The first time around the Trump Transition was a “Charlie Fox”, the worst in modern history. However we are once again seeing the old adage of ‘no matter how bad it is, it can always get worse’ play out. Team Trump, from the epicenter at Mar A Lago, to Capitol Hill to unheard of places in the land of MAGA is at war with itself. If you’re part of the HALF of the country who voted for something better (as in a Kamala Harris administration and a Democratically controlled Congress) that’s actually a good thing. The more time these asshats spend fighting each other, the less they can spend on fighting against the best interests of the United States and its citizens.
Look, you’ve read/heard the stories about the chaos down there in Florida. It’s a ‘Mayhem at Mar A Lago’ type thing at times. You have Trump’s chosen Chief of Staff Susie Wiles (remember her?) and a few, very few professionals trying to get things organized to hit the ground running. But the crazies starting with Elon Musk are the ones with Trump’s ear. He’s made some Cabinet picks based on his ‘Crazy Contingent’ egging him on that have been shall we say problematic. That’s what you’d expect with no actual vetting. Gaetz went down in flames quickly. Other nominations are in trouble. Trump can’t seem to decide whether he wants Elon around or far away. Add in the collection of those going there to kiss the fake gold ring. Or, if Trump is in one of his moods his fat orange ass. Add it all up and it’s chaos. About what you’d expect only worse than we imagined it would be.
Soon, Trump will be back in DC squatting in our White House. With Capitol Hill down the street, and with both chambers controlled (barely) by the GOP. The House will have an even slimmer majority than last time. You want chaos? When the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3 there’s real doubt the GOP will be able to elect a Speaker. Yep, Moses Mikey Johnson’s grip on the gavel is tenuous. What’s the big deal you ask? Well, until a Speaker is chosen the House can’t do jack-sh*t. Including convene for the Joint Session on Jan. 6 when the Electoral Votes are counted! People keep talking about how it took five days to name Johnson when Kevin McCarty was voted out. However I can’t help think of the even longer debacle that took place when McCarthy himself was chosen as Speaker! I’d say odds are House Republicans will sort things out before Inauguration Day and the Electoral Votes will be counted and certified. Then again with this bunch of asshats who knows?
Over in the Senate which prides itself on being sooooooo much more “adult” things will be calmer but don’t count out the possibility of antics there. Moscow Mitch McConnell has turned over Leadership and in John Thune we can at least say things could be a lot worse. However, there’s a growing number of asshats in the Senate too. Political Performance Artists that aren’t much better than the ones like MTG or Bobo over in the House. Will Thune be able to mostly control the Cruz, Hawley, Paul and (Ron) Johnson types? I rather doubt it. Yet some of them are making noises about defying Trump’s will on some of his more controversial Cabinet picks. Hegseth and Gabbard are at the top of the WTF? list. And Patel as FBI Director is going to be a rough ride. Trump’s electoral “coattails” are no sure thing. They never have been and Senators, who get six year terms know that. So we could be looking at some open warfare next month and beyond.
On top of all this we’ve seen Musk and Ramaswamy lay down a marker that’s majorly pissed off the rank and file MAGAs. This whole business about the “tech bros” who financed Trump’s bid this year wanting to IMPORT workers isn’t going over well at all. And Musk is using his Xsitter platform to talk down to the regular MAGAs. Things have gotten ugly and fast. This is demolition derby stuff, or circular firing squad, or turds in the punchbowl with lit cherry bombs swirling around. We of course understandably want to stand well back and just let it happen.
Trump actually LOVES this. His entire career his management style has been to foster subordinates fighting with each other. It’s far from unique to him. Many a boss, and even leader of a country has employed such a ‘strategy.’ Sort of a keep them fighting amongst themselves so they can’t go trying to take ME out thing. Many a boss has limped by, at least for a long while (sometimes long enough to retire in great comfort) but for top political leaders including Heads of State it just doesn’t tend to end well. Of course, for a country that can mean an awful lot of damage not just to the country in question but other countries as well.
Anyway given the mess and the periodic explosions that will come from the new Trump Cesspool the instinct to just stay well back is understandable. As I said at the beginning of this piece the more they fight with each other the less they are fighting the needs of the people they are supposed to be serving. On the other hand this mess can actually become a tool if we can figure out a way to at least some of the time effectively wield it. Think of it this way:
Trump is pretty simple. Emotionally he’s a spoiled toddler. Give him what he wants, like effusive praises and goodies and he’s not only ok to be around but sometimes nice. Fail to do so and he becomes pouty, petulant, surly and sometimes vindictive. America’s enemies realized this about Trump before our friends did. And MAGAs? Most haven’t figured it out. Or have been told and refuse to accept the truth – likely because it’s human nature to not want to admit mistakes. MAGAs, from the average Billy Bob or Bobbie Sue all the way up to some rich and powerful people including on Capitol Hill also just love “owning the libs” even when it comes at a cost. But mostly they just get caught up in the fun of it.
That I think is the proverbial ‘tool’ we might wield. How to tweak Trump and set him off is well known. The Lincoln Project (and others) showed how it’s done. By the way is it me or have they gone completely silent? I’d like to think they are hard at work creating ads along the lines of what I’m advocating. Trump is notoriously thin-skinned. We’ve learned his pal(?) Elon Musk is the same way. Musk (and Ramaswamy) are clearly upset about MAGAs ripping into them. They seem startled that rank and file MAGAs don’t like being talked down to. Belittled. Told they are unqualified, lazy etc. (Only Trump gets to be critical of them!) Now we have quite the spat going on. Then there’s Trump finding himself following his habit of listening to the last person he speaks with and making off-the-cuff appointments to key positions. BAD appointments that cause even fellow Republicans to shudder. Having to pretend all is well down at Mar A Lago and everyone’s one big happy Trumpy family isn’t the kind of thing Trump is cut out for. He wants to sit down there and be worshipped until his “Triumphal Return” to DC. Instead, when not getting his fat ass kissed he’s watching TV and even RWNJ outlets are often critical!
I’m actually surprised at how few public meltdowns there have been from Trump. I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing some epic ones and soon. But also from Musk and others and therein lies an opportunity if we can seize it. I’ve gone into (only) some of the various factions of Trump World and their infighting. Many important Republicans are trying to navigate grabbing all they can now, in the short term but some are looking long-term. As in 2028. And a few are trying to do both. Since they are already at each other’s throats, what we all need to do is figure out how to provoke them to go after each other even more.
Remember, Trumps WANTS chaos on his team. It’s the way he’s always been and even if he were to realize it means not accomplishing much of what he wants he is too set in his ways to change even if he wanted to. However he mostly ran for President to stay out of jail, and enjoy the side-benefits of the perks of the job. The fancy house HE doesn’t have to pay to maintain, the luxury travel, getting to play the big-shot at ‘bigly’ events and so on. Enough damage will be done by his administration he can take his perverse pleasure in having SUCKERED his MAGAs again.
However Congress Critters have their own power and perks and once they are in their positions and realize there’s far more than that not-so-great-as-it-seems (to regular folks like you and me) salary they are loathe to leave. Also, unlike Trump they have to mingle more with the folks back home. Doing what Trump and the hardest core conservatives want to do to government would not go over well in red districts and states any more than in blue ones. Getting the various factions on the Hill to fight with each other, with Trump and with his Cabinet and informal advisors like Musk – getting all of these asshats to go after each other is what we need to be doing.
So amplify the fights on social media when they take place. Let’s replace “Dems in Disarray” with Republicans in Ruins’ or some other slogan. That should be our goal the next two years. Keep the second Trump administration (and Congress while we’re at it) from getting it’s footing by keeping them fighting amongst themselves.
Every goddamn body with power in DC is RICH!!! I wonder what would happen if the almost half of the country that tried to stop Trump SUDDENLY STOPPED FILING TAXES???? There aren’t enough resources to go after that large of a resistance. Crazy? Is it any crazier than watching our democracy turned into a fascist state? Is it crazy to stop funding the murder of children? Is it crazy to do whatever is required to stop this EVIL? Sure it would be risky. Getting in your car is provably risky. If you think living under trump’s regime isnt risky…put down the crack pipe. Thinking the rich Democrats are EVER going to be willing to sacrifice ANYTHING to stop these nazis is crazier than dropping acid, attending a Hells Angels rally, and talking shit. No… we are royally phucked if anyone thinks they’ll find a way out. THEY HAD GODDAMN NINE YEARS AND A MOUNTAIN OF CRIMES TO PROSECUTE, AND COULDNT GET THE PHUCKING JOB DONE. Comfortable people always want SOMEONE ELSE to hit the beach. When I was confronted with threats in the pen…I had already decided what my weapon would be even if I had to improvise. That being said, if I wasn’t willing to go the distance, that weapon would only be used against me. I also knew I wasn’t going to get help. No. This country of comfortably numb, half educated, faux patriots, are going to sit back and hope those with six figure incomes, expensive homes, and large bank accounts are going to fight to save our freedoms. My only question is: where the phuck have all of you been the past decade? Did you hide your eyes by putting your own head up your on ass? Apparently so. Now send in that donation to the failed party so they can fail again. At least the Republicans know you don’t bring arguments to a knife fight. YOU BRING A GODDAMN GUN, and you don’t cry a tear over the dead body.
I saw a sign on a Synagogue that reads; Like a kidney stone, this too shall pass. As far as I’m concerned they are referencing our resident elect.
Trump and Musk are only interested in welcoming only skilled intelligent immigrants to work in the U.S. . … It’s not like they will be taking over Maga jobs, after all the illegals are deported there will be plenty of Maga jobs available.
Yeah, but the problem is the MAGAts want the pay that the “skilled intelligent immigrants” would get–if Musk and Ramaswamy actually paid them what “real ‘Muricans” would get rather than the quasi-slave wages slightly better than those folks would get staying in their home countries–and they quite honestly don’t want the hard-labor jobs the deported folks currently have. (We’ve already seen that in the red states which rely on the kind of hard-labor jobs that were filled with those illegal immigrants–jobs like agriculture and construction.)
Vivek.and the Muskrat truly awful.pink rock duo. Let’s look.at their claims about America. Elon would never have gotten laid if he wasn’t disgustingly rich. He is ugly and obnoxious and most intelligent women despise him. He hasn’t invented anything, just bought companies and made his ugly.mug the brand of them. Better men do the actual work.
As for Video attacking American culture– he needs to shut the #@*& up. In India, men are allowed to take and murder women who dare to get educational and ride busiest they are tried for their crimes, they usually walk. It isn’t unusual for men to.marry, keep.the dowry, and set their wife on fire, with their mother’s help. And lepers aren’t treated with antibiotics in hospitals, which is why the disease is almost nonexistent here. Instead, they’re tossed out to.fend for themselves and die. Great culture you have there,,Vivek. And that’s before we get to.the caste system, where it is very likely some extremely intelligent people are kept from.education and achievement.
I’d like to.see both these @$$holes shipped home and never allowed to visit the U.S. ever again.And take Fat Donnie with them.
T
Good points. I knew a young gorgeous psychiatrist from India. She had two small children. She agreed to an arranged marriage to keep from being disowned and cut out of a very large inheritance. She eventually ran off with the CEO of the hospital who was also married with a teenager. Even with an MD…she remained as property in her culture. Hey…are you women who voted for Trump or who sat back and didn’t vote, paying attention? You’re closer to being property than the coeds I knew at Carolina in the early 70s. Congrats. Your indifference and ignorance is paying off. Good times.
🤣 Denis, your headline photo is hilarious and apropos! Well done!
It frequently feels that Trump selects his appointees on whether they look like they are from central.casting for the role. Secretary of Defense? Petie looks like how Fat Donnie thinks a general should look. The women have to be conventionally pretty: expertise doesn’t matter. Bratty Matty had that square jawed determined look Trump envisioned an AG should have.
Trump doesn’t care,about competence,,knowledge or experience. He wants telegenic personalities, just as you’d expect a,former game show host would.