(click on images to enlarge)
(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)
(Robert Ariail, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, SC)
(Ann Telnaes, Washington Post)
(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Lalo Alcaraz, LA Weekly)
(Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal)
(Bob Eckstein, Weekly Humorist)
Republicans' classroom spying and snitching bills (cont.) --
NEW: Iowa Republicans have introduced a bill that would put government-installed cameras in every single classroom to livestream school activities for parents to spy on teachers and children at all times of the day.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) February 2, 2022
Oklahoma bill would fire teachers for offending Christian morals by teaching biology #lesbian #gay #bisexual #transgender #queer https://t.co/9400he4krk
— LGBTQ Nation (@lgbtqnation) February 2, 2022
Normalizing a treasonous coup conspirator --
Masked Singer judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke walked off the set in protest after the first unmasked Season 7 contestant turned out to be Rudy Giuliani. https://t.co/DAyufuXlIv
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 3, 2022
Imagine deciding that it was time to laundry the image of one Rudy Giuliani by making him the masked singer.
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) February 3, 2022
The Incrimination --
They filmed themselves fraudulently declaring themselves “duly elected.” Good job guys! https://t.co/BHaVbecymQ
— Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) February 2, 2022
Lying Republican liars lie --
"I am proud that Senator Rubio and I were able to help secure an unprecedented $1 billion for Everglades restoration ..."
— Scott Maxwell (@Scott_Maxwell) February 3, 2022
- Rick Scott
"But Scott didn’t vote for the law that’s funding the Everglades project. Neither did Sen. Marco Rubio..."
- Politifacthttps://t.co/wxTIfwxMZ0
Don't knock it unless you've taken it --
Fantastic story on how a conservative white U of Mississippi law student who hoped to have a future in Republican politics is taking a Critical Race Theory class & calls it "the most impactful & enlightening course I have taken."
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) February 3, 2022
From @mintamolly: https://t.co/tFO97BpLTm
It was all good, until it wasn't --
making use of technology pic.twitter.com/y1FAgCiulC
— Fred Schultz. (@fredSchultz36) February 2, 2022
A California couple infamous for painting over a Black Lives Matter street display has been charged with burglary of a deceased man's home and possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell it. David Nelson and Nicole Anderson were already facing felony charges of vandalism and civil rights violation for painting over a BLM street display in July, 2020, as they wore red Trump t-shirts. According to The Mercury News:
"New felony charges have been filed against the couple that was caught on camera painting over a Black Lives Matter mural in downtown Martinez, and this time they’re charged with burglarizing a dead man’s home in Walnut Creek.
David Nelson, 54, and Nicole Anderson, 43, were charged Jan. 12 with second degree burglary, a felony. Additionally, Nelson is charged with two counts of possessing methamphetamine for sale; authorities say nearly a half-pound of methamphetamine was seized in the investigation. [snip]
The couple are due in court Feb. 7 for an arraignment hearing, in Martinez, records show." (our emphasis)
Such a nice couple, emblematic of Trump cultists nationwide. Of course fascist propagandist and lying bigot Tucker "Mothertucker" Carlson praised the racist couple after their 2020 arrest for defacing the BLM street display, saying it was a "brave thing for them to do." Now the couple faces more time in jail to contemplate their bravery.
(photo: Vandals Anderson and Nelson caught in the act. YouTube)
This morning President Biden announced a successful special forces operations raid early today on a compound in northwestern Syria had eliminated ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, with no reported loss of American lives:
Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation. Thanks to the bravery of our Armed Forces, we have removed from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 3, 2022
https://t.co/lsYQHE9lR9
According to the Associated Press:
"Residents said helicopters flew overhead and U.S. forces clashed with gunmen for more than two hours around a two-story house surrounded by olive trees. They described continuous gunfire and explosions that jolted the sleepy village of Atmeh near the Turkish border, an area dotted with camps for internally displaced people from Syria’s civil war. [snip]
A journalist on assignment for The Associated Press and several residents said they saw body parts scattered near the site of the raid, a house in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province. Most residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals."
President Biden is expected to address the nation at 9:30 a.m. EST today (his remarks can be found here).
(photo: via BBC)
February is Black History Month, and nothing is more offensive to the neo-Nazi / alt Right than recognizing the contributions and struggles of African-Americans. A series of bomb threats to numerous Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) recently had led to a potential link to a white supremacist, neo-Nazi group, the Atomwaffen Division:
"A caller who threatened to blow up a historically Black university in Florida — one of numerous threats made against schools across the nation — described an elaborate plot involving seven bombs hidden in duffel bags and backpacks around the school’s perimeter, a Florida police chief said.
In a 20-minute phone call, the caller said the bombs containing C-4 explosives would be detonated at Bethune-Cookman University on Monday, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said at a news conference. The caller also said a gunman would open fire on the campus around lunchtime the same day, Young said. [snip]
Investigators have identified at least five “persons of interest,” a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The investigators believe a spoofed phone number was used to make the threats, the official said. [snip]
'This investigation is of the highest priority for the [FBI] and involves more than 20 FBI field offices across the country,' the agency said. 'These threats are being investigated as Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism and hate crimes.'
In Florida, Young said the caller with whom he spoke claimed to be affiliated with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division." (our emphasis)
The so-called Atomwaffen Division is a designated hate group, organized in "terror cells" and which "fetishizes violence as the only vehicle for apocalyptic, racial cleansing", according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
The new domestic terrorism task force set up by the Justice Department appears to be in pursuit of this collection of sad, psychopathic misfits, and the sooner they're behind bars the better.
(click on images to enlarge)
(Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)
(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)
(Steve Benson, Arizona Mirror)
(Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer)
(Ann Telnaes, Washington Post)
(Jimmy Margulies, jimmymargulies.com)
(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)
(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Mort Gerberg, @mortgerberg)
Trump enabler leaves CNN, acknowledging improper relationship --
CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker said Wednesday that he is resigning, effective immediately https://t.co/DIScqPtUHB
— CNN (@CNN) February 2, 2022
Reminder --
Reminder: this wasn’t supposed to serve as a model for future presidents. https://t.co/mhwlgf28rx pic.twitter.com/MOOK2UmY6F
— Julian Zelizer (@julianzelizer) February 2, 2022
“Trump said Pence ‘could have overturned the election,’ acknowledging for the 1st time that the aim of the pressure campaign focused on Pence had been to change the election’s result, not just buy time to root out supposed fraud, as he had long insisted.”https://t.co/AKlwMSUoT9
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 2, 2022
Meanwhile, the media plays its vital role in killing democracy ("But her emails!") --
Ok, sure. pic.twitter.com/smMovhHER3
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 1, 2022
Sen. John "Cornpone" Kennedy (BCL- Oxford) cosplaying to the peanut gallery --
Good morning, I gasped when I read this pic.twitter.com/nldTrTXn7k
— Melanie Schmitz-Psomas (@MelsLien) February 2, 2022
Loyal rectal barnacle Aunt Pittypat gets thrown under the bus by the cult leader --
Imagine how upsetting it must be for Lindsey Graham to hear this while barnacled to the inside of Trump’s rectum. https://t.co/x4NuEyxt7G
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) February 2, 2022
Speaking of rodents, it's Groundhog Day --
SO SORRY FOLKS, I HAVE SEEN MY SHADOW, I PREDICT 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!#GroundhogDay #GroundHogDay2022
— Punxsutawney Phil (@PunxsatawnyPhil) February 2, 2022
It's hard to believe that the 80th birthday has come today for singer, songwriter and pop / rock icon and accomplished photographer Graham Nash. A founder of the British Invasion group The Hollies, Nash went on to form the first rock "supergroup" in 1969, Crosby, Stills and Nash (later adding Neil Young). Since 1978 a dual citizen of the U.S. and U.K, Nash is an outspoken progressive who has used his voice and talent to support environmental, anti-war and social justice causes over the years. Here are two of his signature songs with Nash singing lead vocals. Enjoy.
With the situation on the Ukrainian border remaining tense as Russian troops mobilize, Russia's autocratic thug leader Vladimir Putin entertained a fellow thug at his palatial offices in the Kremlin. Hungary's neo-fascist Viktor Orban, a favorite of the likes of Trumpist hack Tucker Carlson, gave Putin cover yesterday has he rejected the proposals of NATO and the U.S. in response to his extortionist demands that NATO not accept Ukraine as a member and to pull back its forces to pre-1997 lines (exposing much of eastern Europe).
Standing aside Putin yesterday, Orban gave Putin something he's been looking for -- a split in the NATO alliance. From the linked article:
"Visiting Moscow, Mr. Orban met privately for five hours with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and afterward said at an amiable news conference with Mr. Putin that he “did not see any intention” for Russia to escalate the conflict with Ukraine. [snip]
'The president was very calm and said that Russia’s demands for security guarantees are normal and should be the basis for negotiations,' said Mr. Orban. 'And I agree with that. We must negotiate.' [snip]
Mr. Orban, perhaps Mr. Putin’s closest ally inside the European Union, has long been accused of undermining the 27-member bloc’s common foreign policy and democratic standards. It was the 12th meeting between the two leaders since 2013.
'Mr. Orban is practically behaving like a tool of Russian foreign policy,' said Peter Kreko, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and director of Political Capital, a research group in Budapest." (our emphasis)
There are old-time Russian / Soviet stooges scattered throughout eastern Europe and elsewhere, who see their future as aligned with an aggressive and expansionist Russia, which, under Putin, is trying to reestablish the geographic and political footprint of the old Soviet Union. They, like Putin, have grasped the banner of "nationalism" to link with others around the world and here in the U.S. with the seditionist far-right. Orban's predictable betrayal at a time when NATO must show resolve in the face of Russian aggression needs to have consequences at the soonest appropriate time.
(photo: Fellow thugs Orban and Putin getting on the same page. Getty Images)
"The further Tom Brady gets from the game and the more the shine comes off him, the easier it will be to see the most stunning, essential, fact about his career: it was entirely self-made, manufactured. 'Poor build…Gets knocked down easily,' a draft scout wrote about him so infamously all those years ago. What if Brady had accepted that as the final judgment, surrendered to the opinion that it was who he was, and ever would be? Don’t ever let the seven Super Bowls and the statistical records gloss over that most vital lesson.
"Brady’s legacy is this: he proved that any kid with perfectly ordinary
athletic prospects, the middle of the packer, who doesn’t come with some
preloaded or far-fetched anatomical gift, can construct greatness. What
makes a great is an inner curiosity, an urge to see what might happen
with enough study and sweat to overcome weaknesses and fill in blanks,
and if you study and sweat hard enough for long enough, you can win
everything in sight and leave so many unattainable records etched into
the books that they might as well be written in granite." -- Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins on the retirement announcement today by University of Michigan/ New England Patriots/ Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady. We weren't fans during his professional career, but there's no denying his accomplishments.
Here's how he announced it, and how a certain fan base amusingly reacted:
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 1, 2022
The most New York tweet that has ever been tweeted. https://t.co/kYsvEROgkM
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) February 1, 2022
The many culprits helping American democracy die in plain sight --
"The Post's tag line is 'democracy dies in darkness.' No, it doesn't. If there's one thing Trump continues to demonstrate...it's that democracy dies in plain sight. And with the assistance of really crappy headlines."
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 1, 2022
My @MehdiHasanShow monologue tonight:pic.twitter.com/TZXhGnjJAI
Trump panic time! --
A new string of lies in this new Trump statement, but notably he says he wants *Pence* investigated for refusing to stop Biden’s election. pic.twitter.com/pzgpvsdEnG
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 1, 2022
America's fascistic book-banners and ... furry fighters?? --
SPECIAL REPORT: Hundreds of books have been pulled from Texas libraries for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told @NBCNews they face mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints. https://t.co/GL1A164QtU
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 1, 2022
School board meetings in IA, MI, PA, and ME have heard urban legends about furries. Parents are using furry fears to harass foes. Politicians are citing furries in school crusades. The right's dumbest new moral panic just dropped: https://t.co/jBHbPNNYQe
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) February 1, 2022
China's fascistic human rights abusers --
The ugly truths Beijing wants you to ignore during the upcoming Winter Olympics @David_Culver reports pic.twitter.com/FsF0SIs5um
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) February 1, 2022
Wisconsin's gift to America, Republican Sen. "QAnon Ron" Johnson --
This song goes out to Senator Ron Johnson. pic.twitter.com/bA9TUIwqUE
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 28, 2022
Could've fooled us, too --
I had no idea Golden Corral steaks were this good. https://t.co/E2wuMLarhA
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) February 1, 2022
(click on images to enlarge)
(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)
(Nick Anderson, Reform Austin News, TX)
(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)
(Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal)
(Chris Britt, gocomics.com)
(Kevin Kallaugher, The Economist, London)
(Tjeerd Royaards, Cartoon Movement, Amsterdam)
(Rob Rogers, Counterpoint)
(Ward Sutton, The New Yorker)
Until this morning's reporting in the New York Times, it was unclear as to the Malignant Loser's actual role in the plot to seize voting machines after his loss in the 2020 elections. The report indicates he was more directly involved than previously known:
"The new accounts show that Mr. Trump was more directly involved than previously known in exploring proposals to use his national security agencies to seize voting machines as he grasped unsuccessfully for evidence of fraud that would help him reverse his defeat in the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the episodes.
The existence of proposals to use at least three federal departments to assist Mr. Trump’s attempt to stay in power has been publicly known. The proposals involving the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security were codified by advisers in the form of draft executive orders.
But the new accounts provide fresh insight into how the former president considered and to some degree pushed the plans, which would have taken the United States into uncharted territory by using federal authority to seize control of the voting systems run by states on baseless grounds of widespread voting fraud." (our emphasis)
Trump tasked his corrupt but inept consigliere, Borat film star Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani with calling the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether they could seize the voting machines, and was told by them that they lacked the authority to do so. Previously, Trump had asked his loyal Attorney General Bill "Low" Barr to seize the machines, which Barr flatly refused to do, seeing the Trump ship sinking.
The report identifies two key players in the plot to seize voting machines were the unhinged lowIQAnon follower, the disgraced Russian stooge Michael Flynn and a former National Security Agency colleague of his Phil Waldron, who authored an infamous PowerPoint presentation detailing ways for the Malignant Loser to overturn the free and fair election. They teamed with lunatic 'lawyer" Sidney "Kraken" Powell to pitch the idea of using the military to overturn the election, a scheme that went too far even for Trumpists like Giuliani. Stay tuned.
Jimmy Kimmel covers the Malignant Loser's latest self-incrimination tour stop in Texas, including some mind- boggling quotes from some of his dim MAGAnuts, closing with a dramatic reading by Melanie Melon Third Lady Trump and the electric Dr. Ben Carson.
Happy Lunar New Year (4720 on the Chinese calendar)! It's the Year of the Tiger, specifically the Water Tiger:
2022 is a year of the Water Tiger. It starts from February 1st, 2022, and ends on January 21st, 2023. A Water Tiger year occurs every 60 years.
Years of the Tiger include 2022, 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938.….
The Tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China. The zodiac sign Tiger is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness. [snip]
Water Tiger comes from Tiger’s five elements (Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth) . 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger, which indicates a prosperous year due to the Tiger’s auspicious signs (strength, exorcising evils and braveness).
We like that "prosperous year" for everyone. Happy New Year!
