Week 014 - The ShitShow

Headlines, Memes, Videos & the News Carousel

This is the Week that is and will always BE the 2nd FIRST WEEK; the 1st FIRST WEEK introduced Qanon; the 2nd FIRST WEEK introduces MAGA

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Abraham Lincoln

humor: 1 of 2

Week 001 recap

DEI & Racism & Hate

We expect it isn’t lost on anybody that DEI has become the “NEW” word for Ni**er, LGBTQ/Fa**ot, the Jews who “Hate” Israel, People with Accents, Brown but not quite Black People, Hollywood and/or New York City (other words for the wrong kind of Jew), Elitists – this is a broad spectrum slur, the ever-expanding & increasingly reviled “Fake News” , and most everyone who isn’t from “flyover country” – especially left-coasters.

Among our Trump supporters, this is seen as a “victory for free speech!”

As well as a “new”, weirdly understood concept of “merit based” hiring & employment opportunities.

Unless a military MAN is heterosexual – or a man successfully pretending to be heterosexual – please leave our military.

Emoluments & Corruption

Legacy norms from a foregone era when the government had “guardrails”.

How quaint.

We – the USA – have Custom President & First Lady Bitcoins for sale.

“Wow… just wow… They’re milking their base; I expected this! Now that it’s started, I expect to see this often…”

*****

“When the three wealthiest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government.”

Bernie Sanders

Project 2025

The most amazing thing about this entire Trumpian ascent is the brazen, “We’re going to tell you exactly what we intend to do and you’re not going to pay attention,” combined with a Trumpian set of lies, repeated for weeks & weeks & summed up thusly in a Jedi mind-trick manner:

“I don’t know anything about this, what did you call it, oh yeah, a project 2025 or something; it sounds crazy to me.”

Project 2025 Publishes Comprehensive Policy Guide, ‘Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise’ | The Heritage Foundation

PDF Manual: https://tinyurl.com/5fyzzxuh

“Hail! Victory!”

The Ascent of Musk – Presidential Bully Pulpit

As this is being written, the days in this first week offer glimpses into what will come.

What’s sorta crazy is that the realization of how quickly things could unravel with an unbridled Musk at the helm of the firing squad hadn’t begun to sink in with our group; even the few who have been expecting the worst will, it turns out, be surprised by the coming Blitzkrieg attack on “norms” associated with the rule of law, Civil Service guardrails, the Courts, and Unions.

It’s as if people never heard of Twitter becoming X.

The protection provided by Presidential pardons is a plus; unless Trump ends up using it as a cudgel to keep Musk in check.

Bye-Bye to Vivek Ramaswamy.

Executive Power

SCOTUS recently endowed Trump with the awesome authority to do “Whatever the hell he wants!” in his official capacity as POTUS.

In addition, Trump is bullying congress to give him the DOJ, the FBI and the DOD he desperately craves… and will very likely need to quell the very expected domestic uprisings as he invokes martial law by employing arcane + anachronistic + rarely invoked laws.

It’s expected Trump has a toolkit outfitted with all sorts of keys to unlock & misapply legal options, which may or may not work; eventually he’ll have a keychain with keys that work as intended.

Inauguration

Inaugural Address

We have plenty-o-billionaires in attendance.

Opinion: The events are all indoors because Trump is done with the folks who don’t know how to get inside.

The hand-o-trump will not rest upon the bible-o-god.

Inaugural Festivities

https://washington.org/DC-guide-to/presidential-inauguration-washington-dc

Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy, Rick Ross, Carrie Underwood face heat for performing at Trump’s pre-inauguration ball.

Liberty University’s Praise Choir faced no heat.

Trump does not enjoy the Bishop Budde sermon:

Trump demands an apology from the Episcopal Bishop after she made a direct appeal to him during the inaugural prayer service to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers.

Pardon Me

The list of pardons is interestingly unpopular amongst all but the MAGA faithful.

The best summation of the “pardon story” came from the voice of Trump:

“Fuck it! Release ’em all!”

Proud Boys & Oathkeepers are back on the streets.

Bye-Bye Biden

The last minute pardons earned derision from some; there’s an argument to be made why these comments were made:

“Good riddance!” + “Well, at least Trump is throwing out the Biden garbage!”

The “Hunter Pardon” is expected to give new life to the “laptop” debacle for the foreseeable future.

Executive Orders

Per various news investigations, we know many – most – of Trumps’ Executive Orders come straight out of the Project 2025 manual and from the people assigned to various governmental roles and agencies.

We’re wondering when Trump will shatter the 1,000 Executive Order ceiling.

Birthright Citizenship

A member points out that voiding the 14th Amendment – as the 3/5ths provision in Enumeration was voided without opposition – would, per the language of the 14th Amendment, reinstate slavery… potentially.

This came up: If a President Trump can repeal the 14th amendment; why not the 22nd?

Paris Climate Accords & WHO

The United states is no longer a member of these organizations.

NAZI Stuff

In defense of Elon, it’s claimed by many in the MAGA-VERSE that “Nazism doesn’t exist because everyone’s a Nazi!”

It’s easy to point at…

AOC, Obama, Hillary, and Kamala + other Dems being just as “Nazi” as Elon… per photo evidence of upraised palms.

Eliminate Bureaucrats + Obstacles

Per Project 2025: Fire 1,000’s & 1,000’s of Civil Service employees.

Threaten any politician threatening to block Cabinet appointees; especially Republicans.

Cabinet appointments, starting with Pam Bondi at DOJ, have taken on high-stakes importance following the embarrassing Gaetz debacle.

Trump won’t suffer another.

Kash Patel will be interesting.

Fire Inspectors Generals.

Eliminate Watchdog agencies.

Security Clearances

Bolton – “the warmonger” – is denied further Secret Service protection along with a slew of others – Pompeo, for instance – who lost favor with Trump.

A claim is made that this is the first of many to come.

Territorial Conquests

It’s not lost on us – or Trump – that history recognizes great rulers by the yardstick of territorial conquests.

Trump has, in the past, disparaged the notion Thomas Jefferson made a great deal with the Louisiana Purchase and it seems to be irritating to Trump to not be known as a great real estate dealmaker as a U.S. President.

We expect this will be an ongoing saga because, quite frankly, he appears to be serious about: