September 30

 Well, we are about 10 hours away from a government shut down unless one side or the other caves in or a sudden onset of viral sanity happens. And the House members are at home as the institution is in recess so they won't be able to vote on the Epstein discharge petition or on any (unlikely) budge CR that might come out of the Senate. Worse, Trump cancelled the meeting between the Republican and Democratic leaders of both sides of the legislative branch and spent the weekend on the golf course. I guess we know who REALLY wanted the shut down. Oh, yeah, another wave of Trump tariffs will come in at the same time.

I caught, by accident, a bit of Hegseth's address to the flag officers but quickly turned the channel before the nausea became overwhelming. That little bit left me scratching my head wondering why he thought he had to recall them for that drivel and amazed at the tender ego of a very insecure man (?) who doesn't want all those untermenchen (i.e., women, blacks, hispanics, gays, or trans etc.) to play with his toys. What a load of shit!

So the Feds are planning, if they haven't already, to activate and deploy National Guard troops in Portland and Chicago--over the objections of the mayors of both cities and the governors of both states. I am about halfway through a history of South Carolina in the decade before the Civil War: PERFORMING SECESSION. Well before Lincoln was elected or Ft. Sumpter was bombarded South Carolinians were demonstrating their separation from the nation: ejecting undesirable people (usually poor immigrants from northern states looking for work who were white), displaying emblems of resistance to the anti-slavery actions (perceived or real) such as cockades for their hats, and patrolled the population to curtail any perceived deviation from full support of the status quo. Trump is "performing" martial law. Trump's targets are obvious. Chicago has a black mayor and Oregon has a female governor and both object to his immigration policies. The foundation of his fevered dream of returning America to a "golden age" is that we have no "undesirable" immigrants (read not white) and women, blacks and non-Christians shut the f*** up and stay in the back of the bus. And anyone who disagrees will feel the wrath of Trump. Some commentator (can't remember which one) noted that immigrants and "sanctuary" democratic cities won't be the last target because he will find new ones.