Stupid and Sold Out

In the future, ape historians will wonder why, given the information below, voters elected Trump. They will overlook the obvious answer that Americans are stupid and ignorant.

Wonkette has another data point that's relevant. Article mentions of Project 2025 versus President Biden's age.

That's far worse than I would have imagined. But it's no shock that the corporate media sold out democracy.

This week in "Fuck you, you out of touch asshat"

I'm a federal worker, serving the American public for 34 years. I am not a billionaire, of course, but have earned a good living through my career, despite getting paid far less than I would have in the private sector.

A week ago, one of Trump's sociopathic billionaire buddies, Vivek Ramaswarmy, said this:

The new pick to head the non-existent department of government efficiency, billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, told a gathering at the Aspen Security Forum that laying off federal workers will be "good for many of the individuals who make a transition from government service back to the private sector." 

Vivek also said he doesn't believe "that the highest and best use of any of those talented people is what they're doing in the federal government today."

It must be nice to be so rich that you could easily be fired from any job and never have to worry about mortgage payments or rent, or whether or not you could keep your kids in school, or whether you could afford healthcare, or even about where your next meal is coming from. That kind of security must be incredibly comforting.

But here's a clue, Mr. Billionaire. The vast majority of federal workers don't have that security. Losing a job would be devastating to them and their families. It would also devastate the American citizens who depend on those federal workers. Vivek's lack of empathy towards people who work to serve their fellow Americans is clear.

As someone who has CHOSEN to serve the American public, regardless of how "good" it will be for me to go "back" to the private sector, I would just like to say:

FUCK YOU, YOU OUT OF TOUCH ASSHAT!!

Thanks.

If only . . .

In today's edition of "Trump is a demented fool who doesn't understand how anything works" we have this exhibit.

The ONLY reason Trump won the Presidency in 2016 is because of the Electoral College, a unique, outdated, horror inflicted upon America by the founders, which ensures that small population states have a hugely unfair influence on our elections. Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes in 2016, winning only because of our stupid system. Also, were our elections decided by the popular vote, Al Gore would have been President in 2000 instead of previous biggest moron President, George W. Bush. 

Democrats would LOVE to get rid of the Electoral College.

The fact that Trump either got confused when he posted this or doesn't actually know how American Presidential elections work should be deeply disturbing to everyone. 

Of course, as always, Republicans (and the media) don't care.

Selling Christian Values, plus a free DVD!

Christians, I'm talking directly to you. Does the image below sit right with you? 

This is Trump's latest grift, a newly updated version of his "God Bless the USA" Bible, complete with the "founding documents" of America, God's favorite country! You may note that Trump's name is at the top of the Bible, above everything else, including Holy Bible and God. (Bonus: It also comes in an Assassination Day version!)

We already know that you're willing to vote for a rapist, misogynistic, insurrectionist, racist, grifting con-man, but are you cool with this? Isn't there something in the Bible about idolatry? Isn't this co-opting your deeply held beliefs as a MAGA marketing tool? Also, are you bothered that this Bible is manufactured in China?

Those are all rhetorical questions. Of course you're okay with this! You've already sold out whatever Christian values you may once have held and joined the cult of the con-man. Congratulations! You can give a "billionaire" $70 of your hard-earned money for a cheap version of a book you already own and not feel guilty at all!

Morons running with scissors

In an obvious attempt to get them out of his hair, the Convicted Felon has promised clueless billionaires Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk that they will be appointed to lead an advisory commission to find waste in the Federal government.

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been named to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside tech billionaire Elon Musk, promised Sunday that many government agencies will soon be “deleted.”
...
“We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright,” he said. “We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government.”

First of all, you won't have the authority to "delete" shit. Congress would have to act and good luck with that.

Second, the agencies exist FOR A REASON. Congress doesn't have the time or expertise to lay out specific regulations for the myriad areas of American life that need to be regulated to protect people and business. So, Congress delegated these tasks to the federal agencies, which are answerable to the elected Congress. You can't govern a nation of over 300 million people otherwise.

Finally, this glib asshole is talking about hundreds of thousands of jobs he wants to "delete". Of course, he doesn't worry about money, but those hundreds of thousands of workers have families who depend on them. Firing these dedicated public servants would not only devastate these families, but wreck the local economies they support.

In short, fuck these two out of touch assholes. Just because you're rich doesn't mean you're smart.

The Acolyte

A few weeks ago, Ben and I watched the Star Wars series, The Acolyte, on Disney+. Set about 100 years before the prequel trilogy, the show presented a view of the Jedi Order at its height.

There was a good deal of fan backlash to the series, most of which seemed to center not around the quality of the episodes, but around fan perceptions of "what the Jedi Order is" and "oh, no, the show stars a girl and people of color". In other words, the typical Star Wars toxic fan backlash.

Unfortunately, the show must not have done very well because Disney cancelled the planned second season.

For my part, I really enjoyed the series. It was an interesting, unique look at the Star Wars universe and I loved the two main leads, Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae. Lee Jung-jae actually LEARNED ENGLISH to take the role. I am really disappointed that I won't see where they were going with the story.

Disney has not done very well with Star Wars (I'm looking at you, sequel trilogy), but this, I liked.

Effects on my job

I'm a federal worker and have been with the same agency for 34 years, serving the American public. How will the change in administration affect me?

I'm lucky on a number of accounts. My agency is seen as bipartisan and has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats. During the previous Trump administration (::shudder::) we didn't have any issues; it really was business as usual. Last week I searched for my agency in Project 2025 and it looks like the fascists want a difference in focus, but don't want to fire everyone or close the agency.

So hopefully, no big changes.

The one thing I'm concerned about is the telework policy. During the pandemic, my team switched to full time telework, and since it ended, we've been required in the office only one day a week. This has been life-changing for me.

I live about 26 miles north of DC, so when I go into the office it's an 80 minute commute, each way, meaning I spend over 2.5 hours driving and on the Metro. Now, four days a week I have no commute, so I can sleep later and still get to work early. It also means I can work late if I choose and almost every night I check in to answer emails and prep for the following day. I love it. 

If the new administration cancels all telework, it will mean a significant hit for my personal time, my health, and will actually cost the government work, because if I'm forced into the office, I won't be able to work from home after hours. It will also mean a hit to efficiency, because I get a lot more work done at home. There are likely many, many federal workers in the same position as me.

Having said that, the potential damage for me is pretty minimal. I don't want to commute five days a week but I did it for thirty years and can do it again. What I hate to think about are other professional, knowledgeable, dedicated public servants in the DOE, FDA, EPA, and other targeted agencies, who now must fear for their jobs. I hate to think of my colleagues across the government whose jobs will remain but who will be forced to enact hateful, immoral, policies. To be clear, all of this pales in comparison to what's coming for minority groups and immigrants.

Also, if they try to force us to swear allegiance to Trump, rather than the Constitution, I'll say fuck you and retire. I am sure a lot of others will as well. That's probably their plan.

Things that never happened for $500, Alex

Trump has started naming Cabinet and White House appointments, and they're all as terrible as you'd expect. Former Congressman Lee Zeldin will head up the EPA.

“President Trump, when he called me up, gosh, he was rattling off 15, 20 different priorities, a clear focus. He wasn’t reading off of some sheet, it’s the top of his head. And if I challenged him to give me 50 more ideas of what to do with this agency to improve the economy, I’m confident he would have done that,” Zeldin said shortly after the announcement was made.

Sure he did, Jan. Did he ask you to do anything about sharks or Hannibal Lecter?

In case you're wondering if he is remotely qualified:

As a congressman from New York, Zeldin received the League of Conservation Voters’ worst score on environmental issues out of the entire New York delegation in 2020.

Of course, once Trump pulls us out of the Paris Climate Accords (again), it's not like Zeldin will have anything to do but slash and burn environmental protections. That's probably within his skill set.

What happens next?

Here we go again.

As we stare down fascism, we have to prepare for an Administration hostile to individual rights, vulnerable minority groups, and all reason. Republicans are guided by hatred of anyone not white and male, and informed by right wing conspiracy theories, leading to a severely distorted view of reality.

We have to be ready for an Administration that is unconstrained by the rule of law and whose primary guiding principles are to usher in a Christian White Nationalist state and punish the enemies of Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump.

They're wasting no time this go-around. Here are their "Day One" priorities.

His list includes starting up the mass deportation of migrants, rolling back Biden administration policies on education, reshaping the federal government by firing potentially thousands of federal employees he believes are secretly working against him, and pardoning people who were arrested for their role in the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill,” he said of his Day 1 plans.

Do any of those priorities help a single American? Are we better off with anything on that agenda?

This is going to be a rough two years until the mid-terms (if we have them) and an even longer four years. I will predict right now that Trump will not finish out his term, either removed by his cabinet for eventual, undeniable, complete dementia, to install JD Vance, or by Trump's death. It's also possible that he'll be hidden out of the public eye as a figurehead (see Original Star Trek episode, "Patterns of Force").

It should be noted that if Kamala Harris had won the election, the government would continue to support Trump voters.The economy would continue on, they would still get social security and medicare coverage, the ACA would be available for those who qualify, and their Constitutional rights would still be protected.

But under Trump, everyone's rights are threatened. Everyone's social safety net is endangered. And everyone will be subject to the whims of a sociopath and his racist, misogynistic minions.

I expect to use this meme A LOT over the next few years.

On a personal note, I have never been more disappointed in my fellow Americans. I thought we were past the prejudice and ignorance that led to this result. Clearly I was wrong.

Our last chance to save Democracy

Well, this is it - the last night before we know. It's possible that we won't know on Tuesday, but I suspect we will. 

Because I expect Kamala Harris to win in a landslide.

In any event, Trump will declare victory early, even if he's behind, thus starting the clock on Insurrection 2.0. The good news is that this time, the Democrats have the White House and the Senate and are ready. There's also additional legislation in place to protect the process.

Off the top of my head, here's what happens if Trump wins (admittedly hampered if Democrats take one or both chambers):

Women nationwide lose the right to control their own bodies
An economic crash, throwing us into a recession
Tax cuts for the richest made permanent
The experienced, neutral Federal bureaucracy fired
The Supreme Court stays under control of the radical right wing for the next forty years
We lose the Dept. of Education, the FDA, the EPA, and other federal agencies
Any progressive policies or legislation are lost
Vaccine mandates eliminated
Fluoridation outlawed
Obamacare repealed
The US drops out of the Paris Accords
The US drops out of NATO
Israel given permission to eliminate Gaza, with no pressure or guardrails
Ukraine given to Russia

More corruption in the White House
Retribution against Trump's enemies, regardless of the law
A weaponized Justice Dept.
Millions of people thrown into concentration camps to be deported
Families separated by the government
A new surveillance state
Loss of 1st Amendment freedoms

Trump declares himself dictator

Trump won't last four years and we have President JD Vance

It's exhausting isn't it? The good news is that it might all be over within 24 hours except for the MAGA raging, and I'm confident the government is prepared for that. But if Trump wins, we're screwed. 

So go out and vote.

VOTE BLUE, NO MATTER WHO

See you on the other side.

Capitulating to Fascism

While I'm handing them out, here's a big FUCK YOU to the LA Times and the Washington Post.

Last week, both newspapers, in acts of outstanding cowardice, declined to endorse a Presidential candidate in this year's election, after decades of doing so. In other words, they refused to take a stand to defend our democracy, one of the primary duties of an independent press.

Both are, of course, owned by conservative billionaires, so undoubtedly they don't want to endanger their Trump tax cuts. WaPo owner, Jeff Bezos, may have had a more direct quid pro quo in mind as right after the Post announced the no endorsement policy, Trump's people met with the Bezos-owned Blue Origin rocket company, which is competing for billions of dollars in federal contracts.

This is why billionaires should not be allowed to own media companies.

Because of this cowardice, both newspapers lost multiple editors who resigned in protest, as well as thousands of subscribers. I don't subscribe but immediately deleted the WaPo app from my phone and their bookmark from my browsers. I used to read WaPo every day but no longer. At least I might cost them some ad revenue.

Of course, if Trump is elected, none of this will protect the LA Times or WaPo because Trump has said again and again that he's coming for the media companies, including newspapers. That's what fascists do.

After Trump was elected in 2016, the Washington Post changed their motto to "Democracy dies in darkness".

Jeff Bezos just blew out the candle the Post was shining on democracy.

This is who they are

If you don't regularly read the news, please do so today. Specifically, read about Trump's rally yesterday at Madison Square Garden. If you're voting for Trump, the rally, what the speakers said and what they represent, reflects on who YOU are.

In February of 1939, the American Nazi Party (German American Bund) held a rally in Madison Square Garden with 22,000 attendees. 

Creator: Larry Froeber | Credit: NY Daily News Archive

Apparently the Nazi rally made Convicted Felon Trump jealous or nostalgic or something because he decided to recreate it. Here are just a few of the things said by his INVITED speakers.

“There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico” 

“Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country." 

“That’s cool, a Black guy with a thing on his head. What the hell is that? A lampshade? …I’m just kidding. That’s one of my buddies. He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together.”

- "Comedian" Tony Hinchcliffe 

Of course he was applauded and people laughed. Because MAGA is RACIST AF. Remember, he was the INVITED "Comedian".

 “She’s [Vice-President Kamala Harris] never been accused of doing anything useful. She has precisely no achievements. She’s a nominee without getting a single vote.”

. . . it's going to be pretty tough for them.. say.. Kamala Harris, she got 85 million votes because she's so impressive. As the first is a Samoan Malaysian low I.Q. former California prosecutor ever to be elected president. 

- Tucker Carlson

She's not "Samoan Malaysian" but it's clear that Tucker can't tell the difference, because, you know, racist.

But he's right about Kamala Harris. She has no achievements other than District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, United States Senator, and Vice-President of the United States. Spoiler: That's a lifetime of dedicated public service. 

And what has their VP candidate, J.D. Vance done? I won't even get into Trump's multiple bankruptcies, failed marriages, criminal activity, multiple convictions and attempts at insurrection. Now those are some achievements. And of course, Trump himself reiterated his final message of full fascism, while simultaneously boring the shit out of his audience.

In short, the MAGA movement is Nazi-adjacent, if not pretty much full-on Nazi at this point.

DON'T VOTE FOR FUCKING NAZIS

The Dick Van Dyke Show

A couple of months ago, Carol started watching The Dick Van Dyke Show (TDVDS) on Peacock. As reruns of the show were staples for us as kids in the 70s, Carol decided to watch the entire series, and I watched some of the episodes with her.

If you're not familiar, TDVDS was an early sixties, black and white sitcom, clearly inspired, in part, by the election of John F. Kennedy. Dick Van Dyke had the same tall, youthful look as the President, and his beautiful dark-haired wife, played by Mary Tyler Moore, was inspired by Jackie Kennedy. The show was considered not only funny, but hip and sophisticated during a time when most sitcoms were about midwestern, all-American families.

For a show that aired 60 years ago, it holds up pretty well. There are some really classic episodes (It May Look Like a Walnut and That's My Boy??, for example) and the show had a comedy vibe that was modern (for the 1960s) and often demonstrated some clear vaudevillian roots.

TDVDS ended intentionally after five seasons, the decision being made to go out before it got stale. So as Carol approached the last episodes, I made sure to watch with her because I didn't remember how it ended. I was anticipating a thoughtful, possibly emotional exit.

Unfortunately, the show completely drops the ball. The last two episodes are a dream episode, where Rob dreams that the cast are in a western, and a clip show. Yes, the last episode, the series finale, is a clip show.

The Dick Van Dyke Show was indeed sophisticated, even progressive, and a great show overall. But for a TV classic, what a disappointing ending.

News and Opinion

In the last days of the latest most important election in American history, below are a few of the political opinion/news sources I read every day. While the mainstream media has utterly failed in their job to inform the public and protect democracy, these sites investigate, report and their opinions favor progressive policy. Their take is often comforting, when I think that no one else sees things the way I do.

You may disagree with some of them, like any source of news and opinions, but they are clearly on the right side of the issues and fighting for a more progressive America.

The Daily Kos

Wonkette

MeidasTouch News

JeffTiedrich.com

Huffpost

If you have any sources you like, please feel free to identify them in the comments. I'm always looking for more information and opinion.

Make Children Work Again

One of the policy prescriptions of Project 2025, the conservative playbook for a second Trump Administration (shudder), is to repeal Child Labor and Safety laws.

Some young adults show an interest in inherently dangerous jobs. Current rules forbid many young people, even if their family is running the business, from working in such jobs. This results in worker shortages in dangerous fields and often discourages otherwise interested young workers from trying the more dangerous job. With parental consent and proper training, certain young adults should be allowed to learn and work in more dangerous occupations. This would give a green light to training programs and build skills in teenagers who may want to work in these fields.

Because nothing says moving forward into the 21st century like reviving 19th century labor practices and putting children back into dangerous occupations!

These people are psychotic. Vote them all out on November 5th.

Here's a Halloween scare for you!

Damn, I'm sorry I know this exists. Now you know it exists. I guess it's like the cursed VHS tape in The Ring. Here's the Wikipedia link if you're a masochist.

Trump Tower is a work of fiction by Jeffrey Robinson, originally credited to Donald Trump, and billed as Trump's "debut novel" by the publisher. It was first published in 2011 by Vanguard Press. Trump had previously attempted to create a television series titled Trump Tower, modeled after Dallas, Dynasty, and Upstairs, Downstairs. He worked with MVP Entertainment, contracted a writer in Los Angeles, and successfully had Showtime Networks develop a television pilot. After receiving a payment for television rights to Trump Tower, he marketed the idea to Lifetime. The book by this title was developed in 2011 listing Trump, but when released in 2012 credited Robinson as sole author.

The plot of the book is set within a fictional version of Trump Tower, with Trump himself appearing as a character in the work. Detailed sex acts are depicted including BDSM and the rape of a woman. An employee of the building is described having sex on the set of The Celebrity Apprentice.The plot moves from erotica to murder mystery, and the building manager is initially a suspect before later being cleared. Bill Clinton and other celebrities appear in cameo appearances.

Sorry.

This Modern World - The Astonishing Magaverse

By Tom Tomorrow.

Guaranteed return of 1000%!

The Felon Donald Trump announced this week that he's selling limited edition gold watches with his name engraved for the low, low price of $100,000.

People have, of course, been mocking him for the obvious grift, but I think it's a canny strategy. 

After all:

One of Adolf Hitler’s watches has just fetched over a million dollars in a private auction.

The watch was sold by Alexander Historical Auctions in Maryland for $1.1 million (€1.07 million) to an anonymous bidder, and is believed to be a gift, given to Hitler for his 44th birthday on 20 April 1933.

In a few years, these watches should be worth over a million dollars! And honestly, who doesn't want to wear a watch symbolizing a sexual assaulter, con artist, serial liar, racist, misogynistic piece of shit who has made this world much, much worse by his presence in it?

What a bargain!

Burdensome safety regs

WTF?  Seriously, what the fuck?

Convicted Felon Trump's VP pick, the delightful and wonderful J.D. Vance, said this in a March 2023, Senate Commerce Committee meeting.

One thing that I really worry about, and I think both Democrats and Republicans should worry about, is we have some real demographic problems in our country. American families aren’t having enough children. I think there’s evidence that some of the things that we’re doing to parents is driving down the number of children that American families are having.

In particular, there’s evidence that the car seat rules that we’ve imposed—which of course, I want kids to drive in car seats—have driven down the number of babies born in this country by over 100,000.

So as we think about how to make kids safe here, I think we should do it in a way that’s accommodating to American families and I encourage your organization to do that.

First, we don't have a demographic problem in our country. What he means is that we have too many icky minorities and white families should have more children to Keep America White. 

Then, there's the creepy fixation on women having babies. We don't need more and more Americans, and if we do, how about granting citizenship to the millions of people trying to find a safe and free place to live? We're not competing with other countries to "have the most babies," you weirdo.

Finally, there's the idea that protecting existing children is somehow preventing non-existent children from being born. As in, we weren't going to have a second child, but since our first was killed in car accident while not in a car seat, we've decided to have another? What "evidence" is there for that?

The fixation among Republicans to make sure that babies are born by preventing abortion, and IVF and contraception if the Felon is reelected, but totally ignoring the children that result by attacking programs and laws that protect and feed children, is all about controlling women. They don't give a damn about children. If they did, they wouldn't say shit like this.

These people are deeply stupid, creepy and weird.

The Press Won't Save Us

If you're counting on the press to save us from the encroaching fascism of Convicted Felon Trump, should he win back the White House, don't. (Spoiler: Almost all of the "liberal" mainstream media is owned by rich conservatives.)

Jeff Tiedrich posted an article on the various press failures covering Trump, just this weekend.

elderly golfer spent the weekend spewing dangerous lies. the press snoozed through it.

It's worth a read.  (Another spoiler: Jeff is ALWAYS worth a read.)

As another data point, here are screenshots of the AP News articles fact-checking the Republican and Democratic conventions. See if you can spot the bias.

Trump has "claims"  Harris has "false and misleading claims". Most people don't read the articles; they see the headline and move on. But the impression that one side is being "false and misleading" and the other side isn't, lingers.

Liberal media, my ass. Just another decades-long conservative lie to manipulate the media into being harsher on Democrats while giving Republicans a pass, and sowing distrust of the press to the American people.  

VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO

Good riddance to bad rubbish

Gonna make this a quick one.

RFK, Jr. is an asswipe. His anti-vaccine advocacy likely resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. He started out running for President as a Democrat, likely because he perceived weakness in Biden and was counting on his family name, but when that didn't pan out, he switched to Independent. Since it looks like he's pulling votes from Trump, he is stopping his campaign and endorsing Trump. He recently approached both Trump and Harris to ask for a cabinet spot, but when Harris wouldn't even talk to his stupid ass, he threw his support behind the convicted felon.

Below is John Oliver making mincemeat out of RFK, Jr.'s worm-ridden brain. If you don't have too much of an idea who RFK, Jr. is, it's definitely worth a watch.

No, these people are definitely not weird

Warning. The behavior in the article linked below is not exactly disturbing, but really, really weird. And, okay, a little disturbing.

Weird Maga

Perfectly normal.

Argle Bargle

Really, these just write themselves.

From Tom:

As always, if you find value in this work I do, please consider helping me keep it sustainable by joining my weekly newsletter, Sparky’s List! You can get it in your inbox or read it on Patreon, the content is the same. And don’t forget to visit the Tom Tomorrow Merchandise Mall!

If you say so

Come on people!  It says he "did not"!  Link

The die is cast

Joe Biden deserved better than what he got from "leading" Democrats and the clearly not liberal mainstream media. It took a LOT of courage and patriotism to do what he did today.

That said, I will support Kamala Harris all the way to the White House. She deserves the nomination.

I hope this doesn't blow up in our faces.