#ETTD: Kennedy Center Edition

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump hates the Kennedy Center for a number of reasons, chief amongst them is it’s a symbol of all the cultured people who think he’s a piece of shit (which he is.) So, he wants to remake it in his own image — going so far as to name himself to lead it the damn thing.

This is another example of how dark things are and how even if we magically get a Blue President at some point in the future that the whole context will be different. This hypothetical president will spend their entire first term just figuring out how to cobble the Federal government back together and even then, like I said, the context will be different.

You can’t unring a bell, as they say.

We are so fucked. So totally and completely fucked. And I keep reviewing how right I got so much of this. I still think the only reason why we didn’t have a civil war was Trump won. Had he lost, there was a good chance he would have demanded a civil war.

And Blues just don’t have it in them to put up any sort of fight. Fuck MAGA, fuck Trump and fuck Musk is all I have to say. I might as well use my free speech while I still have it. They’ll come for me soon enough.

Jesus Christ, Are Things Dark

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Oh my fucking God are things dark politically now and getting darker by the moment. We’ve reached a no-going-back moment: I just don’t think America is going to be the same now, no matter what. I don’t think we’re ever going to have free and fair elections again and if a Blue somehow did magically get elected the entire context of his or her administration would be different.

So, this is it, folks, we’re totally fucked.

As I repeatedly predicted with my “hysterical doom shit,” we are, in 2025, now a dictatorship. Trump is ruining everything to the point that even if we somehow put things back together, it won’t be the same. And Trump is showing other people want can be done to the point that the fascists are going to totally transform the United States no matter what.

Of course, there is a greater-than-zero chance that Trump and Musk could really fuck up, there’s a General Strike and massive protests and somehow, magically Trump and Musk are deposed. Then a civil war happens because Red States get mad and leave the Union.

So…lulz?

I just want to live in a traditional Western democracy. That shouldn’t be a big ask.

Blue Leadership Is Failing Us

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Something’s gotta give. We can’t have Blues on the backfoot forever. I would say we need to primary the entire Democratic Party, but I don’t think we’re going to make it that far.

So, in an ideal world, someone like Jon Stewart would jump into the arena and go toe-to-toe with Trumplandia. But, alas, I just don’t see that happening. We’re fucked totally and completely.

There is the chance, of course, that when Trump gets his way and totally guts the social safety net that there will be a severe push back from the population and THEN things get interesting.

But I have my doubts. I think this is it. We’re going to become a literal dictatorship — at least for the rest of my life — and we’re going to have no middle class at all and turn into something like Brazil. Ugh.

The Final Question

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The Final Question in the Trump era is — if Trump somehow fucks with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid so they don’t work properly as people have always assumed, will there be any substantive consequences?

If Social Security checks aren’t cut, will people just shrug and let Trump get away with it, or will there be things like a General Strike or massive protests or whatnot. I honestly don’t know.

Americans are so fucking complacent and just want to make money that it could be that Trump will touch the third rail of politics, Social Security, and nothing of note will happen. If Trump really does get away with doing such a thing, then he will have passed through his last barrier to being a true dictator.

Fucking with Social Security is the only thing I can think of that might, just might cause Trump to finally either be deposed or at least, in some way behave. But there is just as much a chance that he will double down and use any protests as an excuse to declare martial law and that will be that — the United States will finally be a fascist military dictatorship.

I honestly don’t know what will happen if Trump moots Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It’s very much up in the air because I suspect that MAGA, so busy sucking on the teet of racism, will figure out a way to even rationalize something as profound as the end of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

They just might really be willing to let Trump pull it off.

There Will Soon Be Two Moot Branches Of Government In The United States

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It is clear that soon the United States really will be a dictatorship in the traditional sense — Trump (with his proxy Musk) will rule by decree or just ignore the rule of law while the Legislative and Judicial branches cool their heels in obscurity.

That seems to be our immediate future.

And, what’s more trillions of wealth will probably be transferred from the very poor to the very wealthy in a few months once some legislation is passed.

All of this doesn’t vie well for the future of the United State’s stability. And, yet, I also think Americans are, in general, just too complacent to do anything like a General Strike.

I think this is it. We will no longer have free and fair elections and we will be an actual traditional dictatorship — probably by the end of the year, if not sooner. So, lulz, I suppose my fears of dying at the hands of an ICE agent aren’t too far off.

I will just remain a Man In A High Castle until that happens.

Waiting For Our Reichstag Fire

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the big ways that Hitler was able to seize control of Germany in early 1933 was there was a fire at the Reichstag. It is speculated that the Nazis started the fire, but there’s no proof.

Anyway, I’m waiting for something like that to happen with Trump. If there was a 911 type terrorist attack soon, that would allow Trump to consolidate power even faster than he already is.

But maybe I’m being paranoid for no reason. Maybe Trump will just keep on consolidating power and nothing like that will happen. I sure don’t *want* something like that to happen, but things are pretty dark right now and I fear they will only get darker.

The United States Is Controlled By A Nazi MAGA Cabal of Afrikaners

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

What do the following people have in common — Elon Musk, David Sacks and Peter Thiel.

Answer: They all are Afrikaners from South Africa.

They know each other as part of the “Paypal Mafia,” yes, but really, they are exemplars of the far Right of South Africa. It’s interesting that in this dire moment of crisis, no one else has noticed this particular situation.

But, maybe they will (eventually.)

Whatever. We’re fucking doomed. We just don’t have it in us to do anything about this particular problem until it’s way, way, too late.

It’ll Never Happen, But Maybe We Need A Military Coup

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve written numerous times over the years about the possibility that Trump is so stupid and lazy that he could finally push the public to the point that the U.S. Military would feel it needs to step in to overthrow him. (This, of course, would cause a civil war because Red States would leave the Union.)

So, I don’t really want a military coup, but it is enticing. It has a certain allure to it, as if we could square the circle of MAGA turning us into a fucking MAGA Nazi state by just starting all over.

We have a military junta run the country while we hold a Constitutional Convention that would have sweeping powers to reform things so we can bounce back. But, like I said, about 48% of the population LOVES what Trump is doing, so, lulz. It’s all very frustrating.

There just doesn’t seem to be anything we can do to fix this particular situation. At least in the near term. Either we slide into autocracy with our eyes wide open or Trump and Musk finally do something so outrageous that there’s, like, a General Strike and the U.S. Military is forced to step in.

Who knows what is going to happen.

Late Night TV Is Probably Going To Be Purged Soon

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As Trump and Musk’s putsch continues to rampage through the U.S. Government and society, it seems that inevitably they will turn their attention to late night TV. As I understand it, Putin purged Russia’s late night TV as he consolidated power in the early years of his regime.

I don’t know exactly how it will happen, but it seems clear that something we take for granted — a free and open society, is about to implode into tyranny. And, as such, I think in a few months all the late night TV shows — including Saturday Night Live — will either be canceled or neutered in some way.

This is inevitable. It seems like a political force of nature at the moment. There’s just nothing we can do. We’re going to wake up and America won’t be free any more. And I suspect it’s going to happen a lot sooner than you might think.

It could be days or weeks, not months.

But, so many people are just happy to see “scary brown people” in camps that they’re willing to put up with just about anything, I suppose.

General Strike!

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I only feel comfortable writing any of this because absolutely no one listens to me. If I felt anyone would actually listen to me on this subject, I would keep my thoughts to myself. So, in a sense, this is just mental masturbation to make myself feel better.

Having said all that, I suspect it’s at least possible that at some point after Social Security checks fail to be issued (probably at the end of this month) there might be some momentum towards real collective direct action in the guise of something pretty huge like a Blue General Strike.

I say this because neither Trump, nor Musk is going anywhere and the only way to get rid of one or both of them is to do something really fucking drastic, like crash the national (global?) economy by having a General Strike.

Of course, there is a risk that doing such a thing would play into Trump’s hands by giving him the right to declare martial law. I suspect he’s bound to do this anyway, so, lulz, bring it on.

And, yet, I think there is also a chance that Blue’s just don’t have it in them collectively to do something so dramatic and drastic. So, Trump and Musk will consolidate power and I will live in a MAGA dystopian hellscape for the rest of my life.

Sigh.