Too Venal for Words category archive
Russian Impulses 0
Trudy Rubin argues that Donald Trump is surrendering to Vlad the Invader. Here’s how she starts her column; follow the link for the rest.
The U.S. president demanded that Ukraine “replace” President Volodymyr Zelensky with someone willing to make “a deal” with the Kremlin to (supposedly) end the war. Yet the “deal” that Trump envisions would not end Russia’s aggression but would reward it.
Your Tax Dollars at Work 0
Farron discusses Donald Trump’s latest attempt to bribe voters.
Emoluments 0
Sharon Zhang follows the money.
The Art of the Deal 0
Donald Trump wants to spread his taint on the Kennedy Center. Via C&L, it’s gone pretty much like everything else Donald Trump has done. A snippet:
Follow the link for the evidence.
Influencer Idiocy 0
A “content” creator who “creates content” by assaulting people . . . .
(snip)
In the video, a person can be seen throwing a cheesesteak at an employee at the South Philadelphia restaurant.
The creator said he reviews restaurants and throws the food at employees if he doesn’t like it.
Yet another instance of “social” media rewarding antisocial behavior.
We are a society of stupid.
A Toddler Playing Soldier–with Real Soldiers 0
Thom looks at the havoc that Pete Hegseth is wreaking on America’s military and exposes the backstory.
Real Big Men 0
Via the Hartford Courant, military veteran Peter Kilduff looks at Pete Hegseth’s testosterone fetish and finds himself moved to poesy:
Follow the link for context.
Influencer Idiocy 0
Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! of mean for the sake of mean.
Froma Harrop has more on “influencers” . . . .
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
Indeed, it seems increasingly antisocial.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
An accessory after the fact? How about taking a peek under the coverup.
Bread and Circuses, Reprise
0
At the Hartford Courant, Thomas Cangelosi muses on what the word “great” seems to mean to Trump and the Trumpettes. A snippet (emphasis added):
But these first principles have been deflated by Trump’s inflated idea of “great.” His idea of great is a big, gaudy spectacle.
Who Can You Trust? 0
Mark Hermann warns us not to choose wrongly, like these persons did.
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
Via the Miami Herald, Mireille Rebeiz hears a rhyme in Donald Trump’s obsession with marking his territory like my old dog Beau spreading his taint renaming stuff.
Here’s a quatrain from the sonnet:
Sadly, history is rife with examples of dictators and fascists renaming things to glorify themselves, with dangerous consequences.
Follow the link for the–er–rather disturbing but quite a propos examples.
____________________
*Mark Twain.
Emoluments 0
It appears that Donald Trump may be presidenting for profit.
The Climates They Are a-Changing . . . 0
. . . and the Trump maladministration seems to thinks that global warming is really cool.
The Name Gamers 0
Ring of Fire’s Josh Gay discusses the TV show South Park’s renaming.