;)
The Commentariat -- October 14, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Phil Helsel of NBC News: "... Donald Trump suggested on Saturday that he believes the controversial policy of family separations could continue in the United States and that the practice could dissuade immigrants from entering the country illegally." Mrs. McC: As we've noted before, there is no evidence that harsh immigration policies deter immigrants. Moreover, most of those seeking asylum are not coming here "illegally." BTW, do see Sarah Stillman's New Yorker article, linked below, on how Trump's administration is coercing five-year-olds into signing away their legal rights.
Victoria Fleisher & Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "When [Donald Trump] is attacked -- or even when he thinks he might have been attacked -- he tends to fire back in the same way each time: with smears and vague aspersions. On Thursday, his former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn was the latest recipient of his apparent defamation.... [When] told by his friends at Fox News during his latest Fox & Friends phone call that Cohn might have been a source of recent negative stories about his administration, Trump had nothing nice to say. 'It could have been. A lot of people have said that, you know, Gary Cohn. And I could tell stories about him like you wouldn't believe.'... The tactic of suggesting -- with no evidence -- that Trump has embarrassing stories to tell about someone in his crosshairs is one Trump uses a lot." --s
Where's Pompeo? Mrs. McCrabbie: The foreign ministers of the UK, France & Germany issued a joint statement expressing "grave concern" about the disappearance of journalist & dissident Jamal Khashoggi, & calling for a "credible investigation." Khashoggi is/was a U.S. resident who worked for the Washington Post. One would think our own "foreign minister" would be just as concerned as are our close allies. But no. ...
... Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: "Saudi Arabia on Sunday said it rejects 'threats' and political pressure over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul, a day after President Trump said there would be 'severe punishment' if Saudi Arabia is found to have killed the Washington Post Global Opinions columnist. Threatening to impose economic sanctions and repeating 'false accusations' will not undermine the country's standing, said the statement on Saudi Arabia's official press agency, which quoted an 'official source.' The kingdom's government and people are 'as glorious and steadfast as ever,' it said."
Feckless. Alex Ward of Vox: "The head of the US National Guard [Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel], one of the top military officers in charge of responding to hurricanes and other disasters affecting the United States, claims he does not know why the climate is changing. What's more, he has yet to discuss the threat climate change poses to Americans with President Donald Trump.... One of Lengyel's aides told me after the session that no one had prepared the general for questions about climate change beforehand." --safari
White Power. Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones: "Under President Donald Trump's tax cuts, white Americans are the big winners, and the existing wealth gap between them and minority households will continue to grow. That's the conclusion of a new report released this week on the racial implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.... The report, from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the nonprofit Prosperity Now, is the first quantitative analysis of its kind.... [T]he authors conclude the law will 'supercharge' existing racial disparities in wealth 'to an alarming extent.'... The authors found that nearly 80 percent of the $275 billion in tax cuts to individual households will go to white families -- even though whites make up just two-thirds of taxpayers. In dollar terms, white families will get about $218 billion in tax cuts, while black households will see about $14 billion and Latinos about $18 billion." --s
Chief Crook-in-the-House. Paul Pringle & Adam Elmahrek of the Los Angeles Times: "A company owned by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's in-laws won more than $7 million in no-bid and other federal contracts at U.S. military installations and other government properties in California based on a dubious claim of Native American identity by McCarthy's brother-in-law, a Times investigation has found. The prime contracts, awarded through a federal program designed to help disadvantaged minorities, were mostly for construction projects at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in McCarthy's Bakersfield-based district, and the Naval Air Station Lemoore in nearby Kings County.... [McCarthy's brother-in-law William] Wages says he is one-eighth Cherokee. An examination of government and tribal records by The Times and a leading Cherokee genealogist casts doubt on that claim, however. He is a member of a group called the Northern Cherokee Nation, which has no federal or state recognition as a legitimate tribe. It is considered a fraud by leaders of tribes that have federal recognition...."
Election 2018. Viriginia. Nathalie Baptiste of Mother Jones: "The Republican Party of Virginia just released a new attack ad claiming that Leslie Cockburn, the Democrat running for Congress in Virginia's 5th congressional district, 'hates America.'... It states that Cockburn 'hates' military veterans, Israel, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency tasked with deportation and other immigration matters.... Cockburn, a former investigative journalist and producer on CBS' 60 Minutes, is running against Republican Denver Riggleman, a veteran of the US Air Force and a business owner." --s
** Election 2018. Iowa. Des Moines Register Editors: "Some have argued that this election should be a referendum on President Trump. We disagree. This is about Congress, which has abdicated much of its constitutional duty and has failed to provide a check and balance to the executive branch. Not only has the party failed to act as a check on the president, key Republicans have been complicit in trying to obstruct and undermine the investigation of a foreign power's interference in a U.S. election. And by their silence they have tacitly endorsed the president's racism, misogyny, white nationalism, divisiveness and crudity ... the party needs to be voted out of power[.] --s ...
... ** In the paper's endorsement for J.D. Scholten [D] over Steve King [R-acist], it notes, "This one's a no-brainer for any Iowan who has cringed at eight-term incumbent King's increasing obsession with being a cultural provocateur. In his almost 16 years in Congress, King has passed exactly one bill as primary sponsor, redesignating a post office. He won't debate his opponent and rarely holds public town halls. Instead, he spends his time meeting with fascist leaders in Europe and retweeting neo-Nazis." --s
Election 2018. Arizona. Ronald Hansen of the Arizona Republic: "Republican U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko has agreed to take down campaign signs falsely asserting her Democratic opponent, Hiral Tipirneni, is a 'fake doctor' after a medical group that backed Lesko pressed her on the issue. The reversal comes days after Tipirneni, a licensed physician and cancer-research advocate, strongly pushed back on the signs, calling Lesko's tactics 'despicable' in a meeting Thursday with the editorial board of The Arizona Republic. Lesko relented after ARMPAC, the Arizona Medical Political Action Committee, which has endorsed her, told Lesko in a meeting they viewed the 'campaign signs as an insult to the medical profession, discounting the education and training required of physicians to become licensed and credentialed.' The group said Lesko agreed to take down the signs afterward. ARMPAC maintained its Lesko endorsement." Mrs. McC: Really? The group should rename itself the Arizona Medical Political Idiots Team, or ARMPIT.
Tracy Connor of The Daily Beast: "In her second day on the job, the new head of USA Gymnastics apologized for a month-old tweet that angered the sport's biggest star, Simone Biles. 'I regret the post,' former congresswoman Mary Bono [R-Calif.] said late Saturday as the sports federation was plunged into yet another round of turmoil that pitted athletes against executives. The tweet in question showed Bono using a marker to cover up the swoosh on her golf shoes a few days after Nike launched an advertising campaign that featured ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.... Nike was a sponsor of the 2016 Summer Games, where Biles won four gold medals and earned her reputation as the greatest gymnast in history.... It did not escape notice that Bono's September tweet was apparently taking a swipe at an athlete who chose to express his views -- and that the gymnasts have complained they were silenced when they spoke up about abuse." --s
Anna Jean Kaiser of the Guardian: "Over the course of a 30-year political career, [Jair] Bolsonaro has earned notoriety from his sexist remarks, once telling a fellow lawmaker she didn't even 'deserve' being raped and more recently saying he wouldn't pay women the same salary as men. In 2013, he called the secretary of women's policy a 'big dyke'. During the impeachment of the country's first female president, he dedicated his vote to the dictatorship colonel who had overseen her torture.... Many pollsters had presumed that Bolsonaro's misogyny had created a natural limit to his share of the women's vote, but in the final stages of the campaign, that expectation has shattered.... According to polls before the fragmented first round of 13 candidates, Bolsonaro was the most popular candidate among women, with 27% of the vote. The latest poll for the runoff election says he has roughly 42% of the female electorate." --s
Juan Cole: "An appeals court in the Netherlands has upheld a 2015 lower court ruling in a class action case that the Dutch government needs to do more to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 25% below 1990 levels by 2020. So far the Netherlands has only reduced 13% from 1990 levels. The court appealed to the principle that the government must attend to the welfare of citizens, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights." --s
Reuters: "City authorities in Turkey's capital, Ankara, have renamed the street where the new US embassy is being built 'Malcolm X Avenue', after the civil rights leader, state media reported. The move coincides with a period of fraught relations between Turkey and the US and comes after other politically charged name changes to streets in Ankara.... Malcolm X remains a divisive figure in US history and Ankara's move will likely be received negatively by critics who say he stirred racist and anti-American sentiment." --s
*****
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "In excerpts of a new interview released Saturday morning, Trump said that the [disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi] is being investigated and that the Saudis deny any involvement, despite the mounting evidence that the Saudi regime was implicated in Khashoggi's disappearance on Oct. 2. 'Well, nobody knows yet, but we'll probably be able to find out,' Trump said in the interview with Lesley Stahl of CBS';s '60 Minutes,' which will air in full Sunday night. 'It's being investigated, it's being looked at very, very strongly. And we would be very upset and angry if that were the case. As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes.' Speaking with reporters at the White House later Saturday, Trump reiterated that there would be 'very powerful' repercussions for Saudi Arabia should the United States determine that the kingdom is responsible for the death of Khashoggi, who wrote for The Post's Global Opinions section. But the president all but ruled out canceling $110 billion in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, arguing that doing so would be 'very foolish for our country' and only end up harming U.S. defense industries and others." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Trump's claim he would take "very powerful" action against the Saudis is quite a turnaround from his rhetoric of just a day before. Evidently he noticed even members of his own party -- at least for now -- oppose assassinating journalists who work for American newspapers. As for the supposed arms deal, one would almost think Trump actually believes the Saudis' $110BB check is in the mail. It isn't. Even if it were, arms deals with countries that misuse arms -- like, say, for killing journalists -- are no reason to treat those countries with kid gloves. So, there's some other reason Trump is insisting on not cancelling a deal that isn't. (Again, I have no idea how one looks at something "very strongly.")
Nicholas Kristof: "... it's a disgrace that Trump administration officials and American business tycoons enabled and applauded M.B.S. as he imprisoned business executives, kidnapped Lebanon's prime minister, rashly created a crisis with Qatar, and went to war in Yemen to create what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis there. Some eight million Yemenis on the edge of starvation there don't share this bizarre view that M.B.S. is a magnificent reformer. Trump has expressed 'great confidence' in M.B.S. and said that he and King Salman 'know exactly what they are doing.' Jared Kushner wooed M.B.S. and built a close relationship with him -- communicating privately without involving State Department experts -- in ways that certainly assisted M.B.S. in his bid to consolidate power for himself." Read on. ...
... Meredith McGraw of ABC News: "... Donald Trump welcomed American Pastor Andrew Brunson to the White House on Saturday afternoon after he returned home from nearly two years of detention in Turkey." Mrs. McC: This was pretty much a campaign event posed as a miracle of international diplomacy. ...
... Stavros Agorakis of Vox: "After Pastor Andrew Brunson ... finished a prayer in the Oval Office for the president whose administration had brought him home..., Trump ... asked...,] 'Who did you vote for?' Amid the awkward, forced laughter that ensued, Trump turned to his Cabinet and added in a faux whisper, 'I knew the answer.' It's not clear whether the president was addressing Brunson, who had just returned safely to the United States after his release from Turkish detention, his wife who attended the Oval Office meeting by his side, or both."
Time for a Paper Towel Toss. Rebecca Morin of Politico: "... Donald Trump next week will visit Florida and Georgia, two states facing massive recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael." (Also linked yesterday.)
In an essay that should make you shudder, Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast points out how Donald Trump has echoed the anti-Semitic conspiracy tales promoted by those like the the Russian hackers behind DCLeaks, with financier & philanthropist George Soros as the bogeyman. "... the attack on Soros follows classic anti-Semitic templates, grimly recurrent throughout western history, and some of the most powerful geopolitical figures in the world are pushing it. But of course, Trump is not alone: "Nowhere has the attack on Soros been more geopolitically potent, or as clarifying, as in his native Hungary. The Hungarian strongman prime minister Viktor Orban, for months ahead of his April reelection, united anti-Semitism and Islamophobia to portray Soros as the string-puller behind a transformational Islamic invasion of Syrian migrants." AND, unbelievable though it may sound, Benjamin Natanyahu's goverment "wilfully averted its eyes from Orban's anti-Semitism."
Jesse Drucker & Emily Flitter of the New York Times: "Over the past decade, Jared Kushner's family company has spent billions of dollars buying real estate. His personal stock investments have soared. His net worth has quintupled to almost $324 million. And yet, for several years running, Mr. Kushner ... appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes, according to confidential financial documents reviewed by The New York Times. His low tax bills are the result of a common tax-minimizing maneuver that, year after year, generated millions of dollars in losses for Mr. Kushner, according to the documents. But the losses were only on paper -- Mr. Kushner and his company did not appear to actually lose any money. The losses were driven by depreciation, a tax benefit that lets real estate investors deduct a portion of the cost of their buildings from their taxable income every year. In 2015, for example, Mr. Kushner took home $1.7 million in salary and investment gains. But those earnings were swamped by $8.3 million of losses, largely because of 'significant depreciation' that Mr. Kushner and his company took on their real estate...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Jesse Drucker & Emily Flitter: "Jared Kushner has a net worth of almost $324 million, and his company has been profitable. But Mr. Kushner ... appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes for several years running, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times." Here's a step-by-step instruction sheet on how you too can avoid paying a fair share of (or perhaps any) federal taxes. (Also linked yesterday.)
Ewww! Vice Is Nice But Incest Is Best. Devon Ivie of New York: "Omarosa Manigault Newman ... used a chunk of her Real Time [with Bill Maher] appearance to recall some of the weird moments she witnessed between the President and his First Daughter. 'He would kiss her on the lips. He would rub her for a very long period of time,' she said. 'It was awkward.' He would also 'pat her on the behind' frequently, while Ivanka loved being referred to as 'Daddy's Little Girl.' (Her preferred way to introduce Trump to people? 'My daddy.')"
Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: ": "President Trump has chosen conservative Catholic activist and longtime Washington commercial lawyer Pat Cipollone as his next White House counsel to replace Donald McGahn, according to two people familiar with Trump's decision. Trump told Cipollone of his selection last week. Cipollone, who practices commercial litigation at Stein Mitchell Cipollone Beato & Missner, is a well liked and respected among Trump's personal lawyers and had been informally advising them on the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 elections since at least June." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sarah Stillman of the New Yorker: "The federal government detained Helen, a five-year-old from Honduras, "after the Trump administration announced it would halt the separation of immigrant families." Yes, but everything was okay, because the government got Helen to sign over her right to a bond hearing. "... the five-year-old signed her name in wobbly letters." Emphasis added. Mrs. McC: Insane monsters are running our country. Every time a Republican politician sanctimoniously utters the phrase "rule of law," he should be forced to sign over his right not to be immediately removed from office & jailed.
Mrs. McCrabbie: I didn't care for SNL's cold open featuring Trump & Kanye West, but this segment makes up for it. Really:
Election 2018
Jim Crow Rising. Jamelle Bouie of Slate: "In a few weeks, the citizens of Georgia won't just be casting ballots for their governor; they will be deciding the fate of their democracy.... The Associated Press reports that [Georgia Secretary of State & GOP goobernatorial nominee Brian] Kemp's office has stalled more than 53,000 applications for voter registration.... A total of 80 percent belong to blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans. These voters ran afoul of his office's 'exact match' system, which allows the state to put applications on hold for minor discrepancies between registration forms and official state records.... The discrepancies in question can amount to missing punctuation or small variations in spelling.... In 2016, civil rights groups filed suit against Kemp's office for the 'exact match' system, but in 2017, the Georgia Legislature passed a law codifying parts of that system.... [Kemp's] office has canceled more than 1.4 million voter registrations. In August, Kemp was pressured to back down from a proposal by a political ally to eliminate three-fourths of voting locations in a rural county made up of predominantly black voters, but he has still been able to close polling locations in a number of majority-black areas.... Soon after declaring that minority-voter registration threatened Republican chances, his office launched a criminal investigation into [Democratic opponent Stacey] Abrams' New Georgia Project for alleged registration fraud. She, and the organization, were cleared of all charges. Kemp, in other words..., has attempted to rig in his own favor." ...
... Rachel Maddow had a good segment Friday on Kemp's excellent job of screwing up the state's election system. Mrs. McC: Sorry, Georgia, but your secretary of state is openly corrupt, & there's a good chance you will elect him your corrupt governor. He is so Trumpy in so many ways.
Beyond the Beltway
Meet Some of Trump's "Very Fine People." Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post: "Minutes after an event at a Manhattan Republican club meant to celebrate violence against leftists, attendees belonging to a proto-fascist, pro-Trump street gang reportedly pummeled three people on the sidewalk in Manhattan's Upper East Side while shouting homophobic slurs. Footage posted online by video journalist Sandi Bachom shows a group of men who appear to be Proud Boys -- a misogynistic and anti-Muslim fraternity known for committing acts of political violence across the country -- kicking and punching three apparent anti-fascist protesters as they lay prone on the sidewalk.... The violence occurred just minutes after roughly 30 apparent Proud Boys exited the Metropolitan Republican Club, the GOP's headquarters in New York City, where Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes had been invited to give a speech. McInnes billed the event as an anniversary celebration to lionize a Japanese ultranationalist who assassinated the head of the Japanese Socialist Party with a sword on Oct. 12, 1960." ...
... Julia Reinstein & Stephanie Baer of BuzzFeed News: "Although New York Police Department officers being [were!] present at the time of the attack, none of the Proud Boys were [was!] arrested for the beatdown. [Verb form, people!] However, separately, three other protesters were arrested for attacking a person leaving the event. Police have not yet explained why there were no arrests made in the assault on the protesters, despite multiple inquiries by BuzzFeed News Saturday. The NYPD later released a statement saying that it was reviewing video and evidence to determine if additional crimes were committed."
... David Mack of BuzzFeed News: "Authorities in Savannah, Georgia, have their eyes out for whoever put, well, a pair of eyes on a historic statue in the city's downtown. 'Who did this?!' asked the city's official Facebook page after someone affixed the googly eyes on the monument to Revolutionary War commander Nathanael Greene, which stands in the city's Johnson Square. 'It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter,' the city wrote. 'In fact, it's a crime.'" ...
... Some responses from horrified Americans:
I always wanted to visit Savannah, but now that I see how unsafe it is, no thanks. I'll consider it once they catch this psychopath. Is the FBI involved yet?
Turns out that I'm nowhere near white enough to be outraged by this.
Who is Nathaniel Greene? Never mind. I'll Googly him.
Don't vandal-eyes.
As for me, I wish the terrible criminals who did this had chosen a statue of one of the South's many that glorify traitors. Greene was an actual American hero who was, if Wikipedia is an accurate source, quite a good guy. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
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Reader Comments (9)
If I was running for congress in a state redder than the roses in the White House garden, I'd hire Jeanne for my "Go get-em girl Friday" (see her comment from yesterday) Her venom for punks and slime balls would suit me just fine.
TRUMP GIVES INVESTORS GOOD REASON TO BE SCARED:
Fiscal recklessness, impending trade war––no wonder markets are getting jittery. And they thought Trump was just a lot of hot air but have discovered it's now choking us.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-12/stock-market-fall-trump-s-tax-trade-policies-add-to-jitters?srnd=premium
@Marie: Love your corrections––"verb form, people!"–-I betcha them Proud Boys don't know their wasses from their asses –-such a despicable mob of malodorous monsters! May the eyes of Nathanael Greene smite you bastards!
Enjoy your Sunday, people––stormy weather is a-comin.
Pardon the formatting, but CAP key stuck for a while, and I was too lazy to retype it. I really wasn't shouting in this LTTE, just sent it the way it appears, tho' maybe these days shouting is always in order.
A good Sunday to all.
AS ANOTHER ELECTION APPROACHES, REPUBLICANS HAVE ONCE AGAIN TURNED TO THEIR FAVORITE PAGE IN THE POLITICAL PLAYBOOK. THEY ARE EAGERLY STOKING FEAR WHEREVER THEY CAN.
SOME MAY REMEMBER HOW IN THE FALL OF 2004, TO HEIGHTEN THE NATION’S FEARS THE BUSH II ADMINISTRATION MANIPULATED THE TERROR ALERT SYSTEM PUT IN PLACE FOLLOWING THE 9/11 ATTACKS. IN THE WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ISSUED WARNING AFTER WARNING OF IMPENDING ATTACKS, WHICH LATER INVESTIGATION PROVED BASELESS (NATION.COM). “A VOTE FOR KERRY IS A VOTE FOR OSAMA BIN LADEN,” DICK CHENEY CYNICALLY SAID, AS THE TERROR ALERT'S DISPLAY RAN FROM ORANGE TO RED.
BUSH WON, THE UNFUNDED IRAQ WAR CONTINUED, AND THE BUSH CRASH OF 2007-2008 FOLLOWED.
“BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID” IS A STANDARD A REPUBLICAN MANTRA. TO JUSTIFY HIS MUSLIM TRAVEL BAN AND HIS RACIALLY-MOTIVATED IMMIGRATION POLICIES, MR. TRUMP SHAMELESSLY EXAGGERATES THE EXTENT OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR AMONG RECENT IMMIGRANTS, IGNORING THE CLEAR FACT THAT THE CRIME RATES AMONG THEM ARE PROPORTIONALLY LOWER THAN THAT OF OUR HOMEGROWN POPULATION (WASHINGTONPOST.COM).
WHAT’S A LIE OR TWO WHEN TOLD IN THE SERVICE OF FEAR?
THIS TIME AROUND IT’S NOT MUSLIM TERRORISM OR DANGEROUS IMMIGRANTS WHO THREATEN US, BUT “MOB RULE.”
TODAY I DID MY OWN FACTCHECK AND PEERED THROUGH THE MORNING FOG TO SEE IF THE MOBS THAT REPUBLICANS PROMISE IF DEMOCRATS WIN IN NOVEMBER WERE ALREADY ASSEMBLING. I CAN REPORT I SAW NO EVIDENCE OF THEM HERE IN CONWAY. PERHAPS ALL THOSE PAID PROTESTERS MR. TRUMP HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT ARE STILL AWAITING THEIR CHECKS.
BUT EVEN IF MOBS DON’T EVENTUALLY GATHER IN OUR STREETS, WITH DEMOCRATS IN POWER THERE IS NO TELLING WHAT OUTRAGES MIGHT OCCUR.
FAIRER TAXES? A REASONABLE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM? RESPECT FOR WOMEN AND MINORITIES? AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL TO VOTE?
ALL VERY FRIGHTENING PROSPECTS—TO TODAY’S REPUBLICANS.
@Ken Winkes: Actually, a stuck CAP key is appropriate in at least 90 percent of the commentary here, because the abominations you all decry are OUTRAGEOUS.
While we'r doing grammar -- can you imagine DiJiT asking "For whom did you vote?"
Didn't think so.
Driving through SE Kansas yesterday, flipping through radio stations, I came upon a strong signal with a guy decrying a case where an Appeals court ruled a large memorial with a cross on it (Bladensburg) was overly Christian for a general monument. "Thank God Kavanaugh is on the SC now. You know the next thing THEY will go for is the crosses on the graves in Arlington National Cemetery."
It drives me insane when the Rs tell people with a straight face that oranges really are apples. One can find a variety of religious symbols on individual graves in Arlington, and graves with no symbols at all. A symbol stating one person's belief system is completely different from a public space monument in the shape of a cross, implying every soul lost in WWI was a Christian believer.
Back to Kansas tonight for two more weeks. We're working with Blue Dot people for the most part, though there's plenty of red stain splattered around.
Last night I watched a film called “Sarah’s Key”, about the Vel d’Hiv roundup of Jews in Paris in 1942. One of the more excruciating elements of the roundup was the separation of children from their parents. While watching this I realized that such a monstrous plan was not implemented for “security” or “deterrence”. The primary goal was the infliction of cruelty, to instill fear and misery, to terrorize other human beings.
It was that way when the Nazis did it and it’s that way when Trump and Stephen Miller do it.
Cruelty, pure and simple. All other proffered reasons are bullshit.
Miller would have made an outstanding collaborator in wartime France. Trump would have loved the uniforms.
Thank you, PD! I appreciate your appreciation-- not sure my husband shares it-- he thinks I might be a bit too much...
The more reports I read/hear about Kemp in GA make me think we are back in the 60s. Racists in the US no longer bother to hide their ugly feelings and mugs, and we find them at every level of politics. All this so browns can't vote-- It's like they have all taken up neon billboards to explain themselves as if it were legal-- "WE CAN'T ACTUALLY WIN ELECTIONS ANYMORE, SO ANYTHING GOES NOW." Someone on NPR this morning is promising a program all about how a bunch/county of aggrieved citizens in PA brought us Dolt45. Strangely, I am not going to listen to it. They seem to be correct, when I think back to my total disbelief as this state went to hell... Some days I STILL think I am in some monstrous dream...
Speaking of NPR, yesterday someone interviewed a Proud Boy. My daughter and I rolled our eyes at it, talked smack and went in and enjoyed Target. These too shall pass...hopefully soon before we are back before women could vote...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-flat-earth-movement-a-society-of-disbelievers-in-scientific-fact/
I bet they are all Republicans.
WTF!
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said the United States must confront Saudi Arabia or risk losing credibility on human rights..."
Marco: Here's some news you missed.
They already did.