I’m Officially Beginning To Worry About The Social Security Administration

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The chatter around the Social Security Administration is growing pretty dark at an alarming rate, with the current leader of the organization suggesting he might shut the whole thing down.

Now, this has obviously not happened yet. So, it could be just a bunch of MAGA rhetoric and bluster, but…I’m getting nervous. Doing something like that would dramatically upend the lives of millions of people — most of the the most vulnerable in society.

It would also be a huge shock to the economy, if suddenly a lot of people just did not have any money to spend.

And, yet, Trump has consolidated power already to the point that, lulz, it’s possible even this would not be enough to cause people to risk their “lives and scared honors” in the real fucking world.

A lot would depend, of course, ono how long the shutdown — or interruption of benefits — lasted. If it was days, that’s one thing, but weeks or months is a different issue altogether.

And, of course, it’s possible that Trump could use any mass protests because of this dumb event to establish martial law and that would be that. He would create his own Reichstag Fire event that we would lurch into true fascism.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

‘Let Them Eat Cake’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It definitely seems as though April’s Social Security checks are now in danger, the way people in the Trump regime are talking. If that happened, if nothing else, it will make a lot of people who are rather blasé about politics sit up and take notice.

A lot would depend on how long the delay was. If it was just a few days, that is one thing, but if it dragged on for weeks or months, that is a different matter altogether. People might actually get mad enough to risk their “lives and scared honor” IN THE REAL WORLD.

But…I have my doubts. Trump is an dictator and people are lulzing it. So it definitely seems as though this frog, as they say, is cooked. The country is just too big, to beholden to plutocrats — especially the media — for anything of note to happen.

And Trump has all the cards, all the power.

I just never see us having another free and fair election on the Federal level and Trump is probably going to run for an illegal third term and STILL people will lulz it all.

‘clears throat’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This was bound to happen. Trump is determined to ruin everything — including the Social Security Administration — so I guess it was inevitable that shit like this would be proposed.

So, there you go. Millions of people may be in the lurch because Trump is a very stupid tyrant. If those checks are processed on time for April — and it definitely seems like that’s a possibility — all hell may break loose.

They’re Going To Deport Me To South Korea, The Way Things Are Going (FUCK TRUMP)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I constantly say, you go bankrupt gradually, then all at once and I’m growing a bit unnerved that ICE or the FBI is going to come after me at some point in the not-too-distant future.

I’m totally harmless and there’s no reason for anyone to want to lock me up other than I hate MAGA and can get into a diatribe about that fact here on this blog every once in a while.

And, yet, Trump is slowly circling the US like an anaconda and soon enough he will consolidate power to the point that he can strangle what little is left of our democracy altogether.

Really, the only issue is how far he will ultimately go. It is clear to me that he is probably finally going to do something really bad to the point that either he is deposed (don’t know how that will happen) or we lurch into being a legalistic autocracy like Russia.

It seems as though the thing Trump and Musk will do that will finally cause a lot of otherwise blasé people to sit up and take notice is something to do with the Social Security Administration. If it really does collapse and checks are delayed for a significant amount of time, that would probably be enough for massive demonstrations or maybe, just maybe some sort of General Strike.

But I have severe doubts about that. Americans just don’t think in those terms and ultimately Trump will consolidate power, run for an illegal third term, shuffle off this mortal coil and then whomever succeeds him will be our dictator for the rest of my life.

We Live In A Political Liminal Space (For The Moment?)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump is pushing and pushing our political system to the breaking point…or is he? Maybe the our political system is just going to bend so far as to be unrecognizable.

It could be that we’ll have what I’ve heard as a “competitive autocracy.” And yet I wonder if we are heading towards some sort of final spasm of consolidation that turns us into a full-blow autocracy.

Maybe this is just a mid-way point. Maybe we’re in a transitional phase that isn’t over yet and this liminal space is just a temporary moment in time. I just don’t know it could go either way.

But I think what’s really happening, which is kind of dark, is Trump is going to be a Julius Cesar like transitional figure who destroys what’s left our democracy and we turn into a full-blown autocracy in the style of Russia.

Whenever Trump shuffles off this mortal coil, there will be a huge power struggle until we get the official successor who will be president for 30 to 40 years. That seems like one potential fate.

Of course, there’s a chance that Trump could finally do something so stupid that he gets deposed then there’s a civil war when Red States get mad and leave the Union. So, there is a wide range of possibilities.

Who knows what is going to happen. Probably whatever is the worst possible outcome.

Chappell Roan Made Us Cocky

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m a huge fan of Chappell Roan, and, yet, uh, she can be quite explicit in her lyrics in a way that can potentially turn off the normies. As such, I think she’s a symbol of why fascists won the 2024 election — Blues got cocky.

While we were jamming out to Roan singing about lesbian sex, we totally ignored that a lot of centrists might be turned off by such things. It is growing abundantly clear to me that the fixation on advocating the most extreme position possible on Trans rights isn’t exactly helping Blues woo the critical centrist vote.

The great irony is, of course, that Trump is now using anything to do with Trans people as a catch-all applause line — he knows that him being anti-Trans played well with middle America and so he goes nuts in hating on them. (Ugh.)

I’ve even had a close, conservative relative tell me, essentially, that he believes Blues hate the traditional nuclear family. Ugh. And so here we are. The fascists are consolidating power and there’s just not much we can do. It’s only going to get worse, I fear.

I Fear The VOA Is About To Become An OANN Clone

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a real fondness for the Voice of America and it breaks my heart that malignant ding-dong Trump has, for the moment, ended its existence. And, yet, I think we all know what happens next: it turns into an OANN clone.

The REAL reason why it’s been shuttered is so Trump and his Project 2025 cronies can find a few hundred far, far, far Right MAGA nutjobs to staff it and then turn it into state media.

VOA isn’t supposed to be broadcast in the States but, lulz, I don’t see that lasting. So, within 18 months, I suspect we’re all going to be talking about how VOA is now state media both at home and abroad and how insane it is in its support for Trump and MAGA.

It’s shit like this that makes me fear that you just can’t unring the Trump bell in the US government. It definitely seems as though This Is It. The end, folks, we’re an autocracy now — Trumplandia — and eventually ICE or the FBI will start pushing people like me out of windows.

Sigh.

Things Are Dark(er)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

We have to prepare ourselves for things to get even darker very, very soon. I think we’re going to be surprised in a few days when Trump actually really does, effectively, snatch people off the street.

All the signs point to Trump slowly — and maybe not so slowly — beginning to consolidate power in some pretty unprecedented ways. We haven’t reached the “push people out of windows” stage of things, but we’re getting there.

It could be — at least for now — done in a little less dramatic fashion — TV regulars just go “poof!” never to be seen again. The person I’m must worried about is Stephen Colbert. I watch his show now, on edge, wondering what joke is finally going to get Trump to pull the trigger on purging him from the airwaves.

Because you know that’s coming. I think American late night TV is probably going to be radically changed by the end of the year. Even to the point that SNL is either revamped or ended altogether.

And, of course, I have to worry about myself. I’m growing more and more nervous about my own fate. I’m just a nobody in the middle of nowhere. And, yet, who knows, maybe the regime would want to make an example out of me.

Beyond The Ides Of Trump

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

In a sign yet again that I can’t predict the future, it’s clear — at least at the moment — that Trump isn’t going anywhere. In fact, until something really big and bad happens, he will, in his own way, thrive.

Remember, though, any “big and bad” event that happened would most likely be seen by Trump as an excuse to consolidate power — a Reichstag Fire moment. So, again, lulz.

All I got is Trump is so stupid and lazy that he crashes the economy at some point this year and THEN, MAYBE Blue leadership will get their act together. But I have my doubts.

It seems like we’re stuck with Trump and MAGA from here on out because the only way to get rid of Trump and MAGA is extra-political and I don’t like to think about that. Yikes!

So, I guess I just bide my time until maybe, just maybe, something happens that gives me the funs to get the fuck out of this collapsing into autocracy country.

Just Wait Until Trump Goes To Moscow In May For Victory Day

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump is supposed to be set to go to Moscow in May to celebrate the anniversary of the Soviets over the Nazis. Oh boy. Trump is such a stooge for the Russians at this point that I assume he’s going to use the occasion to destroy NATO and align the USA with Russia.

That seems to be the logical conclusion to all of this. That seems to be what we’re heading towards. We need to be prepared for that eventuality.

Given Trump’s near-absolute power in the USA these days, I have my doubts that anything will happen. There may be some protests and a few Republicans in the Senate may, just may get upset….but the talking points will be sent out and then that will be that.

Lulz, nothing matters.

The old age will end an a new world order will be established where the USA no longer leads the free world, but is very much autocratic and does its best to make everyone else that way, too.

Good luck, folks, you’re going to need it.