Category: [Politics]

The week in Mushroom Cock

So Trump posted this fucking obscenity last week, and the fact that it’s AI is actually the least bad thing about it. Patton, Trump, MacArthur? Jesus FUCK, man, you are unworthy to breathe the same atmosphere as those other two. They actually showed up to fight wars and didn’t try to buy their way out of serving. They didn’t fall asleep and shit their pants in the middle of the fighting like you would’ve done. They would have absolutely beaten the shit out of you for comparing yourself to them. Indeed, as Snopes observes, you did more than just that:

Additionally, the image incorrectly showed Patton and MacArthur with two general’s stars. Patton was a four-star general and MacArthur was a five-star general. The fake image depicts Trump as a four-star general, like Patton. In reality, though Trump is commander in chief of the military as president, that title is civilian and does not grant the holder general’s stars.

This is stolen valour (having had friends and relatives who’ve served in the past, that’s something I hate and take seriously) and the grossest insult I can imagine to every current or past serving member of the US military, all of whom should refuse to take any orders from him. But then I saw a variant this evening:

“Trump’s tweet showing “Patton, Trump, MacArthur” with Trump replaced with an airport catering cart”, quoth the alt text. This came via Greg Gbur on Bluesky, and it was… confusing. I felt there was a joke here, but damned if I was getting it. So I just thought “eh” and kept scrolling.

When suddenly…

…it made sense.

Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey to Britain last month when the White House said he was flying aboard ⁠Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse – prompted by an Iranian assassination threat – that involved hiding the president in an airport catering container, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times.
The operation took place when Trump was in Ankara for a Nato summit with world leaders, according to the Post. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post. […]
Trump’s actual location was concealed from journalists and some White House staff. A US official told the Post that a credible threat to Trump involving Iran set the “deception operation” in motion.

…How BIG was this catering cart, though? Cos Trump is not a small man, and the aisles on planes are narrow so the carts can’t be too big… Anyway, as Mr Boudreau above notes, this news has indeed made quite a few people angry, cos it basically means Trump was leaving the White House press corps as potential targets (assuming the threat was real and not just something contrived to make Mushroom Cock feel important), but as the Guardian article also notes, this isn’t the first time this has happened, and frankly, the vision of the successor of Patton and MacArthur sneaking away is… kind of worth it. If that picture was already inherently preposterous, the reality just made it even more so.

EDIT (the following night): Just saw this interesting point being made, it’s almost like the “credible threat” story was bullshit or something:

Measles is disappointed in you, Robert

RFK Jr tells US families to vaccinate children against measles amid outbreak

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, on Sunday told American parents that they should get their children vaccinated against measles, as the surge in infections has reached numbers not seen in the past 35 years.
Kennedy, a leading vaccination skeptic who has spent years amplifying misinformation about vaccines, including the shot that protects against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), made his call in the course of a contentious interview with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning.
His remark came as the incidence of measles crossed a milestone – the US has now officially recorded 2,371 confirmed infections so far this year, surpassing the total tally in 2025 of 2,289.
Taken together, the past two years have seen more measles infections in the US than the rest of the 21st century combined. The last time a greater number of measles cases were recorded in a single year was in 1991. […]
Kennedy continues to shrug off criticism that his work as a prominent vaccine skeptic, both before and after he entered the Trump administration, has exacerbated the problem. Asked whether he took any responsibility for the measles surge, he said: “Absolutely not.”

Of course not, and after he’d grudgingly said this pro-vaccine thing, he then reverted to form:

Kennedy used the CNN exchange to spread further misinformation about other aspects of public health. He claimed that both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that is a major cause of infant mortality and Lyme disease were caused by manipulation of germs in laboratories.
The suggestion has been contradicted by decades of scientific evidence that suggest they both have natural roots. RSV was initially identified in the 1950s, two decades before such experimentation, known as “gain-of-function” research, started.
During the interview, Kennedy repeated unfounded claims that there was a link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism, and poured doubt on the efficacy of vaccines to protect children against Covid-19.

In other words, lying as per usual. But he’s been caught on video saying that parents should in fact get their kids jabbed, and that’s a weapon the Democrats need to hammer him with the next time he goes off on a lying spree like this.

Fair comment, really

Kash Patel Loses Lawsuit Against Man Who Called Him “Googly-Eyed” Chud

A federal judge Tuesday tossed FBI Director Kash Patel’s $10 million lawsuit against a blogger who called him a “googly-eyed Kremlin bitch.”
In his final order, Nevada Chief District Judge Andrew Gordon dismissed Patel’s lawsuit against Jim Stewartson, finding that he did not have “personal jurisdiction” over the internet commentator.
Gordon’s order put an end to a legal saga that began long before Patel was ever made director of the FBI.
In June 2023, Patel filed a complaint that Stewartson was smearing him online by calling him a “blatantly incompetent chud” and a “Kremlin asset” who plotted to “overthrow the government” on January 6, 2021.
Initially, Stewartson didn’t respond to the lawsuit, which led to Patel winning a $250,000 default judgment in August 2025. Stewartson challenged the default judgment on the grounds that he had no meaningful ties to Nevada, where the case was filed, and declared that Patel was a “googly-eyed Kremlin bitch” and, again, a “chud.”

I suspect that Stewartson should’ve just fought the case first time round rather than give Patel the victory, but then we would’ve missed this delightful follow-up. And let’s face it:

If you don’t want to be called “googly-eyed”, don’t look like this in your OFFICIAL PORTRAIT. Honestly.

Viva España

The World Cup is finally over, with Spain having dispatched Argentina in extra time… the latter were unimpressed by this, which led to a bit of biff after the whistle blew:

However, once trophy time came around, everyone remembered who the real villain is:

Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino were booed as they took to the field for the presentation ceremony before the US president attempted to gatecrash Spain’s victory party.
Trump arrived at the stadium on Marine One, with the president’s helicopter first flying over the stadium about 45 minutes before kick-off. He sat in a glassed-in section of luxury seats for the match, along with Infantino. Other dignitaries and former players sat nearby, including Spain’s king, Felipe VI, Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, and Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump was briefly shown on the video screens at the stadium after the US national anthem was played. There were scattered boos from some in the crowd but nothing like the hostile reception he has received at other sporting events during his presidency. However, when the US president and Infantino came on to the field for the presentation after Spain clinched victory, boos rang out around the stadium. The White House pool report said that ambient crowd noise, which had been sitting at approximately 78 decibels before their introduction, rose to 84 decibels when Trump entered the field.
Then, after Trump presented Spain with the World Cup trophy, he attempted to stand with the team at the side of the podium as they celebrated before Infantino quietly ushered him away.

As someone I saw noted, this must’ve been galling for Trump, cos the latter is… not exactly well disposed towards Spain…

…Because Spain are as tired of his shit as the rest of us, and were understandably unwilling to get involved in his Iran bullshit, so it must’ve been slightly uncomfortable for him to have to present the trophy to Spain in the presence of the king and the Spanish PM. Mark Carney’s presence was probably a bit bothersome for him too, given that Canada has lately been cursed with wildfires that have affected the US too and Trump’s response to that has been to blame Carney for not controling them and threatening a new 25% tariff. But I still think the Spain victory would’ve been more infuriating. At least he seems to have stayed awake for the event…

Glasgow a-go-go?

I found myself reminded of the debacle of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, said debacle being that the government of Victoria won them then decided they couldn’t afford them. This got me wondering what if anything actually became of the ’26 Comm Games… and, somewhat to my surprise, I’ve discovered Glasgow took up the baton two years ago (albeit they’re running it as a very slimmed-down operation) despite the British government saying two years there would be no British bailout for the Games.. And, even more surprisingly, it actually kicks off in five days. I haven’t heard a single fucking thing about it until now, I can only assume that the budgetary savings on this edition have extended to advertising it too… I mean, I know, it’s the Comm Games, it’s the “Aldi Olympics”, no one really wanted to host it to begin with, and there’s also been the World Cup to distract people in recent weeks. Still, I suppose at least the Games themselves are safe for now (there’s already a host picked for 2030), and if nothing else it’s an international sporting event Mushroom Cock can’t interfere with…

All in the family

Darline Graham, sister of Lindsey Graham, sworn in to fulfill his Senate term

Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to temporarily fill his Senate seat on Tuesday, just three days after his sudden death.
Graham was appointed by Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, to fill the remainder of her brother’s current term.
Graham arrived in the Senate chamber accompanied by Republican senators Tim Scott of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama. Senator Chuck Grassley administered the oath of office – Darline placed her hand on a bible and pledged to “support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. When she finished, the chamber broke into extended applause.

An even more unexpected twist

Oh.

The US senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about the Kentucky Republican’s condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.
McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he has undergone a battery of tests as doctors try to determine what led to his fall. He explained the long silence about his condition by saying that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older”.
“Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it,” he said.
McConnell said he is now in a rehabilitation center and will not be returning to the Senate “quite yet”. He said he continues to work with his staff on Senate business in the meantime.
The statement included a smiling picture of McConnell with his wife, Elaine Chao, a tacit response to speculation online that he had died or was incapacitated. McConnell held a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section in his hand. […]
Before McConnell’s office released his statement, one of his colleagues, the Democratic senator Cory Booker, offered his “thoughts and prayers” to the former Republican majority leader, but added: “This is just unfortunately an issue of politics in general: people don’t know when to gracefully step aside.”

100%. Also, MITCH, you’re a senator. You have constituents, and obligations to them. They deserve to know whether or not you’re able to do your job of representing them; fuck, they deserved to know whether you were even alive or not. There was nothing stopping you from doing that little, you didn’t even need to tell people what was wrong. Oh, old people get embarrassed about getting old and things going wrong with them? Fuck off. That happens to old people. We know that and we understand that. We won’t think any less of you just for getting old, not when there are so many other reasons to think less of you. Gracefully step aside while you still can.

An unexpected twist

American politics has been a bit weird of late, or at any rate weirder than usual:

Is Mitch McConnell dead?
This shouldn’t be a difficult question to answer. The response is either “yes”, “no” or something along the lines of “he’s on life support but appears to be brain dead”.
However, while it may be a straightforward question, nobody close to the Kentucky senator seems keen on delivering a clear answer. On 14 June, the 84-year-old senator was hospitalized for a medical event. According to a new video and eyewitness account, McConnell was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher after a possible cardiac arrest at his home. Almost a month later, McConnell’s condition is shrouded in mystery and the source of much speculation.
The mystery deepened this week when Trump ally and far-right influencer Laura Loomer made the explosive claim on Twiter/X that McConnell is “officially brain dead”. Desiree Townsend, an independent journalist who first reported that emergency services had been called to a house linked to McConnell, said she had “heard the same thing from my sources for days”. Townsend added that she was camped out at the hospital waiting for McConnell to be taken off life support.
A number of Republicans have rushed to dispute Loomer and Townsend’s allegations. On Tuesday, majority leader John Thune’s representative claimed he’d spoken to Mitch the previous day and “[t]hey had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security”. Senate Republican whip John Barrasso and political commentator Scott Jennings have also said they had 20-minute phone calls with McConnell on important topics.
Has McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, also had a nice 20-minute chat with her husband recently? That’s unclear. Chao left for China two days before McConnell was hospitalized and didn’t exactly rush back to his bedside to feed him grapes and offer moral support. In a statement issued on Tuesday, she said: “The Senator’s health did not warrant an immediate return to the US.” […]
Why isn’t McConnell’s team being more transparent? One hypothesis is that the silence is strategic because Republicans don’t want to risk a special election. McConnell is retiring from the Senate and his successor will be decided in a November election between Republican congressman Andy Barr and Democrat Charles Booker – with Barr widely favoured to win the seat. If it turns out that McConnell is unfit for office, Kentucky law states that there would have to be a special election to fill the rest of his term. This would be risky for Republicans because of how unpredictable special elections are. So, the thinking goes, they’d prefer to wait out the election clock.

This peculiar situation just got further complicated by Mitch’s fellow senator Lindsey Graham:

Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator and key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said on Sunday. He had just turned 71.
Graham’s abrupt death will send shock waves through Washington and the Republican party. He had served in the Senate since 2003, representing South Carolina, and was running for re-election in November.
“On the evening of Saturday 11 July, US senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.” […]
He briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and was initially a sharp critic of Trump, then the insurgent frontrunner. He condemned Trump as a “jackass”, “a race-baiting bigot” and “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party”, memorably warning on Twitter: “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed … and we will deserve it.” Trump, in turn, dismissed Graham as an “idiot” and a “lightweight”.
But the relationship was transformed after Trump entered the White House and Graham became one of the president’s closest confidants. He emerged as a key adviser on foreign policy, particularly Iran and Russia. He also rallied the defence of Trump’s embattled nominee for the supreme court, Brett Kavanaugh, in 2018.
Graham wobbled only after Trump’s supporters staged an insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an effort to overturn his election defeat. The senator declared: “Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey – I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president but today, first thing you’ll see. All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
His rebellion did not last, however, and he refused to vote to convict Trump at the subsequent impeachment trial. He was again quick to endorse Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

So there you go, two of the worst individuals in TrumpCorp, one’s dead of something mysterious and the other may as well be if he isn’t already. I feel like they were taken by surprise with Graham’s death, too sudden and unexpected to cover up in the same way, which I suspect they would’ve also tried to do. But Graham’s passing will be less complicated than whatever’s wrong with McConnell, cos S. Carolina law says the state governor can just replace the former with a new senator; conversely, Kentucky’s governor can’t do any such thing, which is why they need the special election the Republicans are apparently afraid of losing (or indeed winning if Thomas Massie should stand, cos he’s not an automatic Trump yes-man, particularly over the Epstein files, and they don’t want that).

But that election must be held by a certain day, and there is a theory that the regime is holding off confirming Mitch’s passing until after that date so they don’t have to have it. And we’re talking about the Mushroom Cock regime here, so this sort of cynicism on their part seems perfectly believable. In the meantime, Congress is about to come back and I fear not only that Mitch will continue to be conspicuous by his absence, but the Democrats will just as conspicuously fail to capitalise on it too… still, I’ll give Lindsey Graham this much: him dying was a somewhat extreme way to briefly distract people from McConnell’s probable passing, but it’s been effective…

Orange card!

Haven’t written about the World Cup cos it hasn’t particularly interested me, by virtue of it being a sporting event, and despite some shenanigans before the tournament, the whole thing does seem to have gone off without too much fuss after all the grumbling before it. And then Mushroom Cock interfered.

President Donald Trump has confirmed he asked Fifa to review United States striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension at the World Cup.
Balogun, 25, was set to miss his side’s last-16 tie against Belgium after being shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round.
But Fifa made the shock decision to suspend the automatic one-match ban for 12 months, leading to widespread criticism, including from Uefa, Belgium and England boss Thomas Tuchel. […]
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump said he had asked Fifa to review the decision because he “didn’t think it was a foul”.
He confirmed he had spoken to Fifa president Gianni Infantino but said “all” he did was ask for a review and added he did not tell the Swiss he had to suspend Balogun’s ban.
Trump added: “I think it [the suspension] would have left a big stain. I can’t tell them what to do. I don’t believe they made the decision; I believe it was the commission that made the decision. And it was the right decision.”

Apparently the only other time anything like this has happened at the World Cup was in 1962, and that was also considered political interference, so it’s not unprecedented but rare enough that it’s stunned people this time round, especially given how open Trump was about it. Pretty much everyone seems to acknowledge Balogun’s foul against the Bosnian bloke was an accident rather malicious, but that sort of thing still needs to be dealt with per the rules… except when you’re Trump, of course. And the latter didn’t just “ask” for the review; he may not have ordered it outright, but I’ve no doubt Fifa ddn’t make this move without some incentive to do so. I mean, this bullshit was enough for SEPP FUCKING BLATTER to come out and snipe at Fifa for going too far with the corruption thing, so…

The Belgian football association was kind of livid, since the Belgiam team were next in line to play the US, but Fifa essentially told them to go fuck themselves. So the Belgian players responded in the best way we could have hoped for: by thumping the US team 4-1:

“A lot has happened off the pitch over the last two days,”said Belgium and Rangers midfielder Raskin.
“There was a sense of injustice within the squad, and we were determined to respond on the field.”
Belgium captain Youri Tielemans insisted the affair had boosted his side.
“We told ourselves we had to respond on the pitch. That’s what we did,” he said.
After Belgium scored their fourth goal several of their players were pictured dancing in a style similar to the ‘Trump dance’ – where he rocks his hips and slowly pumps his arms – which gained notoriety during the 2024 US presidential campaign. […]
Iran also took a swipe at the US and the Balogun incident, posting a screenshot of their draw with Belgium beside the US’s heavy defeat on their official website.
The screenshot was accompanied by the message: “Now the whole world is dancing for the humiliating defeat of politics against football”.

The US is now out of its own tournament, but that‘ll hurt more than anything. Apparently Balogun met with the Belgians afterwards and everyone was cool, and I suppose honour has been duly satisfied for now. Though I still expect Fifa to give Trump some sort of prize at the end as compensation…