Thursday, October 10, 2024

In The Interest Of Being Fair And Balanced

44 on 45. And a word or two from 46: Hello, 911? I’d like to report a murder. Fuck them.
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💸

That money spent to rent MSG will undoubtedly be money well spent.

Because this (likely) wasted effort won’t cost anything. At. All.
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Elmo Is Not A Freudian Slip

NEW: CNN panel admits they messed up and drove Elon Musk away from the Democratic party, say they should have respected his contributions to the world. 
The panel blasted the Biden administration for purposely excluding Musk from events.  
“I think where the Democrats started to lose Elon was actually personal. We should have celebrated his contributions to electric vehicles.” 
“We should have said, look, Starlink great product that that needs to be used. We should celebrate the fact that he's had the first commercial success of private people in space.” “ 
I got a call from him about it when he wasn't invited to that EV summit, he should have been invited.” 
“I called the White House. I never called the White House. And I'm like, why didn't you invite him? He's very angry.”
His cars suck.

His cybertruck has been recalled 5 times this year. The year isn’t over.

He’s recapitulated NASA’s history (while standing on their shoulders), complete with exploding rockets (NASA solved that problem over 60 years ago).

Is the “snub” the reason Elmo is offering “free” access to Starlink in disaster areas (for $400 for the receiver, if you can receive it, and have electricity), and then you owe $120 a month after the “free” month (that’s a promotion, not “aid.” In case that was unclear.)? Asking for a friend….

And his racism and anti-trans rhetoric is all his own.
Elmo is who he is. His racism IS his “contribution” to the world. He no more “turned” Nazi racist than gays “turn” gay. He’s a product of his upbringing, like the rest of us. He just never overcame it. Most of the rest of us actually grew up.
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“The Stomach Is Speaking”

Name two. D’ya want a cookie? 🍪

Uh, that would be a “grocery,” wouldn’t it? Well, he sat down afterward, on camera, so…ewww!
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Community Notes Loose IRL

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Donnie Does Economics In Detroit 🛸

💯  Don’t threaten me with a good time. Has no one told him “German” cars are made here? And the second part? Makes as much sense as this: "The Truth Is Out There” 🛸 Yup. The flying saucer 🛸 has a time machine. Economics! Uh...the recovery from the Great Depression is called World War II. MASSIVE government spending did the economic trick. "33"? I think he means “Texas.” Electrical generation is so low Texas is expected to join the national grid next year (which we were assured we’d never have to do. Should improve the quality of our transmission lines, too.). And we won’t fund our schools, so they are going broke. Well, Elmo can’t make ‘em, so I guess we’ll be safe…
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Sinking Beneath Our Wisdom Like A Stone

MTG is shriveling into irrelevance the same way Trump is. In fact, they are going down the same way: seeking attention through more and more outlandish claims about natural disasters.  Green insists someone somewhere is responsible for hurricanes (are there no “acts of God” in her world?), while Trump insists someone, somewhere is responsible for the suffering of victims of an “act of God.”

I use the legal term for a reason:
Force majeur absolves any individual from responsibility (tort law is much harder on property owners, especially, than many people realize. Natural disasters largely affect property, and then people. Always more property damage than lives lost. Almost always.). Trump, of course, deals in absolute bullshit , just like Green, but his is aimed at people suffering the aftermath of a disaster. She wants to blame someone for the disaster.

From my experience, though, the victims of disaster are, largely, grateful for whatever help they get, and are more interested in recovery than in assigning blame. The enormity of the recovery (it can take years) slowly sinks in, and frustration can rear its ugly head, but especially in the immediate aftermath, victims are focused on help and hope, not on blame and recrimination. Nor are they huddled with their cellphones reading Twitter obsessively. The people sending death threats and complaining about the response (which, in the ground, can often seem like not enough; that’s the enormity of the loss, though. And the psychic toll of an “act if God”) on Twitter are probably not even in the states affected.

Trump appeals to those people.  MTG needs those people just to verify her existence, her influence, her importance. So does Trump. They both need the same reassurances. Which marks them both as unfit for public service; at the very least.

The suffering is wrought by the disaster. Hope and help are all we can offer. The people who can’t do that much don’t deserve our attention, much less our concern. They are squawking because they want to be the victims, they want the attention they feel should go only to them. The best response we can give such people is to push them aside and turn their noises off, and get back to the important work of taking care of each other. 

People like Trump and MTG self-isolate, if the rest of us focus on what matters.
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What’s Funny Is…

This tweet triggered almost a solid wall of tweets insisting Jesus said nothing about government (not true), nor about government “taking” your money to give to others (Rome truly taxed without representation, and kept the money for Rome), and (my favorite), how Jesus insisted individuals should help individuals, no corporate activities need apply.   

With no indication, of course, that any of those self righteous individuals are doing a damned thing for others, or even disagree with the sentiments presented in the tweet.

But mostly the responding message is that Jesus wanted life to be as comfortable as possible for “us,” and clearly that involves excluding “them” from our consideration as human beings. Certainly it doesn’t involve us in any way being responsible for each other.  One hears in every response the echo of Cain’s famous question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” One hears no consideration the answer could be: “Yes.”

Or Matthew’s deeper question: “Lord, when did we see you?” Or Luke’s teaching: “The first of all will be last of all and servant of all.”

The tweet is a purposeful distortion of the teachings of Jesus. Interesting how powerful those teachings are, that they still trigger such discomfort among so many who purport to have learned their lessons.

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Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Musk Is Doing More To People Than FEMA Is

Of course, Trump is his guiding star:
Starlink's Twitter account declared last week, in a post with tens of millions of views, that "Starlink is now free for 30 days." The world's richest man, with a net worth of approximately $260 billion, followed up by saying, in quite the PR coup, that all Starlink terminals would now work automatically "without [the] need for payment in the areas affected by Hurricane Helene." 
But try to sign up for the ostensibly "free" service in an area Starlink has designated as a Helene disaster zone, and surprise: You still have to pay for the terminal (normally $350, but reportedly discounted to $299 for disaster relief, though that's not reflected in Starlink's signup page), plus shipping and tax, bringing the grand total to just shy of $400.
Musk even copies Trump’s idea of charity (it’s for me, not for thee). And, of course, there’s the matter of shipping the terminal into a disaster area. Or to a home no longer standing/inhabitable. Me, I’d rather have the FEMA $750.00.
“Assuming someone can get over the one or two, if not more, bridges that are down and physically get their hands on the device, you still need electricity to run the thing,” they said. “Thousands of people are out of power still and hundreds if not thousands of those don’t have a generator.”
As Daffy Duck used to say: “Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin.”
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Hottest Halloween Costume 2024 🎃

Sure, why not? He’s gonna blow a wad of cash at MSG.
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The Grey Lady Is Grey, But No Lady

They had to make up for that Peter Baker analysis of Trump’s rallies

Fair and balanced, ya know.
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Things That Never Happened

A) He’s been buzzing windmills in his jet, ✈️ which would alarm the FAA.

B) He’s thinking of the obsolete windmills once used to pump water. Quite a few of those rusting in the rural landscape, although from 30,000 feet they’re practically invisible, old or new.

C) He’s a stone liar, and this has never happened.
Well, that’s true. The last sentence, I mean. Fact Check! Very likely true! Also: not a recommendation for public office at ANY level.

More things that never happened (and are NOT political propaganda, which is only done TO Trump, never by him).
Bounce back? From what? The economy you ran into the ground? Trump is an alien! 👽 I knew it!! That explains so many things!!! Or than you do, about anything.
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He Wants You To Die 💀

According to the Trump campaign: …the above is improper political propaganda and should not be allowed. Trump wants you to die, so that he might win.
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I Know I Have A Larger Vocabulary Than Trump, But…

...didn’t he just say that Pence, on J6, wouldn’t do the wrong thing?
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Roe v Wade Came Out Of Texas, Too

I would say 50% of the campaign ads I see (locally) are about abortion; either candidate ads (Allred) or SuperPAC ads. And they aren’t about the splendor of current Texas law.

Perhaps the most powerful one is the woman who almost bled to death in her third pregnancy (the first two ended in miscarriages) because the equipment used to treat her condition was locked away, as it was also used for abortions. It’s a very potent first person, direct to the camera, presentation.
 
The study also cites a report from July of this year published by the Commonwealth Fund, which characterizes the condition of women’s health in the United States as "in a perilous place," noting the "continuing rise in deaths from preventable causes, the lowest recorded women’s life expectancy in nearly 20 years and deep, persisting racial inequities within most communities in the United States." That study ranked Texas 50th (out of 50 states and Washington, D.C.) in women's health overall, 49th for the category "Health Care Quality and Prevention for Women," 38th for "Health and Reproductive Care Outcomes," and 51st for "Coverage, Access, and Affordability."
We’ll see in November if it makes a difference.
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A Reminder

All federal courts (with exceptions) are Art. III institutions. With the exception of the Supreme Court in minor ways, they are all the creation of Congress. They are not “co-equal” because their authority rests on acceptance of their authority, and nothing else. They do not pass laws (Congress), nor enforce them (Administration). They, in essence, arbitrate. They do not directly answer to Congress or the Administration, but neither do they stand equal to it. They simply don’t have that kind of power. The Roberts Court has been so foolish as to not understand that. At. All.
It isn’t hard to imagine a future President Trump, returned to the Oval Office perhaps with the court’s help, thumbing his nose at the justices should they have the temerity to rule against his policies, as they often did during his first term. (For example, if the Supreme Court rules that some future executive order is unconstitutional, Mr. Trump could nevertheless illegally order law enforcement or administrative agencies to implement it.) Defying the Supreme Court wasn’t politically possible at that time, nor has it been an option for President Biden even as the court has blocked, or refused to unblock, a dizzying array of his domestic policy programs.
Tell me that under Trump v US that scenario is impossible. No President has ever been impeached and removed from office. Considering how supine the GOP is now in the face of Trump’s outrageous conduct, do you really expect the Senate would finally buck history, even in that scenario?
If this scenario sounds far-fetched, consider a real case. In January, a 5-4 majority (with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett joining the three Democratic appointees in the majority) issued an unsigned, unexplained order clearing the way for the Biden administration to continue removing razor wire that Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas had ordered to be placed along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor had done so ostensibly to deter unauthorized border crossings, but the razor wire also hindered the ability of the Border Patrol to do its job. Within hours of the ruling, Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, was on Fox News calling on Mr. Abbott to defy the Supreme Court. 
Mr. Roy’s comments received little national attention because they were entirely unnecessary. The Supreme Court’s ruling was so narrow — allowing the federal government to temporarily remove existing razor wire — that there wasn’t much for Mr. Abbott to defy. But the speed with which a leading House Republican took to the airwaves to encourage Republican political leaders to ignore a Supreme Court ruling ought to have sounded alarm bells — especially inside the Supreme Court. 
This point appears lost on the justices. For as much as some on the court and its public defenders may see calls for reform from people like us as a threat to the institution, continuing to act in a way that erodes whatever credibility the court has left is an even greater threat — not just to the court, but to the Republic. 
A court without legitimacy is a court unable to curb abuses of political power that its rulings may well have enabled. It is a court that will be powerless when the next Chip Roy calls for disobedience because it will have long since alienated those who would otherwise have defended it. It would become a court powerless to push back against the tyrannies of the majority that led the founders to create an independent judiciary in the first place.
Legitimacy is all the power a court really has. When they trade that away in the imagined grounds that, as the “supreme court,” they stand equal to Congress (which sets their numbers, their jurisdiction, even their ability to decide what appeals to hear) and the Administration (which enforces the court’s rulings, so long as they find them legitimate), because a majority of the nine sitting (unelected) justices say so…

…is the height of arrogance and hubris, backed up largely by two justices whose "relationships with right-wing megadonors” make them feel they have powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Or, to put it more colloquially, that they are invisible and bulletproof.

They aren’t; nor are they supposed to be.
Consider recent reporting in The New York Times about how Chief Justice John Roberts approached the two major Trump cases the court decided last term, on immunity and disqualification. Offered repeated opportunities to rise above the partisan fray, the chief justice instead led the court straight into the muck. Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s concurring opinions (as well as the other separate opinions) in both cases were clear: The majority went further than it needed to go to resolve the disputes. The Times’s reporting, based on leaked confidential memos (itself an extraordinary breach of court protocol), suggests that the majority did this knowing that the rulings would be seen as sweeping victories for Mr. Trump — if not with the specific intent to do just that.
That is precisely the recipe for reform. The history of the country is rife with it. Professor Vladeck’s book on the shadow docket begins with the creation of the modern court early in the 20th century, when legislation “reformed” the court and gave it many of the powers of review and acceptance/rejection of appeals that we think is the norm today (just as we think any change in the number of justices is illegitimate “court packing.” Congress has changed the size of the Court several times since the first Court sat). It can be argued, at the least, that the Roberts Court has abused the powers given the Court a century ago, and it’s time for another reform.

It would, in fact, be a very good argument.
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Follow The Light 💡

Ever hear the one about the drunk looking for his car keys under the streetlight? Is that where he lost them? No. Then why? “The light’s so much better here.”

If you want to find the most lunatic takes on any topic, that used to require seeking out obscure pamphlets and very small press, not to exclude mimeograph (ask yer Grandpa!) publications. It took effort. You had to seek it out. You had to go into the dark corners.

Now we have progress! Now we have the internet. But you still have to consider context. You still have to consider that the light is so much better over here.👈  You have to consider that bugs are attracted to the light. But that doesn’t mean the world now contains nothing but bugs.

The light may seem better here. That doesn’t mean “here” is where the truth is.
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It’s Actually Worse Than I Imagined

Not that guy. He’s just another liar; no surprise there. I’m talking about this:


Yes, that’s the cover of Trump’s “God Bless The USA” Bible.

“The Day God Intervened”? I think the idea of Bibles in the classroom is an obscenity, because it abuses both the power of the state (school attendance is compulsory) and the holiness of the Bible (it’s not a talisman). But to use one imprinted with such an overtly, and frankly blasphemous political statement, is beyond the pale.

And this clown says that’s not what he meant at all.
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Tuesday, October 08, 2024

Elmo Needn’t Worry

He's white. He is from Africa; but he’s white. And he’s rich. So Trump won’t decide he’s illegal. There might be some other white legal immigrants he decides are illegal, though.

A President’s gotta keep his options open.
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Counterpoint

Or commentators on Twitter are overestimating how many people in the country are as stupid as the “right” on the intertoobs.

It’s not like Turning Point USA’s GOTV efforts are actually catching fire among voters. Or Elmo is influencing anyone who wasn’t already in agreement with him. If you’re not already terminally on Twitter, you probably don’t realize what Elmo has done with it. Or what TPUSA is, for that matter. I guarantee more people know Diddy’s in jail, and why, than even know who Charlie Kirk is.)
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Konstitooshunal Skolarship

Would that be done under Section 3?
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Or under Sec 4?
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
Because it only reaches “powers and duties,” It doesn’t amend Art. II, sec. 4, and actually remove the President from office.

The Presidential Succession Act governs who is “third in line.” BTW.
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PROOF!

And western North Carolina got hit really hard," she opined. "They need help. They need water. There are still people missing. 
"There are babies floating in the water. And we're on podcasts. That's what the Harris team is doing." 
MacCallum seemed unconvinced, making the lawyer pause to explain. 
"Where did you see that report of a baby floating in the water?" she asked. 
"We have absolutely heard there are children floating," Habba repeated. "There's missing bodies, dead bodies."
Bots on Twitter have more credibility. 🤖 

And, better late than never:
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“THEN WHY WON’T HE DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?”

"We have the technology! Twitter told me so!”

(More to the point, why won’t DeSantis take Biden’s call?)
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How You Know It’s True

But despite Woodward's reputation as a first-rate and deeply sourced reporter, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung suggested that he lied about every single piece of information in his new book. 
"None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," said Cheung, who provided no evidence to back up his claims. "Woodward is an angry, little man and is clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously." 
Cheung went on to say Woodward had written a "trash book" that deserves to be "used as toilet tissue." He concluded by labeling Woodward "a total sleazebag who has lost it mentally, and he's slow, lethargic, incompetent and overall a boring person with no personality."
Ad hominem is the tell. They got nuthin’.
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People Create Their Own Hell

The putrid stench of his soul is overshadowed only by his subhuman morals. 
More an inert mass than a man, his stupidity rivals his malevolence. 
His noxious demeanor matches the corruption festering between his ears. 
He is a bloated pustule of a being, orbited by sycophantic rodents whose sole purpose is to cater to his infantile whims. 
His intellect, barely surpassing that of a fifth-grader, is eclipsed by his boundless ignorance. 
Devoid of any real true friendships, he attracts only opportunists seeking to exploit him. 
Yet he remains bankrupt in every sense, offering nothing but vile utterances, racist credos, and misogynistic conduct. 
An embodiment of pure id, he lacks the capacity for intelligent speech or original thought, spewing only nonsensical gibberish. 
He is a loser of the highest order.
Someone is taking his picture among other people, so he must grin like a fool. It’s a reflex.
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AMERICA FIRST!!! 🇺🇸

Of course...
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🌀

Tired: the U.S. Government is broken and incompetent 
Wired: the U.S. Government has been secretly and expertly implementing weather control operations for political purposes without leaving a trace of proof beyond out-of-context snippets from public speeches or decades-old patents.
Makes me want to believe in Hell, so I can imagine these people consigned to it. Then again, I’ve known such people, and their personal existence is hell for them. So…
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🙀 🌀

8PM EDT: This is nothing short of astronomical. I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe you the storms small eye and intensity. 897mb pressure with 180 MPH max sustained winds and gusts 200+ MPH. This is now the 4th strongest hurricane ever recorded by pressure on this side of the world. The eye is TINY at nearly 3.8 miles wide. This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth's atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.
The age old problem of representative government is that it is a representative government. And any idiot can get elected.

The problem with social media is that any idiot with access can bare their ignorance on an international stage.
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Monday, October 07, 2024

Government Of, By, And For The Person

No, you just need the government to validate your claims. It’s our election, not your election. I blame Democrats for all the violent rhetoric.
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Who Are They Talking To?

Aw, shucks...* Off his meds again. Certainly all the voices in his head agree. So he went to Laura Ingraham. And people who know who they’re talking to:
Q: Trump canceled his plan to be interviewed on 60 Minutes. What do you think of that? 
Vice President Harris: If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a thoughtful conversation, then watch his rallies. What you're going to hear is his personal grievances. What you will not hear is anything about you or how he's going to make your life better. The American people are ready to turn the page
Q: You have accused Trump of using racist tropes when it comes to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, when it comes to birtherism, when it comes to Charlottesville… 
Vice President Harris: It's just wrong. I believe that the people of America want a leader who's not trying to divide us and demean. The true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it’s based on who you lift up
Pelley: Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump agreed to be interviewed on 60 Minutes. Then, a week ago, Trump backed out. The Trump campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact check the interview. We fact check every story. Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020. Trump had previously declined another debate with Harris
*Context: Nobody needs wimmen stuff in a natural disaster.
John Kennedy is stunningly stupid for a Vanderbilt- Oxford product. Or at least what one of those is imagined to be like.
Or he thinks his constituents are that stupid. It’s a toss up, really.
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Peter Doocy Serves His Purpose

To be owned in public by KJP. By explaining how ignorant he is.

Congress allocates federal funds, under Art. I. The funds Trump keeps railing about were allocated to the Border Patrol, for immigrant shelters. Congress directed those funds to FEMA for administration on behalf of BP. The funds are not FEMA funds reallocated by the President, as Trump did.

Trump does everything like a projector.📽️ 
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How It Started (Kinda)

How it’s going:
NBC News Exclusive: 
A group of imams have endorsed Vice President Harris in an open letter — a critical boost as she steps up her efforts to win back disaffected Muslim voters 
The 25 Islamic religious leaders argue that Muslim voters have a duty to think logically about their voting decisions and that backing Harris "far outweighs the harms of the other options."
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The Stupid, It’s Contagious

This close to a reference to the historical hurricane that happened under George W., and his disastrously incompetent response. I’d say Hannity just flubbed it live, but he put it in the graphic. Which can only mean he read it off the ‘prompter.

You’ve got to admit it’s worthy of Trump. And so is this:
In a written statement Sunday, Huckabee Sanders said, “I would never criticize a woman for not having children, the point I was making and that Kamala Harris confirmed by her own admission is that she doesn’t believe our leaders should be humble, which explains her arrogant claim that she alone can fix our nation’s problems after spending the last four years making them worse.”
First, I’ll reiterate: you really can’t brag about your humility. 🙄

Second, Trump is the one campaigning on “I alone can fix it.” His latest is a repeated declaration that either the economy will collapse if he loses, or the only reason the economy is doing well is in anticipation of his victory.

An economy which has only gotten better in the four years since Trump had four years in office.

It’s always projection with the GOP. It’s the only defense they’ve got. 📽️
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Or Just Walk To The Beach And Keep Going

We’ve got enough problems around here.

ICYMI (or don’t haunt Twitter the way I do):
The answer is, their brains were already broken. Social media and Trump just allowed them to leak out among the rest of us.
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Dancing With The One What Brung Ya…

...in the very edge of the abyss.
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Trump Knows

He knows to lie in a complicated way. He knows that what this country needs now is Joe McCarthy behind the Resolute Desk. He knows that all Jews in America have a dual loyalty, and so Israel is all Jewish voters in America. And they owe him.
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