Green Eagle

Donald Trump, quoted in Politico: “Well, you know, I really feel it, Mike. I go to Ohio, we were there two days ago, and Pennsylvania and near Pittsburgh and we — I was in West Virginia, the crowds are massive. And you know, I walked out of one, and I said, ‘I don’t see how I’m not leading,'" Trump said, invoking the size of his crowds.   "We have thousands of people standing outside trying to get in, and they’re great people and they have such spirit for the country and love for the country, and I’m saying, you know, ‘Why am I not doing better in the polls?’ And in further news, our new puppy loves me.  Why am I not doing better in the polls?

I want to amplify my comments on a post I made a few days ago about the recent Supreme Court decision recognizing that the State of Texas used grossly dishonest arguments to justify anti-abortion laws.  And as before, I want to point out the tremendously good news that this decision presages. So, here's what I see:  Republican packing of the Supreme Court really began in earnest during the Nixon administration, in an action that forced the appointment of Rehnquist, and has continued ever since.  And the key point that must be understood is this never represented a split between liberal and conservative Justices.  These Republican appointees were not conservative, they were corrupt.  They were nothing but tools of the rich backers in the Republican party, who had figured out by the sixties that they could never get the results they were paying to obtain, through honest means. So, we have a whole host of issues on which there is no question that the Republican...

All Benghazi, all the time! So the deeply pathetic House Benghazi committee released its Repubicans-only report today, and guess what it contained?  Eight hundred pages of nothing.  What a surprise.  Even the miserable fanatics on the committee (with the exception of two of them, who produced their own "report" repeating every one of the long-discredited lies that have been all the Republicans have ever had) couldn't repeat the charges that they have been making for four years, in print for the world to see forever.  So, how did the wingnut blogs respond?  Well, pretty much as expected: Guy benson, Town Hall:  " More Lies: Newly-Discovered Withheld Emails Highlight Hillary's Unaccountability, Possible Perjury" No they don't.  But with Benghazi turning into such a bust, I guess they are going with a lie they think they haven't worn out yet. Katie Pavlich, Town Hall:  "FLASHBACK: When Hillary Stood in Front of Flag Draped Coffins And Lie...

Here's an aspect of this which has not received any attention yet, but I think is the most important part of the whole thing:  This law does not only presage well for reproductive rights in other States; it sticks a knife in the heart of the whole Republican scam of claiming they are passing laws for good reasons, when in fact they are doing it for electoral advantage or to pander to their base, which is basically the same thing.  If the Supreme Court, without the malignant presence of the intellectual bully Antonin Scalia, can finally face the fact that this law was passed on an entirely dishonest basis, perhaps at last they are free to recognize the wholly unacceptable grounds on which Republicans really want these laws.  This goes all the way from voter suppression to "Citizens United" type corporate pandering. And it makes all the more stark the choices we face this fall.  A Democratic President and Congress could set the country back on the path of working for...

Just a couple of thoughts about Brexit, which I haven't really paid much attention to, despite having lived in England when I was a graduate student at Cambridge: First of all, as usual, to American commenters, it's all about us, ranging from some guys on right wing websites blaming the whole thing on Obama (naturally,) to the standard mainstream take that, just like with Trump, it's about a bunch of angry working class white people who hate minorities in their country. This, of course, ignores another, and potentially much more damaging issue, "austerity."  Under the doctrines of austerity, the entire economy of Europe has to be subservient to the banks and seeing that investors don't lose a nickel on their loans, regardless of how irresponsible they were.  And the unfortunate reality is that the countries within the EEC who have all the power are the rich ones (I'm talking you here, Angela Merkel) which, of course, are home to all the bankers and inves...

Today's Wingnut Wrapup is dedicated to old hand David Gergen, who had this to say about Trump's disgusting, lying forty minute smear of Hillary: "DAVID GERGEN: If you don't look at what the substance of what he said, one of his best speeches and most effective speeches." If you don't look at the substance.  That's a good way to pick a President.  Well, Trump's speech was not quite as good as a Hitler speech maybe, but let's just ignore the substance of what Hitler said too.  That way, we can admire both of them. Matt Vespa, Town Hall:  "Media Screwing Up Reports On The AR-15 During Mass Shootings Isn’t New, Nor Was It The Most Embarrassing" You see, because they got wrong the exact model of assault rifle the Orlando killer used, they don't have a damned right to say a word about the 49 people he killed.  Just for your information, here is the actual model, from Sig Sauer: and an AR-15: As you can see the two product...

My wife says that we have Bernie Sanders to thank for the Democratic sit-in in Congress today.  She says he showed that grown-ups could do teenage things.

If there's one thing that Green Eagle dearly loves, it's a good conspiracy theory, and here's one that he just thought up today. Let's say that, oh, about a year ago, the rich sociopaths who really own the Republican party realized that the mob of monsters that they created to be their base had gone totally out of control and were going to nominate one of the crazies that have haunted the political aisles for years- probably Ted Cruz, whose administration, if he won, would almost undoubtedly precipitate a depression, which is very bad for business.  So, here's what they did:  they convinced one of their own, a multibillionaire who absurdly campaigns on the basis that he can't be bought by the other multibillionaires, totally ignoring the fact that nobody needs to buy him, because he is already one of them.  Well, this guy takes a big hunk of his own money and uses it as a loan to finance a campaign even bigger, more outrageous, more boastful, more angry and mo...

Paul Ryan, speaking to Chuck Todd: "The last thing I want to see happen is another Democrat in the White House. I don't want see Hillary Clinton as president. I want to see a strong majority in the House and the Senate. And I think the way to achieve those goals is to have a more unified party, than a dis-unified party," he added.   Todd quickly jumped on Ryan's response.   "You just made a case though of party over country," Todd said.   "No, I didn't," Ryan replied." I guess Chuck Todd has given Republicans plenty of reasons the last few years not to fear any consequences when they lie right in his face, but about something they just said in the previous sentence? Boy, this is going to be a painful election, no matter who they nominate.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars , Donald Trump explaining (to a cheering crowd) how things like the Orlando massacre will be dealt with once he is President: A gunfight in a darkened night club filled with three hundred innocent people.  By the way, anyone with the faintest knowledge of pistols knows how hard it is to hit a moving target with them in a calm situation, let alone in a free fire zone.  Something with a barrel that short just isn't that accurate. It isn't like it is in old cowboy movies, where the good guys would shoot the pistol out of the bad guys' hands, but Donald Trump doesn't seem to know that. I've seen gun nuts all over the internet claiming that liberals have no right to say a word about guns because they couldn't tell the difference between an AR-15 and the Sig assault weapon that the Orlando killer used.  That's important, I guess, but understanding how many innocent bystanders would be killed before the "good guy with a gun...

And yes, they have gone completely crazy.  The output of lunacy, in response, I guess, to the horrible situation they created for themselves, has increased dramatically lately, so I may have to do two of these a week for a while: Tom DeLay:  “I think we got off the track when we allowed our government to become a secular government,” DeLay explained. “When we stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution, that it’s based on biblical principles.” God wrote the Constitution.  And DeLay was one of the leaders of the Republican party at one point, and was only kicked out for corruption, not for being a deranged lunatic. Ron Paul,  Town Hall:  "Fascism: A Bipartisan Affliction" Both sides do it.  Republican fascism consisting in fostering hatred, racism and violence in the nation, then exploiting the results for political gain, while Democratic fascism consists, apparently, of not wanting rich people to own every scrap ...

I want to recommend a very good article in today's Los Angeles Times, about Donald Trump's behavior toward one minority group, native Americans.  Here is a small excerpt, but it is worth reading in its entirety: “When I have to sit here and listen to people saying that everything is just peachy-dory, it is not, folks. It is going to blow,” Trump warned. There was no way, he said, that “an Indian chief is going to tell ‘Joey Killer’ to please get off his reservation.” He also accused a federally recognized tribe, the Mashantucket Pequots, of being fakes. “They don’t look like Indians to me,” he declared... Donald Trump testifies about casinos, Native Americans and the mob on Oct. 5, 1993, in front of the House Native American Affairs Subcommittee. The hearing previewed a style, tone and vocabulary that have become familiar in Trump’s improbable political rise. Racially and culturally loaded rhetoric has been Trump’s constant weapon this election, from kick-startin...

I want to bring your attention to this just released study from Harvard's Shorenstein Center, dealing with the treatment of the candidates by the press.  Trump's abominable behavior in the last few weeks has led to some highly visible negative coverage by the press, but do not believe that this indicates that the mainstream media intend to do their job in the upcoming Presidential contest. Here's a sample of what they found; first about Trump: "When critics have accused journalists of fueling the Trump bandwagon, members of the media have offered two denials. One is that they were in watchdog mode, that Trump’s coverage was largely negative, that the “bad news” outpaced the “good news.” The second rebuttal is that the media’s role in Trump’s ascent was the work of the cable networks—that cable was “all Trump, all the time” whereas the traditional press held back. Neither of these claims is supported by the evidence. Figure 2 shows the news balance in Trump’s cov...

Nothing to see here.  Just move along.

Well, at this point, just about everyone is saying what I have been saying since at least the Reagan administration.  I've repeated it so many times, and today I just don't have the motivation to say it again.  Now, it is clear exactly where the Republican tantrum is designed to lead us, and I don't have any patience for anyone that denies the truth.

Here's a fascinating excerpt from the Washington Post (behind a paywall) that I saw this morning at Daily Kos, quoting that celebrated maverick and media darling, John McCain: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the elder Republican statesman, said President Obama was “directly responsible” for the terror attack in Orlando due to his failure to combat the rise of the Islamic State terror group.   “Barack Obama is directly responsible for it, because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama’s failures,” McCain said.   “He pulled everybody out of Iraq, and I predicted at the time that ISIS would go unchecked, and there would be attacks on the United States of America,” he said. “It’s a matter of record, so he is directly responsible.” I have said for quite a while here that Trump is not some accidental occurrence, but that he is a totally predictable outcome of the hatred and lust for vio...

I'm not a fan of twitter, which reduces everything to 140 character sound bites, but it does have its uses, and this is one of them, and an absolutely horrifying account.  It is a series of tweets from a person attending a Trump rally, published at Crooks and Liars.  Nothing I have seen really reveals the violent dementia that Trump is fostering, and that the Republican party has spent decades building. As you know, I follow right wing politics closely, with a very cynical attitude, but I was deeply frightened by what things like this portend for the future.  Please take the time to read it. Update:  I've now seen this reposted a number of places.  It has horrified everyone who reads it.  As people know, I have been chronicling the movement of the right toward racist nationalism, i.e. fascism or if you must, Nazism, for a long time now, but this really made me wonder just how close we have come.  Again, I urge you to read it.  There may be no...

With all the attention being directed toward the mass murder in Orlando, this could be easily missed:  A self-described Sovereign Citizen, Erick Shute, today murdered three of his neighbors, with whom he had been involved in some sort of property dispute.  Shute ambushed the three , shooting from behind a tree, while they were clearing brush on a road near his property.  He has indicated that he intends to plead self defense.  We'll see how much luck he has with that. Shute appears to also be the lead singer of the band Pyrexia, which plays something called "brutal death metal."  Care for a sample? Sweet, huh? I'm not going to say too much more about this, but it has been my habit to try to make a record of the behavior of these violent lunatics, who have been identified by the FBI as our country's greatest terrorism threat. Significant Update:  I want to direct you to this article, from the ADL, detailing this guy's deep, and longstanding, role ...

Let's just start with mentioning the astounding fact that the legendary Stupidest Man On The Internet, Jim Hoft, a regular denizen of Wingnut Wrapup, after a long career in which, among other miserable behavior, has frequently attacked gay Americans, has come out as gay.  Well, whoopee for you, you lying, disgusting sack of crap.  Too bad you weren't in that night club in Orlando the other day, so we could have been done with your miserable, hate-filled life. And as for Orlando, most of the Wingnut Wrapup predates the massacre there.  At this point, I can't really face the vomiting forth of the right's hatred, as they delight in the death of fifty people.  I'll get around to this event when there is some clarity about why this guy did what he did.  So onward: Bulletin from Republican universe: Mark Davis, Town Hall:  "This Time, Trump's Not the Problem...If there are apologies to be crafted, they should come from every Republican who chose to join th...

Well, Omar Mateen has certainly written his name in the history books.  It is so discouraging to think that a brain-dead jackass like this, motivated by insane religious rage, can do so much damage to our chances to have a sane discussion about what is going on in our country. So, this Muslim jerk joins forces with the Christian religious jerks in this country, and kills over 50 people because they are gay.  Well, Omar, there is nothing you could do in your now-thankfully terminated life that would have ever done more good for the hate-filled Infidels that people like you claim to be fighting.  Well, that would probably be just fine with you, because the religious fanatics on both sides are hell-bent on having an apocalyptic war, in which both sides are utterly confident they will win, because God is with them.  And the rest of us are left trying to prevent them from having their way, a task made just a little harder because of you. And make no mistake: this is ...

He loves America, he sure does! Man, how long can this go on? __________________________________________________________________ Well, maybe some people are getting it.  Here's a Trump rally in Richmond VA yesterday (photo courtesy of Little Green Footballs ) where hardly anyone showed up: Of course, with the cameras focused solely on the stage, and the people carefully placed behind the stage, Trump spent a couple of minutes raving about how great the crowd was.  Lying right in the faces of his supporters, and no one cared.  Well, I first heard about this on MSNBC, so I guess his behavior has gotten so ludicrous that even the Republican owned press figures they can make more money mocking him than supporting him. Well, we will just have to see whether they retain the minimal scruples they seem to have discovered, in a few months, as the prospect of another four years of Demon-crats in the White House starts to sink in.

Well, Donald Trump's strategy of dominating the news so he gets tons of free air time without having to pay for it, has been working out great the last week. How's that going for you, Donald?

I saw this pointed out by Driftglass today, and I think it is something that is worth spreading around: The current web page of the Republican party does not contain a single reference to the man who won the race to be their candidate for President.  Check it out if you doubt me. That has got to be a first.

Let's just start off with a good laugh: David Limbaugh, Town Hall:  "Some Trump supporters will be offended by the suggestion that they want to de-emphasize the Constitution or do not hold Trump to ordinary standards of decency" Some Trump supporters.  David continues: "In contrast, when Hillary Clinton recently denounced Trump for buying up properties at depressed values, he didn't defensively scramble to offer some irrelevant excuse. He ridiculed the allegation and affirmed capitalism in one fell swoop. In response to Clinton's claim that he bought properties at low prices to sell at higher prices and make profits, he said, "Who the hell doesn't?" Apart from my issues with Trump, that's how you handle leftist bullying." Who the hell isn't a greedy bastard that doesn't give a damn about exploiting the misery of others in order to make a profit?  Well, at least nobody that calls themselves a Republican. Pat Buchanan...