POKING AROUND AT THE END OF YEAR THREE

As we come to the end of the third year, er, I mean week, of Maladminisration II (aka the Donnie and Dodgy Show) it’s good to remember that there are 634 days to the midterms. We have to hold on and avoid being swept downstream by the firehoses of bullshit and baloney, and see that the craziness (Gaza Estates, etc) are just squid ink to hide the fact they are attempting an autogolpe (google it), as Paul Krugman explained in his newsletter this morning. His advice is pay attention to everything and ask, “does this help the autogolpe?” If yes, it’s important to fight it - this is a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff now. We cannot stop what we are doing; we have to answer the baloney and avoid the bullshit. It isn’t easy but nothing worthwhile - like a democratic, constitutional republic - comes cheap. At least we’re not hiding in the wintry woods of eastern Pennsylvania, freezing in the snow - and remember, those guys won the most important victory of the Revolution by hanging in there. We can win too. The American public is waking up and they aren’t liking what they’re seeing. Stand tall!

And so...

From the Department of If you Believe This You’ll Believe Anything: At Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, Antichrist Dilbert proclaimed he now “much more strongly” believes in God (despite no evidence that he has appeared in a church in the past four years other than for “official events”). He then proceeded to demonstrate his newfound “Christian beliefs” by discussing his own mortality, recalling the assassination attempt against him last year at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “God was watching me. I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it.” Yes indeed, “God’s Anointed One.”

From the Department of There Can’t Be Too Much Bad News For Elmo: According to Morning Consult: “For the first time since tracking began in November, more voters disapprove than approve of Musk’s appointment to lead the unofficial ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (46% to 41%). It marks a 10-point decline in net approval of Trump’s decision to elevate him, with most of the movement materializing since Trump took office on Jan. 20. The lion’s share of the movement against him has been driven by independent voters. Compared with our first survey in November testing his involvement on Trump’s team, approval of his placement has fallen 8 points among independent voters (to 28%), while disapproval increased 12 points (to 53%). Our tracking also shows voters have changed their views of him personally. Since November, voters have gone from almost equally likely to view him favorably or unfavorably to giving him a net favorability rating 10 points underwater. Our latest survey shows 49% hold negative views of him compared with 39% who view him positively.” And only 29% of Republicans want the King of Dodgy dodging around in Mom’s Social Security Account and their tax returns. That’s down 21 points from December.

From the Department of The Pogrom Will Continue: The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it was suing the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois over their sanctuary policies. The Bimbo of Belsen is doing exactly what she promised the GOP dimbulbs in the Senate she wouldn’t do.

From the Department of What Will RFK Jr Do About this? The new really brutal strain of flu which the new flu shot does not protect you has now killed 8,300 people to date during this flu season. Hospitalizations as of last week stand at 190,000. These figures come from the CDC. Given that the agency was ordered not to make public any data; given that, it’s surprising the CDC still functions and keeps records about the new threats to public health. The bird flu is wiping out flocks across the country. Those egg prices everyone was so worried about back in November are up to $5/dozen nationally, and $9/dozen in California, assuming you can find any. I haven’t personally seen any eggs at the two markets I shop at since early last week. Thank goodness we writers can say “What is this social distancing you speak of,” since it’s the way I live. Then there’s the news CDC posted and took down about not letting your cat outside because they can get it, and there is evidence of cat-human transmission of the virus.

From the Department of Mayor Pete For Senate: Semafor reports that Michigan Democrats are open to the idea of Pete Buttigieg running for Senate In a new poll, Buttigieg was the best-liked potential candidate among likely Democratic primary voters, with 77% viewing him favorably. AG Dana Nessel drew favorable views from 72% of the potential primary electorate. No other Democrat came close. Retiring Sen. Gary Peters said: “He has high name ID. And probably, from his previous run for president, also has got a network of fundraising. I would certainly expect he’d be able to raise a lot of money. So certainly he’d be very strong.” Sounds good to me. TAFM readers in Michigan should let us know what the roots really think.

From the Department of The Cruelty Is the Point: A day after Dilbert banned transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women’s sports, the NCAA changed its policy to do the same. NCAA President Charlie Baker announced, “The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes. We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.” In December, Baker told Congress that he was aware of fewer than ten transgender athletes—.002 percent of all collegiate athletes in the U.S. On Wednesday, Dilbert said transgender athletes wouldn’t be allowed at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He also lied again that two Olympic boxers at last year’s Paris Games were transgender - both were born female.

From the Department of Of Course He Did It For Elmo: Dilbert’s dramatic and vile dismantling of USAID came as USAID’s inspector general was conducting an investigation involving Musk’s company, Starlink. In three steps, Trump’s administration killed the investigation that was sure to embarrass Elon’s company. Back in September, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Inspector General Paul K. Martin testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability. The name of the hearing was “Foreign Policy, Interrupted: How Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Blunt America’s Impact Abroad.” Martin testified to the committee, “In addition to another ongoing audit on direct budget support, we are examining USAID’s Energy Security Project, USAID’s oversight of Starlink Satellite Terminals provided to the Ukrainian government, and USAID’s efforts to protect against sexual exploitation and abuse in Ukraine. When completed, we look forward to sharing the findings of these reports with the subcommittee.”But the investigation involving Musk’s company is now effectively dead; whatever damning information the investigation would have revealed about Starlink has been covered up for good. Proof once again that what I learned 50 years ago is still true: in politics, there are never any coincidences.

From the Department of Why Would You Be Surprised At This?: Last night, Dilbert signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court. The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court has “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The order states: “The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC.”

From the Department of Senator Fettermanchin Watch: After voting “yes” for the Bimbo of Belsen, the very-independent Senator Fetterman announced yesterday that he will vote “No” on confirming Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. He posted on Xitter (that’s pronounced “shitter”): “I have met with most of the cabinet nominees and have carefully watched their confirmation hearings. After considering what’s at stake, I have voted against moving forward to the confirmation of Ms. Gabbard and Mr. Kennedy, and will be voting NO on their confirmations.”

From the Department of Just Say No To the Fat Old Fuck: Federal Elections Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub received a missive from the White House occupier yesterday. Dated January 31, the letter said: “You are hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately. Thank you for your service on the commission.” Last night Chair Weintraub posted on Xitter (That’s pronounced “shitter”): “Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner & Chair of @FEC. There’s a legal way to replace FEC commissioners—this isn’t it. I’ve been lucky to serve the American people & stir up some good trouble along the way. That’s not changing anytime soon.” Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Joe Morelle said , “The President’s actions demonstrate his disdain for accountability under the law. This onslaught against the FEC—when that agency is currently reviewing complaints against the President—reeks of corruption. Despite this disturbing act, I thank Chair Ellen Weintraub for her years of service to the Commission and the country.” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin sounded off on Weintraub’s “illegal dismissal”: “Trump’s political purge continues with this illegal dismissal of Democracy Ellen Weintraub from the FEC.”

From the Department of Has Elmo Touched The Third Rail of American Politics?: Despite the court orders and the growing negative publicity about Elmo and his Dodgy Department’s Children’s Crusade, the child soldiers are continuing to move through the federal bureaucracy. A couple of the antisocial teenage basement dwellers showed up yesterday at the Social Security Administration. Elmo’s just ignorant enough not to realize that fucking around here will get him the crowds of Republicans carrying torches and pitchforks to join the Democrats and string him up by his heels from the nearest gas station sign. Even Dilbert’s not stupid enough to let this go on - it could be the straw that ends up with Dilbert throwing everyone’s favorite Unreconstructed Afrikaner Fuckface under the Cybertruck.

From the Department of Just Another Hack Who flunked The IQ Test Low Enough: Stop the Steal lunatic DC acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin - the man who promised Elmo he’d arrest all those terrible federal employees trying to sand in the way of God’s (er, Elmo’s) work - continues to never disappoint when you’re looking for sheer buffoonery. After the colossal fail of dismissing Jan. 6 charges against a defendant he was still representing, the court clerk notified him that he can’t withdraw from the case because he failed to renew his membership in the DC Bar and is not in good standing in DC federal court. Not only that, but the colossal stupidity of The Man Who Found A Law License In His Morning Cereal has been referred to the Missouri Bar Association for disciplinary action. This MAGAt is about to find out what Fuck Around And Find Out really means. They are all so fucking stupid! But then, only the stupid would be stupid enough to want to work for “the most determined ignoramus I ever met.”

From the Department of Patrick Soon-Shiong Strikes Again: LA Times opinion columnists Robin Abcarian, Jackie Calmes, and L.Z. Granderson - all liberal writers - have been told by Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong to reduce their output to one column per week, which he will approve. This guy is doing a superb job of driving the stake through the heart of the neighborhood advertiser formerly known as the Los Angeles Times. I’ve read Robin for so long I can’t remember when I didn’t; she’s commented on movies, politics, local culture, and why the bike lanes here in the SFV are fucking ridiculous (In 10 years I have never seen anyone using one of them, other than the Bike Bros on Sunday mornings, but 10% of the street surface is given over to a non-existent 0.01% of the population who don’t travel by bicycle) among other topics, always knowledgeably. Hopefully these good folks will take the Paul Krugman Path and show up here on Substack.

Finally, a good thing:

From the Department of Don’t Ever Let This Shit Get Past: Last week the National Cryptological Museum at Ft. Meade, MD, responding to Dilbert’s order terminating DEI initiatives across the federal government, taped sheets of paper over plaques that celebrate women and people of color who had served the NSA, which intercepts overseas conversations and breaks foreign government codes. For instance, did you know that Genevieve Grotjan broke the Japanese Purple Code? Although she had a degree in mathematics, the 26 year old was unable to find employment as a math teacher and was working as a railroad annuity statistician when she was hired by the US Army Signals Intelligence Service (SIS). She was assigned to the “Purple” Team. After 18 grueling months, the code remained unbroken. Finally, in September 1940, Grotjan made a discovery that changed the course of history. She was the first to find the key to “Purple” by noting patterns, repetitions, and cycles in intercepted encrypted transmissions, a breakthrough that enabled the SIS to build an analog machine to decrypt Japanese diplomatic messages throughout WWII (including the Japanese Declaration of War against the US and the message that led to the death of Admiral Yamamoto when his plane was intercepted and shot down). The first victory was the decoding in November 1940 of the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy and Japan, forming “the axis.” “Genevieve Grotjan’s contribution to the Allied victory cannot be measured, especially in the number of lives saved” - as the museum itself said. When Larry Pfeiffer, who spent two decades at NSA, saw an image of the plaques covered with brown paper, he was stunned. He reposted the picture, as did retired NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden. Many former NSA workers were furious. The museum uncovered the plaques and said last Sunday that it had made a mistake. On Monday, Pfeiffer and other NSA retirees went to the museum to find out what had happened. Rob Johnson, who worked for the agency for more than half a century, told the public relations staff he was appalled. "As much as this administration eschews truth and honesty, it is important that we not allow it to erase history." Smack the traitors in their damn faces - every damn time.

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