The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/24/25

The UN had a non-binding resolution to condemn Russia for invading Ukraine on the 3rd anniversary of the invasion.  Facts: Russia did invade Ukraine.  They, indeed, were the aggressors.  This was also a non-binding resolution. 

Trump had the US delegate vote against it. 

You can see Putin's hand up Trump's caboose at this point.

It should be noted that this is pointing to a long-term dissolving of our world alliances, with the USA and Russia beginning a new Axis Coalition.  Among the 17 "powerhouse" countries who agreed with our stance:

Russia (of course), Hungary, Haiti, Belarus, Syria, Israel, Sudan, Nicaragua, and North Korea.

This is our new world alliance.  These are Trump's "friends." What a f-ing embarrassment.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/23/25

This is more about the consequences of what Trump did, namely pardoning the anti-American traitor, Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio.

If there is a bully in a school, the principal doesn't applaud the bully, telling them "You never did anything wrong!"  That will not turn out well.

Tarrio and the Proud Boys decided on Saturday to attend the Principles First Summit, an organization of anti-Trump Republicans, and confront police officers from January 6th who were in attendance.  He hounded them and bullied them until security got involved, and then it sounded like the Proud Boys quickly scattered.

Then, on Sunday, a bomb threat was sent to the conference from an account claiming to be "Enrique T." Almost immediately (making you wonder how quickly he knew the threat had been made), Tarrio threatened the conference with legal action if they accused him, insisting he had nothing to do with the threat. 

I have no idea if Tarrio was involved.  He insists he wasn't.  I guarantee there will be an investigation, and IF anyone from the Proud Boys was involved, considering it doesn't seem like they're the best at covering their tracks, we'll find out.

One positive thing is that Tarrio's antics took the spotlight off of the CPAC convention, something I imagine many MAGA Conservatives are not too happy about.

This will get worse as Tarrio gets bolder and bolder.

And there's a rumor that Trump has already stated he will pardon them all again no matter what they do. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/22/25

On Saturday it came to light that Trump is planning on firing 4000 employees of Housing and Urban Development who deal with the VERY REAL and INCREASING homeless problem in the United States. Once again billionaires are deciding that the HOMELESS have had it too good in this country.

This brings up another point.  WHERE ARE THE FREAKING CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AS ALL OF THIS NEEDLESS SUFFERING HAPPENS???

Religious disclaimer:  You do, or don't do, whatever it is you do, or don't, want to do!  I am a Christian.

All of these cuts are to make sure the wealthy get wealthier, and many of the major Christian denominations of this country, THE SAME ONES WHO CALLED EMERGENCY MEETINGS TO LABEL JOE BIDEN A HERETIC BECAUSE HE DARED GO AGAINST CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS BY SUPPORTING A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE,  are stunningly silent.

For the record, Jesus never once mentioned abortion in  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Thank you, John Fugelsang).  The Bible is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to when life begins, with numerous mentions of life beginning at first breath.  And what was that approved abortion process in Numbers?

Do you know what Jesus commanded us to do?  Let's look at the Gospel of Matthew:

If you are MAGA and this quote doesn't ring a bell, it's because Far Right MAGA churches have consitently downplayed these direct teachings of Jesus so they can snuggle up to Trump.  They focus on condemning two things Jesus never condemned, abortion and the LGBTQIA+ community, tossing Jesus' actual teachings aside.

Trump has gone out of his way to take food out of the mouths of the hungry, just to give billionaires tax breaks.  WHERE'S YOUR OUTRAGE CHRISTIANS???

Trump has already attacked clean water regulations, which will make water undrinkable for many Americans, so mega-companies and billionaires can save money by not cleaning up THEIR messes. WHERE'S YOUR OUTRAGE CHRISTIANS???

Trump has started rounding up the strangers and throwing them out because they aren't European Whites. And cutting housing assistance for the homeless is clearly not inviting the needy in.  They're doing these things to appease racists and help give the wealthy more money. WHERE'S YOUR OUTRAGE CHRISTIANS???

Trump has not only fired a lot of people without cause (which will lead to them not being able to afford necessities like clothes) but he has also cut aid to the poorest people (undeniably unclothing them), so billionaires can get more taxpayer money. WHERE'S YOUR OUTRAGE CHRISTIANS???

Trump and his allies are taking joy in killing Medicaid for the disabled, slashing Medicare benefits for the sick, laying off staff at the CDC and Department of Health, and slashing money dedicated to research that will stop illnesses, so they can give billionaires bigger tax breaks. WHERE'S YOUR OUTRAGE CHRISTIANS???

Trump has taken the undocumented workers and their families to Guantanamo, to prevent anyone from seeing what they are doing to these people, to appease racists. WHERE'S YOUR OUTRAGE CHRISTIANS???

Most major religions have said NOTHING as their Christian faith is shredded. Silence! Their complicity in this abhorrence is a disgrace. And as their parishes suffer, will they find their courage? Nope, they'll continue to hyper-focus on hate, or Romans, or Leviticus, or one of the lesser books of the Bible to validate their true God, Trump.

THIS is why your pews are emptier and emptier.

Here endeth the lesson...

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/21/25

On Friday, Trump fired the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C. Q. Brown.  He replaced him with a man we should ALL be concerned about, Lt. General Dan 'Razin' Caine (I think the 'Razin' is an attempt at 'tough guy talk' for 'Raising').

Brown is out because of two reasons.  Undeniably, he is gone because he is Black, and once again, the only protected class in Trump's world is White, straight male Christians. Also, they are letting him go because they say he was implementing DEI policies. Do they think he should have insisted those policies shouldn't be enforced when Biden was in charge?

Caine should concern everyone. Trump bragged that Caine told him, "I'll kill for you, Sir!" He also violated the military dress code and wore a MAGA hat at the announcement, showing he is more loyal to MAGA than the country.  There were far more qualified military leaders who should get that role, but Trump wanted undying loyalty, placing Trump over the country, something he gets with Caine. Trump über alles!

Trump is clearly putting the cogs in place within military leadership to turn the US military against US citizens, WITHOUT A DOUBT! At some point, they will order the military to open fire on a crowd, insisting there was a threat (which never existed) that warranted 150 killed in the streets. Every person Trump has put into power seems to be itching to shoot Democrats, minorities, and liberal Americans. 

It should be mentioned that the term Raising Cane, a variation of which is the new Chair of the Joint Chief of Staff's nickname, is southern for "Raising Hell."  

The Friday Link for 2/21/25

Howdy all!

The Friday Link starts with the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary show. It was pretty good! I missed the first part but when I saw Twitter blowing up with how horrible it was, I knew it had to be great, so I turned it on. 

It's hard to peg which cast was best, and although I do believe there is a lot of merit to showing respect for the first one, the 10th season cast was insanely funny. Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Julia Louise Dreyfus, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, an underrated Rich Hall...heck, even Jim Belushi had his moments.

I also think the seasons between 2000 and 2014 were really solid. Those casts were packed, and I think the reason the cast cracking up became a thing was due to how funny some of those people were, particularly Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader (but many others on those casts, too).

The best bit from the 50th was Black Jeopardy.  Eddie Murphy doing a Tracy Morgan impression of Tracy Morgan's face was great.  And Tom Hanks shows up as the character which sends MAGA into a fury! 

The monologue was also really good.  This set the tone nicely!

I also loved the Andy Samberg digital short Anxiety.  Yes, it does have a little bit of crudeness to it, but I'll be damned if Samberg didn't write the most 80s-sounding 80s song ever.  And when he dances with his hand in his pockets...chef's kiss! 

Good fun.

And for something completely different.  Someone took a very crude AI, took the Council of Elrond scene from Lord of the Rings, and made it into a rock opera.  I have no idea what Gandolf is doing with the ice cream, but this video is like a car crash.  You can't help but slow down and watch. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Please be safe with all the illnesses out there! 

America doesn't have a king...

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/20/25

It's the constant lies the Trump Administration states, trying to make it seem like what they are doing is populism.

In California, they're trying to build a high-speed rail option between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a project a majority of Californians want (54-56%), a project that is moving ahead as federal funding has already been secured.  Transportation Secretary Sean "Plane Crash" Duffy and other Republicans held a press conference yesterday where they announced they were halting funding for the high-speed rail project.

I would say this is the Trump Administration looking for a way to hurt California, as there have already been billions spent on the project, but I'm pretty sure any state, even the reddest ones, would also see these projects cut.  Trump needs money for billionaire tax breaks, and the Republicans HATE mass transit. This is part of the larger Trump movement to take this country back to the 1890s, when the country NEVER built projects for the betterment of the masses, only for the betterment of the wealthy.  It's also why they want to destroy all workers' rights and return America to the age of 'company towns.'

As 'Plane Crash' Duffy and California Republicans had a press conference, LYING, trying to insist only a handful of people in the state want the project, the MAGA idiots were firmly shouted down by a fairly large contingent of pro-train people.

It is hilarious watching these fools come out of their Right Wing MAGA bubble and seeing firsthand how much the public hates them.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/19/25

Another close one as Trump attacking Ukraine's Zelensky as a dictator once again points to Trump being COMPLETELY manipulated by Russia. 

But it's the King stuff today.

Yesterday, on Truth Social, Trump (in reference to himself) said, "Long Live The King."

As the country sat stunned, watching a president proclaim himself as the King over all of us, the OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE TWITTER ACCOUNT then posted what appears to be an AI image of Trump as a king, with a Crown.

I know it's trolling (trying to be outrageous on social media to generate a response), but it doesn't make it right.  Imagine a friend who is making racist and/or anti-Semitic comments, insisting that they aren't really a racist, that they're only trolling the minority groups. Would you accept the argument that it's "Harmless?" Would you believe your friend's insistence that they were only trying to generate a response?  Of course not.  It's clearly racism, but even if you bought the argument, 'it was only trolling,' it's wrong.

Frankly, Trump wants you to dismiss this.  Then he can say, "I'm a king because when I said it before, everyone was quiet, so it's okay with them!"

Where is ANY Republican during this lunacy?  If a Democratic president was caught CLEARLY JOKING that they thought they were a King, violent, spittle spewing Republicans would demand to be able to carry guns in Congress as "Joke or not, we can't risk that man thinking he can ever being a King over us!"

It's their silence that enables the mad orange tyrant.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/18/25

I could easily make this about Trump's Russian-directed stance on blaming Ukraine because they were so invadeable, but why not focus on one of the other Trump dumpster fires!

On Sunday, Trump Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett, in an effort to insist Biden's approach to dealing with Avian Flu was horrible, and how the Trump Administration is taking a much more rational and reasonable approach, went on Meet the Press to try to argue...I HAVE NO IDEA!  Read the gibberish for yourself:

Kevin Hassett: “so again, the Biden plan was to just kill chickens. and they spent billions of dollars just randomly killing chickens within a perimeter where they found a sick chicken. and so you go — I just went to the grocery store. I shop for our family in part because I love to look at prices, and there were no eggs at the store yesterday. just a few. and so that happened because they killed all the chickens. so what we need to do is have better ways. biosecurity and medication and so on, to make sure so that the perimeter doesn’t have to kill the chickens. to have a better, smarter perimeter. and so having a smart perimeter is what we’re working on, and we’re finalizing the ideas about how to do that with the best scientists in government, and that’s the kind of thing that should have happened a year ago, and if it had, the egg prices would be a lot better than they are now. but the avian flu is a real thing, and by the way, it’s spread mostly by ducks and geese. think about it. they’re killing chickens to stop the spread, but chickens don’t really fly.”

There is a lot to unpack here.  You have to cull the chickens because they are sick with bird flu, and the risk to humans eating eggs or meat from sick chickens is a big F-ing problem.  As far as vaccinating ALL the chickens, who would pay the astronimical cost of doing that, and how would you even begin to do that?  That's hundreds of millions of chickens, and they are being born pretty constantly. 

And then there is the insanely assinine "Chicken's don't fly, it's all those liberal ducks and geese who are the problem/perimeter" statements, which are stunning for their stupidity. Yes, Braintrust, chickens don't fly, but wild birds, not just ducks and geese, DO! It's impossible to raise chickens without them being exposed to other birds. Cows, cats, goats, sheep, and dogs are all getting avian flu, too.  Does this idiot think they fly?

But let's focus on the 'working with the best scientists in government' statement. At the same time Hassett was talking about the government's best scientists, the Trump Administration was firing them. On Tuesday, the Department of Agriculture said, "Oopsie!" and is now trying to rehire all the best government scientists that Elon and DOGE just fired! 

1) This shows their firing agenda has no plan; it's just removing names from the payrolls without seeing what those people actually do. 

2) The Trump Administration has ZERO plan to deal with Avian Flu, and are so incompetent they sent out "Did you know Chickens can't fly" Guy as their voice of reason.

The current flu epidemic is approaching a 5 per 100 death rate.  If the Avian Flu jumps to a human-to-human flu, it will be closer to 10 deaths per 100. COVID will look like a sniffle comparatively, and clearly, there's no one in the Trump Administration taking this seriously. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/17/25

Let's start with a fact: All of these "cost saving" measures that DOGE is doing for our government will not equal less taxes paid by those making $200,000 or less a year. THIS IS A CASH GRAB! Right now, they're trying ot figure out a way to funnel the money they're not spending on a competent, functioning government and divert it directly to Trump, Musk, a handful of Republicans, and the people who bankroll the Republican Party, with no way of ever clawing the money back for the American people. This is a heist, plain and simple.

Musk wants access to Fort Knox and most of the US's heavily secured gold reserve. They claim to want to only make sure the gold is safe and there, but I have no doubt they also want to try to figure out a way to make a substantial withdrawal. 

I've said these guys want to back up a truck to the Treasury and load it full of cash once a week, and the SCOTUS will insist that it was legal for him to do because no one specifially stated Trump couldn't do it. It seems they are willing to take their free government money in either cash or gold. 

Quick side note: Fort Knox is not someplace anyone just walks into, for very legitimate reasons! Musk and a few Republicans are incensed they can't just waltz into the US Gold Reserve anytime they want.   Meanwhile, these same people have threatened sitting US Senators and Representatives with prison time if they dare go into the US Treasury just to see what information Musk's teenage DOGE boys are stealing from US citizens.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/16/25

I could make an argument that Trump continuing to ruin NASCAR for America by having his idiot followers chanting "Let's Go Brandon" constantly is a viable candidate, but as NASCAR keeps welcoming him back, that seems to be a mutually willing death spiral.  Look at their ratings.  They've collapsed.  Last year, they had a third of the ratings they had 12 years earlier for their biggest event, the Daytona 500. They're down to 3 million viewers a week on average, meaning 330 million Americans do not watch the sport. I'll never watch another race.

Instead, I'll go with Trump exposing that his peace negotiations for Ukraine are an absolute sham. He's intentionally omitting some pretty important parties from the table.  It was mentioned that initially, Trump wanted to omit UKRAINE from negotiating peace with the Russians, WHO INVADED UKRAINE. Trump reluctantly has said he'd allow Ukraine some role in their negotiations, but it sounds like nothing more than proofreading the final agreement between himself and Vlad.

On Sunday, Trump announced that he was giving Russia's Putin another major concession and refusing to include the European Union or any other European country in the peace negotiations. This is a clear sign that Trump is only doing Putin's bidding. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/15/25

THIS social media quote:

"He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."

Trump paraphrased Napoleon Bonaparte, who insisted that he was the ultimate law and that as long as he felt it was for the betterment of France, he could do whatever he wanted.

A few things.  This is an admission from Trump that he already knows he's going to lose most of his court cases, and so he's paving the road for when he drives out the excuse of "I don't care what the Supreme Court rules, I'm doing to do what I want to do."

It also is a dog whistle to his far-right militia friends, whom he just let out of prison for trying to overthrow the government. I said the day he released those people that he was looking to create his version of the Brownshirts, and this quote seems to imply he's calling them to "Stand Back and Stand By." I feel Trump will let these people know that as long as his Brownshirts target Liberal elements of this country, he will pardon them before they even spend a day in jail. Strong Man, dictator 101.

One mistake he made, as Bill Corbett pointed out, is that the vagueness of his statement implies that Trump might have just made an argument for his own assassination. That's pretty stupid. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/14/25

Not showing a lot of love to Ukraine.

As Vance was out making a speech to our European allies (what sounded like a US-based campaign speech) insisting that Europe's tolerance of immigrants and free speech were unacceptable (WTF?!?) and meeting with the extremist far-right political party of Germany (what could go wrong there?), Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was having a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

It's clear that Trump is trying to get Ukrainian mineral rights (likely in part for Russia) as part of a deal to treat Ukraine nicely at the peace talks table.  Reminder: Ukraine was invaded, and yet the whole point is what are THEY going to give up for peace.  

Bessent apparently handed Zelensky one sheet of paper that said Ukraine would hand over half of their mineral rights to the United States and then ORDERED the President of Ukraine to sign it (!!!).

Noting the Ukrainian Constitution prevented him from being able to sign such a document, Zelensky passed.

Remember when Trump fans insisted the world would love us so much more with Trump in power?  That's a laughable statement now.  Canada, the nicest country on the planet, hates our guts. And Europe, featuring some of our closest allies, is ready to wave goodbye to us forever. And it's only been ONE MONTH!

The United States is now the villain we always said we fought.  We are the evil, fascist strongman. 

The Friday Link for 2/14/25

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! 

A quick recap of last week's Super Bowl, and for that, we go to Annie Agar.

One commercial from last week, and I was stunned this didn't poll better. The Reese's 'Don't Eat Lava' ad was brilliant. I thought it was a sly take on America today, where people have to be stopped from doing something that will cause them irreparable harm.  I'm looking at you, Trump voters!  Enjoy your lava! 

Also this week, we look at SNL at 50 years. Saturday Night Live has been consistently funny (most years), but the whole thing with the actors cracking is mainly from the last 20 years.  I blame one person: Will Ferrell.  Ferrell was so good at sketch comedy that it became inevitable that he would get someone to break on the set. If you look at the bar Ferrell set and how the show kept matching it with insanely talented cast members who kept pushing, it's not a surprise the cast losing it has become more common and pretty funny, too.

Here are 10 minutes of SNL characters losing it. 

Finally tonight, a fantastic video for the winter.  Ever wonder how people can live in the extreme cold Arctic? Maria Solko is in Yakutsk, Siberia, and she highlights how the people there stay warm in a city nestled on the permafrost. 

Have a nice weekend.

PLEASE make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations. The Trump Administration will not encourage you, and we are already seeing the consequences across the country.

Be safe.  Please!

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/13/25

Another banner day in American history as another of Trump's grossly unqualified cabinet picks, and likely the least qualified of them all, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer with ZERO experience in ANY health field, has been installed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  Raw milk and healing crystals will replace vaccinations and affordable healthcare. 

But in another hearing about one of his grossly unqualified cabinet picks, this time former WWE executive Linda McMahon, who has laughably been put forward as the Secretary of Education, unintentionally revealed the truth about the Trump's pro White, Straight, Christian Male agenda.

When Senator Chris Murphy called her out, saying the way Trump's orders are written, any college or high school teaching ANY African American History would lose funding for merely doing so, McMahon clearly didn't have an answer to that, implying Murphy's allegation was correct. In an effort to clean up her answer, she said that any specific class on African American history would have to be reviewed to make sure it was Trump-compliant.

How many public colleges teach African American history classes?  How many public high schools? The Department of Education doesn't have enough staff to review all the nation's African American history classes, let alone Native American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Latino American, or any other ethnic based study class.  That project alone would require hundreds of people working for a year to do a legitimate review.

They are just going to ban any education that is not pro White, Straight, Christian Male.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/12/25

It's official: Russia has conquered the USA.

Four (4!!!) stories from yesterday show how Russia is really pulling the strings. 

First was the confirmation of Vlad's girlfriend, Tulsi Gabbard, as Director of National Intelligence. We KNOW she's compromised to the Russians. SHE IS! If a Democratic President would've nominated someone with her faults, the Republicans would have laughed her out of the initial committee hearing. Instead, an obedianet GOP allows for our enemies to have unfettered access to our nation's secrets.  Tulsi won't have to do any 'cloak and dagger' stuff to get our nation's intelligence to the Russians.  She'll welcome them into her office for sharing parties!

Second, Trump's admission that he talked to Russia and insists a VERY Russia-friendly peace compromise for Ukraine is on the way. Russia is losing in Ukraine. THEY ARE! It's why they have to beg North Korea for troops. Trump accused Ukraine of starting this (a hostile invasion of their own country?!?) and insisted they have to concede land to the LOSING Russians. All the while, Putin chuckles.

Third was the drunk Pete Hegseth's announcements at a meeting of Ukrainian allies where he said Europe is now responsible for protecting Ukraine, that the US is dramatically pulling back, that NATO membership is off the table for Ukraine, and that Ukraine has to accept massive losses of Ukrainian territory. He then said the LAUGHABLE statement that "the Trump Administration stands by Ukraine." Quite literally, these are the same demands Russia was making, so yes, Trump DID INDEED betray Ukraine for the Russians.

Finally, there was the announcement of who the US had to give Russia for the return of Marc Fogel, a schoolteacher who tried to enter Russia with medicinal marijuana. For the record, that was not smart.  You might as well try to smuggle a gun into a foreign country.  Fogel didn't deserve the harsh punishment he got, and he needed to come home.

Before I continue on this, a reminder.  Everytime Presidents Obama or Biden was in a similar situation, Republicans and the national news media constantly bellowed about how they were both failing because the Americans had not be returned yet, AND after they were returned, the Republicans and national news media incessantly criticized Obama and Biden for having to give up TOO MUCH to get those Americans, AMERICANS THEY DEMANDED BE RETURNED AT ALL COSTS!!!

It's good Fogel is home, but to get Fogel, a teacher who tried to bring marijuana into Russia, Trump gave them Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cybercrime kingpin. Vinnik laundered money for criminals across the globe, BILLIONS of dollars in criminal money.  He laudered it through cryptocurrency [Only idiots think crypto is legit] and had done so on other occasions. Putin wanted him back [that should tell you everything you need to know about his wealth], and Trump obliged.

As far as Republican and national news media outrage over this clearly INSANELY LOPSIDED prisoner exchange...crickets!

Russia conquered America without firing a single shot. They invited Republicans to Russia to set them up with damaging kompromat, funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Republican party via Republican affiliated groups, manipulated the American people through social media, targeted our Democratic institutions such as our Secretaries of State and election centers, and threatened and intimidated the few Republicans they don't control into doing their bidding.

Russia now controls the USA.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/11/25

Another day where narrowing this down was not easy, but I have to go with the Trump/Musk news conference from the Oval Office.

The whole point of this was to try to dispel growing fear among Republicans that Musk is a threat to the country, so they had Musk bring one of his kids into the meeting to crawl all over him as he talked to the media, in an attempt to present the billionaire as "relatable."

What did become clear was Trump's game plan and mode of attack.  Trump and Musk tried to downplay their stunning lack of transparency by implying Elon posting on Twitter is somehow pulling back the curtain (with CNN's Daniel Dale pointing out the contradiction; that when people have merely posted the names of Musk's employeees who have unfettered access to America's private data, Musk has insisted that even saying their names is a crime.).

Trump and Musk also repeatedly referred to the spending they are targeting as somehow evil, referring to it as corruption and kickbacks, even though they have never produced any evidence that either of those descriptions is accurate.  They don't like this spending, so to try to win over the public as they cut healthcare, agriculture, basic food assistance, and humanitarian funding, they lie and call it something it is not. This is a stunningly effective technique with MAGA voters, even though many of them are the ones no longer getting the checks.

But it was one moment which really stuck out.  When a reporter confronted Musk (with a child draped over his head) on his repeated lie that the US had sent Hamas $50 million in condoms, a lie that Trump exaggerated to $100 million, Musk did not hesitate.  He outright admitted he lied and that his claim was wrong. This was an allegation that was not said once but had been repeated at least 100 times in the first few weeks of the Trump term by various Administration officials.  And Trump sat by, CLEARLY wanting to yell at the jouranlist, "No it's true and you're a nasty reporter!"

Imagine if President Biden had a press conference in the Oval Office and a top advisor with him openly admitted a major talking point for the Administration was a boldfaced lie.  The news media in this country would be going nuts! They'd call for a massive investigation and be running headlines in 'End of WWII' font size: "BIDEN LIES!"

Trump does it, and 95% of them shrug.

The journalism double standard in this country, where Republicans can do no wrong and Democrats can do no right, is one of the main reasons we are on the verge of a Democratic collapse. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/10/25

We're back to the tariffs. 

Trump levied a new 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports (once again, PAID FOR BY US IMPORTERS).  This seems like another direct attack on Canada, which happens to be the largest exporter of aluminum and steel to the US.

The argument the MAGA right wants to make is that this will encourage US steel and aluminum production. Where there are indeed some US producers of steel and aluminum, the US no longer has the infrastructure in place to become a mass producer of steel and aluminum quickly. We would need a major investment into at least 6 brand new US foundries.  All we currently have is insufficient for our needs, and although there are some old mothballed foundries, the cost to get them up to speed would be more than tearing them down and starting over (according to experts from when we had this discussion back in that dipsh!ts first term). 

AND you are going to have to pay US wages, which will also make a domestic product more expensive. 

There's no way this decision doesn't skyrocket construction costs for the next few years. Current projects will be put on hold or stopped entirely, and projects that need to be done will cost an astronomical amount more.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/9/25

It'd be easy to say Trump implying the Super Bowl crowd showing up for him and a football game broke out is Sunday's winner, but something FAR MORE evil presented itself yesterday.

The United States was founded with three separate but equal co-branches of government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. It's clear the Republicans who control Congress are just lap dogs to Trump's agenda, so the hope to keep Trump in check falls to the Judicial Branch. The Supreme Court clearly has a pro-Trump vibe but has proven to be unreliable on all far-right agenda items. 

Since Trump took office, judges have weighed in on his attempt to rewrite the Constitution through executive order, stopped Trump's purges of government employees without cause, and told Elon Musk, an unelected plutocrat, to keep his private company's' mitts off of sensitive Treasury Department information. They have told Trump and his Administration to stop until the Judicial Branch can review what they are doing and determine whether what they are doing is legal. The Supreme Court MIGHT rule it is legal, but it should still go through the judicial review process. 

Republicans have already undone most of the checks and balances that exist to protect this country from fascism. As I mentioned, they have gerrymandered and purged voters to maintain Congress, and the 4th Estate, the news media, has become 90% obedient lap dogs to the Trump agenda. The Courts are pretty much the last chance to prevent this country from becoming an evil dictatorship.

Yesterday, JD Vance, Congressman Jim Jordan, Elon Musk, and others presented the MAGA GOP's next step in trying to solidify their ultimate power and have started insisting the courts no longer have a co-equal position in government and hence no longer have authority to stop ANYTHING the President wants to do. 

This is REALLY bad.

Let's point out the stunning hypocrisy. Imagine if Biden had suggested a court ruling against him was invalid.  Every single MAGA Republican and most Democrats would be furious. Republicans would call up militias to help them storm the White House!!!  Now it's just policy...until (IF) a Democrat takes control again, then all a sudden, the judicial branch will be absolute again!

As Trump is actively violating America and Democracy, Vance, Musk, Jordan, and the MAGA GOP are holding America down and trying to cover its mouth. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/8/25

On Saturday, Trump announced he had finally talked to Vladimir Putin about Ukraine.  For the record, after the phone call was over, Russia was still invading Ukraine.

On the campaign trail, Trump made a cornerstone of his foreign policy his ability to solve the Russian invasion of Ukraine quickly.  Paraphrasing: "Ukraine will be solved on DAY ONE!  All it will take is ONE PHONE CALL, and it will be over."

He made this claim EVERY FREAKING RALLY.  His supporters cheered it every time. Sane people knew it was a preposterous lie, but MAGA insisted we just didn't want to accept the truth.  They doubled down, tripled down, and insisted Trump is the greatest foreign relations President ever.  Tomorrow starts his 4th week in office, and he is still a liar. My guess is he's trying to find a way to put US forces on the ground TO FIGHT FOR RUSSIA, proudly next to troops from his North Korean BFF.

When confronted about his inability to fulfill a major campaign promise that Trump himself repeatedly said would be "easy," MAGA voters, instead of accepting that he lied to them AGAIN, have started insisting "Trump never said anything about Ukraine.  That was only you, liberals!"  

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/7/25

As Trump has done everything to stop refugees and immigrants from entering this country, he shockingly has granted one group protected refugee status: white Afrikaners.  

White Afrikaners are the white people who settled in Africa and installed a centuries-old, white über alles mentality that they were the conquering heroes and needed to control the local population.  White Afrikaners were behind South Africa's apartheid regime, a regime toppled a few decades ago.  

To confront the lingering two-class system in South Africa, lawmakers have passed a land expropriation law that allows, in some cases, them to redistribute unused land or land where the redistribution would benefit the public interest. This seems necessary.  This is correcting the apartheid practice of removing Black people from their land and relocating them to Black Only areas.  And some white Afrikaners have been using land ownership to exert continued power over the masses, keeping the Black population from experiencing societal growth. 

In response, Trump has cut off all aid to South Africa and has offered white Afrikaners a path to America.  

Trump is all for refugees and immigration, but ONLY if their skin color is alabaster. And he is clearly looking for ways to punish black people. 

The Friday Link for 2/7/24

Howdy all. 

I have two videos for you this week.  The first one is a little long, but it's GOLD! 

We've featured Chef Reactions a few times on the Link, and this week, he decided to watch Food Network celebrity Sandra Lee and do a running commentary on her 'cooking' videos.  I put cooking in quotes because she was not really a chef, but someone who jazzed up premade grocery store items and drank an insane amount of booze.

The great Anthony Bourdain had nothing but contempt for her as he felt she was everything bad about cooking (watch his rant where he mentions her Kwanzaa Cake). To be fair, she never did try to pass herself off as Julia Child.  Was she creative? Yeah, sure, but the show was not about being creative on a budget (like Kitchen: Impossible). She and the network presented her show as an actual cooking show, which it really wasn't.  If Gordon Ramsey is heating up pizza rolls, you would not describe that as "gourmet."

And she focused WAY too much on booze! 

Chef Reaction does a great job tackling her library. Warning! Some adult language!

Also tonight, The Daily Show tackles MAGA's war on DEI, which is really just open racism trying to disguise itself as a noble cause.  If you think the only people who are persecuted are white, straight, Christian men, then you are racist, criminally misinformed, or both. 

Be careful! COVID is on the rise again, the flu is brutal this year, and it looks like some bad things might be just around the corner.

BE healthy, be safe. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/6/25

It is amazing how petty, small, evil, and un-Christian Trump and his MAGA faithful are.

On Trump's second day in office, he fired Coast Guard Commander Linda Fagan, one of his first shots in his rebranded bigotry, racism, and misogyny, his 'war against DEI.'  In Trump's mind, she was a woman in command of a branch of the armed services, so she clearly was unqualified.

When a commanding officer leaves a position, they are given a customary grace period to vacate the government housing they occupy. In this case, Coast Guard leaders had given her 60 days to find new housing.

That was until Trump demanded she be thrown out of the housing immediately. He had the acting director of Homeland Security call the Coast Guard directly and demand she leave her house in THREE HOURS! THREE HOURS!!!

And they even get more mean. She barely had time to pack her bags and had to leave her personal effects in the house to be moved later. That's when Sean Plankey, a DHS advisor, ordered her to leave her house unlocked and open so photographers could take photos of the property and her personal items. She insisted she did not authorize anyone to enter her home and left the doors locked and most of her personal items inside.  It's unclear whether DHS opened the house and took photographs.

Were they planning on taking all of her stuff? Were they planning on having one of their militia groups storm the house? AT BEST, it sounds like they were going to photograph all of her personal belongings. And now that the story has become public, the DHS is insisting she was offered other housing, but apparently, that was never discussed until the public became aware of the vindictive eviction.  They still have not explained what alternative housing she was "offered."

This is a third-world dictator level of petty. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/5/25

A tie for yesterday.

After starting off a brand new conflict in the Middle East by suggesting the US will 'ethnically cleanse' the Palenstinians out of Gaza, tear the whole thing down, and rebuild it as a luxury resort area, including US forces on the ground and billions in US government investment, Trump's Administration spent yesterday frantically downplaying his announcement as "you didn't hear what he actually said. Let me tell you what he meant."  All of that was undone by reports that Trump had for MONTHS been planning the purging of Gaza the way he described.  No one either tried to talk him out of it or tried to work with him on a plan to make his ethnic cleansing happen until he blabbed it on national television.

But we also learned yesterday that Elon Musk not only had gained access to the Medicare/Medicaid databases, but it sounds like Elon has downloaded and taken all of the information from the Treasury Department he wanted: names, accounts, routing numbers, addresses, money distributions, and receipts.  He also must have finished changing the code to the Treasury Department's systems, allowing him to monitor and regulate payments from the US Government.

Why do I say he must have all that information? Because Trump's DOJ finally said he was to limit his access to the Treasury Department's servers. There is no way Trump's DOJ would have done that unless Elon had already had everything he needed.  He has everything, and any attempts to put the worms back in the can are a day late and a dollar short.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/4/25

Putting aside the latest Elon Musk revelation that he has changed the computer code of the servers at the US Treasury with his own PRIVATE CORPORATE EMPLOYEES, creating a backdoor where Elon can control who does and doesn't get paid by the Federal government, leaving virtually no trail of evidence of what he did.  In other words, Elon has created a way to hold the US government hostage (freaking YIKES!!!)...

Trump has repeatedly said over the last few weeks that he wanted all Palestinians moved out of the GAZA Strip, tear down the entire area, and rebuild it as a luxury vacation spot (likely with a golden Trump tower in the middle of the whole thing), as well as new settlements for Israel.  Yesterday, in a press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said "The United States will take over the Gaza Strip...We'll own it."

I was stunned during the election by the pro-Palestian groups who felt the chance of Trump was an acceptable risk. They felt as if both Harris and Trump were equal.  This is a harsh reminder that that statement was laughable. Gaza won't even exist in four years.

A lot of Trump operatives infiltrated pro-Palestinian groups to get those voters to ignore reality, but to be fair, they desperately wanted to ignore reality. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/3/25

In the last few days, it's become clear that Elon Musk, Trump's BFF, a man who has not been elected to any position, nor has he gone through any Congressional approval process, has a much bigger plan in place than just loading himself up with unbreakable government contracts.

Trump has given Musk unfettered access to the Social Security database, the Medicare database, the IRS database, the Dept. of Education database (including all student loan/financial information), and the USAID database. He has taken private servers and employees of HIS COMPANIES into these organizations and seems to have downloaded the information for his private use. 

If you wonder why Musk is jeopardizing his billion-dollar companies (Tesla, Twitter) for this power grab with Trump, it's because he has access to a trillion dollars of OUR information he can use, buy, and sell to his heart's content.

It also allows him to create a blackmail/intimidation machine that will have complete power over our entire government, ensuring Musk gets what Musk wants.  

Proof he already has amassed a massive amount of control over the government is how quiet the Republicans are about such a violation of the American people.  The same people who scream about the government harvesting personal data are suddenly silent as everything heads to Musk's private servers.  Notice how suddenly all the Republicans are in line with Trump's grossly unqualified cabinet picks?  His takeover is already wielding results.

Musk is not the first person to realize a complete idiot who resonates with the masses is the springboard to their own agenda.  You'd think we as a society would've learned from the past's mistakes.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/2/25

After it was revealed that Elon Muck (intentional) was given access to sensitive information at the Treasury, including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems (reminder Musk is not an elected official, nor a Congressionally confirmed Cabinet member.  He's Trump's buddy!!!), Trump and Musk turned their ire against USAID, an organization tasked with overseeing humanitarian, developmental, and security programs in over 120 countries.  

USAID has been a growing villain for the Republican Party. They feel helping foreign countries with humanitarian aid is somehow promoting a liberal agenda (that tells you a lot about who these people are right there).  Earlier, Trump removed two top security officials at USAID after Musk (once again, just Trump's buddy) wanted access to sensitive materials, and they refused to give them to him (pretty sure Musk could not pass the clearance test in order to see those documents).

Sunday, Trump once again attempted to shut down a government agency without Congressional approval as he has told staffers to stay away and locked most of them out of the computer system for USAID. This was after they had shut down all USAID programs worldwide last week.  He is reporting USAID is now officially closed as of 2/3.

I've heard that at Multiple MAGA Evangelical churches across America yesterday, sermons focused on the evils of being a compassionate humanitarian.  They basically preached against the 'Good Samaritan.' 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 2/1/25

The absolute f-ing moron that is Trump, ignoring every intelligent person who has a basic high school understanding of economics, started an unnecessary and damaging trade war with the USA's three largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico, and China.

Conservatively this will cost at least $700 per household in this country and likely much more. Everything will cost more.  And no, our manufacturing base is not coming back.  They pay workers in foreign countries a dollar an hour (at best!).  They're not about to pay substantially more here. 

And we are about to learn the rest of the world likes Canada and Mexico more than they like us. 

Nope, this is only going to hurt. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/31/25

It's clear by the air disaster response of the White House and the Trump Administration that caring, empathy, and compassion are impossible for the modern Republican to convey.

Add to that an epic level of stupidity and there are no words.

Trump, when asked if he was going to visit the crash site where a commercial jet hit a military helicopter and everyone died, said:

"I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because you tell me, what's the site? The water? You want me to go swimming."

...

...

...

What a f-ing idiot!

It's not like he wasn't talking crazy the entire campaign.  His supporters and the media made excuses for it.  Now that it's official national policy, I will never forgive the national news media for intentionally getting us into this mess.

The Friday Link for 1/31/25

Hi all!

I'm going to start you off with a great short film, Echo Torch! This showed up in my feed, and I thought it was very good.  A man invents a light that allows him to see otherworldly dimensions.  Yes, there are a few jump scares and a bit of a horror feel to it, but it also has a really nice ending (no spoilers!). Worth a watch! 

Then two videos for you that talk about the modern conflicts we have.  The first is a heartbreaking video from a guy I featured on the Link before, John Green.  He and his brother came up with the Crash Course series on YouTube, which are very good school-like lessons.  They have many channels and I highly encourage them for people who like to learn things.  

I also featured John talking about tuberculosis.  He has done a lot to educate people on how deadly it still is today, but it is preventable.  By the way, there's currently a TB outbreak in the state of Kansas which has the potential of becoming an absolute mess. 

Today, he talks about how the vast majority of what we would call modern humans never lived beyond 20 years old, and it's only in the last 50 years that we've been able to make child mortality rates plummet. Why?  Government-funded programs have undoubtedly saved millions of lives and made it to where most humans are almost guaranteed to live past 20.  That is all being threatened by the Trump administration cutting funding for the programs that have kept us safe.  This is not politics.  This is a real threat to undo the advances humans have made in the last 50 years. 

The last thing is another Dan McClellan video.  He is REALLY good.  The modern MAGA "Christians" are trying to argue that Jesus would have LOVED ICE roundups of immigrants and anyone thinking differently is only "weaponizing empathy." They say that like it's a bad thing.

If you are doing something where basic human empathy is a threat to your agenda, you are CLEARLY doing something even you know is horrible.  Shame on these clueless content creators for trying to validate their bigotry by twisting Jesus to fit THEIR needs. 

Have a great weekend.  Get your vaccinations while you can, as I guarantee Trump will make that harder.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/30/25

In what will end up being a presidential moment that will live in infamy, Trump, less than 24 hours after a tragic midair crash between a commercial plane and a military helicopter, which killed everyone involved, BEFORE any major investigation into the cause of the crash had been conducted, started desperately trying to blame his standard list of villains (Presidents Obama and Biden, DEI[???], Pete Buttigieg, the recently deceased pilot of the helicopter less than 24 hours since his death), before making the insane argument that the real culprit was the hiring of DISABLED WORKERS(!?!).  He blamed them with no evidence, LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER THE CRASH!!!

He was doing so because in the first week of his Administration, he fired the head of the FAA (because Elon Musk didn't like him) and many of its leaders and laid off thousands of its workers. I'm not saying those things caused the crash (it has been reported that there indeed was a staffing shortage at the airport's tower), but they are a FAR MORE likely culprit than wildly blaming disabled workers.  Trump realizing he might have screwed up, tried to get out in front of his mistake by blaming others and then acting as if his unfounded accusations were proven fact. 

He did all this as they were still pulling the bodies from the river. He is truly a disgrace to humanity. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/29/25

Another "A Lot to Choose From' day, but I think that Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a horrifically unqualified stooge, deciding to end the extended deportation protections for 600,00 Venezuelans in the US is the worst.

This program allowed people who were fleeing armed conflict to stay here, preventing them from having to return to a country where there's a decent chance they'll be killed. Noem, a woman who constantly claims she's a Christian but is one of the least Christian people I've ever seen, not only likely signed the order to send many of these people to their deaths, but implied all 600,000 Venezuelans here were all breaking the law, making her orders just plain old fashion racism. 

By the way, this is the same woman who, on the same day, canceled grants to specific non-government groups who are aiding immigrants by implying the groups weren't doing enough to promote Jesus in their operations. 

Kristi, you SUCK at being Christian. Jesus would not like you. 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/28/25

I do not want to marginalize or ignore the bigoted anti-transgender ban Trump just put on the military, using insanely inflammatory language straight from a fascist dictator's manifesto.  On most days, that would hands down be the worst thing, but...

Trump tried to initiate a federal government spending freeze, a hastily and poorly written order that seemed to catch the Administration off guard when they realized all the programs they initially stopped, and it ignored a basic reality; a move like this is pretty much impossible without Congressional approval.

This is the clearest evidence the Trump Administration knows its massive government overhaul bill, which they've been teasing for a few weeks, can't get through the House and Senate, so they're trying an end-around by claiming this spending is a "temporary freeze."  If it's only temporary, they need to explain why multiple government websites and databases that are designed for the states to access this money were shut down even before the deadline was nearing.

Spoiler alert, a judge halted this before it's 5 PM Eastern Time start. 

This was chaos.  While initially, the Administration stated only Medicare and Social Security would be omitted from this freeze, they quickly had to add that Pell Grants, food stamps, and welfare payments were not included in this freeze, and more programs were being given a reprieve before the judge stopped the carnage, with the Administration seeming to react to media questions about individual programs with a "We didn't cut that did we?  WE DID!  Well, that's not good" ignorance!

But what's stunning is the number of programs they were bragging about cutting, including Medicaid, which helps deliver 40% of the babies in the country, school food service for kids (with Republicans calling feeding kids promoting laziness), medical research, police and firefighter funding, spending on major construction projects that are well underway, and even programs like Meals on Wheels! This truly was an insanely heartless and anti-Christian act the Republicans.  It was degisgned to hurt people just to hurt them.

Christopher Titus said it best: "We are at a place where billionaires are deciding that poor, starving people have too much." 

Considering most jackass-ian MAGA idiots suddenly got REALLY QUIET yesterday, I think it's starting to dawn on them the billionaires might NOT be on their side.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/27/25

One of the few good things George W Bush did during his term (at the encouragement of Bono from U2) was the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PRPFAR) a program that distributed HIV medications to low-income countries, primarily in Africa where AIDS had ravaged communities. The program is credited with saving 25 million people!!! That's a pretty freaking awesome rate of return!

Not anymore. Trump ordered the decades-old program to be stopped immediately, even stopping the distribution of medication that is sitting in local medical facilities ready to be used. The Trump Administration has said it is only a temporary three-month halt.  Still, they have already turned off the databases needed for the program to work, and there is apparently no plan to restart the database (an official policy position). 

A lot of people will die because of this pettiness from Trump.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/26/25

The country of Colombia, as they were awaiting planeloads of migrants returning from the US, vocalized they wanted Colombians to be treated fairly by Trump and would deny the planes the ability to land in their country until they had such guarantees.  One would think treating other human beings humanely wouldn't be a major ask, but it is for Trump and his administration.  Trump planted tariffs on Colombia, and Colombia retaliated with tariffs on US goods.

Incensed, there were reports that Trump was considering a full trade blockade of Colombia. The Colombians conceded and everything de-escalated very quickly. This all happened on Sunday!

Aside from the fact you just ANNIHILATED relations with one of our few South American allies, you could've paid another country a million dollars to divert the flights to another location.  Instead, Trump threatened a retaliatory strike, which would've potentially cost the country billions, and considering Trump's desire to be perceived as tough, I could have seen this escalate with the US military getting involved, at massive cost.

On top of that, when they released a WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE about the conflict, there was a typo naming Colombia, "Columbia."

That means we almost went to war with a University, a city in South Carolina, or a sportswear company.

 

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/25/24

It came to light yesterday morning that Trump fired multiple federal inspector generals.  Inspector generals are tasked with finding fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct at their federal agencies.  They are a simple way to prevent the Executive Branch from abusing the departments themselves.  Inspector generals are independent of the government, not political, and provide basic oversight for the American people.

There are three reasons Trump wants them all gone.  

1) To abuse the departments themselves, leaving no record of what they've done.  This abuse would primarily be of the department's employees and the agency's mission.

2) Weaponize the agencies to go after their enemies.

3) Steal blindly from the American people.

When you look at how bad Trump managed COVID, whereas when Biden took over, there was NO GAME PLAN in place to get vaccines into people's arms even though the vaccines had been available for a few months, that will seem quaint compared to what will happen over the next four years.  I'm fully expecting Trump to back a truck up to the Treasury and fill it full of cash once a month, stashing it overseas, and when we finally figure out he stole 20 trillion dollars, at least 3 of the Supreme Court Justices would say "Did you specifically tell him you couldn't steal trillions?  Not Guilty!"

Without independent oversight, it will take years after he's gone to finally find out all the evil, corrupt, and illegal things he did, requiring an extensive forensic audit.  When we do find out all the illegal things he did, the Republicans who ARE COMPLICIT AND KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, will insist what has happened has happened, and we should just move on.

This is all by design and they're all in on it.

The Worst Thing Trump Did on 1/24/25

If this was the worst thing Republicans did, Lauren Boebert called security because she thought there was a transgender Representative in the bathroom, only to be told that no, it was another woman, being forced to apologize to security, the woman, and to the people she lied to about the experience...

Or the Senate confirming Hegseth.  Unforgivable! Prepare for US troops firing on US citizens...

But as far as Trump, his new demand for specific political concessions by Democratically controlled states before he will send them needed federal natural disaster relief aid is as evil as it gets.  Not only is he forcing victims of a natural disaster to suffer more than they already have, but this idea that helping fellow Americans in need is a bargaining chip is textbook MAGA Christian.  

By the way, someone must have informed him that not delivering disaster relief aid through FEMA to a state paying their Federal taxes is quite literally 'taxation without representation.'  That's why suddenly he's talking about killing FEMA itself, removing the promise of federal emergency disaster relief, which would allow him to use disaster survivors as a way to force his dictator agenda on the American people.