Month: December 2017

Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.

 
From Glenn R. Geist at MadMikesAmerica:

I’ve been witnessing an increase in aggressive, even reckless driving, and from talking to others who drive the same roads, I’m not alone. The morning news reports that there has been a similar incidence of unruly, abusive and violent airline passengers as well. I’ve commented several times about the anger epidemic.

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From Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged:

We finally have a leader unafraid to boldly proclaim those two simple, beautiful words “Merry Christmas” https://t.co/smzbbfiEPv

— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) December 9, 2017

Finally as in all the Presidents before Trump, too? Honest to Goodness, I just can’t–

Barack Obama was saying “Merry Christmas” all the time. He was. There was never a War on Christmas. Atheists even like Christmas–family and presents and eating too many cookies is nice!

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From (O)CT(O)PUS at The Swash Zone:

This post is not about Michael Moore and his acclaimed film. The title refers to Roger Stone, the presumed triggerman behind the political assassination of Senator Al Franken.

The speed of a social movement often outpaces the checks and balances needed over time to curb exploitation. No doubt, predatory sexual misconduct is more widespread than thought. Victims hide their abuse under silence in fear of shame and retribution. The correct term is ‘victim blame.’

In politics, the name of the game is obfuscation. To discredit one accuser is to discredit all accusers. To defend one rogue is to hang clouds of suspicion over honorable men. Welcome to the Art of the Smear.

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From The Journal of Improbable Research:

It seems that a lack of sleep may prevent the brain from forgetting unimportant information. A lack of sleep may also prevent the brain from remembering important information. How can scientists make sense of this seemingly-nonsensical seeming-contradiction?

Imagine you just met your child’s teacher, who is named Gwen. The name Gwen, however, is firmly associated in your memory networks with your grandmother, who is also named Gwen.

Under such conditions, you may unintentionally think that your grandmother has no children, or that the teacher is in fact your grandmother.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.

• Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit stops by Midway Airport and reflects on the peacetime volunteers who fought the air battle part of that WWII turning point.
   
• At The Moderate Voice looks at the strange legal standards proposed by Trump lawyers and remembers strange theories from the past.
   
• The coming Trump-promised demise of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would mirror efforts on the state level. In Wisconsin, for example, Republicans did some secret fancy footwork in the middle of the night. They slipped into a budget bill last year a provision barring lawsuits against paint manufacturers on behalf of little kids harmed by lead in that paint.
   
  Turns out those Republicans were receiving three fourths of a million dollars from one of those paint manufacturers. The fellow accused of doing the bribing has since died, but the investigation and the court actions following live on. Investigators swept up lots of Republican documents, and some of those had nothing to do with bribes or lead poisoning of children. The judge overseeing the mess is accused of bias against the Republicans.
   
  Wisconsin Conservative James Wigderson has taken an interest. The heart of the accusations against the judge is an internet exchange that occurred before the judge was assigned the case. James and the judge argued about the accuracy about some of the outbursts by Republicans. Both James and the judge had forgotten the exchange. The question is whether the exchange means the judge is biased. Best part is the argument itself, which James helpfully provides.
   
  Not much sympathy in his account for the little kids, who don’t seem to have enough resources to bribe legislators. But James is, after all, a conservative.
   
• Let’s see. The famous dossier contains the tale of the alleged “golden shower” arranged and viewed by the ever vengeful Donald Trump in Moscow. He supposedly paid prostitutes to urinate on a bed in which President and First Lady Obama had once slept. And the new Tax Bill is still in process, incorporating into the body margin notes scribbled by lobbyists. Jon Perr at PERRspectives provides both data and a sort of icky analogy between hotel flow and the trickle down theory behind the Tax Bill. Jon explores who is being trickled on.
   
• patrickB at the Bjork Retort cartoons the other inappropriate groping: where Republicans are putting their hands.
   
• Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged, looks into the sad case of Trent Franks. All he did was ask several female staffers if any would agree to be a surrogate birth mother. Vixen suggests that the most sanitized interpretation is creepy and lewd.
   
• Yellow Dog at Blue in the Bluegrass draws a line between those who oppose anti-discrimination laws that apply to bakeries and those who endorse Roy Moore.
   
• driftglass develops a series of 2 line vignettes about the non-evolution of mainstream media.
   
• M. Bouffant at Web of Evil rummages through his “No, really?” file for a link about gun deaths that are somehow related to guns.
   
• Reconciling the existence of evil and suffering with the existence of an omnipotent, beneficent God is one of the major challenges for thoughtful, religious people. In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, former pastor, current atheist Bruce suggests a simple reason for unanswered prayer.
   
• PZ Myers has horrible memories of high school enforced square dancing and traces it back to its well financed roots.
   
• The Journal of Improbable Research dives into theoretical physics in the construction of a model of heat loss from a semi-spherical cow udder.
   
• This week’s note in Trumpian ‘Alternative Facts’ comes from Salon, arguing that Trump’s campaign against reality isn’t a distraction or a sign of mental illness. It’s his historical mission.
   

Oh, by the way,

Hello. The current administration is trying really hard to make sure you don't know you have access to good, affordable health insurance. pic.twitter.com/VU10FkD2Xy

— John Scalzi (@scalzi) November 1, 2017

 
Green Eagle is angry at how Al Franken was treated by fellow Democrats. He writes of Democratic Senators who acted to:

…destroy Al Franken over the most minor abuses, while the Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump openly work to turn this country into a fascist dictatorship. Apparently, whether Franken touched some woman’s butt is more important than the destruction of everything that it was supposed to mean to be an American

Our readers react:

Ryan:

Count on politicians, as a group if not as individuals, to think politically. Perhaps the Democrats in question believe that showing the public that Democrats will hold their own to a higher standard than Republicans are with Trump and Moore will (1) win them votes or at least save some that they would lose by supporting Franken and (2) deprive Republicans of a chance to point out Democratic hypocrisy, which in turn deprives them of the chance to play the “both sides” game.

Of course, believing that doesn’t mean that it’s true. This country did, after all, elect Trump and much of it continues to support him and Moore. Furthermore, the public’s memory is short, so it’s hard to see how this will translate to votes one or three years from now. And if deprived of one way to play the “both sides” game, politicians will always find another.

Dave Dubya:

“I of all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.”

Al knows this was for nothing worse than what Bush Sr. did.

Al also knows he is the sacrificial lamb in a desperate Democratic tactic to gain the moral high ground. …As if this will convince the Cult of Con-servatism to reject Trump and Moore.

At the very best they might get a majority in Congress. They’ll need both Houses to impeach and convict, and one to obstruct. Even if their plan works, they’ll likely squander their opportunity anyway. Knowing history is a blessing and a curse.

Drawing back the curtain we see morality is out the window when it comes to the cult. Projecting religion and “value$” was always a political pretension for empowering their unchecked militarism and harsh law enforcement, while cloaking predatory capitalism.

Republican Jesus doesn’t care why Franken is ousted or what Trump and Moore did. He’s too busy urging the Cult to support Trump and Moore. Maybe he’s got a hot date later in the moneychangers’ penthouse where fourteen year-old virgins are welcome. Republican Jesus just wants to have some fun.

As for Newt and the blonde whiner, they’re showing fear that the Democrats’ sacrifice will pay off. They need to attack Democrats for doing what is morally right, or what appears as morally right, while defending their acceptance of far worse liars, criminals, molesters and predators.

And that is what they do all the time.

Ryan is a longtime reader and generous contributor of wisdom in his frequent comments.

Dave Dubya writes with feeling and insight at Freedom Rants.

Have a safe weekend.

 
From Green Eagle:

Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono, Claire McCaskill, Maggie Hassan, Kamala Harris, Patty Murray, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey, Sherrod Brown, Joe Donnelly, Debbie Stabenow, Heidi Heitkamp, and Ed Markey.

What do these people have in common? They are all wasting the public’s time and what little power the Democrats have left in trying to destroy Al Franken over the most minor abuses, while the Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump openly work to turn this country into a fascist dictatorship. Apparently, whether Franken touched some woman’s butt is more important than the destruction of everything that it was supposed to mean to be an American.

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From Vincent at A Wayfarer’s Notes:

I’m no fan of the Daily Mail: neither its headlines nor its content. Christine and I met one afternoon and had an interesting conversation. I was a gauche boy of seventeen with no experience of girls but there she was, ready to be chatted up. We were exactly the same age, but she was already entangled in the connections which were to bring her downfall, with wide-reaching consequences in British politics.

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