#tbt: If At First You Don't Succeed, Go On To Win The Presidency

President-Unelect Musk and his oligarch sidekick, Vivek Ramaswamy, are not waiting for anything like Donald Trump’s inauguration or actual authority before getting to work at slashing the federal government so they and their billionaire buddies can get bigger tax cuts. According to The Washington Post, Musk and Ramaswamy have been “sending representatives” from their non-existent DOGE ‘department’ to "agencies across the federal government” for “preliminary interviews.” That includes the Treasury, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services departments and the Internal Revenue Service. Let’s be clear: Neither Musk nor Ramaswamy have any legit reason to do this.

Donald created a social media platform to slam his successor daily in lie-filled posts about President Joe Biden's economy. When Biden took office, he was handed an apocalyptic economy with a negative jobs number. And now, Biden is handing Donald a strong economy by any metric, and for sure, the convicted narcissistic felon will take credit for it -- before he destroys it again. President Biden spoke of the economy after December's jobs report. "Let me close where I started with this morning's jobs report: more than 250,000 jobs in December," he said.

Above, Pat Benatar performs, Love is a Battlefield. Sometimes we forget that loving our country (and our fellow countrymen) is hard work. Keep up the fight for the better America, it's the best way to show our patriotism. The Warning warns us that the lessons of the Titanic are enduring. Diane Ravitch's Blog argues that President Handsome Joe Biden should release Jack Smith's report.

A few months ago, Elon Musk became the world's top Diablo IV player. People wondered how that was possible, as typically gamers devote all their waking hours to reach those echelons. Many suspected it wasn't him, and on a recent stream that was confirmed. He's paying someone else to play in his name.

Maynebel Quevedo doesn’t want to be stereotyped as a lawbreaker just because he’s Venezuelan. And he’s adamant that he shouldn’t be lumped in with migrants “that did bad” — a worry that reflects the impact of the rhetoric used by President-elect Donald Trump, who often focuses on the crimes committed by a small minority of the people who have crossed the American border.

Good morning! I have gratitude for all of the firefighters fighting our wildfires and more gratitude for all of the people poised to fight for our rights and programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, and Social Security, all of which are on Republicans' chopping block. Please call your representives and Senators every day.