Kind of an oldie-but-a-goodie today:
But the god-knobbers got in line anyway.
Nov 11, 2016
Nov 10, 2016
A Letter
Aaron Sorkin addresses a few problems in a letter to his daughters.
Sorkin Girls,
Well the world changed late last night in a way I couldn’t protect us from. That’s a terrible feeling for a father. I won’t sugarcoat it—this is truly horrible. It’s hardly the first time my candidate didn’t win (in fact it’s the sixth time) but it is the first time that a thoroughly incompetent pig with dangerous ideas, a serious psychiatric disorder, no knowledge of the world and no curiosity to learn has.
And it wasn’t just Donald Trump who won last night—it was his supporters too. The Klan won last night. White nationalists. Sexists, racists and buffoons. Angry young white men who think rap music and Cinco de Mayo are a threat to their way of life (or are the reason for their way of life) have been given cause to celebrate. Men who have no right to call themselves that and who think that women who aspire to more than looking hot are shrill, ugly, and otherwise worthy of our scorn rather than our admiration struck a blow for misogynistic shitheads everywhere. Hate was given hope. Abject dumbness was glamorized as being “the fresh voice of an outsider” who’s going to “shake things up.” (Did anyone bother to ask how? Is he going to re-arrange the chairs in the Roosevelt Room?) For the next four years, the President of the United States, the same office held by Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, F.D.R., J.F.K. and Barack Obama, will be held by a man-boy who’ll spend his hours exacting Twitter vengeance against all who criticize him (and those numbers will be legion). We’ve embarrassed ourselves in front of our children and the world.
And the world took no time to react. The Dow futures dropped 700 points overnight. Economists are predicting a deep and prolonged recession. Our NATO allies are in a state of legitimate fear. And speaking of fear, Muslim-Americans, Mexican-Americans and African-Americans are shaking in their shoes. And we’d be right to note that many of Donald Trump’s fans are not fans of Jews. On the other hand, there is a party going on at ISIS headquarters. What wouldn’t we give to trade this small fraction of a man for Richard Nixon right now?
So what do we do?
First of all, we remember that we’re not alone. A hundred million people in America and a billion more around the world feel exactly the same way we do.
Second, we get out of bed. The Trumpsters want to see people like us (Jewish, “coastal elites,” educated, socially progressive, Hollywood…) sobbing and wailing and talking about moving to Canada. I won’t give them that and neither will you. Here’s what we’ll do…
…we’ll fucking fight. (Roxy, there’s a time for this kind of language and it’s now.) We’re not powerless and we’re not voiceless. We don’t have majorities in the House or Senate but we do have representatives there. It’s also good to remember that most members of Trump’s own party feel exactly the same way about him that we do. We make sure that the people we sent to Washington—including Kamala Harris—take our strength with them and never take a day off.
We get involved. We do what we can to fight injustice anywhere we see it—whether it’s writing a check or rolling up our sleeves. Our family is fairly insulated from the effects of a Trump presidency so we fight for the families that aren’t. We fight for a woman to keep her right to choose. We fight for the First Amendment and we fight mostly for equality—not for a guarantee of equal outcomes but for equal opportunities. We stand up.
America didn’t stop being America last night and we didn’t stop being Americans and here’s the thing about Americans: Our darkest days have always—always—been followed by our finest hours.
Roxy, I know my predictions have let you down in the past, but personally, I don’t think this guy can make it a year without committing an impeachable crime. If he does manage to be a douche nozzle without breaking the law for four years, we’ll make it through those four years. And three years from now we’ll fight like hell for our candidate and we’ll win and they’ll lose and this time they’ll lose for good. Honey, it’ll be your first vote.
The battle isn’t over, it’s just begun. Grandpa fought in World War II and when he came home this country handed him an opportunity to make a great life for his family. I will not hand his granddaughter a country shaped by hateful and stupid men. Your tears last night woke me up, and I’ll never go to sleep on you again.
Love,
Dad
Well the world changed late last night in a way I couldn’t protect us from. That’s a terrible feeling for a father. I won’t sugarcoat it—this is truly horrible. It’s hardly the first time my candidate didn’t win (in fact it’s the sixth time) but it is the first time that a thoroughly incompetent pig with dangerous ideas, a serious psychiatric disorder, no knowledge of the world and no curiosity to learn has.
And it wasn’t just Donald Trump who won last night—it was his supporters too. The Klan won last night. White nationalists. Sexists, racists and buffoons. Angry young white men who think rap music and Cinco de Mayo are a threat to their way of life (or are the reason for their way of life) have been given cause to celebrate. Men who have no right to call themselves that and who think that women who aspire to more than looking hot are shrill, ugly, and otherwise worthy of our scorn rather than our admiration struck a blow for misogynistic shitheads everywhere. Hate was given hope. Abject dumbness was glamorized as being “the fresh voice of an outsider” who’s going to “shake things up.” (Did anyone bother to ask how? Is he going to re-arrange the chairs in the Roosevelt Room?) For the next four years, the President of the United States, the same office held by Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, F.D.R., J.F.K. and Barack Obama, will be held by a man-boy who’ll spend his hours exacting Twitter vengeance against all who criticize him (and those numbers will be legion). We’ve embarrassed ourselves in front of our children and the world.
And the world took no time to react. The Dow futures dropped 700 points overnight. Economists are predicting a deep and prolonged recession. Our NATO allies are in a state of legitimate fear. And speaking of fear, Muslim-Americans, Mexican-Americans and African-Americans are shaking in their shoes. And we’d be right to note that many of Donald Trump’s fans are not fans of Jews. On the other hand, there is a party going on at ISIS headquarters. What wouldn’t we give to trade this small fraction of a man for Richard Nixon right now?
So what do we do?
First of all, we remember that we’re not alone. A hundred million people in America and a billion more around the world feel exactly the same way we do.
Second, we get out of bed. The Trumpsters want to see people like us (Jewish, “coastal elites,” educated, socially progressive, Hollywood…) sobbing and wailing and talking about moving to Canada. I won’t give them that and neither will you. Here’s what we’ll do…
…we’ll fucking fight. (Roxy, there’s a time for this kind of language and it’s now.) We’re not powerless and we’re not voiceless. We don’t have majorities in the House or Senate but we do have representatives there. It’s also good to remember that most members of Trump’s own party feel exactly the same way about him that we do. We make sure that the people we sent to Washington—including Kamala Harris—take our strength with them and never take a day off.
We get involved. We do what we can to fight injustice anywhere we see it—whether it’s writing a check or rolling up our sleeves. Our family is fairly insulated from the effects of a Trump presidency so we fight for the families that aren’t. We fight for a woman to keep her right to choose. We fight for the First Amendment and we fight mostly for equality—not for a guarantee of equal outcomes but for equal opportunities. We stand up.
America didn’t stop being America last night and we didn’t stop being Americans and here’s the thing about Americans: Our darkest days have always—always—been followed by our finest hours.
Roxy, I know my predictions have let you down in the past, but personally, I don’t think this guy can make it a year without committing an impeachable crime. If he does manage to be a douche nozzle without breaking the law for four years, we’ll make it through those four years. And three years from now we’ll fight like hell for our candidate and we’ll win and they’ll lose and this time they’ll lose for good. Honey, it’ll be your first vote.
The battle isn’t over, it’s just begun. Grandpa fought in World War II and when he came home this country handed him an opportunity to make a great life for his family. I will not hand his granddaughter a country shaped by hateful and stupid men. Your tears last night woke me up, and I’ll never go to sleep on you again.
Love,
Dad
Yesterday's Keith
And just a little PSA for all the Bernie Bros and Party Puritans who love pissin' and moanin' about what a bad candidate Hillary was: Fuck that noise.
You chop the wood and you carry the water when you're working to get Bernie nominated.
And when Bernie isn't the one who gets the nomination, then you chop the wood and you carry the water for Hillary, because yes, exactly - she's not Donald Trump.
Enthusiasm pushes people to the polls. Hillary is no Obama. Tough shit. The other side is backing their guy very enthusiastically, so wash the sand outa your ass crack and go to work.
Either you show the fuck up or you shut the fuck up. But hey - at least you can enjoy the smell of your own farts for a while.
President-Fucking-Trump
Today's GIF
Liberty reacts as she begins to understand that a ginormous rolling clusterfuck, previously known as the Trump Scampaign®, is about to be installed as our national government.
hat tip = Facebook pal Susan F-B
Nov 9, 2016
And One More Thing
What really bothers me is the very real possibility that some little bit down the road, Mike Pence could emerge as the heroic Christian warrior who stepped in to save of us from the debauchery of Donald Trump.
Y'all heard it here first.
Y'all heard it here first.
Meet The New Boss
Congratulations, President Pence.
I expect Trump to operate in the Executive Branch the same way he "operates" "his" businesses. ie: His involvement begins by putting his name on the letterhead, and ends with him trying to sell whatever it is Mike Pence comes up with.
We elected a brand; nothing more than a guy's name; we decided the most powerful and important office on the fucking planet is to be filled by somebody who hasn't run anything but his mouth for a good 20 years.
Nobody can tell us they know exactly what horrors this bunch has in store for us, but I think I can be pretty sure most of it will seem like a good idea to about half of us and turn out to be unworkable for everybody except the few who have a vested interest in nothing but pretending their policy ideas are amazingly awesome long enough to cash in on them.
Do ya dig what's been happening in Kansas and Michigan and Wisconsin?
Do ya think all that shit with The Bundy Boys was just a kind of spontaneous protest, and not a practical demonstration of The Useful Fool?
I'll stop before I get myself too worked up - no point in reiterating the arguments against Trump's election or the brand of "conservative" that's anything but conservative; and there's nothing to be gained by going full Paranoid Nutball - yet.
Suffice to say we handed the power to a gang of thieves. They have the Executive and the Legislative branches, and they can now proceed to stack SCOTUS so they can move all the shitty laws onto the books that will Make America Look Nothing Like America. They'll have to do something kinda drastic about the filibuster, but this bunch hasn't been shy about "fuck your minority rights", so - yeah.
Tax cuts, deficits, piling on the debt, which means more spending - this is Trump, kids - there will be lots and lots of spending. And we gotta pay for it somehow. Anybody in the market for a gently-used National Park?
Ooh - I know - let's strip out the Social Security Trust Fund, turn it over to the Wall Street Banksters and let them make a great big pile of bonuses for themselves, while feeling deeply sorry that the benefits will have to be cut back (again - shared sacrifice, y'know) in order to compensate for fluctuations in the markets that simply couldn't have been foreseen, even though we've been colluding with our Trading Buddies around the world to arbitrage the pricing and create a nice little Churning Effect so we can syphon off enough cash to feel insulated from the homicidal mob you'll be forming once you idiots realize we've been playing you for suckers again.
And that's just the weird shit that goes on here at home - can't wait to see how creatively this bugbrain can choke when he has to go up against somebody who actually knows their way around.
Trump is not the only moron we have to worry about - it's all those other subordinate morons too.
We have no idea just how enormous this clusterfuck is about to get.
Nov 8, 2016
Roosts And Roosters
Bob Cesca at Salon:
One of the many long term side effects of the Watergate fiasco was the sudden demystification of the American presidency. Not only did this spark the idea that the office can be held by anyone, regardless of expertise or accomplishment, but it also helped to manufacture the ill-conceived notion that presidents should be just like us. From there, cable news kingpins like Roger Ailes and political operatives like Karl Rove sold politicians to voters by packaging them for “the folks” — as “guys we’d like to have a beer with.” We’ve been instructed for too many years that plain-spoken leaders are better than well-educated, well-qualified ones. It’s a shallow, comfort-food selling point that never should’ve existed. Our priority shouldn’t be to elect someone just like you or me. We should demand, if not utterly fight for leaders who are far superior and exponentially more disciplined than we are.
Trump has done serious damage to our presidential ideals.
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