Here Comes The Pain

First Buddy Elon has told us to expect some hard times. And of course, that's being exuberantly translated by the rubes as meaning everybody will be rich and fat and happy at some point shortly thereafter.

Number 1, don't expect that pain to be evenly distributed. This is America, dummy - rich people won't be feeling it.

Number 2, anybody pulling down less than about $250K is likely to get slammed pretty hard - if  Trump does what he says he wants to do.

As usual, the word "if" is doing some heavy lifting, but we all know that Trump can't stand being told no, and that he thinks because he said it, somebody at least has to make it look like it's being done so he can lie about what a magnificent star-spangled president he is.

So, exactly as predicted, Trump 2.0 has all the earmarks of becoming another FUBAR wrapped in a clusterfuck tossed into a dumpster fire.

Tariffs on Canadian crude oil:

The ghost of Tariffs past:

What I worry about most is that this time, the circus will serve as cover not just for the billions in graft that will pour into the pockets of Trump and his merry band of leeches, but also for all the shitty things the Project 2025 plutocrats are working on. So when The Unitary Executive thing is more or less in place, the A25 coup will remove Trump and replace him with ... fuck if I know what happens after that, but it's got me keeping some pretty odd hours.

Fake lord help us.

Today's Brian

Nobody ever lost money betting against the depravity of the GOP.

Rapey McFivehead quits, and now we get to hammer a few points home.

1. What was all that noise from MTG? What was she referring to when she mouthed off about releasing "all the reports"?
2. What exactly was Mike Johnson alluding to with his Pandora's box thing?

And, of course, we'll see if a few GOP Senators have managed - at long last - to find their fucking spines.

There's a whole fucking shoe store left to drop.

Today's Brian & Glenn

I think I get it - gotta be careful about setting precedent, and you don't wanna hand the bad guys a weapon they can use against you later (assuming of course we actually find our way outa this fucked up mess), and we have to interpret the law, and apply the law, and not try to make the law on the judiciary side - etc etc etc. I'm there. I get it.

But goddammit - I'm so fucking sick of rich people stomping around in smarmspace manufacturing loopholes - using and abusing the courts to duck responsibility.

Here's a thought: Obey the fucking law. Could we try that for a while?

Today's Brian

Trump is losing. Expect the shit to intensify.

Today's Brian

Today's Brian

It's a grift. Because it's always a grift.

Listen Up

When your dreams and expectations are high, but you repeatedly fall short in spite of knowing you're working as hard as you're able - over time, it becomes very difficult not to look for something external to blame.

Today's Brian

"Trump showed his ass - metaphorically, thank god."

Today's Brian

It's been kind of a mantra for a while: It's not up to the Dems to save the GOP.

Looks like we're gonna step up and do it anyway.

And it feels like a side benefit of saving American democracy, but it's not. Turns out it's a requisite.

So c'mon, Republicans - the water's too cold - it's gonna kill ya - get it the fuckin' boat, and let's go do somethin'.

Today's Brian

Let's be clear on that debate thing.

Trump did in fact bail on his commitment to a debate (no surprise on that one). And now, instead of making a new proposal, which would then be negotiated, he's trying to dictate his own new terms (also no surprise).

Today's Brian

MAGA Rage Du Jour

The MAGA gang loves to bitch about how businesses should be left alone to make whatever decisions they see fit - and then they lose their shit when Cracker Barrel does exactly what MAGArubes say they should be allowed to do.

We're Not Imagining It

Oops

... not that it'll matter tho.

Today's Brian

... but watch out for in your ear

Ignore the polls

Ignore the chatter

Ignore the bluff-n-bluster

But don't get cocky

Get together

Get busy

Get this done

Today's Brian

Every defendant has the right to choose whether or not they'll testify at their own trial - gosh, there's that pesky right to self-determination thing again. Not that it'll register with the rubes, of course.

Anyway, a defendant can testify or not testify, depending on their own sense of what's in their best interests.

No judge has the power to deprive any defendant of the right to make that decision. It's up to the defendant and nobody else.

So here comes Mr Snoozy von Schitzinpantz, pretending to be totally oblivious to the fact that he's un-ironically demonstrating two things:

1. He has to avoid testifying because cross examination will show him up as a total fucking liar, which could get his ass charged with perjury
2. Having shot his mouth off (again) that he'll definitely and freely and absolutely testify, he has to blame someone for preventing him from doing it

And there's that Daddy State thing. "I'm controlling everything. I'm playing 11-dimension chess, and mere mortals can do nothing to keep me from achieving my goals and my rightful place in command of everything. And BTW, those big bad liberal communist-Nazis have tied my hands and won't let me do anything - I'm the victim, and you're being shielded from their evil deeds by me and me alone..."

It's like, how exactly can an all-powerful Christ be brought low by a handful of impotent Pharisees? The answer is a fairly simple exercise in projecting your savior's greatness onto yourself - ie: He's doing it for us, because we're amazing. Let us endeavor to go on proving ourselves worthy of his sacrifice by wearing these stupid hats and rationalizing the fuck out of every contradiction that spills out of his little shit-hole gob. Praise his name.

On Voting

My vote is not a statement of purity. I don't vote (or not vote) as a means of putting myself above anybody.

I vote to exercise my right to pull the one small lever of power granted to all of us by the US Constitution.

There are no perfect candidates. No perfect office-holders. No perfect humans aspiring to lofty positions in my government.

There are people running for office who hold beliefs and espouse philosophies similar to mine - and they're the ones I try to identify and then vote for.

Today's Fuckery

Using the strength of a democracy against it.

Today's Brian

I Will Stop You

I think Trump has been worried that he might not get the old money Republicans to go along with his hare-brained schemes, so he's emphasizing his intentions to serve the plutocracy by telling us straight out that he's all for shit-canning every progressive policy that's been put in place since FDR.

• Privatize Social Security
• Voucherize Medicare
• Kill Obamacare outright
• Eliminate EPA and OSHA (and the departments of Energy and Education, et al)

In a democracy, even very poor people have power thru the various agencies and regulatory bodies that their votes got politicians to create, and push those politicians to maintain.

In a plutocracy, people who don't have the money don't have the power.