Green Eagle

Here's something I got from Paul Ryan today: All I can say is that, if Green Eagle is one of the top Conservative activists, they really are in trouble.

"TRUMP: Well, look, you know, I have my own ideas. He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want. STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, he's already there, isn't he? TRUMP: OK, well, he's there in a certain way" The mind boggles.

Three more courts have ruled strongly in favor of what we all know to be true-throwing out the Republican vote suppression bills in three more States.  Let me again say what I have said before on recent occasions like this:  There is not a single informed person of any political stripe that did not know that these laws were not intended to protect us from voter fraud, an essentially nonexistent phenomenon, but were intended to prevent Democrats from voting.  It is a sign of the malignant power that the corrupt intellectual bully Antonin Scalia held over the entire nation's jucidiary, that the fear of being overturned by the Supreme Court, and in a humiliating, insulting decision, caused them to leave this patent lawbreaking alone. With the court split 4-4, we can already see the amazing progress that has been made in restoring some shred of decency to our judicial system.  We should all observe this and realize the stakes involved in deciding whether Hillary or Tr...

What? You can read this story anywhere, but here's the coverage from right wing propaganda site Breitbart: "Donald Trump said he’s done being a nice guy" I'll just pause right there for anyone who had to run to the bathroom to lose their lunch. "and is “taking the gloves off” for the general election. “I’m running against a crooked person,” Trump told an over-capacity crowd that gathered to see him in Colorado Springs, Colorado Friday afternoon Trump added that Hillary Clinton is “a dishonest person” and blasted her for her “average” speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night." An average speech, as opposed to Trump's acceptance speech, which Republican leaning Gallup reports received the lowest positive ratings of any speech they have ever tested.  Well, that's not average, I guess. “You know, I’ve been saying lets just beat her on Nov. 8, but you know what? I’m starting to agree with you. Every time I mention her...

Not all that surprising or important, but as I like to follow these things, I was very amused this morning to learn from Think Progress  that the Bundys have filed legal papers in the criminal case involving their behavior in Oregon, which are a complete garbage pile of Sovereign Citizen gibberish: “i; ryan c, man, am an idiot of the ‘Legal Society’; and; am an idiot (layman, outsider) of the ‘Bar Association’; and; i am incompetent; and; am not required by any law to be competent; and;,” Bundy wrote in one legal filing submitted Thursday. “i; ryan c, man, accept no offer of representation, as no man is qualified to represent i; and; i; ryan c, man, will hold any man liable, in his/her private capacity, for any burden, placed upon i, man, by any man, by way of representation of i; and;,” he wrote in another." For those who may not recognize this sort of talk, it is a classic specimen of one of the more brain-dead forms of Sovereign Citizen nonsense.  Sovereigns regularl...

Here's what I've collected the last few days.  I kind of want to clear the decks in preparation for the tsunami of garbage we are going to see from the right trying to argue away the fact that the Dems beat the Republicans black and blue in their conventions.  So, like a trip to the dentist, might as well just put up with it and get it over with.  You know it's good for you. Four years ago I posted an absolutely ludicrous Romney song by some lunatic who calls himself "Third Eagle."  Well, he's back!!  Here's his Trump song: "Mike Pence and Donald shooting like stars!"  Well, at least they are shooting. And now, the Fox News response to Donald Trump's treason: Fox News:  "Charles Krauthammer said on "Special Report" tonight that Trump set a trap, and the Clinton campaign fell right into it.  He explained that the Clinton campaign statement said it would be a "national security issue," which contradicts Clint...

Donald Trump, speaking today about the Democratic convention: "I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard. I would of hit them...no no.. I was going to hit them...I was all set...Then I got a call from a highly respected governor that said "how's it going, Donald?" I said "it's going good, but they are saying very bad things about me. I'm going to hit them so hard". I was going to hit one guy in particular. A very little guy. I was going to hit him so hard his head would spin; wouldn't know what happened." How can anyone want that running the country?  How can anyone think he has the capacity to make rational decisions?  How can people imagine that the country could survive this sort of a leader? One thing that has been bothering me is the suspicion that there is actually an almost overwhelming urge toward self-destruction among Republicans; they don't just want to destroy their enemies, they actually seem to have an apoca...

And now, Donald Trump is offering Vladimir Putin more in return for Russian espionage on his behalf: " Trump to look at recognizing Crimea as Russian territory, lifting sanctions ... The United States, along with the EU, has refused to recognize the annexation" So, here is how the deal between Trump and the Russian dictator now stands: Trump got:  the product of Russian spying on the United States, which caused a momentary, minor embarrassment to his opponent in the Presidential race. Trump gave up:  The security of Europe, our nation's word about its foreign commitments, the Constitutional guarantee that treaties will be honored, and now the independence of an area the Russians invaded, and the freedom of its people. Does anyone see this as the work of the World's Greatest Negotiator?  There has never been a greater sham in the history of American politics, and man, that is saying something.

From the Wall Street Journal , although the news is lots of places by now: "PHILADELPHIA – Bernie Sanders said he plans to return to the Senate as an independent, despite winning 13 million votes in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary contest." The jerk couldn't even wait to the end of the convention to sing adios to the party, after milking them for all the support and attention he could get.  This is exactly why the DNC and the superdelegates were against him from the beginning- he was nothing but a parasite on the party, using it for his own purposes, and if the party does not protect itself from being used by such people, it won't have any reason to exist. However great many of the policies Bernie supported may have been, he has revealed himself during the last six months to be a self-serving politician with little grasp of what it means to be a Democrat, and no concern for the welfare of the party. What possible reason could there ever have been f...

Of course, we have seen Vladimir Putin compared to every dictator that anyone can think of, but it occurred to me that no one has mentioned someone who forms, I think, a true analogy to Putin- Napoleon. As in Russia, France in 1787 experienced the sudden collapse of a totalitarian government, followed by a period of political and economic chaos that lasted several years.  In the vacuum, a strong man emerged who, at first, seemed to have limited goals for himself, but gradually decided that he would rather be an emperor than a more ordinary political leader. French rationality and relative liberalism asserted itself in Napoleon's case.  Yes, the French people had to endure the rule of a couple of Napoleon's incompetent descendants for a few generations, but they managed to extricate themselves from that, and went on to become a democracy.  Russians seem to have a far more autocratic streak than the French, so we will have to see how long they let Putin get away with hi...

I'll be reposting this occasionally, since apparently the mainstream press has already pretty much lost interest: In the New York Times today: "The Clinton campaign immediately accused Mr. Trump of both encouraging Russian espionage against the United States and meddling in domestic politics." I see.  The Clinton campaign accused Trump of doing this.  Nothing but a partisan claim, right?  No way of knowing if it is actually true or not.  That's their position and they are sticking to it.  For the one day until they forget Trump's monstrous abomination, and go back to bitching about Hillary's e-mails. Trump is a traitor, and Debbie Wasserman Schulz was mean to Bernie.  Exactly identical, except that Trump's treason can be forgotten after a day.

And black is white, right is wrong and, well, you get where I am going. Here is the Trump campaign's response to the third day of the Democratic convention, and hold on tight- it's a bumpy ride falling into a black hole: "Tonight was a sad night for the Democratic Party. They offered no solutions for the problems facing America - in fact, they pretended those problems didn't even exist." Those problems, of course, being too many black and brown people, with way too easy lives, a problem which the Democrats certainly do not acknowledge. "They described a vision of America that doesn't exist for most Americans, including the seventy percent of Americans who think our country is on the wrong track. Never has a party been so disconnected from what is happening in our world." "Instead of dealing with reality, they spoke in cheap, petty terms beneath the dignity of a convention." Did you hear that from the Democrats, or did you, maybe...

The only campaign against Donald Trump, which should be repeated by every Democrat over and over again between now and November: Donald Trump currently has over $600 million in debts, compared to about $170 million in liquid assets.  After his ability to borrow money from American banks was severely curtailed by his four bankruptcies, he had to go overseas.  He borrowed a fair amount from the Germans, but also a great deal from Russians, which means rich oligarchs aligned with Vladimir Putin.  If these Russians call in his debts, his entire empire will crumble away to nothing, in a fifth disastrous bankruptcy. Suddenly, Julian Assange has released thousands of e-mails that are being reported as damaging to Democrats.  Remember that Assange lives in Russia, where he could be ejected at any moment, to face long prison terms in other countries, so Assange is under threat, and no one could  want to be under threat from Putin. There is virtually no question tha...

Real treason?  Not the phony kind that Republicans are always raving about, but real, Reagan style treason?  I guess it depends about what counts as an enemy when the Constitution talks about adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort. So, here is what we know today:  Trump has committed himself to abandoning the United States' long standing treaty obligations to defend NATO countries against attack by Russia, and in return, the Russian dictator has had his people hack into Democratic party e-mails and release embarrassing information, right before the Democratic convention. This is, at best, skating right up to the edge of treason, and depending on how you feel about what Putin is up to, real honest to God treason. But the press, which has made a years-long story about two innocuous e-mails from Hillary Clinton, until a large number of Americans think she belongs in prison, will not care about this story. You see, both sides do not do it.  If it's ...

I think that finally locking up the Republican nomination has driven Trump from an ugly egotism to a truly pathological megalomania. If you ever saw Citizen Kane, you may remember this, which is the most famous image from the film, and represents the delusional state that Kane had fallen into as his power grew: Well, count on Trump to bring it to life, and do it one better: Is this what party politics is supposed to be about, a chance for one person to indulge himself in a massive fit of substanceless self-promotion? Trump released a thirty second commercial on Twitter yesterday.  My computer knowledge is not great enough to link to it here, but I suggest you look at it at Little Green Footballs , where I found it.  There is not a word of speaking in the sound track, just some ominous music over pictures of him speaking at the Republican convention, and audience reaction shots.  Supered over this is the following text: “75 MINUTES TOTAL SPEECH TIME,” “24 ...

As we have now reached the point where we have a national politicial convention screaming en masse for the imprisonment of the Presidential candidate of the other party, on false, lying charges, and some even calling for her public execution, the sort of nonsense on a few malicious blogs may seem pretty insignificant, but it's my job, so I'll just get on with it, by going mainstream for a minute: Jill Philipovic, New York Times:  "Why Men Want to Marry Melanias and Raise Ivankas" Because they have big tits?  I mean really, Jill, why do you think? "The Republican Party has long praised traditional family values and intrinsic differences between men and women, while Democrats emphasize egalitarianism and expanding opportunities for women and girls." Family values- a rich guy dumping his second wife to take up with a foreign model.  Yup, family values.  Thank you, New York Times, for explaining this to us.  I'll go back to my explanation, Jill:  It...

So, the sweepstakes for how long after the Republican convention it would take Donald Trump to gnaw through the bars of his cage and go loping down the street with fangs bared are over.  And if your bet was more than about 20 hours, you lose, sucker. As has been widely reported now, "Trump just held one of his weirdest, Cruz-bashing, JFK conspiracy theorizing rallies ever" In which he already forgot that he is supposed to be running for President, and spent the time in a detailed airing of his personal hatred for Ted Cruz, including once again accusing Cruz's father of having been involved in the assassination of JFK. As if, by the way, in light of his open threats directed at Hillary Clinton, Trump would even be against the assassination of a Democratic President. It's all okay, though, perfectly within the range of acceptable political behavior, because, as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell suggests: "McConnell says supporting Trump is f...

Forty minutes late, Trump just finished his acceptance speech- the longest acceptance speech since at least 1972.  And now they are playing "You can't always get what you want,"  I kid you not.  they know the Stones are supposed to be good, but apparently none of them ever bothered to spend any time actually listening to the Stones. He sure was angry.  Who cares what this nasty narcissist had to say?  We all know what he is really about. But of course, let's not forget Chris Matthews' take away from all of this "the balloons dropped magnificently."  Well, it's all okay then, if we end up living in a third world dictatorship.

A fairly gratifying result from one of the most Conservative courts in the United States: " Texas’ voter identification law violates the U.S. law prohibiting racial discrimination in elections, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.  The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed previous rulings that the 2011 voter ID law — which stipulates the types of photo identification election officials can and cannot accept at the polls — does not comply with the Voting Rights Act. The 5th Circuit is considered one of the country’s most conservative appellate courts, with 1o of its 15 members having been appointed by Republican presidents.   The case centered on whether Texas discriminated against Hispanic and African-American voters when it passed the legislation: Senate Bill 14. (Texas Attorney General Ken) Paxton, Gov.  Greg Abbott  and other proponents argued that the law was needed to bolster security at the ballot box by preventing voter fraud,...

Tucker Carlson, Fox News:  "The headline of the week so far is, this convention is not a disaster, which is a massive victory for Trump." Well, leaving aside the fact that this convention is the biggest disaster of any nominating convention in the history of the country, both in its chaos and open display of hatred, and in the end result, "not a disaster" in running a four day party isn't really that high a bar for someone they think is suitable to run the country, is it?  Apparently, all the Republicans have to do now to have a massive victory is to avoid drawing their AR-15's and having a gun battle on national TV. " I don’t know a single reporter, I don’t know a single Republican poobah who was not predicting last week this was going to be a massive mess...  you’re going to see the party fractured... So for Trump, I think, and this is not propaganda, I think it’s real, it’s a win not to fail here." If Hillary raises her voice for one s...

Yes, we finally see the national breakout of the inevitable reinterpretation of every event, no matter how humiliating for the Republicans, as good for them. The day's speeches have only been over for a half an hour, and here we get Chuck Todd and Nicole Wallace explaining how Ted Cruz's unbelievable non-endorsement of Trump is actually Good For Trump!  He united the audience behind Trump!  I can't think of a single incident in my lifetime where a speaker at a national convention didn't endorse the candidate. This is a colossal affront. The audience elected him as their standard bearer just two days ago, but were apparently not united behind Trump.  Now, the Republicans are united behind Trump!  Let the games begin, because it is now a new day!  It's all good for Trump, from here on out!!! God, I would have thought that the press having made total asses of themselves reinterpreting everything in 2008 as good for McCain, until the phrase became a joke, woul...

I really can't take actually watching this, or pretending that there is one thing rational or normal about it.  The audience was screaming about throwing Hillary in prison almost from the first moment.  I'll just stand by speaker Laura Ingram, pretty much summing up what this whole thing is about: I always thought they would make a lot more effort to hide what they really are behind a thick veneer of Lonesome Rhodes style folksiness, but I guess that didn't last long. Anyone still wondering, as I used to, how it happened in Germany in the thirties? By the way, if you don't get the reference to Lonesome Rhodes, you owe it to yourself to find a way to see the movie "A Face in the Crowd."  It has turned out to be one of the most prophetic films you will ever see, as well as a peerless serious performance for Andy Griffith, before he spent his career being a professional nice guy.  Here's a sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaLQMs_VDLw

His speech, reduced to one sentence:  "Please, Dad, don't cut me out of the will."

And I mean it is stunning.  As you undoubtedly know by now, Melania Trump, for a reason which we will probably never understand, plagiarized, of all people, Michelle Obama in her speech to the republican convention.  Well, I thought it would be amusing to see what sort of tortured reason wingnuts would come up with, to make this colossal humiliation disappear.  I must say, I was pretty stunned by the sheer variety of their rationalizations, a sample of which I want to share with you: All the reasons Lying Trump's lying wife's plagiarism doesn't count, courtesy of a cursory trip around the wingnuttosphere: It didn't even really happen: "Those lines do not belong to Mooch. They are lines from other famous speeches." "Actually the paragraph has been in use since 1748 in English Literature." "I believe the words that were supposedly plagiarized were not copywritten" "You can't "plagiarize" from the common lexi...

Doesn't this make you feel safer, Northern Ohio?

Trump got a former underwear model to lecture the country on how Obama is a foreign Muslim. This is, I believe, a first for a national political convention.  I'd have volunteered to speak myself if I had known how hard up they were.

People who read my blog know I have covered the Sovereign Citizen movement, classified as the most violent terroris movement in the country, for years.  Let me briefly outline a few facts about them: The Sovereign Citizens are essentially an outgrowth of the "Posse Comitatus" movement of the eighties, which eventually morphed into the right wing militias.  This was mixed together with another movement I have written about, Christian Identity, which is a virulent and violent form of white racist supremacy.  It is ironic that this malignant group has attracted quite a few black adherents in recent years, but there it is. Sovereign Citizens are filled with anti-government hatred, which has provoked many attacks and murders of police, judges and other government employees over the years, and this guy has provided us with one more example. Gavin Eugene Long is, in fact, not a left winger or a Black Lives Matter activist; he is a right wing terrorist like Timothy McVeigh ...

So, in the last year, we've seen ISIS go from running military bases and oil refineries, controlling major cities and large swaths of territory, to carrying out random suicide bombings wherever they can get away with it, and now trying to take credit for what was clearly the act of a deranged petty criminal with no apparent political connections at all. This is not the path of a successful movement.  It seems like I should hardly need to say this, but a large part of the Republican party is still hiding under their beds and crying in fear about them.  A very limited military campaign on the part of a few countries has succeeded in damaging them, probably beyond recovery. I remind you that, from 1935 to 1945, the German military had 35 million members, and was backed up by the greatest industrial base and the greatest military technology the world had ever seen.  ISIS had a few tens of thousands of fighters at their peak, no industrial base and no technology; nothing b...