I couldn’t give a shit about Trump flipping off a heckler. Sure, it is grossly inappropriate, an embarrassment and an awful example of what kind of buffoon we are dealing with. And it is undeniable that it also puts the MAGA Minion hypocrisy on glorious display – “the president gave an appropriate and unambiguous response” – when you consider the heads that would have exploded on the right had Biden or Obama done the same thing. (It is of course fantastically offensive that the heckler was suspended by his company but the 800K he has been given should take the sting out. Can I go heckle Trump, please?) No, I don’t give a shit because: it is no less than we have come to expect and we can’t be surprised – the depths of his offensive behavior know no bottom; while we should probably continue to note such transgressions they are essentially irrelevant to what is happening; every moment spent on hand-wringing and indignation is time lost focusing on the things that he and his goons are doing that are more than just ugly and offensive. Let’s review by topic.
Foreign policy:
- His ongoing threats towards Greenland are outrageous but believable enough to cause multiple allies, up to and including France and the UK – to send troops to the Danish territory
- Imposed tariffs against said countries that don’t support his plane to annex a foreign territory
- Sends an armed force to abduct the leader of Venezuela – and his wife. At least forty casualties, no congressional approval
- This was a bald seizure of oil – he met with Big Oil execs before he met with the provisional government. And the oil companies don’t even want it!
- Proceeding with Phase Two of the Gaza plan despite going one for five on the goals of phase one. And hundreds of Gazans have been killed by Israel since the “cease fire”.
- Threatening strikes in Iran if they don’t stop cracking down on protesters. The irony here knows no bounds.
- Withdrew US from 66 international organizations focused on such worthless stuff as climate change, counter-terrorism, global health, education and women’s empowerment
DoJ
- Criminal investigation of Jerome Powell surrounding use of funds for renovation of Federal Reserve headquarters – among a collection of eye-rollers this is a standout
- Casual claims of leftist conspiracy and paid agitators without a single shred of evidence
- Criminal investigation of the governor of Minnesota and mayor of Minneapolis for conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement – BS, PhD (bullshit piled higher and deeper)
- Locked state investigators and judiciary out of investigation into the killing of Renee Good, but are Investigating her widow – six federal prosecutors quit over this one
** the only person not being investigated in MN is the killer – WTF?
- Investigation of six sitting members of Congress for sedition(!) for reminding members of the armed forces that they can disobey illegal orders – DoD is helping with this one by trying to demote and cut the pay of Mark Kelly. You remember him, war vet and former astronaut Senator from AZ. This is not only 1st amendment rights infringement but those “traitors” are 100% correct as per the military code of conduct.
- Utterly and completely fucking ignoring a congressional order to release the Epstein files – remember those?
Domestic policy
- His so-called healthcare plan – if a two page brief with no specifics that includes things that already exist and the reinstatement of something he previously did away with could be called a plan – is laughable
- Cuts finding to any states with sanctuary cities and claims it has nothing to do with all of them being blue states
- Blocking or ending funding for wind power projects while ordering that coal plants that were aging out to be kept open despite it going to cost billions of dollars
- Unemployment, manufacturing growth and inflation are all in the shitter while he claims the “greatest economy ever”.
Minneapolis – The federal occupation and terrorizing of a US city under the guise of immigration enforcement. There is really no other honest way to describe what is happening in Minneapolis.
- Suspension of due process, racial profiling, illegal entry, illegal use of force are all on full display on a daily basis
- These are the only – only – members of law enforcement at any level that are permitted to mask and not provide proof of affiliation on request
- Proof of citizenship on demand – “papers please” – with no probable cause is so far beyond the pale it has disappeared over the horizon
- Offering to back off or help arrested family and friends in exchange for info on people of color reeks of McCarthyism
- Warrantless door-to-door sweeps, which Noem continues to label “targeted action” is straight USSR shit
- Over three thousand federal law enforcement officers from an entire alphabet of agencies, which is more than all the local and state officers combined with whom they are making zero attempt to coordinate
- They are expanding and supplementing this occupation force with undertrained – 47 days, less in some cases – recruits lured with a $50K signing bonus and many not passing background checks or drug tests
Everyone has been talking a lot about his mentioning the Insurrection Act, and for some reason it was news when he said he “does not plan to right now, but will if I need to”. I don’t get this. I know he would really love to as a demonstration of his power and to satisfy his seemingly insatiable need for cruelty and brutality, but really what would be different in Minneapolis were he to do it. They’re already calling it an insurrection and telling the forces on the ground they can do whatever they want. Hell, sending in actual military might be an improvement since they would have some kind of command structure and might actually follow some rules. I do believe he will do it eventually, sooner rather than later, to lay the groundwork for disrupting or outright forestalling the election, either this year or in 2028, but that is another post.
Please note at this point that this by no means comprehensive description of the shambolic horrorshow being perpetrated by these asshats only includes the last couple of weeks. So, yeah, as disgusting as it is, his flipping off a heckler isn’t real high on my list, other than as a pinprick reminder that he is an asshole, a bully and utterly unfit for the office. But we already knew that and probably won’t forget it any time soon. Thanks for reading.