There was a guy I used to see on bike rides in Fort Wayne. A cross-dresser, I guess you’d call him. “Transgender” might be the current term, but from the gossip about this guy, he had a wife and lived as a man, and wasn’t trans in his daily life. But when he got on his bike he was wearing a cheap blonde wig that looked like it came from Party City, a black lace top and enormous fake boobs underneath. I mean: E. Nor. Mous. They looked like balloons. He’d add wraparound sunglasses and blast down the bike path, turning heads the whole way. He never stopped to talk to anyone. Just a blonde, balloon-boobed sight to see.
Well, as often happens, if you live long enough, you learn some things. As soon as I saw the leaked photos of Kristi Noem’s husband, I knew where I’d seen it before, and I learned it’s a fetish with a name: Bimbofication.
If you didn’t see the pix, I just described the look. And apparently Bryon Noem is deeply into it, deep enough that he goes online to chat up sex workers catering to his preferences, one or more of whom dimed him out to the Daily Mail.
I’m not here to kink-shame. The guy on the bike path was harmless. Bryon Noem is likely harmless. It explains, perhaps, why his wife was able to have an affair with Corey Lewandowski without even bothering to conceal it. I learned they’ve been married since 1992, longer than Alan and me. They have adult children. They’re grandparents. They have an understanding, I’d bet.
In a Democratic administration, such a revelation would have Republicans clutching their pearls and grabbing smelling salts with the other hand. Today? Eh. Avert your eyes, nothing to see here.
Me, I’m more worried about tonight’s presidential address. That he will declare victory in Iran is a given. Alan thinks he’ll also announce we’re leaving NATO, far more worrisome.
As usual, Putin is laughing his ass off. World War III, dead ahead.
Jeff Borden said on April 1, 2026 at 9:02 am
If he severs ties with NATO, we’re screwed. America First? Nope. America Alone. Where in the hell is Congress?
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Mark P said on April 1, 2026 at 10:13 am
Our leaving NATO, if it happens, can’t possibly come as a surprise to our former allies. They should have seen it coming for years, and they should be prepared.
The most amazing thing about Trump’s ascension is how quickly and completely any kind of responsible behavior disappeared, not just from Republicans but from Democrats as well. We see our government collapsing and taking us all with it, and everyone watches like it’s happening to someone else. At one time I had kind of hoped the military would save us, as shattering as that would be, but now it seems the military are MAGAts, or at least sympathizers. And that’s scary.
The bottom line is that the country we used to have is gone, and it’s not coming back.
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DavidC said on April 1, 2026 at 10:33 am
Being Trump, it could be about any goddamned thing. Whining about his ballroom, whining about mail-in voting, whining about the “fake” polls or crowing about the poll saying 100 percent of the 33 percent who support him, support him. Whatever. It’s going to be batshit crazy and my sympathies to anyone who is required to listen.
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Deborah said on April 1, 2026 at 10:39 am
Anne Applebaum has written about how autocrats couldn’t care less about the countries they “lead”. The country can go broke, fall apart and end up a huge quagmire, they don’t care as long as they have power and money and have loose associations with each other where they play dominance games. She says it much better than I do here but watching Trump makes it very clear. Corruption is through the roof, incompetence is rampant and disdain for anyone else is obvious.
I keep expecting Iran to retaliate with terrorist attacks within the US, which haven’t happened yet that I know of. I’m worried that our now inept FBI doesn’t have the ability to track and stop them. We’re doomed.
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alex said on April 1, 2026 at 10:42 am
And word is Tubby plans to menace the Supremes by attending today’s oral arguments in person, where I wouldn’t be surprised if he started running his mouth and putting them in an awkward position of needing to eject him for disrupting the proceedings but not having any mechanisms for doing so.
I’m quite taken aback by Kagan and Sotomayor caving to the bogus argument that conversion therapy is protected by the First Amendment and I think Justice Jackson penned a brilliant dissent, even though it’s not getting much press:
https://msmagazine.com/2026/03/31/conversion-therapy-justice-ketanji-brown-jackson-dissent-chiles-v-salazar/
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susan said on April 1, 2026 at 11:27 am
Here is Imani Gandy’s explanation of the Supremos’ Chiles v. Salazar ruling.
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Charlie (she/her) said on April 1, 2026 at 11:36 am
If you don’t know, there was a quack named Ray Blanchard in the 90s who went around telling trans women that “wanting to have sex as a woman” was just a kink and they should treat it as one. He’s mostly discredited these days (know who else gets turned on by the idea of sex as a woman? Women!) but he did a *lot* of damage, and the idea is still treated as fact in the right-wing fever swamps.
I personally think some of whole clinical process of transition helped me get over that shaming (“Yes, Doctor, I do want *** ***** to **** my ***** *****. I have wanted this for at least two calendar years, as required by current professional guidelines and California law”) but it can really get to some people.
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Icarus said on April 1, 2026 at 12:32 pm
Deborah, we attacked Iran on the first day of Ramadan. Guess which Christian Holiday starts this weekend.
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Mark P said on April 1, 2026 at 12:43 pm
Deborah, this is where Trump’s handling of classified information can come back to bite us. If our former allies have any sense, they will be very carefully screening any intelligence they give to the US regarding possible terrorist attacks on the US, or anything else. They have to assume that anything they give us will be compromised, so they won’t give us anything whose release will do that.
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Jeff Gill said on April 1, 2026 at 1:50 pm
The real constitutional crisis is if Trump takes concrete acts to leave or abandon NATO functions; there’s a law on the books requiring either a 2/3rds vote of the Senate, or a bill through both houses of Congress, to take us out of NATO. He’s more likely to say he will “instruct” or some such in that direction, and then the question is — as so many technically are right now — in the hands of Congress. If they let him get away with it, it’s hard to see what happens this side of the midterms. But it would be a terrible, terrible act further proving that for whatever reason, he’s doing Russia’s bidding.
On this morning’s Supreme Court oral arguments, Roberts got off a good one in response to Trump’s solicitor general saying we are “in a new world.” “It’s the same Constitution,” replied Roberts. I think it’s likely to be 7-2, and possibly even 8-1. Ohio’s own Sen. Ben Wade made it perfectly clear in 1866 in the Congressional Record on passing the 14th Amendment: if you are born here, you are a citizen. Full stop.
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Sherri said on April 1, 2026 at 2:19 pm
I agree that it’s likely to be at worst 7-2 on birthright citizenship, but I still think it’s problematic that we have at least one Supreme Court justice (Alito) completely willing to rewrite the Constitution just because he doesn’t like it.
And while Roberts and company wouldn’t go that far, I fear what they’ll continue to do to the Voting Rights Act. Roberts has been a fan of gutting the VRA, and I doubt he’ll pass up the opportunity to further do so in Louisiana v Callais, especially since that allows him to further disenfranchise black people.
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Peter said on April 1, 2026 at 2:19 pm
As a corollary to the Anne Applebaum comments – what had me smacking my head about the Noem photos is that some formerly sane pundits were saying that this was a huge problem – that someone or some organization could have used those photos as blackmail against Noem or the government.
Are they crazy? Does anyone honestly think that any official in this administration would care if one of their own was doing something sleazy or kinky? There’s only one person they would protect at any cost. The rest can just lie down and wait for the bus to run them over.
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Dexter Friend said on April 1, 2026 at 4:31 pm
Phony assassination report, Noem’s man, Trump staring down SCOTUS, US of A about to leave NAT0, Iran to have 100% control of The Strait of Hormuz, all just 51 years (on 4-30-26) from the defeat of US Armed intervention of Viet Nam.
As G&R asked… “Where do we go now, where do we go now? Ow ow ow ow ….”
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Julie Robinson said on April 1, 2026 at 5:09 pm
Thank you, Charlie, for your response. I can’t think that anyone decides to transition just for funsies. The combo of Bryon Noem being outed and the Supreme Court upholding conversion therapy on the day of Trans Visibility? The human race is deeply screwed up.
As another example, I just finished listening to A Hymn to Life by Gisele Pelicot, magnificently read by Emma Thompson. Pelicot is the woman whose husband drugged and raped her, filmed it, then invited some 50 others to participate. Both she and her husband came from dysfunctional families, yet despite everything, she seems to be doing okay, and has even invited love into her life again. She tried to understand her husband’s motivations, but the experts she consulted were unable to offer explanation. Too incredible.
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Sherri said on April 1, 2026 at 7:53 pm
The harm the birthright citizenship case has already done: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/opinion/birthright-citizenship-case-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XlA.1apO.XviBl5Y3QjYD&smid=url-share
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Heather said on April 2, 2026 at 11:29 am
How many Republicans are publicly tsk-tsking about Byron Noem while frantically trying to destroy any electronic evidence of their own deviation from straight cis married PIV sex? A lot, I’d bet.
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annie said on April 2, 2026 at 11:40 am
ok, I looked it up: PIV sex is penis-in-vagina sex. is “missionary position” still a term in use?
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David C said on April 2, 2026 at 1:41 pm
Bondi has been sacked. God knows what disaster replaces her. Maybe Judge Box of Wine.
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Dave said on April 2, 2026 at 1:49 pm
Todd Blanche, his lawyer, sure he’s another lowlife.
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ROGirl said on April 2, 2026 at 2:11 pm
Would anyone else even take it at this point?
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Deborah said on April 2, 2026 at 2:32 pm
Will Bondi squeal now?
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ROGirl said on April 2, 2026 at 2:35 pm
Not until she’s under indictment.
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