politics

To The Victors…

by MyBaconPress

Well…it’s time. We (some of us) fought the good fight. We really tried. We did everything we could. But in the end, all of our efforts were for naught. We’ve lost and it’s time to acknowledge the fact, congratulate the winners, and move on to the next set of issues. So…congratulations climate change deniers! You’ve won. You were successful in blocking and stalling any climate action that might have arrested the effects of the changing climate er, I mean, interfered with profits for some oil companies and now…well, there’s nothing anybody can do to stop what’s coming. Nice.

That’s the sportsmanlike response. I have to admit, I’m a little bitter about your victory. It’s not that I’m a poor loser. But the “prize” for your “victory,” in this case, is a planet increasingly unable to support human life. I feel like you made a poor choice and I have to suffer the consequences – right along with you. That sucks. It’s made all the worse for the certain knowledge that you used deceitful and underhanded tactics to achieve your “victory.” I suppose that was your only choice. You didn’t have any legitimate science behind you and you didn’t have any legitimate evidence. All you had was lies and obfuscations – but you made the most of them. And, really, you didn’t have to “win” the debate. You had only to not lose. It didn’t matter how often or how completely your claims were debunked. As long as you could keep talking, the “debate” raged. And you just kept blathering. (Technically, baffling with bullshit…)


Have you ever heard of the Drake Equation? It’s a mathematical formula that attempts to define the number of alien races in our galaxy that developed to a point where they could send signals into space. That doesn’t mean intentionally send signals into space. For example, we reached that point when we started broadcasting radio and television signals. They sometimes slip out of our atmosphere and travel off to unknown places. Since EVERY aspect of the Drake Equation is a variable one just…supplies, the numbers can hardly be called “solid.” One can make the thing work and show one civilization or 500,000 – or whatever other number makes you happy. BUT…

If there are 500,000 civilizations out there capable of sending signals into space – on purpose or otherwise – why can’t we ever hear anything? We ARE listening. There’s an entire program out there, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) that spends a great deal of time looking for signals. It’s been YEARS – decades, even. So far, ONE – exactly ONE “WOW” moment. It’s called the “Wow” moment because the scientist who discovered the pattern wrote “Wow” next to it. But the one moment never repeated and no one knows for SURE it was an organized signal. It could have been just space noise.

There was this physicist named Enrico Fermi who heard about Drake’s Equation and responded with, “Well, where is everybody?” It’s kind of a fun question. If 500,000 civilizations have developed that might have sent signals into space surely some of them developed long before humanity even crawled out of the sea. Even if they’re not coming this way for what we could only hope was a visit, they should STILL be sending signals – assuming they survived long enough to send signals on purpose. We do. We sent space probes with detailed information about finding Earth and what humans look like. We send signals into space to communicate with our space probes and stations. As I’ve already mentioned, episodes of ‘I Love Lucy’ and ‘The Honeymooners’ are well on their way to Alpha Centauri or where ever.

Do you know a common component of many of humanity’s wars? Something new. Maybe it’s a tactic. Maybe it’s technology but it’s commonly something new. The Mongol hoards used horseback speed to overwhelm their opponents. The Greeks perfected a formation called a phalanx. The Romans took over the world when they added their Gladius sword (it could thrust AND slice!) to the phalanx formation. The Nazis used the Blitzkrieg or “lightening war” – speed in the form of planes from the sky and soldiers and tanks racing across the countryside. The Europeans had rifles while the First Nations had only bow-and-arrows. Come to think of it, Africans had no technological equivalent to European weapons technology, either. There’s a physicist named Michio Kaku. He says we shouldn’t be sending signals into space because anybody who can receive them AND come to Earth would have the technological advantage and be free to do with us as they please. “To Serve Man,” anyone? I agree with him in principal but I think that ship actually sailed LONG before any of us had a chance to ponder the question. At this point, they’d just follow Lucy back to her point of origin…

Anyway, Fermi’s question, “Where is everyone?” is often answered with the supposition that civilizations DO develop to a certain point and then, basically, find some way to destroy themselves. It’s all theoretical, of course, except now we have some…immediate evidence. There’s no telling how many humans are going to die as a result of runaway climate change but the answer is a “non-zero number.” It’s already a “non-zero number.” Sure, the fires and the floods will kill but so will food shortages, forced migrations, violent clashes, and riots. Oh, and don’t forget the illnesses that will rear their ugly…um…spiky proteins as weather conditions become more favorable for them. There’s every possibility the Earth will just shake off humanity like a dog shakes off water.

Thanks to the efforts of the climate change deniers, it’s looking more and more like humanity is about to render itself nothing more than a cautionary tale to future developing civilizations. If you ask me, it was a stupid choice, destruction of the species in exchange for a dollar. Very stupid. But the question is settled now. We know what killed us; stupidity…

Killing and Dying…

by MyBaconPress

Generally speaking, I hold that in order for a transaction to be honestly Capitalist, both parties must have a legitimate ability to say no.  CLEARLY, this is not the case with health care.  So, I support universal health care.  Specifically, Bernie’s proposal for Medicare for all.  Why re-invent the wheel, right?

Okay, so this right-wing activist “judge,” Reed O’Connor, rules in his “court” that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.  (As it happens, he’s a shill for right-wing causes and heavily involved with the Federalist Society…)  In my opinion, that’s bad.  But I was never a fan of the ACA.  I know it was originally proffered by the far-right Heritage Foundation as an alternative to universal health care back when Bill asked Hillary to pretend to look into it in the 1990’s.  (Not surprisingly, she failed…)

The ACA became known, popularly, as ‘Obamacare.’  Most people benefit from it.  Conservatives hate Obamacare, though they LOVE the Affordable Care Act.  (Why, yes.  You CAN use that as a gauge regarding their level of understanding of…things…)  This activist judge’s ruling will, of course, cause pain to huge swaths of our country.  As with all things conservative, the vast majority of people will suffer.  Many will die.

But I suspect that by striking down the ACA, this Texican “judge” has inadvertently opened the door to Medicare for all.  Sooner or later, the United States is going to have to join the rest of civilized humanity and provide universal health care as a right, not another obligation to pay…

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The National Shame has named Mick Mulvaney to be his next Chief of Staff.  Apparently, Mulvaney is expected to continue in his current role as Director of the Office of Management and Budget as well.

That’s a good insight into how hard these people are working, isn’t it?  Mulvaney can do TWO jobs, each of which normally consume inordinate amounts of time?  My guess is Mulvaney will be COSINO (Chief of Staff In Name Only).  Look for Kushner to do the job until his court dates start piling up and, after his conviction, perhaps Ivanka will take over – you know, until HER conviction…

“Drain the swamp,” indeed.  It sure seems to me that Trump is trying his best to out-do Reagan when it comes to number of administration members who end up in prison.  True, he’s on a pretty solid run at this point but Reagan had eight years to send his 138 people to prison.  I don’t think Trump is going to have the time needed to make it a true competition…

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Donald J. Trump is now killing children at the border.  Well, he’s not doing it personally.  He’s a coward.  He would NEVER do it personally.  But his racist policies are getting the job done for him.

US and international law allows for people to seek asylum.  The Orange Foolius declaring them “illegals” and refusing their requests is, itself, a crime.  Now someone – a child named Jakelin Caal – has died as a direct result.  Can we add involuntary manslaughter to his list of crimes?

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I think the NFL is going to end up paying Colin Kaepernick a HUGE amount of money when they finally have to settle his lawsuit and it’s just arrogant stupidity that’s causing it.  ALL THEY HAD TO DO was sign him to some team – any team.  But when Alex Smith and then his backup went down in Washington, the professional football team there signed two career “also-ran” Quarterbacks.  There can be no question the NFL is colluding against Kaepernick in retaliation for Kaep’s stance on police brutality…

I’ll tell you this: the NFL employs a LOT of people of color.  One would think they would at least put on a show of support for a protest opposing the wanton murders of people of color…

Passing and Impeachment…

by MyBaconPress

I guess one can’t write about politics without mentioning the passing of George H. W. Bush, aka Bush 41 so…

One down, one to go…

The truth is, I suspect Bush 41 was the last President of the United States from the old order.  Reagan began the coup but 41 failed to follow through.  Reagan initiated the government-strangling tax cuts for the wealthy.  41 used the policy to get elected but when he saw the damage that was already starting, he raised taxes again.  BAM!  One term President.

But Clinton returned to the plan, finalizing the destruction of independent media, and each “President” since has moved forward with the Oligarch-supporting arrangement.  (Republicans do it nakedly, aggressively.  Democrats have to pretend to “lose the fight” but the result is always the same: comfort the comfortable, afflict the afflicted…)

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SO…Paul Manafort is playing both sides of the fence, is he?  It will be interesting to see if the so-called “President” (or, in this case, Trump) will try to give him a pardon.  If he does, it will certainly set up a Constitutional crisis.  See, Article II, Section 2, subsection 1 of the Constitution of the United States grants the President the power of pardons “…except in Cases of Impeachment.”

I suppose those trying to defend this train-wreck of a human being will argue that since Trump hasn’t been impeached he still has full authority to grant pardons to anyone.  Sure, that would be stupid but that doesn’t mean his apologists won’t argue the point, like, forever.  The reason it’s a stupid argument is that it takes time to build a case for impeachment.  If the President (or in this case, Trump) can just pardon people for participating in impeachable crimes as they occur, it would become literally impossible to impeach any President (or even Trump).  Cons would only acknowledge this, though, if the President in question had a ‘D’ after his name…

BUT…if Manafort is being prosecuted for crimes like money laundering and other white collar crimes that have nothing to do with the President (or in this case, Trump), then Trump should, by rights, have the authority to pardon Manafort.

Also, what if it’s an impeachable offense but nobody it planning an impeachment?  I suppose the newly Democratic House can draft Articles of Impeachment even knowing the Senate won’t ever follow through.  That could stop Trump from pardoning his cronies willy-nilly.

Does the United States have a President or a dictator?  The whole world waits with bated breath…

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I’ve noticed a fairly new trend: Democratic party members are starting to inhabit faith-based politics in a way previously seen only in conservative circles.  The Dems have been selling a story about what happened in the 2016 “election” and insisting that everybody agree with the tale.  Progressives, who prefer facts and therefore reject the party line, are written off as “purists.”  If you want to be a mainstream Democrat today, you’ve GOT to subscribe to the ‘Russia-did-it’ story.

I’ve even seen loyalist Democrats in social media gleefully declaring “Fuck the WWC!”  (‘WWC’ is ‘White Working Class.’  In context, they actually mean non-college educated white working class because of their beliefs about who voted for Hillary and who didn’t.  It’s part of the faith message and helps them protect themselves from the reality that many (most?) of those with degrees qualify as ‘white working class’ as well.)  The message they seem to be trying to convince themselves of is that college-educated, party-loyal Dems no longer need the support of independent Progressives.

I’ll tell you this: I suspect they’re trying to press the message because they’re planning on running Hillary again.  I guess time will tell how well that works out for them…

Shortcut To Power…

by MyBaconPress

I have a lot of respect for Willie Brown.  Agree with him or not, if you’re an honest individual, you have to admit, the man has a brilliant mind for politics.  That makes it nice for me that I’ve mostly agreed with him.  Please take note, as I have, that I haven’t written any bits about Mr. Brown when I agree with him.  So…guess what?  I saw an article in this morning’s SF Chronicle written by Willie Brown called, ‘Berniecrats try to shortcut their way to power‘…

He’s decrying the idea that Democratic Socialists are running on the Democratic ticket.  It’s a short piece but it could have been shorter.  This paragraph sums up the whole thing nicely: “Democratic socialists are not Democrats. They run under the Democratic banner, but they have contempt for traditional Democrats. They just don’t have nerve to run as a third party.”

Coupla things…

It probably doesn’t need to be pointed out to Mr. Brown that it wasn’t an original idea of the Democratic Socialists to infiltrate one of the two major parties of our so-called “two-party system.”  The Libertarians did it to the Republicans and have driven them to the extreme, even nut-ball right.  I don’t have “contempt” for traditional Democrats.  But I am rooting for the Democratic Socialists to have great success running as Democrats, thereby pushing the Democratic party back to being a progressive party rather than the center-right “safety” spot they occupy today.

The way I see it, this phenomenon is occurring specifically because – as Mr. Brown certainly knows – it’s very difficult to set up a viable third party these days.  There was a time in history when Teddy Roosevelt got angry with the Republicans and set up a new, third party and ran in all 50 states that year (1912). The Progressive Party (aka, The Bull Moose Party) even carried six states.  But then the “two parties” started introducing and passing “ballot access” laws making it more and more difficult for competing parties to obtain nationwide access.

The Green Party first appeared on a ballot in Alaska in 1990.  As of 2008, the Green Party was able to appear on ballots in 31 states and the District of Columbia.  18 years.  63% of state ballots (+DC).  As of September, 2016 they had achieved 45 states.  88%, 26 years.  The question of whether or not they have the nerve to run as a third party never enters into it.  They don’t have the ability to run as a third party.  Willie Brown’s extensive political expertise absolutely precludes any possibility he doesn’t understand that reality.

Mr. Brown is, as I’ve already indicated, politically brilliant but he’s also – and, apparently, more importantly – a loyal Democrat.  It has ever been thus so it’s not really news.  But the Democrats put themselves in a tough spot when they sold the nomination up front  and they’ve been peddling alternative realities ever since in the vain hope that something, anything might stick.  I think they should just leave it alone.  People have made their determinations about what happened in 2016 and they’re not likely to change.

I’ll tell you this: I find it difficult to believe the Democrats would run ANY risk of reigniting the Dem Wars of 2016.  Particularly one as savvy as Willie Brown…

Shame…

by MyBaconPress

Shame, noun – a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.  They say adversity builds character.  We all know, by now, that Donald Trump has never known a minute of adversity in his entire life, which explains his complete failure as a human being and his total lack of character.  Every time I think the bar can’t be lowered, it gets lowered and I’m left gobsmacked trying to figure out what happened to this once-great nation…

I’ve been known to refer to the POS (oh, did I forget the T and the U?) as our ‘National Embarrassment’ but in my mind, he’s earned a change in status.  Is it an upgrade or a downgrade?  I don’t know but from this point forward, he’ll be known, by me, as our ‘National Shame.’

The Saudis have admitted to killing Jamal Khashoggi but say it was the result of an impromptu fistfight.  I’ve got to say, it sure was prescient of the Saudis to bring a bone saw to a meeting just in case an impromptu fistfight broke out that would end in the need to dismember a body!  Who knows, perhaps Saudis take bone saws to EVERY meeting.  That would certainly explain the GOP’s cowardly and deferential behavior toward them.  (Remember when 43 gave King Abdullah a big kiss on the lips?)

Our National Shame says he finds the explanation credible.  Oh, and let’s be sure that whatever response the United States comes up with does NOT interfere with the arms deal…

So there it is.  The United States has been finally, fully exposed.  It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do, so long as nothing interferes with profits.  Even a blatant murder can be – should be – overlooked…so long as nothing queers the deal.  The weapons in question are most likely going to be used to kill innocent Yemenis, too, but even that’s okay…so long as the checks clear.

It should be noted that our National Shame might react a bit if his buddy Sean Hannity was murdered.  After all, Khashoggi wrote for the Washington Post and Trump effing HATES the Washington Post.  (They write honestly about him and he can’t have that.)  But even if it was Hannity, the Shame would move forward with whatever deal was on the table.  Hannity would understand.

But I don’t…

Uncivilized…

by MyBaconPress

Reuters is reporting that The National Embarrassment says separating families at the border and stealing children deters illegal immigration.  I’d have to guess that’s true.  The people running for their lives were looking for a civilized place where they might be able to survive.  Trump has shown the world that the United States is NOT a civilized place any more…

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Still holding hope for a ‘Blue Wave’?  Is it true that Democrats don’t get out the vote or is it MORE true that Republicans cheat so shamefully, completely, and sadly, successfully that it isn’t possible for enough Democrats to vote?  I’d say it’s the second one.  Case in point?  In Georgia, a man named Brian Kemp is the Secretary of State AND the Republican nominee for Governor.  He’s using his office as Secretary of State to suppress opposition votes in every way he can – legal and otherwise.  It’s an obvious conflict of interest but his supporters will just say it was smart.  I find myself thinking about JFK’s warning: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”…

VOTE…

by MyBaconPress

Remember back a few years ago when every faith-based “Movement Conservative” knew – and I mean absolutely knew – that Mexicans were coming across the border and cutting off the heads of farmers who lived nearby?  The stories were rampant.  Finally, a reporter went on down to the areas around the borders and asked the Sheriffs for the incident reports.  Surely people weren’t having their heads chopped off without law enforcement at least making a report, right?  Turned out, of course, it was just a myth…a Movement Conservative Myth.  Sure, they still believe it.  Nothing can cause them to change a belief they’ve decided on, least of all factual basis.  But for the rest of us, it confirmed what we already suspected: Movement Conservative Blather…nothing more…

It’s the same with this voter fraud…um…fraud.  Every one of the Movement Conservatives knows – just KNOWS – that in-person voter fraud is rampant.  Thousands, millions, maybe billions of fraudulent votes get cast in every single election if you ask them.  In truth, it doesn’t happen, at least not to a statistically significant degree.  When it DOES happen, it’s usually a matter of sending in an absentee ballot and then going to the polling place anyway.  I know Ann Coulter did it.  I’ll bet she wasn’t trying to help Hillary, though.

Trump said it happened again in the 2016 election.  It didn’t.  They said it anyway.  Trump established a commission.  When they started to discover that it hadn’t happened, Trump disbanded the commission.  People argued about it over the internet.  In today’s Guardian appears this article,  ‘Documents disprove White House voter fraud claims, says ex-member of Trump commission.’  Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.  No, don’t try to convince your Trumpublican uncle.  He can’t hear you.  He’s faith-based…

You know what DOES happen, though?  Computer voter fraud.  These are the voting machines built by the companies the build ATM’s but those same companies insist they can’t build a machine that handles complex transactions AND gives you a receipt.  Anyway, you cast a ballot on one of those computer voting machines and maybe your vote gets counted as intended, maybe your vote gets applied to the vile candidate.  There’s no way for you – or anyone else – to know.

I keep hearing about how the Russians interfered with our “election” by saying mean things about Hillary on the internet.  Truth be told, I have a hard time getting upset about it.  The conservatives have been saying absolutely horrible things about Hillary since 1992.  When I saw some lying meme about her during the campaign, the thought of Russians never crossed my mind.  I just dismissed it as more conservative bullshit.  But while all this talk is going on, there’s also talk around the edges about the security of the voting machines.  Did they hack in?  Did they flip votes?

Of course they did.  You don’t really think this country elected Trump, do you?  But the “two parties” don’t want to admit it for two reasons.  The public face is that they want to reassure the public that the voting system is fair and accurate.  But the real reason is that each party wants to try to maintain the ability to hack into the machines and swing elections they way they’d like to see them come out.  In my mind’s eye, I see two “war rooms”, one Republican, one Democrat, each furiously hacking into machines and switching votes.  The Dems flip one, the Repubs flip another.  The Dems flip one the Repubs have already flipped and the Repubs come back to flip it back their way and vice-versa.  Back and forth the battle goes until the polls close and a “winner” is announced.

Either way, your vote probably didn’t get counted accurately – at least not if you wanted to vote for someone other than the conservative.  So, if you want to vote for the conservative, go ahead and use the machines.  (Can you tell I think the cons are better at it?  They’ve had more practice.)  BUT…if you want to vote for someone other than the conservative and you want your vote to count, DO NOT – under any circumstances – use a computerized voting machine to cast your ballot.  Vote absentee.  Paper.  Traceable.  “Unflippable”, if you will…

The major parties won’t like it and the press won’t like it.  It will take FAR longer to count the ballots and announce a winner if they have to count all the absentee ballots – but it will be a better outcome.  Vote!  You just have to, that’s all.  There are no acceptable excuses in this “election.”  But vote absentee.  (Hey, it’s actually easier and you can vote in your underwear – or less, if you’re so inclined.)  Make the bastards count the paper ballots.

I’ll tell you this: we cannot count on our “elected” officials to do the right thing in this matter.  They have too much to lose.  The ONLY way we can take back the vote is if we use paper and the only way we can voluntarily use paper is if we all vote absentee, so that’s what we need to do…

Thoughts?

Opinions…

by MyBaconPress

Look, I get it.  Everyone has a right to their own opinion.  But I learned from Francis Bacon (no, not directly) that the sheer number of opinions that exist stand as testament to the number of opinions that must be wrong.  Is that not true of the faith-based “Movement Conservatives”?

TrumpShootsUncleSam2

This cartoon recently traveled around the internet.  It has one major flaw: our National Embarrassment is a coward and would NEVER shoot someone himself.  But I think it’s brilliant in many ways.  It hearkens back to a campaign speech now-President Crumple made in which he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any supporters.  It demonstrates his loyalty to Putin and Russia and his contempt for Uncle Sam and the United States.  His acolytes simply ignore what they see and stick with their preferred narrative.

I occasionally excuse their behavior with the idea that they’re being deceived by people who are VERY good at deceiving but the truth is, after awhile, one must acknowledge they’ve CHOSEN to be deceived.  They prefer it.  So, how much longer do thinking people have to pretend that Movement Conservatives have anything of value to add to the national conversation?

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And while we’re on the topic (and when are we not?) have you seen that the so-called POTUS is now talking tough to Iran?  (From a safe distance, of course.)  IN ALL CAPS, no less.  Iran is upset, rightfully in my opinion, that Trump welched on the Iran agreement.  They recognize that Trump is unstable.  They expressed their displeasure at his fecklessness.  He responds with threats.  His negotiating tactic – ‘Never honor an agreement’ – is becoming tiring to the rest of the world…

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I think it’s hilarious that China has retaliated to Trump’s stupid (wait…isn’t that redundant?) tariffs by attacking his supporters in the heartland.  I suspect the Chinese are thinking that when the Trumpsters begin to suffer the results of Trump’s stupid policy they’ll re-think their support.  They won’t.  They’ll just blame Obama…

Oh and speaking of deferring blame, would Movement Conservatives please come up with something more entertaining than Hillary’s emails?  I know, you can’t defend so you have to misdirect but could you please find something to point to other than the deleted messages?  They’re gone.  (That’s the ‘deleted’ part, see?)  There’s nothing anybody can do about it.  Hell, I’d agree that they probably contained nefarious or otherwise harmful information.  It hurt her more than helped her that they went missing.  But they’re gone.  Find a new talking point.  That one has run it’s course…

Out With the Old…

by MyBaconPress

There’s an old saying.  It has a lot of variants but it goes something like this: If you’re not a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart.  If you’re not a conservative when you’re old, you have no head.  People who DO become conservative like to use this line as a way to suggest they find some deeper understanding as they age and naturally become conservative.

My personal feeling is that the phrase simply describes a phenomenon of aging.  Another way to say it is this: when you’re young, healthy, and vibrant – when your body and brain are working at their optimum – you think well.  Therefore, you tend to be liberal.  After years of abuse by the world, alcohol, injuries and just plain age – when your body and brain are no longer functioning well – you think poorly or, perhaps, just “less effectively.”  THAT’S when you become more conservative.

I think that has been happening to Diane Feinstein over the years.  Now, don’t get me wrong, here.  I’m not suggesting Feinstein is some kind of rabid tea-bagger hoping for the end of America but she certainly seems to have moved right with age at a time when an increasing number of Americans are tiring of the “incremental baby-steps” approach.  People are looking for more progressive representatives.

Apparently, the California Democrats agree.  They’ve endorsed Kevin de Leon in his bid for the US Senate despite the elder Statesperson’s request that they remain neutral.  Feinstein’s camp suggested such an endorsement might lead to inter-party squabbles.  It might.  Perhaps, since the California Democrats have endorsed their preferred candidate, she might consider stepping aside with grace and supporting the new wave.

Ha ha, just kidding.  Of COURSE she’s going to run.  Hell, she’s still the odds-on favorite to win.  I don’t have any major heartburn with that.  She’s been (mostly) good for California for years.  But she’s 85.  She’s held her seat since 1992.  That’s 26 years!  She’s the oldest sitting Senator.  Perhaps it’s time for new blood; a new vision…

Handlers and Assets…

by MyBaconPress

I’ve been listening to Chuck Schumer and other Democrats call on our National Embarrassment to cancel his one-on-one with Putin.  The position is that because there’s so much evidence – like the 12 Russians just indicted for conspiracy – linking the Russians to attempted disruptions of the last “election” it’s probably not a good idea to have a private, one-on-one meeting.

That’s the correct position, of course, but only in a world where right and wrong matter.  We no longer live in that world so, right or wrong, the meeting proceeds.  Besides, do you actually think a spy enjoys the authority to tell their handler whether or not they’ll answer a call?  I don’t think so.  Putin calls, Trump responds.  That’s the way it works.

I’ll tell you this: Trump will be lucky if Putin doesn’t make Trump blow him before they trade information and the next assignment…you know, just to show who’s boss…