I think Gavin Newsom has finally found his winning message. It was never to be found in interviewing the likes of Steve Bannon or the late Charlie Kirk on his podcast. That played out as legitimizing right-wing extremism by platforming it. It did not go over well. But this new witty pushback of an eye for an eye, a meme for a meme, is working out very well. It perfectly encapsulates the idiocy of the political landscape in 2025. The president of the United States is sending out racist Mexican and Mariachi memes, featuring Hakeem Jeffries and the Governor of California says, hold my beer and gives us…this.
Micky Mike is better pic.twitter.com/Lb34LOfcK5
— Terry (@terrybythebay) October 1, 2025
It’s ridiculous but this is the level that Trump wants to reduce the playing field to. He wants this level of idiocy, else why would he create his insulting AI memes, to which Mike Johnson replied last night, “Not my style.” Welllll, it must be *your* style on some level, Mike, because Trump is the GOP standard bearer and you are the party in power right now. You run it, you own it, at least until 2028 and with Trump putting these signals up on his Truth Social account, maybe the intention is for Trump to stay in office until he leaves feet first.
I don’t get what this open mockery of the Black man is supposed to accomplish. It seems ill advised to me. But then consider the source, a 79-year-old fool with dementia and delusions of adequacy and then all makes a kind of sense.
WHY IS TED CRUZ PROTECTING CRIMINALS INSTEAD OF FUNDING HEALTH CARE. SICK! https://t.co/M4qjCSs51M
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 1, 2025
Not Cruz’s greatest moment, but certainly not surprising. And the beatdown goes on.
POOR JD! HIS SWEET BELOVED COUCH NOW COSTS MORE WITH THE TARIFFS! pic.twitter.com/dNvISJcSPq
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 30, 2025
In all truth, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I believe in fighting fire with fire and this is doing that. So on that level, I approve. On the other hand, the more that this level of feral combat becomes the norm in American politics, the more I fear it. I am cautiously pessismic that at some point in the not too distant future, MAGA will morph into something less toxic. That may be wishful thinking on my part.
In the meantime, Newsom is shining a spotlight on Trump’s idiocy and not backing down from it. Other leaders did and their sense of propriety was labeled as weakness. Now I fear that Newsom’s fighting back will be labeled as both siderism.
Maybe it’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. It certainly will be for the rest of Trump’s term — or maybe for the rest of his life. We won’t know until we get there.
Often we fight fire by putting it out with water.
But when it’s too strong, it’s sometimes best to fight fire with fire.
Well, it really depends on the kind of fire. A fire burning down a building in the middle of a major city . . . you’re better off trying to end it with water. A fire burning thousands of acres of scrub land and/or dry forests, and you’re better off using fire (to “break” the main fire).
In terms of politics, though, we’re definitely at the “fire” level, thanks to the last decade of Drumpfian politics. He’s insulted virtually everyone who’s not one of his sheep or who’s not kowtowed to his idiocy and, for too long, we were told to remember Michelle Obama’s “when they go low, we go high” mantra. But, Mrs Obama pretty much abandoned that mantra during last year’s campaign and we ALL need to do likewise. It’s fine to aspire to people’s better natures but, like dealing with any cancer, you can’t be anything but aggressive with it. When Drumpf is gone, every single one of his supporters and enablers needs to be rooted out like the vile, obnoxious weeds they are. Give THEM the kind of treatment they so desperately want inflicted on others.
If He were to come back now, even Jesus would be firmly on the “eye for an eye” side–screw that “turn the other cheek” nonsense (unless we’re putting a steel-toed boot to the “lower” cheeks).