"Captain Chaos strikes again."

[babylonsister]

From a friend on FB, who is also a chatty barista.

Every so often, I’ll get a customer who does this: “I’d like a 24 ounce Hawaiian salted caramel latte with a dash of French vanilla, three shots of caffeinated and one shot of decaf, no foam, extra, extra hot.” 🥤
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Piece o’ cake. So I’ll schmooze with the customer while he watches me make it, then as I set it on the counter and say; “That’ll be $5.75,” he says “Is it possible to get that with almond milk? I’m lacto-intolerant.”
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That’s what Trump pulled last night, only on an astronomical scale. He’s had since last spring to put his 2¢ worth in on the second round of stimulus, but he waited until the latte was brewed and steaming on the countertop before mentioning a milk alternative.
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But with Trump, it’s never as simple as it seems. This wasn’t forgetfulness. His veto threat and subsequent demand for $2,000.00 per person against Congress’ $600.00 figure was conceived from multiple angles—NONE of which was over any actual concern he has for you and me.
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1) First and foremost, it was a shiv between Mitch McConnell’s ribs. How DARE you congratulate Joe Biden as the president elect while I’m saying the election was rigged? I may be forced to leave next month, but if you’re not gonna support me all the way, I’m gonna leave a little puddle of pee on the Senate floor for you to wade through... just to remember me by.
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2) Ever the populist, ever the manipulator, ever the narcissist, he tried to make *us* Mitch’s problem. ‘Mitch wants to give you $600.00, I want to give you more than three times that. Whose side are you on?’ As my dearly departed lawyer friend used to say; the turd is now in McConnell’s pocket, and it’s starting to stink.
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In defense of my occasional forgetful customers, hey, it happens. Some of it is even my own fault for being such a chatty barista. And at six bucks down the drain, it’s not the end of the world (but that Maui salted caramel costs a fortune 😫 !
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But in the case of Donald Trump vs Mitch McConnell, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. He knew it would play right into Speaker Pelosi’s hands—a common tactic of the narcissist—divide and conquer (or perhaps more accurately in Trump’s case: chaos by division). You may THINK you’ve reached an agreement! But I’m not done with you yet.
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He knew it would make every Republican who isn’t onboard the conspiracy crazytrain rue the day they first heard of Donald Trump. And he knew by dangling an additional $1,400.00 over McConnell’s figure, he was throwing a ginormous wrench into the machinery, just three days before Christmas, twenty-eight days before he exits the stage, during a pandemic that he’s exacerbated with his indifference—a day after Congress has left town for the holidays.
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Captain Chaos strikes again.
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This one’s all yours, Mitch.
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In the end, it’s always, always, ALWAYS about him. Don’t get your hopes up about that $2,000.00 check America, he’s just pandering to your needs to punish McConnell for his “disloyalty.” Unless you can offer him some way of short-circuiting his date with destiny, he couldn’t care less about you, your kids, your mortgage, or whether you live or die.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

1. Damn that fish is really flopping hard on the deck...

Poking everything it can with its fins. Annoying but over soon.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. Cadet Bone Spurs Chaos?

[KS Toronado]

28. How about a new term for him.... Cadet BoneSpurLess ?

[Lock him up.]

35. Putin's idiot puppet.

[northoftheborder]

3. K&R for clarifying the selfish and manipulative toad's behavior.

[C_U_L8R]

4. He was going to veto it anyway. It's not about $2000.

That's just a very cynical ploy.

[mucifer]

5. I don't think most republican voters know much about mitch. they just want trump sooooo

when they hear trump wants $2000 they think in their pea brain minds that is what mitch wants and they will blame the democrats for the measly $600 number that passed.

Just watch. It's my prediction.

Then all loeffler and perdue have to say is they were always for the $2000 and the Georgian deplorables will believe it.

[durablend]

7. That assuming

He doesn't claim "I never said $2000, nobody said that. The lying media strikes again!"

Wouldn't put his 'amensia' past him.

[underpants]

6. That pretty much nails it.

I think he signs and another bill is done by Biden.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. That money will ease a lot of the stress that people are experiencing AND it will

spur the economy. Win-Win.

[durablend]

9. And help Biden?!?

"Oh HELL NO....CAN'T HAVE THAT!!!!!"

[KY_EnviroGuy]

10. IMO, this is simply tRump self-promoting for 2024.....

either for himself or one of his brats, and for his upcoming media builds, tRump merchandise, tRump inspirational rallies, etc.

Along with his massive fake election fraud claims, this all creates the world's biggest pity pot ever to gain sympathy and support from his millions of faithful minions. Always playing the victim, always deflecting, always lying and always grifting for a buck.

Come February, the four year mass flood of right-wing victimhood and Dem bashing begins.

KY

[PoliWrangler]

11. Right-wing victimhood is status quo

It's the Republican go-to for everything.

[Brainstormy]

12. Nailed it! n/t

[MrModerate]

13. Some people still believe that Trump is a very smart cookie with a few quirks...

But he's not.

He's bull-goose looney, mad to the max, but with a highly developed reptile brain that has kept him out of prison…so far.

He could literally do anything in the next four weeks, and probably will.

[Evolve Dammit]

14. excellent analogy. I fully expect he'll take a dump on the WH carpet on the way out.

[colorado_ufo]

15. Perfect description.

Remember - this is how he has always done business deals: Wait until an agreement is reached, and then mess it up to create enough chaos, and trip up the other person, to get his way. Preferably with a time sensitive component.

Same old dog, same old trick.

I personally would prefer the $600 and a veto override and get the rest of the money under Biden.

[uponit7771]

16. Moscow Mitch with no senate rule leaves Trump in control of the kGOP

[Hugin]

17. Trump is seriously one of those people who orders a beef burrito, eats more than half of it...

and then wants a refund because he'd ordered a bean burrito.

The free ride is so ingrained in him. He's probably done this in restaurants his whole life to avoid a bill.

Conman... Indeed!

[Backseat Driver]

18. Wasn't there some WH reporter's tweet, pre-agreement of bill, several weeks back, in which

said reporter intimated that anonymous sources (rumor) said the Orange Menace had vaguely "floated the idea" of an even larger than the first, $2000 individual "stimulus?" that was hardly heard by both Admin staff and Congressional negotiators?

[yonder]

30. That's vaguely familiar, right before the election?

An attempt to curry favor with the electorate. I can't keep up with his shit.

[Karadeniz]

33. Yes, and he was talked out of it by advisors.

[Javaman]

19. we used to call this "who did it and ran" when I was a kid.

an the orange asshole only acts like a child, so no surprises here.

he does this because nothing about this deal involved him what so ever. and just because, came in, took a giant shit on it, just to show he can and left.

because at the end of the day, the orange asshole is a spoiled shit head of a brat.

[marieo1]

20. Right on

Thanks, Babylon Sister for clarifying DJT's behavior. Now after it is a 'done deal' DJT claims it should have been more!!! Any intelligent person can see right through that - he is a creep that cares absolutely nothing about the people in our country. Every single thing DJT does and says is to benefit HIM!!! If he really wanted to help all of us........he would have spoken up sooner. He has/had no intention of ever helping anyone!!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

21. Smart friend. Right on.

[Ferrets are Cool]

22. This made it perfectly clear that he doesn't just hate the Democratic Party, he hates

EVERYONE. Especially those that believe in the concept of Democracy.

[lunatica]

23. The Barista knows stuff

He/she is right.

[iluvtennis]

25. +++agree. nt

[malaise]

24. Nailed it

They deserve each other

[BobTheSubgenius]

26. All in all, I'd rather have the latte.

Thankfully, these insane games they play with real people's lives will....I was going to say "done" or something similar, but I guess "with far less frequency" is better than nothing.

ANYTHING is better than this.

[CrispyQ]

27. The repubs should have impeached him the day all the states were certified for Biden.

That would give them two years to sooth the butt hurt of the cult, & the Con couldn't fuck with them by running in 2024.

[Pluvious]

29. Good one - only I'd swap the word "indifference" for "malfeasance" nt.

[mgardener]

31. Trump couldn't even deliver

On the $200.00 voucher for those on Medicare for medication reimbursements.
Or the 10% middle class tax cut he promised before the 2018 election.
He is a liar.
He is an evil man.

[smirkymonkey]

32. I really wish someone would just...

oh, never mind.

[Hekate]

34. Chatty Barista is an extremely smart observer. Tip o' the hat for the image of Mitch getting shivved

The American people are still up Shit Creek without a paddle, but we can at least hope Mitch is metaphorically bleeding out.

[ProfessorGAC]

36. K&R!

The analogy works quite nicely.

[Ilsa]

37. Hungry people are ready to sit down to dinner

and trump comes over, drops trou, aims and delivers a wet cruciferous vegetable fart at the food.

[Blue Owl]

38. Hey that captain fellow really smells like farts

Overcooked steak farts, in fact...

[Seaflorida]

39. Well said

[uponit7771]

40. K&R,

[orangecrush]

41. Truer words never spoken.

[ZZenith]

42. "...the turd is now in McConnell's pocket."

I would have liked their lawyer friend.