;)
February 17, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "The New York attorney general can interview Donald J. Trump and two of his adult children under oath as part of a civil inquiry into his business practices, a judge ruled on Thursday, rejecting the former president's effort to block the questioning. The inquiry by the attorney general, Letitia James, and a parallel criminal investigation led by the Manhattan district attorney are examining whether Mr. Trump improperly inflated the value of his assets to receive favorable loans. Lawyers for the Trump family had sought to prohibit Ms. James, a Democrat, from interviewing Mr. Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump. They had argued that she was politically biased against Mr. Trump and was inappropriately using her civil inquiry to aid the district attorney's criminal investigation, which she is also participating in. But the judge, Arthur F. Engoron, ruled in favor of Ms. James's lawyers...." An AP report is here.
Oregon Gubernatorial Race. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Nicholas Kristof, a former New York Times columnist who left the newspaper to run for governor of Oregon, does not qualify to appear on the ballot this year, the state's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. Justices said that while Mr. Kristof had extensive ties to the state, including a farm that he operates outside of Portland, elections officials were within their right to determine that he did not meet the state's three-year residency requirement, ruling that he had maintained his New York connections until December 2020. 'He remained registered to vote in New York and retained a New York driver's license until late 2020, actions that are at odds with an intent to change his domicile to Oregon a year or more earlier,' the justices wrote."
Morgan Chalfant of the Hill:"Russia expelled a senior U.S. diplomat last week, the State Department said on Thursday.... A State Department spokesperson confirmed the expulsion of Deputy Chief of Mission Bart Gorman, the No. 2 diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and described it as 'unprovoked.' But while news of his expulsion broke on Thursday, the spokesperson said that Gorman departed from his position in Moscow last week. Russian state media was the first to report on Gorman's expulsion. Russia did not offer a reason for the decision to expel Gorman. The State Department said he had a valid visa and that his tour had not ended."
Haley Ott & Tucker Reals of CBS News: "Ukraine's military and the Russian-backed separatists it has battled for eight years in the country's eastern Donbas region both accused the other side of opening fire on Thursday in violation of ceasefire agreements that have been shaky, at best, since they were signed seven years ago.... America and its allies have also warned for weeks that Russia could try to stage a 'false-flag' incident -- including a faked attack by Ukrainian forces on the rebels in Donbas -- to use as a pretext to invade Ukraine. On Thursday, amid the claims of shelling from both sides, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was 'concerned' that Russia was trying to do just that."
Hugh Lowell of the Guardian: "The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is considering issuing a subpoena to Ivanka Trump to force her cooperation with the inquiry into Donald Trump's efforts to return himself to power on 6 January, according to a source familiar with the matter.... Members on the select committee are not confident that Ivanka Trump would appear on her own volition, the source said, and the discussion about a subpoena reflected how important they consider her insight into whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy on 6 January."
Peter Hermann & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A D.C. police lieutenant in the intelligence branch has been put on leave amid an investigation into alleged improper contacts with a prominent member of the extremist group Proud Boys, according to four law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case. The officials identified the officer as Shane Lamond, a 22-year veteran. Law enforcement officials said there is evidence suggesting communications between Lamond and Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, who described himself as the former chairman of the group."
Wherein Dick Durbin Gets the Best of Tom Cottonhead. Aliza Worthington of Crooks & Liars: During a Senate confirmation hearing, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Bonehead, Ark.) berated judicial nominee Nina Morrison for freeing convicts to roam among us. That's because Morrison "spent years as an attorney for The Innocence Project, helping to free 30 innocent people from prison and death row." That's right; as far as Cotton is concerned, once you're convicted (especially if you're Black!), innocence is no excuse. Cotton then went on to complain about the bipartisan prison reform bill: "'It's your party that voted in lockstep for the First Step Act. That let thousands of violent felons back on the street, who have now committed innumerable violent crimes,' whined Cotton. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) ... jumped in, 'First Step Act? The Democrats did the First Step Act? The Republicans were in the majority. It was a bill sponsored by Senator Grassley, Durbin, Lee, and many others, and who signed it into law? Donald Trump signed it into law, this so-called Democratic measure.'" Emphasis original. MB: As I recall, Jared Kushner pushed the First Step Act, no doubt because he anticipated his friends would be going to jail (see related story linked below) just as his father did. ~~~
~~~ Akhilleus asks, in today's Comments, "What do these fuckers do all day long? Do any of them even bother to pay attention? Or is it all just coming up with new outrages with which to pad Faux's nightly litany of horrors against Trump World denizens?" Alas, Akhilleus's questions are rhetorical, and we all know the answers.
John Wright of the Raw Story: "Only 13 of 143 GOP congressional candidates in Texas -- or fewer than 10 percent -- have said the results of the 2020 presidential election were legitimate, according to a new report from the Houston Chronicle. So ~~~
~~~ The Cult of Trump. Or Not. David Siders of Politico: "... fractious [Republican] primaries will unfold across the electoral map in the coming months, cementing a more populist orientation for the GOP and Donald Trump's status as the party's lodestar, or setting a more traditionally conservative course. These aren't simple match-ups between Trump and anti-Trump forces, or isolated intraparty feuds. Safely ensconced Republican officeholders are being bombarded by challengers from coast to coast, in many cases spurred on by Trump directly. Redistricting and retirements have further scrambled the established order in many places, opening up seats and drawing fields filled with combative candidates eager to move the party in a different direction. Combine that with high levels of energy - and anger -- in the party base, and it's a recipe to remake the party from the ground up." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is a battle for the heart & soul of the Republican cult that has neither heart nor soul. So an impossible task.
From the You-Can't-Make-This-Up Department. Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "After Canadian authorities blocked [MyPillow Guy Mike] Lindell's truck delivery at the border on Tuesday because he was unvaccinated and didn't have proof of a negative COVID-19 test, the pillow tycoon told the Daily Beast on Wednesday that he had a new strategy: Fly a helicopter over Canada to airdrop the pillows attached to 'little parachutes.' Lindell insisted that the Daily Beast made sure to mention the little parachutes. '[M]ake sure you put that part in, or it could be dangerous,' he said.... He claimed that he had 'confirmed' with an unnamed helicopter company a plan to deliver them at 11 a.m. local time on Thursday." Apparently the MyPillow Guy has seen that "WKRP" Thanksgiving turkey drop episode I embedded a short while back.
See Victoria's commentary in today's thread on "those cognitive/emotional changes due to covid."
~~~~~~~~~~
John Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States and Russia offered alternative versions of reality on Wednesday with Moscow announcing a partial withdrawal of forces from Ukraine's border and Washington responding that the Kremlin added thousands of troops and new weaponry critical for a full-scale invasion.... 'Unfortunately there's a difference between what Russia says and what it does, and what we're seeing is no meaningful pullback,' Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC's 'Good Morning America.' 'On the contrary, we continue to see forces, especially forces that would be in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine, continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border.' Blinken's remarks were echoed by other Western officials, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.... A senior U.S. official said Russia recently deployed 7,000 additional troops near the Ukrainian border and charged that drawdown claims were simply 'false.'"
Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: "The Education Department will cancel federal student loans for at least 1,800 students who attended DeVry University, once one of the nation's largest for-profit college chains, because it fraudulently lured in applicants for years with vastly inflated claims about their career prospects. While the department has stepped up its discharges of debts for students who were victimized by their schools, the decision announced on Wednesday is its first approval of fraud claims involving a school that is still operating."
Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly confirmed one of President Biden's Pentagon nominees whose expertise on Russia could be critical amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, overcoming the opposition of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). The vote was 83-to-13 for Celeste Wallander, chief executive of the U.S.-Russia Foundation, to serve as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. Hawley opposed the nomination, joined by a dozen other Republicans."
Caroline Vakil of the Hill (Feb. 15): "Eight Republican senators are urging the Justice Department to reject a request to create a 'no fly' list for unruly passengers, saying it 'would seemingly equate them to terrorists.'... The Republicans who signed the letter include Sens. Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Mike Lee (Utah), James Lankford (Okla.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Ted Cruz (Texas), John Hoeven (N.D.) and Rick Scott (Fla.)." MB: Never mind that these "unruly passengers" endanger the health & safety of everyone on the plane, injure flight attendants & other passengers, try to storm the cockpit, try to open the emergency door in-flight, and otherwise disrupt flights to a point they would kill everyone on the plane if not subdued by crew & passengers. So, yeah, I would definitely "equate them to terrorists." And these Senators for Violence in Public Air Transportation think it's just fine for an unruly passenger banned from one airline to hop aboard another air carrier to pull the same dangerous stunts. ~~~
~~~ AND Mitch McConnell opposes electing Trumpian "goofballs" to Congress. I wonder how he feels about the eight goofballs cited in the story linked above.
Texting the Insurrection. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "... thousands of ... frantic, ephemeral text messages that might have otherwise been lost to history are now key to piecing together the mos vivid and comprehensive picture to date of the events surrounding the chaos at the Capitol. Many were sent to [former chief-of-staff Mark] Meadows by Fox News hosts, lawmakers and other Trump allies urging him to get his boss ... to put a halt to the assault. The texts, obtained by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault, are among the most important tools the panel has to bring home the gravity of what happened that day, the planning that preceded it and the concern for democracy that lingered in the aftermath -- even among some of Trump's most loyal allies, who have since sought to play down the events of the day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Reuters, republished by NBC News: "New York's attorney general [Letitia James] on Wednesday pounced on ... Donald Trump's defense of company's financial statements, saying the five-page statement Trump issued a day earlier contradicted a court filing by his attorneys.... The attorney general's office wrote in a letter filed in New York state court, '... it is truly rare for a party to publicly disagree with statements submitted by his own attorneys in a signed pleading -- let alone one day after the pleading was filed.'... Trump's attorneys repeatedly stated that he did not know enough to respond to allegations of inaccurate valuations. But the former president's five-page statement got into detail about possible discrepancies, implying that he had more knowledge than his lawyers said.... [The] five-page statement disparaging the attorney general and other New York officials, calling the investigation a political and racist attack, claiming Mazars had essentially been forced to resign, and defending the financial statements." ~~~
Liz Dye in Above the Law: "Before [Thursday]'s hearing in New York Supreme Court on a motion to quash subpoenas for himself and his children, Donald Trump did what he does best: he confessed to exactly what they're investigating. In a statement tweeted out by his publicist Liz Harrington, the former president assured his fans that his financial statements, which are under investigation by the New York Attorney General and Manhattan District Attorney, are, in fact, riddled, with errors." Read on. Lots of fun. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I thought the funniest part was where Trump repurposed the refrain of the motorist objecting to a traffic stop: "Officer, you should be out catching the real criminals!" ~~~
~~~ Mike McIntire of the New York Times: "On Tuesday evening..., Donald J. Trump, rattled by news that his longtime accountants had declared that years of his financial statements were not reliable, issued a statement of self-defense with new claims about his wealth. These, too, did not add up. In a rambling emailed message, Mr. Trump referred to a 'June 30, 2014 Statement of Financial Condition' prepared by the accounting firm, Mazars USA, showing that the year before his first presidential run his net worth had been $5.8 billion. But that is not what he said back then. When he declared his candidacy in 2015, he produced what he called his 'Summary of Net Worth as of June 30, 2014' with a very different number: $8.7 billion. A month later, he upped the ante, releasing a statement pronouncing that his 'net worth is in excess of TEN BILLION DOLLARS.'"
Paul Krugman of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "trade war was uniquely Trumpian.... And it turns out to have been a complete flop: 'China bought none of the additional $200 billion of exports Trump's deal had promised,' [wrote Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute.] So Trump was a chump; the Chinese took him to the cleaners.... In the world according to Trump and Peter Navarro, the man he chose as his trade czar, international trade is a zero-sum game.... Economists scoffed at this crude mercantilism, which completely ignored the point that imports can make us richer, because the whole reason we buy some goods from abroad is that they are cheaper and/or better than domestically produced alternatives.... Trump's trade policies were foolish and costly -- they failed by any measure you choose -- but it may be a long time before any president is in a position to undo the damage."
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The Mazars disavowal of [Donald] Trump's financial statements points to the folly of all those earlier attempts to pry loose details about Trump's finances, such as his tax returns. He and his aides lied to the public, the media, Congress, the FBI and the courts. Why would he tell the truth in these filings? The question isn't whether Trump's financial statements 'should no longer be relied upon' but why anyone would have relied upon them in the first place. Still, there's something useful in the should-not-be-relied-upon phrasing.... Those who consume any Trump message should likewise receive a Mazars warning: 'The statements of Donald J. Trump should not be relied upon.'" Milbank adds some compelling examples.
Matthew Brown of the AP: "Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana hometown and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement, according to a report from federal investigators released Wednesday. The investigation by the Interior Department's inspector general found that Zinke continued working with a foundation on the commercial project in the community of Whitefish, Montana even after he committed upon taking office to breaking ties with the foundation.... Zinke is a candidate in the June Republican primary for an open Montana Congressional seat, a position he held prior to joining Trump's cabinet." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Ken Kurson, a close friend of ... Donald Trump's son-in-law, has pleaded guilty in state court to misdemeanor charges of computer trespass and attempted eavesdropping, more than a year after he was pardoned by Trump for federal charges that he stalked a doctor, her colleague and the colleague's spouse. If he avoids arrest for a year and completes 100 hours of community service, his plea can be downgraded to harassment.... Kurson was a presence at the White House during Trump's term in office. The administration tried to make him a board member of the National Endowment for the Humanities but he backed out when a background check revealed his past conduct, according to a New York Times report." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump should have written a blanket pardon to anyone whose name appears on those call logs President Biden just told the National Archives to release to the January 6 committee. Most Trump associates are guilty of something.
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Several jurors in the defamation case brought by Sarah Palin against The New York Times said they found out about the judge's decision to dismiss the case while they were still deliberating, the judge, Jed S. Rakoff, said in an order on Wednesday.... Judge Rakoff said the court's law clerk had spoken with the jury after the trial as part of routine inquiries and was told by several jurors that they had found out about the ruling through push notifications from news websites on their smartphones. 'The jurors repeatedly assured the court's law clerk that these notifications had not affected them in any way or played any role whatever in their deliberations,' Judge Rakoff wrote." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Sorry, Judge. It was a damned stupid thing to do. There was absolutely no reason for the judge to signal his intention before the jury came back. Sure looks like grounds for appeal to me. And all this country needs is more Sarah Palin whining.
Clay Risen of the New York Times: "Walter Dellinger, a renowned scholar of constitutional law and one of the top legal figures in the Clinton White House, where he served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel and later as acting solicitor general, died on Wednesday at his home in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 80."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "Newly reported coronavirus cases are dropping worldwide, but World Health Organization officials urged caution Wednesday, saying that a drop in testing may be contributing to that decline and that covid deaths remain alarmingly high."
Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Social isolation, economic stress, loss of loved ones and other struggles during the pandemic have contributed to rising mental health issues like anxiety and depression. But can having Covid itself increase the risk of developing mental health problems? A large new study suggests it can.... People who had Covid were 39 percent more likely to be diagnosed with depression and 35 percent more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety over the months following infection than people without Covid during the same period, the study found. Covid patients were 38 percent more likely to be diagnosed with stress and adjustment disorders and 41 percent more likely to be diagnosed with sleep disorders than uninfected people."
Canada. Claire Parker of the Washington Post: "... even as the vocal group of truckers, known as the 'Freedom Convoy,' grabbed the world's attention, many of Canada's truck drivers were scrambling to distance themselves from the movement, which they view as radical and fringe. In their view, the protesters' actions -- including shutting down cross-border trade and laying siege to the capital -- have hurt rather than helped drivers in the industry, and failed to advance the labor issues most truckers care about. They point out that only a small percentage of Canadian truckers have joined the demonstrations, and the vast majority of drivers are already vaccinated, according to trucking associations and Canadian authorities." ~~~
~~~ Brigid Kennedy of the Week: "... Mike Lindell may have been crying into his MyPillow Tuesday night, after he and a truck chock full of his ... infomercial sleep accessories were denied entry into Canada, the National Post and The Independent report. Lindell was reportedly on his way to distribute 'pillows and Bibles' to the truckers protesting Canada's COVID-19 restrictions, writes the Independent." Lindell & the trucker were turned away because -- wait for it -- they both violated Canada's Covid vaccine laws.
Beyond the Beltway
A Florida Woman... Your Tax Dollars at Work. Vimal Patel & Jesus Jiménez of the New York Times: A Florida woman used $10,000 of her Paycheck Protection pandemic relief check to hire a hit man. "The woman, Jasmine Martinez, 33, received the loan on April 20, 2021, two weeks before a man ... shot Le'Shonte Jones to death as she walked to her apartment building with her 3-year-old daughter, the Miami-Dade police said in an arrest warrant dated Feb. 9.... The police arrested Ms. Martinez and Romiel Robinson, a man Ms. Martinez was in a romantic relationship with, on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the killing of Ms. Jones, 24.... Miami-Dade police last week also announced the arrest of Javon Carter, an ex-convict who they believe to be the hit man. Mr. Carter was charged with first-degree murder and the attempted murder of Ms. Jones's daughter, who was grazed by bullets in the attack, the police said.... The police believe the shooting was the culmination of a long antagonism between the two women." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Georgia. Hannah Knowles, et al., of the Washington Post: "The second day of testimony in the federal hate crimes trial over [Ahmaud] Arbery's death opened Wednesday with an FBI analyst detailing dozens of racist social media posts and messages allegedly sent by the three men who chased and killed Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, in their coastal Georgia neighborhood in early 2020."
Missouri. Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Justice Department sued Missouri on Wednesday over the state's far-reaching gun law, which discourages local officials from enforcing federal firearms measures. The law, known as the Second Amendment Preservation Act, is among the most severe state gun-rights bills in recent years. At least eight other states, including West Virginia, have recently passed similar measures, but Missouri's has by far the sharpest teeth: A provision allows citizens to sue any local police agency for $50,000 for every incident in which they can prove that their right to bear firearms was violated, provided they were not flouting state law. The department argued that the Missouri law, rammed through the state's Republican-led legislature last spring, violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution, which prohibits states from overriding federal statute." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Kudos to the gun nut who thought up the name of the law -- the Second Amendment Preservation Act -- which claims to preserve a provision of the Constitution the law is designed to violate.
Texas. Jack Douglas & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The British man who took hostages at a Texas synagogue last month tried to buy a machine gun, cocaine and methamphetamine from the felon who ultimately sold him a pistol used in the kidnapping, an FBI agent testified Wednesday. Describing an interview he conducted with Henry Dwight 'Michael' Williams, FBI Special Agent Taylor Page testified that Malik Faisal Akram sought the drugs and heavy weaponry in the days before he took a rabbi and three others hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Tex.Officials have said Akram took the hostages in an ill-fated effort to demand the release of Aafia Siddiqui -- an American-educated Pakistani woman widely known as 'Lady al-Qaeda' who is serving an 86-year sentence for trying to kill U.S. soldiers. Williams, 32, whom prosecutors charged with a gun violation last month, ultimately sold Akram a Taurus G2C pistol for $150, Page testified."
Way Beyond
Russia. Derrick Taylor & Alyssa Lukpat of the New York Times: "A security guard who recently vandalized a 1930s-era painting during his first shift at a museum in Russia has been suspended for what a top official at the museum called ;a stupid mistake.' In December, the guard at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Yekaterinburg, Russia, used a ballpoint pen to draw eyes on two of the faceless subjects of 'Three Figures,' which the artist Anna Leporskaya painted from 1932 to 1934."
News Lede
CNN's live updates of the Winter Olympics are here: "Russian figure skater Kamila Valvieva fell numerous times during her free skate routine, causing her to drop out of contention for a place in the top three. The 15-year-old was favorite to finish in first place after coming out on top of Tuesday's short program, but multiple mistakes in the free skate saw her drop down to fourth with a total score of 224.09.... Kamila Valieva's fourth place finish means there will now be a medal ceremony for those on the podium in the women's singles skating event."
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Reader Comments (9)
Calling all cars, calling all cars, be on the lookout for…
Gee, who’da thunk it? Another Trump appointee a crook. As Marie points out, nearly everyone connected with the Trump Crime Family is guilty of something. So here we have upstanding citizen (nyuk, nyuk) Ryan Zinke found guilty of pocket lining and using his position of power to help himself. Big surprise. (A secondary “surprise” is that the Merrick Garland Justice Department has decided to do nothing about it, pretty much guaranteeing that Stinky wins a seat in the Senate so’s he can continue his crime spree unmolested. Thanks, Merrick!)
Lessee, what else? Oh yeah, over here we have DeVos, er, I mean DeVry University, a hotbed of liars and grifters found to have defrauded over 100,000 students out of $2 billion. Ol’ Betsy must be pissed that the government is stepping in to help the marks she helped set up to be fleeced by yet another of her pals in the for-profit edumacation scam. This is after DeVos, I mean DeVry was found guilty of the same crap six years ago and was hit with a $100 million fine for its lies.
Fatty himself is selling autographs for thousands of dollars, Melanie is hawking used clothing, the grift never ends.
It’s almost as if you couldn’t work with or for Trump without being a scam artist, confidence trickster, or traitor. Some enterprising artist should take a page from Chester Gould, creator of the old Dick Tracy comic strip, who every now and then would come out with a rogues gallery featuring mugshots of Tracy villains: Flattop, the Mole, B.B. Eyes, the Brow, Pruneface, Big Boy. I mean, Trump World has way more crooks and creeps than that:
Stinky, DeBoss, Gym Jordan, DisBarr, FlimFlam Flynn, Three Shirt Bannon, Roger (bone my wife) Stone, In Da Klink Manafort, Cry Baby O’Kavanaugh, Fixer Cohen, and of course, the inner circle of shitstains, Javanka, Junior, Little Dracula, and the boss hisself, the Orange Menace…the list goes on. But unlike Dick Tracy bad guys, these assholes aren’t confined to the funny pages.
Cheap fucking crooks, the lot of ‘em.
Akhilleus,
Here's a handy list of all those who might call up even more fond memories of Dick Tracy's rogues' gallery::
https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/
I don't think even one of them was removed (or RUP--resigned under pressure--as the list notes for roughly half of the Cabinet) for bullying...Those rogues (Kelly) probably got promoted...
Eejits, all Pt. 2
Tom Cotton, supporter of treason and Trump lies, got up in the Senate chamber to denounce a Biden nominee for a district court judgeship, Nina Morrison, for the heinous crime of working for the Innocence Project. “She put violent criminals back on the street!” It’s unclear if Cotton doesn’t have a clue what the Innocence Project does or if he just doesn’t care, but as we all understand, no lying liar with an R after his name will allow facts to get in the way of a good screed.
But Tommy boy needed to pile on a little so he then starts in on how ALL Democrats are to blame for putting thousands of vicious rapists and murderers back on the street to prey on real ‘mericans, by writing and enacting the First Step Act. Horrors! Those awful Demmycraps!
But, oops! Another fact-challenged confederate steps on his dick. Before Tommy could wipe off the spittle, Dick Durbin rose to let him know that the First Step Act was a Republican project, introduced by a Republican, passed with a majority of Republican votes, and signed into law by the Orange Monster, a very Republican monster.
Oops!
What do these fuckers do all day long? Do any of them even bother to pay attention? Or is it all just coming up with new outrages with which to pad Faux’s nightly litany of horrors against Trump World denizens?
Anyway…
https://crooksandliars.com/2022/02/tom-cotton-dick-durbin-first-step-act
Ken,
Thanks. I think. The list of names of all the idiots, dissemblers, liars, pocket liners, incompetents, and malicious anal cysts is enough to prompt instant industrial strength, weaponized agita.
More evidence of the totally debauched and depraved nature of the Party of Traitors.
Animals have it easy: In order to sniff out who is what and who is ready, and who is friend or foe ––-a nose in the right direction tells them all they need to know. We humans don't always have it so easy but looks like these days their scent is like a bad perfume permeating the GOPee Party of Jamokes to such an extent that there can be no doubt as to their method of madness. Such desperation is on display–-Ak and Ken put it in play and we sit back and marvel of their lunacy. I especially like the story of Cotton Ball Tommy who presents–-always–-as a sturdy toy soldier who stands at attention and speaks forcefully when you pull his strings.
Meanwhile their Papa is hanging by a thin thread. When he finally goes down––and he better–-- will our above Children of the Corn leave the field or continue to hawk their husky hornswiddle in order to make America gross again. Bets? anyone?
Because Zinke is a fascist who uses the military for respectability: https://www.ktvh.com/news/montana-politics/interior-ig-report-says-zinke-misused-position-in-whitefish-development. "Zinke said his wife was the “voice and the decision-maker” on plans for the park." Only when he has a gun in his hands does this Zinke person have "courage". He sounds like Duncan Hunter.
About those cognitive/emotional changes due to covid:
Due to the anatomy of the brain, the olfactory nerve is part of the brain of course, but it also heads back to the hippocampal-amygdala part of the brain, and from there, neurons head up and around to the limbic system. These are crucial areas for memory, cognitive function, and our more primitive emotions. It would be surprising if there were NO cognitive/emotional problems after covid. There is nothing special about the brain or about covid which would spare the brain and not spare the other organs.
Regardless of covid, high fevers and infections can cause delirium, which is a life threatening event all on its own. And after any severe illness, a heart attack, say, it is common for a normal person to have depression which lasts for about 3 months and which resolves with the resolution of physical issues (not emotional support).
As Paracelsus says, "the body is the doorway to the soul."
The abnormal thing is that doctors call delirium "psychosis" thereby putting the patient into a "not my job" category, when delirium must be treated medically first.
I think we need to be prepared to hear about the various parts of the body that are harmed by covid as the specialists in various areas document other parts of the body affected by covid.
F'r instance, there is a pulmonary specialist in Austria who has documented severe changes in lung tissues in healthy young scuba divers. They had volunteered for X-rays and MRI's of their lungs so they could be medically cleared to scuba dive after having had non lifethreatening covid. All had serious lung changes, despite having no symptoms, and were not cleared to dive.
If we want to understand covid, it is more useful to study Lyme or syphillis for comparisons with covid. Protean symptoms, lots of cognitive/emotional changes. The"psychological" symptoms of both are greatly helped with antibiotics, not antidepressants or antipsychotics.
Victoria,
Thanks for your thoughts on the still emerging vicissitudes of Covid. The fact that we are still learning about conditions that have been known for centuries should help to short circuit the vociferous (and ignorant) screams from anti-vaxxers and those who, like Trump, claim that it’s no worse than the flu or a cold, when new information brings about adjustments in our understanding and approach to the current public health crisis.
But this ain’t the case. And never will be.
Most (all?) of these screamers interpret these adjustments as “proof” of some sort of nefarious liberal plot. It’s not surprising since these people tend to be both ignorant and suspicious of the scientific method and medical research. For them, if Hannity or KKKarlson sez it’s so, it’s so. Never mind what those with actual knowledge have to say.
@Akhilleus: There is a liberal plot. It's the one that insidiously encourages people to learn and think. My guess is that people on the right are offended by too much learning and incensed by re-learning. Michele Bachmann's fear of "re-education camps" might have been a fear that she would have to learn something new and different from what she'd been "taught." This fear of learning is wrapped up in fear of change, of course, which we already know is what keeps wingers intellectually catatonic.
When reporters asked those people blocking Canadian roads what the convoy was about, the mothertruckers would look down at the ground & say "freedom." Right-wing advocates thought it was great that the truckers "stayed on-message," but in fact there was no message at all except the vague concept of "freedom," whatever that means. These people disrupted their lives & the lives of their families & the lives of strangers for "reasons" they didn't understand at all & couldn't articulate.
I often say things like, "When I was young, people used to think ...," followed by an explanation of what is known about the topic now. I do this as a matter of course as I read something or hear something that puts a new slant on a topic or explains something newly-discovered. I don't think wingers are comfortable with anything that's "new and different" from what they already believe or learned.
This tendency liberals have to constantly renew & relearn & update & rethink is destabilizing for wingers. They see it as a plot to put them off balance. And they extend their opposition to that plot across generations. That's a good part of what the book-burning is about: the stuck-in-the-muds don't like the messages of books that cause their children to see things in new ways, ways that they themselves never learned. Among their many resentments is a resentment that liberals are plotting to make them think.