A disclaimer. To those of you sending emails screaming that this website is a purveyor of fake news: This is an OPINION website. The title, jadedopinion, should have been a clue. This website conveys opinion, satire and parody and does not profess to convey "news." If you don't know what comprises satire or parody, please google it.
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BEWARE OF “TEI HIRES”
Trump and his cronies have advanced a narrative that “DEI hires” are somehow inferior to anyone else who could have been hired in their stead. Apparently they believe a white male, any white male, would be superior to a “DEI hire.”
DEI hires, according to them, include black Americans, Mexican Americans, women and LGBTQ individuals. I’m not sure of this because they toss out the phrase “DEI hire” indiscriminately with no clue as to why someone is a “DEI hire” except that they fall within one of these groups. Doesn’t matter how smart, how accomplished, how qualified, if you’re black, Mexican, female or gay, you’re a DEI hire.
Their use of the phrase as a disparaging characterization is laughable. First and foremost, the standard-bearer for the anti-DEI movement, Trump, is among the least deserving and least qualified of persons to ever attain the presidency.
And other higher ups in the Trump administration who spit out “DEI hire” as a slur are also demonstrably incompetent. The keystone-cop-chaos and ineptitude on display by Trump and his cabinet in the first 100 days of his new-hire-date amply confirms the belief that Trump will be adjudged the worst, 47th and second worst, 45th, presidents in our history.
Scores of GOPers who regurgitate the “DEI hire” narrative are who Trump might characterize as “low-IQ” individuals. Their disparagement of others also elicits laughter. The image of a monosyllabic GOP legislator, with dubious academic and career credentials and an inability to put two coherent words together, characterizing Kamala Harris as a “DEI hire” was hilarious beyond words.
So in order to accurately describe this new dynamic, I’ve coined a phrase that is amply descriptive of Trump and his anti-DEI cronies who have jumped on the anti-DEI bandwagon---“TEI Hires.”
And I’ll be more precise than the anti-DEI ilk in defining terms: Trump Errandboys/girls & Idolizers who have been elevated to positions of power within the Trump sphere are “TEI Hires.”
These “TEI Hires” are presumptively incompetent because the primary qualifications for being selected by Trump is their willingness to kiss Trump’s ample derriere and to accede to all his inanities. They worship at the altar of Trump, eat at the Trump trough and relegate any and all true American values to a position below whatever Trump wants.
The Trump era will be behind us relatively soon, leaving a legacy of ugliness, divisiveness and chaos. And those “TEI Hires” who place their affiliation with the Trump administration on their resumes in their lives after Trump should understand why doing so will be a liability, not an asset.
“TEI-Hire” will tell us all we need to know about their abilities--and integrity--and will allow potential employers to steer clear of these daft cartoon characters.
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An Apology (of sorts) to those Black and Mexican-American Trump Supporters
I Characterized as “Self-loathing Blacks” and “Self-loathing Mexican-Americans”
I wrote a piece during the 2016 election run up, calling Black and Mexican-American Trump supporters “self-loathing Blacks” and “self-loathing Mexicans.”
The response was immediate and vitriolic--particularly vitriolic from family members, most of whom are Mexican, some of whom are Black.
How dare you suggest that I’m not brown enough, Mexican enough, or Black enough for you” was a common theme.
But had they read my article closely, they would have understood that I never suggested that they weren’t “Black enough” or “Mexican enough.”
In fact, I was suggesting that they may have felt that they were too Black, or too Mexican. That their particular cultural identities and sensitivities were such that they gravitated to lighter shades of pale.
Well my critics will be happy to hear that I’m acknowledging that I was wrong.
My often tense and lengthy exchanges with them, coupled with my knowledge about their lifestyles and propensities, has shown me that they are not “self-loathing.”
They don’t loathe themselves because they are Black or Mexican. In fact, they don’t even consider themselves Black or Mexican…well, they don’t consider themselves as “typically Black” or “typically Mexican.”
They consider themselves as a different class of Black or a different class of Mexican.
No, they don’t loathe themselves. They loathe other Blacks. They loathe other Mexicans. They loathe Blacks and Mexicans who, they fear, detract from whatever image they’re trying to project of themselves.
I didn’t think that calling Blacks “ghetto” was vogue these days.
I didn’t think that calling Mexicans “mojados” (wetbacks) was vogue these days.
But I’ve heard both terms used by those who are critical of fellow Blacks and Mexicans.
They decry the images that they perceive as being projected to white America by “ghetto Blacks” and “mojados.”
So, they’re right. They’re not self-loathing. But their support for Trump despite his long history of bigotry and white supremacy speaks volumes about how comfortable they are with their Black or Brown complexions.
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MASS MURDERER PUTIN
History’s mass murderers and serial killers have been written about ad nauseam. And often, when referred to by name, the prefix “Serial Killer” or “Mass Murderer” is used. It’s not “Ted Bundy” its “Serial Killer Ted Bundy.” It’s not Adam Lanza (of Sandy Hook notoriety) it’s “Mass Murderer Adam Lanza.”
Vladimir Putin, with his slaughter of Ukrainian citizens has earned the moniker “Mass Murderer Putin” and any news publication making mention of him should refer to him in this fashion.
The headlines should read “Trump Expresses His Affection for Mass Murderer Putin.” Or “Mass Murderer Putin Urges Americans to Vote for Trump.”
The slaughter of Ukrainians by Mass Murderer Putin continues. Recent official estimates, thought to be conservative, reflect at least40,000 innocent men, women and children civilian deaths and an additional 80,000 soldiers killed protecting their homeland. Mass Murderer Putin has slaughtered a number of people equal to the entire population of men, women and children in Bozeman, Montana, Milledgeville, Georgia, and Middletown, Ohio, combined.
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True Republicans versus New Republicans
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Yes, “New Republicans.” I’ve coined a simple phrase to describe the dichotomy within the GOP-- The “New Republican” versus the “True Republican.” This phrase is helpful when navigating the LOI index (see the Loss of Integrity Index, below) because by characterizing one as a New Republican you automatically understand that this person resides on the Trump side of the spectrum.
The True Republican resides on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Although the New Republicans are easy to identify—anyone who supports Trump—it’s a bit more difficult to identify the True Republican. Certainly any Republican who adheres to what used to be Republican values, including respect for the Constitution and the placement of national interest above self-interest, is a True Republican.
And those, of course, who do not register on the LOI index--Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Cheney, John McCain, Kinsinger and a handful of others--or those who barely register on the LOI index, McConnell and Pence, for example, may be described as True Republicans.
But True Republicans often may be difficult to identify. The never-Trumper who becomes the maybe-Trumper, for example. And, pardon the clichés, politics make strange bedfellows, and politics are fluid. A True Republican can become a New Republican in a heartbeat if he or she decides to put self-political-interest before the best interests of the country.
So contact me if you wish to know if and where any Republican running for political office resides on the LOI index. It could be a handy tool for Independents or even Democrats who have manifested a willingness to cross party lines and vote for a True Republican.
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The Real Reason for Trump’s Disdain for Military Service
Trump’s disdain for those who serve in the US military is puzzling.
Of course Trump will deny that he has anything but admiration for the military and he’ll take any photo op available (the Arlington National cemetery brouhaha) to prove it.
Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff, General John Kelly, however, has stated publicly that Trump has called those who answered the call to duty “suckers and losers.” He also claimed that Trump expressed admiration for Hitler’s generals but not his own generals.
Ok, Trump denies all of Kelly’s claims. Who to believe--a politician who has been characterized as a pathological liar by many, or a former US Marine Corps General and rifle platoon commander who was Trump’s own former White House Chief of Staff and choice for Secretary of Homeland Security—a man who served America honorably in both military and civilian capacities. You choose.
But even if you choose to believe that Trump didn’t make those particular disparaging remarks, you cannot dispute that Trump disparaged one America’s greatest war heroes, Sen. John McCain.
McCain, a son and grandson of US Naval admirals and himself a US Naval Academy graduate flew bombing missions during the Vietnam war and endured years of torture as a POW after being shot down over Hanoi. McCain received a multitude of military honors for gallantry, including the Purple Cross, the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. By any reasonable person’s definition, McCain was a war hero.
But Trump is on record as saying that McCain was “not a war hero.” “He’s (only) a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” said Trump. This inane and disparaging characterization of McCain appears, on the surface, puzzling.
The fact that Trump was besmirching a person who wouldn’t kiss his ring was not surprising. But it was a bit surprising that someone with Trump’s political ambitions and supposed political keen would attack a US war hero. American politicians throughout American history have acknowledged the need to manifest support and admiration for those who served our country in uniform. Was this just another example of Trump not being able to control his base, inner self?
After giving it much thought I arrived at a conclusion. No, Trump didn’t disparage McCain simply because he viewed McCain as a political rival. It was that Trump envied what McCain had. Something that Trump could never have.
McCain had status as a war hero, who served his country honorably in uniform and who earned an array military honors, including the purple heart, the Silver Cross and the Disinguished Flying Cross.
Trump, who dodged military service can never attain that status or grasp those honors. That ship has sailed.
Perhaps Trump is also mindful of the fact that two thirds of American presidents served in the military. Perhaps he was aware that presidents from Teddy Roosevelt, to JFK to H.W.Bush received military honors. Even disgraced president Richard Nixon , who served in the Navy, earned military awards. Again, these honors and a status as a military hero are things that Trump can never claim.
So, what does Trump do? This man consumed with envy for those who served has chosen to diminish military service, focusing his envious ire on McCain, a true American military hero.
His denigration of all things military hasn’t been confined to individuals who serve. The awards bestowed on those who gallantly served have also been denigrated by Trump’s words and deeds. That he would suggest that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any respect a greater award than the Medal of Honor is inane and galling.
The Medal of Honor has been awarded, often posthumously, to those who distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, on Trump’s watch, has been awarded to those who distinguished themselves by “acts of value” to Trump.
President Ronald Reagan presented the presidential medal to Mother Teresa. Trump handed out the award like party favors to partisan supporters, golfers and talk-show hosts.
And it’s no surprise that two Trump recipients, Rush Limbaugh and Jim Jordan didn’t serve in the military. They as did Trump, received military deferments, Limbaugh receiving a medical deferment, not for a bone spur (a la Trump), but for a tailbone cyst.
Finally…Trump has no concept of the phrase “military family.” Those who made the military a career, and their families who followed them from duty station to duty station, understand that concept. We treasure the “military family” even with all its societal flaws, in large part because honor in service to our country was ingrained into the military family.
We honor those who served. We honor those whose gallantry earned them medals of valor.
Insincere plaudits and a floral wreath at a military cemetery, while cameras are flashing, honors no one.
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SLAVA UKRAINI
May 1, 2025--Putin has murdered or maimed more than 40,000 Ukrainian men women and children civilians and more than 80,000 soldiers defending their homeland, according to conservative 2025 estimates. He has murdered more people than the combined populations of Bozeman,Montana, Milledgeville, Georgia and Middletown, Ohio.
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TRUMP
SUPPORTERS:
YES, THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOU
Trump supporters, there is something seriously wrong with you.
Okay, let me get the even more provocative out of the way first.
There is something wrong with you, Trump supporters, in the same sense that there was something wrong with the German population in the Hitler era.
No, I’m not comparing Trump to Hitler. That comparison is absurd. There is no contemporary figure, with the possible exception of Mass Murderer Putin who can be mentioned in the same breath as Hitler. But there are a multitude of similarities between Hitler supporters and Trump supporters.
Although the suffering of migrants does not approach the suffering of Jews under Nazi Germany, in many respects migrants are the new Jews. Migrants are Trump’s scapegoats for all America’s real or imagined woes just as Jews were Hitler’s scapegoats for all that ailed Nazi Germany.
But perhaps the signature similarity between Hitler supporters and Trump supporters is the suspension of disbelief among both groups. A transparently disingenuous suspension of disbelief that allows Trumpers to not only abandon the moral high ground, but to leap from the moral high ground.
Germany’s moral decline began as it became ever more apparent that depravity and atrocities were being perpetrated by Nazi Germany. The German populace pretended not to know. Even as the whispers of the mass murder of innocent men, women and children became shouts of outrage, they feigned disbelief.
They averted their gaze as millions of bodies vanished into mass graves or into curling black smoke from human ovens. And these Germans, cowed and cowering at war’s end, often clung to their intentional ignorance even as they were marched through concentration camps by allied soldiers, forced to look at the mangled bodies of Hitler’s victims. The braver or more repentant among them acknowledged their moral lapse.
The moral rot of Trump America began as Trumpers also averted their gaze and feigned disbelief. They claimed to have no knowledge of Trump’s lifetime of depravities.
Trump has rampaged through life, bullying and threatening all he encountered, in every aspect of life. Fueled by wealth and privilege, he ignored the rules, and societal mores and simply took what he wanted. He took what he wanted in scorched earth business dealings. He took what he wanted when he decided women would be his personal playgrounds. His obsessive self- indulgence and self-aggrandizement left a trail of victims decades long.
When Trump supporters are faced with ample evidence of Trump’s misdeeds they feign disbelief, as did Hitler’s supporters.
Dozens of women document Trump’s sexual predations but Trumpers choose to believe the denials of a pathological liar over assertions of his innocent female victims.
Scores of one-time Trump supporters relate sexist, racist or unAmerican drivel that came from Trump’s lips only to be called liars by the supporters of the pathological- liar-in -chief.
Trump’s Qatari-funded presidential library could be filled with grab-them-by-the-p**y audio…or unending video of his blustering, threatening and name calling but Trump supporters would remain indifferent to his transgressions.
In Nazi Germany, racism, anti-semitism and greed for material gain or power motivated Hitler’s supporters.
Trump supporters have similar motivations. They decry the “brown hordes” at the border, or shout “Jews will not replace us.” And GOP leaders are so hungry for political gain that they indulge and enable a despot who is intent on distorting the American character into his own garish image.
History will adjudge the Trump era as a chapter in American political history equivalent to Nazi Germany in these and other respects.
Hilary’s basket of deplorables—which included white supremacists, misogynists and homophobes—has been joined by a bushel of despicables comprised of Republicans whose lust for power and political gain make them willing to discard traditional American values for Trump-inspired, un-American perversions.
So, yes Trump supporters, whether it be self-serving mass delusion or some type of incremental moral decay, there is something seriously wrong with you.
And if you want to wear this as a badge of honor, as did those who donned “I’m a Deplorable” T-shirts after Hilary’s labeling, by all means do so.
Perhaps you can wear a jacket or T-shirt that says: “ I don’t care.” Short and sweet and eloquently stating your self-indulgent morality.
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TRUMP ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING THE DOEC: THE DEPARTMENT OF ETHNIC CLEANSING
Surrounded by cabinet members in the oval office, Donald Trump announced, by executive order, the establishment of a new department within his administration. The new entity will be called the Department of Ethnic Cleansing and will be tasked with rooting out what Trump called “all things ethnic and evil that divide patriotic Americans.”
Trump noted that the DOJ, the State department and “all other departments and cabinet members” have been part of his push to eliminate “divisive ethnic evil” but by establishing this new department, to be headed by long time Trump crony Stephen Miller, the push will go into overdrive, Trump said.
“The DOEC has a lotta work to do” Trump noted, indicating that schools, libraries, museums and what Trump characterized as “so-called institutes of higher learning-- I like to call them “DEI-Hire learning” institutes,” Trump said, "have been “cesspools of divisive ethnicity.”
Trump ended his announcement with this statement:
“You know, I think the term “ethnic cleansing” has gotten a bad rap. We’re gonna put a positive spin on the phrase. You know, cleansing means making something clean, and that’s what we’re gonna do. Yes, we’re going to clean up America, get rid of the DEI crap, get rid of all the books that tell our kids about the so-called bad things we did to blacks and Indians, get rid of statues or awards that emphasize black-ness or brown-ness or other ethnic-ness. We’re going to emphasize American-ness…America first! And it’s gonna be a beautiful thing…you’ll see.”
New department head, Stephen Miller, then stepped to the podium to announce the first significant initiative of the new DOEC.
Said Miller: “It’s a disgrace that a state in these great United States is named after another country, and a much lesser country at that. Of course I’m talking about ‘New Mexico.’ Really? One of our states referred to as ‘Mexico?’ Should never have happened and wouldn’t have happened if our great president Trump had been president when the state was named. So, with President Trump’s blessing, we will rename the state of New Mexico….West Texas!!
At this point cabinet members rose as one to applaud, as “The eyes of Texas are upon us” played in the background. When the applause died down and the cabinet members sat, Miller continued.
“Yes, this will be a tribute to the great state of Texas and to its great, supportive governor, Greg Abbott, who as you know is restricted to a wheel chair but who has absolutely no problem jumping on this initiative, right governor?” The screen switched to Governor Abbot, in his wheelchair, waving and nodding to the camera.
Miller continued: “We’ll work out the details with what will now be the West Texas governor’s office, and the West Texas legislature, but we’ve already heard from that great, patriotic American company, Google, which has indicated that all Google maps will purge references to New Mexico. It’s now West Texas,” he shouted, to applause from the cabinet members.
“And along these lines,” Miller continued, we’ll soon have another announcement about changing the names of all American cities that have Mexican language names, like San Antonio…or San Francisco…Soon to be St. Anthony, Texas and St. Francis, California. More about that later, thank you.”
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A nod to G. Hanson, Santa Fe New Mexican, 1/11/25
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THE DNC RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING THE DOEC
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on behalf of the Democratic National Committee, issued a brief, almost terse statement on the steps of the Capitol in response to Trump’s executive order establishing the Department of Ethnic Cleansing. Jeffries said:
“America is the noble experiment that succeeded. The experiment was whether a nation comprised of immigrants from all over the globe, coming from different cultures, speaking different languages, practicing different religions could MELD—not melt—into a nation of freedom and liberty for all and a leader of the free world. The United States endured often terrible growing pains to evolve into the greatest nation in the world, with no need to be “great again” because it has been great from its inception.”
Jeffries paused and seemed to stare through the small group of journalists who had hastily assembled.
“We celebrate our diversity. We celebrate the fact that ALL Americans have a seat at the table. We will not go back to Africa…we will not go back to Mexico” He breathed deeply, then raised his voice. “And we will not go back to 1963! Thank you ladies and gentlemen.”
A CNN commentator noted that 1963 was an apparent reference to the year before the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
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​​​​WWJD--WOULD JESUS HAVE
VOTED FOR TRUMP?
Those who know me chuckled when they first saw me wearing a “What Would Jesus Do” T-shirt. Right, this agnostic, with chapters of his life replete with (mild) depravity and debauchery, has found Jesus?
They thought it was a joke. And even after an earnest explanation that this was not a religious epiphany but more of a lifestyle choice, they still think it’s a joke.
No matter. In the twilight of my life I no longer feel compelled to convince others of anything, much less of my belated attempt to right my life’s wrongs
But let’s address the question: Would Jesus have voted for Trump in the 2024 election?
The answer is apparent whether or not you are a person of faith. No, Jesus would not have voted for Trump. But then, Jesus wouldn’t have voted for anyone. Jesus is non-partisan and has much better things to do than support any political candidate.
Seems silly that this question would even be voiced. But recent pronouncements from many who claim to follow Jesus are even beyond silly.
A person who claims to be a person of faith announces, on the evening news, that Trump was sent by God. I had to rewind the video. Did I hear her right?
Her words would have been more credible had she announced that God has visited a plague upon America in the form of Trump. But no, apparently she really believes that God affixed little wings to Trump’s sizeable body and sent him to deliver us from Democrats!
I suppose I shouldn’t have been startled. I have great respect for many Evangelicals and other people of faith who actually live and adhere to their professed values. But it has become ever more apparent that evangelical and other faith-based movements have been infested by charlatans, hypocrites and cult-like individuals whose “Christian” morality is a morality of convenience.
Anyone who would suggest that any God would visit someone as morally bereft and un-Christian-like as Trump upon us as some type of savior, obviously suffers a morality of convenience.
God would not choose as a savior someone who grabs women by the p**sy. God would not choose as a savior someone who has violated many of the Ten Commandments. God would not choose as a savior someone whose mouth drips with hatred.
Okay, don’t take it from me. Take it from scripture.
Quoting scripture is almost as foreign to me as it is to Trump. But I was able to find the following scripture that pretty much sums up why Trump lacks the qualifications to be anyone’s savior.
Proverbs 6:16
“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”
Haughty eyes and a lying tongue? A heart that devises wicked plans and feet that make haste to run to evil? One who bears false witness and sows discord among others?
Sounds like the crafter of this proverb had Trump in mind. Although “hands that shed innocent blood” may be a stretch, if he attains the presidency a second time Trump’s romance with Mass Murderer Putin and other world tyrants and dictators will make him complicit in the shedding of innocent blood.
So, What Would Jesus Do when contending with people whose faith and morality twist in the winds of political expedience and gain? He might not condemn them for worshipping false gods, as I have. But I think he would recognize them as worshippers of false gods. And point them to a path that is more consistent with his teachings.
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Coming Next Week:
Trump Supporters--There Really IS Something Seriously Wrong With You​
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Copyright 2024 jadedOpinion.com
May 20, 2025
Coming Next Week: DIVERSITY IS AN AMERICAN VALUE...EQUITY AND INCLUSION ARE AMERICAN AND HUMAN VALUES...ANTI-DEI IS ANTI- AMERICAN....
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TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON STATUE OF LIBERTY CONTROVERSY
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French member of the European Parliament, Raphael Glucksmann, suggested that the U.S. should give back the Statue of Liberty, indicating that Trump has defiled the concepts of liberty and equality embodied in the statue.
”We gave it to you as a gift but apparently you despise it,” he said, “so it will be fine here at home.”
The only official White House response before today was from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who said that the United States would “absolutely not” give back the statue. She told Glucksmann that “it’s only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now,” an apparent reference to US assistance to France in war.
The French response to Leavitt’s comment was that “ill-educated Leavitt” should recall that if it were not for French assistance during the revolutionary war, America would be led by an English King, and not by a “wannabe king.”
Trump weighed in on the controversy today. (Note: Press Secretary Leavitt said that any journalist who uses the phrase: “Trump weighed in, or weighs in” will be banned from media briefings, indicating that those phrases are a slur directed at Trump’s girth).
Trump weighed in by saying: “Personally, I feel if they want to be Indian-givers and take it back, let them have it. But they’ll have to pay for taking it down and shipping it back.”
“And, by the way” he added, “The words on the statue are a bad, bad thing. Give me your huddled masses? I call them huddled messes. Your homeless? We have enough of a homeless problem in America. These words, no doubt came from some low-IQ French guy, and are stupid, stupid, stupid. And I always felt that a statue of a woman in a night gown, greeting people to America, was also stupid. The statue has been a sign of weakness, not a sign of strength.”
Trump noted that a Republican legislator had also weighed in on the controversy by suggesting that a strong male figure would be a preferable monument. And this legislator promised to introduce legislation to replace the existing Statue of Liberty with a Statue of Trump, with his fist raised in the air, a la the iconic photo of Trump after his assassination attempt.
Trump responded to that suggestion with a smile and said: “Well, I’ll leave that up to the American people. But a statue of me pumping my fist would certainly send a message to the world about what I am, about what America is. What did that tech guy, uh, Zickerborn, say about me? That I’m a badass! Yes, the message we would send to the world with a statue of the greatest president who ever lived, raising his fist, is that America is badass. Forget about Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. We’ll be the Land of the Badass! And that would be a beautiful thing.”
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Trump's Tech Henchmen. I have been taking to task oligarch media owners, Bezos and Soon-Shiong in recent days. No free speech at the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, I've proclaimed on X, just bought-and-paid-for journalism from American oligarchs. In response, a critic disparaged jadedopinion as an "obscure little website," with its author being a purveyor of "wise-ass journalism." I'm toying with the idea of changing the name, from jadedopinion.com to ObscureLittleWebsite.
com. The masthead would read "A Purveyor of Wise-Ass Journalism." Stay tuned...
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Election post-mortem
After Obama won the presidency in 2008, I cried. I thought his victory was a vindication for the American people. Those foreign nay-sayers who said America was too racist to elect a black president were emphatically wrong. We've come a long way, I thought.
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But Trump's victory in 2024 proves that I may have been wrong. The election of a man who many characterize as a white supremacist, and who is now doing everything he can to purge all things not-white from American institutions underscores that.
I traveled extensively in 2023 and 2024 and in every country I visited, Italy, Portugal, England, France, Belgium and others, natives I spoke with would ask "What is wrong with the American people? Why is someone like Trump even a leader of one of your political parties, much less a candidate for president? I would assure them that Trump held sway with a vocal and irrational fringe but that the majority in America would prevail and retire Trump's ugly brand of politics.
Again I was proven emphatically wrong. My biggest fear at this moment is that his victory will only embolden another generation of New Republicans who will use Trump's blueprint of hate and divisiveness to keep America mired in a social and political cesspool for years to come...
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In the 2024 election, besides repeating the tired trope that migrants disproportionatly commit crimes, Trump claimed that migrants were eating Fido and Garfield. The dog and cat should tell Trump and company that a much higher percentage of Trump's inner circle and January 6 thugs have been convicted of crimes than migants...Google it.
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This falls under the category of “Prove Me Wrong.”
My contention is that the vast majority of road ragers, Karens, and their male counterparts, Kevins, are Trumpers.
Many of these souls make it apparent by wearing a MAGA cap, or injecting Trump’s name (eg. “When Trump wins, again, he’ll send you effers back to the s-hole you came from!”) during their escapades.
And many others, by their sheer sense of entitlement, are presumptive Trumpers.
I’m not a researcher. But I challenge those who don’t agree with my premise to prove me wrong.
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Trump, Biden, Taylor Swift
And Other Existential Threats
To American Democracy
Everywhere you look these days there is a threat to American democracy lurking around the corner. And not just a threat, but an existential threat—a threat to the very existence of American democracy.
Dems scream that Trump and his ennablers are a threat to American democracy. Trump and Republicans shout that Biden and his cronies are a threat to American democracy.
And in some basement, somewhere, a tinfoil-hat-clad troll at his laptop is telling anyone who’ll listen that Taylor Swift is a threat to American democracy!
Ok, stop. Take a deep breath.
American democracy has been around for a long time and it will take much more than banana-Republicans or overreaching Democrats to threaten our democracy.
The true threat to American democracy is our country’s two party political system. A system that has morphed into a monstrous, win-at-all-costs game that Dems and Republicans play in earnest.
The goal for Dems and Republicans is to lie, cheat and even commit criminal acts if it ensures victory at the ballot box. The instances of political candidates, on both sides of the political spectrum, using unethical, even criminal practices to gain office or remain in office are legion.
And loyalty and fealty to the party always takes precedence over the well-being of their constituents and the nation. Both Dems and Republicans will excuse the excesses of their peers in Congress or their political candidates if it means victory in November.
We always knew that there was a possibility that a presidential candidate would emerge within Republican or Democrat ranks who was demonstrably unfit for office. Not necessarily the insidious Manchurian Candidate, but perhaps someone devoid of integrity and with a history of unethical or borderline criminal acts. And the dangling question was: How will the the leaders of that political party react?
Dems gave a hint of how they might react when many Dem leaders were eager to give Clinton a pass for what they apparently felt were only peccadillos in that American shrine that is the White House.
And Republicans have now answered the question emphatically.
Republicans were tested to the limit by their 2024 presidential nominee and failed the test miserably. They didn't summon the moral turpitude and political courage necessary to reject a candidate who is obviously unfit for political office yet popular with the party fringe.
Instead, they did the political calculus and decided to embrace the hopefully-once-in-a-political-lifetime beast who may ultimately devour what little credibility remains within Republican ranks.
I don’t think that anyone can state with any certainty that, had the Democrats been faced with the same dilemma—an unfit candidate popular with a significant minority of the party—that they would have acted any different than the Republicans. The desire to win at the ballot box may have eclipsed all else. It was only fortuity for the Dems that Trump chose to check the “R” box instead of the “D” box.
So the true threat to American democracy (Putin’s threat to world democracies is a topic for another piece) is a two party system composed of partisans who will play the game to win at all costs, the country be damned.
The answer? There is no easy answer. Political reform, unfortunately, is contingent upon players who are willing to reform from within. It seems that Republicans and Democrats alike only find their consciences, and their tongues, when they retire from office.
The obsessive self-interests of sitting legislators will usually doom comprehensive political reform. But, in another article, I’ll offer modest suggestions for circumnavigating today’s win-at-all-costs Republicans and Democrats.
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