Trump is Completely Insane

     And the rest of the Republican Party isn't too far behind.

     As of this writing, the federal government will shut down under Trump... again. Because Republicans have recently used spending bills, even he stopgap ones, as tools for leverage, they think they're entitled to literally hold the nation hostage until they get their demands. Of course, tied to the spending bill are unreasonable demands that Democrats simply won't go for. Republicans accuse the Democrats of making similarly unreasonable demands. 

      Desperately trying to drive this point home, Trump today said Democrats want to make everyone transgender through reassignment surgery and were demanding health care for "illegal immigrants". But the culture wars bullshit and finger-pointing are falling apart and poll after poll shows voters will likelier blame Republicans than Democrats for a shutdown.

     Trump actually said Democrats want to “force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors”, which anybody who knows anything knows it illegal. He also claimed Democrats want to give free health care to illegal immigrants, another lie. In fact, Democrats want to restore Medicare cuts, among other things. And the Republicans, as usual, have nothing but lies to counter with.

      Earlier this month, Trump abruptly canceled a meeting with Congressional Democratic leaders, saying there was no use in negotiating with them. Trump relented and agreed to meet with Schumer and Jefferies only after Mike Johnson and John Thune private told Trump that his refusal to meet with them would seriously hamper their bargaining position.

     Then Mike Johnson threw a monkey wrench in the works by adjourning Congress for a week (Just a month after they came back from a month-long vacation), long after the shutdown starts at midnight tonight (while also refusing to swear in newly-elected Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva, largely to deny her the chance to sign the bipartisan discharge petition related to the release of the Epstein files. Johnson could've sworn her in during a pro forma session- he's done it before for Republicans- but chose not to this time because, you know, Democrat).

      Hakeem Jeffries pegged it when he said, “They’re not even pretending as if they want to find common ground.”

      In every government shutdown going to back to at least 2013, Republican brought it about. They love getting their own free health care and the power that elected office gives them but otherwise, they loathe the very idea of government. They don't give a shit if the government shuts down as long as they get to keep drawing their paychecks.

     But in his poo-flinging press conference in the Oval Office today, Trump let slip something that ought to be making headlines- He said the shutdown will affect only Democrats, that they're the only ones who will get laid off. Another fact check- government shutdowns don't result in layoffs but unpaid furloughs and they certainly don't discriminate against one party or another.

     Trump is completely demented and no one is calling attention to the fact that the country is barreling toward the edge of a mile-high cliff because Trump is essentially a meth-addled chimp behind the wheel of a Mack truck. And that also should be making headlines.