bullshit

American Insanity


POST 1287

From the “Yet Another Insanity” Department

There is a lot of crazy and it’s all around us. We’re dealing with:

an unprovoked, brainlessly started and conducted war where there is no off-ramp

the ongoing destruction of American hegemony

ugly, ugly gerrymandering by White supremacists that is driving us into Jim Crow 2.0 and is condoned by the not-so-Supreme Court

the no-wrongdoing imprisonment of American citizens, legal visitors and more, all to the benefit of for-profit prisons and of hastily recruited, scarcely trained ICE agents

the hollowing out of Americans’ financial security

the Epstein pedophilia, trafficking and the potential Trump involvement in that scandal

a scandalous Justice Department cover up, plus its misuse for Trump’s retributions and more

a deeply compromised FBI and national security system

the ongoing Trump support for Putin, this to the detriment of our allies, especially Ukraine, as its people fight a war for freedom, in which we should be aiding them

the surrendering of this century to Xi and China

the destruction of the post-war compact that has kept the peace for nearly 80 years

The hits just keep on coming because there is an endless, Trump concocted supply of insanity that’s powered by his dementia and his toxic narcissism.

Then There’s The Sneaky Stuff That Slips Below The Radar

From STAT:

An inconspicuous amendment to the 2026 farm bill working its way through Congress would make tobacco farmers eligible for funding from a certain federal aid program that they’ve been excluded from since the federal tobacco program ended more than 20 years ago. It’s not exactly in line with the MAHA goal to lower chronic disease rates in the U.S.

The overall impact of the amendment would be relatively small, “but it amounts to subsidizing a product that kills half a million Americans every year,” according to Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, a nonprofit attorney.

Wait: we’re subsidizing a crop that kills us and we subsidize the coal industry $3 – 4 BILLION per year, too, but we don’t have money to feed poor kids?

Indeed, FracTracker reports,

Despite claims of free-market competition, the U.S. fossil fuel industry benefits from an estimated $760 BILLION annually through subsidies, tax breaks, and unpriced externalities .  .  . [emphasis added]

Right: We cut off support for renewable energy innovation and production to subsidize the fossil fuel companies of Trump’s buddies, allowing them to clog and overheat our atmosphere to the expanding peril of us all. Theirs is short term thinking that never gets past the limits of a transaction to make a quick buck.

Trump is almost 80. Given that he cares only for his own welfare – he told us that plainly last week – why would he think longer term? Why would he care that storms continue to become more violent, destructive and deadly? He’ll never have to face them.

And so, we bravely charge into the 15th century. Make America Backward Again – MABA!

Hmmm  .  .  .  why don’t our elected officials care enough to stop the insanity and instead take action for We The People?

Just in case this isn’t clear, we are giving three quarters of a trillion dollars every year to support industries that are causing ever-worsening changes that are killing us. We are willfully doing that to ourselves by electing representatives to our representative government to represent us, but who instead are representing themselves and their own short term welfare.

Learned While Researching Something Else

If you don’t subscribe to and support the writings of Steve Sheffey, take a look at his post last Sunday (then subscribe) about the Senate race in Maine. Yes, you should care a lot about it – Steve explains why. I linked through to his “Fine Print.” I like that kind of stuff – have a look at my own below.  In his fine print is a link to Brandolini’s Law: The Bullshit Asymmetry Principle. It is:

Brandolini’s law (also called the bullshit asymmetry principle) states that the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. This denotes that it’s usually much easier to speak without regard for the truth, than to prove that what was said is false.

You’ve experienced this often over the past 11 years, as Trump/MAGA/Republican bullshit was sprayed in your face in brain-free bumper sticker format. Then it was refuted by a knowledgeable person in a clear, straightforward explanation. Unfortunately, that refutation was two pages long and nobody ever reads that stuff. And so bullshit hangs in the air. No breeze can waft it away. No plug-in odor eliminator can make it safe to breathe. This is what passes for Republican erudition.

RFK, Jr. Is Protecting Us

The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern: Ebola. But don’t worry. Even though our brain worm addled director of HHS has slashed to the bone agencies that used to protect us and minimize the effects of such things, those guys gotcha covered.

Who needs experts in public health when we have loads of Ivermectin, a horse treatment recommended by our president. It treats infections caused by parasitic worms. But the Ebola threat has nothing to do with parasites – it’s a virus.

Still, we have Lysol and Clorox bleach that Trump says we can inject. And we can put ultraviolet lights in our bodies. That’s what he said during Covid. Do you suppose those will work against Ebola?

That’s Trump’s America. Sadly, we voted for it.

On the other hand, we can vote for something quite different this November.

As they say in the dugout, “Grab a bat; you’re up!”

A View From Elsewhere

Just in case you’ve wondered whether people in other countries notice the depth of the destruction of our values, our integrity and our national mental health, friend David Houle was vacationing in Europe and sent this pic from Paris. He says these signs are all over places where tourists go.

Kinda cute that even when they’re crude, Parisians are polite.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too (IT’S A FREEBIE!), because it’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. I am neither offered nor do I accept or receive funding of any type from candidates, online blabbers, organizations with or without any position or opinion or from any other origin other than from my own meager resources.
  5. Book links to Amazon or Barnes & Noble are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  7. Do not look to these posts for “both sides” idiocy. I don’t have life to waste on such foolishness. such disingenuous nonsense. You can find that in any cowardly publication. I post what I believe and what I believe to be true, sarcasm and snark excepted, and make no pretense of idiocy requiring to be somehow balanced for reporting or opinion presentation fairness.
  8. If you disagree with anything I write, if you think I’m inappropriately biased, puff up your courage and put it in the Comments section. See Point #9 below. On the other hand, let’s agree that I, like you, am biased.
  9. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those comments I deem inappropriate. It’s my post, my rules.
  10. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

The Perfect Examples


A partial compendium of Trumpian distractions designed to keep your eye off the ball. Click the image for a larger view.

Reading time – 558; Viewing time – 8:31  .  .  .

NOTE: This was written and videoed prior to any Senate votes on Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

CAUTION: Language in this post may be inappropriate for sensitive readers and there’s just a little snark, too.

————————————————–

Recall from a couple of previous posts the differentiation between a liar and a bullshitter. According to Harry G. Frankfurt,

“The distinction between lying and bullshitting is fairly clear. The liar asserts something which he himself believes to be false. He deliberately misrepresents what he takes to be the truth. The bullshitter, on the other hand, is not constrained by any consideration of what may or may not be true. In making his assertion, he is indifferent to whether what he is says is true or false. His goal is not to report facts. It is, rather, to shape the beliefs and attitudes of his listeners in a certain way.”

Here are a some perfect examples of what bullshit looks like.

You know about Trump claiming to have had the largest inaugural crowd ever. That’s just stupid and quite unimportant bullshit, but bullshit nevertheless.

Trump likes to claim that The Celebrity Apprentice was the number one show on television. With the exception of one episode in one season, the show almost never even cracked the top 10. That Trumpian claim, too, is stupid and quite unimportant bullshit. Here’s where bullshit becomes substantive.

On September 25 Donald Trump addressed the United Nations and said that his administration, “ .  .  .  has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” That’s a ridiculous claim, to be sure, but that wasn’t the most important part.

After a short pause for translations into the various languages of the attendees, the delegates in the General Assembly began a long, slow roll of laughter at Trump for his obvious grandiosity and the absurdity of his claim. That national humiliation hasn’t happened before at the UN to anyone or to any nation and it’s a clear and painful embarrassment for this country, but even that isn’t the most important part. That came the next day.

At a news conference Trump said,

“They weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me.”

“We had fun.”

“That was not laughing at me. So the fake news said, ‘People laughed at President Trump.’ They didn’t laugh at me. People had a good time with me. We were doing it together. We had a good time.”

That was bullshit.

Trump has made a laughing stock of the United States of America, in part through his bullshitting. Perhaps that’s what he meant when he said over and over that only he could do so many things. And really, can you think of anyone else who could have accidentally had the entire world laughing at the United States?

I repeat the clarity offered by Mr. Frankfort:

“In making his assertion, [the bullshitter] is indifferent to whether what he is says is true or false. His goal is not to report facts. It is, rather, to shape the beliefs and attitudes of his listeners in a certain way.”

Speaking of bullshit  .  .  .

Let’s be clear about a few things surrounding the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

Read this article in The Washington Post for all of Brett Kavanaugh’s lies about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony. In his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh even contradicted himself, so he made himself a liar right in front of the Committee.

Further, the President – perhaps Senate Republicans, too – have hidden over 90% of the documents that pertain to Kavanaugh’s record, including all of the documents pertaining to his time in the Bush White House, where the White House counsel team that Kavanaugh was on busied itself declaring that torture isn’t torture.

We’re left to guess why they would shield Kavanaugh’s documents from the Democrats and what dishonest and disqualifying things we might find among those documents. True, that’s speculation, but just guess what the Republicans would be saying if the roles were reversed. That hiding of documents is an attempt,”to shape the beliefs and attitudes of [Trump’s] listeners in a certain way,” and it’s Presidential bullshit.

Kavanaugh claimed to have had no participation in the torture memos, but we’re left to wonder if he’s telling the truth. As Sen. Richard Blumenthal discussed with Kavanaugh at the hearings, Falsus in Uno, Falsus in Omnibus: false in one thing, false in all things.

Brett Kavanaugh has shown himself to be fundamentally dishonest. I don’t mean he fudged just a trifle; I mean he’s a serial liar. Have a look at this video that reveals a series of lies he told the Senate Judiciary Committee in just the past few weeks.

Kavanaugh has lied to Congress, both at the hearings for becoming a federal judge and in the hearings regarding his Supreme Court nomination. That’s perjury. It’s contempt of Congress and it’s a felony.

Brett Kavanaugh on the bench? That’s bullshit. Brett Kavanaugh belongs in jail.

Likely you’ve heard that the FBI isn’t interviewing dozens of witnesses (some say as many as 40) who could help to shed light on what happened or what did not happen between Dr. Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. Many of these witnesses have volunteered to be interviewed and the FBI hasn’t even returned their phone calls.

Translation: Trump has put the blinders on the FBI and prevented them from doing the kind of thorough, professional investigation they customarily do. Trump’s investigation isn’t about truth or falsity. “It is, rather, to shape the beliefs and attitudes of [Trump’s] listeners in a certain way.” In other words, it’s bullshit.

Answer this question: What kind of country do you want? We may not know one another, but I’m willing to bet that your answer doesn’t include bullshit in our highest public offices.

Next question: What are you willing to do to get what you want?

You know where this goes. It comes down to us getting off our butts and advocating for what we believe in. It comes down to us knocking on doors to spread the word. It comes down to us voting. It comes down to us bringing others to the polls with us, people who otherwise wouldn’t vote.

Because if we don’t do that, someone else – perhaps a bullshitter who wants a very different America from the America you want – will do all of that, and they’ll get their way because they’ll be the only ones talking and voting.

It comes down to us. You know what to do.

One last thing  .  .  .

I’ve seen nothing about it in the press. I haven’t found a word written nor a word spoken about the debt we owe to three men in particular. I speak, of course, of Lindsey Graham, Brett Kavanaugh and Chuck Grassley, who speak for so many.

It has been a long time coming to unshackle this marginalized group and to let fly the voices of a people who have suffered iniquities for so long. At last we are hearing the voices of the long suffering, angry, rich, old white men of America.

Each of these men has shown us the way, as they let fly their pent up anger at those who have been mean to rich, white guys. They snarled and they spit and they sneered. They vented their emotions for all to see and at last led us toward the promised land, the true path of America for its real citizens, angry, rich, old white men.

Forever may she wave with gilded edges in rooms of elegance, the red white and blue!

————————————

Ed. note: I don’t want money (DON’T donate) or your signature on a petition. I want you to spread the word so that we make a critical difference. That’s the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people, so:

YOUR ACTION STEPS:

  1. Pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe (IT’S A FREEBIE!).
  2. Engage in the Comments section below to help us all be better informed.

Thanks!


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Not Dumb


A partial compendium of Trumpian Distractions designed to keep your eye off the ball

Reading time – 2:28; Viewing time – 3:17  .  .  .

This is the third post with Trump Distractions included for your clarity.

There is a daily deluge of tweets and quotes that would be outrageous coming from any other President in American history, but somehow this is our new normal. The key point of them is to keep you unfocused from our gravest national emergency, the extensive efforts of Russia to undermine our democracy and that of all western democracies. More specifically, the distractions are designed to direct your attention away from possible conspiracy by Trump and Trump campaign and administration operatives to aid Russia in its efforts to weaken our country.

Somewhere in the vicinity of 38% of all Americans are totally unmoved by the obvious peril to our country posed by Russia and a possibly connected home grown conspiracy. These folks instead continue to be focused on their anger and Trump’s dog whistles. The distractions are red meat and they love them, so this post isn’t for them.

Want proof? Read this book.

Rather, I’m saying that the distractions are designed to pull the eyes of the other 62% of us away from what is hiding in plain sight. Your job is to make sure that the distractions don’t work on you.

The primary and overriding job of the President of the United States – every President of the United States – is to protect and defend our country. Everything else is secondary. The most obvious and immediate kind of threat is that of state actors attacking us. That is exactly what Russia is and has been doing and is exactly where this president has utterly and willfully failed his duty.

You know about Trump’s subservience to Putin and his attacking of our friends. You know about his undermining of the very institutions designed to protect America and Americans. You know about his refusal to lead our intelligence apparatus to protect us and, of course, there’s more. That is presidential failure of his sworn, primary duty, quod erat demonstrandum. Surely, that’s a dumb thing to do, but is Trump dumb?

He’s only dumb if you accept my definition of the primary job of the President. There is nothing dumb in Trump’s words or actions if you think that the President should be focused entirely on doing what is best for himself, his family and his friends.

Is Trump a liar? I quote again:

In Brené Brown’s new book, Braving the Wilderness, she quotes Harry G. Frankfurt in differentiating between liars and bullshitters. The liar rejects the authority of the truth; the bullshitter pays no attention to the truth at all.

No, Trump isn’t a liar; he actually pays no attention to the truth at all. It simply doesn’t exist for him. That’s why it’s so easy for him to vomit distracting falsehoods and inanities designed to keep your eye off the ball. That’s why it’s so easy for him to sell out our country. That’s why I post his distractions.

Trump isn’t dumb. Far from it. He’s a very smart, bullshitting traitor.

  • ————————————

    Ed. note: I don’t want money (DON’T donate) or your signature on a petition. I want you to spread the word so that we make a critical difference. That’s the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people, so:

    YOUR ACTION STEPS:

    1. Pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe (IT’S A FREEBIE!).
    2. Engage in the Comments section below to help us all be better informed.

    Thanks!


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

 Scroll to top