I was taking note of the recent Supreme Court ruling to the effect that mass public gatherings in the service of self-styled "conservative" Judeo-Christian mega-churchs were henceforth to be newly exempted from the governments' otherwise valid public safety lockdown orders.
It occurred to me that the so-called "Islamo-fascist" radical Islamic movements (e.g. the Iranian Shia "Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist" (later to become "Rule by the Ayatolla") the Sunni "Muslim Brotherhood", and the derivative "Base" a/k/a al-Qaeda) all managed to entrench themselves into their respective Middle Eastern Muslim societies precisely because they managed to convince those self-same societies that Muslim "religious" gatherings were exempt from laws broadly applicable to the rest of the society. And now that same exemption for religious fundies seems to be developing here as well.
I also noticed that Trump is now saying Biden has to prove he won the election before he can enter the White House.
While Trump has failed in all of his very dubious court cases due to the court system standing up for the rule of law, the Trump campaign is now saying they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
Somebody had an interesting idea. I think I heard it on CNN. Since the economy and your average American could really use some financial help and we have vaccines that we need to encourage people to take he came up with the idea of paying people to take the vaccine.
"Trump is now saying Biden has to prove he won the election before he can enter the White House."
I'd missed that one. Perhaps Trump's gotten his current situation conflated in his head with the landlord/tenant disputes he'd been party to back in New York City. Perhaps he thinks that being in the White House somehow effectively makes him still the President. Perhaps all this talk about whether or not he will "concede" the election has made him think that's somehow an important point (other than to the advertisement-selling broadcast media, who've been delighted to play up that fabricated mini-drama). Or, perhaps he just wanted to be in the headlines again today, and he thought saying that would get him in the headlines again. Whichever…. He'll get summarily disabused of any misconceptions he might now hold concerning who has to prove what, and in fairly short order too, if he tries to "hold over" on his tenancy in the White House.
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"Somebody had an interesting idea…paying people to take the vaccine..".
Not a totally bonkers notion, not as a matter of pure economics anyway. But, it'll be politically unpalatable, and likely an impossible sell in the Congress. If I were Biden I'd certainly not lead with that in my first economics stimulus plan.
I have to say that I feel very sorry for those poor people in Georgia. They will be subjected to negative attack ads and Trump's lies through the holiday.
"I don't think the presidency is settled yet. It looks like Trump still has a shot…"
You seem to be drawing your "looks" from "alternative" sources. (Chinese President Xi has already publicly congratulated Biden on his election. The Chinese press isn't gonna be allowing stories to circulate that would reflect so poorly in Xi's analysis of American politics.)
Tomorrow the newly partisan Supreme Court gets to take on another of the Republicans' ongoing efforts to "correct" the American experiment in democracy, and reëstablish the autocracy originally intended by the Founding Fathers. They'll be taking up the Republicans' argument that Article 1, § 2, which says the census count shall include "the whole Number of free Persons", excluding "Indians not taxed" means instead that representation (especially in the Electoral College) shall include only those proven to be voting citizens and shall not include "the whole number of free Persons". I.e. They'll be given the opportunity to tell us that the Constitution doesn't mean what it actually says when that goes against the political interests of the Republican Party.
It's a novel notion, but it also supports the Republicans' efforts to disable democracy in America, and they do have a working majority on the Supreme Court.
So, we'll just have to wait and see how brave they really are.
I suspect that we will be seeing quite a few interesting cases coming our way.
I was pleased that at least one federal judge appointed by Trump, who was overseeing one of the many cases brought by the Trump campaign with regard to the election, did not see it as Trump and his supporters do. That judge too agreed with so many others that there is no evidence of fraud.
I will hope that the Supreme Court will judge based on law and not on political bias.
Speaking of Iran, it appears that someone took the opportunity to assassinate one of their top nuclear scientists. The betting is Israel. They too might be slipping in actions prior to Biden being sworn in. I would guess he would not have approved.
"I suspect that we will be seeing quite a few interesting cases coming our way."
Probably so.
First read from the court-watchers is that they're not brave enough just now to step up and rule for the Republicans on census question. We'll have to wait and see if they're maybe just playing to avoid the headlines for now and will rule for the Republicans later this term, when they think they're not being watched so close.
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"I would guess [Biden] would not have approved."
I'm not sure Biden would have been asked. He and Netanyahu have a history (Biden has a history with damn near every foreign leader out there from his long days on the Foreign Relations Committee and his days as Obama's Vice President). But, I'm not sure they were ever particularly "close". Be that as it may… Your post implies a suspicion that this was done now to preëmpt Biden's response against Netanyahu and lock in a sustained state of hostility, Iran against "the West", the United States and Israel especially. I suspect you may be correct.
I have often wondered about the people who are asymptomatic or have the milder symptoms of Covid. I have to wonder if there aren't possibly other drugs out there that may work like this anti-depressant. Or other factors. I think it is those with the less severe symptoms who may prove very informative.
It does seem odd that an antidepressant inhibits the immune over-response in covid cases. But, I guess most coincidences seem odd upon reflection. (If there were an obvious or even a rational connection they'd not have been deemed "coincidences" in the first place.)
” Your post implies a suspicion that this was done now to preëmpt Biden's response against Netanyahu and lock in a sustained state of hostility, Iran against "the West", the United States and Israel especially. I suspect you may be correct.”
I’d expect that it takes a whole lotta planning and waiting for an opportunity to hit at such a high value target. And that Israel acted when the opportunity rose and would have done so regardless of whose ass is parked on the chair in the Oval Office.
William Barr has come out and said that there was no evidence of voter fraud. Maybe trying to save some of his reputation. I suspect he may be too late.
Not only weighing in too late, but also too light. Gonna take way more than that to get folks to overlook his role in breaking down the non-partisan traditions at the Justice Department. (If indeed that's ever gonna be possible.) So, he's pissed off the dedicated Trumpkins, now more pissed than they already were; but he's accrued no countervailing benefit. (On the other hand, he's never gonna be offered a government job again, so pissin' off the Trumpkins ain't exactly a big deal to him.) So, if I were to speculate on why Barr's done this, I'd go with the notion that Trump's pissed him off again, just here lately, by ragging on Twitter and elsewhere 'bout the failure of the Justice Department to indict any of Trump's own chosen targets; Obama, Clinton, the Bidens, etc., and this is where Barr bites his master's hand in payment for that.
lol! I suspect there are others out there that Trump has attacked who will not hesitate to return the favor.
Another case in point would be these rather fed up people. The video of that man's comments shows quite clearly his anger and frustration with both Trump and Republican officials.
Meanwhile Trump has managed to con around $170 million out of all of the fools who are contributing to his "legal" efforts.
"I’d expect that it takes a whole lotta planning and waiting for an opportunity to hit at such a high value target."
We should probably point out, before we leave this subject entirely, that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was not a particularly "high value target". He was a high visibility target, and thus the hit on him had high political value. But he was no longer particularly important to Iran's nuclear weapons program (which lacks only for sufficient enriched uranium, which most any clown physicist in Iran can produce for them now).
Backing the Ayatollahs and the religious "hard-liners" (some of whom are not at all religious) into a corner. Making it less likely they'll want to negotiate, and making it less likely they can negotiate, even if they wanted to, due to internal Iranian political considerations. Subjecting them to a public insult and humiliation so's to poison the ground upon which renewed negotiations might take place.
Trump's post-election "address" to the nation, taped yesterday in the "Diplomatic Room" of the White House. Forty-six minutes and a few odd seconds long (downloadable).*
"Flynn's been tweeting that Trump should declare martial law and run the election again."
Under "appropriate supervision" this time, no doubt.
It's rather troubling to recognize that these guys got 73 million votes, almost 47% of the total. It's almost as troubling to realize that they're figurin' Trump was their last good chance to peacefully achieve their dreams of holding permanent power as America's ruling minority. And they're now considering their next moves, taking into account their failure to achieve their goal peacefully this time.
47%. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– It is beyond reasonable contemplation that enough Republican Party power centers will now go along with Trump and support an open daylight coup on the government. They lost their last chance at that when we got the "three outta the four" swing states we needed to keep the election from being swung by the newly partisan Supreme Court--for this time anyway.
It is not beyond reasonable contemplation that Trump will manage to buy into his own hoax and attempt a coup by force. (I'm not worried about it working, but there is an outside chance he'll convince himself it can work; low probability, but it is there.)
47%.
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"Now, Sweden is caught up in a surge of infections and rising deaths, and a needed reconsideration is underway. There are important lessons, including: Don’t try this…" WashingtonPost
There are also, it must be noted, a large group of Swedes who are still dedicated to "alternative facts" and to "alternative" interpretations of the currently irrefutable data.
So I tried to listen to a little of Trump, but I started to zone out. He's just delusional. I hope that other people are starting to get tired of his ranting as well.
I can see why Republicans are starting to worry about the runoff elections in Georgia. Will they be able to get out the vote when their supporters are being told that elections aren't being conducted fairly and they should stay home?
Btw, what's up with Trump's replacing people on the Pentagon advisory boards with his political supporters? Can Biden reverse that when he gets into office? If so, why is Trump even bothering?
So I am curious to see what happens in my county in the next few weeks. We have been running a very high positivity rate here because Covid is so widespread. If their idea that there may actually be 10 times the number of people who have had Covid than are listed then my county would be close to reaching 70% of the population having been infected. That is the figure for herd immunity. If this theory is correct then case numbers should start to drop shortly. We'll see...
"I tried to listen to a little of Trump, but I started to zone out."
I can see how that would happen. I just put it on play and let it run in the background while I was reading. Periodically I'd pull up and think, "What the Hell was that?". And then I'd run it back a few seconds and let it play again, just to check and see if he was really being as nuts as it had sounded the first time. I'm sure I missed a bunch of crazy going by, but I caught enough of it to classify it. And I wasn't interested in making sure I'd caught all of it.
"Btw, what's up with Trump's replacing people on the Pentagon advisory boards with his political supporters?"
Just him bein' full-on nuts and vindictive so far as anybody can tell. And, yeah, Biden can just recall them back to the boards they were on, if he wants them and if they'll come back (some wouldn't want to serve a Democrat President, and would have soon quit anyway). Truth is, I think Trump's slipped a gear or two since the 3rd of November. I wasn't kidding 'bout the suspicion that, in the end, he may have to be physically dragged out of there. I wouldn't say it's likely, but it could happen that way. I don't think he's processing the loss all that well.
Out of 249 Republicans holding seats in the House and the Senate, only 25 would admit (as of this morning) that Joe Biden won the November 3rd election. WashingtonPost
Truth is, I think Trump's slipped a gear or two since the 3rd of November.
I agree. He's even more unhinged than he normally is. I wonder if Mary Trump didn't hit the nail on the head when she said he is literally terrified of what happens when he is out of office.
I see that while he may pardon people on the federal level that doesn't mean they can't be tried on the state level. Also, as someone on CNN pointed out, what exactly is he pardoning people for? If he has to be specific about a crime then that would kind of point out where to look for people in the states who may take an interest.
I was unaware that any locale in the United States was anywhere close to approaching "herd immunity" levels.
It would take the speculation that there have actually been 10 times the number of infections than has been documented to be true for that to be the case. I can't say that that supposition is correct. However, I will continue to watch the numbers of infections in my county per day and the positivity rate. At the moment both have went down slightly from last week.
Out of 249 Republicans holding seats in the House and the Senate, only 25 would admit (as of this morning) that Joe Biden won the November 3rd election.
When asked about that Joe Biden said he understood that they are in a difficult position. He was giving them an out. Personally, as a voter I would not be so kind. As far as I am concerned it is cowardice to the max and shows a lack of fealty to democracy.
"It would take the speculation that there have actually been 10 times the number of infection…"
Yeah, uh… Hmmm, well…
I think you've gotten turned around here, and are looking through both ends of the telescope, depending.
You started out talking about "positivity rate" (Fri Dec 04, 08:54 pm ↑↑) which is a percentage. And then you switch to the "actual number of infections", which is a direct count.
A high positivity rate suggests that they aren't doing near enough testing. It does not suggest that a large percentage of the overall population is represented by the high rate you're finding among those tested.
We haven't had enough tests (equipment, facilities, laboratories, etc.) to test enough people to get a real random sample of local populations. Therefore, some method of allocating testing has always been instituted. (Perhaps nothing more complicated than simply giving the tests only to people who ask to be tested or who have been marked down as "contacts" of a known infectious person.) But, even on the "anybody who asks" criteria, you're getting a high number of people who already have suspicions. So, a high "positivity" rate doesn't mean that you're finding a large percentage of those infected. It means instead that there's a whole bunch more out there that you're not finding--you are, in fact, catching a fairly low percentage of all those who've been infected specifically by the folks you're currently tracking and there's more of them getting away without being tested. When you get a low positivity rate then you can more safely conclude you've actually found everybody recently infected.
Follow up on that: It took Obama six years to finally accept the simple and obvious truth that the Republicans were never going to coöperate with him on anything. They were implacably adverse and intended, and still intend, to remain just so until Obama finally dies (however long in the future that will be). Biden was there for that. He should remember. But, I'm afraid he's gonna make the same damn mistake--and it'll take him another six years to accept that reality again, to understand that it apples to him too now, if he ever does get it.
I think you've gotten turned around here, and are looking through both ends of the telescope, depending.
No, I do understand. The positivity rate and the number of actual active/inactive Covid-19 cases are measures of two different things.
The only way the positivity rate could measure the actual percentage of people infected on any given day would require all people within a community to be tested on that day. That isn't going to happen. Because most people will not be tested unless they are showing symptoms. The exception to that is in long term care facilities where they are testing all residents as a matter of course.
One assumption that can be made is that not enough testing is being done. But that would only lower the positivity rate if the virus isn't widespread. If, however, all of the people in a community were tested and the rate is still high then it would show a widespread infection.
The number of cases is a cumulative number of all cases of infection within my county, including those who have recovered. If that number is really an undercount because people who were infected in the past were never tested then that means more people than we think have been infected. If they are still afforded some immunity they are not susceptible to reinfection. The question is how many have been infected in the past without realizing it?
If there have been a higher number of people infected then we are further along to "herd immunity" then we may think. Ten times may be a little high, but then we have been finding earlier cases that weren't identified before.
There is still the wildcard of possible reinfection of someone who had the virus previously. But, while it has happened it doesn't appear to be common. At least that is what we must hope for, because otherwise we would need to be vaccinated multiple times a year.
In any case I will be watching my county's numbers closely. We should see case numbers per day dropping steadily and no other surge if herd immunity is close. Or if we get enough vaccine.
I suspect that Biden is smarter than people give him credit for.
But, I'm afraid he's gonna make the same damn mistake--and it'll take him another six years to accept that reality again, to understand that it apples to him too now, if he ever does get it.
I suspect Biden is smarter than people give him credit for.
"The only way the positivity rate could measure the actual percentage of people infected on any given day would require all people within a community to be tested on that day."
No, an appropriately weighted, but otherwise truely random sample of sufficient size would get ya an accurate percentage as well.
"But that would only lower the positivity rate if the virus isn't widespread."
Again, no, it would lower the "positivity rate" reported back from the tests if the actual public infection rate was lower than the rate of infection found in the non-random testing now being done (very likely true for almost any locale in these United States).
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"I suspect Biden is smarter than people give him credit for."
Well, I'm certainly hoping he's smarter than he's been talking publicly. We'll have to wait and see how long it takes him to acknowledge that McConnell's gonna give him the same shafting he gave to Obama (or "recognize" and adapt to it, whether or not he decides to acknowledge it publicly).
It's increasingly looking like Trump's gonna announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President in 2024 on or about January 20ᵗʰ of '21. Some pundits are speculating that he'll be holding a "press conference" to announce his '24 campaign around noon of that day--as "counter-programing" to the televised swearing in of Joe Biden as the 46ᵗʰ President. The Republican Party has seemingly completed its transformation. It's got the vestiges of the GOP's old aristocracy wing still holed up in there somewhere (mostly because they got no other place to go just now), but aside from those vestigial elements, it's a party of fascist populism now; it's the Party of Trump. And Trump has noticed.
We'll have to wait and see how long it takes him to acknowledge that McConnell's gonna give him the same shafting he gave to Obama (or "recognize" and adapt to it, whether or not he decides to acknowledge it publicly).
Guess it depends on what McConnell's real motivation is.
"As far as I am concerned it is cowardice to the max and shows a lack of fealty to democracy." Lynnette @ Sat Dec 05, 05:50 pm ↑↑
I've been thinkin' on that one (intermittently) since this weekend. I've come to the conclusion that "cowardice" is letting probably them off the hook way too easy. Claiming it as cowardice implies that they'd actually prefer to stand up to Trump and defend democracy, but they fail to do that out of fear. (Terrorized by the mere thought of being targeted by an angry Trumptweet and of the resulting frowns from the hordes of dedicated Trumpkins.)
So far as I can see, there's virtually zero evidence to support that hypothesis as a broad-based assumption.* "Cowardice" may apply to a very few Republican politicians, but it looks to me like most of them want to take a more active part; they want to ride this tiger into power. They want to use this opportunity to benefit themselves. They wish to be seen as faithful soldiers for Trump, onboard with his assault on democracy, and therefore entitled to positions of leadership and power in Trump's post-democracy Republican Party and post-democracy America.
However, should Trump's continued assault on our democratic institutions fail (as I certainly hope will ultimately be the case, although we probably won't know until he attempts his "comeback" in ‛24), I'm sure they'll be more than eager to plead down their current status as criminal accessories, as open partners in his open conspiracy. Pleading that down to mere "cowardice" will probably delight them in the case that "Trumpism" fails to make a comeback in 2024.
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* The "lack of fealty to democracy" part seems to apply much more widely than does the idea of "cowardice".
* The "lack of fealty to democracy" part seems to apply much more widely than does the idea of "cowardice".
I suspect they go hand in hand. To really support democracy is to trust that our fellow citizens will ultimately act for the good of all. It also cedes some control over one's own life. There are those out there where control is all important because they fear the "other".
Of course, in the case of some of our Republican elected officials there is also the fear that they will be out of a job.
However, should Trump's continued assault on our democratic institutions fail (as I certainly hope will ultimately be the case, although we probably won't know until he attempts his "comeback" in ‛24)
If the recent Supreme Court ruling against overturning the election results in Pennsylvania is any indication of our future then I have hope. It was a unanimous ruling with even Trump appointees saying enough is enough.
"Guess it depends on what McConnell's real motivation is."
The switch of Biden for Obama will not have changed McConnell's "real motivation" from last time 'round, nor will it change his tactics. Worked too well last time and the dedication of the Trumpkins will only reinforce McConnell's faith in an angry electoral "base", and bad faith and division as his chief operating principle. Let's hope Biden remembers how it worked last time as well, and changes his tactics this time.
The switch of Biden for Obama will not have changed McConnell's "real motivation" from last time 'round, nor will it change his tactics.
Hmmm...maybe so...
But Biden will have this to deal with, even if McConnell isn't hung up on white supremacy.
The “fight for the soul of the nation” wasn’t won with Joe Biden’s election—and unless the president-elect plans to wage that battle with the full power of every part of the federal government he’s set to lead, it may not be won at all.
That’s the consensus of experts in white supremacist movements and far-right radicalization, who told The Daily Beast that the continued rise of racist extremism in the United States is a deeper and more insidious problem than even Biden may realize, and one that can’t simply be resolved by one election or by any single government agency.
"…the consensus of experts in white supremacist movements and far-right radicalization…"
You may have a point there; they may have a point there. These are the "new voters" that Trump brought back into the Republican Party, the ones they now value so much. They'd quit voting, feeling like they weren't "valued" or "listened to". Well, they're valued now; Lindsey Graham is listening again. The Republicans' reëmbrace of America's white supremacist fringe elements has been crucial to their recovery from their self-inflicted political losses resulting from their ill-conceived culture wars against the rest of America. Without the addition of that extra 5 to 7 percent, out there past what used to be considered acceptable "country club Republican" type casual racism, then they'd not have stood any real chance at the political recovery (temporary, I believe) that gave Trump his shot at reëlection as a minority President. But, accepting those elements back into the GOP will merely cement their larger losses among the politically moderate. They will lose more voters than they gained.
Or, so I think. So it has seemed this time; I expect it will remain so next time. I guess time will tell us whether or not I'm correct on that.
Meanwhile… I still think Biden damn well better get his vision cleared up. The Republicans ain't gonna have that "epiphany" that he forecast for them after his win; their "fever" ain't gonna break like he predicted. Ain't gonna happen. Instead he's gonna find out that they've moved even further to the right during the four years of Trump. He needs to get his head 'round that new notion.
Morning news brings word of a large "defunding" of the police in Minneapolis. The number of police officers is supposedly going to hold stable (assuming they don't keep quitting in droves), but an assortment of non-threatening-situations are going to be allocated to other agencies for handling, or so the story goes, as I've been given it this morning.
The Republicans ain't gonna have that "epiphany" that he forecast for them after his win; their "fever" ain't gonna break like he predicted.
I suspect you are right. They even now have filed another lawsuit to try to overturn the election results in multiple states. This even though the US Supreme Court has already ruled against them on one of those states.
Morning news brings word of a large "defunding" of the police in Minneapolis.
It's kind of misleading in a way. Yes, the city council has voted to reallocate funds from the police department to other areas of government that they think may better handle mental health cases, property damage or theft. Mayor Frey has said he would veto this because he wants to increase the number of officers from 750 to 888 over the next few years. What the council then did was include verbiage to the effect that the police department should be increased to 888 officers. This will affect the budget talks in the future, making the starting point of funding 888 officers rather than the 750.
Hasn't been getting a lot of headlines, I'd almost missed it, but pro-Trump self-proclaimed "conservative" groups are planning a nationwide set of protests today to complain about the supposedly stolen election. Michael Flynn, recently pardoned, is slated to headline the Washington, D.C. protest. Reuters
I'll be watching for turnout, and expecting it to be light enough that most of the protests don't rate much mention, even on FoxNews.
Try to remember that it's good to know where they are.
(Reminds me: I just got my first copy of the Epoch Times in the morning mail. I'm not sure it's good for them to know where I am. I'm gonna havta pull that outta the trash and check and see if it had my name on it, or if it was directed to "occupant".)
Try to remember that it's good to know where they are.
I've found them in the strangest places.
It looks like all of Minnesota's Republican House members piled on in supporting that bogus lawsuit out of Texas.
I was so ticked off that I actually called and left a message on my Representative's voicemail. Nothing radical, just a statement that I did not support his actions and felt is was sedition and that I wouldn't be voting for him again. Of course, I didn't vote for him in this last election, but he doesn't know that. I know it won't do any good, but I felt I had to stand up and let him know that not all of the people in his district are rabid Trump supporters.
The Epoch Times does seem to be getting around a lot. My brother got a copy too. He also threw it in the trash. I've gotten a couple. After paging through it to see what the articles were about I threw it in recycling. Except for the page with the Sudoku on it. That is actually pretty good.
In looking through it I felt it was a rather adept propaganda piece. It's obvious sprinkles of Trump bias made me wonder who is using it to further his interests. I don't see why Falon Gong would care.
"It looks like all of Minnesota's Republican House members piled on in supporting that bogus lawsuit out of Texas."
And it's not just Minnesota's Republican House members.
The really, really bad ugly thing being exposed here isn't Trump's refusal to accept the election results. After all, he told us that was comin'. He was up front about that. The really, really bad ugly thing is that a majority of the Republican Party is going along with him on this. The crazy that brought us Trump as the Republican nominee in 2016 has only gotten worse now that they've lost the general election in 2020. They're gettin' worse, not better. That's a sobering thought. And Joe Biden damn well better get his head 'round that truth. They ain't gonna have that patriotic "epiphany" he was hoping for. They're goin' down a darker path instead. It's the Party of Trump now. They're not even trying to take the old GOP back from Trump's grasp. Instead, they're trying to become major players in his new political party. And his party has no other unifying policies, no other organizing principle, more potent than hostility and malevolence directed towards non-Trumpkin America. They've become a political cult. (Trump is no Hitler--more like Mussolini. But they're turnin' into right fine neo-Nazi types, even without a full on surrogate Hitler to lead them.)
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"It's obvious sprinkles of Trump bias made me wonder who is using it to further his interests."
They're probably supporting Trump incidentally, however enthusiastic it might seem to us in the moment (professional quality political work though--obviously they hire the best, but probably incidental to their main obsession, to their main target, which appears to be the Communist Chinese government). They're moving on the United States population just now because they perceive this to be a transitional moment--during which a tightly targeted move on their part might gain them some political ground. What's really spooky here is how desperate the Trumpkins are for "professional quality political work". They seem to be coddlin' up a bit to Falon Gong America as a reliable supplier of that sort of fascist propaganda, mostly 'cause they desperately need a supplier. (Just somethin' I thought I'd noticed when looking at the original publishers of some of the pro-Trumpkin essays and such now gettin' play across the Trumpkin alternative media sites.)
What's really spooky here is how desperate the Trumpkins are for "professional quality political work". They seem to be coddlin' up a bit to Falon Gong America as a reliable supplier of that sort of fascist propaganda, mostly 'cause they desperately need a supplier.
Indeed. It makes me wonder just how low will they go?
67 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
We might call this just a passing observation.
I was taking note of the recent Supreme Court ruling to the effect that mass public gatherings in the service of self-styled "conservative" Judeo-Christian mega-churchs were henceforth to be newly exempted from the governments' otherwise valid public safety lockdown orders.
It occurred to me that the so-called "Islamo-fascist" radical Islamic movements (e.g. the Iranian Shia "Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist" (later to become "Rule by the Ayatolla") the Sunni "Muslim Brotherhood", and the derivative "Base" a/k/a al-Qaeda) all managed to entrench themselves into their respective Middle Eastern Muslim societies precisely because they managed to convince those self-same societies that Muslim "religious" gatherings were exempt from laws broadly applicable to the rest of the society.
And now that same exemption for religious fundies seems to be developing here as well.
Just a passing observation.
I noticed that.
I also noticed that Trump is now saying Biden has to prove he won the election before he can enter the White House.
While Trump has failed in all of his very dubious court cases due to the court system standing up for the rule of law, the Trump campaign is now saying they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
Somebody had an interesting idea. I think I heard it on CNN. Since the economy and your average American could really use some financial help and we have vaccines that we need to encourage people to take he came up with the idea of paying people to take the vaccine.
"Trump is now saying Biden has to prove he won the
election before he can enter the White House."
I'd missed that one.
Perhaps Trump's gotten his current situation conflated in his head with the landlord/tenant disputes he'd been party to back in New York City. Perhaps he thinks that being in the White House somehow effectively makes him still the President. Perhaps all this talk about whether or not he will "concede" the election has made him think that's somehow an important point (other than to the advertisement-selling broadcast media, who've been delighted to play up that fabricated mini-drama). Or, perhaps he just wanted to be in the headlines again today, and he thought saying that would get him in the headlines again.
Whichever….
He'll get summarily disabused of any misconceptions he might now hold concerning who has to prove what, and in fairly short order too, if he tries to "hold over" on his tenancy in the White House.
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"Somebody had an interesting idea…paying people to take
the vaccine..".
Not a totally bonkers notion, not as a matter of pure economics anyway. But, it'll be politically unpalatable, and likely an impossible sell in the Congress. If I were Biden I'd certainly not lead with that in my first economics stimulus plan.
Lynnette and Lee,
Boy, I don't know. I don't think the presidency is settled yet. It looks like Trump still has a shot to be inaugurated in January.
Jeffrey -- Ningbo, China
*
Only in his and Putin's dreams.
I have to say that I feel very sorry for those poor people in Georgia. They will be subjected to negative attack ads and Trump's lies through the holiday.
Covid is bad enough.
Sad, very sad.
"I don't think the presidency is settled yet. It looks like Trump
still has a shot…"
You seem to be drawing your "looks" from "alternative" sources. (Chinese President Xi has already publicly congratulated Biden on his election. The Chinese press isn't gonna be allowing stories to circulate that would reflect so poorly in Xi's analysis of American politics.)
"I have to say that I feel very sorry for those poor people in Georgia."
Yeah, I've been pleased by the recent relief from political ads. Folks in Georgia ain't been lucky in that regard.
Tomorrow the newly partisan Supreme Court gets to take on another of the Republicans' ongoing efforts to "correct" the American experiment in democracy, and reëstablish the autocracy originally intended by the Founding Fathers. They'll be taking up the Republicans' argument that Article 1, § 2, which says the census count shall include "the whole Number of free Persons", excluding "Indians not taxed" means instead that representation (especially in the Electoral College) shall include only those proven to be voting citizens and shall not include "the whole number of free Persons". I.e. They'll be given the opportunity to tell us that the Constitution doesn't mean what it actually says when that goes against the political interests of the Republican Party.
It's a novel notion, but it also supports the Republicans' efforts to disable democracy in America, and they do have a working majority on the Supreme Court.
So, we'll just have to wait and see how brave they really are.
I suspect that we will be seeing quite a few interesting cases coming our way.
I was pleased that at least one federal judge appointed by Trump, who was overseeing one of the many cases brought by the Trump campaign with regard to the election, did not see it as Trump and his supporters do. That judge too agreed with so many others that there is no evidence of fraud.
I will hope that the Supreme Court will judge based on law and not on political bias.
Speaking of Iran, it appears that someone took the opportunity to assassinate one of their top nuclear scientists. The betting is Israel. They too might be slipping in actions prior to Biden being sworn in. I would guess he would not have approved.
Iran is vowing revenge.
"I suspect that we will be seeing quite a few interesting
cases coming our way."
Probably so.
First read from the court-watchers is that they're not brave enough just now to step up and rule for the Republicans on census question. We'll have to wait and see if they're maybe just playing to avoid the headlines for now and will rule for the Republicans later this term, when they think they're not being watched so close.
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"I would guess [Biden] would not have approved."
I'm not sure Biden would have been asked. He and Netanyahu have a history (Biden has a history with damn near every foreign leader out there from his long days on the Foreign Relations Committee and his days as Obama's Vice President). But, I'm not sure they were ever particularly "close".
Be that as it may…
Your post implies a suspicion that this was done now to preëmpt Biden's response against Netanyahu and lock in a sustained state of hostility, Iran against "the West", the United States and Israel especially. I suspect you may be correct.
Yup, that was what I was thinking.
Don't know if it will work, though.
Times, they are a changing. I suspect we will have far greater problems then disputes between countries, or groups of countries.
I found this interesting.
I have often wondered about the people who are asymptomatic or have the milder symptoms of Covid. I have to wonder if there aren't possibly other drugs out there that may work like this anti-depressant. Or other factors. I think it is those with the less severe symptoms who may prove very informative.
"I found this interesting."
It does seem odd that an antidepressant inhibits the immune over-response in covid cases. But, I guess most coincidences seem odd upon reflection. (If there were an obvious or even a rational connection they'd not have been deemed "coincidences" in the first place.)
” Your post implies a suspicion that this was done now to preëmpt Biden's response against Netanyahu and lock in a sustained state of hostility, Iran against "the West", the United States and Israel especially. I suspect you may be correct.”
I’d expect that it takes a whole lotta planning and waiting for an opportunity to hit at such a high value target. And that Israel acted when the opportunity rose and would have done so regardless of whose ass is parked on the chair in the Oval Office.
William Barr has come out and said that there was no evidence of voter fraud. Maybe trying to save some of his reputation. I suspect he may be too late.
"I suspect he may be too late."
Not only weighing in too late, but also too light.
Gonna take way more than that to get folks to overlook his role in breaking down the non-partisan traditions at the Justice Department. (If indeed that's ever gonna be possible.)
So, he's pissed off the dedicated Trumpkins, now more pissed than they already were; but he's accrued no countervailing benefit. (On the other hand, he's never gonna be offered a government job again, so pissin' off the Trumpkins ain't exactly a big deal to him.)
So, if I were to speculate on why Barr's done this, I'd go with the notion that Trump's pissed him off again, just here lately, by ragging on Twitter and elsewhere 'bout the failure of the Justice Department to indict any of Trump's own chosen targets; Obama, Clinton, the Bidens, etc., and this is where Barr bites his master's hand in payment for that.
lol! I suspect there are others out there that Trump has attacked who will not hesitate to return the favor.
Another case in point would be these rather fed up people. The video of that man's comments shows quite clearly his anger and frustration with both Trump and Republican officials.
Meanwhile Trump has managed to con around $170 million out of all of the fools who are contributing to his "legal" efforts.
"I’d expect that it takes a whole lotta planning and waiting
for an opportunity to hit at such a high value target."
We should probably point out, before we leave this subject entirely, that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was not a particularly "high value target". He was a high visibility target, and thus the hit on him had high political value. But he was no longer particularly important to Iran's nuclear weapons program (which lacks only for sufficient enriched uranium, which most any clown physicist in Iran can produce for them now).
He was a high visibility target, and thus the hit on him had high political value.
Sending a message to someone?
"Sending a message to someone?
Backing the Ayatollahs and the religious "hard-liners" (some of whom are not at all religious) into a corner. Making it less likely they'll want to negotiate, and making it less likely they can negotiate, even if they wanted to, due to internal Iranian political considerations. Subjecting them to a public insult and humiliation so's to poison the ground upon which renewed negotiations might take place.
Trump's post-election "address" to the nation, taped yesterday in the "Diplomatic Room" of the White House. Forty-six minutes and a few odd seconds long (downloadable).*
Crazy on a stick.
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* ⁽ᵂᶦᵗʰ ᶜˡᵒˢᵉᵈ ᶜᵃᵖᵗᶦᵒⁿᶦⁿᵍ ⁾
Crazy on a stick
Yup, that explains why he really, really likes Michael Flynn. Flynn's been tweeting that Trump should declare martial law and run the election again.
I haven't listened to Trump, I try to avoid that at all possible. But I will check it out tonight.
Forewarned is forarmed.
"Flynn's been tweeting that Trump should declare martial
law and run the election again."
Under "appropriate supervision" this time, no doubt.
It's rather troubling to recognize that these guys got 73 million votes, almost 47% of the total. It's almost as troubling to realize that they're figurin' Trump was their last good chance to peacefully achieve their dreams of holding permanent power as America's ruling minority. And they're now considering their next moves, taking into account their failure to achieve their goal peacefully this time.
47%.
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It is beyond reasonable contemplation that enough Republican Party power centers will now go along with Trump and support an open daylight coup on the government. They lost their last chance at that when we got the "three outta the four" swing states we needed to keep the election from being swung by the newly partisan Supreme Court--for this time anyway.
It is not beyond reasonable contemplation that Trump will manage to buy into his own hoax and attempt a coup by force. (I'm not worried about it working, but there is an outside chance he'll convince himself it can work; low probability, but it is there.)
47%.
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"Now, Sweden is caught up in a surge of infections and rising
deaths, and a needed reconsideration is underway. There are
important lessons, including: Don’t try this…"
WashingtonPost
There are also, it must be noted, a large group of Swedes who are still dedicated to "alternative facts" and to "alternative" interpretations of the currently irrefutable data.
Trump's new political/personal slush fund (a "Leadership PAC") is up over $200 million as of this morning. Politico
So I tried to listen to a little of Trump, but I started to zone out. He's just delusional. I hope that other people are starting to get tired of his ranting as well.
I can see why Republicans are starting to worry about the runoff elections in Georgia. Will they be able to get out the vote when their supporters are being told that elections aren't being conducted fairly and they should stay home?
Btw, what's up with Trump's replacing people on the Pentagon advisory boards with his political supporters? Can Biden reverse that when he gets into office? If so, why is Trump even bothering?
Trump's new political/personal slush fund (a "Leadership PAC") is up over $200 million as of this morning.
Hmmm...that's roughly half of what he needs. I think it was $420 million he had coming due...
So I am curious to see what happens in my county in the next few weeks. We have been running a very high positivity rate here because Covid is so widespread. If their idea that there may actually be 10 times the number of people who have had Covid than are listed then my county would be close to reaching 70% of the population having been infected. That is the figure for herd immunity. If this theory is correct then case numbers should start to drop shortly. We'll see...
"I tried to listen to a little of Trump, but I started to zone out."
I can see how that would happen. I just put it on play and let it run in the background while I was reading. Periodically I'd pull up and think, "What the Hell was that?". And then I'd run it back a few seconds and let it play again, just to check and see if he was really being as nuts as it had sounded the first time. I'm sure I missed a bunch of crazy going by, but I caught enough of it to classify it. And I wasn't interested in making sure I'd caught all of it.
"Btw, what's up with Trump's replacing people on the
Pentagon advisory boards with his political supporters?"
Just him bein' full-on nuts and vindictive so far as anybody can tell. And, yeah, Biden can just recall them back to the boards they were on, if he wants them and if they'll come back (some wouldn't want to serve a Democrat President, and would have soon quit anyway). Truth is, I think Trump's slipped a gear or two since the 3rd of November. I wasn't kidding 'bout the suspicion that, in the end, he may have to be physically dragged out of there.
I wouldn't say it's likely, but it could happen that way. I don't think he's processing the loss all that well.
"…70%…that is the figure for herd immunity."
I was unaware that any locale in the United States was anywhere close to approaching "herd immunity" levels.
Out of 249 Republicans holding seats in the House and the Senate, only 25 would admit (as of this morning) that Joe Biden won the November 3rd election. WashingtonPost
Truth is, I think Trump's slipped a gear or two since the 3rd of November.
I agree. He's even more unhinged than he normally is. I wonder if Mary Trump didn't hit the nail on the head when she said he is literally terrified of what happens when he is out of office.
I see that while he may pardon people on the federal level that doesn't mean they can't be tried on the state level. Also, as someone on CNN pointed out, what exactly is he pardoning people for? If he has to be specific about a crime then that would kind of point out where to look for people in the states who may take an interest.
I was unaware that any locale in the United States was anywhere close to approaching "herd immunity" levels.
It would take the speculation that there have actually been 10 times the number of infections than has been documented to be true for that to be the case. I can't say that that supposition is correct. However, I will continue to watch the numbers of infections in my county per day and the positivity rate. At the moment both have went down slightly from last week.
Out of 249 Republicans holding seats in the House and the Senate, only 25 would admit (as of this morning) that Joe Biden won the November 3rd election.
When asked about that Joe Biden said he understood that they are in a difficult position. He was giving them an out. Personally, as a voter I would not be so kind. As far as I am concerned it is cowardice to the max and shows a lack of fealty to democracy.
"It would take the speculation that there have actually been 10
times the number of infection…"
Yeah, uh… Hmmm, well…
I think you've gotten turned around here, and are looking through both ends of the telescope, depending.
You started out talking about "positivity rate" (Fri Dec 04, 08:54 pm ↑↑) which is a percentage. And then you switch to the "actual number of infections", which is a direct count.
A high positivity rate suggests that they aren't doing near enough testing. It does not suggest that a large percentage of the overall population is represented by the high rate you're finding among those tested.
We haven't had enough tests (equipment, facilities, laboratories, etc.) to test enough people to get a real random sample of local populations. Therefore, some method of allocating testing has always been instituted. (Perhaps nothing more complicated than simply giving the tests only to people who ask to be tested or who have been marked down as "contacts" of a known infectious person.) But, even on the "anybody who asks" criteria, you're getting a high number of people who already have suspicions. So, a high "positivity" rate doesn't mean that you're finding a large percentage of those infected. It means instead that there's a whole bunch more out there that you're not finding--you are, in fact, catching a fairly low percentage of all those who've been infected specifically by the folks you're currently tracking and there's more of them getting away without being tested. When you get a low positivity rate then you can more safely conclude you've actually found everybody recently infected.
"…I would not be so kind."
You won't have to work with them later.
"…I would not be so kind."
Follow up on that: It took Obama six years to finally accept the simple and obvious truth that the Republicans were never going to coöperate with him on anything. They were implacably adverse and intended, and still intend, to remain just so until Obama finally dies (however long in the future that will be). Biden was there for that. He should remember.
But, I'm afraid he's gonna make the same damn mistake--and it'll take him another six years to accept that reality again, to understand that it apples to him too now, if he ever does get it.
I think you've gotten turned around here, and are looking through both ends of the telescope, depending.
No, I do understand. The positivity rate and the number of actual active/inactive Covid-19 cases are measures of two different things.
The only way the positivity rate could measure the actual percentage of people infected on any given day would require all people within a community to be tested on that day. That isn't going to happen. Because most people will not be tested unless they are showing symptoms. The exception to that is in long term care facilities where they are testing all residents as a matter of course.
One assumption that can be made is that not enough testing is being done. But that would only lower the positivity rate if the virus isn't widespread. If, however, all of the people in a community were tested and the rate is still high then it would show a widespread infection.
The number of cases is a cumulative number of all cases of infection within my county, including those who have recovered. If that number is really an undercount because people who were infected in the past were never tested then that means more people than we think have been infected. If they are still afforded some immunity they are not susceptible to reinfection. The question is how many have been infected in the past without realizing it?
If there have been a higher number of people infected then we are further along to "herd immunity" then we may think. Ten times may be a little high, but then we have been finding earlier cases that weren't identified before.
There is still the wildcard of possible reinfection of someone who had the virus previously. But, while it has happened it doesn't appear to be common. At least that is what we must hope for, because otherwise we would need to be vaccinated multiple times a year.
In any case I will be watching my county's numbers closely. We should see case numbers per day dropping steadily and no other surge if herd immunity is close. Or if we get enough vaccine.
You won't have to work with them later.
I suspect that Biden is smarter than people give him credit for.
But, I'm afraid he's gonna make the same damn mistake--and it'll take him another six years to accept that reality again, to understand that it apples to him too now, if he ever does get it.
I suspect Biden is smarter than people give him credit for.
Also, more tenacious.
Unfortunately I can't say the same for some of the American people out there.
There's a sucker born every day.
"No, I do understand."
Okay.
"The only way the positivity rate could measure the actual
percentage of people infected on any given day would require
all people within a community to be tested on that day."
No, an appropriately weighted, but otherwise truely random sample of sufficient size would get ya an accurate percentage as well.
"But that would only lower the positivity rate if the virus
isn't widespread."
Again, no, it would lower the "positivity rate" reported back from the tests if the actual public infection rate was lower than the rate of infection found in the non-random testing now being done (very likely true for almost any locale in these United States).
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"I suspect Biden is smarter than people give him credit for."
Well, I'm certainly hoping he's smarter than he's been talking publicly. We'll have to wait and see how long it takes him to acknowledge that McConnell's gonna give him the same shafting he gave to Obama (or "recognize" and adapt to it, whether or not he decides to acknowledge it publicly).
It's increasingly looking like Trump's gonna announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President in 2024 on or about January 20ᵗʰ of '21. Some pundits are speculating that he'll be holding a "press conference" to announce his '24 campaign around noon of that day--as "counter-programing" to the televised swearing in of Joe Biden as the 46ᵗʰ President.
The Republican Party has seemingly completed its transformation. It's got the vestiges of the GOP's old aristocracy wing still holed up in there somewhere (mostly because they got no other place to go just now), but aside from those vestigial elements, it's a party of fascist populism now; it's the Party of Trump. And Trump has noticed.
Gonna be an interesting interregnum.
Biden & Co. will have a real mess all over the board when they take over.
It's bad enough as it is without a replay of the problems of The Great Recession.
We'll have to wait and see how long it takes him to acknowledge that McConnell's gonna give him the same shafting he gave to Obama (or "recognize" and adapt to it, whether or not he decides to acknowledge it publicly).
Guess it depends on what McConnell's real motivation is.
It's increasingly looking like Trump's gonna announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President in 2024...
I'm betting the dementia becomes more pronounced by then and even some of his lemmings will notice.
Gonna be an interesting interregnum.
I agree.
Georgia has completed its second recount of the Presidential vote. Biden won all three times.
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"…and even some of his lemmings will notice."
You are ever the optimist.
You are ever the optimist.
Lol! I know.
"As far as I am concerned it is cowardice to the max and
shows a lack of fealty to democracy."
Lynnette @ Sat Dec 05, 05:50 pm ↑↑
I've been thinkin' on that one (intermittently) since this weekend. I've come to the conclusion that "cowardice" is letting probably them off the hook way too easy.
Claiming it as cowardice implies that they'd actually prefer to stand up to Trump and defend democracy, but they fail to do that out of fear. (Terrorized by the mere thought of being targeted by an angry Trumptweet and of the resulting frowns from the hordes of dedicated Trumpkins.)
So far as I can see, there's virtually zero evidence to support that hypothesis as a broad-based assumption.* "Cowardice" may apply to a very few Republican politicians, but it looks to me like most of them want to take a more active part; they want to ride this tiger into power. They want to use this opportunity to benefit themselves. They wish to be seen as faithful soldiers for Trump, onboard with his assault on democracy, and therefore entitled to positions of leadership and power in Trump's post-democracy Republican Party and post-democracy America.
However, should Trump's continued assault on our democratic institutions fail (as I certainly hope will ultimately be the case, although we probably won't know until he attempts his "comeback" in ‛24), I'm sure they'll be more than eager to plead down their current status as criminal accessories, as open partners in his open conspiracy. Pleading that down to mere "cowardice" will probably delight them in the case that "Trumpism" fails to make a comeback in 2024.
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* The "lack of fealty to democracy" part seems to apply much more widely than does the idea of "cowardice".
* The "lack of fealty to democracy" part seems to apply much more widely than does the idea of "cowardice".
I suspect they go hand in hand. To really support democracy is to trust that our fellow citizens will ultimately act for the good of all. It also cedes some control over one's own life. There are those out there where control is all important because they fear the "other".
Of course, in the case of some of our Republican elected officials there is also the fear that they will be out of a job.
So I think I will stick by my first thought.
However, should Trump's continued assault on our democratic institutions fail (as I certainly hope will ultimately be the case, although we probably won't know until he attempts his "comeback" in ‛24)
If the recent Supreme Court ruling against overturning the election results in Pennsylvania is any indication of our future then I have hope. It was a unanimous ruling with even Trump appointees saying enough is enough.
"Guess it depends on what McConnell's real motivation is."
The switch of Biden for Obama will not have changed McConnell's "real motivation" from last time 'round, nor will it change his tactics. Worked too well last time and the dedication of the Trumpkins will only reinforce McConnell's faith in an angry electoral "base", and bad faith and division as his chief operating principle. Let's hope Biden remembers how it worked last time as well, and changes his tactics this time.
The switch of Biden for Obama will not have changed McConnell's "real motivation" from last time 'round, nor will it change his tactics.
Hmmm...maybe so...
But Biden will have this to deal with, even if McConnell isn't hung up on white supremacy.
The “fight for the soul of the nation” wasn’t won with Joe Biden’s election—and unless the president-elect plans to wage that battle with the full power of every part of the federal government he’s set to lead, it may not be won at all.
That’s the consensus of experts in white supremacist movements and far-right radicalization, who told The Daily Beast that the continued rise of racist extremism in the United States is a deeper and more insidious problem than even Biden may realize, and one that can’t simply be resolved by one election or by any single government agency.
"…the consensus of experts in white supremacist movements
and far-right radicalization…"
You may have a point there; they may have a point there. These are the "new voters" that Trump brought back into the Republican Party, the ones they now value so much. They'd quit voting, feeling like they weren't "valued" or "listened to". Well, they're valued now; Lindsey Graham is listening again. The Republicans' reëmbrace of America's white supremacist fringe elements has been crucial to their recovery from their self-inflicted political losses resulting from their ill-conceived culture wars against the rest of America. Without the addition of that extra 5 to 7 percent, out there past what used to be considered acceptable "country club Republican" type casual racism, then they'd not have stood any real chance at the political recovery (temporary, I believe) that gave Trump his shot at reëlection as a minority President.
But, accepting those elements back into the GOP will merely cement their larger losses among the politically moderate. They will lose more voters than they gained.
Or, so I think. So it has seemed this time; I expect it will remain so next time. I guess time will tell us whether or not I'm correct on that.
Meanwhile… I still think Biden damn well better get his vision cleared up. The Republicans ain't gonna have that "epiphany" that he forecast for them after his win; their "fever" ain't gonna break like he predicted. Ain't gonna happen. Instead he's gonna find out that they've moved even further to the right during the four years of Trump. He needs to get his head 'round that new notion.
Morning news brings word of a large "defunding" of the police in Minneapolis. The number of police officers is supposedly going to hold stable (assuming they don't keep quitting in droves), but an assortment of non-threatening-situations are going to be allocated to other agencies for handling, or so the story goes, as I've been given it this morning.
The Republicans ain't gonna have that "epiphany" that he forecast for them after his win; their "fever" ain't gonna break like he predicted.
I suspect you are right. They even now have filed another lawsuit to try to overturn the election results in multiple states. This even though the US Supreme Court has already ruled against them on one of those states.
Morning news brings word of a large "defunding" of the police in Minneapolis.
It's kind of misleading in a way. Yes, the city council has voted to reallocate funds from the police department to other areas of government that they think may better handle mental health cases, property damage or theft. Mayor Frey has said he would veto this because he wants to increase the number of officers from 750 to 888 over the next few years. What the council then did was include verbiage to the effect that the police department should be increased to 888 officers. This will affect the budget talks in the future, making the starting point of funding 888 officers rather than the 750.
We'll see...
Hasn't been getting a lot of headlines, I'd almost missed it, but pro-Trump self-proclaimed "conservative" groups are planning a nationwide set of protests today to complain about the supposedly stolen election. Michael Flynn, recently pardoned, is slated to headline the Washington, D.C. protest. Reuters
I'll be watching for turnout, and expecting it to be light enough that most of the protests don't rate much mention, even on FoxNews.
I'm behind a vehicle that has a "women for Trump" sign on the back door.
"sigh*
Try to remember that it's good to know where they are.
(Reminds me: I just got my first copy of the Epoch Times in the morning mail. I'm not sure it's good for them to know where I am. I'm gonna havta pull that outta the trash and check and see if it had my name on it, or if it was directed to "occupant".)
Try to remember that it's good to know where they are.
I've found them in the strangest places.
It looks like all of Minnesota's Republican House members piled on in supporting that bogus lawsuit out of Texas.
I was so ticked off that I actually called and left a message on my Representative's voicemail. Nothing radical, just a statement that I did not support his actions and felt is was sedition and that I wouldn't be voting for him again. Of course, I didn't vote for him in this last election, but he doesn't know that. I know it won't do any good, but I felt I had to stand up and let him know that not all of the people in his district are rabid Trump supporters.
The Epoch Times does seem to be getting around a lot. My brother got a copy too. He also threw it in the trash. I've gotten a couple. After paging through it to see what the articles were about I threw it in recycling. Except for the page with the Sudoku on it. That is actually pretty good.
In looking through it I felt it was a rather adept propaganda piece. It's obvious sprinkles of Trump bias made me wonder who is using it to further his interests. I don't see why Falon Gong would care.
"It looks like all of Minnesota's Republican House members
piled on in supporting that bogus lawsuit out of Texas."
And it's not just Minnesota's Republican House members.
The really, really bad ugly thing being exposed here isn't Trump's refusal to accept the election results. After all, he told us that was comin'. He was up front about that.
The really, really bad ugly thing is that a majority of the Republican Party is going along with him on this.
The crazy that brought us Trump as the Republican nominee in 2016 has only gotten worse now that they've lost the general election in 2020. They're gettin' worse, not better. That's a sobering thought.
And Joe Biden damn well better get his head 'round that truth. They ain't gonna have that patriotic "epiphany" he was hoping for. They're goin' down a darker path instead. It's the Party of Trump now. They're not even trying to take the old GOP back from Trump's grasp. Instead, they're trying to become major players in his new political party. And his party has no other unifying policies, no other organizing principle, more potent than hostility and malevolence directed towards non-Trumpkin America. They've become a political cult. (Trump is no Hitler--more like Mussolini. But they're turnin' into right fine neo-Nazi types, even without a full on surrogate Hitler to lead them.)
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"It's obvious sprinkles of Trump bias made me wonder who is
using it to further his interests."
They're probably supporting Trump incidentally, however enthusiastic it might seem to us in the moment (professional quality political work though--obviously they hire the best, but probably incidental to their main obsession, to their main target, which appears to be the Communist Chinese government). They're moving on the United States population just now because they perceive this to be a transitional moment--during which a tightly targeted move on their part might gain them some political ground.
What's really spooky here is how desperate the Trumpkins are for "professional quality political work". They seem to be coddlin' up a bit to Falon Gong America as a reliable supplier of that sort of fascist propaganda, mostly 'cause they desperately need a supplier. (Just somethin' I thought I'd noticed when looking at the original publishers of some of the pro-Trumpkin essays and such now gettin' play across the Trumpkin alternative media sites.)
What's really spooky here is how desperate the Trumpkins are for "professional quality political work". They seem to be coddlin' up a bit to Falon Gong America as a reliable supplier of that sort of fascist propaganda, mostly 'cause they desperately need a supplier.
Indeed. It makes me wonder just how low will they go?
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