;)
Friday
Jan202023
January 20, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ha Ha. Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "Embattled Rep. George Santos has claimed that reports and videos documenting him performing in drag are both 'outrageous' and 'categorically false.' But nearly a dozen years ago, Santos himself appears to have confirmed that he participated in drag shows while he was a teenager living in Brazil. A Wikipedia page accessed by Politico shows a user named Anthony Devolder -- a Santos alias — writing that he 'startted [sp] his “stage” life at age 17 as an gay night club [sp] DRAG QUEEN and with that won sevral [sp] GAY "BEAUTY PAGENTS [sp]."' The Wiki biography was last edited on April 29, 2011. It contains basic information that matches up with the newly sworn-in congressman, including Devolder being born on July 22, 1988, to a Brazilian family with a European background.... The Wiki bio for Anthony Devolder, which is full of spelling and grammatical errors, appears to contain fantastical descriptions of his supposed career in show business. It claims that he had a part in Disney's 'Hannah Montana,' among other examples." MB: Does the page also say Anthony won the New York City regional spelling bee and lost at the state level only because at the time of the state competition he was being held by kidnappers who were demanding a $5 million ransom from his wealthy parents?
Frivolous-Litigator-in-Chief Cuts Losses. Kara Scannell of CNN: "... Donald Trump on Friday withdrew his lawsuit seeking to block the New York attorney general's office from accessing materials from his private trust. In a one-page notice filed with Judge Donald Middlebrooks, Trump's attorney, Timothy Weber, said he was voluntarily dismissing the lawsuit. No further reason was given. Last month, Middlebrooks rejected Trump's effort to obtain a temporary injunction to block New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, from obtaining documents from the trust, saying Trump had 'no substantial likelihood of success on the merits.' A motion to dismiss the lawsuit was still pending. The move comes one day after Middlebrooks sanctioned Trump and another one of his attorney's $937,989 for a lawsuit Trump brought against Hillary Clinton, former top Justice Department officials and several others alleging they conspired against him in the 2016 campaign."
Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "The decision by President Biden and his top advisers to keep the discovery of classified documents secret from the public and even most of the White House staff for 68 days was driven by what turned out to be a futile hope that ... they could convince the Justice Department that the matter was little more than a minor, good-faith mistake, unlike ... Donald J. Trump's hoarding of documents at his Florida estate.... In the short term, at least, the bet seems to have backfired.... The goal for the Biden team, according to people familiar with the internal deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity, was to win the trust of Justice Department investigators and demonstrate that the president and his team were cooperating fully. In other words, they would head off any serious legal repercussions by doing exactly the opposite of what the Biden lawyers had seen the Trump legal team do."
Meagan Flynn & Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) announced Friday he plans to seek a third term, sending a wave of relief through the Democratic Party amid worries that he would retire and create a potential opening for Republicans."
Adam Satariano of the New York Times: "Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said on Friday that it plans to cut 12,000 jobs, becoming the latest technology company to reduce its work force after a hiring spree during the pandemic and amid concerns about a broader economic slowdown. The job cuts are the company's largest ever, amounting to about 6 percent of the company's global work force. Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's chief executive, said the company expanded too rapidly during the pandemic, when demand for digital services boomed, and now must refocus on products and technology core to the company's future, like artificial intelligence."
Michigan. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "Three family members were sentenced this week to life in prison without parole in the fatal shooting in 2020 of a security guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, Mich., over a dispute regarding mask requirements at the store, court records show."
Ohio. Voter Suppression by Confusion. Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Two weeks after a Republican-backed voting law significantly reshaped Ohio's election procedure, local officials, advocates and voters are still making sense of the changes -- and how the alterations could restrict who might cast ballots in 2024.... Local election officials are waiting to hear from the Ohio secretary of state about what IDs they will now accept, how long they can count votes and who can vote outside of polling places. Legal challenges of the law could further complicate the situation.... The legislation, which is now one of the most restrictive voter-ID laws in the country, comes as GOP-led legislatures are increasingly revamping their voting apparatuses following unfounded complaints of fraud by ... Donald Trump after he lost in 2020."
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Matt Viser & Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "From the air and ground, President Biden surveyed California's most rain-ravaged communities Thursday in a show of federal solidarity in a state that has come to typify the nation's weather extremes. Biden stopped along the Central Coast for several hours, visiting businesses, homeowners and the emergency services crews who have battled blizzards and floods for weeks. The stops took him into two of the state's hardest-hit enclaves, but nearly every corner of reliably Democratic California was affected by the recent rains. Some initial damage estimates place the cost at $1 billion.... Along his route, Biden drew larger than usual crowds for a visit to a disaster site. He was also joined for much of his tour by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)...."
Matt Viser & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "President Biden said Thursday he had 'no regrets' on White House handling of the disclosure that classified documents were found at a private office in Washington and at his Delaware home, pledging cooperation with the Justice Department and expressing confidence that the matter would be resolved. 'I think you're going to find there's nothing there,' he said.... 'Look, as we found a handful of documents that were filed in the wrong place, we immediately turned them over to the Archives and the Justice Department,' he continued. 'We are fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly.'... Biden made the remarks after touring flood damage [in California]...." ~~~
~~~ Loreben Tuquero of PolitiFact: On January 10, Donald Trump, expert on national security law, said in an interview that as vice president, Joe Biden did not have the right to declassify documents. Wrong. "An executive order signed by former President Barack Obama authorizes the vice president to classify and declassify documents.... Donald Trump did not issue an executive order setting new rules on classification and declassification powers; President Joe Biden hasn't issued such an executive order, either. So Obama's order remains in effect. There is some ambiguity about the effect of the order on the vice president's ability to declassify documents that were classified by other agencies.... We saw similar [false] statements being shared elsewhere on social media. It was also amplified on Twitter by conservative lawmakers, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and during a CNN interview by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.
Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday that the system failure that caused thousands of flight delays last week occurred because contractors 'unintentionally deleted files' on the alert system for pilots, leading to a standstill of planes and frustrated passengers. The F.A.A. said in a statement that the workers had been trying to 'correct synchronization' between the main database for the Notice to Air Missions alerts and a backup database when the files were mistakenly deleted, causing the outage that snarled air traffic throughout the day on Jan. 11. Investigators have found no evidence of a cyberattack or other malicious intent, according to the agency."
Happy Debt Ceiling Day. Jim Tankersley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The United States hit its debt limit on Thursday, prompting the Treasury Department to begin using a series of accounting maneuvers to ensure the federal government can keep paying its bills. In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said the government would begin using what is known as extraordinary measures to prevent the nation from breaching its statutory debt limit and asked lawmakers to raise or suspend the cap so that the government could continue meeting its financial obligations." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Manu Raju of CNN: "House Republicans from swing districts are flatly rejecting the White House's position that there be no negotiations with Congress over raising the national debt ceiling, insisting that they won't bend to the Democrats' take-it-or-leave-it approach to avoid the first-ever debt default with no conditions attached. The Republicans, many of whom hail from districts that President Joe Biden won or narrowly lost and are seen as the most likely to break ranks with their party's leadership, said they are not willing to back a 'clean' debt ceiling increase, insisting there must be some fiscal agreement first. That view is in line with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is calling for negotiations with the White House before a possible default occurs later this year." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Dear Republicans: The way to lower the debt is to authorize more tax revenues and approve less spending. It is NOT to refuse to pay the bills after you've okayed the expenditures. It is NOT to jump up & down screaming, "Aiyee! No more money for hungry children & for selfish old folks who for decades paid into Social Security, Medicare & 401Ks!" Jen Psaki said on MSNBC that the debt limit had been raised 49 times under Republican presidents and that My Kevin voted to raise the limit three times when Donald Trump was president*. I'm taking her word for it. So quit the histrionics, raise taxes on the rich & corporations, and let's pay our damned bills. It's mighty simple. Marie
Grace Ashford, et al., of the New York Times: "A month after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit in 2021 accusing a Florida-based company of operating a Ponzi scheme, [George Santos,] one of the firm's account managers[,] assured an anxious client [named Andrew Intrater] that his money was safe.... Mr. Intrater wanted to know about his investment and a promised letter of credit that secured it. Mr. Santos said that it was already on the way. The letter of credit did not exist, the S.E.C. would later tell a court. The $100 million that Mr. Santos told Mr. Intrater that he had personally raised for Harbor City did not exist either, the commission said. Nor, seemingly, did the close to $4 million that Mr. Santos claimed he and his family had invested in Harbor City. Mr. Santos's representations form the basis of a sworn declaration that Mr. Intrater gave the S.E.C. in May 2022, as part of its Harbor City investigation. Mr. Intrater's interactions with the S.E.C. are the first indication the commission might be interested in Mr. Santos.... The S.E.C. has not indicated publicly that it is looking into Mr. Santos.... If Mr. Santos had lured investors through the use of false statements, he could face charges of securities fraud, legal experts said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Every article I've read that mentions Harbor City in connection with Santos has emphasized that the SEC did not cite him as part of the Ponzi scheme. Given Santos' history, it seemed implausible that he was not an enthusiastic Ponzito. And now we know.
George, the Hypocritical Drag Queen. Kelly Hooper & Olivia Olander of Politico: "A person who appears to be Rep. George Santos talked about performing in drag in a video obtained on Thursday by the New York Post, hours after Santos shot down claims that he was once a drag queen in Brazil.... 'The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or "performed" as a drag Queen is categorically false,' Santos said in a tweet on Thursday morning. 'The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results....' According to the New York Post's translation, the person in the video was speaking in Portuguese about performing in drag. The video was first obtained by the Post, and it was posted by the Daily Mail.... [His purported drag performances] stand in stark contrast to the conservative views Santos has aligned himself with and the Republican Party's recent crusade against drag shows and performers. Even though he has boasted of being an openly gay Republican, Santos has voiced support for far-right policies such as Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law." ~~~
~~~ As Akhilleus noted in yesterday's Comments, at last the media have found an occupation Santos could credibly put on his résumé, yet -- ever so inexplicably -- he's never mentioned it.
This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.... Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries. He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions. -- U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks ~~~
~~~ Michael Schmidt & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In a scathing ruling, a federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered Donald J. Trump and one of his lawyers [Alina Habba] together to pay nearly a million dollars in sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit against nearly three dozen of Mr. Trump's perceived political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey. The ruling was a significant rebuke of Mr. Trump, who has rarely faced such consequences in his long history of using the courts as a weapon against business rivals and partners, as well as former employees and reporters." CNN's report is here.
The Man Who Cried Hoax. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump obviously uses 'hoax' ... to describe something that he would like to argue is overstated or inaccurate. That those things are generally not inaccurate or overstated.... In the context of a lawsuit centered on allegations that he sexually assaulted author E. Jean Carroll several decades ago, Carroll's lawyers found it useful to point out that Trump simply says everything is a hoax, even when he obviously doesn't think it is. As when he said that about Carroll's accusations." Bump relates parts of the exchange -- during Trump's deposition -- between Trump & Carroll's lawyer Robert Kaplan in which Kaplan nails down Trump's misuse of the word hoax. It's amusing to "hear" Trump's growing irritation.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal judge on Thursday rejected a last-ditch effort by Peter Navarro, a former adviser to ... Donald Trump, to dismiss the contempt of Congress charges he faces for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee, keeping his late January trial on track to begin. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said Navarro had failed to prove that the former president wanted him to assert executive privilege over his potential testimony -- a key claim that Navarro has long maintained justified his decision to simply blow off the select committee's subpoena.... Navarro's trial on two charges of contempt of Congress is likely to commence later this month." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Konstantin Toropin of Military.com: "Three Marines were arrested Wednesday for their participation in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. Micah Coomer, Joshua Abate, and Dodge Dale Hellonen -- three men identified by investigators as active-duty Marines -- were arrested on four charges each stemming from their participation in the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.... All three Marines, who were arrested more than two years after the attack, work in jobs connected to the intelligence community."
Yeah, Right. Adam Liptak & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that an internal investigation had failed to identify the person who leaked a draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had established a constitutional right to abortion. In a 20-page report, the court's marshal, Gail A. Curley, who oversaw the inquiry, said that investigators had conducted 126 formal interviews of 97 employees, all of whom had denied being the source of the leak. But several employees acknowledged that they had told their spouses or partners about the draft opinion and the vote count in violation of the court's confidentiality rules, the report said. The investigation did not determine whether any of those discussions led to a copy of the draft opinion becoming public. Investigators also found no forensic evidence of who may have leaked the opinion...." The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, they know. At least Roberts knows, as do at least a few others. And they don't want you to know. Because it would be damaging to the confederates. Who do you suppose could walk out of the building with a briefcase full of secret docs & nobody would check him at the door? Oh, I know: a justice. And to whom might he show the opinion? Perhaps his spouse? I'm not saying her name begins with G-I-N-N-I. It very well could be somebody else. But whoever it is, John Roberts isn't saying. I hope the name of the perp leaks, too. See also commentary at the end of yesterday's Comments thread. Seems I'm not the only skeptic 'round here. ~~~
~~~ Update: Several commentators appearing on MSNBC Thursday inferred from the enigmatic "report" that the "investigators" did not interview the justices themselves. Huh. Wonder why. They also noted that Curley works for the Supreme Court and can be fired without cause and that she has no experience conducting or leading investigations of any kind, much less leak investigations. Roberts of course could call in real investigators from the Justice Department, but he has opted not to do so. Again, one wonders why. ~~~
~~~ Lock 'em Up! Donald Trump, Constitutional law expert, has the solution. Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump insisted Thursday that 'the reporter' who published the leaked Supreme Court draft ruling overturning Roe v. Wade be jailed until the source of the leak can be determined. Though Trump did not name any particular individual or publication, the draft majority opinion was first reported on in Politico last May by journalists Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward. Trump also called for throwing 'the publisher and editor' behind bars.... 'Calling for egregious abuses of power in order to suppress the Constitutional rights of reporters is an insult to the rule of law and undermines fundamental American values and traditions,'... [White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said]."
James Robenaut of the Washington Post: "The original Roe v. Wade decision was leaked in 1973. And we know exactly who leaked it. Larry Hammond, a Supreme Court clerk at the time, leaked the ruling to a Time magazine reporter in January 1973. The issue of Time, with an article titled 'The Sexes: Abortion on Demand,' appeared on newsstands hours before the decision was announced by Justice Harry Blackmun. Hammond, who died in 2020, told me about the leak when I interviewed him for my book.... Hammond clerked for Justice Lewis Powell and played an important role in convincing Powell that the 'viability' standard (when a fetus could live outside the womb) was the most supportable line to draw in determining when a state may not regulate a woman's right to an abortion. Powell privately persuaded Justice Harry A. Blackmun and ultimately a 7-to-2 majority to adopt the viability standard, and that has been at the heart of Roe and later Casey v. Planned Parenthood, which were both reversed last year."
David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: "The cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Holdco filed for bankruptcy late on Thursday, the latest crypto company to do so after the collapse of FTX, the exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. A year ago, Genesis and a group of other large lending firms drew millions of customers with the promise that they could deposit their crypto holdings and earn sky-high returns. But Genesis's bankruptcy filing makes it the fourth major crypto lender to fail since last spring, when a downturn in the digital asset market sent prices plunging. Other major lenders that have gone out of business include Celsius Network and Voyager Digital, whose customers lost billions of dollars in deposits."
Julia Jacobs & Graham Bowley of the New York Times: "The actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for handling the gun that discharged on the set of 'Rust,' killing its cinematographer, as will the movie's armorer, who loaded the gun, prosecutors in New Mexico announced on Thursday. Prosecutors said they would charge Mr. Baldwin with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, saying that he had a duty to ensure the gun and the ammunition were properly checked and that he should never have pointed it at anyone.... Mr. Baldwin, both a producer and a lead actor in "Rust," has long denied culpability for the shooting...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Presidential Race 2024. Nikki Haley & Mike Pompeo are having a he said/she said fight (Guardian link).
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. Patricia Mazzei & Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times: "Florida will not allow a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies to be offered in its high schools, stating that the course is not 'historically accurate' and violates state law. In a letter last week, the Florida Department of Education informed the College Board, which administers A.P. exams, that it would not include the class in the state's course directory. Rigorous A.P. courses allow high school students to obtain credit and advanced placement in college.... The letter, with no name attached to it, did not cite which law the course violated or what in the curriculum was objectionable.... But last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed legislation that restricted how racism and other aspects of history can be taught in schools and workplaces. The law's sponsors called it the Stop WOKE Act." MB: This whole fake controversy is explicitly racist. (Also linked yesterday.)
Kansas. John Hanna of the AP: "A federal court jury convicted a Kansas man who insisted that a death threat he made against U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner [R] was a message from God, amid what authorities have said is a sharp rise in threats against members of Congress and their families.... Neill acted as his own attorney and cross-examined LaTurner on the witness stand Wednesday. Neill testified Thursday that he was a messenger from God and he passed along a message from God threatening LaTurner for ignoring concerns about sorcery, wizards, extraterrestrials and a war for people's souls."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Friday is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged Western allies to provide tanks to Kyiv without delay, warning a meeting of dozens of defense ministers that 'terror does not allow for discussion' and that 'time remains a Russian weapon.' Ukraine&'s allies appear stuck in a seemingly unresolved rift over who will supply Kyiv with battle tanks ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Berlin has been in a standoff with Washington over the provision of tanks to Ukraine, saying Germany will do so only if the United States sends them as well, The Post has reported. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier this week that his country would consider sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine without Germany's approval."
Steven Erlanger, et al., of the New York Times: "A day before a critical meeting in Germany to chart the next steps in the defense of Ukraine, Kyiv's allies made it clear on Thursday that they were prepared to furnish a major infusion of military aid to help it fend off Russian aggression. Armored vehicles, rockets and missiles, artillery rounds and air-defense systems were just part of an aid package that is expected to total billions of dollars worth of matériel when officials from as many as 50 nations have struck a final deal on Friday."
Catherine Belton of the Washington Post: "Russia's state nuclear power conglomerate has been working to supply the Russian arms industry with components, technology and raw materials for missile fuel, documents show, aiding Moscow's deadly onslaught on Ukraine and leading to calls for the company, Rosatom, to be put under sanctions. A letter from a Rosatom department chief, dated October 2022 and obtained by Ukrainian intelligence, refers to a recent meeting with the Defense Ministry and representatives of Russia's military-industrial complex. It shows the state nuclear company offering to provide goods to Russian military units and to Russian weapons manufacturers that are under sanctions."
Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, traveled to Kyiv last week for secret consultations with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, according to two U.S. officials. Since just before the invasion, Mr. Burns has made periodic visits to Ukraine to meet with intelligence officials and to convey information to Mr. Zelensky.... On Monday, a delegation including Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman; Jon Finer, the principal deputy national security adviser; and Colin H. Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, met with President Zelensky."
News Ledes
New York Times: "David Crosby, the outspoken and often troubled singer, songwriter and guitarist who helped create two of the most influential and beloved American bands of the classic-rock era of the 1960s and '70s, the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has died. He was 81."
Washington Post: "K. Alexander Müller, a Swiss physicist who shared a Nobel Prize for breakthroughs in finding ultraefficient pathways for electricity that rewrote theories on materials known as superconductors and that opened new horizons in medicine and transportation, died Jan. 9 in Zurich. He was 95. The death was announced by the Nobel committee and IBM, whose Zurich Research Laboratory had employed him for decades."
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Reader Comments (13)
Gas Stoves and Simpletons
(*sigh*) The morons are up in arms again. Wait…but they never put their arms down, right? Just as those arms are in danger of coming down, TuKKKer or Ted Cruz or Joe Rogan or Alex Jones or the WSJ editorial writers, or…you name it, find another outrage that demands the whole tribe of simpletons reload and stand by, ready to shoot some other socialist, Marxist, communist (I defy any of these screamers to differentiate these terms) Demycraps, or LGBTQ, BLM loving, latte drinking ‘merica hatin’ lib’ruls.
But over what?
Economic policy? Infrastructure plans? Environmental disasters? Foreign policy? ANY kind of actual policy?
Soitanly not. So what has the outrage machine turned up to 11? Again?
Gas stovegate. M&Ms. Mickey Mouse. The Tan Suit. Michelle Obama’s arms. Plastic straws. Dr. Seuss. A proposed AP history course (because, please god, let’s not encourage smart kids to advance their interest in learning). Drag queens in a single school in San Francisco reading to kids.
Essentially, nothing that affects the lives of Americans (even the insane ones screaming about this stuff). In fact, not a single one of these invented “outrages” threatens human life as we know it, or the quality of human life.
Why then the outrage? Because that’s all they got. They don’t have ideas. They don’t care about governing or policy or plans to improve the country or the world. All they have is outrage. and not even outrage about actual stuff. This gas stove thing is beyond ridiculous. No one has mentioned a ban on gas stoves, but to hear the idiots braying, you’d think Biden has ordered the National Guard to go door to door ripping the damn things out and arresting the infidels.
Someone mentioned that gas stoves emit fumes that could have a deleterious effect on young children. This is no different than saying “Smoking is not good for you.” In fact, smoking is waaay worse than gas stove emissions and no one has banned cigarettes.
Same with M&Ms. What is the fucking problem, TuKKker? What? “Lesbian” M&Ms threaten your already horribly low testosterone levels? Well, pardon me all to hell if your little dickie bird is hiding in the closet from these mean ol’ dykey M&Ms.
Jesus, these fucking people.
And then there’s that whacko former Trump doctor, the hate spewing, self-medicating drunk, Ronny Jackson, now a (god help us) representative from (where the fuck else?) Texas, screeching that Biden will have to pry his sacred gas stove from his cold dead hands!!!
Are you fucking kidding me?
It’s like that Monty Python sketch about the dirty fork. A speck on a fork causes the restaurant owner to commit suicide and a homicidal cook to threaten the patrons who brought the speck to their attention with a meat cleaver. (The coda is hysterical: “Glad we didn’t tell them about the dirty knife.”)
But in this case there is no speck in sight. No one is calling for gas stoves to be banned. No. One.
But they have nothing. No ideas, no plans, no nothin’. Just the latest bullshit. Simpletons. So…gas stoves! Aieeee!
@Akhilleus: Oh, you're so wrong. You claim Republicans don't have ideas, or policies, or plans, that all they have is outrage. Well, I thought so, too. So I started looking for what they did have. What appeal were they making to give voters a reason to pick them? There must be something. After extensive research (and I'm almost not kidding here), I've discovered their platform, their policy, their ideas:
Again and again, politician after politician, on the teevee, in campaign ads, in campaign appearances, to reporters, wherever, announce that when they get to Washington, they'll fix things.
They don't say specifically what-all they'll fix, but you know, things. That's it. (I suppose they might have said they would make America great again, but I hear that's already been done. We're great. Which is great. Now we just need Republicans to fix things.)
Marie,
The R's are "fixers," and now the R fix is in, in the House.
I'd add, though, that most of what they claim they will fix is either out of their control (demographic and cultural change), or problems they prefer to keep in the news for political advantage (immigration) so they only talk about them to keep the issue hot, or problems (the debt, the debt) that they themselves have caused.
Marie,
Ohhh-kaaay, I guess you’re right. They do have ideas, such as they are; and “solutions”, kind of, to…um, problems?
Oh yeah, like the national debt! They’ll “fix” it, but good.
But how?
Oh yeah, we won’t pay our bills. That’ll show those spend and spend Democrats!
But where did this huge debt come from in the first place?
Wait…didn’t Bill Clinton hand Bush a clean slate? In fact, we were in the black when Clinton left office. But ooops! Dubya was asleep at the switch and made no effort to investigate the very real threats that terrorists (“tare’ists” as he used to call them) planned to fly planes into tall buildings. What to do? Hey! How ‘bout we invade a sovereign country that zip to do with that attack?
Another great Republican “idea” for how to “fix” things.
Next scene, yuuuuge debt. Next, crash the economy. This was the MBA president, remember. Don’t know if they offered a course in Crashing the World Economy at HBS, but Dubya was the guy to teach it. So…more debt.
The debt rose under Obama, but largely because he had to clean up the mess left by Republicans. Then…TRUMP! Genius bidnessman, right?
According to Newsweek, fully a quarter of the national debt was accrued by Trump. That’s 25%.
But it’s a Democrat problem, right?
And the big “idea” to “fix” it is…don’t pay the bills.
This is like fixing a car by not ever driving it. “Hey, honey, I fixed the car!” “Really? Whadjado?” “Threw away the keys. It’s all better now.”
So yeah. Great ideas.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-national-us-debt-1774764
Once upon a time when there were actual––so said many––witches, all of them women, of course, there lived a man who hated cats but these feral cats chose his backyard to congregate at night which drove the poor man crazy so one night he, with knives, hammers and other tools sliced and diced as many cats as he could. A few days later the town constable rounded up a goodly amount of old women who had injuries similar to those done to the cats––hence---these women were witches and consequently were tortured, hence confessed but then were burned at the stake.
I've been rereading Sam Harris' "The End of Faith"––one of the best books on religion, terror, and the future of reason. After reading here about the bloke, in Kansas that testified Thursday that he was a messenger from God and he passed along a message from God threatening LaTurner for ignoring concerns about sorcery, wizards, extraterrestrials and a war for people’s souls, I've concluded wees be back in the days of the Inquisition only this time it's with guns, and yes, a hammer episode, but mostly guns, threats, and a complete breakdown of the Republican Party. The MAGA message has resonated––we are going backwards when "great" meant ignorance and chaos amid songs like Dinah Shore sang for Chevrolet whose cars were stopped by police if Blacks were driving them and the same Dinah whirled around the newest stoves made by General Electric, a company that Ronny Reagan once touted before he got the brass ring and ignored AIDs.
If the Brats were truly serious and honest about the debt "crisis" they would offer to forego their salaries until the "issue" is resolved. But they would just laugh in our face saying, "No fuckin' way, man! We EARNED it!!!!!!" (As though I didn't earn my wages that paid for the contributions to my SS account from which I receive my current pay-outs. As a self-employed individual for much of my career I even had to pay for both halves - employee AND employer. Fucktards.)
Something I thought of the other day but forgot to add to our discussion of the R would be murderer in NM, who went after Democrats because he lost an election…
Republicans, and some in the media, immediately began the Both Sides bullshit by bringing up the Steve Scalia shooting.
RAS and Marie pointed out that a huge difference was that in that case, Democrats immediately acknowledged the terrible situation, condemned the violence, and sided with Republicans in their wishes that Scalia would make a full and speedy recovery, unlike the way so many R’s went after Paul Pelosi after he was attacked, and unlike the way, shortly after the murderous attack on the Capitol, spurred on by Trump and his allies, the attackers were spoken of, by Republican leaders, and their media hacks, as simple tourists visiting the sites, or as decent people unfairly treated by the “deep state” Justice Department.
I also have yet to hear anything about the shootings in NM from the gang of thugs now in charge on the House.
The thing I wanted to add was that the guy who shot Scalise was on his own. He wasn’t reacting to violent rhetoric spewed by Bernie Sanders or Hillary or Obama or any other Democrat.
That idiot in NM, those thugs in DC, the many MAGA supporters making threats against Democrats, teachers, election officials, around the country are all reacting to, and acting on, the serial, non-stop, violent hate speech from a battery of Republican “leaders”, starting with their Dear Leader. MTG “liked” comments on Facebook about killing Democrats. Boebert brags about her guns. Hate speech and violent rhetoric are standard fare on the right.
Words beget action.
There is no both sides here, no matter how much Republicans and the media demand that this be the case.
Democrats don’t advocate murder. Only Republicans do that.
Lesson learned? (For now?)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64347994
Actually, Ak, I feel like I have been driven to advocating murder. But my murder is a metaphor such as something "murdering sleep" and possibly the murder of freedom of everyone with a voting record of R.
None of them should miss out on being blamed for everything from Reagan on. Yesterday I read a commenter on HuffPost sputtering about how evil Dems were pretty murderous after W and the Nonsupremes stole the 2000 election and Ken Blackwell stole the 2004 election from Kerry. And how 'bout how the Flamingo Fascists (I'm sure Marred by Lardo is helping with this--) are stealing/polluting college educations by upending courses and instructors and professors by labeling everything liberal arts as communist or "woke", and all making decisions that are totally racist? They have been at this for a while, and it does give me fantasies of sudden imprisonments for all of them.
Yep, I think someone on the Court leaked it, and I am voting for Alito or Clarence the Wild Boar (Bore too--) and his handmaiden "best friend." Roberts can't help himself. He's a holdover Reaganite.
At least have the balls to say “We hate Blacks!”
Instead, DeSantis and his bigots sent out a letter about the proposed AP course in African-American history saying that the course is “…inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.”
So, wait…this means you can’t explain why you’re killing this proposal, but you’re doing it anyway. And which law? That Anti-Woke clump of casuistry you’re calling a “law”?
Talk about weasel-worded runarounds. Is this what the Party of Traitors calls governance? We can’t really explain what’s going on, or why we’re doing this, but do what we’re telling you anyway, and shut up about it. First Amendment rights are only for us. So shut up.
You know what’s not inexplicable? Racism. Hatred. Authoritarianism. White Supremacy. Bigoted power grabs.
Hey, whadaya know? I figured it out. It’s not inexplicable after all. Send cash, Ron. I don’t trust you not to stop a check. Fucker.
https://www.local10.com/news/florida/2023/01/19/desantis-admin-blocks-ap-african-american-studies-course-says-it-violates-florida-law/
So more proof the Biden Justice Dept. is truly independent.
Wonder how Billy Barr would have handled a similar situation, which of course couldn't have existed since the Pretender was never a pretend VP, only a pretend president.
Still, the questions occurs..
With the latest revelations about Santos' drag history, it can now be said that Fox News and Bannon have also hosted drag queen story hours with their interviews of Georgie boy.
@RAS: Good point. But in the Georgie story hours, the tales are even more fictitiously fabulous that the children's stories read at normal drag queen story hours.