Pete Hegseth confirmed and our new defense secretary
JD broke the tied vote (51-50). Pete deserves this appointment and Iām confident he will do great things for our beloved military members and veterans. These men and women deserve someone that has their back first and foremost.
The U.S. and citizens will be safer because of this man. 2025 will be a great year at this pace.
Sad to see the vote so partisan but not surprised one bit.
Pretty much what I think many MAGAts are thinking and saying. Fed by Fox and the right-wing media, they actually believe this tripe. Most bitter for me, the cited words were written by a nephew.
Here we go, America. FAFO on a huge magnitude. SMFH.
Good morningā! Welcome to Sunda, Jan. 26, 2025. Weāre closing out 2025ās first month, and what a first month itās been!
Here in Ashland, we haveā¦drum roll, pleaseā¦blue skies and sunshine again. Current temp is 33 F and the ever present ātheyā are speaking of highs in only the upper forties. A stout wind carrying wintry shards have cranked up. Itās moaninā, groaninā, and hissinā, while tossinā loose things around like an irritated gorilla.
Todayās song emerged because I was singing āHash Pipeā to myself. āHash Pipeā is a 2001 Weezer song. Its first vocal line is sang in descending notes. The words go, āI canāt help myself, I go out of my mind.ā
Hearing that, The Neurons unburied a point about those lyrics. Theyāre lifted from a Beatles song, āYou Canāt Do Thatā, from 1964. Pivoting with that, Der Neurons filled my morning mental music stream with the Beatlesā song.
Sing along with me.
āSo please listen to me if you want to stay mine. āI canāt help my feelings, I go out of my mind. āIām going to let you down and leave you flat. āI told you before, oh, you canāt do that.ā
Never bought it, but I know the song well.
āHash Pipeā was being sung because of a NYTimes Tale. I read a piece about MAGA folks and where they thought Trump was leading them. They were interviewed after the inauguration. Man, talk about a misinformed, misguided bunch. Even after all these years of exposure to their many instances of ignorance, Iām still shocked when I encounter it. For instance, here’s a woman from PA:
We are so divided. Itās scary. Scary for the kids that are growing up, like my grandkids. I donāt like the way this countryās turned ā all this woke stuff. Stuff that the kids shouldnāt be exposed to. I think I was 18 before I knew that there was gay people, you know? I listened to Queen. I didnāt know he was gay.
Amish came out in Pennsylvania. They came out in droves. They came out in their horse and buggies. It was incredible. So thatās a united country again. Weāre tired of being lied to.
I infer from what she said that she thinks Trump speaks truth. *head shake*
Beyond that example, they demonstrate no idea how tariffs, the economy, or energy production and prices work. They believe all those things Trump says heās doing with his magic pen. They believe this, of course, because theyāre fully wired into right-wing news sources. So even when inflation doesnāt drop, prescriptions drug prices increase, unemployment rises, food shortages spread, and pollution mars our land, water, and air, theyāll be blissfully touting all the great things Trump is doing.
That is part of the big picture. Create a right-wing media that disparages the left and praises the right without regard to the truth or facts. Dismantle the education system so people no longer know history, economics, science, and government. Shutter transparency on the government by firing inspectors and dismantling agencies. Crush opposition so there are no dissenting voices. Teach the big lies in church as part of their religious worship. And of course, keep ’em soaking in fear: fear of what the left is doing by mislabeling Democrats as socialists and communists, which are dirty words in the right-wing. Keep ’em in fear by lying to them about what the LGBTQ+ community does to their children. Fuel their fear with worries about immigrants taking their jobs and eating their pets.
The transformation will be complete, and Trump voters will never know. Theyāll go down, whining about increased prices, high unemployment, dirty air, and so on, without ever understanding how they were part of it, how they were duped and used. Itās a con on a national scale.
And thatās why āHash Pipeā was being sung. Thereās a chorus about being kicked in the song.
Oh, come on and kick me Oh, come on and kick me (Whoa) Come on and kick me You’ve got your problems (Whoa) I’ve got my eyes wide (Whoa) You’ve got your big G’s I’ve got my hash pipe
h/t to Bing.com
See, those GOTP supporters are asking to be kicked. But thatās okay. They got their hash pipe. In their case, their hash pipe is the fear hatred that fuels their bitterness, sexism, and racism; or entertainment like video games, television shows, sporting events, and movies that keep āem distracted. Meanwhile, reality will keep kicking them, and they wonāt fuckinā know it.
Ignorance is truly bliss.
Coffee and I have are into another one-morning stand. Hereās the music. Hope you have a strong day. Please, donāt ever turn your back on the truth. Here we go with some music. Cheers
It begins to appear that democracy will not end with a bang nor a whimper, but a tweet. There are billions of individuals, mostly men, but peppered with women, who will cheer that. No, I take that back. They will not cheer because they will not know that democracy has ended. The trappings will continue long after the government has been re-shaped into some form of authoritarianism that endorses wealth and greed and treats the wealthy has a separate class, with a better set of rights and more lenient judicial tolerance.
Yes, much of it has already taken place. The groundwork is there. The billionaires are lining up to make it happen. And social media is the engine.
This gloomy view comes out of a new Dame magazine article. MPS brought it to my attention via their post, “It’s the Media”, as did Scottie’s Playground. I new some of the information Dame presented, but they delivered with deeper and harder facts.
The Dame article is “Americaās Right-Wing Propaganda Problem Might Be Terminal“. The article’s great, overarching declaration is, Millions voted for Trump with a distorted understanding of who he is, what he supports, what his policies will actually accomplish, and how severely his second term will hurt them and those they love.
Yes, many of us were aware of the ignorant, undecided voters out there, wholly uncritical thinkers who were briefly engaged with the election, voted, declared themselves good citizens — I Voted — and helped create a disaster set of circumstances. But their ignorance was firmly aided by the right wing, funded by billionaires like the latest villian, Elon Musk, and gleefully supported by the GOP.
Listen, if the GOP tells you that they love America and support democracy, don’t buy it. They do not. Some Republican voters probably do love America and support democracy, but they’re being conned, and they don’t know it.
Worse, of course, is that this phenomena is not just rooted in the United States. It’s a plague, a virus, that’s spreading around the world, undermining democracy and freedom without any shots being fired. This — a right-wing media composed of angry, hateful males who pose as pseudo intellectual influencers to spread their bullshit — is why we’re seeing right-wing influence increasing. People are being told lies. Immersed in the media speaking to them, they’re unaware of the truth or reality.
I still believe Trump’s administration will implode and he will personally crash. He was a convenience to advance their cause. He will be tossed aside. I’m convinced that many Americans will never realize that happened. I remain certain that the economy will worsen under Trump, but again, right-wing influencers will tell them that its great, and they will believe it so.
And so, the United States of America will become a shell of what it was, an empty vessel that once offered the kind of hope for equality and justice which is theoretically possible, and the right-wing media will tell them that’s great again, no matter what their life is like.
Michael Seidel, writer 