This speaks for itself.

This morning, Greg Abbott banned vaccine passports in Texas, falsely claiming that they “reveal private health information”.  That’s the dumbest goddam thing I’ve heard since Trump recommended consuming bleach.  Protecting “private health information”?  For God’s sake I’m telling EVERYBODY.  Abbott’s confirmed once again that he’s a complete moron.

Texans shouldn't be required to show proof of vaccination & reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives.

I issued an Executive Order that prohibits government-mandated vaccine passports in Texas.

Don't tread on our personal freedoms. pic.twitter.com/weTbz4FKyH

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 6, 2021

So, let’s recap the week:

1. Trump, against all advice, unilaterally had the second most powerful person in the Iranian government killed by drone in Baghdad.  Seven others were killed along with him.
2. Trump informed Lindsey Graham before the attack, but apparently no one else.  After the attack he spoke only to Republicans and only now is congressional leadership being briefed.
3. Evidence to justify the killings has been described by congressional sources has been described as “razor thin”.
4. Trump has continued to threaten Iran with acts of massive destruction if they retaliate (via Twitter).
5. The Iraqi Parliament has voted to expel all US troops from the country.  The vote was taken at the request of Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.  He’s sure to sign it.
6. Today, Iran announced that it is now withdrawing from the nuclear treaty of 2015 and will begin enriching uranium immediately.
7. Pompeo was on all the news programs this morning freely lying and defending the indefensible.
8. Pence lied on Twitter yesterday that Soleimani was involved in 9/11, trying to give cover to Trump.
9. Trump played golf today.

Our government is run by an incompetent, totally corrupt moron who’s being enabled by lying radicals.  It will take decades to recover from this cancer on our republic.

The independence of the Federal Reserve is one of the key features of our economic system. To keep near term political pressure off of the Fed, the President NEVER publicly comments on monetary policy or meddles in decisions made by the agency.  Well, never until yesterday.  Yesterday, Trump (as usual) shattered another decades-long practice by publicly complaining to CNBC that he was “not happy” about the Fed raising interest rates, and that rising rates damaged “all the work” that he’s putting into the economy.

Jesus.  After careful consideration and years of observation, I have determined that Trump is an idiot.  His spouting off about interest rates on CNBC certainly demonstrates (for the thousandth time) that he has no understanding or respect for his responsibilities of the office he infests; worse, said spouting also demonstrates that he has no understanding about how interest rates actually work.  So, I’ve decided to help; let’s talk to Trump about Interest Rates 101:

Dear Donnie…HEY! YOU!

First, sit down and shut up.  Zip it and listen.  You need to UNDERSTAND THIS.  You’re bitching about interest rates, but you clearly have the knowledge of a chimpanzee about the subject.  So, let’s talk interest rates; I’ll keep this simple so even you can understand it.  Why is it important that we get this concept through that big hair weave?  Because, dumbass, even as you complain about interest rates going up, YOU are making interest rates go up!  Your idiotic and unneeded tax cut to billionaires accomplished two things: 1) You overheated the economy, fueling inflation, and the Fed is having to raise the Fed funds rate to slow down spending, and 2) You exploded the deficit, forcing the Fed to sell more debt.  To sell more debt, INTEREST RATES HAVE TO GO UP TO GET INVESTORS TO BUY IT.  When you blew a gigantic hole in the deficit with your tax cut, YOU caused the problem.  Also, because of your idiotic and erratic leadership, demand for US bonds internationally is down, especially in China.  Again, dropping demand forces higher interest rates to get investors to buy US debt.  Simple.

A debt rate primer: US debt rates are determined by the demand for government bonds. US Government debt is how we finance deficit spending.  You remember that, right, way back when deficits used to matter when the Black Guy was in the White House? Right?  Anyway, I digress.  When demand for bonds exceeds the supply of bonds, interest rates go down until demand is reduced.  If demand for bonds is less than the supply of bonds, then interest rates go up until demand increases and the bonds sell. Interest rates are increasing now because we’re having to finance more debt.  So, here’s what YOU can do, Donnie, (I know your orange head is going to explode) to lower interest rates, you should:

1. RAISE TAXES.  This will raise revenue and lower the need to issue more US debt.  Interest rates will go down.
2. STOP YOUR ASININE TRADE WAR. Confidence and stability in the US increases demand for US debt, and interest rates will go down.
3. Stop commenting publicly on Fed monetary policy, labor numbers, and Hillary Clinton (Hillary comments have nothing to do with interest rates, but they do make you look like a moron.)

Now, go back up to the residence, but turn off Fox Noise and go play with your Legos.

Sincerely,

El Jefe, Interest Rates 101 Instructor

There is a place for anger, and THIS is it.

On Monday, while French kissing Putin on global television, Trump announced that Putin had proposed “an incredible idea” to him during their private session to address Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.  We now know what that “incredible idea” was, and I had to read it twice to believe it; the story was confirmed by Aunt Lydia Sarah Sanders yesterday in the first WH daily briefing held in two weeks.  The “idea”?  For Trump to allow Russian intelligence to question 11 American citizens, including former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, and businessman Bill Browder, whose attorney was murdered in a Russian prison.

This “incredible idea” cynical demand is nothing more than Putin’s chess move against legitimate indictments of Russian intelligence officials for hacking DNC servers and conducting cyber war against the United States.  Bill Browder has been a thorn in Putin’s side for years for pointing out the corruption in his regime.  The murdered attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, had been arrested for uncovering massive corruption in Russia which lead to hundreds of millions of dollars of laundered money being deposited in banks in the US and around the world.  The law passed in his name froze those assets and banned a number of Russian government officials and oligarchs from entering the US.  Putin and his gang hate that law, and have been trying to undermine it since its adoption.  Don’t forget that the meeting with Russian agents at Trump tower in the summer of 2016 was an effort to get the Magnitsky Act repealed.

The shocking thing about the current chapter in this entire sordid story of the love affair between Trump and his handler is that, instead of categorically condemning this demand, the White House IS ACTUALLY ENTERTAINING IT.  Are you kidding me?  And, of course, the invertebrates in Congress are responding as you would expect, mealy mouthed and cowering in the corner, terrified of Trump’s Twitterfingers.

There is a place for anger, and this is it.

UPDATE:  File this under “No Shit” – Saying he’s considering allowing Russian intelligence to interrogate former US ambassador Michael McFaul and others caused HUGE blowback yesterday and today around the world (especially from McFaul himself).  The invertebrates in Congress were actually able to pull themselves far enough vertical to raise their hands and were preparing a resolution condemning the idea when Aunt Lydia Sarah Sanders announced that Trump “disagrees” with the notion of handing Americans over to Putin’s Gulag.  Apparently, the WH now agrees that allowing US citizens to be interrogated by Russian intelligence is not a great idea.  To that we say, NO SHIT.

We all know Sid Miller, childish Ag commissioner of Texas, is a complete jerk, devoting much of his time to insulting half of Texas’ population and publicly displaying his stupidity on social media.  We also know about his weird obsession with the “Jesus Shot”,  which apparently  maintains whatever feel-good it provides, and his use of taxpayer funds to finance his trips to get those shots.  We also know that he wants to replace healthy food options in schools with deep-fried garbage, and are very familiar with his battle against the non-existent “war on cupcakes” for kids’ birthday parties.  One of his most infuriating habits is posting bullshit on Facebook to foment fake outrage against fictional grievances.

We get all that.  Ol’ Sid is a self-absorbed weirdo with an affection for stuffed animals on the walls of his office and screwy conspiracy theories.  In truth, he is the Sas to Louie Gohmert’s Shay.  Between the two of these clowns, it’s all goofball, all the time, and they regularly compete for the title of National Embarrassment of Texas.

Sid’s latest crusade?  BBQ joints.  Sid, as the self-appointed arbiter of everything animal protein, has decided to defy state law and the governor’s directives to go after…wait for it…your neighborhood BBQ spot.  That’s right, even though the state of Texas has exempted small BBQ places from paying big bucks to certify their scales to weigh BBQ, ol’ Jesus Shot Sid himself has decided that, uncharacteristically, he is the Righteous Protector of BBQ Consumers, prosecuting independent pitmasters over a bullshit rule that he invented for some unknown reason, beyond being able to put his name on some Texas state certification sticker.  You do know that he’s printed stickers to put his name on every gas pump in Texas, right?

The only good news here is that Deep Fryer Sid is being opposed by an actual adult in the 2018 race.  Kim Olson, retired Air Force officer, farmer, and Normal Person, is aggressively campaigning to retire him back to the ranch.  We say, come on, Kim!

Look – We all know that Sid Miller is a gigantic asshole. Like Trump, he loves to piss people off just for the pleasure of pissing people off.  We also know that he is self absorbed, corrupt, and has modeled his behavior as Trump’s Mini Me.  I get all that.  But all that aside, Deepfryer Sid is interfering with the National Business of Texas – BBQ.  And when he does that, he disqualifies himself as not only a true Texan, but more importantly, an actual human being.

Go home, Sid, please stop helping.