stevenkesslar

How Trump’s assault on bureaucracy could rock Virginia elections The off-year races are often a bellwether for the national mood a year before the midterms. I really hate this left wing bullshit. This is a scandal. Who paid Politico to write this nonsense? USAID? I mostly think Trump will do great in the midterms. People will be laughing their way to the polls. "Normalize Indian hate." LOL. ROTFL! 😁😁😁 I mean you gotta admit that is really funny. "Fire DEI Blacks who are worthless federal employees." I'm just busting a gut. 😍😍😍 I love the idea., I am so tired of that DEI "Oh I am Black" shit. Fire the fuckers. It's hysterical. "Don't say Gay." Some libtard in the voting line will say some stupid shit about how their confused Gay nephew bought a dress or painted his nails pink (is that the right pronoun? fuck that shit) or some weird shit. As if this nasty shit is even okay to talk about in public. It disgusts me. And someone normal with balls will say, "Ha ha you said Gay! Idiot!" and everyone in line will burst out laughing at the stupid libtard. It is so funny! I was against this weird Gay shit before it was cool. LGBT activism sucks. And I am glad Trump will defund it. These are all reasons why Trump and Trumpers will rock in the Virginia midterms. Then again, there are a lot of Blacks, and all kinds of Asian American ethnic minorities, and Gays who live in Virginia. They won't be upset about this at all, right? I mean, it is super funny. Right? Can't these fucking whining losers even take a joke? The Democrat Party Ideology + Government Power = A Woke and Radical LCSB So a very brief trip down memory lane, with only two stops. I read a bunch of articles about the culture wars in Northern Virginia when Biden was POTUS. The thing that stuck out to me is that in a perceived war between a "woke" educational agenda and math and reading skills, math and reading skills will always win. And what also jumped out at me was the diversity of the people who felt that way. Indian American Moms. Vietnamese American Dads. So I do think if Democrats ever want to win Senate seats in Iowa and Montana again, we have to rethink these things. But in Virginia, which is a lot more diverse, Trump and MAGA are mostly going to do the job for us. Conservative school board candidates lose ground as moderates push back on culture war issues Even in right-leaning counties, voters rejected some candidates who focused on fights over LGBTQ policies and book bans. I think that headline is generally accurate, at least in California and blue states. People in the center don't embrace a "woke" agenda, and they pushed back against it. But then they pushed back against "normalize hate" and ban Gay books. So we'll see how Virginia goes. But 2024 was not a referendum on normalizing cruelty and hate toward minorities. Or removing what has been a substantial underpinning for Blacks who go to college and strive to have a good middle class life helping people.

Why are you celebrating Trump's attacks on "LGBT activism"? Please take a MAGA minute to inform us. You posted this Tik Tok video of Trump's "wins" he has delivered on behalf of me, and the American people. It says he is going after "LGBT activism." Is opposing "LGBT activism" a win? What kind of activism? Support for same sex marriage? Are you trying to normalize Gay hate? Do you hate Gay men? Why do you think 48 % of Americans, including probably most Gay men, already disapprove of what Trump is doing? Did you celebrate Gay hate before it was cool?

More truth from Morning Consult:

When you post one of your "breaking" videos about MAGA news, please answer my question from another thread. Why are you attacking "LGBT activism"? What do you have against Gay men? I take it as a personal insult. I spent years on LGBTQ activism. Why are you applauding the homophobic attacks and attacking Gay activism? Please explain. I think we have the right to know, since you want to "inform" us.

Treasury officials: Musk ally ‘mistakenly’ had power to alter payments system The incident prompted an internal forensic investigation that remains ongoing. Okay. Two things. First, no calls for resignation. This is simply normalizing error and incompetence. That's an important part of making government more efficient. Same basic concept as being racist before racist was cool. And if any of you know Ro Khanna, please tell him to shut the fuck up about this. No tweets. He disgusts me. That said, it does actually make me a little bit nervous. I'd move to Canada, but I'd have to fly. I know this will just reinforce Hegseth's idea that all us Gays are weak. But is it too soon to use my "call Leonardo DiCaprio" card?

Could you do me a little favor, @FuckNJoy? I'm fine with brief videos of White guys that make me dumber. Could you just make them handsome White guys? And porn would be fine. Could you also make them well hung? Just asking for my beloved Sister In Cock. P.S. Please do not consider this "LGBT activism" in any way shape or form which I know you and MAGA oppose.

Why do you hate Gay men? Is that why you come here? To insult Gay men, and applaud efforts to discriminate against us? Trump is a cruel asshole, like Musk, who will happily hurt anyone who gets in his way. So let's not even pretend this has anything to do with what is right and wrong. Let's go with the only thing that matters to Trump: public opinion. He knows he can't win a real majority. But even a cruel asshole like Trump who plays divide and conquer knows he has to somehow get 48 % or 49 % of the vote, unless he can completely destroy democracy. So tariffs are wildly unpopular. In your part of MAGAland, maybe you really don't even know this. I assume you are willfully deceptive, and you intentionally posted a lying shitty video about a CBS poll, with the second half intentionally cut out. Then again, maybe you take stupid pills, and can't even admit to yourself that lots of Trump voters are smart. They want nothing to do with tariffs. Because they will raise prices. The CBS poll you didn't want us to see all of made that extremely clear. So putting tariffs on the table and alienating allies and then backing down at the last minute by saying they agreed to do things they had agreed to do already is not a victory. Not even for Trump voters who oppose it. I hope Trump and his incompetent loser Tom Homan don't roughly double fentanyl deaths again, like they did in Death And Failure 1.0. But if the idea is to play "Whack A Mole" like in Death And Failure 1.0, that is exactly how they delivered double the death last time. How does doing the same thing that failed the first time lead to victory? But, especially, why is combatting "LGBT activism" a victory? How does that even reflect how most Americans feel? It may reflect how a homophobic minority of Trump voters feel. If you are a self-hating Gay, you would not be the first. But even among Republicans, only about half still oppose same sex marriage. I guess I should be grateful. Because every time you post it reflects either ignorance, or cruelty, or hate. Or some combination of all three. At least we know what this is about, and where you stand. It explains why 48 % of Americans already disapprove of Hate 2.0. Why do you approve of Hate 2.0? And especially the hate of Gay men and our activism?

Which actually makes the point. Thank you. At this point in his first term, Clinton had a 20 % disapproval rating. Trump has a 48 % disapproval rating. Both numbers are by Gallup. Elon Musk is no Al Gore. Musk's disapproval rating is going up, too. MAGA loves him. Everyone else is moving toward the conclusion that he is a cruel and useless gasbag, who likes hairy balls and Indian hate and being racist before racist was cool. He has a particular contempt for public safety standards, judges, and law. It's crystal clear that this is not about reinventing government. This is about retribution, and payback to Trump's perceived political enemies, first. Yup, Trump is a cruel asshole. Second, it's an attack on the specific agencies Trump's special interest billionaire and corporate donors don't like. Because they represent public interests and consumers over billionaire special interests. Musk despises the FAA and their God damn public safety standards. That was three plane crashes ago, right? Rich White bankers and Wall Street are delighted that they can now openly prey on Trump voters with credit card debt. Feast away on those MAGAts, guys! They voted for this, so they deserve it. Reinventing Government -- Two Decades Later A look back at Al Gore's efforts to bring private-sector efficiency into a more results-oriented federal space. Kudos again, @FucknJoy, for actually posting a video based on fact, with zero egregious lies. I hadn't thought about Reinventing Government for years. Even though I read the book when good government was cool. As opposed to just breaking shit, which is what this seems to be about. So I found that report above. It's a good read. It seems like a thoughtful analysis that summarizes what happened, and nails some key points about outcomes. The sweeping conclusion I'd reach, based on fact, is that both Democrats and Republicans are interested in government efficiency. Democrats are pretty good at doing it, when they try. Republicans are not. The effort did result in the elimination of 426,400 federal positions That was not based on standards of retribution, or which consumer protection and public safety laws Musk and Trump's special interest billionaire donors don't like. It was based on the idea of efficiency. And according to that report, it was a mixed bag. Some skilled people that should have stayed left to the private sector, and some of the bureaucrats that should have left stayed. We don't have to worry about that now, though. Since this is about retribution and gutting regulations and regulators special interest billionaires dislike. So it can just be an awful mess. And it is. Please buckle up when you fly. Two big and good things did happen, even though this was a small chunk of it. Clinton was one of only two Presidents since JFK who managed to increase trust in government while POTUS. The other, ironically, was Reagan. Who said government was the problem, but nevertheless governed in a way people approved of, mostly. W. destroyed all that with the Iraq War, subprime mortgages, and a global financial crisis. Obama tried to move the needle, but failed. Trump already proved he can't get it up. Why am I not surprised? I don't think letting Musk and special interest billionaires gut public safety and consumer protections is going to do the trick. The other thing Clinton gave us, which this government efficiency drive was a small part of, was an actual BUDGET SURPLUS. Trump gave us nothing but more and deeper red ink every year. And it is about to get much, much worse. This seems to be mostly about performative gestures to break shit while special interest billionaires who were not elected get to attack the regulations and regulators they most despise, which protect consumers and working class families. But the real payoff will be all the special interest corporate and billionaire tax cuts they are scheming up right now. My Dad, a Reagan Republican and WW2 veteran, thought the three best things the federal government ever did were beating Hitler, the GI Bill, and Social Security. I wonder what will happen 10 or 20 years from now if we actually have to fight a war, or even another pandemic? Most of you probably know that US debt to GDP is already almost the highest it has ever been, at the height of World War 2. This doesn't feel like good government. This feels like the next Trump bankruptcy.

I know this an invasion of privacy. But invading privacy is cool these days. Just like racism, cruelty, gracelessness, hairy balls, and lies. So I will ask. How many times did this video make you cum?

‘JD gets the game’: Vance embraces role as social media provocateur Geez, ya think? Move over, Barbara. Split, Randy. Sorry. No Tik Tok video yet. JD, JD, graceful lady See what bile I post. I'm a real cool racist now. Hate Indians the most. (But not my children.) Oh how that MAGA license works On DEI Blacks, and cat lady jerks. The election was such delight. Got drunk with Hegseth that same night. JD, JD, graceful lady. Insults do the trick. A hillybilly can get herself. A lying raping prick. (Better than an elegy!) Won't tell the truth No, not a peep. Cause Trump is more disgusting than his Veep. Oh JD, JD, graceful lady that's me! Initial Presidential Job Approval Ratings (Gallup Poll) Ronald Reagan, disapproval rate, January 1981 13 % George H.W. Bush, disapproval rate, January 1989 6 % Bill Clinton, disapproval rate, January 1993 20 % George W. Bush, disapproval rate, January 2001 25 % Barack Obama, disapproval rate, January 2009 12 % Donald Trump, disapproval rate, January 1997 47 % Joe Biden, disapproval rate, January 2021 37 % Donald Trump, disapproval rate, January 2025 48 %

Which speaks so beautifully to our sisterhood. While you were sucking boys' dicks in the locker room, I was reading the Bible. My bad. So, just to be the little prick I am, I will point out one thing: In plain girl talk, grace is for assholes like Trump and Musk. They really don't deserve it. But there are other definitions of grace, of course. It really did take me a little while, in our girl whore years, for me to accept that you were the naturally more graceful and elegant of us. But with your support, I was able to embrace it. Not to mention your natural superiority at cock sucking.

Buckle your seat belts, or stop reading now. This post veers deep into policy and speculation. And it is mostly about race. I could be dead wrong. I often am. But right now I am celebrating the utter short-sightedness and stupidity of Team MAGA. I have to stipulate I don't mean historically Democratic Black or Hispanic or Muslim voters. We all now know many were pissed about inflation. Or rent. Or broken promises. Or dead Palestinians. And so they voted for Trump. I mean the rock solid "we'll believe anything he says or does" MAGA hard core. The ones who think Jan. 6th was a Day of Love. And are jubilant about beating cops when it helps Trump. You have been given an historic opportunity. And every day seems to shout at me, "We are blowing it. We are such losers that, after losing in 2018 and 2020 and 2022, fate (COVID + inflation) throws us a lifeline. And we fuck it all up." Lest anyone think I am just a dumb White liberal, the former Black head of the RNC said exactly what I just said. He said Trump's Republican Party is a "zombie party" that will fall apart quickly if and when the Democrats get their shit together. I agree. It was the inflation, stupid. What was Kamala supposed to do? Speaking of what stuff costs, here's something I suspect our dumb dog doesn't know. And probably can't appreciate, with his dumb dog reflexes. If he read Black reporters who work for Politico, instead of attacking Black men as a DEI hire, he might up his skill set just a little. One can always hope. That absolutely blew my mind. First, just the facts. Then a liberal biased interpretation of the facts. This is complex and divisive stuff that many books and articles have been written about, several of which I have been extensively quoted in. But facts are facts. Under Clinton, working class homeownership soared. That was an intentional policy. It helped the White working class a lot. But it particularly helped non-White Hispanics or Asians or Blacks, who mostly are disproportionately behind Whites in gaining access to homes and net worth. Which they often use to create businesses. Owning a home is the American dream for a reason. Some conservatives lie like dumb dogs and argue Bill Clinton created the horrible subprime mess. But, if true, all those mortgages made from 1993 to 2000 under Clinton should have and would have gone bad in the 2001 recession. No such thing happened. The mortgages that blew up starting in about 2006 were almost all originated from 2002 on, when W. was POTUS. And when Republicans ran all the regulatory agencies and Congressional committees that governed this. These are facts. Republicans can't deny that all the shitty predatory mortgages that blew up the US and stole wealth and homes from Black families in particular were mostly made when they had one party control. So what blows my mind in that chart above is that in a little over one year Trump reversed all the damage done by W. Much of which played out when Obama was POTUS, and the ticking time bomb mortgages originated under W. exploded one by one. Because my complicated point is about race, I will focus on Blacks. Even though this trend is true of all non-White as well as White home buyers. Black homeownership went from a high of 49.7 % in 2004, to a low of 40.6 % in Q2 2019, to a high of 47 % just one year later. That is an amazing reversal, both ways. The reversal down is because it took Clinton an eight year Presidency to, IMHO, very wisely figure out how to turn homeownership into an engine for working class wealth creation for all races. Again, owning a home is the American dream. Clinton did not discover some new law of science. But he made shit work. And it worked great until W.'s Republicans and their special interest Wall Street and financial industry donors fucked it all up. The Trump reversal is even more amazing. It does prove that a rising tide lifts all boats, at least sometimes. Trump did in one year what it took Clinton two terms to do, to exaggerate a bit like @FuckNJoy does. And he did what Biden talked about, but could not actually deliver on. And I am being intentionally generous to Trump. Because it arguably was the bond market or the mortgage market, not Trump, that did it. Whatever the cause, when 30 year fixed rate mortgages fell below 4 % in 2019, lots of smart people of all races saw their opportunity and jumped at it. By 2025 standards, that is dirt cheap. Kudos to all the Black and Hispanic and Asian American and White working class families who were smart enough to buy homes and lock in low fixed rate mortgages then. And it did get even better under Biden in 2021, when pretty much nobody wanted to move. And then ..................................... it's the inflation, stupid. I don't hold a grudge with any Black or Hispanic family that voted for Trump in 2024. I could make a great argument that it was actually a logical thing to do. This would be one of my main arguments. It's way too complicated an argument, if anyone bothers to read this. But it's true. Meanwhile, Ole Joe talked the talk but could not deliver. To set up bringing this to 2025, I will jump into fantasy and say this. If I were Trump, I would not only argue I am the least racist guy I know. I would also insist I want to be the DEI President. This ain't your Grandpa's Republican Party. We are truly colorblind. But we also know our diversity is what makes us strong. Most Americans believe that. And Trump proved with abortion that he can get away with shit like that. The Christian right resents his backtracking on abortion. They want Mike Pence back. But they voted for Trump, anyway. Mostly, I assume, because he delivered his right wing SCOTUS. Actions speak louder than words. Sadly for his love affair with Blacks, as well as anyone else that is "DEI dead" these days, Trump's current actions will speak louder than words, too. How Democrats lost the DEI war Conservatives won the culture war by riding the backlash to Black Lives Matter protests. That was written by a Black reporter who works for Politico who extensively interviewed Black experts and organizations like the NAACP. In other words, this guy is an incompetent DEI hire who works for a leftist Democratic mouthpiece who interviews Communists and terrorists. Who knows? Some might even be Gay. Horrors! For purposes of this topic, I hope people - especially African Americans - do feel this is who Democrats actually want to protect, and lift up. And now White guys on dumb Tik Tok videos are declaring, "Open season. I was racist before racist was cool." I personally take the headline above as a statement of emotion, not fact. Like, is same sex marriage gone? No. Are all Blacks being fired from the FAA? No. Musk and Trump fired a White guy who was unanimously approved by Congress, three plane crashes ago. My point is that I think the Black reporter who wrote this is probably showing his bias, and his humanity. And saying, in subtext, this feels like a terrible loss. If so, I feel for him. But I think it is a big battle lost in a war that Democrats are winning. Obama still was our first DEI President. He won't be our last. I could say a lot about the article, which is a great read. But I will focus on one fact he states, which I view as a dagger in the heart of MAGA: It's a fair point to say that Trump rallies really are a bunch of mostly White people, and they don't play Beyonce music. It's also fair to say Democrats were stupid NOT to showcase more White males at their convention. But my argument is that what matters a hell of a lot more is whether Black families could afford to buy homes when Donald Trump was POTUS. Whether it was his policy or not, that's not a reason for Black families to see him as the worst racist ever. That obviously helped him in 2024 with Blacks. And Hispanics. And Asian Americans. This is a "racially sensitive" issue with some Blacks who don't really want to own the fact that Trump got more Black votes than in 2020. I'm not Black. But I think that line in that article is a kiss of death for MAGA. What Trump and Musk are saying right now, in all their beautiful White wisdom, is this: "The door is closed. You are not welcome. Get the fuck out. Now. You stupid incompetent DEI hire. Normalize hatred. I was racist before racist was cool." It's only government employees, of course. Who the fuck cares? But my guess is that is kind of like telling an African American, "Who cares about the lives USAID saves? They're all Africans." Like subprime, this will be a bomb that goes off slowly. But once it is rigged, it is very hard to reverse. I take that article as a searing confirmation that Blacks have already started to get the message. The door is shut. You are not welcome. Get the fuck out. And our dumb dog with no brain, just conditioned reflexes, is yapping in joy, waiting for his Trump treat. That said, maybe @FuckNJoy is really fucking with us. Maybe he is a whip smart conservative Black college graduate, who just likes Trump's policies. Makes no difference in terms of the outcome. I don't think he is going to like how this plays out in the long run. But since he wants to get it out in the open and expose the truth, there it is.

Did Pavlov's dog have a name? Serious question. Henceforth I will call you @FucknJoy. Joy sounds like a nice name for you. It shows some grace. Like I hope you have Joy when you flail around with your mindless MAGA conditioned reflexes. But, flip side, you do like to fuck with people. And you could care less how many children in Africa - or the US - die today because of what Musk is doing today. You actually just celebrated killing brown-skinned immigrants in one of your stupid videos. John Harris was right. I got in almost a screaming match with him in college, when he was the editor of our college newspaper. He had edited some stuff I wrote about a lefty college professor because he said it was too biased. I argued that all journalism is biased. He said that we should at least strive not to be biased. I thought and said that is just self-delusion. That really pissed him off, as I recall it. The world has changed. I had no idea that my lefty college professor would become a US Senator, or John would found Politico. I now actually wish he had been right. It feels like it has gone too far. Not so much because we have media that takes a strong and biased opinion. That's fine. The problem to me is that too many people only read one side. Right or wrong, I have always been a liberal who wants to know both sides. And maybe it is just my bias. But I think a lot of college educated liberals are like me. They wants facts, and truth. I think it shows up all the time. Liberals will say, " Yeah. Biden is too old, and he is losing it." MAGA cultists won't say that about their God. Right now they are literally celebrating open racism and hate. You revel in being @FuckNJoy. You have now posted several videos that intentionally edit out the other side. And intentionally deceive viewers by saying Trump really didn't cruelly attack a handicapped reporter. Or people all love Trump, except for this small minority. This is just another example of how you love being @FuckNJoy, Trump's puppy dog looking for his treat. Or you are whacking off your two inch dick attacking more Black people. Or whatever gets you off. Have fun.

I'll reframe your question. Do I believe in grace? Yes, I do. I was raised Catholic - Catholic grade school and high school. I was a Religion major in college before it was cool. I consider myself spiritual. Even though the Catholic church lost me for good when they were one of the main funders of the anti-same sex marriage campaign, while I was having the time of my life volunteering on the campaign to win it in California. This is the TMI shit that drives my family crazy. I was also having the time of life, at the same time, fucking a sexy young Catholic priest (brown skinned, so I guess he was a DEI hire) on the balcony of a hotel on the Amalfi coast. We were on our way to Rome, where I watched him officiate the wedding of a gorgeous Italian man - to a woman - even though the guy had been his fuck buddy while he was in seminary in Rome. Not many people can say they did that. I can. My devoutly Catholic mother did not appreciate me sharing this information with her when she was shocked to learn that many Catholic priests are Gay. So that actually answers your question. I feel I have had a lucky and good life, so far. So show some grace. It is a symbol of how completely morally and spiritually bankrupt the Grand Old Party is that, in the same vile tweet, JD Vance can talk about "grace" as he defends a proud racist hater. And attacks a very graceful US Rep, who should make all Indian Americans proud, for calling out open and repugnant hate, based on the color of your skin. So Musk and his dead child are small ball. Is Musk telling the truth? Probably not. He lies every fucking day about USAID or something, in ways that actually will kill real children in Africa today. Could he give a flying fuck about how the mother or father of that dead child feel? Fuck no. So whether he is lying about his own child or not, or his own sadness has altered his memory, I just feel sadness for him. Whoever was holding his son when he died, it is a human tragedy. The greater human tragedy, which dead people at the bottom of a river and dead children in Africa are paying for already, is that somehow that tragedy and his living daughter's discovery of her unusual sexuality hardened Musk's heart. And made him the cruel dishonest arrogant fuck he is today. This is not new. You can read all about it in the Bible. Which tells us to show some grace.

It's just so funny. But also embarrassing, if I were in the MAGA hive. I mean, this must be the kind of stuff that makes even MAGA dudes with two inch penises cum. So I get it. If this gets you going, enjoy your orgasm. But Trump wins by 49.7 % of the vote. He actually loses one House seat. Which is a massive problem for his lapdog House Speaker right now. Chip Roy, who I actually kind of admire being a deficit hawk myself, wants to cut Medicaid - which will hurt Trump voters just like cutting Obamacare would have - to fund huge tax cuts to Trump's special interest billionaire donors like Elon Musk. Since you're a bit slow on the uptake, I'll spell it out. You have much bigger problems to worry about. That's if you want your semblance of a government minority to be able to function at even a minimal level. But if your real goal is break shit and attack every living Black man and woman as a DEI dumb fuck, while you whack off your two inch White "Look at me!" penises, please have fun while it lasts.

This is embarrassing. I guess MAGA folks think everyone else is stupid. But what's saddest about it is that MAGA folks must think MAGA folks are stupid. Or insecure. Or something. They have to constantly keep reassuring themselves that Trump was actually elected to break shit, be cruel, be racist before racist was cool, or whatever you think he is doing. And, yes. He did promise to be all those things and break shit. And he is being all those things and breaking shit. Woo hoo! He did not win by 58.8 % of the vote, like Reagan did in 1984 in the most resounding landslide of my lifetime. He won by 49.7 % of the vote. Granted, it is better than he did in 2016 or 2020. That is a fact. And while it is not quite a fact, I think he correctly stated why he won. It's the inflation, stupid. That's why he is already practicing stupid political theater to run away from tariffs, thankfully. Which his supporters are smart enough to know would raise prices. I approve of that. This is like saying, "Look! I have a two inch penis! It is a full two inches! It is really big! Measure it! Two inches! Seriously!" That can all be true. But it is still true that people will think you have a small penis. Trump is a small, cruel man doing small, cruel things. That doesn't change. 538 says 49.4 percent of voters approve of Trump. That is down from 49.7 % on his first day. The way I read that is that his supporters, who are not a majority, have not abandoned him yet. I'm using 538 because they track it daily, unlike RCP. 538 says 44.3 % of voters disapprove of Trump. That is up from 41.5 % his first day. It does not surprise me that opposition is growing and hardening pretty quickly. Even for a man who divorces and rapes and sexually harasses a lot, this is not promising to be a long honeymoon. It is embarrassing that you have to brag that he only had net approval for 11 days in a four year Presidency. That is awful. Horrific. Wildly unpopular. Which is why he got his ass kicked in 2018 and 2020. And now he has beat that miserable record. Go ahead. Brag about his two inch penis all you want. One way to read that is that CBS and CNN are obviously bending over backwards to make his two inch penis sound like the King Kong of dongs, so as not to be taken as anti-Trump. Kudos to them. Another way to read that is that CNN is cleverly reminding people that they only approved of this small, cruel man for 11 out of 1,460 days last time. It really is like saying, "Trump has a two inch penis, and it has stayed two inches for 20 whole days!" You don't really get subtlety or subtext, do you?

I take this as confirmation that you actively want to spread misinformation. Meaning a distorted view of reality. But you are making progress. The first half of the video is true. Maybe someday you will be able to just speak truthfully. Let's push for that, okay? This is better than the outrageously dishonest video you posted where Trump was mocking a reporter, and some dishonest MAGA dude denied it, and spouted lies. Even as the video literally was abruptly ended as Trump was saying, "the reporter." So since you clearly have not figured this out, when you cut off a video suddenly, like in the middle of a sentence, inquiring minds usually want to know, "Why?" Anthony Salvanto says Americans feel Trump is doing "what he said he would do in the campaign" The link to the entire 3:46 video is there. Why did you cut off the half that talks about all the things Trump is doing that even his own supporters disapprove of? That news is not really news. I know that Trump said he would do many horrible things. And he is now doing them. It's even worse than promised, I think. One of your videos showed a cartoon White man celebrating the death of a cartoon Mexican American immigrant. That kind of thing. Let's be mean and cruel. Who cares if people with brown skin die? Seems like you could care less that 47 % of Americans already disapprove. Trump's tariffs are wildly unpopular. CBS reports that, which I guess you don't want us to know. He promised to lower prices. And Americans overwhelmingly understand tariffs will do the opposite. Which is why Trump performed some political theater and let Mexico and Canada off the hook for things they had already promised to do. I approve of that. Just appease your base with meaningless gestures rather than hurting the working class people you say you want to help. Let's see how Medicaid fares. Does it shock you that his racist and illegal garbage about taking over Gaza and evicting the people who live there is considered a "good idea" by only 13 % of Americans? It should. I guess I understand why you don't want us to know that. It's no shocker that 2 in 3 voters think Trump is not focused enough on lowering prices. Which is why they wildly oppose tariffs on Canada or Mexico. Why hurt neighbors and allies in ways that will raise prices - the opposite of what Trump promised to do? Do you think Trump voters are stupid? I don't. Many Trump voters seem to be able to figure out that some of this crazy shit would hurt them in the pocketbook. Ouch! It's understandable that you only hear what you want to believe. Real Clear Politics, a pro-Trump news website, says his average approval rating is 48.9 %. That is very slightly lower than RCP reported a week ago, and slightly lower than his 49.7 % vote total. You also lied, or at least spread misinformation, when you claimed his approval rating is rising. It's way too early to reach conclusions. But none of this is moving in Trump's direction. I get the feeling they just want to break as much shit as they can before judges, Democrats in Congress, or voters stop them. I think if Trump had his way we would all be relying on Truth Social. And he would only tell us what he wants us to hear. Thankfully CBS, like most but not all conservative newscasters, gives us both sides of the story. You don't. I am a political whore. So I get that Trump has to appease and throw red meat to his base, like you. Even though he has eliminated almost anyone inside who dares question him. I'm hoping Susie Wiles or someone has the balls to tell him, "This will hurt the nation, and hurt you. By making you unpopular." A great example right now is that Republicans in the House, who lost one seat in the last election, can't agree on things. Like cutting taxes for billionaires to blow up the deficit. Just like Biden needed moderate Republican allies, Trump could use a few moderate Democrats. He is alienating them quickly with cruel personal attacks and lawless actions. This is all just a replay of 2017, with double the short-sightedness and triple the cruelty. I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Trump would never do that! Would he? 😉

I actually just saw that. I agree with you. One thing everyone agrees is that Trump is a creature of his own whims. Which everyone has to know, and play to. Even Susie Wiles can lose it and look exasperated on camera. So I would not predict when Trump's whims may suddenly change and he has had enough of Musk. But it will probably have something to do with Musk becoming more unpopular and hogging the limelight. Which means Trump is less loved, and gets less limelight. What could be worse? My main point, to put it in very dramatic terms, is that I thought maybe suddenly we had a Hitler Youth in America. For some reason, a month ago, Musk was more popular with young voters than anyone else. And that had to lean heavily on young men. In other words, the people we counted on being The Emerging Democratic Majority. That is a potential death sentence for Democrats. The shift against Musk in one month, from six points net approval to -15 net disapproval, was seemingly massive. So I am taking that, perhaps prematurely, as a death sentence for Musk. Whatever young voters saw in him - entrepreneur, social media genius - is vaporizing before our eyes. So far, it fits into my hope that it was the economy, stupid. And the inflation, stupid. And the rent, stupid. It was a vote against Biden and inflation, not for Trump and Musk, among young voters that put the decisive nail in Kamala's coffin. It could change by 2026 or 2028. And may be starting to already. Meanwhile, the pain and damage will continue and grow. But the evidence so far is that this is NOT what young voters want. When they attack students loans, I think that gets a lot worse. I think young voters do want the government on their side. They may be frustrated or ignorant about why Biden, thanks to Trump's SCOTUS, could not fully deliver on his student loan promises. But let's wait and see what happens when they gut or eliminate the Dept. of Education and let predatory lenders run amok. That is already locked and loaded. To quote our sadistic asshole who wants to normalize hate, not to mention predatory lending, "CFPB RIP." I know you don't really mean you can't wait to see how this turns out. Because, as you keep saying, it will be painful and exhausting. Speaking of young people, or kids, when you tell someone young not to put their hand on the fire or they will get burned, you hope they listen. When they don't, they get burned. It is painful. And sad.

I think this is sad. I will say three good things about Halperin first. First, I think he is beyond doubt one of the best political reporters of my lifetime. I liked him best in his Game Change days, when he and John Heilemann were a team. I did not know this at the time. But I suspect given where they are now that they offset each other's biases. Second, I think Halperin did the best job of any political reporter covering and explaining 2024. Mostly because he tried very hard to understand and explain both sides of a brutal and deep political divide. He compares favorably with my fallen hero Alan Lichtman, who believed that reality would bend to a set of rigid rules that work most of the time. Arguably, it was as simple as this. Halperin listened, and Lichtman preached. Halperin heard, "It's the inflation, stupid. And the border. And the cultural excesses of the left." That was all over his 2way podcasts, every day, coming from every corner of America. Third, this is typical Halperin these days: peace, love, and understanding. He was, of course, cancelled by MeToo and banished for years for being handsy with women. So I keep thinking he may have an axe to grind. But if he does, his method of doing it is like Obama's beer summit. Let's talk it out. All that said, I've lost interest. And I suspect his business success, since this is now his business model, will increasingly depend on being an apologetic and meek Trump whisperer. This is just spineless moral equivocation. When someone says they were racist before racist was cool, they are saying they are proud to be racist. We don't have to water that down to being potentially "racially insensitive." When someone says, "normalize Indian hate," they are openly espousing hate. There is no subtle subtext. It's not even good political reporting. Halperin is trying hard not to see why JD Vance is doing what he is doing. They are not going to kiss and make up. Halperin wants to have it both ways. He calls out Vance for his outrageous response: "You disgust me." But still manages to quickly squeeze in that he "denounces" them both. Since when do we denounce people for asking someone openly racist who espouses racial hate to at least apologize? The "kid" should be fired, both for his amateur coding, and his over the top pride in racism and hate. It further makes clear that the MAGA minority is deeply committed to no holds barred attacks on Gays, Blacks, Indians, and anyone who is not a White male. The comments on this video are the most interesting part of it. It is almost 100 % pure MAGA. Same as all the comments on Halperin's X posts these days. So I suspect the people Halperin has to pander to now are the minority that elected Trump. Everyone else may be tuning out. That is sad. Because Halperin was about the only journalist around trying to promote deeper understanding. My takeaway is that MAGA land feels like this is war, and we are here to fight and win. So don't even try peace, love, and understanding. We'll openly talk about how we don't want our kids to even hear the word "Gay". And we'll talk endlessly about men in women's bathrooms. Did I mention how Harris wants the government to pay for sex changes? Let's spend the whole election on that one. But as soon as you say we need to protect Indian children from "normalize Indian hate," you disgust me. I think Khanna epitomizes grace. This is the way graceful politicians let each other off the hook all the time. JD will have none of it. Khanna wants to be POTUS, and is someone I think has the will and skill to fight for it. But I suspect after four years Democrats will be trained by this. Khanna won't have a prayer. Because the lesson may be that we need an even bigger asshole. Who shows no mercy, has no grace, and has no interest in peace and understanding whatsoever. JD Vance clearly understands the role, and what he has to be now. The most shocking comment is that Khanna is now a "racist" for being an Indian American saying it's not okay to say, "Normalize Indian hate." JD Vance and Elon Musk want to normalize Indian hate. They will deny it. But if it is disgusting to ask an adult to apologize for preaching hate, they are normalizing hate. It's the cool new thing. If you are against hate, shut the fuck up and stop whining. This is Trump's America.

Explaining the Strategy Behind Trump's Sovereign Wealth Fund So that article is a very interesting read to me. But probably boring as shit to most people. Which is bad news. One thing someone smart said at some point in some article I read years ago is that for subprime mortgages or huge corporate scams like Enron to work, it has to be boring as shit. People are easier to fuck over deep and good when they are bored, or confused. So this really has potential, I think. Both the tone and content of that article sound in the ballpark of what Warren Buffet or Stanley Druckenmiller might say. In other words, rational and prudent investors. As opposed to reckless and cruel assholes like Elon Musk. The only problem with the idea of prudent boils down to one word: "Bitcoin." I mean, it could make sense to base the financial well being of the US and its citizens on the biggest bubble in human history. But, then again, there is at least a teeny tiny chance that things could end badly. I'm assuming on something of this magnitude Trump will insist that the barely past puberty amateur coders that are invading our privacy and were racist before racist was cool can not be in the room. Even so, with our Gay fairy godfather at Treasury, I just have a bad feeling about this. Here are two charts some boring and prudent analyst at Bank of America, who no doubt lacks imagination, came up with a few years ago. They explain my bad feelings: So as of a few years ago, the boring and prudent crowd was saying BitCoin was the biggest bubble in the last half century, and one of the five biggest bubbles in human history. Note how the 1929 stock market crash, one of the top five ever, and various stock market bubbles in the US or Asia in the last half century just don't begin to measure up. I am betting money that some White male amateur coder who loves to torment Black middle class men who work for the US government, and was racist before racist was cool, would have the perfect rebuttal. Those charts above are a few years old. Bitcoin was not a bubble. It is worth even more now. How could Donald Trump deprive the US, not to mention his many wealthy crypto-donors, this great opportunity to create wealth? Leaving the barely past puberty racists aside, I read a post from some Musky MAGA dude on X that said whenever he reads these lame people saying Bitcoin is a bubble that will pop, even though every time it does pop it grows even bigger, he wonders why so many people have so little imagination? That's what Musk and Trump have. Innovation! Imagination! So I will end by pleading guilty as charged, and tell one of my favorite stories about being an ignorant old hooker. In about 2007 I was sitting with a client at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur and reading the Wall Street Journal in between sex. If you don't know, those are nice and pricey digs. There was some article about some European bank, I think in Germany, going broke because of something called subprime synthetic derivatives or something. WTF? I'll take sex, please. I had another client at the time who made a small fortune on the last foreclosure crisis in LA, buying foreclosed homes. He said this is nothing. A tidal wave is coming. So my imagination included the idea that a massive wave of foreclosures was coming in places like Sacramento. It did. But I was an ignorant old hooker, and I did lack imagination. I could not conceive of the idea that this thing was so big and awful that in a few short years it would take down AIG, Countrywide, Bear Stearns, and Fannie Mae. And cripple the US economy and the world for years. I just lacked that kind of imagination. Where is Elon Musk when you need him? So I can not really imagine just how badly Donald Trump can fuck thinks up if he gives it the old college try. But this at least creates a vague outline of what is possible. There is always an upside, if you have imagination. At least after it crashes and burns we'll get to see some future hot guys like Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale playing assholes in The Bitcoin Short.

It is depressing. I appreciate the article @reader posted about how some of the strong men in Europe are actually on the ropes. One thing that seems true all over the globe is that people want to throw the bums out, whoever they are, after a long period of COVID + inflation. But it feels likes the bad guys are winning - everywhere. That is of course a very US-centric view right now. I can think of Claudia and Mexico and conclude it would all be very different if Democrats had fought like hell for the working class, like AMLO did. But, in the US, the bad guys are winning. Bigly. That said, I would argue that when it comes to Putin, Trump is actually a plus. It's a silver lining in all the pain and misery. I do think there was a serious question about whether Trump is a Russian asset. In fact, I think he is a Russian asset in the sense that he predictably will do things that weaken America in the world. But my read of Mueller's investigation is that Republicans, like Barr, were seriously interested in investigating whether they could find evidence that Trump was somehow in bed with Putin. What they found is that Putin interfered in 2016, and that Trump obstructed Mueller's investigation. But to me that investigation ended the idea that Trump was somehow bought off by Putin, in an illegal way. Putin may have helped Trump financially, through cronies and Russian investors, all along the way. But that is not breaking the law. That is just how Trump does business. I think Trump will just keep Putin off balance. If I thought Ukraine could actually beat Russia, I would regret Trump's election for that reason. I think by last Fall it was clear Ukraine could not win. And they arguably should have taken Milley's advice and sued for peace when Russia was on the back foot a year into the war. At this point, the polls say Ukrainians would rather have a cold truce - it is not peace - than a hot war. Meanwhile, Russia's economy is a mess. Putin did not even win the battle. I'd argue the battle showed Putin is a paper tiger, since he could not even beat a weaker neighbor. There is no evidence Putin is winning the war. I don't think this gets any better for Russia. Any more than, in the long run, Afghanistan was a plus for either the USSR or the USA. So Trump won't antagonize Putin the way Biden and Zelenskyy did. He'll just let Putin continue to fuck up the Russian economy in the long term. The question now is whether Trump will do even worse suicidal things for the US. His Gaza fantasy falls in that category. It s another tragic example of the bad guys winning. Bibi decided it was fine to kill thousands of Palestinian babies and have an ethnic cleansing. And to thwart Biden and basically murder Kamala Harris, at least politically. And now, just when the Israeli genocide crowd would hope, Trump comes in threatening to evict the ones Bibi didn't murder.

It's pure Goebbels. They know what they are doing. Target the most vulnerable minorities. They can't say "We don't like Gays." So they target a Peruvian comic book that mostly pushed education and literacy, as well as tolerance of Gays. I have not read the comic book. But I have read accounts that say there was nothing "trans" in it at all. Just tolerance of Gays. So that has to be turned into something about trans people in bathrooms, or something they know most Americans don't feel comfortable with. Republican Scott Jennings is a great example of a "normal" and "decent" Republican who is now fully in on the Kruel Kool Aid. He recently said Trump's specialty is finding 80/20 issues and forcing Democrats to back the 20 % position. Trans bathrooms are not literally 80/20. But most Americans are uncomfortable with the idea. So they target those people and dish out cruelty and lies. Goebbels would be proud of them. I'm not a psychologist or priest or rabbi. So this is above my pay grade. But tragedy and pain can make you a more compassionate person, or make you cruel and hard. With Musk it obviously did the latter. If there is anything I can empathize with him about, it is the loss of his first born child. In his arms. But it is sad that somehow the way he filters that is it explains away why someone else's kids died in one of his unsafe cars. Musk is now wreaking havoc on America and the world, just like Hitler did. I think that is just a fact. He is determined to pay back the Gay shit and pay back these people who think he violates public safety standards. I'll show you fuckers. If he kills all these public health programs, like HIV prevention and treatment, it is factually correct to say he could kill more people than Hitler did. Albeit using different methods.

Agreed. His disgust and hatred could not be more clear. Even with his own child. What a monster. His own daughter. What a monster! Killing children in Africa? That's a piece of cake.

Funny. I just posted on that. ‘Grow up’: Vance, Khanna spar over rehiring DOGE staffer Vance could not be more clear about his tolerance for racial hatred and bigotry. Saying "Normalize Indian hate" is okay. The problem is when Indian Americans complain about it, or ask for an apology. Then they are "whiney children" for calling out racism and hate. The near-child who is an incompetent amateur coder violating our privacy and gutting public safety? He deserves "grace". As a practical matter, I partly agree with Vance. Fire these assholes because they are incompetent people wreaking havoc on consumer protections and public safety as they violate our privacy. The fact that they are cruel racists -in their own words - is just an additional but unnecessary reason to fire them.