There was one bright beacon of hope and light in the last 24 plus hours. McCabe's retirement and back pay taken away the day before he would have vested in his FBI retirement was restored. The unique and profound cruelty of Donald Trump the Revenge Monster and Jeff Sessions, the Ultimate Racist and Hate Prick were undone. I'm trying to take solace in that.
Excellent reveal today by Greg Olear on Substack about Sessions, the Russian mob & Putin & tRump. This all is so deep and vile. We need to repeat former NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman's plea to all good Republicans we know to vote for Democratic candidates. Their party has been hijacked.
McCabe's reinstatement of his rightful retirement compensation is great, but it doesn't make a dent in the hideous usurpation of the norms of the Federal Government that Trump overturned with a stroke of the pen or a late night tweet. All this has been under attack. Some of the Founding Fathers knew this would happen.
I remember, decades ago, a woman I knew making this observation: "There are three subjects on which there is only one side; the other side is morally worthless nonsense. Those three things are slavery, the Holocaust and abortion." Exactly correct. There is NO possible defense for slavery, NO "other side" that justifies the Holocaust, and NO value whatsoever to beliefs that deny women control over their own bodies.
And yet, thanks to the "religious" right, this country seems to be edging toward the idea that all three of these subject DO have another side that deserves equal time; obviously, on the subject of abortion, they have already made a terrifying amount of progress in demonizing and criminalizing abortion, those who perform abortions, and those who undergo them. The Texas school district that wanted "both sides" of the Holocaust taught in schools has, I believe, withdrawn that directive, but the mere fact that some people felt justified in putting that proposal forward is mind-boggling! And Lucian is not just indulging in overblown rhetoric when he wonders if some of the GOP are thinking of ways to reinstitute slavery. They aren't going to say it out loud in public, but we can all be sure that there are members of GOP who devoutly WISH that would happen.
It's gotten so bad that I just watch what I can of the national news on the usual station and don't even bother with PBS because it's getting so depressing to analyze this country any more. Racism is back, ignorance is roaring in, a pandemic is going on, and the Republican party is dragging this country back 150 years.
I'm glad I don't have children, and that my husband is gone because he'd be foaming at the mouth every single minute of every single day over this shit.
It hurts the mind to know we used to be far, far better and smarter 50 years ago.
What happened to that country we used to live in, anyway?
I am also VERY glad I don't have children and grandchildren, and it's my flaming liberal father, almost 30 years dead, who'd be foaming at the mouth over today's political shambles.
It’s grim, but please don’t give up just yet. As Susan Glasser wrote in The New Yorker, the Trump White House is still a crime scene. And remember that most of the crap Republican initiatives are very unpopular. They are sucking all the oxygen out of the room, but now that the Administration is asking SCOTUS to repeal the Texas law, it may put some of their feet to the fire, because we all know that what Abbott is doing is unconstitutional. I can imagine, but then again I am an optimist, that Neil Gorsuch may not countenance that Texas law supersedes Federal Law. It’s not over yet.
It would be nice to imagine a better voting bloc with 6 justices for the law, but I'm afraid we're going to see the worst imaginable. I'm girding my loins for that day, because right now, it's real possible with the team there right now, we're going to lose Roe. It'll be a very, very sad day, but that's what comes from people voting against their own interests-like for Trump.
Yes, I cannot disagree. I think Roe gets overturned when SCOTUS hears Missouri case, but it will be interesting to see how it reacts to the Justice Department’s plea regarding Texas.
I'm beginning to think that the wide-open spaces of Texas are simply metaphor for the cognitive vacuity that seems to permeate the state — 'dumb as I wanna be'. And apparently, no sense of shame about it whatsoever. Surely, at least some of the new transplants from other states would be taking offense about the way those in charge of the state are handling the people's business. For every soon-to-be-leaving emigrant from California who was loudly proclaiming how good it will be to get out of California and reestablished in Texas, my usual response is, "Be careful what you wish for." Dumb is dumb, no matter where you are; except that in Texas, there appears to be no bottom to the cognitive pit that the state has fallen into.
Any one of these people is horrifying. The anti-voting and anti-abortion laws being enacted in these states - and we know and they know which states are jumping on the white nationalist, misogynistic bandwagon - are anti-democratic and in the case of the Texas abortion ban downright barbaric. I despair.
The view from the outside of the barbed wire is white nationalism. Alive in Poland and Germany and France and in the good old white nationalists here in the USA. See also: Christianism.
Was watching MSNBC recently when the Georgia audit revealed the staggering fact that enough Republicans did NOT vote for Trump to cost him the election in Georgia. About 30,000 who voted Republican down ballot left Trump off their ballot. Bet that would have been revealed in other Red States...BIGLY!!!
And this is the basis of the electoral failure of Trump. Reasonable Republicans couldn't vote for him. Would that they might have voted for Biden, but leaving that box empty has proved to be fodder for these morons contesting the vote.
We literally live across the street from Southlake. It's no better in our own district Grapevine/Colleyville (GCISD). We're the ones getting rid of the only black principal in the district because he believes in fairness and equity and teaching students to respect each other. The right wing nut jobs are taking over our school boards. Glad my kids are grown and we're educated in Illinois.
You are correct: right-wing nuts ARE taking over your school boards. It is one of the long-range, grass-roots principles of Christian Dominionism (aka fundamentalism) that they start at the bottom, with school boards and aldermanic elections, getting their people onto those while hiding their true goals. Once in those offices, they start banning books, destroying the curriculum and replacing it with their brain-washing, such as we've already seen: teaching "both sides" of the Holocaust; insisting that any realistic discussion of slavery and racism be eliminated in favor of literally "white-washing" those subjects; forcing science teachers to include creationism in their curriculum along with (or in place of) evolution; replacing real-world sex education with abstinence-only. And so on and on.
From there, it's on to state offices and judiciaries, and finally to the US Senate, House, the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court and the Presidency. This full take-over may require years and even decades, but they are convinced that their god has promised them dominion over the entire world, beginning with the USA. They have made undreamed-of progress toward that goal in the past decade.
You are not alone. If I were thirty years younger, I would have chosen another place to live and certainly if Trump is re-elected, I just might have to.
Teach an opposing view of the Holocaust? What would that be exactly? I can only come up with two options: (1) It didn't happen, and (2) It was a good idea. Your move, Southlake. I also can't help noticing that when schools offer "opposing views" of the whitewashed history in Texas textbooks, the right-wing loons call it "Critical Race Theory" and try to stamp it out. Are they playing "Heads I win, tails you lose" or what?
There was one bright beacon of hope and light in the last 24 plus hours. McCabe's retirement and back pay taken away the day before he would have vested in his FBI retirement was restored. The unique and profound cruelty of Donald Trump the Revenge Monster and Jeff Sessions, the Ultimate Racist and Hate Prick were undone. I'm trying to take solace in that.
Excellent reveal today by Greg Olear on Substack about Sessions, the Russian mob & Putin & tRump. This all is so deep and vile. We need to repeat former NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman's plea to all good Republicans we know to vote for Democratic candidates. Their party has been hijacked.
And Bill Kristol is urging Republicans to vote for the Democrats coming up.
People still pay attention to Bill Kristol?
Probably not. But still, he was a diehard Republican at one time, every little bit is at least interesting.
Agreed
You left one guy out. The guy who did so much to enable all of this, Mitch (mother effer)
We should never forget nor forgive him. He is worse than the others because he has the most power to do the most harm and he is doing it.
McCabe's reinstatement of his rightful retirement compensation is great, but it doesn't make a dent in the hideous usurpation of the norms of the Federal Government that Trump overturned with a stroke of the pen or a late night tweet. All this has been under attack. Some of the Founding Fathers knew this would happen.
As did H.L. Mencken, among others.
I remember, decades ago, a woman I knew making this observation: "There are three subjects on which there is only one side; the other side is morally worthless nonsense. Those three things are slavery, the Holocaust and abortion." Exactly correct. There is NO possible defense for slavery, NO "other side" that justifies the Holocaust, and NO value whatsoever to beliefs that deny women control over their own bodies.
And yet, thanks to the "religious" right, this country seems to be edging toward the idea that all three of these subject DO have another side that deserves equal time; obviously, on the subject of abortion, they have already made a terrifying amount of progress in demonizing and criminalizing abortion, those who perform abortions, and those who undergo them. The Texas school district that wanted "both sides" of the Holocaust taught in schools has, I believe, withdrawn that directive, but the mere fact that some people felt justified in putting that proposal forward is mind-boggling! And Lucian is not just indulging in overblown rhetoric when he wonders if some of the GOP are thinking of ways to reinstitute slavery. They aren't going to say it out loud in public, but we can all be sure that there are members of GOP who devoutly WISH that would happen.
Wow. Yes, slavery must come back - how else will they staff McDonalds. Creepy.
It's gotten so bad that I just watch what I can of the national news on the usual station and don't even bother with PBS because it's getting so depressing to analyze this country any more. Racism is back, ignorance is roaring in, a pandemic is going on, and the Republican party is dragging this country back 150 years.
I'm glad I don't have children, and that my husband is gone because he'd be foaming at the mouth every single minute of every single day over this shit.
It hurts the mind to know we used to be far, far better and smarter 50 years ago.
What happened to that country we used to live in, anyway?
Anyone see it around?
I am also VERY glad I don't have children and grandchildren, and it's my flaming liberal father, almost 30 years dead, who'd be foaming at the mouth over today's political shambles.
Most days, well, EVERY day, I get a bout of CNTSD, Current News Traumatic Stress Disorder.
If they could get away with it, the Repubs would bring back child labor.
AND slavery!
And stoning women apparently.
It’s grim, but please don’t give up just yet. As Susan Glasser wrote in The New Yorker, the Trump White House is still a crime scene. And remember that most of the crap Republican initiatives are very unpopular. They are sucking all the oxygen out of the room, but now that the Administration is asking SCOTUS to repeal the Texas law, it may put some of their feet to the fire, because we all know that what Abbott is doing is unconstitutional. I can imagine, but then again I am an optimist, that Neil Gorsuch may not countenance that Texas law supersedes Federal Law. It’s not over yet.
It would be nice to imagine a better voting bloc with 6 justices for the law, but I'm afraid we're going to see the worst imaginable. I'm girding my loins for that day, because right now, it's real possible with the team there right now, we're going to lose Roe. It'll be a very, very sad day, but that's what comes from people voting against their own interests-like for Trump.
Yes, I cannot disagree. I think Roe gets overturned when SCOTUS hears Missouri case, but it will be interesting to see how it reacts to the Justice Department’s plea regarding Texas.
I'm beginning to think that the wide-open spaces of Texas are simply metaphor for the cognitive vacuity that seems to permeate the state — 'dumb as I wanna be'. And apparently, no sense of shame about it whatsoever. Surely, at least some of the new transplants from other states would be taking offense about the way those in charge of the state are handling the people's business. For every soon-to-be-leaving emigrant from California who was loudly proclaiming how good it will be to get out of California and reestablished in Texas, my usual response is, "Be careful what you wish for." Dumb is dumb, no matter where you are; except that in Texas, there appears to be no bottom to the cognitive pit that the state has fallen into.
Any one of these people is horrifying. The anti-voting and anti-abortion laws being enacted in these states - and we know and they know which states are jumping on the white nationalist, misogynistic bandwagon - are anti-democratic and in the case of the Texas abortion ban downright barbaric. I despair.
you're right...everytime I think gops have sunk lowest they show they can dig further. I'm hoping they'll soon all encounter scorching hell.
And really, what IS the opposing side of the Holocaust, the view from machinegun-toting guards outside the barbed wire?
The view from the outside of the barbed wire is white nationalism. Alive in Poland and Germany and France and in the good old white nationalists here in the USA. See also: Christianism.
I believe the term is Christian Dominionism.
I still have some hope.
Was watching MSNBC recently when the Georgia audit revealed the staggering fact that enough Republicans did NOT vote for Trump to cost him the election in Georgia. About 30,000 who voted Republican down ballot left Trump off their ballot. Bet that would have been revealed in other Red States...BIGLY!!!
Wow. I missed that. That *is* cause for hope.
And this is the basis of the electoral failure of Trump. Reasonable Republicans couldn't vote for him. Would that they might have voted for Biden, but leaving that box empty has proved to be fodder for these morons contesting the vote.
Exactly
I have just one word to describe the situation we find ourselves in as a nation: LUNACY.
Tragic and seems to be in ascendancy.
We literally live across the street from Southlake. It's no better in our own district Grapevine/Colleyville (GCISD). We're the ones getting rid of the only black principal in the district because he believes in fairness and equity and teaching students to respect each other. The right wing nut jobs are taking over our school boards. Glad my kids are grown and we're educated in Illinois.
You are correct: right-wing nuts ARE taking over your school boards. It is one of the long-range, grass-roots principles of Christian Dominionism (aka fundamentalism) that they start at the bottom, with school boards and aldermanic elections, getting their people onto those while hiding their true goals. Once in those offices, they start banning books, destroying the curriculum and replacing it with their brain-washing, such as we've already seen: teaching "both sides" of the Holocaust; insisting that any realistic discussion of slavery and racism be eliminated in favor of literally "white-washing" those subjects; forcing science teachers to include creationism in their curriculum along with (or in place of) evolution; replacing real-world sex education with abstinence-only. And so on and on.
From there, it's on to state offices and judiciaries, and finally to the US Senate, House, the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court and the Presidency. This full take-over may require years and even decades, but they are convinced that their god has promised them dominion over the entire world, beginning with the USA. They have made undreamed-of progress toward that goal in the past decade.
“I can’t believe the news today. Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away.” —U2, Sunday, Bloody Sunday
I am glad I am no longer teaching history in the public schools. I no longer recognize the country that I grew up in.
You are not alone. If I were thirty years younger, I would have chosen another place to live and certainly if Trump is re-elected, I just might have to.
It feels like the ump totally fucked the last call, and my team has lost;
Kind of like last night…
Teach an opposing view of the Holocaust? What would that be exactly? I can only come up with two options: (1) It didn't happen, and (2) It was a good idea. Your move, Southlake. I also can't help noticing that when schools offer "opposing views" of the whitewashed history in Texas textbooks, the right-wing loons call it "Critical Race Theory" and try to stamp it out. Are they playing "Heads I win, tails you lose" or what?