Such a firehose of news, I have two and half tons to think about.

First up, a child died of the measles in Texas, and the outbreak is growing. It’d be cynical to exclaim thoughts and prayers. That poor child. Yes, death is part of life, but when death, pain, and sickness can be mitigated but aren’t for religious or political reasons, I feel it. Pumps the cynicism in me up to the surface. News like this is painfully wearying.

Next comes some reflections on the U.S. and NATO. Legally, the U.S. can’t unilaterally withdraw without Congress’s approval. Of course, legally is a quaint notion in PINO Trusk’s worldview. PINO Trusk contiues thumping all over laws and the Constitution. Meanwhile, he can and is undermining the alliance’s intentions and cohesiveness with his bromance with Russia. If PINO Trusk did order troop withdrawals out of NATO bases, where would they be parked? We have military installations around the world, but it’d be a huge logistical challenge, and the ripples from such a decision…oh, the ripples.

The Idaho Capital Sun had a really engrossing article about a local meeting. North Idaho woman forcibly removed from Kootenai County Republican town hall When she exercised her free speech, men without badges who didn’t present identification forcibly removed her.

COEUR d’ALENE — A legislative town hall organized by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee devolved into chaos Saturday when unidentified, plainclothes security personnel dragged a Post Falls woman from the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium for heckling legislators.

Though the company that provided security for the event has been identified, town hall organizers and Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris have claimed no knowledge of the security personnel or who hired them.

The tale is a whole ‘he said, he said,’ circle thingy with many attempting to deflect and pretend that others were in charge, but there seemed to be a lot of secrecy around the planning and execution. To me, such violent — and secretive — responses by ‘unidentified security’ is an outgrowth of the PINO Trusk thug mentality: bullying others without explanation to get their way. Sure smacks of Gestapo tactics. Really, read the story.

In “Letters from America”, Heather Cox Richardson posted clear, sharp insights and details about the budget resolution action going on in Congress. She begins with a Pete Buttigieg post: “A defining policy battle is about to come to a head in this country. The Republican budget will force everyone—especially Congress and the White House—to make plain whether they are prepared to harm the rest of us in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.”

Ms. Richardson then presents the details. The GOTP wants to cut the deficit. To do so means cutting popular, useful programs while trying to push forward tax cuts for the rich. The GOTP’s entire reasoning process is maligned with flimsy logic and pathetic reasoning. History shows what they’re trying to do will absolutely not work. No matter, they’re too fucking bullheaded about it because they’re bending the knee to PINO Trusk.

I have mixed feelings about it. At this point, if the GOTP gets their way, slashing programs while giving the wealthy tax breaks, they’ll end up with higher deficits and a crumbling economy. Maybe then the MAGAts and others will awaken and demand a halt to the Great Undoing. If they don’t, the Great Shitstorm of 2025 will continue until serious reciprocal waves arrive. See, I’m, like, “We warned you, warned you, and warned you. You insisted that you wanted to fuck around and find out. So here it comes.” I kind of want to let it come, but that strikes me as being personally petty. Yet, based on the evidence so far, I don’t think they’ll learn until consequences jar their lives. I know, it’s a sad situation when it’s come to this.

“Requiem For The West” out of The Dish by Andrew Sullivan is the third piece which hooked my attention today. Mr. Sullivan writes, “We only saw Donald Trump’s foreign policy darkly in his first term — constrained, as he was, by a handful of white-knuckled Republicans in the executive branch. Now we see it face to face. It’s a vision where international law disappears, great powers divide up the planet into spheres of influence, and the strong always control the weak. It’s Trump’s vision of domestic politics as well. And of life.

“Control, plunder, gloat. This is the Trump way.”

That is the Trump way, along with using the gullible and low-informed. Trump has a history of breaking his word, laws, and contracts. He’s not a good businessman but he’s a really terrific liar and con man. In PINO Trusk’s world, “Zelensky is a monster but Putin is our friend. As for concessions from Russia for its unprovoked violation of an internationally recognized border? None that I can see, apart from stopping the war. (If you want to read Vance’s underwhelming defense of what’s going on, check out his reply to Niall here.)“

There’s the nub, too. PINO Trusk is so fucking adept at fooling people. Just give him a little material and he twists and hammers it until it seems like an absolute truth. He did that with President Biden’s age and inflation during the 20204 campaign. And yeah, President Biden didn’t put up much resistance. He’s done the same with ‘cutting fraud and waste’ through Doge now. Of course as so many have pointed out before, it’s not really about the inflation, President Biden’s age, or many of the other things which PINO Trusk said during his campaign: it’s about being racist and sexist. It’s about power and money.

Many of us see that.

Too many don’t.