War

What’s Real?

by MyBaconPress

I don’t expect good things, with this. Gavin Newsom is out there making a big show of ‘Trump-proofing’ California, as the Guardian called it. Is he, though? I mean, he’s trying and I appreciate that. But here’s the deal. Federal law supersedes state law. California has access to abortion enshrined in their constitution. It means nothing. Several states had outlawed abortion in their constitutions and Roe v Wade rendered those provisions inactive. That’s why they were ready when Roe was overturned.

I appreciate Newsom’s efforts. At this point, I’d like to see California (and, perhaps the rest of the west coast) secede from the union and form a new, better country. That won’t happen, though. Remember the Civil War? There’s no provision for secession.

If you want to register protest, you have to do it where they live. Close your wallets. I mean that. Don’t buy anything you don’t absolutely HAVE to buy. That will be difficult, of course. If such a concept was successful, many people would lose their jobs as factories shut down. (If nobody is buying, nobody is selling, so there’s no need for manufacturing.)

The people refusing to buy would feel the pain along with everyone else. Then again, we’re all about to feel the pain anyway. It might offer some small comfort to have at least a modicum of control over how the pain spreads.

Think of it like that movement women are embracing. They’re beginning to go with a movement in which they refuse to sleep with anyone (well, any men) until women’s rights are restored. I think that’s solid thinking. It’s called the “4B movement.” It originated in South Korea and the “B’s” in question are Korean words that basically mean women are keeping themselves TO themselves so long as they don’t have bodily autonomy. Yeah, everyone feels that. The question is, who feels it first and who feels it worst?

Newsom’s efforts are inspiring but they will amount to nothing in the long run. Federal law supersedes state law. Truthfully, closing our wallets is the ONLY thing I can think of to defend ourselves…

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Here’s irony. One of the ways Trump scared hell out of his acolytes was to tell them Kamala was “going to start World War III.” Okay, so, it wouldn’t be Kamala in the first place. We’ve enjoyed the BIDEN administration, not the Harris administration. Two conflicts HAVE started, but the actions I expect from Trump will only inflame them.

Trump withdraws US support for Ukraine. Europe steps in to make up the shortfall. The US withdraws from NATO. Putin feels emboldened to respond to European “interference” and all of Europe is engulfed in war.

Trump tells Netanyahu to go ahead and finish off the Palestinians. The Middle East isn’t going to just sit around and watch that happen. Suddenly, THAT entire region is burning and fighting and killing.

It sounds, to me, like TRUMP is about to start World War III by encouraging the growth and escalation of the conflicts…

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Not that it’s going to make any difference, but the more I think about it, the less I believe it. I mean, look, we had several states working feverishly to eliminate as many Democratic votes as they could, but along with that, we KNOW the Russians were calling in bomb threats all over Georgia. No, not “all over.” In expected Democratic districts. We have no idea how or where else Russia might have intervened and now that corruption is the rule of the day, we’ll never know.

But it turns out ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ was ‘Real, Real, Real,’ after all…

Maybe/Maybe Not…

by MyBaconPress

Well, I certainly hope I’m wrong about this but it looks more and more like we might find ourselves in yet another conflict over in the Middle East. I don’t mean just supplying weapons. I mean boots on the ground. What can I say? America is a blood thirsty nation. We can’t stay out of conflict for very long.

In October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel over what they perceived as years of abuse and encroachment of their land. 1,200 Israeli’s, mostly civilians, died in the cowardly attack. (Attack the leaders who caused the actions, not innocents just living their lives.) Israel retaliated – is STILL retaliating – and, so far, have killed 40,000 Palestinians, men, women, and children. According to Israel, Hamas, all! Left to their own devices, Israel and the Palestinians would fight until there were no more Israelis or Palestinians to do any fighting – just like their Gods want them to.

But more than once, Israel has attacked people in places other than Gaza, drawing in a larger pool of combatants, widening the war. One time was when Israel attacked the West Bank, challenging Hezbollah, who seem happy to oblige in the fight. Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in Syria. Iran’s response to that was…”measured.” THEN, Israel attacked Tehran, Iran. Now the world is waiting to see how Iran is going to react.

How do you think the US would react if some foreign, hostile power took a military action on our shores? Remember 9/11? One attack, two wars that lasted years. As it happens, other countries feel the same way about military operations in their countries and will respond. The US remains committed to Israel, apparently, no matter what. How long until Israel makes the war so much worse, so much bigger, the US has to field troops to “help?”

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I feel like Kamala is winning this race at the moment. I see her opposition trying to land a punch that slows her momentum, but I haven’t seen anything effective. By all accounts (on the left) Trump is flailing, angry, and depressed. I think he’s going to lose an honest and fair election. I think HE thinks he’s going to lose an honest and fair election, too. SO…one doubles down, gets to work, hits the battleground states over and over and over again trying to drum up support, right? One says the things people want to hear. One settles into professional mode and presents their image of the future and how they intend to make it better, right?

But not Donald. He has some other strategy. First, he took a week off. Just…sat down in Mar-a-Lardo, scratching his fat ass. (Okay, he DID do a press conference and made his situation worse.) Then, he followed up with a rally in (checks notes)…wait, is this right? Montana? Has Kamala made inroads into Montana? If he has Montana in the bag, and he does, why expend resources in Montana?

At first, I found his odd response comforting. I thought he was dazed and confused and flailing for an answer. I thought he was spending time in “safe zones” in an effort to rebuild his oh-so-fragile confidence, trying to get his groove back. But then, I got a cold chill.

I’ve heard (and related) about a plan to simply install Trump in January, should he lose in November. Taking a week off and visiting places where your support is strong are not quality actions for a candidate trying to win an election. But they’re just fine for a candidate confident he’s going to be installed, anyway, so why bother?

I know people who tell me I’m a bit over-the-top on this. Smart people, who could totally be right so take my concerns, here, with a grain of salt – but only a tiny grain of salt. The GOP has already outlined the scheme. They already have the pieces in place. Hell, they’ve already initiated the process. (Every time they claim the election was/is/will be rigged, they’re setting the stage. That’s the lie they need to get the ball rolling – and it’s already rolling…)

I can’t, for the life of me, think of a reason a person would define the game, set the pieces in place, start playing, and then just…stop. One step away from reaching their goal and they just decide not to? In what world? In that sense, Trump campaigning in safe states and speaking to already-gonna-vote-for-him loyalists, concerns me “bigly.”

Insupportable…

by MyBaconPress

So, not for nothing, but I’ve noticed that every time some natural disaster or other bad thing happens to a city with a reputation for tolerance, the pseudo-Christians slither out of the woodwork to claim the disaster was “God’s wrath” for their sins.

But there’s this town called Ayetoro in Nigeria. It was founded specifically to be a “Christian community.” It’s being consumed by the ocean as climate change advances. I haven’t heard even ONE pseudo-Christian “leader” insist it might be God’s wrath. But I’ve noticed God isn’t doing anything to protect them, either. It looks, to me, more like science is going to science and denying science doesn’t change that one iota.

The numbers in the weather reports aren’t looking any better, either. It’s already hot this summer. Yeah, I know, keyword: summer. But this is shaping up to be one of the hottest summers on record and then? I hear experts (because I still listen to experts) saying to get used to it. Future summers promise to be even hotter.

Hey, we had our chance to intervene. We COULD have taken steps to avert the disaster. We still could, although at this point the effort would have to be huge and painful – and when have humans ever signed up for that voluntarily? But conservatives would have to confess to being wrong (or lying) about science and, more importantly to the power people, it would have been bad for business.

Humanity has done this more than once, make a harmful decision in deference to some greedy power. In the 5th century, after the fall of Rome, the church took over as the primary source of power and, in an effort to maintain that power, plunged the western world into a knowledge vacuum that came to be known as ‘The Dark Ages,’ a term currently being downplayed.

The church held absolute sway for something like 700 years. It was good for the church – they got fabulously wealthy – but very bad for humanity. We just…stalled. For 700 years! Now we’ve done something similar, this time for political and financial reasons. Denying climate change was very good for business, but very bad for humanity.

Evil people doing evil things with the help of the ignorant and stupid? It seems to be the human way. I suspect it’s going to cost us dearly…

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In what will certainly be recognized as no surprise at all, both Hamas and Israel have rejected the peace plan the US put forth. Hamas said no because giving up the hostages leaves them vulnerable to Israeli aggression, so they refused unless a permanent cease fire was in place. Israel said no because if they cease their fire, they can’t very well drive all the Palestinians into the ocean, now, can they? So, the fight continues.

Wait, did I say continues? No, I mean “expands.” Israel and Hezbollah are squaring off, too. Apparently, Palestinians in the West Bank aren’t comfortable just watching Israel wipe out all of the Palestinians in Gaza. Go figure.

At this point, I’m pretty sure Israel and the Palestinians are going to fight to their own destruction regardless of what anyone else does. If you want to see how it plays out, just watch the episode of Star Trek, the Original Series called, ‘Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.’ I just wish Israel wasn’t using American weapons to do it…

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I’ve seen the video. I don’t think Biden “froze up” during the LA event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and attended by Barack Obama. It looked, to me, like Biden was doing what politicians do, standing there for a moment so photographers could get a clear photo. We’ve all seen it, two politicians shaking hands and standing still and smiling for the cameras for a moment or two. It looks weird, but there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it and everybody understands what is going on.

But I’ll tell you the truth, I think Biden made it easy for the right to mischaracterize his actions (0r lack thereof) in that moment.

Both sides are trying to show that the other guy is unfit. Biden is old. He LOOKS old. He acts old. But he’s still competent. Trump is ALSO old. HE looks old, too, though not quite as old as Biden. Trump really does lose control of his speech from time to time and the dude rambles. But let’s call it a tie on “old, with the occasional senior moment” and move on to the next categories.

On the economy? Trump crashed the economy with his fecklessness. Biden brought the recovery. That’s a clear Biden win. NEITHER Trump nor Biden have any good answers for the border. I’m calling that one a tie, though it was brought about that way by Republican obstruction. Biden is being hurt in 2024 by the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that started in 1948 while Trump has the luxury of sitting on the sidelines sniping. That’s a Trump win, even though he didn’t have to do anything for it but run his mouth.

Biden wants to preside over a constitutional government that tries to bring the best to everyone. Trump wants a dictatorship that serves himself first and other wealthy people second, all at the expense of the masses. Biden clearly wins that one. Trump has more convictions that Biden. LOTS more.

Trump has lost in civil courts AND criminal courts. Trump is currently on his bicycle, trying to stay out of any MORE criminal courts because he KNOWS he’ll be convicted, even if MAGA doesn’t. I think “most criminal convictions” works against a person, though MAGA thinks it’s his badge of honor.

On balance, Biden has been a better, if not perfect, President. But Biden is clearly, far and away, the better MAN. He has better morals, better understanding of the issues, and better ability to work with the world to solve problems. Trump is just…a problem all by himself.

Here’s the test: One doesn’t have to lie about Biden to present him as competent and decent. MAGA cannot tell the truth about Trump, even to themselves. Here’s the rule: Any position that depends on lies for support doesn’t deserve to be supported…

Consequences…

by MyBaconPress

When I write these little bits, I use “tags” to help categorize the topics and such on the hosting website. I’ve noticed I use the three tags, ‘Trump,’ ‘MAGA,’ and ‘Crime’ together all the time, over and over. It’s a LOT of crime MAGA has been involved in, led and supported by Trump…

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Speaking of which, now that he’s a Felon, he can’t travel to several countries – even as President. Oh, he ALSO lost a lawsuit regarding the Steele Dossier in the UK and hasn’t paid THAT debt, either. (That really IS his thing…) Now, he could be facing legal enforcement in the UK if he ever shows his very bulky face there. That makes it official: Trump, possibly our next President, is an international criminal! Thanks, MAGA!

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Apparently, Trump insiders are saying that Trump plans to ramp up the heat on Judge Juan Merchan if Merchan sentences Trump to jail time. That’s from an article in the Guardian titled, ‘Trump to escalate blame on trial judge Juan Merchan if sentenced to prison.’ Way to take personal responsibility for your actions, Mr Leader-of-the-Party-of-Responsibility.

I don’t really expect Merchan to put Trump in jail, though I think he should. I think that way because I honestly believe that he would have put any other person in jail, by now, if they behaved the way Trump has behaved. Or, misbehaved, as the case may be.

He committed a crime. He felt good about getting away with it, until he got caught. Then, he blamed the people who caught him. Prosecutors collected evidence. He blamed the people who collected the evidence, dismissing the evidence itself. The evidence was presented in open court to a jury of his peers. (Kind of. Trump is SO mentally malformed, I’m not sure he has “peers…”) He blamed the people who presented the evidence. The judge ran a steady, honest trial. Trump blamed the judge for Trump’s predicament.

David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi and took a hammer to his head. He got sentenced to 30 years and at least some of that time, according to the judge in that case, was because DePape showed zero remorse. Judges commonly factor that in when considering sentences. Now Trump is issuing veiled threats against the judge in the case? Not only does Trump not show any contrition, but he’s out attacking and blaming the judge for doing his job? “It’s not MY fault I did that! It’s YOUR fault I did that!” That should land Trump in prison.

I’ll tell you this: It’s too bad Merchan is showing more respect for the office of the President than the substandard, criminal ex-President…

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Hey, Israel recovered 4 hostages. Yay! They only had to kill nearly 300 innocents to do it. What a deal! I know. Israel and her supporters don’t care about the Palestinians killed and would argue they don’t qualify as “innocents.” At one point, Israel killed a five DAY old baby. I’m surprised American media didn’t report the child as the “Number two man of HAMAS” in an attempt to justify the killing.

THIS time, Israel just HAD to attack a refugee camp. (Keyword: refugee.) You know, because of HAMAS. I’m glad they rescued 4 hostages. I really am. But I’m not sure the cost/benefit analysis is on Israel’s side. The world has recently heard about the discovery of several bodies who were once hostages. Of course, Israel blames HAMAS – who DOES deserve some portion of the blame for taking the hostages in the first place. But I suspect those hostages were killed by Israel, accidentally, as they use a cannon to kill a mosquito. I don’t know that, of course, and I never will. Wars always produce manipulated information.

I look at it this way: if you take hostages only to kill them, why incur the cost and difficulty of keeping some alive? If you see the hostages as a bargaining chip you need to use to protect yourself, why kill them? You need them. This far into the war, rescuing 4 living hostages suggests HAMAS isn’t killing them. So who might be? I’m looking at the side randomly blasting and killing everything in sight supposedly trying to “rescue the hostages…”

D-Day, June 6th, 1944…

by MyBaconPress

I suspect most thinking Americans know that Donald Trump’s relationship with God is, um, non-existent. He avoids questions on the topic by talking around them. At one point, he refused to name even a single favorite Bible verse because, he claimed, it was “too personal.” What horse-hockey. I’m a freaking atheist and I have a favorite Bible verse! But MAGA lapped it up like a kitten at a cream bowl, just like they always do.

Oh, MY favorite verse? It’s Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 5. You know the one. It’s the one where Jesus tells his followers not to be hypocrites. You’re not going to look it up, are you? Okay, it goes, “Thou hypocrite,” – I like the King James Version for fiery rhetoric – “first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

After his Felony criminal conviction, he was asked on a softball ‘Fox and Fiends’ Interview, “What’s your relationship with God like, and how do you pray?”
“OK, so I think it is good,” Trump replied. “I do very well with the evangelicals. I love the evangelicals. And I have more people saying they pray for me ― I can’t even believe it. They are so committed, and they are so believing…”
He thinks he has a good relationship with God because he does well with evangelicals? I’m not sure that’s how it works. He’s the living embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Wrath, and Sloth. I suspect those aspects of his reality would go FAR further in God’s thinking – along with the actual acts of stealing, lying, sexually molesting, adultery, and even having a God before God (himself, of course) – than whether evangelicals vote for him…

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You know those movies about high school where there’s some pampered bully who runs roughshod over everything and everyone in sight, often by instigating others to do his evil bidding? He usually stands opposite of the star, who eventually overcomes the abuses of the bully. I have no doubt in my mind that Trump was that bully in high school, just like he’s that bully now. Where, I wonder, is the hero who eventually overcomes the abuses of this bully?

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Today, June 6th, is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Europe that was the beginning of the end for the Nazis in Europe. As the United States hurtles toward our own Authoritarian Fascist destruction at the hands of those “so believing” MAGA, I’m reminded of the 80 year rule. History repeats in roughly 80 year cycles. (No, it’s not perfect. It’s an average, but it’s a solid average, one you can trust.)

My own thinking for why the 80 year cycle is, that’s how long it takes us, collectively, to forget. Those of us who are interested have seen the film of the destruction of Germany and Japan. We’ve read the books and learned a lot about that war. But we had to make an effort. It didn’t just come to us. And since so many people do not pursue that kind of history, they never really understand it, hence, they forget – and then humanity has to do it all over again.

The Nazis were not good for Germany. MAGA is not good for America. In the 1930’s, thinking Germans found themselves overrun by foolhardy followers. In the same way, in the 2020’s, America finds itself overrun by the same crowd. People in Germany couldn’t stop Hitler from coming to power. If we’re not very careful, Americans are not going to be able to stop Trump from coming back, either. Germany was decimated. ALL of it, whether one supported the Nazis or not. If America continues to follow the same path, America will be decimated, too. ALL of it, weather one supported MAGA or not.

The people who COULD have stopped Hitler in Germany, the wealthy and powerful, decided, instead, to try to use him to their advantage. Other people, the day-to-day workers, weren’t concerned enough about Hitler, thinking yes, he’s a demonstrable buffoon, but he can’t do much damage due to the structure of the government.

I used to try to imagine and understand their shock as the realized they couldn’t control him and he didn’t give two figs about the structure of government. He just dismantled said government and did what he wanted to do. Sadly, I no longer have to try to imagine how the thinking people in Germany felt. I’m feeling the very same way, most days, as far too many Americans embrace the once-unimaginable in ‘Hitler 2, Donald Trump.’

I’ll tell you this: It’s really ironic as hell. This is the anniversary of the day Americans fought and died to put a stop to Fascist Authoritarians, occurring at a time that the US is falling into the clutches of Fascist Authoritarians…

Actions and Negotiations…

by MyBaconPress

Well, finally, Joe has done something I can get behind in Gaza. Mostly, because it’s exactly what I’ve been saying I thought he should do all along. He has told Israel he’s not sending any more American weapons if they move forward with their planned assault on Rafah. Israel has responded by moving forward with their planned assault on Rafah.

Biden doesn’t have much more leverage than that. Nobody does. Bibi is free to mow Rafah, using the “kill them all and let God sort them out” standard if he wants to – and it looks very much like he wants to. But he’ll have to do it without weapons stamped “USA” on the side.

At least, no new weapons. I’m sure they have a stockpile, although military conflicts have a tendency to burn through armaments at a very high rate, which is great for investors. Israel has declared Biden’s decision “disappointing.” Oh, boo-hoo. If stopping the weapons stops the genocide, I’m all for it.

Maybe now our college campuses can settle down. The main complaint of the anti-genocide students has been that their schools are invested in the companies that make the bombs that kill the people. They want their schools to divest from those companies. But if the bombs aren’t going there to kill more vicious, 5 day old “HAMAS,” perhaps they can just get back to class.

I’ll tell you this: Nobody is going to stop Netanyahu in what he wants to do. It would be easier with American weapons, but he’ll do it with bear skins and stone knives if he has to. He just wants the Palestinians dead, dead, dead. But at least Americans won’t be complicit anymore…

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Aileen “Loose” Cannon has finally relinquished May 20th trial date. She had been holding it so none of Donny’s many other criminal trials would be able to slip into the slot. She held it as long as she could but kept putting off the processes needed to get the trial going so everyone KNEW she would drop the trial date eventually. The only question was when.

You’ve got to admit, she’s done everything she could to help her beloved. She’s a terrible judge with zero ethics or credibility, but she’s a very effective member of Trump’s legal defense team. I mean, SHE stalled the case as long as she could, then used her own stalling as the excuse to move the trial date! That’s some effective team effort, there, Aileen. The only thing she did better for Donny? She didn’t bother even trying to set a new trial date.

Rational Americans are pretending there is a bright spot to her underhanded decision in that it opens a slot for Jack Smith to move forward with one of his other trials but that’s just empty hope. Donny’s OTHER legal team of Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Barrett (RATKG&B) have carefully coordinated THEIR part of the process and will NOT issue a ruling on whether or not Presidents have perfect immunity until it’s too late for Smith to do THAT, too.

Oh, hey, in what is likely a completely unrelated event, did you hear that Aileen “loose” Cannon has been found to be accepting lavish “gifts” without reporting them – at least until she was caught? These “gifts” come from conservatives with interests in the outcome of trials before her court. They seem to help guide her rulings…

Quick question: Are there ANY decent conservatives left in this once great nation?

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Speaking of despicable conservatives, how angry do you suppose Melania is these days? Of COURSE Donny told her the stories of the affairs were lies. Naturally, she knew better. She didn’t believe him? She negotiated. She’s evil, not stupid. But because the story is that she stands by her man, she looks like a gullible fool and being willing to look the fool is very expensive.

With this trial, the details are coming out – drip by drip. Stormy makes clear Donny called her ‘Honey Bunch.’ Has Donny called Melania ‘Honey Bunch?’ Then she knows that’s a nickname he uses. She KNOWS. She doesn’t really care, of course. To her, this is an opportunity to make some money. So, she renegotiates. And then negotiates again.

“You want dutiful wife? How much you pay?”
“You ARE my wife. Why should I have to pay you anything?”
“Because you don’t pay, I no longer wife. And I remember…certain tings during interviews.”
“How much do you want?”
“Oh, I don’t know, really. How about $1.2 million, set up in a trust fun for Barron with me as controller?”
“Your English always gets so much better at the money part. For $1.2 million, you’d have to appear with me during the campaign and smile.”
“I make…four public appearances. No smile. No touch. I try not to vomit.”
“Okay, okay, four appearances…”
“Quick appearances. Show up, go home.”
“Okay, four quick appearances. After the campaign, I’ll get you the money.”
“Oh, Donald, you forget? I come to this country on genius visa. I make appearance AFTER you pay money.”
“Where am I supposed to get $1.2 million dollars?”
“From the same useful idiots who have been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for someone to brush my hair. They pay.”
“I need that money to pay my legal expenses…”
“I go hide in New York.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll set it up.”

Every word Stormy utters increases the amount Donny has to pay to present the portrait of a happy marriage until the election…

Joe Biden Urges Restraint…

by MyBaconPress

Boy, the whole Israel/Gaza thing is getting bigger, isn’t it? Hamas attacks Israel with a stupid, deeply ill-advised attack. Israel responds, then KEEPS “responding,” quickly turning international sympathy away from their cause. Joe Biden urges restraint. Israel starts dropping the occasional bomb on places outside of Gaza, first the West Bank, then Damascus, Syria. When they bombed Syria, they killed a bunch of Iranians. The United States continues to supply weapons so Israel can “defend itself.”

So, of course, Iran took it in their turn to respond as well. This they did, but they did it carefully. Their response was designed to send a message, not do any real damage. Joe Biden again urges restraint. Israel, not to be outdone, felt they had to “respond” to Iran’s response to Israel’s assault on the Iranian consulate in Syria. The United States continues to supply weapons so Israel can “defend itself.”

Meanwhile, Israel has not let up one iota in their actions in Gaza. The international community starts clamoring, pleading with Israel to reconsider it’s aggression. Joe Biden again urges restraint. From the world’s point of view, FAR too many civilians are dying. Israel responds to international pressure by “accidentally” destroying a convoy that had delivered humanitarian aid into Gaza after coordinating their movements with Israel to ensure no such accident occurred, slowing international aid, killing more civilians. The United States continues to supply weapons so Israel can “defend itself.”

Joe Biden’s poll ratings suffer from what appears to be ineffective handling of the Israel/Gaza conflict (and because the United States continues to supply weapons so Israel can “defend itself.”) People start taking sides around the world, including the US. Joe Biden continues to urge restraint. Troubles start brewing on American college campuses. People seem to forget these are actions of governments, not people, and racism starts rearing it’s ugly head. The United States continues to supply weapons so Israel can “defend itself.”

Now the International Criminal Court (ICC) is said to be preparing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders as Israel prepares to attack Rafah, the city the Palestinians were told to go to in order to be safe from Israel’s military actions. Oh, did I write “prepares to attack?” I meant “attacks.” Joe Biden again urges restraint. The attack has started – although not yet in earnest – killing 22 people so far. Israel got six women and five children. One of the children was an oh-so-dangerous 5 DAY old baby. Certainly, THAT will stop radicalism, yes? The United States continues to supply weapons so Israel can “defend itself.”

There are a couple of threads, here, that run all the way through. Joe Biden urging restraint hasn’t worked. Israel ignores him so long as the weapons keep coming. And the weapons DO keep coming so, why would they?

In what could be a completely unrelated comment, Ukraine had to cede ground to Russia while the US Roepublicans dithered about whether democracy was worth defending or not. No weapons meant no military action was possible. I’d bet money that same philosophy would apply in Israel. Having no weapons would really hamper Israel’s ability to attack.

I’ve long suspected Biden is obligated by treaty of some kind to provide the weapons and has little choice, but I’m pretty sure he could find ways to gum up the works and delay the delivery of said weapons until Israel gets serious about a cease-fire. It appears Netanyahu is NOT going to stop on his own. I doubt threats of an arrest warrant from the ICC is going to alter his stance. Biden needs to look stronger on Israel and force is going to be needed to rein in Israel.

Everyone knows Biden could stop this assault by simply denying the weapons Israel uses to prosecute the thing and I think that’s exactly what he should do. Because I’ll tell you this: In my opinion, Israel and the Palestinians may well yet wipe each other off of the face of the earth in their stubbornness but American weapons should not be used in the process…

It’s STILL Israel…

by MyBaconPress

Have you heard of FISA? That’s the ‘Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.’ It’s a clandestine program in which our government monitors potential foreign bad actors. Donny HATES it. He hates it because it was through FISA surveillance of Russians that the trump campaign was found to be communicating with those same Russians before the 2016 election. (HE claimed the US Government was spying on him. They weren’t. They were spying on the Russians and caught him. That’s different.) Donny sent out the order: “Kill FISA!”

The Freedumb Caucus tried. They wouldn’t let MAGA Mike bring the bill to the floor, at first, likely STILL bitching they don’t have border legislation because they killed it themselves. But then? Unexpected compromise in the ranks. The original authorization was for 5 years. They agreed to lower the number to 2 years. That made it okay in the MAGA mind because it means Donny gets to mess with the law if he gets back into the White House. Yet another reason to vote against Trump – and ALL Republicans, for that matter…

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Well, this is getting bigger, this “conflict” in the Middle East, but the news in America keeps presenting it as Israel defending itself. I keep seeing Israel as the antagonist. Iran dropped some missiles into Israel yesterday. The press talks about the “attack on Israel,” but it was a response. I even think Iran showed great restraint in their response. They limited their attack to a military target in a less populated area. Even Israel acknowledged, Iran didn’t do a great deal of damage. To me, that means they sent a message.

Yes, it’s ‘diplomacy-by-bomb’ but that happens all over this brutal world these days and it’s seen as acceptable. There’s some magical formula. Send a few bombs targeted to do only a little damage, and to a legitimate military target, it’s a “message.” It’s what HAMAS should have done in October, 2023.

Iran wasn’t just sitting around, bored, looking for some evil to perpetuate in the world. Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing several Iranians. Iran responded with a “measured attack.” Iran is not the aggressor, here, as nearly as I can tell. They dropped their missiles onto the base, then said they were done. Message sent. They won’t do any more unless they’re provoked again. (At this point, I would bet Netanyahu won’t stand down, though.)

Israel attacked. Iran responded. The papers are full of “What will Israel’s ‘response’ be?” Israel won’t be “responding.” Israel will be “escalating. This is all happening because of the extent of Israel’s “response” to the October 7, 2023 HAMAS response to Israeli antagonism in the region. But Israel’s “response” has not been “measured” by any means. Netanyahu has seized this opportunity to eliminate Palestinians in Gaza once and for all. No, they say otherwise. Words. I stand by the idea that actions speak louder than words and herding 2 million people into a single city and then attacking that city? When there is no place left to run to? I have a difficult time coming up with an accurate description other than ‘genocide.’

“Hey,” Israeli apologists will say, “Israel didn’t attack the city, they only threatened to.” They DID attack. No, they ARE attacking. Granted, not with bullets and bombs. THIS attack is being made, currently, with famine and disease, two VERY effective weapons. Israel even went so far as to murder a group of humanitarian aid workers trying to provide aid to the population, warning off, with their actions, other do-gooders who might want to help. I guess well-coordinated, carefully planned “accidents” happen in war. Words.

I feel like we’ve seen this before in history, where human beings are concentrated together and then allowed to starve to death or die of the conditions but I just can’t quite…

I try to see this from other points of view but no matter how I look at it, I see Israel as the aggressor, both in Gaza AND with Iran. American corporate media will continue to pound the message that Israel is the victim because they see the effectiveness of a heavily repeated lie in MAGA media. Maybe they can do that to ALL of us. But I don’t think they’ll succeed.

I’ll tell you this: The only people who will see Israel as the victim, here, are people who WANT to see Israel as the victim. The rest of us are going to follow the evidence and allow it to take us where it will. Meanwhile, our tax dollars continue to rain death and destruction on human beings the world over. I can’t TELL you how much I wish it was otherwise…

Donny’s Decline…

by MyBaconPress

Donny has incorporated his “explanations” into his stump speech. The whole Nikki/Nancy thing caught a lot of people’s attention. I’m referring, of course, to the speech when 45 repeatedly said that Nikki Haley did a terrible job protecting the Capitol from his assault. Donny never admits error, one of the surest signs of a weak mind. So, when someone pointed out the error, he claimed it was intentional. He said – and continues to say – that he just interchanges the names back and forth because he doesn’t like either of them.

By that standard, I could interchange Donald J Trump and Adolf Hitler. I don’t like either of those guys so, what’s the difference, right? Well, when a sentence starts, “When Hitler so badly bungled his pandemic in the US in 2019…” it doesn’t make any sense. Hitler didn’t bungle the pandemic, Trump did. It doesn’t get any better in reverse, “When Trump launched WWII, leading to the murders of 14 million people, 6 million of them Jews…” Nope. No better. Because that wasn’t Trump. It turns out, the names don’t become interchangeable just because someone doesn’t like both of them.

He’s such a snowflake. The left started pointing out – and making jokes about – Trump’s inability to speak the language, complete a thought, or keep people straight on the who did what scale and Donny just HAD to respond. Not only did he put out a video speaking to his malapropisms, pretending they’re intentional, it has become a talking point in all of his speeches.

What a waste of time. He’ll never convince Americans his gaffes are anything other than evidence of his mental decline (perhaps outright stupidity) and MAGA will never believe he was anything less than “funny” when it comes to his gibberish.

Sure, Biden is old and does “old guy” things. But Trump is old, too, and does “old guy” things AND seems delusional and unable to track from moment to moment. Remember, it’s not BIDEN regularly taking cognitive tests because someone around him thinks it’s a good idea and a solid brag point. That’s Hitler, er, Trump, who, in fairness, CAN still recognize an elephant, though, he’s more likely to call it a “Heffalump…”

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Here’s irony: The US has started dropping humanitarian aid to Israel’s victims in Gaza. This has become necessary because the US supplies many of the bombs and other weapons Israel is using in Netanyahu’s current effort to “cleanse” Gaza of Palestinians.

It seems to me there should be a better way. Maybe…tell Israel we’re not sending any more weapons if they’re just going to use them for war crimes. War crimes is currently the American bailiwick – “enhanced interrogations” anyone? – and we do not like competition.

I can only guess, because Biden doesn’t take my calls, but I suspect there’s some treaty obligation binding Biden’s hands so he has to resort to trying to offset the damage he’s participating in by trying to help the people on the suffering end, while supplying the weapons of that suffering. It’s times like this “Presidentin'” doesn’t look fun at all…

Ousters…

by MyBaconPress

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?

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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…

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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…

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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…