Legacy of the Torturer General
Failed states and unlawful combatants. Two concepts that Torturer General Alberto Gonzales used to justify sending people to Gitmo who had the temerity to take up arms against U.S. soldiers who invaded their state, failing though it might have been. Gonzales thought this was a loophole in the Geneva Convention that allowed people to be tortured, and he hired John Woo and now-Ninth Circuit judge Jay Bybee, to write justifications for torturing these stateless individuals, most of whom just thought they were members of some hill tribe in the mountains of what we now call Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the greatest Buddhist civilization of all time existed, Gandhara. Gonzales also hired psychologists to monitor and advise torturers, and write the typical jargon-laced bullshit that psychs learn to sling to generate a paycheck. Even though Gonzales’ bad legal theories are no longer taken seriously, many of the men he ensnared in his net of cruel lies are still imprisoned, stateless, unable to leave Gitmo because no country will take them. As for Gonzales himself, the man who lead the CIA and FBI and DOD into the vile sin of institutionalized torture as official US policy, he has suffered no consequences.
Momentum--Just the Type of Thing You Want to Avoid
Now that our nation is being gutted by the most foolish type of people -- spoiled men filled with groundless self-importance, worshipping each other's worst qualities in an orgy of submission to power -- we may get the opportunity to see our own state fail. Because it requires no insight to conclude that the Chief Executive does not formulate a strategy and execute it consistently. Rather, he judges what he should do by how others react to his actions, so he is a bit like a blind man hooting in a cavern, navigating by echoes. The best way to keep him from attacking your shit is to never talk about it, because he targets his victims almost randomly, based on their vulnerability. By crushing one vulnerable victim after another, he establishes a track record of victory, also called momentum. And momentum, as Sun Tzu put it, is the power of a raging torrents that tosses trees like matchsticks and boulders like marbles. When momentum is with them, even cowards will fight, and when it is against them, even brave soldiers run. In a world where "winning" is indeed thought to be "everything," this display is converting. The converted, having been won over by one brutal display after another, venerate idealized images of the man, with a powerful physique that while not realistic, exemplifies the Rambo body, the true body of an "American hero," whom all red blooded Americans were taught to venerate from our earliest days through the agency of Hollywood and DOD, working happily to produce mass indoctrination material since they started shooting talkies.
Hapless Power Junkies
Regular folks get addicted to meth and fentanyl, but Republicans are addicted to media that feeds them an endless stream of power fantasies. No other explanation is available for the reported declaration of a Republican in Congress that international aggression is the nation's natural posture, because "we are apex predators." Statements like these are like tribute thrown at the feet of the conqueror. By aping his abusive tirades and vain expostulations, they assure the Chief that they are having no original thoughts, and like Clear Channel radio stations, they are just streaming what is channeled from the reliable repeaters of MAGA Truths on Social and X. Frantically trying to get noticed by El Bosso in the midst of the endless noise reverberating the MAGA nuthouse is the sole concern of MAGA politicians, 24/7. Far from powerful, these freaks are hapless dupes, marinating in self-delusion, flexing imaginary muscles to an imaginary crowd of adoring fools, whose faces strangely mirror their own.
Rising to Olympian Heights on Clouds of Illusion
That's how El Bosso was gradually elevated to the Olympian heights, as courtiers realized that he was actually not just El Bosso, but as others are exclaiming, he is El Maximo Grande Bosso Magnifico, and he can never be wrong-o. No ho ho, he cannot be. Never, never never. Not today, not tomorrow, and he was definitely not wrong yesterday. The world changes, as you know, and so the Truth changes, and you just have to keep up with it. Failure is not something El Bosso does, so anyone who suggests that the shit being smelled might come from the vicinity of El Bosso Maximo's maxi size Attends would obviously a be traitor, a Marxist, a racist, or a DEI hire, and most likely all three.
What One Sees, All See, and Nothing More
What is the fate of the infallible? What is the destiny of those who enjoy a lifetime of impunity? What happens to people who are ringed about by a chorus of sycophants reading from approved scripts that rigorously recite only the Truth du jour, as decreed by the Ministry of Information? Well, they live in an atmosphere of total paranoia, because all unapproved messages are threats to the integrity of the story that entombs the MAGA community in an illusory space like the mechanical bubble of false reality depicted in the Truman Show, where stars are overhead lights, where going very far is never possible, and the entire world moves in concert to reproduce the illusion of reality every single day. But in MAGA world, this effort is collaborative. Everyone has to participate. Emotion, passion, giving a shit what the Boss is doing, and joining in whatever hate wave is required today, like the Party members in Orwell's "1984," who are required to get completely lathered up each day, during the ritual "Two Minutes of Hate," focused on the imaginary figure of Emmanuel Goldstein, the committed, invented enemy of Big Brother. Why is hate so useful to MAGA? Because when they hate, they avoid analyzing the stories they tell each other for truth content. Why figure anything out anyway? The only thing that is important is knowing what the Boss thinks today, so avoid mental confusion and just repeat what you're told!
The Blonde Leading the Blonde
It is extremely dangerous to be guided by people who are guided only by their own projections. The Titanic Captain was one of those. The information that his ship had hit an iceberg wasn’t of interest to him, because he knew it was “unsinkable.” The Chief seems to believe that the US economy is unsinkable, and that having a stable genius at the wheel can only goose the naturally awesome results that come when you “unleash” … well, we are not quite certain what the DOGE crew is unleashing except the mere chaos upon the world that Yeats was so squeamish about – but that is the word of the day, and you shall repeat it as the only safe mantra for a proper MAGA minion.
"Don't Just Burn the Furniture -- Rip Out the Structural Timber"
El Bosso and the mental defective who heads the DOGE wrecking crew are mounting a dedicated attack on the foundations of what has been called the postwar miracle, that has lasted essentially uninterrupted for three-quarters of a century, suffering nothing more financially disturbing than occasional market meltdowns that have now been turned into meltups for the wealthy through the socialization of private profit, aka “bailouts” of financial “institutions” that are “too big to fail.” Having turned the market for money into the largest gambling establishment ever known, billionaires now spend their time thinking how to become trillionaires, live forever, and -- uh -- make more money! Like running the four-minute mile or summitting Everest, reaching billionaire status is just one more achievable male trick. And men on such a lofty mission as turning a lifespan of under 100 years into something that all humans must envy, by accumulating more lucre than anyone else, see only their stated goals. So the money masters, like all hegemonic wealth manipulators dating back to Sumeria, were beside themselves with delight when Bossus Maximus won the gladiatorial contest against his illegitimate adversary, the woke, racist DEI hire the Marxists put up to fight him. And they money poobahs were conned just like the stupidest gas-huffing MAGA fools, who told each other El Bosso was just lying to win votes with haters, and would never do anything really bad for business or the stock market, and boy did they fuck up.
The Money Will Get Funny
Because this business of keeping the dollar as the world’s “reserve currency” is key to keeping our whole lifestyle together. The dollar is the most widely used currency for global trade, finance, and central bank reserves. Many countries hold large amounts of U.S. dollars as part of their foreign exchange reserves, and a significant portion of international transactions (such as oil sales, international loans, and trade agreements) are conducted in dollars. As taxpayers, our productivity stands behind the strength of the dollar, and when it falls in value, we get less in the world market for our goods. Having the dollar as the world’s reserve currency lets Uncle Sam borrow at very low rates, and because everybody likes to sell to those spending dollars, we don’t even worry about changes in foreign exchange rates between the dollar and other types of money. It gives us foreign policy influence, because if the USA sanctions a country by closing off access to markets trading in dollars, it can destroy their economy if it is a small country like Cuba, or cramp their style, if it’s a big one, like Russia. Finally, when shit hits the fan in financial markets around the world, people buy Treasury bonds, lending money to the USA, that has been a totally reliable source of repayment for one hell of a long time. Now, you can consider all that irrelevant to your lifestyle, but then you would be ignorant.
Which is Not at All Funny
If the dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency, the demand for US T-Bills will drop, and the interest we pay on our enormous national debt would swell like a mortgage with an Adjustable Interest rate when the teaser intro rate expires, or some triggering economic event occurs. In this case, the triggering economic event is the blow-by-blow self-reporting from the Chief on the progress of his delusions. As this magic carpet ride of misfortune unfurls, we find ourselves born along in a flow of utter unhingedness, enmeshed in a protracted and unpredictable process that is rapidly bearing us towards an apogee of insanity, from which position, we will see what the dummy in Elon Musk’s orbiting Tesla would see if it had eyes in its head -- that the world is flat, and the U.S. government has been complicit in hiding this fact, that will be exposed by the investigative genius of Jim Jordan. And many other wonders shall we see, as the Mad King and His Court take up the Red Queen’s wise practice of believing at least three impossible things before breakfast, with those who fail to oblige being relieved of their heads -- obviously of no value to them since they fail to use them as they should.
God's Hand on the Tiller
As the acolytes of the world according to MAGA burn cheeseburger incense and call down curses on the heads of racist, radical leftist lunatics, anti-Semitic DEI hires who hate America, the wheelhouse of the ship of state is empty. The Chief does not believe in piloting the ship. It’s guided by Adam Smith’s invisible hand, or maybe God's hand, and is there a difference? In the stateroom, the yes men and women are competing to yes faster and more often, and the one thing they can all agree on is that no one has ever had it so good, as of course they could not, because the Chief wasn’t here to make it the beautiful way it is.
Bad News Does Not Exist
Because it would be heretical to hear the sounds of metal straining and tearing, the horrible rush of the waves pouring in, no one reports it to the Chief. “Smooth sailing. Beautiful night. The moon gleams upon the waves. Unsinkable.” We’re shipping water fast, and as the interest rates go up, the water expands in the hold, so soon, we’re sinking faster. As the waterline begins to rise, the whole world can see the ship is sinking. Our governments, federal and state, pay more to borrow, and so more of what we borrow goes to interest payments. This part works just like your vicious little circle of credit card debt. It starts to devour your economy. Dollars will become unexceptional – nothing special compared with other money – and we will no longer be able to fund our military force projection, with all the worldwide spending, construction, and colonization of foreign lands that this involves.
Too Bad I Live Here
Is all of this greatly to be regretted? Is the failure of a nation that has abused its privilege through unending arrogance and studied aggression, the only nation to ever crush a foe with nuclear weapons, really a sad thing? Certainly Che Guevara would jump out of his grave with glee, and raise the two handless arms the CIA’s murderers buried him with. The failure of our nation will cause failures in our individual lives. The DOGE crew has dumped sugar in the gas tank of our Hemi, shoved a potato up the exhaust pipe, and poured sand into the gearbox, so we will not be cruising anywhere in the style to which we have become accustomed. The human suffering within our national borders will rise, due to countless factors, all economic, never considered by any of the energetic fools so eager to destroy what they had not the wit to build. Which of course will be Biden’s fault.