Stephen Colbert who recently mocked Democrats and their hand-held protest signs displayed at Trump’s State-of-the-Trump speech at the joint session of Congress, has gained a bit traction with his own paddle-sign that read “Try Doing Something.” Protests against the administration’s policies are becoming more common, larger in number and in participants, with representatives holding town halls in their districts being forced to flee because of voter anger — advisers are saying, “just skip this tradition!” One person who has been persistent in punching at Trump with Tweets for years, but magnifying her activity since last October, is Natasha Rothwell, who starred as Belinda in the TV series, ‘The White Lotus.’ Every single day she posts a message reminding the president in some form saying, “Donald Trump, you are trash!” Natasha may include retweets, quotes, likes, and different views, one variant reading, “You have no value or use and you spend your days lying around doing nothing…cuz u trash.” Not content to pick on just Donny, her header on X has ‘TRASH‘ above headshots of the six conservative Supreme Court Justices, with arrows pointing appropriately to insure that they feel the burn.

Feeling the burn from last week’s vote on the continuing resolution to fund the government until September, is Senator Chuck Schumer who succumbed to the demands of blackmail as John Stoehr of Editorial Board posted on the blog. Schumer took to the floor and said that he would vote with MAGA to pass the resolution, with Stoehr asking, “What is Schumer getting in return?” He isn’t implying that corruption is an issue, only that this is politics and the Senator must be trading for something, right? The resolution allows Trump and Musk to continue dismantling the government, with Everett B Kelly of the American Federation of Government Employees saying, “A widespread government shutdown has been underway since January 20 and will continue to spread whether Senators vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on HR 1968.” Kelly, leader of the country’s largest public employee union, says HR 1968 sets in stone the administration’s crime spree, decimating agencies without due process, cutting off funding that has already been appropriated and signed into law, and with it the administration “will dramatically expand its termination of federal workers and double down on its campaign to make federal agencies fail, because there will be nothing left” to stop them. He believes it robs the constitutional authority of Congress, with the White House having said that even if the bill passes, it will ‘impound‘ that money — which is to say, ‘steal it’ — if it pays for things that Trump does not like. What it boils down to for Democrats who voted for it, is that Trump will become a criminal president, or if they voted against it, Trump will become a criminal president. Heads…I win, tails…you lose. Not a choice, blackmail, as Stoehr said.

Senator Schumer explained to Chris Hayes in an interview, that he made his choice to vote for the resolution, because the alternative was much worse by allowing a government shutdown. Trump would have favored a shutdown, allowing him to redefine what counts as ‘essential services,’ then cutting the government even closer to the bone. Stoehr saw Schumer’s premise, yet he didn’t explain why the House MAGAs voted to keep the money flowing if co-presidents Musk and Trump preferred a shutdown — and why did Schumer deceive us earlier into thinking he might lead a resistance demanding a one-month extension? Stoehr asks agains, “What are Democrats getting in return?” He answers his own question — “nothing.” Chris Hayes posted that “the institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict-avoidance in almost every direction. ‘What can we do to make the least number of people mad?’ is just a bankrupt way to operate.” Stoehr concludes the Dems pathology is deeper than ‘conflict-avoidance’ — only the fear of being held accountable by someone somewhere “who requires the Democrats to take responsibility for the bad choices made by Republicans. Its’ a deep-seated sense of obligation that the Democrats are the only adults in the room, and if they don’t act like adults, things will get much worse than they are. Schumer believes in his bones that the Democrats must save the Republicans from themselves, and thus save the country from the Republicans, as reflected in his comments about a possible shutdown.”

Schumer is quoted as saying, “There’s no exit ramp. Anyone who wants the shutdown, I have asked: ‘Well, how do we get out of it?’ Guess who it’s up to — Trump, Musk, DOGE, all bad choices. I respect people who don’t want to vote for the CR. It’s awful. But with the alternative being a government shutdown, that’s even worse.” To this, Stoehr replies, “Well, yes! It is up to Trump! And if he does to the government after a shutdown what he’s already doing to it before a shutdown, then whatever happens is on him and him alone. Lots of good people are going to suffer, because the administration is evil. But the Senate Democrats cannot save them, nor should they try, because they cannot hold accountable the man responsible for their suffering if they themselves are complicit in it.” Stoehr feels that institutional Democrat Schumer is taking cues from the mainstream media, not “plucky indie newsletters,” and also the party’s donors who are concentrated in the northeast. “They want the Dems to bargain with the Republicans, not necessarily fight them, as serious combat would probably jeopardize their interests,” he discerns. “In times of crisis the mainstream media understands subconsciously that the Republicans are hopeless but that Democrats are not. They assume that Democrats will be the adults in the room, and because institutional Democrats interpret this assumption as something mainstream voters want, they deliver. Even if it means getting nothing in return.”

Representative Nancy Pelosi, in a statement regarding handling of the funding vote, took a shot at an unnamed Schumer, saying, “Democratic senators should listen to the women. Appropriations leaders Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement. America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For the People.” She goes on to praise House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his leadership in rejecting a false choice, and her colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their “overwhelming vote against this bill.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal. And not just about progressive Democrats — this is across the board — the entire party. I cannot underscore enough how incorrect that is. There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States, who walked the plank and took immeasurable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.” Representative Greg Casar, head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus chimed in, saying, “The GOP bill is specifically designed to allow Trump and Musk to continue plundering the taxpayers to enrich themselves.”

In the end, Senators and Representatives voted to “sell our country out to Donald Trump and Elon Musk for mass firings, cuts to vital services, and tax breaks for the rich,” according to the Common Cause website. Elected leaders are sticking to the same passive, by-the-book strategies that empowered people like Trump and Musk in the first place, while abandoning our public services and our values at the altar of political convenience. Stirring up a hornet’s nest of dissatisfied constituents, Senator Schumer was met with a barrage of demands for his resignation, calls which have only escalated. Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said, “Schumer has lost the confidence of a critical mass of well-meaning people around the country. He must step down from his leadership role in the Senate now, so a sufficiently determined resistance to the disastrous Trump-Musk agenda can be allowed to rise up and act before it’s too late.” Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid said in a blog post, that Schumer must resign, and adding with perspicuity, “Let’s be clear: MAGAs control the House, the Senate, and the White House. The Democratic Party is not in its strongest position, and every single day Trump and Musk are working to gut democracy, attack working families, and consolidate power. And yet, when given the opportunity to use the one piece of leverage Democrats have — forcing Republicans to own the government shutdown — Schumer is folding like a cardboard box in a rainstorm. This isn’t just betrayal. It’s utter incompetence. We don’t need more politicians holding tiny signs and coordinating outfits while Trump consolidates power and enables fascism. We need leadership with the courage to fight injustice and hold the line when it matters.”

Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of Sunrise Movement, a youth-led, climate-focused organization, declared that, “Today was a spectacular display of cowardice from Senator Schumer. This morning, Schumer had arrested, 11 young protestors in his office rather than look them in the eye. This afternoon, he gave Elon Musk the keys to the government. Trump’s and Musk are hurtling our country toward disaster. They are gutting the educational system, enabling oil billionaires to burn the planet, and destroying vital government programs that millions rely on. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer sits on the sidelines. The budget is one of the only pieces of leverage Democrats have, and Schumer just gave it away. That’s incredibly reckless. Chuck Schumer needs to step aside. Our democracy and our climate and our families can’t afford even another month of this b.s.” Democratic strategist, Waleed Shahid, commented, “This wasn’t about whether Democrats were willing to impose a cost on their opponents for governing through blackmail. Instead, Schumer made the kind of move that tells Republicans they can keep pushing.” Justice Democrats, a progressive group that helped Ocasio-Cortez upset a top House Democrat in a 2018 primary, said, “Corporate Democratic leadership is all talk and no fight. Gutless, spineless, and utterly unqualified to lead.” Schumer stepping down from his leadership isn’t enough for many, with many critics encouraging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Dan Goldman to challenge the Senator in the 2028 primary.

Domestic beer brewers should take a page from Canada’s oldest brewery, which has announced a ‘Presidential Pack’ of Moosehead beer — 1,461 cans of its Canadian lager, intended to last the course of President Trump’s entire second term, one beer for every day of that term. The pack retails for $3,490 CAD and is sold in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario provinces. Leaning into the ongoing trade war with the USA, Karen Grigg, director of marketing said in a press release, “If the start of 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that it will take determination to weather four years of political uncertainty — and what better way to make it through each day than with a truly Canadian beer.” Trevor Grant, VP of Sales and Marketing said the idea was talked about for a few weeks as the challenges with tariffs and the Trump administration dragged on, and, “Obviously, it’s a bit of a difficult situation, so we’re trying to maybe have a little bit of fun with it, as Canadian shoppers look for locally made products now more than ever.” Many of the big US companies that sell in Canada, like Anheuser-Busch, manufacture American brands within Canada, such as Bud Light, and thus aren’t affected by tariffs — or good taste.

Trump’s Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has remained relatively low-key as the measles outbreak worsens, with cases popping up in even more states across the country. Several weeks ago, Kennedy couldn’t get excited about the first death in Texas, saying, “It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year,” ignoring the fact that outbreaks are considered rare, with measles considered eliminated in the US in 2020. Kennedy has been slammed for writing previously that measles are not deadly and that outbreaks had been “fabricated” to push people toward “unnecessary and risky” vaccines. His prominence in the anti-vax community has been credited with leading to an increase in the number of parents who won’t follow the science, now refusing to vaccinate their children. What our children have now learned from Kennedy and President Trump is that, ‘science is stupid.’ Fran Lebowitz, in her short essay entitled ‘Science,’ writes, “Legend has it that the atom was split when a bunch of scientists working late decided to order in a pizza. Indeed a terrifying story and one made all the more chilling when one learns that a number of their colleagues smarting from the snub of being excluded from this impromptu meal spitefully repaired to an all-night diner and invented polyester.” Be aware that Trump and Kennedy may designate measles as ‘Freedom Freckles.’

In defense of his bosom buddy and co-president, Elon, Donald Trump came to the Tesla mogul’s aid after an announced boycott against the firm’s vehicles, in addition to protester’s vandalizing dealership showrooms or individually owned cars and trucks, not to mention plunging stock prices. The orange co-president posted, “To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the world’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for. I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American. Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???” Musk responded with, “Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump!” So be careful out there — those of us who decide against buying a Tesla because we dislike Musk are doing so illegally, and perhaps Donny should know, being a convicted felon himself as many pointed out. Let’s not forget that Trump once called for a boycott of Goodyear tires because of their dress code prohibiting political attire, i.e., MAGA baseball caps. Trump’s promotion of a specific brand and whining about ‘illegal‘ is silly and inappropriate for a president’s concern. Of course, while this is going on, the two co-perpetrators are ruining American’s lives, by tanking the economy, threatening long-time allies around the world, and compelling them to boycott all American products. No worries, though — Trump, a once fierce critic of electric vehicles (drill, drill, drill!) is buying a Tesla from the world’s wealthiest man. Oh! And, so is Sean Hannity! Lunatics all — to include those who voted for this.

Tesla sales boycotts are only part of the picture, as some Tesla owners are selling, or considering selling, their vehicles as the backlash against Musk and DOGE grows, even though they may take a serious financial hit as prices plummet according to dealership website CarGurus. Singer Cheryl Crow announced she is selling her Tesla, then donating the proceeds to NPR as a protest against Elon. Investor Joanne Wilson told Business Insider she was ditching her Model S, floating the idea of letting members of the public smash it with hammers. Real estate developer, Scott Oran decided to sell his Tesla out of “embarrassment,” and a concern over vandalism, and to beat the rush of other sellers to the marketplace with the brand which is most common for EVs. Oran feels that Musk has irrevocably damaged the Tesla brand, with the maker’s stock drop on a recent Monday of 15% — a $29 billion reduction to Musk’s worth in just one day. Not to fret over Musk’s loss — after Trump’s announced Tesla acquisition, reports emerged that Elon was considering a $100 million donation to a super PAC associated with, and controlled by, the president.

That donation probably went a long way into converting the White House south lawn into a Tesla showroom for Trump’s big auto purchase, with five vehicles displayed for his perusal before his decision to spring for a deep red Tesla Model S, valued at almost $80,000, for use by his staff since he doesn’t drive any more. It’s unclear whether or not Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with plastic tube men, or air dancers, to attract the locals to the big sale. Trump praised Tesla’s quality and Musk’s dedication during the White House auto sale, and a photographer got a shot of the script and Tesla price list given the president by Musk to make a sales pitch to the masses. It must have been a convincing sales pitch, because Trump also committed to gifting a Tesla Cybertruck to his granddaughter, Kai — what’s another $80 grand? According to the price list, “Teslas can be purchased as low as $299/month or $35K.” And who knows? Trump may qualify for tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act for purchasers of electric vehicles. That’s dependent upon whether or not the Internal Revenue Service is still operating by next year’s tax filing — no comment from Musk, as he told Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow that he’s been running his businesses “with great difficulty” since spending his time with DOGE. Time for that chainsaw to be shelved, Elon? If Trump is drawing his $400K standard presidential salary, he won’t qualify for the tax incentive, but if he’s only drawing his one-dollar annual salary as in his first assault on the presidency — he’s not saying…what do you think? — he might qualify for the EV credit.

So far, Trump has not commented on his 2023 post that electric car supporters should “ROT IN HELL.” The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel wrote that the car promo was, “a stilted, corrupt attempt to juice a friend’s stock, and certainly below the office of the presidency,” and we might add, so is most of the other junky crapola Trump and his grifting Crime Family push constantly. If any other government official in the executive branch had done a similar promotion, they would have been in clear violation of the regulation prohibiting such endorsements; but Trump and his hillbilly VP are exempt, where norms are usually respected as the primary lever for holding the line. The Don has repeatedly demonstrated his appetite for overturning norms and pushing ethical bounds, so his Tesla push is not out of the ordinary for him, and in reality, it delights him that he has such impunity, says Lora Kelly in her The Atlantic Daily commentary.

On his show, Jimmy Kimmel expressed dismay at the changing reputation of Tesla recently, recounting how owners are attempting “to disguise their vehicles to avoid confrontations and vandalism.” He showed clips of Teslas minus the logos, which now sport Mazda, Audi, or Subaru identification. “People are even trying to disguise their Cybertrucks. That’s like trying to pass off Chewbacca for a chihuahua. It doesn’t seem right,” he said. “Maybe this is all a ruse. Elon somehow tricked MAGA into driving electric cars. Maybe he really is a genius,” he speculated. The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert shared that recently someone stole the wheels off of every single Tesla in a Texas parking lot. “Whoever did it, I do not condone this. But I do appreciate your tireless efforts,” he said as he accepted a fake Nobel Prize for Puns. “Thank you so much!” He continued, “I want to be clear. I do not condone violence or vandalism of any kind. That is a deeply held belief of mine that comes from the bottom of my CBS legal department.” He pointed to a trend where Cybertrucks are being covered in garbage, theorizing, “To be fair, that might not be vandalism. That might just be a simple mistake because they do look a lot like a dumpster.”

PLAYING POSSUM, FULL OF IT, RUBY, COOKOUT POTATO SALAD

James Carville seems to have adopted the Napoleon Bonaparte quote: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” The influential Democratic Party strategist who came to prominence in the Bill Clinton years recently predicted that the Trump White House will “collapse” in less than a month as his approval ratings continue to decline with his multitude of unpopular executive orders, and slashing of governmental agencies by firing thousands — risking an economic nosedive. His advice to his party is to simply sit back and watch it all come down: “Democrats need to play possum. This whole thing is collapsing,” he predicted in an interview with Dan Abrams of Mediaite. “We’re in the midst of a collapse. This is the lowest approval — not even close — that any president has ever had at a comparable time. It’s going to be easy pickings here in six weeks. Just lay back.” Later, he told Sean Hannity on Fox News that he sees Democrats up by 13 points in the congressional generic, with Trump at the lowest approval of any president, so early in the game, in American history. He challenged Hannity by his query, “So, your viewers are getting one view. And I’m reading another view. One of us is right and one of us is wrong. It’s that simple. Have they got fact checkers at Fox?” Trump came to his defense on Truth Social with the claim that he has “the best polling numbers” in his history. “The Democrats, run by broken down losers like James Carville, who’s weak of mind and body, are going crazy, and just don’t know what to do. They have lost their confidence and spirit — they have lost their minds!” he fired back. Carville maintains that the House Democrats know exactly what they are doing because they see what is going to happen, in spite of the concern in the party that its defenses are lacking. Trump’s first moves in office instigated from constituents, 1,600 phone calls a minute to the Senate, complaining that more needed to be done. Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told Axios that the record number of calls were from “people disgusted with what’s going on, and they want us to fight back.”

Carville suggested to Democratic politicians that they should not get in the way of protesters around the country who are speaking out against co-presidents Trump and Musk, or as rural America says, “‘Don’t just stand there. Do nothing.’ Let this germinate. In the immortal words of Dalton in ‘Road House,’ ‘be nice until it’s time not to be nice.’ And that time is coming shortly.” Carville disagrees with moderates who say people are overreacting to Trump, warning, “No one is overreacting. We’re living in real time in a catastrophe.” One prominent date he sees is the November 5 election in Virginia, where Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, a leading Trump supporter, will be dealing with a large and angry electorate made up of thousands of fired federal employees. Carvile asks, “Do you think they’re gonna vote? I think they’re gonna vote. I think I know which way they’re gonna vote, and they’re gonna vote heavily.”

Robert Reich says people are asking him, “Where’s the Democratic Party?” He says that at a time when America needs a strong, bold, courageous opposition, the party’s silence is deafening, but goes on to say, “But with due respect to my old friend James Carville who is telling Democrats to ‘roll over and play dead,’ he’s full of it. Trump is killing our country, reducing the US government to rubble, and destroying our relationships with our allies. Putin may love it, but it’s a catastrophe four us and much of the rest of the world. Democrats have been rolling over and playing dead too long. That’s one reason the nation is in the trouble we’re in. My simple advice to congressional Democrats: Wake the hell up!” He goes on to say that if the party had only “had the guts years ago to condemn big money in politics, fight corporate welfare, and unrig a market that’s been rigged in favor of big corporations and the rich, Trump’s absurd bogeymen (the deep state, immigrants, socialists, trans people, diversity-equity-inclusion) wouldn’t have stood a chance.” His comments preceded the joint congressional session State-of-Trump speech, where he correctly predicted the “Republican lawmakers who have turned over their brains and intestines” would applaud his stream of lies. His wish that the Democrats would boycott the whole event en masse did not come to pass and his suggestion that they would perhaps just sit on their hands and applaud a few insipid Trump utterances was close to what we saw. There were many empty seats, with some making an exit at various times during the ninety-nine minute ordeal. Representative Al Green had to be escorted from the gathering when he heckled Trump as he pointed his cane toward the president for spewing lies, and many of those remaining had brought signs which they held up in response to his insults and rambling lies.

The small, hand-held signs only brought derision and chuckles from the Republican faction, and a political cartoon printed in some newspapers emphasized the futility of the protest in showing a chainsaw wielding Elon Musk laying waste to government buildings as the Democratic donkey mascot sat nearby in a chair holding up a sign that read, “Tsk, tsk.” Andy Borowitz satirized the event with his own account: “Donald J Trump watched Elon Musk’s historic address to Congress Tuesday night from the last row of the House chamber. Striking a menacing tone, Musk threatened to mount lavishly funded primary campaigns against congressional Republicans unless they gave him a standing ovation after every line of his speech. Trump’s view of the speech was partially obstructed by Robert F Kennedy, Jr, who sat in the second-to-last row and brought a dismembered whale’s head as his plus-one guest.” With a bit more accuracy, Borowitz said, “In what is being called a historic performance, on Tuesday night Donald J Trump set a new world record for delivering the longest speech that did not include a single fact. Congressional Republicans were awestruck by their leader’s ability, at the age of 78, to give such a sustained fact-free oration. House Speaker Mike Johnson said, ‘He’s still got it.’ Republicans contrasted Trump’s address favorably with the Democratic response of Senator Elissa Slotkin, who spoke only briefly but whose remarks were riddled with facts.” It must be noted that Elon was actually present, all spruced up in a fitted suit and tie, after ditching the blazer/t-shirt/baseball cap/dark sunglasses attire which is his Oval Office outfit — much the same as Zelensky’s. Stephen Colbert offered his thoughts on the Oval Office’s strict dress code of decorum, saying, “You must either look like a businessman or a guy trying to hand you a flyer outside of a strip club.”

In his speech, Trump again spoke about trying to regain ownership of the Panama Canal, sure to cause diplomatic shockwaves, as he singled out Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the one “to blame if anything goes wrong,” — resulting in a wide-eyed and shocked reaction from Rubio, and a classic forever meme for denizens of social media sites. Poor ‘Little Marco’ was probably still in a state of shock from being present at the Trump-Vance-Zelensky brawl in the Oval Office a few days before. Rubio — who according to Saturday Night Live, will now be known as ‘Marc Ruby’ since Trump signed his English-only language executive order — posted on X that the president’s speech was “inspiring” and “momentous,” with Trump’s “clear mandate from the American people to renew the American Dream.” Ruby won his Senate confirmation 99 to 0, and many hoped that his maturity and government experience would serve him well in holding some sway over Bully Trump, but that is obviously not to be. Ominously, the American asset management company, BlackRock has volunteered to buy two ports at either end of the Panama Canal from their current Hong Kong-based ownership in order to lessen Chinese influence over the crucial international waterway. BlackRock and other investors will spend $22.8 billion to buy the ports of Balboa and Cristobal — a deal which is now only an ‘agreement in principal.’

Response by Senator Bernie Sanders to the joint session speech charges Trump with creating a parallel universe with “a set of ideas that either have no basis in reality, or are nowhere near the most important concerns of the American people” — a pivotal moment in our country’s history. He says Trump’s tactic is the BIG LIE, many of which were heard during the Tuesday night blathering, and these grossly false lies are repeated over and over again, with complicity of right-wing social media sites blasting them out until people accept it as truth. Sanders points to the purpose of these lies, not only to push a right-wing agenda, but to deflect attention away from those important issues facing the country — issues Trump and his billionaire friends don’t wish to address, otherwise there is no financial benefit to them. He emphasized the issues Trump ignored in his record-setting speech: About how will working people support families in these tough times, made tougher by the administration; the reality of the 60% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck; the broken, dysfunctional, expensive health care system, and the non-affordabilty of prescription drugs; the major housing crisis and homelessness;  the massive income and wealth inequality with three 3 Americans owning more wealth than the bottom half of our society; the corrupt campaign finance system that allows billionaires to buy elections; the life expectancy of the poor compared to the wealthy; and the planetary crisis of climate change. Trump urged Congress to pass his “big beautiful budget,” leaving out ugliness of the $880 billion that would come from Medicaid, leaving 36 million Americans in peril. But what the hey — spaceship ownership is such an important factor nowadays, as well! An occasional fireworks display over the Caribbean is a sight to behold!

On his nightly show, Stephen Colbert mocked Trump’s remarks, but he was most critical of the Democrats, saying, “But don’t you worry. The Democrats came ready to fight back with their little paddles. That is how you save democracy. By quietly dissenting…or bidding on an antique tea set, it was hard to tell what was going on. In fact, I made my own sign.” Impassively, he held up a sign reading: “Try doing something.” Before Trump’s address, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had demanded that Democrats sit meekly and do nothing during the MAGASpeech, a demand that was not respected by several individuals. Consequently, a dozen or so disruptors were called into a ‘come to Jesus meeting’ on Thursday following the address, to be helped to “understand why their strategy is a bad idea,” which brought forth the comment that “if Jeffries has any good ideas, we’d love to hear them,” accompanied by the snarky, “But he’s been busy on a tour to sell his children’s book, “The ABCs of Democracy.” It seems incredibly misguided to scold Congressional Democrats for taking a stand against an autocrat who the party has characterized as a fascist authoritarian — a puny stand though it may be. Elie Mystal wrote in The Nation: “I asked Democrats to boycott Trump’s speech to Congress. They did not. Instead, they brought little placards emblazoned with political messages, as if they were in a silent auction for fascism. We live in hell.” Senator John Fetterman on X, characterized the protests as a “sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained.”

Elie Mystal, besides being disgusted with Democrats for showing up at the joint session, was further enraged that Representative Al Green was censured by Congress for disrupting Trump’s speech “to a joint session of sycophants and co-conspirators”; and, though many Democrats protested and voted against the procedure punishing Green, Mystal posted a list of the ten Democrats who voted with the MAGAts who he hopes will never be able to raise a dollar from other Democrats, ever again: Ami Bera (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Jim Himes (D-CT), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY). He also decried Elissa Slotkin’s “tepid Democratic response to Trump’s multi-hour Netflix series address to Congress, during which she managed to praise notable Democratic hero, Ronald Reagan.” Mystal recounts her follow-up interview with Tim Alberta of The Atlantic, “where she outlined her priorities. Her answers were the usual thin gruel that passes for Democratic Party talking points, but one line really stood out to me. She said, ‘It doesn’t win elections to speak to just the base of the party…if it did, Kamala Harris would be president.’ First of all, I’m really gonna need Becky with the 80% White Congressional district to keep Kamala Harris’s name out of her mouth. It’s easy to slag off the Democratic ‘base,’ which has been Black people for Slotkin’s entire life, when nobody is inviting you or your potato salad to the cookout anyway. It’s a little harder when you are running to represent all of America, not just the White folks who think they should own the place.”

Co-president Elon Musk is watching his Tesla vehicle empire skid downward, almost as fast as his pyrotechnics rocket company, though not quite as flashy. Sales are dropping dramatically worldwide, and dealerships are experiencing violent actions from an angry anti-Musk crowd, not to mention individual car and truck owners having their vehicles damaged and getting new paint treatments, or protest stickers applied surreptitiously. A post on Quora shares a definition of the portmanteau word, ‘DePlorean,’ combining ‘deplorable’ and ‘DeLorean,’ which has been applied to Tesla’s Cybertruck. The early 80s DeLorean sports car had a brushed aluminum exterior similar to the C-Truck, and carried similar social connotations of audacity, impracticality, and irritating behavior. While the DeLorean, which originally sold for $12,000 is now a prized collector’s item, the Cybertruck at $100,240 is an overpriced, poorly constructed symbol of excess, greed and stupidity, and much uglier when seen up close than online photos reveal. A UK-based group, ‘Everyone Hates Elon,’ recently unveiled an advertisement for a ‘Swasticar,’ which shows Musk standing in one of his cars while giving the Nazi salute, with printed copy proclaiming the vehicle “goes from zero to 1939 in three seconds.” The bus stop posted image has gone viral, and the group encourages supporters to spread it far and wide, saying, “Not happy with fueling the far-right in the USA, Elon Musk is now doing the same in Europe. We can’t let the richest man in the world poison our politics.” A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise cash to plaster the ‘Swasticar’ ad in more public places, as well as for production of small stickers reading “Don’t buy a Swasticar,” giving emphasis to their motto: “Pissing off Elon Musk, one small action at a time.”

In the UK, Musk has supported the far-right, anti-immigrant Reform Party, and attacked the Labour government by spreading “lies and misinformation” about the criminality of immigrants according to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. A few weeks back, Musk expressed support for Germany’s Alternative for Germany party, which gained support in their losing election campaign, even though it has been classified as a suspected extremist group by Germany’s intelligence service. Two left-wing activist groups — UK’s Led by Donkeys, and Germany’s Center for Political Beauty, claimed responsibility after they beamed an image of Elon Musk making the Nazi salute onto Tesla’s factory in Berlin, accompanied by the words “Heil Tesla.” A jeering crowd who erupted at the mention of Musk’s name on the ‘Late Show‘ caused Stephen Colbert to comment, “That is the sound of Tesla sales plummeting.” He also joked, “Millions of young people can’t stand him — and those are just his kids.” Colin Jost on ‘Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update‘ reported that “experts are saying that Trump’s tariffs will raise the cost of a new car by as much as $12,000, or you can get a free Tesla, since people are throwing them away.” Update co-host, Michael Che reported that European leaders have been coaching Volodymyr Zelensky on dealing with Trump —“kind of like how you need extra training to be a special ed teacher.” Che referred to a Trump claim that “no president has changed government more in 43 days,” to which Che replied, “Yeah, and nobody changed airport security more than bin Laden.” Addressing Trump’s constant back-tracking on his tariffs, amid concerns among consumers and investors, Che joked, “It’s a cunning political tactic experts call ‘bipolar disorder.”