SuperBowl Ad, Trump Assaults, CNN, Drag, Shootings, Thoughts & Prayers

The best SuperBowl ad I can recall came at us in 2008.

(Note: Apologies to whomever. I do not recall from where I stole this.)

Continue reading “SuperBowl Ad, Trump Assaults, CNN, Drag, Shootings, Thoughts & Prayers”

Friends of Justice, Biden Memory, Kremlin Drones, Debt Ceiling, Mouse

11 seconds of an example I’d like to follow:

  • Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged reads the main defense of Clarence Thomas, that he should not be criticized for hanging out with friends who are willing to share a ride. He happens to be blessed with the best friends anyone could have.
     
    Key question:
    Who in the world has such generous friends?
     
  • M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has the links, and a suggestion that a lawyer who happened to be on those expensive vacations with Justice Clarence Thomas may not be the best choice to loudly defend him.
     
  • At The Onion, the Supreme Court is once again interrupted as Justice Thomas receives a live cheetah as a donor gift.
     
  • The Propaganda Professor dives into the current state of contemporary conservatism: What makes “conservatives” tick?
     
    Key thesis:
    “Conservatism” isn’t built on values. It’s built on attitude.
     
  • Hackwhackers expresses skepticism bordering on cynicism as Putin minions claim a child’s-toy-sized drone that tried to kill Putin by attacking the roof of the wrong building was sent by Ukraine. PutinFolk then claimed it was sent by the US.
     
    My thought: Reichstag fire.
     
  • Green Eagle has a couple of scenarios that seem more likely.
     
  • Nikki Haley wants President Biden tested for cognitive decline.
     
    At The Moderate Voice, retired U.S. Air Force Major and former aerospace/defense executive Dorian de Wind suggests we should be concerned about all candidates and a more basic test of competency: a test at which Biden happens to excel.
     
  • Author John Scalzi does not actually mention Nikki Haley, but he does have notes about his own memory.
     
  • In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson has the facts on what is misleadingly called the Debt Ceiling. It is not a ceiling on debt. It is only authorization to pay existing bills so the national credit, and our economy, don’t get wrecked. Seems all sorts of bad stuff will happen in the next month or so.
     
    Republicans say they will cause the calamity unless they get all manner of slashes to popular programs.
     
    Key summary:
    Senator Chuck Schumer warned that Republicans are including…
    “… steep cuts to law enforcement, veterans, families, teachers, and kids And will gut Medicaid for over 20 million Americans, rip away SNAP benefits for over a million recipients and eliminate Pell grants for tens of thousands of American students every year.
     
    But Republicans are mostly angry at the Department of Veterans Affairs for pointing to what will become a 22% cut in veteran health, disability, and food benefits.
     
    This crop of Republican legislators are an odd but destructive bunch.
     
  • Supply-chain bottlenecks are vanishing. The Russian oil cut off has been mostly overcome with domestic production. Good news, right?
     
    tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors reads the Wall Street Journal so you don’t have to. Economists now see more evidence that inflation persists because corporations are still price gouging as much as they can, for as long as they can.
     
  • Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger shows us Willie Nelson, who has what some seem to regard as a radical view regarding unfairness. He’s against it. Interesting that this is now considered a controversial value.

Continue reading “Friends of Justice, Biden Memory, Kremlin Drones, Debt Ceiling, Mouse”

Tuckered Out, Bud Protest Peters, Trump Rape Trial Bully, DeSantis

The eloquent phrasing alone is worth the click.

  • Nojo has a word (Yes really!) for Tucker Carlson.
     
  • tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors finds a visual self-own from the late great Tucker Long may he wave!
     
  • Hackwhackers proves you can get bitten by a cartoon, and unleashes several on poor Tucker.
     
  • Dave Columbo becomes Tucker, with a post-separation message:
     
  • News Corpse explains why, in his eventual Twitter video, Tucker Carlson revealed so little about his firing.
     
    Key deserved snark:
    Carlson’s assertion that truthtellers will always prevail over liars is at least partially correct. He, as a proven, relentless liar, is now shrunken and weaker.
     
    Key provided Tweet:

  • The Onion brings us their exclusive, satiric, fictional interview with Tucker Carlson.
     
    Favorite key question:
    The Onion: Were you fired?
     
    Key answer:
    Tucker Carlson: No, it was 100% my decision. When I showed up to work on Monday and was denied access to the building, I decided that was the last straw and quit right then and there.
     
  • At The Moderate Voice David Robertson brings us Republican posts in the wake of the Tucker ousting.
     
  • Frances Langum covers the “dystopia beat” as 4Chan, the dark conspiratorial site, has a very bad day. Seems Tucker has been borrowing their white nationalist stories and broadcasting them as his own. Now they’ve lost the influence of their most influential influence peddler.
     
  • Disaffected and it Feels So Good begins with the collapsing Bud Light boycott and zooms out to the weird self-contained bubble that started it.
     
    Key belief:
    What conservatives believe is they are the majority and it’s only because of tyrannical liberal fake news media, indoctrinating education system which poisons the minds of young people against them, and cheating Democrats who stuff ballot boxes with bamboo lined Chinese Fakes and Dominion Voting Machines that keeps True Conservatives from handily winning every election.
     
  • PZ Myers is moderately impressed that Mattel is making a Down Syndrome Barbie.
     
    Key observation:
    Every kid deserves a little happiness and recognition of their existence.
     
    A video-casting conservative thinks the idea is pretty funny, and so are kids with Down Syndrome.

Continue reading “Tuckered Out, Bud Protest Peters, Trump Rape Trial Bully, DeSantis”

Pill Ban Banned, Fox Stomped, Pillow Smothered, Thomas Trips, Shootings

  • Hackwhackers has the big, but not exactly stunning, news. SCOTUS put a hold on lower court restrictions to the medical abortion drug mifepristone.
     
    Really. Did they have a choice?
     
    The original judge had issued an opinion that was less legal than a blog‑level diatribe. It could have been written in crayon.
     
  • Another big bit of news:
     
    Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit briefly summarizes the Dominion/Fox settlement. Shorter Fox News: “Yes, We Lied. Here’s $787,500,000.”.
     
  • Vixen Strangely is disappointed that the Dominion defamation case against Fox News has been settled merely for money. But, with other FOX plaintiffs and more Dominion defendants in the works, it may not be over.
     
    Key hope and caution:
    I still say Fox is in trouble–because I can’t convince myself the bubble has yet been created that can’t eventually be pierced, and I think the docs that Fox was hiding with respect to Rupert Murdoch must be very not great for them to have been hidden.
     
    But perhaps I should by now know to keep my hopes lower in the stratosphere.

     
  • To those a bit disappointed by the conclusion of the Fox lawsuit, Dominion lawyers have been hinting that there will be more.
     
    The Palmer Report decodes those somewhat oblique comments and speculates that the settlement of the civil case could graduate to an unsettling (to Fox) criminal investigation.
     
    Key legal point:
    Dominion v. Fox News has always just been a civil case, and was never going to be a criminal case. But when you get caught trying to obstruct the courts in a civil case, now you’ve committed a potential criminal act.
     
  • Frances Langum has the judgment against pillow guy Mike Lindell who issued a challenge and must now pay five million dollars to some enterprising soul who proved Mike’s stolen-election claims were lies.
     
    Key free retroactive advice:
    Gee Mike Lindell, maybe you shouldn’t have issued a ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ election-fraud challenge.
     
  • As the settlement settles in, News Corpse speculates on whether the separation of Fox from a Trump commentator represents the first firing.
     
    Key point:
    Times are changing fast at Fox News now that a court has affirmed that they are staffed by shameless liars.
     
  • In The Borowitz Report, the Dominion lawsuit has been settled at an extreme cost to the Fox Network. In fact, the cash strapped network is now forced to sell Kevin McCarthy.
     
    Key separation desire:
    “I wish Kevin well,” Rupert Murdoch said. “I hope whoever buys him finds as much use for him as I did.”
     
  • In the wake of the massive settlement, Dave Columbo has a suggestion or two for Fox:
     
  • The Propaganda Professor says:
    Even Fox host speaking patterns designed to inundate and deceive
    will continue to combine with
    the desire of viewers to be deceived.
     
    He does not believe the Fox settlement and the disclosures preceding it will have any effect on Fox believers.
     
    Key factors:
    All of this despite the fact that Fox “News” has repeatedly admitted that it lies to its viewers, and that its “entertainment” is not to be construed as news — indeed, that “no reasonable person” would believe what its personalities say.
     
    And it hasn’t made a damn bit of difference. The faithful flock are still as gullible as ever.

Continue reading “Pill Ban Banned, Fox Stomped, Pillow Smothered, Thomas Trips, Shootings”

Hitler Love, Unlawful Justice, Unjust Judge, Trump Decoded, MAGA Beer

Right after election 2020 as President Biden bounced mr Trump, we were given scholarly research on how the founders would have reacted:

  • Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged explains how Justice Clarence Thomas is receiving substantial financial, travel, and gifting benefits from a right-wing ideologue. But, says Justice Thomas, he and his extremely generous donor are not really in a corrupt relationship:
    We’re just good friends.
     
    To the uninitiated, it does seem like heavy dating.
     
    Key defense:
    Now, Thomas has assured us that he isn’t the kind to be swayed by the temptations of his wealthy friends, that he prefers the simple pleasures of the RV parks, the Walmart parking lots.
     
  • Julian Sanchez, of Cato Institute, offers a close to perfect explanation of why the relationship between Justice Thomas and his just-friend mega-donor is corrupt, even if he doesn’t issue rulings against his core beliefs:

  • So the ultra generous friend of Justice Thomas collects Nazi stuff, especially canvases painted by Hitler, books signed by Hitler, and materials just personally held in the hands of Hitler. That doesn’t mean he actually admired Hitler, right? It doesn’t mean he’s a Nazi.
     
    Dave Columbo explains a bit about personal values. Obsessively pursuing a collection deserves a little more than quick dismissal:
     
  • Hackwhackers brings us satirist Alexandra Petri, rewriting for clarity Justice Clarence Thomas preference for the simple Walmart life. He reluctantly sacrificed the simple existence he would rather have lived to hang at exotic locations with a billionaire friend who collects Hitler souvenirs.
     
    Kind of noble, if you think about it.
     
    And, of course, we are also gifted with pointed Clarence cartoons.
     
  • Andy Borowitz reports as Ginni Thomas vows not to let her husband’s problems interfere with her work on the Supreme Court.
     
    Key Satire:
    Calling her post as Associate Justice “a job I’ve loved for the past three decades,” she said, “I’m hopping mad that Clarence would do anything to jeopardize that.”
     
  • The Palmer Report explores why formerly Republican state legislative strongholds around the nation are flipping to Democrats.
     
    Key political malpractice:
    After the downfall and ouster of Trump two years ago, the lesson Republicans should have learned was that if you quietly hold more power than you should, and you intend to use it for corrupt or evil purposes, flaunting that power is not a smart idea.
     
  • Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo of Rewire News Group explain how Gen Z Saved Abortion—and Democracy—in Wisconsin. You can also choose podcast or transcript.
     

     
    Key description:
    Abortion. Voting. Trans rights. Clean water. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race had all the rights on the line. This week, Jess and Imani break down how liberals took back the Badger State’s highest court for the first time in 15 years.

Continue reading “Hitler Love, Unlawful Justice, Unjust Judge, Trump Decoded, MAGA Beer”

Arraigned, Rallied, Threats, Tennessee, Drag Dragged, Murder Votes, Censored

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz finally accepts a hug, and gets surprised.

  • Nojo projects a marketing shortage and encourages us to stock up.
     
  • Green Eagle is sickened by media and blogs (uh oh) and a District Attorney who devote themselves to the 34 most petty selections from the long, long list of Trump crimes.
     
    Key additional point:
    Let me make a point here: “innocent until proven guilty,” the phrase we hear over and over again, is not true. The real phrase is “presumed innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty.” If you are guilty, you are guilty, regardless of whether you manage to escape legal consequences.
     
    Kind of like OJ.
     
  • Here’s hoping such power doesn’t fall into the wrong hands! Iron Knee at Political Irony publishes cartoons about mr Trump that come true the next day. Yikes.
     
  • So mr Trump is finally charged by a grand jury and arraigned. News Corpse covers the coverage as the Fox Network accuses those Radical Left, Soros-sponsored communists who pulled the strings to bring the charges. They, which is to say we, are endangering mr Trump’s life.
     
    Key Fox logic:
    You’re putting Donald Trump’s life in danger. You’re setting him up and advertising [to] the entire world, [that] the former president of the United States, the Republican nominee for the presidency, is going to be at this location, at this time, on this date. And you’ve got towers, and you’ve got windows.
     
    I confess that had never occurred to me. Imagine doxing a former President by taking him to court for his crimes. I suppose it does force mr Trump out of his well known very private, reclusive, avoid-all-notice, Howard Hughes type of existence.
     
  • Republicans who once shouted Lock Her Up at Trump rallies now explain to us that charging mr Trump with …well… anything damages our image with other countries. At The Moderate Voice, foreign affairs expert Brij Khindaria makes the case that the opposite is true.
     
  • CalicoJack in The Psy of Life ignores cooler heads and celebrates the arraignment, but warns that it ain’t over until it’s over (It being the fight for democracy).
     
    Key argument for joyful noise:
    You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t happy that the smug narcissistic jerk is finally get a smidgeon of the comeuppance he so richly deserves.
     
  • It’s true that some prominent folks, among those who should know, say that mr Trump is innocent. Some folks who should know say he is guilty. Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger has a shortcut for those too busy to look at evidentiary details: the main difference between the two groups.
     
  • Andy Borowitz reports on millions of Americans who have paid off porn stars and now feel under attack.
     
  • Dave Columbo watches the Trump arrest and wonders about the kind of a world in which we’re living:

     
  • It is no longer just powder and anonymous notes sent to the office of the Manhattan District Attorney. Tommy Christopher reports as the indictment prompts an escalation. Stormy Daniels is now receiving many more threats from Trump supporters including I’m going to murder you.

Continue reading “Arraigned, Rallied, Threats, Tennessee, Drag Dragged, Murder Votes, Censored”

First Charge, Trump Scare, Martyr, Rally, Ron v Mickey, Guns, Forgiveness

Continue reading “First Charge, Trump Scare, Martyr, Rally, Ron v Mickey, Guns, Forgiveness”

Stormy Storm, Arrested Arrest, Threats, Captive GOP, No Pill, Erase Racist Past

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Climate, Woke, Bank Run, Fox, China, Russian Divers, Death for Abortion

  • Libertarian philosophy does not allow for any challenge to it’s basic premise: government is bad.
     
    So the logic on climate change is pretty much a straight line.
     

    1. Any fact that implies the necessity for government is not really a fact. It is bogus, generated for evil purposes.
       
    2. Climate change that originates with humans and that endangers human life strongly suggests the need for government regulation.
       
    3. So here it is, the straight line:
       
      Evidence of climate change has got to be bogus, part of a global conspiracy.
       

    Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara complains that the
    climate propaganda cartel infects virtually everything in media, including weather reporting.
     
    But Michael has a reliable alternative:
     
    Key reliable alternative (in Michael’s words):
    A weather network, tied to one of Steve Bannon’s platforms.
     
    Yup. The reliably reliable Steve Bannon.
    Well, any port in a climate storm, I suppose.
     
    Key endorsement:
    I never heard of WeatherNation before coming across this article. But it’s refreshing to know that there still exists a weather outlet that actually sticks to verifiable facts.

  • Dave Dubya suggests that those who use woke as an insult have another problem.
     
  • PZ Myers watches the interview as conservative Bethany Mandel gloats about the defeat of woke. But when she is asked just what she means by woke, she suffers a stuttering, stammering brain freeze.
     
    And thus we have a new birth of viral video.
     

    I have a slightly different take. I don’t see an inability to define what she is against. I see an unwillingness to put it into real words. Anti-woke conservatives seem to be antagonistic toward what most Americans see as a fundamental ethic. She is struggles to keep from saying aloud that she is against basic fairness, equality, and compassion.
     
    A more coherent response might have pointed to one or more of the few extreme excesses that can endanger any social movement, and use them to characterize the entire movement.
     
    Kevin Drum lists a few possible extreme examples:
     
    My favorite:
    Race-Based Silencing – Telling a white person they don’t have the right to speak because they’re an oppressor.
     
  • Cato’s Julian Sanchez captures the essential point:
     
  • North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz has a thought about woke folk:

  • Scotties Playtime carries a series of sane responses after a Fox Network host blames the near collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Pride Month.

Continue reading “Climate, Woke, Bank Run, Fox, China, Russian Divers, Death for Abortion”

Fox Exposed, GOP Truth, Denialism, CPAC, Jobs, Biden Budget, Mad Trump

Continue reading “Fox Exposed, GOP Truth, Denialism, CPAC, Jobs, Biden Budget, Mad Trump”