Today's Belle

Those cities were never in danger, except in the manipulative brain of Donald Trump, and the totally propaganda-addled brains of the MAGA rubes who love to fantasize about the greatness of their cult hero.

Trivia

The guy who fucked up Trump's star in 2016 ...

... showed up to bail out the guy

who fucked up Trump's star in 2020

Transparently Corrupt

Billionaires and Centimillionaires are parasites. They are the only reason they exist in the first place. And there's no way for any sentient being to justify any of it.

if we tax the shit out of them now,

we won't have to eat them later

Today's Hopium

My default position is that I don't wish for, or celebrate, the destruction of anyone. That said, I've been known to make exceptions.

And I'm not a praying man, but -

Oh, fake lord, we beseech thee.  Hear us now in the hour of our most desperate need. Please let this be the year of The Big Beautiful Obituary.

Amen

Mr Smith Goes To The Hill

Read: Jack Smith deposition transcript

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Wednesday released the transcript of the panel’s deposition with former special counsel Jack Smith concerning his team’s investigations and prosecutions of President Trump.

Earlier this month, Smith’s attorneys sent a letter to Jordan requesting that his closed-door deposition be made public. In the testimony, Smith defended his decision to bring charges against Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election.

From Document Cloud

A Thought

Names and places and uniforms change,

but the story of cruelty and abuse doesn't.

Today's Belle

The holiday season is supposed to bring out the charitability in us - when the better angels of our nature tug at our hearts - that kinda stuff.

So what does Trump do? He tells the world the US is canceling its membership in the Good Neighbor Club.

The economies of Saudi Arabia and UAE are about 3% the size of ours, but their contribution to the UN's humanitarian effort is about 75% of ours.

Trump is telling the world that we're going to cede our role as a world leader to countries led by the kind of guy who suckers a journalist into a death trap, murders him, and then cuts him into small pieces to hide the crime.

Donald Trump is a surrender monkey.

Closing Out 2025

" ...without labor, capital is just a spreadsheet hallucination."

"We're done pretending that endless growth for a few will somehow trickle into mercy for the many."

Tonight's Tonight

As the year draws to a close, it's important to remember that if your biggest accomplishment was simply to have survived this fucked up mess, know this:

Ya done good, kid. That wasn't easy.

Hypothesis

Who's more homophobic, men or women?

Let's say you're on a date with a relatively new woman in your life. She's flipping thru pictures on her phone showing you where she's been, and things she's done, and what she's into. And a few pictures come up of her making out with a woman.

Are you OK with that, and can you see yourself continuing to date her?

Of course you are. And of course, you'll want to get real close with her. Because you're thoughtful and understanding and open-minded - you're just a real sweet guy.

Now turn it around. If you show her a few pics of you making out with a man, what's she most likely to do?

About 99½ times out of 99¾, she'll balk. And at best, you just got an free ride to the friend zone - at best.