I just returned from the No Kings march in my dinky little town in a red state.

The turn out was very impressive. The organizers gave the official count as 650 attendees.

The crowd was extremely enthusiastic. Before the march the crowd joined in to sing For What It's Worth. Lots of honking cars. There were no Trumpers doing their childish rolling coal in their pickups. There were about a dozen MAGAts across Main Street with a Trump flag. They looked pitiful and I think they knew it.

All in all it was a great day.

See you on the Fourth of July!

Olbermann's confirmation is already posted here on DU and here is further confirmation by Robert Reich.

Happy Birthday Grateful Dead 5/5/65

The news is so depressing this might be good for some smiles.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y4wMOFxVPtM

Where have the years gone?

I just rewatched the video of tRump denying he knew anything about the breach.

I hadn't noticed earlier that Mikie Johnson looks like the kid who just peed and crapped his pants while in church. Even he was taken aback by such a brazen lie.

Why have all of the Ukrainian avatars been disappeared?

Never in American history has a politician so abjectly capitulated to an enemy as has Chuck Schumer

in his mealy mouthed speech justifying a vote to pass the Repugs CR. Note, I use the term politician rather than leader because Schumer is no leader. He is an appeaser, a Chamberlain.

This is not any kind of discussion of normal political differences. Normal is long dead. Schumer and many others still do not realize this is a war against a fascist enemy that is hell bent on destroying American democracy and delivering the nation to billionaires and our sworn enemy Vladimir Putin. It is a war of survival both figuratively and literally.

Some will say allowing the government to shut down will damage American credibility. Where have you been since January 20th? America no longer has any credibility in the world. Trump has seen to that. He has turned his back to our friends and allies.

If the American people rise up in righteous anger and dethrone the wanna be king we may, in a generation or two, restore our credibility. Otherwise we will become just one more tin pot third world dictatorship.

I am going to attach this video which shows what true leadership looks like in the face of what at the time looked like insurmountable odds. Churchill led his people to victory and saved the world in the process. In times of great crisis in America, great men and women have stood up to lead the way. I don't know who our Churchill will be, but I know it's not Chuck Schumer and that he or she must step up while there is still time. We are the New World that saved to old world. Now we must save ourselves. We must not fail.

(I have chosen to use the movie version of Churchill's speech to Parliament because the sound quality is superior to old recordings and it reflects the emotions of the day).

This needs to be said

Back in the day I heard Dick Gregory, a comedian turned political activist, say that you could fool people

in just about everything until you mess with their wallet. When you pick their pocket they wake up from their stupor.

I think the rowdy town hall meetings occurring in Repug districts is a sign that that axiom is true. It's sad that they will ignore things that hurt "other" people, but when it hurts them, they want relief. Look at the whiny members of Congress that want special exemptions for their districts. They blindly vote for his cabinet picks that will surly hurt large swaths of the population without a second thought (most of them don't really do any thinking), but when tRump threatens their reelection chances with his stupid policies they are all "concerned".

Clearly the Repugs are already feeling the financial hurt. FAFO!

An unidentified USFS spokes person craps all over 360 now former employees.

This is pure MAGAty drivel:

In response to news this week that Montana’s largest land manager is laying off 360 Montana-based federal employees, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service said Friday the agency is “confident that talented individuals” impacted by the staffing reduction will have “many opportunities to contribute to our economy and society in countless ways outside of government.”

It gets worse.

https://montanafreepress.org/2025/02/14/usfs-talented-individuals-laid-off-from-agency-will-find-countless-opportunities-outside-of-government

Breaking News from Redlandia: The weather sucks, but I had to go out.

After being below zero for days it has warmed up to 20. The wind has moderated some, but drifts are up to the average baazoo. At the traffic light at the intersection with the highway, which at the moment has both directions of the Interstate routed through it, I see four women (of course) all bundled up holding signs with variations of WE DIDN'T VOTE FOR ELON (or in one case FELON). They have a huge audience today thanks to the road closure. While waiting at the light it looked to me like they were well received. There were many people waving and horns blowing.

I delivered the weather report because I didn't want you to think they were standing on some sunny street in Florida. It takes a fair amount of commitment to be out there today. A tiny light of grass roots resistance shining in the snow. I need to up my commitment.

Good Night and Good Luck