Hi everyone --
Hackwhackers will be on a temporary hiatus while we have family visiting. That is, we're literally going to spend more time with the family, as some retiring from political life might say.
Thanks for your loyal readership, and we'll see you Sunday!
(click to enlarge image)
(Michael de Adder, deAdder.substack.com)
(Ann Telnaes, anntelnaes.substack.com)
(Gary Markstein, Creators Syndicate)
Operation Epic Epstein Fury: deal or no deal (in "two weeks"?)--
Trump: 2/6-“They want to make a deal badly 3/2-“They want to make a deal badly 3/16-“They want to make a deal badly 3/24-“They want to make a deal badly 3/25-“They want to make a deal badly 4/1-“They want to make a deal badly 4-13-“They want to make a deal badly 4/14-“They want to make a deal badly
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 9:30 PM
[image or embed]
The blasphemous posting never stops with the deranged Malignant Fascist --
Trump is posting fresh blasphemies this morning
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) April 15, 2026 at 8:37 AM
[image or embed]
Look who's lecturing the Pope on....theology. The couch f*cker himself. Another fail. --
JD Vance lectures the Pope on how to talk about theology.
— Mike Sington (@mikesington.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 7:27 AM
[image or embed]
Hubris
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 5:49 AM
[image or embed]
Having lost in Iran, the Trump admin is picking a fight they think they can win: arguing with The Pope about Catholicism.
— Max Kennerly (@maxkennerly.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 7:33 AM
[image or embed]
Dems introduce bill to have experts assess the MF's mental fitness under 25th Amendment --
NEW: Raskin, w/ 50 House Dem co-sponsors, formally introduces a bill which would create a commission to assess Trump's fitness for office under the 25th Amendment. Bill text here: www.documentcloud.org/documents/28... Story TK
— Andrew Solender (@andrewsolender.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 12:05 PM
[image or embed]
The shameless, lawless DOJ wants Court to absolve January 6 seditionist rioters --
Trump’s DOJ trying to erase the seditious conspiracy he caused was not some inevitability and marks a further descent. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
— Dan Friedman (@dfriedman.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 8:15 PM
[image or embed]
ICE bringing Orwell's Big Brother state to life --
— David Sirota (@davidsirota.com) April 14, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Things that go "boom" in war criminal Russia. Slava Ukraini! --
Explosion on a gunpowder plant in Russian Samara. Reasons unclear. Yesterday, there were explosions on a gunpowder plant in Russian Kazan. Coincidence?
— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 7:11 AM
[image or embed]
The MF's negative effect on this summer's World Cup games. Winning! --
With Trump in power, no one wants to come to the US, not even to view the World Cup. The hospitality industry faces a severe crisis, which is 100% of Trump's making. www.ft.com/content/7fd5...
— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 8:29 AM
[image or embed]
And his valedictorian speech was purrr-fect! --
— gatos fazendo gatices (@gatinarios.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Dublin, Ireland's legendary rock band U2 has a new EP out, "Easter Lily," with lots of great music as you'd expect from this 22 time Grammy award group. Their song "Scars" from that record is our song choice today.
The mentally ill and unstable Malignant Fascist's behavior has always been there to see for anyone with a clear eye and mind. Years ago, in his first term, mental health professionals warned publicly about his extreme narcissism and sociopathy, and the danger it represented to the nation. After his defeat in 2020 subsequent trials for his criminality, and return to the Oval Office on a platform of revenge against his adversaries real and imagined. From Tom Nichols writing in The Atlantic about his accelerating deterioration:
"On many recent nights, Donald Trump has been posting obsessively on his Truth Social site into the wee hours. The president, of course, has never been one for a solid night’s sleep—or restrained and temperate commentary on social media—but his emotional state seems to be fraying: This weekend, he attacked Pope Leo XIV, presented himself as Jesus Christ, and then jabbed at his phone until dawn.
Judging from those posts, the commander in chief is in distress. No one can say for sure what is causing the president’s bizarre behavior. Perhaps Trump’s narcissistic insistence that he is always successful in everything he undertakes is feeling the sting and strain of multiple public failures, including the collapse of his campaign to dislodge the Iranian regime, plummeting approval ratings, the decline of the U.S. economy, and, on Sunday, the crushing defeat of one of his favorite fellow authoritarians, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán." (our emphasis)
Nichols goes on to track those bizarre postings through the night, which only end at 4:10 a.m., and which began with a long and arrogant screed against the Pope and an AI generated image of himself as Christ healing a sick man. Sensing that he's shit himself with the blasphemous image, he deleted it and ridiculously claimed later he thought it depicted him as a doctor and not Jesus.
The MF's state of "distress" has been increasing since he reclaimed the Presidency, ordering buildings to have his name slapped on them, building a grand guilded ballroom and triumphal arch, and behaving like a dictator / king to sooth his narcissistic wounds of the past. There's no sign of his party / cult trying to rein him in, despite some prominent defections in the political realm (Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Green) and the right wing media world (Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, etc.). That fact is a major national security threat, and one that we have to address in the mid-term elections and with constant pushback on his fascistic policies.
(click to enlarge images)
(Robert Ariall, Andrews McMeel Syndication)
(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)
(Nick Anderson, Raw Story)
(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Michael de Adder, deAdder.substack.com)
(Jeff Stabler, Andrews McMeel Syndication)
Dr. Jesus, calling Dr. Jesus --
Should be part of his next test.
— Marcy Gall (@marcygall.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 10:35 PM
[image or embed]
— christhebarker (@christhebarker.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 1:28 PM
And, for the record, this was also very obviously Trump depicting himself as a doctor. About to do a prostate exam.
— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 5:11 PM
[image or embed]
If supporters are quibbling about if you’re the Antichrist, you know things have taken a turn
— Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 8:22 AM
[image or embed]
How's that "blockade" going? --
when is a blockade not a blockade....
— @NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) (@newsjennifer.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 9:14 AM
[image or embed]
In face of Orban defeat, Dems need to take anti-fascist / pro-democracy message to world --
The massive Orban defeat should prompt Dems to align themselves more firmly with anti-fascist and pro-democracy forces abroad. There's a powerful link to be drawn between the celebrations in Budapest and the confrontations with ICE in Minneapolis. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2090...
— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 7:30 AM
[image or embed]
J(unior) D(ictator) Vance's loser week --
JD Vance’s no good, very bad weekend The vice president has racked up losses in talks with Iran, hyping up Hungary’s soon-to-be former president and his boss’ fight with the Pope.
— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 8:45 AM
[image or embed]
Street thugs with badges: Trump's "personalist, violent" force beyond the law --
I think this is correct. Congress gave Trump the personalist, violent paramilitary force he's always wanted, but without the statutory hurdles, internal accountability, resistance from the courts, and institutional pushback that would come with deploying the actual military.
— Radley Balko (@radleybalko.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 8:30 AM
[image or embed]
Germany stands strongly with Ukraine, sends message to Russian war criminals --
Chancellor Merz: Russia has no chance of winning the war. We will not waver in our efforts to defend Ukraine, and Russia should end this war as soon as possible.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 7:32 AM
[image or embed]
Cancel the White House Stenographers Correspondents Dinner, knee-benders --
The White House Correspondents' Dinner later this month – with Trump as guest of honor – is shaping up as an embarrassing surrender to a criminal president who is trying to destroy the free press. Cancel the damn dinner. My Stop the Presses newsletter.
— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 3:12 PM
[image or embed]
"Mr. Orban, that red Speedo you're wearing is giving Melania the 'vapors'" --
Well that was fast.
— TheSnarkTank (@thesnarktank.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 7:51 PM
[image or embed]
Nahal Toosi, Politico's senior foreign affairs correspondent, writes on the increasingly defiant world that is facing the belligerent and unhinged Malignant Fascist as he tramples on treaties, other nations' sovereignty and more. Here's an excerpt, but read her entire article:
"Iran’s Islamist leaders abandoned peace talks with the U.S., choosing to keep waging war instead. Hungary’s voters tossed out one of Trump’s closest European allies, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Then there’s Pope Leo, who presumably answers to a higher power, saying he has 'no fear' of Trump after the president taunted him.
Trump and his aides often appear to operate as if most other people on the planet are 'non-player characters' in a video game. They believe, with few exceptions, that America can use threats, economic muscle and military action to bend other capitals to its will.
But foreign policy has some basic laws. One of them, similar to physics, is that every action has a reaction. It may not be equal or opposite, but it also may not be what the Trump team wants.
So far, the Trump administration does not appear to be adjusting well to the reality that more international players are willing to buck the American superpower." (our emphasis)
We have, in the Malignant Fascist, a common thug and sociopath, whose megalomania is driving his actions. He once said ignorantly the U. S. Constitution allowed him to do "anything", and he clearly thinks that's the case on the world stage, too, by applying punitive economic force in tariffs, and military force against Iran and Venezuela. As he declines in popular opinion domestically and abroad, as well as in his mental state, more nations are likely to defy his bullying and threats.
Jimmy Kimmel had a lot of news to cover in last night's monologue, from the attack on Pope Leo from the deranged Malignant Fascist, to his blasphemous AI portrayal as Jesus, to the lame "Door Dash Grandma" stunt, to Vance's failure in peace negotiations, to his lusting after both a woman at his golf course and a UFC fighter, and more. Check it out, ICYMI.
Robert B. Talisse, Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, writes an interesting article in Salon.com about the demented Malignant Fascist's perceived lies are meant to demean his detractors. An excerpt, but please read the entire article:
"By resolutely asserting unbelievable falsehoods, Trump is expressing contempt. He is deriding the enterprise of journalism, in effect forcing reporters to write stories about his incredible statements, thereby indirectly controlling the news cycle.
It seems to me that his purpose is not to convince anyone, but rather to declare to the press, and perhaps also to his opposition, 'You cannot stop me.' For a political movement rooted in the idea that U.S. politics is a swamp in need of draining, Trump’s defiant style has been successful.
But here’s the catch. It appears that Trump’s supporters are now beginning to feel that they, too, are on the receiving end of his contempt.
His recent claims that grocery prices are falling, his tariffs are working, the economy is roaring and the operation in Iran is a 'little excursion' that has already been successful are not only obvious falsehoods.
In asserting them, Trump belittles those who must bear the effects of a struggling economy and an ill-conceived war. From this perspective, the shift among his base is not due to their realization that Trump lies. It’s that he has betrayed them. " (our emphasis)
Some have caught on, and are leaving his camp, but far more of his cult are too deep into it to understand his deep contempt for them.
Operation Epic Epstein Fury: now a blockade and diplomatic failure--
“.. Trump wants a quick fix. The reality is, this mission is difficult to execute alone and likely unsustainable over the medium to long-term,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official .. @militarytimes.bsky.social www.militarytimes.com/news/pentago...
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:52 AM
[image or embed]
Trump lured the Iranians to the bargaining table under false pretenses, telling them their 10 point plan would be the basis for negotiation only to try to impose his own wishlist as the basis. Then he violated the ceasefire with a blockade, itself an act of war. Nobody will ever trust us again.
— Lindsay Beyerstein (@beyerstein.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:00 AM
"All of Trump’s weaknesses as a negotiator are now on display: His refusal to comprehend the substance, his childish understanding of the nature of power, his inability to grasp the perspective of his opponents, and his belief that anything can be accomplished with sufficient threats and violence."
— Susan McPherson (@susanmcp.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:56 AM
[image or embed]
Insane, narcissistic blasphemy by the Malignant Fascist --
He is delusional. He is demented. He is crazy. He does not care about religion or you. In the past 24 hours he lashed out at The Pope and posted this. If you are elected, a business CEO, or a voter and you enabled this to the American Presidency, today is a great day to move on and stop him.
— Fred Guttenberg (@fredguttenberg.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:17 AM
[image or embed]
Even his cultists on Truth Social aren’t thrilled with this one from the demented megalomaniac.
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 6:32 AM
[image or embed]
Pope Leo responds to the MF --
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:19 AM
Pope Leo: "I'm not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for." "We are not politicans. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 7:55 AM
[image or embed]
Autocrat and MF pal Orban goes down in humiliating defeat in Hungary --
Viktor Orban accomplished so much of what the Trump movement wants to accomplish here he ruled for 16 years and rewrote the rules in his favor and still, they threw him out and you know what? they did it by voting don’t let anyone tell you voting doesn’t matter
— Micah (@rincewind.run) April 12, 2026 at 3:47 PM
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 6:49 AM
[image or embed]
J(unior) D(dictator) Vance's golden touch, and a welcome home --
Vance has really got that global magic touch. Shown in diff ways with: -Booed out of visiting anywhere in Greenland except US military base -Pope Francis, RIP -Pope Leo, declines his invite to visit DC -Orban -Iran "deal" What a guy.
— James Fallows (@jfallows.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 3:40 PM
After unsuccessful negotiations with Iran, Vice President JD Vance returns to the US and appears genuinely touched to see the love of his life there waiting to welcome him home. (waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait for it) #JDVance #Iran
— Paulley Ticks (@tomadelsbach.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 11:29 PM
[image or embed]
Buh-bye. Guess we didn't know you after all --
Done. wapo.st/3Qiry6u
— Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 9:03 PM
[image or embed]
The MF's sleepless, raging nights a sign of his demented mind --
— George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 (@gtconway.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Make America Swollen Again: Eat Those Bees! --
Swollen RFK Jr. Warns Americans Not Eating Enough Bees
— The Onion (@theonion.com) April 12, 2026 at 12:00 PM
[image or embed]
(click to enlarge)
The Malignant Fascist's insanity and instability are growing daily as his poll numbers drop in reaction to the war on Iran, the struggling economy and more. The corporate media plays its part in sane washing him, Dems issue feeble responses, as the corruption and self-dealing rage on. We know that he'll have some new outrage the next day, and the next. As a malignant narcissist, he demands that the spotlight always be on him.
Please consider supporting Tom's work by going here,
Not long after he attacked Pope Leo for urging peace, and rejecting war mongers, along with "the delusion of omnipotence," the mentally ill Malignant Fascist posted a sacrilegious, AI-generated portrait of him self as Jesus, healing a sick man. The vile portrait also had military aircraft and personnel in the background, endorsing his reckless war of choice on Iran. On MS Now this morning, Jonathan Lemire remarked:
“I think Trump's not used to, he's not used to sharing the stage with anyone. And Pope Leo has been a very quiet figure in his first month in the Vatican. That has now changed.”
Guest Jim VandeHei added:
“Watch the numbers. The trajectory is not great for Donald Trump. He's losing young Americans. He's losing Hispanics. He's losing all of the MAGA podcasters with the biggest audiences. Yes, he still has his mesmerizing hold over the base. But little by little, he's starting to lose that coalition, that new coalition that brought Republicans into power. It's the reason they think they're going to lose the House, and they now think there's a 50/50 chance they lose the Senate.” (our emphasis)
The MF's profane outburst against Iran on Easter Sunday caused some in the right-wing bubble to criticize the MF, including Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Green, Alex Jones and Megyn Kelly, which in turn prompted the MF to attack them.
The MF is clearly mentally ill, exhibiting sign of dementia on top of his untreated extreme narcissistic personality disorder. It's long past 25th Amendment time as the U.S. moves into uncharted territory in its war on Iran, while the MF portrays himself as Jesus, but his loyal sycophantic cultists around him will never let that happen because he's truly their "Jesus".
Fresh off of the lame and unqualified Vice President's floundering at the ceasefire talks with Iran in Islamabad, the crazed and confused Malignant Fascist is imposing a blockade of Iranian ports. Iran has threatened to attack the ports of the U.S.'s Persian Gulf states as well as U.S. military facilities there. From the Associated Press:
"The U.S. military announced it will begin a blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday, as President Donald Trump sought to pressure Iran in a move that risks driving oil prices even higher and renewing the war. The announcement set the stage for a showdown, as Iran immediately responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
'Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,' the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. 'NO PORT in the region will be safe,' according to a statement from the Iranian military and the Revolutionary Guards.
U.S. Central Command announced the blockade would begin on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT, or 5:30 p.m. in Iran, and would be 'enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf) and Gulf of Oman.' CENTCOM said it would still allow ships traveling between non-Iranian ports to transit the strait, a step down from the president’s earlier threat to blockade the entire strait." (our emphasis)
The MF's plan will not only provoke Iran to attack oil facilities in the region, but will impact nations like China and India which import from Iran. Oil prices will surge as violence escalates. Additionally, ships carrying food and medicine to Iran would also be impacted by the MF's escalation. It promises to be a destructive escalation by a flailing and reckless MF.
(photo: Halden Krog/EPA/Ritzau Scanpix)
Again, FYI folks:
During the next 2 weeks, half of the Hackwhackers staff will be away, and the other half will be hosting family and performing other Springtime activities. Consequently, some regular features (e.g., "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly," "Across the Universe," multiple daily cartoons) will also be "away," and the volume of posts will be somewhat less than usual. We're fully back the week of April 27.
"Thank you for your attention to this matter."
