(Cut off for unknown reasons, certainly not the swearing!) Last sentence should read:
Although uncertainty is the thing that most rattles me, I find certitude in this environment equally disturbing and untrustworthy. This may not make sense but it’s true for me.
You are so unfuckingbelievably diabolical you once again made me read every fucking word while clocking 5 snorts + 2 actual LOLs. Also + a shit ton of wisdom and valuable paths to keeping my brain functional. You unlocked my mental paralysis and infused me with that diabolical ‘tude which I fucking well needed today! Thank you, most gracious newsfucker. I commend you above all for stating bluntly: ‘we don’t know wtf is going on’ with our new overlords. But we can see and clock a few things each day and once in awhile discern patterns. I find this MOST calming to admit. I am leery of any sane person claiming anything with certainty right now, or declaring this or that as an obvious fact. Although uncertainty is the thing that most rattles me, I find certitude in this environment equally disturbing and untrustworthy. (This prolly doesn’t make sense but it’s true for me.)
I'm also worried about another possibility, which I'll call the Harriet Miers Paradox. You all may recall that W chose the wildly unqualified Miers for the SCOTUS slot opened by Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement. After a bipartisan "eeeew" by the Senate, W withdrew the nomination and chose....Sam Alito. So, the Gaetz and Hegseth nominations may well fail in the Senate (esp from pro-DOD Rs) but opens the door to someone much worse and more competent to do real damage.
Here’s my theory: Trump meant to say Matt Whitaker (who was on everyone’s list for AG), but got confused and said Matt Gaetz instead. Then when questioned about his mistake, he did what Trump always does: he doubled down and insisted he meant Matt Gaetz.
Let's hope that the underlings can sabotage the bosses. It's a clever way to plant the seeds of covert rebellion. Do some fact finding. Appoint a committee. The possibilities are limited only by the audacity of endless procrastination.
Yes, these people are all terrible. I think that , if confirmed, they’ll pursue their peccadillos and bugaboos that will inevitably hurt some (a lot?) of people, but their inexperience and what is likely to be a heavy handed style leads me to think that they won’t be able to fire enough people to suppress all of the resistance from within the rank and file.
So, I’ve got some thoughts. 🤪
I’m more terrified of Tulsi’s pick for DNI than some piddling little wanker like Matt Gaetz. Maybe she’s actually the one he picked to get the others through and not Matty after all. 🤔 Her support of Assad and her Putin fluffing are all one needs to know about her to suspect her nod. She’s as anti-American as anyone I can think of to fill such a role - especially given that she would have access to every single piece of intelligence produced or that has ever been produced by any intel agency within the executive branch.
Donald will continue to nominate cranks since decent people won’t even consider working for him. The Senators will need to survive past 2028 and despite the corporate media and their MANDATE verbiage, these guys can see what the numbers actually were and someone on their staff has had to have read about the fact that more than 50% of those who voted for him do not believe he will actually do the terrible things he said he’d do. Considering that there is no natural successor to Donald and this is (hopefully) the last time he will be able to become president and given that a majority of GOP senators are career politicians, I foresee some element of self preservation for the after-MAGA times as they consider these nominees and their implications on the country writ large.
Or I could be completely wrong and they’ll all sign up for team *burn it all down*. Time will tell but focusing on actions vs words is going to become more and more important as the days grind on.
Happy Thursday! (I literally had to check to make sure that it was, in fact, Thursday. My brain is going to be mush by the end of all this.)
100% agree. This is the nightmare scenario unfolding in real time and why I've had a hard time even looking at any information sources. Will Europe share intelligence information (especially UK as a member of 5-eyes) knowing her early and continual spreading of Putin propaganda? Will the US ally with Russia against Europe? Serious questions. Gaetz heading up the DoJ? That's just fucked up. Some R's are coming out with skepticism about his confirmation but we all know when it comes to Trump there is no longer any R-spine left to stay upright. I can't help but remember that Mitch McConnell could have ended this and saved his 'legacy' with impeachment. Europe, UKR and the US is fucked in my view but I hope I am wrong.
Matt Stoller wrote the most positive spin on Matt Gaetz that you’ll probably read anywhere. He raises some interesting points that <gulp, I can’t believe I’m typing this> might be worth considering before writing him off completely. He’s shown his anti-tech, anti-corporatist bonafides time and again in Congress and he thinks Lina Khan is great. He’s a disgusting, vile creature who will do Donald’s bidding on the shit Donald can actually be bothered to care about and that will unfortunately hurt people, but maybe he’ll also continue the ongoing cases against big tech and others that are currently winding their way through the federal justice system. And since Elon has been given a toy to play with outside of the actual levers of power, hopefully the mogul types will be distant enough from the executive branch that they will continue the new (old) path charted during the Biden admin with regard to antitrust. Given that, it could be worse. It could be a corporate lawyer type who’s probably done all the same shit as the ethics committee report I’m sure lays out in detail that Matty did AND would just be a rubber stamp for Donald without the potential for an additional agenda.
“lickspittlery” ☠️
(Cut off for unknown reasons, certainly not the swearing!) Last sentence should read:
Although uncertainty is the thing that most rattles me, I find certitude in this environment equally disturbing and untrustworthy. This may not make sense but it’s true for me.
And now I see suddenly my comment was un-cut off. ? 🤷🏼♀️ ?
You are so unfuckingbelievably diabolical you once again made me read every fucking word while clocking 5 snorts + 2 actual LOLs. Also + a shit ton of wisdom and valuable paths to keeping my brain functional. You unlocked my mental paralysis and infused me with that diabolical ‘tude which I fucking well needed today! Thank you, most gracious newsfucker. I commend you above all for stating bluntly: ‘we don’t know wtf is going on’ with our new overlords. But we can see and clock a few things each day and once in awhile discern patterns. I find this MOST calming to admit. I am leery of any sane person claiming anything with certainty right now, or declaring this or that as an obvious fact. Although uncertainty is the thing that most rattles me, I find certitude in this environment equally disturbing and untrustworthy. (This prolly doesn’t make sense but it’s true for me.)
Yes! Thanks for the break down and clarification! 💙💘
Hoping they trip over their own swinging dicks, isn’t a plan. But it just might work.
I'm also worried about another possibility, which I'll call the Harriet Miers Paradox. You all may recall that W chose the wildly unqualified Miers for the SCOTUS slot opened by Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement. After a bipartisan "eeeew" by the Senate, W withdrew the nomination and chose....Sam Alito. So, the Gaetz and Hegseth nominations may well fail in the Senate (esp from pro-DOD Rs) but opens the door to someone much worse and more competent to do real damage.
Here’s my theory: Trump meant to say Matt Whitaker (who was on everyone’s list for AG), but got confused and said Matt Gaetz instead. Then when questioned about his mistake, he did what Trump always does: he doubled down and insisted he meant Matt Gaetz.
Let's hope that the underlings can sabotage the bosses. It's a clever way to plant the seeds of covert rebellion. Do some fact finding. Appoint a committee. The possibilities are limited only by the audacity of endless procrastination.
Seems like a lotta mugshots in this administration
Hegseth was stationed at Guantanamo in 2004, where prisoners were also tortured. Things that make you go, "Hmmmm".
Can I just go back to bed until 2028?
Yes, these people are all terrible. I think that , if confirmed, they’ll pursue their peccadillos and bugaboos that will inevitably hurt some (a lot?) of people, but their inexperience and what is likely to be a heavy handed style leads me to think that they won’t be able to fire enough people to suppress all of the resistance from within the rank and file.
So, I’ve got some thoughts. 🤪
I’m more terrified of Tulsi’s pick for DNI than some piddling little wanker like Matt Gaetz. Maybe she’s actually the one he picked to get the others through and not Matty after all. 🤔 Her support of Assad and her Putin fluffing are all one needs to know about her to suspect her nod. She’s as anti-American as anyone I can think of to fill such a role - especially given that she would have access to every single piece of intelligence produced or that has ever been produced by any intel agency within the executive branch.
Donald will continue to nominate cranks since decent people won’t even consider working for him. The Senators will need to survive past 2028 and despite the corporate media and their MANDATE verbiage, these guys can see what the numbers actually were and someone on their staff has had to have read about the fact that more than 50% of those who voted for him do not believe he will actually do the terrible things he said he’d do. Considering that there is no natural successor to Donald and this is (hopefully) the last time he will be able to become president and given that a majority of GOP senators are career politicians, I foresee some element of self preservation for the after-MAGA times as they consider these nominees and their implications on the country writ large.
Or I could be completely wrong and they’ll all sign up for team *burn it all down*. Time will tell but focusing on actions vs words is going to become more and more important as the days grind on.
Happy Thursday! (I literally had to check to make sure that it was, in fact, Thursday. My brain is going to be mush by the end of all this.)
100% agree. This is the nightmare scenario unfolding in real time and why I've had a hard time even looking at any information sources. Will Europe share intelligence information (especially UK as a member of 5-eyes) knowing her early and continual spreading of Putin propaganda? Will the US ally with Russia against Europe? Serious questions. Gaetz heading up the DoJ? That's just fucked up. Some R's are coming out with skepticism about his confirmation but we all know when it comes to Trump there is no longer any R-spine left to stay upright. I can't help but remember that Mitch McConnell could have ended this and saved his 'legacy' with impeachment. Europe, UKR and the US is fucked in my view but I hope I am wrong.
Matt Stoller wrote the most positive spin on Matt Gaetz that you’ll probably read anywhere. He raises some interesting points that <gulp, I can’t believe I’m typing this> might be worth considering before writing him off completely. He’s shown his anti-tech, anti-corporatist bonafides time and again in Congress and he thinks Lina Khan is great. He’s a disgusting, vile creature who will do Donald’s bidding on the shit Donald can actually be bothered to care about and that will unfortunately hurt people, but maybe he’ll also continue the ongoing cases against big tech and others that are currently winding their way through the federal justice system. And since Elon has been given a toy to play with outside of the actual levers of power, hopefully the mogul types will be distant enough from the executive branch that they will continue the new (old) path charted during the Biden admin with regard to antitrust. Given that, it could be worse. It could be a corporate lawyer type who’s probably done all the same shit as the ethics committee report I’m sure lays out in detail that Matty did AND would just be a rubber stamp for Donald without the potential for an additional agenda.
A girl can dream. 🙃
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/trump-nominates-khanservative-matt
Just subscribed. Interesting post with detail I hadn't known.