Sighinide

Oh yeah, Adams had more stuff to say, mostly about Trump’s critics focusing on imaginary problems and such. He says this:

Generally speaking, the criticisms of President Trump’s first 100 days (and in general) are based on imaginary stuff:

Imagined future climate calamity. (They could be right, but for now it is imaginary because complex models have a bad track record.)

Yeah, I don’t think so, Adams.

People are upset with Trump because he sucks, not because of some “imaginary” problems. He was put into a dream position- he won a landslide victory, both houses, and twice the governorships of the other party, and he’s floundering after dumping all of his advantages in the garbage because he walked away from the base that gave him everything he was given.

He tossed away all of his supporters to shove his damned daughter and his stupid son-in-law down our throats, and he insults us by pretending to care about our problems by conniving with billionaires to steal more of our wealth.

He’s a dumb bully on the international stage, after convincing everyone he wouldn’t be. In office he’s a statist who believes that prosperity comes from government direction, after campaigning on small government. And in office, he just loves his Obamacare and his immigrants, after campaigning like he hated both.

Trump isn’t as much of a “flip-flopper” as he is someone who has no interest at all in helping or representing the base that gave him his victory.

Nobody respects a coward. Nobody respects a con artist. People might think them useful, but they won’t follow such people voluntarily. And they certainly won’t like them.

This is Trump’s real problem. Had he represented his base and just repealed Obamacare, he wouldn’t be having such issues right now. If he would have closed off the US to all immigrants, and actually made real overtures to Russia by forming a bond with them that overcame the last century of hostility, people would be marveling at Trump’s vision and creativity and courage.

Instead, we’re getting more of the same schlock. It’s just the same GOP shuck and jive BS all over again, and nobody, and I mean nobody likes that crap.

I have time, so here’s another one of these. In this one I’ll just attack Scott Adams’ defenses of Trump’s first 100 days in office. *Yawn*, I know, believe me. But I’m kind of hunting for something to do right now, so…

I’m referring to this:

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/159981284676/president-trumps-first-100-days

Ok, so here’s a point-counterpoint thing.

I guess I’ll put the important parts of what Adams says in italics, and then I’ll follow up after Adams’ text.

So, Adams starts with this:

1. 100 days is a meaningless, arbitrary marker for a president’s performance that is likely to be more misleading than useful.

2. Let’s treat it like it is important! Reeeeeeee!

The first 100 days of a President’s term in office are immensely, massively important. IMO they are by far the most important days of any President’s term.

The reason boils down to those all-important first impressions. First impressions count for a huge amount in this world. And in terms of a President, they count for everything, since in the domestic political arena people judge politicians based on things like poll numbers and such, as opposed to actual “achievements”, whatever those may be.

And that importance is magnified greatly in the international arena. The people here knew Trump before he even ran for President, but people elsewhere didn’t. I don’t imagine that there were many fans of “The Apprentice” in rural Indonesia. International opinion of Trump started to gel the day he was inaugurated, and not a second before, and it has continued up until now. Basically, the first 100 days. After that, it hardens.

Adams then goes on to dodge the issues at hand by talking about “control groups” and other stuff that has nothing to do with anything, here. Look, Trump’s base is not happy with his performance. And neither is anyone else. It took the threat of World War III to push his approval levels up to a pitiful 50%. Whatever it was he was supposed to do, he didn’t do it.

Then Adams goes on to list some stuff that he claims is real, and that has to do with Trump:

Economic confidence is up.

No, it isn’t. This point I shouldn’t need to even refute, since it’s obviously wrong. If you doubt this, read any recent article on the unfolding retail apocalypse, or the student loan disaster, or the ever-growing wealth inequality here in the states.

Trump signed a bunch of executive orders. You might not like them, but that’s more about you, not about his job performance.

I don’t agree with this. Trump jumped into office after a sweeping landslide victory, with his party firmly in control of congress. He should not have had to resort to “executive orders” so quickly to get things done in his administration. And that’s leaving aside the argument whether Presidents should even be dictating policy with lots of “executive orders” anyways.

China is putting the screws on North Korea (finally)

That’s only because Trump and the rest of the military-worshiping goons here refuse to leave poor, defenseless North Korea alone. See my other posts here for more about this. China doesn’t want the US to invade and kill off a bunch of innocent people, I would think. Nobody wants an Iraq on their border.

Trump erased the “puppet of Putin” charge by prudent application of Tomahawk missiles. That’s an accomplishment, even if you don’t like it.

I don’t consider sliding backwards into the Cold War of the 1900’s to be much of an accomplishment. People elected Trump because they wanted to bury the hatchet with Russia and start anew. The public voted for cooperation with Putin, not Cold War II.

Trump erased the “Trump is Hitler” hallucination that the Clinton side spray-painted onto him during the election. (That’s a big deal.)

Yeah, he erased it by rejecting his base entirely and by embracing his supposed enemies’ views and platforms with both hands. And yes, that is a big deal.

And why the hell was it so important for Trump to distance himself from White Nationalism, anyways? After all, it was his appeal to that base that gave him the landslide victory that he received. Are we a democracy, or what? Shouldn’t the people get what they voted for?

Trump got a qualified Supreme Court judge, albeit the hard way.

I haven’t been paying enough attention to this to comment with any detail, but I don’t think that that makes any difference. This nation is ruled by Wall Street and the major political families, not the Supreme Court.

Healthcare is moving along briskly from the first plan that was terrible to something that is approaching feasible. That’s progress, not failure.

It is a failure to have a system that does not have workable healthcare, no matter how you look at it. Perhaps that failure was not instigated by Trump, in the way that Iraq was not instigated by Obama, but now that Trump is president, it’s his to own, like Iraq was for Obama. And there has been no significant progress on healthcare as far as I can see. The system remains unchanged.

Tax reform will probably be slower than we want, but most observers expect something good to come of it.

Really? Who are these observers, Adams? Because it isn’t the general public. We all know what happens with GOP style tax cuts- the rich pocket their savings and move on. Look at the last 35 years of GOP style tax cuts for evidence.

International relations look fine. The only awkward relationship is with Putin, and that’s the awkward relationship Trump’s detractors want.

International relations look… fine? Really? Really, Adams? The only awkward relationship is with Putin? Really?

Illegal immigration is way down because of Trump’s persuasion.

If this is in fact happening, I’m not sure that this has anything at all to do with Trump. I’ll bet it has more to do with the lack of jobs and money here in the US than it does with Trump. And that is of course if this is actually happening. We all know how loose the media is with facts concerning illegal immigration.

And now, what Adams says are Trump’s bad things:

You can criticize Trump’s actions against women’s reproductive rights, both on the topic of Planned Parenthood funding and his Supreme Court pick. But calling those things failures or successes depends on your political views, not on Trump’s job performance.

IDK and IDC about any of this stuff. I don’t think any of it matters, TBH.

I think you could make an objective case against Trump for putting economics above the environment. But you’d have to ignore the fact that a stronger economy almost always puts you in a better position to keep the environment clean. (Trump says that.) You don’t see clean air and water in poor countries.

Thus far, Trump has not put anything above his own need for personal and familial success. And where is the evidence that Trump has created a stronger economy, or that he has any desire to create one? All I’ve seen thus far is him conniving with his billionaire friends.

President Trump reversed a bunch of campaign statements from impractical positions to more practical ones. Is that failure?

So- the campaign statements that gave Trump and his party a historic, landslide victory, were jettisoned for “more practical” positions that have all arrived hugely unpopular and DOA? And that’s a good thing? I don’t know, Adams, maybe people should just GET WHAT THEY FUCKING VOTED FOR.

President Trump said a bunch of things that did not pass the fact-checking, surprising literally no one. And as usual, none of it mattered in any way except that it made us focus on whatever topic he wanted us to focus on.

Ugh. Trump’s problem is that so little of what he has done since being elected has passed any kind of “fact checking” at all. See- Syria. He was a lot more accurate before being elected. His tweets about Syria then were spot on. It’s mostly the stuff he’s done since he took office that been the real problem.

And considering his dire approvals ratings, I doubt that people are focusing on the stuff that Trump wants us to.

President Trump’s staff and advisors are reportedly doing a lot of in-fighting for influence. But that sounds more like a healthy situation than a Trump-is-dictator situation. It would be worse if there were no differences of opinion in the group.

That sounds a lot like oligarchy, to me. It sounds like a bunch of sycophants jockeying for power and position in the upper echelons in the imperial regime. A healthier system would have the cabinet working to fulfill the president’s campaign promises and working for the nation, and not for themselves or their families.

President Trump has been slow to fill lots of government positions. But has any of that mattered to your life? I haven’t noticed, personally. Was the Secretary of Whatever supposed to come over and mow my lawn?

Now this is just a groaner. Really, Adams?

President Trump did not release his tax returns, so we imagine there are problems there.

Ugh, I have no opinion on this and I don’t think anyone else does, either.

President Trump incorrectly claimed that his staff had been “wiretapped.” It turns out that they were only legally surveilled in an indirect way. Which only sounds different to his critics.

Just another spat amongst oligarchs. *YAWN*. Wake me when one of these clowns actually focuses on fixing the public’s problems, rather than their own.

See, this is what I was afraid of in regards to the losers that fall into line behind presidents, with those currently supporting Trump now being the worst I’ve ever seen. They just wind up wasting everyone’s time with nonsense, like this article from Adams. The professional GOP supporters, I think, are particularly bad in this way. Their “leaders” never ever deliver anything, because they haven’t had to, because of gullible brown-nosers like Adams, who will excuse even their leaders’ most egregious betrayals. This is why we have had to live with generations of “conservative” leaders like Trump that literally drop their base and walk away from them as soon as they’re elected.

Ugh. Blah.

One more thought, right before bed.

The Trump train of stupidity just keeps rolling on and on, with no end or solution in sight.

It’s just more of the same trash from the orange idiot and his peanut gallery of Goldman Sachs banksters. Internationally or domestically, it just never ends.

His other deal today was corporate tax cuts. He is supposedly wanting to cut the corporate tax rate to 15%, perhaps to enrich himself and his cronies. Who knows.

You know what that move will do to your base, Trump? It will damage and ultimately alienate it further. Is that what you want?

IDK. Perhaps it is.

You know what corporate CEOs are going to do with the money they save on taxes, Trump? I know you already know, of course, since you’re one of them, but I’ll tell you anyways: they’re going to just pocket the savings and move on.

My earlier point about Jeff Bezos stands tall here. Bezos already has something like 90 billion dollars in the bank. If Bezos and the rest of the corporate CEOs that stand to benefit most from this move were actually going to use the money from the tax cuts to hire people, they would have already done it by now.

The United States is awash in plutocrats like Bezos (and Trump) who see any opportunity to save money solely as a chance to enrich themselves. The futures of their own companies and employees mean nothing to them.

I do not think that this move is going to solve anything. Rather, what’s going to happen is this: the oligarchs are just going to pocket the savings from the tax cuts. But then, who’s going to pick up the slack? If the federal budget is not going to go down, then who will pay the taxes needed to keep the government afloat?

Well, I can tell you that it’s not going to be a billionaire. Any of them.

It’s going to be the rest of us: the working classes that make up the actual tax base in this country, since neither the overclass nor the orcs in the protected “underclass” ever pay taxes.

Look, I know that there are small and medium sized businesses out there that might benefit from this move. But my point remains. This move will not help Trump’s base much, at all.

Any business in America that “makes it” immediately turns on it’s employees.

That has been the deal, now, since the day Obama was inaugurated, at least. The trend amongst “public” companies these days is something called “stock buybacks” where the CEOs and other well connected people take corporate money and buy their own companies’ stock with it, to enrich themselves personally.

It used to be, a few generations ago, that companies would use profits and savings from tax cuts to hire people, invest in new equipment, research new possibilities for products, etc. But that was a looooooooooooong time ago.

I know that I’ve already discussed this, but it bears repeating. Bezos and his oligarch friends- the most important CEOs- will not use this money to do anything but enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.

And all of this crap reminds me of all of that dumb, illogical nonsense that was coming out of DC about “trickle down economics” and other such hogwash back when I was a kid. It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now.

Hrummph.

You want to do something for your base, Trump? End immigration. All of it. Now.

Remember- if you fail, you and your family will be amongst the first that get strung up.

Don’t forget this.

Might as well. I have the time and I’m still not over this whole “seasonal allergies” thing, so…

A long time ago, it used to be a meme amongst libertarians and other anti-war types to wonder what would happen if war was declared… and nobody showed up.

Well, it looks like we’re about to find out.

The news these days vis-a-vis Trump is that he’s readying more sanctions against Syria, Iran and Russia.

Yeah.

*sigh.*

More sanctions. Yeah. Wow. Could there be anything more dumb, or predicable, or pointless at this time than yet more sanctions against some people that the sitting US president just doesn’t like, personally?

Question- have sanctions EVER worked? Ever? On any country?

I ask because the Cuba sanctions didn’t do anything, and neither did the Iran sanctions, or the last round of sanctions against Syria and Russia. And of course the North Korean sanctions have done nothing, obviously.

Soooooooo… WTF, guys? More sanctions? Really? Why?

Why is this being done? The entire world at this point understands that US government sanctions do not work, and in fact typically backfire. Look at the last time we levied sanctions against Syria, Iran and Russia. What they did was just work together, to get around the sanctions we imposed. And, ultimately, they did quite well economically. In fact, you could say they prospered because of the sanctions- necessity is the mother of invention, after all. The sanctions failed, utterly and completely.

Look at Syria- Assad is as strong as ever. He’s winning the war. Russia just paid off the last of it’s foreign debts. And Iran is still there, strong as they’ve ever been in recent history. So… more sanctions, Trump? Really?

And who in their right mind has ever thought, in a million years, that sanctions were a good idea against Russia, of all countries? Sanctions are a way to economically isolate a nation, which… doesn’t work when the nation in question is by far the largest on Earth.

See- it doesn’t make logical sense. How is the US gong to impose sanctions against a nation that is twice it’s size, geographically? Russia has seven time zones! 7!!!!!!!!

If sanctions failed against North Korea and tiny little Cuba, what are the odds that they’ll work on Russia? Nil, right?

So, WTF is going on? And why are we even doing this, anyways?

To the oligarchs- guys, I can’t emphasize how much the world is over it, at this point. Nobody fucking cares.

God damn it, it really does seem as though it’s absolutely impossible to get the ruling families here to change, even one iota, in any direction at all. The overlords here in the United States are still acting as though this was the fucking 80’s, for some reason. Nothing has changed one bit in the 1% in literally 35 years at least. It’s like they’re stuck in some impossible time warp, far far away from the rest of humanity and it’s concerns, which is just baffling and frustrating as fucking hell at this point, because they never fucking change, ever.

It’s just baffling. Oligarchs- the public here is over it, too. I don’t care how many of the dumb terrorist “drills” you force everyone to watch. People are beyond tired of this “war” shit at this point.

When is this stuff going to end, guys? When, for fuck’s sake?

UGH.

Look- the oligarchy here needs to get it’s head in the game, somehow. They need to start living in the real world, and the sooner they do the better off everyone will be.

And I know that I’ve said all of this stuff before, probably many times at this point, but holy fucking shit, it’s not like I have a choice in the matter, do I? If they refuse to change- than it’s not like anyone else here can change either, can they?

Look- just to close this thought out because I’m tired and want to go to bed; Putin absolutely looks like the sane one in this little conflict of ours. His sanity and reasonableness has been well established to the world at this point- see my earlier posts, here. It’s the US that looks desperate, and more than a little nuts right now. The war machine that we have just does not stop. It just keeps killing and killing endlessly, with no concern for international or domestic stability heeded.

This stuff needs to end, and soon.

I think I’ll crank out another one of these, while I’m on a roll. Because why not? To me, Trump is just such a perfect emblem of the failure of our government, if not our country, that I can’t resist another exploration of him and the problems that we have because of him and those around him.

Trump just gave Associated Press an interview. Let’s analyze it. It’s here: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c9dd871023064917932966816d6c2c2d/trump-100-days-its-different-kind-presidency

Basically, my takeaway from it is that Trump really doesn’t like the people who voted for him much at all. He doesn’t think as they do, doesn’t understand their ways, and seems to hold them in open contempt. At best, he likely sees them only as a springboard for his own success. At worst, he probably views them as embarrassing, and an obstacle to be overcome, if not removed for his own family’s sake.

The choice quotes here are Trump’s answers about the questions about the border wall. This is what he had to say:

——————————————————–

AP: … If you get a bill on your desk that does not include funding for the wall, will you sign it?

TRUMP: I don’t know yet. People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it — you’ve been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the electoral college. Big, big, big advantage. I’ve always said the popular vote would be a lot easier than the electoral college. The electoral college — but it’s a whole different campaign (unintelligible). The electoral college is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall, they want to see security. Now, it just came out that they’re 73 percent down. … That’s a tremendous achievement. … Look at this, in 100 days, that down to the lowest in 17 years and it’s going lower. Now, people aren’t coming because they know they’re not going to get through, and there isn’t crime. You know the migration up to the border is horrible for women, you know that? (Unintelligible.) Now, much of that’s stopped because they can’t get through.

…

He (Trump) claims some estimates of the wall costs are too high. “Oh I’m seeing numbers — $24 billion, I think I’ll do it for $10 billion or less.”

AP: If you don’t have a funding stream, your message to your base is what?
TRUMP: My base understands the wall is going to get built, whether I have it funded here or if I get it funded shortly thereafter, that wall’s getting built, OK? One hundred percent. One hundred percent it’s getting built. And it’s also getting built for much less money — I hope you get this — than these people are estimating. The opponents are talking $25 billion for the wall. It’s not going to cost anywhere near that.

AP: You think $10 billion or less.

TRUMP: I think $10 billion or less. And if I do a super-duper, higher, better, better security, everything else, maybe it goes a little bit more. But it’s not going to be anywhere near (those) kind of numbers. And they’re using those numbers; they’re using the high numbers to make it sound impalatable (sic). And the fact it’s going to cost much less money, just like the airplane I told you about, which I hope you can write about.

——————————————————–

Personally, I can feel his contempt for his supporters practically dripping off the page with these quotes.

Trump really, really doesn’t want the wall, himself. He obviously hates the idea, probably because it would make him or his daughter unpopular amongst the other oligarchs. But he feels as though he has to, dammit, because of those annoying losers who voted for him.

In his response to the first question, I can practically see him squirming for some way to avoid fulfilling that particular pledge. He’s looking for an out- anything, really- that would excuse him from actually listening to the public. Note how Trump himself never says that he wants the wall. Always, it’s his base that wants it. Not him, not his family, not his administration, but those irritating losers in flyover country that just won’t shut up about it. It’s their fault that he has to do it, you see?

And in his blathering and obfuscating, you can see him desperately reaching for something, anything, that could let him off the hook. In his response, he tries to change the subject by turning it into a question of “electability” for himself and his friends, in the exact same way that John McCain, the Bushes, and Reagan did. I mean, in the exact same way. If you don’t believe me, look at those youtube videos of the townhall meetings where that idiot McCain confronted his furious “support base” over his want for amnesty. Always, the oligarchs try to reframe the issue in terms of “elections” for their own families and friends, as though that’s all that matters to them. Which is, unfortunately, probably the truth.

Trump even goes so far as to downplay the implications of his own landslide victory in an obvious and embarrassing attempt to dodge his responsibilities. Trump was all about bragging about the size of his support base leading up to the election, during it, and then after it, but now that it’s time for him to deliver he’s all of a sudden in the minority, without a leg to stand on, so don’t expect him to actually do anything, OK?

Which is where this “45%” B.S. comes from. Trump’s base demographic is probably the largest demographic on Earth, as I’ve already discussed, and in fact support for the wall is much higher and broader that just that. Trump neatly sidesteps this by trying to frame the issue as Democrat-Republican as though there wasn’t a huge number of Democrats that support the idea of the wall, too. Just think of how many blacks in this country- who are ardent supporters of the democratic party- would like to see the wall built, for starters.

Trump’s response to the second question is perhaps more revealing than his response to the first one.

Essentially, the important thing about the wall, to Trump, is how much it costs. Not what it would do for the country, not what it would do to help his base, and not what it would do for anyone else, besides those in upper reaches of the government. It’s all about money, for him. Not even security- he talks about building a “super-duper” secure wall as though that would be unreasonable, given it’s meager cost increase over an “normal” one.

Firstly, this is about Trump trying to dodge his responsibilities, again. What’s he’s trying to do, here, is to reframe the issue into a financial one, so that there might be a way during the budget talks for him to get out of building it.

See, Trump doesn’t really care about how much it costs. I mean, he just declared World War III, for fuck’s sake!

And consider that multi-trillion dollar infrastructure project that he wants. And he’s concerned about a couple billion for an upgraded, “super-duper” wall? Please.

No, he just wants an out, any out at all, that would let him leave his campaign promises behind him as quickly as possible.

Secondly, you can really see here in his responses how much he wants to distance himself, at all costs, from the people he supposedly represents. Any idea that a wall might protect American culture is absolutely not something he has any desire to talk about, ever. Because again, Trump is only about himself and his own family. Ours and our traditions can be damned for all he cares.

And lastly, you can see him try to change the subject, yet again, with that idiotic misdirection about some stupid airplane (IDK what he’s talking about there, and IDC, either). He just really, really does not want the wall to be built, at all. He doesn’t even want to talk about it, or even acknowledge the reality that other people might want to talk about it, even. So, always, he tries as hard as he can to redirect the conversation to anything at all that doesn’t have to do with the wall as soon as he can.

So- interesting interview, more for what Trump doesn’t say, than what he does.

My impression of Trump remains as it has been for a long time now. He is a pampered, spoiled oligarch that despises the working class every bit as much as any of his predecessors in the white house. He doesn’t think like them and doesn’t want to; he sees himself as above them and probably secretly views them as an annoying obstacle that will just get underfoot in his plans for his own family.

Trump isn’t a conservative; not even close. He never was. His only interest is in the perpetuation of the power of the ruling families of the United States, regardless of the cost to his own base or to the rest of the world.

Trump still looks ineffective. He still looks out of touch and hapless.

All of this “war” stuff that he and his cabinet are pushing has amounted to nil in terms of popular support, both within his base and without.

IDC if North Korea threatens the US. I don’t think anybody does, TBH. They’ve been doing that now for God knows how many generations and nothing has ever come of it. TBH, at this point I wouldn’t think it impossible that North Korea’s threats are perhaps just policy initiatives that get lost in translation.

War isn’t going to work, anymore. No longer can the tail wag the dog, so to speak.

I think it’s shaping up like I described it, earlier. Trump will fail or not based on how well he fulfills all of his campaign promises. He either “drains the swamp” or dies, quickly.

The oligarchs are still clueless, even now.

The worst part of Trump’s flip-flops is that he looks not only clueless and disorganized, but ineptly dishonest and conniving as well. And, TBH, I shouldn’t say “looks” because that’s exactly what he is.

The problems with Trump’s nonsensical crusade against North Korea I’ve already outlined, but I haven’t touched, yet, the stupidity and arrogance of his stance against Russia, and particularly Putin.

See, what Trump and his cabinet don’t seem to get is that we know Putin. He has been a fixture on the Internet ever since the late 90’s, when he was elected Prime Minister of Russia. People worldwide know the guy, and they know him well, with Trump’s own base perhaps knowing him better than anyone else outside of Eurasia.

Putin is not a threat to us. Obviously. If he were, that would have been made clear at least a decade ago.

Many people here in the US know Putin better than they know anyone in Trump’s cabinet, including perhaps Trump himself. And we know that he is not a threat to us, no matter what Trump says this week or the next, whatever the hell that might be.

So, why the hostility, Trump? WTF are you thinking here? Is it that Kushner twerp, like so many are saying?

Speaking of Kushner, who is that guy, anyways? Who the hell is that little cretin to tell us that what we already know to be true is wrong? Honestly. That guy has his job for two reasons, neither of which has to do with competence or his own personal insights. He’s there because 1) he’s Jewish, so his say in the Middle East is more important than mine is, since Israel is more important to the oligarchs than this country is; and 2) he’s part of Trump’s family, so of course he gets a job in the White House. I mean, why the hell wouldn’t he, since Trump’s even less qualified daughter got one as well?

God damn it.

I dislike all of this, in the same way that I dislike seeing Trump mindbogglingly side with Al-Qaeda against the secular leaders in the Middle East, like Assad. Note that I say “mind-bogglingly” here because I’ve leaving out the dreary reality that Al-Qaeda is and has always been a tool of the US oligarchy, from the 80’s on, up to and including 9/11, of course. So, no that isn’t really unexpected, but still.

And people- to those of you who still insist that 9/11 was not an inside job, please, please grow up.

It’s a matter of public record that Al-Qaeda was a US creation back in the 80’s. They were created by the CIA here to fight the Soviets, which they did. After the USSR fell, they were owned and managed by Pakistan (a key US ally) until they attacked us in 9/11, after which they became a public ally of this country again, siding with us in war after war in the Middle East, from Iraq to Libya to now, Syria.

People, what are the odds that Al-Qaeda, America’s strongest wartime ally in the Middle East for decades, decided to just up and attack our homeland for no reason on a random Tuesday? And then be forgiven for that attack immediately afterwards?

And no, I don’t need to produce evidence, any more than I would need to produce evidence that the sun rises every morning. I mean, just look, people! It’s right there!

But look, what I’m trying to do here is get this country back on track, somehow. To that end, we need to recognize and understand a few important things:

1) The US economy is broken, as evidenced by the horrific money velocity. Simply put, money, the lifeblood of the economy, is not moving anymore. It’s being pooled up at the top- which is why the US has the worst income inequality in the world- and it’s staying there. It is not getting out of the pockets of the rich people. So, the economy outside of the world of the 1% has dried up, in the same way that blocked arteries and veins in a human being causes parts of the body to dry up and die for lack of nutrients. Except in this case it’s like every once of blood has become trapped in a person’s head, and is not getting out. Bad. Very very bad.

2) Infrastructure will not fix this. Trump’s much vaunted infrastructure projects will do nothing for the economy, at all. In no way are additional bridges and roads and stores and mines going to fix the problems I just described above.

3) What will work, and in fact the only thing that will work, is to force money out of the pockets of the wealthy and into others’ hands, for once. And this will eventually happen either voluntarily, or at gunpoint, or over the dead, decaying corpses of the rich. But in some way it will happen. Bet on it.

4) It is waaaay too late to start working on these issues. I can’t get over that part, because nobody else can, either. It’s toooooo late. It’s so late in the game at this point that effort is probably hopeless.

But, there it is. Yet again.

Let’s see if this does anything.

It probably won’t.

I guess I just can’t resist. I just love the morbidity and darkness of all this, and I so love to document my own thoughts and feelings in this little personal grimoire. Love love love watching the horrors unfold.

IDK, I’m not feeling well, since allergies. So, there’s that (and that’s probably a good deal of it), but, still…

So, here it is. Trump is over, it looks like.

Today he was crowing on twitter about how his approval ratings cracked 50%, as though that was some kind of accomplishment. What an idiot.

This country has been brought to the brink of war now on like 3 or 4 separate occasions in the last couple months, and Trump’s approval ratings have barely cracked half. Trump- that is not an accomplishment.

That is, in a word, pathetic. That is sorry as hell, and proof that the idiot’s base has in fact done what I said they did- they’ve abandoned him, already, not even 100 days into things.

How very, very sad. How pitiful. As in, that’s it, we’re sunk, as far the government goes. It’s over, for them and us.

The voters in this country gave Trump a massive favor, and all he has done as “Thanks” in return is ignore us, condescend to us, and work to undermine everything we stand for and believe in.

God damn, does this country’s political class suck. They are all just really, really bad at their jobs. In no way would these clowns survive on their own, in the job market that their subjects face. It’s their money that elevates them- not their skills, and certainly not their intellect. It’s their inherited wealth and “network” that gives them the edge over the rest of us.

Regarding the idiot’s approval ratings- that is a brutal indictment of the system, not just of Trump. Depending on who you ask, Dubya’s approval ratings hovered around 75-85% when he launched missile strikes against Iraq in 2003.

And speaking of Dubya, after 9/11, his approval ratings were at something like 95%. And before 9/11, he was regarded as a lame duck and unpopular president, although his ratings were a little higher than Trump’s are, today. And even with all that, he left office as probably the most hated man to ever step foot in it.

Trump- heed my warnings, here. You have A LOT of ground to cover, very very fast, if you want to avoid a monumental disaster. For starters, you must make MASSIVE and historically unprecedented overtures to your base if you want to keep what remains of it. What you have given us to this date is flat-out insulting at best.

For starters, immigration. It’s bad. All of it. There is no such thing as “good” immigration, and there never will be as long as I live. ALL immigrants, regardless of origin or intent, are a problem that needs to be “fixed”.

And the rest of it. The public is beyond tired of these stupid wars. Diminishing returns come into play, here. I mean, holy shit, it’s taken like the threat of World War III to create a minor uptick in Trump’s approval ratings. That card has been played out. It’s tapped out; it’s done, finished. No longer will any politician be able to dodge his responsibilities by just lazily throwing a few missiles at somebody that the public probably respects more than their own leaders, anyways.

Trump’s agenda is domestic ONLY, and it is ONLY domestic policy that will affect him and his approval ratings appreciably. To that end, he needs to produce 4 years of very, very strong gains in all things for his base. And as I’ve pointed out Ad nauseam, what he has done as of this date is nowhere near the ballpark of being acceptable.

I’m going to bed, now, on account of the allergies and such. But I want to close this out by saying that it may be a good idea to shelve liberalism for a generation to get all of these huge problems worked out. Can’t be more eloquent that than that right now.

*sigh*…

I’m sorry, but this whole Trump thing is simply baffling me at this point. This stuff doesn’t even make sense, anymore.

Ok, to summarize: In Europe, Trump threatens Russia with war. In the Middle East, he threatens Syria. In Asia, it’s North Korea. And now come reports that we’re going to be putting boots on the ground in Somalia now, too.

This is altogether too much. Way wayyyyyyy too much, all at once. This is so much, all at once, that is looks like our dear leader would not be out of place in a straight jacket.

Ok, people. Let’s sit down and think about this.

Usually, a President’s first couple of months in office are used to familiarize himself with the role. You know, he gets used to things, forms his cabinet, maybe meets some world leaders, enacts a few domestic policy initiatives, etc.

This is kind of what everyone thought we’d be getting from Trump. We thought that he’d build the wall and reign in Wall Street, for example.

But this……. IDK WTF this stuff is. I mean, it’s just bewildering.

Thus far, there have been zero domestic changes of consequence, and a series of policy changes that make it look as though Trump has just declared World War III, for some reason.

This isn’t what anyone, and I mean anyone, thought that we’d be getting at this point.

It just doesn’t make sense. Who are we fighting, here? Is it communism? Well, no… that wouldn’t explain Syria, or Somalia. Terrorism? No, because Russia. I don’t get it. Is this just a list of countries that Trump doesn’t like, personally?

Not what I expected from “America First”. Hoooooooly shit.

Ok, to the bloggers on the right that still support Trump: Are you guys serious? I mean, look at this. The border is still wide open, and we’re doing all of this stuff internationally, and you still support him? Still?

Guys…. come on.

IDK even what to think, anymore.

You know, that’s also the general feeling that I get from others. People have just tuned out. The government will do what it does. We can’t change it, we can’t prevent it, we have no say. So, who cares?

That’s the feeling I’m getting, now. In my family, even my parents, who hadn’t missed a day of TV news for the last 40 years, have stopped watching the news. Because what’s the point? It’s not like it matters, anyways.

Ugh. Wow.

This stuff just isn’t good, people.

More thoughts, in light of what’s happening these days:

1) One thing I have always liked about the North Korean oligarchy is their lack of pretension. They are who they are. The ruling families in North Korea don’t pretend to be democratic, or free, or open. They are honest with themselves and the world about what they want, who they are, and how their country is run.

You don’t get that, here. In the US, you have a long, unbroken string of Presidents that are literally golfing buddies, from Trump to Bush to Clinton and Obama, and yet the public here has to pretend that this country is some kind of “democracy”, and that everyone has an “equal chance” at becoming President.

God, I just hate that. In no way is this country a “democracy” and in no way is that “equal chance” claim true. In fact that claim is so obviously wrong it seems like a way for the American oligarchs to insult their subjects.

Kim Jong-un, for all his faults, is at least honest with his people about how his system is actually run, and his honesty spares everyone involved time and effort.

If the oligarchs here were to simply be honest with people- say, if they were to come out and just tell people that there was no chance they were getting in, that we’re not a democracy, that voting makes no difference, and that activism is pointless and dumb, than the people would, I think, be a bit disappointed at first, but they would then come to respect the honesty of their overlords.

The problem with the system we have is that the oligarchs must engage in a ridiculous, pointless, and idiotic song-and-dance routine every 4 (or 2 and a half) years, as they clown around for peoples’ attentions in a vain and stupid attempt to convince the public here that this is some kind of democratic nation.

It’s pathetic and dumb, and all that that nonsense does is perennially disappoint the public. It makes everyone involved frustrated and angry.

The North Korean people, I’ll bet, are likely not eternally frustrated. Depressed, maybe. Angry, perhaps. But I doubt they’re frustrated, because the leadership there makes no overtures to them and their lot in life, whatever that is. So- they never get disappointed, unlike in this country, where being disappointed with the ruling families is literally a national tradition.

Case in point- Trump, who is an excellent “Exhibit A” for any study on the problems of oligarchy.

Trump’s interest in obviously not in the nation, but in his own family, as to be expected in any oligarchic regime. Hence his appointing his daughter and son-in-law to peachy posts in his administration that they are clearly unqualified for, probably to set them up for planned future successes within the ruling heirachry.

Obviously, this is not what the people who voted for Trump wanted. “Drain the Swamp”, this isn’t. But, that makes no difference- not to him, and not to anyone else attached to the establishment families. Approval ratings be damned, of course.

The North Korean way- of just doing it, as opposed to doing it after spending years promising you wouldn’t, seems to be a better, more moral and honest way, in my opinion.

2) The celeb leaks just keep coming, and I’m frankly just ignoring them, now. And considering the lack of news coverage surrounding the recent batches, I’m not the only one.

It’s still kind of too much, and in my case, it does drill home the point of how distant I really am from my supposed girlfriends.

Rumors are out there now about a Taylor Swift set that apparently contains hardcore sex stuff. Which… I will admit, I’m interested in seeing, but I will also admit will disappoint me hugely upon seeing it (if it exists), since that isn’t at all what I wanted from my relationship with Taylor.

What I’m looking for isn’t that, but commitment. I don’t want to sit and watch other peoples’ relationships, I want some of my own, and I would hope that people would understand and respect this, and most especially those people that everyone considers my girlfriends. And Taylor in particular, out of those.

If these Taylor rumors are true- then what would be the point in me continuing on with her? Would there even be a point? IDK, to be honest. I can make any life I want, provided I concentrate my powers on it. So… what, then?

I think the question I’m asking here is if Taylor is actually devoted to me or not. Is she the person I think she is or not?

I need to know this. I’m not going to spend 10 years of my life devoted to someone because they try to entice me at every given point, only to have them turn around and leave me when convenient. That wouldn’t be fair to me.

I need to know if Taylor is actually devoted to me for the long haul or not.

And if I can’t ever determine this to be 100% in one way or another, than IMHO I don’t see the point in continuing past a certain time frame.

And, since I lack any input at all from her, it will be up to me to determine how long that time frame is.

Hrrrumph.

One more thought, while I’m still thinking (and angry) about this.

Trump’s attitude towards North Korea underscores how very much “unlike us” he is. And by “us” I mean conservatives, of course.

North Korea is most respected here in the US by Trump’s own supposed base. Shades here of how they support Putin, as well.

North Korea is in many ways a very conservative society. Not by American standards, but by their own. They like law and order, and tradition, and standing their ground culturally against the powers that be. Which, I might add, is something they do very well. Better than conservatives here, that’s for sure.

Their society is safe, I’m sure, in ways that ours isn’t. I can’t imagine that there are many dangerous street gangs there that take their hostilities out on the common man. I can’t imagine that the illicit narcotics industry has the hold there that it does here. And I can’t imagine that even things like white-collar crime are as prevalent there as they are here.

To that end- they have their own National bank, not connected to Wall Street, which is something that most of Trump’s supporters would think of as being heaven on Earth here in the US itself.

North Korea is a very agrarian society, with lots of farming and an inherent distrust of many modern trends and fashions. All of which are things that the people who are “represented” by Trump can identify with.

And as far as Kim-Jung Un being crazy, well, he only looks like it in the kind of way that a cornered guy might get crazy when confronted by an aggressive gang of bullies or thugs. Yeah, he acts crazy. He tries to puff himself up to make himself look more dangerous than he really is through rhetoric and aggressive posturing.

And, to his family’s immense credit, it has worked, for a long, long time.

TBH, he does more for his own society’s traditions that the weaklings appointed to do so here have done in the US. I mean conservatives here don’t do much of anything. Conservatives here are cowards and easily bowled over pussies that fold at the slightest hint of resistance. See- Trump, himself, and those gullible, no-expectations having fools who support Trump even now, because he might do something, at some indeterminate point in the future, for them, somehow.

Ugh. This whole thing is just beyond disgusting.