Don't get comfortable. It's Trump. Some of it may be starting to wind down a little, but this shit ain't nearly over yet.
Apr 9, 2025
Another Bad Idea
Trump is not trying to put on a parade to celebrate the US Army's 250th birthday. He's not going to honor people he sees as suckers and losers,
Trump is not a guy who pays homage to anybody but himself.
And there's a fair probability that while he's plenty happy that his birthday happens to be on the same day (June 14), that's not really the point either.
There are IMO two basic reasons.
- Equating himself with both the US military, and the country as a whole (Jun 14 is also Flag Day)
- Getting people used to seeing tanks and armed soldiers on American streets
Trump intended to host one during his first term but backed off amid pushback from the Army and D.C. officials.
Plans are in motion for a massive event on the National Mall in June to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary with live music, fireworks, parachuters landing on the Ellipse — and perhaps the military parade President Donald Trump has been dreaming about for years.
The proposed parade would “consist of a history of the US Army, including some army equipment” and would start at the Pentagon, cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge into D.C., and continue on Constitution Avenue NW between 23rd and 15th streets, according to a permit application submitted to the National Park Service on March 31 by America250.org, a nonprofit founded to support the federal government’s multiyear celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Turning the June event into a military parade “has been discussed,” a senior White House official said, but the official said many ideas are discussed inside the White House without being acted on. “It means they could happen, but it doesn’t mean they will,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about internal discussions.
Army spokesperson Col. Dave Butler said Monday that a celebration for the 250th anniversary had been in the works for months, though no official decision had been made on a parade. America250.org did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The news of a potential military parade in D.C. — initially reported by Washington City Paper over the weekend — comes after Trump intended to host one during his first term but backed off amid pushback from the Army and D.C. officials over exorbitant costs and the damage tanks might cause to city roads.
D.C. and Virginia officials had few details to share, though some said they had been contacted by federal officials about a potential event.
Arlington County Board Chair Takis Karantonis (D) said in a statement that the county was contacted by the Secret Service on Friday about a possible military parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary. The Secret Service offered no further details, and the county police and fire departments had not received a formal request for assistance with a military parade, he added.
In D.C. on Monday, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at an unrelated news conference that federal officials had reached out to the D.C. government about some kind of event, but that it was in early stages and she was not yet directly involved in plans. She could not confirm whether a military parade was officially in the works, she said.
Tanks or no tanks, the city can prepare for some kind of massive birthday bash for the Army on June 14, the anniversary of the Continental Congress’s vote to officially create the force, according to Butler. (That date also happens to be Trump’s birthday.)
“We’ll have free-fall parachutists there,” he said. “They’re going to jump out of planes and land on the Mall.”
In addition to a parade and a demonstration from the U.S. Army’s “Golden Knights” parachute team, the proposed celebration would include a flyover (the types of aircraft are still undetermined), a concert (probably country music) and fireworks, the event application states.
The idea of a military parade has in the past inflamed tensions between Bowser and Trump.
During his first term, Trump — inspired by a parade he saw in France — had proposed a military parade complete with tanks rolling through D.C. streets and fighter jets flying through the skies. After pushback from the military and D.C. officials over cost and logistics, he canceled it and blamed D.C.’s “local politicians” for inflating security cost estimates.
Bowser had mocked him afterward in a viral tweet, writing, “Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad).”
This second Trump term, Bowser has been taking a much different stance toward the president, seeking common ground. Still, she said Monday that her concerns about military tanks on city roads still apply.
“Military tanks on our streets would not be good,” she said. “If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads.”
He's Crazy
Trump bounces from Bad Comic to Absolute Shitheel to I Need To Get Down To The Day Room And Take My Thorazine.
He says whatever floats into his "consciousness". And you can count on it being some really weird translation of his even weirder perception of history, or whatever's going on now, or what he fantasizes he wants to happen tomorrow.
I guess 'fantasy' is the operative word here. And I'll say it again:
Trump is a Reality TV Game Show Host, and he thinks every day is just another episode. Whatever he wants reality to be, he just "conceptualizes" it and seems to believe the writers have given him a new script that changes whatever actually happened into something he wanted to have happened - or they just write it out of existence altogether.
Tim Walz had it right - "These guys are weird". But he needed to take one step beyond that and reinforce for us the Daddy State ugliness of what Trump and his merry band of thugs are really up to.
Donald Trump made the unbelievable claim during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In his latest rewrite of European history, Donald Trump made a ridiculous and sympathetic declaration about the Nazis.
Amid the tariff chaos he spurred, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office Monday, where he was asked by reporters about his plan to bring about the release of the 59 Israeli hostages being held captive in Gaza by Hamas.
In typical Trump fashion, the president dodged the question and went on a bizarre rant that seemingly remembered Nazis for … their sympathy.
“I said to them, was there any sign of love?” Trump said, recounting his conversation with released hostages.
“Did the, Hamas, show any signs of like, help? Or liking you? Did they wink? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the side? … Like, you know, what happened in Germany?” Trump said, absurdly comparing the hostages’ situation to the Holocaust, which murdered six million Jews.
“People would try and help people that were in unbelievable distress,” the president went on, suggesting that the Nazis were known for their generosity.
“No, they didn’t do that, they’d slap us,” Trump said the hostages told him about Hamas, while sitting next to the man who is currently leading Israel’s genocide in Gaza. “Their hatred is unbelievable.”
Trump’s claim about Nazi kindness sent people reeling on social media.
“This isn’t just delusional. It’s Holocaust cosplay. He’s romanticizing genocide like it’s a fucking history podcast,” one user wrote on X.
“Equating hostages held by Hamas to victims in Nazi Germany isn’t just offensive, it’s also a grotesque distortion of history,” wrote another. “He’s always saying the first thing that pops into his head without understanding the weight of those words. And he’s sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister. Crazy stuff!”
In his latest rewrite of European history, Donald Trump made a ridiculous and sympathetic declaration about the Nazis.
Amid the tariff chaos he spurred, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office Monday, where he was asked by reporters about his plan to bring about the release of the 59 Israeli hostages being held captive in Gaza by Hamas.
In typical Trump fashion, the president dodged the question and went on a bizarre rant that seemingly remembered Nazis for … their sympathy.
“I said to them, was there any sign of love?” Trump said, recounting his conversation with released hostages.
“Did the, Hamas, show any signs of like, help? Or liking you? Did they wink? Did they give you a piece of bread extra? Did they give you a meal on the side? … Like, you know, what happened in Germany?” Trump said, absurdly comparing the hostages’ situation to the Holocaust, which murdered six million Jews.
“People would try and help people that were in unbelievable distress,” the president went on, suggesting that the Nazis were known for their generosity.
“No, they didn’t do that, they’d slap us,” Trump said the hostages told him about Hamas, while sitting next to the man who is currently leading Israel’s genocide in Gaza. “Their hatred is unbelievable.”
Trump’s claim about Nazi kindness sent people reeling on social media.
“This isn’t just delusional. It’s Holocaust cosplay. He’s romanticizing genocide like it’s a fucking history podcast,” one user wrote on X.
“Equating hostages held by Hamas to victims in Nazi Germany isn’t just offensive, it’s also a grotesque distortion of history,” wrote another. “He’s always saying the first thing that pops into his head without understanding the weight of those words. And he’s sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister. Crazy stuff!”
Apr 8, 2025
Today's Rich
What we want is a president who can re-establish a fair tax code, close the wealth gap, and fix the broken healthcare system.
FAFO - Big Big FAFO
Do not normalize kids dying of measles.
That monstrous disease was deemed eradicated 25 years ago because we listened to the professionals, and we stuck with the program for 35 years.
But thanks to a small group of criminally irresponsible conspiracy freaks, a large bunch of ignorant Dunning-Kruger specimens have brought it roaring back, putting us on the brink of another thoroughly preventable public health catastrophe.
Not sorry not sorry, and fake lord forgive me - but I hate these fuckin' people.
Colorado reports new case of measles, in a baby from Denver
The infant recently traveled with family to Mexico. The case is not believed to be connected to a previous measles infection reported in Pueblo
Colorado reported its second case of measles in eight days on Monday, this time in an infant from Denver.
The baby had recently traveled with family to the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which is experiencing an outbreak of measles, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a news release.
The infection is not believed to be connected to a case of measles reported last week in an adult in Pueblo — other than that person had also recently traveled to Chihuahua. Colorado has so far not identified any subsequent infections in the state arising from the Pueblo case. The person has recovered from the infection.
Children typically do not receive their first dose of measles vaccine until they turn 1, and the Denver baby who was infected was unvaccinated.
Colorado officials did not release any information on how the baby is doing.
The infant appears to have been taken to the Denver Health emergency room on Sunday. CDPHE is asking anyone who was at the ER on that day between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to monitor for symptoms for 21 days after exposure — that’s until April 27 — and to consider avoiding public gatherings during that time.
Measles symptoms typically begin around one to three weeks after exposure and look like a common cold: fever, cough, runny nose and/or red eyes. The recognizable rash usually doesn’t occur until a few days later, starting on the face before spreading to the rest of the body.
In bad cases, measles can cause pneumonia or swelling of the brain. It can damage the immune system — causing something called “immune amnesia” which can make it harder for the body to fight other infections — and it can also be fatal.
Two children have now died in the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, and the death of an adult in New Mexico is also being investigated. The U.S. has seen more than 600 cases of measles this year, most connected to the Texas outbreak. Mexican officials have also reported that the outbreak in Chihuahua is linked to the Texas cases.
Today's WSJ
"... we may be witnessing now the greatest exercise in brand destruction in history."
- Have certain friends* taken unfair advantage of our generosity? Yes.
- Do we have trade partners who aren't pulling their weight? Yes.
- Should allies do more to defend themselves instead of always leaning on us? Yes.
Is any of that - in any way - a reason to start slapping people around? No.
*Governments don't have friends. Governments have interests.
Always always always remember, geopolitics is a global poker game with a couple of hundred players. They're all cheating, and they all know they're all cheating.
It's one thing to acknowledge those facts, and smile and nod, and get on with business. It's another thing altogether to get so stupidly full of yourself that you kick the table over and piss on everybody in the room.
Trump is operating like we're totally bulletproof. We aren't.
Ursula von der Leyen said it: The US owns about 20% of global trade, and the world will now be concentrating on everything that isn't American.
I think, as Trump begins to realize his power dick isn't any bigger than the mushroom he calls his real dick, he'll be less likely to adjust his "policy" and more likely to keep doubling down.
The probability for all out war is getting higher. We can only hope it continues to be a money war and doesn't degenerate into a shooting war.
Remember also, "Every accusation is a confession", so when Trump was telling us Biden would start WW3, he may well have been hinting at what he intends to do.
Today's Belle
Meanwhile - markets are struggling to regain lost ground. The bargain hunters are out in force trying to shore things up.
With Trump in the White House, we spend the whole time trying to compensate for his fuckups, and then we get to spend years after he's gone cleaning up the mess he leaves behind.
Apr 7, 2025
Pretty Real Journalism
The problem is that there's not enough hardcore, in-your-face, prove-you're-not-the-asshole-you-seem-to-be questioning.
I really miss what 60 Minutes used to be.
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