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Posted
7 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

Yfl0tRx.jpeg.68d75e54ad2acc92b22664e168e751f7.jpeg

 

Yep, I think it is both.  But he's so stupid, willful, and impetuous that he can't stick to an agenda so he will only implement things desired by dark forces on a piecemeal basis.

Posted (edited)

Kentucky trumpkins:  Trump is playing 4-D chess.  Woman:  "I think it's funny"  when Trump pisses the Canadians off. 

This is the fucking problem we have in this country. They are not serious people.
 

 

 

Edited by Horn Under a Bad Sign
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Posted
42 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/drew-magary-feel-dumb-being-american-20255797.php

 

I feel dumb for being an American
 

 

 

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That is, I try not to think about it all the time. I thought about it all the time back at the end of the 2010s, and it made me angry. Violently angry. That anger did me no good. It helped the bad guys more than it ever helped me, so this time around, I’m much more fastidious about my information load management. I focus on my salad. I don’t follow any political accounts on social media, and I’ve muted any friends of mine there who regularly air their political grievances. I want to stay informed, but on my terms.

Both of my sons are now off to school, and my wife has left for work, leaving just me and the dog. It’s as good a time as any to rip off the Band-Aid. I open the Washington Post’s front page on my phone. I know that this newspaper has been hopelessly compromised, but so have the rest of them. The majority of the news media is coalescing into a single propaganda arm now. But I know that, which means that I know how to maneuver around it. I can skim these front pages and articles for useful information while ignoring the dreck. I can also track down bits of good news and then bail on the article before the inevitable “but some are saying” follow-up. So I skim, I absorb, I close the tab, and then I think. Then I let the back of my consciousness process those thoughts while I try to go about my day as if it were any other.

I go to work in my office all morning. Then I break for lunch and a workout, and then I shower and then take a nap with the dog. It’s a good day in my world so far.

But America still manages to pierce my shield. The news comes in dribs and drabs, giving me more to process. They’re grabbing kids off the streets, redacting entire chapters of the nation’s history, firing all of the good scientists, and rifling through the passport database to hunt down those they consider to be foreigners. My wife is afraid to travel now because, despite being a U.S. citizen, she wasn’t born here. She isn’t sure they’ll let her back in here if she leaves. I also wasn’t born in the U.S., so maybe that means that I can’t go anywhere either. My wife has also heard a rumor going around that the goon squad’s next act will be sniffing around the passport database to find out which U.S. citizens have listed a new gender for themselves upon reissue or put an X in that space. What will they do to these people? Who’s next after that?

I don’t know, so I spend the afternoon banging out a post about the NFL. I don’t bother to write a post about greater America, because then I’d have to think about greater America, which would give me hives. Sometimes I open the release valve just so I have somewhere to put the aggravation, even if it doesn’t stay there. Most of the time though, I try to keep the valve shut. Perhaps you’ve tried to distract yourself in a similar fashion.

But distractions are only so effective against the gathering storm. I live in a country that lived fast and is now dying young. A strongman has taken things over and used the good will of both America’s citizenry and of its public officials to rob it blind. He can get away with it all too, because he already has, and because my fellow Americans hired him to do it again. And no one in power is fighting back because, in my lifetime, no one has ever wanted to lose Republican customers. Not even Democrats.

This is the end result, and it has a nasty logic to it. It only looks like Republicans don’t know why they’re dismantling useful, heretofore apolitical public services. But they know why. They know that this will make millions of people sick and kill millions more. They know this will make America both poorer and dumber. Those are the end goals here, because a destitute country is one that’s easier for them to rule. Ask Vladimir Putin. Ask Kim Jong Un. Ask Pol Pot. The more a dictator can expand the wealth gap inside the walls of their kingdom, the more comfortable they feel.

And comfort is the true dictator here. Like every other American, I have been trained to both expect and demand comfort at all times. Comfortable housing. Comfortable cars. Comfortable businesswear. If I’m ever uncomfortable, then something must be amiss. That’s an awfully spoiled way to live. From Bill Bryson:

“It really is extraordinary how long it took people to achieve even the most elemental levels of comfort. There was one good reason for it: life was tough. Throughout the Middle Ages, a good deal of every life was devoted simply to surviving.”

Americans need not worry about survival anymore, and so they occupy themselves with pettier matters, like a momentary lapse of comfort. To be uncomfortable feels wrong to the average American, and virtually all of our inner conflict stems from an endless disagreement over our respective sources of that discomfort. Some Americans find racism uncomfortable, as they should, while some Americans find confronting racism to be a personal affront. They’d rather not think about racism, so they don’t — or they simply pretend there is no racism at all. And if you ask them to think about racism, they swear vengeance. You are the woke, and you must pay. In a country where everyone abhors being inconvenienced, it was only a matter of time before the worst of us decided that our greatest inconvenience was one another.

I try not to let that thought overtake me, because the stress will kill me before the goon squad does.

Later, my daughter texts me from a protest on her college campus. I ask her to send me a photo so I can see her fighting for justice. She texts back, “I don’t wanna make anyone uncomfy. We’re all disguised and wearing masks and stuff, just in case.” I understand. I’m proud of her. I also hope that her masked face isn’t being scanned right now by a distant satellite and then logged into Trump’s janky-ass “Enemies” folder. I try not to think too hard about that last part, because I’d rather be proud than afraid. If I can’t be proud of my country, I can be proud of my family. That’s how I’ll survive this, I tell myself, however long it lasts.

What I try not to tell myself is that this could last for a long time. An excruciatingly long time. And what happens as more and more of American society falls apart? Will my family die if we don’t flee? When will we know it’s time to? When will we know if the water we’re in has started to boil? Will we still be in the pot? Will you?

I try not to dwell on it, because it makes me feel uncomfortable. More important, it makes me feel DUMB. I’d tell you I feel ashamed to be an American right now, but that turn of phrase has grown hackneyed. I just feel f—king stupid. Embarrassed. STAINED. Why do I live here? Do I REALLY owe this country anything? What if I defect to another country? Would I be a coward for that? Would it be worth the moral abdication? Is it a moral abdication at all? Everyone else who’s left America by choice doesn’t seem too pained by their decision. And I get it: Who would want to live in this spiritual vacuum of a place?

I try to think about why I AM still here. The answers come faster than you’d think. Everyone I love either lives in America or is American. All of them. I love these fine Americans to death and want to take care of them. I also love my house. I love my adopted home state of Maryland, which is one of the very few whose representatives actually seem to get it. I love my work-wife state of California, even if Gavin Newsom is a scumbag of the highest order. I love the food in America, I love the music, and I love the scenery. So it’s not just mere convenience keeping me an American, nor is it loyalty to the flag. It’s love, and all of the grief that love entails. I don’t know when America will be gone — it feels like awfully soon — but I try not to work myself up about that part of it. After all, just because this place can’t keep its s—t together doesn’t mean that I can’t.

The day is over, and everyone is home. I have done my processing and have earned the right to chill. I’ve got a gummy working its way through my system, a fresh near beer sitting on my armrest and my dog in my lap. Sometimes I think about keeping a happiness journal, where I could sit down at night and make a tally of everything that made me happy that day, large or small. I haven’t started it, though, because I already know what makes me happy, and I already know where to find it. It’s all here, right where my day started. Against all odds, that’s a comforting thought.

It’s also a fleeting one. I turn on some basketball, and every other ad is one for Trump. I try not to think about it.

 

that's a gut punch 😒

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Posted

I have to see Trumpy family this weekend. Trumpy family, with zero ability to keep their thoughts on this stuff to themselves. 

I briefly considered stepping in front of a bus so I wouldn't have to do it. 

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Posted
1 minute ago, Red Five said:

I have to see Trumpy family this weekend. Trumpy family, with zero ability to keep their thoughts on this stuff to themselves. 

I briefly considered stepping in front of a bus so I wouldn't have to do it. 

"Do y'all know what happened to the stock ticker on Fox News? I was trying to keep track of exactly how much money we've lost but it seems like they accidentally broke it or something."

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Posted

My dad died in 2000 and my mom in 2013.  My dad was an Aggie, but a 2%er.  

I could see how my dad could've become trumpy but I doubt my mom would've.  The rest of my immediate family (sisters, nieces and BiLs) is as opposed to dotard as I am, so I'm lucky when it comes to holidays and get-togethers.  Most of my dad's family is anti-trump, too.  Now my mom's extended family (Louisiana cajuns) has a mean trump streak running through it but they've learned to not bring it up around me b/c they know I don't suffer their bullshit and I'll bark and bite back. 

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Posted

when my dad gets 'in his cups' so to speak, he honestly laments how 'liberal' his daughters and granddaughter are. he expects it from SIL bc 'of course, he's black' 🙄. but like, he seriously doesn't understand how all his female descendants ended up so liberal. so he blames Austin. seriously. 🤣

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Posted

I'm at about 2 months of not speaking to my parents outside of letting them know that I did not die on I-35 when they asked. They're back in town after being in the Valley and want to meet up with my wife and me to hash things out. Should be fun. My wife dropped her best friend for being a Trumper recently, and she now holds my parents in extremely low regard. I can't blame her.

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Posted

Usually a 9/11 truther dictating the NSC’s staffing over the actual National Security Advisor would be a bigger deal.  We are doing good everyone. 
 

To be clear on those staffers: Fuck ‘em. You have to fight for that detail as a career staffer or beg for it as a political.  You thought you could get in the cage and your face got ate by a 9/11 truther. 
 

image.thumb.png.7a7b7ce420c2983f73802930c14bb1ff.png

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Posted

3.5 day work week and a destroyed economy. Time for some R&R!

President Donald Trump’s response to a tanking U.S. stock market—brought on by his sweeping tariff announcement Wednesday—is to fly to Florida.

The president is scheduled to jet to Miami on Thursday afternoon to attend a LIV Golf tournament at his golf course in nearby Doral. He is scheduled to hang there for two-and-a-half hours before attending a “LIV Dinner,” his schedule says.

Trump’s dinner is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. and he is expected to stay for an hour-and-a-half. Afterwards he will fly to Palm Beach by helicopter and stay the night at Mar-a-Lago.

Posted
36 minutes ago, Captainant said:

What's his surly handle? 

🤔 well, he cloaks himself in christianity. he viciously detests anything from the democratic party. money is his primary issue...he likes his drinks and can turn into a real asshole...wait...

oh my god...

image.gif.3a6db3ef0176356c03f1aacb6f0aa5e7.gif

😳

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Posted
4 minutes ago, mchookem said:

🤔 well, he cloaks himself in christianity. he viciously detests anything from the democratic party. money is his primary issue...he likes his drinks and can turn into a real asshole...wait...

oh my god...

image.gif.3a6db3ef0176356c03f1aacb6f0aa5e7.gif

😳

I am so sorry.

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Posted
7 minutes ago, mchookem said:

🤔 well, he cloaks himself in christianity. he viciously detests anything from the democratic party. money is his primary issue...he likes his drinks and can turn into a real asshole...wait...

oh my god...

image.gif.3a6db3ef0176356c03f1aacb6f0aa5e7.gif

😳

You're going to have to be WAY more specific. 

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

3.5 day work week and a destroyed economy. Time for some R&R!

 

Trump’s dinner is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. and he is expected to stay for an hour-and-a-half. Afterwards he will fly to Palm Beach by helicopter and stay the night at Mar-a-Lago.

IMG_0404.jpeg

Edited by TheStoicPaisano
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Posted
2 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

My dad died in 2000 and my mom in 2013.  My dad was an Aggie, but a 2%er.  

I could see how my dad could've become trumpy but I doubt my mom would've.  The rest of my immediate family (sisters, nieces and BiLs) is as opposed to dotard as I am, so I'm lucky when it comes to holidays and get-togethers.  Most of my dad's family is anti-trump, too.  Now my mom's extended family (Louisiana cajuns) has a mean trump streak running through it but they've learned to not bring it up around me b/c they know I don't suffer their bullshit and I'll bark and bite back. 

My father threw a Rush Limbaugh book at my head in the 90s. He missed; he passed 10 years ago.  Probably for the best in some ways....

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Posted
50 minutes ago, TheStoicPaisano said:

IMG_0404.jpeg

For all I know the piece of shit had me set up and had my friend Angel killed. I never liked him. I never trusted him.

Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Kentucky trumpkins:  Trump is playing 4-D chess.  Woman:  "I think it's funny"  when Trump pisses the Canadians off. 

This is the fucking problem we have in this country. They are not serious people.
 

 

 

 

the dumbest fucking people alive 

Edited by tx 3 putt
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Posted

this seems legit, on the up and up ....

Control and management of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been turned over by the DOE to a company with virtually no history: Strategic Storage Partners, LLC, with the U.S. Government paying $1.4 billion or $280 million every year to have it managed. 

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Posted

Ladies and Gentlemen, and literally no other pronoun,

Allow me to be the first to congratulate my President, Donald J Trump, on his incredible work to dismantle the single greatest economy the world has ever seen. It ain't easy being handed the keys to a 'vette and managing to flip it- but he did just that the first time to the economy with his Covid 19 response. Now here we sit, in our lifted F250, jacked so high up in the air no other country can lick the taint on our truck nuts, and he has done it again, this time liberating us from the freedom handcuffs of Joe Biden's growth economy with a weapon named tariffs. Take a bow Mr. President, nobody has managed to do this amount of damage twice to the US economy, but you have truly earned your 4-day work week this time. Enjoy Florida and the Saudi-sponsored golf tournament, and thank you for all you did to lower egg prices on this Jobsgiving Eve.

Remember you had no choice, this man was 3 years older and didn't impress you in a Summer debate.
image.jpeg.a30e2c3732ea0a5e75d63518850f836f.jpeg

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Kentucky trumpkins:  Trump is playing 4-D chess.  Woman:  "I think it's funny"  when Trump pisses the Canadians off. 

This is the fucking problem we have in this country. They are not serious people.
 

 

 

When I finally blew up on my group chat with my brothers about Trump being a fucking traitor, I was told to 'grow up'. I responded that we won't agree on this and it doesn't matter anyway because we're all fucked and left it at that.

Grow up...fucking rich.

Edited by Okie State
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Posted
25 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

the dumbest fucking people alive 

If there's justice in the universe, all of their Kentucky homes will be destroyed by the storms moving through the area. And when they stand there, hat in hand, waiting on FEMA and federal assistance they are greeted with "too bad, so sad." And a bunch of Canadians should be allowed to stand there, point, laugh, and say how they think it's funny.

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Posted
4 hours ago, Red Five said:

I have to see Trumpy family this weekend. Trumpy family, with zero ability to keep their thoughts on this stuff to themselves. 

I briefly considered stepping in front of a bus so I wouldn't have to do it. 

Ask them questions. Tell them details they’re unaware of. We gotta keep challenging our families even if it sucks 



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