Bothsidesism

Bothsidesism

Part of me wants to turn off all television news and live a happily ignorant existence. Another part of me needs to scream. At Chris Matthews. At Chris Cuomo. At Chris Hayes. It’s not the name Chris that bothers me. My confirmation name is Chris. No, it’s how the Chrises and others in the television news business are once again doing their best to sway and blow another election for Democrats.

After the terrorist murders in Pittsburgh, almost every news show had on good ol’ folksy John Kasich. He’s been making the rounds. What he says in all of these appearances is appealing: we need to have more empathy, stop putting up walls, reach out to others, and Trump is incapable of being a unifier. All of it sounds good. Common sense. But just as he criticizes Trump in one breath, he then invokes bothsidesism in another.

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The Rhetoric Blame Game

The Rhetoric Blame Game

False equivalency strikes again.

Yesterday pipe bombs were sent to political opponents and vocal critics of Donald Trump. Specifically, the targets of the bombs were people he has called out by name at his cult shows.

Today the media has bent over backwards to show how both sides need to cool down on the rhetoric. For example, CBS This Morning showed several clips in an attempt at being “fair.” One clip was an interview with a Trump supporter—it looked like she was in the lobby of his rally last night—who said both sides need to take a step back. This was followed by another clip of past Trump cult shows (aka rallies) where he whipped up the flock into frenzied chants of “lock her up.”  Then, to be “fair,” CBS showed a clip of Eric Holder saying, “when they go low, we kick them.”

How are these things even remotely equivalent?

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The Salute Is Not The Problem

The Salute Is Not The Problem

If you’ve seen the video of Trump saluting a North Korean military officer, it’s clear he was confused about proper protocol in the greeting. First Trump goes for a handshake. Then the military officer salutes. Trump reflexively salutes back. I have no outrage—fake or real—over this. The issue is not Trump’s salute to an adversary’s military officer. It’s about the Trumpists’ hypocrisy and double-standards. The right wing conspiracy machine would have pounced on this misstep had it been a Democrat. Doesn’t matter which one. In their eyes, all Democrats are evil and hate America. Sean Calamity Shamity’s head would have exploded and oozed like a Hawaiian volcano for months. Yes, the salute was a mistake, especially in preparation. Trump should have known not to salute. But okay. He did. His bad. But I’m not going to pretend to be outraged. I’ll let the wingnuts on the right be the hypocrisy experts.

And, oh, by the way, that Hawaiian volcano was triggered by Trump’s cronies digging up the earth to find Obama’s birth certificate. Of that I am convinced.

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Alt Left

Alt Left

The alt left is a made up term by right wing propagandists like Sean Shamity, now picked up by the president, to create a false equivalency to white supremacists, fascists, nazis, racists, anti-semites, and bigots of all stripes. When they use the term alt left, they mean feminists, blacks, non-whites, anti-fascists, gays, interfaith clergy members peacefully singing while they incite violence with torches, or anyone who dares to speak out against discrimination, hatred, and fascism. Since I won’t be silent, I guess that makes me a part of the alt left.

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Make or Break Time?

Make or Break Time?

Most Sunday mornings we tune into CBS Sunday Morning, and watch right up to the sights and sounds of nature at the very end. Then we turn it off before the talking heads and pundits pontificate on Face The Nation (and the other Sunday round table shows).

This morning, right before they left us with that tranquil end to the show, they showed a promo for Face The Nation. When John Dickerson said, coming up, it’s make or break time for the Republican healthcare bill, I turned to my husband and ranted, “What does that mean? Make or break time? Mitch McConnell owns the Senate. He can make or break anything any time he wants. If he wants to have a vote on the healthcare bill next week, he can. If he wants to have a vote a year from now, he can. He controls the Senate. This is a guy who stole a Supreme Court seat. He can do whatever the fuck he wants whenever the fuck he wants to.”

And in response to my short, but intense outburst, my loving husband calmly said, “You had to get that out. Now, what do you want to eat for dinner this week?”

And with that, we set off to Trader Joe’s.

But… Media: stop with this make or break time narrative. It’s meaningless. There are no norms left in DC. 

That’s my post for today. I’ll leave you with an image from Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Freedom and Fake News

Freedom and Fake News

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows I’m not a big fan of the television news media. And by news, I mean legit news organizations, not the sly-as-a-fox-make-shit-up-to-brainwash-our-viewers-in-order-to-serve-our-oligarchic-agenda “news.”

CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, BBC, etc., are all legit news. I may not like the way they present the news, um, I mean BREAK the news, since it’s always BREAKING NEWS with fancy graphics, ominous scoring, and dramatic language—for Pete’s sake, I’m watching the news, not a James Cameron movie—but they are legitimate.

I wish they’d stop trying to entertain me and just give me the facts.

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Tone Deaf

Tone Deaf

Guns suck. People suck worse.

There something mentally unstable with people who worship guns. But okay, I suppose everyone’s got a fetish. If guns are your thing, have it at. But don’t act surprised when someone uses your fetish to murder innocent people.

To be clear: the madman who took aim at Republicans on a baseball field was pure evil. Plain and simple. And if he hadn’t been killed, he deserved to die. (I’m not a knee-jerk bleeding heart against the death penalty. That said, any potential death penalty case should be clear cut with irrefutable, iron-clad evidence, such as with this madman in Alexandria. Innocent people have been put to death. See, contrary to radical right-wing popular belief, liberals are not monolithic. Link provided so you can look it up.)

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100% Pure Projection

100% Pure Projection

Trump is nothing but 100% pure projection.

When a person projects, they tend to fervently accuse others of traits, flaws, and issues that are really about themselves. It is blame shifting. Trump and his propaganda machine (including feckless Republicans) have mastered this primitive defense mechanism and elevated it to a sickening art form.

Some examples:

Hillary is crooked = I am crooked.
She is corrupt = I am corrupt.
The Clintons are criminals = I am a criminal.
Rosie is a pig = I am a pig.
The election is rigged = I am rigging it.
Obama is sick = I am sick.
The media is the enemy of the people = I am the enemy the people.
Anything he labels or calls a disaster = I am a disaster.

Almost every time he opens his mouth to criticize someone else, he is actually talking about himself.

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Commando-in-Chief

Commando-in-Chief
The greatest milking of a goat ever. (It may or may not be an actual goat, but that's why it's the greatest milking of goat ever! Who knows? Maybe it's a goat. Maybe it's an alternative goat. We just don't know. Thanks Obama for making it so that we can't tell animals apart anymore. But it's still the best milking of a goat by a giant ass. Ever!)

Trump appeared to blame the Navy SEALs and President Obama today for the failed Yemen mission that killed Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens. Unless former President Obama coerced him telepathically to approve the mission, the buck stops with Trump and Trump alone. President Trump is such a disgrace to even hint at blaming the SEALs. He sent them. As Commander-in-Chief, every mission, success or failure, is his responsibility. He is the one who is accountable.

Now, to all the folks out there still supporting this indefensible scapegoater, how do you square up and justify Trump’s blame-shifting and complete inability to take personal responsibility? Is this the kind of disruptive change you voted for? A president who blames the military for following his orders. He lies and lies and lies and people die and yet you still stand by this man. Please, don’t ever talk or preach about morals or values or character again. That argument is over for good. If you still support this man, you have no morals, values, or character. You and your emperor have no clothes—a sad Commando-in-Chief.

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Is this the kind of disruption people voted for? Sure, some did. (During the campaign, Hillary referred to those folks as a basket of deplorables, and that was being kind.) Others voted for Trump because they were in pain or they felt like they had no voice or they just wanted to shake up the system. While I didn’t vote for Trump, I, too, thought Washington needed a big time jolt. But not like this. If you are still defending this president and his autocratic goons, then you are delusional. You are the problem. Please, take your head out of Sean Hannity’s propaganda-filled ass and get some real facts and fresh air.

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