We just returned from a wonderful trip to Europe, complete with a cruise that afforded us access to some incredible destinations. While I had intended to sit down and start writing yesterday, jet lag had other plans. From exiting the hotel bed in Barcelona Monday morning to entering my own bed Monday night, it was over 24 hours of travel time, including setting a land speed record for traversing Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. (IYKYK) Given those givens, my thoughts were fuzzier than a well licked lollipop dropped on an angora sweater.
But today's a new day and with 13 hours of sleep under my belt (yes, we went to bed before 5pm yesterday), I am ready to type. I believe I will start with the question:
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, AMERICA?
Yes, I realize that covers a multitude of topics, people, incidents. And while I did keep up with things while away, it is still stunning to me to come back to this country and see just how many people are still totally cool with the absolute shit the MAGAverse and its villains are getting up to.
Let's start with the debate, in which there is no debate about who won. VP Kamala Harris dogwalked that festering, staggeringly stupid hot dog carcass for 90 minutes straight. She was coherent, he was a ramblin' man. He made shit up, she cleaned shit up. She was prepared, he was a nightmare come to life - you know the one - you show up to school only to find out there's a pivotal test you did no studying for. Alternates include not being able to remember your locker combination to get the big project out, being the understudy to the lead in the school play, they get sick and you must go on, but you did not memorize any of the lines. Add public nudity to any of the above.
That was Trump. No plans or policies, only the "concept of a plan." Yes, Donold, I am certain we will look forward to all being revealed "in two weeks." Incoherence, ignorant rants, and the spreading of the latest in racist bullshit - that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio are scooping up pet cats and dogs and eating them. No matter that he was immediately fact checked by a moderator who informed him that was patently false, "he saw it on television."
Fact checking be damned, the damage was done. His base only needs to hear something from his earthwormy lips to take it as gospel and begin spreading it like rancid mayo on moldy bread. The bigoted, harmful, slanderous story was echoed as Guyliner McCouchfucker reposted more heinous and untrue versions online and then repeated the garbage to Dana Bash in an interview in which he admitted they "create stories".
Again, damage done. It will not matter how many times the created stories are proven false, how many spokespeople from the actual town take to the media to refute the stories and ask that the politicians STOP spreading them - it is all about demonizing a group of immigrants WHO ARE HERE LEGALLY. The fallout has been a spate of bomb threats to Springfield - 33 and counting - shutting down 2 hospitals, 2 elementary schools, The Bureau of Motor Vehicles, The Ohio License Bureau Culture Fest, Springfield’s annual celebration of diversity, arts, and culture, and local colleges that are now meeting virtually out of safety concerns.
All because Trump and Vance and their equally power hungry, power racist minions refuse to stop pushing a false narrative about an innocent group of people who moved to Springfield legally to help bolster the manufacturing sector of that town - and they have.
No matter. Between intellectually deficient MAGAts in this country and bad actors in bot farms around the world, the stories are not going away, nor are the dangers of people being harmed or killed by them. It is notable that SC Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has two adopted Haitian children, is completely silent in the face of this abject racism and endangerment of children like her own. Oh hell, who am I kidding? Her children are different. Just as Vance's brown skinned children are different. Just as his wife and immigrant in-laws are different. No mass deportations for them, right, JD? Asshole.
For the record, cultures around the world eat a variety of things we bland Americans may be unfamiliar with. Horses, dogs, rats, monkeys, cobras, ants, scorpions, snails, cats, bats, kangaroos, guinea pigs, spiders, elephants, gorillas, and on and on. Not every culture has access to a Popeye's on every corner or a drive thru McDonald's when they nosh. But this story about Haitians in Springfield? Absolute bullshit. Which appears to be a delicacy MAGAts eat by the trough.
Two offerings from the butthole buffet from which they sup, the continued repeated lies about after birth abortions and about transgender children. The stupidity that is one of the true hallmarks of a MAGAt means they believe babies are being born and then the mother goes "Meh, you know what, me no wanty anymore. Snuff it." IT. DOES. NOT. HAPPEN. That is called murder, dimwits.
And the lie being continually repeated by Trump that children are going to school and when they turn up again they have been subjected to gender reassignment surgeries? How much of a cerebral wasteland has to exist between your ears that you believe this garbage? Yet, he repeats it and you gobble it up.
Just curious, with that being the dynamic you have established with your diapered Don, why don't you believe him when he says he wants to suspend the Constitution? That you won't have to vote anymore? That he'll gut healthcare? Terminate social security? What's that? As a MAGAt you'll be exempt from anything that hurts other people? Get in the breadline, dullard. Many of you will be first in line to feel the pain and all the gold sneakers and Trump porn trading cards in the world won't save you.
The things they want to bring to fruition will hurt everyone. Trump loves to talk about abortion rights being taken away, that "he did that" - got Roe overturned. And as state after state enacts laws that range from complete bans to ridiculously short windows in which a woman may have an abortion, the real and devastating results are being seen across the country. The latest story has been a gutpunch. As reported by ProPublica, Amber Nicole Thurman, 28, of Georgia, died after suffering complications from abortifacient drugs. Complications that could have been easily and immediately remedied were it not for Trump and Kemp and the Christofascists in this country.
She was a proud and happy and driven mother of a 6 year old little boy. Her aspirations were to raise him with all her heart and soul, offer him safety and security, and to become a nurse. When she found herself pregnant, she decided on an abortion to protect the stability she was carefully constructing for herself and her son. While she wanted a surgical abortion, the 6 week ban in Georgia made that impossible, so she traveled to North Carolina to a clinic where she was to have it performed. Traffic snarled those plans and she missed the 15 minute grace window for her appointment. She was offered the alternative of medication abortion pills - mifepristone and misoprostol - and while very safe, she ended up suffering the rare complication. Her body did not completely expel the tissue from her uterus - setting up a very dangerous infection that began to take its toll over the next couple days.
From a news source:
Thurman's condition worsened over several days, turning into heavy bleeding and vomiting blood. She was taken to Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge.
Doctors found she had not expelled all the fetal tissue from her body and she was diagnosed with "acute severe sepsis."
But despite her rapidly deteriorating health, the hospital delayed Thurman's dilation and curettage procedure for 17 hours.
By the time they operated, the situation was so dire it required open abdominal surgery. The doctor performed the operation and found a hysterectomy was also required -- but during the procedure, Thurman's heart stopped.
She died because threading the needle of how bad off a woman has to be before a hospital will scrape out her uterus is almost impossible. It is guesswork. It is the intentional infliction of pain, suffering, and trauma on a woman whose life dangles because doctors are afraid of the laws that could land them in jail should they perform a simple D and C. It is a game of medical chicken.
And now Amber has no life. Her son has no mother. And the fact that an official state committee blamed the fatal outcome on a "preventable" lag in performing a critical procedure, makes no difference. Hindsight will not bring her back. And it will not save the next woman who finds herself in a similar position.
And there will be a next woman - NEXT WOMEN.
For the life of me I cannot understand the mental gymnastics one must perform to be a woman who supports this misogynistic party. Casual sex - not just had by Democrats. Unexpected pregnancies - not just had by Democrats. Dire complications of the most desired of pregnancies - not just encountered by Democrats. Ectopic pregnancies - not just found in Democrats. Rape pregnancies - not just happening to Democrats.
The most righteous of pews and the most vile of Trump rallies in this country are filled with girls and women who have had abortions, who have needed medical intervention to save their lives when a pregnancy has gone so very wrong, who have been victims of rape, incest and found themselves pregnant. All the purity rings in the Zales won't stop puberty's hormones and young love. All the desire to be a parent won't insulate a woman from the myriad possible complications pregnancy can bring. And all the ridiculous laws in this country won't stop women from finding a way to access healthcare and make their own decisions.
Now, above I referenced a 'news source'. I specifically left out from where. And while the ProPublica story has been making the rounds in our media, that excerpt was from France 24. France 24 is an international news channel, broadcasting 24/7 to 521.7 million households around the world in French, Arabic, English and Spanish. Their online footprint is huge as well.
I used their reporting to illustrate something my husband and I had reinforced to us while traveling abroad. We do not live in a vacuum. And by that I mean the United States of America. It was during a beautiful beachfront lunch last week while visiting Ibiza that he and I were engaged by the restaurant's owner regarding the upcoming election. We did not hesitate when asked about our thoughts on Trump. He echoed our concerns and our shared desired outcome, ending with this statement, "The world is waiting."
That simple sentence has echoed in my head ever since.
The world knows the import of this election. The world is watching, aghast, at what passes for a top-of-the-ticket candidate. The world cannot believe HE may well infect not only our White House, but global dynamics again. The world sees him, hears him, sees and hears Vance and the bastion of bastards that make up their support system - and they shake their heads.
And before anyone says the predictable, "Well, who gives a shit what they think?" - DON'T. Again, this country does not live in a vacuum. We exist in relation to other countries, other world powers, other economies, other conflicts, other human beings. It matters who we choose to represent us on the world stage - a seasoned, measured, mature, intelligent woman or a complete buffoon who has no idea how anything works, and worse, does not care. We cannot afford to again allow the world's biggest stooge onto the world stage.
In yet another example of his unspooled, zero comprehension mind - this was his answer when asked last night what he will do to bring down the price of groceries:
“So we have to start always with energy. Always. I don't want to be boring about it but there's no bigger subject. It covers everything. If you make donuts, if you make cars, whatever you make, energy's a big deal. And we're gonna get that — it's my ambition to get your energy bill within 12 months down 50%. If I can do that we've done a hell of a job. 5-0. Not 15, 50. Interest rates are going to follow. And actually they're going to follow for another reason. The economy is now not good. And interest rates — you'll see, they'll do the rate cut and all the political stuff tomorrow. Will he do half a point, will he do a quarter of a point. But the reason is because the economy's not good. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to do it. But we're gonna get interest rates down. And we gotta work with our farmers. Our farmers are being decimated right now. They're being absolutely, absolutely decimated. And one of the reasons is we allow a lot of farm product into our country. We're gonna have to be a little bit like other countries. We're not gonna allow so much come — we're gonna let our farmers go to work. And I don't know if you remember. I love the farmers. Because I had many meetings as president. I had this gorgeous room with this beautiful table that seats about 35 people. And I was with the farmers. Usually everybody wants something. They all want subsidy. But I was with the farmers. And I think you might've been there actually Sarah. I said look, we're gonna get you such a beautiful subsidy, meaning I'm gonna do things. And one of the people raised his hand, 'Sir, honestly, we don't want a subsidy. That's the first time that's ever happened to me! Everyone wants — they want money, they want to build windmills, we want money for these windmills, ay-yai-yai. Anyway. But you know what? It was amazing. He said, almost tears in his eyes, they were getting decimated. 'We don't want a subsidy. We just want a fair level playing field! And I said nobody's ever said that. And I have many industries, they do all different things. It's probably the most dramatic l've ever seen. He didn't want anything. All he wanted was to be able to compete fairly. And the problem we have is other countries, they treat us very badly in that way, also. They really are. And sometimes the worst countries are our so-called allies. I say so-called because in many ways they're not allies at all. They take advantage of us. They really take advantage. But we're gonna do with the farmers, we're gonna do what we have to do with the farmers, we're gonna put our farmers - and do you remember the expression? When I was negotiating with China, China said well we're not gonna deal with this. Because they never had anybody to negotiate. They did whatever they want. They just took us, like, for a bunch of suckers. But I told the farmers it's gonna be very good negotiators, you're gonna suffer for six months and then they're gonna fold. And that's exactly what happened... So interest rates, energy and common sense.”
THIS. IS. DEMENTIA. LEVEL. RAMBLING. Seriously, it was run through Chat GPT for analysis. Result?
Based on the language patterns in this excerpt, a therapist might reasonably consider diagnosing the patient with logorrhea (excessive or incoherent talkativeness) and tangential speech (frequently veering off-topic without returning to the original subject). These symptoms are consistent with certain types of dementia, such as frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, where patients may struggle with organizing thoughts and staying on track during conversations. Additionally, the speaker shows perseveration (repeatedly returning to themes like energy and farmers), and there are signs of confabulation, as the speaker references detailed, potentially fictional or exaggerated personal memories, such as meeting with farmers as president. These speech patterns are common in dementia patients experiencing cognitive decline and could help a psychotherapist provide a credible diagnosis.
How are we even here?
Trump is an elderly, decompensating, ex-reality TV character. He is a bankrupt many times over. He is a failure as a businessman. He is a criminal found guilty of 32 felony counts, awaiting sentencing. He is an adjudicated rapist. He is not smart. He has no thirst to learn. His only talent is for grift. That's it, that's all. Trading cards, pieces of his stank suit, gaudy gold sneakers, Trump coins. He had his ear nicked at a rally and within hours was selling t-shirts and begging donations. A man with a buffet of political contradictions and mental issues is found with a gun outside a golf course - never being within sight of Trump who was golfing - and his campaign has an email out within 30 minutes of it making the news, begging for more money.
That's all this election is about for him. Being able to once again access an endless supply of government cash and power. And insulating himself from being held to account for his crimes from the last time around.
There is no reasoning with his supporters. We know that. But we also know that we outnumber his supporters. And our numbers are growing every. single. day. Make your plan now. Register if you have not. Recheck your registration if you have. Avail yourself of early voting, mail in voting. Better, get your ballot and hand deliver it to an early voting location.
Project 2025 must be stopped. The attack on women's autonomy must be stopped. The vicious racism and bigotry must be stopped. The lies must be stopped. Trump, Vance and all their supporters must be stopped.
The world is waiting to see what this country will do. And we are the ones we have been waiting for that must do it. For Amber, for her orphaned son, for every person targeted by these fascists, for our future.
All gas, no brakes, people. The clock is ticking on saving democracy.
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