Category: Politics

Political posts about the right or left and everyone inbetween

The Right is Stupid

Time after time I see that the Right is Stupid when it comes to technology with an almost Luddite mentality.

Wanting to return to paper ballots when a blockchain based ballot system would be far superior to anything we have now. Secure and tamper proof.

Being against electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles. These are the future of automobiles. Battery and computer technology continues to grow in leaps and bounds. And this technology will replace our current gas vehicles.

And then there is Social Media. During President Trump’s first term, the President and many other conservatives were silenced across multiple social media platforms. Even to the point of being banned for life. One of these was Twitter, before it was purchased and rebranded by Elon Musk.

There was a growing open source project called StatusNet. A twitter-like service that was decentralized. Anyone could setup a server and they would all talk to each other. And as it grew and developed it became the service known now as Mastodon. Which of course uses an elephant for it’s logo.

As a decentralized platform each server can have it’s own rules and and structure. Each server can choose to associate with any of the others or none of them at all. Or even allow its users to follow but not otherwise interact. It’s really a great system.

And like many new technologies the Left seems to adapt to them quickly. While the Right sits in the cave and bangs stones together.

Today the Mastodon Fediverse is free of ads. And none of use like the heavy use of ads on other services. The Right, after being banned from Twitter created a few of their own Twitter-like microblogging services. But they are full of ads. This was dumb move. The Right should have just flooded the Fediverse with servers. So what if the Left doesn’t follow them? We would Federate with others and still have a great system everywhere.

There is still time to do this of course if the Right decided to do something intelligent when it comes to technology. But they probably wont.

In the Meme Time

The idiotic Left is at it again. Here is yet another meme that is so full of holes it would never float. Yet to the Left this is so real. Scary how they don’t think.

Stupid Leftist Meme made to frighten the ignorant.

Line by line we will take it apart. And of course there is usually a hint of truth to make something so idiotic as this believable by the ignorant.

“The are trying to bait us into violence.”

Well Leftist, violence is your specialty. The Right doesn’t commit violence, we have prayer vigils and peaceably assemble. It is the Left that riots, burns, attacks, and protests. All against the law. We don’t need to bait you in order for you to commit an act you were going to do anyway.

“That’s the plan.”

No, that isn’t the plan. The plan all along has been simple. To secure our borders, secure our cities, to secure our citizens. And in doing so we round up and deport the criminal illegal aliens from our nation. This is the plan and why we voted for Donald Trump.

“Kill Americans on camera until someone shoots a federal agent,”

There is no desire or plan to kill Americans or even the illegal aliens for that matter. The events in Minnesota would have happened without cameras present if agitators attacked federal agents doing their jobs. But most agitators want the cameras because it is all show to them. Their lives are meaningless to themselves. This is another example of suicide by cop. Don’t violate the law and you wont end up getting shot or killed because you did something stupid.

Now if some Leftist agitator DOES shoot a federal agent. That would be a crime, probably several, in the state of Minnesota. But that nothing that is hoped for at all. We would like our law enforcement officers and citizen to be safe.

“then declare “insurrection”, “

The quotes aren’t needed. If violent illegal mobs are attacking federal officers in the line of duty. That is insurrection. It would be a fully justified course of action to invoke the Insurrection Act. This part of the meme is true, if a federal officer is shot, I’m 100% behind invoking the Insurrection Act to restore order in Minnesota or anywhere for that matter.

“deploy the military”

Another truth. If the Insurrection Act is invoked due to a federal officer being shot by an illegal violent mob. Then the military would be deployed to restore order. That is part of the act’s powers.

“and cancel the 2026 elections.”

This is a scare tactic and fearmongering. It is also laughable unless one is unhinged and ignorant enough to believe the drivel. Federal elections cannot be cancelled. They are Constitutionally protected. They cannot be cancelled or postponed. They take place in November no matter what. Unlike other countries, we have no provision to stop federal elections. Leftist countries have those, not the United States.

“This is the fascist playbook.”

Yes it is a Leftist playbook item. And that is not a mistake, fascists are Leftists just as Marxists, Socialists, National Socialists (Nazis), Communists, and any other totalitarian regime. This is exactly what they would do but again it isn’t possible under the US Constitution. Sorry to burst your bubbles useful idiots.

“Do not give them their Reichstag fire.”

This of course is their inane juvenile attempt to compare Trump and the Right to Hitler and Nazis. Again, this just shows the ignorance. Nazism, National Socialism is a Leftist form of government. It has nothing to do with the Right. And Trump and Hitler have nothing in common at all.

Iowa Gubernatorial Debate

After the first gubernatorial debate in Iowa I have a new favorite. But I will give a rundown of my opinions of all the candidates running. Even if they didn’t take part in the debate.

Representative Eddie Andrews is now my current favorite for the nomination. He has done well in the Iowa House representing his district. And continues to do so even while campaigning across the state for governor. Visiting all 99 counties.

He lacks funding, but doesn’t see that as a hindrance. He also seemed a bit unsure of himself on the stage and fumbled a bit. But not too badly.

Brad Sherman was my original choice, back when Governor Kim Reynolds hadn’t decided if she was seeking another term or not. However, after seeing and hearing him on the debate stage I have doubts. His age shows, it really does.

I was at Zach Lahn’s announcement party in West Des Moines. My opinion of him hasn’t changed and has only been reinforced. He’s a farmer and businessman, although an outsider is always good to have it’s not one of his faults. What drives me away from Mr. Lahn is his effeminate and soft spoken nature. It gives the appearance of lacking a leadership. He would easily fit into the crowd at The Garden in downtown Des Moines. But not in the Governor’s office.

Adam Steen was professional and polished. He could have easily taken the lead in this debate and contest. But, he was endorsed by The Family Leader, who in the last decade has had a number of bad picks for their endorsements. The nail in the coffin however is that Adam Steen supports the Convention of States. I cannot in good conscious support that at all. It is a dangerous form of Pandora’s box.

Lastly we have Randy Feenstra. Another Family Leader pick I might add and the current Congressman from Iowa’s 4th District. He was invited to the debate. Came to Iowa on the Air Force One with the President. But declined to attend. He is the establishment pick for Governor. He has more funds than the other 4 combined and has great name recognition.

He is not truly a deep conservative. His record shows that with easy. And the Left knows this as well. This is why Rob Sands, the Democratic candidate is hoping that the November election is between himself and Feenstra. Many know that if Feenstra is the Republican nominee, then Sands will will that November election and become Iowa’s next Governor.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

Although the Lexicon primarily features issues originating in the US of A (as opposed to Canada, which is the US of Eh), sometimes the subject matter crosses international boundaries. In this case, the origin of this week’s Lexicon starts in Jolly Old England (as opposed to Canada, which is Jolly Old Eh-gland.)

It starts with an online game called Pathways (think a cheerier version of “Depression Quest”) where the user navigates through a series of events in an attempt to dissuade him or her from falling for online extremist propaganda. Welllll…let’s just say it backfired. Instead of educating users (primarily teenagers) about the dangers of propaganda, it is propaganda in and of itself by painting anyone to the right of Josef Stalin as an extremist.

I could talk all day about propaganda (as my lovely wife will tell you), but the focus of this week’s Lexicon is on the concept of online extremism. I’ll be the first one to tell you the Interwebs is a hotbed of people nuttier than elephant shit, but does that make them extremists?

Depends on who you ask.

online extremism

What the Left thinks it means – Internet propaganda designed to persuade gullible people to adopt right wing beliefs and ideas

What it really means – Internet propaganda designed to persuade gullible people to adopt any wing’s beliefs and ideas

So, where do I begin? Well, let me just start by saying online extremism is not just a right wing issue. There is and always has been a section of online culture dominated by left wing thinking, but they’ve been mostly relegated to backwater channels with an echo chamber bigger than the Grand Canyon. Or, as it’s called today, Bluesky.

That in and of itself isn’t that big a deal to me. I’m a big fan of letting people say what’s on their minds, even if I disagree with it. For one, it fosters more and better communication than banning it out of turn. For another, it’s always a good way to see where the assholes are so you can avoid them. Unless you want to point and laugh, which is easier when they make themselves known. So, there are plenty of good reasons not to silence people.

Having said all that, there are people out there who have completely lost the fucking plot and say/advocate for the weirdest shit out there. And that’s just the diaper fur community. (Safety Tip from your buddy Tom: If you don’t know, don’t look for it. Only furry evil in diapers greets you there.) Up until recently, people have been able to ignore the fringe players because they’ve been woefully unequipped to do anything about it. I knew a Pat Buchanan supporter who talked a big game, but was so short he made Nick Fuentes look like Andre the Giant. Needless to say, he wasn’t considered much of a threat.

Nowadays, it’s that kind of freak that has the power of an echo chamber telling him/her what they’re doing is completely cool and not at all too extreme. And it’s shit like this that got Renee Good shot and killed. Somewhere in her mind, she thought “running over an ICE agent is totes normal, dude” and used that thought to spur action.

Now, who could have put that idea in her head? I mean, it’s not like the Left has painted ICE in a negative light by calling them Nazis or comparing them to secret police or the Gestapo, right?

Except for Governor TIMMAH!

And Governor Gavin Newsom.

And Governor JB Pritzker.

And Senator Jeff Merkley.

And Senator Mark Warner.

And Representative Eric Swalwell.

And Representative Rashida Tlaib.

Wow. Come to think of it, there are a lot of Democrats and Leftists pulling the “ICE is the secret police/Gestapo/fascist/Nazi” card.

So, maybe the Left has a hand in the escalation of rhetoric against ICE, which is inspiring Leftist extremists to act. But remember, kids, it’s the MAGA crowd that are the violent ones because January 6th.

All that IMAX-level projection aside, online extremism is a legitimate problem, one being stoked by people we shouldn’t want to hang out with at all, man. And they all have the same problem: a messiah complex that rivals Oprah’s. With that messiah complex comes a lot of gatekeeping so only the true believers can stick around.

Naturally, that means more sensible people saying “Yanno, you might not want to drive a truck into a bunch of protesters/ICE agents” will be excommunicated and turned into the enemy, even if their opinions align with everything else the self-professed leader believes. The odd thing about these leaders of cults of personality is they often don’t have one of their own, so they borrow from someone else. Even self-styled “free thinkers” may fall victim to the kind of extremism that meets them where their biases are.

Not that this happens to too many people, right? (I’m looking at you, Bill Maher.)

Those assholes can be dangerous, what what of the followers themselves? That’s a bit of a mixed bag. The more gung ho a follower is, the more extreme he or she (still 2 genders) is likely to be. As you get further and further away from the epicenter of extremism, the less likely it is you’re dealing with an extremist. Sure, there are some who will drink the Flavor-Ade because everybody else is doing it (gotta love that peer pressure), but you’re going to find some who see the folly of it all and aren’t as willing to go along to get along.

The problem is neither side wants to separate the reasonable from the batshit insane. That would take too much effort, after all, and we don’t want people to think we’re not down for the cause because we happen to think not engaging in stupid shit is the correct path forward.

This is the time when we have to determine whether the loudest voices are the leaders or just so loud they drown out the actual leaders. I’ve seen this with the gay rights movement, the trans rights movement, the pro choice and pro life movements, the Religious Right, and so many others. And when you’re faced with the loudest voices, it gets really easy to slide into groupthink and become one of the masses, minus the “m.”

But that’s where being able to determine the difference comes in handy. If someone is loud, it doesn’t make him or her right; it just makes them harder to ignore. But is also makes them easier to mock for being loud and annoying, so there’s that.

How this applies to extremism is we have to separate the ring leaders from the ring followers because they are not always the same people. A militant trans rights activist may talk a big game, but wuss out at the first signs of it being go time. These are the ones who probably won’t decide to shoot up a Christian school, but they still have the ability to give those who do have a propensity towards violence to think the only way to fix things is to pull a “Death Wish.” They’re extremists of a sort, but more extremist-adjacent.

Think Charlie Manson versus the Manson Family members who murdered Sharon Tate, among others. The members committed the crimes, but they wouldn’t have happened without ole Charlie.

“But, Thomas,” you might be saying, “are you literally comparing trans activists to Charles Manson?” No. What I’m saying is there are some people who can inspire others to take action they might not otherwise take by instilling them with destructive thoughts. And we’re not just talking about Leftists here, folks. There are plenty of hair-triggers on the Right who would love nothing more than to start shit so they can pretend to be badasses, all from the safety of their double-wides, while others are doing the actual shit.

And all from the behind protection of a computer or phone screen.

There is a term from the Interwebs that describe these people perfectly: keyboard warriors. Now, there are some willing to put the emphasis on the latter rather than the former, which makes for a really awkward time all the way around when the fit hits the shan. (Hat tip to Larry Elder for that one.)

What Pathways gets wrong is it tries to water down the definition of extremism to an absurd degree. Even someone saying “we should be proud of being British” gets looped in with anyone who wants to put every immigrant into a chipper shredder, when that’s simply not the case. There may be some overlap between the two, but not enough to lump the former in with the latter.

Unless, of course, you’re being intellectually dishonest, which Pathways is being. The “right” course of action according to the game isn’t always the most logical. In one part of the game, you are given a choice to ignore what they deem inflammatory rhetoric, look for more information, or go from 0 to extremist by joining in the inflammatory fun. In the game, the only viable option is to ignore the rhetoric. Anything else gets you branded an extremist.

Put another way, the game punishes you for trying to be well-informed.

Which makes you more susceptible to extremist positions.

Which defeats the purpose of the game.

Unless, of course, the purpose of the game is to enable certain extremist positions…

Saaaaaaaaay! I think I’ve stumbled upon the real reason this game exists! And considering it’s targeting teenagers (who cling to popularity and clout like Hunter Biden hangs onto his crack dealer’s number), the goal is to get them to accept a set of ideas so they’ll be popular, cool, and have social clout, all without having to do anything but listen and believe.

Hmmmm…that’s a catchy little saying. I hope nobody unscrupulous ever latches onto it.

Meanwhile, what we can do to avoid being sucked in by online extremism, or extremism in general, is apply a little common sense. If you wouldn’t allow someone else to do it to you, don’t do it to other people. And if someone you know is rushing headlong towards extremism, try to pull them back. If they don’t want to come back from the edge, let them go. It may hurt, but it hurts a lot less than being buggered night after night in federal pound you in the ass prison.

Not that I know anything about that, mind you…







Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

With the recent shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota, a lot of attention has gathered around a single issue. Is it illegal immigration? Nope. Is it federal tax dollars being stolen by foreign scammers? Not at all. Is it, dare I speak it, the proliferation of buttons at the Golden Globes? Yes, but also no.

The focus from both sides of the political shitshow is on domestic terrorism. The Left is pointing at ICE and saying, “See? We told you they were domestic terrorists!” The Right is pointing at anti-ICE protesters and saying, “See? We told you they were domestic terrorists!” And meanwhile back at the Hall of Justice, we have people like me scratching our heads. Mostly because of dandruff in my case, but also because I’m having a hard time understanding how both sides can come to the same conclusion from two different points of view, and yet be completely wrong about it.

Consider this my therapy session. You’re welcome?

domestic terrorism

What the Left thinks it means – right-leaning individuals in the government who are attacking average people without cause

What the Right thinks it means – left-leaning individuals against the government who are attacking ICE to try to prevent them from doing their jobs

What it really means – a term that’s waaaaaaay overused these days

American politics has never been a weak person’s game, although you wouldn’t know it by looking at current Congresscritters like Eric Swalwell or previous Congresscritters like Adam Kinzinger. I mean, we’ve had people duel over political differences, as Alexander Hamilton’s family can attest.

Having said that, today’s version of American politics is a different breed of cat altogether. To say people are on edge is like saying water is wet, fire is hot, and Al Gore is boring. People are willing to die (or in some cases let others die) for an ideological movement so they have a rallying cry. And, without even a hint of irony, they call anyone opposed to them domestic terrorists because, well, that’s how the game is played anymore.

Being a word guy, I take a different approach to word usage than most people. The impact of some words can throw a flaming tanker truck onto the world’s biggest pile of hay drier than the drinks at a Mormon strip club. And let me tell you calling someone a domestic terrorist kinda fits that bill.

Granted, each side has their own idea of what constitutes a domestic terrorist. The Left thinks it’s anyone whiter than Edgar Winter at an outdoor picnic at Ice Station Zero and more to the right than Pat Buchanan. The Right thinks it’s anyone whose hair colors don’t match anything remotely close to natural and have opinions so far to the Left they would make Karl Marx look like Ronald Reagan. Whether you’re MAGA or Antifa, you’re a dangerous extremist to someone.

And therein lies the problem.

With a political landscape so toxic, it gets frightfully easy to demonize your opponents, which ramps up the heated rhetoric. It’s not enough that your opponent disagrees with you; they are your blood enemies. And it even works within the ideological sides, as any Leftist kicked off Bluesky and any Rightist who isn’t 129,000,000% MAGA will tell you, as can your humble correspondent. I’ve been kicked out of so many ideological groups I have boot marks on my ass. Or was that from the time I spent in a sex dungeon in Amsterdam?

Never mind.

The point is when everybody can be seen as a domestic terrorist by one person or another, it dilutes the meaning of the term and makes it harder for us to recognize actual domestic terrorists. Yes, the Left and the Right have their extremists nuttier than squirrel shit, but for the most part they wouldn’t fall into the category of terrorism until they commit acts of actual terrorism.

Which brings us to the “what does that mean” section of the Lexicon entry. And, yes, I realize you ask that question all the time while reading my rants, but this is different. The good folks at Dictionary.com define terrorism thus:

1. the unlawful use of violence or threats to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or government, with the goal of furthering political, social, or ideological objectives.

2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism.

3. a terrorist method of governing or of resisting a government.

4. intimidation or coercion by instilling fear

So…that’s neat.

What this means in the context of our current political shitshow is there are a lot of people on both sides (albeit on the extremes) that subscribe to the notion their terrorism is freedom and other people’s terrorism is terrorism. But if you’re using the same tactics, it doesn’t matter if you’re red or blue; you’re a fucking terrorist.

This is why it’s important we don’t lump all of the Left and all of the Right under the same domestic terrorism umbrella. Not everyone is going to pick up arms and start shooting up a Congresscritter’s house. That’s reserved for people hired by Governor TIMMAH Walz.

Seriously, though, we’ve seen how absurd this approach is just by looking at some of the people caught up in the January 6th situation. Yes, there were some assholes in the crowd (I’m looking at you, Nick Fuentes), but not all the assholes got caught, and some of the people who were caught weren’t of the terrorist variety. Of course, that didn’t stop the Left from painting them all as domestic terrorists. Because as we all know grandmas are the real domestic terrorists, amirite?

Actually, I’m not right, in the head or otherwise.

The reason both sides throw the domestic terrorism label around like a football at a barbecue at Tom Brady’s place is because it allows the “otherization” of their perceived opponents. And, yes, Leftists, I see you doing this all the time with your “MAGAt” talk. Not that the “Libtard” calls coming from the Right are any better. Even so, there is a large difference between “MAGAt” and “Libtard” and actual domestic terrorism, but neither side wants to make that distinction because, well, it’s easy, fun, and doesn’t hurt anybody.

At least, not until the guns start firing.

And where we are right now, it’s only a matter of time. All it takes is one asshole to take it upon himself or herself (still two genders, by the way) to take matters into his/her own hands and strike a blow for his/her side. Then, we all become domestic terrorists unless we decide to take a different path.

The first step? Not calling the other side domestic terrorists unless they are domestic terrorists.

The second step is a little harder to accomplish, but it’s no less important. Call out the motherfuckers who are causing all the chaos and tell them to shut the fuck up. I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican, socialist or capitalist, a New England Patriots fan or wrong, we have to be brave enough to take on the more vocal provocateurs on our own side. For all of their bluster, there are more of us than there are of them, and judging solely by the idea the loudest voices are often the most chicken shit, they will run for their little hidey-holes the second someone tells them to take a seat.

Then, we get to step 3: realizing both sides of the political divide are people, not ideologies. Granted, some of those barely qualify as sentient let alone human, but we still need to try and find some common ground. I will speak for myself, mainly because I’m the only one who knows me best, but I try to remove the politics from the person and look for something we agree on and go from there.

I love Samuel L. Jackson for no other reason than he has perfected the use of the word “motherfucker.” He and I don’t see eye to eye on politics, but we can groove together on movies. Once you find that common denominator, ideology takes a back seat to fandom. And last time I checked, there has never been a world war started because of a fandom.

Now, online, on the other hand…well, let’s just leave it alone.

But you see the point, I hope. Neither side is comprised of only domestic terrorists, nor should we assume they are. I quote the great philosopher Dave Mason:

So let’s leave it alone
‘Cause we can’t see eye to eye.
There ain’t no good guy.
There ain’t no bad guy.
There’s only you and me, and we just disagree.

And if we can’t trust someone who gave us “Ooh, oh-oh-oh,” who can we trust?

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

Ah, Minnesota, our neighbor to the north. (Please check local listings for the location of Minnesota in your area.) What was once the home of occasional professional sports titles (sorry, Vikings fans) is a hotbed of controversy due to a YouTuber named Nick “Don’t Call Me” Shirley. His 43 minute video exposing potential fraud with Somali-run daycares and medical facilities has put the Land of 10,000 Lakes under the microscope.

Which, of course has Leftists fuming. To be fair, though, when aren’t they fuming?

As we start seeing more fallout from this brewing scandal, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at Minnesota through my own perspective. That and the possibility of those sweet, sweet clicks.

Minnesota

What the Left thinks it means – a state unfairly targeted by the Trump Administraiton

What it really means – a state run by incompetents, fraudsters, or both

Minnesota was first inhabited by Native Americans, but eventually had Europeans show up, and they didn’t even bring a hot dish to pass! Those bastards! Eventually, it became a state in 1858 and became the home of many a Lutheran. Most of the time, Minnesota has been seen as quiet, unassuming, and above all else…normal.

That was until recently when Leftists took the state from the home of Spam and Garrison Keillor to a frosty heckscape. It’s like a hellscape, but more in line with Minnesotan phrasing. Granted, recent history has shown the state moving more to the left than a base runner leaning towards first base trying to avoid being tagged out, so the slide towards the heckscape has been slow, yet impactful.

This brings us to the current Governor, Tim “TIMMAH” Walz. You know, the guy Queen Kamala the Appointed thought would make a good Vice President for the same reason Hunter Biden would be a great accountability buddy: because you’re fucking insane. Governor TIMMAH is good at one thing, and that’s throwing shade.

Since Shirley’s video dropped, Governor TIMMAH has responded by… blaming Donald Trump, accusing white guys of fraud, and generally looking like a buffoon. You know, what Governor TIMMAH does every day.

But it’s not like he’s doing this alone, mind you. The Left is doing a lot of heavy lifting to try to protect the image of Governor TIMMAH as anything but a cartoonish crook with CNN playing the role of Atlas. They’ve tried going after Shirley and wound up looking like Governor TIMMAH as a result.

Not to be outdone, CBS (emphasis on the BS) did its own “investigation” and found nothing out of the ordinary. Because as we all know, potential billions of dollars in fraud is just ho-hum. (Note to Bari Weiss: this ain’t the journalism you’re looking for. And I hope you’ll forgive me for the Obi Wan Kenobi hand wave.)

Other outlets like NPR, MS NOW, The Intercept, and even the Minneapolis Star Tribune have helped with the heavy lifting in their own ways. Namely, by attempting to discredit Shirley’s video by discrediting the man himself. Because, as we all know, the real crime here isn’t the alleged fraud, but noticing the alleged fraud.

For you Leftists out there, that was sarcasm.

Now, if this were the only scandal plaguing the Land of Ten Thousand Fakes, we might be able to let Governor TIMMAH off with a warning. After all, he’s not the sharpest bowling ball on the Christmas tree, so he might just be dumber than two bags of hammers. Granted, he is, but that’s not important right now. What is important is this isn’t the first scandal that’s come under Governor TIMMAH’s tenure.

See, there’s a little thing the kids like to call Feeding Our Future, a non-profit organization in Minnesota designed to help feed children in need. What it became was a massive fraud case where millions of dollars were taken in, but few, if any, children got fed. But don’t worry! Governor TIMMAH is on the case! He announced a new fraud prevention program designed to address the Feeding Our Future scandal. And only 3 years after the federal government caught wind of the fraud! Way to go TIMMAH!

But, wait! There’s more! Behind the Shirley video there is another layer of corruption, that being possible fraud through the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. The state gave out money to daycare centers where there was no evidence of children actually on site with hours of operation well outside the norm. Apparently, this situation has been a thing since at least 2018 with a number of whistleblowers coming forward to advise of the potential fraud.

And Governor TIMMAH took that information…and promptly ignored it.

Along with potential Medicaid fraud.

And possible money laundering.

Oh, and maybe funneling money to Al-Shabaab, a known terrorist group operating out of…Somalia.

Hmmm…it seems there are a lot of ties to Somalia in these scandals, including to a member of the Squad, Rep. Ilhan Omar. Although there haven’t been solid links between Omar and the fraud, President Donald Trump wasted no time in making the connection. Granted, this is Trump’s standard operating procedure, so I’m not going to start demanding she address her ties or lack thereof to the Somalian scammers. Besides, she has enough on her plate dealing with allegations she married her brother to commit immigration fraud.

Or so I’ve heard.

Regardless, the Somalian connection is hard to ignore (not that the Left isn’t willing to try, mind you), and people on different sides of the political spectrum have offered thoughts as to why. Conservatives are split between whether it’s the Somali culture or the Muslim faith that drives the fraud. And the Left? Racism, sexism, and Islamophobia, of course.

Now, I can’t speak to the Somali culture part of the argument. I’ve never been to Somalia, and if I did I’m not sure I would talk about it. However, I can speak to the Islamic side of the argument because the Quran is pretty clear about how it’s totes cool to grift non-believers through a concept called taqiyya. Although modern scholars have tried to muddy the waters a bit to suggest Islam doesn’t allow deception towards non-Muslims, even the scholars admit it’s allowed if Muslims are under duress in a foreign country.

You know, like when they’re caught scamming tax dollars from Americans?

Even if you don’t buy the Muslim angle, human nature tells us people will lie to hide their deception, especially if that deception makes them money. Considering the size of the fraud and those who enabled/were enriched by it, they might have a few billion reasons to lie.

So, how do we fix Minnesota? Good question, and one where I don’t have an easy answer. Sure, we could trade the state to Canada for a first round draft pick, but it will only cause US/Canadian relations to get more sour. Rooting out the fraud would be a positive first step, but we’d be fighting the Left (who has a vested interest in maintaining/hiding the fraud) at every turn. Mass deportations? Another non-starter, unfortunately, because the money is still gone and I’m not sure the fraudsters have the cash on hand to start making payments.

Given the extent of the fraud, it may be impossible to save Minnesota without a full-blown political shift. Not that it can’t happen, but I’m more likely to trust 3 day old convenience store sushi than I am Minnesota going red in the near future.

In the meantime, we have to stay on these frauds, and not just the people stealing money from us, either. Every Leftist who says any damn thing even remotely defending or diverting attention away from the fraud needs to be challenged, not on the emotions or the attempts to divert attention away from it, but purely on the facts. Leftists hate that. Deny their bullshit reality and insert your own, and watch them screech in horror.

Of course, I have another suggestion. Leftist millionaires and billionaires talk about how little they pay in taxes, right? Send them the bill for the fraud and demand payment, like, three years ago.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

With the Democratic Party looking more like the Titanic, but with more holes in the hull, they are trying anything they can get their hands on as a cudgel to beat Republicans with in the midterm elections. And I’m hoping it’s just figuratively at this point. And they think they have a winner.

Affordability.

Yes, from the party that gave us “It’s the economy, stupid,” the Left is going back to the economic well to tell us how everything is more expensive, thus creating an affordability crisis that affects the most vulnerable. They say everything from groceries to health care is too damn high and it’s the Republicans’ fault.

But is it?

Let’s go spelunking into this topic, shall we?

affordability

What the Left thinks it means – an economic situation where Republicans are making things more expensive out of cruelty and greed

What it really means – the Left trying to pawn off their bad decisions onto the Right

Much like a Chinese restaurant next door to a cat hospital, I don’t necessarily trust the Left when it comes to economics, mainly because they don’t know shit about it. But instead of being hungry an hour later, if you follow Leftist economic theory, an hour later you’re poor again.

On the surface, though, they seem to have the right of this. As Senator Chris “Too Lame for a Nickname” Murphy pointed out, electricity costs have gone up, and that’s something that impacts everyone rich or poor. He even produced a graph! How can Republicans refute a graph, man????

Simple. By knowing how a calendar works.

Seems the Senator’s graph was missing some context, namely the fact the biggest increases for electricity costs came under President Brick Tamland. But I’m sure that’s just an oversight. I mean, being a Senator as well as a body double for a tackling dummy is a lot of work. It just slipped through the cracks. It’s not like Leftists would blame Republicans for making something else, like…oh I don’t know…health insurance, unaffordable. You would have to be a complete dumbass to link the end of Obamacare subsidies with skyrocketing health care costs.

Well, fuck me sideways, they did. And by they, I mean the aforementioned tackling dummy stand-in.

Of course, this would be worrisome, except for the fact Obamacare was passed without a single Republican vote. And who supported the legislation that put the Obamacare subsidies on a limited schedule? Why, that would be Congressional Democrats!

Even beyond the halls of Congress, the Left is showing their true colors by going after a YouTuber who keeps pulling the curtain back and showing how the Left sucks at budgeting. I’m referring to Caleb Hammer, the host of a series called Financial Audit where people come to him with financial problems and he offers…shall we say brutal honesty. Although he stays pretty apolitical, the Left has gone out of its way to paint him as a fascist and, thus, dagnasty evil.

Why? Because he pushes for personal responsibility rather than living in the moment and paying the piper, well, never..

Of course, there’s another big reason: he proves the Left can’t budget for shit. Actually, let me take that back. Excrement can budget better than Leftists.

That’s why I take their concerns about affordability with a healthy amount of skepticism. (The Left, not the scat.) Their concept of affordability is based less on dollars and cents and more on political opportunism with a dash of emotional manipulation. Remember, the Left said the flaming dumpster fire that was the economy under President Brick Tamland was great and the only people who thought otherwise weren’t smart enough to see how great it was. Now, they’re saying the economy is horrible and anyone who thinks otherwise is, well, not smart enough to see how horrible it is.

And that’s why Queen Kamala the Appointed is our President right now. Oh, wait…

It’s this kind of attitude that fuels so much of Leftist ideology; the (often unfounded) belief Leftists are the smartest people in any room. And, surprise surprise, it fuels the talk of affordability, too. The Left believes they know enough about how the economy really is to “educate” the rest of us about it, even when their observations are so divorced from reality they’re trying to get alimony. As a result, the Left comes off as tone deaf and out-of-touch to average Americans, not to mention pretentious, overbearing, and just fucking wrong.

This next part is going to be a little big-brained, so if you’re not into that sort of thing, skip past this part and we’ll get back to your regularly scheduled profanity-laden humor soon.

The fatal flaw with the Left’s affordability argument is the same one it faces with their arguments in favor of a living wage: it’s so nebulous it’s impractical and unwieldy to enact. Affordability varies from person to person. Elon Musk could lose $100 million in his couch cushions without it negatively affecting him (although it would make his housekeeper really happy), but it would break most people.

And don’t think I miss the irony of government officials talking about affordability when they themselves don’t have to worry about whether they can afford a night out or a tank of gas. These people can’t be bothered to think outside of their penthouse suites, expensive meals, and gated communities.

But they can be bothered to think about how they can get the average American to ignore their personal experience and listen to their bullshit. Unfortunately for us, there are a lot of fiscally illiterate people out there. And a lot of the time we’re electing them to Congress.

But more to the point, it’s easy to baffle people with bullshit if they don’t have a rudimentary understanding of the subject matter. That’s why Caleb Hammer has a steady stream of guests beating a path to his door; because they make worse financial decisions than Enron. And with accountability being a four-letter word (partially because of Common Core math), the Left has a ready-made audience for their “it’s not your fault you suck at budgeting, but it is the evil rich people’s fault” platform.

That’s the most perverse part of the affordability “crisis.” The people who caused the problems we face are the ones who claim to have all the answers on how to get out of them. And these assholes know it. Outside of having a great fiscal awakening where everyone suddenly understands economics, I don’t think we’re going to see things get better for a loooooong time.

In the meantime, though, understand affordability is just another Leftist buzzword designed to gaslight you into thinking what you’re experiencing is just a facade, just like they did with President Brick Tamland’s economy. The thing is they’re not very good at it, like hiding the ineptitude of the previous President and Vice President. But instead of trying to figure out a way to capitalize on the bread-and-butter issues, the Left would rather lie to your face, spit in it, and call you stupid.

Oh, and then beg for your votes and wonder why they lose elections.

They really aren’t sending their best, are they? Then again, maybe they are…

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

Remember the War on Drugs started in the 1980s? I do. My brain still looks like a sunny-side up egg, but that’s not important right now. What is important is America has fought a halfhearted war against drugs and we’ve been worse for wear because of it.

That is until Donald Trump got reelected. Now, we’re putting firepower behind the War on Drugs with the Department of War taking the lead on turning alleged drug trafficking boats into the world’s most addictive flotsam. And, right on cue, the Left has a problem with it. But this week, their efforts went up a notch with several Leftists calling what the President and Secretary of War Pete “Let’s Tap That Keg” Hegseth authorized war crimes.

The accusation is pretty heavy, so let me try to make fun of it!

war crimes

What the Left thinks it means – serious and inexcusable crimes committed by the current Administration

What it really means – the next phase of the Left’s attempt to undermine the military under Trump

The concept of war crimes is rooted in the Geneva Convention (not nearly as fun as a Shriner’s convention, but I digress), and it outlines how enemy soldiers and prisoners of war are to be treated. Keep in mind this is in the aftermath of World War II, where POWs were treated worse than a British substitute teacher in Belfast, so the spirit of the document has a foundation in humane treatment.And should someone or some country decide not to play by these rules, they can get charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

This is a great thing when we’re dealing with warring nations, but what about different types of wars where there aren’t warring countries? Welllll…that’s where things get a little murky, at least for me. When you consider the bulk of the military actions America has undertaken since the Geneva Convention have not been officially declared wars, it brings up the question of whether the concept of war crimes even applies here. That’s where the concept is subject to interpretation, or misinterpretation as the case may be.

Enter our good fiends…I mean friends on the Left. As I’ve noted before, the Left loves it when things are unclear because they can then inject their perceptions into the discussion, even if they’re batshit crazy. Then, by operating in the uncertainty, they can control the narrative, which is always their endgame.

This begs the question of whether blowing up suspected drug runner boats constitutes violations of the Geneva Convention. The simple answer as I see it is not really, and it’s predicated on the fact Congress hasn’t declared war yet. That gives me a chance to talk about Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution again because it’s there that we find who can declare war, and surprise surprise, it’s Congress!

If the Founding Fathers saw the absolute nozzleheads running Congress these days, they might have changed their minds, but that’s a post for another time.

Anyway, the point remains Congress didn’t declare war, as is often the case with Presidents who want to appear like a military leader against foes far weaker than we are. For everything else, there’s hookers and blow…or diplomacy. You know, whichever works.

Further complicating matters (because of-fucking-course) is the War Powers Resolution of 1973. This law requires the President to report to Congress whenever there’s the potential for hostilities to break out, but also allows the President to deploy troops for 60 days without a Congressional vote. So, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the President told Congress (and the rest of the country for that matter) that the Department of War was going to play Battleship: The Narco-Terrorist Edition well before any attacks began, so that requirement was met a looooooong time ago. And I’m gonna say blowing up shit constitutes hostilities.

And now for the best part? The President doesn’t have to have Congress do shit for 60 days, which oddly enough is roughly twice as many days as they’re in session. Granted, I’m guessing things might take a little longer than 60 days because we’re dealing with drug cartels here, but with the current makeup of Congress, a vote would most likely be a mere formality.

So, that’s why the Left went all in on the war crimes idea. If they can convince enough people what the President is doing violates the Geneva Convention, they can sway public opinion to…make drug dealers look like poor victims, I guess? (Hey, nobody said Leftists were smart.)

However, to fully understand the strategy, we need to look back at a recent video from six members of Congress who were either in the military or in the intelligence community. In that video (and in subsequent appeals in the media to take the heat off), they made sure to say the military didn’t have to obey illegal orders. Since then, not a one of the fucknuggets in the video or the Leftists who support the current thing could point to an illegal order the President issued, so that should be the end of it, right?

Yeahhhh, not so much.

The point of the video wasn’t to back up their claims so much as it was to instill doubt in the leadership from the President on down. Now, add in the war crimes element.

For those of you who need help connecting the dots, by suggesting Trump and Hegseth are guilty of war crimes, it reinforces the idea they’re issuing illegal orders, potentially eroding the confidence in the military and political leadership. And that leads to trouble up and down the ranks. If our military has to second-guess every order given, it prevents them from fulfilling their primary objectives: kill the enemy, break their shit, or a combination of the two.

Yeah. Pretty fucking dirty.

I’m sure there are going to be more legal arguments and laws bandied about on both sides of the war crimes question, but ultimately the heart of the matter is the Left is going to have a hard time explaining why blowing up drug boats and killing drug smugglers is a bad thing. And that’s not even getting into whether the actions constitute a war crime.

Not that it will stop Leftists from saying it or further suggesting the military should disobey the President. Even if the war crimes thing gains any traction, Leftists are still going to have to deal with being on the same side of an issue as drug cartels because…Orange Man Bad.

Again, no one ever said Leftists were smart.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

I take a week off and the shit hits the fan. Guess that means I’d better keep churning these babies out weekly from here on out!

The news of the week centered around one man, Jeffrey Epstein. More to the point, it was centered around who he knew and what these people knew about the deceased piece of dog shit. (No offense to canine excrement.) President Donald Trump promised to release the Epstein Files, then took it back, then put it back on the table, and has now signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act ordering the Attorney General and Department of Justice to make as much of the documentation available to the public without jeopardizing the victims or any ongoing investigations.

After all the Left’s grandstanding about it, you would think they’d be happy about it. And you’d be wrong.

As much as I hate to delve into this toxic landfill of shitty people (and Jeffrey Epstein), I have to dip my toe into it. And I promise to make it not hurt that much.

Jeffrey Epstein

What the Left thinks it means – a notorious pedophile with ties to Republicans

What the Right thinks it means – a notorious pedophile with ties to Democrats

What it really means – a notorious pedophile being used as a political football to hide a much larger issue

If it wasn’t clear from my opening, I think Jeffrey Epstein was not even a passable human being, let alone good. What he was convicted of doing and suspected of doing to young girls and women is reprehensible, and anyone who even exchanged emails or text messages with him gets my side-eye.

So, why are so many Democrats and Republicans connected to him? Because he had leverage.

Politics and wealth go hand in hand more than anti-Tesla protesters making a human chain stuck together with Super Glue and industrial strength duct tape. The well-heeled and the well-dressed have walked the halls of power for as long as I’ve been alive, but it wasn’t always so blatant. Back in the old days, if you wanted to buy a politicians you had the common decency to do it under the table. Well, since that option isn’t available because of all the prostitutes doing their business under said table, it’s more overt.

That’s where Jeffrey Epstein comes into play. By being wealthy, he caught the eye of a lot of politicians on both sides of the aisle. As time went on, he amassed a lot of friends…and information that he could use as a bargaining chip to sway opinions in his favor. Money is a universal language, and Epstein was a master linguist.

But remember he played with both sides, if you’ll pardon the expression, which made him useful to both sides, if only to satisfy mutual carnal sins. This is why the Left and the Right are desperately trying to push him onto the other side. With that much infamy, Epstein becomes the proverbial millstone around the necks of the party faithful in Washington, DC.

Even with that Bizarro World tug-o-war going on, we’re starting to get a glimpse into just how deep the corruption goes in the world of the rich and powerful.

And Robin Leach didn’t prepare us for any of this shit!

It’s one thing to buy off politicians, which is done with the frequency of Jasmine Crockett saying something stupid. It’s another thing to ply them with the kind of sick shit Epstein did. And then to have people so connected in politics, tech, business, and media be involved? It’s enough to break the system, nuke it from orbit (it’s the only way to be sure), burn the remains, and shoot it into the heart of the Sun.

And you know what? I’m good with that.

It was Epstein’s death that started a domino effect where the curtain got thrown open and we got to see just what the powerful do when nobody outside of their sick clique is watching. And the fact many of these cretins get to act like they’re above the rest of us while they engage in shit Caligula would say, “Whoa! Throttle back on the perversion, kids!” You know, if he weren’t dead and all.

As sickening as what we know happened is, we’re still not sure of the extent of it, and I’m not sure anybody in government wants us to find out. After all, there are a lot of DC denizens who made their way to Epstein Island for fantasies Mr. Roarke and Tattoo could never provide. At least not without rezoning the entire island.

Of course, the lack of hard facts with regards to the Epstein files is exactly what those in power want if only to hide their sins a little longer until they can no longer hide. Then, we’ll see a whole lotta mea culpas feigning ignorance as well as contrition. They won’t be sorry for what they did; they’ll be sorry they got caught, and that’s not gonna work for me, kids. What these men and women did under the veil of secrecy should be exposed and all legal avenues to sue them into oblivion should be implemented.

That means the party’s over, scumbags.

And speaking of scumbags, let’s talk about the politicians for a minute. Those who committed crimes against young girls and women should be expelled from office, don’t care which party they represent. Kick them out, make them lawyer up, and watch them get taken to the cleaners.

Now, for the rest of Congress. You’re playing political games with the lives of people who were truly innocent victims here. It’s a little late to start caring about them now, especially after you’ve done everything you can to discredit or diminish what steps are being taken. Democrats, you can claim Trump is going to order the Epstein Files be redacted so much stock in black Sharpie pens is going to skyrocket, but we don’t know that yet. What we do know is you gave zero fucks about this situation until you could pin it on Trump. Your “Party of Women” card has been declined. Take all the fucking seats.

And as for Republicans, you gave zero fucks about this until it could be pinned on Bill Clinton. Granted, Bill being a horndog at any given time is a sure thing, but you don’t get a pass for not fighting for the Epstein Files to be released on Day 1 of Trump’s first Presidency. You didn’t help, either, so take all the fucking seats, too. And try not to sit next to the Democrats. They’re a little touchy about being on a known pedophile’s speed dial.

And having him at fundraisers.

And having ties to one of the most popular Democrat Presidents ever.

And, you know, just generally being bitchy most of the time.

Regardless, I will not speak ill of the dead any more than I have here. Jeffrey Epstein is gone and the world is better for it. Now, comes the healing and what I hope will be a course correction on the moral side.

His victims deserve it.

New Sedition

Sometimes I look at what Democrats do and say “I can see where that makes sense.” Most of the time I shake my heads and say “What in the wide world of fuck are you doing?” Today is one of those times.

It started with a video put out by former military and intelligence folks currently serving in Congress. Their message was clear: enlisted military have no obligation to obey unlawful orders. Seems harmless enough, right?

Wellllll…this is where things get messy.

As a personal aside, I will admit my knowledge of military justice is as limited as the range on Nerf gun. Therefore, I am going off my understanding of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and welcome any corrections, words of encouragement, and rotten produce you are willing to send my way.

The aforementioned UCMJ is designed to deal with legal matters within the military so that they can be dealt with in a way that doesn’t disrupt their duties. Which is killing the enemy and/or breaking their shit while at the same time making sure the same doesn’t happen to us.

Anyway, there are provisions within the UCMJ dealing with unlawful orders, namely military personnel don’t have to follow them. And that’s what the Democrats in the video are expressing, so there’s no real harm, right?

That’s where the wonderful world of sedition comes into play. Our good friends at Merriam-Webster define sedition thus:

incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority

Our laws go into greater detail, but you get the drift. Sedition is a big no-no, which I would hope former military and intelligence personnel now serving in Congress understand. Then, President Trump entered the chat and accused the Democrats in the video of seditious acts. He even went so far as to say the punishment for sedition is death.

Unfortunately for him, he got it wrong. The actual punishment is possible fines and imprisonment, so there’s that. But is he wrong about the video being seditious?

Wellllll…he kinda is. The Democrats’ defense on this is they were just reminding our military they can refuse to obey unlawful orders, which tracks. But then I started wondering why now. This message is the kind of shit military personnel get drilled into their skulls during basic training. From a military/tactical standpoint, there’s nothing objectionable in reinforcing basic knowledge. Legally, the Democrats in the video are in the clear, too.

From a political standpoint, though, that’s where there may be a case for sedition. The President has taken actions many on the Left find objectionable, from sending in the National Guard to police city streets or making drug running boats into the world’s most expensive and addictive flotsam. This latter example is the one the Left seems fixated on at the moment, with some on the Left calling it murder.

As you might expect, the UCMJ kinda frowns on murder, so to float the idea that what the military is doing to drug runners is murder might weigh heavily on the heads and hearts of those brave men and women. (Still two genders, kids!) With what they endure on a daily basis, it’s only a matter of time before someone cracks and decides to defy the chain of command by refusing a direct order he or she believes to be illegal.

That little seed of doubt is all it takes for our military to weaken just enough to break. Unlike in the world outside the military, order is what keeps things moving. It is the first, last, and only line of defense against a fully dysfunctional family feud with heavy artillery.

And these Democrats who served our country know that, or at least should know that.

That’s where I think the sedition charge sticks, if it even sticks at all. Politicians are known for being slicker than a non-stick pan covered in baby oil, and since this is more of a political line of attack, there’s a good chance they are relatively safe legally.

That’s not to say I condone what these six Congresscritters did in the name of politics. When pressed to give examples of illegal acts, these motherfuckers sputter more than Speed Buggy. Instead, they mention they’ve talked to military personnel who just so happen to say what the Left’s narrative is at the moment. Pretty convenient, I’d say.

You know, if I was a complete dipshit.

The video wraps deception in an American flag and tries to pretend it’s just a friendly reminder when it has the potential to be a bunker buster to the heart of the world’s most powerful military. I’d say they should be ashamed of themselves, but I’m not sure there’s an ounce of shame among them.

And if I may be so bold, I want to give the President some advice here. First, stay off social media before you fact check what you’re going to say. No filter works great, but not when it comes to proclaiming a punishment that is more severe than it legally is.

Second, let’s try some alternative thinking here. Don’t charge these assholes with sedition. Instead, charge them with something else and make the punishment having them pull KP duty until the Rapture.