The Epstein Files are like a horror movie

 US Rep. Lauren Boebert is talking about some of the unredacted Epstein Files.  Were the world's criminal elite into eating human flesh in addition to the sex trafficking of underage girls?  Alleged code phrases like beef jerky keep popping up in emails.  A restaurant called "The Cannibal."  Getting off on torture?  There is the old adage truth is stranger than fiction but we really don't know what to believe at this point.  Our whole political landscape has become increasingly surreal.  I remember a time when politics was boring.  Your eyes would glaze over watching the PBS Newshour.  Now it's like a Gothic novel.

ICE. Epstein.  Which is more depressing? 

I don't care if the next halftime show is in French

 I'm more into baseball.

Checking out YouTube just now.  Bad Bunny controversy all over the place.  Except for NippleGate do most people even remember halftime shows?  Even years later I never stream them and I listen to lots of music.  This is where modern conservatism has lost its way.  The issues the Right now focuses on doesn't help me put food on the table.  Always some side issue now not the bread-and-butter.

I'm thinking next year maybe Homan can do a standup. 

The irony of the current situation

 Little delay in blogging here.  Plumbing issues which have been finally taken care of.  Making vet appointments for five cats.  Tax preparation time etc.  The disappearance or kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie's Mom.  ICE kidnaps people all the time but somehow it's considered normal law enforcement.  It's a favorite theme of the Right that social protest movements are not organic but somehow engineered or orchestrated by certain higher-ups.  George Soros and Bill Gates I guess.  I thought they were gluten-free, normal folk being outraged by something but The Right has never liked protest movements to begin with.  Somehow violates law and order or being a good citizen.  So Trump calls popular podcaster Joe Rogan a great guy and called him up just a few says ago.  Re the current ICE situation in Minneapolis Trump told Rogan they're bad at PR.  I guess they need to explain better why shooting protesters multiple times makes sense.

So clearly Trump wants to make some type of massive illegal immigration crackdown the main thrust of his second term.  How 'bout something more unifying like simplifying the tax code?  No street theater, maybe a little boring and dry at times but nobody loses their lives unnecessarily and senselessly.   Help people put food on the table and buy a house.  No chaos necessary. 

Have a good day.

Govern me harder Daddy

 The New Right.  The Old Right used to be against too much federal power.  The New Right welcomes it as long as it's in service to the needs and interests of the Right e.g. mass deportations.  BTW Megyn Kelly looks like someone stuck a lemon up her ass frothing and fulminating all the time.  Could be a dry spell dunno.  She definitely has a thing for the ICE goons.  What I don't get though is how the New Right considers ICE to be professional law enforcement.   Not even getting into the pros and cons of mass deportations but these are your standards?

We didn't vote for keeping it psycho.  We didn't vote for a soap opera.  We didn't vote for social chaos.  I just want a slow news day:)

Open season on American citizens

 At least in the blue states.  The Feds kill another American citizen.

At first they got rid of the worst of the worst or so they said.  Then they went after the farm and hotel workers, the bricklayers and the chefs.  Now they're just targeting American protesters of their operations to send a message.  The Trump Administration is like organized crime.  If the DOJ is corrupt who will investigate who will prosecute?  Will Bondi, Noem, Homan, Trump et al. all wind up in the Hague someday?

The Black Panther is not extinct

Some have even been spotted as far away as Minnesota   The Trump Era suddenly giving off 60s/70s vibes.

Homan's Boys now happily violating the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution with their midnight battering rams.  Vance to visit Minneapolis soon.  Maybe he can observe how agents are now holding people down and tear- gassing them directly in their eyeballs.  Post about how patriotic they are on X.  What would Norman Rockwell think?

Queue Kate Smith and "God Bless America."

Black Panthers in Philly and Demented in Davos

 Never a slow news day under Trump.  How long how long oh Lord before we return to normal governance? Stocks rebounded after Trump said he won't take Greenland by force but he did say Iceland a few times at the WEF.  Despite the country and world being in total turmoil guy at work just likes to talk about the weather.  Nurses on strike in NYC.  Don't get sick here.

The day Donald J. Trump is impeached and removed from office

 I'm gonna go out and get me a bottle of Hennessy.

An open crapper today:)

Cult thinking

 My friend is very political.  He's also a heavy Trumper.  Driving him home yesterday and apropos of nothing he goes "Democratic socialist scumbags."  He'd be right at home over at that other place.  Then he asked me what I thought about Greenland (I just love talkin' politics after a hard day at work).  Basically I said there's nothing wrong with having an offer on the table.  You can always join us no pressure, the offer is always open but where I draw the line is I'm against military threats against Greenland and attacking and invading them.  So then my Trump friend talked about (he really should be posting over at that other blog), he started talking about China and Russia doing stuff up there and Putin maybe put something in the bottom of the Arctic Ocean (my friend an expert on everything).  Went over my head.  Then my friend said two or three times that Trump must have some access to some kind of secret intelligence, some critical info the rest of us don't have.  This is the way the true Trump cultists defend him.  Trump is like God.  His ways may be inscrutable but trust him and his wisdom.  Trump moves in mysterious ways or maybe he's just a dick.

Anonymous has revealed that Republicans are ready willing and able to impeach Trump and remove him from office if he continues to threaten Greenland.  Attacking Greenland a NATO ally would violate treaties and defense agreements.  Germany and France already sending troops up there to defend her.  You can't make this shit up.

There really should be a 1-800 help hotline for the Trump cultists.  Leave now before it's too late.

I wouldn't even say this under the influence of the Christian Brothers

 Deep thinker, philosopher and right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly has formed a theory which began as a brain fart but which she is now putting on the table as a serious contribution to the national debate over the ongoing events in Minneapolis MN.  She now says that the ICE protesters aren't having enough SEX and talks about all the fat unattractive women with multiple piercings in the anti-ICE crowds. Thoughts - Megyn Kelly has staked out an early position on that tragic ICE shooting of Renee Good, staked it out from the get-go and is sticking with it but I am also beginning to form my own theory here.  Megyn Kelly is secretly attracted to ICE agents some kind of thug fetish going on.  It rings her bell.  The masked anonymous ICE agent, the super manly and patriotic Defender of the Homeland.  The 50 Shades of Megyn Kelly.

I thought I was gonna have nothing to talk about today.  You go girl!  Throwing your sisters under the bus.  (Is that Megyn moaning?)

An aside about the Better Business Bureau

 Might be of limited interest to readers with all the big things happening but I have kind of formed an opinion now of the Better Business Bureau.  This blog has toggled back and forth between basically All Things Trump and my bad online shopping experience with SHEIN.  The finer details are in previous posts.  Filed a complaint with the BBB and this thing went back and forth for a few weeks.  SHEIN places almost the whole burden on the consumer to in effect basically somehow proving your lost parcels went to the wrong address.  Lost about $500 to them which they won't refund.  The BBB concluded the matter today informing me that they feel SHEIN acted in good faith and addressed my concerns.  There were no real offers from SHEIN or compromises even so the BBB couldn't even get me a half result.

My newer view now of the Better Business Bureau is they are probably fine for informational purposes only but lacking any real enforcement powers they shouldn't be in the mediation business at all.  In my modest view they're an overrated organization.  My sister made the point Trump should go after online retailers like SHEIN and stuff like that and I agreed Trump would be better if he did just a few minor useful things for most people rather than the stupid epic things he's doing now so tangent back into politics if you wish.

Things are not normal in the Trump Era.  The quality of our institutions are not what they used to be.  The Better Business Bureau.  Pretty much a paper tiger.  It's like the bad retailers don't even fear them anymore.  Shop at home.  Go local;)

What's the deal with breaking people's car windows?

 Normally if you saw this you'd call the cops.  Oh they are the cops.  Will Homan's Heroes be liable for damages?  That ain't cheap.  Some kind of rage issues going on.  Might we call them oh I don't know domestic terrorists?

A Thugacracy (def.: ...example - Donald Trump's America in 2026)

Homan's Heroes strike again.  Other countries must be looking at this and going this is the United States?  I thought they were a civilized democracy. 

Foreign protesters good American protesters bad

 Pondering the dichotomy here.  The Iranian regime's crackdown on anti-government protesters at last count 2,500 dead.  Trump weighing his military options and knowing Trump he will probably do something and truthfully I would not shed a tear for the mullahs.  Over here state-sanctioned violence against anti-ICE protesters.  Not getting the dissonance.  A growing number of DOJ federal prosecutors are resigning over the direction of the probe into the killing of Renee Nicole Good.  Fringe righties though still defending it even as Rogan and some other podcasters who used to support Trump are condemning it.  Maybe Megyn Kelly will dance with Trump some day to some nice Nazi waltz music in the new WH ballroom.  Apparently if I understand correctly the new training period for new ICE recruits is no longer 5-6 months but 47 days in honor of Trump being the 47th president.   Iranian regime bad Trump regime good.

You can't make this shit up:)

Saying the quiet part out loud. Trump is just plain Nutz

 He wants to invade Greenland still.  His military generals are resisting him.  The Maduro regime in Venezuela is still largely intact.  Hardly a regime change.  Not sure what was accomplished there.  Trump sending hundreds of more federal agents to MN.  What a way to quell and de-escalate the situation.  DHS Sec'y Kristi Noem doubling down on the murder of Renee Good.  Viral videos of ICE agents bothering people at gas stations and McDonald's.   Trump's maniacal obsession with illegal immigration although an important issue not the most important issue facing the country right now imo.  Trump definitely has OCD in addition to his other myriad mental disorders.  You can't get rid of every illegal immigrant.  At any rate whatever approach you favor it should be done calmly and professionally.  For the record I don't favor mass deportations but Obama deported about 3 million without all the social chaos the Trump Administration is causing.  Nobody died horrific deaths as I recall.

Big blue wave come the mid-terms.

Trump can't keep up with Obama's deportation numbers

 Despite everything that's been going on and I don't recall anything as horrific as this happening during the Obama years.  Obama the deportation king at around 3 million.  Biden did his fair share too only they didn't talk about it much.  This is why Trump consigliere Stephen Miller has them hitting burrito stands and Home Depot they're not reaching goal.  So I was thinking about the physics of the situation.  ICE cop stands purposely in front of Renee Good's SUV and she has to take off from a totally dead stop what's the maximum amount of speed she could have reached anyway?  I didn't really understand that new (ai?) bodycam video Trump put out.  Supposed to be a bombshell.  Megyn Kelly all over it.  Kind of a nothing burger in terms of justifying the agents.  Maybe Hannity can deconstruct it for us.

Wisdom for today.  It's better to let an ICE agent drag you out of your car and beat you up than try to take off.

Donald Trump's police state

 State-sanctioned violence against even American citizens.  Trump is tearing apart the social fabric of this once great nation and it's by design.  It appears ICE actively recruits psychopaths.  Talking of course about that fatal ICE shooting of that Minneapolis woman in her SUV.  You see these goons coming up to your vehicle you might panic too.  DHS whore Kristi Noem says she tried to run over an ICE agent.  Trump echoed this on his social media.  The videos and there are many show nothing of the kind.  The International Criminal Court or the ICC already probing Trump's border policies especially its family separation policy.  Trump is flooding the zone.  His international war crimes on the front pages the last few days and the ongoing rogue activities of ICE.  Weren't we just talking about the Trump/Epstein Files?  Change the subject.

Read somewhere the ICC might prosecute Trump and his senior officials once his term is over.  See you in the Hague;)

A new clinical diagnosis - Trump Worship Syndrome or TWS

 I watch a lot of podcasters on YouTube and one podcaster subbing for another podcaster proposed that since we already have Trump Derangement Syndrome or TDS perhaps we can have the opposite disorder or Trump Worship Syndrome (TWS).  I like it.  These are not MAGA-ites as I said in my last post.  Jon Stewart makes that mistake.  With the remaining remnant of Trump supporters there are no consistent guiding political or philosophical principles.  They simply support unwaveringly everything that comes out of the chaos of Trump's mind.  He's just trying to do the right thing and the media and the Left are relentlessly attacking him.  Tom Homan is really a big ole soft teddy bear who has a job to do.  You're anti-Trump?  What do you hate the country or something?

The folk suffering from TWS they know who they are.

OIL, minerals and drugs way down the list

 Elite sex predators even further down.  Trump is now running two countries.  How does he find the time?  Rubio wants to attack Cuba next and I thought he was the rational one.  Rubio is lousy at news interviews then again he has to defend the indefensible.  BTW whatever happened to the Pete Hegseth double tap scandal?  Like two day news item.  Then Trump consigliere Stephen Miller says we have the right to take Greenland.   I think half the Administration is composed of psychos. 

I don't think Trump sleeps all that much.  He has the endless energy of a sociopath.  BTW what is Lindsey Graham so giddy about?  Re narco-terrorism the interesting thing here is that narco-terrorists aren't forcing Americans to do drugs.  Me?  I prefer the Christian Brothers to take the edge off a rough day.  One of the charges against Maduro in the indictment is that he had machine guns.  Like well DUH.

We're living in weird times.

The few remaining people who still support Trump are not MAGA

 President Trump has betrayed MAGA not the other way around.  Trump has betrayed MAGA most notably on foreign policy to wit no foreign interventions and no regime change wars.  America First NOT Israel First.  Trump is a war criminal at this point.  He invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its president Nicolas Maduro and his wife and now claims to be in charge and running that country.  This was never really about drugs but all about OIL.  The indictment against Maduro and his wife doesn't even mention fentanyl.  The rest of the Venezuelan government is still largely intact and Trump has threatened an even more brutal attack if the lady VP over there doesn't comply.  Venezuelan paramilitary forces everywhere.  Sound familiar?  Boots on the ground would mean guerilla warfare = quagmire for years.  Now Trump has his sights set on Cuba and possibly Greenland an important NATO ally.  So far the military is obeying Trump's every illegal order.  Thorny issue.  They might want to reconsider that or be held to account somewhere down the road.  Putin has made his chess move saying release Maduro now.  China the same.  MAGA has already abandoned the POTUS in droves.  What remains are those few remaining supporters and loyalists.  That's not MAGA.  They're beyond MAGA.  Now we're talking cult territory.  Weren't we just talking about the Trump/Epstein Files like a few days ago?

Donald J. Trump.  Madman on the world stage.

The only way to stop Trump is to bring him before the International Criminal Court

 Any country can file a motion.  However with America's military might probably won't go anywhere.   War crime charges have already been filed against Bibi by the ICC and he's still happily conducting his little genocide with our help btw.  The other avenue is impeachment and that's very unlikely to happen.  Turns out Trump if you read the news reports was really after Venezuela's vast oil reserves all along.  Most fentanyl comes from Mexico.  Don't confuse me with the facts though.

Yet another distraction from the Trump/Epstein Files.  Glad Anonymous is exposing Mr. Trump on YouTube though.  Just wish they'd get rid of those silly masks.

So now we capture foreign leaders?

 The little ones anyway.  Trump bombed Caracas the capital of Venezuela and captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife.  An act of naked aggression.  What are they gonna do with Maduro have him scrub toilets?  Hegseth is like the neighborhood psycho who finally grew up and got himself into a position of power.  Will Trump someday join his BFF Bibi in the docket at the ICC?  The man is out of control.  I'd like to see him capture Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping.  Trump - a big man with tiny balls.

Trump - A Scumbag For All Seasons

 Two reasons for Trump's downfall IMHO.  He entered his second term in full combat mode mad at half the world.  WHY?  Secondly he's not the intellectual type.  He doesn't mull things over, calmly weigh the pros and cons but just forges ahead in his own stupidity.  The tariffs are a perfect example.  He's turned into a joyless prick and his Cabinet reflects that.  Homan is like something out of a horror movie.  Will he exhume the illegal dead?  OK so the latest is Trump doesn't want Southeast Colorodans to have clean drinking water.  Unanimous bill passed by the Congress, a pipeline project but he's getting back at CO Rep. Lauren Boebert over the Epstein Files.  In a phone call to MTG he railed that full disclosure would hurt his friends.  What kind of friends does he have anyway?  I personally don't know any sexual predators do you?  What kind of social circle is that?  Everyone's a perv?

You can't impeach somebody for being an asshole but I'm sure there are grounds for something.  Either that or Republicans get reamed and cleaned in the mid-terms.

A New Year's Resolution

 I generally don't make them but going forward no online shopping for me.  Would have to be an absolutely necessary purchase like if I ever feel the need to get a hearing aid but other than that I'm done.  There are two groups of SHEIN customers.  The first group are people who never had a problem with them and the second group are former customers who had to deal with Customer Service.  I'm thinking maybe the UPS Claims Dept. is partially driven by ai although I don't know this.  Might explain some things.  Something hasn't been right since Trump got elected.  Maybe it's the tariffs.  SHEIN is a Chinese company so why should they give their American customers refunds?  Just a theory.

We're a nation of compulsive shoppers.  Probably half the people in Target don't really need anything.  You always see them coming out of the store with plastic storage containers.  Credit card debt in this country is at an all-time high.  What's up with people always passing you on the escalators?  Everyone's in such a hurry.  My mother used to have a saying about such people.  What are they in a hurry to get to their grave?

It's gonna snow?  Go to Home Depot and get another shovel.  You already have five.

Oh Tangerine Man - Trump's slide into LaLa Land

 Word on the street is the Trump brain won't last another three years.  He needs handlers.  He wished Americans a very Merry Christmas saying it may be their last.  He wants CBS to put Stephen Colbert to sleep.  There are the new plaques in the WH etc. etc.  It's only a matter of time before the main attraction at the WH will be kids lining up to throw peanuts in his mouth.

Oh Tangerine Man,)

There's guilt by association then there's guilt by too much association

 Trump's name keeps popping up in the Epstein Files.  Just sayin'.

Trump and the Argonauts

 In another flight of fancy Trump says newer Navy battleships are in the works larger faster and more powerful than anything Mankind has ever seen before.  It's part of his grander delusion of what he calls a Golden Fleet.  The first Trump battleship will be called the USS Defiant.  I can think of some other names.  It'll have hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, rail guns......I think it will be able to take an asteroid or two out of the sky.  The crew will be able to battle the Cyclops if they encounter one.  Will the on-board cuisine include giant squid?  Commander Trump will be able to do battle with half the world.  Meanwhile the Navy says they may not have all that technology up to par yet.

Trump.  Man Myth and Legend:)

Maybe UPS lost her package and denied her claim

 'Tis the holiday season.  NY AG Letitia James files suit against UPS.  It is what it is.

Merry Christmas. 

Alfie - 1/2 feral 1/2 house

 

Wary of strangers he has bonded with me.  Will still catch the occasional squirrel.  An expert ratter helps keeps the rodents at bay.  Saves me from a pest control bill.  You'll notice three large cat carriers in the background as I have four other felines.  Alfie goes for his yearly vet visit in early March.  Also some scratching posts to the left of the carriers.  Then you'll see part of a litter box.  No real issues there but I do have the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser just in case.  Such is the feline living room.  Menu still mostly Fancy Feast.  Some days pulled chicken and roast beef.  Have to watch the seafood as I have another cat I think is allergic to fish.  Easy living.

SHEIN now accepting donations and UPS not taking claims seriously

 To round out a previous post.  Shopping at the online retailer SHEIN is a Jekyll and Hyde experience.  The products that I have bought all have good quality and were delivered either very fast or in a timely manner.  That's the Jekyll side.  The Hyde side is Customer Service.  That's really only if you have a problem or issue and pray you don't.   First you encounter the ai bot of course but even when you decide to engage with an actual human agent they talk like bots too.  Pre-fab cut and paste generic responses.  In two cases they sent me the message my orders were delivered only I haven't found them to this day.  It's hard to find a SHEIN phone number from the site or app so you wind up messaging them.  You go in a circle with different agents.  They can't seem to progress beyond "our records indicate" and make no serious attempt to resolve the issue.  Many people across the web have posted about never receiving their packages from SHEIN despite SHEIN insisting the carrier delivered them.  SHEIN then does not offer refunds or replacements even when the customers request this.  In my book if an online retailer accepts your money and you never receive the product that's a donation not a business transaction.  Which leads me to UPS.

Filed a claim with UPS for my lost items.  Received a confirmation e-mail stating that an investigation has begun and that I need to do nothing in the meantime and they'll contact me in 8 business days.  I replied to this that I could not retrieve the image the driver supposedly took as proof of delivery.  A few days passed and today they sent me a final e-mail saying they closed my claim because they were unable to contact me to assist in the investigation this despite them having said as I just noted that I don't need to do anything while they look into the case.  Also there was no box in the original claim application for my phone number.  At any rate they still obviously had my Gmail address so what's wrong with that?  UPS messed up and won't do right.  They used to be a top-notch carrier.

The moral of the story is that it's better to go to an actual physical store and buy things.  The other thing is in this Era of Trump nobody is wrong.  I think maybe Bill Clinton started that.

An important change to my homeowners policy

I was informed today by mail in addition to my new Declarations Page that there has been a reduction in coverage in my homeowners insurance to wit not covered bodily injury ot property damage caused by illegal animals or pets.  Wild by birth or nature, a bird of prey, venomous or poisonous snakes and reptiles, chimps etc.  What do they think I'm running a zoo here?  BB can have my Great Horned Owl and Copperhead.  When I was growing up I was bitten by a feral kid.  Would he be illegal to own today?  How are the cats doing?

Excuse me while I go feed my Sasquatch. 

Maybe Sasquatch took your package into a portal

 The pros and cons of online shopping would make for a too lengthy post but some of us adventurers encounter the occasional "delivered but never received" quandary.  Happened to me a few days ago and it wasn't theft as I was having my pipe session on the front porch at the time.  The website gives helpful pointers in such a situation.  Did you check behind the holly tree in the backyard maybe?  OK so then you check parts of your neighborhood and do some casual walks and some casual talking.  Some light research of mine indicates it's not mostly theft but technical reasons.  Maybe the driver accidentally butt-scanned something dunno.  So now you contact Customer Service and as a rule they never want to help you.  Maybe not a telephone call could be a live chat.  It's obvious they don't want to do any actual work even though they have all the logistical information at their fingertips.  "Our records indicate that your package was delivered on..." so now it's a kind of philosophical conundrum.  You have it but you don't.  It's quantum.  Then maybe you file a claim with your carrier and they're looking into it.  Mystery open.

Shopping is funny.  Maybe you can find a chair already made but sometimes you have to put it together yourself.  Happened to my brother.

The Restoration of the Republic - how long?

 In just the span of a few short weeks my rock-ribbed all-American conservative friend has gone from anyone who is anti-Trump is drinking the Kool-Aid to Trump's a weird guy.  MAGA not so much a base anymore but a remnant.  The tariffs - unless it's my imagination the cost of my online shopping has shot up overnight.  Venezuela - not a source of major drug traffic like Colombia and Mexico more a grab for oil.  Trump's Birthday - maybe a national holiday?  The ICE shitshow continues to rampage across the land.  Putin/Zelensky- Trump the Great Appeaser.  Foreign policy - Israel First.  The MRI - what's that all about?  Whimsical pardons.  The SCOTUS poised to expand his kingly powers.  Who's the court jester in this Administration?

The Trump 2nd Term - a boil on the ass of History;)

For Anti-Semite of the Year I nominate my sister's parrot

 Some woman with a sketchy background runs some site called StopAnti-Semitism.com.  Every year they hand out awards for Jew-hater of the year.  Last year Candace Owens got the top honor.  This year Tucker Carlson is in the running of course along with Cenk and Ana from the Young Turks, Ms. Rachel, actresses Marcia Cross and Cynthia Nixon and a few others.  Basically it's all about calling out Bibi and the genocide in Gaza.  This is weak.  Criticizing a foreign government is not the same thing as hating that country's people.  If you have a problem say with the Argentinian government it doesn't mean you hate Argentinians.

My sister owns an African Grey Parrot.  In addition to saying my sister has a fat ass and generally talking smack he has said some things about Jews behind closed doors.  Nick Fuentes has asked why he's not on the list.  Can we nominate the bird?

MTG - The canary in the coal mine?

 I had to google what this phrase meant.  Half of me is off the top of my head knowledge the rest of the time I'm a Captain Google.  They're saying there will be more Republican resignations to come as Trump has made a toxic stew out of modern politics.  Re his historically low approval ratings I would submit a large percentage of those surveyed are not what you would call anti-Trumpers to begin with but rather people who feel he's not remotely doing anything they voted for.  The rest of the core group is what I would call the dwindling number of true believers basically a political cult at this point.  These are the people who will leave the Trump bumper stickers on their cars and pickups like my neighbor.  Trump worship.  I'd be too embarrassed. 

What is the GOP plan on health care?

 As near as I can tell it's  better to go bankrupt  because of astronomical medical bills than to have a government-run system because that's Communism.  Trump wants to extend ACA subsidies.  Repubs don't know what to do.  Many people, far too many in this country are living paycheck to paycheck.  They're not anti-doctor but can't afford medical bills right now.  Something would have to be an absolute medical emergency for them to see a doctor.  I'm sure Speaker Mike Johnson doesn't have this anxiety.  There's no advanced country in the world which would want to exchange health care systems with us.

Maybe I'm due for this and maybe I'm due for that but I have a house to run and haven't received any of the checks yet promised from the Trump Government.   Maybe the question can be asked at the next presser.  The POTUS: "Let me pull them out of my ass."

After reading RFK Jr.'s sex poems

 I want to become a monk.  His past affair with journalist Olivia Nuzzi took a literary turn.  The Bard of Smut.  Also from the ticker a federal judge has tossed the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and ex-NY Attorney General Letitia James.  Betcha didn't see that coming!  Pentagon wants to court-martial Sen. Mark Kelly over his taking part in that refuse illegal orders video.  Russia/Ukraine peace plan still being worked on and Trump has some kind of health care plan.

I long for the slow news days.

When a grouch is nice you're nervous

 A little bipolar action?

By all accounts yesterday's meeting between NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani and President Trump at the WH went very well.  It was cordial, civil and even charming.  Trump said some of Mamdani's views are a little out there but said he hopes he'll be a great mayor and they'll work together.  They discussed housing, affordability and other matters.  At one point a reporter asked Mamdani if he thought Trump is a fascist and Mamdani started to speak but Trump waved it off and said it's OK to say yes it's easier.  That's a little skill right there.

Dunno.  Had a deli manager back in the day who was a real grouch.  One Christmas he bought everyone a bottle of Australian Yellowtail and we were like what's up with that?  Trump goes in and out of the clear state a lot.  Is it all shtick?

MTG resigning in January.  Will probably wind up with a talk show or podcast.  You haven't heard the last from her.

From dictator to lame duck

 Emasculated by the Epstein Files saga President Trump is now issuing death threats against Democrats.  Six Democrats from the Senate and House posted a video saying US service members and intelligence personnel can refuse illegal orders.  Trump in a typically hyperbolic post on Truth Social said such behavior amounts to sedition and George Washington would've hung 'em.  WH Press whore Karoline Leavitt said it may be a crime to defy Trump and that's not much of a paraphrase.  That being said the President is obviously not well in the head.  He's also giving in to Putin on the Russia/Ukraine War.  Ask Steve Bannon:)

I'm 62 years old come next March

 Can I get a 50 year mortgage?

Well it took an act of Congress for Trump to finally fulfill one of his campaign promises namely to release the full Epstein Files.  Transparency in government.  Who's Bubba?

Gay presidential porn

 Could be a new sub-genre on PornHub next to midgets and dwarves and granny porn.  I LONG for the days when politics was boring.  You'd be watching the PBS Newshour and experts would be on discussing the deficit, your eyes would glaze over and you'd change the channel.  You finally got your big political science degree at a college or university, you finally got a seat on an important TV roundtable and you have to discuss THIS?  What is this Ancient Rome?  You have to get the kids out of the room now before you flip on the news?  Oh yeah to hear the WH tell it this is just a massive distraction from Trump's many accomplishments.  Like what?

I can't believe I'm living;)

Pot - Kettle - Black

 In a post on Truth Social President Trump called MTG "wacky" and "a ranting lunatic."  The Trump brand is toxic at this point and expect more Republicans next week to vote for the release of the Epstein Files.  Handwriting on the wall.  After next year's mid-terms turn into a big blue wave Trump becomes a lame duck.  Probably one already.  On so many fronts has done the opposite of the core MAGA principles.   He has exploded the deficit and has started or wants to start more wars.  On the Epstein front he acts like he's hiding something.   Personality-wise he's pretty much a piece of shit.  The Cult of the Orange Man.  Only a few stalwarts left.

The Hoax is about to get interesting

 The dog that hasn't barked is calling it that.  Today House Speaker Mike Johnson finally swore in Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva AZ and tomorrow she'll be the 218th vote on a discharge petition for DOJ to release the full Jeffrey Epstein Files.  Today was a document dump of a ton of old Epstein e-mails three of which claim Trump knew of the underage girls and the trafficking.  I don't keep old e-mails around do you but anyway WH reportedly put pressure on Republican Congresswoman from Colorado Lauren Boebert to take her name off the petition.  I mean if it's a hoax who gives a 🐀's ass ya know? So that'll be the news for awhile as Trump moves more aircraft carriers into the Caribbean.  One might almost be tempted to say that's a distraction.

Government shutdown finally ending

 Eight Dems struck a deal.  Has to pass through both Chambers of course and be ratified by His Highness but damage already done.  SNAP on hold.  Airports in turmoil.  Didn't stop Homan's Heroes though (wish I thought of that one but borrowing from BB).  Longest in history.  If Trump got a third term he'd land us into even a longer one and over something stupid.

I wish in the next three years we'd get a return to normal governance.  Fairly normal?  Semi-normal at least?  But the Trump Administration is an inversion, the reverse of the normal way things should be.  Putting the cart before the horse, counting your chickens before they're hatched or having diarrhea after you take a shower.  He's making cooing sounds now of a 2K tariff dividend check for most Americans except the highest earners.  Something tells me that may go the way of the DOGE check.

To paraphrase a Billy Joel song Christian Brothers will get you by.

Binge watching drug commercials

 I say put 'em all together and have a marathon.  Hosted by RFK Jr.  Might cause liver problems. 

Good time to travel no? Hop on a flight

 What was the bone of contention again to cause the entire Government to shut down?  Health care for illegals?  Release of the Epstein Files?  A UFO cover-up?  I forget.  Trump likes to break his own records.  Longest government  shutdown in history.  Second longest also held by Trump during his first term.  Trump doesn't like the government being open apparently.  Homan and ICE still doing their work though come rain or shine.  Meanwhile Pelosi's retiring after 100 years in the Congress.

My toilet bowl started glowing last night.  Are they retesting the nuclear program in Yonkers?

Because he thinks he's all that

 Usually off-year elections ain't all that interesting but the main focus this time was Zohran Mamdani's early win in the NYC mayoralty race.  The Groper had a respectable showing at 42% but his political career is over.  Sliwa continues to run for things but probably couldn't even get Sidewalk Inspector for Yonkers.  Mikie Sherrill handily won the gubernatorial race in NJ and a Democrat lady won the governor's race in VA.  Other key races across the land went to the Democrats.  Trump had a typical solipsistic take in his post-election analysis.  Republicans lost heavily in part because his name wasn't on the ballot.

WHY does Trump worship still exist and are there really going to be free bus rides in NYC?