God bless people of good will.
You're real heroes. 🙏🏻😭 pic.twitter.com/iMvbMCXlRd— 💪🎭..Rai ji..💪🎭 (@Vinod_r108) March 11, 2024
- Green Eagle watches the Hur hearings with the miserable failure of Republicans to find evidence of any wrongdoing by President Biden, and the miserable effort of Mr. Hur to smear Biden anyway, and contrasts that reality with the miserable press coverage of the miserable Hur travesty.
- Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara presents an angry screed about inflation being sky high (sic) and Biden’s policies fueling that inflation (sic). He sees Biden’s attacks on reduced competition that makes possible price gouging and deceptive retail practices as attacks on capitalism itself(sic). (Sick)
My view:
The ideal world of competitive free market capitalism would have businesses keeping prices low in order to maximize profits in a competition for customers.
In the real world, documented by actual history, that competition gets wrinkled by continuous corporate mergers when the market becomes dominated by a few super-sized businesses.
Informal collusion, deceptive practices, and hidden fees are legitimate political targets. Teddy Roosevelt’s trust busting remains a worthwhile government goal.
- My extreme conservative longtime friend Darrell Michaels takes a high dive into the deep end with a lengthy catalogue of Republican talking points on how the decrepit, senile, incapable Joe Biden is also a criminal mastermind who outsmarts Republicans.
One problem many of us have in dealing with extremists in casual conversation is the unresearched brevity and sheer massive avalanche of discredited accusations. Fifty baseless charges hurled in a minute or two can take half an hour to refute.
So let’s just take the first three of my friend’s long litany:- Illegal Immigration
This image has been floating about the internet for a while, replicated in Congress many times – One typical vote of many:
Hey Darrell, how about we give the guy the resources he’s been demanding from day one?
- Weaponizing Federal Law Enforcement
Says my friend: “Biden continues to use the government to persecute and prosecute political adversaries.”
The most frequently used examples by MAGA folk are prosecutions of mr Trump and the January 6 insurrectionists – the violent lynch mob who were on the hunt for legislators to assassinate.
Facts:
mr Trump has, so far, been defeated in court by multiple juries and judges. No Biden participation can be found.
The January 6 violations have been dealt with by law enforcement in ordinary judicial proceedings.
Darrell has other vague generalities as well, without any specific cases.
- Retreat from Afghanistan
Darrell might consider the Trump negotiated agreement to reduce US presence from over 30,000 personnel to 8500 troops (Trump then unilaterally cut that down to 2500), promising that even those, and all other coalition forces, would be withdrawn in 2021.
mr Trump also forced the immediate release of 5,000 hardened Taliban prisoners.
- Illegal Immigration
- North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz explains why the next election is vitally important. It’s a brief listen:
Let’s make sure we have the last laugh in November.#scarlettjohansson #jimmykimmel #SNL#oscars #election#maga pic.twitter.com/lUrLq4UkKu
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) March 11, 2024
- Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson brings us a BBC broadcast about Wisconsin voters and Donald Trump, with the briefest and best interview with the best concise opinion from the best conservative in the state:
James has many reasons for his opinion, here is another:
"In fact, the jury specifically found Trump *not* liable for rape. It found him liable for 'sexual abuse.'"
What kind of immoral lowlife finds comfort in that distinction? https://t.co/eJvAmYKqcq— James Wigderson (@jwigderson) March 11, 2024
- At The Moderate Voice, editor Joe Gandelman suggests that, if we think Trump is not winning, we are deluding ourselves
OR
maybe not.
Now THAT’S fair and balanced.
- Dave Dubya keeps asking Trumpers when America was great before 2016.
He cannot get a coherent answer.
- Iron Knee at Political Irony documents his proposition that Trump followers are not so much deplorables. Instead, they are panderables.
Key reasoning:
Trump consistently panders to them, but doesn’t actually do any of the things that he promises.
- Quoting Calico Jack in The Psy of Life: one of the big lessons of the 6 January Insurrection was how badly Trump failed as a revolutionary.
Key headline:
Comment on This! Trump’s Feculent Touch Stopped Him on 6 January, But Did His Handlers Learn From It?
Personal Note:
Calico Jack has become highly unethical and downright cruel, forcing this elderly person to look up stuff, like Feculent
- W. Hackwhacker has it about right. In holding mr Trump accountable for clear wrongdoing, the failure of the judiciary has been understandable, but not excusable.
- Tommy Christopher watches a fawning CNBC anchor try to save mr Trump from himself during an interview on the $91 million bond to appeal his defamation of E. Jean Carroll, as mr Trump attacks Ms. Carroll again.
Key attack (Wherein mr Trump nicknames Ms. Carroll as a New York Department Store):
And if I didn’t win an appeal on these ridiculous decisions, if I didn’t win on appeal, the most ridiculous decisions, including the Miss Bergdorf Goodman, a person I never, I never me–, I have no idea who she is except one thing. I got sued from that point on.
- From Andy Borowitz:
Also from Andy Borowitz:
When asked about her plans for the yacht, Carroll said, “I won’t be hosting Clarence Thomas.”
- Frances Langum sees the major qualification for Trump’s choice for running mate: Who is most thirsty?
Key plea:
Tulsi resorts to begging DON JR. Not making that up.
- @whiskeywhistle98 is the perfect television audience to Tamra Brown’s Katie Britt:
- Scotties Playtime considers Katie Britt’s question: Are you better off now than you were 3 years ago? He answers with a couple of photographs.
Key spoiler:
Hell yes!!!
- A brief but heartfelt, extremely emotional, quivering message from Congressman Jared Moskowitz:
With your help, we can save another Republican from having to deliver a State of the Union response. pic.twitter.com/gHEf0iCQnk
— Congressman Jared Moskowitz (@RepMoskowitz) March 8, 2024
- tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors introduces us to the Republican candidate for Superintendent of North Carolina public schools, and an educational program involving the execution of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Okay, it’s not really an educational program. Just a desire expressed in 2020.
- Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger has the polls that show abortion as a big, bigly big issue.
- Legal expert Imani Gandy has it about right on anti‑abortion leaders:
Conservatives don't actually want to protect IVF. Some of them will say they do because they know banning IVF is not popular.
But they do want to ban IVF. Because if a fertilized egg is a person, then every destroyed embryo is a murder.
— Imani Gandy (Orca’s Version) ⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) March 13, 2024
- At The Onion, helpful conservatives explain why casual sex should be illegal.
- Disaffected and it Feels So Good shows a growing Republican resentment toward the elderly, as conservative personality Ben Shapiro expands on mr Trump’s skepticism about Social Security.
Key quoted value:
No one in the United States should be retiring at 65 years old. Frankly, I think retirement itself is a stupid idea unless you have some sort of health problem.
- News Corpse says the recent Trump musings on cutting back on Social Security was not a one-off. He’s been thinking about it for a long time.
Shamelessly stolen from News Corpse
- Julian Sanchez has an explanation for media bias:
Post by @normativeView on Threads
- In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson connects the all too familiar congressional dots. A handful of members are blocking aid to Ukraine because of (all together, now) Trump. It really isn’t about border security.
Key motivation:
Their insistence that they would not address the national security needs of the U.S. in Ukraine until they were addressed at the border now sure looks like a smokescreen to help Russian president Vladimir Putin take Ukraine…
The same analysis is now available in audio format, as Richardson narrates in podcast.
- Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged sees longtime supporter of Israel, Senator Chuck Schumer, demanding elections to replace Netanyahu, and considers it an act of moral courage.
She is right, of course.
My view: - Nan’s Notebook notes the semi-success of Space-X, and what they see as their ultimate mission: to put humans on the moon and, later, Mars. Nan asks why.
Key question:
What exactly is the essential benefit of either action? Just to say we have done so?
- Dave Columbo is on TikTok with thoughts on TikTok, misinformation, and national security:
- M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has the rebuttals as Elon Musk brings back discredited theories from over the last hundred years to show that White folks, like himself, are more intelligent than their racial inferiors.
- PZ Myers traces all the Republican replacement theory type talk about poisoning our blood back to its roots.
Key amazement:
But this was in 1962! Surely we have grown past this nonsense here in the 21st century. No, we haven’t.
- Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit notes that the Republican party seems to have given up on non-White voters.
- In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, a pastor explains what he thinks of atheists.
It isn’t exactly an expression of Christian love.
How to forgive this sort of hatred?
Personal:
Look folks. I find it hard to embrace the whole forgiveness part of my faith. Particularly, not exclusively, accepting it.
But I start with the intrinsic value of every human being.
That value doesn’t depend on any human’s faith, lack of it, or what they say or do.
It is inalienable.
I believe that. I just don’t always accept it.
- YellowDog Granny is going through a lot…
… but still has wonderful meme-type insights into MAGAites, Media balance, Trump Immunity, and sex with men from Missouri. - Mad Mike explains the sophisticated way he was scammed and what he learned about keeping your ID from being stolen.
- In Happiness Between Tails da-AL finds that Writing [her] book is one thing…and promoting your work is a whole ‘nother beast.. She guest hosts blogger and author Jim Landwehr who explains how he got published.
- Vincent at A Wayfarer’s Notes goes weirdly poetic as a young woman dreams of a romantic horse ride, and ends with word play.
- Max’s Dad improves on the Oscars with his own list of winners.
- Mark Waulberg (No, not Mark Wahlberg, the other Mark) on what went into planning the fake moon landing:
- Clickbait satirist Reductress posts the heartwarming story of roommates who can’t afford to live alone accidentally growing old together.
- Infidel753 has a question for pet owners about hygiene.
Thanks to tengrain for linking to this post in Mock Paper Scissors, and to long term supporter INFIDEL753 in his own weekly links.
Thanks for your frequent links to my posts!
the spectre of normalizing the horror that is Trump, whether through humor or blase reporting, is truly chilling. tx for keeping us informed and awake, & for mentioning my site here. wishing you a good week, Burr