QOTD -- Stick A Fork In It, Even Before It's Done

 

"... [RNC Chairperson Ronna Romney] McDaniel announced that the panel will be packed with Trump-friendly right-wingers, including longtime Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, Trump-endorsed tech-bro Blake Masters — who just lost his Arizona Senate race — and Christian-right lobbyist and anti-abortion zealot Tony Perkins, along with newly-elected Trump endorsees like Sen.-elect Katie Britt of Alabama, Rep.-elect Monica De La Cruz of Texas and Rep.-elect John James of Michigan.

"Anyone who thinks that particular group will be 'charting a new path' needs to have another think again. This autopsy will almost certainly find a way to affirm that Republicans lost because they weren’t Trumpy enough. To reach any other conclusion would amount to repudiating the party’s base voters and the slightly tarnished Dear Leader they still worship." -- Heather Digby Parton, on the "autopsy" commissioned to tell them why, other than about 35% of the population, nobody likes them and how they can change that [spoiler alert: they can't].  (They could start with the question of why the greedy Malignant Loser withheld $94 million from his chosen candidates). This "autopsy" should meet the same fate as the 2013 "autopsy," which is currently sitting on former RNC Chairperson Reince Priebus's shelf nourishing bookworms.

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Nick Anderson, Reform Austin News, TX)

(Walt Handelsman, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)

(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)

 

(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)

 (Darrin Bell, Counterpoint)

(Ed Hall, Artizans.com)

(Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News)

(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)

(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Robert Ariail, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, SC)

(Patrick Chappatte, The Boston Globe)

(Ellis Rosen, @AltaJournal)

Tweets Of The Day

 

Pity the poor insurrectionists --

 

Those poor insurrections couldn't even get a fair shake in court, because...well, you know. pic.twitter.com/WYnYfpSvdF

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 30, 2022

 

Evergreen --

 

Also here's your regular reminder that the Oath Keeper verdict, the Buffalo verdict, the Mar a Lago dinner, and the Proud Boys elections to local offices are part of THE SAME STORY about a rising and militant white power movement

— Kathleen Belew (@kathleen_belew) November 30, 2022

 

What's that Musk-y smell?  Putin's manbaby pal hiking Starlink rates for Ukrainians --

 

Meanwhile, @elonmusk's Starlink is hiking rates on Ukrainians, who are cut off from heat and electricity.https://t.co/3NMOqzUDBe pic.twitter.com/seqwVgAcEi

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) November 30, 2022

What's that Musk-y smell, part deux?  "Genius" manbaby's myth falling apart -- 

The myth of Elon Musk as a genius building a better future is falling apart. As that happens, we need to realize he hasn’t just taken a bad turn; he’s always been selling us a lie, and nothing shows that better than his fake transport projects. https://t.co/cLiLuIQDYt

— Paris Marx (@parismarx) November 30, 2022

 

NEW: Twitter is delaying the relaunch of Twitter Blue as it tries to skirt Apple's 30% App Store fees. In the meantime, the company's ad revenue is down 49 percent or more week over week in key markets. My latest with @CaseyNewton: https://t.co/QGBsDYngdh

— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) November 30, 2022

 

Republicans' Great Black Hope strikes again --

 

Herschel Walker destroyed his argument for a border wall:

“A wall do work. …when you got a wall around your house people don’t— yeah, but they can get in. But, you know what, if they get in, it would be hard to get out because I got a dog that— well, my dog really won’t bite.” pic.twitter.com/Mfr4Cpe39O

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) November 30, 2022

Some things never change --

 

OTD in 1939 USSR began to liberate Finland from themseleves in the Winter War. It followed denials, a false flag, a bullshit excuse, us deliberately targeting civilians while we took massive casualties we lied about.

Imagine that happening today...

— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) November 30, 2022

 

It's Science!! --

 

Report: Nothing Wrong With A Good Old-Fashioned Ham And Cheese Sandwich https://t.co/5SddpGjMEb pic.twitter.com/hNjK5uOJvn

— The Onion (@TheOnion) November 30, 2022

 

 

Mid-Week Song: "Hideaway"

 

British blues icon John Mayall (who turned 89 yesterday) and his band, the Bluesbreakers, rose to prominence in the UK in the 1960s, but the band was best known as the spawning ground of some of the best rock and blues musicians of all time. Eric Clapton (Cream, Blind Faith), John McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) Aynsley Dunbar (Mothers of Invention, Jefferson Starship), and Jack Bruce (Cream) were a few of the players who were part of Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Today, we're featuring their 1966 song "Hideaway", with Mayall on organ, Clapton on lead guitar, McVie on bass, and Hughie Flint on drums. 

(Sadly, we learned after this post was published that Christine McVie, John's former wife and the singer/ songwriter/keyboardist mainstay of Fleetwood Mac, passed away today at the age of 79. A major talent lost.)

Marriage Rights Bill Passes Senate

 

A bill codifying the right to same-sex and interracial marriage passed the Senate yesterday on a vote of 61 - 36, all "no" votes coming from Republicans. The "Respect for Marriage Act" was set in motion by implicit threats by right-wing Justices, Clarence "Ginny's Clown" Thomas in particular, to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it was clear that the right-wing majority on the Court had no regard for precedent or "settled law" like Obergefell. The bill doesn't require States to adopt same-sex marriage laws. The bill mandates that individual States recognize the legal status of married couples who were married in other States where same-sex marriage is legal. The addition of protection for interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia, 1967) was added as a precaution against white supremacists in Republican state legislatures, and delightfully razzes the hypocritical Thomas, who is himself in an interracial marriage.

The bill now moves to the House, where it is expected to pass as soon as next week, and be sent to President Biden for signature into law. With the House majority flipping to Republican control in January, lawmakers needed to make haste in codifying the measure, which would have died in a right-wing Republican House. The vote for same-sex marriage should have been a no-brainer for Republicans: public support for same-sex marriage is high, with 71% supporting those rights according to Gallup, compared to only 27% in 1996. Homophobic Christofascist evangelical bigotry is part of Republican politics, and likely will be for many years to come.

 

Tracking Down The Insurrectionists: Hoosier Losers

 

Coinciding with the conviction of several "Oath Keepers" for various felonies and misdemeanors committed on January 6, 2021, two Hoosier losers have been arrested for their part in the insurrection.  It's an uncle/ nephew pair (possibly the result of in- breeding):

An Indiana man accused of assaulting law enforcement officers with a flagpole during last year’s deadly Capitol insurrection has been arrested on felony charges, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Federal agents linked Dale Huttle, 61, of Crown Point to the Jan. 6, 2021, violence through photos and phone records, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint. He was taken into custody on Nov. 9 but has been released ahead of pending court hearings in Washington, D.C.

His charges include assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon; interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder; and related felony and misdemeanor offenses.

Huttle’s nephew, 40-year-old Matthew Huttle of Hebron, Indiana, was arrested Monday on misdemeanor charges after being accused of unlawfully entering the Capitol grounds during the 2021 attack, the Justice Department said.

Dale Huttle, reached by a CBS 2 reporter on Tuesday, said he had “no regrets” for his actions and that he will fight the charges against him.

“I did no harm. I did it with passion and conviction,” he told the Chicago-based station. “I am the ultimate patriot because I put myself on the line. I have no regrets. I will not say I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m in this situation.”

Dale Huttle was photographed appearing to strike officers outside the Capitol with a wooden flagpole, according to the criminal complaint. He also appeared to grab an officer’s baton during the melee and at one point appeared to yell “surrender!” at the officers, authorities said, citing officers’ body camera footage...  (our emphasis)

The coward isn't sorry, but he wasn't brave enough to come forward and accept responsibility, choosing to turtle for nearly two years.  Nothing like standing up for your "convictions" only after you've been frog- marched into booking.  The justice system will take into account the senior Huttle's publicly stated confession and his lack of regret, then it will lock him up!

(Photo:  insurrectionists Matthew, left, and Dale Huttle/ Dept. of Justice)

Oath Keepers' Leaders Guilty Of Seditious Conspiracy

Developing story, but the heaviest charge of seditious conspiracy lands on the Oath Keepers' two fascist leaders, Elmer Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs:

BREAKING: Oath Keepers founder STEWART RHODES guilty of seditious conspiracy - plus codefendant Kelly Meggs.

Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, and Kenneth Harrelson NOT guilty on this count.

All guilty on obstructing official proceeding on Jan 6.

— Rob Legare (@RobLegare) November 29, 2020

All five noted in the tweet above were convicted of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, but the jury acquitted the three other "Oath Keepers" of seditious conspiracy. Other charges remaining are destruction of property, civil disorder and tampering with documents. 

Now, time to go up the prosecutorial "ladder" with the seditious conspiracy and other charges.

Lock them up!

(photo: Rhodes pointing the way to prison. Susan Walsh, AP)

 

The Malignant Loser Not Wanted In GA

After the disastrous mid-term elections, where statewide candidates nationwide backed by the Malignant Loser flopped miserably, the campaign of lying idiot and hypocrite Herschel "How Many Abortions" Walker is asking him to stay in his Merde O'Lardo encampment. It must have stung the narcissistic and vengeful Malignant Loser to be told he was unwelcome, having just announced the he was running for Führer in 2024 and after getting blasted for his despicable hosting of two anti-Semite white nationalists for dinner:

"A week before the Georgia Senate runoff, former President Donald Trump has no plans to appear on stage with his handpicked candidate, Herschel Walker. In fact, it’s not even under discussion.

The retired football star is traveling the state this week with a rotating cast of national GOP surrogates. But unlike Georgia’s January 2021 Senate runoff, when the former president held two rallies including an election-eve event, this time Trump has been conspicuously out of the picture. 

Both national and state Republicans say it would be best for Trump to, quite literally, just phone it in for the runoff.  (our emphasis)

Because he's a loser, right? Oh, the humiliation! Please continue.

"A person close to the Walker campaign, speaking on the condition of anonymity about Georgia’s 'complicated dynamic' with Trump, said the campaign has not asked Trump to visit the state — and Trump hasn’t asked to come, either.

'We’re just trying to not rock the boat with any and all sides,' said the person close to Walker’s campaign. 'We’re holding together a fragile coalition.'” (our emphasis)

Yes, the "fragile coalition" of country club Republicans and the tiki torch-bearing bigoted horde that they've cultivated over the years and to which they tied themselves. And don't forget the Christofascist evangelicals, who are willing to overlook that Walker has definitely paid for abortions, but as long as he has an "R" by his name he's their man.

If you live in Georgia, get out and canvass, volunteer, make calls, give rides and if you haven't already VOTE. 

(photo: Trump's stink won't wear off/ Getty Images)

 

QOTD -- Knock Knock, The Hague Calling

 

“Let me tell you that if we manage to lose, the Hague, whether real or hypothetical, will come even for a street cleaner who sweeps the cobblestones behind the Kremlin. Whether one more Kyiv district is without electricity won't change the magnitude of the catastrophe that will befall our country if we manage to do it. It's unimaginable. But we cannot lose. As for the Hague, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”  -- Putin propagandist Margarita Simonyan, head of the Russian propaganda channel RT, on yesterday's Know Your War Criminals Evening with Vladimir Solovyov on Rossiya-1.  Damn right you're going to the Hague, if the Russian people don't get to you first.

Tweets of the Day

 

Herschel, release your records before erection day --  

Today would be a good day for @HerschelWalker to release his medical records. #GASEN https://t.co/A8j9gwUypv

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) November 29, 2022

Mein Pillow Guy hates computers (and democracy) -- 

That’s a pretty good question,’ Lindell said. ‘If there’s any computer used, I would question any election which used a computer.’” pic.twitter.com/PAuZtf9LNu

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) November 29, 2022

No sick days for you! -- 

1. The nation's 100K+ rail workers get ZERO paid sick days

They want FOUR

And are threatening to strike December 9

In response, corporate America is demanding Congress intervene and force them to continue working without any paid sick dayshttps://t.co/e1rvIbakcB

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 29, 2022

AZ nutcases want to redo election....because they LOST --  

Woman urges Maricopa Supervisors to hold new election: “I’m just a mother trying to save my family because my kids were taken from me when they were little because I fought for medical freedom because … I don’t go there.” pic.twitter.com/Teu5u4jaXQ

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) November 28, 2022

Republican carpetbaggers love screaming "fraud" -- 

 

Herschel Walker NEVER lived in his Georgia home, which he’s rented out for 17 years

Mark Meadows NEVER lived in the trailer he used to register to vote

Oz NEVER lived in PA apart from his time at school

The party screaming “election fraud” sure loves committing election fraud

— Lindy Li (@lindyli) November 29, 2022

Musk doing Putin's bidding on Twitter... --  

As you watch Elon Musk try to amplify divisions in the US, remember that's exactly what Musk's friend Putin did in the 2016 election to hurt Hillary and help Trump. Musk is doing right in our faces what Putin's security forces were doing secretly. Musk is NO friend of the USA.

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) November 29, 2022

...And wants to make his own hot phones --  

Hello World,

first photo of the new "Tesla Phone",

hotter than the best model from Apple . . .

💠 😉 💠 pic.twitter.com/vMqfbA2nrv

— Marko Silberhand (@MarkoSilberhand) November 28, 2022

 

Putin's criminal war hitting schools at home --  

The Kremlin’s Strategic Initiatives Agency held a public contest in Belgorod for ideas, and the winner was “training teachers to talk to schoolchildren about the loss of the family’s breadwinner.” The lesson plan is called “Let’s care together.” 🪖👩‍👧‍👦 https://t.co/EyB1H6kD6J

— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) November 29, 2022

Fun, but your butt is numb at the end --

  

Count me in! 🧊❄️🥶 pic.twitter.com/2jmb4HOY6U

— Hold My Beer/Holy Cow (@short_tymer) November 29, 2022

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Steve Greenberg, greenberg-art.com)

(Jimmy Margulies, jimmymargulies.com)

(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)

(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)

(John Cole, Virginia Mercury)

(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Marc Murphy, Louisville Courier-Journal, KY)

(Walt Handelsman, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)

(Ann Telnaes, Washington Post)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Paul Noth, @PaulNoth)

Pic Of The Day

 

(click on image to enlarge)

News item:

Tom Gibbs was getting worried. He was deep in the remote woodland of South East England, anxiously searching for Female 2, a bison that had strayed from the herd.

“You start to think of the worst-case scenario,” said Gibbs, a bison ranger at Kent Wildlife Trust, a British-based conservation charity.

A few days later, he heard tiny hoofs ambling around and noticed a tail swishing in the distance. Relief washed over him — followed by disbelief and delight.

“I didn’t even believe my own eyes,” he said.

Gibbs discovered that Female 2’s days-long departure from the herd was actually the best-case scenario: She had secluded herself to give birth to the first wild bison born in Britain in more than six millennia. “It was such a magical moment, and so iconic what it represents for conservation and wilding in this country,” said Gibbs, who first spotted the baby bison on Sept. 9.  [snip]

The birth was a happy surprise for the team of rangers working on the Wilder Blean project, which brings grazing animals to the West Blean and Thornden Woods in Kent as a way to address climate and biodiversity crises. [snip]

Three female bison were brought from wildlife parks in Scotland and Ireland to a 500-acre area in July and will eventually be joined by wild horses and pigs. While the goal is for the animals to fend for themselves in the wild, they are being closely monitored and slowly weaned off supplemental food — which is what they were fed previously in parks.  (our emphasis)

Welcome to the world, and stay close to mom!

(Photo: Donovan Wright)

"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" -- At Mar-a-Lago

 

Stephen Colbert covers the Malignant Loser's gathering with Kanye "Jackass" West and fellow anti-Semite Nick "The Prick" Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago, the World Cup, the race for the Senate seat in Georgia, and more.

QOTD -- Cobb-ling Together Victory In Georgia

 

"In the 2004 election, Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry lost Georgia by 17 percentage points, including a 25-point defeat in Cobb. Two years ago, Joe Biden very narrowly won Georgia, in part because of his 14-point victory in Cobb. Sen. Raphael G. Warnock carried Cobb by 16 points in this month’s election and will need a similar margin to defeat Republican challenger Herschel Walker in their Dec. 6 runoff.

"The electoral transformation of Cobb County is part of a broader shift happening in U.S. politics. Over the past decade, Americans who live in rural areas, a group that already leaned toward the Republicans, has become even more conservative. Urban areas are increasingly Democratic, but cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia were already so left-leaning that there wasn’t much room for Democratic growth. What’s been the saving grace for the Democrats in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections has been voters in suburban areas backing the party, particularly around Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia and Phoenix." -- Perry Bacon, Jr., Washington Post, on how suburbanites are saving the Democratic Party, especially in battleground states like Georgia.  This despite on-going, anti-democratic efforts by the Christofascist Republican cult to suppress voting turnout (see "Tweets...", below).

Tweets Of The Day

 

Trump on fascist Fuentes: "I really like this guy.  He gets me" --

 

Trump had dinner with this guy https://t.co/72Kh3TcSQC

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) November 27, 2022

 

When I was a kid, there was no way a guy named Nick Fuentes could become America's top white nationalist. It's sad to see a non-anglos taking jobs away from pure-breed Aryans.

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) November 28, 2022

 

What's that Musk-y smell?  Using fascist Fuentes' Groyper memes and anti-Semitic dog whistling, are we? --

 

Having a normal one. pic.twitter.com/Lh0ywFT0j6

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 28, 2022

 

I’ll put my reputation up against yours any day. I’ve spent my entire adult life in service to my country. Upheld my oath to protect & defend this nation at great personal cost. You’ve demonstrated yourself to be a purveyor of hate and division. Let history be the judge. https://t.co/5kH0fus3aN

— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) November 27, 2022

 

Republican voter suppression in Georgia runoff --

 

Long lines are not an accident. They are a way of suppressing the vote and discouraging working class people, who lose money when they take time off work, from showing up. And, of course, generally discouraging voters overall in districts that are heavily Democratic. https://t.co/Axr8ASrsyv

— Thom Hartmann (@Thom_Hartmann) November 27, 2022

Deny, deflect, diffuse -- 

"Republicans love to talk about mental health following mass shootings ... [but] mental illness is not the primary cause of them. And even if it was, GOP politicians have made clear they’re unwilling to do anything about it" -- @nberlat https://t.co/vBp5HQMZ4E

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 28, 2022

 

On the autocratic state front -- 

Extremely rare protests in Chinese universities and cities like Shanghai where people were calling not just for the end of zero covid but for Xi Jinping and the CCP to step down. https://t.co/gWP6A4exD8

— Lily Kuo (@lilkuo) November 27, 2022

 

Meanwhile in Russia: the host and his guest concur that Ukraine should be erased off the map and even the memory that it existed should be destroyed. The host says that Russia will always be an empire and being in a state of war is only natural for any empire of Russia's size. pic.twitter.com/NaMqQRPp2n

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) November 28, 2022

 

Past peak --

 

The ages you peak at everything throughout life pic.twitter.com/SstTHiB8Sa

— UberFacts (@UberFacts) November 28, 2022

 

 

Add Another Crime To Trump's Long List

Earlier this year, it was reported that the Malignant Loser ordered the IRS to audit the returns of former FBI officials James Comey and Andrew McCabe in retaliation for their investigation into his campaign's dealings with Russia.  Now, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Epner writes in the Daily Beast that order constitutes evidence that the Malignant Loser violated Federal law in using the IRS to persecute political enemies:

"A president who unlawfully seeks to have an individual audited is subject to up to five years in prison. The crime does not require that the IRS actually carry out the audit. The crime is completed with the mere request.

If Trump made this demand while he was president, that is an unambiguous felony. Section 7217 of Title 26 of the United States Code makes it a crime for the 'President' to 'request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer'. Based on my training and experience as an Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted tax offenses, I expect that each IRS employee along the chain of command kept detailed notes and records of who ordered them to conduct the audit, and on the facts that were cited to support that audit demand. I would not be surprised if each of those IRS employees cooperated with the DOJ, with all fingers pointing in Trump’s direction."  (our emphasis)

It was former chief of staff John Kelly who revealed that the Malignant Loser ordered audits of Comey and McCabe and is reported to be willing to testify to that, presumably along with those IRS officials involved in the process.  The IRS' Inspector General is also investigating the matter independently.

The Malignant Loser, who once claimed that the Constitution allowed him to do anything he wanted, is finding out the hard way that wasn't the case. His lawlessness and out of control need for vengeance may be coming back to bite him hard. Lock him up!

 

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon: Evergreen

 

(click to enlarge)

One thing that Tom Tomorrow can count on remaining current and topical is a mass shooting. Everything else goes by and changes.

If you can, support his work by going here.

 

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) may be the first leader to have an actual floor fight for his speaker vote in nearly 100 years, said Tara Palmeri, Puck News senior political reporter.

Speaking to MSNBC's Yasmin Vossoughian on Sunday, Palmeri explained that McCarthy had a few dozen, or so, members that didn't support him during the caucus vote. At the same time, he only has a very small majority. So he can't afford to lose even a hand full of votes.

"It seems like he's going to pull a rabbit out of a hat," said Palmeri. "He's got five members right now saying that they will not vote for him for speaker. They say that publicly. So, he's going to get them to publicly, reverse some of them have said. He can't lose five. He can lose four. He can't lose five. People can vote present or be absent, which can help him get to 218. But right now, he's got a very loud group of individuals from the House Freedom Caucus coming forward, saying that they won't support him. Every day, the number seems to grow. The momentum is going in the wrong direction for him."...

The bad:

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said Senate Democrats don’t have the 60 votes needed to advance an assault weapons ban bill but expressed optimism on CNN’s “State of the Union” that something could get done in the next Congress if Democrats keep their seat in Georgia.

“I’m glad that President (Joe) Biden is gonna be pushing us to take a vote on an assault weapons ban,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday morning. “The House has already passed it. It’s sitting in front of the Senate. Does it have 60 votes in the Senate right now? Probably not. But let’s see if we can try to get that number is close to 60 as possible. If we don’t have the votes, then we’ll talk to [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and maybe come back next year, with maybe an additional senator, and see if we can do better.” 

Murphy also said there needs to be a conversation in the US Senate about funding law enforcement in counties that are refusing to enforce state and national gun laws.

“They have decided that they are going to essentially refuse to implement laws that are on the books. That is a growing problem in this country,” he said. “And I think we’re gonna have to have a conversation about that in the United States Senate. Do we want to continue to supply funding to law enforcement in counties that refuse to implement state and federal gun laws?”

He added: “I’ll talk to my colleagues about what our approach should be to this problem. But 60% of counties in this country are refusing to implement the nation’s gun laws, we’ve got to do something about that.”...

The ugly: 

High-profile Republican members of Congress gained tens of thousands of Twitter followers in the first few weeks of Elon Musk’s reign over the social media network, while their Democratic counterparts experienced a decline, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) all lost about 100,000 Twitter followers in the first three weeks of Musk’s ownership of Twitter, while Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) gained more than 300,000 each.

It’s difficult to tell exactly why follower counts go up and down, and the counts are often affected by Twitter banning bot accounts en masse. Not everyone following a specific politician is a supporter.Still, the pattern suggests that tens of thousands of liberals may be leaving the site while conservatives are joining or becoming more active, shifting the demographics of the site under Musk’s ownership. The changes are in line with a trend that began in April, when Musk announced his intention to buy the company...

People, including politicians, are voting with their digits.  Redpilled Manbaby Musk is turning Twitter into a fascist dumpster fire that's going to be another Truth Social/ 4Chan/ Gab/ Parler, etc., if the current trajectory holds.  

Pics Of The Day

 

 

 

This happened a few miles from my abode around 5:30 PM last night:

The pilot and passenger aboard a small airplane that crashed into power lines in Maryland on Sunday evening have been rescued.

The pair suffered “serious injuries,” including hypothermia and “orthopedic and trauma issues from the crash,” said Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein in his latest update.

Both have been transferred to local area trauma centers.

The accident occurred near Montgomery Village, Maryland, around 5:30 p.m., about 25 miles from Washington D.C., and just a few miles from a small airport. About 120,000 homes and businesses lost power in the area as dozens of emergency personnel descended on the dramatic scene.

Photos show the aircraft enmeshed vertically in the lines and dangling off a transmission tower. It’s unclear how much damage the accident caused, but some estimates say the plane was trapped more than 100 feet off the ground.

A spokesman for Montgomery County’s Fire and Rescue Service identified the pilot as Patrick Merkle, 65, and the passenger as Jan Wiliams, 66. The pair were advised to conserve battery life so they could continue to communicate with rescuers throughout the night.

Crews had to work to ground the high-voltage power lines and secure the plane before they could attempt any rescue effort, Goldstein said. Video posted to social media early Monday morning showed rescue crews working in heavy fog to secure the plane after the power lines were grounded...

Both pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries but are expected to be alright.  Power was restored to virtually all customers much earlier than expected because the two people in the airplane were able to exit it on their own power into the rescue buckets attached to rescue cranes.  What a night!

(Photos:  Tom Brenner/AP)

 

Across The Universe, Cont.

 

(click on image to enlarge)

From NASA/ESA, November 21, 2022:  The galaxy merger Arp-Madore 417-391 steals the spotlight in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The Arp-Madore catalogue is a collection of particularly peculiar galaxies spread throughout the southern sky, and includes a collection of subtly interacting galaxies as well as more spectacular colliding galaxies. Arp-Madore 417-391, which lies around 670 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus in the southern celestial hemisphere, is one such galactic collision. The two galaxies have been distorted by gravity and twisted into a colossal ring, leaving the cores of the two galaxies nestled side by side.

Hubble used its Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to capture this scene — the instrument is optimised to hunt for galaxies and galaxy clusters in the ancient Universe. Hubble’s ACS has been contributing to scientific discovery for 20 years, and throughout its lifetime it has been involved in everything from mapping the distribution of dark matter to studying the evolution of galaxy clusters.

This image comes from a selection of Hubble observations designed to create a list of intriguing targets for follow-up observations with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, as well as other ground-based telescopes. Astronomers chose a list of previously unobserved galaxies for Hubble to inspect between other scheduled observations. Over time, this lets astronomers build up a menagerie of interesting galaxies while using Hubble’s limited observing time as fully as possible.

[Image description: Two galaxies right of centre form a ring shape. The ring is narrow and blue, and the cores of the two galaxies form a bulge on the ring’s side. A bright, orange star lies above the ring. Two smaller spiral galaxies appear left of centre, as well as a few stars. The background is black and speckled with very small stars and galaxies.]

Credit:  ESA/Hubble & NASA, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, J. Dalcanton

"Georgia Deserves Better" Than Walker

 

Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock released a devastating ad showing Georgia voters reacting in shock to the brainless, nonsensical "speeches" that his opponent, the abortion hypocrite carpetbagging Herschel "How Many Abortions" Walker has made in his run for Warnock's Senate seat. Walker's an insult to the people of Georgia, but will get the vote of most amoral, cynical and ignorant Republicans (are there any others?) in the state nonetheless. Watch.

Georgia deserves better than Herschel Walker.

Vote today or as soon as you can! Visit https://t.co/lzN6iu3pOH to find where you can vote early. pic.twitter.com/KPsq9rc1qy

— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) November 26, 2022

If you're a Georgia voter, get out and canvass / knock on doors / make calls / volunteer for Sen. Warnock. And VOTE.  

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Ann Telnaes, Washington Post)

(Marc Murphy, Louisville Courier-Journal)

(John Buss, @repeat1968)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)

(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)

(Anne Derenne, CartoonArts, France)

(Liza Donnelly, The New Yorker)

Sunday Reflection: "The Truth Is Never Ugly"

 

"If a person is to get the meaning of life he must learn to like the facts about himself -- ugly as they may seem to his sentimental vanity -- before he can learn the truth behind the facts. And the truth is never ugly." -- Pulitzer Prize (4 times) and Nobel Prize winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, quoted in Mark Estrin's book "Conversations with Eugene O'Neill", 1990. 

O'Neill, who died on this date in 1953 at the age of 65, authored such renowned plays as "Anna Christie," "The Emperor Jones," "Desire Under The Elms," "Mourning Becomes Electra," "The Iceman Cometh," and his last major performed work "Long Day's Journey Into Night."

 

Long Ago And Far Away (Twofer)

 

Two colorized films from Victorian England showing various amusements and a Sunday gathering.

Trump Unleashes On "Seriously Disturbed" West

 

The Malignant Loser needs to come up with nicknames for two of his dangerously loony fascist fans, one of whom he now describes as "seriously troubled," after he was busted for hosting anti-Semitic mental case Kanye "Jackass" West and scummy white supremacist Holocaust denier Nick "The Prick" Fuentes. Here he is on his failing social media site:

So the Malignant Loser was just trying to help a guy who "happens to be black" and give him "much needed advice" (hope it wasn't about mental health). Such a color-blind humanitarian. And the "fake news" that actually reported on it, shame on them for exposing him...again! That Fuentes guy? Never heard of him even though he was a "stop the steal" organizer.

It's created a virtual shit storm of backlash across the political spectrum from anti-defamation groups to some in his own corrupt party. It should be a final straw for some of his political enablers and cultists, but after being silent about so many offenses against groups of people and our institutions, we aren't expecting anything to change with them.