White House Down

The narrative gets worse every time we scan the headlines, PLUS 50% off subscriptions again!

Image created by author. NO AI.

Sometimes I write satire.

Sometimes, the satire comes in the form of news headlines. In recent news, the satire also has been arriving in the form of horror, as if the mad clown infesting what’s left of the Oval Office has fully morphed into Pennywise. Instead of chasing children for his sexual pleasure, he’s chomping on all of us like a long-toothed lizard that sprays toxins when it walks, wrecking everything in its path.

Half off a Ruminato subscription because you’re saving some money by not participating in the Trump economy, which makes it a great time to reallocate our resources. Reallocate! Storm the Bastille with a few pennies!

This week has already been full of crazy, and it’s only Wednesday. The scary thing is that Halloween is still nine days away. By that time, the lunatic in the Oval Office may have killed us all.

The most frightening thing about all this, from my perspective, is the apathy outside of the core resistance. That, and a man who has clearly lost his marbles, a clown who is literally tearing down the White House, still has a 37% approval rating.

I want you to take a look at that mock IMDB listing at the top of this post for a movie that might be made in a world without Trump. Let’s say, ten or fifteen years ago. Think about how preposterous the plot would be to reviewers and moviegoers. Nobody would watch a movie like that, no matter the genre. Comedy, horror, it wouldn’t matter.

The movie wouldn’t even get made. Studio executives would ruin the careers of any producer who tried to concoct such insanity.

Yet here we are. And, still, the bulk of our population is carrying on as if not much is really happening. Which, of course, is why we are here.

I think our most important story, out of many important dark narratives, is this one:

I’ve updated it with a lot since I first posted it. I suggest you urge people who seem to think their TikTok videos are more important than people getting kidnapped off the streets to look through the headlines. Here are just a few of the headlines in that one post:

Note: each link goes to the relevant headline in the same post.

“A Chicago High Schooler Had Just Returned From Chemotherapy. Then ICE Arrested Her Father”

4,500-member “Activate Oak Park” Facebook group administrator is pulled out of his car at gunpoint

Popular Information Investigation shows ICE has increased weapons spending 700% in 2025

ICE Fears force possible business closures in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin and Hermosa neighborhoods

ICE lunatic chases immigration activist in Ventura County, then crashes into his pickup truck

Another ICE attack on O’Hare Airport rideshare zone

ICE and other law enforcement agencies gain access to Ring cameras

The Trump regime asks for the Supreme Court’s Shadow Docket to allow the National Guard to start its war on Chicago

ICE Goons slamming into vehicles at high speeds to force passengers and drivers out of their cars

ICE Raid on Swap-O-Rama Flea Market: “They said they’d detain gang members and criminals, but here it’s just hardworking people.”

ProPublica reports that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE stormtroopers during the last nine months

And on and on and on that post goes. One story after another that demonstrates the lie that the regime made before the election, that only criminals who were in the U.S. illegally would be targeted.

Of course, I knew that was a lie long before the election, and I suspect most of my readers did, too. I wrote a short fiction piece about it before the election, a short story where a journalist disappears. In the story, her Trump voting husband wonders where it all went so wrong:

The Neighbors Beyond the Yard

Written way back in January 2024, but bits and pieces have been floating around the internet in various incarnations for almost ten years now.

Nobody listens to me. Nobody listens to you. I don’t have a solution aside from continuing to scream into the void.

I wrote about Stephen Miller, too, long before most people ever heard of him:

Meet Stephen Miller — the Last Man Standing

It’s a full background on the Nosferatu of Washington, including a look into his teenage years, when he began his quest to be the worst human ever (but because he’s part of the Trump regime, he is not yet successful in that quest, because of the stiff competition).

I wrote up this piece about the Supreme Court, as well, in August 2024:

The Federalist Society’s War Against Americans

My readers don’t get surprised by events. Why? Because I am a human early warning system.

It’s for these reasons that I ask for more people to join the community of paid subscribers here.

I need to promote the stories I uncover so that our early warning system can be enhanced. None of this work is free. This isn’t begging, this is the reality of our resistance infrastructure, what there is of it.

If you can’t become a paying subscriber, I definitely understand. Mostly, I can’t either. Don’t sweat it. I love all of ya no matter what. It’s all a struggle for everyone.

If I had my way, I’d write very few political articles and just write fiction. Because of the current political crisis, most of my fiction has a political slant, like this one I posted a couple of days ago:

The Illegal Alien

Ostensibly, it’s a science fiction piece. But it’s really an allegory for our times, about how our society is driven by fear. Sadly, it’s driven by fear of the wrong things, and not the lunatic knocking down the White House.

This week, I also looked at the AWS outage from the perspective of my software background and my status as a peasant writer in a world of oligarchs:

The AWS Outage Was the Oligarch Stranglers Reaching for Substack's Neck

I also wrote a bit of satire. I realize that a lot of people aren’t in the mood for satire, but I find writing it cathartic. I figure I write enough stuff that if readers don’t like something, they can just skip it and wait a half hour until I write something else.

Tales from the Front: JD Vance’s Letter to His Wife Describes the Artillery Attack [Satire]

There’s a point behind this satire piece, too. What if — and I realize that this is conspiracy mongering, but if a part of me didn’t consider it possible, it wouldn’t enter my head — what if the ordnance that landed on JD Vance’s security detail’s vehicles was launched by design? Unlikely, for sure, but it made for a fun bit of writing.

This week, I also extracted the video the mad clown made of his poop fest for those of you who are into forms of self-flagellation:

The Madness of the Mad King

I also felt compelled to write this satirical piece about Trump and Putin’s two-hour phone call:

Exclusive: Transcript of Phone Conversation Between Trump and Putin [Satire]

And there was this personal piece I did about racism, and my experience as someone who grew up surrounded by it, how it affected my feelings towards my friends, and how white folks like me are in a constant battle against old tapes, whether we realize it or not:

The Racism That Still Lives Deep in My Bones

There’s a lot here on Ruminato. If you explore the website, you’ll find a lot more. None of it is AI-generated.

It all comes from my soul.

I sort of feel like it’s worth whatever you can pay for it. But, again, I also understand why people can’t. Hell, I can’t.

If you hate subscriptions, you can also support me on Ko-fi:

No matter what you do or don’t do, I appreciate all of it. I appreciate it when you read one single word, or every word. I appreciate the comments, too. If I don’t reply to a comment, my apologies. I’m still recovering from a November stroke, and I force myself to take it as easy as I can during these dark times, and do other things to focus on my health as I continue to progress in my recovery.

This means I miss a few of your comments. Not intentionally, I promise.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words regarding my health. I’m stunned at how much better I am than in November. American healthcare is dreadfully expensive, but, at least in my case, it’s also very good.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And stay aggressive in pushing those who are not yet on board the resistance train. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation. We need more hands on deck.

Notes

Before I wrote on Substack, I had a substantial presence on Medium back in the days when it was paying writers fairly decently and not pushing out AI slop. Actually, I still do, but it’s mostly cross-posts that originate here.

I was doing the same thing then. Just one example, and then I’ll shut up: My piece on Nex Benedict was written long before her tragic story gained national exposure. I did some follow-up stories after that, and donated the measly earnings from them to a charity that contributes to the safety of trans folks.

You can read a paywall-free version of her story here if you don’t know who she was.

I hate tooting my own horn, I really do. But somebody’s gotta do it.

Thanks for reading!