Author Archive
Fake News of the World
Posted on: September 24, 2022
- In: China | Donald Trump | Vladimir Putin
- 106 Comments
Hello Widdershins! What a week, what a week. The Mango Moron and his MAGAt enablers are facing the consequences of their grifting, criminality and seditious conspiracy. Not to mention a bit of old-fashioned nuclear espionage thrown in to season the pot!
Reflecting on the charges of financial fraud that were filed this week (and referred to two separate criminal courts), I remember various pundits discussing why Der Drumpfenfuhrer didn’t want to release his tax returns during his run for President. Criminality was high on the list, but I think Timothy O’Brien, journalist and author of TrumpNation, nailed it six years ago.
O’Brien was sued by IQ45 for allegedly misreporting the extent of his wealth in that 2005 book. Of course, Drumpf lost that lawsuit. Later on, the Trumpologist said this to Politico in May of 2016:
He sued me around a claim that by offering lower estimates of his net worth I had libeled him, so he opened himself up to discovery on all of his financials. So we got his tax returns, his bank records, everything.
He didn’t want to give over his tax returns, which we’re seeing now in the election. And there’s reasons, I think, he doesn’t want to give up his tax returns. It’s because you see what his income actually is in those returns…
Drumpf has always been a fake billionaire, a fake “boss” and a fake alpha male. It’s amazing how long it’s taken to get the truth out there; but whatever narrative the media tries to sell you about his running in 2024 (oh how they want the clicks and eyeballs!), he’s done. His main value proposition was that he was a successful businessman and mogul, and it was all a lie. Republicans will continue their trend of deserting him and seeking a new “success” to worship.
And speaking of fake news…this is the state of media today. There is a persistent rumor that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has been deposed in a coup by the PLA (a military group) and is under house arrest. Is it true? No one can tell for sure, and the Twitter accounts pushing the narrative are mostly anonymous.
Is Putin pushing social media propaganda, taking revenge on the Chinese President for being critical of his insane invasion of Ukraine? A disturbing combination of China’s insular secrecy and the lack of social media controls on bot accounts has made it possible to push this rumor across the world for hours, possibly days, without any validation or accountability.
Don’t believe everything you read, Widdershins! Well, except here on TW, of course.
Open thread as always – here are some pretty birds to uplift your weekend.
The Speech
Posted on: September 2, 2022
- In: 2016 Election | 2022 Elections | Biden | democracy | Democratic Values | Government | Hillary Clinton | Open Thread | Republicans | Resistance | Trump | Trumplandia
- 150 Comments
As we head into Labor Day Weekend, I wanted to share President Biden’s speech with all the Widdershins. As the historian Michael Beschloss said afterwards, this moment echoes across time to two other Presidents who, like Biden, spoke on the eve of extraordinarily consequential elections that put America at a crossroads between democracy and ruin.
President Lincoln, before the election of 1860, gave a now-famous speech about slavery, contending that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” – that if America continued to embrace a system that was against the spirit of the Constitution, a system in which only some were free, we would lose our democracy. President Roosevelt, before the election of 1940, had to contend with American apologists for Hitler and Nazism, and clearly laid out what the future would be if we did not enter the war and stand up for democracy.
President Biden made this clarion call for democracy and against the MAGA movement at exactly the right time. Once again, our democracy stands on the brink of falling to an extreme minority who does not believe in the Constitution, the rule of law, the right to free and fair elections, or the peaceful transition of power. These Nazis, these fascists, these white supremacists, simply want to enshrine themselves as the rulers of America – and they don’t care how they do it.
In this speech, Joe Biden did what he doesn’t like to do – he made a clear division into “us” (patriotic Americans, no matter what party) and “them” – MAGA extremists who do not believe in our vision of America.
It’s about fricking time. As we know, Hillary was ahead of him by 7 years! But, better late than never, Joe.
SuperQuick Open Thread
Posted on: August 15, 2022
Fresh thread, come and get it!
For discussion:
Criminal.
Investigation.
!!!!!!!
Winning!
Posted on: August 7, 2022
Whoof, Widdershins, what an incredible week. Democrats are in such Array, even the media has had to admit how well things are going. Here are some headlines from the MSM:
Joe Biden Just Had the Best Week of His Presidency (Newsweek)
On Several Fronts, Biden Has Reason to Celebrate This Week’s Wins (MSNBC)
Republicans’ Prospects for Midterm Pickups Dim Among Democratic Wins (US News & World Report)
Democrats Are Starting to See a Path to Victory in November (Vanity Fair)
This week saw domestic victories on caring for veteran burn pit victims and upcoming, passing the Inflation Reduction Act (which is actually Build Back Better but scaled back), gas prices declining for over a month and an incredibly strong jobs report; as well as foreign policy victories on approving Sweden and Finland as members of NATO, killing the architect of 9/11, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and sending more HIMARS to Ukraine. And, in what would be a non-partisan occurrence if the QOP hadn’t doubled and tripled down on their extreme criminalization of women, Kansas voted a resounding NO on a total abortion ban being enshrined in their state Constitution.
The Kansas vote sent shockwaves through, well, almost everyone who pays attention to politics, and has totally changed predictions for November. The Vanity Fair article shares some fascinating insider thinking from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director, Tim Persico.
Yet Democratic strategists are betting that abortion will be the issue that most drives turnout. “The old adage that good policy makes good politics is true,” Persico says. “Bad policy makes bad politics too.” With the Supreme Court’s June ruling overturning Roe, antiabortion crusaders won a 50-year legal battle. Yet the Kansas vote seems to have demonstrated the large gap between the ideologues and even many Republican voters, especially women. Whether that backlash is big enough to overcome internal Democratic disgust over the failure to codify Roe is one of this fall’s biggest questions. “Democrats might feel frustrated with their own party. I’m not discounting that,” Persico says. “But what happens in places like Omaha and suburban Philly and even Las Vegas when you’ve got a Democrat on one side with a record of accomplishments against a Republican that wants to ban abortion in all 50 states?”
I submit that the “progressives” who are frustrated with Democrats for allegedly not codifying Roe are actually not Democrats and almost never vote – at all. After all, they’re young white people. The base of the party is Black women and they are not the ones blaming Democrats! I think the danger of these voters not turning out is pretty much the same as every other election, and I hope Democratic strategists don’t obsess too much about it.
What’s totally hilarious after this week, where several QOP MAGAts won elections, is a few QOP strategists whining about how Democrats were boosting the election denier, Nazi-loving, January 6th-supporting, Orban-applauding extremists. Hey QOP – you have allowed your Party to become infested with these lunatics. In fact, I’d say at least 85% of QOP are in lockstep with those anti-American ideas. Don’t blame us when your voters vote for them. Blame yourselves for letting them take over! And yes, they will be much easier to defeat in the mid-terms than bland vanilla reasonable-seeming (but still totally extreme) QOP you’d like to pretend are the majority. Muahahahaha.
Am I saying we’re a lock for November? No, of course not. But sometimes we liberals forget to take a victory lap when it’s well-deserved. So for today, let’s celebrate and hope. And let’s make sure we do something to thank Democrats for being the only true public servants in town.
- In: 2022 Elections | January 6 | Politics | Republicans
- 131 Comments
Widdershins,
I’m writing this from the airport as Mr. MadamaB and I head out to the East Coast for some yearly friend time. Cannot wait to get away for a little while!
We have had some major revelations over the past week, including of course last night’s blockbuster hearing. In addition, I just read that Steve “Shower? What’s that?” Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress after .03 nanoseconds of deliberation. That gob of axel grease, B.O. and dirty laundry is going to jail.
Here’s another thing to discuss while I’m out: looks like the most reliable voting bloc, seniors 65+, has swung heavily towards Democrats. Maybe the QOP shouldn’t have overturned Roe v. Wade and Casey and said they were going to cancel Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?
I’m sorry I can’t provide links because my wifi signal is weak, but I swear there are sources for all these claims.
In any case, have a great week and tawk amongst yerselves!
The Widdershins 
Comments