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, perhaps. 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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