The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

[chuckrh]

Lest silence be taken for assent, or worse, agreement, I'll just state for the record that Marjorie Taylor-Green's statement comparing the yellow stars Jews were required to wear in Nazi Germany to various current mask wearing requirements in the US is ignorant and offensive. That she receives national attention for anything she says much less something as outrageous and flat out stupid as this is beyond my ability to understand.

You answered your own question there.

As long as we are discussing disgusting, insanely offensive hyperbolic statements:

Has anyone else noticed that Majorie looks EXACTLY like Mr. Ed? I mean, the resemblance isn't close...it's almost identical. At least to my eyes, it is very,very difficult to tell one from the other. I guess the only difference I can clearly spot is that Mr. Ed is a talking horse and Majorie Taylor Green is a fucking asshole. But, I mean, other than THAT...identical. Uncanny!

Wilbuuuurrrrr!

[Zip City]

I don’t like Greene at all, but let’s not lower ourselves to locking her appearance. Save it for McConnell and Gaetz

[pearlbeer]

I don’t like Greene at all, but let’s not lower ourselves to locking her appearance. Save it for McConnell and Gaetz

I was attempting to match her level of hyperbolic vitriol. If it was offensive, I apologize....to Mr. Ed.

[beantownbubba]

I must confess that I did not have the re-emergence of Zyklon B on my 21st century bingo card. Way to go, Arizona! Who thinks up this stuff? It's so preposterous I'm not even angry, more like stunned disbelief because it just doesn't compute. Zyklon B???!!!

For those who don't know Zyklon B is the gas in the concentration camp gas chambers, which the Nazis settled on after much experimentation because it was the most efficient method for mass killing they could find.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I must confess that I did not have the re-emergence of Zyklon B on my 21st century bingo card.

Wait. What? (Looks it up.) About what I thought. Not a dogwhistle. More like a tip o'the hat.

These People Intend To Kill You

Not every one of them
Not every one of you
Maybe not you this week
Maybe your mama too

Exceptions will be made
For those who stay in line
Until the line is short
Enough to take the time

The guns don't fire flags
The bullets don't just whizz
The clubs can show your brain
What world-class trauma is

Not every one of them
Not all of us just yet
How many is enough?
How many can you get?

[tinnitus photography]

I must confess that I did not have the re-emergence of Zyklon B on my 21st century bingo card.

Wait. What? (Looks it up.) About what I thought. Not a dogwhistle. More like a tip o'the hat.

These People Intend To Kill You

Not every one of them
Not every one of you
Maybe not you this week
Maybe your mama too

Exceptions will be made
For those who stay in line
Until the line is short
Enough to take the time

The guns don't fire flags
The bullets don't just whizz
The clubs can show your brain
What world-class trauma is

Not every one of them
Not all of us just yet
How many is enough?
How many can you get?

what is that from?

[John A Arkansawyer]

what is that from?

My nightmares.

[305 Engine]

I must confess that I did not have the re-emergence of Zyklon B on my 21st century bingo card. Way to go, Arizona! Who thinks up this stuff? It's so preposterous I'm not even angry, more like stunned disbelief because it just doesn't compute. Zyklon B???!!!

For those who don't know Zyklon B is the gas in the concentration camp gas chambers, which the Nazis settled on after much experimentation because it was the most efficient method for mass killing they could find.

I always say it's important to learn from history. But maybe not quite like that.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Another insightful piece from Josh Marshall on lab leaks and how truth is weaker than lies:

Lab Leaks, Contrarians and the Semiotics of Lying Your Ass Off

For the authoritarian right, high velocity lying is not only a tactic. It’s strategic. John-Paul Sartre captures some of this in a passage from his 1946 book Anti-Semite and Jew.

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.

Right-wing authoritarians are not identical to anti-Semites. But they’re closely related. There’s a reason for the overlap. People who care about making sense of ideas, who have a basically empirical approach to the world around them, who care about language are at some inherent disadvantage against people who don’t. Not everyone uses language to understand the world as accurately as possible and then convey that understanding to others. This is the essence of Trumpism. We know this. Lying isn’t a failure of Trumpism. It’s the essence of it: a high velocity of lies and nonsense to generate confusion and demoralization, talking as a weapon.

[beantownbubba]

I must confess that I did not have the re-emergence of Zyklon B on my 21st century bingo card. Way to go, Arizona! Who thinks up this stuff? It's so preposterous I'm not even angry, more like stunned disbelief because it just doesn't compute. Zyklon B???!!!

For those who don't know Zyklon B is the gas in the concentration camp gas chambers, which the Nazis settled on after much experimentation because it was the most efficient method for mass killing they could find.

I always say it's important to learn from history. But maybe not quite like that.

Yep,

[beantownbubba]

Another insightful piece from Josh Marshall on lab leaks and how truth is weaker than lies:

Lab Leaks, Contrarians and the Semiotics of Lying Your Ass Off

For the authoritarian right, high velocity lying is not only a tactic. It’s strategic. John-Paul Sartre captures some of this in a passage from his 1946 book Anti-Semite and Jew.

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.

Right-wing authoritarians are not identical to anti-Semites. But they’re closely related. There’s a reason for the overlap. People who care about making sense of ideas, who have a basically empirical approach to the world around them, who care about language are at some inherent disadvantage against people who don’t. Not everyone uses language to understand the world as accurately as possible and then convey that understanding to others. This is the essence of Trumpism. We know this. Lying isn’t a failure of Trumpism. It’s the essence of it: a high velocity of lies and nonsense to generate confusion and demoralization, talking as a weapon.

Bringing out the heavy artillery and every word is true.

[beantownbubba]

Back in the days when the Berlin Wall came down and the traditional Cold War came to an end, Francis Fukuyama notoriously claimed it was "the end of history.

Well, equally speciously but equally dazzled, I now declare the end of news. What can possibly top this story?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/us/h ... 029039208a

[beantownbubba]

Key phrase: "regulatory capture," cousin to the revolving door and bastard child of plain old corruption.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... p_opinions

[beantownbubba]

Just because...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/us/v ... 029039208a

[beantownbubba]

Speaking of the revolving door. And regulatory capture. And garden variety, though big money, corruption. And government incompetence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/busi ... 029039208a

[Flea]

Back in the days when the Berlin Wall came down and the traditional Cold War came to an end, Francis Fukuyama notoriously claimed it was "the end of history.

Well, equally speciously but equally dazzled, I now declare the end of news. What can possibly top this story?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/us/h ... 029039208a

This story does not pass my sniff test. Something seems off.

[Flea]

Key phrase: "regulatory capture," cousin to the revolving door and bastard child of plain old corruption.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... p_opinions

The last sentence:

In the U.S. health-care system, patients’ interests chronically come behind the interests of big business.

needs to be shouted from every rooftop and open window in this fucked-up country until our "leaders" listen to us rather than their moneyed handlers.

[pearlbeer]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mitch-mcc ... 4?ref=home

"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday said it’s “highly unlikely” President Joe Biden would be allowed to fill a Supreme Court seat in 2024 if the Republicans win back control of the Senate. “I think it’s highly unlikely—in fact, no, I don’t think either party, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. McConnell made his party’s intentions known after Hewitt asked if the GOP would follow the same course they did in 2016—when former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland was refused even a hearing during the election cycle. "

Certainly not surprising, but, what an asshole! Good thing Manchin et al are looking to build consensus through bipartisan agreement.
We don't negotiate with terrorists!!! (unless they are domestic).

[Zip City]

Why any democrat thinks that the republicans will negotiate in good faith is beyond me

[tinnitus photography]

if there is an election every two years, we are nearly always 'in the middle of' an election.

fuck mcconnell.

[boyyourself]

Key phrase: "regulatory capture," cousin to the revolving door and bastard child of plain old corruption.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... p_opinions

The last sentence:

In the U.S. health-care system, patients’ interests chronically come behind the interests of big business.

needs to be shouted from every rooftop and open window in this fucked-up country until our "leaders" listen to us rather than their moneyed handlers.

[beantownbubba]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mitch-mcc ... 4?ref=home

"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday said it’s “highly unlikely” President Joe Biden would be allowed to fill a Supreme Court seat in 2024 if the Republicans win back control of the Senate. “I think it’s highly unlikely—in fact, no, I don’t think either party, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. McConnell made his party’s intentions known after Hewitt asked if the GOP would follow the same course they did in 2016—when former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland was refused even a hearing during the election cycle. "

Certainly not surprising, but, what an asshole! Good thing Manchin et al are looking to build consensus through bipartisan agreement.
We don't negotiate with terrorists!!! (unless they are domestic).

From an admittedly far distance, it seems to me that the only way to understand what Manchin is doing is to conclude that he's much more interested in being re-elected than he is in accomplishing anything. He's a D in a deep R state, his constituents apparently remain committed Trumpists/ Republicans and do not seem to notice or care that Trump/Republican promises to save the coal industry came to less than nothing over 4 years (never mind all the other more general jobs and class based issues that dominated the Trump years). They, like the majority of Americans, also reportedly greatly favor this thing called "bipartisanship" without seeming to connect it to results or lack thereof. If not even coal can persuade them, Manchin probably has them figured correctly. For his purposes, anyway.

[oilpiers]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mitch-mcc ... 4?ref=home

"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday said it’s “highly unlikely” President Joe Biden would be allowed to fill a Supreme Court seat in 2024 if the Republicans win back control of the Senate. “I think it’s highly unlikely—in fact, no, I don’t think either party, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. McConnell made his party’s intentions known after Hewitt asked if the GOP would follow the same course they did in 2016—when former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland was refused even a hearing during the election cycle. "

Certainly not surprising, but, what an asshole! Good thing Manchin et al are looking to build consensus through bipartisan agreement.
We don't negotiate with terrorists!!! (unless they are domestic).

From an admittedly far distance, it seems to me that the only way to understand what Manchin is doing is to conclude that he's much more interested in being re-elected than he is in accomplishing anything. He's a D in a deep R state, his constituents apparently remain committed Trumpists/ Republicans and do not seem to notice or care that Trump/Republican promises to save the coal industry came to less than nothing over 4 years (never mind all the other more general jobs and class based issues that dominated the Trump years). They, like the majority of Americans, also reportedly greatly favor this thing called "bipartisanship" without seeming to connect it to results or lack thereof. If not even coal can persuade them, Manchin probably has them figured correctly. For his purposes, anyway.

He is simply using the McConnell strategy. Do the least amount, but whatever you do, make sure it helps you get re-elected.

[Flea]

The last sentence:

In the U.S. health-care system, patients’ interests chronically come behind the interests of big business.

needs to be shouted from every rooftop and open window in this fucked-up country until our "leaders" listen to us rather than their moneyed handlers.

I'm questioning politicians, the business models, and the officers at the corporate level, not the medical professionals or the scientists. Huge fucking difference.

As an example: I do not doubt the science behind the vaccines. I think those jabs are rapidly dragging us kicking and screaming from a long night of disinformation in many venues. I also think that Pfizer/Moderna/etc are going to make serious bank out of our tax dollars, whether now or in a few years from now. I also believe our governing system and current economic philosophy (if it can even be identified as an economic philosophy) are both flawed and destined to failure within my lifetime. But I trust the science, the scientists, and specifically The Scientific Method.

[boyyourself]

The last sentence:

In the U.S. health-care system, patients’ interests chronically come behind the interests of big business.

needs to be shouted from every rooftop and open window in this fucked-up country until our "leaders" listen to us rather than their moneyed handlers.

I'm questioning politicians, the business models, and the officers at the corporate level, not the medical professionals or the scientists. Huge fucking difference.

As an example: I do not doubt the science behind the vaccines. I think those jabs are rapidly dragging us kicking and screaming from a long night of disinformation in many venues. I also think that Pfizer/Moderna/etc are going to make serious bank out of our tax dollars, whether now or in a few years from now. I also believe our governing system and current economic philosophy (if it can even be identified as an economic philosophy) are both flawed and destined to failure within my lifetime. But I trust the science, the scientists, and specifically The Scientific Method.

It’s not that big of a difference when the scientist, the politician, and the business are all the same thing.

[boyyourself]

The last sentence:

In the U.S. health-care system, patients’ interests chronically come behind the interests of big business.

needs to be shouted from every rooftop and open window in this fucked-up country until our "leaders" listen to us rather than their moneyed handlers.

I'm questioning politicians, the business models, and the officers at the corporate level, not the medical professionals or the scientists. Huge fucking difference.

As an example: I do not doubt the science behind the vaccines. I think those jabs are rapidly dragging us kicking and screaming from a long night of disinformation in many venues. I also think that Pfizer/Moderna/etc are going to make serious bank out of our tax dollars, whether now or in a few years from now. I also believe our governing system and current economic philosophy (if it can even be identified as an economic philosophy) are both flawed and destined to failure within my lifetime. But I trust the science, the scientists, and specifically The Scientific Method.

The science? The scientist? If you trust the scientific process then don’t you vet science and scientists? And if so then isn’t there science you don’t trust? I don’t trust science with an agenda, be it a financial or a virtuous type agenda.

[boyyourself]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indepe ... html%3famp


Watching these people eat themselves is almost funny. Almost.

[Iowan]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indepe ... html%3famp


Watching these people eat themselves is almost funny. Almost.

This highlights a huge difference between the extreme left and the extreme right.

The extreme left will eat itself and scatter under disorganization and the eventual inevitability of it's own stupidity. The people simply aren't as tribal and as soon as a difference emerges in their thought patterns, they split from each other.

On the right, they eventually fall in line and accept the extremist as a lesser evil than not supporting the team, which allows the extreme to eventually gain control. There is no internal policing, or internal mechanism to prevent it.

[tinnitus photography]

The science? The scientist? If you trust the scientific process then don’t you vet science and scientists? And if so then isn’t there science you don’t trust? I don’t trust science with an agenda, be it a financial or a virtuous type agenda.

science, for profit? BAD
science, non-profit? BAD

QED, science = BAD

[boyyourself]

The science? The scientist? If you trust the scientific process then don’t you vet science and scientists? And if so then isn’t there science you don’t trust? I don’t trust science with an agenda, be it a financial or a virtuous type agenda.

science, for profit? BAD
science, non-profit? BAD

QED, science = BAD

Huh? Not sure what you’re trying to say. Sounds like like your guessing what I mean?
If you have something to say just say it. Preferably without assumptions and name calling. Likely too much to ask.