QOTD -- Parallels

 

Returning to Suzy Hansen's essay ($$) in the New York Review of Books on several scratchings from "Whiskey Pete" Hegseth, some parallels are seen that are worth noting once again:

Reading World War II-era authors such as Arendt and Russell today, it’s difficult to avoid being struck by how many top Nazis and Trumpists share the same basic social profile, which is to say they were and are lifelong catastrophic failures, who failed upwards under conditions that turned out to be ripe for such people to ascend to positions for which they were farcically unqualified.  This description fits people like Eichmann, Himmler, and many other Nazis to a tee, with the very best example being, of course, Adolf Hitler himself.

On the Trumpist side the examples are equally plentiful, from Hegseth, to Robert F. Kennedy the Lesser to, most crucially, Trump himself:  a man who spent decades managing to be a human disaster of astonishing proportions, despite inheriting hundreds of millions of dollars, and all the immense privilege that goes with such good fortune in our society.

This is what national suicide looks like.  It was true in Germany in the 1930's/40's, and it is true today, thanks to the triumph of the will stupidity.

The "Ceasefire" That Wasn't

 

One would think that a "ceasefire" would mean warring sides stopped firing at each other, but in the case of the war on Iran, one would be wrong. From the Associated Press:

"The U.S. military said Monday that it carried out 'self-defense' strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations with Tehran were 'proceeding nicely.'

The strikes were done 'to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,' but the military was 'using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,' Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command, said in a statement.

Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations." (our emphasis)

It sounds more like a prelude to more wide-scale military action, rather than "self-defense." The "ceasefire" is one sided at this point, as the demented Malignant Loser shifts from one position to another, depending on whether he's paying attention to the growing economic disaster he's created, or whether Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu and warmongers here in the U.S have talked him into all out war on Iran. 

 

Primary Runoff Day In Texas

 

Today, Texas Republicans will decide whether Sen. John "All Hat, No Cattle" Cornyn or convicted fraudster (and more) MAGAt Texas Attorney General (!) Ken Paxton will face surging Democrat James Talarico in November:

Voters in the Lone Star State will make their second attempt to nominate a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in a primary runoff election on Tuesday, the electoral version of the Texas two-step. [snip]

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn was the top vote-getter in the March 3 primary, but strong showings by two GOP challengers forced the four-term incumbent to Tuesday's head-to-head matchup with state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the second-place finisher who received President Donald Trump's endorsement on May 19.

The contest is Trump's next opportunity to purge the party of incumbents he views as insufficiently loyal to him and his agenda. It also sets the stage for a general election where Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances to score an upset in the heavily Republican state as they look to retake control of the U.S. Senate. Historically, voters have tended to punish the incumbent president's party at the ballot box in midterm election years...

The important thing in Texas Republican cult politics is the MF's endorsement, which both Cornyn and Paxton were chasing.  Now that Paxton has it, recent polls show him beating Cornyn by anywhere from 12 to 21 points.  The folks at electoral-vote.com expand on the significance of a Paxton vs. Talarico general election matchup:

... It could determine control of the Senate next year. We think it is likely (and polling supports that) Democrats will flip Maine (Susan Collins is very concerned) and North Carolina (Michael Whatley doesn't understand why he was told to run). If Republicans nominate Paxton tomorrow, the Democrats have their best shot in 40 years to elect a senator from Texas. If the Democratic candidate, James Talarico, wins in the general, then the Democrats need only hold their own seats and win one of the competitive races in Alaska, Iowa, Ohio, Montana, and Nebraska. The latter two feature independents, but they are almost certainly going to caucus with the Democrats if they win...  (our emphasis)

As an added bonus, the Malignant Fascist's endorsement of fellow career criminal Paxton has also enraged already-enraged Senate Republicans, coming on the heels of the MF's tanking the re-election bid of Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana on May 16.  Some may begin to find their spines as a result (but don't count on it).

(Image: Getty Images)

QOTD: Trump's Failed War On Iran

 

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman writes in Substack that the delusional and violent Malignant Fascist's war on Iran has already catastrophically failed, and that the MF is trying to extract himself while getting pushback from some war-minded allies in the U.S.  He closes his article with this:

"Can America still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, or should it accept a deal that leaves us clearly worse off than we were before the war? The answer is that running away — if that is what Trump is doing — is now the right move. It’s better to accept a bad deal, one that leaves America much weaker than it was a few months ago, than to double down on a failed war. Time is not on our side: looming shortages of critical weapons, the imminent exhaustion of world oil inventories, and the lost support of our allies and the American public mean that this war needs to end soon."  (our emphasis)

The MF's recent backpedaling from his usual "peace is at hand" b.s. illustrates that a peace agreement -- one that will satisfy the warmongers and the Netanyahu government -- is far from completion, and that they may force him into a "bomb the hell out of them" mode.  Time will tell, but it's clear that Iran still has powerful cards yet to play that the foolhardy MF didn't count on.

(photo: The failed MF / Daybreak, Getty Images)

Skeets Of The Day

 

Memorial Day --

 

Memorial Day 2026 Why You Should Not Say “Happy Memorial Day.” 🇺🇸 ktla.com/news/heres-w...

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— ktlagayle.bsky.social (@ktlagayle.bsky.social) May 25, 2026 at 1:17 PM

 

Memorial Day was started by newly freed Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War These Americans went back dug up the mass graves created by the Confederate traitors for the fallen Union soldiers to give them a proper burial So today we only honor fallen American soldiers NOT American traitors

— Unknown (@unknownsoldier.bsky.social) May 25, 2026 at 11:09 AM

 

Memorial Day moron --

 

a disgrace not only to the office of the president but to military families who have lost loved ones

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 25, 2026 at 10:58 AM

 

Happy Memorial Day? Since when is Memorial Day happy? Remembering fallen service members is a solemn occasion

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— mysterycat13.bsky.social (@mysterycat13.bsky.social) May 25, 2026 at 11:40 AM

 

Memorial Day presidential --

Weird to think of having an honorable, genuine president rather than a degenerate blowhard and crooked chancer.

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— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) May 25, 2026 at 12:34 PM

 

On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the brave men and women in uniform who gave their lives for this country that we love. It is a debt we can never fully repay, but we must never stop trying.

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— Barack Obama (@barackobama.bsky.social) May 25, 2026 at 10:03 AM

  

The Trump Thug Slush Fund's recipients --

Here’s a thought — Maybe these people don’t deserve to be handsomely rewarded? (From NPR)

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— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) May 23, 2026 at 1:56 PM

 

Rotting to the core --

Maybe the doctors keep examining him because they want to document how exceptional his health is.

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— Philip Bump (@pbump.com) May 25, 2026 at 10:09 AM

 

"Russia's girlfriend / asset" exits --

I'm almost certain the Russians knew before the White House.

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— David Simon (@audacityofdespair.bsky.social) May 22, 2026 at 1:31 PM

 

Boycott Jim Crow states' athletics!  --

Kudos to the #NAACP for asking black athletes and their parents not to send their athletes to Red State universities. Now tell the NFL players union to do the same to the #Superbowl in Jim Crow state, Tennessee!

— Dave Braica (@sugarriver.bsky.social) May 24, 2026 at 10:39 AM

 

Pope Leo XIV cautions about AI --

 

Pope Leo XIV called for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit, issuing a sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind as the technology impacts everything from work to war.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) May 25, 2026 at 6:03 AM

 

Tough choice:  Don Jr.'s wedding or surrender? --

 

Imagine missing your own son’s wedding so you could go surrender to Iran

— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24.bsky.social) May 23, 2026 at 9:37 PM

 

 

Trump On The Military And Military Service (UPDATED)

 

The Week compiled a list last October of remarks Cadet Bone Spurs has made about the military and military service over the years.  We thought, on this of all days, attention should be paid to this hollow, grossly unfit person's true words and beliefs, rather than something an aide or speechwriter wrote for him.  Here are excerpts from the list:

On US military officials

"I don't want to tell you what I had to go through with these people. Some of the dumbest people I've ever met in my life." October 16, 2023.

"I wouldn't go to war with you people. You're a bunch of dopes and babies." July 20, 2017.

"You fucking generals. Why can't you be more like Hitler's generals?" 2017. Trump denies having made this remark.


On the burial of US Army private Vanessa Guillén

"It doesn't cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!" December 4, 2020. Trump has denied having made the remark.

On the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five and a half years

"Obamacare is a catastrophe, nobody talks about it. You know, without John McCain, we would have had it done. But John McCain, for some reason, couldn't get his arm up." July 16, 2024.  [snip]

"We're not going to support that loser's funeral." August, 2018. Trump has denied having made this remark.

 "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you." July 18, 2015.

 

On lowering flags to half-mast after McCain's death

"What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser." August 2018. Trump has denied making this remark.  [snip]

On fallen soldiers at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery

"Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers." November 11, 2018. Trump denies having made this remark.

On the 1,800 US Marines who died at Belleau Wood in France during World War I

"Suckers." November 11, 2018. Trump denies having made this remark.

On US soldiers in World War I

"Who were the good guys in this war?" November 11, 2018. Trump denies having asked this question.

"I don't get it. What was in it for them?" November 11, 2018. Trump denies having made this remark.


On disabled veterans

"Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded." September 30, 2019.

"Look, I don't want any wounded guys in the parade. This doesn't look good for me." Summer 2017...

 

There's more deranged slop at the link above, if you care to refresh your memory.

Meanwhile, most recently, he downplayed the loss of life in his Operation Epic Epstein Fury distraction-gone-wrong (May 20, 2026):

We lost 13 people. In other wars, you lost hundreds of thousands of people. I get a kick when I look at somebody on television and they say, 'he's lost 13 people.'

What a small, putrid, morally bankrupt thing he is.

UPDATE:  "*Laughs*" --

 

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon

 

 (click to enlarge)

The pardoning and now the planned rewarding of the mentally impaired Malignant Fascist's J6 goon army from his slush fund, along with his fortress / ballroom with a bunker and Army facilities has shown the MF's hand as someone looking to entrench himself beyond 2028.  Add to that his faithful masked thug force of ICE and Border Patrol whom he's already using as a personal paramilitary force.  The MF's "fuck you, try and stop me" strategy has worked so far, as he operates in his own interest. 

Please consider supporting Tom's work by going here.

 

Memorial Day 2026

 

Today, Memorial Day, we remember and honor the men and women who died serving their country in the U.S. Armed Forces.  We also remember and honor the military families who lost their service members.  We most humbly thank you and honor you all.

Across The Universe, Cont. -- Star-Forming Regions

 

(click on image to enlarge)

From NASA/ ESA, May 6, 2026: Astronomers have long known that understanding how star clusters come to be is key to unlocking other secrets of galactic evolution. Stars form in clusters, created when clouds of gas collapse under gravity. As more and more stars are born in a collapsing cloud, strong stellar winds, harsh ultraviolet radiation and the supernova explosions of massive stars eventually disperse the cloud, and their light can bear down on other star-forming regions in the galaxy. This process is called stellar feedback, and it means that most of the gas in a galaxy never gets used for star formation. Researching how star clusters develop can answer questions about star formation at a galactic scale.

Now, the state of the art has been further developed with both Hubble and Webb working together to provide a broad-spectrum view of thousands of young star clusters. An international team of astronomers has pored over images of four nearby galaxies from the FEAST observing programme (#1783), trying to solve this mystery. Their results show that it is the most massive star clusters that clear away their gaseous shroud the fastest, and begin lighting their galaxy the earliest.

The team identified nearly 9000 star clusters in the four galaxies in different evolutionary stages: young clusters just starting to emerge from their natal clouds of gas, clusters that had partially dispersed the gas (both from Webb images), and fully unobstructed clusters visible in optical light (found in Hubble images). With Webb’s ability to peer inside the gas clouds, they were able to then estimate the mass and age of each cluster from its light spectrum.

This image shows a section of one of the spiral arms of Messier 51 (M51), one of the four galaxies studied in this work, as seen by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The thick clumps of star-forming gas are shown here in red and orange, representing infrared light emitted by ionised gas, dust grains, and complex molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Within these gas complexes, each tens or hundreds of light years across, Webb reveals the dense, extremely bright clusters of massive stars that have just recently formed. The countless stars strewn across the arm of the galaxy, many of which would be invisible to our eyes behind layers of dust, are also laid bare in infrared light.

[Image description: A large, long portion of one of the spiral arms in galaxy M51. Red-orange, clumpy filaments of gas and dust that stretch in a chain from left to right comprise the arm. Shining cyan bubbles light up parts of the gas clouds from within, and gaps expose bright star clusters in these bubbles as glowing white dots. The whole image is dotted with small stars. A faint blue glow around the arm colours the otherwise dark background.]

Credit:  ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Pedrini, A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the FEAST JWST team

 

QOTD -- "A Jockish, Puerile White Man"

 

"...Extreme though Hegseth may be, he is a recognizable type: a jockish, puerile white man, a boy you knew in your public high school, if you went to one. He is the Jersey Shore as much as he is Kansas, Florida, Texas, and Oregon. You may recall him as the guy who shoved queer kids into trash cans in the cafeteria and said things about girls like 'You’d need a crowbar to get her legs open.' As an adult, Hegseth is a man whom people have described leaving a bar, shit-faced, chanting 'No means yes!' and 'Kill all Muslims!' He is what the world thinks some Americans are, the bleakest caricature. But like the violence in the administration’s videos, Hegseth is real, and he is American, which means we have no choice but to ask what to do with him, and what to do with ourselves.

"This is a person produced by a culture, a society, and a history. He speaks with a deliberate viciousness, a desecration of humanity that recalls centuries of slavery and the American Indian Wars. He is heir to a tradition handed down from the Founders—not the noble, revolutionary ones in the history books but the ruthless, ragged genocidaires who went west. He practices that nasty Christianity. 'Break the teeth of the ungodly,' he said at the Pentagon prayer service; Bull Connor comes to mind. So many of Trump’s men—Gregory Bovino, Markwayne Mullin, Tom Homan—resemble the primeval thugs of the heartland, who openly desire the submission of the most vulnerable..." -- Suzy Hansen, writing in the New York Review of Books on several books presumably written by the dangerous sot "Whiskey Pete" Hegseth, the ludicrous Secretary of Defense (War!) and future (if there is justice in the world) war crimes defendant.  Fresh off a racist commencement address at West Point that was less-than-enthusiastically received, Hegseth continues to live down to the image Hansen sketches in her review, pleasing his only audience -- another "primeval thug," the Malignant Fascist.

 

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)

(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Clay Jones, claytoonz.substack.com)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(David Rowe, Financial Review, Australia)

(Steve Brodner, stevebrodner.substack.com)

(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)

(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)

(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)

(Adam Douglas Thompson, The New Yorker)

Sunday Reflection: Forever Young Birthday

 

Legendary composer, poet, singer, and Nobel laureate for literature Bob Dylan (5/24/1941) is arguably the most significant figure in popular musical culture in the latter half of the 20th century, along with The Beatles.  His songs are poetry, which he transformed into memorable musical compositions. "Blowing In The Wind," "Like A Rolling Stone," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" just scratch the surface of the body of his iconic songs.  His music spans 6 decades, from his heroic role in supporting the Civil Rights Movement to the present, from trenchant critiques of American prejudice to gospel music and love songs.  He launched his "Never Ending Tour" in 1988, and it remains active. 

One of his songs, "Forever Young," from his 1974 album "Planet Waves," expresses wishes from a father to his child, and is universal in its sentiment:

"May you grow up to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

May you always know the truth

And see the light surrounding you

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong

May you stay forever young

May you stay forever young"

Happy 85th birthday to a forever young cultural giant.

 

The Mad King's Ballroom Obsession

 

The megalomaniacal, degenerate Malignant Fascist has long had delusions of majesty, typical of someone with a profound narcissistic personality disorder.  His frequent portrayals of himself as Jesus or a mythical hero support that.  One of his great obsessions for years has been a grand, golden ballroom on the grounds of the White House, and early in his disastrous second term he unilaterally tore down the historic East Wing of the White House in order to build a monstrous, 90,000 square foot monument to himself.  Paul Blumenthal, writing in the Huffington Post, lays out the history of his obsession with the golden ballroom, and what it says about his priorities. An excerpt:

"The ballroom is billed as a safety need for the administration, but in reality, it is just a safe haven, where the president can do what powerful elites, like the European nobility of yore, have always done in ballrooms — host lavish parties, state balls and dinners for foreign dignitaries outside of the public eye. The ballroom stands as a symbol of elite retreat from society and the anti-democratic reaction that grips the nation’s oligarchs at the moment. Trump’s wistful glances at the hole in the White House lawn show his desire to be securely encased from democracy in the glitz of a ballroom fit for Versailles.

This is the story of Trump’s second term. His ballroom then stands as a monument to his own narrow self-interest, elitism and disgust with the country’s longstanding democratic and republican culture that looks down on the trappings of monarchical excess."  (our emphasis)

After yesterday's shooting incident a block from the White House, the MF used the incident to again push for his absurd ballroom, which he has demanded $1.4 billion for, including $1 billion in "security enhancements" that include a bunker, health facility, and military space (!) that strike many as a fortress for the wannabe dictator's plans for a third, unconstitutional term.  For now, it stands as a symbol of how little he cares about the serious problems facing American families, which have been exacerbated by his destructive policies.

(photo: The MF and his obsession /Kevin Lamarque, Reuters)

 

Republicans In Disarray Over Rumored Iran Deal

 

The hawks are pushing for more war as the Malignant Fascist claims an agreement with Iran is near:

Key Senate Republicans are raising concerns about a reported peace deal being negotiated with Iran, arguing it would be a disaster for the United States that would make meaningless the war launched by President Trump nearly three months ago.

“The rumored 60-day ceasefire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a post on social platform X.

He said the effects of the joint military operation between the U.S. and Israel titled “Operation Epic Fury” would “be for naught” if the deal as he understood it went forward.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of President Trump who for years has pushed for U.S. military action against the Iranian regime, said a premature deal could fundamentally shift the balance of power in the Middle East in Iran’s favor.

“If a deal is struck to end the Iranian conflict because it is believed that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism and Iran still possesses the capability to destroy major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran will be perceived as being a dominate force requiring a diplomatic solution,” Graham wrote Saturday in a post on X.

The South Carolina Republican added that such a perception would become a “nightmare for Israel” over time, questioning the rationale behind the war entirely.  [snip]

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served in that role in the first Trump administration, also harshly criticized what he understood as the deal. He wrote in a post on X that it sounded as if it had been negotiated by officials working for the Obama administration. Both Trump and Pompeo have criticized the Iran deal negotiated by that administration as being too weak.

The deal being floated is “Not remotely America First,” Pompeo wrote.  [snip]

Later on Saturday, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote on X that Pompeo “has no idea what … he’s talking about,” adding that Pompeo is “not read into anything that’s happening.” [Ed.:  he also said about Pompeo, "He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals."  Nice sanewashing!]

The president is facing growing pressure on multiple fronts to take measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as Americans face four-year record high gas prices, which hit a national average of almost $4.53 ahead of Memorial Day. 

Republicans fear they could lose their House majority in this fall’s elections amid falling approval ratings for Trump, and the Senate majority is also now seen as being within reach of Democrats...  (our emphasis)

And here we thought MAGA was all about no more foreign wars.  Silly us!

The deal Pompeo was referring to, of course, was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated under Obama, which the moron Malignant Fascist tore up in 2018, because we can't have any credit given to a black Democratic President, can we!?

In any event, the future Graham, Wicker, and Pompeo fear is already here:  the blundering of the moron Malignant Fascist into a war with Iran (at the urging of Bibi Netanyahu) has already given Iran a strategic victory and de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz.  Turns out Iran had the cards all along.

Meanwhile --

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)

(Joel Pett, Tribune Content Agency)

(Patrick Chappatte, The Boston Globe)

(Chris Britt, Creators.com)

(Marian Kamensky, caglecartoons.com, Austria)

(Michael de Adder, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)

(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Daniel Boris, @danboriscreates)

(Steve Sack, stevesack.substack.com)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(R.J. Matson, CQ/ Roll Call)

(Ali Solomon Mainhart, @alisolomain)