Thin-skinned Donald Trump receives boos, yet also cheers, whilst speaking at the ‘libertarian’ convention

Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP

Reuters - Trump booed and heckled by raucous crowd at Libertarian convention

Something a little odd about a wanna-be dictator who peddles fascism and Christian nationalism addressing a group that calleth itself ‘libertarian’, yet I have long believed the Libertarian Party to be a collection of crackpots and rank hypocrites. COVID made this crystal clear: they did not wish to be forced to wear a mask or take a vaccine, but had zero concern for the rights and liberties of innocent people around them, unwittingly exposed to deadly germs. This lot truly believes it is their right to make others sick. Others may stay home if they do not like it; I saw this attitude explicitly expressed repeatedly during the pandemic. ‘Liberty and freedom for me, but not for thee’.

These ‘libertarians’ would be wise to remember that Trump, the GOP, and #Cult45 do demand he be treated as infallible. Should he regain the presidency, none shall be allowed to boo or criticise the orange god-king, and every aspect of our lives shall be micromanaged by far-right busybodies and tyrants. Is the Libertarian Party actually ‘libertarian,’ or are they but a gaggle of quasi-fascists who just happen to favour smoking weed and despise paying taxes? A rude awakening eventually awaits all these malcontents with their heads up their arses. #Biden2024

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Alito's 'Appeal to Heaven' flag: another Christian nationalist dog whistle

Photo: Michael Perez/AP

AP - The ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag evolves from Revolutionary War symbol to banner of the far right

It is time to call these individuals, from leadership to the rank-and-file supporters, for what they truly are: terrorists. Just as most Muslims came to either embrace or tolerate Jihadist activity and extreme restrictions on their liberties and freedoms, American Christian nationalists are experiencing a similar process of radicalisation in our current era. Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas should not serve upon the Supreme Court; instead, they should await trial on charges of sedition. A shame it is that, by and large, people consider not the all-too-real possibility of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ becoming reality when they vote for president, nor take more seriously the danger these holy rollers represent to us all.

Even the overturning of Roe v. Wade hath failed to kindle a fervent outcry from those sorely beset by this egregious encroachment upon the lives of women. What I discern at this present moment is a country that has given up, and is about to yield unto tyranny in exchange for the fleeting promise of a few extra dollars in their coffers (which will not materialise, of course). I behold a realm of defeated and tired souls, inclined to let the bully, Donald Trump, return to power for he hath cunningly vilified President Biden. Donald Trump should be the most despised man in America, yet it is Joe Biden who bears the brunt of hatred. The propaganda, the brainwashing, and the bullying, combined with the cruel realities of COVID, inflation, climate change, and global turmoil, have reduced the American people to crying for mercy and submitting to the authority of an evil cabal that intends to dictate every facet of their existence.

Yet, this shall prove a harsh reckoning; ere long, millions shall awaken to the grievous error they shalt have wrought (this November), and shall pine for the return of Joe Biden. For his own part, Mr. Biden may have to resort to extraordinary measures to save this country from itself whilst there is still time; yet, though I strive to lend my support and will unequivocally vote for him again, I harbour doubts as to whether he possesses the fortitude to endure much longer. Nor doth there dwell within the American masses any remnant of fighting spirit. 'Tis akin to the year 1932, and the fall of the Weimar Republic.

I can feel it in the air; America seems to be losing hope, mirroring the despair that once gripped Germany, and thus, they will endure the hardships the Germans were subjected to following World War II and the collapse of Nazism. However, unlike Germany, America will never recover or regain its global influence: the once mighty empire is in a state of inexorable decline. Ours is an empire plagued by divisions - too vast, too diverse, and too at odds with itself to ever truly be a nation in the sense that Germany, Japan etc. are nations. While this may sound overly pessimistic, remember that my faith in Americans died completely with the 2016 presidential election, and each passing day since has only reinforced the reasons as to why that faith is never coming back to life.

President Biden denounces ICC arrest warrant bid for Netanyahu, reiterates there is no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. {BBC 5/20} 

Слава Україні. Long overdue U.S. artillery shells finally arrive to assist Ukrainian fighters near Kharkiv. {Reuters 5/21}

Of course she is. No backbone, no integrity: Nikki Haley announces she will vote for Donald Trump. {BBC 5/22}

Trump camp to build ‘crypto army’, will begin accepting campaign donations in cryptocurrency. {AP 5/21}

Indian dictator Modi - leader of over 1.4 billion people - claims he is of divine birth, says ‘this energy could not be from my biological body’. {Business Standard 5/22}

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

One in three NCAA men's and women's basketball players faced abuse from bettors, including death threats, during this year’s tournaments

Angel Reese. Photo: Getty Images

NCAA: 1 in 3 star athletes receive abuse, threats by bettors {ESPN 5/18}

Methinks I am not sufficient of a constitutional scholar to know if the federal government hath any legitimate authority to regulate gambling, and I generally do despise any nanny state tendencies I detect in others. All said, I really do hate gambling. Years ago, I laboured in gas station convenience stores and felt like a glorified drug pusher with all the scratch tickets I did sell to Massholes. Most of the folk buying them were downright pathetic, but I digress. Furthermore, I have long turned a blind eye to gambling in my waning enthusiasm for horse racing, knowing that it hath always been the lifeblood of the industry. Yet, for the life of me, I shall never understand why any individual would desire to play with money. It maketh absolutely no sense.

Absolutely nothing of goodly import is emerging from the explosion of legalised sports betting currently taking place. When combined with the endemic, regressive, and all-pervading hatred raging in the United States at this time, it doth create a deadly combination. The ESPN article notes that female collegiate basketball players are about thrice more likely than their male counterparts to receive abuse. One day, somebody is going to get killed, but it will not matter to the puissant interests invested in the commons casting away coin they cannot afford to lose. It ought to go without saying, this is beyond shameful and yet another sign, among thousands, that the people of #Murica are, in laymen’s terms, losing their s**t.

Alito J6 controversy ‘another blow for Supreme Court under fire’ - Lifetime tenure for Justices was a huge error of foresight by our nation’s founders. {AP 5/17}

President Biden signs a significant aviation safety and airline reform bill into law. {Reuters 5/16}

Cost of living crisis. Suze Orman warns ‘If you don’t have at least $5 million or $10 million, don’t retire early’. {Yahoo! 5/16}

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Law enforcement in the U.S. seized over 115 million fentanyl pills in 2023, up from 71 million in 2022, and only 50,000 in 2017

Darwin Brandis/iStock

Fentanyl, with potency exceeding fiftyfold that of heroin, is primarily manufactured in laboratories in India and China before clandestine entry into the U.S., typically via Mexico. According to this DW article, opioid addiction is far less rife in European nations endowed with robust and functioning healthcare systems, evidenced by a mere forty-nine (49) recorded fentanyl overdose deaths in the European Union in all of 2021. In stark contrast, the U.S. witnessed more than 200 deaths per day in 2022, and that may be a conservative estimate.

Nearly every solution enacted at federal, state, and local levels to combat the opioid crisis has been punitive and counterproductive. I dread America will persist in this approach for years to come, reflective of a society divided and politicians, particularly on the right and within the GOP, increasingly keen to exacerbate hardships for those their respective factions deem as societal outcasts. More needless suffering, deaths, and imprisonment shall ensue, and #Murica will become more and more of a s**thole country.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

DOJ recommends downgrading marijuana from Schedule I to III, does not endorse federal legalisation

A poster advertising ‘Reefer Madness’, 1936. Public domain.

Full legalisation nationwide, and the neutering of moral busybodies who routinely treat adults as mere children, are the only acceptable outcomes. Our lives should not be subject to the whims of those yearning for 1950s America; nor should there be a crime if there are not any victims. {AP 5/16}

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

MAGA: NOT a movement of rugged individualism, free thought, or human liberty

Rich Logis - former MAGA activist turned anti-MAGA activist, one of the rare few who have come to their senses, or ever will - sheds light on how #Cult45 masquerades as a movement of rugged individualism, when in reality, it embodies the opposite. Christian nationalism, the cornerstone ideology of #Cult45, is as collectivist in its essence as Communism and all the other ‘isms’. Furthermore, it is worthy of note that *all* its adherents are resolute in imposing their beliefs and way of life upon the rest of us. They must be thwarted. #NeverTrump #Biden2024

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

If extraordinary measures must be taken to prevent national suicide, then so be it: The Biden campaign needs to launch an an all-out, all encompassing PR assault on the bloody imbeciles of #Murica, putting the fear of God into them against restoring Trump

President Joe Biden. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

President Biden and his people urgently need to initiate a comprehensive public relations campaign, aiming to instill a sense of urgency and gravity over the repercussions of voting for Donald Trump, or most any GOP candidate on the ballot, this fall. Alas, I see scant evidence of this happening to a necessary-enough degree, and the MSM is not helping matters with its constant doom and gloom coverage of this White House.

The widespread and increasing animosity towards Israel and the Jewish people has stirred a significant portion of the left to oppose the president. Moreover, a considerable portion of the remaining population are misinformed, oft harbouring malice and attaching themselves to #Cult45. Additionally, the Department of Justice hath lamentably failed in its duty to dispense justice: Trump should have been incarcerated, at the very least, three years hence, following J6. The man incited a most egregious insurrection, and the indifference displayed is alarming, mayhap even from President Biden himself. Adhering strictly to conventional norms and taking the high road hath not yielded positive results for Mr. Biden, nor for those of us who have been steadfast in supporting him.

Donald Trump's presidency from 2017 to 2021 was a calamity on most fronts - even if he had performed perfectly otherwise, the grossly incompetent mishandling of the COVID pandemic would be a sole factor to forever disqualify him from any leadership henceforth (I would not entrust the man to oversee a Target or Walmart location). With 91 felony charges pending against him and his dubious association with America's worst adversary, Vladimir Putin, Trump's legal woes incessantly dominate the news. Despite all this, too many Americans are apathetic, allowing him to remain a credible contender for re-election. 

Is this the image we desire to present to the world? Do we find contentment in being viewed as a jest amongst nations? We are going on, approximately, our third decade of being the most despised country on earth; remember, the world hated George W. Bush, and Mr. Bush is most decidedly a very benign figure in comparison to the useless golden boy that immediately followed him in office, and, verily, in comparison to Donald Trump.

I would advise President Biden that the extreme factions on both the right and left of America already harbour disdain for him and will support Trump or enable his return, regardless. Instead, I suggest Mr. Biden should give these various folks something to really hate him over. If the political centre is to hold, Mr. Biden must reach out to those who are still reachable but are not actively engaged and all too susceptible to outdated 'it's the economy, stupid' rhetoric; along with those millions who abstain from voting or paying any attention altogether. It is imperative to continually remind Americans how awfully Donald Trump performed as president during those four years. Because, at the moment, it appears a whole lot of them may be suffering from amnesia and chronic fatigue. 

Our national security, Social Security, individual liberties, and even our very lives are at stake, yet we appear paralyzed and disoriented. If President Biden must take unconventional measures to prevent national suicide, I will support him wholeheartedly. He may never be Mr. Popularity, and that is more than acceptable to him so long as he serves honourably and begins the process of cleaning up all the filth polluting this land.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.