The Wizard of Ozymandias

We’re not in Kansas anymore

Trump is not yet in office, but he has been appointing people to jobs in his administration. He’s doing the classic Trump move. He will first hit you with bad news. Before you’ve had a chance to recover, he’ll hit you with worse news. It’s the political equivalent of the waterboarding torture treatment. Before long, you’re gasping for air and swearing to do whatever he tells you to do.

First, he announced that RFK Jr would head Health and Human Services. People gasped. Then he announced that Tulsi Gabbard would head National Intelligence, which oversees the spy networks among other things. People reeled. And then he came in with the left upper cut by announcing that Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman under investigation for having sex with an underaged girl, would be the new Attorney General.

Bobby Kennedy is going to take a hard look at whether we really need fluoride in our water. He will also look into processed foods and vaccines, and catch the guys who killed JFK. If you’re into measles and rotting teeth, Bobby may just be the guy for you. In passing comments to reporters, Bobby said, “Basically, everything causes cancer. We’re gonna have to ban everything.” If confirmed by the Senate, Tulsi Gabbard will be the first woman and the first openly Russian agent to head National Intelligence. In other news, rumors abound that Trump is planning to appoint Oscar the Grouch to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

The US national debt has crossed 36 trillion dollars. I could be off base here but it feels like someone should do something about it. Stock markets are at all-time highs. Bitcoin is at an all-time high. Blood alcohol levels are at all-time highs. If you had invested one dollar in Bitcoin ten minutes ago, you would have twelve million dollars right now.

In the meanwhile, Democrats continued to blame a wide variety of factors for their defeat in the elections. Latino men, white men, wokeism, Arab Americans in Detroit, and anti-incumbency have all been identified as contributing factors. My take: it’s the goddamn voters. We didn’t have enough of those.

I’ll admit I felt a twinge of sadness this morning as I went on my walk, at what could have been in the recent elections. Then I reminded myself that I had refinanced my mortgage at 2% and magically, the world got brighter.

Democratic governors have joined forces to combat “Trump’s extremism.” California’s Governor Newsom declared that the Golden State “stood ready to defend our pronouns against Donald Trump, no matter how high the cost.”

Joe Biden met Donald Trump earlier this week in the White House to plan the transition. Apparently, Trump realized, halfway through, that the Democrats were planning to perform gender change surgery on him and make him the first male and female President to serve in the White House. “When they invited me to plan the transition, I had no idea this is what Joe Biden meant. It’s not a bad idea. I would be the Greatest Woman President ever. I WOULD BE A BETTER WOMAN THAN ANY WOMAN,” tweeted Trump after the meeting.

In other news, the CEO of the restaurant chain, Red Lobster, announced that “endless shrimp” would never be on the menu ever again. When asked why, he replied, “Cuz I know how to do math.”

On a serious note …

They say that inflation ended the Roman Empire. For sure, it has ended neoliberalism in America. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) removed pronouns from her Twitter bio this week, sending the MAGA hordes into rapture. Wokeism is dead. MAGA is alive and kicking everyone on their shins. It’s perhaps time to admit that Trump is a transformational force.

I dislike Trump. He’s no more than a common grifter, who has been unwittingly propelled by forces that even he does not understand and has stumbled into where he is right now. But Trump has changed the American political landscape. Time will tell whether for the better. He has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head a new agency called the “Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE).” They have promised to fire hundreds of thousands of government employees, close entire governmental departments and save the US government at least one trillion dollars in annual expenses. As much as I may dislike these guys, I must admit their vision is bold. Bobby Kennedy wants safer vaccines and less toxins in foods. I don’t know what that means but who doesn’t want safer vaccines and healthier food, right? Except Pfizer and Coca Cola, maybe. Trump wants to close the Department of Education. Again, I am not sure what that means. File it under “can they really do that?”

I will grudgingly give respect to Trump. Not only did he win, but he is also going for it. He is following through on his promises. He has Elon and Vivek on his side this time. Last time, he had Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. This team is an upgrade from the last time. A lot of good can come out of it. It is possible. It is exciting and scary at the same time.

We lost. He won. His victory doesn’t make him right. But it makes him the most powerful man in the world, after Elon Musk. I’m going to stay open and give him a proper listen this time. I think it’s about time we all did that. We need him to succeed. We are not in Kansas anymore.

Have a wonderful weekend.

PS: Google Ozymandias. It’s a brilliant reference. I’m proud of myself.