Strike A Blow For Freedom

So there was a little cleanup necessary in Little Rock...

Capitol crews sweep up remnants of the shattered 10 Commandments monument #ARnews #arpx pic.twitter.com/97D4om0ER0

— Emma Pettit (@EmmaJanePettit) June 28, 2017

...because

WATCH: Facebook video appear to show man running over Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds #ARNews #arpx #arleg pic.twitter.com/W8Rp2qinuZ

— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) June 28, 2017

Charlie Gets It

On AHCA, Charlie Pierce at Esquire:

If you put credence into the notion that the Senate bill has an upside because of its effect on The Deficit, hire someone to cut your meat for you for the rest of your life. Try to keep in mind the Blog's First Law of Economics: Fck the deficit. People got no jobs, people got no money.

There isn't a single promise that the president* made on this issue during the campaign that this new tax-cut law doesn't smash to smithereens. The CBO says this bill will knock 15 million people off their insurance next year. That's horrendous. The whole bill is about allowing Medicaid to die on the vine. The CBO says that the Medicaid cut that all those Republicans say is imaginary will top out at $772 billion.

Keith

Word O' The Day: Treachery

A Good Sign

Yesterday, on my way to see about a girl, I happened across the folks of Indivisible Charlottesville who were out in front of the Albemarle County office building to raise a bit of a ruckus - in a purely relaxed-n-groovy kinda way.

You can always tell when it's the Liberals doin' the demonstratin' - the signs are all spelled right.

Check 'em out.

Today's Tweet

There is no pimpier pimp than Newton Leroy (McPherson) Gingrich

Notice how Newt called for Obama, not Trump to appear before Congress? Newt's invokin' "White Executive Privilege". https://t.co/JSbXFetcYw

— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) June 27, 2017

Call It Progress - I Guess(?)

Miami Herald

The good news is: the kid wasn't shot.

The bad news is: that's what passes for good news now - that some asshole white cop didn't murder some knucklehead brown kid.

It's unbelievable, but that qualifies as a positive outcome.

Keith

The Doomsday Defense

Nobody Does It Better

Bill Moyers, on the NYT piece about all of 45*'s lies in one graphic:

This weekend, The New York Times performed a noble public service by publishing nearly every lie Donald Trump has told since taking the oath of office (just four months and a few days ago, but it seems like an eternity, no?). The op-ed chart of tiny but readable font fills the entire page, until at one point, in the mind’s eye, they appear to morph into termites burrowing deep into the foundation of democracy, leaving sawdust in their wake.

“We are using the word ‘lie’ deliberately. Not every falsehood is deliberate on Trump’s part. But it would be the height of naivete to imagine he is merely making honest mistakes. He is lying.”

And it all ties in with White Fright and the resurgence of race-based political coercion.

(paraphrasing): "A black man in the White House shattered all the little lies we'd been telling ourselves, and the way you set things right again is to put the Big Lie back in place."

I go to this one a lot. Because there's a basic truth about the history of USAmerica Inc that we can't change no matter how we insist on trying.

Mr Trudeau

Here's a picture of PM Justin Trudeau at a Pride Day event, wearing rainbow socks and a pink shirt, high-fiving a young girl dressed as a Wonder Woman ballerina.

Anyone else starting to get the feeling Canada's just kinda fuckin' with us now?

It Can't Be

And yet it is.

But now, at what we hope is the end of a long slouch into The Daddy State - where we can catch ourselves and start to put things right just before we get to the big Car Chase / Running Gunfight / Thrilling Rescue Sequence with Exploding Galaxies - this is where we get Charlie Pierce having to write this:

So this Mangushev character starts a motorcycle gang among his fellow Russian expats that he names after the Russian equivalent of the special forces. This gang, named after the Russian special forces, seeks the imprimatur of an actual Russian biker gang that, unlike their American brethren, doesn't settle for tearing up small towns along the California coast. This bunch helps overthrow governments. This is not a guy I'd do business with but, then again, I'm not Igor Zorin, with his millions buried in coffee cans in his backyard.

Keith

What if 45* actually fires Mueller?

Walking Into The Propeller

How Republicans are born...
Daughter, 8, has been savings up to buy her first Guitar.
Found it for $35. She had 35 exact.
Then...sales tax

— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) June 25, 2017

driftglass

...reminding us (just in case you're still a little unclear on the concept) that if we don't learn our History, then we don't learn from our History.  Particularly, how to keep from making the same fucking mistakes over and over and over again.

Take it away driftglass (@Mr_Electrico)

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan killed something called The Fairness Doctrine:

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was — in the Commission's view — honest, equitable, and balanced. The FCC, which was believed to have been under pressure from then President Ronald Reagan, eliminated the Doctrine in 1987.

For the record, the two federal judges who helped Reagan kill the Fairness Doctrine were future-Supreme Court incubus Antonin Scalia, and disgraced Nixon henchman Robert Bork.  After helping to hold down the Fairness Doctrine while Reagan smothered it, both men went on to enjoy long and fruitful careers as wingnut icons and ruiners of American democracy.

driftglass almost always runs a little long, but that's cuz he drinks good Scotch and he knows things. And there's a shitload to know, so it can take a while for him to recount it all for us.

Learn a little sumpthin'.

Today's Tweet

I made this handy chart for people who don't seem to understand why we're focusing on Trump when "other people have done bad things too". pic.twitter.com/gVjQLZY7bB

— OhNoSheTwitnt 🏳️‍🌈 (@OhNoSheTwitnt) June 25, 2017

Minimizing

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