SUICIDE BY BOOMERANG – Trump’s Ultimate Comeuppance

It's Donald Trump’s stock in trade: so thoroughly inundate his perceived enemies with lies, lawlessness and outrageous behavior that it confuses and exhausts us.

It’s the same tactic starlings use to outwit falcons. They form a murmuration, a swirling, undulating mass that confronts the preda-
tor with one huge, impenetrable target instead of individual victims.

Herring do it too. The best a sailfish or marlin can do is pick off a few outliers around the edges of the shoal.

PHOTO: Nick Dunlop

In Trump’s case, somewhere in the swarm fly his impeachable crimes. And we (the Resistance, the remaining honorable members of Congress, and the still-credible media) are the falcon. 

POLITICAL JUJITSU 
Well, it dawns on me that this can work both ways. What if we were to counter the Crimbecile’s deluge with our own deluge? You know, turn the tables on him. A swarm of falcons to his swarm of lying starlings.

This isn’t something just any Joe Blow from Kokomo can pull off. TinyHands, this monumentally insecure little man, can ignore jabs from people like us with no power or fame, but he’s shown us consistently that he can’t shake off a put-down by someone rich or famous. 

PHOTO: Wall Street Journal

This is how California Governor Gavin Newsom has so clever-
ly gotten under that flabby orange skin. Google’s AI overview says, “Newsom and his office have purposefully adopted Trump's all-caps, aggressive social media style to troll the former president and get his attention. This mimicry is a form 
of political jujitsu that uses Trump's own tactics against him.”

    Not even Faux News will be able 
    to resist these trash-taunts.

TAKING THE BAIT
What if we—I guess it would have to be the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—identify and recruit other notables like Newsom with enough visibility to command Trump’s attention, and have them take up the same tactics? Troll him. Make absurd accusations. Call him names. Question his manhood. Blame him for dirty tricks right before we use them on him. 

And always, always, meet his objections just like he does ours: by doubling down. 

Now if the attacks were to come from just a bunch of everyday liberal elites—you know, teachers, scientists, theologians…decent, thinking, caring Americans, they’d just get tossed into the virtual wastebasket Trumpublican State Media use for stuff they don’t like. But not even Faux News could resist these trash-taunts. 

What a story! Not just iconic newsmakers-turned-raptors biting at Orange Julius Caesar’s lily-white blubber-butt, but the small-cap president totally taking the bait and throwing a series of ever-more-deranged (and entertaining) tantrums. 

PHOTO: Governor Newsom Press Office

PHOTO: Wikipedia

There’s no shortage of candidates to take up the troll—folks who’ve already provoked Trump’s rage. Rosie O’Donnell, Bruce Springsteen, Robert De Niro, Stephen Colbert…oh, and one who, with a little grooming, might undo the Crimbecile like no other: Elon Musk.

Sometimes we have to nearly 
kill the patient to save them.

Will it work? We know this man; he can no more resist well-placed ridicule than he can flattery. It’s a weakness even our country’s worst enemies learned long ago how to exploit.

Trump’s reckless, undisciplined rants are already troubling some of his supporters. He’s starting to pick up some of the signs that he and his improbable power trip have peaked. So this new, right-back-atcha trick is sure to catch fire deep in the void that is his soul. The rage will eventually consume him. 

At long last, this vulgar charlatan, the con man of our age, will fall. Not to rejection by his party, not to impeachment, but to his very own vileness turned against him.

PHOTO: David Becker / Reuters

                      
I know. Intelligent, virtuous people might find this tactic incredibly hard to pull off. It’s anathema to us, something that, for very good reasons, doesn’t come naturally. Well, neither does zapping ourselves with deadly radiation. But hey, when it’s cancer, we’ve learned that sometimes we have to nearly kill the patient to save them.

So… think about it. Who would you include in the dream team to pull off the backatcha maneuver? C’mon, think outside the box. Jimmy Kimmel? Hillary Clinton? Michael Moore? Pope Leo?…ooh, ooh, I know someone who might rattle him more than anyone: a Joe Biden doppelgänger! 

What do you think? Folks in this little slice of the Resistance would love to hear from you!

SUICIDE BY BOOMERANG – Trump’s Ultimate Comeuppance

Donald Trump’s stock in trade is to so thoroughly inundate his perceived enemies with outrageousness that it confuses and exhausts us.

It reminds me of a tactic starlings use. To outwit hawks and falcons they form a murmuration, a swirling, undulating mass that confronts the predator not with individual victims, but with one huge, seemingly impenetrable target.

PHOTO: Nick Dunlop

In Trump’s case, somewhere in the swarm fly his impeachable crimes. And we (the Resistance, the remaining honorable members of Congress, and the still-credible media) are the falcon, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of wrongdoing.

Well, it dawns on me that this can work both ways. What if we were to counter the Crimbecile’s deluge of absurdity with our own deluge? You know, turn the tables on him. A swarm of falcons to his swarm of starlings, if you will.

                  We know this man; he can no more resist 
                  well-placed ridicule than he can flattery.

Now this isn’t something just any Joe Blow from Kokomo can pull off. TinyHands, a monumentally insecure little man, can ignore jabs from people with no power or renown, but he simply can’t shake off a put-down by someone rich or famous. 

PHOTO: CBS News

This is how California Governor Gavin Newsom has so cleverly gotten under the guy’s flabby orange skin. Google’s 
AI overview says, “Newsom and his office have purposefully adopted Trump's all-caps, aggressive social media style to 
troll the former president and get his attention. This mimicry 
is a form of political jujitsu that uses Trump's own tactics against him.”

What if we—I guess it would have to be the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—identify and recruit other lead-
ers like Newsom with enough visibility to command Trump’s attention, and have them take up the same tactics? Troll him. Make absurd accusations. Call him names. Question his manhood. Blame him for dirty tricks right before we use them on him. And lay it on so thick that, despite his all-hours rants on X, despite his phalanx of lawyers, there’s no one person to target; all he sees is a murmuration of ridicule.
 

ILLUSTRATION: MSN

PHOTO: Walter Isaacson

There’s no shortage of candidates to take up the troll—folks who’ve already provoked Trump’s rage. Rosie O’Donnell, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro, Jimmy Kimmel…oh, and one who, with a little grooming, could really undo the Crimbecile: Elon Musk.

Will it work? We know this man; he can no more resist well-placed taunting than he can flattery—even, by the way, from our country’s worst enemies, using him to help ply their own evils.

Trump’s reckless, undisciplined rants are already starting to trouble some of his supporters. He’s picking up some of the signs that he and his improbable power trip have peaked. Oh...and then there are the Epstein files.

PHOTO: Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

He’s become so desperate to conceal them that he’ll do anything to distract us. Order U.S. citizens abused and killed in the streets for simply witnessing his brutal immigration crackdown. Defy Congress to start multiple wars around the world. Float the prospect of making himself President For Life.

All to distract us from the lethal—to him—trove of evidence showing he’s raped young girls.

That fact has left him as vulnerable as he’s ever been in his hyper-privileged little life. Along with the E. files, this new, right-back-atcha trick is going to do to him what he’s done to all those young women. I dream of it all catching fire deep in the void where most folks have a soul. He'll implode.

At long last, this vulgar charlatan, the con man of our age, will fall. Not to rejection by his party, not to impeachment, but to his very own vileness turned against him.

OUTRAGE TO ACTION – Ten Acts of Resistance to the Dismantling of Democracy

Are you feeling as frustrated and powerless as I am over the absurdity, the absolute outrage, of another Donald Trump presidency? Below are ten simple acts of resistance you can use to turn that outrage to action against the soon-to be loose-cannon, megalomaniacal, reality-star-turned-president and his loyalist stooges.

Outrage, while understandable, will not be productive. In fact, it's exactly the response the MAGAts love to see: those liberal elites suffering the same grievance they've had to endure for the past four years without their God-given goon in White House giving voice to their worst instincts. Closing the borders, dismantling democratic institutions, encouraging our enemies, banning gays and transsexuals, and making fourteen-year-old rape victims have babies.

Don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of bullshit spewing from the mouths of this pathological liar and his toadies. It's all part of the M.O. his father and other mentors of ruthlessness taught him since about the time he could walk. 

                We must refuse the ruse.

It's like one of those amazing swarms of starlings, called murmurations. The birds, when threatened by a falcon or hawk, gather into huge, undulating clouds so the predator, seeing only that overwhelming shape, can't focus on any one individual.

PHOTO: Australian Geographic

This is exactly what Trump and other seasoned con men do with their lies and outrageous behavior. They inundate us with so much bullshit that we lose focus. There's even a name for it: the Gish Gallop.*

As my good friend Todd suggests, though, we must refuse the ruse. Hard as it is, we must choose one issue and concentrate our defiance—our volunteering, our marching, our calls and letter-writing, our creativity and our financial support—on that target. And leave the rest of it for another time.

So, with that discipline in mind, here, ranging from the purely symbolic to nuts and bolts, are some specific tactics for The Resistance:

1. Refuse to capitalize the title of president in front of the man’s name. A small gesture of defiance.

2. Write or call your congressional representatives—whichever side of the aisle they call home—and call out Trump’s self-serving, fear-mongering policies for the affront they are to the time-honored American Values you believe in, and for which so many of our countrymen have fought and died.

         The UnT takes the faux tycoon's precious brand
         and turns it on its head.

3. Get out and make a statement with your presence. Make a sign and stand on a busy street corner or overpass. (Recruit others to join you.) Attend one of the inauguration day (and next-day) marches—in Washington DC or one of many other cities throughout the U.S. and around the world.

4. Display the UnT (⊥), the new symbol of The Resistance—a design that takes the faux tycoon's precious brand and turns it on its head.
Enlarge the image below to print out your own simple signs. Take it to a printer for bumper stickers, lawn signs. protest placards or t-shirts, and then hand them out to friends. Or make your own simple flag or banner with paint, markers, appliques or even duct tape—with the big, bold, upside-down “T” on it.**
Don't forget to take photos of your displays and post them on social media!

5. Hold the media's feet to the fire. Follow daily news reports of Trump’s outrageous decisions, actions and comments. (Choose sources known for some degree of journalistic integrity.) Then call them out for any editorial decisions that fall for the man's well-documented lying and media manipulation. Or for well-intentioned efforts by some to normalize or "sane-wash" his irrational words and deeds.

Home Depot – big Trump donor

6. Put your money where your mouth is—by donating or volunteering with Planned Parenthood, an environmental protection group, a refugee aid program or any organization you believe in which Trump has threatened to gut.
Or don’t put your money where his mouth is, by boycotting Trump-backing businesses and sponsors of his media content. There’s even an App for that.

 Pray that this embarrassment to our great nation will soon be brought down—as have so many tyrants before him—by his own excesses.

7. Sound off through whatever means at your disposal—conversations, social media, blogs, etc. Keep in mind my admonition not to be distracted by the sheer volume of Trump's bullshit, and pick one or two especially egregious offenses—for example, his refusal to release his tax returns or school academic records—and go for depth and repetition rather than breadth.) Use the #UnT (see tip 4 above), or #UnTSymbolOfTheResistance hashtags.

8. Double down on kindness. Keep greeting folks you pass on the street. Keep looking for ways to lend a hand...or just a smile. Not just to those who look like you, but to everyone. Think of each smile, each cheerful word, each act of generosity as your personal declaration of defiance against the divisiveness that defines Trump's misguided empire.

9. Add a mention and link to this post or the QR code to the right as a Signature to appear automatically at the end of every email you send. Or a feature like “Latest Trump Embarrassment," with the previous day’s biggest presidential blunder or blather. Keep it brief and up to date.

10. Pray. Pray that this embarrassment to our great nation will soon come to ruin—as have so many tyrants before him—perhaps by his own excesses or a mutiny of appointees or congressional republicans he assumed were loyalists. 

* The Gish Gallop involves rapidly throwing out a large number of false claims or misleading arguments, making it nearly impossible for those opposed to address each one individually, often leaving others confused or doubting the opponents' ability to respond effectively.

** The up tack or falsum (⊥, \bot in LaTeX, U+22A5 in Unicode) is a symbol used in the field of logic to denote a proposition that is always false. (It's also called an "absurdum.")