Brass ones

 Now that Trump has restored "masculinity" to America as only an adjudicated rapist can (according to former comedian Joe Piscopo), testicles are inflating everywhere.  You've followed the meteoric rise of Edward Coristine, "Big Balls" to his fellow incels, the most influential 19-year-old in the history of the State Department and Musk pit bull.  He is not alone.  Brazenness is coursing through America's veins and spilling over into the rest of the world.

Zhang Yazhou was sitting beside her father as he drove through Beijing in their Tesla Model 3 when he suddenly said, "The brakes don't work!" before hitting two other vehicles and a concrete barrier.  For complaining publicly about the POS she was sued by Tesla and ordered to pay $23,000 and apologize to the company.   There were eleven similar cases and Tesla won them all because Chinese courts are hopelessly corrupt, to be blunt.  The full story of the Zhang family is here, including the pattern of doxing and harassment familiar to those singled out for Trump abuse.  They can't build a car worth a damn but Tesla's lawyers have made a close study of Nader v. Chevrolet.  (In the UK a group called Everyone Hates Elon is calling out the CEO's politics by bombing Teslas with "swasticar" stickers.)

Hated or not, Elon has a new Xwitter handle:

That should make up for the world-wide slump in Tesla sales.  Maybe he'll sue people to force them to buy his Uglymobiles.  The threat was enough to frighten Apple into resuming its Xwitter ads.  What's a little antisemitism when there's money to be made?

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) is ready to play.  At a meeting of Margie Greene's DOGE subcommittee he referenced her obsession with Hunter Biden's manhood by displaying a picture of a dick -- "President Elon Musk."  CNN's Brianna Keilar disapproved:  "Do you think that calling Elon Musk a dick is effective messaging?"  Garcia:  "Well, he is a dick...what the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight.  This is a fight for democracy, for the future of this country...Greene talks about having decorum, about having bipartisanship?  This is the person that lies more than anybody else in the entire Congress..."  What the American public wants is for all of you "distinguished members" to keep talking about dicks.  Drawing one on Musk's forehead would only improve it.   

In the balls department Kaptain Ketamine has nothing on Jady Vance.  In Munich he accused European leaders of "failing to defend democracy" even as he plotted to sell out democratic Ukraine.  For Jady, "democracy" apparently means "the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values" by attempting to regulate hate speech and limit the power of radical (far right) parties.  This is their meeting, which must have felt like the Hatter's tea party.

When MAGAs use the phrase "the enemy within" they mean immigrants and LGBTQ people, not AfD or Russian fifth columnists.  It's confusing.

Utah state rep Trevor Lee is not confused.  He has introduced another bill to ban Pride flags from schools and government buildings.  But his bill allows for display of "the historic version of a flag...for educational purposes," such as Nazi and Confederate flags.  Because how will children learn about slavery or Auschwitz unless they can look at a flag?  Lee decries "hostile-type interactions between different political factions" and wants schools to be safe spaces for everyone but gay or trans kids.  Or Jewish or Black kids, I imagine.

Purging LGBTQ people from the arts is a tall order but the Trump (formerly Kennedy) Center for Certain Performing Arts is at work.  Already the National Symphony has been forced to cancel "A Peacock Among Pigeons:  Celebrating 50 Years of Pride," scheduled for next May as part of WorldPride 2025, which probably should be moved out of Washington.  

Renee Fleming, Shonda Rimes, Issa Rae and Ben Folds have severed ties with the Center to make room for...Lee Greenwood.  Since the Center also awards the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Joe Piscopo should start working up his speech.

After a health episode that left him reliant on a wheelchair, Mitch McConnell evidently experienced some sort of road-to-Damascus moment.  He voted against confirming Tulsi Kremlin, Roadkill Bob and Greasy Pete (not that it made any difference), expressing particular concern as a polio survivor about Roadkill's vaccine denialism.  Trump's response was predictable:  "I don't know anything about 'he had polio.'  All I can tell you about him is that he shouldn't have been leader."  That's an ungrateful way to talk about the man who packed the Supreme Court with Christonazis to overturn Roe and invent "presidential immunity."  "He's a very bitter guy," he added, without specifying what McConnell might be bitter about.  (He voluntarily stepped down as majority leader.)  "Bitter" is an odd word from someone who has done nothing but avenge himself on his opponents, stripping them of bodyguards, security clearance and even homes (assuming Admiral Fagan did something to enrage him besides being a woman with power).  

I planned to close out the week with a tally of religion professionals accused or convicted of sex crimes but there are too many to cover.  Maybe next week.  Stay hydrated, get some sleep and don't give unpasteurized milk to the cat.