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Showing posts from May, 2019

Most Ridiculous Headline of the Year

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From the Washington Post today: "Trump risks credibility as his policy veers between threats and inaction" Credibility? Trump?  What the hell are they talking about? And while we are on the subject of Republican credibility, consider Iran: "On Tuesday, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton declared that the United States could win a war in Iran with just “Two strikes: the first strike and a last strike.”  And little Marco just had to get his two cents in too: "There is clear & persistent evidence,supported by observable movements on the ground,that Iran’s proxy forces in Iraq & Yemen plan to attack Americans with the intent of inflicting mass casualties" Remember when you were taught about how we thought the Civil War would be over in a few weeks?  Or when both sides thought World War I would only last a month? Remember when we went to war in Afghanistan 17 years ago and are still there? Well, maybe nobody is told that anymore.  At least, not

SHALL

From a very nice article at Vox, with comments from a number of law professors about Donald Trump's refusal to honor a legal request for his tax returns: "The provision Rep. Neal is using is a specific statutory exception from that disclosure prohibition. That exception says that the secretary of the Treasury (or his delegate) “shall furnish” the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee with any tax return or return information requested in writing." "Shall."  It all comes down to the meaning of this word. "A reading of the plain language of the tax code indicates that Congress does in fact have the legal authority to request and obtain tax information from any filer, including the president... The statute says the IRS “shall furnish” tax returns to the committee chair upon request and that’s the end of it... This is not an issue on which there is any possibility of reasonable disagreement. Any well-informed person who disagrees either that th

The Avalanche Moves On

The avalanche of dung. It never ends.  The horrors that are being perpetrated by the Republican administration are so endless that it is almost impossible to keep track of them, particularly with a mainstream press that will willingly be distracted by any infantile antic that Trump gets up to.  Here are a few things that are in the news the last three or four days: "Trump Calls For Asylum-Seekers To Pay Fees" Sheer bullying brutality, directed toward some of the most helpless people on earth.  And his "base" loves it, because they are all a inhuman as he is. "Vice President Mike Pence took a break from railing against socialism Friday morning to accuse Democrats of supporting baby murder." Trump and most other Republican leaders have jumped on this claim, despite it being one of the most disgusting lies the Republicans have ever told.  And that is a pretty high bar to pass. Republican trolls target Pete Buttigieg with false sexual assault cl