POKING AROUND: 12-12-24

Irony died December 11, 2024

Warning: there are F-bombs ahead, because the shitty fucking news is really shitty this morning.

86 years after naming Adolf Hitler “Man of the Year for 1938" - yeah, after Kirstallnacht, after Munich, after the Anschluss, after the Night of the Long Knives - Time Magazine (of which I only became aare was still in existence earlier this year, now published by some corporation that keeps these legacy irrelevances going for the people who are unaware we’ve been in the 21st century for 24 years) has named Donald J. Trump “Person of the Year for 2024" - yeah, after the January 6 seditious insurrection, family separation at the border, and every other goddamned craptacular thing this worthless piece of shit motherfucking traitor and his goon squad have done to the country that defeated Adolf Hitler 80 years ago next April.

Kari Lake has found employment! Unfortunately, the job she got was to fuck up the Voice of America, turning it into Trump propaganda rather than a voice for democracy. I can’tthink of anything else to say about this dumb fucking Santa Monica New Age yuppie bimbo.

Mark Zuckerberg, the fuckup who fucks up everything he touches, has decided he’s not done with politics. He’s offered Trump a million dollar bribe - er I mean “contribution” to the inauguration fund scam Trump has been running, which is unaccountable to anyone other than Trump’s accountants, the profits from which will go directly in Fatso Fatass’s pocket. “Please Mr. President, don’t have your new guy at the FTC come after me, I’m doing my best to make sure Facebook is only used by your Nazis and the dumbass old boomers who still trade cat photos with each other. Please! I’ll even make sure the Russian bots can work without any problem.”

North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday enacted a law over the governor's veto that diminishes the powers of his successor and other Democratic statewide winners in the Nov. 5 elections, in a 72-46 vote. More than 150 opponents to the bill gathered in the gallery and disrupted the proceedings, chanting "shame" during the vote; they continued to yell as they were escorted out.

Police arrested one woman who refused to leave, on charges of trespassing, resisting arrest and violating building rules. I love those people. We need more just like them.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday he would "fight to the end" as his own political party shifted closer to voting with the opposition to impeach him over his short-lived martial law order that threw the U.S. ally into turmoil. In a lengthy televised address, he alleged that North Korea had hacked South Korea's election commission, casting doubt on his party's landslide election defeat in April. (The vast right wing conspiracy strikes again!) The leader of his ruling People Power Party said the time had come for Yoon to resign or be impeached by parliament. Late on Thursday, six opposition parties led by the Democratic Party submitted a bill for Yoon's impeachment to parliament. A vote is expected on Saturday.

According to Semafor, Ro Khanna “thinks the ‘just resist Trump’ faction has been discredited.” What do you expect from the congress critter from Silly Con Valley?

The Trump administration intends to rescind a long-standing policy that has prevented ICE agents from arresting undocumented people at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals or events such as funerals, weddings and public demonstrations without approval from supervisors, according to three sources familiar with the plan. Trump plans to rescind the policy as soon as the first day he is in office, according to the sources. This shit’s getting real, people. We are going to see it happen.

Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s largest weapons supplier, has categorically denied rumors that President-elect Donald Trump plans to cancel the recently signed $1 trillion contract for the F-35 fighter program. The company stated, “This is false reporting and fake news.” Speculation arose after a report that Trump allegedly informed Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet of his intent to terminate the deal. “China is winning the fighter race while Lockheed sends executives to DEI camps,” a source close to Trump was quoted as saying. The rumors were further fueled by public criticism from Real President Elmo, who has been vocal in his skepticism about the F-35 program.“The F-35 design was broken at the requirements level because it was required to be too many things to too many people. (True!) This made it an expensive and complex jack of all trades, master of none. (Also true!) Success was never in the set of possible outcomes. And manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones anyway. Will just get pilots killed.” (Looking at the war in Ukraine, this argument is also accurate.) As they say, “A stopped clock is right twice a day.”

Susan Collins sounds ready to screw us all over again. After expressing “concerns” by the rape allegation against Hegseth, Collins met with him Wednesday. She described the meeting as a “good, substantive discussion” from NATO to rampant sexual assault in the military. Collins ultimately declined to formally endorse Hegseth’s nomination, saying she’d wait for the Pentagon and FBI to complete their background checks before making a decision. In 2018, Collins said she’d make a decision on confirming Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh based on an FBI background check. And the rest is history! We’ve seen this movie before. (I am going to post a longer piece on how Trump is going to force all his nominees through the Senate later today - it’s amazing the kind of threats you can make when you’re backed by the $300+ billionaire Space Nazi.)

A Republican former House member and three current members of Congress from Utah invited a Jan. 6 defendant to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Jan. 6 defendant Russell Taylor organized a group of “fighters” to travel to Washington, D.C. Last year, Taylor pleaded guilty to a count of obstruction of an official proceeding and cooperated with the government against members of the Three Percenters militia group. Taylor, prosecutors wrote, went to the Capitol led a mob that overran a police line while he was "wearing an exposed knife on top of a bullet proof chest plate and carrying bear spray, a hatchet, and other weapons in his backpack." Yeah, I won’t be watching this inauguration either.

The massive National Defense Authorization Ac that cleared the House on Wednesday includes a ban on gender-affirming care for children of service members, a provision that sparked opposition from the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee and many others in the party. The bill passed 281-140. 200 Republicans and 81 Democrats voted yes, while 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voted no. What part of “Vote No On Everything” do these Vichy traitors not get?

Manchin and Sinema gave their final middle finger as they leave the Senate. Both senators, in their own dramatic way, voted to defeat the nomination of Lauren McFarren for another term on the National Labor Relations Board. Sinema showed up for her first Senate vote since the Thanksgiving holiday and voted "no" on a procedural vote to kill McFarren's nomination. With Manchin absent in the Senate, and the vote tied at 49-49, a potential tie-breaking vote from Vice President Harris was possible. But Manchin raced across town from a previous engagement to deliver the fatal blow, 50-49. Had this not happened, Democrats would have had control of the NLRB for the first two years of Trump 2.0; instead, Republicans will be able to seat two Republican comissioners next year, cementing GOP control of the NLRB for the next six years.

Thanks a lot you two motherfucking traitors. I’m sure you’ll be well compensated by your corporate overlords for saving them the expense of having to fight unions. Too bad Manchin’s boat doesn’t explode tonight, and Sinema drowns in a winemaking vat.

On that note, I’m done. Pay no attention to the retching you hear from that man behind the screen.

There has been a slowdown of people stepping up as paid subscribers. It would still be very helpful if 150 free subscribers would step up and become Paid Subscribers. Consider it a Holiday present to Opposition. The rent and security increase are still set to start on New Year’s Day here.

Thank you very much to those who have already done so.

Comments are for paid subscribers.