It’s been a devastating week for the world. The oil shock is here; the Greater Depression is within sight. Terrorist attacks are on the rise. Prices are rising. All is chaos and confusion. Holy shit! Anywho, here are some of my thoughts that couldn’t make there way into full blog posts and may or may not have appeared in my social media.
Just read it and walk me off the ledge in the comments. Thanks, y’all!
- Bye-Bye Kristi! Kristi Bye-Bye!
- Understanding Senator Graham
- Trump’s Foreign Policy Acumen
- We’re so fucked
- Image Attribution
Bye-Bye Kristi! Kristi Bye-Bye!
When Kosplay Kristi was fired, I didn’t feel Schadenfreude as much as I felt SchadenFuckOff
Understanding Senator Graham
Graham’s Pronouncements
Lindsey can always get drunker. Everytime you hear him speak, ask yourself how drunk is he? The crazier the things he says, the drunker he is. It is a positive correlation. Allegedly.
Graham’s Penchant for War and Violence
Lindsey is the poster child for outlawing conversion therapy. Just accept who you are Sister Lindsey. Come out of the closet. We don’t care. Learn to accept yourself and quit taking your anger and frustration out on the world, son. It ain’t that bad.
Trump’s Foreign Policy Acumen
Using a Patriot Missile to Kill a Fly
Now you know how Trump bankrupted six casinos and all of his other businesses. We’re spending a million dollars a missile against $20,000.00 drones. Our missiles are incredibly sophisticated and take lots f resources and skills to build; theirs are unsophisticated and can be built on the side of the road. It just isn’t cost effective to use all of our armament to stop them from using theirs. In fact the ledger sheet is so grotesquely lopsided that it would be funny if it didn’t hamstring us so badly in supporting Ukraine against Russia, Taiwan against China, and South Korea against North Korea.
Nuclear Proliferation
I’ve heard reporting that when Kushner and Witkoff told Trump that negotiations with Iran were pointless, Oman was saying that there was a deal on the table. Now, that Trump tore up Obama’s nuclear deal with them, and initiated an illegal war after the Iranians entered into good-faith negotiations that resulted in a possible deal, will they ever stop trying to develop a nuclear weapon?
It should be clear to every country observing the US foreign policy that it is untrustworthy and will interfere with any country’s internal workings as it sees fit. The only way to stop us is to have a nuclear weapon or two to threaten it with. Great. Trump has set off a new round of nuclear proliferation and guaranteed that Iran will develop a nuke and probably incentive them to use it.
We’re so fucked
Even if we could oust Trump and his entire administration and replace Congress a la a parliamentary government with snap elections, we cannot undo the damage Trump has done to our democracy and institutions, the world order and the world’s economy, and the climate crisis.
There is no going back to the way things were two weeks ago before the illegal Netanyahy-Trump War began or back to the government and nation we had before he took office in 2025. We have to go forward to create a new government and institutions — not rewriting the Constitution, but creating new norms and expectations and giving much of it the power of law — a new world economy and new world order and new efforts to limit climate disasters.
I’m just so angry, afraid, disappointed, and disbelieving. What in our experience of Trump 1.0 led anyone to believe that Trump 2.0 wouldn’t be THIS? He instigated an insurrection to derail our democratic transfer of power, why is anyone surprised that he is attacking our democracy now? He couldn’t cope with the #COVID19 pandemic and ended up causing two million unnecessary deaths, so why do we think he could deal with any crisis that have happened in the past eighteen months all of which he created? Or that he could manage the economy when he inherited a GREAT economy and just rode it into the ground worsened by the disruptions of the #COVID19 pandemic? When he is a chronic habitual I venerate liar, why would anyone believe anything he said, much less campaign promises?
It just defies credulity.
Image Attribution
This image was found on Deviantart with a Creative Commons license.
The Psy of Life 
Of course, no one can undo the damages that Trump singlehanded imposed upon this great big world, because everything is linked together, the countries are all interconnected, and so, when one country experience that jolt, there’s bound to be a whole line of chain reactions, and it still doesn’t look pretty, because everything is destroyed, singlehandedly by Trump, and what’s worses is he still thinks he is doing a good job as the TYRANT that now runs the U.S.
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Howdy Taurus!
Trump is a narcissist; he will always think that whatever he says, thinks, or does is the absolute best thing and correct. He is always right in his mind. And, it is always somebody else’s fault if something goes wrong.
He lacks the executive functioning to plan or anticipate the knock-on effects of his decisions. It is how he bankrupted six casinos and killed more than two million Americans in the #COVID19 pandemic.
We cannot go back to the way things were; we can only construct new alliances and institutions for the future.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Ever since we heard that the USSR had gotten The Bomb, the ruling presumption has been that everybody wants it, or must get it (or be a client state of somebody who has it). That’s the internal logic of an arms race that keeps it going. But when the race is between somebody who already has a huge stock pile of warheads and delivery systems and a smaller country that doesn’t have any yet, it makes no sense, because to get a few they can’t use them against the Great Power without it being suicidal. Deterrents only really work between proximate equals (like India and Pakistan). Still, we can’t believe that Iran isn’t building nukes. What is exposed in this war is the deep lack of understanding on our side of the nature of asymmetrical warfare that has been demonstrated in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places. It’s a problem we share with Russia and why they failed in Afghanistan and are bogged down in Ukraine.
So, instead of going ahead and building nukes and ICBMs, which they could have been doing years ago, the Iranians built cheap drones in large numbers, and let the Russians combat test them in Ukraine. Now those drones are driving us crazy and broke.
IDK if that helps get you off the ledge, but I do think we will find a way to a democratic future if climate change doesn’t crash us first.
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Howdy Bob!
I always thought that the way for North Korea to “win” was to drop a nuke on some South Korean city and declare that they have bombs in all of the population centers that will be set off immediately unless the South immediately surrenders. I was there when a North Korean submarine washed up on the shore having broken down and it took months to find all of the crew members. If they were carrying small nukes, they could easily position them. Would you surrender under those circumstances or await the US retaliation and risk more deaths and nuclear fall out?
When Trump was in office, we had a serious nuclear stand off with North Korea. The thing that really worried me about it was that North Korea was willing to commit suicide rather than to admit defeat. It is part of the Korean psyche.
Suicide bombers are a thing for a reason. It is clear to me that Iran would happily sacrifice itself if it meant nuking Tel Aviv. That’s why the Netanyahu-Trump Illegal War is such a disaster. They are pushing Iran into a corner and have not prepared for the consequences.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Iran is operating on an end times prophecy that mirrors the Book of Revelation version, as are the Islamic State and Al Qaeda from the Wahhabi side. They are willing to endure huge pain and damage, and sacrifice vast numbers of the Faithful and Unbelievers, but expect to be on the winning side in the end. If they commit suicide, it will be by way of a miscalculation. I think in that way they are different from N. Korea, which has become an hereditary monarchy.
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Howdy Bob!
End times believers are almost by definition nihlists. I firmly believe that the Iranian religious hardliners would rather destroy the entire world rather than see the country fall to non-hardliners.
Whatever the truth of that matter is, it is clear that Iran has been planning for this moment for decades and Trump hasn’t. I’m sure Trump was warned by his generals and admirals, but he just ignored their council.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Everything Trump does, had done, and will do in the future, serves the SOLE purpose of power acquistion, he’s too thirsty for power, and, he’d gotten a taste of what power has to offer, and therefore, he’d worked up an even bigger appetite for it, he lacked the ability to RE-examine his own @#$%ED up bad behaviors, and can only SEE the dollar signs of the values of every action he does, beacuse he IS a businessman, and, ALL businesses care about is making the BIG BUCKS, and he doesn’t give a flying @#$% who or WHAT he SCREWS over, so long as the money keeps on rolling into his pockets, he’s happy. And that’s how the DEMOCRACY of the U.S. that’s survived for 200+ years is about to get declared, DEAD!
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Howdy Taurus!
For the narcissist, the rest of the world is a prop in satisfying their own needs. Trump not only thinks he deserves all of the money he has grifted and power he has secured, but that exceptions to the laws he’s violated will be made for him. And, he’s right. SCOTUS granted him presidential immunity!
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Trump will keep accelerating his reckless behavior until he finds a boundary a limit to his greed and power grab. Otherwise, he’ll keep destroying things and taking them for himself. In that sense, he’s a complete nihlist.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Kristi did not go far she is still part of the inner circle…..Graham has always been a total butt wad….there is no foreign policy juust knee jerk ramblings and decisions by a mentally deranged lunatic chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
Head of the Shield of the Americas is a bullshit job (a real area of study in sociologist). She’s been put out to pasture.
Trump does everything on intuition and instinct. In the past, he’s feared consequences for his missteps and his ability to fend them off. It provided some kind of limit to his behavior. Now, he has no consequence to fear. SCOTUS granted him immunity.
Huzzah!
Jack
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SCOTUS has done more to end democracy than anyone….time for that to change. chuq
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Howdy Chuq!
The Roberts Court is one of the chief pieces of evidence that the conservative movement is anti-democratic and favors authoritarianism. Roberts was groomed to be one of the judges that would strike down civil rights and undermine our democracy. He has a long pedigree of racist rat-fucking behind him. He was clerk and protege of William Rehnquist who was the chief election rat-fucker for Barry Goldwater in Arizona. When Goldwater went national, he brought Rehnquist with him, and Rehnquist was one of the driving forces behind the armed poll watchers harassing Democratic voters that earned the GOP a consent decree barring them from in ballot safety measures from 1982 to 2018.
Since his ascendance to the Chief Justice-hood, Roberts has been responsible for the decisions that have put our democracy in the most jeopardy: Citizens United, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and presidential immunity.
Thomas, Alito, Gosuch, Kavenaugh, and Barrett all have clear, direct, and strong times to the Federalist Society and Leonard Leo.
There is no doubt that Roberts is poised to finish off the Civil Rights Act in June and that any future challenges to elections will be looked upon favorably by the six authoritarian gargoyles currently perched atop the court.
Huzzah!
Jack
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I think it is disgusting that a Right wing POS like Federalist Society picks our judges…..chuq
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All true … and what will we wake up to tomorrow … and the next day? This is only the beginning and I know not where it all ends.
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Howdy Jill!
One of the things that saddens and disappoints me the most is that I won’t be able to leave my daughter a world with as much security and as many possibilities as the world I had. Right now, I’m preparing as best I can for a Greater Depression. I can’t see how we’re going to avoid it.
Huzzah!
Jack
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I’m with you on that, Jack. I know my days are numbered and at this point, I don’t mind … but it breaks my heart to see the world I’m leaving my daughter and granddaughter to deal with. And you are so right … we are headed for some very dark economic times, all of which could have been avoided if only we didn’t have an egomaniacal warmonger in the White House!
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And that is the part that leaves me so befuddled and angry. How in the world did we elect Trump a second time? He organized an insurrection the first time around. Didn’t the people who voted for him think he would do it again? Or maybe they wanted the insurrection to succeed and give up all the nice things that Biden did for us in his term. He made such a shambolic mess of the #COVID19 pandemic that we had two million excess deaths — two million Americans who didn’t need to die died because of his refusal to lead and inability to plan, execute, and organize. His entire administration has been a chaotic mess with multiple significant problems of his own creation. Every chance he got, he made decisions that benefitted Russia and hurt the US. Exactly what he’s doing now.
None of this makes sense to me and is enough to make me into a conspiracy theorists. I swear.
Huzzah!
Jack
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He won again because: 1) some people are gullible, easily manipulated, and they believed his promises, and 2) racism — there is a fairly large contingent in this nation that are racist and his racist ways appeal to them. But also, the majority of those who didn’t bother to vote stayed home because while they didn’t like Trump, they refused to vote for a woman, and a Black woman at that.
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Howdy Jill!
It is a wonder how clear the reasons for Trump’s victory are to you and me and obscure they are to the so-called experts filling the airwaves twenty-four hours a day. I have long contended that we have been struggling against the authoritarian slavers from the beginning of the country and much of our history can only be understood through that lens. But, misogyny outweighs racism as a motivator in this country. To be blunt, Obama was acceptable because he was mixed, light skinned, and male. Clinton and Harris weren’t acceptable because they are women.
The folly of our ways is just staggering.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Ah well … those ‘experts’ have to keep people coming back for more of their opinions, for that’s what puts food on their tables. I do think you have a good point about misogyny topping the bigotry charts. ‘Tis why, while I like Kamala Harris and think she would make a fine president, I hope she doesn’t run in 2028, because I don’t think she could win … just because she’s a woman. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …
Yep, human folly … ’twill be our downfall.
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I agree with you about Harris. It isn’t something that I say too loudly or indiscriminately, though. The opportunity for misunderstanding and being on the receiving end of a dog pile is too great. I also don’t think she was a great candidate. She’s smart, well educated, and has the right politics, but her 2020 and 2024 campaigns both started with a bang and ended with a fizzle. I’m not sure it is a fair criticism of her 2024 campaign, though; however, she and Waltz seemed to fade towards the end, to me. Clinton had similar strengths — definitely over qualified — and weaknesses. Primarily, she was the recipient of thirty years of a Republican smear campaign. And, then there was the black swan of Comey. Can’t win for losing some campaigns.
Huzzah!
Jack
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No, I don’t say that loudly or often, and frankly, I will vote for her if she’s on the ticket, for I DO think she knows her stuff and would make a good president, as would Hillary. But sadly, this nation is still bigoted in oh so many ways, misogyny being at the top of the list.
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Howdy Jill!
I voted for both and would do so again in a heartbeat. I think that Harris would be a good president. She has the temperament and intelligence for it.
Our bigotry is rooted in the Pilgrims and other religious groups that fled persecution in England, so they could be the ones doing the persecuting. There was never a desire for freedom of religion among them.They exiled people who didn’t love Jesus right. Since that British culture is the dominate culture of America, we still live with the prejudices of the Pilgrims and the 17th century England. We will until it is suitably diluted by alternative cultures, which is happening, and is probably why white America — as a group — is fighting so hard to stop it from happening.
Huzzah!
Jack
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You are so right, Jack … our bigotry DOES go all the way back to the Pilgrims … fleeing persecution so that they could become the persecutors! Like you, I voted for both Kamala and Hillary and would do so again in a heartbeat if either is on the ballot in 2028. I just hope that the Democratic Party can get their sh*t together soon and present a united front behind a viable candidate!
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Howdy Jill!
I am afraid that Dems will nominate a woman in 2028. Another thing that I don’t talk about too freely. AoC, for example, is likely to run. There are other people that have run before that stand a good chance like Amy Klobachur, and others like Gretchen Whitmer who are often talked about. All three would make GREAT presidents, but I really fear the toxic masculine backlash. But, we’ll have to face those possibilities should they arise.
Huzzah!
Jack
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You’ve named some very viable candidates, Jack! And any of them would have my vote. How do we convince the masses, though, that a woman can be just as qualified and just as capable as a man? I wonder if we ever will …
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Howdy Jill!
With more women graduating from university with degrees and entering the professions, I think it will happen. One of the things we’re seeing is the angry violent attempt for white male culture to hold on to dominance. It will really take some effort by the rest of us to make it happen, though. Unfortunately, some of that effort will take us being conscious of the misogyny and racism that underpins MAGA and Trump voters.
Huzzah!
Jack
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You make good points here, Jack. Yes, we have to admit the problem before we can set about fixing the problem. And the white, straight, Christian, male-dominated model has been the ‘norm’ for a long time … and some are desperately clinging to it.
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