Buck Banks, Author at Pensito

Not Your Uncle’s MAGA

January 20, 2026 Buck Banks

The Danes and Greenlanders have something to say:
Ownership of Greenland is emphatically not in play.
But MAGA says it’s Greenland’s fate:
Lose sovereignty to make America great.
But the resistance has its own MAGA: Make America Go Away.

Mothers of All Threats

January 20, 2026 Buck Banks

Used to be that the greatest threat in the world was atomic bombs,
But the latest threat assessment just makes one want to facepalm.
Out of all the dangers in the world,
What gets Fox News’s panties in a whirl?
The “antifa tactics” employed by roving bands of militant wine moms.

Trump’s No Hitler

January 20, 2026 Buck Banks

“You know, people keep saying, ‘Oh, this guy’s Hitler.’ No, he’s not. And I’ll tell you why he’s not; Hitler was popular. This guy’s not.”

— Jon Stewart, quoted by The Wrap, on President Trump.

We’re in Full King Lear Mode

January 20, 2026 Buck Banks

“Yes, it’s real. He really did write that letter to the Norwegian PM, whining (once again) about not getting the Nobel Prize and declaring that since he didn’t get the Prize, ‘I no longer feel any obligation to think purely of Peace.’ And no, you are not the crazy ones if you think we have fallen down a black hole of mad king dementia. … ‘Unhinged’ doesn’t really capture this moment, where we find ourselves in a full-blown crisis because our president is butt-hurt about losing an award no one was ever going to give him. And now we are left actually wondering if our military commanders would obey an order to fire upon our closest allies.”

— Charlie Sykes

Peace Is Boring

January 19, 2026January 19, 2026 Buck Banks

After ending eight wars or causing the shooting to cease,
Donald Trump says he deserves a Nobel, at the very least.
But after killing Venezuelan boaters
And threatening Iran for killing protesters,
It’s clear that the commander-in-chief has gotten bored with peace.

Majority Think Trump Is Holding Back Epstein Files

January 19, 2026 Buck Banks

2/3

CNN Poll: “A two-thirds majority of Americans say the federal government is intentionally holding back some information about the Epstein case that should be released, while just 16% say the government is making an effort to release all information possible. The remainder say they haven’t heard enough about the case to say.”

House of Representatives Hits New High of Doing Nothing

January 17, 2026 Buck Banks

362

New York Times: “House members cast 362 votes in 2025, the second-lowest count in the last quarter century. The only other year in that time frame when the House cast fewer votes was 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.”

Kimmel to Trump: Pull ICE from Minneapolis and I’ll Give You an Emmy

January 17, 2026 Buck Banks

“Mr. President, I have an offer I think you’re going to find difficult to refuse. If you — and only if you agreed to pull ICE out of Minneapolis and put them back at the borders where they belong — I am prepared to offer you one of the following trophies.”

— Jimmy Kimmel, quoted by The Wrap, offering President Trump one of his Emmy Awards.

It’s No Joke

January 16, 2026 Buck Banks

A piece of chicken and a piece of broccoli walk into a bar,
A corn tortilla says, “You guys need more to be a MAHA star.
“You need me and to bring
“Just one more thing,
“To make it a USDA-approved three-dollar meal that tastes subpar.”

First Amendment Phobia

January 16, 2026August 14, 2026 Buck Banks

To get on the wrong side of the government, you had to be a bomb-throwing anarchist,
That was until Trump and his Cabinet conspired to be Constitutional denialists.
They’d rather rendition citizens on illegal flights
Than perpetuate the spirit of the Bill of Rights,
Now, if you stand chanting in a protest line holding a sign, you’re a “domestic terrorist.”

Author: Buck Banks

Not Your Uncle’s MAGA

Mothers of All Threats

Trump’s No Hitler

“You know, people keep saying, ‘Oh, this guy’s Hitler.’ No, he’s not. And I’ll tell you why he’s not; Hitler was popular. This guy’s not.”

— Jon Stewart, quoted by The Wrap, on President Trump.

We’re in Full King Lear Mode

— Charlie Sykes

Peace Is Boring

Majority Think Trump Is Holding Back Epstein Files

2/3

House of Representatives Hits New High of Doing Nothing

362

New York Times: “House members cast 362 votes in 2025, the second-lowest count in the last quarter century. The only other year in that time frame when the House cast fewer votes was 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.”

Kimmel to Trump: Pull ICE from Minneapolis and I’ll Give You an Emmy

“Mr. President, I have an offer I think you’re going to find difficult to refuse. If you — and only if you agreed to pull ICE out of Minneapolis and put them back at the borders where they belong — I am prepared to offer you one of the following trophies.”

— Jimmy Kimmel, quoted by The Wrap, offering President Trump one of his Emmy Awards.

It’s No Joke

First Amendment Phobia

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“If any politician wants to get mothers on their side, they should adopt this issue. It’s such an obvious electoral winner. And what I’ve learned is there is no force in the universe stronger than mothers trying to protect their kids.”

— Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, quoted by Politico, on the threats posed by social media and artificial intelligence.

“I’m very good at flagpoles!”

— President Trump bragged during an “impromptu tour of his various White House construction projects,” Mediaite reports.

“There are a lot of Ukrainian drones in the air. It would be dangerous.”

— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by the Associated Press, when President Trump asked him if he would accept Moscow as a venue for peace talks.

Numerati

+150

+750

“The number of U.S. service members wounded since the start of the Iran war has passed 750, according to the Defense Department’s war casualty database,” CNN reports.

+175,000

“The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that it has revoked more than 175,000 visas during President Donald Trump’s administration so far,” Fox News reports.

$4,600

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