Wednesday, September 23, 2026

The 2026 Election, 23rd Edition. Stein's Law meets the GOP. The hints of a mutiny edition.

If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.

Herbert Stein.

September 23, 2026

Something is actually going on in the GOP for the first time since the Dixiecrat MAGA insurgency took control of the party and made it a populist party.

Bit and pieces of the signs are everywhere, all of a sudden.  Stein's Law has arrived.

GOP candidates are in trouble all over the country and now they're starting to dump Trump.  A good example of this is Congressman Ashley Hinson, who is trying to do the same thing that Harriet Hageman is trying to do, which is to move into a retiring Senator's spot.  She's in real trouble in that effort and recent polls indicate that she's behind. The Republican seat appears slated to go to a Democrat.  The GOP sent out John Barrasso to stump for her, an odd choice as Barrasso isn't inspiring on his alleged home turf, but the thought must have been that the Senate Whip could show how Hinson winning would help the Dear Leader.

Well, that message didn't seem to take. So Hinson started to bolt.  From her Facebook.

Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran. We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices. 

That includes suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports, unleashing E-15 everywhere we can, reinstating the $1/gallon biodiesel tax credit, and creating a diesel relief program to help our farmers and truckers being crushed by the high costs. 

While doing this, we should also ensure our highway trust fund is replenished, so that Iowans don’t suffer from crumbling roads and bridges while relief comes our way now. These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.

I am working every day to deliver bipartisan results for Iowans and I will work with anyone who is ready to tackle this challenge immediately.

She otherwise demanded that the war against Iran be stopped.

Hinson had voted against the War Powers Resolution every time it's been voted on in the House, and did so just a week prior, so she's voted to keep the war rolling.  Now she wants it over.  Fuel prices are the reason why.

Closer to home, there are all of a sudden all sorts of die-hard right wingers who are criticizing Trump.  Whether that translates over to opposing Trump lover Chuck Gray and Trump supported Harriet Hageman is another thing, but there's definitely stirring in the ranks.

Indeed, Cowboy State Daily carpetbagging columnist Dave Simpson went into a "boo hoo' fit about the whole thing, wondering if the imaginary Sweet Home Alabama Wyoming he believes to have existed has gone "wobbly".

Go home Dave.  You drank too much WFC Kool aide.

Elsewhere, Wyoming teachers are organizing against the attempt to bankrupt the state:

Teachers, hospital leaders launch $1M campaign to fight property tax ballot measure

And it's been noted that Wyomingites are voting their interests:
Beyond that, the revolt is getting large enough that as early as it is, we're now seeing the non Trump GOP start to reemerge from the bunkers for the 2028 races, with Chris Christie having basically indicated that he's running.

Elections are not over, until their over, but it is clear that the GOP, and for that matter Trump, have no idea on how to hold on to the Senate, let alone the House.  Doubling down on all the old tired lines (the Red Chinese are coming to have babies, date your daughters, steal your lunch) isn't working.  The MAGA base was always the demographic that was most vulnerable to an economic downturn and now it's suffering.  Agriculture, a Republican base, can't deal with the high fuel and fertilizer prices.  Trucking can't deal with the high prices either.  Regular people don't like the high prices at the grocery store and nobody likes the high fuel prices in the West.

This can't and won't be fixed by the election. The war against Iran won't be over and fuel prices will be high unless a ban on exports tanks the price of diesel, which it likely won't.

It took a lot, but people seem to be waking up to being lied to.  Moreover, as that happens, Trump gets weirder and weirder by the day.

One place that appears now almost inevitable to go to the Democrats is Texas, where Texas Democratic Senate James Talarico has seen a 28-point swing in vote share against Ken Paxton.  

Cont:

Fresh from getting its head handed to it in the primary, where its endorsements didn't pan out for the most part, the Dixiecrat controlled central committee of the Wyoming Republican Party has endorsed the property tax cut bill that would gut local governments like fish.
Basically, the Dixiecrat Wyoming Freedom Caucus hates the Gubbement and figures that stuff like education and the like can be handled by Ella Mae back at home.


Appendix


Last edition:

2028 Election, Part I. The Preview of Coming Attractions Editions.


December 19, 2025

 And the 2028 Presidential Season has begun.  Erika Kirk of Turning Point USA has endorsed J. D. Vance.

And yes, it's way, way, early.

But perhaps its not surprising.  Trump's mentally departing the stage and chance are good that he'll be out of office in the next few months, Vance is probably looking towards his future right now.  His best chances for that position, of course, would be if Trump is escorted out of the building babbling about being the greatest and sent to a gilded retirement home.

But if that doesn't occur, the knives will be coming out before 2028.  Marco Rubio will not have sat through four years of soul corrupting dementia not to take a run at the White House.  No doubt others are in the wings.

One who may be in the wings, if I'm wrong on his being too demented to carry on in any fashion, is Donald Trump. Everyone keeps noting that he's constitutionally barred but he has no regard for the law in the first place and his threads to run need to be taken seriously.

On Vance, he's a true NatCon, although a recent convert to the philosophy, and his being backed by Turning Point means something, assuming that Turning Point doesn't fly apart or become highly diminished (which I think it will).  It's hard to know exactly what's going on, but it might be suspected that it's probable that Kirk's coming out now has the backing of other significant NatCon figures, who know that they need to put their man in power now (Trump really isn't their man, but their tool).  A figure like Rubio would turn the clock back.

And so the race is on.

December 22, 2025

It wasn't until listening to the weekend shows that I learned that Marco Rubio has endorsed Vance as well.

That's really interesting, and frankly surprising.

Cont:

And now the rumors are circulating, probably correctly, that Ted Cruz will be running.

Moreover. . . .

The NatCon nerve center and author of Project 2025 starts to come unglued as the Trump Administration does:

The conservative movement continues to splinter about how to deal with its most controversial voices

I've always thought Roberts' organization would maneuver to put Vance in power in 2026 and shove aside the Pine Tree flag folks, who don't have the intellectual capacity to run a government.  The risk has always been that they'd hold the hand they were dealt too long.

They may have.

And Pence, who didn't look like a good candidate before, is starting to with some folks.

September 23, 2026

Christie with President Zelensky

Chris Christie has made what is effectively an announcement that he's running for the Presidency in 2028.

Christie is a solid and real conservative and is not only seeking to obtain the Oval Office, but to stage a counter insurgency against the populist MAGAs.  This is a good time to do so, as the MAGA's are abandoning ship pretty rapidly as the bloom is off the Trump Stenchweed for everyone except the most diehard loyalist, many of whom are in the ignorant category.  The MAGA's are floundering around like fish in the deck with the two presumed 2028 candidates for the Trump thrown, Marco Rubio and J. D. Vance having real trouble dealing with a legacy they both want to take and to avoid.

Christie was a Trump supporter after his first run for office in 2016 and was part of the Trump transition team.  He got COVID 19 at a White House event, which shows how late he remained on Trump's team, sort of. It would seem that his loyalty was always somewhat cynical, as he never played that much of a role and his views don't dovetail with Trump's. Christie definitively broke with Trump on election night 2020 when he adamantly maintained that the election was not stolen and he's pulled away from him ever since.  He's a frequent guest on the This Week panel where he's been a very vocal opponent of Trump's, while still being a conservative.

Christie's announcement brought out tons of criticism, some of it from people like me who have always opposed Trump.  I understand that, but I feel it's unwarranted as Christie never compromised his own views and stood for them when the time came.  His support for Trump was likely self serving, as is J. D. Vance's and Marco Rubio's.  He's a real Republican, a real conservative, and in my view is a very good candidate.  It's early, of course, but in this environment, positioning himself early, before the November 2026 election, would appear to be a good strategy. 

I will note that the immediate opposition to Christie in some quarters is interesting.  As noted, I get those who are disgruntled as he supported Trump in the first administration.  But a lot of people just keep saying "he's fat". 

Yeah, he is. So was Taft. So was Cleveland.  So is Trump.

It's weird to think being fat would be a reason not to vote for a person, while being a serial polygamist isn't.

We should mention the Democrats as well.

No Democrat has announced or even gone as far as Christie with an announcement of intent to announce.  That's likely a wise strategy as announcing in advance of the November election will give absolutely desperate Republicans something to focus on.  An interesting development has happened, however, in that Gavin Newsom has been clearly testing the waters but came out saying he would not run if Kamala Harris does.  Presenting a united front against the GOP is a good strategy, to be sure, but in 2028 the Democrats will not face Trump and the need to be united early may not really be there.  Moreover, Harris is a terrible candidate.  Harris would fit the mold, however, of Democrats re-running failed candidates.

Thursday, September 23, 1976. The Ford Carter Debate goes silent.

The first U.S. presidential debate since 1960 took place between President Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter.

A power outage happened mid debate.

Baa Baa Black Sheep (Black Sheep Squadron) debuted on NBC.  The Tony Randall Show debuted on CBS.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 21, 1976. The assassination of Orlando Letelier.

Monday, September 23, 1946. Alienating hearts and minds in Vietnam.

The Commissioner of the Autonomous Republic of Cochin-China authorized the arrest of any Asian resident whose identity papers were not in order resulting in over 50,000 such arrests by the French Army and police.  Detainees were forced into slave labor in rubber plantations.

The legislature of the Faroe Islands voted for independence from Denmark. King Christian X dissolved the body and the new one negotiated for home rule.

Last edition:

Friday, September 20, 1946. Wallace out.

Saturday, September 23, 1911. First air mail in US.

Ulster lawyer Edward Carson led a march of 50,000 Unionists from Belfast to Craigavon, the home of James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon.

He there delivered an address which included; "We must be prepared.. the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of Ulster."

Pilot Earle Lewis Ovington in a Bleriot XI airplane, Postmaster General Frank Harris Hitchcock and Edward M. Morgan, postmaster of New York, September 23, 1911.

Earle Ovington made the first official airmail flight in the United States flying a Blériot XI from Nassau Boulevard aerodrome, Garden City, New York to Mineola, New York.

Janesville, Wisconsin, September 23, 1911.

Last edition:

Friday, September 15, 1911. Taft starts a trip.

Monday, September 23, 1901. Czolgosz trial begins.

The murder trial of Leon Czolgosz began in Buffalo, New York.  He was, of course, accused of murdering William McKinley.

At the time, law did not move at the speed of Baby Boomers.  If Boomers were in charge at the time, we'd still be waiting for the trial to occur.

Theodore Roosevelt moved into the White House.  His sisters dined with him that evening in celebration of their late father's 70th birthday.

German gastroenterologist Georg Kelling introduced the minimally invasive diagnostic surgery and demonstrated a modern laparoscopic procedure.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 17, 1901. Battle of Blood River Poort.

The 2027 Legislature, super early edition. The make them stop edition.

Ugh, just when the first corn fed, cornfederate legislature was safely in the history books, the Management Council met.  Of course, the same dumb ideas that get rejected repeatedly are back up for reconsideration, at least in part.

I hear we want to do the election review again and redo the same bills that just died three weeks ago ... in exchange for 911 funding.

Tara Nethercott.

The corner crossing bill won't be back, which is too bad.

Vote the WFC out and send them back to pre 1964 Alabama where they'll be happy.

May 13, 2026

Woman Sued By House Candidate Reid Rasner Urges Ban On Frivolous Lawsuits

I was aware this legislation had been introduced.  Frankly, Anti SLAPP provisions are really tricky as they're based, basically, on pre judging a litigants intent.

June 10, 2026

Lawmakers revive proposal to remove Wyoming property taxes

The money has to come from somewhere.  Property taxes rise because in no small part new people come in and overpay in the local housing market, and otherwise inflate it.

A better idea would be to have an unrealized sales tax on the sale of real property from other states that

 is used by a person within five years of moving to Wyoming.

August 13, 2026

Lawmakers reject proposal for online court records, streamed hearings

Thank goodness. This idea was outright unworkable.

August 29, 2026

Things are going to be rough from now until the the beginning of the next legislative session as the members of the deposed Freedom Caucus be a general pain.

At Least Five Lawmakers Walk Out Of ‘Absurd’ Joint Committee Meeting

August 30, 2026

The WFC food fight at the legislature continues as Chip Neiman took to Facebook to pout over Senators walking out of the recent pointless joint meeting.

As Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, I’m entrusted with the responsibility of appointing legislators to standing committees. It’s a charge I didn’t take lightly upon my election to the Speakership.

I’m proud of the members of the House Minerals and Appropriations Committees for finishing the job they took up for the interim pertaining to local government infrastructure funding and the Wyoming Business Council. 

Today, the Senate walked out on Wyoming cities, towns and counties. Conversely, the House committee members remained steadfast in order to deliver the strongest local government funding model seen in decades. This bill will fund local infrastructure and benefit every local jurisdiction and citizen.

The Legislature isn’t a place for turf warfare. 

I worry for the future of the Wyoming Legislature. I encourage those new members coming to Cheyenne, to remember who they serve; not a committee, a chamber or any particular lobbying outfit, they serve the people of Wyoming. See less

Neiman notes that he's Speaker of the House in the legislature, which is true, but he's on his way out and is a lame duck.  The complaint that the "Legislature isn't a place for turf warfare" is really rich given that the WFC acted like the first Vandals in Rome in Cheyenne.  If it's turf warfare, they started it.

We're going to see a lot more of this.  The WFC has been kicked to the curb, but like the the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) in the Battle of Berlin, it's going to see that everything is destroyed that it can destroy before it goes.

One common theme we're now seeing in connection with the WFC losing is this one that appears in the comments to Nieman:

Me too! We are quickly becoming a blue state, just as Charlie Kirk predicted!😢

I've scene that more than once now.

People who make that comment are deluded.  I don't know about this person, but they're likely also carpetbaggers.  Wyoming is a conservative state, but it's not a Turning Point USA Southern Bible Belt state.  This is why traditionally there was no support for restricting abortion much here (which I do feel should be restricted, and indeed illegal) and nobody cared much whether somebody was a homosexual or not, which apparently is also no longer the case.  The local view, and it was expressed in the Democratic and Republican parties, wsa "I don't care what you do as long as you leave me alone".  The WFC didn't want to leave people alone.

As for Charlie Kirk and his predications, I'm increasingly in the "I don't care what  Charlie had to say" camp.  I don't mean to sound like a Kirk basher, but those politicos and their followers that are Kirk acolytes increasingly don't impress me.  Kirk was brought to UW by one of his collegiate admirers who went on to work for Hageman and get canned for following Francoist website, with the same fellow then managing Chuck Gray's campaign.  That's a good enough reason not to vote for Gray, although were are are plenty of other reasons not to do so.  Anyhow, Kirk never reflected a Wyoming point of view.

September 3, 2026

Wyoming lawmakers change course on property tax reform amid signs of waning support

This is a result of the defeat of the WFC, and that Wyomingites did not rise to the occasion to take advantage of a bevy of potential exemptions, at least one of which was in my view likely illegal.

The last year made it increasingly obvious where local funding came from for municipalities and counties, which likely helps explain this.

It also signals the death spiral of a WFC dream.

September 23, 2026

Outspoken Veterinarians Kill Bill To Let Non-Vets Do Livestock Pregnancy Checks

I'll just be blunt about this.  

The same sort of dumb ass movement that backs crap like raw milk as being safe, home delivery by midwives, and "denturists" making dentures without a dentist support stupid ideas like this.

Scientific idiocy has always been part of American culture.  It's why people go to chiropractors and think its like going to the doctor.  Or why people wear brass bracelets, or take ivermectin for Covid (a really bad and dangerous idea).  Or why they think vaccines or dangerous.  Or why they think Robert F. Kennedy makes sense on anything.

It really needs to stop.

Embarrassing leader delivers embarrassing UN speech.

Trump delivered what was effectively a campaign speech at the UN.

The Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency Donald Trump, president of the United States of America.

I request protocol to escort His Excellency in.

Invite him to address the Assembly.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Mr. Secretary general, First Lady of the United States, distinguished delegates, ambassadors, and fellow leaders.

It's my great honor to welcome the world to America as we celebrate 250 years of glorious freedom and independence.

Two and a half centuries after the cause of liberty found its home on this continent, I can report to you with pride that America is back And our country is stronger today than ever before.

Our economy is the envy of the world.

Our military is the most powerful on earth.

Our technology is second to none and we are leading in virtually everything.

Our energy is fueling the planet.

America is rising.

Our nation is growing.

Our power is expanding.

Our country is doing better than ever before, and our future is very, very bright.

Since I took office, we have created more than 1 million new private sector jobs, and more Americans are working today by far than ever before.

Last week, it was announced that the poverty rate has reached its lowest level in American history.

We lifted 1.5 million Americans out of poverty last year alone.

Another record, the African American and Hispanic American poverty rates are at all time lows.

Real household incomes for Americans have soared to the highest level in history, 87,000 on average, surpassing the prior record that I set in my first term.

From day one, my administration has worked to remove every single unnecessary regulation and obstacle to doing business in America.

We passed the largest tax cuts in American history, and as a result, more money is being invested in the United States right now than has ever been invested in any nation, anywhere in the world.

U.S. stock markets have set all time records.

And that's just in the last 12 months.

We've secured commitments for $21 trillion in new investments from all over the planet, compared to less than $1 trillion in four years in the previous administration.

Two years ago, our country was dead, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.

Before I took office, we had the worst and most dangerous border on earth.

And now we have the most secure border in American history.

Nobody comes in unless they're invited.

Unless they have permission.

In the past 16 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.

And that's done by some very sophisticated people.

It's not done by the Trump administration.

Zero.

As a result, last year we achieved the largest drop in violent crime ever recorded.

The murder rate has plummeted to its lowest level in 125 years.

Since the year 1900, I sent our crime busters into Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and crime in each place went down over 80% and will go down still further.

More importantly, when I arrived on January 20th of last year in Washington, D.C., it was riddled with crime.

And now crime is down 87% and we're going for 100.

Tourism is, if you take a look and I guess a lot of you have been there.

Tourism is thriving.

Restaurants are bustling, and people are proud of our nation's capital.

They're proud like never before.

We've invested more money in the United States military in the past 12 months than ever before And this term, it will be $1.5 trillion.

We inherited a dark Age of America from the previous administration, and we turned it into the golden age of America.

The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit, and momentum of a newly energized and a very powerful United States of America.

And just as we moved quickly to address problems we inherited at home, we have acted with decisiveness and speed to reshape the world stage and solve problems that have plagued us for far too long.

Every leader in this room and your great leaders, many great leaders.

I know all of you very well, but they know that given only a short time to make this world better, safer, and more prosperous for our children, for the people on earth, we have to take advantage of it.

As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day.

I do not believe in letting problems fester.

They only become harder to solve.

So while others have talked, I have acted, while others have spoken of peace.

I have made peace while others have ignored threats.

I have confronted them while others have talked of courage.

America has shown it, while others have promised strength.

I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world.

Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of intractable challenges, and we are settling years of unfinished business.

And we're doing it well.

There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond.

They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.

From the first day I entered the political arena, I've been unwavering.

I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

Upon taking office last year, I immediately opened negotiations with Iran and offered them full economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program and support for terror.

But they refused.

They absolutely refused.

That was a big mistake Then in Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. military obliterated their nuclear program beneath mountains of rubble.

And again, I urged Iran to make a deal.

And again they refused.

The regime continued building a vast missile and drone stockpile that threatened the security of every American service member in the region and everyone else in the region They also made a missile that was capable of hitting Europe, and they were very proud of it.

I hope the Europeans realize that Iran's goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb from behind this conventional ballistic missile shield.

If they had succeeded, that wicked regime would have been free to spread terror and death forever, knowing that any attempt to stop them would face an arsenal of nuclear annihilation.

In America, we just marked the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attack in history, September 11th, which killed 3000 people just a few miles from here.

It was an unbelievably terrible time.

In two weeks, we will mark the third anniversary of the October 7th attack in Israel, where terrorists funded by Iran tortured, mutilated and killed 1200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies, babies, little tiny, beautiful babies.

Iran's supreme leader celebrated that massacre and called it a service to humanity The same regime slaughtered over 72,000 of its citizens this year.

Recently, 10,000 were killed for protesting.

Just imagine such a vile regime wherever empowered to carry out large scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield.

This was the reality we had to confront, a reality that far too many preferred to ignore.

They all ignored it.

Many presidents and many others just wanted to ignore it.

They were unwilling to do anything about it, but they knew the problem.

After giving Iran every chance for a deal, I took action to ensure that neither the United States nor any nation is Hall would ever have to face such a nightmare, such a catastrophic problem.

As a result of Operation Epic Fury, all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea.

Likewise, their air force is gone.

Their radar is gone, their anti-aircraft equipment is gone.

Their missiles and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone.

Their economy is gone.

The only thing that isn't gone is inflation, which is destroying their country and is now well over 300%.

Yet even after we agreed to a cease fire for nuclear discussions, Iran promptly violated it with brazen acts of terrorism against civilian ships from other countries.

I want to thank the U.N. Security Council for voting overwhelmingly to pass a resolution condemning Iran's despicable terrorist attacks on commercial shipping.

Thank you very much.

That resolution, I'm pleased to say, received more co-sponsors from U.N. member nations than any Security Council resolution in history.

That's something.

Now, we must be equally united in maintaining pressure.

The United States Navy has recently escorted more than 1 billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, and more oil is flowing than at any point since the start of the war.

We're taking 22, 25, 30, 32 and 37 ships out, respectively, every single day, every single night.

But I have a big decision to make.

Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?

Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East, or even the world.

Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?

Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?

But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn't make sense for them not to.

They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.

What they don't realize is that I'm not running.

I did that already and won in a landslide.

We won in a giant landslide, and I'll be here for two and a half years.

The Republican Party is running and I'll be helping them, but I am not running.

I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election.

When it comes to Iran, it doesn't even enter my mind.

The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

The cowards and traitors.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions, but that's not true.

We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using, and we're building them at levels that we have never done before.

We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before.

Top of the line stuff.

In addition, in the very near future, massive munition plants will be opening.

There are 18 of them being built by the greatest defense companies in the world right now 18 under construction.

Some of them very quickly will be completed.

They're almost there.

And that rapid construction will be leading to very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type, and will be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we're doing right now.

I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran.

Until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror.

The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate.

If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51 year menace of Iranian terror.

And oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict.

And they were very low in the United States.

They were really low.

With courage and resolve.

Anything is possible.

Big changes can happen and happen fast.

One year ago, when I addressed the great leaders in this hall, the war in Gaza was still raging brutally.

The hostages were still deep in Hamas tunnels and there was no end in sight.

It was never going to be resolved.

But here on the sidelines of the General Assembly, we took the first steps.

That changed everything.

A few weeks later, we ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives.

We also brought home all remaining hostages, both living and dead.

Every single one of them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Everyone thought it was a miracle that we were able to do so.

And people celebrated in the streets.

I want to express my gratitude to the United Nations Security Council for their unanimous endorsement of our 20 point Gaza peace plan, and for officially approving the Board of Peace.

Going to be a very significant group of people.

Nearly 30 countries have joined the board, which I am honored to chair, and we're thankful to many of those member nations for contributing billions and billions of dollars to relief.

And it goes right to the rebuilding and relief of Morocco, Bahrain.

These are the countries that gave Qatar, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and many more.

That money goes right to the source, right where they need it, and they desperately need it.

And those countries are very have been very generous, and others also are stepping up at numbers that nobody would even believe because they want to see people live.

They want to see the humanitarian thing happen properly.

They've been fantastic.

I also want to thank those who have committed troops police and training to help stabilize Gaza, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Jordan and more.

Since I took office, it has been my great honor to settle eight wars and in so doing, become friendly with the leaders of many of those countries.

It was a great honor to do it.

Numerous of these wars have gone on for many years and even decades.

The reason I was able to make these settlements was the use of my relationships.

Very special relationships to this day, very, very special trade, the use of tariffs and the threat of tariffs and various other reasons depending on the country.

Among them, terms of settlement, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

And of course, the war in Gaza, which, as I stated previously, includes the return of all hostages, both living and dead.

Almost every one of these countries wrote me a letter of thank you.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, terrific man, said that Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives, and probably many more than that.

The president of Azerbaijan said President Trump had six months, did a miracle.

It was an absolute miracle that nobody thought could be done.

The prime Minister of Armenia said this breakthrough would simply not have been possible without President Trump's personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace.

A president of Cambodia stated President Trump's extraordinary statesmanship, marked by his commitment to resolving conflicts and preventing catastrophic wars through visionary, innovative diplomacy was most recently demonstrated in his decisive role in brokering an immediate and unconditional cease fire and peace.

This timely intervention which averted a potentially devastating conflict, was vital in preventing a great loss of lives and paved the way towards the restoration of peace.

The president of Rwanda said when President Trump saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it.

This conflict has lasted for 32 years.

Millions and millions of people have died.

We got it settled.

We've seen countless mediations and efforts, but none has succeeded in resolving the underlying issues.

President Donald Trump issued a new and effective statement that really has brought great peace and space through really a breakthrough that we thought was impossible.

We're working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we will get that one done.

It's going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand.

They've they've had it 25000 young people, mostly soldiers a month, are dying 25000 a month.

And I look at those battlefield pictures and I, I really don't want to see them anymore.

It's so horrible to see 25,000 a month.

Both sides.

In addition, the United States and Iran will definitely get it done.

We will get it done one way or the other.

It's going to be done.

It's going to be done fast.

A lot has happened since we last gathered here one year ago in January.

At my direction, the United States military conducted a massive military operation penetrating deep into the Venezuelan capital.

Caracas descended on a heavily defended and fortified military base, one that was supposed to be flawless against attack, and arrested the outlaw dictator, real criminal Nicolas Maduro.

Since that day, hundreds of Venezuelan political prisoners have been freed.

They've let them out of jails, and we're working closely with the leaders of Venezuela to forge a much better future for the Venezuelan people.

Last month, we signed the largest oil deal in history, covering 65 billion barrels of oil, which will benefit both Venezuela and the United States enormously and help drive down the cost of energy all over the world.

And that is starting to perk right now.

It's coming out.

The biggest oil companies in the world are going in, and the numbers are absolutely incredible.

When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world.

So it's perhaps the biggest deal.

It was a war, but it's perhaps the biggest deal ever made.

To the victor belong the spoils.

You've all heard that our actions in Venezuela are proof that the United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

And if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States.

As you know, Venezuela had the finest equipment in the world from other countries.

And guess what It didn't work.

Didn't even come close to working.

For decades, other administrations allowed much of this region to be dominated by vicious gangs and bloodthirsty drug cartels, destabilized by uncontrolled migration and infiltrated by hostile foreign adversaries, foreign sick, demented adversaries.

But not anymore.

We are reasserting American power, including American military power, where necessary in our region and around the world, to create a safer future for all of us.

It's happening, and it's happening quickly.

Upon taking office, I designated the drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and unleashed the United States Armed Forces to eliminate them.

The cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere, not good people, their enemies at war with civilization using murder, rape, torture, and extortion as instruments of terror.

Like ISIS.

They should be killed, exiled, or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we're doing.

To that end, the United States has carried out dozens of strikes on cartel drug boats, destroying 97% of the drugs coming into the ocean and sea.

You've seen it.

They disappear very quickly, and we're down 90%.

They're down 97%.

Nobody thought that was possible.

It was a big source of delivery.

And three months ago, we terminated the leader of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua Mexico is the epicenter of the cartel violence.

Unfortunately, it's unacceptable for the United States to share a 2000 mile border with a territory controlled by cartels, so Mexico must reclaim control of its soil from the enemies of humanity.

My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they've ever been under.

It's an absolutely failed state.

It's failing like never before, and it will fall.

Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation.

He's deep into negotiations with Cuba.

Let's see what happens.

We'll not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.

It's right at our doorstep.

The Cuban regime has also spent decades coordinating with the left wing radicals and communist networks here in the United States.

As our State Department has detailed, they've cultivated ties to subversive and radical groups such as the Communist Party, USA, Antifa, and the Democrat Socialists of America.

Communism will never be coming to America, but freedom will be coming to Cuba, and safety and security will be coming to Mexico.

I'm very proud to tell you we have a very good relationship with the Mexican government.

We've made great strides, very great strides with Mexico.

They don't want the cartels either.

And when that day comes, this entire region will be a better, safer and more beautiful place in which to live and thrive.

As I announced just days ago, the United States has also reached an unprecedented agreement regarding the northern frontier of North America, the large and strategically vital piece of land known as Greenland.

This agreement, made with the Kingdom of Denmark, an incredible, beautiful country, and the Greenland people itself gives the United States permanent control over security and all other needs.

On that territory, we will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places.

No U.S. adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore, or make sensitive investments there.

Without our express written approval, we will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations.

We will be building two very major military bases.

This agreement will be signed later today, and I look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland.

It's been a great experience, amazing experience, and we've really formed a bond in doing it.

By expanding America's footprint in the Arctic and North Atlantic.

This deal also protects Europe in addition to America and greatly protects them.

It also very much enhances NATO with who has a great leader in.

Mark, I know you're in the audience and you are indeed a great leader, Mark Rutte, which is now growing stronger than ever before.

NATO is doing things that nobody thought they would be able to do, including raising their number to 5% from 2% number.

That's a protection that's going to be much greater protection for them.

We continue to seek an end.

The disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine, which is killing, as I said, thousands and thousands of people every month Last week, in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, I signed a powerful new law passed by Congress providing me with enormous new tariff authorities And if necessary, I will have to use them.

It's time to stop the killing.

I also want to recognize the extraordinary work of our great First Lady, who has secured the safe return of many displaced Ukrainian and Russian children back home to their families.

So many.

Thank you very much, First Lady.

Thank you.

Very much.

Where is our First lady?

Where is she?

She's around here someplace.

Can you imagine?

I can't see the First lady.

Thank you very much, first lady.

Great job.

She worked so hard on it this year.

She also became the only first lady in history to preside over a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

And she did it very well.

And today, she's hosting a gathering of fostering the Future Together, which has nearly 60 members to help improve the lives of young people all over the world.

So, Melania, thank you very much.

Great job.

Great job you're doing.

LED by Ambassador Michael Waltz here at the United Nations, we have also worked with many countries in this room to implement the most sweeping U.N. reforms in history.

We cut the U.N. budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15% in 2026 and eliminating more than 4000 positions from the U.N. bureaucracy.

The United Nations has great, great potential.

I've said that for many years, but it must stop imposing the far left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected.

Last year, my administration was forced to intervene to stop an obscure U.N. body, the International Maritime Organization, from secretly establishing a first ever global carbon tax, very expensive tax to raise international shipping costs by 10 to 20%.

And maybe more than that, there is no global government.

And while I'm president, there will be no global taxes.

The United States is equally opposed to the out of control.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

The United States is equally opposed to the out of control institution known as the International Criminal Court.

We will never allow U.S. service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us or an evil group of people.

I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately.

It is equally unacceptable that with all the genuine atrocities in the world the UN's top human rights officials spend their time criticizing the United States for protecting our children from transgender utilization and transgender insanity, and enforcing our immigration laws.

What they do is unbelievable what they do.

It's transgender mutilation of our children, the craven hypocrites of Human Rights Council have little to say about the persecution of Christians.

Christians.

I mean, Christians are being persecuted all over the world.

It's not even believable.

I never thought I'd say it, but it's been happening for a long time.

So this is persecution of Christians or the crimes of the world's most repressive regimes Yet they want America to open up our borders to gangs and criminals from world's most dangerous places.

They want the worst people to come in from the worst places on earth, and we don't do it anymore.

We did do it, but we don't do that anymore.

It is deeply ironic that the United Nations has an entire institution, the U.

Nesco group of people and countries devoted to protecting cultural heritage.

Yet with their ceaseless promotion of mass migration, these globalists are actively destroying the greatest cultures and most extraordinary heritage in all of history.

There is no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation, and we want to remain a sovereign nation.

And so should you.

The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now here and after officially called superintelligence, changing the name, and that the use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake, it makes it sound fake.

And it is not fake.

It's actually amazing But we have to be careful.

In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports.

From this point forward, all of United States documents and hopefully the world will be changed to use the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial.

So it's super intelligence.

In other words, welcome to the new world of superintelligence dash SISI.

Let's see if that goes.

It sounds much better.

It is much better, and it's much more accurate.

Let's see if I have any power.

Maybe I do and maybe I don't.

We're going to find out pretty soon.

Superintelligence.

Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception.

Yet the very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming, a name since reborn to climate change because the planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead.

These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster.

Same group of people.

This is the group that came up with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, the Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine hoax, climate change, open borders, whoever wins AI, you have to remember this.

And now I say, whoever wins s I, whoever wins, superintelligence wins.

That's the group that wins.

And we're leading now over China by a lot and everyone else.

And we're going to keep it that way.

We're going to keep it very, very straight and very strong.

I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution, many say bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet itself.

And we will be very careful.

And that's why we have a Department of Justice that we've already used it having to do with this very subject and used it very powerfully.

Everything worked out very well and very quickly.

And other law enforcement bodies that will reign things in if we have to do that.

But we will only encourage superintelligence.

We're going to encourage it, not rein it in We're going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice.

The United States leads the world in superintelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly.

Americans have never been a nation that retreats from a frontier or shrinks from a challenge, no matter how great or how daunting that challenge may be.

Freedom was not a gift that Americans won easily after 250 years, and it is not one that we will ever, ever, ever surrender.

It was right here in New York City that George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence read to his troops in 1776 as they listen to those immortal words for the first time, the patriots could see across the waters of New York Harbor to a British invasion fleet more than 100 ships strong, which had just arrived to crush the cause of liberty.

Thousands of soldiers getting off those ships.

Nobody stood a chance.

But we won.

And we won decisively.

Those first Americans knew that it is not enough merely to believe in great principles.

We must also have the will and the courage and the strength to defend them As we gather in this same city two and a half centuries later, to discuss the great events of our time.

That is the challenge for every nation in this room.

If we go forward, strong and united against the enemies of all humanity, if we reject the voices who would have us give in to fear and doubt, if we refuse to shrink from our duties to our people, then together, through bold action, we will make this world far safer and a far better place.

We will leave our nations far stronger.

We will grow our economies far bigger.

And we will not just speak of peace, prosperity, and justice.

Here at the United Nations.

We will stand for them all over the world.

Together, we will build a future for our people that is brighter, more hopeful, and more magnificent than ever before.

Thank you.

God bless the nations of the world and God bless America.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Thank you.

On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the president of the United States.

Trump's popularity is sinking like a rock so he's acting more and more erratically.  This speech shows that.  It was designed to appeal to his MAGA base, which is dwindling.

Amongst other dumbass statements, Trump advanced his weird effort to rename Artificial Intelligence.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist 157th Edition. Press Revolt and other matters.

Press Revolt.

Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment. The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future. The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably.  That’s why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting. The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues’ access.

Jacqui Heinrich, WHCA President

In a really remarkable event, the broadcast media is boycotting the Trump Administration after it banned some press outlets from covering King Donald.

Donny loves, and feeds on, the attention, and it'll be interesting to see how this pans out.  Yesterday the White House blew the coverage on the opening use of the helipad so that nobody could really hear what King Donny had to say.

Today King Donny's admin tried to pass off the press ban as being in the interest of national security, which recently has been his default position on everything.  That's why King Donny is building a ballroom, that's why we need a Triumphal Arch.

The bloom may be off the red stinkweed of Trumpism as by and large, the public just isn't buying it at all.

Good for the press to finally find its courage.  It's been lacking.  This Week expresses addressed the Trump ban.

Dr. John trotted out.

The GOP hauled out the uninspiring Dr. John Barrasso, majority whip, to justify the GOP's malfeasance.  

Dr. John is a pretty uninspiring speaker.  This was no exception.  He attempted to justify the press ban saying that the press had an obligation to report fairly.

That's a really dangerous position for a local politician to take, quite frankly.  He didn't sound like he really meant it as he knows that they do report fairly.  What he also knows is that they don't report, locally, too deeply, at least they haven't until recently.  They're starting too thanks to the online journals which have been a lot more proactive in digging things up than the print media ever was.

Barrasso is turning out to be a worthless Senator for the state.  He has four more years to serve. My suspicion is that this will be his last term, if the 74 year old Senator lives through it.  I think people are tired of him and he won't want to go down in defeat.  He'll retire and move somewhere else, as he was never really from here to start with.

Dr. John was in Iowa where he was campaigning for a Republican candidate there.  Wow, the Midwest must really like bland if somebody thinks Dr. John is going to help.  Asked about what is going on, the doctor mustered up this reply:

Well, people all around the country are feeling the pain. I’m hearing it in Wyoming with our farmers and ranchers as well. But people vote about what’s going on in their life and their future. And we know we need to do more. We need to get more money into people’s pockets. That’s what Republicans want to do. But let’s talk about what we have done. And that is we’ve prevented a $4 trillion tax increase. We’ve gotten rid of taxes on tips and social security and on overtime. And we know what the Democrats would do if they were able to take over. They would put all those taxes back on for the purpose of paying for health care for illegal immigrants. So they want to put on taxes on waitresses, on nurses who work overtime, firefighters, and on our seniors. I mean, there’s a huge difference between where Republicans want to take this country and where Democrats want to take this country. Those Democrats that are so unpopular in your poll, why? They want to eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They want to defund the police. They want to get rid of the military. They want to open the borders. They talk about opening the prisons and putting these prisoners back in our communities. That doesn’t make us safer, it doesn’t make us more prosperous. And that is the difference between common sense and the craziness. And I think that’s what this election is going to be about.

And

Well, we’re always looking for ways to put more money in people’s pockets. And I hear it in Wyoming all the time at the grocery store, at the gas station, people are paying more. And we need to do more. And that’s why we need more American energy production, we need to get rid of regulations, we need to do more with permitting. That’s legislation we’re working on now. The president and the Republicans are focused on all of those things at the time that Democrats have gone so far to the left that they don’t want to do those sorts of things. And I’ll tell you, once this war in Iran is over, diesel prices are going to go down and stay down under President Trump. But they would stay up forever under the Democrats and specifically diesel in Wyoming, I was in Meeteetse, Wyoming last week, talking to ranchers and farmers there, diesel’s over $6 a gallon now. But in California, it’s over $8 a gallon. And the difference is the rules, the regulations, all the climate issues in California. If the Democrats took over, prices would go up to those levels which are over $2 higher in California than they are in Wyoming right now.

So, inflation is going up and fuel prices are killing us, but the Democrats are bad because Dr. John says so.

Not very inspiring.

Not only that, but Barrasso has joined the GOP liars club.  Raise taxes so we could give healthcare to illegal immigrants. Bullshit. Taxes do need to be raised, but because we aren't paying for the government.

It's almost as if Dr. John had a list of things he had to say, so he made sure he said them all as quickly as possible.

And diesel being $6.00/gal in Wyoming isn't made better by it being $8.00/gal in California.  Oh, we feel so good about that here.

Beef

A popular Trump line right now is that you don't mind paying more for fuel as you don't want Iran to have a nuke.

M'eh.

Secretary Rollins took a similar tone on the price of beef.

Instead of eating less beef as the price continued to rise, Americans began to eat more beef. And even though the price of a pound of ground beef was $6.50, most Americans say, 'I'm good with that. I want this protein for my family.' So they continue to buy.

Um, sure.

When, by the way, did everyone start calling meat "protein".  Knock it off.

Huge

The video footage of the helipad unveiling reveals it to be huge.


I didn't really have an appreciation of its size  until I saw the video.

I really don't know what to make of the helipad.  In some ways it makes sense and it was well done.  I also think that the President doesn't need a giant Sikorsky helicopter and that all the prior Marine Corps 1 helicopters were gigantically overblown as well.  One of the smaller business helicopters would be plenty large enough, quite frankly.

They wouldn't have all the countermeasures, I know. Well, too freaking bad.  The President is supposed to be the chief executive of limited powers, not an emperor.  Flying around in an armored helicopter just gives that much more of a delusion of the opposite.

Speaking of monumental works, I had an exchange, on Twitter, with a MAGA over the ballroom.  It was interesting, as her mind was so completely closed and she was utterly incapable of realizing it.

Besotted

She was convinced that anyone opposed to the ballroom had to be a "liberal" who "hated" Trump.  I'm opposed to it.  I hate what Trump is doing to the country, but I don't hate a living soul.  We are required in Christianity to exhibit agape towards our enemies, and frankly Trump is the enemy of decency in a lot of ways. We should pray for his well-being and salvation.

In the exchange I gave my reasons for opposing the ballroom.  Well, some of them, not all of them. The list would be large.

The principal reasons I detest the ballroom, I'll note, is because of the illegality of its construction and the illegality of the destruction of the wing where it is located.  I'm not a fan of the wings of the White House in general.  I think the whole thing ought to be restored to some prior appearance.

I also think the bunkers that were put in and those being built ought to go.  As with the helicopter, building a bunker is something that shouldn't be done unless it's done for every single American.

I didn't go into it but I also detest the overblown size and the intended interior embellishments are in horrifically bad taste.  

The latter, of course, can and will be removed, if the monstrosity stands.

Anyhow, while I have very wide ranging views, I'm generally very conservative.  Indeed, Trump and the MAGAs are not conservatives at all.  At this point, they're populist of the fascist variety.

Her argument, lifted from Trump, was that the ballroom would benefit future Presidents.  I asked how, and she couldn't provide how. Even though I don't believe it will benefit a living soul, and that it will rightfully be blown to the ground by a future administration, I could make up reasons to support that argument.

Most revealing, however, is that her basic worldview, which came through very clearly, is that if you claim to be an American you have an absolute duty to love Donald Trump.  If you don't, you are a traitor.

During World War Two there was a Marine Corps officer who received the Silver Star for heroism.  He was later killed in the war.  He was also a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and was an admitted communist.

I have no doubt he loved his country.

For that matter, Sterling Hayden, the famous actor, also was a Marine Corps officer, and a member of the OSS, who was briefly a member of the Communist party.

I have no doubt that he loved his country.

I doubt that Donald Trump loves his.

And I know that those who love Donald Trump so much they see everything he does as correct do not love their countrymen.  And if you hate your countrymen because of their political beliefs, you hate your country.

Fairytale balls

One of the interesting things about the "benefitting future Presidents" line is that it fits into the Trump narrative perfectly. Trump sees himself as a sort of monarch and the White House as a palace.

It's just supposed to be a house.

No. 10 Downing Street doesn't have a ballroom.  24 Sussex Drive doesn't have one either.  The Hôtel Matignon doesn't have one either.  Even the Novo-Ogaryovo Estate doesn't have one, and its quite lavish.

The Kremlin does.  So does Buckingham Palace.

Hmm. . . . . 

That really shows us a glimpse of Trump's mindset. And contrary to what MAGAs like to imagine, no prior President has ever asked for a dedicated ballroom.

It's all just a weird fantasy and a glimpse into the American inferiority complex.  We may have rebelled against a king, but in some ways we never got over being besotted by them. Even to this day we follow what the British royal family is doing as if it matters to us at all.  

So here you have it.  


Abolitio nominis

Back during Roman times, the Senate could issue a decree of abolitio nominis, although it's pretty unclear to me if they called it that.  It was an abolition of a leader's name to the full extent possible.

The Roman Senate well knew that it couldn't really erase an Emperor's name from history, so it was symbolic. But it is worth noting that some very early societies effectively nearly did achieve just that.  The purpose was to express maximum public disdain for the disgraced person.

It's easy to think the US never attempted anything like that, but perhaps it slightly has in the case of the removal of Confederate monuments which started some years ago, and then generally stopped under Trump, whose world outlook doves relatively well with a lot of Confederates or at least Dixiecrats, which is what he really is.  At the time, I was of mixed view as erasing history bothers me, and that reflected the history of the attempt at reviving Confederate reputations.  I find that effort horrific, but I thought having a reminder of it served a purpose. And, also, quite frankly as times change the views of various persons from the past change as well.  Thomas Jefferson was a great man, for instance, but it's pretty clear that he was also screwing his late wife's enslaved half sister when she was only 14.  He was 44. She was his youngest daughters nanny.  The children from the illicit union were born into slaver.

That's warped.

So, suffice it to say, leaders of the past have some warts on them.

But things like rebelling for slavery or ignoring the legalities of things while in office that are open and obvious at the time are another matter.  Jefferson was a domestic creep, and there's no defending that, but the weird mores of his culture made that less weird than it would seem now, although there were plenty of rumors at the time and it's hard not to regard the liasons as starting off, at least, as a type of rape.  Anyhow, the Confederate monuments came up mostly in the 1910s.  It's my view now they ought to all come down. Trump has brought me to that.

Trump is such a horrific person that some sort of decree of abolitio nominis needs to be made when he's gone.  The American instinct is always "well, let's all reconcile". 

Let's not.

Recognizing mistakes is one thing.  Lots of MAGAs who should have known better are now crossing over into sanity as their own wallets are looted by Trump's policies.  I don't care what brings them back into some sort of reality, I think they ought to be welcomed back.  But diehard MAGAs and people who are going to serve Trump until the last days of his administration, not so much.  Karoline Leavitt, for example, can be forgiven, but not readmitted to decent society.  Vance and Rubio should be made to retire from politics.

But because Trump has shown such disdain for the law, he should be made an example of. And the first part of that is to declare his second presidency a legal nullity.  Given his status as an insurrectionist, there's a legal grounds to do that.  Every order, commission, appointment and whatever that depended on his signature should be immediately declared to be null, void, and of no effect by the next President, irrespective of the impact.  Every "agreement" entered into should be declared a nullity, including agreements with foreign powers.  The ballroom should be blown down, and the triumphal arch as well, but the next administration immediately.

Yes, it's extreme, but the correction to fascism is extreme.

Real balls

The first inaugural ball was held for George Washington in 1789 in New York. Washington D.C. did not exist yet, of course.  It was an unofficial ball which, if we must have these, is how they should be in my view.  

The first official one was in 1809 for James Madison.  It was held at Longs Hotel.  Balls didn't occur at all in 1853, 1913, 1921, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 2021.  I don't think they should be held at all anymore, but when they are, there are numerous official balls. Clinton had fourteen one year, which is absurd.

Inflation

The GOP is seriously worried about inflation as everyone is seriously worried about it.  It's flopping around like a fish on the deck trying to explain high fuel prices to MAGA bases like agriculture and truck transportation.

It's not going to work.

It took hitting their own pocketbooks but all of a sudden truck drivers are mad at Trump. Well, they ought to be, but it's too late.  Trump's not able to help.

Farmers and ranchers, who started to be angry a while back, are angry once again for the same reason, and in the case of farmers they're upset about potash, most of which comes from Canada, now being tariffed.  

Oops.

King Donny tried to claim that we were going to get potash from Belarus. That claim survived a few hours until the Belarusians said, nope, we don't have any to sell you.

The claim on fuel, of course, is that it'll all go down when the war is over. Given as the war is getting worse, not over, there's not much stock that can be put in that claim.  And the potash situation can only be solved by not being an asshole to Canada.

Even there, the diehard MAGAs are convinced that the Canadians have been picking on us for decades. This is just flat out false.  The border was basically duty free until Trump came in and tore up the very deal that he'd arrived upon with Canada during his first term.

The entire thing has caused now desperate Republicans to ponder taking extreme measures on topics they don't grasp. There's a move, for example, to ban the exportation of diesel fuel.  

The refining of petroleum products doesn't work the way people think it does and the price is very heavily dependent upon the cost of the raw product.  The refractions that become diesel and jet fuel are there no matter what.  There's pretty good reason to believe that banning the export of diesel fuel doesn't do anything to its price, and might just raise it.

We may, of course, get to find out.

Frankly, at this point, my prediction is fuel prices are never coming down.  The wars gone on too long, and too much damage has been done to Middle Eastern infrastructure to change that.

This might have some good side benefits, however.  One might be the acceleration of the switch to electric vehicles.  I actually overheard somebody whose family is employed in the petroleum industry discussing a desire to get an electric vehicle yesterday.  Another may be a switch to rail transportation, which is a much better means of transporting goods in the first place.  In agriculture, there are means of relying on petroleum less, and that may start to occur more and more in livestock production at least.  A lot of the television farmers and ranchers that are interviewed look like they've never walked a day in their life, they might start to.  The end of ATVs and driving everywhere may start to arrive.

Maybe a slight "think this out" trend might start to.  Truckers and farmers who voted for Trump are getting exactly what they deserve.  Unfortunately, the rest of us have been dragged along with them.

Last Edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist 156th Edition. Name Changes, Go home Cynthia, The Merits of Packing Heat.