Today's Tweet

The Narcissus Borealis (thanks tengrain) ponies up and endorses Donito Trumpelini - and history rhymes again in the 2016 personification of Churchill's lament about "when tyrants embrace".

Palin: "self-made" Trump doesn't rely on Other People's Money. Trump co-wrote book saying his success built on OPM pic.twitter.com/X3SfP148tW

— Richard Hine (@richardhine) January 20, 2016

Still not gettin' my panties in a bunch over this one tho', because I'm still not convinced Trump really wants to be Prez.  He starts getting a little too close to winning something, he has to do something outrageous that pulls in a few more rubes while pushing the establishment a little farther away. 

The plan is to boost his brand, but always always always - sit on your ass collecting rent while somebody else does the work.

The wise ones tell us he got Palin's endorsement to prop him up in Iowa - but then she's a no-show at a Trump event the very next day?

This is "USAmerica Inc - Campaigning For Fun and Profit". Palin got the paycheck for the one night stand, but it doesn't look like she'll be joining the tour.  Or maybe she's just waiting for her own bus again.

Now take a look at what pops up from the GOP Establishment - "Movement Conservatism" -  about what they think of Trump voters:

(btw - watch Joy Reid's expression starting around the 1:30 mark)

And also too - Rick Wilson's prob'ly looking for clients, and so saying what he said in that clip is part of the blurb - it's his prospecting letter, going out to potential customers.

Everybody gets a chance to cash in when the carnival's in town.

Get Ready For It

Storm comin'.  Time for the waves of panicked humanity to start crashing thru the walls of the neighborhood grocery.

hat tip = FB friend MM

Tiny Desk

Natalie Merchant

Today's Quote

I get the whole bit about "micro-agressions" and all, but I think I like it better in its original form:

Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them. --Martin Luther King, Jr

hat tip = @zimbabwekid

Today's Quote

On his birthday

"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it." --Edgar Allan Poe

Today's Tweet

Trump is amazingly *unpopular* with general election voters. https://t.co/jmwl5uaR4Z pic.twitter.com/7SQfrsFaLp

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 18, 2016

Golden Oldie

hat tips = FB friends VW-E and LM-M 

Today's Tweet

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience..." #MLKDay2016 #MLK pic.twitter.com/Uq3JkU9KJ2

— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) January 18, 2016

MLK Day

Civil Disobedience is an honored tradition in USAmerica Inc.  As long as you do it right - with respect for the rule of law.  Even when you're resisting a law you believe is unjust, you still adhere to the greater concept of A Nation Of Laws.

He got arrested too😒🙄........ Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. !!!!#MLK ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/bEIOfAG0LK

— HBCU Buzz (@HBCUBuzz) January 15, 2016

And now for today's Check-Your-White-Privilege Quiz:

Here we see LBJ meeting with MLK and "other black leaders" in the run up to The Civil Rights Act in 1964 - can you name any of those 3 other guys?

Enjoy It While It Lasts

Choosing Sides?

A good look at the candidates from a slightly obtuse viewpoint(?) I dunno - worth considering.

From Bitter Empire:

(In reverse order, starting at)

14. Ted Cruz

Let’s be clear here: Ted Cruz is not just the worst presidential candidate to have on your side in a bar fight. He is the worst possible human being to have on your side in a bar fight. And it’s not only because when he speaks he sounds like Eddie Murphy doing his nerd character. It’s that everyone hates Ted Cruz, and they hate him for a reason. Not just Democrats, everyone. Ted Cruz is famously and vigorously loathed by everyone in his own party. Fellow Republican Bob Dole has been out of politics for like 20 years and even he takes the time to hate Ted Cruz.

hat tip = FB pal AF 

Ali's Birthday

"I handcuffed lightnin' and throwed thunder in jail"

Happy birthday to the greatest.

I grew up without benefit of color.  I don't remember even meeting anybody with dark brown skin for the first 12 or 15 years of my life.  But in 7th grade, I had a teacher/coach who showed us films of (then) Cassius Clay.  He taught us that a man's ability is where everything starts because that will show you what's in his heart.  If you get hung up on how he doesn't look like you or act like you or think like you - while you're busy with all the shit that doesn't matter, he'll be busy knockin' you on your dumb ass.  On a playing field. In a classroom. At a job.  Everybody's competing.  Everybody can learn to do what it takes to win. 

If you don't respect all of that because you refuse to see anybody else as your equal, you'll have a hard time being willing to do the work necessary to give yourself a shot.  Then the only way you win is if the game is rigged in your favor.  And that ain't winnin'.

Always A Little Perspective Please

Vox, addressing the panic pushers at the GOP "debate":

Again, this by no means obviates the real threat from terrorism generally or ISIS specifically, but it makes the rhetoric on the GOP stage seem a bit hysterical.

For even more perspective: The number of Americans killed per year by terrorism is the same as the number crushed to death by their own furniture.

Obviously one key difference here is that terrorist groups would like to kill many more Americans, and are surely trying to accomplish just that, whereas presumably your sofa is not plotting any major attacks. But the point is that the risk terrorism poses to everyday American lives is not where you might have thought it was from this debate.

America just doesn't have much of a domestic terrorism problem. Incidents like the shootings in San Bernardino are vanishingly rare, as violent extremist groups have very few adherents here. US intelligence operations make it very difficult for foreign terrorist groups to bring operatives into the US and plan an attack.

Today's Tweet

Trump to go all out for the Millennial vote in the general election. [pic via @figdrewton] pic.twitter.com/nRurK40h0X

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) January 17, 2016

Testing My Embeds

Sorry - found it at Mock Paper Scissors and I just couldn't resist.

Senator Fecal Foam coming from behind

Another Nail In The Coffin

Former Virginia Governor Robert (Vaginal Bob) McDonnell will stay out of federal prison for a bit longer.

HuffPo:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up the case of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who in October urged the justices to review his multiple convictions on federal corruption charges.

The justices' decision to hear the case effectively allows McDonnell to remain out of prison at least until the court issues a decision -- which could arrive as late as June.

McDonnell's lawyers are trying to convince the court that the kind of "official action" federal law treats as corruption -- and that a jury agreed McDonnell committed while governor -- was no more than "routine political courtesies," including activities such as "arranging meetings, asking questions, and attending events."

"This is the first time in our history that a public official has been convicted of corruption despite never agreeing to put a thumb on the scales of any government decision," McDonnell's lawyers wrote in their appeal to the Supreme Court. "Officials routinely arrange meetings for donors, take their calls, and politely listen to their ideas."

I think we need to be ready for the Roberts Court to use this case to strengthen the link between Money and Speech.  It seems like these guys need to establish precedents that reinforce the system of Legalized Bribery that's been evolving from what continues to look more and more like our failed experiment in self-government.

Some Tweets

Why do NYers vote Democrat? Because we remember the last time we trusted a Republican to keep us safe #NewYorkValues pic.twitter.com/VqNyg2FIm3

— Dandelion Dollars (@DandelionDollar) January 15, 2016

New York slams Cruz after attack on Trump's #NewYorkValues: "Drop dead, Ted" https://t.co/r8TcMfN6Vp pic.twitter.com/ERnVjg1oqx

— The Hill (@thehill) January 15, 2016

"I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement." Trump defended #NewYorkvalues against Cruz https://t.co/bdPU4tOFxk

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) January 15, 2016

It's kinda hard to take Trump at his word for anything, but with that caveat, if you've said something that makes Donald Trump feel insulted...?  Whoa.

Today's Dead Celeb

Alan Rickman.  Best bad guy ever.  Best badass good guy ever.

Dogma (1999) --from Kevin Smith

RIP

Sweet Tweet

Hug...! pic.twitter.com/TcJUccQBfz

— Suzanne Lepage (@SuzanneLepage1) January 13, 2016

Whoa, Lady

For a minute there, I tho't I'd accidentally surfed into a That Girl rerun.  But anyway.

Governor Nikki Haley, R-SC:

These things are never good and most often flat-out awful, so she gets a little credit just for having the guts to try, and by comparison, it's a shitload better than Rubio or Jindal, so there's that(?)

Conventional wisdom has it that this is mostly a message aimed at Trump on behalf of a GOP Establishment as they finally start to wake up and get worried that the Monster Of The Id that they created in the 80s and 90s and fed for 35 years has crashed through the fence that was supposed to keep it in the Democrats' yard and is now completely fucking up the GOP rose beds, shittin' in GOP swimming pools and sniffin' everybody's butt cracks - which is pretty much exactly what the "Libruls" (and the GOP's very own "moderates") have been trying to tell them would happen for those same 35 years.  Because rational thinkers understand that you don't control people for very long.  And - not to get too nerdily metaphorical on ya here - when you push somebody to tap into something that always includes that "dark side", try not to act so surprised when Kylo Ren shivs you through the fucking heart, Mr Solo.  (hat tip = driftglass)

Anyway.

She makes the GOP's big point about immigration and terrorism, and how we have to be really really really careful and even straight-up suspicious of new-comers and outsiders and people who're different from us.  Then, not more than a few paragraphs later, she slides right into "nine beautiful souls" welcoming a stranger into their worship circle only to be gunned down because he turned out to be a terrorist jerkwad.  Of course, she disguises it by glossing it over with how forward-thinking and courageous she is for having taken down that stoopid fucking flag (props for that BTW), but she's inviting that standard xenophobia inference, and she knows the people she wants to make the connection will make the connection.

This shit doesn't happen by accident, kids. That's some of the best code-speak ever.

She's not saying "stop being a buncha ignorant racist assholes".  She's saying, "stop being ignorant racist assholes out in the open because that embarrasses me because I have to get you to vote for me".  

In the end, she's telling people who're in open revolt against what they see as a party - that they've been taught BY THAT PARTY - to believe is being ruined by "Political Correctness"  to be politically correct.  She's demanding it.

I'd say the horse has left the barn, but that assumes the barn's still there as some kinda point of reference.  You're in a bit of a pickle, Nikki.