It’s an old tactic, like an explosion down the street from where a bank robbery will unfold, all in the service of distraction and decoy.

When Trump doubles down on his assertion that Gaza will become a Middle East Riviera, or makes a ridiculously big deal about changing the name of the Gulf, or threatens Greenland with annexation or Canada with statehood, he’s trying to throw us off the scent of what’s happening to NIH or DOJ or USAID or the rest of the institutional tear-down in process in Washington.

“Flooding the zone” is already cliché, but the purpose for it is to confuse and overwhelm. Both throwing spaghetti at the wall and an exercise of power that’s supposed to shock and awe, which has also become a cliché.  

Anyway, the evisceration attempt is still ramping up. We best not lose sight of that—despite what DJT says about Panama or the Gulf of Mexico, or paper straws, or pennies, or whatever comes next in the “ooh, a squirrel!” roll out.

Are they going to steal our dreams, too?

Who are these people, and where did they come from? How did they get so ugly? From the top on down, they come across as automatons—cold, calculating, programmed, incapable of empathy or kindness in the quantities required of people who hold such great responsibilities. Somehow less than human, with a creepy affective deficit.

It’s honestly difficult to imagine many of these people having what might be considered a normal home life, where they interact with a spouse or a child or a dog, or take time to tell a joke or laugh at themselves. I imagine many of them waking up angry every day.

They’re scary and out of touch. They appear to have one-track minds, to be driven only by the thought of taking things away– and often in the name of pleasing their God. What kind of America are they envisioning? Is it really one that serves only their interests, their thinly veiled racism and fear masquerading as fiscal belt-tightening and “efficiency”? How Third Reich-ish can they get?

There’s a “mandate” for this?

It hasn’t taken long for a potentially useful technology to be used in nefarious ways. According to an article in Popular Science, bogus, AI-generated papers on important matters are finding their way into the public sphere, thus creating confusion and misinformation on various topics one might assume require accuracy and reliable data.

What the hell, people? Flood the zone, right? With intentional bullshit.

Hey, be happy with what you’re doing with your life, though, whoever you are. The Donald would be proud, I’m sure. As would Vlad and the rest.

When did life in America become a zero-sum game? When did winning become everything? How is it that, apparently, we have arrived at a place where cold calculation, blind selfishness, and skewed religious “faith” now rule the day?

Ruthlessness is in, lawlessness is in, the President is President in title only. In actuality, he prefers to be King, but he’s only ever been a spineless, clueless pawn, convinced he’s in charge when in reality, others are pulling the strings.

There is no clear mandate, but that doesn’t matter. Trump made it back to office, and Project 2025 has legs. It remains to be seen if his myriad detractors are gonna wake up.   

One question, among the several thousand we should be asking, is What is the endgame for Trump and Musk and the Heritage Foundation?

Should we hold out for something positive to come of this blitzkrieg of firings and furloughs and funding stops and horrible nominees, or is it exactly as it seems—a brazen assault on checks and balances, a really bad morality tale? Nothing more than Trump and the rest having a field day wreaking revenge and lining their pockets, with no accounting for consequences and ripple effects? That’s what it’s looking like, so far.

Trump is showing up at the Super Bowl tomorrow. Why would he do that? Is he so needy that he has to be seen by millions around the world, maybe show up Tay-tay? What’s the calculus behind this move? Is it Caligula at the Colosseum, or just little Donnie needing an ego boost?

May he get booed out of the place.