Well, the criminal con man Alex Jones was ordered to pay $965 Million dollars to the Sandy Hook families he’s been slandering for decades. Add this amount to the amount the lying, little weasel is required to pay from other trials he has already lost and he’s on the hook for over a Billion dollars! Okay, wow. Oh, and…good. He brought hell to those families AFTER their beloved children were brutally murdered. But even as the amount was being announced, HE was on the air, gloating that the families are “never going to get that money.” HE says he doesn’t have any money. A forensic accountant from Texas says he’s worth around $270 Million – all money he fleeced from the people who don’t understand things. Not surprisingly, the first thing he did after defying the court was to ask his oh-so-gullible audience to give him more of their money. (They will, too, giving life to the adage “A fool and his money are soon parted…”)

Two things. One, laughing and sneering at the court holding your future in your hands seems a risky bet. Two, I doubt the families will ever get a billion dollars, but based on what happened when OJ Simpson was found responsible for Nicole Brown Simpson’s death, they WILL get every dollar Jones earns (or steals from his naive believers) for the rest of his life. That’s okay with me…

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Just for laughs…I hear Trump is considering an actual appearance before the January 6th committee. I guess I should say I hear Trump is pretending to consider appearing. He won’t. Hell, he can’t. But WHEN he’s pretending, he says he’ll do it if he can appear live. Personally, I think the committee should agree. Heck yes, we’ll do it live! Watch how fast he back-peddles. Two hours of “the Fifth, the Fifth, the Fifth” is not very compelling television but it would show everyone but his blindest loyalists who he is. Worse, for him, he might actually say things. Now THAT would be fun. He’s used to just shouting down dissension. That doesn’t work in trials. He’s used to just saying whatever needs to be said to get out of things. That doesn’t work under oath. Especially when they already have the evidence.

In truth, the only thing Trump wants is to run out the clock. Remember when the United States faced the dark specter of him being in the Oval Office for a second term? The vast majority of people who understand things fell out to vote against him. We REALLY need to do so again – this time in the mid-terms. You see, the coup continues. Cons are trying to install anti-American, pro Trump politicians in sensitive political positions to manipulate the outcome of elections – the very “crime” they accuse the left of committing. (We didn’t, but they sure as heck will…) Worse, if the cons regain control of Congress, the January 6th committee is disbanded and Trump is off the hook – his main bet. The legal proceedings might well continue for awhile but even those can be disrupted by loyalists working overtime to protect their preferred choice of cheating, lying, con-man criminal “saviors,” the CheetoJesus…

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I think women are going to come out for the mid-terms. THEY need to stop the cons even more than before. The cons are actively taking their rights and running on the promise of taking even more. We have Proposition 1, that codifies abortion rights in the state constitution – which, of course, won’t matter if the cons take Congress and impress us all with their “state’s rights” stances by passing Federal legislation eliminating abortion rights from sea to shining sea…state’s rights be damned…

Frankly, I think we ALL need to fall out and vote against Prop 26 and Prop 27 as well. BOTH propositions suck. Proposition 27 introduces online betting in the state. Proposition 26 mostly just protects the deal the state already has with the First Nations tribes but they couldn’t just stick to that. It also tries to eliminate competition from non-Nations card rooms. Not nice.

You can tell the backers of Prop 27 are lying, by the way, because the thing it does MOST – introduce online sports betting in California – is the ONE thing they don’t talk about in their ads. Oh, we’ll cure homelessness and solve the drug problem. No, you won’t. You’ll add to both, exponentially. ANY position that depends on lies for support doesn’t deserve to be supported…

Okay, being a Californian, I’ve provided three good California reasons to come out besides stopping Trump’s minions but that’s only California. The rest of the country needs to come out against the anti-American movement conservatives and stop them. (I know, THEY don’t think of themselves as anti-American, being all flag-draped as they are and spouting love-the-country slogans as they do. But the flag-draping and slogans are just trappings. The things they argue against in this once-great nation – largely “once-great” as a direct result of the damage the cons have already done – are the very bedrock foundations of the Constitution and one cannot say they love the country – just hate everything about it – and be convincing…)

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It turns out there’s a tie-in from Proposition 27 to the recent demise of KGO radio’s News talk format. One of Proposition 27’s main sponsors is a company called BetMGM. (I wanted to confirm the company name and sought a confirming reference. It’s VERY WELL hidden – even on the Yes on 27 page…) Cumulus Media dropped the News talk format on KGO and replaced it with sports betting content. I haven’t listened much but DID happen to hear one of the network sponsors – BetMGM! Why, that’s the SAME BetMGM sponsoring Prop 27! Coincidence? Cumulus already had an agreement with a company called ‘WynnBet.’ Now WynnBet and BetMGM have created an agreement to work together. Together, they’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to seize control of the gambling market of California. (Just imagine the return they’re expecting…)

KGO fell victim to greed – and greed kills. In one fell swoop, KGO was changed from a rare jewel that had served the interests of Californians and the Bay Area, in particular, for 80 years to a threat, out to siphon money from unsophisticated gamblers and harm California in countless ways. Cumulus, WynnBet, and BetMGM must feel pretty good about their chances of getting what they want. The polling shows their prop losing at the moment but the money keeps flowing. I’ll tell you this; personally, I hope they lose the proposition AND all that beautiful lucre they’re pouring into the process…

Oh, HER…
Herschel Walker has now admitted he knows the woman he insisted he didn’t know. That guy lies like a Trump. He’s been caught lying about so many things the list is too long for this space. Obviously, the cons have withdrawn their support for the lying son-of-a…what? They haven’t? Still on-board, eh?

I’d like to pretend I’m shocked but I’m not. The cons have made clear, through actions AND words, that they just don’t care about anything but getting the craziest cons possible into Congress. They couldn’t possibly know what Walker stands for. He never takes an honest position on anything. They don’t really care, though. They see the ‘R’ after his name, they hear him spout insanity and lies, and they KNOW he’s their man!

In my more serene moments, I realize they’re just doing what they THINK the left does. That is, ignore negative information about someone. Of course, as is always the case, what they THINK in no way comports to what actually happens. You see, the conservative bubble is very carefully stepping around all the criminal activity of their CheetoJesus. It’s the simplest way to keep the people on board: just don’t tell ’em. But they still have to fill time so they’ve turned to that other, hard-hitting pseudo-scandal, Hunter Biden and his infamous laptop.

While those of us who understand things are learning more and more about Trump stealing national secrets and then fighting for all he’s worth to keep those stolen documents, being forced to return them only to show that he’s STILL hiding some of them, and worst of all, that several of the documents seem to be missing entirely (I suspect his Russian handlers have them), the folks who DON’T understand things are learning that Hunter Biden tried to make deals based on his connection to Joe.

I’m going to digress a bit. It’s actually an important thing to remember when Uncle Con shows up for Thanksgiving dinner. He CAN’T know what he’s not told – any more than you do – and he’s been carefully conditioned to never, ever consider anything YOU say as valid. Uncle Con isn’t stupid. He’s deceived, and “deceived” can happen to anybody…

Anyway, those of us on the left have pretty much ignored the Hunter Biden story because it’s a nothing-burger. A well-connected kid who tried to profit from that connection? The news would be the well-connected kid who didn’t. Even the tales in the con bubble admit that none of Hunter’s deals ever went through. They also admit, usually at the very bottom of the story, that there’s no evidence that Joe ever participated in any of it. Worst of all, the source of the information, Hunter’s laptop, has such a chain-of-custody problem it’s completely useless in court. In short, even according to conservative media, Hunter never succeeded, Joe never participated, and there’s nothing anybody could do about it anyway.

But it’s the best the cons have so they run with it. The result, though, is that the con rank-and-file think the left is just ignoring information they don’t like in order to support the people they DO like. So, that’s what THEY do. Herschel has had a long string of affairs. He has fathered several kids out of wedlock and raised none of them. He will pay child support – if you can force him to. He has encouraged and paid for abortions. As we’ve already seen, he lies like a Trump. He’s running as an anti-abortion candidate and he’s still supported by the GOP who insists it’s because he’s so close to Jesus. (His opponent is an actual, practicing minister. Apparently, not as close to Jesus as the serial philanderer. Who knew?)

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Here’s another example of GOPBS. Biden went to a factory and referred to a report from CNN in which Republicans voted against Biden’s infrastructure bill as “Socialism”, which they pretend to be against, THEN tried to get money for “socialist” projects in their districts/states. Biden referenced the report, then read sections calling out the GOP hypocrites by name. (You can see the video in a new tab by clicking here.) He starts by saying we should, as his grandchildren would say, Google it. Well, I did that for you. (Click here. Yet another new tab.) Really, they do this stuff all the time.

I’ll tell you this: I’ve said before and I’m sure I’ll say again, Republicans have no principles, only positions…

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I always find it disheartening when things happen that remind me that this once-great nation is sliding deeper and deeper into a hell-hole of greed. Sometimes, they’re little things. I’ve been listening to a local “news talk” radio station, KGO Radio, for so long I can’t even remember when I started. I listened to the morning guy, Ronn Owens, and then the afternoon guy, Jim Eason. Owens was a liberal, sort of Bon Vivant of San Francisco at the time, and Eason was the conservative voice. Together, they created balance.

After Bill Clinton destroyed the media ownership rules that prevented one entity from owning too many outlets in a single market with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a feeding frenzy started and KGO was sold, then sold again. It changed hands several times until it was owned by Cumulus Media. They tried, once, to dismantle the balanced news talk so beloved in the Bay Area by going to an all news format. That didn’t work and they returned to news talk. Now, they’ve done it again. I was listening last Wednesday while running errands. I got out of my truck for something like five minutes. When I got back in, the program I was listening to was gone – just…off the air…and had been replaced by a loop of music samples all referencing money and gambling and occasionally intoning that “something new was coming on Monday.”

Sure, something new. I’ll tell you this: it won’t be better. KGO News talk filled a niche that can’t be found elsewhere. Cumulus can’t replace it with something they don’t already have at some other station. Even if they go to a national news talk format (presumably cheaper for the corporation), it will be worse as it will lose it’s local flavor (and likely, take on a conservative edge). Yeah, I know. It’s a little thing. One more tiny sign of the submerging of a once-great nation…

Exposed…
It turns out, Russia is a paper tiger. Who knew? True, they still have nukes but nukes have a single, glaring weakness. Nobody can use them without getting nuked, themselves. It kind of limits the amount of damage such a weapon can inflict. Even if Putin decided to use tactical nukes in Ukraine, his generals might well not go along with that idea. But, as we all now know, Russia’s been a big talker with no real might behind them for some time.

This got me thinking. Now that Russia has claimed – and lost – four territories inside of Ukraine they insisted were theirs, perhaps Ukraine should reconsider it’s capitulation when Russia claimed Crimea. You remember, right? Russia went into Crimea and said, “This is ours,” and because everyone thought Russia had some serious military power they might unleash, the world kind of laid down and let the insult pass. Sadly, THAT acquiescence seems to have emboldened Putin who thought he could cake-walk into Kyiv and just claim other bits of Ukraine, if not the whole thing.

But now the world knows that aside from it’s nukes – that it can’t really use – Russia doesn’t bring as much, militarily, as the world once feared. Putin launched an illegal war. This has been a money and power loser for Russia and I think Putin’s strength is fading fast. But it’s not enough for Russia to surrender some treasure and offer a public apology. I’d like to see Ukraine reclaim Crimea as it’s compensation for the completely unnecessary destruction and death…

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Russia’s allies?
Speaking of Putin’s war, it seems Saudi Arabia has chosen sides and the side they’ve chosen is NOT the United States. Now, that seems kind of stupid, since the Saudi royal family gets ALL of it’s power from the weapons and troops the US provides, but their announcement that they’re cutting production of oil in order to increase the price of a barrel seems calculated to harm America and help Putin in his war.

I get it. Foreign, sovereign nation and all that. They get to choose whom they cozy up to. But several US Congress critters have introduced a bill to stop providing weapons and military support to Saudi Arabia in response to the Saudi’s attempted sabotage of the US economy. It’s pretty simple, really. If the Saudis aren’t going to stand with us, why the hell should we stand with them? They’ve been messing with us by turning the spigot on and off for decades and now they’re doing it in the service of Putin?

The legislation put forward by Representatives Sean Casten, Tom Malinowski, and Susan Wild would pull critical defense systems and troops from the area. I doubt it will go anywhere because such a principled move would interfere with the blessed profits of the arms dealers (Glory!) but it’s a very good idea and I think the bill should pass. (Call Congress and tell them to pass it!) If the Saudis want to help the Russians so badly, that’s fine. But let’s let them rely on Russian military assistance to keep their crowns…

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As a side note…
I do think it’s important to say, here, that I wouldn’t want to be in the army that invaded Russia. Right now, the world is kind of collectively surprised by how powerful the old Soviet state isn’t. The Ukrainian troops are pushing the Russian troops around seemingly with ease and the world is kind of laughing at the Russians. But it’s important to remember, the Russian soldiers weren’t told where they were going, what they were doing, or why. They don’t WANT to be in Ukraine and they don’t believe the dangers Putin keeps pretending. Heck, I imagine there are family relations that cross those borders, as well.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians are fighting for their homeland. The homeland defenders often offer up FAR more resistance than invaders expect. The tiny British colonies in America threw off the yoke of the greatest power on Earth (at the time). The tiny country of Vietnam threw out the United States military – the greatest power on Earth (at the time). The French take a lot of crap for laying down to the Nazi’s in WWII but they never stopped fighting. They just kept up the fight in a way that protected many irreplaceable cultural treasures. In short, people fight hardest for their homes.

So I’m not prepared to disrespect the Russian soldiers – just the moronic “leadership.” I suspect that if someone invaded Russia, they’d find a MUCH stronger, MUCH more intractable force facing them than the one we’re seeing in Ukraine…

I can’t say, for sure, who’s copying whom but it seems as though Putin is trying to take a page from the Trump playbook. The specific page is the one where a person simply declares some…preferred reality and then insists THAT’S the “true” reality. Trump does this with…well, everything, really. He seems to live in a completely alternate reality of his own making. Of course, Trump got a little carried away with his delusions and now actual reality is intruding in the form of law enforcement enforcing real life laws.

But not even Putin is as Brazen a liar as Trump and just can’t seem to pull it off. It’s not that he doesn’t stick to the story. It’s that something happens to undermine his lies in a way Trump rarely suffers. My current favorite is Putin’s declaration that four regions of Ukraine are now Russia. Poof! He held a pseudo-plebiscite in which the locals supposedly determined their own political direction. Surprise, surprise, the results worked just the way Putin wanted them to and he had a big ole party announcing the annexation.

At the SAME TIME, though, the Ukrainian army was moving into and taking a key region, running the invaders out and controlling the entire area Putin was – at that moment – claiming. I laughed out loud. I never thought I’d be laughing at Vladimir Putin but at this point, I can’t help myself. He’s been ‘Trump pretending’ since his ill-advised invasion began. He lied to his army about what they were doing and why and as the soldiers have discovered the truth, they are largely NOT into the whole thing. They run at the first opportunity and they seem to be almost intentionally leaving equipment and ordinance around for the Ukrainians to use after the Russians bug out.

Now he’s conscripting more Russians into the fight and the vast majority seem to have other priorities. They’re running in droves trying to get away from Putin and if they DO get caught up, there are reports they’re trying to contact Ukraine to find out how to defect! It doesn’t help that Putin tipped his hand, a bit, and showed that this is important to him – but not important enough to risk sending ethnic Russians to the battle. He’s mostly been showing up and taking men who are NOT ethnically Russian – yet another reason for those men to NOT fight in Putin’s war.

Now he’s out threatening to use nukes. The “news” wants us to relax about the whole “nuke” thing so they’re stressing that these would be tactical, battlefield nukes. Smaller. “Safer.” But nukes beget nukes. If Putin DOES follow through with his threat, a concern the Ukrainians currently dismiss, Ukraine doesn’t have any nukes to respond with – but their friends do. (Ironically, Ukraine doesn’t have any nukes because they gave up their old Soviet stockpile in exchange for a promise from Russia that Russia would never attack Ukraine…)

I’ll tell you this: I’m pretty sure the world won’t let Russia use nukes with no response. I can only hope that Putin knows this as well, despite his Trump-like delusional status.

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Hey, Trump toady Aileen Cannon has apparently decided her taste for humiliation hasn’t yet abated. Look, I’m no lawyer but everything I’ve heard from competent lawyers suggests that she’s not all that great a lawyer, either. She’s loyal to Trump over everything else. He needs someone to run interference for him and she’s doing everything she can but she’s been over-ruled by better judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and she’s going to be over-ruled again.

She was presented a case she really shouldn’t have had because it really fell under the auspices of the judge who issued the search warrant, Bruce Reinhart. She kept the case, anyway. Trump wanted a Special Master even though there was no basis for a Special Master and she gave him his Special Master anyway. THEN, the Special Master demonstrated HIS loyalty to the law over Trump so, suddenly, Trump DIDN’T want the Special Master, after all, and went back to his Special Toady, Cannon, to block the Special Master’s ruling. She did, too. But the DOJ knows they’ve got a lackey on their hands and they use good attorneys. They know she’ll slow the process as much as possible but they ALSO know they’re going to defeat her efforts at every turn in higher courts. She’s exposing herself as a fool but not doing too much else that will have any lasting effect. (The fool thing will last forever…)

Now Trump has himself a Special Master he doesn’t seem to want, who isn’t willing to embarrass himself to protect Trump, AND whom Trump has to PAY! (I know. Trump doesn’t pay his bills. IF the Special Master gets paid at all, it will come from Trump’s PAC, not Trump’s pocket.)

I’ll tell you this: I had started to become concerned that maybe a person could just insist on alternate realities and have them become magically true. This week has been good for me as Putin’s folly in Ukraine AND Trump’s delusions in America have both been subjugated by reality whether they like it or not…

Wow, Hurricane Ian sure has offered the cons an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, yes? These are the people always trying to deny other states aid when they have some natural disaster. They feel like Federal aid is wasted money – if it’s not being funneled directly to some corporate interest. So…now good old Ron DeSantis can show us all how dedicated he is to his conservative ideology and just tell all the Floridians to pull themselves up by their bootstraps while telling President Biden, “No, thank you, Sleepy Joe! We don’t need your stinking FEMA aid!” Right?

Okay, so I don’t mean to be unkind to the good folks of Florida. In fact, I believe that Ron DeSantis WILL demonstrate his “dedication” to his conservative ideology. Of course, that will mean dumping his conservative positions just long enough to accept aid from the big, bad, evil government that never does anyone any good, right?

Once the FEMA checks have cleared he can get back to whining about anything/everything the government does. Hypocrisy, thy name is conservatism…

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Well, if you live in California you’ve certainly noticed the oil companies are at it again. As you will recall, gas prices skyrocketed a few months back. The “explanation” was the FAR too overused, “supply chain issues.” Sure, we all knew supply hadn’t been interrupted but that doesn’t stop them from telling the tale. Okay, I say “we all” but that has to exclude the cons who seem to have been convinced that all drilling has stopped since Biden was sworn in…

But people who understand things knew there was still plenty of oil to go around. The corporations just saw an opportunity and took full advantage of it. “It’s just business,” right? It is, too. Unregulated, so-called “free market” business. It did serious harm to the economy for awhile. Then the government started hinting at windfall profits taxes and the prices started creeping – ever so slowly – downward. They never reached where they had started, of course. We all got used to $5.00+ per gallon and felt better about the “relief.”

Just in time, too. People were getting angry. People were starting to talk about fixes to the system. People starting talking about change. Once the prices came back down a bit, everyone settled down. Cons ALWAYS get wrong who’s responsible for what. They think high gas prices are Joe Biden’s fault or, in this case, Gavin Newsom’s fault. That’s only true to the extent that Biden or Newsom seem never willing to stand up to the oil cartels. Anyway, the economy started recovering a bit and people’s anger sort of subsided.

Now the cartels are doing it again. The gas prices have shot up at an incredible rate – something like 17 cents in a week! More at many places. The “excuse” this time? “Planned and unplanned refinery maintenance.” It’s just a line they use. The supply chain may or may not be interrupted at any given time but ‘planned and unplanned refinery maintenance’ is always there, always ready to lend a helping hand to unbridled greed.

Sure, it fattens the pockets of the oil cartels but I’m not sure that’s the actual motivation this time. THIS time, I suspect it’s political. See, the conventional wisdom WAS that the Dems were going to get their asses handed to them in the upcoming midterms. People pretty much thought it was a done deal and there was little or nothing the Dems could do to change it. That was likely true, but there was apparently something the CONS could do to change it.

They started attacking women’s rights – aggressively. Even dumber, they KEEP coming back trying to out-do each other on just how much harm they can do to women and society in general. They’re out there bragging about all the vicious little evils they’re planning. Despite all their talk about state’s rights and small government and ‘keep your government off my body,’ they’re planning to pass Federal legislation relegating women to second class status once and for all. “No, you don’t get to make decisions about your own body or your own health. THOSE decisions are for men to make.” Nice.

I suspect it’s not going to work. I mean, the masses WILL get progressively angry at the price gouging of the oil cartels. Eventually, we’ll DEMAND that Newsom or Biden do something about the rip-off. A windfall profits tax is the best idea. (As a sidebar, every time this comes up, cons start SCREAMING about “punishing success.” I’d just like to note that “punishing” THIS success is no different than punishing an armed robber who “innovates” by using a bigger, scarier looking gun. Theft is theft and should, by all rights, be punished…)

But as it happens women aren’t as stupid as Republicans wish they were. I suspect even many conservative women will (secretly) vote against the anti-women agenda. I really do think the cons have gone too far in their attacks on women’s rights. I think THAT will be the focus in the next election and likely the one after that. I think EVERYONE now realizes that getting rid of Republicans is the only way to save the Republic – and I think that’s the mindset.

I’ll tell you this: we’ll pay extortion rates as long as Newsom and Biden just stand by but we’re NOT, I think, going to put corporation-loving cons back into positions of authority so long as they’re actively, publicly losing their collective minds…

I don’t think they’re being honest…
I describe it as a lie of omission. The Proposition 27 ad campaign is one of the largest ad buys I’ve ever had to endure. Only Toyota Sell-a-thon Days has more spots on any given day. Listening to the ads, I’ve been told Prop 27 is going to solve homelessness and drug addiction. That’s pretty much the subject of EVERY pro-Prop 27 ad – all the good it’s going to do.

Proposition 27 is about allowing huge online gambling companies to operate in California. The money being promised by the gambling companies to “solve” homelessness is only a side issue, the selling point of the proposition, and not likely to materialize at all. Even if it did, money alone won’t solve the homeless crisis. If we don’t stop institutional investors from buying single family homes – AND force them to divest in those they already own – the homeless problem is going to get worse. Period.

As it happens, online gambling is one of the more insidious forms of gambling. Apparently, it’s one of the most addictive forms of gambling possible. So…how does gambling away the rent money help solve the homeless problem? EVERY thinking person should ask themselves WHY the backers of Proposition 27 are avoiding the main topic – online gambling – in favor of the alleged sweetener? From MY point of view, I’d say the reason is a false promise of curing a social ill is FAR easier to sell than the destruction associated with gambling addiction and these gambling companies know it. Of course they do. But focusing on the side issues the proposition is likely not going to do in order to avoid having to mention the damage the proposition is likely to do is just, plain dishonest.

I hope you’ll join me in voting ‘No’ on Proposition 27…

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Violence based on conspiracy theories…
When is the last time you tried to have a conversation with a conservative about current events? It’s kind of eye-opening. It never makes sense in my mind that such a large group of people could be SO completely unaware of things going on. I find the exchanges with cons enlightening. If they try to back up their unfounded assertions with citations – AND one takes the time to read the articles they cite – it becomes clear that these are, by and large, perfectly reasonable people simply repeating the false information they’ve been given by their preferred outlets.

I DO have to admit, I’m often stunned by how easily they’re fooled, though. It’s quite clear that one trait the cons share is that they never took a logic or critical thinking class. They know nothing about manipulative and/or deceptive broadcasting. They THINK the information they’re receiving is true and correct and they simply operate from that point – just like everyone else. I know people on the left who take the position that the cons have an obligation to double-check the information they get. But those same people aren’t checking in with Fox “News” to see if THEIR information squares with the conservative orthodoxy. Why would the cons check in with the left?

The thing is, it doesn’t matter if they have good information or bad. They’re GOING to act on it, just like I do. The problem is, the information they have is anti-American. I mean, they ALL scream and shout about how much they love their country but simultaneously, they complain about EVERYTHING that defines America – at least as far as the U.S. Constitution is concerned. As one example, recently it was suggested that the right is supporting fascism. They all got appropriately upset, right on cue. But their actions? The things they support based on the false information they consume? They ARE, in fact, fascist positions – assuming one takes, say Mussolini’s definition of Fascism: the marriage of the corporation and the state.

That’s actually a pretty simple concept. Most definitions, these days, include references to authoritarianism and nationalism but those aspects aren’t required for fascism. They become de facto features because that’s the way businesses are run – top down. It was one of the first falsehoods the cons were sold on their road to fascism: America should be run more like a business. They think, because both government and business use the term “budget” the two entities are the same. They also believe, falsely, that corporations never make mistakes and government never does anyone any good. THAT, in turn, means that putting a businessman in charge of the country should be a good move. Generally, it isn’t a good move at all. Successful businessmen issue orders and expect them to be followed. That isn’t the way our government works.

The thing that bothers me the most about all of this is that anger is a daily staple of conservative media. The cons are told constantly that they’re being cheated and robbed by the left. The cons ARE being cheated and robbed – just not by the left. But since they likely realize they’re being robbed and their information sources assure them it’s from the left, they believe it’s from the left – and they get angry about it.

We saw on January 6th that they’re angry enough, already, to physically assault the country they claim to love so much. With a bit of careful management, the manufactured outrage they’ve grown so accustomed to can be turned to furious action with only a little nudging. We all watched Trump maneuver his acolytes into attacking Congress that day – and it didn’t take much to whip them into that frenzy. For it’s part, conservative media downplays and/or ignores the actual events of the day so the rank-and-file cons think it was just an “unauthorized tour.”

Recently, Trump suggested that if he’s indicted for the crimes he commits, there will be rioting in the streets and violence from sea to shining sea. (I’ve paraphrased.) The SAME people who decry protests when cops murder unarmed, contained suspects will, themselves, be out in the street burning and destroying and they’ll never even understand they’re doing the exact same thing as ‘Black Lives Matter’ protestors. The difference? Black Lives Matter protests usually include at least one, actual dead body. The cons are going to come out fighting over conspiracy theories and stories.

I wonder how many of the January 6th assailants now understand they had been misled into the actions that are now sending them to prison. I suspect some but not all. Many will cling to their falsehoods. The same will happen once they take to the streets in defense of the Trump crime family. Of course, they think Trump is as pure as driven snow but after the destruction and death they’re currently threatening? Will they understand they killed (and died) over a fraud?

I’ll tell you this: we can’t let the threat of violence from people who don’t understand things be an impediment to taking action against Trump or his allegedly criminal organization. The right wants to destroy America but if the left stands down for fear of what the right might do, it will be the left bringing this once-great nation down, not the right…

Flunky Fail
Well, Trump’s toady Aileen Cannon seems to have failed in her quest to help the dumbass avoid responsibility for his crimes. She really DID try, though, demonstrating that her loyalty to Trump FAR exceeds her loyalty to jurisprudence. The lackey Cannon tried to block the DOA from doing their jobs, she really did. But a three person panel from the Eleventh District Appeals Court – two of whom were appointed by Trump – overturned that…um…”ruling” and put the investigation back on track.

To recap, Trump tried to get a “Special Master” to review papers seized during the warrant execution. The concept was to slow everything down and give the dumbass time to come up with…something. The Trump team knew, though, that no competent judge was going to participate in such shenanigans so they went to Cannon. SHE was all on board, trying to protect her hero. She shouldn’t have had the case at all but she kept that part of it anyway. The DOJ uses a “taint team” to discover any improperly held documents BEFORE the papers are passed to the active investigators so the idea of a Special Master was a waste of time and money anyway. But Judge Cannon doesn’t CARE about laws – her job was to protect Trump. He wanted the Special Master, he GOT his Special Master.

THEN, his Special Master, Raymond Dearie (a person suggested by the Trump team), told him he had to produce proof that Trump had, in fact, declassified all those papers – mostly an irrelevance since he STILL couldn’t legally hold them. The Trump team has…resisted the request. It’s one thing to spout lies at a political rally. It’s a whole different kettle of fish to lie to a court. Even Trump’s ‘D’ list lawyers aren’t going to do that. THEN Dearie said he wanted proof of Trump’s lie that the FBI planted all those classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. (He STILL hasn’t explained why – if the FBI planted those papers – does he think he should get them “back.”) They have until September 30 to produce a list of the planted documents.

In the meantime, New York State has filed a lawsuit against the Trump crime family Organization. It doesn’t seek jail time…yet. For now, it hits Trump MUCH closer to home: the money. Oh, and it ALSO seeks to bar them from doing any business whatsoever in New York State. I don’t think the CheetoJesus will do any time behind bars over his tax fraud, insurance fraud, or bank fraud – sadly, the US has special rules for rich people and, so far, NEVER jails ex-presidents – but Ivanka, Don Jr, and Eric are each likely quite…focused right now…

Also in the meantime, the investigation into election interference in Georgia continues as well. It’s moving a bit slower but the Georgia prosecutor investigating the allegations is openly talking about jail time for members of the Trump team who participated and we KNOW that includes Giuliani and Trump, himself – we’ve heard parts of the recording! Thus far, all the criminal participants are claiming they had nothing to do with anything and the whole thing is a witch hunt. You know, sticking to their lie in the hopes that someone, somewhere might believe them. Hey, the MAGAts do! What more do you need?

I guess it’s just a shame Trump can’t get ALL of his legal woes presented to the disgraced Aileen Cannon for disposition but it sure seems like the walls are closing in on him. I’ll tell you this: I don’t know how this thing will play out but I’m enjoying the show, for now. Pass the popcorn…

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Now, where are the spices?
Okay, so the move is done. Well, the relocation of the personal belongings from one location to another is done. NOW it’s time to unpack and “the move” isn’t complete until the boxes are unpacked. I don’t know which part is more difficult, packing up and moving out of a house I lived in for 9 years or unpacking and setting up a house I’ve lived in for 9 days.

It’s a morass of “What goes where?” “How can I make THAT work?” “Oh, man, what’s in THAT box?” and “Crap, what the hell happened to THIS?”

Priorities, people. The rules were followed. Beds first, kitchen second, bathroom – all “functional,” if not yet fabulous. I have a quiet, safe place to sleep. I can make a meal, although I have yet to find the box with the spices in it so everything’s a bit bland. I can shower at the end of the day, so I don’t stink at night. But an improperly hung towel rack has already fallen off the wall so I’ve already got repairs to do.

The kitchen I left was small. The kitchen I’ve arrived at is even smaller. That part is befuddling. I have high confidence I’ll figure something out but for right now, it looks like I’ll have a place to prepare a meal or a place to put small appliances, but not both. Not much of a problem for a blender but the coffee pot is critical!

Anyone who has ever moved house knows the challenge. There are too many things to do and not enough hours in a day to do them. So? One just keeps plodding along, one step at a time until everything is out of boxes and has some new place to shine. Of course, THAT’S when one realizes, “Oh, THAT should have gone THERE!” and the re-arranging begins. That’s thinking too far ahead, though, and I’m not ready for that. I’ll stick to baby steps, one day at a time, one box at a time.

Right now I’m just focused on trying to find the spices…

John Roberts is out trying to defend his Supremely Kangaroo Court. He says he thinks it’s dangerous to connect the stupid decisions being handed down with the legitimacy of the court. The court, he says, has always engaged in controversial decisions and he doesn’t understand the connection between decisions people disagree with and the legitimacy of the supreme court.

But the court isn’t making only “controversial decisions,” is it? These are cruel and destructive “choices” based on personal whims of religious and conservative nut-balls – who committed perjury to be in a position to DO their damage in the first place – that harm millions of people. They’ve made it harder for millions to vote. They’ve stolen all women’s control over her own body. They’ve made it easier for polluters to pollute. They’ve damaged the separation of church and state. They uphold discrimination – at least, they uphold discrimination that “works” for them, personally. (They hate gays. They rule against gay rights…)

I think Roberts is trying to defend the indefensible and it appears I’m not alone. Young women from sea to shining sea are registering to vote and what I assume is an alarming rate to the GOP. The whole country was once convinced, say, nine months ago (coincidentally) that the Republicans were going to take back Congress in the 2022 mid-terms. They still have a better than average chance of doing so since they cheat so prolifically what with voter suppression and gerrymandering and now, apparently, hacking voting machines. Pretty much EVERY charge they throw at Democrats? Yeah, it’s not the Democrats, it’s the Republicans – and it always has been the Republicans.

So, suddenly, because of the Roberts court of rulings based on personal preferences, the mid-terms are going to come down to women and men who support women vs cons who want to take away as many rights from as many people as possible. (I’m certain that statement would be challenged by the cons. I’ve just gotten comfortable with the idea that when a con protests something, it’s projection, not concern and it seems to be ALWAYS the case.)

The cons have been told – and so they actually believe – they outnumber the left, meaning Democrats and progressives. I’ve never believed that. Like the GOP, the Dems vote as instructed by their party. The progressives vote their conscience. The two don’t always converge and it may make it appear as though the right outnumbers the left. But from time to time, the two groups come together over something (usually, the Dems take on some progressive position and it becomes easy for progressives and Dems to work together) and when that happens, there are CLEARLY more on the left than on the right. The Roberts court has brought the true goals of the right into crystal clear reality and that has created a revitalized coalition between the Dems and the Progressives. If this holds through to November – and I think it will – the cons will have difficulty even hanging on to what they’ve got, let alone making gains – even in the face of their election rigging.

If so, we’ll ALL have to raise a glass to the corrupted Roberts Supremely Kangaroo court for putting such a blunt and brutal face to GOP goals. Special side note: Lindsey Graham didn’t help matters for the right when he blurted out the GOP’s intent to pass Federal legislation banning abortion rights nationwide just as soon as they get the chance. I suspect even some right-leaning women might vote against the GOP (secretly, of course) over this. It’s one thing to mouth the words. It’s another to be forced to go through, or watch your daughter or grand-daughter, be forced to go through with an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy. Or worse, to lose that beloved family member to rulings that prevent abortion in the case of the loss of life.

I’ll tell you this: I hope Roberts and the GOP keep hammering away on their message that they fully intend to remove as many human rights as they possibly can. It will help them get hammered in the next election(s)…

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It’s a bit short today, this post. I’m moving house and don’t have time to put together everything I wanted to cover – which is a drag because there’s been so much of it recently. We’ll get back on track next weekend, though…

Cons pretend to oppose activist judges…
Well, the cons finally got the activist courts they used to bitch about endlessly. At the time, they pretended they were upset about activist judges who did things for political reasons that have nothing to do with – indeed, undermine, the rule of law. They said they thought that was a bad thing. It would have been, too, had it been happening when they were whining about it. But, like all things conservative, now that the activist judges have actually arrived – and now that they’re actively working FOR conservative ideology against democracy – oh, the cons are all over it. They LOVE it. They’ve never been happier to see activism from the bench.

I’ll tell you this: It’s going to be weird, having to check the political loyalties of judges to see if they’re loyal to the law or loyal to a political position but that’s the world the cons want and that’s the world they – along with the rest of us – are getting…

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But Cons love THIS activist judge…
Remember the useless, nothing-but-a-stall-tactic Special Master Trump was granted by his toady, Aileen Cannon in a craven attempt to gum up the investigation into Trump’s criminal activities? According to legal experts from sea to shining sea there was no basis for the appointment in the first place. Apparently, this partisan “judge” used some rather…unusual interpretations of law to work around the problem that there was no legal basis for the request to be granted. In THIS case, she elevated Trump to some special class because he had once been, ostensibly, President. So…no longer a citizen among citizens, I guess. Now the President, excuse me, their “President” is in a special class all by himself. Don’t believe me? The cons (wrongly, of course) believe Obama got away with something like 30,000 documents. Do you think they’d be cheering if a special master was appointed to protect him based on the notion that he had been President? I’d bet not.

But Trump got his special master. The DOJ is appealing, of course, but they have to face down the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals – a court ALSO corrupted by Trump appointee “Federalist” judges. If they fail there, the only option is the Trump-corrupted Supremely Kangaroo Court. It’s looking like a rough ride for the law these days. But, in fairness, we’ve seen other Trump appointed judges nevertheless uphold the law and not Trump’s whims when ruling. MAYBE the 11th Circuit has some of those. We’ll see. Integrity is becoming increasingly rare in the MAGA bubble.

So now Trump, who demanded, then sued to get, the special master doesn’t want to PAY for the special master he demanded. As it happens, the GOP has been paying many of Trump’s legal bills. This is the quid-pro-quo for asking him not to officially announce his Presidential run until after the mid-terms but even at that, they’ve quietly backed away from paying in his stead and they’re not paying for the special master so Trump has to. Cue the whining. Asking Trump to actually PAY for something is considered a sin in MAGA world…

I’m pretty sure the accused should pay. I’m pretty sure that when one is facing criminal charges, experts brought in to defend the accused do so at the expense of the accused. (That’s part of the reason poor people get such unfair trials in this once-great nation.) One of Trump’s more questionable claims is that he’s a “billionaire.” One thing for certain is that Trump has fleeced his oh-so-gullible followers out of hundreds of millions of dollars. (His victims don’t mind.) Trump can easily cover the cost of his own legal defense, which would not have been necessary if he hadn’t committed crimes by stealing and mishandling all of those classified “documents” in the first place. (Sidebar: Have you noticed? Cons LOVE to feel self-important by calling papers in folders “documents” and “dossiers” but they’re still just papers in folders…)

I’ll tell you this: Trump should pay the price for his crimes and his defense. And I mean, he should pay the full price, all by himself…

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Can’t call fascism fascism?
On a related note, the cons have recently pretended to be upset over the suggestion that the conservative movement is, at it’s core, a fascist movement. They put on that faux-outrage mantel they’ve mastered through the years, offended on cue about whatever they’re told to be offended about, and get “angry” or “hurt.” Uh-huh.

I’ll tell you this: If you don’t want people saying you support fascism, stop supporting fascist policies and ideas. Pretty simple, really…

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Speaking of passings
I’m sorry the Queen of England has passed. I’m not sure why. It’s not like I knew her. I’m not a royal follower. I don’t even support the royal house. It’s a bit…anachronistic. Also, I know she was the face of many harsh and hard things that happened in colonies around the world during her reign. There are a LOT of people out there with legitimate grievances against the Brits. But I see those things as government and politics and the Queen, herself, seemed quite…personable.

I heard a guy on the radio say that there are many queens on the face of this planet but people referred to Elizabeth II as ‘The Queen’ and IF one simply referred to ‘The Queen,’ Elizabeth’s face was the face they pictured. I know that was true for me.

So, MyBaconPress.com offers deepest condolences to Britain’s royal family. The world lost a queen but the family lost a mother and grandmother and, normally, it’s hard to lose one’s mom…er…mum…

There’s a thing happening on the left. People are starting to refer to Joe Biden as ‘Dark Brandon.’ I like it. If you missed it, there was an interview going on at a racing event in which the winner – a guy named Brandon – was being interviewed. Conservatives, being the way they are, took the opportunity to embarrass themselves on national television by shouting “Fuck Joe Biden” loudly enough to be heard by the microphones. The interviewer tried to cover the invective by pretending the crowd was shouting “Let’s go, Brandon.” They weren’t. In conservative world, Joe Biden became “Brandon” and a right-wing “smear” was born. (Truth? I never understood the “smear” of not knowing someone’s name…)

Recently, Biden has been pushing back against right-wing crazies who show up at his speeches just to try to heckle him. He’s taken to offering zingers that allow him to attack conservative ideology in general. In the past, he has stuck to less aggressive comments like, “They’re entitled to be outrageous, this is a democracy.” In the most recent go-round, though, he upped the ante a bit. During a speech in Milwaukee, some con heckler started in. Security starting moving toward the miscreant but Biden said, “Let him go. Look, everyone’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The man was tossed out anyway but the crowd loves Biden’s rhetoric. I do, too. As this has happened more and more, the left is taking back the “Brandon” slur by calling Biden “Dark Brandon” and Dark Brandon seems to be embracing the moniker. Biden is out giving speeches denouncing authoritarianism and autocracy and talking up democracy. He’s attacking some of the basic tenets of extreme conservatism and I say, it’s about time. I, for one, have had enough.

When Ronald Reagan first introduced the fraudulent concept known as “Supply Side Economics,” more commonly known as “trickle down economics,” I thought it didn’t make any sense. So did another candidate in the 1980 election, Reagan’s eventual Vice-President, George Bush (this would be Bush 41), who coined the term “voo-doo economics.” If your party is your faith, you STILL likely believe that Reagan was some kind of sage but based on evidence and reality, Reagan was a blithering idiot and Bush 41 and I were right. I know…words and numbers can be boring so I’ve got some pictures!

I didn’t make them. Some group out there – the ‘Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ made them. They took something like 75 years worth of economic data comparing economic outcomes between countries. They put Reagan’s face to show when Reagan started HIS big lie and then let the actual data tell the rest of the story. It’s quite enlightening. For example, one showed economic gains between the “classes” of the United States through the years.

See Reagan’s face and the arrow? That’s when Reagan was elected. See how the lines run roughly together before Reagan and diverge more and more dramatically after Reagan? THAT is the direct result of trickle down economics, a conservative policy. Oh, but wait, there’s more:

In this one, the blue line is the National Debt and the red line is the debt’s percentage of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. The national debt was declining steadily – until Reagan. Now it’s a conservative talking point and a concern for everyone, thinking and non-thinking alike. Even the conservatives, rank and file, anyway, don’t like the results of their own policies so they’re always on about how terrible is the national debt but oppose the necessary steps to correct the problem, taxing the wealthy.

I like this one. It’s sort of a close up of the public debt as a percentage of GDP. ANYONE can see how the debt has skyrocketed since Reagan. Cons, though, will close their eyes and refuse to look. But the rest of us really ought to know.

This one shows the increase and decrease in the share of national income between the 1% vs the bottom 50%, both in the US and Europe. The Western European model seems to be better for the largest number of people, yes? Based on data, of course, yes. The self-deluded will STILL shout “NO!” They’ll still be wrong, though. Okay, one more:

This one is a bit different, a bit more personal. This one shows life expectancy vs healthcare spending over time between the once-great United States and the first world nations that offer national health care in one form or another. One little line shows that US health care costs more than anywhere (thanks to Capitalists) with a far worse outcome. All that “Ain’t US health care the best in the world?” No, apparently not. Oh, sure, you’ve got a slogan but you don’t have decent health care.

So…have YOU had enough, too?