Economy Twist, 14th, Immunity, FBI Oops, Taylor, Razor Wired Kids, Gaza

  • Frances Langum watches Fox hosts perform twist dancing to avoid talking about the Biden economy.
     
  • CalicoJack in The Psy of Life looks at polling crosstabs and figures out which subset of voters are most likely to throw the election to Trump by abandoning Biden for Kennedy.
     
  • The Palmer Report nominates Tuesday, February 6 as the day that destroyed Donald Trump.
     
  • tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors sees the coming Colorado decision as SCOTUS trying to rise the South again.
     
    My thought:
  • From the great Andy Borowitz:
     
  • So the Trump immunity appeal gets a decision.
     
    mr Trump’s basic point is that future Presidents will be inhibited by the fear that any renegade local prosecutor can bring charges for any old thing after a term ends.
     
    The Appeals panel says nope.
     
    At The Moderate Voice Joe Gandleman takes a close look at the reasoning in the immunity decision, and online reactions
     
    Key reaction/quote:

  • A-a-a-a-nd Trump immunity goes to SCOTUS.
     
    Dave Dubya also looks at the logic of the appeals panel ruling on Trump immunity, and hazards an informed guess on how the Supreme Court will handle it.
     
  • Cato’s Julian Sanchez, posting on Threads, is hopeful about a Supreme Court ruling:
     

  • Tommy Christopher brings us part of an interview with a former Trump attorney. The immunity Appeals panel verdict has to irritate mr Trump, but he will especially take personal offense that they referred to him as a citizen.
     
    Key quote from attorney Tim Parlatore
    I mean, I think that he’s probably taking it more personally, particularly the parts about citizen Trump. I think that he’s probably more concentrating on that.
     
  • Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged looks into the overarching Trump claim of presidential immunity for what laws he broke, his claims that he broke no laws, his claims that he was not responsible for the insurrection, his claim that there was no insurrection, and Republican squirms and wiggles as they struggle to make it all true.
     
  • Green Eagle is hopeful that mr Trump’s crimes will catch up with him at the ballot box, but is dismayed that a near majority of voters are unaware he has even been indicted.
     
    Key fault line:
    As I have said for years, Democrats could crush the Republican party into oblivion without hardly trying; what they cannot do is crush the Republicans and the press working together.
     
  • Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit finds it hard to believe a MAGA conspiracy theory involving an FBI plot against mr Trump, considering stunning FBI ineptitude during the search for stolen documents at Mar‑A‑Lago.

Continue reading “Economy Twist, 14th, Immunity, FBI Oops, Taylor, Razor Wired Kids, Gaza”

Iran Proxies, Trump Trashed, 83 Million, Border Block, Razor Wire, Taylor Swift

  • After the drone attack by Iran backed Houthi rebels that took American lives, News Corpse is decidedly unsurprised as a Fox personality reacts by blaming the US military for enlisting too many Black people.
     
  • One problem shared by many on the fringes is an inability to make ideological distinctions. Everything is binary.
     
    Followers of Ayn Rand often see anyone who favors any degree of government regulation as a stalking horse for a proto-Soviet style dictatorship.
     
    Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara takes the binary approach a bit farther, seeing the Biden administration as responding to deadly attacks on US soldiers with appeasement. Seems Biden is neglecting to make Iran glow in the dark.
     
    Key binary view:
    The idea that “war with them is not the answer” is a dangerous evasion that leads to a PRO-WAR POLICY OF CONTINUING APPEASEMENT.
     
  • Meanwhile, in the world of reality, the US has begun retaliating with major airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations where Iranian-backed militants are holed up, with more US retaliation to come.
     
  • M. Bouffant at Web of Evil hears Joe Biden’s private description of Donald Trump and seems decidedly unstunned.
     
  • At The Moderate Voice Don Hermann points out the lesson Donald Trump is being taught by the American system of justice. Loser does not mean those who died to defend our freedoms. In fact, it means what he sees in the mirror as he brushes his teeth.
     
  • In theory, free speech doesn’t cover defamation. You can’t just lie about a private person.
    Reality doesn’t always follow legal theory.
     
    It’s a familiar pattern for some blessed with extreme wealth.
    I’m bigger than you, stronger, with resources you don’t have.
    If you go against me, I’ll make your life miserable.
     
    E. Jean Carroll gets assaulted by Donald Trump.
    Trump denies it happened and attacks her in very personal terms.
    And keeps attacking.
     
    She sues for defamation and wins. The award is $5 million.
    $5 million? Ha, ha, ha. Chump change for someone of his wealth. So he keeps attacking.
    And attacking and attacking.
     
    She sues again, and he attacks again. He keeps attacking even during the trial. Over and over, he attacks.
    Her lawyers ask the jury to consider how large an award it will take to get him to stop his attacks.
    Jury’s answer: $83.3 million.
    Wow!
     
    In television interviews, she is asked what she will do if he keeps attacking.
    Her answer is simple. She’ll sue a third time, then she’ll sue again as often as he attacks.
     
    Tommy Christopher reports as Trump is angry as all hell about verdict and the financial hit.
    He attacks the trial. In fact he attacks both trials.
    He attacks the verdicts.
    He attacks the judge.
    Somehow, he neglects to attack E. Jean Carroll herself.
    Some sort of memory lapse?
     
  • Green Eagle goes to wingnut world to watch MAGA folk get twisted out of shape about the $83 million verdict.
     
  • Julian Sanchez suggests that a massive defamation verdict just might not be an attack on free speech:
     

  • The Palmer Report brings us Rudy Giuliani and the weirdest defense ever of Donald Trump.
     
  • From Andy Borowitz:
     
  • So mr Trump sabotages border security because passing a bi-partisan bill would give President Biden a win.
     
    Iron Knee at Political Irony sees a replay of a Richard Nixon move in 1968, except Nixon was smarter about it.
     
  • In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson sees Republican dizzying opposition to the same bipartisan border security proposal they have been supporting as yet another demonstration of the growing extremism of the Republican party.

Continue reading “Iran Proxies, Trump Trashed, 83 Million, Border Block, Razor Wire, Taylor Swift”

Trump Trumped, DeSantis Diced, Feeding Hungry Fined, Ban Abortion

Wow!
Practice really does make perfect:

  • Did we really think a $3 million award to E. Jean Carroll would stop mr Trump from his attack-dog mode?
     
    He showed us a thing or two with a hundred more defamations.
    See? $3 million is chump change.
     
    tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors notes an irony as another jury ups that $3 million by another $83.3 Million. The new jury considers a helpful Trump boast from another trial.
     
  • On the criminal charge side, the Palmer Report has Jack Smith ready to present evidence that can break open the Trump document case: data from cell towers.
     
  • A non-revelation:
     
    Donald Trump suggested he has his pick for vice president and hinted people will not “be that surprised” by his choice of running mate, The Hill reports.
     
    Wisconsin conservatives have a question:


    Fellow Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson narrows the choices:

  • Max’s Dad takes whatever is left of Ron DeSantis, slices, dices, and cooks the pieces.
     
    Key personality:
    Like most bullies he got punched by an even bigger bully and crawled away, hat in hand, and expressed his admiration for the other bully. A Profile in Courage.
     
  • It’s becoming a familiar pattern. A Murdoch employee generates a rumor that another Murdoch employee reports as a real news story. The report is believed without question by a credulous audience.
     
    News Corpse takes the arc into full circle as a gossip columnist for the Murdoch owned NY Post reports that Michelle Obama is about to become a candidate for President, which Fox personality Steve Doocy repeats on the Murdoch owned network as a terrifying report.
     
  • Iron Knee at Political Irony contrasts Iowa’s electoral significance through history with media fascination at the local diner.
     
  • Hackwhackers ventures into TwitterLand (rebranded as X) to watch mr Trump lose talking points, lose his tongue, and simply lose track as Republicans frantically look for ways to defend his mental state.
     
  • PZ Myers has some fun with mr Trump passing a bare minimum cognitive test, then getting retelling wrong.
     
    Key observation:
    No one would celebrate passing it — it’s like expecting to be applauded when an examining doctor finds a heartbeat.
     
    Random internet reaction:

  • Of course, this had to float around the internet:

  • @whiskeywhistle98 has the best version of a cognitive test, to determine if she is sane:
     

Continue reading “Trump Trumped, DeSantis Diced, Feeding Hungry Fined, Ban Abortion”

Impeach Crime Search, 14th, Trump Threats, Censor, Drowning Refugees

Ordinary strangers will sometimes take risks to help:

  • The Propaganda Professor provides a ten item guide, dead giveaways that the Biden impeachment is a blatant scam.
     
  • Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger has the numbers. A plurality of voters supports Trump being banned from ballots.
     
  • At the Palmer Report mr Trump can’t just wait for his Supreme Court to rule in his favor on eligibility, he has to threaten what will happen if they don’t.
     
  • Sammy The Bull Gravano, one-time hitman for the Gambino crime family, endorses mr Trump, and Trump proudly makes sure everyone knows.
     
    Media outlets, pundits, the internet explode with derision at the obtuseness. What sort of character witness does Trump think he’s discovered?
     
    Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged points to a darker motive.
     
    Key dark view:
    He’s just letting people know he’s got friends in all kinds of places. Loyal ones. Maybe dangerous ones.
     
  • Master of rant, snark, and thoughtful review, Max’s Dad examines the performance of Donald Trump during his defamation trial.
     
    Key claim:
    But there he is claiming how grief stricken he is over his mother in laws death though odds are 11,780 to one he could even remember her name.
     
  • News Corpse notes the standard that mr Trump says he will impose on major networks. If they haven’t been broadcasting his speeches, government must put them out of business.
     
    Key promise:
    Our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity.
     

  • mr Trump isn’t the only one. Tommy Christopher has Trump ex-employee, current Fox host, Kayleigh McEnany furious that CNN cut away from a Trump rant.
     
  • Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson is not convinced:

Continue reading “Impeach Crime Search, 14th, Trump Threats, Censor, Drowning Refugees”

Biden Tough, Fox Frustration, Trump Secrets, Immunity, Political Prisoners

Continue reading “Biden Tough, Fox Frustration, Trump Secrets, Immunity, Political Prisoners”

Old Out, New In, Economy WOW, 14th, Slavery Bad, Crenshaw Fury, RFK Fake

  • @whiskeywhistle98 has a final word on the year 2023:
     
  • At The Moderate Voice, retired U.S. Air Force Major Dorian bids a fond farewell to the best and worst of the bygone year.
     
  • In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson emphasizes the departure by the Biden administration from past economic doctrine with surprising results in 2023.
     
    Key support for infrastructure:
    This was a dramatic shift from the previous 40 years of U.S. policy, when lawmakers maintained that slashing the government would stimulate economic growth, and pundits widely predicted that the Democrats’ policies would create a recession.
     
    Key evaluation:
    Heather Long of the Washington Post said yesterday there was only one word for the U.S. economy in 2023, and that word is “miracle.”
     
  • Infidel753 has a radical suggestion: The progressive wing of the Democratic party might want to listen to voters.
     
  • M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has links to stories of many thousands of documented deaths linked to COVID advice from mr Trump and those of like mind.
     
    To mr Trump:
    Thank you sir. And I say that with tears in my eyes.
     
  • News Corpse looks into a new Trump announcement proving he really won the 2020 election:
     
    I am pleased to share a Report that is fully verified […] and compiled by the most highly qualified Election Experts in the Country.
     
    The report names no experts and is a rehash of unverified accusations that have long been disproven.
     
  • Iron Knee at Political Irony gets irritated with word mincing hypocrisy about Trump, Insurrection, and lock-em-up.
     
  • Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged suggests what might have caused so many insurrectionists to have thought there was nothing the government would do to the 1/6 rioters, and what that has to do with the 14th Amendment, as well as Executive Immunity.
     
    Key accountability:
    That’s why we need to keep the pilot light of freedom lit for this crass moral infant, Donald Trump, who has been touching stoves his whole life and not finding them hot enough to stop reaching over and over again.
     
  • Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger asks if keeping Trump off the ballot is anti‑democratic, and makes the case for No!
     
  • Tommy Christopher brings us the latest logic from Trump attorney Alina Habba. Seems Trump appointed judges are biased against Trump.
     
    Logic seems to be this:
    Trump lawyers have to up their game, contriving especially shiny bright incandescently brilliant arguments because judges, including some Supreme Court Justices, who were appointed by him are biased against him because they want to appear unbiased and are frightened right down to their socks that any ruling in Trump’s favor will seem biased because he appointed them, so they are biased against him, even though they want to rule for him.
    Or something.
     
  • Update: (Law? Who said anything about law?):

  • In Hackwhackers Nikki Haley is still caught in Civil War boxes (cartoon style).
     
  • Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara doesn’t get the controversy about Nikki, the Civil War, and slavery.
     
    He accomplishes this non-comprehension by casting her answer to What caused the Civil War?, ummm, (rights, liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, government overreach, capitalism, economics, did I leave anything out?) as a defense of abolitionists of that era, rather than a word salad about confederate inner motives.
     
    Key concession:
    Haley’s answer could have been better polished.
     
    Well… yeah.

Continue reading “Old Out, New In, Economy WOW, 14th, Slavery Bad, Crenshaw Fury, RFK Fake”

Gaza, Impeach, Merry Messages, Hitleresque, Nikki Civil, Tennessee 3

Continue reading “Gaza, Impeach, Merry Messages, Hitleresque, Nikki Civil, Tennessee 3”

Appreciated Takedown: Democratic Socialism

In 1969, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency created Arpanet, which became the Internet.
 
God responded with Dave Dubya.
 
My loved one spent part of Christmas morning laughing at this exchange.
I spent the time repeating OUCH!.
 
On the Eve of Christmas Eve, I had posted my reaction to a Dave Dubya proposition:

Dave Dubya defends the term Democratic Socialism.
 
Key meaning:
It is defined by the ideal and application of a democratic republic based on fair elections and fair representation for its citizens.
 
Key exclusion:
It is NOT “Marxism, communism or fascism”.
 
I dunno. Although this entire blog loves Dave, his thought does remind me of arguments on how Defund the Police may sound like abolishing police but really means something different.
 
If a label or slogan means something different than it sounds to ordinary non-political folks, it may be wise to adopt a more accurate self-description.

Dave then committed vivisection on that post without anesthetic:

Burr,
 
After reading your remarks, I have reached an epiphany.
 
Appended at the post:
 
It would seem “democratic socialism” is too complex and scary as a concept for Americans.
 
Maybe it should be called “Liberalism”, or “progressivism”. Oh, but those terms have been demonized out of political discourse by the radical Right too.
 
I got it! “Universal Socially Applied Capitalism” or “USA Capitalism”. How does that sound?
 
Merry Christmas! And a healthy happy new year to you.

Key Question:
Is Dave even capable of non-entertaining thought?

Merry Xmas, Pesky Jesus, Colorado Ballot, Michigan Tapes, Poison, Hitler

Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson brings us this holiday cheer:
A commercial that is entirely truthful.

  • Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara is an atheist who has no problem celebrating Christmas as a secular holiday.
     
    Key principle:
    The secular meaning of the Christmas holiday is wider than the tenets of any particular religion: it is good will toward men—a frame of mind which is not the exclusive property… of the Christian religion.
     
    Seems fair.
     
    Let’s include values, not restricted to, but central to, Christianity:
     
    Love for all humanity, care for the migrant, help for the homeless, those less fortunate.
     
    Values some of us in the faith seem too willing to forget.
     
    Our friend Infidel753 has a parallel contribution:

  • In Happiness Between Tails da-AL shares a photo essay in praise of diverse Christmas figurines.
     
  • PZ Myers suggests that maybe Japan does not yet understand Christmas.
     
  • I missed this during the post-assault surgeries and recovery that still continues.
     
    North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz notices that when conservative public figures boast about their Christian values, they never seem to mention Jesus.
     
    I have a thought:
  • Mark Waulberg (No, not Mark Wahlberg, the other Mark) offers wisdom on money and life:
     
  • Vincent at A Wayfarer’s Notes finds inspiration in a bath towel, and translates for us the Book of Hebrews in praise of God and human potential.
     
  • Nan’s Notebook has a gentle correction for us religious types with our negative stereotypes about atheists.
     
    Key theme:
    From my perspective, I tend to think this happens because those who believe in god(s) are simply unable to understand/accept that there are individuals who view life … As It Is.
     
  • Disaffected and it Feels So Good plunges right into the legalities and reactions to Colorado bumping mr Trump off the ballot.
     
  • Cato’s own Julian Sanchez knocks down a couple of reactions to the Colorado court decision keeping mr Trump off the ballot.
     
    One, from folks like me, is moral:


    Julian clobbers that view:


    Second, also from folks like me, is practical:
    It’s a fool’s errand. The Supreme Court is stacked for Trump.


    It’s tough sledding to oppose Mr. Sanchez.

    • Continue reading “Merry Xmas, Pesky Jesus, Colorado Ballot, Michigan Tapes, Poison, Hitler”

Thursday Blog Choices: Colorado Ballot, Poison Blooded Immigrants

I am profoundly encouraged after seeing the surgeon yesterday.

My right arm is still too weak for some tasks, but I can go without the cast and the sling.
AND I can begin doing a few of the things I couldn’t do before.

One problem with doing nothing is that you never know when you’re finished.

Typing is still a little difficult.

Here are a few links I simply could not list before.