Taunting the Tiny Tyrant: Anti-Normalisation.

Loser City.

Loser City.

Peter Dreier at Alernet has an extensive article up about how effective anti-normalisation is against the Tiny Tyrant. This is an ego-bloated, extremely thin-skinned toadwart of a person. He lives for attention and aggrandizement, and little more. Every little jab leads to the Unpresident whirling into Mr. Tweet, unloading rage over something yet again. And just in case it’s missed peoples’ attention – those tweets are still coming from his personal Twitter account. He doesn’t go anywhere near the POTUS account, which is a telling action all on its own.

Now, it might not be the wisest of things to poke such an unstable character, but we can’t sit around doing nothing, either. As Mr. Dreier notes, resistance comes in many forms, and this is one of them, refusing the normalisation of fascism, refusing the normalisation of shite supremacy, refusing the normalisation of turning a democracy into a farce of a branded regime.

“Resistance” comes in many forms. In discussions about how to deal with the fear and alarm ignited by Donald Trump, no word has been used more frequently than “normalize.” Democrats and progressives engage in almost daily protest rallies to defy Trump’s agenda. But perhaps the most successful component of the anti-Trump movement has been its willingness to challenge his legitimacy. The popular slogan and hashtag “#Not My President” doesn’t mean that people think the November election results were rigged, but that Trump’s Electoral Vote majority doesn’t translate into a popular mandate and that his views and policies don’t reflect the popular will. The anti-Trump movement refuses to “normalize” a president whom they view as an authoritarian, even a neo-fascist, who violates that basic norms of democracy and the rule of law. By poking fun at Trump and exposing his narcissism, conflicts-of-interest, and pathological lies, his opponents are undermining his credibility and destabilizing his presidency as much as any marches and demonstrations.

[…]

The effort to not normalize Trump isn’t a conspiracy. It involves separate but overlapping components that, when viewed together, reflect a powerful effort to withhold from Trump the things he craves most: public approval and esteem.

The whole article is a good and informative read, recommended! Go have a read.

The Nepotism Network.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior advisor Jared Kushner arrive for a meeting with manufacturing CEOs at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior advisor Jared Kushner arrive for a meeting with manufacturing CEOs at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.

None of what follows has yet been confirmed officially. If this does end up being rubber stamped, it’s bad news. Again. This one falls firmly in the What Government? category.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday is set to announce his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will take on a White House role to oversee a broad effort to overhaul the federal government, The Washington Post reported, citing statements from both men.

Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and currently serves as a senior adviser, will lead the newly formed White House Office of American Innovation with an eye on leveraging business ideas and potentially privatizing some government functions, the Post said.

“The government should be run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens,” Kushner told the Post in an interview.

Is there such a thing as a great American company? One that does not screw over workers, pays a decent wage, provides full benefits, gladly offers extended parental leave, has accommodation for working parents, and so on? Oh, and one that actually makes a useful product that would last more than 6 months, with no outsourcing? If so, that might make a semi-decent model, however, a government is not supposed to be a corporation, especially not a twisted, incestuous mess of one, like all of the Trump scams. The only thing you fucking assholes care about is lining your own pockets. Hard to see how that’s going to benefit anyone except yourselves.

Some of the areas he will focus on are veterans’ care, opioid addiction, technology and data infrastructure, workforce training and infrastructure, according to the report.

In a statement to the Post, Trump said: “I promised the American people I would produce results, and apply my ‘ahead of schedule, under budget’ mentality to the government.”

Right. Ahead of schedule by cutting corners, leaning on the people doing the actual work, then refusing to pay anyone. Yeah, that’s one hell of a way to run a regime. Have we become North Korea Jr. yet?

Via Raw Story.

The Most Beautiful Wall.

“Art is the purest form of expression,” Kramer continues. “Each artist will have their own way of bringing a message to life, and that’s what I’m looking for: A wall of diversity, that represents [how] immigrants in the US do beautiful things every day. This wall should be a testimony of every single immigrant who feels they’d much rather have a country with freedom to express themselves than a symbol of divisiveness. […] Diversity is a beautiful thing and no one should get in the way of it.”

Right now The Most Beautiful Wall is accepting entries for its digital wall. Submit yours at [email protected]. Learn more about the project by visiting Maddy Kramer’s website, here.

The Most Beautiful Wall. Go and have a scroll (sideways!) of the beautiful art already up on the most beautiful wall.

Via The Creators Project.

“We Have Angry Snowflakes!”

Sean Hannity (CBS News/screen grab).

Sean Hannity (CBS News/screen grab).

Look at that face. Welcome to America, a country run by old white men who all have the temperament and visage of spoiled rotten 3 year olds. Ted Koppel confronted Hannity, and the usual tantrum ensued.

Koppel asked Hannity why he was pushing a “highly partisan agenda” on Fox News.

“Honestly, I think liberalism has to be defeated,” Hannity opined. “Socialism must be defeated in a political sense. We don’t want a revolution in this country.”

Right, can’t be getting any liberalism in the fascism, that would be bad! And of course, revolutions don’t figure into the history of this country at all, no. I do think we need a revolution, one in which it is pounded the fuck home that socialism is not bad. Socialism works great in other countries, which are stuffed full of happy, healthy, well educated people. That’s something to be desired and worked for, not defeated. The unreconstructed assholes have had way too much time to denounce anything which helps its citizens as some sort of horrible commie plot. There should not be pride in remaining backwards, in the face of all evidence showing you that you are wrong, wrong, wrong. The people in this country are dying young, drowning in poverty and violence. America’s answer: more guns, no social safety nets at all, let everyone descend into poverty, yeehaw! Jesus.

“What more do you want?” Koppel wondered. “You’ve got the White House, you’ve got the House, you’ve got the Senate.”

“And we have angry snowflakes,” Hannity replied. “And then we’ve got a Democratic establishment. I say the press in this country is out to destroy this president.”

Koppel traced the roots of the problem back to President Ronald Reagan’s abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine, which forced television and radio programs to present balanced points of view.

Hannity, however, argued that the American people deserved credit for being intelligent enough to seek out alternative viewpoints.

Oh, right. Like the fucking idiots who still persist in believing that “pizzagate” is a real thing? No, a lot of American people do not deserve credit for being intelligent, full stop. Too many of them are certainly not intelligent enough to even bother with news from credible sources, let alone actually think about any given issue. Too many American people don’t give one tiny shit that people like Hannity and others don’t ever bother to actually get their facts right before twisting them out of all credibility. Far too many Americans are devoted to obscurantism, even if they don’t know what that means. Anti-intellectualism could be considered to be a particularly American trait. Just ask someone who isn’t American, if you know anyone who fits that description.

“You’re cynical,” Hannity said, observing Koppel’s disdain. “You think we’re bad for America? You think I’m bad for America?”

“Yeah,” Koppel stated without hesitation.

“That’s sad,” Hannity complained.

Oh, look at that vocabulary! Oh, the clarity of expression! Not only do they look and act like terribly spoiled tots, they talk like them as well.

Full story here.

The Mental Cost of The Regime.

Tucker Viemeister.

Tucker Viemeister.

Before I get started, Snowflakes, melting, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you’re one of those people, stuff it, because you have your safe spaces, triggers, and melting points too. I certainly can’t say I’m happy with the shift into fascism, only fucking idiots are happy about that one, and I certainly answer to Tiny Tyrant Fatigue Syndrome, but outside of that, I’m doing okay. More or less. (Currently escaping into work, as I look down and see I’ve gotten paint all over my keyboard. Pretty!) Anyroad, the Regime is taking its toll on the mental and emotional health of too many Americans, so I guess it’s a really good thing the Fuck You Care Plan failed. If you do find yourself depressed, anxious, panicky, whatever, don’t be silly about it, reach out, and get help.

The White House occupants also remain steadfastly committed to wreaking havoc on our mental states. As Republicans pushed an insurance bill that would have done lasting damage to Americans’ mental and behavioral health well-being, clinicians reported the psychic wages of the Trump war against U.S. citizens. “Add up the additional medications prescribed, extra ER visits, delayed procedures, missed work, plus the fallout from other illnesses being relegated to the back burner, and you have the makings of a major medical toll from this election,” Danielle Ofri, a physician at Bellevue Hospital and professor of medicine at New York University, warned at Slate.

So how exactly is Trump harming our mental states in this moment and for the foreseeable future? Here are five ways, representing just a drop in the bucket, if that bucket were dropped in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

Head on over to Raw Story for the full article.

Called It!

ClipArtBest.

ClipArtBest.

A couple of days ago, I noted in comments that the Tiny Tyrant would be heaping blame on Ryan, and everyone else for the failed Fuck You Care Plan. Oh, the initial statements were along the lines of “no, no, I like Paul Ryan, did a good job” and “no, I don’t blame the freedom caucus, they’re my friends”, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before Mr. Tweet took over and started rage blaming.

Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!

Watch @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews tonight at 9:00 P.M.

Pirro opened her show by calling for the resignation of Ryan for not getting the replacement health care plan voted upon and passed.

“How could you possibly misjudge this,” Pirro said addressing Ryan. “I certainly have not spoken to the president about any of this, but I can only imagine that he and his aides took on healthcare because they believed you had his back, and you didn’t! They didn’t even test the waters.”

Pirro added that Ryan has “gotta go.”

The full story on that one here.

That’s not all from Mr. Tweet though, who was called out in no uncertain terms by Rep. Ted Lieu, who said the Tiny Tyrant was a truly evil man, and the Representative is right.

ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!

People aren’t worried, you fucking idiot, they are relieved they still have healthcare. This is not a situation where you hope and hope and hope millions upon millions of people get fucked over, and then you can just “get together” with your corrupt, filthy rich cronies, and “piece together” a sop to toss on top of already screwed over people. FFS. At this point, I think THE PEOPLE are those over a certain income line, but it doesn’t include all us peons down here. Rep. Lieu responded:

“President” @realDonaldTrump: You truly are an evil man. Your job is to help Americans. Not intentionally try to destroy their lives.

Mr. “President”: Art II of Constitution requires you to faithfully execute laws passed by Congress. Subverting #Obamacare violates your Oath.

That full story here.

Sunday Facepalm: Premature Adjaculation.

Ad thanking Republicans for repealing Obamacare (Screen capture).

Ad thanking Republicans for repealing Obamacare (Screen capture).

Republican leaders had seven long years to come up with a viable alternative to Obamacare, but instead, they offered a shit sandwich, one which the alleged president strongly endorsed. So, Trump suffered a stunning political defeat after he could not manage to garner support from his own party, and with ‘repeal and replace Obamacare’ being a major 2016 election campaign promise, Trump and his allies were humiliated on Friday.

Then something happened to humiliate them further.

Pre-bought ads produced by the conservative American Action Network PAC aired which praised Republicans for repealing Obamacare were displayed on local TV stations during Friday night games in what can be described as the worse case of premature adjaculation ever. They bought the ads in advance, meaning, they were so sure Obamacare would be replaced. Foiled AGAIN!

Outside of laughter, oh, what could I possibly add here? The constant stream of incompetence is overwhelming, and yes, it is serious, but this? This fall straight onto their faces, well all I have is laughter, and it is richly deserved.

“Republicans are keeping their promise with a new plan for better health care,” a voice-over says in the ad, which displays pictures of smiling doctors and patients as upbeat rock music booms in the background, the Daily News reports.

The ads urged constituents to thank their Republican congressmen and women for “keeping” their promises and “replacing the Affordable Care Act with the better health care you deserve.”

At least four ads ran during basketball games on Republican-adjacent TV markets. The ads thanked Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), David Young (R-Iowa), David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Will Hurd (R-Tex.).

Early Saturday, another eight identical ads remained on the American Action Network’s YouTube page, according to the Daily News.

Hahahahahahahahaha. Ah. My oh my, have a watch:

Via Raw Story.