GOP Incompetence – Page 15

Video Thread 1/4/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:35 am Open Thread, Politics

Jan 042022

Glenn Kirschner – DOJ Press Release Promises to Hold Accountable All Those “Responsible” for Capitol Attack

Crooks and Liars – Harry Dunn Moves Capehart To Tears With Answer On Protecting Congress

Ring of Fire – Conservatives Accidentally Drive Book Sales Soaring After Trying To Ban Books

Robert Reich – The Big Picture: How We Got Into This Mess, And How We Get Out of It (No CC because no talking!)

CBS – States across the country mark the start of 2022 with new laws going into effect (More new laws)

CNN – Cheney reveals what Trump was doing during January 6 insurrection (not like any of this is news, but testimony is always nice to have.)

Beau – Let’s talk about a New Year update….

Open Thread for January 2, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:27 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 022022

Yesterday, I woke up and was delighted to see that the comment system is working. Some of us who have been using it for years at other sites are going to appear with different names – I will be Underwriter505 – which may take a little getting used to. But a least it will work and we won’t have to approve evry comment manually. Thanks all for your patience and understanding. We got comments from most who normally comment, and it seemed to go smoothly. Mitch could probably comment in Disqus, except tht he still can access the site, even just to read it, so I’ll still be entering his comments (and did, for both posts). I succeeded in making both Naeless (dmhlt_66) and Lona (Lona Goudswaard) moderators and administrators for Disqus (both already were for PP) – all before sunset. Then I turned to more routine tasks, like setting out meds and preparing posts.

Cartoon – (I really hope I’m wrong about this.)

Short Takes

Crooks and Liars – Crookie’s Trend Of The Year: Alt Names For You-Know-Who
Quote – We found out this year that “The Former Guy” refuses to be referred to as “former.” This did create a problem for his legal team, who kept trying to say you can’t indict/sue/bring to court a “former” so-called “President” while never once using the term “former” because your nightmare of a client won’t let you?
Click through for this article and links to some of the other Crookie awards. I particularly approve the “Mensch of the Year” award.

Politico – Bernard Kerik provides batch of documents to Jan. 6 select committee
Quote – Bernard Kerik, the former New York City Police commissioner and ally of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, also provided a “privilege log” describing materials he declined to provide to the committee. Among the withheld documents is one titled “DRAFT LETTER FROM POTUS TO SEIZE EVIDENCE IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY FOR THE 2020 ELECTIONS.” … Trump ultimately opted against that strategy, but his consideration of the option is one of the key questions the panel is probing as part of its broader investigation into attempts to overturn the election.
Click through for a story you probably missed – I know I did – I don’t recall ever even hearing his name. But this may help.

Wonkette – Missouri Gov Mike Parson Vows Reporter Who Found Sh*tty Coding In State Website Will PAY
Quote – Thing is, there wasn’t any “hacking” involved, as Krebs on Security explained at the time, since the SSNs were almost right out in the open to be seen by anyone with specialized software, like a common web browser. “The newspaper said it found that teachers’ Social Security numbers were contained in the HTML source code of the pages involved. In other words, the information was available to anyone with a web browser who happened to also examine the site’s public code using Developer Tools or simply right-clicking on the page and viewing the source code.”
Click through for details. I see “Kill the Messenger” is alive and well among those who want to drag us back to the Dark Ages in every possible way.

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 12/30/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:43 am Open Thread, Politics

Dec 302021

Glenn Kirschner – The Law’s Perception Problem; When Will Justice Come for Meadows, Giuliani, Clark, Trump & Others

Meidas Touch – Did Donald Trump LEAK Melania’s nude photos??!

Crooks and Liars – “The former Senator was not mincing words.”

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party

Really American – GOP Embraces “Fresh” Faces Of Hatred

Brent Terhune – Storming the Burger King Remember he’s a satirist)

Beau – Let’s talk about questions and the Potter case….

Open Thread for December 22, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:44 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 222021

Yesterday, I slept in. However, I had done enough extra the day before I that I didn’t fall behind.

22 1222Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes

Newsweek – Millions of Angry, Armed Americans Stand Ready to Seize Power If Trump Loses in 2024
Quote – One indication of how far Republicans may be willing to go in violently opposing the government is their sanguine reaction to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Republicans by and large see no problem with a mob of hundreds swarming and forcing their way into the seat of American government. Half of Republicans said that the mob was “defending freedom,” according to a CBS/YouGov poll taken just after the insurrection. Today two-thirds of Republicans have come to deny that it was an attack at all, according to an October survey by Quinnipiac University. “There’s been little accountability for that insurrection,” says UCLA’s Winkler. “The right-wing rhetoric has only grown worse since then.”
Click through for the full story. The consensus at DU is that these “warriors” are all hat, no cattle. And don’t exist in the numbers claimed. (And even it they did, “millions” in a nation of 330 million people is in the neighborhood of 3% looked at generously, which would give us the advantage.)

Wonkette – Steve Bannon Isn’t Nearly As Smart As He Thinks He Is. And Neither Are His Lawyers.
Quote – Bannon’s legal team includes Trump impeachment lawyer David Schoen and Bannon’s old lawyer Robert Costello, the guy who told Bannon it was a great idea to give the House January 6 Select Committee two middle fingers and shout EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, MOTHERFUCKERS. And if his name sounds familiar, it’s because Costello is the one who tried to dangle a presidential pardon to Michael Cohen via a mangled Garth Brooks lyric.
Click through for more. Wonkette sourced this from The Daily Beast, but I think the sardonic style adds something.

AP News -Pentagon issues rules aimed at stopping rise of extremism
Quote – Officials said the new policy doesn’t largely change what is prohibited but is more of an effort to make sure troops are clear on what they can and can’t do, while still protecting their First Amendment right to free speech. And for the first time, it is far more specific about social media.
Click thrpugh for more specific info. This is a very good thing. The U.S. military may not even attempt to reach hearts and minds (probably futile anyway) but is very cpmpetent at defining activities and prohibiting harmful ones. And holding individuals accountble.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 11/24/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:39 am Open Thread, Politics

Nov 242021

Glenn Kirschner – House Committee Issues Subpoenas for Roger Stone & Others; Moving Up the Insurrection Food Chain (Working up the foos chain always made sense to me. Start at the top, you may wind up giving a plea bargain to the actual criminal, and executing [almost] an innicent person. That’s what happened to Julius Jones.)

Meidas Touch – Elie Mystal: What if Black people stormed the Capitol on Jan 6?

Don Winslow Films – #ShockingUnansweredJan6Questions Well, I can answer one question – the reason it took so long between forming the committee and the first subpoenas was because they had a ton of documents – and voluntary testimony – they needed to get through first. That is not just a theory, at least one person on the committee has said so publicly. And it makes sense. A good lowyer never asks a question of a witness to which he or she doesn’t already know tha answer. (I can answer a few of the others too, but I couldn’t back up those answers as I can with this one.)

Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda: Special Place In Hell For People Like This Major Ojeda’s accent it fairly thick, but unlike so many on this subject, he knows whereof he speaks, and it’s worth the listen to get the facts.

Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party

Parody Project – Blew It Again

Beau — Let’s talk about Thanksgiving and Sesame Street….

Video Thread 11/21/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:28 pm Open Thread, Politics

Nov 212021

Glenn Kirschner – Defendant Jacob “QAnon Shaman” Chansley Sentencing to 41 Months in Prison for Capitol Attack

Meidas Touch – Kyle Rittenhouse NOT GUILTY verdict will inspire more vigilante killers

MSNBC – Media Dilemma: How To Cover Indecent Politicians Without Amplifying Them? (Sadly, Rachel is one of very,very few who even ask this question. But it’s nice for me to know that another of the very, very few is in Denver.)

politicsrus – Kevin Is a Creep

Caffeinated with John Fugelsang – Ep #3 Bribe Back Better

Puppet Regime – Obstreperous Turkey

Beau – Let’s talk about bad news for DeJoy and good news for the postal service….

Video Thread 10/20/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Politics

Oct 202021

Glenn Kirschner – The Late Colin Powell: From WMD’s to Secretary of State to Announcing “Trump is a Liar”. (Glenn and I believe much the same about him; I’m just a trifle more outspoken because I’m not a public figure.)

MSNBC – Trump Goes Under Oath For First Time Since His Presidency

Thom Hartmann – He Refused Vaccine Only For COVID Complications To Ruin His Life

Ring of Fire – Big Trouble For Matt Gaetz As Judge Postpones His ‘Wingman’s’ Sentencing

Armageddon Update – Layer upon Layer –

Really American – Lauren Boebert: Dangerously Dumb

Beau – Let’s talk about a crashed tractor and unskilled labor…..

Video Thread 10/18/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:59 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 182021

Glenn Kirschner – Congress Should Refer Bannon for Criminal Contempt AND Trump for a Contempt Conspiracy Investigation

Meidas Touch – Trump in Hiding

MSNBC – Velshi: ‘Sticks And Stones May Break Your Bones, But Words Do Real Damage’

CNN – ‘He should suffer the consequences’: Impeachment witness on Trump’s lies. So Nice to see LTC Vindman.

Amazing Rabbit Changes Man’s Mind About Animals – CHIEF BRODY

Beau – Let’s talk about public health at the border and inconsistency….

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PHP is a programming language used to build websites. We have it at all through our hosting partner, BlueHost. In order to update it, we have to go through Bluehost. During his life, TomCat was the only one who had access to our account there. I (JD) am now the only one. I have been to BlueHost and investigated updating our PHP to 8.3 or even to 8.1. I found instructions to do so - in fact, I found two conflicting sets of instructions. I went through one set of the steps and got the message that Our site could not handle 8.3, but that it had successfully updated to 8.1. I then went back here to see what it looked like. But I couldn't get in - either as an administrator or as a reader. It was just gone. I had to reach BlueHost by phone. It was determined that Politics Plus is in fact not compatible with any version of PHP newer than the one we have. BlueHost therefore uninstalled it for me, and the site came back to normal. Of course, like everyone else, I care about security. But I also am aware that TomCat elected to use different providers for several of the services that BlueHost provides, for instance backups. We are backed up daily - but not by BlueHost. However, out PHP is through Bluehost. I feel that if they are not worried about the older version, I am not going to worry about it. I believe that our security here is all or mostly through WordFence, whom I trust.