The Trump Administration decides the Second Amendment ain't that much.

One of my predictions is that we're going to see a violent couple of years.

The other is that within a year and a half the editorial pages of the American Rifleman, who fawned over Trump, will be decrying a GOP embrace of gun control.  Fans of radicals who proclaim themselves to be for democracy and freedom while ranting about others as enemies should here to study history.  

Gun control came in to the USSR with the Communists, after they'd secured power at the barrel of a gun.  It was the Irish Republicans who brought gun control into Ireland, after the republic had been won with guns.  People like to claim the Nazis brought gun control to Germany (they didn't), but those who like to yell that should recall that Hitler was elected into office as part of a populist movement that promised to fix the economy and which hated "others", so to speak.

As soon as Trump sees the populace as the enemy to his safety, he'll act to preserve himself.  It's not, after all, as if he's been competing at Camp Perry and he doesn't need anyone's vote in four years.  If he acts, what are those who supported him on this issue going to do, join the Democrats?

Yeoman, January 6, 2025.

Alex Pretti, who was shot down by the Border Patrol, with Border Patrol shooting ten rounds.¹

I'm seeing one of my predictions about the Second Trump Administration coming true.

Everyone should have seen it.

Of the many people I know who voted for Donald Trump, there were three groups of what I'd call "single issue" voters who voted for him on the solid belief that he shared their views on one single issue, and that overrode everything else. There are: 1) opponents of abortion² , 2) opponents of gun control, 3) opponents of wars overseas ("forever wars").³

Trumps betrayed you, if you are in one of these categories, on all three.

The betrayal on gun control is simply epic.

A few days ago the Border Patrol gunned down Alex Pretti.  They actually shot ten shots.  People will defend the Border Patrol on this, but it's indefensible.  He was carrying a handgun legally, and it had been removed from him before he was killed.⁴

For decades the NRA insisted that Americans, and indeed everyone everywhere, had an absolute right to carry a firearm anywhere and campaigned for the right to carry, concealed and unconcealed, everywhere.⁵   Pretti had availed himself of that right.  He was going absolutely nothing illegal at the time he was gunned down.

The Administration's reaction has been to make every left wing gun control argument you've ever heard.

I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign.

Kash Patel.  Well, Kash, don't come to Wyoming then.  There aren't any, and I mean any, largescale demonstrations were people aren't carrying, concealed and unconcealed. Shoot, I saw a guy with a M1 Garand and fixed bayonet a couple of years ago.

Patel tried to claim that Pretti was breaking the law by carrying a sidearm at a protest, apparently ignoring that this guy became a hero for something like that:

Minneapolis police officials, at any rate, quickly disabused that notion, noting in the press and on Face the Nation that this simply isn't true.  Pretti wasn't breaking the law.

That same comment was made House Majority Leader Steve Scalise who was flat out confronted by Margaret Brennan on the same topic on Face the Nation.  Scalise stumpbed all over himself and said he was for the Second Amendment had had sponsored a concealed carry law down in Louisiana, but that if you are carrying a gun while breaking the law it's a felony, and Pretti was breaking the law.

Pretti wasn't breaking the law, but it does give you a pretty good idea of what the former Republican Party, now the Fascist Party, thinks of the 1st Amendment as well as the 2nd.

The ever nervous Scott Bessent had to appear on Meet the Press.

KARL: He was an ICU use who worked for the VA and there's no evidence he brandished the gun whatsoever

BESSENT: But he brought a gun

KARL: I mean, we do have a Second Amendment

BESSENT: I've been to a protest -- guess what? I didn't bring a gun. I brought a billboard

The always nervous Scott Bessent.⁶   

Bessent has been to a protest?  Was it a super megabucks soybean protest? 

Same thing here.  Now bringing a gun to a protest marks you for death.

Kristi Noem, whose thugs committed the killing, really went after Pretti, calling him a domestic terrorist.  That is now the official line for any of these protestors, they're terrorists.  Neom sated:

I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign.

Noem falsely accused Pretti of brandishing the weapon.

Stephen Miller called Pretti "an assassin" and accused him of trying to murder Federal agents.  

J. D. Vance repeated that lie, and Gregory Bovino more or less did.  Only Trump, who was initially claimed to have said something falsely, apparently hasn't.

Ironically, it was the press and the police that were defending Second Amendment rights to carry the past couple of days. You shouldn't bring a gun to a protest.  Pretti's handgun, which is a fairly typical 9mm SIG, was a "military weapon" (it is, but just about any semi automatic handgun could be), he had "multiple magazines".

And finally, we have the Dear Leader himself:

I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it. But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.

Donald Trump.⁷ 

Basically, the Administration's position is that if you are carrying a handgun, the Federal Government can gun you down.

All things right out of the left wing gun control handbook.

The very thing, I"d note, that the NRA warned us about, in regard to the Federal Government, with the irony being it comes right from the man they backed.

Not that any of this should be a surprise.  I've never felt for a moment that Trump had any actually affinity for firearms or was a member of "gun culture".⁸    He's a salesman, and he sold gun owners a line of bull.

Now they know better.  But it will be too late.

The things is, however, the accomplishments on the Second Amendment have been made. They can be taken away.  Therefore, a real "fool me once" thing is at play here.  A lot of gun owners are going to keep backing Trump as they'll refuse to think on this.  

And that's why support for Trump will prove to be too late.  W.E.B. Dubois declared that "only a fool never changes his mind".  How many gun owners will choose to be fools?

Footnotes:

1. The large number of shots suggest that the Border Patrol falls into the keep shooting category of policing, which many large city police do as well.  

I'm not a fan of magazine capacity laws, but I"m at the point where I don't think most policemen of any type should carry a firearm at all, and that when they do, it's time to go back to .38 revolvers.  They're simply less likely to kill people if they are med in that fashion

2.  A lot of people who find this to be a deep moral issue, and I do see it that way, voted for Trump on the false belief that they had no other choice.  There were other choices.

Now Trump is urging his supporters to soften their opposition to abortion. Mitch McConnel gets credit for the conservative judiciary that Trump put in place, which issued the Dodds decision, but there would be no real strong reason to feel that Trump cares much about the issue himself.

Trump's own sexual history is immoral, and usually multiple partners indicates a casual attitude towards abortion.  There's nothing to indicate that any of Trump's tarts had one, but he has shifted his position, and its still shifting, over the years.  

3.  Trump really likes to brand himself as a peace president but there are no wars that the US was involved in when he took office that we are now out of, the only real lingering one being the war in Syria.  He's started a new conflict in Venezuela, conducted a largescale mixed result raid in Iran, and appears to about to hit Iran again.

4.  Pretti's parents said that they knew he had a permit, but didn't know him to actually carry.  I'm in the same category.

My reaction is probably a lot like a lot of people in Pretty's category.  I'm going to start carrying.  

5. A spokesman from the NRA initially defended the shooting, slightly, and then the organization, waking up to the fact that it's about to be dumped by its members (it's already in financial trouble) backtracked and came out supporting carrying, but in a very muted fashion.

6.  Bessent is another figure who doesn't square with what MAGA claims its view of the world is.  He's an open homosexual in a homosexual union, something that MAGAs declare as abhorrent and which they repeatedly sneered at Biden's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for.  It's been interesting that Buttigieg and Jean-Pierre were condemned for the very same thing that Bessent does at home, the point being that like a lot of members of fascist movements, MAGA adherents will suspend all of their supposedly deeply held beliefs to follow the leader.

7. The two magazine thing is a real left wing talking point.  

Use of the terms "very powerful" and "bullets" in place of cartridges almost always demonstrates firearms ignorance.  9mm pistols are not "very powerful". Quite the contrary. That's why some police forces simply blaze away with them, and why soldiers are taught to shoot an opponent more than once.  The 9mm should be a good police round for that very reason as its unlikely to kill anyone with a single shot.

8.  I'll have to get into gun culture, which I use as a positive expression, not a negative one, elsewhere, but I've never trusted anyone in the Second Amendment movement who wasn't an active member of a shooting sport, if even only a collector.  While Eric Trump is a hunter, Donald Trump's only outside interest seems to be the incredibly boring sport of golf.  If you can shoot, you wouldn't send much time on the golf course.

Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the NRA, struck me that way also, but I don't really know much about him.  Chuck Gray in Wyoming strikes me that way also, although I could of course be wrong.

ICE Invaded Their City. So Minneapolis Workers revived the General Strike.

 

John M. Crisp: 3 predictions for an unpredictable era

I've predicted #3 here.  No. 1 I hadn't thought of myself, but it really scares me.  No. 2 I think un likely.

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Fifth Edition. He's not okay.

 

October 1, 2025

Trump's dementia is clearly accelerating, as his weird speech to assembled senior military officers demonstrated.

In response to the speeches assertion that cities like Chicago should be used as training grounds, Gov. JB Pritzker called for Trump to be removed from office under the 25th Amendment.

I've been saying that for months.

The Atlantic noted:

The president talked at length, and his comments should have confirmed to even the most sympathetic observer that he is, as the kids say, not okay. Several of Hegseth’s people said in advance of the senior-officer conclave that its goal was to energize America’s top military leaders and get them to focus on Hegseth’s vision for a new Department of War. But the generals and admirals should be forgiven if they walked out of the auditorium and wondered: What on earth is wrong with the commander in chief?

Trump seemed quieter and more confused than usual; he is not accustomed to audiences who do not clap and react to obvious applause lines. “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” he said at the outset. (Hegseth had the same awkward problem earlier, waiting for laughs and applause that never came.) The president announced his participation only days ago, and he certainly seemed unprepared.

I've also been stating that he's not okay. 

It's now becoming undeniable even where it had been ignored. Donald Trump is not okay.

October 2, 2025

A growing momentum on Trump's insanity.

This is huge.

In this clip, an off mike Speaker of the House Mike Johnson basically admits that Trump is "unwell", and only defends it by saying that some Democrats are as well.

He doesn't defined Trump's insanity, and he claims not to have seen the speech to the Military.

There's growing momentum now for the 25th Amendment to be invoked.  It's openly being called for, and here one of Trump's closest allies doesn't try to defend his sanity at all.

MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He is unwell. 

MIKE JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too

DEAN: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?

MIKE JOHNSON: I didn't see it

DEAN: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a president who is unwell.

Things like this have a way of happening suddenly.  Since Trump's very publized speech to the senior officers, there has been a lot of public commentary on his being "unwell" and now senior politicians are saying so openly. Some are Democrats who aren't afraid of saying it, even though they've been reluctant to up until now, such as Madelene Dean.

Dean:   “Is it racist? You put a sombrero on a Black man who’s the leader of the House. You don’t see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead,” 

Johnson:  “I’m working on it. And personally, it’s not my style. I love you and I respect you, OK?”

Dean:  “That’s why I’m talking to you".

We covered this quite a while back, but the 25th Amendment requires the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide", to issue a written declaration that the president is unable to discharge his duties.  So who all has to buy in on that?  The majority of the cabinet, but just a simple majority.

Who all is in the cabinet?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

Attorney General Pam Bondi

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer

Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler

Chief of Staff Susie Wiles

Okay, let's make some reasonable assumptions.

Getting J.D. Vance on board only really requires that a majority of the cabinet go along.  I suspect Vance would be pretty willing to stab Trump in the back if it elevates him to the Oval Office, and as I've said here all along, the NatCons have been planning on this development since day one.

So who might go along?  Keep in mind that there are a whopping 22 cabinet officers (an absurd amount).  In order to invoke the 25th Amendment, 12 would need to be willing to vote that Trump is bonkers.

Let's put them in "probable" (red), no way (blue) and unknown categories (orange) and see where that takes us, keeping in mind that unknown, is unknown to me.  Others might have a pretty good idea of how everyone is likely to go.

1.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio would definitely remove Trump and is undoubtedly willing to save his own career rather than be hitched to a mentally declining unpopular President.

2. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.  Bessent might seem like a surprise here, but he's been clearly uncomfortable saying the stupidest stuff and would likely like to be relieved of that burden.

1.  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.  Hegseth is hitched to Trump's wagon, and knows it. The only way he might consider otherwise is an open threat/promise that if he goes along, he keeps his job (the NatCons probably like him), but if he doesn't, when this gets worse, he'll be sent packing before his work is done.

3.  Attorney General Pam Bondi.  This probably seems like a surprise too, but recently Trump's been forcing Bondi into clearly unethical and stupid positions.  She's pretty smart, and would likely vote to save herself.

4.  Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.  Burgum's role in the administration is a self serving marriage of convenience.  He'd hitch his wagon to any Republican President.

2.  Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. I don't know much about Rollins and probably should put her in orange, but she served Texas Governor Perry, which speaks for itself.

3.  Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.  Lutnick has come across as a complete Trump toady and likely knows that if Trump falls, he's going to be sent packing.

1.  Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.  Chavez-DeRemer has really flown under the wire, but she seems pretty sharp.  She's Hispanic, and her father was a Teamster.  I suspect that she'd lean towards removal as she's drawn little attention and would continue to draw little attention in a new administration.

4.  Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr..  This one speaks for itself.

2. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner.  Turner's an unknown.  His political career has been tied to Trump, but whether he's so loyal that he'll go down with Trump is another question.

3. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy No idea whatsoever, but I suspect he would not go along.

5. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Wright's weltanschauung in his department is too aligned with Trump for him to go along.

6. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Speaks for itself.

5.  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins Collins served as an active duty and reserve chaplain.  He's very conservative, but I suspect that military officers have his ear.

6.  Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.  Noem is from the far right, but she's savvy and she's not going to go down with the Trump ship.

7. Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin.  Zeldin is a Trump ally. He won't vote to remove Trump.

7.  Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought.  Vought is a far right NatCon and pretty smart, which puts him in the cynical camp.  Trump's only a vehicle for the NatCons, and he'll be willing to change lines if it means it keeps the NatCons in control under a NatCon Vance.  Indeed, his participation would nearly guaranty that it would.

8.  Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.  Gabbard has a demonstrated independent streak and has been in both political parties.  She'll act to advance and save herself.

4. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe.  Quite unknown, but I suspect would lean towards removal.

5. United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.  Unknown, but would likely lean towards removal.

6. Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler.  Unknown, but would likely lean towards removal.

7.  Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Probably loyal to Trump.

So, if my math and ponderings are correct, which they may very well not be, things are probably nearly tied, in knowns, right now.  I figure there are 8 out of the needed 12 who would remove Trump, if four more signed on.

Of the unknowns, there are seven. Of the diehard Trump loyalist, seven.  I figure five of the unknowns, one more than needed, would likely go for removal, but that's a pretty thin margin.  Some on the fence would likely want a greater margin.

You can bet these conversations are going on right now, however.  They are openly going on now in Congress.

October 5, 2025

Don is using the budget shutdown to cozy up to Project 2025, making his removal less likely as the NatCons will get what the want from the document under the cover of the budget shutdown. Russell Vought, for example, can now be moved to the no removal column.

It was a crafty move on somebody's part.

October 15, 2025

I'd love to go to Argentina. I'd like to be like Biden. I'd like to go to the beach. My legs are not quite as thin as his. My legs are slightly heavier…My body is a little bit larger than his. I'm not sure it would be appreciated on the beach.

Donald Trump.

October 20, 2025

The destruction of the facade of the East Wing of the White House began today in anticipation of the construction of a ballroom that will never get built.

Construction of the gaudy structure will advance until the 25th Amendment or advanced old age remove Trump from office, at which point the East Wing will have to be repaired on the taxpayers dime. Worst case scenario is that Trump somehow managed to babble through a full term, which would be a disaster for the nation, after which the structure will be taken down and a new East Wing built.

October 21, 2025

So I just wanna say, thank you all. Uh, simply, behind me, so, is a knockout panel. This panel, the next time you come here, will be opened up and gone. No – uh, no problem with any of the surrounding areas. These, this room will be fixed. This will be like a cocktail – the whole floor will be cocktails or pre-briefings or whatever it may be, lots of different things. So the entire floor. So you come in, the entire floor sets up. We didn’t have to do any of that. Usually, you have to do that. You need different rooms to go along with a ballroom.

Donald Trump.

October 22, 2025

Trump now claims the justice department owes  him $230M dollars.

He's clearly insane.

October 24, 2025

October 24, 2025

cont:

Oh yeah. . .that's clearly the reaction a totally stable secure genius would have . . . 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

And with that petulant temper tantrum, we'll close out this edition.

October 30, 2025

The United States, with a demented child in the Oval Office, is going to resume the testing of nuclear weapons.

Trump  is clearly, to use the legal standard, "a danger to himself or others".  

Apply the 25th Amendment.

Well that's embarrassing.

Trump was clearly clueless and walked right when the Japanese Prime Minister stopped to review the honor guard, leaving her to have to catch up.  People guided Trump around like a demented elderly person. . . which of course he is.

And the saluting.

Ronald Reagan started saluting at U.S troops.  It's moronic.  It was then, and it still is. Trump's a civilian, he shouldn't be saluting anyone.

November 4, 2025

Donald Trump pardoned  Changpeng Zhao without knowing who he was.

This from the guy who complains about autopens.

November 5, 2025

You go to a grocery store, you have to give ID. You go to a gas station, you give ID. But for voting they want no voter ID. It's only for one reason: because they cheat.

I don't have to show an ID at the grocery store or the gas station.  And I don't believe Trump ever goes to the grocery store or the gas station.

Cont:

1300% lower than last year. We love the creamed corn. I don’t know who came up with that. Bob Corn, or maybe Jack Cream. Hey look, a woman from Saudi Arabia!

Trump on creamed corn. 

I don't know if they care about that in Saudi Arabia, but here it means a lot. We got the princess here from Saudi Arabia. She's got a lot of cash.

Trump on the cost of a Thanksgiving meal.

November 7, 2025

Our energy costs are way down. Our groceries are way down. Everything is way down. And the press does not report it… Thanksgiving meals 25% down. So I don't want to hear about the affordability.

Trump.

November 11, 2025

Office Hours: Trump's mental decline appears to be accelerating. So why isn’t the media reporting on it?

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Gilded Age Brothel School of Interior Design

Nuclear weapons should not be entrusted to anyone pleased by Trump’s Gilded Age Brothel school of interior design.

George F. Will.

Ezra Klein looks at the state of the Democrats. . twice.

The Ezra Klein show recently ran two really interesting vlog episodes on why the Democratic Party is in the dumpster, even as the Republican Party makes the entire country a raging dumpster fire.  They're instructive, but in the case of the first one, not for the reason the guest likely hoped for.

It wasn't all that long ago, we should note, that political scientists had declared that the GOP doomed to demographic extinction.  It was, and is, a small tent party.  The party needed to reach out, it was told, and bring in all the people in the Democratic camp.  Long time readers here, of which there are likely very few, will recall that I predicated that some of the demographic  analysis was flat out wrong, and that Hispanics in particular would start moving into the Republican Party.

I was right.  

Now we live in the opposite world.  People hate the Republican Party but they hate the Democratic Party more.  Really a new party is needed, one that doesn't see global warming as a fib but which opposed abortion, for example, would have a lot of appeal.  But that's a post for some other time.

Let's look at what the experts have to say.  First, as it was first in time, is the interview with  Suzanne Mettler, a political scientist at Cornell and co-author of the new book “Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide That Threatens Democracy"

The interview is here.

I could tell in listening to it that Klein thinks the book is wrong, and while I haven't read it, I know it is, if it espouses the same views that Mettler did in her interview.  She looks at everything economically and that's about it. Social issues don't mean anything.

Well, I lived through this and saw a Wyoming that had a large, but minority, Democratic Party almost completely die.  Most of the major active Democrats in the party started to move to the Republican Party during the Clinton Administration and that trickle became a flood.  All sorts of respected "traditional" elder Republicans in Wyoming were once Democrats.  They left as it increasingly became impossible to be a centrist or conservative Democrat.  There's no room for a pro life Democrat, for instance, in the party anymore.  Once homosexual marriages, transgenderism, and showing up at rallies with blue hair became the norm, the normal largely dropped out and won't come back.

That's what killed the Democrats in the West.

This interview with Jared Abbott, the director of the Center for Working-Class Politics, is much better as Abbot is realistic and not hopelessly clueless, as Mettler seems to be:

Abbot actually admits that he isn't sure if the Democrats can come back from political exile in rural areas, but the examples he gives of people running from the outside are excellent.  Nebraska equivalent of Wyoming's John Barrasso, Deb Fischer, provides an interesting example as she nearly went down in defeat to independent Dan Osborn.

Osborn's race is really instructive as he wasn't a Democrat, but called bullshit on a lot of Fischer's politics.  Osborn himself is a working man, and he's pretty conservative.

And there's the real lesson.

Democrats right now can't get any traction in rural areas as frankly nobody can stand to vote for anyone they are putting up, most of the time, and then when they do put up a good candidate, the party's platform kills them.  The Democratic Party became, quite frankly, the Transgendered Vegan Party, and that's going nowhere.  It not only became that, it can't get away from it.  Look at any protest of Trump's policies that's a public one, and you'll see the usual suspects.  If there isn't a hugely overweight middle aged woman with blue hair, you just aren't looking hard enough.

Indeed, this has become so much the case that that left wing protests that are popular now are sometimes all Republican.  In Natrona County the recent Radiant Energy No Nuke protests were lead by Republicans including a Wyoming Freedom Caucus member of the legislature.  Chuck Gray came up and lead his support, sounding like he was Chuck Gray from Greenpeace.  If Democrats can't own that issue . . . .

There seems to be a little waking up, but only a little.  Public lands is what did it.

Back in the 1980s, when I switched from the Republican Party into the Democratic Party (I left the Dems with the great flood of us who couldn't hack the weirdness), public lands and attention to environmental issues is what did it.  People worship Ronald Reagan now, but James Watt, his Secretary of the Interior, was an Evangelical Christian zealot in favor of ravaging the land now, as he was certain that the Second Coming was going to be very soon.  That land ravaging instinct remains very strong in the GOP and recently came out in spades.

Wyoming Democrat Karlee Provenza picked right up on that and came out in front.  The Democrats need to do more of that.  Land issues are near and ear to Wyomingites and the Republicans are very vulnerable on them.  That issue alone might, if really exploited, bring the Democrats back if their campaigns were really strategic.  

Some of that strategy has to be getting really personal.  Sure, Hageman is for turning public lands over for sale. . she's from a "fourth generation" ranching family, and the ranchers always believe they'll get the land, even though they won't.  Same for Lummis  Sure, Dr. John is for it, he's a Pennsylvanian not a Wyomingite.  Did you every see him at your favorite fishing hole?

But one issue alone is a risky proposition. What they also need to do is dump the weirdness.  Being lashed to transgenderism is a completely losing proposition.  A Democratic candidate is going to be asked about it . . and could really make hay on it.

But only if they're willing to fight dirty, which the GOP definitely is.  But they're not prepared for the same.

For instance, if a public lands Democrat was running for the House, and asked about this issue, we would expect the usually milk toast fall in line answer they normally give.  But if they said, "oh gosh no, that's a mental illness and it needs to be treated that way, and women's sports and role in society needs to be protected. . . " it'd leave the Republicans flat footed.

They'd be on their heels, however, if it went further.  If you added "and by the way, I constantly hear our GOP talk about being pro family.  I don't know how pro family you can be if you are jacking up their cost of living and particularly their insurance rantes, but what about that family stuff?  Hageman's been married for years and she ain't got any children. . nephews and nieces aren't the same thing, and Chuck Gray is 36 years old and unmarried. . .what's up with that?  Why I think a decent man ought to marry a decent woman young and have some kids. . . and when that doesn't happen that's because they aren't focused on families, darn it".

Yeah, that's nasty, but how do they reply?  It is the case that Hageman and her husband have never had children.  Maybe there's a medical reason, but maybe it was a focus on careers and using pharmaceuticals to avoid it.  If so, that ain't very populist Republican.  And Chuck Gray is 36 years old and unmarried.  I know that he's a Mass attending Catholic, and I'm not accusing him of any intimate immorality, but I will note that by age 36 men are usually married, or in our current society, living with some female "partner".  Gray doesn't appear to fit either of these which is odd, as it demonstrates something about his character, perhaps simply an unlikeable character, that's keeping it from occurring, unless he just doesn't want to get married, which is unlikely.

FWIW, as I'm a bit connected, I know that Gray dated women while living in Casper.  Obviously those relationships didn't work out.  I'm not claiming he's light in his loafers.

I will say, however, that once you get out there, there are die hard right wing Republicans in this state who are subject to some unwelcome attention on their personal lives.  Is that fair?  Well, if you are calling for suppressing certain groups, and you are part of them, you owe people an explanation.

Which gets back to the inevitable question that comes up now, "what about gay marriage".  Again, it's easy for a Republican to say "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman".  A Democratic coming back with "so do I, and I believe that union arises once. . . what do you think about that Dr. John. . . and is that why you abandoned your original faith?".  

Nasty.  But Dr. John wouldn't have a very good answer for it.

Abortion is always going to come up.  Abortion is the issue that ultimately drove a lot of us out of the Democratic Party, including me.  The Democrats should simply abandon a position on it and let candidates stake out their own ground.  There remain a few pro life Democrats out there, and to be one shouldn't be an anathema. 

And, indeed, if that was allowed, it allows uncomfortable questions to be asked.  Republicans claim to be pro life, but now their massively in favor of IVF, which kills most of the embrioes that it creates.  Current Democrats can't really ask about that without hypocrisy.  A pro life Democrat could.

Can the Democrats do all that?

Probably not.

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Fourth Edition.

August 11, 2025

One of the really nutty things about the Second Trump Administration are the nuts who work for it, of which Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is probably the nuttiest.

My vision that is every American is wearing a wearable within four years.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

If a Democrat had said that, the Republicans would come unglued.

cont:

We’re going to make DC beautiful..You see what we've done at the White House. I do that in my part time because it's a natural instinct as a real estate person. I like fixing things up.

Trump on calling the Guard up in D.C. and taking over the police force. 

August 13, 2025

The man who fired more than 180 shots at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was trying to send a message against COVID-19 vaccines according to authorities.

How does this relate to this topic.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, as are the overwhelming majority of vaccines, but the populist right is anti scientific and the Trump administration has bought into far right fantasies and fueled them, as evidenced by the fact that RFK, Jr. actually has a job in the administration.

More violence by deluded wackos is a certainty.

And then, there's this.

King Donald, twice in the past few days, said he was meeting Putin in Russia, which of course he isn't.  And now this:

St. Petersburg, which was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great.  Peter the Great wasn't a big fan of Russians, just as Frederick the Great didn't really like Germans, and so the city wasn't given a Russian name.  It was later renamed Petrograd, however. Then with the Communist came in and Lenin died, they renamed it Leningrad.  In 1991 it's name was restored to St. Petersburg.

Not that Trump could be expected to know something from 34 years ago. . . .

Anyhow, this does give us a good reason to bring out the Leningrad Cowboys.

August 16, 2025

This:

Russo Ukrainian War

Trump files all the way from Washington D.C.

Putin all the way from Moscow.

Conference already over, and we still have a war.

Is there somebody who actually still takes this clown's promises seriously?

Some history (not that Trump would appreciate it).

New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt negotiated the end of the Russo Japanese War, from the US, from August 9, 1905, through August 30, 1905.

But then, Roosevelt was a genuine article.

So, Trump flies all day to Alaska to a U.S. Air Force Base which has to prepare for his, and Putin's arrival.

Putin flies all day to Anchorage as well.

They meet for four hours, and Trump then talks to the press about "Vladimir" saying this or that.

A person would have to be intensely stupid to believe that a four hour meeting was going to accomplish anything.  Of course, nothing was going to happen without a Ukrainian delegate being there.

Trump is now well.  25th Amendment now.

August 17, 2025

A Trump tweet would appear to place Trump pathetically fully in the Putin camp today:

Basically this means Ukraine can end the war by surrendering, to the extent its capable of being deciphered.  

If Trump was a drinking man, which he's not, this would look like a drunk tweet.

August 18, 2025

One thing we've learned from the Trump meeting with Putin is how massively weak as a character he really is, and how extremely insecure he is.

It was obvious going into it that welcoming Putin to U.S. soil was a mistake, but Trump disregarded any counsel other than his own and looked like a gleeful little boy when Putin showed up. Putin shoved him around like a weakling and the meeting ended a couple of hours later, and ever since then Trump's been trying to figure out what to do, having landed, finally, on just agreeing to demand what Putin insisted he did.

When negotiations with the North Vietnamese broke down in Paris, which took months, not hours, Nixon ordered the resumption of B-52 strikes.  Nixon, who wasn't generally admirable, but who looks better all the time in comparison to Trump, wasn't a weakling.

Donny, it turns out, really is.  He's pathetic, in the true sense of the world.  Demanding attention, demanding love, and have petulant fits when he doesn't get it.  He is truly childish.

A situation a declining mental state doesn't help at all.

August 19, 2025

Now King Donny wants to do away with voting machines and mail in ballots.

This may be a "don't ask about the Epstein Files" distaction, as a segment of his MAGA base already held those views.  Harriet Hageman was asked about it last night in Casper and demurred.

Trump, yesterday, called the Democratic Republic of Congo, the "Republic of the Condo.

August 21, 2025

He’s in there fighting, they’re trying to put him in jail on top of everything else, how about that? He’s a war hero because we worked together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too.

Donald Trump about Netanyahu and himself. 

Trump, a war hero?

Things must not be going well for Trump in general right now, as J.D. Vance has reemerged.  Vance usually appears when Trump's backers figure that he can't be trusted not to say really stupid things in the face of tough questions.  Otherwise Vance wisely hides in the background, probably hoping the stench doesn't attach to him too strongly.

August 25, 2025

Donald Trump is now threatening Chris Christie, formerly an ally and now a critic (like John Bolton) with prosecution.

Those who warned that Trump would be a vindictive autocrat have been proven correct.

By the way, Trump criticizing somebody's hair is rather extreme. His own hair is extremely weird, and the other day he wore a trucker's cap in the Oval Office.

August 26, 2025

China intelligently went in and they sort of took a monopoly of the world's magnets. Nobody needed magnets until they convinced everybody 20 years ago, 'let's all do magnets.' There were many other ways that the world could have gone ... we're heavily into the world of magnets now.

Donald Trump. 

cont:

We send hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day to the Pacific Ocean. They turn a valve and the valve heads out. And we turned the valve back. I actually had to do it using force. We turned the valve back and now they have water.

Donald Trump. 

August 27, 2025

His supporters will excuse them, and the rest of the country is numb, but Trump's latest press session demonstrated ramblings that were flat out bat shit crazy.

This is frightening for a variety of reasons.  He's clearly nuts.  But beyond that, he's drawing bizarre sycophantic praise from his cabinet members.  They're sharing in his sickness.  And this isn't limited to just his cabinet.  One comment I saw on John Barrasso, the Senate Whip and Wyoming's senior senator fairly accurately characterized him at this point as an "ass kissing sycophant."

The really scary part is that Trump may have so surrounded himself with a loyal Reichsregierung that there may actually no will to invoke the 25th Amendment, as frankly the time has come.  And if that's the case, were rocketing into unrecoverable Trump dictatorship with nobody to apply the brakes.

August 28, 2025

I’m looking at kids as I walk through the airports today...and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, inflammation—you can tell from their faces, movements, and lack of social connection

RFK, Jr.   

September 2, 2025

Lots of people are doing a 25th Amendment watch today.  Trump has announced a "major" address today at 2:00 p.m. ET, and roads around Walter Reed are apparently restricted today.

Chances are that it will amount to absolutely nothing.

cont:

It's now rumored that the announcement will be that the headquarters for the Space Farce will be moved.

cont:

And, indeed, that was the news. The Space Farce, formed during Trump's first administration, is being moved to Alabama.

It should be moved to the dustbin of history and its mission restored to the Air Force.

cont:

Additionally, Trump attributed his decision to move his pet military branch to Alabama on Colorado having bad voting laws.

It doesn't have bad voting laws, this is just more of Trump's demented vengeful nature coming out.

September 5, 2025

SENATORS GRILL RFK JR. IN RAUCOUS HEARING

Headline in the Trib.

Kennedy is a nut.

And this from the man who never served a day in the military:

Trump to change DOD to ‘Department of War’

September 11, 2025

It's probably in really poor taste to post this today, but Trump doesn't look well at all in this video taken on September 11, 2025.

Some have been claiming he's been having ministrokes.  His appearance here would support that.  Others are dismissing that saying that the stress of losing a friend last night is making him weary.

I really don't believe that Trump has friends, quite frankly.  He seems to have allies, and Kirk was clearly that.  Maybe I'm underestimating him, but I don't take the concept of loss and grief very far with Trump, but perhaps that explains it.  Anyhow, he looks terrible.

If he really is suffering in this fashion, that may explain why nobody has stepped in with the 25th Amendment.  He's likely to be severely impaired in a way nobody can question soon, or worse.

Anyway you look at it, this is not the appearance of somebody who is well.

September 12, 2025

Reporter: My condolences on the loss of your friend Charlie Kirk. How are you holding up?

Trump: Very good. And BTW, right there you see all the trucks. They just started construction of the new ballroom for the WH…it's gonna be a beauty

Well on to the next story, apparently.  What a man of profound empathy.

And, apparently, the vandalization of the White House is a go.

September 21, 2025

Trump is the one who negotiated a U.S. exit from Afghanistan.  Now this:

And then there's this degusting bullshit:

THE GOLD CARD

Executive Orders

September 19, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  My Administration has worked relentlessly to undo the disastrous immigration policies of the prior administration.  Those policies produced a deluge of immigrants, without serious consideration of how those immigrants would affect America’s interests.

Most significantly, the prior administration permitted millions of aliens to enter the United States illegally, to the detriment of public safety, national security, and the rule of law.  International cartels, transnational criminal organizations, terrorists, and foreign malign actors took advantage of those open borders policies.  The prior administration also permitted abuse of the refugee process, swamping towns and cities with aliens and, in some cases, forcing them to declare emergencies to combat the crisis.

It is a priority of my Administration to realign Federal immigration policy with the Nation’s interests by ending illegal immigration and prioritizing the admission of aliens who will affirmatively benefit the Nation, including successful entrepreneurs, investors, and businessmen and women.

To advance that policy, I hereby announce the Gold Card, a visa program overseen by the Secretary of Commerce that will facilitate the entry of aliens who have demonstrated their ability and desire to advance the interests of the United States by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the Nation.

Sec. 2.  The Gold Card.  (a)  The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a “Gold Card” program authorizing an alien who makes an unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce under 15 U.S.C. 1522 (or for whom a corporation or similar entity makes such a gift) to establish eligibility for an immigrant visa using an expedited process, to the extent consistent with law and public safety and national security concerns.  The requisite gift amount shall be $1 million for an individual donating on his or her own behalf and $2 million for a corporation or similar entity donating on behalf of an individual.  

(b)  In adjudicating visa applications, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, treat the gift specified in subsection (a) of this section as evidence of eligibility under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B).

(c)  The Secretary of Commerce shall deposit the gifts contributed under subsection (a) of this section in a separate fund in the Department of the Treasury and use them to promote commerce and American industry, consistent with the statutory authorities of the Department of Commerce, see, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1512.

Sec. 3.  Implementation.  The Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, take all necessary and appropriate steps to implement the Gold Card program.  Among other things, they shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law and their respective statutory authorities, including the limits on the numbers of visas specified in 8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.:

(a)  Establish a process for application and expedited adjudication of Gold Card petitions, visa issuance, and adjustment of status.

(b)  Specify the date on which applicants (or sponsors if applicable) may begin to submit gifts for consideration under the Gold Card program.

(c)  Establish a process for a Gold Card holder sponsored by a corporation or similar entity to abandon his or her status and for the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider the original gift as evidence of eligibility under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under 8 U.S.C. 1153 (b)(2)(A), and of eligibility for a national-interest waiver under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B), for a different individual specified by the corporation or similar entity.  The transferee shall otherwise be subject to the same procedures as an original visa applicant, including appropriate screening for public safety and national security.

(d)  Establish administrative fees to cover the cost of expedited processing under subsection (a) of this section.

(e)  Establish maintenance and transfer fees for corporations or similar entities sponsoring individuals under the Gold Card program.

(f)  Consider expanding the Gold Card program to visa applicants under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5).

Sec. 4.  Severability.  If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person, is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions and applications shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d)  The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Commerce.

                               DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    September 19, 2025.

And now this:

This is outright nuts and enough to invoke the 25th Amendment all on its own.  If Bondi has any credibility or integrity, she'll resign her office now and come out swinging against Trump.

This stuff is outright scary.  The time in which rational thinking people would have invoked the 25th Amendment is long past.  What's happening now is like giving demented grandpa the keys to his car.

This last one is so weird, we're in a new spot in this story, and will close out this edition.

Last edition:

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Third Edition and Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 98th edition. The Perverts and Fellow Travelers Issue.

Labels: 25th Amendment Watch List, Donald Trump, Epstein Scandal, Ezra Klein, J. D. Vance, National Conservatism, Populism, Republican Party, Scandal, Stupidity, Teenagers, The Madness of King Donald, The written word, Women, Zeitgeist