October 30, 2017

Trailer for today's press conference... George Who?

October 9, 2017

So that talking point about gun liability insurance not insuring illegal acts...

I know that's the prevailing argument against gun liability insurance being a feasible solution, but I have to wonder exactly how valid that notion actually is. The liability insurance we carry on our vehicles will still cover damages I cause even if I'm found to be driving under the influence, which is of course, illegal. Naturally my insurance rates would then go up, or insurers might then refuse to insure me, but the coverage is not instantly negated by virtue of my having been involved in a crime at the time I caused the injuries against which they are insuring me.

Unless I'm completely wrong on the facts here, I think we need to conclude that this is a bullshit talking point based on an obvious logical fallacy, call it that whenever we encounter it, and explain why it's bullshit and lay bare the logical fallacy.

And I think we do need to demand that carrying liability insurance be a requirement of being allowed to own firearms.

August 18, 2017

So if Bannon was fired over his North Korea comments...

Does that mean we've reached the point where STEVE BANNON got fired for talking sense!?!
What the hell is going on?

Can't wait to read TheFerret's take on this one!

August 16, 2017

So that white power hand gesture we've been seeing in Charlottesville coverage...

Has anyone with the stomach to sit through the entire Trump presser thought to count the number of times Trump flashed that sign, and the particular parts of the speech during which he did? I caught it during we condemn in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence" and it raised a question. If he's flashing a sign for white supremacists, is it just a 'go team' kind of thing, or does it have a specific meaning for an occasion. Perhaps in this case, "I don't actually mean this part".

Because if so, the first passage to which I saw him apply it, "I wanna know the facts" seems even more curious.

I cannot believe we are at a point where I have to consider whether my president is literally throwing up signs as covert communication.

August 13, 2017

"Who did he screw and when did he screw them?"

I think is going to end up being this era's version of "what did he know and when did he know it"

Thinking back over the whole Manafort raid and the mentions we've seen here of the timing of Trump's tweet about transgenders in the military, I don't think the distraction is the real story. I think the real story is the chronological convergence of the FBI raiding Manafort and Trump's Twirade™ against Jeff Sessions.

It strikes me that in the end, we're probably frequently going to be able find the answer to what Trump knew and when he knew it, simply by evaluating who he screwed, and when he screwed them. His obsession with revenge motivates him beyond any measure of self-control he has to leave a trail of fluorescent breadcrumbs, and I think it very possibly just solidified an eventual finding of yet another count of Obstruction of Justice.

August 9, 2017

FBI searches Manafort's home

So apparently the FBI executed a "no-knock" warrant on one of Manafort's residences on July 26th.
Makes me wonder how we should be re-evaluating everything coming out of the White House since then in light of this new information.

Thoughts?
Anyone know more about this?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/09/politics/paul-manafort-search-fbi-russian-interference/index.html

July 30, 2017

How to summarize ACA exchange failures re: Little Marco's 2014 poison pill risk corridor amendment

The exchanges are not crumbling because the ACA is fundamentally flawed.
They are crumbling because they were sabotaged by fundamentalists.

July 24, 2017

We need to be keeping ALEC (and especially their members) under a VERY hot spotlight

ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, is currently considering a draft resolution calling for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, stripping American citizens of the right to directly elect their Representatives in the United States Senate, and instead placing that power solely in the hands of the State Legislatures.

This is a shining example of Buchanon's model of implementing changes designed to permanently damage the very foundations of democracy, and if you pay just a little bit of attention to the language, it is not at all difficult to see.

Section 1. The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Senators shall be elected exclusively by the State legislature, upon a majority vote of legislators present and voting in a joint session. If a vacancy shall exist for more than one hundred-eighty days, then the Governor shall appoint the Senator to serve the remainder of the vacant term. This procedure may not be modified by state initiative or referendum.

Section 3. State legislatures may issue instructions to, or recall, their Senators at any time.

It is at best difficult to overstate the significance of this initiative. If this is allowed to happen, it's a pretty safe bet that there will never again be a liberal SCOTUS. And lest we forget, we have ALEC to thank for "Stand Your Ground" laws in 30 states, and Voter ID laws in 34, just to cite a couple of examples of why they are not to be ignored.

Article in The Nation

ALEC Members

July 20, 2017

I think we should henceforth start calling Putin Trump's Sugar Vladdy...

You know, a rich guy who pays political whores to screw his rivals.

February 27, 2017

How to explain the phenomenon of "alternative facts"...

[link:

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