Month: November 2023

From Darwinfish:

This story came out several weeks ago and I apologize for not working it in sooner, but I can't let it pass without at least saying something…

I would believe this if it were a survey of Fortune 500 CEOs, but "most Americans?" Seriously? I'd love to know what it is they think TFG did to make their finances better. Maybe it's all the hype that Fox "News" puts on the TFG Tax Cuts so they think it applies to the general public. Nothing could be further from the truth. The big Tax Cut Lollapalooza of 2017 went almost exclusively to the richest 1% and was made permanent. The remaining scraps went to the rest of us and were designed to sunset after 7 years.

And while Republicans are losing their mind about the deficit, it was this tax cut package that made it explode. But rather than fix the deficit by repealing the Fat Cat Tax Cuts, they want to cut social services and our "entitlements," meaning Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. How is it that "most Americans don't understand these facts?

TFG also rolled out a giant tariff program, because he didn't understand that the manufacturing country doesn't pay these extra fees, they roll it down to the consumers, meaning US.

Maybe people are nostalgic for the days when gas was under $2.00 a gallon. They remember that but forget that the reason for the low price was that no one was driving, for fear of catching The Rona, the fight against which was criminally botched by TFG's administration. No demand equals low prices. Was it really worth over a million American lives just to get cheap gas for a couple months?

At every turn, Republicans demonstrate that they don't give a flying fig about the average citizen's finances. If they did, they would do something about it. Democrats would join them, hand in hand. But that's not what they care about.

And then, the part about how TFG and the Republicans would keep America out of wars? Just because they want to pretend the world ends at our border doesn't mean they don't want to keep the Defense Department and all the Defense Contractors flush with money. Just ask Tom Cotton, who wants to start deploying our personnel into Gaza.

No, there will always be a war, or some other "police action," to keep the Defense money flowing. And I don't mean to the enlisted personnel. We KNOW TFG doesn't give a shit about them… He said they were "suckers and losers" for joining the military. He doesn't care if they're underpaid. But they sure want the biggest and best bombs money can buy.

It's a testament to Right Wing messaging that TFG is even a factor in the next presidential race. Fox "News," and the rest of the Echo Chamber ignore any and all gaffes, mistakes, and complete fuckups, and alibi out any that make it through to their fan club's ears. Even with the glowing economic numbers being released over the last months, they have people thinking we're in a recession and blame it on Biden. It doesn't matter if it's complete bullshit, people want to believe it because it plays to their biases. Like the bias that TFG is a sane, rational, being, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

This is right out of the GOP playbook, from Bush to Palin to TFG. Even when you're wrong, claim to be right. If there's proof, dismiss it as biased. Claim to be the victim of a media conspiracy. Do anything but admit you messed up. It would be funny if it wasn't so alarming. Oh, and be sure to seek retribution against anyone who tries to hold you accountable.

And this isn't a matter of letting all the pressure of this prosecution get the better of a public servant, it's the re-elected president directing the Justice Department to round up his enemies and put them in psych wards. Hang the charges, hang the trial, then hang the accused. Jail them first, justify it later. (You know, in "two weeks," when the long-awaited Republican health care program is going to roll out. No matter the date, it's always two weeks away.)

How is it that Americans aren't seeing these issues? Yes, I know, everyone is busy. But one should never be too busy to know what's going on in one's own country, even if it's just for selfish reasons. After living through the clown show that was 2017-2020, how can anyone think we need to do that again, only with even less competence and more vengeance?

I don't care if Biden's old; he's not evil. He's not a crook. He's not a psychopathic narcissist who will kill democracy to save his own ass.

And speaking of evil, thank goodness we have Mike Johnson to lead the charge against evil*.

*In the narrow way he defines it.

This is a guy whose public statements call for imprisoning doctors who perform abortions, eliminating hate crime laws, criminalizing gay sex, and giving up the right to privacy. (Except for political donors, of course. That's nobody's business.) Basically, the guy is a religious nightmare bent on making his own brand of fanaticism the law of the land. And the Republicans just put him second in line to the presidency.

And speaking of wingnuts, MT Greene is still out there fighting for relevance.

Now she wants to investigate the January 6^th investigators. I presume that's because Fox "News" and the whole Right Wing propaganda apparatus can't hype Hunter Biden's Laptop into the crime of the century.

I watched most of the 1/6 hearings; I don't understand what it is she thinks she can allege. I mean, they have tons of witnesses and reams of evidence. And this is coming from one of the ringleaders of the other GOP "investigations," that have delivered one nothing-burger after another in.

I presume it's just more performance theater with an audience of one.

Can't we get Harlan Crowe, or one of the other Supreme Court "special friends" to ship her off on a cruise somewhere, just to get her out of town and minimize the embarrassment? The chipmunks driving the tiny wheels in her brain have to be due for a break.