Same Assholes, New Century

It still seems like a recycled bromide when we try to remind ourselves that we've seen this "Take Our Country Back" malarkey before.

But in certain parts of the world, they remember the lessons quite well, and apparently, a lot of them won't be putting up with any of our bullshit.

The Guardian:

A drunken American tourist has been beaten up in the German city of Dresden after he repeatedly raised his arm to give the Nazi salute, police said.

The 41-year-old man, who was lightly injured in the attack, was being investigated for violating the law against the use of symbols from banned organisations, Dresden police said in a statement.

The incident happened on Saturday morning as the tourist, who was “strongly under the influence of alcohol”, left a bar in the eastern city’s Neustadt area and repeatedly gave the Hitler salute on the street.

“An unknown passerby then beat up the man and slightly injured him,” the statement said.
Don't Be A Sucker

History doesn't actually repeat itself. But because we tend to make the same mistakes every hundred years or so, it sure as fuck rhymes.

Today's Tweet(s)

Senator Ron Johnson, R-WI

Our hearts break for the loss of life today in Charlottesville. There is no place for such violence.

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) August 13, 2017

They're fucking Nazis, you feeble minded corporate tool. You're not going to lose votes saying "I deplore fucking Nazis." #Idiot https://t.co/I2VgUStEC9

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 13, 2017

How Do We Expect Less?

The bar is being lowered pretty much in keeping with 45*'s eroding approval numbers.

Baltimore Sun, Dan Rodricks:

Did anyone expect President Donald J. Trump to wax eloquent and consoling with regard to Charlottesville? Did we really think he would condemn the torch-bearing white supremacists who assembled there? Do a majority of Americans count on Trump to provide wisdom, guidance and inspiration in times of trouble?

No. No. And no.

Handed an opportunity to shock us with a display of principled leadership, Trump on Saturday could have distanced himself from the alt-right and white nationalists he empowered with his “Make America Great Again” campaign. But he did not come close to that. He never uttered any of the descriptors we use for people who carry Confederate flags and chant, “Jews will not replace us.”

Instead, he blamed “many sides” for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville.
“Many sides” presents a false equivalence, putting neo-Nazis on the same footing as those who stand against them.

I do believe we just heard a Press Poodle pointing out one of my pet-peeve Logical Fallacies (False Equivalence) when it comes to our Great Debate these days.

3 Dead In Charlottesville Yesterday

All three died while serving their community as best they knew how.

Heather Heyer

VSP Berke Bates

VSP Lt Jay Cullen

Mixed Up In A Good Way

Charlottesville, Summer of 2017

What can you say about a country where a guy would be willing to lay down his life protecting the rights of people who would just as soon see him dead?

That is indeed a wonderment, but you say, "God bless the United States of America."

Read Your Charlie

Charlie Pierce at Esquire has a quick and partial recap:

I see that the Bedminster Improv opened early on Thursday.

"Frankly, the people who were questioning that statement, was it too tough? Maybe it wasn't tough enough. They've been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years, and it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. So if anything, maybe that statement wasn't tough enough. And we're backed 100 percent by our military, we're backed by everybody and we're backed by many other leaders. And I noticed that many senators and others came out today very much in favor of what I said. But if anything that statement may not be tough enough… Sure, well always consider negotiations. But they've been negotiating now for 25 years. I talk. Somebody has to do it.
-snip-

But Putin threw out our diplomats.

"I want to thank him because were trying to cut down our payroll, and as far as I'm concerned I'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll. There's no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we've been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We're going to save a lot of money."

I hear the late show is completely different. That's frightening.

Today's Tweet

Seems to me this is exactly what Obama was talking about - "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

The rubes get played - there's one born every minute, and two slickers like 45* to take him for every nickel he's worth.

Supporter: 'When Trump speaks you can understand him, don't have to look up the big words; If he had to cheat to get in, I'm OK with that.' pic.twitter.com/tCMOjoBZlb

— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) August 11, 2017

Follow the developments at The Guardian

One Of The Problems

Whooo yeah - sure glad I chose to be born white, and middle class, in the American suburbs.  Best decision I ever made.

I realize folks who post this crap on social media aren't consciously going outa their way to be shitty. This is not intended to be mean-spirited. Indeed, it's supposed to be a good Life Lesson for all those mopey little pity puppies out there who just need to buck up and put on their big-girl panties and lace 'em up and get in there and blah blah blah.

But the lack of intent to be shitty doesn't make it less shitty for someone not born to the dominant demographic.

We start with a (mostly) appropriate feeling of pride and gratitude where our own situations are concerned, but we end up with the kind of bullshit attitude that poor people are poor - and they have all those poor people problems - because they're somehow morally deficient.

And that ends up making us say some of the stoopidest fucking things:

Words

St George of Carlin, in a prophetic address to The Press Club.

hat tip = FB Friend D Rapier

Today's Tweet

I'm becoming less convinced that 45* is actually still POTUS.

Oh for eff's sake Trump got this "Fire and fury" crap from Bannon who got it from a video game (h/t @politico) pic.twitter.com/ZoaTlWwxdV

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 10, 2017

Without Adult Supervision

Paraphrasing Mr Mencken: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste or the intelligence of the American consumer.  Wal-Mart seems to work very hard at proving it.

Ms Bee

Continuing the trend of decent reporting being taken over by half-hour comedy shows.

Samantha Bee (the only woman with a late night show on American TV)

The View From Out There

It's politics, remember, so they don't tell us the whole truth.

But sometimes they tell some of the truth because - surprise surprise - it's in everybody's best interest to do it, and the Politcos not only recognize that, they manage to do the right thing (surprise surprise again).

This piece is chock-full of little slices of Scary-as-Fuck.

Buzzfeed, Alberto Nardelli:

The current standoff is a dramatic illustration of the grave international concerns over Trump.

On one level, the officials said, he is something of a laughing stock among Europeans at international gatherings. One revealed that a small group of diplomats play a version of word bingo whenever the president speaks because they consider his vocabulary to be so limited. “Everything is ‘great’, ‘very, very great’, ‘amazing’,” the diplomat said.

--snip--

Another diplomat said it had proved impossible to discuss serious international issues, such as Libya, with Trump. And seven months into his presidency, the European officials say they are still struggling to figure out who else they can engage with in the US administration.

Describing a meeting between their boss and the president as “basically useless,” they said: “He [Trump] just bombed us with questions: ‘How many people do you have? What’s your GDP? How much oil does [that country] produce? How many barrels a day? How much of it is yours?’”

“He’s not the kind of person you can have a discussion about how to deal with [Fayez] al-Sarraj [the prime minister of Libya]," the official added. "So you look for people around him, and that is where it’s a problem: The constant upheaval, it’s unclear who has influence, who is close to the president."

A number of European officials compared Trump with Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi – but said the similarities end at their inappropriate jokes during meetings.

“Berlusconi wasn’t ignorant. And behind him he had officials and a whole government structure you could engage with,” one diplomat said.

The officials revealed that at international meetings, Trump has openly mocked his own aides, contradicting and arguing with them in front of other leaders. That has compounded the impression of an administration in chaos. “We can hear everything, it’s weird,” one diplomat said.

Officials also expressed concerns over the status of the State Department, and the lack of seasoned diplomats and experts within the White House. One diplomat suggested that US counterparts have privately lamented to Europeans about the number of roles in the administration that have yet to be filled resulting in a lack of clear positions on many policy areas.

“The White House lacks crucial expertise,” one said. “The State Department and others are isolated. You have the generals, the National Security Council, and then a void. There aren’t enough diplomats, experts etc. in the White House. [Secretary of state Rex] Tillerson has a small team. Does Trump listen to [James] Mattis [secretary of defence], [H.R.] McMaster [national security adviser], to the experts?”

Today's Tweet

"Working vacation"

Trump golfed with a random person TODAY. It's the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Golf games last ~3 hours.

He. Does. No. Work. pic.twitter.com/jJhE57EqV7

— Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) August 9, 2017

Today's Pix