Category Archives: politics

Jul 04 2026
Leave a comment
politics, quasi-meta, The Deconstruction Era

A July 4th Parable

::A time portal opens up, Ben Franklin steps out::

Ben, seeing me: “You there! Frenchman! How goes the Republic?”

Me: “Well, um… the President’s half German?”

Ben: “Oh, no! I had tried to warn everyone in Olde Philadelphia that those Germans and swarthy Swedes would never assimilate! Is he at least constrained by the weak-executive Constitution we left you?”

Me: “Um, err… no. In fact, he’s basically been anointed a de facto King, untouchable by the Law, by SCOTUS, –“

::Ben falls to his knees::

“–a majority-Catholic SCOTUS.”

::Ben starts weeping::

Me: “I’m Sorry, sir. Some of us DID try, but we were woefully outnumbered. Here, sir: Maybe this will help you feel better?”

::Shows Ben how to log onto OnlyFans::

Jan 25 2026
Leave a comment
news, politics, The Deconstruction Era, Uncategorized

The Deconstruction will Continue until Morale Improves…

Just a few short notes.

First of all, ICE/CBP has begun shooting people right on video, with apparent impunity, and claims of total immunity. (Feyd-Rautha is still working that bit out). DOJ/FBI not only refuses to investigate the shooters, but prefers to work the victims, instead. Kash Patel’s apparently much too busy these days.

It’s way too early to tell how this goes (part of why I’m noting this, now), but I just don’t see how “One Crispus Attucks every Ten Days or So” is a sustainable posture. Especially once the 3rd and 4th Amendment violations start coming into public view. This breaks, one way or the other, by the end of summer. Just in time for the Midterms.

Meanwhile, RFK Jr and company seem hellbent on performing a nationwide eugenics experiment on over 350+ million people over the next few decades. Measles is basically endemic, again, solely due to the drop in vaccination rates. Give it 5-10 years, and Polio might be making its comeback, too.

I won’t even bother linking to anything “AI”. The VIBE is Real. 40-60% of the stock market is now a private-equity circle-jerk. The Chipmakers need to pump up their stock as much as possible, so they can borrow against that equity, so they can make more chips to sell to AI companies (who are borrowing against THEIR “equity” (to raise the price of THEIR stock (so THEY can borrow more (to buy more chips)))).

This, too is unsustainable.

Our Would-be Masters seem hell-bent on either Culling us, or Replacing us altogether. But there is no general, overarching plan. It’s just… RESENTMENT. Recall how Nietzsche sneered at the lower classes’ upward-facing ressentiment towards their ‘betters’. (He wrote entire volumes on his belief that this drove the origins of what he called ‘slave morality’, etc etc etc, no need to get into that here). But as far as I know, he never recognized the possibility of the opposite: What happens when the ressentiment is directed DOWNWARDS?

We’ve reached a point where Capital hates Labor so much, that it openly plans to replace Labor, entirely. In the meantime? We are to be “managed“… watched and fed, presumably until Labor (aka ‘The People”) withers away. To borrow a phrase: it’s like Maoism, in reverse.

And yet ,they seem to be either ignorant of what’s supposed to happen after all that… or they just don’t care.

This, (surprise, surprise!) is also unsustainable.

Be Seeing You…

Tagged , ,
Sep 18 2025
Leave a comment
breaded circuses, meta, news, politics

a little poem…

Here’s to the World of Pundits,
the Realm of the Take and the Pod
Where Yglesias speaks only to Ezra
And Ezra speaks only to God.

(With apologies to GB Shaw).

Feb 26 2025
Leave a comment
meta, politics, The Deconstruction Era

“Russia, Russia, Russia!” (A poem)

Here’s a little poem I wrote…

“Russia Russia Russia!”

Matt Taibbi, fuck you. I was right. You were wrong.

“Russia Russia Russia!”

Glenn Greenwald, fuck you. I was right. You were wrong.

“Russia Russia Russia!”

Ryan Grim, fuck you. I was right. You were wrong.

“Russia Russia Russia!”

Andrew Sullivan, fuck you. I was right. You were wrong.

Russia, Russia, Russia…

Feb 13 2025
Leave a comment
politics, The Deconstruction Era

The Deconstruction Era…

…has apparently begun, in earnest.

We have (maybe?) six weeks left to ‘Defend the Real’. Much less the Republic.

I’m not quite sure how you’re supposed to have an Empire, without a Bureaucracy, but that does seem to be the goal. Or be a Billionaire, once the (yes, politely fictional, but still mostly functional) global financial system collapses. Or be a King, once you’ve reduced the Republic to rubble.

You can’t eat a meme stock. You can’t rule over corpses. Once “The Money” fails, the power fails. The illusion evaporates. Your “Narrative”… ends.

::Image of classical CRT Television, fading to a point::

It’s not YOU that will rule the Mad Max world. It’s whoever your security detail chooses to lead them after they snuff you, that will rule. (For a bit).

That all said… They sure as hell are going to try, aren’t they?

Dec 13 2024
Leave a comment
dear future self, Formalities, politics, The Deconstruction Era

The Deconstruction Continues…

Today’s ongoing fun times: Trump intends to end birthright citizenship. Media neglects to inform the public that the text is, especially by USC standards, pretty fucking clear:

All people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and the state they reside in.…

No way they can get enough States on board to overthrow this (or any) amendment, and given all the other protections in there (e.g. Due Process), it would be unpopular even if they could. Even the damned Jesuits are against a repeal, FFS.

Yet again, part of me is morbidly curious as to how one crafts a “legal workaround” for such a plain, simple, English statement that a five year old would understand & accept. An executive that refuses to execute (by refusing to issue Social Security cards, Passports, etc) wouldn’t be new (ask Andrew Jackson about that one), but it would be new for modern times. And it kind of obviates that whole “Three Branches of Government’ thing.

Honestly, though, if they can turn that into a game Legal Calvinball, then the entire USC isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. (And, by inference, USG becomes “culturally invalid”– won’t that be interesting?). Any legitimacy to existing authority? Gone. (And that includes SCOTUS). Protection of private property by the State? Gone. Solid contract law? Gone.

Without the current American State, you don’t get Billionaires. Billionaires are a thing that cannot exist, unprotected out in the wild, as recent events have shown. They either need to be head of a State (like Putin/Trump), or to command a vast fortune so the State will deem them worthy of protection.

Older societies had certain “mechanisms” in place to deal with Resource Hoarders (it often involved a rock to the back of the head). So the Billionaires’ eagerness to destroy the very complex structures that keep them awash in imaginary ‘Equity’ (the true source of their power) and their lives Guillotine-Free is… puzzling.

Imagine a school of highly exotic, useless fish in an aquarium, frantically trying to figure out the best way of drilling through the tank glass.

That’s how I see them. Problem is, we’re all stuck in the same tank, with them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Oct 29 2024
Leave a comment
breaded circuses, dear future self, politics

Schrödinger’s Republic.

After 30 years of constant assault from the Right wing, they have finally gotten their wish. This election is basically a referendum on whether or not we get to keep this Republic, as currently constructed. And roughly half of the voters seem quite happy to buy what they are selling. In fact, the polls would have us believe DJT is leading– despite all the contrary evidence on the ground. (Early voting numbers, rally attendance, exit polls, etc all point to a Harris surprise– then the polls come out, and the Day’s Dooming begins).

So, either polls are flawed (or being willfully manipulated), or there’s a great big Silent Majority out there willing to scrap the Republic and go full-on KKK/Nazi. Not sure which of these two possibilities is the least discomforting.

On the upside, T-Bag basically had a Klan Rally in Madison Square Garden, so we’re allowed to speak the word “Nazi” and be taken seriously now, at least. For now.

I’ve thought before that a lot of these characters seem stunted, stuck in High School, so I think that Digby gets it right. To the Lesser Fascists is a case of “trying to turn all of America into one giant High School”.

Problem is, the Greater Fascists are surfing this movement towards total, absolute power (thanks to SCOTUS). And the Greater Fascists have PLANS.

Oct 07 2024
Leave a comment
articles, economics, politics

Causes, Effects…

The American Prospect has an article detailing the “Chasm” between Blue Connecticut and Red Oklahoma. The tl; dr takeaway is best expressed graphically. From the article:

CT and OK went from having identical life expectancies in 1959, to a gap that started back in the very early 1970s and continues today. Virtually all of this can be directly traced to health care and gun control policies.

That said, the article is full of broader and more detailed points. But the picture is the thing, here: Voting GOP literally shortens your life.

Oct 04 2024
Leave a comment
articles, disasters, media, news, politics, Uncategorized

Friday Tidbits

Home, sick. (As opposed to “Home, working’). Currently in that ‘can’t do much yet, can’t sleep any more, either’ phase. So, a few bored Friday afternoon tidbits over a slowly-eaten hard boiled egg.

Looks like both Antarctica and the Sahara are “greening”. One due to general warming, the other due to unusual changes in rainfall patterns this year. Everyone’s been expecting the former, but aren’t sure why the latter is happening (yet), though the Sahara has been fully green before. I wouldn’t book a camping trip to either place, just yet, though.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic currents appear to be in the early stages of collapse. This is generally considered a bad thing. In some ways this is probably just part of Earth’s feedback system kicking in to slow down the warming (that, too, has happened before), but the effects on humans, or near-term climate, are currently unknown. (Maybe Massachusetts will be snowbound all winter again during my Golden Years? Who knows).

Speaking of (political) ‘climate’, Colorado just sentenced Tina Peters to nine years for participating in a voter fraud/data theft scheme (which, at 68 years old, is probably a life sentence). When I talk about ‘Hanging on to the Real’, this lady’s mind is part of what I warn about. Laughing at the judge during sentencing. Declaring special status due to religion:

“I’ve often said God doesn’t like people messing with his kids. And I believe I’m a child of God,” Peters said. “It was important for someone to stand up and I’ve chosen to do that.”

Please note the (very non-Christian) assertion that ONLY her Tribe are “the children” of her god. This isn’t about mere religion or politics anymore. This borders on mental illness. Watch for yourself.

One election isn’t going to solve this serious cultural problem.

Meanwhile, Jack Smith/Judge Chutkan try to sidestep the Trump/SCOTUS immunity ploy by releasing detailed info about his crimes on Jan 6th. Committed as a candidate, not as President, hence: not immune.

The Trump camp of course has a counter-suit claiming ‘election interference’. But even with the Gang of Six supporting him on SCOTUS, it’s too late. The information’s out there. Though frankly, very little of it sounds ‘new’, we just get more details now, and the attention-refresh in media.

Only 31 days left until the Reality Referendum. All someone like me can do is watch, and wait, and see…

Oct 02 2024
Leave a comment
breaded circuses, election diary, news, politics

Walz/Vance Debate

Vance presented as a slick one-man focus group. He even managed to scan as A Real Boy at times, as opposed to the unholy Yarvinite Egregore he is in reality (and online, and at rallies, and probably everywhere else). Very good at lying, but not at convincing. Not so much a Gish-Gallop as a Gish-Avalanche. A Gish Mudslide. A Gish Tsunami. (In some ways I was reminded of 2012-era Romney, trying to surf his way into the WH upon a media-driven Tsunami of Bullshit– but somehow MORE sociopathic).

Despite CBS’ “agreement” to not fact check, one lie was so objectively egregious that the moderators couldn’t let it go.

The general right-wing response was about what you’d expect.

OMG! Objective Reality! How DARE THEY!

Walz held up fine, and given the post-debate favorables, most Normies seem to have seen through Theil’s Pet and sided with Walz’ “aw, shucks” Middle-Aged Dad Energy.

Unsurprisingly, Pundits, “Journalists”, and other Very Important Online-Thinkers trended towards Vance. IMO, spending all your days surrounded by NPD/sociopaths –or being one, yourself– tends to taint one’s views towards people like Vance. You don’t get that “journalism” gig without that inborn instinct for knowing when and for whom to kowtow.

That said, we’re still normalizing shit like this:

This is what passes for a serious question about Objective Reality in 2024.

← Older posts