Reminders and insights from others.
Thirstdaz Wandering Political Thoughts
Sprigs of Democracy
Annie shares some encouraging stories which might be developing into a trend. I have another Item (or two) to add to her list.
Item:
Republicans are learning that their constituents are not happy with Trump. The general warning being circulated around Republican centers of power is, don’t meet the voters face to face. Do it remotely, by Zoom, if possible. Because voters are mad and vocal. The Daily Beast reports that Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson was repeatedly shouted down and challenged when he recently bucked that advice and held a town hall meeting in Ohio.
Janna Brancolini reports, Republican Hit With Furious Boos at Town Hall Disaster in JD Vance’s Backyard
“A U.S. representative from Ohio became the latest Republican to be heckled into silence during a disastrous town hall held just miles from where Vice President JD Vance grew up.“
“More than 500 people attended a rare town hall on Wednesday hosted by Rep. Warren Davidson in rural Trenton, Ohio, about five miles from the town of Middletown, which Vance immortalized in the memoir that catapulted him onto the national stage, Hillbilly Elegy.”
A self-professed Libertarian, Rep. Davidson could not explain how his small government views aligned with Trump’s growing police state, established by sending in National Guard units to ‘patrol’. The states and cities where he’s sending them did not ask for these troops and do not want them. With little crime to battle, the troops have been used to spread mulch and pick up trash. That’s not a good use for troops, especially at an estimated cost of S1,000,000 per day in our capitol. That will not reduce the budget deficit, as Trump has so frequently promised to do.
Item:
Donald Trump is even running away from his One Big Beautiful Bill’s impact and is struggling to change the narrative. Several media sites report that he announced that he would no longer refer to his One Big Beautiful Bill by that title any longer. He insists, that was just to sell it. As more critical observers note, it was never one big, beautiful bill, but a grotesque offering masquerading as something useful. The bill has not been popular with U.S. voters. As the truth about it seeps out, the bill is becoming less popular. Trump likes to insist that it’s a huge middle-class tax cut. Fact checkers such as PolitiFact note that’s an inaccurate description and rate Trump’s claim as “Mostly False”.
“For most families, they are going to see a child tax credit that increases by a maximum of $200 per child — from $2,000 to $2,200,” said Margot Crandall-Hollick, principal research associate at the Tax Policy Center. “Some are going to pay a little less because of the tips and overtime provisions and a slightly higher standard deduction.”
“The law preserves a more generous standard deduction that had been set to expire and increases it slightly to $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for joint filers in 2025, to be indexed to inflation annually.”
“At the same time, Crandall-Hollick said, some families, especially those with lower incomes, will pay higher taxes because of the expiration of health insurance premium tax credits, which were not extended by the Big Beautiful Bill.”
Acting with predictable behavior, Trump is trying to rebrand his miserable bill and cast it in a more favorable light. However, with many Republican Senators themselves complaining about the bill’s impact on Medicaid, changing the subject won’t be easily done. Too many voters are personally running into the One Big Beautiful Bill’s chainsaw effects. U.S. voters do not forgive and forget when they’re personally affected.
I’ll close with Annie’s summary and reminder.
“I hope you see the pattern here. We the People are the ultimate guardrail against the would-be dictator and his acolytes–as jurors, as voters, as concerned citizens insisting that our legislators act responsibly and urgently in behalf of the Constitution and the greater good.“
“Call 202-224-3121 and asked to be transferred to your senators and representative.“
The Haunting
One must see this! Attribution is still unknown.
Wenzdaz Theme Music
Today’s music was almost “Smoke on the Water”. After a day that peaked at 93 F, clouds swollen with thunder and lightning climbed over the mountains to fill our valley last night. At one point, smoke coiled out from the pass north of us and hustled down the street, congregating in the valley like a well-organized demonstration. After a recce, I came in and told my wife, “It sounds like the drum section of a drum and bugle corps is marching down the street.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand what that means.”
“It means there’s a lot of thunder out there. Sounds like drumming.”
“Oh. I got you.”
The smoke surrendered, though. I never did learn a source.
Today is Wenzda, August 27, 2025. 84 F, a hazy blue sky hosts lurking cumulo thingies. Gonna get to the mid 90s F again. Thunderstorms are on the menu, but they sometimes run out before their time here. We’ll see how it flows.
Papi the ginger master of all he surveys doesn’t appreciate thunderstorms. They’re loud and ominous. He goes into the master bath to outwait them. After their passing, he heads back out to his floofdom. A bit south of midnight, cat singing commences. I go out to see Papi chatting up a black and white tux. The tux is dismissive of Papi. I’ve seen this one before. They weren’t real concerned. I asked, “What’s your name?”
That suggested a song to The Neurons. “What’s Your Name”, a 1977 southern rocker by Lynyrd Skynyrd, was pushed into the morning mental music stream. I protested to Les Neurons that the song refers to a ‘little girl’ who is a groupie. This tux was not anyone’s groupie. Being as obstinate as granite, The Neurons dismissed this objection faster than the Roberts Court rules in favor of the Trump Regime.
I’m encouraged by arguments rising out of Iowa. Democrat Catelin Drey defeated a Republican by 10 points in a state legislative contest. Okay, good news, but it’s too early for me to celebrate its significance too much. Trump still rules MAGALand and can do no wrong in their estimate. Much of what he’s doing, declaring that he’s the president and can do whatever he wants, is gut-wrenching to hear. Checking polls, many GOPers are quite happy with his declaration, continuing to support and cheer him on.
Meanwhile, much of his activities reminds me of the U.S.S.R. under Joe Stalin. Stalin’s means of governing involved one party and a police state. Stalin established purges based on his declarations that those he purged were ‘enemies of the state’ and ethnic cleansing through deportations. Any of this beginning to ring any bells when thinking about Trump’s efforts to control the media, imprison enemies, send the national guard out as a police force, and ICE disappearing people off the streets?
MAGAs and the GOP will never recognize or acknowledge any of this for the most part. They’re firmly in the ‘means justifies the ends’ corner, even if that means disavowing all the principles, tenets, and checks and balances our founders established when the United States became a nation. What is also distressing is listening and watching while so much of the established media downplays events. It seems like they fear Trump’s retribution to the point that they’re making themselves more and more irrelevant.
Well, coffee has arrived in the system. I hope peace and grace gang up and reward you with a beautiful day. Time to go write like crazy, at least one. More. Time. Cheers
Twozdaz Wandering Political Thoughts
Listen to this. This video presents us with the results of a beautiful, beautiful mind at work, probably one of the greatest minds ever, communicating as only it can, delivering such beautiful words. It’s probably, and I don’t offer this lightly, no, I do not, but this is probably one of the greatest Offal Office demonstrations of thinking and speaking ever made in the history of the entire world, in the history of the entire universe.
PINO TACO is speaking on the matter of burning the U.S. flag. His grasp of history and rhetoric is so beautiful, it’s amazing. If I was there, I would tell him, “Mister President, that is one of the greatest and most beautiful speeches I’ve ever heard.”
Well, except, of course, in a pre-school class. I have heard pre-school children make more sense and do it more beautifully. Many children just learning to speak make more beautiful speeches asking for a glass of water. They make more sense and enunciate more clearly than this blithering dolt in the Offal Office.
When it comes to speaking, Donald Trump is not John F. Kennedy. Nor is he Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Abraham Lincoln. He will never be known as a great thinker. Nor will he ever be known as a great orator. He will, as this speech demonstrates, be perpetually derided and ridiculed as a bumbling bloviator except for the legions who pucker up and bend over to kiss his ass.
Oh, BTW, shortly after Trump fumbled through his wilted thought salad, someone burned a U.S. flag. The person was arrested for starting a fire, but not for burning the flag.
Protester Sets Flag Ablaze Outside White House Hours After Trump’s Order
No riots were reported. Of course not. TACO was lying.
As usual.
Twozdaz Theme Music
We’re back home. Vacation is over. Taps was played at midnight to signify the last vacay day was done.
My wife reports she had a great bath and great night’s sleep. She prefers her own fixtures and bed. I slept well at both places. This place is far noisier. By 8 AM, garbage trucks, lawn equipment, and woodchippers were eagerly stressing the silence with their grinding, whirling, and groaning. I heard people walking by on the street speaking. One told her friend about their other friend’s birthday. Another woman was on her cell telling the neighborhood that her car was in the shop and needed a new starter, with additional complaints about this car, a Honda Civic. Airplanes, probably looking for lightning fires, droned overhead. Dogs and crows kept up commentary. Maybe my wife missed all the noise.
Hearing my wife speak about me, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I slept well. From her tales, my superpower is the ability to sleep anywhere, through anything.
It’s now Twozda. We’ll be lowering the flag on another month of 2025 soon, as this is August 26, 2025. It’ll be in the upper 90s here in Ashlandia.
I wish we were lowering the flag on Trump and his administration. The Offal Office dunce keeps displaying his tyrannical streak and wide-ranging ignorance. He can speak ignorantly about everything and anything, doing so eagerly and willingly at every fart of the wind. States have no rights unless they fall in line with his corkscrew thinking. In his latest attacks on our checks and balances, he and his administration sued judges because they keep ruling against him. This, according to them, is bad, because he is the POTUS. Man, that sickens and shames me to write that. Had to swallow some breakfast back down. The way he acts and from his representatives’ speech, they lack interest or comprehension in the three branches of the Federal government. Trump as POTUS is the only Federal office, and Trump as POTUS is the only person with any skills or leadership, to hear them tell it. To the rest of us, he has no skills, and his leadership is like a turd swirling down the toilet’s throat when the commode is flushed.
Papi the magnificent ginger boi who graces me with his presence cheered me up this AM. Chirps and purrs were exchanged with treats and petting. What a sweetheart. I credit him with setting me right and reminding me to live in the moment. The reminder stirred The Neurons to dig into their chambers and pull up a 2018 song by Portugal. The Man called “Live in the Moment”. As it played in the morning mental music stream, I pet my boi and sang along to him. He quickly bored of this and crossed the room to settle down and watch me from a more comfortable distance.
Coffee has restored me to the moment. Hope grace and peace feed your moments today and every day. Here we go again. Cheers
Mundaz Theme Music
Home is underfoot again. All is as expected and hoped for upon return. Nobody missing, nuttin’ burned down, etc.
Going from the Oregon’s coast 62 F offering to 100 F at home demanded adjustments. From the booming waves crashing like the soft thud of small, distant mortar shelling to here and now’s thundering mutter and sullen air invited mental wow and gosh darn reactions. I’m a little down on my return for a myriad of private reason, mostly induced by churn about life, changes, and aging. I acknowledge my life has been decent and some carry way heavier loads. That’s all logic, though. This is emotional afterbirth. They might come from the same slice of existence but they’re born and live differently.
For the record, today is Munda, August 25, 2025. A friend just announced her husband has been diagnosed with liver, brain, and lung cancer. Triple yikes. Two of the other four with me on vacay battle cancer. My wife battles her autoimmune disease. She aches and fights against being cold. We slept with the heat on at 70 F on the coast. Weirdly, despite my health issues, I seemed to be the healthiest and most energetic of the vacationing sextet.
My sista sent photos of Mom’s new addition. Completion comes soon. Other changes are being contemplated, like shifting the tub out of the first-floor bathroom and putting the washer and dryer in there. It make sense although it doesn’t seem like it overlooks any real long-term needs, problems, and plans. Her beau has lost another five, and now weighs 145 pounds, down by forty pounds. The prognosis for him is dimming.
I see the connections emergin’: like others, I’m losing friends and relatives at a turbulent rate.
Doesn’t help that we returned to news stories that basically paint Trump as convinced that he can do what he wants, because he’s prez. Double standards help stoke my GRRRRRRRR reflex. Like, he’s firing someone (Lisa Cook) because of mortgage fraud allegations? Aren’t there several books about Trump and his financial fairyland tales?
He lies about every effing matter and isn’t subtle. More GRRRRRRing arises from so many GOPers and MAGAteers bending over with glee as the nation they profess to love is destroyed from within.
Today, Der Neurons introduced “Hometown Glory” by Adele. This was a byproduct of both thinking about going home to Ashlandia but also reflecting on things happening ‘back home’ where Mom lives. Where Mom lives always seems like home.
Hope your day was filled with grace and peace. We’re unpacked. The laundry is done. Dinner is eaten. A long day, which was also a short one, is over. That’s the nature of vacation dayz. Cheers
Makes You Wonder
Just other folks’ net thoughts and concerns.
Fridaz Theme Music
And the sky is a hazy shade of summer. Good morning from Yachats on the Oregon coast, where it’s 56 F with a marine layer blending blues and grays with the sky and the Pacific. Sunshine has roared over the eastern mountains. We don’t know where today’s battle between weather elements will take us. Yesterday was sharply clear all day long with a sunset unfettered by a marine layer. Forecasts yesterday were teasing us with suggestions that today’s high would find 70 F. Now they’re saying that it isn’t going past 65 F…again.
Ocean splash booms are a familiar these days, but a coverlet of fresh silence stays on us. I’ve not heard a train, siren, helicopter, or aircraft in many sleeps. All are usual sidekicks to every mundane venture outside the house door where we live in semi-rural, semi-urban southern Oregon. Serenity now.
News was shut out like a bad smell yesterday. Too much sunshine and good vibes distracting us, at least for one fortunate day. I did see that a judge ruled that Abina Habba is not lawfully serving as a judge. His ruling is not being enforced to allow the usual appeals. Wouldn’t be surprised to hear later that the judge’s observations about procedures being flouted and requirements ignored is waved away like a gnat annoying a MAGA ear.
Today’s song is “White Wedding” by Billy Idol. It’s our friends’ 34th anniversary. He and she recounted courtship tales and followed up with wedding day memories. She related that they kicked off their fancy wedding duds and played volleyball in the sand. That was an appropriate homage to how they hooked up, by noticing one another on the volleyball court. Anyway, The Neurons, being the jerks they are, heard all this and summoned “White Wedding”. This is a fascinating acoustic version.
May grace and peace hold and keep you. I’m depending on coffee once again. Onward and upward, here we go. Cheers
Wenzdaz Theme Music
It’s a foggy Yachats morning. Inspired by cool ocean air, the temperature is hovering at a cozy 59 F. The land is expected to slip out of the fog at about 11 AM and jump to 65 F. Meanwhile, I’m happily wandering around in a fog.
Lively post dinner conversation last night revolved around Trump’s arrogance, lies, and continual power grab. How will it all ultimately unfold? There’s hope that the people will rise up. There’s worry that Trump will shrug that off, and, braced with the Roberts Court’s stance and GOP governors providing national guard troops to subdue We the People and our rights.
We were also introduced to a game called Mexican Train which involves dominoes. I was pretty damn leery of playing but it was fun and addictive. I look forward to playing more. We also walked for miles, with me accumulating ten miles.
Today’s music arrived via last night’s sunset. Of course. Waiting for it to arrive, my group started singing snippets of songs about sunset. The Neurons jumped into the routine and, lo, here I am this morning, with Gordon Lightfoot singing “Sundown” in the morning mental music stream.
Coffee has arrived in my body and The Neurons are doing the coffee dance. May grace and peace find and keep you. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 