Friday, July 16, 2021

Despite Reality Trump Spokesperson Claims 'History Tour' Is Already Making History

History shows us that former presidents - and even their spouses - don't usually have a hard time in selling out their appearances and speeches.

The same doesn't hold true for Trump and Bill O'Reilly, who are hoping lots of people will happily pay to see them.

It doesn't look that way however

In a Friday morning article, Politico highlighted the Trump/O'Reilly tour's lagging sales for its four dates in December.

That's not good news for the Liar's Tour because tickets have been available for more than a month. Thousands at each venue remain unsold according to Ticketmaster and AXS.

For comparison, Orlando's Amway Center featured Bad Bunny and the concert sold out in two days. For the record, the concert isn't until next March.

Thus far, Trump's Alternative History Tour is a bust, with entire sections going unclaimed in the venues.

Orlando's Amway Center is apparently a real tough sell for the two insurrectionists trying to rewrite history.

Of course, Trump's spokesperson, Liz Harrington had another take on how well the planned tour was doing.

"The excitement and enthusiasm is unlike anything we've seen before," she bragged. (Sound like someone else?)

I can't help wonder how much experience Harrington has in dealing with reality. Promoting Trump's lies seems to be her sole skill set.

Not surprisingly, O'Reilly had to get in on the hyperbole derby; "Nobody has sold tickets this fast at this price," he claimed.

I think the biggest mistake this tour of infamy made is thinking Trump supporters are going to pay between $100 to $300 to sit in the nose-bleed sections of the arenas, with closer tickets ranging around $1,000 a seat.

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Observation:

The History Tour may yet be canceled - not necessarily because of ticket sales, but because Trump may be in court fighting to stay out of prison.

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Trump's rallies were always free carnivals, and well-attended. His core base of minions expects to see a full circus act for FREE.

I highly doubt they would pay through the nose to sit that long if it's just Trump answering questions from O'Reilly, or with a few select people asking questions. Borrrring!

Thursday, July 15, 2021

'Kraken' Team's Desperate Attempt To Avoid Serious Sanctions Failed

     Sidney Powell - Top Kraken Leader - Takes on courts

Justice is coming soon for a group of Trump lawyers who have been promoting the Big Lie in swing state courts.

A federal Judge in Michigan denied a request from the so-called "Kraken," team, led by Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, to stall the proceedings with a meritless request.

Fact: the entire July 12 proceeding was wide open - far wider than could have been accommodated in a small courtroom.

Judge Linda Parker wrote, "As counsel notes in the motion, more than 13,000 people watched live, 'viewing the proceedings just as they were conducted."

The seven attorney "Krakenists" filed an emergency motion for the release of the recording of the hearing. 

They claimed Democratic intervenors (the City of Detroit) lied about what happened during the contentious July 12th hearing.

The court did not save the live broadcast on it's website. A standard procedure.

In an act of "magical thinking" the crack pro-Trumpian team thought that if more people could watch the hearing they'd {somehow} be exonerated.

Don't ask me what would change people's minds. Powell and Wood live in an alternate universe that rejects the realities unfolding around them.

Proof of that is evident with Lin Wood who grudgingly admitted posting short clips of the trial on Telegram. 

Despite Judge Parker's order not too. Afterward, a motion was called for Wood to be held in contempt for violating the court's order.

The Kraken team's argument that they needed the video in order to prepare a supplemental brief was shot down by Judge Parker.

She pointed out, "attorneys routinely prepare such briefs following a hearing without a video, audio recordings of the proceedings and often without a transcript."

I'm looking forward to see the Kraken bunch lose their law licenses and being laughed out of their profession.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Trump's Illegal Investigation Exposed: Judge Orders DOJ Records To Be Released To Public


For reasons that have "puzzled" a judge - among others - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been covering up information regarding an illegal investigation undertaken by the Trump regime.

The Judge who ordered the sealed records released today was "puzzled" that the Biden DOJ hadn't already published them.

Here's what we know:

-- The Trump Justice Department fought to secretly obtain the records of journalists from two additional outlets, two lawmakers on The House Intelligence Committee, and even former White House counsel Don McGahn.

-- Trump pushed AG Barr right up until his last days in office, to investigate his enemies.

-- The concealed files offered new details about the DOJ investigation, including how late into Barr's tenure records were pursued, and how the agency suspected Congressional staff might have been the sources for the information leaks in Trump's administration.

Here's two of the stories that spurred Trump and his minions to Illegally Investigate:

-- Jared Kushner had discussed using Russian facilities for backchannel communications with the Kremlin

-- Former AG Jeff Session had discussed campaign matters with then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

The filings also show the Biden administration was fighting to keep the records concealed right up until The Washington Post broke the news story that their reporters were involved in an illegal government search against them.

The DOJ's weak reasoning for stalling was that the records contained "non-public investigative and witness information."

As magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui pointed out today, the investigation is closed now that Trump's gone, and they have a duty to make the records available to the public.

In the decision Faruqui wrote, "The government's anti-redaxer stance is puzzling. The administrative burden of doing its job is no escape hatch from completing this task {releasing records to the public}."

What happens next is uncertain.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Cartoon Controversy: Americans Are Talking About a Bunny Not Having Boobs


Lola in the first Space Jam (left). Lola in the sequel (right).

In these days of divisions over any subject it's no surprise people are treating a new cartoon - Space Jam: New Legacy - like a political hot potato.

Let's get right to the meat of the matter; Lola Bunny lost her boobs in the sequel to the original Space Jam, starring Michael Jordon and Looney Tunes characters.

A refresher for those who missed the first Space Jam:

Lola Bunny was the romantic interest for Bugs Bunny, and she looked as hot as a cartoon character can look.

But the director, Michael Lee decided she needed a redesign for the sequel. An updated version, if you will. A politically correct portrayal of a smoking hot cartoon bunny with a chest as flat as a washboard.

Turns out millions of fans are upset with the new look Lola.

It seems their anger caught Lee off-guard, according to an interview with Entertainment Weekly. He thought it was a "super weird" response about the character's body. 

Defending the old Lola-look former pro golfer Paige Spinarac told the Sun that the redesign implied, "women couldn't be sexy and strong."

Apparently exasperated by the controversy Lee said, "And, yes, we had all these women who were like 'Oh, you can't be strong and have boobs?!' Sure you can, but we're talking about a cartoon bunny, not women."

My take on this ridiculous argument is people can't seem to relax enough nowadays to just suspend reality and enjoy a cartoon at the movies.

Monday, July 12, 2021

American Schools Facing a 'Brain Drain' As Educators Quit The Jobs Over Lies About Critical Race Theory

Once upon a time, not so long ago, American teachers were held in high regard. 

Parents supported teachers and trusted them with their children.

But in this time of major polarization across the country, teachers are being intimidated by conservative lies that seek to suppress black history in America.

What we're seeing now is a concerted attack against a theory that isn't even taught in elementary or high schools. 

Extreme conservatives have labeled the Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an attack against whites and progressives. 

Up until six months ago most people had never heard this theory which was mostly taught in college law schools.

So what happened?

Pulling out their oldest playbook, conservatives have demonized the theory and have taken their lies into our K-12 school system as a new attack against teaching the truth.

This new tactic to harass Democrats and blacks has spread like cancer in school districts where furious parents (washed in the orange Kool aid) demand an end to teaching CRT.

Even though it isn't being taught to their children, the Trump wing of the Republican party claims it is.

What these parents fail to realize is that they're being used. Lied to by extreme Republican politicians with only one agenda - to gain and hold complete power in the nation.

The real problem for these narrow-minded parents and lawmakers is that students are having discussions about race in school.

Against this backdrop five states have passed laws limiting how teachers can address "divisive concepts" with students across the country.

The result in these districts is what educators call a "brain drain," of those most committed to fighting racism in schools.

The problem is when facts are no longer part of the discussion, teacher's tools to reframe the conversation and get people back on board with facts is limited. 

The results of this mislabeling campaign is causing an exodus among the already scarce recruiting field in education. 

It's highly alarming that educators are resigning, facing dismissal and fearing for their lives due to conversations about race and diversity.

This local backlash to addressing race in school has been fueled by national conservative group and activists, who see the anti-critical race theory fights as a winning political issue and are helping parents mobilize.

The real loser in this battle are our children who deserve to be taught "honest history."

Sunday, July 11, 2021

Trumpian Wing of the GOP Agrees Not To Agree With Bipartisan Legislation

Part of the GOP battle plan to regain power is a no-holds barred attack on bipartisanship.

There actually was a time when bipartisan bills were possible in Congress. Now they are as rare as the fabled Dodo bird.

The Washington Examiner interviewed three GOP aides that said child care and family proposals are viewed favorably by a sizable contingency of Republican voters but they suggested that opposing Biden's "socialist agenda" would help their bosses, and the party, significantly more during the 2022 midterm elections than reaching across the aisle this summer.

Uniting under Trump's Big Lie has become a lifeline for extremists seeking re-election, and for new players in conservative politics.

Here's What Some GOP members are saying:

While addressing an audience at CPAC Saturday night, Rep. Lauren Boebert ranted,

"We're here to tell the government we don't want your benefits. We don't want your welfare. Don't come knocking at my door...you leave us the hell alone."

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"My job is to block President Biden's socialistic agenda." Mitch McConnell

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"For the next 18 months, Republicans' job is to do everything that we can to slow down the Democrats' radical agenda, and then win the majority and lead," Rep. Chip Roy at CPAC.

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Speaking to a group of extremists, Patriot Voices," Rep. Chip Roy proclaimed, "Hopefully there will be 18 more months of chaos and the ability to get stuff done." 

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I could go on with more examples, but my point here is there's an active resistance against the majority of Americans who want to see successful legislation that improves their lives.

It helps to understand that Trump and his minions are a minority in the country. Right now that minority is seeking to destroy our electoral system and rig it for themselves.

Americans are being held hostage by these haters who manipulate social media and cable news to support the Big Lie.

Lies motivate the Republican party. Truth motivates the Democratic party to defend our Constitution and freedoms.

One prediction; if Biden wants to pass big legislation the filibuster must go. I think it will come to that once the Democratic party realizes their being played like fools.  

Otherwise Mitch McConnell, Trump, and the rest will do an "Obama" and successfully derail Biden's legislation attempts throughout his presidency.

Saturday, July 10, 2021

States Pushing Back Against 'The Big Lie' Targeting GOP Efforts To Steal the 2020 Election

The pushback against Trump's "Big Lie" is picking up steam in some swing states.

Here's What's Happening:

Arizona's Democratic secretary of state calls for investigation of Trump, Giuliani and others

(Read article here)

Michigan AG and Police Confirm Probe Sparked by State GOP-Led Report Debunking Election Fraud Claims

(Read article here)

Michigan AG To Probe 'Election Fraud' Grifters; Trump Lawyers May Face Reckoning Monday

(Watch video here)

A 'Sham': Pennsylvania AG Torches State GOP's Push For Arizona-Style Election Audit

(Read article here)

Here Are The Attempts By State and Local GOP to 'Review' 2020 Election

(Read article here)

Meanwhile in Trump Land

Trump's Big Lie is Getting Supercharged by 2022 GOP Candidates

(Read article here)

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For the sake of brevity I've only selected some recent articles/video that apply to today's topic.

As you can see, democracy is in peril with a rogue former president trying to destroy our electoral system. But, there is resistance against The Big Lie - and that's not going away soon.

Friday, July 9, 2021

McMafia Law and Trump: The UK Looking at 'The Donald's Money Laundering Grift

Thus far, Scottish ministers have resisted investigating criminal allegations against Donald Trump's properties in their country.

Despite having two golf courses - Turnberry and Aberdeenshire, Trump hasn't paid taxes on either of them.

Sound familiar?

That's changed. The International Trump Crime Family could be in big trouble with the British government under "The Unexplained Wealth Order" in the near future.

A U.S.-based nonprofit Avaaz, an online activist network, filed a court action to press the Scottish government to wield its popularly known "McMafia" law to force Trump to reveal the mysterious sources for his all-cash purchases and development of his two golf resorts.

Despite years of concerns about the properties, Parliament voted, 89 to 32, in February against a Scottish Green Party motion to force Trump to reveal his cash sources. 

Despite that, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she won't protect the former president if wrongdoing is found.

Avaaz filed another petition in Scotland's highest civil court this week seeking a judicial review of the government's decision not to pursue the McMafia Law against Trump's businesses.

Also this week, there's been speculation that the golf resorts are part of a money laundering operation.

Neither resort has ever made a profit - despite the millions Trump has pumped into them. To rub salt into the wound, the resorts collected about $800,000 in COVID-19 subsidies from British taxpayers.

A news update

Allen Weisselberg, Trump's CFO, is no longer the director and controller of Trump International Golf Club Organization as of yesterday.

He was terminated from the United Kingdom registry of private companies after his criminal indictment in Manhattan.

The parallels and connections between the New York investigation, and the Scotland investigation can't be ignored. "Teflon Don" Trump is in big trouble.

I can't help recalling another "Teflon Don" John Gotti, who was eventually brought to justice and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Predator Politicians in a Star Wars Bar and More

The image of Trump in the White House with a daily collection of freaks and partisan puppets besmirching democracy is... riveting.

Rumor was that White House aides called the Oval Office and adjoining room, a "Star Wars Bar," because of how weird it was watching the daily display of characters slither in-and-out.

New books are coming out daily about the Trump administration, and very few are flattering. 

Testimony - after testimony - paints a picture of a dangerous narcissistic sociopath banging around the White House like a pissed-off 5th grader who didn't get a hamburger for lunch.

His minions are struggling now that they are out-of-power. Most are having trouble finding new jobs. Some have landed at right-wing media outlets allowing them to continue worshipping Trump by telling lies on his behalf.

Some of Trump's inner circle aren't doing so well right now. 

In particular, Rudy Giuliani, who is paying the price for lying for Trump.

A New York court suspended Rudy from the New York Bar on June 24th for his "false and misleading" statements on behalf of Trump.

Yesterday, the District of Columbia suspended Trump's most prominent attorney from practicing law in the nation's capitol. And Rudy's worries are far from over.

He's also being sued by Dominion Computer Systems for making false accusations of voter fraud that defamed the company after the 2020 election.

Two more Trumpies, Sidney Powell and Mike (The Pillow Guy) Lindell, are also being sued with Rudy for the same reasons. The addled trio claimed Dominion rigged the last election to help Joe Biden.

In addition, Rudy has to worry about the FBI investigation on him for his involvement with the Ukraine while lobbying for the Trump campaign on behalf of foreign interests.

Finally, there's another Justice Department investigation about possible illegal lobbying that he performed for Turkish clients.

As amused as I am by the Star Wars analogy, I have another updated one that I'd like to see:

Orange-clad Trump minions (plus Family) and his Orangeness breaking rocks in a chain-gang somewhere deep in Georgia during a heat wave.

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Trump's Online Presence Has Been Laughable Since Losing the 2020 Election

You can be excused if you don't recall Trump's ill-fated attempt at having his own blog.

It went kaput after one month.

The reason why was simple - it didn't get any traffic worth mentioning. It was a clunky blog with no interactive features that are commonly found with good blogs.

Undaunted, Jason Miller (pictured above) Trump's longtime PR puppet, bragged about his association with a brand new Pro Trump social media platform -  Gettr.

If Trump's blog was a joke, Gettr is the comedy act that keeps on giving.

To begin with the new platform that Miller was talking about (designed for Trump) was launched with enough funny memes to make a book.


Gettr was hacked on it's first day. The accounts of its most popular people - including several Trump aides - were targeted. Even the official support page was compromised.

The fun didn't stop there however. The site was flooded with pornographic images and GIFs. Users spammed posts with graphic hentai videos and images of Hillary Clinton's face photoshopped onto a woman's naked body.

In an attempt to bring in right-wing followers the platform is advertised as "a marketplace for ideas." Code for crazies are welcomed.

In what I describe as sweet irony, this platform designed to attract Trump himself with it's Twitter-like features, still hasn't gotten Trump to subscribe to it.

Trump bitch for life, Steve Bannon, described the new platform as "the Twitter killer" in a post on the new site.

I highly doubt Twitter has much to worry about. It appears Gettr is headed for the trash heap where most Trump-inspired lies and propaganda goes.

Yesterday, Motherboard verified that a hacker posted a database to an online hacking forum claiming to have scrapped the information from the accounts of EVERY GETTR USER.

Private emails, exact usernames, bios, and birthdays of 85,000 users were hacked.

The self described anti-censorship platform for conservative voices continues to flounder like a shark out of water, as Trump seeks to have a presence on the internet. 

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

A Day in the Life of 'Ernie' The Polydactyl Kitten

From the start, Ernie was a special kitten.

He came into my wife and I's life, via our son, who rescued him.

But this was no ordinary rescue on city streets. It was something out of a movie.

Seven months ago when Ernie was only six-weeks-old, an owl sunk it's talons into his skinny neck and flew away with him! It was probably the same owl that took his sibling two days prior to the attack on Ernie.

In tears, my son who has a farm with an old barn, described the doomed kitten's screams as it was spirited away.

Then after two days, Ernie was taken by the owl, and he watched in horror as he twisted and squirmed in the owl's claws.

But then fate took a hand and little Ernie managed to wiggle free and fell down into a tree!

Not knowing if he was dead or alive, my son climbed up and found Ernie clinging with his big polydactyl paws to a branch.

He needed a home and we were glad to take him. My wife and I have fallen in love with this fantastic feline who makes us laugh every day.

What is polydactyl?

Simply put, they are cats with extra toes. Sometimes on all four paws, or just in the front, or back.

Ernie is called a Hemingway Cat because the famous American author Ernest Hemingway was given one by a sea captain. It's name was Snow White.

Today, the Hemingway House in Key West is the Hemingway Home and Museum. Almost 50 cats roam the property - all descendants of Snow White.

A Typical Day With Ernie 

From the moment I wake up - usually around 5 a.m. - Ernie is there to greet me.

He's seven-months-old now, but when I first brought him home he knitted in my beard which was thick enough then to protect the skin beneath.

Since trimming my beard he's moved on to knitting on blankets. As I make coffee he bounds around the kitchen and living room like a cat on crack!

His toys, stuffed with catnip, inspire him to greater heights of buffoonery every day. He heckles our other cats mercilessly, wanting to play.

Our two dogs - Molly, the Pug, and Butters, our Iggy - accept and even tolerate Ernie. It's like they know he's still a kitten.

By late morning - usually 10 or 11 a.m. - Ernie curls up in one of his several favorite napping spots, and blissfully drifts into dreamland.

There hasn't been a day when Ernie didn't make my wife and I laugh. Perhaps it's his youthful exuberance. Or, because he is such a special cat.

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...