In A Single Image

One manifestation of America's mental health problem

I'm guessing there's a minimum of $40,000 worth of guns in this picture.

In a kind of bare-bones setting where you lounge on a too-big sectional, watching a too-small TV - indulging in a daily ritual that celebrates comfort over culture - style over substance.

And I'm wondering - why has he arranged all the guns to be pointed at himself?

Symbology is important in that it can reveal a lot about how our brains work at the subconscious level - particularly so when we choose the symbols, and/or make the symbols for ourselves.

What does this guy think he's telling us, and what is he really telling us inadvertently?

It is a wonderment.

A Bible Thing

But then the Protestants got hold of it during The Reformation in the 16th century, and fucked it up for all of us by plowing the road and making it possible for American Evangelicals to use their religion almost solely as a revenue generator, and for their pet coin-operated politicians to rationalize and institutionalize rent-seeking.

So it sounds good, but it just comes back on you when they point out that it's not a Christian Bible thing, it's a Muslim Quran thing. And it gets lost in the racism shouting match.

But then again, if Usury is, in fact, a sin - and the GOP always makes noise about adhering to religious teachings - why are they always so adamantly opposed to things like CFPB?

Why would Liz Warren's ideas about fair and honorable business practices be seen as such a threat?

It's a wonderment.

Let's Do Some Pie

Wealth inequity is the surest way for rich people to fuck themselves out of being rich.

Over time, wealth (and the power that always goes with it) migrates upwards.  More and more money and power are concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, until just a very small number of plutocrats are running the whole show.

In order for that to work, less and less money and power has to be shared by more and more people, until folks come to understand that they've been left with nothing more to lose.

That's when the man on the white horse rides in, riles 'em up and they crash the plutocrats' party in the most unpleasant ways - all in the name of goodness and patriotism and Making America Great Again.

To be sure, there's a righteousness about trying to even things up - trying to get equilibrium back into the thing. But when a system is as badly out of balance as it is in USAmerica Inc, people get desperate. And desperate people do some pretty crazy (ie: stoopid) things - like following the wrong guys who talk them into doing some really fucked shit.

Trump is the deceiver.

If I ignore what I consider the silliness of people who believed in gods and demons and a geocentric universe, and look to the basic human circumstances that seem to prevail no matter the place or time, I can get pretty cozy with the warnings of a mad monk in a cave 1800 years ago, trying to suss out why so many rich people act like such dicks, and why it's so easy for them to sucker so many normal everyday otherwise-clear-thinking folks.

It is a wonderment.

BTW - looking at Trump as that false messiah helps explain the fucked up "logic" of American Evangelicals.

And also too - the parallels with Nazi occultism are getting really freaky.

Perplexed With Puzzle

Have you had any problems lately where you just don't know how to reply to an argument - not because you don't know the answer, but because you can't quite figure out where to begin?

Like, the foundational knowledge you'd have to impart to that person before you could even begin to drag them out of their intellectual sinkhole would take years and cost many thousands of dollars if it were coming thru college courses.

How am I supposed to do that shit?

It's a wonderment.

Today's Tweet

Gee - what might be going on that could make her think this shit's OK?
It is a wonderment.

Wow... I'm honestly just speechless on this video..

I'll never understand this level of hate.

Twitter, do your thing on making this go viral and ousting this horrible creature.

pic.twitter.com/cm4kUVKvqr

— Molly (@MollyRach33) September 26, 2019

It's A Wonderment

I will forever marvel at how the Koch boys and the Mercers and DumFux news got working folks to vote against the people who want all of us to have higher wages, clean air and water, affordable college and healthcare, and ways to fight back against big business and government. It's just amazing.

It's A Wonderment

"I'm not a scientist but..." 

That one needs to be added to the big shit can right along with

• "I don't mean to be a jerk about it, but..."
• "I'm all about the women's rights thing, but..."
• "I'm not a racist, but..."

There's nothing that comes after that kind of opening that anybody should listen to for any reason other than some weird masochistic desire for a little aural pain.

Trevor Noah:

And I ask again: Why do we have to rely on late nite comedy shows for honest media criticism?

It's A Wonderment

Quick note to all my lovely Trolls:

You seem to be among a whole big bunch of people who can't quite master certain elements of the English language.
eg:
"your" and "you're"
"lose" and "loose"
"there" "they're" and "their"
et al

These difficulties with Language Arts don't make you inferior as a person, of course, but it does make it harder to see you as particularly knowledgeable in the fields of Economics, GeoPolitics, History, Immigration Law, Climate Science, and the US Constitution when you post lengthy screeds online from an anonymous account.

Just Wondering

Why has 45* not gotten around to slagging Michael Avenatti on Twitter?

Sorry For The Delay

...but we were waiting for confirmation.

Here's another live shot of the skies over Alabama yesterday.

Clowns And Jokers

We've got real trouble when the White House staffer who's in charge of Social Media can't quite figure out how to Fact Check something before he retweets it.

scavino deleted the tweet, but i filmed it pic.twitter.com/MTXsc0dlKA

— David Mack (@davidmackau) September 10, 2017

Whenever anybody with WH Credentials picks up a phone, everybody everywhere takes the call. Should be really easy to find out if the story is valid or not. That shit made it out to millions of people whose lives could depend on their government getting good information to them.

So, a question: Is the guy just a standard-issue deliberately-ignorant fuckwad, or are we seeing further evidence that Cult45 isn't really running the show?

It's a wonderment.

Mixed Up In A Good Way

Charlottesville, Summer of 2017

What can you say about a country where a guy would be willing to lay down his life protecting the rights of people who would just as soon see him dead?

That is indeed a wonderment, but you say, "God bless the United States of America."

Today's GIF

This modern world. It's a wonderment.

These Kids Today

A little Facebook nonsense:

The tendency is to do a little bragging about the shit you pulled as a kid, because (I guess) it satisfies a fantasy that you were (and still are, maybe?) some kinda badass or whatever.

The main point of interest for me is that most of the people doing most of the bragging are the ones who spend lots of time on Facebook complaining about how fucked up everything is - blaming bad parenting and single moms, etc, for a general permissiveness they believe is at the root of all the rotten things all these rotten kids are doing.

And yes, I'm pointing out something that's ridiculously obvious - I ain't no genius, y'know.

So why is this not just as obvious to everybody else, particularly to the people playing these silly games on Facebook?

It is a wonderment.

Today's Wonderment

David Brooks - NYT:

He is thus the all-time record-holder of the Dunning-Kruger effect, the phenomenon in which the incompetent person is too incompetent to understand his own incompetence. Trump thought he’d be celebrated for firing James Comey. He thought his press coverage would grow wildly positive once he won the nomination. He is perpetually surprised because reality does not comport with his fantasies.
--and--

Our institutions depend on people who have enough engraved character traits to fulfill their assigned duties. But there is perpetually less to Trump than it appears. When we analyze a president’s utterances we tend to assume that there is some substantive process behind the words, that it’s part of some strategic intent.

But Trump’s statements don’t necessarily come from anywhere, lead anywhere or have a permanent reality beyond his wish to be liked at any given instant.
As driftglass is consistently pointing out for us, David Brooks is the Poodliest of all the Pundit Poodles, and he's paid handsomely to maintain the Both Sides bullshit.  But oddly, there's no razor blade hidden in this particular apple.  Brooks puts up a very sharp critique of 45* and manages to get through the whole piece without saying it's all the liberals' fault because of they smoked some pot 50 years ago, or "But what about those Democrats?"

Won't wonders never cease?

Trouble With The Numbers

Quinnipiac:

So I'm wondering about 45*'s obsession over his Ratings and his Poll numbers (knowing of course, he'll just lie his ass off if they're not good etc etc), but he is in fact obsessed with such things, and it's interesting to connect that up with the usual GOP mantra about how they don't pay attention to the polling and they make their decisions according to good old fashioned Republican values and blah blah fucking blah.

The GOP always loved slagging Hillary (esp) because she was so "Poll-Driven" and "She never says anything that hasn't been focus-grouped to within an inch of its life". 

But btw - when you see a focus group on your liberal TV box these days, isn't it almost always Frank Luntz? 

How do they reconcile any of that?  Is it even necessary to try, especially in light of the pretty simple fact that we rarely hear about any of it anymore, even from the Repubs?

And then also too - 82% of people self-identifying as Republican say the approve of 45*'s performance?

First off: What the actual fuck, Repubs?

But: It seems like that could easily indicate just how down-to-the-bottom-of-the-barrel the GOP has gotten.  If 45* is driving supporters away (as it sure as hell looks like he's doing), then the only folks left are those die-hard rubes who're still with him even as he is obviously in the run-up to when he starts shooting people on 5th Avenue.

Anyway, it's a wonderment.

It's A Wonderment

When Paul Ryan says killing Obamacare is an act of mercy, why don't the rubes translate that as "the 9 most terrifying words in the English language"?

It's A Wonderment

It seems like the GOP has grown more and more sour on the CIA ever since they helped the black guy kill Osama bin Laden.

hat tip = @TeaPainUSA

Today's Wonderment

Now that the budget deal's been passed and (I think) on its way over to the Oval Office; and since it includes that horrible-est of all horribles (Planned Parenthood funding), isn't it time for the RINO Hunters to be out in force, declaring all Repubs who voted for it instead of shutting down the gubmint to be traitors of the highest blah blah blah?

I mean, we did get some weak-ass blubbering from Frank Graham.

And WingNut Daily kinda put up a list of Repubs who voted for the Omnibus - although it was really just a link to another website where they love to bitch about immigration.  I'll list them out here just in case you're itchin' for a chance to limber up any new torches and pitchforks you've got layin' around:

GOP Senators voting YES
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Capito (R-WV)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kirk (R-IL)
Lankford (R-OK)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Perdue (R-GA)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Wicker (R-MS)

House GOP Reps voting YES
Aderholt
Allen
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Bost
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crenshaw
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Donovan
Duffy
Ellmers (NC)
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Foxx
Frelinghuysen
Gibson
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Grothman
Guthrie
Hanna
Harper
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hill
Huizenga (MI)
Hurd (TX)
Issa
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Jolly
Joyce
Katko
Kelly (MS)
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Knight
LoBiondo
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
McCarthy
McCaul
McHenry
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Messer
Mica
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Mullin
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Price, Tom
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rigell
Rogers (KY)
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rouzer
Royce
Russell
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (NJ)
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Wilson (SC)
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Zeldin
Zinke

C'mon, guys - where's that fiery passion?   The people on those lists voted to bankrupt us, and to allow the Muslim Hordes to cross the borders and nefariously manipulate your virginal teenagers into killing all your grand-babies - they voted with Nancy Pelosi.  Cowards!  Where's that red-faced hysterical zeal we've come to know and love?

Some of the usual wild-eyed, jungle-thrashing frenzy may have been up for a while, but there's practically no sign of it anywhere on the intertoobz where I normally expect to find it.  Curious, eh?

Well, as always, we can find a certain explanation in the fact that Congress Critters have to look for the "Safe Votes".

If they're in a district where the likelihood of losing a primary challenge is very low (the Eric Cantor ambush notwithstanding), then voting for it is relatively 'safe' because even though some base voters will rebel, it won't be enough to make it a problem.

Those in districts that are of a more Purplish hue need to be safe in a slightly different way.  ie: They know they're in a closely divided district, and nobody on the other side is going to vote for them, so in order to shore up their constituent support at home and get their voters to turn out, they have to get permission from their leadership to vote against whatever the party caucus wants, while still being sure the bill either passes or fails according to their leadership's preference.  That way, they can say they've made a principled stand, and since the vote in congress went the way their opposition wanted it to go, the other side won't get all hot and bothered. Safe.

So this is fun, ain't it?  My oldest boy just came over and asked what I was working on, and when I explained it all, he rolled his eyes and said, "Fuckin' politics, man".  And this kid is no dummy - he was raised with this shit; he's curious about it, and he makes an honest effort to understand it.  No wonder so many of us just blow it off.

Anyway, one last thing - I'm thinking maybe the GOP is letting the Dumpster Fire that is the Donald Trump "campaign" blaze away because it gives them some cover by keeping the rubes in one place and busy, so the Repubs in congress can get a few things accomplished. 

They are not totally oblivious to their poll numbers - they know the McConnell Plan is a straight-up loser for 'em now, and they know they might be about to end up on the wrong end of a political disaster that makes Jonestown look like a potluck dinner with the Methodists on an average Wednesday.

Oh yeah - can you guess what else passed this session, Repubs?

H.R. 2820: Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2015
House Vote #695
Dec 16, 2015 10:30 a.m.
Passed 421/0
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and concur in the Senate Amendment in the House

Stem cells!?!  Planned Parenthood and cutting up harvested dead babies to sell on the open market?  Aaaaaaarrgh - oh the humanity.  No wait - selling things on the open market?  We're in favor of that Unfettered Capitalism thing, right?  Fuckin' politics, man.

It is a wonderment.

Reversals

So, lemme see - we've got Peter King saying there's a buncha nuts in the GOP.  

Remember, this is the guy who wanted to put all Muslims under surveillance; and he said mosques are incubators for terrorism.  Now he's saying the GOP has a radical wing made up of people who're 'self-righteous and delusional'.  Peter King is not exactly the voice of rhetorical moderation, and he said a buncha his guys on his end of the spectrum are delusional - things gotta be pretty fucked up if you're so far to Peter King's right that he calls you delusional.

We've also seen a pretty constant barrage of wingnuttery coming down on John Boehner's head (eg) - and we've seen him (imo) struggling mightily not to say something like, "these idiots don't care if everybody dies as long as they get their version of conservative purity in place by lunch tomorrow."

There are others in the GOP who have to be well past jumpy about some of the weird Monsters-Of-The-Id running around scaring the fuck outa people.  Must be more than a few, and I'm guessing the numbers are more than a few dozen just in Congress.

So here's the thing:  When will we see the first defection(s)?  Which Repub(s) will finally step up and tell these bugbrains to fuck off, and declare that they'll be finishing out their terms as Independents (prob'ly) or even as Democrats (fat fucking chance, but wouldn't that be nice?)

I wonder if Howard Dean or Steny Hoyer or any of the Blue Dogs have been dispatched to wheedle away at some of these guys.  It happened the other way around in the 50s and 60s, and again in the 80s and 90s, so there's obviously a precedent for it.  I just don't know how it works.

It's a wonderment.