With regards to Mrs. Ford, I think she did the best she could and will still get pummeled by the Far Right for - seriously, going after her fear of flying as a character flaw??? - what she said today.
What really mattered was Kavanaugh's response, which Vox.com summarizes pretty well here. My two key takeaways from him was:
1) When finally confronted with personal failings, Kavanaugh lashed out with unprofessional rage and poor temperament. Exposing himself as the kind of Angry Guy who WOULD lash out at women and others who would question his behavior or try to hold him to account. I posted a Twitter thread starting here about it.
It is the kind of temperament we dare not risk having on the highest court in the land. On that alone, Kavanaugh has disqualified himself.
2) I have to seriously ask, given how quickly he turned into a yelling and almost incoherent tyro, was Kavanaugh drunk at the beginning of this hearing?
I've seen angry drunks in action. I've had someone close to me get five beers into him and pretty much turn into a rage monster yelling at me about a slight still remembered from years before. He was still high-functioning enough to drive home without me.
This is who the Republicans on the Judiciary Hearing are going to vote for tomorrow.
Gods help us.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
There Is No Bottom To How Low Republicans Will Sink
It's now up to three accusers fingering SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh for sexual assault, drunken behavior, and sheer privileged rich white boy evil.
And now the Republicans, instead of cutting their losses and getting a replacement nominee, have doubled down on defending Kavanaugh as a virtuous saint despite all the eyewitness testimony that proves just maybe he was a drunken lout from his teen years until Gods help us NOW.
The Republicans now feel the imperative to force - against a growing majority's wishes - a suspected sexual predator onto the Supreme Court not because of the issues - there's ten other judges who will overturn Roe just as easily as Kavanaugh could - but out of sheer pride. How DARE WOMEN AND LIBRULS TELL US Who Can Be A Justice. How DARE Democrats accuse us of lacking morals or empathy. How DARE the Reality of the World Stand Against US.
They are defending the indefensible now. In order to protect Kavanaugh they have denied, ignored, refused, insulted, defamed, and shamed every woman who has stepped forward to claim what Kavanaugh did to them years ago even matters today.
But what Kavanaugh did to them DOES matter today.
He assaulted young women out of anger and lust and arrogance, driven by a sense of privilege that protected him from ANY accountability. He's lying about all that today, trying to protect himself from ANY accountability.
This is a man who is fighting to gain a seat on a judicial bench that will pass not just legal judgment but also moral and social judgment on others. A man who will do ANYTHING to avoid legal and moral and social judgment on himself.
This is not a man we should trust with that power.
And yet, the Republican Party as a whole is poised to grant him that power and privilege.
Because THEY want that power and privilege for themselves.
The rest of us are fucked.
Just like Kavanaugh's alleged victims.
And now the Republicans, instead of cutting their losses and getting a replacement nominee, have doubled down on defending Kavanaugh as a virtuous saint despite all the eyewitness testimony that proves just maybe he was a drunken lout from his teen years until Gods help us NOW.
The Republicans now feel the imperative to force - against a growing majority's wishes - a suspected sexual predator onto the Supreme Court not because of the issues - there's ten other judges who will overturn Roe just as easily as Kavanaugh could - but out of sheer pride. How DARE WOMEN AND LIBRULS TELL US Who Can Be A Justice. How DARE Democrats accuse us of lacking morals or empathy. How DARE the Reality of the World Stand Against US.
They are defending the indefensible now. In order to protect Kavanaugh they have denied, ignored, refused, insulted, defamed, and shamed every woman who has stepped forward to claim what Kavanaugh did to them years ago even matters today.
But what Kavanaugh did to them DOES matter today.
He assaulted young women out of anger and lust and arrogance, driven by a sense of privilege that protected him from ANY accountability. He's lying about all that today, trying to protect himself from ANY accountability.
This is a man who is fighting to gain a seat on a judicial bench that will pass not just legal judgment but also moral and social judgment on others. A man who will do ANYTHING to avoid legal and moral and social judgment on himself.
This is not a man we should trust with that power.
And yet, the Republican Party as a whole is poised to grant him that power and privilege.
Because THEY want that power and privilege for themselves.
The rest of us are fucked.
Just like Kavanaugh's alleged victims.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Personal Notes
It's gotten a bit hectic in the Real World for me. There was a sudden resignation at work last month, and that job's duties ended up getting sorted out to the remaining full-time staffers to handle until a new library director can be hired.
As such, I'm really really distracted and the political ranting is kinda taking a back seat for me. I can barely correct fools on Twitter right now as is.
I am working on a blog entry for the midterm voting for Florida, especially the always-popular Ballot previews, but until further notice I am not going to...
what the hell...?
What's all this about Mario Kart?
(reads up on it)
OH SWEET JESUS CHRIST ON A BIKE WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR WORLD.
It's a good thing I never got into Nintendo games...
As such, I'm really really distracted and the political ranting is kinda taking a back seat for me. I can barely correct fools on Twitter right now as is.
I am working on a blog entry for the midterm voting for Florida, especially the always-popular Ballot previews, but until further notice I am not going to...
what the hell...?
What's all this about Mario Kart?
(reads up on it)
OH SWEET JESUS CHRIST ON A BIKE WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR WORLD.
It's a good thing I never got into Nintendo games...
Friday, September 14, 2018
The First Rule of trump's Lying
Always consider this rule whenever reading a tweet or statement from donald trump:
trump will change his story at any given moment - even after making a statement he will immediate contradict himself with the next - just so the narrative of what he's talking about makes himself appear smart, informed, rich, powerful, and winning at everything. As an aside: this is why trump's lawyers are terrified of him taking the stand in Mueller's grand jury investigations: even *if* trump is actually innocent (insert author's eyeroll here), trump's inability to stick to a story would make him seem guilty. trying to cover up for something, and/or mentally unfit (in trump's case, it's honestly all three, but I digress).
In short: trump will ALWAYS lie when it makes himself look better than everybody else.
This is an issue now because of his recent lashing out over criticisms about his administration's failures to respond to Puerto Rico's need for disaster relief after Hurricane Maria.
trump had made statements earlier - during the buildup towards evacuating and securing the Carolina coast for incoming Hurricane Florence - where he bragged about getting "an A+ grade" for his handling of previous hurricane relief efforts (this is including Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida, both of which haven't been completely recovered).
Apparently there were followups by the media pointing out that the massive death toll in Puerto Rico - more than 2900 lost - doesn't necessarily equal an A+ grade, so trump got on Twitter to blast a conspiracy-addled excuse (via Steve M. at Crooks and Liars):
No one had even suggested before this that the investigation had been faked or staged. trump's excuse came across as similar to the Sandy Hook narrative of "staged event" and "crisis actors".
And now, rather than argue about the size of the tragedy being overwhelming, rather than admit even in part that "things could have been handled better," trump would argue the whole thing is a partisan lie.
It doesn't help one damn bit that the Republican Congress refuses to open hearings into Puerto Rico's situation and the relief efforts. Back in 2005, when Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the Republican-led Congress did hold investigations into what went wrong (because God help us we don't want those disasters happening again). This year's model? These Republicans know damn well they have to play along to trump's lies, otherwise their whole house of cards collapses on itself.
Because this is the Second Rule of trump's Lying: trump lies to force his underlings to prove their loyalty to him. They have to accept and defend his lies, at which point he owns them as co-conspirators in those lies. (Rule 2B: Once you become trump's bitch, you will ALWAYS be trump's bitch)
The first thing - LITERALLY the first thing - that happened with trump's administration is that he sent Sean Spicer to exaggerate the inauguration turnout as "the biggest ever" when photographic and video evidence proved it was less than half the turnout for Obama's in 2009. This was for two reasons: 1) trump's Id had to be satiated with the belief he is more beloved than his enemies, 2) trump wanted to test Spicer's loyalty. That Spicer didn't do a good job of it was why trump soured on him and forced him out. It didn't matter that reality refused to conform to trump's will because most of the media and the nation either ignored or mocked him on this grandstanding: All that mattered was trump's bubble remained happily closed.
For all the Republican grousing in the shadows - the disdain the long-standing membership has for him has already been well-documented, it's just NONE OF THEM WILL OWN IT PUBLICLY - that "nothing sticks" to trump, the only reason that shit doesn't stick to trump is because NOBODY who can hold him accountable will. Too many of those grousing Republicans profit from trump's misrule and so they won't do anything to disrupt that.
The sad truth about lies, however, is that no matter the lie it will never fit into the reality of the world around us. trump can say 1000 lies a year and none of it will change the fact that thousands died in Puerto Rico. trump can lie about tariffs, and the economic reality of price increases will eventually force businesses to lose profits and close. trump can lie about immigrants, but it doesn't change the fact that many coming to our shores and borders are doing so to find better lives for themselves and are willing to be law-abiding citizens. trump can lie about the dangers of foreign powers, but invading them isn't going to make the United States stronger or safer (we've learned THAT lesson from the lies that led us into Iraq in 2003).
Lies eventually defeat themselves. You can't lie about the waters flooding your home as the hurricane hits. You can't lie about the failures of high tariffs when too many nations oppose them and starve your own businesses out. You can't lie about separating families at the border and shoving 5-year-olds into baby jails and call yourself honorable. You can't lie about war and walk away with clean hands.
The First Rule of Lying: Sooner or later the bill for that lie comes due.
trump will change his story at any given moment - even after making a statement he will immediate contradict himself with the next - just so the narrative of what he's talking about makes himself appear smart, informed, rich, powerful, and winning at everything. As an aside: this is why trump's lawyers are terrified of him taking the stand in Mueller's grand jury investigations: even *if* trump is actually innocent (insert author's eyeroll here), trump's inability to stick to a story would make him seem guilty. trying to cover up for something, and/or mentally unfit (in trump's case, it's honestly all three, but I digress).
In short: trump will ALWAYS lie when it makes himself look better than everybody else.
This is an issue now because of his recent lashing out over criticisms about his administration's failures to respond to Puerto Rico's need for disaster relief after Hurricane Maria.
trump had made statements earlier - during the buildup towards evacuating and securing the Carolina coast for incoming Hurricane Florence - where he bragged about getting "an A+ grade" for his handling of previous hurricane relief efforts (this is including Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida, both of which haven't been completely recovered).
Apparently there were followups by the media pointing out that the massive death toll in Puerto Rico - more than 2900 lost - doesn't necessarily equal an A+ grade, so trump got on Twitter to blast a conspiracy-addled excuse (via Steve M. at Crooks and Liars):
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000...
.....This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
No one had even suggested before this that the investigation had been faked or staged. trump's excuse came across as similar to the Sandy Hook narrative of "staged event" and "crisis actors".
And now, rather than argue about the size of the tragedy being overwhelming, rather than admit even in part that "things could have been handled better," trump would argue the whole thing is a partisan lie.
It doesn't help one damn bit that the Republican Congress refuses to open hearings into Puerto Rico's situation and the relief efforts. Back in 2005, when Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the Republican-led Congress did hold investigations into what went wrong (because God help us we don't want those disasters happening again). This year's model? These Republicans know damn well they have to play along to trump's lies, otherwise their whole house of cards collapses on itself.
Because this is the Second Rule of trump's Lying: trump lies to force his underlings to prove their loyalty to him. They have to accept and defend his lies, at which point he owns them as co-conspirators in those lies. (Rule 2B: Once you become trump's bitch, you will ALWAYS be trump's bitch)
The first thing - LITERALLY the first thing - that happened with trump's administration is that he sent Sean Spicer to exaggerate the inauguration turnout as "the biggest ever" when photographic and video evidence proved it was less than half the turnout for Obama's in 2009. This was for two reasons: 1) trump's Id had to be satiated with the belief he is more beloved than his enemies, 2) trump wanted to test Spicer's loyalty. That Spicer didn't do a good job of it was why trump soured on him and forced him out. It didn't matter that reality refused to conform to trump's will because most of the media and the nation either ignored or mocked him on this grandstanding: All that mattered was trump's bubble remained happily closed.
For all the Republican grousing in the shadows - the disdain the long-standing membership has for him has already been well-documented, it's just NONE OF THEM WILL OWN IT PUBLICLY - that "nothing sticks" to trump, the only reason that shit doesn't stick to trump is because NOBODY who can hold him accountable will. Too many of those grousing Republicans profit from trump's misrule and so they won't do anything to disrupt that.
The sad truth about lies, however, is that no matter the lie it will never fit into the reality of the world around us. trump can say 1000 lies a year and none of it will change the fact that thousands died in Puerto Rico. trump can lie about tariffs, and the economic reality of price increases will eventually force businesses to lose profits and close. trump can lie about immigrants, but it doesn't change the fact that many coming to our shores and borders are doing so to find better lives for themselves and are willing to be law-abiding citizens. trump can lie about the dangers of foreign powers, but invading them isn't going to make the United States stronger or safer (we've learned THAT lesson from the lies that led us into Iraq in 2003).
Lies eventually defeat themselves. You can't lie about the waters flooding your home as the hurricane hits. You can't lie about the failures of high tariffs when too many nations oppose them and starve your own businesses out. You can't lie about separating families at the border and shoving 5-year-olds into baby jails and call yourself honorable. You can't lie about war and walk away with clean hands.
The First Rule of Lying: Sooner or later the bill for that lie comes due.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
The Storms of September Stay With Us
Right about now, the outer bands of Hurricane Florence are covering the coastline of North Carolina.
If there's any good news at the moment, it's that the storm weakened on approach down from a Category 4 to a Cat 2.
The rest of the situation, of course, is a disaster for the East Coast.
It's not that Florence will be a monster storm with deadly winds, deadly floods, and deadly power outages.
It's that Florence is predicted to overstay its visit. Most times, these storms move past within a day, no more than two days, and pulls itself away from its source of energy - the oceans - to where it disappears over the land.
Florence will be different. The weather models are all predicting the hurricane will get stuck hovering over the middle of North Carolina - right along the South Carolina border, soaking both states - for three straight days. It could still feed off the Atlantic coast to retain its shape and strength as a Tropical Storm, meaning high winds preventing any repair jobs to downed electrical wires... and especially meaning constant rainfall that will get measured in feet not inches.
The context is last year's Harvey: a standard hurricane that slammed into Houston TX but then stayed put for days unleashing so much rain the entire city flooded. What had happened: Both the city and the state failed to observe natural flood zones, overdeveloping neighborhoods into places that would turn into rivers and lakes. A lot of these places built into wetlands or riversides, ignoring the need for water to flow away in case of massive rains. We paved over a lot of places with concrete and asphalt, preventing the ground from absorbing rain and forcing the water to flow in ways we didn't expect.
This is a horrifying reality of the last 30 years or so where the suburban expanse of metro areas did not plan well or outright ignored warnings. Developers are gonna develop, and state legislators across the country are usually more than happy to let rich developers build fancy big neighborhoods in the most scenic of places...
New Orleans was the first big warning. With Katrina in 2005, it wasn't the hurricane itself that was the killer, it was the aftermath of aged out levees breaking and flooding half the city that no longer had wetlands or canals to manage the overflow. They built into areas they shouldn't have built.
Harvey last year was the reminder: The city failed to build highways away from flood zones, allowing roads to turn into rivers trapping residents and delaying recovery efforts.
Florida is a constant threat to collapse. We're dealing with coastal cities facing flooding issues even without hurricanes blowing in. All it will take is one powerful hurricane to wash this all into the sea...
And yet, we're still not learning. We're still at the mercy of developers who want to keep putting up condos along our beaches, shopping malls in our wetlands, and highways connecting everything without care of how roads become rivers in a hurricane.
September is usually the worst month for hurricanes: while June-November is the schedule, September is where all the conditions for Atlantic-based storms are just right to cause these types of nerve-wracking nightmares. This is fast becoming a month of dread for the East Coast anymore.
Well, when the levee breaks...
P.S. and things might be tolerable if we had a government that knew what it was doing when handling these crises. But it's clear from trump's mismanagement of Puerto Rico relief - DEAR GOD what the HELL happened here? - that we're in for Katrina-style disasters for now.
If there's any good news at the moment, it's that the storm weakened on approach down from a Category 4 to a Cat 2.
The rest of the situation, of course, is a disaster for the East Coast.
It's not that Florence will be a monster storm with deadly winds, deadly floods, and deadly power outages.
It's that Florence is predicted to overstay its visit. Most times, these storms move past within a day, no more than two days, and pulls itself away from its source of energy - the oceans - to where it disappears over the land.
Florence will be different. The weather models are all predicting the hurricane will get stuck hovering over the middle of North Carolina - right along the South Carolina border, soaking both states - for three straight days. It could still feed off the Atlantic coast to retain its shape and strength as a Tropical Storm, meaning high winds preventing any repair jobs to downed electrical wires... and especially meaning constant rainfall that will get measured in feet not inches.
The context is last year's Harvey: a standard hurricane that slammed into Houston TX but then stayed put for days unleashing so much rain the entire city flooded. What had happened: Both the city and the state failed to observe natural flood zones, overdeveloping neighborhoods into places that would turn into rivers and lakes. A lot of these places built into wetlands or riversides, ignoring the need for water to flow away in case of massive rains. We paved over a lot of places with concrete and asphalt, preventing the ground from absorbing rain and forcing the water to flow in ways we didn't expect.
This is a horrifying reality of the last 30 years or so where the suburban expanse of metro areas did not plan well or outright ignored warnings. Developers are gonna develop, and state legislators across the country are usually more than happy to let rich developers build fancy big neighborhoods in the most scenic of places...
New Orleans was the first big warning. With Katrina in 2005, it wasn't the hurricane itself that was the killer, it was the aftermath of aged out levees breaking and flooding half the city that no longer had wetlands or canals to manage the overflow. They built into areas they shouldn't have built.
Harvey last year was the reminder: The city failed to build highways away from flood zones, allowing roads to turn into rivers trapping residents and delaying recovery efforts.
Florida is a constant threat to collapse. We're dealing with coastal cities facing flooding issues even without hurricanes blowing in. All it will take is one powerful hurricane to wash this all into the sea...
And yet, we're still not learning. We're still at the mercy of developers who want to keep putting up condos along our beaches, shopping malls in our wetlands, and highways connecting everything without care of how roads become rivers in a hurricane.
September is usually the worst month for hurricanes: while June-November is the schedule, September is where all the conditions for Atlantic-based storms are just right to cause these types of nerve-wracking nightmares. This is fast becoming a month of dread for the East Coast anymore.
Well, when the levee breaks...
P.S. and things might be tolerable if we had a government that knew what it was doing when handling these crises. But it's clear from trump's mismanagement of Puerto Rico relief - DEAR GOD what the HELL happened here? - that we're in for Katrina-style disasters for now.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Whither Now the Withered Nation
A personal note: I am running into high school students born after 9/11. An entire generation that has grown up in the shadow of the War on Terror. They're writing term papers on what happened this day 17 years ago. (Poorly researched term papers... /headdesk)
A War on Terror that has devolved into an ongoing and seemingly unending siege in Afghanistan.
A War on Terror that has failed to resolve even half of the conflicts that bedevil the Middle East and does nothing for the painful refugee crisis surrounding Syria, Yemen, North Africa. A crisis now spilling into Europe fueling a harsh rise of Far Right anti-immigrant sentiment that may have been a key factor in Brexit (a separate nightmarish issue of its own right now).
A War on Terror that put the United States on its own path of Far Right paranoia against immigrants - not just illegals but also legal immigrants suddenly getting punished - to the point where the United States is separating kids from families and shoving babies into jails.
An argument can be made that the attacks on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon using passenger aircraft is a direct link between Osama Bin Laden and donald j. trump. That Bin Laden's attacks were so traumatizing that a large portion of the citizenry is willing to lash out in anger at everything they fear, eagerly accepting the leadership of any conman offering salvation through brutal repression of the dread Other.
If only one could hop into a time machine and go back to 1999, to find Bin Laden, and let him know that the results of his planned attacks would lead to a donald trump presidency.
Would Bin Laden recoil at the horror of even THAT level of madness?
...nah, probably not. Bin Laden was a dick just like trump.
We are so royally screwed.
Remember your loved ones, America.
Also, for the peeps I know in the Carolinas and Coastal Virginia. Stay dry and get out of the flood zones, Hurricane Florence is going to be a drencher.
Wednesday, September 05, 2018
Crooks Or Cowards? In the Age of trump for Republicans It Is Both
There was a bombshell today when the New York Times - still the "official paper" of record despite their many sins against journalism - issued an Op-Ed written by "A Senior Official within trump's White House," arguably someone within the inner circle (or on the Orient Express train during a snowstorm, if you want the list of suspects figured out) venting about the damage control the "sane" Republicans have had to do since Day One of the Shitgibbon Era.
To refer to the sanity patrol like Cheryl Rofer over at Balloon-Juice:
While the Handlers in the West Wing keep trump under control (barely), the Republicans in Congress can happily continue their own agendas of tax cuts, filling judicial seats with arch-conservatives who can serve for another 30-40 years, and suppressing voters rights to ensure gerrymandered control of the House for another decade. Neither the House nor the Senate ever have to fear facing the political consequences of doing SOMETHING to investigate trump with their oversight powers.
This is where the cowardice of the Republicans hiding in the shadows become criminal. The Republicans indulge as crooks with unearned and unjustified political power they do not deserve to wield. Like all crooks, they're taking for themselves and leaving the suckers (U.S. voters) in the dust.
And in this cowardice they are committing the greatest crime of all: violating their Oaths of Office to serve the public trust and save us from unfit leaders.
Referring to Frum's article in The Atlantic:
There is an honest debate right now if that was the writer's intent: Force trump into a rash action, create a crisis beyond anyone's control...
Until a Republican leader - one with genuine gravitas and political power that can withstand the ruthless attacks of the trump voter base that is bound to hit him - steps up like that and FINALLY calls out not just trump but every GODDAMN ENABLER responsible for the disaster we are now in, this is not going to help.
For all the times I dreaded a full meltdown and never really got one, I think this time... this is it.
GODS HELP US.
To refer to the sanity patrol like Cheryl Rofer over at Balloon-Juice:
While I take a measure of relief that we now appear to be closer to the beginning of the end than to the end of the beginning, I have some big concerns about that New York Times op-ed by “a senior administration official.”
My concerns are very much like David Frum’s...
But the author is trying to preserve his/her reputation: I am being a good Republican, helping to execute good Republican policies. I am keeping the country safe from a dangerous president.
That’s a lot of responsibility to take on. The president is elected; the author has been appointed by that president and tells us that he is undermining that president. In the telling, the president is further undermined.
What did the author expect to be the next step? Donald Trump is reported to have freaked out over the Woodward revelations and have started searching for the leakers. This will turbocharge that search. James Jesus Angleton became convinced that there was a Russian mole in the CIA and practically destroyed the agency. Can the author of the op-ed protect us from a storm a couple of categories stronger..?I'm with Cheryl on this regarding the Cover-Your-Ass aspect of this article: The person writing it is not doing so out of concern for the nation's well-being, it's a signal to other Republicans that there are people in trump's White House making sure the madman doesn't go on a Nuke Tirade. This isn't serving the Republic: This is protecting the Republicans.
While the Handlers in the West Wing keep trump under control (barely), the Republicans in Congress can happily continue their own agendas of tax cuts, filling judicial seats with arch-conservatives who can serve for another 30-40 years, and suppressing voters rights to ensure gerrymandered control of the House for another decade. Neither the House nor the Senate ever have to fear facing the political consequences of doing SOMETHING to investigate trump with their oversight powers.
This is where the cowardice of the Republicans hiding in the shadows become criminal. The Republicans indulge as crooks with unearned and unjustified political power they do not deserve to wield. Like all crooks, they're taking for themselves and leaving the suckers (U.S. voters) in the dust.
And in this cowardice they are committing the greatest crime of all: violating their Oaths of Office to serve the public trust and save us from unfit leaders.
Referring to Frum's article in The Atlantic:
If the president’s closest advisers believe that he is morally and intellectually unfit for his high office, they have a duty to do their utmost to remove him from it, by the lawful means at hand. That duty may be risky to their careers in government or afterward. But on their first day at work, they swore an oath to defend the Constitution—and there were no “riskiness” exemptions in the text of that oath.
But what the author has just done is throw the government of the United States into even more dangerous turmoil. He or she has enflamed the paranoia of the president and empowered the president’s willfulness.
What happens the next time a staffer seeks to dissuade the president from, say, purging the Justice Department to shut down the Mueller investigation? The author of the Times op-ed has explicitly told the president that those who offer such advice do not have the president’s best interests at heart, and are, in fact, actively subverting his best interests as he understands them on behalf of ideas of their own.
He’ll grow more defiant, more reckless, more anti-constitutional, and more dangerous...
There is an honest debate right now if that was the writer's intent: Force trump into a rash action, create a crisis beyond anyone's control...
What would be better?
Speak in your own name. Resign in a way that will count. Present the evidence that will justify an invocation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, or an impeachment, or at the very least, the first necessary step toward either outcome, a Democratic Congress after the November elections...
Until a Republican leader - one with genuine gravitas and political power that can withstand the ruthless attacks of the trump voter base that is bound to hit him - steps up like that and FINALLY calls out not just trump but every GODDAMN ENABLER responsible for the disaster we are now in, this is not going to help.
For all the times I dreaded a full meltdown and never really got one, I think this time... this is it.
GODS HELP US.
Saturday, September 01, 2018
First Day of September
It's also Labor Day weekend.
I got nothing to write about for the moment, except that trump's administration is still a black hole of awfulness, punishing Latinos for simply existing right now. Who the fuck dreams up banning people with documented proof of citizenship status? Oh, yeah. Assholes.
Punch every single fucking one of them this weekend.
And vote Democrat across the board this November.
I got nothing to write about for the moment, except that trump's administration is still a black hole of awfulness, punishing Latinos for simply existing right now. Who the fuck dreams up banning people with documented proof of citizenship status? Oh, yeah. Assholes.
Punch every single fucking one of them this weekend.
And vote Democrat across the board this November.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Not Even One Day Before the Republicans Turn Into A-Holes: The DeSantis Story
Well that escalated quickly.
(deep breath)
(exhale)
WHAT THE EVER-LOVING HELL IS THIS, FLORIDA REPUBLICANS???
Less than a day. NOT EVEN ONE FUCKING DAY, and already the Republican Party is dropping the dog whistle of racism for the BULL HORN of in-your-face bullshit.
And unless enough Florida voters rise up to stand against this bullshit, DeSantis is going to be the next in a long line of bad Republicans doing a bad job running this state.
Support Andrew Gillum here.
Get these goddamn racists out of OUR government.
Florida’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis said that voters shouldn’t “monkey this up” by voting for Andrew Gillum, his Democratic opponent, who is black.As the Miami Herald notes: Using “monkey” language to demean a black man is the oldest trick in the bigot’s bible, and DeSantis is no stranger to such things.
(deep breath)
WHAT THE EVER-LOVING HELL IS THIS, FLORIDA REPUBLICANS???
Less than a day. NOT EVEN ONE FUCKING DAY, and already the Republican Party is dropping the dog whistle of racism for the BULL HORN of in-your-face bullshit.
And unless enough Florida voters rise up to stand against this bullshit, DeSantis is going to be the next in a long line of bad Republicans doing a bad job running this state.
Support Andrew Gillum here.
Get these goddamn racists out of OUR government.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Florida Primary Night Liveblog August 28 2018 (w/ Updates)
Just to note I VOTED TODAY AND YOU SHOULD TOO if you're in Florida, and for tonight I will be posting updates to this blog entry about how the votes are going for some of the key offices.
There is a serious race for Governor in the party primaries, with the Republicans choosing between two great evils (Putnam the NRA sell-out and DeSantis the trump Stooge) and the Democrats choosing between SAINTS THANK GOD (okay, so I am a bit partisan in this regard). I'm also hoping that Rick "Medicare Fraud" gets upset in the Senate Primary race, especially because that hypocritical SOB is running ads on YouTube about threats to Medicare and that bastard should never utter the goddamn word that fraud /RAGE
Anyway, tune in later, about 9 PM or so, to see how things are lining up on the results.
Go Gators.
P.S. do not bring gators to the precincts. They are not covered by the Constitution when it comes to voting rights, sorry.
UPDATE 8:38 PM EDT: Well crap. I just got home from work and already the Tampa Bay Times is declaring DeSantis the winner in the Republican primary for Governor. This is the guy trump backs. With 78 percent of the results in, DeSantis has 56 percent of the vote over Putnam's 36 percent. FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU---
UPDATE 8:42 PM EDT: The Democratic race for Governor is still close, between Gillum leading at 33 percent to Graham's 31 percent. I had a personal preference for Graham, but I will back Gillum whole-heartedly for the General election.
UPDATE 8:52 PM EDT: For Polk County, all of the precincts are in and the results are pretty much it, so we get an idea of how the parties are going to look for November.
Of the local elections I placed a vote towards, I got one of the two judges - I'm a bit vexed that Gravitt, facing local scandal, eked out a win - and one of the three School Board candidates. Mutter grumble grumble I'm in Polk mutter mutter.
UPDATE 9:02 PM EDT: One of the races I'm not even seeing results for is the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat. What I've seen for the Polk results - Rick "Medicare Fraud" Scott making it a laugher over Rocky - I'm guessing is the same across the state. I had to find the one-line sentence on Scott's primary win as part of DeSantis' victory report.
That Scott - having presided over two turbulent terms of inaction as Governor regarding our schools and our environment - is one step away from a Senate seat - and taking that seat from a good Senator like Bill Nelson - remains a horrifying prospect. Goddamn but I live in a crazed, trump-driven state.
Just have to work harder to get the goddamn vote out, Florida. Gotta stop Scott. Gotta stop the Republicans from their decades-long misrule of the Sunshine State.
UPDATE 9:48 PM EDT: The papers are calling it for Andrew Gillum, mayor of Tallahassee, as the Democratic nominee for the Governor's seat. It's a slight upset over Gwen Graham, who had family ties to Florida politics through her father Bob (a former Governor), and Miami mayor Philip Levine. The deal with Gillum is that he's the most openly progressive candidate for the Dems at the state level in years, so this will be seen as a rebuke of the more Centrist Democratic party leadership that has tried to appeal to both liberals and moderates.
If there's any sense of necessity here, I hope the Democratic voters AND the Independent voters remember the Republican candidate is trump-approved. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD UNITE AGAINST DeSANTIS/trump and turn this state Blue.
There is a serious race for Governor in the party primaries, with the Republicans choosing between two great evils (Putnam the NRA sell-out and DeSantis the trump Stooge) and the Democrats choosing between SAINTS THANK GOD (okay, so I am a bit partisan in this regard). I'm also hoping that Rick "Medicare Fraud" gets upset in the Senate Primary race, especially because that hypocritical SOB is running ads on YouTube about threats to Medicare and that bastard should never utter the goddamn word that fraud /RAGE
Anyway, tune in later, about 9 PM or so, to see how things are lining up on the results.
Go Gators.
P.S. do not bring gators to the precincts. They are not covered by the Constitution when it comes to voting rights, sorry.
UPDATE 8:38 PM EDT: Well crap. I just got home from work and already the Tampa Bay Times is declaring DeSantis the winner in the Republican primary for Governor. This is the guy trump backs. With 78 percent of the results in, DeSantis has 56 percent of the vote over Putnam's 36 percent. FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU---
UPDATE 8:42 PM EDT: The Democratic race for Governor is still close, between Gillum leading at 33 percent to Graham's 31 percent. I had a personal preference for Graham, but I will back Gillum whole-heartedly for the General election.
UPDATE 8:52 PM EDT: For Polk County, all of the precincts are in and the results are pretty much it, so we get an idea of how the parties are going to look for November.
Of the local elections I placed a vote towards, I got one of the two judges - I'm a bit vexed that Gravitt, facing local scandal, eked out a win - and one of the three School Board candidates. Mutter grumble grumble I'm in Polk mutter mutter.
UPDATE 9:02 PM EDT: One of the races I'm not even seeing results for is the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat. What I've seen for the Polk results - Rick "Medicare Fraud" Scott making it a laugher over Rocky - I'm guessing is the same across the state. I had to find the one-line sentence on Scott's primary win as part of DeSantis' victory report.
That Scott - having presided over two turbulent terms of inaction as Governor regarding our schools and our environment - is one step away from a Senate seat - and taking that seat from a good Senator like Bill Nelson - remains a horrifying prospect. Goddamn but I live in a crazed, trump-driven state.
Just have to work harder to get the goddamn vote out, Florida. Gotta stop Scott. Gotta stop the Republicans from their decades-long misrule of the Sunshine State.
UPDATE 9:48 PM EDT: The papers are calling it for Andrew Gillum, mayor of Tallahassee, as the Democratic nominee for the Governor's seat. It's a slight upset over Gwen Graham, who had family ties to Florida politics through her father Bob (a former Governor), and Miami mayor Philip Levine. The deal with Gillum is that he's the most openly progressive candidate for the Dems at the state level in years, so this will be seen as a rebuke of the more Centrist Democratic party leadership that has tried to appeal to both liberals and moderates.
If there's any sense of necessity here, I hope the Democratic voters AND the Independent voters remember the Republican candidate is trump-approved. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD UNITE AGAINST DeSANTIS/trump and turn this state Blue.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Respectful: The Passing of John McCain
He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.
-- William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Act I)
So the news came tonight that Sen. John McCain, former Presidential candidate in 2008, primary challenger in 2000, passed away from the brain cancer that plagued him his final year.
Much of McCain's biography - the reckless youth of being a Navy family brat, the wartime pilot shot down over Vietnam and tortured as a POW, the years of Arizona politics from Congressman to Senator to Presidential hopeful - will get rehashed elsewhere, here I need to speak to the personal feelings I have for the man and for the Republican Party he tried to lead for the last twenty or so years.
Back in those days, before I turned Apostate, I tried being a Republican along the moderate lines of an Eisenhower or Teddy Roosevelt. By 2000 that meant following McCain, who presented himself as a Reformer with regards to elections/campaigning and other issues (although on key GOP issues like abortion and tax cuts he remained devout). I followed McCain because the alternative was George W. Bush (aka Bush the Lesser), and by 2000 I had no love for the Bush family at all. Jeb in particular - pandering SOB who fell assbackwards into the Florida governorship in 1998 - had earned my personal hatred for a hundred lifetimes.
But I truly believed McCain was genuine, a possible chance at getting a Republican candidate who had the charm and political will to make effective changes. I was angry at the party sabotage of his South Carolina primary, and I regretted the fact that by the time I was in the streets of Ft. Lauderdale waving McCain signs that March that McCain had to suspend his efforts.
I will still argue - for all that I know today about McCain and all the other possibilities between then and now - that if McCain had been the GOP nominee in 2000, our nation would have been better off than the disaster that ended up being the Dubya years.
I lost a lot of admiration for him during the 2008 campaigning, when he kept pandering to the GOP deep-pockets and kept making grandiose promises that ended up being staged phoniness. I still can't believe he stood up David Letterman on the excuse of responding to the Economic Meltdown of 2007-08, only to end up getting caught on-camera preening for yet another Beltway talking head show. Why did you sink that low, boss?
But there will be moments that stick out for me, the moments when he tried to speak to our better angels during a bitter 2008 campaign, when the Far Right media was going out of its way to fearmonger about Obama. In a place and in front of people who could have turned against him, McCain spoke well of his Democratic opponent, tried to speak to a "respectful" position that tried to make it clear that while Republican and Democrat may be on opposite sides of an argument we were all still Americans:
He respected others. At the end of the day, despite political pandering at times, despite sticking to agendas that were oft-times partisan, McCain kept the Faith. He kept the Faith about America and about fellow Americans and did what he could to keep his party base from going off the rails into the pit of race hatred and worse.
That and the fact McCain had a level of self-deprecating humor that made him a decent Saturday Night Live host.
It's a damn shame McCain died knowing full well the current bastard in the White House took the dark and easy path of racial pandering, the path McCain refused to take. In the end, McCain was willing to risk the loss of 2008 to retain his own integrity, an integrity the cheater in 2016 never had.
There was little love lost between McCain and trump: McCain the military man who suffered as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, trump the goddamned draft dodger who had the discourtesy to insult McCain for being a "loser" who got caught and tortured. This is how our nation is right now: the worst possible man with political power, likely mocking the more honorable soul whose passing will be better remembered. If anything, McCain will have the last laugh: Obama was invited to speak at McCain's funeral, not trump.
I shook McCain's hand once. It might have been 2005 (maybe 2004), and it was before he broke my heart in 2008. While working at the University of Florida, I came across a setup in the Reitz Union grass plaza for a graduation ceremony and found out that he would be the honored speaker. I took a seat along one aisle, not realizing it would be the aisle where the parade would head to the stage. So there I was completely surprised and shaking his hand and telling him I voted for him in 2000 and he smiled and nodded and that was about it.
McCain will likely be the last Republican I will ever respect, even just a bit, even through all the disagreements I eventually had when he surrendered enough of his identity as a "reformer" for party power in 2008 and afterward.
I grew to regret what had happened, partly despairing that a lot of it was because his Republican Party kept sinking into that racist fearmongering morass, and that rather than reform it or abandon it to retain his honor he sank with it. But in some respects a Great Man has passed, possibly the last one who tried to save something that didn't want to be saved.
I am looking up in the sky tonight for comets. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
I shall not look upon his like again.
-- William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Act I)
So the news came tonight that Sen. John McCain, former Presidential candidate in 2008, primary challenger in 2000, passed away from the brain cancer that plagued him his final year.
Much of McCain's biography - the reckless youth of being a Navy family brat, the wartime pilot shot down over Vietnam and tortured as a POW, the years of Arizona politics from Congressman to Senator to Presidential hopeful - will get rehashed elsewhere, here I need to speak to the personal feelings I have for the man and for the Republican Party he tried to lead for the last twenty or so years.
Back in those days, before I turned Apostate, I tried being a Republican along the moderate lines of an Eisenhower or Teddy Roosevelt. By 2000 that meant following McCain, who presented himself as a Reformer with regards to elections/campaigning and other issues (although on key GOP issues like abortion and tax cuts he remained devout). I followed McCain because the alternative was George W. Bush (aka Bush the Lesser), and by 2000 I had no love for the Bush family at all. Jeb in particular - pandering SOB who fell assbackwards into the Florida governorship in 1998 - had earned my personal hatred for a hundred lifetimes.
But I truly believed McCain was genuine, a possible chance at getting a Republican candidate who had the charm and political will to make effective changes. I was angry at the party sabotage of his South Carolina primary, and I regretted the fact that by the time I was in the streets of Ft. Lauderdale waving McCain signs that March that McCain had to suspend his efforts.
I will still argue - for all that I know today about McCain and all the other possibilities between then and now - that if McCain had been the GOP nominee in 2000, our nation would have been better off than the disaster that ended up being the Dubya years.
I lost a lot of admiration for him during the 2008 campaigning, when he kept pandering to the GOP deep-pockets and kept making grandiose promises that ended up being staged phoniness. I still can't believe he stood up David Letterman on the excuse of responding to the Economic Meltdown of 2007-08, only to end up getting caught on-camera preening for yet another Beltway talking head show. Why did you sink that low, boss?
But there will be moments that stick out for me, the moments when he tried to speak to our better angels during a bitter 2008 campaign, when the Far Right media was going out of its way to fearmonger about Obama. In a place and in front of people who could have turned against him, McCain spoke well of his Democratic opponent, tried to speak to a "respectful" position that tried to make it clear that while Republican and Democrat may be on opposite sides of an argument we were all still Americans:
"No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about. He's not (an Arab). Thank you."
He respected others. At the end of the day, despite political pandering at times, despite sticking to agendas that were oft-times partisan, McCain kept the Faith. He kept the Faith about America and about fellow Americans and did what he could to keep his party base from going off the rails into the pit of race hatred and worse.
That and the fact McCain had a level of self-deprecating humor that made him a decent Saturday Night Live host.
It's a damn shame McCain died knowing full well the current bastard in the White House took the dark and easy path of racial pandering, the path McCain refused to take. In the end, McCain was willing to risk the loss of 2008 to retain his own integrity, an integrity the cheater in 2016 never had.
There was little love lost between McCain and trump: McCain the military man who suffered as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, trump the goddamned draft dodger who had the discourtesy to insult McCain for being a "loser" who got caught and tortured. This is how our nation is right now: the worst possible man with political power, likely mocking the more honorable soul whose passing will be better remembered. If anything, McCain will have the last laugh: Obama was invited to speak at McCain's funeral, not trump.
I shook McCain's hand once. It might have been 2005 (maybe 2004), and it was before he broke my heart in 2008. While working at the University of Florida, I came across a setup in the Reitz Union grass plaza for a graduation ceremony and found out that he would be the honored speaker. I took a seat along one aisle, not realizing it would be the aisle where the parade would head to the stage. So there I was completely surprised and shaking his hand and telling him I voted for him in 2000 and he smiled and nodded and that was about it.
McCain will likely be the last Republican I will ever respect, even just a bit, even through all the disagreements I eventually had when he surrendered enough of his identity as a "reformer" for party power in 2008 and afterward.
I grew to regret what had happened, partly despairing that a lot of it was because his Republican Party kept sinking into that racist fearmongering morass, and that rather than reform it or abandon it to retain his honor he sank with it. But in some respects a Great Man has passed, possibly the last one who tried to save something that didn't want to be saved.
I am looking up in the sky tonight for comets. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
An Honest Question to the Modern Republican Party
I am not trying to be snarky or subversive or partisan. I understand this question may be perceived that way, but it's not. I want an honest answer out of it.
This is coming from the observations that:
With all that I've pointed out as publicly documented scandals involving Republican party figures - some of them key leaders among the ranks - this is the question I am posing to the entire Republican Party.
With all your obsessions with attacking Democrats - not even specific individuals like Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama (who never faced serious criminal investigation before or during his tenure), I am talking about the whole party - as corrupt or crooked or deviant, why the hell are you worried about them when your own house is a goddamn mess?
You do understand how hypocritical the Republican Party seems to any rational outside observer, when you are bashing Hillary for all the sins she's been accused of ("But her emails") while your own party leadership are violating legal, ethical and moral standards across the board?
Any sane and responsible party leader would be at the least gathering everyone in a backroom somewhere behind closed doors and yelling at the rank and file "GODDAMMIT WILL YOU KEEP YOUR OWN DAMN NOSES CLEAN!"
But you're not. None of you, not the vacating and fleeing Paul Ryan, not the obstructive and offensive Mitch McConnell, not your party spokesfigures Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, not even the "adults" in the room like John McCain or Lindsey Graham or Mitt Romney (yeah, that's how bad it is that the Plastic One with all his corporate greed is now the moral leader of the GOP).
Answer that question, Republicans. Why berate anyone else for criminal misdeeds when your party is getting caught nearly every other day breaking federal and state laws?
This is coming from the observations that:
- One Congressman - Chris Collins (R NY) - and people within his circle are all facing criminal charges stemming from Insider Trading.
- A second Congressman - Duncan Hunter (R CA) - and his wife are facing criminal charges regarding Campaign Finance Fraud involving questionable spending habits.
- A third Congressman - Jim Jordan (R OH) - is facing accusations he covered up / ignored sexual assaults - which could be felonies - by a doctor who worked for the same Athletic Department at Ohio State University.
- The current Republican occupant of the White House - someone I admit I cannot call President because he sickens me - is a well-documented sexual assaulter who is either the focus of or a part of ongoing criminal investigations into A) a family-managed non-profit accused of illegal conduct, misspent funds, and other acts of fraud, B) working with a foreign power to subvert, corrupt, hack, and otherwise steal the 2016 Presidential Election, C) committing acts of Obstruction to stop federal agencies from investigating that foreign power's intervention in that campaign as well as corruption of officials receiving high ranking jobs in government afterward, D) paying off mistresses to hide affairs during his third marriage, in some cases using campaign funds (against the law), with implications he gave his handler direct orders to do so, E) openly violating the Emoluments Clause written into the Constitution itself. I'm not even getting into his human rights violations involving immigrants and asylum seekers, nor his disregard for international treaties and trade agreements.
With all that I've pointed out as publicly documented scandals involving Republican party figures - some of them key leaders among the ranks - this is the question I am posing to the entire Republican Party.
With all your obsessions with attacking Democrats - not even specific individuals like Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama (who never faced serious criminal investigation before or during his tenure), I am talking about the whole party - as corrupt or crooked or deviant, why the hell are you worried about them when your own house is a goddamn mess?
You do understand how hypocritical the Republican Party seems to any rational outside observer, when you are bashing Hillary for all the sins she's been accused of ("But her emails") while your own party leadership are violating legal, ethical and moral standards across the board?
Any sane and responsible party leader would be at the least gathering everyone in a backroom somewhere behind closed doors and yelling at the rank and file "GODDAMMIT WILL YOU KEEP YOUR OWN DAMN NOSES CLEAN!"
But you're not. None of you, not the vacating and fleeing Paul Ryan, not the obstructive and offensive Mitch McConnell, not your party spokesfigures Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, not even the "adults" in the room like John McCain or Lindsey Graham or Mitt Romney (yeah, that's how bad it is that the Plastic One with all his corporate greed is now the moral leader of the GOP).
Answer that question, Republicans. Why berate anyone else for criminal misdeeds when your party is getting caught nearly every other day breaking federal and state laws?
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
August 21 2018: A Day of Great Schadenfruede
In the immortal words of the Hungarian Tourist, MY NIPPLES EXPLODE WITH DELIGHT
Oh, you need context for my schadenfreude. It goes like this:
Right around noontime today word started trickling to Twitter that big things were afoot in New York City regarding trump's "In DEEEEEEEP SH-T" lawyer buddy Michael Cohen. In Virginia, the jurors for the Paul Manafort Bank Fraud trial - not to be confused with the Manafort Campaign Fraud trial scheduled for DC this September! - were sending letters to the judge about their forms for "Guilty/Not Guilty" to see if there was a third option for "We're Stuck". It was less a sign that it was a Hung Jury on all 18 COUNTS Manafort was facing, and more a sign they had decided on some of them and needed confirmation on the ones they could not resolve.
By 3:00 PM EDT, word had gotten out that Cohen was going to plead guilty by 4:00 PM to some of the charges he was facing involving illicit payoffs to women trump had affairs with and was trying to bribe to keep them silent during the 2016 campaign. Referring to Adam L Silverman at Balloon Juice:
Granted, it looked like Cohen was going to play the role of a loyal capo and take his prison time for the don. There was/is still wriggle room for him to plead out down the road.
Still, just as that was getting Twitter aflutter, the jurors in the Manafort trial sent another note to the judge around 4:09 PM, let me link to Southpaw's tweet here for this bit:
It looked like the jury - which was not sequestered - saw the Cohen thing happening and they decided "Fuck it, let's make this a double-header and get ourselves home in time for Wheel of Fortune."
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
So while trump's personal lawyer who may literally know where all the bodies are buried was begging for jail time in New York, trump's associate and campaign manager during much of 2016 was found Guilty on eight of eighteen charges relating to Bank Fraud, Tax Fraud, andOstrich Suits Failing to File Appropriate Paperwork. As someone else on Twitter noted, if they ever make a documentary movie about this day, the filmmakers would have to use a split screen to show both courtrooms at the same time. Like my fave Woodstock, but with more happy people dancing in the background.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Of the two moments, Cohen's is the bigger worry for trump. Manafort's convictions are related to things that barely had anything to do with trump or his campaign: Again, that's in the September trial coming up. All this jury did was establish Manafort is a criminal who could have financial reasons to commit the other crimes the later trial is focusing on.
Cohen, meanwhile, not only has direct dealings with trump for years, he also is confessing that his deals he made to these women happened with trump's knowledge. Yes, trump is not directly named, but the implications are there:
The "candidate" is not named, but trump is essentially an unindicted co-conspirator at this point.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA.
For all of trump's bluster about all of these investigations - Mueller's investigation into trump's ties to Russia and likely Obstruction of Justice trying to protect ally Michael Flynn (already pled Guilty), the federal investigations in Cohen, the state investigations into the corrupt trump Foundation - being JUST A WITCH HUNT, every investigation has proven results in uncovering trump's entire criminal empire (and the interconnected corruption of fellow travelers in the White Collar Crime Industry).
trump can well try to pretend his innocence in all of this, but his ties to each and every guilty person found out brings to light his own twisted, greedy, corrupt ways.
It would be a complete delight to watch all of this unravel, but I still dread this one truth: A wounded and cornered animal can be one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.
trump is getting cornered right now, finding fewer places to hide. he's wounded, losing key allies - seriously, WHO is left that can handle trump's expected attempt for reelection in 2020? - and exposing himself to a world he can't keep lying to every day. The odds of him lashing out have gone UP not down.
trump is getting to the point - maybe already has - where he has nothing to lose by blowing up the whole damn thing.
Hence the schadenfreude. Part of me wants to party forever now, part of me dreads trump's response.
Stay vigilant, peeps. We're not to a safe place yet.
Oh, you need context for my schadenfreude. It goes like this:
Right around noontime today word started trickling to Twitter that big things were afoot in New York City regarding trump's "In DEEEEEEEP SH-T" lawyer buddy Michael Cohen. In Virginia, the jurors for the Paul Manafort Bank Fraud trial - not to be confused with the Manafort Campaign Fraud trial scheduled for DC this September! - were sending letters to the judge about their forms for "Guilty/Not Guilty" to see if there was a third option for "We're Stuck". It was less a sign that it was a Hung Jury on all 18 COUNTS Manafort was facing, and more a sign they had decided on some of them and needed confirmation on the ones they could not resolve.
By 3:00 PM EDT, word had gotten out that Cohen was going to plead guilty by 4:00 PM to some of the charges he was facing involving illicit payoffs to women trump had affairs with and was trying to bribe to keep them silent during the 2016 campaign. Referring to Adam L Silverman at Balloon Juice:
According to the reporting, which is changing and updating as new details emerge, Cohen will plead guilty this afternoon to bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance violations. The New York Times is reporting that this will be a straight guilty plea – there is no cooperation agreement at this time...
Granted, it looked like Cohen was going to play the role of a loyal capo and take his prison time for the don. There was/is still wriggle room for him to plead out down the road.
Still, just as that was getting Twitter aflutter, the jurors in the Manafort trial sent another note to the judge around 4:09 PM, let me link to Southpaw's tweet here for this bit:
It looked like the jury - which was not sequestered - saw the Cohen thing happening and they decided "Fuck it, let's make this a double-header and get ourselves home in time for Wheel of Fortune."
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
So while trump's personal lawyer who may literally know where all the bodies are buried was begging for jail time in New York, trump's associate and campaign manager during much of 2016 was found Guilty on eight of eighteen charges relating to Bank Fraud, Tax Fraud, and
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Of the two moments, Cohen's is the bigger worry for trump. Manafort's convictions are related to things that barely had anything to do with trump or his campaign: Again, that's in the September trial coming up. All this jury did was establish Manafort is a criminal who could have financial reasons to commit the other crimes the later trial is focusing on.
Cohen, meanwhile, not only has direct dealings with trump for years, he also is confessing that his deals he made to these women happened with trump's knowledge. Yes, trump is not directly named, but the implications are there:
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to eight criminal counts, admitting that "in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office" he acted to keep information that would have been harmful to the candidate and the campaign from becoming public during the 2016 election cycle...
Appearing in court on Tuesday, Cohen said of the charge linked to (Playmate Karen) McDougal that it was done "for the principal purpose of influencing the election." Regarding the charge linked to (porn actress Stormy Daniels), Cohen said the money "was later repaid to me by the candidate."
Assistant US Attorney Andrea Griswold said prosecutors would have been prepared to present evidence during a trial that these were so-called hush payments.
"The proof on these counts at trial would establish that these payments were made in order to ensure that each recipient of the payments did not publicize their stories of alleged affairs with the candidate," she said...
The "candidate" is not named, but trump is essentially an unindicted co-conspirator at this point.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA.
For all of trump's bluster about all of these investigations - Mueller's investigation into trump's ties to Russia and likely Obstruction of Justice trying to protect ally Michael Flynn (already pled Guilty), the federal investigations in Cohen, the state investigations into the corrupt trump Foundation - being JUST A WITCH HUNT, every investigation has proven results in uncovering trump's entire criminal empire (and the interconnected corruption of fellow travelers in the White Collar Crime Industry).
trump can well try to pretend his innocence in all of this, but his ties to each and every guilty person found out brings to light his own twisted, greedy, corrupt ways.
It would be a complete delight to watch all of this unravel, but I still dread this one truth: A wounded and cornered animal can be one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.
trump is getting cornered right now, finding fewer places to hide. he's wounded, losing key allies - seriously, WHO is left that can handle trump's expected attempt for reelection in 2020? - and exposing himself to a world he can't keep lying to every day. The odds of him lashing out have gone UP not down.
trump is getting to the point - maybe already has - where he has nothing to lose by blowing up the whole damn thing.
Hence the schadenfreude. Part of me wants to party forever now, part of me dreads trump's response.
Stay vigilant, peeps. We're not to a safe place yet.
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Like The Father That Begets Them
These lies are like the father that begets them:
Gross as a mountain, open, palpable.
-- William Shakespeare, Henry IV Part I
Under Republican rule, lies have become the coin of the realm.
It's just... it keeps getting worse. The brazenness of lying defended to the public, as trump's media legal spokesmoron Rudy Giuliani just went on television today to claim "Truth isn't truth" (via Emily Stewart at Vox):
This isn't some half-assed philosophical debate over the nature of Reality. This is supposed to be about matters of Law.
Yet Giuliani is taking a stated position that truth is not truth, that in some way the truth is meaningless in this investigation into Russian interference of our elections and into trump's possible Obstruction of that investigation...
There are normal concerns of any lawyer that a client can fall apart, make misstatements, get caught lying. There are few guilty who can speak to truth without begging for a plea deal. There are many innocent who can lie out of fear or misunderstanding. But in trump's case, the lawyers' problem is that he is a constant bullshitter, switching stories even in mid-telling because he wants to tell the version that makes him look best. trump is likely to lie no matter what, and more likely to lie even when he doesn't need to. And in this investigation into trump's Obstruction, all it takes is one to nail him in a court of law.
So here comes Giuliani, trying to set up the argument that lies are not a problem, that evidence can be ignored, that the legal requirement for truthful testimony is meaningless. He wants juries to think acts of Perjury are no big deal.
Giuliani wants to create a world where truth has no merit, no value, no purpose save what trump and his buddies want it to be.
This isn't just insane. This violates every ethical and MORAL standard in the books. Giuliani is not only approving of Perjury and false testimony, he's encouraging it to happen and for everyone else to applaud it.
This is not how law should be practiced.
Can someone in a position to do so file an ethics complaint to the appropriate legal Bar association?
This horrifying display of unethical behavior should not be allowed.
Gross as a mountain, open, palpable.
-- William Shakespeare, Henry IV Part I
Under Republican rule, lies have become the coin of the realm.
It's just... it keeps getting worse. The brazenness of lying defended to the public, as trump's media legal spokesmoron Rudy Giuliani just went on television today to claim "Truth isn't truth" (via Emily Stewart at Vox):
The former New York City mayor claimed that truth isn’t truth in an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd on Sunday. Todd played for Giuliani a string of clips of him discussing whether or not Trump would sit for an interview with Mueller, showing how his story has changed over time...
“I am not going to be rushed into having [Trump] testify so that he gets trapped into perjury,” Giuliani said when asked by Todd about why Trump’s legal team’s negotiations with Mueller have dragged on. “And when you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth.”
“Truth is truth,” Todd interjected.
“No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth,” Giuliani replied...
This isn't some half-assed philosophical debate over the nature of Reality. This is supposed to be about matters of Law.
Yet Giuliani is taking a stated position that truth is not truth, that in some way the truth is meaningless in this investigation into Russian interference of our elections and into trump's possible Obstruction of that investigation...
That Trump and the people around him aren’t exactly married to truth and fact is no secret. The president’s lawyers have reportedly worried about Trump speaking with Mueller precisely because they think he might get caught in a lie...
There are normal concerns of any lawyer that a client can fall apart, make misstatements, get caught lying. There are few guilty who can speak to truth without begging for a plea deal. There are many innocent who can lie out of fear or misunderstanding. But in trump's case, the lawyers' problem is that he is a constant bullshitter, switching stories even in mid-telling because he wants to tell the version that makes him look best. trump is likely to lie no matter what, and more likely to lie even when he doesn't need to. And in this investigation into trump's Obstruction, all it takes is one to nail him in a court of law.
So here comes Giuliani, trying to set up the argument that lies are not a problem, that evidence can be ignored, that the legal requirement for truthful testimony is meaningless. He wants juries to think acts of Perjury are no big deal.
Giuliani wants to create a world where truth has no merit, no value, no purpose save what trump and his buddies want it to be.
This isn't just insane. This violates every ethical and MORAL standard in the books. Giuliani is not only approving of Perjury and false testimony, he's encouraging it to happen and for everyone else to applaud it.
This is not how law should be practiced.
Can someone in a position to do so file an ethics complaint to the appropriate legal Bar association?
This horrifying display of unethical behavior should not be allowed.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Woodstock Anniversary 2018: Musicians Mulling Magic
It is, once again, time to remember a powerful moment in American History.
Time to break out a clip of one of the most powerful performances at Woodstock:
Santana's set is regarded as one of the highlights of that weekend. His drummer Michael Shrieve had been singled out as giving one of the best instrumental performances, period.
Well, they had 500,000 people to impress. They had to step it up and give a show of a lifetime.
Time to break out a clip of one of the most powerful performances at Woodstock:
Santana's set is regarded as one of the highlights of that weekend. His drummer Michael Shrieve had been singled out as giving one of the best instrumental performances, period.
Well, they had 500,000 people to impress. They had to step it up and give a show of a lifetime.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
August 12: Emperor Norton Day!
On this day in 1869, Norton I Emperor of the United States and at times Protector of Mexico issued this decree:
If there was a choice between two failed businessmen in donald trump or Joshua Norton, I'll take the one who's NOT a sociopathic bastard. Long Live Emperor Norton!
Being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm, I do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and also do hereby decree the disfranchisement and imprisonment, for not more than 10, nor less than five, years, to all persons leading to any violation of this our imperial decree.
-- published in San Francisco Herald 13 August 1869
If there was a choice between two failed businessmen in donald trump or Joshua Norton, I'll take the one who's NOT a sociopathic bastard. Long Live Emperor Norton!
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Florida Primaries 2018 Midterms: Get Ready to Vote
As noted, this 2018 is a Midterms cycle, where Congressional seats are always up for A) vote if you're a Democrat or B) bid if you're Republican or C) patience if you're No Party Affiliate because here in Florida the primaries are closed. There's also key state elections like Governor and legislative offices, although most of those aren't competitive until the General election in November. Here's a handy guide to Florida's elections if you need it.
However, with the Primary vote coming up this August 28 - with Early Voting the week or so before, please use when/if you can - it's necessary to get the word out that HEY YOU MUTHAS GET THE GODDAMN VOTE OUT THIS YEAR.
Ahem. Yeah. Primary voter turnout is terrible in this nation and very much so here in Florida. WE NEED BETTER INVOLVEMENT, AMERICANS.
As a Polk resident, I shall present links to you for our county's Primary ballots. To the other counties in Florida, this page has a navigation tool to get to your Elections' office website for your ballot info. CHECK IT OUT, PEEPS.
Anyway, here's the Polk County Ballot if you're Democrat.
Here's the Polk Ballot if you're Republican.
Here's the Polk Ballot if you're Independent/Third Party. Yes, there are local issues to vote for. PLEASE SHOW UP FOR THESE VOTES.
For any recommendations I can make for you here, as a NPA I have no vote for either Democrat or Republican. My personal preferences over the past decade or more of me blogging here, however, has made it clear I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO SEE REPUBLICANS WIN, GODDAMMIT. They have been terrible for the state of Florida and they are a disaster for the United States. It's been pretty much one-party rule in the Sunshine State since 1998 and the Republicans have repeatedly failed to respond to residents' needs on Education, Environment, Development, Healthcare, Medical Marijuana, and Infrastructure matters. If you're a registered Republican and you're voting in this year's Primary, do us all a favor and add a NONE OF THE ABOVE option to your ballot. Since you probably can't, whatever you do PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR RICK "NO ETHICS" SCOTT for the Senate race (this means balloting for "Rocky" De La Fuente? sure let's go with that) and PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR ANYBODY BACKED BY trump... which means please do NOT vote for Ron DeSantis (P.S. I am not a huge fan of Adam Putnam either, since that SOB is owned by the NRA, so if you can vote for whichever of the other GOP candidates for Governor is not a raging misogynistic racist).
For those voting Democratic, you have options for Federal and State offices. The big one is the choice for Governor, where there's a lot of potential names to choose from. I've been leaning toward Gwen Graham from what I've read about her policy stances, plus I am earnestly voting for every woman candidate possible because FUCK our current culture of toxic masculinity needs a goddamn kick in the literal and metaphorical balls.
As for the local elections, I need to read more on the School Board and County Commission candidates to find out which ones will actually SERVE the public trust and make our communities better.
That said, Early Voting starts August 18 and runs until August 25. USE THAT if you know you will be busy on Tuesday August 28.
GET THE GODDAMN VOTE OUT, DEMOCRATS. Especially now, and ESPECIALLY IN NOVEMBER.
However, with the Primary vote coming up this August 28 - with Early Voting the week or so before, please use when/if you can - it's necessary to get the word out that HEY YOU MUTHAS GET THE GODDAMN VOTE OUT THIS YEAR.
Ahem. Yeah. Primary voter turnout is terrible in this nation and very much so here in Florida. WE NEED BETTER INVOLVEMENT, AMERICANS.
As a Polk resident, I shall present links to you for our county's Primary ballots. To the other counties in Florida, this page has a navigation tool to get to your Elections' office website for your ballot info. CHECK IT OUT, PEEPS.
Anyway, here's the Polk County Ballot if you're Democrat.
Here's the Polk Ballot if you're Republican.
Here's the Polk Ballot if you're Independent/Third Party. Yes, there are local issues to vote for. PLEASE SHOW UP FOR THESE VOTES.
For any recommendations I can make for you here, as a NPA I have no vote for either Democrat or Republican. My personal preferences over the past decade or more of me blogging here, however, has made it clear I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO SEE REPUBLICANS WIN, GODDAMMIT. They have been terrible for the state of Florida and they are a disaster for the United States. It's been pretty much one-party rule in the Sunshine State since 1998 and the Republicans have repeatedly failed to respond to residents' needs on Education, Environment, Development, Healthcare, Medical Marijuana, and Infrastructure matters. If you're a registered Republican and you're voting in this year's Primary, do us all a favor and add a NONE OF THE ABOVE option to your ballot. Since you probably can't, whatever you do PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR RICK "NO ETHICS" SCOTT for the Senate race (this means balloting for "Rocky" De La Fuente? sure let's go with that) and PLEASE DO NOT VOTE FOR ANYBODY BACKED BY trump... which means please do NOT vote for Ron DeSantis (P.S. I am not a huge fan of Adam Putnam either, since that SOB is owned by the NRA, so if you can vote for whichever of the other GOP candidates for Governor is not a raging misogynistic racist).
For those voting Democratic, you have options for Federal and State offices. The big one is the choice for Governor, where there's a lot of potential names to choose from. I've been leaning toward Gwen Graham from what I've read about her policy stances, plus I am earnestly voting for every woman candidate possible because FUCK our current culture of toxic masculinity needs a goddamn kick in the literal and metaphorical balls.
As for the local elections, I need to read more on the School Board and County Commission candidates to find out which ones will actually SERVE the public trust and make our communities better.
That said, Early Voting starts August 18 and runs until August 25. USE THAT if you know you will be busy on Tuesday August 28.
GET THE GODDAMN VOTE OUT, DEMOCRATS. Especially now, and ESPECIALLY IN NOVEMBER.
Thursday, August 09, 2018
Personal Note: Royal Palm Literary Awards
As a member of the Florida Writers Association, I submitted an unpublished short story "A Face In the Light" to this year's Royal Palm awards to see how it would do.
I am one step away from being a Finalist/winner for the Short Fiction category this year!
The finalists will be announced this October.
Wish me luck!
I am one step away from being a Finalist/winner for the Short Fiction category this year!
The finalists will be announced this October.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 07, 2018
I Survived Tampa Bay Comic Con 2018: Surprising Amount of Walking Within Such a Small Space
I dunno if I ever mention in my previous discussions of attending comic cons, but there is a massive difference in floorspace between the Orlando (Orange County) Convention Center and Tampa Convention Center. I mean, Orlando's West Hall alone is arguably double the length and equal the height of Tampa's. On the bright side, it's a vast improvement over previous Tampa Bay comic cons when they were held in standalone hotels' meeting rooms out near the airport. With the convention center, you at least get enough places to host discussions and guest star speakers.
Still, it's an adventure just to even get inside Tampa's center for the annual Tampa Bay Comic Con, which I shall document here for the amused and amazed to enjoy.
Parking was a nightmare this year because the nearest parking garage - next to Amelie Arena - was blocked off for some reason (there is ongoing construction next to it which may be an expansion). After that, they had rearranged the entry point from the south side (facing the Channel) to the north side (facing the River). This *did* create a nicer pathway in as this video attests:
Yes, I filmed this portrait instead of landscape. Sue me.
Meanwhile, here's further documentation of the long long day I spent hanging out with fellow gamers, readers, writers, geeks, nerds, spazzes, goofballs, motorheads, sportos, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads, and other religious denominations.
Now this was something I had just noticed at the MegaCon convention earlier this year, but had little idea was the deal was. There's a thing about "Mystery Boxes" where you buy this themed box that's filled with collectibles of some kind, and people were circling the pavilion waiting in line to buy a box. Thing is, you have no idea what you're getting until you get it. If anything, you're getting a fancy carry box. The TARDIS box was tempting but Gods Old and New it was expensive. At the price they were offering, it needed to contain an actual Doctor in it to make it worthwhile.
At this end of the vendors' universe sat the Signing Booths for our celebrities who dared survive the trip to Tampa. Save for one:
Camren "Selina Kyle" Bicondova wasn't able to get a flight out in time for Saturday.
Bummer. I was going to try to ask her "just what the hell kind of drugs are the Gotham writers on? That is some crazy-ass storytelling going on with that show."
Anyway. There were other celebrities to see. Although I was really only keen on two others for the day.
One was this guy who's become a cult favorite for his performance inGame of Thrones uh Hot Fuzz: YARP.
McCann did mention that for him the Game of Thrones series had ended - filming the live-action parts already done - and so he knows how it all ends... which is more than can be said for a certain author who won't freaking finish the novels!!! I don't care what Neil says, GRRM is our bitch. GET TO WORK.
And then, it was time, to say hello to...
AND IT'S NEGASONIC TEENAGE WARHEAD. To whomever is buying up the Fox movie studio in order to get all Marvel movies under one umbrella: STANDALONE MOVIE! With fewer dick jokes and more biting sarcasm.
I have no idea who the person walking in late to take a seat is. I didn't think to ask for an autograph or anything...
Seeing Brianna Hildebrand was kinda the last thing on the day I wanted to do, so after that it was straight home to feed the cats and regain my strength for the battles ahead.
How fares the comic cons in your corners of the world?
P.S. I plan on being at Clermont Comic Con in November.JOIN ME AND DIE. Um, Cake Or Death! There that's better.
P.S.S. I only realize just now writing this that I did NOT SEE any of the organized cosplayers like the 501st this comic con. Unless they were in a part of the vendor floor I didn't walk by... and I did not see any R2 units like always. I didn't find the droids I was looking for! /cries
Still, it's an adventure just to even get inside Tampa's center for the annual Tampa Bay Comic Con, which I shall document here for the amused and amazed to enjoy.
Parking was a nightmare this year because the nearest parking garage - next to Amelie Arena - was blocked off for some reason (there is ongoing construction next to it which may be an expansion). After that, they had rearranged the entry point from the south side (facing the Channel) to the north side (facing the River). This *did* create a nicer pathway in as this video attests:
Yes, I filmed this portrait instead of landscape. Sue me.
Meanwhile, here's further documentation of the long long day I spent hanging out with fellow gamers, readers, writers, geeks, nerds, spazzes, goofballs, motorheads, sportos, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads, and other religious denominations.
 |
| A selfie for the day. And yes, I went solo again to a comic-con. Things just kinda are that way. |
 |
| It's around 11 AM and there's already a healthy lineup for fans seeking autographs. |
 |
| This was a packed con this year. Last year's had a smaller turnout due to Miami's Supercon conflicting with celebrity schedules drawing away the fandom. |
 |
| I had attended a writer's panel on writing Villains, and this is their Bard's Tower pavilion. |
 |
| One of the things that's happened the past few years is that the cons have been widening the walkways. There's still a few alleys that are narrow but now there's a few wide areas to help with foot traffic. |
 |
| NOW ALL THEY NEED ARE PLACES TO SIT (ow my feets) |
 |
| Hey, I found writer/fellow Gainesville survivor William Hatfield's booth... but he's vanished! Prolly at another writer's panel... |
 |
| Well I *did* find comic book author/guy-who-brought-a-llama-to-my-nephew's-birthday-party-ages-ago person John Crowther, who's busy promoting his latest series of biographies of famous wrestlers such as Lenny "The Genius" Poffo (who was off to the side discussing quantum mechanics with a n00b, I believe). |
 |
| Oh, there's Hatfield, ready to discuss writing about strong female characters in fantasy/science fiction! |
There were a couple of interesting panels this year, and a couple of writing ones that had newer topics than earlier, so the day was fun for the writer-wannabe that I am.
 |
| And back again to the Guest Star area. The vendor hall is on the top floor, while the meeting rooms are on the bottom floor. It gets hectic going up and down, but where else you gonna go...? |
Now this was something I had just noticed at the MegaCon convention earlier this year, but had little idea was the deal was. There's a thing about "Mystery Boxes" where you buy this themed box that's filled with collectibles of some kind, and people were circling the pavilion waiting in line to buy a box. Thing is, you have no idea what you're getting until you get it. If anything, you're getting a fancy carry box. The TARDIS box was tempting but Gods Old and New it was expensive. At the price they were offering, it needed to contain an actual Doctor in it to make it worthwhile.
The Mystery Box pavilion was at the north end, with the Guest Stars at the south end, and between it all were the walkways.
At this end of the vendors' universe sat the Signing Booths for our celebrities who dared survive the trip to Tampa. Save for one:
Camren "Selina Kyle" Bicondova wasn't able to get a flight out in time for Saturday.
Bummer. I was going to try to ask her "just what the hell kind of drugs are the Gotham writers on? That is some crazy-ass storytelling going on with that show."
Anyway. There were other celebrities to see. Although I was really only keen on two others for the day.
One was this guy who's become a cult favorite for his performance in
 |
| It's kind of hard to see Rory McCann under that hat, but he was a hoot and a half talking about how he went from lumberjack to the Anti-Hero of millions. However, he *did* lose his harmonica some point during this Q&A, and he threatened to eat every f00king chicken in the room. |
McCann did mention that for him the Game of Thrones series had ended - filming the live-action parts already done - and so he knows how it all ends... which is more than can be said for a certain author who won't freaking finish the novels!!! I don't care what Neil says, GRRM is our bitch. GET TO WORK.
And then, it was time, to say hello to...
AND IT'S NEGASONIC TEENAGE WARHEAD. To whomever is buying up the Fox movie studio in order to get all Marvel movies under one umbrella: STANDALONE MOVIE! With fewer dick jokes and more biting sarcasm.
I have no idea who the person walking in late to take a seat is. I didn't think to ask for an autograph or anything...
Seeing Brianna Hildebrand was kinda the last thing on the day I wanted to do, so after that it was straight home to feed the cats and regain my strength for the battles ahead.
How fares the comic cons in your corners of the world?
P.S. I plan on being at Clermont Comic Con in November.
P.S.S. I only realize just now writing this that I did NOT SEE any of the organized cosplayers like the 501st this comic con. Unless they were in a part of the vendor floor I didn't walk by... and I did not see any R2 units like always. I didn't find the droids I was looking for! /cries
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