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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

Trump 3.0 - The Shitshow Continues

 May this never happen.  The King will be a doddering old fool at that point.  Steve Bannon says there's ways around the 22nd Amendment and believes Trump is an instrument of Divine Providence.  To what end explode the deficit and start wars against little countries?  The Nutty Emperor.  Oh SNAP food aid is about to end for millions of Americans but the military will continue to get paid because one of Trump's donor friends is covering their salaries.  Government shutdown with no end in sight but Chef at work tells me the stock market is doing well.

Perhaps Megyn Kelly can explain all this.

Last Tango at the White House

 Maybe they can play some Nazi Waltz music.

Construction has already begun on the East Room or the facade as Trump would have it since he says he respects the existing structure.  A big ballroom.  $250 million tab to be picked up by Trump and some private donors.  Is Bob Vila involved?  Will Taylor Swift perform?  What about a cineplex where they can show such classics like The Boys From Brazil?    Will Homan do stand-up?  Maybe show a compilation like ICE Bloopers and Practical Jokes.  Will they put a basketball court on the grounds?  After Diddy and Ghislaine Maxwell are pardoned will they be honorees?  

TRUMP - The everything but the cost-of-living president. 

They passed the big bad beautiful bill then shut the government down

 Kind of makes no sense but Trump says it's no big deal.  The Epstein Files also no big deal.  An illegal migrant picking your lettuce now that's a big deal!

How does attrition affect the job numbers?

 Economics not being my strong suit.  It is not an uncommon business practice that when someone leaves, passes on or retires the company doesn't replace them.  Many companies probably won't even officially acknowledge they've adopted a policy of attrition but the remaining workers are bound to notice over time.  Everybody else has to work harder of course and in some cases you're left with a skeleton crew.  I feel like at work in our department we're skeletal or close to it.  So rather than rambling further I would submit that Trump instead of firing some top labor stats person should make a sincere effort to understand the numbers better if they are poor.  The question: how common is the business policy of attrition and how significantly does it affect the jobs report?

Trump wants to ban drug advertising on TV

I see it as a free speech issue but Trump being Trump wants to protect us.  I see a little Bobby influence here.  RFK Jr. the nation's doctor.  Actually these Big Pharma produced TV ads are so well made you want the drug even if you don't have the ailment.  Guy or gal climbing a mountain at sunrise or kayaking.  Rare side effects may include swallowing your tongue or sticking your head in the oven.  I don't think Trump will ever get to the cost-of-living in his second term.  Too much on his plate.  Maybe he's saving it for his third term.

And Happy Tremfya to you.

Judges don't set trade policy

 Federal Appeals Court says many of Trump's tariffs are illegal.  Seems to me trade policy is of no concern to the Judiciary.  I don't personally agree with most of Trump's tariffs but seems to me he has the right to do it.  That power is rightfully and solely invested in the Executive Branch.  The President should have the right to do some things.  Seems to me.  What does it seem to you?

Are you better off now than you were under Biden?

 For me no or about the same.  I'm able to cover my bills but they hold me back.  Very little savings.  My health plan sucks.  Went to Urgent Care not that long ago thinking I had a UTI which actually turned out to be a minor stone.  Insurance paid some but I racked up $500 on my Visa.  Helped the woman doctor get a new Gucci handbag.  Oh wait that was under Biden so maybe I can blame him.  I'm sure it's better now.  Getting rid of the illegals hasn't raised my wages according to Homan trickle down or trickle up theory.  Even if you don't view Trump negatively as I do there really is no net positive to Trump being president.  Haven't received my 5K DOGE check yet or $600 tariff rebate or the NYS help me with inflation check promised by Gov. Hochul.  Can't afford major home improvement right now although my roofing guys did fix my attic ladder recently.  What a mess up there too!  Did a migrant make his way in?  Few months back woke up to find a Mexican sleeping on my porch.  Rambling but keep having to put off my cruise promised by Trump.  Weren't we supposed to enter some kind of Golden Age?  Not sure if I step on a rusty nail now if I can still get a tetanus shot.  Have to check with Bobby.  We got serious issues going on and the Left is upset by Sydney Sweeney jean ads.  That's my musing for today:)

Trump promises to flood the zone in NYC with ICE

 Just what we need more drama and social unrest courtesy of Hardass Homan and it's gonna get hot too.  It's amazing that they got rid of all the criminal aliens already.  The worst of the worst all gone.  Geeez that was quick!  Now they can focus on the regular aliens.  Mexicans with string trimmers, taco stands, fence installers, gardeners and landscapers, hotel and restaurant workers, construction sites.  Who knows where they'll be sent to.  Some Aleutian island?  BTW what's a Cuban person gonna do in Africa?  Wondering who does the Homan Estate?

Trump's retro channel

 The classics.  Everything but the cost-of-living.  Tulsi Gabbard investigating Obama over RussiaGate.  The claim:  Obama manufactured intel to show Russia interfered in the 2016 election.  That's the one Hillary lost.  Alleged Russian collusion.  Putin wanted Trump to win etc. etc.  We all know the story.  What's that brown stuff on Tulsi's nose btw?  Trump wants Obama arrested but will he deport Rosie O'Donnell first?  Stay tuned.....

Chronic moral insufficiency

 Homan bankrupting small farmers in CA through the ongoing ICE raids.  The majority of the field workforce gone in many cases.  The migrant farm workers have either been arrested or are afraid to report to work.  Skilled laborers.  Fruit rotting on the vines.  You I'll be paying more for produce in the near future.  Agriculture Sec'y promises automation and putting Medicaid workers to work in the fields or something like that it's confusing.  As ICE is obviously afraid to go after the criminal aliens we might soon be left with some sort of imbalance.  After Homan's work is finally done they might be the only ones left after all the hard-working law-abiding ones have been deported.  Hannity and Charlie Kirk will be able to afford a bag of cherries.  You won't. 

Welcome to Trump's dystopia.

Mass deportations, mass amnesty or mass amnesia?

 So I can't make heads or tails out of this now.  Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk says the push is on for Trump to pull a Reagan and grant amnesty to 25 million illegal aliens or whatever the number is.  Pressure from the business community.  Trump is working on the legislation now or else it's somewhere in the big beautiful bill.  The calculus is it would help the midterms which don't bode well for Republicans.  In MAGAville even such talk is considered A Bad Thing.  Meanwhile Homan continues to bother the livestock in CA.  Maybe Homan's real purpose is to create a shitshow thus the need for amnesty.  Is Trump at heart an ideologue or a pragmatist?  Will he betray MAGA?  All I know is that in 10, 15 years we won't remember a damn thing.

The ascendancy of the weird Right - it now IS the Right

 The latest examples being "Alligator Alcatraz" and those racist conservatives who want to deport NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.  My friend has imbibed deeply of the Fox News propaganda.  For him Iran was on the verge, the very cusp of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead to hit NYC.  For Mark Levin if you opposed Trump bombing Iran's nuclear facilities you're an unpatriotic American.  Levin gives off this vague creepy psycho vibe and said to MTG after their recent dust-up "you're on my radar."  Hmmmmm......Hannity is somewhat milder but his aging blockhead fills the screen as he constantly beats the drums for war in the Middle East or at least a bomb here and there.  The Senate now seems okay with Trump's giant sausage of a bill thus mortgaging our future and our children's future.  Musk continues to attack the bill and he is right for once.  At this rate the midterms may turn out to be a big blue tsunami.  The rise of Mamdani represents a left-wing populism not to be ignored.

It's all very depressing but this too shall pass.  Hopefully next time we'll get somebody better.

Is ICE going rogue or is Trump bipolar?

 It's all so confusing.  Just the other day President Trump directed all ICE offices to NOT conduct workplace raids at agricultural sites, hotels and restaurants.   Now CNN reports ICE will continue doing just that.  Is Trump's whole term going to revolve around chasing down the illegals?  That's not feasible or practical or cost effective.   Now I go on YouTube and Homan is holding yet  another press briefing urging the aliens to go on the app and self-deport.  Get your affairs in order the stern one warns.  Nothing constructive.  You can't make this shit up.  How many illegals are buried in cemeteries?  Does he want to dig them up too and send them home?  What would Jesus do?  No immigration reform, no path to citizenship just paleo-conservatism at its most rabid.  Why do I get the impression ICE enjoys their work a little too much?  Do they need a shaving of Prozac?

Don't hate.  Participate:)

The Home Depot - how Tom Homan gets more done

 Trump now says we have to use lots of common sense about the illegals.  The migrant farm workers and those in the hospitality and leisure industries are essential workers hard to replace they're telling him.  Will we see a change in direction, of tone? So Trump is still lagging behind Biden's deportation numbers this is not a sports contest.  Homan and crew should be helping them pick the vegetables and ask them how their day is going not loading them into paddy wagons.  Homan laying down the law at a press briefing.  There's no grayscale with him just be a hardass.  Watched some NYC ICE footage last night on the news.  The always masked ICE agents lack simple basic professionalism and seem to have an apelike intelligence.  Dr. Phil has sure taken a hard turn to the Right but he's from Texas.  As they used to say in the Old West f#@k you and the horse you rode in on.

Are we EVER gonna get to the cost-of-living?

Trump - the social unrest president

 He just loves to agitate the population doesn't he.  Bypassing CA state and local government he sends in the National Guard to quell the LA riots/protests.  On top of that he sends in a few hundred Marines - the few the proud.  Folks are rightly upset over Homan's goon squads and their operations in LA and ICE protests have now gone coast to coast.  Trump wants American citizens to get used to a military presence in American cities.  He wants to set up a police, a military state that's what this is about.  An AI advanced surveillance system to go along with that and too many Americans are already willing to give up their rights and freedoms for added security and safety.  Govern me harder Daddy!

Maybe one of these days Trump will get around to tackling the cost-of-living but I doubt it.