Ka-Boom!

Don't forget!

Treason

Simply put.

It's happening already

Quoting the Daily Kos: (read this article in full!)

As John Nichols put it this week in The Nation, the Republican Party is no longer a political “party” per se, but a mere vehicle, a conspiracy for seizing and holding power on behalf of a tiny sliver of the wealthiest among us. If that wasn’t evident from the grotesquely skewed tax cut inflicted on the American population in 2016—the sole “achievement” of the Republicans’ entire tenure in this Congress-- then the assaults on Democracy underway in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina prove it beyond any doubt, as gerrymandered Republican legislators working in the dark hours of the night hastily rewrite the powers afforded to their newly-elected Democratic state governors.  An insolent autocracy heedless to the interests or well-being of the American people is no longer “creeping”  into government from the shadows. Let’s be clear: it is upon us.

Yes. Yes, they still do.

Erik Prince

A dangerous wealthy religious fanatic who desires to run the Afghanistan war by himself.  And maybe other wars.  Or other ways of controlling people.

Wannabe Goebbels... Steven Miller

Our own home grown Nazi.

I agree with this

From Bill Davis:

I’m a liberal
“I’ve always been a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does.

Let’s break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I’m getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. Period.

2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that’s interpreted as “I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all.” This is not the case. I’m fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it’s impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes “let people die because they can’t afford healthcare” a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I’m not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

3. I believe education should be affordable and accessible to everyone. It doesn’t necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I’m mystified as to why it can’t work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.

4. I don’t believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don’t want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

5. I don’t throw around “I’m willing to pay higher taxes” lightly. If I’m suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it’s because I’m fine with paying my share as long as it’s actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.

6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn’t have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I’m not “offended by Christianity” – I’m offended that you’re trying to force me to live by your religion’s rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That’s how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don’t force it on me or mine.

8. I don’t believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

9. I don’t believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN’T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they’re supposed to be abusing, and if they’re “stealing” your job it’s because your employer is hiring illegally). I’m not opposed to deporting people who are here illegally, but I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

10. I don’t believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It’s not that I want the government’s hands in everything – I just don’t trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they’re harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I’ve spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege – white, straight, male, economic, etc. – need to start listening, even if you don’t like what you’re hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that’s causing people to be marginalized.

13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is sensible policies, including background checks, that just MIGHT save one person’s, perhaps a toddler’s, life by the hand of someone who should not have a gun. (Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine).

14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you’re using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?

I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I’m a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn’t mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don’t believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.

“So, I’m a liberal.”

Trump can't see the problem

The Saudis gave Trump money and saved him from bankruptcy.  TWICE.

And the Russian mob has given Trump money.

The CIA says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's assassination. 

Trump sides with the Saudis.

Stan Lee

That's about right.

You really can fool some of the people all of the time

So, murdering families who have walked for days to ask legally for asylum is a good thing?

Update 11/4:  Read Bryan's take on this totally political stunt

People are not stupid.

The only ones entitled here are the Republican a*holes in office

Because of course the Republicans went for the 'entitlements' (which is their term and NOT TRUE). We knew this was coming from the start of Trump's presidency. 

McConnell Blames Entitlements, Not GOP, for Rising Deficits

An easily understood illustration on what Kavanaugh's hearing felt like to women

Simply put.

How dare they search for the truth!

A Scary Time

And here we go....

While laughing maniacally

Because mad angry wimmen are scary

Tit for tat

Amen to that

And here we go...

I hadn't thought of it that way....

Mary Margaret McCurnin

 Funny how the last two Republican presidents were appointed, one by the Supreme Court and the other by the Russians.

Robert Reich warns us

Watch Your Wallets — The Next Crash Is Coming

Trump and his Republican enablers are now reversing regulations put in place to stop Wall Street’s excessively risky lending.

Link here.

Exactly.

Self-Managed Abortion Care Becomes Urgent as Threats to Roe v. Wade Mount

Truthout has the article.

We will hold them accountable.

They will not be able to claim they were against Trump all along.  They were there. They said nothing.  They voted in support of his ideas.  They are culpable


To quote from the Man for All Seasons:

Cromwell: But, gentlemen of the jury, there are many kinds of silence. Consider first the silence of a man who is dead. Let us suppose we go into the room where he is laid out, and we listen: what do we hear? Silence. What does it betoken, this silence? Nothing; this is silence pure and simple. But let us take another case. Suppose I were to take a dagger from my sleeve and make to kill the prisoner with it; and my lordships there, instead of crying out for me to stop, maintained their silence. That would betoken! It would betoken a willingness that I should do it, and under the law, they will be guilty with me. So silence can, according to the circumstances, speak!

Malicious Malignant Narcissistic Liar

Trump.

We just want to ask a few easy questions, Mr. Trump....

Mindless Minions

Amazing that we've come to this....

Post-Trump

Gasbags throughout history.by the inimitable Michal Spocko

This is from Democratic Underground. Alterfur is the user who posted it.



Gasbags throughout history. The 1960's#BabyTrumpBlimp



Gasbags over Washington DC.



#BabyTrump throughout history
The Baby Trump Blimp gets around. Here he is following Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels at the Lustgarten in Berlin, 1938. Goebbels later said it was the best speech he had ever heard about why England should separate from Europe. — in Washington, District of Columbia.



Gas bags in their natural state.



Gas bags at the 1938 Olymics. Rare Color Photo!





Gas bags walking

To counterbalance all the awfulness in the world, have a puppy who wants more.

scritches overload!

To bee or not to bee

37 Million Bees Found Dead After Planting Large GMO Corn Field 

Millions of bees dropped dead after GMO corn was planted few weeks ago in Ontario, Canada. The local bee keeper, Dave Schuit who produces honey in Elmwood lost about 37 million bees which are about 600 hives.  

 “Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,” Schuit said. While many bee keepers blame neonicotinoids, or “neonics.” for colony collapse of bees and many countries in EU have banned neonicotinoid class of pesticides, the US Department of Agriculture fails to ban insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc.  

Two of Bayer’s best-selling pesticides, Imidacloprid and Clothianidin, are known to get into pollen and nectar, and can damage beneficial insects such as bees. The marketing of these drugs also coincided with the occurrence of large-scale bee deaths in many European countries and the United States.

Smrt.

We've been here before.

But he hurt my feelings by existing!

Joy Reid

Like This Page · 15 hrs via Instagram · 

 

He showed up to a rally to defend immigrants. ... She showed up too, in her MAGA hat, and screamed, “You are going to be the first deported" ... " dirty Mexican!”

He is 14 years old. She is an adult. Make the picture black and white and it could be the 1950s and the desegregation of a school. Hate is real, y’all. It hasn’t even really gone away.

Cantcha take a joke?

Because being an enemy of the people is so funny:

Nonetheless, at one stage in Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate (BBC2, Sunday) we did see him pull off an impressive three-sentences, three-lies sequence in a speech about — inevitably — the mainstream media, including the New York Times. ‘They have no “sources”,’ said Trump baldly. ‘They just make ’em up. They are the enemy of the people.’

And then:

Milo Yiannopoulos is battling backlash after the deadly shooting at the Capital Gazette Newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday. Many people are speaking out against the right-wing firebrand, pointing to recent comments he made, calling for “gunning journalists down.”
Two days before the shooting, Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart editor, appeared to threaten two journalists from the New York Observer after they reached out to him with a request for comment. “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight,” he told New York Observer reporters in a text message, which the journalists later released to the public. 

Cause and effect?  Or if it's just a joke, why aren't people laughing?

Five dead, others 'gravely injured' in shooting at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis

Why do Democrats always have to be careful of the feelings of others

While Republicans can be as rude and crass as they want?

Our very own home-grown Goebbels

Stephen Miller who hangs out with alt-right Nazi wanna-bees.

Even as he is dying, Ady Barkan fights for justice, humanity, the vulnerable.

Obviously the Trump minions try not to pay attention.

Trump always wanted to be on the cover of TIME.

Stop trying to use the Bible to justify your actions, Mr. Sessions

Take names. Make them public. Make them OWN what they are doing.

I want the DeTrumpication of the Country 

Some positive news

A Dutch 'boy genius' said he could get the ocean to clean itself. Turns out, he's right.

aMErica First!