Maybe it happens to everyone who has too much power, too much money and too much praise. But Elon is not a stable person. Nor is he trustworthy.

Musk calls Sen. Kelly a ‘traitor’ over trip to Ukraine, Kelly hits back

Senator Kelly is a former Navy pilot, a former astronaut, and an elected representative of his state. Musk is a rich, unelected crybaby who has been allowed to have way too much say. He has no right to call anyone “traitor” let alone someone like Kelly. Now he wants to destroy Social Security, a program that millions of U.S. citizens rely on.

Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud

What is Wrong with Elon?

Yes, it’s slow to get started (you could really skip the first 5 minutes), but Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spells out just SOME of the corruption that has sprung up within the Trump/Musk administration so far. It is totally worth the 28 min. watch. This is why hundreds of prominent Republicans who held positions in previous Republican administrations begged voters NOT to vote for Trump.

I say again…

As Elon Musk works at destroying the Social Security that millions of Americans rely on, And Congress eliminates the Medicaid and SNAP programs that keep our poor children healthy, take solace in the fact he’s doing really well.

Starlink benefits as Trump admin rewrites rules for $42B grant program

Gotta love those clever Trump voters who figured out a team of billionaires would be the best to recreate our government. You know billionaires care about us, right?

Remember the Kurds? Y’know I didn’t want to believe that Trump was a Russian asset despite the mounting evidence, but his actions since taking office scream Putin. Greenland is owned by Denmark, a NATO country who allows the U.S. to have both an Air Force and Naval base in Greenland. We patrol the “Northwest Passage” and keep it safe due to our commitments to our NATO allies. But if the U.S. owned Greenland, Trump could cede control of the Arctic Ocean to Russia. Panama has strict sanctions against Russian ships using the canal, but if the U.S. owned the canal, it could unilaterally drop those sanctions. What a gift that would be to Russia! Like breaking the bond between the U.S. and Western Europe, or substantially weakening the functionality of our government.

Now this…

Exclusive-Trump plans to revoke legal status of Ukrainians who fled to US, sources say

We made a promise, those people trusted us. But so did the Kurds. The thing I struggle to understand is, are his followers okay with breaking promises or just okay with him breaking promises?

UPDATE! – I was wrong, the Panama Canal has a doctrine of neutrality and already lets Russian ships through. Scratch that conspiracy theory I fell for. This is why I have to check my sources before I publish. Fact-checking is essential Y’know.

Yeah, but if someone hadn’t enriched themselves for years using their celebrity to make dumb suburban moms doubt the efficacy of vaccines, we probably wouldn’t HAVE an outbreak. Dumbass. Herd immunity requires high percentages of vaccination. It cannot be a “personal choice” since the choice is asking for the right to sicken others.

As measles outbreak grows, HHS secretary says vaccination is a personal decision that can protect individuals and communities

“We don’t want to see anybody die,” – Marco Rubio (late January)

On second thought, Daddy and Musk say we are okay with that – Marco Rubio (late February)

The Trump Administration Said These Aid Programs Saved Lives. It Canceled Them Anyway

Musk’s Purges Suddenly Take a Horrific Turn—and Wreck an Ugly MAGA Lie

I remember how excited I was when “Plumpy nut (RUTF) was developed. No more kids starving! And it was cheap, and it supported American farms!

Yeah, feels good to be an American these days.

After slashing federal workers’ jobs, Elon Musk suggests pay hike for politicians

They do work SO hard.

Some folks believe the left manipulates the media. It’s a convenient conspiracy theory because it allows one to discount that which challenges their opinions. I read a post recently, called Inside the Manipulation Machine. I liked that the author bases the beginning of his article on a book I very much enjoyed called “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by the brilliant Neil Postman. Although he summarizes the premise of the book he does not reference it. Which seems dishonest, since he’s clearly read it. Basically we went from a visual species to a verbal species to a species capable of understanding the written word. Then we de-evolved with first radio (verbal communication) and then television (visual communication). Now our caveman brains are easily manipulated. So Obama manipulated them!

Wait! What?

Continue reading →

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough. We’re also offering the Tate brothers sanctuary. Because of course we are.

RFK Jr. issues rule barring public comment on HHS rulemaking

Wonder if my conservative friends will think their freedom of speech is being stifled. They always seem so worried about that.

An interesting take on Elon’s business acumen from someone who worked for him…

Also interesting, this was posted four months ago and really gives some insights…

In the end, I think both Elon and Trump are pretty easily misled. That seems crazy, but is it? Both have attachments to conspiracy theories that are definitely not true.

I’ve waited awhile before commenting on JD’s European speech. I have a friend who thought he did really well. I am less enthusiastic. But he did highlight what I believe are two misconceptions, one held by liberals, and one held by conservatives. In the end, his speech was shocking, and partially, in my opinion, true.

He started by saying that Europe’s greatest threat is internal. Attempts by European governments to restrict speech that may offend others are silly and counter productive. This is a good point. I have always felt that liberals need to understand that especially in the United States, there is no such thing as the right to not be offended. Instead, there is indeed a right to offend. Comedians like Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Richard Pryor established that a long time ago and I stand by it. Okay, that part is true, but is it really Europe’s BIGGEST threat? Continue reading →

With friends like us, who needs enemies?

US refuses to blame Russia for Ukraine war, splitting with European allies in UN votes

Russia invaded Ukraine. It was not provoked. We are now lairs on the world stage. This is not the U.S.A. I was raised in. Not the one I thought I knew. Shame to everyone who enabled this.

I have been able to retire because I worked in two separate jobs with a union. My dad’s union job helped him retire when his body gave out, and many of my older friends got to go to college because their dad was paid fairly because he was in a union. Reagan started the movement against unions and interestingly enough worker pay in the U.S. stagnated after that. In 1982, after just five years on the job (part time), I had medical benefits, dental, eye and even legal coverage. I had two weeks of paid vacation per year and was halfway to being vested in a pension plan. I was also making over $10.00 per hour (in 1982!). Not bad for a college job. The same job today has nowhere near those benefits even though it is still a union job. It also pays only about 50% more than it did then, over 40 years later!

“Right to Work” is a lie. Republicans are now trying to crush public unions. This will not help the average worker.

Unions brace for fight as Ohio GOP moves ‘Right to Work,’ strike bans

Too bad Trump voting seniors…

Trump official calls Social Security ‘wrong’ as administration lays groundwork for massive cuts

Bernie lays it out.

First, I am amazed there was even any type of “background check” on Musk and his toadies like “Big Balls”. So why does it surprise anyone he wouldn’t want you to know what they found.

‘Good luck with that.’ Trump administration terminates privacy officials at agency overseeing government hiring and firing

So let’s make sure we understand. The first priority to cut “waste and fraud” was to get rid of all the watchdogs on waste and fraud and now make sure we don’t know who’s doing what. Sure sounds legit to me! What could go wrong?

By the way, in case you were wondering who “Big Balls” is…

Who is ‘Big Balls’? Teen DOGE Engineer Edward Coristine

Our new Attorney General and head of the Justice Department is Pam Bondi. She was a lobbyist for the company that lobbies on behalf of Trump and his companies, but before that she was Attorney General for Florida. She was investigating Trump for fraud until this happened…

Florida AG Drops Trump U lawsuit After Trump Gives Her $25,000

Folks who think Trump’s fraud trial in New York was a witch hunt forget New York could have prosecuted him twice before for fraud but let him go because he is rich and powerful. I think even if you’re rich, two get out of jail cards seems like plenty. So what’s Pam up to in her new role as U.S. Attorney General?

Fox analyst Andy McCarthy blasts Trump DOJ for ‘weaponization’ in column

Draining that swamp.

Call me a cynic, but I am skeptical that an non-elected government contractor with no previous knowledge of government, and no security clearance, could eliminate waste in the government. So far, at least from my perspective, his work mostly seems to be eliminating important programs and breaking things. Recently he went on a Twitter-rage about testimony from the head of a respected independent government watchdog group called the Project on Government Oversight which has been around since 1981. I am linking to the entire 10 page testimony .pdf format (with footnotes) so no one has to rely on a summary in the news. It an interesting read…

Testimony of Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Director of Government Affairs Project On Government Oversight Before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency On “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud”

Project on Government Oversight (Wikipedia)

It should also be noted that at least five of the inspectors general that Trump fired had open investigations into Musk’s contracts. He has contracts with at least 17 government agencies or departments. Whoa, I bet firing those independent watchdogs is sure cutting waste. No doubt they where “DEI hires”.

Lastly, why does DOGE need access to your personal tax records to find “waste in government”?
‘Five alarm warning’: Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry

If you were hoping that wiser heads in the Republican led budget committee would prevail, remember that the party ran all the wiser heads out of office.

House GOP panel passes budget blueprint with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and steep spending reductions

It calls for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, with an additional caveat: The House package has to include $2 trillion in cuts to the “mandatory” part of federal spending, which covers programs like Medicare, Medicaid and food benefits known as SNAP, or $4.5 trillion amount in tax breaks must be reduced by a commensurate amount.

“This budget resolution provides the fiscal framework for what will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in modern history and the principal legislative vehicle for delivering on President Trump’s America First agenda,” Budget Committee chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said in a statement. “The era of wasteful, woke, and weaponized government is over.”

So Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP are “wasteful, woke and weaponized”. If you are a senior citizen, or poor, you’re about to get screwed. This is what the MAGA crowed really voted for. It isn’t like we didn’t warn you. It’s ALWAYS about money. Also in the news, we voted in an election denying fan of the Kremlin with no intelligence background and ties to a supposed “cult”, to head our intelligence community and a vaccine denying conspiracy theorist with no medical background to head up public health. Good luck with bird flu folks. Mitch McConnell was the only Republican who voted against both. Remember when he had clout?
Couldn’t we raise more revenue if Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and that weird Meta guy paid their fair share of taxes? Why do they need another tax cut? So they won’t need to rely on Social Security and Medicare when they retire?

It was never about the boarder, or “woke”. It was about this…

House Republicans unveil blueprint to extend $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and lift the debt ceiling