"All is Well" except for some Malingering Soldiers

How many Real Soldiers were injured in the Iranian rocket attack on the Al-Asad base in Iraq?

Well if you listen to Trump and his lick spittle Tom Cotton, ZERO. Oh sure some guys have headaches but, no one was wounded.

After all nothing those men did warrants a Purple Heart. Trump was given a Purple Heart by a Veteran and he knew all along he deserved it for his phony bone spurs. These 11 or 34 soldiers have some headaches, take some "Vitamin I" and get back to duty before Trump charges you with an Article 115 Malingering.

It is of course well beyond the stage of "Imagine if Obama said that..." because there have been multiple instances of Trump pissing on Veterans and Active Duty military members and the Right doesn't care.  In truth Conservatives have never cared about Veterans. The military and active duty service members are nothing more than a Rhetorical Club for the Right to use to bash The Left.

The Niger Ambush in which a small detachment of Special Ops soldiers were sent into a hostile zone with no QRF, no air cover, no exit strategy, and no hope of rescue shows Conservatives don't care about those killed in hostile engagements unless Republicans can Benghazi the shit out of the incident. The Niger Ambush was a Republican failure from the top of Traitor Trump's comb-over to the bottom of Lindsey Graham's boot licking.

But, you can see how clearly Trump has captured every Republican when Tom Cotton, an erstwhile Veteran, completely debased himself to full-throatedly defend Trump's insulting comments about Soldiers "headaches".

Conservatives don't give a shit about Soldiers, never have, and never will.

I, Trump and Trump the God - the face of Fascism in America

I am wicked
I am legion
Strength in numbers
A lie
The number is one
I, I, I
Everything that I see is for me - I (Black Sabbath DeHumanizer 1992)

Every Trump rally is a fascist display, designed to wear out and frustrate the Nation. Trump is so delusional and deplorable he's invented whole fantasy scenarios wherein by his Greatness Alone he's saved America,

"I made a deal. I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace prize for saving the country. I said ‘did I have something to do with it?’ Yeah. But you know that’s the way it is. As long as we know, that’s all that matters. I saved a big war, I saved a couple of ‘em."

I made a deal. I saved a country. Did I have something to do with it? I saved a big war. I saved a couple...

I... I... I...

Over and over again from this supreme narcissist. But, Trump is cagey and an experienced conman so he's able smoothly to make the MAGA Horde believe they are in on the con, "As long as we know..."

The greatest trick of the Grifter is too get the marks to actively participate and have them come away convinced they were the ones pulling the scam.

Trump says things which are demonstrably untrue and conservatives know it. But, instead of distancing themselves from these lies and falsehoods they embrace them in their eternal quest to #OwntheLibs. It's why arguing with any conservative on-line is a fool's errand. Trump Cultists know they are arguing disingeniously, and in bad faith, and that's the point. To wear you out with lies, to tire you with their unshakeable delusions, to frustrate you with their smarmy untruths.

Power wears out those who do not have it. - Giulio Andreotti (1919-2013)

Of course, the "Power" most conservatives get from this Traitorous Maladministration is the Power to say 'Suck it Libtard!' Conservatives have abandoned their so-called principles, ethics, morals, and values for Trump; he is their All now. There is no coming back from this for conservatives. Sure, of course, they will scrutinize ever statement from an Elizabeth Warren, any Democratic politician or person who doesn't embrace the rightwing agenda of oppression, intolerance, and adulation of the rich but, a Cult never questions their Savior.

But, those who do break or question Trump are a problem. Trumpublicans have moved a step beyond simply accusing the Media, feminists, liberals, and the Democratic Party of suffering "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and now outright call the Democratic Party Terrorists. The Iran debacle has conservatives blood up and their throats are full of jingoism, political violence and murder once more. This is a classic step-by-step component of Marching Fascism. The Non-#MAGA are no longer just loons, but are active enemies. And that moves us closer to the Final Step when conservatives declare registered Democrats need to be rounded-up and shipped to concentration camps and murdered.

When Trump loses 2020, conservatives will be primed for Violence; will the Trumpublican Party openly embrace it?

Iran It's an Imminent Threat

It's a put-on
An Imminent Threat?
It's a put-on, It's a put-on, It's a put-on

As always Trump and his maladministration is lying. The reason Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Trump himself, or any other fascist drone of this cabal say they can't reveal details of the imminent threat is because it didn't exist. And now they can't manufacture any real data or intel to substantiate the claim.

On Faux News, Pompeo did away with even the semblance of a cover-story, "There is no doubt there were a series of imminent attacks being plotted. We don’t know precisely when and we don't know precisely where. But it was real."

'We don't know when and where...'

But, it doesn't matter. The Magat Horde doesn't need any real Casus Belli. Trump's barnstorming' act is all they really want. So he decided to keep it simple, used his signature style of malaprop insults, and this reckless, unjustified strikeThe Anti-Benghazi!

Ta-dah!

The ground has been well plowed for Trump; 25 years of Faux News, 40 years of toxic rightwing talk radio, 60 years of Birtcher propaganda, and 150 years of revisionist rightwing history, so entire generations of conservatives have been born and died believing naught but lies and rightwing agitprop. Of course, they know Qasem Soleimani was about to blow up the Embassy in Iran or Iraq or Washington DC, whatever. And of course, they know Solemani directly killed hundreds of Marines and Soldiers and millions of people.

Of course, the Soleimani killing which also resulted in 9 other deaths, was just a Weapon of Mass Distraction, from the real battle Republicans wished to wage against their true enemy; the Democratic Party and the ostensible American Left. So after the drone strike, Republicans flooded every channel of the toxic rightwing propaganda machine with Democrats love the Terrorists, a time-honored slander conservatives have been flinging for years.

There's no coming back from the depths conservatives have reached. The entire Republican Party is a criminal conspiracy abetted by a Cult of fanatics who will never abandon their god-emperor.

Trump is slowly transitioning, as I always knew he would, from calling the Media and elected Democratic Congresspersons vicious, horrible and evil, to labelling anyone who votes against him in those terms. He's edged this way before, as when he tasked Police Unions to suss out which Officers voted against him. But, as the election nears, Traitor Tump is getting closer and closer to directly calling on his Cultists to round-up and concentrate his enemies into camps. And understand, conservatives and especially their paramilitary armies (the Oathkeepers and III Percenters) are oiling up their guns just waiting to execute Trump's Order for someone to rid him of these Non-#MAGA.

How MAGA and KAG learned to love the upcoming Iran War (pssst it's 9/11)

#WWG1WGA - it's not just a hashtag it's a Cult Mantra...

"The Greatest foreign policy achievement of the decade, if not our lifetime..." - Kayleigh McEnany on Fox Agitprop Channel.

Right now, a lot of 2003-2004 political strategy manuals are being dusted off. Hopefully, John Kerry's "I was for the war, before I was against it" is not one of them.

In 2003-2004, Democratic politicians tried to thread the needle of a third way between Pro-War and Anti-War. Democrats hoped to be seen supporting the Troops while hedging their bets about the Iraq Invasion and Occupation. Republicans on the other hand went full in on the War and declared anyone who did not support the War was a treasonous Anti-American traitor who sided with the 9/11 attackers. War Criminal Dick Cheney derisively declared, "So?" when the media tepidly pointed out the Iraq War was a massive disaster.

Even as the war dragged on, with deaths, injuries, multiple deployments, torture, war crimes in Abu Ghraib or Fallujah and the WMD lies by W(orst President Ever) were hilariously revealed in a White House comedy skit conservatives were still hammering at the Left and drunkenly claimed Saddam was responsible for 9/11 and Liberals loved Saddam.

As is their nature, conservatives used the troops as a rhetorical cudgel to attack the Left and Democrats fearing they would lose in 2004 were still hesitant to accurately call for Bush's Impeachment as a a War criminal. Well, the wishy-washy Kerry lost in 2004. Republicans fucking gained seats in the House and Senate. So, the Iraq War continued as Bush swaggered around the White House in his phony cowboy attire. Conservatives continued to support Bush and Cheney throughout their Nation Wrecking Maladministration, which went from one disaster to another. Perhaps you recall some of the Bush List of accomplishments: 9/11, protecting the Bin Laden family including Osama, Iraq War Crimes, $5 TRILLION dollars lost in the deserts of Iraq and Wadis of Afghanistan, Katrina, culminating in the Great Republican Recession of 2007.

So, after President Obama won election conservatives quickly declared the Iraq War Won (Victory in Iraq Day is officially 11/22/2008 in conservative #AlternativeFacts Universe). Shamelessly, after years of declaring anyone questioning the Iraq War was a traitor and sided with the terrorists, Trump won (with help from the likes of Zero Hedge) by declaring Hillary Clinton the sole architect responsible for the Iraq War and its failures. And conservatives fell in-line as they always do.

As is necessary when the US engages in military operations Qasem Soleimani has been elevated to near Hitlerian heights in order to justify his killing. Ridiculous joke of a human and Arch-Traitor to the United States Donald J. Trump tweeted,

"General Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught! He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number of PROTESTERS killed in Iran itself." 

100% bullshit. Thousands of Americans? Bullshit! Millions of people! Total Horseshit! And before Mike Pompeo could disseminate the Agitprop of 'Iraqis celebrating and dancing in the streets' the 60 million Trump Lovers took to their social media to declare their jingoistic unwavering support for the mission and the upcoming war with Iran.

So, expect Faux News to replay their greatest hits; You can't criticize a President during a War, you can't support the Troops without supporting Trump, anyone who is against the drone strike of Qasem Soleimani is a hypocrite or a terrorist-lover, Actually Obama/Hillary/John Kerry is responsible for Iran, The Democrats are in league with Iran, and so forth.

Conservatives will dust off the Toby Keith CDs, reattach their faded yellow ribbon magnets, criticize anyone against War as a Terrorist Sympathizer. Right-wingers long ago realized conservatives have No Memory and No Concept of Future Time. There is only the Eternal Now. And you say whatever you need to in order to Win Now.

Winning. You are going to get tired of all the Winning.

Addendum:
And just like that, despicable prevaricator Mike Pence reintroduces 9/11 as a justification. Cheney and his creepy cabal tried to tie in Iran to 9/11 back in the Axis of Evil days. It really is the 2003 Playbook all over again.

Magat Liars

The Anti-Benghazi Back to Iraq III: it's been too long I'm glad we're back

Cause We're Back, Yes We're Back

We're Baa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ack

We're Baa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ack

We're Baa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ack, in Iraq

Yes, We're Back in Iraq 

The US launched some airstrikes at the end of the year which apparently killed 50 US trained erstwhile allied security forces. After the strikes, the US Embassy in Baghdad came under an "attack" and the protesters bypassed all the ineffectual defenses but, the attacks did not result in any lives lost. The Department of Defense officially claimed Iranian backed Shia-militias were responsible because leaders were spotted int he crowd. Less talked about by the DoD was Secretary of State Pompeo slashed funding for the security in a repeat of the embassy funding cuts done by Republicans in 2011.

Donald Trump began tweeting out "Anti-Bengahzi" because he is an illiterate buffoon who can't even spell let alone comprehend the forces Dickless Cheney and George W(worst POTUS Ever) unleashed during their Great Boondoggle along the Tigris and Euphrates. Iran became the preeminent power in the Middle East as a direct result of the Iraq War.

As the tensions escalate we face the near certainty of a renewed Iraq War. Or worse still a proxy War with Iran in Iraq which will eventually spill into direct war with Iran. Trump is blustering boob who, in fits of phony toughness, has publicly and repeatedly staked out the maximalist position of 100% retaliation at any provocation. Thus, Trump can not rely on diplomacy when faced with an escalating crisis and even if he wished to, his undermining of the State Department during his Ukrainian Crimes has closed that avenue for him. And there is no longer a so-called adult in the Oval Office to keep the childish Trump from lashing out in a fit of pique. Thus, he's left only with the military option.

But, as is always the case once Trump fucks something up the Magat Horde take it upon themselves to retcon his mistakes into glory whilst finding a way to Blame Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

In this case, the decision seems to be to blame John Kerry. Rightwing social media is circulating pictures of a White House visit in 2011 by the Nouri Al-Malki administration in which Hadi Al-Amiri takes part.

This alone is all the rightwing Wurlitzer needs to spin a million and one fables via a million and one tweets. The Joy of being a Conservative is having No Memory and acting as though incidents and people spring up ex nihilio. To conservatives on-line (and the bots that amplify them) until December 31st 2019 there never was a Hadi Al-Amiri. He isn't the Minister of Transportation. He wasn't part of the post Saddam post Coalition Provisional Authority Government. He never fought in the Iran-Iraq War, which was fomented by Ronnie Raygun, Donald Rumsfeld, and George Bush Senior. Nope. Instead Had Al-Amiri sprung up from Barack's tears of capitulation from the desert during Obama's Surrender World Tour.

Propaganda Never Sleeps.

Right now, the US has proclaimed at the direction of the "President", a targeted airstrike at Baghdad Airport has killed General Qasem Soleimani. Thus raising the question: under what authority was this attack authorized? The Ancient crumbling AUMF? Don't expect Republicans to break with Trump over this bombing they've given themselves completely to MAGA. And the jingoistic war-boners this is giving the Magat Horde on-line gives lie to the Donald the Dove narrative they careful curated for Media consumption.

So now... now we await the response from the Shia Arabs, Iranian directed militia forces, and Official Iraqi government. Will they ratchet up incidents to force Trump to respond with his phony bravado and send the troops surging back to Iraq? Or is the long awaited Invasion of Iran about to begin?

The Revenge of The Thin Blue Line 6: One More Cup of Coffee

But I don't sense affection
No gratitude or love

One more cup of coffee for the road
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go - Bob Dylan, One More Cup of Coffee (1976)

The War on Police... For some reason Police Officers from Sea to Shining to Sea are lying about their daily cup of coffee. Two of the most recent examples of lying Cops and the Wurlitzer of Blue Line Lovin' come from Oklahoma and Kansas City but, Officers are not just blaming Starbucks (although Starbucks as illustrated is still the prime target).

In Oklahoma, an Officer claimed the barista printed the name PIG on the cup and the Chief of Police Johnny O'Mara jumped upon it to denounce Starbucks, get the barista and manager fired, and Black Rifle Coffee Company saw a chance to lick some jackboots and sell some coffee to police. Of course, the incident as dramatized in deleted facebook posts by the Oily Chief of Police O'Mara was a lie and O'Mara's daughter pointed out her father is a lying sack of pig shit and attention whore.

In Kansas City, an Officer saw all the attention being paid and decided he needed some of that sweet butt salve and claimed a McDonald's employee wrote in sharpie "Fucking Pig". The rightwing internet roared back into gear and denounced minimum wage workers, immigrants, the left, libtards, Cop haters, Democrats... but, then... the McDonald's Manager dropped the hammer. There's video and the video completely exonerates the employees. The Officer was forced to resign one day later.

This is inexplicable to me. I know from multiple personal experience that various coffee shops will give out coffee free to Officers, employees see Officers every day and know what they like to drink, residents come up to thank the Officer for the "tough job" they do and offer to buy the cup of coffee for them*. If this display of obsequious fellatio was anymore graphic it'd be public indecency.

And yet...

And yet...

Despite all the adulation, there are Officers who apparently feel they need more. Why? Well I do know one reason: It's straight-up Agitprop. Officers dutifully and uncritically regurgitate this shit and get themselves angry. Over and over Officers, supposedly trained to detect lies, fall for and perpetuate outright propaganda. Why?

Well, there can be many reasons but, for me it gets back to the reactionary victim mentality. Boo-hoo-hoo woe is me I'm a victim. Conservatives saw that as America changed, groups of people right-wingers had gotten away with victimizing for centuries, began to fight back and win in the Courts and... the Court of public opinion. Now in the social media era, conservative bad actors are eager to foment dissension and advance the rightwing agenda of oppression and intolerance via any means possible see claiming Victimhood as a winning strategy.

Hence the Coffee Cups and the War on Cops Agitprop.

*- I always request they make a donation to a local food bank.

The Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 5: Oh well, on the Streets of San Francisco

One of the laments from conservatives centers around how those dastardly hippies destroyed the American society by bringing down classic authority figures; like Police Officers. So now rightwing #agitprop centers on showing how The Left continues to demonize Police Officers in service to the DemocRAT Agenda of bringing down 'Murica. One of the favorite targets of Rightwing fury is San Francisco; harbor and haven of all that is not Real America.

Well, don't expect the Police of San Fran-Cisco to put flowers... in your hair... because it's more likely they will kill you.

Just before Thanksgiving Deputy Charlie Blount thought he was chasing a stolen car. After a 5 minute chase involving the infamous pit maneuver, Blount's blood was up he and the other LEOs exhibited a complete lack of control and the ability to calmly and cooly analyze what they were dealing with. After drawing down on the driver, repeatedly screaming at him to "Show me your fucking hands", and violently assaulting the driver, Blount eventually choked the man to death.

Another Deputy apparently realized the driver, who was laying dead face down in the street, was the vehicles' owner.

"Oh well," Blount replies...

Oh, well.

Oh, well.

Blount's attorney Harry Stern of course blamed David Ward for Blount being out of control, "Frankly, Mr. Ward caused his own death.."

Stern then went on to list Blount's 40 years of service in the military and police finishing with the pièce de résistance, "His actions during this arrest were entirely reasonable."

Officer's can't access higher brain functions, can't calmly access the situation, get caught in a repetitive verbal loop, lose control over their emotions in high pressure situations and choke a a feeble scared man, with no weapons, no "active resistance", no aggression, to death and it's "entirely reasonable". Oh well...

Not to be outdone on at 830 in the morning of December 7th, SFPD Officer Sterling Hayes and his trainee Christopher Flores responded to an in-process burglary and upon identifying an apparent burglar, the vicious criminal violently assaulted them and they were forced to shoot him.

Or so the Police claimed. In reality, it appears the Officers rolled up on a "usual suspect" and escalated the encounter until it ended in the Officers chasing and shooting the man, Jamaica Hampton. Predictably the body cam worn by the Officers did not capture the initial alleged assault but, independent cameras captured the Officers shooting Hampton in a manner entirely inconsistent with the official police report.

Hampton will apparently survive and beginning 2020 the San Francisco Police use of force doctrine is going to change from "reasonable" to "necessary", thus putting a higher threshold upon the Police to prove the force used was appropriate as opposed to the Officers just deciding to kill the perp.

San Francisco Officers had several questionable shootings in 2018, but of course, this is not some problem confined to San Francisco but, is endemic to Modern Policing. American Police Departments have slowly morphed into Paramilitary Armies of Occupation. Officers don't live in the communities they police and often don't associate their role in a community in accordance with Sir Robert Peel's original 9 principle's of Policing but, view themselves as The Thin Blue Line protecting Real America, and as such... Oh well has replaced to Protect & Serve.

Beast Mode 2.0 Marshawn Lynch returns to Seattle

"That motherfucker [Trump] says alot of shit," Marshawn Lynch

Marshawn Lynch signed a contract to play the final 2019 regular season game and the playoffswith the Seahawks. The Seahawks top running backs Rashaad Penny, C.J. Prosise, and Chris Carson are suffered serious season-ending injuries.

Marshawn Lynch should be an All-Time NFL Legend and considered the 21st Century Earl Campbell. Lynch is one of 31 running backs to amass over 10,000 rushing yards and from 2011-2014 with the Seahawks Lynch was the most dominant running back in Football (not named Adrian Peterson). Lynch was also a key member of the Seahawks Super Bowl winning team in 2013 and 2014 but, that's when politics enters...

During the prime of his career, Lynch was known for not being media friendly; so much so he refused to comply with NFL directives that a player make himself available for media or during any scheduled press conferences. This put as big target on Lynch as media personalities complained endlessly about Lynch. The NFL demands it's black players shuck and jive on command and therefore the NFL repeatedly fined Lynch.

Lynch like several of the Seahawks players stuck to his convictions and in doing so outside forces determined to make sure Lynch knew his place. The 2014 Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seahawks should have been a Seahawks victory, but Pete Carroll and possibly other forces decided they weren't going to allow Lynch to be the MVP. As the game wound down, Lynch already had a 100+ yard rushing performance and a touchdown. On the final drive Seattle marched down to the 1 yard line and with 26 seconds left, Carroll decided to outsmart Bill Belichick by throwing a short pass for the win. The pass was prompted intercepted. The Patriots Won thus burnishing the grotesque legend of Touchdown Tom Brady and the Seahawks haven't gotten close to returning to the Super Bowl since.

Perhaps, you'll say it was merely hubris or the tendency some NFL Coaches have of getting too cute or out-thinking themselves with their play-calling ala Tony Dungy's decision to kick the ball to Devin Hester in XLI Super Bowl despite game planning for two weeks to not kick it to Hester.

But, in reality Lynch had just plowed down to the 1 on the previous play. Beast Mode was the dominant RB in the game and the smart and expected play would have been to feed it to Lynch again. But... that would have meant Lynch would have scored the winning touchdown, in the Super Bowl. That's an MVP performance. No way did the NFL or the media want a known malcontent thinking he didn't have to hop to when told or dance on command in front of the lights.

Additional:
Here's 670 The Score Personality Hub Arkush angrily demanding Lynch 'follow the rules',

The NFL has a rule that requires all players to make themselves available to the media and offer some level of cooperation.

Lynch has been fined multiple times for refusing to abide by the rule, but has tried to avoid additional fines by showing up for five minutes or less and then refusing to cooperate with the media at last year’s Super Bowl and again this year.

The NFL allowed him to get away with it last year and is apparently preparing to reward him for flipping us all – the league, the media and the fans – off again this year.

Shame on Lynch and the NFL, but what are you going to do?

AS illustrated by Arkush above, The You Dance when we tell you to Dance / You Stand when we tell you to Stand has been in effect long before the NFL assassinated Colin Kaepernick's career.

The Irishman: Elegy for an Unrepentant Criminal

The Irishman is a vintage Martin Scorsese film. This is both great and terrible.

While Marty Scorsese didn't pioneer the Requiem for the Bad Guy genre, and he's not responsible for the some of the worst examples, such as Johnny Depp in Blow (2001), nor the rabid popularity of absolute villain Walter White in the series Breaking Bad, or the ridiculous coquettish attraction the Right has towards the horrendous Joker (2019), but he did seemingly perfect the Elegy for Unrepentant Criminal.

Robert DeNiro's portray of Frank Sheeran in The Irishman makes the titular character into a misunderstood regular working-class shmoe who just happened to fall in with the Mob.  I don't for one second buy the film's recounting of his Sheeran's first meeting with Russel Bufalino in an old highway gas station, wherein the affable Mob boss fixes the mechanical problem with Sheeran's old jalopy of a truck. Sheeran isn't some stumblebum anti-hero no matter how he tried to spin his lifetime of theft and murder; he's the bad guy. Period. Unlike, the unreliable narrator Arthur Fleck, who may or may not be the actual Joker, and the events on the screen are probably delusions or psychotic fantasies happening entirely in the character's head, Sheeran's biased recollections, which form the base of the movie, are the calculated lies of a career criminal

Now, despite not believing DeNiro's portrayal of Sheeran as this aw shucks regular jamoke who just happened to have committed several famous Mob murders the least interesting thing about the story is the actual death of Jimmy Hoffa. Now, far be it for me to provide any type of film-making suggestions to Marty Scorcesse, but the best scene in the whole film is the 10 minute fish discussion inside the gaudy 1970's red Lincoln. But, that gets to the other problem with The Irishman; it's loooooooooong. Way, way, way too long. For a film, that is... If this was done as a 4 part, 75 minute episode mini-series it would have killed. Indulgent vignettes like the fish scene could have been expanded and the movie would have been broken into digestible chunks or consumed in a marathon binge for those interested.

But, I'm certain Scorsese stated flatly he's a filmmaker not some gauche, run-of-the-mill mini-series director. And no doubt everyone at Netflix said whatever you want Mister Scorsese.

Meet the Press and The New York Times proves there are but, 4 Media Stories

While the Media has been relentlessly trying to tamp down Elizabeth Warren, prop up Mayor Pete, justify Tulsi Gabbard, and dallying in rightwing Biden conspiracies, they are furiously interviewing Republicans about the Impeachment and consistently trying to publish the Trump became President Pivot story. Most Impeachment stories are focused on why the Democrats can't get it done!

The unfortunate truth is there are only 4 story templates the Media runs with:

1. #BothSidesDoIt
2. What do Trump Voters think?
3. Today... Trump, truly, became President
4. Democrats in Disarray!!!

It's awful the level the Media is willing to overlook Republican Perfidy and attempt to spin rightwing propaganda into a real story. Republicans have perfected the Art of Working the Media. They learned their lessons from Vietnam and Nixon. After those defeats conservatives decided they would never, ever, again let the Media ruin their narrative. Thus they created the Rightwing Wurlitzer of #AlternativeFacts relentlessly regurgitated by Toxic Talk Radio, Faux News, and now the unmoderated Agitprop of the Rightwing Social Media ID.

And viola here is The New York Times running with a bothsider argument vis-a-vis Impeachment. From the Twitter of Jay Rosen:

And here Meet The Press rustles up every Trumpublican they can find to ask them, the Real America, what they think about all this Impeachment rigamarole and hub-bub. This staged event is bad but, then it took place at Brewery Vivant who's Frenchstyle Farmhouse Ale is c'est magnifique. The Republicans Chuck Todd specifically picked and bussed into the Brewery aren't indicative of the region and Emptywheel decided to speak to actual residents and bar patrons who while enjoying the fantastic beers also gave a much different accounting of the rising support for Impeachment.

As Driftglass so artfully says when the Media is faced with irrefutable Republican Treachery, They both sides the shit out of it!  I could say it's shameful but, then it isn't when you realize whom the Media actually serve you realize that they will never, ever report the truth about the Trump Maladministration; the worst criminal enterprise to ever shamble into the White House and whose tiny grifting fingers are going to make off with billions looted from the Department of Treasury and Department of Defense, while also burning and undermining everything they touch.

DJ Traitor Trump is the Reverse Midas of the Reverse House of Lannister; everything he touches turns to shit and he never pays his debts. But, while he's engaged in this FSB/GRU Russian backed campaign of destruction the media will never report it as such, instead they will find some Zealous Infowars Host, dub him a Regular Joe the Plumber and broadcast his fanatical Civil War fantasies.

But, complaining about the Media is not a winning strategy for Us. It works for Trump because 40 years of ground work has been laid to ensure no "reporter" ever strays far from the rightwing narrative and at worst the News report views differ and Republican lies are massaged by the Media into 'truthiness'. Instead, we are going to have to win by pounding the pavement and getting people to vote for the Democratic nominee and every other Democrat we can because, Teaparty darling Justin Amash aside, no Republican is going to break with Trump.

AG Bill the Barr barian, the Cult of Trump, and the assault on Professionalism

Russia and the Trumpublicans agree to Destroy America

- Boofer O'Kavanaugh, what is best in life? 

- BEER! Baseball Tickets paid for by some unknown benefactor! And getting away with sexual assaults! 

- WRONG! AG Bill the Barr-barian? 

- To #OwntheLibs. See them driven before you. And to hear the lamentations of Obama! 

- That is Good!

In my last post I concluded we were in the Endgame as a Nation because the Republican Party is compised entirely of bad faith actors. Then AG Bill Barr goes out and proves I was correct.

Barr was hired as the new Roy Cohn for Traitor Trump and Big Bill has exceeded his past accomplishments under the Ronnie Raygun Iran-Contra Criminal Conspiracy,

A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not. - Former Worst President in American History Ronnie Raygun

Big Barr swept the whole Reagan Iran-Contra Criminal Conspiracy under the rug. But, now Barr is alleging the Obama DOJ and FBI conducted... You know what? Fuck the lying sack of shit Bill Barr. Blah blah blah Obama blah blah blah FBI... Bill Barr is a fat fascist fuck.  I'm not going to rehash or rebroadcast the lies and of the fat fascist Bill Barr. His repeated recent speeches are all setting up an overthrow of the independent Agencies and the adoption of an Authoritarian State. And the Russian pimps and gangsters are helping Bill Barr and the Republican Party and bragging about it openly

What is more to the point is the demand by Barr, the Republican Party and the MAGA Horde that the FBI, Department of Justice and all other agencies turn themselves into Cults of Personality, directly loyal to Traitor Trump.

The Republicans don't even hide this. Wittingly or not Republicans have during open sessions, through social media, and during the Impeachment circus have displayed their position. Every speech by Republican Congressmen has been as attack on the detached professionalism of the witnesses.

Republicans demanded witnesses tell them if they voted for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. The Republican inquisitors thought this was a Gotcha Moment of Partisan Bias. But, in reality besides being a gross violation of the right of the secret ballot this continued assault on our Democratic traditions is intended to ensure only those loyal to Trump are considered legitimate. Republicans have gone beyond Party over Country, they are fully into the Cult of Trump over Country.

Republicans, especially the smarmy Lindsey Graham, display their true intentions all the time with the continued attacks on Lisa Page and Peter Strzok. Graham has given multiple press interviews with his long southern drawl on full display, voice quivering and etched with rage, where he declares, "We know they hated Trump," So fucking what. Mitch McConnell and Graham have openly declared they will only conduct a sham trial, will take direct orders from the Trump White House, and are going to acquit before the Trial has even begun.

Conservatives have unknowingly shown their desire isn't for Justice but to cement the Cult of Trump.  The continued and repeated attacks on 'Never-Trumpers" and their conspiracy theories of the all-powerful 'Deep State' are the giveaways. The Deep State and Never Trumpers refer to those professional bureaucrats who do not broadcast their intention to defend Trump against any foes Republican or Democratic.

What the Cult of Trump and the MAGA Horde are trying to do is remove the detached professionalism of the bureaucratic core and replace it with a cadre Ultra Reactionaries personally loyal to Trump and the KAG. There has never been a more rightwing agency in American history than the FBI, but that isn't enough. A right-winger like James Comes or Robert Mueller might still believe in the overall concept of Justice and that is something Trump and his family of grifting criminals hate with every fiber of their being. And the MAGA Horde are easily led to that conclusion and have taken it upon themselves to identify and intimidate the Whistleblower and every other witness who dares not defend Trump.

The repeated pouting and "jokes" about Trump getting more than two terms because of the Impeachment or simply because Trump won't leave in 2025, or Trump will turn the Presidency over to Ivanka or Trump Jr. are jokes only until they are not. That's a key weapon the MAGA Horde and Faux Propagandists use everyday; floating some terrible or criminal act, gauging the response, and then either walking it back if necessary or incorporating it into the Cult of Trump ethos and pounding it into the heads of the Trump Horde.

These are the steps towards a Fascist Takeover. When Rule of Law disappears and is replaced with Rule of Man.

Worthless Thoughts and Empty Prayers to be sent to Jersey City

This time of year, Americans of all faiths get together to share and celebrate. But, our most powerful god Moloch doesn't take time off for the Holidays. No, Moloch's hunger never ceases and his high Priests in the NRA have made certain Moloch will get his daily feast of the blood of Americans. And since America is such a religiously tolerant Nation, erstwhile Christians offer up their Thoughts&Prayers after each sacrifice.

Perhaps you thought the 4 shoot dead by the Police in Miami (2 evil criminals who needed be shot down for Justice & Moloch and 2 collateral damage for an astounding great 50% ratio!) but, no the Altar of the Holey Second Amendment, must be awash in blood nightly.

And in Edinburgh, Texas 4 sacrifices were found in an apartment. These are just your run-of-the-mill sacrifices not the spectacular ones ala New Jersey.

In Jersey City, NJ two suspects killed an anti-gun task force Detective, credited with getting hundreds of guns off the street, in a cemetery before they ended up in a Kosher grocery store for an hours long gun fight. 6 Americans thus spilt their hot blood upon the NRA's Nationwide Shrine to Moloch.

And perhaps we should not forget the 4 killed in Pensacola by a Saudi National who despite being Muslim wished to participate in our uniquely American Religion and made sacrifice to Moloch.

But, on Facebook and Twitter the acolytes of Moloch scream and howl when you dare to threaten their religion; It was a gun-free zone! That state, town, county is a DEMOCRAT controlled area! Look at the footage it's a staged event!!! You don't know how a semi-automatic works! SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED! MOLON LABE!

The Second Amendment is the Most Powerful Commandment in the Gun Nuts Religion. It is also what will eventually lead to the destruction of America. With the Neoliberal hollowing out of this Nation's economic heart, leaving millions of Americans destitute or on the verge of poverty, people turn to destructive habits to fill the void of the future stolen from them by Trickle-Down Reaganomics; thus deaths from the Opioid Epidemic and the Gun.

America is awash in easily obtainable firearms and despite all the lies about DGUs the Nation is suffering horrific gun violence as a result. We have been conducting a live experiment to see whether a heavily armed Nation is a safer and more polite Nation; and the results are an irrefutable No.

But, as with everything in this Nation the data are immediately treated to false interpretation by bad faith actors. Conservatives immediately argue one of the three things:

• we don't have enough guns,
• the shooting in question is a false-flag staged event,
• the incident in question is the fault of minorities.

When you cut through all the phony legalese and angry firearm functionality you can see Gun Nuts love their God Moloch more than anything and often believe they will be immune to gun violence because they display Moloch totems openly and proudly.

So, while the chances you yourself will be killed in a Mass Shooting are infinitesimal the ritual of a Mass Shooting in America is a metaphysical certainty; we average more than one a day and gun violence is a non-stop component of everyday American life now. No more shocking or news worthy than the cliche dog bites man.

The immovable IG Report meets the irresistible Rightwing propaganda

The shockingly shameful circus on display during the Trump Impeachment Hearings has now confirmed the entire Republican Party is naught but a criminal conspiracy.

Immediately upon release of the almost 500 pages of the Horowitz Inspector General Report, Republicans were running with the same playbook as the Mueller Report; We told you! Total Exoneration! Shocking corruption by the Democrats! No Collusion! We told you! Clinton and Obama and Ukraine and Russia spied on Trump! Coup Attempt! Government overthow!

Conservatives couldn't tell a Coup d'etat from a Coupe DeVille.

This is a morally bankrupt and wholly disingenuous display but sound strategy by the Republicans. A handful of conservatives are going to actually read the report and most of those are bad faith actors who will elide or obfuscate on the true findings to present "bleeding chunks" of the report selectively to the Barbarian horde of #MAGA. From there the army of  Twitter MAGA will flood every avenue of social media to ensure the lies and falsehoods presented by AG Bill Barr, Faux News, Hate Radio, and the rightwing disinformation machine are repeated over and over and over and over and over. 

The truth of the report will be lost in the flood of rightwing propaganda and screams of Fake News!

Every topic of American life is subject to these up-is-down, black-is-white bad faith Republican arguments; from healthcare, to the environment, the 2nd Amendment to Education. This wholesale bad faith by the Republicans is not something the Democratic Party, the apparatus of Government, the foundational documents, the Nation, or We the People can withstand. Especially, since the Republicans have weaponized their bad faith arguments to rile up the Reactionary #MAGAts. And conservatives no longer need to receive Republican propaganda from on high; they've long adopted techniques of self-radicaliztion.

Even this short New Republic article is far too long and far too nuanced for Trumpublicans too read when tweets from Chuck Grassley, Lou Dobbs, or the Chosen One himself declare the Obama FBI and Ukraine tried to steal the 2016 election. This is the Endgame everyone. There is no way back from this. 

The Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 4: Miami Yikes

Even Judge Dredd showed concern for Hostages...

Cops, huh Bad Boys! Watcha gonna do when they come for you? #BlueLivesMatterMostofAll

The video from the UPS Robbery chase and highway shoot-out was appalling. Engaging the suspects on the busy highway, shooting into the truck, shooting while hiding behind vehicles full of innocent bystanders.

"If you shoot at us, we are going to engage. We are going to stop the threat," Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said Friday. "When bad guys are shooting at you, how do you negotiate?"

"If you're shooting into a truck and you don't have a clear vision of who you're shooting at, you don't just shoot at the truck," Manny Orosa, Miami-Dade Police Chief from 2011-2015 said.  

Two "civilians" were killed; Richard Cutshaw a 70 year old driver in another vehicle and the hostage UPS driver Frank Ordonez. But, hey whatcha gonna do?

The trite saying I oft heard uttered in Iraq was 'Better judged by 12 than carried by 6'. Nowadays a third line can be added, 'Pardoned by the 1' as the Traitor in the White House loves to pardon war criminals to #OwntheLibs. That was language used in an actual Warzone but, with the proliferation of easily obtainable guns, the wreckage of the social safety net and economy from the ravages of Trickle-Down Neoliberalism, and the militarization of Police Forces the United States is sliding rapidly into a Failed Nation State.

The recent incidents of Police Abuse, criminal acts, and murder have taken those last bits of luster of the badge. But, the odious AG Bill Barr recently said Americans, "have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves. And if communities don't give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need."

Respect is earned, not given away. Recall the 2nd of Robert Peel's 9 Principals of Policing;

To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

This Miami Yikes incident is just the most explosive recent one involving Police Officers in Florida although an Officer in LA surpassed them in immorality. I'm getting sick and tired of these criminal cops making my job harder, acosting and sometimes murdering American Citizens for minor infractions, and treating the United States like Fallujah.

The waning amber glow of sodium street lights

You know what?!? You think too much! 

Nobody ever told me that before... ~ Sean Bean and Bobby Money from Ronin (1997)

Like all the Gen-Xers my youth in the Chicago and the suburbs of 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s was framed by an amber glow. These lights along the highways, alleys, and streets of the City and her suburbs operated on High Pressure Sodium Vapor lights, first developed by General Electric in 1965.

Ubiquitously, installed across the Nation during the energy crisis of the 1970's, the orange glow is my preferred color as I drive into work during the early pre-dawn or through the dark winter nights of the early sunset. But, as with the gaslight of the 19th century, new (and better?) technology has emerged for lighting large areas; the LED.

Chicago is undertaking the largest street light modernization program of this century. Over a quarter million high-pressure sodium lights are going to be replaced by LED street lights by 2021. There is an interactive map showing the progress thus far along with frequently asked questions.

I began moving towards CFL bulbs in my home over a decade ago, but resisted the LED bulbs. The light emitted was far too harsh. This has also been my experience with LED headlights on vehicles and the early LED street lights, as well. The issue was the "blue light" from 5000 degree Kelvin bulbs which produced LED light dubbed "Daylight". The use of these bulbs produced far too much light pollution as well when simply swapped into existing light poles.

To counteract this the Chicago Smart Lighting Program, "thoroughly researched the issue and relied
on the guidance of experts, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Medical Association, and the Illuminating Engineering Society. Based on this guidance, the City is requiring all LED light fixtures used in the CSLP be “soft white” (i.e. have a Correlated Color Temperature of 3000K) and are designed to focus light downwards on streets and sidewalks and limit light trespass into people’s homes and the night sky."

The new LED lights are going to produce far better light coverage on the streets and sidewalks and save millions in energy costs a year for the City, eventually suburbs and the rest of the State. But, in wistful moments I'll miss the orange-lighted memories of the past.