Wednesday
Mar022016
The Commentariat -- March 3, 2016
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court's liberal justices united Wednesday to attack Texas's abortion regulations as an unconstitutional burden on a woman's rights, but the justice who holds the key vote [-- Anthony Kennedy --] left the court's ultimate resolution of the issue in doubt." ...
... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "There is a very real procedural complication in this case that could delay its ultimate resolution, possibly for a couple of years. But if he has to reach the merits of this case, Kennedy appeared inclined to strike down the law." ...
... ** Dahlia Lithwick of Slate provides a superb account of yesterday's proceedings: "It felt as if, for the first time in history, the gender playing field at the high court was finally leveled, and as a consequence the court's female justices were emboldened to just ignore the rules." Thanks to Victoria D. for the link. ...
... Mark Stern of Slate zeroes in on the exchange between Justice Ginsburg & Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller regarding the state's assertion that women seeking abortions in the El Paso area could zip over to New Mexico, which does not have the same requirements for abortion clinics that the Texas law imposes. CW: It must have been awfully sad to see Keller lose both his swagger & his fake drawl at the hands of a little old lady from New Yawk City. (Keller is a native of the Midwest. He used to work for Ted Cruz.)
... Dana Milbank: "If Wednesday's argument was an indication, the Republicans appeared to have fired up the other side more than their own with this revival of the culture wars. About 80 percent of the few thousand people braving the cold and wind outside the court were abortion rights supporters. Inside the courtroom, the liberal justices, who are now in a 4-to-4 tie with the conservatives, were unusually feisty as they considered abortion restrictions in Texas that cut the number of clinics nearly in half and the abortion capacity by about 80 percent.... Putting the court's composition to a popular referendum [-- as Republicans want to do --] will, inevitably, bring the atmosphere inside the court ever closer to the coarse displays outside." ...
... Linda Greenhouse: Absent Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court is a new and different institution now. Litigants are accommodating the change, & so are the justices themselves. ...
... Julie Davis & David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "President Obama is vetting Jane L. Kelly, a federal appellate judge in Iowa, as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court, weighing a selection that could pose an awkward dilemma for her home-state senator Charles E. Grassley, who has vowed to block the president from filling a vacancy.... In a Senate floor speech in 2013, Mr. Grassley effusively praised Judge Kelly, a longtime public defender, just before she won unanimous confirmation to her current post on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.... He said in an interview on Wednesday that he would not change his position even for a fellow Iowan." ...
... "The Party of Chaos." Greg Sargent ties the GOP's anti-Trump efforts to Senate Republicans' refusal to consider an Obama nominee to the Supreme Court. If TrumpsSoBad, why are Senate Republicans insisting they won't do their jobs to hear Obama's candidate only to allow Trump to pick the nominee replace Justice Scalia? CW: There's a teensy inconsistency in their stance that might make the skeptic suspect racism is part of the equation. ...
... Sam Biddle of Gawker (March 1): "According to some of [Justice Antonin Scalia's] former law students..., a younger Scalia also went out of his way to undermine young legal scholars, simply because they were black." ...
... CW: Although the allegations are shocking enough in their own right, it seems likely that Scalia would never have been confirmed had these stories come to light before or during Scalia's confirmation hearings. You could ask Judge Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions about that. In 1986 -- the same year the Senate confirmed Scalia's nomination to the Supreme Court -- the Senate rejected Sessions' nomination to a District Court judgeship because of charges of less-blatant racial discrimination. P.S. Thanks, President Reagan!
Elana Schor of Politico: "Former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, one of the leading forces behind the nation's natural gas boom, died Wednesday in a one-vehicle car wreck, Oklahoma City police said -- one day after his indictment on federal conspiracy charges.... 'He pretty much drove straight into the wall,' police Capt. Paco Balderrama said, according to CNBC.... The Justice Department described the indictment -- involving an alleged scheme to rig competitive oil and gas leases in northwest Oklahoma -- as the first step in 'an ongoing federal antitrust investigation' into the petroleum industry."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
James Poniewozik of the New York Times loved the CNN on-air battle between Van Jones & Jeffrey Lord, who called the KKK "the terrorist arm of the Democratic party" which killed people "to further the progressive agenda." When Jones pointed out that that was the Democratic party of a century ago, Lord argued that, no, it was "the Democratic party of today" which "divides people by race." Delusional. But, you know, riveting teevee. One does have to wonder why, if the KKK is a "liberal" organization, Lord's favored candidate has so much trouble denouncing it.
Frank Pallotta of CNN: "ESPN baseball analyst Curt Schilling appeared to violate the network's guidelines when he told a radio station that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should be 'buried under a jail.' ESPN said Wednesday, 'We are addressing it' and would not go into further details."
Presidential Race
Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "... buried beneath Mrs. Clinton's wide-ranging and commanding victories on Tuesday night were troubling signs of a party that has not yet rallied to her call. Democratic turnout has fallen drastically since 2008, the last time the party had a contested primary, with roughly three million fewer Democrats voting in the 15 states that have held caucuses or primaries through Tuesday.... It stands in sharp contrast to the flood of energized new voters showing up at the polls to vote for Donald J. Trump in the Republican contest.... And despite the seemingly inexorable demographic rise of Hispanic voters, the American electorate is still overwhelmingly white." ...
... Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has granted immunity to a former State Department staffer, who worked on Hillary Clinton's private email server, as part of a criminal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information, according to a senior law enforcement official.... As the FBI looks to wrap up its investigation in the coming months, agents are likely to want to interview Clinton and her senior aides.... 'There was wrongdoing,' said a former senior law enforcement official. 'But was it criminal wrongdoing?'" CW: Just the kind of story a political candidate wants: a former employee is granted immunity from criminal prosecution so he can testify in a case involving your own "wrongdoing." ...
... Steven Myers & Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "As Hillary Clinton moves toward the Democratic presidential nomination, she faces legal hurdles from her use of a private computer server as secretary of state that could jar her campaign's momentum in the months ahead.... It is commonplace for the F.B.I. to try to interview key figures before closing an investigation, and doing so is not an indication the bureau thinks a person broke the law." CW: On the other hand, watching your candidate do the perp walk, handcuffed, is a bummer.
The Lineup. Marcobot Rubio, Don Stubby Fingers Trump, Ted Napoleon Cruz & John "How Am I Losing to These Guys?" Kasich. ... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Fresh off a Super Tuesday that reordered the Republican field of presidential hopefuls, the remaining four candidates will gather in Detroit Thursday at 9 p.m. ET for a debate that could prove to be the most consequential of the 2016 race.... It will be the first time this year that Mr. Trump will face Megyn Kelly, the Fox News anchor with whom he feuded last year.... Democrats will hold their own debate in Flint, Mich., on Sunday." CW: You know, when we'll all be watching the final episode of "Downton Abbey." Well done, Debbie!
Kevin Drum: "In the mysteriously mumbly style we've come to expect from him, Ben Carson has dropped out of the presidential race without actually saying that he's dropping out of the presidential race:"
... Back to Pyramid Theories & Pyramid Schemes. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Ben Carson, the only Republican to have once threatened the lead of Donald J. Trump in national polls, said on Wednesday that he saw no path forward and would skip a debate on Thursday in his hometown, Detroit, signaling an end to his candidacy after paltry performances in the nominating contests. Mr. Carson stopped short of suspending his campaign and said he would provide more details in a speech on Friday, but after his dismal showing in the Super Tuesday states, his campaign is effectively over."
Adele Stan of the American Prospect: "Win or lose, Trump has unleashed a beast that has long lived in limited captivity amid the American electorate. Outward expression of contempt for those one resents -- whether through epithets, violence, or mere coarseness -- is no longer a pursuit reserved for those on the fringe of American politics. It's gone mainstream, thanks to Trump, each baldly stated prejudice now packaged as a legitimate political position." ...
... Brendan O'Connor of Gawker: "If Donald Trump Jr. had known that the radio host he was speaking to was pro-slavery, Bloomberg Politics reports, he would not have consented to the interview: 'This is clearly the mainstream media trying to turn a story into nothing,' he said. Pardon? The interview, recorded at a campaign event in Tennessee and to be aired this weekend, was conducted with the white supremacist James Edwards, who has said that 'slavery is the greatest thing that ever happened to' black Americans and that 'interracial sex is white genocide.' Edwards has received media credentials from the Trump campaign." ...
... Eric Levitz of New York: "The Trump campaign, however, denies that any such interview took place. The campaign told The Hill that Donald Jr. was not in attendance at Saturday's rally, and did not 'to his knowledge' grant Edwards an interview this past week." ...
... Joan McCarter of Daily Kos: "Trump rallies are now apparently a key feature for Edwards' program -- he and his colleagues have been to three rallies where they are fully credentialed and say they are treated as 'every bit as legit' as the traditional media. They are more legit, apparently, in the Trump campaign's eyes than the Huffington Post, the Des Moines Register, and Fusion which have all previously been denied credentials to Trump rallies. And yes, Edwards is really a white supremacist and his show is most definitely about white supremacy. The Anti-Defamation League has written ... that Edwards has used the platform to interview 'a variety of anti-Semites, white supremacists, Holocaust deniers, conspiracy theorists and anti-immigrant leaders.' The Southern Poverty Law Center adds 'James Edwards has probably done more than any of his contemporaries on the American radical right to publicly promote neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers, raging anti-Semites and other extremists.' And he's a VIP in Trumpland."
Ah, Who Will Be the Third-Party Candidate?
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump said Thursday he is being treated unfairly by the Republican establishment and may run as an independent. 'I am watching television and I am seeing ad after ad after ad put in by the establishment knocking the hell out of me, and it's really unfair,' Trump said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' 'But if I leave, if I go, regardless of independent, which I may do -- I mean, may or may not. But if I go, I will tell you, these millions of people that joined, they're all coming with me'." ...
... Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Spurred by Donald J. Trump's mounting victories, a small but influential -- and growing -- group of conservative leaders are calling for a third-party option to spare voters a wrenching general election choice between a Republican they consider completely unacceptable and Hillary Clinton.... Two top Republicans, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, said this week that they would not vote for Mr. Trump in November." ...
... CW: If you're wondering how well this conspiracy of confederates will work, read on: "William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, said he would work actively to put forward an 'independent Republican' ticket if Mr. Trump was the nominee, and floated Mr. Sasse as a recruit." Kristol has been on this horse for quite some time. His earlier choices for a third-party candidate, via Driftglass, who was not making this up: Dick Cheney or Tom Cotton. ...
... Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... even as the anti-Trump groups begin to coordinate, some Republicans are throwing their hands in the air, convinced that a TV advertising campaign won't succeed; Trump is already carrying a double-digit lead over Rubio in Florida, where thousands of voters will have cast absentee ballots before election day. 'The "Stop Trump" campaign is now officially a fantasy, about as real as "the campaign to stop yesterday,"' said Alex Castellanos, a veteran Republican strategist who tried unsuccessfully to launch an anti-Trump group." ...
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Wednesday:
... Michael Bender & Justin Sink of Bloomberg: "The rapidly intensifying effort by the Republican establishment to dislodge Donald Trump from the top of the party's presidential nominating race will star 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, who is preparing a speech for Thursday when he'll lay out his case against the front-runner.... While making the case against Trump at the Hinckley Institute of Politics Student Forum at the University of Utah, Romney will not endorse one of his opponents...." ...
... Jonathan Stearns & Toluse Olorunnipa of Bloomberg: "Donald Trump took to the airwaves Thursday with a barrage of name-calling in response to news that ... Mitt Romney was trying to torpedo the billionaire real-estate developer's chances in this year's contest. 'Mitt Romney is a stiff,' Trump said on NBC's 'Today Show.'... Romney is planning a speech later Thursday in a bid to dislodge Trump from leading the party's presidential nominating race, branding the New York mogul as untrustworthy and saying he'd be a boon to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. 'Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,' Romney will say later Thursday at the University of Utah, according to a transcript provided to Bloomberg News by a person familiar with his remarks. 'He's playing the American public for suckers.'" ...
... Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the Washington Post: "In a last-ditch effort to stop Donald Trump's likely nomination as the Republican Party's candidate for president, a group of more than 50 conservative foreign policy experts have banded together in an open letter condemning the real estate magnate as unfit for the office.... The letter was published Wednesday night on the foreign policy site War on the Rocks." CW: Yeah, that really will get the attention of Trump voters, who are probably lifetime subscribers to War on the Rocks. Should stop Trump in his tracks. ...
... Michelle Conlin of Reuters: "The Koch brothers, the most powerful conservative mega donors in the United States, will not use their $400 million political arsenal to try to block Republican front-runner Donald Trump's path to the presidential nomination, a spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. The decision by the billionaire industrialists is another setback to Republican establishment efforts to derail the New York real estate mogul's bid for the White House, and follows speculation the Kochs would soon launch a 'Trump Intervention.'"
An Academic Theory of Drumpf. Amanda Taub of Vox: "... authoritarianism -- not actual dictators, but rather a psychological profile of individual voters ... is characterized by a desire for order and a fear of outsiders. People who score high in authoritarianism, when they feel threatened, look for strong leaders who promise to take whatever action necessary to protect them from outsiders and prevent the changes they fear.... The GOP, by positioning itself as the party of traditional values and law and order, had unknowingly attracted what would turn out to be a vast and previously bipartisan population of Americans with authoritarian tendencies.... If you were to read every word these theorists ever wrote on authoritarians, and then try to design a hypothetical candidate to match their predictions of what would appeal to authoritarian voters, the result would look a lot like Donald Trump." ...
Welcome Back, Jim Crow. Brent Staples of the New York Times: "Donald Trump's flirtation with the Ku Klux Klan should come as no surprise. He has functioned for years as a rallying point for 'birthers,' conspiracy theorists, extremists and racists who are apoplectic about the fact that the country elected a black man president. These groups have driven the Republican Party steadily rightward, helping to create a national discourse that now permits a presidential candidate to court racist support without paying a political price.... The [era] that is still unfolding in the wake of Barack Obama's presidency bears a striking resemblance in tone to the reaction that swept the South after Reconstruction...." ...
... Gail Collins thinks "Mister Trump" and the other GOP presidential candidates are pretty hilarious. CW: I'm not laughing. For one reason, see today's Beyond the Beltway. ...
... CW: I read about this incident yesterday but wasn't able to find video until now. Here is video of white supremacists & other thugs at a Trump rally repeatedly shoving and roughing up a young black woman:
... Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "White supremacists hurled racist and sexist slurs Tuesday afternoon as they pushed a black protester out of a Donald Trump rally in Kentucky.... 'I was called a n****r and a c*nt and got kicked out,' said Shiya Nwanguma, a University of Louisville student. 'They were pushing and shoving at me, cursing at me, yelling at me, called me every name in the book.... The hat-wearing Trump supporter appears to be white nationalist Matthew Heimbach, head of the Traditionalist Worker Party...."
... CW: That's right. The person who got kicked out of the rally was the victim of physical & verbal abuse. The white supremacists? They stayed on. Welcome to Trump's Amerika. It's great again. And remember, it's "liberals" who are "dividing people by race." Not funny, Gail. ...
... I'm with Collins' colleague, Charles Blow: "Stop thinking that it's all a joke, a hoax, a game. It's not. Maybe [Trump] began this quest as a branding exercise, but it has morphed into something quite real: a challenge to the collective moral character of the republic. The success of his candidacy so far calls into question the very definition and direction of America." ...
... Excuse of the Day. Eric Levitz of New York: "Donald Trump Says He Didn't Denounce the KKK on CNN Because He Didn't Want to Risk Offending Jewish Philanthropies." CW: Trump's concern, as I understand it, was that he was afraid "KKK" might stand for something like Kabbalah, Kibbutz & Knish.
Ken Vogel of Politico: "Donald Trump's speaking slot at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday is prompting an acrimonious backlash from the conservative critics desperately trying to mount a last-ditch campaign to block the GOP presidential front-runner from winning the party's nomination. A top aide to Trump rival Marco Rubio has accused CPAC organizers of being in the tank for Trump and clearing the way for his acceptance into mainstream conservatism, while an anti-Trump super PAC is pressuring organizers to rescind their invitation to the surging GOP front-runner.... Sources tell Politico that Trump has made multiple donations totaling more than $100,000 ― including a $50,000 check last year ― to the American Conservative Union, the group that organizes CPAC. That dwarfs the amounts donated in recent years by allies of Trump's rivals...."
Adios, Marco. Gabriel Sherman of New York: "Throughout the primary, Fox provided Rubio with friendly interviews and key bookings, including the first prime-time response to Barack Obama's Oval Office address on ISIS.... But this alliance now seems to be over. According to three Fox sources, Fox chief Roger Ailes has told people he's lost confidence in Rubio's ability to win. 'We're finished with Rubio,' Ailes recently told a Fox host. 'We can't do the Rubio thing anymore.'" CW: Who now, Roger? ...
... BUT, the Miami Herald, probably Florida's most influential newspaper, has endorsed Rubio for the GOP nomination ahead of the state's primary.
Beyond the Beltway
Today in Republican Party Leadership. Jordan Rudner of the Texas Tribune: Robert Morrow, "the newly elected chair of the Republican Party in the county that includes the Texas Capitol, spent most of election night tweeting about former Gov. Rick Perry's sexual orientation and former President Bill Clinton's penis, and insisting that members of the Bush family should be in jail. He also found time to call Hillary Clinton an 'angry bull dyke' and accuse his county vice chair of betraying the values of the Republican Party." When told that other members of the Travis County party were plotting to unseat him, Morrow told the Tribune, "Tell them they can go fuck themselves." "Morrow, who's also tweeted that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is 'very likely a gayman who got married,' said he supports the brand of Republican politics he most closely associates with Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.... Last week, he tweeted that the Republican National Committee was just a 'gay foam party.'... For years, he has alleged that Perry is secretly bisexual.... Though Morrow has tweeted often about sexually explicit acts involving Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton and his last several Facebook profile pictures were of scantily clad women, he said he denies any charge that he is sexist.... When the Tribune asked about the content of some of Morrow's social media posts, without using the specific racial slur Morrow had employed, Morrow seized on the omission as an example of corruption within the media." ...
... Eric Hananoki of Media Matters has a nice collection of Robert Morrow's "writings." Morrow bills himself as an "alternative historian." CW: So a gentleman AND a scholar. ...
... "Two Degrees of Separation from Trump." Steve M.: "... when Roger Stone -- dirty trickster, Nixon tattoo bearer, founder of the interestingly acronymed anti-Hillary 'organization' Citizens United Not Timid, and once (and future?) Donald Trump campaign surrogate -- wanted a co-author for his book The Clintons' War on Women, Morrow ... was his choice." ...
... CW: This information has been out there for a long time. Hananoki raised it last September as did Mother Jones & Daily Kos. And not one major media outlet, not one of Trump's rivals, brought it up in profiles or political attacks on Trump & Friends. AND CNN employed Stone until he attacked fellow commentators in racist, sexist tweets. But they hired him knowing he was "a Holocaust denier who blames a 'Jewish plot' for the 9/11 attacks. Stone's history includes forming an anti-Hillary Clinton group named 'C.U.N.T.' during the 2008 election." Sorry, but that's malpractice all around.
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Reader Comments (22)
Turns out the enemy of my enemy is not alway my friend, and not only in in the Middle East. A lesson some learn too late, some not at all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/us/politics/paul-ryan-faces-tea-party-forces-that-he-helped-unleash.html?
Thanks for all the good wishes. Baby is fine. Held him for a half hour, which because I didn't see the parking payment kiosk hidden behind a truck down the block cost me about a buck and a half a minute. Well worth it.
And thank to Marie, too, for all her work. I picture her mind racing and fingers flying, bringing us the news, the comments, and one another, but don't have to jump on the CW plaudit wagon. Been there for a long time.
So I went online yesterday to see if I am the only person in America who believes that Trump is dangerously mentally ill. Turns out there have been some serious evaluations which of course have been ignored by most of the media.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/a-neuroscientist-explains-trump-has-a-mental-disorder-that-makes-him-a-dangerous-world-leader/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stop-walking-eggshells/201511/therapists-confirm-trumps-narcissistic-personality-disorder
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/11/donald-trump-narcissism-therapists
@Marvin Schwalb: It may be both unethical & lawsuit-worthy to diagnose Trump's mental state without actually examining him one-on-one, but I see no reason that psychiatrists & psychologists can't say his public behavior "is consistent with narcissistic personality disorder," or whatever. Let the reader decide what "consistent" means.
You -- and others -- shouldn't have to go hunting for this stuff. The views of medical professionals who are willing to speak out should be on the front pages of newspapers & on the teevee "news" shows. And if they want to go for "balance," they can ask Trump to supply a fake doctor's report attesting that "Mr. Trump is the sanest man on earth." He knows how to do that.
Marie
Article headline over on NYTimes: "Kelly to Face Trump Again in Fox Debate" seems oddly worded to me. Wouldn't it be more correctly phrased as: "Trump to Face Kelly Again...." afterall he started this stupid 'feud' because of her 'tough' questioning.
She didn't back down. He petulantly blew up the issue.
When I read here about Robert Stone a little bell went off. This guy's paws have been in many a scam and many dirty deals. I recalled his part in bringing Eliot Spitzer down. Here is a piece that Jeffrey Toobin wrote for the New Yorker back in 2008. It's a fascinating read with a whole cast of characters––Trump, BushvGore, Nixon, Spitzer, et al. What stands out for us today is the anti-elitism that Nixon managed to cultivate––a bumper crop has emerged (and was always there) today in full force waving their placards, bullying protestors (and beating them up) and shouting in unison for a man they think will save the day.
Roger Stone, the dirty trickster, is pleased––he might even take responsibility for it.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/06/02/the-dirty-trickster
The allegations about Scalia's racist behavior were shocking, yet not surprising in the least. History could have been very different had those charges come to light at his nomination hearings.
Regarding a pivotal case before the "new" Court: Slate has a pair of very smart commentaries on the hearing, both of which acknowledge the emergence of female power after all these years.
Dahlia Lithwick: "The Women Take Over."
Mark Joseph Stern: "The Most Important Exchange of Wednesday's SCOTUS Abortion Arguments."
MAG,
Excellent point. I've complained about odd, misleading, and downright false headlines before; it would be no problem to gather enough examples of egregious banners and misleading ledes for a master class in Bad Journalism, but as Marie has pointed out, these outlets have hired ex-National Enquirer creeps to concoct headlines that will generate clicks, the de facto online coin of the realm, so it's not surprising to see these banners acting as browser based carny barkers. "Step Right Up! Headless Man in Topless Bar Identified as Trump Supporter. FBI Flummoxed!"
As for the Times headline you cite, I don't think it would be any less enticing to say that Trump will be facing Kelly. This, of course, won't appeal to those who subscribe to Trump (and wingnut) style patriarchy. A man never has (or should have to) face a woman. It should always be the other way around. Plus "Trump to Face Kelly Again in Fox Debate" has the virtue of being accurate. Ms. Kelly will be asking questions and Trump will be answering--or not, as is his wont. At least that's the theory. The Times headline intimates that it will be other way around. Of course they could also be suggesting that it is Megyn Kelly who should be cowering in her boots having to face the almighty Trumpet.
At some point, I want someone with balls to come out and declare that the Trumperor has no clothes. I'll wait.
Ken,
The Ryan Conundrum (sounds like a Robert Ludlum novel, don't it?) is a neat incarnation of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
For years Confederates--and Ryan has been among the most vocal-- have been shouting that Obama is a tyrant, a meanie, a bully, a thug, a power mad fascist, someone who doesn't care for the Constitution nor the rule of law. None of it was true but they cried "wolf" every time their little feelings got hurt, or they couldn't get their way, or whenever they were bored and wanted to see if they could get the press to come running to see what all the shouting was about.
Now the wolf is real, someone who truly is a bully, a tyrant, an authoritarian who doesn't care about the Constitution, their rights, the rule of law, or anything but his own power, a guy who will show these assholes what a real fascist looks like. And Ryan and the other Confederates can yell "wolf" all they want. No one's coming to save them.
So eat shit and die, little Paulie.
On a lighter note––up in the stratosphere––a shout out to Scott Kelly whose year in space has come to an end––and for Akhilleus' Whitey on the Moon:
THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON
For Chauncey Bondurant
Someone’s fishing for a dream
With a sliver of a moonbeam in a stream
He’ll go fishing far and wide
But he’ll come back again to me.
Late December, 1968, an astronaut trio
Ship shape and sturdy sailed through space
to the far side of the moon––––––––
Viewing the lunar sunrise these Apollo 8’s
Amazed, taken so completely by this miracle, this Genesis
one by one recited scripture:
In the beginning…
And the earth was without form…
Giving credit to a deity for the creation
Their muffled voices coming from so far––
And we on earth rejoicing, believing we had come
so far from a decade of dissonance.
And they wished us all a Merry Christmas.
I once knew a man, a close friend of my father’s
Who filled my young girl’s mind with ventures
far and wide––––
Who took me fishing while feeding my fancies
With wild tales of exploration–––
All lies, but so lovely.
Every time he’d say goodbye, when he’d ready himself
To leave, buttoning up, hat on head, he’d, with gloved hand,
throw me a kiss and say:
So long, kid, see you soon, on the far side of the moon.
Neither one of us ever made it––he died but I’m still alive
Hugging the ground on my little patch of remembered earth.
2013
Akhilleus,
And more, to meet their immediate electoral needs, since Reagan the Koch-Confederate have carefully placed tasty tidbits of hate, greed and rampant unreason on the precise path that would lead the Wolf directly to their door.
Makes me think of the creation of the atomic bomb, which we all know had immense and dire implications that we are all still living with, had it been devised, deployed and used by immature ten year olds with no thought whatsoever of consequence.
Talk about a circular firing squad.
Maddeningly unpleasant as our political situation is, it does provide occasional amusements.
The Evanescence of Evangelical Moralism.
How's that for a headline? Got you by the throat, didn't it? I designed it to lure in the knuckledraggers and mouthbreathers. They need to read this.
Okay, okay. I must have my little jokes now and then.
And speaking of jokes....how about those wonderful Evangelical Christians who are lining up in droves to support a philandering, money grubbing, twice divorced, hater. A narcissistic egotist who loves the idea of torturing other human beings, spitting on the poor and dispossessed, who traffics in lies, who encourages attendees at his rally to beat up anyone they don't like. An intolerant bigot. A war monger who promises to rain death and destruction on anyone who looks cross-eyed at him. A misogynistic creep who makes fun of the disabled--those people that Christ went out of his way to heal--and would double cross his grandmother if it let him chalk up some kind of financial "win".
In other words, that paragon of Christian virtue, Donald Trump.
It's no secret that Evangelical Christians have a thing for hatred, vengeance, victimization, nativism, and best of all, white supremacy.
Seems those holier than thou types who have been wagging their collective moralistic finger at the rest of us for the last forty years or so are not Christians at all. At least not the sort that Christ might recognize. Do they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prisons, and comfort the afflicted, as Christ instructed? Fuck no. They demand that food stamps be taken away from poor children, that the homeless shut the fuck up and stay out of sight; they cheer for bulging prisons and demand that every black kid who crosses the street against the lights be lit up or incarcerated. As for comforting the afflicted, well, any group that sets its clock by Trump Time ain't no friend of the afflicted.
It seems that much of what has passed for rock solid reliable in Right Wing World is about as evanescent as the Christian virtue of a huge segment of Evangelicals. We've recently seen the implosion of the control of wingnut orthodoxy. Confederate voters aren't enamored after all by the impressive titles of winger "intellectuals" dreaming up new schemes in their cushy think tanks. They don't take orders from Karl Rove or Bill Kristol anymore. That ship has sailed, sank in a dead calm, and is little more than a ceramic ornament in a tropical fish tank.
And the mighty power of Evangelicals that began with the scamming of con men like Ralph Reed back in the 80's has dissipated. The lock step flock has fled to join the rest of the Gadarene Swine running over the cliff after the Trumperor.
I am not suggesting that this indictment includes all Evangelicals. I know a number of people who describe themselves as Evangelicals who are decent people. Besides, I would not take seriously any assertion that included the word "all" as in "all Baptists" or "all Republicans" (although the truth value of the second one is approaching infinity). But there are enough Evangelicals for Trump to be able to brag about his popularity with that group. And lest anyone think their support is purely anecdotal, here is mega-church pastor Robert Jeffress, one of the chief swines, who spits out hate on a daily basis from nearly 2,000 radio and TV outlets, demeaning Christians who won't do what they're told and vote for Trump:
"I think the Bible has a word for people like that — it's fools."
Not all Evangelicals agree, but they also tend not to be the white ones. Shaun King, a former Evangelical pastor discovered that Christian interest in comforting the afflicted was not high on the list of most of his white Evangelical friends:
"Speaking out against racism of any kind seemed to really bother my white evangelical counterparts. Even though I had moved on from serving as a professional pastor, I thought I could keep many of the relationships that I built over the years, but I was very wrong. Speaking out on the death of Trayvon Martin or modern day police brutality, after I had already left the church, caused most of my white evangelical friends to disappear."
Do tell, Mr. King, do tell.
The current upending of wingnut orthodoxy and power is what you get when you base your entire--and I mean EN-tire world view on fantasy and delusion.
A big fat zero. Well, not entirely zero, I suppose. There is all that white supremacy and hatred.
Not very Christian but verrrry Confederate.
PD,
Lovely. I vividly remember listening to those disembodied voices in that Christmas message from long ago. Radio waves racing across the coldness of space to our little blue planet, offering contemplative words of peace to citizens of a world just beginning to realize how connected we all were. Seems like a very long time ago.
I watched Nova last night, a remembrance of Neal Armstrong, the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs (I got up at 5:00 in the morning and sat by the TV in my pajamas waiting for Alan Shepard to fly and did the same for the rest of those Mercury missions) and his visit to the moon (whitey on the moon!). It did seem like a lot was possible back then. Perhaps a lot is still possible. As bad as things can seem sometime, we, as a species, have been through some pretty trying times. I think we can survive Confederate haters and their orange headed clown.
But I'm hoping we won't have to.
(Apologies If This Was Already Posted & Overlooked)
From Politico (& There's A Petition From CREDO) -
Les Moonves says Trump's run Is 'damn good for CBS so 'bring it on!"
http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/les-moonves-trump-cbs-220001
@Ken,
Congrats for the successful delivery of your critter's critter. May he have a long, happy and healthful life.
The discussion earlier this week of whether to Leap, or not, brought to mind an interview with the great, late Frank Zappa that I had heard or read.
During it Frank was asked why he gave his kids such silly names? Wouldn't they be forever harmed emotionally being called Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva Muffin?
His response was, "They're kids names. Why would anyone give a kid a name you're not going to use anyway [think Robert -> Bobby, Gertrude -> Jerry, Jefferson Beauregard -> Fucktard]. If they end up not liking it they can change it to whatever they want when they turn 18."
None did so.
I forgot to mention this on Wednesday but I found it mildly amusing that Queen of All the Stupid, former half-term governor and matriarch of mooching grifters, Sarah Palin, couldn't help her BFF, the Orange Headed Clown, win her home state. Lotta pull there, Sarah. I know if I were an Alaskan, I'd probably vote for fucking Jiminy Cricket before anyone she picked. They must be exhausted after years of her faux backwoodsy bullshit.
Also note how Palin always refers to the OHC as "Mr." Trump. She's angling for something. There's a grift there somewhere. Wait. I see it now! Sarah Palin, Sec'y of Education. Oh sorry. Trump said he was gonna shiv the Dept. of Education. Okay....hmmmm....how 'bout a gig at State: Undersecretary of Seeing Russia From My Back Porch. She'd get her own Trump autographed made in China binoculars (which wouldn't work) with orders to let the Bossman know when Vlad was on the move.
Sounds like a plan. No more hopey changey stuff for us!
Akhilleus;
Your reminiscence of Whitey on the Moon has added another layer of meaning to a memory I have of the time Neil Armstrong took that step. I turned to the “mama san” who was sweeping the floor of my barracks in Vietnam, and, after several different attempts, convinced her of the news. She looked at me skeptically, and in her best English finally asked:
“then, why you do here?”
I don't like to use Kos as a source - they are too partisan in my view, but this is too good to miss. The Feds are picking up more Bundy sons and their various thug friends.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/3/1495185/-The-FBI-isn-t-done-yet-a-Tea-Party-activist-and-another-Bundy-have-just-been-arrested
asa watcher,
Great story. (also just realized I spelled the Neil's name incorrectly). That was the summer of Hamburger Hill. Must have been a hot time thereabouts.
The moon mission affected so many people in such different ways. Your mama san sounded pretty much unperturbed by the news, especially if she was wondering why, if that was the case, your Yankee ass was not bouncing around Tranquility Base with Armstrong and Aldrin.
There's a story about JFK visiting the NASA space center in 1962. He ran across a man holding a broom while he was touring with the brass. Kennedy asked the man what his role was. "Well, Mr. President" the man replied, "My job is to help put a man on the moon."
Well, okay then. Looks like he did a good job of it.
More on the Bundy arrests...
One guy from New Hampshire is a campaign official for Trump.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jerry-delemus-arrested-bundy-ranch
Holy shit! Lead in the water? That's bad! These people need help. Oh, wait....they're black people? Well, in that case, no. And I mean NO.
Remember I said you could use a stopwatch to time Confederate atrocities toward black Americans? Here we go again.
So here, in Michigan, we have a 'bagger supported governor who thought it was prudent to poison thousands of black babies with lead water in order to prove to other Confederates that he had the right stuff, ie, he could save money by letting blahs die. A big feather in his cap, right? Those 'baggers love sticking it to those mooching blahs. And if they can kill them some babies, hoo-eee!
But then the jig was up and the Confederate governor had to grudgingly--after two years--pretend to care about these people. He doesn't but we'll forget about that for now. None of them do, so what does it matter?
But then there is a ridiculously Johnny Come Lately plan to help save what few Flint residents and babies haven't already been poisoned by Republican "policies", such as they are, and lo and behold...
"The intellectual leader of the tea party movement in the Senate is secretly holding up a bill to help the residents of Flint, Michigan, who have been poisoned by their own water supply."
Mike (unconscionable murdering asshole) Lee, another BFF of Ted Cruz, has put a hold on any help to Flint residents. Why?
Black.
That's it. His fake answer is that the fed'ral gov'mint shouldn't be helping with any state problems. He doesn't care that Flint's problems are a direct result of the type of misanthropic policies beloved by 'baggers. He is standing on PRINCIPLE, goddam it. And if a few thousand black babies have to suffer brain damage and incur multiple learning disabilities that will warp their entire lives, so be it.
Kids, I tell you now, these people could not be more reprehensible if they tried. And best of all, Mike Lee, the asshole in question, was hoping he could hide his nefarious deed behind the sort of bureaucratic folderol that he and his douchebag supporters are always claiming they abhor. Unless it helps them, natch.
Does anyone believe for an instant that were this an issue of federal money flowing to help the Bundys, or some other traitorous, gun-totin' right-wing scumbags, Mike Fucking Lee would dare to put a hold on it?
....I can't even come up with a decent insult for such hypocritical malevolence.
" But it’s hard to imagine President Obama conjuring up, from even the darkest, most devious underground lab, a new justice who would be half as fierce as the four-car train of whoop ass we saw today."
Love this––and bless Dahlia who always hits it out of the wet benches––thanks Victoria D. Made my day.
Yes, Victoria D - Dahlia's column was a beaut. Thanks for passing it on to Marie.