;)
March 21, 2022
Elena Moore of NPR: "Confirmation hearings begin Monday for Ketanji Brown Jackson, the federal judge President Biden has picked to fill Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's seat.... The hearings, led by the Senate Judiciary Committee, is set to last four days, with Jackson appearing in front of lawmakers during the first three.... The hearings begin at 11 a.m. EDT [Monday].
Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukraine rejected Russia's ultimatum that Mariupol surrender after weeks of Russian bombardments and days of street-by-street guerrilla warfare, which have terrorized residents and hampered rescue and evacuation efforts. Russia has threatened the city with more assaults and a 'military tribunal.' Moscow says it is bent on seizing Mariupol, which would be its first strategic victory in a war that appears to be approaching a stalemate in many other parts of the country.... As the human toll of the war continues to climb -- roughly one in four people in Ukraine have been forced to leave their homes, according to the United Nations -- diplomatic efforts towards a resolution have made only minimal advances." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here.
Cara Anna of the AP: "Ukrainian officials defiantly rejected a Russian demand that their forces in Mariupol lay down arms and raise white flags Monday in exchange for safe passage out of the besieged strategic port city. Even as Russia intensified its attempt to bombard Mariupol into surrender, its offensive in other parts of Ukraine has floundered. Western governments and analysts see the broader conflict grinding into a war of attrition, with Russia continuing to barrage cities. In the capital Kyiv, Russian shelling devastated a shopping center near the city center, killing at least eight people and leaving a sea of rubble amid scarred high-rises. Ukrainian authorities also said Russia shelled a chemical plant in northeastern Ukraine, causing an ammonia leak, and hit a military training base in the west with cruise missiles." ~~~
~~~ Bomb Anything, Anybody, Anywhere. Guardian & AFP: "Residents of the northern Ukrainian town of Novoselytsya should seek shelter after shelling caused an ammonia leak at a nearby chemical factory, an official said, as intense fighting with Russian forces in the area continues. According to an update from the Sumy regional military administration, the site of the Sumykhimprom plant, which produces fertilisers, was shelled at 3.55am on Monday morning.... Rescue workers were fixing a damaged pipeline and an employee at the plant was reportedly injured."
Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "Scores of exhausted workers at the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, who have worked for more than three weeks without a break while Russian troops have occupied the facility, were able to change shifts and go home Sunday, the plant said. About 300 people -- including technicians, guards and others -- have been effectively trapped at the facility since Feb. 24, when Russian forces took control. The staff has not been able to rotate work shifts as usual, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. But on Sunday, after about 600 hours inside, 64 people were allowed to leave, the plant said in a post on Facebook, where it has been delivering periodic updates on the perilous situation. Fifty shift workers were among those allowed to go, the plant said, and they were replaced by 46 'employee-volunteers.' It is unclear when or whether the remaining workers will be able to rotate out."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Firing rockets and bombs from the land, air and sea, Russian forces continued to bombard the besieged coastal city of Mariupol on Sunday even as they were also forcibly deporting thousands of residents of against their will to Russia, according to city officials and witnesses. With the Russian advance on Ukraine's major cities stalled and satellite imagery showing soldiers digging into defensive positions around Kyiv, the fierce fighting in the coastal city showed no signs of easing. The bombing of a theater where an estimated 1,300 people were seeking refuge on Thursday was followed on Sunday, according to local officials, by a strike on a drama school where 400 people were hiding." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: According to CNN, some reports have it that the Ukrainians who have been forced into Russia are being sent to concentration camps deep inside Russia.
Putin's War on Truth. Steven Myers & Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "In the tense weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian officials denied that it planned anything of the sort, denouncing the United States and its NATO allies for stoking panic and anti-Russian hatred. When it did invade, the officials denied it was at war. Since then, the Kremlin has cycled through a torrent of lies to explain why it had to wage a 'special military operation' against a sovereign neighbor. Drug-addled neo-Nazis. Genocide. American biological weapons factories. Birds and reptiles trained to carry pathogens into Russia. Ukrainian forces bombing their own cities, including theaters sheltering children.... Using a barrage of increasingly outlandish falsehoods..., Vladimir V. Putin has created an alternative reality, one in which Russia is at war not with Ukraine but with a larger, more pernicious enemy in the West. Even since the war began, the lies have gotten more and more bizarre, transforming from claims that 'true sovereignty' for Ukraine was possible only under Russia, made before the attacks, to those about migratory birds carrying bioweapons." ~~~
~~~ Teach Your Children Well. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "In a dingy Russian classroom with worn-out rugs, elementary school students lined up to form the shape of the letter Z: the symbol used on much of Russia's military equipment in Ukraine and an emblem of support at home, showing up on everywhere from bus stops to car stickers to corporate logos. Now it has become part of the classroom lessons as the Kremlin expands its anti-Ukraine propaganda to students as young as kindergarten. It's another front in ... Vladimir Putin's sweeping crackdowns to criminalize dissent and enforce an unquestioning brand of patriotism even as Russia grows increasingly isolated.... Russia's education minister, Sergey Kravtsov, openly described schools as central to Moscow's fight to 'win the information and psychological war' against the West."
Jane Arraf of the New York Times: "... tens of thousands of young, urban, multilingual Russian professionals who are able to work remotely from almost anywhere, many of them in information technology or freelancers in creative industries," are leaving Russia. Many are going to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia to plot out their next moves. "The speed and scale of the exodus are evidence of a seismic shift that the invasion set off inside Russia." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Masha Gessen has an article in the New Yorker on a similar topic. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Marc Fisher, et al., of the Washington Post: "... the reality is setting in for Ukrainian Americans eager to bring their relatives to safety that despite government pledges of solidarity, getting into the United States is a lengthy and cumbersome process that remains largely unchanged from before the war, according to those trying to bring relatives into the country and advocates who are helping them.... Some lawmakers and advocacy groups are urging the Biden administration to expedite the arrival of Ukrainians. But officials say the refugee system is not built for speed, as the U.S. vetting process often takes years." MB: Our State Department bureaucracy has been a quagmire for decades. There's no excuse for it. State left behind thousands of Afghans because of the sometimes four-year process of vetting even our known friends there. Even if you're an American citizen, you may have had to wait months for a new passport or visa (to a friendly country). (Also linked yesterday.)
Israel. Anna Getmansky & Eugene Finkel in a Haaretz op-ed: "Military supplies that Ukraine has received since the outbreak of the war, such as anti-tank Javelins, anti-aircraft Stingers, artillery and light weapons are ... not designed to counter the missile and the artillery threat [to civilian targets]. One Western country has the capacity, both military and civilian, to help Ukraine to protect civilians. This country is Israel. Unfortunately, it prefers not to do so [despite requests from Kyiv].... Israel ... has deep expertise in protecting civilians from missile and artillery threats. This is why the U.S. has tried -- so far unsuccessfully -- to convince Israel to sell Ukraine the Iron Dome air-defense system that Israel developed with American funding.... Iron Dome is just a single component of a multilayer response that Israel has developed to counter ballistic and artillery threats.... Israel [has] sought to remain 'neutral,' i.e. not to do anything that would provoke Moscow's ire.... Israel's concerns are valid, but the country's unique ability to help Ukraine save civilians lives outweighs them. Israel should revise its current stand, and act." ~~~
~~~ Joseph Federman of the AP: "Ukraine's president on Sunday called on Israel to take a stronger stand against Russia, delivering an emotional appeal that compared Russia's invasion of his country to the actions of Nazi Germany. In a speech to Israeli lawmakers over Zoom, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was time for Israel, which has emerged as a key mediator between Ukraine and Russia, to finally take sides. He said Israel should follow its Western allies by imposing sanctions and providing arms to Ukraine. 'One can ask for a long time why we can't accept weapons from you or why Israel didn't impose sanctions against Russia, why you are not putting pressure on Russian business,' he said. 'It is your choice, dear brothers and sisters.'... 'Everyone in Israel knows that your missile defense is the best. Everyone knows that ... you know how to defend your national interests, interests of your people and you can definitely help defend ours,'..."
Marie: Last week, someone wrote in the Comments that Arnold Schwarzenegger was exhibiting delusions of grandeur when he made a video urging Russians to oppose the war. As is too often the case, I didn't know enough about the topic to address it. However, this morning Jake Tapper said on CNN that Schwarzenegger has a huge following in Russia. So it would seem his video might do some good, after all.
Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "Five years after Myanmar's military began a killing spree against ethnic Rohingya, driving nearly one million people from their country, the United States has concluded that the widespread campaign of rape, crucifixions, and drownings and burnings of families and children amounted to genocide. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is set to announce the determination -- a legal designation for crimes that American investigators documented in 2018 -- at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on Monday. It almost certainly will trigger additional economic sanctions, limits on aid and other penalties against Myanmar's military junta. The Tatmadaw overthrew Myanmar's civilian government and its nascent democratic efforts, led by the Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in February 2021. In one of its first acts in office, the Biden administration declared that the military takeover amounted to a coup." An AP story is here.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Republicans are intensifying their attacks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson after weeks of publicly reserving judgment on President Biden's Supreme Court nominee, ahead of historic hearings on the first Black woman to be put forward as a justice. Republican leaders, wary of engaging in a potentially racially charged spectacle that could prompt a political backlash, have promised a more dignified review of the latest Supreme Court candidate, after a series of bitter clashes over the court. But in recent days, with the approach of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on her nomination that begin on Monday, their tone has shifted." MB: Leading the pack of wolves in that smarmy little insurrectionist Josh Hawley. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yesterday, someone wrote in complaining that I was being too cruel to wolves. I take his point. I work at this damned job 8 hours a day, in the neighborhood of 365 days a year. I do it not to influence people but to provide a helpful guide to anyone who would like a quick guide to what's going on in American politics. In return, I deeply appreciate the thoughtful commentary that many of you write. I also appreciate constructive criticism, and a complaint about being mean to wolves is valid. However, when a person reciprocates 35,000 hours of work with one complaint (which he attaches to a two-day-old page, BTW), well, you know, he can fuck off. So wolves it is, though, to be fair, they deserve a better advocate.
Christine Chung of the New York Times: "Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving member of the U.S. Supreme Court, was hospitalized with an infection on Friday after experiencing flulike symptoms, the court said in a statement on Sunday. Justice Thomas was being treated with intravenous antibiotics at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, the statement said. 'His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two,' it said." An AP report is here.
Ellie Silverman of the Washington Post: "The 'People's Convoy' of truck drivers and supporters that has been honking its way around D.C.-area roads and highways, backing up traffic in protest of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, has taken aim at government leaders, pharmaceutical and technology companies and the mainstream media. Now, as the convoy encounters roadblocks on its routes, it has a new perceived enemy: D.C. police leadership. This progression reflects the right-wing movement's penchant to search for obstacles to overcome in its fight for vague yet lofty goals like 'freedom,' extremism researchers say.... [At first, convoy organizers said they would not go into the District.] Then last week, they switched tactics and set their aims on the District, seemingly provoked by D.C. police blocking interstate exits into downtown Washington, a move those in the convoy call a violation of their First Amendment rights." Because the D.C. police were instrumental in saving the Capitol from Trump's insurrectionists, many in the convoy already despise the Metropolitan Police. ~~~
~~~ Pedal Power! A lone bicyclist slowed down the fake "Freedom Convoy" Saturday as the truckers attempted to disrupt traffic again in D.C. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. And do see his commentary in yesterday's thread. Funny thing is, the truckers were all pissed off when somebody disrupted their own disruption. Lacking any self-awareness or sense of humor, the truckers began blaring their horns at the biker. Turning up the volume is the bully's Plan B. At one point, a pick-up truck pulled up alongside the leisurely bike-rider (who, sadly, was not wearing a mask!) & the driver asked him what he was doing. "You've got a bunch of trucks behind you!" the pick-up driver shouted. The biker responded, "Say what? I can't hear you. It's too loud!" BTW, this is not the first time a biker has stymied a fake "Freedom Convoy." Six weeks ago in Vancouver, B.C., courier Tyrone Siglos slowed down & stopped a convoy in that city. He rode his bike slowly, completely stopping from time to time in order to split up the line of trucks between lights. He said he stopped for as long as a half-hour at one point. (Also linked yesterday.)
Hunter Walker of Rolling Stone: "Donald Trump's White House Chief of Staff [Mark Meadows] and a national campaign spokesperson [Katrina Pierson] were involved in efforts to encourage the president's supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That's according to a person who says he overheard a key planning conversation between top Trump officials and the organizers of the Jan. 6 rally [-- Kylie Kremer, director of Women For America First --] on the White House Ellipse -- and has since testified to House investigators about the phone call.... Scott Johnston -- who worked on the team that helped plan the Ellipse rally -- ... claims that leading figures in the Trump administration and campaign deliberately planned to have crowds converge on the Capitol, where the 2020 election was being certified -- and 'make it look like they went down there on their own.'" Firewalled. The Raw Story has a summary report here.
More Trumpish Dirty Tricks, with a WhoDunIt Element. Michael Schmidt & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "... new details of Project Veritas's effort to establish that [a personal] diary [they were about to purchase for $40,000] was [written by Joe Biden's daughter Ashley] Biden are elements of a still-emerging story about how Trump supporters and a group known for its undercover sting operations worked to expose personal information about the Biden family at a crucial stage of the 2020 campaign. Drawn from interviews, court filings and other documents, the new information adds further texture to what is known about an episode that has led to a criminal investigation of Project Veritas by federal prosecutors who have suggested they have evidence that the group was complicit in stealing Ms. Biden's property and in transporting stolen goods across state lines. And by showing that Project Veritas employed deception rather than traditional journalistic techniques in the way it approached Ms. Biden ... the new accounts could further complicate the organization's assertions in court filings that it should be treated as a publisher and granted First Amendment protections." An interesting read.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Vatican. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis on Saturday issued a new constitution, nearly a decade in the making, to govern the bureaucracy that runs the Roman Catholic Church. The constitution, running 54 pages, newly stipulates that baptized lay Catholics, including women, can lead departments traditionally headed by cardinals and increases institutional efforts to protect minors by incorporating the pope's clergy abuse commission into the church's government. The new text -- titled 'Praedicate Evangelium,' or 'Proclaiming the Gospel' -- concluded a process that has, over the years, introduced in dribs and drabs overhauls regarding Vatican finances and the consolidation of Vatican offices. It reflects Francis' emphasis on a more pastoral and ground-up church, and leaves a concrete mark on the church's workings."
Share Article
Reader Comments (17)
Moscow Mitch yesterday sniffed that he hasn’t yet decided whether he will allow Ketanji Brown Jackson to ascend to the Confederate Court. He might decide that the next (Confederate) president* should make that choice.
More of the same shit.
None of these jackals are leaders. McConnell is taking his cues from the dregs and the racist thugs he allows to run rampant in his party without so much as a warning to fucking behave themselves. When asked what he thought about the criminal element rampaging around the country, he tried to pretend that it was just one or two non-entities and we needn’t worry about them.
Yeah. There are only a few serial killers loose. Nothing to worry about.
This pretense that the violent element that has taken over his party is almost non-existent is like the T-Rex who, looking at the approaching meteor, tells the rest of the dinosaurs “Pay no attention to that thing in the sky, it’s nothing”.
A true leader who believes in the United States, in democracy, rule of law, and simple decency, would smack these assholes and tell them to sit down and STFU.
But not Mitch. They lead, he follows. If they hate the idea of a black Democrat, a woman, on their Supreme Court, then who is he to say “no”?
I thought I commented on this the other day but maybe it was my doppelgänger in an alternate universe…
So when official representatives of a country in the middle of a murderous invasion of a sovereign state, a country run by fear, intimidation, assassination, imprisonment of dissidents, and—most importantly—lies and disinformation, a country ruled by a former KGB thug who believes his every violent, paranoid whim should be made incarnate, holds your media organization up as their gold standard, the kind that fits in perfectly with their vicious worldview, the kind that spews the sort of propaganda that they revel in, you might want to rethink your operating principles.
But not Fox! They double down on that shit. Fair and balanced?
QED.
Fox News! The choice of crooks, crackpots, murderers, and despots!
Somewhere (hopefully in a fiery sulfur bath) Roger Ailes is trying to smile.
AK: Re: our shell bearing turtle––you are much too hard on that tough covering he bears so well. Just look at yonder link on a story by Mary Papenfuss who says Mitch, on Sunday, no less, made a little fuss when he said he "dismissed" members of his party who were bashing Zelensky. Oh, wait, she put "sharply" in front of dismissed–––so there you have it. So, by gosh, ole Mitch came through on the other side of complicity?
This, as you can see, is a question, not a conformation. I await your answer.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mitch-mcconnell-madison-cawthorn-marjorie-taylor-greene-putin-lonely_n_62379e6ae4b009ab92f9f81d
The State Department is just one thicket in the quagmire of U.S. refugee admissions. The big drag comes from DHS and the US intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The attached two-pager gives you an idea of the process.
You can thank your congress for seeking to ensure your safety from all of those refugees, each of whom could be a terrorist, even the grandmas and babies. Boogedy boogedy.
State takes the heat and the blame for refugee admissions problems, because it has appropriations to manage the end process (resettlements). That means State is on the hot seat at congressional hearings and resulting news items. But the blockers at the door are other agencies.
The attachment is about all refugee vettings, but focuses on Syria.
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/files/SyrianRefugeesVettingFacts.pdf
Sorry, link above misfired, this works.
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/files/SyrianRefugeesVettingFacts.pdf
PD,
There is no defending the indefensible. McConnell knows it’s stupid to throw down along the Putin wing of his party, which is absolutely not a few lonely voices crying in the wilderness, as he would have it. There is no wilderness anymore, there’s the internet, and Fox, and OANN, and Newsmax and every other right wing extremist outlet making money on treason and lies, and these are not “lonely voices”, they’re some of the biggest loudmouths in the Party of Traitors, traitors who treason it up more all the time.
So what to do? Pretend it’s not happening, it doesn’t mean anything. Or rather, insist that the rest of us believe his lies about how it’s nothing to worry about. Nothing to see here.
Nothing to worry about? Just take a few minutes and scan the stories Marie links here over just the last two or three weeks. You’ll find dozens of instances of absolute treasonous bulldozing of truth, an avalanche of winger support for an invading army, support for authoritarian violence, for a dictator they see as the Great White Hope, who takes what he wants and kills anyone in his way. This is the sort of world they crave, where those aligned against their thirst for control can be shot dead. Just look at all the calls—by a former president*, and sitting members of congress!!—for “second amendment solutions”.
There’s no defending that. At least not out loud. But attempting to distract others, going with the pretense that there’s no one supporting Putin, no one just itching to shoot you in the head for not sieg heiling along with the rest of his party, IS a defense. It’s more misdirection. It’s what they do best: lie.
And this is vintage McConnell. A smirking demon. Yeah, the Cawthorns and Greenes are nasty brutes, but McConnell is pure evil. And he loves it.
Try this to get a 2016 outlione of the US refugee vetting process.
I don't know why the typed-out URL keeps failing. Sorry.
What's the difference between a politician and a statesman?
Hadn't thought much about it until this morning when again confronted with stories of the maneuvering that defines the steps of yet another SCOTUS confirmation dance.
I'd posit the difference lies in, as always, the goal.
Is it the good of the country? The party? or the self?
If there were a politician-statesman spectrum, the politician would hew to the narrow end, the statesman, the larger and more encompassing.
Could a politician be identified by his or her interest in self alone? In service to self instead of community?
Could that same template be expanded to describe everything political from parties to ideologies? To the forces behind everything from tax policy to voting right?
I'm thinking it might legitimately do so.
Maybe it's just a matter of favorite pronouns. I and me versus we. And for the I people, us versus them.
Pronoun digression aside, Mitch sure ain't no statesman.
According to M.E. Sarotte, a professor of history at J.H., who wrote about U. S. relationships with Russia, says Putin's frequent references to a "promise",allegedly made by American leaders at the end of the cold war, not to expand NATO into the power vacuum of Central and Eastern Europe, "Not an inch to the east", we were told in the 1990's." Putin said in a December 2021 speech. "They cheated us–--vehemently, blatantly!"
BUT–-as Sarotte documents, the U.S. made no such promise.
Here's the exchange between James Baker and Gorbachev:
Baker: Would you prefer to see a united Germany outside of NATO, independent and with no US forces, or would you prefer a unified Germany be tied to NATO with assurances that NATO's jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward from its present position?
It was a question. not a pledge. Gorbachev said that, put that way, he preferred the latter: Baker said, he did too.
BUT–-upon returning home Baker was derided by Daddy Bush who said, "To hell with that!" Pissed that Russia should have any say at all on the fate of Germany. "We prevailed and they didn't." Baker, it was said, never mentioned "not one inch" again.
PD,
No. They didn’t. And it would have been ridiculous to do so. Especially to a power that had caused so much international strife, a power that repeatedly lied, to its own citizens, and to the West. And even more to the point, after the Soviet Union lost. Lost big. Why would the winners concede any such thing?
And if Putin insisted on continuing to misread that exchange, it would be fair to ask “Okay, so what did Russia agree to in return for a promise not to expand NATO’s footprint? A reduced subscription to Pravda?”
Putin is doing the same thing Trump does. Willful misinterpretation with a heaping helping of self-serving propaganda.
Don't know if David's respond to Marie's rejoinder to his post from yesterday will appear here but David (who was likely not raised by wolves) apparently took umbrage at Marie's initial likening of Hawley and wolves and at her response as well.
I'd suggest, David, that RC readers are sufficiently alert to nuance to distinguish between a common metaphor and the reality of the vital niche wolves occupy in the wild. They also understand that wolves are still in the crosshairs of the Wild West mentality that thinks the only good wolf is a dead one.
That said, here from Dictionary.com is the Wolfpack's common meaning:
a group of submarines operating together in hunting down and attacking enemy convoys.
a group of wolves hunting together.
The second meaning is surely a fair description of Hawley and the rest of his pack, fangs bared, slavering at the prospect of taking another bite of their preferred meal, black flesh.
Sensitivity is too rare. Over sensitivity these day is unfortunately not.
Following that that, I offer this from WaPo. IMO the whole issue of sensitivity is worth serious thought and discussion. Here's some.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/03/16/college-students-have-become-fearful-expressing-their-views-new-civil-dialogue-movement-may-restore-healthy-debate/?itid=hp_magazine
Hi Marie,
I haven’t commented in a while but want you to know how much I appreciate the hard work, passion, truth and justice your site brings to the world. I believe, no exaggeration that your website has informed me so that I can remain functional in dealing with this very crazy political landscape. Your commitment everyday to enlightening your readers is something for which I am profoundly grateful.
You have created and maintain a great space! Thank you again for all your hard work. Sincerely and with love, Julia
Ken: Thank you–-- and David, wherever he may be, I hope, gets to read your comments.
As for you David, unlike our hostess Marie, and the regular and frequent commentators (like AK, Pepe, Ken and so many more who am sorry for not name checking here, shout out to Rose in MI and the gardener near Betsy devil, yikes so many more like Jeanne, Victoria and Owen, please forgive me for not remembering all your names) I appreciate, am a grateful reader and have learned so much from all of them.
As for David BS objection to that “Smarmy Insurrectionist Senator Josh Hawley” leading a pack of wolves being repugs what would he prefer: a cackle of hyenas, or better yet, a clan of hyenas, maybe a skull of foxes, or a bloat of hippos, a destruction of wild cats, an intrusion of cockroaches, a confusion of wildebeest, a conspiracy of lemurs, a bed of snakes, or pit of vipers! They all describe the repugs and are equally insulting to innocent creatures. Best to continue to describe the GOP as the new confederates insurrectionists all.
In an above comment AK refers them as jackals, I like that, but maybe devil would also be appropriate as the Greek word “diabolos” literally means slanderer. David enlighten me please.
I turned off Cspan when the devil’s mistress herself, the smarmy Senator Marsha Blackburn started to slander KBJ’s record. Senator Blackburn was so worried about judicial overreach and support for regulations that might impact “private family decisions” pretty rich coming from this vile whore who wants to overturn Roe, take back LGBTQ rights, and destroy public health.
P.S. That enough from me today and maybe for a while but thank you again Marie and company for providing a daily dose of sanity.
Thanks, all, for the commentary, especially the remarks about David's "contribution." He did, in fact, write back. However, he's such a numbskull that he added his response to my remarks of the 21st to the end of the Comments section of the 19th. Perhaps he thinks by predating his responses, we'll consider him awfully prescient.
Instead, he's just plain awful. The smug little turdblossom seems to think I'm quaking in my boots and will never again dare to say a bad word about Big Bad Wolves or packs thereof. Alas, he'll never see our remarks because it appears he doesn't know how to find them.
"Turdblossom."
Isn't that what Dubya called Karl Rove, thereby giving turds a bad name?