Washingtonian Animal Farm: Pigs in Power

It's come to my attention that George Orwell's satirical novella Animal Farm has a 21st century parallel in Washington D.C. 

A whistleblower in the current administration has been documenting the rise of an old razorback named Trump and his ongoing seizure of complete power and corruption in Congress. 

We have pig bastards mucking up every agency and shitting daily in the halls of power. Like the novella we are viewing the effects of unchecked authority and piles of propaganda put out daily in the name of a totalitarian regime.

The swine, united under the moniker of MAGA, are abusing our court systems and blatantly bashing the rule of law. Pam Bondi is leading the shoat's attack on truth and the American way. Stephen Miller, an experienced muckraker, keeps his snout to the ground searching for immigrants like truffles throughout the country.    

Unlike Orwell's groundbreaking novella where the pigs were the smart ones, the Washingtonian pigs are stupid and blindly follow a demented old bore wherever he leads them. Loyal porkers proudly reject reality for Trump, throwing muck on the walls of truth with piggish abandonment.

In the book the animals establish a government based upon the Seven Commandments of Animalism, ensuring equality and justice.

The Washingtonian pigs have Project 2025 as their guiding principles for destroying equality and justice.

The one thing about Animal Farm that strikes me is how the pigs were able to dominate the much larger animals though the use of propaganda. The comparison today with MAGA is more than symbolic. People can be swayed into believing anything if the pig shit is deep enough.

As it Stands, I'm leaving the last word up to George Orwell who said, "But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought."

Two-Faced Tulsi Gabbard Claims Obama Attempted a Coup - That's Her Story and She's Sticking to it!

Ominous rumblings from MAGA world have been recently reported. 

The Director of National Intelligence, Two-Faced Tulsi Gabbard (above right cartoon) says she gathered shocking evidence that ex-president Barrack Obama staged a coup in 2016 with Hillary Clinton's help. This ridiculous claim doesn't take into account Trump won. So, what's the beef?

The sky is falling...the sky is falling!" the duplicitous head of National Intelligence told Fox News, Newsmax, and every other alt-right propaganda platform on the planet.

Stirred by the explosive expose Republic Senator John Cornyn has called for a special council to immediately investigate the perfidious prior president and his friends, staff and family with utmost urgency. Sen. Cornyn told listeners that all he wanted was transparency in the dire matter after blocking an attempt to vote on the Epstein files.

Meanwhile...

in the real world 87% of Americans want transparency by seeing the Epstein files. 

They could give a shit about the obvious distraction involving one of the most popular presidents in the modern age. That won't stop Trump's desperate minions from going all out and appointing a special counsel whose mission will be to drag the investigation out and post glaringly false headlines about supposed progress. Anything to get attention off of their soiled leader.

Every time someone asks Trump about the Epstein files he points in the opposite direction and squeals squirrel! Squirrel!

While in Scotland (which cost American taxpayers a cool ten million) playing golf, Trump was looking at building another golf course there. Really important diplomatic stuff huh?

Not that Donny was running away from the scandal that just won't leave him alone. 

Reporters on the tarmac in Scotland asked him if he was in the Epstein files to which he replied, "No. No. No."

 It's like he doesn't realize that Pam Bondi told him he was in those sleezy files in May as reported by nearly every news outlet in America. The world knows that for God's sake and Trump still lied. Talk about gall! He is the Lord of Lies. Shame is not in his game.

The story within the story is how far will Trump go when all of his lies are exposed? When the world finds out he's a pedophile? Will he call out the military to personally protect himself? When all else fails will the malicious narcissist finally declare he is the law and dissolve Congress and any other agencies that might oppose him?

As it Stands, as we all know, there are no current limits, or guardrails, to prevent Trump from doing something really crazy if the Epstein expose blows up on him. Right now, the clock is clicking.

Big Shoutout to My Readers and the Talk of the Town

                                        Welcome!

Thank you if your new to this blog or one of my regular readers returning for a dose of Dave. I can't say how much it means to me to have you all here. This blog is a labor of love and isn't monetized. Period.

One of the things I'm proud of is the fact that I have an international readership. For example, in the last 63 days Brazil has led the top ten list of visitors. The United States is usually one of the top three countries. On any given day I have readers from at least 50 nations.

I want you all to know that I will always speak truth to power. No corporate CEOs or billionaires intimidate me. As long as America is free, I will continue to speak out against injustice. When the time comes - I pray it won't - I'll continue to stand up to the thugs assaulting our society and defy them to my last breath. I'm defying them right now.

Look at my Archives on the right of this page and you'll see 17 years of defiance. You'll also see comedy and parody in healthy doses. Sometimes I'll just pass on news, but most of the time I pass on views.

TALK OF THE TOWN

- The Epstein scandal continues to dominate social media, cable TV, and hundreds of newspapers and publications across the land. The bottom line is nothing will come out of it as Trump is holding all of the cards.

- Ozzy Osbourne, the frontman for Black Sabbath has died. My best friend and I saw the rock band perform in 1971 in LA. They played War Pigs if memory serves.

- An orange juice importer says Brazil tariffs will raise prices for American consumers. Trump put a ridiculous 50% tariff on Brazilian goods because "of the way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro." For the record Bolsonaro is going on trial for attempting a coup in Brazil's last election. Trump and Bolsonaro have been bosom buddies for years. Unlike Bolsonaro, Trump has never been tried for his attempt at a coup on Jan. 6, 2021. That doesn't say much for the USA.

- Trump banned a Wall Street Journal reporter from joining the press crew on a visit to Scotland because the publication ran a story that embarrassed him. In a hissy fit he filed a $10 million dollar libel lawsuit against Rupert Murdock, the Journal's owner. Murdock basically flipped him the finger and said, "bring it on!"

- Florida is not only full of Trumpies (defined as mindless idiots) but it's become hell on earth from an environmental standpoint. The hurricane risk is escalating every year, and home insurance is now almost impossible to get. Throw in a governor who hates liberals, blacks, browns, and the gay community, for good measure and it's become paradise lost!

- How about some good news? Scientists looked at the genes of millions of people to determine which ones are linked to obesity - and developed a way to screen people before age 5. The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine, and there were more than 600 researchers from around the world involved using the data of 5 million people. This could be a big breakthrough for fighting obesity. Especially in America.

As it Stands, I wish you good health and happy days!

Trump's Bully Pulpit 2.0 Has Been Successful ...So Far

All the child locks in the White House that were in place during Trump 1.0 are gone. 

No more sane generals. No more resistance from Congress. 

No more ethics agencies. Every important position in government from cabinet members to agency heads grovel daily at Trump's stinking feet and swollen ankles.

The gloves are off Trump's tiny hands and he's taking full advantage of the power that he's gathered with the help of billionaires and is running over our democracy like Godzilla stomping through the heart of America. Boundaries don't apply to our dictator dancing to "YMCA " as he stripes away state's rights and deports thousands of immigrants without due process.

Trump's assault upon the freedom of press has been devastating as Americans increasingly have to guess whether an article, streaming story online, or TV is telling the truth. Ethical Journalism is drowning in a sea of disinformation by Trumpies only concerned with furthering "The Bosses" agenda. 

Like an orange octopus Trump is wrapping his tentacles around private businesses, colleges, and state governments in an ever-tightening grasp. 

Is this the end of our 250-year republic? Is democracy dead? 

The answer is no. And no.

America has faced worse crises in the past. Remember the Civil War? I could give you a dozen examples, but I highly recommend checking out a book on American history. You might be surprised at what we've survived.

Right now, we're dealing with a malicious narcissist with the IQ of a 6-year-old boy who was dropped on his head too many times. 

He's having fun going after all of his enemies with the power of the presidency behind him. He's intimidating colleges and telling them what not to teach. And all the while he has the biggest grift in his life going on that's bringing him billions of dollars from other countries trying to gain his official approval.

Fun times. No doubt. But, as the pundits often say, "nothing is forever."

For starters, the Epstein scandal is giving Donny fits. His base turning on him was so unexpected that he lashed out at them for wanting to have the secret files released. All of them, not like last time when his MAGA influencers were given cute little white notebooks full of public knowledge about the infamous pedophile. So now there's a lot of really pissed-off MAGA minions and no one can predict how much that will eventually hurt Donny.

Democrats are slowly trying to unite under their mutual hatred for Trump. The American people are going to keep protesting against Trump's corruption and his attempts to take their freedoms away. While there's no clear leaders for president just yet, there's still time for candidates to step forward in the next few years. The democratic party has to be in step with what Americans want and need right now.

As Trump's vile attacks on Medicare and SNAP reverberates throughout the country there's going to a growing population of voters who want their freedoms. They'll be the backbone of the party demanding change and restoration of the rule of law.

So many bad things can happen to Trump and the Republican party in the next three years that it's hard not to believe they'll be toxic at the polls in 2026.

As it Stands, despite the daily depredations against our society by Trump and his cult I believe the American people are going to have a great awakening in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

Trump Faces Crisis of Faith

Some call Trump the Artful Dodger (a clever play on his draft dodging days with disabling bone spurs) and some call him Don the Con. He's also been referred to as the Felon-in-Charge and the Grifter King.

Trump's ability to elude paying for his crimes and corruption is legendary. Teflon Don built up a following by posing as a strong man who could save America from the devilish democrats and immigrants who are invading the country. 

His harsh rhetoric riddled with lies appealed to a segment of Americans who felt disenfranchised and were searching for a savior. 

MAGA was born out of chaos. And that chaos was Trump breaking every rule, every law, and pursuing every perceived enemy with wild abandon.

For the last nine years Trump cultivated his cult like a gardener watering the weeds instead of the flowers. He nurtured white Nationalists, the KKK, and anti-government goons willing to do or say anything for him. His MAGA base swelled over the years and carried him to two terms in the White House.

Then the Jeffrey Epstein scandal rolled over Donny like a tsunami out of nowhere. In a panic he turned on his own base when they demanded all of the Epstein files be released and he called them weaklings. MAGA figured out Trump and Pam Bondi were lying to them about turning over all of the files. Worse, they defended their lies with new lies.

MAGA melted down. Some die-hard followers have limped back after attacking Trump for days. Either because of fear or they just had too much of the Kool aid for too long. 

But the bulk of MAGA nuts are still raging about Trump's betrayal. Their holy Epstein conspiracy that was going to expose Bill Clinton and a host of pedophile liberals went up in smoke instead. After nine years MAGA minions are now being told to not even talk about THE CONSPIRACY that provided a foundation for their whole MAGA movement.

Wait a moment.

Does this mean that Trump's very pissed off base is going to do everything they can to make him miserable? I suspect they're a vindictive bunch who will embarrass and harass him until he leaves the White House - and more than likely afterwards. Haters know how to hate.

The rest of the country is slowly realizing how vulnerable Trump has become with the growing Epstein scandal. Democrats are calling for transparency and demanding all Epstein files be released. The majority - an astounding 93% of Americans - polled about the scandal say Trump is trying to hide something.

In times like this Trump normally throws out bright and shiny objects to change the conversation in the news. However, the diversions have done little to change the subject. Even Trump's libel lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Fox News is boomeranging on him. If he follows through owner Murdock will be more than ready with the receipts. Real evidence.

Trump has to win back the trust of his followers. That's why he ordered the attorney general to seek the release of grand jury testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein case. The problem is the grand jury indictment will only be a sliver of the information that's still being concealed.

As it Stands, the bottom line is Trump betrayed his followers and there's going to be hell to pay.

The Day They Tore 'Ol Donny Down

This wasn't supposed to happen.

MAGA is at its zenith. The halls of Congress are MAGA-fied. 

Every government agency is MAGA-fied. The Oval Office was MAGA-fied with gold objects. Law firms and Universities are threatened by Trump and his corrupt MAGA lawyers. America has been MAGA-fied in six short weeks.

The takeover is nearly complete. Laws are broken with impunity. The Supreme Court keeps bailing Trump out and enabling his assault on the Constitution.

Trump has his own private army of thugs willing to invade people's homes and workplaces and kidnap them while wearing masks and carrying assault rifles.

MAGA minions supported the One Bigly Ugly Bill despite the fact it took away Medicare and SNAP programs from their constituents because Daddy told them to. Because they were loyal. Whatever Trump said was gospel.

Being loyal MAGA rats Trump's followers believed every conspiracy he brought up in the last nine years. From Russia, Russia, Russia to Jeffrey Epstein's client list of evil Democrats, they believed in him with all of their anti-government little hearts.

Trump loyalists even stood by him when he tried to stage a coup, believing his latest conspiracy that the 2020 election was rigged. Despite evidence to the contrary Trump supporters clung to his blatant lies like rats in life rafts on a turbulent ocean.

If there was one holy grail for his staunch followers, it was the Epstein saga. Bill Clinton and a host of Democrats were supposedly on a secret list that Epstein kept for his own purposes. It was the shining star of conspiracies and grew over the years into a massive expose waiting to happen.

Then Epstein supposedly committed suicide (during Trump's first term) while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of minor girls. Case closed right? Not so fast. The Trump narrative that the Deep State was covering for Democratic pedophiles took off like a rocket in the MAGAverse.

But, after a recent series of events that resurrected the Epstein scandal Trump turned on his most loyal followers this week and called them weaklings for wanting Pam Bondi to turn over the rest of the Epstein files and client list. 

She supposedly had the goods on the Democrats... right? What was the problem?

Shocked mega supporters quickly grew angry as they realized Trump had been lying all along. He was concealing the files to mask his complicity in sex trafficking with his buddy for 10 years. Now even some timid Republicans in Congress are asking for Bondi to release what whatever records she has on the Epstein case. Even MAGA Mike Johnson wants to see them.

Trump is beside himself with anger and is doing everything he can to divert from the Epstein story, even bringing up silly crap like Biden's use of an autopen (which by the way he uses too).

Sensing an opening Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice who procured girls, is asking the Supreme Court for a retrial after being sentenced to 20 years in prison. Trump's goons quickly filed an appeal to squash the effort. The way I see it Maxwell could do one of three things if she doesn't get her retrial:

1. Ask Trump for a pardon. Agreeing to keep her mouth shut.

2. Ask to speak in front of Congress and spill the beans in the hope it'll reduce her sentence.

3.Talk to a reporter and give them ALL of the sordid details about Donny. 

It remains to be seen how many loyalists will still stay with him. Some MAGA critics like Charlie Kirk are pretending they don't care about what's going on - even after Kirk lost his mind about the betrayal to only change it a day later when Daddy called and threatened him.

As it Stands, Trump has managed to dodge trouble for the better part of his sordid life. It'll be interesting to see how this latest scandal plays out. 

The Perils of Laughter

There's nothing like a good laugh, right? 

Laughter is generally beneficial for your health, promoting stress reduction, improving your mood, and boosting your immune system.

In describing how hard someone laughed you may have heard the phrase, "He was dying from laughter." It's often used hyperbolically but what if there was some disturbing truth behind that phrase.

The fact is you can die from laughing. Death from laughter is a rare form of death, usually resulting from either cardiac arrest or asphyxiation, that has itself been caused by a fit of laughter. Dying from laughter has been recorded in ancient Greece right through modern times.

Three Recorded Examples...

Chrysippus, also known as "the man who died from his own joke," was a 3rd-century Greek philosopher who reportedly died of laughter after he saw a donkey eating his fermented figs; he told a slave to give the donkey undiluted wine to wash them down, and then, "having laughed too much, he died," according to Diogenes Laertius a local scribe.

Ole Bentzen was a Danish audiologist who found a scene in the movie A Fish Called Wanda so sidesplittingly funny that his heart rate rose to an estimated 250-500 beats per minute, leading to a heart attack as he laughed his way into the afterlife.

Alex Mitchell, from King's Lynn, England, died on March 24, 1975, laughing while watching the "Kung Fu Kapers" episode of The Goodies. After 25 minutes of continuous laughter, Mitchel slumped on the sofa and died from heart failure.

Three examples In Fiction...

"The Three Infernal Jokes," short story in The Last Book of Wonder (1916) by Lord Dunsany, is about three jokes "which shall make all who hear them simply die of laughter." 

"The Stand In," was an episode of the American comedy Seinfeld, which featured Jerry Seinfeld telling a joke to a hospital patient who then suddenly dies from laughter.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a 1988 fantasy comedy, had a scene where the weasels of the Toon Patrol literally die laughing.

So now that we have determined laughter is not always a good thing in large doses, we can take the necessary precautions although I don't know what that would entail. Stop laughing? I don't think so. Check with your doctor before going to see a comedy? Not practical. 

As it Stands, when you think about it dying from laughter may not be such a bad way to exit this life. I can certainly think of worse ways. 

GOP Declares 'Diarrhea Day" in Honor of Trump

WARNING! DON'T READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED BY SCATOLOGICAL HUMOR

Oh boy! A new national holiday.

In a strictly partisan vote in the House and Senate Republicans unified to declare "Diarrhea Day" a national holiday to be held on August 1st, 2025.

House Speaker Maga Mike Johnson gave a speech in the rotunda praising the president's loose lips and the daily diarrhea that he spews from his anus shaped mouth. It was a shitty moment of watery word stools that energized his base.

Meanwhile Maga morons across the land put together bullshit competitions for the new upcoming holiday. Scatological speeches - all inspired by their master - will headline the fun activities planned to celebrate poop pouring from the president's oval mouth.

Other activities include:

* The Fastest Ass-Licker - a five-yard sprint to a replica of Trump's bare bum.

* Using that lifelike Trump rump competitors are timed to see who can crawl up his massive ass the fastest. 

* Competitors will compete to see who can hold their breath the longest inside the Trump replica's rear end.

Among the prizes given out lucky winners will get to stay in Trump's private bathroom and experience what it's like going up a live ass after he took a crap.

In a live telecast from Trump's private bathroom/aka his bully pulpit the first ever felon in the White House discussed how his followers will do absolutely anything he tells them to.

"If I tell someone to take a train up my Hersey Tunnel they say, 'Yes sir!' and 'Thank you sir'"

Disgusted Democrats were quick to reply to Trump's stinking holiday and took steps to hold nationwide poop protests against the feces festivals being held by Maga minions.

According to Maga event planners Turd-On-A-Stick is expected to be the new favorite fair food for Trumpies. However, Dung Doughnuts are expected to push the excrement excitement levels to a new level of grossness. The loyal planners even came up with a new hot beverage called Nightsoil Coffee guaranteed to make your breath smell like ass.

As it Stands, I warned you dear reader. This is not my typical post. I think the spirit of George Carlin (famous comedian) inspired me!

Try Walking a Mile in Their Shoes

 In 1961 a groundbreaking book titled Black Like Me was written by a white man who posed as a black man in America's Deep South.

John Howard Griffin recounted his journeys in a quest for social justice in the United States back in a time when racism was rampant in this country. 

The battle for civil rights was in its infancy as black leaders risked their lives in pursuit of equality and justice.

Flash forward to June 2025.

If your brown, it's not safe to walk around in public anywhere in America today. The majority of immigrants deported are not criminals. The data (when you can pin it down) clearly shows a purge of brown-skinned people in our society. Innocents are kidnapped by masked men with automatic weapons who treat them like criminals without rights. 

Concentration camps are springing up like poisonous toadstools. 

For example, there's the so-called Alligator Alcatraz in the middle of the Florida Everglades. 

Trump and his MAGA morons toured the facility - rows of cages - and joked about escapees trying to outswim alligators. 

It was one of those moments when you could clearly see their lack of humanity.

Unwarranted ICE attacks against people is a daily experience thanks to Trump and his minions like Stephen Miller, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, and Tom Homan.

 I would really like to see this group of haters transformed into brown skinned people and tossed out into the streets at the mercy of ICE goons wherever they try to hide. Can you imagine what a wakeup call that would be for the MAGA bigots?

What I really want to see - oh, please, please - is Trump with brown skin (not his usual orange) as a common citizen and not the president of the United States. 

It would be good for him to walk many miles in a Hispanic's shoes. Maybe as a brown man he'd learn a new prospective on life and even some traits like empathy.

I doubt it though.

Trump is a generational criminal who has installed a cadre of loyalists that have diligently gone about destroying our democratic republic and turning America into an authoritarian state in six short months.

As it Stands, if there is such a thing as karma (and I sincerely hope there is) when Trump dies, he'll get reborn as a Mexican woman.

Rampant Hate in America - Is There a Cure?

                   We've become a nation of haters.

It's too complicated to go into all of the reasons why. We know Trump has cultivated haters like a gardener in hell. But what led us to this precarious state of affairs?

For some context let's turn the date back to 2018 when an investigation examining intolerance, racism and hate crimes was conducted at the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

The project was called "Hate in America" and was sponsored by the Carnegie-Knight News21 program, a national multimedia reporting project produced by the nation's top journalism students.

What they found was an increase in those targeted in hate crimes by a surge of white supremacist and others who seek to victimize people. No surprise that it was Trump's first regime stirring the pot of hate nationally at the time.

The Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 835 antigovernment groups and 595 hate groups, totaling 1,430 hate and extremist groups in America last September. The FBI also released hate crimes data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Program as reported by law enforcement agencies across the country.

The data was horrifying. Those agencies reported 11,862 hate crime incidents involving 13,839 offenses. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the current Trump regime does away with hate crime reporting. After all, just look at how many criminals (haters all) he's pardoned in the last six months.

The purveyors of hate today have discovered it's a good way to sell hateful merchandise and capitalize on their message.

Is there a cure for stopping the spread of hate like wildfires? 

If there is I haven't heard of it. 

The politics of hate are too firmly embedded in our government and society. 

As it Stands everybody hates somebody these days. I hate Trump and his minions for actively destroying our democracy and creating an authoritarian state with him as the supreme dictator.

If you tell them the truth they will come...sometimes

I hate liars.

Oddly enough, not everyone feels that way. 

Accepting lies is the foundation for the current regime. Ignore reality and you may find a place in Trump's authoritarian government.

Once a liar, always a liar. Trump teethed on lies and they became more elaborate with every year. Liar counters covering Trump's first time in office exposed thousands of lies throughout his time in office.

A Zebra does not shed its stripes nor does a tiger. Voters should have considered that in the 2024 election when Trump's lies were supersized with the help of his buddy Elon Musk. At first blush it's hard to believe that half of America bought Trump's lies.

It's no secret that Trump is a pathological liar. His behavior is known as pseudologia fantastica. It is characterized by frequent, elaborate, and often self-serving lies that may or may not have a clear purpose or benefit to him. Psychology experts have been saying Trump has a malicious narcissistic personality since he emerged on the scene as a rich boy buying real estate in New York.

What I find hard to understand is that nearly anyone you talk to - a Democrat or a Republican - knows damn well Trump lies like a rug.

When evidence pops up debunking one of his lies, he attacks the media source and claims its fake - especially if it's coming from the mainstream media.

We've become a nation of enablers and cowards. That fact both disgusts me and disappoints me. How could we have let a felon into the White House with his corrupt history?

The core problem is truth. Somehow, it's been so diluted by lies no one trusts the truth anymore. What is truth? Whose telling it? It becomes complicated when it shouldn't be. Yet here we are.

Thanks to internet platforms with millions of follower's truths are tossed around like hot potatoes. Americans find web sites that go along with their own beliefs, regardless of how crazy they are. In this atmosphere truth suffers every minute, hour, and day. The attacks never stop.

Despite all of the negative challenges to truth it's still alive and thriving among sane and intelligent people who accept reality and don't live in a cult. 

When MAGA says the sky is red and you can see its blue you know what's true.

Stephen King wrote, "The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool." 

Don't let yourself be that "innocent" and thoroughly vet what you read.

Mark Twain wrote, "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

As usual Twain's wit is right on. Especially in these times with the internet when information is shared instantly.

As it Stands, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.