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Showing posts from July, 2018

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

As the noose tightens around Trump's neck, he and his paid liars are of course resorting over and over again to just denying that what we know is sufficient proof of his criminality.  At this point, if Jesus Christ himself appeared in court to testify against Trump, Republicans would just insist that since his caring for the poor is a Democratic position, anything he says must be disregarded.  So it is important, I think, to consider at what point we can actually say that the case against him is proven. I have two points to make about the inevitable Republican claims that Trump has not been proven to be a traitor beyond a reasonable doubt.  First of all, that standard is for a jury in a trial; the American people are entitled to form their opinions any way they want.  For Republicans it is just fine to assert all sorts of criminality over Hillary's e-mails, Benghazi or the Pizzagate scandal, even though these absurd smears have been disproven again and again, but it is still

A Modest Proposal

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Most of you, I presume, are familiar with the Yellowstone Caldera, through the numerous documentaries and TV movies about the subject.  For those who are not aware of this geological phenomenon, under Yellowstone National Park lies a massive pool of magma, which when released may well cause an eruption that will dwarf Mount St. Helens, or even Tambora or Krakatoa themselves.  Despite scaremongering, of course, there is no prospect of such a thing happening in the next couple hundred thousand years or so, or that if it did it would be the maximum disaster beloved of horror movies. Nevertheless, the whole thing has given me an idea, which could well be the only path to salvation that the United States clearly has.  Here is a map showing the possible extent of the damage resulting from a massive eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera: I ask you to observe one fact which, until the helpful contribution of Green Eagle, has been unexplored:  The devastation wreaked by this event would be a

Cohen and Trump for Dummies

Cohen wants a pardon. Trump could just send him a signal that it will happen, but Trump is a belligerent bully with a really psychopathic need for dominance, so he won't do it. So, Cohen is ratcheting up the pressure, step by step, trying to get Trump to give him what he wants. Trump is counting on his followers to not give a damn how many prostitutes he had to pay off, or how many of them had abortions, or any other damned thing. After the shocker about the tapes, we can be pretty sure that what Cohen has revealed so far is only the tip of the iceberg. The only question is whether Trump will be manipulated by other Republicans into pardoning Cohen before Cohen reveals something that really does damage Trump.  Or if there is any way to make Trump supporters ashamed of what they have done, since sucking up to a foreign dictator isn't enough. We'll see.

Speaker of the House

I have made this comment a few times in other places, but I want to get on the record saying this.  If the Democrats manage to take back the House this November, it is vital not to turn leadership back to the ineffective, scared-of-her-own-shadow Nancy Pelosi.  There is one Congressman above all others who has demonstrated that he intends to to the right thing, and will not back down:  Adam Schiff. My vote for next speaker of the house is Mr. Schiff, and I don't think there could be a better choice.  Next, let's get rid of that tool Chuck Schumer and make Sherrod Brown the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Treason- The State of the Case Now- Updated

I have been meaning to put this down on paper for weeks now, but haven't, for a reason that I have mentioned before:  either people can see exactly what is going on in our country, or they just don't give a damn as long as someone else can be made to suffer more than them.  Well, I guess Trump's abominable performance in Helsinki has pushed me over the edge, so here goes what is probably a futile waste of time. Here are the basic components of an ironclad case proving far beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian dictator to pervert our election process and put Trump in office.  Yes, there were many other factors involved; the massive vote rigging which Trump's party has been up to for decades and the systematic, endless smear campaign which is now the only way Republicans know to beat Democrats (other than provoking racism and hatred, I guess) as the two leading examples.  But chief among all of the vicious tricks the Republicans pulled in

WINGNUT WRAPUP- Selling Out to Putin Version

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In which I consider the multifarious ways that the right has found in a day and a half to shrug off the colossal monstrosity of Donald Trump's press conference with Vladimir Putin.  We will likely never know what Trump gave away in their private meeting, and truthfully I didn't think Trump could possibly sink to the level he did in public.  I was wrong.  To quote Digby, in a comment that I think most liberals would agree with: "When Trump was shown on tape saying "grab 'em by the pussy" or supporting the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville or a dozen other "moments" we all assumed the tide would turn against him from his own people. It didn't and I don't know if it will this time. But it should. This is truly a new level of perfidy." It should, Digby, but it won't, as you will see by reading below: David P. Goldman, PJ Media:  "Once Again, President Trump Is Magnificently Right—This Time About Russia" Right.  Ye

TRAITOR

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Well, today is the last day in our nation's history that anyone could possibly honestly believe that our President is not a traitor.  Anyone who claims differently is, after his "press conference" with Vladimir Putin, lying, either to themselves or everyone else on earth. Sad to say, we know how all of this works.  The press is being halfway forthright about how stunning this all was, but within a few days, Republican beatdowns and the interests of media owners will shut this up, and within a week, hardly anyone will even remember that it  happened.  In a way, the whole thing can be seen in this one photo, found by my Facebook friend Shaun Dudley: It's all there, folks.  Well, there is so much that is craven, so many lies, in what Trump had to say that there was an outrage in almost every remark he made.  Lots of people are talking about all of it; so I am going to indulge myself by focusing solely on what I found the most outrageous and offensive remark Trum

Wingnut Wrapup

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As I have mentioned a couple of times, I've pretty much given up on Wingnut Wrapup, because what is the point, when the President of the United States broadcasts the same malignant lies and conspiracy theories every day, and is dutifully covered by the mainstream press?  I'm making an exception today, because I think it is important to pay a little attention to the upside down world in which wingnuts have immersed themselves even on issues whose factual basis is unquestionable.  First, a little of the response to the Peter Strzok hearings, where in reality Strzok demolished the evil little Republican toads that are using their positions as Congressmen to spread hatred toward anyone who disagrees with them: Katie Pavlich, Town Hall:  "Trey Gowdy Destroys FBI's Peter Strzok: Why Did You Talk About Impeaching Trump a Day After the Special Counsel Launched?" Why, because Trump is a traitor that deserves far worse than Impeachment?  Anyway, here you see how this c

Stating the Truth

In an article today at Daily Kos which I want to bring to your attention, because the truth has become such an endangered commodity in this country.  This is exactly what I believe, and may I say that it is because it is the simple truth, no matter how hard political figures and mainstream "journalists" try to cover it up.  This is a rather long excerpt; the article as a whole is absolutely worth a read: "These are the people who press their mistresses for abortions but who also are not vexed by abortion-providing doctors being murdered in their Kansas churches; they are confederate flag-wavers in Union states, miffed that new civil rights laws a half century ago slighted their own ne’er-do-well families in some never-quite-describable way; these are people who are so obsessed with the thought that someone better is looking down on them that they are willing to punch whatever kittens need punching in order to prove they're at least better at kitten-punching than

All You Need to Know about Brett Kavanaugh

He was one of the chief lawyers in Ken Starr's judicial assassination of Bill Clinton.

Another Giant Step Toward Fascism

This is in the news today: "BREAKING: White House releases Executive Order to end competitive selection process for Administrative Law Judges, making them political appointees who can be fired at will." There is a lot of talk already about how this will destroy a great part of the independent judiciary, and let a fascist boor like Trump fire judges for ruling against him.  I'll leave that issue for now, and just comment on this:  Can you remember back, say, two years ago when a President using an executive order for the most minor actions was absolute proof that he was a Communist would-be dictator?  Now, apparently crushing the independent judiciary without recourse is a perfectly acceptable use of Presidential power. Anyone out there who still doesn't get it that this is the culmination of the decades-long plan of the Republican party to reduce the United States to a fascist country in which the interests of its people means nothing compared to the ability o

Gun Nuts Show Their Strength!

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I mean, remember the March for our Lives demonstrations a few months ago after the Parkland High School shooting?  Hundreds of thousands turned out in cities all across the country.  Here, for example, is a picture of the one in Los Angeles: Well, advocates of letting gun companies make as much money as they can, no matter how many thousands of lives it costs ever year (i.e. Conservatives, A.K.A. the Family Values Crowd) were certainly not going to be outdone, so they also organized marches in ten or twelve cities across the country, which, in case you missed it, were held last weekend.  Here is a photo of the massive pro-gun crowd they turned out in L.A. Yeah, all fifty or so of them, who marched one block at Pershing Square, before realizing what idiots they were making of themselves and gave up. Of course, these jackasses are whining that the March for our Lives people had MASSIVE FINANCING! while their gun march didn't.  No mention of what the value of the endless publi

God, There Is Just No End to the Malignant Idiocy of the Right

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The latest chapter:  a 72 year old New Jersey couple, Carole Paladino and her husband, were in their house three days ago, when a gas explosion absolutely devastated it, killing them both: A tragedy indeed, which even the local Fox affiliate reports as being without any suspicion of foul play, and very possibly related to their having had a new gas stove installed a couple of days before. Well, without suspicion, that is except for a notorious Russian propaganda mill, and may I add, numerous right wing sites that have, in only three days, come up with this reporting: "A highly disturbing new Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report circulating in the Kremlin today says that a US federal government witness who was due to testify this coming week before a grand jury in the expanding FBI probe into Hillary Clinton and her Clinton Foundation was violently killed, along with her husband, in a massive explosion that completely obliterated her New Jersey home... There is, of cou

My Favorite Part in the Declaration of Independence

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In the list of charges against King George III: "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages..." You don't hear that much about this particular passage.

What The Hell Is Wrong With College Sports in the Midwest, Anyway?

So, we now learn about Jim Jordan, the second Republican Congressional leader in recent years revealed to have molested student wrestlers, in this case under his charge at Ohio State.  Add this to that nauseating team doctor of the women's gymnastics program at Michigan State, and of course the ever-memorable Jerry Sandusky, and we have similar incidents in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Is it the water?  Industrial pollution?  What the hell is wrong with this part of the country?

Scott Pruitt Heads for the Hills

Just ahead of the guys with the tar and feathers.  So people will be saying that he just finally got too corrupt even for Trump.  What a ludicrous idea!  Pruitt has been engaging in deliberate, open self service and criminality since the day he took office, and the Republican response has never been anything but to cheer him on as long as he was using his position to destroy environmental regulation in this country, something he took an oath to uphold.  What I have not seen mentioned in any article so far about Pruitt's dash for safety is this story, which just broke a couple of days ago: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt directly appealed to President Donald Trump in the spring to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and name him as temporary replacement to run the Justice Department, CNN reported on Tuesday." Well, there's what really happened.  Just like any dictator in history, Trump is sitting on top of a pack o

My State's Republicans Join the Fun

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We learn this from Media Matters today: "A GOP congressional candidate in California has been appearing on neo-Nazi podcasts...John Fitzgerald, an anti-Semite who is running as a Republican for California’s 11th Congressional District seat, has been appearing on neo-Nazi podcasts and falsely claiming that the Holocaust is a “lie.” Fitzgerald came in second with 23 percent of the total vote in the June 5 top-two primary and will face off against incumbent Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) in the November election." Fitzgerald asks the following question: "I hope all of you ask yourselves why JEWS are primarily behind the push of multiculturalism, diversity and inclusiveness throughout the United States, Europe and other once predominantly white nations of the world" Well, here is the answer to your question, asshole: That's why Jews are behind the "push of multiculturalism, diversity and inclusiveness."  Get it now, you subhuman scum?

A Congressional Suggestion

Not that there is a chance on earth that it will happen.  I propose that if the Democrats take back the house, they immediately replace Gutless Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House with the congressman who has become the face of standing up to the Republican party, Adam Schiff.  Don't you think that would be nice?

Oh, That Wacky Michael Cohen!

Man, have there been a lot of articles lately (as with every time this jerk shoots his mouth off) about how Michael Cohen is GOING TO FLIP ANY SECOND AND TELL MUELLER EVERYTHING! because Donald Trump has dumped him. What an idea!  Conservative does the right thing!  Yes, we have been waiting for that, oh, ever since the whale spit out Jonah, and it hasn't happened yet, but just you wait- here it comes. Well, I am sorry to harsh your mellow, guys, but it ain't going to happen.  Here is what is obviously going on, although no one seems willing (as usual) to state the clear truth:  Cohen wants a pardon, because it is the only thing that is going to keep him out of prison on a whole bunch of charges.  And there is only one person who can give it to him.  Well, Cohen sent that guy a ton of signals about how much he loved him and how loyal he was and predictably got nothing in return.  As usual, Cohen did Trump's dirty work, and in return, Trump has tossed him on the garbage