Good News, Bad News

First, the good news.  In a break from tradition, my staunchly Republican hometown fish-wrap, the Columbus Dispatch, has endorsed the Democrat Richard Cordray for Ohio Governor.  And I'm happy to say that I heard from two more Republican friends this weekend who told me they saw my Cordray campaign ad on TV, and as a result will be voting for Cordray.  The power of advertising.  Yay!

Since they're my friends, their conversion may be more of a sympathy vote for little-old-cancer-patient-me than genuine support for Cordray, but whatever.  I'll take it.

The bad news?  After expressing their liking for my ad and the Democratic candidate, both of these Republicans felt the need to tell me, immediately and unsolicited, how much they like Brett Kavanaugh, how much they despised Christine Blasey Ford, and how unfair they thought the Senate hearings had been.  It was like, after a momentary side trip into compassion, they couldn't wait to get back to conservative crankshaftery.  True colors.

Isn't it amazing how often two people can observe the exact same thing and yet arrive at two diametrically opposed conclusions:

• I see a drunken, partisan, lying, belligerent, self-pitying sack of monkey shit.
• They see a Supreme Court Justice.

Beer

Kavanaugh vs. Jules Winnfield

Samuel L. Jackson's reaction to this clever mash-up:  "Funny as hell, but there's nothing funny about his Lying Frat-Boy Ass!!!"

The Kavanaugh Hearing As It Really Was

OK, you've probably seen this already, but I share it here for posterity.  It's the instantly-viral opening of last night's SNL season opener.  Classic satire for 13 minutes, and worth every second.  Enjoy!

Amid Chaos, Doubt, And Small Hopes, A Turd Is Still A Turd

What a shit show!  Jeff Flake voted with all the other majority Republicans to approve Kavanaugh out of Committee and on to a full Senate confirmation vote.  Then he found a fragment of his spine and suddenly called for a one-week delay on the full vote so there could be . . . an FBI investigation!  (Where was this bright idea from Flake before?)  He said he had support for the delay from several other Republicans.  If so, he may be able to force Mitch to tell Donnie Dipstick to open an FBI probe.

Or not.  Who knows?  This process has been a goddam circus, and now it's sheer chaos.

Whatever happens, Kavanaugh remains a turd who's unfit for the Supreme Court.

On that note, I leave you with the words of the late Tom Wolfe in The Bonfire of the Vanities:

"In my house, when a turd appears, we throw it out.  We dispose of it.  We flush it away.  We don't put it on the table and call it caviar."

No Country For Wafflers

Civility.  Harmony.  Unity.  Courtesy.  Polite public discourse.  Bipartisanship.

Lovely words and things we should strive for, but after getting my fill of Chuck Grassley's Senate Judiciary farce (only the latest example), we can just friggin' forget it!

We are intractably polarized and getting more so every day.  In all practicality, there is no middle ground now.  The lines are drawn and the differences are clear.  It's a struggle for the soul of America*, so embrace the conflict and pick a team!  One side or another, it's choosing time:

Republican or Democrat
Conservative or Liberal
Regressive or Progressive
One Percent or Ninety-nine Percent
Greed or Benevolence
Trump or Sanity
Autocracy or Democracy
Past or Future
Old or Young
Male or Female
Caucasian or People of Color

(If it comes to it, I'd like to be an honorary member of the Young-Female-People of Color Team!)


*The Soul of America is a great book by historian Jon Meacham.  You should read it.

Gutless Wonder

Satire from The Borowitz Report Jeff Flake Announces Retirement from Humanity “Having empathy and compassion for other human beings has been a thoroughly draining experience,” he said. “I for one am ready for something new.”

___________________________________________________

The spineless bastard is retiring in January but still won't do the right thing even on his way out the door.  A genuine Republican.

Who Wore It Better?

Watching Ted Cruz oil his way through his five minutes at today's hearing, I'm compelled to share this:

Don't know about you, but I gotta go with Ed Grimley, I must say!

Today's Hearing, a.k.a. A Slow Work Day For Me

Well, I didn't get much real work done today.

I promised myself I would not watch the Christine Blasey Ford-Brett Kavanaugh hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  But I'm weak.  The TV was on in the other room and I kept leaving my office to watch parts of it.  It's still going on right now.

IMHO, Dr. Blasey Ford -- an amateur in a room full of professionals --was dignified, forthright, and utterly credible.  She kept her composure and I believe her.  She had nothing to gain by her testimony and no reason to lie.

Brett "Boofy" Kavanaugh, by contrast, went straight to the old Clarence Thomas playbook.  He arrived in attack mode, full of puffed-up  indignation, victimhood and crocodile tears.  He denied it all, said it never happened, said he wasn't there, and called the hearing a disgrace.  He angrily blamed Democrats and outside money for his predicament, and raged against the high-tech lynching (to borrow a phrase) of a smug, whiny, over-privileged prep school brat.  His denials are blustery bullshit.

So it's a clear case of she said-he lied.  Up-Chuck Grassley has scheduled the confirmation vote for tomorrow morning.  If he sticks to that, we'll soon find out if our society has made any progress in the last 27 years.  If there are not at least two Republican Senators willing to vote "no" on confirming Kavanaugh, then we'll know just how Jurassically retrograde we truly are.

A grassleyosaurus and a hatchodactyl.

He Should Be In The Laundry Business

I know I've been mercilessly critical of Donald Trump.  God knows he makes it easy.  But upon deeper reflection, I've come to the conclusion I have been too harsh in constantly flogging His Lardship over his endlessly inept time as resident of the White House.

We all tend to be more successful when we're employed in our own area of strength, when we're each empowered to do whatever it is we do best.  The problem with Trump  -- and it's not all his fault -- is he's simply misplaced in his current job, and proper job placement is critical.

To really play to his strengths, Donnie should switch to the laundry business -- because he's very good at separating whites from coloreds!






(Joke is courtesy of a friend, neighbor, and regular reader.  Thanks, dear reader!  I found an appropriate image to go along with it.)

Laughing

The U.N. delegates laughed at tRump out of "respect." -- Nikki Haley, yesterday

"It was meant to get laughter." -- tRump, yesterday

"We need a president who isn't a laughingstock to the entire world." -- tRump, 2014

Trump Brags He Got Much Bigger Laughs At U.N. Than Obama  “When Obama spoke at the U.N. he did not get a single laugh—not one,” Trump told reporters. “I feel sorry for the people who had to sit through his speeches. They weren’t funny at all.”  (The Borowitz Report)

Laughing.  So much laughing, you're gonna be sick and tired of laughing.



"Oh, ha ha ha ha ha!  Were you laughing at me?"

Non-Voters Anonymous

Just in time for National Voter Registration Day (today!) . . .

"A Fair Process"

That's what Brett Kavanaugh said he wanted (about umpteen times) during his interview last night on Faux News.  A fair process.

Then he should insist that the Grassley Judiciary Committee release all, not just just some, of his past documents, and he should demand that the FBI thoroughly investigate the allegations from Christine Blasey and Deborah Ramirez.  If there's nothing to fear and nothing to hide, then there should be no problem and no reason to rush. 

During the unprecedented spin interview of a SCOTUS nominee during the confirmation process, beleaguered Brett tried to paint himself as the aw-shucks Wally Cleaver of his private school, as well as a long-suffering virgin.  How virtuous! 

His yearbook paints a different picture of him, with numerous references to sex, cops, drinking, puking, and blacking out.  Kavanaugh was noted as one of the "alumni" of a supposedly promiscuous girl at a neighboring school.  (I guess there was no faculty yearbook adviser at Georgetown Prep.)

What a goddam hot mess this is!  Kavanaugh is a just booger that needs to be flicked.

But the conserva-tards are manning the ramparts in full-Trump mode -- deny, lie, attack, blame the victim, change the subject (Rosenstein fired yet?).  For them, it's Kavanaugh or bust!  Mitch McConnell says the R's will "plow right through" with their kangaroo court process, yet again putting ideology and party before country.  The wretched old turtle refuses to see that replacing Kavanaugh with a better nominee is what's in the best long-run interests for the country and for the cowardly GOP.

Let's hope that reason and good judgment will soon prevail.  Nevertheless . . . mid-terms, assholes!  Karma's a bitch.

#FDT
#FGOP

Kavanaugh Kartoon Kavalcade

(The K-K-K alliteration is purely coincidental.)

 

"He's Hardly A Sexual Predator." Really?

Anonymous comment to my "Cut Kavanaugh Loose" post of the 9/22/18, and my response:

2 comments:

1. 
   AnonymousSeptember 25, 2018 at 5:32 AM

   What makes this a bad choice are the decisions/choices Kavanaugh has made as a professional, but his opposition has leashed on to the hashtag du jour, #MeToo in this case, to try to sway public opinion against him.
   Kavanaugh's hardly a sexual predator. Maybe a liar, and that's why the FBI needs to investigate.

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   BusterSeptember 25, 2018 at 9:45 AM

   So Kavanaugh was just a normal turn-up-the-music, hold-her-down, pull-her-clothes-off, stick-his-dick-in-her-face good old prep school boy who's not a sexual predator? What then, pray tell, constitutes being a sexual predator?
   And if I were you, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss #MeToo as a "hashtag du jour."

   ReplyDelete

Hey, Grumpy Old Men! Cut Kavanaugh Loose

Every woman everywhere, living or dead, has had to deal with unwanted sexual advances/experiences at one time or another.  Women know this.

Traumatic experiences take a physical, emotional and psychological toll on people.  Sexual assault is a trauma.  Its effects can be similar to other traumatic stresses such as being a soldier in combat, being a victim of a crime or an accident, or facing the unexpected death of a loved one.

The stress causes many to respond with anxiety, denial, depression, withdrawal or refusal to speak of the incident.  These understandable responses can last years, decades or even a lifetime.

Sexual assault/rape victims often don't file charges or go public because of the automatic "blame the victim" backlash -- "What were you wearing?  Why didn't you leave?  Why didn't you fight?"

Statistically, almost all allegations of rape/sexual assault are true.  The percentage of false allegations is very low, somewhere between 2% to 6%.*  Think of all the recent cases -- Bill Cosby, Bill O'Reilly, Harvey Weinstein, Roy Moore, Roger Ailes -- where the original "She's lying, I never did any such thing" turned out to be total bullshit.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's allegation against Brett Kavanaugh is entirely plausible and she herself seems credible.  Do you really think she suddenly decided to just invent the whole story?  If you ever went to typical high school or college party, you know it's believable.

The fact that she waited 30-plus years to go public is consistent with so many others who have suffered a traumatic incident.  The time lag is also immaterial, beside the point.  She came out now because her news is critically important -- the GOP is in a headlong rush to give her attacker a lifetime appointment!

She has no reason to lie.  Kavanaugh has many reasons to lie.

Dr. Ford's appearance at a Senate committee public hearing may have some value, but the optics of her being interrogated by a bunch of grumpy conservative old white men would be just horrible!  Doesn't the GOP realize that women make up half the country?  Do they really want the perception of trying to jam another sexual abuser onto the Supreme Court?  Jesus!

The absolute last person in the world anyone should be listening to about this is Donald Fucking Trump!

Not that I care about helping them look better, but the GOP would do itself a huge favor by immediately cancelling this bad reality show.  Kavanaugh has a host of character flaws, alleged sexual molestation among them.  He's a poor choice.  McConnell and Grassley ought to save themselves further embarrassment -- cut Kavanaugh loose and pick another asshole who promises to overturn Roe v. Wade.

*  http://theconversation.com/heres-the-truth-about-false-accusations-of-sexual-violence-88049

Campaign Ad Part Two, The Next Day, The Sequel -- My Latest, Least Amount Of Fame

Good 15-second quickie companion piece!  I absolutely own the first two seconds.

Rich Cordray Reads Mean Tweets

Haven't seen any of these in my local market.  Kinda cute!









Vote Cordray!

The Great Debate

Actually, for two guys not known as stem-winding public speakers, it was, if not great, at least pretty good.

I refer to last night's first debate between Rich Cordray (D) and Mike DeWine (R) in the Ohio Gover-nerd's race.  There were no huge surprises or mistakes, but it was fairly lively.  Overall, DeWine seemed old and somewhat unprepared.  Cordray was on his game.  I thought he had the better night.

Their positions on the evening's topics offered a clear contrast.  No room for indecisive "independents" in this contest.  Pick a side.

Recap a la Buster:

ECOT -- Now out of business, the Electronic Classroom Of Tomorrow was the for-profit online charter school beloved by Ohio Republicans until its multi-million dollar fraud finally hit home.  DeWine and running mate Jon Husted received $40,000 in donations from ECOT officials.  Cordray would abolish all for-profit charter schools.

Abortion/Women's reproductive rights -- Cordray would veto any "heartbeat bill" passed by the legislature.  (Heartbeat bills are clearly unconstitutional and would effectively ban all abortions.)  DeWine says he'd sign it immediately.

Legalizing marijuana --  Cordray is in favor, DeWine is opposed.  DeWine even blurted out a bizarre assertion about Colorado toddlers OD'ing on gummie bears!  LOL!

Ohio Issue 1 -- Would eliminate jail time for most non-violent drug possession offenses, reducing former Felony 4 and 5 counts to misdemeanors, and mandating any resultant savings be directed to drug treatment.  Cordray says Yes on Issue 1, noting that our prisons are extremely overcrowded, and incarceration is costly and ineffective.  He wants more emphasis on treatment and rehab, not punishment.  DeWine says No on Issue 1, saying that druggies will never agree to treatment unless threatened with prison.  He says big-time drug dealers will flock to Ohio, and says Issue 1 shows that Cordray clearly intends to kill 10,000 Ohioans with misdemeanor quantities of fentanyl.  (Who'da thunk?  Killer Cordray.  And Rich seems like such a nice boy.)

Obamacare/ACA -- Cordray has always been a supporter, DeWine always an opponent.  On his first day as Ohio's Attorney General, DeWine brought a federal suit to overturn portions of the ACA.

Ohio's Medicaid expansion via the ACA -- Cordray has always been for it.  DeWine was originally against it.  Now he says he's for it, "but only if those deadbeats get a friggin' job!"

Health insurance with non-discriminatory coverage of pre-existing conditions per the ACA -- Cordray is a yes.  DeWine has never actively defended the right to pre-existing coverage, but claims he's "always" been for such coverage.  That's hard to believe, since he's always been in favor of repealing the ACA, and DeWine has never said just how he'd go about covering pre-existing conditions.

Gun control/School safety -- DeWine thinks the problem is crazy people, not guns.  He'd place a mental health "person" in every school, along with an armed cop/other "resource" officer.  DeWine is for red-flag laws to temporarily remove guns from dangerous people "as long as it's constitutional" (meaning he knows the NRA will allege it's a 2nd Amendment violation, so we can just forget about it!)  Cordray favors thorough background checks on all gun sales, no sales under age 21, no bump stocks and no high-capacity ammo clips.  He said DeWine has never done a thing to address gun proliferation.

Opioid epidemic -- DeWine would appoint an Ohio Opioid Czar.  Oh, great idea, Mikey!  That always works.  Cordray says he'll take criminal action against big traffickers, and enforcement actions against big drug manufacturers and big drug distributors.  He wants more treatment and rehab for users.  He said, "News flash:  We already have an opioid czar [meaningDeWine].  When you see him, tell him he's doing a horrible job."

Age -- DeWine 71, Cordray 59.

Height -- DeWine: "C'mon, that's not fair!"  Cordray: "Suck it, Shorty!"






 

Failing Science

My TV Ad Rolls On

My 30 seconds of fame is lingering.  The Cordray for Governor campaign ad is still in fairly heavy rotation, running on everything from college football games to The Weather Channel to MSNBC.  It received an "Ad Watch" write-up in the local paper.  Their analysis did not include any Pinocchios.

Friends, family and acquaintances across the state have noticed the spot.  Reaction has been quite positive, although some conservatives limit their comments to "You look good" (which is still code for "You're not dead yet!").



One neighbor, a retired dentist, rang my doorbell yesterday to tell me that he'd just seen the ad and, although he generally despises all political advertising, he thought this one was "the best he'd ever seen."  He told me he normally votes Republican, but in this case I had swayed him and he'd be voting for the Democrat Richard Cordray. 

How about that?  One vote at a time.  I'll take credit for that one, and let's hope there are others.

Also, I note with some pleasure that Columbus gajillionaire businessman Les Wexner (The Limited, Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lane Bryant, Bath & Body Works, etc.) recently renounced the Republican Party, saying "I won't support this nonsense anymore."  He declared himself to be an independent.

I approve of Wexner's decision, but alas, I can't take credit for it. 

Another Letter From Me To Robby Portman

Kavanaugh Must Withdraw.

tRump's SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh is untenable.  His ethical shortcomings -- repeated lies to Congress, personal problems with gambling and debt, alleged sexual assault -- require his immediate withdrawal from consideration.  In light of his serious flaws, to ram through his confirmation this Thursday would be a travesty and a grave error for our nation.  Such a weighty lifetime position calls for a better nominee.  Integrity and common decency demand one. 

Please oppose Kavanaugh's confirmation and ask your colleagues Sen. McConnell and Sen. Grassley to do the same.

You and your disgraced party could easily nominate another right-wing ideologue to the Court -- just pick another dog without so many fleas.  Then you could confirm him or her in the lame duck after you've (I hope) lost both houses of Congress in the midterms.

I'd still hate your nominee, but at least your process would smell better.

cc:  Sen Mitch McConnell
       Sen. Chuck Grassley

Patriotism Comes In Many Forms

As a class, NFL team owners are notorious righties.  Seven of them donated $1 million or more to the Trumpolini campaign.  Two others gave six-figure contributions.  They got what they wanted with this season's silly new Trump-friendly policy of no kneeling or protesting during the anthem.

With that in mind, here's Bob Costas on sports, patriotism and the flag.  The video is from a year ago, but it remains the truth.



And don't forget the NFL's many staged displays of paid "patriotism."  The Department of Defense has spent over $10 million in taxpayer money on pro sports marketing and advertising, including flyovers, gigantic flags and other militaristic theatrics in stadiums and arenas.

Wonder how much the NFL made on this bit of extravagance.

Time To Get An Untraceable Burner Phone?

Hey GOP! Dump Kavanaugh And Take A Mulligan

Once upon a time, back in 1987, Ronald Reagan (R-Hollywood) nominated Judge Douglas Ginsburg to the Supreme Court.  But Ginsburg was forced to withdraw when it was discovered he had -- gasp! -- smoked marijuana in the 1970's.  How quaint!

Today, Brett Kavanaugh is the nominee of His Lardship, Don the Con.  Kavanaugh is deeply flawed, but today's GOP is determined to give him a lifetime appointment with a quick and dirty rush job.

Kavanaugh's judicial record is a right-winger's wet dream and a liberal's nightmare.  He opposes the Affordable Care Act.  He's hostile to voting rights, workers rights, and women's reproductive rights.  He would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.  He's anti-immigrant, anti-EPA, and anti-gun control.  He believes presidents should be immune from criminal charges.  He's longtime member of the Federalist Society, an ultra-conservative judicial activist organization and the group that promoted Kavanaugh's nomination.

Kavanaugh has ethical issues.  He has repeatedly lied to Congress about receiving documents stolen from Democratic Senators while he worked in the Bush 43 administration, trying to advance Dubya's judicial nominees.  He may have a gambling problem.  He recently piled up over $200,000 in credit card and personal loan debt, which he attributed to buying tickets to baseball games.  Seriously?  That'd be a shitload of tickets.  There is also some evidence that Kavanaugh likes to roll the dice in high-stakes craps games.  Amazingly, he wasn't asked about any of this during his confirmation hearing.

Oh, and now comes an accusation of sexual assault from back in his high school days!  Yes, the alleged assault is from a long time ago, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily false or immaterial in considering Kavanaugh's fitness to serve.

Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley responded to this news by immediately releasing a letter signed by 65 women who state that Kavanaugh never molested them!   Well then, I guess that proves . . . absolutely nothing.

A more reasonable GOP might concede that Kavanaugh is not a viable nominee and should not be confirmed.  The Republicans hold the upper hand here.  They have the votes to confirm anyone they want.  It doesn't have to be -- shouldn't be -- this douchebag.  Why the jam job?  Why not send Kavanaugh packing and just pick another reliably conservative judge without the baggage?  I'm sure the Federalist Society could supply a few names.

Oops, I forgot -- "reasonable" and "today's Republicans" are mutually exclusive terms.

#MerrickGarlandGotFucked

Another Day, Another Plea Deal