The GOP, So Busy…

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Praying. Yep. Driving that ol’ Demon-in-Chief outta the capitol. FFS, we are in so much trouble. Fascists are bad enough. 1% billionaire fascists worse. Religious fanatic fascism? Yeah, that’s gonna help. Be nice if these people could manage to work, and do something truly miraculous, like work for all people, rather than praying to their fictitious psychopath.

Two of the pastors who participated in the event, Dave Kistler of the North Carolina Pastors Network and Dale Walker of the Tennessee Pastors Network, discussed their experiences on the American Pastors Network’s “Stand in the Gap” radio program last Friday.

Kistler revealed that U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black preached to participants and reportedly prophesied that a revival is about to sweep America and “it will commence … in the halls of Congress” and Walker concurred.

“If God rules in the halls of legislation, it’s the pulpit’s benefit of being there, being on site and standing up and speaking the law of God to our elected leaders and praying for them,” Walker said. “It’s been the absence of the pulpits is the reason why Satan has ruled in the halls of legislation.”

Kistler also revealed that in addition to praying in the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Capitol, pastors were given access to the U.S. Senate chamber by Rep. Louie Gohmert. In the senate chamber, he said, “we got on our knees … and it sounded almost like a labor room as people were crying out to God for the revival that Chaplain Black believes is coming and that we believe is coming.”

“To do that in the Senate chamber was an absolutely astounding opportunity,” Kistler said, “and again it puts an exclamation point on the Senate chaplain’s assessment that revival is on the way and may indeed begin in the halls of Congress.”

All that showy bullshit, “oh look, I’m on my knees, fist on forehead!” “No, look at me, I’m bowed all the way down, with my head almost on the ground, but not like those other people do, no.” Why don’t these fanatical morons ever, just once, pay attention to their book of myths, where the sacrificed son of their psychopathic god specifically said not to pray in that manner?

Right Wing Watch has the full story.

The New Government, A Family Affair.

With his son, Michael Flynn Jr. walking behind him, retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn gestures as he arrives at Trump Tower, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, in New York. CREDIT: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster.

With his son, Michael Flynn Jr. walking behind him, retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn gestures as he arrives at Trump Tower, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, in New York. CREDIT: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster.

Trump doesn’t seem to care that there are reasons nepotism is frowned upon in government, and this extends to his new “team” as well. Michael Flynn has been appointed national security adviser, which is bad enough, but it seems Flynn Jr is along for the ride, and he’s an open white supremacist who posts on Gab, the fascist version of Twitter. I won’t be linking any of his, um, gabs here, you can look at them over at Think Progress.

Flynn Jr.’s unabashed conspiracy mongering — something his dad has also engaged in recently — hasn’t prevented him from forging close ties with President-elect Trump. On Monday, CNN reported that Flynn Jr. “has an official government transition email address,” which indicates he has a role on Trump’s transition team.

Foreign Policy reports that Flynn Jr. “has assisted in personnel vetting, managing his father’s schedule, and fielding transition-related emails for the general, according to a person close to the Trump transition team.” The unnamed source told Foreign Policy that Flynn Jr. also “accompanies his dad to a ton of meetings.”

On Twitter, Flynn Jr. has posted images of himself with his dad at Trump Tower and walking with Trump. His bio links to the Trump transition team’s official webpage.

[…]

As Twitter has cracked down on white nationalist accounts in recent weeks, many adherents of the movement have instead started using the social platform Gab, which bans users from engaging in illegal activity but nothing else. As the New York Times recently detailed, the platform — which uses a frog for its logo — “has emerged as a digital safe space for the far right, where white nationalists, conspiracy-theorist YouTubers, and minivan majority moms can gather without liberal interference.” Several white nationalists who have been banned from Twitter — including Milo Yiannopoulos, Richard B. Spencer, and Ricky Vaughn — have resurfaced there.

Flynn Jr.’s Twitter bio actually includes a link to his Gab page. On Gab, Flynn Jr. follows white nationalists and posted that he hopes to convince his dad to switch to the new platform.

Yikes. The full story is at Think Progress. You can also read about the ongoing nepotism and refusal to divest among the Trumps here.

Trump’s Carrier Con.

President-elect Donald Trump at Carrier’s Indianapolis plant on Thursday. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

President-elect Donald Trump at Carrier’s Indianapolis plant on Thursday. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

If you think that Trump somehow “came through” on that jobs business, you need to think again. All Trump did was play a game, showering a billion dollar business with tax cuts and money, money, money, that is going to end up being pulled out of the taxpayers of Indiana’s pockets, some way or another. Close to 1,500 jobs are still moving to Mexico. So, great save, Donnie. Rather than swallow the bullshit whole, spend a few minutes of your day reading, not only about the details of this supposed great move, but how the media is complicit in selling the con, assuming most people will simply take it all as truth, and too many will do that. Don’t be one of them.

Carrier also confirmed in a press release on Wednesday night that it is getting economic incentives from the state, which “were an important consideration.” Various outlets reported that those incentives will amount to $7 million over a decade, or $700,000 a year.

At the event, Trump claimed that 1,100 jobs will remain in the state, which he said could go up and “is a minimum number.” Yet at least half of the company’s Indiana jobs will still go to Mexico. United Technologies, the parent company for Carrier, is still going to move 700 at the Huntington plant, while not all of the 1,400 jobs at the Indianapolis job are being retained.

Meanwhile, Indiana residents will shoulder the cost of the $7 million incentive package. But if past evidence is any guide, they won’t get much actual benefit for it.

The full story is here, go read, be informed. In the meantime, mainstream media has been spinning all this as “harsh consequences” threatened by Trump have worked in the case of Carrier. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes, Trump did make noise about punishing corporations who wanted to move jobs out of the country, but the reality is that he’ll give them whatever they want, if they agree to keep “some” jobs in uStates. I can’t imagine who actually thought Trump would in any way be harsh when it came to corporations, he’s all for corporations, and he’ll make sure they get ultra sweet deals, while they continue to screw over workers, who will barely make a living wage, with zero safety net under them. There’s a full article about the media spin here, go read.

Yet the day after his speech, prominent media outlets ran with headlines saying that Trump is threatening to crack down on companies that move production offshore. They focused on his threat of “consequences,” despite the deal he actually struck with Carrier that includes no such consequences and despite other parts of his speech where he promised benefits to companies that threaten to leave.

Seeing Through The Distortion.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko.

It’s not a simple matter, cutting through the constant distortions and lies which characterize the new administration here in uStates. There’s a strong inclination to simply dismiss Trump as an irrelevant blowhard, but that’s not the smart thing to do, because whether or not Trump has the slightest idea of what he’s doing (not much, in my opinion), the people behind him, those appointed and who now have unprecedented power, they do know what they are doing. They also know what they want. There are certain similarities to the Bush Jr. regime, but there’s much more “baffle ’em with bullshit” and “give them a reality show!” going on here. With Bush, there was a deadly calculation put into the manipulation of the public at large. Fear was whipped up to a point that people were willingly signing their rights away. I’d like to think that isn’t going to happen again, but it’s already in process. Whatever rights we thought we had are being carved away in great swathes, there’s no subtle whittling away here. Too many people simply want a ‘good’ show to watch, and Trump is capable of that much. What’s shameful here is that so much of the public doesn’t seem to want much more than that. If they ever do wake up, it will be much too late.

If Bush and Rove constructed a fantasy world with a clear internal logic, Trump has built something more like an endless bad dream. In his political universe, facts are unstable and ephemeral; events follow one after the other with no clear causal linkage; and danger is everywhere, although its source seems to change at random. Whereas President Bush offered America the illusion of morality clarity, President-elect Trump offers an ever-shifting phantasmagoria of sense impressions and unreliable information, barely held together by a fog of anxiety and bewilderment. Think Kafka more than Lord of the Rings.

It is tempting to suppose Trump built this phantasmagoria by accident — that it is the byproduct of an erratic, undisciplined, borderline pathological approach to dishonesty. But the president-elect should not be underestimated. His victories in both the Republican primary and the general election were stunning upsets, and he is now set to alter the course of world history. If he does not fully understand what he is doing, his advisers certainly do.

Steve Bannon, former head of the white nationalist outlet Breitbart News, is Trump’s Karl Rove. He knows. In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Bannon suggested that the key elements in his strategy are dissimulation and “darkness.”

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A Comment.

If you know who should be credited, please let me know.

If you know who should be credited, please let me know.

I wrote a comment on another blog yesterday, because I just could not take one more supposedly reasonable person making excuses for those poor, misunderstood people who voted for Trump. It’s making me queasy sick, and possibly leading to a genuine head ‘splosion. I know what the fuck is wrong with all those Trumpoids, but those busy doing nothing but bleating excuses? I’d like an answer, what in the fuck is wrong with you? If you are making excuses, you need to shut the fuck up, stat. Or, you know, you could grow a fucking spine and stand up to all your Trumpoid families and friends. Go ahead, be brave. I’ll wait.  Anyroad, here’s the comment:

The bottom line is that people, for whatever reasons, who perceive they were being done wrong, were promised they would have that metaphorical dog to kick to pieces: “you’ll be able to kick those brown people in the teeth! You’ll be able to knock immigrants on their ass!”

That’s what white people, who are always looking to blame someone else, wanted, and that’s what Trump promised them. It’s all ism: racism and sexism. White people are getting bolder by the second, proclaiming their need to preserve their race, by which they mean, “we need to be on top of the people pile again, with everything in it’s right and natural order, white is right!”*

Trump also promised white Christians the path to what they want the most: the ability to stomp on people, grind them to dust and blood, to offer up to their psychopathic god. “No more queers!” “No more abortion!” “No more contraception!” If you haven’t already read about all the legislation on these matters, paint yourself as a willfully ignorant dumbfuck. It’s happening, and it’s happening because that is what these people wanted. No way out of that.

It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference if you don’t think your relatives are horrible bigots, or your friend who voted for Trump really isn’t a bad sort, or whatthefuck ever excuse you have cooked up. Unless you’re going to argue they are brain damaged, and couldn’t really understand all the blatantly bigoted shit which spewed from Trump’s mouth non-stop, there are no excuses. NONE.

By attempting to excuse people, you’re just another witless cog in the normalisation machine, helping to normalise fascism and unspeakable crimes against people, all people. STOP DOING THAT.

WAKE THE FUCK UP.

P.S. Fuck every single one of you whiny, mealy-mouthed fuckers who just can’t stop whinging about how hard their “thanksgiving” is going to be: fuck your squeamish privilege, your entitlement, and your godsdamned arrogance.

Caveat: I am not talking about those who have already gone 100 rounds with family or friends; nor am I talking about those who are dependent on family, and have to make the tactical decision to be quiet in order to stay alive. I am talking about all the assholes who must defend all Trump voters because their family members or friends voted for him; I am talking about all the fucking assholes who have been whinging and wringing their hands over how awful their holiday is going to be, sitting at a table over laden with food, and having the unbearable task of stuffing their fucking faces and watching television.

We will be spending thankstealing at Standing Rock, with the other protectors, against an army of vicious thugs. A friend will celebrate unthanksgiving on Alcatraz. I know other people who will be busy helping others, the homeless, or refugees. If your only fucking problem is having to refrain from noisily sighing whilst dining with family, shut up and stop defending the indefensible.

* Why yes, I do know that Trump voters were not %100 percent white. Don’t even think of using that as an excuse. Don’t. The majority voters were white, and they drove that vote.

Meet An Electoral College Voter.

Montana elector Dennis Scranton, center, poses with Rep. Ryan Zinke, left, Harrison Fagg and Sen. Steve Daines.

Montana elector Dennis Scranton, center, poses with Rep. Ryan Zinke, left, Harrison Fagg and Sen. Steve Daines.

BILLINGS — A 92-year-old Miles City man, who will be casting one of Montana’s three electoral college votes, has come under fire for his Facebook comments against gay Montanans.

Dennis Scranton was outed Sunday by the online news site Last Best News for suggesting in a 2010 Facebook conversation that gay people should be hanged. The conversation about gay marriage was reported in The Billings Gazette seven years ago when it cost former Big Sky Tea Party Association leader Tim Ravndal his chairmanship.

Ravndal was commenting on a Billings Gazette article concerning an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit about same-sex couples. In the post, Ravendal wrote “marriage between a man and a woman period!”

Scranton responded to the Tea Party leader’s remark, saying, “I think fruits are decorative. Hang up where they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions.” The Wyoming mention was an apparent reference to Matthew Shepard, a gay university student who as beaten, bound to a fence post and left for dead outside Laramie in 1998.

[…]

But, Scranton didn’t back away from his opinion about gay Montanans.

“Don’t forget, I’m 93 years old. I come from a different era. I hadn’t heard of anyone being homosexual until I joined the Navy, and then I encountered them,” Scranton said. “We were raised with good morals.”

You can read the rest here. I’m going to go be sick.

Well, that didn’t help. Here are a couple more wonderful Trump fans:

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Worse. It Keeps Getting Worse.

Credit: Shutterstock.

Credit: Shutterstock.

It looks like we can indeed kiss net neutrality goodbye. I posted about this earlier, but there’s more confirmation now. It’s been a long fight, and yes, mostly won, but no more.

President-elect Donald Trump has selected two anti-net neutrality advisers to shape the future administration’s telecom policy strategy at the Federal Communications Commission, Recode reported.

[…]

Trump has previously favored deregulation and criticized the FCC’s net neutrality rules, calling them a “Fairness Doctrine” and an “attack on the internet” that will “target conservative media.”

To help advance his agenda, Trump has brought on Jeff Eisenach, who worked on campaign telecom policy for the Reagan administration, and Mark Jamison, a former Sprint lobbyist.

Eisenach was part of former President Ronald Reagan’s Federal Trade Commission and FCC transition teams. The resulting FCC agency repealed the Fairness Doctrine, which required media to portray contrasting perspectives in news coverage of public issues. Jamison, who also teaches at the University of Florida, has staunchly opposed the FCC’s policies to improve internet access and options in low-income and rural areas.

Low income and rural, that’s me. I have to wonder how all those internet shitlords and proud deplorables are going to take this news, are they going to twist themselves into torturous positions in order to justify this one? Full story at Think Progress.

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Native What Month 2.

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© Marty Two Bulls.

And it continues. If you don’t know about the latest atrocities, learn. All that because fucking white people want their cake and to eat it, too. Yeah, yeah, I know, lotsa good white people out there. I know. Lots of them on the front lines, I know. And it really is appreciated, know that. It’s just that it’s not helping right now, because even all the white people who signed on, who woke up, who joined the fight, you’re in the minority with us, against all the racist, greedy white people who simply do not give a fuck. They’ll be busy with their holiday, and pretending to be thankful for fuck knows what, perhaps the fact that oppressing minorities just got a whole lot easier. I can see them thanking their idiotic, bloodthirsty god for that one.

Every year, the irony of November being named “National American Indian Heritage Month” kills me a bit more (First instituted in 1990, by Bush). This year more than most, with the criminal atrocities being committed at Standing Rock. There was a demented, malign genius to choosing November, what with most people being occupied with that grand holiday, “thanksgiving”, and preoccupied with Xmas. The majority of Americans don’t have the slightest idea of there even being an NDN heritage month, and if they do, there’s a bit of lip service perhaps, but not much more. As for learning, dive into the Standing Rock Syllabus.

High Cost of Human Rights Corrodes DAPL Financing:

Government scientists have just identified the largest deposit of oil in the United States. Newsflash: It is nowhere near the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). On November 15, the U.S. Geological Survey released the largest estimate of continuous (unconventional) oil that USGS has ever assessed in the United States. The site is the Wolfcamp Shale formation in the Permian Basin of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. USGS estimates the Wolfcamp play at 20 billion barrels.

There are two bits of significance for the fight against DAPL, the Black Snake, rooted in two theories of what the DAPL might be able to move if and when it is finished. The investment banks funding the Black Snake bought into the project based the state of the oil market at the time and expert projections for production over the life of the pipeline.

The oil market has shifted in many ways since the first round of DAPL financing was anticipating rising demand and more expensive supplies.

Hey America, I’m Taking Back Thanksgiving.

Drain the Swamp?

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© Marty Two Bulls.

Drain the swamp? No, more like fill it up with a fucktonne of sewage to drown and choke us all. I can almost work up the tiniest of sympathies for the dumbfucks who bought this rotten tripe, but I can’t quite bring it to fruition because I’m standing in the damn swamp thanks to them. Those of us out at Standing Rock are already facing the Swamp’s Police State, it will get to the rest of you quickly enough. Soon enough, anyone who speaks out will be branded an economic terrorist. None of that is “draining the swamp”, and neither is any of the following, which illustrate two things: this is no longer even a pretense of a “land of the free”, and Trump and his cronies have one thing on their mind: let’s get rich, fellas!. Oh, one other thing: all you fucking dumbfucks, you got played. Hard. You’re going to get royally screwed over too. On with this day’s reading – do your homework, people.

Trump registered 8 companies in Saudi Arabia during presidential campaign and it gets so much worse than that. Source one. Source two.

’20 million Trump voters’ will lose time and half overtime pay under GOP plan. Source one. Source two.

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