Tag Archive for gaslight

Jan 6th: Traitor’s Day

January 6th marks the three year anniversary of the Capitol riots, Treason Day, Insurrection Day or Traitor’s Day – all names are fitting. It’s been three years since that infamous day and not one of the instigators like Paul Gosar, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene have been held accountable and are still roaming free. And the biggest offender, TFG, is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President, which will undoubtedly turn into the office of President-for-Life, if he somehow gets re-elected this year. Sure, many of the rioters have been sentenced, but many have been given light sentences given the gravity of their offense – trying to overthrow the government!

We’re reposting our Insurrection photo-toon from our previous posts because it pretty much says it all. But like we’ve said before, this was an attempted coup to overthrow a legitimate election with almost zero voter fraud, no matter how much the Republicans claim there was! This was a dress rehearsal. If we don’t punish those responsible, the next time . . . and there will be next time, the rioters will be successful and America will cease to be a democracy!

Despite overwhelming evidence that the Jan. 6th riot was an attempted coup, the Republicans continue to gaslight the American people by saying that it was just a nice, friendly tourist visit.
Despite overwhelming evidence that the Jan. 6th riot was an attempted coup, the Republicans continue to gaslight the American people by saying that it was just a nice, friendly tourist visit.

Rewind: Master Dubya

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the BilgeBucket Gazette. Our first issue was on May 19, 2003 and we’ve been shoveling it to the public, just like the corporate media, ever since. We changed our format to a WordPress blog in 2011 so all of our earlier material was archived. We’ve been reposting many of those archived articles, headlines, photo-toons, BilgeBucket Lists and other content over the past twelve years. In honor of our 20th, and because we’re sick of the current state of affairs in the world, we’ll be reposting more items from 2003 through 2009 throughout this year.

The Iraq War was a complete clusterf*ck and the Bush Administration was responsible for everything that went wrong with that ill-advised war. One of the more unsettling events that occurred during the early days of occupation was that American soldiers tortured Iraqis at the infamous Abu-Ghraib facilities and then Bush Admin officials denied that they did. (Hmmm. Republicans f*cking up, gaslighting and avoiding consequences. Some things never change, eh.)

Here’s our DubToon from our September 17, 2006 issue featuring Master Dubya convincingly denying the use of torture.

“We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture. The values of this country are such that torture is not a part of our soul and our being.”
George W. Bush
06-22-2004
Master George W. Bush convincingly denies that America uses torture on Iraqi citizens.
“America does not torture…except for waterboarding, attack dogs, electrodes to genitals…”

Jan. 6th: Treason Day

January 6th marks the one year anniversary of the Capitol riots, or Treason Day as we’re calling it here at the Bucket, and like we mentioned in a previous post, many of the instigators like Paul Gosar, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene are still roaming free and haven’t been brought to justice or even expelled from Congress. And the biggest culprit, TFG, is still blabbing and squawking about non-existent election fraud on his cross country tour including an upcoming appearance here in Arizona. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who sure seems to be taking his sweet time, assured America that his office will continue to pursue those responsible and that “the actions we have taken thus far will not be our last.” We certainly hope so because up to now, we haven’t been particularly impressed with Mr. Garland or his Department of Justice.

We’re reposting our photo-toon from our November post because it pretty much says it all. The facts surrounding Treason Day are undisputable. The investigation’s federal prosecutors have charged more than 700 people related to the attack, with new criminal cases introduced every week. Many of the accused have military backgrounds and are relatively young. About a quarter of those charged are accused of physical violence. But like we’ve said before, this was an attempted coup to overthrow a legitimate election with almost zero voter fraud, no matter how much the Republicans claim there was! This was a dress rehearsal. If we don’t punish those responsible, the next time . . . and there will be next time, the rioters will be successful and America will cease to be a democracy!

Despite overwhelming evidence that the Jan. 6th riot was an attempted coup, the Republicans continue to gaslight the American people by saying that it was just a nice, friendly tourist visit.
Despite overwhelming evidence that the Jan. 6th riot was an attempted coup, the Republicans continue to gaslight the American people by saying that it was just a nice, friendly tourist visit.

The Cuckoo Coup

We’re baaaaacccckkkk . . . well, kinda . . . sorta. It’s been seven months since our last post here at the Bucket and no, we don’t have COVID. We’re fully vaccinated and we still wear masks when we go to stores or enclosed spaces. So, where have we been? Like we mentioned in our last post, we’ve had the blahs – a feeling of languishing that was primarily caused by four years of non-stop chaos courtesy of TFG – (like many, we can’t say #45’s name anymore – we hate the man that much) – and the morally bankrupt fascist Republicans. But mostly we’ve been chillaxing; observing and trying to fathom some of the insanity that is happening, not only in this country, but in the world. For instance, we can’t figure out why people won’t get vaccinated against a deadly disease like COVID-19 which has killed over 5 million people worldwide and over 700,000 in the US. And governments like the US are trying to stop the spread by issuing mask mandates and offering the vaccine free of charge. But people are rioting against the life-saving measure and sometimes killing others in the process – madness; complete madness. Prominent conservative right wing anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers have even died from COVID complications which could have been prevented if they had just gotten the vaccine. And somehow athletes and former reality show hosts know more than doctors do about microbiology. Sheer insanity.

There has been an avalanche of worrisome events that have occurred over the summer and we can’t comment on all that has happened in just one post. Joe Biden and most of the Democrats have delivered on their promises for making the vaccine widely available and trying to control the pandemic. They’re restored ties and relations with our allies and improved our standing on the world stage again. They’ve also delivered on the infrastructure bill despite sabotage from a couple DINOs: West Virginia’s Coal Lovin’ Joe Manchin and Arizona’s own Miss Cutesy-Pie Bait and Switcher Krysten Sinema (we’ll comment more on these specimens later). All in all, the Democrats have accomplished a lot in the last eight months, not that the media has given them much credit. Despite the Democrats performing well, we’ve seen disturbing developments from the corporate main stream media that reminds us of when Obama got elected. The Democrats swept into power but yet the ‘liberal’ media focused on the Republicans, which allowed for the rise of the Teabagger movement, which morphed into the MAGA cult. For instance, Biden correctly withdrew from Afghanistan but the Taliban took back the country. The corporate media portrayed this as Biden’s fault completely forgetting the last twenty years of our disastrous involvement in this country where empires go to die. Well, we don’t have short memories here at the Bucket. The fault lies with George W. Bush for getting tangled up in the quagmire to begin with. We’ve got much more commentary on this subject matter later, too.

But what really has us worried is that few people have been reprimanded for the Jan. 6th capitol riots. Honestly, folks – we’re students of history here and this smells just like other fascist attacks in history like in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s and Chile in the 1980s. Using terminology from Naomi Klein’s book, The Shock Doctrine, the Republicans are implementing shock and awe on their own country. And to make matters worse, it seems to be working. The top story in the supposedly liberal media every night should be about reprimanding all the assailants of the Capitol and all their enablers in Congress. Why haven’t we seen Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley expelled yet? Why are Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert still serving? They openly aided and abetted the insurrection. The media should be grilling them over this. But instead they just repeat the Republican’s weak, disturbing attempt at gaslighting saying the the riot was nothing more than an friendly tour of the Capitol. We’ve seen the pictures, morons! This was an attempted coup to overthrow a legitimate election with almost zero voter fraud, no matter how much the Republicans claim there was! Fortunately, more evidence that TFG and other congressional Republicans instigated and were behind the coup. Democrats are advising democracy loving Americans to be patient, but time is running out, folks. According to some sources, the Republicans incredulously are primed to take back the House and the Senate in 2022. If that happens, democracy will be dead because the Republican absolutely will resume tearing apart this government and forcing their fascist, corporatist and religious agendas down every American’s throat.

Despite overwhelming evidence that the Jan. 6th riot was an attempted coup, the Republicans continue to gaslight the American people by saying that it was just a nice, friendly tourist visit.
Despite overwhelming evidence that the Jan. 6th riot was an attempted coup, the Republicans continue to gaslight the American people by saying that it was just a nice, friendly tourist visit.

Despicable Debatacle

I don’t think we can describe the first Presidential debate debacle (or should we say debatacle) better than CNN’s Dana Bash when she called it a ‘shitshow’. The reaction from world governments was pretty damning as well. The Guardian called is ‘a national humiliation’ while an Israeli TV anchor said, “Condolences to America. . . it’s harder to sink lower than this.’

And who made it a shitshow? Why none other than America’s Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child little Donny Trump. Good fricking grief! What an asshole he was! Joe Biden couldn’t get a word in edge wise because our megalomaniac dear Leader kept interrupting him like a goddamn baby. At least Joe Biden told him to shut up a couple of times. Normally, we’d not approve of that kind of behavior, but look who Uncle Joe was dealing with. Sometimes you have to put the crybaby in a timeout and let him think about what a little prick he’s being.

But what was really alarming was that Fox Propaganda ‘journalist’ Chris Wallace lobbed a softball question for Trump about denouncing white nationalists and the bellicose, orange haired prevaricator botched that, saying instead that Proud Boys should ‘stand back and stand by’. That certainly sounds like ‘get ready to rumble’ to us. Of course, all the GOP sycophants in Congress and the media have been in full gaslighting mode trying to tell the American people that they didn’t hear what they heard. Trump ass-kisser extraordinaire Sean Hannity was even gloating that Trump was a new style of mighty warrior. Holy Shit!!! What an addleheaded asshole!!!

The only thing the debate proved was that Donald Trump is a goddamned crybaby and shouldn’t be allowed to be President. But then again we’ve known that ever since he first announced his was running for office. Dealing with Trump is like playing chess with a pigeon, with Trump playing the part of the bird. The pigeon Trump will knock over all the pieces and poop on the board and claim complete and total victory, which is what Trump did on Tuesday night. We have no doubt he will probably try to do the same thing on November 3rd.

America’s Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man-baby Donald Trump whines that Joe Biden is kicking his ass and calls on his right wing thugs to save his presidency thus destroying democracy.
America’s Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man-baby Donald Trump whines that Joe Biden is kicking his ass and calls on his right wing thugs to save his presidency thus destroying democracy.

The Grim Reaper Of ‘Success’

The Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has received universal criticism from just everybody on planet Earth with the exception of Trump supporters and the GOP. In an odd and disturbing recent poll, a majority of Republicans are fine with the 180,000+ deaths from COVID-19. Just to recap for sane Americans: these people are the same Republicans who thought the 4 deaths from Benghazi in 2012 and the 2 deaths from the Ebola breakout in 2014 were cause for Obama to resign from office for gross negligence, but the 180,000+ deaths from COVID-19 under Trump are peachy keen and thus the Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child is deserving of four more years in the White House.

As to further illuminate the insanity of this line of reasoning, Presidential adviser and modern day grim reaper Jared Kushner gave an absolutely chilling and aggravating interview where he crowed that the 180,000 deaths are an absolute success and that President Trump should be lauded for all he’s done. Folks, this is fascism and gaslighting that Joseph Goebbels would be proud of. We’re all hoping to wipe that perpetual, arrogant, smug smirk off of Kushner’s face on election day. He’s not only repulsive to look at, he’s repulsive to listen to. And if you’ve been brave enough to watch any clips of the insane RNC this past week, Kushner is as repulsive as everyone else in the Trump family circus. November 3rd can’t come quickly enough for us to vote these assholes out of office and hopefully into jail for their many ethical, criminal and moral violations.

Presidential adviser and grim reaper Jared Kushner proclaims that the 180,000+ deaths in America from COVID-19 are a resounding success story of the Trump administration.
Presidential adviser and grim reaper Jared Kushner proclaims that the 180,000+ deaths in America from COVID-19 are a resounding success story of the Trump administration.

Wrapped In The Flag; Carrying A Cross

Let’s face it, folks; the year 2020 sucks! The events of the last two weeks (not to mention the last three years) have profoundly disturbed and shook us, which is why we had to recently post some old photo-toons so we could wrap our heads about the ugliness of it all. First, there was the repugnant murder of an unarmed black civilian, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police officers. If you’re any kind of sentient, sane, compassionate, sympathetic human being, the video of the police officer with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck was nauseating to watch. Predictably and justifiably, protests broke out, not only in cities across America but in other countries around the world. Unfortunately, our Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump, decided to play authoritarian strongman and chose to throw gasoline on the fire by egging police and military forces to take harsh actions against any and all protesters. He called for governors in each state to ‘dominate’. It’s kind of ironic that just a couple weeks ago, when the MÆGAMorons protested not being able to get manicures because of the coronavirus shutdown, Trump was all for protesters to liberate their states.

The examples of brutality have become legion in the past week alone. Certainly, the most visible is the one Trump and his droopy-faced hound dog Attorney General William Barr instigated by scheduling a photo-op and sending tear gas into a crowd so Trump could waltz across the street from his White House bunker to St. John’s church so he could hold a bible upside down and proclaim that he’s doing God’s work. Really convincing, eh? Even religious leaders criticized Trump for his using the bible as a prop. Of course, Trump and his fascist gaslighters have denied using tear gas despite the evidence. Also notable at this incident, were several unidentified armored officers. Could these secretive security forces possibly be Trump’s version of brownshirts showing up to enforce the will of dear Leader Trump? It certainly seems like it.

We’ve commented many times about fascism and fascists, especially the prediction credited to Sinclair Lewis that when it comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. We even posted, before Trump was even elected, a handy dandy checklist comparing the NSDAP Party of 1930s Germany with 21st century Republicans. You know why? We’ve read a lot about the subject and when we see similarities we mention them. Like in Naomi Klein’s excellent book, The Shock Doctrine, Trump is following the playbook of authoritarian leaders who shock their own citizens into accepting their ideology and economic world view. The GOP has been planning this for the past twenty years. We even posted about it after Trump’s sham of an impeachment trial; it’s Trump über alles. Trump has been shocking us on a daily basis with a Twitter blitzkrieg for the last three years to crush our will and depress us. And what are the Republicans in Congress doing? They’re letting him get away with it because this is their plan. They’re goosestepping right behind him, pushing through laws that favor corporations and plutocrats while destroying the middle class as Trumpty Dumpty and Fox News, a.k.a. the Republican propaganda network, distract and gaslight us to death. Could these latest acts of authoritarianism and police brutality be the breaking point? We certainly hope so. We must continue to protest this clusterf*ck of a presidency and stand up against authoritarian rule. Fascism is unacceptable in America. Democracy and rule of law are what this country is all about. Freedom of speech is one of our most cherished freedoms. This is a country, by the people for the people; not by the corporation for the corporation. We the people must vote Trump and his fascist cohorts out of office in November!

Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump demonstrates that fascism has arrived in America by sexually abusing a flag (wrapped in the flag) and displaying an upside down bible (carrying a cross).
Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump demonstrates that fascism has arrived in America by sexually abusing a flag (wrapped in the flag) and displaying an upside down bible (carrying a cross).

The Gods of Greed

The coronavirus pandemic is still wreaking havoc on the human population across the planet with the death rate at close to 6% globally. The United States now leads the world in coronavirus cases by a large margin with over 500,000 cases and in deaths with over 21,000. Not only has COVID-19 exposed the incompetence of the Trump administration, but it’s revealed the true abhorrent nature of right wing propaganda media outlets like Fox News, a.k.a. the Republican Propaganda Network, and has destroyed the myth of a strong economy that American CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump has touted since day one of his clusterf*ck of a presidency.

Trump has taken over the media since the coronavirus outbreak and on a daily basis shown that he is a truly horrible, tone deaf, uncaring heel. He openly has pushed for the use of hydroxychloroquine as a possible cure for COVID-19 despite medical evidence to the contrary. He has openly tried to gaslight the public in saying that he was always concerned about the coronavirus pandemic when he clearly mocked the media for touting its danger back in January and February, calling it ‘the next democratic hoax’ and stating that the virus will go away by April. (Editor’s note – we were skeptical back then, too – but at least we’ll admit we underestimated the original situation). In typical Trumpian fashion, he has blamed everyone but himself. His daily briefings are nothing more than political rallies where he crows about what a fantastic job he’s doing and that his ratings are higher than ever. He even brought out the My Pillow guy to prop him up. In Trump’s warped mind, over 21,000 (that’s seven 9/11s, folks) deaths in a two month span is a good thing and apparently we should congratulate him. Remember when he tweeted in 2014 calling for Obama to resign because of his handling of Ebola which resulted in two American deaths. No hypocrisy there, eh?

Fox News has also been doing its part in the gaslighting of America, too. When the pandemic first broke back in February, they openly called it a hoax and nothing to worry about. Twenty-one thousand American deaths later, they’re walking back their comments like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk. Trump bootlicker extraordinaire Sean Hannity even had the gaul to say that Fox has always been concerned about the coronavirus, conveniently forgetting that there are video records showing the contrary. Fortunately, they’re getting sued for spreading lies and misinformation to the American public about coronavirus. Will justice be served and Fox be driven into the ground? We can only hope, but like John Oliver recently revealed on his excellent show, there are more bat shit insane right wing networks like OAN waiting in the wings to take Fox’s place.

The true emptiness of our capitalistic society has also been exposed with this pandemic. People have been trying to make boatloads of money off the shortages of paper products from the panic buying last month in the very definition of disaster capitalism. The stock market has lost much of its gains of the Trump era despite billionaires pumping money into the voracious, insatiable maw of Wall Street. Pundits like tin foil hat king Glenn Beck have even put forth notions that people should sacrifice themselves in order to save the stock market. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has even suggested that people are going to die anyway, why not sacrifice yourself for the stockholders of America. And somehow, disgraced former Fox News propagandist and self-proclaimed history detective Bill O’Reilly has appeared back on the air and has been blathering the same kind of thing as Johnson saying that the deaths have been people who ‘were on their last legs anyway’. What a compassionate conservative christian!

That’s where we are, folks; our leaders and right wing media pundits are actually suggesting we lay down our lives for profit. For those christians out there, is this what Jesus would do? With the coronavirus pandemic, we now know that to the Republican party, certain people in America (a.k.a. the non 1%ers) just don’t matter and they should sacrifice themselves on the altar of capitalism in order to appease the Gods of Greed; the capitalistic overlords on Wall Street and plutocrats of corporate America.

The Gods of Greed: In order to save his precious stock market while simultaneously improving his all-important TV ratings, American CEO/Dictator and top notch medical professional Donald Trump and his horde of sycophantic Republican lackeys try to convince the American populace that granny and gramps must sacrifice themselves to the coronavirus pandemic on the altar of capitalism in order to save the lives of our greedy corporate overlords and the avaricious plutocratic gods on Wall Street. Rated R for Rapacious.
The Gods of Greed: In order to save his precious stock market while simultaneously improving his all-important TV ratings, American CEO/Dictator and top notch medical professional Donald Trump and his horde of sycophantic Republican lackeys try to convince the American populace that granny and gramps must sacrifice themselves to the coronavirus pandemic on the altar of capitalism in order to save the lives of our greedy corporate overlords and the avaricious plutocratic gods on Wall Street. Rated R for Rapacious.

Putin’s Bitch

We’re still flabbergasted by Donald Trump’s performance at his summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki a few weeks ago. We’ve never seen such a shameful display by a United States president. Many others, including Republicans agree with us. Dubya came close when he got all romantic about looking into Putin’s eyes and seeing into his soul, ”I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul.”  But Trump’s actions boggle the mind.

To make matters worse, Trump insists on gaslighting Americans by stating that Russia is really sorry that Trump is President …er… CEO/Dictator and that they might influence the upcoming election… for Democrats.  But all indications are that because Trump and the Republicans are in power, Russia and Putin are relevant on the world stage again and they couldn’t be happier. Or like Trump said in Helsinki, “Putin is strong and powerful.”

And all pictures and videos seem to back this up.  There are very few pictures from the Helsinki summit where the normally glum Putin, isn’t smiling, like this pic from after Trump’s secret meeting with Putin. Oh yeah… Trump really looks like he’s laying down the law to Putin. Russia must really have something good on Trump… just sayin’.

America's CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, boldly lays down the law with Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

America’s CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, boldly lays down the law with Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The Lying Liar’s Pity Party

The Trump administration’s lackeys continue to annoy the American populace on a daily basis. Take Sarah Huckabee Sanders…please. She keeps complaining about how the press is unfairly spreading ‘fake news’. We’ve already commented about how this bible thumper has been repeatedly bearing false witness in front of the nation despite her religion teaching its followers that lying will lead to eternal damnation.

Now Ms. Sanders is whining about how the press calling her a liar is making her feel bad. Oh really???!!! Poor baby!!! And Ms. Sanders’ daily lies don’t make us feel miserable???!!! It’s truly astonishing that the gaslighting Republicans think that many Americans, including the press, can’t discern the truth that Trump and his entire administration are nothing but pathological liars. We’ve already mentioned the database of Trump’s lies being kept by the Washington Post’s Fact Checker. There’s also overwhelming video evidence of him lying!!! Just check Youtube! Of course, Trump and the Republicans have some help spreading their deceptions with their very own propaganda network, a.k.a. Fox News, which many of the christian sheeple follow without question, like the good little authoritarian automatons they are.

But as for Sarah Huckabee Sanders: we have no sympathy whatsoever for this women. She is nothing but a gargantuan hypocrite. Want to stop feeling bad, Ms. Sanders? Stop lying!!!

Trump administration Press Secretary and pathological prevaricator, Sarah Huckabee Sanders whines about being called a liar, to which a friendly doctor advises her to stop lying.

A kindly doctor provides some friendly advice for whiny Trump administration Press Secretary and pathological prevaricator, Sarah Huckabee Sanders: STOP LYING!!!