Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 3. The Quack Edition.

  

BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?

DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines

BASH: Oh, come on

From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.¹ 

In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.

Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race.  Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day).  The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism.  McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.

Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.

Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones.  People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one.  I'll give a personal example.

In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.  I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.  

Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.

Not good.

Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.

I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.

The point?  Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.

Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine.  I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older.  You don't want cancer.

A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.

Get vaccinated.

March 10, 2026

The worst cabinet in American history

And it's not even close.

March 15, 2026

The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.

March 21, 2026

Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:

cont:

Absolutely reprehensible.

At this point, support of Trump is indecent.

March 31, 2026

We were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder One and Rolling Thunder Two, and then we won. As soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over the better. If we seize Kharg Island, it's technically boots on the ground. It could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend.

Rep. Rich McCormick, whom apparently is unaware that the US lost the Vietnam War.

April 10, 2026

Melania Trump made a rare and awkward televised appearance to deny ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The appearance was so rare, and the rumors regarding her association with Epstein so long lasting, that there's lots of open speculation as to why, although the release of a book in the UK asserting she was an Epstein bedmate a year prior to her association with Trump may be the reason.  Or it may just be that she's tired of her reputation being dragged through the mud.

Note, I'm not asserting the book is correct.  I don't know, and I'm not going to read it.  She's asserting that at least some of what's being said are lies, and no doubt some of them are lies.  I'll note the repeated claims that she was a prostitute is a lie.  Her claims that Epstein did not introduce the couple are mostly likely correct.

I'm surprised by how surprised people are that she speaks English poorly.  Frankly, it just sounds heavily accented to me.

I'm not a Melania fan, but I don't envy her position.

Marrying Trump made her rich and we don't know why she married him, and her marriage no doubt now looks like a pretty poor choice to people who do not adore Trump.  Maybe she adores Trump.  It's certainly made her a target, and she can hardly defend herself due to her poor speaking abilities.  

The whole event is rather odd.

cont:

Arc de la défaite?

Trump Unveils Design Plan for Tacky, 250-Foot Victory Arch

In the middle of a war, this is what the president is really focused on.

April 13, 2026

Democrats like high gas prices because of their radical climate agenda. So people understand what the president is doing and agree with him.

Sen. Dr. John Barrasso.

So, Trump causing higher prices. . . Democrats want higher prices. . . so Trump's a Democrat?

Yeah. . . Wyoming's really getting its money worth out of this public servant. . . 

Frankly, I don't believe that Barrasso believes a word he's saying a lot of the time.  If Trump announced tomorrow he was a member of the Socialist Party, Dr. John would appear with a copy of the Greatest Hits of Karl Marx.

April 16, 2026

Kennedy was just put in this position by Trump to get him out of the way in the election.  No more proof than that is needed to establish that Trump really doesn't give a rats ass about the health of the American public.  Kennedy is a complete nut.

Of course, Trump also elevated Dr. Oz to power as well, putting the sort of dimwitted pop crap from the Oprah Show into power.

While we're at it, Pete Hegseth, who has tattooed himself with the symbols of Catholic Crusaders while being a member of some Protestant sect that Crusaders would regard as being weird heretics, but who is trying to Christianize, in the far right Evangelical sense, the Department of Defense quoted to a gathering at one of his prayer functions the famous speech from Pulp Fiction, that being:

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

This is good script writing, but it's not actually what's in the Bible.

A snippet of what's actually found in Ezekiel in this area, which is supposed to be what the assassin character is quoting, is here:

Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted vengefully and exacted vengeance with intentional malice, destroying with undying hostility, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and wipe out the remnant on the seacoast.

Thus I will execute great acts of vengeance on them, punishing them furiously. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I wreak my vengeance on them.

A bit different.  I'd have expected Hegseth to know that.  Part of what's noted in the actual text is a warning against vengeance. 

The larger text states:

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, turn toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them.

Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you jeered at my sanctuary when it was desecrated, at the land of Israel when it was destroyed, and at the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore I am giving you to people from the east* as a possession. They shall set up their encampments among you and pitch their tents in your midst; they shall eat your produce and drink your milk. And I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and all of Ammon into a grazing place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you rejoiced over the land of Israel with scorn in your heart, clapping your hands and stamping your feet, therefore, see, I am stretching out my hand against you and giving you up as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and wipe you out of the lands. I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.c

Against Moab.

Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab said, “See! the house of Judah is like all the other nations,” therefore, I am exposing the whole flank of Moab* with its cities, the jewels of its land: Beth-jesimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim. I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the people from the east that it may not be remembered among the nations. I will execute judgment upon Moab that they may know that I am the LORD.

Against Edom.

Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom took vengeance on the house of Judah and incurred terrible guilt by taking vengeance on them, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it human being and beast alike. I will turn it into ruins from Teman to Dedan; they shall fall by the sword.

I will put my vengeance against Edom into the hands of my people Israel; they will deal with Edom in accord with my furious anger. Thus they shall know my vengeance!—oracle of the Lord GOD.h

Against the Philistines.

Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted vengefully and exacted vengeance with intentional malice, destroying with undying hostility, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and wipe out the remnant on the seacoast.

Thus I will execute great acts of vengeance on them, punishing them furiously. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I wreak my vengeance on them.

One of the things that's slightly interesting here, as a random observation, is that generally Catholics use a lot more of the Old Testament as a rule than Protestants.  Protestants are often shocked how "Jewish" Catholic services are, and well given as the Apostolic Faiths date back to the Apostles, that makes sense.  Maybe Hegseth can be somewhat excused therefore for quoting Quentin Tarantino's script. 

It does make me wonder, however, if Hegseth has seen the movie.  In the film Jules Winnfield, the assassin in question, has a Road to Damascus moment and decides to give up being a hit man.  Vincent Vega, who continues on in that role after Winnfield has a Crisis de Coeur, is gunned down by one of his intended targets, who himself is excused as a target by the mob boss after he intervenes to save his life.  Tarantino is not noted to be religiously observant at all, but he may have accidentally have written some moral lessons into the film.  

If so, Hegseth missed them.

We might close out this issue of this thread here, as with Donald Trump's mental health rocketing towards the completely unhinged, the ignorance level of the Trump administration is accelerating.  RFK Jr., for example, is starting a podcast.  Markwayne Mullin is in the cabinet.  Things are occurring back scene.  The administration, the most ignorant one in American history, promises to get weirder.

Footnotes:

1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence.  There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.

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Labels: Apostolic Christianity, Catholic, New Apostolic Reformation, Pete Hegseth, Protestant, religion, Sunday Morning Scene, United States and Israel v. Iran

Last edition:

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 2. The War is a Racket edition.

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Downfall. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Twelfth Edition. He's insane, we all know it, and he's in power. This will get much, much, worse.

Richard Nixon and Donald Trump.  One man worried his cabinet who planned around a possible mental collapse that didn't come, the other is having a mental collapse and his cabinet is doing nothing.

We later learned that in 1973 as Nixon came under increased pressure due to Watergate, his aids feared he would do something rash.  Nixon was reacting badly under the stress.  He was lashing out.  He was drinking heavily.

Of course, in the end, he resigned.

Donald Trump, who like Hitler doesn't drink, is visibly collapsing before our eyes.  He's obviously been in a state of mental decline for a decade now, and its increasing.  He was heavily impaired when elected, making any rational person wonder why he was elected to the office, other than that people the weird insurrectionist feared that Joe Biden's dementia was too advanced to allow for him to hold office again, something that history should not forgive Biden for.  Even that doesn't really explain it, as Harris was the alternative in the end, for people who play along with the two party system nightmare that actually doesn't have to exist.

A major difference between late stage Nixon and late stage Trump, other than that Nixon was not insane (a major difference) is that Nixon was surrounded by sane, if not always admirable, advisors.  Trump is surrounded by sycophants.

That's a huge difference as we now know that Nixon's advisors consulted amongst themselves about his mental state. They were worried about it.  None of them were as deeply loyal to Nixon at all costs as Trump's sycophantic advisors are to him.

Many, including me, have wondered how it is that Trump's cabinet hasn't acted to replace him.  Heather Cox Richardson, in one of her video shorts, has provided the answer.  The people surrounding Trump have nowhere else to go.

In Trump's first administration his cabinet included sane people.  Trump didn't know how to take office and in fact his natural laziness kept him from really ever fully forming a government.  That natural laziness came into effect when he was elected a second time.  He was kept from acting like a king in his first term as his advisor wouldn't let him, and he didn't like that.  In his second term he wanted people who would slavishly do what he wanted without question, and he got them almost exclusively.

If you look at the current cabinet you can see that, with perhaps two or three exceptions, it's wholly made up of people for whom Trump is their only chance. Some may be rich, but wealth is credited much more than it should be as allowing for intellectual independence.  People lavish praise on Trump not because they believe it, but because they are his willing concubines and have prostituted themselves to him.  Some of these people are outright dim.  Some have just sold their souls and know that when Trump falls, they fall with him, as Richardson has noted.

Why these people are in this position is another matter.  Some got there as they believe in Trump.  Others were placed their by forces supporting Trump, knowing that he was too lazy to actually do the work to pick competent people.  The Heritage Society, for example, saw Trump as a hollow vessel they could pour their radicalization through.

Trump's cabinet, therefore, is much like Hitler's.  Where was Goebbels going to go?  And Trump's true followers are much like members of the German SS, who fought to the bitter end.  They didn't see a future, literally, in a post war Germany where they figured they'd be killed, if not by the Allies, then by the Germans.  MAGA still shows up like the Waffen Grenadier Brigade of the SS Charlemagne, the French SS unit that went down fighting in Berlin.  They thought the alternative to that was a bullet in the back of the head.  Real Trump loyalist show up as they fear that if Trump fails, or more likely when he does, they're era is over.  And like the SS in Berlin, they fanatically hope that Der Fuehrer will pull off a miracle, which he won't, or that they'll be saved by some mysterious outside force at the last hour.

That won't happen either.

Many people have wondered how the Germans were so cowed by a leader who was sending them into a disaster.  It can't be said that Americans are.  Only 30% of Americans actually support Trump.  Probably an equal if not larger number outright hate him at this point.  If the election was held today the Republicans would loose both houses, and in November when the election is held, they will.  

But here's the dangerous thing.  Between now and November the leadership of the US is in the bunker and Der Fuehrer is insane.

I've long held that Trump would be removed in 2026 by the 25th Amendment.  I hadn't considered, however, the points Richardson raises.  He still might be but as she notes if Trump goes down, they all go down with him. They're a bunch of cowardly sycophants and they do not appear to be willing to save their country any more than Goebbels was.

Still, even in Hitler's cabinet not everyone was unquestionably loyal towards the end.  Himmler actually serious considered trying to cut a separate deal with the Allies and effectively remove Hitler via a coup.  There was even one SS member in the July 20 plot.  It remains possible, but only barely so, that the cabinet will vote to save itself.

We know that at least a few people in the cabinet likely are willing to do that.  J. D. Vance is one.  Marco Rubio another.  Both of them hope to be President and neither benefits from going down with Trump.  I've long thought they were playing out this string until they could act.  But two men alone won't get it done.  There's likely a few more, but only few. None of the ass kissers in cabinet meetings are amongst them.

Which brings us to this.  Over the next few months things are going to be extremely bad.  Trump's mental state is declining so rapidly it's difficult to gauge.  He's going to pull out of the war he joined with Israel which will be a major defeat he can't disavow.  The economy will not rapidly recover and he can't blame that on Biden.  He's lost the Hispanic vote and he  won't be able to get it back.  The Arab American vote which dimly voted for him is lost as well.  The people who are left in his cabinets who openly support him increasingly look like outright kooks.  The financial flood to his family is not being ignored and is very likely to result in post Trump criminal prosecutions, maybe of Trump himself.

And yesterday, a judge made clear that his obscene bordello on the Potomac addiction to the White House will never happen.

He's a desperate, and demented, man.

Trump, from now to November, will try to steal the November election.  He's already trying.  And he'll do every odd thing imaginable or never imagined to try to deflect attention form his failure.  There will be no limit to what he will try.  Invasions of Cuba and Greenland are possible, with Cuba almost a certainty.  Deals with Russia, or China, or whomever.  Attempts to cancel the election, or seize the polls are probable.  Ignoring the courts a near certainty.

The 25th Amendment should save us from this but might not.  Impeachment of Trump should occur, but will not, unless there's a massive post November shift in Congress.

Instead, expect things to get worse and worse.  And expect the few members of the administration who aren't willing to go down in the bunker to start resigning.  Vance can't, Trump being removed or dying in office is his only hope of being President. Rubio can, and he will, likely before November.

April 6, 2026

Trump's mental status is collapsing.

That post, posted on Easter, read like something a drunk man would post, and frankly but for the fact that we believe Trump doesn't drink, this post would receive that speculation. 

This post has renewed public demands for invocation of the 25th Amendment, and it should.  Trump is insane.  The reference to God in Arabic is insulting to Muslims, the vast majority of whom have nothing to do with Iran or its leadership.

We're committing war crimes under the leadership of a madman.

I'll note I'm not the only one whose concerned.

I'd originally posted that yesterday as a standalone, which I've taken down as I've posted it here.  But what I'll note is that Klungman doesn't say what a lot of us are thinking.  Trump is, in my view, edging up on using an atomic bomb.

In normal times, which these are not, there'd be sufficient people around him to probably put a halt to that. Now there aren't.  The cabinet appears to be nearly complete flunkies.  We'll know this is true if Trump remains in power this week.  The military is being stripped of those who oppose rationality.

We not only live in dangerous times, we live in times in which the most powerful nation on earth is governed by a madman.

At this point anybody running in the fall with an "Endorsed by President Trump" (this means you, Delgenfelder) is absolutely unqualified for office.

By the way, the man whom Evangelicals and some others routinely praise as a great Christian spent the day riding around in Washington DC and visiting one of his golf courses.  No attendance at church.

cont:

Today is a very special day. It's a day where we celebrate Jesus. It's a day where we celebrate religion. It's an honor to be the president. Our country is doing so well. We've broken every record in the stock market. We've broken every record in our military. And what about the rescue?

Donald Trump in an Easter speech.  He's insane.

cont:

If I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil, because it's there for the taking…Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I'd take the oil. I'd keep the oil. I would make plenty of money.

Trump. What a morally bankrupt human being.

cont:

I'm polling higher than anybody has ever polled in Venezuela. So after I'm finished with this I can got to Venezuela. I will quickly learn Spanish. It won't take long. I'm good at language. I will go to Venezuela. I'm going to run for president.

Trump again.

There are a pile of these from today.  Trump is bat shit crazy.  Supporting him at this point is criminal, and not invoking the 25th Amendment is as well.  He's completely, utterly, insane.

April 7, 2026

Today we have the news that the insane Donald Trump, in addition to declaring his intention to run for the Presidency of Venezuela (don't discount that with any of the numerous excuses his apologist give for his bat shit crazy statements, we should assume he means it), is defending his statement about keeping Iranian oil on the basis that he's "a businessman" and "to the victors, go the spoils".

Today we're promised a full slate of war crimes.

We offer here a bit of a note.

Often people with a psychotic criminal drive they cannot control hope for intervention.  Trump is so out of control right now there's more than a little reason to believe that he's hoping for the same.  He has no way out, he's lived a life of utter depravity.  The 25th Amendment and hope supervision get him out of the mess he's created, and frankly away from a host of people he probably doesn't like.

Cont:

Even this threat is immoral.  

If carried out, it's murder.

Only the immoral will support a thing like this.  Donald Trump is a deranged monster.

April 9, 2026

Having learned that being a demented madman didn't impress Iran, he's back at it again with Greenland.

This man needs to be removed from office now.  The 25th Amendment needs to be applied immediately.

Last edition:

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Eleventh Edition. He's insane, and we all know it. Somebody close to him is watching it.

Labels: 25th Amendment Watch List, Conspiracy Theories, Donald Trump, Mental Health, Saudi Arabia, The Madness of King Donald, United States and Israel v. Iran

Pollice Verso. The 2026 Political Negative Endorsement. The Don't Vote For List.

I've run items on elections here for a long time, and made my views on various candidates more or less known, but this year is really a critical year.

So, we aren't telling you who to vote for, but for the first time ever, we're publishing something on whom we think you should vote against, although it frankly takes a lot of hubris to even assume anyone at all cares what I think on this topic.

#very election season people say something about the election being the most critical one ever but 2026 really is.  2026 may be the last gasp of American democracy, or the beginning of the restoration of it.  Right now, the American electorate basically stabbed democracy accidentally in the back by electing a mentally declining spoiled rich boy caudillo, and the whole world is paying the price.

The US is being run on a near dictatorial basis by the madman.  The Republican Party, save for a few of its notable members, has become nothing but a collection of worshippers, many of whom are steeped in ignorance.  The childlike ignoramus who is running the country is going to try to steal the 2026 elections.  About this there can be no doubt.

Part of the duty of the voters is to be informed.  It's pretty clear a lot of American voters, no matter what their party affiliation, aren't.  Indeed, I dare say the most informed voters are Independents who have informed themselves on both parties and marched out of the parties absolutely disgusted.

In Wyoming you almost have to be a member of the Republican Party or you have no vote at all.  But in Wyoming a collection of Dixiecrats who think they are Republicans and think they are for "freedom" is now the most powerful voice in the legislature and due to Cynthia Lummis retiring the entire mix of candidates is in flux.

This trailing thread is a list of people to vote against.  That's a terrible way to vote, but given the times and the slate of candidates, its something people need to consider.

This list, we'll note, is limited to current candidates.  Not every Wyoming politician.  If experience is any guide we would note that not getting voted for tends to refocus a politicians attention like nothing else.  If there's a big shift in 2026 and some traction on that in Wyoming, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if Chuck Gray wrote daily proposals of marriage to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

There are plenty of candidates running for office in Wyoming who'd end the public's right to do this, or anything, on public land.

Enemies of Public Lands, Hunters and Fishermen

Wyoming public lands users were shocked in 2025 with Deseret Mike Lee lead a full blown charge at public lands and Wyoming's Lummis, Barrasso, and Hageman joined right in.   Given their histories respectively of 1) being a Cheshire Cat, 2) Being a sycophantic toady and 3) being a member of a family that very distinctly doesn't care much for anyone who isn't an agricultural landowner, we shouldn't have been surprised, and yet we were.

Our guards still need to be up in a major way.  This issue hasn't gone away and if 2025/26s Trump babbling about Greenland, Gaza and Venezuela has shown anything, its that Donald Trump's GOP doesn't give a rats ass about anything that can't be reduced to a sale and the future just doesn't matter.  He's a shallow golf course developer and see the entire world that way, to his everlasting discredit.

And the GOP is right behind him.

People public lands users, and that includes ranchers who will get completely screwed if Deseret Mike Lee and his ilk have his way, follow.¹

These people have no Land Ethic.

Bill Allemand:  Allemand is from a large ranching family in the state but has claimed not to be part of the ranching operations himself.  Nonetheless he showed his hand by sponsoring a really punitive hunting trespass bill that failed last session.

That should preclude him from being reelected.  He's an enemy of sportsmen.

He's also a Dixiecrat.

And he's extremely rude.  His first run for office was characterized by outrageous comments about his opponent and he's shown a real temper since being elected.  Most recently, he stated outrageous things against a Deputy Sheriff who arrested him for drunk driving in Johnson County.²   A cutting editorial by Susan Stubson on his drunk driving escapade is well worth reading.

On Allemand:

Rep. Bill Allemand asks judge to rescind court-ordered alcohol testing during upcoming legislative session: The Midwest lawmaker is contesting his DUI charge following his arrest last month in Johnson County.

The answer to that ought to be a hard no. 

Harriet Hageman:  Hageman is from a large ranching/farming family in southeast Wyoming.  Her father was the sponsor of an effort to privatize wildlife when he was in the legislature.  Hageman aggressively backed an effort to transfer Wyoming's Federal lands to the state and responded to criticism of those who opposed her by basically calling them dumb.

This past term her family homestead burned to the ground in a year that's been extremely warm and devoid of moisture. There were poignant comments about it, including from her, which tend to demonstrate the agricultural community's absolute refusal to read what is really in front of their face, climate wise.  It's ironic, in that even university educated agriculturalist like Hageman, who depend on animal science daily, refuse to believe that any other science is valid.

Jacob Wasserburger:  Wasserburger came up with this bad idea, but it sounds a lot like he's been sitting around with Mike Lee, the Senator from Deseret

Going Feral: Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Sell Between 30,000 And 2...: Another moronic idea by a Wyoming Republican, a party which seems to draw from the endless well of bad ideas. Wasserburger is going right on...

He's signed on to the no prescription for Ivermectin act as well, these two things indicating that he's hanging out with, in not in, the Freedom Caucus.  A little digging reveals that Wasserburger is from a Niobrara County ranch and has been practicing law since 2008, at which he's bounced around a lot, including having once worked for a major Democratic politician and a really good Republican one.  He did a stint in government work as well.

Original post:  January 20, 2026.

Updates:  January 24, 2026, January 27, 2026.

Allies of Ignorance.  Trump Fellow Travelers and Dixiecrats.

I suspect that some of these people probably really love Trump, while others are just opportunistic and  pitching to ignorant Wyoming voters, telling them what they know they want to hear.  Either way, they shouldn't be voted for, either because they believe the nonsense they're spouting, or because they're willing to lie to obtain office.

Some of these folks are members of the largely carpetbagging Wyoming Freedom Caucus as well, which definitely should disqualify them.  They're not running for office in 2026 Wyoming but 1966 Alabama.  It's estimated that 42 members of the House, which has only 62 seats, in the Wyoming legislature are occupied by Freedom Caucus members, but it is an estimate as some of them will not openly declare their membership showing that they have some reservations about it.

Something Wyoming voters should know is that unlike other caucuses, once a legislator joins the WFC he or she can sit on his legislative rear and do nothing, as the WFC does all the work, including drafting bills it wants and telling the potted WFC plant what to say and think.  The money, and at least some of the bill drafting, comes from outside of the state.  The Freedom  Caucus is effectively an alien, that is carpetbagging, force in the state, in the true original sense of the meaning of the word carpetbagger.

Megen Degenfelder:  Degenfelder is the current Superintendent of Public Instruction who has announced for Governor.. She's clearly very far right wing, but she doesn't appear to be a full blown MAGA adherent.  Still, she received King Donny's endorsement and wrapped herself in it, and for that reason alone should be rejected.

I do have a question, however, based on her time in office, as to how much of the MAGA nonsense she really believes.  As one of the Board of State Land Commissioners she hasn't been a fellow traveler with Gray, and the evidence suggests that absolutely nobody on that Board can stand Gray. The Governor clearly does not, but it doesn't really look like anyone else does either.  And Degenfelder hasn't come out with any of the really extreme crap that Gray has, or even that Cindy Hill had.  Given that, she might be on the Trump Train in a boxcar ready to jump off when and if things begin to derail.  So I'll cut her a little slack, albeit very, very, little.

In this race, so far, it looks to me that Barlow is the best candidate.

Chuck Gray:  Gray's a carpetbagging opportunist who took advantage of lies to obtain the position of Secretary of State where he's been a general pain in the ass.  He's not from here, he's not of here, and he should be sent packing as a disagreeable asshole.  He literally obtained his office mounted on a steed of lies.

Gray, I'll note, was one of the founders of the Freedom Caucus and perhaps because of that hasn't been asked the questions or subject to sideways glances that some in his situation might have been, which is interesting.

Ken Pendergraft:  A member of the Freedom Caucus who voted to slash U.W.'s budget.

The Freedom Caucus is pretty much the Freakishly Dumb Caucus and basically opposes education.  Educated people, it turns out, tend to be moderate and don't believe that global warming is a fib, or that the Earth is 4,000 years old, or that Christianity somehow started in the US with an Evangelical Free Church.  So education is bad, in their view.

Jeremy Haroldson:  A member of the Freedom Caucus who voted to slash U.W. budget.

Jacob Wasserburger: As we suspected, Wasserburger is part of the WFC.  

And some more:

Ann Lucas (Cheyenne): 

Darin McCann (Rock Springs):

Joel Guggenmos (Riverton): 

Jayme Lien (Casper): 

Gary Brown (Cheyenne): 

Steve Johnson (Cheyenne): 

Joe Webb (Lyman): 

Paul Hoeft (Cody):

Robert Wharff (Evanston): 

David Giralt, who is running for the House solely on a promise to be the biggest Trump sycophant imaginable.

Jeanette Ward, who hopes to get back in the legislature after being booted out.

Bo Biteman, who is in the Freedom Caucus.

Frank Moran, carpetbagger in Moran.

Steve Friess. Teton County carpetbagger.

Updated on February 27, 2026, March 13, 2026. March 26, 2026.  April 3, 2026.

The Freedom Caucus thinks that they are Republicans, but they are not. They're Jeffersonian Democrats, i.e., Dixiecrats.

Original post:  January 20, 2026.  Updates:  January 28, 2028. February 2, 2026.

Carpetbaggers

This may seem like an odd thing to post in this category, but this film, which I hate, really frames the Wyoming mindset in some ways, even though the novel from which its taken was set in Appalachia.  Clayboy's father and eight uncles may have fallen in love here, but Clayboy is going to abandon one of the most beautiful spots on earth and the two hot chicks pursuing him so he can go to university, learn to write, and sit in an office smoking cigarettes behind a typewriter because he's convinced that must be superior to what he already has.

Wyoming has always had a transient population and, additionally, a pretty pronounced history of self doubt and even self loathing. For that reason, we're pretty willing as a rule to elect imports who claim to be like us, even though we know that they aren't.  We really think they're better than us.

Right now, for example, we have Dr. John Barrasso who isn't a Wyomingite but sort of pretends to be one, or at least was up until becoming the Senate Majority Whip.  He's a Pennsylvanian.  He's a Boomer so chances are that this is his last hurrah before he retires and gets the heck out of here.  

We've added a note above about the funding of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which pretty much qualifies the caucus itself, if not every single members, as the Wyoming Foreign Carpetbaggers.

Chuck Gray:  Gray is a Californian who shares nothing in common with anyone whatsoever in the state.   He should be sent back to California.

Indeed, one of the most pathetic things about Gray campaigns is when they dress the diminutive little guy up and try to film him in Wyoming.  There he is, looking at an oil rig, and looking mighty uncomfortable, and so on.

Joseph Kibler:  Kibler is a recent import from California, and should just go home.  He's running for Governor.

Jeanette Ward, whose from some suburb of Chicago.

Frank Chapman, who moved into Wyoming from somewhere else after practicing law there for three decades and who now is some sort of rancher and outfitter in Moran.

Steve Friess.

Original post:  January 20, 2026.

Updates:  January 24, 2026, March 13, 2026.  March 26, 2026.

Bottle Babies and Stahlhelm

In recent years Wyoming has seen people run for office touting their experience as a veteran. They basically fall into two groups.

One group were career servicemen who sucked on the government tit their entire working lives and now have moved into Wyoming or have come back to Wyoming after decades of being gone and, uniformly, declare they hate the government and know how to fix it. Their hatred didn't keep them from competing in the free job economy with the rest of us, however.

They didn't run their military careers like they claim they'll run the state.  I.e, they didn't come in and say "I hate the military with the red hot passion of a thousand burning suns and I'm going to destroy it!".

The other group are men who run simply on having been a veteran.  Eh?  Lee Harvey Oswald was a veteran.   This group has nothing much more to say other than "I'm a veteran".  So what?  Lots of people are veterans.  This is the Stahlhelm group.

Brent Bien is a bottle baby.  He was a career Marin Corps officer and had a really distinguished career.  Now he's back in the state and seeks to apply that experience, which is wholly irrelevant to running the state, to wrecking government.

Original post:  January 20, 2026.

Democrats in delusion

On this category, let me be clear.  I want more Democrats to run, but I want solid Democrats to run.  While its a long shot, I think a centrist Democratic Party in the state, which we used to have, and which gave us multiple Governors, could gain seats, including some important seats.  Indeed, I'm surprised that some names that used to appear haven't re-appeared so far.

The first thing I'm going to note is that the Democrats need to avoid wrapping themselves in bloody surgical towels and rainbow flags, but they just can't seem to avoid doing it.  They should take a lesson from one of their own recent events:

Affordability, healthcare and public lands echo as top concerns at Dem listening sessions

But instead of that, they'll end up talking about "reproductive rights" and "gender determination" and completely ax themselves.

What the Democratic Party should do in Wyoming is flat out instruct its candidates not to take hardcore positions on these issues.  Ideally, they ought to run a moderate prolife Democrat, which would be something the GOP wouldn't know how to handle. If a Democratic candidate went to a house seat debate and took a position to the right of the Republican on the typical social issues, they'd be caught flat footed and resort to name calling.  Better yet, if asked about abortion, and a Democratic candidate said "I'm flat out against it, and why has Donald Trump come out being sort of for it?" the Republicans wouldn't know what to do.

But, nope, that won't happen.

Anyhow, while we want Democrats to run, and want third party candidates to run, some will end up on this list as they're actually sucking air out of the room which shouldn't be.

Stewart McAdoo fits this category.  McAdoo is a Democrat who is running against Art Washut in House District 36.  Washut is a real conservative (and very conservative at that), and not a populist Freedom Caucus member.  Losing him would be a disaster for Wyoming.  I've never heard of him, but he appears to be an import to the state, which might place him in another category as well.

Original post:  January 22, 2026.

Footnotes

1.  While I know that it will happen no time soon, it really needs to become the case that lands that went into private hands through a Homestead Act can't go into corporate or absentee hands.

2.  According to news reports Allemand admitted to the sheriff's deputy that he drank and drive, in order to address "stress".  In the papers he came out just like he did in the campaign, which is to say as a boisterous asshole.  That alone should put an end to his political career.

Most of his business career, we'd note, was spent in Kansas.  He ought to just go back to Kansas.

Related Posts:

Blog Mirror: WYOMING: IT’S TIME TO TAKE OUR GOVERNMENT BACK

Labels: 2020s, 2026 Election, Blog Mirror, Carpetbaggers, Make Liberty Win, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

The Pleasure Principle. Wars for fun cannot be won

 

The Pleasure Principle

Wars for fun cannot be won

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 3. The Quack Edition.

 

BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?

DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines

BASH: Oh, come on

From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.¹ 

In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.

Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race.  Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day).  The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism.  McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.

Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.

Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones.  People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one.  I'll give a personal example.

In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.  I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.  

Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.

Not good.

Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.

I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.

The point?  Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.

Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine.  I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older.  You don't want cancer.

A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.

Get vaccinated.

March 10, 2026

The worst cabinet in American history

And it's not even close.

March 15, 2026

The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.

March 21, 2026

Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:

March 27, 2026.

In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, President Donald J. Trump’s signature alongside @SecScottBessent's will soon appear on U.S. currency, marking a first in history, and symbolizes @POTUS ' leadership and dedication to our great nation will carry a lasting impact

U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach.

And hence, the era of defacement of U.S. currency began.

Seriously, my prediction will be for those dealing in cash, the number of "F***" next to Donny's signature, or replicas of his public Epstein birthday card's, or any number of defacements, will be epic.

The sycophantic sucking up this this demented twit is beyond all understanding.  When this is all over, and it will be soon, Bessant ought to spend every day for the rest of his life apologizing.

Footnotes:

1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence.  There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.

Related Threads

Doug Wilson, the Calvinist preacher who appeared in Pete Hegseth's weekly Pentagon prayer meeting, says that in his preferred Christian nation, anything that Protestants consider to be a "public displays of idolatry" would be banned, including Catholic parades.

Labels: Apostolic Christianity, Catholic, New Apostolic Reformation, Pete Hegseth, Protestant, religion, Sunday Morning Scene, United States and Israel v. Iran

Last edition:

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 2. The War is a Racket edition.

Labels: Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Ignorance, Imperialism, Nicolás Maduro, Petroleum, Predictions, Racism, Rudyard Kipling, Stephen Miller, The Second Trump Administration, Venezuela, War