The One and Only True King and His Loyal Subject

 This is exactly what Drumpf's voters asked for.  And now they're getting it.

Meet your new South African overlord Ma and Pa MAGA.  Best get used to it.

---TFG

Why Do The Good Guys Need Pardoning??

This is the crazy, ass-backward state of affairs where MAGA voters have brought the world's most powerful nation and premier democracy.

We are at a point as country and a people where an outgoing, popularly elected POTUS finds himself facing the prospect of having to issue wholly unnecessary, preemptive presidential pardons to Democratic AND Republican lawmakers who dared to investigate the crimes of Donald J. Trump and hold him accountable.

These pardons are not being considered by President Biden because any of the individuals who might be the recipient of one have committed any crimes or wrongdoing.  No, this is happening because a crooked, traitorous, vengeance-obsessed thug convinced a bunch of willfully ignorant, morally destitute Americans that he cared about them and as their savior and champion would fix all of their worldly problems.

Essentially, Drumpf wants to abuse his newly anointed SCOTUS immunity and presidential powers and use the DOJ as his own personal vengeance agency to seek out, in the words of his own toadies, "retribution" for those who dared to see him face the same justice that any other American would have to face for having committed the very same crimes DonOld committed.

 

   Link: Biden reportedly considering preemptive pardons for Trump critics | Joe Biden | The Guardian

This is the sad reality and embarrassing dumbassery that the very lousiest of our citizens have forced upon us all.

 

 

---TFG

 

The Dark Clouds of MAGA/DOGE Are Rolling In

Now that President-elect Elon Musk has cemented his role within the Drumpf administration part deux, it might be a good time for Ma and Pa MAGA to seriously reevaluate the moral values decisions that brought them to a point in their lives where they would support a convicted felon, rapist, crooked "businessman," con artist, and coup-plotting traitor who views their kind as exploitable and expendable trash.

 

                     Link: Musk Draws First Blood With Spending Bill Bombshell

This is what Ma and Pa MAGA voter voted for.  Apparently they were so upset about the cost of eggs and gas, or some other such stupid shit, that they opted to give complete power over their lives to a carpet-bagging, South African, megalomaniac, immigrant billionaire who could not give less of a fuck about their welfare and views them as nothing but useful idiot steppingstones to more wealth and power for himself.

Helluva fucking job Drumpf voters.  You went and blew yourselves up and made us all economic slaves to some truly evil people.  And now it is nearly time for you, for all of us, to reap the whirlwind which you MAGA chowderheads have sown.

 

 

---TFG

 

MAGA Voters - No Regerts, Right?

To each and every one of you who voted for Donald Drumpf on November 5th of this year: This - Is - Exactly - What - You - Voted - For.

When you folks cast your ballots for Donald Trump on November 5th you all, each and every on of you, consciously approved of giving the wealthiest individual on this planet and newly hired economic advisory kingpin to a sitting US President, a South African immigrant billionaire who blows up $100 million rockets as a leisure time activity, free reign to threaten Republicans in Congress and goad Congress in to shutting down the US government through the new year and into late January and essentially forcing millions of US workers and US military personnel to go without pay until King Donald and Viceroy Elmo have control of the levers of power on January 20th, and God knows what manner of evil they have planned at that stage.

The degenerate old sonofabitch hasn't even set foot back in the White House yet and he and his cabal of un-American ratfuckers are already setting the stage for chaos and misery directed at the American people.

 

 Link: https://bsky.app/profile/repdonbeyer.bsky.social/post/3ldmdxo3stk2n

 

 

--- TFG

 

 

 

Again With the Conspiracies. Give it a F'kn Break Already MAGA.

Is anyone else as sick of these performative, painfully fucking insufferable MAGA jagoffs as The Gadfly is?  Yeesh!

JfC, they are nauseating, aren't they?  And redundantly dumb too, believing in and peddling the same old tired, kooky, conspiracy idiocies over and over again.

These lunatics actually believe that Covid was a Biden/Fauci engineered pandemic to make Drumpf look bad, wreck his beautiful tariff-ravaged economy, and kill more than 7 million globally and more than a million Americans.  And now, to keep the conspiracy blood pumping in their feeble minds, they think Biden, the evil Wizard of the North, is going engineer yet another viral contagion to kill millions more humans and God knows how many red-state Americans.  😕

Drumpf hasn't even been inaugurated yet and his willfully under-educated groupies are already laying the groundwork to blame their dear leader's coming leadership failures on Biden and other laughably manufactured "enemy" forces.  Why?  Because that is what MAGA does.  They lie and they obfuscate and they blame, and their underdeveloped brains, very much like their morality, is as malleable as 'Silly Putty.'

In 2016 MAGA voters purposely chose NOT to hold Drumpf accountable for his lifetime of criminal, financial, and predatory crimes, and his degenerate personal public behavior.  They heard their orange deity's own voice on tape bragging about how he could randomly sexually assault any woman and get away with it because he is "a star."

In 2020 MAGA voters purposely chose NOT to hold DonOld accountable for his Ukraine criminal acts that got him impeached the first time.  They ignored the ginormous betrayal of his base with his billionaires-friendly tax plan.  And many of them suffered, and died due to his massive failure in competently dealing with the Covid pandemic which resulted in the US having the MOST infections and the MOST deaths of any country on the planet.  Thankfully he lost.

And then in 2024, after the 34 felony convictions, after the other indictments, after the business fraud judgments, after his defamation judgment that got him labeled by a US court as a 'rapist,' after his inciting his fascist flock to commit violence and cause the deaths of several people, and put many law enforcement personnel in the hospital in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, MAGA voters STILL decided that Donald Drumpf was their man for POTUS. 

So why on God's green Earth would Ma and Pa MAGA all of a sudden begin to give a serious flying fuck about their dementia-ravaged dear leader's ability to handle the actual job duties of the US Presidency, competently deal with all manner of crises, and see properly to his nation's health and welfare?  Well, that's just it.  They don't care.  They have never cared.  That much is clear enough to those who care to see it.

Here's the deal though.  They won, right?  MAGA.  Drumpf.  They won it all, right?  Ok then.  Let's call that a settled point.  Just remember this though - every bad thing that happens in this country after January 20th, 2025 will be ALL on Drumpf.  And more importantly, it will also be ALL on the MAGA monkey House and MAGA voters.  This nation and it's survival is ALL theirs to fuck up for ALL of us.

Link: MAGA fans think Biden is going to start another pandemic to sabotage Trump's admin: report - Raw Story

"To hear Donald Trump tell it, his first administration was on a roll and doing well until the 2020 pandemic hit the country and shut down the global economy. Now conspiracy theorists think that President Joe Biden will try to sabotage a new incoming administration by starting another plague or even a civil war."

Idiots.

--- TFG

'I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs CEOs who voted for the 'Leopards Eating CEOs Faces Candidate.'

Lol!  What exactly did these CEO's think was going to happen when they pumped millions of their corporate money into the presidential campaign of an individual whose primary motivation for running for POTUS a second time was to keep himself out of federal prison?

Did these CEO's not believe Drumpf's threats to rule as a dictator?  Did they not believe he would appoint his criminal consorts, and frighteningly unqualified apparatchiks to high office and critical agencies?  Did they not understand the intent behind his threats to start tariff wars with not only China, but our closest and most trusted trading partners too?  Do they not comprehend the desire by Drumpf to do to American corporate CEO's that which his mentor Vladimir Putin has done to Russian CEO's?  And can they not see the reality of what a consumer unfriendly, dictator-supporting corporate agenda will do to economically wreck the US economy, an economy that Joe Biden had rescued from Drumpf's previous ratfuckery and was nurturing back to health?

If there is any wonder where these CEO's and their loyalty will align themselves when the day arrives and Drumpf, hell-bent on revenge, begins his terror campaign of anti-constitutional orders and unlawful commands to his apparatchiks to begin the process of declaring martial law and clamping down on civil liberties and the defense of 1st amendment rights, there shouldn't be.  Just go Google the history of how big business bent the knee to Hitler and the Nazi party in 1930's Germany.  There's historical precedent for what we are on the cusp of witnessing occur in 21st century America.

And here's another pro-tip - there isn't a planet in our galaxy where these CEO's will be able to hide out and evade eventual accountability for their financially supporting an authoritarian dictator who would try to end the American experiment.

Link: Panicked CEO's left 'scratching their heads' as Trump ignores their warnings: WSJ - Raw Story

 

--- TFG

 

It's Vladimir Putin's Best Christmas Ever With Drumpf's Reelection

Link: Trump’s New Team Is a Gift to America’s Enemies

 

"Their incompetence will weaken the United States."  True.

"Their instability will leave them vulnerable to being compromised."  True.

But this is what Ma and Pa MAGA-American voted for.  This is what they wanted for the country.

Right❓

And let's be clear.  Drumpf's desire to regain access to the oval office was driven by two intertwined motives.

One - he wanted to avoid prison time.  Mission accomplished.  And two - he wants revenge.  These shitty people for nominees in his cabinet and critical positions is DonOld's way of revenge against America and his detractors and better Americans for trying to hold him accountable for his crimes.

And Ma and Pa MAGA voted for that too.

Drumpf hasn't even set foot back inside the White House yet, and he has already produced nothing but mayhem, chaos and fear.  It will never get any better folks, and if the behavior of past despots in world history is any indication, it will only worsen until something has to break.  And if what breaks is the will of the American people to stand up to his and MAGA's thuggery, democracy and the concept of a free and 'United' States of America is officially dead.

 

 

--- TFG

 

Orange Shitler - Aspiring Tyrant of The Year

Drumpf and his sycophants are crowing about Time Magazine announcing their choice of Drumpf as their "Person of the Year" cover for the new year.

Well, besides the fact that Time Magazine hasn't been a relevant presence in US journalism since before the most recent change of the millennia, it's moderately humorous because even though Time has selected US Presidents over the years for their "Person of the Year" cover, in this case, DonOld's groupies are celebrating the sad reality that their dear leader will in fact be lumped in with the sullied catalog of despots and aspiring dictators who Time has also opted to fete as their chosen "Person of the Year" on the cover of their rag for nearly the past century, including this delightful fellow:

 

 

 Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year

 

 

--- TFG

 

Welcome to the New Polio-Ravaged Red States of America

Link: Trump nominee's top ally calls for polio vaccines to be pulled from market: report - Raw Story 

Here's a middling challenge for The Gadfly's Drumpf-supporting friends and family members.  Are you ready?

Ok.  In 500 words or less, rationally, coherently, and factually explain to The Gadfly how facilitating the return of an insidious childhood disease that maimed and killed hundreds of thousands prior to the advent of the vaccine pioneered by Dr. Jonas Salk, makes America great again?  Go ahead.  Take your time.

Thanks for playing along.

--- TFG

The Coming Revolution Against Capitalist Greed

And then some credulously wonder how it is that a sizable number of Americans cheered or shrugged their shoulders at the recent, cold-blooded murder of United Healthcare's (UHC) CEO, Brian Thompson.

To be clear, there is no moral justification for such a crime, none.  However, considering the caliber of evil that we are dealing with here, it sure as fuck is understandable and I really don't give a shit if that view bothers the political elites in our country since they themselves have played a significant role in pushing our society to this unfortunate juncture to begin with.

Sadly, what happened to Brian Thompson is likely just the beginning of a simmering backlash from a movement of citizens who are tired of being taken advantage of by their fellow greedy, uncaring Americans.  And it goes without saying that with Drumpf constructing a cabinet and administration stocked full of billionaires and millionaires, it will only help hasten the arrival of even more and bloodier class warfare in the US.

Link: https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealthcare-insurance-autism-denials-applied-behavior-analysis-medicaid

--- TFG

The Gadfly is Confident That About 3 in 10 Americans Are Clinically Insane

Not that The Gadfly needed any additional confirmation from a major news organization, but it's become pretty damn clear that around a third of this nation's adults have consciously chosen to live their lives inside of a disinformation mega-bubble.

How do you fix this level of willful stupidity?  I don't think you can.  I think the only kind of lesson that will remedy such feeble mindedness is something that will strike terror and horror into the populace to such an extreme extent that it snaps them out of their stupor, something along the lines of a Great Depression or a World War.

MAGA Americans are steering the US toward one of those two unpleasant ends it appears, and pity them when the time comes for everyone to share in the reckoning from the consequences of them succeeding in their mission:

Link: AP-NORC poll finds low confidence in Trump on Cabinet picks | AP News

A functioning democracy won't remain functioning for very long when a sizable portion of it's citizenry aspires to be obtuse and cartoonishly stupid.

--- TFG

Well Looky Looky Here . . .

Don't look now but the FBI informant who had claimed President Biden had taken millions in bribes from Ukraine energy conglomerate Burisma admitted TODAY, in federal court, that he made the whole thing up, and that he started peddling new lies, lies which were used by Trumpublicans in Congress and MAGA operatives to publicly attack the Bidens, AFTER meeting with Russian intelligence.

DonOld and his mentor Uncle Vlad really pulled a fast one on Ma and Pa MAGA didn't they?  Yessiree, you really have to applaud the teamwork and handiwork employed to bamboozle Drumpf's cult into believing that a diaper-wearing, dementia-ravaged fake billionaire who bankrupted every business venture he ever started, was the fix to every single economic and social issue that the feeble minds of MAGA Americans believe to be wrong with the country, and thus deserving of return to the White House.

The reality of course is always something different and in this case it's that in the process of sending an unrepentant rapist, convicted felon and coup-plotter back into the American White House it appears his voters may very well have also delivered the long sought victory over the evil American empire that Uncle Vlad and his totalitarian komrades have been yearning for since the end of World War 2.

God-damned MAGA idiots.

 

 Link: gov.uscourts.cacd.949422.9.0.pdf

Some dare call it treason.

--- TFG

Elmo's $270 Million Investment In Drumpf's Campaign = BIG PAYOUT

This also is something you Trump supporters voted for.

You voted to vastly increase the billions in wealth of the planet's wealthiest billionaire.

And as your reward, Drumpf put this billionaire in charge of deciding which of you deserves to have social security, pensions, and healthcare coverage in your elderly years of age and retirement.

Lotsa luck with that kids.

 

Link: Elon Musk’s Net Worth Skyrocketed After Striking Up Bromance With Trump 

 

 

--- TFG 

 

Brazenly Announcing their Corruption

This is what you voted for Trump supporters.  The continuation of the Drumpf family grift.

This is the corruption and the greed, the trashing of decency, and the selling out of our country and our shared democracy and American values that you all opted for because eggs were too expensive or some such brain achingly, stupid ass shit.

Eric 'the Lesser' appears to be graduating from scamming kids cancer charities to moving into the old man's world of international underworld grifting.

Based on DonOld's long, well-documented history of talking about how much he loves the Saudis, Eric no doubt already has a leg up with the reporter-murdering Arab oil sheikhs.

Give these shitheels time and it won't be long before they are announcing Drumpf Tower projects in Moscow, Beijing, and Pyongyang too.  Because that's just how fascist BFF despots roll.

Yes DonOld, we know you have so many friends from Saudi Arabia.  And that is precisely why you are a walking national security threat.

--- TFG

The Dark Days of MAGA Power-Tripping Yet to Come

Drumpf is plainly telling us that he is planning to usher in America's own time of "the Troubles."

He is going to use the DOJ to corruptly cover up his own crimes and persecute his perceived detractors and "enemies," and shut down the press if he can.  It wouldn't be beyond the pale for him to stage his own "Reichstag Fire" moment allowing him to suspend the Constitution and civil liberties and essentially rule this nation as the dictator that he has openly stated he wants to be.

This will not end well for DonOld or America.

 

"President-elect Donald Trump is sending a clear, and dark, message to his supporters with his renewed vow to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters as soon as he takes office, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance told MSNBC's Ari Melber on Monday evening.

Specifically, she argued, he is telling his supporters that no matter how many crimes they commit, he will have their back as long as the crime was on his behalf."

Link: Ex-prosecutor flags Trump's 'frightening' message to loyalists to 'use violence' - Raw Story

 

 

---TFG

Drumpf's Failures Will Be America's Saving Grace

I have never wished for my country to fail, but things have changed.  Quite simply, it boils down to this.  Any "success" by Drumpf and his 'Project 2025' domestic terrorist pals translates to misery for millions and that will never be acceptable on any level.

This is the embarrassing, insidious assholery that MAGA voted for. Let's hope they fucking choke on it, even if the rest of us have to choke along with them to some degree.

"Trump revived a joke early Tuesday on Truth Social that sources claimed had "caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously" after the meeting.

"It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada," Trump posted at 12:06 a.m., degrading the prime minister's office and the autocracy of his nation.

"I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all! DJT.""

 Link: Trump belittles Canada's 'Governor' Justin Trudeau in degrading late-night post - Raw Story

 

 --- TFG

Who Did Nazi This Coming?

Link: 'Where’s my German friends?' Trump hosts far-right German activists who defended Nazis - Raw Story

"President-elect Donald Trump recently hosted several members of the far-right German political party whose top leaders have gone on the record defending Nazi war criminals.

That's according to the Guardian, which reported that a group of AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) members recently traveled to Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Trump's 2024 election victory. The incoming president was seen posing for photos with far-right Bundestag candidate Philipp-Anders Rau, who the Guardian described as a "purported semi-professional, one-time porn actor, self-confessed former cocaine user [and] convicted thief.""

 

It really would be nice if someone from the MAGA side of the fence could coherently educate The Gadfly as to how it is that an American President catering to known Nazi sympathizers is a way to "Make America Great Again?"

In fact, it would be nice if someone could explain this shit, and explain it to The Gadfly like he's five years old, mkay?

Ffs.  

It's only going to get worse after Drumpf and his administration of freak show nominees, shady billionaires, and their Project 2025 grifter pals get their greedy, corrupt, and compromised hands on control of the levers of US governmental power.  And with an incoming convicted felon POTUS promising to govern this nation as a "dictator," it just means we are getting one step closer to the day when the people of this country discover who will be America's "good Germans" and who won't.

 

 

--- TFG

 

Coming Soon: The Diseased States of America

Yet another horrifying consequence facing this country as a result of foolish Americans voting to put a convicted felon, rapist and compromised con artist back into the White House.

If you thought Drumpf getting more than a million Americans killed with his criminally negligent handling of the Covid pandemic was bad, wait until his nominee for Health & Human Services, a former heroin addict, a serial adulterer (seemingly a prerequisite for a job in a Drumpf admin), and a quack science, conspiracy-peddling anti-vaccine nutjob starts diddling with our public health infrastructure and long-standing, medical and science-based public health policies.

RFK Jr. in charge of safeguarding the public health of every single man, woman, and child in this nation is Drumpf's way of appeasing the darkest and looniest elements of his base of MAGA cult followers and it very could get a lot more Americans killed prematurely, more so if he is allowed to inject his own conspiracy-tinted views into his decision-making process as head of this agency steering public health policy for the entire country.

𝙉𝙋𝙍 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙍𝙁𝙆 𝙅𝙧.'𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 "𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙙, 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙤."

𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙃𝙤𝙙𝙜𝙚, 𝙖 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣𝙖 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮'𝙨 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙖 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙊'𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙖𝙬, 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙆𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙃𝙎 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙮 -- 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙," 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙. "𝙒𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙮."

𝙇𝙖𝙬𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣, 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙖𝙩 𝙂𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙆𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙙𝙮'𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙, "𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣."

"He's going to make America sick again."  Sicker than the America that voted to put a rapist and felonious mobster back in the White House?  That's pretty damn sick, isn't it?

--- TFG

Meet Your New Billionaire Overlords America...

This is the government you wanted MAGA voters.

You asked for this and now you're going to get it.  Boy, are you all really going to get it.

You dipshits wanted to be ruled over by a bunch of shady billionaires and grifting con artists who are accountable to nobody but themselves and the convicted felon who hired them.  Well, you done got your wish:

"Dᴏɴᴀʟᴅ Tʀᴜᴍᴘ ʜᴀꜱ ᴛᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ ᴀ ᴅᴏᴢᴇɴ ꜰᴇʟʟᴏᴡ ʙɪʟʟɪᴏɴᴀɪʀᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ʜɪɢʜ-ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ ʀᴏʟᴇꜱ ɪɴ ʜɪꜱ ɪɴᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴀᴅᴍɪɴɪꜱᴛʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ'ꜱ ᴡᴇᴀʟᴛʜɪᴇꜱᴛ ᴍᴀɴ.

Tʜᴇ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇꜱɪᴅᴇɴᴛ'ꜱ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ Cᴀʙɪɴᴇᴛ ɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ $10 ʙɪʟʟɪᴏɴ, ᴀᴄᴄᴏʀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇꜱᴇᴀʀᴄʜ ʙʏ Axɪᴏꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴏɴᴘʀᴏꜰɪᴛ Aᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀɴꜱ ꜰᴏʀ Tᴀx Fᴀɪʀɴᴇꜱꜱ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ Tʀᴜᴍᴘ'ꜱ ᴀᴘᴘᴏɪɴᴛᴇᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ꜱʟᴀꜱʜ ɢᴏᴠᴇʀɴᴍᴇɴᴛ ꜱᴘᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ, Eʟᴏɴ Mᴜꜱᴋ ᴀɴᴅ Vɪᴠᴇᴋ Rᴀᴍᴀꜱᴡᴀᴍʏ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴘ ᴏꜰ ʜɪꜱ ᴀᴅᴍɪɴɪꜱᴛʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʜᴀꜱ ɴᴇᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ʜɪɢʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇ GDP ᴏꜰ ʜᴜɴᴅʀᴇᴅꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʀɪᴇꜱ, ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅɪɴɢ Cʜɪʟᴇ ᴀɴᴅ Nᴇᴡ Zᴇᴀʟᴀɴᴅ.

"Pʀᴇꜱɪᴅᴇɴᴛ-ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛ Tʀᴜᴍᴘ ʜᴀꜱ ᴀꜱꜱᴇᴍʙʟᴇᴅ ᴀɴ ᴀᴅᴍɪɴɪꜱᴛʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴜɴᴘʀᴇᴄᴇᴅᴇɴᴛᴇᴅ, ᴍɪɴᴅ-ʙᴏɢɢʟɪɴɢ ᴡᴇᴀʟᴛʜ — ꜱᴍᴀꜱʜɪɴɢ ʜɪꜱ ᴏᴡɴ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ-ᴛᴇʀᴍ ʀᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ ʙʏ ʙɪʟʟɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴏʟʟᴀʀꜱ," Axɪᴏꜱ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛᴇᴅ. "Pʀᴇꜱɪᴅᴇɴᴛ Bɪᴅᴇɴ'ꜱ Cᴀʙɪɴᴇᴛ, ʙʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀʀɪꜱᴏɴ, ᴡᴀꜱ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀɴ ᴇꜱᴛɪᴍᴀᴛᴇᴅ $118 ᴍɪʟʟɪᴏɴ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄᴇ, ᴀᴄᴄᴏʀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ Fᴏʀʙᴇꜱ.""

Link: 'Mind-boggling wealth': Trump said to be assembling 'government of billionaires' - Raw Story

Drumpf's billionaire boys club is going to feast on the entrails of democracy while turning a nation of 330 million into their own private slave labor pool and gutting any government services or programs that benefit and improve the quality of life of non-billionaire and non-millionaire, working Americans.  I can't wait for the suffering to begin.

--- TFG

Billionaires Taking Away Healthcare From Veterans - Welcome to the Age of MAGA

George Carlin warned us that they (the oligarchs, and broligarchs) were coming after our social security our Medicare, our pensions, our quality of life, all to enrich themselves even further and entrench their dominant power over those who govern our nation.  He wasn't wrong.

Now, with the convicted felon and rapist back to running the White House freak show, DonOld's hired billionaire twins Musk and Ramaswamy are now stating their intentions to come after healthcare for our veterans as well.  And it shouldn't go unmentioned that the Trumpublicans have already come after the reproductive healthcare of women and the healthcare for the 20 million Americans who are enrolled in the federal Affordable Care Act healthcare plans.  They want it all back so they can, as Carlin observed, give it to their crooked hedge fund, vulture capitalist pals on Wall Street.

That and to enrich themselves with ever more tax cuts and subsidies for their own business ventures.  This is what you MAGA dummies voted for.  Enjoy the next four years as your orange demigod corruptly dismantles your seemingly comfortable Murican' way of life.

😠

Every damn word of this:

Link: https://x.com/JoJoFromJerz/status/1864790496544956453

--- TFG

Elmo's "War" on Grandpa and Grandma and the Poor

The Gadfly can't wait to see the faces of the Ma and Pa MAGAs who subsist on Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid seeing their benefits slashed when the world's wealthiest individual implements his 'Project 2025' inspired "Government Efficiency" agenda.  That is going to be a sight to see.

 

Link: Watchdogs say world's richest man Elon Musk has 'declared war on Social Security' - Raw Story 

"Interesting thread," Musk, the world's richest man, wrote late Monday in response to the posts by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who once said he hopes to pull Social Security "up by the roots and get rid of it," along with Medicare and Medicaid.

In his new thread, Lee characterized Social Security—which lifts more Americans above the poverty line than any other federal program—as a "tax plan" insidiously disguised as a retirement plan and condemned the Social Security Act of 1935 as one of many "deceptive sales techniques the U.S. government has used on the American people."

 

George Carlin was right when he talked about how the oligarchs are coming for our Social Security and our Medicare and that they would get every penny of it because it's they and not we the people who truly own this country and everything in it, including serfs like us.

 

 

 --- TFG

"All The Best People . . ."

The latest convicted felon to join Drumpf's mafia Presidency.  Peter Navarro was released from federal prison only 120 days ago.

Along with the eight billionaires who he has nominated for positions so far, it appears that DonOld is constructing a kleptocratic, banana republic regime full of greedy billionaires and crooks - just like himself.

This is what you voted for Trumpublicans.  A literal criminal enterprise ruling over your country.  May the decision of those Americans who voted to put this piece of traitorous, criminal shit back in the White House come back to haunt them all.

--- TFG

Send Out the Clown, Send In the Bigger Clown

Well, that was fun, wasn't it?  Puddles was a refreshing break from the dark reality that is about to descend upon this nation.  Hope you enjoyed it (https://thefrolickinggadfly.blogspot.com/2024/12/and-now-for-something-completely.html).

But since we are on the subject of clowns, let's get back to talking about the big, fat, greasy orange clown who is about to take control of the reins of power of the world's most technologically and militarily advanced superpower nation on the planet.  In essence, Americans have literally handed the US Presidency to the Lex Luthor of South Florida with the horsehair toupee.

Why is that?  Well, take his atrocious nominees for high level positions in our government for example.  Specifically his nominee for US Secretary of Defense, which overseas all branches of the US military.  Drumpf handpicked Fox "news" TV show co-host Pete Hegseth for that top national security sensitive, military leadership position, one that is second only to POTUS who is Commander-in-Chief for command and authority of the US military.

It has already been reported on that Hegseth is a serial adulterer, and that he has aped white nationalist propaganda publicly, and that he paid hush money to a woman in 2017 to shut her up about Hegseth having sexually assaulted her at a hotel, an assault which the woman victim characterized as date "rape." 

Well, unsurprisingly, it looks like some more bad news is coming out about Pete:

 

 Link: https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-family-values/

"A new report detailed how Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, ruined his marriage after repeatedly cheating on his first wife.

Sources revealed to Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman that Hegseth admitted to then-wife Meredith Schwarz that he had been unfaithful in November 2008, four years after being wed.

"According to a source, he showed up at Schwarz's parents' house in Forest Lake wearing his Army uniform and admitted his infidelity," Sherman wrote.

Hegseth spoke to Schwarz's brother by phone for four hours the following day, a source told the reporter.

"Pete said he no longer believed in God and family values. He claimed he no longer wanted to seek the limelight. He said, and this quote is as clear as day, 'I'm a f---ed up individual,'" the source said."

 

What's interesting here is this incident occurred in 2008, nine years before the sexual assault/rape in 2017 and before he was forcefully removed from two veterans organizations for financial and other misconduct [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/02/pete-hegseth-non-profit-allegations]

Hegseth is literally a boiling cauldron of unfitness for higher office as has ever existed.  And nobody seems to question why Drumpf is nominating people to critical positions in our government who are both unqualified and manifestly unfit for those positions?  You can't tell The Gadfly that nobody in Drumpf's campaign structure bothered to vet Hegseth's past.  That is utter bullshit.  They knew what a dirtbag Hegseth is, but he's a Drumpf boot-licking toady and that is the only qualification that matters to DonOld.

This is Drumpf's way of trying to bully this country into doing his anti-American bidding and if he gets away with it, America and democracy will be endangered.

 

 

--- TFG

 

And Now For Something Completely Different - a Musical Interlude . . .

. . . alrighty then . . .

The Gadfly thinks it be time to post something that doesn't have a damned thing to do with Orange Shitler or his loony, fascism-minded cult following.  And The Gadfly can think of no better way to suppress the horror of Generalissimo Drumpf's return to the scene of previous crimes that got him impeached twice, than a couple of videos of an longtime Gadfly YouTube favorite 'Puddles Pity Party' and the booming baritone voice of 'Big' Mike Geier:

Puddles will be touring with Weird Al Yankovic next year.  Hope they play some place close to The Gadfly's neck of the woods. What a whimsical combo, Puddles and Weird Al.  Enjoy.

---TFG

Ye Shall Know Him by the Company He Keeps

 

 

Link: Trump Hosted Phillipp-Anders Rau, Far-Right Alleged Porn Star, at Mar-a-Lago on Election Day

 

"Donald Trump posed for a photo and shook hands with a convicted far-right German politician, who allegedly appeared in professional pornographic films, at Mar-a-Lago on election day.

Phillipp-Anders Rau, 41, a Bundestag candidate for the populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, was found guilty of stealing from a hotel in 2009 and was thrown out of university in 2015 for doctoring his high school transcripts, according to legal records. He denies appearing in porn movies."

These are the kind of people who Drumpf surrounds himself with.  It really is a cabal of scumbaggery that leaves you breathless when you contemplate the full scope of the type of lackeys that Drumpf is trying to install in key cabinet positions.

This country is going to deserve the pain and misery of the next four years for allowing Drumpf to regain the White House, and it has to be stated very clearly right now that there will be no forgiveness, empathy, or sympathy from these quarters for those MAGAs whose quality of life is going to be severely impacted by Drumpf's Project 2025 assholery.

 

 

--- TFG

 

 

DonOld Drumpf and the Art of De-regulating America

 

Link: Trump privatization plan will add thousands a year to typical mortgage: expert - Raw Story 

 

Here's yet another way in which Drumpf is going to economically fuck over Americans with his wingnut MAGA policies:

𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙕𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙮'𝙨, "𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 $1,200 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮." 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 — 𝙖𝙙𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 "𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 $1,800 𝙖𝙣𝙙 $2,800 𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙕𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝘾𝙉𝙉 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨" — 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨.

𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧-𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 2008 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚'𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩-𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙗𝙗𝙡𝙚.

𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥'𝙨 𝙧𝙚-𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝, 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙥 𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 6.8 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩.

 

--- TFG

 

 

Drumpf Hates China Except When They are Putting $ in His Pocket

Link: A Chinese national, charged with fraud by the SEC, just sent Donald Trump $18 million

 

Drumpf hasn't even set foot back in the White House yet and he is already making sleazy kickback deals with his Chinese friends.  But sure America, go on deluding yourselves that DonOld has your best interest in mind when making these shady deals.

This is the sleaze and corruption that you MAGA folks voted for.  Just know this - when everything starts going sideways in the middle of Drumpf's next term, The Gadfly doesn't want to hear one goddamn word out of any of you Trump-voting idiots crying in their soup about how his policies are impacting your precious lives, mkay?

--- TFG

An Indefensible Choice for Secretary of Defense

Link: Pete Hegseth’s Secret History | The New Yorker

 

Oh wow.  So not only is Drumpf's Secretary of Defense nominee, and part-time Fox "news" TV show host Pete Hegseth an alleged/accused rapist, he was also forcefully removed from leadership positions in two separate non-profit Veterans organizations because of "financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct."

𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 2017, 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩-𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘿𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙙 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚. 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥’𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧, 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚. “𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣,” 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙.

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝’𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡-𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙭 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙏𝙑 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩, 𝙞𝙣 2017, 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙’𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚. 𝘼 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙣—𝙑𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙑𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖—𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩.

Drumpf is scraping the bottom of the dregs barrel for his toady cabinet nominees and in the process he is making this country a whole helluva lot less secure not just for the men in women in uniform who would be ruled over by Drumpf's rapist and grifter buddy Pete Hegseth, but also for every single American citizen.  This is the freak show that you Trump voters opted for.  Heckuva job you fucking idiots.

--- TFG

The Expected Outcome of Allowing a Rapist to Make Hiring Decisions

I am convinced that there will be no happy ending to the second reign of Drumpf for the MAGA faithful. Mark those words.

How does The Gadfly know this?

Well, it's a pretty easy thing to predict when the leader of MAGA's cult continues to hire people for critical positions within his administration who are wholly unqualified buffoons.  

A prime example of that is Drumpf's selection of Fox weekend TV talk show co-host Pete Hegseth to be the next American Secretary of Defense.  The person in this position would be in charge of every branch of the US military, and sets the moral tone and example for millions of U.S. military personnel here at home and abroad.

Drumpf selected Hegseth not because of Hegseth's low-level officer military background.  Nor did he select Hegseth because he possesses any background in managing or leading large numbers of people in a complex governmental organization.  No, DonOld chose Pete Hegseth for the highest military position in our government because Hegseth hates the same people DonOld hates, mouths white nationalist talking points, and says nice things about DonOld on his Fox "news" TV show.

Here's how laughably badly DonOld and his people failed to vet, or more likely chose to ignore the background on Pete Hegseth.

First there's the history of Hegseth's serial adultery and workplace sexual shenanigans.  

Then we find out that Hegseth paid hush money to a woman whom he apparently raped after slipping a roofie into her drink in a 2017 incident at a hotel in California [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/police-report-details-alleged-sexual-assault-trumps-defense-pick-pete-rcna181137].  

Now we hear from Hegseth's own mother that he is a deeply damaged individual who apparently, according to his own mother, has an extensive history of treating women like shit.

Take a gander at what Mama Hegseth had to say about her own son, to his own face:

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝, 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩-𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘿𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙙 𝙅. 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥’𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚, 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙞𝙣 2018 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧.

“𝙊𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 (𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮) 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙮 … 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛,” 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙜𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚, 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚: “𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙨, 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙜𝙤. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣.

Link: Pete Hegseth’s Mother Accused Her Son of Mistreating Women for Years - The New York Times

Yikes!  Mama Hegseth kind of laid it all out on the table there, didn't she?  She knows her son has a history of treating women badly and was telling him so personally.

Now do you understand why Drumpf and his toadies don't want any of his appointees to undergo standard national security background checks by the FBI?  It's because he has a history of hiring shady, unsavory, morally repugnant yes men to surround himself with, that's why.

Putting Pete Hegseth in as the head of the DOD is essentially DonOld's way of giving every single American and every American soldier, airman, marine and sailor a big middle finger.  It's DonOld's way of saying to every one of us, "I am the King now, thou shalt bow to my will in all I do."

But this is what you asked for you Trump voters.  You voted for incompetence and unscrupulousness and phoniness, and soon enough the tragic results of that foolish choice will become unmistakably clear, even for those MAGAs whose wool is pulled the tightest over their own eyes.

--- TFG

 

America's Willful Ignorance Problem

If anyone has ever seriously wondered how a highly developed, technologically advanced, 21st century western nation that is the leader of the free world could elect a convicted felon, serial adulterer, rapist, serial sexual assaulter, tax cheat, business fraudster, racist, and coup-plotter to a second term as POTUS, look no further than the results of this survey.

A 2022 study was performed where Americans were queried as to what they believe the percentage of specific groups of people in the US were in our population, and frankly, the replies left The Gadfly speechless at the extent of such a colossal disconnect from reality.

Check this out:

Apparently, Americans believe:

❌ That 20% of US households earn over $1 million per year.  The actual number: less than 1%.

❌ That 21% of the US population is transgender.  The actual number: around 1%.

❌ That 27% of the US population are Muslim.  The actual number: around 1%.

❌ That 27% of US population are Native American.  The actual number: around 1%.

❌ That 30% of Americans are Jewish.  The actual number: around 2%.

❌ That 30% of Americans are gay or lesbian.  The actual number: around 3%.

❌ That 36% of American workers are in a union.  The actual number: around 4%.

❌ That 40% of Americans are black.  The actual number: around 12%.

😕

What this tells me is a story of how it came to be that a whole lot of supremely ignorant Americans fell hook, line and sinker for the lies of Drumpf, his enablers and toadies, Trumpublicans in Congress, the right-wing media (propaganda) ecosphere, and the Russian ratfuckers spreading disinformation on social media, and managed to put a twice-impeached felon, rapist and traitor into the American people's White House a second time.

I mean think about it though.  It stands to perfectly good reason that it wouldn't be very difficult for unscrupulous, deceitful, hidden agenda people to gaslight and con someone who is of the belief that 1 of every 5 of US households earns more than a million a year and that 40% of Americans are black, right?  And now you know how MAGA was born.

A democracy cannot maintain it's health and viability very long when a sizable number of it's citizens are walking around in knowledge and fact-starved stupors to such an extent as this.  We are sleepwalking as a country into an authoritarian idiocracy [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiocracy].

Link: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/americans-have-one-very-strange-cognitive

--- TFG

When We Said Get Rid of Illegals, We Didn't Mean THOSE Illegals...

Haha 😐.

The Gadfly is truly going to enjoy watching and listening to these Drumpf voting Republican business owners having a collective shit fit and embarrassing pangs of regret after Drumpf and his brownshirt/redhat brigade round up and deport the large pool of skilled, cheap labor that a whole lot of businesses across this country rely on.

And it isn't just the construction industry that is going to take a labor pool hit from Drumpf's draconian stupidity of rounding up 20 million humans, housing them in internment camps, then repatriating them to their home countries.  The Agriculture industry is bracing for some bad times as well, as are a lot of service industry companies, and even small mom and pop businesses.  

In addition, the, what The Gadfly refers to as 'menial labor' industry, dishwashers, landscapers, nannies, cleaning people, etc., that pool of labor is going to dry up too if Drumpf's mass deportation plan is implemented and carried out as DonOld's lackeys are publicly stating they will do.

Say, here's an idea just for shits and grins.

It is a fact that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in this country today entered LEGALLY and overstayed their visa expiration dates [https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/686056668/for-seventh-consecutive-year-visa-overstays-exceeded-illegal-border-crossings].

It is also a fact that the vast majority of them ARE not the villainous, murdering, raping criminals that the racist, lying sacks of shit Drumpf and MAGA claim they are [https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/undocumented-immigrant-offending-rate-lower-us-born-citizen-rate].

It is also a fact that the majority of them are embedded in the US workforce, and are paying taxes like most other American workers do [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-30/undocumented-immigrants-in-us-paid-nearly-100-billion-in-taxes].

And it it also a fact that many have established lives with families in communities across the country.  

So let's get in touch with these people. The Gadfly would wager that if given that if offered a path to amnesty and citizenship, most of those people who have overstayed their visas would jump at the chance to become legal citizens.  Let's offer them a road to amnesty and citizenship, let INS deal with them, and lets put our security focus on catching the tiny percentage of actual, criminal bad guys and killers who cross our borders illegally, hmm?

Go that route and The Gadfly can tell you right now that you wouldn't need to spend hundreds of millions, likely billions in taxpayer money mobilizing a vast government enforcement task force with agencies like ICE, CBP, and the US military to hunt down and round up and incarcerate tens of millions of people to accomplish such a mission.

But noooooo, 49.6% of the unthinking voters in this country decided they would elect the guy who promised to rule America as a dictator, and who would issue orders to round up 20 million humans, stage them in concentration camps, and then put them on freight trains bound for the border. Sadly, many of the voters in that 49.6% percentile apparently thought Orange Shitler was just bullshitting.

And now it is going to become a huge fucking fiasco, because that is what Drumpf does best - he is an agent of chaos.  Remember the golden rule - Everything Trump Touches Dies - remember that rule and you will never by surprised by the colossal failures of Donald Drumpf and the people he surrounds himself with.

 

Link: Trump's deportation vow alarms Texas construction industry : NPR

 

--- TFG

The Vengeanceᴘalooza 2025 Tour is About to Kick Off

Well.  This is the corruption in broad daylight that all of you Drumpf voters voted for.  

Thanks to your electoral support, DonOld going to come in, purge the United States Department of Justice of anyone who doesn't swear an oath of personal loyalty to him above all else, and who will unquestioningly perform his bidding to whitewash all investigatory evidence of DonOld's own crimes, fire anyone involved in any of his criminal investigations, and persecute those he has a personal hatred of.

This is how authoritarian dictatorships get started folks.  Don't ever fucking say you weren't warned that this was coming.

Link: Trump plans to fire Jack Smith’s team, use DOJ to probe 2020 election - The Washington Post

--- TFG