The Watering Hole: Friday October 14 2016; “There Was A Fever Over The Land . . .”

A comprehensive guide to accepting Donald Trump’s sexual assault denials

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I have to admit it’s more than a little bit fascinating to watch as the REAL Donald Trump emerges from within the orange skinned and squirrel pelt hair version — not that the REAL one is any sort of an improvement, of course. What’s even more fascinating is to watch the intellectual devolution of various chunks of the Republican Party’s Trump supporters, to see how far down into the muck they’re willing to drop and still vibrantly support the ‘thing’ underneath the orange and the pelt. Big question: Just how far down the Trumpian path are his Trumpisstas willing to go? All the way to the end?

Here are a bunch of links to current articles that suggest there just may well be no limits, that all the way to the very bottom is, indeed, their principle option perfectly stated.

Michele Bachmann: Electing Hillary Clinton ‘Will Lead To Even More Sexual Assaults Against Women’

Michele Bachmann: God May Curse America If We Elect Hillary Clinton

Rodney Howard-Browne: America Will ‘Head Towards Civil War’ If Hillary Clinton Wins

James Dobson Continues To Support Trump Because His Comments ‘Don’t Threaten The Future Of This Nation’

Evangelicals slammed Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct. So why does Trump get a pass?

Dave Daubenmire: ‘We Cannot Vote For Hillary Clinton Because Women Are Not To Have Authority Over Men’

Trump: ISIS Will ‘Take Over This Country’ If Hillary Clinton Wins

Janet Porter: Trump’s Statements Don’t Matter Because Only He Can Save America From Becoming A Police State

On November 9th, Trump’s Followers Will Probably Be More Dangerous Than Trump

Those links seem to more-or-less summarize, overall, the collective attitude(s) of the portion of the political right that can be defined as totally intolerant. It includes the fundamentalist Christian segment, the white supremacist segment, along with the implicit attitudes embedded therein that Donald Trump, the current Republican candidate for POTUS, fully supports and urges forward

For some very very ‘mysterious’ reason, the focus of this, the current political situation underway in the United States, has reminded me of a scene from the 1961 movie, Judgment At Nuremberg — the scene in which German Judge and Tribunal Defendant Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) speaks to the Tribunal of the conditions in Germany that led to such horrible and bitter consequences. Here is Janning’s monologue (from the Academy Award winning script by Abby Mann; emphasis mine):

There was a fever over the land. A fever of disgrace, of indignity, of hunger. We had a democracy, yes, but it was torn by elements within. There was, above all, fear. Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, fear of our neighbors, fear of ourselves. Only when you understand that can you understand what Hitler meant to us. Because he said to us: ‘Lift up your heads! Be proud to be German! There are devils among us. Communists, Liberals, Jews, Gypsies! Once the devils will be destroyed, your miseries will be destroyed.’ It was the old, old story of the sacrificial lamb.

What about us, who knew better? We who knew the words were lies and worse than lies? Why did we sit silent? Why did we participate? Because we loved our country! What difference does it make if a few political extremists lose their rights? What difference does it make if a few racial minorities lose their rights? It is only a passing phase. It is only a stage we are going through. It will be discarded sooner or later. ‘The country is in danger.’ We will ‘march out of the shadows.’ ‘We will go forward.’

And history tells you how well we succeeded! We succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. The very elements of hate and power about Hitler that mesmerized Germany, mesmerized the world! We found ourselves with sudden powerful allies. Things that had been denied us as a democracy were open to us now. The world said go ahead, take it! Take Sudetenland, take the Rhineland – remilitarize it – take all of Austria, TAKE IT!

We marched forward, the danger passed. And then one day, we looked around and found we were in even more terrible danger. The rites begun in this courtroom swept over our land like a raging, roaring disease! What was going to be a passing phase became a way of life.

I haven’t made an exact count of the words one would have to change in order to bring Janning’s statement up to date sufficiently to describe the current and emergent politic in this country, but I’m guessing it would be no more than a dozen or so. Some of the substitutions are almost automatic: e.g. Trump for Hitler, America for Germany, Muslims for Gypsies, etc. But the saddest aspect of all, really, is that in Trump’s proposed America, There [will be], above all, fear. Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, fear of our neighbors, fear of ourselves. Only when you understand that can you understand what [Trump] meant to us. Are we as a people — Americans — willing to fall for that nonsensical ruse, the one that devoured both Italy and Germany in the last century? Is Fascism our goal, our ultimate destiny? FEAR? Are we on our way down that path?

Secret Nazi group uncovered after Colorado teen kills himself to prove his commitment to killing Jews

I know it’s not politically correct to use the words Hitler, Nazi, Fascism, Republicans and Trump in the same document, but sometimes the urge becomes overpowering — esp. when piles of evidentiary foundations seem to be lurking ‘out there’ behind every bush. In any case, I’ve said my piece and will leave it to others to decide for themselves the direction the American right wing has taken, along with the possible (and likely) consequences the future will place on full display.

Yeehaw? Achtung?

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OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday October 7 2016; In Nomine Idioticus

There are way too many times, these days, when I feel like I’ve been transported back to the 1600’s, back to the era of witch burnings, all that stuff. Why is that you ask? Read on!

In Nomine Idioticus

Joseph Farah: Electing ‘Witch’ Hillary Clinton Will ‘Shorten My Life’

Pastor Warns Hillary Clinton Is A ‘Demonically Driven’ Candidate

Alex Jones: Hillary Is Possessed By The Devil, ‘Vote Trump If You Want To Live’

Sandy Rios: Conservatives Will Be Put In ‘Reeducation Camps’ If Clinton Wins

Rick Wiles: Nuclear War And Mass Arrest Of Obama Opponents Is Imminent

Conservative Pundit: Donald Trump Is ‘God’s Anointed Choice For President’

Steve Strang: God Has Raised Up Donald Trump To Be President

Jim Bakker: Hillary Clinton’s Pneumonia Was God’s Warning Of Imminent Collapse—So Order Food Buckets!

As it turns out, it seems that I may well have accidentally snapped a photo of the Wingnut Creator (which I’ve named Idioticus, for probably obvious reasons). It happened whilst IT was on one of ITs earthly ventures back in the summer of ’99, probably preparing for the Bush annointification some 18 months down the road. Not sure why IT chose the vicinity of Arizona’s Sunset Crater as a place to hang out, but it could be that maybe IT didn’t look as out of place there as IT would have on, say, the Capitol Mall in DC or Central Park in NY. In any case, IT was clearly engaged in a wingnut call-to-worship right at the moment I tripped the shutter. Oh, and btw, I didn’t stay, didn’t attend the “service.” Some things are just too creepy!

▲Idioticus? Is that you?▲

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OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday September 30 2016; Uncategorizable Wingnuttistanian Nonsense, and The Remedy

A darting fear — a pomp — a tear —
A waking on a morn
To find that what one waked for,
Inhales the different dawn.
(Emily Dickinson)

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I. UNCATEGORIZABLE WINGNUTTISTANIAN NONSENSE

This Just In:

David Barton Claims The Founding Fathers Used ‘The Exact Language Of The Bible’ To Write The Constitution

Barton . . . once again insisted that the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution by using the “exact language” of the Bible.

Barton was making the case that the Bible tells voters all they need to know about how to choose their elected leaders, repeating his falseclaim that 34 percent of the political documents from the founding era cited the Bible, which he claimed is why the Constitution is filled with direct quotations from the Bible.

“I can show you clause after clause in the Constitution where they used the exact language of the Bible in the Constitution,” he said. “It’s just that we’re so biblicaly illiterate today that we don’t recognize that in the Constitution.”

I’m no biblical expert, but Barton’s claim sounded interesting so I decided to take a quick look. First, the Preamble:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

No luck there, so I made up a list of words that I figured were genuinely biblical and then word-searched each one in my docx version of the Constitution, as amended. Here are the words I chose:

In the beginning
Genesis
God
Jesus
Virgin
Mary
Revelation
Solomon
David
Exodus
Job
Psalm
Thou shalt not kill

Got a hit on only two of them. David Brearley from New Jersey was one of many who signed the original 1787 document. Also, I got a whole pile of hits on the word Virgin, not in biblical style, but since the word “Virginia” appears regularly . . . well, you know [reminded me of that old college joke that went something like, “I dated a girl named Virginia. I called her Virgin for short, but not for long.” (sorry about that)]. None of the other words or phrases showed up anywhere in the Constitution, so I’m guessing maybe it’s fair to doubt either Barton’s premise or my own ability to pluck worthy stuff from the Bible. Time will tell, I guess.

Then there was this one:

Rick Joyner: Climate Change Is A Communist Plot

Joyner said that climate change goes all the way back to a purported 1930s-era Communist Party “plan for subduing America” through “reeducation” and subversion.

Part of the plan, he said, was to “co-opt” young people knowing that “the youth will always respond to environmental issues and we have to keep inventing crises so that we can be the ones who save the world or are the answer to saving the world over and over.”

I dunno, I’m clearly in a tee-tiny minority, but I still think climate change has something to do with CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption, but who am I to compete with a brainiac like Rick Joyner.

Then last but by no means least, this gem popped up:

Ken Ham: Christians Who Believe In Evolution Follow A ‘Pagan Religion’ & Invite God’s Judgment

Ken Ham, the head of the Creationist group Answers In Genesis and founder of the Creation Museum, joined conservative radio host Janet Mefferd last week to discuss a new book about evangelicals who have embraced the theory of evolution. These Christians, Ham said, are following a “pagan religion” and are therefore inviting the judgment of God. . . .

“I’m going to say it out very bluntly,” he said. “Look, millions of years in evolution is the pagan religion of this age to explain, to attempt to explain life without God. And when you compromise God’s word with millions of years and evolutionary ideas, you’re no different to the Israelites, who took the pagan religion of the age—or the Canaanites, or whatever—incorporated into their thinking. And look what happened. It destroyed them, and God judged them before it. We are no different, there’s nothing new under the sun.”

I think it was Solomon who said, “there’s nothing new under the sun,” but I looked, and that phrase isn’t in the Constitution either.

Solomon was wrong on that one, though, because each and every day and on every corner of the earth there’s ALWAYS something NEW under the sun! Life’s like that, you know. Unlike preachers, politicians, and radio talk-jocks. Nothing new there, same old same old.

II. THE REMEDY

If I had my choice between hanging around with Ken Ham, or Rick Joyner, or David Barton, or a desert sunrise, guess what my choice would be! Time to give equal space to all that “emptiness” 🙂 one sees under the rising sun and then decide if it’s possibly more interesting than the three dudes cited above. So here goes, as they say, “nothing.” Dude/Desert comparisons welcome; y’all be the judge!

▼1. September 2003 dawn, seen from the center of metro-Phoenix in the Phoenix Mtn. Preserve.▼

▼2. January 2004, view from White Tank Mountains regional park overlooking the entire of metro-Phoenix (downtown visible in center on the horizon)▼

▼3. March 2007 cloudy dawn from White Tanks Regional Park; first mountain is Camelback in the center of Phoenix, Superstition Mountains in the background.▼

So the landscapes in those split second views are apparently somewhere in the vicinity of fifty million years old, give or take ten or twenty million years. There are no signs anywhere of the passage of Noah’s Ark all those 5000 years ago (no sign of a flood either, at least not that I ever noticed). But it remains a virtual certainty that during all those millions of geologic years there’s been plenty of NEW stuff under that old sun! Regularly, too!

There. That feels a LOT better!

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OPEN THREAD

 

 

 

The Watering Hole; Friday September 23 2016; The Last “Bugs” of Summer

Fall has arrived, finally! There are flowering plants in full bloom, along with various little Arthropods on the wing, anxious to take full advantage of slowly waning sunlight and warmth — much to their collective delight, and to the everlasting benefit of the flowers. Life goes on, and if nature has her way, it will flourish.

Below, a small handful of photos from just the last few days of all that life-enhanncing activity.

▲Not sure if this was Bee-1, Bee-17, Bee-29, or Bee-52, but here it comes! ▲

▲Bee refueling at “Hanger,” sotospeak▲

▲Not sure the ID of this guy, only know he was close to a quarter-inch long▲

It’s also fall in the human world, of course, and in a leap year as well, which means there’s a national election coming up in somewhere around fifty days, an election which will choose our next President. Unfortunately, however, a high percentage of Americans no longer have the intelligence-driven capabilities of flowers and insects and have become known, instead, as Conservative Republicans. The problems of diminished intelligence are obvious everywhere, but can be, today, quite ably summarized by just a small handful of headlined links to more detailed analyses. For example, from the last few days of summer, 2016, these:

WorldNetDaily Explains Why It’s ‘Not Natural’ For A Woman To Run For President

Frank Amedia: God Has Called Trump To Tear Down Walls

Jim Bakker: Supporters Of The Constitution Are Mysteriously Dying

Tom DeLay: Obama Will ‘Go Down As The Worst President That Has Ever Served This Nation’

Rand Paul: Obama Should Have Moved Us ‘Beyond Race’ But Race Relations Have ‘Gotten Worse’

Louie Gohmert: US Killed Al-Awlaki To Cover Up ‘All The Different People He Worked With In The Administration’

Gary Bauer: Donald Trump Might Be The Last Chance Conservative Christians Have To Save America

There’s another human problem, one that’s exacerbated by diminished intelligence; it’s the fact that human activities, unlike those of flowers and insects, are changing the planet’s climate — not for the better, but for the worse — to the point where unless corrections are made quickly, the entire biosphere of the earth will change to the point where it will have a severe impact on virtually every life form including flowers, insects, coral reefs, even the life form that will be the last to notice, i.e. Conservative Republicans.

Dangerous Denial of Global Warming

An open letter just issued by 375 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and its foreign affiliates, including 30 Nobel laureates, warns that “rapid warming of the planet increases the risk of crossing climatic points of no return, possibly setting in motion large-scale ocean circulation changes, the loss of major ice sheets, and species extinctions. The climatic consequences of exceeding such thresholds are not confined to the next one or two electoral cycles. They have lifetimes of many thousands of years.”

They also took a direct swipe at Trump, saying “it is of great concern that the Republican nominee for President has advocated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord. . . . Such a decision would make it far more difficult to develop effective global strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The consequences of opting out of the global community would be severe and long-lasting – for our planet’s climate and for the international credibility of the United States.”

Surveys show that Republican are twice as likely as last year to express doubts about the existence of global warming, According to University of Michigan researchers, one factor may be their presidential candidate’s oft-repeated insistence that global warming is “a total, and very expensive, hoax!”

Here is a closer look at the climate policies of the major Conservative Republican candidate for President:

Donald Trump isn’t backing down from his terrifying climate policy

“We need an America-First energy plan,” Trump said. “This means opening federal lands for oil and gas production; opening offshore areas; and revoking policies that are imposing unnecessary restrictions on innovative new exploration technologies.”

If elected president, Trump has pledged to revoke both the Clean Power Plan and President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the cornerstones of Obama’s domestic climate agenda, and important signals to the international community of the United States’ commitment to climate action.

Trump has also promised to roll back the Waters of the United States Rule, which would extend drinking water protections for millions of Americans. Instead, he said that he would redirect the EPA to “refocus…on its core mission of ensuring clean air, and clean, safe drinking water for all Americans.”

IF human-caused climate change should become the engine fueling the earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction, the odds are very strong that most of what we know of flowers, of insects, of sea life, animal life, and plant life will disappear forever, and evolution will once again be challenged to bring life-on-earth back up to snuff by some point in the distant future. And with most life forms extincted because of Conservative Republicans, evolution will once again have to find a place from which to start its process. In the past, for example, one of the re-start life forms has apparently been the common cockroach from whose DNA has emerged the bulk of what some might call “higher life forms.” The problem is that there’s no guarantee that bugs, flowers, and other forms of intelligent life will re-emerge in that situation. It is fairly likely, however, that if life begins anew based on roach DNA, what we’ll end up with is a creature that more resembles today’s common roach than, say, either a bee or a flower. Something more like this would be a safer bet:

▲The “First” Roach of Summer? Fall? Winter? Spring?▲

If that should happen again, well, I don’t wanna be here to see it, would prefer to remain extinct. Yuk. Life forms derived from roaches can be so deplorable.

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OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday September 16 2016; FEAR

Whilst digging through a pile of old files buried on an old hard drive, I ran across an old essay of mine, one from just short of a dozen years ago. It was my “response”– not published or posted anywhere — to the world created by the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9-11; a world of war, based on irrational fear.

Look around today, particularly in the shadows of the fear-mongering that’s driving this election season. Think of Trump’s hate-filled and fear-mongering proposals concerning “illegals,” “Muslims,””ISIS” and all else that’s covered under the phobia umbrella including, for a great many, their not-yet-spent irrational fear and hate of soon-to-be-outgoing President Obama. He’s black, after all, and this here’s a white country! Scary scary.

I’d propose ways to stop the phobia train — if I could think of some. Clearly that’s not going to happen, though, so — stated another way — here we go again, back into the pit. How many times must we do this? Every time a Republican gets up onto the national stage, looks like to me. Anyway, I’ll leave comments to others, and simply add here the essay I wrote in November 2004; it’s title was a simple one: FEAR.

The Watering Hole; Thursday September 15 2016; That “Basket of Deplorables”: Take A Closer Look

Message to Donald J. Trump and his campaign surrogates:

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”
(Mark Twain)

Last Friday evening (September 9), Hillary Clinton accurately described Trump’s campaign supporters in rather near poetic fashion when she said, to applause and laughter, “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”

A few nanoseconds later, the shit was in the fan. The media, Trump, the Trump campaign surrogates, Trump supporters (and probably even Vladimir Putin) all came together in a cumulative “deplorable” lambast. Clinton later walked the comments back a notch when she suggested that she shouldn’t have used the word “half” because it might not have been precisely accurate, but doing so didn’t buy her much relief from the faux outrage. And while it’s undoubtedly true that the word “half” — i.e. exactly 50% — is clearly not definitively posited by national (statistically precise) polling data, . . . well, suffice to say that even though it was grossly generalistic, it probably wasn’t really THAT far off.

So I decided to look into it. First, the pot calls the kettle black when Trump announces that “Hillary Clinton still hasn’t apologized to those she slanders.” Trump hasn’t either, of course, but that moot little point is apparently of no consequence, given that Donald Trump Wasted No Time in Defending His ‘Basket Of Deplorables.’ Not a big surprise, really. “Deplorables” are like that. Usually.

Next up, a “brief” peek at a fair number of current “revelations” that a fair number of Trump’s well known and familiar vocalizers have revealed, revelations that do, indeed, drop them into that “deplorable” trap —  and for a far wider variety of reasons than just those noted by Hillary. In most cases, the titles speak for themselves; underneath some, however, are my own brief comments, while underneath others are quotes from inside the linked article itself that demonstrate the deplorable nature of . . . etc. But all together, the point is clarified and driven home as if by spikes driven through one’s hand and into a wooden cross: Hillary’s grossly generalistic hypothesis was damn close to being spot-on correct.

The Watering Hole; Friday August 26 2016; Insanity’s Latest Alt-Right Manifestations

 I could not have defined the change —
Conversion of the Mind
Like Sanctifying in the Soul —
Is witnessed — not explained –
(Emily Dickinson)

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Right wing Insanity — aka ‘Alt-Right’ — seems to have resulted in a Conversion of the Mind of some, a conversion that many of us, myself included, have  witnessed — not explained. I have, thankfully, no idea what it’s like to be nuts in the way the right winger whitey-boy so-called “nationalist” and his minions are nuts, and for that I thank all the gods that can ever be devised, created, or even imagined.

I could probably rant for hours on the stupidity/insanity of the nonsensical argument that white folks are superior to each and every person with brown skin — or even cockroaches, for that matter — but in the interest of genuine truth and accuracy, I’ll take a rain check and instead, simply toss out some snippets from a couple of linked articles which clearly serve to dismiss that particular argument with more (unintended) fervor than I could ever muster (this late in the week, at least).

Best advice: prepare yourself; cover your keyboard (saran recommended), and next, here goes, as they say, nothin’:

Alt-Right Founder Demands Clinton Apologize To ‘European-Americans Everywhere’

Richard Spencer, the white nationalist activist who coined the term “alt-right” to describe the emerging racist movement of which he is a leader, lashed out at Hillary Clinton today for her plans to criticize Donald Trump for his ties to the alt-right movement. . . .

From Spencer’s (National Policy Insititute) press release:

[. . .]

Hillary and her allies in “conservative” media will stop at nothing to portray peaceful European-American advocacy as a dark specter haunting America. In reality, she and her allies, especially so-called “conservatives,” are only giving comfort to the most radical and violent elements in our society.

We disavow any attempts by Clinton or any of her surrogates on the left, right, or center to tag the National Policy Institute or the work we do as violent extremism. We call on her and her allies to issue an apology to European-Americans everywhere and confront her own troubling links to extremism and the civil unrest she has stoked for months.

That one was pretty bad, but then there’s this:

While Trump Champions The Alt-Right In America, Putin Spreads Its Ideology Through Europe

For years, the GOP has been moving away from its identity as a traditional center-right party and morphing into something that more resembles the populist fringe parties of Europe.

Donald Trump’s candidacy has all but completed this transformation.

[. . .]

The alt-right thinks the mainstream conservative movement has been compromised by feminism, racial tolerance and “globalism,” and that only a reactionary, populist movement that speaks to the plight of white men can save America from political correctness and multiculturalism. The alt-right is drenched in racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and misogyny.

[. . .]

Russia under Putin’s leadership has been promoting ultraconservative political groups in Europe with the goal of weakening the EU and the liberalism, democracy and cultural pluralism that comes with it. . . . “As European far-right leaders openly voice their support for Moscow, it would be wise to remember that Putin’s Russia is not just another ‘meddling power’ lobbying for its interests,” writes Alina Polyakova. “It is a government hostile to the West and the value system—democracy, freedom of expression, political accountability—that it represents.”

[…]

The Russian government has also sponsored a global right-wing effort to portray the U.S. and Europe as victims of cultural rot due to homosexuality, abortion rights and secular government, and Russia as the protector and preserver of traditional Christian values. . . . Trump, who aspires to be the Russian president’s “new best friend,” has praised Putin as “a leader, unlike what we have in this country,” and has seemed to side with Putin’s position on the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria and shared in fueling doubts about the future of the EU and NATO. Trump’s campaign is stacked with officials with Russian ties and, at least according to his eldest son, his businesses have seen “a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

Sounds like maybe if we the people elect a President Trump, we might also wind up looking forward to what, the possibility of a future union between Amurkkka and Russia? “One Nation, Under __?__” . . . and “Dedicated to the proposition that all men are [NOT] created equal [and neither are their wimmin] . . .” etc.?

YeeHaw!

VOTE TRUMP! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! LET’S HAVE A FUTURE UNION BETWEEN AMURKKKA and RUSSIA!

F*U*B*A*R!

Oh. Ummm . . . wait.

Rats. There it is again. That old and all too familiar Danger to be Sane affliction. Sigh. Nemesis. How can we rid ourselves of it?

Insanity: Madness; state of being unsound in mind.

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‘Twas a Divine Insanity —
The Danger to be Sane
Should I again experience —
‘Tis Antidote to turn —
To Tomes of solid Witchcraft –
(Emily Dickinson)

VOTE TRUMP!
Or maybe turn / To Tomes of solid Witchcraft?

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OK. I give up. Gonna move on, think of something pleasant, something civil.

Yeah. OK. Like that.

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday August 12 2016; Of Lies and Liar(s)

Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method
inexorably must choose lying as his principle.
(Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

Enter Solzhenitsyn’s modern day example, the one who has clearly and obviously chosen lying as his principle:

I’m not at all certain that Trump has ever, over the course of his life, spoken the truth about anything at all. Seems more like every time he opens a mouth and says something, whatever he says is a lie.

Examples (and these are just a small handful of samples from three of yesterday’s blogs):

Donald Trump Once Again Pushes His Obama-ISIS Conspiracy Theory

Trump: Church Attendance Will Rise When I’m President

Trump blames ‘false narrative’ for struggles against Clinton in Republican-friendly Utah

Capitalizing on stupidity: Today, Trump called Obama a terrorist — something he’s being doing quietly since 2011

Why Trump’s “Second Amendment” insinuation was an abhorrent stunt straight out of the NRA’s playbook

Trump’s birtherism is now Republican gospel: 72 percent of GOP voters still doubt President Obama’s citizenship

Trump refuses to walk back his accusation Obama is “the founder of ISIS”: “He was the most valuable player”

Not sure we’ve ever seen anything that even comes close to our current dilemma. Seems to me that the biggest ‘what if’ we’re currently faced with is the prospect of the worst imaginable electoral outcome becoming reality. What then? President Trump? As we college boys were prone to say way back in the early sixties, “Are you shittin’ me?”

How long, I wonder, can a country last if/when its leader is nothing more that an egomaniacal narcissist, a misogynistic, xenophobic, bigoted racist? One who lies every time he opens his mouth, one who may very well have NEVER spoken a word of truth in the entire of his seventy years? What will our national collapse look like, I wonder? And what will it FEEL like? What will it SOUND like?

From one of the last century’s most prolific and well-known liars:

The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State
can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military
consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the
State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for 
the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus
by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
(Joseph Goebbels)

OK. “We’ll have to leave it there.”

OPEN THREAD

 

Sunday Leftovers: Mocking Trump

I found one of these videos posted in the Raw Story comments by “sam202.”  All the words are Trump’s own, but a genius named Peter Serafinowicz dubbed him to sound all catty and Liberace-like.

I think the dubbed voice is more appropriate for the gossipy content of Trump’s speeches anyway.

This is our totally late — so late we’re down to leftovers — open thread.

The Watering Hole; Friday August 5 2015; “From the Odors Borne . . . When the Wind is Within”

I infer from the Odors borne —
Of its Voice — to affirm — when the Wind is within —
Can the Dumb — define the Divine?
(Emily Dickinson)

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First the good news:

A neuroscientist explains what may be wrong with Trump supporters’ brains

I doubt they’ve got it all figured, but at least it’s a start. If they can pin it down, maybe some refreshed gun laws will disallow all Republicans from buying guns? We can hope. Meanwhile, here’s more work for neuroscientists everywhere, aka From the odors borne . . . when the Wind is within:

William Gheen: Obama Administration-Backed Socialists Will Rig The Election

Ann Coulter: Democrats Want To ‘Make America Muslim’

Bryan Fischer: $400 Million Payment To Iran Is ‘Our Sharia Compliant President Paying A Jizya Tax’

Glenn Beck’s Current Caliphate: Russia Is Trying To Collapse America And Foment Revolution

D’Souza: Obama’s Foreign Policy An ‘Un-American Project’

Donald Trump: ‘We’ve Got To Stop Being The Stupid Country Run By Very Stupid People’

And speaking of “Very Stupid People” . . .

‘We’re fixing it’

Right. Sure. Ok. If you say so. Better hurry though, because

GOP reaches ‘new level of panic’ over Trump’s candidacy

Personally, I find it easier to view the entire fiasco through the eyes of one of America’s Greatest Poets, one who somehow managed to sum up, some 150 years ago, today’s Republican Party Fiasco, when she wrote:

What madness, by their side,
A vision to provide
Of future days
They cannot praise.

My soul, to find them, come,
They cannot call, they’re dumb . . .
(Emily Dickinson)

The perfect summation: “They’re dumb.” Yes. Indeed. No argument; and too, it’s equally clear that The Dumb CANNOT Define the Divine (not even sure the Divine can define the Dumb in these days of the Trumpanista Noise Machine — need more data, clearly).

******

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday July 29 2016; RiffRaff Riffs

Riff: a melodic phrase, often constantly repeated, forming an accompaniment or part of an accompaniment for a soloist.

Donald Trump Invites Russia to Find Missing Hillary Clinton’s Emails

On Thursday morning, a fair number of media gabbers (on MSNBC, Morning Joe) were referring to Trump’s absurd suggestion — that Russia should hack Hillary’s emails, hopefully find the ‘33,000’ that were missing, deleted, whatever — was really only a Riff on Trump’s part. Now, I always thought I had at least a basic idea as to what a “riff” was supposed to be, and no matter how many times I watched the video of Trump’s Russia comments, I didn’t see any sign of a “riff.” No melodic phrase . . . constantly repeated . . . no accompaniment for a soloist.  So I kept wondering: why call what he said a Riff?

Hmmm. Riff . . . Riff? . . . Raff?  RiffRaff!  Yeah!!! Trump!!

Riffraff: people who are not respectable : people who have very low social status

Finally I have it figured: when Trump speaks, it’s a RiffRaff Riff!!

Trump’s not alone in that, of course. So, in order to add substance and definition to RiffRaff Riff, here are a handful of Non-Trumpian examples snagged from very recent RWW posts:

Michael Savage: The U.S. Government ‘Has Been Occupied By ISIS’

“That devil in the White House has flooded America with people from countries that never belonged here . . .

“This is the America of the future: Don’t work, practice a religion that hates everybody else. How in the world can a nation survive this? A nation can survive its fools and even the criminals, but it cannot survive an enemy within; it cannot survive a traitor within.

“How do we know how many work in this government? It’s as though we’ve been occupied already. Every day I wake up and I think that the government itself has been occupied by ISIS or ISIS sympathizers or ISIS propagandists. It doesn’t matter anymore because there’s no discussion of it at the DNC — what does that tell you Hillary will do if, God forbid, that harridan criminal is elected?”

Classic RiffRaff Riff, right?

Here’s another one:

Frank Gaffney: Democrats ‘Aligned With Our Enemies,’ Will ‘Doom All Of Us’

“The bigger question, which I think more and more of us are tumbling to watching this spectacle is not just the ignoring of that reality, it is the aligning with our enemies. You talked earlier about Tim Kaine having done a lot of that with the Muslim Brotherhood. He’s not alone. There are whole bunches of them in the progressive movement. Look at the Palestinian flags. Look at people burning Israel’s flag and burning the American flag. These people are on the wrong side. I’m sorry for Democrats, I used to be one myself, who are now being completely disenfranchised by a party that is aligned with our enemies and not with America. They will doom all of us if they have their way.”

That one’s almost musical! A genuine RiffRaff Riff! Yay Gaffney!

OK, one more. This one may be beyond a RiffRaff Riff, might even qualify as a RiffRaff Symphony — you be the judge:

Wayne Allyn Root:
Obama’s DNC Speech ‘Could Have Been Written By Lucifer Himself’ And ‘Delivered By The Anti-Christ’

I give both political and business speeches all over America, and all over the world. I know a great speech when I see and hear one. Obama’s speech last night at the DNC was masterful. It was one of the greatest political speeches I’ve ever heard.

There was one problem: It was 100 percent fiction, fraud and fantasy.

If it were given by any CEO in America at a shareholders meeting, or a press conference in front of the media, that CEO would face life in prison for fraud and misrepresentation.

Any screenwriter in Hollywood could have made it up out of thin air and won an Academy Award. It could have been a speech written by Bernie Madoff.

It could have been written by Lucifer himself, to be delivered by the anti-Christ.

(. . .)

Obama himself is the psychopath, sociopath and ego-maniac who rules as a tyrant, by issuing executive orders, ignoring the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law, and making believe Congress doesn’t exist. Every word directed at Trump described Obama, Obama’s last eight years of rule and Obama’s voters.

Lucifer himself would be proud.

There. RiffRaff Riffs defined!! Thanks, Hair Furor Drumpf — finally we can all agree on what to call (and how to define) most any conservative baloney, regardless of the speaker/writer!! We owe it all to you, Hair Furor (along with due credit also to Morning Joe, of course).

(Bowing in Trump’s general direction)

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Thursday July 21 2016; The 2016 Republican Convention, Summarized

I decided weeks (maybe years) ago to not watch a single moment of the 2016 Republican Convention because, at my age, I find it’s already way too easy to become dumbed down strictly via life itself, ergo I do NOT need any help from the 15,000 (at least) stupid shits working to make Hair Furor Drumpf our POTUS. Therefore, I decided to begin this Thursday Post on the day the convention began (Monday) and carry forward to posting time simply by pasting aboard the most significant . . . umm . . . analyses(?), by whomever, of events driving the collective absurdity mentioned above.

So here goes, in a word, NOTHING.
First off, Monday:

******

Next up, a sample of Tuesday’s spit-back:

Excuses The Trump Campaign Made For Melania Trump’s Plagiarized Speech

1. Trump Communications Director Jason Miller: It “Included Fragments That Reflected Her Own Thinking”
2. Chris Christie: “93% Of The Speech” Was Not Plagiarized
3. Paul Manafort: It’s Hillary’s Fault
4. Trump Spokeswoman Katrina Pierson: Michelle Obama Didn’t Invent English
5. Ben Carson: It Just Shows They Have The Same Values
6. RNC Spokesman Sean Spicer: Actually, Michelle Obama Plagiarized From My Little Pony
7. Anonymous Trump Source: “It’s Piss Poor Staff Work”

******

Broad-based summation of the Convention’s Day One:

Might the Convention effectively define Trump’s Katrina?

******

Wednesday, a quick look back courtesy of Colbert and Stewart

******

Fox’s Varney Complains ‘It’s A Disgrace’ For Media To Cover Melania Trump’s Plagiarism

I say the mainstream media is pathetic on this and I mean that in every shape of that word. Pathetic. Last night, Melania Trump came out there and gave a terrific speech. She was poised, she was passionate, she was on target, on message. The crowd loved her, despite the fact that she is an immigrant, English is not her first language, but she wowed that crowd. That was a terrific speech.

This morning, I wake up and I’m looking at the headlines of the major news outlets and they say, “Oh, she is a plagiarist!” They’re doing anything they can to bring her down, to bring the Republicans down. Why is she a plagiarist? Well, in one paragraph that she came out with last night, she used the expression, “Your word is your bond. Do what you say you’re gonna do. Treat people with respect.”

In that one paragraph that was mirrored from a speech given by Michelle Obama eight years ago. From that, the mainstream media says, “Oh, that was plagiarism! What a disgrace!” I think it’s pathetic, Maria, I really do.

I really think the mainstream media wants America to be more like bankrupt, socialist Europe. I think they’re leading us down that path. They just want to get us there as fast as possible. What a disgrace! What a disgrace! Today, the theme on the convention is getting America back to work: growth, jobs, prosperity. What will they find wrong with that? I’m just dying to find out.

******

Ben Carson: Transgender People Are ‘The Height Of Absurdity’

It is silly for us to engage in something that we have known for thousands of years. We have known what a man is and what a woman is for thousands of years. All of a sudden, we don’t know anymore. I said that is absurd. […] There are biological markers that tell us whether we are a male or a female, and just because you wake up one day and you say, ‘I think I’m the other one,’ that doesn’t change it. Just — a leopard can’t change its spots.

******

And speaking of Transgender, on Wednesday morning there was Caitlyn Jenner’s lengthy interview wherein she basically explained how foolish people who “think” like Ben Carson are, and also why she is a devoted Republican. 😯 ❓

Jenner said there’s needs to be change within the Republican Party and said this year’s GOP campaign has been “downright hostile” to the LGBT community. “I want to help the Republican Party in so many ways,” Jenner said. “I think our best move to get back to a constitutional government is in the Republican Party. I won’t give up hope on it.” . . .

One example is the “non-issue” about transgender people being banned from public bathrooms. Jenner even filmed herself using the restroom at Trump tower in April. “A trans woman in New York, I gotta take a pee. Anyways, Oh my God, Trump International Tower, I love this,” Jenner says in the video.At the convention, she made light of the situation and joked about state legislatures having restricted access. “Maybe we should ban Republican representatives at the state level from being in bathrooms,” she said.

******

Wednesday PM: Plagiarism Clarified; Deniers were all wrong; Trump with new UhOh:

Trump may have violated campaign laws by using private employee to write Melania’s speech: report

According to the Washington Post, it may have been a violation of campaign finance laws for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to use private corporate resources to write a campaign speech.

According to the Post, Meredith McIver, 65, is a full-time employee of the Trump Organization and not a paid campaign staffer. She took responsibility for lifting two passages from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech for Melania Trump’s highly-anticipated Monday night speech.

“On the face of it, this looks like a corporate violation,” Lawrence Noble, general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, told the Post. That is “a violation of federal law. It can result in civil penalties to the corporation and the campaign.”

It’s a criminal offense if the campaign used private resources “willingly and knowingly,” the Post reports.

******

NH lawmaker and Trump adviser: ‘Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot’

In case you haven’t noticed, this year’s Republican National Convention has started to resemble Lord of the Flies when it comes to the bloodlust being unleashed against Hillary Clinton.

Buzzfeed notices that New Hampshire State Rep. Al Baldasaro, who also serves as official adviser to Trump on veterans’ affairs, has managed to turn hatred for Hillary Clinton up to a whole new level by calling for her to be executed for treason.

“Hillary Clinton to me is the Jane Fonda of the Vietnam,” Baldasaro told the Jeff Kuhner Show on Tuesday evening. “She is a disgrace for the lies that she told those mothers about their children that got killed over there in Benghazi. She dropped the ball on over 400 emails requesting back up security. Something’s wrong there.”

******

As a writer, I think it’s way too easy to compare the
Republican Convention to anything relating
to Germany in the thirties
 ~Frances Langum, C&L

******

So. It’s late Wednesday afternoon and I’m more than a bit sick of all the RNCrapola I’ve been trying to endure. Today is over, afaic. If I should happen to stumble upon any more Trump crap, I shall wash it down with a glass of Sangria and hope that none of it sticks. Sotospeak. Tomorrow’s another day. Yuk. Why is that?

Here’s my final statement, my view of Amurkkka’s Hair Furor “Movement” and all its works and all its ways, perfectly summarized.

******

[W]hen the nobility see that they are unable to resist the people, they unite in exalting one of their number and creating him prince, so as to be able to carry out their own designs under the shadow of his authority.”
~Machiavelli, The Prince, ch. IX

OPEN THREAD

 

 

The Watering Hole; Thursday July 14 2016; Total and Complete Irrationality, Republican Style

Welcome to the Republican Party of Donald Trump.

I ran across this video a couple of days ago, watched it (something I don’t often do), and realized afterward just how far this country has sunk into the muck and mire of total societal failure, how we’ve become a culture in which irrationality has bubbled to the surface to “refresh” all that old scum atop our pond.

The video’s audio is probably NSFW (video itself, no worries); for those so confined a full transcript can be found here, along with some ancillary comments and a quick summation of the charges filed against the perpetrator of the nonsense, one Mark Gordon, age 52, of rural San Diego County, California.

So there you have it, a preview of what will likely become the behavioral norm amongst Donald Trump’s most visible base of supporters should he somehow find the means to become POTUS.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently suggested that should Trump wind up in the Oval Office, “it’s time for us to move to New Zealand.” I couldn’t agree more; surely the SW corner of the Polynesian Triangle has far more to offer those with a functioning mind than it could ever offer Trump supporters — or Republicans of any persuasion, for that matter. Paradise, i.o.w. 😀

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday July 8 2016; Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest, Or ???

I need help.

A quick perusal of current newsy websites reveals that there’s a whole lot of Dumb out there in today’s political world, possibly more than at any time in the entire history of the planet, maybe even of the universe. I collected a mere eight samples (in roughly  eight minutes, give or take a few seconds), and in that process I saw nothing, not a single headline, that made me think ‘Hey – Smart!! Finally!!

So here they are in no particular order. See below for my rankings of each, also the pattern I may have uncovered.

1. Darrell Issa Calls For Government Shutdown If Hillary Clinton Is Not Charged

2. Climate Denier Marco Rubio Tries To Tackle Toxic Florida Algae, Is Baffled By Cause

3. David Whitney: Government Should Be Christian-Only

4. Laurie Higgins: ‘Obama Dishonors National Park Service’ With Stonewall Memorial

5. Birther Bradlee Dean Says Obama Support For Clinton A ‘Psyop’ Operation And Deal To Secure Pardon

6. Ann Coulter: Donald Trump Is Just Like Abe Lincoln Fighting Slavery

7. Pat Buchanan Warns ‘White America Has Begun To Die’

8. Eric Trump tells Fox News his sister Ivanka would be their father’s ideal running-mate: “She’s got the beautiful looks!”

What I did was examine the ideas implicit in the thought process of each of the eight named characters and then rank both characters and ideas based on whether they were Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest, or ??? (i.e. whatever’s the word for Dumber than the Dumbest). When I finished and checked my results, I spotted a problem: all eight wound up tied as number eight of eight in the Dumber than the Dumbest [???] category, even as the Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest categories remained blank, empty. If all of that actually defines a pattern of any sort, I guess it would be that most (maybe all) political news that’s not about the Juno Jupiter Probe is, well, parcel solely to the Dumber than the Dumbest imaginable human’s . . . umm . . . intelligence . . . mental . . . brainy . . . sigh. I give up. I need help!

Not sure where I went wrong, but I do know when to toss in the towel. Meanwhile, any and all who might stumble upon and read this post are invited to take a shot at it. Best of luck; it ain’t easy.

So be my guest, have at it.

 

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday June 17 2016; Trump Summarized

I’m not going to say much today; so many others have already done the job of summarizing Trump that I thought it would be simpler to just point out some multi-directional links to articles that examine him from a variety of standpoints, not a one of which points to a single redeeming quality. No surprise there, I guess. Anyway, here they are, today’s collective summary intermingled with hints of the hell that’ll rain down upon all of us if somehow Drumpf should get elected POTUS.

Trump’s reckless, dangerous Islamophobia helps the Islamic State

Donald Is Becoming More And More Unhinged — Will He Survive To November?

Donald Trump Claims Obama Secretly Supports ISIS, Cites Debunked Conspiracy Theory As Proof

Donald Trump tells people to ‘ask the gays’ about how great he is. ‘The gays’ respond—and it is EPIC

Donald Trump’s Four Decades Of Racism

OK. Now, because I am, like Fox News, always and invariably driven to be totally fair and balanced, here are a pair of tidbits (the only two I could find, actually) that explain the other and more beautiful side of Trump’s story:

Ann Coulter: Donald Trump Is ‘Our Only Hope’

Ann Coulter: God Raised Up Trump To Save Us From 1,000 Years Of Darkness

And finally, a photo — one which pretty much sums up my attitude concerning Trump, his candidacy, and the probable impact on us all should he somehow manage a win:

Zieg Heil, America.

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday June 3 2016; The “Descent” of Man Can Lead To Insanity: Proof!

“I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the lower animals
(so-called), and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man.
I find the result humiliating to me. For it obliges me to renounce my
allegiance to the Darwinian theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower
Animals; since it now seems plain to me that the theory ought to be
vacated in favor of a new and truer one, this new and truer one to be named
the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.”
(Mark Twain)

“I’ve always been crazy, it’s kept me from goin’ insane”
(Waylon Jennings)

I think I’m finally ready to proclaim Republicans as having taken that one step beyond crazy (which, of course, they’ve always been), and that they have now — finally and obviously — crossed over the bar into the realm of the  insane. Yep. True story. Following are a mere five episodes that prove the point — and note I’ve not even included anything by Ted Nugent or Wayne LaPierre! They’ll show up soon, no doubt, but more as icing on the cake rather than as parcel to  the foundational bedrock portrayed below:

Trump: ‘Germany’s Going Down. They’re All Going

Trump, who has frequently criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her stance on refugees and because she, in his view, robbed him of the 2015 TIME Person of the Year title, told [Michael] Savage [Weiner] that refugees will destroy the continent: “I’ll tell you, you’re going to destroy Europe. Germany’s going down. They’re all going down. It’s unbelievable; unbelievable what’s happening in Europe.”

White Nationalists: Trump May Not Meet All Our Expectations, But Neither Did Jesus

White nationalists James Edwards and Keith Alexander discussed Donald Trump’s success on their racist, anti-Semitic podcast, “The Political Cesspool,” on Saturday, with Alexander comparing Trump to Jesus. Alexander said that Jesus, like Trump, didn’t fully meet conservatives’ expectations in his day and was rejected as the messiah, a mistake that he said Americans shouldn’t make with Trump. . . .

“The most important thing about Trump is what comes after Trump,” Edwards said. “And I think his campaign has proven that Americans are ready for hardcore nationalist politics and populism.” . . .

Alexander continued, “[Trump] is a leader, not an intellectual, and as a result he’s bound to be a disappointment to people that would like to see Pat Buchanan in his position, but we have to take what we can get. We can’t expect purity in every regard. Those who do, it’s just like Jesus. Jesus didn’t meet the expectations of the conservative intellectual Pharisees of his time to be the messiah and, as a result, they rejected the messiah. We don’t need to make their mistake.”

The Movers Behind The Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Liberty’ Movement

In the first few months of this year, for the second year in a row, more than 100 anti-LGBT bills have been introduced in state legislatures, many of them promoted under the banner of protecting religious liberty. A new report by People For the American Way Foundation, “Who is Weaponizing Religious Liberty?,” explains that “it takes a right-wing village to turn a cherished American principle into a destructive culture-war weapon.”

The report makes clear that the wave of anti-equality legislation promoted in the name of religious liberty is not an outgrowth of local conflicts but the latest step in a long-term campaign by national Religious Right legal and political groups to resist legal equality for LGBT people. As Americans have come to know and embrace their LGBT family members and friends, harsh anti-gay rhetoric has become less effective, says the report, leading social conservatives to try to reclaim the moral and political high ground by reframing debates over marriage equality and nondiscrimination protections as questions of religious liberty.

The groups covered in the report include:

• Family Research Council and FRC Action
• Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action
• National Organization for Marriage
• Alliance Defending Freedom
• Liberty Counsel
• American Family Association
• Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• American Principles Project

Jim Bakker: Anti-Trump Forces May Impose Martial Law Or Cancel The Election

When televangelist Jim Bakker and far-right writer Michael Snyder discussed the upcoming presidential election last week, both were rather excited about the prospect of Donald Trump winning in November.

That is, if the election ever takes place.

Both Bakker and Snyder feared that powerful forces may try to cancel the election, and Bakker warned that we “may not even get to the election” because “there’s going to be a martial law declared.” “Some have actually prophesied this,” Bakker added.

William Gheen: ‘Roots’ Remake Part Of Globalist Plot to Spark Anti-White Violence

William Gheen, the head of the fringe anti-immigrant group Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), told WorldNetDaily yesterday that the remake of the famous 1977 miniseries “Roots” that aired over Memorial Day weekend is part of a globalist plot to “agitate black voters into voting for Democrats” and spark anti-white violence.

“We are under attack,” he said. “The enemy is here. And they are springing a trap from within.”

[. . .]

Gheen says it’s the same global factions who were behind the creation of the European Union that are now pushing for violent uprisings in the U.S. and to push the nation over the edge into chaos and, they hope, a new social order.

“They hate the United States and its Judeo-Christian heritage, our Constitution, our gun rights, this is all considered remnants of a white male-dominated, colonial civilization that they want destroyed irrevocably,” Gheen said. “It’s a demographic form of genocide which they believe will have no resurgence in history.”

So there, those five brief chunks of crazy define, here in Amurkka, the ‘gentle’ transition from crazy to insane, each the clear product of The Descent of Man From the HIGHER Animals (today’s Republican Party, generally speaking). Now, I’m not proclaiming each and every Republican to be insane; we’ll wait till the November votes are counted — that will give us an exact and precise number.

Meanwhile, I do indeed look forward to the takeover of the Amurkkkan political system by non-crazy and non-insane people. And if that means no more White Males, I’ll happily settle for any/all of opposite gender and/or those of various ethnicities, each and all  of which strike fear into the hearts and “minds” of fear-laden crazies.

Vamos a’ ver. We shall see. Five months plus a few days to go, and counting!

“It is a solemn thought: dead, the noblest man’s meat is inferior to pork.”
(Mark Twain)

******

OPEN THREAD

 

The Watering Hole; Thursday June 2 2016; The “Descent of Man” (aka Conservatism)

“I’ve always been crazy, it’s kept me from goin’ insane”
(Waylon Jennings)

Waylon probably didn’t intend it at the time, but as it turns out he summed up today’s Wingnut-Evangelical-Political Right’s subliminal reality in just those ten words. [They’ve] always been crazy, absolutely. As to whether that’s kept [them] from goin’ insane I’ll not speculate;  better to leave that detail to folks who do such things for a living.

But– as long as we’re SPEAKING OF INSANITY!, here are some of

1. The latest reasons that Drumpf is clearly THE best choice in November!!

James Robison: Donald Trump Could Save America From Hell

Anti-Vaxxer: President Trump ‘Absolutely Will Investigate’ The Vaccine-Autism Link Nonsense

Scott Lively: President Trump Should ‘Apologize To The World’ For Obama’s ‘Fascist LGBT Agenda’

2. Next, the latest in why Hillary better-don’t win:

Roger Stone And Rick Wiles Wonder About Hillary Clinton’s Lesbian Affairs

Far-Right Pundit Warns Hillary Clinton Is A Modern-day Jezebel

3. LGBT rights anyone? YOU BETTER NOT WANT THAT! Here’s the latest implicit why’s and therefore’s from people who clearly KNOW the consequences of (and the reasons for — see Dobson, below) all the hell that’s going to bust loose any day now:

Trump-Aligned Pastor: Trans Rights Will Provoke ‘The Judgment Of God

Perry Atkinson: Protecting Transgender Rights Is The ‘Social, Educational And Spiritual Molestation Of Our Children’

Gov. Phil Bryant: Christians Will Line Up For Crucifixion To Defend Anti-LGBT Discrimination

NOM’s Brian Brown To Lead Global Anti-LGBT Efforts At World Congress Of Families

James Dobson Goes On Anti-Trans Rant: ‘God Help Us!’

4. Summary: Vote for Drumpf, cuz here’s what happens if not enough do and the Supreme Court goes Librul:

Larry Pratt: If Conservatives Lose The Supreme Court, We May ‘Have To Resort To The Bullet Box

5. And finally, something that might, to the untrained eye, seem totally unrelated (even though it forever remains descriptive of the bulk of the undercurrents which drive Right Wing Lunacy):

Creationist Ken Ham goes bonkers over media coverage of ‘sin-cursed’ gorilla’s death

Ham has yet to realize that same thing the bulk of conservatives everywhere seem doomed to never know or understand for the rest of their respective eternities: They have, each and all, been overly and overtly diminished on their evolutionary path from Great Ape to what they’ve become today, and the gorilla clearly remains the far superior creature by comparison.** As Mark Twain suggested a century ago, man is clearly descended from the HIGHER animals, a thesis which is, today, PROVEN by wingnuts everywhere — and one that undoubtedly explains the cause of all Wingnut shortfalls, insanity included.

**See also Trump, Donald J. (aka Drumpf, Donald J.)

OPEN THREAD

 

 

 

 

 

The Watering Hole; Friday May 27 2016; Climactic (Anthropogenic) Climatic Disruption

Climactic: consisting of, involving, or causing a climax.
Climax: the highest or most intense point in the development or resolution of something.

Climatic: of or relating to climate.
Climate: the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region.

Disrupt: to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way.

ACD – Anthropogenic Climate Disruption: Climatic Disruption resulting from human activity; potentially Climactic.

These carefully rendered and ordered definitions were included here for the benefit of any Republican or Tea Party (Congressional Sens-Reps or their voters) that might happen to pass by — unlikely I know, but I always try to be fair and helpful when possible. [See also: The cult of ignorance in the United States: Anti-intellectualism and the “dumbing down” of America].

That said, a closer and finely detailed examination of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption data becomes more revealing with virtually every passing month.

1. From February 2014: The March of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption by Dahr Jamal begins by pointing out that 2013

. . . marked the 37th consecutive year of above-average global temperature, according to data from NASA.

The signs of advanced Anthropogenic Climate Disruption (ACD) are all around us, becoming ever more visible by the day.

At least for those choosing to pay attention.

I’ll not try to summarize Jamal’s paper here — much much more can/will be gained via a careful read. It is, though, an excellent summary of the consequences of ACD already in place back then.

2. Next, more than two years later (just this week, in fact) there’s this: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration Has Passed the Point of No Return, also by Dahr Jamal. It’s a lengthy essay that covers the gamut of climate change impacts visible today, and most certainly is well worth close and serious examination. Here is a brief quote that sets the stage:

Climate disruption only continues to speed up.

NASA recently released data showing that the planet has just seen seven straight months of not just record-breaking, but record-shattering heat. It is clear, through the space agency’s data, that this year we are already well on track to see what will likely be the largest increase in global temperature a single year has ever seen.

The NASA data also show that April was the hottest April ever recorded, as well as the fact that it crushed the previous April record by the largest margin of increase ever recorded.

That makes it three months in a row that the monthly record has been broken, and easily at that, by the largest margin ever. When record-smashing months started in February, it was then that scientists began talking about a “climate emergency,” and since then our situation has only escalated.

The essay is detailed, lengthy, and filled with links to supporting data sources that demonstrate beyond all doubt that these indeed are dire times, and that it may, in fact, already be too late for there to be any hope of turning things around. The sole (slightly) positive comment in the entire of the essay is this: “Recent polling shows that now half of all conservatives in the United States believe that ACD is real, which is an increase of 19 percent over the last two years.” Wow. Is that great news or what. Doesn’t include any conservatives I know, but any port in a storm is welcome.

Following is a graph, prepared by Ed Hawkins, that shows monthly global temperature changes since 1850:

It’s hard not to notice the jump, so far, in 2016 temperatures; the times, they really are a-changin’, or so it would appear to the trained eye.

But not all eyes are trained. On the other side of the coin live the deniers. I won’t go into extensive detail, just quote a couple of their most egregious fools to demonstrate just exactly how far-fetched the wingnut reality actually is. First, courtesy of Fox News, Jesse Watters explains his concern that public schools in Portland Oregon are no longer going to “teach” the nonsense that supports ACD denial:

One city school district is closing the book on any materials in the classroom that question or deny climate change. The board in Portland, Oregon unanimously approving a resolution that calls for removing books and course materials that suggests climate change does not exist or that people are not at fault for it. . . . Aren’t students supposed to learn how to ask questions? And now we can’t read a book that ask questions.

[. . .]

So getting out of the ice age, how did the Earth warm up after the ice age? There were no humans there with cars and factories. I mean, how did things warm up? These are questions that only I have the answer to. I should be teaching these courses. These aren’t that hard. It gets hot, it gets cold, this spring has been freezing. It’s not getting warmer, it seems like it’s getting colder. Am I wrong?

Yes, Watters, you’re wrong. Of course you’re wrong. You’re very very very wrong. But that, of course, is nothing new or unexpected.

Next, a word or two from that tremendously gifted master of everything, our massively educated and schemingly beautiful billionaire Republican, our loved-by-millions-and-soon-to-be-tremendous-President, Donald Trump.

“Any and all weather events are used by the GLOBAL WARMING HOAXSTERS to justify higher taxes to save our planet! They don’t believe it $$$$!”

This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice.

“I think that climate change is just a very, very expensive form of tax. A lot of people are making a lot of money. I know much about climate change. I’ve received many environmental awards. And I often joke that this is done for the benefit of China — obviously I joke — but this done for the benefit of China.”

Meanwhile, back in the real world,

March 2016 temperature smashes 100-year global record

▲Illustration shows that 2015 was the hottest year since 1880. (AFP/Getty Images)▲

The global temperature in March (2016) shattered a century-long record and by the greatest margin yet seen for any month. . . . Compared with the 20th-century average, March was 1.07C hotter across the globe, while February was 1.04C higher, and the trend continued in April. Apparently the overwhelming mass of global data has proven, beyond the barest shadow of a doubt, that ACD is, in fact, a FACT.

Or, as Trump put it,

“Global warming is based on faulty science and manipulated data
which is proven by the emails that were leaked.”

We’ll have to leave it there.

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Thursday May 26 2016; Of Mental Poverty and Shriveled Souls (aka Teabaggers)

Last Monday I received a letter from The Wilderness Society. It read:

Public lands enemy number one, Representative Rob Bishop, is back at it again! This time he intends to take down landmark sagebrush conservation plans by targeting a defenseless bird, the greater sage-grouse.

Greater Sage-Grouse. Credit: Mason Cummings/TWS

Through a national security bill, Rep. Bishop is trying to attach language that would undo publicly developed conservation plans and sell off critical sage-grouse habitat to the highest energy development bidder.

You can help us stop him in his tracks! Sage-grouse are not a threat to our national security. This is a thinly veiled anti-conservation move by Rep. Bishop that would trash one of the largest conservation successes in U.S. history. His effort would unravel years of conservation work by federal agencies, 11 western states and governors, and a diverse coalition of stakeholders. These plans, put in place in late 2015, merged the best science with local knowledge in a conservation plan for 67 million acres of sage-grouse habitat on public lands. Now years of work are in danger of being undone by one man. Tell your senators and representatives to stand up for the sage-grouse and its habitat!

Sincerely,

The Wilderness Society

The “Representative Rob Bishop” (R-UT)  to whom they refer is a wildly anti-conservation wingnut Congressional Teabagger who would, I’m sure, happily agree to kill off what’s left of the planet for the sole purpose of turning every square inch of land over to whomever can convert it into cash. Money. Because as we all know, cash is a far more useful and life-enhancing commodity than are those wastrel notions of public land and wildlife preservation. Who cares about a goddamed Sage Grouse anyway? They’re prolly not even good to eat — never seen ’em in the store, I know that for sure. Tree-huggers and environmentalists like to use the word Conservation, but Conservation ain’t got nothin’ to do with genuine Conservatism, ‘cuz look close, they be spelled differnt!

Anyway, I  immediately forwarded this, the Wilderness Society’s message, to my Senators (from whom I’ve not yet heard) and to my “Representative,” the Wingnut Conservative Teabagger Stooge aka Scott Tipton (R-CO):

Representative Bishop’s “Greater Sage Grouse Protection and Recovery Act of 2016,” a rider on this year’s House National Defense Authorization Act, is a thinly veiled anti-conservation measure. This effort would undo years of collaborative planning for 67 million acres across 11 western states and undermine the very protections that helped keep the bird from being listed as threatened or endangered. Please stand up to protect the survival of the greater sage-grouse.

The sage-grouse is not, has never been, and never will be a threat to the security of our nation. This rider has no place in the NDAA. In fact, the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force made it clear through statements that the sage-grouse conservation efforts will not impede on the military’s readiness, operations or training.

After years of dedication by the federal government, Western governors and a diverse coalition of stakeholders, it would be a travesty if all of the plans were undone through a rider on a national security bill.

Please don’t let this or any other rider undermine the one of America’s greatest conservation achievements. Don’t meddle with the conservation plans — pass a clean NDAA!

Received this typical boilerplate reply from Tipton two days later, yesterday, on Wednesday the 25th. There was nothing even approaching a semi-salient notion in his thirty word response:

. . . the bill prohibits the listing of the Greater Sage Grouse through 2025, providing adequate time for effective state and local species conservation efforts to continue without heavy-handed federal interference. (highlights mine)

I mean, imagine it. Allow the ‘heavy hands’ of the Feds to act in the interest of a potentially  endangered species and its habitat preservation, and what’s the result? INTERFERENCE WITH THE CAPITALISTIC AMURKKKAN FREEDOM TO RAPE AND DESTROY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT’S GOT MONEY IN IT!! It’s in the Constitution, Right? Must be, ‘cuz a long time ago John Adams said this here:

[When European colonists first arrived in America] “the whole continent was one continued dismal wilderness, the haunt of wolves and bears and more savage men. Now the forests are removed, the land covered with fields of corn, orchards bending with fruit and the magnificent habitations of rational and civilized people.” ~John Adams, 1756 (as quoted by Barry Lopez in ‘Of Wolves and Men’)

Adams spoke those words some 260 years ago, back when the rape of the continent had just gotten underway. Today, however, we’ve come a long LONG way and have FINALLY reached the point where just about the only land left in the country — land that was once a “dismal wilderness, the haunt of wolves and beaus and [the archaeological remnants of those] more savage men . . .” — has FINALLY reached the point where “the forests are removed [and] the land [is] covered with . . . the magnificent habitations of rational and civilized people.”

YeeHaw. Progress. Finally. Money.

Rep. Rob Bishop is, like Teabaggers everywhere, a notorious hater of Public Lands along with the (implicit) preservation of both those lands and the wildlife thereupon. He is, unfortunately, currently the Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and has publicly stated that he is dead against the Antiquities Act — a law which 16 presidents of both parties have used to permanently protect public lands and historic sites via National Monument designation. The bottom line is that Bishop hates Public lands, along with any and all who might support the concept. As he recently said, anyone who supports the Antiquities Act of 1906 — the same law that was used to safeguard the Grand Canyon — should “die.” Meanwhile, in his home state of Utah, Bishop has unveiled a draft bill that would force the transfer and sale of tens-of-thousands of acres of public land in southeast Utah — a concept completely in violation of the wishes of Native American Nations in the area, including the Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni.

Damn Injuns. Who the hell do they think they are?

Bishop — apparently in consort with Teabaggers everywhere (including, sadly, SCOTT TIPTON of Colorado) — is determined to do whatever is necessary to rid this country of those gigantic tyrannies the gubmint has imposed on We the People: Public Lands (National Parks, Monuments, Wilderness, National Forests, etc.) along with the protections implied or imposed in re each and every wild inhabitant thereupon. Why?

Because Freedom  Money.

Rotten bastard(s). I’d rather live in a den of hungry Timberwolves than in a world filled with Teabaggers  DEFINED by the Mental Poverty and Shriveled Souls of Teabaggers!

OPEN THREAD

 

 

The Watering Hole; Thursday May 12 2016; Trump Summarized

He preached upon “Breadth” till it argued him narrow —
The Broad are too broad to define
And of “Truth” until it proclaimed him a Liar —
The Truth never flaunted a Sign . . .

Those are Emily Dickinson’s words from roughly 150 yrs ago, but when one reads them today, it’s a really good trick to not find oneself immediately ‘thinking’ about Donald Trump. Perfect summation, I’d say; brief, but amazingly cogent and accurate.

Meanwhile, I’ve more or less analyzed the situation as it’s been presented, and have come up with a mere seven words which, to my mind at least, summarize the vast bulk of what Donald Trump really is. For clarity’s sake, I’ve included common definitions of each, which, taken together, result in what’s commonly known as a closed loop:

Stupid: annoying or irritating; troublesome; tediously dull, especially due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless; mental dullness; foolish; senseless.

Narcissist: a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish.

Xenophobe: a person who fears or hates foreigners, strange customs, etc.

Racist: a person who believes in the doctrine that one’s own racial group is superior to any or all other racial groups.

Misogynist: a person who hates, dislikes, mistrusts, or mistreats women.

Bigot: a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.

Idiot: an utterly foolish or senseless person.

Stated another way, Trump is a Stupid, Narcissistic, Xenophobic, Racist, Misogynistic and Bigoted Idiot. Not exactly poetic I know, but still a (highly accurate) foolish and senseless closed loop — the very definition of the pinnacle of human crud. Something like that.

Others have their own notions as well, and some even use different words than I’ve noted above. For example:

Leonard Pitts in the Miami Herald:

So it has come to this: Trump 2016.

What first seemed a joke, then an unsettling possibility and then a troubling likelihood, became a grim certainty last week as Donald Trump, real estate developer turned reality show ringmaster turned would-be president, won an emphatic victory in Indiana’s Republican primary. His last remaining rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, both dropped out within 24 hours, leaving Trump the de facto nominee of what used to be called, with some pride, the Party of Lincoln.

[. . .]

When you spend decades stoking people’s insecurities, resentment and outrage, when you devote thousands of radio and television hours to scapegoating the marginalized and demonizing the vulnerable, when you campaign on coded appeals to xenophobia, racism and misogyny, when you make facts optional and lies routine, when you prioritize expedience above integrity and embrace ignorance as somehow more authentically American, you may not credibly profess surprise when you produce a candidate who embodies all those traits.

Mark Sumner at Daily Kos indicts the Republican Party for Trump’s emergence from the political swamp. I can’t disagree.

When it turned out that their policies weren’t enough, Republicans made a bargain with racism to get the votes they needed to stay competitive. And when racism no longer made up the difference, they made a bargain with misogyny to get an edge. And when racism and misogyny together would no longer guarantee a victory, they added xenophobia and religious bigotry. They tacked on bullying, and mockery of science, and the politics of personal destruction.

Then someone forgot that there were supposed to be policies. And here we are. If you go long enough thinking that the ends justify the means, someone is bound to prove you wrong.

I note that both Pitts and Sumner left out Stupid, Narcissistic, and Idiot, but by golly they got the rest right!

Question remains, though: was it solely the Republican Party that gave us Trump, or did he have some ancillary help? I think the latter; here are a small handful of the reasons:

1. Conservative operative Roger Stone (who has called for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to be killed):

A longtime political operative, Stone has built his reputation on controversy and dirty tricks. During his time on the Nixon campaign, for example, he reportedly created a fake identity, and made multiple donations to Nixon’s opponent from the Young Socialist Alliance. He then tipped off a local newspaper about those donations, to prove Nixon’s opponent was a left-wing extremist.

In 2008, he created an anti-Hillary Clinton group called C.U.N.T., which he said stood for Citizens United Not Timid. Stone later lamented that he could not think of a good acronym for B.I.T.C.H.

2. Katrina Pierson, the face of the Donald Trump campaign:

A former Democrat, [Trump Spokesperson Katrina] Pierson voted for President Obama in 2008, but decided to switch her affiliation to Tea Party Republican after hearing that Obama did not wear an American flag pin on his lapel.

3. Carl Paladino, 2010 (Republican) candidate for Governor of New York:

As a politician, Paladino was one of the original Tea Party heroes. He made headlines more than a few times for what many considered outlandish behavior — He once forwarded emails to colleagues containing racist memes and horse porn; he brandished baseball bats in the state capitol; he bragged about boycotting a gay pride parade; and claimed people on welfare need to be taught personal hygiene. While campaigning for Trump last month, he referred to president Obama as “raccoon in the basement.”

4. Sam Clovis . . . campaign’s national co-chair and senior policy adviser:

Clovis was well-known as a college professor and far-right radio host. He made waves during his time as a radio host for suggesting that President Obama only “claims to be black,” and that Obama’s racial makeup would make it difficult to impeach him.

Shortly after Clovis joined Trump’s campaign as a senior policy adviser, Trump announced his controversial plan to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States. In an interview with the Guardian, Clovis defended the policy, calling it a “reasonable precaution.” “Our view [is that] there is nothing wrong with stepping back and taking a break,” he said.

There are numerous others involved, of course, but just those four seem to amply describe the “Stupid” and the “idiot” parts (resp.) of Trump’s campaign persona to date. Add to them the rest of his staff — Steve Mnuchin, Corey Lewandowski, Carter Page, Edward Klein, Paul Manafort, Michael Glassner, Don McGahn, Hope Hicks, Joseph Schmitz, Daniel Scavino Jr., Gen. Keith Kellogg, Dr. Ben Carson, George Papadopoulos, and Walid Phares — and the presentation of Trump as a Stupid, Narcissistic, Xenophobic, Racist, Misogynistic and Bigoted Idiot is fully explained. The lowest of the low — “foolish and senseless” — now clarified. Trump Summarized.

Or, stated a better and more poetic way,

Simplicity fled from his counterfeit presence
As Gold the Pyrites would shun —
What confusion would cover the innocent Jesus
To meet so enabled a Man!
(Emily Dickinson)

My suggestion for the New Trump Slogan:

The Best Offense is to be Offensive!

D.J.T. Q.E.D.

OPEN THREAD

 

 

The Watering Hole; Friday May 6 2016; Zieg HEIL!! Drumpf Ist Hier!

Trump has nailed down the Republican candidacy for POTUS, and some are more delighted at the prospect of a President Trump than are others.

David Duke Hopes To Get Donald Trump To Embrace Full-Blown Anti-Semitism

Duke said it was high time “to start naming the enemy that’s orchestrating our destruction: If we don’t dispose the Jews, there is no hope for our people.”  . . .

He explained that Jews “control” the media, academia and the political world, “and I think that we’ve really got to start going full bore on that. I’m not saying that Trump has to but we’ve got to and that’s the only way we’re going to move people like Trump more toward doing the things we’ve got to do.”

David Duke Hails Donald Trump For Thwarting The ‘Jewish Supremacists Who Control Our Country’

. . . white nationalist leader David Duke celebrated Donald Trump’s “amazing victory” in the Indiana primary, which allowed him to become the presumptive Republican nominee for president, hailing Trump for terrifying wealthy “Jewish extremists” and exposing the “Jewish supremacists who control our country.” . . .

Duke urged listeners to “make sure that Trump understands that we expect him to follow through on these things and we expect him to be our White Knight, our advocate and our person.”

He said that white nationalists must continue to move the political center to the right in order to make Trump’s ideas more mainstream.

“This is a movement to take America back, and when we say ‘take America back,’ we know exactly what that means,” Duke said, “and I think everybody who says that knows what it means. And if we don’t keep putting that heat, if we don’t keep pushing the envelope over, we’ve got to be so far to the right — maybe that’s the wrong for it, ‘right-wing,’ ‘left-wing,’ doesn’t have much meaning — but so far to the right for our people that Trump seems moderate so that he will have space to move to the right himself because we’ve got to start an evolutionary movement to the right.”

David Duke: Donald Trump Comparisons May Rehabilitate Adolf Hitler’s Image

. . . whatever you want to say about Donald Trump, there’s no way you can say any of this stuff, it’s crazy, but they say this.

The truth is, by the way, they might be rehabilitating that fellow with the mustache back there in Germany, because I saw a commercial against Donald Trump, a really vicious commercial, comparing what Donald Trump said about preserving America and making America great again to Hitler in Germany preserving Germany and making Germany great again and free again and not beholden to these Communists on one side, politically who were trying to destroy their land and their freedom, and the Jewish capitalists on the other, who were ripping off the nation through the banking system. We have the same thing going on here with Goldman Sachs. It was a commercial, I saw that this morning and I was amazed by that commercial. It was a commercial against Trump but I don’t think it’s having the effect that they want it to have. . . .

You know, if you love your country and if you love, or at least what your country is supposed to represent, what it originally represented, because I don’t know if we can everything love our government — we certainly can’t love everything our government is doing today because the leaders of this country, the people who have control over this country, are purposefully wiping … If you’re a European person, the government is purposefully wiping you out and your families and your children and your future. They are purposefully transforming this country into a Third World nation. And if you want to see the direction of this country, just look at a Communist here, Bernie Sanders, running and winning a lot of victories in major states, and who is a former Communist and is a Marxist right now, folks.

And if that’s not enough, there’s this:

‘Hail Emperor Trump!’ White Nationalists Take Victory Lap Following Trump Win

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been energizing and electrifying white supremacists, and their excitement is hitting new highs now that he is clearly the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee.

The neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer, which endorsed Trump two weeks after his immigrant-disparaging campaign launch, is filled with posts celebrating the GOP candidate’s victory this morning. “White men in America and across the planet are partying like it’s 1999 following Trump’s decisive victory over the evil enemies of our race,” says one post, which also celebrates that “[t]he Jews are in full-on freak-out mode.”

[. . .]

“The fires of nationalism, the fires of identity, the fires of anger against the corrupt establishment are arising all around Europe, all around America, all around the entire world. So we just need to strap in, because the future is gonna definitely be interesting, and I believe we could have a switch in our direction even more…Hail, Emperor Trump! And hail, victory! ”

I have the distinct feeling that if the November election celebration should happen to belong to Trump, the first thing I’ll be reminded of will be the words of André Francois-Poncet, the French Ambassador to Germany who, on the night of Hitler’s rise to power as German Chancellor — January 30 1933 — wrote:

The torches [the marchers] brandished formed a river of fire, a river with hastening, unquenchable waves, a river in spate sweeping with a sovereign rush over the very heart of the city. . . . The onlookers, drawn up on either side of the marching columns, burst into a vast clamor. The river of fire flowed past the french embassy whence with heavy heart and filled with foreboding I watched its luminous wake.

Hitler’s slogans, oft stated, were Germany First! and Make Germany Great Again! The slogan that stuck, however, was different:

Do we really want to go there?

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Thursday May 5 2016; Guns and Roses Losers

My Life had stood — a Loaded Gun —
In Corners — till a Day
The Owner passed — identified —
And carried Me away . . .

Ted Cruz speaks for evangelicals and the right wing in general when he says:

“Listen, absolutely, yes. I think the first obligation of everyone in public office is to protect life. Life is foundational. In fact, as you look at the Declaration, that ordering of unalienable rights — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — I think is a very deliberate ordering.”

And when he says:

“It doesn’t make sense for grown adult men, strangers, to be alone in a restroom with a little girl. This is the height of political correctness. And frankly, the concern is not of the Caitlyn Jenners of the world, but if the law is such that any man, if he feels like it, can go in a woman’s restroom and you can’t ask him to leave, that opens the door for predators.”

And he really grabs them when he talks about what wingnuts everywhere perceive as serious threats to their Second Amendment “rights,” as in this:

“Following the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama and Harry Reid lead an assault, not on going after violent criminals, which is what they should have done, but instead going after the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. And I led the fight to protect the Second Amendment in the U.S. Senate and we defeated President Obama’s efforts to undermine our rights.”

And on the campaign trail in Iowa, he wowed ’em with this bit of “wisdom”:

“The great thing about the state of Iowa is (that) I’m pretty sure you all define gun control the same way we do in Texas: hitting what you aim at.”

Ah yes. As every good gun owner knows, hitting what you aim at is the PURPOSE! of guns, and that PURPOSE! is what the Second Amendment is all about! It PROTECTS our RIGHT to hit what you aim at and KILL IT!  YeeeeeHawwwww!!

Seems to me there’s a serious discrepancy embedded in the premises noted above. On the one hand, the fear of transgender people seems to DEMAND that the Declaration of Independence’s ordering of unalienable rights, i.e. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness which Ted Cruz considers to be a very deliberate ordering, is an ordering that does NOT apply to everyone, and clearly not to transgender people, or to LGBT people in general. Instead he seems to reckon that to lend them the ‘impression’ that they enjoy the same rights as everyone else would be a really dangerous concession, one that would open the door for predators and put the entire rest of the nation in grave danger.

All of which is something, of course, that guns could NEVER do. Right? Right. Except — as a recent report points out —

The American College of Physicians has been calling gun violence an epidemic since 1995, and though homicide incidences have decreased dramatically since the early 1990s, the medical community still remains deeply concerned, as more than 478,000 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm in 2011, according to the most recent data from the Department of Justice.

Gee. What’s up with THAT? Close to a half million violent CRIMES in only ONE YEAR were committed with GUNS? Nah, that’s just them commie democrats lyin’ to us again, trying to find a way to accelerate President Obama’s efforts to undermine our rights and confiscate our guns! — which of course has absolutely NO relationship to the fact that ALL “conservatives” everywhere know and believe that the first obligation of everyone in public office is to protect life. Right? Right.

The article also notes that

In February, several leading health associations issued a call to action asking Congress to develop policies that would reduce the incidences of gun violence. Many of the recommendations look similar to those proposed by gun-control advocates – including limiting the availability of assault weapons and closing loopholes that exist in background checks for those who buy guns at gun shows or from dealers – and they are expected to gain little traction in the GOP-controlled Congress . . .

Well, you know, they say there’s somewhere between 30 and 35 thousand people that die every year from gunshots, but prolly half o’ them’re suicides, so what’s the problem. Right? Right.

Problem obvious: 478,000 fatal and nonfatal (gun) crimes per year, 35,000 people dead from gunshots every year, but that’s nothing, really. Where our REAL problem lies is that them transgender people wanna use the wrong restroom, and if that’s allowed God will rain death and destruction down and destroy Amurkkka in the process!

And we haven’t even touched on the gay marriage stuff, and how many people are doomed cuz of THAT!

******

Has anyone published the numbers yet of how many die from gay marriage or how many transgender restroom assaults (and deaths) there are each year? Bet the numbers are really scary-scary! Most likely all-a-dem gun owners are really lucky that Life is foundational for DEM and not for THEM! Right? Right.

Actually, I’m guessing the number in those LGBT scenarios is probably zero even though I’ve not seen any confirming stats. I should ask Ted Cruz, maybe; bet he’d know. I mean, since Life is foundational, maybe there could be a tee-tiny flaw in the Second Amendment interpretation and expression? You gotta wonder.

Too bad Ted’s dropped out of the presidential race; maybe I should ask Trump. He’ll know. Right? Right.

Though I than He — may longer live
He longer must — than I —
For I have but the power to kill,
Without — the power to die –
(Emily Dickinson)

Remember always the “conservative” point of view: Guns are a RIGHT — the height of political correctness — no matter how many lives they might take. Personal Lifestyles, where no other lives are taken, are not, because “Christian Nation” and all, wherein The power to kill without the power to die is of prime import — even as the power to live one’s life as one chooses is forever open to challenge. By the righteous.

I wonder why that is?

OPEN THREAD

 

The Watering Hole; Friday April 29 2016; Nutso Factoids

The Wingnut World gets more nutso every day.

This factoid just in: Removing Jackson From Currency Shows ‘The Leftists Are Not Different From The Islamists’

[That’s the premise of] Joel Gilbert, the right-wing filmmaker who promotes the alternative birther theory that President Obama’s “real father” was labor activist Frank Marshall Davis; [Gilbert] joined far-right radio host Rick Wiles on his “Trunews” program on Monday to discuss what Wiles called the “cultural cleansing” taking place with the removal of President Andrew Jackson from the front of the $20 bill.

Gilbert took offense at the very idea of removing Hero Jackson from the twenty and putting up a black former slave woman! in his place. He found that whole notion to be as offending to white racists everywhere as are all those efforts to  get rid of the Confederate flag. In his mind, all that subversive stuff is nothing more than the effort of Liberals to, in effect,

“. . . change everything and pretty much apologize and condemn the greatness of America and the history and judge it according to current value standards of the media and condemn American history, apologize for American history and then cover it up.”

He further points out that

“The leftists are not different from the Islamists. Don’t forget the Islamists, when Islam burst out of Arabia in the sixth century, seventh century, they came to Jerusalem, they renamed it al-Quds. Several centuries later, they took over the Christian city of Constantinople. Now it’s called Istanbul.

“This is a way of changing the history to accommodate the new ideology in town, and changing the currency to wipe out the founding fathers from our consciousness, their principles and their ideals that created a nation of individual free markets and free speech, that is a way to achieve their long-term goals.”

Right. Because this here’s Amurkkka, dontcha know, and only us white male asshole bigots have any meaning at all. And wimmin, ‘specially black wimmin, ain’t got no business havin’ there pitcher on are money!

Something like that.

And remember, them damn Islamists changed the name of Jerusalem to al-Quds and the name of that Christian place called Constantinople to Istanbul., right? Right. And them Islamists are the same as our are Leftists, right? Right. So I’m guessing what that all means is that Leftists are gonna pretty soon start changing names of places in this here country. It figgers, right? Right.

So with me being a Leftist and all, I think it’s only fair that I git get that process underway by proposing we change the name of our Capitol from Washington to something that more closely recommends right wing Republican ideas, ideals, and their “principles.” With that in mind, here’s my suggestion:

WASHINGTON ➤ WASHACHTUNG!

Seems apropos, somehow.

That’s not likely to ever happen, of course. And there’s a really big reason for that:

Rick Wiles Warns Target Restroom Policy Will Spark Nuclear War

After reading from a statement about the bathroom policy from Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder, Wiles bellowed, “How about if I just urinate on your floor? How about that, Molly? Because you’re defecating on this nation. . . .

“God is going to use the Russians to bring down Sodom and Gomorrah if there’s no repentance in this land,” he said. “Listen, these freaks are going to get us all killed. They’re going to get us all killed. When there is a nuclear war, we all die.”

Oh well, so who cares. We’ll all be dead, right? Right. Yeehaw.

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole; Friday April 22 2016; Eternity

I’ve dropped my Brain — My Soul is numb —
The Veins that used to run
Stop palsied — ’tis Paralysis
Done perfecter on stone
(Emily Dickinson)

I spent WASTED about five minutes yesterday, briefly watching Matt Lauer’s “interview” (yeah, right) of Donald Trump in a Town Hall, somewhere. My response, having shut the damn thing off as soon as I could find the remote, was to IMMEDIATELY thank Emily Dickinson for those four lines. Why? Because as a result of that momentary indiscretion on my part, I’ve dropped my Brain — My Soul is numb — eight words that have actually become the most able summation of my reaction to this year’s political asininity that I’ve run across to date.

And, as if Drumpf wasn’t bad enough, here are a few additional tidbits that induce even more dropping of the brain, more numbing of the soul:

Oath Keepers Website Warns Clinton Victory Could Lead To ‘Outright Civil War’

Pamela Geller: Obama Is Enforcing Sharia

David Kupelian: The Left Is Driving ‘Good Decent Christian Patriotic Americans’ Insane

And finally this nugget — the approximate equivalent of accidentally stepping in a pile of cow shit whilst enjoying a morning walk in an otherwise pristine forest or meadow:

Pat Boone: Those Behind SNL’s Christian Movie Parody Are Going To Hell

“When you speak against God and his purpose, we don’t have to ask for an apology. We need to stand up for what’s true and right, but then step aside because they’re answering to Him, not to us. That’s outright sacrilege and, as you know, I don’t think people will be offended by this, Jesus said that every sin a man can commit can be forgiven except against blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Well, the Holy Spirit is God and that sin is not to be forgiven in this world or the world to come. So my feelings now are not so much anger as sadness for what I fear is ahead for the people that are doing these things.”

Conclusion: Jesus H. Christ and Goddammit! I’m apparently doomed to the worst hell I can imagine — spending eternity as Pat Boone’s eternal roomie!

OK. I give up. Hell with politics, hell with religionistas, hell with their subterranean level of brainpower, of eternity. As Voltaire put it, Écrasez l’infame. ‘Crush the infamous.’ I couldn’t agree more. Amen.

Here’s my better idea; explore — again and always — THIS eternity! A new and fresh one begins and ends EVERY DAY! Examples:

▲Sunrise, Lake Beckwith Colorado, 2014▲

▲Sunrise, Wailua Bay Kauai, 1978▲

▲Sunrise, Cabo San Lucas, 1983▲

▲Sunrise, Sonoran Desert Arizona, 2001▲

▲Sunset, West Maui, 1978▲

There. Soothing. Gentle. That’s what the world could easily be . . . sans that unbelievably immense pile of subhuman dregs and their ever-boisterous advocates; learn from them, once again, that ancient lesson, and note that — indeed — some things never seem to change:

“Zapata . . . took to preaching God in all simplicity.
He announced to men the common Father, the rewarder,
the punisher, and pardoner. He extricated the truth from the lies,
and separated religion from fanaticism; he taught and practised
virtue. He was gentle, kindly, and modest; and he was
burned at Valladolid in the year of grace 1631.”
(Voltaire)

Take instead that other path — Wander. Observe. Enjoy.

And tell Drumpf, et al., to SHUT UP!

******

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The Watering Hole; Thursday April 21 2016; “Divine Insanity”

Conversion of the Mind
Like Sanctifying in the Soul —
Is witnessed — not explained . . .

I’ve long admired those lines by Emily Dickinson. They so perfectly summarize just about everything we’re seeing these days, both in Republican Politics and in Wingnut Christerism (assuming there’s any significant difference between the two). The fact that she wrote them more than 150 years ago suggests that not much has changed over that span of time, that this country has long been roughly as nuts as it seems today. I could fill pages with the inanities and insanities of just the current day, but rather than write an encyclopedia, I’ll limit this exposition to a pair of pertinent explorations. But wow. Just wow. Well, you’ll see.

Mark Taylor’s “amazing 2011 prophecy that Donald Trump has been marked by God to lead America”

Taylor explained [to Rick Wiles] that God told him that Donald Trump will be the next president and that anyone who criticizes him will be struck down, explaining that God has been preparing Trump for his entire life to become an extraordinarily successful president who will fight Satan. . . .

Taylor also alleged that God made Fox News host Megyn Kelly “violently ill” for asking Trump “gotcha” questions at the first GOP presidential debate: “God was firing a warning shot: Don’t attack my anointed. Period.”

“The kingdom of darkness is attacking this man like never before,” Taylor said. “God is using this man — he’s not rattling the gates, because when you rattle the gates you don’t make entry — this man is literally splitting the kingdom of darkness right open.” . . .

“God is using him to literally split hell right open and stop this New World Order,” he added.

Taylor then compared Trump to Jesus Christ and said that he is “absolutely” sure that Trump will be elected president in November.

OK, so that one’s bad, really bad, maybe even a little on the bizarre side. I mean, God chooses Drumpf? Even if there be a god out there somewhere, It would only choose Drumpf if cosmic insanity had set in somehow, which in such case would signal yet another cosmic dilemma such as the one that we see every day in our political world, the one where Sanctifying in the Soul — Is witnessed — not explained.

Then there’s this, a “brief” excerpt from a more complete expression and exposition of a Divine Insanity:

Steve Quayle and Tom Horn: Giants, demonic portals, and the return of the Nephilim

Deuteronomy 3:13 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.

These passages have left many questions, such as: Where did these giants come from? What was their connection with ordinary humans? What happened to them? And is it possible they could return? Quayle and Horn have spent most their adult life searching for the answers to these mysteries, and believe they not only can, but have returned.

Over the years, every interview Rick Wiles has conducted with both Horn and Quayle has exposed an encyclopedia of knowledge and insight. Today’s interview lived up to that expectation.

During the interview Steve Quayle, Tom Horn and Rick Wiles discussed:

• The satanic plan to genetically manipulate the human race.
• Evidence that we are coming into the Days of Noah.
• The Vatican observatory called the Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research (LUCIFER), located on Mt. Graham in Tucson Arizona.
• The real reason the Apache indians filled [sic] a lawsuit to stop the Vatican, NASA, and Arizona State University from building on Mt. Graham.
• The American Indian’s drawings on Mt. Graham depicting a great flood, giants cannibalizing humans, and evil entities coming through “star gates”.
• The origins of sorcery, magic and medicine men in the American Indian culture, and its historical parallel to biblical scripture.
• Pope Francis’ secret meeting with an “entity” who came through a dimensional portal at Mt. Graham.
• Zecharia Sitchin’s work, who funded it, and why.
• The origins of Giants, their characteristics, and evidence of their existence throughout documented history.
• The red haired giant a US special forces unit killed in the mountains of Afghanistan.
• The coinciding trips Barack Obama, Pope Francis, and Patriarch Kirill took to the Antarctic, and the secret importance of the region.
• The reason God instructed the children of Israel to kill all men, women, and children in the Land of Canaan.
• What Jesus said about the Nephilim, and the biblical evidence of their existence.
• Rick Wiles’ dream of an underground ‘hybrid’ army preparing to invade the world.

So there you go. God wants Drumpf as Amurkkka’s POTUS, even as It creates an underground ‘hybrid’ army preparing to invade the world. Makes me sorta happy that I’m a non-theist and not a member of that ‘other’ tribe.

‘Twas a Divine Insanity —
The Danger to be Sane
Should I again experience —
‘Tis Antidote to turn —
To Tomes of solid Witchcraft . . .
(Emily Dickinson)

‘Solid Witchcraft’ indeed. So . . . I give up. I surrender. As Judy Woodruff likes to say,

“We’ll have to leave it there.”

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