December 29, 2021: Run and Hide, Will Run Again, Stymie the Prosecution.

 

“He can run, but he can't hide”.

Or can he?...

For well over a year now, speculation as to whether our Caesar Disgustus will continue his assault upon the republic by launching an attempt to regain his illegitimate 'presidency', so nobly snatched from him by our reincarnated Eisenhower, has run rampant. Immediately following the verdict of November 3^rd, that the nation no longer wanted anything to do with this turd, tRUMP's niece Mary Trump speculated that he didn't have the balls to run again, facing as he would a third rejection by the majority of Americans. Recently, she has begun to hedge on the question citing movements afoot by the ReSCUMlickan Party to restrict voting and, perhaps, put operatives in place to negate or manipulate the returns in 2024. If, she contends, he comes to view his chances as near certain, he will once again stink up the forum.

Many are now moving to the position that the overweening ego of this megalomaniac will, in the end, win out. And, as his former 'fixer' Michael Cohen has said when asked why Ivanka didn't step in on January 6 and control her father: “Ivanka doesn't control tRUMP, nobody controls tRUMP, tRUMP doesn't control tRUMP'. Indeed, his total lack of self-awareness and self-control is legendary.

But there is another, more pressing, reason that Disgustus will make the attempt to regain his former 'glory'. He will run again. He has to run again. He needs to run again in order to stymie the prosecution of his serial crimes.

This country is loathe to prosecute political figures, especially national political figures. No one wants to set the precedent of charging, trying, convicting and imprisoning a former president. This, in large measure is why no criminal charges were brought against Richard Shithouse Nixon, nor Ronald Reagan, nor either of the Bushes. To do so appears unseemly, something done in a tin-horn dictatorship, or a 'banana' republic. Better, it is said, to simply sweep it under the rug and get on with governance. But the crimes of this man, our Caesar Disgustus, are so numerous and so serious that they simply cannot be ignored. Failure to prosecute this scum and all of his associates is tantamount to the sanctioning of his serial crimes against the people.

The republic is being gored upon the horns of dilemma: once he makes his announcement, if not sooner, he will charge that any action brought against him will be politically motivated; done for crass partisan advantage and, therefore, of no account. One the other hand, failure to bring him to justice will give him license to claim exoneration. 

For these reasons, swift action by the Department of Justice and several local jurisdiction is absolutely imperative.

We are now into the 12^th month of this administration and still no indictments of Donald J. tRUMP.

An Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Indict, convict, imprison.

November 25, 2021: Justice in Kenosha

 

In a Facebook post currently making the rounds, a former military and emergency response worker had this to say about justice in Kenosha, Wisconsin:

Larry Knight

September 2, 2020

 From a military legal worker:

I'm seeing a lot of ignorance and misinformation flying around about what happened in Kenosha, and I'm going to set the record straight from a professional legal position... as well as from a former military position. I'm going to explain some things from a more technical angle derived from my many years as a paralegal and from my experience working in federal criminal justice and prosecution.

Legally, if you are in the process of a commission of a crime, it negates your ability to claim self defense if you kill someone. As in, it can't even be entered as your official defense in court. It is similar to getting rear-ended at a red light through zero fault of your own, but you were driving without a license or insurance. It automatically makes you at fault because you weren't even legally allowed to be driving.

That 17 year old in Kenosha had committed two crimes and was not even legally allowed to open carry the rifle he used to shoot three people. This means that he legally cannot claim self defense.

Another key discussion is the Castle Doctrine. Some of you may be vaguely familiar with it, as it is what allows you to use deadly force when someone comes into your house unlawfully, etc. But there are some finer points most people don't realize that you generally have to do some formal legal studies to know.

First, as soon as someone sets foot inside the threshold of your home uninvited that you believe intends to commit a crime, you can legally use deadly force and it is immediately considered self defense, even if they haven't made any violent threats or actions towards harming you.

This is because in every instance outside your home, you are required to retreat and extricate yourself from a dangerous situation if possible. It is a legal mandate, not a suggestion. Your home is considered the final retreat point, and legally you should be safe in your "Castle." There is nowhere else to retreat to, etc. This is why you are able to immediately use deadly force.

However, it is NOT to protect your property, it is for protecting your LIFE. And once the burglar, for instance, has left your home... the threat to your life is considered neutralized, and deadly force is no longer authorized. So if a burglar runs out the door and down the street with your TV, you are no longer allowed to shoot after them because they are not threatening your life. You call the police, you file a claim with your insurance, and you get a new TV. If you shoot a burglar in the back down the street, you can and should be charged with murder.

While you are out in PUBLIC, this means a lot of things obviously. It means that there is far more scrutiny and boxes that must be checked in order to claim self defense. You must be in IMMINENT danger of losing life and limb. Getting into an argument and feeling scared of being punched by an unarmed person? Not likely to be a situation where deadly force is authorized. You MUST retreat.

If someone shoots at you or pulls a knife on you in the street, that is deadly force and can be met with deadly force. But if the person is unarmed, you cannot shoot them because you're afraid of a little scuffle. That is why Rittenhouse illegally shot the first protester, and it is one of the many reasons it cannot be considered self defense. The man threw a plastic bag with trash in it at him AND MISSED, and Rittenhouse shot him. He chased his victim and instigated a fight by brandishing and flagging people with his rifle, because he is an untrained idiot with a gun. The protester was not a threat, and even if he was, all he had to do was retreat back to the police line. He rushed at protesters with a gun drawn to pick a fight, and people are acting as if he were just there to keep the peace.

He fired INTO A CROWD, and it's a miracle he didn't hit more people. More people that hadn't thrown a plastic bag. More people that were just trying to protest police brutality, which is a real issue in this country.

And then when he did finally run away, some more protesters attempted to subdue him after he had already murdered someone, he tripped, and shot two people trying to stop him from shooting others.

The fact that the police didn't arrest him and take him into custody right then and there, even if they suspected it could be self defense, is a grave issue with that police department.

I could further dissect this situation, but for now I'm going to end with people passing around misinformation about the victims being "criminals so they deserved it."

First, there are no actual records of Jacob Blake or the people shot by Rittenhouse being in the official sex offender's registry. None of them raped a 14 year old girl years ago, that is complete fabrication being purposely spread by right wing extremist sites in order to try and justify the shootings.

Jacob Blake was indeed awaiting trial for sexual assault and trespassing, and did have a warrant for his arrest. It was not assault on a child, because that is a different charge with a different title. On the charging document, it would literally say that it was against a child. From what is publicly known, he allegedly broke into an ex girlfriend's house and allegedly assaulted HER, but he is innocent until proven guilty, and still deserves his day in court. He could truly be innocent.

Rittenhouse's victims do not appear to have had any record, and even if they did, he couldn't have known that at the time. You cannot insist a shoot was justified AFTER the fact because "that person was a criminal." Criminals have rights too, whether you like it or not, and it is enshrined in the very documents that built our country. If you don't like the constitution and bill of rights, I don't know what to tell you.

This is also not MY OPINION, this is literally how the criminal justice system and our laws work. I hold a degree in paralegal studies and served 8 years as an Army paralegal. I've worked for the criminal division in the Chicago US Attorney's Office, and currently work in federal law enforcement. This is what I do for a living, and I am not pulling this out of my ass, and my knowlege is a culmination of working in the field and being passionate about justice for 16 years. I'd be happy to send you sources and opines and case law and statutes if you need it. I did not get this from "mainstream media," and I am not brainwashed by the left. I'm an independent progressive.

May he face justice for what he did, and may we find a way to get on common ground before more fuses to this powder keg are lit.

This has been my Ted Talk.\\

This is about Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old whose mother drove him across the state line from Illinois to Wisconsin armed with a semi-automatic weapon of war complete with body armor for the purpose of imposing vigilante 'justice'. That the authorities who allowed this to happen have not been taken to account, nor his mother who is, clearly, an accessory to the crime before, during and after, only offers further outrage.

One will note that, perhaps anticipating the outcome, this piece was written nearly two months before yesterday's verdict acquitting the snot-nosed little bastard on all counts. To add to injury, the judge threw out the weapons charges as well as the curfew violations of an underage minor out after curfew. He walked free, now the darling of the idiot wrong, lecturing the President of the United States on points of law, a celebrity in the making, perhaps a future ReSCUMlickan congressman.

Thank you, Larry Knight, for telling it like it was, and is.

An' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh an' laugh.

November 24, 2021: Generation of Swine, Unfettered by Responsibilities, Stench of a Generation.

 

An essay by Hillary Hoffower published by “Business Insider” and picked up by msn.com reiterates the central theme of these columns. To wit: the Generation of Swine, the “Baby Boomers” have squandered the national treasure and laid waste the future of this country and perhaps the planet as well.

From the 1950's Industry on Parade, to the 1980's The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, the Swine have been mesmerized by the captains of industry, celebrity and wealth, dreaming that they too, if unfettered by responsibilities, will rise to notoriety.

Under the banner “A billionaire boomer blames his generation for ruining the economy for millenials”, Ms Haffower quotes billionaire Howard Marks, investor and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, that the Boomers have left future generations with debt and a broken economy; with an affordability crisis and two recessions under their belt; and that they need to 'make room for millenials to wield economic and political influence'. In short, get out of the way.

Marks could have added that the Swine have also left future generations with a broken political system with a country increasingly at war with itself, and a world with rapidly diminishing prospects of warding off looming ecological catastrophy.

For decades now, dating back to the 1960's the Swine have held sway (see postings on this blog dating back to 2008), terrorizing our elders, stealing from future generations. Marks notes that there are roughly 71 million of us left now, three times the size of the 'silent' generation that preceded us, and rougly 10 percent more than the 65 million Gen Xers who followed (1)

Marks noted that for decades the Boomers “votes and financial resources have given them enormous political influence”...resulting in “extensive deficit spending on things the Boomers want and a failure to modify benefit programs that need fixing, all at the expense of future generations”(2)

There you have it: a scion of finance calling out the Generation of Swine for heeding the siren song of greed.

Hoffower notes that Marks “isn't the first to question boomer's economic influence. Both generational experts and news outlets from Vox to the Guardian have called out the generation for their role in bankrupting the rich economy they inherited, leaving millenials to pick up the pieces.” (3)

But our intrepid capitalist only dances about the problem. While recognizing the tax cuts, the deficits and the already enormous national debt, he stops short of consequence: the disinvestment in our infrastructure; the failure to provide affordable housing; the ravaging of our schools; the deterioration of our health care system; the shipping of middle-class employment overseas along with the destruction of trade unions; and “privatization”, the selling off of the government itself —be it tax collection, unemployment compensation, prisons and law enforcement agencies, toll roads and bridges—for parts.

That they have impoverished our institutions and soiled our public discourse remains to be told. Yet is is good to note that even among the worshiped the stench of a generation is beginning to be noticed.

____________

1. www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/a-billionare-boomer-blames-his-generation-for-ruining-the-eoncomy-for-millenials.

2. Ibid.

3. ibid.

October 30, 2021:

September 26, 2021: Cyber Munjas and Symposiums, Tough Month For Fascists, Kicked Down the Road

 

Thirty some-odd years ago, a cartoon featuring four turtles named for famous Italian Renaissance painters was all the rage. The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” captured the imagination of our young daughter who, being hearing impaired called them the “Munja Turtles”. They have been “Munja's ever since.

For nearly six months a company calling itself “Cyber Ninja's”, or “Munja's”, have been conducting what has been called a “fraudit” of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. Contracted by the ReSCUMlickan majority in the Arizona state Senate and funded in part by the taxpayers of that great state along with the CEO of overstock.com and assorted fringe groups, conspiracy theorists, and the lunatic fringe, little faith was given to anything resulting therefrom, especially when the documents were absconded off to Idaho or Montana with everything being done in secret. Indeed, the taxpayers of Maricopa County which, being the Democratic stronghold, is the jurisdiction being 'audited', are left with a huge expense having been ordered to replace all the voting machines and tabulating equipment as the 'chain of custody' has been violated and there can no longer be any guarantees that the equipment has not been tampered with.

In any case, the “Munja's” have no experience in auditing elections and what should have taken days has been dragged out to nearly six months with Caesar Disgustus and his band of misfits telling the nation that when the results of this sham are released it will reveal the steal.

Well, Friday the “Cyber Munja's” published their results. Lo and behold they concluded that Joe Biden carried Arizona with about three hundred more votes than the official state tabulations and that their was no discernible 'fraud' in the original results.

To date nothing ne'er a whimper or a whine, has been heard from the Orange Turd.

It has been a tough month for the neo-fascists.

First out the box was crack cocaine-head Mike Lindell, he of “My Pillow” fame, tRUMP whisperer and conspiracy nut who assured us, earlier in the year, that Caesar Disgustus would be reinstated by mid August. Well, that deadline, like so many others, have come and gone. First it was January 6, then March 4, then mid-August, now the idiot is assuring his dwindling following that tRUMP will be back in the White House by Thanksgiving.

As the story goes, once the 'truth' is revealed about how the child-molesting, baby eating Democratic elites have 'stolen' the election and denied the 'people's choice' his rightful place upon the throne the Supreme Court, presented with this overwhelming evidence, will 'unanimously' declare (Note it won't be a 5-4 or 6-3 decision) the election null and void. Disgustus will then once again ascend into heaven and sit at the right hand of GOP.

Never mind that there are no mechanisms for 'decertifying' a national election, or that the court having besmirched itself in Bush v Gore decision will almost certainly regain it's senses and declare that this is a political problem for which there are political remedies which, in this case have been exhausted. No the lunatics continue to beat the drums that somehow Disgustus will be born again.

To that end, our intrepid crack-head announced to the world that he would hold a “Cyber Symposium” in which he would present the evidence to the world of widespread chicanery behind the stolen election. It was a three-day marathon in which numbers were pulled from collective asses demonstrating nothing. Indeed, Lindell's own 'cyber' experts declared beforehand the entire enterprise a fraud.

Then came a ruling by a Federal District judge in Michigan against tRUMP and his attorneys in which not only was the case claiming irregularities and fraud summarily dismissed but the judge referred nine of tRUMP's attorneys to their several state bar associations for disciplinary action recommending the revocation of their rights to practice law. Sydney Powell, who is licensed to practice law in Michigan, foremost among them, citing the lack of 'due diligence' in preparing the case, not doing the groundwork to determine if the facts in question were, in fact, real, and accusing the attorneys of bringing frivolous legal action designed not to establish fact but to undermine confidence in the electoral process itself.

Next came the rally organized by a former tRUMP campaign operative in support of those arrested in connection with the failed January 6^th coup d'état. The event put the capitol on edge, especially given the criticism that not enough was done in preparation for mob that descended upon the capitol on January 6^th. Barriers once again went up about the capitol building, with police out in force. But, with tRUMP giving only last minute, limp-wristed, support and none of the usual congressional scum willing to take to the soap boxes only about 300 people, fewer than my high school graduating class, showed up in full throated support of the brown-shirts.

Then, of course, came the 'Munja's”.

It's been a tough month for the fascists. The 'second coming' of Disgustus, like all such prophecy, keeps getting kicked down the road. For the 'deep-state' does indeed apparently run deep; all the way down into the fetid fever-driven Florida swamps wherein lie the 'Munja's who, like all reptiles, are famously unpredictable.

An' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Convict and Imprison.

July 30, 2021: Michigan's Best, Consumate Senator, Nobility of His Calling

 

I awoke this morning to discover that Senator Carl Levin has passed away.  Levin, who retired from the Senate a few years ago, was one of Michigan's best.  I added this comment on Facebook this morning: 

I  can still see him peering over those reading glasses always perched on the end of his nose, staring down upon some hapless witness testifying before his committee. Always ready with the appropriate, probing question Levin  was the consummate senator, the embodiment of what one visualizes when one thinks of someone of such stature. Yet there was another, wholly unexpected, side to the man. I remember meeting him when, as chairman of the Ionia County Democratic Party, seeing this car pull up near the Floral Building on the Free Fair grounds. It was a Ford subcompact. The door opened and out stepped Senator Levin. A rather unassuming entrance for one of the most powerful and influential members of the Senate. Off came the coat, his shirt-sleeves rolled up, Levin gave a short address and then simply moved about the crowd. There was no receiving line, no pomp, no aides standing around urging him to get on to the next gig. He simply stayed and talked to anyone who engaged him. There, arms about a happy farmer or factory worker, public official or businessman, he stood answering questions and being photographed for the family albums of many a happy constituent. He was one of our best: learned, articulate, polished, but also an unpretentious and unassuming man who could move and did move among the people. A supreme example of the nobility of his calling, Carl Levin will be remembered as one of Michigan's best.

July 27, 2021

July 8, 2021: The Tax Dodge, The Real Looting, With Straight Face and Assured Impunity

 

“The richest 1% of Americans dodge $175,000,000,000 in taxes every year. Fund the IRS and stop enabling the real looting in America. “

      ---former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich

This observation comes on the heels of a New York Times article in which it was revealed that Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Elon Musk “paid relatively little—and sometimes nothing—in federal income taxes from 2014 to 2018.”

Citing an article published in ProPublica, based upon leaked tax returns of the nation's 25 top executives, the Times noted that by using a complex set of loopholes and tax dodges, “the nation's richest executives paid just a fraction of their wealth in taxes—13.6 billion in federal income taxes during a time period when their collective net worth increased by 401 billion, according to a tabulation by Forbes”. (1) That's a federal tax rate of just 3.4 per cent.

How is this possible? One possible answer lies in a graph published yesterday of Facebook by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich: (2)

As one can see, in the last decade the tax enforcement budget for the IRS has been cut by nearly a quarter. This caused cuts in personnel by over 30 per cent resulting of a 58 percent decline in overall audits with severe cuts in audits of large corporations and the wealthy. This is a major contributor to the dramatic increase in wealth by the top 1 percent and the bifurcation of America into two classes of Americans: the filthy rich and the emerging horde. It is also a major reason that one disgraced one-term 'president' could, with a straight face and with nearly assured impunity, submit tax returns in which he paid a mere 750.00 a year while 'serving' as the nation's 'president'.

Prosecute and Imprison.

________________

1. Rappaport, Alan. “Richest in U.s. Pay All but Nil In Income Tax” The New York Times.

           Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Page A1, A11.

2. Reich, Robert. Facebook post July 7, 2021.

July 5, 2021:

July 2, 2021: The Grades Are In, Last in His Class, All By Himself

 

C-SPAN has released a survey of leading historians and presidential scholars and the grades are in. Donald J. tRUMP is nearly last in his class. There have been 44 men who have served as the nation's Chief Magistrate. Grover Cleveland, who was elected to two non-consecutive terms, is normally counted twice. In a brutal evaluation of our Caesar Disgustus clocks in at number 41. One must go back to the early and mid nineteenth century to plumb such depths for only Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan have been given lower grades.

Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how it is that Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan finished below our Caesar Disgustus in the historical rankings. What, after all, did Franklin Pierce ever do to deserve such ignominy? Johnson, who fought the radical Republicans and insulted the congress, was impeached only once. Buchanan, who presided over the collapse of the unions, nevertheless never conspired with a foreign adversary to gain the office, never used the office to line his own pockets, never refused to honor election results and never organized and led a coup attempt.

What is interesting here is that the numbers belie the incessant braggadocio constantly spewing from the mouth of Disgustus. Here our intrepid 'billionaire', master of the 'deal' and self proclaimed most competent person is ranked dead last in administrative skills and earns a wholly undeserved ranking of 34^th in economic management given that he inherited the longest economic recover in U.S. history and soon enough made a pig's breakfast of it. How he comes in at number 42 in relations with congress baffles the observer, for he was impeached twice and what little he accomplished was done by congressional leadership while keeping the White House at arms length.

Then there is the “Sienna College Research Institute, Presidential Expert Poll of 2018” which ranks the I.Q. Of our 'stable genius' at number 44, again dead last. (1)

I observed in the summer of 2017(2) that, in terms of management style, our Caesar Disgustus would sooner or later be blind sided by a coming crisis; that he was emotionally and psychologically unfit for the job, that his presidency would lead to disaster. This alone was troubling enough, but one must also factor in inspired stupidity and willful ignorance. Together they produced a perfect storm.

I agree with one of the participants in the C-SPAN evaluation who, appearing on MSNBC, said that he voted tRUMP to be the worst president in U.S. history. No other has stooped so low to go so high; no other has put himself ahead of the nation; no other has so egregiously overestimated his own inflated prowess. At least Warren Harding had an appreciation that he was not up to the job. A little humility might have saved us a lot of grief.

But no, our intrepid Disgustus continues on, bellowing, crying and wailing, always the victim, always plotting ways to do more damage to the republic as he struggles to get free of this presidential hell. For the grades are now in and he is justly judge one of the worst. Wherever history books are read, his name will live in infamy for though he cannot come to terms with the fact that the nation has always despised him, the nation will.

An' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Indict, convict, imprison

_____________

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States

2. see: Protagonist: August 2, 2017: Hollow to the Core, Ode to Ralph, Only Confusion Now (wandererandshadow.blogspot.com)

June 28, 2021

May 30, 2021: Lessons from Pandemic,

April 30, 2021: Day 100, Where Are The Indictments?,

April 28, 2021

April 27, 2021:

April 25, 2021: Baying At The Moon,

March 19, 2021: What Fascists Fear, Modern Luddites, Their Prime Directive

 

“What our fascists fear most is competence.”

        ----from The Quotations of Chairman Joe

What our nascent fascists fear most is competence. Competence in governance restores confidence in governance. With confidence comes the return of rightful demands: good roads and infrastructure, good schools, clean air and water, the return of some semblance of justice, the return of some share of economic prosperity. This the fascist fears because the return to 'normalcy' means and end to the spurious justifications for political mischief; it means the end of the justification for coup d'etat. What need of a 'savior' if all is well?

Enter the ReSCUMlickan Party. Hell-bent on throwing monkey wrenches into the machinery, these modern Luddites seek to assassinate any such return to 'normalcy'; they seek to destroy any attempt to right the ship of state.

As a case in point, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported in The New York Times that “(N)early two months into the Biden administration, in the thick of the worst public health crisis in a century, the Department of Health and Human Services remains largely leaderless, with President Biden's nominees to run the sprawling agency under concerted attack from Republicans over abortion and gender politics.

“Twenty-three of the 31 top leadership posts at the department—including the secretary of health and human services, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and the assistant secretary for preparedness and response, all critical to fighting the coronavirus pandemic—are held by career officials in acting capacities.” (1)

The list of Biden appointments includes the first transgender nominee, Dr. Levine, which prompted an egregiously ugly exchange with Kentucky's other idiot, Rand Paul, “who likened sex re-assignment surgery to 'genital mutilation' and demanded to know whether she supports such procedures for minors.” (2)

To obstruct: that is their prime directive. When in power vandalize, when out of power obstruct. Do the utmost to destroy competence in governance and with it confidence in the government.

Nevertheless, Biden has set a goal of 100 million injections within 100 days. His administration has reached that goal 42 days ahead of schedule. Shots in the people's arms; money in people's pockets. Despite the worst fascist efforts, he is succeeding where they have only failed.

Convict and imprison.

___________

1. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. “Biden's Top Health Posts Remain Empty a G.O.P. Focuses on Culture Wars” The New York Times. Thursday, March 18, 2021. Page A17

2. Ibid.

March 17, 2021: To Obstruct, Scorched-earth, Nation Be Damned

 

“When in power, they know only to vandalize; when out of power, they know only to obstruct”.

----- from The Quotations of Chairman Joe

Last week Congress passed and President Biden signed the Covid relief bill. Both the House and the Senate passed the measure without a single ReSCUMlickan vote. Indeed, the House got two bites at the apple, two opportunities to come to the aid of the nation, having passed the original bill which was then modified by the Senate. The bill contains much needed money in direct payments to everyone in the middle and lower classes, for relief to small businesses, for vaccine distribution, for health care premiums, for unemployment and rent relief, for aid to families with children. My Congressman, therefore, voted to twice reject the measure. Voting against the bill sent up to the Senate and then voting against the bill a second time after it had been amended. In this he has been consistent, as has been the entire ReSCUMlickan caucus, in demonstrating that he is nothing but a hopeless partisan hack; ready and willing to sacrifice his country in the perceived interests of his party.

We first beheld this behavior during the Clinton administration when Bill's first budget proposals were uniformly opposed by the ResCUMlickans. Vice-president Al Gore, it will be recalled, had to cast a rare deciding vote in a senate equally divided, as it is now, 50-50, in order to move to marginally raise taxes and balance the budget. It was the first in a series of actions taken by Clinton to do so but, notably, without a single ReSCUMlickan vote in either House or Senate.

This strategy would later become a permanent ReSCUMlickan default position when Obama became President. Indeed as he was attending his inaugural balls the Scum were hunkered down in a Washington hotel pledging to one another to oppose Obama on every issue even if it hurt the country.

And the strategy worked. By dragging out the fight over what became known as “ObamaCare”, and opposing virtually every Obama initiative, even issues they had once championed, every man-jack of them worked assiduously to stymie everything the administration tried to accomplish. The scum were rewarded by winning the House two years later and then the Senate another two years hence.

Let us be clear about this: the fascists have declared themselves to be in favor of disease, unemployment, homelessness, business failures and against families, children and responsible governance. Bereft of ideas and void of content the Scum have reverted to what is now their default position: total scorched-earth opposition, the nation be damned.

Convict and imprison.

February 28, 2021: Flotsam and Jetsam, Scum of the Earth, Predictable Mendacity

 

This weekend witnessed the gathering of the flotsam and jetsam, the veritable scum of the earth, as the conservatives cesspools and stink tanks empty their contents at the annual gathering known as the CPAC convention. However, for once, the swine have dropped all philosophical or intellectual pretense by presenting no policy formulations but instead engaging in an orgy of idolatry, in a full-blown worship of the “Golden Swine”.

Our deposed Caesar Disgustus held center stage in what was a disgusting spectacle of complete capitulation to ignorance, racism, mendacity, and greed.

Indeed, the tRUMPists demonstrated the hold of the “one-term blunder” when, at the opening of festivities, a golden statue of the swine emerged and the 'faithful' were duly photographed posing next to it as if, by doing so, a bit of the cheap gold paint would rub off on them.

Gone now is Limbaugh and his predictable mendacity; replaced by Raphael Cruz, fresh from his abortive vacation while his home state lay under the siege of a freak ice storm. As Texas lay frozen, with people without water, heat and food, Raphael was seen jetting off to Cancun, only to return the next day shit-faced but unapologetic, blaming his wife and then his children for his complete lack of judgment.

No matter, no sooner had he arrived back in the Lone Star State, when he was off to Florida where the annual convening of the idiotic, imbecilic, mendacious and greedy gathered in a contest to see who could sling the shit the farthest afield.

In this contest, there is none greater than our late Caesar Disgustus, for no one can be relied upon to be more disgusting.

Oh yes, Raphael made the effort. Josh Hawley, arriving in the wake of his demonstrations in support of the aborted coup reminded the gathering offal that it was he who first stood up in the senate to challenge the electoral vote making the attempt possible.

There were, of course, others. But the stench was so bad that even Moscow Mitch, Ann Coulter, and Mike Pence recoiled in disgust.

Then, of course, came tRUMP, in a reprise of his 2016 “Grievanceburg Address”, in which he once again claimed voter fraud, that the election was stolen, that he and—by extension—they were duly outraged. All grievance, all the time. There was no mention of the pandemic, no mention of the over half million dead, no mention of the unemployed; no mention of the millions facing eviction; no mention of the millions of small businesses that have gone or are now going under.  No, the country, like the election, had been stolen from them. Shades of the 'teabaggers' circa 2009, when the nation, for the first time, had a black president.

Disgustus, of course, is concerned about nothing but himself. He sees himself as the once and future king or, short of that the king-maker.

But what is interesting is that at this gathering of rarefied scum, the 'true believers' gathered at what amounts to a virtual celebration of tRUMPism in exile, Disgustus topped straw poll of presidential contenders with a paltry 55 per cent supporting a 2024 tRUMP candidacy. Half of the party's base, that is, fully half of the scum settled at the party's depths, would prefer a different and, perhaps, a more compelling and competent septic service.

For the moment, however, Disgustus, like the gorilla at the zoo, continues to fling shit in every direction sewing discord, attacking institutions, spreading lies, creating chaos.

So let's pause a moment and give Putin credit where credit is due. By helping to elevate our Disgustus into the pantheon of American Politics, Putin has surely got his money's worth; for the great CPAC convention, once a gathering of the merely wrong, has been transformed into a gathering of swine.

An' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Convict and imprison.

February 26, 2021: Magical Thinking, To Despise Reason, To Reject Science

 

We now have passed half million dead in this country. A year ago, now, our late Caesar Disgustus assured us that it was no big deal, that it would go away by April when the weather warmed, that it disappear 'as if, by magic'. As if by magic.

This was no mere slip-of-the-tongue, it was a message calculated to fall upon receptive ears, words fashioned to perk the ears of those accustomed to magical thinking. Here was no off-hand rejection of the best scientific advice but designed to reach the deepest recesses of the conservative cesspool, those accustomed to despise reason; those acclimated to the rejection of science; those who put faith in magical thinking.

It was done, as Bob Woodward reports in his book “Rage” about tRUMP and the pandemic, because our Caesar Disgustus and his Boy Blunder decided that since they had done nothing to alleviate the long-suffering white middle class that he had championed; since they had done nothing but afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable, his only chance of re-election was to highlight the robust economy that he had inherited from Obama. Then came the pandemic and the shut-down.

8 million have fallen into poverty, millions lost their health insurance, millions more their homes, jobs, and businesses. Indeed, The New York Times reported that 2020 had the worst economic performance since 1946, when the economy was transitioning from war-time production to peace in the wake of World War Two.

So, as the economy unraveled, tRUMP panicked, fearing his incumbency endangered.

According to Olivia Troye, aide to Vice President Pence and one tasked with dealing with crisis, Disgustus began grasping for anything, listening to anyone who will tell him what he wanted to hear: that it wasn't going to be that bad; that it wouldn't return in the fall; that the economy would immediately rebound; that indeed it was a Democratic hoax.

Those around him responded accordingly, according to Troye. Graphs began to appear out of seemingly nowhere, demonstrating that small steps would suffice to flatten the curve. According to Troye, and confirmed by Maxwell Kennedy, grandson of R.F.K. Who somehow got hired by this administration to deal with this, Boy Blunder and associates were responsible for producing the fictitious estimates whispering in the ear of Disgustus that, horror of horrors, if a funny face weren't put on the crisis the stock market would crash. By the end of March, tRUMP was already pushing to open the economy and, indeed, did so even though none of the states had met any of the guidelines set by the CDC. Governors that resisted this slide into the abyss were ridiculed and threatened. Disgustus, ever the birdbrain, 'tweeted' that his followers should 'liberate Michigan' and several other states setting the stage for armed invasion of the state Capitol of Michigan and elsewhere as well as later plots to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, put Governor Whitmer on trial, and execute her. Dress rehearsals, it would later become apparent, for what was to come: holding on to power by any means necessary.

Now in excess of half million are dead. There are, almost certainly, hundreds of thousands yet accounted. As the nation reported 200,000 dead it was noted that the number of dead and buried had actually been over 300,000 more than recent national averages.

As Congressman Adam Schiff warned during the first impeachment proceeding, tRUMP can never be counted upon to care for the national interest. He thinks only of himself. And, even as Schiff was speaking, and ReSCUMlickan senators were about to acquit, the crisis was already hanging above the head of the republic. And, sure enough, Disgustus reacted all too predictably. It will take years to tally the pain caused by the tRUMP virus.

This is what happens when the country confuses celebrity with gravitas; when the country confuses 'reality' television with reality itself; when the country opts for 'magical thinking' in the place of rational judgment.

Convict and imprison.

February 25, 2021: Path To Mar-a-Lago, Clinging to Any Turd, Paralyze the Nation

 

It has been a bit over two weeks since the scum voted to acquit our Caesar Disgustus thus giving the imprimatur of the ReSCUMlickan Party to the coup d'etat. Within minutes of leading the insurrectionist caucus to acquit, Senate Minority 'Leader' Moscow Mitch McConnell took to the senate floor and roundly condemned Caesar Disgustus calling, among other things, his failure to respond to the riot a 'dereliction of duty'. Now, a fortnight later, we find Moscow beating a path to Mar-a-Lago, in order to kneel and kiss the ring of the one-term blunder.

Clearly, Moscow Mitch has made the political calculation that Caesar Disgustus must be placated and that, having lost his majority status in the senate, sucking up to Disgustus is the only path to power. Never mind that it was Disgustus who cost the ReSCUMlickans their senate majority, never mind that it was Disgustus who cost the ReSCUMlickans the House, never mind that it was Disgustus who lost the presidency. In this ReSCUMlickan cesspool, Disgustus is seen as the only turd that floats and Moscow Mitch will cling to any turd as long as it will keep his nose above the contents.

Normally a president, upon leaving office, rides off into the sunset. This is especially true of a one-term-er who, having faced massive peer group rejection, is rarely heard from again. Carter is the notable exception here due to his dedicated efforts on behalf of various humanitarian causes, but it took Harry Truman's call to service to bring Herbert Hoover out of well deserved retirement. No such call will come from the present or future Democratic administrations retrieving Disgustus from the scrapheap of history.

But tRUMP has never been one to observe political norms nor decency. Already he has appeared before the rarefied scum at the CPAC conference to declare the recent election stolen and the current administration illegitimate. No, Disgustus will spend the rest of his days railing against the fates, vandalizing everything in reach, the future and the country be damned. Putin's investments keep giving dividends.

The scum have found themselves, once again, flushed from power and left clinging to anything that floats and, the biggest floating turd is, of course, our stinking Caesar.

So within days of the aborted coup and the sacking of the People's House we witness a steady stream of ReSCUMlickan 'leaders' making the pilgrimage to the Golden Swine. There was Kevin McCarthy who after condemning tRUMP in the immediate aftermath to the riot, has likewise headed South to visit the golden oracle. It may well be recalled that it was the House Minority Leader who, in the 2015 run-up to the 2016 election, told the House ReSCUMlickan caucus that tRUMP was one of two that he knew to be on Putin's Payroll. He knows who tRUMP is and who he represents. Then there is Leningrad Linsey who, after getting the hoops in his skirts tangled up during the insurrection—telling the nation that “enough is enough”, and that he was done with tRUMP, likewise found himself crawling down Interstate 95 to South Florida in order to once again be with the object of his affections.

The scum have been swept, however narrowly, from power and are now falling back to their default position; de-legitimize the incoming administration, attack the instruments of governance, wage countless culture wars, paralyze the nation.

An Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh

Convict and Imprison

February 18, 2021: All Along the Ramparts, Tidings of Great Joy, Corpulent One

 

All along the ramparts the word was quickly passed. Before the news had hit the airwaves, I received a call from my daughter who, with some delight informed me of the blessed news. I, in turn, quickly called my uncle who, while on the phone, turned and told his friend the tidings of great joy: Rush, the scumbag, Limbaugh is finally dead.

I recall back in the late 80's when he came upon the scene. In hushed tones my father asked me if I had heard of Limbaugh. Being in the business, I was then an account executive for a local A.M. Radio station, I was aware of the swine. “Yeah, I've heard of him”, I replied.

“What do you think?” my dad asked me.

“He's an idiot”, I replied, adding “and from the looks of him, you can tell the son-of-a-bitch has never missed a meal in his life. The lard ass has no idea what it is to go to bed hungry.”

Dad dropped the subject and never brought it up again. 

It is said that, in ancient Greece, the Oracle of Delphi would sit upon a fissure in the earth and, snorting the toxic fumes belching from the Vulcan furnace, would begin to speak. Her speech was unintelligible so a priest would attend her and translate to the supplicant the advice that she, for a price, dispensed. So it was with “Rush-To-Judgement” Limbaugh. Snorting the toxic fumes from every fascist stink tank, dredging for contents ever more outrageous and disgusting; 'ripping and reading' without validating his sources anything that might fit into his frenzied performance; Limbaugh would launch upon his daily three-hour jeremiads without benefit of either education or clergy. (1)

Limbaugh would, for instance, 'rip-and-read' the contents of the 'Drudge Report'--whose sole expedition into accurate reporting was Bill Clinton's blow-job—without checking into its veracity and, with his trademark vitriolic flair, launch upon his usual three hour rant without any sensible voice in the studio questioning the wisdom of our now high priest of political ignorance. This is what happens when the government does away with the Fairness Doctrine and its “Equal Time” provisions.

This was how the story of Obama taking half the U.S. Navy with him on a trip to India. Rush ripped an article from an obscure Indian publication, did not check the source, read the contents on the air and gave birth to a vicious account of Obama wasting huge sums of tax dollars on a 'junket' involving half the White House staff and half the U.S. Navy. Never mind that the President of the United States travels on Air Force One, primarily for security reasons and has not traveled by sea, or train, in over half century. Again, without benefit of clergy.

Limbaugh was the 'Gateway Drug'. He was the first, the pioneer as it were, to what became an industry. Many would ape his antics, Neil Bortz, Glenn Beck and Alex Jones among them. Jones and Beck even surpassing the original swine in tin-hat conspiracy as a mad scramble ensued over who could be more outrageous, who more pointedly partisan, who more demonstrably mad. Rush demonstrated to the world what happens when the marketplace dictates content, when industries fail and the ensuing consequences.

What made Limbaugh possible was the decline of A.M. Radio. When the auto companies began putting F.M. Radios into the cars the 'drive-time' market, the most treasured segment in the industry, changed. Overnight F.M became all the rage and A.M. Became obsolete. Previously, there were few F.M. Stations, nearly all carried classical music. Why? Because F.M is superior to A.M. For musical formats. There is nearly no static, the range is superior, especially at night, and so is the sound.

Previously, F.M. was an afterthought. An F.M. station was usually linked with A.M. and was seen as the poor cousin of A.M. It didn't make much money and would barely cover it's expenses. Public Radio, for instance, is an F.M. affair, primarily because when it was set up, an A.M. operation was much more expensive to set up. As the old joke went, one could buy and F.M. outlet with 50 cents and a box top. That all changed in the mid to late 70's. By the mid 80's F.M. had taken over 'drive-time' and A.M. became obsolete. The roles were reversed.

Then came, with the Reagan administration, the repeal of the “Fairness Doctrine” and its equal time provisions, regulations requiring equal time must be given to opposing points of view.

The best use, if there were any use at all, is for talk. And since any programming that had a chance to cover the basic cost of operation meant keeping the transmitter a headlong rush to talk radio ensued. Millions could be made flushing the toilet into America's living rooms and work places every afternoon. What matter if this shit don't float? There's money, real money to be made. Enter the marketplace; enter hate radio; enter Rush Limbaugh, the king-hell boar to a 'generation of swine.'

For over three decades now the corpulent one has held court, dragging his nets in the cesspools of conservatism raising the dregs of political thought to a nationwide platform from which he cast these false pearls before real swine. Rush and his 'Ditto-Heads' became all the rage. He has cheapened political discourse, he has vandalized public probity. With Limbaugh license was granted and without Limbaugh the great 'bomb-thrower' Newt Gingrich would not have been possible. Limbaugh and his imitators made Gingrich look respectable. Gingrich, in turn, made Moscow Mitch and Caesar Disgustus possible. It took a mere 30 years to take that small step from Rush to “Q”; from “Ditto-Heads” to “Qanon”. Indeed, in his last broadcasts Limbaugh could be heard lamenting that the violence at our nation's capitol had fallen short.

Some of my colleagues are lamenting the dancing in the streets. They say that it is unbecoming, indeed unseemly, to be celebrating the death of a man, to whom I respond with this observation: If, on balance, it can be said that the world is a better place now that this man is dead, then it is a cause for celebration.

The death of Rush Limbaugh is, indeed, a cause for reverie. Let the celebrations begin!

___________

1. Limbaugh, it has been duly noted in previous columns, failed every class he took in college, even ballroom dancing. Images of that fat ass waltzing across a ballroom floor notwithstanding, it has always amazed me how anyone demonstrating such intellectual shortcomings could be taken seriously. The answer, of course, is that by his very being on the 'air' imputes a certain validity, much as gaining the ReSCUMlickan presidential nomination imputes a certain legitimacy.

February 17, 2021: A Brief Review

 

The following was posted on Facebook this evening pretty much summing up the legacy of Donald J. tRUMP:

"I’ve been critical of the Trump presidency these last four years, and am still exhausted from the experience.

But to be fair, President Trump wasn’t that bad, other than when he incited an insurrection against the government, mismanaged a pandemic that killed nearly half a million Americans, separated children from their families, lost those children in the bureaucracy, tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church, tried to block all Muslims from entering the country, got impeached, got impeached again, had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history, pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden, fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia, bragged about firing the FBI director on TV, took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community, diverted military funding to build his wall, caused the longest government shutdown in US history, called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate,” lied nearly 30,000 times, banned transgender people from serving in the military, ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions, vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers, refused to release his tax returns, increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion, had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history, called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers, coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist, refused to concede the 2020 election, hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House, walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl, called neo-Nazis “very fine people,” suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID, abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey, pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans, incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic, withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords, withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal, withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances, insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter, pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op, failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies, called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries, called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation,” claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere, forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader, believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe, suggested the US should buy Greenland, colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges, repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people,” claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases, violated the emoluments clause, thought that Nambia was a country, told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public, called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution, nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet, nominated a corrupt head of the EPA, nominated a corrupt head of HHS, nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department, nominated a corrupt head of the USDA, praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies, refused to allow the presidential transition to begin, insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death, spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president, falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote, called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser,” falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year, considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions, mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID, locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones, used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus,” hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser, pardoned several of his shady associates, gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressman who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories, got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!), had a Secretary of State who called him a moron, forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history, botched the COVID vaccine rollout, tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him, charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties, constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate, claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear, called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas,” used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise, opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling, got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers, claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US, ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings, blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining, redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle, got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters,” threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution, botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them, pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes, thought that the Virgin islands had a President, drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane, allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing, rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos, pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID, rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers, held blatant campaign rallies at the White House, tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man, refused to attend his successors’ inauguration, nominated the worst Education Secretary in history, threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted, attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t), allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues, struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble, called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ,” threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders, went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic, claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,” seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution, demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director, praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles, completely gutted the Voice of America, placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service, claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower, suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country, suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public, overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported, reduced the number of refugees the US accepts, insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames, gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address, named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties, eliminated the White House office of pandemic response, used soldiers as campaign props, fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him, demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade, hired a shit ton of white nationalists, politicized the civil service, did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government, falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts, claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won, insulted reporters of color, insulted women reporters, insulted women reporters of color, suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs, attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him, summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election, spent countless hours every day watching Fox News, refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas, hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer, tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him, acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney, attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a women who accused him of sexual assault, held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present, didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media, stopped holding press briefings for months at a time, “ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power, led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform, claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers, tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course, suggested that the government nuke hurricanes, suggested that wind turbines cause cancer, said that he had a special aptitude for science, fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure, blurted out classified information to Russian officials, tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida, fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban, hired Stephen Miller, openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them, interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel, abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war, tried to get Russia back into the G7, held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden, seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive, lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated, falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t, shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies, still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan, still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks,” forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID, told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” fucked up the Census, withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic, did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,” allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act, seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win, constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president which presumably includes four that were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump, claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened, said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake, claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him, claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President, created a commission to whitewash American history, retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain, claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there, hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims, had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others, bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties, apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House, stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians, falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police, said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about, tried to rescind protection from DREAMers, gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic, tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax, said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states, deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented, claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln, touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all, retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile, forced through security clearances for his family, suggested that police officers should rough up suspects, suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs, tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender, suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher, nominated a climate change sceptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy, retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event, hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags, accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address, claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia, mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, obsessed over low-flow toilets, ordered the rerelease of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release, called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek), hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech, took advice from the MyPillow guy, claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists, said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure, never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign, falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent, announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest, insulted the leader of Canada, insulted the leader of France, insulted the leader of Britain, insulted the leader of Germany, insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!), falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues, blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually, continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders, said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked, left a NATO summit early in a huff, stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of 5 knows not to do that, called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary, refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise, and a whole bunch of other things I can’t remember at the moment.

But other than that. . "

Of course I just copied and pasted this. Whoever wrote this deserves credit.

"Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?