Saturday, June 19, 2021

Looking For Excellent Opinion Articles? Here's 2 Powerful Ones For Your Consideration

(Today I have two Op Ed articles so impressive I'm giving up my usual space to share them.)

The first piece was written by Lucian K. Truscott IV, and was published on June 19th, 2021 in Salon.

Donald Trump and the new Lost Cause

Lies are a denomination of power. The bigger the lie, the more power it represents. Right now in this country, we are being treated daily to the Big Lie that Donald Trump was the true winner of the presidential election of 2020, and the only reason he's not in the White House right now is because the election was stolen from him.

You may have noticed that the people pushing the Big Lie today are very good at it.

This is because many of them have been pushing an even bigger Big Lie for most of their lives: the lie of the Lost Cause, that the Civil War wasn't really fought over the disgraceful secession of the Southern states and slavery, it was instead a noble cause fought for the "honor" of the South, and that slavery itself wasn't bad or immoral, because enslaved people were happy workers living much better lives than they would have lived where they came from in Africa.

The Lost Cause was — or still is, because it lives today across a broad swath of America — the foundational ethos of racism and was used to perpetuate the racial crimes of the Jim Crow era, when Black Americans in the South were stripped of the right to vote and segregated from whites and subjected to the pernicious political and social discriminatory practices of white supremacy. (Read the rest here)

-----------------

This second Op Ed was written by Jack Shafer,
Politico's senior media writer.

The Simple Remedy for Jan. 6 Trutherism

Just because Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar voted against establishing a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol doesn’t mean he’s not ready to use the power of his office to stage an inquiry into the topic by other means. 

This week, Gosar, a Donald Trump ally, all but donned a Sherlockian deerstalker hat and wrapped himself in a houndstooth cape in his pursuit of Jan. 6 truth as he cross-examined FBI Director Christopher Wray during a House Oversight Committee hearing.

Gosar claimed that protester Ashli Babbitt had been “executed” by a policeman who had been “lying in wait” for her and demanded to know why her killer had not been named. Did Wray know Babbitt was unarmed? Would Wray approve the release of all surveillance recordings from the Capitol? 

The release of all surveillance recordings of the suspected pipe bomber, not just clips? Wray backpedaled—the Babbitt killing wasn’t his case, nor did he control the Capitol tapes, and as for the pipe bomber, he offered that release only a clip was consistent with protecting the integrity of the investigation. 

But Gosar wasn’t really looking for answers as much as he was attempting to portray a governmental cover-up of Jan. 6. (Read the rest here)

I'll be back Monday with my usual posts. Enjoy and be safe.

Friday, June 18, 2021

Guest Post: Journalist Exposes GOP Underhanded Tactics To Push Unpopular Policies

From Business Insider - June 18th, 2021

By Eoin Higgins

The GOP is winning more battles than a minority party with an unpopular platform should. 

But they aren't paying as high of a political price because Republican lawmakers around the country are hiding their unpopular agenda behind confusing technicalities and baffling legalese.

Republicans are using obfuscation tactics to lead Americans to believe that laws are in place when they actually aren't, that gridlock in Washington is an unshakable truth rather than a parliamentary strategy, and that voting in the country is far harder than it is.

Republicans pass laws they know will never stand up in court, because the message of its passage is likely to change behavior even if the law ultimately falls. 

These officials pontificate self-importantly about the necessity of keeping parliamentary tradition and rules in place, and then turn around and break them whenever it's convenient. 

The GOP deploys whatever means are necessary to bend and even outright break the political rules of engagement.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

Editor's Note: I seldom run opinion pieces by others, but this one was so outstanding I had to share.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

A Gaggle Of Morons In The News

Morons in the wrong places is just a fact of life. 

Lawyers, and politicians are two professions that are overrun by gaggles of morons.

Let's look at some examples:

Ted Cruz posted a video of himself pledging allegiance to a flag on Flag Day suggesting there's been attacks by unseen forces trying to do away with it.

There hasn't of course. Instead of worrying about the power grid crisis in Texas, Teddy is trying to stir up controversy out of whole cloth.

It reminded me of when he decided to go to Cancun for a vacation while his constituents froze their asses off!

____________________________

Found out today that moron Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, tried to get the DOJ to look into at least one conspiracy theory later dubbed Italygate after the 2020 election was over.

To briefly summarize; the theory held that people connected to the Italian defense firm Leonardo used satellites to change the vote counts in the 2020 election from Trump to Biden.

Just to be sure both Reuters and USA Today fact-checked the conspiracy theory around the time Meadows emailed it to the DOJ.

To no one's surprise it was a baseless claim.

__________________________

Back to the Lone Star state we have Gov. Greg Abbott a moron for all seasons.

He's spending tax-payers money - $250 million - to start funding a wall at the state's border with Mexico.

Once again a moron is putting politics above reality with tax-payer money that should go towards shoring up the fragile power grid.

Right now sweaty Texans are being told to pull their bootstraps up and don't use their electric power for anything if they can help it.

Sad.

__________________________

A Florida town with morons in charge passed an anti-homeless law that prohibits lying down in parks. A homeless man called the police on a family having a picnic. The family was escorted away.

___________________________

I hope you found these tidbits amusing. I could have gone on forever, but all good things must come to an end.

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

The Crazies Are Ready To Snap: Feds Warn QAnon Followers May Resort To Violence

QAnon adherents are growing impatient.

When their so-called "Storm" - also known as the Jan.6 insurrection attempt-  didn't turn out some followers left the fold in frustration.

The supposed reckoning of Trump's enemies, where they'd be tried and executed, simply didn't happen. In reality, there was never a chance that it would happen.

But when you have a cult like QAnon with followers who believe they are out to expose a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex trafficking ring, it's hard to reason with them.

The wackaloons are waging a war against the so-called "deep state" and doing their best to prop up "The Big Lie."

A new federal intelligence report released yesterday warns that QAnon nuts could target Democrats and other political opponents for more violence as the movement's false prophecies don't come true.

The report predicts that while some QAnon adherents will pull back, others "will likely begin to believe they can no longer 'trust the plan' referenced in QAnon posts."

When that happens and followers feel they have an obligation to change from serving as "digital soldiers" towards engaging in real world violence, it could become real ugly.

The report summarizes factors that will contribute to QAnon's long-term durability:

-"The COVID-19 pandemic,

-Social media companies allowing posts about conspiracy theories,

-Societal polarization in the country,

-and the frequency and content of pro-QAnon statements by public individuals who feature prominently in core QAnon narratives."

The next false narrative by "Q," is that Trump will become president again in August. There's a lot of jacked-up followers who are counting on that to happen.

When it doesn't happen because it's impossible, a lot of those disappointed loons may lash out violently. 

We know they're capable of it because twenty "Q" morons were arrested and charged in the Jan. 6 coup attempt.

Hopefully federal authorities will be ready this time.

Monday, June 14, 2021

Republican Lawmakers Forsake Constituents In Bid To Hold On To Power

The already severely damaged Republican Party has decided to "cross the Rubicon" and ignore the will of the majority of their own voters.

States with GOP legislative majorities are busy creating laws to keep themselves in power without regard to their constituents.

To illustrate this point Trump puppet Rand Paul claims that democracy "goes against our history." A dubious assertion to put it mildly.

What's happening is GOP lawmakers are increasingly feeling frustrated by voters' expressed will.

So now the new strategy is to argue that the will of the voters was never what America was about (!).

A prime example is Missouri state Rep. Justin Hill who was part of a legislative majority to oppose expanding Medicare in the state.

Despite the fact, last year voters in the state approved an expansion of Medicaid eligibility by a 6-point margin, with 82,000 more votes in support of the measure, Hill and his fellow cronies quashed it by not funding it.

Hill also introduced a measure in the legislature to challenge the results of the presidential election - not in Missouri but in six states that were the focus of the Trump campaign.

How corrupt is Hill? Consider that he missed his own swearing-in in January because it fell on the 6th - and he was at the Capitol urging rioters to attack.

The GOP's new emphasis on winning isn't simply about trying to work the refs or bending the rules to suit political ends. 

It's about changing the rules at the outset in order to make a rejection of the popular will something that's part of the legalized process.

We're seeing that now in other states that are working on restricting people's rights to vote.

To sum up this new assault against voting rights, Hill spoke for the Republican degenerates when he claimed, "Even though my constituents voted for this lie, I'm going to protect them," he told reporters. "I am proud to stand against the will of the people."

Enough said.

It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...