Reflections from the Heart of the Empire: Arrogance & Stupidity Efficiently Packaged

Plus wild turkeys and a package delivery

• Vice-President JD Vance and wife went to Greenland but they didn’t set one foot outside the US Space Force base they visited because this is now the most popular hat there…

  

• Babylon 5 was a prescient TV series. Londo Molari perfectly describes the actions of the Trump Administration this week in less than a minute.

• Last week, the same US intelligence agencies that once swore Russia interfered with our elections and that Hunter Biden’s laptop did not exist reported to Congress that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon. Why are they telling us the truth now?

  • Because they are signaling that they are very much opposed to a US attack on Iran.

  • This means that the Pentagon, the intelligence community, and Big Oil are all aligned against a war with Iran.

  • I certainly don’t mean the Pentagon, the spooks, and Big Oil have suddenly turned pacifist. They have no objection to a new war, just not against a nation that is actually capable of defending itself.

• An interesting internal contest of imperial power—the Zionist billionaires and propagandized Christian Zionist fools versus the MIC, the spooks, and Big Oil.

  • Free gambler’s tip: Bet on the MIC and Big Oil. Sorry doomers, but the odds are there will be no war with Iran.

• But fear not, doomers, for all is not lost! Our mad Emperor announced new tariffs on damned near the entire planet to hypothetically generate revenue to pay for his tax cuts to people already so wealthy they should not be allowed to exist in the first place.

  • No, in a brilliant stroke of what must be genius because nobody ever tried it before, Trump is attempting to raise revenue from penguins. One of the territories slapped with tariffs is Australia’s Heard Island, with a population of thousands of penguins and zero humans. Need I comment on the intelligence displayed? (below: a waddle of penguins discussing the tariffs on Heard Island)

    

• AND the tariffs will force other countries who have heretofore been rivals to cooperate with each other to protect their economies against the mad policies of our mad Emperor. Richard Wolff lays out this case in the following 20 minute clip from Democracy Now!

  • Well, if Trump succeeds in getting China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan to cooperate with each other, then he definitely will deserve to be called a miracle worker.

• He’s already delivered a miracle for the Liberals in Canada. Just a couple of months ago, it looked like the Conservatives were going to win the upcoming election easily, leading the Libs 44-22%. But then Trump waved his magic 51st State and Tariff wands, and hey presto! Now the Libs are up 43-37%, and climbing.

  • Oh, Canada! I can’t blame you, but electing a creature of Goldman-Sachs won’t help your working class, either. I refused to vote in the last US election for the first time ever, and I’m 66. I submit Canadians also have the option to refuse to participate in an election that offers you no good choices.

• One of my coworkers, a rock-ribbed Republican who still worships St. Ronnie, asked me in all seriousness how I was celebrating Trump’s Liberation Day(seriously, he really did. I have witnesses and this is not DU). I replied I am doing the only thing I can do—cutting back on my spending to prepare for higher prices.

  • Since consumer spending now comprises about 70% of the US economy, and since I will have lots of involuntary company, we’re headed into a recession for sure. Just doing my bit, that’s all.

• Whatever happened to Trump’s promises to eliminate the income tax on tips and retirement income, anyway? Wait, what’s that? I’m getting a call from the public option, card-check union organizing, and raising the minimum wage down in Forgotten Political Promise Land. They say they have new neighbors. Here’s their city logo:

  

• Elon Musk, and quite possibly DOGE, will probably be gone by the end of the month. The simple truth is that there isn’t room enough in Washington for two egos that grandiose. Musk is sucking up too much attention for Trump to tolerate.

• Hamas is willing to exchange the remaining Israeli hostages for a lasting ceasefire, but an Israeli official said that is unacceptable because their goal is to ethnically cleanse persuade Palestinians to “voluntarily migrate” from their homeland.

• The US Senate voted 82-15 to continue the genocide by arming Israel.

• Finally, a trio of wild turkeys in suburban Massachusetts provided an escort for a US Postal Service letter carrier to and from his truck whether he liked it or not. Ben Franklin was right. The national bird should be the turkey. Aren’t they magnificent?

Thank you for reading, good day or night, and good luck.

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