‘A National Divorce’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Occasionally, some idiot from the Far Right will tweet about the need for a “national divorce,” one where Red States and Blue States go their separate ways. And I will note that over the last few years, the idea of some sort of National Divorce has drifted down into the thinking of my Traditionalist conservative relatives.

Needless to say, this has to go to be the single dumbest idea.

It’s extremely poorly thought out – or not thought out at all — for a number of reasons. Chief among them being, to propose a “National Divorce” is little more than a political grunt. For all the talk about how good old boys are innovative and will pick up the economic slack if California and New York leave the Union, the cold hard reality is Trumplandia (Red States) would be extremely poor without Blue States to subsidies all that welfare money.

The ultimate irony will be, of course, that one of the war aims of Blue States might be, should the be a civil war, could be to simply leave the Union and form something akin to the United States of Canada. Ironically enough, I suspect that MAGA New Right Republicans will freak the fuck out to keep Blue States in the Union and, as such, the most powerful nation in the world will blow itself into oblivion with its eyes wide open.

The point is — if you advocate a “national divorce,” you’re a fucking idiot.

Say what you really mean — you want the right to push Blue States around, to force them to bend a knee. And if they won’t do it and they try to leave the Union, then you’re prepared to use WMD on them to make your point.

Anyway, fuck MAGA.

Things Are Dark Politically In The United States At The Moment

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There’s a very dark vibe in the US at the moment. I continue to believe we have the existential choice of autocracy or civil war in the near future (probably around 2024 – 2025.) But it could be a lot sooner than I think if the 2022 mid-terms prove to be as corrupt as I fear.

But, the point is, enjoy these last few months of normal life in a Western democracy while they last. Things are going to get really bumpy very soon. We’re either going to slide peacefully into a MAGA themed autocracy, or there is going to be real and severe political violence in the US — up to and including something we’re all going to refer to as a “civil war.”

I don’t have any ready answers for you. I suppose I might suggest you fill a “bug out bag” or some such. However, the key thing to me, the thing that will make or break one’s life during the Big Ugly that is going to happen soon is knowing what you believe in the real world.

What are you willing to suffer for in the real world? What are you willing to risk your life and sacred honor for in the real world? And, what’s more, if past civil wars are any indication, the side that seems to be winning at the beginning of the conflict may not be the side that ultimately wins.

AND, what’s more, remember, if the US bombs itself into oblivion, then there’s going to be WW3. The US is the cornerstone of 75 years of world peace — Pax Americana — and if we’re preoccupied by blowing ourselves up then, lulz, back off because we’re going to have a “Great Reset” as America is going through its “Fourth Turning.”

Again — I have no easy answers for you. There are none to have. Just understand that everything, in the real world, is probably going to be thrown up into the air pretty soon.

Uncle Shelton’s Tales: ‘Don The Evil Dingus’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I once upon a time wrote children’s stories in South Korea for young Koreans learning English. I did a pretty good job. The news that some dingus from the bowels of the Trump Administration has written a children’s book defending idiot Trump has prompted me to write my own story.

Uncle Shelton was reading a history book when his black cat Midnight jumped into his lap.

“Whatcha reading, Uncle Shelton?”

“A history book of the recent past.”

“What’s it about?” Midnight asked.

“Well, it’s about…”

Once upon a time, there was merchant named Don. He was very dumb and always said the wrong thing. He was evil as they come and loved
to read a poem about a snake. Don was part stake, according to the legends of yore. One day, there was an election for King of The Land.
Because the merchant was very evil and corrupt, he worked with the king of another land to steal the election.

But many people, including the writer known as Patel would not believe the dumb Merchant stole the election, but rather believed
the merchants lies long, long after it was moot and made them look like a fool. Patel, who should have known better, even wrote a book for
children accusing Hillary Queenton and Keeper Komey of things that were not true.

No one knows what will happen because of Patel and his lies, but there is now a darkness across the land. And the history of the future
may be of a great nation torn apart because people like Patel — who should have known better — kept repeating lies against people who
just wanted to keep their kingdom great.

Here’s a better example of my ability to write a children’s story:

When I was in South Korea teaching English, there was this cute little kid who completely mixed up the New Testament with the movie “Constantine.” It was so cute and surreal that I used it once when I was writing EduTimes fairy tales for this or that surreal little story. So, with that in mind, here’s my effort to explain to a child how fucked up Jeff Sessions’ efforts on the border are. And, as an added bonus, we get to use gennies as a symbolic warning — they’re a poor man’s alarm system as I understand it.

Uncle Shelton’s Tales’ Presents:
Naborat Jeebus & The Gennies

Uncle Shelton took Midnight a farm one day and the moment they got there, there was a horrible noise! Birds were running around everywhere, squawking and causing trouble.

“What are those, Uncle Shelton?” Midnight asked.

“Those are gennies!” Uncle Shelton said. “They make a lot of noise, they warn you when you’re in trouble. One time they saved the land from a horrible orange troll!”

One upon a time, an evil orange troll named Little Hands overthrew the lion as the king of the land. He had become friends with the birds who tweeted his commands down on the animal kingdom. Little Hands had promised so many things to the animal kingdom using the birds’ tweets and for a while there was peace in the land as he grew in power. One day, the Little Hands awoke to a horrible noise! The kingdom was being invaded by gennies! They are a very loud birds and they made it so Little Hands couldn’t sleep. He was very lazy and liked to sleep all day long!

Little Hands decided to use magic to get rid of the gennies. He summoned an evil elf. He told the elf to do whatever it took to get rid of the brown, noisy gennies.

“Yes sir Little Hands!” the evil little elf said. “Right away sir!”

Using his magic powers, he summoned the most powerful magical creature he knew of, Naborat Jeebus! Naborat Jeebus was very old and long ago had left the land to live with his father. The evil little elf told Naborat Jeebus many lies about the gennies, so many lies that Naborat Jeebas cast the gennies into a big pin! He even tore genny familes apart!

The noise of all those gennies being moved into a big pen was ever so loud. Loud enough that Naborat Jeebus took note. He paused for a moment and asked a genny why they were making so much noise.

“We’re just gennies!” one said. “It’s our job in the animal kingdom to make noise, to product people from danger! We meant no harm!”

Naborat Jeebus looked at the evil little elf and got angry.

“How dare you summon me to hurt the innocent!” Naborat Jeebus yelled.

And with that, Naborat Jeebus freed the gennies and turned both the evil little elf and Little Hands into toads and went back to be with his father.

The End.

“See,” Uncle Shelton said. “Sometimes, the good guys win!”

“I know,” Midnight said. “But not always, right?”

“No, Midnight, not always. But if you make enough noise like the gennies, you’re more likely to do so.”

If You Ain’t Got Haters, You Ain’t Poppin

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m a nobody. I live in the middle of nowhere and the only thing of note about me is I often have very strong opinions. Other than that, I’m about as inconsequential as they come.

I am, waiting, however, for someone to swoop in and hate on me for my opinions, especially because I noticed this:


Page Views:2 (1 this visit)Latest Page View:14 May 2022 21:58:20Resolution:1760x990System:Firefox 100.0Win10Total Visits:2Location:Los Angeles, California, United StatesISP / IP Address:M247 Ltd (185.230.126.19)  Referring URL: www.trumplandiareport.com/Visit Page: www.trumplandiareport.com/2022/05/13/the-unity-ticket-of-2024/#respond

Seems like someone wanted to comment on a post of mine, but when they realized how much information was required of them, they gave up. So, who knows. I have a pretty strong hunch that whatever they wanted to say, it wasn’t going to be very nice.

Kathy Barnette Is The Future Of MAGA & American Fascism

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The thing about Republicans these days is they’re fat and sassy after getting everything they could possibly want from Trump. They got their huge tax cut for plutocrats. They got huge number of young hack MAGA judges that will be on the Federal bench for 50 years.

And now, they’re ready to move on to Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis is Trump without Trump. He is smooth enough to appeal to not just conservative Traditionalists, but the people who actually decide presidential elections — the 100,000 or so persuadable voters spread over maybe five swing states.

So, at the moment, it definitely seems as though Establishment Republicans have a clear path towards the one thing they crave above all other things — permanent white minority rule.

But there’s a problem and that problem is ding-dong Donald Trump won’t go away. And, what’s worse, the exact same macro forces that caused Trump to be elected in the first place are now paving the way for more and more extreme candidates to bubble up to the surface.

The latest example of this is Kathy Barnette who is running for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. Her views are so extreme that even “mainstream” MAGA people are coming after her. But I think she’s the future of MAGA. There is going to come a point when all the Qanon talk of “groomers” will become so mainstream within MAGA that we’re going to not just slouch towards autocracy, we could very well slouch towards something far, far darker — genocide.

Given the population of the US, if that absolute worse case scenario happened, far, far more people could die than died at the hands of Pol Pot. Let that sink in for a moment. And the, ultimately, it would not be any breathless blue check liberal Twitter thread that brings down MAGA, but the MAGA itself.

Anyway, as always, let me be clear — I have no idea what I’m talking about. You probably should ignore me. Why are you even reading this?

My Hysterical Second American Civil War Fears, Reassessed


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m really beginning to believe we’re not going to have a civil war. We’re just going to become a MAGA themed autocracy. But there are a few issues that are unresolved at the moment that could still throw us into the ditch of civil war.

One is the most obvious — Trump.

Every day, Trump grows more deranged and yet his death grip on the Republican Party remains just as powerful. So, it’s logical to assume at the moment that he’s going to be the 2024 Republican nominee. If that happens, the chance of significant political violence, up to and including civil war in 2024 – 2025 grows significantly. Trump is just a big old deranged idiot and he could very well, single handedly, cause a civil war just by being a very dumb avatar for white Christian rage.

Another known unknown is the issue of MAGA, in general, being so bloodthirsty that they force the issue of civil war on Blue States, even though Blue States don’t — at the moment — have the leadership to leave the Union even if they really wanted to.

Yet another unknown is how bad it might get should Republicans take Congress over in 2025. If they go nuts not only by corrupting the election of 2024, but by impeaching both Biden and Harris just because they feel a political need to do so, then that gives Blue States two years to seethe in rage before the main event in 2024 – 2025.

If a civil war happened in 2024 – 2025, I think we need to keep any eye on state governments. I think there would probably be coups and counter-coups across the United States at the state level. States like Virginia, Oregon and Michigan are prime candidates for significant political instability between Election Day 2024 and Certification Day 2025.

No matter what happens, late 2024 to early 2025 is shaping up to be a shitshow. The United States will be extremely unstable if Trump wins again in 2024 for no other reason than he is going to cheat even if he wins outright. I have a lot less concerns about a civil war if someone like Ron DeSantis is the Republican nominee is 2024 because, lulz, he’s Trump without Trump and Traditionalist conservatives love, love, love him.

If DeSantis becomes POTUS In 2025, nothing will change at first. But, soon enough, late night TV will be purged and what little resistance there is to autocrat DeSantis will be neutralized soon enough. We’ll wake up in 2042 and DeSantis will be invading Canada for this or that reason. (Form follows function.)

Anyway, I can’t predict the future. I have no idea what is going to happen. But I am worried. I’m very worried.

Time To Grow Alarmed


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I keep saying, they say someone goes bankrupt gradually then all at once and that definitely seems to be what’s going on with the United States at the moment.

All I can say is — we’re passed the even horizon when it comes to the existential choice of autocracy or civil war. It’s time for us to gird our loins. And, what’s more, the clusterfuck we face could happen a lot sooner than we think — Republicans in Michigan and Florida are actively working to give themselves the ability to negate the win of Democrats in the 2022 mid-terms.

And, what’s more Georgia recently changed their election laws so the state legislature can swoop in and take control if need be.

So, it definitely seems as though the 2020 election may have been the last fre and fair election in American history for the foreseeable future. Once they’re able to sucker punch Democrats in the 2022 mid-terms and nothing happens, then, lulz, that will only embolden Republicans to corrupt the administration of elections even more between now and 2024.

And, as such, the issue of that existential choice of autocracy or civil war that I keep ranting about will grow ever more relevant. At the moment, I think we’re just going to give up and turn into an autocracy. Republicans will gradually at first, then faster and faster pass all their extremely unpopular policies. There may be a lot of protests, but in the long term we’re going to have white minority rule and be nothing more than a political clone of Russia.

Which, of course, is exactly what MAGA Republicans spend all their time running around screaming about. I still struggle to understand how it is that Blue Check liberals can be soooo fucking oblivious to how dire things are in the United States right now.

Of course, their rather blasé Tweeting about the system working and the Justice Department being on the cusp of indicting Trump could be a ruse — they’re all so busy working on getting a second passport and preparing to live in the south of France as expats that they don’t have time to publicly freak out.

Something big has got to happen at this point for me to change my belief that we’re fucked. We’re totally, completely fucked. If you have the ability to prepare to get out of the country, do so. I still think if you’re a Blue check liberal doing that that you’re a fucking coward.

But, lulz. it’s time to get ready to get the fuck out of America. Trumplandia is just about to descend across the nation.

Talk About A Vibe Shift: Imagining Pence As A #NeverTrumper


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I continue to believe that we should not sleep on the potential significance of the #NeverTrump movement. I say this because even though at the moment they’re a very, very small collection of Republicans, they are all usually really smart and articulate leaders.

And should things get as harry as I fear around 2024 – 2025 what Blue States are going to need is leaders.

As such, at the moment, the person who is most likely to be forced, by history, to rise to the occasion is Liz Cheney. It would be extremely ironic, but if Blue States got fed up and left the Union, Cheney is just the type of person who would step into the leadership void that currently exists with the center-Left. The center-Left is so divided and deluded for various reasons as to be useless.

But there is another person who could really shock us all if he would simply do the obvious and become a #NeverTrumper — Mike Pence.

Let me be clear — I absolutely fucking hate Mike Pence’s political beliefs. I despise them.

But I swear to God if that motherfucker confessed everything he knew about Trump and Trumplandia and I would be the first in line to vote for him in 2024. I’m so enraged by the impending return of fucking ding-dong Trump in 2024 that if the only way to save the Republic was to vote for motherfucking Mike Pence I would do it in a heart beat.

The thing about Pence is while he’s crazy conservative, he’s enough of a traditional American conservative that he would probably stay within the bounds of the Republic’s norms at a minimum. And he would definitely stay within the spirit of Constitutional law – he did do that, after all, when he was required to on Certification Day 2021.

If Pence was to become a #NeverTrumper it would throw the American political system for a loop. It would be most shocking political event of this new century, up there with the election of Obama the first time and the election of Trump — and the January 6th Insurrection.

Pence would completely, and totally, rewrite his political fate in an instant. He wouldn’t have to change a single political view other than his fidelity to Trump. And he would be within shouting distance of being the Democratic nominee as part of a 2024 Unity Ticket.

There would be, of course, a huge amount of risks to such a Hail Mary pass. If he got any traction, MAGA would want to kill him. But, come to think of it, they already want to do that, now don’t they. He would become the most hated person in America for about 38% of the electorate.

But since Blue Check liberals have proven that they’re all fools, they would love Pence with all their heart and he wouldn’t have to change a thing. Of course, I just don’t see Pence doing any such thing. He will never rise to the occasion and be a hero of the Republic by giving the center-Left the leadership it needs.

Oh well. I wonder if my re-education camp will have wi-fi and a shower.

Mike Pence As America’s (Potential) Great White Hope

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s beginning to dawn on me that Mike Pence has a rendezvous with history — if he so choses. There is no way that man is going to be POTUS if he stays safely within the MAGA family. If he leaves MAGA cold turkey and confesses everything and I mean EVERYTHING he knows about Trump and Trumplandia, then he has a pretty good chance of becoming extremely culturally and politically culturally again.

Now, obviously Pence is never, ever fucking going to do this.

But it’s beginning to eat away at me that he won’t and so I find myself needing to write about it.

One question is, of course, when would Pence turn on MAGA? My best guess would be just after the the results of the 2022 mid-terms are known and we find out if Trump is going to run again. If Trump does run again — which obviously he will — Pence might, just might decide that the only way he can possibly ever be president is as an Andrew Johnson type figure.

Andrew Johnson was a royal asshole, but for Lincoln at the time of the 1864 election, Johnson served an important purpose as a War Democrat. Or, put another way, Pence would instantly be seen as a liberal darling by easily seduced Blue Check liberals who have learned nothing from Bob Mueller and various other false hope conservative Republicans.

So, the moment Pence joined the “Resistance” in a very public manner, he would be fawned over by Blue Check liberals who would believe the he, at last, will be the one to save us all and allow them to continue to write long breathless Twitter threads instead of doing any of the hard work in the real world.

Anyway, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t see any way out of our existential choice of autocracy or civil war around 2024 – 2025. But it’s extremely annoying that Pence won’t show any leadership at all.

The Unity Ticket Of 2024

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There’s a really good book called “How Democracies Die” that I read some time ago that has, in theory, some solutions to America’s fucked up political problems. As I recall, they said those times that democracies managed to save themselves there was a coordinated effort across party lines to stave off the rise of fascism.

Let me be clear — this is never going to happen in the United States. The country is just too big, too unfocused and too divided for us to ever have the gumption to save our Republic in any comprehensive way. And, yet, one could make the case that if Mike Pence switched sides and confessed his MAGA sins that the you could have the unity ticket of Pence / AOC 2024.

Everyone would be extremely upset about this situation, but it would at a minimum punt the rise of fascism in the United States down the road a few more presidential cycles.

I say “punt” because the existential choice of civil war or autocracy in the United States is caused by macro forces within our political system that aren’t going anywhere.

So, we’re fucked.

We’re doomed. Either we become MAGA themed autocracy of blood and soil or we have a civil war. But a unity ticket would at least give us a few more years to enjoy our freedom, I suppose.