Wednesday, November 6, 2024

A Time To Step Away And Regroup (UPDATED)

 

The election results were, of course, a shock and a major disappointment, and represent our nation's clear inability or unwillingness to recognize the peril and threat to our domestic tranquillity, our national security, and to over 240 years of democracy that they've voted into office.  It's not only those Good Germans voters who are going along eyes wide open with the fascism, the madness, the misogyny, the racism, and the cruelty represented by Trump (you are who you vote for!), but it's also the catastrophic failure of our institutions, prominently the lack of a structured system of civic education and engagement, a legacy media which has enabled and bowed to him in acts of "anticipatory obedience," a social media cesspool of toxic misinformation and, last but not least, the leadership of his party, whose spinelessness and lack of character was essential to his survival after January 6.  That's just for starters.

In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant noted that "if we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason & Dixon . . . but between patriotism & intelligence on the one side & superstition, ambition & ignorance on the other."  In that sense, yesterday's election was a Second Appomattox for us, and the side of patriotism and intelligence lost.  We frankly don't believe our country will ever recover from the stain of this election in the eyes of tens of millions of its own citizens and in the eyes of people around the world who once looked to us with admiration and hope.

We've been at this blog nearly 20 years and it's worn mightily on us, especially in the past two years as we became increasingly exhausted with politics defined by the depraved convicted felon and sexual predator (and so much more).  So, we've discussed stepping away to rediscover and find joy in those things that mean the most to us, like family and activities like volunteering, reading, and travel.  That will mean stepping away from the blog for an indefinite period, and we hope you understand and check in from time to time in the future, when we might have something to say.

UPDATE:  Watch this space on January 1, 2025.


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Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Today's Cartoons -- VOTE!

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Pedro Molina, Counterpoint)

(Luke McGarry, @lukeymcgarry)
 

(Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)

(Tim Campbell, Counterpoint)

(Chris Britt, Creators.com)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(John Branch, Houston Chronicle)

(Jeff Danziger, The Rutland Herald, VT)

(Lee Judge, King Features)

(Patrick Chappatte, Le Temps, Geneva)

(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Matt Wuerker, Politico)

(Jack Ohman, San Francisco Chronicle)

(Brendan Loper, @bloper)


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Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

The decision --


 

 

 


Are America's women about to save American democracy again? --




The Republican Party's undoing -- 


 

Please appreciate the poll workers if you vote today --

 


But you already knew that Megyn Kelly was a hypocritical POS....  -- 



Watch out Melanoma Melania, someone's trying to protect you --



Battle of the drones over Ukraine --



No mice around here --  


 

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Pic Of The Day: Mom's Helper

 


Vesta Avery, 2, helps her mother Alexis Taylor mark her ballot at P.S. M811, The Mickey Mantle School, in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.  Women voters are turning out in large numbers.

(photo: Richard Drew / AP)

 

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Smaller Crowds May Spell Trouble For Trump



For someone who likes to bask in big adoring crowds, the narcissistic Malignant Loser has been facing lots of empty seats at his recent rallies, according to the Associated Press:

"Donald Trump has spent nearly a decade bragging about his crowds. Lately, he’s been making the same boasts to swaths of empty seats.

In his third presidential bid, Trump for the first time is facing an opponent who stages her own massive rallies, calling further attention to the fact that his crowds, however enthusiastic they are, sometimes have failed to fill large venues and often thinned out as he spoke.

In North Carolina this weekend, the former president and Republican nominee spoke at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, where the lower level of the 22,000-seat arena remained unfilled, with the upper level blocked off altogether. [snip]

He then went to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, where the upper level seating was again blocked off."  (our emphasis)

As long as he knows that the cameras are showing tight shots of him at rallies, he feels free to lie about venues being full, when his cult in attendance can see that he's lying to them. It's galling to him seeing the reports of massive and enthusiastic crowds at Harris' rallies, the most impressive of which was her rally on the Ellipse last week which drew an estimated 75,000 people. The article continues:

"To be sure, crowd sizes aren’t necessarily predictive of electoral outcomes. Still, Trump has been drawing smaller crowds in the closing stretch of the campaign than he did in previous races, especially his first campaign, when his mass events became a political phenomenon. Trump’s crowds this fall also have often thinned out as the former president’s long stump speeches extend into their second hour.

People routinely leave while he’s speaking, sometimes in droves, after waiting several hours for a spot." (our emphasis)

Keeping your cult waiting for hours, and then droning on about vile nonsense for 2 hours will empty an auditorium quickly. Fatigue with the Malignant Loser may have set in with some of his cult, but don't count on a massive swing away from him by any means. But the signs are there -- and he's no doubt seen them -- that he doesn't have the same drawing power as in campaigns before. May the phenomenon keep a critical number of his cult home on Election Day.

(photo: empty seats at Trump rally on Nov. 4 in Raleigh, NC. Chip Somodevilla / Getty)

 

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Remove "Beelzeblob" From Our National Colon -- VOTE!

 

Last night, Jimmy Kimmel talked about the election, the all- over- the- place polling, the Jeffrey Epstein/ Trump bombshell that barely registered, Trump's violent rhetoric and crowd sizes, MAGA nuts like Herschel Walker and Tucker Carlson (and his mauling demons), "Beelzeblob" Trump, and Jimmy's great closing argument. 

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Monday, November 4, 2024

QOTD -- What Side Of History Are You On?

 

"...In our era the same struggle has resurfaced. A small group of leaders has rejected the idea that all people are created equal and seeks to destroy our democracy in order to install themselves into permanent power. 

"And just as our forebears did, Americans have reached for whatever tools we have at hand to build new coalitions across the nation to push back. After decades in which ordinary people had come to believe they had little political power, they have mobilized to defend American democracy and—with an electorate that now includes women and Black Americans and Brown Americans—have discovered they are strong. 

"On November 5 we will find out just how strong we are. We will each choose on which side of the historical ledger to record our names. On the one hand, we can stand with those throughout our history who maintained that some people were better than others and had the right to rule; on the other, we can list our names on the side of those from our past who defended democracy and, by doing so, guarantee that American democracy reaches into the future." -- Heather Cox Richardson, professor of history at Boston College, in her Substack "Letters from an American," "November 3, 2024." 


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Today's Tomorrow Cartoon: Pick Your Options

 

(click to enlarge)



Just hours away until polls open and voters who haven't yet voted can cast their ballots. But Tom Tomorrow has a way for you to select your best guess as to what will be unfolding in the aftermath of the election. We think it's certain that the narcissistic Malignant Loser will never accept an election where he's not the winner, having had his mind warped at an early age and never getting the psychiatric help he desperately needs.

If you haven't voted, please vote tomorrow, and if you're a MAGA voter, remember: Republicans vote WEDNESDAY, Dems vote tomorrow. The votes get counted more quickly that way.

 

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Tweets / Xeets Of The Day -- VOTE!

 

Freedom, Compassion, Competence, Unity --

 

 

Stable genius Demented Don --

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Empty seats at Demented Don fascist fest.  Sad! --

 


Reminder --

 


As Moldova goes ... --

 

 

Confirming Gov. Walz has good taste in music --

 

 

God speaks --


 

Quincy Jones, R.I.P. --


 

 

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The Little Nation That Could

 

It's likely that very few Americans have heard of Moldova, much less could find it on a world map.  But Moldova, a former Soviet republic, is a neighbor of Ukraine and NATO member Romania, and is struggling to join the European Union and integrate with the West. One could imagine how that goes against the Kremlin's wishes, and they've been trying to undermine Moldova's pro-Western government for years. Now, it appears that the Moldovan people have cast their ballots in favor of the pro-Western president Maia Sandu, despite clear meddling from Moscow.  From the Associated Press:

"Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu has won a second term in a pivotal presidential runoff against a Russia-friendly opponent, in a race that was overshadowed by claims of Russian interference, voter fraud, and intimidation in the European Union candidate country.

With nearly 99% of votes counted in the second round of the presidential election held Sunday, Sandu had 55% of the vote, according to the Central Electoral Commission, or CEC, compared to 45% for Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general who was backed by the pro-Russia Party of Socialists.

The result will be a major relief for the pro-Western government, which strongly backed Sandu’s candidacy, and her push for closer Western ties on Moldova’s path toward the EU."  (our emphasis)

Moscow was using bribes, intimidation and disinformation to try to swing he vote to their puppet candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo, but failed to persuade Moldovans that their future lay with the Kremlin and its murderous leader Vladimir Putin.  Bravo!  The European Union needs to integrate Moldova at the earliest opportunity to cement the peoples' will.

 

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The Malignant Loser's Self-Sabotage



It's been noted that in recent weeks, the Malignant Loser has been increasingly bizarre and off-script, even more than his usual unhinged self.  The earlier forays into Hannibal Lecter, electric shock and sharks have devolved into violent rhetoric about guns pointed at Liz Cheney and shooting journalists, and to vulgar pantomimes of fellatio with a microphone.  His nonsensical cosplays at a McDonalds and his backfiring garbage man stunt -- where he stumbled and unwittingly gave his campaign the new symbol of a garbage truck --  have some of his allies wondering if he's trying to sabotage his campaign.

Tim Alberta, writing for The Atlantic, notes that the Malignant Loser's turn toward self-immolating lunacy may have begun after losing President Biden as a seemingly easy opponent last summer:

"For the first 10 days following Biden’s departure from the race, Trump had listened dutifully as his campaign co-managers—a pair of longtime GOP consultants named Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita—explained that the fundamentals of their strategy remained solid. Nothing dramatic needed to change with Harris taking over the ticket, they told Trump, because she was inheriting the vulnerabilities they had exploited so successfully against Biden. They argued that whatever burst of money and enthusiasm had accompanied her entry into the race would prove short-lived—and warned him against overreacting. Staying the course, they told Trump, was the surest recipe for electoral success.

He went along with their plan—for a while. But every hour his campaign spent attacking Harris as if she were a credible opponent—rather than bludgeoning her as the airheaded, unqualified, empty pantsuit Trump was sure she was—gnawed at the former president. Finally, he ran out of patience. On July 31, during an onstage interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump publicly unloaded the sort of race-baiting barbs that his aides had, up until that point, succeeded in containing to his private diatribes." (our emphasis)

His unraveling in the face of a close election and his campaign of reactionary, Project 2025 policies, in addition to his obvious mental decline, and his violent and dishonest lashing out were inevitable because that's always who he's been.  He can't and won't change, and anyone who expects a chastened, diminished Trump among his cult are delusional, too.

(photo: Choke on it)

 

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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

... I want to be extremely careful with what I am about to say next. There do appear to be signs in this last weekend of the campaign that a majority of Americans are in the process of rejecting Republicans’ dark, retrograde vision for the country. None is more dramatic than Saturday night’s report from the nation’s most highly regarded and historically most accurate pollster, Iowa’s J. Ann Selzer, that Democrat Kamala Harris has surged to a 3-point lead (47-44%) in the Hawkeye State, which Trump won so decisively in 2016 and 2020 that neither candidate has campaigned there.

The Iowa Poll dovetailed with weaker-than-expected polls for Trump in heartland states like Ohio, with internal surveys showing last-minute undecideds breaking for Harris, with the Democrats’ seeming strength this cycle with older women furious about the Roe reversal, which has been reflected in early voting here in Pennsylvania, and in polls showing rage among voters of Puerto Rican heritage after the MSG debacle. As Republicans increasingly reveal who they really are, many voters are apparently electing to believe them the first time.

But the most important thing that voters can do with this last-minute flood of information is to completely ignore it. The only things that matter between now and 8 p.m. Tuesday are casting a ballot, and talking to family and friends or even knocking on some doors to make sure as many as possible do the same. Vote as if your life depends on it. Because if you finally have health insurance, if you believe in clean drinking water, if you or a loved one plan on having a child or want control over your own body, or if you live in an immigrant community, your life does depend on it.  (our emphasis)

We trust the internals of the Selzer Iowa poll showing Vice President Harris getting Independents/ undecideds/ older women breaking strongly for her.  We don't believe this is a uniquely Iowan phenomenon, given the ugly, misogynist, hateful, fascistic campaign run by the Malignant Loser and his minions.  People have been seeing that, and they're realizing their life depends on tomorrow's outcome. If you haven't already, please VOTE!

The bad:

Donald Trump gave a profane and conspiracy-laden speech two days before the presidential election, talking about reporters being shot and suggesting he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

In remarks Sunday that bore no resemblance to his standard speech in the campaign’s closing stretch, the former president repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of the vote and resurrected old grievances about being prosecuted after trying to overturn his defeat four years ago. Trump intensified his verbal attacks against a “grossly incompetent” national leadership and the American media, steering his Pennsylvania rally at one point on to the topic of violence against members of the press.

The GOP nominee for the White House noted the ballistic glass placed in front of him at events after a gunman’s assassination attempt in July at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Trump talked about places where he saw openings in that protection.

“I have this piece of glass here,” he said. “But all we have really over here is the fake news. And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much.”  [snip]

With less than 48 hours before Election Day, Trump continues to promote falsehoods about elections and argue that he can only lose to Democrat Kamala Harris if he is cheated, even though polls suggest a tight race...  (our emphasis)

The unraveling of the already unhinged Malignant Loser continues as he sees the election slipping away from him, and his legal perils looming.  Gen. Milley called him "a fascist to the core" and the most dangerous person in America.  We're seeing that play out in his violent language in the final, desperate days before the election. 

The ugly:

Former president Donald Trump expressed willingness to follow through with an anti-fluoridation proposal put forward by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite the universal recognition by health groups of the safety and benefits of adding fluoride to drinking water.

In a social media post Saturday, Kennedy, widely known for his anti-vaccination views and his now-defunct White House run, said a new Trump administration would push to ban the practice by cities quickly.

“On Jan. 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy said, before asserting, without evidence, it caused various ailments.

NBC News on Sunday reported that Trump, who has said Kennedy would play a big role in health care policy if he wins the presidential election, appeared to have no qualms with Kennedy’s post.

“Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me,” Trump said when asked about that plan. “You know, it’s possible.”

Fluoridation has been shown to help prevent tooth disease. The American Dental Association calls fluoridation “a safe and effective way to prevent tooth decay and has played a major role in in [sic] improving the public’s dental health for more than 70 years.

Other health care groups supporting fluoridation include the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and the Centers on Disease Control, which called it one of the major achievements in public health in the 20th century.

Trump also told NBC he was open to banning some vaccines, a stance long taken by Kennedy, who has blamed them for rising autism, a linkage dismissed by medical community.

“Well I’m going to talk to [Kennedy] and talk to other people, and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and has strong views,” Trump said.  (our emphasis)

Sub-moron fascist endorses brain worm guy's "OK" ideas.   What could possibly go wrong?  (Public health crises, pandemics, mortality rate...)

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Sunday, November 3, 2024

Across The Universe, Cont. -- Beaded Mask

 

(click on image to enlarge)

From NASA/ ESA, October 31, 2024: This mid-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope excels at showing where the cold dust, set off in white, glows throughout these two galaxies, IC 2163 and NGC 2207. The telescope also helps pinpoint where stars and star clusters are buried within the dust. These regions are bright pink. Some of the pink dots may be extremely distant active supermassive black holes known as quasars.

Image description: Two spiral galaxies take the shape of a colorful beaded mask that sits above the nose and is angled from top left to bottom right. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller, taking up a little over a quarter of the view. The galaxy at right, NGC 2207, takes up half the view. IC 2163 has a bright white core, with two prominent white spiral arms that rotate counter clockwise and become straighter toward the ends. Its arms are dotted with pink. NGC 2207 has a very bright core that is larger. Overall, it appears to have thicker spiral arms that spin counter clockwise. This galaxy also contains more pink areas of star formation. In the middle, the galaxies’ arms appear to overlap. The black background of space shows extremely distant galaxies that are tiny, and often red and orange smudges, as well as a few blue foreground stars.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI


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Today's Cartoons -- VOTE!

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal)

(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)

(Bob Englehart, caglecartoons.com)

(John Buss, @repeat1968)

(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)

(Bruce Plante, caglecartoons.com)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Jesse Duquette, @jrduquette)

(Christopher Weyant, caglecartoons.com)

(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)

As Biden would say, "Not a joke!" --


(Peter Steiner, @plsteiner)


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Closing Harris-Walz Ad -- "Brighter Future"

 

This is going to be shown during NFL games today, and is likely the last "closing argument" ad of the campaign.  It's a good one.  Feel free to share, of course, and VOTE!

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