To honor the nation's looming Semiquincentennial, here are some of the worst people in America, ranked by how much harm they've done and/or are poised to do to the people of this country and the world
Brava. Took a bit of wrangling but got the Melania comment. Yes she and JE, the relationship, I suspect that truth will prove to be in the realm of trafficker and traffickee on a grander scales than the bulk of those sad souls harmed by that SOB.
The list to me breaks down into three categories; perpetrators (the likes of trump, miller and pete the drunk and Bannon?),sycophants (Bondi, Noem, Shovitt, Maxwell and Gabbard) and hanger ons (everyone else) this last category comprised of individuals who have no objective other than to influence or support for personal gain.
Some observations. Melania stands as a category unto herself. An enigma, for me she defies understanding, a person who simply exists for no known reason other than perhaps as Donald's Putin handler. Speculative, I have no proof whatsoever, purely conjecture on my part. Second, for a man who is misogynist to the core, trump does attract many women who sadly serve as sycophants. His failed DoJ appointments in NJ (Habba) and VA ( Halligan) and the useless Pirro join the named group above. Perhaps they find visions of " grab them by ..." attractive? Will they go to their graves doing this bidding? Likely! Third, the hanger ons, perhaps are the most dangerous group. Why? Realistically should the perpetrators and sycophants meet their demise, the hanger ons will do just that, hang around and continue to poison our society in their varied and all encompassing ways.
Let's hope for 2027 the situation has changed such that you feel the urge to present the 27 Good Folks for 2027. Frankly I'll be happy with two or three.
Old Man- I like how you broke the list in 3 groups. I think you are right on about Melania, that she has been Putin’s handler of Trump for many many years. ( no proof either)
Thanks, Old Man. I like the categories. Gmax is not a sycophant, though; she's deinitely a perp. There's also "opportunists," which I would define as people who know DJT is a stupid criminal but stick around b/c they have their own agendas to implement. That would be Leonard Leo and Vance.
Yes, fully agree on Gmax and opportunists, that word was what I intended, couldn't think of it. Still trying to noodle the females like Bondi and Shovitt, how low can they go before some self respect kicks in.
I am in CT In addition to everything else I asked my Rep to get with Rep Robert Garcia from CA. I included DeLauro I keep editing this. I spoke with Rep DeLauro's office and was able to get much information and clarification. I have a new go to number for calls on my wall.
There’s so much to read here I will have to go back and view all the YouTubes, past columns, etc. This was really good (I’m going to share this with family/friends.) You put a LOT of thought and work into it. Thx!!
So here is some basic guiding research since we now have the apotheosis of AI; may as well comply with gov’t recommendation to hand it over to the big Mr. Hal:
Pigs – strongest overall experimental evidence for advanced problem‑solving, flexibility, and emotional/social cognition.[farmsanctuary +1]
2. Goats – excellent physical problem‑solving and long‑term memory, adapted to challenging foraging.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih]
3. Cows – solid spatial learning, memory, and emerging evidence of creative problem‑solving and tool use.[animalbehaviorandcognition +1]
4. Chickens – more cognitively complex than stereotypes suggest, with good numeracy and social cognition, but generally studied as somewhat less flexible than the others on complex tasks.[dineachook +1]
If you want, a next step would be to look at specific cognitive domains (e.g., social vs spatial vs technical problem‑solving) and compare which species is “smarter” in each.
The following: Pigs, cows, goats, and chickens all show evidence of feeling and sharing others’ emotions: e.g., pigs comforting stressed pen‑mates, goats responding to the emotional tone of other goats or humans, and cows changing behavior when companions are distressed.[compassioninfoodbusiness +2]
• Many social animals at least protect their young and close partners, so a human who does not culturally develop empathy or awareness to an adult level can actually function with less consistent prosocial care than these animals display.[online.uwa +2]
Well, I found this, “Social awareness and empathy-like responses, recognizing and responding to the emotional states of other pigs.”. I’m still on the fence what to call him other than Brain In A Box. You can’t understand, communicate or otherwise, with one of those. Until now, the whole world seemed to be at “Court,” bowing with their feathered hats thinking, “may this will work?” It’s just a box. Not a proper tv farmyard. It’s more like a dump, with lots of other boxes, rotting away. We’ve probably spent a lot of time attributing human qualities to toxic cardboard. Bowing and paying tribute, asking to end things like famine or poverty. While we fight ourselves, he’s standing under the rides taking all the money that falls out of our pockets.
I wonder how each of these people would define themselves. I’d like to see a self-description. Under lie detector test conditions. On the other hand, recently I realized everyone’s brain walks around in a sealed box. We can’t know that. But we can feel pain from inhumanity and suffering they impose. Really, morality is our only connector. Once that is gone, we have no society.
On the other hand, who knew when a new “Lassie,” border collie replaced the dead one on the tv show, right? Lately, I feel so close to the first families walking the earth, sharing (or not) their berries until they discovered fire. Not much seems to have changed. Is that encouraging or the opposite? I’m no longer sure. I do know the Tibetan tradition word for people interested in ethical progress is one for “clan.” It’s as if, it’s a group unto itself. Since this word for “clan,” refers to an actual day to day approach for the wellbeing of all humans, animals and not just some….it’s safe to assume this is not what is happening in the US. There is another possibility; this list of people has mistaken their own suffering for being successful. They don’t even know they are in distress. They keep trying to have peace by controlling or eliminating other human beings. Where in the cafeteria did they used to hang out?
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he made the point that Trump is such a not interesting person. They are all uninteresting. That's the real agony. We who have souls try to find the dollop of silver and gold in there, but they are all base metals.
Hmmm.. I think Stephen Miller and Epstein are a tie for me. Vought and Musk are also a tie given they both worked to dismantle USAID and the federal government in the most traumatic way. I would also tie Bondi and Vance-- she's too far down on the list. Heggy feels high up only because I think someone else is calling the plays behind the scene (likely Miller). I love the graphic but even in parody Bondi does not deserve the honor of Leah...
I know, I had reservations putting Pam in the Leia spot...but it does look like it fits.
I won't quibble about the order. I had Trump second last week, but Greenland put him over the top. I have Hegseth and RFK high because they are both in positions to kill hundreds of thousands of people. Body count is the ultimate arbiter. Musk already has, of course, b/c of USAID.
Greg, another bite of the cherry. Really pissed at the orange imbecile. Why? There is one tactic he uses that is infuriating beyond belief. I call it the evil genius no win tactic. Take Macron. He writes a sensible note to the asshole. Conciliatory, polite. The ignoramus publishes it to the world, implying Macron is submissive, weak. Had Macron written a Dear Shithead..., letter gets published, see how nasty he is. In both cases justification for tariffs. Third option, write nothing, same conclusion, tariffs.
My solution, only option go public with everything, hit him where it hurts, court of public opinion. Mark Carney is the master of this. Here on my side of the pond huge debate about Starmer,'s handling of Trump. World events have taken a back seat on the news to the debate, nail him or cozy up to him. See BBC Newnight from yesterday if you can.
Apologies for hijacking your forum, needed to get this off my chest.
Thanks, Old Man. No apologies necessary. Carney's speech at Davos is the single most important address any world leader has given about our current predicament. Thank God he won and not that little shit PP.
Starmer seems like a good man, but he's out of his depth. Every time I have a British guest on the podcast, I joke that they should just let Hugh Grant be PM. He plays him so well in the movies, his politics are good, and how could it be worse? Arthur Snell in his Venezuela episode referenced a "Love Actually" moment with Starmer and I almost spit my coffee.
I like how Macron is handling him. We'll see if it works.
I would give a joint 27th Place Prize to every feckless Republican in Congress who, through silence, ignorance, stupidity and cowardice, are complicit with the monster, Trump.
Thank you, Greg, for an awesome recap and ranking, which is sadly accurate. I am delighted to add new words to my vocabulary. Something’s gotta give before July 4th! This is no way to live, but then I think of Ukraine and the children. Heartbreak all around.
Thanks, Beverly. Yes, heartbreak all around. But world history was always thus. Trump has come along to break something that has worked well since 1945. That alone warrants his place atop this list.
There’s no way the American people would stand for Boof swearing in Couchfucker, right? Right?
OMG! Snort, cackle, laugh, titter, tee-hee, squeal, gasp, gag, choke, wheeze, hoot, hee-hee, ho-ho, ha-ha, guffaw, holler, howl, spit, lol, giggle, chortle, cough, lol, lulz, roflmao
Thanks, Sharon! And yet it really is real somehow...
Brava. Took a bit of wrangling but got the Melania comment. Yes she and JE, the relationship, I suspect that truth will prove to be in the realm of trafficker and traffickee on a grander scales than the bulk of those sad souls harmed by that SOB.
The list to me breaks down into three categories; perpetrators (the likes of trump, miller and pete the drunk and Bannon?),sycophants (Bondi, Noem, Shovitt, Maxwell and Gabbard) and hanger ons (everyone else) this last category comprised of individuals who have no objective other than to influence or support for personal gain.
Some observations. Melania stands as a category unto herself. An enigma, for me she defies understanding, a person who simply exists for no known reason other than perhaps as Donald's Putin handler. Speculative, I have no proof whatsoever, purely conjecture on my part. Second, for a man who is misogynist to the core, trump does attract many women who sadly serve as sycophants. His failed DoJ appointments in NJ (Habba) and VA ( Halligan) and the useless Pirro join the named group above. Perhaps they find visions of " grab them by ..." attractive? Will they go to their graves doing this bidding? Likely! Third, the hanger ons, perhaps are the most dangerous group. Why? Realistically should the perpetrators and sycophants meet their demise, the hanger ons will do just that, hang around and continue to poison our society in their varied and all encompassing ways.
Let's hope for 2027 the situation has changed such that you feel the urge to present the 27 Good Folks for 2027. Frankly I'll be happy with two or three.
Old Man- I like how you broke the list in 3 groups. I think you are right on about Melania, that she has been Putin’s handler of Trump for many many years. ( no proof either)
Well, she did admit to having been in direct contact with him for the last year...
Thanks, Old Man. I like the categories. Gmax is not a sycophant, though; she's deinitely a perp. There's also "opportunists," which I would define as people who know DJT is a stupid criminal but stick around b/c they have their own agendas to implement. That would be Leonard Leo and Vance.
27 Good Guys! Yes yes yes!
Yes, fully agree on Gmax and opportunists, that word was what I intended, couldn't think of it. Still trying to noodle the females like Bondi and Shovitt, how low can they go before some self respect kicks in.
It’s TUESDAY🎉Today’s the day…2:00pm WALK OUT and 3:00 pm visit or call your Representative and let them know you have had ENOUGH!!!
I tried sending an email to my Rep and s note displayed that I was unauthorized to do so. 9:01 about to pick up the phone.
Huh! Haven’t encountered that…yet. Defintely call, both DC and local office. Good on ya👏🏻👏🏻
I called and spoke to a staffer, unfortunately she sounded half dead. A receiver of messages…..
Well, half dead or not, she had to log the call! Good work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I am in CT In addition to everything else I asked my Rep to get with Rep Robert Garcia from CA. I included DeLauro I keep editing this. I spoke with Rep DeLauro's office and was able to get much information and clarification. I have a new go to number for calls on my wall.
Unauthorized to do so….. wow, that’s bizarre.
First Lady knows… she’s part of the history of it. Now fighting hard to separate herself.
Fighting hard but having her big movie premiere....you can't make this stuff up!
Greg, you're a good wizard with words and ideas. Thank you. What a f.ing mess we are in.
Thanks for breaking it up
Thanks, Sara!
I love your last paragraph on Pam Bondi! 😂
Thanks, Gundy. Blanche is such a weasel. It's really something to watch someone sell his soul is realtime.
There’s so much to read here I will have to go back and view all the YouTubes, past columns, etc. This was really good (I’m going to share this with family/friends.) You put a LOT of thought and work into it. Thx!!
Thank you! The YouTubes are mostly funny stuff. Or are supposed to be...
So here is some basic guiding research since we now have the apotheosis of AI; may as well comply with gov’t recommendation to hand it over to the big Mr. Hal:
Pigs – strongest overall experimental evidence for advanced problem‑solving, flexibility, and emotional/social cognition.[farmsanctuary +1]
2. Goats – excellent physical problem‑solving and long‑term memory, adapted to challenging foraging.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih]
3. Cows – solid spatial learning, memory, and emerging evidence of creative problem‑solving and tool use.[animalbehaviorandcognition +1]
4. Chickens – more cognitively complex than stereotypes suggest, with good numeracy and social cognition, but generally studied as somewhat less flexible than the others on complex tasks.[dineachook +1]
If you want, a next step would be to look at specific cognitive domains (e.g., social vs spatial vs technical problem‑solving) and compare which species is “smarter” in each.
The following: Pigs, cows, goats, and chickens all show evidence of feeling and sharing others’ emotions: e.g., pigs comforting stressed pen‑mates, goats responding to the emotional tone of other goats or humans, and cows changing behavior when companions are distressed.[compassioninfoodbusiness +2]
• Many social animals at least protect their young and close partners, so a human who does not culturally develop empathy or awareness to an adult level can actually function with less consistent prosocial care than these animals display.[online.uwa +2]
Orwell, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".
FOUR LEGS GOOD! TWO LEGS BETTER!
Is this a long way of saying we should stop calling Trump a pig? ; )
Well, I found this, “Social awareness and empathy-like responses, recognizing and responding to the emotional states of other pigs.”. I’m still on the fence what to call him other than Brain In A Box. You can’t understand, communicate or otherwise, with one of those. Until now, the whole world seemed to be at “Court,” bowing with their feathered hats thinking, “may this will work?” It’s just a box. Not a proper tv farmyard. It’s more like a dump, with lots of other boxes, rotting away. We’ve probably spent a lot of time attributing human qualities to toxic cardboard. Bowing and paying tribute, asking to end things like famine or poverty. While we fight ourselves, he’s standing under the rides taking all the money that falls out of our pockets.
I wonder how each of these people would define themselves. I’d like to see a self-description. Under lie detector test conditions. On the other hand, recently I realized everyone’s brain walks around in a sealed box. We can’t know that. But we can feel pain from inhumanity and suffering they impose. Really, morality is our only connector. Once that is gone, we have no society.
On the other hand, who knew when a new “Lassie,” border collie replaced the dead one on the tv show, right? Lately, I feel so close to the first families walking the earth, sharing (or not) their berries until they discovered fire. Not much seems to have changed. Is that encouraging or the opposite? I’m no longer sure. I do know the Tibetan tradition word for people interested in ethical progress is one for “clan.” It’s as if, it’s a group unto itself. Since this word for “clan,” refers to an actual day to day approach for the wellbeing of all humans, animals and not just some….it’s safe to assume this is not what is happening in the US. There is another possibility; this list of people has mistaken their own suffering for being successful. They don’t even know they are in distress. They keep trying to have peace by controlling or eliminating other human beings. Where in the cafeteria did they used to hang out?
That's all interesting, Jackie.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he made the point that Trump is such a not interesting person. They are all uninteresting. That's the real agony. We who have souls try to find the dollop of silver and gold in there, but they are all base metals.
Howdy, neighbor! I’m in MA and am telling my Rep - Katherine Clark to do the same. Enough talk; we need ACTION.
ACTION!
Hmmm.. I think Stephen Miller and Epstein are a tie for me. Vought and Musk are also a tie given they both worked to dismantle USAID and the federal government in the most traumatic way. I would also tie Bondi and Vance-- she's too far down on the list. Heggy feels high up only because I think someone else is calling the plays behind the scene (likely Miller). I love the graphic but even in parody Bondi does not deserve the honor of Leah...
Thanks, Michelle.
I know, I had reservations putting Pam in the Leia spot...but it does look like it fits.
I won't quibble about the order. I had Trump second last week, but Greenland put him over the top. I have Hegseth and RFK high because they are both in positions to kill hundreds of thousands of people. Body count is the ultimate arbiter. Musk already has, of course, b/c of USAID.
They are all so horrible. Ugh.
No quibbles here! I mean they are all fighting for number 1 at this point.
Greg, another bite of the cherry. Really pissed at the orange imbecile. Why? There is one tactic he uses that is infuriating beyond belief. I call it the evil genius no win tactic. Take Macron. He writes a sensible note to the asshole. Conciliatory, polite. The ignoramus publishes it to the world, implying Macron is submissive, weak. Had Macron written a Dear Shithead..., letter gets published, see how nasty he is. In both cases justification for tariffs. Third option, write nothing, same conclusion, tariffs.
My solution, only option go public with everything, hit him where it hurts, court of public opinion. Mark Carney is the master of this. Here on my side of the pond huge debate about Starmer,'s handling of Trump. World events have taken a back seat on the news to the debate, nail him or cozy up to him. See BBC Newnight from yesterday if you can.
Apologies for hijacking your forum, needed to get this off my chest.
Newsnight
Thanks, Old Man. No apologies necessary. Carney's speech at Davos is the single most important address any world leader has given about our current predicament. Thank God he won and not that little shit PP.
Starmer seems like a good man, but he's out of his depth. Every time I have a British guest on the podcast, I joke that they should just let Hugh Grant be PM. He plays him so well in the movies, his politics are good, and how could it be worse? Arthur Snell in his Venezuela episode referenced a "Love Actually" moment with Starmer and I almost spit my coffee.
I like how Macron is handling him. We'll see if it works.
Hugh is good, Cumberbatch may work, he is currently at war with Camden Council over a housing development, very civic minded.
I would give a joint 27th Place Prize to every feckless Republican in Congress who, through silence, ignorance, stupidity and cowardice, are complicit with the monster, Trump.
Seconded.
Since tRump did not put his hand on a Bible when he was sworn in, I deem him an illegitimate so called president.
Seconded!
Thank you, Greg, for an awesome recap and ranking, which is sadly accurate. I am delighted to add new words to my vocabulary. Something’s gotta give before July 4th! This is no way to live, but then I think of Ukraine and the children. Heartbreak all around.
Thanks, Beverly. Yes, heartbreak all around. But world history was always thus. Trump has come along to break something that has worked well since 1945. That alone warrants his place atop this list.