The Frankish Reich

Usually when politicians make election promises they can't keep they try to cover it up a little bit better.

Taking a foreign gift from a government feudal kingdom that serves as the home away from home for Hamas, and that is currently engaged in dealmaking with the Trump family. Yeah, that title is really off base.

So who's doing the "reporting" (not commenting)? Catturd? Come on. It's fair to criticize the spin the NYT (or WSJ, or FT, or the few remaining outlets that actually have real reporting capacity) puts on a story. But the story still has to exist before Catturd (and you) spring into action. You guys still obsess over that Politico story about the 50-whatever national security experts and Hunter Biden's laptop. If you actually read the story, it reports what happened. And reports people skeptical of that account. Reports. Not "comments" or editorializes. The MAGAs never actually read an article. Reading is hard. Reposting tweets is easy. Let's let Catturd tell us what to think. Neither should being low quality 100% of the time, Catturds of the world.

Are you sure she wouldn't prefer a new sootcase? Can't start 'em too young. Normal Americans, they're just like us! Tell us: what is false? Trump himself confirmed it. Stop jumping on pro-Trump Twitter talking points. The "denial" seemed very plausible ... for about 10 minutes.

Reporting. Actual reporting. No, the alt media can't do it; they're a hot take machine. Here's an example: inside the conclave, with a group of NY Times reporters getting information I thought it was impossible to get. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/world/europe/conclave-vote-pope-leo-robert-prevost.html “I didn’t even know his name,” Cardinal David of the Philippines said. But Cardinal Prevost was not a complete unknown. As the former leader of the Order of St. Augustine, which operates around the globe, and as the head of the Vatican office overseeing the world’s bishops, he had developed powerful connections and backers. First among them had been Francis, who put his career on the fast track. And his decades in Peru, fluent Spanish and leadership of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America gave him deep, and decisive, relationships on the continent. “We almost all know him. He’s one of us,” said Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Venezuela, who has known him for decades. In the weeks before the conclave, the cardinals participated in a series of private meetings to discuss their concerns about the future of the church. Unlike Francis, who made his mark with a short speech sharing his vision for the church, several cardinals said that Cardinal Prevost’s remarks did not stand out. “Like everyone else,” said Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Spain. Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of France, the archbishop of Algiers, also could not recall what the American had said, but he got to talk to him on the sidelines of the meetings — which was important, he said, because he was increasingly being talked about as a candidate based on his “incredible” résumé, fluent Italian, reputation as a moderate and connection to Francis. The cardinal started asking around to people who had worked with the American to vet him, and learned that he listened and worked well in groups. “I did my job,” Cardinal Vesco said. “I have to vote. I have to know the person.”

Oh, I agree. I'm just saying that the Trump promise - NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY - was just that. It wasn't INCREASED STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR PEOPLE 65 AND OVER WHO MAKE LESS THAN $75,000! Doesn't have the same ring to it, does it ... Somehow between the campaign slogan and the actual legislation I fell off the radar. On EVs: lease! The lease credits are still out there since somehow they flow to the dealer. I got a ridiculously cheap EV lease end of last year. Nice car, I never buy gas now except for long road trips where I still take the old ICE SUV.

I met my first wife and my second improved wife at work. I'll admit that they were both kind of out of my league. I don't know if they would've responded to me at all on match or whatever. But I guess I was quite irresistible in person. JD Hill Fan thinks it must be my wit. It does bother me that dating at work is kind of a minefield now. Do we really want to drive all human relationships into an artificial transactional app?

I was promised NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY. My social security benefits will be FULLY TAXED. That's all.

He was convicted the first time in a state Court proceeding. Trump has no pardon authority over that. Slow down, cowboy.

So you've gotta have FICA/Medicare deducted from your tips, which means you gotta declare those tips as income (kind sorta nontaxable income) which means ... well, your tax return didn't get any easier, did it. The Party of Filing Your Tax Return on a Postcard.

Come on, the campaign beard has been a thing for a while. Ted Cruz, anyone? (I still say watch out for him, he's lurking. It may be like the pope thing in 2028 - you can't seem like you want it that much)

Talk about flogging a dead horse. It is obvious to anyone that a man at 80 is not as energetic or quick-minded as a man at 40, or 50, or 60. It is even more obvious that a man at 80 is not as physically adept as a man at a younger age. The question was always "Is he competent to serve as president." And again, we had a binary choice (until Biden dropped out). Two elderly men, both clearly past their prime. I say that one's presidency showed a pretty steady hand at the stick. I said Biden was aging out of the public part of the job; the point is he still had a handle - his TEAM had a handle - on the private/policy part. Trump long ago aged out of the private/policy part, which is an utter mess. He is nothing but a pitchman now, whether it's pitching steaks or crypto or real estate or the big beautiful bill. I'd like to have a President who is good at both the bully pulpit part and the policy part. But to be honest, we haven't had that since Bill Clinton.

He has no friends. He's ... an incel.

Maybe the Ambassador nominee shouldn’t be spreading false rumors about a leading candidate? https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/brian-burch-s-catholicvote-spat-italian-media-over-parolin-smear