An inspiration!

This is Horst Wessel.

Attribution

As you might expect from the fancy duds, Horst was an officer in the Nazi SA, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. When he was a teen during the 1920s, he founded his own youth group, the Knappschaft, to "raise our boys to be real German men". He also joined the Wiking Liga, which had the purpose of "the revival of Germany on a national and ethnic basis through the spiritual education of its members". 

Hmm. I think I read something similar on Twitter recently.

During the Weimar Republic, German political parties engaged in street violence against other parties. Horst was one of those who engaged in street fighting, mostly with the Communists. Once he had joined the SA at the wizened age of 19, he engaged in fun activities like public speaking, recruiting, the Nuremberg rallies, terror and murder. In January, 1930, Horst was injured, eventually resulting in his death, when a Communist knocked on his door and shot him point-blank. 

The Nazis, led by propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, made Horst a Nazi martyr, which he remained until the end of the Third Reich in 1945. The Nazis made films about him, named plazas and ships after him, and made The Horst Wessel Song, which he had written before he died, a mainstay of Nazi gatherings. Horst died before the Nazis came to power, but they used his death to inspire their hatred for the next 15 years.

No reason, but here's an interesting article about Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by Capitol police while trying to lead a charge into the U.S. House Chambers where members of Congress were sheltering during the insurrection on January 6, 2021. You should read it.

Good Advice for pathetic men

America’s CEOs are fucking pumped they can act like dicks again

the corner office crowd is fucking pumped right now, because Donny Convict’s second term is going to usher in a new era of aggressively shitting on the peons below you.

Even the way people on Wall Street talk and interact is changing. Bankers and financiers say Trump’s victory has emboldened those who chafed at “woke doctrine” and felt they had to self-censor or change their language to avoid offending younger colleagues, women, minorities or disabled people. “I feel liberated,” said a top banker. “We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it’s a new dawn.”

life is just one grievance after another with these people. they can’t be happy unless they have something to whine about. we can’t say a word. how fucking small and petty.

I have a better idea. here’s a good rule for going through life: don’t be a dick.

MAGA men are the biggest, most immature babies in the world. It's absolutely no surprise that they are now re-emboldened to be the biggest assholes they can be.

The whole article is worth a read.

Wicked

Last year, Carol and I saw the stage musical, Wicked, for the first time at the Kennedy Center. I loved the story and really enjoyed the show.

A couple of weeks ago we watched Wicked, the movie musical, streaming on Prime and I loved it too. As everyone says, the movie could be a little shorter, but that didn't bother me. I thought it was really well done, beautiful, amazingly performed, and I'm looking forward to part two this year.

Plus, as an added bonus, the storyline is totally relevant to the current shitshow that modern America has become. It's shockingly timely.

It's MAGA all the way down

Just a note. 

On these pages, I will no longer be referring to the "Republican Party". The Republican Party, to which I belonged more than 20 years ago, is dead and buried.

Henceforth, any post involving conservative Americans will label them as MAGA.

They are all MAGA.

Tom Tomorrow - Fire Safety

 

Link

Today's lesson in foreign languages!

Here's a fun German word for you!

Lebensraum (living space) - Definition

The territory that a state or nation believes is needed for its natural development, especially associated with Nazi Germany.

The need for "living space" was the justification Hitler gave for re-occupying territories lost during WWI, and then for the conquests of Austria, the Sudetenland, the Czechoslovak Republic, the Republic of Lithuania, Danzig, and eventually Poland, which started WWII.

I was just thinking about the Panama Canal, Canada, Greenland, and Mexico and for no real reason, that word popped into my head.

Enjoy!

News Alert! Peaceful grandmothers kill four and injure 174 police officers!

Deluded MAGA Moron, Rep. Mike Collins, posted this on Jan. 6, 2025.

These people are insane. 

Actually, MAGA is trying to gaslight America into forgetting what actually happened on Jan. 6, 2021. They want to rewrite history to remove their crimes. They're doing a pretty good job of it, as recent polls show disapproval of the Insurrection is softening.

ANOTHER REASON WE MUST RESIST.

A Man on the Inside

We just finished watching all 8 episodes of Michael Schur's new show, A Man on the Inside, starring Ted Danson. I love Michael Schur shows (Parks & Rec, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and this show was no exception.

Danson plays a widower whose aimless life is changed when he's hired by a detective to go undercover at an assisted living facility to solve a theft. It's thoughtful, funny, warm and moving. It also features a trove of great supporting actors. Warning: if you have an elderly parent, it may hit too close to home.

A Man on the Inside can be found on Netflix.

Violent insurrection is NOT the norm

Yesterday was January 6, the fourth anniversary of the attempted insurrection against the U.S. government instigated by Donald Trump. After the insurrection, Congress passed a bunch of security measures to forestall any future attempts to disrupt the certification of a Presidential election. Consequently, there was much more security for the certification vote yesterday. It happened, as usual, very matter of factly.

What pisses me off is that several news sources breathed a rhetorical sigh of relief that the certification went forward without violence.

Of course there was no violence, you stupid twits. 

The side that engages in violence WON the election. They weren't going to be violent against the certification of their own cult leader. And if you thought the Democrats were going to riot to stop the proceedings, what the hell are you smoking? Democrats are still trying to be the adults in the room and set a good example, as if the Republicans could take any lessons from that.

Had VP Harris won, Republicans very likely would have attempted another coup as Trump told them to do throughout the election. We all understand that.

But the Democrats? Sheesh. Have you been paying any attention at all?

Problem-solving

Humans have problems. We all know this. 

Americans, especially, have problems, the biggest one being a huge proclivity to ignore our problems. Mostly unaddressed problems include affordable healthcare, gun violence, homelessness, hunger, political violence, low wages, losing civil liberties, ignorance, pollution, wealth inequality, an out of control military budget, Christian nationalism, racism, misogyny and (if you can believe it) more. Spoiler: we kind of suck.

The most rational way to approach any problem is to put all potential solutions on the table, discuss them with an open mind, and implement the best. If that solution doesn't work, repeat as necessary. Of course, the rich oligarchy in America knows that any actual solutions would imperil their control, so they've trained their Republican representatives and followers to bleat like sheep any time rational solutions are proposed. The intent is to shut down discussion.

Socialism! Communism! DEI! CRT! Politically correct! Woke!

The words are different, but mean the same thing: any policy or program Republicans don't like. Pressed to actually define any of these terms, Republicans will utterly fail. They don't know why, they're just agin' it! This has been going on for decades and has successfully impeded any progress.

For my part, I don't give a damn whether a solution to a problem is seen as "socialism" or "woke". If it's a solution, then it's a solution. America will never move forward until we convince the American people to drop this immature, ignorant reaction to the discussion of solutions to our problems. We need to drop the labels and engage with an open mind.

None of this is rational, but this is the world Americans have made for themselves. It's maddening. It's stupid. And if things don't change soon, it will be engraved on America's tombstone. I'm not hopeful.

Agatha All Along

My family finished watching Marvel's Agatha All Along this week on Disney+. The sequel series to Wandavision stars Kathryn Hahn, who is ALWAYS great. The show was female-centered, queer, fun and witchy and I loved it.

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.