Ousters…

Well, it looks like the Hamas genocide effort- from the river to the sea – isn’t going all that well for them. Meanwhile, Israel’s genocide effort – every Palestinian is probably Hamas – is moving forward at a steady pace.

Anybody not wearing blinders has seen Israel’s answer to the October 7 attack progress from ‘proper response’ to ‘over-reaction’ to ‘brutal response’ to straight up ‘brutality’ before becoming ‘war crimes’ and very obviously working toward genocide.

Biden is in a tough spot. The US is obligated to support Israel no matter what. We get a lot of intel on the Middle East from Israel. But Israel is wrong in this fight. They’ve surrendered the moral high ground by continuing, and amplifying, their brutal campaign and they’re using American-made weaponry to do it.

Biden wants Netanyahu to stop. Netanyahu isn’t going to stop until every Palestinian is dead – unless someone makes him stop. And who the hell can make him stop?

I’ll tell you this: I don’t WANT to be a part of a genocide. I don’t want my tax dollars used to kill innocent people just so Netanyahu can achieve his personal dreams. I don’t want the US to provide any more weapons until Israel stands down. They can make their own, genocidal weaponry. Oh, crap, you don’t suppose they’ll be building ovens soon, do you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, ha, ha, ha! The cons in the House have voted to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas – over the border, no less. All they had to do was disregard their own decision to scuttle the bipartisan border bill because Donny needed something to run on. That’s kind of stupid, in and of itself.

For one thing, cons don’t give two figs about evidence. They could have passed the border bill and STILL pretended that nothing was being done – in the same way they continue to pretend the economy is, secretly, still struggling. For another thing, though, Donny is only going to whine about how everybody is picking on him and what a poor baby snowflake he is anyway. Why the hell does he need an issue?

It turns out, MAGA HAD to move forward with their, um, trumped up impeachment if they wanted to get someone impeached. And they WANTED to get someone impeached. They needed it. They needed it bad… They apparently feel like they need to impeach somebody in order to try to make the case that Dems are as bad as their criminal, rapist, con-man, ex-president. They’re SO desperate to impeach somebody, anybody, they’ll even make things up. So, when their plans for Joe fell apart, they turned to Mayorkas. The thing is, there was a timing issue they were facing.

They were tracking the special election being held in New York. You know the one. One of theirs, George Santos, got so deeply into his criminal activity, they booted him from Congress. Think about that. The cons will put up with TONS of stuff. Almost anything, really. Criminal activity isn’t just part of the conservative mantra, it’s a requirement. How badly did George have to mess up to get cons to kick them out over his criminal behavior? I guess it’s just too bad, for him, that he isn’t Donny. Anyway, dumping Santos meant that a special election had to be held to fill his seat and the Democrat in the race won!

So, late Tuesday night, they had the vote. It passed, 214-213. One vote. On Wednesday, the vote would have failed because the new Democratic Congress critter takes his seat immediately when filling a vacated seat. That’s some pretty weasel stuff, right there. They don’t even have a case (the same vote lost just last week), they don’t have any evidence of a crime because they don’t have a crime. Oh, but they got their impeachment.

Do you suppose MAGA is dumb enough to believe this, even after watching the whole thing play out, in public, on national television, seeing the machinations of the GOP to create out of whole cloth some cockamamie story and then act on it? Yeah, of course they are. Being that stupid should be painful…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Putin told a Russian state journalist he prefers Biden to Trump because Biden is a better politician. Putin likes Biden better than Trump! I wonder, NOW will the Putin-loving cons help Ukraine? Of course, the cons will say it’s because Putin can push Biden around easier but the whole world watched as Putin got his way with Trump over and over and over again, though it’s true he didn’t “push him around.” He didn’t need to. Trump was totally complicit…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the Kansas City Chiefs got their big parade to celebrate their big win in the NFL’s Big Game – and shooting ensued. 1 dead, 10 injured. What the hell is wrong with people? Two shooters have been arrested. (Please, gods, don’t let them be Niner fans who couldn’t take the loss. Don’t let them be Niner fans who couldn’t take the loss. Please don’t let them be Niner fans who couldn’t take the loss…)

In other after-the-game action, the Niners have parted ways with Steve Wilkes. I’ve had heartburn with the guy most of the season. I challenged myself to come up with a one-sentence summary of the Stupid Bowel and came up with this: If DeMeco Ryans is still the Defensive Coordinator, the Niners win that game. Yes, simplistic. I had one sentence to work with. But, I suspect, quite correct.

It’s not that Wilkes’ defense was bad, exactly. It’s just that it wasn’t good anymore. The team tried to work with the guy. They brought him down to the sidelines so people around him could help him. They got him an assistant. I’m sure they worked with him in the background as much as possible. The defense remained real average.

When writers wrote about it, they said things like, “Wilkes defense has struggled as he tried to put his own spin on it.” He did, too, try to put his own spin on it. And the defense struggled. I think his job was in serious jeopardy after the playoff games with the nearly non-existent defense in the first half of both games. I suspect he got help at the half in both games. The point at which I suspect he reached serious jeopardy? Wilkes said the problem was “lack of effort” on the player’s part.

But we all know: it’s a poor craftsman who blames his tools. It’s also a great way to lose a locker room overnight. The main thing that changed between 2022 and 2023 is the DC. The rest of the team was pretty much the same. I suspect the organization thought Steve was out when that became so clear. But, obviously, one doesn’t fire their Defensive Coordinator going into the Putrid Brawl. The thing is, do you know who else I suspect noticed that old Steve was likely getting coached at the half? Why, that would be Andy Reid, the very savvy Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. And Andy made a plan.

I suspect Andy decided to play a simple and straight-forward offense in the first half. Steve looked good. Steve can handle simple. THEN Andy brought the “good stuff” in the second half, when it was too late for someone to help poor, lost Steve, who clearly didn’t have a clue. But even if there was some question as to whether Wilkes could be salvaged or not, I feel CERTAIN he lost his job when his head coach had to burn a timeout because the Defensive Coordinator had called SUCH a wrong defense, even the announcers commented on what a poor call that was.

I know. That was a lot on Steve Wilkes. But I think it was cathartic for me so thank you for your patience…

The Games People Play…

Well, that was a very good football game with an ending I’d rather had gone differently. Congratulations to the Chiefs. They’re an amazing football team and beat the Niners pretty much the way I feared they would. I’ve got the Niner loss down to Moody missing that Point After Touchdown and Wilkes’ defense in the second half and overtime.

The missed kick changed the entire strategy of the game. KC only needed a Field Goal to stay in the game instead of a touchdown. Losing Greenlaw was huge – and heartbreaking. The guy tore his Achilles tendon running back onto the field. This meant his backup came in. A coach like Reid is going to target a backup player and Coach Reid certainly did. Wilkes called a pretty good game at the start but there’s something about the guy. He seems to revert to less-than play-calling in some situations.

At one point, Defensive Coordinator Wilkes called SUCH a poor play, Head Coach Shanahan was forced to use a timeout to tell him to call something else. Even the commentators were saying it was a seriously bad play call in the moment. It’s possible Shanahan would have done that again but he only gets three timeouts per half. I’m guessing he was irritated he had to do it once, let alone use all his timeouts trying to help his DC.

Look, I don’t mean to lay this all off on Moody and Wilkes. Mostly, KC is a great football team and all of Niner nation knew this was a possibility going into the game. We also knew the weak points. In what turned out to be something of a metaphor for the game, Moody set a Putrid Bowel record with a long field goal. Yay! Then, he lost the record to KC’s kicker, Butker, in the same game. Rats!

Moody’s challenge is playing in the shadow of Robbie Gould, one of the great kickers to have played the game. He might get more consistent. But Wilkes has a long history of real average coaching. There was no reason to think he was the guy to suddenly step up to that level and it turned out he wasn’t. I suspect the Niners will give a presser and say Wilkes did a fine job and it wasn’t him and yadda, yadda. Then, I suspect, the Niners will seek out a stronger candidate.

On the up side, this was Brock Purdy’s FIRST full season and he took the team to, and had a chance to win, the biggest game of the big games. Because Brock is stuck in a rookie contract, the Niners have a LOT of salary cap space, so they may, well, be able to keep the core of the team together. What THAT means is that it’s more than just blather when the Niners say, “We’ll see you next season!”

Also on the up side? We get to leave all the hype about the big game behind us for awhile. Now all we have to endure is hours and hours of political commercials and that’s…ah, crap! When does football start, again?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is Donny’s deadline to ask the Kangaroo Court to rule on whether or not Joe Biden has perfect immunity. Okay, no, that’s not his question. He wants perfect immunity for himself. The DC Court of Appeals has said, rightly, that no American president has perfect immunity. Donny knew he was going to lose this fight going into it. He didn’t care. The point was about stalling. The court sniffed that out and ruled that a) he doesn’t have perfect immunity, b) he could appeal to the entire panel but the case was going back to Chutkin and would be active again even if he did, and c) they gave him until today to file his appeal with the ideological kangaroos.

The kangaroos, I’m sure, would love to help him. They help him every chance they get. But in this case, how do they give Donny perfect immunity without giving it to Joe, too? The only real risk is that the court takes up the case and then waits until it’s slinking out the back door late at night in June to issue their ruling. That would buy Donny LOTS of time…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you see that weasel crap about Robert Kennedy, Jr during the Scooper Brawl? A Super PAC that supports him used an ad that looked exactly like something John F. Kennedy used in the 1960 campaign, complete with vintage look and soundtrack, and just stuck ‘Robert’ in where it would have said ‘John’ originally. In fact, it WAS something John Kennedy used. I wonder if the PAC can be sued for plagiarism? The thing is, THIS Kennedy is no John Kennedy. He’s a righty, in fact. He’s trading on his father’s and uncle’s name but he’s not in their league by like, light-years.

The dude even pretended to be a Democrat until 2023, when he switched to ‘Independent.’ The subterfuge, pretending to be a Democratic Kennedy, helped to get him elected in the first place. Now he’s running for President. I don’t know. Pretending to be something you absolutely are not in order to trick the electorate into supporting you? That seems…sneaky. Then again, it really is the American way…

Oversights…

Okay, so there’s a scathing new report out suggesting that the Biden administration has been downplaying Biden’s retention of classified documents. First we were told it was only a few. Then, there were a few more. Then, a few more. A special counsel was assigned.

In the end, the special counsel determined that Biden had willfully retained some documents but that no charges were warranted. This is likely because Biden cooperated with the whole thing. The special counsel took great pains to rip on Joe Biden for being old. That was not necessary but I was okay with it. It demonstrates the guy didn’t like Biden but STILL couldn’t recommend charges.

Do you think that will shut MAGA up, though? Where have YOU been living, under a rock? Of course it won’t shut MAGA up. They’ll see NO difference, whatsoever, between Biden having documents, turning himself in over them, cooperating with the investigation and giving them all back and Donny’s efforts to keep the documents, first claiming he didn’t have them, then that they were his to keep, then lying about giving them back, then trying to hide them. THEN trying to “negotiate” the documents return, finally losing them in a warrant search of Mar-a-Lardo, only to discover he likely has even MORE in his secret locked room.

Biden shouldn’t have had those documents and he is paying a political price (MAGA whining) for having them. Donny shouldn’t have had the documents HE had, either, but his crimes are about obstruction of justice – which Joe DIDN’T do. Joe cooperated, Donny didn’t. Joe gets a scathing report that attacks his age, Donny got charged. It’s all in keeping with the law and known legal practices but MAGA is going to scream and shout about this for a long time to come. Thanks, Joe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turns out? It’s not likely to matter. Scientists have discovered that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc), a vast system of ocean currents that is a key component in global climate regulation is slowing at a far faster rate than previously expected. Great.

So, what IS the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, you say? It’s a conveyor belt in the Atlantic ocean that moves warm and cold water around, regulating much of the Earth’s climate. As global warming advances, the glaciers in Greenland are melting and dumping massive amounts of cold, fresh water into the ocean. This, in turn, slows the Amoc and changes the planetary climate – for the worse, it you’re human (and many of us are).

Scientists told us this was going to happen decades ago. Conservatives shouted that scientists wouldn’t know their ass from a hole in the ground and the scientific consensus was wrong. They knew this because some talking head in the conservative bubble who knows nothing told them so. So, thanks to a political position du jour, humanity didn’t respond fast enough.

Scientists say the change is likely to happen so fast, adaptation will likely not be possible. Oh, they ALSO say it will be “devastating.” But absolutely, let’s keep debating whether there are kids in school who get cat boxes in the bathroom because they think they’re cats. (There aren’t and they don’t. That’s just more MAGA crazy…)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of Donny’s missteps. The other day on the campaign trail, he pointed out that Nikki Haley’s husband isn’t out, campaigning with her. ”Where is Nikki’s husband?” he asked, pointing out the absence. Interesting choice. See, Nikki Haley’s husband is a combat veteran and active duty military member deployed overseas. Nikki responded, “Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about.” Then she got to add, “Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief.”

This does two things: One, it highlights Donny’s draft-dodging cowardice and, Two, it begs the question; where is Melania, or anybody else in the Dumbass family for that matter? In 2016, Donny had nearly his whole crowd there. Barron stayed out because he was too young and Tiffany mostly missed it as well, though she did make some appearances.

But he had Ivanka, Dumbass Jr, and Eric with him all the time. Melania made the occasional appearance as well. I presume DJ and Eric are out because they need all of their time to fight the criminal charges they may be facing. Ivanka managed to avoid criminal charges, being the smartest of the crowd, and I suspect she’s staying away to keep from getting close to charges again.

We even know Melania renegotiated her marital agreement with Donny a few months back. The presumption at the time was she was getting more money for Barron before Donny loses it all in court battles but it surely included some provision that she pretend she likes him on the campaign trail a time or two. Still, it seems as though it would be fair for Nikki to ask the same as Donny, “Where’s Melania?” One thing’s certain, she sure as hell isn’t out “serving” anyone, particularly this country…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We don’t know where Michael Haley is (and we probably shouldn’t) and we don’t know where Melania is (and we REALLY don’t care) but we all know where Taylor is. She made it to LA and is now on her way to Nevada. It looks like she’s going to make it to the game, just in time to tell all the Swifties to vote for Biden…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donny’s comments are becoming increasingly unhinged. On Saturday, he claimed that in an unspecified NATO meeting, he told a head of state that if they’re delinquent, the US wouldn’t support or defend them. He added, “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” That, in and of itself is hilarious coming from the serial deadbeat Donny is known to be. But it’s also dangerous.

Trump brags he destroyed a woman’s right to choose. MAGA supports him. Trump brags that while daily carnage plays out in the streets, he will make no effort to protect Americans from Americans with any kind of gun regulation. MAGA supports him. Trump sings praises of dictators around the globe and insists he’d be a dictator on day one, pretending it would ONLY be day one. MAGA supports him.

Now he’s suggesting he would stand idly by while Putin attacks NATO allies. He would, too. And MAGA will support him. It’s sure a good thing the conservative corrupted supremely kangaroo court is going to keep him on the ballot and give him another chance to destroy our republic. He couldn’t QUITE pull it off on his first try. By all means, let’s keep giving him opportunities until he finally bumbles his way to success. Effin’ morons…

It Doesn’t Say What It Says…

It came up on the floor of Congress, again, that Marjorie Taylor Greene is a part of the J6 Coup Klutz Clan. She was being all whiny and screechy about crime in Washington DC when one of her colleagues, Robert Garcia, said, referring to MTG and the J6 rioters, “The first thing she does is … greets them and hugs them and prays with them and apologizes and is treating them like heroes…”

Quick question, is that not the very definition of giving aid and comfort? I hate to keep referring to the 14th amendment (I don’t, really) but if you will recall, it says, “…shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof.” (Emphasis added.) Okay, Georgia, it’s up to you. You can ’14th Amendment’ that bit- er, representative and get revenge porn out of Congress. If you want to.

Oh, then again? Maybe not…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On November 18, 2023, I wrote this: “I don’t like it any more than you do but the 14th isn’t going to keep Donny off the ballot in any state.” It sucks to be right about things like that but the most corrupt high court indicated heavily during the oral arguments on Thursday they don’t think the 14th applies unless Congress says it applies. The Constitution doesn’t SAY that. In fact, to me, it suggests exactly the opposite. The Constitution says Congress can remove “such disability.” It never says Congress has to impose the disability.

The other weasel point they’re relying on is whether or not states can decide for themselves how their elections work. Bear in mind, this is the “states rights” crowd. These are the people who, for example, attacked women throughout this country because women’s control over their own bodies should definitely be up to the states. Also, the fact that states get to make all the other decisions about each of their election processes suddenly doesn’t apply?

Look, it doesn’t have to make sense. It has to be words that sound kinda like they support the position the cons want in the first place. That’s it. I wrote this just last Thursday: “So now the only remaining question…is whether the Roberts Supremely Kangaroo Court will go ahead and trash whatever remaining credibility they might enjoy in order to play lapdog toady to their precious – or will they do the right thing?”

Full disclosure, I was writing about the immunity case when I wrote that. It looks like it was spot-on for the 14th Amendment case, as well. Everything is, and should be, states rights except when the states do something the cons don’t like. THEN it has to be Federally controlled if it can be. Unless the Federal government wants to do something the cons don’t like. THEN it’s clearly a states rights issue…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, I hear there’s a football game of some kind this weekend. The Kansas City Chiefs host the Santa Clara Forty-Niners in the Stupid Bowl. (Please note: the NFL, always in need of more cash, wants people to pay them, should they use the real name of the game. So, I use workarounds. They’re not all nice but I like the game. Still, if the NFL prefers I call it the Super Bowel, I’ll call it the Super Bowel…)

Commonly in this game, two very good teams are scheduled to play. One shows up, the other seems to think the game is tomorrow. That is to say, The Pooper Bowl is commonly a one-sided affair. If that happens, I hope it’s the Chiefs who play flat. But if both teams show up? It will be a hell of a game. It’s very difficult to say who will win.

My own back of the napkin “analysis” suggests that if the Niners can get their running game going, they have the best chance of winning. Statistically, the teams are evenly matched. The main difference is the Niners run game – which has been good this whole season – and the Chiefs run defense – which has not.

The Chiefs have the advantage in the air. That’s another reason the Niners should rely on their run game. Mahomes can’t do his magic if he’s sitting on the bench but he’s likely to shred the Niners pass defense while he’s on the field. On third downs, Mahomes gets his legs into the game as well. KC has a very good percentage of third down conversions, keeping the ball in Mahomes’ hands.

So that brings us to coaching. Andy Reid is my pick for the best coach in football, maybe the G.O.A.T. Yeah, that’s arguable. What, in football, isn’t? The thing is, Kyle Shanahan is ALSO a very good coach. He doesn’t have as many years in the game but he’s had pretty consistent success. What he needs is a win in the big game to move up a level in the conversation. My primary concern is the Forty Niners Defensive Coordinator, Steve Wilkes.

I’ve been bothered by him all season. The fans have been told, over and over, that the drop off in defense isn’t the DCs fault. We’ve also watched the team take pains to “fix” his game. He wanted to sit in the booth. They let him, until the three game slide. Then, at the Bye, they brought him down to the field and “worked with him” a little in the background. I get the impression Wilkes has been getting remedial training all season. He still, regularly, allows teams to have their running game, which opens up their passing game and that’s Mahomes wheelhouse.

As the saying goes, that’s why they play the game. Either team really could win this thing so here’s the final analysis. What the Niners need to do to win? Get the most points. What the Chiefs need to do to win? Get the most points. I really feel like the team with the most points at the end will win. Now all they’ve got to do is play it so we can all find out who that’s going to be…

Details, Details…

Well, the Republicans failed – again – in their ongoing quest to find somebody to impeach. The problem seems to be, they have no evidence of a crime from any of their potential “impeachees.” (That’s not really a word…) They see that as a detail to be handled later.

They tried to get Joe Biden for…reasons. Pretty much, they managed to post some revenge porn on the floor of Congress and then…crickets. This after they had repeatedly promised they had the evidence. You know what would have been good? It’s just my opinion, mind you, but I think they should have shown somebody the evidence they claimed to have. I suspect that would have been a huge step on their path to glory. I wonder why they didn’t try THAT tactic?

But they didn’t and the effort fizzled. So they turned their attention to Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security. They at least got THAT effort to a floor vote, but then? Ooh, they lost the floor vote. Even some Republicans said, “What, are you stupid or something?” Yes, by the way. The answer to that is yes. MAGA is working hard to make “stupid” an art form. But it’s a dedicated stupid and dedicated stupid can be a very dangerous thing.

I wonder who their next impeachee is going to be? Hey, I had to sit at a red light a little longer than I wanted to the other day. How about they go after Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation? After all, red lights DO impede my freedom of movement. Buttigieg is trying to take my freedom! I mean, what more evidence do we need?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, Donny is running about – no, Donny doesn’t run – okay, Donny is lumbering about snarling that if we don’t suddenly grant full and absolute immunity for all Presidents (but mostly him) every President will, naturally, be indicted when they leave office. Someone pat that bloated monster on the head, would you? He got VERY close to a truth – which is a momentous event for him.

What he meant to say is that every President who commits the kinds of crimes HE committed while in office will be indicted – and that’s true! It’s also good. I’m not only okay with that, I’m a staunch supporter…

Oh, but instead of upholding Donny’s dumb position, the court made a good ruling. I mean, the President doesn’t have perfect immunity. It would be stupid to think otherwise. Even Donny doesn’t believe the President has perfect immunity. What he believes is that he needs more time before the election or he’s very likely going to jail so he needs to stall, stall, stall.

My guess is that his plan was to appeal the oh-so-stupid position to the DC Court of Appeals, where he would get a three judge panel. He did that and it took about a month. THEN, he planned to appeal to the full panel – a move that he wanted to take at least another month. Then, when THEY agreed no President has perfect immunity, he would take it to the Supreme Court, you know…eventually.

But the three judge panel saw the same legal strategy playing out. I’m of the opinion that courts don’t like to be trifled with and they REALLY do not want to the be the instrument of someone’s obstruction of justice – pretty much the exact definition of Donny’s plan. So the three court panel, in addition to slapping him down on his ridiculous claim, ALSO ruled that even if he asked the full court to review the case, it would still go back to Chutkin and be active again, essentially cutting out the second step of the stall plan. More, they told him he had until February 12th to file an appeal with the Kangaroos, if that is what he is going to do.

It’s no minor detail that there’s no known basis for Donny’s argument. He just wants it. Roberts Kangaroos should refuse to review the case. The three judge panel got it right. There’s nothing left to consider. They may not refuse it, though. They’re loyalists. Although they can’t rule a president enjoys perfect immunity, they CAN take a bunch of time before saying no, helping Donny that way.

So now the only remaining question in this matter is whether the Roberts Supremely Kangaroo Court will go ahead and trash whatever remaining credibility they might enjoy in order to play lapdog toady to their precious – or will they do the right thing? I’ll tell you this: it’s a national embarrassment that nobody can say, one way or the other, for sure…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, though, the Most High and Corrupt Court will be hearing the question of whether a known traitor should be handed the levers of power once again. It’s mind-boggling that such a question is being treated as a real question. The whole thing hinges on whether the President of the United States is an Officer of the United States. If yes, section 3 of the 14th amendment applies. If no, coups by a president are a-okay.

I’ve made the point that references to the president as an Officer were in the original Constitution (Section II, Article 1) but were (probably inadvertently) amended out by a less detailed writer. But the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868. The Amendment that changed the language, the 25th Amendment, was passed in 1913, meaning that when the 14th was passed, the Constitution clearly considered the President of the United States an Officer of the United States.

It seems a hair-splitting detail, but I also see a difference in an office and an Office, the difference being the capital ‘O.’ An office is a room one works in. An Office is a job one does, a rank one holds. Commonly, an Officer works in an office. As written, the Presidential oath says that the president will “…faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States…” See the capital ‘O’ in “Office?” In my mind, that capital ‘O’ indicates the founders understanding that the president is, indeed, an Officer of the country. They weren’t talking about the room he worked in. They were talking about the role he was taking on.

I’ll tell you this: My mind is STILL having difficulty accepting that so many “Americans” would WANT him in the Oval again, after what he did. I still don’t know how stupid this country actually is, but I have a healthy concern that we might all be about to find out…

Suckered by Psyops…

I guess Taylor Swift’s value as a Psyop asset just got a little higher, having set a record by winning her fourth ‘Best Album’ Grammy. ”Psyop” means psychological operation. It’s a method to attempt to control what people think about things, and the MAGA rank and file are certain Taylor Swift is being used as a pawn in a Psyop to tell young, largely female voters to vote for Biden. (No word on why the cons don’t deploy their own superstar musician to counter the claims. Oh, right. Well, okay, how about Kid Rock or Ted Nugent?)

I’ll tell you this: getting nearly one third of this once-great nation to actually believe young women need Taylor Swift to tell them NOT to vote for the sexual-assaulting, misogynist, criminal and traitorous liar that IS Donald Trump – and the MAGA rank and file DO believe it – seems like a FAR better example of a perfectly executed Psyop. Yet another example of every conservative accusation being a confession. In fact, I have come to see the entire conservative media bubble as a 40+ year Psyop to distort the thinking of Americans. And, really, for Donny’s beloved “poorly educated,” the effort has paid off in spades.

The MAGA rank and file believe the economic chaos caused by Donny’s woeful mishandling of Covid-19 (“What happened to Covids 1 – 18?”) is Biden’s fault. In fact, they actually believe that the crashing economies of EVERY Republican administration always point back to the Democrats and the economic recoveries always engineered by Democrats are secretly the work of Republicans. How’s THAT for a successful, ongoing Psyop?

That one runs in order to paper over the fact that Republican economic policies (trickle down) simply don’t work well for the masses. They’re great for a small handful of already rich people but suck for everyone else – especially the MAGA who support them. Psyop.

Over the same 40+ years, MAGA has been moved from full-throated support of Democracy to loudly preferring a dictator. Ooh, they want to get themselves some Putin, don’t they? And all this voting nonsense makes it very difficult to get conservative things done. Of course, that’s because conservative ideas are terrible and very unpopular but MAGA has been convinced that, secretly, it’s the voting that must be the problem. Psyop.

MAGA has been convinced by MAGAGOPCORP that deregulation is better than regulations. Even as airplane parts are falling from the sky, housing costs are skyrocketing, trains and refineries are poisoning entire towns, power companies are burning other towns to the ground, Reagan’s economic chicanery in the 1980’s, 43’s economic crash in 2008, and 45’s follow-up economic crash in 2019, people being imprisoned largely to fulfill some prison contract someplace because of “privatization,” MAGA is out screaming for deregulation. Sooner or later, they truly believe, deregulation will make everything better. Psyop.

The United States is producing more oil and gas than it ever has in the entire history of the country. MAGA believes Biden has somehow harmed the industry. Psyop.

Conservatives disavow experts. Not always. When they get sick, they go to “the expert,” a doctor. But if an expert says something that conflicts with a preferred political opinion? Oh, experts don’t know anything. Sure, the talking head on the noise box is the guy who understands the details. The PhDs who spent their lives researching, learning, developing, understanding, and considering every detail of a given topic? Why would anyone listen to a clown like that? Psyop.

MAGA believes national health care would HARM their ability to get care. ’Obamacare’ was passed by Democrats in Congress but conceived by conservatives in the Heritage Foundation. The result? We all have health insurance. The health insurance corporations are doing great. But can we all get health CARE? Sure, if you’ve got the money. Oh, but national health care would, obviously, be communism. Psyop.

This list could go on and on but I’m getting tired of typing and you’re likely getting tired of reading. You have things to do. (Besides, it’s a bit depressing, listing all the damage conservatives have done to this country over the last 40 years.) Let’s just sum it up this way: conservatives are always wrong. Always.

They always reject the exact thing that will best serve the masses and, instead, support positions intended to benefit small numbers of already rich people. Always. That’s not because these people are so deeply stupid they can never figure out right from wrong. It’s because they’re led to the wrong “solutions” by people with motivated interests in doing so by a dishonest and manipulative corporate media bubble. In other words, a Psyop…

Weird Developments…

I’m not sure why Katie Porter is staying in the Senate race in California any more. The DNC has declared that the nominee WILL be Adam Schiff. (Apparently, Adam’s check cleared first.) I don’t really have anything against Schiff. I just prefer Porter. But what the voters may or may not want is never too bothersome to either of the parties. Schiff is the guy.

As nearly as I can tell, that decision was made when Katie pointed out that Adam takes PAC money. (She doesn’t.) The DNC thought that was a very unfair characterization. It’s accurate. It’s just very unfair of her to mention it and the moment Katie highlighted the PAC money, the Dems made their choice (notably, to protect PAC money) and brought out their support arsenal. For example, Barbara Boxer had said she was going to stay out of it and let the voters decide. Then Katie mentioned the PAC money and Boxer publicly endorsed Schiff.

The rhetoric of America is that we’re a democracy and we get to vote for the candidate of our choice. The reality of America is that we get to choose between the candidates the parties choose. That’s different, and it sucks…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s a weird thing. A couple of years ago, the Roberts Supremely Kangaroo Court ruled to overturn using race as a consideration in admissions to the University of North Carolina and the infamous diploma mill, Harvard.

But on Friday, Feb 2, that same court ruled that West Point can STILL use race as a factor when choosing it’s students. The court spewed some blather, of course. They said the case before them was underdeveloped so they were going to leave the question alone, leaving race in admissions in place.

But if some colleges can not use race as a deciding factor, why can the military colleges? ARE they ensuring diversity that matches the rank and file and/or the country? Or are they ensuring that mostly white men stay in charge of the military, with what seems like the blessing of the most corrupt high court? Like I said, weird.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congress – well, the Senate, really – in a rare moment of consensus, negotiated a bipartisan border bill. After years of screaming about the border from MAGAGOPCORP, Dems and cons, alike, were finally getting to the point of doing something about it.

The cons, of course, are ecstatic. They’ve wanted this for a long time and now? After all these years and all those tears and spreading all those fears? FINALLY! A bill is coming together. So the celebration started and they… wait, what? What do you mean, “No?” ”But after all that?” ”But we’re trying to…”

Okay, never mind. It turns out, MAGA doesn’t really care about the border. They care about having the border issue. Donny can’t run on the economy. The economy is ticking along just fine, thank you very much. He can keep screaming “Drill, baby drill!” but the US is currently putting out record amounts of oil and gas. (Cons think prices are high because of low inventory. It’s actually pure greed, but cons don’t want to understand things. They just want to bitch about things.)

So, when a border deal was nearly reached, Donny crapped his panties. What does he run on then? How well he’s stalling in all of his criminal trials? Actually, he might. One would think he would like to keep a lid on all of that but he talks of very little else, as far as I can see. So, he ordered his toadies on Congress to scuttle the deal and it looks like that’s their plan. Even if a more rational Senate does go through with it, the House will kill it in the name of MAGA.

Conservative opposition to the border bill will certainly please their lord and master, Donny. It seems, though, as if it might throw a wrench into their show plans to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for his “failures” at the border.

I call it a show because the cons don’t really have a case. They just want to demonstrate that they can CREATE a false impeachment, just like they nullified the genuine and necessary impeachment of their beloved Donny. They’ll introduce the articles. If it gets that far, this whole thing will die in the Senate.
“Secretary Mayorkas, why didn’t you secure the border?”
“Um, because the loudmouth cons killed the bipartisan Senate border bill.”
“Yeah, not guilty. Get back to work.”

I know that humanity is very good at holding two conflicting ideas at the same time but “fix the border but for the gods sake don’t fix the border?” What a mind fu–er, how confusing! They’ve kind of taken away their candidate’s best campaign issue. Not among MAGA, of course, but for all their blather, they’re going to need far more than MAGA in the general and everyone BUT MAGA knows the border deal was killed BY MAGA…

The Trials…

A quick look at Donny’s trials. In the NY fraud trial – no, the civil one, not the criminal one – Judge Engoron said he wanted to issue his ruling by the end of the last month. Clearly, he missed his target. But there’s a reason. Just before he handed down his ruling, he received an update from the independent monitor appointed by the court, former Federal judge Barbara Jones. Tucked into a footnote was a little tidbit that seems to have caught Engoron’s eye.

She found what was claimed to be a loan Donny owed to one of his companies to the tune of $48 million dollars. She asked about it. At first, she was told there were no loan documents available for that loan. Apparently, she was told, no loan documents ever even existed. THEN, the Trump Crime Family finally admitted there was no loan. It was just a way to avoid paying taxes on $48 million dollars. A fraudulent way. More specifically, a criminal way.

My guess is conservative media will spin it as a “minor” error, without mentioning the $48 million dollar part. Donny has already started with that lie. But it wasn’t. Minor, I mean. So, now Engoron has to re-think his ruling. Any rational person must, by now, believe that more fraud will be uncovered the longer people look. Engoron doesn’t want to have to keep going back and resetting his trial every time more evidence comes up and he wants to get the ruling out so I think he has to construct some kind of order that allows him to simply add to the damages as more fraud is uncovered.

Meanwhile, in the Florida stolen files case, prosecutor Jack Smith has reportedly uncovered the existence of a secret room at Mar-a-Lago. Apparently, when the FBI was executing their perfectly legal and proper search warrant in an effort to uncover the files Donny stole, they missed a locked closet AND a “secret” room. Overlooking the locked closet apparently happened because of the deference they were showing while executing their warrant.

This is, after all, an ex-President. NO ex-President has ever committed the crimes Donny has and the need to execute a warrant was unprecedented. They had to make up a proper protocol as they went along and they included deference. So, when they asked about the locked closet, they were told it was an old staircase that wasn’t used anymore and didn’t go anywhere – and the FBI chose to accept that statement at face value! But the information I have is that Donny had the lock changed on that closet January 22, 2021 and he’s the only person with a key.

In fairness to the FBI, they didn’t know about the secret room. It isn’t just a secret room. It’s a hidden, secret room. It’s made to blend in to the room seamlessly and there is a dresser in front of it. My guess is, it’s a panic room, built originally to protect the residents from a home-invasion robbery. They were all the rage among rich people for awhile and I don’t think they’re a bad idea. But a panic room would explain why it didn’t show on the architectural drawings the FBI likely looked at when they did their preparatory briefings before serving the warrant.

Donny has apparently converted his to a documents storage area. Now it gets a bit sticky. The original warrant is stale, for sure. Unless, that is, witnesses testify that more stolen documents exist in that space – and nobody knows what the witnesses are saying about that, yet. Either way, Donny has very likely already shared all the good stuff with Putin so it’s not like we’re going to avoid the national security risks by getting the papers back but it would be nice to know exactly what the traitor breached so any holes could be plugged.

For MY part, I’m enjoying the idea that the room might be where Donny has all the goods on all the MAGAGOPCORP toadies who claim to stand against trump but also snuggle up to him and bend the knee. As an example, after J6, Kevin McCarthy was angry and pointed his crooked little finger directly, and properly, at Donny. THEN, McCarthy went down to Mar-a-Lago, and immediately changed his tune. Why? Kevin was right about J6 and how Donny put his life at risk. Why just back down after a quick visit with Donny? It’s a least possible Donny showed Kevin what he keeps in that locked room about Kevin.

Finally, the DC Federal election interference trial date has been postponed. It was supposed to start March 5 but now we have to wait. Donny filed an appeal before the trial even started! He claims to have perfect immunity in all things because he was President. It’s a very stupid idea and it’s totally wrong. Sooner or later, the court will say so but they’re dragging their feet for some reason. Worse, right now it’s a three member panel of the appellate court. After their ruling, he can ask the entire court to review the decision, which will take more time. After the full court says no, he can ask the High Kangaroo Court what they want.

He’s not likely to win that argument in court. Hell, he’s not likely to win ANY of his arguments in court. But he doesn’t make them to win them. He makes them to buy time. And this stupid argument is buying him months.

I’ll tell you this: there’s a very real risk Donny’s going to beat the clock on these trials. Benjamin Franklin’s words just keep looping through my head. ”…a Republic…IF you can keep it.” There’s a very real possibility we can’t…

Positioning…

I think Nikki Haley is making a smart play by staying in the GOP primary. She doesn’t NEED a win. She only needs to stay. As Donny’s troubles pile up, she’ll be in the best position to stand up, should he fall down…

His recent mental lapses (yes, he can still recognize an elephant!) are an excellent opportunity for her, as well. She can attack HIM and his current failings without ever attacking MAGA or his pretend record. She can say, “Yeah, he WAS great, but he’s failing now.” Hang in there, Nikki. Stay in his head. Highlight his decline…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you heard? I’m sure you have by now. Taylor Swift is not a young woman superstar pop singer in love with a young man rising star (and not bad actor) football player. Not at all. She’s a “Psyop!” Which, I guess, makes him her “Psyde kick.” MAGA just loves using words they think make them sound smart and “Psyop” fits the bill while also sounding like they’ve got some super-de-duper inside information, so they MUST be in the know. See? Secretly, they’re the smart ones. (It’s a VERY well-kept secret…)

Hey, maybe you’re a normal person so…a “Psyop” is a ‘Psychological Operation’ used to disseminate information the government wants spread and/or suppress information the government does NOT want spread. MAGA thinks rational Americans need the government to tell them Donald Trump is a bad man, a threat to the nation, and that people shouldn’t vote for him. Funny, I figured it out all by myself.

So, to that end, if you’re MAGA, the Stupor Bowl is already rigged for the Chiefs to win – I guess because Taylor Swift doesn’t already have a large enough stage from which to spread her message. AFTER the Chiefs rigged win, see, THEN ‘Tay/Trav’ (okay, that mashup needs a bit of work) can announce that Donny’s a dumbass and people should vote for Biden. (No word on why they couldn’t make that announcement if the Chiefs lose.)

That’s some elaborate insanity, right there…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In court, where facts matter, Donny isn’t even trying to make a case that he might be innocent of any of the charges brought against him. Instead, he’s looking for technicalities and loopholes. He stalls, disrupts the court, and tries to aggravate judges into over-reactions that can lead to mistrials or work as a basis for an appeal. He never even tries to introduce evidence that might indicate innocence. That part, at least, makes sense. He’s guilty (allegedly). How could he show innocence? He has no choice but to rely on “work-arounds.”

So now he’s filing anything and everything he can think of. Some of it is way out there. So far out there, other lawyers laugh at him and his “team” for even making the filing. His primary “lawyer” is taking a lot of mockery from her fellows. ”Why would she even file that?” ”Doesn’t she know better?” With her, I couldn’t possibly say if she knows better BUT…

Each of those filings gets ruled on. Each one causes a delay. Each one buys Donny a little bit of time. As an example, Donny doesn’t have to part with the $83 million dollar judgement until the case is settled. He even has to put the money up if he wants to appeal so he needs this case to not close yet. The only tool he has to that end is insane filings. ”I can’t be tried by someone with blue eyes!” or whatever. Yeah, he’s going to lose those, too, but he wins a bit of time. And what does he want to DO with that time?

He’s actively looking, right now, for somebody rich enough to help him pay off the judgement. They’re called “mega-donors.” They’re the super rich people now allowed to buy our government thanks to the High Kangaroo Court’s corrupt Citizen United decision. But I’ll tell you this: I find myself wondering why the stable genius billionaire needs help paying what, to him, should be a mere $83.3 million dollar tab. I mean, if you’re a billionaire, isn’t $83 million dollars pocket change?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, it cuts both ways, though, yes? He filed a defamation case in the England about the Steele Dossier. In keeping with his true calling and maintaining his seemingly endless string, he lost. BUT – and this is kind of fun – the court there never even considered the merits of the case. He lost because he brought it too late. He lost on a technicality…

Fights, Good and Bad…

Wow, what a game. TWICE, now, the Niners have come out and started slow, to say the least. I doubt they’re intentionally spotting their opponents points but it sure looks like they’re spotting their opponents points. Can we please put the “Purdy is a pretender” talk to bed, now? The naysayers can still have “Purdy is less accurate in the rain.” That one, at least, seems to be true. But all the rest? You’re just being stubborn. He’s a very good player. That whole team is loaded but there’s no negative narrative going on about any of the other players. Just Purdy. So just stop, okay?

Detroit played very well. After all these years, it was nice to see Detroit enjoying a bit of success. Not so nice I wanted them to enjoy success over my Niners but still… That’s a team that has suffered for a long, long time. At this rate, I have little doubt they’ll make the leap, here, soon. They played some very good football. In truth, they, THEN played some not so good football but they deserve props. They’ve come a long way in a short time…

I’m not sure what happened to the Ravens. Well, yes, I know the Chiefs happened to the Ravens but the Ravens played badly, all on their own. They started flat, like the Niners did, but never managed to turn things around. Lamar Jackson is something else. This was a very good team, all season long. To fall apart like that in the Championship? There’s going to be some disappointment in the clubhouse for a while.

For the Chiefs it just seemed like business as usual, just another game to be played. Mahomes is still Mahomes, which means a very good football player. Andy Reid is still among the best coaches coaching, these days, and still a better bet than Belichick for GOAT. Of course, one can never overstate the contributions of the vaunted Taylor Swift, either. Normally, when a player on the field does something wonderful/amazing/glorious (or even bad/embarrassing/disastrous), the camera focuses on the player, who gets an extra moment of screen time. When poor Travis Kelce does something great, the camera pans straight to Taylor Swift, for her reaction shot. (Spoiler alert: she’s happy for her boyfriend.)

Hopefully, we’ll all get to see how Taylor looks when she’s sad because her boyfriend is about to lose the Stupor Bowl on February 11. The camera will absolutely grab that screenshot, just like they do when she’s celebrating. She has asked them to tone it down, a bit – they just don’t comply. Why would they? They get free celebrity endorsement from Swift every game and they don’t even have to pay her.

I expect a heck of a game. I HOPE the Niners win but I wouldn’t BET the Niners will win. These are two very good teams. Sadly, I think one of the most glaring problems for either team is the Niners Defensive Coordinator, Steve Wilkes. That guy just doesn’t understand the Niner defense. Last year the Niners defense was top-of-the-charts under DeMeco Ryans, as it was the year before that under Robert Saleh. They’re pretty porous with Wilkes at the helm. That could prove to be the difference in the big, dumb game this year…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can somebody help me out, here, please? I’ve been looking for information about how HAMAS is fighting back against Israel. I can’t find anything. Whenever I go looking, all is get is references to the oh-so-stupid HAMAS attack on Oct 7. I DID see a story about how some HAMAS fighters used a rocket to kill three Israeli soldiers preparing to blow up a building but there’s precious little else.

Netanyahu says he isn’t stopping until all of HAMAS is wiped out. It’s hard to blame him for feeling that way, but he ALSO seems to think that every Palestinian is HAMAS. He also seems to be trying to expand the fight from just Gaza to the West Bank. To me? He seems to think this is his chance, once and for all, to get rid of the Palestinians. ALL of the Palestinians. The whole world has asked him to stand down. He just thumbs his nose.

I’ll tell you this: Netanyahu may not be saying ‘from the river to the sea’ but he sure seems to be doing ‘from the river to the sea.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s a guy running against Putin in the upcoming Russian “elections.” That’s some guts. He will either end up in some Russian prison (“Say ‘hello’ to Nalvany for me…”) or dead, having committed suicide by drinking poison, chopping off his own head, and then throwing his own body out one window and the head out another. And THIS is the system MAGA wants to see in America?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s a weird “analysis” of dissolving Donny’s businesses in AP, this morning. It takes the position that shutting down Donny’s fraudulent business will only empower the state to shut down other fraudulent businesses, and, after all, how fraudulent WAS Donny’s fraud? Oh, and he stopped some of his fraud – right after he got sued for providing fraudulent statements, so, what’s the problem? The “analysis” suggests that most of the time, when a business DID get shut down, the case was able to demonstrate who got hurt.

But THEN, it acknowledges that NY law doesn’t require showing damages, only an ongoing pattern of fraud. It acknowledges that not every business shut down showed damages. Despite the fact that the “analysis” seems to arguing against shutting down trump businesses, the article points out these things have been going on for at least eleven years and says, “Trump exaggerated the size of his Manhattan penthouse apartment by three times. He listed unfinished buildings as if they were complete, and apartments under rent-control as if they were free of such rules. He showed restricted funds as if they were liquid cash. And he portrayed Mar-a-Lago as if it could be converted to a residence even though that is prohibited in its deed.”

I’ll tell you this: When the “analysis” says, “Yeah he did all those things but we should just give the guy a break?” I suspect it was written by MAGA…