Call It ‘Hate of the Union’

Five quick points to make about last night’s address. In no particular order:

1) A strong indication–if not an outright announcement–of a plan to replace the income tax with tariff revenue. Sort of thing the MAGA crowd–and I fear others–will fall for.

2) The claim that Memphis, New Orleans & DC are safe & clean while never mentioning Minneapolis, followed by naming California, Massachusetts, & Maine as next up. State names, but we know he means cities. LA Olympics, 2028 will serve as a pretext. Sue Collins will gain praise and credit for Maine (a lot of Somalis in Lewiston) being spared in an attempt to keep her seat Republican. Mass (i.e. Boston & Cambridge) hardly needs a pretext, as the MAGA crowd hates us more than anyone.

3) Not a single mention of Epstein, even though it was well-known that survivors were in the gallery. If you don’t make him look good or if he can’t attach himself to your success–say an Olympic gold medal–while you smile at and cheer along with him, you do not exist.

4) Most glaring was the way he smeared Somalis. As ugly as the charge that Haitian immigrants eat dogs and cats, the most malignant claim in his thoroughly malignant 2024 campaign. Anyone who hears that and still say that nothing today can be compared to the movement that swept Germany in the 1930s is looking for an excuse not to think, nothing more, nothing less, nothing other.

5) The constant smirking of VP Vance and House Speaker Johnson were the reactions of those who are in on a joke. They know it was all lies, but truth, fact, and reality have nothing to do with it. As Clara Barton said of Southern propaganda in the decade before the Civil War, all they want are stimulants. There’s no attempt to inform. In fact, information just gets in their way. What they want is to excite, inflame, detonate.

No wonder the ringleader’s top two assistants didn’t keep a straight face. Not that they couldn’t, but that they were there behind him in the frame of the camera to literally rub our faces in the farce and fraud by adding to the stimulant. What better to do that than smirk?

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Postscript: Turns out they did reveal what they really thought:

https://www.lawyer-monthly.com/2025/03/jd-vance-and-mike-johnson-caught-on-hot-mic-before-trump-speech/

A Call for Snap Elections

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 10:00 am Eastern, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith will testify before a Congressional committee that will air on CNN.

For the first time, the American public will hear the evidence that a Trump-appointed Florida judge blocked from view before the 2024 election.

Or, at least we’ll be able to hear it. By now it’s a safe bet that the MAGA crowd will denounce it as fake without hearing a single word much less a summary. Also that Fox and other propaganda outlets will omit what they cannot spin and emphasize the screeching denials of Republican committee members such as the rapid-fire-and-ramble-on Jim Jordan, and that the Republican Party will continue its goose-step to the Cult of Personality.

Will it make a difference?

Will more of us be calling for the 25th Amendment even though only the vice-president can invoke it? Seriously? J.D. Vance is a man willing to repeat the deranged claim that residents of Springfield, Ohio–his own constituents at the time–were eating cats and dogs.

That leaves Congress, a body in which the controlling party refuses to act. They get away with it, partly because most of the public pays only superficial attention at best. And partly because the public blames any and all failures of Congress on both parties. Not only that, but they ridicule the party that tries to tell them that action is possible–while rewarding the party that insists action is impossible.

Result? The firefighters are punished while the arsonists are rewarded. Just ask the police who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 against a violent mob that has been pardoned despite evidence, despite convictions, in some cases despite confessions–and is now being considered for financial compensation for their time in jail.

Finally occurs to me that the party controlling Congress really is “Republican in name only.” Pundits often note that they’re a far cry from the senators who told Nixon he had to resign. We should also note they are just as far from the senators and representatives who overrode Reagan’s veto of their attempt to sanction the Union of South Africa for Apartheid. Indeed, the current crew has unanimously signed on to Trump’s welcome mat for “persecuted white farmers” of South Africa who apparently now seek white supremacy here in another USA.

These are not Republicans. They are Cowards.

Can we make it from here to November with a president who threatens war with other countries, and orders military takeovers of American cities? Or is it states, first Minnesota, now Maine, next…? Can we make it with an anti-vax squad in charge of the National Institute for Health and another crank flank working to destroy the Dept. of Education from the inside? Can we make it with every environmental regulation since the creation of the EPA gutted? Ditto with labor laws and occupational safety? Ditto with the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe?

Coal is beautiful and clean if you subscribe to the Cult of Personality.

Will elections take place, or will we be under martial law? And if they are held, will a president who has already said he should have seized ballot boxes in 2020, and who keeps hinting at canceling elections try to rig it?

Sorry for so many questions, but I’m from the Eisenhower years, once immersed in beliefs such as “the greatest form of government in the world.” Our loss of any claim to peaceful transfers of power has already disabused me of the notion, but it raises a question that I have yet to hear:

Why is it impossible to rid ourselves of a leader so obviously dangerous and corrupt?

Canada and all European countries have a parliamentary procedure that allows for “snap elections”–also called a “confidence vote.” In 1980, in their haste to teach the liberal Pierre Trudeau (Justin’s dad) a lesson, Canadians elected one Joe Clark to be their prime minister. For far less damage and far fewer crimes than Trump, Clark was out of office in eleven months.

American journalists have the bad habit of calling these, “special elections.” That’s misleading, as there’s nothing “special” and something written into a Constitution.

For a moment, let’s put aside the parties, the personalities, and the cult of personality. Can we honestly continue to claim that we have the “best” form of government when we can be stuck with the mess we have for at least another year, if not three, if not indefinitely?

Go ahead and waste time calling for the 25th A. But please consider that there’s another Constitutional amendment for which this mess calls.

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https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/donald-trump-denies-white-house-asked-to-add-him-to-mount-rushmore-but-believes-its-a-good-idea/q8xupwfus

An Agenda of Gender

When I first heard of JD Vance’s failed joke about Greta Thunberg at the Munich Security Conference, I was alarmed.

No matter how far right, how bigoted, how soulless, how snake-like a MAGA politician can be, I thought, no one could sink that low. My concern was not for the already bottom-of-the-barrel reputation of Vance, but for fellow liberals and progressives who might fall for a fake quote. This has harmed us in the past when we haven’t fact-checked.

But it is not fake. Vance actually did say this to an audience of European officials:

“Trust me, I say this with all humor, if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

No one laughed. Unless you count my laughter at the built-in excuse of “with all humor.” Very much like his dictator boss, a phrase here and there to have it both ways. Yes, I’m serious, but oh, I’m only kidding. “Trust me” indeed!

Much has been made of Vance’s thuggish dismissal of the young Swede who burst onto the world stage as an environmental activist while still a schoolgirl in 2018. Whatever anyone thinks of the attempted joke, there’s no surprise in it. As a senator from Ohio and now as US Vice-President, Vance represents a constituency that includes young men, and perhaps women as well, who fear for their testosteroned pick-up trucks, decked out with supersized tires, gun-racks, American and Confederate flags, upright exhausts, heavy smoke and all. For a few months, the name “Greta” frequently appeared on the rear of such vehicles, always with the F-word before it.

All of which defines two sides of a current issue, and we are all free to pick which one we deem the better–whether we seek what is better for our country or for ourselves, for the world or for our tribe, for our health or for our amusement, for the future or for the present.

Vance’s analogy is ridiculous on its face. No one has ever handed Thunberg the keys to any government agency or the personal data of its citizens. However, what’s being missed and needs attention is Vance’s choice of the word “scolding.”

Ironically, the jab was part of a diatribe against what he, and all MAGA Republicans, consider “free speech.” In Europe, limitations guard against against lies that give rise to conspiracy theories, that in turn give rise to hate groups. For instance, German schools teach students of the Holocaust that happened there. Meanwhile, the Republican administration to which Vance belongs wants to put a stop to teaching American students the history of Jim Crow and segregation that happened here.

To Vance, and to the MAGA Republican Party, “free” means any insults you can hurl once the air has been white-washed of any uncomfortable truth. In effect, Europe does what it can to insure that truth is a condition of free speech, a condition which Vance and his ilk disdain. The result? He was literally scolding Europe while complaining about being scolded by someone making environmental statements with all research and evidence on her side.

And what does Elon Musk have to do with scolding or with Europe? Vance’s reference can only be to the money that Musk is investing in European politics. Musk was the largest donor for America’s first dictator, and now he hopes his money will work its magic in, most notably Germany. Vance, in order to give the boss of his boss an assist, met with leaders of a neo-Nazi group now partly financed by Musk while shunning Germany’s elected leaders.

Perhaps the mention of Thunberg was to take our attention away from America’s new alliance with neo-Nazis, but the word scolding raises another question. Musk is not scolding so much as he is manipulating, something that Thunberg cannot possibly do. Same is true of America’s first dictator. So how do the dictator and vice-dictator discredit and dismiss her?

Vance would never use the word “scold” to describe any male opponent. The word is indelibly part of the Republican stereotype of women who don’t stay in place. Compare it his treatment of Kamala Harris during the campaign, including calling her “trash.” He never said that of Joe Biden or Tim Walz, or of his opponent for Ohio’s senate seat, Tim Ryan.

Trash and scold are coded words. Another is “nasty,” which the American dictator has always been sure to use and repeat when responding to or commenting on any woman he doesn’t like, most notably right off the cuff to women reporters who ask questions he’d rather not answer. Can you name one time he ever used that word to describe a man? Answer: No, there are none.

Given that context, Vance wasn’t so much attempting a joke as voicing dismissal. Greta Thunberg served as the face of what he had in mind. Any and all women who challenge MAGA authority are the targets of his very bad jokes.

Truth is, however, that he is not joking, which is cause for alarm.

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https://news.meaww.com/jd-vance-faces-backlash-for-attacking-greta-thunberg-while-defending-elon-musk-in-europe

To Please His Worship

Looking for a lucrative job doing what I do best–making stuff up–I’ve been waiting for someone headed for the top who would take me along in exchange for my services.

When JD Vance credited Donald Trump for the exchange of hostages and political prisoners orchestrated by Joe Biden with several countries Trump couldn’t find on a map, I knew I had my ticket to the Speech Writers Hall of Fame. Immediately, I took it upon myself to find out just what other mainstream media myths he may have been onto before his VP selection put his every utterance in the news and on social media.

By now, if you’ve paid any attention at all, you’ve heard of–perhaps have heard–his senate speeches accusing Ukrainian officials, including Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of turning American money intended for military defense against Russia into luxury yachts.

Must be rough sailing under aerial bombardment on the Black Sea. And the Beatles thought that Ukraine girls really knocked them out???

Anyway, be that as it may, most news outlets pointed out that there was no evidence of Zelenskyy cruising, fishing, surfing, scuba-diving, skinny-dipping, para-sailing, water-skiing, or anything else off the coast of Crimea, nor was there any source other than the Kremlin that now has several Republicans in both the House and Senate parroting Putin’s talking points.

But that merely shows a weakness. JD is no messenger for a message already formed. Not anymore than he is fit for analysis as he unwittingly revealed with his embittered depiction of “childless cat-ladies.” The former shows him as gullible, the second as hateful. Granted, these are precisely why Trump chose him–in addition to JD’s slavish loyalty to the guy he once called “America’s Hitler,” which is easy for Trump to overlook for the sake of bringing Vance’s crypto-billionaire donors into the fold.

However, to win rather than repel votes, JD must take a new tack–one that will please his worship more than the slurs. Enter me. I’d like to say that I alone can show him what it is, but he already stumbled onto it. All I need do is find more instances to which he can apply it.

For example, remember the raid of the compound resulting in the death of Osama Bin Laden? Never happened. Democrats staged it with a body double while the mastermind of 9/11 was whisked out the back door to be flown to Mozambique from where he would still call al-Qaeda’s shots while living off federal funds sent him by Chuck and Nancy. Not to worry! American taxpayers were spared that indignity when Donald Trump himself was tipped off by his most trusted source, “some people,” and, waiting at that backdoor, jumped on the arch-terrorist who was immediately killed under that well-kept weight.

Yes, that’s in the past, but it serves to show what I can gaslight as events unfold. General issues will be a cinch. This 50-year low unemployment rate, increased wages, and record number of new businesses in Biden’s booming economy? That’s only because employers know that Trump will return to office and want their companies at full strength when prosperity lands on America at noon, January 20, 2025.

Sounds preposterous? Compare it to what Vance said of the prisoner and hostage exchange:

Why are they coming home? …because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump’s about to be back in office, so they’re cleaning house. That’s a good thing, and I think it’s a testament to Donald Trump’s strength.

As an example of what I could have done for JD today, consider this line from his rally in Grand Rapids:

We’re going… to restore American manufacturing, we’re going to restore our whole country and it’s going to start right here in the state of Michigan.

Those who pay no attention will fall for this. But those who do know that this is already happening and has been since Biden took office with what he calls his “Build Back Better” program. Republicans voted against it, but it squeaked through, investments were sent all over the country, and the impact was immediate–with the very same Republicans who voted against it showing up for the ribbon-cuttings and photo-ops to take all credit.

Yo, JD! You don’t need to risk getting caught in such a glaring contradiction. Just go upper case, add some vocal emphasis, and claim that The Trump-Vance Restoration has already begun because Biden and Harris–and Chuck and Nancy, and, oh why not? Bernie and AOC–are trying to fool the public into thinking that they are you, coo-coo-cachoo, until the election is over and they can resume their mission to turn the USA into a woebegone colony of Denmark.

As a general rule, JD, the idea is to take credit for all the good that the Democrats have done. You can’t run on what Republicans have done, because they only prevent things from being done. On the few items that gain bipartisan support, such as the immigration bill, it has been Trump nixing the deal with a phone call, not because the bill wouldn’t work but because it would work–and the president in office would get the credit.

Take all credit, JD! Hire me, and I’ll make it look like you passed the Affordable Care Act even as you work to repeal it, like you wrote the Civil Rights Acts even as you try to weaken it, like you are a champion of Social Security even as you plan to terminate it, a champion of working people even as you trash unions and insult working women both blue- and white-collar.

Call anytime. I’ll be on a luxury yacht cruising the Black Sea, leaving The West behind, doing what I do best.

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https://www.pnj.com/story/opinion/2022/05/05/marlette-cartoon-hillbilly-hoax/9645685002/

Dollars Damn US

The irony of “thoughts and prayers” now being “sent out to” the people of East Palestine, Ohio, is that the very people quickest to offer thoughts and prayers are the ones who make environmental disasters–like mass shootings–far more likely than in any other country in the world.

By far.

As the families and friends of those lost in mass shootings know all to well, thoughts and prayers are more often an excuse not to act, to buy time, to then forget. A rug under which all unpleasantness is swept. Those making that excuse are not “the government,” but a part of it; not “congress,” but half of it; not “all of them,” but many of them.

Our inability or unwillingness to make that distinction is the foremost reason our problems not only go unsolved but keep getting worse.

As with the water crises in Flint, Mich. and Jackson, Miss., the Norfolk Southern train wreck is what happens when government is run like a business. It is the Republican Party that insists on this, and it has been Republican officials who have made the business decisions that have led to all three disasters.

Two weeks after the wreck, the toxic smoke and fumes still lingering along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border are also brought to us by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision that allows corporations to buy politicians who can add to their bottom line–to them, the only line–constituents be damned.

If you doubt either claim, here are the plain, unarguable facts:

The Obama Administration imposed a rule requiring better braking systems on rail cars that carried hazardous flammable materials.
In 2016, the railroad industry poured more than $6 million into Republican political campaigns.
In 2017, the Trump administration repealed the Obama rule.

Throughout the Obama years and into Trump’s term, Norfolk Southern, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders:

… silenced whistleblowers, refused to take basic safety measures, slashed staffing to a bare minimum, denied their workers the dignity of sick days, and even authorized a $10 billion stock buyback giveaway to shareholders while neglecting to do desperately needed maintenance.

At the very time they were “neglecting to do desperately needed maintenance” on the grounds of “excessive costs,” they were dealing out $10 billion to shareholders and $6 million to Republican candidates. Could snark that the Republicans work cheap, but how can they complain when they themselves want everything run like a business?

This week, Heather Cox Richardson’s daily Letters from an American, notes that, according to the investigative journal The Lever, Norfolk Southern told regulators that new electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT) would “impose tremendous costs without providing offsetting safety benefits.”

While wondering how any definition of “safety” could possibly exclude hi-tech brakes, we might consider that the railroads also lobbied to limit the definition of HFFT to cover primarily trains that carry oil, not industrial chemicals. The train that derailed in Ohio was not classified as an HHFT.

And which candidate did Ohio send to the US Senate last November?

That would be far-right Republican J. D. Vance who is blaming Biden for the accident. Seriously. He said, according to Richardson, that the administration is too focused on “environmental racism and other ridiculous things.” We are, he said, “ruled by unserious people.”

As Sanders concluded, “This train derailment is a symptom of a larger problem tearing our country apart.”

“Country”? A toxic cloud could be anywhere. Ditto an automatic weapon. How about, instead of looking at spectacular or heartwrenching photos, we looked at maps? Would it sink in that this is what America has become? Would we remember that the premise of this country was never soothing “thoughts and prayers,” but civic attention and participation?

Look at Ohio. Heart-shaped and about where the heart would be if we imagined America as a living being from the head of Maine to the foot of Florida. Demographically according to race, religion, ethnicity, occupation, economic level, and its urban/rural blend, Ohio is the most representative of the fifty states. In the sense that we were all New Yorkers following September 11, we are all Buckeyes now.

Herman Melville, depressed by the commercial failure of his later novels, complained in a letter to his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Dollars damn me!”

If we fail to undo the damage of Citizens United and continue to vote for a political party dedicated to “running government like a business,” Melville’s complaint will be America’s epitaph.

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Source: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-15-2023?