Saturday, August 31, 2024

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Dave Brown, The Independent, London)

(Darrin Bell, King Features)


(Brendan Loper, The New Yorker)

(Christopher Weyant, Boston Globe)

(Matt Davies, Newsday)

(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com)

(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)

(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Tim Campbell, Counterpoint)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)

(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Steve Jones, The New Statesman, London)


Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

Explaining the Malignant Loser --



Jack Smith on a mission and ready to go on the January 6 insurrection case -- 



Getting our broken political media out of the way with the public  --


 


The same intrepid media drops the ball on Trump's Arlington Cemetery disgrace -- 



Promises from a pathological liar with no record of keeping them?  Got it! -- 



Let's watch the MAGAts spin this into a bad story, with the broken media's help -- 



Make Mitch's nightmare come true and vote Democratic --



Multiply this story thousands of times and you have an idea of Russia's monstrous crimes --

 


Racist clown sentenced by a black judge after 6 consecutive curses -- 

 

 

The Film Trump Wanted Buried Is Being Released




On October 11, the film that depicts the Malignant Loser's personal life and early days in real estate is being released, and the Malignant Loser is livid. NBC News reports:

“'The Apprentice,' a film dramatizing Donald Trump’s rise in New York City real estate and his relationship with political power broker Roy Cohn, has found a distributor that will debut the film in the final stretch of the presidential election, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

The independent distributor Briarcliff Entertainment plans to release the movie on Oct. 11, the source said. Sebastian Stan stars as Trump and Jeremy Strong of 'Succession' fame plays Cohn, one of the former president’s mentors.

'The Apprentice' premiered in May at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it immediately turned into a sociopolitical lightning rod. In a statement at the time, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the movie as 'pure malicious defamation.'”  (our emphasis)

We can see why he didn't want the film released since his vile, degenerate "mentor" Roy Cohn is a major part of the story. Anything else?

"The film drew controversy partly because it features a dramatized scene of an alleged incident in which Trump sexually assaulted his first wife, Ivana, who is played by Maria Bakalova from 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.'

Ivana Trump, in her 1990 divorce deposition, alleged Donald Trump raped her. He denied the allegation, and she later said she was not speaking literally but, rather, felt she had been violated by her ex-husband. She died in 2022." (our emphasis)

We're shocked, shocked! because the Malignant Loser is such a faithful husband, defender of women, and a pure soul who would never, let's say, grab a woman by her private parts. It's also coincidentally humorous that the actress playing Ivana, Maria Bakalova, played a teenager in the above-cited Borat film's scene where corrupt fascist Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani thought he was going to have sex with her.

We're hoping for a boffo opening, as the trade papers would say, just weeks before the election.

(photo: Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump, Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump. Scythia Films)

 

QOTD -- Narcissism Risen To Sociopathy

 

"... Donald Trump and his staff knew – and were reminded of – federal regulations specifically prohibiting the misconduct their campaign engaged in at Arlington’s section 60 this week. But the law aside, only a gross lack of manners, decency and humility could incline a person to film a fundraising appeal over the resting places of dead men and women who cannot decline to participate in the coarse spectacle. The photo of a grinning Trump giving a jaunty thumbs-up over these patriots’ graves is an indelible image of narcissism risen to the point of sociopathy.  [snip]

"Trump sees the armed services as yet another entity to be misused for his personal benefit, damaged and then discarded just as he has with his bankrupt businesses, the evangelical Christian churches and the Republican party. Beyond that, his boorish statements and bad behavior regarding the military almost certainly come from a place of self-loathing. Trump dodged the Vietnam war draft by claiming – probably falsely – to suffer from bone spurs. A gnawingly insecure man, Trump is self-conscious of his lack of the virtues towards which the military strives: as the US army puts it, loyalty to the constitution, dutiful fulfillment of responsibilities, respect for others, selfless service to both the country and subordinates, honor, integrity and personal courage..." -- Kevin Carroll, in The Guardian, on the "shocking but not surprising" conduct of convicted felon and bone spurs sufferer Malignant Loser and his campaign misfits at Arlington National Cemetery this week.  Carroll is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army, a former CIA case officer, and former senior counsel to John Kelly at the Department of Homeland Security.  That his former boss Kelly and other senior officers who served under the Malignant Loser haven't explicitly come out with an endorsement of Vice President Harris is an ongoing scandal, especially after the Malignant Loser's desecration of Arlington.  They know full well he's utterly unfit to serve, but remain silent, apparently favoring party over country.

The entire article is well worth a read, especially coming from a military and national security veteran.


Canadian Rockies

 

Let's join Harman Hoek on another of his silent hikes, this time through the Canadian Rockies. Here's his description:

In early June 2024, I hiked Section C of the Great Divide Trail in the Canadian Rockies, starting at Upper Kananaskis Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta. I passed over North Kananaskis Pass, crossing from Alberta into British Columbia, and entered the Height of the Rockies Provincial Park. On day two, I crossed Palliser Pass into Banff National Park and spent the night at Marvel Lake. On the third day, I hiked over Wonder Pass into Assiniboine Provincial Park, passing by Assiniboine Lodge, and spent two nights in a remote cabin. On day five, I climbed over Citadel Pass via Sunshine Meadows to Egypt Lake. On the sixth day, I completed the hike by exiting to Highway 1. This trek turned out to be one of my favorite hikes. The remoteness and untouched wilderness were unlike anything I'd experienced before.

We can attest there are few places more beautiful.  (Optional musical intro here 😉.)

Friday, August 30, 2024

Trump Tries To Have It Both Ways On Abortion (UPDATED)


While intrepid, Republican- wired reporters were assiduously probing changes in Vice President Harris' position on... fracking, the Malignant Loser was having a meltdown over a policy that affects tens of millions of Americans, backpedaling and flip- flopping like the desperate lump he is:

Former President Donald Trump came out on Friday against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would expand access to abortion, after spending a day doing damage control on the issue.

His announcement came a day after telling NBC News that Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure.

On Friday, Trump said, once again, that women need "more time" than six weeks to decide whether to have an abortion, but that the "Democrats are radical" and he couldn't back the amendment.

“So I think six weeks, you need more time than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries when I heard about it, I disagreed with it,” Trump said in comments to Fox News. “At the same time, the Democrats are radical, because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation where you can do an abortion in the ninth month. ... So I’ll be voting no for that reason.”

The proposed amendment would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, while ensuring exceptions to protect the health of the mother.

The backlash from anti-abortion advocates was fierce after Trump's interview with NBC News, with some warning that the Republican presidential nominee was risking losing support from a key bloc of the party’s base.

Alarmed by what she saw, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called Trump on Thursday to ask for clarity on his comments, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation. Trump told her that he didn’t state a position on an amendment on his home state’s ballot this fall.  (our emphasis)

Well, if he said he didn't state a position, he must be telling the tru... what's that:

During the interview with NBC News, Trump said, “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” when asked how he would vote on the ballot measure. It's unclear what he meant as the Florida initiative gives voters a binary choice.

Later Thursday, Trump’s campaign issued a statement saying the former president had “not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.”  (our emphasis)

The Independent sums up the Malignant Loser's dilemma:

... Trump, a thrice-married former casino owner, seemed like an imperfect vessel to usher in their plans. Now, he seems almost ashamed about his accomplishments as he recognizes that abortion is a political loser for Republicans, even in his adopted home state of Florida.

The relationship between evangelicals and anti-abortion Republicans always resembled that of a shotgun wedding. Now, evangelicals are just the latest partner Trump is accused of cheating on.

But, let's watch the media continue to parse what the Vice President's positions were in 2019 vs. now on topics of vital importance to the American people, and not cover this pathologically lying, flailing dimbulb's cynical, transparent flip- flopping on reproductive freedom!  Sic transit gloria, America.

UPDATE:


 

 

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(David Rowe, Financial Review, Sydney)

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Nick Anderson, Reform Austin News, TX)

(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


(Marty Two Bulls, @m2bulls.com)


(Martyn Turner, Irish Times, Dublin)

(J.D. Crowe, Alabama Media Group)

(Bart van Leeuwen, Oedipoes.com)

(Mort Gerberg, @mortgerberg)


Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

Trump at Arlington National Cemetery --

 

 

 

VP Harris on the Harris-Walz agenda and turning the page on Trump --

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Demented Don --

 

 

 

 

Trump's joke on America, Junior Demagogue Vance --

 

 


Georgia's in play --

 

 

Fact-free fact checkers --

 


Another Putin puppet to the rescue? --

 

 

Fetch!  Or not (Happy Friday!) --

 

 

 

Weekend Music Twofer

 

Today is the 56th anniversary of the release of The Byrds' seminal album, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," judged by most as the first album in the country rock genre, but a radical departure from the music of their previous five albums.  That departure was largely engineered by new band hire Gram Parsons (with encouragement from bassist Chris Hillman), who convinced leader Roger McGuinn to reshape their music into a country- oriented style.  We're taking a song co- written and sung by Parsons, "Hickory Wind," as an example of the new style, which was a trailblazer for subsequent artists like The Eagles.  Parsons left the band weeks before the album's release, and the group reverted back to a less country- flavored style of music.

Also, a group of artists are releasing a tribute and benefit album in September, "Silver Patron Saints," for musician/ songwriter Jesse Malin (D Generation, Heart Attack), who suffered a spinal stroke last year (pre-order here).  Among the contributing artists are Billie Joe Armstrong, Ian Hunter, Bleachers, Rancid, Steven Van Zandt, and Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams.  Bruce Springsteen's contribution is Malin's "She Don't Love Me Now," which has a country/ blues feel with which the 1968 Byrds would have felt comfortable.  Hope you enjoy.

Trump's Latest Hail Mary To Escape Justice




Convicted felon and sexual abuser the Malignant Loser is attempting another legal fast one regarding his conviction in a Manhattan court on 34 felony counts related to hush money payoffs to keep his affair with Stormy Daniels hidden. He's asking a Federal court in New York City to take the case from the State and to delay sentencing, now scheduled for September 18. Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan, whom the Malignant Loser has repeatedly smeared, is expected to rule on a separate motion to delay sentencing until after the November 5 election. From CNN:

"The petition filed Thursday asks the federal court to confirm the former president cannot be sentenced while the litigation over the removal to federal court is pending.

'These ongoing harms must be stopped. The impending election cannot be redone. The currently unaddressed harm to the Presidency resulting from this improper prosecution will adversely impact the operations of the federal government for generations,' the filing states. [snip]

Trump’s lawyers cite the 'extraordinary significance' of the recent US Supreme Court decision that determined Trump has broad sweeping immunity for any 'official acts.'

Since the high court ruling, Trump’s lawyers have asked Merchan to vacate the state conviction arguing that evidence of a president’s official acts should not be used in a trial.

They’ve specifically highlighted testimony from former White House aide Hope Hicks and tweets from Trump’s Twitter account shown to the jury during the seven-week hush money trial.

Merchan has said he’d rule on that motion the week of September 16 – around the same time he’s currently set to sentence Trump."  (our emphasis)

The Malignant Loser's continuous claim that his candidacy should prohibit prosecutors going after him neglects to note that he didn't announce his candidacy for President until November 2022, well after this and other criminal prosecutions of him were already well underway. In addition, he was given a big gift from his Republican partisan-dominated Supreme Court in their foot-dragging and in their Presidential "official acts" immunity ruling earlier this summer, which he's stretched and twisted to the Nth degree.

Thanks to his zealous cult, the Malignant Loser has the resources to drag this and his other three criminal cases out for months, if not years. The fact that he's running to stay out of prison is made all the more obvious by his constant legal maneuverings. 

(photos: Judge Merchan and the felon. Getty Images)

 

QOTD -- "Smiling Like A Moron"

 


 

"There’s nothing funny about Trump’s desecration of Arlington National Cemetery. Except perhaps the image of clueless Trump smiling like a moron giving the thumbs up in front of row upon row of the grave markers of fallen warriors. I mean, it’s deeply offensive. Repugnant in the extreme. But it’s also the kind of dark cutting commentary on Trump’s zero I.Q. vileness that the best parodists in the world would be hard-pressed to imagine. He does this kind of thing alot, by the way. It’s because he is a monstrous person." -- David Rothkopf, in his "Need To Know" Substack.  The Malignant Loser and his campaign misfits saw the damage being done by the resurfacing of his "suckers" and "losers" comments about American war dead, as recounted by former Malignant Loser Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly (USMC Ret.).  Kelly also criticized the Malignant Loser for his equating the Congressional Medal of Honor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  This bumbling, desecrating photo op was the campaign's response.  How's that working out for them?


Thursday, August 29, 2024

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Steve Brodner, @sbrodner)

(Michael de Adder, caglecartoons.com)

(Morten Morland, The Times, London)

(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Chris Britt, Creators.com)

(Jeff Danziger, The Rutland Herald, VT)

(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)

(Joe Dator, @joedator)


Pics Of The Day -- Two At A Time

 



If you hear some jamokes in the media "just askin'" why VP Harris and Gov. Walz did a joint interview with CNN today instead of her going "solo" (after incessant whining and complaining by said media that she was ignoring them!), recall this composite, and then you'll better understand the utter bad faith and puerile dishonesty that's rampant in Republican- wired American "journalism" today.

(Clockwise, from top left: Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008; Donald Trump and JD Vance in 2024; Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in 2012; and Trump and Mike Pence in 2016.)

(h/t Daily Kos


Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

Outrage continues over Malignant Loser using Arlington Cemetery as campaign ad prop --


 

 

 

 


Endorsement from Bush 43?  The Malignant Loser seems nervous -- 



Our broken media, part infinity -- 


 

 


V.P. Harris is right to go after price-gouging grocery chains. Here's evidence -- 



"Atrocious polling" is polling that shows the Malignant Loser behind -- 




In a word....  -- 



Bet he's a great croquet player, too -- 


 

 

Stats Of The Day -- The Enthusiasm Gap

 



"Americans’ enthusiasm about voting in this year’s election has surged in recent months, with 69% of U.S. adults now saying they are “more enthusiastic than usual” about voting. This is up from 54% in March.

"The Aug. 1-20 survey was conducted mostly before the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention but after President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection bid on July 21. Party leaders quickly coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee in the days after Biden's announcement.

"Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are largely driving the surge in enthusiasm nationally. In March, 55% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said they were more enthusiastic than usual about voting; now, 78% are. Republicans and Republican leaners, who held a slight edge in enthusiasm in March, now trail Democrats by a significant margin, with their current 64% enthusiasm score up slightly from 59% in the spring.

"As a result of these changes, election enthusiasm has shifted from being at an average level in March to the highest Gallup has measured during a presidential election campaign. Gallup measured similarly high enthusiasm -- 67% -- in September 2020, October 2008 and August 2004 surveys..." (our emphasis) -- Gallup, Inc., with results of polling from August 1-20 (this is before the wildly successful DNC and its joyful, robust rollout of the Harris-Walz campaign).   Enthusiasm generally translates into turnout.  Make no mistake -- the MAGAts will turn out.  That means Democrats, Democrat- leaners, anti-Trump Republicans, and independents need to turn out in unprecedented numbers to ensure the dominant victory needed to thwart the Malignant Loser and his cult's plans for an American Reich.

(Image: the "joyful warriors" / via the New Pittsburgh Courier)


Trump Media Stock Continues To Tank

 

Trump Media, whose central product is the dishonestly named "Truth Social" (see below), continues to face losses in its value, with its stock prices losing another 4% in trading yesterday. Since March, the company's stock has lost a shocking 70% of its value. The Malignant Loser can't sell his stock for a few more weeks, and even that would come with problems, CNN reports:

"The lock-up period prohibiting Trump from selling or even borrowing against his $2.3 billion stake in Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) is scheduled to expire by September 25, according to filings.

In theory, this will give Trump access to a pot of money that he could use to pay sky-high legal fees or even fund his presidential campaign. In reality, Trump faces huge obstacles that would make it very challenging to sell a large chunk of Trump Media – unless he doesn’t mind crashing the stock.

'It would be all but impossible for Trump to liquidate his whole stake or even a third of it without completely tanking the stock price,' Michael Ohlrogge, an associate professor of law at the New York University School of Law who has specialized in corporate governance and financial regulation, told CNN in a phone interview.

And the share price is already tanking." (our emphasis)

That hasn't stopped Trump Media officials from selling their stock before it drops further:

"Some Trump insiders are already selling, perhaps contributing to the recent selloff in the share price.

For instance, Phillip Juhan, Trump Media’s chief financial officer and treasurer, recently disclosed selling $1.9 million worth of stock. Trump Media’s general counsel Scott Glabe, chief operating officer Andrew Northwall and chief technology officer Vladimir Novachki made smaller sales last week too.

Even Devin Nunes, the former Republican congressman who now serves as Trump Media’s CEO and president, dumped $632,000 worth of stock last week."  [snip]

“If Trump were to sell a large number of shares and the stock price tanks, to some degree he would be burning his own supporters who bought the stock,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business. “Politically, that may not play out real well for him.” (our emphasis)

The Malignant Loser has played his devoted rubes dozens of times, and they've always come back for more abuse with their donations and purchases of his grift items. If it's between cashing in $2 billion or showing loyalty to his gullible cult, you know that the Malignant Loser would pick the former in a nanosecond.

 

Trump's "Public Nervous Breakdown" Continues

 

Here's a tiny sampling of what the Very Stable Genius unserious man was regurgitating on his tanking social media platform recently:






We won't even touch the vile, misogynist "re-truth" he recently posted (we won't link to it either).  His despicable, law- breaking photo op visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday is also the subject of righteous outrage from a wide swath of the public, including veterans (also here and here).

In her acceptance speech at the DNC, our next President, Kamala Harris rightly referred to the Malignant Loser as an "unserious man" whose return to the White House would have serious consequences.  Reading these postings -- with all their narcissism, lies, misdirection, fatuousness, gaslighting, and hateful ignorance -- demonstrates both those points quite well.


Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Vid Of The Day -- "Control"

 

It's good to have a periodic reminder of the convicted felon Malignant Loser's "Project 2025" blueprint, from the Harris-Walz campaign. Feel free to share.

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com)

(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)

(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)

(John Buss, @repeat1968)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Bob Englehart, @BobEnglehart)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News; context here)

(Pedro Molina, Counterpoint)

(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Michael de Adder, @deAdder)

(Vaughan Tomlinson, @vaughantomlinson)