Turning On The Giant Faucet Of Bullshit - US Politics February 2025

The longest two weeks.

Enjoying the Golden Age?

The Pee Tape is here and we're in it.

Feeling like Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ right now

Shh not so loud, I’m sure there’s some arts funding he hasn’t stopped yet.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Youfucknkiddn, called yesterday's ruling by Judge Engelmayer a "judicial coup," which Musk tweeted "Yes" too. These guys are about 3 days from saying Trump should override the judiciary.

I know Alfred doesn’t like podcaster/ writer Adam Johnson but I agree with this take of his from x :

Musk comes on here everyday spreading lurid, baseless rightwing conspiracy theories & our media is still reporting on his purging of ideological enemies and govt programs he—arbitrarily and ideologically—dislikes as “cost cutting” and “finding waste”. A totally alternate universe

I don't dislike him, not especially the last couple years.

Candidates for top national security positions in the Trump administration have faced questions that appear designed to determine whether they have embraced the president’s false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election and its aftermath, according to people familiar with cases of such screening.

The questions asked of several current and former officials up for top intelligence agency and law enforcement posts revolved around two events that have become President Donald Trump’s litmus test to distinguish friend from foe: the result of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to the people, who, like other interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

These people said that two individuals, both former officials who were being considered for positions within the intelligence community, were asked to give “yes” or “no” responses to the questions: Was Jan. 6 “an inside job?” And was the 2020 presidential election “stolen?”

These individuals, who did not give the desired straight “yes” answer, were not selected. It is not clear whether other factors contributed to the decision.

The best books, Winston perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Youfucknkiddn, called yesterday's ruling by Judge Engelmayer a "judicial coup," which Musk tweeted "Yes" too. These guys are about 3 days from saying Trump should override the judiciary.

It actually reminds me more of what happened in the Soviet Union around the time World War II started up, they were flung back on their heels because Stalin had purged so many competent people from the government, and it was being run by a bunch of amateurs or incompetents at crucial positions.

reposting this here

very good essay on how anti-Palestinianism relates to fascism in the US:

https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-boomerang-comes-back/

― rob, Sunday, February 9, 2025 9:35 AM

But beyond a lack of awareness of the vast devastation, many Americans also haven’t heard what it has to do with the United States, and with the Democratic Party in particular: the fact that, in the year following October 7, the Biden administration sent nearly $23 billion to Israel with no red lines; that it vetoed four UN Security Council resolutions demanding a ceasefire; that Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored the U.S. government’s own determination that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza when he delivered a statement under oath to Congress last May; that the United States has violated its own laws—including the Arms Export Control Act, Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, and National Security Memorandum-20—conditioning U.S. military aid to state belligerents on their compliance with U.S. and international laws of war; that the United States has undermined the authority of both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC); and that 107 members of Congress sent a letter to the United Nations two weeks before the election threatening to withdraw U.S. funding and support for the organization if it allowed its members to unseat Israel, as the General Assembly had done with the South African apartheid regime in 1974.

Simply put, most people have no idea to what extent this genocide is being perpetrated not only by Israel but also by the United States. For a solid majority of the center-left, what is happening in Gaza is tragic but ultimately less important than the most significant existential threat: the ascendance of Trump. During the run-up to the election, the argument goes, we Palestinian and Arab Americans should have understood that resisting fascism in the United States is the primary goal and gotten in line accordingly.

But resisting fascism is our collective goal. We just know that in order to resist it, we have to fight it on two fronts of U.S. state violence: at home and abroad. Because if the United States, together with Israel, manages to disembowel the ICJ, the ICC, the UN, and a broader global order built after the Holocaust and World War II, no one is safe. The fact that Israel has committed genocide, turned humans into walking bombs in its pager attack in Lebanon, and decimated countries while the UN Security Council watches passively should concern all of us. As Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned back in December 2023, “What we are seeing in Gaza is a rehearsal of the future.”

in a country where most people don't know shit about shit - i think 10% of the country reads a newspaper? millions of people even now would not be able to tell you who the vice president is. i'm gonna guess and say that 94% of the country would not be able to tell you what DEI stands for and i'm being generous... - getting your message out in any way that you can is so huge. even one person at a time. because if you tell someone in the u.s. that something is happening somewhere and that the u.s. is responsible for it they WILL believe you because they will believe literally anything. even true things.

even bulk mailings that say on the envelope FREE GIFTS INSIDE with one sheet of paper (with a new pen and a coupon for jiffy lube inside as well) that states america's role in gaza would be a better use of money than any lobbying or media interviews to let people know what is going on and to make them aware of their own complicity and allow them to donate to the Palestinian's cause. people love a free pen. they like feeling guilty too. and sending money through the mail. win/win. just ask fake veteran relief boiler room schemers. they'll tell you.

All of that article is spot on although I think they inadvertently grant the premise that the Democrats lost because of Gaza, and I don’t think that’s quite a testable hypothesis. (A million other pundits think it was the price of eggs). It sure didn’t help, of course.

Shared by a friend who is a small farmer:

Folks, it's taken a few days to trickle down, but I'm seeing post after post after post in the ag community social media channels of massive issues impacting U.S. farmers and the U.S. ag economy from Trump's DOGE efforts, tariff wars and the USAID shutdown.
Here are a few:
*Cotton and grain growers are losing contracts to long-time Canadian buyers because, even with the tariff pause, Canadian buyers don't trust the stability of U.S. export commerce with Trump in office. Plus, Canadians are just flat-out pissed and avoiding U.S. made/produced goods, including farm products.
* Chuck Grassley, of all people, is pleading with Trump to exempt potash from any Canadian tariffs because U.S. potash (a major fertilizer in agriculture) mainly comes from Canada. Impending tariffs will shoot farmers' fertilizer prices sky-high.
* Corn and soybean farmers are upset because Trump cancelled all of Biden's Climate Smart grants that were supposed to help them offset their adoption of soil health improving new practices like no-till and cover cropping.
* USAID's cancellation cuts $2 billion straight out of U.S. farmer's pockets from the Food for Peace program which purchased rice, wheat, corn and soy from U.S. farmers and distributed them to hungry nations. In some states and for some crops, USAID was their primary buyer.
* USDA NRCS is cancelling conservation contracts and leaving farmers holding the bag. These are things like fence improvements and upgraded water lines that boost farmer efficiency while also conserving the environment. Plus, the way they work is the farmer has to do the work first, then once they are done, the NRCS reimburses them. So now farmers that have spent the money to do the work are being told the NRCS won't honor their contracts.
* California farmers are PISSED because his "turn on the taps" PR move did nothing to combat California wildfires and instead wasted 2 BILLION gallons of water being held in reservoirs for summer irrigation.
* U.S. crop farmers are freaked out over the trade wars since Canada, China and Mexico represent half - let me repeat that again, HALF, of all U.S. agricultural exports!
* Per Trump's freeze on financial contracts, the USDA is withholding funds for the Organic Market Development Grant program and the Transition to Organic Partnership Program, which typically go directly to organic farmers or to non-profits supporting organic farmers.
* The shutdown of USAID has been trickling down through multiple ag-focused agencies, including the Soybean Innovation Labs, which were hosted at land-grant universities across the U.S.. These research labs focused on developing new genetics and growing practices in soybeans critical to U.S. and international growers. They had to close the entire program, laying off 30 scientists and researchers in 19 labs across 17 states.
* K State University lost up to $50 million that was pledged through a USAID Program over the next five years to advance research in “sustainable intensification,” an approach focused on increasing crop yields without expanding agricultural land use, expected to directly benefit Kansas (and U.S.) farmers.
* China's retaliatory tariffs (although not yet on crops, we shall see) are expected to have a major impact on U.S. ag machinery manufacturers, who were already struggling and have had massive lay-offs over the last 12 months. China imported almost $800 million of U.S.-manufactured ag machinery in 2020.

* Chuck Grassley, of all people, is pleading with Trump to exempt potash from any Canadian tariffs because U.S. potash (a major fertilizer in agriculture) mainly comes from Canada.

Amazingly, Trump said in response to a question at a press conference early last week that the Canadian tariffs aren't intended to elicit any particular trade concessions, at least he didn't 'have any in mind', but just 'wanted to see where things go'. Could this be any stupider?

Potash?
Yes sir potash
Po tash?
That’s right, Mr president
Potash.

i doubt many people could tell you all the gazillions of connections there are when it comes to world trade. the stereo mc's might have been the last people to really try and break it down.

Trump always liked Step It Up better I guess

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Youfucknkiddn, called yesterday's ruling by Judge Engelmayer a "judicial coup," which Musk tweeted "Yes" too. These guys are about 3 days from saying Trump should override the judiciary.

Increased security today at the Kennedy Center due to threats from Trupoids who just found out they had a drag show months ago.

yup xp

Re: the agriculture stuff last time he did this he just shoveled tons of tax money to corporate farms to buy their compliance

There's a definite push to get rid of small family farms and consolidate everything into large corporate ones which is a choice considering your base.

just like Russia in the 30s!

I'm working on a letter to my extremely maga congresspeople, but I have to confess — I'm worried they'll send dissenters' names to a "fuck up this person's life" list at DHS. Is that a stage of paranoia too far?

not too far. but be worried, and send it still. as if they don't have all our names and voting records and donations and facebook accounts and so forth sorted through some kind of inept AI into 'patriot' and 'loser' bins. we've posted for years on ILX. that alone.

https://scontent-bos5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.75761-15/477055941_18393251152096400_2685505498200608245_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=mrEcYNxk3CUQ7kNvgH9cF5j&_nc_oc=AdgJj0n9WmJH9AH9bAYVZG3LSVTt-NKX9KCH11A207PysbHsizEo1fYPFNdevSPFVtRdGpOvKXdjdftun4w_fhtr&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-bos5-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_gid=AzKORdxmt0WWg3OoZz1YRq_&oh=00_AYA7fRB7IAA2vmkdCuVZm83yVfeEtuxyh5jC1GjP3hL5nQ&oe=67AEE8D5

Increased security today at the Kennedy Center due to threats from Trupoids who just found out they had a drag show months ago.

Said drag show cited by Two-Scoops himself as the primary reason for his taking over and dismissing the staff.

xp to WmC's post - I've only ever once left a clue on ILX that would directly lead to my "government name". Apart from that one instance, it would take some very fancy sifting and drawing of inferences to arrive at my name, via much older traces dropped much earlier during my three decades on the internet and following them here. Not that I'm worried about the consequences if they somehow pulled it off. I'd rather not keep my beliefs secret. I don't intend to live underground.

it's easy to figure out who i am. also, due to previous employment my pii has been hacked/stolen at least 7 or 8 times. every year i get a new letter informing me that i get another 3 years of free bonus online fraud protection due to a new security breach where everything was compromised yet again.

but yeah, also you're right that trolls could come after you. the one time an online troll talked to me, it was actually a good conversation. some cryptoteens were picking on me online while other bad stuff was happening, so i posted my phone # and told these fucking kids to talk to me like a real person. one of them called! he seemed like a misguided but ignorant young person

Trump always liked Step It Up better I guess

to the right / to the (far) right

I’ve been writing and posting all kinds of things under my own name for 35 years or so, not gonna stop now. If we get down to local enemies lists and that kind of thing, I can think of a few people at least who will be happy to add my name. Whatever. I don’t really expect to lose my Social Security or passport, much less die at Gitmo or be targeted by some militia, but better people than me have gone out like that. You can’t control whatever currents of history you happen to live through. Just how you respond to them.

i am me. fuck trump. fuck musk. they can fucking go fuck their own shit the shitfuckers. love, scott seward greenfield mass, 01301

❤️

op ed by M. Gessen today is about this exact thing, all the ways in which people preemptively acquiesce to the new world order and in so doing bear responsibility for bringing it about. Not blaming them, but rather explaining all the extremely compelling reasons why ethical/moral/practical calculus can all work in favor of the rising fascism by steering us towards decisions that help rather than hurt it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/08/opinion/trump-power-surrender.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vk4.BBg-.n3IdGtEABOss&smid=url-share

(gift link)

here and elsewhere I have been very loud and opinionated about my beliefs. a few years back, i was a finalist for a queer writing award, and hopefully will be again. i’m not going anywhere.

otm. I'm all over the interwebs. And I'm in the middle of stirring up trouble at my public university, so I'm not going anywhere (yet).

I'm a writer, so my real name is all over the place. It would be very easy to hop from one thing to another. (There's another writer with the same name as me, which might provide slight misdirection, but probably not.)

I’m not worried even though I publish my writings in the New York Times under the pseudonym Brett Stephens .

you misspelt your pseudonym

lol

I write as Sue Donym.

I remain Ross Douchehat.

I’m not even American.

Unclear how many of us are at this point tbh

https://outlawvern.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cards_coneheads.jpg

Like the Coneheads, I'm 50% American