Bravely Tackling Joe McCarthy’s Pet Issue

MAGA Mike has got the budget, Russian/Chinese aggression, and terrorism all under control, amirite?

Because It's Friday

I suspect that the locomotive is a 3-cylinder one, but I haven't bothered to look it up.

Wiping These Down, Here

That's "whiny crybaby Republican bitch" to you, bud.

v

Other Countries to Trump: Don't Send Us Your Refuse

This, folks, is some serious Third Reich grade evil:

Donald Trump's team has drawn up a list of countries to which it wants to deport migrants when their home countries refuse to accept them, according to NBC News.

But the Bahamas -- a tourist hotspot in the Caribbean -- said it had "reviewed and firmly rejected" the Trump plan.

Prime Minister Philip Davis's office said the island's government had turned down "a proposal from the Trump transition team in the United States for The Bahamas to accept deportation flights of migrants from other countries."

Why other countries will help Trump out of the need to run concentration camps is beyond me. If any country does agree, one can safely assume that the bribes were sufficiently large.

Why Musk Gave Trump $100 Million

It's looking like he'll get the corrupt old felonious fuck to cancel the SLS program, leaving Musk's SpaceX as a sole contractor.

It was clear that Musk wasn't giving him that money just because he liked the Orange Turd. But that's what campaign contributions are these days when given in large sums: Disguised bribes.

Why People Are Hoping More Insurance CEOs ….

... are shot.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans representing Connecticut, New York and Missouri have unilaterally declared it will no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit, regardless of how long the surgical procedure takes.

Pretty bold and tone-deaf move to announce this on the day that a competitor's CEO got whacked. Be a real shame if killing insurance C-suite guys got to be a thing.

And this:

And these, which I'm not putting into the meme posts:

Musk's Pet Nazis Have Been Identified

This is them:

• Cyan Cruz, a 40-year-old marketing professional who appears to have lived in Austin and Amarillo and operates the X account TheOfficial1984; 
• Michael Gramer, a 42-year-old retired mechanical engineer who has lived in New Hampshire, operates the X account 9mm_SMG, and has claimed to have a house in Galveston and to be spending time in Dallas; 
• Robert “Bobby” Thorne, a 35-year-old vice president at JP Morgan Chase in Plano, who operates the account Noble1945 and previously operated the account Noble_x_x_; and 
• John Anthony Provenzano, a 30-year-old who appears to live in Virginia, operates the account utism_ (formerly known as JohnnyBullzeye), and, according to a tip and a records request response from the U.S. Navy, works at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, Maryland

Musk approves of their point of view. Which makes sense, as Musk comes from a line of Nazi racists.

The Nazi who works for JP Morgan Chase might be out of there, as the bank may not take kindly to being associated with a fucking Nazi. But maybe not, since he's in Texas where being a Nazi is close to official policy under Gov. Abbott's administration. And they'll probably be hired as VP of something at Tesla or another one of Widdle Elon's companies.

Hegseth Was Trump's Idea of a DEI Hire

Because Trump is apparently concerned that the government hasn't hired enough drunken and incompetent Fox News personalities.

Clearly, Hegseth was about as qualified for the job as SecDef as any rando from a Klan meeting. Maybe less qualified.

The TOFF is Weird

Look at this:

On top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps, in a suit, minus a shitload of weight and he thinks he's in Canada.

No doubt the MAGA morons are eating this shit up.

A Summation of Hunter’s Pardon

TRUMP: I’m going to use the FBI illegally to go after my political enemies!

BIDEN: Um, I guess I’ll pardon my son then because fuck that.

MEDIA: Biden is breaking norms!

The coverage of Hunter's pardon in the press seems to be evidence of either sheer and utter laziness or anticipatory obedience to the incoming wannabee dictator. There is a lot of hand-wringing that Trump is going to use Hunter's pardon as an excuse to pardon the J6 terrorists, but he has been campaigning on doing that for months, if not years.

All those talking-head idiots, both in the media and in political office, who are declaiming that Trump is going to use Hunter's pardon as an excuse to do what he was already going to do, need to take a firm grasp on their ears and pull their heads out of their collective asses.

Drooling These Down, Here

Nope, No Corruption Here

A Chinese national, who is being prosecuted for fraud by the SEC, bought $30 million of Trump's cryptocurrency in a way that netted Trump $18 million.

It won't be covered by the WaPo or the NYT, as they're currently flailing about Hunter Biden. “Trump is corrupt and takes cash from the nationals of America’s adversaries” is just too commonplace these days— the GOP’s equivalent of jaywalking. Neither paper won't bother to assign an intern will be assigned to look into it. The SEC case will quietly go away.

And what's a mere $18 million among oligarchs, right?

Trump is corrupt. Toljaso.

Don't Worry, You Seditious Scumbag, Felon^34 Will Pardon You

A police officer accused of leaking confidential information to Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio became a “double agent” for the far-right extremist group after its members burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital, a federal prosecutor said Monday at the start of the officer’s trial.

Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond was a “Proud Boys sympathizer” who warned Tarrio about his impending arrest for the banner’s destruction and later lied to investigators about their communications, said the prosecutor, Joshua Rothstein.

Since the Wannabee Autocrat has said that he's going to pardon the J6 terrorists, this guy probably has nothing to worry about.

Good for You, Joe. Good for You.

He pardoned his son.

The prosecution of his son was a political persecution by Republicans. The charges were bullshit and were driven by the right wing noise machine and its slavish adherents.

Now commence the faux outrage by the Trumpanzees.

What the Future May Hold

The Germans in late 1920s, early 1930s Germany, they weren’t evil; they weren’t monsters. Neither were the Hutu in Rwanda. But “charismatic” men came along, and began shouting at regular people, every day, through tiny boxes in their homes: their radios, telling them that nothing was their fault; it was “the other.” Your gay neighbor, that Jewish store keeper, that Tutsi minority.

I bring these examples up, so you can see what is happening here. Now. Trump is working with the tech bros (Musk, Andreesen, Thiel, Durov, Luckey, Pavlovski, etc) and the global far right. They’re all sing from the same hymnal now. It’s time to wake up, now.

I've quoted from the middle of what she had to say, but you should really go read the whole thing.

Building Out Trump's Kakistocracy

Donald Trump has opted to keep it in the family again with some of his latest administrative picks-- this time, with the senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Trump has appointed Lebanon billionaire Massad Boulos to take on the role. His son, Michael, is married to Tiffany Trump, the president’s youngest daughter.
...
Trump’s youngest daughter married Boulos' son, Michael, in 2022, with the president-elect even walking her down the aisle. The couple is expecting their first child together.

Trump has also named Charles Kushner as the U.S. ambassador to France. Charles Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who is married to Ivanka Trump. Trump had pardoned Charles Kushner in 2020 after he was convicted on federal charges.

Putting family members in jobs is a tactic of mob bosses or dictators of pissant Third-World countries.

Speaking of pissant toadies:

Donald Trump says he will nominate Kash Patel to serve as FBI director.

One of the post-Hoover reforms was to appoint FBI directors to ten-year terms to both remove them from political interference and to prevent them from building a fiefdom. The current FBI director's term doesn't run out until 2027. Trump's trying to turn the directorship of the FBI into a political appointee and there is every sign that the toadies in the Senate will fall in line.

Ka$h Patel will be a reliable henchman to Trump, investigating anyone that Felon^34 wants to have investigated, with no regard for such quaint things as probably cause or the rule of law. If the TOFF says "jump", Ka$h will be in the air before he asks "how high".

The nominations of Patel of QAnon, Moscow Gabbard and Rapey Hegseth make sense if the goal is to destroy the national security apparatus of the United States. This serves the interests of Putin, and for damn sure, not the interests of the American people.

But hey, between the Trumpanzees and the lazy fucks who sat this election out, this is what they asked for and this is what they're going to get.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

Warbirds at OSH.

Felons of a Feather, Flock Together

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France.
...
The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.

Prosecutors alleged that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation.

Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said.

The French should be absolutely thrilled that the new American ambassador is going to be a real scumbag and a nepo-criminal like Jared's dad. When you drill down to the core of the matter, the only difference between Kushner and Trump is that Kushner went to prison.

Honey (ie, bee food)

If you use honey, you should buy it from local producers. If you buy commercial honey, there's a good chance that what you think is honey has been adulterated with sugar syrup.

Caturday

Priss has taken over a planter.

Planter catyitis?

Because It's Friday

Brits seem to be the leaders in steam.

Obstructing These Down, Here

Happy Thanksgiving

The merchants are crying because this year, Thanksgiving is as late as it can be, which cuts down on the Traditional Orgy of Consumerism. But enough of that, on to the regular post for this day:

On a number of radio stations back in the day, playing the entire song was a Thanksgiving tradition. Some of them were commercial stations-- almost nineteen minutes of no commercials. And some of them played it twice, at noon and 3 PM.

The judge was really blind, he had a Seeing-Eye dog. He played himself in the movie (as did Officer Obie).

I hope that if you're in America, you and yours have a good Thanksgiving. Try not to punch out your racist uncle or your commie nephew.

And please, enjoy the day without resorting to rampant consumerism.

Or burning down your hostess's house.

And you can maintain peace at the table by dividing up the attendees.

(Yes, this is almost a complete repeat from earlier years. So sue me.)

A Righteous Man

Robert Emmett Fletcher Jr. When Japanese-American farmers were interned in concentration camps, thanks to the racism of FDR and a shitload of other people, Fletcher stepped in to run the farms of some local growers so that their farms would not be lost. He used the money made from the farms to pay the taxes and mortgages; keeping half of the net for his own costs and saving the other half for the families.

A lot of other properties owned by Japanese-Americans (all of them American citizens) were lost because taxes weren't paid or those who had agreed to run them either outright stole them or took everything.

Bob Fletcher was truly one of the righteous among men.

If You Are Pregnant and in Texas, You Are Gambling With Your Life

Because if you have a miscarriage, the doctors in Texas will cheerfully let you bleed out instead of treating you using best practices. It keeps happening.

The women who bleed out and die during miscarriages are a blood sacrifice to the Christian Taliban's Cult of the Fetus. Those who call themselves "pro-life" are bathing in the blood of dead women.

Echoes of the Past

First, read this. I can't embed it.

Done?

Sure, Homan's mass roundup will be legal. So, what? Rounding up Jews and stuffing them into boxcars was legal, once. Hiding Jews was illegal and subject to harsh penalties (like being dragged out back and shot.)

Legal is one question. Moral and humane are different questions. American history provides lots of examples, for those of a mind to enquire.