Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
WaPo: Trump sets the tone for the worst presidential debate in living memory
Trump sets the tone for the worst presidential debate in living memory
Insults, interruptions and disrespect mark the first encounter between Trump and Biden.
By Dan Balz
Fascist President Wouldn't Condemn White Supremacists
Oh my god, in tonight's Trump told the racist, anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, misogynistic Proud Boys to "stand by."
Stand by for what? Trump is again lying about Antifa being a major threat. (The other day he grouped them with the Klu Klux Klan as terrorist threats.)President Donald Trump hesitated when asked to condemn white supremacists during the first presidential debate on Tuesday evening.
During a segment dedicated to race, Chris Wallace, the moderator, asked Trump, "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down?"
Trump tiptoed around the question and instead doubled down that "almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing."
Wallace pushed back on Trump, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, and again asked him to address right-wing violence.
"What do you want to call them?" Trump asked. "Give me a name, give me a name."
"Proud Boys," Biden said, referring to a far-right group.
"Proud Boys, stand back and stand by," Trump responded.
And the Proud Boys clicked their heels together and tonight said, like good brownshirts, “Standing down and standing by sir.”
A Disaster of a Debate
Update afterward: From what I'm seeing, it seems the line of the night was "Will you shut up, man?"
Trump will not stop interrupting Biden when it's not his time and Chris Wallace won't control him. Wallace is failing in his role as moderator and this isn't a debate, it's more like a barroom argument. I'm turning it off as I have work to do, and will read about it in tomorrow's papers.
Trump can't help acting like a child. He's hyperactive. Or maybe he's on something.
The Bidens Paid $288,000 in Federal Income Tax in 2019
They released their 2019 income tax forms today. Taxable income was $945 K. It's all laid out in their tax forms.
I wonder how much the Trumps paid. Anybody happen to hear?
Monday, September 28, 2020
$161,950 vs $0
@BarackObama who wants to raise all our taxes, only pays 20.5% on $790k salary. http://t.co/bqF26mQf Do as I say not as I do.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2012
Have we ever had a POTUS before @BarackObama who earned over 1/3 of his income from foreign sources and paid taxes to another country?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2012
"@conservativeJT: @bluejoni @realDonaldTrump Trump is an American that will pay more taxes in one year than you pay in your entire life.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2013
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/28/do-i-say-not-i-do-trumps-past-tax-commentary-is-cast-whole-new-light/
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Friday, September 25, 2020
Stock Market: Trump Brags, But Obama Was Better
Since @realDonaldTrump 's bragging about the #stockmarket : increase in the #Wilshire5000 during #Trump 's admin-to-date: +$10.1 trillion, =10.1% per year on average, as of today. During #Obama 's last term, +$8.1 T, = avg 10.9% per year.
— David Appell (@davidappell) September 26, 2020
Thomas Friedman Also Expects Trump Delegitimizing the Election and Civil War
Thomas Friedman also has some serious concerns about a second civil war in America and Trump delegitimizing the election. He says he's never been more afraid in his life. Click the picture for the video.
‘You Really Believe That?’: Anderson Cooper Stunned When NYTimes' Tom Friedman Predicts America Stands on the Brink of 'Potential Second Civil War’https://t.co/hzqdfsXPRw
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) September 25, 2020
Breaking: Americans Say, 57-38%, Next Prez Should Choose SCOTUS Seat
The Post-ABC poll, conducted Monday to Thursday, finds 38 percent of Americans say the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week, should be nominated by Trump and confirmed by the current Senate, while 57 percent say it should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year.That there's a right mighty gap.
Three Protests, Five Miles, Rainy Day
The Proud Boys (not men, I guess) are protesting in Portland tomorrow, despite being denied a permit on the grounds of the coronavirus. They announced plans to hold their protest the outskirts of town in Delta Park, a complex of athletic fields. I've been there many times watching my nephew play lacrosse, but alas this year there are no lacrosse, soccer or softball players. The left-wing is demonstrating, also permitless, in a park about three miles away, and BLM about two miles further beyond.
Why do I feel those distances are going to evaporate, even with the forecast calling for the day to be cloudy with showers, winds 5-10 mph, high 67 Fahrenheit. Because there have to be confrontations for the iPhones, the Androids and the evening news. This is Oregon, so everyone has pretty good rain gear, so everyone will come ready to protest for the entire day.
The Oregon State Police and the County's Sheriff's Office have refused to help with crowd control because of the city's ban on the use of tear gas. If they can't use their toys -- toys banned in warfare by the Geneva Protocol of 1925 -- they ain't gonna play.
With the way protests are going around the country this summer and this past week in Louisville, it won't surprise me if guns get drawn and someone gets shot, or three. Or someday not far off, twenty or thirty. That's where things are headed, it seems to me. There are 400M guns in America and lots of open carry laws, even for assault guns, and the idiot legislators with their gun ideologies probably weren't smart enough to foresee the day when things turned like this. (Or, even more frightening, they were.) Once this starts -- and it seems to me this summer was a fair to middling shove off -- it's hard to stop it, especially if this election is a mess, as it seems it will be, thanks to Commander Chaos. A lot of people, especially the clowns on the extreme right wing, are just itching to dress up in their Walmart commando gear and play Red Dawn in real life that they've all been playing some version of virtually since they were kids.
I don't like where things seem to be heading. Worse, a good friend of mine, a retired Presbyterian minister, agrees with me that something like a civil war is coming and America is slowly but surely circling the drain. She's the last person I would have expected to hear that from.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
The Cure
— Dorothy Parker, American writer (1893-1967)
No Peaceful Transfer of Power
Wow. Trump is again declining to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election. In light of RBG's death and another coming stolen Supreme Court justice, this takes on a whole new meaning. Has a US president ever said such a thing before, let alone this many times, let alone this close to the election? AP:
Added: The Majority Leader from the Great State of Hypocrisy twote
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
Last month Trump told Sean Hannity
This year, with a judge no longer watching, the Republicans are recruiting 50,000 volunteers in 15 contested states to monitor polling places and challenge voters they deem suspicious-looking. Trump called in to Fox News on August 20 to tell Sean Hannity, “We’re going to have sheriffs and we’re going to have law enforcement and we’re going to have, hopefully, U.S. attorneys” to keep close watch on the polls. For the first time in decades, according to Clark, Republicans are free to combat voter fraud in “places that are run by Democrats.”
which sounds exactly like something a fascist would do, does it not?
And The Atlantic goes on about what you've all heard, the doubt Trump has sown about mail-in voting, about votes counted after Election Day, about foreign interference (the nerve), and more. It's worth reading.
There's no way there isn't going to be a big mess after the day of the election, unless Biden wins very big. And probably not even then. Probably not even then.
Added: The Majority Leader from the Great State of Hypocrisy twote
The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) September 24, 2020
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Trump Just Admitted He's Trying to Steal the Election
WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he wants to ensure confirmation of a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by the Nov. 3 election because he expects disputes over who won the White House to be resolved by the Supreme Court.“I think this will end up in the Supreme Court,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House event on social media, adopting an argument for quick action made by his ally, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. “And I think it’s very important that we have nine justices,” instead of the eight seats currently filled.The president again asserted without evidence that Democrats were trying to rig the election and said he wants a high court that will agree with him. “This scam that the Democrats are pulling — it’s a scam — the scam will be before the United States Supreme Court,” Mr. Trump said.Five of the eight current court members were appointed by Republican presidents, including two by Mr. Trump. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, has on a few occasions sided with the liberals, which could potentially mean a 4-4 split.Mr. Trump made clear he is counting on whomever he appoints for Justice Ginsburg’s seat to support him and that he wants to be declared the winner by an overwhelming majority if the results go to the Supreme Court.“And I think having a four-four situation is not a good situation, if you get that. I don’t know that you’d get that. I think it should be eight-nothing or nine-nothing. But just in case it would be more political than it should be, I think it’s very important to have a ninth justice.”— Peter Baker
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
An Interview While Working From Home
Last week Gretchen Goldman, a scientist from the Union of Concerned Scientists, went on CNN to discuss NOAA's atrocious hiring of the notorious climate denier David Legates. Anyway, on left is how she appeared on camera. At right is how it looked as she was on camera, a photo taken by her husband. She swears she's wearing shorts, not underpants, as she told Slate in a (funny, insightful, parental) interview.
Monday, September 21, 2020
Oregon Party Registrations
Just for fun, here are the Oregon party registration numbers as of April 2020:
There's an "Independent Party" by name, so if you want not to be a member of any party, you have to register as unaffiliated.
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