rlegro
rlegro's JournalYou can almost smell the fear on Wisconsin GOP campaigners
I think the Republican Party is nervous in Wisconsin. Why? Because they keep phoning me to vote GOP in the Wisconsin statewide November elections. Not just recorded calls but also live. Never happened to me before.
Now I know the GOP with its fleet of dark-money backers is dumping tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars into their campaigns here and elsewhere. Maybe because they have such a sh*tload of cash they're reduced to trying anything. In which case I invite to keep wasting their money on me. Even though I voted early and because not a single Republican was my choice on a long ballot.
More important: Every second they waste on me is a second their call bank can't spend on spouting lies to some undecided voter. Actually, I doubt there are many undecideds left, at this point. I also suspect more of those voters are rejecting the MINO RINOs -- Money Is No Obstacle Republicans Into Negative Objectives.
I took another live call tonight, from a soft-spoken earnest-sounding guy tediously laying out those ridiculous GOP attacks on Dems -- the crime, inflation, and deficit stuff, mostly -- without saying a word about what Republicans will do if they gain seats. I listened to the whole spiel, although I admit I was browsing Democratic Underground throughout.
The caller finished by asking if the Republican Party could expect my generous donation. I stifled a laugh, said never in his wildest dreams, then hung up. Felt good. I hope they'll call back, even though my wife would like to block them outright.
Eighty is the new 60
So here's the fallacy in all those wingnut claims that Joe Biden is incompetent because ... reasons. Maybe because he has a lifelong though low-grade speech defect and -- horrors! -- he is approaching 80 years of age. He walks stiffly! He looks like grandpa on his bike! (Does your great grandpa ride one?) He's an old man, man!
Oh, really? Well, then why is it that both symphony conductors and lifelong appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court past 80 are still regarded and often with good reason as capable, talented, and energetic? Heck, John Stevens and Oliver Wendell Holmes both turned 90 while on the Supreme Court and are considered lions of that body. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi though in her 80s wears high heels and dances backward while dancing rings around Republicans policy-wise. If Trump wins the 2024 election he would take office again at about the same age Biden was in taking the oath, and we already know Trump's mind is a disorganized mess.
Experience matters. No one at age 80 is going to be as dynamic as they were at 30 or 40. But it's the mind that matters, and the will, and the memory. So go ahead, wingnuts, keep urging his cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office because he is in your book some kind of mental incompetent. That last is just a code word for "disagrees with me." Oh, and please note: the age limit for a president is a minimum, not a maximum -- you have to be 35, because the wise founders and their heirs realized younger men might not have sufficient knowledge and wisdom gained from adult life to be a good lawmaker, much less a chief executive. Just ask Madison Cawthorne.
But go ahead still and hound Biden from office before 2024, if you can. Then we will welcome Kamala Harris to the job. She's got another good 40 years or so in her, maybe will yet get a Supreme Court nod, but until then...!
MY PREGNANT QUERY RE AMERICAN GUN MASSACRES
𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀: 𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼-𝗴𝘂𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝟳.𝟲𝟮 𝗺𝗺 𝗼𝗿 .𝟯𝟴 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶-𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆?
Joe Manchin is comfy
.. comfy voting against the voting-rights bill and other badly needed American reforms, because without that act, Republicans may make themselves the permanent majority in both houses of Congress. Of course, that would throw Manchin into the Democratic minority. Right? Right, but then all he needs to do -- and I daresay will do -- is switch affiliations and become a Republican, maintaining his power (although at a lesser level) and his grip on West Virginia and its economy.
He's a millionaire thanks to his past coal-industry machinations (Manchin-ations?). So he'll be a reliable GOP vote against climate action, against anything that seems to threaten the fossil-fuel industry, and of course anything that would jeopardize his ownership of a nice, ritzy yacht and that snazzy Maserati. He is, after all, a Republican at heart. It's just that West Virginia by tradition has voted Democratic thanks in good measure to the very labor union power Manchin quietly opposes. But he's too big there to be harmed by forcing the state to bow to Republicans, just as he will. Only he'll profit while the electorate will get screwed some more. This modest, economically challenged, and healthy-light state is Manchild's playpen and he'll have even greater rein over it as a member of the everlasting GOP-stoppers.
Faux breaking news. However....
...although I made this up, I would say it's not far from becoming a real claim from the likes of TFG.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tears trumpublicans a new one
In what likely is its longest editorial in history, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today bluntly told Republicans to knock off their "stolen election" rhetoric and quit wasting time and dollars trying to prove the November 2020 election was compromised, which it wasn't. All these actions, the newspaper editorial board wrote, threaten our very democracy. The newspaper has especially harsh words for Wisconsin Republican congressionals who keep backing Trump and his nonsense. Worth reading and sharing around:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2022/01/06/jan-6-showed-risk-political-violence-republicans-can-stop-it-wisconsin-ron-johnson/9096668002/
Please stop using "conservative" to reference the Republican Party
"Conservative" is too dignified and milquetoast for the likes of these hacks. Theirs was a genuinely conservative party, once, particularly on economic issues. But a powerful, growing plurality of elected Republicans no longer are conservative, as in reserved, studied, and cautious. No, now they are by and large flaming reactionaries. Angry, loud, negative GOP politicians who never met a non-GOP politician they liked. Or a big, diverse democracy, either.
In our current, social network free-for-all, they have discovered that screaming and lying often pay big dividends. Enlightenment and empathy are now hostages to outrage and generally counter-productive behavior. After all, tearing things down is not only easier than building things up, but it's more dramatic, too. You can recycle your wrecking-crew ways every news cycle, if not more often. Start a fire and then pour gasoline on it. Political arson is exciting and attention-getting precisely because it's chaotic. The GOP isn't grand anymore. It's a movable ambush. It's GOP -- Guerrillas Over People.
Calling modern-day Republicans "conservative" serves to smooth their actual demeanor. It mainly just lends s the imprimatur of responsibility and officialdom. And it implies that they're legitimate anti-progressives. To the GOP crowd, getting to be on the far end of the same scale as lefties and socialists is leverage. When in fact they're really at deep right angles to responsible social reformers.
So, please: Drop "conservative" from your GOP political shorthand. "Reactionary" is much more descriptive and precise. "Lying, reactionary maskhole" for the real hard core.
Wingnuts owning up to owning the ownership
Here's a great line from a piece the other day by DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas. Discussing twumpies who refuse vaccination, Kos said evidence suggests their stance is beginning to change, thanks to the deadly Delta variant and back-handed GOP efforts to pivot on the issue. He summed up this way:
> Will it work? Will branding the vaccine the “Trump vaccine” and blaming the Black woman in the White House finally get conservatives to vaccinate? Can conservative opinionmakers shift base sentiment away from refusing to vaccinate to own the libs, to vaccinating to own the libs?
More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/7/28/2042447/-Republican-leaders-are-finally-taking-vaccination-seriously-but-is-their-base-listening?pm_source=story_sidebar&pm_medium=web&pm_campaign=most-shared
Opening a Manchin war front -- on his own turf
I just posted the message below on Sen. Joe Manchin's official website (see link after message). Feel free to log in there yourself and let Machination Manchin know what a counterproductive, useless tool of Trumpublicanism you think he is. Here is my message:
𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹. 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, "𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻" 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆. 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 -- 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗼𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆.
https://www.manchin.senate.gov/contact-joe/email-joe
"GYM" JORDAN MAY NEED AN INCREDIBLE ACROBATIC PERFORMANCE AS HE WRESTLES THIS
Loudmouth GOP House member faces possible Federal Election Commission inquiry into nearly $3 million in missing campaign funds. His best answer, probably: "My dog ate it."
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/3/3/2019230/-Rep-Jim-Jordan-in-a-Jam-Faces-Poss-FEC-Inquiry-Almost-3-mil-in-Campaign-Funds-Missing
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