Every. Goddamned. Day.

Since January 20th, it's seemed like every goddamned day it's been something with the Cheeto-faced Shitgibbon currently occupying the White House. It's almost as if he's set a personal goal to totally dismantle the last hundred years of progress in this country via crayon-scribbled Executive Orders within his first hundred days in office.

If that's his agenda, he's doing a fairly good job at it.

I mean, I can't even open Twitter, look at my News Reader, or listen to NPR without being constantly assaulted with some felonious act that he, one of his Children of the Corn spawn, members of his demonic inner circle, or the Release the Kracken Republican Congress and Senate is doing, has done, or is planning on doing; things that if Hillary Clinton had even so much as fantasized would have already gotten her Impeached, removed from office and thrown in prison.

But yet with 45 for some reason all we hear is crickets and the sound of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan fighting over who gets to lick the Toupeed Jizztrumpet's anus next. Why the fuck is that? WHY THE FUCK IS THAT?!?

I mean at this point, it's easier to name people in Pussy Grabber's immediate family or his administration who aren't being investigated for one thing or another—and yet nothing seems to come of those investigations. WHERE ARE THE INDICTMENTS?!?

I suppose I should be thankful that we at least still have the ability to honestly report on and criticize the fucktard, and that brown-shirted thugs are not roaming the street pulling people from their homes in the dead of night to be shipped off to concentration camps—things that I can no longer say with any degree of certainty we will continue to enjoy if he continues on his present course of dismantling everything about this country we thought inviolate and immutable—all the while the parts of government created to prevent this from happening and prosecute them if they do are turning a blind eye to these transgressions.

And despite the egregious daily lies, the broken promises, and the abject failure that his first hundred days in office have proven themselves to be, a recent survey quoted something like 96% of the people who voted for the Shitstain-In-Chief would DO IT AGAIN.

Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE—and in fact the rest of the world who seem hell-bent on instilling their own versions of Cheetolini?

All I can figure out is that indeed, we have been taken over by shape-shifting aliens from Zeta Reticulii, à la Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

(photo courtesy of At the Altar of My Ego)

If that's not it, I would then have to admit that some parts of the Bible—notably the Book of Revelations—are true, and that 45 (despite his utter and complete incompetence) is the Anti-Christ so famously written about. I mean think about it: the ongoing cultural narrative is that this person would (at least initially) be popular and a leader of business or industry. Neither points can be outwardly dismissed with the Shitgibbon, and never before has one man so completely lacking in empathy for his fellow Americans and at odds with basic human decency—not to mention reality—held in his tiny orange hands the ability to start a conflagration that could wipe out all life on earth. And yet his Bible-toting followers fail to see the parallels.

Being the rational atheist I am, however, I cannot concede that this is his true identity (although he still could easily kill every living thing on the planet). I find it far more believable that while his ego orgasmed at the thought of assuming the title "President of the United States" when he announced his candidacy, I doubt he ever considered the duties and responsibilities that went along with it—or that he even seriously believed he would actually win.

But since he did win, it's obvious he discovered pretty quickly (although I'm sure he'd never admit it to anyone) that he was so ill-equipped for the job (remember that deer-in-the-headlights look he had when he met with Obama?) that he immediately surrounded himself with sycophants who stroked his fragile ego and told him he'd be the greatest president ever—but (unbeknownst to him) at best viewed him as nothing more than a puppet to enable their own aims that were far darker and posed a greater threat to the country than he would ever be on his own. Couple that with his obvious hatred of the Clintons and Obamas and all they accomplished—and the Presidency has given this sociopathic, narcissistic personality and his handlers (because there's no other word to describe them) full rein to destroy everything his predecessors created and freely loot the coffers of the country in the process.

Leaving Russian interference in the election out of the equation for the time being, the fact that he was elected at all—much less that he still has support—leaves me absolutely speechless. I'm sure future historians (whoever and whatever they may be) will undoubtedly point to our increasingly-poisoned (and soon to be more so with 45's gutting of the EPA) environment as the source for this mental aberration.

Not Once

So apparently we're not out of the woods yet. In spite of the fact that the Cheeto-faced, ferret-wearing Shitgibbon didn't have a clue where his warships were last week, the sabre-rattling has ramped up again between him and the other mentally unstable national leader with severe penis-anxiety.

The orange menace to humanity is apparently demanding that all 100 members of the Senate come to the White House on Wednesday for a briefing on North Korea. This is not normal.

Does this bother anyone other than me? What insanity has 45 got planned? His popularity is tanking (although fully 98% of his brain-dead supporters who were surveyed said they'd vote for him again, go figger), his Russian collusion is closing in, and even members of his own party are starting to talk about Impeachment.

Can't have that!

It's times like these that I almost wish I was still a spiritual person and believed that nothing which happened in the physical realm had any effect on the true luminous selves that occupy and animate these skin-suits. I'd be able to rationalize the potential destruction of human civilization and all life on earth as nothing more than a lesson-to-be learned. Horrible, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, probably inconsequential. Another instance of a species rising from the muck, reaching for the stars and then self-extinguishing. (Probably why we've never been contacted by other civilizations; 99.999% of them follow this same path, and the ones who somehow manage to outlive their childhood are so distant from each other they never make contact.)

But I can't think like that any more. I don't want that to be our path. I don't want to see all that humanity has accomplished disappear in a flash of light. And most importantly, I do not want myself or my friends and loved ones to be among the unfortunate survivors of a war started by the clearly deranged sociopath occupying the White House.

And so I worry, and I fret, and I go to bed every night wondering if I'm going to wake up the next morning to the horrific news that the Mangled Orange Hellbeast has touched off World War III…or if I will even wake up at all.

Quote of the Day

Donald Trump, champion and avatar of the shallow state, has won power because his supporters are threatened by what they don't understand, and what they don't understand is almost everything. Indeed, from evolution to data about our economy to the science of vaccines to the the threats we face in the world, they reject vast subjects rooted in fact in order to have reality conform to their worldviews. They don't dig for truth; they skim the media for anything that makes them feel better about themselves. To many of them, knowledge is not a useful tool but a cunning barrier elites have created to keep power form the average man and woman." ~ David Rothkopf, Professor of International Relations and Political Science

The Only Advantage…

…of being on the GOP/Trump Mailing List (because I actually responded and filled out their stupid surveys earlier this year) is that you get the most hilarious, pathetic money-begs, giving me real insight into what they think will appeal the Shitgibbon's base and successfully separate them from their money:

The only reason I haven't had my email removed from this nonsense is that I get to reply with the most wonderful graphics:

I know that no one will ever see these return emails, but it provides me a certain amount of satisfaction anyway.

Let's Face It…

It's obvious that 45 is planning on looting the treasury and destroying as much of the United States as he can before the inevitable day comes (and it will) that Lady Liberty rises up and squarely brings her sandaled foot down upon his pathetic orange head.

Pondering

In a normal world, in the event of a President resigning, becoming incapacitated, or being Impeached and removed from office, the order of succession is pretty clear. The Vice President would then step in to take control, and if he was unavailable then the Speaker of the House, and so on and so forth as called out in the table below:

(image courtesy Wikipedia)

All well and good. But the question I've been pondering lately is considering how deep Russian collusion may go in this administration, how far down the line of succession will we have to travel in order to get a Chief Executive who untouched by the scandal?

The VP has been conspicuously silent on the whole affair, but if this bit of reporting is to be believed, it's for good reason. Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House apparently has his own ties to Russia. Orrin Hatch? I haven't heard his name come up in anything regarding Vladimir Putin, so he may in fact not have the stench of this upon him, but who knows?

Obviously Hatch would not be my first choice for President, but after the dog and pony shit show of the last sixty days, I think I—and perhaps the vast majority of the rest of the country and the rest of the world—would breathe a collective sigh of relief at the prospect of actually having someone (regardless of his politics) who is at least a competent adult in the White House again.

If it is shown that the tentacles of Russian collusion reach further into our government than just the upper echelons of the Executive Branch, we are facing a truly unprecedented situation. If it can be proven that 45 and his gang of thugs were illegitimately installed during the last election, what can be done about removing the entire lot? Does the country call for a new election, or is it somehow awarded to the person who actually won the popular vote?

We're in uncharted waters here, folks.

We Tried To Warn You

But you were having none of it because we were "Libtards."

You voted for Trump because Clinton was going to be in Wall Street's pocket. Trump wants to repeal Dodd-Frank and eliminate the Fiduciary Rule, letting Wall Street run rampant and return to its pre-2008 ways.

You voted for Trump because of Clinton's emails. The Trump administration is running its own private email server.

You voted for Trump because you thought the Clinton Foundation was "pay for play." Trump has refused to wall off his businesses from his administration, and personally profits from payments from foreign governments—in direct violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution and grounds in and of itself for Impeachment.

You voted for Trump because of Clinton's role in Benghazi. Trump ordered the Yemen raid without adequate intel, and then slept during the actual raid and upon waking tweeted about "FAKE NEWS" while Americans died as a result of his carelessness and insouciance.

You voted for Trump because Clinton didn't care about "the little guy." Trump's Cabinet—in case you haven't noticed—is full of billionaires, and he just took away your health insurance so he could give them a multi-million-dollar tax break.

You voted for Trump because he was going to build a wall and Mexico was going to pay for it. American consumers will pay for the wall via import tariffs, if not outright tax increases.

You voted for Trump because Clinton was going to get us into a war. Trump has provoked our enemies, alienated our allies, and given ISIS a decade's worth of recruiting material.

You voted for Trump because Clinton didn't have the stamina to do the job. Trump hung up on the Australian Prime Minister during a 5 pm phone call because "it was the end of a long day and he was tired and fatigue was setting in."

You voted for Trump because foreign leaders wouldn't "respect" ClintonForeign leaders—both friendly and hostile—are now openly mocking Trump.

You voted for Trump because Clinton lies and he "tells it like it is." Trump and his administration lie with a regularity and brazenness that can only be described as shocking.

Let's be honest about what really happened.

The reality is that you voted for Trump because you got conned. Trump is a grifter and the American people were the mark. Now that you know the score, quit insisting that this con-man is on your side.

Sums Up What I've Been Feeling

From My New Plaid Pants:

This is Trump's America now. Don't you keep seeing that pop up in the worst places? (As if there's a good place for such sentiment.) But whenever somebody burns down a mosque or assaults a gay couple what do they say? "This is Trump's America now." And knowing the types they probably add a "Bitch" on for good measure.

And the stinger is they're right. We live in Trump's America now, and it feels like garbage. I wake up every morning sick to my stomach. I'm touchy on everything—short-tempered, unable to focus, and constantly believing the worst about everybody.

It's been hard, basically impossible, over the past several months not to let my worst instincts take hold. I know that's what nightmares-turned-flesh like Steve Bannon are looking for—they want us hopeless and demoralized. But there's only so many times you can remind yourself of that while simultaneously watching the world turn a blind eye to the bad people doing their bad things gleefully and seemingly repercussion-free before that hopelessness pervades and infects you no matter what you do.