So it begins in a few hours. In the very space where, a little over four years ago, there was nothing but “love” in the air…

Many, myself included, will be intentionally swearing off media today, or tuning in to QVC or TCM or HGTV so as to give pollsters something to tally and try to make sense of.

Personally speaking, the irony and wrongness of what’s soon unfolding is too much to endure anymore. It’s a shitty place to be— realizing that truth is relative, that character counts for next to nothing, and blustery, empty rhetoric and the threat of a big stick are what really get peoples’ attention in this world.

Trouble is, these things will carry us only so far. Then all we’re left with is a real-life unfolding of the timeworn definition of insanity.

I happened to catch a couple minutes of a Saturday night MSNBC program where the host and some guests were talking about the TikTok kerfuffle. The host mentioned at one point that he trusted Americans to make good choices and wise decisions and I got to thinking about how difficult that can be when the information we receive is sometimes all over the map.

How do we actually make informed decisions when there’s so much noise, so many conflicting and changing reports and evolving opinions? One minute the Chinese are blatantly spying on us, the next minute pundits are wondering why we’re not paying closer attention to domestic social media outlets like Facebook, etc., who extract more sensitive data from users than the Chinese, apparently. One possible reponse to this is Facebook is a domestic actor and somehow less threatening, while China is considered an adversary who’s competing with us for World #1 Superpower status.

Anyway, what are we supposed to do with all these opinions? Who’s sharing the critical and useful information? On what do we base our “good” and “wise” decisions?

Can’t have TikTok? RedNote looks like a nice replacement. Brilliant.

Should someone have raised the red flag when TikTok first came out? Seems to me it was mentioned that the app was Chinese owned. They walked in through the propped-open front door in the middle of the pandemic, when people were hungry for connection. There might have even been a neon Welcome sign. And now 170 million people here are exposed to Chinese snooping while the app doesn’t even exist, or is unavailable, in China.

Is RedNote any less invasive, or dangerous? Is there any less of a risk of personal information being compromised? Why are people falling over themselves to move to this new platform? Seems the cat’s out of the bag either way—whether TikTok survives or people flock to RedNote.

I must be missing something here.

Trump usually gets what Trump wants, and sheep all over the country fall over themselves to placate.

With his big day upcoming, Donald decides it’s unacceptable to have the flag still flying at half mast in honor of Jimmy Carter, even saying that we the American people should all find this unacceptable. So, several Republican governors and other officials rush to assume the position and kiss his ass.

Of course this need smacks of disrespect, and childishness, and insecurity, and in normal times would likely be a non-issue. Some might even dare think better of Trump if he just decided to let this one go. But of course that won’t happen, because he’s a toddler who will soon be sworn in as #47.

With the flag flying high, just the way he wants it.

I wish I could be more eloquent and descriptive, but what comes to mind is a foundation cracked just enough to let in all manner of vermin and snakes.

Or how about they all just scurry and slither in through the front door?

Hegseth, Bondi, Patel, the OMB guy… it seems the hearings will be mere formalities, with Trump-pleasing Republicans all falling in line behind the nominees while Democrats harp too heavily on excessive drinking and sexual impropriety, talking to the hand and screaming into the void and coming close to ignoring these nominees’ ulterior motives and, with the possible exception of Marco Rubio, astounding lack of experience.

It reminds me of hearings held for Supreme Court justices—to some extent partisan questioning and posturing, and every nominee sitting in the chair and saying what he or she thinks people want to hear, trying to never give too much away.

It all makes me wonder about Project 2025: does it have any teeth, or is it just the Dems engaging in their own brand of fear mongering? I’m leaning toward the former, and it looks like we’ll be finding out soon enough, one way or another.