This is an article from The Bulwark. If you haven’t heard of it, they are mainly a group of former Republicans who are trying to help save us from Trump. Rather than post the whole article, here is a link to it.
Read it. I agree with pretty much everything they say. I’ve lived in a number of countries, and the plain truth is that the vast majority of countries will never trust the USA again. I can’t blame them. I’m not sure I can ever trust the USA, given that a plurality of Americans thought that Trump as president was a good idea.
If anything, this article doesn’t warn about all the things that will destroy America. For example, they mention how the rest of the world will likely stop using US dollars as their reserve currency, but they don’t point out that this will likely crash the dollar, when other countries stop holding dollars in reserve, and start dumping them. Indeed, according to Financial Times, the US dollar is already plunging.
International banks are also bearish on the US dollar. Deutsche Bank says, “We are becoming increasingly concerned that the dollar is at risk of a broader confidence crisis.” So, not only are Trump’s stupid tariffs already driving up the cost of goods, your money is going to be worth less. Which means that not only are we about to have a recession, but we are close to having a full-on depression.
Shortened on the internet to FAFO, this used to be described as “You made your bed, now lie in it”.
Unfortunately, this stupidity didn’t just harm people who voted for Donald Trump, it screws everyone: people who voted against him, and even people in countries around the world. The only people who benefit are basically Trump (because he only cares about himself), and Musk, who built his fortune from $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits going back more than 20 years. Yeah, that’s your taxes.
Trump is even screwing a lot of rich people: not just farmers, but also law firms, big universities, internet companies… basically anyone who doesn’t give or make Trump a bunch of money. It’s all about the grift.
And it isn’t just Nebraska Ranchers who are having problems. Remember when states like Texas and Florida were putting undocumented immigrants on airplanes and flying them to blue states? This was already insane, because it cost Florida $12 million — $12,300 per migrant — to fly them on chartered aircraft! And now, Florida doesn’t have enough workers, so Republicans politicians there are working to change their labor laws so that children can do the work that immigrants used to do. Does having your children working picking fruit in the hot Florida sun sound like making America great again? Hardly!
In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability.
But most Republicans use the term like “they are a DEI hire” or “they only got this job because of DEI”. They want to totally ban DEI, and even make it illegal. And, of course, they only say this when they are talking about a minority. Like this:
But Republicans have their own version of DEI, when they hire people who are total idiots. Like when they made Pete Hegseth the US Secretary of Defense.
Donald Trump is always hawking crap to his true believers: Trump University, crypto, Chinese-made hats, bibles, and other junk. Don’t have enough Trump Trash? Join Donald’s Internet Technology Zone (D.I.T.Z) and become one of Trump’s computer experts, and maybe even a Muskrat!. Enroll today!
Donald Trump and Elon Musk claim that the US Government was overwhelmed by “fat and waste and fraud and abuse” and that they are only cutting the people “that aren’t working or … not doing a good job” and are “keeping the best people”. Can you believe that, with all the evidence that their goal is to take a hatchet to the US Government so they can give more tax breaks to the rich (including themselves)?
What they don’t mention is that the size of the US government is currently lower than in the past, even though the population of the US has increased significantly. Federal employment peaked at 3.4 million in 1990 and the most recent low was 2014, with 2.7 million. Since the year 2000, it has remained relatively flat, although it actually increased an average of 0.9% a year during the first Trump administration.
And as Doonesbury points out, it was the Democrats who reduced federal employment, during the administration of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. When the measure came up for a vote in Congress, every Republican voted against it. The only modern presidents who were able to generate a budget surplus were Clinton and LBJ. In addition, only two other presidents were able to reduce the deficit, and they were Barack Obama and more recently, Joe Biden. The GOP always increased deficits, usually by slashing taxes for the rich.
As I’ve often mentioned, the only good thing about Trump being president is that late night TV hosts have plenty of hilarious things to talk about. For example:
UPDATE: I guess I jumped the gun (so to speak), as Stephen Colbert’s last night show was even more hilarious than the one posted above.
Senator Jeff Merkley explains how Donald Trump looks, talks, and acts like a Russian asset. And as they say, if you look like a duck, talk like a duck, and act like a duck, then you are a duck.
I’m sure you can think of other things that point toward Trump being a Russian asset, things like Trump stealing top secret documents, stashing them in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago, and lying about having them. Or, more importantly, taking a sledgehammer to our government.
There is an incredible amount of evidence that Donald Trump is a Russian asset, and that he is now doing a bang-up job of destroying our country. However, this blog is supposed to be about political humor, so here are a few relevant comics:
I estimate a 75-85% likelihood that Trump is a Putin-compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end (around 85%) due to the cumulative weight of historical patterns, financial incentives, and his unwavering refusal to challenge Putin.
French Senator Claude Malhuret, in a short 8-minute speech, lays out the crimes of Trump and Putin, and what should be done to fix it. This should be watched by every American. Yes, it is in French, but it has (large, easy to read) subtitles. As one comment said, “this is a speech that will be immortalized in the history books.”
Well, there isn’t much good news now that Trump is president again, but there is one thing that I would count as a “silver lining”. Jon Stewart is back. Really back. Last night, Stewart gave his “longest Daily Show monologue, ever!“
It is pure Jon Stewart, both hilarious and scary in just the right measures. It is just over 24 minutes long, but worth every second.
Filed in Irony|Comments Off on There is a Silver Lining – Jon Stewart!
I’m amazed that they were able to put this together the frickin day after it happened. And as someone pointed out, the SNL version is less chaotic and embarrassing than the real thing.
In 1655, Louis XIV, the King of France, is said to have proclaimed “The state, it is me!” to the parliament of Paris. Apparently, King Trump is following in his footsteps. Trump met with the governors at the White House, and had a heated exchange with Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D).
Governor Mills says she will comply with all state and federal laws for transgender women, and Trump responds, “We are the federal law”. Apparently, he is using the royal we. And he then extorts the governor, saying he will take away all federal funding to the state, if she doesn’t kowtow to him.
Note how Trump keeps saying he is “banning men from playing in women’s sports.” They are not men, they are trans women. Many babies are born with indeterminate gender, and were assigned a somewhat random gender.
However, the real point is that this is not actually a big problem. Do you know how many major athletes are trans women? There used to be one WNBA player who was transgender, Layshia Clarendon, but she retired. And one trans woman has competed in the women’s Olympics, Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand in 2021. It seems beyond obvious that each sports organization should be free to set their own rules. Why this could be something for the federal government to decide is just wrong and stupid. Many countries allow trans women to participate in women’s sports, and don’t have any big problems with it.
In addition, why is Trump only concerned about trans women? Is he OK with trans men playing in men’s sports?
I don’t agree with some things Bernie Sanders says, but I agree with everything he says in this video, and I’m really glad he is speaking out like this.
