'This Lincoln guy, nice guy, good Republican, terrible negotiator.'

That's what he really meant.

'I woulda negotiated the hell out that deal. Maybe give up some of the rights, I dunno. Give and take.'

Everytime I watch 'Schindler's List' I think about today's Republican Party.

Godwin's law is dead. The insect logic used by the current GOP and libertarians of all stripes is the same as the insect logic used by the Nazi Party and the SS.

Psychopaths all. The only difference is that American soil is generally not fertile enough for such ideas to grow.

They need a few good economic shocks and perhaps an Event or two, nuclear or viral. That's all they need to bring out the Beast even here.

It's what's buried beneath all the other 'pro-American' ideas they love to display. It's where Republican logic is rooted, hatred and fear of the other, the love of cruelty, the enjoyment of misery.

Parsing terms and seeking compromise builds their road to Hell, the road their subconscious longs to walk.

Like I said, Godwin's law is dead. I see Amon Leopold Göth in Paul Ryan's eyes.

March for Science Sacramento.

What an AWESOME March For Science Sacramento: A few pictures and a video.

Amazing crowd. The best people. Getting ready at Southside Park:



Big, big crowd. Marching:



At the capitol:



Me in my Democratic Underground shirt (a lot of compliments) having fun:



Video:

MARCH FOR SCIENCE SACRAMENTO YEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

I am enjoying this evening, making pasta, making a sign, getting ready.

Tomorrow, I am going to hang out with the coolest human beings on the planet, by definition.

This is going to be so fun and awesome. I'll post pictures.

Both CNN and the National Enquirer finally reporting the Real Truth!

Poor Donald! He's the misunderstood and manipulated patsy in Putin's dastardly scheme!

It's all those bad campaign workers he barely knew! Bad bad bad! And sad!

And that tape? The one where Donald promises to cancel the sanctions on Russia in exchange for the Presidency?

Fake News! All fake!! It was an actor, maybe even Alec Baldwin! Obama did it! Hillary helped!

I'm sure our president will get to the bottom of this right away! Trust his mighty large hands!



Gosh, I'm satisfied. All clear! Move along.

I'm starting to wonder where that vast intelligence budget I pay for goes.

Maybe it's just the recipients of the intel that suck. NSA or CIA did have people inside the hack, right? We knew all of this waaaaaay back when, right? So good on whoever that was.

But really. Huge outlays, overwhelming tides of cash, and we got beat. Beat like a drum. Whole country crumbling in slow-motion, starting to pull down the world. 'The Russians hacked our election,' tick tick tick.

All that cash and all those Beautiful Minds and Good Will Huntings couldn't foresee all of this and move to prepare for it.

'Cause we were not prepared. I read that Steele Dossier on Buzzfeed, and suddenly realized a bunch of low-life gangsters and bumbling hatchethead villains managed to pry the hinges of the Whole Thing and bust in. And they're still in, looting and smashing every goddamned day.

'Procedure'. 'Process.' 'National Security Protocols.'

It's all so much bullshit if they don't break back into the cockpit and pull up. 'Cause we're diving.

All that cash. All those brains. 'Uhhhhhhhh...'

Fuck.

I'm willing to die to defend democracy.

With all I have. All I am.

It's the code of life.

In the middle of this maelstrom, I am reminded that Al Gore is still President-Elect.

The only such incident of its kind in American history: by any measure agreed upon by both sides until the Supreme Court cemented our first coup, he was elected by both the popular vote and electoral vote but has not served his term.

This is technically true. Tragically factual. We're in the center of a different kind of coup, but it is all predicated on the willingness of conservatives to tolerate cheating and violence as political tactic. Just like 2000.

He'd be a kick-ass President.

It would be smart marketing right now for a major ISP to declare their own privacy code of conduct.

Whether anybody would believe them or not -- I'd certainly think about switching. Just a simple refusal to go along with rapacious corporate culture -- man, they'd be gold.

This issue is way beyond politics -- the numbers have got to be at least 60% in favor of strict privacy regulation, probably higher. Most people aren't carnivorous burn-it-all-down liberatarians.

Seems like low-hanging marketing fruit to me. The income off customer data sales can't be that huge.