of her detention--handcuffs and all--on social media, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle intervened to get her released. So far as anyone knows ICE hasn't offered an excuse, or apology for the nun's arrest. Hey, who says America is getting soft?

So here we are America. On the eve of the nation's 250th birthday. The President and his pals, both domestic and foreign are getting richer and our law enforcement is busting nuns. You have to think the guys who signed the Declaration of Independence didn't quite envision the nation this way. You can never know for sure though. After all, the same guy who wrote the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." bought and sold human beings like they were nothing more than farm tools. 

Well, we've never been perfect, or even close to it. However, it does feel like Donald Trump and his crowd have now pushed us dangerously close to something irreversible--the belief that arrogant corruption and brutality are not only normal, but the ideal--The Real American Way.      

7-3-26

Eating and Being Eaten by the Bear

 Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

According to the online site, Quote Investigator, that isn't exactly what Emerson wrote in an 1870 essay about early man hunting with a sharpened stick. However, that's what the transcendentalist's words have morphed into in the modern vernacular. And they pretty much describe what happened yesterday and this morning when it came to Donald J. Trump and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Yes, in many ways the last 36 hours, or so have been weird, almost schizoid even by the standards of this court. How else do you describe a decision that gives the President unpreceded power to fire members of governmental regulatory boards simply because they make rulings he doesn't like. The very purpose of these boards, like the Federal Trade Commission and others are to be able make rulings free of political pressure and threats. Now, a President, like Trump, can replace board members with any political hack he likes. One analyst put it this way, "It's like the umpire is an employee of one team playing and can be fired anytime that team doesn't like the call."  Donald Trump called the decision a restoration of exertive power, which is, of course absolute bullshit. Over the years, as these different boards and commissions created by Congress, no President has ever had the power to fire members without cause. 

Which brings us to the weird part, At the same time the court ruled the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is the one exception to the rule. Specifically, Trump couldn't fire Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook, who didn't agree with Trump about lowering interest rates--and happened to be a black woman. The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte had pulled an accusation of mortgage fraud against Cook out of a hat--a move which impressed Trump so much he made Pulte the temporary Director of National Intelligence just in time for the midterms. The unproven accusation gave Trump the excuse he wanted to fire Cook. But now, the Supremes say, Cook wasn't afforded due process, so she can't be touched.

The major blow to Trump, however, came when SCOTUS upheld a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots that are delivered after election day to be counted. According to our man in the Oval Office this allows those evil democrats to not only delay the results but rig the outcomes. He doesn't have any proof of that happening--ever--but he is convinced of it. (How else could I ever lose?)  It also throws a wrench into his plan to foul up the midterms through the postal service's delivery process.

Of course, my favorite Supreme Court ruling yesterday wasn't a ruling at all, it was their refusal to even consider Trump's appeal of the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit. Carroll had taken El Donald to court twice, once receiving a $5 million settlement. The second time around she hooked him for $85 plus million. This case involved the $5 million judgement. By refusing to hear it, Donald Trump is now out of options and appeals. He owes the writer five big ones, no ifs ands or buts. Get out the old checkbook, Donnie and please, no crypto currency. This is a cash only transaction. 

This morning started well for Trump. The court ruled the states--not the feds, as Trump ultimately wants--can ban men and boys who have transitioned to women from playing women's sports. The issue has become a major MAGA rallying cry, mainly because everything else they're doing so is so reprehensible they'd rather not talk about any of it. This little slice of culture war feels like a winner to them. Although lately Trump has also decided New York democratic socialists are another. ("They are really communists and they are a greater danger to our country than the attack on Pearl Harbor.") 

Meanwhile, for many of us old time democrats the whole transgender/sports thing is a non-issue. No, women, who were born men, should not be playing against biological women. And honestly, any democrat who is willing to defend that particular hill is politically suicidal and not worth serious consideration.           

Seemingly within minutes of the whole biologically born men in women sports ruling, the president found out at last that one of his executive orders cannot change what the Constitution says or means. No matter what fanciful the interpretations might be, no matter how the times have changed, the words in the Constitution cannot be rendered void by Presidential decree. The 14th amendment remains sacrosanct.  If you are born in the United States, you are a citizen of the United States. The only way to change it is to amend the Constitution or by passing some tortuously worded bill through Congress.

It didn't take long for Donald Trump to advocate just that. Not long after the decision was announced he wrote, in part, on social media, "Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my complete and total Support!"

We bet they do, Brother Don. However, you'd better get Big Bill Pulte to work in a hurry. November is edging closer and then, trust me, you are going to run into another bear. 

6-30-26

Donald Gets What He Wants Before Americans Get What They Need

 Earlier this week the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate did something that many, in this age of hyper-partisanship, thought had become impossible. Both major U.S. political parties got together to sponsor a bill, then passed it. The bill, titled, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act was sponsored in the House by Maxine Waters, D-CA, Mike Flood, R-NE, and Emmanuel Cleaver, D-MO. It was introduced by French Hill, R-AR. On the Senate side Tim Scott, R-SC and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA were key contributors. The bill, designed to help Americans find and maintain affordable housing, passed the House 358 to 32. Over in the Senate it won, 85 to 5. 

So, break out the bubbly, streamers, and ballons, right? Congress finally got together to work for the good of the American people! What could possibly go wrong?

Well, how about that aging pile of Cheez Whiz named Donald John Trump?

Yes, the man who promised the republic he would lower the cost of everything almost immediately--then did everything he could to raise them--refused to sign the bill. (He couldn't veto it, the votes were there to override a veto which his ego could never take. Not to mention his absolute contempt for average Americans would have been fully exposed. Trump always prefers his cruelty to come with an excuse the rubes will buy.)

After the bill passed the President took to social media--where else--and announced, "Today's Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT"

That's right, unless I get what I want--in this case virtually no mail in voting, photo id's at polls, and a dark labyrinth of voter registration regulations--everyone gets screwed. When one GOP hack was asked about Trump's petulant snit fit with consequences on CNN his response was, "This is the President's way of negotiating." 

Luckily for us, Trump's way of negotiating doesn't have the best track record. (Check out what the Iranians are saying and doing today.) According to law, a bill passed by both houses becomes law in 10 days--not counting Sundays--with, or without the President's signature. However, as we all know, Donald Trump considers laws more suggestions and guidelines which really don't apply to him. Hell, some of his shysters even went to the Supreme Court to argue the Constitution doesn't really mean what it says right there in black and white, because it inconveniences their boss. Given this attitude, there can be little doubt he has a cadre of lawyers, probably DOJ types, already working to somehow get around this one., or at least hang it up in the courts for as long as possible.

Meanwhile the U.S. Postal Service is moving to comply with a Trump executive order signed earlier this year. It commands the post office not to deliver ballots in states which have refused to hand over voter rolls to the Trump administration. It isn't just a coincidence that most of the states who haven't are controlled by democrats and many rely heavily on mail in voting. Despite his own preference to mail his voles in, Donald Trump is insistent democratic controlled states use mail in ballots in order to commit fraud--to rig the elections against him and his hand-picked toadies. He has said more than once, the only way democrats can win elections is by cheating. 

All of this tends to confirm what Maggie Haberman and Johnathan Swan wrote in their book, "Regime Change." In it, they contend Donald Trump no longer pays attention to polls, or cares about them. One CNN analyst put it another way: Donald Trump isn't trying to expand his base, because he doesn't think he has to. He believes he can win through manipulating the voting laws. 

Today a CNN poll says the American electorate's most pressing concerns are 1, rising healthcare costs and 2, the rising costs of housing. (Gas prices, even though easiest to see, are fourth or fifth on the list.) In nearly six years of attacking and chipping away at the Affordable Care Act the Trump bunch has yet to propose anything remotely workable, let alone affordable to replace it. Now, thanks to his obsession with altering the outcome of the midterm elections, he is willing to jam up cost of housing relief.  According to that poll, Trump's approval ratings on both healthcare and housing are so far underwater the man is in desperate need of SCUBA gear.  

Haberman and Swan are right.

And we can all see what is coming down the road in November. If Donald Trump's voting schemes fail and there is in fact a Blue Wave this fall, he is going to scream fraud to high heaven. The problem we all face when that happens is, what will he actually do about it? After all, the man is fucking nuts and now no one around him has the guts to tell him no.   

Just ask the people who have tried.

6-26-26

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