http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/jaime-o-neill/103706/trumps-never-ending-surreality-show

Trump's Never-Ending Surreality Show
by Jaime O’Neill | October 25, 2022 - 7:45am


snip//

So, what was begun with The Apprentice, then morphed into The Celebrity Apprentice, is now a variant of the Trumpist "reality" show we're going to live with until hell freezes over. Even with a big and increasingly unlikely blue wave victory on election day a few weeks from now, we're still going to be stuck with the designer "reality" Trump and his enablers have crafted for us, a reality in which ignorance, lies, and misinformation rules, where thugs and insurrectionists are proclaimed as patriots by a majority of American voters, where up is down, truth is fiction, and so-called "Christians" can see a man like Trump as the 2nd Coming of the prophet who gave their faith its name. This time, however, they've got a better guy.

When Trump said that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue without losing support, he was apparently just being modest, a true rarity for him. Hell, he can do far more than shoot pedestrians with impunity. He can hang out with fellow international pedophiles and sex traffickers, dance with Saudi murderers, incite an insurrection, steal classified documents at great risk to national security and to the safety of agents working in the intelligence community. He can undermine damn near every branch of government, get cops killed in a massive military-style assault he unleashed, setting loose a band of yahoos to shit in the offices and on the floors of the Capitol Building. He could inspire numb-nutted red cap wearing idiots to chant "hang Mike Pence." Untold numbers of men and women were persuaded to believe that they were acting as "patriots" in their attempts to suborn democracy itself,

Trump could and did skate on hiding his tax returns which turned out to reveal how little he paid. He could dance on legal technicalities, delays, and corruption throughout his life, and get away with it to this very day on an array of charges from criminal to civil, from rape to fraud. His henchman, Steve Bannon, has committed more serious crimes than most people who are serving long prison terms or were shot to death by the police, and yet he's been sentenced to only four months in jail, which, if that time is served at all, will no doubt be in one of those cushy joints reserved for people who are treated in the manner to which they've become accustomed.

Trump could encourage Americans to drink bleach and shine lights in their orifices to fight a virus he had said was a) a hoax, b) a Chinese disease, c) yet another radical Socialist Democrat attempt to destroy capitalism, and d) no big deal. He encouraged people not to wear masks as a statement of their politics, and as a result of his subversion of health and safety precautions, managed to oversee well over a million American COVID deaths, among the worst stats in the world where this scourge was concerned. Estimates suggest that more than half of those who died would not have lost their lives if we'd had a better, saner, more competent, and less criminal leader.

more...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/jaime-o-neill/103706/trumps-never-ending-surreality-show

https://www.thedailybeast.com/brittney-griners-nine-year-penal-colony-sentence-upheld-by-russian-court?ref=home

Brittney Griner’s Nine-Year Penal Colony Sentence Upheld by Russian Court
DENIED
Dan Ladden-Hall
News Correspondent
Published Oct. 25, 2022 8:52AM ET




Read it at New York Times

Trumpland
Florida Puts Raging MAGA Moms on Book-Banning Council
‘A PLEASURE TO BURN’
Florida’s Education Department has quietly selected right-wingers for a book-banning council that’ll re-train public school librarians.
Brooke Leigh Howard
Reporter
Political Investigations Reporter
Updated Oct. 24, 2022 7:06AM ET / Published Oct. 24, 2022 4:33AM ET


In the name of “curriculum transparency,” Florida’s Republican-controlled state government has appointed several anti-gay and anti-mask conspiracy theorists to take charge of a new effort at public schools: banning books.

snip//

The recent episode began with an Aug. 12 memo from Education Department senior chancellor Jacob Oliva. The memo called for local school districts to nominate “parents of students in K-12 schools for representation on a workgroup”—one charged with creating mandatory “training” that would guide librarians statewide on how to follow new library censorship rules signed into law by Gov. DeSantis earlier this year. School districts had a week to submit the names of qualified nominees.

The Education Department passed on nearly 100 potentially qualified applicants with relevant experience, records show. In Brevard County alone, it ignored the five submissions made by the bipartisan local school board, including the nomination of a former elementary school assistant principal, the director of Eastern Florida State College’s tutoring centers, and the administrator of a local scholarship fund.

Instead, the department went with a woman who nominated herself: Michelle Beavers.

While other candidates have teaching experience, Beavers’ bona fides consist of right-wing activism. She leads the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a MAGA contingent that has antagonized her school board for years over mask mandates—and allied with DeSantis for his recent attempt to outlaw critical race theory in schools.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-puts-raging-maga-moms-on-book-banning-council?ref=home

FUCK CANCER

Carly Simon Loses Both Sisters To Cancer This Week: Broadway Composer Lucy Simon And Opera Singer Joanna Simon Die One Day Apart
By Greg Evans
Greg Evans
Associate Editor/Broadway Critic
October 21, 2022 9:59am
Lucy, Carly and Joanna Simon (1994) Getty Images


In a very sad development, Carly Simon lost both of her sisters this week, with Broadway composer Lucy Simon dying of breast cancer Thursday and former opera singer Joanna Simon passing from thyroid cancer on Wednesday.

Both deaths were confirmed by a source close to pop superstar Carly. Lucy Simon was 82, Joanna Simon was 85.

Born into wealth and a rarified atmosphere of celebrity and literati to Simon & Schuster publisher Richard Simon and wife Andrea, the Simon sisters – their brother Peter was the youngest sibling – would all find their ways to success in professional music careers.

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https://deadline.com/2022/10/lucy-simon-dead-broadway-composer-secret-garden-carly-simon-1235151781/

The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
10/21/2022
The Questions Republican Candidates Aren't Being Asked Enough (or At All)

snip//

For instance, as far as I've seen, no debate moderator or TV interviewer has asked a GOP candidate, "If the Justice Department indicts former president Donald Trump, will you do anything to hinder that prosecution?" We know already that, should the GOP win in November, potential future Speaker of the House and awkward walrus Kevin McCarthy and rejected Glengarry Glen Ross character Jim Jordan, among other skeevy Republicans, have pledged to investigate the DOJ over the FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago, Trump's decaying fake home in Florida. We know that the GOP is promising to shut down the government and gut the economy with a rusty shiv and dance in its entrails if they don't get to cut Social Security and Medicare. So since the pieces are all there, c'mon, make the motherfuckers say if they'll use us all as a human shield to prevent anything happening to Trump.

Along those lines, ask them if they'll do anything to prevent prosecutions of the criminals who attacked the Capitol. Again, we know that a Republican House will shut down the January 6 Committee. Hell, some of them have even said they'll investigate the members of the committee for...fuck, I don't know, so let's just say "for reasons." The majority of Americans support the work of the committee. It seems like it might be important to find out if the GOP plans to cut its legs and heart out.

Ask candidates what investigations they will support. Republicans are teeing up a shit-ton of probes. They're gonna investigate Hunter Biden because Fox "news" and QAnon nutzoids demand it, even if there's not a single goddamn reason to do it. They're gonna investigate Dr. Anthony Fauci because of course they will. They're gonna investigate anyone who ever said or did anything to make Donald Trump or his terrible children feel bad, including the FBI. And you bet your fucking life they're gonna investigate the absolute horseshit about the "stolen" 2020 election. The crazies will riot if they don't. They're gonna investigate critical race theory, drag queens, and doctors who help transgender kids. And the fucking voters deserve to know if this is the shit they're voting for. In 2020, Democratic candidates were very clear that investigating the Trump administration was on the table. Get the GOP candidates on the record.

And if Republicans are going to make a big fucking stink about things, ask them what the fuck they're gonna do about it. "Okay, Rep. Trumphumper, you keep saying inflation is out of control. What the fuck are you gonna do about it?" Or "Tell us, Mr. Qsucker, what the fuck are you gonna do about all the crime you say is going on out there?" The answer, of course, is not a goddamn thing. On inflation, they say they're gonna cut government spending. So? All that does is harm people at the bottom. And they say they're gonna end government regulations. This shit is to make life easier on corporations, who will almost assuredly not pass the profits on to the consumers (see: the greedy pigs in the oil and gas industry). On crime, they're gonna "incentivize" the hiring of more cops, which is utterly fucking meaningless. They have no fucking plans beyond controlling people's bodies and minds and enriching the rich while tricking the rubes into thinking that racism and hatred is a viable course for domestic policies as long as their evil Christian nationalist ideology can fuck shit up for the rest of us. While these questions may get asked, candidates need to be pressed to give real answers.

So this note is for local media, including debate moderators: Ask your candidates if they are going to do their fucking jobs or waste everyone's time on utter and complete bullshit. And ask Republicans point blank if they intend to join in any effort to shut down the federal government, something that the vast majority of voters despise. In the MAGA districts, it won't matter: the more batshit, the better for those troglodytes. But in races where it's tight, get 'em on the record. If a candidate is a masturbating clown, it's better to know now that to wait until they're in office and put on the wig and nose and break out the lube.

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https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-questions-republican-candidates.html

So I guess attempts at overthrowing the government are no big deal anymore...

Posted on Fri, Oct 21st, 2022 by Jason Miciak
Potential GOP House May Defund All Capitol Attack Investigations: Stop Criminal Proceedings


Add this to the trash heap of reasons that Republicans shouldn’t be in charge of either house of Congress or the White House. Reports now say that Republicans may defund investigations and prosecutions into the January 6th insurrections. No, this isn’t about defunding the Committee investigation; that is taken as a [shameless] given. They are talking about FBI investigations into the insurrectionists themselves and however high up they can get. From NBC News:



You will note that in a federal budget that allocates $131.1 billion in average discretionary spending, $34 million to bring to justice the people that attempted a coup would seem to be money well spent in contemplation of any future plans to take a shot at overthrowing the government.

more...

https://www.politicususa.com/2022/10/21/potential-gop-house-may-defund-all-capitol-attack-investigations-stop-criminal-proceedings.html

https://politicalwire.com/2022/10/20/rick-scott-says-gop-could-have-55-senate-seats/

Rick Scott Says GOP Could Have 55 Senate Seats
October 20, 2022 at 7:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/10/tucker-carlson-claims-msnbc-acting

Tucker Carlson Launches A Vile Racist Attack On MSNBC Anchors
When the Imperial Wizard of Fox News calls MSNBC "racist," it's time to check out what he's distracting from this time.
By John Amato — October 20, 2022


On Wednesday evening, Fox News host Tucker Carlson compared MSNBC's Tiffany Cross and Joy Reid to the genocidal Rwandan radio station that incited a race war, leaving roughly over a half a million dead Tutsis in its wake.

Tuckems is mad with the Black MSNBC hosts, in part for calling out his White replacement theory BS.

But "Rwandan genocidal radio"? Wow, Tuckems, you've been saving that one for when you need a HUGE distraction.

snip//

We don't call Carlson's program the White Power Hour for nothing.

And with the utter embarrassment of the so-called Durham "case," and Trump well on his way to a "Defrauding the United States" charge, Tuckems had to wave the "Blacks are the REAL racists" flag.

So disheartening...we all must vote!!

What Will a GOP Majority Actually Do? Almost Nothing — But in the Worst Possible Way
by Heather Digby Parton | October 20, 2022 - 8:11am

— from Salon

snip//


What Trump really did was dominate the political world and escape all accountability. That's the "policy" his followers love.

But right-wing congressional Republicans are different animals. If they win the majority in next month's midterm elections, they too want to dominate — but they bring a different set of skills and goals to the table. First of all, of course they will vote to extend the Trump tax cuts and offer more to corporations. That goes without saying. Joe Biden will veto any such bill, but voting for tax cuts is a Republican religious ritual. They have to appease the gods of wealth.

Like Trump, they are also driven by revenge and have already made clear they plan to begin broad "investigations" into various Democratic officials and affiliates, including Hunter Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci. Various members have stated they may seek to impeach the secretary of state, the secretary of education, the attorney general and the head of Homeland Security, as well as President Biden and Vice President Harris.

Presumptive Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to soft-pedal all this investigation-impeachment zeal, but as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene more or less told New York Times reporter Robert Draper, either he does what she wants or she'll sic the rabid GOP base on him. She filed articles of impeachment against Biden the day after his inauguration. In fact, she's already filed five of them.

But fired-up congressional Republicans aren't simply going to be content with harassing Biden and the Democrats for sheer entertainment value. In order to truly dominate the political landscape and set the table for Vengeance Tour 2024, they will seek to turn the country, and perhaps the world, completely upside down. To that end, they've been signaling that they plan to run one of their standard plays and hold the government debt ceiling hostage (I wrote about this here last week) to force the elimination of numerous Biden programs and fulfill their long-standing goal of destroying Social Security and Medicare. McCarthy confirmed this on Tuesday. (Donald Trump, let us recall, repeatedly vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare, but there's no sign that he'll try to intervene.)

more...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/heather-digby-parton/103641/what-will-a-gop-majority-actually-do-almost-nothing-but-in-the-worst-possible-way

4 hours ago
DeSantis Is Slamming Covid Vaccines. Here’s Why.
“It’s a little bit of a dance between him and Trump right now.”
Kiera Butler
Senior EditorBio | Follow


It wasn’t so long ago that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was publicly singing the praises of Covid vaccines. “If you are vaccinated—fully vaccinated—the chance of you getting seriously ill or dying from Covid is effectively zero,” he said at a July 2021 press conference. “These vaccines are saving lives.”

Fast forward a year or so and, to put it mildly, DeSantis has pivoted. “They lied to us about the mRNA shots,” he thundered at a public appearance this past August. “They said, ‘If you take it, you will not get Covid.’” Then, earlier this month, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo released new guidance suggesting that young men shouldn’t get booster shots because, he claimed, new evidence suggested that the vaccines could dramatically increase their risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke.

Both Desantis’ and Ladapo’s claims are misleading: Public health officials did not “lie to us” about the Covid vaccines; rather, they were far more effective at preventing transmission of the original strain of the virus and continue to be extremely effective at preventing hospitalization and death. And, as the Washington Post reported, experts have pointed out a few problems with the logic underpinning Lapado’s new guidance: it drew from potentially inaccurate death certificates instead of medical records; it excludes anyone with Covid from the analysis; and it extrapolates from just 20 deaths that occurred—in some cases, as long as a month after vaccination.

Yet medical nuance might not be what DeSantis is after. Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida, suspects that there are strategic reasons behind the governor’s about-face on the Covid vaccines. In the last few weeks leading up to the November midterms, Jewett says, DeSantis is likely attempting to downplay the seriousness of Covid in order to justify his decision to reopen early in the pandemic. He’s also catering to his base, Republican voters who are increasingly skeptical of Covid vaccines. “DeSantis realizes that a big segment of the Republican base responded enthusiastically to his new approach, whether it be castigating Fauci or the ‘biomedical security state,’” says Jewett. “I think that has been a winning issue for him.”

Courting vaccine skeptics could yield DeSantis immediate gratification in the gubernatorial race between him and former governor (and former Republican) Charlie Crist. But he may be playing a long game, as well: With an eye toward a probable presidential run in 2024, DeSantis, who didn’t respond to a request for comment from Mother Jones, likely is trying to distinguish himself from Trump. In a presidency and post-presidency marred by scandals, chaos, and conflict, the rapid development of highly effective Covid vaccines was a rare bright spot—and one that Trump still takes credit for.

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/10/desantis-is-slamming-covid-vaccines-heres-why/