… Trump made another deranged post on Truth Social showing himself as the character in Apocalypse Now played by Robert Duvall with this caption: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning.
I cant believe he would use" the smell of deportation"? It's really pretty stupid when you say it a few times. Consider the source , of course. It's just weird. These people are weird.
My late father was a proud Marine! For that couch fucking dolt to even suggest that that Felon could even shine the shoes of my father is the greatest insult ever!!!! ( I’m sorry I’ve never used the F word on social media! But I couldn’t help it here!)
Unfortunately we have to get in the gutter to fight fire with fire. I never believed the - when they go low we go higher BS when it comes to dealing with these ignorant pieces of shit.
And I wonder if Donnie Diddler will make Satan carry the Butt Baby to term or ship him off for a Butt Abortion...you know those gutless hypocritical Republikkkans...abortions for ME but not for THEEEE...
It is a versatile term that can be noun, verb, adjective, and maybe adverb. As a PK, it’s been part of my vernacular for a very long time, although there are times and places in which I don’t use it.
PK - Universalist here. I never used the word aloud in 75 years. I'm 86 now and haven't stopped using it for the last three years now. I don't like it, but it's the most expressive word in the time we live.
Yes, I'm enraged on behalf of my deceased much-decorated Proud Marine husband. This past Friday he's been gone nine years and I hate harboring the sorrowful sentiment it's better he's not here to see the degradation this regime has wreaked on countless Americans, particularly our veterans
Thanks for your husband's service to what was once our great country. I feel like you do about not wanting him to see what is happening to our country. My mother has been gone 25 years and every day I am thankful that she is not here to see what is happening to our country - a country that she loved so much.
Yes, what a sad commentary on behalf of those who have gone before, like your mother and my sister feeling the same way about her deceased Navy veteran husband. The powerful quote attributed to Krushchev about nuclear destruction (not John Hersey from "Hiroshima") comes to mind: "The living shall envy the dead." May the souls passed rest in peace.
Sorry you had to lose a good man. I'm sure he is looking at what's going on and is furious. Thanks for his service ,and all the real patriots ,who ansew r ed the call to protect us. 👏
Welcome to the Club. Always room for a newbie! (I can remember the very first time I ever used the word....55 yrs ago; shocked even myself. How about you other practitioners?)
Same. I have been on social media well over ten years and I barely cursed on it, but oh boy this second Trump term, some night practically all of my comments have curse words in them.
Only trump & thugs pay people to attend their events and also throw them lots of marketing swag to haul home.
Duty, honor, country @ West Point? Really??
Tom Hanks embodies those attributes more than WP aa it acquiesces to the bullying traitor disgracing the White House instead of celebrating a real patriot like Tom Hanks. What a sick branch of the military.
JR. is a POS. He is a super nepo baby. He obviously is just as bad as Don Old. He doesn't seem to care about the old codger. Just letting him make an ass out of himself, daily. And destroying America. His whole family. Shameful.
The whole family is an ass. None of them have the ability to care about others, only themselves, their money, corruption and their lies. I never used to know that such people existed, but, boy did I find out. They are crawling out of their holes, they have infiltrated our government and want to turn us all into what they represent minus the money. It, sure as hell, is not a place I ever want to be.
It seems we’ve paid to educate a lot of white supremacists at West Point. Now they’re part of the scum in the West Point Alumni that rescinded Tom Hanks’ award. It makes them look as petty as Trump. No honor there!
What a completely RUDE thing to do to somebody, esp a good guy like Hanks. I guess common decency has now gone the way of the dodo bird, and we have more than reasonable rights to be VERY concerned over the number of current military who may have been compromised as well. I never thought our own military and those associated with it would be spineless enough to capitulate in this manner. It is frightening. (If any current military would like to reassure us that they themselves continue to honor and support ONLY the US Constitution, please let us know. YOU would have OUR total respect and support....)
I am so with you! I hate that this is the country my grandchildren are inheriting, and I get really sad when I think of my late father fighting fascism in WW II.
Don’t despair I am there daily too. At 77 it seems like twilight zone.
Just have to buck up and find some small way to help. $5 to a campaign. Postcards. Volunteer at Democratic headquarters. There is something each day to advance our values and while improving our mental health. Good luck. Stay strong.
I'm with you. I am 83 and never ever thought that I would see something like this in the country that I grew up in, lived in all my life and loved unconditionally. I still love my country, what it is supposed to be, but not those that are ruining it. They are not part of my family or neighbors, but of another species. One that is so filled with hate and corruption, that there is no place on earth for them. They don't fit in anywhere.
Please please beautiful people, take heart.. and get busy!! Get on your telephone and call your Representatives...phone bank...write letters...tell them how you feel. .you and your voice are important and powerful..Donnie Diddler wants you to feel frightened and powerless but dont believe the word of that bloated, doddering ignorant embarrassing imbecile.
The U.S. is doomed if 43-46% of Americans approve of his "performance". We all need to do our part, whether via Indivisible, MoveOn or 50501 demonstrations, demanding more from our elected representatives, and personal 1:1 dialog with persuadable independents and Democrats who have tuned out. Time is running short!
most polls don't seem to be as "positive" ................................... if you can believe any of them..... I always want to know what geography, demographics, timing, approach (actual phone exchange? in person? paper survey responses? digital survey responses? number of people surveyed, etc.).
The polling of this fascist regime is a joke. First of all, do we really think he cares what his numbers are? Did Stalin poll below 50? How about Mao? Where’s Putin’s numbers, and would he give a shit? And so what if they’re low? He’s building a para-military force of knuckle-dragging ICE thugs to send into Dem controlled cities, federalizing the National Guards of MAGAT states to bedevil blue states, committing murder in international waters with impunity, and getting away with all of it. He couldn’t care less what more than half of the country thinks, but the most important thing is it brings clicks and dollars to the media,
About the 11 people in a boat who were summarily "executed". We have absolutely NO IDEA who these people were and WHAT THE BOAT'S CARGO WAS. We are going on the say-so of a bunch of liars.The boat was not boarded and searched. Instead, it was destroyed. Who were the passengers? Only God knows.
A boat not big enough to reach the US without refueling. Beside that, extra people means less drugs carried. That’s not how cartels operate. JD Vance doesn’t give a shit? Well, war criminals don’t typically get mercy.
He should not be allowed to keep his law license either. And good luck campaigning against the Dems, Shady Vance. You will surely help us out. Everybody hates you for the phony hypocrite you are.
In a real world this Apocalypse Now posting would constitute a sitting president threatening American citizens,but the world we live in Republicans create a shield for this kind of Nazi symbolism and people need to organize and understand that nothing about this presidency is normal or even represents any form of democracy at all. Once this administration decides they have no more use for our judicial system and just completely disregard it,folks it's game over because once you own all branches of the country as executive,legislative and judicial and have the military eating out of you're hand.....who is going to save us but a civil war scenario?
Tell that to the SCOTUS MAGA partisans who created this monster by giving him virtual immunity from breaking the law. Chief "Justice" Roberts especially is responsible for his utter lack of leadership, respect for well established precedent, and constitutional blasphemy. They are a disgrace to law and order.
You're correct and somehow this was allowed and the ability for Trump to even visit the Supreme Court and shake hands...absolutely insane because it destroys credibility of the judicial system itself and insinuates bias.
This is what Diaper and the Heritage foundation want...they want to destroy this country and all it's institutions...they dont care about making life better for ALL people. They want to destroy us and assure their power and dominance and 💰💰💰.
And look what they decided today on racial profiling to round up detainees. What a sickening crew of corrupt enablers! All we got left now are the three Justice Ladies!
Responsible almost single-handedly for the downfall of our nation, Oaktown, the ultimate final corruption of the rule of law! When I was in law school long ago I was puzzled by one professor always insisting that "the law is a hollow vessel" and now much to my grief I suddenly understand.
I shudder to think .... it's been my nightmare since this DICTATOR-WANNABE first showed his face in the political arena! After 1/6, I can't believe there are enough ignorant Voting Americans that would allow him anywhere near our Capitol again! No wonder he closed down the Dept.Of Education & Universities First! Then CDC & HHS so he could kill off anyone who who wasn't dumb enough for his liking!
Does Trump know that in his meme he is posing as Bill Kilgore, a “bloodthirsty, sadistic and amoral warmonger” (Wiki) and “portrayed as insane in Apocalypse Now, exhibiting a detachment from the human cost of war”(Google AI overview)?
Bill Kilgore and Apocalypse Now were based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. The character Kurtz, to whom Kilgore corresponds, whose words “his words—the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating, the most exalted and the most contemptible, the pulsating stream of light or the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness.”
The words are definitely flowing from a heart of impenetrable darkness.
You bet! Heart of Darkness was required reading when I was in 12th grade (1978). When the movie came out I was intrigued by its Vietnam spin. tRump would never get the anti war message of the movie and of course he doesn’t read. Obama would get it.
That is my number one favorite film of all time -- such an allegory -- I can't count how many times I've seen it and yes, also read "Heart of Darkness" for good measure. I always think of Kurtz: "the horror, the horror" and here we are!
Having taught high school English that novel would be some pretty heavy going even in AP classes. I'd never consider myself skilled enough to have taught it as I read it in a college English course and it was deep but in later years can now appreciate it more.
I've been thinking about Rand Paul asking JD if he'd ever read "To Kill a Mockingbird" which I did teach in 10th grade English. Though never remotely agreeing with Paul on anything I can recall, he does make an excellent point in his recent remarks on the issue of justice.
One of those “a broken clock is right twice a day” moments when you’re forced to agree an awful person made a good point. Thanks for the comments about Heart of Darkness. I did high school in Australia where there’s no such thing as AP but I was in one of the top/most difficult English classes from grade 8 onwards.
I had ELD/ESL classes with students from many different nations, so in many cases it was a misnomer for their placement in classes to learn English when most of them had already learned English in addition to their native languages. It was ironic as most noted that American public education was so lax, not near as rigorous as their homeland schools. I'm sure what's been called Advanced Placement (AP) classes here were/are still less challenging than educational systems like yours in Australia.
The students from other countries generally thought American kids were lazy, jaded, and had attitudes of basically unfounded entitled superiority, which is why the "ELD/ELS" students were the joy of my teaching life because they worked hard and took nothing for granted.
I think someone may have convinced him to give up on it as he hasn't mentioned it in a while and maybe they were trying to convince him not to become even more of a laughingstock...
Terry24x, DT has no idea of what that means represents or about the characters in the movie. It’s an AI generated story by WH staff since DT wouldn’t know how to change the original picture!
Fox: Q - “Are these protesters actually being financed from the outside, and is that something Homeland Security is looking at - the financing of how these so-called organic protests are happening?
Homan: Absolutely, they will be prosecuted too.”
News flash: Our own president is being financed from the "outside." Better investigate THAT first you gaslighting hypocrites.
No, in those cases he’s a thug. His TV bluster is the paper tiger.
There’s a police district in Chicago named Homan, after the street it’s on. It’s infamous for a couple of corrupt detectives who would do anything to get a confession, even out of people they probably knew were innocent. The fall out when exposed was a lot of convictions vacated and a lot of shame cast over the CPD.
Ditto. They're just—as usual—accusing their opponents of what's in their own minds and deeds. One hundred percent projection and confession. Every time.
Ron, thank you for your tenacity in bringing us the truth about what’s going on in politics and our government. Speaking truth to power puts the incompetents to shame. Keep up the good work!!!
Forgive me for repeating myself, but speaking as a woman, I hereby reiterate: the patriarchal paradigm has got to go. Renaming the Defense Department the Department of War, bragging about a “warrior ethos” and “maximum lethality”, deploying National Guard troops into American cities, sending Navy destroyers to the Caribbean and F-35's to Puerto Rico, extrajudicial killings of defenseless civilians, transforming the Rose Garden into a pay-to-play club, the list goes on; and it's all about power and control. "Cocktail parties, whispered deals, donors rubbing shoulders with lobbyists...", it all smacks of exclusivity, a swaggering machismo, a braggadocio mentality. The patriarchal paradigm entails a top-down approach to everything, with the question always being: Who's on top? Who has the power, for instance, to unilaterally declare someone--a governor, a journalist, a protester, a survivor, anyone--an enemy of the state? Who has the power, figuratively or literally, to simply wipe out the "enemy" without fear of reprisal? Who has the power to determine what is “relevant” and what is to be discounted as a “hoax” or a “distraction”? So many of those currently in power in America seem to have forgotten that in a true democracy, with power comes responsibility--the responsibility to serve, to nurture, and protect. Some have denounced that responsibility entirely and abuse their power outright; some are simply refusing to wield the power of their position for fear of losing it. Personally I'm disgusted by all the macho, egocentric posturing; the wielding of power for self-aggrandizement; the “might is right” mentality; the "othering" of immigrants, trans people, and those who are homeless; the arrogant entitlement and hypocrisy… There has to be a better way, to govern and be governed. The question becomes, how do we (the governed) remind (or better yet, require) those in positions of power (who govern) to meet their obligations? And what do we do about those who won’t? Please do hit “reply” if the mood strikes you, share your input and/or help me brainstorm some answers to those questions. I’m open to suggestions and feedback!
You aren’t going to like my take on this, I’m afraid. This regime is based not only on Project 2025, but on the soulless philosophy of Curtis Yarvin, who views Empathy as the major problem preventing the progress of humanity. Humanity is white men, and progress is becoming obscenely rich by any means. There are a bunch of these billionaires backing this idea that agree with this. They are paying Trump to be the clown and carnival barker. Their real goal is eugenics: everyone who is not physically fit (or rich) will die from preventable disease, neglect of chronic diseases, inability to afford or access care, death from complications of pregnancy and so on. When that’s done, those who survive will be slaves to the rich. That’s what they envision. I’m not sure it will work, because we are evolved to care for each other. And a lot of what they will need can’t be done by AI, even though they think it can. I know this is bleak, but I think it’s better to understand the world view so it can be countered.
I agree that women would make much better choices and a more livable world. I think for now we need to care for those around us, fight back in any way we can and hope we live to see this regime defeated and punished. 👹 Thanks for listening.
Thanks for your input, Rachel; yes, I think I remember Elon Musk making derogatory comments about Empathy awhile ago. I agree that Trump is being propped up as you say--while milking his position for all it's worth. To be clear, I don't equate the patriarchal paradigm with men; I think plenty of men are tired of the same things I'm fed up with, and just as ready for change as I am; and there are women (Pam Bondi comes immediately to mind) who are abusing power and completely disregarding the values of humility, integrity and service. I call it the patriarchal paradigm because of its hierarchical structure with the "strongman" at the top; the actual gender of the players is irrelevant.
Glad to hear you're onto Yarvin and the rest of the tech fascists. Yarvin is a dweeb embraced by a bunch of losers and social dummies who blame women for their own character defects because they have low social IQs and couldn't get laid when they were teenage boys.
Peter Thiel was known for overturning chess boards whenever he lost a game in his younger days. Now he's working with the CIA, FBI, and DOD to put us all under hidden 24/7 surveillance.
Are you talking about Trump lifting the freeze on that $2 million contract granting ICE access to Graphite (the commercial spyware tool that, once installed, gives near-total access to a device: encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp, location data, photos and contacts, and even the ability to remotely activate microphones or cameras)? Or is Peter Thiel working on a variation? I have to say, Peter Thiel shows questionable judgment in picking JD Vance, who's such a pompous ass, to be his useful idiot.
No. Graphite is part of Paragon Solutions, an Israeli company, but Donnie did lift Biden's executive order against using Paragon software. Israel claims (falsely) that they only sell it to governments allied with the US who want to suppress terrorists.
"The original contract with Paragon was signed in September 2024 during the Biden administration, but was put on hold after reports emerged that the technology, known as Graphite, had been misused abroad. Biden’s March 2023 executive order explicitly restricted U.S. agencies from employing spyware vendors whose tools posed “significant counterintelligence and security risks” or had been misused by foreign governments to suppress dissent." [source: https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-09-05/graphite-the-israeli-spyware-acquired-by-ice.html]
Everyone should be on guard knowing this type of spyware can be used against anyone with a smart phone that these fascists want to target, especially journalists and activists. However, as of now, it can't be installed en masse; it needs a specific target.
Peter Thiel owns Palantir, the software surveillance tool he's feeding all the data Elon and his doge bros hoovered up from the IRS, Medicare/Medicaid, and Social Security databases that were previously siloed off from each other to prevent security breaches. Thiel is consolidating all this data using Palantir, which provides tools for analyzing massive amounts of personal data. That data, of course, is a complete invasion of your privacy and can be used to target smart phones with Graphite spyware.
Also worth a look: the HBO 6-part series on Ronan Farrow's investigation of Harvey Weinstein and how he was surveilled by the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube at Weinstein's request. That firm used Pegasus spyware, one of the most powerful pieces of spyware ever created and a product of the Israeli NSO Group.
Like I said, Oaktown, you're the absolute expert on all this! Thank you for keeping us all educated and abreast of essential issues you research so diligently! I can hardly keep up and even though I have a single file folder filled with much of what you've shared (that could fill a book), my print cartridge budget needs more refueling.
With his Palantir now basically having overtaken every aspect of the data of our lives unto forever. Musk came in with the DOGE keys and Thiel vacuumed it all up with Altman running the show behind the scenes. Oaktown is a most erudite expert about the SV coup and all related aspects of the tech takeover.
We all need to bone up on what these people are up to. I have the time at this point in life and my mission is to spread the word on their plans for our future. We must learn about it and push back on data and privacy theft before we're totally captured in their surveillance net. Knowledge is power and they want us to be ignorant, duped, and distracted.
I agree with what you contribute as I follow Gil Duran's Nerd Reich to have learned about Yarvin, Thiel, Musk, Altman, the Silicon Valley tech fascists, network states, and so much more. There are numerous knowledgeable Meidas contributors who speak your language, all of which helps to interpret what we're experiencing.
I would like to know if we can get some input on a government shutdown! Its coming fast, the budget fight. Can that be used as a tool to stop this. Maybe , Ron ,do you know. Good or bad.
Talk to the young men in your orbit. I just was fed a podcast by YouTube of two young men discussing why they don't believe in democracy. Couldn't watch it for long, but the abject ignorance of history and human nature they displayed was shocking and went unchallenged.
For example, point out that Donnie's favorite NATO country, Hungary, has slipped to the bottom of economic prosperity as his country has slipped into authoritarianism. Same is true for Putin and virtually every other dictator—with the possible exception of Xi, who is smarter than any of the others and wields the power of his country's size.
Those are the very people who need to hear an alternate truth to the lies they're fed. Experts recommend first establishing some non-political common ground in order to establish some level of trust (pets, hobbies, recipes, whatever); next, find out what they're afraid of, what they want, then discuss possible solutions, avoiding party references.
Indeed, Tammy Duckworth is my heroine whose photograph I keep by my work desk. I am a Vietnam-era veteran of the Women's Army Corps and identify with all veterans across the services (married to and widowed by a few as well). Both my parents were WWII Navy veterans. What made me sick today was seeing the bronze plate on the Pentagon office door: Pete Hegseth Secretary of War.
When reading Ron's highly informative bulletins detailing the evil deeds of Trump & Co., do you ever find yourself wishing human spontaneous combustion was real?
I’m sorry I don’t know who to credit with this but I loved it! Something like…”if Democrats really do control the weather, Mike Johnson would have been struck by lightning during that cringy interview declaring Trumpf an undercover agent for the FBI working to take down Epstein.” How can he say this kind of crap with such conviction and a smiling “trust me” face? Spontaneous combustion should have been instantaneous if it was impossible for the lightning strike to hit indoors.
No worries there.........Satan will be rolling out the Orange carpet for Cankles after his golf cart mysteriously flips over into the water trap on the 15th hole.
“Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) responded: “JD ‘I don’t give a shit’ Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military.’ Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation?? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
This is akin to hunting down and hanging innocent people simply because they were born with black skin.
I’m literally sick to my stomach from reading this post. And my heart aches deeply from this horrific nightmare. We are bearing witness to this weapon of mass destruction, this maniacal, power hungry monster - along with the full support of his equally satanical sycophants - as they rapidly obliterates everything in their path.
I love the smell of trump going to prison
ME TOO!!!😡
After he changes the diaper and stops the "fastfoodfarts"....right???
Tough to do with tiny hands and swollen legs!!
And a leaky brain.
Trump and all his cronies need to do the perp walk of shame in front of the American people for treason to our Constitution.
In my lifetime? I am almost 65.
It will never happen.
I couldn't force myself to use the phrase "I love the smell of Trump..." in any context whatsoever. 😄
I cant believe he would use" the smell of deportation"? It's really pretty stupid when you say it a few times. Consider the source , of course. It's just weird. These people are weird.
Smell of victim's blood? The guy is serial weird!!
Too funny!!!!
I'd pity the inmates!!
Good point! I can hardly wait to see his face behind bars, especially since he will need to be in solitary!!
My late father was a proud Marine! For that couch fucking dolt to even suggest that that Felon could even shine the shoes of my father is the greatest insult ever!!!! ( I’m sorry I’ve never used the F word on social media! But I couldn’t help it here!)
Imho, lots of us never used the f word anywhere before, but we’re using it now. Nothing else fits.
Yup. WTF comes out of my mouth so frequently, that it feels like the word "the".
🤣😂 I feel that way too.
Me too🤣
Unfortunately we have to get in the gutter to fight fire with fire. I never believed the - when they go low we go higher BS when it comes to dealing with these ignorant pieces of shit.
I think it is becoming appropriate . How else can you express this insanity .
Yep niceness is right out the window turn it on them.
No civility is the approach we need to take
In times like these, ones passions are acutely inflamed.
Since the latest South Park episode I can't say "trump" - it always comes out "trump is fucking Satan". Brilliant writers on the double entendre.
I never use the T word when describing Pumpkinhead.. I just can't do it. I refer to him as the 🍊 dog 💩, Donnie Diddler, Diaper Donnie...
And I wonder if Donnie Diddler will make Satan carry the Butt Baby to term or ship him off for a Butt Abortion...you know those gutless hypocritical Republikkkans...abortions for ME but not for THEEEE...
I never capitalize, if catch autocorrect in time. Can always just make use of his initials. djt
It is a versatile term that can be noun, verb, adjective, and maybe adverb. As a PK, it’s been part of my vernacular for a very long time, although there are times and places in which I don’t use it.
PK? Part-time Korean?
Preacher’s kid. Presbyterian. From my observations, never try to out drink an Episcopalian. :)
Episcopalian here. While I myself don’t drink, I can attest to this. My grandfather didn’t call himself a ‘whiskey-palian’ for nothing!
PK - Universalist here. I never used the word aloud in 75 years. I'm 86 now and haven't stopped using it for the last three years now. I don't like it, but it's the most expressive word in the time we live.
I was, according to my homeroom teacher in high school, an “archetypical PK.” I had ask what PK meant. I wasn’t always good about following the rules.
PK's tend not to follow rules well...most of us that is.
Something about seeing organizational politics from the inside; instills a health skepticism about motivations.
Dropping a good F bomb is needed for times like these. No apology necessary. Thank you to your father for his service.
Hear, Hear! As a Veteran, I salute you! 🫡🏛🗽⚖️🇺🇲💙
Yes, I'm enraged on behalf of my deceased much-decorated Proud Marine husband. This past Friday he's been gone nine years and I hate harboring the sorrowful sentiment it's better he's not here to see the degradation this regime has wreaked on countless Americans, particularly our veterans
Thanks for your husband's service to what was once our great country. I feel like you do about not wanting him to see what is happening to our country. My mother has been gone 25 years and every day I am thankful that she is not here to see what is happening to our country - a country that she loved so much.
Yes, what a sad commentary on behalf of those who have gone before, like your mother and my sister feeling the same way about her deceased Navy veteran husband. The powerful quote attributed to Krushchev about nuclear destruction (not John Hersey from "Hiroshima") comes to mind: "The living shall envy the dead." May the souls passed rest in peace.
Amen to that.
Sorry you had to lose a good man. I'm sure he is looking at what's going on and is furious. Thanks for his service ,and all the real patriots ,who ansew r ed the call to protect us. 👏
Oh, I use it a lot! Just not on social media
Pope killing, couch fucking. JUSTADICK Vance?
Lady Maybelline the Couch Cuddling Ratface
Welcome to the Club. Always room for a newbie! (I can remember the very first time I ever used the word....55 yrs ago; shocked even myself. How about you other practitioners?)
I don’t blame you for feeling that way.
Same. I have been on social media well over ten years and I barely cursed on it, but oh boy this second Trump term, some night practically all of my comments have curse words in them.
Only trump & thugs pay people to attend their events and also throw them lots of marketing swag to haul home.
Duty, honor, country @ West Point? Really??
Tom Hanks embodies those attributes more than WP aa it acquiesces to the bullying traitor disgracing the White House instead of celebrating a real patriot like Tom Hanks. What a sick branch of the military.
Don Jr. should stick to snorting cocaine.
JR. is a POS. He is a super nepo baby. He obviously is just as bad as Don Old. He doesn't seem to care about the old codger. Just letting him make an ass out of himself, daily. And destroying America. His whole family. Shameful.
A nest of vipers, including Lara.
He is still desperate for daddy's attention and ............ maybe an "attaboy"
The whole family is an ass. None of them have the ability to care about others, only themselves, their money, corruption and their lies. I never used to know that such people existed, but, boy did I find out. They are crawling out of their holes, they have infiltrated our government and want to turn us all into what they represent minus the money. It, sure as hell, is not a place I ever want to be.
And give his sorry self a fatal heart attack. Oh, forgot. He has no heart. OK a stroke.
But don’t you need a brain for that?
At least some blood vessels to clog.
Good point.
He is the undead - no heart or brain required - oh I meant to say he is the fucking undead.
TrumpS fuckin Satan.
And Satan is Diaper Donnie 's baby mama? Hey...Who knew Dump's 🍄 had googly eyes? It's like a baby carrot only way smaller 🍄 👀
I sure wish the two oldest Trump brothers would have a hunting accident. Preferably they shoot each other and not the wildlife.
And grow a chin, please and a soul
It seems we’ve paid to educate a lot of white supremacists at West Point. Now they’re part of the scum in the West Point Alumni that rescinded Tom Hanks’ award. It makes them look as petty as Trump. No honor there!
I strongly suspect Tom Hanks would not want to be 'honoured' by such scum.
Shame on USMA Alumni. Shame.
What a completely RUDE thing to do to somebody, esp a good guy like Hanks. I guess common decency has now gone the way of the dodo bird, and we have more than reasonable rights to be VERY concerned over the number of current military who may have been compromised as well. I never thought our own military and those associated with it would be spineless enough to capitulate in this manner. It is frightening. (If any current military would like to reassure us that they themselves continue to honor and support ONLY the US Constitution, please let us know. YOU would have OUR total respect and support....)
At my age it is almost impossible not to feel overwhelmed with anxiety, sadness and fury. I am in my 70's.
I am so with you! I hate that this is the country my grandchildren are inheriting, and I get really sad when I think of my late father fighting fascism in WW II.
Same
Agreed, especially because we have seen times when this country worked, at least seemed to be going in the right direction.
Imagine how I feel at 82!
Me too, at 83.
Same.
All the time, Mary! That's where I'm at too, sad to say. Never thought I'd see this day!
Same
Don’t despair I am there daily too. At 77 it seems like twilight zone.
Just have to buck up and find some small way to help. $5 to a campaign. Postcards. Volunteer at Democratic headquarters. There is something each day to advance our values and while improving our mental health. Good luck. Stay strong.
I'm with you. I am 83 and never ever thought that I would see something like this in the country that I grew up in, lived in all my life and loved unconditionally. I still love my country, what it is supposed to be, but not those that are ruining it. They are not part of my family or neighbors, but of another species. One that is so filled with hate and corruption, that there is no place on earth for them. They don't fit in anywhere.
Please please beautiful people, take heart.. and get busy!! Get on your telephone and call your Representatives...phone bank...write letters...tell them how you feel. .you and your voice are important and powerful..Donnie Diddler wants you to feel frightened and powerless but dont believe the word of that bloated, doddering ignorant embarrassing imbecile.
The U.S. is doomed if 43-46% of Americans approve of his "performance". We all need to do our part, whether via Indivisible, MoveOn or 50501 demonstrations, demanding more from our elected representatives, and personal 1:1 dialog with persuadable independents and Democrats who have tuned out. Time is running short!
Thank you. I don’t understand (many things) a) how the approval can be this high and
b) what folks mean when they say his numbers are “tanking.”
most polls don't seem to be as "positive" ................................... if you can believe any of them..... I always want to know what geography, demographics, timing, approach (actual phone exchange? in person? paper survey responses? digital survey responses? number of people surveyed, etc.).
We need at least 40 + million people across the country on the 18th
Oct 18 be there!
The polling of this fascist regime is a joke. First of all, do we really think he cares what his numbers are? Did Stalin poll below 50? How about Mao? Where’s Putin’s numbers, and would he give a shit? And so what if they’re low? He’s building a para-military force of knuckle-dragging ICE thugs to send into Dem controlled cities, federalizing the National Guards of MAGAT states to bedevil blue states, committing murder in international waters with impunity, and getting away with all of it. He couldn’t care less what more than half of the country thinks, but the most important thing is it brings clicks and dollars to the media,
About the 11 people in a boat who were summarily "executed". We have absolutely NO IDEA who these people were and WHAT THE BOAT'S CARGO WAS. We are going on the say-so of a bunch of liars.The boat was not boarded and searched. Instead, it was destroyed. Who were the passengers? Only God knows.
A boat not big enough to reach the US without refueling. Beside that, extra people means less drugs carried. That’s not how cartels operate. JD Vance doesn’t give a shit? Well, war criminals don’t typically get mercy.
He should not be allowed to keep his law license either. And good luck campaigning against the Dems, Shady Vance. You will surely help us out. Everybody hates you for the phony hypocrite you are.
Maybe the Pope could put in a word for him to be ex-communicated?
I'm continually shocked at how many of these "attorneys" haven't been disbarred.
Venezuela
Oops . Thanks. Venezuela.
I’d like to see Trump puking uncontrollably in an alley, like in the movie Team America: World Police.
That in itself is a War Crime in My Book! 😡
Yeah. Real "fast track" to a Nobel Peace Prize, alright.....
In a real world this Apocalypse Now posting would constitute a sitting president threatening American citizens,but the world we live in Republicans create a shield for this kind of Nazi symbolism and people need to organize and understand that nothing about this presidency is normal or even represents any form of democracy at all. Once this administration decides they have no more use for our judicial system and just completely disregard it,folks it's game over because once you own all branches of the country as executive,legislative and judicial and have the military eating out of you're hand.....who is going to save us but a civil war scenario?
Tell that to the SCOTUS MAGA partisans who created this monster by giving him virtual immunity from breaking the law. Chief "Justice" Roberts especially is responsible for his utter lack of leadership, respect for well established precedent, and constitutional blasphemy. They are a disgrace to law and order.
You're correct and somehow this was allowed and the ability for Trump to even visit the Supreme Court and shake hands...absolutely insane because it destroys credibility of the judicial system itself and insinuates bias.
PRECISELY!!!
This is what Diaper and the Heritage foundation want...they want to destroy this country and all it's institutions...they dont care about making life better for ALL people. They want to destroy us and assure their power and dominance and 💰💰💰.
He should lose his job. As all the others that lied ,and cheated . Judges, you can't trust? WTF
Judge John Taney Roberts
Make that John "Tail Between His Legs" Roberts.
I don't believe he feels the need to be ashamed of himself, which is the problem.
And look what they decided today on racial profiling to round up detainees. What a sickening crew of corrupt enablers! All we got left now are the three Justice Ladies!
Responsible almost single-handedly for the downfall of our nation, Oaktown, the ultimate final corruption of the rule of law! When I was in law school long ago I was puzzled by one professor always insisting that "the law is a hollow vessel" and now much to my grief I suddenly understand.
I shudder to think .... it's been my nightmare since this DICTATOR-WANNABE first showed his face in the political arena! After 1/6, I can't believe there are enough ignorant Voting Americans that would allow him anywhere near our Capitol again! No wonder he closed down the Dept.Of Education & Universities First! Then CDC & HHS so he could kill off anyone who who wasn't dumb enough for his liking!
Project 2025 systematically has captured and undermined the five pillars of society: media, universities, science, law, and the arts.
Does Trump know that in his meme he is posing as Bill Kilgore, a “bloodthirsty, sadistic and amoral warmonger” (Wiki) and “portrayed as insane in Apocalypse Now, exhibiting a detachment from the human cost of war”(Google AI overview)?
And does he realize it was an anti-war movie? 🤔
Does he realize .................................. (fill in the blank) ?????
A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G !?!?
No. No he doesn’t realize anything about anything
The insane part fits perfectly. The felon hasn’t ever been in his right mind, he’s always been malignant.
Bill Kilgore and Apocalypse Now were based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. The character Kurtz, to whom Kilgore corresponds, whose words “his words—the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating, the most exalted and the most contemptible, the pulsating stream of light or the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness.”
The words are definitely flowing from a heart of impenetrable darkness.
It would be snowing on the hills of hell if trump read a comic book, much less Heart of Darkness.
Thank you for this context. Knowing only that the meme referenced the movie, I just googled it.
You bet! Heart of Darkness was required reading when I was in 12th grade (1978). When the movie came out I was intrigued by its Vietnam spin. tRump would never get the anti war message of the movie and of course he doesn’t read. Obama would get it.
That is my number one favorite film of all time -- such an allegory -- I can't count how many times I've seen it and yes, also read "Heart of Darkness" for good measure. I always think of Kurtz: "the horror, the horror" and here we are!
Exactly!
I had to read Heart of Darkness for English in high school. Hated it. Might appreciate it more now if I don’t have to analyze it after reading it.
Having taught high school English that novel would be some pretty heavy going even in AP classes. I'd never consider myself skilled enough to have taught it as I read it in a college English course and it was deep but in later years can now appreciate it more.
I've been thinking about Rand Paul asking JD if he'd ever read "To Kill a Mockingbird" which I did teach in 10th grade English. Though never remotely agreeing with Paul on anything I can recall, he does make an excellent point in his recent remarks on the issue of justice.
One of those “a broken clock is right twice a day” moments when you’re forced to agree an awful person made a good point. Thanks for the comments about Heart of Darkness. I did high school in Australia where there’s no such thing as AP but I was in one of the top/most difficult English classes from grade 8 onwards.
I had ELD/ESL classes with students from many different nations, so in many cases it was a misnomer for their placement in classes to learn English when most of them had already learned English in addition to their native languages. It was ironic as most noted that American public education was so lax, not near as rigorous as their homeland schools. I'm sure what's been called Advanced Placement (AP) classes here were/are still less challenging than educational systems like yours in Australia.
The students from other countries generally thought American kids were lazy, jaded, and had attitudes of basically unfounded entitled superiority, which is why the "ELD/ELS" students were the joy of my teaching life because they worked hard and took nothing for granted.
A good bit of that describes Trump.
does it dawn on him that his militaristic demeanor and gameplan against any and all will work AGAINST a beloved Nobel PEACE prize?????
I think someone may have convinced him to give up on it as he hasn't mentioned it in a while and maybe they were trying to convince him not to become even more of a laughingstock...
DT thinks it's all a reality game show raining hell on our lives and our nation.
Don't encourage him - he would like the comparison.
He doesn't care at all. But if he knew, he'd be pleased I am certain.
And also, does he realize that Apocalypse Now is loosely based on Heart of Darkness? Of course, that might be a selling point.
I think he knows that and it’s exactly the way he wants to be portrayed. Like all his heroes.
Terry24x, DT has no idea of what that means represents or about the characters in the movie. It’s an AI generated story by WH staff since DT wouldn’t know how to change the original picture!
I think you are right, and now he says, “I just want to clean up Chicago.” Mental illness is contagious and it has spread throughout the WH.
oooo--even I didn't know that his meme represented all those sterling characteristics...
Opps my mistake- Kurtz is played by Marlon Brando. I just looked up to see where it is streaming and realized my mistake. Mea culpa
Of course not!
Fox: Q - “Are these protesters actually being financed from the outside, and is that something Homeland Security is looking at - the financing of how these so-called organic protests are happening?
Homan: Absolutely, they will be prosecuted too.”
News flash: Our own president is being financed from the "outside." Better investigate THAT first you gaslighting hypocrites.
Homan is a thug, but also a paper tiger.
He's as dumb as a bag of rocks too.
Not to the poor people he's arresting and deporting without due process.
No, in those cases he’s a thug. His TV bluster is the paper tiger.
There’s a police district in Chicago named Homan, after the street it’s on. It’s infamous for a couple of corrupt detectives who would do anything to get a confession, even out of people they probably knew were innocent. The fall out when exposed was a lot of convictions vacated and a lot of shame cast over the CPD.
What a story!
That hurts my heart the worst. People who have risked it all for an opportunity to have a better life are being treated like animals.
Many (in my opinion) are are finest, most hardworking citizens who understand the true bounties of freedom and democracy.
Too many Americans are spoiled and ignorant and won't miss their water until after the well runs dry and it's too late.
Homan is the one needing prosecution.
One of the ones.
I'm still waiting for my money from the No Kings March.
LOL. Thx fer the laugh. I needed one.
OMG! I've been marching in the streets since 1968 for one cause or another and not once ever offered or paid a cent by anyone, not even George Soros.
Ditto. They're just—as usual—accusing their opponents of what's in their own minds and deeds. One hundred percent projection and confession. Every time.
Absolutely in agreement!
Ron, thank you for your tenacity in bringing us the truth about what’s going on in politics and our government. Speaking truth to power puts the incompetents to shame. Keep up the good work!!!
DITTO, Ron! We don't say it often enough! Your hard work & tenacity are appreciated!!! Shout Out to the Meidas Mighty! 💪🏛🗽⚖️🇺🇲💙
Wow, this bulletin took off like a rocket from the first paragraph. Another work of art from our intrepid Marine Editor in Chief. Thank you!
Forgive me for repeating myself, but speaking as a woman, I hereby reiterate: the patriarchal paradigm has got to go. Renaming the Defense Department the Department of War, bragging about a “warrior ethos” and “maximum lethality”, deploying National Guard troops into American cities, sending Navy destroyers to the Caribbean and F-35's to Puerto Rico, extrajudicial killings of defenseless civilians, transforming the Rose Garden into a pay-to-play club, the list goes on; and it's all about power and control. "Cocktail parties, whispered deals, donors rubbing shoulders with lobbyists...", it all smacks of exclusivity, a swaggering machismo, a braggadocio mentality. The patriarchal paradigm entails a top-down approach to everything, with the question always being: Who's on top? Who has the power, for instance, to unilaterally declare someone--a governor, a journalist, a protester, a survivor, anyone--an enemy of the state? Who has the power, figuratively or literally, to simply wipe out the "enemy" without fear of reprisal? Who has the power to determine what is “relevant” and what is to be discounted as a “hoax” or a “distraction”? So many of those currently in power in America seem to have forgotten that in a true democracy, with power comes responsibility--the responsibility to serve, to nurture, and protect. Some have denounced that responsibility entirely and abuse their power outright; some are simply refusing to wield the power of their position for fear of losing it. Personally I'm disgusted by all the macho, egocentric posturing; the wielding of power for self-aggrandizement; the “might is right” mentality; the "othering" of immigrants, trans people, and those who are homeless; the arrogant entitlement and hypocrisy… There has to be a better way, to govern and be governed. The question becomes, how do we (the governed) remind (or better yet, require) those in positions of power (who govern) to meet their obligations? And what do we do about those who won’t? Please do hit “reply” if the mood strikes you, share your input and/or help me brainstorm some answers to those questions. I’m open to suggestions and feedback!
You aren’t going to like my take on this, I’m afraid. This regime is based not only on Project 2025, but on the soulless philosophy of Curtis Yarvin, who views Empathy as the major problem preventing the progress of humanity. Humanity is white men, and progress is becoming obscenely rich by any means. There are a bunch of these billionaires backing this idea that agree with this. They are paying Trump to be the clown and carnival barker. Their real goal is eugenics: everyone who is not physically fit (or rich) will die from preventable disease, neglect of chronic diseases, inability to afford or access care, death from complications of pregnancy and so on. When that’s done, those who survive will be slaves to the rich. That’s what they envision. I’m not sure it will work, because we are evolved to care for each other. And a lot of what they will need can’t be done by AI, even though they think it can. I know this is bleak, but I think it’s better to understand the world view so it can be countered.
I agree that women would make much better choices and a more livable world. I think for now we need to care for those around us, fight back in any way we can and hope we live to see this regime defeated and punished. 👹 Thanks for listening.
Thanks for your input, Rachel; yes, I think I remember Elon Musk making derogatory comments about Empathy awhile ago. I agree that Trump is being propped up as you say--while milking his position for all it's worth. To be clear, I don't equate the patriarchal paradigm with men; I think plenty of men are tired of the same things I'm fed up with, and just as ready for change as I am; and there are women (Pam Bondi comes immediately to mind) who are abusing power and completely disregarding the values of humility, integrity and service. I call it the patriarchal paradigm because of its hierarchical structure with the "strongman" at the top; the actual gender of the players is irrelevant.
Glad to hear you're onto Yarvin and the rest of the tech fascists. Yarvin is a dweeb embraced by a bunch of losers and social dummies who blame women for their own character defects because they have low social IQs and couldn't get laid when they were teenage boys.
Peter Thiel was known for overturning chess boards whenever he lost a game in his younger days. Now he's working with the CIA, FBI, and DOD to put us all under hidden 24/7 surveillance.
Are you talking about Trump lifting the freeze on that $2 million contract granting ICE access to Graphite (the commercial spyware tool that, once installed, gives near-total access to a device: encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp, location data, photos and contacts, and even the ability to remotely activate microphones or cameras)? Or is Peter Thiel working on a variation? I have to say, Peter Thiel shows questionable judgment in picking JD Vance, who's such a pompous ass, to be his useful idiot.
No. Graphite is part of Paragon Solutions, an Israeli company, but Donnie did lift Biden's executive order against using Paragon software. Israel claims (falsely) that they only sell it to governments allied with the US who want to suppress terrorists.
"The original contract with Paragon was signed in September 2024 during the Biden administration, but was put on hold after reports emerged that the technology, known as Graphite, had been misused abroad. Biden’s March 2023 executive order explicitly restricted U.S. agencies from employing spyware vendors whose tools posed “significant counterintelligence and security risks” or had been misused by foreign governments to suppress dissent." [source: https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-09-05/graphite-the-israeli-spyware-acquired-by-ice.html]
Everyone should be on guard knowing this type of spyware can be used against anyone with a smart phone that these fascists want to target, especially journalists and activists. However, as of now, it can't be installed en masse; it needs a specific target.
Peter Thiel owns Palantir, the software surveillance tool he's feeding all the data Elon and his doge bros hoovered up from the IRS, Medicare/Medicaid, and Social Security databases that were previously siloed off from each other to prevent security breaches. Thiel is consolidating all this data using Palantir, which provides tools for analyzing massive amounts of personal data. That data, of course, is a complete invasion of your privacy and can be used to target smart phones with Graphite spyware.
2023 PBS Frontline documentary on Israeli Pegasus spyware is worth viewing.
Also worth a look: the HBO 6-part series on Ronan Farrow's investigation of Harvey Weinstein and how he was surveilled by the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube at Weinstein's request. That firm used Pegasus spyware, one of the most powerful pieces of spyware ever created and a product of the Israeli NSO Group.
One of Ronan's allies in this series was a Ukrainian who blew the whistle on this surveillance, informing Farrow. The Ukrainian investigator abhorred the very tactics he had fled from Putin's earlier grip on Ukraine. You can read about it and watch the trailer here: https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/7/12/22566861/catch-and-kill-review-hbo-max-podcast-ronan-farrow-harvey-weinstein-series
There's also an HBO documentary that delves more into this kind of spyware which I haven't seen (“Surveilled”): https://www.thewrap.com/surveillance-ronan-farrow-experience/
Farrow is a courageous and intrepid reporter, a national treasure.
Required viewing in my opinion.
Like I said, Oaktown, you're the absolute expert on all this! Thank you for keeping us all educated and abreast of essential issues you research so diligently! I can hardly keep up and even though I have a single file folder filled with much of what you've shared (that could fill a book), my print cartridge budget needs more refueling.
But all JD has to do is follow orders and take the crypto millions. No thinking OR personality required for the task for which none of that matters.
With his Palantir now basically having overtaken every aspect of the data of our lives unto forever. Musk came in with the DOGE keys and Thiel vacuumed it all up with Altman running the show behind the scenes. Oaktown is a most erudite expert about the SV coup and all related aspects of the tech takeover.
We all need to bone up on what these people are up to. I have the time at this point in life and my mission is to spread the word on their plans for our future. We must learn about it and push back on data and privacy theft before we're totally captured in their surveillance net. Knowledge is power and they want us to be ignorant, duped, and distracted.
I agree with what you contribute as I follow Gil Duran's Nerd Reich to have learned about Yarvin, Thiel, Musk, Altman, the Silicon Valley tech fascists, network states, and so much more. There are numerous knowledgeable Meidas contributors who speak your language, all of which helps to interpret what we're experiencing.
I would like to know if we can get some input on a government shutdown! Its coming fast, the budget fight. Can that be used as a tool to stop this. Maybe , Ron ,do you know. Good or bad.
Talk to the young men in your orbit. I just was fed a podcast by YouTube of two young men discussing why they don't believe in democracy. Couldn't watch it for long, but the abject ignorance of history and human nature they displayed was shocking and went unchallenged.
For example, point out that Donnie's favorite NATO country, Hungary, has slipped to the bottom of economic prosperity as his country has slipped into authoritarianism. Same is true for Putin and virtually every other dictator—with the possible exception of Xi, who is smarter than any of the others and wields the power of his country's size.
In my orbit. I have maggats. So that's bad news for me.
Those are the very people who need to hear an alternate truth to the lies they're fed. Experts recommend first establishing some non-political common ground in order to establish some level of trust (pets, hobbies, recipes, whatever); next, find out what they're afraid of, what they want, then discuss possible solutions, avoiding party references.
Indeed, Tammy Duckworth is my heroine whose photograph I keep by my work desk. I am a Vietnam-era veteran of the Women's Army Corps and identify with all veterans across the services (married to and widowed by a few as well). Both my parents were WWII Navy veterans. What made me sick today was seeing the bronze plate on the Pentagon office door: Pete Hegseth Secretary of War.
Puke worthy. He is such a fucki loser.
Ah hell no! My father, uncle and cousin proud Marines. That mfer Vance sickens me.
My father was too. Hell, no is right and Vancels time in doesn't even count in my book.
Father In law, Marine. He would smack the hell out of these weasels. My Dad , Army , would do worse.
When reading Ron's highly informative bulletins detailing the evil deeds of Trump & Co., do you ever find yourself wishing human spontaneous combustion was real?
I’m sorry I don’t know who to credit with this but I loved it! Something like…”if Democrats really do control the weather, Mike Johnson would have been struck by lightning during that cringy interview declaring Trumpf an undercover agent for the FBI working to take down Epstein.” How can he say this kind of crap with such conviction and a smiling “trust me” face? Spontaneous combustion should have been instantaneous if it was impossible for the lightning strike to hit indoors.
My fave line about that Ron included today is Massie's slam dunk questioning if it's all a hoax then how could DT be an informer?
For them or us? (Re: the spontaneous combustion query.)
Oh tell Trump to go to hell.
No worries there.........Satan will be rolling out the Orange carpet for Cankles after his golf cart mysteriously flips over into the water trap on the 15th hole.
Don’t wake me up, let me dream.
Pleeeze, sooner rather than later!
OMG, where to start…?!?!?
“Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) responded: “JD ‘I don’t give a shit’ Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military.’ Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation?? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
This is akin to hunting down and hanging innocent people simply because they were born with black skin.
I’m literally sick to my stomach from reading this post. And my heart aches deeply from this horrific nightmare. We are bearing witness to this weapon of mass destruction, this maniacal, power hungry monster - along with the full support of his equally satanical sycophants - as they rapidly obliterates everything in their path.
What a crazy-assed day when I'm in total agreement with the likes of Rand Paul! What's this feakin' world coming to, dare I ask?
I thought exactly the same thing! 😂🫤😫