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| Roman toy shop |
Credit where due.
Donald Trump is a very honest liar.
Hear me out. Yes, he vomits forth an endless spew of self-aggrandizing untruths. I can't begin to allude to them specifically, there are literally tens of thousands. A recent favorite: he is "the father of IVF." WTF? It instills a sense of near wonder. For its pure daftness. He can't believe it himself, can he? Delusion or lie? An interesting question, but also a distinction without a difference.
Yet through the cracks between the lies shines candor. Trump sometimes says exactly what he will do, pointed truths even more shocking than the lies. He avows his unwavering support for despots in general and Vladimir Putin in particular. He outlines his intention to use the government to harass enemies, squash the media, subvert elections so his followers never have to vote again. His passion to expel immigrants, even legal immigrants.
He could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not lose a vote. He said it. And it's true. At this point, he could go to 5th Avenue and shoot someone, to illustrate his point. How shocked would we be and for how long? Not much on either account.
Said it almost a decade ago. Compare that to Saturday night's calling Kamala Harris a "shit vice president." Which pales next to his truly bizarre ramble about golfer Arnold Palmer's manhood. This is the past and perhaps future president. Someone with a coin toss's chance of being re-elected in a little more than two weeks.
Said it almost a decade ago. Compare that to Saturday night's calling Kamala Harris a "shit vice president." Which pales next to his truly bizarre ramble about golfer Arnold Palmer's manhood. This is the past and perhaps future president. Someone with a coin toss's chance of being re-elected in a little more than two weeks.
None of this is new. Facebook served up a comment of mine from 2016:
So let's review, shall we?Donald Trump refuses to accept the basic mechanism of our democracy, the orderly transition of power after an election, citing imaginary voter fraud. He closes his eyes to Russian manipulation of our election, denying the evidence endorsed by 17 government agencies. He calls his opponent, stolidly accepting his blather and insults, "a nasty woman." Yet millions are voting for him. I just don't get it.
Sound familiar?
Lately I've seen friends online marveling what the appeal of Trump could possibly be. Really? You haven't figured it out yet. C'mon. Get with the program: his followers are grievance junkies. Their lives are the fault of dark forces beyond their ken. Period. In their view, they are not responsible for their setbacks and wrongs. Others are. If they can't find a job, it's because some Venezuelan who walked across the Darien Gap and can't speak English and is a criminal in a gang nevertheless managed to show up and take it.
Even the "can't find a job" trope is generous. Giving others the benefit of the doubt is murdering democracy. A lot of Trump supporters aren't suffering unfortunates, but the gilded upper 1 percent, trying to maximize their advantage. Elon Musk, richest man in the world, prancing around Trump like a cast member from "Godspell." I reviled him before. But the sun will go out and be a cold ember and Musk's infamy for his daft Trump push will still be fresh in my mind.
Trump might win. If he does, the nation will go to the dark place his backers occupy and the United States of America will certainly fail, or slide closer to failure. For a very long time. The future is dim. When was the last time you saw something made in Russia? They don't even lead the world in the production of vodka.
There is hope Trump won't win. That's as far as I'll go. Trump might lose, both the election and his clown coup that will come afterward. I hate that the media says it "might" happen or he "seems" to be laying the groundwork. It will happen. Take it to the frickin' bank. Strap in. It's going to be a wild ride. Another wild ride.
This has been front and center of my thoughts for the last several weeks. Praying for the “Blue Wave” to occur. If it doesn’t, then we really are doomed to live Project 2025. Democracy will be dead, a radical shift in the media, and hundreds of thousands of “political prisoners “. All of this promised by Trump, in the first few weeks of a twisted scam of a presidency, should he “win”. Either way, you’re so right. It’s going to be a bumpy ride, no matter what happens. The bumps are guaranteed.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Neil, for your clear, comprehensive, concise, and compelling description of what is — especially the wild ride ahead. I honestly could never have imagined someone as smart as Elon Musk to be so flawed and devoid of an ounce of concern for others. The complicity of all who brought us to this disastrous condition, including the morons who created The Apprentice is heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone really believe, even if TFG pulls off a win, that he'll actually be president for long? Should that happen, my guess is that within six weeks VP Vance will invoke the 25th Amendment, with the support of the rest of the Neo-Confederates, and DJT will be shipped back to Florida. Then the implementation of Project 2025 will begin in ernest. Vance is considerably more dangerous than TFG. I hope the Blue Wave happens but there are so many willing to give up Democracy for a really terrifying vision of masculinity.
ReplyDeleteSadly, your last sentence sums it up beautifully
DeleteSNL's Weekend Update had a perfect response to the "father of IVF" comment.
ReplyDeleteThey showed a photo montage of his three oldest children & cracked, "he's the father of Ivanka & two Various Freaks", meaning long time coke addict Don Jr. & absolute halfwit moron Eric!
Yes, Donald Trump is an absolutely terrible candidate for president. There's no chance that he would do a better job of being president this time than he did last time and last time was a monumental disaster
ReplyDeleteBut between the two major parties, where is the good presidential candidate? Yes Kamala seems harmless enough and certainly is exponentially better than Trump. But when I hear her talking about America having the most lethal fighting force in the world, she says this over and over again and seems proud to have Dick Cheney endorsing her. It makes me wonder what's happening.
We used B2 stealth bombers on Yemen, Yemen?
She's quite a hawk and while I support Israel's right to defend itself and expect the US to keep the straits safe for shipping, I'm really not a big fan of war.
Turns out we've had boots on the ground in Israel for some time and will have more shortly
The situation at the border really is a problem and she doesn't address it. She deflects these questions and doesn't have answers for how we're going to straighten this mess out. If she loses to the orange one, we have the Democrats to blame. They hurried her in to replace Biden without consideration to anyone else. It makes me think it's because she's malleable and they're going to be able to control her policy making she's not strong. She doesn't inspire confidence, but where are the other Democrat candidates that do? How can a country of 380 million people not be able to produce several options for a good leader, not just someone better than Trump? Our worries about what's going to happen in the future seem to already be here
The B-2s dropped bunker buster bombs on a Houthi underground storage area for the missiles their using to attack innocent vessels transiting the Red Sea. It was also a message to the Houthi's sponsors & funders, Iran, that we can destroy their underground bases without them even even discovering our stealth bombers until the bombs actually explode!
DeleteSo let's see just how many missiles they still have to attack the ships at sea now!
As for the border, she has repeatedly stated her support for the bipartisan bill that was created earlier this year, with the most conservative Republicans in Congress & was the most restrictive immigration bill ever proposed, but that the fat traitor killed when he told his disgusting minions & worshipers in Congress to kill that bill, so he could have that as an issue to run against Biden, the then Democratic candidate & now Harris.
Steve: if Kamala is indeed a inadequate vessel for our hopes of avoiding the
Deletedisaster of a Donald Trump presidency, do you really think it's a good time to rock the boat?
john
Rock the boat? In the comment section of a blog ? would that I could, but this boat seems to have several leaks and it's starting to list.
DeleteAs our gracious host has pointed out in a past column, How can this race even be close? well because we have a bad candidate and bad policy.
And a huge segment of the country clearly wants someone else. Anyone else. And she's not swinging the independence in her direction. I'm very worried they're just going to stay home.
She needs to start talking straight and not dodging every hard question
Clark Street aren't we looking for peace? And if Joe biden's parting gift to the world is bombing Iran, where does that put us?
DeleteYou can't have peace with Iran funding terrorists & building & sending them missiles & other weapons. Appeasement doesn't work, for more on worthless appeasement, google "Chamberlain, Neville"
Deletesteve, grow the f**ck up. i'm tired of silly people who always want to sacrifice the good at the altar of the perfect-it's juvenile shit
DeleteAlas, Neil, I think you’re mainly preaching to the choir.
ReplyDeleteIn my pretty blue mid-sized town in my pretty blue smaller state, I've noticed far fewer Trump signs than in 2020, but then this morning an errand took me through one of the richer neighborhoods and there they were. The economically anxious owners of $3M+ homes
ReplyDeleteHad Beau Biden not gotten sick, and eventually died so young, his father would have challenged and defeated the far-less-likeable and more abrasive Hillary, and then probably gone on to make her an afterthought and make Trump a footnote in history. Finishing his second term, and retiring with style and grace. Oh, those what-ifs! Best not to think about them.
ReplyDeleteThere simply wasn't enough time to find a viable replacement for Joe, so the movers and the shakers pushed Kamala onto the stage, and the nomination became hers by default. Who else was a possibility? More importantly, who else could have beaten the Tangerine Terrorist? Perhaps if that bullet had found its mark, Vance would be facing a historic defeat right about now. Another what-if.
The road ahead is filled with potholes, and sown with landmines. If Orangy Boy wins, there will be pogroms, not just programs. America will enter a new Dark Age and maybe its Final Daze. Hell, we've had a good run. Not bad as empires go.
Even if he loses, there will be violence, rioting, chaos, blood, and death. Joe will finally have to take the gloves off, and so will Kamala, eventually. She will be inaugurated in a city ringed by Army troops, as Lincoln was. Hardly an auspicious beginning for someone who is still mostly an unknown quantity. So was Harry Truman. But she's no Harry Truman. Joe was...and I will miss him terribly.
Both the near future and the long-term one are frightening.
I can't think about much else. There seems to be no way out.
Simon and Garfunkel keep running through my cabeza:
"Every way you look at it, you lose..".
Had that bullet made its mark?
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't supposed to as that idiot in Butler was a stooge recruited for a false flag assassination attempt & he was supposed to miss. That's why the Secret Service killed him, so he could never answer any questions.
But if he did kill him, then there would've been a new fight between Haley & DeSatan to be the nominee & Vance would've been gone & a new VP candidate chosen. Vance was chosen by Don Jr., the coked up oldest son of the fat traitor, so a new nominee wouldn't want him around.
You have heard of the man of the moment theory? Anybody but Churchill shows up to handle WWII for the allies and everything would be different. Out man of the moment is Trump and we all know what kind of man he is. I actually usually call him a creature.
ReplyDeleteThe problems in our country were a long time building momentum and Trump walked in at the critical moment. What astounds me is that a decade later he is still here causing anxiety and threatening our hard earned democracy. I just have to think that those who vote for him now are as monstrous as he is. As Maya Angelou famously said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” We have watched this horror show for nearly a decade. This is not new.
I am 80. The friends of mine who are in this age bracket know that we have only three choices if he is elected;
Fight back. I have no idea what that would mean
Leave. Not feasible for most of us and I am sure Canada would slam that border shut real quick
Close the door on your life. Don’t watch TV, read newspapers and magazines, stay off the internet, avoid people unless you really know who they are. Never call the police. They will go where the power is and it will not be us.
Three years younger. American history minor in college, student of WWII for six decades, history fanatic for most of my life. The biggest difficulties we now face are not new. They began with Vietnam. Our right-left split goes back well beyond that.
DeleteTrump is a symptom, not the disease. He walked in when the split was widening and the grudge politics of resentment and outrage were exploding. He was the CEO with the lit candle, touring the fireworks factory.
The choices are few:
* Fight back? Too old to shoulder a musket. Can't even walk a long distance, let alone run or march. Knees and feet and lungs say no. Would last a day or two among the Resistance, maybe a week at most.
* Flee? Too old to learn another language. Too poor to leave for the UK or Ireland or Australia. Canada would put political refugees like me in a stockade, to await return to the Untied Snakes on a prison bus, and an unknown fate.
* Emigrate legally? Canada wants young, healthy, wealthy immigrants who bring in the money and the jobs, and who don't need as much medical assistance. So forget the Great White North, all you sick old hosers.
* Seal myself off? I'm too much of an information junkie. Addicted to TV, online way too much. Already a near-hermit. No friends or family to come to my aid.
* Self-destruction? Perhaps the Palestinian solution.
Boomer, with a small B.
The ultimate protest
* Sit...and wait it out. They'll know where to find ,me. I'm on their list already...their roll of honor. And when they come, this Jew isn't going to go willingly or quietly. No patriot, no hero...just another nobody. Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. Hope it's over fast.