Marching into Fascist Madness

I’m not ready to discuss A.G. Barr’s “summary” of the Mueller Report, which came out as I was starting this. I didn’t bother watching most of the press coverage, I was too disappointed. Besides, I’d rather wait to see if Jerry “Nads” Nadler, Adam Schiff, etal, can come up with something to cheer me.

In the meantime, I had already run across this survey, which I decided on a whim (of a hat?) to take a look at. I’m glad I did, but when I started reading the questions, I was disturbed – to say the least.

We all know that trump would love to change the libel laws so that he (and his cohorts) can sue a reporter, a newspaper, a network, whoever, over any criticism of trump or his administration.  And of course we all know that trump has been in a verbal war with every news agency except Fox, aka “trumpTV”, although he has lately begun to call out certain Fox reporters who are not lobbing softball questions.

And lastly, we all also know that trump LOVES dictators, and is just dying to emulate them.  So far trump has mainly stuck to his well-documented verbal and Twitter war with journalism and journalists, despite the fact that trump’s stochastic terrorism has already spurred trumpists to violent actions and plots. However, the even stronger stench of fascism in this survey leads me to conclude that the next battle will be much scarier and, eventually, even more violent.  It also seems certain that trump will do whatever he can to try to subvert the First Amendment in order to jail journalists whose questions piss him off for any reason.  The survey also panders to single-issue voters, i.e., anti-choice/”religious-freedom” and/or 2-A voters.

If you don’t want to take the survey or go to the link, below is a description plus the questions.

The survey was titled (in a big red box):

“MAINSTREAM MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY SURVEY”, above which it states

“Certified Website Of President Donald J. Trump”

The response choices to almost all of the following questions are YES, NO, or NO OPINION:

Do you believe that the mainstream media actually cares about working Americans?

Do you believe that the mainstream media has unfairly reported on our presidency?

Do you trust MSNBC to fairly report on our presidency?

Do you trust CNN to fairly report on our presidency?

Do you trust Fox News to fairly report on our presidency?

On which issues does the mainstream media do the worst job of representing Republicans? (Select as many that apply.)
-Immigration
-Economics
-Pro-life values
-Religion
-Individual liberty
-Conservatism
-Foreign policy
-Second Amendment rights

Which television source do you primarily get your news from?
-Fox News
-CNN
-MSNBC
-Local news

Do you use a source not listed above?  [I added BBC News, just for fun – although I was also tempted to add Al Jazeera]

Do you trust the mainstream media to tell the truth about the Republican Party’s positions and actions?

Do you believe that the mainstream media does not do their due diligence fact-checking before publishing stories on the Trump administration?

Do you believe that the media unfairly reported on Trump’s executive order temporarily restricting people entering our country from nations compromised by radical Islamic terrorism?

Were you aware that a poll was released revealing that a majority of Americans actually supported our temporary restriction executive order?

Do you believe that the media is engaging in a witch hunt to take down President Trump?

Do you believe that people of faith have been unfairly characterized by the media?

Do you believe that the media wrongly attributes gun violence to Second Amendment rights?

Do you believe that the media has been far too quick to spread false stories about our movement?

Do you believe that the media has turned a blind eye to Planned Parenthood’s worst actions?

Do you believe that the media uses slurs rather than facts to attack conservative stances on issues like border control, religious liberties, and ObamaCare?

Do you believe that the media purposely tries to pit Republicans against each other in order to help elect Democrats?

Do you believe that the mainstream media has been too eager to jump to conclusions about rumored stories?

Do you believe that if Republicans were obstructing Obama like Democrats are doing to Trump, the mainstream media would attack Republicans?

Do you agree with the President’s decision to break with tradition by giving lesser known reporters and bloggers the chance to ask the Press Secretary questions?

Do you agree with President Trump’s media strategy to cut through the media’s noise and deliver our message straight to the people?

Do you believe that our Party should spend more time and resources holding the mainstream media accountable?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me repeat that last one:

Do you believe that our Party should spend more time and resources holding the mainstream media accountable?

Um, in what way, trump?

This is more than just shouting “FAKE NEWS!”, or even “THE PRESS IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” This is painting “the media” as the enemy of everything trump’s cult holds dear, the enemy of the trumpian “reality” that trumpists are so desperately trying to force on the rest of us, despite the evidence before everyone’s “lying” eyes. It is an attack on one of the most sacred foundations of our democracy and our freedom, and it must be stopped.

OPEN THREAD – Chime in!

Open Thread: Merry Christmas, all y’all!

I think you guys have figured out by now that this is my favorite holiday video, so you won’t be surprised that I’m forcing it down your gullet again this year.  🙂

I hope all of the Critters and Zoosters are doing well, or at least hanging in there as well as you can.  I know I’m suffering from a severe case of OrangeFuckwititis, and am hopeful it will be resolved in 2019.

Frankly, 2018 can join 2017, and the pair of them can fuck right off.  Who’s with me? 😉

Stop by and say “HI”; I’ll be checking in several times on Christmas, so I’ll say “HI” backatcha.  Or feel free to post music, tell jokes, rant, or whatever.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

And here’s some upcoming can’t miss television!

Graphic courtesy of our old friend The Republic of Stupidity (TRoS).

This is your open thread for today!  Come up with your own plot lines, or actors who could star as these ugly characters — or whatever you want.  😉

Rachel Maddow Interviews John Brennan

Rachel interviewed John Brennan, for Director of the CIA under President Obama, on Friday’s show.  Brennan lost his security clearance this week, when the current occupant of the White House revoked his clearance for being a big ol’ meanie.

Like Rachel, I have not been a great supporter of Brennan in the past (remember rendition?), however, I do support his current actions of speaking truth to power to this GOP/Russia-owned administration.

Anyhoo, if you have about 35 minutes, give this interview a listen.  I love it when, around the 25 minute mark, Brennan hesitates a moment, and then says the unstable orange chucklehead is “drunk with power.”  Don’t get me wrong, that statement is scary as shit, but seeing a man, who is normally so careful with his speech, produce those words on national teevee does my heart good.

Open thread, y’all. What’s on your mind?

Aretha Franklin: Rest in Peace, Great Lady

Aretha Franklin, after a long career as one of the greatest singers EVER, died today of cancer.  Her passion for life and music will endure long past her living years.

Consider this your open thread/music post.

Manafort Defense Rests — Calls No Witnesses

via RawStory

The day after Robert Mueller’s team called a butt load of witnesses, Manafort’s defense rested, having called zero witnesses in his trial for fraud and money laundering.

In my humble opinion, Manafort is trying to present an image of confidence that the prosecution failed to prove its case — and failed.  In reality, it appears that the defense was worried about Mueller’s team being able to cross-examine their super-duper honest witnesses.

Anyhoo, I feel safe making the blindingly obvious prediction that tRump, while he’s not using his “executive time” to scrub away the stink of flopsweat, will be frantically tweeting more misspelled batshit insane “thoughts” than usual.  Maybe bring in Hannity for a soothing tongue bath…

BTW, sorryi’vebeengoneareallyreallyreallylongtimepleaseforgiveme.

Consider this your open thread!

Music Night

I can’t believe it’s JUNE!  This calls for some totally random tunes, right?

The Most Punchable Faces of 2017…and probably 2018, too.

I know, I know, I went for one of the easiest punchable faces with the middle Trump Weirdling — I want to punch him for his bizarrely patterned shirt and shiny textured tie, alone — but I thought we might need one of the more obviously punchable faces for starters.

So, while you’re thinking — seething, fuming, clenching your jaw and/or frothing at the mouth — about the most punchable faces of 2017, see if you can come up with one that’s not so obvious.  Someone who makes us think, “Yeah, that guy!!”  But feel free to post the obvious punchable faces too, because shits and giggles!

2016 — You were a crap year, and you know it.

2017 — You were truly fucked up, and we’re more disappointed/disgusted/discouraged than we thought we’d be right now.

2018 — Two things:  1) Please, I’m begging you, have mercy.  2) Do not take the phrase, “Can things get any worse?” as a fucking CHALLENGE!

Have fun all y’all, and have a safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

Daily Gnuz, Saturnday Edition

I received this email this morning from Congress.org:

Elizabeth Warren must be defeated because she is the most extreme, liberal politician out there. And we need your help to STOP her! We must reach our goal of 5,000 signatures and yours is missing- SIGN THE PETITION NOW to defeat Extreme Elizabeth in 2018 >>>

Just how extreme is she? Why don’t we let Extreme Elizabeth speak for herself?

Add your name to the petition before it’s too late >>>

Extreme Elizabeth has made her positions all too clear. Medicare for All. Universal health care. Blood money.

We need you to ACT NOW before she can mobilize her radical, national base.

There’s no denying Elizabeth Warren is extreme when it comes to the issues. And she’s not even hiding it anymore.

We cannot allow Elizabeth Warren or her rhetoric to represent Massachusetts any longer. That’s why I’m asking you to join me by adding your name to stop Elizabeth Warren!

In this together,
John Kingston

I don’t think that WE’RE “In this together”, John – here’s my response:

Go fuck yourselves – I like Senators who have a spine. Not a PENIS, a SPINE – I know that those words contain the same letters, but they’re NOT the same thing.

There’s a reason I’m registered as an Independent: because I’m a Liberal, and I believe that Elizabeth Warren represents my interests and my view of what America should and CAN be, more than any other Senator or Congresscritter (particularly my own John Faso.)

I want someone in DC fighting for the poor and middle-class, not the corporate donors and dark-money interests. I want Citizens United overturned so that the uber-wealthy and foreign-moneyed interests do NOT control my government.

So you can take your ubiquitous conservative white male and shove him up trump’s ass.

Sincerely,

Jane E. Schneider

If you’d like to contact this John Kingston fellow, here’s his home page.

Open Thread – talk about whatever you want.

Music Night: Non-Traditional Holiday Songs

Our friend, Gary Herstein, suggested holiday “songs that don’t make you want to put out your ears with an ice pick,” which I think is a perfectly reasonable request.

Be warned!  If anyone posts that stupid grandma/reindeer song, I will find a way to hurt you.  🙂

Having gotten that off my chest, have fun all y’all!

Music Night: Don’t hold back

Such a sexy song…

Music Night: Post ’em if you got ’em

It’s my birfday, dammit!!  And you guys playing your favorite songs makes me happy, so get on with it!  🙂

Daily Gnuz

Evangelical Christians’ reactions/non-reactions to Charlottesville, via The Christian Post:

First, there are actually a couple of articles where pastors, etal, are finally allowing their collective conscience to break through. Here’s one, and here’s another

Of course, those voices are few, and they’ve got competition, i.e.:

Here’s an opinion piece from “guest contributor” Brad Huddleston, the title of which I thought promising, until I actually read it: “Charlottesville: Jesus Commands Us to ‘Tell The Truth’, So Why Aren’t We?” A few excerpts:

“I was in Charlottesville, Virginia, during the riots and what I observed and what I saw in the media’s coverage are, for the most part, two very different narratives.

Although the atmosphere was volatile everywhere I walked, I have to believe that it was Sovereignty that kept me away from the physical confrontations. I did, however, observe verbal ones. I saw various white supremacist groups filled with hate and evil intentions. They were armed with weapons and ready for a fight. I also watched members of Black Lives Matter as well as Communists/Marxists, carrying their hammer and sickle flags. They were also filled with hate and evil intentions.”

Sounds to me as though it wasn’t “Sovereignty” that kept him away from the physical confrontations, it was his own cowardice. So all he did was “observe” certain things, verbal interactions, certain flags, and interpret them in the light of his own prejudices [“during the RIOTS”.]  How dare he automatically credit BLM with “evil intentions”, when they were protesting against NAZIS and WHITE SUPREMACISTS! And if BLM were involved in extremely heated arguments defending their right to exist as equals in the face of horrifying insults, threats, violence, etc., who would blame them for hating everything that these armed, sometimes uniformed, Confederate-and-Nazi-flag-waving un-American RACISTS do, say, and stand for. The hammer-and-sickle flag-waving “Communists/Marxists”? The author ‘identifies’ them in a later section as the Antifa. I call bullshit. Apparently the author was so terrified he couldn’t even verify what these people were marching for/against.

“The media was slamming the various white supremacist groups (and they should). But I immediately noticed something very perplexing. Very little if any coverage was being given to the various Communist and Marxist groups and violent Black Lives Matter and Antifa activists. It was as if the white supremacists were the only ones who were filled with hate. I kept waiting and waiting for someone to show images of the reality that we, who were actually there, observed.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let’s never forget that the Communists and Marxists have killed far more people than Hitler. Nevertheless, they are all equal in their evil, and all should be equally condemned. If they are participating in the same riot, they should share the same headline. Because white supremacists’ numbers are small, we should be far more concerned about their Marxist and their Socialist cousins. Our American universities have been cranking them out for years, and we’re now seeing the results.

Both extremes were represented in Charlottesville on that scary day. To give the extreme left a pass, and even affirm them, would make Hitler proud.”

I can’t even comment, I’m so gobsmacked by this. But I would like to ask Mr. Huddleston if any of the BLM or Antifa drove a car at speed into a crowd of human beings, killing one and injuring more than a dozen others; and how many BLM or Antifa were “ARMED WITH WEAPONS and ready to fight” as the Nazi/KKK and white supremacist pseudomilitary actually were?

And then we have conservative black pastors and others defending trump’s abhorrent remarks in “Black Christian Leaders Detest Claim That Trump Is the ‘Driver’ of Racial Division in America.” Here’s just one little slice of this twisted, surreal pie:

“Corrogan Vaughn, a political activist who ran against Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland in the 2016 election, argued that those in the media who blame Trump for the racial tension in the United States are trying to turn Trump into a “villain.”

“Don’t make our commander in chief a villain when in actuality it is more the villainess of the media in terms of making something where nothing is,” Vaughn stated.

Oh, joy, keep screaming that the “media” is to blame, and this imaginary ‘alt-left’, ffs – like who’re you gonna believe, trump and the evangelicals, or your lying eyes?

For more, here’s the Christian Post’s Political page. Have fun.

This is our Open Thread – enjoy!

Daily Nuze

Good Morning Zoosterians.

This is my first attempt at a daily thread, hope it works.
Well, aside from the new editor page not working to show the anchors, I guess this is OK. I’ll try to get the HTML working for the next post. Let me know if the links don’t work…

I will have several posts a week if all works out, including topics such as Daily Nuze, The Jobs Aren’t Coming Back, and What the H*ll.

This morning’s top articles:

Who the hell would want to work for This Guy

Trump faces shrinking talent pool for new hires. No kidding. As the new press secretary, your prelim meeting goes something like:

Now remember, the truth is what is between the Prezidunce’s ears, nothing else should concern you, now get out there and defend his misquotes and fabrications, dammit!

ht/ The Hill

 

And, in the same vein:

‘Who wants to sign up for crazy?‘: Trump looks to GOP establishment — but they want no part of him

h/t Raw Story

 

And, one more story of interest this AM

 AP: Trump Has Been Giving World Leaders His Cellphone Number

That’s one way to try to be popular, albeit a somewhat risky one…

h/t TPM

RUCerious @ TPZoo

 

The Watering Hole, Monday, May 15th, 2017: Commence[IMPEACH]ment

On Saturday, Donald trump gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Here’s the entire transcript, courtesy of Time Magazine. I’ll just provide this one excerpt, the opening of trump’s remarks:

“Thank you very much. everybody. And congratulations to the class of 2017. That’s some achievement.

This is your day and you’ve earned every minute of it. And I’m thrilled to be back at Liberty University, I’ve been here, this is now my third time, and we love setting records, right. We always set records. We have to set records, we have no choice.

It’s been a little over a year since I’ve spoken on your beautiful campus and so much has changed. Right here, the class of 2017 dressed in cap and gown, graduating to a totally brilliant future. And here I am standing before you as President of the United States, so I’m guessing — there are some people here today who thought that either one of those things, either one, would really require major help from God. Do we agree? And we got it.

But here we are celebrating together on this very joyous occasion, and there is no place in the world I’d rather be to give my first commencement address as President than here with my wonderful friends at Liberty University. And I accepted this invitation a long time ago. I said to Jerry that I’d be there, and when I say something I mean it.”

That’s more or less representative of how the rest of the address goes. There’s some semi-coherent and event-appropriate sentences, obviously written by someone other than the usual trump spokesvermin. But then trump’s off on tangents (the most lengthy one being about football), and the trump brand limited-edition, limited-vocabulary, limited-attention-span WTFery. I lost count of the lies and ignorant statements; however, I do recommend reading the entire thing. [WARNING: for those whose health (mental or physical) might be at risk, ask your doctor if reading trump’s commencement address is right for you. Your doctor may suggest adding a low-dose Xanax to your current medications.]

In better news, here’s something from the NY Daily News.

And here’s a website to track impeachment efforts.

This is our Open Thread–have at it!

The Watering Hole, Monday, April 24th, 2017: The Boob Tube Prez

In the same troubling vein as the recent Time Magazine interview with President trump, here’s a few disturbing articles about trump’s overriding fascination with all things TV.
A recent Raw Story article demonstrates the incompetence of both trump and his aides, and shows that trump’s is a presidency without anything resembling an “administration”:

“Some of President Donald Trump’s top aides worry that too much of his time is unsupervised, which — in the past — has led to serious unforced errors that undermine him and his administration.”

Yeah, not to mention the entire country, and world stability.

“And while some advisers support the president’s unconventional approach to the job, others worry that these holes in the president’s schedule are where he goes awry and “watches too much TV”, gets overexcited and posts inflammatory — frequently inaccurate — rants online or speaks by phone with people who encourage his worst instincts.”

What trump’s advisors SHOULD primarily be worrying about is the fact that there are so many “holes in the president’s schedule.” His aides should be scheduling tutors in remedial civics, the Constitution, presidential protocol, history, geography, oh, hell, EVERYTHING he doesn’t seem to have a clue about when it comes to the U.S. government. Maybe if they tried teaching him via videos on a big-screen TV – and kept referring to it as “Reality TV” – they might get him to learn something.

From a second Raw Story article:

“The Washington Post said Sunday that in addition to fretting over what the president will do if left alone too long, Trump’s aides and advisers struggle to keep the president from consuming too much TV or watching things that will upset him and cause him to erupt on Twitter.”

Yes, the President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, needs a babysitter. I think it would be more helpful if they hired a boot camp drill instructor.

A few excerpts from the Washington Post article by Ashley Parker and Robert Costa:

““President Trump is someone who comes to the White House with a sophisticated understanding of how to communicate, the power of television, the power of imagery, the power of message, and how message, messenger and delivery all work together,” said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president.”

Although Kellyanne managed to actually string words together that made a somewhat coherent sentence, her seeming point that trump’s TV savvy makes him better qualified as a president is ridiculous. The crudeness and ignorance of the actual content of trump’s communications, messages and delivery overshadow any “sophisticated understanding” of the medium used.

“He is also a natural showman. During the campaign, he riveted viewers with his raucous rallies, where he often spoke for more than hour without any notes or teleprompters. And in TV interviews, he sometimes offers tips on matters including lighting and chair placement, with an intuitive sense of what makes for good TV.”

Being a “natural showman” is all well and good for magicians, game-show hosts, carnival barkers, and snake-oil salesman, but again, it is not the top qualification for running a working government. And trump’s speeches where he rambled for “more than [an] hour without notes or teleprompters” are infamous for their non-sequiturs, weird tangents, and outright made-up bullshit.

“During a small working lunch at the White House last month, the question of job security in President Trump’s tumultuous White House came up, and one of the attendees wondered whether press secretary Sean Spicer might be the first to go.

The president’s response was swift and unequivocal. “I’m not firing Sean Spicer,” he said, according to someone familiar with the encounter. “That guy gets great ratings. Everyone tunes in.”

Trump even likened Spicer’s daily news briefings to a daytime soap opera, noting proudly that his press secretary attracted nearly as many viewers.

For Trump — a reality TV star who parlayed his blustery-yet-knowing on-air persona into a winning political brand — television is often the guiding force of his day, both weapon and scalpel, megaphone and news feed.”

This is a president for whom “ratings” and appearance are more important than honesty and integrity. A president who is superficial, crass, and so limited in his ability to learn or mature that, at 70, he still bases decisions as president on what he sees on cable TV, particularly Fox, his favorite propaganda network. A frightening concept, right?

What I find almost as frightening is that the Washington Post article isn’t screaming “THIS PRESIDENT IS TOTALLY FUBAR”, or even “THIS PRESIDENT IS INCOMPETENT”, let alone “THIS IS NOT NORMAL!”

This is our Open Thread – say anything you want.

The Watering Hole: Sunday, April 16th, 2017: Easter Sunday Roast

The Tappan Zee Bridge, which crosses the Hudson not very far to the south of us, has just been equipped with a live-feed Peregrine Falcon camera. So now that April the giraffe has calved, one can switch gears and watch for a hatching and subsequent hatchlings.

Peregrine chicks are cute little balls of white fluff:

It’s hard to believe that those adorably ungainly hatchlings eventually turn into such impressively majestic birds of prey:

And for those who celebrate Easter, here’s the Easter Rat to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

This is our Open Thread – just go with it.

The Watering Hole, Saturday, April 15th, 2017: Eve of Destruction? Enjoy the View

If we’re lucky, trump and/or Kim Jong-Un won’t blow up the planet this coming week. Unless something insane happens during the imminent fly-by of asteroid 2014 JO25, on April 19th, at a distance of 1.1 million miles, we could get through the week.

And if we’re really lucky and make it safely through these fucked-up times, and humankind is still around ten years from now, another asteroid will be visiting us at approximately 236,000 miles, about the same distance away as our moon. If the scientists are off a bit in their calculations, who knows, perhaps 1999 AN10 will be merciful and finish us off.

In the meantime, enjoy these glorious pictures of a wide variety of places on this planet we call home.

This is our Open Thread-say anything.

The Watering Hole, Wednesday, April 12, 2017: Open Thread

Peekaboo! A close up of a red panda in the trees. pic.twitter.com/zIIrMVbZIb

— Cute Baby Animals (@CuteBabyAnimals) April 9, 2017

The Watering Hole, Tuesday, April 11, 2017: Open Thread

IS THIS NOT THE CUTEST THING EVER pic.twitter.com/ARDya3N9ZS

— Cute Baby Animals (@CuteBabyAnimals) April 9, 2017

The Watering Hole, Monday, April 10, 2017: Open Thread

in case үou are having a rough day pic.twitter.com/E7ovQSk6Kh

— Cute Baby Animals (@CuteBabyAnimals) April 9, 2017

Oh, and in case you missed the anti-trump 6-part series by the L.A. Times Editorial Board, here’s a link to Part I, “Our Dishonest President”. Links to the rest of the series are included at the top of the first piece. Caveat: I have not read all of them, as they are difficult to read when one’s outrage level keeps going up to eleven.

The Watering Hole, Sunday, April 9, 2017: Open Thread

Is it Sunday already? Seriously, I lost track of what day it is.

The Watering Hole, Saturday, April 8, 2017: Open Thread

How about those [insert the name of an astonishingly good or bad group here]?

The Watering Hole, Friday, April 7, 2017: Open Thread

Is Trump a dick or what? Discuss. Or talk about something else, like, Is Trump an asshole or what?

The Watering Hole, Thursday, April 6, 2017: Open Thread

“I could never get the hang of Thursdays.” – Arthur Dent