Sunday, October 17, 2021

Holding On To Reality In This Golden Age of Disinformation

    Trump is the Star of the Golden Age of Disinformation.

It's not easy.

There's so much disinformation on major issues facing the nation that it feels like a doomsday movie. Staying sane has never been more challenging.

The reason for this is because we're in the Golden Age of Disinformation. The Golden Calf has morphed into a narcissistic sociopathic former president and reality star intent upon destroying democracy.

The Age of Reason is long gone. We have the internet now. With it, comes a dank flowing sewer of lies, hate, conspiracies', and disinformation that empties out into millions of homes. The stench of stupidity is strong enough to make a maggot gag.

Please. Don't tell me how good the internet can be. The bad far outweighs what's happening today.

Don't think for a moment that all of the trolls and wackaloons would have come this far in disabling realities in your life without the massive digital octopus connecting them to each other.

Simply put, there has been no other era in our country's history where a cult of one man has brought us so close to defeat. The irony of getting rid of a sole ruler - crazy King George - to form a free nation is lost upon Trump and his followers. That's what happens in cults.

It's up to you, and I, to cling to reality and believe in science; to believe that we are all equal, to let evidence guide our decisions, to fight against the onslaught of disinformation around us with research and facts.

Friday, October 15, 2021

Abusive Appeals Tangle The Courts Up In Knots: Why Delayed Justice Is Hurting Democracy

Thanks to the former president's strategy of delaying justice with appeals - often for years - the courts in this country are in chaos.

One bad thing that's happened is Trump and the Republican Senate appointed and confirmed 220 Article III judges, and most are acting like Trump's disciples.

The cherry on the cake was appointing three supreme court justices who were lackeys of the Federalist Society; effectively assuring an extreme conservative agenda for at least a generation.

From early on Trump was taught how to take advantage of the court system with mentors like Roy Cohn and various mafia thugs. He teethed on filing appeals to create confusion that often ended with his accusers running out of money and the cases getting dropped.

Gaming the courts has always been one of Trump's favorite pastimes, so when he had the power of the presidency behind him it was inevitable he'd get his sticky fingers into the whole judicial system.

Throughout Trump's regime his minions have been encouraged to file frivolous lawsuits and to gum up court systems with endless appeals to thwart any investigations on them.

Steve Bannon is one of Trump's prize students whose loyalty has been tested in Congressional investigations numerous times. Most recently he's refused to respond to the House Select Jan. 6 Committee's subpoena to testify.

That refusal will effectively tie things up for an undetermined amount of time. And that's the idea. Republicans are hoping to run the clock out on the Jan. 6 investigation by retaking the House and possibly the Senate in the midterms.

Delayed justice may end up being no justice at all meted out to those involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The appeals process is so badly abused by criminals and politicians that nothing short of a complete overhaul is needed.

What would that look like? I'm not sure, but the promise of timely justice should be the guide to restore the validity of the appeals process. Remember, we're all supposed to have the right to a speedy trial. 

The longer cases are slow-walked (more like low-crawled) through the judicial system the more likely justice won't be served and democracy will suffer for it.

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Chants, Rants, and Corrupt Confidantes

              The Gang of Four: Meadows, Scavino, Bannon, and Patel

Chant overheard at alt-right rallies
across the country during these troubled times, "You will not replace us!" 

Ghosts of the Confederacy ride the rhetoric of hate being spread by the GOP in states seeking to suppress minority votes.

It's fear and loathing in Trumpland as the former reality star and president has his followers believing ANYTHING he says.

In a recent Trump rally in Georgia the crowd gleefully ranted, "Fuck Biden! Fuck Biden! Fuck Biden." Try, for a moment, to imagine what that sea of stupidity looked like - hundreds of red baseball caps bobbing up and down joyfully.

Speaking of corrupt confidants, did you hear Trump's buddy Steve Bannon defied Congress when subpoenaed to testify before the Jan. 6 Select Committee?  

The committee's response was swift as they moved forward today to hold Bannon in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with the subpoena. 

I admit I'm looking forward to hearing from a parade of Trump's corrupt confidants testifying before the select committee in the coming months.

I suspect the star of the investigation is going to be Mark Meadows

He's been recorded chastising Trump on Jan 6, then doing the complete opposite by making a pilgrimage to Mar-a Lago to kiss Trump's ass a week later. Or, was it days later?

Kash Patel who Adam Schiff described as a "demonstration of the principal in the Trump administration that the more willing you were to do anything the president wanted, no matter how unscrupulous, the higher and the faster you could rise," could give a sensational sleeper testimony.

I'm placing a side bet that Dan Scavino will be the most contentious of the reluctant confidants. He's the slimiest of the quartet.

Be ready for the long game, as the select committee continues to corner more Trump confidants, and make them testify under oath.

I'm stocking up on popcorn right now because of the supply issues we're all experiencing.

Seriously. Stocking. Up. Right. Now.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

A Veteran's Insight Into Being Recruited By Extremists

I was listening to a Congressional hearing about how veterans are seduced by extremists to join antigovernment groups/militias yesterday with interest.

As a Vietnam Veteran (1970) I have a few insights to contribute to this discussion.

The first is not much has changed since I served in the Army. The transition from being government property to a free civilian is as rocky as ever.

Despite veteran groups doing what they can - and I applaud them all - the basic problem lies in acceptance. 

Most young people who go into the military form a bond of sorts. When they get discharged that bond is ruptured and there is a period of drifting in a sea of civilians who can't relate to their military experiences.

Secondly, everyone who signs up for the military is not necessarily being patriotic. Many get out of school and don't know what to do with themselves. College may not be an option.

The draft was going on when I went into the Army, and the majority of people I met simply didn't want to be in the military, and especially didn't want to go to Vietnam.

I suspect that was a major catalyst for a lot of members in the military to take on an antigovernment stance that carried into their civilian lives.

Today the inner core of most militias are Vietnam veterans mentoring each new generation, and instilling in them a total distrust of government.

Prior to Korea and Vietnam, the majority of Americans who signed up in the military did it out of as sense of patriotism and duty to country.

I'm not totally blaming Vietnam veterans for the current state of affairs. There's other reasons why veterans get involved in antigovernment activities. 

Which brings us to today. A populist/fascist has arisen among the dissatisfied  in the last five years that caters to all of their (antigovernment citizens) fears motivating them to violence.

When I saw how many veterans were involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection I was nauseous. It's one thing to be antigovernment and it's another to try and overthrow our government. 

Some good points were brought up in the hearing, but at the end of the day no real solutions were offered. Awareness is good. Action is better.

Monday, October 11, 2021

Lunatic Love: Moonie Cult 'Freedom Festival' Set For A Weekend of Anarchy

Remember that wacky cult of Moonies back in the 1950s?

(Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast)

You may not hear much about them anymore but the cult is busier and crazier than ever before. And it's now a threat to all Americans.

The ultra-rich Korean family (the Moons) put on an annual so-called "Freedom Festivity" that attracts NRA officials, gun enthusiasts and the type of people who attach "Don't Tread On Me" flags to the back of their trucks.

This year's festivities is expected to bring out "sovereign citizens" (aka domestic terrorists), alt-thruthers, and a slew of hardcore Trump minions seeking to steal fair elections and causing chaos in the schools, the medical community, and wherever there's a place to violently demonstrate their demands.

The Moon family also runs a Doomsday Church in Pennsylvania (where the Freedom Festival is held) that attracts lunatics like flies to shit.

(Photo: Reverend Hyung Jin "Sean" Moon, posing with his gold AR-15 "rod of iron" at home.)

Attendees are armed with semi-automatic rifles which they clutch while praying. Their all adorned with metal crowns which signify individuals have ultimate sovereign authority over themselves.

Steve Bannon is one of this years top speakers, along with chief strategist for Trump, Dana Loesch.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, Ryan Busse, a former gun industry executive turned self-described whistleblower, said "...the presence of such high profile speakers lends a dangerous credibility to the armed American fringe that is increasingly angry, vocal, and demanding of government policies that cater to their politics."

What all this comes down to is there's an active American Fascist movement led by a former president who doesn't believe in unity, science, or democracy.

Events like this faux Freedom Festival are reminiscent of 1936 Germany in a symposium. There's been other doomsday cults but this is the first one that a former spokesperson (Loesch) for the NRA is speaking at such an extreme event.

With a former reality star, and president, encouraging people to buy guns to take matters into their own hands, we're one step closer to becoming a fascist state.

The event will be held this weekend in Greeley, Pennsylvania, near the company headquarters of Moon-owned Kahr Firearms Group, a relatively small gun manufacturer.

The highlight of the weekend hate festival happens when they give away a Trump AR-15.

How fitting.

Here's a link to Ryan Busse's new book GUNFIGHT

Sunday, October 10, 2021

Trump On The Loose: A Deranged Johnny Appleseed in the Garden of Democracy

As the holidays approach with an historically backed-up supply system, I'm more concerned about what the Trump cult has been up to lately.

It's looking like Trump plans to run again in 2024, if you can take his word for it given at a rally in Iowa a couple of days ago.

Author and Pastor John Pavlovitz recently wrote a timely essay that I highly recommend you read, and pass on:

"For the first time in America's history the latent ugliness in people was revealed and validated and celebrated by a sitting president — it was officially normalized. And what we're experiencing now; this staggering, insensitive posturing in the face of so many people's suffering, is the late-ripening fruit of something that has been set into the bedrock of half our nation. It is the malicious entitlement that MAGA was designed to nurture from the beginning....

This quickly metastasizing moral cancer is something we've never experienced on this level in our lifetimes and it's something we're going to have to reckon with regardless of the political outcomes of the next four years. If the former president somehow takes that office again, these stories will surely grow exponentially more violent and more commonplace, but either way, the ugliness is here now.

The Trump Effect on America, is that once reasonable, rational human beings whose prejudices, fears, and phobias were all bound by some baseline decorum and common courtesy that kept them from intentionally harming others - have been empowered to revel in the worst of themselves. They believe cruelty is their birthright."

Despite the massive evidence of his corruption in the last five years, Trump is still the biggest threat to democracy, and a free country. Even after being booted out of office. 

He's still free to sow the seeds of discontent like a deranged Johnny Appleseed in the garden of democracy.

However, I have to think there's hope for America. 

That in the end justice will be served, and Trump's quest to destroy our republic will be rebuffed by those who still believe in freedom and democracy.

Saturday, October 9, 2021

Two Americas: Which One Do You Live In?

In Red America people don't get vaccinated against COVID-19. 

They also refuse to wear face masks to stop the spread of the virus indoors. 

In Blue America the majority of the people get vaccinated and wear masks to protect themselves and others.

In Red America people are dying at a higher rate than last year.

In Blue America less people are dying of COVID-19 this year.

In Red America Trump is still the president.

In Blue America Biden is the president.

In Red America some states continue to try to overthrow the results of the 2020 election by holding bogus "forensic audits."

In Blue America people have moved on, accepting the results of one of the safest presidential elections ever held.

In Red America people don't think women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies.

In Blue America women have the right to decide what they want to do with their own body.

In Red America people weaponize their religious beliefs by getting involved in attack politics. Think Christian nationalists.

In Blue America all religions are welcome to practice their beliefs without fear of persecution.

In Red America climate change is a liberal hoax perpetuated by democrats.

In Blue America people are addressing climate change through education and legislation.

In Red America states are enacting laws to suppress voter turnout in advance of the 2022 midterms.

In Blue America people are fighting to protect everyone's right to vote in a fair election.

So...

which America do YOU live in?

Friday, October 8, 2021

There's No Defense For Trying To Destroy Democracy

Watching the evidence mount up weekly that Trump actually attempted a coup should concern every American. 

We almost lost our freedoms under what would have been an authoritarian regime if Trump's desperate scheme to steal the election worked. 

But it didn't.

However, there's still Senate Republicans defending Trump's attempt to overthrow our government with ridiculous reasons why he's innocent of such a dastardly deed.

The latest - and perhaps the stupidest - is Trump's efforts failed so let's just pack that accusation up and go home. Basically the equivalent of saying attempted murder isn't a real crime.

In case you've been out of country or in a cave, Trump is stilling trying to steal the 2020 election by encouraging his enablers in state positions to conduct sham audits, and to suppress voter turnout in the 2022 midterms with Jim Crow laws. 

The long game is the 2024 presidential election, where Trump runs again in the hope he's contaminated the whole electoral system in his favor.

Before getting too worried about Trump running again in 2024, it's important to understand he might not qualify to run again if he's convicted of committing any federal crimes. 

The multiple pending court cases against Trump are serious. The idea that he could end up behind bars is not as far-fetched as it was a year ago. A lot can happen in three years.

There's no excuse for trying to dismantle our democracy. 

Two hundred-and-fifty years ago we got rid of a king. 

The last thing we need now is another mad king.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Memo To MTG: Invoking Nazis and the Holocaust For Shock Value Is Sick

To: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Constantly invoking Nazi atrocities by comparing them to liberals and democrats, just shows how stupid you are.

I suspect you skipped your history classes. I also suspect the only reason you cry Nazi (like the little boy who always cried Wolf) is to get attention.

There are better ways than that to get people to notice you. I should say, to get sane people's attention. I know. You could give a shit. It's the Trumplicans and other assorted right-wing lunatics that you want to keep happy.

If that means lighting fires, then so be it. Screw democracy in the name of Trump. Laws don't apply to you. You're golden in GOP insane asylums across the country. 

You're fever dream claims, like last May's accusation that House members who made you wear a mask on the chamber floor were comparable to Nazis sending Jews to death camps firmly established your brand as an extremist. And clueless.

Yeah...you backed off after that rant and even apologized when Republicans were calling you out for being an asshole. That moment of shame didn't last long.

Here you are again. 

Acting stupid to stir the White Supremacist's up with some more raw meat. It gets them hot. Especially when you're holding a semi-automatic AR-15 in videos. 

But you know that.

So, you pulled the Nazi card again in a recent interview on Real America's Voice (a right wing platform) when you said authorities arresting Jan. 6 rioters were like the Gestapo going after innocent patriots.

I get it. Your shameless and you'll continue to count on crying Nazi until the sheep go home, or you get arrested.

What you should do is obvious...

Resign immediately and check into a rehabilitation facility specializing in Nazi-loving addicts who don't think their sick.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Why AT&T Sucks: It Gave Conspiracy Theory Lunatics a Platform

The world's largest communications company created an alt-right platform - OAN - that is the main propaganda outlet for Republicans, surpassing Fox News.

If it wasn't for OAN promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election we might not be in the position we are - fighting fiction with facts on a daily basis.

How complicit is AT&T?

Let's put it this way; 90 percent of OAN's revenue come from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, according to a report released by Reuters.

Court records reviewed by Reuters also cite an alleged promise to "cast a positive light" on AT&T during news programs at a time when AT&T was seeking federal approval to acquire DirectTV.

The deal was AT&T agreed to carry OAN on DirectTV as long as it promoted them too. It was a shady deal that effectively sanitized the disinformation OAN promoted.

The upshot of this deal made in hell, is we're stuck with one of the biggest conspiracy outlets in the nation thanks to AT&T.

OAN founder and chief executive Robert Herring Sr. has testified that the inspiration to launch OAN in 2013 came from AT&T executives.

OAN's influence rose in late 2015, when it began covering Trump rallies live, when most of the media discounted him as a celebrity longshot.

With Trump asking followers to watch OAN, the alt-right channel took off and grew with millions of new viewers. Even after Trump was run out of office by voters, OAN continues to promote his lies - especially the Big Lie.

Related: Giuliani Admits Trump Campaign Had Complete Editorial Control over OAN Reporter

Monday, October 4, 2021

Bleacher Brawls, Anti-Vaxxers Lying and Dying, and a Pissed Off Public

Yesterday's viral fight in the bleachers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia during the Chiefs and Eagles game is a reflection of the senseless anger sports fans have nowadays.

Wait! You say. This type of deplorable behavior is not unknown in ball parks. It's been happening for decades, just not as common as it is now.

Since the fans returned amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they have a lot less patience...with anything. The reality is increased violence is becoming common place in sports today.

Watching anti-vaxxers bully school board members, teachers, and parents has become a fulltime occurrence across the country. 

It's a far cry from Jeannie C. Riley's iconic Harper Valley PTA song that pointed out hypocrites in the school system. Now fistfights and raging parents are all the norm.

The public is pissed off. Doctors, nurses, teachers, school superintendents, firefighters, grocery store workers, restaurant workers, and politicians are melting down because the pandemic turned out to last much longer than anticipated.

Patience is no longer a virtue. People want things to return to "normal," but that's not going to happen as long as a segment of our society plays stupid and refuses to get vaccinated.

Because the virus still lingers in every state the prospect is poor for a nationwide recovery from the worst pandemic to ever hit this country.

People are pissed off at people who deny science and use quack cures like horse-de-wormer and bleach to fight the virus. There's a plague of misinformation on social media that doesn't look like it'll ever end.

The crazies are taking over by denying realities like Trump won the 2020 election, and by enacting voter suppression laws. 

The chance that you'll witness some form of violence has been greatly enhanced because of all these angry people, regardless if it's at a restaurant, store, or sports event.

A Few Words of Advise About Anger

As Daniel Webster once said, "Keep cool; anger is not an argument."

A witty Mark Twain wrote, "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured."

Grace Kelly's take, "Getting angry doesn't solve anything."

Amen.

Here's a Collection of Cartoons Because You Need to Laugh

It's time for a laugh break. With all the chaos and hatred engulfing our country we need to divert our attention toward something positi...