News bits: Gun rights; Election tussles; God endorses the TTKP; Fiddly bits

Regarding gun rights:

Let that sink in. 

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Rolling Stone reports that DJT is in a major snit because his secret plan to impose a nationwide abortion ban got leaked to the public:

Trump’s Abortion Plan Leak Inflamed His Campaign and Energized Democrats

Donald Trump’s plan for a 16-week, national abortion ban wasn’t supposed to be public. Democrats are ready to pounce

LATE LAST WEEK, the New York Times reported that Donald Trump privately told his allies he backs a 16-week national abortion ban with some exceptions. Inside the Trump campaign, the news was immediately met with deep annoyance, anger, and a scramble for damage control, two people familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone.

Prior to the report, the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner had repeatedly stressed to advisers that he wants to avoid announcing specific abortion policy positions, at least during this stage of the election cycle, sources close to him say. This is, of course, largely because he understands the dismantling of Roe v. Wade — which he engineered — has become a grave political liability for Republicans.

Funny how State’s rights stop being a thing when they think they’ve got power at the national level.

One Peanut in the gallery commented: Don’t forget. Trump removed protection for violence against women act during his administration. It was one of the very first things he did. To which another Peanut responded: And then Ivana fell down the stairs.

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Politico reports that Christian nationalist freak and House Speaker Mike Johnson told a group of House TTKP members that God would keep the House under the control of the TTKP:

Johnson’s private remarks to a small group of Republican lawmakers at Miami’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel over the weekend alarmed both people, who addressed the speech on condition of anonymity. Rather than outlining a specific plan to hold and grow the majority, these people said, Johnson effectively delivered a sermon.

The speaker contended that when one doesn’t have God in their life, the government or “state” will become their guide, referring back to Bible verses, both people said. They added that the approach fell flat among some in the room.

“I’m not at church,” one of the people said, describing Johnson’s presentation as “horrible.”

I keep warning about the ongoing rise of bigoted, hate-filled Christofascism in American government and society. This is another warning. Christofascists want a Christofascist state to be our guide, whether we want to be guided or not.

TTKP = Trump Tyranny & Kleptocracy Party, formerly the Republican Party

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A NYT opinion commentates: Alabama’s I.V.F. Ruling Shows Our Slide Toward Theocracy -- If you don’t think this country is sliding toward theocracy, you’re not paying attention. The drumbeat of incidents moving us ever closer to the seemingly inescapable future is so steady and frequent that we’ve developed outrage fatigue — we’ve grown numb. .... Control of women’s bodies is the endgame. And some religious conservatives won’t stop until that goal is achieved. For that reason, intervening victories — like the overturning of Roe v. Wade — will never be seen as enough; they will only intensify a blinding sense of righteousness.

The WaPo reports: Leaked files from Chinese firm show vast international hacking effort -- A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure — exploiting what the hackers claim are vulnerabilities in software systems from companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google. “We rarely get such unfettered access to the inner workings of any intelligence operation,” said John Hultquist, chief analyst of Mandiant Intelligence, a cybersecurity firm owned by Google Cloud.

A very interesting WaPo opinion (not behind paywall) about American supermajority support for constitutional democracy:

Among those of us who have not been radicalized, on both sides of the aisle, there is also the work to do to forge that cross-ideological supermajority.

First of all, people have to believe such a supermajority is possible.

Happily, the evidence abounds, especially in the results of state ballot initiatives. These are decided with cross-ideological supermajorities or near supermajorities voting in favor with surprising frequency. Here are some examples: Legalization of recreational marijuana (2020): New Jersey, 67 percent; legalization of recreational marijuana (2022): Maryland, 67 percent; legalization of medical marijuana (2020): Mississippi, 74 percent; restoring voting rights to those who have completed felony conviction (2018): Florida, 65 percent; new state flag without Confederate emblems (2020): Mississippi, 71 percent; right to repair in support of small auto shops (2020): Massachusetts, 75 percent. 

Look at these decisions and you’ll see American supermajorities voting over and over again for fairness, inclusion and the person getting the short end of the stick. This is not only a cross-ideological supermajority in the making; it’s one with good, salt-of-the-earth values.

That seems to be a bit of good news. 

And here is an important update about Mike Lindell, the pillow guy, who offered a $5 million reward to anyone who could prove his stolen election lies really were lies: Mike Lindell must pay man $5M in ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ challenge, judge says -- In 2021, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell offered $5 million to anyone who could disprove his claim that he had data showing voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Now, he must pay a 64-year-old from Nevada that award, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. 

Faux News makes some sense for a moment??: The Hill reports:

Faux News co-host Jessica Tarlov mocked House Republicans on Wednesday for their pursuit of impeachment charges against President Biden.

“This is the path that they’ve chosen to take, and honestly I’m surprised that they have this high of a threshold for humiliation,” Tarlov said during an appearance on the network. “Every witness they have called has decimated their argument.”

A high threshold for humiliation? That assumes the TTKP members in the House can feel humiliated. I doubt that is possible. Things like being caught in asserting gigantic lies or blatant double standard hypocrisy does not faze any of them in the slightest. Why would they feel any humiliation at anything they do that turns out to be stupid or mostly or completely false? 

Q: Is this a sneaky way for Faux News to try to humanize the TTKP by asserting its elites have any moral qualms about any stupid, cynical or morally rotted thing they say or do?

News bits: Biden blocks UN ceasefire; God’s law trumps human law; Etc.

NPR reported this morning that today Biden had blocked or will block A UN ceasefire resolution by Israel and Hamas. A spokesman said the ceasefire would complicate ongoing secret negotiations. The spokesman did not explain why or how that is the case, most likely because there is no meaningful ongoing secret negotiations. The NPR also report mentioned 

that although Biden has asked for an Israeli plan to keep civilians safe, Israel has presented no such plan. 

So, the Biden and his US policy of enabling Israel is enabling unchecked genocide once again. 

Q: Is the US an enabler of genocide, or is that a lie, hyperbole, anti-Semitism or something else?

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In other disgusting news NPR reported that in a 7-2 decision, the Alabama Supreme Court, citing not wanting to incur “the wrath of God,” held that a person who dropped frozen human embryos from three different couples could be sued for the wrongful deaths of  human “children.” 

Over the last 3-4 years, I have warned a lot about increasing encroachment of aggressive, authoritarian, radical Christian nationalist theocracy. This is about as clear an example of state-backed Christofascism as there can be. The rule of sacred, infallible Christian fundamentalist God trumps the puny American rule law it and the Constitution it is based on. Now we are getting the rule and wrath of God. The rule of man is coming to and end in America. The New Republic puts it this way: Alabama Supreme Court Cites the Bible in Terrifying Embryo Ruling -- The Alabama Supreme Court’s decision is all but guaranteed to gut IVF in the entire state. The case, known as LePage v. Mobile Infirmary Clinic, Inc, rested upon an argument by several intended parents that their “embryonic children” had been victims of a wrongful death when an intruder broke into the IVF clinic, dropping trays containing some of the embryos and ultimately destroying them.

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From the Well, duh! Files: Two opinionators at the NYT opine (full opinion here not behind a paywall) about what many Americans are thinking about the economy: 

When asked what drives the economy, many Americans have a simple, single answer that comes to mind immediately: “greed.” They believe the rich and powerful have designed the economy to benefit themselves and have left others with too little or with nothing at all.

We know Americans feel this way because we asked them. Over the past two years, as part of a project with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, we and a team of people conducted over 30 small-group conversations with Americans from almost every corner of the country. While national indicators may suggest that the economy is strong, the Americans we listened to are mostly not thriving. They do not see the economy as nourishing or supporting them. Instead, they tend to see it as an obstacle, a set of external forces out of their control that nonetheless seems to hold sway over their lives.  

One does not need to look hard beyond traditional metrics to see the prevalence of insecurity. In June, an industry report found that auto loan delinquencies were higher than they were at the peak of the Great Recession. Credit card use has swelled, and delinquencies are at among their highest rates in a decade. After hitting a historic low in 2021 thanks to the expansion of the child tax credit, child poverty more than doubled in 2022 after the tax credit’s expansion expired. Also in 2022, rates of food insecurity reached their highest levels since 2015.

Such trends do not affect all Americans equally. Most disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic households, which perhaps helps explain Republicans’ gains in these communities, according to recent polls.

Here we have a situation where a lot of people (i) finally understand that the economy is rigged, but (ii)  they blame whoever is in the White House for the rigging, and (iii) support the TTKP (Trump Tyranny & Kleptocracy Party) that rigged the economy against them more than the Dem Party. What a total hoot! 

US wealth distribution, Q3 2023

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The WaPo reports: Trump and allies plotting militarized mass deportations, detention camps -- As president, Trump sought to use military planes and bases for deportation. Now, he and his allies are talking about a new effort that current and former officials warn could be impractical and dangerous.

From the Capitalism Loves Pollution Files: The WaPo reports: 

How the housing industry is working to stop energy efficient homes

Home builders have used their political muscle to prevent states and cities from adopting the latest code, which would lower the climate impact of new houses

Across the country, the home builder lobby is mobilizing its 140,000 members against state and local efforts to save energy and ease the transition to cleaner technologies, such as wiring homes to support electric car charging. Since poorly designed and insulated buildings tend to leak and waste energy — one reason homes account for nearly one-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions — climate advocates say the home builders’ repeated victories will have a lasting impact, locking in practices that could hurt consumers and the planet for decades.

There’s no debate that boosting the energy efficiency of new homes often increases upfront costs, but the builders appear to be inflating the numbers. A federal study found that North Carolina’s proposed code update would have added at most about $6,500 to the price of a newly built home, not $20,400.

What about Joe Biden's flaws?

An article The Hill published got me to thinking. The article, Jon Stewart is about to learn a hard truth about the state of media and culture, asserted that 9 years ago when Stewart left the Daily Show comedy program, America operated with “a vastly different media and cultural environment,” while “Stewart is a political comedy star from an era that has completely disappeared, ever since large portions of the American media became hopelessly addicted to the drug that is Donald Trump.” The core argument was that polarized Americans can no longer tolerate flawed bothsidesism or false equivalence in media content they consume. 

I watched Stewart’s new debut on the Daily Show. It seemed to me to be quite good and reasonable, considering it is comedy, not news. As far as I can recall, Stewart more or less did a couple of weeks ago what he used to do 9 years ago. He whacked both Biden and DJT repeatedly. The Hill described his treatment of the left like this:

He’d go after the hypocrisy of the left, seeming to relish making his audience uncomfortable at times. Stewart was occasionally masterful at exposing the ridiculous contortions we perform to defend powerful figures we support, and he did so not by attacking the people but by attacking the powerful. .... He set the table on 2024 by describing in detail the threat of Trump, but also spent significant time calling out the obvious cognitive decline and mental fitness of President Biden — including those Democratic defenders who are spinning a false storyline after the damning special counsel report. .... Jon Stewart is about to learn a hard truth about the current media and cultural environment — his brand isn’t welcome anymore.

The Hill then goes on to cite liberal sources, Rolling Stone and Slate, who called Stewart out for betraying their side and flawed bothsidesism. I didn’t see it that way, but opinions will vary. 

However, The Hill seemed to make a good point about sometimes slanted reporting by the left about Biden’s flaws. Sometimes, e.g., the Hur report, the non-radical right media gets snookered and allows unreasonable smearing of Biden. But sometimes it does a crappy job about important things.

Is Stewart’s brand really not welcome any more for most Americans? Maybe so. But that doesn’t make it necessarily bad, it just makes it not popular any more. Time will tell if Steward fall flat or does well.

What about Joe’s issues?

There are things other than his age and mental state to be deeply concerned about with Biden. By now, we all know more than enough about DJT’s serious issues. But what about Joe? Some things about him are not well reported. Two serious matters come to mind.

Ukraine

One is what appears to me to be a gigantic mistake by Biden early in the Russian war on Ukraine. There appeared to be an opportunity for peace talks, but the US and UK opposed peace talks at that time. Even if the talks never led to a meaningful peace, it would have been far better to try to get a deal than simply being arrogant assholes and blowing the opportunity off. That failure to at least try for a peace deal is all Biden’s fault. 

Now, it is too late for talks, other than terms of Ukrainian surrender to Russia. In 1994, the US promised to defend Ukrainian territory to get nukes out. The Ukrainians kept their end of the deal. But now, the US (Republicans in congress) has betrayed Ukraine by refusing to provide military aid. The US has left the Ukrainian people to Russian slaughter. American promises of support to allies isn’t worth spit. In view of how things are turning out, Biden’s failure stands out. Even if we still do sends arms, which may or may not happen, the deaths and damage to Ukraine cannot be undone. We can never know if there would have been a peace agreement early on or not because the Biden would not even bother to try. 

A WaPo opinion commented:

At [the annual Munich Security Conference] two years ago, Zelensky pleaded for international support just days before Russia’s full-scale invasion. At that time, Harris and other U.S. officials promised never to let Ukraine down. This year, Zelensky is even more desperate, in part owing to Washington dysfunction. Ammunition shortages caused by delays in U.S. assistance are already costing lives on the battlefield. Russia is taking advantage by ramping up attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.  

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has declared he won’t take up the Senate bill, and is under pressure from his MAGA members to not pass any Ukraine aid at all.

Israel-Palestine

Regarding US involvement in the endless Israel-Palestine misery, Biden has been a gigantic failure. At this point, the US supports genocide of the Palestinian people by continuing to block peace efforts in the UN. That failure is squarely on Biden. The next Biden failure is scheduled for today or tomorrow at the UN. Al Jazeera reports:

The United States has said it will block another resolution that will soon be presented at the United Nations urging a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Algeria has proposed a new resolution be put to a vote on Tuesday at the UN Security Council (UNSC) that seeks an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, while also demanding an “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”.  

“Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in a statement on Saturday.

The envoy said the resolution could “run counter” to the goals that Washington says can be achieved through diplomacy in talks between Israel and Hamas that Qatar and Egypt are also mediating.

The situation cannot be much simpler or clear than that. The US is blocking peace efforts. Notice the US lie that the UN resolution could run counter to diplomacy. Netanyahu has made it clear that his goal in Gaza is blood and vengeance, not diplomacy or a ceasefire. The US supports Israeli genocide but cynically tries to hide that support behind a faux shield of diplomacy. 

The other deep stain on Biden in Israel-Palestine is his opposition to funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, even though it is the only viable way to get humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. The concern is links between Hamas and a number of UNRWA employees. Over 1 million Palestinians now face starvation and Israeli bombing of civilians with no place to go or hide. The Wall Street Journal reported that Biden commented: A military operation in Rafah shouldn’t proceed without “a credible plan for ensuring the safety and support of more than one million people.” 

Shouldn’t proceed? That is like telling Israel to go ahead and attack. 

The WaPo opined about the UNRWA situation: 

Biden’s ‘catastrophic’ cutoff of Palestinian aid is more than inhumane 

Many in Washington were rightly shocked last week by allegations that 12 U.N. employees in Gaza participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. But the Biden administration’s knee-jerk reaction to suspend vital food and health aid to Palestinians across the region will only deepen their suffering, undermine U.S. long-term goals and push more burden onto already struggling allies. It’s an inhumane and strategically stupid policy.

There is no credible plan for public safety in Gaza. No one in the Middle East wants the Palestinian people, including Egypt and Jordan. There is simply no place to hide. And Biden policy supports Israel obliterating them while they starve to death.

Thoughts on the profound American political mess

Is this post more harmful than helpful viewed in the overall flow of human events and history? If democracy and the rule of law fall to the authoritarian TTKP (Trump Tyranny & Kleptocracy Party, formerly the Republican Party), one can envision human history entering a prolonged dark period of corrupt global authoritarianism, misery and oppression. But how can one possibly support Biden and the Dem Party in view of their horrors and failures? The Europeans are unable to significantly help the Ukraine or stop Israeli genocide. If the US falls, they fall too (Trump has already openly encouraged the collapse of Europe into corrupt tyranny).

What happened to America? Or has America always been this brutal, immoral and screwed up, e.g., The US Civil War, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq? The US government told us over and over about how great we were doing in Vietnam and Afghanistan. Those were cynical, blatant lies. Is the US a rogue nation, vetoing peace proposals and supporting dictators in pursuit of undefined, probably unattainable, diplomacy or other goals? 

Is American democracy even worth defending in view of the deep stains on it? Or, is the alternative corrupt authoritarianism even worse and to be opposed, even if it means defending what is deeply stained? 

“Democracy Dies in Darkness”

From Wikipedia:

“The Washington Post first unveiled the slogan via Snapchat on February 17, 2017, when it launched its Snapchat Discover platform intended for reaching younger readers, before adding it to its website under the newspaper title. Shani George, the newspaper's Communications Director, said that the phrase had been used internally within the company for years before being officially adopted.

"Democracy Dies in Darkness" was the first slogan to be officially adopted by The Washington Post in its 140-year history.  According to the newspaper, the phrase was popularized by investigative journalist Bob Woodward. Woodward used the phrase in a 2007 piece criticizing government secrecy, and referenced the phrase during a 2015 presentation at a conference when he talked about The Last of the President's Men, his book about the Watergate scandal. Woodward said he did not coin the phrase himself, instead attributing the phrase to a judge ruling on a First Amendment case, believed to be from Circuit Judge Damon Keith. The paper's owner Jeff Bezos, who attended Woodward's 2015 presentation, also used the phrase in a May 2016 interview. The newspaper said it decided to adopt an official slogan in early 2016. This started a process which involved a small group of newspaper employees meeting to develop ideas for slogans. The group eventually settled on "Democracy Dies in Darkness" after brainstorming over 500 options.”

Q: If someone, say your teenage kid who is beginning to take an interest in politics, asked you “Pop/Ma, what does the phrase ‘democracy dies in darkness’ mean?", what would you tell them?  How would you explain it to them?

Let’s hear it.

(by PrimalSoup)

News: Working at a big box store; Regarding the radical right propaganda Leviathan; Etc.

A NYT opinion (here not behind paywall) focuses on the plight of big box workers:

It’s Not Just Wages 

Retailers Are Mistreating Workers in a More Insidious Way

I got a job at a big-box store near the Catskills in New York, where I live. I was on the team that unloaded the truck of new merchandise each morning at 4 a.m.

We were supposed to empty the truck in under an hour. Given how little we made — I was paid $12.25 an hour, which I was told was the standard starting pay — I was surprised how much my co-workers cared about making the unload time. They took a kind of bitter pride in their efficiency, and it rubbed off on me. I dreaded making a mistake that would slow us down as we worked in tandem to get between 1,500 and 2,500 boxes off the truck and sorted onto pallets each morning. When the last box rolled out of the truck, we would spread out in groups of two or three for the rest of our four-hour shift and shelve the items from the boxes we’d just unloaded.

Most of my co-workers had been at the store for years, but almost all of them were, like me, part time. This meant that the store had no obligation to give us a stable number of hours or to adhere to a weekly minimum. Some weeks we’d be scheduled for as little as a single four-hour shift; other weeks we’d be asked to do overnights and work as many as 39 hours (never 40, presumably because the company didn’t want to come anywhere close to having to pay overtime).

The unpredictability of the hours made life difficult for my co-workers — as much as, if not more than, the low pay did. On receiving a paycheck for a good week’s work, when they’d worked 39 hours, should they use the money to pay down debt? Or should they hold on to it in case the following week they were scheduled for only four hours and didn’t have enough for food?

Many of my co-workers didn’t have cars; with such unstable pay, they couldn’t secure auto loans. Nor could they count on holding on to the health insurance that part-time workers could receive if they met a minimum threshold of hours per week. While I was at the store, one co-worker lost his health insurance because he didn’t meet the threshold — but not because the store didn’t have the work. Even as his requests for more hours were denied, the store continued to hire additional part-time and seasonal workers.

Or what.

My co-workers struggled to supplement their income elsewhere, because the unstable hours made it hard to work a second job. If we wanted more hours, we were advised to increase our availability. Problem is, it’s difficult to work a second job when you’re trying to keep yourself as free as possible for your first job.

No wonder my co-workers cared so much about the unload time: For those 60 minutes, they could set aside such worries and focus on a single goal, one that may have been arbitrary but was largely within our shared control and made life feel, briefly, like a game that was winnable.  

It’s not just Walmart. Target, TJX Companies, Kohl’s and Starbucks all describe their median employee, based primarily on salary and role, as a part-time worker. Many jobs that were once decent — they didn’t make workers rich, but they were adequate — have quietly morphed into something unsustainable.

One of the most surprising aspects of this movement toward part-time work is how few white-collar people — including economists and policy analysts — have seemed to notice or appreciate it.

The opinion continues at length like this. The situation for most workers at big box places is miserable for workers but good for most senior executives and shareholders. This is what brass knuckles capitalism looks like for some workers. Most big retail businesses seem to operate this way. Many or most other businesses treat many or most employees much better, usually because they have to for whatever reasons. But retail? It stinks.

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The WaPo reports about the authoritarian radical right media behemoth Sinclair Broadcasting:

Sinclair’s recipe for TV news: Crime, homelessness, illegal drugs

The local news powerhouse, whose chairman recently bought the Baltimore Sun, focuses on fear in broadcasts that often align with Donald Trump’s view of cities

Every year, local television news stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting conduct short surveys among viewers to help guide the year’s coverage. A key question in each poll, according to David Smith, the company’s executive chairman: “What are you most afraid of?”

On Sinclair’s growing nationwide roster of stations, the editorial focus reflects Smith’s conservative views and plays on its audience’s fears that America’s cities are falling apart, according to media observers, Smith associates, and current and former staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal company matters.

Smith, an enthusiastic supporter of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump who has built Sinclair into one of the largest television station operators in the country, purchased the Baltimore Sun last month. In a private meeting with the Sun’s journalists, he urged them to emulate coverage at the local Sinclair station, Fox45, which in 2021 produced a documentary titled simply “Baltimore Is Dying.”  

Sinclair’s local network of 185 stations across the country makes it an influential player in shaping the views of millions of Americans, especially at a time when local newspapers are rapidly being gutted — or closed altogether.

As Sinclair increasingly fills the void, it offers its viewers a perspective that aligns with Trump’s oft-stated opinion that America’s cities, especially those run by Democratic politicians, are dangerous and dysfunctional.

And, as is standard for radical right authoritarian elites, Sinclair routinely practices dark free speech such as lies, slanders and the KYMS (keep your mouth shut) tactic to avoid answering inconvenient questions. Regarding KYMS, WaPo writes:

Smith did not respond to requests for an interview. A spokeswoman for Sinclair said that the company’s stations “are committed to accountability reporting, exposing issues within the community, and seeking answers and solutions for viewers.” She added, “Our aim is to help create safer communities, improve public education and the overall quality of life, which are universal, nonpartisan concerns.”

Cynical lies, foment unwarranted fears and champion kleptocratic tyranny. That’s Sinclair. 

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From the FWIW, If Anything, Files (FWIWIAF!): The Hill reports:

In a recent survey conducted by a panel of experts specializing in the American presidency, President Biden was ranked the 14th-best president, while his likely 2024 presidential opponent former President Trump found himself at the very bottom of the list.

And The Hill reports again: Wisconsin ‘fake elector’ Andrew Hitt says he was tricked into signing document claiming Trump won in 2020 -- “We got specific advice from our lawyers that these documents were meaningless, unless a court said they had meaning,” he said.

I was tricked, TRICKED I tell you!

(Channeling the Tucker Carlson

stupid face look - huh? what??)

I guess the court said those documents had meaning. Who would have thunk? Certainly not Mr. Hitt. 

☹️

News bits: About Garland; Spamouflage in the election; Hate & death threats from the pulpit

The New Republic hits the nail right on the head:

Merrick Garland Is Too Weak to Be Attorney General

Over and over again, the Biden appointee has proven to be painfully naïve in the face of Republican bad faith

Hur’s report, the findings of which were released late last week, cleared Biden of criminal wrongdoing, as expected. It revealed Republican efforts to attack Biden’s handling of classified documents as what they were: A smear aimed at clouding Trump’s brazen criminality. But none of that mattered. Instead, the report has been an unmitigated disaster for Biden, all because Hur used his 388-page report as a means of pushing another of the right’s favorite attacks: That Biden is not only old and doddering, but senile. The Hur report, in gratuitous fashion, presented the president as a Mr. Magoo-like figure, unable to remember basic facts like the year of his son’s death or his own term as vice president—details that were wholly irrelevant to the investigation itself.

Garland should have seen this coming. He didn’t. Three years into Garland’s term as attorney general, it’s clear that he has failed.  

During his tenure, Garland’s noble goals have, again and again, rendered him overly passive to the threat posed by the right. Perhaps fearing backlash, the attorney general slow-walked the investigation into Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection, only appointing Jack Smith as special counsel in late-November of 2022, after Trump formally declared his bid for the presidency.  

Garland, it’s worth noting, should know better. He is arguably the poster child of the GOP’s deviation from norms and their general adherence to bad faith in all areas of politics.

Note the use of the phrase bad faith. Along with ill-will, that is the epitome of radical authoritarian TTKP politics. Pure bad faith, loaded with hate and malice.

TTKP = Trump Tyranny & Kleptocracy Party, formerly the Republican Party

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The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is excited about the upcoming presidential election in the US. Digital Dispatches reports:

Pro-CCP ‘Spamouflage’ network pivoting to focus on 

US Presidential Election

The long-running influence campaign suspected to be run by the CCP and often referred to as ‘Spamouflage’ is already pivoting to focus on the expected competition between President Joe Biden and Republican forerunner Donald Trump. Spamouflage has been active since at least 2017. In April 2023 the US Department of Justice charged 40 employees of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s 912 Special Projects Working Group for their involvement in an influence campaign which, based on details in the indictment, appears extremely likely to be Spamouflage. According to the indictment, the operation is coordinated from Beijing and implemented in offices around China. It is infamous among researchers both for its sprawling size and for its failure to generate any noteworthy engagement from real social media users.

Analyzing the narratives of the campaign is nonetheless useful as a method for understanding the likely broader strategy of the CCP going into the election year. It is also important to continue to keep an eye on Spamouflage’s tactics as they evolve. 

Key narratives include:

The election will be divisive and damaging for America: This appears to be one of the two most common election-specific narratives being promoted by Spamouflage. It portrays the election as a source of division and strife which compounds America’s existing problems.

Negative Biden narratives: Alongside painting the election as divisive, negative narratives about President Biden appear to be the other most significant focus of Spamouflage’s election-related efforts as of January 2024.

Ambiguous Trump narratives: Narratives relating to Trump are noticeably less common than those relating to Biden. Interestingly many of them are also somewhat ambiguous – while the authors may intend them to be negative, Trump supporters might read many of them differently.

This appeals to most DJT supporters?

(probably)

Well, at least it looks like spamouflage probably is not going to be a major election influencer this time around. I hope.

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 LGBQT Nation reports about a Christian nationalist hater spewing poison from his taxpayer subsidized pulpit:

Another hate preacher affiliated with the wildly anti-LGBTQ+ New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement, or New IFB Church, has called for the public execution of gay people.

“That’s what fa**ots deserve, is the death penalty!” railed “Brother” Robert Larson in a sermon at the Bible Believers Baptist Church in Union Gap, WA last week. “And they should do it publicly for everybody to see.”

“Bring back the electric chair!” Larson encouraged to his congregation. It’s “a little more painful” than the alternatives.

Larson asked his flock in Union Gap last week, “What does God say the homos deserve? In Leviticus 20:13, a famous verse, it says, ‘If a man also lie with a man as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.’ That’s what fa**ots deserve.” 

“Every single sodomite, every single homosexual should get the electric chair,” Larson continued. He added, his voice rising, “And they should do it publicly for everybody to see, so that they know that’s what happens to these freaks! These rapists, these child molesters.” 

Us taxpayers are forced by law to subsidize this filth and moral rot. That is a fact, not an opinion. 

It would not be at all surprising if the enraged freak “Brother” Larson is projecting when he slanders his targets as rapists and child molesters. One can reasonably wonder if he has murdered some people. Of course that’s just speculation, not proven fact.

Qs: Why do actual, real Christians not stand up and openly and constantly denounce the obvious hate, bigotry and tyranny that Christian nationalism is fomenting among millions of self-professed Christians, or should that be the job on agnostics, atheists and other non-Christians? Should taxpayers be forced by tax laws to subsidize religion? 

I sure don't want one penny of my tax dollars going to any religion, especially Christian nationalist churches.