Another mass shooting? Oh, well...

This latest "record' of a mass killing that happened in Las Vegas is just as appalling as the previous "records" of mass killings. I've vented so many times in the past my frustration, anger, helplessness, anger, dismay, anger, outrage, anger...that I won't say anything more.

What I will do is share three thoughts:

1. The Onion satirical web site posts the same headline with the text slightly altered every time one of these mass shootings occurs: "No Way To Prevent This," Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

2. Dan Hodges wrote a tweet that says, "In retrospect, Sandy Hook marked the end of the U.S. gun-control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over."

3. Journalist Igor Volsky cross-referenced tweets by congressional officials with the amount of money they each received for the NRA. About as hypocritical as one can get.

There you go. Never mind that Australia had a mass shooting in 1996, imposed strict gun laws and haven't had a mass shooting since.

If asked (in a poll or whatever), I will definitely say I'm for gun control. If put before me, I will vote for sensible gun control laws. I won't hold my breath.

I'm done.

Congressional Republicans: Party before country (Update)

UPDATE (09/22/17): I think I've discovered why the horrible Graham/Cassidy bill is being pushed so hard. It appears the Koch Brothers will give the GOP over $400 million ONLY if they repeal Obamacare and pass a tax reform. As usual, it's all about the money! Pretty monstrous to want to hurt millions of souls for millions of dollars...

It absolutely boggles my mind that the Republicans in Congress are so hell-bent on repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), despite the horrible end results of vastly increased insurance payments and the loss of millions having coverage. This in turn will lead to God knows how many deaths. All to put more money in the pockets of the 1%. And they don't need it!

WTF?!? Who are these miscreants that have no heart? As one person put it, they consider health care a commodity, not a right. I'm sorry, but every single human being on this planet has the right to live and to get what they need to prolong that life. Period. Even the cretins pushing this repeal.

What's even more amazing than the cold-hearted bastards trying to implement this is that their constituents keep voting them in office. Who are those people? I can't believe they are thinking that their Senator voted to have people die just to give more money to the wealthy is good cause to re-elect them. Are these people ignorant? Stupid? Uncaring? I just don't get it.

Suffice it to say, I truly believe that the only way to get some sensibility in all this is to have Congress go so overboard enacting and repealing laws that their constituents are directly and very adversely affected. Maybe, just maybe, they will then see the light.

Until the populace "gets it," we will continue to go downhill as a country. And we are very down the hill already. It may soon be too late to climb back up. Some people believe that to be true now.

One last thing: A pox on the 46% of the electorate who chose not to exercise their right to vote last year. Apathy will be the death of us.

MSNBC and CNN getting their rocks off on "weather porn"

I gotta say it. This wall-to-all coverage of the impending Hurricane Irma hit on Florida by cable news is atrocious. As Stephen King's wife put it: "Weather porn." Come on!

There are too many serious issues going on that TV news should be addressing. Let the locals handle the brunt of the impending disaster. I'm perfectly fine with coverage by cable news on this event. Just not wall-to-wall.

I realize ratings has to be the driving force. But once again, as they have for decades now, upper management doesn't give a goddamn about serving the public interest, just how much money can be made over the misery of others.

The other thing I've noticed is how the networks are virtually ignoring the Climate Change angle on this. I've been dipping in on MSNBC and CNN since the constant hurricane coverage began, and it was not until last night that I heard ANYTHING on how Climate Change is impacting this hurricane, as well as last week's Harvey, or the fact that there are an unprecedented three hurricanes churning the waters at the same time.

I would like to give kudos to Ali Velshi of MSNBC for bringing up Climate Change last night during his special broadcast. Since I don't watch the weather porn 24/7, I have no idea if Climate Change has been brought up or how much time has been devoted to it. All I know is that with the exception of Mr. Velshi, I haven't heard one word whenever I was watching. One would think it would be an important part of the discussion.

I love how the EPA head said that now was not the time to discuss Climate Change. Of course, for him there will be no "time" to discuss it. It reminds me when there is a horrific shooting it's always "now is not the time to discuss gun control" by the horrible people advocating the proliferation of weapons.

I've severely limited my MSNBC and CNN viewing time and will continue to for at least a week. I mean we will need to go wall-to-wall right after the hurricane is gone, right? We need to observe and interview the suffering of the Residents, too. I'll get the other important news affecting the whole nation's lives elsewhere.

Once again, I know this is an important story and I feel for the residents about to be hammered by Irma. I truly hope that everyone will be all right. But let's just tone down the coverage a bit and focus on other important issues. OK, networks?

"Live tweeting" World War II

A while back, I got fed up with the cable news networks. Here is a good explanation of why:



So I've been getting most of my news through Twitter. I follow various accounts that cover all my interests. I find it much more engaging, and the comments are an absolute riot!

I bring this up because I discovered an account that just started "live tweeting" World War II! Yep, whoever is controlling this account is pretending that Twitter existed during the war and is providing tweets in "real time," i.e., on Sept 1 (the date that I'm writing this) there are tweets about exactly what was happening on September 1, 1939. Corresponding pictures and newspaper headlines are included. This will be a six-year project. Fortunately, they've cycled through at least once ending this year, so the account is starting over today. I love it!

This day in 1939, Germany is systematically taking over Poland (and making it look like it's all Poland's fault), and London is in a panic over the possibility of being bombed by Germany..

If you're interested, the account is @realtimewwii. It should be very illuminating.

"Hungry Hungry Hippos" is FvC's top speed

I loved what historian Jon Meacham said this morning on Morning Joe. "Mueller's playing three-dimensional chess and Trump is playing Hungry Hungry Hippos." Good one.

The thinking is that FvC's* pardoning of racist Joe Arpaio was a signal to special counsel Robert Mueller to back off his investigation. Unfortunately for FvC:

Donald Trump, as we noted several times a day, he's a day trader. And he does things like fires James Comey, which actually gets him Bob Mueller. He does things that he thinks is going to get him out of a trap that only makes things more difficult. There is now talk that any pardons of anybody not on -- not only doesn't take care of the problems on the state level for these people, but also that that is an abuse of the pardon power and would almost be prima facie evidence of abuse of power and would lead to impeachment down the road. The question is, is anybody telling Donald Trump this, and if they are, is Donald Trump listening?

Move, counter move. If there is any nastiness surrounding the FvC family or administration, the truth will out. Let's hope there's something to get this poor excuse of a human being out of office and in prison.

*Fuckface von Clownstick, courtesy Jon Stewart

Cowardly FvC avoids the limelight while trashing our country

Well, there are Friday night news dumps, and then there are "Friday Night News Dumps"!

Last night, when nobody was watching (everyone concentrating on Hurricane Harvey hitting landfall in Texas), FvC* pardoned Joe Arpaio, transgenders were banned from the military by FvC order and Sebastian Gorka was ousted from the White House.

Exactly how Gorka exited is subject to debate, but who cares. He was a horrible person that didn't belong there in the first place. Good riddance.

I believe anyone who wants to serve our country deserves to be allowed to. As Senator Tammy Duckworth said in a statement, "When I was bleeding to death in my Black Hawk helicopter after I was shot down, I didn’t care if the American troops risking their lives to help save me were gay, straight, transgender, black, white or brown. All that mattered was they didn't leave me behind. If you are willing to risk your life for our country, and you can do the job you should be able to serve — no matter your gender identity or sexual orientation." Amen.

How cowardly is it for FvC to pull all this shit under cover of darkness? What's amazing is that is appears to be working. I've been watching CNN off and on all morning, and there has been nothing but Hurricane Harvey news. Not one word have I seen what happened to Gorka, transgenders or Arpaio. There might have been some coverage, I've just missed it so far. Stealth works, unfortunately. He knows the transgender memorandum and the pardon will not be well received by most of the country, so throw it out there on a Friday night with a hurricane devastating Texas. Wow!

The pardon really fired up the Twitterverse.  It was expected, though. FvC had forecast this at his Arizona rally last Tuesday. It is, of course, totally egregious and reinforces those who believe that FvC is both racist and has total disregard for the rule of law.

Paul Begala said on Bill Maher's HBO show that he feels this is a signal to those under investigation by Mueller's task force that FvC has their backs.

I can't add anything new to those who are outraged by these horrible, horrible acts and writing about it. I'm just commenting on my hatred for the situation so that I can be added to the millions who abhor FvC and how he's ruining the country.

I wonder what it will take (if anything) to get the Republicans to finally say, "Enough is enough." I've written before that the end result will be how much permanent damage has been inflicted on this country once FvC has gone, whenever that may be. How many years will it take to get back to something called "normal"?

*Fuckface von Clownstick, courtesy Jon Stewart

Another major f*ckup on the high seas

I wrote a couple of days ago about the collision of a U.S. warship with another ship near Singapore and the basics for what it takes for a collision to occur.

Guess what? It happened again today in the same area. This time it was the USS John S. McCain, a destroyer colliding with a merchant ship. Ten sailors from the destroyer are missing as of this writing.

OK, this is ridiculous as well as totally unacceptable. It is rare that a U.S. ship collides with another ship, and now there are two in about two months? This has suddenly become some kind of systemic problem (Unless you want to get into the mindset that bad guys are intentionally trying to collide with the U.S. ships, which is highly unlikely).

Either our training procedures have degraded horrendously, or we as a society have become so dumbed down that we are unable to adequately train personnel. This needs to be addressed ASAP!

This drug may kill you, but take it anyway!

It's always bugged me that there are commercials for drugs. Think about it. You get this wonderful scenario of people "functioning" in everyday life while the announcer is talking about how a particular drug will enable you to get you there. Then, during this "wonderful life" scenario, the announcer starts telling you how this drug can destroy your life up to and including killing you! WTF?

Obviously, the ploy works or this method of advertising wouldn't have been on the air for decades. Last I heard, only the U.S. and New Zealand allow these travesties to air. Of course, it's the heavy lobbying by the pharmaceutical companies to members of Congress that keeps this ugly advertising on the air.

I try to think of who exactly are the people watching these horrible ads, and I try to imagine their running (telephoning?) to their doctors and asking how they can get this drug, despite the fact that it might kill or permanently maim them! WTF?

Then there are the "drugs" such as supplemental vitamins where the fine print disclaimer says the drugs have not been evaluated by the FDA! How on earth can these bozos say a supplement can help you when there is no authority but themselves stating the drugs will be beneficial to you? Every now and then, an ad will mention during the ad that the drug "may" also help in weight loss or some other dumb non sequitur. WTF?

The Pharmaceutical Cartel is a blight on our society and must be reigned in. Otherwise, they will continue to bleed us dry.

Decrease in range + No change in bearing = You're f*cked

Welp, it seems that three top leaders of the USS Fitzgerald have been relieved of command for the ship's collision with a commercial container ship, and more disciplinary action to be taken on others. Not good.

Here's the thing. I was in the Navy in the late 1960s, and the first technical training I had after boot camp was a four-month stint in radar school on Treasure Island. One of the first truisms we learned was that when you're out at sea, if a surface contact was decreasing in range with no change in bearing, you were definitely on a collision course.

Now we're not talking super speeds here. It takes quite a while for two ships to actually collide. I worked in the Combat Information Center aboard the USS El Dorado for a period of time, and one of our jobs was to make damn sure that we didn't ram into other ships. There were times that we were on potential "collision courses" with other ships, but we just came up with a course correction and recommended to the bridge what course to take to avoid collision. Easy peasy.

I can't for the life of me figure out how the ships collided. We had plot boards that kept track of all the contacts around us, and believe me, a collision course on a plot board is a straight line to your position. It was very hard to miss the straight line down the pipe, five by five. And that was almost 50 years ago. I would think that in this technological age, computers would have warning systems of collision courses, thus taking away human error. Then again, maybe not.

The only thing I can see that happened was a sudden course change by one or both of the ships at the last second. Other than that, I'm at a loss.

I will be very interested in the final results of the investigation.

FvC is a bigot, no doubt about it

There is nothing I can say regarding FvC* that hasn't been said by those better at writing than I. I just like to add my two cents every now and then because it makes me fell better.

This era with FvC in power will be regarded as the worst in the history of the U.S.A. No doubt about it.

The Intercept is out with an article by Mehdi Hasan declaring that FvC has been a racist all his life. What's astounding is that his racism was known before the election. I have maintained that anyone who voted for this a-hole is a bigot as well.

For more proof, check out the post on FvC defunding a nonprofit trying to convert white supremacists:

Life After Hate is a Chicago-based nonprofit that does path-breaking work. Founded by former white supremacist leaders in 2011, it studies the forces that draw people to hate and helps those who are willing to disengage from radical extremist movements.

In June, the Department of Homeland Security revoked a grant to the nonprofit, telling The Huffington Post that it wants to focus on funding groups that work with law enforcement.

Charles Gaba, back in Nov. of 2016 tweeted, "Not all Trump supporters are racist, but all of them decided that racism isn’t a deal-breaker. End of story." I beg to differ. If you're for a bigot, a bigot you are. End of story.

I'm experiencing some serious schadenfreude reading about how certain white supremacists checking out there ancestry are not happy finding out that there is mixed blood in their past. Their contortionism trying to explain it all away is hilarious!

*Fuckface von Clownstick, courtesy Jon Stewart

Will history have a long memory or a short one?

This post by The Guardian is well worth a read. I truly wish I could be alive a hundred or two hundred years from now and see how this era will be perceived. I know that there were many periods in our history that were awful for one reason or another. It also seems that we don't really pay attention to those scandals and ineptitudes of the past. I keep reading that Andrew Jackson was one of worst Presidents ever (until now, of course). Yet nobody thinks twice about a bigot who murdered Native Americans. We even have him on the twenty dollar bill!

The difference, however, is that we are in a "Global Village" age where communication is instantaneous, every move is parsed to the finest detail and recorded for posterity. I have a feeling that if the internet was available in the past, we would be much more knowledgeable and aware of eras and their foibles. Then again, maybe not. Populations tend to have a very short memory.

I've said this before, and I'll keep saying it over and over. I really hope that in the future the villains of this era will be the Republicans in both the House and Senate (starring Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan) being vilified for their behavior in these trying times. They had the power to stop this and didn't. They put money and power before country. A pox on them all!

Priebus out, McCain being clever?

Reince Priebus is out and a military man John Kelly is in. Very interesting. I've heard around the web that this is part of FvC* distancing himself from the Republican Party. I'm not sure this is very wise.

Since the Republicans in Congress obviously have the power to impeach the idiot, I would hazard a guess that one might want to stay in their good graces. I'm all for it, however. Anything that will get this cretin out of office sooner rather than later is fine by me!

On another note, I read on Twitter that Sen. McCain voted "Yes" on the Memo to Proceed (MTP)  in order to get the "skinny" repeal bill on the floor so he could vote against it. The reason is that McConnell was pushing the bill via reconciliation. He could avoid the 60-vote hurdle and just utilize a simple majority.

The rule as I understand it is that the reconciliation vote can only be voted on once a fiscal year. Had the MTP been defeated, McConnell could have continued to tweak the bill until he got enough votes to pass the damn thing. Now he has to wait until next fiscal year for this particular bill to deal with this piece of legislation.

I'm not sure if this line of thinking is true, but, boy, it's a very clever move on McCain's part if it is.

*Fuckface von Clownstick, courtesy Jon Stewart

Congressional Republicans are smelly pieces of shit

I've just got to throw in my two cents about last night's horrible attempt to pass a "skinny repeal" of Obamacare, otherwise known as the American Care Act.

That was one of the most reprehensible, ugly and villainous acts I've ever seen. It would have gone down in history as one of the darkest days in American politics.

Here you have Republican Senators going on camera talking about how bad this bill was, yet they were going to vote for it anyway. A bill so bad that they needed a guarantee from the House that the bill would not be enacted into law before the senators would concede to vote yea. A bill so bad that they didn't let the Democrats see it until an hour before the vote, which was going to be held in the middle of the night (2:00AM!) in order to avoid Americans paying attention to it. And that golden hour was filibustered by repugnant Republican Senator Mike Enzi (May he rot in hell) so as to keep the Democrats from discussing the piece of thrash. WTF??? One more time. WTF???

These are egregious, despicable human beings. They were willing to throw 16 million people off health insurance for the almighty dollar. God knows how many would have died. As far as I'm concerned they are and always will be potential murderers. I pray to whomever that these sorry-ass sons of bitches get thrown out at their next elections. Good God!

To think that we're only into the first six months of this deplorable administration. I fully expect things to get extremely worse.

One more thing: Fuck 'em.

The Race Is On

So here we are. One of two things will occur in the future of the United States.

Our country is being severely damaged by FvC*. The questions are will our country be so severely damaged that there is no recovery or will the country be able to outlast the tenure of FvC, whether he is ousted prematurely or serves the full eight years. That is the race.

I admit that we were going to hell in a handbasket before FvC got into office, but he is just speeding up and exacerbating the dysfunction.

Amy Siskind, bless her heart, has been compiling a weekly list of events occurring which are leading our country down the path to our becoming an authoritarian state. As she puts it, "Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you'll remember." It's great that she's starting to get national attention.

Who will win? The Powers That Be, who wish to dismantle this great country and make it the permanent play toy of the powerful and wealthy, or we, the people, saving ourselves from irreparable harm. As the cliché goes, "Time will tell."

*Fuckface von Clownstick, courtesy Jon Stewart

FvC obstructed, period.

I just want this on the record.

FvC* said today that he is 100% willing to testify under oath that what James Comey said regarding their conversation is false. I guarantee he will pull his "taxes are being audited" routine. If he is ever summoned to testify under oath, he will either claim executive privilege or he will say he would love to testify, but his lawyers are insisting he doesn't. I guarantee it.

I've said this before, but he is absolutely playing a game with this "are their tapes or not." Just like he did with the birth certificate and his belief in climate change bits, he's stringing this along to maximize the press coverage. He loves it, and the stupid Fourth Estate plays right into his hands. I heard CNN's Dana Bash say that maybe he can't say there are tapes because his attorneys are preventing him. What nonsense! She should know better.

One other thing. I am convinced that FvC obstructed justice regarding Comey. I've said to my family and friends that if the law doesn't cover this bullshit, it needs to be rewritten. I have also said to my family and friends that I am very naïve and simplistic when it comes to politics. There are basics that should have no nuance.

If a President of the United States asks the Director of the FBI to drop the investigation of Flynn, goes to the DNI and CIA Director and asks them to go to the FBI and get them to drop the Flynn matter; asks for the "loyalty" of the FBI Director, doesn't get either so the President fires the Director, then goes on national television and admits that the firing was to alleviate the "Russia thing," THAT is Obstruction of Justice. End of story. Pretty piss poor world if any President gets away with this bullshit.

*Fuckface von Clownstick (Courtesy Jon Stewart)

FvC believes Climate Change is a hoax created by China. End of story.

This really chaps my ass. For days the press has been asking anyone in the administration if FvC* believes in climate change. The administration refuses to answer, usually stating ignorance of his position.

LISTEN, PEOPLE! He flatly stated in tweets that climate change was a hoax perpetrated by China. There! That's it! Done deal! Run with it. Who cares if he "still believes"? Let him stand by what he has said in the past until he personally revises it ON HIS OWN, without any prodding.

Because it's on record that he doesn't believe, why don't the reporters, when discussing things such as his withdrawal from the Paris Accord, say something like, "The President, who believes climate change is a hoax created by China, ..."

It's that simple. Once everyone starts saying that, maybe, just maybe, FvC will issue a correction. If not, fuck him.

Let it forever be on the record until otherwise changed that FvC does not believe in climate change. How hard is that, oh people of the Fourth Estate?

You know, the press is fumbling all over themselves with this subject just like they did with FvC's birth certificate nonsense. And FvC is eating it up! We do have a dumb Fourth Estate.


*Fuckface von Clownstick, (Courtesy Jon Stewart)

Thoughts on this 'n' that

So FvC is going to announce his decision re the Paris Climate Agreement today at 12 PDT. He's still playing the Reality TV show. Blech! I won't watch. There are two schools of thought floating around. The most prevalent is that he has decided to pull out. for the past 24 hours, I've seen a lot of moaning about how devastating that would be. The other idea is that he will stay in and spin the tail that Ivanka and Jared talked him into staying, thus giving them a modicum of influence and credibility.

Being who he is, there is absolutely no way to foretell which direction he will take. If he decides to stay, I hope no one will take seriously that Ivanka and Jared are that much more respectable.

I am really getting sick of CNN bringing on the clowns who defend this administration. The Jeffrey Lords and Jason Millers have GOT to go!

This is a terrible time for our country. I can't believe the actions that are being taken by the people. A noose found in an African American History Museum? Two men killed and another seriously injured in the defense of Muslims (Meanwhile the perpetrator is screaming in court that it was a patriotic act)? A reporter physically assaulted by a candidate and the candidate gets elected anyway (To top it off, when he finally got around to apologizing, a woman in the audience yelled, "We forgive you!")? WTF, over?

Putin now says the Kremlin didn't perpetrate the cyberattacks; however, "patriotically minded" hackers could have done it. According to chess great Garry Kasparov, "Putin's typical pattern of angry denial followed by winking denial, usually followed by tacit admission & then domestic boasting. eg Crimea"

It seems to me that all these ethics waivers to White House staff is highly unethical.

I never want to see "covfefe" again! Way overblown!

Good for Martina Navratilova calling out Margaret Court's bigotry and homophobia.

And finally, today is the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper. It was 50 years ago today... Happy birthday!

Home run turns out to be a strikeout

So FvC calls his foreign trip "a home run." Right.

And Angela Merkel says, "The times when we could completely rely on others are, to an extent, over..." in response to FvC's trip. Good job, FvC!

Guess that home run turned out to be a strikeout. David Frum tweeted, "Worth recalling that supreme goal of first Soviet then Russian foreign policy in Europe since 1945: crack the US-German relationship".

I really enjoyed the little gaffes that plagued the road trip:

Melania's swatting FvC's hand away on a tarmac. FvC riding a golf cart while the rest of the leaders at the G7 walked. FvC's senior moment while with Netanyahu. Not naming the male partner of one of the leaders when listing the names of the leaders' significant others picture (It was called an "oversight"). FvC's shoving aside the Prime Minister of Montenegro so FvC could get in front of everybody. The zero press conferences during the entire trip.

Bottom line: FvC is a boor to the max.

Pond Scum running for Montana seat

The Montana Republican candidate for the state's only federal representative slammed a reporter to the ground last night. I will not name the millionaire asshole. This is reprehensible.

By all rights this slime ball should take himself out of the running, but we all know that in this day and age of American politics, he will not back away from such egregious behavior. The thirst for power is too great, and the idiot electorate will " forgive" his transgressions.

The candidate acted just like any abuser does and tried to make it the fault of the reporter in the candidate's official statement. He's charged with misdemeanor assault, and he still won't step down. Asshole...

The election is being held today, and it is amazing to think that there is still speculation this pond scum might just win. The good news is that people who voted early are calling and asking if they can change their vote. The bad news is they can't.

Coward Paul Ryan soft pedaled the whole thing and did not ask for him to step down. Of course not! He needs all Republicans he can get. Forget about the candidate being a person of violence! Party before country!! Huzzah!!

This incident is more proof that "law and order" is only for those who don't have money or power. It took hours for the sheriff to "cite" the guy. Had anyone slammed the candidate to the ground, that person would have been immediately cuffed and taken to jail to languish overnight waiting to get a bail set.

BTW -  As of this writing, Mr. Pond Scum has not apologized.

UPDATE: Well, the asshole won. Way to go, Montanans. Ideally, the fourth estate should shun this cretin completely along with the Democrat House representatives. Self-respecting Republicans as well. He should be ousted from the House by the other representatives.

In reality, this will pass, and this pond scum will be addressed as "esteemed" and "honorable." Fuck him.

Enough Is Enough!

Let's face it. FvC* is totally incompetent to play President. It was obvious from the get-go. Everything that has occurred in the 100+ days was plainly obvious during the 18-month (or so) campaign. I am really sick of hearing those around me say that a lot of "smart people" backed this clown. I am utterly amazed.

If you didn't see the hucksterism, bigotry and misogyny this guy was sweating out of his pores from day one and before, you were not a smart person.

I truly believe that any other sitting President would be facing impeachment by now.

It is obvious that the Republicans in power have put party (and power) before country. In my opinion they are traitors to our country. I'll reiterate: They are TRAITORS to our country. I hope they will be vilified for the rest of their lives. Shame on them! I put Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan at the head of the list. A pox on them...

I've said this before: I only hope that whenever this egregious person is finally gone (and, of course, the sooner the better), our country will not have been permanently damaged.


*Fuckface von Clownstick (Courtesy Jon Stewart)

Hooray for Sally Yates

I watched the entire 3+ hours interview of James Clapper and Sally Yates yesterday by the Senate subcommittee. It was quite interesting and fun.

First off, in 2013 James Clapper openly lied under oath in the past, so I don't understand how his word can be taken at all. He should have been prosecuted for perjury back then.

Sally Yates, ex-acting AG, did exceedingly well. Her reciting of law countering a smug Ted Cruz was wonderful. This will be fun to watch over the coming years:



She also took to task Senator Cornyn:



This woman will go far in the coming years.

FvC: "You have better health care than we do." (They have universal health care)

So the miscreants at the House passed the AHCA. Truly terrible. Fortunately, this now goes to the Senate, and hopefully, it will die there and the ACA will remain in place.

The mission now is to get as many of those Republicans who voted for it out of office in 2018. As I wrote in a previous post, anyone who votes for these monsters are just as guilty as they are.

On a lighter note, FvC praised the Australian PM tonight saying that Australia had a better health care system than we do. Funny thing about that: Australia is on a universal health care system. Bernie Sanders had a great laugh about it on Chris Hayes' show, and he said he would make sure to bring that up in the Senate.

I can hardly wait to see how this is walked back either by FvC himself or his cohorts. Spicer's response to the inevitable questions by the press at his next press briefing should be a hoot!

Warning: Idiot Certification Coming Up in 2018

All I can say is that anyone who votes for a House member who votes ""aye" on this health care debacle in the next election is a certified idiot.

There are so many bad items in it, for one (They are being detailed all over the Internet); however, the most egregious part is the bill has not been read in its entirety by many of those voting for it, and it hasn't even been vetted by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO)! WTF?!?

THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL DIE PREMATURELY AND OTHERS WILL GO BANKRUPT FROM THIS BILL!!!! Anyone who votes for this bill is a cold-blooded murderer in my book. A POX ON THEM ALL!

It's also come out that the bill exempts house members from participating in this new bill. They get to keep their original health care! WTF?!?

It thoroughly mystifies me how these cretins get elected to office. Who are the electorate that think these animals are working for them? Only the wealthy who have no dogs in the hunt and are looking for sheer financial gain by these horrible laws being enacted are advocating this agenda, and they certainly aren't the majority!

These cowards in the House who are voting for the bill studiously avoid talking to the press about it. Darryl Issa from California told one reporter it was none of the reporter's business how he is going to vote on the bill. Excuse me?

Another House member ran into the ladies' room to avoid talking with a reporter about it. Yet another member told a reporter he had just gotten back from baseball practice and hadn't read the bill yet. This was three hours before the vote! This is very redolent of the Keystone Kops. It would be funny if the consequences weren't so serious.

How on God's Green Earth do these empty suits keep getting elected? The stupidity of our country is astounding to me. George Carlin once said, "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." Personally, I think he was being kind to the intelligence of the populace.

If you find out anyone who votes for these murderers in the 2018 election, shun them immediately for the rest of their lives...

Open Mouth...Insert Foot

The title of this post has to be FvC's mantra.

Today another great one. He implied that Andrew Jackson was alive during the Civil War. Unfortunately, Jackson died in 1845. FvC got a lot of grief over it all day until, finally, he tried very feebly to extricate himself by tweeting, "President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the Civil War started, saw it coming and was angry. Would never have let it happen."

Nice try, Slick! Doesn't wash.

Others have said it, but I agree that whenever FvC says, "Many people don't know..." he really means, "I just heard this for the first time." A classic example is when FvC said (and I'm paraphrasing) that many people don't know Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Yeah, right. I would love to know the time differential between his discovering the fact himself and the statement.

In other news, all day the buzz has been that the FvC administration was ending Michelle Obama's female education initiative. Gee, guess what happened late today? According to The Hill blog, a White House spokeswoman stated, "There have been no changes to the program." She attributes the confusion to the fact that the initial "memo was sent due to 'internal confusion.'" Wow, that two-word phrase could be the administration's National Anthem!

Another one bites the dust: Bill Shine, Co-President of Fox News, tendered his resignation this morning. He was instrumental in allowing the sexual harassment by employees to fester within the company.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross treated FvC's missile strike in Syria quite lightly by stating it was "after-dinner entertainment." He also stated, "The thing was, it didn't cost the president anything to have that entertainment." Well, it cost the taxpayers probably something north of $100 million. It might also have cost Syrian lives. What a pathetic miscreant to say something like that!

I love seeing pundits taking FvC to task for his cozying up to authoritarians around the world. They are shocked, SHOCKED by his actions. Never mind that past administrations have been doing the same exact thing, sometimes worse. Or did we forget Hillary's praising of authoritarian Mubarak of Egypt, Obama's embracing the head of Saudi Arabia, Clinton aiding Yeltsin to stay in power in Russia during the 90s, the installing of Pinochet in Chile by overthrowing a duly elected President, etc.? It's been going on for decades.

What a world...what a world...

100 days...of nothin'

Not one piece of legislation passed.  A multitude of Executive Orders, many of which could have been accomplished by just a phone call, and others getting voided by our court system. A Supreme Court Justice did get approved, though that was a stolen position, and he only got on the court by the Republican majority Senate changing its rules (in a word...cheating). A tax plan that will benefit the wealthy and totally undermine the rest. This guy is good! Oh, right...he has played more golf than any other president in 100 days. Give that man a cookie!

Of course, anyone with half a brain could see this coming from the day he announced his candidacy. There are polls out this week that indicate he's only lost two percent of those who voted for him. I say, you can't fix stupid. There will come a time when those who voted for him will start getting the shaft. It will be interesting to see the fallout from that. That is, if he lasts that long.

One thing I've noticed is that single payer health care is getting a lot more press than ever before. California is on the path to getting it. Bravo! I've advocated it for years, and I really hope that single payer for all becomes a reality in my lifetime (though the clock is ticking on that).

Let's see what's going on currently:

FvC thought "presidenting" (My coinage), would be easier. I like Dana Milbank's comment that "Donald Trump's presidency has been hard work for all of us."

According to Brian Kahn of Climate Central, "There hasn't been a cool month in 628 months." As Bill McKinnen put it, "If you were born after December 1964, you've never experienced a month cooler than average on this planet.".

House keeps kicking the can down the road. They've passed a stopgap bill avoiding a government shutdown tomorrow. Vote was 382-30. Wow! What a bunch of wimps.

Another "Wow!" Tom Hanks agrees with what I've been saying my whole life. Billionaires should pay for their own NFL stadiums! What a novel concept!

And finally... though this is not anything political, Lavar Ball, father of UCLA basketball Phenom Lorenzo Ball, just got snubbed by Adidas, Under Armour and Nike when he tried to get licensing for his Big Baller Brand. Good for them! I'm a Bruin fan, and this guy has been a pain in the ass since the 2016-17 BB season began. He should let his son go, and stay out of his son's affairs.

FvC Follies - 04/23/14

AG Attorney General Jeff Sessions defends his calling Hawaii an "island in the Pacific" as a joke and that "nobody has a sense of humor any more." Don't you just love how often the FvC* idiots constantly contort themselves when they say something totally inappropriate? Constantly.

FvC thinks he can "still beat Hillary in popular vote." At least "crooked" wasn't in there. But c'mon! Really?

I heard that the March for Science drew more protesters than FvC's inauguration. Congratulations to all who participated! What killed me were the signs that basically said something to the effect of, "I can't believe it's 2017, and we have to march for the sake of science and facts!"

Love the fact that FvC over the months kept harping about how effective his first 100 days were going to be. Now that it's imminent, what does he say? "...the hundred days are just an artificial barrier." He is now blaming the press for "talking about the hundred days." He also stated that "Somebody put out the concept of a 100-day plan."(!) Gee, wonder who that was?

FvC "congratulated" a veteran for receiving the Purple Heart. I'll just let that lie there...

Saudi Arabia was elected to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. In other news, Farmer John is letting Mr. Fox spend the night in the henhouse.

FvC tells the AP that regarding the Presidency, he "never realized how big it was." Ya think?

FvC is going to roll out his tax reform plan Wednesday. This ought to be good!

David  Letterman on FvC: "He's ignorant in a way that's insulting to the office, insulting to America, insulting to human rights, insulting to civil rights."

FvC: OK. The one thing I've learned to do that I never thought I had the ability to do. I don't watch CNN anymore.
AP: You just said you did.
FvC: No. No, I, if I'm passing it, what did I just say (inaudible)?
AS: You just said...
FvC: Where? Where?
AP: Two minutes ago.

...and so begins a new week...

*Fuckface von Clownstick

What's going on in the swamp?

Hooray! Bill O'Reilly is outta there! Should have been done decades ago.  There is a lot being said about this by far more erudite people than I, so I won't wax poetic. But hearing about women who made a mighty effort not be alone with him, enduring his unwanted advances and having to listen to his vile comments day in and day out is quite appalling. It's tragic that it took this long for Fox to get their heads out of their asses and do the right thing. Same old sorry excuse: It's about the money.

I heard that there were tears from some of the employees at Fox when they heard of his leaving. Unless they were tears of joy, I have no idea who these people could be to mourn the loss of such a vile creature.

Enough of the celebration. Let's move on:

FvC and Spicer think that a Democrat getting a 48% vote and the nearest Republican getting 20% is considered a loss for the Democrats. Huh?  Definitely contortion logic. 48%...28%...I'll just let that hang there.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz is not running for his office in 2018, and is saying he might not finish his term. WTF?!? I get the feeling something nasty is going on. I can hardly wait!

Did you know that after dismissing all the U.S. Attorneys, the FvC administration hasn't replaced ONE yet!

The penny drops: Exxon is seeking a waiver to operate in Russia regardless of the U.S. sanctions. Now THIS should get very interesting in the coming months.

The Problem with MSM

Here is a great essay about the problem with cable news. MSM need to get their act together and provide us with the information we need, not just inane argument.

FvC Follies

Gee, according to the AP and I'm sure other sources, the day Ivanka had dinner with Xi Ping, her company got approved for new China trademarks. What a "veryvery" strange coincidence! As Hollywood Reporter's Kim Masters put it, "Kleptocracy in action."

DHS Secretary Kelly, just two days ago, said marijuana was not a factor in the drug war. Today, he claims it is "a potentially dangerous gateway drug," and he's going to go full throttle in the enforcement of laws against it. Think Secretary Kelly received a "veryvery" stern phone call in between the comments to "explain" exactly the error of his ways? He's definitely his own man!

The White House a while back said that an armada ("Very powerful!") was steaming to North Korea to display our displeasure at what they were doing. Today we learned that the warships were actually headed in the opposite direction thousands of miles away! Can this cretin lead a country or what? All it did was "trigger hundreds of new stories/segments/TV discussions," according to CNN's Brian Stelter. Wow!

The next two items don't really pertain to FvC, but I think they are "veryvery" notable:

The Hollywood Reporter writes, "Bill O'Reilly used to leer at an African-American Fox News clerical worker and called her 'hot chocolate,' according to attorney Lisa Bloom, who helped the woman report the harassment to the network's hot line." Later today, there are unconfirmed reports that Fox is leaning toward ousting this sleazoid and are negotiating with him an exit package. What a douchebag! Good riddance...

And to cap it all off the cost of telecom services and telephone companies lobbying was north of $123 million in 2016. This year internet privacy has been legislated away, and next target: the free and open internet.

FvC doin's

So what idiocy came forth from FvC today? Hmmm...

His wife, born in another country, had to nudge FvC to remind him to put his hand over his heart during the national anthem. (Now there's a true "patriot"! Real slick!)

He autographed a kid's hat, then promptly threw the hat into the crowd. (Way to win a kid over, dufus!)

FvC tweet o' the day (TOTD): "The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth!" (Puh-leeze!)

From the Press Briefing:

Spicer tried to defend keeping the visitor logs secret, which were explained as "national security concerns" Friday. I won't go into his bullshit excuses. I'll just say what many others have said. The "so called" President serves at the pleasure of the people. The White House is owned by the people and therefore the people deserve an open and transparent White House (and Presidency). I like the idea that a fundraiser should be held so that the entrances to the White House be manned 24/7 to see who is going in and out. Our luck, there are secret entrances that can be used to thwart that.

Spicer also wouldn't commit to the question asking if FvC would ever release his returns. "We'll have to get back to you. He's still under audit." (Yeah...and I'm starring in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie.)

Old news? Hah!

FvC (See previous post) tweeted this morning saying, “I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again?”

You bet your ass they were brought up again, and the returns will be brought up again and again until they are either produced or FvC is out of office (and I personally think it will be great if he’s is hounded about them until the end of time).

This brings to mind the time I was living in California when Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for Governor back in the day. Rumors were constantly swirling about that Arnold had harassed women while he was making films. The press kept asking about it, and, of course, he stalled saying that he was just too busy running for Governor to address the issue. He never responded to the accusations as I recall.

The beautiful thing is when he was eventually elected, an intrepid reporter asked once again for him to address the issue of his allegedly harassing women on sets. His reply? “Old news!" FvC is desperately trying to make the returns "old news."

I bring this up in the hopes that our we will dog FvC for-fucking-ever to force him to release the returns. In his case, it will never, and I mean never, be “old news.”

FvC’s dogged determination not to release them certainly indicates some very damaging information lurking about. I can’t wait to see what it is, and I am firmly convinced the returns will be exposed, somehow.

Two Groups Befouled Us

 There are two groups I hold accountable for this Kleptocracy, Plutocracy, Oligarchy, name-your-poison-cracy/archy that is befouling our country today.

 The idiots who voted for the Jon Stewart dubbed “Fuckface von Clownstick” (whom I will continue to refer as FvC) and the liberal/progressive electorate who chose not to vote.

 Regarding the former, I’ve said my entire life the masses are stupid. Dumb. As George Carlin put it, “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” Just about sums it up, doesn’t it?

 You could see what was coming from day one when FvC announced his candidacy. These voters actually bought the snake oil Harold Hill was selling them. Now we are starting to hear from the edges that those who voted for him are suddenly seeing their loved ones being deported (“I thought he was only going to deport bad hombres!”). It will get worse for the voters as the administration’s policies begin to affect more of them. No sympathy from this corner. The old WYSIWYG is in full operation. It will get worse.

 As for the nonvoting liberals, shame on them. It is an honor to vote. No, a duty. I read somewhere that if around 8o-85% of the electorate voted, this country would be far and away more liberal and progressive. I believe it.

 The only upside I see is that FvC’s election will hopefully galvanize the population into getting rid of the bozo via impeachment or the 2020 election before permanent damage is done. One can only hope.