Biggest argument for RFK is the poor record of cost and benefit of American healthcare. HHS, big pharma, hospitals, etc. need to be turned upside down and reformed top to bottom.
Maybe but we both know that's not his goal or concern - dude is lost in his anti-vax non science narrative. Same problems will continue with the added complication of the govt endorsing raw milk and dropping vax requirements.
PLINY THE ELDER: it says here that roasted millipedes are a cure for asthma RFK Jr: correct PLINY: and boiled frogs fix whooping cough? RFK Jr: also true CATO THE ELDER: and a flock of flying birds… RFK Jr: yes, yes, can predict the shape and size of an infant’s cranium
PLINY THE ELDER: it says here that roasted millipedes are a cure for asthma RFK Jr: correct PLINY: and boiled frogs fix whooping cough? RFK Jr: also true CATO THE ELDER: and a flock of flying birds… RFK Jr: yes, yes, can predict the shape and size of an infant’s cranium
Right wingers are working hard to spin the RFK confirmation to be about eating healthy and avoiding Big Macs. (A message we have known for 60 years.
While they ignore the antivax insanity that kills thousands
Keep in mind that RFK only recently became a Trumper. He changed no views. Just changed teams. Thats all it takes for Trumpers to abandon their brain and give a whack their total buy in.
Trump is playing on one of the basic misconceptions of the American people: the weird belief that money to programs, like water to a house or current to a fixture, must be turned off for the distribution mechanism to be studied and understood. But money, per se, is not harmful; it doesn't have to be stopped for a project to be studied. Indeed, the only reason to cut it off is to harm those people and projects receiving it--even though those people and projects took jobs or applied for/received grants and funding in good faith. That is, the people receiving the grants didn't do anything wrong: they applied, through legal avenues, for money that was made available through legal mechanisms, and they could keep doing the work they believed they were funded to do while Trump's team pretended to investigate inefficiencies. But Trump doesn't want that; he wants them to hurt.
Why?
In part, because he's a sadist. I don't mean anything dramatic by this. I only mean what we can all see with our naked eye. Trump's greatest pleasure is in making people twist uncertainly in the wind. Whether he's twirling his finger before selecting the next reporter to call on at a press conference or posting a tweet "The calm before the storm" with a picture of a gathering of high-level military leaders (as he did in 2017), Trump delights in the power of ambiguity. He knows, in his reptile brain, that that's actually more powerful than conclusiveness. He's loving the panic, the scramble, that his little fit has caused.
Also, he knows that many federal workers and many recipients of federal grants (though far from all) are minorities. Of course, White people and agencies also receive federal money. But in Trump's brain, the federal government is full of Black women, and the agencies receiving federal money are funneling it to Black neighborhoods and needs. Again, it's a reptile understanding of things, but I'm certain it's basically true.
Finally, he's not sophisticated enough--or fundamentally smart enough--to stay on top of an organization as large and complex as the federal government. The Trump Org was essentially a family operation, miniscule in scope and not beholden to shareholders. He wants to shrink the federal government down to a size small enough for his--all together now--reptile brain to be able to more or less grasp it. It's not really systematic or principled: it's that Trump really is so broken-brained that this is how he operates. It's funny: while he himself loves operating in gray zones, he can't handle the world's nuance and complexity himself; it baffles him, like a question about the nature of existence might baffle a replicant. Hence his blanket pardons of the Jan 6 insurrectionists--again, not principled, just pathetic--and his blanket impoundment of our tax money.
Anyway, this is all so infuriating. That's my tax money that he's not distributing to after-school programs, medicaid recipients, Meals on Wheels, etc. He's sitting on it, like Smaug on a pile of gold, because he's too stupid and corrupt to have any other idea of what to do with it. And for some reason, the anti-tax crowd would rather see their tax money hoarded by a billionaire moron than recycled through the communities that paid those taxes in the first place. We are truly in the Upside-Down.
All utter nonsense. The only upside down thing is you little guy. Moron;)
Just want to follow up a little on Trump and complexity. Here's a quote from his amazingly incoherent interview with Sean Hannity:
"Yes. Ready? Most of the [Jan 6 insurrectionists] were absolutely innocent. OK. But forgetting all about that, these people have served horribly a long time. It would be very, very cumbersome to go and -- look, you know, how many people are we talking about? 1,500 people. Almost all of them are -- should not have been -- this should not have happened."
First, Trump can't finish a single thought; he can't string together a sentence that meaningfully articulates a supposition--something something "very, very cumbersome"--with a likely consequence of that supposition. "It would be very, very cumbersome to go and . . ." what? To go where and do what? He doesn't know and, if he does, he's simply too stupid to articulate it.
He goes on to act as though 1,500 people is some gigantic number. This is, of course, insane. He's the President and has a huge staff; if he wanted to, he could have ten interns look through the files for just two hours each to identify the insurrectionists who beat or tased cops; then he could take that much-smaller-than-1,500 number and declare that, as the law-and-order President, he will not be pardoning those. This would, in fact, be the opposite of cumbersome. If having staffers read through the files of 1,500 people is too cumbersome, what about tasks and responsibilities that are actually hard?
It's Trump's fear of work and complexity that's so obvious here. What he's saying is, finally, "I might have to think about this," and there is nothing Trump hates more than being forced to think, because thinking takes time and might result in ambiguity and nuance and shading and, to be done properly in the first place, requires a vocabulary hundreds of times larger than Trump's.
All I'm saying is that Trump is a simple person, overwhelmed by the most basic duties of his office--he said as much himself to Hannity. This task, he said, would be "very, very cumbersome." But, truly, only for a person as stupid as Trump, an administration as inept as his.
Yes. And Trumpers are all high fiving themselves because they went back to the old deportation arrangement and think daddy Trump gave a beatdown to one of our most loyal allies and friendly nation.
Colombia is one of our most loyal and most important allies? Not the UK? Canada? Japan? Australia? Or others?
Funny that Canada made your list. You have an extremely short memory....or pretend as much.
The Colombia nation has been accepting flights of illegal immigrants from the US for years. They did under Biden, Trump and Obama. It was working just fine and efficiently.
These flights are commercial or chartered aircraft and immigrants are treated like human beings.
Trump and discount Goebills decide they want to humiliate immigrants by shipping them on military planes in shackles for Fox News to broadcast. There are no pre existing arrangements for these military flights. Countries that value human decency say no to Trumps theatre and this starts an unnecessary tariff war for what would normally be a very minor diplomatic issue. These immigrants had no criminal records.
Today prices have risen in Colombian goods even though the tariffs were never implemented harming US consumers.
Never let Trumpers gaslight his awfulness.
Of course, Trump and Trumpers are trying to spin that Trump won and Colombia capitulated. There is no evidence of that. They simply went back to the old deportation arrangement under Biden and Obama. Trumpers want you to believe there was no arrangement.
The media is reporting that Colombia capitulated based only on the the word of Donald J Trump. Not a very wise thing to do.
And the broader point is that the Trumpers buy that Trump is wise and has come up with a novel and effective form of bully diplomacy that no one else in human history ever thought of.
Hint, Trumper mo-rans: There is a REASON why the most powerful countries don't always run around being bullying a-holes. It often doesn't work in the short term, and it very rarely, if ever, works in the medium and long-term.
Additionally, as a citizen and tax payer, I - along with tens of millions of others - simply don't want our country to BE that bullying a-hole. Whether it works, OR NOT.
Biggest argument for RFK is the poor record of cost and benefit of American healthcare. HHS, big pharma, hospitals, etc. need to be turned upside down and reformed top to bottom.
Maybe but we both know that's not his goal or concern - dude is lost in his anti-vax non science narrative. Same problems will continue with the added complication of the govt endorsing raw milk and dropping vax requirements.
My brother had a cardiac event after the second Moderna Covid vaccine and died. One of my close running friends mid-50s underarm swelled the size of a football following the Pfizer Covid vaccine. These companies made $billions on a not so effective vaccine and possibly dangerous one.
Just want to follow up a little on Trump and complexity. Here's a quote from his amazingly incoherent interview with Sean Hannity:
"Yes. Ready? Most of the [Jan 6 insurrectionists] were absolutely innocent. OK. But forgetting all about that, these people have served horribly a long time. It would be very, very cumbersome to go and -- look, you know, how many people are we talking about? 1,500 people. Almost all of them are -- should not have been -- this should not have happened."
First, Trump can't finish a single thought; he can't string together a sentence that meaningfully articulates a supposition--something something "very, very cumbersome"--with a likely consequence of that supposition. "It would be very, very cumbersome to go and . . ." what? To go where and do what? He doesn't know and, if he does, he's simply too stupid to articulate it.
He goes on to act as though 1,500 people is some gigantic number. This is, of course, insane. He's the President and has a huge staff; if he wanted to, he could have ten interns look through the files for just two hours each to identify the insurrectionists who beat or tased cops; then he could take that much-smaller-than-1,500 number and declare that, as the law-and-order President, he will not be pardoning those. This would, in fact, be the opposite of cumbersome. If having staffers read through the files of 1,500 people is too cumbersome, what about tasks and responsibilities that are actually hard?
It's Trump's fear of work and complexity that's so obvious here. What he's saying is, finally, "I might have to think about this," and there is nothing Trump hates more than being forced to think, because thinking takes time and might result in ambiguity and nuance and shading and, to be done properly in the first place, requires a vocabulary hundreds of times larger than Trump's.
All I'm saying is that Trump is a simple person, overwhelmed by the most basic duties of his office--he said as much himself to Hannity. This task, he said, would be "very, very cumbersome." But, truly, only for a person as stupid as Trump, an administration as inept as his.
Excellent post and observation.
I think one way to understand Trump is like this. He is NOT a stupid person. He simply does not give a sh!t about anything or anyone. In a way that no public figure ever displayed before. He doesn’t care enough to learn both sides of an issue. Doesn’t care enough about the interviewer. Certainly doesn’t care about the people watching the interview. Doesn’t care about facts. Doesn’t dignify anyone by trying to be accurate in what he says.
He can’t be bothered with anything that isn’t focused on himself and his grandiosity ever. His own staff said he had a two minute attention span trying to discuss national security events. They had to draw pictures and flatter him or he would lose focus immediately.
Biggest argument for RFK is the poor record of cost and benefit of American healthcare. HHS, big pharma, hospitals, etc. need to be turned upside down and reformed top to bottom.
I agree with this (although I dunno why we need a freak like that to accomplish it).
Among other issues, the insane drug price gouging has been a problem for a long time.
Republicans unfortunately took too much lobby money and fought to prevent any discounts, but now that they are mostly subservient to Trump, maybe we can actually cut back on some of the drug price gouging.
Just want to follow up a little on Trump and complexity. Here's a quote from his amazingly incoherent interview with Sean Hannity:
"Yes. Ready? Most of the [Jan 6 insurrectionists] were absolutely innocent. OK. But forgetting all about that, these people have served horribly a long time. It would be very, very cumbersome to go and -- look, you know, how many people are we talking about? 1,500 people. Almost all of them are -- should not have been -- this should not have happened."
First, Trump can't finish a single thought; he can't string together a sentence that meaningfully articulates a supposition--something something "very, very cumbersome"--with a likely consequence of that supposition. "It would be very, very cumbersome to go and . . ." what? To go where and do what? He doesn't know and, if he does, he's simply too stupid to articulate it.
He goes on to act as though 1,500 people is some gigantic number. This is, of course, insane. He's the President and has a huge staff; if he wanted to, he could have ten interns look through the files for just two hours each to identify the insurrectionists who beat or tased cops; then he could take that much-smaller-than-1,500 number and declare that, as the law-and-order President, he will not be pardoning those. This would, in fact, be the opposite of cumbersome. If having staffers read through the files of 1,500 people is too cumbersome, what about tasks and responsibilities that are actually hard?
It's Trump's fear of work and complexity that's so obvious here. What he's saying is, finally, "I might have to think about this," and there is nothing Trump hates more than being forced to think, because thinking takes time and might result in ambiguity and nuance and shading and, to be done properly in the first place, requires a vocabulary hundreds of times larger than Trump's.
All I'm saying is that Trump is a simple person, overwhelmed by the most basic duties of his office--he said as much himself to Hannity. This task, he said, would be "very, very cumbersome." But, truly, only for a person as stupid as Trump, an administration as inept as his.
Excellent post and observation.
I think one way to understand Trump is like this. He is NOT a stupid person. He simply does not give a sh!t about anything or anyone. In a way that no public figure ever displayed before. He doesn’t care enough to learn both sides of an issue. Doesn’t care enough about the interviewer. Certainly doesn’t care about the people watching the interview. Doesn’t care about facts. Doesn’t dignify anyone by trying to be accurate in what he says.
He can’t be bothered with anything that isn’t focused on himself and his grandiosity ever. His own staff said he had a two minute attention span trying to discuss national security events. They had to draw pictures and flatter him or he would lose focus immediately.
But go back and listen to him talking when he was younger. He could actually string together sentences off-the-cuff that made sense, and he could continue a train of thought.
My guess is dementia is related to his problems with attention span and coherence.
The smarter fed workers have a brain. They know not to trust Donald Trump when it comes to money. The smart ones will say 'Trump stiffs everyone and lies to workers' faces. I can't trust him on this. He is probably going to stop the payments if I resign now.' So the smart ones will stay.
The dumb ones, who we want to leave government service, will take trump's word and trust him. They will quit and likely be stiffed. Sad, but getting the dumb ones out of government wouldn't be the worst thing.
Federal / government jobs are a glorified welfare program. Are there any talented people there?
Do you want every military contract to be way over budget? Not caring about competence on the Federal side is a good way to waste immense amounts of money.
Biggest argument for RFK is the poor record of cost and benefit of American healthcare. HHS, big pharma, hospitals, etc. need to be turned upside down and reformed top to bottom.
I agree with this (although I dunno why we need a freak like that to accomplish it).
Among other issues, the insane drug price gouging has been a problem for a long time.
Republicans unfortunately took too much lobby money and fought to prevent any discounts, but now that they are mostly subservient to Trump, maybe we can actually cut back on some of the drug price gouging.
As someone with some personal experience in recent years I would say that both parties bear responsibility for the mess, and more so for Americans who have shelved personal responsibility. I would point out that Admiral Rachel Levine was both a freak and a lunatic, and was in a position of power that promoted the mutilation of minors. Dr. Anthony Fauci illegally funded gain of function research at the Chinese Wuhan bioweapons lab. Talk about lobbying for corporate and Deep State interests. Fauci bears responsibility for killing millions, and was protected by the previous Administration. Why was that?
This post was edited 5 minutes after it was posted.
I've needed help from the Forest Service with running access, parking. It's protected by an easement the Forest Service has. The Forest Service is under the USDA Secretary, a presidential appointee who then appoints the Chief Forester, who was a loser on my project.
Will Trump's leadership over the USDA and Forest Service bring lawful adherence to the unambigous easement and public rights? Or is it , "meet the new boss , same as the old boss"? by the way, I am deplorable and serving deplorables.
this is the kind of country trump is turning us into. When loyalty to a president is more important to loyalty to the constitution. Dirtbags. Degenerates.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has decided to remove retired Gen. Mark A. Milley’s security detail, suspend his security clearance, and order an inspector general inquiry into his behavior as the Pentagon’s top officer, senior defense officials said Tuesday, taking extraordinary action against a frequent target of President Donald Trump.
Pete's jealous that Milley has tabs and rank and experience and ability and character that he'll never have.
Milley will be (minorly) remembered as a person who reached the absolute pinnacle of his profession, and showed a rare bit of humility while serving there.
Petey will certainly be remembered as THE least qualified SECDEF and history, and VERY likely, one of the most embarrassing while in the job.
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