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 firms 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 med recommended by our president. It’s used to treat 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
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To The November 3, 2026
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The Fine Print:
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JA
Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
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