Saturday Report 6/7/25 — Are Americans getting over revenge politics?
The Best of the Rest of the News
Special reminder: Ask Thom Anything has been moved back to 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern. Thom will be on MSNBC with Ali Velshi at 9 AM Pacific, noon Eastern.
— Everybody hates both Trump and Musk! A new YouGov survey in the wake of the Trump/Musk pissing contest shows a clear majority of Americans don’t “side with” either of the two billionaires. Fully 52% of the people surveyed picked “neither” when asked who they favored in the Musk vs. Trump feud. Only 28% of respondents said they hope Trump comes out on top, while Musk received a mere 8% (and 11% were not sure if they favored either of them). As I noted in yesterday’s Daily Take, the only reason Trump is president and Musk was able to spend the money to get him to the White House is because five corrupt on-the-take Republicans on the Supreme Court in 2010 decided that unlimited billionaire and corporate money in our elections would be a good thing. John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia sold our nation out for the spiffs they, themselves, were getting from the country’s billionaires and it’ll take a generation for America to recover from this disgusting, stabbed-us-in-the-back Citizens United decision. When Democrats regain power in DC, their first order of business — as they tried to do with the For The People Act that Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema betrayed us all by blocking — must be to overturn Citizens United and rejoin every other advanced democracy in the world in putting limits on big money and dark money in electoral politics.
— There’s a “Dark MAGA/Dark Enlightenment” conspiracy theory going around where Musk destroys Trump and he and his tech bro buddies take over our democracy. I’ve written before about the “Dark Enlightenment” movement that’s all the rage among tech billionaires and followers of Curtis Yarvin. The basic theory is that democracy is “out of date software” that needs to be “rebooted” by replacing our presidency with a CEO-style dictator (Yarvin says we must “get over our dislike of dictators”) drawn from the ranks of tech billionaires. Elon Musk and JD Vance are both apparently proponents of the concept, so the theory going around is that they’re conspiring to get Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, declare Trump incompetent, and remove him from office, putting Vance in charge of the country. Vance will then bring in the tech bros to replace the Cabinet, expand the DOGE project, deconstruct our New Deal/Great Society social safety nets and rule of law, and turn America into an authoritarian state that runs with greater efficiency and productivity. It sounds nuts, but these people are apparently dead serious about it, as David Gardner writes over at Daily Beast. He notes that Musk wears black MAGA hats as a signal to the Dark Enlightenment advocates, and their goal is pretty clear: “Federal employees would be fired in such quantities that the government would no longer be manageable. Elections would be deemed obsolete. Policies would engender fear and distract the population. The Dark MAGA or Dark Enlightenment theory says it is the remit of the tech billionaires to run the world because they are the only ones with the resources and the know-how to fix it.” Will the Musk/Trump falling out speed up this project or slow it down or even kill it? Stay tuned…
— It’s shocking how uninterested the media is in Musk’s claim that Trump’s in the Epstein files. It’s not like there’s a shortage of documentation of Trump’s and Epstein’s longtime friendship and regular partying with teenage girls; Trump biographer Michael Wolff claims he’s seen pictures of Trump with topless youngsters, and one of the girls Epstein allegedly victimized has testified under oath that Trump like to cause the teens pain by pinching or pulling their nipples before or after sex. In the wake of Musk’s accusation, two Democratic members of Congress are demanding Pam Bondi and Kash Patel cough up the Epstein files including any information they may contain about Trump. Given how corrupt these people are, few of us are holding our breath waiting for the day the Trump/Epstein files come to light.
— Will Trump force our military officers to sign an oath swearing allegiance to him above the Constitution or the nation? That’s what multiple senior military officials tell Mikey Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation in a shocking set of letters. Back in the early 1950s President Harry Truman, echoing the anti-communist hysteria that would eventually be turned up to 11 by Senator McCarthy, wanted the military to pledge their allegiance to the country, but that was such a deviation from the Constitutionally-mandated oath to the Constitution itself that he had to back down. This is an entirely different order of thing, though, with people pledging personal loyalty to Trump; it’s the sort of fealty demanded by tinpot dictators and tyrants like Putin, Xi, and Kim. Which, tragically, makes it all the more credible coming from Trump and the incompetent ass-kissers he’s surrounded himself with.
— Trump bows down to Putin again, this time in front of the German Chancellor while in the Oval Office. Trump told Friedrich Merz that he’d talked with Putin the day before and signed off on letting Russia continue to bomb the crap out of Ukraine “for a while.” What’s with this guy? He’ll believe Putin over our own intelligence agencies, and has never, ever, not even once, defied Putin’s demands. Does Putin have videotape or film of him with preteen girls from his days with the beauty contests in Moscow? Has Putin threatened to document how Trump was helping Russian oligarchs launder ill-gotten gains through Trump Tower and other real estate? Does Trump simply want to be Putin? Or build a Trump Tower in Moscow? Why does he put Putin over America and American interest every single time? Inquiring minds want to know.
— Bob Kennedy’s deadly war on science rolls on. His father, Bobby Kennedy, was assassinated 57 years ago this past week and would be, I believe, truly horrified to see the damage his son has done to this nation. Bob isn’t a doctor or scientist; he’s a lawyer and a former drug and sex addict and neither should give him a platform to destroy much of the scientific infrastructure of our nation. Most recently, by delisting the Covid vaccine for all but people over 65 and the immunocompromised, he’s made it so we’ll all have to pay for our vaccinations because they’ll no longer be covered by insurance. This in a nation where 300 people a week are today dying of Covid — the fourth leading cause of death — and thousands more are hospitalized and/or end up disabled with long Covid. Presumably this isn’t a big deal if you’re the morbidly rich scion of a political and economic dynasty, but for average working people and the poor this could be a death sentence.
— As Trump ramps up his war on Blue states, are Americans getting over revenge politics? CNN reports that the Trump administration is looking for large federal grants — think highway money, FEMA, support for the California university system, research grants, etc. — that they can cancel. Their goal is apparently to economically — and thus politically — damage the leadership of Blue states by kneecapping the citizens of those states. This is an extension of the logic of refusing to allow federal tax deductions for more than $10,000 a year in state and local income and property tax deductions, a policy that was explicitly designed to punish people for living in wealthier Blue states. As CNN reports: “California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the Science, Space and Technology Committee, said, ‘Trump is a bully. We’ve now heard from sources that he may be intending to cut grants to California because we didn’t vote for him and we’re Democratically inclined. … I will fight back on this. This will be immediately challenged in court.’ Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another California Democrat, said: ‘Whatever cruel crusade the President may announce against California, we will fight back.’” If Trump succeeds in punishing California the way he’s trying to punish Harvard, will it work? I’m skeptical; it may well backfire. But it’s always difficult to bet against the power of Fox “News” and the rest of the billion-dollar rightwing media machine to keep their viewers/listeners in thrall to neofascist leaders like Trump…
— Geeky Science! Speaking of revenge, a new study finds that revenge can be as addictive as opiates, and that forgiveness can work like detox. Neuroscience reveals that vengeance activates the brain’s reward circuitry — the same regions stimulated by drugs like cocaine or opioids. When we imagine or enact revenge, the caudate nucleus and the ventral striatum flood with dopamine, creating a momentary high. This neurological “rush” makes retaliation feel gratifying, even righteous, which is why vengeance can become a compulsive, self-reinforcing cycle (just ask Trump!). But the satisfaction is fleeting. Like any addictive behavior, it often leaves behind a residue of stress, rumination, and emotional volatility.
In contrast, forgiveness engages the brain’s prefrontal cortex — the seat of reason, empathy, and long-term planning — reducing activity in the amygdala, which governs fear and anger. Letting go of anger via forgiveness calms the nervous system, lowers cortisol levels, and fosters emotional resilience. In essence, forgiveness functions as a neurological detox: it helps us break the addictive loop of resentment and reclaim control over our mental health. While vengeance may feel powerful in the moment, neuroscience makes clear that forgiveness offers the far more enduring reward!
Very interesting content .. JD Vance inparticular .. he is as slimy as they come .. and power hungry ..I believe he is much more dangerous than the orange felon .. !
Follow the money. Follow the drugs. In these cases, the biochemically created drugs. After emergency heart surgery more than three decades ago, ER nurses turned me on to a small book they had published centered around their experiences with patients under high drama/trauma stressors. The drug in question associated with stress and its impacts is nor-epinephrine (NE), the so-called 'fight, freeze, flight' chemistry in the brain. Now any number of dramatic events can trigger this drug. I say drama, because these nurses had discovered that an actual trauma, say an injury or a serious emotional shock, need not be present to induce NE production in the brain and body. This follows from, perhaps, the very first trauma that occurs, as early as fetal or childbirth or infancy events. Once recognized by the brain, dramatic 'shadows' of that trauma can be easily conjured up by events that trigger a memory of the trauma. According to the booklet, this easily becomes a continuous feedback loop, associated with NE. NE is a roller coaster opiate, with a very cyclic pattern in the body, an addiction that demands a constant input of stimuli to 'trigger' NE production. There is a defined 'high' of dopamine satisfaction, a 'win' if you will, that elicits great pleasure. If the 'fight' choice is triggered, and a 'win' ensues, the reward is a re-enforcement of that winning behavior. Cyclically, the NE fades, a depression (need) of sorts sets in, and the now addicted brain actually sets up a doppelganger 'drama' that pushes NE into action, real or imagined. Wash, rinse, repeat. These nurses told me they saw it constantly in patients with chronic heart conditions and other maladies. Now freeze and flight can also be chosen, and the outcomes, if successful, can also trigger a repetition of that same pattern, so if flight is the conditioned response, a person could easily become habituated to demurring, or capitulating or running away from situations. and those outcomes could be undesirable, depending upon circumstances.
As it relates to this megalomania exhibited by stupid bullies in expensive suits, the sordid situation in 'murka that all of us watch, by the hour, has an explanation that reduces the power of money and authority to little more than pathetic drug addiction. Which is why, as we watch and listen to these nitwits, we cannot help but recoil, because all of us are privy to numerous addictions within ourselves or our peer groups. This revelation, years ago, led to me following the advice in this booklet to practice breathing exercises, physical movements, contemplation, meditation, and other behaviors to keep myself from falling prey to this immensely powerful addiction, not always with success, but to at least hear the alarm bells going off, and attempting to get my shit together. Just sayin.'