I did the math on 50 barrels of oil at a conservative $55 per barrel is $2,750,000,000. We rarely see billions written out so there it is. This is going to be his slush fund? How fn dare he?
I need to imagine, as I imagine you do everyday, Wendy, at what is going on behind the scenes. If he can do this, bomb a sovereign nation and kidnap its leader, well, what else can he do? One thing that terrifies me is the crypto thing. At what point is my money in my bank going to be useless? Because if he can he will. With the likes of Lutnik, Bessent and Vought pulling the levers and pretending Congress doesn't exist, the great steal is coming. I don't know how it will happen but I could say that about the past 11.5 months, but oops there it is.
Trump's mindset - promoting deadly violence, lawless dominance, misogyny, personal greed, cruelty, oppression, gaslighting, extreme lying and propaganda, destruction of liberal opposition and values - is Putin's mindset. This isn't just happenstance.
When will Democrats take the blinders and gloves off? Schumer and Jeffries are pathetic! The Trump coup machine is heading straight to a catastrophic disaster for us and the world, and they shiver in the corner checking polls.
The Dems (of which I am one) have always been the party of law and manners. For decades I have waited for a hero to rise up in Congress, not just a loud mouth but a powerful loud mouth. And I have grown old waiting. There are some great Dem senators but they look toothless. There are some interesting Dem governors which is where, I believe, our next president will come from. My greatest disappointment is that I will probably die before a woman becomes president. Maybe my daughter will see it if she isn't in jail for expressing her opinion.
I feel and think as you do - including about my adult daughter, a public defender for whom truth and justice are a daily commitment. We will keep the faith for them!
We have never needed good lawyers, prosecutors and judges more than now. And like Mark Kelly's recitation of the Military Code, lawyers have a clear guide in the Constitution and the laws of the land. Watching the federal government ignore all of that is maddening.
I remember WWII as a child. The current situation leads me to recall how frightened I was back then. We are getting closer every day. Thank you, Mary, for your constant, diligent sharing of factual information.
"You need a public that can’t distinguish evidence from vibes, law from slogans, history from memes. Illiteracy becomes a prerequisite rather than a side effect."
You also need a public that is infused with religious thinking. We might need to lose some of our shyness about addressing how religious/supernatural thinking damages the human ability to think reasonably about issues. Make no mistake about it, MAGA and Trump are enmeshed in a cult relationship that has all the hallmarks of groups like Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. The arena of Faith, no matter what the subgroup is, teaches children and adults to accept that it is legitimate to believe in things and ideas that have no evidence to back them up. Religious fervor adds momentum to this way of thinking and totally distorts people's abilities to sort out reality from fantasy. Examples of this are in the news every day, especially in interviews with people who support Trump or his policies. It's pretty alarming.
"To pull off the kind of reality inversion Trump is attempting, you don’t just need propaganda, you need EPISTEMIC Collapse. You need a public that can’t distinguish evidence from vibes, law from slogans, history from memes..."
Exactly. This is the result of decades of the Dumbing Down of America. And now it's being led by the dumbest one of all.
Mary, there is no coffee strong enough to absorb much less make sense of this madness which is now spreading beyond our shores. The madness and chaos are the point. This state of affairs certainly did not happen overnight. It was planned by a small group of extremely wealthy powerful people behind locked doors. It reeks of deep putrid corruption and depravity. What about the rest of us standing outside the inner sanctum of their devilry? They don’t give a damn, we are collateral damage. Why we do even lean in, listen intently to parse what Trump and his performing puppets tell us? They are pathological liars and their lies change before the day is through. I am not a psychiatrist but stand by my own diagnosis. Trump is bat shit crazy. Take away his access to the nuclear codes. Impeach and convict him. That rusty tub of a freighter which is changing its registry while at sea is some kind of Trojan Horse. It’s dirty and dangerous.
Sorry Mary there’s no coffee strong enough anymore for this batsh*t crazy BS anymore… If people are not calling their Congressional members than by God you better be now. Ever think what the people of Germany thought who did nothing as Hitler and that regime took over and committed mass genocide. Well look no further if you haven’t flooded your Congressional members phone calls, emails and with letters. Not trying to lecture anyone about the current events and what to do. But inactions cause results just as actions cause different results. We all have to live with our own conscience.
I did the math on 50 barrels of oil at a conservative $55 per barrel is $2,750,000,000. We rarely see billions written out so there it is. This is going to be his slush fund? How fn dare he?
I need to imagine, as I imagine you do everyday, Wendy, at what is going on behind the scenes. If he can do this, bomb a sovereign nation and kidnap its leader, well, what else can he do? One thing that terrifies me is the crypto thing. At what point is my money in my bank going to be useless? Because if he can he will. With the likes of Lutnik, Bessent and Vought pulling the levers and pretending Congress doesn't exist, the great steal is coming. I don't know how it will happen but I could say that about the past 11.5 months, but oops there it is.
I’m confused … 50x$55= $2,750.00
That Russian sub and its friends just happened to show up after the "tanker" reflagged itself.
About the same way Japanese planes just happened to be over Pearl Harbor.
Trump's mindset - promoting deadly violence, lawless dominance, misogyny, personal greed, cruelty, oppression, gaslighting, extreme lying and propaganda, destruction of liberal opposition and values - is Putin's mindset. This isn't just happenstance.
When will Democrats take the blinders and gloves off? Schumer and Jeffries are pathetic! The Trump coup machine is heading straight to a catastrophic disaster for us and the world, and they shiver in the corner checking polls.
The Dems (of which I am one) have always been the party of law and manners. For decades I have waited for a hero to rise up in Congress, not just a loud mouth but a powerful loud mouth. And I have grown old waiting. There are some great Dem senators but they look toothless. There are some interesting Dem governors which is where, I believe, our next president will come from. My greatest disappointment is that I will probably die before a woman becomes president. Maybe my daughter will see it if she isn't in jail for expressing her opinion.
I feel and think as you do - including about my adult daughter, a public defender for whom truth and justice are a daily commitment. We will keep the faith for them!
We have never needed good lawyers, prosecutors and judges more than now. And like Mark Kelly's recitation of the Military Code, lawyers have a clear guide in the Constitution and the laws of the land. Watching the federal government ignore all of that is maddening.
I remember WWII as a child. The current situation leads me to recall how frightened I was back then. We are getting closer every day. Thank you, Mary, for your constant, diligent sharing of factual information.
"You need a public that can’t distinguish evidence from vibes, law from slogans, history from memes. Illiteracy becomes a prerequisite rather than a side effect."
You also need a public that is infused with religious thinking. We might need to lose some of our shyness about addressing how religious/supernatural thinking damages the human ability to think reasonably about issues. Make no mistake about it, MAGA and Trump are enmeshed in a cult relationship that has all the hallmarks of groups like Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. The arena of Faith, no matter what the subgroup is, teaches children and adults to accept that it is legitimate to believe in things and ideas that have no evidence to back them up. Religious fervor adds momentum to this way of thinking and totally distorts people's abilities to sort out reality from fantasy. Examples of this are in the news every day, especially in interviews with people who support Trump or his policies. It's pretty alarming.
"To pull off the kind of reality inversion Trump is attempting, you don’t just need propaganda, you need EPISTEMIC Collapse. You need a public that can’t distinguish evidence from vibes, law from slogans, history from memes..."
Exactly. This is the result of decades of the Dumbing Down of America. And now it's being led by the dumbest one of all.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jaywilson1/p/epistemic-crisis-2025?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
The information shared is essential, Mary, but it hurts the soul to read…
Mary, there is no coffee strong enough to absorb much less make sense of this madness which is now spreading beyond our shores. The madness and chaos are the point. This state of affairs certainly did not happen overnight. It was planned by a small group of extremely wealthy powerful people behind locked doors. It reeks of deep putrid corruption and depravity. What about the rest of us standing outside the inner sanctum of their devilry? They don’t give a damn, we are collateral damage. Why we do even lean in, listen intently to parse what Trump and his performing puppets tell us? They are pathological liars and their lies change before the day is through. I am not a psychiatrist but stand by my own diagnosis. Trump is bat shit crazy. Take away his access to the nuclear codes. Impeach and convict him. That rusty tub of a freighter which is changing its registry while at sea is some kind of Trojan Horse. It’s dirty and dangerous.
Sorry Mary there’s no coffee strong enough anymore for this batsh*t crazy BS anymore… If people are not calling their Congressional members than by God you better be now. Ever think what the people of Germany thought who did nothing as Hitler and that regime took over and committed mass genocide. Well look no further if you haven’t flooded your Congressional members phone calls, emails and with letters. Not trying to lecture anyone about the current events and what to do. But inactions cause results just as actions cause different results. We all have to live with our own conscience.