The more ignorant the man, the more obedient he is, and the more absolutely he places confidence in those who lead him.
This explains a lot, certainly how tens of millions of Americans believe that the entire scientific community and justice system are corrupt, and that Trump is the only honest person in a position of leadership.
The defamation settlement of just short of $1 billion that the jury ordered Alex Jones to pay his victims may just another titillating piece of news, but it’s also possible that it represents a turning point in American justice.
If we can punish all those who attempted to overthrow the U.S. government after the 2020 presidential election–including the architects–it’s possible that we will have re-established our country as one in which justice matters.
Great cartoon.
Reports show that Trump is terrified that he’ll be indicted, tried, convicted, and imprisoned. Yet “going away” only increases the probability of precisely that.
Staying in the game, he reasons, both a) keeps his base alive, poised for another insurrection, and b) makes it difficult for the Justice Department to pull the trigger, given that indictments will have the appearance of politically motivated attacks.
The vast majority of Americans, and almost everyone elsewhere on the planet, can’t wait to put this ugly period of U.S. history behind us, but, looking at it from a practical perspective, it’s going to take patience.
As the ultra-right political movement in the U.S. continues to move even further to the fringes, human rights are finding themselves squeezed. On the chopping block now, for the first time in the last 50 years, are women’s abortion rights.
Wisconsin is one of those states like Pennsylvania, which, as a friend told me the other day, is “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in the middle,” i.e., concentrations of educated urbanites surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of Trump supporters.
Mandela Barnes, whose statement we see above, is trailing GOP extremist Ron Johnson by 2% in the polls. I wish him well, but this doesn’t look good.
Why isn’t Hershel Walker down 25 points in the polls?
It’s because Republican are showering him with endorsements and huge donations.
That he’s criminally insane doesn’t matter a goddamn thing.
From this:
The Washington Post reports that it will present new evidence that former President Donald Trump blew off warnings of imminent violence from his supporters.
As the Post puts it, the evidence will show that Trump “was repeatedly alerted to brewing violence that day, and he still sought to stoke the conflict” that culminating in his supporters violently rioting at the Capitol and sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives.
If this can be corroborated, it eliminates any doubt that Trump should be arrested and charged with sedition.
Anyone can understand that indicting a former president, especially on who is still likely to attempt a second term in office, is likely to draw protest to the effect that it is politically motivated and bound to create reprisals. But the evidence here is so clear, and the crime so egregious, that the Justice Department has no other option.
Do you ever cut up avocados for use in a salad? Tired of using a knife that takes perhaps 15 seconds? Want a specialized device that takes at least as long, then needs to be washed and stored? If so, this latest utensil for American idiots has your name on it.
Americans have reason to be cynical about the honesty of their politicians, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when an apparently sincere Republican U.S. representative (in this case, Mike Gallagher) switches from being a supporter of justice to a Trump lackey overnight.
I would think, however, that it would be a poor decision from a practical perspective. Doesn’t it make you look like a lying ass**** to voters in both political parties simultaneously?
Many Americans think of their country as a “Christian nation.” Yet the teachings of Jesus are virtually nonexistent in the way we treat other people.
Characteristically, the Pope, a deeply compassionate and humanitarian figure, is unhappy about this. Perhaps unhappy is too mild a word; furious is better.
Yet, based on the way the media coverage of American politics is so profoundly hate-based, dealing with our xenophobia is next to impossible. No hate means no gripping news, no ratings for the incendiary cable channels, and ultimately no votes for the demagogues.
That dog don’t hunt.
“It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna . . . things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.”
It’s not uncommon for space travelers to have profound thoughts as they look back at the Blue Planet. When I was in grade school in the 60s, we watched a movie in which an early astronaut related his feelings of awe that there are “no lines, no borders” on the Earth’s surface. All the force we apply to divide up the planet into (often warring) countries is entirely artificial.
