GOP is missing a chance to call Biden "Beelzebub" and Kamala "Hades Harris"

 

Upper right: Anonymous from a page in an 18th-century demonology book. 
Lower left: "Beelzebub and them that are with him shoot arrows" from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)

By Hal Brown

Trump wants his supporters to believe he has been sent by God to rule, or is the Second Coming of Jesus (and many Trumpers have these beliefs). According to Democrats Trump might as well be Satan. 

If you take religion out of Satan and just consider him and his metaphorical demons to be pure evil, to be akin to psychopaths who enjoy making people suffer, you can make a reasonable case that it is Trump and mini-Trumps like DeSantis (who critics often call DeSatan) are incarnations of the Devil as a figure of speech meaning evil.

Illustration of the Devil on folio 290 recto
 of the Codex Gigas, dating to the
 early thirteenth century.

Republicans making the news want to demonize Biden but they throw around other words to refer to him like communist, Marxist, socialist, corrupt, and criminal. Others are more restrained. Chris Christi, for example, said in a town hall:

"Joe Biden has let this country down in just about every way you can think of."

"He ran for president in 2020 saying he's gonna bring the country together, that he was going to be a moderate leader for the country and try to bring the two extremes of both parties into a place where they could work together, and a lot of people − I mean − that a lot of people voted for him based on that idea. And he came into office and he ran as far left as he could." Reference

The Republicans may be missing a golden opportunity to turn Biden into a demon straight out of the Hellmouth.

A few so-proclaimed religious leaders have tried to make Biden into a demon from Hell. For example the article 'Prophet' Claims Biden Has Demonic 'Serpent Eyes,' Defends Trump's Election Win, in Newsweek, by Robin Bullock, a self-proclaimed "prophet," who doesn't recognize President Joe Biden as being duly elected and accused him of being aligned with Satan.

Here's another: 

Pastor Greg Locke Says Biden Is 'Demon-Possessed,' Insists Trump Is 'Legitimate President'

Greg Locke, a right-wing pastor, told his raucous sermon attendees Sunday that President Joe Biden and "jezebel demon" Vice President Kamala Harris are overseeing "child-trafficking" tunnels beneath Washington D.C.

Snopes did a fact check (here) on social media claims that a demon appeared in the back of the room when Biden gave his 2021 State of the Union Address.

Even President Biden addressed the way some people compare him to Satan:

President Biden on Wednesday (July 21, 2012) said he doesn’t care if someone thinks he is “Satan reincarnated” but there is no looking away from the 6 January Capitol riots.

“I don’t care if you think I’m Satan reincarnated, the fact is you can’t look at that television and say nothing happened on the 6th (January)”, said Joe Biden at a town hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, organised by CNN News. Reference

According to a Pew Research poll 58% of all American adults  believe in Hell. These are the breakdowns by politcal party and whether one is conservative or liberal:

Click to enlarge images

We are currently going back and forth between watching the British series Unforgotten about solving decades old murder cases with forensics and good old fashioned police work and Warrior Nun (see reviews) where magic and superpowers are used to fight evil.

The most dangerous demon on the show who is trying to kill the hero is called a Tarask. If he succeeds he will literally open the door to Hell. If Trump watches the show I expect he identifies with the Tarask.

The demons who represent the next most dangerous are called wraith demons. They can only be seen by the Warrior Nun as they move through the air as wisps of red smoke and find and possess vulnerable people and cause them to act out their worst impulses.

Season Two of the series had the highest NetFlix rating ever which demonstrates that lots of people really like shows about nuns fighting demons. If the Pew poll is accurate it may mean that a there's a significant percent of the population open to believing that Joe Biden is actually Beezlebub. 

If the Republicans catch onto this we may see more rhetoric literally demonizing Joe Biden. Let's face it (see addendum below) Beezlebub Biden and Hades Harris has a ring to it.

Addendum:

It is almost impossible for me to come up with anything totally original to blog about.

For example this is an opinion piece from the website The Published Reporter : Op-Ed: Beelzebub Biden And Hades Harris Vow To Veto GOP’s HR 734 That Keeps Bio Males Out Of Bio Female Sports

:

It begins:

PORTSMOUTH, OH –  Deception and deviancy continues to govern in D.C. as the Deep State cabal bashes and trashes sports competition for biological female athletes. The militant Democrats receive their marching orders from the New World Order megalomaniacs (aka The World Economic Forum, the United Nations, The World Health Organization). And the dominant male minions delight in denigrating and destroying the rights of bio women.

Alas, the creepy Joe Biden and kooky Kamala Harris administration continue to push their poisonous propaganda that discriminates against biological females playing sports and promotes unscientific gender ideology. VILE R US. 

The author's bio: Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is a former professional child therapist, early literacy advocate, book author, and syndicated opinion-editorial columnist. Her work appears in various national and international newspapers. She lives in Southern Ohio.  

This is the only book I can find by her on Amazon.

A glance at her OpEd show she is preoccupied with issues related to gender, like this one about Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine

Predatory Richard ‘Rachel’ Levine Claims Child Mutilation Transitioning Is “Medically Necessary”

Of course inchwormy House Republicans inching towards Biden impeachments will impeach him.

 

Click above to read article

By Hal Brown

Today's blog includes musical interludes and entomology.

Of course the House Republicans will impeach President Biden. 

Matt Gaetz  is candid about the reasons.

Matt Gaetz Says Biden Impeachment A ‘Platform’ To Tarnish President Before 2024

“The purpose of that impeachment, from my standpoint, is not to force a vote that loses ― it’s to put on a trial in the Senate, and by the way, not for the sake of conviction,” the Florida Republican said.

It matters not that there's no there there while there were many theres there in Trump's two impeachments the Republicans can call Biden the once impeached president. This is weak sauce compared to how Trump is often referred to as the four times indicted and twice impeached former president being charged with 91 felonies, but weak or not at least for them is is sauce.

The cases against Trump are Sriracha compared to the watered down tomato sauce of any case against Joe Biden.

The chair of the committee that would conduct the impeachment inquiry or hearing or whatever they decide to call it is the decidely uncharismatic James Comer:

Click above to read New Republic article

Moving gradually towards opening the impeachment show, "inching" towards the premier,  McCarthy has a chance to both guage public opinion and hype the main event. By teasing the prospect of impeachment he can try to provide counterprogramming to compete with coverage of the MAGA trials.

Inch worms (or inchworms) are the larvae or caterpillars of the geometer moth and there are thiousands of species (article). They are called inchworms obiovusly because they are about an inch in length and move in small increments. They eventually turn into moths like these:

The Republicans know that there's no way that their inchworms will actually turn into moths which can fly their their way into a Senate conviction of President Biden.

This blog comes with a song inspired by the title of the HUFFPOST story from the top of this page. Perhaps it will be played prior to every meeting of the House impeachment committee by wishful thinking Republicans.

Read more about the song here, and then listen to the famous Danny Kaye version from the 1952 musical Hans Christain Andersen. It is a lovely song which is quite the contrast to what I the hearings will be.

Lyrics:

Refrain]
Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two

[Chorus]
Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic
You'll probably go far
Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you'd stop and see
How beautiful they are

David Bowie said the song was the inspiration behind his 1980 song "Ashes to Ashes" which you can hear him sing here:

Ashes To Ashes wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t have been for Inchworm. There’s a nursery rhyme element in it, and there’s something so sad and mournful and poignant about it. It kept bringing me back to the feelings of those pure thoughts of sadness that you have as a child, and how they’re so identifiable even when you’re an adult.

I think the best theme song for the House Republicans is Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy":

The New York Post included it on their list of the 20 worst songs ever written:

From The NY Post: Righteously blasted in the lyrics of “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, McFerrin’s whimsical a cappella hit also attracted withering criticism by reader Dave Richard, who regarded it as a “real steaming pile of crap.”

Indeed, this Republican show will also be a real steaming pile of crap. 

Is America Really The Greatest Show On Earth?

From the American world map (below) one might assume they are the ONLY show on Earth.

Click here to see the poster I made the above illustration from. One could argue that this was the greatest show on earth.

Map makers from other countries would beg to differ.

Above are maps of the world from several countries.

By Hal Brown

We hear a lot about American exceptionalism, mostly from Republicans. Wikipedia defines this as:

American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is either distinctive, unique, or exemplary compared to other nations.  

Proponents argue that the values, political system, and historical development of the U.S. are unique in human history, often with the implication that it is both destined and entitled to play a distinct and positive role on the world stage.

Critics of the concept claim that the idea of American exceptionalism suggests that the US is better than other countries, has a superior culture, or has a unique mission to transform the planet and its inhabitants. 

I've written about Trump being a malignant narcissist. 

For example this web search turns up these among other blogs I wrote explaining why I considered Donald Trump to meet the criteria for being a malignant narcissist:

Two decades before John Gartner, writing about Trump, made us aware of what a malignant narcissist was the term was used on the TV show Luther

Nobody knows for certain how Trump feels except Trump

Dr. Justin Frank, author of "Trump on the Couch" gives us understatement of the decade about Trump's behavior

 Some election day psychology: A primer on narcissistic and antisocial personality disorders

Once upon a time shrinks like me warned about Trump's malignant narcissism

I think there's also a phenomena which could be accurately called American malignant narcissism. The crucial word here is "malignant" meaning malevolent. This goes far beyond patriotism and taking pride in what's good about the United States both historically and in the present. 

My impression (from watching international movies and TV) is that people in many countries to varying degrees think their countries are better than other countries.  By and large I see this as healthy narcissism, i.e.,  a positive sense of country similar to having a self-image that is in alignment with the greater good.

It's hard to imagine what those who live in democracies around the world think of the United States, especially those who live in coutries with a strong social safety net where it is a given that tax money should be spent to assure that the less fortunate are adequately taken care of.

We have the front runner in the GOP primary poised to either go to prison or the presidency running against a state governor who doesn't believe in having his state teach the truth in its schools, wants books banned, and thinks slavery taught slaves useful skills, and a rich guy hogging much of the news coverage of the Republican primary who never held a government position who has his own 10 Commandments:

• 1. God is real.
• 2. There are two genders.
• 3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.
• 4. Reverse racism is racism.
• 5. An open border is no border.
• 6. Parents determine the education of their children.
• 7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.
• 8. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty.
• 9. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four.
• 10. The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.

Then we have today's American news as covered by Aljazeera and the BBC (click images to go to articles):

Trump's mantra, Make America Great Again, and his raging against so-called globalists (currently attacking everyone as globalists at Fox News), I thinks are being read by our allies as giving them a metaphorical finger.

...

No doubt Putin's pleased with this. Consider what the defintion of a globalism is:

Globalism refers to various patterns of meaning beyond the merely international. It is used by political scientists, such as Joseph Nye, to describe "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns that underlie (and explain) them."  

While primarily associated with world-systems, it can be used to describe other global trends. The concept of globalism is also classically used to distinguish the ideologies of globalization (the subjective meanings) from the processes of globalization (the objective practices).In this sense, globalism is to globalization what nationalism is to nationality.

The term is now frequently used as a pejorative by far right movements and conspiracy theorists. False usage in this way has also been associated with antisemitism, as antisemites frequently appropriate the term globalist to refer to Jews. More from Wikpedia.

Make America great again? 

How about doing something about the fact that after car accidents guns are the next leading cause of death among children? How about addressing the rising suicide rate among children even as young as five? Mass shootings, often using assault rifles, have become weekly, if not daily events, but any efforts to enact gun control laws are dead on arrival in Congress.

Why don't anti-abortion zealots consider our infant mortality rates and look at why more infants die in southern states than in northern states, and that the infant death rates are higher among minorities? (Reference)

Just now being reported on MSNBC: We have a half million people in jail waiting trial, mostly Blacks and brown men, because they can't afford bail, often as low as $500.

Consider where the United States ranks among nations for the number of people who are homeless (interactive map).

Quote: While it is considered the leader of the world stage, the United States still has one of the biggest problems with homelessness, even when compared to more impoverished countries. With a homeless population per night of over half a million souls, the numbers are concerning. The volume of homeless increases every year - with many more living in makeshift tents and other dwellings that do little more than offer some brief respite from the harsh outdoor conditions, such as at nighttime or during the winter.

If anybody thought that United States could never outdo the KKK as an influential and dangerous social movement they didn't consider QAnon.

Various congressional districts have actually elected people who believe in the paranoid delusions espoused by QAnon.

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall, Who Has The Most Menacing Mugshot Of Them All?

By Hal Brown

Featuring the grift from the goon with the gargantuan girth and the grim gaze (bottom of page)

Who knew that you could get a mirror from Wayfair with Trump's image on the top?

I agree with Robert Reich when he writes in his Raw Story article: Donald Trump: The fascist who doesn’t want America to think:

Here is Trump’s mug shot from his arraignment yesterday in Georgia. It’s a look of defiance — which I’m sure he practiced repeatedly beforehand — intended to make his supporters and his Republican base feel defiant, too.

I wrote yesterday in The Meshugana Mug Shot Megillah:

 In her wanting to treat Donald Trump just like another other arrestee at the Fulton County Jail Fani Willis managed to help him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by requiring that his mug shot be taken. She also gave him a parade led by what at my attempt to count them was about 20 blue lights flashing motorcycle officers. 

The sun hasn't even come up this morning here in Oregon and this is what I see on TV:

MSNBC is calling the booking photo the MAGA mugshot.

While Trump is grifting off the mugshot it is also fodder for cartoonists turning it against him, for example these published in The Columbus Dispatch.

According to reports (reference), at first Trump didn't want a mugshot taken but once he realized he couldn't avoid this he decided to make the most of it. 

Despite all of his bravado and using his Georgia mugshot to rope in more supporters to send him donations, Donald Trump tried in vain to get his lawyers to block having the humiliating picture taken and disseminated to the public.

He certainly did. For example as decribed in this article in The Guardian:

Excerpt:

Following Donald Trump’s surrender at the Fulton county jail on Thursday evening, the highly anticipated mugshot of the former president spread swiftly across the internet as both ends of the political spectrum raced to commodify and meme-ify the picture.

The Trump 2024 campaign was quick to print the president’s hostile glare on to merchandise including mugs, coolers and premium cotton shirts ranging from small to 2XL. Accompanying all the new mugshot merchandise, which also included a 4in x 4in vinyl bumper sticker, were the words: “NEVER SURRENDER!”

The face of the first former American president to sit for a mugshot also found itself on shot glasses being sold by the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group.

For $15, customers can purchase a glass with Trump’s mugshot. On the back is “FAFO”, the acronym for “Fuck Around and Find Out”. The Lincoln Project also offered a combo deal, for those looking to purchase glasses featuring co-conspirators John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mark Meadows, all of whom had their photos taken at the Atlanta jail this week.

To save you from clicking on a Trump website:

This is from Donald Trump, Jr. on X formerly known as Twitter:

The Lincoln Project is making the most of the mugshots:

Click to enlarge above images

The only loss for Trump about his booking is that he didn't get away with lieing about his height and weight. As I wrote yesterday even the Murdoch NY Post noted that there was no way he really was as tall and weighed as little as he said he did. 

The eyes don't lie about the BMI. His is at least a level 3 which comes under morbid obesity.

I wonder if Trump wears a girdle to hide his frontal heft. If he does I don't think there's a similar device to hide his ample posteria. If there are photos I bet Trump would like to have forever erased they are these:

I share them now because they never get old.

Addendum 1: Maureen Down's NY Times (subscription) has a clever title and telling photoshop illustration:

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON — If there were any justice in the world, Donald Trump would have taken the Mug Shot of Dorian Gray.

As with Oscar Wilde’s charismatic and amoral narcissist, the Picture of Donald Trump should have been a “foul parody,” a reflection of what the chancer has done with his life. It should have shown Trump’s corroding soul rather than his truculent face.

It should have revealed a man so cynical and depraved that he is willing to smash our nation’s soul — our democracy — and destroy faith in our institutions. All this simply to avoid being called a loser.

“Through some strange quickening of inner life the leprosies of sin were slowly eating the thing away,” Wilde wrote of Dorian’s portrait. “The rotting of a corpse in a watery grave was not so fearful.”

Now that would have been some primo merch: Trump slapping a rotting mug shot on a mug and selling it on his campaign website for the low, low price of $25.

Trump has long felt that squinting or scowling is a good look for him. Timothy O’Brien, a Trump biographer, recalled that Trump once told him that Clint Eastwood was the greatest movie star ever, and O’Brien believed that Donald and Melania modeled their squints on Eastwood’s. 

Dowd also had the same idea about the mirror s I did:

He no doubt workshopped his stroppy mug-shot look in front of the mirror, trying to convey “Never surrender!” as he was literally surrendering. 

Her last sentence:

As Audrey Hepburn said in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” after she tangled with the law, “There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl’s complexion.”

Addendum 2:

More of the grift from the goon with the gargantuan girth and the grim gaze:

Click images to enlarge - will not go to Trump website

You know he posed for this one:

Addendum 3: President Biden got the last word... of lierally the last and best four words.

Joe Biden's 4-Word Reaction To Donald Trump's Mug Shot Is Dripping With Shade

Or maybe it was a sincere compliment. (Probably not.)

Addendum 4:

Jen Psaki: Trump's mugshot will come back to bite him in 2024

Some of the images posted in comments to this article. Mine is of his face on a urinal drain splash cover:

Click images to enlarge.