A possible answer is that it’s all about increasing Trump’s power as the crowned king (as seen in his recently posted fighter jet pilot AI video, showering No Kings demonstrators with feces), allowing him to carry out his wishes with no critics, experts or historians to upset his fragile ego. Hartmann maintains that the House Speaker has pulled off a “procedural” coup, with he and Trump controlling whether Congress exists at all, making a permanent recess which concentrates extraordinary power in Johnson’s office, and consequently, in Trump’s tiny hands which slavishly control Johnson. This paralysis disallows transparent information reaching the electorate about missed votes, and unable to demand accountability, as CBO head Vought and ICE Barbie operate irresponsibly. Also operating in the shadows are Tom Homan, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, FCC’s Carr, and most distressingly of all, Stephen Miller. They will continue with their damnable ways, knowing a pardon awaits if they break laws.

The longer this paralysis continues, it will only normalize the one-sided state of affairs, akin to the president’s invading our cities with National Guardsmen and ICE secret police, and doing whatever strikes him to boost his egotistical power — justification unnecessary. Without the House in operation, the Senate can’t act as it should since the Constitution says all legislation involving expenditures must originate in the House. Speaker Johnson doesn’t have to say it aloud, but he has accomplished what Trump’s open insurrection of January 6 couldn’t. His methodical, bureaucratic cancellation of Congress has eliminated oversight of President Trump, and with the mainstream press focused on the government shutdown which it equates with the House recess. Johnson could be ordered to back off, but what’s to stop him from to making it a regular occurrence — at which point the republic actually becomes a kingdom with a brand-new throne room adjacent to the White House, which many are derogatorily calling the ‘Epstein Ballroom.’

Famous last words from President Trump: “It won’t interfere with the current building. It won’t be. It’ll be near it, but not touching it — and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of. It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.” That lie preceded the total destruction of the East Wing to introduce the second Gilded Age where a new generation of robber barons is paying to entrench their own power, seeing their names etched into the pediments of Trump’s ballroom, which dwarfs the White House in it’s ostentation. These are names to remember, though most are well-known: Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, Marc Rowan of Apollo Global Management, CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman of Blackstone, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and son David, Mark Andreessen, Rupert Murdoch, Charles Koch, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk. Their names etched in the brick or stone edifice will grace the new 90,000-square foot, gold-leafed, glass-walled banquet room that will serve as a giant banquet and ballroom designed to accommodate 650 (or is it 999?) wealthy VIPs protected by bullet proof glass. Trump fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke is leading the effort, in conjunction with the Trust for the National Mall, which supports the National Park Service — meaning that the nonprofit status makes donations a federal tax write-off. Robert Reich said, “It seems fitting that in this second Gilded Age — an age of conspicuous influence and affluent access — the People’s House will be replaced by the Billionaire’s House.”

Daily Dose of Democracy decries the escalating price tag of the ‘Epstein Ballroom‘ which was initially priced at $200 million, then $250 million, to its current estimate of $300+ million. Gilded Corinthian columns and chandeliers dripping with gold don’t come cheap, ya know! On the surface the cost is not being paid for with taxpayer money — it’s worse. Trump is using his vanity project to solicit bribes from American billionaires, all of whom conduct business with the government, and all of whom will get a massive return for their graft with Trump, making the taxpayer the victim in his final sucker punch. “Ripping apart the White House just like he’s ripping apart the Constitution,” proclaimed California’s Governor Newsom. “FAKE OUTRAGE,” countered the White House, as it pointed out Obama’s conversion of the tennis court to a basketball court in 2009, overlooking the fact that basketball use only made it a dual-purpose court.

So, with a shuttered government, American troops pointing weapons at American civilians, and a secret police force abducting American citizens, Trump has embarked on his pet project that will cost hundreds of millions, standing as a monument to greed, graft, corruption, incompetence and nihilism, writes Steve Schmidt on The Warning. He describes the monument as grotesque, but perfectly in keeping with the aesthetic Trump prefers — Liberace-meets-Albert Speer-meets-DJ Jazzy Jeff. “Tacky, appalling, ugly and hideous don’t begin to describe the ruination of the people’s house. The Democratic Party should make clear that Donald’s defacements, vandalisms and constitutional arson will not stand. The full restoration of the majesty of the White House must be the first commitment made by a Democratic nominee for president to the American people,” insists Schmidt. “MAGA has many delusions, but perhaps the most depraved of all is the notion that the American people will tolerate the obliteration of 1600 Pennsylvania by its loathsome tenant. During these troubled times it is easy to become dispirited by the constant insanity, imbecility and epic abuses being committed against America by a gangster regime where Nazis, imbeciles, weirdos and corrupt hacks seem to find new ways to insult patriotism, simple decency and the concept of duty,” cautions Schmidt. He says that destroying Trump’s gilded ballroom will mark the beginning of national recovery and redemption. The fight over the ballroom will signal the fate of the United States — if it exists at all 10 years’ from now, it will mean that the country was lost. Should it be gone, then MAGA will be as well — let us pray that it is.

John Adams was the first president to live in the White House after construction in 1800, and writing to his wife, Abigail, he had high hopes for its future tenants: “I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.” Of course, a very unwise man reported that “ground has been broken on this much-needed project,” setting off a huge debate and a chorus of criticism. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung defended the project, saying, “Construction has always been a part of the evolution of the White House. Losers who are quick to criticize need to stop their pearl clutching and understand the building needs to be modernized. Otherwise, you’re just living in the past.” White House Press Secretary and Propaganda Princess Karoline ‘Lips’ Leavitt contributed, “And President Trump is not costing the taxpayers a dime.” The president, addressing an event attended by college baseball champions, said, “They’ve wanted this ballroom for 150 years. And I’m giving that honor to this wonderful place. You’re gonna see a ballroom the likes of which…I don’t think it will be topped.” Uh-oh chalk up another $200 mil or so to the cost — and who are ‘they’ that wanted a ballroom for 150 years?

Leave it to satirist Andy Borowitz to contribute his impression of the Ballroom Fiasco: “Mike Johnson had no comment on Thursday after Donald J. Trump demolished the House Speaker’s family home. Johnson had reportedly been asleep when a backhoe came crashing through the wall of his master bedroom, sending the Speaker and his wife fleeing for safety. At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered scant explanation for Trump’s decision to level Johnson’s dwelling, saying only that ‘he felt like it.’ After initially refusing to comment, Johnson told reporters that he was ‘sure the President had a perfectly good reason for doing it’ and invited Trump to total his car.” Seems a perfectly reasonable story that fits right in with the current state of affairs.

Those demolition photos that have been posted, despite Trump’s orders that no photos be taken for ‘security’ purposes, stand in blatant contrast to the president’s promise that the gilded ballroom wouldn’t “interfere” with the integrity of the White House itself. So, despite Trump’s and MAGA’s raving about the added monstrosity, the American public is less than pleased — a YouGov survey finds that 53% somewhat or strongly disapprove of the vanity project. Many are mourning the loss of such a significant and historical portion of the People’s House, Chelsea Clinton being very outspoken in her views. “The White House belongs to the American people…a disregard for history is a defining trait of President Trump’s second administration. This is what happens when we take a wrecking ball to our heritage. What was dismantled today isn’t just marble or plaster; it is a reflection of how easily history can be erased when power forgets purpose.”

Surprise, surprise — after a day of golfing, as his MAGA troupe downplayed and mocked the millions who marched against him and his criminal band, the president fired off on Truth Social the video portraying him as a crowned pilot in the ‘KING TRUMP‘ fighter jet, dumping a load of fecal matter on a ‘No Kings‘ crowd in what appears to be Times Square. This violent imagery is a continuation of his ramp-up of threats to the city of Chicago, when in September he posted an AI-generated image of himself in a cowboy hat, US Army fatigues, and aviator sunglasses, with military helicopters hovering over a flaming Chicago skyline. Entitled ‘Chipocalypse Now,’ it was a direct reference to ‘Apocalypse Now,’ the 1979 Vietnam War movie. Somehow, this type of communication is to convince Americans that violent rhetoric from the left is precipitating political violence in the country.

Kudos to the ‘No Kings‘ demonstrators for the creativity displayed in the sea of posters on Saturday! A few of the noteworthy ones spotted: “If Kamala were president, we’d all be at brunch;” “Trump drinks his own bathwater;” “Kristi Noem is like a box of chocolates — they’ll both kill your dog;” “Trump is the worst president since…well…Trump;” “Honk if you’re not in the Epstein files;” “If there’s any justice, ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will be the name of Trump’s cellmate;” and perfect for Halloween, “First they came for the media…then we don’t know what happened after that.” As Robert Reich writes, “As we resist Trump and his regime, we weaken it. As we weaken Trump and his regime, we have less to fear and more reason for hope. As we have less to fear and more reason for hope, we are able to vanquish tyranny and build a better future.” Hear, hear!

Satirist Andy Borowitz, in his The Borowitz Report, writes, “In yet another indication of the heavy turnout for the No Kings rallies, over 400 of Elon Musk’s children attended the protests, according to estimates on Sunday. Donald J. Trump, furious at the size of the No Kings crowds, claimed that the estimated attendance of 7 million ‘is much lower when you subtract all the people who were there to show their hate for Elon. People are saying the number of Elon’s kids who turned out was much higher than 400 — thousands, maybe millions,’ he said. ‘You take away Elon’s kids and almost no one was there.’ Calling the number of Musk children who despise their father ‘a sad situation, quite frankly,’ he added, ‘So many of Elon’s kids showed up there was practically no room for Antifa.'”

Steve Schmidt writes that as Trump’s poll numbers decline, his abuses of power are on the rise, but with the “Americans who stood up and asserted their birthright to speak out against a supremely rotten government and degenerate politicians, who dared call patriotism ‘terrorism,’ they will hang high when the court of history renders its judgments about the fascists who betrayed every noble idea and ideal that made the United States of America an exceptional nation.” Schmidt calls the “collapse of dignity and decency in Trump’s rotten America a disgusting side effect of his cancerous tenure in high office — it is simply appalling. The president of the United States of America is a sick joke.” Especially galling to Schmidt is Vice President Vance’s defense of a group of 30-something-years-old Republican leaders who “love Hitler” as “just kids.”

The Daily Dose of Democracy site reports that Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem held a “moron convention” at the White House, where a congregation of fascist propagandists met to discuss how the administration is going to crack down on ‘antifa‘. As he fought off the napping urge, the president waged war on our civil rights, telling Noem to “start prosecution” of the constitutionally protected right of flag burning, as he boasted about “taking the freedom of speech away.” He maintains that even though the matter has “been through the courts,” burning a flag agitates and irritates crowds. The Daily Dose declares the remainder of “the conference was equally dangerous and stupid.” When asked whether he had any more thoughts on repealing our right to habeas corpus in order to arrest ‘antifa insurrectionists‘, Trump answered, “Suspend who?” The question was repeated, bringing forth the president’s reply, “I don’t know. I’d rather leave that to Kristi.” Obviously, he doesn’t know what the habeas corpus right entails, so he’s leaving it up to the dog killer! That’s saying the quiet part aloud, building an excuse to take away rights under the guise of an imaginary enemy.

The Lincoln Project site accuses Trump of not delivering on campaign promises of lowering grocery prices, ending the Ukraine/Russia war, or fixing the economy, but he has delivered on one promise — that of taking revenge on his perceived enemies. Ho-hum…another day of bogus charges against victims who happened to speak against the thin-skinned dictator-in-waiting. The Lincoln Project calls it the lamest revenge tour of all time, but also the next step in our descent into autocracy. Trump believes he’s already a dictator, so it’s a surprise that he isn’t just poisoning these people’s food or hanging up propaganda posters around Washington. “The worst part about all of this is that on the surface level, there’s not much we can do about it. Trump has corrupted the DOJ and appointed a total moron as head who does literally whatever Trump asks her to do. This probably won’t stop until every enemy from Taylor Swift to Al Pacino is indicted for something ridiculous,” the post reads. It is suggested we can expose Trump and his goons for the corrupt cesspool it is, because they aren’t doing anything FOR the America people — pointless crap is where all his time goes and voters don’t like ineffectiveness. Taxpayers don’t like their tax dollars being wasted on nothing, especially when the government is shut down and the country is in a state of chaos, so the voters must move to exploit this by reminding everyone where Trump’s priorities are — he didn’t run for us, he ran for himself.

The Daily Dose of Democracy says that “our super normal stable genius president’s brain-thing once again malfunctioned in a deeply strange and bizarre way, claiming that Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii wanted to build a train to her island state. Trump claims, ‘She wanted a tunnel from the mainland to Hawaii.’ Then she said, ‘Well, we can’t do that, so we’re gonna build a railroad to Hawaii.’ Do you remember? She’s a current, sitting senator, a Democrat.” Trump rambled on, almost calling her a bitch before his brain worm kicked in to make use of another ‘b’ word, “She’s another beauty.” Daily Dose says that his gravy-choked cerebrum dug up a half-remembered Fox News clip in which a reporter asked Hirono about the absurd right-wing conspiracy that alleged the Green New Deal wanted to abolish all air travel and replace it with high-speed rail, to which Hirono jokingly replied, “That would be pretty hard for Hawaii.” Nothing about building a train to Hawaii. 25th Amendment, anybody?

President George W. Bush’s White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, called it a “huge mistake” by Donald Trump in releasing disgraced Republican George Santos from prison after just a few weeks imprisonment for wire fraud and identity theft, among other felonies. Fleischer wrote on social media, “Why? This is a mistake. Wire fraud and identity theft are serious crimes. There is nothing about Santos that suggests he deserves this, especially after serving only three months.” Perhaps Andy Borowitz has his satirical answer: “After James Comey’s arraignment on Wednesday, experts warned that indicting everyone who has lied to Congress would dangerously overcrowd the nation’s prisons. According to imprisonment expert Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, ‘If we’re going to put all the people who lied to Congress in prison, we’re going to need a ton more prisons. You’re looking at mass incarceration on an unprecedented scale,’ he cautioned. One cost-efficient solution, he said, would be to repurpose the White House as a federal penitentiary since so many eventual inmates are already there.” But until then, it looks as though Trump will simply release those who give him an extra dose of praise, or will offer protection from prosecution — read short-timer Ghislaine Maxwell.

Of course, Borowitz couldn’t let the Epstein saga go unnoticed for any length of time: “On Friday Prince Andrew announced that he was moving to America, hailing it as ‘a country whose government protects pedophiles.’ ‘My bags are packed for Washington, D.C.,’ the disgraced royal told reporters at Heathrow airport. ‘If you’re a pedophile, it’s a sanctuary city. If the federal government has a list of pedophiles — poof— it vanishes into thin air,’ he said. ‘And I’m told there’s a chap named Mike Johnson whose entire job is to protect blokes like me.’ Despite such lavish praise, the Trump administration gave the news of Andrew’s relocation a chilly response. ‘President Trump has never met Prince Andrew,’ said newly-appointed White House press secretary George Santos.”