Do you hear yourself? - 8/12/2025

Last year the murder rate in Washington D.C. was nearly double the rate in Bogota and triple the rate in Mexico City. Because they hate Trump more than they hate violent crime, the excuses and resistance to Trump stepping in is astounding. "So far in 2025 the numbers are down!" In my imagination, I keep hearing Margaret Brennan's interview with J.D. Vance, Margaret arguing that the Venezuelan gangs are only controlling a couple of apartment complexes in Colorado. J.D. said something like, "Do you hear yourself, Margaret?" Every excuse I hear for D.C., I have to admit that I can't think of anything better than, "Do you hear yourself?" "Crime is down in D.C., it's barely double the murder rate in Mexico City this year! Barely Double!"

The progressive left has dealing with crime all wrong. As they do with economic issues, they focus on outcomes. Too many in jail. Too many convictions. Unfair policing policies and unjust prosecutions.

That stuff ain't working. Why? Because it doesn't work. All I hear is resistance, excuses, and bullshit explanations. Yes, bullshit explanations. If you're one of them parroting these same bullshit explanation now that, heaven forbid, Trump is stepping in, I have to ask, "Do you hear yourself?"

Trump - Russia Can't Die, If It Does, Your Lies Will Die, too - 8/10/2025

I'm going to try not to look stuff up, so, if you fact check me and I'm just 'almost right' about something I have to say this morning, I can live with that. This bullshit Russia collusion narrative is 9 years old now, and I didn't keep notes or a database.

Trump and Russia. The narrative they can't allow to die.

First of all, I remember Wiki Leaks. They released emails from John Podesta. This was back in 2016 I think. Could have been 2017, but my recollection is that it was prior to the Trump vs. Clinton election. Do you remember what was in there? Like the one, important thing that undermines the entire Russia collusion narrative? I want to say the email was May of 2016 as my mind dwells on it for a bit. There was an email in which, before ANY of the Trump - Russia bullshit started out there, Hillary says words to the effect of "we'll tie him to Russia and beat him that way". It was the Clinton Campaign who tried (pretty successfully) to frame Trump for colluding with Russia.

Now a Senator, Adam Schiff claimed repeatedly he saw the evidence. Was he gullible, or was he part of the operation to frame Trump?

Nearly every single thing that happened since then, as far as Democrat and Deep State attacks on Trump, goes back to that fact, that point in time. Of course, if you watch CNN or ABC or read the New York Times, they're not EVER going to connect the dots back to that point in time, so I had to do it for them.

Hey, while I'm here, who said this: "First we f*** Flynn, then we f*** Trump?"

OK, for extra credit: what two people exchanged these text messages: "Trump's never going to be elected President, right?" "No, he won't. We'll stop it." I may be paraphrasing here, but I haven't forgotten. Have you?

Classified documents the Deep State worked hard to keep hidden from you, documents that were declassified by DNI Tulsi Gabbard, also show that the Russia collusion narrative is deeply rooted in Hillary Clinton's campaign. It was foisted on you because she had to do something to distract you from her classified e-mail problems.

But, hey. I still see Trump Russia colluded thrown out there by gullible sheep. What is most often happening there is that Russian meddling in the election and the notion of Trump colluding with them are conflated and treated as being the same thing. They're not. Yes, Paul Manafort went to jail. He sold some internal polling info, I think that's what he sold, to a Russian. Trump fired him. He went to jail for it, too.

Oh, yeah. The Steel dossier. Let's get some facts straight. Fusion GPS is a firm in D.C. that does what's called 'opposition research.' In 2015 a GOP candidate, I think it was Ted Cruz, hired them to do background on Trump. They did, and sometime later, after Cruz dropped out, the Clinton campaign contracted with them. Read this next bit very carefully. Again, as a disclaimer, if I have an improperly crossed 't' or an un-dotted 'i', sorry. This is from a now 68 year old memory.

The Clinton campaign commissioned, in payments rendered via a lawyer named Marc Elias (still very active in the political dirty tricks game) from the lawfirm Perkins-Coie, Fusion GPS for the Steel Dossier. Fusion had in it's employ a former CIA type, she may actually have been NSA or other three-letter agency, but I think CIA, named Nellie Orr. Nellie's husband was or is, no idea their current status, a guy named Bruce Orr, a DOJ lawyer connected to Crossfire Hurricane. I think it is greater than 50/50 odds that Nellie wrote the dossier, or at least parts of it. But, even if it was Christopher Steele himself or one of his British colleagues, that either means that the Clinton Campaign paid a political dirty tricks operation in D.C. to phony up the dossier, or that she paid a foreign entity, under Steele, to do it. Either way, Hillary Clinton was and is dirty.

Why all this today? Because all this is absolutely bedrock foundational to everything that happened to Trump in his candidacy and first term. Every single thing. If you pull these cards from the first level of the house of cards, it all falls to pieces. These facts, not alone, there are others, but these facts condemn the U.S. press, the three letter agencies, and the Clinton Campaign. Democrats attacking Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Mark Warner, for example, one among many, know the cards are being toppled. 9 years in, there are folks who have made a career bolstering these lies. There are reporters who won Pulitzer Prizes for journalism for spreading them. None of them can go back now and correct the record, lest the house of cards fall directly on them.

Then there's the average, run of the mill, Trump Deranged Democrat. You've sucked so much milk from these lying teats for so long, you wouldn't recognize or believe the truth, regardless. Mark Warner and his ilk know this. They like keeping you stupid and ill-informed. They like keeping your Trump Derangement at a fever high level, all the better to keep you from seeing whose dirty tricks these actually were, and to keep you from seeing whose fingers were in the cookie jar.

Rhetorical questions, in closing. Would people who foisted Trump-Russia collusion lies to try to win in 2016 also lie to us about Hunter's laptop in 2020? Would they cheat in an election by shoving in thousands and thousands of absentee ballots in the middle of the night? Would they taint tallies in electronic voting machines? I betcha if you said no to all three of those, that you still believe that Trump colluded with the Russians. You also probably stopped reading this blog post a long, long time ago.

I wanted to talk also about how facilitating illegal immigration was an intentional political play on part of Democrats, but I've run out of rant for now. Maybe another day.

Change the F***ing Channel, Dumba$$! - 8/2/2025

Change the f***ing channel, Dumba$$!

Fmr CIA Director John Brennan is a compulsive and professional liar. And a criminal.

If your news channel of choice still uses former CIA Director John Brennan for analysis and commentary, are you a Trump deranged willing dupe, or are you just stupid? Watching John Brennan and believing him only makes sense to me for someone who hates Trump so badly that you want to cling to any and every negative thing said or written about him, regardless truth, regardless of source. There's plenty to legitimately criticize Trump about, but John Brennan isn't the guy you want informing you... or maybe he is.

If you watched a different channel, you would know that John Brennan was the one who overruled his analysts in order to help create a Russia collusion controversy surrounding Trump. The collusion narrative was a product of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign. High ranking members of the Obama Administration took on the mission of advancing that lie with the specific goal of damaging Trump and taking attention off of Hillary Clinton's criminality in the classified emails from an unsecured and illegal  server in the bathroom scandal. It worked... of a while.

But then Trump got re-elected. Wasn't supposed to happen. They even tried to assassinate him to stop him. Failed. He got in office and appointed Tulsi Gabbard ad Director of National Intelligence. If you are listening to people on your news channel of choice who refer to DNI Gabbard as "a Russian asset", maybe you ought to change the f***ing channel, dumba$$!

Tulsi Gabbard isn't a Russian asset you f***ing morons!

Here's a brief list of news outlets I wouldn't trust to tell the true story of the 2016-present day Russia collusion story:

• New York Times, Washington Post
• Politico
• Slate, Vox, HuffPo, Daily Kos, etc.
• ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR
• CNN, MSNBC

If you don't understand by now that every one of those I listed, and dozens that I didn't, are invested in the narrative, and in most cases were directly involved partners in crime, aka: co-conspirators, with the Clinton Campaign, Brennan and the rest of the Deep State, I suggest you change the f***ing channel, dumba$$

I can't believe the lack of curiosity from those of you on the left with all the revelations from the stunning ongoing declassification of documents. If you think John Brennan coming on CNN or MSNBC and telling you "nothing to see here" means there's nothing to see, are you really that  f***ing stupid or are you just a fellow traveler in Brennan's, rolling along in the same Deep State caravan of lies? All I can say is:

Change the f***ing channel, Dumba$$! 

4 reasons, 3 reasons, 2 reasons - 7/23/2025

Lemme give you 4 reasons President Barack Obama won't be successfully prosecuted for any of the relevations in the Russiagate scandal. He's neck deep in it, but if you think you're going to see him arrested, convicted, and or confined, forget about it.

1. He has broadly defined presidential immunity. The same standard of immunity that SCOTUS declared Trump had/has will apply to Obama.

2. Statute of limitations will be expired on many individual charges that might otherwise be brought.

3. Obama will be way beyond untouchable by any convened Washington D.C. grand jury.

4. Washington D.C. Federal Judges are about as likely to find Obama guilty of something as D.C. grand juries would be to charge him. As in not.

 So forget about it.

Now, here are 3 reasons Brennan, Comey, Clapper, Clinton, etc. won't be successfully prosecuted:

1. The statute of limitations will also shield these scumbags from liability for their own criminal actions.

2. Washington D.C. courts will also excuse almost any crime, even if proven, if it was done in the name of stopping Trump.

3. Washington D.C. Federal Judges are leftist activists and won't give the prosecutors of their fellow travelers much chance for success.

And finally, 2 reasons NOT to release the so-called Epstein files.

1. Because not every person whose name is going to come out is guilty of any crime. We ought not "guilt by association" innocent people in the interest of nailing some guilty ones.

2. Releasing the names may weaken cases. I'd rather see them build cases and successfully prosecute a few of these scumbags than to have the whole bunch of them get away with it because releasing these names compromised their rights.

I realize there's blood in the water and some of you sharks wanna eat, but I think I'm telling you right. 

The Tulsi Bombshells. Incomiing!!! - 7/21/2025

This morning, I've got stuff going on, so just a few notes on the DNI Tulsi Gabbard bombshells of the weekend (DNI stands for Director of National Intelligence, if you didn't already know):

 

1. Not a bit of it, except the specific documents that she has that back up the rest of the story, is new to me. Devin Nunes, Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino knew all this, too. But half the country get your news from lying propagandists. The Trump - Leslie Stahl 60 Minutes interview comes to mind, one medias suitcase of lies on a Queen Mary steamship full of them. You could look it up: Leslie Stahl and Donald Trump 60 Minutes. Go for it.

 

It may be new to you, but it ain't new.

2. If you do have even half a an open mind, find a good, clean copy of the Epoch Times Spygate foldout I'm posting here, above. It's all in there.

 

3. If you still think HRC, Brennan, Clapper, Comey, are/were all "good guys," you know, people who live and act with honesty, integrity, decency, and always in the interest of righteousness, you're hopelessly biased and or brainwashed. You are a huge part of the problem. I am sorry to say that, but it's true. If you had had an open mind 7, 8, 9 years ago, this wouldn't be a big story now.

 

4. Barack Obama won't ever be found guilty by a judge or jury in D.C. Forget it. It'll be hard enough to get the legal system in far left D.C. to get any of the other corrupt officals/conspirators. Obama? Forget it. Untouchable in D.C. Fantasize about something else, that ain't happening.

 

5. I wish I could say all this was unprecedented, but after all these scumbags did to try to stop Trump from being elected in 2016, again in 2020, and yet again in 2024, it's more like "about damned time" than unprecedented. Payback for having their agents rifle through Melania's panty drawer looking for documents that were in open dispute and the subject to ongoing discussions and negotiation? It is coming.

Spoiler: they were in Melania's panty drawer looking for evidence of what Tulsi has made public this weekend, NOT the documents they said publicly that they were after. There is supposedly a binder Trump kept that had all the bad stuff in it. Candidly, I don't know that there really is or was a binder, but I can easily, very easily, buy the theory that they were looking for the kinds of emails and correspondence Tulsi is making public.

 

6. Remember when evil Hillary called Tulsi Gabbard "a Russian asset"? Remember when the corrupt U.S. intelligence apparatus put her on a terrorist watch list causing her, a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives and an officer in the U.S. Army to get special security attention, aka harassment, when she flew? Seems like they f***ed with the wrong girl, at least it seems like that to me.

 

7. There is more to follow. DNI Gabbard says more documents are forthcoming. She says a number of whistleblowers are finally coming forward to tell their story. Somebody had to know something. Bring it on.

 

8. If you still think the Deep State is just a MAGA conspiracy theory, you're stupid. Wake the f*** up. TDS is no excuse for stupidity.

The Real MAGA Beef About the Epstein List - 7/15/2025

First off, I want to make it clear, I have supported and do support Trump since 2016, my preference for DeSantis notwithstanding. I don't call myself MAGA. I just don't. I do like what MAGA stands for, but I don't subscribe to any movement top to bottom, side to side. The world is complicated, sometimes I have my own thoughts and I'm not in perfect alignment with the mainstream.

Suicide or suicided?

Now, to the reason I'm writing tonight: Why is MAGA in an uproar over failure to release "the Epstein list"? The angry mob is calling out anyone who might not agree to the list's release as "protecting pedos", but at the heart of it, that's not the real issue. If not that, then what is?

The real issue is that Jeffrey Epstein is widely believed to have been a tool for intelligence organizations, in the U.S. and or abroad, secretly gathering information on his guests' lewd and immoral behaviors, which was then used to blackmail those same individuals here in the U.S. and overseas, to do the bidding of intelligence agencies. Whether doing so for Israel or the U.S., or both, that's what many believe. It's the root of people not believing "Epstein didn't kill himself," for example.

The theory is underscored by seeing how many of our politicians so often seem compromised in some way into making statements or voting in ways contrary to what would seem to be in good sense and in good conscience. All the dirt Epstein reportedly gathered, it is believed, is used to force politicians to play along or be ruined. Most believe, as I do, that our 3-letter agencies, the valor and commitment of many individuals within them notwithstanding, have evolved to be evil and corrupt, presuming to collectively know better than we do what's best and or what's right of our country.

Many believe our 3-letter agencies meddled in the 2016 and 2020 elections, meddled with Trump's first term massively, and had a large and corrupt role in things like Jan 6th and the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping. Certainaly there is also suspicion about their role in either one or both of the Trump assassination attempts. (JFK/RFK anybody?) You can discount all of that if you want. That's your choice. All I am doing here is to point out in large measure, why MAGA is livid about the failure to disclose the list. Personally, I can see a good number of reasons they might not want to, but I'm not here to argue for or against, just to dig in to the root frustration.

There is one major flaw here. Yes, the people on the list are bad guys: pedos, etc. But they're not THE bad guys. They're the ones who were blackmailed, but NOT the blackmailers. Maybe, just maybe, the reason we're not seeing the list is because they're trying to flip a blackmailed ex-Epstein Island visitor to tell who it is/was blackmailing them to try and make a case against it. Is that what it is? I don't know. Maybe.

Regardless, MAGA feels we've been screwed by the system, particularly rich and powerful people in and out of government, and for them this list is bloody red meat. MAGA wants its due. They're hungry for payback. They want to eat. I can't blame them. 

And fuck the pedos, anyway,

Butler PA, a Year Later - 7/13/2025

 

"Fight, fight, fight!"

A year ago today, an assassin on a rooftop nearby to a Trump rally attempted to assassinate President Trump. A few brief thoughts:

Reports now that the Secret Service had intelligence suggestion Trump's life was in danger, but did NOT alert the agents responsible for security at the event. I want to dig in right here. How could they NOT notify the security team? I start with Trump Derangement Syndrome. All parties involved in the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service in D.C. were Biden Admin and Establishment types. You can't convince me otherwise. They saw Trump's rallies as a circus sideshow. A distraction. A waste of resources, time, effort, money, etc. Like, who has ever had this kind of a traveling sideshow and expected us to protect the head clown? For real.

Do I think they were part of a conspiracy to assassinate Trump? It more likely they were not than were so. I do think there was some measure of coverup. I don't exactly know why, but we do know that kid's body was cremated way too fast and I saw, within days, that roof being washed clean. Those two things, alone, insert doubt into the whole story. Do they prove anything? No. But they're goddamned suspicious as hell. If you asked me, do I believe it is an absolute certainty that there was NOT a conspiracy, I would say, no, there is now way it can be totally ruled out. After every corrupt thing that they did to try to stop him prior to, during, and after his first term, to say it is completely out of the question would be preposterous.

Let's look who was running the show: Secretary of Homeland Security "the border is secure" Alejandro Mayorkas, the single most contemptible member of the Biden Administration (my opinion, I know there are certainly others who some dislike even more), Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, a BIden loyalist who proved to be in way over her head, and Deputy and then Director Ronald Rowe, who couldn't possibly have show himself to be a bigger asshole than he did in the aftermath. There isn't a single one of them I would trust to ensure Trump's well-being.

Will we ever know the full story? Probably not. You would think we would know every single thing about the assassin. Why don't we? Remember the nonsense about not being able to get into his phone(s)? Something stinks. It could be a simple matter of them covering up their own incompetence. It could be something worse. It seems like some transparency would have been enlightening. How could we ever expect that from the same people who said the border was secure and that Joe Biden was mentally competent? 

Epstein and Other Outrages - 7/9/2025

Epstein didn't traffic those underage girls to nobody.

I have no idea what's going on with all the Epstein drama. It's really a bad look when two, opposing Administrations in a row clam up like this. The possibilities are nearly endless, and pretty much none of them is good. 1) The only speculation I discount, nearly out of hand, is that Trump was one of Epstein's clients with the underage girls. He wasn't. Nope. Why do I say that? Because if he was there is no way, none, zero, zip, zilch, nada, that the Democrats and Trump's enemies in the Deep State would NOT have released that. It is a certainty, that if there was a smoking gun there that indicted Trump, we would know it, whether via legal action or leak.

What I do think, not know, but think, is that 2) a lot of important people in government, elected and bureaucrat alike, all three branches, and out of government in finance, business, entertainment, etc., are likely involved. I also think 3) there's a good chance this was an FBI/CIA or other government agency or extracurricular government people's blackmailing operation. Our elected officials are being influenced or controlled by someone. Both 2) and 3), above, may be wrong, but I don't think so.

This is Sade Perkins. Sade is a racist piece of trash.

The Texas flood last weekend brought out the worst in people. I give the title, "Worst of the Worst", to a woman named Sade Perkins, who took to social media, and among other things suggested it was God's will to "wash the little c'nts away". Because they're white, and thus, presumably, their parents voted for Trump, and that, all by itself, proves they're racists. So, in Sade's twisted thinking, white people probably voted for Trump. This makes them racist. It also makes their children, especially girls, you know, the "little c'nts," legitimate targets of God's anti-racism wrath. I am sure Sade believes that. And when people tell you who they are, believe them.

Dr. Christina Probst has Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Then there's Dr. Christina Probst. Sweet Chrissy went right on social media, the dead were barely started even being counted, and pointed out that Kerr County voted for Trump and were getting what they voted for, finishing with a very cynical "Bless their hearts." Sweet Chrissy is unfit to care for children. She is an evil, deranged bitch. I hope life gives her what she deserves.

Anti-ICE activists are upping the ante and moving into terrorism and assassination. 

This is terrorism, friends. It's not activism any longer. This is not the last of it, not by a longshot (no pun intended). It's a good time to buy ammo and think about personal protection and security. They're upping their levels of violence. I think I'll buy some 12 gauge shotgun shells this time. Checking my gun safe, everything else is well stocked. Lest you think this is isolated and not part of something larger, I leave you with a link to an Axios piece. Read it and be warned.

House Dems Say Their Supporters Want Blood

Scary shit. Keep your powder dry.

Big Beautiful Bill - 7/5/2025

In the shadow of a B2 Bomber and F-35's, President Trump signed the budget bill on the White House lawn yesterday. I have mixed feelings about it. Some assorted thoughts:

1.) Thank goodness we're finally defunding Planned Parenthood. American women kill 1,000,000 babies a year. Right to choose my ass. 1,000,000 is too many. And Planned Parenthood, all the intentionally misleading propaganda about providing essential health services aside, provides nearly 40% of those 1,000,000 abortions. Do the math. You want a right to choose whether your baby lives or dies? Fine. Don't use our money to kill hundreds of thousands of babies.

2.) Making people who can work work as a requisite to receiving government health benefits seems fair to me. Not everyone can work. I get that. I am not talking about someone who literally can't work. There are also a hell of a lot of people who can work but think they can't or choose not to. We mollycoddle a whole lot of them, in doing so we help to convince them they can't work. And some know they can, but why bother? Work is hard. Free shit is easy. F*** those lazy mother***ers.

3.) IDGAF if people here illegally don't get a dime of taxpayer money for anything.  The free shit is why they're here. Do I mean all illegal aliens? No. Some, maybe many, are pulling their own weight. But the ones getting the free shit? Nah. No more free shit. Why not? Because they're not entitled to it, and because we can't afford it.

4.) I do not like that we raised the debt ceiling. I don't like it at all. I supported DOGE, but I recognize that the entire apparatus resisted DOGE actively, passively, aggressively, and stubbornly. I was staunchly behind Elon and his attempt to make an impact on the financial insanity in Washington, and I get, totally, why he's pissed. MAGAs are making him out to be the bad guy. Nah.

A couple of notes, unrelated to the BBB:

I don't like calling the immigrant processing facility Alligator Alcatraz. I do support deportation on a massive scale, but calling it Alligator Alcatraz feels wrong to me. The decision to deport someone, and the process of doing so, are serious business and not an internet meme. If they call is "Everglades Alien Processing Facility" or "South Florida Processing Facility," at least there's some dignity in it. I'm sure many disagree, but I'm not a fan of the Alligator Alcatraz name at all.

I read that three "unnamed sources" claim that SecDef Hegseth cut off some military supplies to Ukraine, saying that he was doing so to ensure our own readiness, despite having been told the supplies could be given without impacting our own readiness. I hope these Alexander Vindman types of unnamed sources are out of work at the Pentagon by week's end. IDGAF if they disagree. So be it. But to go rogue deep state and piss and moan to a reporter because the SecDef disagreed with your assessment in a clear attempt to undermine him and his authority? F*** all the way off!

Connecting a few dots: Socialist Zohran Mamdani, Democrat New York mayoral candidate, has said New York needs to tax whiter neighborhoods. Let's just stipulate to the evil of that and leave the racism and race card he's playing there aside. This guy is the same guy who used misleading racial identity on his college application. Hmmm. Perhaps Mamdani was just trying to set the stage so when elected he could save money on taxes?

Arriverderci Facebook - 6/20/2025

Bye bye, Facebook, at least for a while this summer. After that, who knows?

I deactivated my Facebook account Tuesday. I will make the explanation as short and to the point as possible. Here goes.

1) Because I've lost too many friends because I expressed my political point of view on there. People I used to care about have extricated themselves from my life. I mourn their departure, but at the same time have a sense that it's good riddance. I care about my country and my countrymen, so because my opinion differs from theirs, they've abandoned me. In a very small number of cases, it is I who abandoned them, but in each specific instance, it was their arrogance and insult that inspired me to sever our Facebook connection. I was stupid, uneducated, a racist, etc. If that's what they think of me, I don't need them in my life, anyway.

2) As the situation in our country continues to evolve, devolve is probably more like it, I find myself becoming intolerant of dissenting voices even absent of insult. The insults are still there, mind you, but no longer a prerequisite to my intolerance. At the same time I find continuing to express myself futile and counterproductive. I just do. More than anything, though, as much as people's intolerance toward me and my views as I described in the preceding paragraph has hurt me, those feelings serve to makes me uncomfortable with my own, similar feelings toward others. It just ain't worth it.

I decided to sit Facebook out for a while. I'll reassess later this summer. We'll see. For now, I'll concentrate on family, taking care of stuff at home, reading lots of books, and continuing my Italian Lessons. 

Arriverderci Facebook. 

The "No Kings" Assassin, a Turning Point for Me - 6/15/2025

The "No Kings" Assassin is a Tim Walz political appointee in Minnesota.

You read that right. The "No Kings" assassin is a Tim Walz political appointee. I've seen attempts to turn him into a Trump supporter or MAGA dude, but he's not.

Before I ramble on, my condolences to the family of Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and wishing a full recovery to Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were also shot by the No Kings assassin. We should not overlook the tragedy the No Kings assassin has brought to the lives of the Hortman's and Hoffman's family and friends.

Vance Luther Boelter is the "No Kings" assassin. His motive remains unclear. My hunch, just a hunch, is that he was involved in some kind of corruption and was at risk of being caught. I read this morning that his wife and two family members were stopped by police in Minnesota with money, passports, and guns, likely making a run for it to Canada. Was she in on something? Who knows? But running off to Canada sure don't seem all innocent and pure like windblown snow kinda stuff to do.

I find it ironic that on a day when an assassin with No Kings flyers in his vehicle kills a politician and her husband, and attempts same with another, that liberals across America, in the same No Kings protests against Trump, carried guillotine posters, severed Trump heads, posted posters with the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States in the crosshairs, and carried abundant 86 47 signs, which at this point can't be denied: are all allusions to assassinating the President and now the Vice President. By the way, Tim Walz, who appointed the No Kings assassin, has called publicly for bullying Trump and Trump supporters like me. Condemnations from my so-called friends on the left? Crickets.

Yesterday was a bit of a turning point for me, on a personal level. I have pretended that my friends from the left, I should say former friends, thinking about the ones who have abandoned me and our friendship, are decent, good people who simply disagree. I have deluded myself into thinking we are still friends. I am sad to report, I have given up that thinking. Some will notice I am giving up on them and may act like it's me, but with very few exceptions, they have cut me off and out of their lives long ago, probably with spoken or unspoken "good riddance."

I am done with people who hate Trump more than they love or like me. I am done with people who hate Trump more than they love our country, our flag, and our Army. I am done with people stupid enough to continue to think that the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and the rest of the leftist establishment propagandist media are impartial deliverers of fair and unbiased content. I am especially done with people who drink in their "facts" from these sources who think I'm the one with a closed mind. And, more than anything, I am sick and tired of far-leftists who pretend to be moderate and reasonable. One of the worst symptoms of Trump Derangement Syndrome is the afflicted not recognizing that indeed they have it.

I do NOT think Donald Trump is perfect. Far from it. I do not think Trump has pitched a perfect game since his return to office. Far from it. But I will be goddamned if I'm going to sign on to the leftist, socialist, social justice insanity that the left poses as an alternative.

A reprise from earlier in this piece, but I want to say it directly and clearly: If you have cut me out of your life because of my politics, go fuck yourself. You were a phony friend and you are an asshole. Be out of my life. You are gone from it by your own choice, so stay gone from it. It is as you wish. Live your own life of media leftist propagandized lies and delusion. I will be just fine without having you in mine. 

20,000,000 or More is a Problem. My Proposal - 6/12/2025

20 Million or more illegal aliens is a problem. For starters, IDGAF if the protesters or illegal immigrants are black, brown, yellow, red, or white. I have no problem with diversity. If you think that my opinion on immigration is shaped by some innate or inherent racism, I will never convince you otherwise. So, fuck it, think whatever you want.

I vehemently oppose all the nonsense going on to oppose ICE. Democrats have screwed the country with immigration insanity, especially since Trump took office the first time. But, finger-pointing and blame aside, I'm here today to propose a solution to the problem. If you don't think there's a problem, stop reading here and now. You're too indoctrinated and biased or too plain stupid to gain even a morsel of understanding, so please, stop reading here.

1) A Constitutional Amendment that eliminates all illegal aliens from being counted in the U.S. Census. This means congressional and electoral apportionment are calculated ONLY on the basis of the number of legal residents, whether legal alien or U.S. Citizen.

2) The same Constitutional Amendment to restrict or repeal aspects of birthright citizenship to children born to a parent or parents either are U.S. citizens, or who have PERMANENT LEGAL residence in the USA. This would exclude children of either illegal aliens or persons here on temporary work or tourism visas.

3) The so-called Big Beautiful Bill will tax remittances by 3.5%. This is not high enough. A remittance tax of 15% is good. 20% is even better. How about 3.5% remittance tax for foreigners who can show they have legal status in our country, and 20% for anyone who can't show same?

4) Illegal aliens who commit ANY additional violent crime or other serious crimes, after the misdemeanor of entering the country illegally or overstaying a visa or work permit, to be deported expeditiously. This would be incorporated into the same Constitutional Amendment.

5) Background checks on all immigrants processed for ANY crime after arrival here. Expeditious deportation if found to have committed serious crimes in their home country before immigrating here.

6) Illegal aliens here now to be afforded 3 options only:

a) Immigrants who declare themselves present with the desire to remain in the U.S. permanently, who chose NOT to return to their native country to apply for LEGAL residence, can be awarded a permanent work permit, if a background check shows they have NOT participated in criminal activity once here. These individuals will NEVER be eligible for citizenship, but their children would be under birthright. Commission of crimes here in the U.S. would be cause for automatic revocation of legal residency status. 

b*) Immigrants who declare themselves present with the desire to live in the U.S. permanently, but who are willing to return to their native country to start a legal immigration process. (I know our legal immigration program is broken badly. We need to fix it.) These immigrants will be eligible to apply for citizenship in accordance with existing U.S. law after they are granted permission to return and subsequently returned if they are cleared in a criminal background check and can show they have or will have gainful employment upon return to the U.S.A. In light of their willingness to go back and do things the right way, some form of financial aid to assist their departure, and expedited handling and processing of their return authorization.

Immigrants with proof of gainful employment here in the U.S. may receive this same authorization from the consulate of their home nation here in the U.S. A. This would require their employer to "sponsor" the immigrant and to pay a reasonable but significant fee that would offset the cost of expedited immigration processing, and entail a criminal background check.

*this paragraph updated 6/13/2025. 

c) Immigrants who hide out in the U.S. and continue to reside here illegally, but do NOT declare under "a" or "b", above. These persons will be exempted from obtaining any benefits or assistance, subject to swift deportation upon discovery and apprehension, and permanently barred from returning to the U.S. or seeking U.S. citizenship. Their children would NOT be eligible for birthright citizenship under the Constitutional Amendment I envision.

Employers found to be knowingly employing immigrants in category "c", preceding paragraph, will pay exorbitant fines for the employment violation of hiring these people, to be codified into law. Perhaps a fine at one level if the company has <20 employees, higher if they employ from 20-200 illegals, higher still for 201-1,000, and for employers with >1,000 illegal immigrants in category "c", the highest fines, something extremely high, like 25% of total revenues.

Immigration is a turd. Nobody wants to clean it up, because there's no clean end to pick it up from. There is no solution that will please everyone. If my proposal doesn't please you, I'm sorry about your luck. I most assuredly haven't seen YOUR proposal.

670 Presidents - The Judicial Coup in Defiance of Democracy - 5/29/2025

I'm going to make this short and sweet today.

The so-called democracy savers from the left are defying the democratically expressed will of the American people every day. Some of you are so blinded by your Trump Derangement Syndrome, aka TDS<  that you can't see it. I recognize I can't cure your blindness.

670+ Federal District Court Judges were never meant to control the Administrative Branch, but well disbursed leftist judges, and activists bringing lawsuits have effectively executed a bloodless coup d'etat, wrestling power from the people in favor of leftist special interests, but more importantly, in defiance of the President (all the TDS sufferers holler 'Hooray!') and the will of the people. It's disgusting, there's no other way to describe it. I remember at one point a couple of months ago, I read that the ACLU had 94 different lawsuits all challenging Trump Administration deportations ready to file in all of our District Courts. Why 94 and why in every District Court? To find one leftist piece of shit activist judge to issue an injunction, usurping the President's constitutionally based broad authority with regard to immigration.

Activist shadow-President Boasberg.

I've had it. I mean it. That's why I'm so rarely writing here. Let me close with a couple of quick hitters:

First, our Universities have become anti-American leftist indoctrination camps and leftist centers of power. By way of clarification, what I'm getting at is "fuck Harvard" and all the rest. I don't bend my knee to them, none of them. If the intellectual elitist snobs at Ivy league and so-called elite institutions of learning want to think me beneath them, so be it. Tell them I said to go fuck themselves.

Second, I applaud Elon Musk and his efforts at DOGE. If nothing else, he did expose the depth of the graft, greed, corruption, ineptitude, and waste, as well as the connection, by way of that greed, to our Congressmen and Senators.

Lastly, I'll finish where I started: to all the people who know the media lied about Trump/Russia collusion, COVID vaccine efficacy, the Hunter Biden laptop's authenticity, Joe Biden's cognitive impairment, among other things, but who still go to the same sources of news and information who put forth all those lies and more, you quite likely have Trump Derangement Syndrome. I know, I know... you're too stupid, too opposed to Trump, too gullible, and too far down the path to change up now. That's primarily your problem. Seek help. If nothing else, change the fucking channel. Find a different newspaper. Get a new therapist, hopeful NOT one who also has TDS, because you need help.

Biden Cancer - 5/19/2025

Joe Biden prostate cancer was kept hidden from the American people during his term as President.

As I did last night on my Facebook page, I wish Joe Biden a full recovery from his prostate cancer. That's it. That's as far as the cancer recovery and treatment part of this issue goes for me. Got it?

Joe is still the beneficiary of a deep state, Democrat, and media conspiracy to get him elected in 2020. Everything, including the kitchen sink, was done to ensure Trump wasn't re-elected. I'll mention a laptop which WASN'T Russian disinformation and stop there.

Remember when Joe went full Hitler in Philadelphia? I do.

Joe is still the son of a bitch who vilified me and many, many like me with his evil Nazi-like speech in Philadelphia. Fuck that Joe Biden. Capish?

Joe is still the guy who had debilitating dementia throughout his presidency, an ever worsening problem that calls into question the integrity of his staff, nearly every fucking lying propaganda spewing journalist in our country, his Vice President, and most of all his wife. These people hid his condition in the interest of keeping him in office, all the while with unelected, anonymous, nameless, faceless activists doing work up to and including signing documents in his name.

Turns out Joe had cancer, too. This, in a country that operates within some norms and boundaries, is information that is ALWAYS put before the American public. But, no. Not only hiding the dementia, these corrupt pieces of shit in the "so called" Biden Administration, felt they needn't share this important health information with us. "But they only found out last Friday." The fuck they did. And you know damned well it's a lie, too. So while I'm at it, fuck you, too.

These people wielded presidential authority in the name of an incapacitated man, no doubt in my mind at all, and they acted in violation of the U.S. Constitution by using technology to sign documents in his stead, Biden being too far gone congnitively to do so on his own.

"But, Matt... show some compassion, Joe has cancer!" No. I am NOT overlooking all that went on. If people without authority criminally exercised presidential authority, I want them arrested, perp walked, tried, and if convicted, given the absolute maximum, harshest sentences possible. Now, I know that's not even remotely possible in deep blue Democrat activist Washington D.C., but that's what I want. And since I know a conviction isn't possible, I hope Pam Bondi and Kash Patel will make the process a penalty.

I do hope he recovers from the cancer, though.

A New Pope and a Bit of Other Stuff - 5/10/2025

There's a new Pope. An America from Chicago, Robert Francis Prevost, a Cardinal who was presiding in Peru prior to his election, has succeeded Pope Francis and is taking on the Papal Name: Pope Leo XIV, or, commonly, Leo the 14th.

Pope Leo XIV

A few thoughts on Pope Leo and Popes, in general. First, I really don't give a shit that you disagree with Catholics having a Pope. One point five billion Catholics can't operate without a leader. I understand your theological objections. I disagree with you. I also understand that there is nothing you're going to present to me that will convince me the Pope is some kind of blasphemous or sacrilegious office. At the same time, nothing I say will convince you otherwise, I'm willing to risk eternal damnation by believing that my Church having a Pope doesn't put my salvation in jeopardy. So, how about this: move on. It ain't worth it.

Second: I don't care that the Pope is a flaming Chicago liberal. He's not my President, Senator, Congressman, State Rep, Sheriff, or even County Dog Catcher. His job is to look after the faith and activities of the Catholic Church. His stance on abortion, migration/immigration, the death penalty, or any other issue is in the best interest of a church, and humanity. I take his opinion to be important and informative. When it comes to my country, each and any of the 133 Cardinals who voted for Pope Leo who happens to be an American citizen gets a vote here, too. One vote. Same as mine. I expect the people we elect in our government to put the best interests of my country and our people ahead of those of the church and or humanity/mankind. So Pope Leo is a liberal. God bless him. It's ok with me.

This meme didn't hurt my feelings or insult me. It is, nonetheless and in my opinion, truly and fully asinine.

I am not going to go point by point and item by item assessing Trump's performance so far. I will say this, which is something I said to a Trump hating friend earlier this week: Every third thing he says is asinine. The Trump/Pope meme is just a recent example. But, and this is important: despite all the unforced errors, nothing, not close, not within 3000 miles, has made me for a second think Joe Biden or Kamala Harris would have been a better choice.

And while here I am criticizing Trump, let me make clear, the Democrats are worse. They were yesterday, They are today. They will be tomorrow. If Democrats want to come back from approval ratings in the 20's, they/you better start moving toward the middle. Democrats rarely, perhaps never take a stance on the issues important to me that I agree with. Ever.

I hope Letitia James winds up bankrupted and in jail for a long, long time.

We do not elect Popes to be President. Neither do we elect U. S. District Court Judges, but U.S. District Court Judges do seem to have staged a silent coup to usurp Presidential power in favor of the judiciary. Judge Boasberg is NOT my President. He's just acting like he thinks he is.

To close today, something I have come to truly believe, and I believe it is true whether you are on the right or on the left, is that your stance on the issues is far, far, far more a byproduct of your choice of news sources than anything else. Our echo chambers are seductive, too seductive. We willingly and willfully get only half the information, the half we want to hear, and we completely disregard other contrary information. We are the political equivalent of an opposing pair of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys." Yep, the news we watch is making a monkey out of is. If you're reading this, it includes you.

Happy Mother's Day.

Hiatus, Yea or Nay? - 4/16/2025

Well hello there friends. Just a short note this a.m. in the way of an update. I'm back from our great vacation. I'm toying with the idea of staying on hiatus or not, possibly returning to blogging here about the insanity. Honestly, I'm not sure. I had thought the hiatus would have me chill out a bit over what's going on in our country, but I find myself angrier than I have ever been before in my life over what's going on in D.C.

As I have said a good number of times, for starters, I do NOT think Trump is pitching a perfect game. That being said, nothing, not close, not by a mile, not by an Elon Musk Mars mission, has me thinking the fucking insane, evil, anti-democratic, unhinged left would have been a better choice. Neither do I think some other Republican without the balls or will to fight the fucking insane, evil, anti-democratic, unhinged left would have been a better choice.

I am watching as the lawfare has blossomed into an encompassing political strategy. Am I sure every one of Trump's initiatives can withstand legal scrutiny? No idea. What I do know is the shit the left is fighting for is completely foreign and unacceptable to me and a lot of like minded voters.

I don't want an unaccountable 4th branch of government shaping the world into a leftist Nirvana by handing out taxpayer money to study how lesbian bees in Argentina differ from lesbian bees in Europe during brief cold spells during a full moon. I'm sure the three radical leftist lesbians who are getting the money would be kicking back mightily to Democrat pols and PACs, all the happy lefties getting rich together, but I don't think this is how it's supposed to work. I'm also sure the smaller group of more conservative lesbians, think Tammy Bruce, they won't be getting shit. See, this is a money grab and political power grab. (The lesbian bee thing is tongue in cheek, dumbass, but it's only 1/8" off from some of the other USAID insanity, and you know I'm right.)

The people fighting against Trump Administration efforts to find fraud, waste, and abuse? They're the ones committing the fraud, wasting the waste, and abusing the system. You'll have a hard time convincing me otherwise. Help me understand people over 115 getting SBA loans, please. And while I'm here, persons terrorizing Tesla owners and dealerships need to do hard time. I wish a whole hell of a lot worse on them, believe me, busted kneecaps and heads, stuff like that, but hard time will have to be good enough.

I don't want the same fucking liars and crooks who said Biden couldn't manage the border short of legislation, who were trying at the same time to codify into permanent law via legislation the insane unacceptable immigration policies that got Trump elected, thus allowing 10 or so million in illegally or with the wave of Biden's magic wand now fighting tooth and nail to thwart every single deportation effort in every court in the land. You want "due process". Fuck you. I'm reminded of a cliche: if you owe the bank $10,000 and you can't pay it back, you're in trouble. But if you owe the bank $10 million and you can't pay it, the banker is in trouble. Well, if we had 1 million people here illegally, it's a problem, but a manageable problem. When you have maybe 25,000,000 people here illegally, and you have to adjudicate each and every deportation on a case by case and due process basis, you're fucked. There's no easier way to say it. Who fucked us with this problem? We all know damned well who it was.

Furthermore, who in the fuck fights to keep Venezuelan murderous rapist and gang members here? Who in the fuck fights to return criminal Salvadoran gang members here from their home country? Who in the fuck fights to keep radical, anti-American, green card holding students who shut down universities in support of murderous, rapist, hostage holding Hamas here? Spoiler: it is evil, victim hating, U.S. A. hating, satanic, mindless, Trump deranged leftist Democrats, that's who.

Our founders didn't predicate Presidential power on the approval of any of 677 Federal District Court judges. Immigration and foreign policy are the distinct responsibility of the Executive Branch of our government, under the authority of the Chief Executive and President of the United States. But here we are.

"Ms. Orange Man Bad" might have to change her name to "Ms. Orange Jump Suit".

Oh, Letitia James. Ain't that rich. The fucking Trump-deranged leftist piece of shit legal warrior lied on her mortgage application, allegedly calling a state she isn't allowed to live in while in her job as NYAG her permanent residence AND calling her father her husband on a mortgage application. Bankrupt her fucking leftist ass and lock her up with no key. It couldn't happen to a nicer bitch.

For what it's worth, I hope you dumbasses run AOC atop the ticket in 2028. Go for it. Really. Please. She's exactly what you need. I promise. I may even donate to her campaign. I want her to be your nominee that badly. I may register as a Democrat in 2028 to vote for her in the Primary here in FL. I'm serious as a heart attack.

Yeah, maybe I'm not quite ready to come back. What do you think: Hiatus, yea or nay?

Hegseth's Gaffe - 3/25/2025

OK, I'm back for just a second here to make an observation.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accidentally including Atlantic Editor Jeffrey Goldberg on a text stream. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it's a fuck up. Please read that last sentence back one more time before I continue. It's a fuck up. Now that that's out of the way, a couple of things. First, the texts I saw weren't actual war plans, you know, order of battle, jumping off point and time, logistics, etc. Second, what I saw was absolutely consistent with what the Trump Administration has been saying publicly about the Red Sea and the Houthis. What I saw didn't put anyone at any greater risk than they already faced absent these accidentally leaked messages, and in a way it's refreshing to accidentally find out the Administration is consistent in private with what it says in public.

Former Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin

Contrast Pete's gaffe with his predecessor, Lloyd Austin. I do have empathy for Secretary Austin having had, maybe he still has, prostate cancer. I'm not discounting that, nor do I fail to recognize the personal nature of dealing with cancer, something many people feel very private about, wanting discretion until they have a good handle on their own situation before it becomes the topic of calls and well wishes, even. I get all of that. But Secretary Austin was incapacitated for health reasons and didn't tell the boss. The read it again line this time is: "was incapacitated for health reasons and didn't tell the boss." Now, maybe he had an even better excuse, desire for privacy aside. I mean, Joe Biden is and was an intellectual vegetable most of the time. Even if he had been told, he'd likely have remained unaware. But even so, the chain of command below Austin needed to know and his assistant ought to have stepped up in an "acting" capacity.

I never felt Austin ought to be fired for failing to disclose his incapacitation. For some other stuff, yes, but not for that. Neither do I need to see Hegseth gone. Was this a major league screw up? Absolutely. The breach needs to be addressed so it isn't repeated, but anyone calling for Hegseth's job who didn't call for Austin's? They might just be a little biased. That's all I'm saying.

I'm glad I was able to get that off my chest without blowing my stack. I've struggle to express myself lately, and that's why I've stayed away from this blog. I simply can't tolerate or deal civilly with Trump Deranged people anymore, no matter who they are. I don't want my blog to be one redundant and offensive "go fuck yourself". And that's where I am headed if I comment on all the things happening around us.

Brief Hiatus, Some Parting Thoughts re: Ukraine - 3/3/2025

You'll feel blessed to know this blog is taking a short pause. I'm traveling to attend the funeral of a dear friend, a fellow Marine Navigator, gone too soon. Since it's the Monday after, and still a hot topic, here are my thoughts and questions, of which, at least in my mind, there are more of than there are answers.

How is that the guy who wants peace is the bad guy?

Is it possible, at any time at all in the future, for there to be peace from this conflict without terms, whatever they might happen to be, that Russia agrees to?

How much is public opinion on Ukraine influenced by the military-industrial complex?

Is there any limit to the financial and other support for Ukraine?

How much is public opinion on what happened in the Oval Office informed by the full range of dislike of Trump's bombastic style, to full-on Trump Derangement Syndrome?

Did you watch the whole exchange in the Oval Office, or did you see what was reported on television?

Is there anything at all that took place in the Oval Office Friday that, in your opinion, Zelenskyy needs to apologize for, or was his demeanor and behavior exemplary and above reproach?

Have you heard or read reports that in recent weeks, that Zelenskyy has made and then quickly reneged on minerals deals with Trump Administration representatives?

Can Ukraine win the war without U.S. or other foreign troops on the ground engaged to fight Putin?

I agree, Putin was the aggressor and that Putin is the bad guy here. Are those of us who have doubts to downright distrust of Zelenskyy supposed to overlook it because Putin is bad?

Do you think there is or that there may be corruption associated with U.S. money and other support? Like kickbacks, payoffs, embezzlement, etc?

How long do you think things would have to remain as they are now, with the war ongoing, before Putin loses his resolve? Can Ukraine outlast Putin's resolve, even with our continued support?

Does the 1994 Arms Treaty with Ukraine have a "till death do us part" clause? Is there any point at which, despite our best efforts to support them, it simply "is what it is," despite that we've done our part?

Can we agree that Putin invaded Crimea on Obama's watch and Urkaine on Bidens watch, and nobody on Trump's watch?

Are the Ukrainian lands now occupied by Russia worth World War 3 and or a nuclear holocaust to you? Will you feel it was worthwhile that your kids and grandkids are dead?

You don't have to answer. I'll see y'all in a week or two. 

Oval Office Dust Up - 3/1/2025

Holy shit this one's going to be unpopular. My thoughts on the disaster in the Oval Office yesterday acros a range of issues.

Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova appears to have a headache... or something in the Oval Office yeasterday.

1) The war in Ukraine. What's the end game? Can Ukraine win the war without the U.S. (or some other 3rd party) putting troops into combat? I don't think so. To me, it appears like the strategy is for us to keep dumping money in and hope that Putin / Russia loses his / it's will before Ukraine runs out of soldiers. I think the war, from Ukraine's point of view, is unwinnable, absent insertion of U.S. or other troops and a massive escalation that has a high potential to result in a 3rd world war. Peace is a better solution. I do not see a path to victory, and I do not see how we can afford to endlessly dump money into an endless war that has no potential happy ending. The war mongering neocons here love it. Wealthy business people here and corrupt politicians here are getting rich, rich, rich off of it.

2) Russia, Russia, Russia, Putin, Putin, and Putin Puppets. Russia are the bad guys in the war. There is no doubt in my mind. But, and this is a huge but, I really and truly do not give a shit about Putin. The absolute weakest argument to support continued fighting, or to criticize anyone who questions the wisdom of continuing down this same path, is to call me / us / whoever is questioning it a "Putin puppet" or to say we're 'playing into Putin's hands". I hate to tell you this, but on the list of things on anyone's political "to-do list", or on the "don't do list," playing into Putin's hands or having some asshole here call me a Putin puppet because I don't give a shit about him, what he wants, needs, or what makes him happy, ain't on them. And while we're on the "Russia, Russia, Russia, Putin puppet thing, lemme remind you. Russia invaded Crimea on Obama's watch. Russia invaded Ukraine on Biden's watch. And Putin, he's a bad guy. Sure. But you calling me his puppet because I question continuing and endlessly sending money to support an unwinnable war, it's aggravating, but empty. You want me to support continuing to fun that war with our money? Paint me a picture of an outcome worth supporting and tell me how we get there from here without U.S. troops or world war 3.

3) Zelenskyy. I already declared Putin the bad guy. That doesn't make Zelenskyy a good guy. I don't trust him. I don't like him. I never have. I don't see a path to me feeling good about supporting Ukraine, knowing he's their leader. Zelenskyy was in the middle of the CIA's plot to destroy Trump 45 via impeachment. You know, the Chiarmella/Vindman "perfect phone call" thing. Whether he was an active participant, or passive, he was in the middle of it. And for those of you who get your news from progressive or neocon propagandists, you won't know this (or may have conveniently forgotten) what Trump was asking about was how Biden had been bragging on camera about having leveraged U.S. money to force Ukraine to fire the prosecutor who was investigating Barisma, the firm his son Hunter was a part of, and what many, myself included, believe was a channel of corrupt money to "the big guy." To make matters worse, Zelenskyy played his cards all wrong last year, making an appearance with PA Governor Shapiro on the campaign trail supporting Democrats.

I saw U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview last week talking about how he and Vice President Vance had a deal worked out with Zelenskyy on the minerals Trump has been talking about. Accordin to Rubio, Zelenskyy said he had to get approval from his Parliament before he could sign on to it. Then two days later, Rubio said he saw Zelenskyy on television saying he had rejected the U.S. proposal. I guess they circled back and had worked through it, but the Trump Administration clearly felt Ukraine was in some way "playing both sides against the middle", and not being forthright with us.

Last thing on Zelenskyy and his part in this disaster: arguing with ANY U.S. President in the Oval Office in front of cameras, talking to Vance the way he did, I find it unacceptable. Some of you hate Trump so much you're unable to see a problem with anyone, anytime, any place if they're taking on Trump, you're glad to see it. You're certain they're in the right. My immediate take on yesterday was that Zelenskyy had made a bad boo boo. How can you possibly see it any other way? A lot of us have questioned our support for this war, not seeing an achievable outcome worth thousands and thousands more lives, and billions and billions more dollars. Zelenskyy galvanized that sentiment for many. Many.

4) Trump. Yesterday, Trump's biggest demons, his thin skin, and always getting in the last word got the better of him. I know you Trump haters think everything that happened was his fault. I don't. Zelenskyy had fences to mend with Trump for all the aforementioned stuff. I saw him talking down to Vance and talking over Trump and Vance in a way that was absolutely sure to light Trump's fuse. Yes, I realize some of you didn't see that. I also realize you hate Trump and it affects every single thing you see or don't see as it relates to Trump.

But for his part, I think Trump's handling of the fatigue and sweater wearing, disrespectful Ukrainian made a bad thing worse. As soon as things started to go sideways, Trump should have adjourned to press conference and retired the conversation to a private room. He, as he is inclined to to, failed to see there was a high road to take. While he may have felt he was in the right, and you likely did, too, how it played out was not a good look. That conversation perhaps needed to happen, but it ought to have been in private.

I relate it to a personal experience. I do realize in my career my stage was smaller, but indulge me. In my airline, there had evolved a lot of distrust of the local FAA, to the point there was a counterproductive, adversarial tone to much of the relationship. The FAA and my company both wanted to evolve to a more cooperative and effective working relationship. It had to be so. I see a real parallel with the Trump - Zelenskyy relationship. We were about to embark on a major initiative to conduct an FAA inspection jointly and cooperatively with them. I had a big meeting room in the airline's place, and in it were 15 or so FAA inspectors, and 25 or so of my airline peeps from all the involved departments. Anyway, this one FAA guy, he decided it was the perfect time and place to grandstand, and he turns my meeting, the first one in this new co-operative working relationship, into his own Festivus airing of grievances. He proceeded set us straight with the public ass chewing of the year. Some of what he had to say may have been legit, but I couldn't hear it. He was in our house, disrespecting me and everyone I represented there. I was mad and the more he talked, the worse it got. I was ready to explode. It had the potential to be career ending for me, I was that pissed.

I recognized where it was going and that if I didn't do something it would be unrecoverable. If not me, someone  I was the host of the meeting and our airline's coordinator for the effort, I said simply, interrupting him, "I don't think this is the meeting we expected, nor prepared for. We're not at all prepared for this. I'm adjourning this meeting and we'll reschedule when we're better prepared." I then asked the asshole FAA guy's boss's boss if he and I could talk privately afterward about "a different topic." I wish Trump had recognized and done the same. "This is not a conversation we're going to continue in front of the press and here in the Oval Office." All the good things aside, Trump is a street fighter, a bully in many ways, has thin skin, and always, always, always wants to get in the last word.

Not a good look. For anyone.

I give Trump a grade of "D" for this episode. This episode will go down in history as the low point in either of Trump's terms.

I give Zelenskyy an "F". I realize you Trump haters won't and can't see that, but the body language of Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. in the photo I posted earlier says I'm right in my assessment.

Lemme summarize: I question the bottomless money pit, endless death, and unwinnable nature of the war in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is not my boogie man, I don't care if you call me a puppet because I question the war. I don't like or trust Zelenskyy. I never have. He made things worse, at least with me, yesterday. Trump embarrassed himself yesterday. It was Trump being his worst self.

D.O.G.E. Cuts - 2/27/2025

The U.S. Government spends a lot of money. We don't just spend a lot of money, we spend way too much money. Way too much is an understatement. This post applies to EVERY single U.S. Government Department and Agency, bar NONE. I would break down the spending in broad categories.

1. Spending that is necessary and essential, well intended, and well accounted for which ends up where it was intended and accomplishes the desired goal for which it was intended.

2. Spending that is necessary and essential, well intended, and well accounted for which either does NOT end up where it was intended or does NOT accomplish the desired goal for which it was intended.

3. Spending that perhaps is NOT absolutely necessary or essential, but which is well intended, well accounted for, and which ends up where it was intended and accomplishes the desired goal for which it was intended. 

4. Spending that is NOT absolutely necessary or essential, but which is well intended, well accounted for, but which does NOT end up where it was intended or accomplish the desired goal for which intended. 

5. Frivolous and unnecessary spending that appeases or pleases some political faction or another. We have lots and lots of this. The dirty truth is, both sides have treated it as an unspoken agreement: "you get yours, we get ours, keep it on the down low and the American people will never know nor be the wiser."

6. Money that lines the pockets of influential middle men, either in business or in the non-profit sector. This is especially infuriating when our political or bureaucratic leadership is directly or indirectly linked to or financed by those business of non-profit interests. This includes children, spouses, siblings, friends, etc. This is corrupt, but the way it's set up there is always a bullshit explanation claiming legitimacy. Legitimate, my ass. Looking at you, NGOs.

7. Covert money for international AND domestic intervention and political and or public opinion manipulation. See. Aye. Eh.

8. Monies that are extremely poorly managed that nobody seems to know where or how it was spent, much of it either intentionally or unintentionally untraceable, either due to antiquated systems, inadequate monitoring, gross negligence and incompetence, or nefarious intent. This, if not in and of itself fraud, is an invitation to fraud.

9. Money that is being distributed or collected fraudulently. 

With as many budgetary line items as we have, there is no way to measure each cut carefully with a micrometer, and then to delicately remove itsy bitsy expenditures one by one across the government. All efforts to trim spending in such a manner are doomed. Each tiny cut becomes a battle, and in no time the effort will lose momentum and atrophy, dying under its own weight.

I do not believe there is anyone in public office or at any agency capable of the kinds of cuts we really need. Why? Because where the hell have they been?

Elon, seen here visiting the Oval Office.

Nope. A micrometer and a scalpel aren't adequate. This thing needs dynamite, chainsaws, and dump trucks. Government has grown itself into a behemoth industry unto itself. While there are many, many hard working, high integrity workers in the public sector, even if you won't admit it, we all know there are others who are not nearly as industrious, not nearly as honest, and not nearly as accountable. I say, blow the whole damned thing up. There is nothing that says excessive cuts in personnel and spending can't be reversed and restored later on. But I guarantee you, every penny we spend, every person we employ is someone's sacred cow, and they will fight to keep it in place, truly believing that the world will end without it. The more time you spend debating and deliberating each and every one, the less you'll accomplish in cutting. Fact. "But the world, it will end!"

Newsflash: it won't. Keep going, Elon. Ignore the noise. "Fire in the hole!"