Mar-a-Lago face conquering the world

13 "independents" who voted for Trump

were interviewed by the NY Times in today's paper. None of the 13 said they regretted their vote--all said they would vote for him again. Many--primed by Trump--acknowledged that tariffs might lead to rough economic waters, but vowed to ride out the storm, even if it took five years. From their answers to the moderator's questions about his job performance and the issues (tariffs, Musk, etc.), one doubts their knowledge of the issues and basic reasoning ability. One suspects a heavy diet of Fox News.

One Reason behind Trump's Election (David Brooks column)

Simple answer: people are just dumber than they used to be.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/opinion/education-smart-thinking-reading-tariffs.html

Heard on Rachel last night about an Arizona Trump supporter

This woman standing in line for the Social Security SNAFU admitted she had voted for the Big Orange Dummy but said,
"I didn't know he was going to pull this! This is a joke!"

After Trump finishes destroying our government, schools, food, culture, and economy

He will board a jet to Russia, where Putin has a nice estate waiting for him and a villa on the Black Sea.

Three small things I try to do each day for the Resistance

1. I work out most evenings at the health club, which is affiliated with the local university. There is a bank of six monitors on the wall in front of the treadmills and stair-steppers. Monitor no. 2 occupies the prime position near the entrance, and most evenings it is tuned to Fox News. So each evening when I come in, I ask the desk worker there to change that monitor to MSNBC for me. They always comply. Next evening, it's usually back on Fox. So I have it turned again to MSNBC. And so the battle goes, day after day, back and forth, back and forth. It's perhaps a silly thing, but I like being an irritant to at least one of the members there: his eyes are glued to Fox every evening as he pounds out the pace on the treadmill. After he leaves, I request the change and put in token minutes on that treadmill, thereby forcing him to have it changed back the next day.

2. I pick up a paper copy of the New York Times each morning to peruse. Whenever I can, I try to leave this copy at the coffee shop so that others might be able to read it and enlighten themselves as to the latest depredations of the Trump administration. Many years ago, one of the coffee shops in town used to subscribe and have the paper on hand. But none do anymore, out of the half-dozen popular coffee shops in town.

3. I try to call my (Republican) congressman each day with a different message. But it's hard to come up with a different, well-composed message every day. What I have found useful is to quote a remark or statement I hear on NPR that morning (not passing it off as my own, but giving proper reference to the source), using the transcript of the story that appears later on the NPR website, or maybe something from Fresh Air or Rachel Maddow. For instance, recently Fresh Air's Terri Gross interviewed a couple of sources for a Feb. 12 program titled "How Did Elon Musk Become So Powerful in the Trump Administration?" This program had some very good talking points that could be fodder for a congressional call.

Susie Wiles or Hermann Goering?

Today's nytimes.com front page has a picture of Trump's incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, "the Ice Maiden," wearing a white jacket paired with black pants. She looks pretty much exactly like Hermann Goering in an SS dress uniform that he sometimes wore.

Small blessings from AZ senate returns

To paraphrase Nixon, "Looks like we won't have Kari Lake to kick around anymore." lol

Is Ruben Gallego going to hang on?

Sure hope so. His lead is narrowing. I think I hate Kari Lake even more than some of the other nutcases in Congress. Would not want to have to listen to her for the next six years, in addition to the Orange Blob.

What do you think Kristi Noem was thinking during those 39 interminable minutes?