I Hope You Liked 2016…
Posted on: February 13, 2019
Lyndon LaRouche has died. Does anyone care? I honestly have no opinion on the man; he was way before my time, certainly before my time in the US. I see many on the Alt-Left, like the insufferable bore Matt Bruenig, mourning his passing. This sentence from LaRouche’s Wiki page explains why: “LaRouche’s critics have said that he had “fascistic tendencies”, took positions on the far right, and created disinformation.”
Of actual relevance to the world, the 2020 election is in full swing. Republicans have Trump. No serious contender will challenge him. Jeff Flake once made some noises that resembled the desire to run, but he did the most Flake thing ever: flaked out. The Democratic field, on the other hand, is filling up with a big slate of Big Names who will be competing for dollars and attention: Harris, Gillibrand, Warren, Klobuchar, Booker. And, inevitably, Biden, Sharrod Brown, Bernie. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has suggested he’s exploring a Presidential run. (He shouldn’t bother. NYC barely likes him.) Bloomberg is still contemplating, though my guess is he will ultimately decide not to run. That nut-job from Hawaii will probably end up being Green Party candidate. Pelosi-foe Seth Moulton says he’s considering a run also; yeah, LOL, ok Seth, you do you. Am I missing anybody? I’m sure I must be.
The campaign so far is off to a predictable start. Kirsten Gillibrand has already had her first scandal: “But her fried chicken-gate!” At a campaign stop fried chicken was served. Gillibrand first reached for a fork and knife. Upon seeing others dig in with their hands, she queried out loud if she should do the same and then proceeded to eat like everyone else. This is a scandal now. NY Times reporters like Jonathan Martin snarkily wondered if Gillibrand has ever eaten fried chicken before. Gillibrand is no longer authentic and nobody can ever take her seriously. Eating fried chicken with fork and knife is unheard- of and will likely sink her’s chances. Elizabeth Warren is on her 2nd year of “But her heritage!” scandal. Mark my words, this scandal will not go away until Warren drops out of the race. The media will not let it die. It’s too important to keep litigating it because Trump will keep saying racist things. That’s why the media won’t let it die. They want Trump to keep saying racist things so they can make money covering it.
Meanwhile in Trumplandia, at his most recent rally in El Paso, a Trumpkin attacked a BBC cameraman after Trump led his latest “fake news” chant. Let’s be honest, it won’t change how Trump talks and it won’t change how the media continues to cover Trump: with rose-colored glasses. The political media wants Trump to win. It means sales and clicks and ratings. They will roast Democrats like they always do and shrug off Trump’s insanity. Gird your loins, Widdershins. I hope you liked the 2016 campaign because we’re about to get another like it, if not worse. The train has left the station and it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Lazy Weekend ~ some toons
Posted on: February 9, 2019
Wall Art Detroit MI
Good weekend Widdershins!
I could not even really get it together for music this weekend. I’ve been having some sinus things happening with the worst of it being the infamous sinus headache, the one right over your eyes. Ugh. So I’ve pulled together some recent political cartoons for your (I hope) enjoyment.
Open thread of course.
(I love this one!)
(hee-hee!)
And last:
* * * *
Hope y’all got a chuckle or two out of these.
It’s Time for the STFU
Posted on: February 5, 2019
- In: 2018 Election | Democratic Values | Donald Trump | Leadership | Open Thread | Politics | Television | Trump
- 131 Comments
Oy vey! Today it’s the SOTU – or as I call it, the “STFU.” As usual, I have no interest in watching the Mango Moron spew his ignorance and lies for the 8,000th time. Literally! As of January 21, 2019, the man has told over 8,158 lies since his inauguration, an average of 11.35 per day.
Ah, but what may be worth watching is the Democratic response, given by the fabulous Stacey Abrams…yet another strong, intelligent woman who was cheated out of victory in a transparent case of (say it with me now) Republican. Election. Fraud. Abrams was an unusual choice, given that the respondents both usually hold elected office, and are not African-American women.
That’s what makes it so brilliant.
“I know there were some headlines that characterized her as the future of the Democratic Party. In my estimate, she is the present and the future. She’s shaping the future,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who in 2018 became the first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress, said in an interview with ABC News.
And while Abrams’ defining characteristics set her apart, they also match her up for the current, unpredictable era — one in which the State of the Union is pushed back after a historic government shutdown, and the president giving the address had never held elected office himself before taking office.
“I think it’s untraditional in all the right ways — and ways voters are showing themselves to have an appetite for,” said Jamila Michener, a professor at Cornell University who researches racial inequality and the electoral system. Particularly African-American women, Michener said, who are “the electoral bedrock of the Democratic Party.”
“It’s almost a kind of ‘duh’ moment for the Democrats, and one it’s good they finally had,” she said.
After the triumphant Blue Tsunami of 2018, which women of color played an enormous part in making possible, it seems like the entire Democratic Party is finally overcoming their gender and color blindness to honor their true base.
This awakening does not, of course, include that self-centered screamer who won’t release his tax returns. You know who I’m talking about…the one who’s only a Democrat when he wants to run for office to help elect Comrade Drumpf. Yup, he’s just certain that all his fauxgressive cultists cannot live another day without hearing the same bullsh*t from his yelling pie hole.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will deliver his own response to President Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday for the third year running.
The senator’s office confirmed to The Hill that his response will follow Trump’s State of the Union address as well as the Democratic rebuttal and be streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
So, not on TeeVee then? Mwahahaha.
All righty then, here’s my plan. Who’s with me?
- Don’t watch Drumpf.
- Tune in to Stacey. (And, Xavier Becerra is giving the response in Spanish, so you can also tune in to him.)
- Ignore #theBernout.
This is an open thread.
A Skunky Super Bowl Sunday
Posted on: February 3, 2019
- In: 2016 Election | Football fans | NOLA | Open Thread
- 46 Comments
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, Widdershins. Being from a family that watches a LOT of sports, and married to a hubby who adores football, I will be going over to Bro’s house to watch the game. This year, though, there are some sour notes in our typically light and frothy event. Our Bud Lights, in other words, are skunked.
First of all, there’s the way the Rams won against the Saints. The pass interference call that wasn’t, which should have ended the game in the Saints’ favor. Whether you are in the camp of “The Saints got robbed!” or “The Saints shouldn’t have let it get that close!”, you won’t find anyone online who now disagrees with how badly the game was officiated. Even Roger Goodell has admitted that the referees made a mistake, and he says he is looking at ways to change the rules so that kind of egregious error doesn’t happen again. It was too little, too late for Drew Brees, the Saints’ veteran QB, who hasn’t been to a Super Bowl since 2010. (The Saints won that one, 31-17.) Said Brees about Goodell’s belated apology:
“Do I really want to be in a position talking about this over and over again? No, but I have to stand up and do it because I have to represent my team, represent the ‘Who Dat nation,’ and that’s my responsibility. It’s the commissioner’s responsibility to do the same thing, and yet we don’t hear a peep for 10 days, and it’s because he has to do it now because he’s at the Super Bowl and he does his annual press conference.”
One take on the SuperBowl is that it’s the game we deserve today, comparing the Patriots’ and Rams’ victories to the corruption of Drumpf’s “win.” Hey now! That’s a bridge too far. Unless Pooty-Poot paid off the refs to throw the game to the Rams, there’s just no comparison. Besides which, the Saints didn’t win by 30 points and STILL not make it to the Super Bowl!
Speaking of Drumpf, as unfortunately we always seem to have to do, Dear Cheater will be blah-blah-ing before the game on CBS. I know I won’t be tuning in, since I know what he’ll say: “Yada yada border emergency national security I am so SMART!” He’ll probably throw in something about the National Anthem protests as well. Colin Kaepernick, the first one to kneel, still doesn’t have a job, and many NFL players and social justice activists are not happy about that either. Says NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith:
“I wonder whom on the NFL side has thought about how history is going to look at them given the near universal belief that Colin Kaepernick should be on a team. I think about those things,” Smith said. “Leagues do a great job of telling the story backwards. Major League Baseball tells a great story backwards about Jackie Robinson. But telling the story from the front forward is, well, there had to be a separate negro league. So, I think it’s an interesting way to pose the question of, of what’s going to be the story forward on Colin Kaepernick is not a great story for the National Football League. … So, what’s history going to say about this, and I think history is going to say that he should have been on a team.”
I don’t know how you’re going to spend your Sunday, Widdershins. Maybe you’ll be going to a Boycott Bowl, like Fredster. Maybe you are barely aware of the Super Bowl and are busy with other things. Or maybe you’re like me, and will try to make the best of it by surrounding yourself with loved ones, hoping no one cheats, and laughing (we hope) at the commercials.
No matter what, I wish you a happy Skunky Sunday.
This is an open thread.
- In: 2020 Election | Open Thread | Politics | Quick Posts
- 76 Comments
Good day to you Widdershins!
You may have noticed that mb has not been around the past few days. It appears that the real world and her job have taken her away from us. However, she assured us she will be back. LOL
The other day we were discussing the announced 2020 Democratic candidates for President. Some of us were wondering who Kamala Harris had previously supported for Prez. Shadowfax said that she, Harris, had supported Barrack Obama. I’m guessing that was the 2008 election. For me, that was a particularly odious election. It was pretty cut-throat between Obama and Clinton and after the Rules and Bylaws committee meeting (or was it the Credentials committee?) of the DNC I decided I would vote for McCain in the general election. It’s not that I supported him or his veep choice Palin. It’s that I was that angry at the way I thought the DNC screwed over Hillary.
We know that by the time of the convention Hillary and Obama had “made up” and she endorsed him. But there were lots of us who were not happy about it. That’s when the PUMA movement came about. There were lots of hard feelings back then.
But now we are heading into the 2020 Presidential election cycle. 2008 was two cycles ago. Do we or should we care that much right now about who supported whom in that election? Or should we consider more who has the best chance of defeating tRump if he’s still around and runs for reelection?
Personally I’m not going to worry that much about who supported/endorsed a candidate back then.
Right now Harris is the latest bright, shiny object in front of Democrats. I watched a large part of the Iowa town hall she held. She was articulate, answered people’s questions well and came off pretty good. However it’s a long time between now and the primaries and the general. Should we still be concerned about who supported Obama in 2008 and keep it up like a feud between the Hatfields and McCoys? Or should we be more concerned about who has the best chance of appealing to the voters and defeating tRump or Pence or whomever the Repubs run in 2020?
Discuss.
Open thread naturally.
- In: Current Events | Music | Open Thread | Weather
- 84 Comments
Invasion of the polar vortex
Good Weekend Widdershins!
Yes the polar vortex is going to do one of its little numbers and give a big chunk of the U.S. some of the coldest weather of the season to parts of the midwest, before scooting eastward towards the northeast (heads up DYB!).
the polar vortex is expected to become displaced from the Arctic Circle and plunge down to near the upper Great Lakes.
Our WCW (West Coast Widdershins) should not be affected by this. Those of us in the south should get some cold weather but nothing earth-shattering, like, say, Chicago.
“Latest indications are that Chicago could set a record on Wednesday for the day’s lowest high temperature,” according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines. Temperatures have not been held below zero for an entire day in Chicago since Jan. 6, 2014.
And as I said, the northeast will get smacked also.
Temperatures along the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to New York City to Boston may struggle or fail to reach 20 during the day. Overnight lows can be in the single digits and lower teens.
So let’s take a look at some songs about cold, whether it’s cold weather, cold hearts, groups with “cold” in the name and similar instances.
* * * *
Foreigner~Cold As Ice
Annie Lennox~Cold
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong~Baby It’s Cold Outside
Queensryche~Cold
Rolling Stones~She’s So Cold
Bruce Springsteen~Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Coldplay~Fix You
* * * *
Okay Widdershins, my choices above, please add some of your choices in the comments.
Open thread, of course.
Hello Widdershins, happy Tuesday in this broke-down mess of a government we’re currently suffering under.
Last Saturday was the Women’s March. (Yes, something happened besides the playoffs!) Despite all the Farrakhan mishegoss, a smart young colleague of mine and I went and carried signs. There were some good and inspiring speakers, and being San Francisco, the inclusiveness was epic. We had speakers from the MMIW (we really need to talk more about the plight of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women – I was extremely touched by the powerful speakers and singers); high-level elected officials like California Representative Barbara Lee and mayor of SF London Breed; Muslim comics and first-time state representatives; Samoan poetesses and homeless advocates; a Jewish community organizer; and a great performance from the SF cast of “Come From Away.” All women, all powerful, loud and proud! Here are some pictures I took.
Now some questions for you to debate:
- Rudy Giuliani: Worst Lawyer Ever or Double Agent for the Good Guys?
- Will our next President be Kamala, Kirsten or Elizabeth? (Tulsi, we know, is a hard “NO”)
- Buzzfeed story about Cohen being directed to lie to Congress by Drumpf: Totally bogus or only slightly inaccurate?
- What’s your bet on what date the government will re-open, cause Pelosi?
This is an open thread. Hang in there everyone!
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