We’ve posted the following photo-toon meme a couple of times, on September 12, 2022 and originally on December 16,2015. We’re reposting it now because the situation hasn’t changed with the GOP since 2016 or the days of Dubya for that matter. They are still pursuing a christian nationalist corporatist authoritarian agenda – a Holy Corporate Empire or Corporate States of America if you will. The only difference is that the GOP are unabashedly out in the open supporting fascism now. Take a look at our handy dandy checklist and you can plainly see – Republicans are fascist to the core!
Back before the 2022 election we posted a meme on October 15,2022 which pretty much spelled it out concerning what the Republican party stood for in the 21st century. We noted that 299 out of 569 Republicans were okay with the Big Lie of election fraud promoted by the twice impeached, convicted felon and megalomaniac man child TFG. Well nowadays, the GOP is fully on board the Trump train of perpetual lies and propaganda.
Project 2025 has been exposed in the last year and it details a blueprint for the conservative Republican fascist takeover of this country. Like we’ve said all along, the conservative christian nationalists which make up today’s GOP want to turn this country into the Holy Corporate Empire and they won’t be denied because in their warped religious fevered minds, they are doing the Lord’s work. Some of the disturbing aspects of Project 2025 include: cutting overtime pay, relax worker safety rules and allow discrimination; undermine Medicare, restrict reproductive care and keep pharmaceutical prices high; eliminate funding for fighting climate change; reducing or eliminating environmental protections; limit access to food assistance programs; eliminate the Head Start program; eliminate the Department of Education; taking partisan control of the DOJ, FBI, Department of Commerce, FCC and FTC; cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; roll back civil rights protections for all minorities, whether racial, religious or LGBTQ+; and eliminate other government agencies like NOAA, which provides vital information for the American people concerning hurricanes and tornadoes which are increasing because of climate change. So here’s a recommendation to all the MAGA Morons living in the south: to prepare for Project 2025 just ignore all the weather warnings for Hurricane Helene provided by the National Hurricane Center and just wing it with prayers and doing your own research. We’re sure that will work out just fine.
We’re becoming very fatigued with these constant threats to democracy that seem to be happening on a daily basis since Trump seized control of the corporate media apparatus. Like we’ve mentioned before, our corporatist overlords in conjunction with the main stream media are pulling the shock doctrine on their fellow Americans all in quest for absolute and total power in every aspect of our lives. With the revelation of Project 2025, the ugly truth is crystal clear: Fascism has arrived! The Republicans don’t want to govern – they want to rule with an iron fist.
It’s only two months until the election and the Harris-Walz campaign continues to gain momentum while the Trump train seems to be losing steam. Top Republicans are now endorsing Kamala. But Trump has received some notorious endorsements as well. Robert Kennedy Jr., although allegedly calling him a ‘sociopath’ (which he is), now endorses the orange faced man child. Also, former Democrat but not really Tulsi Gabbard has donned her MAGA hat. We knew she’d do something like this back in 2020 although we thought she’d run for President as a Republican. But she has embraced Trump, which is utterly revolting. Both Kennedy and Gabbard have exposed themselves as nothing but grifters which is sad for us. We used to respect Kennedy and his environmental work. But now he seems to be bat shit insane. Apparently, the brain worms ate most of his gray matter.
But Trump’s biggest pal, besides Fox News, a.k.a. the Republican Propaganda Network, is now fellow billionaire Elon Musk. The corporate main stream media loves Musk, just like they love Trump. Both men make the media millions by making bold outrageous statements and because they have lots of money, they must be better than all of us average Americans, right? The corporate media portrays Elon Musk like a real life Iron Man. But in reality he’s more a Tin Can Man. To be fair, Musk has done some good things like using his Starlink network to help Ukraine stay connected to the internet during its war with Russia. But then again he turned around and refused to support them last year. His Tesla electric car was revolutionary, but now several vehicles have caught fire and his new Cybertruck is an absolute joke. We could go on but we think John Oliver’s analysis from late last year pretty much covers Musk. Like Oliver states, “he’s a middle aged billionaire CEO with self-serving libertarian views, increasingly racist politics and a messiah complex.”. Now, Musk has come out and not only endorsed Trump but gave him an interview loaded with technical snafus (like TFG sounding like Daffy Duck) and showcased Trump’s pathological prevarications but also Musk’s lack of a personality. This weekend, Musk has also declared that the United States shouldn’t be a democracy and should be run by a group of ‘high status males’. What an egotistical, megalomaniacal jack ass (just like Trump!). We’re definitely seeing a pattern here. We think all the billionaires like Musk, Trump, Bezos, etc. should get into one of Musk’s dick rockets and be the first men on Mars where they can be kings for the one day they’ll be able to stay alive on that hellscape. Screw ’em all!
Election day is getting closer and things are looking a lot brighter for Democrats and fans of democracy these days. The Harris/Walz ticket is tied or leading in all swing states and even North Carolina is in play now. There are very optimistic rumors that Harris even has a chance in Florida, although we’re extremely dubious and skeptical that she would carry that deep red state.
And while Harris and her human dynamo VP choice Walz are surging, the Republican candidate, twice impeached, convicted felon, megalomaniac man child Donald Trump is repeatedly stumbling and fumbling and acting like an incompetent rambling old buffoon (what else is new!). But does the corporate main stream media say Trump should be replaced like they did with Joe Biden? Of course not! Does the corporate main stream media call TFG on his countless lies and prevarications? Of course not! Because, like we’ve repeatedly proclaimed before, the corporate main stream news media is conservative and they’ll do anything possible to tilt the scales toward the Republicans. The media is already trying to swift boat Walz but fortunately veterans, like Jesse Ventura, are stepping forward and defending him. Lawrence O’Donnell succinctly and cogently presented the problem with the media last week on his show. It’s well worth a watch.
Let’s make no mistake; America is made up of syndicates. There is the military industrial syndicate. There are the energy, financial, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceutical, mining and manufacturing syndicates. Two of the most powerful syndicates are the political syndicate, which consists of the Democrat and Republican parties (third parties need not apply) and the media syndicate. What’s the common purpose of all these groups? Making money and profit at any and all costs! This is the Corporate States of America or if the christian nationalists gain control, the Holy Corporate Empire. Capitalism is king and if you don’t like it, you must be one of those evil . . . socialists! So it should be no surprise that the media is coordinating with the Democrats and Republicans to make the election cycle interesting. But with the convicted felon Trump in charge, the Republicans aren’t a party anymore; they’re a crime syndicate.
We posted a meme back onSeptember 12, 2018 which is even more applicable today. It features Trump and his many cohorts who were convicted of crimes and we’re reposting it today. What baffles us is why the Republicans just don’t drop Trump like a bad habit. After election losses, the GOP kicked Ford, George H. W. Bush, Dole, McCain and Romney to the curb like they were rubbish. Does TFG have some kind of kompromat on the GOP which would blow the party to smithereens if the American public found out about it? Like perhaps illegally receiving money from Putin and his Russian oligarch pals? Just saying. All we know is that no truth loving American should ever trust the Republicans on anything ever again.
A lot has happened since our last post a month ago. Honestly, folks, the way the election had been panning out was depressing the hell out of us. Joe Biden, despite having one of the best legislative terms in history, was being labeled as too old as compared to an equally old and more unstable and completely dishonest man, the twice impeached convicted felon TFG. The fix was in and it still may be in, we don’t know. But President Biden bowing out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris completely threw the Republicans for a loop. For once, the Democrats put the screws to the GOP and we’re feeling something we haven’t felt in a while – HOPE!
But we’re sure the corrupt corporate media will do a hit job on Harris they way they did in 2016 against Hillary Clinton once they find something bad, no matter how picayune the issue is, in which to bash her and whoever her running mate ends up being. The media wants drama and Zeus damn it, drama makes lots of MONEY, which is what the greedy corporations and America are all about. So, get ready for a bumpy three months, folks. Things are looking much better for democracy loving Americans, but it ain’t over yet.
Well, the fix appears to be in, folks. Unfortunately, the corporate main stream media and the Supreme Court have come out in the open in favor of the twice impeached former American CEO/Dictator, petulant man child and convicted felon Donald Trump in the upcoming election, a.k.a. Con-a-thon 2024. The Supreme Court ruled that the President has some immunity if the action came as part of ‘official‘ business. Of course, they don’t specify what official is, but who cares right. The President, in some cases, and especially if he is Donald Trump, is above the law, at least according to this corrupt confederacy of conservative clowns.
Then, last week, the Presidential Debate occurred with much gnashing of teeth and groaning from Americans. Joe Biden didn’t perform well but neither did the orange faced megalomaniac TFG. Like one headline said: Biden Fumbles, Trump Fabricates. And what is worse is that the CNN moderators didn’t even call Trump on his prevarications. Tapper and Bash are worthless as journalists, absolutely worthless. What’s even worse is that in the aftermath, corporate media outlets, including left leaning ones, are proclaiming that Biden is too old, exactly the talking point the right wing Republicans have been making all along. This despite Biden’s strong performances in the State of the Union , D-Day memorials and other speeches he’s given. He had a bad night. Trump has had a zillion bad nights and the media just shrugs their shoulders and goes “meh”. Liberal media my ass!!!
We’re going to repost our photo-toon from June 8, 2020. This was when Trump sent his thuggish troops out to eject peaceful protesters and then raised a bible for all to see. We’re going to even repeat the last paragraph (with a few appropriate edits) because the threat of fascism is even greater now with the latest actions by the corporate media and right-wing Supreme Court.
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 during his entire presidency to crush our will and depress us. And what did the Republicans in Congress doing? They’re let 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. Then came the Jan. 6 insurrection and Trump’s thugs attacked the Capital. But Trump still hasn’t faced accountability because his allies in the Supreme Court said he has immunity. We thought Jan. 6th would be the breaking point, but with the latest fascist actions of the Supreme Court and the Republican’s embrace of TFG, apparently not. We must continue to 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 against Trump and his fascist cohorts in November orwe might not have a Democracy in which to vote in anymore!
We’ve posted today’s photo-toon a few times before – December 8, 2019 and August 12, 2022. But it’s even more appropriate now because former twice impeached American CEO/Dictator and petulant man-child Donald Trump was convicted in his hush money trial in New York. He is now officially a convicted FELON and a CROOK!
Predictably, Republican sycophants in the House of Representatives have recently suggested that America honor Trump the FELON because – you know – law breakers should be honored and honest citizens should worship them . . . at least according to the completely moral and ethical GOP. Arizona’s embarrassing human jack ass Paul Gosar wants to put TFG’s mug on a $500 bill. A Florida congresswoman wants to give Trumpty Dumpty the Congressional Gold Medal for his foreign policy successes – you know – like kissing dictator Vladimir Putin’s ass and sucking up to dictator Kim Jong Un. Another bill pushed by these wing nuts wants to rename Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. for Trump the FELON. These conservative Republicans just can’t admit they made a mistake, can they.
We suggest a slightly different Trump monument. We envision that an appropriate memorial for Trump would be one of the orange-haired megalomaniac seated on his throne tweeting out his infinite wisdom to his sheeple with his ‘massive’ hands. Said statue will be located in a prominent place in Washington D.C. in an alley behind a KFC next to a dumpster which frequently catches on fire. Like the placard says: COVFEFE – He’s a CROOK, get over it!
We went out to img2go again and produced an AI image of Donald Trump wearing on orange jumpsuit in a jail cell crying and we weren’t disappointed. The truth is the twice impeached, megalomaniac, man child, ass clown crook probably won’t go to prison or get much of a sentence because the rich and powerful get away with everything in this country. But we can dream can’t we.
The Stormy Daniels hush money trial is winding down and Michael Cohen returned to the stand to testify against the orange haired megalomaniac man-child and from most accounts, he held his own and was ‘credible’. Granted Cohen is a liar but then again Trump is an even bigger prevaricator to the tune of over 30,000 in over four years as CEO/Dictator of America. So, what’s going to happen? Given TFG’s propensity to escape accountability his entire life, we’re not holding our breath. But maybe, just maybe, justice will prevail and Trump will be wearing a jumpsuit to match his orange complexion in the near future. Here’s a repost of our Singing Rat meme.
Artificial Intelligence or AI has become a huge buzzword in the past ten years and rightfully so. We’re old enough here at the Bucket to remember back in the ’80s when AI first came into the national consciousness and the media overreacted as they usually do and predicted the end of civilization. Stephen Hawking even warned about it, but then again he’s predicted a race of superhumans and possibly aliens taking over earth. Well, AI has finally arrived and it may very well be as dangerous as everyone predicted it would.
AI deepfake videos have become prevalent in the last five years and the results are astounding. Not only are they of good quality, they can actually fool people into believing what they are seeing is real and not fake. Jimmy Kimmel is well known for having deepfake videos on his show, especially featuring TFG, but he promotes them as such. There are other shows and websites that announce that the videos or images are faked and not to be taken seriously. Jabari Jones YouTube site is a good example. But it becomes incredibly dangerous especially when you consider all the malicious agents around the world, like Vladimir Putin, who would like nothing more than a video surfacing where Joe Biden, Barack Obama or other prominent Democrats say disparaging remarks about certain Americans or other countries.
There are also AI image generator sites like img2go where you can create realistic looking images for free. We tried it out and made our photo-toon for today with the prompt ‘homeless Donald Trump begging for money’. The result was surprisingly good. We’ve obviously photo-shopped some items, but the look on the homeless man’s face is authentic (authentic for a fake image, that is ). We couldn’t have come up with a better reaction to Trump’s grifting. We people who despise the orange, megalomaniac man child have had that ‘just shoot me’ look for the past nine years. We just may use AI more in our photo-toons in the future.