Just practicing my rusty college Russian which I’ve mostly forgotten so I’ll be able to keep up when they send me to the gulag for the intelligentsia. My selection of paintings today are from Archibald Motley who painted Black Americans during the jazz age. I’m celebrating uniquely American creativity while I can too … none of this derivative crap like the likes of Kid Rock who delivers ripped off riffs to his meth-headed mofos.
Though Motley received a full scholarship to study architecture at the Armour Institute of Technology (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) and though his father had hoped that he would pursue a career in architecture, he applied to and was accepted at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied painting. In 1917, while still a student, Motley showed his work in the exhibition Paintings by Negro Artists held at a Chicago YMCA. That year he also worked with his father on the railroads and managed to fit in sketching while they traveled cross-country.
Upon graduating from the Art Institute in 1918, Motley took odd jobs to support himself while he made art. An idealist, he was influenced by the writings of black reformer and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois and Harlem Renaissance leader Alain Locke and believed that art could help to end racial prejudice. At the same time, he recognized that African American artists were overlooked and undersupported, and he was compelled to write “The Negro in Art,” an essay on the limitations placed on black artists that was printed in the July 6, 1918, edition of the influential Chicago Defender, a newspaper by and for African Americans. The long and violent Chicago race riot of 1919, though it postdated his article, likely strengthened his convictions.
Motley was a WPA painter during the Great Depression. One of his murals hangs in the post office of Wood River Illinois. Wood River is part of the Greater St. Louis area. It’s painted in a distinctly different style from the beautiful, brightly colored paintings with so much energy that I’ve posted here.
The letter is signed by electors from five states and the District of Columbia. In addition to Christine Pelosi — a California elector — it includes a signature from one former members of Congress: New Hampshire’s Carol Shea-Porter.
Shea-Porter’s three other New Hampshire colleagues — Terie Norelli, Bev Hollingsworth and Dudley Dudley — also signed the letter. D.C. Councilwoman Anita Bonds, former Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Clay Pell and Maryland activist Courtney Watson round out the nine Democratic signatories. Colorado Democratic elector Micheal Baca, leader of an effort to turn the Electoral College against Trump, is also on the list. Texas’ Chris Suprun, an emergency responder who has been a vocal critic of Trump, is the only Republican elector to sign on.
“Yes, we the Electors should have temporary security clearance to perform our constitutional duty in reviewing the facts regarding outside interference in the US election and the intelligence agencies should declassify as much data as possible while protecting sources and methods so that the American people can learn the truth about our election,” said Pelosi.
Though the letter doesn’t explicitly endorse a separate effort by electors in Colorado, Washington and California to stop Trump from winning the presidency, it represents the latest effort by Democratic electors to look to the Electoral College as a possible bulwark against a Trump presidency. The letter follows on the heels of two Democratic congressmen — David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Jim Himes of Connecticut — who suggested this weekend that the Electoral College should consider whether to block Trump’s election.
Hillary Clinton, her top advisers and former President Bill Clinton, who’s an elector from New York, have remained notably silent on the various Electoral College machinations.
Van Jones is now running a PR firm that is dead set on defeating Trump in the Electoral College. That’s right, Van Jones is actively courting Republican electors to vote against Trump on December 19th.
The firm, called Megaphone Strategies, is currently handling all media inquiries for the first official anti-Trump elector Chris Suprun. But the firm is also in working with other Republican electors, so while Trump has been helping his billionaire friends Van Jones has been raising an anti-Trump “army.”
“Tight around Trump is a little hate army — not every Trump voter — but tight around him is a little hate army of very cynical, nasty people who took over our government,” Jones said. “We have to build a massive Love Army that can take the country and the government back in a better direction.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday said recent findings by the CIA that the Russian government tied to influence the U.S. presidential election should be investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Calling the allegations of Russian meddling “disturbing,” McConnell said the intelligence panel should take the lead, dismissing calls by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others for a special select committee to review the matter.
He said the Intelligence Committee is “more than capable of conducting a complete review of this matter.”
“We’re going to follow the regular order. It’s an important subject and we intend to review it on a bipartisan basis,” he said.
McConnell noted that he sits on the panel as an ex officio member and that incoming Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) will soon join it in the same capacity.
He also said that McCain will be conducting his own review of cybersecurity threats facing the nation as chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
“Sen. McCain and Sen. Burr will both be looking at this issue and doing it on a bipartisan basis,” he said, referring to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.).
Jason Miller, a spokesman for President-elect Donald Trump, said he was unsure of the last time Trump and McConnell spoke, but dismissed efforts to investigate Russian interference in the election as coming from “people who are bitter their candidate lost.”
Ambassador John Bolton claimed Sunday that hacks during the election season could have been “a false flag” operation — possibly committed by the Obama administration itself.
In an interview with Fox News’ Eric Shawn, Bolton questioned why FBI Director James Comey said during the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private server, there was no direct evidence found of foreign intelligence service penetration, but cyber fingerprints were found in regards to the presidential election.
This entire story and the weird conspiracy theories are unfolding minute by minute. Paul Krugman’s Op ed on the “Tainted Election” is a must read.
The C.I.A., according to The Washington Post, has now determined that hackers working for the Russian government worked to tilt the 2016 election to Donald Trump. This has actually been obvious for months, but the agency was reluctant to state that conclusion before the election out of fear that it would be seen as taking a political role.
Meanwhile, the F.B.I. went public 10 days before the election, dominating headlines and TV coverage across the country with a letter strongly implying that it might be about to find damning new evidence against Hillary Clinton — when it turned out, literally, to have found nothing at all.
Did the combination of Russian and F.B.I. intervention swing the election? Yes. Mrs. Clinton lost three states – Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania – by less than a percentage point, and Florida by only slightly more. If she had won any three of those states, she would be president-elect. Is there any reasonable doubt that Putin/Comey made the difference?
And it wouldn’t have been seen as a marginal victory, either. Even as it was, Mrs. Clinton received almost three million more votes than her opponent, giving her a popular margin close to that of George W. Bush in 2004.
So this was a tainted election. It was not, as far as we can tell, stolen in the sense that votes were counted wrong, and the result won’t be overturned. But the result was nonetheless illegitimate in important ways; the victor was rejected by the public, and won the Electoral College only thanks to foreign intervention and grotesquely inappropriate, partisan behavior on the part of domestic law enforcement.
The CIA only shared its latest findings with top senators last week, the Postreported, but it’s not clear when the agency made the determination. In an interview with MSNBC on Saturday, however, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid—who is known for making bold accusations—said FBI Director Jim Comey has known about Russia’s ambitions “for a long time,” but didn’t release that information.
If that’s true, why didn’t the Obama administration push to release it earlier?
For one, the White House was probably afraid of looking like it was tipping the scale in Hillary Clinton’s favor, especially in an election that her opponent repeatedly described as rigged. Though Obama stumped for Clinton around the country, the administration didn’t want to open him up to attacks that he unfairly used intelligence to undermine Trump’s campaign, the Post reported.
Instead, top White House officials gathered key lawmakers—leadership from the House and Senate, plus the top Democrats and Republicans from both houses’ intelligence and homeland security committees—to ask for a bipartisan condemnation of Russia’s meddling. The effort was stymied by several Republicans who weren’t willing to cooperate, including, reportedly, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. (On Sunday morning, a bipartisan statement condemning the hacks came from incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Jack Reed, a Democrat, and Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham.)
It’s also possible that the administration, like most pollsters and pundits, was overconfident in its assessment that Clinton would win the election. Officials may have been more willing to lob incendiary accusations—and risk setting off a serious political or cyber conflict with Russia—if they had thought Trump had a good chance to win.
The silence from the White House and the CIA was a stark contrast to the Comey’s announcement just weeks before the election that it was examining new documents related to its investigation into Clinton’s emails.
I’m still really upset and I’m just going moment by moment and day by day. How can this being happening to us?
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
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China flies nuclear bomber over South China Sea as a ‘message’ to Donald Trump
Officials say it was the first long-range flight along demarcation line in more than 18 months
I give up. In all reality, nothing can be done outside of a citizen revolution that will never happen.
He got away without ever producing those tax forms. He got away with gross behavior unbecoming a presidential candidate. He got away with lying nonstop on the campaign trail. He got away with constant “tweeting” that would have defeated any other candidate for higher office. He got away with slandering his opponents. He got away with mocking the handicapped. He got away with knowing nothing about anything. He got away with insulting Gold Star families, Muslims, blacks, Hispanics. He got away with lying about his non existent charitable contributions including those of veterans. He lied about his meeting with the Mexican president.
What more does a person need to be disqualified from attaining the highest office in the world?
He will be a “puppet” of Paul Ryan and the radical Right wing. A “puppet” of big business and all they stand to gain. A “puppet” of a murderous Russian dictator who holds the cards to his precious Trump empire.
And who will stop this nightmare train from veering further off course? No one. The GOP cabal will see toit that whatever egregious action he takes will be smoothed over, covered up, and explained away without recourse.
We have lost faith in every institution we have ever held dear beginning with congress, the courts, the FBI, and the press. There is very little standing between us and the disaster that is about to take place come January 20, 2017.
And we all know that deep within our own heart of hearts.
Well, it appears that a few of the Washington crowd are paying a bit of attention. Now if we can get everyone we know to send an email to their reps and senators, perhaps deluge them with phone calls and emails as was done a few years back, they may just get a little rattled and do the right thing.
I don’t know why, but I have couple people who voted for Trump, who are my family, have told me this week. 1) They believe that he will keep jobs here at home. (Whut?)……..2) Trump would never fuck with Social Security and Medicare, if he did we would have a civil war? (Whut? Where were you when George W. Bush tried to privatize SS? I told them Trump is only hiring winners, not losers like them, and they got pissed off at me.
These people are hoping to a General Dollar Store on every other block in their community, go to church, then go to the General Dollar……………Wow
“outside of a citizen revolution that will never happen.” We need people filling the streets and squares, like they have done in Tangiers and Madrid. Why are we all sitting at home? We should be out there every day, protesting, instead of waiting for the end. I would compare our situation to Jews in Germany in the ’30s, many of whom left when it was possible, but there’s really nowhere to go. A radioactive cloud follows the wind.
Very interesting – this was also covered in the Netflix series “The Crown” – apparently Churchill had a hard time accepting the seriousness of it while it was happening.
The only result of this will be that Hillary’s electoral vote total will be diminished for history. The Republican electors will never vote for Romney. Only the Democrats, mostly the idiot Sanders people who get to act patriotic while spiting Hillary some more.
Just when you think we have reached rock bottom who just stumbled out of Trump Tower but none other then Carly “Snarly” Fiorina!
She is “interviewing” for position as security adviser! One thing his picks all have in common is that none possess a hint of a soul.
We may justifiably fear the Russians but my money is on the Chinese. Is anybody out there with any guts willing to stand up to this Monster Trump before he is sworn in?
Looks like racist slurs are fine and dandy coming from government officials now:
W.Va. official who lost job over racist Michelle Obama remark quietly reinstated
A West Virginia government employee who was removed from her position for a Facebook post referring to first lady Michelle Obama as an “ape in heels” will get her job back, according to recent reports.
Pamela Taylor, director of the Clay County Development Corp., was fired in early November after she said “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a Ape in heels.”
The Clay County Development Corp. announced on Saturday that Taylor would be reinstated on Dec. 23.
They think Ivanka is, too. Not sure if it’s real – but there’s a ridiculous picture of her at Hullabaloo in a skimpy black bathing sure straddling a jackhammer. Now that’s CLASS!!!
LOLOL I haven’t done that yet but these little clickbait thumbnails I see all over have her on a plane (I think) with sunglasses in an outfit that doesn’t really cover up anything.
Obama was the last bulwark against a fascist takeover of the country, and he failed, or more accurately, didn’t stand up. He reappointed Comey, something Republicans never do when they take over. He then let him run his own criminal investigation of Hillary, without any authorization from DOJ or anywhere else. And he and his DOJ never ordered it to stop. Of course the investigation would yield nothing, but it dominated headlines. Without it, HIllary wins in a landslide. But he says nothing. Then he lets Comey assail her on TV. Then he finds out about Russian interference in the election, and says nothing. He lets the Republicans intimidate him by threatening to attack him for being partisan and interfering, even though that is all they have done all along. He could save the country by speaking up about this major threat to our sovereignty, but does not. Then Comey writes an unprecedented letter to Congress, discussing an investigation which was a fraud to begin with. Obama’s only response is that Comey is honorable. Then when the returns come in, he calls Hillary that she must concede quickly, and that she should not ask for recounts. Then he tells some media that she was lazy in the campaigning, and that he went to every fish fry in Iowa when he was a candidate. He says publicly that he believes the results reflected the will of the people; that notwithstanding various reports of massive voter suppression, broken voting machines, et al. Finally, after pressure from a couple of Republicans, he tells America that there was an active effort by Russia to subvert the election, and orders a report, which of course will do no good. And then the traitor McConnell says that he will oversee an investigation, and Obama says nothing against McConnell, who should be facing a trial for treason.
“Too little, too late,” would be putting it generously. Republicans will do anything to win, and their amorality has grown exponentially. Now they just let a foreign power take over the government, because it let them “win.” And against that, we have a president who apparently puts his own image of nonpartisanship, his own unwillingness to confront them, above everything else, even the construction of a totalitarian state here run by Russia.
Even worse than that, somehow, is that we are now entering a horrifying phase of post-facts, post-truth, which might even outdo Orwell’s nightmare vision. We have never seen this in America. We have seen partisanship and Republican conniving, but never this systematic effort to strip truth of any meaning. It is far beyond just the infuriating fact that Hillary was savaged by them and by their collaborators in the media for nothing; while they did the things they accused her of. Now they are is trying to brainwash the already confused and dumbed down public that up is really down, that it is Obama who is pretending that there was Russian involvement, that it is the CIA which is lying, never Trump and his totalitarians. They are going to define reality, and the media is going to help them do it. This is purely the stuff of Hitler and Goebbels. This is Obama’s “reward” for trying to accomodate them. When they actually take charge, they are going to take over the media even further, and only a few intelligent people out there are going to have any idea what is actually going on. Russia has done that for many decades, now America is going to be like that. Van Jones, the irritating Sanders adorer, is going to find that “love bombs” are not going to save anyone. They are going to purge the EPA, they are going to purge the CIA and every other group which they think is against them. The NSA will report directly to Russia, and we will have no protection at all.
I am almost thinking that we might only be saved b a coup conducted by the military and CIA, sort of like in “Seven Days in May.” At that time, such a coup was horrifying to consider. But now it might be our best hope. Obama was not. Hillary was; and a combination of right-wing evil, left-wing puritanism, a spiteful and derelict and fifth column media, combined to defeat her, even though she got 3 million more votes. The time has come for drastic measures. People refusing to pay their taxes? Tens of millions of people marching? Democrats in the House and Senate actually calling the Republicans fascists and dictators on a daily basis, until it sinks in to some people, even if the media mocks and criticizes it? Hillary doing what she should never have to do, and leading the opposition to fascism? Some rich people getting together and buying a TV network, sort of a Radio Free America, in America? This is the kind of thinking that is needed, in my opinion. Not hunkering down and hoping it goes away; not sticking with well-meaning but ineffectual platitudes. And never, never deluding themselves that it was Hillary’ fault, not Obama’s; or of thinking that some kind of Sanders-led rag-tag leftwing insurgence is going to win back the country, like the McGovernites, who were a lot smarter than the Sanders people, hoped. And going back to that time, we should realize that if Republicans of today controlled the Senate, there would have been no Watergate hearings, and Nixon would stayed in office, where he was trying to subvert the Constitution to run for a third term. We are in far worse shape than that now, and we need drastic measures coming from somewhere.
I wouldn’t look to rich people to save the day, William. It is hard to get to that level of wealth without changing inside. It corrupts you and you become immune to the suffering of others. There are exceptions, of course – but not many. Money really is the root of all evil.
The thing that really gets me is that she’s committed to serving underserved communities. The Skagit Valley region has native women and immigrant women doing farm work who travel. She has midwifes on her team and she has many elderly Medicare patients who need surgeries. She’s really committed to her practice.
Alperovitch of CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that first publicly linked the cyberattacks to Russian intelligence, said Sunday that he was “puzzled” by Trump’s remarks and assumes he has not yet been fully briefed on the matter.
(CrowdStrike, whose principals include Shawn Henry, the former chief of the FBI’s cyber division, was initially hired by the DNC to investigate the cyberattacks and defend its network last May.)
Not sure what to make of this and it’s behind the WSJ paywall. Crazy or what? Post election and why?
Georgia Says Someone in U.S. Government Tried to Hack State’s Computers Housing Voter Data
Unsuccessful intrusion came on Nov. 15 apparently via Department of Homeland Security IP address
If the results of this election stand, I don’t see any good outcome going forward. It means that you can violate the Hatch Act (Comey), collude with a foreign agent to sway the election (Repub’s) and nothing will be done except some press articles and an investigation likely to do nothing. It means it is ok to hack our elections because there are no consequences. It means corruption and breaking the law are ok, especially if you win. It means we no longer even pretend to care about becoming better, more fair, more just as a nation. We give in to our worst elements.
If the friggin’ FBI can tail Hillary 24/7, and then turn around and not tail Putin, something stinks to the high heavens, and it’s not Pres. Obama, Hillary, or us Democrats.
Trump loves to have the media help him “normalize” his bullshitt, and help neutralize Russia, and then tell us Putin didn’t play a part, it was some 400 lb man on a bed in a hotel room. Ooops, slip of tongue…………Got Trump Tower, got Monafort who has lived there 15 years, got Fat Ass Christy?
We need to take special measures, and we need to have the VOTERS spearhead this, after all it was the USA, not USSR’s election.
Since I truly can’t take news except in small bites these days, I’ve been listening to podcasts about other things. One I’m immersed in currently is the History of the Roman Empire. Interesting listening to the stories of the original 7 kings (and then looking them up to get more information), and the reasons the 7th king caused them to come up with a new form of government (and even though they eventually reverted to monarchy, they had to use a different title than “king,” because Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was so horrible). I also stumbled on to “Damn Interesting,” which is, and in reading their back posts, I came across an article about Marine Major General Smedley Butler, and I highly recommend reading about him. Of course, it makes me sick that we don’t have a Smedley Butler in sight today. Some things haven’t changed: a press owned by the wealthy, who ridiculed General Butler’s accusations, a Congress filled with do-nothing sycophants, and intelligence services riddled with lick-spittle servants of the ruling class. Had FDR been a toady of a foreign government, like the next US President, our republic would have gasped it’s last breath about the time Hitler was taking over eastern Europe. Well, I guess we’ve had a pretty good run, and many of us boomers had the great good fortune to live during the golden age of the USA. I don’t feel good, though, about my generation being the one to take a nice shiny toy and bang it up and tear it apart and crap all over it and hand it on to the next generation. It’s mean and ugly.
Loved the paintings. We had a print of his hanging in our living room when we lived in Florida and Connecticut. But it never made it to banjoville. I don’t know what happened to it. It was a pool hall image. I’ve spent most of the day looking at baby panda videos. I can’t do much of anything else.
Rachel had a very good segment on this evening. I just kept shaking my head, and getting more heated listening to Palmerie. I wanted her to blast the shitt out of Trump.
Whether it was Russians, Chinese or whomever, the fact is that our election was hacked and the outcome doesn’t reflect the will of the people, therefore we need to act.
You’re right Pat, we need someone (many) to stand up to the ‘monster’.
He continued to tell us that the election was ‘rigged’ and we all kept thinking he meant in favor of Hillary, silly us.
It does appear that it is time for sound-minded people to rise up as one against those who seek to take over our country.
The Sky Dancing banner headline uses a snippet from a work by artist Tashi Mannox called 'Rainbow Study'. The work is described as a" study of typical Tibetan rainbow clouds, that feature in Thanka painting, temple decoration and silk brocades". dakinikat was immediately drawn to the image when trying to find stylized Tibetan Clouds to represent Sky Dancing. It is probably because Tashi's practice is similar to her own. His updated take on the clouds that fill the collection of traditional thankas is quite special.
You can find his work at his website by clicking on his logo below. He is also a calligraphy artist that uses important vajrayana syllables. We encourage you to visit his on line studio.
Добрый день
Motley was a WPA painter during the Great Depression. One of his murals hangs in the post office of Wood River Illinois. Wood River is part of the Greater St. Louis area. It’s painted in a distinctly different style from the beautiful, brightly colored paintings with so much energy that I’ve posted here.
Van Jones is launching an “army”
Sounds like a stall!
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Thanks for the post, Dak.
I think that Mr. Motley’s work is gorgeous.
I’m trying to mix a little art and beauty in with all the bad news. Otherwise, it all just overwhelms.
Thank you. It helps.
Love the Motley paintings.
The beauty of the dance…………forever in love with the music, and it’s people.
China flies nuclear bomber over South China Sea as a ‘message’ to Donald Trump
Officials say it was the first long-range flight along demarcation line in more than 18 months
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-bomber-flight-send-message-donald-trump-taiwan-a7468021.html
Nope, nope, must be a false flag. Somebody musta mis-read the plane’s paint job.
tRump is fucking with the wrong people. China is the only other superpower on the globe, not even Russia can compete with JINA!
I give up. In all reality, nothing can be done outside of a citizen revolution that will never happen.
He got away without ever producing those tax forms. He got away with gross behavior unbecoming a presidential candidate. He got away with lying nonstop on the campaign trail. He got away with constant “tweeting” that would have defeated any other candidate for higher office. He got away with slandering his opponents. He got away with mocking the handicapped. He got away with knowing nothing about anything. He got away with insulting Gold Star families, Muslims, blacks, Hispanics. He got away with lying about his non existent charitable contributions including those of veterans. He lied about his meeting with the Mexican president.
What more does a person need to be disqualified from attaining the highest office in the world?
He will be a “puppet” of Paul Ryan and the radical Right wing. A “puppet” of big business and all they stand to gain. A “puppet” of a murderous Russian dictator who holds the cards to his precious Trump empire.
And who will stop this nightmare train from veering further off course? No one. The GOP cabal will see toit that whatever egregious action he takes will be smoothed over, covered up, and explained away without recourse.
We have lost faith in every institution we have ever held dear beginning with congress, the courts, the FBI, and the press. There is very little standing between us and the disaster that is about to take place come January 20, 2017.
And we all know that deep within our own heart of hearts.
#ElectoralCollege #IntelligenceBriefing#RussianHackers #TreasonousTrump
BREAKING: @johnpodesta says Clinton campaign backs effort to get Electoral College voters intel briefing on Russian interference
Well, it appears that a few of the Washington crowd are paying a bit of attention. Now if we can get everyone we know to send an email to their reps and senators, perhaps deluge them with phone calls and emails as was done a few years back, they may just get a little rattled and do the right thing.
I don’t know why, but I have couple people who voted for Trump, who are my family, have told me this week. 1) They believe that he will keep jobs here at home. (Whut?)……..2) Trump would never fuck with Social Security and Medicare, if he did we would have a civil war? (Whut? Where were you when George W. Bush tried to privatize SS? I told them Trump is only hiring winners, not losers like them, and they got pissed off at me.
These people are hoping to a General Dollar Store on every other block in their community, go to church, then go to the General Dollar……………Wow
“outside of a citizen revolution that will never happen.” We need people filling the streets and squares, like they have done in Tangiers and Madrid. Why are we all sitting at home? We should be out there every day, protesting, instead of waiting for the end. I would compare our situation to Jews in Germany in the ’30s, many of whom left when it was possible, but there’s really nowhere to go. A radioactive cloud follows the wind.
Mystery Solved! Cause of London’s 1952 ‘Killer Fog’ Revealed
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mystery-solved-cause-londons-1952-151500901.html?.tsrc=fauxdal
Very interesting – this was also covered in the Netflix series “The Crown” – apparently Churchill had a hard time accepting the seriousness of it while it was happening.
I just threw up in my mouth a little …
Oh FFS!
The only result of this will be that Hillary’s electoral vote total will be diminished for history. The Republican electors will never vote for Romney. Only the Democrats, mostly the idiot Sanders people who get to act patriotic while spiting Hillary some more.
Just when you think we have reached rock bottom who just stumbled out of Trump Tower but none other then Carly “Snarly” Fiorina!
She is “interviewing” for position as security adviser! One thing his picks all have in common is that none possess a hint of a soul.
We may justifiably fear the Russians but my money is on the Chinese. Is anybody out there with any guts willing to stand up to this Monster Trump before he is sworn in?
Crickets.
I’m waiting to see what position Kellyanne Conway is going to get.
Looks like racist slurs are fine and dandy coming from government officials now:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/309992-wv-official-who-lost-job-over-racist-michelle-obama-remark
OMG! Unbelievable!
Funny what people define as “classy”.
They think Ivanka is, too. Not sure if it’s real – but there’s a ridiculous picture of her at Hullabaloo in a skimpy black bathing sure straddling a jackhammer. Now that’s CLASS!!!
It only takes one Google enquiry to see Melania in her birthday suit.
Classy my assy!
LOLOL I haven’t done that yet but these little clickbait thumbnails I see all over have her on a plane (I think) with sunglasses in an outfit that doesn’t really cover up anything.
A little homoerotic art to spice up the White House that Melania doesn’t want to live in.
and whatever you do, DO NOT do a Google image search for “nude Melania” believe me you’ll get WAY, WAY more than you bargained for.
Obama was the last bulwark against a fascist takeover of the country, and he failed, or more accurately, didn’t stand up. He reappointed Comey, something Republicans never do when they take over. He then let him run his own criminal investigation of Hillary, without any authorization from DOJ or anywhere else. And he and his DOJ never ordered it to stop. Of course the investigation would yield nothing, but it dominated headlines. Without it, HIllary wins in a landslide. But he says nothing. Then he lets Comey assail her on TV. Then he finds out about Russian interference in the election, and says nothing. He lets the Republicans intimidate him by threatening to attack him for being partisan and interfering, even though that is all they have done all along. He could save the country by speaking up about this major threat to our sovereignty, but does not. Then Comey writes an unprecedented letter to Congress, discussing an investigation which was a fraud to begin with. Obama’s only response is that Comey is honorable. Then when the returns come in, he calls Hillary that she must concede quickly, and that she should not ask for recounts. Then he tells some media that she was lazy in the campaigning, and that he went to every fish fry in Iowa when he was a candidate. He says publicly that he believes the results reflected the will of the people; that notwithstanding various reports of massive voter suppression, broken voting machines, et al. Finally, after pressure from a couple of Republicans, he tells America that there was an active effort by Russia to subvert the election, and orders a report, which of course will do no good. And then the traitor McConnell says that he will oversee an investigation, and Obama says nothing against McConnell, who should be facing a trial for treason.
“Too little, too late,” would be putting it generously. Republicans will do anything to win, and their amorality has grown exponentially. Now they just let a foreign power take over the government, because it let them “win.” And against that, we have a president who apparently puts his own image of nonpartisanship, his own unwillingness to confront them, above everything else, even the construction of a totalitarian state here run by Russia.
Even worse than that, somehow, is that we are now entering a horrifying phase of post-facts, post-truth, which might even outdo Orwell’s nightmare vision. We have never seen this in America. We have seen partisanship and Republican conniving, but never this systematic effort to strip truth of any meaning. It is far beyond just the infuriating fact that Hillary was savaged by them and by their collaborators in the media for nothing; while they did the things they accused her of. Now they are is trying to brainwash the already confused and dumbed down public that up is really down, that it is Obama who is pretending that there was Russian involvement, that it is the CIA which is lying, never Trump and his totalitarians. They are going to define reality, and the media is going to help them do it. This is purely the stuff of Hitler and Goebbels. This is Obama’s “reward” for trying to accomodate them. When they actually take charge, they are going to take over the media even further, and only a few intelligent people out there are going to have any idea what is actually going on. Russia has done that for many decades, now America is going to be like that. Van Jones, the irritating Sanders adorer, is going to find that “love bombs” are not going to save anyone. They are going to purge the EPA, they are going to purge the CIA and every other group which they think is against them. The NSA will report directly to Russia, and we will have no protection at all.
I am almost thinking that we might only be saved b a coup conducted by the military and CIA, sort of like in “Seven Days in May.” At that time, such a coup was horrifying to consider. But now it might be our best hope. Obama was not. Hillary was; and a combination of right-wing evil, left-wing puritanism, a spiteful and derelict and fifth column media, combined to defeat her, even though she got 3 million more votes. The time has come for drastic measures. People refusing to pay their taxes? Tens of millions of people marching? Democrats in the House and Senate actually calling the Republicans fascists and dictators on a daily basis, until it sinks in to some people, even if the media mocks and criticizes it? Hillary doing what she should never have to do, and leading the opposition to fascism? Some rich people getting together and buying a TV network, sort of a Radio Free America, in America? This is the kind of thinking that is needed, in my opinion. Not hunkering down and hoping it goes away; not sticking with well-meaning but ineffectual platitudes. And never, never deluding themselves that it was Hillary’ fault, not Obama’s; or of thinking that some kind of Sanders-led rag-tag leftwing insurgence is going to win back the country, like the McGovernites, who were a lot smarter than the Sanders people, hoped. And going back to that time, we should realize that if Republicans of today controlled the Senate, there would have been no Watergate hearings, and Nixon would stayed in office, where he was trying to subvert the Constitution to run for a third term. We are in far worse shape than that now, and we need drastic measures coming from somewhere.
Agreed. I have witnessed more uproar over the cancellation of “Duck Dynasty” then a possible takeover of the U.S. government.
Astonishing!
Yes. And it’s a weekday. Time to call your Congresscritters!
https://mobile.twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/808387776232194048
Thanks for the push. Did just that.
I wouldn’t look to rich people to save the day, William. It is hard to get to that level of wealth without changing inside. It corrupts you and you become immune to the suffering of others. There are exceptions, of course – but not many. Money really is the root of all evil.
Just heard that my Dr Daughter just passed her boards and is now a Board Certified OB-GYN!!!
She’s my sweetie!!!
Yay! Congratulations to Dr. Daughter — and her mother!
Wonderful! Congratulations to Dr. Daughter.
News to celebrate! Hallelujah! Good for her!
Congratulations to you and your daughter, Dak!!! My mother’s hysterectomy was just done by a team of lady doctors. I called them the “Lady Army” – lol
Congratulations, you must be so proud.
That’s wonderful Dak……..I know you’re so proud.
Very very proud of her.
The thing that really gets me is that she’s committed to serving underserved communities. The Skagit Valley region has native women and immigrant women doing farm work who travel. She has midwifes on her team and she has many elderly Medicare patients who need surgeries. She’s really committed to her practice.
Congratulations to your daughter!
That is great, and I am sure she will be a credit to the field.
WooHoo! Congratulations Kat!!!
Michael Isakoff: Suspected Russian cyberattack waged on Clinton campaign just days before vote.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/suspected-russian-cyber-attack-waged-on-clinton-campaign-just-days-before-vote-130057960.html
LOL. Sob:
Donald J. Trump’s Gangster Capitalism, by Never Trumper Rick Wilson
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/09/donald-j-trump-s-gangster-capitalism.html
Not sure what to make of this and it’s behind the WSJ paywall. Crazy or what? Post election and why?
Georgia Says Someone in U.S. Government Tried to Hack State’s Computers Housing Voter Data
Unsuccessful intrusion came on Nov. 15 apparently via Department of Homeland Security IP address
http://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-reports-attempt-to-hack-states-election-database-via-ip-address-linked-to-homeland-security-1481229960?mod=e2fb
A) #tRump chump involved in transition tries to get list of Dem voters, or
B) Putin’s hackers need to keep in practice.
Just more of the so called “regular flow” to help normalize the situation.
If the results of this election stand, I don’t see any good outcome going forward. It means that you can violate the Hatch Act (Comey), collude with a foreign agent to sway the election (Repub’s) and nothing will be done except some press articles and an investigation likely to do nothing. It means it is ok to hack our elections because there are no consequences. It means corruption and breaking the law are ok, especially if you win. It means we no longer even pretend to care about becoming better, more fair, more just as a nation. We give in to our worst elements.
If the friggin’ FBI can tail Hillary 24/7, and then turn around and not tail Putin, something stinks to the high heavens, and it’s not Pres. Obama, Hillary, or us Democrats.
Trump loves to have the media help him “normalize” his bullshitt, and help neutralize Russia, and then tell us Putin didn’t play a part, it was some 400 lb man on a bed in a hotel room. Ooops, slip of tongue…………Got Trump Tower, got Monafort who has lived there 15 years, got Fat Ass Christy?
We need to take special measures, and we need to have the VOTERS spearhead this, after all it was the USA, not USSR’s election.
Nothing more than another Trumpbomb coming at us.
Edited to delete link — not reputable.
Just a word to the wise. That guy is one of the Snowden fans/Intercept crew.
Since I truly can’t take news except in small bites these days, I’ve been listening to podcasts about other things. One I’m immersed in currently is the History of the Roman Empire. Interesting listening to the stories of the original 7 kings (and then looking them up to get more information), and the reasons the 7th king caused them to come up with a new form of government (and even though they eventually reverted to monarchy, they had to use a different title than “king,” because Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was so horrible). I also stumbled on to “Damn Interesting,” which is, and in reading their back posts, I came across an article about Marine Major General Smedley Butler, and I highly recommend reading about him. Of course, it makes me sick that we don’t have a Smedley Butler in sight today. Some things haven’t changed: a press owned by the wealthy, who ridiculed General Butler’s accusations, a Congress filled with do-nothing sycophants, and intelligence services riddled with lick-spittle servants of the ruling class. Had FDR been a toady of a foreign government, like the next US President, our republic would have gasped it’s last breath about the time Hitler was taking over eastern Europe. Well, I guess we’ve had a pretty good run, and many of us boomers had the great good fortune to live during the golden age of the USA. I don’t feel good, though, about my generation being the one to take a nice shiny toy and bang it up and tear it apart and crap all over it and hand it on to the next generation. It’s mean and ugly.
I’m just learning about Smedly Butler. I’ll have to look at that.
Loved the paintings. We had a print of his hanging in our living room when we lived in Florida and Connecticut. But it never made it to banjoville. I don’t know what happened to it. It was a pool hall image. I’ve spent most of the day looking at baby panda videos. I can’t do much of anything else.
Reid says intelligence shows that Trump campaign was complicit with Russia in hacking …
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_584f0df0e4b0e05aded537cd?
The Electors have to reject #tRump for his complicity with Russia. Pence also.
Not faithless but faithful electors…
http://time.com/4597387/faithless-electors-donald-trump/?xid=fbshare
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/310108-more-electors-join-call-for-russia-interference-briefing-before
That is powerfully written — there’s hope for the MSM yet, and our country, that the Electors will do the right thing.
Jennifer Palmeiri on Rachel Maddow right now.
And meanwhile, down in red, red Oklahoma: https://apnews.com/c76e852b4ec948f7be4ccf9eda02a8a1/Oklahoma-may-require-restroom-signs-in-anti-abortion-effort?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
The level of stupid from the deplorables keeps getting deeper. Heh, businesses are complaining!
Rachel had a very good segment on this evening. I just kept shaking my head, and getting more heated listening to Palmerie. I wanted her to blast the shitt out of Trump.
Rex Tillerson is the new SOS.
We are really fucked …
(Shudder)
Whether it was Russians, Chinese or whomever, the fact is that our election was hacked and the outcome doesn’t reflect the will of the people, therefore we need to act.
You’re right Pat, we need someone (many) to stand up to the ‘monster’.
He continued to tell us that the election was ‘rigged’ and we all kept thinking he meant in favor of Hillary, silly us.
It does appear that it is time for sound-minded people to rise up as one against those who seek to take over our country.