This house a few blocks away from my home is so perfectly emblematic of what MAGA has done to the United States of America: the flagpole with a Betsy Ross flag, faded and tattered and disintegrating, flying in front of a house with “JESUS” crudely painted on the roof, with the walls decorated with garish Trump signs.
Not shown is the giant gas-guzzling RV parked in their driveway.
I do despise these shabby, tacky MAGA idiots, but that’s what this country has become.
I drive by this house fairly often, and every time I am compelled by the power of Jayzus to make an obscene gesture at it.
PZ, I, too, would be tempted to make an obscene gesture when I see a lot of these trailer-trash maga cult xtian terrorist abodes. However, to anyone with any knowledge of what these symbols mean, the house is, in itself, an obscene gesture.
This reminds me of the neighbor who lived across the street. He was a rabid MAGAt. Last year, he hung an insane banner to the front of his house showing Trump as a bare chested Rambo. I had to see that fucking thing every day for months. But, things took an interesting turn late last summer. One day, three police cruisers chased his son back to the house, where they cornered him on the driveway. I heard the commotion and took a seat on my front porch to observe the show. I was trying to figure out what his offense was. He was stuff yelling at them like, “I’m an American citizen, you can’t do this to me on my own property!” There were profanities galore. The cops showed admirable restraint considering the abuse he was hurling at them (he’s a White guy, so no George Floyd treatment.) From the way he was bellowing, I’d say alcohol was definitely involved. They roughly handcuffed him, forced him into the backseat of a cruiser and off they went. Not long afterwards the house went on the market. They moved out, and a sane couple moved in. Sometimes, there are happy endings.
My neighborhood has quite a few of these.
I want to chuck bricks (and other objects) through all of them each time I drive by them.
They’re actually a minority, no matter how much they claim to be the “real Americans” and so on.
@2 shermanj
They have a decently sized house and an RV, you don’t get to put this one on poor people who live in trailer parks. This is more likely small town local gentry behavior.
@6 Knabb writes: @2 shermanj They have a decently sized house and an RV, you don’t get to put this one on poor people who live in trailer parks. This is more likely small town local gentry behavior.
I reply: You clearly equate the term trailer-trash only with being poor. Wealth has nothing to do with what I was intimating. I was clearly referring to people who are indoctrinated into the maga cult, whether rich or poor, and outwardly display a lack any pride in how they keep their abode. Even your use of the term ‘local gentry’ implies wealth which the dictionary defines as ‘An upper or ruling class. The class of English landowners connected to landed estates ranking just below the nobility.’
I cannot agree with such a narrow definition of the term trailer-trash since it is a well known vernacular idiom that clearly refers to a lack of quality of character and pride in keeping the property respectable, which includes the description painted by PZ and the use of which I find appropriate.
PZ correctly, objectively, points out that their flags are violations of the national flag code; that they are shabby, tattered and disintegrating, the name jesus is crudely painted on the roof, the walls have large, garish tRUMP and religious propaganda banners. PZ makes reference to them as shabby, tacky MAGA idiots.
I know many people (including relatives) who live in trailers and manufactured homes. We, and they, are not wealthy but have sufficient self-respect to keep our homes from being run-down eyesores which are plastered with blatant, flagrant, shabby propaganda.
I would definitely give that place the “one gunned salute”: 🖕🏼
Unfortunately, my youngest child married one of these MAGATS.
She occasionally calls me to brag about how well their business is doing. They sell and maintain flags and huge flag poles.
Recently, she called to marvel over how quickly the economy has improved and to let me know that they are making LOTS of money. I ignore the bragging, inquire about my grandson, and get off of the phone.
I can barely stand to listen to her for a few minutes. This was not how she was raised, and her siblings have maintained their sanity. I’m wondering how the coming recession/depression will affect their lives.
Speaking of the MAGAts, news from Australia that Virginia Giuffre has taken her life. She was one of the more outspoken victims of Jeffrey Epstein and was trafficked to Prince Andrew. She was 41.
That looks to be more a prefab or modular home than a single or double wide. It’s not what people live in (think on Brazilian favelas for a moment of perspective) but how they choose to festoon their abode with MAGA crap that matters. People are doing the same to their vehicles and places of business. I’ve seen MAGA crap on shopping mall signage.
You had me at Jesus roof.
Every time you pass, do you mutter “Jesus?”
Depends also on the RV and reasons for owning it. If it is one of those fancy expensive RVs with all the bells and whistles used to fake-camp somewhere in a nature park on a weekend, that is one thing. But people owning and/or living in them is often a matter of necessity. Do these people own the RV or is it a down on their luck relative staying in the driveway for a spell between jobs in the gig economy? After reading Nomadland by Jessica Bruder (the movie kinda lost the plot) I don’t automatically judge RVs as a vehicle. When Trump and Musk have their way destroying the economy there might be a new surge in people, especially retirees, entering into the RV living lifestyle as happened after the subprime meltdown. If the Trumpsters in that house wind up victimized by FAFO, they at least have an RV already to escape into, regretting their life decisions.
There’s a trash pit single-wide trailer I drive by sometimes–it has two huge Trump flags flying in its mud yard with two poor dogs chained to doghouses in its yard.
I made this same comment at Breitbart and was accused of lying. I shared the Google Earth coordinates like I am here 37.81506228147317, -81.40894765716176 and was still accused of lying.
Right wing morons can’t stand facts that hurt their feelings.
Ah yes, the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag that, judging by those who wave it most fervently, represents the core political philosophy of stomping on vulnerable people at every opportunity.
Hemidactylus@16–
I liked the Nomadland movie but have not read the book. What went wrong with the adaptation?
chrislawson @17
Largely it was a Frances McDormand vanity project, which is fine I guess. She plays a fictional character in the movie where the book was largely from the investigative perspective of Bruder delving into the lifestyle and interviewing the real people. To its credit the movie used some of the real people. There was someone who passed away in the book who another person took the place of. The biggest issue was how the movie treated Amazon fulfillment centers with kid gloves where Bruder pulled few punches. I don’t hate the movie. The arc the main character makes from the factory town of Empire to hooking up with Noah from the Jason Bourne movies was cool. The cinematography was superb!
I can’t recall if the movie covered the self-sufficient homes made of recycled items and tires. Earthships were an interesting part of the book. Movies do have time and subject matter constraints.
@9: She’ll blame the Democrats.
The aged founders of the largest business in my bit of Podunk have decided to stop flying the U.S. flag. They run a trucking company and a granary. There is still space at the top of the pole for the Stars and Stripes, but only Trump in red remains.
I’m not sure I know what they are trying to say.
“Trailer-trash” is a derogatory North American term for poor people living in a trailer or run down mobile home in a bad neighbourhood.
Thanks not only to the deluded evil racists in the Trump Kult who voted for Trump directly but also to those who de facto supported and voted for Trump indirectly by attacking and undermining Kamala Harris and the Democratic party which was the ONLY alternative to Trump. Those who voted third party or stayed home are as much to blame – perhaps even more because they really should have known better. Those like former commenter here Vicar and present one beholder who have metaphorical blood on their hands here.
I also wonder how the Abandon Biden / Harris movement klowns feel now about the real genocidaire and genocide inciter, encourager and open supporter Genocide Don Trump?
I can only warmly recommend to everyone who is nostalgic about the decline of America to read Sarah Kendzior’s “The Last American Road Trip”, a truly wonderful book.
The RV is a giant beige Winnebago-kind of thing. It’s the kind of monster that makes a mockery of the idea of “camping”.
Can anyone explain to me the symbolism of that particular variant of the US flag. It appears to have the EU circle of stars in place of the rectangular matrix usually seen on such things.
@25 It’s an early United States flag, sometimes called the Betsy Ross flag, where the ring of stars represents the 13 original colonies. It’s associated with white supremacists now.
RE: #25 – the stars in the US flag were originally arranged in a circle. The rectangular matrix came in as the empire grew. The people flying the flag are likely espousing going back to a time when “America was pure”.
@27 The flag with the thirteen stars in a circle with the red and white stripes was the original US flag, the one flown during the American Revolution by the colonial forces (and their French supporters. Side note: If the French hadn’t decided to back the nascent US rebels, history would have called the event the American Rebellion.) It is sometimes called the Betsy Ross flag, for the woman who designed it and sewed the first one.
@26 White supremacists have co-opted the Betsy Ross flag just as they have co-opted the Gadsden flag. Mostly because they are semi-literate assholes who haven’t quite worked out that the US Revolution was won because the French (monarchist!) government decided to stick a thumb in the British collective eye by financially and militarily supporting the US rebels. The US rebels didn’t have enough financial resources to attack a half-built barn, let alone the British empire. The French backed the US rebels because the French lost the French-Indian wars against the British colonial forces, thus largely losing control of their fledgling French colonies in North America and were hoping to weaken the British empire by backing the US rebels. If the French hadn’t backed the US rebels, the US revolution would have more closely resembled the various Indian (as in India) uprisings and rebellions.
While it’s nice to see the flag named for its creator, it would have been equally accurate to call it the French and DuPont flag.
DuPont made it’s fortune by selling gunpowder to the US rebel forces, although they did not become an official US company until the 1800s. (DuPont also backed the Union forces by refusing to sell gunpowder to the Confederate forces during the Civil War.)
The joke is that DuPont picked the first US president and all the ones that came after.
Unfortunately, the chances are excellent that they will ask to come live with you, if only because the other options may be: living out of their car (if they still have one) or homeless shelters. I’m guessing that you have concerns about your grandson’s future?
Or you can ask them what they plan on doing for money in the current economic environment, since people under financial stress are generally not buying nonessentials like flags. When eggs are $10 for a dozen, flags are generally not on the shopping list.
On the plus side, the majority of your kids kept their critical thinking capabilities?
You have my sympathies, it sucks to watch the slo-mo trainwreck to people you care about, even it (or especially when) it’s self-inflicted.
I have found it interesting over the past almost 10.years that over 90% of the house I pass by and are decorated with MAGA crap are what I would call “shit hole houses”.
You want to Make America Great Again? How about start small and Make you Own House Great Again? Try picking up all the crap in your yard and on your porches. Instead of sitting on your asses watching Fox News and posting memes on Facebook to own the libs, go outside to pull out some weeds and prune your bushes. I’ll bet the inside of these houses are candidates for a Hoarders episode.
I remember when Republicans proudly proclaimed that they stood for personal responsibility (even if they were mostly full of shit back then). But now, they don’t even try. They want to blame some “other” for every reason that their miserable lives suck.
@1 Or maybe just answer in kind?
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1758114652/ill-tread-wherever-i-want-flag-funny-cat?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=i%26%2339%3Bll+tread+where+i+want&ref=sr_gallery-1-37&pro=1&sei=1&content_source=979b7d78b5e2aee64a8d3f9d0f19fd71727e21e5%253A1758114652&search_preloaded_img=1&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=979b7d78b5e2aee64a8d3f9d0f19fd71727e21e5%3A1758114652
@31 THIS.
What floors me is that there are so many cultists who are federal employees. And they are so seldom the top performers.
Do they somehow not understand that Cheetolini hates them on general principles and wants to get rid of their jobs? (Unless they are cishet white military men who will unquestioningly obey orders.) Kind of makes you long for the American version of Vasily Arkhipov.
Uggghhh! Can we focus on the Trump flags and not what someone is living in who flies them? Again what I said above about favelas.
I have heard various black friends talk down on things or people being “ghetto” or other black people being “country” which are likewise derogatory references coming from a perceived sense of superiority. If a “country” (ie- rural allegedly unsophisticated black person) is flying a Trump flag over a kinda rundown house, what should we be focusing on? The house or the Trump flag?
If a white person is bravely keeping their Kamala Harris stuff out in a similarly situated living condition are they trash too?
[meta]
I can tell ‘trailer trash’ is an Americanism since we’d say ‘trailer rubbish’ — which we don’t do.
(We do have ‘housos’, which is much the same thing)
—
Anyway, regardless of the cladding, that dwelling seems neat and kept and functional and hardly rubbishy to me, ideological decorations aside. And character is not ideology, though they of course interact.
In Australian news:
@ Morales
We don’t do it because we say caravan, not trailer, you idiot, and there would be no alliteration.
The actual equivalent is, of course, bogan.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan
But you can’t make a direct comparison anyway since the national character is completely different. Australian heroes are underdogs. Eureka Stockade. Ned Kelly. Gallipoli.
There is no such phenomenon in Australia of a belief in exceptionalism.
@9 magistramarla wrote: I’m wondering how the coming recession/depression will affect their lives.
Read this insightful comic for 28 april 2025. It beautifully corroborates my comments and answers the above question:
https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur
@35 John Morales said: regardless of the cladding, that dwelling seems neat and kept and functional and hardly rubbishy to me, ideological decorations aside
I reply: Many others, including PZ, disagree with that. That is not ideological ‘decorations’, it is, as I wrote, ‘we . . have sufficient self-respect to keep our homes from being run-down eyesores which are plastered with blatant, flagrant, shabby propaganda.’
In the article PZ wrote: I do despise these shabby, tacky MAGA idiots, but that’s what this country has become.
@31 Captain Kendrick wrote: decorated with MAGA crap are what I would call “shit hole houses”.
Yeah, real class, lol. Another thing you’ll see where I hail from, is confederate flags. And I live in PA, north of the Mason Dixon line. ”The south shall rise again. We gonna have slavery again, just like gawd intended.”