A New Season Is Upon Us!
It’s a new season on The Show! And boy, you’ll be glued to the edge of your seat to see what happens! Riots and mayhem, invasion and threats of military force, mania in the markets, death… and more!
Starting Out Domestically
We’ve got domestic violence on the streets, triggered by military-style tactics of ICE. In Minnesota, ICE killed two people in separate incidents. Neither of which, from video footage, showed a clear cut need for the shootings. The ICE agents are decked out in full-out military gear and fully armed. The killings occurred in midst of protests against the aggressive tactics of the agency. As a side note, even as The Show encompasses the entire population of America, both as audience and participant (whether you know it or not, or want it or not, there is no choice), not everyone is passively taking in the scenes that might be confused as occurring in another country that is under some form of martial law.
Also on the domestic front, the administration’s weaponizing various federal agencies includes the DOJ. The indictments against Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and former FBI director James Comey appear to be forms of political attack for pissing off the OG (Orange Guy). In the former case, it appears the OG wants to oust Powell in favor of someone more in line with the OG’s agenda – with lowering interest rates at the top of the list. (No matter the only rates the Fed directly controls are short term, and basically do nothing for mortgage or credit card rates.) Behind the scenes, the OG is scrambling to keep up the illusion (mirage) that the economy is going on all cylinders, and the thinking is cutting rates will be instrumental in achieving this goal.
Venezuela
On the 3rd of January, the US military carried out “Operation Absolute Resolve.” (Resolve to absolutely give the finger to the rest of the world and any sense of international law?) Ostensibly this was done in response to alleged narco-terrorism activities on the part of the government. Interesting that references to oil kept, and keep, cropping up. No way that getting access to their oil – Venezuela is said to have the world’s largest proven reserves, more than the Gulf States or the United States – was actually the prime objective all along. No way!
Before this military operation, there were incidents in the ocean off the coast with our navy blowing up small boats said to be used by drug traffickers (no real proof given). Footage was released like something out a video game (reinforcing the surreal nature of the entire affair). It might as well as been from a video game. Other than references to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism the public (audience for The Show) was told nothing concrete. Congress did… nothing. And so we’re left with some footage (which includes Maduro and wife being led to captivity… on American soil). Footage, by the way, that shows occupants of a boat that had been targeted flailing in the water, only to be killed in a follow-on strike (more death for the reality show audience). Who cares about pesky international norms and laws! Fuck the world: we’re America! And we can do whatever the fuck we want. Speaking of which, next in the empire’s crosshairs is Greenland!
Greenland
The dust had hardly settled… and the OG reiterated his demand that Greenland be handed over to the United States. Something about security. This time, he escalated the rhetoric. Most importantly, for a time he did not rule out the use of military force to accomplish this goal (taking the territory the “hard way”). He backtracked, but this was definitely a WTF moment. Greenland is semi-autonomous but has been under Danish control for several centuries. Denmark is also a member of NATO. European (and those in Greenland) leaders and the population were in disbelief, angry and dismayed.
And then followed the tariff threats. Draconian tariffs for European countries who voiced opposition. Massive tariffs on top of what is already in place. To date, nothing has been done in this regard. But stay tuned! Especially as there is now increased NATO military activity in Greenland.
There is some logic in wanting to take control. Greenland is believed to be rich in various resources, such as oil and gas and rare earth minerals – the latter important for high-tech electronics and batteries (and for now constitutes dependence on China). The territory will have more strategic value in the future as the Arctic continues to warm and more shipping can take place. But still…
Once again the dust has settled, but the fact the OG threatened to use military force remains. This story line remains active, even if the bulk of the American public and MSM have lost interest and gone on to other things – like the Super Brawl!
Commercial Break
Video clips of Americans doing awesome things! Sports highlights. Beaming faces of regular people, gosh-darn glad to be living in the greatest nation on Earth. Smarmy celebrity faces and poses (visages so perfect they could have been created by AI).
Clips of OG in settings like factories, touting how f – g great everything is. And how he’s turning the page from the dark times of previous presidents. We’re Great Again!
Also (but yes this is now in the past now that the Super Brawl has come and gone) ads for all sorts of junk food and services to send fast-food favorites to your front door, so you hardly have to get off the sofa. Oh, and sports betting! On your phone! How can life get more awesome! Of course, missing is the personal robot that would take the front door delivery and hand it to you – so you wouldn’t have to even get off the sofa! Just wait – it’s coming!
We’re all getting filthy rich!
Would you look at the numbers on the screens, and the lines on the graphs! As stocks continue to surge higher “Investors” are jumping up from their seats to cheer the markets on! There are some side dramas such as for bitcoin, gold, and the dollar (hmm, bitcoin getting hammered, gold and silver blasting off), but the main action is the stock market, which except for a few stumbles here and there just keeps on soaring (well, for the most part).
It’s a little confusing, though. We also see numbers pertaining to the continuing increase in debt – government, consumer, corporate – and on a concerning scale. Delinquencies are increasing for credit card debt and auto loans. And student loan debt. In some areas foreclosures ticking up. Retail sales figures have just been released for December – the height of the holiday season – and we learned sales were flat. Given that the figures were nominal, if inflation is taken into account sales were negative. Or how about the concerning number of corporate bankruptcies, which… Okay, enough of all that, right?
Then there is the labor market. Cheerleaders take comfort that the unemployment rate is still relatively low and new unemployment claims still not that high (historically speaking). No matter the crapload of layoff announcements (and there were a very large number for January), or the persistent level of continuing claims. Or the substantial decline in job openings as captured by the JOLTS report (via BLS). But then, just in the nick of time:
This just in! The BLS just released the job report for January and… the headline job number blew past expectations! Wow, things not so bad after all! Of course, we don’t want to dig into the report to be certain of that jubilation. For example, in that report there were revisions to previous months. And in fact, for all of 2025 it appears only 181,000 jobs were added. Hmm. But for sure things are going to turn around and that 131,000 number for January is proof (we’ll disregard that the number is “seasonally adjusted,” hence, not a raw number, plus we can be sure – for sure! – it won’t be revised down, as with the previous months…).
Also to consider (to help turn things around) is that the Big [Stupid] Bill will be kicking in and give tons of money to Americans that would otherwise go to pesky taxes! (or at least the wealthiest ones) (and who cares about the deficit that is sure to rise, right?)
No matter, we quickly switch back to the stock market. Where, generally speaking, the markets continue to reach new record highs. Much of it involves big tech, which in turn is based on various AI-related initiatives. Not least being massive spending on infrastructure, which includes building of massive data centers. Again, while all this “wealth” is being created let’s not look too hard as to what is going on. Such as the dubious nature of some of the overblown claims, or the huge amount of debt that is involved.
And we’ll not dwell on the fact that only a small group really is reaping benefits from the market action. But – according the Cheerleaders – the market is a proxy not just for the economy but the entire nation. So stop griping and bask in glory of America as a money machine… And to help us move on from anything confusing or that acts to downplay any great news, we’re all psyched for the Super Brawl, right?
Super Brawl (Bowl) LX
It’s another blockbuster viewing event!
A celebration of excess – isn’t that what America is all about?
What better way to squelch contention and griping: we have that yearly spectacle of burly warriors smashing into each other… interspersed with clever advertisement. And a half time show by some major Act (this time around, one that was a subtle jab at the OG). And don’t forget how we’re treated to an awesome display of the Empire’s might with flyover of high-tech death machines.
Speaking of the ads, wasn’t it fascinating to see all the AI-related commercials? It was all so exciting and comforting. For sure we can all relax and dismiss worries about jobs – and we’re talking about high salary white collar work – which some are warning could be on the chopping block. Maybe there is some cause for concern… but we’re being readied for a fantastic future!. One in which we all sure to benefit from – guaranteed! (Just don’t look closely at the AI cheerleaders’ pockets – those slips of paper are stock options that they absolutely deserve.)
And returning to excess, it is estimated that legal betting went as high as $1.76 billion, a substantial increase from 2025. And why not? What else are Americans going to do with all that excess of wealth?
And so the current episode ends on a triumphant note: we are the envy of the world! The Super Brawl was a performance in itself – in which the entire world watched, trembling in awe. Look upon us, and despair!
Coming Next
We can’t wait to get further antics of the OG, right? What next? The AI rendition of the Obamas as monkeys in the jungle is just a warm up act. Who else will he insult in front of cameras? Or indict?
Oh, here’s some drama: how is he going to wriggle free from the evidence of the Epstein files that show he was pretty tight with Epstein? We can be sure he’ll find a way.
Like coming up with major distractions in which any scandal disappears from view.
Or how about in some way messing with the upcoming midterm elections?
And now a word from our sponsors…