Ukraine

This thing in Ukraine is pretty fuckin' scary in more than a coupla ways.

The bit about Putin using Iran to fuck with Israel in an attempt to divert our attention, and buying artillery ammo from N Korea, and the constant subterfuge to get components to build weapons, and to slither around the sanctions to sell their oil in order to finance the war, etc etc etc.

That's all spooky enough because it threatens a wider war, raising the potential for a direct conflict between NATO countries and Russia, but now the Ukrainians have robot machine guns?

Today's Trump Fuckery

Trump has told US military veterans what he thinks of them - at least a coupla times.

• (John McCain) is not a hero - he's a hero because he was captured - I like people who weren't captured.
• Nobody wants to see that (re: a wounded veteran in a wheel chair at a White House function)
• They're suckers and losers (re: D-Day KIAs)

He's told them straight out that he thinks they're suckers, but somehow, it lands with them like he's the guy who'll keep them from being suckered - even as he's playing them for suckers.

Right about here, somebody always chimes in with, "Make it make sense". But thinking he's being dumb for spouting contradictions is dismissive, and that's a real problem. He's doing everything according to the authoritarian playbook.

Lying all the time, and contradicting himself from one day to the next, is a feature of the Daddy State way of doing things.

Daddy State Awareness

THE BASICS:

• The Daddy State lies as a means of demonstrating power.
• The lies have practically nothing to do with the subject of the lies.
• Lying about everything is a way to condition us - to make us accept the premise that they can do anything they want.

The goal is to dictate reality to us.

What he's doing with veterans is consistent with the basic Divide-n-Conquer approach. He calls people suckers and losers with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge kinda thing, intimating that "they're the suckers, but you and I know the real score - we've been red-pilled".

They know they're not strong enough to conquer a unified country, so they split us into small groups, pitting one against the other.

We're not born with our prejudices. We learn them - they're made for us - and then they're exploited by someone who wants something. Remember that when you hear this kind of talk - somebody's going to get something out of it, and it's not going to be you.

Today's Today

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I Been Tellin' Ya, Dammit

This - like most other "conservative" projects - is all about privatization. 

• Fund the campaigns for wingnut school board candidates
• Cut School budgets
• Complain about "underperforming schools"
• Make sure you use negative terms like "government schools" and name your efforts to kill public schools things like "Kids First" or "Parents Matter" or something that sounds right, but is actually a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing kinda shit 
• In the meantime, steal wages and push down on the benefits so regular people have less opportunity - and far fewer resources available - to fight for their interests

REVEALED: Confidential documents describe secret effort to elect lawmakers for school privatization

Confidential documents reveal that a group of school privatization groups actually work together to use their resources to try to buy seats in the Tennessee legislature.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Confidential documents reveal that a group of school privatization groups, each claiming to be separate entities with separate agendas, actually work together to try to buy seats in the Tennessee legislature for candidates who are willing to vote against traditional public schools.

The documents, leaked to NewsChannel 5 Investigates, show how those groups — working as part of what they call the "Tennessee Coalition for Students" — sometimes try to convince voters that politicians who support traditional public schools are just bad people.

"You're creating an oligarchy of people who influence your policy," said J.C. Bowman, a self-described conservative who serves as executive director of the Professional Educators of Tennessee.

"We're getting the best government that money can buy, and they are buying it."

Case in point: a seat in the state House bought and paid for in 2022 by special interests.

Running for the House in 2022, Maryville realtor Bryan Richey had no fancy ads of his own, and he spent a measly $15,000 in the Republican primary.

But Richey had opinions that appealed to school privatization groups.

"In my personal opinion on school choice, we have taxpayer dollars that are there to educate students. I don't care what arena - whether it's private school, public school, home school," Richey told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.

As a result, a group of powerful forces who want to privatize Tennessee schools got together and decided Richey would be a good investment.

Tennesseans for Putting Students First mailer in support of Bryan Richey
"My understanding is that there was quite a bit of money came in from outside the state," said former Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville.

During the Republican primary, Ramsey found himself under a well-financed attack by the independent groups supporting Richey.

One Facebook ad from school privatization forces told voters, "Bob Ramsey voted to raise your gas tax 30 percent."

Online and by mail, those groups began to demonize the incumbent representative who had always supported traditional public schools.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Ramsey: "At some point did you realize that you might be in trouble?"

"Yes," Ramsey said.

"When the mailers just would not quit coming and they were so offensive and fictitious and cruel, really, just plain cruel, I knew it was going to be a rather blood bath on my end."

When the reports were in, Richey got $52,038 in help from Make Liberty Win, a dark money group with ties to billionaire Charles Koch.

The Tennessee Federation for Children spent $38,439 to help Richey, who got another $30,044 in ad spending from Team Kid PAC and $15,484 from Tennesseans for Putting Students First.

Altogether, that's $136,005 — nine times as much as Richey spent himself.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Richey: "I was trying to figure out how these seemingly independent groups decided that you were their guy."

"I have no clue," the newly elected representative insisted.

But the confidential documents obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates show how those seemingly independent groups work together to elect lawmakers who will vote their way.

We showed our stash of documents, some from campaigns in 2016, to Tennessee Education Association lobbyist Jim Wrye.

"So this was the presentation they were using?" Wrye asked. "Phil, what I wouldn't have done to have this right then and there."

We asked Wrye: "Is it widely known that these groups are working together?"

"Well, it's kind of blatantly obvious," Wrye said.

Again, we pressed. "But they don't admit it?"

"No, certainly not," the TEA lobbyist agreed.

Among the documents were ones drafted for the 2016 legislative races and submitted to a foundation controlled by the billionaire Walton family of Walmart fame, asking for funding for their "Tennessee Coalition for Students."

That coalition included the groups Tennesseans for Student Success, StudentsFirst (now known as TennesseeCAN), Stand for Children and the American Federation for Children.

Among the coalition's goals: "the defeat of at least four anti-education reform incumbents" — with a total proposed budget of $3.7 million dollars.

"I knew they were working together, but I'm surprised at how much political money that they are spending in our campaigns," J.C. Bowman said.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates showed Bowman a strategy document where the groups describe plans to use their big money in "key races ... where the opportunity exists to shape the balance of power in the Legislature."

As a litmus test, the groups would only support politicians who support privately operated charter schools, state interventions to take over traditional public schools and private choice — in other words, school vouchers to send tax dollars to private schools.

We asked Bowman: "Should the public know if the Walton family is trying to pick legislators in Tennessee?"

"Absolutely," he insisted.

"Like NASCAR, we joke about it that NASCAR has the little signs of all the sponsors they have. Politicians are going to need to wear the same thing."

In the case of then Nashville state Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, the document notes: "We must protect this seat."

It was an effort viewed to be worth an investment of $563,807.

In the case of then Senate Education Chair Delores Gresham, R-Somerville, "This is a seat that we must all protect."

The investment there: $307,097.

And while the groups cited then Rep. Eddie Smith, R-Knoxville, as a "reliable vote" on most issues, their main concern was keeping his Democratic opponent, Gloria Johnson, out of office.

Johnson read the document's summary of why she was viewed as a threat: "She would create almost incalculable problems because of her effectiveness."

"I've never been so proud in my life," the Knoxville Democrat said with a laugh.

Ironically, two years earlier, the same groups sent out a mailer branding her "one of the least effective legislators in the state House."

"Everything thing they do is built on, is a house of lies," Johnson said. "They win elections by lying about their opponents and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Republican Bob Ramsey said he believes he was targeted in 2022 because of his support for traditional public schools.

"I trust our education system implicitly. I am a product of it, my children were products of it," he said.

One of the groups attacked him for supporting a Republican plan to increase gas taxes to pay for roads.

Then after his defeat, they put out a news release touting the outcome as a sign that their education agenda was winning.

"They ran on everything other than education," Jim Wrye observed.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked the TEA lobbyist, "So why do they not run on those issues?"

"Simple, I mean, the candidates would lose every time," Wrye said.

With Bryan Richey, the money invested proved to be a good bet.

This year, he helped defeat a Republican-sponsored bill to protect successful school districts from having those privately operated charter schools forced on them by the state.

He also tried to expand school vouchers to fund private schools statewide — a platform he received thanks to those school privatization groups that wrote the checks to get him elected.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates reached out to the groups involved in the coalition.

None would go on camera, and they did not respond to a number of specific questions posed by email.

Still, in separate statements, they did not deny that they do have this arrangement nor that they are working together to try to flip even more seats to their side in next year's elections.

Ryan Cantrell, vice president of government relations for the American Federation for Children, said in a statement:

"As you may know, coalitions of all types regularly come together to support public policy issues on which they agree. We are proud to work on our shared cause alongside allies, all of whom may have various focuses and positions but agree that parents should be empowered with more choice in education. We comply with every applicable law in our work and will continue working to advance school choice, which polls consistently show is a top issue for voters in both parties."

Sky Arnold, communications director for Tennesseans for Student Success, said in a statement:

"Tennesseans for Student Success is dedicated to a vision of providing and ensuring access to a high-quality public education for all students and we support leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to that vision. Decisions about how to engage are made by TSS, and where appropriate, communicated to individuals or organizations with shared priorities following the guidelines and regulations established by state and/or federal campaign laws. We are strictly focused on ensuring that all students, regardless of income or zip code, have access to an effective, high-quality public education."

Arnold insisted that the group "has never advocated for any form of private school choice," although he did not deny that the group works with the coalition to elect lawmakers who are willing to back school vouchers.

TennesseeCAN did not respond to NewsChannel 5's inquiry.

Today's Tweext

Here's why Elon will drop his lawsuit of Media Matters before it even gets to discovery.

Once companies discover that not only are their ads displayed next to Neo-Nazi content, but that their actual ad dollars go twitter blue users who post Nazi sht, no major company will…

— I Smoked Trump's Golden 🚿s (@BlackKnight10k) November 21, 2023

Don't Get Stoopid

Taking A Little Soul Break

Allison Young has been making some pretty good music for a while now.

This one really got me.

And then I found this.

Today's MAGA Dope

You can't have a real debate about anything if you don't start with a set of facts that we can all accept and agree on.

If one side literally makes shit up, and then insists that shit is ice cream, then there is no debate - because you cannot debate what isn't real.

You and your suite-mates can sit in your freshman dorm room, stoned outa your minds at 3am on a random Tuesday, and speculate about how much pixie dust a unicorn would need to have non-contact oral sex with Bigfoot, but that's not a fucking debate.

Elmo Sucks

White House blasts Musk's 'hideous' antisemitic lie, advertisers pause on X

Nov 17 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday condemned Elon Musk's endorsement of what it called a "hideous" antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, while major U.S. companies including Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) and NBCUniversal parent Comcast (CMCSA.O) paused their advertisements on his social media site.

Musk on Wednesday agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking "the actual truth."

That conspiracy theory holds that Jewish people and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants that will lead to a "white genocide."

The White House accused Musk of an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" that "runs against our core values as Americans."

“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans. We all have a responsibility to bring people together against hate, and an obligation to speak out against anyone who attacks the dignity of their fellow Americans and compromises the safety of our communities.”

Translated: Fuck you, Elmo.

"It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie ... one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, referring to the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel.

In addition to Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and Comcast, Lions Gate Entertainment (LGFa.N) and Paramount Global (PARA.O) said on Friday they also were pausing their ads on X, formerly Twitter. Axios reported that Apple (AAPL.O), the world's largest company by market value, was also pausing its ads.

IBM (IBM.N) on Thursday halted its advertising on X after a report found its ads were placed next to content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Media Matters said it found that corporate advertisements by IBM, Apple, Oracle (ORCL.N) and Comcast's Xfinity were being placed alongside antisemitic content.

Advertisers have fled the site, formerly called Twitter, since Musk bought it in October 2022 and reduced content moderation, resulting in a sharp rise in hate speech on X, according to civil rights groups.

Representatives for Musk and X on Friday again declined to comment on his post.

"Many of the largest advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech," Musk wrote on X on Friday while promoting a premier tier of the platform that removes ads from users' feeds.

"Premium+ also has no ads in your timeline," he said.

"When it comes to this platform - X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There's no place for it anywhere in the world - it's ugly and wrong. Full stop," X CEO Linda Yaccarino said on Thursday.

Antisemitism has been on the rise in recent years in the United States and worldwide. Following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas after last month's attack, antisemitic incidents in the United States rose by nearly 400% from the year-earlier period, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization that fights antisemitism.

Musk, chief executive of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA.O) and founder of rocket company SpaceX, has blamed the Anti-Defamation League for the ongoing drop in advertisers, without offering any evidence.

Runnin' Wild

Speaker Johnson releases all 44,000 hours of Jan6 video, and the wingnut lunacy is rampant.

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he’s not a cop, he’s holding a vape, and he’s got a photo he stole from Nancy Pelosi’s office hidden under there. He’s been sentenced to four years in prison. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna94150

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The person in the photo is Kevin Lyons. He has been sentenced to 51 months in prison for his illegal activities inside the Capitol on J6.

He is not a police officer and he's not holding a badge. He is carrying a vape and a photograph and a wallet stolen from Pelosi's office. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna94150