Donald Trump is about as shallow as they come. He touts the ballroom construction and Lincoln bathroom reno as great accomplishments. He points to those as things we should be happy about and impressed by. He says the Democratic dominance in Tuesday’s elections was only because he wasn’t on the ballot—and, well, maybe the shutdown had something to do with it. He really is a sad, pathetic one trick pony, maybe unwilling to acknowledge that in a substantial way, he was on the ballot.

It won’t be long before JD is stepping in, or there’s a major strategy shift and some in-fighting, a grooming of someone else to take the reins. Who knows what’s already going on behind the scenes? The trouble here is that even if the day arrives when Trump is no longer a factor, the cancer is spreading to the bones, and there are likely many others more capable and more legitimately frightening than Donald.

Now that the ’25 elections are over, we can bet on a doubling of efforts by the brain trust to ensure the 2026 midterms will yield more satisfying results. And these efforts won’t include a palatable, enlightened platform.

Get ready, America. The shit’s just gonna keep hitting the fan. Vought and Miller and the rest have no intention of going gently into that good night.

Looks like it was a decent night for Democrats, including one who seems OK with being labeled a Democratic Socialist. The ‘S’ word is still anathema in some circles, but I’m not sure why. We’ve lived with a brand of socialism since at least the mid-1930s, and most of us seem OK with that.

The longstanding mindset that takes exception to it does so on the basis of capitalism as religion, of “how things used to be” in the frontier days, when a white man was a white man and there weren’t any handouts, before expansion and population increases and diversity, along with money-grubbing schemers who don’t think twice about tanking the economy if they can come up with things like credit default swaps and anything else that preys on misfortune, manipulates the system, and keeps coffers filled and lifestyles intact.

Donald Trump and most Republicans deserve a decisive trouncing. They’ve shown us nothing but self-interest and a cold-hearted blindness to the human condition. Trump and the rest can rail all they want against Mr. Mamdani and other Democrats who have now prevailed in elections they couldn’t sway or corrupt with their fear-mongering and moronic threats.

I hope this means the good guys are gaining some momentum. They soon must find ways to follow through on some of their promises.

It’s a sort of weighty hollowness—the daily realization at some point after waking that Donald Trump is still POTUS. We awaken to a daily nightmare where an old, angry man child with skewed priorities abuses his privileges and neglects his responsibilities and carries out someone else’s agenda.

It’s heavy, because most of us know by now that in order to move beyond this stifling malaise, we need to fight, put ourselves out there and risk catching the eye and feeling the wrath of an irrational adolescent who has no room in his heart, no capacity to empathize, no real desire to govern with a thought for what used to be certain ideals and hopes and expectations.

With each new day, I feel more inclined to believe that Donald is just a punch-drunk loser standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a storm-tossed sea, trying to keep his balance, trying to stay focused on what matters most to him: total control, bricks and mortar and gold chandeliers, and crushing his enemies, who become more numerous by the day.

Football is a violent game. Duh. Yesterday, I watched a player for Iowa State take a huge hit, stand up for a couple seconds, then collapse on the field. I’ve never heard a quieter stadium.

That’s what gets me—both teams, and the fans in the stands, keep vigil for the fallen gladiator, feel relieved when they see any sign indicating that the player is conscious and maybe paralysis has been avoided. Then the sanctioned mayhem that sometimes approaches art form must resume.

I’ve always been amazed that so many people at so many levels still want to participate in this… sport? Gotta prove oneself somehow, I guess, join the fray, risk it all for a chance to get laid, for a shot at fame, and opportunities to hit people.

This isn’t serious governance. It’s slash and burn, in-your-face idiocy. It’s distraction and cover-up, 24/7. It’s so bad and so negligent that it sometimes feels like a sick joke, like it can’t possibly be happening. Like who could be this ignorant, and so willing to carry through on the next cold-hearted, ill-advised thing?

Half the country has given permission, though, apparently deceived into thinking that Trump was actually capable, or some sort of miracle worker sent from God.

What brand of Christianity cultivates such gullibility and blindness?