The Soulless Men, Part 2

In the first part of this short series I called Elon Musk the more dangerous of the Musk/Trump duo. 

Both are ruthless, rapacious, dishonest, narcissistic, duplicitous, greedy, and anti-LGBTQ. In addition to those qualities Musk has some that Trump lacks: intelligence, inventiveness, talent, creativity, and vision. Indeed, in a Trump-free universe I might find Musk admirable. But we are here and not there and I do not.

Musk went over to the dark side in the early 2020s and first voted Republican in the 2022 elections. Prior to that he had declared himself an independent and had supported both parties, although his choice of individuals to support was apparently dependent on their likelihood of supporting one or more of his businesses.

What changed? His daughter. In 2022, Vivian Jenna Wilson (née Xavier Musk), Musk's then-18-year-old daughter, who self identified as female from a very early age, publicly came out as transgender. According to MSNBC, "Wilson said she came out twice in life: once as gay in eighth grade and a second time as transgender when she was 16."¹ That second outing was to a family member.

Musk now lists Wilson's transition as having minimal impact on his rightward shift, but his earlier statements belie that position. In July 2024 he told Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson that gender affirming treatments, including puberty blockers, are a form of "child mutilation and sterilization," and that permitting children to change their gender identity is “incredibly evil,”² although he personally approved those same treatments for Wilson, later professing he was tricked into it.

Toward the end of the Peterson interview Musk says, "So my son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus."³ 

"Woke mind virus" is a term used by right-wing types. By conjoining the notion of wokeness with that of a pathogen, they create an idea in the minds of their more credulous followers that said wokeness might be contagious. By that reasoning, Musk implies that Xavier was somehow infected with a liberal mind pathogen that caused his gender dysphoria, rather than being born with it. 

It is an absurd, even silly proposition, but it allows Musk to distance himself from his offspring and from any hint that he may have genetically passed along to them something antithetical to the Trump doctrine.

Trump's antipathy toward LGBTQ Americans was well known from his first term. In his second inaugural address he announced his intention to continue his persecution of everyone who is not white and straight: "I will . . . end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life."⁴

Both men exhibit a deep and potent hatred of the LGBTQ community. That hatred is so powerful that it compels me to go way out on a limb and propose it as a key to this odd bromance. As I noted at the beginning of this essay, there are more differences than likenesses between the two, and the only apparent social link they have is moving in ultra-wealthy society.

From my own observation over many years I have concluded that men who voice a strong dislike of queer people have a fear of being one of them; the stronger the hate the more intense the fear. This is a recognized psychiatric condition called Homosexual Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (HOCD), in which individuals obsess over whether they might be gay. There is also Sexual Orientation OCD (SO-OCD), in which affected individuals display obsessive behavior about their sexual orientation, often questioning if they are in the right body. 

Individuals with a deep fear of one or perhaps both conditions can become exceptionally angry, even getting into a rage if someone suggests they might be anything but straight. I suspect that the hate and anger both men exhibit toward the LGBTQ community are symptoms of such fear. Both men have quick and violent tempers at the best of times, and would no doubt respond with an extreme show of force if their sexual identity were questioned.

Trump's obsession with penis size--not only his own--is a clear indicator, as his misogyny may be.

OS-OCD may also explain Musk's rapid and unexplained turn toward Trump, whom he had previously badmouthed. He made the shift in 2022, shortly after Vivian Jenna Wilson's public announcement of her gender transition. Musk's denunciation of that transition, of medical personnel who help people through the change, and of the government's alleged support of those who elect to get into their true gender was so violent, and his responses since so irrational, they could well indicate a basis in fear. Does he perhaps wonder if he's in the right body?

Fear is arguably the most powerful human emotion. It triggers a host of physiological effects including the fight or flight response. There is also a neurological response that effectively focuses mental activity on the source of the fear, causing the mind to respond irrationally, sometimes resulting in violent denunciation of the cause of the fear--in this case, Wilson's transition.⁵

---Diogenes, 25 February 2025 

 

The foregoing is conjecture on my part, and may contain factual errors. I am not a medical professional, just an observer of humanity. Nothing in this essay should be construed as any kind of medical diagnosis. This essay is intended to address political phenomena and the behaviors behind them. I invite anyone who is qualified to inform me of any egregious errors of fact.

¹ David Ingram, "Elon Musk's transgender daughter, in first interview, says he berated her for being queer as a child." https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-transgender-daughter-vivian-wilson-interview-rcna163665, July 25, 2024. Accessed Feb. 24, 2025.

² Telford, Taylor, Faiz Suddiqi, Casey Parks, "Elon Musk said his trans child was ‘dead.’ She’s calling him out. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/07/26/musk-transgender-vivian-grimes/, July 26, 2024. Accessed Feb. 24, 2025.

³ "Elon Musk Latest Interview By Jordan Peterson," https://www.spreaker.com/episode/elon-musk-latest-interview-by-jordan-peterson--60801875. AI transcript, July 7, 2024. Accessed Feb. 24, 2025.

⁴ Flowers, Bianca, Daniel Trotta, "Trump curtails protections around diversity, LGBTQ rights," https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-sign-orders-ending-diversity-programs-proclaiming-there-are-only-two-sexes-2025-01-20/. Reuters, Jan. 20, 2025. Accessed Feb. 25, 2025.

⁵ For a different analysis of Musk's turn see Eoin Higgins, "The Making of an Anti-Woke Zealot: How Elon Musk Was Infected with the MAGA Mind-Virus," https://lithub.com/the-making-of-an-anti-woke-zealot-how-elon-musk-was-infected-with-the-maga-mind-virus/. Literary Hub, Feb. 5, 2025. Accessed Feb. 25, 2025.

The Soulless Men, Part 1

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.¹

There are two such men: Donald John Trump and Elon Reeve Musk. This post is about the latter and more dangerous one.

Musk claims citizenship of three nations, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He neither pays allegiance to nor honors any of them. He came to the United States from his native South Africa via Canada, where he studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He left South Africa to avoid the universal military draft. He has Canadian citizenship through his mother, and chose to go there because he thought it would smooth his transition into the U. S. 

He is by definition a carpetbagger: a person who enters a country not his own to rape and pillage its government, defraud its people, and enrich himself by profiteering.

A country not his own? He was naturalized in 2002.  We will accept that Musk is an American citizen  We will not accept his being American.

What American would turn on his own people as Musk has done? Given carte blanche by Trump, his nominal boss, Musk has launched a slash-and-burn campaign through a host of federal agencies. In most cases individuals are not targeted. Rather, probationary employees who are not yet protected by union membership are being cut en masse. According to Reuters news agency, the total number of federal workers fired as of Feb. 14 was about 10,000,² but so much confusion surrounds the massacre that no one in government seems to be keeping a hard number of fired individuals.

And what of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) purportedly headed by Musk that is behind the slaughter? Let's start with the index site you reach searching for DOGE. At the top is this invitation: "DOGE is looking for help from the general public! Please DM insight for reducing waste, fraud, and abuse . . ." 

This is a tool used by despotic governments for centuries, asking citizens to report anyone who violates a law. In the past it has been used to help police states identify Christians and Jews, among others. Now it's looking for alleged budget thieves. But it could just as easily mark LGBTQ or transgender citizens.

You can find DOGE at https://doge.gov/, but past the front page you will find nothing but bar graphs of questionable authenticity and pages of Trump lies. There is no "About Us" page to provide a mission statement, number of employees, or other material expected in the name of transparency and disclosure. I suggest you avoid it. To quote the character Bobby Dupea in the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, "it makes me puke."

Most new departments are created by Congress and put through the process of budgeting, vetting leaders, etc. DOGE was created by presidential fiat. There are precedents for such actions, but in this case it appears to be just one more instance of Donny John thumbing his nose at protocol.

From the start it was clear that Musk would be the head of this cut-from-whole-cloth department. The head of a department within the Executive Branch should properly be of secretarial rank, but Musk is a special government employee--a temp. But a temp who has extraordinary powers of hiring, firing, closing entire agencies, barring members of Congress from entering federal buildings, and at least in one case meeting with a foreign head of state, seemingly usurping the place of the Secretary of State.

That meeting led to Musk's Tesla company gaining ground in India,³ a clear violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. We wait for Congress to weigh in on these many and various Constitutional violations that Trump and Musk commit daily.

--- Diogenes, 20 February 2025

Sir Walter Scott, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," Canto VI, stanza 1, 1805. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Lay_of_the_Last_Minstrel/Canto_6 . Accessed Feb. 18, 2025, 13:20 EST.

² "Nearly 10,000 fired as Trump and Musk step up government purge," Reuters, Feb. 14, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/thousands-fired-trump-musk-take-ax-us-government-offices-2025-02-14/ . Accessed Feb. 20, 2025, 14:05 EST.

³ "Tesla Begins Hiring In India After PM Modi-Elon Musk Meet In US," New Delhi Television, Feb. 18, 2025, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/tesla-begins-hiring-in-india-after-pm-modi-elon-musk-meet-in-us-7735088 . Accessed Feb. 20, 2025, 16:13 EST.

 

A Slight Delay

The post for this week will be postponed. Visiting family takes precedence.

--- Diogenes, 18 February 2025

Day of Action

On Monday, Feb. 17, Presidents Day, the 50501 group has called for another nationwide protest against Donny John and his intended ruination of the government. Although 50501 has partnered with the Political Revolution group, they remain decentralized and apparently without regional leadership. There is some information on Reddit, but it is difficult to separate the factual from the dubious.

More to the point for those of us in the hinterlands who are rather up a stump when it comes to joining an actual protest, 50501 has suggested making Presidents Day a day of action. If you cannot get to a march, rally, or other form of protest, or if weather threatens to make travel inadvisable, work from home. Grab your phone or sit down at your computer and call and/or email your congressional representatives as many times as possible. Flood their system, letting them know we are here and we mean business. 

I am cynical about contacting government, too, but even though your call or mail will likely be handled by AI, a tally is kept, and they do pay attention to which interests are getting the most attention. So fire up that autodialer or copy a few letters and turn on autofill and go to work.

We applaud 50501 for their initiative, and only wish they would provide some representatives here in the outback.

Contacts: U.S. House of Representatives phone: 202-224-3121 TTY: 202-225-1904. https://www.house.gov/representatives  or search on your representative's name.

Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121. https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm. Or search your senators by name.

Enjoy your day helping to preserve democracy.

--- Diogenes, 16 February 2025

On Anger (And yes, we've gone back to our original name.)

I dislike being angry. It's a wasteful emotion, putting mental energy into the land of what-ifs and useless imaginings, generating visions of violence and mayhem, and making me dyspeptic. It is a frustrating state of mind that feeds on itself and that is most difficult to evade. Yes, evade. Anger chases us, seeming to be always just behind us with whispers of betrayals, slights, insults, and other hurts that may be individually small, but when taken together can cause us to believe that everyone we know is against us and out to get us, and that we have to strike first.

Welcome to the world of Donald John Trump.

Trump's public face radiates anger. Indeed, it could be an embodiment of anger. It could have been the source of the idiom "face full of thunder." His perpetual scowl, which he surely practiced for hours in front of a mirror, is meant to frighten and intimidate. It works on some people.

What I have to wonder is why? Who or what has damaged this man so badly that he is unable to interact normally in society and the world? That he feels he has to crush or frighten everyone he encounters? 

Anger so fierce has to have deep roots. Was he shamed by a bully as a youngster? Perhaps, but Mary L. Trump, Donny John's aunt, suggests Trump's character weaknesses are family traits. She notes that Donny John's father, Fred Trump, had his own need for recognition "that propelled him to encourage Donald's reckless hyperbole and unearned confidence that hid Donald's pathological weaknesses and insecurities,"¹ suggesting that Fred applied a kind of inverse Munchausen syndrome by proxy, by which rather that imposing symptoms of illness on DJ he could pull some sense of recognition or importance back onto himself from his son.

I realize that the last sentence is a bit dense. There seems to be no actual name for this kind of disorder, although it has been documented. I envision Fred standing in DJ's shadow, pulling reflected attention into himself like a kind of psychic vampire.

It occurs to me that the title of Mary Trump's book, Too Much And Never Enough, reflects, perhaps unconsciously, the idea of that strange co-dependency. Could it be that Donny John still feels his father's need to feed on his importance? That he feels compelled to garner ever increasing fame so he has enough to share with his deceased father? And is that need the source of his anger? We all know that Donny does not like to share.

It is asked why people who already have a shameful amount of wealth aren't satisfied, but seem always to want more, although they need nothing. I don't get it, but psychologist Roy Eidelson seems to have a handle on it. In his essay "Psychology's 'Dark Triad' and the Billionaire Class,"² Eidelson proposes that an intertwining of three psychoses, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, affects the hyper rich, isolating them from the rest of society, and creating in them the belief that they are due more than anyone else. A link to his article is below. If you're interested in this topic it's a good read.

It seems I've gone off-topic. Well, no surprise there. We started with anger, and here we are in behaviorism. But maybe we're not too far off. As I pulled Mary Trump's book off the shelf I was struck by a niggle. The title, Too Much And Never Enough, pinged a trigger to something I read way back in my memory, and it finally worked its way to the front a couple of paragraphs ago.

The story is a novella written by science fiction Grand Master Frederik Pohl in the mid 1950s, titled The Man Who Ate The World.³ The very hungry man is named Sonny Trumie, and he doesn't actually eat the world. Here is a précis by the author: 

This takes place in a world where the poor must consume to avoid waste. Sonny received no love except from his robotic companions. Being a good consumer was the only validation he ever received. His parents were too busy consuming (as was required by their jobs) to have time to provide love to Sonny personally. We have many billionaires today that remind me of Sonny. As a wise man once said, "I have something a billionaire will never have. Enough."⁴ The only way to achieve love is through consuming.

Sonny hates consuming. He has enough top-end toys for 50 children, but the only thing in the world he actually wants to have is his baby sister's Teddy bear, which the household robots prevent him from getting (yes, I get the Rosebud echoes).

Fast forward to an adult Sonny. Wracked by guilt because he could never consume enough to help his parents, he has created his own small world on an island, and he consumes to near death: "Sonny ate. He ate until eating was pain, and then he sat there sobbing, his arms braced against the tabletop, until he could eat more."⁵

The gist of the story is not Sonny's consuming per se, but the fact that his runaway consumption requires so much energy that he is beginning to threaten the rest of the world with ruinous power shortages.

I urge you to read the story. It's on Goodreads, and may be available in your own library or favorite e-book provider. Or you can follow the link below, with caveats. It's a pleasant little story as cautionary tales go, and an easy read.

But here's the thing: Each time you read Sonny's name, say to yourself "Donny John." 

Because somewhere in that bloated body is a scared little boy crying for his Teddy bear.

---Diogenes, Feb. 11, 2025

 

¹ Trump, Mary L. Too Much And Never Enough; How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020. p. 11.

² Eidelson, Roy J., "Psychology’s 'Dark Triad' and the Billionaire Class," psychologytoday.com, posted Oct.25, 2019; retrieved Feb. 10, 2025: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dangerous-ideas/201910/psychology-s-dark-triad-and-the-billionaire-class 

³ Pohl, Frederik George jr. "The Man Who Ate The World," New York, Galaxy Science Fiction, Nov. 1956.

⁴ The "wise man" was author Joseph Heller.

 

⁵ I no longer have a copy of the book, and this quote is taken from a website that offers the entire novella. Vox Populi has no responsibility for the site, and cannot guarantee you will be able to access it. Here's a link: https://www.kaivala.com/index.php/books/the-midas-plague/the-man-who-ate-the-world

ADDENDUM: A few weeks ago we changed our name from Vox Populi to Vox Veritatis. This was done in the belief that since about half the voters in the general election voted for Donald Trump, we could not rightfully claim to be the voice of the people. That change was made during the confusion and chaos of Trump's first days in office. Having now seen the wreckage Trump is trying to make of the government and the fact that it is affecting everyone including MAGAs, we have decided that we do speak for the people, including those who were deluded by Trump and have now been betrayed by him. So welcome, everybody, as we try to navigate the nonsensical world of Donny John.

"Well, I'm back."

We are back, indeed. 

 

It has taken a great deal of thought, conversation and debate within Vox Veritatis. Opinions regarding the fate of this blog--originally Vox Populi, if you remember that far back--have ranged from taking up arms against the sea of troubles Donny John has brought us to packing up and moving to Malta. Pragmatists that we are, it was decided that we could do the best good by holding to our base while slightly changing our approach.

 

Since we launched this blog in early 2017 the number of blogs, vlogs, and podcasts covering the American political scene has increased exponentially. We have always been, and will probably remain, a small operation with a focused purpose: ridding the country of Donald Trump.

 

We operate largely on hope and faith. We are not naive, nor do we consider what we do a fool's errand. Every word that speaks truth to power, no matter the voice that utters it, helps to break the hold that Donny John and his minions have over far too many Americans. We know our audience is small. We haven't the wherewithal to advertise, but if each of you reading our work could share it as widely as possible we will be most appreciative.

 

Among our conversations was some consideration about continuing to use the nom de plume Diogenes. Even a cursory online search on the name will reveal dozens, if not hundreds, of site using the name. All of them are not blogs, but a great many are. We knew, when our domain search made us the eighth of the name, that we were far from original. But we like Diogenes; we like his ethos and his habitat. He is a personage to whom all of us here can relate. And we felt that since we've been pretty irregular with our posts recently that continuity would be a good thing.

Our plan at this juncture is to publish a weekly post. This one has been done on Tuesday, which we may stay with. We do not expect our content strategy to change, but we may sharpen our edges and bring more forces into the attack.

Tolkien fans will note that the title of this post is the last sentence in The Lord of the Rings, spoken by Sam Gamgee. We chose it because we think Sam's laconic closing statement holds the elements of new beginnings. In any event we are back, and we'll see where we go.

 

--- Diogenes, 2/3/2025

 

P. S. For anyone who might have been wondering, the final average Clown Score of Trump's original Cabinet picks was 71.3. Remember that this isn't like an academic scoring system, but is rather like golf, in which lower scores are better. So taken as a whole, this group's CQ score can be taken as about 75% of the worst they could be. 

 

 

Kyrie eleison

If Trump can attend the Mass of consecration of the altar of Notre-Dame de Paris without the flesh melting from his bones, perhaps there really is no hope.

Vox Veritatis is on extended leave.

 

-- Diogenes, 12/10/24

Bring in the Clowns, Part 2b

My friends, I thank you for your good wishes and for your forbearance concerning the lapse of days between posts. Life just will intrude on the important stuff.

Now onward to the second half of the Clown Cabinet. We left off with Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Clown-in-Chief's pick for secretary of Labor. Next:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services. I have found it very difficult to retain even a semblance of objectivity regarding this nomination. Part of the days-long delay of this part has been due to my waffling on it, and particularly trying to decide to go long or go short.

This is short:

Kennedy has a solid record as an environmental attorney who has won several cases against large corporations for polluting, endangering marine life, and for using destructive mining practices. He opposes coal-fired power plants, but conversely is also opposed to alternative forms of energy generation, having successfully fought against hydroelectric dams and wind farms, and brought about the closure of a nuclear power generation station in New York. One might wonder why he wasn't tapped for Interior or Agriculture.

The reason is because he's a wing nut when it comes to human health. He did all the environmental stuff as a Democrat.

During the COVID crisis Kennedy promoted the use of the quack drug Ivermectin and published a number of articles containing disinformation about vaccine safety.

And he has besmirched his family's legacy by cuddling up to Trump. CQ 95%

Scott Turner, HUD: Turner is a former NFL player turned politician. He worked in Trump's first term as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. HUD is no stranger to massive budget cuts, and it is a target in Trump's spending-reduction drive. At a time when the cost of even modest homes is beyond the reach of nearly half of Americans,¹ HUD's role of helping Americans get into and stay in their homes is exceptionally important.

Turner is an associate pastor in his church, and religion plays a large role in his life. Caught between American homeowners' need for support and his boss' desire to slash and burn departmental budgets Turner may need to lean hard into his faith. CQ 25%

Sean Duffy, Transportation: Former Fox News presenter. Automatic CQ 100%.

Chris Wright, Energy: Now here's a change. Wright has degrees from MIT and some study at UC Berkeley. He is CEO of Liberty Energy, a large fracking company. He has been labeled a climate change denier, but an article in Forbes² notes that he has publicly stated his belief that carbon dioxide, which scientists consider to be the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities, is in fact a greenhouse gas. (The Trump camp maintains that humans bear no responsibility for climate change.)

Wright has been clear in his promotion of nuclear energy, and he is invested in plants that build reactors. He is an intelligent candidate with well founded positions. But we have to wonder what will happen to his ideas once he moves into government. His opinions have changed in the past, but he does not seem to be tied slavishly to Trump ideas. CQ 45%.

Linda McMahon, Education: Given the Clown-in-Chief's antipathy to the Department of Education, it's surprising he even bothered to nominate anyone--and that anyone would accept the nomination. But such is the lust for power in Clown City.

In his announcement of McMahon's nomination, Trump shouted out his all-caps education mantra, "bring education back to the states." Just to soothe my fellow grammarians, I know the verb in that sentence should be "send" rather than "bring," but it's moot anyway. Public education is already administered by the states. 

McMahon's work history barely touches directly on education. She spent a year on the Connecticut State Board of Education and is a major donor to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. She also supports a number of charitable organizations.

The largest chunk of McMahon's history and ongoing work belongs to her position as co-founder (with her husband Vince) and CEO of Titan Sports Inc., the parent of the World Wrestling Foundation and World Wrestling Entertainment. She is likely a DEI hire to entertain all those Manly MAGA Men.

It has been suggested that Trump and McMahon will focus on bringing about changed to American higher education.  That's hardly surprising, given the C-i-C's dislike of higher ed. It's an open question whether Trump actually owns a post-secondary degree, and there are all those people out there who have something he doesn't and can't get. But I digress . . .

McMahon is an unknown at this point, as is her plan for education. CQ 50%.

Doug Collins, Veterans' Affairs: Collins is genuinely a mixed bag: lawyer, minister, politician, business owner, hazardous materials safety products salesman, Air Force Reserve chaplain. 

As a Republican member of the Georgia House from 2007 to 2013 and the U. S. House from 2013 to 2021 he has hardly followed a Christian path. He is against abortion but for capital punishment; received high marks from the NRA and a failing grade from NORML; he is against all aspects of LGBTQ; is opposed to the Affordable Care Act; is a climate change denier; signed the Republican amicus brief supporting a case brought by Texas trying to get the Supreme Court to set aside the 2020 election.

Isn't that enough? CQ 95%.

Kristi Noem, Homeland Security: Really? She is the governor of South Dakota and the bozo who approved having hundreds of thousands of anti-masking bikers invade Sturgeon in the midst of the COVID plague, ultimately leading to hundreds of cases and an unknown number of deaths.³ And she's going to lead a department that numbers about a quarter the population of her entire state? That includes armed services?

Noem's action so alarmed the indigenous nations of South Dakota that several of them banned her from their lands during the rally and blocked roads that rally-goers might use to cross their lands. As of this date all South Dakota's indigenous nations have declared Noem persona non grata.

South Dakota's original inhabitants don't want her, and neither do we. CQ 95%.

Rather than extend this after so long a delay in getting it out, I'm going to stop here and do all the follow-up in the next part.

--Diogenes, 12/4/24

 

¹ National Association of Home Builders: "Nearly Half of U.S. Households Can’t Afford a $250,000 Home," 5/17/24. https://www.nahb.org/blog/2024/05/housing-affordability-pyramid

² "Fracker Chris Wright, Trump’s Energy Pick, Isn’t A Climate Denier–He’s A Pragmatist," Forbes, 11/19/24.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2024/11/19/fracker-chris-wright-trumps-energy-pick-isnt-a-climate-denierhes-a-pragmatist/

³ "South Dakota Covid cases quintuple after Sturgis motorcycle rally," NBC, 8/25/2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-dakota-covid-cases-quintuple-after-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-n1277567

 

  

 

Bring In The Clowns, Part 2a

In our former post we presented a roster of individuals who Donald Trump has presented as candidates for the Cabinet and other high offices.

Here they are again, in order of their departments' seniority:

• State: Marco Rubio
• Treasury: Scott Bessent
• Defense: Pete Hegseth
• Attorney General: Pam Bondi
• Interior: Doug Burgum
• Agriculture: Brooke Rollins
• Commerce: Howard Lutnick
• Labor: Lori Chavez-DeRemer
• Health & Human Services: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• Housing & Urban Development: Scott Turner
• Transportation: Sean Duffy
• Energy: Chris Wright
• Education: Linda McMahon
• Veterans' Affairs: Doug Collins
• Homeland Security: Kristi Noem

I'll remind you, loyal readers, that we here at Vox Veritatis are not news reporters. We report and opine on the news post facto. You can find lengthy bios of all these people all over the Internet. We are simply reporting on their Clown Quotient. Were we too severe in calling them clowns? Are they just simple minions? Let's see:

Marco Rubio: First-generation American born in Miami to Cuban immigrants; has been taken to court at least once for not being a natural-born American; the case was dismissed. Since at least 2010 he has waffled on immigration policy; misstated the circumstances of his immigration to the U.S.; and not mentioned that his grandfather worked in the Treasury ministry during Castro's reign. Clown Quotient 60%.

Scott Bessant: Billionaire, hedge fund manager, long-time Trump friend and supporter, openly gay and married. DEI pick? CQ 50%.

Pete Hegseth: Former Fox News personality. Automatic CQ 100%.

Pam Bondi: Former Florida AG who has promised to go after other prosecutors who have brought Trump up on charges. Election denier, deep state believer. CQ 90%.

Doug Burgum: ND governor. Successful as an honest businessman with solid high-tech cred. Supports CO₂ sequestration. Anti-choice, anti-trans, pro-gun, co-creator of American Governors' Border Strike Force--has deployed ND National Guard to Texas to bolster wall "defense." CQ 85%.

Brooke Rollins: A Texas attorney who seems to have her heart in the right place, but who has been associated with questionable enterprises like Trump's United States Domestic Policy Council, a major player in Project 2025.  CQ 75%.

Howard Lutnick: Billionaire who has survived a tough life, being orphaned, losing virtually his entire company in 9/11. Despite being a strong Trump follower he financially supports several good works and institutions. Also believes in cryptocurrency and supports tariffs, which he doesn't seem to understand any better than Trump. CQ 65%.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer: Lives in Happy Valley, OR. (Irrelevant, but I couldn't resist). A U.S. representative from Oregon since 2022, Chavez-DeRemer bills herself as an independent thinker and may actually have some knowledge of her Cabinet post, unlike most of her colleagues. CQ 40%.

I do hope you'll forgive me, but I have to be elsewhere soon, so I'll need to complete the CQ list on Friday. I dislike leaving things half done, but needs must.

-- Diogenes, 11/27/24

 

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Bring In The Clowns, Part 1

 It may be a generational thing, but I cannot understand anyone being scared of a clown. 

What is it exactly that triggers panic in coulrophobes? Is it the makeup that turns faces into oversize parodies of the human visage? Or the strange costumes, sometimes mimicking everyday clothing, sometimes so strangely organized as to seem otherworldly?

Assuredly one could see far more shocking scenes in any number of motion pictures and television shows. Consider any film or program about zombies: there we have grotesque makeup and ragged clothing, yet no one runs screaming from the theater or dives behind the couch when they come on the screen.

Is it the matter of perceived violence in the slapstick, the pratfall, or the pistol that shoots out a "Bang!" flag? Again, what of the material that has entertained generations? The Three Stooges, perhaps, or the venerable Road Runner,  developed in 1948 and still going strong. The image of Wile E. Coyote meeting disaster never fails to draw a laugh from audiences, even though in reality the gags would result in severe injuries or death.

Or is it simply the matter that real clowns, from their ridiculous wigs right down to their outsize shoes, are in the same space we inhabit? Depending on our seat in the auditorium or tent we might be able to reach out and touch them--or more terrible for the clown-fearing members of the audience, they could reach out and touch us.

I will probably never understand coulrophobia, but there are some clowns I do fear: the despicable band of fools that Trump claims to want in his cabinet and other high offices.

In his own twisted notion of government there may be a weird logic to Trump's selections. As a transactional, lucre-driven being he of course puts great store in the long-discredited spoils system, whereby government offices are awarded on the basis of party--or in this case cult--loyalty, rather than on merit, talent, or experience.

We all know that Trump craves approval and fawning praise, and the individuals he has selected for the highest offices in government are among the most shameless toadies, stooges, and sycophants in his orbit.

The current roster of clowns is: Scott Bessent, Pam Bondi, Doug Burgum, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Doug Collins, Sean Duffy, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth,  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Howard Lutnick, Linda McMahon, Kristi Noem, John Ratcliffe, Brooke Rollins, Marco Rubio, Scott Turner, Chris Wright, Lee Zeldin.

And who are they?

Stay tuned.

--Diogenes, 11/26/24