The War Budget: An Excursion Through the Mind of a Moron

 

by Pa Rock

US Veteran

Donald Trump, possibly the greatest military strategist since Homer Simpson served as a school crossing guard, wants us to call "his" Defense Department the"War Department," and to refer to the head of that sprawling bureaucracy, a former, part-time Fox weekend host with the tit tats, as the"Secretary of War."   In keeping with Trump's vanity and grandiosity, I thought it might also be appropriate to refer to the budget for Trump's march toward glory and immorality immortality as his "War Budget."

During the current fiscal year, which began last October 1st, well into Trump's second term, the war budget for the United States has been just north of a trillion dollars.  A trillion dollars is represented by a one followed by twelve zeroes.  To break it down into more meaningful terms, it is a billion dollars times one thousand, or, in even simpler terms it is one million stacks of one million dollars each.

In fiscal year 2025, the current budget year, our government has collected $5.23 trillion dollars in total revenue - primarily from taxes and tariffs - almost all of which were paid by American citizens with modest incomes.  (Billionaires seldom pay taxes.)  That means around a quarter of what the government took in for the year, almost all of which came from our pockets, went to fund the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower tried to warn us about as he left office.

That was the "war" budget - before we even had a damned war!  Now, with our nation firmly entrenched in a real war, an unnecessary one that we helped to start, Trump wants Congress to cough up an additional $2 billion as a supplement to help fight the war on Iraq.  A trillion dollars already in the wind - and he wants another two billion!  The gall is appalling!

Trump, who famously claimed that we won the current war on Day One and now are apparently just "mopping up," has also assured us that Iran's Navy has been wiped out.  This week in an address to the nation he went on to blather that thanks to our constant bombing of the country Iran no longer has any anti-aircraft equipment and their radar is 100% annihilated.   He added, "We are unstoppable as a military force."  That statement was from his meandering televised speech to the nation Wednesday night.  Less than forty-eight hours later, on Friday, a US F-15E fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces with two US crew members on board.  (As of this writing on Saturday morning, one has been rescued and the other remains missing someplacce inside of Iran.)   Later on Friday a US A-10 Warthog attack plane that was searching for the missing crew member of the F-15 was also shot down.  The helicopter that rescued the downed pilot was hit by small arms fire and two crew members were wounded - but it returned to base and landed safely.

Not only do we have a missing US pilot, presumably on the ground in Iran trying to avoid capture and the possibility of becoming a POW and political hostage, we also two additional military personnel wounded and two more very expensive aircraft destroyed with a total value in the neighborhood of $50 million.  It doesn't sound as though we have decimated Iran's air defenses despite the noise emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The situation might be tolerable if our leadership had explained ahead of time why this war was necessary and what we hoped to accomplish by initiating it, but that was not the case.   We were not sold on the war in advance.  Trump went to war without consulting the people of America whom he supposedly serves - or any of our allies except Israel - and instead of winning on Day One, the effort has been mired in incompetence since Day One.  Our President is focused on building a ballroom and remodeling the White House - and playing golf, and our War Secretary has his eye on pulling women and minorities out of top military leadership ranks - and ensuring that our military has a firmer footing in faith - Christian faith - protestant Christian faith.

Praise Jesus and pass the ammunition!

This Thursday at a private Easter luncheon at the White House,  Donald Trump told those present he had instructed White House Budget Director Russ Vought (the primary author of the hate-infused Project 2025), thusly:

"Don't send any money for day care, because the United States can't take care of day care.  That has to be up to a state.  We can't take care of day care.  We're a big country.  We have fifty states.  We have all these other people.  We're fighting wars. We can't take care of day care.  You got to let a state take care of day care, and they should pay for it too."

At that same luncheon where the remarks had apparently not been intended for public consumption, Trump also said that it was not possible for the federal goveernment to fund Medicare, Medicaid, and child care costs.  Trump said those should programs be covered by the states so the federal government could concentrate on military spending.

Trump also announced this week that his budget "ask" for next year will be $1.5 trillion dollars, a 50% increase over last year's bloated budget.

If the War budget is our national priority, and we are the ones instigating the wars we are fighting, then shame the hell on us!

And thus ends this poor typist's excursion through the mind of a moron.

Piggy Best Be Paying Attention to the Disappearing Act of Cesar Chavez

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump's idea of "legacy" has nothing to do with great acts of humanitarian worth or achievements that will alter the course of mankind.  Donald's notion of legacy is to get his name on things, that's his way of insuring that he will be remembered.   Piggy is not taking into account the fact that what is "named" in his honor can quickly be "unnamed" once that honor has evaporated or been permanently besmirched.  Just ask the ghost of Cesar Chavez.

The New York Times began investigating rumors last year that Cesar Chavez, a co-founder and primary leader of the United Farm Workers, had sexually abused young girls as he was rising to power in the farm labor movement in the mid-20th century.  Last month The Times published stories regarding two women who said that Chavez groomed and sexually abused them when they were twelve and thirteen years old.

At the time those stories of child sexual abuse were breaking, The New York Times also posted a story about  civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, the person who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, in which she related that in the 1960's he had raped her and left her pregnant, and at a later time had coerced her into having sex and left her pregnant a second time.  In a statement to The Times, Huerta said:

"I am 96 years old and for the past 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.   Following the New York Times' multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavrz, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences."

Dolores Huerta went on to tell of being raped by the iconic labor leader and placing the two babies that resulted from the rapes with other families to raise.

Cesar Chavez not only served as head the United Farm Workers, he also became a national spokesman for migrant issues and a highly respected civil rights leader.  Chavez, who died in 1993, went on to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously, a US Navy cargo ship named after him (Chavez was a World War II veteran), a bust of himself displayed in the Oval Office, Congress proclaimed a "Cesar Chavez" Day - March 31st, a US postage stamp issued in his honor. and numerous streets and schools named for him.

Today many of those accolades are coming down.  The legacy of Cesar Chavez is rapidly disappearing. and being replaced by a darker, more sinister depiction of the man once respected by so many.

Donald John Trump needs to be paying attention to the disappearing act of Cesar Chavez.  He may well be Trump's Ghost of Christmas Future.

Where Pretentious People Go to Posture

 

by Pa Rock

Curmudgeon

One of those new franchises that specialize in "fancy coffees" opened in my little berg of West Plains, Missouri, last fall.  I'm not a coffee drinker and I like my iced tea straight, so I've never been there, but it's on the busy end of town, within jogging distance of Wal-Mart, and I have driven by at various times on different days and noticed that it is always busy.

I've not stopped by or been inside.  It's in a small, unique building that is about the size of a tiny house, so it may not even be possible to get inside.  The line of cars at the drive-through window is always long, adding to my theory that the place may not accommodate sit-down business.

As I observed this new business build and maintain a strong customer base, I assumed that was due to its uniqueness in the community.  West Plains, a city of 12,000 which boasts four "Casey's" quick stops and two "McDonald's," but did not even have a Starbuck's when this new venture arrived in town, or so I thought.  I turns out, however, that when the new main section was added to our local hospital two years ago, a Starbuck's was incorporated into their food service area, no doubt as a nod to the professional medical staff.  However, not every local wants to take their morning coffee break at the hospital.

But the new place is a raging hit, probably due to its proximity to the West Plains Social Club (Walmart), and people seem to have no problem sitting in their cars hours on end just to impress the intercom baristas with their pretentious knowledge of froths and flavors.

This week I received a large flyer in the mail promoting the new fancy coffee business, my first glimpse into their product line and pricing, and that new knowledge jarred me to make and share a few observations.   The first thing I noticed on the flyer was a bold statement that the coffee and tea stand offered "OVER 20,000 FLAVOR COMBINATIONS!"       My parents and aunt and uncle owned and ran a truck stop when I measured my age in single digits, and their coffee came in four flavors:  with cream, with sugar, with cream and sugar, or basic black - and it was a nickel for a refillable cup until my Aunt Christine caused a local scandal by raising the price to a dime.

This new business has six primary categories of drinks on their selection list:  Originals, Energy, Coffees and Cold Brews, Teas, Frozen Treats, and something called Sips and Sodas - with many unique and goofy-sounding flavored drinks listed beneath each of those headings.  But for those more creative or pretentious, I guess you could always drag in some of those 20,000 flavor combinations.

No wonder the line at the drive-through window is so damned long!

Prices of these new drinks were conspicuously absent from the flyer except on two of the coupons.   From now through the end of May, smart shoppers can get two medium drinks for just $9.00, or four medium drinks for $17.00.

Do you know what else you can get for $17.00?  A damned coffee pot!  And with the money you save you might be able to put Trump gas in your car so you can get to work and make a living - and maybe even be able to send your kids to college!

Now, if you will excuse me, Pa Rock is going to go brew a pot of tea and then find something else to fuss about!

Criminals with Exceptional Taste

 

by Pa Rock

Chocolate Aficionado

Instead of losing their collective corporate mind over a brazen act of criminality that targeted their  business, officials at the Swiss-based Nestle Corporation decided to take their response in another direction after thieves stole one of their company trucks that was distributing apecial, limited edition KitKat candy bars along a route from their factory in Italy to markets in Poland.   The 413,793 individual bars taken in the heist, or  over 12 tons of chocolaty goodness, were shaped to look like Formula 1 racing cars.   The first response from the Nestle Corporation was not a call to send the thieves to someplace sinister for a trial an imprisonment, Devil's Island, perhaps, but instead the chocolate giant issued a statement that, in part, complimented the criminals on their "exceptional taste."

That's right.  Rather than frothing at the mouth like some deranged Trump cabinet undersecretary raging about his assigned parking spot, the Nestle Corporation met the situation with good humor, and, in so doing, brightened their corporate image - just in time for Easter's big candy sales!

While the chocolate heist was audacious, it was not unprecedented.  In July of 2023 a British man named Joby Pool was sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing 200,000 chocolate Cadbury Eggs from an industrial unit and a truck to transport them.  Cadbury Eggs are said the have a "cult following" in the United Kingdom.  Pa Rock would be interested in joining.

Nestle did put out a statement about last week's truck heist and theft of the KitKat bars saying "there is no concern for public safety," but that would depend on how many a person ate in a single sitting.  As of today, the case of the stolen Kitkats remains unsolved.  It is likely the criminals are holed-up somewhere along with their bounty waiting on the situation to cool - or perhaps they are immobilized in a diabetic comas.