Jun 17, 2016

Keep 'Em Flyin'

Thoughts And Prayers!!!

...the video game that's sweeping the nation
...brought to by (not really) The GOP


(click on the link at the top - I couldn't figure out how to embed)

I am angry.
Yesterday I was sad. Today, I am angry.
I know that’s facile and cliche and maybe even self-absorbed. I’m trying to think of a better word — I bet the Germans have a perfectly and oddly specific one, but English doesn’t, so angry will have to suffice.
I’m angry that I’ve always known this would happen.
I’m angry that when marriage equality passed last year, my second thought, right after “OMG yay!” was, “I wonder how long it will take for someone to blow up a gay bar.”
I’m angry that I then immediately scolded myself: “DON’T LET THAT IN. Don’t put it out there. Don’t live in fear. Cling to hope and the arc of justice always bending in the favor or righteousness and all that. Don’t let the bad become conventional wisdom, don’t let the pain of the past calcify into cynicism. Relish this. Celebrate it. Believe in it.”
I’m angry that that has now been proven to be naive.
I’m angry that Christians were taking to YouTube calling for armed reprisals the day marriage equality happened, and so far not a single Christian I know has voiced any support or agony over this barbaric tragedy that killed 49 gay and trans people and allies.
I’m angry that that will be swept under the rug because the gunman was a Muslim.
...it goes on for a while, and just gets better. Let it out. 

Jun 16, 2016

Mr Rick Wilson

10 tweets from a guy who should be fully on board with the GOP nominee.  When a Political Operative total rat-fucking pimp like Rick Wilson bails on your candidate, you've got more than a small problem.




















Some Kinda Of Sick Sense

Today's tweet, and holy fuck - this makes the whole vulgar charade into an even bigger shit show than we thought.



Here're the first few graphs from the Vanity Fair piece:
Every election cycle has its own breakout media star. In 1992, it was CNN. A few years later, it would be an e-mail blast called the Drudge Report. By 2000, the country had more or less been neatly delineated between MSNBC and Fox News households. The 2008 election introduced Politico and the Huffington Post to the adults’ table. BuzzFeed joined in 2012. 
The breakout media star of 2016 is, inarguably, Donald Trump, who has masterfully—and horrifyingly—demonstrated an aptitude for manipulating the news cycle, gaining billions of dollars worth of free airtime, and dominating coverage on every screen. Now, several people around him are looking for a way to leverage his supporters into a new media platform and cable channel.
Trump is indeed considering creating his own media business, built on the audience that has supported him thus far in his bid to become the next president of the United States. According to several people briefed on the discussions, the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the “audience” currently supporting him. He has also discussed the possibility of launching a “mini-media conglomerate” outside of his existing TV-production business, Trump Productions LLC. He has, according to one of these people, enlisted the consultation of his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who owns the The New York Observer. Trump’s rationale, according to this person, is that, “win or lose, we are onto something here. We’ve triggered a base of the population that hasn’t had a voice in a long time.” For his part, Kushner was heard at a New York dinner party saying that “the people here don’t understand what I’m seeing. You go to these arenas and people go crazy for him.” (Both Kushner and Ivanka Trump did not respond to a request for comment.)

Jun 15, 2016

Bless You, Charlie


Charlie Pierce:
When are people going to realize that the big bag of fucks to give at 1600 Pennsylvania is not only empty, but it's sitting in a back closet somewhere and nobody's going to find it until the midway point of Sasha Obama's second term in the White House? Why does this continue to surprise people?
On Tuesday, right around lunchtime, the president came out and parked He, Trump onto a rooftop across Waveland Avenue. In brief, the president informed the vulgar talking yam that he, the yam, was screwing with the country's heartbeat because he, the yam, is an ignorant, ridiculous man who doesn't know shit from tunafish about anything beyond where to find good-quality, child-sized gloves in a hurry. He made very short work out of the preposterous notion that if he uses the magic conjuring words, then the entire Middle East will turn into Sweden.
And then Mr Pierce quotes Barry Bams:
"That's the key, they tell us, 'We can't beat ISIL unless we call them radical Islamist.' What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction…Not once has an adviser of mine said, 'If we use that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around.' It's a political talking point. It's not a strategy. And the reason I am careful about how I describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with defeating extremism.""We now have proposals from the presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States to bar all Muslims from entering the United States. To bar all Muslims from emigrating to America. We hear language that singles out immigrants and suggests entire religious communities are complicit in violence. Where does this stop?... These are not religious warriors. They are thugs and they are thieves."
I really hope Hillary's listening.


Today's Meme

It Just Gets Worse


And suddenly, this is an older and - though it doesn't seem possible - an even sadder story.

NY Daily News:
Omar Mateen lived a double life.
The homophobic maniac who murdered 49 people inside Orlando’s gay-friendly nightclub Pulse Sunday morning had been hanging out there for three years — and chatted with men via online dating services like Grindr, said multiple witnesses who claimed to have firsthand knowledge of Mateen’s habits.
Mateen’s family said his bloody rampage was sparked by anti-gay hatred.
But his ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, when asked on CNN Monday if he was gay, sat in silence for a few seconds before answering, “I don’t know.”
The Guardian:
His former classmate Samuel King, who also worked at the same shopping mall as Mateen after high school, said Mateen had known that he and many of his friends were gay but never expressed any disapproval. “He had to know it, but I never got any sense of homophobia or aggression from him,” he told the Washington Post.
The information adds to a complex and often contradictory picture that is emerging of the gunman and his motivation for the outrage. His father, Seddique Mateen, hours after the shooting said that Mateen had once become incensed when he saw two men kissing in Miami in front of his wife and child.
I don't know that any of this will matter much because the narrative has been set for the DumFux News crowd - Radical Islamic Terrorism.  So the part about the guy being a closeted gay is secondary. 

Except when it comes to a maybe kind of a subtle little kink for the Rabid TheoCons.  You've got a Muslim with an assault rifle shooting down a buncha QueerFolk.

Forget about all the social toxicity of the Authoritarian shit and the Daddy Issues and Self-Loathing and the Blame-Shifting, and turning that anger outward to keep from totally imploding, while at the same time taking action that will ensure your own demise.

Let's not think about any of that, and let's be sure we don't even try to keep guns away from the nutty people.

The only thing that matters is that we've got a political trifecta for the Right Radicals - a guy they hate is using a weapon they love to kill other people they hate.  It doesn't get any better than that for a modern GOP, where thinking things thru is just not something they wanna encourage.

They don't do anything about it - and they obstruct everything anybody else wants to do about it - because it's working for them.  They benefit from the problem politically, and their Crony Contributors profit from both the problem itself and the false solutions they support.  USAmerica Inc.

These people have no soul and no honor.

Jun 13, 2016

Today's Tweet



You're not really gonna try to argue with Morgan Freeman on this, are ya?

It Bears Repeating

Jim Jeffries - Gun Control - Part 1


Jim Jeffries - Gun Control - Part 2

The Essence Of Stoopid


TPM:
The man allegedly behind the largest mass shooting in American history purchased his weapons from a gun dealer and shooting range whose owner has in the past posted anti-Muslim and anti-President Obama comments on Facebook, the New York Daily News reported.
ATF Agent Sal van Susteren confirmed to the New York Daily News that accused Orlando shooter Omar Mateen purchased the weapons he used in the weekend's massacre at St. Lucie Shooting Center, not far from Mateen's apartment in Fort Pierce, Florida.
The New York Daily News reported that the store's owner, Ed Henson, an ex-NYPD officer, had posted on Facebook in December a meme that said, "F--- Islam, F--- Allah. F--- Muhammad. F--- the Koran. F--- people who support terrorism,” as well as a comment in November calling for Obama to be "handcuffed, removed from Office and charged with Treason and then publicly executed!"
No, Mr Henson, fuck you.


You helped amp up the atmosphere of hatred and paranoia, which you knew would make it that much easier for you to sell guns and ammo to weak-minded individuals who don't quite fully understand the deathly shitty game you're playing.

This is on you and The NRA and all the other smarmy little grub worms in the Ammosexual Community who've created a dank and noxious underworld at the nexus of Religion and Politics and Unfettered Free Market Capitalism.

Sorry not sorry if you feel I'm singling you out unfairly, Mr Henson - there's a group of 50 dead Americans who all probably felt the same way when Mr Mateen was killing them; for reasons you contributed to; with a gun you sold to him.  Maybe you could keep that in mind next time you sell guns to somebody who just might be as big an asshole as you are.  

You wrote, "Fuck people who support terrorism" - so yeah - fuck you, Mr Henson.


My Donkeys

1700 guys making almost $5 Billion a year, but it's the jewelry they really play for.

John Oliver



And a tweet

To Whom It May Concern

Dear God,

Prince was my favorite guitar player, and you called him home last month.

Muhammad Ali was my all-time favorite sports hero, and you took him last week.

I just wanted to get up with you today, and remind you that my favorite candidate is a guy named Donald Trump.

I'm not expecting miracles here, but, you know - just in case you got nothing better to do or whatever.

Thanks,
Mike


cribbed from a post by FB pal Linda

Jun 12, 2016

Let Them Show

Like a rainbow

Today's Eternal Sadness - Orlando


We can usually expect some jagoff on DumFux News to start spluttering about "where are the moderate Muslims...!!!!"



So now, I guess I have to wonder why we never heard from "the moderate Christians..." when dick-face-what's-his-name shot up that Planned Parenthood joint in Colorado Springs.


But anyway.

Meanwhile:
Connecticut’s U.S. senators blamed Congress for the killing of at least 50 people early Sunday at an Orlando club, saying lawmakers’ inaction on gun control makes them “complicit” in the shooting rampage.
Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats and vocal gun control advocates, represent the community of Newtown, where a gunman fatally shot 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
“This phenomenon of near constant mass shootings happens only in America – nowhere else,” Murphy said Sunday. “Congress has become complicit in these murders by its total, unconscionable deafening silence. This doesn’t have to happen, but this epidemic will continue without end if Congress continues to sit on its hands and do nothing – again.”
 

I Wonder

McConnell popped into view right about the time Ms Ryan disappeared - just sayin' - ya never see 'em in the same place at the same time.

Jun 11, 2016

Today's Pix












Today's Tweet

Today's Podcast


Lessons:

  • Don't get hung up with the Sunk Cost Fallacy
  • They're outa my favorite beer, so I'll start drinking bleach
  • Republican Detachment Syndrome



Buy stuff at Amazon and support The Professional Left

Jun 9, 2016

The Lady Kills Me


Can you say 'high dudgeon'?  I knew you could.

Hillary

I know I'm not supposed to do this, but I have to let it out.

Could we maybe try to get her to lose the Dr Evil look?  Just sayin'.


I know.  I'm a bad man.  I'm a very bad man.

Meanwhile

... out there in the world, this, from Juan Cole
The Syrian Arab Army is advancing toward al-Raqqa city, the capital of the phony ISIS “caliphate,” with Russian air support. US Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Christopher Garver confirmed on Wednesday that the US has seen the movement of the troops of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad “to the south and west of Raqqa, and they are heading in that direction.”
Also on Wednesday, the Syrian air force destroyed equipment, fortifications and fighters of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in Resafa, 40 miles southwest of al-Raqqa city.
That is also area that the Syrian army is now entering. It is five kilometers from Resafa’s main intersection. The Financial Times speculates that the regime of al-Assad may hope that by taking al-Raqqa away from so-called caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Ibrahim al-Samarra’i), it will then be able to make the claim that only it can deal effectively with Daesh, gaining support in the international community that is otherwise horrified by al-Assad’s crimes against humanity.
If the US-backed YPG or Self Defense Forces, a unit of Syria’s leftist Kurds, reaches al-Raqqa at the same time as the Syrian Arab Army, there could be a clash between the two over al-Raqqa. The Syrian Army deeply dislikes the YPG and has vowed to put them down.
So, if I'm understanding this - there's a possibility that US forces end up in a fire fight with Russian forces to decide who gets to kill another bunch of 3rd worlders in another thoroughly fucked up part of the middle east.  Like some morbidly stoopid tournament - hey, we're in the semi-finals going for the regional title.  Yay, America.

Donald Trump did a lot of chest thumping during the "debates", saying he'd "knock the hell outa ISIS". OK, but what if Putin doesn't want you to do that?  Your move, Lil Donny - what're you gonna do?

We spent the last 8 years trying to untangle the Gordian Knot monumental clusterfuck left behind by the last know-nothing GOP stumble-bum, and while we may never get good alternatives to choose from in a lot of these situations, can we at least not go out of our way looking for any more door knobs to run into?

Jun 8, 2016

On To What's Next

What I'm not saying: 
☞ get over it
buck up buttercup
☞don't be such a cry-baby
why you gotta be like 'at?  

None of that shit at all. This is politics, and our hearts will get broken - probably more than once.  We all need some time to decompress and regroup,

But at some point it's gonna be like, c'mon guys, pull up your socks; check your pads; snap up your helmet straps and get back in the game. Big opportunities (and big responsibilities) are right in front of us right here right now. 

We have a Senate ripe for the picking.  There's a bushel of House seats up for grabs.  2 GOP Governors are vulnerable, as well as 5 term-limited or retiring Dem Governors.  And it could be a very long time before we get a better shot at flipping some state legislatures, not to mention tens of thousands of elective offices at the County and Municipal levels.

There are more than 500,000 elected officials in USAmerica Inc. 

This work is never done. Democracy isn't something we can afford to just dabble in. There's a shitload to do - and we need everybody's help.


The Exodus

I realize this could come under the general heading of That's What Bloggers Are For, but I don't think I wanna put in the kind of work it's prob'ly going to take to stay up with the potential stampede of Repubs as they start to understand how important it is to get the fuck away from Donald Trump.

But I think somebody should be keeping some kind of scorecard on this.
One of the House's top conservatives now says he cannot support presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump after the real estate mogul questioned whether a federal judge could be fair given his "Mexican heritage," according to CNN political reporter Manu Raju.
Raju reported on-air Wednesday that Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX), a chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said he "was incredibly angry" at Trump for attacking U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel's integrity based on his ethnicity. Curiel is presiding over lawsuits against Trump University in California.
--and--
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signaled Tuesday that he may not support Donald Trump unless he renounces his attacks on a federal judge's ethnicity before being formally nominated at the GOP convention in July.
--and--
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said she won't endorse GOP presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump until he starts behaving more "presidential."
--and--
Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk on Tuesday said he "cannot and will not support" Donald Trump as the GOP's presidential nominee, citing the real estate mogul and former reality TV star's "past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me."
"It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander in chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment. Our president must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons," said Kirk, who suffered a stroke in 2012. "After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world."
The Atlantic has a fair piece on this subject - I only hope they can keep it updated.

And also too - at some point in the post-Trump period (assuming Trump does cause the near-fatal splintering of the GOP that lotsa people are expecting), we should anticipate the spinmeisters stepping up with "Donald Trump has done a great service to our party ... blah blah blah ... strengthening ... blah blah blah ... reminding us of our core values ... blah bah blah ..."  

And the translation will be "What an asshole that guy was - but at least when he left, he took an awful lot of those other assholes with him".

Fly paper.

Today's GIF


Jun 7, 2016

Today's Fun Fact

The last time the GOP won POTUS without somebody named Bush on the ticket, we got Watergate.


Before that, the last time the GOP won POTUS without somebody named Nixon on the ticket, we got The Great Depression.

 

There's definitely some kinda theme there, but seriously - we gotta be able to do better'n that.

On Being Sensible About It



I'm a Bernie guy, and I'll go on being a Bernie guy, and even tho' Bernie's not gonna get the nomination, I want Bernie's ideas to become a solid part of the Democratic Party's platform, and if nothing I want to see happen actually happens, I'm still gonna show up and vote because there's a shitload of other people and issues on the ballot worth voting for - and if I think it's what I have to do to keep Trump out of the White House, I intend to shove a ginormous hunk of Limburger up each nostril so I can vote for Hillary.

There's no difference between Trump and Hillary? As long as you don't actually expect me to buy that crap, I'll go on refusing to believe you're that stoopid.

I will not be throwing a tantrum and talking myself into going along with something like "Fuck 'em - let's blow it all up".

Like the man said - any jackass can kick over a lantern and burn down the barn. That's not how we do things here.  Not yet anyway.

Fly Paper

HuffPo:
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had harsh words Tuesday for Donald Trump‘s comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, calling out the presumptive GOP nominee for racist comments while simultaneously reaffirming that his endorsement of Trump stands.
At an outdoor press conference set up to discuss the rollout of an anti-poverty plan, Ryan was asked if Trump’s repeated statements that Curiel should be disqualified from overseeing a Trump University case because of his Mexican heritage had made him regret his recent endorsement of Trump.
“I disavow those comments. I regret those comments that he made,” Ryan said.
“Claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment,” Ryan said. “I think that should be absolutely disavowed. It’s absolutely unacceptable.”
But Mr Ryan has decided to stay with his endorsement of Donald Trump, even as he condemns what Trump said for being something very typically racist.

So this is basically Paul Ryan trying very hard to be very nuanced in his positioning - he's trying to peddle nuance to voters who've been trained for 35 years to reject nuance as something weak and wishy-washy and all like Libtard-y and icky.

I sure hope Hillary's bunch knows enough to make Trump stick to every Republican in every race. Every Dem candidate should be calling out every GOP candidate, constantly pushing them all to declare publicly where they stand.  

You take one of their favorite tactics - the False Dichotomy Fallacy - and you use it against them. "It's all and only one way or it's all and only the other way" - "You're either with Trump or you're against Trump" - "You can't have it both ways" - "It's all or nothin' at all". 

Go get, 'em guys.

And Now, Samantha

Today's Colbert

Jun 6, 2016

The New Era Of Shoddy

First this:



Then this:


None of this shit is hard to track down - and is there any better way to illustrate the likely chaos of a Trump White House? 

But seriously - this is in keeping with Trump's assertion that his being sent to a Military Boarding School for Rich Legacy Pukes is the same as actual experience in a uniformed service.


Out In The Open Now

WASHINGTON — Republican senators are rushing to condemn Donald Trump’s statement that a Mexican-American judge can’t be impartial because of his ethnicity. They’ve called his comments “wrong,” “offensive” and the “definition of ‘racism.’”
But they’ve just put themselves in a bind: those same senators are still arguing, somehow, that Trump is the best person to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, along with dozens of other federal court seats they’re holding open for the next president.
Acknowledging that Trump's comments are pretty horrible, but then continuing to stand up for the guy - well now, that's not exactly what anybody has in mind when they think of the word "integrity", fellas.

Watching a long segment replay from Joe Scarborough about the Judge Curiel thing struck me as pretty wild.  First, the GOP does not - THEY JUST FUCKING DON'T - get to play this like they never saw it coming and nobody ever tried to warn them.

They won't let me embed the video, so here's the link to the MSNBC page. (check for the date: June 6, 2016)

A little horn tooting might be in order here - libruls have been trying to tell us this was happening for years.  A blogger named driftglass (eg) has been saying this is what's going on. The podcast he does with Blue Gal every week has been laying this out for a good 200 weeks or more.  

Who's been right about this shit all along, and who's been fucking wrong?

Second, reports of the GOP's demise may be premature, but it gets harder and harder not to visualize it circling the drain.

Mr Oliver, If You Please


I'll keep asking the question - when do we start to get this level of quality reportage back in "the news"?

And also too - yes, there's an opinion embedded in this stuff.
  • My opinion is that facts matter.  
  • My opinion is that those facts show Trump University to be a scam.
  • My opinion is that those two things add up to: Donald Trump is a lyin' sack of shit.
3500 lawsuits in about 30 years time?  Makes me wonder what his real bidness might be.

Jun 4, 2016

Muhammad Ali

Dead yesterday at 74


Once upon a time, there was a Meat Market type bar in southeast Denver called The Sports Page, and the gimmick was that they showed old movies of sporting events on a coupla big projection screens. My all-time fave was this fight between Ali and Cleveland Williams.  The first time I saw it, I was so mesmerized that I just sat there swilling beer and watching - I got drunk enough to fall asleep in my car out in the parking lot afterwards.

Here's what I posted on his birthday this year

Today's Quote



"I guarantee you that every person of color in this country has faced an indignity, from the ridiculous to the grotesque to the sometimes fatal, at some point in their - I'm going to say last couple of hours - because of their skin color.  Race is there, and it is a constant. You're tired of hearing about it? Imagine how fucking exhausting it is living it."
--Jon Stewart










Today's Tweet