When Americans learned of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the U.S. had an opportunity not seen in quite a few years: to agree unanimously that these war crimes were not acceptable and would not stand.

Of course, that’s not what happened.  Somehow, Fox News and the other far-right “news” shows were able to make the case that Ukraine was not worthy of our help, that we have nothing in common with its people, and that their country’s government was corrupt, so Russia should be allowed, even encouraged, to do whatever it liked in the region: indiscriminately bombing dozens of cities and towns, while arresting, torturing, raping and executing thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It really came down to one thing: if the Democrats wanted something, regardless of how noncontroversial, it had to be opposed, even if that meant signaling to the world’s single most aggressive and oppressive regime that the United States and its allies were offering an open invitation to annex European democracies.

So here we are, enter a new year, defensing the indefensible. The actual facts on the Russian invasion and the state of peril in which it leaves the entire free world have long since ceased to matter in our post-truth society. Defending democracy against tyranny is no longer an imperative; it’s an option, here a poor one, adopted by woke liberal sissies.

On another matter, last month we actually reconfirmed how little value we place on facts and honesty, as we watched in horror as sociopath, moron, and pathological liar Herschel Walker came within a hair’s breadth of becoming a U.S. senator.  One would have thought Walker would have lost by 30 points, but no, it was less than 3.

Fighting against one another, over the most ridiculous causes, is really the only thing we do well at this point.

 

Tagged with:

Technology “leaked from NASA.”  Rumors say it’s the most efficient new source of energy.

To me, nothing says high efficiency energy generation better than a fan belt and a rubber mallet.

Tagged with:

Who doesn’t?

Freedom to prevent science from keeping people alive and healthy. Freedom to force 10-year-old rape victims to carry their fetuses to term. Freedom to ban books that stimulate critical thinking and teach the truth about U.S. history. Freedom to further abuse desperate asylum seekers.

It’s just what America needs.

Tagged with:

From MoveOn:

Here are the five most-watched cable news shows in America:

  1. “The Five” on Fox News
  2. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News
  3. “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Fox News
  4. “Hannity” on Fox News
  5. “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Fox News1

Notice a pattern? The far right is dominating cable news in America, pushing their agenda to tens of millions of Americans for hours and hours each and every day. 

This is exactly how lies about COVID, conspiracy theories about the election, and despicable attacks on the LGBTQ+ community are spread.

Let’s add some perspective here.  “The Five” has an audience of 3.5 million viewers.  These are the same 3.5 million people who watch Tucker Carlson, etc.  Obviously, it’s not good that anyone consumes this hateful garbage, but this is approximately 2% of the U.S. voter base.

Tagged with:

It appears that the timetable at work here may enable the United States to remove Trump from the political scene with a minimum of bloodshed. All these events are happening gradually and methodically:

• The GOP is gradually disconnecting themselves from the former president.

• The Justice Department continues its work in gathering and processing evidence of Trump’s criminal conduct.

• Various states are operating in parallel, at least as far as his attempt to overthrow the federal government is concerned.

• Trump’s base erodes and approval rating continues to fall, as his behavior becomes more unhinged.

Keep in mind that the American people are good at forgetting stuff, and ultimately pretending that it never happened. This seems to be an indication that soon, Trump could fall off a cliff and nobody would notice.

Tagged with:

It would be interesting to know where this meme came from.  An ultra-right-wing think tank?  Some random QAnoner?

In any case, the fossil fuel industry loves crazy s*** like this.  They may not be creating it themselves, but they certainly are profiting from it.

Tagged with:

Number 4 here reminds me of my frequent conversations with my mom on politics.  I wish I had a dollar for every time I said, “In my view, it’s more complicated than that.”

 

Tagged with:

From this piece:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed, with his purchase of Twitter, that he would turn it into a “digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated.” Yet here are headlines about Musk banning the accounts of journalists for daring to report on some of the shadier moves of the self-appointed champion of “free speech.” 

Anyone who expects any level of honesty and consistency from a Trump supporter, whether he be a billionaire or a factory worker, is an idiot.

And that’s especially true when it comes to free speech.  When “the old Twitter” banned Trump from the platform for inciting an insurrection, the former president’s base lost its mind, because they somehow didn’t understand that the First Amendment applies to government entities and not to private enterprises.

Now, what they’re thinking about Elon Musk banning his critics is anyone’s guess.

 

 

Tagged with: ,

Will DeSantis’ war on vaccines have consequences?  Of course.  Many thousands of people will die needlessly, and countless others will become horrifically ill, and will never fully recover.

But think of the upside.  Consider how all this will inspire the voters in a state with a population of 22 million, many of whom have profound distrust, if not a seething hatred of science.

Earlier in the pandemic, DeSantis was a huge advocate of vaccinations, declaring that those who were inoculated had a far better chance of getting through the pandemic with their health fully intact, and were doing their fellow citizens a huge favor by not becoming carriers and clogging up hospitals.  That, however, was before he realized how much political mileage he could gain, simply by making make an abrupt U-turn and sending people to their graves.

If you think this country is out of the woods because Trump is going away, keep in mind that this bastard is the leading candidate to win the 2024 presidency.

Tagged with:

As some Americans know, we live in a land whose federal government is composed of three co-equal branches. The fact that none of these has any power over the other two means that our legislative branch’s (Congress) decision to refer criminal prosecution against someone, in this case a former president, forms no imperative for the executive branch, in which the Department of Justice resides, to take action.

Having said that, the majority of Americans are happy to see our House of Representatives making the right move here.

Tagged with: