trump

AMBUSH IN THE OVAL OFFICE

nautamilitis Leave a comment

Photo CNN

As the Days Without National Shame Count remains steadfast at 0, 2 schoolyard bullies masquerading as president and vice president of the United States, ambushed their guest, a president of a valiant country at war. It was planned, it was a staged, it was National Inquirer level reality TV aimed at making Tr*mp and J.D. seem tough to the Make America Go Away braindead watching Fox, Newsmax, OAN and Russian State Media.

In less colorful language, it was just incredibly rude, sophomoric behavior.  Zelinsky is worldly, he knew he had to pay homage the Orange ego and to a lesser extent, to the Yale Hillbilly.  Zelinsky was ready to sign a transactional agreement, the only kind Tr*mp understands, to keep his country in the fight. What he did not know, nor did anyone else except the bully brothers, was that he was walking into a trap, a shocking manipulation of protocol and American history.  It was more than a new low in the oxymoron that is now American diplomacy, it was premediated backstabbing of the Ukrainian people and their tremendous sacrifices during the past 3 years of Russian atrocities.  It was theater, it was The Apprentice: World Leaders Version and it was yet another big show by an insecure, weak man that 77,000,000 Americans rotely voted for last November.  And it showed, again, a complete lack of understanding of how American security is premised as much on soft power, the rule of law and shared western values as it is on America’s unmatched military might.

Zelinsky, not cowering as expected, keeping his comments respectful but admirably refuting the lies and attacks, stood up for his country and pushed back with facts.  The King and his Jester were not about to listen to that, so the meeting ended with a snide but revealing comment “This is going to be great television”.  That is all it is to this president, a TV show with him as the star, firing people and world leaders at will because it makes him feel powerful.  And oh yea, no lunch for you Z. But more concerning is the incompetence and lack of intelligence of this administration in how to deal with allies, and how that is fundamentally different than dealing with autocrats, dictators and our enemies.  Not. The. Same. This is the rules-based world order being deconstructed, not a condo deal in Manhattan using daddy’s money and cheating your subcontractors.

No doubt the intellectually flatlined MAGA maniacs saw this all completely differently.  They saw it as it was intended to be seen, a victory by their very own strongman, standing up for America First.  The reality is that America does not even factor into the mindset of Tr*mp except as a tool to manipulate the base.  It is all about Tr*mp and everything, everything about him is all about money and power, America be damned.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

nautamilitis Leave a comment

Who is the most corrupt, inept, misogynistic, racist, sexist, anti-Constitution, anti-democracy, flat out over the cuckoo’s nest wacko of them all? 

This second wave of Tr*mp appointments and nominations does not yet have a clear answer to this question. The first wave of course had slam dunk winner druggie pedophile Matt Gaetz, who was even a bit too much for the compliant Republican apologists and lapdogs drinking the orange Kool Aid.  This group may be more competitive, and no clear winner may emerge until, well, someone does something really stupid.  Any day now.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy-Stephen Miller. Straight out of central casting (“Hey, I need a stone faced, evil looking Nazi for this next scene”), another election liar, he promoted articles from white nationalist publications such as VDARE and has proudly made the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of extremists…and there is more.

Counter Terrorism Chief-Sebastian Gorka. London born, the former Hungarian TV personality and Fox News contributor was permanently banned from YouTube for repeatedly spreading lies about a stolen 2020 election, had his first radio show (America First) banned for copyright violations, is a member of the Hungarian Order of Vitez, an organization under the control of Nazis in WWII, and was detained in 2016 for attempting to board a plane at Ronald Reagan Airport with a 9MM handgun…and there is more.

Co-Leader Department of Government Efficiency-Vivek Ramaswamy. He partnered with Chinese state-owned CITIC Group and through a series of questionable maneuvers including investment in his own company, walked away with $175,000,000.  Ramaswamy  claims he is a “scientist” and stated “I developed a number of medicines” and…no he didn’t, he was an entrepreneur and financer. He has cofounded a number of companies, did some unregistered lobbying with South Carolina behind closed door sessions, wants to use the U.S. Miliary to attack Mexican drug cartels, and has repeatedly claimed the Jan 6 Insurrection was an inside job.  Like a few others on this list, he claims tech companies stole the 2020 election…and there is more.

Ambassador to France-Charles Kushner.  Another convicted felon and now an ex-con, good son Jared’s dad, was convicted in 2005 of illegal campaign contributions, witness tampering and tax evasion, so he enjoyed prison for 2 years and was disbarred in 3 states.  This upstanding businessman once hired a prostitute to seduce his brother in law, recorded it and sent the tape to his sister. Just think about that. But he is a good dad. He once met with the president of Harvard and quickly followed with a $2,500,000 donation to the school.  Soon thereafter, son Jared, his high school grades and test scores Mariana Trench deep below minimum Ivy League standards, was admitted to Harvard…and there is more.

Ambassador to Greece-Kimberly Guilfoule. Another former Fox News something or other where she agreed to a $4,000,000+ settlement with an assistant for sexual harassment. The assistant claimed Guilfoule was at times naked in the office and shared photos of her male lovers genitalia.  At several fundraising events she bragged about Gavin Newsom’s large penis, sigh.  She apparently checks most of the boxes of being in the Tr*mp inner circle of dis-appointments…and there is more.

Ambassador to Israel-Mike Huckabee. Baptist minister, another Christian Nationalist, claimed Obama grew up in Kenya (nope, did not), used $50,000 of his company money for a trip to Qatar and then publicly praised the country.  Another election denier (liar)…and there is more.

Director of FBI- Kash Patel. Former Attorney General William Barr once told Tr*mp that if he considered naming Patel as head of the FBI it would happen “over my dead body”.  Patel wants to close down FBI headquarters in DC (Russia, China and drug warlords thank you), he is widely recognized as having lied and lied and lied some more about specific FBI operations and their intelligence findings.  Yet another blatant Tr*mp lap dog for sure…and there is more.

Center for Disease Control-Dave Weldon.  Yes, of course,  another vaccine safety denier and has said Jesus is one of his biggest political influencers.  Was white Jesus a Republican? He was president of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, a trade group claiming to be an alternative to health insurance, but with no legal obligation to pay medical bills.  Weldon has said autism is caused by vaccinations, not untypical of a Christian Nationalist…and there is more.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator. Mehmet Oz-dual Turkish-U.S. citizen medical doctor, banned from presenting by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery due to academic dishonesty (so, plagiarism). Oz was paid over $50,000,000 to promote a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme for Usana Health Services.  Jumped on the insanity bandwagon and promoted hydroxychloroquine (malarial drug) as effective cure for COVID-19 (nope, definitely not).  Purely coincidentally, he owns $600,000+ of stock of companies manufacturing hydroxychloroquine and, in a tragic example of accepting “collateral damage”, endorsed a 2-3% child mortality rate as acceptable for opening schools during the pandemic.  The Wizard owns untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in health companies that benefit directly from Medicare…and there is more.

Secretary of Department of Education- Linda McMahon.  She does not have any teaching experience, nor education management experience. But, hey, that’s OK as she is the former head of the World Wrestling Entertainment (an entire industry that is as fake as fake gets).  Somehow, while running this illustrious organization, she was hit with a lawsuit accusing her of failing to act against the sexual abuse of children in the Ring Boys scandal.  Multiple senior and star wrestling WWE employees were known to have sexually abused many of these young boys. And not a priest in site. McMahon claimed she had received a bachelor degree in education.  Not true.  Her bachelor was in French, which maybe requires an education to learn and perhaps that was the confusion…and there is more.

Secretary of Department of Veterans Affairs-Doug Collins.  A former military chaplain, Collins is just one more minion that has stated lies regarding election fraud in Georgia.  In fact, the Georgia Republican Secretary of State has called him a liar. Collins opposed the Affordable Care Act, rejects global warming science and vehemently opposes same sex marriage…and there is more.

Secretary of Homeland Security-Kristi Noem.  She proudly boasted about killing the family puppy because she was, well, she was just damned angry.  But puppycide was not enough and he needed more of a kick, so she tied the family goat to a pole and shot the poor bleating creature.  Hold, hold, yes, more coming.  Noem is not a good shot and merely painfully wounded the goat, so she left the suffering animal, got more ammo, returned and finished it off with another shot. I wonder how she handles her anger with kittens and bunnies. When her daughter failed the South Dakota real estate appraiser license test a second time, the maximum number allowed, Noem summoned a significant number of her senior administration executives to the governor’s mansion and soon thereafter her daughter had the license.  As governor she so completely mismanaged the Covid-19 Pandemic that South Dakota had one of worst infection rates on the planet and the highest death rate in U.S.  Emulating her cult leader, she claimed she met in person with Kim Jon-un, but that is an absolute lie, …and there is more.

Director of Voice of America-Kari Lake.  Did we say election denier?  Of course she is but ambitiously spreads that lie to other elections such as her loss for Arizona Governor. She is another Fox news person and spreader of lies about the Covid-19 pandemic, you have to wonder if all of these Tr*mp miscreants attended the same Tr*mp University dumb-ass brainwashing course.  Lake brought a lawsuit against Arizona, challenging her loss for governor, and she lost, then lost, and lost again at the 3 levels of Arizona state courts. Lawsuits against her however are more successful, she was successfully sued by her county recorder for defamation.  And just to make this more strange, she claimed drag queens were harmful to children and yet, allowed her minor daughter to attend a private drag queen event..and there is more.

This insanity is exhausting. Is the Orange King simply yanking America’s chain?  Or is he that far gone that common sense and at least trying to fake competency are but a distant memory?  

If you possess a modicum of decency and common sense, if you have the rudiments of rational thinking, if you simply have the brain of a Scarecrow, you may be exhausted and bordering on numb, looking for a way to survive this onslaught of assaults on America.

If you are a member of the Orange Cult and dutifully worship your Orange King, none of this matters to you.  And so, here we are.