Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: “... Stephen Colbert has accused the Trump administration of censoring critics after CBS pulled his interview with a Texas Democrat on Monday, apparently at the behest of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Colbert told viewers of the Late Show that network lawyers told him he was also prohibited from talking about their refusal to air his interview with James Talarico, a Texas state representative seeking his party’s nomination to challenge the Republican incumbent, John Cornyn, for a senate seat in November. 'Because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this,' he said, claiming that CBS attorneys were preemptively bowing to 'guidance' from the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, to enforce equal air time on a talk show for all candidates in any political race. 'Let’s just call this what it is. Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV.' The interview with Talarico went ahead and was posted instead to Colbert’s YouTube page.” Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. ~~~
~~~ Here's Colbert on his show talking about what he's not allowed to talk about: ~~~
~~~ AND here's the banned interview, hot off the YouTubes: ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
"As our Worst President*, Donald Trump stands alone." -- Lawrence O'Donnell contrasts Trump with Barack Obama: ~~~
~~~ The video & a transcript of an interview of Barack Obama are here. (Related story & video/transcript also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Akhilleus wrote yesterday, in part: "... I've run across at least three different right-wing outlets, two of them local TV station news departments that are tearing their hair out over President Obama's response to the fat racist's posting of the Obamas as apes, calling for his imprisonment for daring to challenge the Dear Leader. 'It was just a joke! Liberals can't take a joke. And he is trying to divide the country just to make himself feel better, all while OUR president is doing everything he can to fix all the problems he inherited from criminal Democrats!!!' Aieeeee!... I clicked on the first one because I had no idea what their problem could be with Obama's measured and thoughtful response. I forgot that 'measured' and 'thoughtful' are not conditions or qualities found in the MAGA wild." MB: This, of course, is exactly the coarsening of our national dialog that Obama addressed in his remarks. Wouldn't it be something if the MAGAts were a teensy bit educable?
An Appropriate Presidents' Day Ruling Against the First U.S. President & the Current U.S. President*. Anushka Patil of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore displays about George Washington’s ownership of enslaved people at a monument on the site of his former house in Philadelphia. The judge said the government’s claim to have the power to erase and alter historical accounts at the country’s monuments echoed George Orwell’s dystopian novel '1984.' In a 40-page opinion, Judge Cynthia M. Rufe granted a preliminary injunction to the City of Philadelphia, which had sued the Interior Department and the National Park Service over their decision to remove the displays. The order means the government must put the materials back up while the underlying lawsuit proceeds in court.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Alex Woodward of the Independent: “The removal [of the display] followed ... Donald Trump’s executive order 'restoring truth and sanity to American history' at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks, joining the administration’s sweeping efforts to sanitize or remove entirely from public view the nation’s history of enslavement.” ~~~
As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto 'Ignorance is Strength,' this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not. -- Judge Cynthia Rufe, introduction to opinion in Philadelphia v. Burgum, following the citation of the famous graf by George Orwell that begins, "All history was a palimpsest...." ~~~
~~~ Judge Rufe's ruling is here, via the courts.
Heather Cox Richardson: “On February 13 and 14..., Donald J. Trump’s representatives filed three applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark his name for future use on an airport. As trademark lawyer Josh Gerben ... noted, the application also covers merchandise branded 'President Donald J. Trump International Airport,' 'Donald J. Trump International Airport,' and “DJT,' including 'clothing, handbags, luggage, jewelry, watches, and tie clips.' Because of the trademark filing, Gerben notes, any airport adopting the Trump name would have to get a license to use the name, potentially paying a licensing fee. Gerben emphasizes that while it is common for public officials to have landmarks named after them, 'never in the history of the United States' has 'a sitting president’s private company…sought trademark rights' before such a naming.... The Trump grab for an airport named after him is just the latest grift in a presidential term that experts so far estimate has enriched the Trump family by at least $4 billion.
“[George] Washington understood that anything he did would become the standard for anyone who came after him. In his short Inaugural Address, he took the time to state explicitly that he would not accept any payments while in the presidency except for an official salary appropriated by Congress.... Since [a delegation of Republican senators urged Richard Nixon to resign], Republicans have fallen into the trap Washington warned against in his Farewell Address, putting party over country.”
Trump Is Really Unpopular. Elliott Morris, who is among today's most trusted pollsters cited, writes, “This week, new data came out showing that anti-Trump protests are roughly four times as common as they were at the same point in his first term. The backlash isn’t just in the polls, it’s everywhere.... The backlash against Trump that is being picked up in the polls isn’t a fluke.... The data on real-world activity suggests [suggest!] anti-Trump sentiment is significantly more potent than it was during his first term, and that this sentiment is mobilizing a strong grassroots movement of pro-democracy activists. [This is also reflected in the finding] that low-political-knowledge, low-news-engagement voters — roughly 27% of the electorate — have swung from supporting Trump by 11 points in 2024 to disapproving of him by 13 points.... Finally, special elections also pick up the same signals as the polls.” Morris points out that it takes a lot of energy to get so many people out protesting and engaging in other anti-government activities, just as it takes a lot to get low-info voter to notice what's going on in D.C. (Also linked yesterday.)
For the first time in Nobel history, war was threatened because a head of state did not receive the Peace Prize.... It could not be more absurd. -- Harald Stanghelle of the Aftenposten., Norway's leading newspaper ~~~
~~~ Oh, What a Vain & Stubborn Nincompoop Is He. Isaac Stanley-Becker & Simon Shuster of the Atlantic: “Jonas Gahr Støre, the mild-mannered prime minister of Norway,” tried to reason with Donald Trump about the crisis Trump was creating in his demand that Denmark transfer Greenland to U.S. ownership. He soon heard back from Trump, who wrote, “Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace....” A good read. Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.
 |
| Thanks to RAS for the link. |
Aaron Parnas is a fairly calm, straightforward reporter, and I've found most of his stuff to be pretty reliable and not sensationalized, unlike a number of other left-leaning podcasters' reports. So here's something to think about: ~~~
~~~ Here's the Substack post by Roger Sollenberger to which Parnas refers throughout the video. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
All the President*'s Friend's Friends: ~~~
~~~ Maegan Vazquez & Sammy Westfall of the Washington Post: “It has been more than two weeks since the latest tranche of files related to deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein was released by the Justice Department.... The massive trove — totaling more than 3 million documents — has roiled Europe, leading to resignations and criminal inquiries. In the United States, however, professional exits and investigations of the individuals named in the files have not taken place on the same scale. Only a few high-profile people, such as Kathy Ruemmler, an official in the Obama White House, have stepped down from their jobs after new revelations of their connections to Epstein.... Here is a list of some of the prominent figures who have resigned from their roles or are facing investigations after their communications with Epstein and his former longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, were released last month.” ~~~
~~~ Sharon LaFraniere & Teresa Terol of the New York Times: By the spring of 2019, Steve “Bannon, a leader in the MAGA movement and a former top aide to ... [Donald] Trump, had been advising [Jeffrey] Epstein on how to handle resurrected allegations that he was a serial pedophile. Mr. Bannon recommended which lawyers to hire — his own — when to lie low and when he should jump on an opening to push his narrative. He scheduled what the two men called 'media training.' 'First we need to push back on the lies; then crush the pedo/trafficking narrative; then rebuild your image as philanthropist,' Mr. Bannon wrote to Mr. Epstein in April 2019. That was five months after a Miami Herald series exposed how prosecutors had ignored evidence of Mr. Epstein’s crimes.... In the six months before Mr. Epstein was arrested and charged with the sex trafficking of minors in July 2019, Mr. Bannon’s name appears nearly every day in the files, often because the two men exchanged texts.... As Mr. Epstein’s legal troubles mounted in 2019, Mr. Bannon helped strategize a defense, the documents indicate.... As Mr. Bannon promoted himself as a strategist to populist and nationalist political parties abroad, Mr. Epstein tried to help him build connections.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Ready for a laughable excuse? Bannon says he was just buttering up Epstein because he was planning to produce a documentary on Epstein that would “destroy the very myths he created.” Right. This supposed ploy to trick Epstein took place seven years ago. It would seem Bannon's little exposé is still in the can. Wouldn't it be a good idea to release it at a time when Epstein has been in the news every day? Oh, and it appears Bannon's advice to Epstein wasn't very effective. ~~~
~~~ Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: “Thomas J. Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, stepped down from his role Monday as executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation, becoming the latest person felled by an association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Pritzker, 75, said in a letter to the Hyatt board that he was retiring, effective immediately, adding: 'Good stewardship also means protecting Hyatt, particularly in the context of my association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell which I deeply regret.'... Recently released files revealed that Mr. Pritzker was in regular contact with Mr. Epstein in the years following Mr. Epstein’s 2008 plea deal on sex crimes charges, with the two frequently corresponding to confirm meals and appointments, including at Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.” The Hill has a story here. ~~~
~~~ Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: “Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said on Monday that Casey Wasserman should resign as the chairman of the 2028 Olympics in the city after his name surfaced recently in the Epstein files.... Only the nonprofit board of directors that oversees the Los Angeles Olympics can replace him.... Ms. Bass, a Democrat, is the highest-ranking elected official to call on Mr. Wasserman to step aside, and her rebuke runs counter to the position of Olympics organizers, who gave him a vote of confidence last week to have him remain as chairman. The mayor’s remarks came three days after Mr. Wasserman, 51, a Los Angeles entertainment executive who helped craft the winning bid for the Games, announced that he was selling his business because his 'limited interactions' two decades ago with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein had become a 'distraction.'” ~~~
~~~ Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: “Columbia University has punished two people affiliated with its dental college after documents released by the Justice Department revealed that they had bypassed the normal process to help Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend gain admission. The actions taken against the two people, Dr. Thomas Magnani and Dr. Letty Moss-Salentijn, add to the fallout rippling through the worlds of academia, business, politics and beyond with the release of millions of pages of files related to Mr. Epstein. The documents shed light on communications between Mr. Epstein and College of Dental Medicine representatives that Columbia officials knew about as of 2019, the university said in a statement on Friday.... Columbia said it was cutting all ties to Dr. Magnani and stripping Dr. Moss-Salentijn of her administrative duties at the dental college, where she remains a tenured faculty member. Several other people implicated in the episode had already ended their affiliations with the school, the statement said.”
Erica Stapleton & Andrew Hay of Reuters: "New Mexico lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to launch what they said was the first full investigation into what happened at Zorro Ranch, where the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is accused of trafficking and sexually assaulting girls and women. A bipartisan committee will seek testimony from survivors of alleged sexual abuse at the ranch, located about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, the state capital. Legislators are also urging local residents to testify.... The so-called truth commission, comprising four lawmakers, seeks to identify ranch guests and state officials who may have known what was going on at the 7,600-acre property, or taken part in alleged sexual abuse in its hacienda-style mansion and guest houses."
Matthew Lee & Justin Spike of the AP: “U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday enthusiastically endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's bid to serve a fifth straight term after upcoming elections in
April, emphasizing during a visit to Budapest the strong personal
relationship between the nationalist leader and ... Donald
Trump. Orbán, who has led Hungary since 2010, is one of Trump’s
most vocal supporters in the European Union, and has actively curried
the U.S. president’s favor leading up to the April 12 vote in which he will face the toughest challenge of his last 16 years in power. Rubio
was in the Hungarian capital for meetings with Orbán and his government
where he signed an agreement on U.S.-Hungarian civilian nuclear
cooperation that includes the possible purchase of compact nuclear
reactors — known as small modular reactors or SMRs — as well as
U.S.-supplied nuclear fuel and spent fuel storage technology.” (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ John Hudson of the Washington Post: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to throw Viktor Orban a political lifeline on Monday, as the Hungarian prime minister trails in most polls ahead of an election this spring that could see Europe’s most pro-Russian and longest-ruling prime minister voted out of power. The top U.S. diplomat praised Orban’s leadership, signed a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with his government and defended issuing Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions despite Orban’s decision to continue buying Russian energy.” MB: Some reporters at the WashPo still come through. Hudson's lede, IMO, makes Little Marco's endorsement look a lot more sinister than does the AP's.
José Olivares of the Guardian: “Minnesota law enforcement authorities have said the FBI is refusing to share any evidence on its investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal immigration authorities in late January.... On Monday, Minnesota’s bureau of criminal apprehension (BCA) ... said the FBI had formally notified it that it would not share any information or evidence related to Pretti’s shooting. The Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, has demanded an 'impartial' investigation into the shootings in Minneapolis.... The BCA’s superintendent also expressed frustration. 'While this lack of cooperation is concerning and unprecedented, the BCA is committed to thorough, independent and transparent investigations of these incidents, even if hampered by a lack of access to key information and evidence,' added Drew Evans.... The agency has also previously refused to share any information related to the shootings of [Renee] Good or [Julio] Sosa-Celis, a lack of cooperation that led the BCA to stop its investigation into Good’s killing.” ~~~
~~~ BCA Superintendent Drew Evans' full statement is here.
Conor Wight of CBS News: "On the same day that federal officials announced the end of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota..., a security camera captured Jesus Flores leaving his home to help people on the street suffering from apparent car trouble. Moments later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed his driveway. '[They] tricked him into coming outside,' said Flores' son, Miguel. Miguel and his mother, Dionicia, are heartbroken. Dionicia said that her husband is a lifeline for their six children; two of them have autism and require special care. She said that the family provider was whisked away to El Paso, Texas — likely in violation of a federal judge's order.... Flores is a mechanic.... ;Flores' family believes that the two people caught on a neighbor's security camera checking underneath their hood in front of the Flores household are ICE agents themselves.... As [agents take Flores away], the original car and the people feigning mechanical difficulties leave with them."
Marie: My governor is a nincompoop: ~~~
Benjamin Oreskes & Jay Root of the New York Times: “For the better part of a decade, motorists on the New York side of the Peace Bridge in Buffalo have had to ... [avoid o]ne wrong turn, easily taken, [which would land them] ... in Canada.... Under ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown, the inconvenience of a wayward trip has taken on dire consequences. A number of people, including some with legal [U.S.] residency status, have been detained for weeks pending deportation procedures. The latest episode occurred last month, when U.S. authorities arrested a University of Buffalo research scientist, Shovgi Huseynov, who ... was detained for weeks.... Mr. Huseynov..., whose lawyers said he had authorization to work in the United States through 2029, was released in late January. But the publicity over his detention sparked outrage, calls for reform and, earlier this month, a small gesture from [New York] Gov. Kathy Hochul.... She has directed the State Department of Transportation to place temporary electronic signs at the entrance to the bridge’s roundabout warning drivers that they are heading to another country.... Sean Ryan, Buffalo’s new mayor, said he would soon be meeting with leaders of the Bridge Authority. He said that while the temporary signs Ms. Hochul had installed were a good start, a more durable fix was needed.”
I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats. -- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., on why he doesn't worry about Covid, February 12 ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times: “When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was picked in November 2024 to become the next health secretary, public health experts worried that the longtime vaccine skeptic would wreak havoc on the fragile business of vaccine development. Those fears are beginning to come true, according to executives and investors involved with companies that develop and sell vaccines and the technology that is best known for the Covid vaccines. At conferences and in interviews, they described the emerging consequences of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the longstanding federal support for vaccines.... Investors have grown hesitant to bet on a field that has fallen out of favor in Washington. Major manufacturers are reporting declining sales of their shots. Smaller companies are taking the brunt of the impact, with some stocks whipsawing in response to the changes. Perhaps no vaccine maker has been hit harder by the federal policy changes than Moderna. Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly questioned the safety and effectiveness of the technology around which the company has built its business.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Also too, this does kinda deflate the picture of dedicated Louis Pasteur-types selflessly working away in chem labs to save humankind from dread diseases. For their pharmaceutical companies, development of lifesaving drugs is more a business than a calling. ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman: "... the Trump administration is a kakistocracy: rule by the worst.... The kakistocracy is also a quackistocracy.... Under Trump 47, people who have enriched themselves by peddling medical misinformation are no longer just influencing policymakers. They have become policymakers. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who appears to have made millions in salary and book royalties thanks to his anti-vaccine screeds, is now the secretary of health and human services. Dr. Oz is running Medicare and Medicaid.... Moreover, the Trumpists aren’t content with just cutting off federal funding — ... RFK Jr.’s allies are pushing to prevent states from implementing childhood vaccine mandates. And the damage from the assault on vaccines continues to widen. Last week the Food and Drug Administration refused to review Moderna’s new mRNA-based flu vaccine. They didn’t reject it based on evidence; they wouldn’t even look at it, in line with RFK Jr.’s evidence-free, dogmatic assertion that mRNA technology, which gave us Covid vaccines, is useless and harmful." Read on. There's lots more.
Kimberlee Kruesi of the AP: “Three people, including the suspect, were fatally shot during a Rhode Island youth hockey game Monday, authorities said. Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves told reporters that three other victims are hospitalized in critical condition. 'It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute,' she said. Goncalves did not provide details about the suspect or the ages of those who were killed, though she said it appeared that both victims were adults.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “For nearly 20 years, Anderson Cooper has had a rare double billing in the TV industry: anchor on CNN and correspondent for '60 Minutes,' the celebrated newsmagazine on CBS.... On Monday evening, Mr. Cooper said that he was leaving '60 Minutes' to spend more time with his two young sons “while they still want to spend time with me.'... '60 Minutes' has come under scrutiny recently because of tensions between its on-air correspondents and Bari Weiss, the recently appointed editor in chief of CBS News.”
⭐Peter Applebome of the New York Times: “The Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose impassioned oratory and populist vision of a 'rainbow coalition' of the poor and forgotten made him the nation’s most influential Black figure in the years between the civil rights crusades of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the election of Barack Obama, died on Tuesday. He was 84.” Politico's obituary is here. The AP's obituary is here. An AP photo gallery is here.
Clyde Haberman of the New York Times: “Robert Duvall, who drew from a seemingly bottomless reservoir of acting craftsmanship to transform himself into a business-focused Mafia lawyer, a faded country singer, a cynical police detective, a bullying Marine pilot, a surfing-obsessed Vietnam commander, a mysterious Southern recluse and scores of other film, stage and television characters, died on Sunday. He was 95.” (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~~~~~~~~
25 comments:
The flabby authoritarian who inhabits the Blight House is not happy with having Fox and the myriad of far right-wing TV and radio stations at his beck and call, he wants broadcast TV networks to know that they all belong to him.
The newly Trumpified CBS in cahoots with one of Fat Hitler's most unctuous underlings has capitulated to demands that Stephen Colbert not be allowed to run an interview with a Democrat. Not a mention of the name or even a picture. Sieg Heil!
But...
"CBS came under fire Tuesday after The Late Show host Stephen Colbert defied executives to reveal that the network had nixed his interview with senate hopeful and Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D).
In a scorching takedown of his own bosses at the network on Monday night, Colbert mocked CBS for 'enforcing' Federal Communication Commission chair Brendan Carr’s new federal guidance on political airtime as one made out of fear of the Trump administration."
Since being hoisted onto the chair of the FCC, Carr has been one of the Fatty Reich's most reliable hacks, threatening networks whose speech the Fat Fascist does not condone (telling Disney-ABC to get rid of Jimmy Kimmel, warning them that "we can do this the easy way or the hard way", in other words, do what we say or we'll yank your license).
Back in the mid 80s, I was in the Soviet Union shooting a documentary. Because I was an American, I had to get special permission to even bring a television camera into the country. I was met at the airport by a representative of Гостелерадио СССР, Gosteleradio of the USSR, the Soviet state TV and radio committee. He was a nice enough guy (for a dirty commie) but his list of stuff I couldn't aim a camera at was incredible. At one point, after telling me for the hundredth time "You can't shoot that!" I suggested he tell me the one or two things I COULD shoot. After a while I figured out that he'd let me shoot stuff as long as he didn't know I was doing it, but I was always reminded that I was being watched. This is where we're at now under Fat Hitler.
Yesterday, I posted a comment about Tom Paine's complaints against an autocratic king who let everyone know that HE decided what the law was, and no whiny colonists were gonna get in his way. This is EXACTLY what we're dealing with this very minute. Fatty wants control of the airwaves, he wants control of who gets to vote, and he wants to be allowed to break every law in the books to enrich himself and his family, and no late night TV host is gonna be allowed to show an interview with a Democrat running for the senate whose election might jeopardize Fatty's control of all those things.
And one other thing. How did Carr know what Colbert was going to do? If this "new rule" is so well known, how is it the other networks don't have to obey it? Is there maybe someone at CBS who dropped a dime on this interview? And could that person's initials be BW? This is how shit works in totalitarian states. There's always a snitch somewhere. In this case, the snitch is running the news department. How conveeeeeenient.
By the way, here is part of that interview with James Talarico, who is running for the Senate from Texas. He says it right up front. Fatty is afraid he could flip Texas. So Carr took his nose out of the royal fat ass long enough to put the kibosh on CBS.
RIP Jesse Jackson who represented a watershed in American politics. He certainly wasn't the first major black political figure, but he was arguably the most consequential in his time and long after. He was the guy who showed white America that African-Americans weren't going to sit back any longer in national politics. One could make the argument that were it not for Jesse Jackson, we might not have had a Barack Obama.
In one of those weird moments, I ran into Jesse Jackson once, well, almost. I practically bumped into him walking across Harvard Yard (can't remember exactly what year, but I'm thinking it was '84). Funny thing, he was by himself. No handlers or bodyguards, or hangers on. I looked up when I nearly crashed into him and when I saw who it was, all I could manage was "Reverend Jackson...Hey!" He was a nice guy. He smiled and said "Hey, howya doin?" The smile I guess was the result of our almost running into each other.
He was the first black candidate I voted for in a national primary. And it wasn't just because of our weird meeting. I thought he really needed as much support as he could get.
Uh-oh. You go to bat for Trump, it won't matter. He'll fuck you too.
"Ángela Vergara, Congresswoman of Colombia, and founder of the organization 'Latinas for Trump' is finding out that the policies she supports actually apply to her - and now she is mad mad. Her son is currently detainted by ICE 'in inhumane conditions.' Until her own family was affected, she didn't care at all about the abuses other immigrants were suffering. Oopsie."
When will they learn? Everyone who supports this demonic asshole gets it right in the neck. Even low income whites in red states who voted for him in droves found out that the healthcare they got from Barack Obama was taken away by the Orange Monster. But I'm guessing a lot of them don't care. They only care that Fatty was owning the libs. Besides, he tells them it was Joe Biden and Democrats who took away their healthcare and, of course, they believe him. Some of them, anyway.
The guy is King Midas in reverse.
Related to the stock market graph above, looking at the comparison from February 2021 to January 2025, the US market outperformed the world. Everything the current *administration says is a lie.
https://curvo.eu/backtest/en/compare-indexes/msci-world-ex-usa-vs-sp-500?currency=eur
You can set the start and end dates in the Settings tab.
Department of Redacted
One Month In
"Top Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials knew as early as March of last year that officers were using dramatically more force against civilians and the targets of their enforcement operations, months before ICE and Border Patrol officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Internal emails obtained as part of a Freedom of Information Act request from the liberal-leaning watchdog nonprofit American Oversight show that top officials knew the amount of force — be it lethal force or non-lethal efforts to physically restrain or subdue people or neutralize threats — used by ICE officers was rapidly rising after President Donald Trump took office and that incidents were occurring nationwide."
"On fighting, flexibility, and getting out of your own way
Tom Sullivan has
A couple of lengthy essays last week spoke to chronic problems (blind spots?) plaguing the Democratic Party."
Akhilleus, you probably didn't realize what an important Chicagoan you were discussing yesterday. A top ten one, smh.
"Chicago Magazine named Nick Fuentes #7 in its list of Top 50 powerful Chicagoans of 2025."
EU parliament condemning ICE and encouraging Americans to stay strong against fascism.
American values.
O Canada
"Carney constructs a mega anti-Trump trade alliance
The Canadian prime minister is spearheading discussions between the EU and a major Indo-Pacific trade bloc after calling on middle powers to join forces."
Corporations Bankrolling the Whites
"Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), who is running to replace Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, released his first television ad earlier this month. In the ad, Barr speaks directly to the camera and declares, “It’s not a sin to be white.” The language used by Barr is a variation of the phrase “It’s OK to be white,” which has been adopted by white supremacists. It has been designated as a “hate slogan“ by the Anti-Defamation League.
According to campaign finance records reviewed by Popular Information, Barr’s campaign ad is being bankrolled by dozens of major corporations, including General Motors, State Farm, JPMorgan Chase, Delta, and Microsoft."
Glad to see the interview with James Talarico (and learn that background story of the broadcast of the interview being cancelled). I'm headed off to vote in the primaries this morning and the interview helped make up my mind.
Bill McKibben on substack warns that El Niño is brewing
"America’s abandonment of the “endangerment finding” undergirding national climate policy is not the most important thing that happened last week. That decision was an act of gross stupidity, but it was also perfectly predictable given the people making it, and since America’s not doing anything good on climate anyway it won’t have deep immediate effect. ... What will matter more, I think, for America and for policy going forward, is the news that we’re likely to see another El Niño soon; take this as your first warning that not only the temperature but the politics of the planet are likely to change dramatically, and soon."
Of course he did.... Stephanie Kirchgaessner, for The Guardian, writes that Epstein messaged with Ken Starr and others about Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford"
"Jeffrey Epstein sympathized with Brett Kavanaugh during the then-supreme court nominee’s contentious 2018 confirmation and even suggested Republicans should have been harder on Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Emails and text messages released by the Department of Justice show Epstein was closely monitoring the confirmation and seemed to believe that Ford’s allegation of sexual assault could derail the process.
....
There is no evidence in the files that Kavanaugh knew or met Epstein. But Epstein was in frequent contact with Kenneth Starr, the late former US solicitor general and independent counsel who led an investigation into Bill Clinton’s relationship with then-intern Monica Lewinsky and other scandals. Kavanaugh served as an associate to Starr during the investigation into Clinton.
Starr, who died in 2022, was a close personal friend and professional contact of Epstein, and was the key lawyer who helped Epstein clinch a plea agreement in 2008, which is how Epstein avoided federal sex-trafficking charges and served a reduced sentence."
RAS,
Jesus...what have we come to? I suppose if you're going to feature a piece about influential types in a certain place it would be hard to overlook the ones exerting a bad influence, so I guess if you were to write a story about influential people from Milwaukee you'd include Jeffrey Dahmer?
But famous (or infamous) is not the same as influential and I don't know exactly how influential Nick Fuentes really is. Yeah, we know about him because shit stains like TuKKKer KKKarlson give him a microphone, and maybe he is a hero to incel imbeciles in their little hate injecting incubators sniveling in their parents' basements, but if a POS like this, who calls Hitler "really cool", who claims Josef Stalin is his hero, who says women shouldn't be allowed to vote and should ALL be sent to concentration camps where he and his band of incel monsters will decide who to use for breeding purposes truly IS influential (to more than socially debased losers and whiny jerkoffs) then we really are in a lot of trouble.
My sense is that no, we shouldn't overlook dangerous kooks like Fuentes, but we also shouldn't be platforming him in fucking Chicago Magazine. This says to his followers, look, Nick is famous! Rather, do a piece on him if you like, exposing him as a creepy weirdo who hunts semen stains with a black light while crawling around on his hands and knees. Providing psychos like this with legitimate air to breathe is even more dangerous than ignoring him altogether.
Wendy,
Yeah, I read this piece. So Ken Starr, the wing nut sheriff who rounded up his posse and went on what Charlie Pierce used to call the Great Penis Chase, that icon of the Family Values Party, was instrumental in aiding the greatest child sex trafficker in modern history.
Nice.
Another he-roe of the hypocrisy humping right. Don't worry, there are liberals who are hypocrites. It's not a condition solely belonging one party. But only one party ever pays for it. On the right, we see ass wipes like Ken Starr, who spent tens of millions of dollars chasing down Bill Clinton for something everyone knew he did, while his party now looks the other way at a rapist and serial sexual abuser to whom they all bow down before.
And leave us not forget that godly Ken, when he was president of Baylor University, oversaw and supported a culture that denigrated women who reported sexual assaults by members of the football team. For Starr, it was more important to protect the football team from charges that would make them look good just to satisfy some whiny chicks who were complaining about a little groping or sexual assaults. But he's still revered by the PoT.
And it's obvious that his mentoring of Bart O'Kavanaugh, another sexual abuser, paid off. His election to the high court means that we now have two, count 'em, TWO sexual predators on the court.
Thanks, Ken! Hope you're enjoying your sulfur baths in hell, you scumbag.
Erratum....Starr was protecting his football players from charges (all found later to be absolutely true) that would make the team look bad...
Waldman on pathetic losers.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-188289845
Who unfortunately happen to be on a winning streak. Detestable as they are, they're currently in charge. That's Winkes, not Waldman, talking.
The piece linked above by RAS about Democrats being unable to get out of their own way is more than instructive, it is a must read. And I would bookend that piece with this one which prompts Democrats to Wake the Fuck Up!
For a long time now, most of us out here have been rolling our eyes at the namby-pamby responses of the Democrat hierarchy to the Trump steamroller. Putting a tin can down in the road and telling us it will stop the steamroller is a non-starter, but this is the sort of knife to a gunfight crap we've been getting from the Chuck and Hakeem show. It ain't 1980 guys. And we ain't ever going back there.
Too many Democrats want ideological purity. Ideological purity is a the exact opposite of political efficacy. You can be pure at home. At the voting booth we need to be pragmatic, especially now.
As Steve M. suggests, purists who run away from possible candidates like Gavin Newsome will KILL us in 2028.
"I don't intend to vote for Newsom in the primaries. I understand why people don't like his stance on trans rights and other issues. I'm appalled that he cozies up to the likes of Steve Bannon, Ben Shapiro, and Charlie Kirk.
But he's not a fascist. J.D. Vance is a fascist. Marco Rubio, as he just made clear in his "Vance Lite" speech to the Munich Security Conference, is a fascist. (Today Rubio traveled to Hungary to meet with Viktor Orban and told him, 'Your success is our success.') All the other candidates who show up in the first tier in 2028 polling for the Republicans -- Donald Trump Jr. (who won't run), Ron DeSantis, Robert Kennedy Jr., Tucker Carlson -- are authoritarians. They are candidates who will make common cause with Vladimir Putin, Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, and the Heritage Foundation. It will not be possible to nudge them to the left if elected, any more than it's possible to nudge Trump to the left. They don't like democracy. They don't believe in compromise or power-sharing with their political opponents."
Look, back in '92, I was no Bill Clinton fan. I voted him for him, but held my nose long after I left the voting booth. But here's the thing. A lot of big name Dems back then were not keen on taking on Poppy Bush, assuming that his Reagan connection would be unbeatable, and that included guys like Mario Cuomo, Dick Gephardt, and Bill Bradley. Know who wasn't afraid of Bush? Bill fucking Clinton. And he won. And I'm not sad that I voted for him because another four years of Reagan-Bush bullshit with the scumbags they both put into office and put in charge of official Washington would have been death (although right now we see what real death is like).
And it's the Schumers and the Democratic old guard who still consider themselves the gatekeepers who make it that much more difficult for the new breed to get a real foothold. Would AOC make a great or even a good president? I dunno. But if she was in a trance for four years she would be lightyears better than the Couch Fucker or any of the other authoritarian motherfuckers lining up to take over from the Fat Fascist. And for anyone who thinks Shady Vance can't win, Steve M. has this reminder:
"You all keep telling me that Vance is too boring to win the 2028 nomination, but I'm going to keep telling you that the GOP base can see what a hate-filled asshole he is every day. The base *loves* that. He's not leading in the primary polls just because of name recognition."
Yeah. It's time for some hard-assed pragmatism. We are not in a position of being ideologically pure. Fuck that. Let's win some elections. We have a lot of work to do. Clean up on aisle America.
Ken,
Excellent post. I hear that Andy Barr crap every day: "It’s not a sin to be white. It’s not against the law to be male. And it shouldn’t be disqualifying to be a Christian."
No, AAAaanndy, it's not, never has been, never will be a sin to be a White Christian Nationalist with a broken leg chromosome. Never has been. But they love saying it. They're all victims.
But this is the result of decades of zero sum game politics. If a little black kid somewhere in the country gets a school lunch, a million white guys all LOSE. If a legal immigrant gets a job after trying for years to enter the workforce, a million white guys who all wanted that same job, LOSE.
It's ridiculous, but that's the thinking. As with Trump, They don't just want to win, they want everyone else to lose and die in disgrace in a ditch somewhere.
I am somebody
"Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody,"
Akhilleus,
But it is a sin to be an asshole. Too bad it's not against the law.
"New details emerge about in-flight blow-up between Corey Lewandowski and pilot"
Lewandowski ordered a flight turned around mid flight to get his girlfriend's heated blanket and when the pilot said "no" he tried to fire him while still in the air in the middle of the flight. Kakistocracy indeed.
RAS,
The pilot should have bailed out and said "Okay asshole, I'm fired? You fly the plane". It's one thing to be an arrogant prick, but arrogant and stupid is much worse. But that's the speed of this regime. Arrogant AND stupid. Just like the fat boss.
So let's see...the guy we're taking healthcare direction from tells us not to worry about itty bitty germs cuz he used to do lines off a toilet seat. Now here's my question. Was the seat up or down? Did he do his blow off the actual seat or off the seat cover? Never mind. Also, I'm guessing he wasn't at home when he was doing this, otherwise, why cut a bunch of lines on the toilet? Just sit in your living room and do them off the coffee table which holds the sub sandwich you've been trying to eat for the last three days.
So then...was it in a club or some 7-11, or some very hygienic truck stop off 95? Seriously. Who tells stories like this? Who DOES stuff like this? Is he still shooting heroin? Just add it to the Litany of Weird Polio Bob stories.
Of course, in a few years, his stories will be like "You remember when polio and measles and chicken pox were a thing of the past? Then remember how in just a few years thousands of people were dying of those diseases again? Hey...I did that! Me. No one else. Now where's the coke. I need a blast".
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