Well, I am happy to say I was wrong. Despite more than seven million people (possibly as many as 8.2 million) participating in the USA’s No King’s protest, the events were all peaceful, and the dictator Trump was unable to use any of them as a pretext to invoke the Insurrection Act, declare martial law, and start shooting and jailing American citizens. Trump spent his night posting AI videos and images of himself wearing a crown, including a video in which a crowned Trump in a fighter jet bombs No Kings protestors with feces. Yeah, he’s that childish. Can you imagine any other president doing that? Me, either.
It won’t end with the protestors going home, of course. The MAGA sycophants and their propaganda media spent far too much time telling their audience it was a “hate America” rally, it was full of HAMAS supporters and terrorists, that it would be violent and nasty to let it go. MAGA has too much invested in helping Putin achieve his agenda to destabilize the USA to admit they were wrong. Nor will the dictator stop posting his puerile comments and memes. From historian Heather Cox Richardson, a warning that some of his and the administration’s memes are far more serious than puerile, disrespectful trolling (emphasis added):
Then last night, after the protests, the president’s social media account posted an AI-generated video showing Trump in a fighter jet with “KING TRUMP” painted on the side. The president sits in the airplane in front of something round that could be seen as a halo. He is wearing a gold crown; weirdly, the oxygen mask is over his mouth and chin, rather than mouth and nose.
Once in the air, the plane drops excrement on American cities, including what seems to be New York City. The excrement drenches protesters, one of whom is 23-year-old liberal political commentator and influencer Harry Sisson. Journalist Aaron Rupar of Public Notice, who shares media clips that reflect politics, commented: “Trump posts AI video showing him literally dumping sh*t on America.” Historian Larry Glickman noted that media outlets make much of alleged Democratic disdain for ordinary Americans, but have had little to say about the disdain for Americans embodied by Trump’s video.
Several administration videos and images have responded to Americans saying “No Kings” by taking the position “Yes, We Want Kings,” an open embrace of the end of democracy. But they are more than simple trolling. Led by Trump, MAGA Republicans have abandoned the idea of politics, which is the process of engaging in debate and negotiation to attract support and win power. What is left when a system loses the give and take of politics is force.
And in the doomscrolling category, it seems Trump’s alleged “peace” in Gaza has already unravelled. Israel launched air strikes targeting central and southern Gaza and at least 40 Palestinians were killed on Sunday in Israeli attacks on Gaza – including on a school sheltering war-displaced civilians, with women and children among the dead. Are you surprised? Me, either. And what has Trump or his administration had to say about these and other violations of the ceasefire? Nada.
Sunday: Started with a 21-minute/135 cal pedal, followed by the rest of the exercises. I am trying to push myself further to get my knee bent past 120° this week. But it does hurt. Maybe I gave the narcotics back to the pharmacist too soon… Nah. I took only two during the first two weeks when the pain was the worst. I’m sure I can manage it without them now. Those two I took the first two nights after surgery, to help reduce the pain of climbing upstairs to get into bed. That was really painful, especially those first few hours after I was released from the hospital. I considered sleeping on the living room couch instead of making the climb, but decided I needed to get accustomed to the effort and the pain if I wanted to heal.
The pain medication I was prescribed included Tylenol, and I was supposed to take 4,000mg a day, or the total maximum recommended daily dosage (two extra-strength tablets, four times a day) for two weeks. But acetaminophen does not work as well on me for pain relief as ibuprofen. I cut back the Tylenol to three times a day right away, then twice a few days later, and stopped taking it entirely about a week-and-a-half after my surgery. I take an Advil at night before bed every three-four days now, usually when I’ve exercised late at night and my knee is very sore. It can help me sleep, and I hope it helps reduce the swelling.
Yesterday, while we were walking Bella (a 1.4km morning walk), we came to the intersection of Third and Oak Streets, to check the newly-opened bridge after months of construction shutdown. And what did we see? An old hydro pole rising from the asphalt, about 1.5m from a more recently-installed pole. What? Surely this is a liability and a hazard for drivers and cyclists. Why weren’t the wires and cables moved from it to the newer pole, as had been done all along the street many months ago? Why did the town allow this one to remain unchanged? Getting answers from townhall is often difficult to impossible, so I can only wonder why this was done and how long it will remain a hazard. Come winter, when the snow piles up, those traffic cones will either get buried or shoved aside by the plows… the logic behind this escapes me. More pics here and here.
Afternoon: I did a 21 min/150 cal pedal to start my second exercise cycle. I find that starting a cycle with pedalling helps loosen up my knee for the more aggressive lunge, compression, and bend exercises. But even so, by the end, I am stiff and sore, and it takes a bit of time to relax and loosen up a bit. I started my third set at 6 p.m. with a 21-min/160 cal pedal.
I started watching Predator 2 tonight, a 1990 movie, and the opening scene of gangs warring with police in downtown LA made me think that this is where the dictator Trump got his recent — and fantastically imagined — view of what Los Angeles was like: a warzone. After all, he has no realistic view of what the downtown of any American city is like, and his deranged, conspiracy-addled mind probably can’t tell the difference between fiction and reality. After all, he thought the fictional Hannibal Lector was a real person. I doubt any of the sycophants around him will (or can) enlighten him. Even if they knew better, they would still lie about it to please him.*
Monday: Early morning physio, so I didn’t exercise at home right away, although I did a 20-min pedal before leaving, just to help me limber up. The therapist is trying to push my leg further so it reaches the expected bend. It hurt, but it may be helping break through the scar tissue more. I won’t know if it worked until later in the week (and I’ve done more exercises at home). After lunch, I started my exercises with a 20-min/150 cal pedal.
Doomscrolling: I was not aware of FlashPoint or the rabid, pseudo-Christian, Talibangelist TV networks in the USA, but watching this video really gave me a scare. These people are in a truly evil cult and they clearly hate America. The vile and violent nonsense they spew is beyond anything I think of as reality. They are easily one of the best — if not the best — reasons to be an atheist. This is not religion nor faith: this is a cult, and a toxic one. And what’s scarier is that MAGA and the Repugnicans respect and defend the right of these despicable people to express their views in many media, but clutch their pearls and have shitfits when any Democrat or person on the left speaks up or marches in a peaceful No Kings protest.
A book I need to read: John Fugelsang’s “Separation of Church and Hate.” I have to wait for the paperback, of course.
“They don’t really follow this holy book they wave around like a prop,” Fugelsang tells Ali Velshi. Fugelsang argues that the rhetoric of Christianity “has been hijacked” by right-wingers and Christian nationalists whose ideology actually runs counter to the teachings of Jesus. Surprised? Me, either. I’ve been writing about and warning readers about the Talibangelists and Christofascists for years. Ever see one quote the Beatitudes? Or Matthew 25? Never. They always quote verses that justify their hatred and repression of others.
And then we got to read the bizarre, and stomach-churning story about how Trump eats his McDonalds food (spoiler alert: like a toddler): “He had hot fries waiting for him from McDonald’s,” Gruters said. “Then he had a filet-o-fish, a quarter pounder, and a big mac, and I think he combined two of them.” Plus, of course, the packets of fries. And he washes it all down with a soda pop.
Notes:
* Collectively, Trump’s administration and cabinet choices are hardly Mensa candidates, and some (many) are downright stupid, not to mention illiterate (like their leader). Even those very few with a modicum of intelligence are hardly the sharpest pencils in any drawer, at least compared to cabinet leaders of the past. But even if they were, because they cling so tightly to their position and power, and because they worship their leader so absolutely, they would not challenge the dictator’s madness, at least to his face. Until, of course, he dumps them, which he will do so to all of them, in time. Loyalty in Trump’s world only goes one way: to Trump, not from him.
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