The news is boring and I've done my part.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Meghan Markle's dad slams his daughter's 'sense of superiority' and warns he is 'about to unload' on the royal family in scathing new interview
christine teigen
Verified account
@chrissyteigen
this guy...this guy sucks. what is wrong with him? let your daughter be happy, please. this is embarrassing.
"what is wrong with him?" Chrissy, you're actually asking "what is wrong' with Meghan Markle's father? I'm fittin' to tell ya.
I almost posted something a couple of weeks ago about my doubts on the wisdom of this marriage. The Duchess's preacher spoke way too long at the wedding. That was embarrassing. And now her dick-head father.
Verified account
@chrissyteigen
this guy...this guy sucks. what is wrong with him? let your daughter be happy, please. this is embarrassing.
"what is wrong with him?" Chrissy, you're actually asking "what is wrong' with Meghan Markle's father? I'm fittin' to tell ya.
I almost posted something a couple of weeks ago about my doubts on the wisdom of this marriage. The Duchess's preacher spoke way too long at the wedding. That was embarrassing. And now her dick-head father.
Ah jeez.
Genetics tend to skip a generation which means that if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a son there's a pretty good chance he'll look like Chuck Wepner. Look: interracial marriage your cup of tea? Molotov! But Good God 'Arry, did you have to scoop the dregs off the very bottom of the barrel and and pollute your family's bloodline with someone of the American race?
Friday, July 27, 2018
"Come," Trump. They are ready.
Trump, you have never punched anybody in the face in your life. You are an impotent cuckold and a bully with small hands. Soleimani has dealt with threats all of his life. Just never from an impotent cuckold. Come, Trump. Come closer. With your threats. They are near you, Trump, and you cannot imagine where. Attack them, Trump. Threaten them. Your America 2.0 will be immolated.
If you're tough, Trump, don't just open your mouth to speak your Donald from Queens blatherings because you don't look handsome when you do it. Soleimani will pry your mouth open for you and then spit in it and then--He knows how to do this Trump.--And then Soleimani will stick his entire hand into your mouth, distending your jaw grotesquely and then down your throat while your face reddens from terror and the uselessness of the gag reflex and lack of oxygen, and he then will quickly grab your heart and rip it out of your chest and hold it before your eyes so you can see your still beating heart in his hand as the last sight ever you see before blood loss leads to unconsciousness and death. He will videotape it so that all the world can see forever what comes of impotent, bullying cuckolds who meet a strong man who will never be beguiled by your arts because his hatred for you is soul-deep and everlasting.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
"You threaten us with paying a price like few countries have ever paid."
"Trump, this is the language of night clubs and gambling halls."
Swallow the Gun! Swallow the Gun!
Prosecutors Seek to Question Trump Organization’s Finance Chief
(Ex Quasis)
Oh Trumpie, you are so fucked.
Is This an "Era" of Sports Super-Teams?
-Manchester City in world club soccer.
-Golden State "Warriors" in basketball.
Manchester City blew away the EPL competition last season. "The Centurions:" 100 points, 103 goals. Most wins in an EPL season. Sixteen of their twenty-five players in the World Cup!
Golden State: most wins, 73, in a season in 2015/16. Curry, Thompson, Green. Then add Durant. Then add Cousins.
Each occurring within three years of the other.
Talk of "best ever" with both.
In neither sport have we ever seen anything like this talent accumulation. Nor the dominance of competition. In any team sport?
Define "era." Ugh, you define "era." No, neither team is the '27 "Yankees" in talent. Neither has dominated competition as the "Yankees" of the 1950's did or as the Pittsburgh "Steelers" did in the 1970's.
This though feels different. Can't define it, just feel it.
-Golden State "Warriors" in basketball.
Manchester City blew away the EPL competition last season. "The Centurions:" 100 points, 103 goals. Most wins in an EPL season. Sixteen of their twenty-five players in the World Cup!
Golden State: most wins, 73, in a season in 2015/16. Curry, Thompson, Green. Then add Durant. Then add Cousins.
Each occurring within three years of the other.
Talk of "best ever" with both.
In neither sport have we ever seen anything like this talent accumulation. Nor the dominance of competition. In any team sport?
Define "era." Ugh, you define "era." No, neither team is the '27 "Yankees" in talent. Neither has dominated competition as the "Yankees" of the 1950's did or as the Pittsburgh "Steelers" did in the 1970's.
This though feels different. Can't define it, just feel it.
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Don't Give It to A Russian
In a story about IllegiTrump demanding TV's on Air Force One be tuned to Fox and not CNN Katie Rogers and Twitter-phobe Maggie Haberman write,
The email, an internal exchange between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday, also called for the ordering of two additional televisions to support Beam, a TiVo-like streaming device, to make sure the president and first lady could both watch TV in their separate hotel rooms when they travel.
The email, an internal exchange between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday, also called for the ordering of two additional televisions to support Beam, a TiVo-like streaming device, to make sure the president and first lady could both watch TV in their separate hotel rooms when they travel.
😂🤣
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Monday, July 23, 2018
Trump Is in Real Trouble
The Lowest Low Life tweeted Saturday night:
So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!
He cannot help himself. And he is hoisting himself on his own petard. On Sunday outgoing Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said on Fox "the evidence is overwhelming." Gowdy also urged Trump cabinet members and advisers to "reevaluate whether or not they can serve" an unapologetic Russian agent. At least one may be doing just that:
The most striking comments from a Trump adviser came Thursday, when Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Aspen Security Forum that he wished the president had not met one-on-one with Putin. When Coats was informed by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell that Trump had invited Putin to Washington in the fall, he dramatically cupped his hand to his ear and told her: "Say that again." He then took a deep breath and continued: "OK. That's going to be special."
foxnews trump-again-says-russia-controversy-is-all-big-hoax
Note that is from Fox. That is the Low Lifes main news source. As the "Farmer from Pennsylvania" wrote his friend last week, Fox is key.
As a former prosecutor Trey Gowdy knows that lying about the undeniable is sometimes better than a confession. It shows a guilty conscience. Robert Mueller knows this too. Consider: A guy says, "I confess. I did it and I am a horrible human being." Or, "I didn't do it! I'm not the kind of person to do something like that." Human beings have the hardest time confessing. It goes against the self-preservation instinct. When a person just lays himself bare, a lot of people--prosecutors, defense attorneys, most importantly jurors--are apt to look behind the unnatural for an explanation: "The cops forced him to confess."
People will also, of course, look behind the natural, a categorical denial. And if they see even one credible eyewitness saying the guy did it, the guy is in deep doo-doo. If they see, as here, repeated denials in the face of "overwhelming" evidence, 17 eyewitnesses, the denials of the undeniable become part of the evidence. The guy is toast and contempt gets heaped upon judgment. That is where Trump is right now.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
I write that HRC should run against Trump in 2020 and today I see a headline, "Hillary Clinton lashes out at 'deeply disturbing' Trump-Putin summit."
Some months ago I wrote highly critical things of New York Times Trump correspondent Maggie Haberman. Yesterday while reading something on the Times I saw one of those little box things that Ms. Haberman had written an op-ed piece that she was giving up Twitter because of all the criticism.
I cannot tell you how many times this has happened. No, it is not because Hillary Clinton or Maggie Haberman read what I write, have any fucking idea who I am, or have ever heard of Public Occurrences.
Some months ago I wrote highly critical things of New York Times Trump correspondent Maggie Haberman. Yesterday while reading something on the Times I saw one of those little box things that Ms. Haberman had written an op-ed piece that she was giving up Twitter because of all the criticism.
I cannot tell you how many times this has happened. No, it is not because Hillary Clinton or Maggie Haberman read what I write, have any fucking idea who I am, or have ever heard of Public Occurrences.
"Our challenge now candidly is to continue to make progress but to make that progress in an environment that is essentially void of trust, and without trust we'll find it difficult to move forward."
In private, Trump vents frustration over lack of
progress on North Korea(WaPo)
-Gen. Vincent Brooks, Commander, United States Forces Korea.
But there is trust! Between Kim and Trump there is trust. The negotiations on the nitty gritty of denuclearization should not be conducted by Mike Pompeo and Kim Yong Chol. Pompeo and Kim Young Chol are hard line assholes, there is no trust between them.
progress on North Korea(WaPo)
Denuclearization negotiations should be conducted, and "conducted" is le mot juste, by those in whom there is mutual trust, Donald Trump and Kim Jong un.
The s.o.p. for these things is that the nitty gritty be made smooth by seconds. Trump does not know his asshole from a nuclear hole in the ground (He called the New START agreement with Russia the "Start Up.") and would get lost. That does not preclude him from conducting the meeting. The two sides should bring their asshole seconds with them to a meeting jointly chaired by Trump and Kim Jong un.
There are some details that you don't have to be a nuclear scientist to understand:
Trump can ask Kim face-to-face, "You told me in Singapore you would return the bodies. They haven't been returned and your guy is arguing with my guy about paying the expenses! How much is it? Here, I'll write a check. Return them now! Who is your guy in charge of returning bodies? Tell him right now with me here 'Return the bodies, I have a check from Trump.'"
"You're rebuilding a nuclear facility. Who's your guy in charge of rebuilding nuclear facilities? Tell him right now in front of me to stop rebuilding and start re-destroying that nuclear facility.
When the nitty gritty details are discussed all Trump has to do is ask if that detail is consistent with denuclearization or inconsistent with denuclearization. If consistent, then ask Kim, "Will you do that by date?" If inconsistent, "Chairman Kim, will you stop doing that immediately? Tell your guy whatever his name is right now in front of me 'Stop doing that right now.'"
This thing is going to get lost if the nitty gritty details are left to the seconds.Trump does not play by the s.o.p., he should not all of a sudden play by the s.o.p. here.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
If Not Her, Who?
Had never thought of this before. 'Cause she has ruled out running again, so...
It'd unnerve Trump.
Have been very disappointed that 1,000 (alright, say 10) Demos have not already declared.
Trump does not like groups. He feels cornered in groups. I sensed that back in 2016 and wrote urging Demos to send surrogates all over the country simultaneously attacking Trump. Elizabeth Warren here, Bernie Sanders there, etc. Track Trump. Hunt Trump. Go to the sites of his rallies and hold competing rallies. That's what Bannon did by bringing Bill Clinton's women to one of the debates.Trump always rises to the bait. He cannot resist. It's pavlovian. If there were multiple lines in the water at the same time this walking Id would short-circuit. As would the Trumpists! They would try to kill Warren, Sanders, HRC. If we could avoid getting one of them killed or hurt, the scenes of white trash Trumpists trying to kill them would be worth the effect on the electorate. And the news cycle. The newsies would do split screens: of Trump inside and of Elizabeth Warren outside mocking him. The Trumpists would go nuts. Oh! I just had a sexual frisson. Excuse me for a moment while I go change my underwear.
Anyway, Trump would come to like groups more than he does if the alternative were a one-on-one rematch with HRC. It would absolutely unnerve him.
This brain storm (brain fart if you wish!) falls under the category that it "nearly" does not matter who Demos run. This would be the exception and the only one I can think (if I am thinking clearly at all). Putin works with the "material" he is given and I don't see it working on the 2020 material, the electorate. Hillary and the Demos would be ready in 2020 for anything Putin and Trump try. "Lock Her Up!"? Snore, man, that is so 2016." Hillary got an anti-Trump vaccine in 2016. It was an experimental vaccine. She is the only one to have received it. The vaccine made her sick and it left a scar but it did not kill her and it made her immune to the Trump poison.
And there is soo much more ammunition that HRC has now, after not even two years!, than she had in 2016. "Crooked Hillary"? How about "Traitor Trump"? The counter punch must be ten times worse than the punch and "Traitor Trump" is a counter punch with a factor of ten. Are you better off in America 2.0 than you were in the former United States?
Letters Between A Lawyer and A Farmer from Pennsylvania
Since Tuesday a friend and I have exchanged over the Trumpists. Here is the full, unexpurgated exchange starting with his first email:
If the black Man president had done this would we have armed insurrection in USA?
BH: He'd have been assassinated.
Friend: Yeah i truly think that cuckservative works here for Le grand Orange
btw its insane i talk to trump supporters and they are saying "oh well he walked it back"
WTF are they talking about? he walked nothing back.
when he said he could kill someone on 5th avenue and his voters would vote for him he was spot on
BH: Yeah, this latest was a little more than the others but it was just the latest and it has already been doused. They know the 2016 election was a Russian rigged democratic coup. They got America 2.0 and they know: the November 2018 elections are rigged; Trump will not be impeached and will win a rigged election in 2020. It has been a principle of Russian/Soviet statecraft since the October Revolution: "what's ours is ours; what's yours is negotiable." They will never give up America 2.0.
Friend: i am equally pessimistic about the democrats chances
half the party, like me, wants them to find candidates like Connor Lamb, millitary, ex prosecutor and the other half wants Ocasio-Cortez, a self described socialist sanders acolyte who wants to abolish ICE
and god help us if we dont just pick an old white guy who is a centrist in the next election. if we go kamala harris or elizabeth warren we will get smoked
i think that the deficit spending fueled boom is what I think will sink the democrats in 2010
do you really think that it does not matter who the dems nominate?
BH: Yes to first and second and with voter suppression and perhaps with actual voting machine tampering.
On second paragraph, "They don't care" (Olivia Nuzzi), about specific issues, even involving their pocket book. This is a personality cult (Corker) as with Putin, a cultural war. "Whatever Trump says that's what I'm for" (two Trumpists who the Senator from Canada confronted in Indiana).
Last paragraph: Yes, it does not matter. Beyond a reasonable doubt I believe it is not matter. The fix is in, the cake is baked.
Friend: so we no longer live in a democracy?
thats pretty fucking grim
BH: No, we do! It is a Russian-styled democracy. The government puts its finger on the scale, sometimes a couple fingers.
BH: I think you understand what I am saying in this chain because you know me but my two answers, "It doesn't matter who Dems nominate"..."The fix is in" and "No, we still have a democracy," those are contradictory.
I have no evidence that vote tallies were changed or ballots altered. I believe that some were but I know of no evidence that they were. I believe b.r.d. that Trump got about the number of votes he did and HRC did likewise. The Russians targeted swings states with BOTH their disinformation campaigns and attempts to break into state voting systems. The evidence is b.r.d. that the Russians were trying to break into the voting systems to "fix" the vote, either by preemptive disqualification or remote ballot box stuffing with Trump votes. Did they succeed is the only question and it only matters in the swing states.
So, the state of the case is this: (1) the Russians tried to fix the election and, (2) they succeeded in their ultimate goal of electing Trump and, (3) there is no evidence that they succeeded in their attempts to actually alter votes.
Hoo-doggie! I wouldn't want to be the defense attorney in that murder case! "Yeah, my guy shot to kill him, the victim was killed by a gunshot but my guy's bullet didn't hit him."
That is the establishment GOP position. That is also the position of some people on the JFK assassination. It was someone else, on the "grassy knoll," or "Umbrella man." Of course, it is possible. And if the possible were proven true b.r.d., would the prosecutor dismiss the case? Of course not! You've got transferred intent, you've got to connect three dots and the defense concedes two of them.
But the prosecution bears the burden and I accept the absence of evidence. I still believe b.r.d. that Trump will not be impeached; that the GOP will retain either the House or Senate and to a standard of more probable than not both houses, and; standard both houses, that Trump will be reelected in 2020--because the Russians worked with the material, the American electorate, that they were given--already center-right!, with crucial electoral votes weighted in favor of the hardest right states!, with a racist nationalism already latent! That is very fertile ground for the race-based nationalism articulated by Putin in an important 2015 speech. Putin's speech was both the dog whistle to Brexiteers in Britain and for Trumpists in the colonies, and it worked in both countries!. That speech changed attitudes in Britain and here about Putin and Russia. The speech was also the template for the disinformation campaign. That low hanging fruit still needed to be picked with skill and subtlety and man it was. The Russians didn't send millions of Rooskis over here to register and vote for Trump. They just had to "get the message out" to their American constituents.
So as I see it, and I see it b.r.d., for the Russians this is, "Oh, 2020? Same election thing as in '16? K, been there, done that, bought the MAGA t-shirt. Can do! Can we run Orange BlimpClown again or no? We can! We no have to run Roy Moore?! We run Trump again!" The pump is primed, the ground not only fertile, not only seeded, but millions of hideous, mutant, orange low hanging fruit bearing things have shoosted through the soil and are ready for another harvest.
Yes, it's grim.
Friend: yeah its grim
so basically your thesis is that racism is the key and that no matter what muller says the racist american electorate will not care and just re-elect him no matter what? even if the economy tanks which surely it must by 2020/
you may be right. I read the polls on how many GOP members think this is all russia stuff is meaningless and it frightens me. I do love to give shit to the cops who are all trumpists. i love to say, remember how mad you got when that black president chastised that boston cop for arresting a black man? you said it showed he hated cops and FBI agents etc? now the prez dumps on you guys every day and you all love him. couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the last president was black? naaah of course not.
i will say this, if the bough breaks and mueller truly finds something really really BRD bad and it somehow crosses the line in the mind of the people, this could hurt the GOP for a long time. i mean all these assholes out there defending him will be screwed if it is clear that they were wrong. kind of amazed at how few of them are fence sitting to see what happens.
whole thing truly depresses me. Right now I feel like everything in our country is for sale and crooked--probably hightened by the fact that all i do at work is look at people trying to steal from the government but the more i read the more it seems like the whole thing is just rotten. Politics is rotten to the core, elections are gerrymandered, governments are bought and run by lobbyists. Rich have every advantage, make all the rules and have used this election to make sure that they will continue to rule and fuck over the middle class and lower classes forever
and that the appeal to racism seems to outweigh the ass raping that GOP policies are giving to their own blue collar supporters-- wrecking obamacare, destroying unions, endlessly cutting the salaries and pensions of middle class government workers like teachers, cops and fireman, keeping wages low, public education underfunded etc
geez the two of us could have a podcast
we could call it "the suicide hour"
BH: -Yes, to racist nationalism.
-The Mueller investigation is rigged--not deliberately but he is not charged with determining if the conspiracy effected the election results! Fancy that. He's brief is to investigate Russian interference in the election but not determine if the outcome was effected!
-"No matter what Mueller does, it doesn't matter": That is nearly so as my opinion. GOP approval of Trump: 90%; GOP approval of Mueller investigation 41%.
-If something really, REALLY bad turns up: That is my "nearly so" modifier. The reaction to Helsinki, to Trump's wobbly statements after Helsinki, did shake Trumpists. Like Gingrich, like Fox. Now, the Cohen tapes. Fox is key. That's where they all get their news. If the Fox bulwark starts to crumble Trumpists would be left with Trump's twitter account and I don't know if that's enough to sustain him. Fox is the key.
-The Russians work with the material they have. If the economy goes into depression their material has changed. I don't have a firm belief on how that would effect 2020. Would the right analogy be to the former U.S. in 1932 or to the Russian electorate and the Putin economy? The Russian people are hurtin' for certain but that hasn't hurt Poot-poot.
-On your last two paragraphs: "My country right or wrong." Nationalism is state-of-the-art insulation for authoritarians. There are plenty of people, not just stupid white people, all over the world who would rather be the king of Swaziland than a lamp post in London. The Brits leave India, Pakistan breaks away and Gandhi is assassinated. "Yeah! Indian nationalism! We're free!" Arright man, good for you. Keep in touch.
BH: On your last two paragraphs again: Democracy was the gold standard to the legitimation question for every regime, royal, red, or black. If the regime comes to power via democracy, stamp "APPROVED!"
Democracy as legitimization gold standard is process-centered, not results-centered so as long as the pipes are nice and shiny it does not matter that shit comes out. That seems fucked up; it makes democracy look like a fool's gold standard.
Other kinds of regimes pushed back. They lost that "battle of ideas." But they had a point! So, Nazi Germany gets stamped APPROVED! Maoist China does not but goddamn you will find no China scholar anywhere in Creation who will say that Mao Zedong did not have overwhelming popular support. Mao would have won an absolutely free election hands down, it would not have been close.
America 2.0 is a legitimation crisis for the democracy legitimation gold standard throughout the world and Putin is winning that battle of ideas. He has successfully pointed out that democracies are not immune from Chaos, in fact, democracies can produce Chaos, like shit coming out of the shiny pipes. Putin first articulated this in a press conference on Iraq with Dubya. Dubya had said something like "We're going to bring democracy to Iraq!" Putin laughed and said something like, "If this is democracy, you can keep it." He was so fucking pissed at Bush43 over Georgia, over Ukraine--ran up to Condi Rice when she had mentioned something about Ukraine in Europe and said "Ukraine is ours!" Putin's strong man, quasi-democratic nationalism turned China, the Chinese character for Chaos is the politically dirtiest word in the language; Putin turned China at the U.N. from American-oriented to Russian-oriented. He turned the Brits! Got 'em to leave Europe. Became the bulwark of white Christian nationalism in Russia, in Britain, in the colonies. Raising Trumpism here and getting Trump elected is Putin saying, "How do you like democracy now?"
If the black Man president had done this would we have armed insurrection in USA?
BH: He'd have been assassinated.
Friend: Yeah i truly think that cuckservative works here for Le grand Orange
btw its insane i talk to trump supporters and they are saying "oh well he walked it back"
WTF are they talking about? he walked nothing back.
when he said he could kill someone on 5th avenue and his voters would vote for him he was spot on
BH: Yeah, this latest was a little more than the others but it was just the latest and it has already been doused. They know the 2016 election was a Russian rigged democratic coup. They got America 2.0 and they know: the November 2018 elections are rigged; Trump will not be impeached and will win a rigged election in 2020. It has been a principle of Russian/Soviet statecraft since the October Revolution: "what's ours is ours; what's yours is negotiable." They will never give up America 2.0.
Friend: i am equally pessimistic about the democrats chances
half the party, like me, wants them to find candidates like Connor Lamb, millitary, ex prosecutor and the other half wants Ocasio-Cortez, a self described socialist sanders acolyte who wants to abolish ICE
and god help us if we dont just pick an old white guy who is a centrist in the next election. if we go kamala harris or elizabeth warren we will get smoked
BH: I really believe my America 2.0 rhetoric. I don't think the old paradigm of the American electorate, center-right, has much relevance. And so I really don't think it matters if the Demos try to put up a nominee who matches or strays far left from the old center-right paradigm. I really believe that 9/8/16 worked a democratic coup and that the Putinists/Trumpists will not surrender power again.
Friend: do you mean that the russians will rig the vote with cyber warfare? influence the electorate as they have with disinfomration?
i think that the deficit spending fueled boom is what I think will sink the democrats in 2010
do you really think that it does not matter who the dems nominate?
BH: Yes to first and second and with voter suppression and perhaps with actual voting machine tampering.
On second paragraph, "They don't care" (Olivia Nuzzi), about specific issues, even involving their pocket book. This is a personality cult (Corker) as with Putin, a cultural war. "Whatever Trump says that's what I'm for" (two Trumpists who the Senator from Canada confronted in Indiana).
Last paragraph: Yes, it does not matter. Beyond a reasonable doubt I believe it is not matter. The fix is in, the cake is baked.
Friend: so we no longer live in a democracy?
thats pretty fucking grim
BH: No, we do! It is a Russian-styled democracy. The government puts its finger on the scale, sometimes a couple fingers.
BH: I think you understand what I am saying in this chain because you know me but my two answers, "It doesn't matter who Dems nominate"..."The fix is in" and "No, we still have a democracy," those are contradictory.
I have no evidence that vote tallies were changed or ballots altered. I believe that some were but I know of no evidence that they were. I believe b.r.d. that Trump got about the number of votes he did and HRC did likewise. The Russians targeted swings states with BOTH their disinformation campaigns and attempts to break into state voting systems. The evidence is b.r.d. that the Russians were trying to break into the voting systems to "fix" the vote, either by preemptive disqualification or remote ballot box stuffing with Trump votes. Did they succeed is the only question and it only matters in the swing states.
So, the state of the case is this: (1) the Russians tried to fix the election and, (2) they succeeded in their ultimate goal of electing Trump and, (3) there is no evidence that they succeeded in their attempts to actually alter votes.
Hoo-doggie! I wouldn't want to be the defense attorney in that murder case! "Yeah, my guy shot to kill him, the victim was killed by a gunshot but my guy's bullet didn't hit him."
That is the establishment GOP position. That is also the position of some people on the JFK assassination. It was someone else, on the "grassy knoll," or "Umbrella man." Of course, it is possible. And if the possible were proven true b.r.d., would the prosecutor dismiss the case? Of course not! You've got transferred intent, you've got to connect three dots and the defense concedes two of them.
But the prosecution bears the burden and I accept the absence of evidence. I still believe b.r.d. that Trump will not be impeached; that the GOP will retain either the House or Senate and to a standard of more probable than not both houses, and; standard both houses, that Trump will be reelected in 2020--because the Russians worked with the material, the American electorate, that they were given--already center-right!, with crucial electoral votes weighted in favor of the hardest right states!, with a racist nationalism already latent! That is very fertile ground for the race-based nationalism articulated by Putin in an important 2015 speech. Putin's speech was both the dog whistle to Brexiteers in Britain and for Trumpists in the colonies, and it worked in both countries!. That speech changed attitudes in Britain and here about Putin and Russia. The speech was also the template for the disinformation campaign. That low hanging fruit still needed to be picked with skill and subtlety and man it was. The Russians didn't send millions of Rooskis over here to register and vote for Trump. They just had to "get the message out" to their American constituents.
So as I see it, and I see it b.r.d., for the Russians this is, "Oh, 2020? Same election thing as in '16? K, been there, done that, bought the MAGA t-shirt. Can do! Can we run Orange BlimpClown again or no? We can! We no have to run Roy Moore?! We run Trump again!" The pump is primed, the ground not only fertile, not only seeded, but millions of hideous, mutant, orange low hanging fruit bearing things have shoosted through the soil and are ready for another harvest.
Yes, it's grim.
Friend: yeah its grim
so basically your thesis is that racism is the key and that no matter what muller says the racist american electorate will not care and just re-elect him no matter what? even if the economy tanks which surely it must by 2020/
you may be right. I read the polls on how many GOP members think this is all russia stuff is meaningless and it frightens me. I do love to give shit to the cops who are all trumpists. i love to say, remember how mad you got when that black president chastised that boston cop for arresting a black man? you said it showed he hated cops and FBI agents etc? now the prez dumps on you guys every day and you all love him. couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the last president was black? naaah of course not.
i will say this, if the bough breaks and mueller truly finds something really really BRD bad and it somehow crosses the line in the mind of the people, this could hurt the GOP for a long time. i mean all these assholes out there defending him will be screwed if it is clear that they were wrong. kind of amazed at how few of them are fence sitting to see what happens.
whole thing truly depresses me. Right now I feel like everything in our country is for sale and crooked--probably hightened by the fact that all i do at work is look at people trying to steal from the government but the more i read the more it seems like the whole thing is just rotten. Politics is rotten to the core, elections are gerrymandered, governments are bought and run by lobbyists. Rich have every advantage, make all the rules and have used this election to make sure that they will continue to rule and fuck over the middle class and lower classes forever
and that the appeal to racism seems to outweigh the ass raping that GOP policies are giving to their own blue collar supporters-- wrecking obamacare, destroying unions, endlessly cutting the salaries and pensions of middle class government workers like teachers, cops and fireman, keeping wages low, public education underfunded etc
geez the two of us could have a podcast
we could call it "the suicide hour"
BH: -Yes, to racist nationalism.
-The Mueller investigation is rigged--not deliberately but he is not charged with determining if the conspiracy effected the election results! Fancy that. He's brief is to investigate Russian interference in the election but not determine if the outcome was effected!
-"No matter what Mueller does, it doesn't matter": That is nearly so as my opinion. GOP approval of Trump: 90%; GOP approval of Mueller investigation 41%.
-If something really, REALLY bad turns up: That is my "nearly so" modifier. The reaction to Helsinki, to Trump's wobbly statements after Helsinki, did shake Trumpists. Like Gingrich, like Fox. Now, the Cohen tapes. Fox is key. That's where they all get their news. If the Fox bulwark starts to crumble Trumpists would be left with Trump's twitter account and I don't know if that's enough to sustain him. Fox is the key.
-The Russians work with the material they have. If the economy goes into depression their material has changed. I don't have a firm belief on how that would effect 2020. Would the right analogy be to the former U.S. in 1932 or to the Russian electorate and the Putin economy? The Russian people are hurtin' for certain but that hasn't hurt Poot-poot.
-On your last two paragraphs: "My country right or wrong." Nationalism is state-of-the-art insulation for authoritarians. There are plenty of people, not just stupid white people, all over the world who would rather be the king of Swaziland than a lamp post in London. The Brits leave India, Pakistan breaks away and Gandhi is assassinated. "Yeah! Indian nationalism! We're free!" Arright man, good for you. Keep in touch.
BH: On your last two paragraphs again: Democracy was the gold standard to the legitimation question for every regime, royal, red, or black. If the regime comes to power via democracy, stamp "APPROVED!"
Democracy as legitimization gold standard is process-centered, not results-centered so as long as the pipes are nice and shiny it does not matter that shit comes out. That seems fucked up; it makes democracy look like a fool's gold standard.
Other kinds of regimes pushed back. They lost that "battle of ideas." But they had a point! So, Nazi Germany gets stamped APPROVED! Maoist China does not but goddamn you will find no China scholar anywhere in Creation who will say that Mao Zedong did not have overwhelming popular support. Mao would have won an absolutely free election hands down, it would not have been close.
America 2.0 is a legitimation crisis for the democracy legitimation gold standard throughout the world and Putin is winning that battle of ideas. He has successfully pointed out that democracies are not immune from Chaos, in fact, democracies can produce Chaos, like shit coming out of the shiny pipes. Putin first articulated this in a press conference on Iraq with Dubya. Dubya had said something like "We're going to bring democracy to Iraq!" Putin laughed and said something like, "If this is democracy, you can keep it." He was so fucking pissed at Bush43 over Georgia, over Ukraine--ran up to Condi Rice when she had mentioned something about Ukraine in Europe and said "Ukraine is ours!" Putin's strong man, quasi-democratic nationalism turned China, the Chinese character for Chaos is the politically dirtiest word in the language; Putin turned China at the U.N. from American-oriented to Russian-oriented. He turned the Brits! Got 'em to leave Europe. Became the bulwark of white Christian nationalism in Russia, in Britain, in the colonies. Raising Trumpism here and getting Trump elected is Putin saying, "How do you like democracy now?"
Friday, July 20, 2018
Swal-low Your Guns! Swal-low Your Guns!
“Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked. Most people will flip if the government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”
(April 21, 2018)
“I can’t believe Michael would do this with me.”
(July 20, 2018)
Assisted death is legal in the American states of Colorado, Hawaii, California, Oregon,Washington. and Vermont-Wikipedia
(April 21, 2018)
“I can’t believe Michael would do this with me.”
(July 20, 2018)
Assisted death is legal in the American states of Colorado, Hawaii, California, Oregon,Washington. and Vermont-Wikipedia
Trumpie, I will be there to assist you in any way.
Reverend Al Sharpton
Verified account
@TheRevAl
Just spent an hour w/ Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. I bet you’re wondering what we could be talking about! Stay tuned
6:22 AM - 20 Jul 2018
Michael Cohen
Verified account
@MichaelCohen212
Michael Cohen Retweeted Reverend Al Sharpton
I have known Rev for almost 20 years. No one better to talk to!
6:26 AM - 20 Jul 2018 from Manhattan, NY
Uh, Trumpists...
Verified account
@TheRevAl
Just spent an hour w/ Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. I bet you’re wondering what we could be talking about! Stay tuned
6:22 AM - 20 Jul 2018
Michael Cohen
Verified account
@MichaelCohen212
Michael Cohen Retweeted Reverend Al Sharpton
I have known Rev for almost 20 years. No one better to talk to!
6:26 AM - 20 Jul 2018 from Manhattan, NY
Uh, Trumpists...
Will Hurd, R-TX:
...
By playing into Vladimir Putin’s hands, [Trump] actively participated in a Russian disinformation campaign...
...
Somehow [Somehow? Trump's active participation in the Russian disinformation campaign is "somehow."] many Americans have forgotten that Russia is our adversary, not our ally, and the reasons for today’s tensions go back much farther than the 2016 election. For more than a decade, Russia has meddled in elections around the world... Mitt Romney had it right in 2012 when he told President Barack Obama that Russia was “without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.” [Absolutely right and I mocked Romney for it.]
Our intelligence community has concluded with high confidence that President Putin personally ordered his security services to undertake an influence campaign aimed at undermining confidence in American democracy to sow chaos in our electoral system...
...Disinformation and chaos is a Russian art form developed during the Soviet era that Russia has now updated using modern tools. The result has been Russian disinformation spreading like a virus throughout the Western world. From elections in Britain, France and Montenegro to invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, Moscow has pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at spreading disorder and expanding Russian influence...
Moreover, the threat of Russian meddling in United States elections is not behind us. Just last week, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, cautioned that “the warning lights are blinking red” that Russia and other adversaries will undertake further cyberattacks on our digital infrastructure.
[Hurd feels compelled to say this because Trump said Russia did NOT pose a threat to future elections. When a president says "no threat" when his DNI says "threat," that is "actively participating in the Russian disinformation campaign." That is spreading propaganda for the benefit of a foreign nation. What is that? A "high crime"? A "misdemeanor"? Nothing? I don't know what it is.]
Make no mistake, Russian disinformation campaigns are working.
[How so, Hurd? You have to be specific: Did the Russian disinformation campaign "work" in bringing about the Catastrophe?]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/opinion/trump-russia-putin-republican-congress.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
...
By playing into Vladimir Putin’s hands, [Trump] actively participated in a Russian disinformation campaign...
...
Somehow [Somehow? Trump's active participation in the Russian disinformation campaign is "somehow."] many Americans have forgotten that Russia is our adversary, not our ally, and the reasons for today’s tensions go back much farther than the 2016 election. For more than a decade, Russia has meddled in elections around the world... Mitt Romney had it right in 2012 when he told President Barack Obama that Russia was “without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.” [Absolutely right and I mocked Romney for it.]
Our intelligence community has concluded with high confidence that President Putin personally ordered his security services to undertake an influence campaign aimed at undermining confidence in American democracy to sow chaos in our electoral system...
...Disinformation and chaos is a Russian art form developed during the Soviet era that Russia has now updated using modern tools. The result has been Russian disinformation spreading like a virus throughout the Western world. From elections in Britain, France and Montenegro to invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, Moscow has pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at spreading disorder and expanding Russian influence...
Moreover, the threat of Russian meddling in United States elections is not behind us. Just last week, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, cautioned that “the warning lights are blinking red” that Russia and other adversaries will undertake further cyberattacks on our digital infrastructure.
[Hurd feels compelled to say this because Trump said Russia did NOT pose a threat to future elections. When a president says "no threat" when his DNI says "threat," that is "actively participating in the Russian disinformation campaign." That is spreading propaganda for the benefit of a foreign nation. What is that? A "high crime"? A "misdemeanor"? Nothing? I don't know what it is.]
Make no mistake, Russian disinformation campaigns are working.
[How so, Hurd? You have to be specific: Did the Russian disinformation campaign "work" in bringing about the Catastrophe?]
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/opinion/trump-russia-putin-republican-congress.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Guess what I'm doing? A Tale of Two Cities. I know! I know! Dickens AGAIN?! Wait, I think I'm on to something.
Last read according to my note on the inside flap, October 27, 2011. Penguin edition. Great introduction by Richard Maxwell.
Remember old man Manette?...Uh oh. Man, Manette. What would be a literary term for "Woman?" A Man-ette. Well, why would Dickens give the name Man-ette to the central male figure? Leave me alone.
Wait, there's more. You know what the derivation of "sabotage" is, right? Workers in Revolutionary France would throw their sabots, shoes, into machinery to fuck-ed them up-ed. Now, what is Manette constantly doing in the Bastille? Making a "man-ette's" shoe.
Women's shoes are erotic.
The foot has a similar perfume-that-needs-no-bottle to a vagina.
Last read according to my note on the inside flap, October 27, 2011. Penguin edition. Great introduction by Richard Maxwell.
Remember old man Manette?...Uh oh. Man, Manette. What would be a literary term for "Woman?" A Man-ette. Well, why would Dickens give the name Man-ette to the central male figure? Leave me alone.
Wait, there's more. You know what the derivation of "sabotage" is, right? Workers in Revolutionary France would throw their sabots, shoes, into machinery to fuck-ed them up-ed. Now, what is Manette constantly doing in the Bastille? Making a "man-ette's" shoe.
Women's shoes are erotic.
They are sometimes metaphor for vagina (cf Cinderella and her glass slipper).They are shaped, comme ci comme ca, like a vagina; are sometimes explicitly depicted to be the vagina.
You still want to debate me on this?
The foot has a similar perfume-that-needs-no-bottle to a vagina.
There is a shoe fetish, a foot fetish, a foot-in-shoe fetish. (There is a fetish for everything. Just sayin' there is also one of ancient lineage and in different cultures for women's shoes and for women's feet.)
Manette has a daughter, Lucie, 17 years old. Take it away, Richard,
When [Lucie] arrives in Paris, [Manette] is...engaged in fashioning a lady's shoe. Gradually his attention is deflected from shoe to daughter.
Charles Darnay courts and marries Lucie. How does Papa Manette feel about that, Richard?
When Lucie and Charles leave on their honeymoon, Manette almost immediately reverts to making shoes...As the daughter replaced the shoes, so the shoes replace the daughter. The effect is almost that of a fetish, though it is less shoes in themselves than the process of making them--of bringing them into being...
...
...the father can just barely tolerate his daughter's marriage without going permanently mad or becoming, once more, a maker of shoes.
Pussy produces in men a fever that can destroy them--Anybody want to debate that with me?--just as women's sabots were used to destroy Man's machines. Who is the most dangerous agent of destruction in A Tale of Two Cities? Woman, Madame Defarge.
Charles Darnay is of the Evremonde family. Charles Darnay who has the fever for Lucie is of the "Feverworld" family.
Physically, Lucie resembles Ellen Ternan, the eighteen-year-old actress with whom Dickens had recently taken up...young enough to be his daughter...a sort of implied emotional incest.
Most of the foregoing is not the product of my fevered brain. Credit goes to Richard Maxwell. Maxwell does not mention the word play however. And there may be more. I did not realize Manette-Man-ette, Evremond-Feverworld until the start of this post.
But tonight's eureka moment came to me on my own. Neither Maxwell, nor anyone that I have found tonight in quick researches, previously had seen a link between the sexual metaphors in A Tale of Two Cities by England's greatest novelist and the life and work of England's greatest poet, John Donne.
Lover's Progress, John Donne:
So we her airs contemplate, words and heart,
And virtues, but we love the centric part. [vagina]
Nor is the soul [I suggest "sole"] more worthy, or more fit
For love, than this, as infinite as it.
But in attaining this desired place
How much they err, that set out at the face?
Donne then goes down the body parts.
When thou art there, consider what this chase
Misspent by thy beginning at the face.
Rather set out below; practice thy art;
Some symmetry the foot hath with that part
Which thou dost seek, and is thy map for that,
Lovely enough to stop, but not stay at.
...
It is the emblem that hath figured
Firmness; 'tis the first part that comes to bed.
...
If kings think that the nearer way, and do
Rise from the foot, lovers may do so too;
It is inconceivable that Charles Dickens would not have read Donne, who wrote such erotic poetry and not seen the symmetry between Donne's, life and Dickens' own when he wrote A Tale of Two Cities for John Donne fell in love with Ann More the 17 year-old niece of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Thomas Egerton, who employed Donne as his chief secretary, just as Dickens had with 18 year-old Ellen Ternan shortly before commencing work on A Tale of Two Cities. Donne's fever for that young thang enraged Sir Thomas Egerton and ruined Donne's career. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Yet, this here undersigned poet-and-he-don't-know-it could find can no link that scholars have ever made between the two men or these two writings. You know how Wikipedia will often list "Influenced by" and "Influenced" for authors? In neither entry for Dickens nor for Donne is the other mentioned. Nor does Maxwell mention Donne's influence. Thomas Carlyle is the major influence on Dickens for Tale of Two Cities according to Maxwell.
Is A Tale of Two Cities even about the French Revolution? Or is it elaborate tableau for Dickens to write about the tortures his fevered brain was putting him through with his affair with Ellen Ternan?
My doubts to the former are founded, not quite as insubstantially as on sand, but on evidence noted by a careful scholar, by the suggestive world play, and by the hidden but I have no doubt present influence of Donne, his life and works, on Dickens' life and this work.
Good night.
When [Lucie] arrives in Paris, [Manette] is...engaged in fashioning a lady's shoe. Gradually his attention is deflected from shoe to daughter.
Charles Darnay courts and marries Lucie. How does Papa Manette feel about that, Richard?
When Lucie and Charles leave on their honeymoon, Manette almost immediately reverts to making shoes...As the daughter replaced the shoes, so the shoes replace the daughter. The effect is almost that of a fetish, though it is less shoes in themselves than the process of making them--of bringing them into being...
...
...the father can just barely tolerate his daughter's marriage without going permanently mad or becoming, once more, a maker of shoes.
Pussy produces in men a fever that can destroy them--Anybody want to debate that with me?--just as women's sabots were used to destroy Man's machines. Who is the most dangerous agent of destruction in A Tale of Two Cities? Woman, Madame Defarge.
Charles Darnay is of the Evremonde family. Charles Darnay who has the fever for Lucie is of the "Feverworld" family.
Physically, Lucie resembles Ellen Ternan, the eighteen-year-old actress with whom Dickens had recently taken up...young enough to be his daughter...a sort of implied emotional incest.
Most of the foregoing is not the product of my fevered brain. Credit goes to Richard Maxwell. Maxwell does not mention the word play however. And there may be more. I did not realize Manette-Man-ette, Evremond-Feverworld until the start of this post.
But tonight's eureka moment came to me on my own. Neither Maxwell, nor anyone that I have found tonight in quick researches, previously had seen a link between the sexual metaphors in A Tale of Two Cities by England's greatest novelist and the life and work of England's greatest poet, John Donne.
Lover's Progress, John Donne:
So we her airs contemplate, words and heart,
And virtues, but we love the centric part. [vagina]
Nor is the soul [I suggest "sole"] more worthy, or more fit
For love, than this, as infinite as it.
But in attaining this desired place
How much they err, that set out at the face?
Donne then goes down the body parts.
When thou art there, consider what this chase
Misspent by thy beginning at the face.
Rather set out below; practice thy art;
Some symmetry the foot hath with that part
Which thou dost seek, and is thy map for that,
Lovely enough to stop, but not stay at.
...
It is the emblem that hath figured
Firmness; 'tis the first part that comes to bed.
...
If kings think that the nearer way, and do
Rise from the foot, lovers may do so too;
It is inconceivable that Charles Dickens would not have read Donne, who wrote such erotic poetry and not seen the symmetry between Donne's, life and Dickens' own when he wrote A Tale of Two Cities for John Donne fell in love with Ann More the 17 year-old niece of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Thomas Egerton, who employed Donne as his chief secretary, just as Dickens had with 18 year-old Ellen Ternan shortly before commencing work on A Tale of Two Cities. Donne's fever for that young thang enraged Sir Thomas Egerton and ruined Donne's career. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Yet, this here undersigned poet-and-he-don't-know-it could find can no link that scholars have ever made between the two men or these two writings. You know how Wikipedia will often list "Influenced by" and "Influenced" for authors? In neither entry for Dickens nor for Donne is the other mentioned. Nor does Maxwell mention Donne's influence. Thomas Carlyle is the major influence on Dickens for Tale of Two Cities according to Maxwell.
Is A Tale of Two Cities even about the French Revolution? Or is it elaborate tableau for Dickens to write about the tortures his fevered brain was putting him through with his affair with Ellen Ternan?
My doubts to the former are founded, not quite as insubstantially as on sand, but on evidence noted by a careful scholar, by the suggestive world play, and by the hidden but I have no doubt present influence of Donne, his life and works, on Dickens' life and this work.
Good night.
"Miserable Jose Mourinho must quit complaining, start improving Manchester United"
That is precisely wrong.
"The preseason is very bad, the positive thing of the preseason is only for the young boys that have a fantastic opportunity to train with us."
"Everything is really bad."
"The preseason is very bad, the positive thing of the preseason is only for the young boys that have a fantastic opportunity to train with us."
"Everything is really bad."
That is precisely how he should be.
...relentlessly sullen demeanour that has defined his time at Manchester United.
That is completely wrong by Alex Shaw of ESPNFC. Mourinho is a freaking choir boy compared to how he was at Chelsea, at Madrid, at Internazionale. Relentlessly angry, getting into spats with other managers, with the team physio (!), criticizing his players (Balotelli? "He has one brain cell."), that is who Jose Mourinho is, that is when he is at his best, and the problem at United has been that ditching his true self was made a condition of his employment as manager. "Not dignified." "Not worthy of Manchester United." United have not gotten Jose Mourinho's best work because they demanded he not be at his best. Let Mourinho be Mourinho!
Miss Him
President Obama in a speech in South Africa today urged women to get more involved in politics and social issues"because men have been getting on my nerves recently."
Love that man.
"Everyday I read the newspaper and just think like 'Brothers...What's wrong with us? We're violent, we're bullying."
Ditto. I don't know how many times I have written, said, or thought the same thing.
Miss that man dreadfully.
Love that man.
"Everyday I read the newspaper and just think like 'Brothers...What's wrong with us? We're violent, we're bullying."
Ditto. I don't know how many times I have written, said, or thought the same thing.
Miss that man dreadfully.
The results of a recent Gallup Poll make the same point. Since 2014, the percentage of Republicans who consider Russia anally has almost doubled from 22 percent to 40 percent. Anal Republicans
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
San Antonio Just Screwed Kawhi Leonard
Previously presumed San Antonio Lifer Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles native, "Lakers" wannabe and "Lakers" willabee, was traded by the "Spurs" this morning to L.A. North, Toronto. Toronto really is a spectacular city, cosmopolitan and sophisticated, but it ain't SoCal, baby, it's in frigging Canada for crissakes. The "Spurs" knew that, the "Spurs" would rather have stuck needles in their eyes than trade Leonard, who really fucked over the "Spurs" organization and reputation last year, to L.A., the "Spurs" knew that Toronto had joined Utah as the most threatened trade destination for disgruntled players, and so they sent him to freeze...
-Ave. L.A. highs Nov.-June (NBA season): 73, 68, 68, 69, 70, 73, 75, 79. Nice!
-Ave. Toronto highs ditto: 48, 37, 31, 32, 42, 54, 67, 76. Which is nice only if you are a native of Barnesboro, Pennsylvania and I hope you are not.
...in the dark: "NBA fans in the United States...only pay attention to the Toronto Raptors when they play LeBron James in the postseason." Dark
This was the mother of all distressed sales yet the "Raptors" gave away a pretty good haul, the jewel in which is all-star DeMar DeRozen, "Mr. Toronto" (!). Torontonians are justifiably proud of their exquisite city but in convincing themselves that they can, maybe, pretty please, convince Kawhi Leonard to reside permanently right next to Buffalo, New York, they are on drugs, viz:
-Ave. L.A. highs Nov.-June (NBA season): 73, 68, 68, 69, 70, 73, 75, 79. Nice!
-Ave. Toronto highs ditto: 48, 37, 31, 32, 42, 54, 67, 76. Which is nice only if you are a native of Barnesboro, Pennsylvania and I hope you are not.
...in the dark: "NBA fans in the United States...only pay attention to the Toronto Raptors when they play LeBron James in the postseason." Dark
This was the mother of all distressed sales yet the "Raptors" gave away a pretty good haul, the jewel in which is all-star DeMar DeRozen, "Mr. Toronto" (!). Torontonians are justifiably proud of their exquisite city but in convincing themselves that they can, maybe, pretty please, convince Kawhi Leonard to reside permanently right next to Buffalo, New York, they are on drugs, viz:
@ChrisBHaynes
Kawhi Leonard has no desire to play in Toronto, league source tells ESPN.
1:35 AM - 18 Jul 2018
The firestorm over the Trumpists acknowledgment that their democratic coup was Russian aided scorched more ground than had previous firestorms because it was an acknowledgment. The evidence has been darkly laughably overwhelming since before the Catastrophe. Like Putin's little green men in Ukraine. Little green men? Not ours! Then years later, after the fait accompli, well of course those uninsigniaed troops were ours. Same here.
"What are you going to do about it?," citizens of the former United States? It's too late! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA. Gotcha!
"Maybe you can win back the House and Senate in November!" He-he-he-he.
"Maybe you can IMPEACH us!" lol.
"Maybe you can defeat us in 2020!" roflmao.
They know! They know that just as the Catastrophe was rigged the November elections are rigged. They know that there is no chance of impeaching them, the firestorm has been already doused, and if those stupid Formers think they are going to undo it in 2020, well, pardon us but...HO-HO-HO.
The Russian approach to statecraft has always been, "What's ours is ours; what's yours is negotiable."
"What are you going to do about it?," citizens of the former United States? It's too late! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA. Gotcha!
"Maybe you can win back the House and Senate in November!" He-he-he-he.
"Maybe you can IMPEACH us!" lol.
"Maybe you can defeat us in 2020!" roflmao.
They know! They know that just as the Catastrophe was rigged the November elections are rigged. They know that there is no chance of impeaching them, the firestorm has been already doused, and if those stupid Formers think they are going to undo it in 2020, well, pardon us but...HO-HO-HO.
The Russian approach to statecraft has always been, "What's ours is ours; what's yours is negotiable."
A friend and I exchanged on the Trumpists* performance in Helsinki, the penultimate and ultimate emails in that exchange as follows:
Friend: "If the black man had done this would we have armed insurrection in USA?"
Me: "He'd have been assassinated."
*Henceforth all references to Donald Trump, the illegitimate squatter residing in the White House, will be replaced with "the Trumpists" in fixing responsibility for the foreign orchestrated democratic coup of 11/8/16 (the Catastrophe) which replaced the former United States of America with America 2.0.
Friend: "If the black man had done this would we have armed insurrection in USA?"
Me: "He'd have been assassinated."
*Henceforth all references to Donald Trump, the illegitimate squatter residing in the White House, will be replaced with "the Trumpists" in fixing responsibility for the foreign orchestrated democratic coup of 11/8/16 (the Catastrophe) which replaced the former United States of America with America 2.0.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
No country, over the past few centuries, has been free of turmoil and tragedy. It is as if there were a restlessness and a capacity for violence at the center of the human spirit that can never be contained, so that no society can achieve a perfect tranquility. Yet in every country, too, humans have shown a love of beauty,...a gentleness...and a yearning for justice "that have cut across the darkness and filled their world with light.-Jonathan Spence
Those (here!) who are of a sentimental turn, who tear up in movies, at weddings, whenever the lights of gentleness and justice are illumed may want to skip this post for on Sunday last at midnight, 20 year-old college student Walter Carr began an all night twenty mile walk from his home to his first job. I wanted to be there before 8. I wanted to beat the crew members there to let the company know how dedicated I am." His car had broken down and attempts to get a ride at a decent hour from friends were unavailing. So Walter hoofed it.
At about 4:00 a.m. police officers from Pelham, Alabama stopped to check on his well-being and whereabout he was going. "You won't believe this," Walter began and then told them his story. They believed him. They believed him the full 100 and took him to breakfast, bought him some food for lunch later, and then drove him to his job site.
The manager of the Bellhops was impressed the full 1000 with Walter's dedication and gave him his family's car.
It is now safe to put down the tissue.
Good night Walter Carr, Good night Pelham PD, and God bless you all.
The Leaders of the adversary nations have now each taken their measure of Trump and have consulted with each other and have shared their notes on him. Kim Jong-un has consulted repeatedly with Xi Jinping. Xi with Putin, Putin with Xi.
It has been a quick study.
Trump fancies himself a tough guy. Marco Rubio's put-down of Trump, "He is not a tough guy. Donald Trump has never punched anybody in the face in his life," cut to the quick. It was true. Trump knew it was true. Trump knows he is a small-pawed pussy. Trump fancies the company of tough guys to get some tough guy-ness by association. Guys like Mike Tyson. "Iron Mike. Remember Iron Mike? All the tough guys are for me." Like Vladimir Putin. "He's brilliant. He could have any woman in the world." Oh, that is milk straight from his mother's teat to Trump. Trump does not like group meetings, G7, NATO, they make him feel ganged up upon. Trump fancies one-on-one meetings between tough guys, looks for their imprimatur.
"So, first, do not be afraid of being tough," Putin to Xi to Kim to Xi to Putin, round and round. "Trump rather likes that we stifle dissent, kill domestic rivals, steal from the U.S. It proves we're tough guys. And, as Comrade Kim has shown, one can even get away with a lot of threatening toward Trump. It burnishes your tough guy bonafides but it also scares Trump. Be careful. Know when he is on the edge of the cliff.
Second, affirm Trump's place in the tough guy fraternity. All of his life he has wanted to be accepted as a tough guy. Praise him, flatter him. Feel his pain. ALWAYS affirm "FAKE NEWS." Always. ALWAYS take his side against domestic opponents. The press IS the "enemy of the State" as we all know. Trump is the first American Strong Man, the first Leader, the first to think like us, the first to say that. He is one of us.
"Third, one-on-one meeting with Trump is GOOT!," Putin now. You get anything you want in one-on-one meeting with Trump. Why? Tough guy confer status on Trump meeting him one-on-one. Stupid American FAKE-NEWS-foreign-policy establishment, Trump, in Trump brain, brain like ours, Trump no confer American prestige on us by meeting one-on-one, America no have no prestige no more, I steal election from them for Trump! Trump no have no prestige, he fat blimp clown!, he have bimbo wife prestige, Trump know he pussy man, cuckoo, cuckold, we confer tough guy prestige on Trump meet one-on-one! He get the wood in his penis first time in years meet one-on-one with tough guy.
"Yes," Xi. Look at Comrade Kim. He go from 'Little Rocket Man' to 'Chairman Kim'! I tell Comrade Kim, Be careful with this orange buffoon, his nuclear button IS more bigger than yours. Ignore insult--And Comrade Kim total ignore insult.--and meet Trump one-on-one. Sign whatever, who care!, make nice, go from 'old dotard' to 'Excellency,' you will KEEP nukes and NOT get nuked, that very important I tell Comrade Kim, not get nuked, very important. Comrade Kim, you play (laughing), oh my good Comrade Kim you play orange buffoon so good!"
"Thank you, Paramount Leader Xi, thank you. Your advice sooo good. And I follow it with straight face as good I can. And you total right, I just need back off insults, compliment old dotard, and I get everything I want! Keep nukes AND not get nuked. You very correct not get nuked very important," Paramount Leader Xi, very correct. "Always be wary, Comrade Kim, Trump orange ignoramus penis-no-work buffoon but he have BEEG nuke button."
"I will, Paramount Leader Xi, I will."
"President Putin, we owe all of this to you. You saw Trump before any of us did. When we followed your insights we stood on the shoulders of a giant," Xi.
"Thank you, President Putin!"
"Partners,"
"Did not our ancestors teach us of the importance of 'useful fools'?"
"Indeed, they did," Xi.
Kim nodding thoughtfully.
"And did they not teach us that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar?"
Xi and Kim looking at Putin nodding.
"We catch orange bumble bee with BEEG stinger with our honey and he rip out own stinger!
It has been a quick study.
Trump fancies himself a tough guy. Marco Rubio's put-down of Trump, "He is not a tough guy. Donald Trump has never punched anybody in the face in his life," cut to the quick. It was true. Trump knew it was true. Trump knows he is a small-pawed pussy. Trump fancies the company of tough guys to get some tough guy-ness by association. Guys like Mike Tyson. "Iron Mike. Remember Iron Mike? All the tough guys are for me." Like Vladimir Putin. "He's brilliant. He could have any woman in the world." Oh, that is milk straight from his mother's teat to Trump. Trump does not like group meetings, G7, NATO, they make him feel ganged up upon. Trump fancies one-on-one meetings between tough guys, looks for their imprimatur.
"So, first, do not be afraid of being tough," Putin to Xi to Kim to Xi to Putin, round and round. "Trump rather likes that we stifle dissent, kill domestic rivals, steal from the U.S. It proves we're tough guys. And, as Comrade Kim has shown, one can even get away with a lot of threatening toward Trump. It burnishes your tough guy bonafides but it also scares Trump. Be careful. Know when he is on the edge of the cliff.
Second, affirm Trump's place in the tough guy fraternity. All of his life he has wanted to be accepted as a tough guy. Praise him, flatter him. Feel his pain. ALWAYS affirm "FAKE NEWS." Always. ALWAYS take his side against domestic opponents. The press IS the "enemy of the State" as we all know. Trump is the first American Strong Man, the first Leader, the first to think like us, the first to say that. He is one of us.
"Third, one-on-one meeting with Trump is GOOT!," Putin now. You get anything you want in one-on-one meeting with Trump. Why? Tough guy confer status on Trump meeting him one-on-one. Stupid American FAKE-NEWS-foreign-policy establishment, Trump, in Trump brain, brain like ours, Trump no confer American prestige on us by meeting one-on-one, America no have no prestige no more, I steal election from them for Trump! Trump no have no prestige, he fat blimp clown!, he have bimbo wife prestige, Trump know he pussy man, cuckoo, cuckold, we confer tough guy prestige on Trump meet one-on-one! He get the wood in his penis first time in years meet one-on-one with tough guy.
"Yes," Xi. Look at Comrade Kim. He go from 'Little Rocket Man' to 'Chairman Kim'! I tell Comrade Kim, Be careful with this orange buffoon, his nuclear button IS more bigger than yours. Ignore insult--And Comrade Kim total ignore insult.--and meet Trump one-on-one. Sign whatever, who care!, make nice, go from 'old dotard' to 'Excellency,' you will KEEP nukes and NOT get nuked, that very important I tell Comrade Kim, not get nuked, very important. Comrade Kim, you play (laughing), oh my good Comrade Kim you play orange buffoon so good!"
"Thank you, Paramount Leader Xi, thank you. Your advice sooo good. And I follow it with straight face as good I can. And you total right, I just need back off insults, compliment old dotard, and I get everything I want! Keep nukes AND not get nuked. You very correct not get nuked very important," Paramount Leader Xi, very correct. "Always be wary, Comrade Kim, Trump orange ignoramus penis-no-work buffoon but he have BEEG nuke button."
"I will, Paramount Leader Xi, I will."
"President Putin, we owe all of this to you. You saw Trump before any of us did. When we followed your insights we stood on the shoulders of a giant," Xi.
"Thank you, President Putin!"
"Partners,"
"Indeed, they did," Xi.
Kim nodding thoughtfully.
"And did they not teach us that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar?"
Xi and Kim looking at Putin nodding.
"We catch orange bumble bee with BEEG stinger with our honey and he rip out own stinger!
Body Language
Putin is embarrassed. "This too easy. It like take candy from infant child."
Putin stifling a belly laugh. "They think WE stupid! Look this orange blimp-clown."
Trump: "It's FAKE NEWS! I'm not an idiot, YOU'RE an idiot." Putin feels sorry for him. "Why you so hard on him? He not too big an idiot. I take care of him."
As Churchill said of Chamberlain at Munich: "a total and unmitigated defeat."
MFA Russia 🇷🇺
Verified account
@mfa_russia
MFA Russia 🇷🇺 Retweeted Donald J. Trump
We agree. MFA Russia 🇷🇺 added,
Donald J. Trump
Verified account
@realDonaldTrump
Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!
3:24 AM - 16 Jul 2018
Verified account
@mfa_russia
MFA Russia 🇷🇺 Retweeted Donald J. Trump
We agree. MFA Russia 🇷🇺 added,
Donald J. Trump
Verified account
@realDonaldTrump
Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!
3:24 AM - 16 Jul 2018
John O. Brennan
@JohnBrennan
Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???
11:52 AM · Jul 16, 2018
No, it is something short of treasonous. It's short the "war" and the "enemy."
@JohnBrennan
Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???
11:52 AM · Jul 16, 2018
No, it is something short of treasonous. It's short the "war" and the "enemy."
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Wow. By the highlights the WC final does not look to have been well-played. On France's first, the own goal, the ball had not "skimmed off" Mandzukic’s head. He deliberately, wrong-headedly but deliberately, headed it.
Croatia's first goal was a beauty, a rocketing worm killer.
On the PK, Perisic definitely moved his left arm down toward the incoming ball which struck his hand the arm skin vibrated. The American color commentator immediately said, "That's a hand ball." It was not, as The Guardian wrote, "a borderline VAR decision."
Pogba had one shot blocked at close range by a Croat defender but the ball bounced right back to him and he immediately fired again. The poor Croatian goalkeeper was just getting reset and fell back helplessly.
Croatia's last:France's goalkeeper Lloris kicked the ball right to Mandzukic at point-blank range. The American commentator, "What is he doing?"
The match reminded me of Liverpool's bird pump against Madrid in the Champs League.
Croatia's first goal was a beauty, a rocketing worm killer.
On the PK, Perisic definitely moved his left arm down toward the incoming ball which struck his hand the arm skin vibrated. The American color commentator immediately said, "That's a hand ball." It was not, as The Guardian wrote, "a borderline VAR decision."
Pogba had one shot blocked at close range by a Croat defender but the ball bounced right back to him and he immediately fired again. The poor Croatian goalkeeper was just getting reset and fell back helplessly.
Croatia's last:France's goalkeeper Lloris kicked the ball right to Mandzukic at point-blank range. The American commentator, "What is he doing?"
The match reminded me of Liverpool's bird pump against Madrid in the Champs League.
...Oh geez, it's over already...
France DESTROYED Croatia 4-2 to win the World Cup. "Destroyed": their first goal was an ownsie, their second a penalty. They led 4-1 before Croatia got their second and last. Ha! Mario Mandzukic was responsible for both the own goal and Croatia's too-little-too-late. Griezmann, Pogba, and Mbappe had France's other goals...I thought this thing started at 2, no?
France DESTROYED Croatia 4-2 to win the World Cup. "Destroyed": their first goal was an ownsie, their second a penalty. They led 4-1 before Croatia got their second and last. Ha! Mario Mandzukic was responsible for both the own goal and Croatia's too-little-too-late. Griezmann, Pogba, and Mbappe had France's other goals...I thought this thing started at 2, no?
My Dinner with Andrew
“The same.” Andrew replied.
I hesitated at the ambiguity. I thought my sequential query would elicit another gay report as it had Carmen and Lucas. Same as what?
“What is she up to?” was the way I chose to proceed.
“Oh, going to school, senior, getting ready to go to college for art.”
“You guys are so creative, so inventive, your whole family. Where’s she going to go?”
“Far away from me, maybe Pasadena like Lucas. New York…” He trailed off. Far away from me could be interpreted two ways. I chose one.
“Oh, Drew. She’ll come back” which was not what I wanted to say and amended run-on fashion.
“She will visit, you and Gayle will visit, she’s a plane ticket away; you’re an empty nester!” No, I regretted that last and decided to append “She’ll always be your baby girl.”
There was a moment’s pause where I thought there should be an affirming “Yeah, you’re right.”
“I thought she was!” he said with an uncomfortable laugh.
“I thought, unlike with Carmen and Lucas who I know we made mistakes with, I thought I had been the perfect dad to Olivia and thought she was the perfect girl. I still think she’s the perfect girl” he quickly added. “But I ruined her childhood. She’s moving away from me.”
How-the-fuck-did-I-get-myself-into-this? Thought bubble to self. How-do-I-get-myself-out-of-it?
“You ruined her childhood? Andrew, put down your crack pipe, you didn’t ‘ruin’ anybody’s childhood. I don’t want to hear it, what are you talking about?” WHY-did-I-say-that-last? Because-although I don't-want-to-hear-it he-wants-to-tell-me.
“She said it herself. Told me right to my face. Was specific as to instances and they were true. Said her memory of me growing up was that I was always ‘drunk and angry’ that anything could set me off and she didn’t know when and was an anxious wreck around me.”
All said with a hearty, uncomfortable laugh.
“Andrew, those things are not true…”
He cut me off.
“…I was not drunk AND angry--at the same time--around her but I drank and I was angry at separate
times.” Andrew-always-had-a-bottle-of-beer-in-his-hand-never-saw-him-drunk-though-had-been-arrested-for-a-violent-
misdemeanor-was-taken-to-jail-he-and-Gayle-had-separated-imagine-there-were-fights. Lightening thoughts.
“She’s seeing a shrink for depression and anxiety and has been prescribed Zoloft.”
I felt a ringing sensation in my brain. I could not speak.
“She said, ‘Dad, do you remember that father-daughter dance my freshman year? I felt terrible but the next year when you asked me about it I told you they weren’t having one because I had so much anxiety about being around you.’ And that was true, I had asked her about it and she had told me they weren’t having it that year.”
I felt nauseous.
“I had no idea, Ben.”
He gave out a loud sob, we were sitting at the bar in a restaurant, I glanced to see if people noticed, a few heads were turned but it was a loud restaurant. He then wept silently but heavily, his shoulders heaving, but no one was looking. I put my arm on his shoulder then thinking that would attract attention, my hand on his back, then thinking even that would attract attention if it went on, gave him a squeeze and a pat and withdrew my hand. After a few seconds he stopped. He took off his glasses and rubbed his red eyes with a paper napkin. One of the waitresses noticed. He put his glasses back on.
The pathos was 3-G’s heavy. I had to lighten it. So-other-than-that-Mrs Lincoln-how-was-the-theater?
“So, other than that how's 'Lia doing?” smiling. That worked. He immediately laughed a hearty, tickled laugh.
Our food came. It was perfect timing. I needed time to think. What was my role here? How was I to navigate between the Scylla of Olivia’s feelings and the Charybdis of Andrew’s? I decided I needed more information and took a bite of food.
“Andrew, let me ask you something, I thought you gave up drinking.”
“I DID! I calculated it one it time. It has been 3,315 days, NINE YEARS! since I gave up drinking and in those nine years I have had a drink on SIX occasions. But five of them were around Olivia.”
I could feel myself getting pissed.
"Then where did she get this from?" Legitimately info-seeking, not a question in advocacy. “Did you get drunk around her?”
“NEVER! Not on those five occasions OR AT ANY OTHER TIME! When I was drinking every night I was drinking around her BUT NEVER GOT DRUNK AND NEVER LOST MY TEMPER AT HER! Around her, yes, 3-4 times.”
I leaned back in disgust forgetting I was on a bar stool and almost fell to the floor. He did not see that the lean back was in disgust and I was glad because I don’t think disgust, although disgusted I felt, was the appropriate reaction to show, too “argumentative,” “Judge, I move to dismiss the case for lack of evidence.” Olivia’s reaction WAS reality based, her depression and anxiety WERE real, she was being prescribed a heavy-duty anti-depressant, I could not show disgust. I could not take Andrew's side.
“Have you two talked it out? Yes, right? You told me she told you all of this."
"Oh, yes. I confessed. Once she gave me a statement of particulars it was all true. She said she had already forgiven me but she doesn't want to be around me. That's why she is moving away."
I thought I was going to vomit. I couldn't look at my plate.
"Oh my God, Drew, I am so sorry," but catching myself: "You cannot undo what you did. You did not know any of this was effecting ‘Lia as it was?”
“No, I did not.”
“You did not know?” I wanted to make sure. How could he not know?
“No. I thought we had a perfect relationship. We had so much fun.”
“Did anybody else say anything to you? Like Gayle? I know I never saw any of this.”
“Not about my drinking. The losses of temper, of course. I didn’t need to be told that those caused her anxiety.”
“Did you ever direct your anger toward her?”
“NO! That’s the thing. When she first told me all this I pushed back against it because I had never raised a hand or my voice at that child, never even gave her a time out!”
“I didn’t think you had. But of course she is still going to see it.”
I picked at my food.
“Gayle and I DID argue and scream at each other, that was around the kids and of course, we had a very difficult time with Carmen and especially Lucas and Olivia saw all of that. She told me she felt she had to be perfect to make up for Gayle and Carmen and Luca, that she didn’t have the luxury to
be a child, to be less than perfect.”
“I see,” and threw back my head. It all made sense now and I felt I was master of the case and where it stood was Andrew had ruined Olivia’s childhood. I had to accept that as fact but had a difficult time
accepting it as fact. I had to force myself to accept that as fact. Andrew had done it unintentionally and had very few indications of it, none that he had “ruined her childhood" but he had. What do I say
now? I thought to restate the case.
“You accept that you did ruin Olivia’s childhood.” Oh-god-this-was-a-mistake. “She has forgiven you but it sounds like her forgiveness is more an intellectualizing. She is still moving away from you.”
I aborted mission. He had ruined his child’s childhood, that didn’t need to be restated, he already knew that, and now the rest of his life was going to be a living hell. One cannot undo the past—nor the future consequences of one’s past conduct.
"This is like putting lipstick on a pig but she is perfect, she turned out perfect, you get a sort of lipstick-on-a pig-credit for having raised a perfect daughter. Despite you, I understand, but still...” Did-I-have-to-add-that?-Did-I-HAVE-to-add-that.
I had to re-abort.
“Andrew, how else can you look at this? What can you do now? You don’t love her any less, you’ll continue to love her and you’ll support her in therapy. She has forgiven you and that means she still loves you.” Wince-forgiveness-does-not-mean-love.-You-are-a-weak-sniveling-coward.-What-are-you-going-to-say-next,-"Leave-it-in-God's-hands?"
"Kids are like the pottery barn rule," I said to partially undo my cowardice, "You break it, you own it."
"You're right about that!" Andrew replied.
I left it at that and called for the check. I had hardly touched my food.
On the way home I thought of what I would have said if I had been true to my feelings.
“Andrew, what else are you going to do? How else can you look at this? Seriously, you are totally fucked. You may have lost her. You know it, I know it. You can do one of two things: Kill yourself. Or take it, feel it, every day of your life feel it, never forget it, taking responsibility and affirming the legitimacy Olivia’s feelings is true love. Don’t try to paper it over, don’t try to forget it, those are denials that will hurt her more. Love her, and hope she gets the help she needs…I don’t know what I would do but I am recommending to you the latter.”
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