Let's Try To Have A Happy New Year In 2018

Looking back on 2017, I'd like to say that 2018 will be better because things couldn't get much worse.  But after a year in Trumplandia, we know that's not true.  The barrel has no bottom.

Nevertheless, let's be of good cheer, make the most of our time, and have the Best New Year Possible in 2018!

2017 Year In Review

(Usually I wrap up the year with a "12 Easy Pieces" post -- a variety of small yet tasty Buster's Blog nuggets, one from each month of the past year.  This year is different.)
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Good riddance, 2017.

2017 was a year unlike any I've ever known.  There were some exceptions, but it was mainly a year of dreadful fear and unease, of exhausting gross distortion.  In a word, awful.  There was really just one overarching story -- many offshoots, but only one root cause.  You know who and what I'm talking about.


To give it a name, I'd call it The Year of Lies.

Our vulgar, domineering thug-in-chief spends his every waking moment lying about one thing or another, whether in person, on Twitter, or by proxy.  It's both pathological and intentional.

It's what dictators always do.  They lie, they spread propaganda, and they attack the press with such mind-numbing frequency and volume that after awhile, you're so tired, confused and unsure you don't know your ass from your elbow and don't much care.  And then the dictator has won.  Then the dictator controls the message.

This is exactly what Trump the Fraud tries to do.  He's as dishonest as they come, has shown a fawning affection for dictators and would obviously like to be one himself.  But he's not there yet.  We must not let him get there.

Inevitably if slowly, truth triumphs, lying dictators fail, and the wheels of progress roll on.  But in the short run we can't allow his constant barrage of bullshit to wear us down.

Stay "woke" and keep fighting for the truth in 2018!  It's the best way to have a Happy New Year!  

Global Warming For Tweetle Dummies

Donald Drumpfkopf remains stubbornly stupid on the subject of climate change.  Check out his latest tweet-fart:

He's Idiot Amin!

In the faint hope that something, somehow might get through that thick, pompadour-covered skull of his, here's an old post which explains global warming in a cartoon style that even a spoiled man-child could understand:

Thursday, November 1, 2012

What Can Steroids Teach Us About Global Warming?

Yogi Bear Is Thrilled

Only in Ohio.

The Longaberger Company is an Ohio-based manufacturer of "heirloom-quality" woven hardwood baskets.  (Yes, there's no better inheritance than a basket!)  For decades, their business boomed -- over 8000 employees and $1 billion in annual sales.  In 1997, Longaberger built themselves a new corporate HQ building in Newark, a small town east of Columbus.  The one-of-a-kind structure is a 7 story, 180,000 square foot basket.

Alas, times changed, sales tanked and the company fell on hard times.  The Basket Building was quietly closed and the remaining skeleton crew was relocated.  They put the place up for sale but couldn't find any buyers for their gigantic basket.  The building sat vacant while it piled up almost $1 million in tax debt.

But an angel buyer has miraculously appeared, paying $1.2 million for the basket.  The new owner is a restoration firm which specializes in historic buildings.  A spokesperson said they'll try to get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, because "Just look at it!  It's historic!  It's gigantic!  It's a pic-a-nic basket!"

The spokesperson acknowledged "We have no idea what we'll do with it," but insisted they are dedicated to its preservation.  He added that they were pleased to discover the building's interior contained a couple pieces of gigantic fried chicken, some gigantic devilled eggs, and a slice of historic, gigantic chocolate cake.

Yogi Bear was pretty happy about it, too.

For Your Consideration

The essence of Portman

Assignment: Compare And Contrast

OK class, here's your assignment from Professor Buster:

Read the words of Barack Obama (as shared former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance, and confirmed by former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara) and those of Donald Trump (quoted in a Thursday NY Times interview), then in 500 words or less, compare and contrast their attitudes toward the U.S. Dept. of Justice and their visions of their personal role regarding same.  Have it on my desk tomorrow morning.

 Pinned Tweet

Joyce Alene‏Verified account @JoyceWhiteVance Apr 18

Thrilled to join U Alabama Law School & continue focus on important issues of criminal justice reform & civil rights http://bit.ly/2opIHbK 

1.  Joyce Alene Retweeted

   Preet Bharara‏Verified account @PreetBharara 5h5 hours ago

   Preet Bharara Retweeted Joyce Alene

   This is true. I was there. @JoyceWhiteVance

   Preet Bharara added,

   Joyce AleneVerified account @JoyceWhiteVance

   The first time President Obama met with his US Attorneys, he told us, “I appointed you but you don’t serve me. You serve the American people. And I expect you to act with independence & integrity.” None of us ever forgot that.

   432 replies10,237 retweets31,574 likes

    

    

"I have the absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department."
-- Trump


(Hint:  There's very little comparison.  It's pretty much all contrast.)

Trump Family Values

For their traditional, middle-American Christmas vacation, the whole clan (Klan?) got together for some good old-fashioned family time at daddy's exclusive seaside country club.  Because isn't that what everyone does?

Yuletide festivities included a brief Twitter/Instagram video featuring half-sisters Ivanka and Tiffany (a.k.a. Kremlin Barbie and The Other One) poolside in swimsuits, giggling and blowing kisses as "O Holy Night" played in the background.  Very Christmas-y.



They should've titled it, "We Wonder What the Poor People Are Doing Tonight."


After that, Javanka went boating with their little boy and she posted a photo of the excursion.  It must have been comforting to know that their base was floating along close by, flying the Confederate flag.



Who does this sort of stupid shit?  Shameless, tone-deaf, gold-plated trailer trash, that's who.

"CHRISTMAS IS HERE!" -- Bad Lip Reading of Donald Trump

I Guess I'm What's Wrong With America

Two days ago, an old friend from South Carolina shared a post on her Facebook page.  It was written by a Tennessee god-squader, and was one of those personal statements of quasi-faith/conviction so prevalent on FB.  The post dates to January 7, 2017, the day before the inauguration of Orange O'Haira.  I don't know if my friend is acquainted with the author, or why she chose to re-post it now.  I didn't comment on FB, but I will here.

Quoting the essential portions of the post:

"Some of the most incredible people I know voted for Donald Trump."
"The people I know that voted for him are not racist, misogynistic, or hateful."
"If you start seeing people as who they voted for and not as the person you've always known them to be, then you are what's wrong with America."
"I will never think any less of a person who has different beliefs than me."
"Don't lose quality people in your life because you choose hate over love."

In other words, I'm not a racist, let's get along, and please don't unfriend me because I voted for Trump.

Well, I haven't unfriended her, but her support of Trump is "incredible" to me and does in fact make me see her in a different light.  I feel the same about all unapologetic Trump voters I know.

I'll grant that some Trump voters may not be racist, misogynistic or hateful, but Trump himself clearly is, as are a large majority of his "base" (the same fine folks who proudly hated Obama's guts for 8 years, but they weren't racists either).

Calling a vote for Trump a matter of "different beliefs" is disingenuous and a gross understatement.  She voted for the most unqualified, disgraceful, divisive person to occupy the White House in modern times -- a deplorable and historic mistake.  She can't diminish her action by brushing it off as just another routine choice, a simple personal preference, like an ice cream flavor or a sports team.  It was much more than that.

Things will be different now, but I certainly don't hate her.  When we meet, we'll be cordial and pleasant as always.  We'll get along.  I'll just respect her less than before.

Trump's policies are literally putting my life at risk, so I can't help seeing Trump voters as who they voted for, and I will remember.  I guess that's why I'm what's wrong with America.  Sorry.

"No Thanks, Trump"

Like me, you've probably noticed the nauseating "Thank you, President Trump" TV ad which has been running for a week or so.  It is 30 seconds of Grade A, unadulterated bullshit propaganda, so comically awful it could be a parody, but it's not.  It's meant to be serious.

The ad is paid for by America First Policies, a dark-money group of wealthy Trumpanzees.  They might just as well call themselves the Fake News Friends of Joseph Goebbels.  I will not re-post the video because when you watch it, your eyes and ears feel like they've been raped.  In a half-minute, a succession of paid actors and brainwashed children thank the Abominable Showman for:

"Making America great again."  (Meaningless sloganeering found on cheap Chinese trucker caps.  However great the U.S. may be, Trump is rapidly making our country less great.)

"Cutting my taxes."  (I get $17 a week and higher health insurance premiums, while the top 0.1% get $285,000.  Thanks, but no thanks.  And it was the GOP Congress that did it.  All Trump did was sign it.)

"Fixing our economy."  (Post-Crash, our economy improved steadily under Obama, and the trend continues under Trump.  He has "fixed" nothing.)

"Keeping my family safe."  (Safe from whom?  Mexicans?  Muslims?  Black people?  This is right-wing code, thinly veiled racism.  And does saber-rattling with North Korea keep me safe?)

"Putting America first."  (More meaningless sloganeering.  What his policies and rhetoric are doing is putting us on an island, more and more isolated from the rest of the world.  Alone, not first.)

"Supporting Israel."  (America has always been Israel's biggest supporter.  But Trump's Jerusalem policy is inflammatory, destabilizing, and has already provoked more violence.  All reasonable nations oppose it.  It's not support, it's stupidity.)

"Reminding us to stand for the national anthem."  (Right-wing race-baiting designed to misrepresent legitimate protest and turn it into anti-American "disrespect."  When Trump called the take-a-knee black athletes "sons of bitches" who should all be fired, it was rather more than a reminder.)

"Letting us say Merry Christmas again."  (Letting us?  Was there a prohibition?  Did I miss the repeal?  This is a lame, re-heated, leftover Bill O'Reilly non-issue -- never a problem to begin with.  We're a large, diverse nation, and as long as Trump remains in office, I intend to say, "Happy Holidays!"  Fuck him!) 



 

Trump Apologizes For Ill-Timed Honesty

MAR-A-LAGO, Florida -- Fake president Donald Trump has issued an apology to his financial backers and to the Republican party after inadvertently telling the truth on Friday night.  During a dinner discussion of the new tax cut plan with wealthy members of his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump blurted out, "You all just got a lot richer." 

Afterward, an obviously contrite Trump said, "I regret my momentary lack of message discipline, and I'm sorry.  I promise I won't let it happen again."  The billionaire real estate executive and reality TV character explained that, "I got carried away for a second, surrounded by all those tacky gold furnishings and all my $200,000 club members.  I was so proud of myself, I just messed up and told the truth."

"I know my timing wasn't the best," he admitted, but then said, "I think I've done a good job in selling the fiction that the tax plan is a middle-class tax cut which won't benefit wealthy people like me at all.  If I can just stick to that story, I'm pretty sure I can keep fooling a lot of suckers . . . uh, I mean citizens."

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "We're not particularly concerned by this.  The president's track record for prevarication is second to none, and we're sure this one brief moment of honesty won't be remembered very long.  He'll get back to lying his ass off soon enough."


 

I Swear It Wasn't Me!

It's been all over the news today, and I just want to state for the record that it wasn't me!  But I wish it was.

No, Steve, this doesn't mean there's a pony around somewhere.

Fish-faced Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin received a special anonymous Christmas gift -- a package wrapped in holiday paper with ribbons and bows, which was delivered to his mansion in Bel Air, California.  Police said the gift box contained a "pretty good quantity" of horse manure.

How appropriate!  LMFAO!  Sweets for the sweet, and shit for the shitty.  Merry Christmas!

Kasich: Still A D'bag At Heart

If you're one of those apologists who says things like, "Oh, John Kasich's not so bad," remember how easy it is to appear moderate and reasonable when being compared to Dolt 45, Sludge Roy Moore, and the boot-licking GOP Congress.  Kasich may not be Trump, but he's still a douchebag and always will be.

Case in point:  The Wonder Guv just signed a law banning abortions of Down syndrome fetuses.  The bill was written by anti-abortion nut group Ohio Right to Life, and it is a clearly unconstitutional piece of shit.  The new law does not technically prohibit a Down's abortion.  It prohibits Down's from being the woman's reason for seeking the abortion.  Doctors face criminal penalties and loss of license for violations.

For decades, OB/GYN's have routinely offered pre-natal tests to detect Down syndrome, because most women want to know.  (And so do their partners.)  The new law will not stop such testing.  You can't ban knowledge.  Some people will welcome a Down's baby, some won't.

So, for now, until it's overturned, how in the hell is this bad law going to work in practice?  I imagine it will turn all parties into expedient liars:

Doctor:  "Ma'am, the fetus tests positive for Down syndrome.  Is that why you want an abortion?"
Woman:  "No, it's not."
Doctor:  "Oh, OK.  Just sign this waiver." 

Anti-abortion nuts care nothing about law, constitutionality, women's rights, or the future of an unwanted child.  They keep pushing for unconstitutional restrictions on abortion providers, and they keep finding enabling d'bags like Kasich to sign them into law.  Then, while the lawyers fight it out in court, the lives of real people are impacted.  What the crazoid crusaders fail to realize is that they're crusading to give more rights to a zygote than to a living adult human being; they're crusading to turn an unwanted pregnancy into a punishment.

Kasich be damned!  Abortion is legal in the U.S.  It must remain legal, accessible and affordable.

He's A Charmer

The New York Times has reported that during a June meeting on immigration, our fake president, the Largemouth Ass, said that all Afghans are terrorists, that our 15,000 Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS," and that the 40,000 Nigerian immigrants will "never go back to their huts."

That our charming Bigot-In-Chief would say something like that surprised exactly no one.  Sounds just like him, precisely in character.

The White House went into damage control mode and denied that Trump used the words "AIDS" or "huts."  According to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, he said "HIV" and "shacks." 

Oh.  That's different.

U.N. To Don Frito & Capo Nikki: "Vaffanculo 128 Times!"

The United Nations voted overwhelmingly to condemn fake president Trump's idiotically divisive and destabilizing decision to recognize Jerusalem at the capital of Israel.

Don Frito Corleone says,
"Make 'em an offer they can't refuse."

The resolution surprised no one.  Yet Don Frito expects the world to kiss his ring.  When it didn't happen at the U.N., he went full mob boss and had Capo Nikki Haley issue a shake-down threat.  Her message, in essence:

"Today, we're takin' names.  Of course, we would never start a vendetta against other nations who don't pay up, but we got a long memory.  So if some day some of you guys wuz to get whacked, or your house wuz to burn down, it would be a shame, but we wouldn't know nuthin' about it."



Don Frito doesn't grasp that this isn't the corrupt realm of Manhattan real estate, and these aren't a bunch of plumbers and carpenters.  You can't intimidate the world.

The Old Economist Was Far Too Kind

From The Onion

NEWS IN BRIEF

GOP Leaders Celebrate Decisive Win Over Americans

Yesterday 12:09pm

SEE MORE: POLITICS

WASHINGTON—In the wake of the $1.5 trillion tax bill’s historic passage in both the House and the Senate, GOP leaders reportedly celebrated Wednesday their decisive win over everyday American citizens. “This is a monumental victory not only for us, but for everyone struggling under the reign of the average American,” said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, adding that party leaders made a promise to “take a stand against ordinary U.S. citizens,” before cracking open a bottle of champagne and proudly declaring that “today, we delivered.” “Of course, the fight against the people of this country is not yet over. We won this battle, but the war is still to come. However, if we carry on with the same vigor demonstrated today in our widely opposed tax overhaul, I know that we will prevail over Americans time and time again.” GOP leaders also expressed confidence that they would achieve another dominant victory over the American people as they push to close the deficit by cutting food stamp programs, Social Security, and Medicare.

A Bunch Of Republicans Walk Into A Bar . . .

(Vulgar joke warning -- what follows is an updated version of an old joke -- updated for the tax scam bill.  The old joke was crude, and so is this one.)
___________________________________________

Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, Orrin Hatch, and Paul Ryan walk into a bar.  Pence orders twelve shots of bourbon for each of them.

"Whoa, guys!" exclaims the bartender.  "What's the big occasion?"

"Our first blow-job," says Pence.

"Well, congratulations!" says the bartender.  "Let me buy you each one more on the house!"

"No thanks," says Paul Ryan.  "If twelve shots don't kill the taste of Trump, one more won't help."

Notes On The Tax Bill

Since the income tax was permanently established in 1913, the GOP's tax scam represents the first time ever -- ever! -- that a major tax overhaul will be passed and signed into law without a single vote from the minority party.  "Partisan" doesn't even begin to describe it.

The last big tax bill was the Tax Reform Act of 1986.  It was a bipartisan effort first proposed in 1984.  It took over two years of hearings and debate before becoming law.  The current one-sided scam took the GOP a month and a half.

The 1986 bill ended tax deductions for most loan interest, e.g. auto loans, personal loans, credit card interest.  But it preserved tax deductions for home equity/second mortgage loan interest.  As a result, and with strong encouragement from the banking industry, American borrowers flocked to tax-deductible home equity credit lines as a means of financing damn near anything.  The tax write-off was the big incentive, but now it's been eliminated.  Home equity financing is no longer tax deductible.  At its peak in 2009, Americans owed $674 billion in home equity debt.  Post-crash, that amount is down somewhat, but there are still a whole lot of people with a whole bunch of home equity debt who now get zero benefit for it.

PolitiFact combined the analyses of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation and the Tax Policy Center and found that under the new tax scheme, the average household in the middle income quintile (i.e. middle fifth) earning $60,000 a year will see a $900 annual tax cut.  Lower incomes get far less.  The average tax cut for the top quintile will be $7600.  For the top 1% of earners get an average cut of $61,000, and the top 0.1% get an average $285,000 cut.

"With $17.31 a week, you could put a laser on the moon!"

Next year, as that average middle income household closely examines its paycheck (as giddily recommended by Ways and Means Chair Texas Rep. Kevin "Dr. Evil" Brady this morning), they'll notice an increase of $17.31 a week.  Yippee, Skippy! 



On the corporate side of this scam bill, if you believe big businesses, from the goodness of their hearts, will be sharing their huge tax cuts by bestowing big pay raises upon their workers, check former NYC mayor and famous rich guy Michael Bloomberg's quote:

"CEO's aren't waiting on a tax cut to 'jump-start the economy' -- a favorite phrase of politicians who have never run a company -- or to hand out raises.  It's pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth."

Spy Stories For Dummies

Schoolhouse Rock Explains The GOP Tax Bill

Pillars Of Pudding

Remember when, just a few months ago, the GOP effort to repeal Obamacare failed due to the honorable opposition of just a handful of Republican Senators?  Remember when a couple Republican Senators announced they would not seek reelection in 2018 because of their dissatisfaction with Dolt 45 and with Senate leadership?

Well, that was then and this is now.  The GOP Tax Cut Scam will pass the House today and move on to the Senate later today.  And where are those Republican paragons of principle?  They've turned into pillars of pudding.  That sound you hear is backbones disintegrating.

Jeff Flake, who made clear his disgust with Donald Trump and fell on his sword on the Senate floor, has still voted with Trump ever since and will again today.  To get her vote for the tax scam, Susan Collins was given assurance that the Murray-Alexander bill to restore CSR premium subsidy repayments for health insurers would be green-lighted.  She was lied to.  Mitch will not let Murray-Alexander see the light of day, and Collins still supports the tax scam.  Lisa Murkowski was an opponent of the Obamacare repeal, but now for the tax scam, she's OK with sabotaging Obamacare by eliminating the individual mandate.  The great deficit hawk and Trump nemesis Bob Corker was staunchly opposed to this tax scam because it blows up the deficit and adds to the national debt.  But then came a last-minute sweetheart deal to allow large "pass-through" real estate investors to deduct 20% of their income.  And who is a wealthy real estate investor?  Bob Corker.  (As are many other Senators, and Donald Trump.)  Corker decided he could support the tax scam after all.



With all these shameless turds ready to do the wrong thing, John McCain may as well stay home in the Arizona cancer ward.  His vote will not be needed.

The Republican party is rotten to the core.  They stand for their big-money benefactors.  They stand for greedy self-enrichment.  And nothing else.

NFL Refs At The New England - Pittsburgh Game

Merry Christmas. Try To Have One If You Can. (Perhaps The Video Will Help)

It's tough to be merry in Trumplandia, but let's give it a shot.  If not outright merriment, at least a smile.  The revised "Santa Baby" video at the end is a hoot! Ya gotta watch it.

As always, Buster wishes you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Kwazy Kwanza, a Rockin' Ramadan, a Lovely Lha Bab Duchen, and a Festivus For the Rest of Us!

Slovenian FLOTUS wishes you a cold and scary Christmas.

Have an alt-right Christmas.

Here's a timely remake of the "Santa Baby" holiday song: