America, A Mad Meth Monkey Is In Charge
And He’s Throwing His Poop At Us
Every time I start this post, another gusher of Trump diarrhea fouls my newsfeed. When a sex offender is in charge, other sex offenders get important posts (i.e. Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches). Guess it shouldn’t be surprising to find Matt Gaetz nominated for Attorney General and Pete Hegseth to head DOD.
Neither is remotely qualified. Both face scrutiny over inappropriate romantic/sexual relationships, Hegseth for cheating on his wife and Gaetz for seeking a pre-emptive Trump pardon while being investigated for sex trafficking. In a sane world they’d be disqualified in a millisecond. We left that world recently.
This stuff pushes me into a conversation (or is it confrontation?) with America that’s bounced around my head for the last week or so. Yes, I’m absolutely stunned by America’s choice.
I truly believe most MAGA voters – those fed up with Bidenomics and those who see Democratic intolerance of bigotry as somehow threatening to them – are in for earth rattling shocks come January 20, 2025.
Either they’re clueless, or they want to burn the whole damn thing down. The dialogue goes something like this:
America: Seems like a good deal. Dump Biden and Harris. We get cheap gas and groceries, right?
Me: Of course! You get $2 bread and the world gets the temperament of a mad monkey on meth. In the Oval Office. With the nuclear codes. And an enemies list. Sure, he blabbers incoherently about revenge, sharks, Hannibal Lecter, shooting reporters and standing Liz Cheney before a firing squad. Still, feel like a smart trade off!
America: Well what about Biden’s insane, raping, murderous immigrants? Trump will get rid of them too, right?
Me: Appears so. But, what if the “biggest mass deportation in history” includes your abuelo and abuela?
America: Huh?
Me: I know. They’ve been here forever. Wonderful people. Never bothered with citizenship. I guess that was a mistake. You’ll know when they knock on the door sometime after noon on January 20th. But what an honor for them to be part of an historic event! Many people are saying it’ll be the greatest event of all time.
America: Are you tripping? They’re not taking good immigrants. Just bad ones, you elitist idiot. They’ll get what they deserve. And he’ll clean up that mess in Israel too.
Me: Yeah, I’m not so sure the “good immigrants” are going to get what they deserve. I’m pretty certain the innocents in Gaza will keep getting what they don’t deserve, since the Mad King told Bibi “Do what you have to do.” I bet Jared Kushner is ready to build plenty of oceanfront condos in Gaza. Surely a Trump Hotel is coming. Did those suburban Detroit voters see that coming?
America: You asshole. You Lefties are stupid and gullible. Trump says shit. He doesn’t mean it. You’ll see.
Me: No, actually, I think “you’ll see.” When Trump tariffs jack up prices and push us into a recession; when groceries get scarce and more expensive because food service workers are deported; when your daughter miscarries and no OBGYN will treat her; when Putin rolls into Poland like you know who; when the next pandemic hits and RFK says, “no vaccines.” I’m sure Viktor Orbán and Kim Jong Un will help. So, actually you’ll see who’s stupid and gullible. Go ahead, “do your own research.”
America: You’re just pissed about losing. You know, God gave us Trump for a reason.
Me: Yeah, that Prince of Peace does some batshit things. Imagine the prayerful contortions wackadoodle “Christians” go through to convince themselves a fascist, convicted felon, rapist, and treasonous liar is “God’s plan” for America. Apparently, God is o.k. with you stealing tax money from public education, whitewashing history, banning books, and rewinding science to the Book of Genesis. Pissed? Nah, I’m “blessed,” I guess.
MAGA Chaos Is Underway
While I argue with America…the chaos is underway. Besides the Gaetz and Hegseth appointments he wants Kristi Noem, who brags about killing her dog, in charge of “the largest mass deportation in American history.” I’m sure she’ll gently and humanely sweep these folks into camps and private prisons (their stock looks awesome).
I’m sure all those men and women in blue in Minneapolis are going to think twice before kneeling on a suspect’s neck and squeezing out his last breath. Here in Phoenix, the cops will pause just a second before stomping and tasing an innocent Black man who is deaf and afflicted with cerebral palsy. MAGA has their back now.
We’ll all enjoy our walks in the wilderness, serenaded by the racket of oil rigs, coughing on noxious fumes while we all chant “drill baby drill!” Clean air? Clean water? Nah, who needs the EPA!
Have a problem with social security, or Medicare, or any government program? Forget about talking with a civil servant. Elon and Vivek will throw them all out for “efficiency.” Life for billionaires is very efficient, since they don’t need the social safety nets our parents fought so hard to set up. The one you paid for.
It’ll Happen Right Here In State 48
After a brief tryst with the color Purple, the empire struck back. Except for Ruben Gallego’s Senate win over the despicable Kari Lake, State 48 is full on MAGA. Oh, and the things they’ll do.
Get ready for uranium mining at the Grand Canyon, poisoning our greatest natural asset. Watch the deportation industrial complex expand along the border, disrupting commerce with our biggest trading partner and making life miserable for families on both sides.
The 2025 MAGA/QAnon legislative session promises to eclipse the typical nutso behavior we see under the Copper Dome. MAGA Chaos Agents are emboldened by winning more seats and control of both houses. Plus, they keep the shield of AZ Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King. The Ducey-appointed duo beat efforts to boot them over their ruling to keep Arizona’s 1864 law banning abortion. Sure, the abortion initiative won, but the MAGA bunch will find a way to legislate around it. SB1070 is back as Proposition 314, declaring border crossers are breaking Arizona Law and subject to arrest by local police. So, state sanctioned abuse of human rights will escalate.
Can They Be Stopped? AZ’s Blue Wall
There’s a little hope. Attorney General Kris Mayes won’t drop her prosecution of MAGA fake electors. Governor Katie Hobbs has proven she’s fearless with the veto stamp. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes will be a force in protecting voter rights. The trio is the only barrier keeping state government from becoming a branch of Turning Point USA.
Still, MAGA’s State 48 reach goes beyond state and federal arenas. There are MAGA sycophants on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Election-denying former legislator Justin Heap is the new MAGA Maricopa County Recorder, running the next round of elections. Phoenix Police, absolutely blistered for human rights violations including high levels of violence, likely won’t undergo reform mandated by the Department of Justice. All those DOJ attorneys are going to be booted by Matt Gaetz, maybe on Day One. I’m guessing alleged Democratic Mayor Kate Gallego is beyond relieved. Let the beatings begin.
That’s great news for incoming Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan. As Chief Deputy he led Joe Arapaio’s abuses at MCSO. Sheridan’s record includes charges of contempt for his role in a massive racial profiling case against Arpaio. Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe, and the courts ultimately dropped Sheridan’s contempt charge. MCSO remains under strict federal oversight. And Sheridan claims he’s changed.
Arpaio’s ghost, in the form of Sheridan, demonstrates the mostly failed efforts by Democratic Sheriff Paul Penzone to reform the office. A few months into his second and final term, Penzone more or less gave up. With a couple of months left, he resigned the office to take a lucrative PR job with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. I find Penzone’s surrender to MAGA troubling, and note, I worked as his Director of Public Information for 14 months of his first term.
The harsh lesson of Penzone’s failure, and what we now face with MAGA, is once an institution is corrupted – 24 years of Arpaio’s disregard for the law, aided and abetted by voters and the political and media class – it is near impossible to bring it back.
What Can We Do?
Let’s start by ending the “autopsy” of the failed Harris campaign. Yes, she was handed a billion dollars and couldn’t figure out the messaging to motivate voters. “Death of Democracy” lost to “My Bread Costs Too Much.” Fire her campaign staff. But, stop trying to pin this on “identity politics,” a horrible term.
Harris refused to embrace bigotry. She would not cross the line the rest of America has sprinted over in search of cheap gasoline. She believes in and lives a life with the idea that diversity in all its forms is not a problem. It’s an asset. You can forcibly deport 4 million people. You won’t stop the demographic forces remaking America. I fear this autopsy is going to thin Democratic support for anyone not a straight, white male. We don’t need to rewind America to Jim Crow and failed Reconstruction.
Instead, As Bill Kristol wrote recently in The Bulwark: “Stop Handwringing, Start Fighting.” I don’t mean street fighting, not yet. I do mean, suck it up and get to work. Thanks to Proposition 2025, Trump’s thugs have a massive head start. We need to go all in.
Let’s begin our swim against the tide with this suggestion by New York Times conservative columnist and Harris voter David French: “Protect the Vulnerable and Speak The Truth.”
There are plenty of The Vulnerable facing MAGA fascist crackdowns. For them, Speaking The Truth becomes crucial. People of color. Transgender persons. Non-Christians. Women. Perceived political enemies. Immigrants, The Press. Teachers. Librarians. Higher Education. The Unhoused.
Do not silently stand by as MAGA comes after them. Loudly Speak Up. Attend government meetings. Organize opposition. Deliver Truth.
Protect The Vulnerable will be tested intensely on January 20 or 21, whenever mass deportation begins. Of course, violent criminal immigrants and anyone on a terrorist watch list needs to go. Your abuelo and abuela do not. So, when Stephen Miller’s Storm Troopers show up, protect the vulnerable.
Use your phone to shoot video and photos of the event. Demand to see warrants. Get badge numbers, names, and insignia of uniformed and non-uniformed offices. Write down license plate numbers. If you have access to legal aid, call it in. Speak firmly and directly in demanding to know where these individuals are to be taken and how their due process is to be protected and provided.
Finally, Wait For Hubris…
…to turn MAGA to chaos from the inside.
There are gargantuan egos bouncing around inside the Mad Meth Monkey’s inner circle. Don Jr. Lara Trump. Kimberly Guilfoyle. Steve Bannon. Elon Musk. J.D. Vance. Stephen Miller. Boris Epshteyn. Peter Thiel. Kristi Noem. Tom Cotton. Lindsey Graham. Vivek Ramaswamy. Marco Rubio. Rick Scott. Joe Rogan. Kari Lake. The FOX News crowd. Matt Gaetz. Assorted grifters we don’t know yet. It does have a Celebrity Apprentice vibe.
Let’s go to the Board Room. Here’s the mission: Remake America into a White, Christian Nationalist nation, where men rule, women submit, and billionaires run the show. Do it while lining the pockets of Trump Inc.
What follows will be a highly caffeinated frenzy of moonshot ideas, everyone sharp elbowing for a seat at the Big Boy table. Someone will start getting media attention… a lot of media attention… more than a certain president is comfortable watching. It won’t take long…. Til… YOU’RE FIRED!
We know everything about Donald Trump. He oozes limitless conflict and disagreement. But, we can agree on one point: He is a narcissistic egomaniac without peer. He’ll discredit and destroy all those supposedly whip smart people who are using him to get power and prestige.
In the end, it’ll be just the Trump family standing. And, hopefully, that won’t be enough to destroy this country.
We can also hope he chokes on a cheeseburger.
I’ve heard many, many people say it would be the greatest event in history.