log.nikhil.io

one hundred and forty-two things tagged “politics

Not Too Shabby A Guy

by i_love_pencils

I don’t think he was a bad guy. I mean, other than the fact he’s a lying, unqualified, draft dodging, gold star family disrespecting, POW attacking, US General insulting, racist, sexist, vulgar, confirmed sexual assaulting, trillion dollars to the rich tax cutting, own daughter creeping1, wife cheat…

On The People Who Truly Love The United States and Would Like to Restore it to it’s Former Glory

Just as terror, even in its pre-total, merely tyrannical form ruins all relationships between men, so the self-compulsion of ideological thinking ruins all relationships with reality. The preparation has succeeded when people have lost contact with their fellow men* as well as the reality around t…

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

From the United Automobile Worker magazine, 1937: “What did you tell that man just now?” “I told him to hurry.” “What right do you have to tell him to hurry?” “I pay him to hurry.” “How much do you pay him?” “Four dollars a day.” “Where do you get the money?” “I sell products.” “Who makes the produ…

On MAGA and the Future of This Grand Experiment

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand. Hal Holbrook, Deep Throat, All the President’s Men…

The Mess Britain Is In

by Larry the Cat

For those asking from around the world how Britain has gotten into this mess: The Conservative Party has always been obsessed with Europe This caused divides making the party hard to manage Back in 2015 then Prime Minister David Cameron had an idea He promised a referendum on the UK’s membership of…

On Criminal Nature

The reason republicans get so incredibly huffy when any of the tools of law enforcement are ever turned upon them is they think “criminals” as an inherent class of people (who they of course could never be part of) rather than a descriptor for someone who commits illegal acts. @opinonhaver Not t…

On the Democrat Reelection Strategy

please bro just one more election please just one more I swear we just gotta win one more please bro please after the election we’ll fix everything please come on bro this is the most important election in history bro please bro I gotta win this one please bro please @mycheesemonster…

The Very Stable Genius

by smiama6

McMaster: called him a dope with the intelligence of a kindergartner Mattis: called him a 5th grader. Mnuchin: called him an idiot. Graham: called him a complete idiot. Priebus: called him an idiot. John Kelly: called him a f***ing idiot. Tillerson: called him a f***ing moron. Cohn: called him dumb…

“If you can’t be responsible of following some other simple rules in society to behave, why should you have a gun?”

That would be a Swiss gun instructor. His country has 2.3 million guns per 8.6 million people and has had exactly one mass shooting since 2001. They are able to do this despite being one of the most armed European countries because they have commonsense gun laws, actually fucking act to prevent sens…

A List of Patriotic Groups for Old Mouthbreathing Ultra-Conservative Chickenshits

by Unknown

101st Chairborne 1st Methanized Infantile Division Al-Kabob Army National Lard Battle of The Bulging Stomach Bozo Haram Branch Covidians Buffet Brigade Bundesmeal Call of Foodie Chowed Boys Cosplaytriots Country Bombkins Coup Klutz Clan CroMAGAnons Cult 45 Delta Farce Delta Forks Fryatollahs G.I. J…

“It’s very simple. We have multiple paths. We control them all. We have operational control. Total leverage.”

Behold the story of a Master Strategist, a 5D-Chess playing Svengali absorbed in his craft 🙏🔥…

Senator Grassley, People, and Party

More people like this, and on both sides, please. /misc/g/grassley-people-party.mp4 Senator Grassley is 88 years old. He voted to oppose Judge Jackson’s nomination. “Having carefully studied her record, unfortunately I think she and I have fundamentally different views on the role of judges and th…

The Very Clever Man

We all know one. They used to wear fedoras or berets or other identifiable hats. Many of them don’t anymore.…

The Democrats in 2022

Should be a lovely 2022 and 2024. By Jen Sorenson whose work I love.…

The State of American Healthcare

by ThatsWhatXiSaid

Americans are paying a quarter million dollars more for healthcare over a lifetime compared to the most expensive socialized system on earth. Half a million dollars more than countries like Canada and the UK. One in three American families had to forgo needed healthcare due to the cost last year. Al…

On Law and Character

Good government never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders. — Law And Gover…

On ‘Deliberate’ Genocide in the Americas

by CommodoreCoCo

I see I’ve been summoned. Your comments in this thread make it clear that nothing will change your position. It’s a difficult position to combat, because it’s in such a defiance of literally anything written on the topic in at least the last 50 years. You are not operating off the same foundations o…

Aaron Rodgers

The sentiment inside The Orange Sphere of Shit, by this genius (who is treating himself with Ivermectin.) QL made some observations: This is an incomplete pass. It’s probably unsportsmanlike conduct penalty It’s at least intentional grounding. It does no good, only hurts the rest of the team. The…

Former Member of “Elite-Strike Force” Legal Team now on Illustrious Client’s No-Go List to Save him the Embarrassment and Discomfiture of his Association with Her

Forgot to add this to my Collection of Shitkraken. Two lawyers who currently work for Trump or in the former president’s inner orbit say they want absolutely nothing to do with her and have cautioned others in MAGAland to do the same. One said they’d recently deleted her phone number. Two other peo…

An Orange Lout

He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms - one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the thought police, the stability of the Party depended. Orwell, 1984…

On Spite

In his book Dying of Whiteness, Metzl told of the case of a forty-one-year-old white taxi driver who was suffering from an inflamed liver that threatened the man’s life. Because the Tennessee legislature had neither taken up the Affordable Care Act nor expanded Medicaid coverage, the man was not a…

Afghanistan

47,245 Civilians Killed 2,442 US Troops Killed 20,666 US Troops Wounded 66,000 - 69,000 Afghan Troops Killed $2.26 Trillion Taxpayer Dollars Via NPR. And then: Just days before, Pardis had confided to his friend that he was receiving death threats from the Taliban, who had discovered he had work…

Whence “Gubernatorial”?

I’m put off by the word “gubernatorial” whenever I see it. Seems very silly, saccharine, like something a 5-year old mispronounced in 1953 that just stuck because it was so cute 🙄 Nope. “Because, if you go back to where this word came from, in the original Latin, it’s from the verb, gubernare and…

Fearless Leader of Former (Un-Reinstated) President’s “Elite Strike-Force” Legal Team resorts to side-hustle on Cameo after raising a staggering 0.2% of the $5 million towards the legal defense fund he will need to fight the voting company he baselessly accused of ballot-tampering

Yes, weeks after his buddy Bernie Kerik asked people to spare whatever they could for Giuliani‘s legal bills, the “Rudy Giuliani Legal Defense Fund” has raised a mere $9,590, or less than 0.2% of the $5 million goal. (It’s not clear if the RGLDF is a separate entity the “Rudy Giuilani Freedom Fund…

Fearless Leader of former President’s Elite Strike-Force Legal Team Gets Wasted and Advises his Client to “Just Declare Victory” Regardless of Outcome

“Just say we won,” Giuliani reportedly instructed Trump’s team, explaining that they should simply declare victory in each battleground state. Giuliani is then said to have told Trump directly: “Just go declare victory right now… You’ve got to go declare victory now.” Some solid strategery here. T…

The “No Reasonable Person Could Possibly Believe My Bullshit” Defense Fails for Former Member of Elite Strike-Force Team as Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Dominion’s Defamation Suit Against Her.

The Fearless Leader’s motion was denied as well. Pillow Bro as well. The best people. “As an initial matter, there is no blanket immunity for statements that are “political” in nature: as the Court of Appeals has put it, the fact that statements were made in a “political ‘context’ does not indiscri…

On the Big Lie and the Dangerous Normalization of Fascism

by kor_hookmaster

I think because the normalization of Trump and his erosion of political norms over the last 5 years, many people don’t seem to see just how unfathomably dangerous and downright fascist this entire situation has become. Donald Trump lost. He lost. That is irrefutable and indisputable. He has refused…

Pathetic Douchebag and Evil Douchebag Try Too Hard to Connect with Upper Middle Class Douchebags Who can Afford the Outdoors and Woodworking

Pathetic and Evil: “The next time you see someone in a mask on the sidewalk or on the bike path, do not hesitate,” Carlson said. “Ask politely but firmly: ‘Would you please take off your mask? Science shows there is no reason for you to be wearing it. Your mask is making me uncomfortable.’” “As…

Former Member of Elite Strike-Force Team Will Most Likely be Reprimanded by a Judge for Legal Ineptitude Over “Fluid” and Unpredictable Election

I’d really hoped that this embarrassment would’ve been forgotten a few weeks after January 6th. But here we are. “Should an attorney be sanctioned for his or her failure to withdraw allegations the attorney came to know were untrue?,” [U.S. Judge Linda Parker] said during a court hearing held by vi…

The Problem with Hyper-Individualism

A simple-enough argument about a dangerous, toxic worldview. […] To highlight that contradiction let’s try to explain these facts with individualist logic. Women and non-white people, by sheer coincidence, all individually chose to be paid less for more demanding jobs. Also by coincidence, they cho…

Fearless Leader of Elite Strike-Force Team Suspended from Practicing Law in Home State where he was Once Top Federal Prosecutor

This led him to miss a court hearing where his own lawyer sought to dismiss a billion-dollar defamation case against him. This is because the Strike-Force Honcho made “false and misleading” claims about the equipment used in the 2020 election on behalf of his Stable Genius client. I wonder how much…

Two Messages for Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to the fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, and father figures who enrich our character, love us unconditionally, and give so much of themselves every day so we can live lives worthy of their dreams and sacrifices. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. And, this is real (as much as you…

Are they not Mothers and Fathers and Children?

/misc/t/tony-benn-speech.mp4 I finish just by saying this: war is an easy thing to talk about; there are not many people - a - of the generation that remember it. The right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup served with distinction in the last war. I never killed anyone but I wore uniform. But…

“lol Dad and I were one of the first ones inside”

I wonder if our hero has any vacation plans he’d care to share with a judge who might acquit him and his lol-dad. (Cached)…

Leader of the Elite Strike-Force Team Peddles Pillows for CEO who wanted the Former President of these United States to Impose Martial Law over Losing the Most Secure Election this Democracy has Enjoyed So Far

I still remember Giuliani’s stature and gravitas 20 years ago, when I arrived in this country. How the mighty have fallen. It’s almost as if The Orange Sphere of Shit corrupts all those who enter it. And comically so in the case of America’s Mayor. Rick Wilson, the GOP political consultant who cre…

A Timeline of Cruelty, Denial, and Ineptitude

by Lloyd Doggett

May 2018 The Trump Administration disbands the White House pandemic response team. July 2019 The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) epidemiologist embedded in China’s disease control agency left the post, and the Trump Administration eliminated the role. Oct. 2019 “Currently, there are insufficient…

On The Intellectual, Artistic, and Cultural Wealth of Pre-Colonial Africa

by RegularCockroach

The Alt-History YouTuber Whatifalthist decided to dip his toes into real history again and made a YouTube video in which he supposedly breaks down his top 11 historical misconceptions, in which he says a section entitled “7: All of Pre-Colonial Africa.” As a massive enthusiast of pre-colonial Subsah…

American Polarization

One of the most disheartening charts I’ve seen about the current hyperpartisan political climate. We fear each other so much more. – Source I suppose all’s fine and dandy if you’re in news or social media and are spiritually obligated to deliver Value™ to stakeholders via those almighty engagement…

Dr. Seuss on “America First”

The answer to “Do the Patriots who bemoaned the purported ‘cancellation’ of Dr. Seuss know what he would’ve drawn about their party right now?” should be obvious to anyone who isn’t untethered from reality. Update Sarah Churchwell examines the sordid origins of “America First” (Cached)…

The Great Republican Bamboo Fiber Hunt

You know, the one where Evil Liberals partnered with Soros and Hillary and flew in 40,000 ballots (and not more) from China (or thereabouts) to Maricopa County in Arizona (and nowhere else.) So the only way to make sure the ballots are authentic is to stick them under a microscope and look for bambo…

Chomsky on Russell

[…] I think late 50’s he was asked once “Why are you wasting your time with CND demonstrations when you could be working on logic and philosophy and doing something of lasting significance?” And his answer wasn’t bad. He said “If I’m not out there demonstrating, there won’t be anyone around to rea…

Two Short Stories about Capitalism by Steve Cutts

“Happiness” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9dZQelULDk “MAN” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU…

“He was just kidding about that insurrection!”

“A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that’s just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it’s a joke.” Soren Kierkegaard…

Sir Patrick Stewart assesses the European Convention on Human Rights

From 2016 but still very relevant apropos conservatism and isolationism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptfmAY6M6aA…

Elite Strike-Force Leader’s Supporters Beseech the Angry Yam to Pay for Services Rendered

I have accepted that Shitkraken won’t end for a while. Giuliani’s attorney, son, and allies like convicted former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik have urged Trump aides to dip into his massive war chest to help cover the former New York City mayor’s mounting lawyer bills after Giuliani’s…

Shitkraken: A Quarterly Report

I didn’t want to post anything more about this seemingly interminable saga of ineptitude and batshittery. But I am a collector of various things. And collectors value completeness. So here we go. An Ex-Member of the “Elite Strike-Force Team” says “reasonable people” wouldn’t really believe her bulls…

We are Facebook. When a fascist, Hindu Fundamentalist government tells us their fee-fees are hurt by a hashtag, we Move Fast and Break Democracy to the pleasure of our shithead plasticine overlord.

Because the only thing that matters is delivering Value to shareholders. (cached) Incidentally, and to the “huh” of many Value-illiterate people, defending totalitarian governments is exactly how one gives “people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”…

I am a Republican politician. This means that I will gleefully ask you, using my Apple phone, via Twitter, to buy a book called “The Tyranny of Big Tech” on Amazon ♥️

And as a staunch Free Market Conservative, I don’t really worry about sales (cached). May the market do its thing (cached), just like St. Reagan said it would.…

Fuckface on His Own Daughter

by Unknown

She’s “voluptuous” She’s a “piece of ass”. “Perhaps I’d be dating her”. She has “the best body”. “If I weren’t happily married…” “Is it wrong to be more sexually attracted to your own daughter than your wife?” “She’s hot”. They have “sex [in common]". Expressing shock that a gay Apprentice cont…

On Privatizing Gain and Socializing Loss

Though capitalism has had a longer lease of life than some of us would’ve predicted or that many of our ancestors of the socialist movement did predict or allow, it still produces the fax machine and the microchip and still able to lower its costs and still able to flatten its distribution curve v…

“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of Political Intercourse”

Somoza called himself “president”. The Sandinistas called him a “dictator”. They called themselves “freedom fighters”. He called them “Commie terrorists”. So they kicked him out then they were in charge. Ronald Reagan called them “Commie oppressors” and he sent in the Contras, whom he called “free…

The Diabetic Racist

Matt Rowan is a family man, a Christian, and a former youth pastor (so we’re off to a fantastic start.) At a high school basketball game, this pillar of the community called children “f****** n******s” for that grave sin of actually kneeling during the national anthem. On the video, Rowan is heard…

Operation Shitkraken is Over

The Supreme Court disposed of the last of former President Donald Trump’s challenges to state election procedures Monday, rejecting his appeal of lower court rulings that upheld Wisconsin’s handling of mail-in ballots. The court announced the rejection without comment in a one-line order, which is…

On Value

SOCIALIST: late capitalism has created a moral rot that pervades our entire society NEOLIBERAL: but imagine if we monetized the rot @Trillburne…

“A Capitol rioter texted his ex during the insurrection to call her a ‘moron,’ feds say. She turned him in.”

Standing on the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, Richard Michetti allegedly took a break from the rioting to argue with his ex-girlfriend over text message. After sending photos and videos of the mob and boasting how he had avoided tear gas, Michetti parroted Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud.…

We Ought to Live in a Society, not an Economy

by BaldKnobber123

It’s important to state though, particularly since our current economic structure has pushed that “there is no such thing as society”. That might sound insane, but it is not hyperbolic. In 1987, Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the UK, said that “There is no such thing as society. There is [a] l…

Grown-Ass Human Being and Former World Leader throws tantrum, says “Who cares!”, and proceeds to write six paragraphs which demonstrate that he does, indeed, care.

See also. He was 73 years old, she was 17, and this was in 2019, when nobody had given a shit about Time’s Person of the Year for a while.…

Good Old Iowan Common Sense

As of the 4th of February 2021, and under its Governor’s wise, prescient, expert and data-driven leadership, Iowa ranks 47th in the nation for the number of vaccines administered 💯 Iowa has received 446,825 doses of vaccine and has administered 266,777 doses, or just under 60% of vaccines receive…

“The Honorable, the Members of the Unites States Senate”

🇺🇸: We the Peope of the Unites States… 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: 🤣…

On Space Lasers

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites…

On American Meritocracy

by BaldKnobber123

I find even many people who don’t vote Republican and don’t see themselves as conservatives use this type of response when discussing programs like Affirmative Action. They see themselves as arguing for the “meritocracy”, yet don’t recognize how fraudulent the idea of the US as a meritocracy is. To…

“Gigantic Asshole Ajit Pai Is Officially Gone.”

I don’t think I’ve enjoyed an article’s title this much in a while. Here is a list of harmful nonsense Pai and his FCC did over the last four years: Killed net neutrality Approved T-Mobile / Sprint merger Repeatedly released reports that claimed U.S. broadband is fine Defended murder of net neutra…

Leader of “Elite Strike-Force” Team sued for $1.3B by Dominion Voting Systems.

The 107-page lawsuit […] accuses Mr. Giuliani of carrying out “a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion” made up of “demonstrably false” allegations, in part to enrich himself through legal fees and his podcast. You don’t say. The suit […] is based on more than 50 statements Mr. Giuliani ma…

Texan Lawsuit, filed by disgraced attorney who posted videos of himself at the Capitol Attack, cites “The Lord of the Rings” as justification for the removal of the new President and stewardship by the old President’s cabinet.

It would appear that my collection of batshittery is far from complete. “Gondor has no king,” the lawsuit states, a footnote providing an explanation of the woeful fate of Tolkien’s entirely imaginary land populated by dragons, wizards, hobbits and elves, all threatened by a baleful Dark Lord back…

A Malarkey-Free America

Here’s to a Malarkey-Free America 🇺🇸🍦😎 Things won’t magically start getting better. He isn’t perfect. But he certainly is a decent human being, if only because he isn’t malevolent narcissism incarnate. And unless your career depends on democratic dysfunction and systemic ineptitude, cruelty, and…

Bernie Being Wholesomely On-Brand at the Inauguration

Wait, is Bernie is wearing the same jacket from his meme at the inauguration? @thealanjohnson The pose. The mittens. The social distance. @vulture Bernie dressed like the inauguration is on his to do list today but ain’t his whole day. @MsReeezy And about those mittens: Bernie’s…

It’s Not Over

Until all votes are counted. Until all votes are recounted. Until all votes are recounted by hand. Until the lawsuits are filed. Until the lawsuits are appealed at the State Supreme Courts. Until the lawsuits are appealed at the Supreme Court. Until the states certify the results. Until the electo…

“Elite Strike-Force Team” deemed “clownish” by Client’s Attorney General.

“These things aren’t panning out,” Barr told the president, standing beside his chief of staff Will Levi. “The stuff that these people are filling your ear with just isn’t true.” Barr explained that if Trump wanted to contest the election results, the president’s internal campaign lawyers would hav…

On Chernobyl and COVID

any history of COVID-19 in the US should really start off with an anecdote about how the chernobyl miniseries came out in 2019 and there was immediately a conclave of pundits smugly declaring that we would never respond to a disaster with such epic and malicious mismanagement @small_jawn…

We Love America the Mostest

I’m always curious what exactly Conservatives mean when they say they “Love America” because you hate most of the people who live here, you hate the civil liberties afforded by the Constitution, you hate the separation of Church and State. You might claim to love its economy but you hate all of th…

“Elite Strike-Force Team” Client Leaves Office with his Lowest Ever Approval Rating at 29%

Nicely played, team. I’d say Mission Accomplished 🍾 That being said, I really hope I don’t have to collect Shitkraken stories anymore (for “completeness.”)…

Stable Genius Client Halts Payments to Fearless Leader of his “Elite Strike-Force” Legal Team.

Not sure if this has to do with The Client’s legendary ethics and history of non-payment (one, two, three, four, five, and many, many more) or the Strike Force’s whopping 1.5% success rate. Or maybe The Genius finally realized: “Your typical role as legal counselor is to tell your client the hard…

“Elite Strike Force Team” Vanishes from State Television.

Surely can’t the bad-for-ratings hair dye, the insane and casually racist witnesses, or the amazing 1.5% success rate?…

A Conservative Plan

By Amii James (Instagram). Context was the Tories but applies to our fine people stateside as well. Tory ministers saying “we owe it to children to keep schools open” might want to explain to me why they closed my youth centre, cut mental health services, underfunded my secondary school, stripped…

The Elite Strike-Force Team is at 1-64 a week before inauguration.

This is a success rate of ~1.5% 🥇 The Best People folks, lemmetellya.…

What Do We REALLY Learn?

Via CO. Succinct and appropriate for a gamut of events. /misc/w/what-do-we-learn.mp4…

Twitter permanently suspends account of Sidney Powell, ex-member of the “Elite Strike-Force Team”.

I’m really tired of this saga of ineptitude and batshittery but will continue to scrapbook these stories for ‘completeness’.…

Idiots Out Walking Around - III

At the Iowa Statehouse. Via State Senator Joe Bolkcom. Installments One and Two (the latter features the verysame “Informed Choice” idiots.) More on this tantrum by The Register. /misc/i/iowa-idiots-facts-over-fear.mp4…

Conversion Table

by Prof. Kieran Healy

A B No one could have predicted this would happen Many people have been saying something like this would happen I never thought I’d live to see this day I have been asleep for the past five years Anarchists Trump Supporters This is not who we are This is exactly who we are Our 250 yea…

Decoding the flags and banners seen at the Capitol Hill insurrection

Confirmation that I did, indeed, see a “No, Georgia the country, idiot” flag. And then there’s this surprising tidbit: The flags of Canada, Cuba, Georgia, India, Israel, South Korea, and South Vietnam were spotted in the mob. It’s unclear why many of these flags appeared, though a number of the whi…

Eleventh Hour Courage

After profiting off him for four years. People and organizations appear to have found quite a bit of courage to do the right thing these days. Their statement. See also.…

“He was delighted.”

“And I’m sure you’ve also had conversations with other senior White House officials, as I have,” Sasse continued. “As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushin…

“Dominion sues pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, seeking more than $1.3 billion”

In a 124-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Dominion said its reputation and resale value have been deeply damaged by a “viral disinformation campaign” that Powell mounted “to financially enrich herself, to raise her public profile, and to ingratiate herse…

They Pushed Me Out And Maced Me

/misc/a/america-2021-they-pushed-me-out-they-maced-me.mp4 Perfection. By @schmoyoho and via KP.…

THIS is America

Lord of our lives and sovereign of our beloved nation, we deplore the desecration of the United States Capitol building, the shedding of innocent blood, the loss of life, and the quagmire of dysfunction that threaten our democracy. These tragedies have reminded us that words matter and that the po…

This Is America

During the four years of the Civil War, the confederates never got closer to Washington than Fort Stevens. Until today, when insurrectionist supporters of @realDonaldTrump paraded through the U.S. Capitol Building carrying the Confederate battle flag. @JordanOnRecord The ultimate in White…

Scottish Sass

Asked about speculation that Mr Trump could travel to Scotland in order to avoid the inauguration, Ms Sturgeon said: "I have no idea what Donald Trump’s travel plans are, you’ll be glad to know. "I hope and expect that – as everybody expects, not everybody necessarily will hope – that th…

Reaganomics: The Rest of You Shall Eat Shit

The economist John Kenneth Galbraith noted that “trickle-down economics” had been tried before in the United States in the 1890s under the name “horse-and-sparrow theory”, writing: Mr. David Stockman has said that supply-side economics was merely a cover for the trickle-down approach to economic…

Democracy Dies Behind Paywalls

“World’s richest men added billions to their fortunes last year as others struggled: Billionaires have added about $1 trillion to their total net worth since the pandemic began” (WaPo, Paywall.) (Even though The Post is a complexifier for me, I do not at all regret my investment. The Post is a cr…

The Work of Ron Cobb

Ronald Ray Cobb was “an American-Australian cartoonist, artist, and film designer” who passed away in September last year. He worked on movies like “Back to the Future”, “Jodorowsky’s Dune”, and “Alien”. An ornithopter! But it’s perhaps his cartoons that are more enduring and eeriely relevant afte…

Dorothy Counts

04 September, 1957 Dorothy Counts, the first and at the time only black student to enroll in the newly desegregated Harry Harding High School in Charlotte (NC), is mocked by protestors on her first day of school. Bystanders threw rocks and screamed at Dorothy to go back to where she came from. The…

What are Left and Right critiques of Liberalism?

by TychoCelchuuu on Reddit

Well, we could go on forever listing various critiques from both the Left and the Right, so I’ll just cover a few and maybe other people will stop by and list more. The Left Marxism/socialism There are lots of criticisms of liberalism from the Marxist and socialist corners. We could be here all day…

On America Right Now

I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one r…

“Nachkommen”

I haven’t seen anything that captures the times quite like this work by Willikin Wolf (Patreon, Instagram) Update as of January 6th, 2021 Source: ABC News…

The Conservative Refrain

Starring Ted Cruz. It cannot be anyone else. /misc/w/why-am-i-persecuted.mp4 And there’s the 10-hour version (of course) for when a batshit-crazy, cultist conservative whinges about freedom and liberty and censorship and free markets and privatization and regulation and “corporations are people” and…

On Moochers

Many years ago interviewed an older gentleman as part of a study I was conducting. He said “Republicans are people who will withhold food from 100 people out fear that 1 might not need or deserve it. Democrats will feed 100 out of concern that 1 might really need it. @silvercoug With this foll…

Saving America is No Menial Task, Sir

I hope Dominion’s lawyers don’t underestimate the Elite Strike-Force Team’s Star Witness’ What-Do-You-Mean-I-Have-To-Make-An-Appointment-Online Energy 😬 “You gained international infamy earlier this month as Rudy Giuliani’s so-called ‘star witness’ who could supposedly corroborate outlandish accu…

Supply-Side Jesus

Saith The Lord to Socialist Democrats: ha, nice try. healthcare is about consumer choice. get a job and enroll in a market-based plan. no peter i won’t help you that will only create dependency pick yourself up by your own sandal straps it’s called personal responsibility. i would love to give you…

Schrodinger’s Douchebag

One who makes douchebag statements, particularly sexist, racist or otherwise bigoted ones, then decides whether they were “just joking” or dead serious based on whether other people in the group approve or not. Urban Dictionary They’re always “just joking.” About pandemic response, about request…

Pig Rectums, not Calamari

From a while ago: “Rump Faker: Is imitation calamari made from pig rectum? A charming urban legend gets its start.”…

Patriots supplement Elite Strike Force Team’s efforts by posing as Fake Electors.

In another sign of the lingering unrest over President Donald Trump’s election loss, an Arizona group sent the National Archives in Washington, D.C., notarized documents last week intended to deliver, wrongly, the state’s 11 electoral votes for him. Mesa resident Lori Osiecki, 62, helped created…

The Elite Strike-Force Team loses 59 cases since November 3.

This includes a one paragraph “Dude… really?” from the Supreme Court over the “bid to invalidate more than 20 million votes.” So. Much. Winning.…

“Detroit Is Trying to Get Sidney Powell Fined, Banned from Court, and Referred to the Bar for Filing the ‘Kraken’”

“It’s time for this nonsense to end,” Detroit’s lawyer David Fink told Law&Crime in a phone interview. “The lawyers filing these frivolous cases that undermine democracy must pay a price,” Fink added. but Asked about the sanctions motion, Powell replied cryptically: “We are clearly over the t…

Mister Babcock is Just Fine

When conservative activist Meshawn Maddock obtained a list of allegedly dead Michigan voters, she didn’t report it to law enforcement. […] The list of 150 or so names was part of a larger file of more than 2,000 people who “voted in Wayne County by absentee ballot that are CONFIRMED deceased,” clai…

Shitkraken Part Deux - The Leghumper

The SC swatted it away like the “Garbage, but dangerous garbage” it was, but even this “conservative evangelical American blogger and radio host” just had it with the sycophantic tantrum: I personally think my company should pay me workers compensation for brain damage for having to read that lawsu…

“Pennsylvania AG calls Texas’ Ted Cruz a ‘sad sack’ after Trump asks the senator to argue election case”

“[Cruz] has proven himself neither to be a genius in terms of the law nor a genius, frankly, in terms of [emotional intelligence]. He is a sad sack,” Shapiro, a Democrat, told CNN. “I would say to him — and, frankly, I’d say to my 17 colleagues who have gone along with this circus — I don’t know wh…

The Joke

Trump has been saying the pandemic has been totally under control since January, and said it would just “go away” in February. He reiterated this in March as the virus surged, and insisted we had “perfect” tests that anyone could get after reports of faulty tests. He said he wanted pandemic-relate…

“Someone is going to get killed’ if Republicans don’t tone down their incitement”

“It has to stop,” Sterling said. Directing his remarks to Trump, he added, “Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed. And it’s not right.” Lest any members of the public fail to understand:…

More than 1,000 lawyers call for Giuliani’s ‘strike force’ to be disbarred for election fraud conspiracies.

“It is indefensible for lawyers to falsely proclaim widespread voting fraud, submit a pattern of frivolous court claims and actively seek to undermine citizens’ faith in our election’s integrity. We condemn this conduct without reservation.” said the letter.…

The Kraken Is Dead.

Well, shit. Emphasis mine: … a judge in Wisconsin dismissed the fourth and final lawsuit, noting that it is voters, not judges, who decide who goes to the White House. “Federal judges do not appoint the president in this country,” U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper wrote in a 45-page ruling. “One…

Elite Strike Force Team Sidekick tests positive for COVID.

She then proceeded to attend a WH Party, of course. President Trump’s lawyer Jenna Ellis has informed associates she tested positive for the coronavirus, multiple sources tell Axios, stirring West Wing fears after she attended a senior staff Christmas party on Friday. “She had the nerve to show u…

“The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied.”

In other words, of which there are many, since the Supreme Court needed only 18 to hurl this nonsense into the Tidal Basin, Rep. Mike Kelly handed the Supreme Court of the United States a reeking dead fish and the Court refused delivery. And the Kelly suit looked like it was drafted by Clarence Dar…

Fearless Leader of the Elite Strike Force Team tests positive for COVID.

Mr. Giuliani appeared on Fox News earlier on Sunday. Speaking with the host Maria Bartiromo via satellite, Mr. Giuliani repeated baseless claims about fraud in Georgia and Wisconsin on “Sunday Morning Futures.” When asked if he believed Mr. Trump still had a path to victory, he said, “We do.” On Mo…

“A Small Man with a Small Mind and Bad Mustache”

A member of The Elite Strike-Force Team bemoaned being “canceled” and asked to resign from an elite club after calling for violence against the country’s former CyberSecurity chief who said that the elections were “the most secure in American history” (which was the opinion that got him fired.) Merc…

Behold the Elite Strike-Force Team’s Star Witness.

Operation #shitkraken appears to limping along quite well. /misc/r/rudy-carrone.mp4 A living caricature who could’ve been drunk, who was likened to an SNL character, who put out so much Can-I-See-Your-Manager Conspiracy Karen Energy she had to be shushed by the flatulent Leader of the Elite Strike-F…

An Attorney Of Scant Accomplishment - The Elite Sidekick

‘Reporters’ at the Failing NYTimes explore: “How Is Trump’s Lawyer Jenna Ellis ‘Elite Strike Force’ Material?” (cached) I should just copypasta the whole thing but here we go: Since she graduated law school in 2011, nothing in her record in the courtroom […] shows any time spent litigating election…

Bassakwardkraken

Despite being cut loose from President Donald Trump’s legal team, Powell is forging ahead with her election-conspiracy crusade to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential win. But the conservative attorney’s self-described Kraken keeps getting its tentacles tied in a knot of typos and errors — including t…

A Kraken of Shit

To the surprise of no one (well, normal people), “The Kraken”, authored by an ex-member of the “Elite Strike-Force Team”, turned out to be a “truly awful” and unmistakably QAnon-laced lawsuit full of basic formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors that would “drive a proofreader to drink.” From a…

Highly Informed Outrage

A lovely Techbro aside from the ongoing #shitkraken. Greg Stenstrom, another poll watcher, said that in Delaware County, 47 USB cards were missing. “As a computer scientist, an American and a patriot, it doesn’t matter who those votes were for. It was shocking to me that that could even happen,” h…

The Continuing Saga of an A+ Elite Strike-Force Team Saving Our Imperiled Democracy

Will tag updates as I read them with amusement and disbelief. Armando Ianucci must be weeping right now. All emphases are mine. In a court filing signed by Rudy Giuliani and Marc Scaringi1 — the two remaining attorneys on the case after everyone else quit — the campaign asked for the judge to hand…

YouVotedForThis.com is a lovely collection of Brexit repercussions.

I created YVFT site after my Conservative voting aunt complained on Facebook that there weren’t enough police to deal with disruptive teenagers in her town. I wanted to scream, “But you voted for this!” without looking like a lunatic.…

Idiots Out Walking Around

Reynolds said election victories for Republicans in the state this week show Iowans support her approach. “It was a validation of our balanced response to COVID-19, one that is mindful of both public health and economic health,” Reynolds said. Because political victories, not cases or deaths, shou…

Tim Kendall testifies

to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Facebook’s engagement practices and likens them to time-tested strategies used by Big Tobacco before they were somewhat regulated. And he would know. Kendall was the former “Director of Monetization” at Facebook and is currently the CEO of Moment, a c…

Staying Out of It

And then I explain to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormento…

A Summary of Iowa’s Covid-19 Response

See also: The time-tested stratagem of going La La La La La. Here’s the entire conference.…

Every “safety plan” I’ve seen that would allow public schools to reopen requires that kids behave in ways that no child has ever behaved in the history of children.

Yep. And the tweet was in the context of school openings, but college towns like Ames and Iowa City, are no exceptions (like she continues.) I say we continue to doubt the science, exercise absolutely no discipline in the interest of the economy (because the Communist Kiwis maintain zero interest in…

The Official Response

WOOLEY. What if the Prime Minister insists we help them? SIR APPLEBY. Then we follow the four-stage strategy. WOOLEY. What’s that? SIR WHARTON. Standard Foreign Office response in a time of crisis. SIR WHARTON. In stage one we say nothing is going to happen. SIR APPLEBY. Stage two, we say something…

The Unborn

“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t…

Apu

From Soutik Biswas’, “The Simpsons: Not all Indians think Apu is a racist stereotype” “As I see it, there are two primary products that second generation Indian American comedians sell - the ridiculousness of their parents’ ‘culture’ (arranged marriage and ‘my son, the doctor’ are the commonest tro…

Who Is America?

Don’t think I could bear to watch the entire series but Vulture’s put together a few clips of Baron Cohen’s guests at “their most gullible” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czU_IkTDmMk…

Orwell

When one watches some tired hack on the platform mechanically repeating the familiar phrases – bestial atrocities, iron heel, bloodstained tyranny, free peoples of the world, stand shoulder to shoulder – one often has a curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but some kind of du…