MedBeds, more Trump stupidity, and other fun things

Click here for a Heather Cox Richardson post on Substack for September 28.

MedBeds: a QAnon-era fantasy revived yesterday when Trump briefly posted a video clip completely generated on AI where Eric's wife, Lara Trump, is supposedly saying “President Donald J. Trump has announced a historic new healthcare system, the launch of America’s first MedBed hospitals and a national MedBed card for every citizen.” 

Look up and read about MedBeds: it's practically beyond belief. I say "practically" because -- well, you know. But hey -- no one will need health insurance anymore!

Trump stupidity, regarding Hegseth's call for the nation's 800 top military officers from around the globe to assemble at Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday:

When Trump talked to reporters on Thursday, he did not appear to understand that Hegseth had called U.S. military officers to Quantico, appearing to think he had invited military leaders from other countries. “I love it, I mean I think it’s great,” Trump said. “Let him be friendly with the generals and admirals from all over the world. You act like this is a bad thing. Isn’t it nice that people are coming from all over the world to be with us?” 

More Trump stupidity, regarding his order sending the U.S. military to use "full force" against protesters in "war-torn" Portland, Oregon:

“I spoke to the governor, she was very nice,” Trump added. “But I said, ‘Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening? My people tell me different.’ They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place...it looks like terrible.” 

The commander-in-chief gets his information from what he sees on Fox. 

Vancouver to Halifax by train . . . looks interesting . . .

Cross Canada by Train for Just $558 : An Epic 3,946-Mile Coast-to-Coast Journey

 

In a world of rushed flights and endless highways, there’s still a slower, more intimate way to see a country as vast as Canada: by rail. The legendary coast-to-coast trip spans nearly 4,000 miles and offers some of the most breathtaking scenery on Earth. Even better, you can travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic for as little as $558 — making it one of the best travel experiences in the world.

 

The Route

Stretching 3,946 miles (6,350 km) across eight provinces and six time zones, this 5-day journey is no small feat. You’ll board three trains to complete the loop:

The Canadian (Vancouver → Toronto)

The Corridor (Toronto → Montréal)

The Ocean (Montréal → Halifax)

 

Starting at Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station, the route carries you through the Canadian Rockies, the vast prairie grasslands, the forest-covered Great Lakes region, and finally into the cultural hubs of Québec and the Maritime provinces.

 

Highlights Along the Way

Vancouver – Capilano Suspension Bridge, Stanley Park, and sushi at Miku

Jasper National Park – Maligne Lake, Athabasca Falls, and a chance to spot bears and eagles

The Prairies – Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba’s endless farmland

Ontario Lakes & Forests – Thousands of sparkling lakes and dense woodlands

Toronto – CN Tower and bustling city streets

Montréal & Québec City – Cobblestone streets, French-inspired cuisine, and 400-year-old architecture

The Maritimes – Bay of Fundy’s record tides and Halifax’s historic harbor

 

Onboard Comfort

Economy Class: Surprisingly cozy, with reclining seats and the ability to stretch out across multiple seats.

Skyline Dome Cars: Panoramic windows for stunning daytime views.

Sleeper & Prestige Class: Private cabins, showers, upgraded lounges, and access to the Park Car with wine tastings and live music.

Dining Cars: Hot, freshly cooked meals served daily.

Entertainment often includes live performances from local musicians, games with fellow travelers, and simply the joy of watching Canada’s landscapes roll past.

 

The Cost

Tickets vary depending on class and stops:

Cheapest fare: Vancouver → Halifax, starting at $558

Rail pass option: Around $699 (allows flexibility for multiple stops)

For perspective, visiting Vancouver, Jasper, Toronto, Kingston, Montréal, Québec City, and Halifax by plane or car could easily top $1,500. By train, you get it for a fraction of the cost — with none of the stress of airports or gas stations.

 

Why Take the Train?

This isn’t just transportation. It’s an immersion into the sheer scale and beauty of Canada. You’ll:

Watch sunrise over the Rockies and sunset across endless prairies

Cross three time zones in a single train ride

Meet fellow travelers over shared meals and live music

Arrive in the heart of cities like Toronto and Montréal — no long airport transfers required

 

With government subsidies covering much of the expense, the trip is both affordable and unforgettable. From Vancouver’s Pacific Coast to Halifax’s Atlantic charm, this is more than a journey — it’s a once-in-a-lifetime rail adventure.

 

Some words by Oliver Kornetzke

Click here for an article on Blogspot by Oliver Kornetzke. 

It begins: 

I come from a small, rural town in Wisconsin—the kind of place where the high school mascot is sacred, the churches outnumber the stoplights, and the local diner still offers political commentary with your scrambled eggs, all filtered through a Reagan-era lens of rugged individualism and bootstrap theology. It’s a town that raised me, yes—but also one I outgrew, not out of arrogance, but out of an insatiable curiosity that was simply not compatible with fences and familiar last names.

My childhood was an oddity in that place. While most of my peers stayed anchored in the gravitational pull of local norms and traditions, my parents handed me a passport and pointed outward. Road trips across the US turned into train rides through Eastern Europe. I was the kid who collected fossils and insects instead of baseball cards, who could name capitals but not quarterbacks. Later, I moved abroad. I pursued higher education. I immersed myself in history, science, philosophy, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge and understanding, trying to understand not just the world, but why people move through it the way they do.

And then, like some tragic protagonist in a novel about the perils of nostalgia, I came back.

If distance grants perspective, then returning to the town of my youth was less like coming home and more like stepping into a diorama. The streets hadn’t changed, but I had. What once seemed wholesome now felt performative. The patriotism wasn’t pride—it was ritual. The friendliness wasn’t openness—it was surveillance. And beneath it all ran a silent, suffocating current of fear: fear of change, fear of the other, fear of being left behind.

On August 18, Oliver wrote this, accompanied by a headshot of Trump's bloated face:

Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul -- all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair. Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn't but has always been -- arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshiped like gospel. It is America's shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn't just lose its soul -- it shits out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader. 

You've got to admit: The man has a way with words. 

 

AI captioning of Patricia's transcript

 I'm doing a transcript today for Patricia, and she has AI voice recognition going. She says the translation is hilarious. Some examples:

"Objection. Scope," came out as "Jackson Scope."

"Objection. Asked and answered," came out as "Injection acid answered."

"Direct knowledge of Jeff's documents" came out as "drag knowledge of Jeff Stockings."

 I don't think reporters need to feel too threatened just yet. 

And here's the same graph, embeddied on Reddit (just so that I have it and can maybe send it to others):

Dorktown: Caitlin Clark! pic.twitter.com/fN5S1f4D1x

— Secret Base (@secretbase) April 8, 2024

Caitlin Clark -- and all the others

 

 

Trump's Response to Charlie Kirk's Assassination

Click here for an article at Substack by Steven Beschloss entitled "Snapshot: Trump’s Speech Escalates the Conflict," subtitled "No, his Oval Office remarks were not a surprise, but they are a tragedy for a country on edge."

While every Democratic leader I've seen so far has denounced the murder of Charlie Kirk and urged restraint, I've seen lots of Republican leaders -- off the top of my head, Jesse Waters, Steve Bannon, Laura Loomer -- Elon Musk said "The Left is the party of murder" -- James Woods, Alex Jones, Andrew Tate, and now Donald Trump -- issuing calls to go to war. 

Beschloss's article begins:

Do we need calm and peace and unity? Yes, we do. But over 77 million Americans chose to give the nation’s loudest megaphone to a man dedicated to sowing conflict, stoking fear and intensifying a climate of violence.

He went on:

While he stated grief for Kirk’s death, he used the moment to spew anger over demonizing language by the media and others on the left for inciting the act. He had no words for—no interest in acknowledging—the impact his own rhetoric and that of other right-wing extremists has likely had in triggering the assassination of Minnesota’s Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hartmann and her husband, as well as the assault on the life of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband. 

Beschloss comments:

As much as I wish it were otherwise, I honestly don’t see right now how the country can stand down from this intensifying situation. The pot is boiling, the cook is pouring in more and more poison, and his fans are cheering him on to go farther.

As much as cooler, more rational voices—primarily among Democrats—have urged calm and respect for the tragedy of a young man’s life being taken from him and his family by a gunman’s bullet, Trump and his regime want the fight, even if it leads to more bloodshed.

 

The Cost of the 2nd Amendment

Charlie Kirk (2023): "I think it's worth to have a cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe."