QOTD -- Dehumanizing Ukrainians

"It is an obscene irony of the war in Ukraine that Russian leaders use the charge that Ukrainians are 'Nazis' to dehumanize them, just as the Nazis used dehumanizing accusations against their own enemies. While ostensibly attacking fascists, Russian propagandists use methods that pay tribute to German fascism. In the process, Russian officials have become the spitting image of what they pretend to condemn. [snip]

"... There are recent reports of mass civilian graves — numbering in the hundreds — in Manhush near Mariupol. Bucha’s streets were left covered with executed and mutilated bodies. More than 100 bodies have been found in Makariv. 'They laid them on the ground face down,' one resident said, 'and shot them in the back of the head.'

"This method for the mass killing of civilians was one way the Nazis disabled the normal revulsion that most people would feel for civilian executions. 'The human face,' David Livingstone Smith wrote in 'Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization,' 'is by far the richest source of social information and the most intimate channel of connection between people. … When we gaze into a person’s eyes, we cannot help responding to that person as a human being. We cannot help but see them as human — to automatically regard the face’s bearer as one of our own kind.'” -- Michael Gerson, in the Washington Post, on the how the Russian tactic of dehumanizing Ukrainians plays out when it's time to kill innocent civilians.  Bastards.

Bad Faith And Loons

In the aftermath of the convincing Biden-Harris victory, the rotted out Republican Party sees its role as enabling COVID Donnie's delusions in order to protect his bloated but fragile ego -- not, of course, to shoring up faith in our democratic system (surprise surprise!):

It is not over.

The presidential election is certainly over, and the result was not particularly close. President-elect Joe Biden won a decisive majority of the popular vote and likely a considerable electoral college victory. Claims of widespread electoral fraud would be spurious even if they weren’t made by a prating fool in front of a Philadelphia landscaping firm. The 2020 election is done. Concluded. Finished.

What has not ended — what seems endless — is Republican bad faith and poltroonery.

I am not referring here to those voters for President Trump who have been misled into false hope. It is not hard to convince people who distrust elites and are prone to conspiracy theories that elites are plotting to deny “real” Americans their influence. It does not even matter if the vote-counters are Republicans, because that is exactly what a conspiracy would do to hide its nefarious work.

No, it is Republican leaders who are responsible for poisoning whatever wells of goodwill still exist in our republic. Having aided Trump’s autocratic delusions, they are now abetting his assault on the orderly transfer of power. Through their active support or guilty silence, most elected Republicans are encouraging their fellow citizens to believe that America’s democratic system is fundamentally corrupt. No agent of China or Russia could do a better job of sabotage. Republicans are fostering cynicism about the constitutional order on a massive scale. They are stumbling toward sedition.

Meanwhile, these are some of the "fellow citizens" we're supposed to cosset and defer to, in order to promote domestic tranquillity:

President Trump’s election loss and the week-long silence of “Q,” the movement’s mysterious prophet, have wrenched some QAnon believers into a crisis of faith, with factions voicing unease about their future or rallying others to stay calm and “trust the plan.”

The uncertainty has been compounded by the abrupt public resignation, also last Tuesday, of Ron Watkins, the administrator of Q’s online sanctuary on the message board 8kun.

Q has gone quiet before. But the abrupt lack of posts since last Tuesday — Election Day, which the anonymous figure had touted for months as a key moment of reckoning — has sparked speculation and alarm among the movement’s most ardent followers.

Some QAnon proponents have begun to publicly grapple with reality and question whether the conspiracy theory is a hoax. “Have we all been conned?” one user wrote Saturday on 8kun.

Wrote another: “HOW CAN I SPEAK TO Q???? MY FAITH IS SHAKEN. I FOLLOWED THE PLAN. TRUMP LOST!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT NOW?????? WHERE IS THE PLAN???”

Trump’s defeat threatens to undermine the tale that Q, a supposed top-secret government operative, has woven over years: that Trump and his allies would soon vanquish a cabal of “deep state” child abusers and Satan-worshiping Democrats, exiling some to the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

(Yale psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee has previously discussed the mental pathologies that are affecting members of the Trump cult, of which QAnon rubes are the most deluded, conspiratorial and likely dangerous.)

Going forward, this is what the poltroons leading the Republican Party will own, through their refusal to pop COVID Donnie's alternate universe election bubble:

Rita Katz, the executive director of SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online extremism, said she expects the QAnon following will continue to grow online, regardless of who created or operated its presence online.

“It’s a dangerous network. It’s a dangerous movement that truly believes that Biden and other Democrats are killing kids,” Katz said. “And now, with Biden’s projected victory, the QAnon movement believes with the same zealous certainty that the whole thing is a sham. And that’s a major problem, because … these aren’t a bunch of harmless keyboard warriors — they’re adherents of a movement that has resulted in real-life violence.”

The FBI said last year that QAnon and other “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists” represented a major terrorism threat. Its supporters have been linked to kidnapping plots and violent threats, including in 2018, when an armed man in Arizona barricaded a bridge at the Hoover Dam with an armored truck.

Conspiracy theories have always been a part of the American political landscape, largely but not exclusively from the right -- from the Illuminati hoaxes to the John Birch Society's communist conspiracies to more recent birtherism, Sandy Hook and "deep state" slanders.  But, after four years of enabling a budding fascist fool, to now encourage the belief that a democratically- elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are somehow beneficiaries of a "stolen election," characterized by massive voter fraud, is perhaps the most brazen, un- American demonstration of cowardice and bad faith so far.  

But the year isn't over yet.

(Photo:  a perfectly normal QAnon "patriot" at an Arizona vote counting center last Thursday/ Dario Lopez-Mills, AP)

Fire On The Right

As is often the case, some of the harshest critiquing of dimbulb autocrat Donald "#BunkerBoy" Trump, especially following his recent malicious antics, is coming from never- Trumpers on the right.  (Ed. note: featuring these writers doesn't mean we're ignoring their significant contributions to building the party they now excoriate.)

George Will

This unraveling presidency began with the Crybaby-in-Chief banging his spoon on his highchair tray to protest a photograph — a photograph — showing that his inauguration crowd the day before had been smaller than the one four years previous. Since then, this weak person’s idea of a strong person, this chest-pounding advertisement of his own gnawing insecurities, this low-rent Lear raging on his Twitter-heath has proven that the phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron. [snip]

... The measures necessary for restoration of national equilibrium are many and will be protracted far beyond his removal. One such measure must be the removal of those in Congress who, unlike the sycophantic mediocrities who cosset him in the White House, will not disappear “magically,” as Eric Trump said the coronavirus would. Voters must dispatch his congressional enablers, especially the senators who still gambol around his ankles with a canine hunger for petting. [snip]

... Senate Republicans must be routed, as condign punishment for their Vichyite collaboration, leaving the Republican remnant to wonder: Was it sensible to sacrifice dignity, such as it ever was, and to shed principles, if convictions so easily jettisoned could be dignified as principles, for . . . what? Praying people should pray, and all others should hope: May I never crave anything as much as these people crave membership in the world’s most risible deliberative body.

Jennifer Rubin

Nothing could be more representative of the dangerous narcissism of a president in over his head, resorting to threats of violence against a country he ostensibly is supposed to lead. The deliberate instigation of violence for his own photo op tells Americans how deeply twisted and deformed his character is.

His stunt was designed to play to the most rabid white evangelicals, who inexplicably have always seen themselves — not African Americans — as the true victims. The invocation of a religious institution to justify an assault on peaceful protesters was as great an abuse of religious symbols as anything Trump has done. Surely, he never heard of the “Blessed are the peacemakers” passage from the Christian bible. He worships not peacemakers but instruments of brute force. [snip]

It does not take much imagination to conclude Trump is attempting to escalate violence around the country so he can deploy the military. This is the conduct of a tin-pot dictator — someone resorting to violent suppression of our most closely cherished rights.

More than ever, we should all recognize that, as former vice president Joe Biden put it, this is an election about the soul of our country and the survival of peaceful self-governance.

Michael Gerson

Every crisis the United States now faces has been made worse by Trump’s limits as a leader and a man. We needed a president who could imagine what the American experiment looks like from the perspective of those who find its promises fraudulent. We got someone incapable of empathy. We needed a president who would be data driven in matters of public health policy. We got someone driven by irrational enthusiasms and the advice of cronies. We needed a president who could calm destructive passions. We got someone who now urges the militarization of his fight against the left. We needed a president capable of speaking across differences. We got someone whose only authentic public communications are expressions of rancor.

This is the main (and rather obvious) lesson of Civics 101: If you elect a politician who is professionally incompetent and emotionally unwell, you will pay a price. [snip]

A man of Trump’s character, background and talents is the answer to precisely none of the great challenges of our time. His election in 2016 was an act of irrationality and folly by a powerful, noble and indispensable nation. It has made us more pitiable, more degraded and more replaceable than before. And this likelihood was obvious to anyone with a single grain of foresight.

It's 154 days until the election.

Unfit Trump And His Unfit Party

We didn't have to stray from the op/ ed page of our hometown paper, the Washington Post, for reactions from left, right and middle to destructive moron Donald "Rump" Trump's attempt to put on his presidential pants (h/t Steven Colbert) following the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the core appeal of the Republican Party that suits him so well, and how to effect real change.

Catherine Rampell writes about fear as the core appeal of Republicans:

Trump and allies urge us to cower in trepidation from helpless parents and children seeking asylum, a threat so grave they needed to be separated from one another and caged. We must also fear the supposed Muslim and Latino hordes, who threaten to wipe out Anglo-European culture and displace white babies with their own.

These are hardly the only foreigners who should inspire existential dread, according to right-wing fever dreams. Rogue nations should, too, thus justifying enormous increases in our defense budget. Of course, all the nukes and jets in the world won’t protect us from the assault our enemies abroad are currently waging against us, and that Republicans resist confronting: the one on our electoral system. [snip]

The best effort Republicans make to address American fears of gun massacres involves appeals to mental health improvements. Or, as Trump put it in his speech Monday morning: “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”

But even this suggestion rings hollow, given that Republican officials across federal and state governments are actively working to reduce access to mental health care. A federal suit brought by 20 red states and supported by the Trump administration seeks to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act, which extended behavioral health coverage to millions through Medicaid and the essential health benefits required in individual market plans.

Republicans thrive on imagined menaces. Yet when a real-life menace demands action, they dismiss it. What, pray tell, is the party so afraid of?

(Spoiler alert:  losing power.]

 Former Dumbya speechwriter Michael Gerson on Trump's lack of moral standing:

Never in my political lifetime has an American president had less moral standing to address a national threat. Nearly every phrase of President Trump’s televised response to the El Paso and Dayton shootings could be matched with some discrediting contrast in his own voice.  [snip]

Throughout his career, Trump has given permission for prejudice and, in extreme political need, permission for hatred. Faced with electoral headwinds near the end of the 2018 midterms, Trump did not turn to economic populism, or even anti-elitism. He warned that a group of brown people was invading the country and entertained the prospect of shooting them at the border. This is what Trump views as his secret weapon, his political ace in the hole. “People hate the word ‘invasion,’ ” he once said, “but that’s what it is. It’s an invasion of drugs and criminals and people. . . . And in many cases, and in some cases, you have killers coming in and murderers coming in, and we’re not going to allow that to happen.”

Gerson also notes the complicity of evangelical "Christians" and the corporate world:

That is exactly what many in the corporate world, and many conservative Christian leaders, are doing in their devotion to Trump: honoring swagger, bluster and force, and excusing a leader who constructs his political success on the cultivation of contempt and slanders against the weak. By their nearly blind support, such leaders are complicit in Trump’s rule by resentment.

Paleo- conservative George Will says Trump doesn't just pollute the environment, he is the environment;  he also critiques the pharisees who support Trump:

It is one thing to have a president who, drawing upon his repertoire of playground insults, calls his alleged porn-star mistress “Horseface .” Polls indicate that approximately a third of Americans, disproportionately including religiously devout worriers about the coarsening of America’s culture, are more than merely content with this. It is quite another thing to have a president who does not merely pollute the social atmosphere with invectives directed at various disfavored minorities; he uses his inflated office not just to shape this atmosphere but to be this atmosphere.

When Gerald Ford became president after Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, he told the nation: “Our long national nightmare is over.” Today’s long — and perhaps occasionally lethal — national embarrassment will continue at least until Jan. 20, 2021. If it continues longer, this will be more than an embarrassment to the nation, this will be an indictment of it.

Karen Tumulty on why Trump could never pull the nation together:

Given what a narcissist our president is, you wouldn’t think he would find it so hard to look in a mirror.

It tells you how low our expectations have sunk for Donald Trump that when he addressed the nation Monday in the wake of the horrors that occurred over the weekend in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, it was considered commendable that he could bring himself to actually utter the words “white supremacy” and “domestic terrorism.”

But in calling upon “our nation” to condemn these poisonous forces “in one voice,” he only underscored how unwilling he has been to do that on his own.  [snip]

... Trump has brought racism into the mainstream. He has glorified intolerance, even made it sound like a form of patriotism.

Whether this kind of toxicity is what exists in the president’s heart, or is merely a cynical play to gin up his base, is irrelevant. What is important is that Trump has proved himself incapable of changing. He is not the person to pull a shattered, bewildered country together and unite it behind a renewed sense of purpose.

Eugene Robinson says Democrats need to retake the Senate and sweep the malignant obstruction of Moscow Mitch/ Massacre Mitch aside:

Even when Trump’s presidency is reduced to a nightmarish memory, nothing will change as long as McConnell and the Republicans control the Senate. Even as minority leader, McConnell would have considerable power — but much less than he has now. The Senate’s arcane rules would allow him to delay and obstruct. But the Republican senators who are crying crocodile tears over El Paso and Dayton could at least be forced to go on the record as opposing common-sense gun laws that the American people, including those senators’ constituents, overwhelmingly support.

Now for the hard part. It will not be easy for Democrats to win the Senate in 2020, given which seats are being contested. But for the party to have a fighting chance, it needs to run its very best Senate candidates — several of whom are instead running for president. They need to reconsider.

He names names;  the same names we'd name.

Dana Milbank runs through the "thoughts and prayers" mantra that cowardly Republicans offer after every mass murder, then concludes:

Trump, who previously said white nationalism is not a growing threat, announced that “our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.”

Trump, who said nonwhite lawmakers should “go back” to other countries, asserted that “hatred warps the mind.”

Trump, who last week shared the sentiment that “DEMOCRATS ARE THE TRUE ENEMIES OF AMERICA,” said “now is the time to set destructive partisanship aside.”

Eventually, disgusted Americans will force Republicans to act. Until then, here’s a thought: We don’t have a prayer.

Correction:  "Eventually, disgusted Americans will force Republicans out of office..."  Fixed it.

National Shame

You couldn't toss a rock this morning and not hit a news story, an editorial or op/ ed about neo- fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump's un- American Muslim ban.

Our first order of business is to debunk Rump's and his cast of lying sycophants' claim that only 109 people are being affected by the Muslim ban. That would be off by a magnitude of several tens of thousands: it's more like 90,000.  Always remember these poor excuses for human beings are pathological liars.

Now, here are a few opinions that caught our eye (as always, please check out the full piece at the link).

Frequent blind squirrel and former Bush speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson rips Rump a new one:

The image of President Trump, flanked by Vice President Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis, signing an executive order that (among other things) excludes Syrian refugees from the United States, is indelible. Three powerful American leaders, targeting and dehumanizing some of the most vulnerable people on Earth. A picture of bullying. A picture of cruelty. A picture of national shame.

You can skip Gerson's last paragraph, where he feels obliged to cite Ronnie Reagan as a counterpoint. Reagan, of course, is the spiritual father of these assorted white nationalists and nihilists running the show now. Look it up on Breitbart or WND ("wing nut daily"), Gerson. They see all kinds of similarities.

Catherine Rampell reminds us of the colossal cowardice and hypocrisy that's part of the Republican Party's DNA:

Where, exactly, is the red line for Republicans in Congress right now? 

We have a president with pronounced authoritarian tendencies, who believes he “alone can fix it”; who signs sweeping executive orders reportedly without even briefing relevant Cabinet members on the logistical, humanitarian and national security consequences; who directs his staff and surrogates to lie about the tiniest and most ridiculous and easily fact-checkable of details; and whose staffers brought us to the brink of a constitutional crisis when they ignored federal court orders. [snip] 

A mere year ago, Republican leaders condemned Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) said it was “not conservatism.” Then-Gov. Mike Pence (Ind.) called it “offensive and unconstitutional.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) called it “completely and totally inconsistent with American values.” Senator and then-presidential-candidate Marco Rubio (Fla.) agreed, saying, “It violates a lot of the things that we think about our country.”

Maybe when perceive that their own skinny necks are on the electoral chopping block they'll suddenly see that "red line." Or not.

Jonathan Alter on "the least American president of the United States":

The most striking thing about President Trump’s first 10 days in office is that the ardent nationalist who pledged to put “America first” is emerging as the least American president of the United States. 

By least American, I mean least connected to the larger democratic values that define the country. 

Our national identity is unique in the world because it’s based not on race, religion, or country of origin, but on ideals that transcend party 

Such ideals are at odds with a president who lies promiscuously, destabilizes the government with impulsive, discriminatory, and inhumane policies backed up with jarring firings, and cannot allow his White House to apologize or admir error under any circumstances, even for neglecting to mention Jews in a Holocaust commemoration. Those are the telltale signs of a foreign dictator, not an American leader. 

This morning*, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to confirm as Attorney General slimy neo- Confederate weasel Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (KKK- AL) who is said to have had his hand in the Muslim ban order as well as other un- American actions by this White (supremacist) House junta.  With that knowledge alone, as we say in the post below, if there's one Democrat on the committee or in the full Senate who votes for this "thing," he or she should be written out of the Democratic Party.  Period.'

* The vote today was delayed, not in small part because the Russo Republicans couldn't keep their half-assed members in the room long enough to vote.

After The "Venomous Charlatan" There Won't Be A "Curative Experience"

Setting aside all that he has done in his 40- plus year to get us to this point, we offer George Effing Will on the Republicans' "venomous charlatan:"

Today, however, Trump should stay atop the ticket, for four reasons. First, he will give the nation the pleasure of seeing him join the one cohort, of the many cohorts he disdains, that he most despises — “losers.” Second, by continuing to campaign in the spirit of St. Louis, he can remind the nation of the useful axiom that there is no such thing as rock bottom. Third, by persevering through Nov. 8 he can simplify the GOP’s quadrennial exercise of writing its post-campaign autopsy, which this year can be published Nov. 9 in one sentence: “Perhaps it is imprudent to nominate a venomous charlatan.” Fourth, Trump is the GOP’s chemotherapy, a nauseating but, if carried through to completion, perhaps a curative experience.

Likewise, Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, former speechwriter for Dumbya and obtuse moralist, has a few questions for those in his party not enthralled by neo- fascist banana Republican Donald "Rump" Trump:

To many people outside the talk-radio hothouse, I can attest, Trump’s debate performance was appalling, contemptible, shameful, squalid, vile. Do we really want a president who views the rule of law as a means to imprison his opposition? A president who dismisses talk of sexual assault on the theory that boys will be boys? A president who urges a foreign power to hack his opponent, then excuses that power when it is caught? A president who accuses his opponent of killing American soldiers based on a position he actually took himself? 

As one might expect, though, Gerson pins the blame on Republicans "devaluing the calling of public service."  Really.  How about those 40- plus years of enemies lists, Southern strategy, welfare queens, Willie Horton, Whitewater, yellow cake uranium, Swift boating, birtherism, 47 percent takers, Citizens United, Voting Rights Act gutting, Benghazi!!, etc., ad nauseam.

Since they can't bear the truth, that "curative experience" Will talks about?  Not gonna happen.

BONUS:  Driftglass sticks it to Parson Gerson for his endless dissembling.

The "Infantile Hunger" Of A Raging Narcissist

Some Republican pundits are not being "nice" to neo- fascist sociopathic narcissist Donald "Rum" Trump this morning in the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle.  We hear from two whose powers of analysis end when it comes to acknowledging the fetid swamp from which their party's candidate grew, and their diligent participation in creating said swamp over the past 40 or so years. Nevertheless, go for it, guys.

Charles "Kraphammer" Krauthammer takes note of Rump's basic criterion for judging everything (spoiler alert: it's all about Rump):

... To understand Trump, you have to grasp the General Theory: He judges every action, every pronouncement, every person by a single criterion — whether or not it/he is “nice” to Trump. [snip] 

You’re a fan of his, he’s a fan of yours. And vice versa. Treat him “unfairly” and you will pay. House speaker, Gold Star mother, it matters not. [snip]

... Trump’s hypersensitivity and unedited, untempered Pavlovian responses are, shall we say, unusual in both ferocity and predictability. 

This is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism where the world outside himself has value — indeed exists — only insofar as it sustains and inflates him.

Of course, Rump had already proven Kraphammer's point back in July 2015, when Rump mocked Kraphammer's paralysis, saying, “I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand. Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?”  

Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson is again not being "nice" to Rump this morning, noting Rump's many pathologies, among them Rump's basic criterion in life that we just saw spelled out above:

... To quote myself from a January column: “We are witnessing what happens when a narcissist who thinks he is at the center of the universe is actually placed at the center of the universe.” Trump’s political judgments seem mostly based on how others view him, making Vladimir Putin a friend and Paul Ryan an enemy. On policy, Trump claims to know more than experts while displaying stunning ignorance. He lies with disturbing ease. He seems to lack the gene for empathy.

We'd like to be sympathetic, in that you're calling out Rump and refusing to support him, unlike moral cowards like Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan, Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell, and most of the Republican Party establishment.  That said, there is that little detail about the last 40 years of pandering to ignorance, racism, bigotry, xenophobia, etc., etc.

So, bottom line: You birthed him, you grew him, you own him.  Sad!

Today's Cartoon And Reading - An Evil Fool And Fraud

(click on image to enlarge)


(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

We needn't go further than the op/ ed pages of the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle for today's cartoon and fusillade of truth concerning neo- fascist ignoramus Donald "Rump" Trump.  These deep dives give you the flavor of the pieces, but please go to the links for the full effect.

Eugene Robinson on Trump's self- inflated myth- making:

Donald Trump looked like a fool and a fraud on Sunday. But what else is new?

Even the most ardent Trumpistas would have to admit that Trump’s appearance at the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally was, as spectacles go, pretty pathetic. It was supposed to be a vast, multitudinous gathering on the plaza in front of the Lincoln Memorial, one of the greatest and most historic public spaces in the nation. Instead, Trump drew a paltry crowd estimated by organizers at perhaps 5,000.

As Trump might say in a late-night tweet: “Sad!”

The presumptive Republican nominee cut a ridiculous figure, sporting a red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap to guard against rogue breezes that might unhinge his comb-over. He lamented the attendance: “I thought this would be like Dr. Martin Luther King, where the people would be lined up from here all the way to the Washington Monument, right?”

He claimed that the anticipated throng was out there, but “unfortunately, they don’t allow ’em to come in.” That was a lie; there were no hordes outside the security perimeter, pleading for admittance. Since everyone present could easily discern the truth, Trump must have been lying to himself — perhaps to ease the sting of what can only be seen as an awful week for his campaign.

As Trump showed the world, it is relatively easy to run for president if you are willing to say or do anything to get attention and you believe in nothing except your own self-inflated myth. His reality-television-style campaign overwhelmed a badly fractured Republican Party. But the act is getting harder to pull off because now his words, often chosen for their shock value, have real consequences.

Former Dumbya speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, whose world does not include mirrors, still points the finger... away:

Some Republicans keep expecting Trump to finally remove the mask of misogyny, prejudice and cruelty and act in a more presidential manner. But it is not a mask. It is his true face. Good Republican leaders making the decision to support Trump will end up either humiliated by the association, or betrayed and attacked for criticizing the great leader. Trump leaves no other options.

Here is the problem in sum: Republicans have not been given the option of choosing the lesser of two evils. The GOP has selected someone who is unfit to be president, lacking the temperament, stability, judgment and compassion to occupy the office. This is a terrible error, which has probably cost conservatives a majority on the Supreme Court. But the mistake was made by Republican primary voters in choosing Trump — not by those who can’t, in good conscience, support him.  

Frequent blind squirrel Richard Cohen comes out of a decades- long coma and is surprised (!) by the capitulation of the amoral, shitsack Republican "establishment" and fears the easy- come fascism of a broad swath of Americans:

When I see these Trump supporters on television — the commentators, the Politician’s Puttanesca (a dish to poison the body politic) — I have to wonder where they would draw the line. The answer seems to be: nowhere. They want to win. They want to beat Hillary Clinton, a calling so imperative that sheer morality must give way. Muslims and Mexicans are merely collateral damage in a war that must be fought. What about blacks or Jews? Not yet.

Maybe the talking heads on TV would draw the line at some mild version of fascism, but would the American people do the same? Here, I must hesitate. The easy yes of yesteryear has given way to awful doubt. Trump could win. He could become president, commander in chief, ruler of the Justice Department and head of the IRS. In other words, the American people could elect someone who has not the slightest appreciation for the Constitution or American tradition. When Trump insisted that he could compel a military officer to obey an illegal order, I heard the echo of jackboots on cobblestone.  [snip]

History nags. It admonishes. “American exceptionalism” is a phrase that refers to the past, not necessarily the future. Nothing is guaranteed. I’d like to think that Americans really are exceptional, that we have an exceptional faith in democracy and the rule of law. I now have some doubt. I always knew who Trump was. It’s the American people who have come as a surprise.

Quote Of The Day - The Extreme, The Dim And The Intolerant

Former Dumbya speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson:

He [Trump] doesn’t employ the careful words of a politician. He is so appealingly unprepared. So refreshingly ignorant. So disarmingly half-baked.

But the durability of Trump’s appeal creates a conundrum for many Republicans. For decades, some of us have argued that the liberal stereotype of Republicans as extreme, dim and intolerant is inaccurate and unfair. But here is a candidate for president who fully embodies the liberal stereotype of Republicans — who thinks this is the way a conservative should sound — and has found support from a committed plurality of the party.

If the worst enemies of conservatism were to construct a Frankenstein figure that represents the worst elements of right-wing politics, Donald Trump would be it. But it is Republicans who are giving him life. And the damage is already deep. 

At what point does a "stereotype" cross over into becoming empirical fact?  We'd argue it's when nearly your entire party supports not just the well- documented lunacy of Trump, but also "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz and the very not-"moderate" John Kasich.  That's a wingnut trifecta and a sign your party in toto is "extreme, dim and intolerant."

Super Tuesday Cartoon And Commentary - The Reckoning (UPDATED)

(click on image to enlarge)



(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

As Charles Pierce notes in the pre-mortem excerpted below, the long- awaited reckoning of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Shooter's Party will likely begin with today's Super Tuesday primary voting taking place in 11 states.

The panic over this reckoning is deep and wide among Republicans who, up until now, have been perfectly happy to ride the seething, misdirected resentment of right- wing white folks into control of both houses of Congress, countless governorships and state legislatures, and the occasional Presidency.  The angst was palpable in the past 24 hours, just in the confines of the once great Washington Post's Bezos Bugle's stable of right- wing hacks.

Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, speechwriter for the Bush assministration:

We have seen the lengths to which Trump will go to threaten and intimidate his enemies, armed mainly with social media. It seems reckless beyond reason — reckless with the republic itself — to arm him with the immense power of the executive branch. Consider the inherently threatening quality of the words “Trump’s military” or “Trump’s FBI” or “Trump’s IRS.” The grant of vast influence to a leader of such vindictive temperament is utterly frightening. 

Ed Rogers, Republican lobbyist and consultant:

Again, I missed the Trump phenomenon. And I continue to not understand it. I’m afraid that in order for me to “get it,” I’ll have to assume some things about my fellow Republicans that I have spent decades denying. But for the time being, I hold fast to the belief that the vast majority of Republicans are not stupid, are not racist and, if anything, their biggest sin is that they are sometimes too committed to honorable core principles to work effectively within a government that requires compromise.

Jennifer Rubin, Republican hack and unrequited lover of Willard Romney and Paul Ryan, on Republicans who said they could support Rump if nominated:

These are not bad people, nor do they support Trump. But they fail to recognize that there are only two choices in 2016: Someone other than Trump gets the nomination, or there is no unified GOP (at the least for the 2016 presidential race, and perhaps permanently). Ironically, it is sometimes more difficult to recognize a tectonic shift is underway than it is to recognize small shifts. The former prompts denial and a desire to cling to what is known, even if it what is known is on the verge of extinction.

Of course, none of their analyses come to grips with the fact that their party has been going off the rails, with their avid encouragement, for going on 40 years now.  They're shocked, shocked! that this uncouth fellow Trump, with his malevolent bullhorn, is undoing all the work of their very successful multi- decades- long dog whistling.   If they weren't such awful people, it would be almost pitiful.

UPDATE:  Here's a look at a Rump- friendly rabble- rousing outfit and the deep thoughts of some of their vicious Stormtrumper readers.

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party - The Gloom And Doom Sets In (UPDATED)

There are several dispatches to relay this morning (please have your popcorn buttered and ready!):

-- Neo- fascist fartbag Donald "Rump" Trump has a "very special guest" who'll be (we all presume) making an endorsement today* in Iowa =cough=sneeze= Snowbilly Grifter Sarah Palin =cough=.   Just the thought of it is causing some pearl- clutching on the right.

-- The looming inevitability of either a Rump or Sen. "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz nomination is driving "establishment" Republican hacks into heavy palpitations.  Driftglass covers David Bobo Brooks' cri de coeur:

[Brooks] The idea that most women, independents or mainstream order-craving suburbanites would back a guy who declares his admiration for Vladimir Putin is a mirage. The idea that the G.O.P. can march into the 21st century intentionally alienating every person of color is borderline insane.

Worse is the prospect that one of them might somehow win...

[Driftglass] Shorter David Brooks: Oh my holy stars and bars! When did the Republican Party fill up with all these... Republicans!

While over at the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, former Dumbya hack Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson despairs for the future of the party:

For Republicans, the only good outcome of Trump vs. Cruz is for both to lose. The future of the party as the carrier of a humane, inclusive conservatism now depends on some viable choice beyond them. 

For the response to which, we must crib Driftglass' shorter, above, for "Mushroom Cloud's" detached- from- reality vision:

 Oh my holy stars and bars!  When did the Republican Party fill up with all these... Republicans!

-- Meanwhile, desperate, professional Republican ratf*ckers like Karl "Turdblossom" Rove are busy trying to damage Hillary Clinton by (such geniuses!) boosting Sen. Bernie Sanders:

Sean Spicer, the chief strategist and spokesman for the RNC, spent much of the evening tweeting Sanders-friendly commentary on the debate, often with the pro-Sanders hashtag #FeelTheBern. At one point, Spicer gently chided Sanders for what he deemed a poor response to a question and added, “come on we are trying to help u.”

After the debate, the Republican political action committee America Rising promoted the narrative that Sanders won the debate. “Clinton needed a win last night. Instead, everyone is talking about how well Bernie Sanders, her chief rival, did,” spokesman Jeff Bechdel wrote to reporters.

Meanwhile, American Crossroads, a group co-founded by Karl Rove, is airing an ad in Iowa bolstering a core tenet of Sanders’s case against Clinton: that she has received large sums of campaign contributions from Wall Street, and therefore can't be trusted to crack down on big banks.

When your party and its candidates for President are toxic disaster zones, ratf*cking and laughable diversions about the best you can hope to do.

* UPDATE:  Well, it's official - Tweedledumb is endorsed by, well, Tweedledumber:

Just in: Politician turned reality show star endorses reality show star turned politician.

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) January 19, 2016

UPDATE 2:  As our Silver Spring Bureau Chief notes in the comments, Mama Grizzly's son Trek Trap Turd Track was arrested on assault and domestic violence charges last night.  What a great American family!

UPDATE 3:  And who's to blame for Trash Trek Turd Track's domestic violence and general Palin-style assholery?  Why, President Obama, of course!

Marco Rubio Haz Policies On "Other Things" (Spoiler Alert: They're Not Good)

Desperate for an "establishment" Republican to act as a bulwark against rampaging loons Donald "Rump" Trump and Sen. "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz, hacks like former Bush speechwriter and very Moderate Republican Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson are casting about for a savior and given precious air time on PBS of all places:

MICHAEL GERSON: I will tell you one hopeful issue for 2016.

With the right lineup, with, say, President Rubio and Speaker Ryan, both of them have tried, from the Republican side, to engage the issue of poverty. Paul Ryan has traveled the country looking at examples of community-based efforts. Rubio has put out serious policy on EITC and other things.  (our emphasis)

Ah, yes, hep generation gusano Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio (R-MIAmi), "establishment" Republican hopeful has "serious" policies on..." other things."  Let's hear what those glorious "other things" might be (via No More Mister Nice Blog):

This is a man who has a lifetime ACU [American Conservative Union] rating of 98 out of 100. A man who hasa perfect rating from the NRA in the U.S. Senate. A man who earned scores of 100 in 2014, 100 in 2013, 71 in 2012, and 100 in 2011 from the Family Research Council. A “Taxpayer Super Hero” with a lifetime rating of 95 from Citizens Against Government Waste. A man Club for Growth president David McIntosh called “a complete pro-growth, free-market, limited-government conservative.” ...

Rubio’s the guy who earned a 100 from National Right to Life in two straight cycles, and a zero rating from NARAL. He supports an abortion ban after 20 weeks, opposes exceptions for rape and incest (although he’s voted for legislation that includes those exceptions), and opposes embryonic stem-cell research....

Rubio opposes gay marriage and has said that “we are at the water’s edge of the argument that mainstream Christian teaching is hate speech. Today we’ve reached the point in our society where if you do not support same-sex marriage you are labeled a homophobe and a hater.” He recorded robo-calls for the National Organization for Marriage....

He wants to raise the retirement age for those under 55....

Rubio opposes raising the minimum wage....

Not to mention, there's no war he's not in favor of.   (And a murderous, felonious in- law he's willing to vouch for.)  He seems like just the candidate to lead us into the 21st Century 19th Century!

So clearly, judging from the list above, he's an "establishment" Republican.  The only surprise is that there are still people who think that means anything but straight- up reactionary crackpot.

(Image:  We can just picture him in the Oval Office.)

Apocalypse -- No

Establishment Republican hack and former Dumbya speechwriter Michael Gerson seems to have had a long- delayed, yet self- serving and probably short- lived "epiphany" concerning the extremist, apocalyptic rhetoric that has been the hallmark of Republican politics for decades (a tradition to which he gladly contributed - he didn't get the nickname "Mushroom Cloud" for nothing).  Much like David "Bobo" Brooks' recent discovery that the party he both promoted and made excuses for over the years had "suddenly" become "willfully ignorant" and "incompetent," Gerson has this moment of clarity today about the party that he both promoted and made excuses for over the years, starting with the admission that America isn't "going to hell":

The United States has a long list of social and economic challenges, disturbingly (and unjustly) concentrated in certain communities. But we are not slouching toward Gomorrah. Over the past few decades, divorce rates and abortion rates have both declined. Levels of violent crime have dropped dramatically. The U.S. economy, for all its problems, still attracts the world’s capital and the world’s best students. We have a wonderful country, thank you, flawed and free, carrying the highest political ideals of humanity, always capable of hope and healing. [snip]

Apocalyptic rhetoric is more than the evidence of historical ignorance and bad speechwriting. It leads to a distorted politics. If the United States has reached its midnight hour, it means that the institutions that have gotten us here are utterly discredited. The normal avenues of political reform are useless. Proposals for incremental policy change are so much deck-chair arranging. Political persuasion and compromise evince a lack of urgency. What we really need is to call a constitutional convention. Or to conduct a massive police action removing 11 million undocumented immigrants. Or to elect a really strong leader who knocks heads and sets everything straight.  [snip]

Trump and Carson can succeed only if the end times are upon us. And I don’t mean that in a theological way. In normal times, innovative policy and governing skill would matter most in selecting a president. Successful governors and legislators would naturally rise to the top. Only in a crisis of institutional legitimacy does the outsider become the savior. This means Trump, Carson and other apocalyptic politicians must encourage a mental state of emergency among Republicans. Lacking any relevant qualifications in the current political system, these candidates must bring that system into complete disrepute. Since the politicians have made such a hash of things, they insist, a businessman or a neurosurgeon couldn’t possibly do worse.  (our emphasis)

Oh, yes they could.

It's funny how, when the enraged pitchfork- wielding yahoos that you've cultivated are finally coming after you, the clouds -- even mushroom clouds -- part and the truth finally ekes out.

UPDATE:  Driftglass takes us back a short while to demonstrate Gerson's complicity.

Republican "Establishment" Doesn't Like When Chickens Come Home To Roost

We offer more proof today that at least part of the Republican "establishment" is in serious panic mode and is going after the candidate most representative of the id of the Republican "base" (i.e., the "salad forks" vs. the "pitchforks").  As noted below, however, Donald "Rump" Trump is still given an audience on GOP-TV (a.k.a., Fox "News"), having "cleared the air" with chairman Roger "Jabba the Nut" Ailes.  It's a glorious, ongoing trainwreck that's freeing the chickens to come home to roost.

Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson whistles past the graveyard while simultaneously calling for a frontal assault on Rump Trump:

Trump will flame out. And since he is constitutionally incapable of accepting fault, he will blame the GOP for arson. As someone prone to conspiracy theories — on presidential birth records, vaccines and the scheming Mexican government — Trump is probably gathering string to prove a plot against him involving Megyn Kelly, the GOP establishment and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. So he is keeping his third-party options open.  [snip]

The best, maybe only, option is to ensure that his poll numbers deflate quickly, making it obvious that a lavish campaign for the Republican nomination and, later, the difficult task of getting on 50 ballots will end in humiliation. This will require establishment Republicans to stop playing political bank shots off his rise and make clear he has moved beyond the boundaries of serious and civil discourse. And it will require conservative populists to recognize that an alliance with Trump is effectively tying their movement to an anvil (the RedState summit disinvitation is a good start).   (our emphasis)

We don't recall Mushroom Cloud ever rising up in righteous indignation when fellow right-wingers "moved beyond the boundaries of serious and civil discourse" in viciously attacking President Obama over the past 6- plus years.  Or in their baseless attacks on Hillary Clinton.  Apparently for Mushroom Cloud, "serious and civil discourse" only applies to wingnut interactions.  Good to know.

Meanwhile, at the once great Washington Post's Bezos Bugle's kiddie table, former "Millionaire Mitt" Romney fan girl and neocon warrior- with- other- people's- children Jennifer Rubin takes a moment away from the "nasty rhetoric" she normally trains on President Obama to accuse Rump's lower- profile predecessors of ... well, remember, Rubin has YOOGE irony and self-awareness deficits:

Trump now threatens to gobble up Trumpism’s antecedents. The beast has turned on them. RedState founder Erick Erickson, who for years peddled in nasty rhetoric and defamed the “establishment,” discovers, “Listen, if having common decency to other people makes you part of the establishment, I guess I am. I mean, if you can’t be nice to someone who asks you a tough question, then okay, I guess I am. If being a member of the establishment is recognizing that there are bounds you shouldn’t cross, and if you do you should apologize, then I guess I am.” Well, isn’t that rich? Erickson would like to blame the Republican Party for Trump, but the responsibility lies with him and others who promoted this style of politics and discourse for years.

Serious conservatives who dabbled in Trumpism now see its full flowering. Less serious conservative racketeers (e.g., the groups who cheered the shutdown) see the limitations of its appeal and its embarrassing attributes. And GOP primary voters may have been roused from their slumber, aware there is, as former Texas governor Rick Perry put it, a  “cancer” growing on conservatism.  (our emphasis)

As a "conservative racketeer" herself (be honest with yourself, Jen), Rubin won't acknowledge that so-called "establishment" Republicans express the same out- of- the- mainstream views as Rump Trump, albeit in dog whistles and focus group- tested language.

Speaking of Rick "Oops" Perry, what's become of the candidate dearest to Rubin's heart?

Former Texas governor Rick Perry's presidential campaign is no longer paying its staff because fundraising has dried up, while his cash-flush allied super PAC is preparing to expand its political operation to compensate for the campaign's shortcomings, campaign and super PAC officials and other Republicans familiar with the operation said late Monday.

Oops.

Being On The Wrong Side Of History Has Its Costs

Dumbya's speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, clutches his pearls and wanks about the President's speech on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington this past Wednesday, especially the President's mention of income inequality, health care, unemployment, and those arrayed to obstruct progress:

What possessed the president, in the midst of a fine speech, to employ language appropriate to the Democratic National Convention? However accurate or inaccurate you regard these charges, it is not a good sign when polarization seeps into ceremonial celebrations.

The BooMan today:

In some abstract way, mainstream Republicans wanted to honor Dr. King's most magnificent speech, even to the point of falsely claiming King as a member of their party. But, confronted with people who sounded a lot like the speakers who appeared that day fifty years ago, they felt that the whole thing was being politicized. Well, if you don't like the politics of the Civil Rights Era and it's leaders and proponents, then why commemorate them? Why not condemn them?

But to ask people to take the politics of social justice out of the commemoration is to try to appropriate to yourself something that doesn't belong to you.  (our emphasis)

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Wanker of the Week

I have to wonder if Kaplan Daily op/ed Rethuglican hack Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson is a pathological liar or simply nuts. Check out his whining screed (sorry no link -- I refuse to subscribe to the Kaplan Daily, so you have to go to www.washingtonpost.com and look) complaining that Obama is finally fighting back against the forces that have been determined since Day One of his presidency not to give an inch, not to allow him -- or the American people -- any victories, whose primary mission was to ensure Obama's defeat in 2012 (Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell), who have slimed him with de-legitimizing non-issues (birthers), and on and on. So, it's Obama who is to blame for all of this? So, fighting back against your implacable foes on the far right means you've abandoned "post-partisanship" (whatever the hell that ever was)?

Does this jackass really expect any sentient person who is even modestly acquainted with the past 3 years of American history to take this nonsense seriously?

(Photo: Is that your head, or a large post-partisan pustule?)

Randian Adolescence

Some of the friction we've been noting in the right-wing ranks involves the fault line between "traditional conservatives" (i.e., "tards") and libertarians (i.e., "libertards"). Other fissures involve not so much ideology as pathology: i.e., the "outright nut" camp (Boo Hoo Beck, Bachmann, et al) versus the camp willing to exploit the "outright nut" camp (call them the "cynical hypocrites" -- Gingrich, Pawlenty, Trump, to varying degrees). We enjoy watching the fracturing, of course, as seen in the polling of potential Rethug candidates, where a substantial majority is unhappy with the selections to date.

In today's Kaplan Daily, former Bushie speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, who for the time being falls in the "tard" camp, goes after the "adolescent" worshipers of Ayn Rand who occupy the most fetid swamps of the far right. Give credit to Gerson, though, for having enough sack to take on the brittle Randian ideology so forcefully. But let's keep the circular firing squad going, shall we?!

Quote of the Day

"...since Sept. 11, 2001, America has found Muslim allies willing to die at our side in the fight against Islamic radicalism. Just to demonstrate some connection to reality, perhaps conservatives should delay their criticisms of Islam's irredeemable violence until after the inspiring, courageous, mainly peaceful protests of Muslims in the Middle East draw to a close. For some conservatives, liberty is found only in their private stock, aged in Anglo-Saxon cellars, to be sipped and savored at their leisure. But much of the world, it turns out, is thirsty and cares little about the vintage." -- Conservative columnist Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson in today's Kaplan Daily, proving once again that a even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. Extra bonus points for him naming elitist wordsmiths George "Quill" Will and Peggy "Nooners" Noonan as offenders. Kudos to him.

Turkey Leftovers

To our American audience, we hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your family, with lots of turkey and all the trimmings. [Pardon the obvious segue here -->] Hey, speaking of turkeys...

-- In today's Kaplan Daily, asshat Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson, former Dumbya speechwriter, makes another laughable attempt at polemical ju-jitsu, claiming progressive policies have failed in the past 2 years. To the limited extent progressive policies have been enacted by the fearful marginalists in Congress, is he referring to the stimulus that kept us from Great Depression II, or the GM/Chrysler bailout that appears to have re-energized the auto industry -- all with little or no Rethug support? Or perhaps he's referring to TARP (enacted under Dumbya) that stabilized the financial sector, or to health reform, which will insure 30 million uninsured Americans and drive down the deficit over the next decade? Yes, you make a solid, sane argument, Mushroom Cloud.

-- In a radio interview with Professor Glenn "Boo Hoo the Hoot" Beck, noted historian and geopolitical scholar Sarah "Wasilla Quitta" Palin boldly recommends that the U.S. stand with its "North Korean allies." By all means! And we need to keep our troops in Iran and Albertastan, Mr. Obama! UPDATE: The thin-skinned half-wit fires back!

The Most Dishonest Columnist Strikes Again

Wanker extraordinaire and holder of the "Most Dishonest Columnist" trophy Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson has another gem in today's Kaplan Daily. This time he's trying to convince anyone who's been in a coma for the past 9 months to believe it's Obama and the Democrats who are acting "small" by actually pushing back against the unrelenting Rethug attacks. The birthers, teabaggers, town hall clowns, secessionists, socialist/ fascist/ Hitler smears, Limpballs, Boo-Hoo, Manatee, "Waterloo," "Party of No," etc., that's the work of the true midgets in American politics. Oh, add Mushroom Cloud to that list, too.

(Photo: Is this a douche bag or what?!)