Overheard On The Toobz

From a bunch of posts across Twitter and Facebook and Reddit et al:

Out of the blue, I asked, "Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?"

Obama's tone changed. "I love him. He's one of my favorite philosophers."

So I asked, "What do you take away from his writing?"

"I take away," answered Obama, "the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world; and hardship; and pain. And we should be humble and modest in believing we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away ... the sense that we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swing from naive idealism to bitter realism."

We've had presidents who think about - and can articulate - some great notions.

We've had some great presidents. And we can have them again, but not without a fight.

Today's Cartoon

Non Sequitur 07-09-18

Music Break

Mike Dawes, w/ Nick Johnston - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room (John Mayer)

Today's Tweet

Moving the Overton Window back to where it belongs - make "the middle" the middle again.

But see, if we move so far to the left that we throw confetti about abortions, conservatives all of a sudden love contraception. It's that 50-yard line argument the Right figured out long ago. @Mr_Electrico @thebreaknetflix https://t.co/MPeCutT1F0

— Frances Langum (@bluegal) July 10, 2018

Fuck, I'm Tired

Trying to keep up with the shit storm is exhausting. Which is partly the point - I get that - you get that - nobody doesn't get that.

Sometimes, ya gotta take a day or two and run the fuck away from it.

Here I am, back at it, and the truly worrying part for me right now is this:

Repubs don't care about anything but SCOTUS. They seem to believe that if they can get the courts, they don't really need their guy in the White House. They'll have him anyway - at least they'll have their Empty Vessel du Jour.  Reagan & Poppy Bush were proof-of-concept; Bush43 was the Beta Test, and now Cult45 is the Rig Roll-Out.

There are bugs, but once they're done pouring the foundation, they'll be able to install Grover Norquist's latest wet dream of a guy with just enough on the ball to sign his name to whatever bullshit gets the American Kleptocrats paid enough to hire the goons necessary to keep the rest of us in line.

Let's review briefly - SCOTUS reinforced Corporations-Are-People, and then decided Money = Speech. 

So now, we have exactly what the Big Bad Left warned us about.

If money is speech, then the biggest money is the loudest speech; and eventually, it becomes the only speech.

These 2 things:

Corporations are not people
Fuck Citizens United

And vote, dammit.

Keepin' Him Honest

Invisibility is the ultimate super power. Anonymity is the next best thing.

Wait For It.... from r/yesyesyesyesno

Today's Eternal Sadness

Raw Story:

A white man in Austin has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting and killing a black teen over a fireworks dispute early on Independence Day.

The Austin-American Statesmen reported Friday that 41-year-old Jason Roche claimed he shot 19-year-old Devonte Ortiz in self-defense after the young man allegedly reached for his gun. According to police, video evidence taken at the scene of the crime proved otherwise.
Roche told police in his sworn affidavit that he shot Ortiz after coming outside for a second time early on the morning of July 4 to ask him and his friends to stop shooting fireworks. In his testimony, the older man claimed he saw the teen reach for a gun that he’d taken out of his car. The Statesmen‘s report noted that although police did find a rifle and a handgun at the scene, cell phone video shows that Ortiz was not holding a gun when Roche shot him.

“Jason Roche is observed displaying a firearm at Ortiz, re-holstering the firearm then displaying the firearm multiple times,” the affidavit, as quoted by Austin’s KXAN, stated. “During this point of the video footage, Ortiz was not holding a firearm.”

The affidavit also noted that the older man was seen in cell phone video following Ortiz around a car, and that “police believe Ortiz was moving away from the firearm and not lunging toward it like Roche had told detectives.”
So tell me again how you just don't get "Black Lives Matter" - or that you can't understand why so many (eg) NFL players are willing to risk financial penalties and outright career assassination by kneeling during a national anthem that celebrates a history that's partly about the murder of people with brown skin?

Today's Tweet

3 presidents

Four Presidents

Four 4th of July’s pic.twitter.com/4cg7UtQaQg

— UnsilentMajority 🌹 (@The_UnSilent_) July 7, 2018

A Podcast

When money becomes speech, big money becomes the loudest speech, which eventually makes money the only speech.

From the cornfields of Illinois, it's The Professional Left.

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The poster says he loves to ride his mountain bike - he loves to jump - and he's not very good at it.