Kill the Messanger

 

So the news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about unemployment was so bad Donald Trump fired the head of that agency.

The news could not be that bad, he reasoned.

So she must be a pinko, Commie, leftist, elitist, Trump hating civil servant and off with her head!

She also is not blonde and her hair is short, so what is she doing working for the government anyway?

Erika McEntarfer, former head of BLS

There are lots of government employees in the weather service (where their work can be corrected with a marker on a map), in the department of agriculture (where they occasionally have to give bad news to a farmer that his herd is infected with Mad Cow Disease, and it has to be slaughtered to prevent Americans who would eat the contaminated meat dying horrible deaths 20 years from now), at the CDC, where news of a pandemic might unsettle the American public, not to mention the markets.

So, Mr. Trump has learned his lesson: if bad news arrives, simply kill the messenger and deny the news.

Paul Krugman predicted some time ago there would be no bad news about the economy because Trump would simply fire everyone who could deliver any.

Paul Krugman

And maybe create your own good news: IV bleach beats COVID 19 every time and maybe horse worm medicine, too.

What? Me Worry?

No wonder Mr. Trump smiles so much. He never hears a bad word. Well, until he does, then he simply sues or fires someone.

Sydney Sweeney Goes All Eugenic? Or Is this Simply "Sweeney Erect?"

 

So, the 27 year old actress, Sydney Sweeney, writhes alluringly through an American Eagle ad for blue jeans, and rasps out in a voice which sounds almost post coital, or possibly pre-coital, "My jeans are blue," and the internet erupts that she is now advocating for eugenics (blue eyes good/brown eyes bad) and "Nazi propaganda!"

Mad Dog had never heard of the fetching Ms. Sweeney, but very much enjoyed the ad, and having nothing in particular against blue eyes, or genes for blue eyes, was gobsmacked that anyone could possibly see this arousing ad in any way political.

But, then again, we have a lunatic fringe of easily offended and shocked people who have access to the internet in this country. Apparently, this crowd is a powder keg waiting to explode with any spark, or simply, to embrace another metaphor, living on the edge of a cliff where even mild breezes may push them off.

But, after all, the ad WAS NOT inclusive (no brown eyes shown) nor was it equitable (no Black or Brown actresses) nor was it diverse (only one actress.)

Not only that, because it focused on, or at least gave a glimpse of Ms. Sweeney's decolletage, it was anti-feminist, as it objectified woman as simply mammary delights for unenlightened men who see women simply as sex objects.

AND she is blonde! (How Third Reich-ian!)

An Affront to DEI! But Gotta Love Her

Everyone knows blue eyed blondes are simply, ipso facto, Nazis!

Anyone who has ever read about the eugenics advocates of the 1920's would have to laugh at the outrage from those who find subtle messages in what was in, and what was not in, this commercial. If there was one thing eugenicists were not, they were not subtle.

New Hampshire (Blonde) Howl

Breeding human beings for the best traits to breed a population with superior traits was very much what eugenicists and their crowd (which included Theodore Roosevelt and Oliver Wendel Holmes) were all about. 

They had "most beautiful baby" contests at town fairs to celebrate the best traits in babies--blonde blue eyed would not have been a disqualifier.

Blonde with a Cross

Google Francis Galton and J.H. Kellogg (yes, THAT Kellogg) and the Race Betterment Foundation--which, spoiler alert was not about improving the race by eating better cereals.

Blonde By Choice

So, once again, we have a whacko element on the left, well not really on the left because it is so far off the spectrum it has circled around to what might be called the space cadet rim,  which only makes Trump and the rabid MAGA crowd look less extreme.

Here's the ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzVYyDehMUY

                 

Trump's Free Qatar Lunch

 

So Qatar gave Donald Trump a "free airplane." 

It will belong to him--although it may be called "Air Force One" it will not pass on to his successor--it will somehow become part of his "presidential library." (Libraries really are spiffing up.)

It will first go to Texas where a top secret facility will strip it down to the joists and then rebuild it at a cost of...well, that's classified--the failing New York Times says $934 million--but apparently the money will come out of a government allotment meant for upgrading and repairing and maintaining nuclear missile silos--what could be more important than doing that work? Well, getting Mr. Trump an airplane for his private use.

And this is not a bribe from the Qatar government to Mr. Trump, you understand because, well, nothing Mr. Trump does while he is in the office of the President can be illegal or unethical or bribery because the Supreme Court Mr. Trump appointed says so. So Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett think it's just fine for Mr. Trump to take a bribe, oh, sorry, not a bribe, a gift which helps him conduct the business of his office, which is enriching himself, and setting up his post White House career.

This America, man.

Don't Take Him Literally. Don't take him Seriously. Don't Take Him At All

 So, it's come down to this.

Donald Trump is not just from Professional "Wrestling," where everyone understands the "wrestlers" are not really wrestling, where they are not really hitting each other or landing on each other--we can see all that. It's all just for fun. He IS that grotesque not to be thought of as real. He's simply the theater of the absurd. Just a spectacle. Nothing real.

As Peter Baker said in his Washington Post article:

"OK, so President Trump’s name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files. But who put it there? Could it possibly have been Barack Obama from his prison cell? Or a tranquilized Hillary Clinton? Oh wait, maybe it was etched onto the documents by Joe Biden’s magical autopen."

So, there's no there there.

It's a willful suspension of disbelief.

Even his most brain dead fans are in on the joke.

He calls the Chairman of the Federal Reserve "stupid," which manifestly Jerome Powell is not. He may be a lot of things, but the one thing Powell is not, is stupid. And in the next breath Mr. Trump asks, "Who was dumb enough to appoint that guy head of the Fed?"  Uh, (tug on Trump's sleeve) That was you who appointed Mr. Powell. 

Oh, well, don't take Trump literally.

Trump accuses a former President of treason, a former rival of being "crooked," or small or "sleepy" or "low energy."

Certainly, one thing you cannot accuse Mr. Trump of is being "low energy." He's always spewing. Nothing halting about him, but plenty that's lame. 

He has never really been anything different.

The wonder is not Trump. It's his fans. 

What is with his fans?

They see in him whatever they want to see: He is the champion of Israel, protector of the Jews, defender of the Evangelicals, thwarter of abortionists, the magician who transformed the Supreme Court from woke to Inquistion star chamber (true that), macho man who wants more concussions in the NFL, and wants the Redskins to be guilty but alive again, irresistible seducer of women,

They All Want Him!

 grinning good ol' boy, blonde Nordic Wagnerian hero of the Ring trilogy, champion of white trash, uneducated who was himself, a brilliant student at an Ivy League school who has "all the best words."

He is the ultimate American berserk. 

He is our dark demons, not our better angels. 

He is the king of devastation, master of mayhem, the Amazing Hulk. 

Oh, how we'll miss him when he's gone.

Distraction 101: Epstein? No Obama!

 

One thing about the digital age and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is it is easier to see what's coming: the algorithm is plainly visible. 

For example: I say, "Epstein/Trump" then the algorithm directs you to "Obama/Biden."

And, if prices go up following tariffs under Trump, then you get, "It's Biden's fault!"

Or, if Jeffrey Epstein's affair with Trump is the headline, then you get "It's Obama's fault!" or "What about Obama?He tried to steal the election!"

Or, if Ukraine suffers a Russian bombing after America abandons defending democracy, it's "Leftist, elitists antisemites want to abandon Israel and the Jews!"

At least the electronic flow seems to have shoved "It's Hillary's fault" and "What about Vince Foster" lower down in the chain of dribble. So that's something.

And when mention is made of the great steal in the big beautiful bill giving huge windfalls to the billionaires and driving up prices of eggs for the middle class, well that's all just, wait for it, "Ivy league elitist, leftist, antisemitic, communist Democrat" talk.

"Evidence" is by links to websites of unimpeachable integrity, like QANON, The Storm Front, Infowars, The Coming Apocalypse, The War Room, and sometimes, The Joe Rogan Experience. 

Mad Dog is waiting for new unimpeachable sites with better names like: Huge Biceps and Delts, Shaved Scrotal Truth, Musk Scent, Testosterone Surplus, Predator Predilections, Champion Bloodlines and all like that.

We now can see the algorithmic pathway from "If Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue" to "Then Obama made him do it!" or "It was really Obama!" or "It was the Clinton/Obama/Biden/Democrat cabal," or "He was in fear for his life--Just look at his Ear!"

Predictability is something markets and political institutions crave and need, and the predictability of these algorithmic pathways offers balance, stability.

It, of course, can get tedious, as any mention of climate change goes straight to "Chinese plot" and floods to "Biblical apocalypse--Obama's fault."

But, at least we can see what's coming. 

Curiouser and Curiouser: An Odacious Claim!

 

Dominatrix Donald posted a video--a Deep Fake AI product--showing him sitting in a gold chair and laughing as President Obama is wrestled away, arrested by some sunglass wearing men in dark suits, in the Oval Office.

Stephen Colbert showed this to his audience and there was a momentary stunned silence, not because anyone thought this video was anything other than bogus, phony an obvious fake, but because the Donald posted it. Because Donald seemed to think it was somehow effective, in some way, to some purpose.

What was he thinking?

And Colbert reacted, in what could have been a spontaneous expostulation, just as Mad Dog did: "What the Fuck is Wrong with this guy?"

Colbert got a little more analytical:

“Whenever Trump is backed into a corner, he needs to change the subject and throw red meat to the carnivorous base. And their favorite cut is filet of Obama.”

And we all move on.

Clearly, Trump has never gotten over being humiliated by Obama at the White House Correspondents' dinner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeGpLg0b3DE&t=9s

Obama, of course, is everything Trump could never in a hundred years be: He is poised, articulate, suave, urbane and genuinely funny, not to mention, physically, he is lean and sinewy and played basketball to relax. A three star general spoke on the Seacoast about his meeting with Obama and he mentioned, rather unplanned, how physically impressive Obama is in person.  He radiates strength, agility and sinewy vitality, or did when he was in the White House.

Trump is, of course, corpulent, hunched, painfully unathletic. His sport is golf although he might do photo ops for tennis. He is that species of rich boy whose father bought him all the best equipment, a football uniform all decked out, but he simply was not a player, could not take a hit and was all show, no sinew.

Trump kept insisting his "investigation" of Obama's "fake birth certificate" had uncovered incriminating and disqualifying evidence Obama was not born in Hawaii but rather Kenya, but of course, this was all a bald faced lie. Obama waited for the perfect moment to reply--the WHC dinner--and when he did it was with devasting effect.  The withering disdain was wrapped in laughter and Trump simply hunched over and had to take it.

But now, Trump is trying to respond.

Like so many of his trolls, Trump thinks if you shout, "You're a doo-doo face!" or its equivalent, that will make your target just fall over dead or immobilized. "You're a left wing, arrogant, elitist" will function as a paralyzing sting from a jelly fish. 

Which leaves an educated person somewhat at a loss. 

You've been trained to listen to argument, consider the evidence presented, analyze its weaknesses and present evidence of your own, but what do you do with "You're a doo-doo face!"

Or with a fake video of the arrest of Obama, a dreamscape of a mind turned to, or revealed to be, mush.

Troll

 

When Elon Musk took over Twitter, I bailed.

But just before that I had seen a phenomenon now called, "The Troll"

Okay, does anybody have any conflict-resolution strategies that aren't spraying liquid from your anal glands?

The only trolls I had ever heard of were Scandinavian, and in Reykjavik, Iceland, and  they were more or less celebrated.  

But the rise of the internet troll was something different:

Professor Google informed me, "Internet trolls are individuals who intentionally disrupt online communities by posting inflammatory, provocation or offensive messages with the goal of eliciting emotional reactions and causing conflict."

Some time ago this small blog attracted its very own troll, which says something for a blog which has not attracted much in the way of readership, even less in the way of response. From the "stats" section of the blog it looks like most posts garner only a few thousand clicks, and those are mostly from South America and Asia for some reason. Maybe those clicks come from robots.

Mad Dog does not know, in fact if his troll, BOT Aon Troll, is even a real person.

In "Roger Rabbit" human beings interact with cartoons ("Toons") as if they are real people, who have feelings and rights. Is this the world Mad Dog has entered with his very own BOT Anon?

There is reason to suspect it/he is not a human being with a sentient self: In a recent post, the issue of what it means to be Jewish, what constitutes Jewish identity, Mad Dog noted that Professor Google says for many if not most Jews, Jewishness cannot be converted to, but is only inherited, and only through the maternal line. 

This came up because BOT Anon had offered up Trump's "Jewish daughter and grandchildren" as proof Trump could not be an antisemite. When Mad Dog suggested Trump's daughter--who married a Jewish man and converted into Judaism--does not really qualify (in the eyes of many Jews.) 

BOT Anon responded with a link to Marilyn Monroe's certificate of conversion to Judaism. 

She's a Toon, but is she Human?

This clearly suggested an algorithm: Key word/phrase, "conversion to Judaism" and ping: up comes Marilyn Monroe, even if Marilyn, gorgeous as she was, had nothing to do with Trump's putative "Jewish grandchildren" or even with Invanka's conversion, but not with true Judaism. 

This was a point which would, presumably elude a BOT using AI.

One could argue that if Trump were willing to allow his daughter to marry a Jew, that proves he could not be antisemitic, a dubious proposition, even if he is seen to be embracing his daughter's choice. But, significantly, BOT Anon Troll never came up with this obvious reply.

BOT Anon Troll did not respond to Mad Dog's dogged challenges about what it means to be Jewish until, after repeated and relentless probing: "I am not an expert" in religious questions pertaining to Judaism popped up. 

This might be fair enough, as many Jews, particularly and famously Israeli Jews, are pretty secular and do not know much about religious issues.  But if Mad Dog's unscientific survey of Jewish friends means anything, every Jew knows about maternal transmission of Judaism. 

Of course, BOT Anon never actually said he was Jewish, but his references to the anti-Defamation league and repeated admonitions  that Hamas is an existential threat to Jews, and his depiction of just about any comment as having rabid antisemitism embedded in it allows for a reasonable, if tentative conclusion if he is a sentient human Homo Sapiens, he is a Jewish Homo Sapiens.

One cannot read his ardent insistence that stopping the carnage in Palestine would mean the extinction of Jews any other way. 

The idea of trolling, of course, is not resolution of conflict.

 The idea of trolling is fostering conflict. 

Also domination. 

The BOT of this blog has a rubber stamp "leftist, privileged, elitist, Ivy League, delusional," string of adjectives which appears at the start of  virtually every response, and is meant to demean, delegitimize and intimidate.

"Oh," Mad Dog is meant to respond: "I don't want to be guilty of being any of THOSE things, so I'll just bend the knee and say, 'Yes, you are SO right and I'm so misguided,' so we really should be bombing women and children in Palestine until there aren't any left. That is the only way to ensure the survival of the Jews! I agree! And thank you so much, Master, for bringing this to my attention!'"

The quandary for Mad Dog has been: To respond or not to respond. 

Some have urged Mad Dog to simply ignore BOT Anon Troll, but this is a particularly sensitive issue for Mad Dog as he takes Bertrand Russell's observation as something nearly sacred: The ultimate damage you can do to your fellow human being is not to hate them but to ignore them.

Professor Google says of Russell:

"He believed that societies thrive when individuals are willing to listen to and engage with differing viewpoints, even those they find disagreeable. Ignoring or dismissing others, especially those with different opinions, can lead to harmful divisions and obstruct the path to a harmonious society. "

On the other hand, Mad Dog is left with the quandary: 

Has it come to this?

Is Mad Dog now committed to debating a robot?