Trump's Golden Era Of Stupid
I have to admit being wrong.
It was obvious to me that in 2016 Trump was an obvious conman, and not a smart one, and I said so.
But like many other people, I thought "well maybe I'm missing something, and I should listen to what they have to say."
Now I can safely say, "I no longer care what they think." Facts, truth and logic and NOT subjective. No more than saying gravity is subjective.
But that isn't even the biggest reason for me changing my mind.
The biggest reason is because MAGA thinks that I am the enemy. Not Russia. Not China. Not a foreign nation or people. MAGA thinks that anyone to the left of their opinions (that includes people in the center) is the enemy, and they are willing to suffer as long as they "own the libs".
Well, they must settle for "renting the libs", after Trump gets done wrecking the economy.
Anyone who doesn't care about facts and logic, and that seeks my downfall, is not someone I will care about their opinions from now on. I gain nothing by listening to such people.
This in no way excuses the Dems. In fact, this has nothing to do with the Dems. This has to do with a cult, a particularity stupid cult.
I obviously recognize that there is nothing that I could post that would change the minds of a MAGA cult member. Nor would they read or watch it anyway.
But unlike MAGA, I don't wish them harm. I merely acknowledge that this harm is inevitable as long as they continue to vote for harm against their fellow man.
Comments
One consequence of elevating an actor
of 'B grade' quality to a leading role.
See Exlensky, Raygun or shrub for example.
A mind that does not detest bad government is foolish.
It's hard to say how long a Golden Age of Stupid will last
The Donald is creating lots of enemies, really quickly. Capital will hate the Donald when he crashes the global economy. The "pause on tariffs" (not really a pause when you look at the actual totals) was intended to forestall that end, but there's a fair argument that stupid has already done terminal damage and that the Donald will crash the economy regardless of what he chooses to do. Another way in which the Golden Age of Stupid could come to a quick end would be the forthcoming total war against Iran, which will be held at Mileikowski's ("Netanyahu's") request. Here's Sabrina Salvati interviewing Max Blumenthal on this matter, among others -- sure there is a bunch of other content in this clip but the whole thing is really worth watching:
And as backup there will be the natural disasters that will rage unchecked in various money-owning portions of America, because the Donald will have destroyed the Federal Government's ability to cope with them. So a rather convincing case can be made at this point that, though the Golden Age of Stupid may in fact be now, it will not last long. We will soon be in the Golden Age of Really Bad, and from there I do not see the Donald surviving the torches and pitchforks for long.
Which brings me to the discussion of the Donald as a "fascist." There's this constant refrain of Trump as a fascist dictator. Yves Smith has it right in that the Donald is really just a power-mad idiot. The Fascists of old, at least before 1940, could at least promise an expanding economy. The Donald will be presiding over an economy that will shrink quite rapidly.
"To watch the leader of the most powerful nation on earth endorse and finance a genocide prompts not a passing kind of disgust or anger, but a severance." -- Omar el Akkad
Sometimes it is the small things, the proverbial last straws
that finally turn one away. I was ready to think, OK, some people think different from me, I can endure this, they have rights to vote how they like, etc. etc.
Then I heard "Gulf of America". WTF! I happen to be a geography buff, strictly amateur, but, like Frodo Baggins, I do like maps. After that announcement, adding insult to inanity, we were treated to the White House Press Secretary, that vapid gold digger who married a rich guy for his money, a 27 year old jeune fille mal eleve (sorry French speakers, my keyboard doesn't do accents), gazing firmly into the camera while she intoned "It is the Gulf of America". Like I am supposed to believe her blond, blue eyed conceit instead of what is plainly printed in the many atlases I own. I mean, the self-absorbed brat couldn't even manage to say something like the President thinks the name should be changed. Oh, he does, does he. Well, that might make some kind of sense, given that it is our effluent which is responsible for major pollution of said gulf. Does the name change signal that this new administration is going to spend some actual cash and effort on cleanup?
Mary Bennett
Uhhh...It's been here for a long time.
Are people here suddenly forgetting the last 25 years!? Are we going to accept the USAPATRIOTACT as the New Normal???
I sure won't!
You're not going to solve anything by focusing on Donnie-Come-Lately anymore than you'll escape the jaws of an anglerfish by focusing on that garish little light as her precipitous teeth rise up from beneath you....
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Nope
I'm done with normalizing Don's behavior.
I just saw an article that the Trump Administration wants to reject birthright citizenship for native Americans.
Where exactly is he planning on deporting them too??
And when was the last time we had a president that simply told the federal courts to go pound sand?
When was the last time we had a president that told tourists that you can't criticize Israel or we will kick you out?
When was the last time we had a president who threatened NATO allies with invasion?
This is just a few of countless examples.
I will grant you that it isn't just the Donald. The entire GOP and right-wing media structure may be even worse.
That's what you're effectively DOING, though.
That's hilarious, but normalizing fascism is how we got here; you know that.
What does it even matter when his predecessor killed the rule of law by letting his predecessor off the hook?
It hasn't been seen as necessary until now; you know how that works. If Israel had lost favor with the majority of the US in a previous decade, it'd have been that decades's POFT ordered to do something about it...and every one of them after Kennedy would've.
How is that worse than wars of aggression against anyone else?
Again, Bush/Bama/Biden's ('the Killer Bs'??) atrocities still beat the pants off this.
Don't let Trump-Derangement Syndrome get to you now, it's one of his richest taproots; you know that too.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Classic moonbat
"the killer Bs'"
Thanks for highlighting all the past atrocities as well. We need a pause and reset button.
Oh, bless your heart, Janis
TBH, I was worried about what kind of reply I'd get.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
And now I know what TBH means ; )
You're welcome moonbat.
By the way:
I can't say "the Killer Bs" is entirely original. In case you did not know, it is also the moniker of a famous triad of science-fiction authors:
https://kaedrin.com/weblog/2016/09/sf_book_review_22/
OK, it's also the label of some baseball-players - not so important to me, but of course they get the Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_B's_(Houston_Astros)
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Thanks moonbat
I'll read your links with interest tomorrow.
I'll bet your reference to "the killer Bs" is completely original.
@janis b It also refers to a
It also refers to a famous comic trio starring John Belushi during the classic Saturday Night Live era.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Normalizing
It's very interesting that you said that. It sounds like you are saying that Trump is fascist, and that instead of sounding an alarm, you are saying that this is normal.
Trump's predecessor/predecessor is Trump 1.0, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.
It does matter because one branch of government ignoring the orders of another branch is called a Constitutional Crisis. The only other time that I know it happened was Jackson and the rial of Tears.
I'm not sure what you saying here. Why should I think it is necessary that we suppress free speech for Israel?
It sounds like "TDS" is simply normalizing a terrible situation. I won't accept that.
@gjohnsit
> Trump's predecessor/predecessor is Trump 1.0
No, literally, Trump's predecessor was Joe "Dead Brain" Biden. And the Biden administration did the same awful things people are now screaming about Trump 2.0 doing. Red fish, blue fish same stinky fish no matter the color.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Ah, yes, the "Cleveland" problem
Been a while since we've had to navigate that, hasn't it?!
Trump's predecessor was Barack Obama, whose predecessor in turn was George W Bush.
Of course, Obama was also (perhaps even mainly, back then) Biden, and BidenCorps(e) was also Obama, so you could call that distinction a wash.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Partly agree, partly disagree
Yes, they are/were both terrible on Gaza and immigration.
But you seriously can't believe they are equal on labor union policy, entitlements/austerity, trade policy, corruption, respect for the rule of law, etc.
As for the rest:
Not exactly; he's far too egocentric, and that's a saving grace because it makes him a less effective evil (H/T Chris Hedges). In fact, I'm not sure an individual CAN or SHOULD be described as "fascist".
Fascism is not truly a political ideology at all, but a cancer of human psychology when the Hivemind invades and destroys the individual.
Again I plug They Thought They Were Free - especially pertinent is the chapter, "We Think With Our Blood": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/978689.They_Thought_They_Were_Free
ONLY in the sense that this has been normal for 25 years, and I have been sounding the alarm unceasingly that entire time - it sounds to me like YOU are finally buying into the line that the aforementioned "Killer B's" are to be accepted as normal, because by emphasizing Trump, you are de-emphasizing them, when it should be the other way around. Trump is a symptom of his predecessors, nothing more. You want to solve him, you need to prioritize solving THEM.
You will NEVER hear me say that "normal" is a synonym for "good"; that's fascist thinking/language in its own right.
I did not know another branch of government tried to oppose the Trail of Tears (as I assume your typo was meant to say); huh. Under-sung heroes, right there. I'd be happy to hear more from you about that!
Anyway, you seem to be overlooking the fact that we've been in Constitutional Crisis-mode for decades; by singling out Trump's contribution of a maraschino cherry atop a shit-sundae, you are implicitly normalizing it by absolving those who came before.
If you're not prioritizing the crimes of the 'Killer 'Bs', that makes Trump's alibi pretty strong: "Well don't look at me, it was like that when I got here!"
Uhh...hello? You know me. Do I still know you? I hope so, but this worries me.
You should know damned well this is NEVER what I'd say; I was saying (and I'd have expected this to be obvious to you) it has become necessary from the point of view of AIPAC.
Frank Zappa explained the situation very well:
That has now happened, and it would've happened no matter who was in the White House right now (I mean, unless we somehow finally got ourselves an American Putin/Steinbaum/Xi/Galloway/Traoré in there).
Ummm...right; that's exactly what I'm telling you NOT to do, that you are presently doing. I already invoked the anglerfish-analogy.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
You can't have it both ways
You said "normalizing fascism is how we got here; you know that".
Where to start? First of all, being a dictator is practically requires excessive ego. That doesn't make him less effective. Him being stupid does. And I just watched a Hedges video where he compares Trump to a fascist.
As for fascism, there is a dictionary definition, and Mussolini used to call himself a fascist.
I'm certain that you are missing the point. Trump is a symptom of a trend in society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Nation_v._Georgia
Not only is that not fair, it isn't correct either. We've been in a crisis of democracy for decades. That's different from a Constitutional Crisis.
The Donald wants to deport them to El Salvador
https://www.newsweek.com/president-donald-trump-deportation-el-salvador-...
El Salvador, you see, houses his concentration camp, where he tortures people he doesn't like. You know, like Gitmo. So, yeah, it's not as if Trump has no precedent. The difference is in the magnitude of the consequences we all face this time around. What was that Martin Niemoller poem again? "First they came for the socialists..."
"To watch the leader of the most powerful nation on earth endorse and finance a genocide prompts not a passing kind of disgust or anger, but a severance." -- Omar el Akkad
The difference with Gitmo
is that it was under America’s control and therefore it had to follow the constitution. The judge keeps reminding us that wherever the government goes so does the constitution. See the show Joe posted.
ES isn’t under our control so they can break any law it wants. That’s why Cheney had ‘terrorists’ sent to other countries to be tortured.
Trump wants to send American criminals there too. They discuss this.
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
In the Broadway musical “The Music Man,” the con man is a hero
Since the 1950s, ordinary Americans’ minds have been psychologically and culturally conditioned to run on ads, memes, tropes, and vibes.
https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/the-official-be-stupid-philosophy
Americans’ taste and judgment made Howard Stern a superstar worth $650 million — Trump is just the Howard Stern “shock jock” principle applied to politics.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/wait-its-all-ohio-always-has-been
“Wait — it’s all stupid propaganda?”
“Always has been.”
Well, the crooked state version
of stupid, looneytune tRumpo aka FL is trying to cram Gulf of America down our throats, too. I just laff at them. Trumpo's "Press" Secretary is the classic example of a ditz. Trumpo is starting to piss off the wrong $$yahoos$$. JFK was fatally shot for a lot less. I don't watch or listen to him/it or them. I've watched this POTUS train wreck develop since Tricky Dick Nixon. It's the worldwide human caused pollution climate change that has me on alert. i'm glad I'm old and childless by choice. Rec'd!!.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Corruption in your face
Backing up from everything else for a moment...
...I say "The Golden Age of Stupid" began in 2006 with the introduction of Social Media, and the iPhone the following year.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
September, 1993.
The September That Never Ended. That was when some yobbo somewhere gatewayed America Online onto the Arpanet's Usenet news/social facility, followed shortly by Compuserve and the rest of the unwashed masses.
Ever since then, we have the equivalent of what used to be the annual September inrush of new college freshmen getting their very first taste of internet communications- every single day. Netiquette as we knew it truly died that day - what we have now is only a pale imitation. (;-)
That's where the invasion of the uneducable became unmanageable. Right then and there...
On edit- it was '93, not '92. I slept since then...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Stupidity’s being “trumped” by Israel’s “golden age of genocide”
enabled by almost ALL American politicians, celebrities, and institutions.
All decent people ought to be protesting the normalization — all-but-universal throughout the West — of a pro-Israel narrative in which virtuous-sounding talk cloaks a generations-long practice of extermination, dehumanization, expansion, duplicity, and blatant theft on all levels, from the international to the personal.