Making the most out of the Trump Presidency

 Got a birthday card once from my late aunt God rest her soul.  No money in it just a greeting.  Kind of the same feeling I have about the Trump 2nd Term.  Getting the most out of a given situation.  Life gives you lemons make lemonade.  RFK Jr. as HHS Sec'y at least he got the petroleum out of pasta.  Trying to think what else.  So maybe we need to be philosophical about the Trump Administration.  With the latest inanities, calling inflation great and the UFC event scheduled at the White House maybe just see the Trump Presidency for entertainment purposes, some light froth in between serious Administrations.  You like Curly or Shemp?  Rubio is the only one who looks uncomfortable like he's trying to be a serious statesman amid the bufoonery.  When it's all over there will be a collective WTF was that?

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He's feeling no pain

 

I'm one of those shoppers who don't pay too much attention to prices.  I only buy a few items at a time now a little bit each day.  Just throw the items in the carriage and keep moving.  I'm not like the mamacita you see at the supermarket with five credit cards pulling two full carriages.  By my logic since I'm not buying a lot the grocery bill shouldn't be that high so why is the readout at the register always saying 50 60 70 or sometimes 80 dollars?  Oh wait when did coffee become so expensive?  Looking at the receipt again and Hefty garbage bags in double digits.  The cartons of Fancy Feast way too high but I already knew that so I buy the single cans more often now.  More variety that way.  Be that as it may I still won't buy toilet paper at the Dollar Store.  Your finger might poke through.  The POTUS is on record about not caring about all of this.  Hannity probably doesn't feel much pain at the pump.  Trump is the first president in modern times whose priorities doesn't include the economy apparently.  Depends on who you talk to.

My cat won't let me blog.

Since this is of some interest to people

 It is not a consuming issue for me though I am aware of it.  Talking about Bari Weiss the new editor-in-chief over at CBS News.  Not popular among many journalists at the moment.   Said to be right-leaning in favor of Trump.  Did shelve a story at the last minute that 60 Minutes was going to run about CECOT the notorious El Salvodoran prison where many of the illegals were sent.  Aired about a month later after being picked up by a Canadian streaming app.  So that was pretty much on the back burner for me until it took a harder edge the other day with the firing of longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.  Now it peaked my interest.  Pelley had a kind of meltdown at a staff meeting ripping Weiss and his new executive producer a couple of new ones and was subsequently fired by Weiss for cause.  Lest this turn into an essay I'll save other thoughts about Mr. Pelley in the Comments section.

A quick google.  Weiss is liberal on social issues but more conservative even outspoken on other issues like woke and cancel culture and DEI.  Voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.  Describes herself as "politically homeless."  Even if you subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Trump somehow put her in charge at CBS News that's only one network.  This hardly amounts to State-run programming.  Big snookers.

It's a story.  Worth doing a blogpost on.

Most of what Trump does doesn't benefit the average American

 From vanity projects to personal political vendettas.  The vomit of his own mind.  The presidency for him is nothing more than an extension of his own personality.  The wars.  So far the only country he has benefited is Israel.  Domestically the only thing he seems to care about is immigration.  Judge ruled he has to take his name off the Kennedy Center.  He wasted our time.  Has he made it easier for anyone to afford a home or buy health insurance?  War abroad and ICE coming to a town near you.  Throw in the settling of old political scores and this is about as broad and multifaceted a presidency as you're going to get from Donald J. Trump.  He's so bad he makes you want to stick a Vance sign on your front lawn.  Almost.

I was thinking of adding a ballroom to my house

 Not for entertainment but for security reasons.  Let's relive the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Gin it up.  You have to leave the country first to apply for a green card.  Tucker Carlson is a domestic terrorist.  Oh btw just saw a vid on YouTube.  The reason why you don't see Bigfoot in the open woods as much is because he spends most of his time underground in cave systems and tunnels coast to coast.

We are living in what I call the Post-Reason Age.

Financial thoughts while pipe smoking

 In between the Cavendish and Burley I tend to cogitate on money matters a lot during my pipe sessions.  Get a lot of solicitations in the mail.  Pre-approved personal loans, home equity, credit cards.  The big come-on with the loans is paying off high-interest credit card debt.  However if your minimum payment isn't that high to begin with I don't see how this holds you back.  How many loan sharks are okay with paying them back 80 or 100 bucks every month over the course of twenty years?  OK so you take out the loan or loans and wipe out your Visa and Mastercard obligations so now you owe monthly payments on the loan which is probably bigger than your minimum credit card payments were.  Now you get another loan solicitation in the mail to pay back your other loans.  The never-ending cycle of debt.  Also Tom Selleck wants to talk to you about something. 

Maybe go off the grid and live in a cave for five years?

Odd woman out

 I don't think she ever really fit in.  She always opposed invading Venezuela and going to war with Iran.  Talking about Tulsi Gabbard who just stepped down from her post as the Director of National Intelligence.   The cover story is that she resigned to be with her husband in his battle with bone cancer.  There are reports the CIA raided her office and took back some JFK and MK-ULTRA files about to be declassified and released to the public  There are other reports the WH forced her to step down.  Maybe a little of everything. 

I think Tulsi Gabbard was initially happy to join the Trump Cabinet because she supported the version of Trump that he campaigned on.  Must be a relief for her.