A deranged Hillary hating fake news reader's gun blazing assault on a Washington DC pizza restaurant has shaken the SS Trumptanic and caused a man-overboard alert - even before the ship is cut loose from Trump Tower:

It becomes easier and easier to blog the absurdities, but unlike intelligence, time has not distended. So in the interest of keeping up, a few thoughts on where we are. Are we going to pass Peak Trump early? One could only hope, but seems his cohorts and apologists adapt to each new event easily, as like the fake Westworld-like CNN panel on SNL last week.

Trump has ushered in the post-TV era for campaigns. It's not just the free airplay he gets on the networks - he really doesn't need promo anymore - it's all organic. He spent 1/3 of what Hillary spent, and nobody cares - every new tweet or news blip is simply good news for Trump, however bad it sounds. It's all impressions, "likes". Just like Facebook doesn't have any "unlike" button, there's no such thing as bad news for Donald - any mention will do. We have to find a way out of this or we're sunk

[Update to note the right's already absorbed any Taiwan damage - it's either "China can't tell us what to do", "that Trump's a straight-shooter, yay!", or my favorite, "the left is sexist cuz Taiwan's leader is female". Surprised?]

For all who whinged about the supposed Clinton Foundation supposed possible appearances of "pay-to-play" for their charity, Donald's not even in office and the pay-to-play and corporate welfare has begun.

In order to look tough on losing jobs to Mexico, he's orchestrated a sweetheart deal of high-level access to United Technologies to keep 1000 jobs in Indiana, half of its planned offshoring. Contrary to the suggestions that this was done with Indiana tax breaks, most of which had already been rescinded due to Carrier going back on its promises).

Imagine, a $56 billion a year company, with $7.6 billion profits, requires handholding from the President-elect to not offshore an operation that's 0.1% of its revenues - a blip. In return, it gets government access for its US government military business likely worth billions, since it sells $5.6 billion to the government yearly.

Dejected and desperate Democrats are grasping at hope that recounts in three (relatively) close states could reverse Trump's win and make Hillary Clinton president. They've tossed $6 million-plus into third-party candidate Jill Stein's recount campaign. Delusional. Meanwhile, they are ignoring the reality that Republicans have (so far) won only 51 of the 100 Senate seats. Louisiana will hold a runoff vote in less than two weeks.

As if we didn't have enough Irony this year and election cycle, Castro's death now invites disturbing parallels.

It's like Cuba went into a deep sleep, and woke up not to the revolution, but to Batista's government back in power - with the new/old values led from Washington - more 5-star hotels, "beautiful women", rigged mafia ties, military/security force backing and a callous disregard for poverty or those disconnected from this wealth.

Yes, America's voted in the Batista of the 50's to be its new Godfather-in-Chief.

It's interesting, if not disconcerting, watching the right co-opt the plaints and the postures of the left, in a thoroughly cynical but formulaic pattern.

Sure I see some problems with Politically Correct speech on campus shutting down debate. But the irony is palpable - "Yet today free speech is blatantly under attack on multiple fronts, in all of our institutions, especially in the very place where it was supposed to be most enshrined: the universities", one article in the Federalist writes.

Bernie's hit the trail again to talk about what he thinks is important, and to clue us in that voting for someone just because they're a woman is a dead-end, while blacks should be more concerned about social repression than racial.

Since we had a whole season to get irritated with Bern-splaynin', and we just lost an important election over something we still don't understand, we should take his words for what they are - a cry for help.