Politics Plus

These last few days sure have been busy, and I hope that I can finally get the data collection  and graphics for January’s report done later in the day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:00 (average 4:53).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): The 50 Craziest Things Trump Has Done As President | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

If Keith could go longer without breathing, he could have made it 500. RESIST!!

From Think Progress: \Authoritarianism” is one of the most misunderstood words in America today.

As Cornell government professor Thomas Pepinsky writes, authoritarian nations rarely resemble Nazi Germany. People don’t necessarily live in fear of a secret police, or even fear that there will be consequences for dissent. Rather, the dividing line between democracy and authoritarianism comes down to something much more basic: “you know that you are no longer living in a democracy because the elections in which you are participating no longer can yield political change.”

By this definition, there is a thick cord of authoritarianism winding its way around the Republican Party.

Think of the gerrymanders. The voter suppression laws. The voter purges. The lawsuits asking courts to toss out ballots. None of these cancel elections outright, or even prevent most Democrats from participating in elections. But they make it much less likely that voters who are dissatisfied with Republican governance can bring about political change.

Those of you that have known me for years know that, as long as you have known me I have said that what Republicans do can always be explained by one of their two defining goals. One is the transfer of wealth from the poor and middle classes to the super-rich. The other is the establishment of a permanent totalitarian Republican Reich, a fascist plutocracy in which elections exist for show only, because Republicans control who votes and how the votes are counted. RESIST!!

From Salon.com: “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert agrees with President Trump: Just because the Bowling Green massacre never happened, doesn’t mean the media should be ignoring it.

Where were you, when you didn’t hear nothing happened? RESIST!!

Cartoon:

It's a very busy day.  Wendy just left a while ago, and I finished my research.  I still have all my medical documentation to collect for my appointment tomorrow. And today is the highest Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  Tomorrow please expect no more that a Personal Update, and that will be be published after I return.  Does anyone know if Edie is OK?

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 2:46 (average 4:26).  Yo do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From KP Daily Funnies: The Alternative Constitution

An Alt-Constitution for an Alt-Asshole. RESIST!!

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Oval Office Cold Open

It's sad that the Trump Alec Baldwin portrays is much saner then the Fuhrer,  RESIST!!

From Robert Reich: …Hmmm. Connect these dots:

(1) Yinnopoulos writes for Breitbart News, which Steve Bannon – Trump’s strategy director – ran before joining Trump.

(2) Before Yiannopoulos speaks at Berkeley, Breitbart publishes an article saying that Yiannopoulos will call for the withdrawal of federal grants and the prosecution of university officials who endanger their students with their policies.

(3) Berkeley opens its doors to Yiannopoulos, but campus police have to cancel the event because of masked agitators.

(4) Hours later, Trump issues a misleading tweet, accusing the university of not allowing free speech and promoting violence against innocent people with different views, and threatening to withhold federal funds.

(5) The next night, Yiannopoulos on Fox News says the incident proves that universities like Berkeley don’t deserve federal grants by cracking down on free speech.

(6) That same night, on CNN, I raise the possibility that Yiannopoulos and Breitbart could have been collaborating with the agitators – saying “I wouldn’t bet against it.” This generates a belligerent column in Breitbart with a misleading headline calling me a liar for claiming that Breitbart News organized the riots.

I don’t want to add to the conspiratorial musings of so many about this very conspiratorial administration, but it strikes me there may be something worrying going on here.

I wouldn’t bet against it.

Left wing anarchists are usually not masked. It sure looks like a false flag to me. Regardless of who was behind it, I condemn such violent behavior, as do Democrats everywhere. Progressives and Liberals deplore civil violence, unlike Republicans who encourage and endorse it.  Also, Berkeley officials had nothing to do with preventing the Nazi from speaking. They condemned the criminals too. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

It’s another busy day.  In addition to today’s articles, I need to start preparing the graphics and collecting the data for January’s Monthly Report and perform several other tasks.  Monday I have an appointment with Megan, my primary care physician, and I need to prepare several pages of notes recording the medical mayhem that will occupy much of my time over the next few months.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:20 (average 4:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The Rachel Maddow Show: Trump’s ill-fated Yemen raid raises risk/reward questions

David Sanger, national security correspondent for the New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about the planning and unanticipated obstacles that befell Donald Trump’s first ordered counter-terrorism raid in Yemen.

Trump now claims that Obama ordered the raid and he was just carrying it out. That is a lie. Be advised that Democrats cannot convene House or Senate hearings. Only the majority party can do that. But Democrats need to raise a big stink demanding hearings into how the Fuhrer became the Mango Murderer by killing a Navy Seal and several innocent women and children. RESIST!!

From YouTube: Democrats Must Fight

The Reich on the left is right. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: In a spate of annoying telephone pranks that has lasted nearly two weeks, heads of state from around the world have been receiving crank calls from someone claiming to be the President of the United States, the United Nations reported on Thursday.

According to the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who has fielded complaints about the crank calls, the caller has tormented leaders from Mexico, Australia, and many other countries.

“The pattern is always the same,” Gutteres said. “The caller is identified as the President of the United States, so naturally he is put right through. Once he is connected with the head of state, he begins to speak in a threatening and harassing manner.”

“Then, as his threats reach a crescendo, he hangs up,” Gutteres said. “Clearly, it’s someone’s idea of a sick joke.”

The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, became a victim of the crank caller over the weekend, an experience that he called “highly irritating.”

That’s OK, Andy! We don’t think he’s the President either. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

I’m waiting for Store to Door to deliver my groceries.  Wendy is coming this evening.  I’m swamped with tasks, so please pardon my brevity.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:26 (average 5:50).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (RWW Channel): RWW News: Alex Jones Thinks Quebec City Attack Was A False Flag

Barf Bag Alert!!

This is how Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians try to project their own terrorism onto others. RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: Democrats vow to block Trump SCOTUS pick Gorsuch

Senator Jeff Merkley talks with Rachel Maddow about his intention to filibuster Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, after Republicans refused to give former President Obama’s nominee a hearing.

Kudos to Jeff! Oregon leads the way! Just say NO to Neil Whoresuch! RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Donald Trump fired the acting Attorney General, Sally Q. Yates, after learning that she had downloaded a copy of the United States Constitution to her computer, Trump told reporters on Monday night.

According to the Trump Administration’s code of ethics, established by Steve Bannon, a counsellor to the President, “possessing, reading, or referring to the United States Constitution” is a violation that is punishable by termination.

Suspecting that Yates was in breach of that rule, Bannon seized Yates’s computer at the Justice Department and discovered that she had secretly downloaded a complete copy of the 1789 document.

OK, Andy! It’s time to get back to satire. RESIST!!

Cartoon: