There’s quite a bit of chatter about CNN’s decision to host a town hall featuring lying, criminal, sexual predator Donald Trump. The bit that seems to chafe is that they ALSO packed the audience with Trump-adoring bootlickers, the kind of people who LIVE to adore the Former guy. I, for one, am a-okay with hosting a town hall for an “opposition” candidate, though I ALSO hold that news agencies shouldn’t be so biased as to have “opposition” candidates. If the outlet is journalistically neutral, Trump should just be a candidate.

Packing the audience with sycophants, though? Not a good look. There was a time when I considered CNN a solid news outlet. No longer. It wasn’t the town hall, though. They’ve been getting weirder and weirder over there for quite some time. For a long time, every time a truck backed up they broke out their “BREAKING NEWS!” banner, making it seem like something was happening when nothing was happening. Scary sensationalism is a lying Fox Not News thing. It doesn’t belong on CNN.

So, I don’t know what they’re trying to do but I know what they’re NOT trying to do: provide solid, objective news. I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going to stay away from CNN going forward. That’s the problem with selling one’s integrity. It sells pretty easily but once it’s gone, it is difficult to impossible to get back.

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The Antioch police department is all roiled in a scandal in which the cops on the beat have been caught exchanging racist texts. Right now, investigations are under way and some of the cops are sidelined. Meanwhile, every lawyer of a convict imprisoned because of testimony from one of these cops is searching through the transcripts looking for ANY sign of racism in the trial.

Some guilty people may well go free because some cop couldn’t keep his lesser angels under control and that’s a concern but a bigger concern to me? I wonder how many actually innocent people might be sitting in jail under false pretenses because of these racist cops. The “crime” of being a darker shade of brown than the majority can be very dangerous in this once-great nation…

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California is wrestling with the question of reparations to descendants of slaves. The current proposal is for affected people to receive checks of up to $5 million dollars. Maybe that will quiet the crowd. Certainly it will salve the consciences of some. Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea. THAT payment, not the reparations.

I confess, I used to have a bit of a smug attitude about reparations. I thought, sure, let’s give something to anybody still alive who experienced slavery, fully aware that if there ARE any people still alive who experienced slavery, there are precious few of them. Turns out? I was a dolt on the matter. I got on board with the idea after watching this woman, Amber Ruffin, make the case that reparations are due for more than just slavery in her video ‘Reparations are due for more than just slavery: the Amber Ruffin show.‘ That’s a link. You should click it and give it a watch. Six minutes of your life and she’ll address any questions you might have on the topic. Oh, and she’s funny…

Still, I don’t like the idea of just handing people a wad of cash. People who struggle to make ends meet are very good at stretching a dollar over two weeks but they’re crap at managing millions of dollars. How could they not be? When have they had the chance? It’s a weird reality of people who win the lottery that many of them blow through their winnings and end up just as broke as before, often worse off. The problem is not an inherent failure. It’s lack of skill, the direct result of lack of experience.

Simply handing over $5 million dollars is nothing more than a short term band-aid. It won’t put people back on path to “generational wealth.” It will give the economy a short term boost as people blow through their windfall and then leave them back where they started – but with a nicer television.

I’ll tell you this: It’s a tricky question. How does one make up for decades, no, generations of oppression and denial? America was supposed to be the land of opportunity but we’ve had entire classes of people denied any and every opportunity the society could get away with blocking throughout our history. Stopping that would be a good start…

Wendy’s – the fast “food” chain – has announced an intention to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the order-taking process at their drive-throughs. They said exactly what they’re supposed to say. “No, it’s not about getting rid of human employees, don’t be ridiculous!” Those are weasel words – words used to weasel out of something. They won’t “get rid of” employees. But if this works, and they desperately hope it does, they just won’t hire any more people to do that job. See the difference?

The other “reason” they offered was that order-taking would now become more accurate. No more mistakes! Lovely. Look, Corporate likely knows more about those mistakes than I do, but it seems to me the breakdown between order-taking and delivery happens somewhere else. I think some human employee hands out the wrong bag. Two cars get accurately recorded orders – just not the order they placed. That’s a little different and the AI won’t fix it. THAT will be up to the coming robots who ALSO won’t “replace workers.”

There are already fully automated fast “food” restaurants. Did you know? It’s a kind of a wet dream of corporate overlords everywhere; work without workers. Think of what THAT will do to fatten the bottom line and the CEO take-home pay. Glorious! I spent several years working as a corporate accountant and I can say with some certainty that, commonly, the largest single line on any Profit and Loss Statement is “Employee expenses.” Corporations ALWAYS want to reduce that line – especially if they can reduce the employee expense at the expense of some other employee.

Look, I know this is coming. It seems inevitable. I just wish they didn’t try to get public buy-in by claiming the machines that replace us will enhance our customer experience. Just ONCE, I’d love to hear the truth from them: “Replacing expensive, whiny employees (except ourselves, of course) will enhance our profitability experience!”

At least that would be honest…

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A while back, I was watching ‘Real Time with Bill Maher.’ Bill (can I call you ‘Bill?’) posed a question: What’s the difference between equality and equity? He and his panel all spent a moment considering the question, looking at each other with confused, Carlson faces, pondering the depth of the challenge and putting on their best “serious person” expressions. Finally, all agreed. They didn’t know and couldn’t say. Apparently, it’s just some undefinable, unknowable thing. Who knew?

I can’t explain why a supposedly left-leaning show would make such a transparent effort to pretend it was some unanswerable, cosmic question best left to philosophers and scholars. I CAN tell you this, for sure: it always irritates me when people pretend to be stupid in an effort to discount a thing. So, here, let me help. In the context, equality is when everyone gets the same, regardless of need or resources. Equity is when everyone gets what they need. Simple, eh? Here, I can even show you a picture:

(Full disclosure: I don’t know who drew this or owns it but I love it.)

Obviously, the “problem” with that cartoon – to the wanna-be autocracy – is that the tall guy (think of him as the rich-ass, fat-cat) doesn’t get a handout the others get. Sure, he doesn’t need it but greed is greed and it will not be denied. What I LIKE about the cartoon is that it puts the lie to one of the worst conservative positions currently on offer. “They” (probably the government) took the box from the tall guy and gave it to the shortest guy. It graphically depicts how the tall guy wasn’t hurt by what he gave up but the short guy benefited tremendously. You know what that is? Democratic Socialism, known better in America as the New Deal. It was a good thing. It’s what made America great in the first place. Don’t ever let them convince you otherwise with their weasel words…

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Has anyone besides me considered that when lying, criminal, sexual-predator Donald Trump says he doesn’t even know who E. Jean Carroll – a woman he sexually assaulted – is, he’s telling the truth? She was merely an employee at a department store – exactly the kind of person who exists, in his pampered and privileged, twisted little mind, expressly for his amusement. The idea that he might meet her, sexually assault her, and leave without ever knowing her name or who she is or even recognizing her as a human being doesn’t surprise me at all.

But the fact that he didn’t count her “worth” remembering doesn’t mean he didn’t sexually assault her.

Trump never ceases to amaze me. When the Access Hollywood recording was released – you remember, that’s when he bragged that stars can just grab women by their, um…let’s say, inappropriately, and get away with it, I defended him – much to my regret. I didn’t believe it was anything more than braggadocio, locker-room talk between a blowhard and a sycophant. THEN, he repeated the claim during his deposition! He even doubled-down when he added, “…unfortunately or fortunately.” His all encompassing ego COULD NOT allow him to dismiss the concept under oath or even deny he saw himself as exactly that kind of privileged “star.”

Now he has to pay Ms. Carroll $5 million dollars. The thing that irks me is that HE won’t pay a dime. His ever-faithful, foolish followers will pay the fine for him. Sure, he’s forever stuck with the moniker, “sexual predator,” but I suspect sexual predator Donald Trump will count that as a badge of honor. Certainly he’ll use it in his “poor me” tour to rally his ever-shrinking fan-base. “Why, oh why do they keep prosecuting me for my crimes? It’s the Democratic agenda!”

Oh, yeah, that damned thing. I’ll tell you this, I fully support the Democratic agenda item that says, ‘Prosecute criminals’ and I expect to continue to fully support it for the foreseeable future…

Once upon a time, a group of lawmen raided the Manhattan mansion of a suspected child molester named Jeffery Epstein. At the time, they found a cache of DVDs, each labeled with the name of a prominent person (okay, “man”) and the underage woman he was with. They didn’t take those at the time because their warrant didn’t cover the discs. When officials returned to collect the discs, they were gone.

Later, though, other discs were discovered in other Epstein-owned locations and those were picked up. Before photos of the cache were released, the names written on them were redacted. The judge ordered that action because the names identified “information for third parties.”

Just a question, here, but are they not “co-conspirators” and not just “third parties?” Shouldn’t they have been arrested too? Doesn’t the public deserve to know which of our rich and powerful “leaders” like to diddle underage women on the side? We know about Prince Andrew cause he’s a brit but we also know that Bill Clinton and Donald Trump used to pal around with Epstein, too. Are they on a DVD somewhere?

What? The FBI lost them? Well, that doesn’t pass the smell test.

I’ll tell you this, I don’t really believe the FBI loses evidence unless it intends to lose evidence – and that stinks…

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198, as of yesterday. Mass shootings, I mean. 8 dead, 7 wounded – three critically – in Texas. The shooter is among the dead. In this case, he actually was stopped by a good guy with a gun, a cop who happened to be on site.

I used to argue that conservatives are not really stupid people. My position was they they are so woefully deceived by their preferred media, they simply don’t understand what’s going on around them. But when push comes to shove, these people are failing at basic cause and effect. At best, adults who can’t understand basic cause and effect are not displaying brilliance.

Personally, I didn’t need 198 mass shootings to understand that taking mental health care away from the masses while making it easier for an increasingly angry people to get assault weapons designed to kill humans was a perfect recipe for disaster. In fact, I’d label it SO predictable, it seems it might well be someone’s intention – keep ’em scared, keep ’em angry, give ’em guns. What could go wrong?

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“The following is a rebuttal to a KRUD editorial denouncing the legalization of marijuana. Speaking FOR the legalization of marijuana, is Ashley Roachclip, President of United Heads for Hemp.” If you know Cheech and Chong, you likely know that bit. It’s a send up of editorial rebuttals that tended to show up in public broadcasts when some station issued an editorial opinion. They were a regular occurrence through my teens. Then?

I guess I should start at the start. Back in 1949, the FCC introduced a rule, called the ‘Fairness Doctrine’ that dictated broadcast license holders offering editorial opinions had to provide equal time to responsible opposing opinions. They usually DID start off exactly the way the Cheech and Chong bit did: “The following is a rebuttal to…” Then, as one of his many assaults on the United States and “the American way,” the Reagan administration eliminated the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

I sure miss the Fairness Doctrine. We really need it. All those mass shootings so many Americans don’t understand? That’s because we don’t have the Fairness Doctrine anymore. (Perhaps a bit simplistic but stay with me, here.)

To my mind, there’s just too much evidence that the destruction of the United States was an intentional and well-planned act. The planning began in the 1970’s and was implemented by Ronald Reagan beginning in 1980. It was clear to those who prefer Fascism that the Fairness Doctrine was causing problems for them, so it had to go.

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a person who asked me if I thought all of the legal rulings going against the trumpery might have tarnished his image with his worshipers, even a little bit. I said no, I don’t think so. Not because they wouldn’t be outraged if they knew but, worse, they don’t know. If their preferred outlet doesn’t tell them, they just don’t know it happened.

I mention that to say this. When the Fairness Doctrine was eliminated, the argument in favor was that there were SO MANY outlets out there, people could simply tune in elsewhere to hear opposing views so it wasn’t necessary to force broadcasters to provide opposing opinions. These days, I call such arguments “philosophical” arguments. They SEEM correct but they have no practical application. (The position seemed stronger at the time because Fox Not-News had not yet weaponized the First Amendment.)

Yes, it’s true, people could switch from station to station to gather opinions. But you know what? They don’t. Fox Not-News viewers are not tuning in to, say, CNN to get both sides of the story. They stick to Fox. Period. (CNN viewers DO, sometimes, tune in to Fox from time to time, sometimes on a lark but always a mistake, just to see what the crazies are saying but it’s not common.)

Worse, the conservative bubble tells it’s consumers NOT to check other sources. They control their followers the exact same way fundamental churches control their adherents. “Don’t listen to outsiders. They only want to pollute your mind and disrupt your “walk.” See? It’s disloyal to Jesus if you listen to someone ask a question. In the same way, it’s disloyal to conservatism if you consider some other point of view on any topic at any time. (I’m one of those people who used to tune in to conservative broadcasts for short bursts of b.s. I once heard, with my own ears, Rush Limbaugh tell his audience they didn’t need to think. That’s what they had him for. HE would read the news and tell them what to think.)

That’s why we need a return of the Fairness Doctrine. Fox Not News runs nearly all editorials all day long and, from what I hear, it’s an on-going diatribe of fear-mongering and hate that keeps conservatives terrified and angry. They NEVER hear anything Fox doesn’t want them to hear and if someone does share a fact here and there, they react badly and reject the input. Can’t disrupt the “walk.”

There used to be a radio station around here, KGO News talk. Conservatives killed it. It was pretty much all opinion, too AND it operated under the watchful eye of the Fairness Doctrine. How? Well, they put on a liberal host in the morning and followed him with a conservative host. Then a liberal, then a conservative, etc. In broadcasting both sides, they were in compliance with the doctrine and the listeners got to hear competing opinions just by never touching the dial. Fox could do the same thing but I’d bet you three quarters of a billion dollars they never, ever will – not without being forced.

I’ll tell you this: We need a return of the Fairness Doctrine. Thanks to Citizens United, we’ll never get that done but after the revolution? Keep it mind. Accurate information is the life blood of democracy…

How IS that deregulation thing working out?

My eyes burn…
I lost everything in an investment scam…
Is the news only lies these days?
I just got shot…
My daughter, Lucy, is…Oh, gods, where is Lucy?
Oh, she had to get to work.
Work? She’s SIX!
Yeah, I don’t know why she waited so long to be productive, either. Lazy, maybe?
I just got shot…
My bank collapsed so I found another one and IT collapsed, too!
Do we really have to trust criminal minds to do the right thing?
My taxes just went up again so rich people could pay less…
I just got shot…
My insulin is now $1.5 million dollars – per dose.
I can’t get my kid into that “privatized” charter school…
I just got shot…

I’ll tell you this: I liked it better when the lesser angels of our fellow Americans were restrained by rules and regulations. This “winner-take-all” and “survival of the cruelest” is a horrible way to live…

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Do you think the politicians are actually going to default on the debt? I don’t, not really. The cons scare me – more than just a little – but their financial fortunes are tied up in the American economy just like everybody else’s. The scary part is, they spend their time living in a delusional fantasy land where things happen just because they want them to. That makes them difficult to predict.

Crashing the economy would fly directly in the face of the conservative mantra, “Screw you, I got mine.” These days, I actually and honestly believe conservatives hate America. I know, that goes against their flag waving and proclamations of patriotism but, setting the show-pieces aside, everything they stand for is anti-American. They might really crash the economy just to do it.

But mostly, I think their own “motivated self-interest” (read: greed) will get them to pass an extension so we can all live on the edge again in about six months.

It’s a really stupid system…

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So…they’ve convicted some of the Proud Boys for seditious conspiracy. That’s good. One of them wasn’t even in Washington DC on January 6th but prosecutors were able to show enough evidence that he was in on the conspiracy to get the conviction anyway. It’s a very good sign and a portent of how they plan to go after Former Guy.

He wasn’t at the Capitol that day, either. Now, though, they’ve established the idea that he didn’t need to be. All they have to do is show he coordinated with them and they’re good to go…and maybe he’ll be good and gone…

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Speaking of the Dumbass and the massive criminal caseload he’s facing, things seem to be going poorly for him in the rape trial, just like all the other trials. Barring jury nullification, I’m guessing he’s going to be found guilty.

It changes something I said in the past. When that grab them by the…well, you know…recording came out, I really thought it was just locker room talk. I think of trump as FAR too cowardly to be so direct but, once again, I underestimated just how horrible a human being he really is. His ego overpowers his cowardice. He believes himself entitled to assault women (they are, after all, only women) and so he does. Okay, allegedly. (Gotta say ‘allegedly’ until the conviction…)

It’s too bad he won’t go to jail for it. I think I’ll start using his name again when I can write “the rapist Donald Trump” every time. Maybe “lying rapist Donald Trump.” How about “criminal, lying rapist Donald Trump?” Technically, I guess it should be “traitorous, criminal, lying rapist Donald Trump.”

Yeah, it’s a lot to type each time I write his name but he’s earned those distinctions and I would be the last person on Earth to deny him his proper titles…

Okay, 174! THAT’S the kind of effort we’re looking for! It shows personal dedication and determination to reach the highest number possible. But I still feel like we could do even better. There have been – including today, which, for me, is only just starting – 110 days so far this year. According to the math, that’s 1.5 mass shootings every day so far for 2023. It’s good but with a little effort, we can easily up that number to a full 2 a day, every day, for the rest of American’s (increasingly shortening) lives. It’s going to take effort – and a little extra ammunition – but America is going for a record, here, and this is no time to let down.

I mean, consider: we’re only having one mass shooting every six and a half days – nearly a week between! I want to know who’s slacking. With only a little bit more prompting, we could easily have a mass shooting every other day or, hell, what’s wrong with every day? Don’t we ALL know at least four people who could be shot together, adding to the count? Oh, who am I kidding? You don’t have to KNOW them. Just find some group that irks you just a tiny little bit over some perceived slight, pull out your gun, and open fire. Just close your eyes and start blasting. You’ll hit someone – and if you squeeze the trigger fast enough and long enough, we’ll get that mass shooting count up. If you keep your eyes open, we can even boost the mass murder numbers which, I think you’ll agree at only 17 this year, are really NOT keeping pace with the goal.

So don’t delay. Take your big shot today!
Grab your gun and blast away!
Let’s get that count to 2 per day!

God bless America. And if He doesn’t…shoot Him!

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The conservative fever dream for America seems to be coming true. Sadly, it’s coming true in the UK for some reason. Women there are turning to “survival sex,” that is, trading sex for rent or sex work to “top up” low-wage jobs. (Such a thing, of course, has NEVER happened here.) It’s a trade off to poverty – the kind of poverty far right conservatives have been advocating for decades now. (They call it “freedumb.”)

Americans are making the efforts. We already have a plethora of low-wage jobs that can’t possibly cover the cost of living and, along with efforts to make sure unions don’t prevail, will certainly lead to survival sex here in this once-great nation, too.

I know, some know-it-all libtard will certainly complain, saying something about how being forced to put out to stay off the streets is degrading or whatever. Leave it to DemocRATS to complain about free rent. I’ll tell you what, I’d trade sex for free rent – if I could just find someone who would have sex with me.

Keep it up, people. These women are just about where we want them again. Just a little more desperation and there will be little choice than to put out just to survive. It’s a great solution to the “incel” problem. (Editor’s note: “Incel” is a self-describing term meaning ‘involuntarily celibate.’ They’re a tiny little cadre of disgusting cretins who simply, for the life of them, can not understand why these stupid bitches won’t do them on demand – or at all. They’re pretty sure the problem is the stupid bitches…)

Oh, and hey, as a bonus, they can’t terminate our glorious seed anymore in nearly half the country, either. AND…nobody’s even trying to make us pay for the babies we make during these completely consensual and not-at-all desperation-motivated assaul…um, transactions…

And here I thought the conservative dream for America was all downside…

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Okay, next up? The glories of deregulation. How’s that working out for YOU?

I’ve got to tell you, when I first heard that Tucker Carlson had been fired, I was pretty darned happy. I thought such an auspicious event deserved a column – so I sat down to write it. I DID write it, too. It was some pretty happy, celebratory stuff – free of Tucker, first stone to fall at Fox – that kind of thing. It was probably, technically the best writing I’ve ever done. It was probably worthy of a Pulitzer.

But, you’ll just have to take my word for that because I deleted it and wrote this instead. The reason I deleted it was simple: I realized that, in the larger scheme, it doesn’t mean a thing. Yeah, Tucker was a big-shot at lying Fox Not News for awhile, so what? We’ve seen big shots come and go on Fox for decades now.

Remember Glenn Beck? He once said Barack Obama had a deep seated hatred of white people. He was a big deal at Fox for a long time. Then he wasn’t. Fox took a hit in the ratings for a short time, but after awhile the sheep came back for fleecing. I also remember the force that was Bill O’Reilly. He held the flagship time slot and led the charge against America from the comfort of his broadcast studio. For awhile. Then he was out. Sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment gets a lot of men in general but it seems to get men at a higher rate at Murdock’s operations. It’s almost as if a conservative attitude about owning and operating women – whom, after all, should be home barefoot and pregnant, making dinner for their husbands, leads these guy to think they can get away with anything. For a long time, they often do. But, eventually, the 21st century catches up to one of them and – Bam! – they’re out.

Fox’s one-time CEO, Roger Ailes had to step down over sexual harassment. Ed Henry, their one time chief White House “correspondent” got fined for “willful sexual misconduct.” Another host, Eric Bolling, left for the same reason. Now it’s Tucker’s turn. Maybe. Possible sexual misconduct is one of the reasons cited as a guess from people who have air time to fill. There are others. When it gets right down to it? I don’t care. Tucker will follow the same path the others went down, glory to obscurity. Soon, if we’re lucky, we won’t ever hear or think about Tucker Carlson again. But lying Fox Not-News?

Swap out one lying talking head, put in another. Same crap, different bucket. Like a bad, irritating, painful case of the most egregious herpes, Fox endures…

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Little bit short today but I’m glad I got anything out at all. It’s been a tough (busy) day…

Well, it looks as though the cons have won the beer war. Bully for them. Anheuser-Busch, the company that makes Budweiser products, put a picture of a trans person on their label for a contest. The director of marketing, Alissa Heinerscheid, said she was trying to attract younger beer drinkers to the brand. Conservatives – already afraid of, well, everything, really – became even MORE afraid and decided that touching the can might make them gay so there was only one choice: shoot the beer! Hey, it’s perfectly logical. A photo of a trans person might make you gay so, instead, get your great, big penis extender out and share it with a friend, right?

Beau: “Wow, Buck, big strong rod you got there!”
Buck: “Yeah, thanks, Beau. I’m pretty proud of it. I’ve been playing with it for awhile now.”
Beau: “It shows. Can I have a turn?”
Buck: “You want to make it shoot?”
Beau: “I do. I really do. Can I…touch it?”
Buck: “Oh, man, I’d really love for it to be in your hands for awhile.”
Beau: “It feels so hard!”
Buck: “Blue steel, baby!”
Beau: “I am SO gonna shoot that can!
Buck: “Do it! Do it now! Make it explode all over everything!”

See? Nothing gay there.

Anyway, Anheuser-Busch has backed down. The good Ms. Heinerscheid has “taken a leave of absence” and an underling is now in her position. A statement was released saying Anheuser-Busch is really only about bringing people together over a beer. The offending cans will be eliminated and the company will go with an American flag picture for awhile and wait to see if the rednecks come back.

I’ll tell you this: It was a bold move on Ms. Heinerscheid’s part, if a bit tone-deaf. Budweiser has been the beer of rednecks for as long as I can remember. Bud advertises at NASCAR, fercrissakes. This is NOT a beer for thinking people. Her attempt to expand the beer’s consumer base was laudable but one cannot slap such a group in the face with one of their very worst, most terrifying fears (“Arghh! People not like me are allowed to live!”) and hope to get away with it…

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Well, I guess the debt-ceiling battle looms. The problem with having so many ideologically-faithful but stupid people running the House of Representatives is that they really may not understand the implications of carrying out their threat to not pay US debts. You see, over time, I’ve really come to believe these guys – no matter how stupid the threats. They WILL carry them out regardless of consequences, just to make some misguided point, and it won’t be until AFTER the damage occurs that it begins to dawn on them they they may have overdone it.

There is a LOT of language about who should do what and why. (It takes more words to lie.) They’ll suggest all kinds of things, none of which are the problem and none of which will solve the problem, instead of just doing the things that WOULD solve the problem; specifically, raise taxes on the highest incomes and slash the Pentagon’s budget. We won’t do that, though, because the people with the highest incomes own and operate the people who would have to raise the taxes (thanks, Citizens United) and cutting the Pentagon’s bloated budget would be immediately decried as “weak.”

You see, from time to time, the cons trot out one of their favorite catch-phrases, “fraud, waste, and abuse.” These days, the Pentagon is the very embodiment of fraud, waste, and abuse. They’ve simply “lost” trillions of dollars and they have not and can not pass an audit. But, no. Military spending, wasteful as it is, is spread out carefully among the fifty states so no one will touch it, lest they hurt people in their own districts. Accordingly in conservative world, THAT fraud, waste, and abuse is a-okay! Instead, we get to listen to politicians prattle on about their concerns and attempts to work around the problem they refuse to solve. (As a bonus, they get to inflict a lot of pain on the most vulnerable members of our once-great nation and cons love nothing more than that, so it’s a win-win!)

We have a bunch of those kinds of solvable but “unsolvable” problems in this once-great nation. For instance, you could pretty much solve the homeless problem in a year or two if the powers that be would simply reverse their oh-so-destructive 2011 decision to allow pooled money investors to buy single family homes and require them to divest. We’re not going to do that, though, because so many people are making so much money from the carnage. But I digress…

There’s going to be a lot of posturing and bickering, especially among the cons, themselves. The thing that bothers me the most is that these guys have been trying to destabilize American democracy for over 40 years now and this debt ceiling thing has become the perfect weapon to do it. Sure, destabilizing countries rarely leads to good outcomes but cons believe what they prefer to believe and can’t be bothered with facts, evidence, or reality.

I’ll tell you this: It’s all just noise for now but we’re getting closer to an actual default. These guys are holding a gun to their own heads and they really are just crazy enough to shoot…

Well, color ME shocked. I didn’t even know this Roberts Supremely Kangaroo Court could get anything right anymore. But they did. Well, at least temporarily. Preserving access to Mifepristone is the right move and, for now, that’s what they’ve done. I guess they’ve earned a temporary, collective “atta-boy!” (I feel like, since I’m going to bitch when they do their normal, stupid stuff, I should give them props when they do something right…)

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This court has done everything in it’s power to eliminate ALL pretense of respectability. It’s obviously not just the oh-so-horribly bad decisions, either. Taking bribes? Yeah, bad look. Not doing anything about it when one of yours is caught dead-to-rights? Ah…

I’ll tell you this: Complete lack of legitimacy seems to be the goal of the cons on the court. Well, in that case, I guess they get another “atta-boy” for achieving their evil goal…

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I’ve seen many a high-profile politician throw their hats into a presidential race only to flame out spectacularly. It seems as though the first to falter in this race is Ronda Santis. He was going to be the biggest threat to 45 we had ever seen. Instead, he decided to run on a battle with Mickey Mouse and the incredibly unpopular war on women being waged via the abortion battle. Toss in his war on knowledge and his insane concerns about the clothes people wear and, well, the picture of crazy seems complete.

Besides, he’s short. No, I don’t mean to insult any who might be “height-challenged.” I read, once, that one of the factors Americans use to choose their next “leaders” is height. Taller has an edge over shorter. I’m sure it’s important, somehow, and I’m glad to see Americans making the hard choices with quality details. (Ahem…)

Sometimes, it looks like some politician does something SO stupid it seems it must have been planned. Battling with Mickey and pressing one of the most unpopular issues currently being fought in this once great nation seems like one of those. Yes, the cons love a pseudo-fighter, a tough-talking, pretend tough-guy. But you’ve got to hate the right people to please the people on the right. Mickey ain’t it. I mean, Hunter Biden is still out there. Why not just attack him over and over? It works for Fox Not-News. But, no. The mouse it shall be. True genius…

So, DeSantis is already yesterday’s news and there don’t seem to be any other real challengers out there to 45 on the right so, unless someone invokes the 14th amendment blocking insurrectionists from holding public office (they could, it’s right in the Constitution), 45 will get the nod again.

I’m going to say, “good.” I know (and worry) people took a dismissive attitude toward the Former Guy during the 2016 race. I was one of them. I didn’t really believe the portrait he was painting of himself. It seemed…too extreme, too “pat” – a practiced conservative ignorance that correctly hit every conservative “issue.” My mind just couldn’t grasp that such a complete moron could ever, under any circumstances, get to be the President of the United States of America. I wouldn’t believe such an incompetent fool could be the president of the local dog-walking group.

So, I confess, I didn’t take him seriously. Truthfully, I still don’t but I believe the danger now and won’t take him lightly. There were a lot of people like me at the time and many or most of those have also come to see that we no longer have an actual choice in presidential races. We vote against whomever is the worst choice, not for our preference for the best and that’s that. Sad but true…

I’ll tell you this: 45 is an actual and honest threat to America and he needs to be stopped by every legal means available in our system -if there are any left. (There are, but will the “opposition” use them?)

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Hey, five NFL players have been suspended for betting on sports! WOW, who could have guessed THAT might happen? I mean, really, who…you know, besides, well, everyone? We’re assured – by the NFL – there were no bets by players on games they were playing in and no evidence of any game tampering. “No evidence?” Is that because the very powerful NFL has made certain there is “no evidence?” One guy bet on a different league but did it on his phone in his team’s clubhouse. Apparently, HIS offense was where he placed the bet – despite the fact that stadiums are starting to house sports books right on their premises.

I’m not opposed to gambling, per se, but the leagues, all of the leagues, need to go back to the zero-tolerance rule for anybody connected to professional sports. One strike and you’re out – forever. Gambling players, coaches, referees, team owners, hell even cheerleaders, gives the game a dirty look. In the NFL particularly, the officiating is often so bad, people regularly speculate out loud as to whether the refs took bribes to call games in one way or another. Now, with actual money on the line?

I’ll tell you this: The temptation will be more than many people can contain. The games, all of the games, will be pretty quickly tainted by this and professional sports in general could well devolve to Big Time Wrestling respect levels…

Truth? Every thinking person I know with whom I’ve discussed lying “Fox NOT-News'” settlement for repeatedly lying to it’s viewers is a bit disappointed that they got away without having to admit on air to their oh-so-gullible viewers they were lying all the time. Thinking Americans wanted each of the lying Fox talkers to have to confess their sins during their shows, where they had so comfortably spread the lies in the first place. It really sucks that didn’t happen. No one was particularly surprised, just disappointed. Me, too.

In today’s Guardian, there’s a story about how they haven’t said nearly word one about the settlement. (There was a brief mention in their hard “news” segment, apparently.) No surprise. Then I saw, at the end of the article, that Bill O’Reilly used the opportunity to try and polish his turd-like image by claiming that when HE was at Fox, their standard was ‘Fair and Balanced’ and has, since his departure, become, ‘Tell the audience only what it wants to hear.’ Uh-huh.

I remember when his was a relevant voice, thinking people used to regularly refer to him a Bill O’LIEly. He didn’t earn that moniker by being dedicated to truth. Al Franken wrote a book called ‘Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them’ in 2003! O’Reilly started HIS lying show at Fox in 2001 and was “purged” in 2017 after a sexual harassment scandal. So NOW Fox hosts are lying about the lying and who the lying liars are, might be, and used to be.

“Fox Not-News” viewers don’t care. They’re the physical embodiment of Sheryl Crow’s ‘Strong Enough’ lyric: “Lie to me. I promise, I’ll believe. Lie to me. But please, don’t leave.”

It should be noted, however, that MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell may have spilled MSNBC’s beans with his “analysis.” He said they had to pay out because they were stupid and smugly pointed out that Fox couldn’t have been sued if their talking heads had simply uttered three words at the end of each lie, “if that’s true.” He said, “Those are safe legal words that save you $787 Million…” Quick question: does Lawrence O’Donnell knowing how to tell a legally bulletproof lie on television reflect something he just casually picked up along the way? Or is he telling everyone how MSNBC lies to their viewers with impunity? Either way, he has now told lying Fox Not-News how to do it better.

I’ll tell you this: If I was an MSNBC viewer, I’d be watching for those weasel words – “if that’s true” – from now on. Better yet, turn of broadcast news entirely. READ an actual newspaper. Take your time. THINK about what you’re reading. Don’t let them blast some b.s. into your head and swiftly move past it, eh?

What the hell kind of message are they spreading in crazy conservative media these days? I ask because old white men have suddenly taken to shooting anybody who appears on their property – without warning, without communication, certainly without cause.

A 16 year old kid, Ralph Yarl, mistakenly went to the wrong house trying to pick up his siblings. The homeowner opened the door and shot the kid in the head. They never spoke. He just opened the door blasting. Sadly, the kid who got shot is black and the shooter is white and the shooting took place in Kansas City, Missouri so the police don’t really want to charge the white guy. Public pressure finally shamed them into action but it was as small an action as they could take. The best they could come up with was “armed criminal action.” The 85-year-old man shot the younger man twice. Once in the head and again after Yarl fell. Yarl is fighting for his life. The old man? Well you might see him at a barbecue this weekend…

That seemed like an isolated incident, just some crazy old man who could be (and was) made to panic at the mere sight of a black person. But…hold the phone. Holy gods, it happened again! A not-quite-as-old white man, Keven Monahan, 65, saw a car pull into his driveway. His response? He came out shooting! He just stepped out of the house and opened fire on the car. I doubt this one was racially motivated as he didn’t have the chance to notice that the people in the car were white. Well, at least one of them was. HE killed a 20-year-old white woman named Kaylin Gillis. He’s charged with second-degree murder.

The point is, one crazy old white guy opening the door and shooting is an isolated incident, an old man who has lost his grip on reality. The second time, though? I’m not ready to call it a trend but two blind shootings in three days starts to look like reality is being ripped from the weak-thinker’s minds. Fear everybody, all the time. That sound just like the message of the conservative media. The very same message they’ve been delivering for decades. Now it’s coming to full fruition.

I’ll tell you this: DC vs Heller was always a bad and dangerous, seriously flawed ruling but now it’s becoming a nightmare from which America can not wake..