Tag: Donald Trump

Sunday’s Theme Music – Going Down

Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, May 3, 2026.

It’s a springy 63 F in Ashland this morning. Clouds feather the sunshine effect. We’re expecting a high of 77 F and thunderstorms.

All is quiet on the Mom front. I’m privately mourning the changes and losses to her life. Don’t know what my sisters are thinking but their relationship with Mom was rockier than mine. Part of that is that I moved out early and was away for years at a time, inuring me to her chaos.

Unfortunately, we’re not inured to Trump’s chaos. Let’s call it Traos. No matter what I drink or how much, he’s still there, and the reality of what he’s doing to us gets worse with every viewing.

Now several months into Trump’s second year of his second term, certain trends have become cemented as part of his legacy.

  • Trump is a corrupt person, enriching himself at the expense of the country
  • Trump’s cabinet is inept and chaotic
  • Dizzy Donnie’s health is worsening and he’s hiding something
  • Whatever is in the Epstein files, Trump doesn’t want it found
  • Trump has no plan forward except to cut everything except Homeland Security and Defense, impose more tariffs, and isolate the nation
  • Between his lies, broken promises, failed policies, and delusions, Trump can’t be trusted

Some will say that I’m being harsh. I am. But I’m using standard benchmarks for my judgements.

  • Trump keeps playing ‘hide the Epstein file’
  • His personal wealth has grown while social services and education are being cut
  • The national debt is growing at a record rate and has overtaken the GNP
  • Prices are rising and he can only offer band aids like the $6000 tax credit for seniors that results in $720
  • Awakening to his grift, his approval ratings are falling, and his disapproval ratings are rising
  • He promised no new wars and started one
  • Declaring himself the unity president, he’s done more to polarize voters than any other in modern history

And as final proof of how delusional he is, he keeps ordering things renamed for himself, and planning monuments for himself, because he thinks everything is going great. The rest of the world knows, if he was worthy of monuments, we’d be proposing and building them on our own. Instead, brown nosers who like to kiss his ass are trying to find new ways of doing it.

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! still goes. No doubt trying to regain some of his mojo, Trump announced some major gun safety changes. Makes the NRA happy. That’s what’s important. *snark*

We have months to go before it’s all over.

BTW, have you seen Iran’s humorous take on Trump?

The confluence of news, dreams, and mood inspired The Neurons to pull the trigger on “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”.

The Fall Out Boy chorus fills the morning mental music stream:

“We’re going down, down in an earlier round, and sugar we’re going down swinging. I’ll be your number one with a bullet.”

My hope for you today is that you weather it all and come out stronger, healthier, and happier.

Got my coffee. Time to rock on. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music — Stuck

Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, May 2, 2026.

Clouds rule our valley this morning. It’s an almost unbroken sea of white and gray but thin enough to let sporadic sunshine sneak in and out. 59 F now, we’re anticipating a high of 77 today. Again.

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! has recommenced. After Trump successfully grifted Republicans in Congress into believing that Trump’s Iran War is over, Trump has turned his sights to Cuba.

To recap:

  • Eastern Pacific/Caribbean – killed 181 to 186 people while destroying 40 ‘drug boats’
  • Venezuela: abducted the nation’s president and first lady
  • Greenland: threatened to take it in the name of peace
  • Iran bombed it twice
    • October 2025, to ‘obliterate’ its nuclear capability
    • February 2025 to now, because of its nuclear threat
  • Now — CUBA!

Donald Trump says US will take over Cuba ‘almost immediately’

Yet, the Epstein files remain unreleased.

Trump’s approval ratings are dropping, and his disapproval ratings are falling.

High food, gas, and oil prices challenge US shoppers.

It’s all so Trump. He can’t solve problems, only create them, then lie about what they are, and insist that only he can fix it.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

“Mark my words.”

Yes, we marked your words, Trump.

“In a February 2016 interview with MSNBC, Trump said the wall would go “probably 35 or 40 feet up.” The height reduction was short-lived, however. Later in the same interview he said “And I heard [Mexican President Vicente Fox] said that we will not pay. Guess what? The wall just got higher.” At rallies in early 2016, Trump repeatedly said the wall gained 10 feet everytime Mexico rejected paying for it.

“At the Republican presidential debate in March he reverted to his earlier claim that “the wall’s 50 feet high.” Later that month at a MSNBC town hall he stated the wall would be “a good 35 feet. It’s getting higher all the time” and reiterated Mexico “will pay in one form or another.” At the same town hall the price of the wall jumped to $10 billion.”

Repeat after me: you can’t believe anything that Trump claims.

Now tell me, who is going to pay for the ballroom? And how much will it cost?

Today’s theme music came as I went about lazily doing things this morning. Papi had been fed and was outside, washing, being a cat. I was lost in thought about a dream and realized, damn, time! So I told myself, “Get it together. Let’s go. Move.”

Hearing that, The Neurons hooked up with a U2 song, and delivered it to my morning mental music stream: “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”.

Sample Lyrics

You’ve got to get yourself together
You’ve got stuck in a moment
And you can’t get out of it

The song came out in 2001 — before 9/11. Yet it feels like a perfect summary of our political situation in the US since then, with war, Trump, the Great Recession, etc.

It feels like a moment we’re stuck in, and can’t get out.

I hope the end of today finds you better off than the start of the day, and that you can stack good days upon good days.

Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music – Low

Ashland, Oregon — Saturday, April 25, 2026.

April is marching on. Spring is going with it in this area.

Today is sunny with a blue sky. One small cloud visible from my window when I look west. Looks like a small white bird with spread wings. A peace dove.

46 F now, our high today is predicted to be in the upper sixties. We saw 72 F at our house for several seconds yesterday. Then the sun moved on, the clouds gathered over, and the shadows cut the temp. Still, that was the formula for a pleasant day to be outside, and is a marked improvement over blizzards, monsoons, wildfires, etc.

Trump’s DOJ continues to try to pull the nation backward. They’re bringing back the firing squad. Business as usual for the ‘pro-life’ camp.

Despite it’s presence in popular culture, The Conversation notes, “Of all of America’s methods of execution, it has been least often used. From 1900 to 2010, only 35 of America’s 8,776 executions were carried out using this method, and since 1976 just three people have faced a firing squad, with the last one carried out in Utah in 2010.”

The move works for Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Headlines are full of the announcement. People like me will respond and condemn it. Many others will applaud. More importantly for Trump, there will be less news about his failures.

Trump’s long list of failures and setbacks is growing. Headlining: rising disapproval ratings. High gas prices on the cusp of May and the annual travel vacation months. A miserable war that’s dragging on into its eighth week after he said it was practically already over.

Talking out of the other side of his mouth, Trump also that the war would probably be over in five to six weeks. That time is passed. Since then, he’s whined that he needs more time and not to rush him. Then, in a really stupid move, he invoked how long the United States military was in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, wars which Americans would rather move on from.

Yet, the Epstein file is still out there, shadowing every move Trump makes, echoing through every word, flowing through every decision.

That clock is still ticking, and he hears it.

Your Donald Trump quote of the day:

From Factually: “Former President Donald Trump cherry-picked these statistics. Although some stations are charging $5 to $7 a gallon, about 99.2% of U.S. gas stations are selling gasoline for less than $5 a gallon, GasBuddy.com data shows.”

It was almost as if Donald Trump was predicting the future if he won.

Today’s music comes from thinking about highs and lows. The Neurons brought out “Low” by Cracker. In a lot of ways, the drippy, loopy 1993 song doesn’t make sense.

Lyrics

A million poppies gonna make me sleep
Or just one rose, it knows your name
My fruit is rusting on the vine
My fruit is calling from the trees

Or hey, oh, don’t you wanna go down
Like some junkie cosmonaut?
A million miles below their feet
A million miles, a million miles

I’ll be with you, girl, like bein’ low
Hey-hey-hey, like bein’ stoned
I’ll be with you, girl, like bein’ low
Hey-hey-hey, like bein’ stoned

A blue, blue is the sun
A brown, brown’s the sky
A green, green are her eyes
A million miles, a million miles

h/t SongLyrics.com

Reminds me of Trump and his followers.

Hope you and your day are on a high and you go on a tear that takes you to new fun things and greater joy and optimism.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music – Too Much

Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, April 16, 2026.

It’s fifty shades of spring green outside. How quickly the front yard tree went from being bare to full of green leaves. I was out there working on the yard the other day and noted how bare it was and wondered when its leaves would arrive. Then the leaves were full and green on it, as though they’d been delivered via Amazon. “Your leaves are on the way and will be delivered by 3:30 PM on Wednesday.”

It’s 46 now, up from 32 F, and expected to climb to 52 F. Thunderstorms are expected tomorrow.

In fifty shades of Trump, Republicans in Congress are sticking with their leader, refusing to hold him accountable for the war in Iran. Some have compared it to Operation Poseidon Archer under President Biden. It’s messy, but there was a difference in scope, costs, and intentions. Although President Biden’s operation lasted fifteen months, his administration notified Congress before military operations were ordered and carried out. Not so with Trump, who has been operating more unilaterally, limiting how much Congress is told, and sometimes not telling them until after the fact. President Biden’s operation was also well-defined in objectives and stayed in scope. Trump’s Iran war has been much broader and general, with no clear cut stated goals. While various reasons have been stated, Trump has also threatened to destroy Iran as a nation and attack civilian targets.

  • Operation Poseidon Archer cost about $400 million a day, with a total of $5 billion dollars for the first year of operations. Trump’s Iran war has spent $1 billion dollars per day on average, with an estimated expense of 35 to 51 billion dollar so far. Some experts believe that Trump’s Iran war could exceed one trillion dollars.
  • President Biden’s Yemen strikes had a relatively contained economic effect. Trump’s Iran war has caused gas prices to soar to $7 in some states while disrupting global air travel due to airspace closures.
  • Trump’s war has also affected the price of fertilizer for US farmers. The Strait of Hormuz closure has restricted access to components like sulfur, which is required to manufacture phosphate fertilizers in U.S. plants. Many small farmers are facing fertilizer costs which are 30 to 40 % higher than planned. The scale of the impact on increased cost for food and consumer goods will depend on how long Trump’s Iran war lasts.
  • Total deaths for President Biden’s Yemen operations were estimated at 106 to 337 lives. Trump’s Iran war has claimed an estimated five to ten thousand, so far. No US military members were killed in the Yemen operation, while Trump’s war cost fifteen US military members to date.

It all added up to too much. That was enough for Les Neurons to invite the Dave Matthews Band into the morning mental music stream with “Too Much” from 1996.

I eat too much
I drink too much
I want too much
Too much

Hey
Suck it up, suck it up
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up, yeah
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up
Suck it up, suck it up, suck it up baby

h/t to AZLyrics.com

Hope your day isn’t too much for you, and that all goes well.

Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music – History

Ashland, Oregon — April 15, 2025.

A gray dawn in Ashland. Rain is expected throughout the day as clouds gather and temperatures drift from the low forties to the low fifties. Temperatures are expected to drop into the low thirties tomorrow morning. A frost warning is in effect.

Reason.com reminded us of Trump and the emptiness of his declarations and claims. This one was about the national debt. Ten years ago, Trump said he would eliminate the national debt. Oh, the cheers he got for that.

They asked him, how long would it take? “Fairly quickly,” Trump replied. When pressed for a more specific answer, Trump provided a shocking timeline. “Well, I would say over a period of eight years.”

Analysis showed that Trump was blowing wind. His plans to eliminate the national debt was diametrically opposed to his plans to lower taxes. Lower taxes won.

The national debt was 19 trillion dollars ten years ago. It’s now 39 trillion dollars. President Biden added to it, but Trump has done most of the damage.

Put this in their with the other claims he’s made. That’s he’s the peace president. A unifier. That he was going to replace Obamacare with a much better plan. That Mexico would pay for the wall. That he would lower prices from day one. That he would drain the swamp, eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse.

That he would release the Epstein files on day one.

Sickening how much he has lied and done to destroy the nation. More sickeningly, so many Republicans still cheer him on.

Also in the news, SOUTHCOM reported that they’d destroyed another boat and killed four more people.

It was the fourth attack in four days. No war; no court; no evidence. No judge, jury, ruling. Just Trump ordering the US military to kill untried civilians.

Today’s song comes from 1986. The Neurons had nothing to do with it. I read the news and remembered “Bullet the Blue Sky” by U2. Inspired by what Bono witnessed the US military doing in El Salvador and Nicaragua under Reagan. Much like now, when Trump is using military force in the name of Christianity, morality, democracy, and freedom to kill others. Sadly, this is an American tradition. Trump is just being overt, boastful, and brazen about it.

It’s demoralizing and depressing, but angers me as well, watching Trump tear down our norms and violate the laws, throw his name on everything, build monuments to himself. Meanwhile, measles outbreaks are on the rise, food and gas prices are climbing, and Trump is killing and destroying in our name. Our national debt grows but worse is what he’s done to our reputation and morals.

I hope your Wednesday is filled with peace and grace, and that we can garner the voice and political will to move us toward a better future, like the future we were once moving toward.

Cheers

2

The Trump Descent

After bluffing and bullshitting and actively weaving chaos and doubt, Trump’s act has worn thin.

Evidence that the United States is no longer respected and feared is showing up everywhere. Most pointedly, we see it as Iran refuses to give in while our nation’s traditional allies turn down Trump’s requests for help. Instead, they’re forming new alliances and agreements, leaving the US in the cold.

MAGA has responded to Trump’s losses and failures with predictable childishness, “Your rules.” Obstinate to a fault, they just do not learn. As the world moves on from its dalliance with right-wing theater, they’re going to be left behind. Which, if you recall, is why some of them turned to Trump in the first place. They will continue to pursue their FAFO course.

The International Monetary Fund issued warnings that the United States under Trump could drag down the global economy. It’s the war. Mostly. Trump’s Iran War is supercharging the oil and gas prices and disrupting supply lines. That means modestly less growth, but as the war continues, the chances for a global recession increase.

Symptomatic of Trump’s wide-ranging, negative impact are World Cup tourism forecasts. This should have been a boon for the United States and the eleven US cities hosting World Cup events but — Trump.

The United States is already coping with reduced tourism. Rising prices, triggered by Trump’s Iran War, broken trade agreements, and Trump’s tariffs are one big reason. However, experts are pointing to Trump’s hostile immigration policies. Even when people are authorized to enter the United States, they’re sometimes being turned back. Some of the reasons cited is that they criticized Trump. Not taking chances, people are talking with their cash and staying away from the United States.

Trump has bankrupted six businesses. His corruption is becoming as legendary as his lying.

Yet, there are those who still follow him, even as he takes us down, down, down.

5

The Trump Jesus

Yes, gagging a bit and almost losing my breakfast, I’m sharing the Trump Jesus image.

Had to be done; so insane, it must be shared so that everyone can see how Dozy Donny Trump sees himself.

What’s funniest about this is Trump’s answer when he was asked if he posted it.

Reporter: Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ?

Trump: It wasn’t a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one.

LOL

OMG

  1. “It wasn’t a depiction.” Yeah, sure, that was ripped right off your work on the golf course.
  2. “…I thought it was me as a doctor.” You can’t be serious; what about that picture says ‘doctor’? The glowing hand? Why do you think the hand is glowing? What’s that, radioactive material?
  3. “And had to do with a red cross as a red cross worker…” Can you point that red cross out to us, Dozy Donny?

Come on, man. This is the work of a person living in a fantasy. He can’t even understand what he posted.

Worse, this is not the first time that Trump has depicted himself as something extraordinary. Remember the time he posted himself as Superman? How ’bout when he showed himself as a muscular Jedi war, king, cowboy, or astronaut?

The post has been deleted but the truth is out there. I can’t believe Republicans keep denying and follow this delusional individual as their leader.

But they probably will until a FAFO moment that can’t be fixed.

That calls for a song.

2

More WTH Trumpery

Pam Bondi is out as Trump’s Attorney General. I will not miss her, but what new horrible person will replace her?

I also wonder *smile* was Bondi a sacrifice to distract from the Epstein files?

Trump likes to claim how much he loves the military and respects veterans. Per Trump standards, his actions fail to support his words.

The Veteran’s Administration mortgage program had problems during the COVID years. Then the Biden administration killed part of the program that triggered a tsunami of foreclosures on veterans who purchased with VA-back loans. Trying to fix the problem under President Biden, the VA began a new program, VASP, to stem the foreclosures.

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill of 2025 killed VASP, sending VA foreclosures to new highs.

More than 10,000 veterans lost their homes to foreclosure since May of last year, when the Trump administration shut down a key safety net in the VA home loan program, according to the latest industry data. That is the highest pace of foreclosures for VA loans in a decade.

A bipartisan bill was passed by Congress. Trump signed it into law but it was Democrats working with Republicans in Congress who got it done.

Many are cheering the Artemis II space launch. One of the biggest cheerleaders is Donald Trump.

Trump likes to forget that he’s cheering for an accomplishment which happened despite him.

President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal seeks to significantly slash NASA’s funding, which could bring an end to the Artemis program after Artemis III. The budget plan highlights a shift towards commercial space solutions for lunar missions, with a focus on Mars exploration. Major budget cuts to NASA’s space and Earth science programs are raising alarm within the scientific community, as they could impact the Mars Sample Return mission and other key initiatives. The proposal now awaits Congressional review, sparking heated debates and industry concerns.

Trump also hustled over the Supreme Court building to hear the arguments about his attempt to end birthright via executive order. Then he stormed out and lied about what’s going on.

“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” he wrote.

The United States is one of 32 nations who allow birthright citizenship.

As usual, Trump is wrong.

4

Trump: Regression and Incompetence

Just a brief Trump note.

Trump and his cabal tend to think in simplistic terms.

Simplest to them is “Might makes right”. They started a war in Iran predicated on having a lot of sophisticated weapons and little intelligent planning. This manifests as:

  • No clear objectives
  • No Plan B in case Plan A goes wrong
  • Underestimating the enemy’s strength and will
  • Fighting the wrong kind of war
  • Not anticipating collateral damage and issues
  • No exit plan

Part of this is because of a Trump tendency that extends throughout his administration. Trump wants people who idolize him and protects him from the truth when things aren’t going well. That’s who he hires, promotes, and keeps.

We’re seeing this in tariffs, in court cases where ICE and their tactics keep getting batted down, in energy policy, and in Iran. All of those things are not going according to plan. But because Trump resists facts and truth, he will not adjust and correct to improve the situation; he’ll keep regressing, taking a sledgehammer to hit a nail. Even now, Trump plans to send more troops to Iran and escalate the confrontation.

I read a transcript of Paul Krugman’s video this morning about the Iran War. Krugman cites many of these things in a more coherent manner. Krugman sums up the Trump era in one clean observation:

So we have this kind of real extreme, not just political extremism, but complete lack of ability to do the job, which is almost, in a sense, incompetence is a job requirement.

That’s terrifying. First, that incompetence is a job requirement. Second, that Trump supporters endorse this a good direction.

That last piece is going to make it hard to restore the United States where it’s on a path toward the future, and not the past.

See you on the streets, March 28th. Let’s show the world, we aren’t supporting Trump’s Incompetent Regime.

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