That Fat Dude Has Brain Worms...

Folk #1: "That Fat Dude has brain worms. He's disintegrating before our eyes. He is deeply brain-scrambled, and he talks like a "sausage." His words tumble from his blubbering, gaping, piehole, with scattered, broken shards of shite raining down on all of us. A toxic rain. It's all total nonsense, and deeply twisted, authoritarian gibberish. He is at war with America, the American People, reality, truth, and any decency or common sense. Fuck. No one is in charge. No one lifts a finger to move on from this always happening, 24/7, fascist, car-crash. We are stuck watching in horror as it all unfolds in technicolor, slow-mo. It's a sort of a perfect hell that we have found ourselves stuck in. We are under the thumb of someone much more corrupt, stupid, cruel, idiotic, toxic and morally bankrupt than anyone any of us could have ever imagined."

A Farce & a Tragedy...

 

Are we going to make the D.C. Sandwich guy a hero (sandwich) of the Resistance?! I think so, yes. I really, really love how someone repurposed a Banksy image to symbolize the bold, ridiculous gesture of standing up against Authoritarianism by flinging a sandwich. This image is appearing all over Washington D.C. which is now under the heavy hand of Trump's Thugs, American Authoritariasm is alive & real in the streets of the nation's Capitol.

What I also love about this image? The sandwich. It's funny, I mean hilarious. A Federal employee was shouting at one of the armed thugs, and then in a wild moment of abandon, and well, righteous, crazy-ass, stupidity, hurled a sandwich into the chest of a US Customs and Border Protection agent, and then, Sandwich guy ran like a scrambling little rabbit down the street.

They chased him down, arrested him, threw the book at him, charged him with felonious assault. He was released, and is scheduled to stand trial in September. It's a farce and a tragedy. An American administration at war with it's own citizens. A suddenly very Nazi America...

Manhandled & Radicalized...

I definitely feel man-handled and radicalized by the new reality in USA. This turn to Fascist Authoritarianism, corruption & professional idiocy is so contrary to my vision, my hopes, dreams, and long experience in this fabled land.

Funny. As a culture, as a species, we seem to becoming more & more untethered, unhinged, unmoored, unanchored from any common sense, or common purpose. Sure there are still many of us trying to see & think clearly, to touch grass, and tune into the real, but it feels like we are swimming against strong, mad, nihilistic currents. 

My radicalism? Reality. Truth. Grace. Love. Democracy. Rule of Law. Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Oh yeah, FUCKING WOKE TO THE MAX. Isn't it required of us as humans beings to be aware, alive, awake at all times?!

Maybe "darkest before the dawn?" I can't help but turn to a practical optimism. Even in the middle of the shit. Who knows, there are stirrings across the land, maybe the tide is turning? Ha. One can hope. We shall see.

The Lesson of Humility...

Probably the biggest lesson for me? Humility. Being humble in the face of this amazing, wondrous, confounding, overwhelming, confusing, deflating, mysterious, and often disappointing & heart-breaking Universe.

The disappointment & heart-break, comes from unsustainable expectations. Born into this grand, evolving experiment, and trying to find a place, a way, a method; developing a code for better living. Long-form improvisation.

Doing the best I can, often falling short. Discovering that every damn thing counts. I am reminded of that nearly every day. Sometimes I am on cruise-control, and then there's the unexpected; a pothole in the road, a dangerous cliff, the impenetrable wall.

Can't take anything for granted. Thinking you're not fucking up, but then finding out you are fucking up. A shock and a wakeup call. Embarrassing & humiliating. How to respond? Wake up. Commit to doing better.

Getting angry & shutting down, they are counter-productive ways of dealing with obstacles. Taking the hit, and keeping on keeping on with eyes wide open is much the better way. There will always be  adversity & fuckups. That's just built-in.  Just have to deal with it, with heart, grace, humor, and yes, humility.

Small Doses...

People. Best appreciated in small doses. Really. Popularity is delusion. Best to cultivate a few very close relationships. Be open-minded, but also fiercely open-eyed about the rest of the great ocean of people in your view-finder.

We are all caught between two ideas: 

"People who need people are the luckiest people in the the world." - Dean Martin

AND

"Hell is other people." Jean Paul Sartre

Trump is "Gutting America."

The glaringly obvious truth from Marcy Wheeler: https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/18/trump-confesses-that-the-united-states-is-a-client-of-russia/

So happy to come across a truth-teller in this new Hellscape of Lies. Clarity. Reality. Truth.

Trump has sold out the USA & Ukraine to Putin/Russia. It is so fucking obvious, lots of folks don't even see it. And, I suppose many Americans just don't care. Funny how that happened. Funny how it's the lunatic right, that has happily gone along with this willful abdication of our Democracy, and are gladly marching towards a full-blown American Autocracy. Fans of Fascism and Authoritarianism? Jesus H. Christ, thats today's GOP.

BTW - Just a friendly reminder: Trump's two best buddies, Jeffery Epstein, and Vladimir Putin. Says everything, about that man, right?! Epstein is gone, but the stench and pain of his crimes linger on. Putin is a real-time war criminal and murderer. He murders journalists, & his political opponents in Russia, and he targets women & children in Ukraine. Pure, unmitigated evil. Trump is under that dude's thumb. Yikes.

I wonder, do my fellow Americans realize what we are losing? 

"All of Trump’s power depends on his continued reinforcement of the disinformation that Russia used to get him elected the first time. Without Russia’s continued indulgence, the foundational myths to Trump’s power would crumble. Particularly amid the willful destruction of US power, it would provide cause — and maybe even the will, among right wingers — to expel and prosecute him.

The hold Putin has over Trump is existential for Trump. And unless we can expose that, the US will increasingly become a mere satellite of Russia.

Trump is not making America great. He is gutting America.

This is not just about forcing Ukraine to surrender.

Trump has surrendered. And going forward, it is only going to get worse." - Marcy Wheeler

Of Two Minds...

Yes. This idea that we are living in two worlds simultaneously here in America was validated again for me yesterday. We navigated the day. Listening to music on the box all morning, Springsteen's "Nebraska," (1982), and "Darkness on the Edge of Town," (1978), Tom Petty's "Wildflowers and All the Rest," (2020), and Anders Parker's "The Black Flight." (2023). All stunningly wonderful albums. Then we had an incredibly intense rehearsal with 5 members of our band. Two hours of our music played with maximum intensity. It was thrilling & fun. Preparing for two upcoming shows. Then it was off to a local bar that was hosting a memorial show for a fallen musician. A big turnout in a small room for the show. A great community of musicians, poets, painters, writers. So inspiring.

None of us talked of the shitshow of USA at the moment. Too painful to talk about. But, it did hang over us all like a black cloud of bad juju and death. Terrible. The silence about it all reflects the deep wounds of the moment. This morning on Blue Sky I stumble across Will Stancil's thoughts, and seems like a perfect encapsulation of the other side of this crazy-ass country:

Yes. Right. Fuck.

Something Happened. Figure "Weird."

The body language says it all. Trust your eyes. Ha, ha, ha. The little one has something over the big one. It's a long-running comedy/tragedy that has crippled the USA since 2016.

How the press should have covered this event yesterday. It was a badly-conceived shit-show.

Something really weird happened in Alaska yesterday (see previous post). A war criminal who intentionally targets & kills civilians, met with a convicted felon, confirmed sexual predator, and corrupt imbecile.

One guy strutted around like the ruler of the Underworld, and the other one waddled around on a red carpet like a drunk-penguin, and then clapped with joy, like a trained seal, when he spotted the littler one approaching.

They got in a car together, unaccompanied, except for the driver, and then later had a private meeting. What did they talk about?! No one really knows.

Maybe it was a progress report? Just checking in with the Russian Boss? Maybe a recap of all that the big fat one owes to the little devious one? Hmmm. I wonder if Jeffery Epstein came up in the conversation?

I mean... OMG... after the meeting at the microphone the fat one multiple times referred to the littler one as "The Boss." Really. Not fucking kidding. Wow.

The vibe was definitely "fucking weird." Something strange happened. Probably something really, really bad, stupid, and who knows, eminently dangerous...

"... the Dictator Coming to Reclaim what Russia Owns..."

Seems to me this photo taken in Helsinki in 2018, immediately after a private Trump/Putin meeting, says it all. The guy on the right looks like the cat who swallowed the canary. The guy on the left, looks like a guy who just had a very difficult and invasive proctology exam. We all have always wondered, "What does Putin know, and have over Trump?"

This post from Marcy Wheeler goes into all the details of the Trump/Putin Love Affair.

How to explain Trump and his campaign of destruction of the USA? It's all about Putin & Russia. It has always been so. Today in Alaska will be just another sad chapter.

So, yeah, read her post, it's got all the juicy details. A sellout of Ukraine, and a sellout of America. The Trump  campaign slogan should have always been: "Make America Russia."

Here's Marcy. Brilliant. Perfect. Most of the media and the American public are onto other things and refuse to see the obvious reality dancing before their noses.

"The mistake, in analyzing the Alaska meeting is not just about Ukraine.

It’s about the United States.

It’s not just that Putin can bide his time in Ukraine.

It’s that the longer he holds out, the greater his true objective — turning Trump into his puppet and the United States into a dying kleptocracy that is child’s play to manipulate — comes into grasp.

Putin may still be fighting in Ukraine. But he has achieved far more than he probably hoped for in the US. He has all but defeated every nuisance the Main Enemy once stood for: rule of law, free trade, freedom of speech, science, human rights, reason.

It’s not just that Trump is welcoming a dictator on US soil. It’s that the dictator is coming to reclaim what Russia owns." -- Marcy Wheeler

Every Day...

Every day is a challenge. Oh yeah, and they say it's an opportunity too. Sure. Why not? Every day is a step forward into the Future. Every day you try not to take a step back, and you try to avoid any set-backs. It's a dance. First rule: Do no harm. Try not to hurt yourself, or any one else either.  Also, remember: "Don't fall down." Otherwise, live completely. You wonder to yourself: "What new fuckery today?!" AND, "Can I make it thru unscathed?" Ha. Probably not. Every day counts, one way or another.

Bifurcated Existence...

Yes, we are living in bifurcated circumstances. Two distinct branches, forks or parts. 

Check in with the National conversation and it's all lunacy and grifting. The Mafia state in full force. Mind-boggling, and infuriating. 

Locally, closer to home? We "touch grass," commune with the trees, lull & hypnotize ourselves watching the waves crash into the beach. Soothing, spirit-building.

We are paying attention, which takes a bit of discipline. We are living in the contradiction, and it sort of cleaves our consciousness into two very different modes.

That is just the way of the world. Navigating thru, trying our best not to lose our shit.

It's the Lying...

A little short-hand for dealing with this Fascist Regime. Just remember, maybe tattoo it on your forehead backwards, so you can read it in the mirror.

THEY ARE LYING! 

About everything. They refuse to acknowledge the Truth, or any semblance of Reality. They have hijacked our Country, and are trying their best to destroy the American Dream, all based on malicious, ridiculous, unsustainable lies.

And lots of folks, who should, and do, know better, are just repeating the lies, nodding & going along. Not Acceptable. They are totally abdicating their reponsibility to the Country. It is disgusting, but absolutely true. We can do better. 

The Real Big City...

We went to the Big City yesterday. I am talking about Chicago. Took a train down. It was late pulling into the station. Getting around in the "analog," world is always a crap-shoot. What about the City? Amazing. Vibrant. Alive.

We hear people on the TV and socials, all the time, ranting & railing against American Cities, but, you know what?! A big American City is really the best of America. It is a roiling, boiling, crazy-ass merging of every kind of Human Being.

On the streets, in the parks, on the river & lake fronts. Lively. Colorful. The energy emanating off the streets was a bit overwhelming. We took a long walk down the Magnificent Mile, and it really was sort of magnificent. A carnival, a street-fair, bursting with life. It almost felt "international."

So, yeah, a Summer Sunday afternoon in the Big City. It was an energy-booster. Those Fucking Liars, lying about American Cities? They are so, so wrong and wrong-headed. Full of B.S. Just another con-game. Propaganda. Disinformation. Getting out & about is quite instructive, and real...

I Know Enough to Say, "I don't know enough..."

Magical thinking: "the belief that unrelated events are causally connected despite the absence of any plausible causal link between them, particularly as a result of supernatural effects."

Yes. It's easy to get off the boat of rationality into the magical. At the moment much of our culture, politics, and vibe right now is bat-shit, fucking crazy. Maybe it's quite appealing? Believing what you want to believe, because, you know, you just want to believe? 

I am a big "vibes" guy. Mainly from experience. This idea that there all invisible connections people between people in close quarters. Go to any good music event and you can see it and feel it in action. 

Even my own band is known for the vibes we create. It's kind folded into the power of positive thinking too. Some folks can walk into a room, and armed with their own personal energy & charisma can change a room. No doubt. The other side of it is evident too. Some folks are just black-holes of bad vibes. You can see them coming a mile away.

Maybe there are rational explanations? Maybe these vibrations travel in the air? Or you know some kind of scent or chemical reaction is taking place?  It appears to be a bit of magic, a bit irrational, but, there  probably are really good explanations for what's going on? Instead of magical, let's just say unexplainable at the moment? There are limits to what we know. Good advice, be open to saying, "I just don't know."

Yesterday, we played music with our band in a small rehearsal room. I have been nursing a very sore knee the last few days. One wrong step can change everything. Lots of pain & stiffness. It has not been easy to get around. As soon as we started playing, all of that fell away. I stood in the room, sang into a microphone, strummed my guitar, and all of that pain, stiffness, and discomfort totally, completely vanished. Two hours of no pain at all. 

When we finished playing, and started to pack up, it all came back. Funny. Sort of magical. I chalk it up to being totally lost in a flow activity. Doing something you love to do, commiting completely, everything falls away, time and space seem to tilt and morph.

Yeah, the vibes, man. 

But you know, I think we all need to be humble in the face of this kind of thing. Sure, flow activities, recommended. Find things you love to do and do them Heart, Head, Spirit totally aligned. And yes, sure, believe in something, I think that's important, but maybe something like "a better day." Or "goodness." 

Be fucking humble, man. We are just very human beings.

Simple. Practical, Rational (?), Magic. Yes. There is mystery all around us, but that's just because, it's a big complicated Universe. Lots going on. I know enough to say, "I don't know enough..."

Oh, the Meaningless Futility in the Oval...

Folk #1: "Here is that super-rotund, world-class, imbecile, lumbering & waddling around the oval office, hyping silly, manufactured, totally meaningless charts that he had his boot-licking, lackeys put together..."

"This one chart really says it better than anything, if you look at this. This is great. But this chart is pretty amazing. Right here. All new numbers."

Narrator: (quoting Wm. Shakespeare via Macbeth): "It is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."

Culture of Lies, There, Then, and Here, Now...

 "What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all." - Valery Legasov

My partner and I recently streamed the amazing, powerful, devastating 5 part series, "Chernobyl," (2019). What to say? Masterful. Heartbreaking. Maddening. An ugly story told masterfully & beautifully.

Yes. For us. We learned so much about something we knew so little about. Human Beings exposed in all their heroic and flawed natures, in the most dire and heartrending circumstances. 

Sure, it may have been the disaster at Chernobyl (Man-made hell on Earth), the efforts to contain it, the efforts to cover it up, that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but the echoes of that event in today's culture of lies in the USA, really, really hit home.

We are the "tricky monkeys" who think we are smarter than we really are. And we will lie, cheat, deceive, do whatever it takes to not face the music, or the consequences of our actions. There are a very few truth-tellers. They stand out from the pack. They do give us a glimmer of hope. But it is a slender reed, indeed.

"How much do the taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?”

Yes. A question from a woman at a townhall meeting in Nebraska yesterday. It was a very good question. Totally on-point. "How much do the taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?”

From Heather Cox Richardson this morning:

"Members of the House of Representatives are back in their districts for August, and on Monday, Republican Mike Flood of Nebraska held a town hall in Lincoln. A woman asked what she called a fiscal question.

She said: “With 450 million FEMA dollars being reallocated to open Alligator Alcatraz, and 600 million taxpayer FEMA dollars being used to now open more concentration camps, and ICE burning through $8.4 million a day to illegally detain people—How much does it cost for fascism? How much do the taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?”

The crowd cheered wildly.

Untethered & Unhinged...

Well. It is sometimes nice to just let words fly. I find it sort of theraputic. But then again, they say that "brevity is the soul of wit." And it is important to have your wits about you, especially in this so very stupid, and incredibly witless time in which we find ourselves. 

So, today, after that little preliminary opening blast, one pithy thought: We are the People, the Country, the Culture that has gladly, happily and mindlessly decided that being Untethered & Unhinged from Reality is a good thing. Of course, it's not. And there will be consequences. I mean, yeah, like right fucking now...

Taking Care...

Well. We took our own advice yesterday. We took a long bike ride on the lakefront, and then parked ourselves on a bench facing Lake Michigan. It was pretty agreeable August, Summer day. Temps in the 70's, a cooling breeze coming from the North. The waves were up. Looking across the horizon, the lake looked like an ocean. There were some beach-goers, lots of kids in the water. We sat under a shady tree, like two aspiring Buddhas. We talked a bit about the madness of the world. But, then, let it all go. We weren't going to solve anything. We just noted the madness, and then turned to the waves. It seems like a little thing, sitting quietly on a bench, watching the waves, the clouds, the sunshine sparkling off the water. But it was immensely healing. There is something about facing an expansive horizon, it sort of opens you up. It was calming, healing, and recharging. We have been struggling with the latest news, & the 24/7, shit-show America, it is gruesome, and is not going away any time soon. We do expect things to get worse, maybe much worse. But we need to take care of ourselves. Meditating on a bench in the face of beauty & wonder? Oh yeah. Necessary medicine, for sure.

Crazy & Lazy...

We, the culture, the people, have totally lost the thread. As George Orwell (the Oracle of Dystopia), put it, our daily task is "to see things as they are, to find out true facts and store them up for the use of posterity," and "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle". 

It seems we are now incapable of that kind of will, clarity, intention, discipline & struggle. We just don't want to. What made us so willfully crazy & lazy?

My friend and I have theories. Below are some of the Contenders, but you know, it is probably a combination of all of these:

Covid lockdown. 

The Internet. 

Media Click-Bait. 

Smart-Phones - Tik Tok, Facebook, AI, Doom-scrolling, etc.

The Unrelenting Swamp of Lies & Disinformation. 

Virtual & Simulated Worlds. They are Halls of Lies.

Elevating Money to God-Like Status. 

Climate-Catastrophe (cooking our brains one day at a time, robbing us of optimism for the Future).

Electing a Convicted Felon, known Racist, Sexual Predator, Shit-Stirrer, Grifter, Con-man & Corrupt as Fuck Person as President (twice, with a double-assist from Russia)   

Magical Thinking - wanting to see what we want to see, to believe what we want to believe, when we want to see & believe it. Evidence, Facts, Truth, Reality, Gravity be Damned.

We both have concluded that our culture & our people are absolutely committed to not seeing what's in front of our noses! We just refuse to do the work!

What is the antidote to the crazy & lazy? Stepping back, stepping away. Living in the "analog world." Being real. Breathing. Meditating. Taking a walk in Nature. Observing the passing scene with merciless intelligence. Trying to keep all of one's perceptive skills honed and at the ready. Seeing and cataloging the Lies, calling them out. Refusing to succumb or surrender.

The Zombies Running Amok...

So much bad shite going down. I think they are even trying to kill Big Bird. Fuck these evil people. In our heads we still believe in the forces for Good, but right now, the onslaught of evil & pointlessly bad-shite is a bit overwhelming. Yeah, sure, we find ourselves in an evil Kingdom where cruelty, corruption, and idiocy are supreme. What to do? Ah, I guess, stay alive, aware, awake. And then what? Refuse to surrender. Everything these fuckers are unleashing in the USA is complete, retrograde, immoral, hollow, soulless, inhumane garbage. I suppose it is sort impressive just how completely unrelentingly disgusting these Trumpers , MAGAs, Republicans are. It is like watching the Zombies take over. The heartless, brain-dead, running amok. There is no reasoning with these folks. They hold the levers of power in D.C. Seems they are intent on breaking everything. To what end? Pure power, greed, hate & corruption. Ha. One almost has to laugh. It seems like a dead-end movement. Nihilistic. It can't last right?! We carry on with our day to day, doing our best to lean to the Better Angels. But it ain't easy, watching the shit-show unfold in full technicolor.

Conspiracy-Land...

Folk #1: Usually, I am pretty much "conspiracy theory agnostic." 

You know. Look for the simple explanation. No need to conjure up some grand, multi-pronged, coordinated skullduggery. But then, for instance, this Epstein/Trump thing just seems to be getting bigger & wilder. And the basic facts, lots of very wealthy, prominent folks ensnared in a sex-trafficking ring hatched by Epstein, we are already in the thick of conspiracy right out of the gate. Just the basic, on the record facts reveal a conspiracy of ugliness. And among those prominent folks implicated, there is a certain toxic President that is acting like a very guilty perpetrator, spinning, and flailing about with obvious, distracting, lies.

So, well, I read this post by the writer Craig Unger - "Too Good to Be True,"  and I come to the great insight that the Epstein Scandal and the Trump/Russia Scandal are actually one and the same grand conspiracy. Ha. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I mean, this is just me connecting the dots. Craig Unger seems to have lots of the receipts, and connecting evidence.

Read Unger's latest post. Can it be that 478 sex tapes initially recorded in Epstein's lair, are sitting somewhere in Moscow? Is Vladimir Putin the great puppet-master who has successfully helped his very special "asset," win the White House twice, holding these sex tapes over prominent folks around the world? International blackmail? Was Epstein basically running a "honey trap" for Russian intelligence? Was Trump ensnared early on? Has he subsequently been running a counter-intelligence "op" on America? Is Trump, Putin's embedded asset, destroying America from the inside out? 

Hmmm. Who knows?! I mean all the mayhem and destruction of this admininstration is quite diabolical. Once you jump into the conspiracy pool, it's hard to extract yourself, the pool just seems to expand, and hold together quite elegantly.

This is from Unger's Post: "Dougan’s story is filled with inconsistencies and lies, but it’s still worth telling because it shows how the Russians cultivated an intelligence operative who became a significant figure in spreading disinformation in the 2024 election.

As I’ve already shown in previous posts, both Lana Pozhidaeva and Masha Drokova appear to have been Russian intelligence operatives when they worked with Epstein. Dougan’s story adds another component to what we know about Russia’s active measures in America at the time."

So, yeah, Epstein, Trump, Russians, sex-trafficking, money-laundering, active disinformation campaigns, it all sort of collides & congeals. Welcome to Conspriacy-Land.

Ashes & Insanity...

Folk#1: Funny. I woke yesterday with that vision of an American flag burning to a crisp (see previous post). It was not a happy image. But maybe it was a sign that I knew something I didn't yet know?  Turns out there was a bold Canadian breeze blowing off the lake in our little town. It chased the humidity out, and brought a bit of cooling to the land. It also brought smoke from fires in Canada. The air itself was dangerous for folks to breathe. Most folks didn't notice or didn't care. Eveyone was out and about. My partner and were the only ones taking precautions. I wore a bandana over my mouth and nose, she wore a hospital-grade mask. Flashback to the pandemic. We were definitely outliers in our little town, but even that little act of self-preservation seemed inadequate. We both could taste ashes, and smell smoke, as we made our appointed rounds, and we both ended up burnt-out and nursing headaches. In the evening, we ended up watching "The Tragedy of Macbeth." (2021). So powerful and well done. You know, for some reason we were in the mind of a movie about a corrupt, murderous, King, unloved by his kinsmen. And of course, the play and the movie are so satisfying because after a long string of skullduggery, Macbeth runs out of luck & time, and meets with a swift and perfect Justice. One can only hope the same happens in our own cursed land with our own corrupt, Wanna-Be-King. This is the line that my partner latched onto, as we took in all the dazzling visuals, definitely the "state of the state" at the moment in our bleak & cursed land... Banquo speaking: "Were such things here as we do speak about, Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?"