Today's Quote

"I suppose one reason people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

--James Baldwin

Today's Tweet

FUN FACT: Alpha penguins will push other penguins into icy waters to see if Polar Bears are layin' in wait.https://t.co/7sx0zyzUvX

— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) June 11, 2017

How They Die

According to Pentagon data, more than 6,800 troops have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11 and more than 3,000 additional service members have taken their lives in that same time

Closing in on 10,000 dead uniforms.

And in 2012 and 2013, for the first time ever, suicide caused more military deaths than anything else.

Can we stop handing these kids every shitty problem that we don't feel like dealing with?  And cops too btw, now that I'm thinking about it.

We have to get back to some reasonable facsimile of sanity, and start figuring out how to deal with our shit without always bashing each other over the head with sticks and rocks.

We can't kill our way out of every fucking problem that comes along.

It's A Word

"That's our word now - and you can't have it back".

Oh yeah, Ice Cube gave @billmaher the talk he needed to hear pic.twitter.com/i7jYbCtm5P

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) June 10, 2017

Pretty strong. And I think I'm straight with it now.

Thanks, Ice.

Under-Reported

Enablers and supporters and apologists  for the guy who claimed "Only I can fix it" are all very busy telling us he's having trouble fixing anything because of his naiveté and inexperience.

You got suckered, "conservatives". And it's time to admit it - so c'mon.

It's All For Show

We all know he said he'd release his tax returns - he said that at least twice, under two different circumstances, and with two different caveats.

We all know he said there was evidence of Obama tapping his phones in Trump Tower, and that he'd have it for us inside a week - which was 3 or 4 months ago.

We all know there's any number of other instances when he "promised" something that never materialized.

Every time out, we get a new look at 45* doing nothing but trying to set up the cliffhanger for this week's episode of Your Life Is A Rolling Clusterfuck In A Dumpster Filled With Burning Tires And You Pay Me For All Of It.

If anybody calls this asshole's bluff on this one, we all hafta know by now that some imaginary lawyer will suddenly appear in 45*'s dreams and forbid him to testify - even though he really really really wants to do it - for reasons beyond the understanding of you mass of unwashed idiots.

Balls

I'll go ahead and call this Leadership - cuz that's what it is.

And hey "conservatives" - if you still think guys like 45* are the ones talkin' plain English and gettin' down to bidness wid it, then you're admitting to being the rubes I've been saying you are for a very long time now.

Stop volunteering for The Big Bamboozle.

Today's Tweet

And BTW - why does it seem like the Lady Dems are the ones with the real balls?

This is the face of every American woman after listening to a man blab his mouth when you asked him a yes or no question. pic.twitter.com/SF8shsFTtN

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) June 8, 2017

Keith

I missed this one last week. Lots of disclaimers and caveats, but holy crap.

That Natural Law Thing

Sometimes, I have to let this junk outa the sewer just long enough to show it up for the dead-end bullshit it is.

"There's no equality in nature."

These guys are sure that's the whole banana. All they ever have to claim is that they're just trying to go along with "the natural order of things", and nobody can refute or rebut - there's no equality in nature.

Wanna know what else you don't find in nature, Mr Spencer? Here's one: There's no law in nature. 

In nature, there's nothing that keeps Charles Barkley from popping your fool head like a pimple.  So go play outside for a while, shortpants - the adults are trying to work.

Jesus, I hate dealin' with these shit-heels.

Overprivileged White Guys

"...toxic - like farts from a vegetarian."

Today's Pix

Yup, That Was It For Me Too

Dana Milbank, WaPo:

But such legal considerations, though important, miss the real significance of Comey’s testimony heard-’round-the-world. In the three hours I sat transfixed in Room 216 of the Hart Building, 15 feet behind the fired FBI director, the line that chilled me more than any other was Comey’s account of why he wrote extensive, real-time notes of his conversations with Trump. “The nature of the person,” Comey explained in part. “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document.”

The nature of the person.

This was the essence of Comey’s testimony: that the president of the United States is at his core a dishonest and untrustworthy man. It was judgment on character, not a legal opinion, and even Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee made no real attempt to dispel it.

Ding ding ding.

And then there's Paul Ryan:

Republicans on and off the panel largely accept Comey’s assessment of Trump’s character. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) suggested that “the president’s new at this” and “probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols.” But, he added, “I’m not saying it’s an acceptable excuse.”

That's gotta be the weasely-est weasel-ing I've come across in quite a while - and Ryan's been pulling that crap for almost a year now where 45*'s concerned.

Fake lord have mercy.

Today's GIF

Whaddya mean, "Do I smell smoke"? What smoke? There's no smoke.

Today's Charlie

May the fake lord bless you and keep you, Charlie Pierce:

Comey eschewed the reading of the prepared statement that was released to the media on Wednesday in favor of beginning his appearance with a scathing denunciation of the president* who fired him, and who then proceeded to lie to the nation about why.

"Although the law requires no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the administration then chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader...Those were lies plain and simple. And I am so sorry that the FBI work force had to hear them and I am so sorry that the American people were told them."

He repeated on several occasions that he'd been fired because of his handling of the investigation of Russian ratfcking in the 2016 campaign. And, every time he was asked why he believed that, Comey replied that he was "taking the president at his word." This is twisting the spear with a deft and practiced hand.

It was a singularly powerful performance, made more so by the fact that Comey is very close to the perfect congressional witness—stolid and relaxed, relentlessly on point, in command of the facts and of his testimony, and not willing to be baited into going a step beyond what he wanted to say.
Coupla things popped out on Twitter and elsewhere:

1. 45*'s lawyer said Comey was a standup guy for "exonerating the president completely", and that Comey is a crafty habitual liar who can't be trusted to tell us the correct time of day.
2. Comey as a private citizen chose to relay non-classified material to the Press Poodles through a friend, while 45* relayed classified material to Russia.
3. Repubs still can't legit rebut any of it (and Jesus on a cornflake, why do they think they need to?) so they're still trying to deflect with "Yeah, but Hillary..."
4. Just what the actual fuck is wrong with John McCain now?

Always read your Charlie - it's good for you.