One more thing. They sound like sprinklers more than maracas. So keep an ear out for the sound of water running. We are so accustomed to that sound that it doesn't always work as a warning. I've made that mistake several times.
It's about to get fairly hot for the first time in awhile in Southern California. That means rattlesnakes will be coming out as they always do on that first hot day of the year in March or April.
I had one at my doorstep one year.
So CA folks, be on the lookout if they're in your area.
Yes. This is transparently the plan. It is a destructive and unconstitutional plan. And it can be stopped. It can even be turned into an electoral issue that hurts Trump. But only if we face this now.
NEW: Right-wing activists are circulating a draft executive order that purports to give Trump sweeping power over federal elections.
@mollyroberts.bsky.social and I got new details on the activists, lawyers, and conspiracy theorists behind the proposed order:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/in-c...
Also, the bunker could be just a way for Trump obscure grift.
The other possibility is that it's related to his own fears and desire to stay forever. In that case maybe it isn't quite all grift but a lavish expensive vanity project that should be viewed in a very troubling way given his propensity towards chaos and destruction.
It is also a bunker and who knows what weird things that entails but I'm sure Trump wants it to be very much a luxury bunker. It includes a very fast demolition, probably defense contractors to hire for construction, and a very fast construction.
So I see it two possible ways. One is it's all grift
I'm quite fond of that song especially. I still remember the first time I heard this song. It was on the radio!
The names may have changed but his message remains relevant and explains Republican politics so well.
I wish I could speed read. I just can't process the content itself that quickly.
And I know that sounds trite but I don't mean it to be. There have been people I've known who shared it as if it was something they seemed a little ashamed about. I can understand that but it was also a bit funny because they were also fucking geniuses who knew everything and had amazing insight.
Some of the smartest people I've known have been dyslexic. Really, just some absolutely brilliant people.
The only thing Trump recognizes as intelligence is the ability to domineer and force compliance in others. He can only ever see what he wants. He is hollow and sees no beauty, art, or insight.
Though, the government didn't change in Venezuela.
I think this is very important to try and figure out. I say this knowing Trump has done so much to benefit Putin in ways stand against who Trump is and how he acts with everyone else.
So what's going on? What explains this behavior?
I've been trying to make sense of this for awhile now. Venezuela too. Possibly Cuba coming up. A traditional view might look at Trump's actions as weakening Russian power but it's not necessarily working out that way.
I know Putin floated the idea of a trade of Venezuela during the 1st term.
It's an effort to maintain cognitive dissonance. Evangelicals do this with Trump's insults. They claim to hate his demeanor when they really love it. This in part allows them the ability to separate themselves from Trump and feign some sense of independence. I think Rogan is doing something similar.
I imagine we will see right wing media that will develop a strategy to distance themselves from Trump's worst actions while simultaneously finding a way to praise or at the very least rationalize or defend it.
Still, it is progress.
I don't watch Rogan but I sat through a good portion of this particular show.
The same crap happened with Bush. Rs I knew who couldn't really defend the Iraq War argued that while Bush was misguided at least he wasn't weak like Al Gore and that it was good we took out Saddam.
If you watch the show they're still shilling for Trump imo and especially Shellenberger who was trying to sell Trump as decisive.
This is just a new stage of shilling. They recognize their audience isn't too happy so they have to present Trump as masculine and easily able to dominate.
Exactly!
Someone needs to make a new version of the emperor's new clothes where the emperor realizes he's naked but pressures all those around him to accept his distortions of reality.
And aside from that it could be one of his loyalty tests and some childish manipulation on Trump's part. They may fear it's a requirement to remain in good standing with Trump. Ignore reality, the emperor's clothes are the finest and best fitting clothes.
With Rubio I was wondering if it was a passive aggressive move regarding their previous fight about the relative sizes of their hands.
I was thinking about why one wouldn't just buy the right sized shoe and wear those. One possible explanation is that incorrect sized shoe is intended to mock them.
gets viewed by students as propaganda. I wonder if it backfires for them.
I remember in the D.A.R.E. program being told that one to five joints would get us all addicted to pot for life. We shouldn't lie to children but part of me wonders how much children will see through PragerU as bullshit?
Obviously PragerU shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a school but as something to teach students about propaganda and it's a disservice to them to provide them with propaganda and treat it as if it's correct and cannot be questioned but when this issue comes up part of me always wonders if PragerU
PragerU video chart named "The Decline of Artistic Standards". The X axis is labeled in years that start from 1800 and end at the year 2000. The Y axis is just labeled "standards" and has no units. The graph declines for no decipherable reason.
Just a reminder for folks for how bad their charts are.
I think he thinks he's being clever and knows if he's honest things won't work out well for him but he's learning in real time that the bad faith behavior he's learned won't work in this situation. Bad faith trolls poison discourse to avoid speaking about details honestly. He can't avoid it here.
We have an entire segment of the population that have been infantilized to view this sort of petulant behavior as some demonstration of strength or superiority. Rarely do we get to see them in situations where they can't just poison discourse, lie, bully.
Yup, this is what I was trying to say earlier only not as well.
Behaving as a bad faith transgressive troll online or with your high school counselor doesn't work in court or depositions or the vast majority of situations in life for that matter. He thinks he's clever. He isn't.
When we watched Judgment at Nuremberg in my 9th grade history class WW2 felt as if it was so distant and yet so influential on the world in which I lived. Now that history feels so much closer and yet its memory feels somehow less influential than it once was.
One can only imagine what Kash and Tulsi will try to cook up before the elections or what Trump will for that matter. Not looking forward to any of that.
Thune came out today and said it can't pass without Dems voting for it.
I agree it's all bad. Hopefully that holds. I know Fetterman is MAGA now. Who knows what else Trump will try to do.
On the bright side it's a sign Trump worries attempted emergency power grabs won't work. He'll still try.
