Mississippi Goddam!

Cindy the Supremacist won the runoff for the U.S. Senate seat from Mississippi.  Not a surprise -- she was heavily favored.  Her opponent Mike Espy lost with 46% of the state's vote, a slightly higher percentage than the 44% Obama received in 2012.   That might be a small sign of small progress, but it's still a shame.

Hyde-Smith said she'd be in the front row for a public lynching, then said she was only "joking."  So that's not racist.

She made another "joke" about voter suppression, calling it "a great idea."  That's not racist either.

Cindy attended a segregated, all-white high school "academy" created expressly to avoid any contact with black people.  She sent her daughter to one as well.  But that's not racist.

Wearing a Civil War Confederate uniform cap, she posed for a photo with the caption, "Mississippi history at its best!"  That's not racist.

Fake president tRump is an unabashed racist who won Mississippi in 2016 by 18 points.  Cindy is a proud fan of the Cheeto Benito, a 100% loyal supporter.  But she's not a racist.

Mississippi still has the old Confederate flag as part of its state flag.  But that's not racist.

Most white Mississippians still can't bring themselves to vote for any black candidate, no matter what.  The state has never elected a black person to statewide office.  But hey, that's just Mississippi, that's not racist.

White Mississippians seem to believe that since they no longer keep slaves, they can't possibly be racists.

Yes, they can.  Mississippi goddam!

Trending

The Abominable Showman is obviously a believer in the huckster's old maxim that there's no such thing as bad publicity.  But in the past couple of days, there's been a slight adjustment in some media coverage.  It's an improvement, and we need to see more of it.

On Monday, a CBS reporter publicly fact-checked Dolt 45 to his face regarding his lies about his border separation and prosecution policies.

Yesterday, Sarah Fuckabee Sanders held the first White House press briefing since October 29th.  Interestingly, CNN covered it with a split-screen, live fact-checking her remarks.  MSNBC skipped Sarah's propaganda party altogether, focusing on other news instead.



It's far too late, but the American media has finally realized how, in blind pursuit of ratings, its constant coverage of Trump's shit show has in fact helped his efforts to sow confusion and disinformation.

Since this administration is sustained on a daily blizzard of lies, this new approach could be a useful new trend in network coverage -- don't show us every bit of the blizzard, just monitor what the administration spews out, then tell us the truth, list all the falsehoods and give us a factual analysis of the issues.

Skip the lying circus monkey grabbing his balls and tweeting his bullshit just to get our attention. 

Him So Smrt!

Madame Speaker

For the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, I'm a Nancy-man.

Nancy Pelosi is a genuine leader of her party, and the best herder of cats the House has seen in the past 40 years.  She's done the job before, and wants to do it again.

Without her, Obamacare would not have passed and been signed into law, and would not have survived the GOP's endless efforts to scuttle it.

Money talks, and Pelosi is a fundraiser extraordinaire.

She's liberal Democrat pragmatist -- a master of the art of the possible.  She knows the facts, she knows the rules, she knows how to play the game, and she plays it well.

She has her detractors, left and right.

If you're a young progressive firebrand itching to replace her with younger, fresher leadership, I applaud your passion, but who?  Who has stepped up?  Who could actually do the job?  Change for the sake of change is a bad idea.  At this moment in time, for the next two years, there is no better choice than Nancy.  Most of her challengers are coming to this realization.  Patience, young tyros, patience.

If you're an old, white conservative who has spent years demonizing her, why?  What specifically has she done that offends you so much?  Lacking significant examples, I submit you're a sexist and a sap.  Republicans have spent roughly $100 million attacking Pelosi over the past decade, and the lazy, easily manipulated dittoheads just lap up the propaganda.  But Nancy doesn't give a shit about such things.

For those Nancy-hating wing-nuts out there, remember this -- come January, should Trump and Pence somehow perish simultaneously (accidents can happen!), the President of the United States would be . . . Nancy Pelosi!  He-he!

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/magazine/nancy-pelosi-house-democrats.html

On The Banks Of Bullshit River: Delusions In Donny-Land

From childhood, where he was the kid who threw birthday cake at his own parties, his river of bullshit has flowed fast and furious.  It shows no signs of letting up.  What a vulgar, rotten, ridiculous life!

"Hey, Mahoning Valley!  How do you like me now?"

They probably don't like him much right now.  Prima Donald campaigned on backward-looking, delusional promises of rejuvenated auto manufacturing, brand-new steel plants, and more "clean, beautiful coal."  Last year at a Trumpanzee rally in Youngstown, his advice to the down-trodden locals was, "Don't move -- all those auto jobs that left Ohio, they're all coming back."

Yesterday, General Motors announced it would be closing five manufacturing facilities and laying off over 14,000 employees.  On the list was GM's huge-but-troubled Lordstown assembly plant.  The Thug-In-Chief went into his familiar attack-and-threaten mode, telling GM's CEO Mary Barra that she'd "damn well better open another plant."  Winning.

I hope the residents of the once-blue, now-red Mahoning Valley come to their senses and realize they've been played for suckers by a carnival barker.

If you liked the Baby Jail policy, you'll love the Lunatic Asylum plan.

For some time time now, Cinnamon Hitler has been waging a delusional, legally dicey war against the American asylum system.  By law, those entering the U.S. without papers may apply for asylum if they can show a credible fear of persecution if they're returned to their native land.  Some applicants are approved, many are not.

Reacting angrily to the caravan "invasion" non-crisis, Trump first tried to flatly ban the possibility of asylum for anyone not crossing the border at an official point of entry.  An immediate restraining order shot down that idea.  For his next trick, he decided that all asylum applicants would have to remain in Mexico while their case was considered, a process which can take many months.  Previously, asylum seekers have been allowed to cross into the U.S. to await the outcome.  Now Trump would like to make it Mexico's problem (and they love him so much in Mexico!).  He says Mexico has agreed to his plan; Mexico says they have not.  Question:  Would asylum seekers arriving at our northern, eastern or western borders also have wait in Mexico?  Just asking.

Trump says if he doesn't get his way, he'll permanently close all points of entry on the southern border.  That would be illegal, so good luck with that bullshit, Spanky.

Frustrated by his inability to run roughshod over immigration law, Trump resorted to Mobster-like intimidation.  He threatened the use of lethal weapons against refugees at the border, and had his ICE goons fire tear gas at some of the asylum seekers, including children.  Trump immediately denied it:  "We didn't.  We don't use it on children."  (Video says otherwise, genius.)  So he pivoted to 100% pure, unadulterated, Grade-A bullshit:  "We had to do it.  They were rushed by some very tough people.  [Border agents] were very badly hurt, getting hit with rocks and stones."  (Customs & Border Patrol chief says it's not true.)  Then the river got really deep.  He claimed the agents had used "a minor form of tear gas -- very safe," and all those shown on videos coughing, choking and screaming were faking it, "putting it out there."  (There is only one form and one strength of tear gas.  And if it's so safe, why don't you suck some for breakfast, asswipe?)  He capped off his delusional spree by claiming that the immigrants with children were "not the parents.  They call them grabbers."  In Trump's twisted QAnon brain, America is being invaded by bad criminal hombres who kidnap poopy-pants toddlers and travel thousands of miles with them in faint hopes of preferential treatment at our border.  Yeah, right.

There are roughly 5000 asylum seekers piled up in Tijuana right now.  Here's an idea:  Let them come across the border as usual, make their applications as usual, then proceed normally from there.

Climate, Shmimate!  

On the day after Thanksgiving, the U.S. government issued its federally required Fourth National Climate Assessment.  The report reiterated that climate change is real, it's caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and if we don't start getting serious about it now, we're fucked.  We'll suffer huge economic and health costs, as we try to cope with ever-increasing environmental extremes.  Left unchecked, the report said climate change "will inflict substantial damage on U.S. lives."   Of course, Delusional Don's response was, "I don't believe it."  He showed that he still doesn't understand the difference between climate and weather when he reacted to a couple cold days by tweeting, "Whatever happened to global warming?"  And he petulantly whined about the necessity of making an American effort because, "We're clean, but every other place is dirty."  Just a towering mountain of bullshit.

It's a well-established fact that Trump lies about everything all the time.  The corollary to that which then follows naturally is:  If Trump says he doesn't believe something, believe it!

The World Series Is Over, But I Have Baseball Questions

Buster Olney

✔@Buster_ESPN

From MLB spokesperson, about the $5,000 donation to Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith: "The contribution was made in connection with an event that MLB lobbyists were asked to attend. MLB has requested that the contribution be returned."

4,173

8:20 AM - Nov 25, 2018

"Mississippi history at its best!"

Young Cindy in the yearbook of
her all-white Lawrence County Academy.
Nice Confederate flag!

1.  Why does Major League Baseball have lobbyists?

2.  To which organizations does MLB make donations?

3.  Why does MLB make contributions to politicians?

4.  Why on earth did MLB give $5000 to the racist Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith?  Couldn't find a better candidate?  Must not have been trying very hard.  What the hell sort of "event" did Cindy invite the lobbyists to attend?

5.  Since they have obviously low standards for making donations, will MLB give $5000 to me?

Memes Of The Moment

Maybe The Irish Should Rule The World

An old joke:

Q.  Why was whiskey invented?
A.  So the Irish wouldn't rule the world.

Nevertheless, Ireland rejected the U.K.'s foolish Brexit gambit and will remain a part of the E.U.  In a referendum earlier this year, Ireland overwhelmingly voted to legalize abortion, negating a total ban in effect since the 1860's.  And now comes word that a large majority of the Irish are in favor of restoring birthright citizenship, which would reverse a 2004 referendum eliminating it.

So, given what's happening here in Trumplandia and elsewhere, maybe the Irish should rule the world.  

Jameson all around!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The First Trumpsgiving




My Favorite Thanksgiving Cartoon (A multi-repeat post)

"If Anyone Was Offended . . . "

Running to keep her appointed Senate seat against a far more qualified (and black) opponent, Mississippi Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith praised a supporter by saying that if he invited her to a "public hanging" -- a.k.a. a lynching -- she'd be in the front row.  Just another Mississippi idiom, according to Cindy.

At last night's debate, she finally issued an "apology" -- one of those non-apology apologies we've all heard so often:  "If anyone was offended by what I said, I'm sorry."  Translation:  "I did nothing wrong.  If it upset you, you're a wussy.  Suck it up, buttercup."  She was so obviously insincere that she read her remarks from a printed page and did not bother to look at Mike Espy while she read them.

If a stupid, tasteless reference to lynching while running against an African American doesn't garner a genuine apology from Cindy of the South, I wonder if this will:

It's a charming photo of her wearing a Confederate cap and holding a rebel rifle while visiting the Jefferson Davis museum.  She posted it to her FB page with the comment, "Mississippi history at its best!"  Is that right, Cindy?

I prefer Nina Simone's comment:  "Mississippi goddam!"  

How To Get On His Good Side

First, spend "$40-$50 million" or maybe "hundreds of millions of dollars" (Dick a la Orange has said both) on his condos and other real estate, including one entire floor of the Trump World Tower.

Next, make a vague, noncontractual promise to buy some military equipment from the U.S.  (Experts put the likely dollar amount of the purchase around $4 billion, about the same amount as in past years.  The Bronx Bragger has used delusional figures ranging from $110 billion to $450 billion.)

Then, murder a Washington Post journalist and chop his body into pieces.

Remember the steps:  1. Enrich him personally.  2. Give him a political talking point to exaggerate beyond belief.  3. Brutally kill and dismember a newspaper columnist (an enemy of the people).

Do this, and you too can be Donnie Dumpster's best friend, just like MBS.

"So, you had to whack a guy.  No big deal - business is business and shit happens.
You're still gonna buy the condos, right?  Right?"

 

White House Rules For Reporters

In his silly war against enemy-of-the-people Jim Acosta, Trump was successfully sued by CNN and promptly backed down.  Acosta's White House press pass was fully restored.

In an equally silly yet dictatorial attempt to establish "new rules" for the White House press corps, Sarah Fuckabee Sanders issued a letter informing reporters that henceforth they may ask only "a single question" at White House press conferences, with perhaps a follow-up question if they're really, really nice about it.

The letter gave a few examples of courteous, allowable questions:

• "How are you today, Sarah?"  (Allowable follow-up:  "And is the president feeling well?")

• "Many people are saying Donald Trump is the greatest world leader of all time.  Would you agree?"  (Allowable follow-up:  "So would second place go to Vladimir Putin or Mohammad Bin Salman?")

• "Mar-a-Lago club members have often heard the president tell of driving a golf ball well over 350 yards.  Do you believe the president is capable of a 400 yard drive?"  (Allowable follow-up:  "Is he equally skilled around the greens?") 

The letter also suggested a number of topics to be avoided, under penalty of banishment, permanent loss of press pass, and a terrible taunting from Trump.  Verboten topics include:  Robert Mueller, Russia, Saudi Arabia, tax returns, family business, Ivanka, global warming, voting rights, racism, the First Amendment and the rights of a free press, Mathew Whitaker, boofing, etc., etc. 

To their credit, the White House Correspondents Association issued statement in which they said they do not agree with these restrictions on press freedom, they played no role in developing them, and the chicken-shit administration can basically go piss up a rope. 

Which got me thinking:  What if they gave a press conference and no one came?  What if, as a one-time protest, all the White House reporters secretly agreed to skip Sister Sarah's next exercise in disinformation?  What if there was just video showing her standing google-eyed at the podium in a completely empty White House briefing room?  Or maybe the correspondents should walk out en masse as she walks in.

And in a related matter, the afraid-of-the-press administration announced that there will be no more comedians at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.  Because Trump is a humorless coward who can't take a joke, a nice little tradition dies.  A pity.

You Knew This Was Coming

This is low-hanging fruit, but its irony is delicious!  Incompetent and embarrassing, they bring it upon themselves.  He-he!

Why Finland Has No Problems

 

Wildfire Relief

The Repuglican Brand

What can you expect from a party that just elected two Congressmen under felony indictments and a dead pimp?  Well, you can expect maximum craziness, hypocrisy, bigotry, corruption, gratuitous expense and fact-free statements.  It's their brand.  Repuglicans!

Mississippi Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is in a runoff against Mike Espy.  If Espy wins, he'd be the state's first black Senator.  Speaking of a conservative blogger friend, Cindy said, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be in the first row," then claimed to be mystified as to why anyone in the former lynching capitol of the south would be offended by her remark, and refused to apologize.  Trump will be visiting soon to try to help Cindy the Supremacist, because he thinks more racist Republicans in the Senate is a great idea.

Speaking of great ideas, Slimy Cindy came out as a fan of voter suppression.  Addressing a group of college students, she said, "Maybe we want to make it more difficult for liberal folks to vote.  I think that's a great idea!"  No wonder Trump's riding to her rescue.  He thinks it's a great idea too.  I think electing Mike Espy is a much greater idea.

The contest for the title of Biggest Shameless Hypocrite Of All Time is over, and the winner is Mitch McConnell.  The Kentucky reptile, who once said, "My number one priority is making sure Obama's a one-term president," and also said, "One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, 'Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy,'" reacted to the new reality of a Democrat-controlled House by saying, without a trace of irony, "Will the Democrats work with us or will they put partisan politics ahead of country?" 

"Yes, original recipe."

Not only is King Kon unable to venture out in the rain to honor WWI veterans (can you imagine the horror of his hair in a downpour?), he can't even be bothered to go across the street on Veterans Day.  He skipped the ceremonial duty of placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, making the excuse that he was "extremely busy on calls for the country."  Calls.  Yes, lots of calls.  "Hello, KFC carryout?  This is Donald Trump calling on behalf of the United States of America.  I wanna order an 8-piece bucket."

Forestry Expert.  Trump suggested that California wildfires could be prevented with better "raking."  Speaking to reporters, he said, "You gotta take care of the floors.  You know, the floors of the forest.  Very important.  Finland, they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don't have any problem."

Trump selected a Mar A Lago club member who's a wealthy designer of $10,000 purses to be U.S. ambassador to South Africa.  She is the fourth Mar A Lago country clubber he has nominated to be an ambassador.  Patronage much?

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded for "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the U.S., world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."  This year's ceremony was a Trumpapalooza.

With his wife present, Trump tried to joke about the late Antonin Scalia's sex life.  "Nine children!  Mrs. Scalia, you were busy!  Wow!  I always knew I liked him."  Stay classy, Don. 

Of Orrin Hatch, he said, "He liked me from the start.  Therefore I like him."   I guess liking Trump is a meritorious contribution.

He gave a Freedom Medal to Miriam Adelson, wife of casino billionaire and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.  She must be in the "private endeavor" category, where her meritorious contribution was the $25 million her husband gave to the Trump campaign.  Patronage much?  (The Sequel.)

And he gave one posthumously to Elvis.  One bad hair-do paid homage to another.

After dropping $95,000 in taxpayer money for less than half a day at a Cairo hotel (and failing to bring back the Lost Ark), we now learn that the Bride of Trumpenstein  racked up $174,000 in hotel charges and $21,000 in transportation charges for 2017 day trip to Toronto.  For one day.  Be best, Melania.

Illegal voting disguise

Voting Expert.  Post-midterms, Trump said, "Republicans don't win because of illegal votes.  They go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt. come in and vote again," and "Voter ID.  If you buy, you know, a box of cereal, you have a voter ID."  SMH.

    

Four Cartoons

It Wasn't MAGA, It Was LFSU. It Still Is.

Excerpts from my favorite wordsmith, Matt Taibbi. 
____________________________________________

"Chaos is what Trump voters asked for.  The subtext of Trump's 2016 run wasn't about making America great again.  It was LET'S FUCK SHIT UP.  Trump voters understood it as a chair through a plate-glass window, to start looting.

In a time of extreme cynicism and existential gloom, Trump is a doomsday cult, giving voters permission to unleash their inner monster.  What makes this dangerous is that the appeal isn't limited to racists.  It extends to anyone who's pissed off about anything.  Trump is the match to burn it all down.

Current-day Trump will make an argument about an unprecedented conspiracy of elites trying to remove him from office.  Uncharacteristically for him, this won't even be complete bullshit, adding fuel to his wreck-the-system message.  He remains a ratings bonanza whose instinct for seizing the lowest common denominator has, if anything, expanded in office."

Oh No, Ohio!

Yesterday the Ohio House of Unrepresentative Republicans easily passed two odious piece-of-shit bills -- a "stand your ground" gun law (a.k.a. make the dead black man you killed prove he wasn't a threat), and a "heartbeat" bill which would effectively ban all abortions in Ohio.  Both bills now move on to the Republican-dominated Ohio Senate, where both are expected to pass.  Public opinion does not support either one.

Yet it looks like they'll make it to Gov. Kasich's desk.  He has promised to veto both.  He vetoed a previous heartbeat bill.  (I still don't like him, but Kasich does the occasional decent thing.)

The question is, will the gerrymandered, jury-rigged GOP press its unfair advantage and vote to overturn the lame-duck governor's veto in the current legislative session?

If they do, they must wrap it all up by December 31st or they'd need to do it all over again in the next session, where Mini-Mike DeWine awaits as the next Guv.  DeWine campaigned on a promise to sign the clearly unconstitutional heartbeat bill.  (What an awful thing to promise, especially for an AG.)

"Oh no, Ohio!"

Constitutionality is a non-issue for Ohio's Konservative Krowd.  They literally don't care.  Their cynical game plan is to pass as much wretched right-wing legislation as possible, and make the other side spend time and money suing to unwind all the damage done.  It's a nefarious mindset, and I despair for the future of my state.

I'll close with a sentence from a Columbus letter-writer, whose words appeared in today's Dispatch:

"Ohio is mired in a strange brew of ultraconservative, antiprogressive, Trumpian foolishness."