The Starr Report Retort

There they go again. Donald Trump whinging on about witches. Witch hunts, I guess. But he doesn't know what a real witch hunt looks like. Bill Clinton knows. 

I throw the Starr (witch hunt) investigation in their faces, created out of thin air by private, Mellon, money and unconnected to anything but a desire to get Clinton.

To kill Bill.  

Scheming Former President Advances Personal Interests

Donald Trump, whose only legislative achievement as president was a huge tax cut for the rich, is supporting oligarchy abroad as well by backing Vladimir Putin, whose side he has taken against the interests of average Russian citizens. 

Inventing Inventing Anna

Listen to the black people on this one. I don't know shit about Shonda Rhimes--I don't watch network TV--but the way this show shakes out it's a mighty black take. Anna might have been a lying sack of shit and a conwoman but black people know the whole country and its economic system are built on lies. 

Whatever else she is or isn't, by rich-ass white standards Anna is an amateur. America is the biggest con and scam and Ponzi scheme and whatever else you want to throw in the world has ever seen. It's imbedded in the system. It is the system. White people play at one casino and everyone else at another one.

Especially the rich. We play at the loser casino. They play at the can't-lose. 

Behold Bush and Trump, lottery winners out of the gate. Incorrigibly worthless, useless, unintelligent and clueless people. Highly destructive in fact. Electing them president is a galactic self-own. Inventing Anna has a corrective black attitude. The black people portrayed in it are the ones to listen to. 

Granting, I only watched it because of Julia Garner. She is riveting. Her Anna isn't only inscrutable she spreads bullshit around like . . . well, like American 'conservatives' or financial whizzes or Republicans. By the time they get done you doubt what's in front of your eyes and with good reason. 

Nothing makes any fucking sense. Money rains down here. But not there. Not only do I not deny there are gifted, workaholic and highly intelligent people making oodles in competitive environments, in NYC, for example, I know it's true. But many have the skills of poker players and contribute nothing. 

They contribute nothing. They inhabit a system that has evolved, prejudicially, for their (inconceivably outsized) remuneration and nothing else. Nothing else. Fucking nothing. The top layer of American society is a country club. We pay the bills and tend the greens and screen shit out of the pool.

Inventing Anna is about intelligibility. And America is unintelligible. That explains a lot. That explains everything. Why nothing can be explained. Because NONE OF IT MAKES ANY FUCKING SENSE. And trying to make sense out of it will make you crazy. 

Life is for Lying

Life is for living, Anna Delvey or whoever she was says somewhere in the middle of this huge program about her, but her life was for lying. And other people were mostly nothing to her. Means to ends. 

I remember seeing clips of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump being questioned as part of some investigation in small rooms and wondered how anybody could not see what pieces of shit they were. 

Moneyed pieces of shit. And that's what matters, as people are pointing out about Delvey or whatever her name is. She complains about men failing up. But, if she were regarded fairly, as a man would be? 

We'd say she was a piece of shit. And she said she wasn't respected because she was young. But she was plenty old enough to understand what she was doing. No juvenile detention for her. Grown-ass jail.

What a piece of garbage.

Death to Those Who Disrespect Trump

We can see it clearly now. In the next Trump administration disrespect will be punished with death. Donald as much as said so in commenting on Hillary Clinton and her (made up) supposed attempts to hack Trump's campaign. A hack would have been, apart from inconsequential, little more than a minor slight in the (criminal) world of Trump. 

Maybe he's pissed because they didn't go nuts to try to defeat him, assuming he would sink himself, and THAT was the slight. The attack was so meager. It was so half-hearted. It was so lame and pathetic, especially considering it didn't happen. Nothing is more lame than that. In any case, next time around there will be no mercy. Even if the crime was made up. 

Royal Ass-Powderer Seeks Redemption (and Employment)

Mike Pence is looking for a job. He claims to be redeemed but there's a new lord in town, one Pence already abandoned the passé Christ for, and Pence has hurt His feelings. Trump will not be trifled with. Jesus can put up with whatever He wants. But not Trump. 

There's a Trucker Born Every Minute

Trump suckers are some of the worst. What's really terrible is sucker truckers. They'll block your roads and bridges for no reason. The Canadian truckers were respectful and restrained by American standards. The American ones will be armed with assault weapons and wear body armor. And there are more of every kind of idiot in America.

Trump Pronouns Must Be Capitalized!

In a new missive from Mar-a-Lago Trump has announced that all Pronouns referring to Him must be Capitalized. Those who do not accede will be punished by Death when He repairs to His rightful place as Lord and Master of the Universe. 

All are advised to err on the side of Caution in Capitalization because the Penalty is so severe and Herr Donald notoriously Fickle, Impatient and Unforgiving. I'm Capitalizing all modifiers, epithets and adjectives I apply to Trump trying not to get killed. 

And, throwing in some other stuff for effect. It is hard. One mistake and firing squad it is. Probably best not to write anything. No word yet on whether it applies to Ivanka and what's-his-ass Her incompetent husband. Remember, one mistake! 

Herr Donald will not be trifled with. Only he will reign supreme! Oh, no . . .

Don't Fear the Reefer

I haven't craved a weed high in a long time but the stupendous insanity of Trumpist America makes me wonder if it might not help . . .

Shadows of Meaning

A post-truth world is a bad enough thing. A world without meaning is madness.  

Enigma Variations

Think about how nice it can be not to have a conscience. No looking back or regrets. So, no guilt. No concerns about integrity or consistency. Instant forgetting. Making stuff up. Alternative facts.

If you understand that you understand Republicanism and how terrifying it is. 

The Workingman's Undead

I can see how working people support Republicans based on what they say they believe in. I can't see how they can continue to support them when it's all so obviously a lie. 

Republicans are really good at lying, though. They are vampires, secretive and cunning and deadly, and the zombie doctrines they create are incredibly hard to kill. 

A Posteriori

Republicans have a new standard of truth. Not from the horse's mouth but from Trump's ass. 

The Branch Floridians

Scanning the scene I used to see something recognizably political but now I see a cult. A good, old-fashioned, American apocalyptic cult. In this case not one predicting and expecting the end times and judgment day but a movement to bring it about. They accept a need for improvisation. Trump or DeSantis? Who cares as long as they get to see Jesus. Are they saved or damned?

Even on this all-important question it doesn't matter. They are that fatalistic. Because, whatever happens, it is God's will by definition, de facto and a priori. They are happy to play whatever role as long as the world ends. That means Jesus returns as he said he would and they are impatient to see him. Whatever the terms. They despise creation that much. They hate it. They think the flesh is a mess. 

The Third Crucifixion of Christ

For those who lost track, the second was Charles Manson. The third is Donald Trump. 

Overton Window Officially Explodes

With Trump's latest tirade supporting and encouraging criminal behavior the Overton Window has officially exploded. There are no limits to acceptable political speech when a former president can encourage violent partisan criminality. 

Helter Skelter

Is there a psychic link between Donald Trump and whatever demons occupied Charles Manson? Trump's latest incitement to violence, not for the first time, had a strong appeal to racism. I think we have to assume the same demons are at work or the same mental illness. Whatever, but there's a common element of starting a race war and doing it by manipulating other people into creating murderous chaos. 

CSI: The White House

Clearly, Donald Trump thinks putting on a show and TV has something to do with work and having a job. Which is to say, he doesn't know what work is. Maybe, then, when we hit the phase of investigating and jailing him through the Department of Justice, which he also tried to corrupt by the way, it should be done in the form of a TV show, CSI: The White House.

Perhaps that way it will register. The guy is awfully obtuse so I'm not assuming anything but I think it's our best shot.

Sapped

America is the land of saps. The easily deluded. The country is sapped because saps have taken over. What they lack in sense they more than make up for in drive.

Same as it Never Was

Maybe something good can come out of America's flirtation with fascism. The realization there's nothing to go back to. We were never the people we thought we were. 

They Lied in the Bible

Either that, or it was a very clever use of the future when they say the meek will inherit the earth. It's always in the future. Assholes inherit the earth. 

Jesus Made Me Do It

I foresee a logical defense arising against the prosecution of the theocrats trying to take over our country. Jesus made them do it. As for the rich fuckers, whose creed is greed, I suppose they'll have to plead another kind of compulsion. 

What would any greedy asshole do? And everybody is greedy deep down. They're just better at it. That's what they think. They're only winners and they can't be faulted for that. Fuck the rest of us. We're just jealous. So, there. Take that. 

The Virulent Bear it Away

The contagions have combined forces against us. Fascism and the virus. Woe unto us. Fascists want to kill us. Anti-vaxxers want to kill us. Which will get there first? 

Political Seance

We're in an arena of metaphysical law now. 'Federalists' aim and mean to claim access to the immutable truth of our founding documents, the law in its platonic essence, when the whole point is to rely on an educated citizenry, political players of good faith and will, and jurists of clear conscience invested in and committed to the wellbeing of the broadest possible swath of the people of the nation. 

But, in practice, they use the high ground of moral authority to which they have laid claim, depending on an interpretation they assert not to be an interpretation at all but adherence to authority, to do whatever they want. This smells like a scam, originalism corresponding to and occupying the same mental space among them as literalism among the bible-thumpers. They are claiming revelation. 

It affords them the high ground to wreak havoc, and their literalism presents as a smokescreen to obscure the real wrenching originality of their jurisprudence, which is legislating from the bench as an article of faith and tribal submission. The spirit of the law is not just lost. It is trampled and destroyed. They fight against all the things I mention above, education, decency and an unbiased investment.

They don't care. 

They start with authoritarianism as a given and go from there. Authoritarians have to want to win. They believe that strongly in competition, excluding cooperation, but what is the law but a set of standards? Rules. And, I would say, these are not to be interpreted by biased characters, ouija board sleuths or at seances where they supposedly conjure up and commune with the ghosts of the founding fathers. 

The Hairy Plotter Series

The insurrection is coming back to Trump. Lots of byways, but all roads lead to Trump. 

Motherfucker, May I?

Mitch McConnell's new voting game for minorities is called Motherfucker May I. The minorities are all lined up in front of Mitch wanting to vote. Mitch tells them when and how to move forward, step at a time, to vote. They might have to flip or roll or crawl or whatever, depending on Mitch's instructions. 

First, however, they must say 'Motherfucker, May I?' or they return to the line and start over. In this way minorities are conditioned to withstand arbitrary authority and accept being controlled, an important civilizing influence. Of course, a lot of them will never get to vote but that's the fun of it!

Brutish Invasion

I suppose it's good Republicans are owning their inner Nazi. No more pretending to give a shit about anything but establishing their control of the government and guaranteeing continued control no matter what the public wants. Call it fascism. Call it autocracy or despotism. Call it illegitimate, which it is, or whatever you want I don't care. They certainly don't care. They think they are deserving by some arbitrary accident of birth, or some alien allegiance, so any means is justified to ensure their forever rule. 

Loving the Ruins

Okay, we're a ruin. A shadow and a vestige. We have to love our ruined selves and the crumbling institutions that once supported us. It's all we have. 

Coven to Table

The 'Overton Window' has exploded. I think I recall David Sedaris observing about an election, perhaps Bush's in '04, that, in a dining choice between shit with glass shards and chicken you can forego asking how the chicken is cooked. 

Just go with it.

Republicans are running on shit with glass shards. It's not even disguised anymore. They have professional racists like Stephen Miller and experts in governmental overthrow and demolition like Steve Bannon. They are not outliers.

They are the heart and soul of the new Republican Party. 

Hysterical Projection Increasing

Paranoid mechanisms can go from being hard to see to obvious in an instant. There's a normal resistance and surprise associated with encountering monsters in our everyday lives. Part of you is saying 'surely, no, this can't be that sick.' But, once you see it, the floodgates open and all becomes clear.

Because, the explanatory power is so strong and the mechanisms so reliable. The mechanisms work with perfect accuracy because they're unconscious. For once, their cunning fails them and the failure is revelatory. Since the advent of Trump persecutory fixations have run riot.

You'll notice how Trump and the Republicans accuse Democrats of what they themselves are doing with perfect accuracy. And they're always ahead of the game because it comes from such a deep place of denial. When a theme first emerges it will reveal what they're about to do. Not what they have planned, really, because it's entirely unconscious.

Take treason. Initially, such mentions usually show up as trial balloons among hugely disseminated sources in milder forms, such as 'betrayal' instead of 'treason,' but conservative media seems to have collapsed this so the window of acceptable slander and hysterical demonization explodes.

From my seat, where I don't consume conservative media, finding it vile, Ann Coulter always was a bellwether, an appropriate term since it initially applied to sheep. She's not only a font and volcano of contempt but a reliable guide to where conservatives are heading. 

I encourage you to look for a wedge issue that works for you. If treason is too strong look at the impeachment or Obamacare fixations or whatever, They are all revealing. Once you get away from conservative media to politicians and lawmakers, who are supposedly more reserved and controlled in their vitriol, Ted Cruz and a few others, especially his fellow theocratic conservatives, stand out. 

They think, of course, they are serving a higher master so they provide a view into this morally contagious disease. Cruz looks like Satan. He acts like Satan but, when you have a revolution to accomplish, this is a minor point. I believe if Cruz had a moment of insight, realizing he was working for the devil, he wouldn't care because he wants to bring about the 'second coming' and theocratic conservatives are so fatalistic they assume that, whatever happens, it was God's will anyway and inevitable.

You can see how the insanity works in their favor. This is so sick in its denial of human freedom, dignity and decency it's like dropping the monster from Alien into a musical. Guts everywhere. So, as I said in the beginning, normal people will resist the awareness of how demented Cruz and Coulter and their fellow travelers are. We can't afford that. Conservatives are normalizing killing their adversaries.

Also, be warned that normal people will wonder if they are guilty of this, paranoia, themselves. That's a sign you aren't. Strongish paranoid tendencies preclude any admission of weakness, responsibility or fault. Trump is such an infantile, compulsive practitioner of denial and projection it's easy to see. These are also conservative traits, rooted in a cruel, persecutory superego, weak, or nonexistent in the case of Trump, ego formation, strong reactions of disgust, and dualistic views making them despise themselves.

They can't stand that they are imperfect, mortal and corruptible, so they project all their festering, unacknowledged feelings of inadequacy onto us. And try to put a match to it. We can't ignore it and think it will go away. It won't. Not that they don't facilitate their own destruction. They always do because they push it too far, lacking normal empathy. But millions of people might get killed as it plays out.

Nazi analogies aren't inappropriate. Exaggeration? Look at their (our, since they are controlling everything) record in the Middle East and elsewhere going back decades. Carnage that could justifiably be called genocide. Immeasurable damage and no admission of guilt. All of that hate has come home. Without conflict their lives are unstable and unlivable. So, we will have conflict. With them attacking us.

Koch Injuries

I thought Charles Koch seemed a little aghast at the monster he'd created after the Capitol assault, like he did about Trump--until he realized the T-man was a loose cannon to his liking--but the franken-creature of an empowered political party completely bent on destroying its host has found a place in his heart. 

Sabotage of the government, after all, was always the point and Koch assumed it required more secrecy. But his methods have been so successful Republicans can now openly plot overthrow, by any and all means, and no one seems to be able to challenge it. 

Don't Worry, We're Fucked

I think acceptance might be the road to peace and equilibrium. Republicans have constructed a culture that punishes people with a conscience. We don't want to kill those off--our consciences--so the next best thing to taking back the culture in the name of humanity, which seems to be impossible, is probably resignation. Acceptance of our fate. No wonder stoicism is a topic in some circles. Endurance and equanimity might be the way to go in the face of the end times Republicans have in store for us.

The Miraculous Healing Powers of Trump

Trump supporters should go right to the source. Who needs ivermectin, colloidal silver, bleach, and all this other stuff when you can pray directly to Trump for intercession and healing. He will charge you for it, of course, but think nothing of that. We know it's his way and it doesn't mean he doesn't love you. 

Love doesn't preclude opportunism and exploitation, or even getting you killed. Shit happens, but true supporters must own their insistence on Trump's magical powers and ties to God for the wave of (exploitation) healing to take full effect and for the amazing healing powers to be experienced. 

General Trump's Chicken

Problem? Log-jam in a law-breaking spree? Order up some of Donald's special chicken. Mike Pence was a good call most of the time. As were a shocking number of the so-called 'civil-servants,' really Trump toadies, populating his administration. 

With their departure Fox News has filled the void. Cowardice and bluster abound. They will eat any turd and lick Trump's ass on demand. Need help overthrowing a government, establishing an autocracy or simply looting a society? Order up some chicken.

General Trump's finest. Accept no substitutes. 

Democracy Day

I want to propose a new national holiday, to be initiated when Donald Trump dies and celebrated on his death-day, Democracy Day. This is assuming that democracy, or some semblance of it, survives Trump.   

Band of Brokers

They fight only for themselves, not from duty or principle and certainly not for a country or people or anyone else. Only for number one, and that big cash payoff that makes them feel all giddy inside. 

But the thrill doesn't last and the thrill is the point, so they always want more. Though they act only for themselves in the aggregate they control nations, by manipulation. Entire polities, with their greed. 

It's the Band of Brokers. Anyone who acts without brutal selfishness, and who doesn't win at it, at that, is a sucker. Most of us are suckers. They're the predators and we're the product, or prey, a sucker nation.

The Velveteen Babbitt

The Velveteen Babbitt wants to be middle class but he's not. There's little left of the middle class. They were independent but the Velveteen Babbitt is just a plaything for the rich. He's owned by the rich.  

He's not real.

One day there's a big economic downturn. Republicans blame poor working people like the Velveteen Babbitt who weren't at fault (Republicans were) but the Velveteen Babbitt already has too little,

There's no happy ending to this story. Republicans recommend torching poorer people in the crisis. Nicer people blunt the force of it and slow it down but, inevitably, there is another time of trouble.

A pandemic. Again, Republicans want to screw poorer people. They always want to screw poorer poeple. There is help but, again inevitably, the burdens fall disproportionately on those of lesser means.

Over time the Velveteen Babbitt loses ground and isn't useful as a plaything anymore. By nature he's docile and compliant but he becomes angry. At Democrats. The Velveteen Babbitt can still be useful.

As cannon fodder in the culture wars. Republicans convince him Democrats are at fault. A lie, of course.

A story, but convincingly told. The Velveteen Babbitt spends the rest of his days consumed by hate for the people who, yes, perhaps too feebly, tried to protect him. He never gets to be middle class. 

Inbreeding: Still a Problem in the NC Mountains?

Mark Meadows knelt in contrition before John Boehner after he failed to unseat him as leader of the House Republicans. He then became a particularly ardent ass-licker in Donald Trump's entourage. 

Is this normal? I argue not. This kind of degradation, chosen and unforced, has a whiff of inhumanity about it. A big whiff of inhumanity. The loss of a soul. Madison Cawthorn succeeded Meadows. 

Cawthorn seems to be even more degraded than Meadows. I knew a family from the North Carolina mountains, of old derivation there. A prestigious family by mountain standards. The kids went to college.

They were Episcopalians. There were rumors circulating around them that Episcopalians did things with babies in their religious services. Really. And, when I visited, there were a lot of troopers about. 

State Troopers. 

My friends said the old families in the 'hollers' had switched from moonshine to pot. Weed. Also they said that, among these families, it was the grandfather's privilege to have first crack at his granddaughters. 

Sexually. I assumed this only still went on in Arkansas, what with Huckabees and other such evidence. Cawthorn and Meadows suggest otherwise. They are not normal. Nothing normal about them.

Turd on Fire: the Donald Trump Story

In the beginning was the turd. And the turd was made flesh and dwelt among us. The turd was Trump and he stripped the meaning and justice out of everything . . . 

Stop the Hate

Stop the hate. Just stop it. Please stop it. It would be much better if you would stop it. You know who you are. Or, maybe you don't. But, still, please stop the hate. 

The Birth of Birtherism

I once postulated parallels between Irish and Southern literature, having thought I noticed similarities in style and use of language.That is, language as a defense and means of keeping a defeated culture alive. The Irish were defeated by the English and the practice of their religion, Catholicism, was forbidden. 

Southerners were defeated by the Yankees and their religion, virulent institutional racism, was made illegal. Both cultures were or became adept at making up and maintaining parallel worlds that gave them positive identities, rallying points and a collective sense of self. But making shit up has a qualitative side.

Not all lies are created equal. Art is a kind of lie, as is anything creative and so life in general. Our lives are lies. We have to apply a layer of creativity to make life livable. I have problems with Catholicism but I'll take it over racism, and it was racism that produced the lies of Birtherism, another Lost Cause.

Trump Remembers Unstable Follower He Got Killed

Donald Trump has released a video remembering his devoted but mentally ill follower Ashli Babbitt who got killed in Trump's attempt to overthrow the government, which he deems a reasonable sacrifice in a worthy effort. All Hail Trump!

There's No Taste in Accounting

Keeping tabs gets us nowhere and the road to hell is paved with feeling owed. 

The Instigators

I once got accused of stirring stuff up. Playground misbehavior. Inciting disruption. With sometimes slightly destructive effects. I was guilty. I got punished. I wasn't a Bush or a Trump. 

It first hit me that things might not work out for me, as I had always thought they would. when I was in my late twenties. That I might have trouble making a living. But I wasn't a Bush or a Trump.

Trump's instigations are obvious. Schoolyard quality--low, petty and disproportionate. Bush, on the other hand, was being rehabilitated. With the end of Afghanistan, maybe not so much.

Will Americans finally see Republicans for what they are? 

Deposit Confirmation

Republicans continue to take a huge dump on democracy, taking a cue from the residue Trump left on the Resolute Desk and just about everywhere else he went. 

Band of Brokers

Wall Street is against Biden's infrastructure package, it appears. And why not? What's in it for them? I say, fine, they have a right to be against anything they want. With one vote each at election time. Anything else is disenfranchising to the rest of us. 

What Jesus Means to Me

George Bush: Jesus means I can get hundreds of thousands of people killed, displace millions, never suffer any earthly consequences and still go to heaven. Jesus is great.

Ted Cruz: I can spend my life trying to fuck people over and fuck people up and feel wonderful about it. I placed my soul in Jesus's hands. A conscience is superfluous. Life is so much simpler.

Paul Ryan: From my kegger days in college as an Ayn Rand devotee all I wanted was to screw my fellow citizens. Jesus provides cover. As a Catholic it's a little different. I dissociate.

Josh Hawley: I'm a raging theocratic conservative. I had to deceive a bunch of idiot liberals in educational institutions to get where I am. Jesus gave me the strength and perseverance to do that.

Rand Paul: I don't give a shit about Jesus. As a second-generation racist asshole I'm more of a seasoned veteran. I don't wear Jesus on my sleeve but thank God for the idiot Evangelical voters. 

Louie Gohmert: I was already stupid and morally blind. I turned to God for reassurance, not to get stupid and morally blind. God made me feel stupid is fine. I never look back.

Paul Gosar: I'm a bit of a psychopath so Jesus was a natural fit for me. Jesus can do no wrong by definition and neither can I since I'm above everyone else and their lives don't matter. 

Dick Cheney: Fuck Jesus, but thank God for the moron Jesus voters. You can screw them sideways and they still vote for you and never see the truth. Darth Vader is my avatar. I think it's funny.

Newt Gingrich: I have a vestigial conscience, unlike most Jesus people. I have to improvise to keep it in check. So far, so good. Usually I get a new wife. I'm a Catholic now so more a 'God' person.

Madison Cawthorn: I was plagued by feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy. Jesus got me past that. Not the worthlessness, but the feeling. Praise Jesus and pass the ammunition!

The Devil's Playground

George Bush surfaced to kick in a bit of his wisdom on Afghanistan. He looks demonic now. Ted Cruz, too. Then there are guys like Gohmert who have that vacancy in the eyes but still look human. We've become the Devil's playground. Courtesy of Republicans. Republicans calling themselves Christians. And Texas is gound zero for the infestation. 

Trump Arrested!

To quote a certain guy, either we have a country or we don't. There is one sure test of that, if Donald Trump can be arrested. If he isn't or can't be, knowing what we do now, it's all over. 

Defined by What They Aren't

Racists are negatively defined. They aren't defined by what they are they're defined by what they aren't. It extends into all areas of their lives.