I was yelling at my tablet while C and H were expressing condolences for those killed and hurt during the insurrection and praising "our brave Capitol police." "You fanned the flames that led to that day, you...you...." Fill in the blank.
For those too busy to "look 'em up," here are the results of a quick search for a translation: "ass, ass with ears, evolutionary brake, single-celled, pants shit, vomit, brain denier, carpet, baking pipe face." I particularly like the 'ass with ears' curse word...'arsch mit ohren' ... since it includes receptivity to the voices of the gullible and ignorant, to whom their remarks were really directed.
OMG I am laughing myself silly. TC I am trying to keep a straight face and give these pigs the descriptors they deserve, and instead you've got me laughing so hard I can't see straight. Arsch mit Ohren. Hosenscheißer. You're killing me.
Face it TPJ it doesn’t matter what I write or whether you understand it, there is a mutual admiration society going on here between certain members of this forum, you know who you are and who you like and some of the others who like you back.
They are "POSs" and I didn't mean "Point of Sale," although they clearly are for sale to the highest bidder.
Which is why the Democrats need to establish a website where they can post the names of all companies donating to Republicans who supported Trump's claims that his election was stolen after December 15, 2020.
Whomever runs against Hawley in 2024 will be using material showing his raised fist saluting the January 6 rioters superimposed on pictures of these domestic terrorists doing their dirty work in the Capitol. (Note that I didn't say what office he would be running for in 2024.)
I agree. The only consolation is that their repeatedly spouting nonsense keeps their names associated with same and recognized by intelligent voters. They both have presidential aspirations. I screenshot the list of Republicans who voted to acquit, saving it for reference as a “Do not vote for ...” list. I’m an Independent and have voted for candidates in several different parties, but given the way the Republican Party is going, I doubt I’ll ever vote for another Republican.
Does your state allow you to participate in primaries? That's my concern, that I can't participate in the selection of candidates for the general election.
In Ohio, you can. In the past, I have occasionally asked for a Republican ballot for presidential primaries. I do not belong to a party, but have voted almost exclusively Democrat for years, including in the primaries.
In Michigan you do not have to sign up or declare any specific party affiliation, but for primary elections you can only vote for candidates in one party.
Oregon has a closed primary, which yes, means you can't participate in the selection unless you sign up as a Dem or Rep I think it's 21 days ahead of the election. Oregon has mail balloting only.
Can you tell me a little more about going independent? What does it mean? Why do people do it? Is there an informational source you can share with me? I'm really interested in understanding this more. TYIA.
I think it just means you’re not affiliated with any political party. It also means you cannot choose a representative in either of the Party Primary elections.
That varies from state to state. In some states, you register by party, period. In my state, we don't register by party. The 2 main parties have ballot primaries, and sometimes the 3rd party as well. The smaller parties generally have caucuses (or a few people in somebody's kitchen deciding who is running for which office- it's a small state). A Voter can choose any one of the parties at the time of the primary or caucus. But once you vote in one, your name is entered and you cannot vote in any other party. I'm a Progressive but will sometimes vote Democrat in the primary if there is someone running that I feel strongly about. That does not mean write-in, which won't count. It means I vote a different party for the primary, though sometimes both parties support the same person for some races. In most states, the Progressives are simply a wing of the Dems, but in my state, there are enough Progressives voting AS Progressives that we are our own party. It sounds confusing, but it's not, and it works very well.
Contact your town's election commission, or the local or state party HQ, and tell them to remove you from their rolls. Then you're no longer enrolled as a party member. To be an independent voter you must keep your voter registration up to date.
Check with your local election office or commission to find out what it means (and what it's called) in your state. The election office should be able to tell you what it will mean as a practical matter -- and that will depend on the state and what its major parties have decided. For example, I'm registered "non-partisan" in Nebraska, and so far the Nebraska Democratic Party allows us to vote in primaries, but I cannot vote in a Republican primary unless I register as a member of the party. The election office likely has to print different types of ballots for us nonpartisans. I assume that these state party and election rules can change every year. I think our country would get fewer candidates at the extremes if more state primaries were open regardless of party.
Belonging to the IP, or another party named independent, differs from being an independent voter. It means belonging to no party, not just voting or thinking independently.
I made up "The Independent Party" because so many more friends and folks were claiming to be "independent " I thought they should have organization and clout. But we were all too independent for that.
Thanks MP. Presumably those people think independently, but technically and legally they are not independents if they belong to any party. The big drawback to being a registered independent voter is that most states don't allow them to vote in primaries. That's a right I wouldn't want to lose.
Dems really need to be more vocal about that. I wish Klobuchar could say something right at the git go about how they should not be allowed to take part in the confirmation of any of Biden’s choices. I know, I know, she can’t but...
I loved how AK organized the hearing. She was so strong and having the first testimony come from Major Mendoza was brilliant. She was dignified and compelling especially in her tribute to her resigned boss at the end of her testimony. It’s so sad that Pelosi pushed for him to resign so quickly.
Sen Klobuchar is emerging as a tower of strength in the Democratic Party. The murder of George Floyd ended her presidential hopes, but she has now distanced herself from her history as MN prosecutor. It's now hard to sustain the criticism that she's not liberal enough. I voted for her in the 2020 MA primary. Sorry, Ms Warren, you're still my favorite senator.
I agree Klobachar has blossomed after her valiant attempt at Presidential run— I enjoy our senator Warren too but there’s an earthy grittiness in Klobachar that I prefer.
Me too— she has a great sense of humor too and she deserves every bit of her current status in Congress. It takes such courage to run for Prez as a woman. She’s flinty.
I was watching the hearing when the MSNBC suddenly switched the camera to capture the Cruz texting. Boy it’s going to be a long time for him to dig out of his latest hole. It’s like in deep in the oil sands and he’s got a teaspoon shovel.
Cruz talked of mistakes that were made should be forgiven (I howled at that one!) Hawley pointed to Missouri Captain Carneysha Mendoza's bravery during riots. One can only hope that he privately apologized to her for his part in putting her and her fellow officers in grave danger.
Josh Hawley and his family live in Vienna VA close enough that I could walk to his house or put it on one of my morning running routes. MO could recall him. Not sure what controls the Senate has on a duly elected member. Censure may be a start.
It pains me that Hawley lives in my state. He isn't the only one, of course, but IMHO, the Senate needs a way to control the biggest idiots amongst them. Hawley is certainly right up there at the top, along with Cruz and Johnson. How do these people get elected????
The voters of Missouri had a choice between McCaskill and Hawley and they elected Hawley. You ask how these people get elected? Ignorant and gullible voters, that's how. True just as much today as yesterday. It's just a flaw in the democracy in which we live. Alternatives may be worse.
Partisan gerrymandering indirectly influences statewide elections along with individual districts, by encouraging extremist candidates. So do wealthy donors with radical views, with more on the right end of the political spectrum.
He may live in your state, but he's not likely paying state income tax. His primary residence and where his taxes go are his home state, which isn't Virginia.
It so angered me he and Cruz were present yesterday--culprits in the sedition--to pontificate during the hearings as to why Jan 6 happened. He disgraces us here in Vienna VA too. Reportedly, his wife goes to the grocery store as he dare not show his face. Not sure how old their child is.
why is former president Trump still to get more news coverage than President Biden? B/c the news media still flock to a train wreck even while all the plane land safely.
I think that the "media still flock to a train wreck" was evident yesterday when Nicole Wallace spent the first 45 minutes reporting on the car accident of Tiger Woods instead of her original news re" the Klobachar hearing. I have nothing against Tiger Woods but I'm not sure the accident required 45 minutes of air time when there was little new news to report at that time.
Biden gets much more exposure on the news outlets I use: The NY Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, VOX, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, CNN. Which news organizations, with the exception of FOX, NEWSMAX as well as extreme rightwing sources, give Trump more attention?
I know this is an unrelated comment, but I've been thinking for some time about an earlier letter in which Heather discussed Reagan and trickle down economics. Voodoo economics, as George HW Bush called the theory until he joined up...
Trickle down is fairly thoroughly discredited, I believe, as a job generating, economy boosting injection of growth hormone. So why aren't we sold on its opposite, getting money to people on the other side of the economic see-saw?
I spent years working with poor people, people wrestling with substance abuse and mental illness, trying to get along on a typical SSI income of $700 a month, or less, and one of the first lessons I learned was that when they had money, they ran right out and put it back into the economy. They didn't invest in Korean ceramics or buy stocks.
So, money that gets to poor folks, or kids, as Mr Romney is suggesting, gets right back into circulation. Isn't that the way economies grow? Am I missing something, or if not, why isn't this the obvious use for federal funds?
And why did Rs have no issue with a $1.5T tax break mostly for rich people that did very little for the economy but a $1.9T fix for the wasteland they left behind is a budget buster?
Yes -- money given to poorer people usually goes right back into the economy.
The 2017 tax bill was a reward/payoff to republican donors and big business. Tax cuts to the very wealthy are permanent (until repealed), whereas tax cuts to middle-income folks are only temporary (unless extended by new legislation).
Biden's $1.9T rescue is very popular with all except elected Rs. It will demonstrate that government can help people -- which contradicts what Rs have been preaching since Reagan and before. Elected Rs rightfully fear that Biden's rescue will endear voters to the Dems. (This is the exact same reason a generation ago that Dole & Gingrich whittled away at Clinton's health reforms until it died.)
The R's hypocrisy should leave them with whiplash, if not broken necks.
Writing in the St. Petersburg Times on Nov. 26, 1932, Will Rogers wrote about Trickle down economics. He said that Mr. Hoover, being an engineer, knew that water trickled down and just assumed that money did, too. Rogers said Hoover got it backwards — money trickles up. He wrote, “Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have before night, anyhow. But at least it will have passed through the poor fellows hands.”
Time and time again Trickle down economics, or as George H.W. Bush called it - voodoo economics, has been demonstrated not to work. It gives money to people at the top who keep it.
Richard, I think the cognitive fallacy you are wrestling with is the idea that anyone in the "GOP"--and I mean anyone, as the anti-Trump faction is just as guilty of this as the pro-Trumpista faction--is operating in good faith with the people they are supposed to be representing. They are not and they have not for decades. They had plenty of economists in the 1980s telling them that "supply side" economics (what Will Rogers called "trickle-down") was a boondoggle that would enrich the already rich and impoverish even further everyone else, including cause a flattening of growth in the middle class. It was a deliberate move. It was the plan. The demonizing of poor people with a neo-Victorian view of the poor as "undeserving" was based on racist and sexist principles that Dems in the 1960s and 1970s had attempted (albeit not very energetically) to counter; the destruction of the middle class was simply collateral damage in the push to locate the vast bulk of wealth into a very few hands at the top. The technology revolution of the late 1980s and onward simply exacerbated this trend as Reagan-era deregulation created the mechanisms by which a very few people could become gobsmackingly wealthy.
This was the plan all along. To claim otherwise is to be complicit.
Agree that the Republicans are not operating in good faith. But they are backed by a lot of people who, I believe, have a belief system that is incompatible with democracy and social equality.
Yes, every time I see 'trickle down' I think tinkle and then immediately flash to walking the dog down to the corner where his favorite fire hydrant sits. He 'trickles down' on it while smiling. (Dogs can smile you know).
The entire slaveowning theory of everything rested on the idea of a "mudsill economy." A mudsill is the first foundation laid for a house, and everything rests on it. You cannot build a stable house on soil without mudsills. In the slaveowning economy, the slaves are the mudsills: they are the foundation for the grand houses built on top. This is obviously unjust if you view the slaves as belonging to an egalitarian state. So you don't. Furthermore, you adopt a philosophy that those who have the most, DESERVE the most, through some innate quality (e.g. business acumen, skills, intelligence, work-ethic, good looks, whiteness....) that the slaves are presumed to lack. It's a circular definition: because they have nothing, they obviously lack the virtues needed to rise; ergo, they do not deserve to rise.
So at the core of slaveowning is this very, very important principle of "deserving." Some people deserve to be rich. Some people deserve to be poor. It's actually a sin to try to subvert this condition that God (presumably) established.
When there is a pinch -- a shortage -- it is a matter of moral integrity to harden one's heart and let the poor suffer or starve or freeze to death, so that the deserving can live, and the most deserving can continue to live in comfort. As George Orwell said, "We are all equal, but some are more equal than others." It was a pithy aside at the economic equality of Soviet socialism, but it applies equally well to the US Declaration of Independence.
Trickle-down is how the slave state is supposed to work in the ideal: the slaves generate the wealth, the masters use their special virtues to compound that wealth, and "everyone" benefits, even the slaves and non-participants. This was laid out in some detail by David Gilding in his 2011 book "The Great Disruption."
The idea of "deserving" is an essential part of American society, especially as you move toward the bottom end of the (white) economic scale. There is a HUGE backlash against giving anything at all to the "undeserving," most especially when the deserving are feeling uncomfortable or threatened.
Mudsill also referred to lower-level workers. There's a chapter titled "Mudsills and Greasy Mechanics for A Lincoln" in J McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. (Still the best 1-vol hist of the Civil War.)
Exactly what I saw in my work. And very few ever get more cash than that "to spend frivilously." Instead food stamps (SNAP), housing vouchers, childcare and utility payments are provided, which also go backninto yhe local and regional economy.
As the closest neighbor Canada is a good choice for Biden's first bilateral meeting, signaling that "America is back" (cheesy but necessary words). He and Trudeau should partner well together. But when they say they're "addressing climate change," it's also code referring to the canceled Keystone pipeline. That is a contentious issue between the two countries. I doubt that Trudeau is fully invested in it, and genuinely wants to address climate disruption, but powerful interests are applying pressure to keep Keystone open for business. The true grounds of contention, the real struggle, is between those in both countries who will act on climate, and those who wish to continue the current unsustainable economic regime. This struggle is playing out around the world both within and across borders, and its results will have profound impacts.
Trudeau's difficulties are strictly political as the oil sands provinces hardly ever vote for him, but practically always back his Conservative opponents....provincially and federally. Alberta, the main source is the richest region per capita in Canada and largely because of the oil. Should the dirtiest and least efficient of all extraction processes and sources for oil (the sands) be shut down for climate concerns or be massively constrained it would be good for the planet. However the locals would be back to counting cows and looking at massive wheat farms....if the former are still allowed because of their gas emanations and vegan protests. Not much else going on thereabouts that would support the population...as in many plains states to the south of them. I'm not saying that you should build the pipeline, heaven forbid....but we need to be aware of the consequences at each point in the cycle in our return to a non-carbon, cleaner world. Massive population movements are one of the consequences as areas, cities and possibly countries lose their current economic raison d'être!
Then we have another site of contention in Europe with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from northern Russia to Germany. This pipeline would reportedly double Europe's energy supply when it's finished. The last 100 miles of the pipeline have yet to be completed because of opposition by the U.S.
"Jim Risch, top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [is] part of a broad bipartisan effort in Congress to stop construction of the $11 billion pipeline, which is owned by a consortium led by the Russian state gas company Gazprom. The fear is that the pipeline will give Moscow more economic and political clout over Europe."
Merkel is supporting it "for now" for Germany, with opposition from Poland and Ukraine.
Curiously, Trump sided with Ukraine. There must not be an "instead of Russia" side of this story.
18 companies withdrew from the project's construction consortium this morning in the face of US sanctions! Curiously ....yes because for once he did something anti-Putin....but the Nord Stream 2 gives Putin the possibility of significant power over Ukrainian economy as he can withdraw transit payments on the existing principal pipeline that passes through their country. The Ukrainian economy woould suffer significant damage should this happen. Putin has alread annexed Crimea and part of Eastern Ukraine. Why would he stop in his drive to recreate the old USSR
Yes I totally agree and it’s natural that the dominant fossil fuel profiteers are reluctant to change but I think Trudeau and Biden are inherently moderate.
It mostly competes with rail. Anti-pipeline forces in British Columbia are probably strong enough to block a pipeline to the Pacific, not to mention much more daunting (and expensive!) challenges crossing the Canadian Rockies compared to crossing a bunch of US plains states.
That bunch of US plains states contains many American Indian nations, including the Standing Rock Sioux. The energy industry threatens their water, land, lives and culture, so they are Water Protectors, fighting locally for the global future. Physical and technical obstacles to energy development now matter less than political ones. This is especially true of Earthkeepers and Water Protectors -- those who, like the honored dead at Gettysburg, would give their Last Full Measure of Devotion. For all of us.
We should be moving towards an official recognition of their role and give back to them total control of all economic activity under, on and over their land to go with the social and political control that has significantly improved. They should be able to influence such matters in the surrounding areas too that have an impact upon their lives and land.
Those states also contain the Ogallala Aquifer, a resource vital to American agriculture. The efforts of our native population are greatly appreciated but they have broad bipartisan support in those states.
My favorite tweet yesterday, regarding Ron Johnson blaming Antifa for the Trump insurrection:
“It takes a special kind of stupid to think the left would dress up like the right and raid the Capitol to change the outcome of an election they just won.“
I think it's worth emphasizing (though I know those who read your posts likely don't need to be reminded) that every item you wrote about today involved racism in some form or another. Senator Johnson's repetition of lies about the insurrectionists was blatantly racist ("nice white folks couldn't have done this!"). The fact that troops were not deployed sooner was clearly racist, as we know there would have been no such hesitation if the protestors were Black and Brown. We must assume that at least some of the no votes on Linda Thomas-Greenfield were racially motivated, as she is so clearly very qualified for her position. And even the Canada summit involved a discussion of racism (though this time in a positive vein). Combined with the failure to charge any of the officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain, it is crystal clear that substantially NOTHING has changed in the way we perceive and respond to race in this country, despite the actions taken over the past year. We must work much harder than we have been to change this.
"At the joint senate hearing yesterday about security failures on January 6, the ass covering by the former chief of the Capitol Police and the former sergeants at arms for the House and Senate was done using both hands and feet. Turns out there was plenty of warning about what would happen that day. The only problem was who the warnings were about: white people.
The fact that tens of thousands of white supporters of Donald Trump were descending on the nation’s capital largely at his behest to protest false claims of election fraud didn’t set off any alarm bells among law enforcement officials because the crowds expected at Trump’s speech on the Ellipse weren’t threatening enough.
Senator Amy Klobuchar came up with the only question that really needed an answer at the hearing. She asked former Capitol chief of police Steven Sund what would have been the threshold that would have changed his security posture on January 6. Sund fumbled around but didn’t really give an answer, because the real answer was skin color. If the intelligence shared in advance of the attack on the Capitol had been that Black Lives Matter was coming, they would have called out every cop and National Guard soldier they could muster."
There was a feature on one of the daytime shows 5+ years ago (that I can't find on a moderate Google search) of a Black woman in her car, windows up, with a thudding bass. She was next to another car when a white woman in the car next to her made a disparaging remark. Said Black woman rolled down her window and was belting out an operatic aria that had some really tough leaps and covered about 2 octaves, and when she finished, looked at the other car and said "Opera, bitch" and rolled up her window. I loved it.
Other sidebar: My truck has a white oval bumper sticker with "TUBA" on it.
I wonder, what will change their minds? What COULD change their minds? I hope, hope, hope a better life under this administration could change some minds. My one Trumpublican friend, that I truly socially distanced myself from before, during and even after the election, but haven't completely dismissed because he is like family, lives like a wandering minister, a vagabond. He can do woodwork, he is a contractor, a master gardener, landscape architect (has a degree in that), and has been in the past a corporate trainer and volunteer organizer. And a missionary! So, in his 50's and has no health insurance or steady income. I would like to think he will give this administration credit for the unemployment and stimulus dollars he gets now. I want to hope that he will recognize the goodness in Biden, when held up to the constant negative droning and demonizing coming from the Former Guy.
Sadly, they are playing to their base and are likely to stay in office. This is such a clear indication of the unbridgeable ideological divide we are living with.
While I imagine that it's not a likely crime to be prosecuted, lying to Congress is a felony. 18 U.S.C. 1001(a), punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Section (c)(2) says this applies to the legislature when there is "any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee". You can argue that a confirmation hearing is not a review (its not an investigation), but it would be interesting to see our new AG prosecute the Big Lie and its constant repeat in Congress.
Yes, but it's Merrick Garland testifying, and he's telling the truth. The Sedition Caucus isn't lying TO Congress; they're "merely" lying IN Congress! That should be a crime but, as we've learned in recent years, weak or nonexistent federal laws are poor restraints. Yet another wreck to be salvaged by the Biden admin.
I said that, decades after MT. It's when someone independently arrives at a profound idea first thought of long before. My undergrad adviser called it "thinking the thoughts of the great," entitling the student to a solid B.
I've been teaching for many years. Believe me, sometimes students--people really do arrive at profound ideas on their own. The fact that others have before them doesn't take away from their own skills. Shame on that professor!
Yes but who would police it once you brought it back? They have tasted the fruit of success with lies and there is no more honor amongst liers than thieves...they would so besmirch the "other" side of the story that it would underscore their lies and increase their impact unless there was a serious and very expensive downside to so doing. But then you get back to the first question....who would dictate what is fair and what is not? and How do you avoid this seriously limiting everyone's freedom of speech? The dilema is there. Once the Pandora's box is opened it is very difficult to close it again and go back to where we were. The evil genii is out of the bottle!
I think Trump’s skill is constantly opening new Pandora’s boxes so we can’t even keep track of what’s floating out now but I believe that his systematic attempt to make the intelligence apparatus of the US his own accomplice is why the intelligence about the 1/6 violence wasn’t received in a timely way and didn’t he recently appoint Miller to a Pentagon position that would take their sweet time in responding with the National Guard?
I agree that the intelligence community was depleted of "intelligence" during the tRump administration. At the end they were too concerned about "not upsetting the president" that they purposely withheld information.
The Fairness Doctrine's requirement to fact-check and present the truth is equally important with providing balance. A new FD is needed, one that restores the old provisions but also covers non-broadcast media, which are so influential today.
Historian Timothy Snyder points to the problems of very little local true journalism anymore as a fact checker folks will believe. And suggests that social media momopolies be broken up and taxed, and the taxes used to support local true news. Even with the Fairness Doctrine, HCR said yesterday, we won't get truth anymore because it only applies to licenced media.
Why do I twitch so much when the Sedition Caucus speak? Johnson is disgustingly stupid and I have a problem with him being a high ranking member. Hawley, well I would just like to sew his lips together. I have the vision of him praising the insurrectionists with his fist raised, imbedded in my brain. Ugh!
Listening to the testimony from the Captain of the Capitol Police, was daunting. Her description of not being able to help her staff nor get a response from the higher ups really ticked me off. Then...the higher ups blaming each other was just pathetic although, it sure revealed just how unprotected America is against itself.
Ron Ron Johnson says the Jan. 6 rioters who stormed the US capitol were fake Trump supporters. Shame on Trump for not recognizing them as fake supporters at his rally when he egged them on to march on the capitol and fight. Kudos to those rioters for fooling just about everyone in the world except Ron Ron into thinking they were trump supporters. He is so sharp.
Johnson’s’s statement was incredible. And dangerous. It makes me wonder if the Capitol Police can sue him for lying, or maybe an individual member can.
January 6th was a wake up call from a higher power. But the insurrection was a failure thank God and the transfer of power actually occurred. This is practically a miracle. These hoodlums could have blown the whole capitol of if they were competent.
I remember when Al Gore ran for president the biggest complaint about him was that he was "boring". The Iraq war wasn't boring but it did cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. I remember when Barack Obama was elected after the great recession in a speech he said that it was time to let go of childish things. He was so focused on doing his job that he didn't want to spend any energy on frivolous things so during the the crisis he stuck to two suits one blue one black. I live next door to the state of Vermont and Governor Tom Scott (a Republican) has taken the pandemic seriously, has taken responsibility for the safety of Vermonters upon himself. South Dakota has close to the same population as Vermont but has almost TEN TIMES the deaths from covid. Governor Scott won reelection this year in a landslide. The Vermont trumpkins call Gov. Scott a dictator because he has banned high capacity magazines and has a mask mandate.
Trump and the people who voted for him and the people who attacked the capitol are adults but they don't act like it. They act like dangerous children. They have been arming themselves for years and have been following increasingly bizarre conspiracies.
The real work of governing is not as exciting as fomenting insurrection but it is a whole lot healthier.
Sorry, Phil Scott. He has had twice weekly question and answer sessions on wvpr regarding the pandemic for the past year. He and his team answer all questions factually and politely. He has done the work of Governor under trying circumstances for the past year with Grace and good humor. I don't find his press conferences boring, I find them a shining example of democracy in action.
I wonder why Johnson was allowed to read obvious lies into the Congressional Record. Shouldn’t there be fact-checking? Now that those lies are posted and published, conspiracy mongers (aka Johnson and his fellow Republicans) will be able to refer to them as “proof” that liberals staged the Capital riots.
Imagine this, a month from now - Hawley or Cruz or one of their ilk rises to speak on the Senate floor, “As published in the Congressional Record, we now know the riots were staged by leftists intent on hurting President Trump. A president, I should remind you, who was justifiably angry that the election had been stolen from him!”
The constant drumbeat of lies and conspiracies from Republicans is maddening. And, I worry, working. The death of truth will lead to autocracy...
I share all of your concerns, but censoring what an elected representative says in Congress would be the slipperiest of slippery slopes. I do wonder about reading into the record a counter-message; that might have been useful. The fact that congressional Democrats seem to be counting on citizens to be able to detect and respond appropriately to crazy is disturbing, considering the track record.
I wasn’t thinking censor, as much as fact-check. As in “Senator Johnson’s entry into the Congressional record was rated 4 Pinocchios”. But I take your point.
LouAnn, I appreciate your concern. I’m familiar with CPAC, which runs every year. It’s a convention of all the racist, bitter, self-righteous right-wing wackos. Republican politicians jockey for a speaking slot, as do many right-wing media celebs. Trump has spoken there every year for the past 4-5 years. It’s where he slobbered over and groped the flag last year. It’s not surprising that Trump will be there this year. As will Ted Cruz and Mo Brooks and Ron DeSantis and Marsha Blackburn and a horde of other nasty slimeballs. They’ll have to use snow shovels to remove the piles of lies from the stage after they speak. It will be a big Trumpian orgy, as it was last year, and the year before that, and...
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. CPAC is as predictable as the sunrise. What goes on there doesn’t matter, not to the sane, informed, reality-based world. It’s an incestuous little white-supremacist, gun-humping, bible-thumping love fest. Try to ignore it.
I understand. There’s nothing we can do about it. I think that it’s not spreading, not beyond the Trump cult that exists today. Which looks like about 60-70% of existing Republican voters. That’s a not-small, but minority cohort. I think those MAGAts are unreachable, they’re a lost cause. Hopefully there are enough sane, intelligent, reality-based voters to out-weigh them.
We always focus on Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, etc., as being the biggest a--holes in the Senate, but Ron Johnson is a stealth a--hole. He's every bit as bad as the others.
Every the Repugs vote a nay vote for good things and people, they are all big a--holes. It's the hypocrisy that has my head spinning at times. Just want to slap them.
Bill Watterson was prescient in 1994, when Calvin lost the school safety poster contest to Susie -
Calvin: “Dad, my poster didn’t win the contest! I think the judges were on the take and the whole thing was rigged!
“I want you to call the school board, have them declare fraud, and make them take the prize away from Susie and give it to ME!”
Dad (after rolling eyes): “Calvin, losing is a part of life. You should learn to be a good sport about it and keep things in perspective. After all, winning isn’t everything.”
Calvin: “Is that really what they believe on the planet you’re from?”
Dad: “You’ve been watching athletic shoe ads again, haven’t you?”
This is perfect. I've long thought of Trump as a school bully, who similarly accused all the school authorities as being part of a giant conspiracy against him when confronted by his parents.
“U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” Trudeau said. Yes, it has. It is appalling trump and the other wingnuts get any air time. Cringe worthy "Senator" Ron Johnson looks like a normal person, but I could not believe the (dangerous) crazy nonsense he was spewing. Seriously, what is wrong with these people?! A plea to the media . . . stop covering the absurdity. Our national psyche needs to heal and our support and focus be on assisting the Biden Administration to bring us out of the abyss.
And, there was this the other day. Words do not begin to express the comfort and gratitude President provided, from his heart, to a devastated nation in an emotional remembrance to the 500,000 people (and their families) lost to the pandemic. Thank you President Biden.
Trump is not the problem. At this point, he is nothing more than a "useful idiot" who provides defensive cover while Republicans revert to time-honored guerrilla tactics in their Civil War against Constituional Democracy. The only difference is that army of traitors now includes a violent terrorist component, ready and willing to turn America into the equivalent of the Irish "troubles". January 6, 2021 was absolutely the day of decision for Republicans. And decide they have, to the extent that EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN in Congress who did not instantly declared himself or herself an "Independent" (or resigned from office) has committed abject treason against the United States, and by doing so have pledged themselves to a lifetime "In-It-To-Win-It" commitment to preserve, restore and protect white supremacy in the USA.
Glory, Glory, Glory ... Their lies keep marching on ... and on ... an on ...
I find the "troubles" analogy useful because of my belief that there is a very sinister "catholic" element in Republican Party, as exemplified by the make-up of the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia is my PRIMO example of what I am talking about. William Barr. The list goes on and on. Analogy suggestions welcome.
To anyone on this conversation thread from Texas, Missouri or Wisconsin: whatever you can do to remove these three scumbag senators from office will be a great gift to the entire nation - and the world. Ron Johnson may be the craziest one of the bunch.
All of us need to reply to their Twitter and other sociali media posts with links to truth, and continuously, send them emails and letters. Send letters to the editor and opinion sections with links to truth.
It angers me that Cruz and Hawley are even allowed to remain in office, let alone have the audacity to question witnesses.
I was yelling at my tablet while C and H were expressing condolences for those killed and hurt during the insurrection and praising "our brave Capitol police." "You fanned the flames that led to that day, you...you...." Fill in the blank.
Exactly what I posted with the Professor's letter tonight. Republicans in Congress are ____________. Fill in the blank.
arschgeige, Arsch mit ohren, Evolutionsbremse, Einzeller, Hosenscheißer, Kotzbrocken, Gehirnverweigerer, Trantüte, Backpfeifengesicht,
Look 'em up - we're here all week folks, try the veal...
For those too busy to "look 'em up," here are the results of a quick search for a translation: "ass, ass with ears, evolutionary brake, single-celled, pants shit, vomit, brain denier, carpet, baking pipe face." I particularly like the 'ass with ears' curse word...'arsch mit ohren' ... since it includes receptivity to the voices of the gullible and ignorant, to whom their remarks were really directed.
LOL!!!
I think this proves that American slang rules😂😂
My inclination is to agree with you.
However:
You don’t know how hard I’m laughing at the German expressions that TC dredged up from somewhere. OMG hysterical.
Ich verstehe und stimme zu.
Je parle Francais.
Hawley est un cochon qui parle merde...
Working on it. Many thanks.
Rare form tonight TC! Made me smile.
"Ass violin, ass with ears, evolutionary brake, protozoa, pants-shit, puke, brain refractor, tantrum, slapstick face" or so Google translate says.
Excellent. I love arschgeige. Try Bananbeiger. Sehr gut!
OMG I am laughing myself silly. TC I am trying to keep a straight face and give these pigs the descriptors they deserve, and instead you've got me laughing so hard I can't see straight. Arsch mit Ohren. Hosenscheißer. You're killing me.
Cruz u. Hawley sind Schweinhunde u. können mich zu jeder Zeit am Arsch lecken.
The only German words I can ID here are Zeit and Schweinhunde -- enough to love the comment.
Face it TPJ it doesn’t matter what I write or whether you understand it, there is a mutual admiration society going on here between certain members of this forum, you know who you are and who you like and some of the others who like you back.
😂😂😂
Shipdits
Expletives flying to Mars
Good for the rocket boosters!
Good for Mars
They are "POSs" and I didn't mean "Point of Sale," although they clearly are for sale to the highest bidder.
Which is why the Democrats need to establish a website where they can post the names of all companies donating to Republicans who supported Trump's claims that his election was stolen after December 15, 2020.
Whomever runs against Hawley in 2024 will be using material showing his raised fist saluting the January 6 rioters superimposed on pictures of these domestic terrorists doing their dirty work in the Capitol. (Note that I didn't say what office he would be running for in 2024.)
It is my fervent hope that his poor judgement shows up in so many ways that he runs for nothing, ever. He is very busy making his bed...
Some people like to sleep with bedbugs ... they call them Republicans.
I agree. The only consolation is that their repeatedly spouting nonsense keeps their names associated with same and recognized by intelligent voters. They both have presidential aspirations. I screenshot the list of Republicans who voted to acquit, saving it for reference as a “Do not vote for ...” list. I’m an Independent and have voted for candidates in several different parties, but given the way the Republican Party is going, I doubt I’ll ever vote for another Republican.
I became an independent in 2016 and have not regretted the move.
Does your state allow you to participate in primaries? That's my concern, that I can't participate in the selection of candidates for the general election.
In Ohio, you can. In the past, I have occasionally asked for a Republican ballot for presidential primaries. I do not belong to a party, but have voted almost exclusively Democrat for years, including in the primaries.
Good news. This is not true in most states which accounts for people being forced to register with one party or the other.
My experience in Ohio also.
In Michigan you do not have to sign up or declare any specific party affiliation, but for primary elections you can only vote for candidates in one party.
Oregon has a closed primary, which yes, means you can't participate in the selection unless you sign up as a Dem or Rep I think it's 21 days ahead of the election. Oregon has mail balloting only.
good plan
Can you tell me a little more about going independent? What does it mean? Why do people do it? Is there an informational source you can share with me? I'm really interested in understanding this more. TYIA.
I think it just means you’re not affiliated with any political party. It also means you cannot choose a representative in either of the Party Primary elections.
That varies from state to state. In some states, you register by party, period. In my state, we don't register by party. The 2 main parties have ballot primaries, and sometimes the 3rd party as well. The smaller parties generally have caucuses (or a few people in somebody's kitchen deciding who is running for which office- it's a small state). A Voter can choose any one of the parties at the time of the primary or caucus. But once you vote in one, your name is entered and you cannot vote in any other party. I'm a Progressive but will sometimes vote Democrat in the primary if there is someone running that I feel strongly about. That does not mean write-in, which won't count. It means I vote a different party for the primary, though sometimes both parties support the same person for some races. In most states, the Progressives are simply a wing of the Dems, but in my state, there are enough Progressives voting AS Progressives that we are our own party. It sounds confusing, but it's not, and it works very well.
Contact your town's election commission, or the local or state party HQ, and tell them to remove you from their rolls. Then you're no longer enrolled as a party member. To be an independent voter you must keep your voter registration up to date.
Don't ask to be removed from the rolls at the election commission, though! Unless you don't intend to vote again.
Check with your local election office or commission to find out what it means (and what it's called) in your state. The election office should be able to tell you what it will mean as a practical matter -- and that will depend on the state and what its major parties have decided. For example, I'm registered "non-partisan" in Nebraska, and so far the Nebraska Democratic Party allows us to vote in primaries, but I cannot vote in a Republican primary unless I register as a member of the party. The election office likely has to print different types of ballots for us nonpartisans. I assume that these state party and election rules can change every year. I think our country would get fewer candidates at the extremes if more state primaries were open regardless of party.
Did the same. Am ready with my list to remind voters when it's time.
I have belonged to different parties and have voted for most of them. Republicans are on the ‘never again’ list.
I keep a huge list of untrustworthy gov so I remember not to vote for them.
I have been a member of the Independent Party for 20 years.
Belonging to the IP, or another party named independent, differs from being an independent voter. It means belonging to no party, not just voting or thinking independently.
I made up "The Independent Party" because so many more friends and folks were claiming to be "independent " I thought they should have organization and clout. But we were all too independent for that.
Thanks MP. Presumably those people think independently, but technically and legally they are not independents if they belong to any party. The big drawback to being a registered independent voter is that most states don't allow them to vote in primaries. That's a right I wouldn't want to lose.
Dems really need to be more vocal about that. I wish Klobuchar could say something right at the git go about how they should not be allowed to take part in the confirmation of any of Biden’s choices. I know, I know, she can’t but...
I loved how AK organized the hearing. She was so strong and having the first testimony come from Major Mendoza was brilliant. She was dignified and compelling especially in her tribute to her resigned boss at the end of her testimony. It’s so sad that Pelosi pushed for him to resign so quickly.
Sen Klobuchar is emerging as a tower of strength in the Democratic Party. The murder of George Floyd ended her presidential hopes, but she has now distanced herself from her history as MN prosecutor. It's now hard to sustain the criticism that she's not liberal enough. I voted for her in the 2020 MA primary. Sorry, Ms Warren, you're still my favorite senator.
I agree Klobachar has blossomed after her valiant attempt at Presidential run— I enjoy our senator Warren too but there’s an earthy grittiness in Klobachar that I prefer.
I like Klobuchar's sly sidelong smile. We often see it when she lowers the boom on Repugs. "Valiant" is much appreciated BTW.
Me too— she has a great sense of humor too and she deserves every bit of her current status in Congress. It takes such courage to run for Prez as a woman. She’s flinty.
I was watching the hearing when the MSNBC suddenly switched the camera to capture the Cruz texting. Boy it’s going to be a long time for him to dig out of his latest hole. It’s like in deep in the oil sands and he’s got a teaspoon shovel.
Just like his family trip to Cancun while I had no water or heat, the interior temperature was 41°F, and outside was an ice covered 17°F.
He is the scum that the bottom of the barrel scum avoids.
I want to know where these people were during the insurrection. How close did the mob get to them? Because they sure sound like they were far away.
I wrote my TX Senators to ask exactly that: Where were you when police were murdered and permanently injured to protect you during the riot?
I've received no answer.
Not far away, they knew they were safe from the mob.
Cruz talked of mistakes that were made should be forgiven (I howled at that one!) Hawley pointed to Missouri Captain Carneysha Mendoza's bravery during riots. One can only hope that he privately apologized to her for his part in putting her and her fellow officers in grave danger.
Sure—I don’t imagine either Hawley or Cruz apologize at any time except under extreme duress.
"I'm sorry that I was caught."
😠
Josh Hawley and his family live in Vienna VA close enough that I could walk to his house or put it on one of my morning running routes. MO could recall him. Not sure what controls the Senate has on a duly elected member. Censure may be a start.
It pains me that Hawley lives in my state. He isn't the only one, of course, but IMHO, the Senate needs a way to control the biggest idiots amongst them. Hawley is certainly right up there at the top, along with Cruz and Johnson. How do these people get elected????
Claire McCaskill [sp] likely wonders the same.
The voters of Missouri had a choice between McCaskill and Hawley and they elected Hawley. You ask how these people get elected? Ignorant and gullible voters, that's how. True just as much today as yesterday. It's just a flaw in the democracy in which we live. Alternatives may be worse.
Partisan gerrymandering indirectly influences statewide elections along with individual districts, by encouraging extremist candidates. So do wealthy donors with radical views, with more on the right end of the political spectrum.
BIG MONEY! Claire spoke about this in an interview. Funny, is one big donor has since asked for his money back.
I am also embarrassed to be from MO. As a pollworker, I saw the choice in action. And we treated every voter respectfully, counted every vote.
He may live in your state, but he's not likely paying state income tax. His primary residence and where his taxes go are his home state, which isn't Virginia.
Unfortunately we (voters in Missouri) cannot recall Hee-Hawley—the U.S. Senate can censure him. He is a disgrace to us who live here.
It so angered me he and Cruz were present yesterday--culprits in the sedition--to pontificate during the hearings as to why Jan 6 happened. He disgraces us here in Vienna VA too. Reportedly, his wife goes to the grocery store as he dare not show his face. Not sure how old their child is.
I agree.
why is former president Trump still to get more news coverage than President Biden? B/c the news media still flock to a train wreck even while all the plane land safely.
Agree 100%. They are addicted to junk food and will kill us all rather than give it up. Network's promised fulfilled. News is entertainment is money.
I haven’t had a tv since 1992 and have not missed it.
Because those stories get clicks. When more of us stop taking the bait the media will move on.
I think that the "media still flock to a train wreck" was evident yesterday when Nicole Wallace spent the first 45 minutes reporting on the car accident of Tiger Woods instead of her original news re" the Klobachar hearing. I have nothing against Tiger Woods but I'm not sure the accident required 45 minutes of air time when there was little new news to report at that time.
I am sure. It did not.
45mn? yikes. we flipped after 15 to “chopped” and the nyx crossword. better entertainment!
Biden gets much more exposure on the news outlets I use: The NY Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, VOX, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, CNN. Which news organizations, with the exception of FOX, NEWSMAX as well as extreme rightwing sources, give Trump more attention?
I know this is an unrelated comment, but I've been thinking for some time about an earlier letter in which Heather discussed Reagan and trickle down economics. Voodoo economics, as George HW Bush called the theory until he joined up...
Trickle down is fairly thoroughly discredited, I believe, as a job generating, economy boosting injection of growth hormone. So why aren't we sold on its opposite, getting money to people on the other side of the economic see-saw?
I spent years working with poor people, people wrestling with substance abuse and mental illness, trying to get along on a typical SSI income of $700 a month, or less, and one of the first lessons I learned was that when they had money, they ran right out and put it back into the economy. They didn't invest in Korean ceramics or buy stocks.
So, money that gets to poor folks, or kids, as Mr Romney is suggesting, gets right back into circulation. Isn't that the way economies grow? Am I missing something, or if not, why isn't this the obvious use for federal funds?
And why did Rs have no issue with a $1.5T tax break mostly for rich people that did very little for the economy but a $1.9T fix for the wasteland they left behind is a budget buster?
Yes -- money given to poorer people usually goes right back into the economy.
The 2017 tax bill was a reward/payoff to republican donors and big business. Tax cuts to the very wealthy are permanent (until repealed), whereas tax cuts to middle-income folks are only temporary (unless extended by new legislation).
Biden's $1.9T rescue is very popular with all except elected Rs. It will demonstrate that government can help people -- which contradicts what Rs have been preaching since Reagan and before. Elected Rs rightfully fear that Biden's rescue will endear voters to the Dems. (This is the exact same reason a generation ago that Dole & Gingrich whittled away at Clinton's health reforms until it died.)
The R's hypocrisy should leave them with whiplash, if not broken necks.
Writing in the St. Petersburg Times on Nov. 26, 1932, Will Rogers wrote about Trickle down economics. He said that Mr. Hoover, being an engineer, knew that water trickled down and just assumed that money did, too. Rogers said Hoover got it backwards — money trickles up. He wrote, “Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have before night, anyhow. But at least it will have passed through the poor fellows hands.”
Time and time again Trickle down economics, or as George H.W. Bush called it - voodoo economics, has been demonstrated not to work. It gives money to people at the top who keep it.
Sorry but I think the key word in trickle down economics is —trickle. Like drip drip drip— that’s slow.
Centuries...
Oh, no, it works exactly to do what it was designed to do.
Richard, I think the cognitive fallacy you are wrestling with is the idea that anyone in the "GOP"--and I mean anyone, as the anti-Trump faction is just as guilty of this as the pro-Trumpista faction--is operating in good faith with the people they are supposed to be representing. They are not and they have not for decades. They had plenty of economists in the 1980s telling them that "supply side" economics (what Will Rogers called "trickle-down") was a boondoggle that would enrich the already rich and impoverish even further everyone else, including cause a flattening of growth in the middle class. It was a deliberate move. It was the plan. The demonizing of poor people with a neo-Victorian view of the poor as "undeserving" was based on racist and sexist principles that Dems in the 1960s and 1970s had attempted (albeit not very energetically) to counter; the destruction of the middle class was simply collateral damage in the push to locate the vast bulk of wealth into a very few hands at the top. The technology revolution of the late 1980s and onward simply exacerbated this trend as Reagan-era deregulation created the mechanisms by which a very few people could become gobsmackingly wealthy.
This was the plan all along. To claim otherwise is to be complicit.
Agree that the Republicans are not operating in good faith. But they are backed by a lot of people who, I believe, have a belief system that is incompatible with democracy and social equality.
Feed the rich and starve the rest.
Feed the rich to the rest.
Great elaboration on the equation!
Equation inflation
Glad you brought this up. It's been totally discredited. The Washington Post reported in December on a study covering 50s years of data from 18 countries left no doubt. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/23/tax-cuts-rich-trickle-down/
Here is a link to a Dec. 14, 2020, Paul Krugman column that absolutely hits the mark on this issue. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/opinion/republicans-reagan-disinformation.html?searchResultPosition=22
Trickle-down economics works! Let the expert show how.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27hN7M8oc5Y
China's expertise: "Combat without contact."
Duly noted. And this does expand the meaning of "hitting the mark."
Hah
I believe it’s the tinkle down theory.
Yes, every time I see 'trickle down' I think tinkle and then immediately flash to walking the dog down to the corner where his favorite fire hydrant sits. He 'trickles down' on it while smiling. (Dogs can smile you know).
Hey, TPJ let's tell Grace about trickle down! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27hN7M8oc5Y
Brilliant
Something to keep in mind.
The entire slaveowning theory of everything rested on the idea of a "mudsill economy." A mudsill is the first foundation laid for a house, and everything rests on it. You cannot build a stable house on soil without mudsills. In the slaveowning economy, the slaves are the mudsills: they are the foundation for the grand houses built on top. This is obviously unjust if you view the slaves as belonging to an egalitarian state. So you don't. Furthermore, you adopt a philosophy that those who have the most, DESERVE the most, through some innate quality (e.g. business acumen, skills, intelligence, work-ethic, good looks, whiteness....) that the slaves are presumed to lack. It's a circular definition: because they have nothing, they obviously lack the virtues needed to rise; ergo, they do not deserve to rise.
So at the core of slaveowning is this very, very important principle of "deserving." Some people deserve to be rich. Some people deserve to be poor. It's actually a sin to try to subvert this condition that God (presumably) established.
When there is a pinch -- a shortage -- it is a matter of moral integrity to harden one's heart and let the poor suffer or starve or freeze to death, so that the deserving can live, and the most deserving can continue to live in comfort. As George Orwell said, "We are all equal, but some are more equal than others." It was a pithy aside at the economic equality of Soviet socialism, but it applies equally well to the US Declaration of Independence.
Trickle-down is how the slave state is supposed to work in the ideal: the slaves generate the wealth, the masters use their special virtues to compound that wealth, and "everyone" benefits, even the slaves and non-participants. This was laid out in some detail by David Gilding in his 2011 book "The Great Disruption."
The idea of "deserving" is an essential part of American society, especially as you move toward the bottom end of the (white) economic scale. There is a HUGE backlash against giving anything at all to the "undeserving," most especially when the deserving are feeling uncomfortable or threatened.
Mudsill also referred to lower-level workers. There's a chapter titled "Mudsills and Greasy Mechanics for A Lincoln" in J McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. (Still the best 1-vol hist of the Civil War.)
Exactly what I saw in my work. And very few ever get more cash than that "to spend frivilously." Instead food stamps (SNAP), housing vouchers, childcare and utility payments are provided, which also go backninto yhe local and regional economy.
As the closest neighbor Canada is a good choice for Biden's first bilateral meeting, signaling that "America is back" (cheesy but necessary words). He and Trudeau should partner well together. But when they say they're "addressing climate change," it's also code referring to the canceled Keystone pipeline. That is a contentious issue between the two countries. I doubt that Trudeau is fully invested in it, and genuinely wants to address climate disruption, but powerful interests are applying pressure to keep Keystone open for business. The true grounds of contention, the real struggle, is between those in both countries who will act on climate, and those who wish to continue the current unsustainable economic regime. This struggle is playing out around the world both within and across borders, and its results will have profound impacts.
Trudeau's difficulties are strictly political as the oil sands provinces hardly ever vote for him, but practically always back his Conservative opponents....provincially and federally. Alberta, the main source is the richest region per capita in Canada and largely because of the oil. Should the dirtiest and least efficient of all extraction processes and sources for oil (the sands) be shut down for climate concerns or be massively constrained it would be good for the planet. However the locals would be back to counting cows and looking at massive wheat farms....if the former are still allowed because of their gas emanations and vegan protests. Not much else going on thereabouts that would support the population...as in many plains states to the south of them. I'm not saying that you should build the pipeline, heaven forbid....but we need to be aware of the consequences at each point in the cycle in our return to a non-carbon, cleaner world. Massive population movements are one of the consequences as areas, cities and possibly countries lose their current economic raison d'être!
Then we have another site of contention in Europe with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from northern Russia to Germany. This pipeline would reportedly double Europe's energy supply when it's finished. The last 100 miles of the pipeline have yet to be completed because of opposition by the U.S.
"Jim Risch, top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [is] part of a broad bipartisan effort in Congress to stop construction of the $11 billion pipeline, which is owned by a consortium led by the Russian state gas company Gazprom. The fear is that the pipeline will give Moscow more economic and political clout over Europe."
Merkel is supporting it "for now" for Germany, with opposition from Poland and Ukraine.
Curiously, Trump sided with Ukraine. There must not be an "instead of Russia" side of this story.
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/22/970278644/biden-faces-decision-on-gas-pipeline-from-russia-that-could-alienate-germany
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nord-stream-2-sanctions-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-tells-european-companies-they-face-sanctions-risk-on-nord-stream-2-pipeline-idUSKBN29I0CN
18 companies withdrew from the project's construction consortium this morning in the face of US sanctions! Curiously ....yes because for once he did something anti-Putin....but the Nord Stream 2 gives Putin the possibility of significant power over Ukrainian economy as he can withdraw transit payments on the existing principal pipeline that passes through their country. The Ukrainian economy woould suffer significant damage should this happen. Putin has alread annexed Crimea and part of Eastern Ukraine. Why would he stop in his drive to recreate the old USSR
We have too many trails in this world to follow the money. This is another interesting one with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and nefarious politics.
Yes, and journalists who try to follow those money trails have short life expectancies.
It's certainly not just an American affaire.
Yes I totally agree and it’s natural that the dominant fossil fuel profiteers are reluctant to change but I think Trudeau and Biden are inherently moderate.
Does the Keystone pipeline compete with western Canadian pipelines that help export tar sands oil to China?
It mostly competes with rail. Anti-pipeline forces in British Columbia are probably strong enough to block a pipeline to the Pacific, not to mention much more daunting (and expensive!) challenges crossing the Canadian Rockies compared to crossing a bunch of US plains states.
That bunch of US plains states contains many American Indian nations, including the Standing Rock Sioux. The energy industry threatens their water, land, lives and culture, so they are Water Protectors, fighting locally for the global future. Physical and technical obstacles to energy development now matter less than political ones. This is especially true of Earthkeepers and Water Protectors -- those who, like the honored dead at Gettysburg, would give their Last Full Measure of Devotion. For all of us.
We should be moving towards an official recognition of their role and give back to them total control of all economic activity under, on and over their land to go with the social and political control that has significantly improved. They should be able to influence such matters in the surrounding areas too that have an impact upon their lives and land.
This country was a whole lot better off when the Indians were running it.
-- Vine Deloria Jr
Indeed but still we've got a lot to learn from them in order to get back to something sensible and restore harmony with nature.
Hey I wish they had won at least we’d have more unspoiled lands.
I posted this the other day. Here it is again: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/20/native-americans-rebuild-lost-territories-real-estate
Next step would be to get rid of the need to put the land into a fed gov trust. The US could cede the land to the Native American Protectorate.
Sweet revenge.
Totally agree—and maybe the Repugs will confirm the Native American woman Biden nominated.
Hope eternal but it should happen despite them.
Sounds like it is going to depend on Sen. Lisa Murkowski...
Those states also contain the Ogallala Aquifer, a resource vital to American agriculture. The efforts of our native population are greatly appreciated but they have broad bipartisan support in those states.
It’s why Haaland scares them so much.
And with Harland, there’s no hiding bigotry under hypocritical complaints about mean tweets.
I’m waiting for them to accuse her of wanting to build casinos and selling cheap smokes.
And British Columbia doesn't vote for Trudeau either.....more like local Berners.
My favorite tweet yesterday, regarding Ron Johnson blaming Antifa for the Trump insurrection:
“It takes a special kind of stupid to think the left would dress up like the right and raid the Capitol to change the outcome of an election they just won.“
That is perfection.
I think it's worth emphasizing (though I know those who read your posts likely don't need to be reminded) that every item you wrote about today involved racism in some form or another. Senator Johnson's repetition of lies about the insurrectionists was blatantly racist ("nice white folks couldn't have done this!"). The fact that troops were not deployed sooner was clearly racist, as we know there would have been no such hesitation if the protestors were Black and Brown. We must assume that at least some of the no votes on Linda Thomas-Greenfield were racially motivated, as she is so clearly very qualified for her position. And even the Canada summit involved a discussion of racism (though this time in a positive vein). Combined with the failure to charge any of the officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain, it is crystal clear that substantially NOTHING has changed in the way we perceive and respond to race in this country, despite the actions taken over the past year. We must work much harder than we have been to change this.
"At the joint senate hearing yesterday about security failures on January 6, the ass covering by the former chief of the Capitol Police and the former sergeants at arms for the House and Senate was done using both hands and feet. Turns out there was plenty of warning about what would happen that day. The only problem was who the warnings were about: white people.
The fact that tens of thousands of white supporters of Donald Trump were descending on the nation’s capital largely at his behest to protest false claims of election fraud didn’t set off any alarm bells among law enforcement officials because the crowds expected at Trump’s speech on the Ellipse weren’t threatening enough.
Senator Amy Klobuchar came up with the only question that really needed an answer at the hearing. She asked former Capitol chief of police Steven Sund what would have been the threshold that would have changed his security posture on January 6. Sund fumbled around but didn’t really give an answer, because the real answer was skin color. If the intelligence shared in advance of the attack on the Capitol had been that Black Lives Matter was coming, they would have called out every cop and National Guard soldier they could muster."
https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/white-people-can-do-no-wrong
Absolutely no doubt.
My opinion exactly. Absolutely no doubt.
Why does Joe Manchin have a problem with Neera Tanden and Deb Haaland, but not with any of the good old white boys who are nominees?
https://www.rawstory.com/oh-come-on-joe-manchin-insists-his-opposition-to-first-woman-omb-nominee-is-not-personal/
Jumpin Joe he be one dem good ole whaht boys hisself.
I hope the wing nuts like Johnson and Hawley fade from the news, and lose their positions in time. I am listening to more music on my car radio now.
I sing in my car.
A choir director friend of mine has a bumper sticker on her car which says "CAUTION: Driver Singing"
Complete sidebar:
There was a feature on one of the daytime shows 5+ years ago (that I can't find on a moderate Google search) of a Black woman in her car, windows up, with a thudding bass. She was next to another car when a white woman in the car next to her made a disparaging remark. Said Black woman rolled down her window and was belting out an operatic aria that had some really tough leaps and covered about 2 octaves, and when she finished, looked at the other car and said "Opera, bitch" and rolled up her window. I loved it.
Other sidebar: My truck has a white oval bumper sticker with "TUBA" on it.
Is this it? Fantastic! https://youtu.be/56OzqxGMr_U
Yes!
thank you!!!
I remember that. Loved it.
Yes I’m a long time choir member in a church that sings it’s prayers so I’m always singing and praying in my car—
So it was you driving by the other day! Sounds good.
What a great fantasy. My fear is that these wing nuts will tighten.
I wonder, what will change their minds? What COULD change their minds? I hope, hope, hope a better life under this administration could change some minds. My one Trumpublican friend, that I truly socially distanced myself from before, during and even after the election, but haven't completely dismissed because he is like family, lives like a wandering minister, a vagabond. He can do woodwork, he is a contractor, a master gardener, landscape architect (has a degree in that), and has been in the past a corporate trainer and volunteer organizer. And a missionary! So, in his 50's and has no health insurance or steady income. I would like to think he will give this administration credit for the unemployment and stimulus dollars he gets now. I want to hope that he will recognize the goodness in Biden, when held up to the constant negative droning and demonizing coming from the Former Guy.
Sadly, they are playing to their base and are likely to stay in office. This is such a clear indication of the unbridgeable ideological divide we are living with.
While I imagine that it's not a likely crime to be prosecuted, lying to Congress is a felony. 18 U.S.C. 1001(a), punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Section (c)(2) says this applies to the legislature when there is "any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee". You can argue that a confirmation hearing is not a review (its not an investigation), but it would be interesting to see our new AG prosecute the Big Lie and its constant repeat in Congress.
Yes, but it's Merrick Garland testifying, and he's telling the truth. The Sedition Caucus isn't lying TO Congress; they're "merely" lying IN Congress! That should be a crime but, as we've learned in recent years, weak or nonexistent federal laws are poor restraints. Yet another wreck to be salvaged by the Biden admin.
As usual, Mark Twain considered all this long, long ago: "Consider a congressman, then consider an idiot. Bah! I repeat myself!"
Yeh but Mark Twain also said.....
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
and......
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
I said that, decades after MT. It's when someone independently arrives at a profound idea first thought of long before. My undergrad adviser called it "thinking the thoughts of the great," entitling the student to a solid B.
I've been teaching for many years. Believe me, sometimes students--people really do arrive at profound ideas on their own. The fact that others have before them doesn't take away from their own skills. Shame on that professor!
This! There are billions of us. Originality is fleeting and bears repeating.
Independently, yes, but 2000 years late.
Everyday.
And it’s perceived by their constituents as truth. Without the the Fairness Doctrine, how can these lies be broken apart in those constituencies?
Yes but who would police it once you brought it back? They have tasted the fruit of success with lies and there is no more honor amongst liers than thieves...they would so besmirch the "other" side of the story that it would underscore their lies and increase their impact unless there was a serious and very expensive downside to so doing. But then you get back to the first question....who would dictate what is fair and what is not? and How do you avoid this seriously limiting everyone's freedom of speech? The dilema is there. Once the Pandora's box is opened it is very difficult to close it again and go back to where we were. The evil genii is out of the bottle!
I think Trump’s skill is constantly opening new Pandora’s boxes so we can’t even keep track of what’s floating out now but I believe that his systematic attempt to make the intelligence apparatus of the US his own accomplice is why the intelligence about the 1/6 violence wasn’t received in a timely way and didn’t he recently appoint Miller to a Pentagon position that would take their sweet time in responding with the National Guard?
I agree that the intelligence community was depleted of "intelligence" during the tRump administration. At the end they were too concerned about "not upsetting the president" that they purposely withheld information.
Information is power!
And Misinformation is PowerFull.
There’s nothing fair about life as far as I can tell.
So said Jimmy Carter and my mother. But that's why wr have a democratic government to play with.
I don't think it is the Fairness Doctrine we need. We need an equity doctrine not a equal time doctrine. Not sure how... or if...this would work.
I share your questions! Equity can only probably work in average by asuring that no single source is dominant anywhere.
The Fairness Doctrine's requirement to fact-check and present the truth is equally important with providing balance. A new FD is needed, one that restores the old provisions but also covers non-broadcast media, which are so influential today.
Historian Timothy Snyder points to the problems of very little local true journalism anymore as a fact checker folks will believe. And suggests that social media momopolies be broken up and taxed, and the taxes used to support local true news. Even with the Fairness Doctrine, HCR said yesterday, we won't get truth anymore because it only applies to licenced media.
Why do I twitch so much when the Sedition Caucus speak? Johnson is disgustingly stupid and I have a problem with him being a high ranking member. Hawley, well I would just like to sew his lips together. I have the vision of him praising the insurrectionists with his fist raised, imbedded in my brain. Ugh!
Listening to the testimony from the Captain of the Capitol Police, was daunting. Her description of not being able to help her staff nor get a response from the higher ups really ticked me off. Then...the higher ups blaming each other was just pathetic although, it sure revealed just how unprotected America is against itself.
Ron Ron Johnson says the Jan. 6 rioters who stormed the US capitol were fake Trump supporters. Shame on Trump for not recognizing them as fake supporters at his rally when he egged them on to march on the capitol and fight. Kudos to those rioters for fooling just about everyone in the world except Ron Ron into thinking they were trump supporters. He is so sharp.
He is in competition with Louis Gohmert.
Ted Yoho
Oh, I forgot about Yoho. He’s golden.
Lucky you, Grace; I wish I could forget him. I'm in MA and he's STILL way too close.
Your words are so uplifting, Marlene: "sew his lips together"!
Thank you, Lynell. I wanted to give a visual. 🙂
With your darning needles?
With steel cable. Darning needles aren't enough; damning needles, please.
Johnson’s’s statement was incredible. And dangerous. It makes me wonder if the Capitol Police can sue him for lying, or maybe an individual member can.
January 6th was a wake up call from a higher power. But the insurrection was a failure thank God and the transfer of power actually occurred. This is practically a miracle. These hoodlums could have blown the whole capitol of if they were competent.
A failure to communicate...just like 9/11. Will we never learn? Good God.
I remember when Al Gore ran for president the biggest complaint about him was that he was "boring". The Iraq war wasn't boring but it did cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. I remember when Barack Obama was elected after the great recession in a speech he said that it was time to let go of childish things. He was so focused on doing his job that he didn't want to spend any energy on frivolous things so during the the crisis he stuck to two suits one blue one black. I live next door to the state of Vermont and Governor Tom Scott (a Republican) has taken the pandemic seriously, has taken responsibility for the safety of Vermonters upon himself. South Dakota has close to the same population as Vermont but has almost TEN TIMES the deaths from covid. Governor Scott won reelection this year in a landslide. The Vermont trumpkins call Gov. Scott a dictator because he has banned high capacity magazines and has a mask mandate.
Trump and the people who voted for him and the people who attacked the capitol are adults but they don't act like it. They act like dangerous children. They have been arming themselves for years and have been following increasingly bizarre conspiracies.
The real work of governing is not as exciting as fomenting insurrection but it is a whole lot healthier.
They are all basically playground bullies that never grew up, Orangeman included.
Phil Scott?
Al Gore was also a leader on issues of airline security and screening for terrorists. Yeah, he’d have been a “boring” President.
Sorry, Phil Scott. He has had twice weekly question and answer sessions on wvpr regarding the pandemic for the past year. He and his team answer all questions factually and politely. He has done the work of Governor under trying circumstances for the past year with Grace and good humor. I don't find his press conferences boring, I find them a shining example of democracy in action.
I wonder why Johnson was allowed to read obvious lies into the Congressional Record. Shouldn’t there be fact-checking? Now that those lies are posted and published, conspiracy mongers (aka Johnson and his fellow Republicans) will be able to refer to them as “proof” that liberals staged the Capital riots.
Imagine this, a month from now - Hawley or Cruz or one of their ilk rises to speak on the Senate floor, “As published in the Congressional Record, we now know the riots were staged by leftists intent on hurting President Trump. A president, I should remind you, who was justifiably angry that the election had been stolen from him!”
The constant drumbeat of lies and conspiracies from Republicans is maddening. And, I worry, working. The death of truth will lead to autocracy...
I share all of your concerns, but censoring what an elected representative says in Congress would be the slipperiest of slippery slopes. I do wonder about reading into the record a counter-message; that might have been useful. The fact that congressional Democrats seem to be counting on citizens to be able to detect and respond appropriately to crazy is disturbing, considering the track record.
Klobuchar did that, I think.
I hope so!
I wasn’t thinking censor, as much as fact-check. As in “Senator Johnson’s entry into the Congressional record was rated 4 Pinocchios”. But I take your point.
Lying TO Congress is a crime, but lying IN Congress is not. I call BS!
The law should require Congresspeople to take an oath before speaking. just as witnesses do.
JR, read my reply today please.
I saw sen.portmans interview with Tony Docouple on CBS This Morning!!! trump is guest speaker at THIS SUNDAYS CPAC.😡
LouAnn, I appreciate your concern. I’m familiar with CPAC, which runs every year. It’s a convention of all the racist, bitter, self-righteous right-wing wackos. Republican politicians jockey for a speaking slot, as do many right-wing media celebs. Trump has spoken there every year for the past 4-5 years. It’s where he slobbered over and groped the flag last year. It’s not surprising that Trump will be there this year. As will Ted Cruz and Mo Brooks and Ron DeSantis and Marsha Blackburn and a horde of other nasty slimeballs. They’ll have to use snow shovels to remove the piles of lies from the stage after they speak. It will be a big Trumpian orgy, as it was last year, and the year before that, and...
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. CPAC is as predictable as the sunrise. What goes on there doesn’t matter, not to the sane, informed, reality-based world. It’s an incestuous little white-supremacist, gun-humping, bible-thumping love fest. Try to ignore it.
On PBS John King said that the acronym stands for Conspiracy Political Action Committee. I do not disagree.
White supremacist gun-humpers! Now that is a descriptive phrase. Well done.
Yes I agree with you. This is a convention of nutjobs. Would any of us attend? No. Not going to worry about it.
But that's Just what Concerns me. Not the sane, but the others you describe. And the other bull.... They will be Spreading!!😡
They’re still spreading Covid too.
I understand. There’s nothing we can do about it. I think that it’s not spreading, not beyond the Trump cult that exists today. Which looks like about 60-70% of existing Republican voters. That’s a not-small, but minority cohort. I think those MAGAts are unreachable, they’re a lost cause. Hopefully there are enough sane, intelligent, reality-based voters to out-weigh them.
We always focus on Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, etc., as being the biggest a--holes in the Senate, but Ron Johnson is a stealth a--hole. He's every bit as bad as the others.
Every time RoJo opens his mouth in public, there should be a chorus demanding to know what he did in Moscow on July Fourth.
Take money. Kiss his sugar daddy’s ass.
Every the Repugs vote a nay vote for good things and people, they are all big a--holes. It's the hypocrisy that has my head spinning at times. Just want to slap them.
I wish the above would use their mouths to address us.
Calvin and Hobbes! I needed that
Bill Watterson was prescient in 1994, when Calvin lost the school safety poster contest to Susie -
Calvin: “Dad, my poster didn’t win the contest! I think the judges were on the take and the whole thing was rigged!
“I want you to call the school board, have them declare fraud, and make them take the prize away from Susie and give it to ME!”
Dad (after rolling eyes): “Calvin, losing is a part of life. You should learn to be a good sport about it and keep things in perspective. After all, winning isn’t everything.”
Calvin: “Is that really what they believe on the planet you’re from?”
Dad: “You’ve been watching athletic shoe ads again, haven’t you?”
This is perfect. I've long thought of Trump as a school bully, who similarly accused all the school authorities as being part of a giant conspiracy against him when confronted by his parents.
Problem is, I don't think tRump was ever confronted by his parents.
Certainly not from doing the RIGHT thing!
Yes, I put Trump's ego at about 12-14 years old. And, sometimes he regresses to 3 -4.
Really unlikely tho that DJT's parents EVER disagreed when he considered himself a victim! More that that attitude was encouraged.
In my analogy, the bully's "parents" are the Democrats, not Trump's actual parents.
We love C&H in our family— collected stacks and stacks of those cartoons.
My (adult)son loves C&H. Me, I love The Far Side.
Both. With "Stone Soup" and "For Better or Worse" thrown in. I also like "Jump Start" and "Baldo".
What does it say when you love "Pickles"?!
You're a cucumber aficionado, of course.
Love that cartoon!
“U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” Trudeau said. Yes, it has. It is appalling trump and the other wingnuts get any air time. Cringe worthy "Senator" Ron Johnson looks like a normal person, but I could not believe the (dangerous) crazy nonsense he was spewing. Seriously, what is wrong with these people?! A plea to the media . . . stop covering the absurdity. Our national psyche needs to heal and our support and focus be on assisting the Biden Administration to bring us out of the abyss.
And, there was this the other day. Words do not begin to express the comfort and gratitude President provided, from his heart, to a devastated nation in an emotional remembrance to the 500,000 people (and their families) lost to the pandemic. Thank you President Biden.
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/22/970155352/white-house-to-honor-victims-of-the-coronavirus-in-evening-ceremony
Beautiful speech from the Consoler-In-Chief
Thank you, Janet. I missed it the other night. Glad to get a chance to see it.
Trump is not the problem. At this point, he is nothing more than a "useful idiot" who provides defensive cover while Republicans revert to time-honored guerrilla tactics in their Civil War against Constituional Democracy. The only difference is that army of traitors now includes a violent terrorist component, ready and willing to turn America into the equivalent of the Irish "troubles". January 6, 2021 was absolutely the day of decision for Republicans. And decide they have, to the extent that EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN in Congress who did not instantly declared himself or herself an "Independent" (or resigned from office) has committed abject treason against the United States, and by doing so have pledged themselves to a lifetime "In-It-To-Win-It" commitment to preserve, restore and protect white supremacy in the USA.
Glory, Glory, Glory ... Their lies keep marching on ... and on ... an on ...
I agree but favor a comparison other than the Irish Troubles.
I find the "troubles" analogy useful because of my belief that there is a very sinister "catholic" element in Republican Party, as exemplified by the make-up of the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia is my PRIMO example of what I am talking about. William Barr. The list goes on and on. Analogy suggestions welcome.
Yes in the USA and now. But in Ireland historically the Irish Catholics were purposely starved and impoverished. 'Sadly, 'Tis true.
That phrase appears in an AE Houseman poem, which appears in this sad and lovely song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCWcmpl6ZnM
Sad and lovely. Thank You.
To anyone on this conversation thread from Texas, Missouri or Wisconsin: whatever you can do to remove these three scumbag senators from office will be a great gift to the entire nation - and the world. Ron Johnson may be the craziest one of the bunch.
Wonkette has crowned Johnson “the dumbest Senator in Congress” (but they warn Tuberville is a serious threat to take that honor from him).
Tuberville’s stupidity comes out when he answers questions. Johnson leaps at any opportunity to use a microphone.
All of us need to reply to their Twitter and other sociali media posts with links to truth, and continuously, send them emails and letters. Send letters to the editor and opinion sections with links to truth.
That's a tough call.