We Must Find Humor Where We Can Now

"Damage report." Picard sat down into the chair and braced himself for his worst nightmare.

The previous few days were like this:

"Damage Report."

"The Environmental Protection Agency has been frozen."


"Damage Report."

"There has been a gag order issued in the quadrant."


"Damage report."

"There is now a form of warpdrive that hurts space being used. It is speeding up the process of making black holes."


"There is a protective anti-transporter barrier being built around the planet as we speak."

Picard leaned back, half afraid to say it. Those five words, "What else can go wrong?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose feeling annoyed and dread. Dripping dread. The dreaded statement. It was as though the year 2017 was happening, from what little documentation remained from earth, all over again. What the hell was going on down there on Earth? Why was there a xenophobic human in charge of Star Fleet? Captain Kirk did not retire for this. What was next? Taking Earth out of the UFP? It would hurt Star Fleet as a whole. He didn't expect this to happen. Honestly. He voted for Janeway. Where would they go? The crew went out into space to explore and meet new civilizations. He didn't want to go back to Earth. Families were aboard the Enterprise.  They could always go to Alpha Centauri and re-establish Star Fleet Command from there.  Earth was returning to its isolationist state. The admirals had been planning for that and had informed Picard of this contingency plan among other captains. They were report there when the threatening, very conservative started turning issuing executive orders. People were likely leaving in the dozens by this news.

What is next?

Specie migration/immigration being pulled to a halt? And escorted from Earth?

"Captain. .  ."

Picard lowered his hand after careful consideration.

"Plot course for Alpha Centauri."

It made him sick to think this was really happening. He couldn't believe it wasn't a trick pulled by Q. God, did he wish that it was the case. Many of the crew members shared his feelings. Data,Geordi, Deanna,Worf, Wesley.  . . Never mind that Wesley was his son who also happened to be a entity. Unity was the strength of Star Fleet. Never mind how Military like it had become. The main goal was to explore. God, the next president had to be better than this man.

"Aye, Captain."

Quote Of The Day

These are not normal times. These are extraordinary times. And extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. When you have a spokesperson for the president of the United States wrap up a lie in the Orwellian phrase "alternative facts"…

When you have a press secretary in his first appearance before the White House reporters threaten, bully, lie, and then walk out of the briefing room without the cajones to answer a single question…

When you have a President stand before the stars of the fallen CIA agents and boast about the size of his crowds (lies) and how great his authoritarian inaugural speech was….

These are not normal times. The press has never seen anything like this before. The public has never seen anything like this before. And the political leaders of both parties have never seen anything like this before.

What can we do? We can all step up and say simply and without equivocation. "A lie, is a lie, is a lie!" And if someone won't say it, those of us who know that there is such a thing as the truth must do whatever is in our power to diminish the liar's malignant reach into our society.

There is one group of people who can do a lot – very quickly. And that is Republicans in Congress. Without their support, Donald Trump's presidency will falter. So here is what I think everyone in the press must do. If you are interviewing a Paul Ryan, a Mitch McConnell, or any other GOP elected official, the first question must be "what will you do to combat the lying from the White House?" If they dodge and weave, keep with the follow ups. And if they refuse to give a satisfactory answer, end the interview.

Facts and the truth are not partisan. They are the bedrock of our democracy. And you are either with them, with us, with our Constitution, our history, and the future of our nation, or you are against it. Everyone must answer that question." ~ Dan Rather

And Of Course…

…right on cue, the petulant, cheeto-faced man-child set to assume the Presidency in 11 days had a 3 am meltdown on Twitter over Meryl's speech last night.

In the hours after after Hair Furor disgorged his early-morning missive, the army of his sycophants chimed in, led by the always death-warmed-over Kellyanne Conway, a.k.a. das Backpfeifengesicht, who appeared on Faux News to ask if Meryl was so concerned about the disabled why she didn't mention the mentally-challenged boy who was tortured on Facebook during her speech.

The lack of self-awareness displayed by Trump supporters complaining that celebrities like Meryl should stay out of politics when they elected a reality TV star with no political background is just fucking deafening.

More than anything, it punctuates the shitgibbon's lack of self-esteem. And again I have to ask, if this man is so thin-skinned that he will obsess about anyone who doesn't bow down and kiss his tiny-handed ring by spewing out insults via Twitter, how is he going to react to a real crisis?

I don't even want to think about it.

I believe what's at the root of this insecurity is Trump knowing in his heart of hearts that he will never be loved or admired by people in a way that Meryl (or Obama, or any number of others he's lashed out at) are—and it's drives him crazy. Hell, he and his administration are actually shaping up to be the most resoundingly hated group of people ever to assume power in this country, and that's a stink that he won't ever be able to wash off no matter how many rim jobs he gets from his Nazi followers.

 

A Woman Just Stood Up To Trump's Latest Outburst On Twitter – And America Is Cheering Her On

Thin-skinned Donald Trump didn't like Saturday Night Live last night very much.

During the show he tweeted out the following, saying that the show was completely "unwatchable" and "not funny."

When, in fact, it was actually very funny – and got a lot of fanfare for making fun of Donald Trump's tweets, no less! Pretty ironic that he angrily tweeted about a show making fun of his tweets!

With that being said, one woman by the name of Danielle Muscato ended up going off on Donald Trump in his twitter feed in response to this latest outburst of his.

It was such a glorious beat down that it has to be shared.

Her message was instantly received by thousands and rose to the top of the Twitter feed and will no doubt be seen hundreds of thousands of people in the days to follow, and it should. It's worth every bit of your time to read.

Danielle Muscato just said what half of America has been thinking for months now. 

Trying To Make Sense Of It All

I know it's a losing proposition, but I was standing in the shower this morning trying to figure out where all this unbridled hate that's running in the streets of this country has come from. Why now, and most importantly, what do the 25% of eligible voters who actually voted for the asshole and apparently agree with—or at least overlook—the overt racism Trump has vociferously denounced encouraged actually think is going to happen when the man assumes power?

Okay, for the sake of argument let's assume that Trump gets his magic wall constructed (who is going to build it and exactly how the thing is actually going to get built remains another huge question) and somehow manages to successfully rip countless families apart and deport several million undocumented immigrants to Mexico. Do he or his minions have any idea what that is going to do to the economy? Do they seriously think that many people can be removed from the machinery of commerce without any negative repercussions? Do they even care?

"No, gol-durnit, because all those Mexicans are gonna be gone!"

I believe that not too long ago a group of regressive legislators in some southern hellhole tried to rid their state of all those pesky undocumented laborers and found themselves with millions of acres of cotton (or some agricultural product) rotting in the fields for lack of workers to pick it. Did all their state's out-of-work white workers line up to take their places?

Of course they didn't. BECAUSE AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO DO THESE JOBS. If they did there wouldn't be a market for undocumented workers in the first place!

Who exactly do they think is going to pick their vegetables (or scrub their toilets, or pave their roads or perform the myriad other unskilled labor jobs that are ostensibly performed by non-whites—documented and otherwise—in this country)? Do they think their unemployed cousins, nieces, aunts, brothers, sisters, or other blood relatives are going to flood the employment offices in a rush to clean urinals? Are they willing to stand out there in the soon to be universal hundred plus degree summer heat and lay asphalt? (Because apparently not only are we going to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, but we're actually going to roll back  existing environmental regulations as well, pretty much assuring that Florida will be completely underwater sooner rather than later—and considering the role that godforsaken state has played in recent elections that might not be such a bad thing.)

Of course they won't…and they certainly aren't going to agree to do it for minimum wage (which will probably also be abolished before long, come to think of it). But don't worry—Trump is going to bring all those manufacturing jobs back to 'murika!

Get ready for your shiny new iPhone to cost $2000—at least—if Apple is forced to bring their manufacturing back to these shores.

The people who seem to want to "make America great white again," AKA the low information voters who apparently think the Cheeto-faced Shitgibbon is going to wave a magic wand and make all their lives better don't really seem to have a clue about the unintended consequences of what Trump's promises (if they're even actually fulfilled) will do to their lives, because that would actually involve thinking beyond their blind racism. No, it's easier to blame their own continued unemployment on the hoards of brown-skinned workers literally flooding across the border (Faux News said so!) instead of—I dunno—actually doing something about improving their skill sets so they are employable in a 21st century economy.

Are they prepared to take on their aging parents' medical expenses after Medicare is wiped out? Do any of them have financial portfolios (or enough money stuffed in a sock under the mattress) that will provide the bare minimum of subsistence that Social Security would at least provide?

Somehow I seriously doubt that as well.

And who's going to pay for their medical care after "Obamacare" is repealed?

And since we're on the subject of rolling back all social progress of the last 80 years, can someone please tell me how preventing gays from marrying (or mixed races for that matter, because while nothing has been said about it I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to hear that's coming once the easy targets have fallen)—or worse—is going to improve their marriages and their lives? In fact, how is taking away someone else's rights supposed to increase your own? Just once I'd like to hear one of these troglodytes explain how that happens.

Kakistocracy

Over the past few days, I've stumbled upon a word that more of us should know as it so perfectly captures this moment in time. Commit this one to memory, because you're probably going to want to use it often:

Kakistocracy n. (kak·is·toc·ra·cy / kækɪsˈtɑkɹəsi) Government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power.

REUTERS/Christopher Aluka Berry

The origins of kakistocracy are actually pretty neat. The term was first used around 1829 and was coined as an opposite to "aristocracy". It comes from the Greek "kakistos" or "worst", which is the superlative form of "kakos" or "bad". Switch the "k" to a "c" and you have the root of modern words like "cacophony".

But here's where it gets even more fun. "Kakos" is closely related to "Caco" or "defecate". As we saw above, it's essentially the same phonetic sounds and has similar modern words derived from it.

Today, you'll find this in the Greek "Kakke" "human excrement", Latin "cacare", Irish "caccaim", Serbo-Croatian "kakati", Armenian "k'akor", Old English "cac-hus" or "latrine", Dutch "kak", German "Kacke", and the school-yard favorite "caca".

So in this trying time, remember the word "kakistocracy".

Quite literally, government by the shittiest.

(Source)

Enough!

"We have had enough of the hatreds [this man Trump] has unleashed and the apologists in the media who have not stood up and have called him what he is: a fascist who wants to end this democracy."

There's nothing patriotic about the lunatic outrage of the angry white male Trump voter. Real Americans have had enough.

Keith is Back!

Every few generations, we Americans are called upon to defend our country. To defend it not so much from foreign dictators or war or terrorism, but from those here who have no commitment to progress or democracy or representative government—no commitment to anything except their own out-of-control minds and the bottomless pits of their egos.

Our society has thrown up these people before: Joseph McCarthy. George Wallace. Father Coughlin. Jefferson Davis. Aaron Burr. The Know-Nothings. The Blacklisters. The America-Firsters. And we have always thrown them out. And now our generation has its own: the most dangerous individual ever nominated by a major party for the highest office in this country.

His base wants few details and fewer facts; they just want to burn it down and blame their failures on the collective other. And Donald John Trump is their demonic messiah in Oompa Loompa's clothing. We must stop him. It is not pleasant. It is not fair that we have to do this. But it is our turn."

This will have absolutely no effect upon the hard core fascist Trump supporters, but it is nice to know for all of us who live in the real world that not all of MSM has been overtaken by the creeping toxicity of their narrative.

A Real Headline

25 awesome iOS 10 features that will change your life

Yes, that is a real headline. 25 awesome iOS 10 features that will change your life.



I Can't. I Just Can't.


I can't. I just can't. And this my friends is why it is so vitally important that we all get out and VOTE in November. If you don't want that Cheeto-faced straw-toupeed fucktrumpet sitting in the White House—and by extension idiots like this running the country and determining your future—you have to VOTE. Sitting at home on November 8th, thinking you don't need to drag your ass to the polling place because everything says that Hillary has it wrapped up, is no guarantee she will win if you don't cast your ballot. We need to show unequivocally that Trump's hate and his Neo-Nazi brain-dead followers have no place in our society.

Quote of the Day

A thoughtful, reasoned response to the Republican cray-cray that seems to be spewing from a fire hose lately…

"At the risk of taking Gingrich's nonsense seriously, just imagine for a moment what translating his proposal into action would mean. The government would round up 3.3 million American Muslims, then "test" them to see "if they believe in Sharia," a notion about which Gingrich doesn't have the remotest clue. Sharia is the Arabic word for "law"; there's no guidebook of official Sharia, and Islamic scholars have a multitude of ideas about how Koranic ideas could or should be translated into civil rules. But even if there were, Gingrich is literally proposing to prosecute thought crimes, as well as jettisoning the First Amendment to throw people in jail for visiting certain web sites. And where is he going to "deport" the Americans whom he decides believe in Sharia to?

Frankly, I think we need to ask just how Newt Gingrich got radicalized, and what caused him to reject the values of the country that gave him so much. Was it some radical cleric who did this to him? Is there a church somewhere in Georgia we need to be monitoring?" ~ Paul Waldman, The Washington Post

Go read the whole thing. It's worth your time.

I Wish I Believed in Hell

Stop worrying about Target's bathrooms and start looking in your own damn churches, you motherfucking kiddie-fucking assholes!

From Towleroad:

TEXAS. Bureau of Investigation arrests two pastors for seeking sex with underage girls: "Jason Kennedy, 46, who held the role of children's pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, and Zubin Parakh, 32, who is listed as the creative pastor at LifeHouse Church, were both nabbed in the undercover investigation. According to a police report seen by WVLT Kennedy had agreed to pay $100 for a half hour with two girls, one of whom was 15. Kennedy faces patronizing prostitution and trafficking charges—and could land in prison for up to 60 years. Kennedy has lost his job at Grace Baptist Church as a result of the investigation."