Worth Pointing Out

From Politicalprof:

Nominate anyone. ANYONE. Within five minutes the Trumpizoidal maniacs will insist that the nominee is the greatest threat to American freedom in human history. ANY of the Democratic nominees will be said to be gun-stealing socialists planning to force abortions on every girl and Venezuelan economics on the whole world.

The Trumpies will make up what can't be Googled. If you think last night's debate was unfair to your candidate, you are profoundly naive. If the Democratic candidates can't take what they faced on that stage last night they'll never be able to face the onslaught of deranged bile that will be coming their way from the Trumpizoidal maniacs.

You can't worry about Trump. You already know what's coming from Trump. You have to mobilize vast numbers of voters and purge the Trumpsters from society to a degree their grandchildren will feel a genetic need to change their last names.

Vote your heart in the primary. Vote blue in the general.

He's Not My First Choice…

…but I'm liking Mike more and more with each passing day, if only because he's getting under the orange Russian Wig Stand's skin and calling him out directly:

 

An Open Letter to Elizabeth and Bernie

Knock it off.

Knock off this petty bickering because all you're doing is making it easier for Trump to win reelection.

Elizabeth? I'm not sure I believe you when you say Bernie Sanders told you in 2018 that a woman could never be president, because if he had, and with your love for social media, and knowing the two of you would be running for president this year, you would have spoken out then. But to sit on it for two years and then drop it this week smacks of desperation; it smacks of infighting; it smacks of not focusing on what's important and that's getting this rapist, drug-addicted, adulterer, liar, thief, con artist, traitor out of office.

So, again, tell me what you're going to do if you're elected, and stop this ridiculous squabbling with the other candidates. That accomplishes nothing. Oh, and that bit where you wouldn't shake Bernie's hand was childish and unnecessary and totally Trump.

Knock it off.

Now, Bernie. You need to get your supporters in line, because if they are, with your blessing or not, personally going after Elizabeth Warren, then that's on you. They're your volunteers; tell them to knock it off.

I don't know who will get the nomination but if it's not you, and you don't step up and support whomever gets the nod, and you don't demand that your supporters rally around the nominee, then we will all know that you are just a desperate old man who wants to be president and when he can't he pouts.

Knock it off.

I need y'all to run for office, run for president, not run against your fellow Democrats. This country cannot stand, literally can not stand, another four years of this.

Source.

One Year From Today

Assuming the Orange Shit Show currently illegally occupying the White House has not been Impeached and removed from office, dragged off in a straightjacket, or has ended all life on Earth by starting World War III, this country will finally have the opportunity to correct what is unarguably the worst mistake made in its 200-plus year history.

While I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, I cannot stress enough how important that every Democrat and Independent GET OUT AND VOTE. And vote for whoever the fuck has that (D) after their name on the ballot.

While apparently 20% of our neighbors have no problem whatsoever with Nazis and Fascists occupying the upper echelon of government, 80% of us DO NOT, and as a majority, we need to put aside our petty philosophical differences, and send an unmistakable message to the world that as a country we do not condone the events of the last three years. They are NOT acceptable. They are NOT who we are.

While we may have had the luxury in years past of not voting for our candidate because he or she doesn't have the ideological purity we seek, we DO NOT have that option in the next election.

I loathe Bernie. I'm no fan of Biden. (I'm sick to death of old white men running this country.) But if either of those gentlemen secure the Democratic nomination I will pull the lever for them next November. If your desired candidate does not secure the nomination, buck up, hold your hose, and vote BLUE, because—and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic here—if the Orange Russian Wig Stand somehow survives Impeachment and goes on to win another term, you can kiss the United States goodbye.

As I've Said Before…

As I've said before, I will vote for whoever ends up on the ballot with a (D) after their name in order to remove the orange shit stain from office, but at this point in the game, I'm really not feeling Joe Biden. Initially a fan, when it was the "Barack and Joe Show," I'm just not liking a lot of what I'm hearing, especially considering the incredible field of contenders. The way he was so easily riled during last week's debate has left me doubting his viability even more—despite his poll numbers. And frankly, as an old white guy, I'm fucking tired of old white guys running the country. It's time for the lot of them to step aside and let new blood take over.

That being said, if he receives the nomination I will vote for him, but I'd much rather see Warren or Harris or Buttigieg sitting behind that desk.

This seems to perfectly sum up a lot of what I'm feeling:

Despite Biden's swelling poll numbers with black voters, we don't have to trust him. In fact, the former vice president should do the honorable thing after that disgrace of a debate and remove himself from contention for the nomination. Yes, even with him leading most polls. It isn't about him winning. It's about the party winning, then having a successful presidency undoing Trump's racist policies.

Democrats will need an antiracist candidate to defeat Trump because Trump is a white nationalist with white-nationlist policies. Good poll numbers with the black electorate do not make one antiracist. A moderate, milquetoast criminal-justice plan that largely seeks to repair some of the damage he did with the 1994 crime bill does not make one antiracist. Biden not only isn't picking up what it means to fit the definition, but his debate remarks provide evidence that he is actively rejecting it. As such, he should leave the race to contenders who have the party's most loyal constituency, black voters, in mind.

The Extinction of the White American Dinosaur

From John Pavlovitz:

I love the look I saw this week.

It was the look of terrified dinosaurs realizing that the meteorite is on its way; the dilated pupils in the eyes of leadened, lumbering prehistoric monsters who've had their run of the house, now finding themselves at the precipice of extinction.

As the most diverse Congress in our history began its session, it was a harbinger of what is coming for this nation, and what it means for their species. America is growing more diverse, and its representative leadership (though still painfully lagging behind) is quickly making up ground. They can see the change in the weather and the light in the sky—and they are scrambling to avoid the coming impact because they can sense it will not end well for them.

It's why Mitch McConnell is holding the Government hostage over an ineffective, multi-billion dollar monument to racism of a border wall, that two-thirds of this country doesn't want.

It's why men like Tucker Carlson, rant mindlessly about successful women ushering in the "decline of men."

It's why Jim Mattis and Michael Cohen and General Kelly and Mike Flynn, and a perpetually revolving door of men are leaving or being forced out of positions of influence and leadership.

It's why Republican leaders have spent the past year creating a massive straw man out of exhausted migrant families and refugee children, as though they were wealthy foreign adversaries rigging a Presidential election.

It's why Right-wing trolls "leaked" a video of a college-aged Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing, as if it was a clip of her saying she could grab less powerful men by the genitalia.

It's why Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr, performed embarrassingly contorted theological gymnastics, in order to align with this President over poor people.

It's why Donald Trump spent Christmas Eve bunkered down in the White House behind a smart phone, tweeting scattered, rapid-fire nonsense—instead of being with his family or reading or God forbid, serving someone.

It is the white-hot fear that has overtaken them all.

They're all in a scalding panic, because they understand that their brief moment in history to have their way and impose their will is quickly coming to a close. The landscape is being renovated, the climate is changing, and as a species they are dying—which is why they will do what all frightened animals do when they are backed into a corner and realize the level of the threat: they will grow more violent than ever before.

In the coming days, the Tweets will become more erratic, the legislative assaults grow more transparently desperate, the hate crimes more brazen, the sermons grow more alarmist and incendiary. These Jurassic, soon-to-be-amber-trapped relics, will act as if the very sky above them is falling, because in very real ways, it is. They will thrash and spit and bellow, in an effort to buy themselves a few more days and a bit more power and another Federal judge or two, but they cannot stave off their inevitable disappearance, as progress and civilization and time swallow them up.

(Continue reading.)

If Only…

A little something I came up with while laying awake at 4 am this morning…

Yeah, yeah, I know, "Pence is worse!" But don't worry my pretties…Mueller has that asshole in his sights as well and any Pence Presidency would be short-lived and impotent from the stink Trump left all over him.

America, We Have a Problem

Reposted in full from Riding On:

So, I saw this article this morning and thought I'd talk about it a little.  America, we have a problem.  You see we have something called the First Amendment and there are a number of people out there who don't like it.  They believe we should have a National Religion, which would happen to be theirs.  They call themselves Social Conservatives and they represent the ugly head of selfishness.  You see for them, their most favorite pronouns are "I," followed by "my."  For them "you" can be a really negative word because "you" is about someone else. These Social Conservatives have allowed their beliefs to evolve to a stage where "you" is not even secondary.  Since they don't believe in evolution they would never understand this, but evolve they have.  And they like the Constitution, but only as long as it lets them be as selfish as possible.  They don't like it when "you" means everybody.

These Social Conservatives want to change rules and create regulations that benefit themselves, alone.  They want to be able to say that "my beliefs say I can fire you from your job because my beliefs are more important than you as a human being."  The truth is they don't care about human beings at all, unless those human beings share the same beliefs.  These Social Conservatives want to be able to discriminate, not only against sexual orientation, but against race and nationality.  They don't want to give immigrants the chance to possibly dilute, either socially or culturally, the purity of their own beliefs.  You see, it's not just the jobs they claim immigrants will take, it's the very blood coursing through their veins which these Social Conservatives need to keep out.

They will never understand how wrong they are, to even consider such an action would be to challenge the very soul of "I."

Here's a Thought…

Just as there's a lower age limit on when someone can become President, so too should there be an upper limit. The same should go for Congress as well. And when a President or Congressman reaches that age limit, they should be forced to retire at the end of their current term, even if they are otherwise still eligible to run for another term.

What should that upper limit be? It's hard to say, but generally speaking I think it goes without saying that anyone in their 70s or above simply does not still possess the mental acuity that these jobs require.

Case in point, the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well as several members of the Legislative body.

Quote of the Day

Democrats need to grow a pair and go on TV and radio and start actually slugging it out with idiotic Republicans. They don't need to go low like the GOP, but fucking man the trench for once and don't give an inch. Climate change is REAL. Evolution is REAL. Tax cuts DO NOT WORK. Healthcare is a RIGHT. Black people and muslims are being MURDERED on a daily basis. Trump COLLUDED with the Russians. Democrats need to start fighting like the world and people's lives depend on it." ~ Levi Olson (via leviolson)

I've been screaming to the Democrats to grow a spine since W was in the White House!

Quote of the Day

I'm very positive about California, but then again, the rest of the country, you have to realize that just under 50% of the population are very racist. They voted for their racism. That's why the polls were never accurate because no one wanted to admit their racism. Before the election, I said they would go into the voting booth and say 'Fuck Transgender bathrooms, Fuck Black Lives Matter, Fuck those Mexicans! I want mine!' And that's exactly what they did. And don't think gay marriage didn't have anything to do with it! That was the last gasp of the white, heterosexual male." ~ Zoey Tur