Long Strange March to the Abyss of Annihilation and Oblivion of Democracy

[bodysong]

Long Strange March to the Abyss of Annihilation and Oblivion of Democracy

We are so kind to George W. Bush, today, because he makes an effort to prove
that he is not entirely detached from reality. He has been ingrained with following
"the practices of good manners, in polite society." Although, his sense of the absurd
and incongruous, sometimes lures him to cross the line into acts that reveal a mild
rebellion and disrespect for rigid rules. George W. may bow to ritual and follow
form, but the attitude contains scoffing and mockery. His reward ?

November 5, 2021 Hundreds of masked mourners -
including President Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush -
gathered at Washington National Cathedral on Friday to pay their respects to
Gen. Colin Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and
secretary of state.

Biden, Obama, Bush and Hillary Clinton attend Colin Powell funeral
- The Independent 2 days ago

Mr. Trump, who denounced Mr. Powell a day after he died, was not present
at the ceremony, and not mentioned.

- NY Times

Former President Donald Trump did not attend the funeral. Shortly after General Powell
passed away October 18 from complications due to COVID-19, Mr. Trump released
a statement attacking Powell.

- Mediaite

Also in attendance were former vice president Richard B. Cheney; former secretaries
state Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright; former defense
secretary Robert Gates; and former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...2f8f46-3d95-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html

A great deal of pretending, during ritual ceremonies. Above all, is to keep the peace
between the people attending the rituals. The main point of a funeral, is to honor the
dead, and to console and comfort the survivors. To humble and quiet the individual
self, and form a united group, and give the person that they had been in life, respect.
They are no longer alive, and able to reply to criticism.

At least, for that moment, sleeping dogs are left to lie, and continue to slumber.

And Now His Watch Is Ended

Kicking Colin Powell's dead body, shall get no answers. He took them to the grave.

OTOH, George W. Bush's presidency, his administration, his office, tipped us into
the situation we find ourselves in, on November 7, 2021

George W. Bush allowed the United States of America to be driven to the edge of
an abyss. An accumulation of ugly, bad, harmful decisions made, had left Our Country
hanging over the abyss by a thread. He brushed the debris of destruction from his hands,
and walked away.

The Republican party leaders and politicians had pulled their pants down, showed
all Democrats their naked arses (and all included in the bending of said arses) pissed
on everything Democratic, and looked America in the eye and gave everyone that
was not part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, "the finger"and laughed in our
faces. They had shown themselves, for what they are.

The People responded - a vow to never elect another Republican president, again. Ever.

 

[bodysong]

PEW PEW —
The Pew Research Center’s latest political typology report doesn’t answer all
the questions about what underlies this ugliness. But it does reveal why Democratic
leaders have had so much trouble uniting to pass the reconciliation bill and why
Republican leaders can’t quit Trump.

Here’s how Pew breaks down the Republican and Democratic Party coalitions —
and some big-picture takeaways about what keeps them united vs. what divides them …

The Republicans:

Faith and Flag Conservatives: 23% (staunchly conservative, older, very active politically
overwhelmingly Christian, love Trump)

Committed Conservatives: 15% (educated, voted for Trump but not sure they want him
back, RONALD REAGAN is their touchstone)

Populist Right: 23% (anti-immigration, pro-taxing the rich, rural, less educated, love Trump)

Ambivalent Right: 18% (younger, less religious, more moderate, don’t want Trump back)

Stressed Sideliners: 15% (mixed ideological views, financially stressed, not very politically engaged)

— “Areas of agreement within the GOP coalition: Support for limited government
belief in an individual’s ability to succeed and rejection of White privilege”

— “Issues that divide the GOP coalition: Corporate profits, same-sex marriage
compromise with U.S. allies, expanding the production of oil, coal and natural gas”

— Most ominous finding in the report:
“Six-in-ten Populist Right and a nearly identical share of Faith and Flag Conservatives
(59%) say they like political leaders who assert that Trump is the legitimate winner
of the 2020 election, despite official counts showing that Biden was the legitimate winner.”

https://www.politico.com/newsletter.../new-reminders-that-this-is-not-normal-495046

 

[bodysong]

Whose Brandon is it?

November 14, 2021

Paul Dame, newly-elected chair of the Vermont GOP, opened his speech by encouraging
attendees to support the local community, not everyone interpreted the day so positively.

When Dame announced the event earlier this week, he said that a portion of the proceeds
from the “Let’s Go Brandon” merchandise would go to the Brandon Area Food Shelf.
But on Wednesday, Kathy Mathis, director of the food shelf, said that no one from the
GOP had notified her about the event, and the food shelf would not accept any donations
raised during the rally.

Mathis specified to the Rutland Herald that the food shelf would not take donations
from any political party, Republican or otherwise.

“I live here, and this is an opportunity to celebrate this town that we love a lot,”
Josh Collier said. “I think that to co-opt the name of this town is unacceptable
and inappropriate."

"Everyone is allowed their own opinions, but to have it be perceived
as a town-sponsored event is unacceptable.”

More than a hundred people — some from hours away —
weathered the cold and rain on the Brandon town green to support Paul Dame,
the newly elected Vermont Republican party chair, and to protest the Biden presidency
at Saturday’s “Let’s Go Brandon” rally.

Saturday’s crowd, sporadically breaking out in choruses of “Let’s Go Brandon,”
expressed frustration with a variety of political issues both local and national.

https://vtdigger.org/2021/11/14/in-brandon-paul-dame-gathers-vermont-gop-at-lets-go-brandon-rally/

 

[bodysong]

MAGA has managed to create a clusterfuck out of a murder trial -

Evil, deadly, Lego-style rifle of MAGA

17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse travelled from his home in Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha,
Wisconsin

He crossed state lines, with a weapon he did not buy, and was too young to own -

Rittenhouse wasn’t old enough to buy a firearm.
But in May 2020 he gave money to his sister’s boyfriend,
Dominick Black, with whom he had gone shooting in northern
Wisconsin, and Black bought the Smith & Wesson for him.
The gun was supposed to remain in a safe at the home of
Black’s stepfather, Black testified.

Black said his stepfather got the guns out of his safe
in the garage and brought them into the house.

Why did Dominick Black's stepfather move the guns ?

In Wisconsin, local officials had declared a state of emergency,
amid mass protests and street unrest over the shooting of Jacob Blake.

Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was left partly paralyzed after a white police
officer shot him seven times in the back, in front of his young children.

- NY Times

Blake had four entrance wounds to the back, and three to his left side.

Protests roiled the city for days after the Blake shooting. Rioters also looted stores
and set fire to vehicles and several buildings in an area stretching from downtown
to Uptown, a neighborhood whose central business district of modest two-story brick
buildings was largely gutted by fire. Plywood went up immediately and stayed
for months throughout the city.

- Washington Post

(Everyone lies, so who knows why the Blake shooting happened ? The police officer has
faced no charges for shooting Blake seven times but has instead been disciplined
for losing his gun.)

Kyle Rittenhouse provoked the fatal shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year
by pointing his AR-15-style weapon at Joseph Rosenbaum, prosecutors said Monday
in closing arguments of his homicide trial.

Kyle Rittenhouse shot Joseph Rosenbaum, striking Rosenbaum in the back and groin.
Another bullet grazed (?) Rosenbaum’s head.

“Put pressure on it!” a young woman begged.

“Where?” McGinniss asked. “Where’s the hole?”

“It’s in his f---ing head!” the woman cried.

Joseph Rosenbaum was an Accidental Tourist in a Political Landscape.
He did not belong there. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Raised in Texas and Arizona, met a woman in Arizona and fathered a child.
"When the woman fled to Kenosha, Rosenbaum chased her."
"Rosenbaum wrote that he was still struggling to see his child."
“I got to fight to get custody,” he posted. “I’m trying to get her back."
(Not likely to happen, cursed childhood, enters the system, and is doomed.)

Rosenbaum was in the hospital for a serious suicide attempt, he had been released
on the night Kyle Rittenhouse killed two people, and failed to kill a third.
Hours after he was released from the hospital, Rosenbaum stopped by a pharmacy
in Kenosha to pick up medication for his bipolar disorder, only to discover that it
had closed early because of the unrest.

"He visited his fiancee, who was living in a cheap motel room, but she told him
he couldn’t stay the night."

"Rosenbaum left his fiancee’s motel room and caught a bus for downtown,
where a second night of protests had erupted."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/03/kenosha-shooting-victims/

Rosenbaum had a run-in with the illegal, militarized cult, the Kenosha Guard members,
before he and Kyle Rittenhouse had their confrontation. Rosenbaum still had the bag
from the hospital discharge, with him. He threw it at Rittenhouse. He had no weapon.

Rittehouse shot a mentally ill person, a curious blogger with a skate board,
and a man that tended to medical needs. Two of them died.

Rittenhouse arrived in a town he did not live in, with a weapon he should not have,
to kill looters and rioters.

WTF ? (Unintended consequences ?)

 

[bodysong]

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has deployed roughly 500 National Guard troops
to the Kenosha area to be on standby as the jury prepares to deliberate Rittenhouse’s
fate in a case that has drawn national attention.

 

[ShyBiGuy954]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/fb0da7e94dc6b9916cccce3057acb38f/dadd3458b522e48d-83/s1280x1920/d367e6094913ca3380089280689d27ab9d58915e.jpg

 

[ShyBiGuy954]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/f9afa00de77f549596bd092155a44164/44ed4cb6d75cc8a6-9e/s540x810/1e5552d5bab21d3f7ea56962d0eccbe1e4de950e.jpg

https://64.media.tumblr.com/b9e4e5b73cbd7a98fad2285baffc262d/44ed4cb6d75cc8a6-8c/s500x750/25474b091659df6e08d50483829467e126d34056.png

https://64.media.tumblr.com/02575ee3637a3e39ec98eb62e2759460/44ed4cb6d75cc8a6-58/s540x810/cd513fe7ca322f99462ab71f67e25bfa4b22f67c.jpg

https://64.media.tumblr.com/d24d532b4b1210c0dd69a16cca84ce8b/37a83cd01bbe7637-cd/s1280x1920/eaf4fdea9c683e715e325b2be466e9b1cd190daa.jpg

 

[bodysong]

No matter the verdict in Rittenhouse trial, Black residents of Kenosha
say justice remains elusive

November 15, 2021

Kyle Rittenhouse, is not from Kenosha. Nor are two out of the three people
whom the teen shot.

Kenosha, a city of 100,000 that was once an industrial powerhouse
but is now home to many commuters to both Milwaukee and Chicago.

Kenosha, a highly segregated city where just under 12 percent of the population is Black.

In the city’s downtown, upscale restaurants and coffee shops hum with customers
as a vintage trolley clickety-clacks its way to Lake Michigan, where sailboats bob
in pale blue waters. Boarded up windows still pockmark the area, but they are
relatively few.

In Uptown, the commercial heart of the city’s African American community,
the picture is very different.

An entire row of stores sits empty, the buildings partially collapsed, their exteriors
singed by flame. Trash tumbles down an eerily desolate 22nd Avenue.

The area sits adjacent to the site of an enormous auto manufacturing facility
that closed decades ago; the land where it stood remains vacant.

Aftermath of the Blake Shooting - “White Kenosha is pretending like nothing
ever happened, and life is back to normal.”

“Kyle Rittenhouse was one of those people who came into our city and violated us."
"He wasn’t part of Kenosha. He was part of the problem."

"Just like the antifa that came and burned down our buildings.” Elizabeth Webb said
as she surveyed the lingering wreckage in her Uptown neighborhood.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...57b14e-4261-11ec-8534-ec852a55e0e6_story.html


(How was she certain it was real Anti-fa, and not Trump's goons and gremlins dress-up ?)

young Extremist Right activists have been caught perpetrating MAGA fuckery,
because white juveniles do not face serious charges. see- Kyle Rittenhouse

 

[bodysong]

Astorino Says He Didn't See Nazi Symbols Displayed While He Spoke At Anti-Vax Protest

11/15/2021

Anti-vaccine protesters who displayed Nazi and hateful images outside
a Jewish lawmaker’s office landed Republican New York gubernatorial
hopeful Rob Astorino in hot water.

On Sunday, Nov. 14, protesters led by Astorino, the former Westchester County Executive
and 2014 Republican New York gubernatorial nominee, congregated outside Bronx
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz’s office to speak out against the lawmaker’s
proposed bill to require all New York students to get vaccinated in order
to attend class.

However, amongst the vociferous group of protesters, at least one woman held
a poster that included a swastika and another man wore a yellow Star of David
on his jacket outside of Dinowitz’s Kingsbridge office in the Bronx while
Astorino spoke to the crowd.

https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/mou...ed-while-he-spoke-at-anti-vax-protest/820020/

 

[bodysong]

'You made my skin crawl': Charlottesville trial goes off the rails
as Nazis accuse one another of sociopathy

November 15, 2021

Jason Kessler, the primary organizer of the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally, took the
witness stand in a Charlottesville federal courtroom on Monday -
where he was crossed-examined by none of than fellow white nationalist leader
Richard Spencer.

- ra story

Unite The Right Trial: Week 4 begins with lead defendant Jason Jason Kessler

Unite the Right organizer appeared to instruct followers to mislead law enforcement,
court evidence suggests.

Monday’s questioning saw two of the trial’s most prominent defendants turn on each
other. Richard Spencer, a fellow U-Va. graduate who is representing himself,
sparred with Kessler, questioning him directly.

“So when did you determine that I was a sociopathic narcissist?” Spencer asked Kessler,
who responded with a slew of insults about Spencer.

“You just sort of made my skin crawl,” Kessler said, rattling off words like “slimy,”
“cold,” “inhumane” and “serial killer” to describe Spencer. “You just were despicable
to everyone you ever came in contact with.”

On Monday, Kessler denied he was attempting to destroy evidence,
instead stating he found it “inappropriate” that people were mocking
(Heather) Heyer’s death.

Dunn then showed the jurors a tweet from Kessler days after the rally,
in which he disparaged Heyer and called her death “payback time.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/11/15/charlottesville-trial-jason-kessler-cantwell/

Donald Trump and Vince McMahon of the TV simulated wrestling world, pretended
to have a feud stewing between them. Is this the same thing ? Kabuki theatre for MAGA
and violent Far Right extremists ?

Hardly anything, trickles out of President Joe Biden or VP Kamala Harris.
All official business, real achievements, and efforts to wrangle some progress,
are part of legitimate reports. Does not take much to overwhelm the news feed
with repulsive characters like Kessler and Spencer.

 

[bodysong]

Fuck-the-world!

New Hampshire is losing its Live Free Or Die motto.

New Hampshire Moms for Liberty chapter offers $500 to anyone who can catch
teachers breaking a new 'discrimination' law

Following the state's establishment of a website to report violations of a new
anti-divisive-subject law, the New Hampshire chapter of Moms for Liberty
tweeted that it would pay $500 to the first person to successfully catch a teacher
breaking the new law.

—Moms for Liberty NH (@Moms4LibertyNH) November 12, 2021


HB 544

Divisive concepts, according to language in the first few sections of the bill,
include the idea that:

“(a) One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex;
(b) The state of New Hampshire or the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist;
(c) An individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist,
or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; which would prevent
“divisive concepts” from being discussed.”

Gilles Bissonnette, Legal Director for ACLU-NH, provided testimony on HB 544
to the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee on Feb. 18.
He said the bill is akin to the executive order previously issued by former President
Trump and that like that order, HB 544 would violate first amendment rights.

“HB 544 would prohibit the state and state contractors from undertaking a variety of
trainings meant to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and which would violate
the First Amendment,” Bissonnette said in a statement. “Halting all diversity training
could set back progress in addressing these systemic issues, including in the workplace

Talking about racism and sexism is not harmful to employees. Many employers host
trainings on these issues precisely because they contribute to a workplace that is more
equitable and inclusive.”

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Divisive-Concepts-Bill-Could-be-DOA-in-New-Hampshire-39375573

The legislation that prompted the resignations of Morse and nine others —
commonly known as the “divisive concepts” law — was passed with the state budget
in June. The law makes it illegal in New Hampshire to teach in schools or train public
employees that someone “is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously
or unconsciously.”

While the law’s language was recast by the Govornor and proponents as
“freedom from discrimination” in schools and public workplaces, the original
bill sought to ban certain “divisive concepts” such as the discussion of critical
race theory and white privilege.

“You signed into law a provision that aims to censor conversations essential
to advancing equity and inclusion in our state, specifically for those within
our public education systems, and all state employees,” the Council members
wrote in their resignation letter to Gov. Chris Sununu. “Given your willingness
to sign this damaging provision and make it law, we are no longer able to serve
as your advisors.”

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Gove...ee-months-after-slew-of-resignations-42729851

N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu backs limits on teaching about race — and a majority
of his diversity council quits

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/02/critical-race-theory-sununu-reaction/


Today- NH man shoots 33 year old woman in Salem, MA
NH man then shoots himself.

The 33-year-old woman was taken to Salem Hospital and then flown
to a Boston hospital in critical condition.

55-year-old man died from apparently a self-inflicted wound to the head.

Suspect Dead In Salem Double Shooting On Technology Way - Salem, MA

Yay, NH hunting gun used in attempted murder and suicide, in Massachusetts.

¯\_('/')_/¯ (/end sarcasm cycle)

 

[bodysong]

Daily Dot covers the issue -

New Hampshire recently passed a law making it illegal for teachers
even in elementary schools to discuss “divisive” subjects.

The bill, formerly titled “Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces
and Education” and commonly referred to as an “anti-divisive-subject law,” prohibits
educators from teaching anything about racism and sexism that might make anybody
feel bad, particularly white people and men.

Teachers can be punished if they’re found to be sending a message that a specific group
is “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,” with
the word “inherently” doing a whole lot of legwork there.

https://god.dailydot.com/moms-liberty-crt-bounty/

 

[bodysong]

Oprah Visits a County Where No Black Person Had Lived for 75 Years

Feb 9, 1987

Oprah brought her TV show to Cummings, Georgia - Forysth County

Aired on 02/09/1987

In 1987, The Oprah Show had only been on the air for five months and trouble
was brewing in the deep south. Forsyth County, Georgia, known for being a hotbed
of racism, was in the headlines for some residents' hostile response to local civil rights
protests. For the first time, Oprah left her studio and headed straight into the eye
of the storm.

"What are you afraid that black people are going to do?" Oprah asked
the all-white audience of community members. "I'm afraid of them
coming to Forsyth county," one man said.

Not everyone in the attendance that day shared his indignation.

https://www.oprah.com/own-oprahshow/oprah-ventures-into-forsyth-county-video

A BBC TV series aired on PBS - The Forsyte Saga All the main characters are British
and white.

"Dramatisation of John Galsworthy's epic novels of love, money and betrayal
in the lives of a wealthy London family."

Forysth County, USA

It was the scene of “the most successful racial cleansing in U.S. history,”
and the results of that history were still on display during (Marjorie Taylor Greene's)
her years in high school there.

When Marjorie Taylor Greene, the new congresswoman known for her racist
and anti-Semitic rants, was a senior at South Forsyth County High School in
1992, a few dozen Black marchers made their way through the Georgia county’s
rain-slicked streets...
- The Daily Beast

Vetwife's Testimony

I was a wee one when I knew all about Forysth County.

It was not only a sundown county but enough of a hatefilled cesspool that Oprah
paid a visit to that county in the eighties.

The county was recently ranked one of the richest counties in Georgia.
That land was long ago stolen from Black folks during a campaign of terror
that has been called “the most successful racial cleansing in U.S. history.”
So I grew up knowing Cumming, Ga was a bad place. I also knew that the
14th District where Greensnot (MTG) represents is also very racist.
I know because I grew up next door to it.

Marjorie T Green's hometown..She was raised in hate. Every Native Georgian
knows that town

November 14, 2021

- Daily Kos

 

[bodysong]

Esquire does not merely provide a slap to the face, with a large fish -
It dropped a whale, from a great height, to land squarely.

(I have butchered an article- the complete article at Esquire site)

This Moment in the Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Stopped Me Cold

Equating the actions of a police officer in any way with the actions
of a 17-year-old civilian is an open invitation to vigilantism and
citizen posses running wild in the streets.

November 16, 2021

- Charles P. Pierce

"...there came a single line in the closing argument for the defense in the Kyle
Rittenhouse trial that stopped me cold in the midst of closing the shutters and
turning off the vintage "Leinenkugel’s" neon signs on the wall."

"In support of the notion that Rittenhouse’s killings were "privileged" under Wisconsin
law as self-defense, defense attorney Mark Richards made a point to the jury -
that seemed curious at the time and looks even worse upon reflection.

Key to his presentation was that Rittenhouse only fired his AR-15 four times
and, as a corollary, that Rittenhouse wasn’t an "active shooter" -
as the prosecutor claimed, because he only killed two people
and he didn't simply open up on the crowds around him.

Then, Richards went on:

"Ladies and gentlemen, other people in this community have shot somebody seven times
— and it's been found to be OK. My client did it four times.”

So, Richards seemed to be arguing, if Sheskey walked, his client should as well.
After all, Rittenhouse only fired four times.

That is horrifying enough on its face.

Richards even said flatly that he was "glad" that Rittenhouse had shot one of his victims.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politi...ttenhouse-trial-defense-attorney-jacob-blake/
95

 

[bodysong]

More out-of-town guns, in Massachusetts

November 17, 2021

Woman charged after she accidentally fires gun in Walmart

A Worcester woman is being charged after she accidentally
fired the gun she had in her purse inside the Walmart in
Northborough, MA, on Monday.

She had her toddler with her, told police she was going through her purse trying to
pay when she accidentally fired the 9mm handgun. A bullet was found on the floor
of the store, according to NBC10.

“Somehow, her loaded firearm, which was inside the purse, discharged,” Griffin said,
as reported by NBC10. “The bullet went through her purse and lodged in between
the register and the floor.”

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/11/17/northborough-walmart-gun-accidentally-fired/

 

[WillJ8787]

Long Strange March to the Abyss of Annihilation and Oblivion of Democracy

We are so kind to George W. Bush, today, because he makes an effort to prove
that he is not entirely detached from reality. He has been ingrained with following
"the practices of good manners, in polite society." Although, his sense of the absurd
and incongruous, sometimes lures him to cross the line into acts that reveal a mild
rebellion and disrespect for rigid rules. George W. may bow to ritual and follow
form, but the attitude contains scoffing and mockery. His reward ?


A great deal of pretending, during ritual ceremonies. Above all, is to keep the peace
between the people attending the rituals. The main point of a funeral, is to honor the
dead, and to console and comfort the survivors. To humble and quiet the individual
self, and form a united group, and give the person that they had been in life, respect.
They are no longer alive, and able to reply to criticism.

At least, for that moment, sleeping dogs are left to lie, and continue to slumber.



Kicking Colin Powell's dead body, shall get no answers. He took them to the grave.

OTOH, George W. Bush's presidency, his administration, his office, tipped us into
the situation we find ourselves in, on November 7, 2021

George W. Bush allowed the United States of America to be driven to the edge of
an abyss. An accumulation of ugly, bad, harmful decisions made, had left Our Country
hanging over the abyss by a thread. He brushed the debris of destruction from his hands,
and walked away.

The Republican party leaders and politicians had pulled their pants down, showed
all Democrats their naked arses (and all included in the bending of said arses) pissed
on everything Democratic, and looked America in the eye and gave everyone that
was not part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, "the finger"and laughed in our
faces. They had shown themselves, for what they are.

The People responded - a vow to never elect another Republican president, again. Ever.

these are very good posts...worth reading...thank you!

 

[bodysong]

'A gold mine for us': Republicans root for economic calamity for the American people

November 17, 2021
- Kerry Eleveld

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Senate GOP campaign chief - "This is a gold mine for us."

As American families confront higher prices for everyday needs, Republicans celebrate
heir economic calamity and root for more to come.

With eyes aglow, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Senate Republicans’ campaign chief
allowed himself to imagine just how bad things could get for the American public.

“You can see what’s going to happen next. We’re going to continue to have inflation,
and then interest rates will go up,” Sen. Rick Scott told the Wall Street Journal
clamoring for the Federal Reserve to raise rates, thereby making borrowing
more expensive for consumers and slowing economic growth, among other
things.

- Daily Kos

bodysong comment - Trump and his operatives, goons, and gremlins, spent
the last four years making everything worse for people that depend on working
for a living. The extremely wealthy became obscenely wealthy, but normal citizens
were left to struggle on their own.

 

[bodysong]

Swindle, Fraud. and Grift, of TFG#45

Trump gave $100M for COVID-19 supply chains, $99M was left unspent
as the pandemic raged

November 17, 2021

The Trump administration was a swampy con job.
The Trump organization is a swampy con.

The only saving grace of the Trump administration and Trump as a person and brand
is that he and it is and are incompetent.

The fruit is so low-hanging, the participants are usually rich kids who have never had to
really work hard for anything, and the laziness of thought and execution is apparent.

This incompetence is also attached to a cruelty and sociopathy that has been destructive
to millions of people around the world, and ultimately helped lead to a poorly managed
response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NBC News has a report about one such example -
One of the agencies run by a college/ buddy of Jared Kushner reportedly received
$100 million in federal funds to help ameliorate issues facing our supply chain due
to the pandemic. That by itself would not be news. What is news is that in the year
since receiving that money, the International Development Finance Corporation
(DFC) has “so far failed to invest a single dime” towards its directive.
In opposite land, one might say they were shocked by this news.

The DFC was led by former Jared Kushner roommate Adam Boehler from 2019
until the end of Trump’s reign of terror.

The Trump administration tasked Boehler’s DFC, through an executive order
that expanded the DFC’s purview, with re-shoring the manufacturing of personal
protective equipment and other pandemic necessitates in the hopes of relieving the
stresses on the world’s supply chains. However, Trump’s move to earmark the money
for the DFC was an attempt to alleviate the crunch felt domestically
as the U.S. scrambled to find gloves and masks for front-line workers.

The $100 million given to the DFC was reportedly there to be potentially
“leveraged” into many billions of dollars in loans.

...the $100 million that was taken from the CARES Act didn’t go anywhere.
The author of the GAO report, Chelsea Kenney, told NBC News that the DFC
sat on the money for two years, looking at 175 loan applications and getting them
down to eight. After two years and being floated $100 million, the DFC has next
to nothing to show for it.

The DFC, however, responded and said that while it did not disburse any
of the $100 million towards its stated goals, it had spent about $1 million
going through the loan applications.

(PR stunt, using taxpayer dollars)

- Daily Kos

Tens of millions of dollars were irresponsibly frittered away
by the Trump administration during the pandemic

April 30, 2020

- Daily Kos

 

[bodysong]

Before the House voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, AOC spoke up

Nov 17, 2021

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on the floor after McCarthy.

“In response to the Republican leader’s remarks when he says this action
is unprecedented:
What I believe is unprecedented is for a member of House leadership, of either party,
to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body.
It is sad. It is a sad day in which a member who leads a political party in the U.S.
cannot bring themselves to say that issuing a depiction of murdering a member
of Congress is wrong and instead, decides to venture off into a tangent about
gas prices and inflation. What is so hard? What is so hard about saying that
this is wrong?”

“This is not about me, or about Rep. Gosar, but about what we are willing to accept,”
Ocasio-Cortez said.

- Daily Kos

 

[bodysong]

Newsbites are absolutely pouring from every possible MAGA mouth,
hoping to wash Joe Biden's administration out of the news stream -

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Deletes Tweet Admitting Biden Won

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel finally stated the obvious:
Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election

RNC Chair McDaniel Still Refuses To Say If Biden Was Legitimately Elected

- Huffington Post

Head of RNC says Biden won 2020 election for the first time

Liz Cheney Loses Leadership Post Upon House Vote
May 12, 2021

Rep. Elise Stefanik climb to the No. 3 Republican spot required
forcing out Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming

Liz Cheney, playing the game

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/r...p-liz-cheney-still-has-an-r-next-to-her-name/

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Said Republican Candidates Should Still Talk About 2020,
Even Though Biden "Painfully" Won

- BuzzFeed News

Reince Priebus gave up his chair, and served as Trump's minion.

Priebus was the last of the high-profile RNC staffers to exit the West Wing.

Priebus' tenure lasted just seven months.

(They stopped pretending, that the Trump administration could be a normal presidency.)

 

[bodysong]

Didn’t they (Democrats) talk about a Trump victory in 2016 as though
it would be the end of civilization as we know it?

At times, they did. But there are two things that distinguish them from Republicans
on this score.

First, Trump amply demonstrated that he was, and continues to be, a genuine threat
to the democratic character of the United States.

He attempted to overthrow a fair election so he could stay in office;
we were saved from the collapse of the U.S. electoral system only by
the incompetence of his attempted coup.

You cannot say those who warned of the threat he posed to democracy,
were exaggerating.

Second, what did Democrats do in response to their fears about Trump?
They did not abandon democratic procedures, or stage an insurrection,
or try to steal an election. They opposed him with normal political activity:
marches, organizing, running for office, voting against him and his party.

But now that another Democrat is in the White House, Republicans are acting as though
democracy is itself a tool of America’s destruction.

And if they have to dismantle it to get what they want, so be it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/19/roots-of-republican-war-on-democracy/

 

[bodysong]

Rumors of an active shooter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
left travelers scared and confused Saturday until the airport announced
a firearm had been accidentally discharged.

Firearms can be legally transported on commercial flights, but passengers
must declare the weapon to TSA and stow it in their checked baggage unloaded
and in a locked case. That said, some passengers either forget the rules or attempt
to board their flight with their weapons on them.

In the last week, 10 travelers were arrested for carrying loaded firearms at TSA
checkpoints in Connecticut, Virginia and Pennsylvania. A first time offender
can expect a $4,100 fine, but that can climb as high as $13,669 depending on
"aggravating circumstances," according to TSA regulations.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/20/1057...ter-scare-as-millions-prepare-for-holiday-tra

The incident began when a "prohibited item" was identified going through the X-ray
at the security checkpoint, the TSA said. A bag search was initiated, and a TSA
officer told the passenger not to touch the property. However, as the officer searched
the bag, the "passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed a firearm, at which point
it discharged," the TSA said.

"The passenger then fled the area, running out of the airport exit," the statement said,
adding, "This was not an active shooter event."

- CNN

(Who was that clumsy gun owner ?)

 

[bodysong]

Thanksgiving approaches, and many seek to attend National Day of Mourning,
in Native American communities.

Trump administration adds another reason to mourn.

A child's mind was perverted by older men, and it lead him into a situation, where
he would commit murder in public. A legal decision, from the courtroom of
a corrupted judge.

Kyle Rittenhouse verdict prompts protests in several cities -

After the verdict was read, outrage and, for some, celebration ensued outside
of the courthouse where demonstrators had been gathering throughout the trial,
according to the Kenosha News.

On Friday evening, protests broke out in several cities across the country.
Authorities in Portland, Ore., referred to one incident near the Multnomah
County Justice Center as a riot and warned all present to vacate the area
or risk being met with force.

The Portland Police Bureau said a "significant part of the crowd" were engaging
in "violent, destructive behavior" that included breaking windows and throwing
objects at officers on the scene.

Around 200 protesters gathered that night in the downtown Portland area,
local outlet KOIN reports.

Around 200 people met near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to protest Rittenhouse's
acquittal, the New York Daily News reports. The group made its way to the Brooklyn
Bridge without any arrests, but another demonstration in Queens ended with five men
being taken into custody, according to the outlet.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/20/1057...se-verdict-prompts-protests-in-several-cities

 

[bodysong]

A constitutional amendment approved by 75 percent of Ohio voters in 2018
was supposed to end that partisan gerrymandering, requiring —
among other changes — that cities like Cincinnati be left whole.

The map they (Republicans) eventually passed this week — which Gov. Mike DeWine
(a Republican) signed Saturday— gives them an overwhelming majority of the House
seats, ignoring the amendment’s requirement that lines be drawn to reflect the electoral
makeup of the state.

Ohio, November 18, 2021

They drew new maps with no input from the public, drafting them in a secret hotel room
they called “the bunker” and heeding demands from national Republicans, including
a top aide to then-U.S. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Republicans have made little attempt to mask the contortions that made those easy
victories possible. In 2011, mapmakers sliced through Xavier University; students
shopping for new clothes at the University Station bookstore to wear to the next
basketball game are in one district, and when cheering in the arena, they’re in
another.

At an intersection in the predominantly Black area of Bond Hill, people on
one side of the street live in the 1st District and on the other side, their neighbors
live in the 2nd District. Farther north, in a quiet, tree-lined area, a district line cuts
right through a ranch-style home, the bedroom in one district and the garage in
another.

Republicans have argued that rather than the maps reflecting the average margin
between the parties in recent elections, what mattered was that the GOP has won
just over 80 percent of the last 16 statewide elections. That meant they are entitled
to that many seats, they said.

Ohioans had pleaded with Republicans to produce fairer lines.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...dc3bfe-37ef-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html

One woman -
who had volunteered in the effort to get the anti-gerrymandering amendmenton the ballot
cried last week as she shared that she felt “stupid that I honestly believed that my
government would do the right thing.”

 

[bodysong]

The Biden presidency represents America’s third, and perhaps final, chance
to prove democracy is not merely an idealistic fantasy.

If his administration and the Democrats in Congress can succeed in conquering
the coronavirus, putting the American economy back on track, and rebuilding
the civil society that 40 years of Reaganism has so devastated,
American democracy — and, indeed, democracy around the world —
may well endure and even grow.

But Republicans are doing everything they can to keep that from happening,
from discouraging vaccination and public health measures, to sabotaging
our election systems, to amplifying their rhetoric of hate and terror across
multiple media platforms.

When “moderate” voices within their ranks, like Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney,
dare pop their heads up, the majority of the Republican Party viciously attacks
them.

Dissent is no longer allowed in the GOP. Authoritarianism has prevailed.
Oligarchy has completely seized the party.

These, as Thomas Paine (a fervent believer in democracy) said,
“are the times that try men’s souls.”

We must not let the right-wing Redcoat/Redhat terrorists, who have openly proclaimed
their goal of Americans killing Americans in an ideological and racial war, prevail.

http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com...core-function-democratic-republic-suppressed/

From Redcoats to Redhats: Oligarchs prevail when the core function of a democratic republic is suppressed

Posted by Thom Hartmann | May 18, 2021

The Hidden History of American Oligarchy:
Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class

- author, Thom Hartmann