A mishmash of informed snark, piquant opinions, refined nastiness, occasional schmaltz, & tawdry graphics, served up continuously since 2006 by COSMIC CONNIE, aka CONNIE L. SCHMIDT. Covering New-Age/New-Wage culture & crapitalism, pop spirituality & religion, pop psychology, self(ish)-help, alt-health hucksterism, conspiranoia, business babble, media silliness, Scamworld, politix, & related (or occasionally unrelated) matters of consequence.
Trump just couldn't stay away from something that was about him...
Once again, I missed tons of opportunities this
month to hold forth here on some of the jaw-dropping number of
atrocities that continue to flood the zone in accordance
with Slovenly Steve "Three Shirts" Bannon's master
plan. There was so much to write about, and I did so much
not-writing. Go ahead, call me a slacker. I can take it.
This time my lame excuse was an alarming and, frankly,
life-threatening emergency due to a hemoglobin level that had
dropped way down to 4.8 (trust me, that is very bad). After my
new PCP literally begged me to go to the ER, my best
friend/sister-by-choice took me, and I was admitted to the
hospital for three days for multiple blood transfusions and iron
infusions and... well, I won't bore you with the details right
now, except to say that more than one provider at the hospital
expressed amazement that I was still up and walking around. Also,
my years-long suspicion that I had severe iron deficiency anemia
was spot-on, though tests also uncovered a few other conditions
that were most likely either caused or exacerbated by the
increasingly serious anemia.
The bottom line is that I seem to be on the mend, but am girding
up for a deluge of hospital and individual provider bills that I
will not be able to pay due to lack of insurance and money (you
can help out with the latter if you're so inclined, see note at
the end of this post).
But the Whirled goes on, and I certainly have every intention of
going on myself. And even while I was reclining in my hospital
bed hooked up to the blood transfusion apparatus, I was following
the news, as I've also been doing since I returned home.
Doomscrolling never takes a holiday. Indeed, there are countless
things to inspire anger and despair as the ruthless American
Reich regime marches on -- in recent times, most notably, the illegal, immoral, and totally stupid war in Iran,
initiated by the self-described "Peace President" and
his buddy Bibi in Israel. One of the latest newsbits is Trump's blatant threat to commit war crimes if he
doesn't get his way.
And MAGA is all, "Yeah, baby, bring on the End Times. We're
going to end up in Paradise with Jeezus, and anyone who doesn't
agree with us will be burning in hell."
But even as we teeter on the edge of the End Times, there is
still reason for hope, as symbolized most powerfully in this past
weekend's No Kings mass marches and demonstrations, which by most
accounts drew record numbers of protesters
who, as in the past two No Kings events, are NOT being paid by
George Soros or any other real or imaginary reich-wing scapegoat,
but are perfectly happy to justifiably hate Mango Mussolini and
his cohorts for free.
(Not that you'd ever, ever convince Faux News and its willfully
blind MAGA-cult audience that the millions of protesters are
expressing genuine sentiment: no, in FAUX World, even if they're
not being paid directly, those marchers are being ruthlessly manipulated by a
bunch of rich, Murcia-hating commies.
Which means that all of their signs and costumes and marches and
demonstrations really mean nothing at all; they don't represent
the Real America.)
My favorite foul-mouthed commentator, Jeff Tiedrich, posted some
words, accompanied by lots of pictures, the day after NK3. His
coverage included pics of solidarity demonstrations that took
place across the globe. People all over the world hate Trump,
also for free.
Tiedrich also noted, with a couple of comical pics to back up his
claim:
huge crowds were everywhere — except
for one place: the CPAC conference in Texas.
while millions of people were protesting the fucked-up reign
of Mad King Donny, CPAC couldn’t even fill one small room.
The next day, in addition to further
documenting the Mad King's madness (e.g., his obsession with
tacky Corinthian columns on his gaudy gilded ballroom/bunker
cover), Tiedrich posted more coverage and pics from the No Kings events. Some of the signs are true
works of art.
I wasn't able to attend the NK demonstration in my town, but my
bestie did, and the crowd was pretty substantial for the seat of
a still-deep-red Texas county. So, as crazy as it might sound to
anyone who is on the verge of giving up, as this turbulent month
marches into history, I am renewing my commitment of clinging to
hope as long as there's even a tiny speck of it.
And I think that you, and everyone who cares at all about the
survival of democracy, should do the same. MAGA jeered and
sneered at this latest No Kings event, as they did at the first
two. It was their way of whistling past the graveyard, stubbornly
refusing to face their own fears and doubts about the demented
orange man-child they continue, against all of the evidence that
he's a POS, to worship. My sense is that the only way they can go
on ignoring what they know in their hearts to be true is to
pretend that dissenters are either being handsomely paid or
cynically manipulated or both... or that there just aren't that
many of us. But the truth is that we are everywhere. We're not
going away.
These past few months -- well, actually, these past two years --
have been, to say the least, a serious trial for me. But after
dealing with a very stressful move and then, shortly after,
facing a potentially fatal medical outcome, I think that I am
finally beginning to hit my stride again. And I'll be back next
month with more.
Thank you as always for visiting my Whirled. Before you leave... While money cannot make some
nightmares go away, be they political or personal, it can make
them far easier to bear. With my husband Ron's passing in
February 2025, I have experienced significant income loss and
have been scrambling to find more work, but in an industry
increasingly being taken over by AI, it has been a challenge. And
now that I am facing new personal challenges, donations are
urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to
do it:
Old but still good: You can
click on the "Donate" icon that currently
appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog
on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the
end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both
the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the
link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately
goes to the same place.
NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please
specify that your contribution is for "friends and
family," which will waive PayPal's substantial transaction
fee.
Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this
Whirled.
You gave the man your eyes
so you could sleep at night
but you still hear their cries
you can't outrun this shame.
this land was yours and mine
until they bled it dry
history won't be kind
to those who turned the other way
~ Earth to Eve, "Have you heard the news" (addressing MAGA cult members)
And, just like the previous No Kings events on June 14, 2025, the
October 18 demonstrations stretched far beyond the borders of the US.
Our wonderful but worried neighbors (or neighbours) to the North showed up by the thousands,
from Vancouver to Toronto to Montreal. The tone across Canada has
been one of firm support and shared purpose. Canadians are
clearly watching developments in the U.S. closely — and
they’re not staying silent. They're really, really worried
about us. (And I am too.)
Reportedly even Australia rallied to the cause as well, from
Sidney to Melbourne to Brisbane. While turnout was reported to be modest in
comparison to No Kings events elsewhere, it's good to know the
Aussies have our backs. I'll add a good link as soon as I can
find one; the link I'd intended to use has been 404'd. But I know
from communicating with my friends in Oz, and from reading posts
by Australian participants on social media, that they do indeed
have our backs.
I have also seen unverified reports of a small demonstration in Seoul, South
Korea, and there's a video circulating on BlueSky of what looks like a pretty significant march that the
person sharing the video, with the hashtag NoKings, claimed took place in South Korea and was in
support of US democracy. I watched the video but couldn't
understand what was being shouted, and I couldn't read the marchers'
signs, so I can't verify. There's a lot going on there, and South
Koreans have held other political demonstrations recently. I'll update if I
find out any more specifics about a protest or demonstration in
South Korea in support of the No Kings events in America.
But clearly, South Korea is paying attention to what's going on
within the borders of their increasingly unreliable (thanks to
Trump) ally. Other parts of Asia, as well as Latin America, have
apparently been paying attention as well, and I have seen scattered
reports that they're showing early signs of engagement in the
larger movement against authoritarianism. I think we can expect
more as the movement grows. For now, the verified and well-sourced reports of
participation by other countries is immensely gratifying. The pearl clutchers were
ludicrously wrong
Contrary to the alarmist rants and warnings and outrageous lies from
the Trump regime, the protests showed that the millions of participants in the No Kings
demonstrations have an abiding love for America. Here's just one
dispatch from a northwest suburb of my beloved former hometown of Houston. I'm friends in real life with the person in the frog
costume, who explained to the reporter that the demonstrators
were out in the wilting Texas heat because they love
their country.
Moreover the No Kings events on October 18 were overwhelmingly
peaceful, with no major disturbances reported. There was
significant law enforcement and in several areas National Guard
presence at demonstrations across the US, but while visible, they were by and large non-confrontational. In fact police
departments in some areas coordinated with the organizers of the
No Kings events to help ensure peaceful demonstrations.
A few incidents and arrests occurred in some locations, mostly
involving counter-protesters, presumably Trump supporters. Other
reported incidents either involved ICE and were separate from the
main No Kings events, or happened late at night with stragglers
hours after the main events had concluded.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 59-year-old
woman who was wearing a Trump T-shirt was arrested for brandishing a firearm from her vehicle near the No Kings protest at
Chapin Memorial Park. She expressed regret and claimed
that the gun was unloaded, but she was charged with two
counts of pointing and presenting a firearm. According to
the article I linked to, public records indicate that she
isn't even legally allowed to possess a firearm or deadly
weapons. On Sunday a judge set her bond at $100,000,
which she posted later that day, after which she was
released.
In Detroit, Michigan, a counter-protester
supporting President Trump was arrested for scuffling
with demonstrators who were peacefully marching on
Michigan Avenue.
In Portland, Oregon, three arrests were made
following late-night clashes between protesters and
federal agents outside an Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) facility. Law enforcement used tear gas
and crowd control measures. But this was separate from
the No Kings protests in the area. It was just ICE doing
more of what ICE has been doing in Portland and other
cities for months now.
In Broadview, Illinois, several people were
arrested near a local ICE facility, with some charges
related to disorderly conduct and disobeying police
orders. These incidents were reportedly separate from the
main "No Kings" march in Chicago, which was
peaceful.
In LA, while the main protest was peaceful in
Los Angeles that day, late-night dispersal orders led to
arrests after some smaller groups refused to leave the
downtown area.
And in a few cities, such as Ocala,
Florida, there were verbal confrontations between MAGA
counter-protesters and No Kings participants, but no
arrests or violence were confirmed.
Additional isolated incidents will no doubt
surface in the days and weeks to come, so the above list is of
course not comprehensive. But in most of the large blue cities
that Trump and his goons and supporters love to hate there were
no major incidents. And across the country, there wasn't a single
riot or terrorist attack or attempt to overthrow the government.
Sorry, pearl clutchers.
Mango Mussolini is in deep denial (and deep doo-doo)
And what did Trump, the man-baby who would be king, think about
the overwhelming displays of resistance against His Mango Majesty?
Well, there's the now-infamous Donald Dump video, which as far as
I'm concerned should be declared the official video of the Turd
Reich: an AI-generated vid of MAGA's big hero wearing a crown
while flying a fighter jet over the Big Apple (the city that
rejected him), and dumping poop over a
huge crowd of protesters. It was posted to his Truth Social
account -- here's a direct link -- and
the Internet can't stop buzzing about it.
There have been contradictory reports about just when this
video was originally posted. Some accounts say it was posted on
Friday by his communications team, ahead of the demonstrations,
and was amplified by his campaign team. (That's what I originally
reported here.) But most sources are saying that Trump posted the
vid on Saturday after the events had begun, in reaction to all of
the buzz about the protests.
On the Truth Social site there's no date/time indicator on the
post that I can see, but maybe that's just because I'm not a
member of Truth Social. I'm not going to join just to see if I
can find out when the video was originally posted. I suppose it
doesn't really matter; what seems clear is that Trump hasn't
disavowed it, and the MAGAs are absolutely giddy about what they
see as clever trolling. Talk about owning the
libs/Democrats/"radical left"/Trump critics! King
Donald sure showed them, didn't he?
By and large the criticism of the poop vid focuses on how unprecedented and unpresidential and just
generally unhinged it is. On the other hand, some critics
have also pointed out that this video is actually far more
accurate than most of what spews from the Trump propaganda
machine. It's an apt metaphor not only for how he sees himself but also for what
he's doing to the nation. Notwithstanding his repeated claims
that "I am not a king!", he acts like a king wannabe,
and he is in so many ways dumping on the American people.
And he's not just dumping on the libs. The problem for the MAGAs
who are so busy cheering the ca-ca king is that most of them
simply don't realize yet that they're getting shat on as well.
One of my favorite responses so far to the poop-shooting video is
from political commentator, comedian, and social media influencer
Maggie Reed, aka Mermaidmamamaggie, whom I
adore. I just love that woman's smirk. She smirks better than
just about anyone I have ever seen. In a short reel posted on October 18, Reed manages to communicate, with her facial
expressions and a few pertinent visuals, that there's a yuuuuge
difference between childish trolling for the base and
acknowledging the harsh reality that most Americans despise Trump
and what his regime is doing to our beloved country.
I think it's a joke. I looked at the
people, they're not representative of this country. And I
looked at all the brand new signs paid for -- I guess it was
paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics. It looks
like it was, we're checking it out. The demonstrations were
very small, very ineffective, and the people were
whacked-out. When you look at those people, those are not
representative of the people of our country.
Then he added, "By the way I'm not a king.
I'm not a king. I work my ass off to make our country
great. That's all it is. I'm not a king at all."
I'm no expert on abnormal psychology, but offhand I'd say that
Trump's dismissal of the mass protest is the declaration of a man
who is in deep denial and who, despite his arrogance, is
scared... well, sh-tless.
* * * * *
Due to a combination of personal circumstances,
I was unable to attend a No Kings event in my area. But I
was with all of them in spirit. And seeing some of the photos and
videos of the massive crowds actually brought tears to my
eyes as I realized that there still seems to be hope in the fight
against tyranny.
I'll leave you with a couple of videos that do not involve
poop-dumping, and a link to a post by one of my favorite foul-mouthed
commentators.
First, if you haven't done so already, check out the song linked
to at the head of this post, by an amazing young talent going by
the name Earth to Eve. She actually composed a song specifically
for No Kings 2, but I don't yet have a link to a full version.
For now, "Have you heard the news" (here's
a direct link) sums up the state of
affairs under Trump very powerfully and eloquently.
And then there's Jasmyne A. Cannick, who, unlike our esteemed
leaders, said what needed to be said in
response to Trump press puppet Karolyin' Leavitt's declaration
that the Democratic Party's main constituency is "Hamas
terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals." Forget
"when they go low, we go high." I am a big fan of
Michelle Obama, but unfortunately that strategy, which she
famously suggested in her speech in support of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National
Convention, never worked. Cannick
shows that she is willing to meet Leavitt in the basement.
"You wanna find America's terrorists? Check your own damn
Christmas card list!"
And finally, one of my favorite potty-mouthed pundits, Jeff
Tiedrich, weighed in on Sunday with a celebratory post and plenty
of photos and links. Here he is.
Stay strong, stay peaceful, stay safe, my friends, and do stay in
touch with the No Kings movement, which
has more events planned for the future.
This post has been updated and amended since its
original publication, most notably, to correct and update
information about isolated incidents during the protests, as well
as to correct and clarify information about the responses (from
Trump and others) to the No Kings events on October 18.
~ CC
Before you leave... While money cannot make some
nightmares go away, be they political or personal, it can make
them far easier to bear. With my husband Ron's passing in
February 2025, I have experienced significant income loss and am
scrambling to find more work, but in an industry increasingly
being taken over by AI, it has been a challenge. And now that I
am making a major move, which is never cheap, donations are
urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to
do it:
Old but still good: You can
click on the "Donate" icon that currently
appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog
on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the
end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both
the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the
link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately
goes to the same place.
NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please
specify that your contribution is for "friends and
family," which will waive PayPal's substantial transaction
fee.
Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this
Whirled.
Then tell me with a straight face that the counter-protesters (or "alt-left"
or "anti-fa" or whatever you choose to call them) in Charlottesville, Virginia were morally equivalent to, and equally to blame as, those who were hosting this vile party.
