American Knucklehead

06/08/2023

I don't know if the last eight years constitute a "national nightmare," but they certainly comprise a "national pain in the ass." Up until now, I've seen very little commentary about how our national pain in the ass is a direct result of the undemocratic Electoral College system. When we gonna learn, huh?

The former president’s attempt to overthrow our institutions would not have been possible without those institutions themselves.

03/08/2023

I'm quite fond of David Brooks - he's the moderate's moderate. I know a lot of people who think the term "moderate" is synonymous with wishy-washy, but that's hogwash-y. Here's a great piece that gives some perspective on the MAGA-heads and the elites.

How the modern meritocracy made Trump inevitable.

30/05/2023

What could be dumber than a FLORIDA MAN? Well, try a FLORIDA MOM. Daily Salinas, whose objections to Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem got it yanked from the shelves of a Florida elementary school, admitted that she hadn't even read the whole thing. Her excuse: "I'm not a reader. I'm not book person..." Well, maybe you shouldn't be making decisions on what other people's children can learn, numbskull!

The Florida mom whose complaints prompted an acclaimed poem and multiple books to be restricted also apologized for an antisemitic post she shared.

25/05/2023

Say what you want about Marjorie Taylor Greene - she knows how to work a room for laughs!

“House Democrats erupt in raucous laughter after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who was presiding over the chamber, tells them to “abide by the decorum of the House.””

25/01/2023

From the Funny 'Cuz It's True department:

WASHINGTON—Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson continued his crusade against the nation’s ongoing political and cultural crises Tuesday night when he reportedly slammed the woke replacement of manly news anchors with shrieking identity-obsessed losers. “What has happened to this country? When we tu...

09/12/2022

Near-future prediction; I'd put a fin on it.

AUSTIN, TX—A star who has experienced a meteoric rise in right-wing circles, 28-year-old conservative phenom Mason Finley is known solely for wearing a N**i armband and crying, sources confirmed Tuesday. “Finley amassed millions of conservative viewers on his Discord channel, where the up-and-co...

07/10/2022

Well, the Alliance Party didn't work out. However, every day I read the news, I am convinced that the USA needs a real third party option. In this NYT podcast, Andrew Yang and David Jolly make some real smart arguments for their new Forward Party.

Two co-founders of the Forward Party on how the two-party system fails American voters.

02/10/2022

The Supreme Court will soon be gathering to further their ongoing project of remaking the country per the vision of the Federalist Society. As that wonderfulness manifests, thought should be given to the knock-on effects of their efforts so far. Sometimes I think Margaret Atwood was too much of an optimist.

A state law prohibits any public funds from being used on abortion or promoting services for “the prevention of conception,” including in schools.

20/09/2022

A faction of self-proclaimed "abolitionists" are seeking to make abortion laws more restrictive and the consequences of having the procedure more punitive than ever before.

20/09/2022

Yeah, I know CNN is alarmist and at times little better than a digital Weekly World News - but if half of the info in this article is accurate, it's absolutely appalling what the Jebus Sharia folks will do to make women into chattel.

Here's a mind-bending quote: "In Texas, five male lawmakers authored a bill last year that would have made getting an abortion punishable by the death penalty if it had gone into law."

Huh? Pro-life?

Vote Enlightenment this election day - leave the Dark Ages in the past.

A faction of self-proclaimed "abolitionists" are seeking to make abortion laws more restrictive and the consequences of having the procedure more punitive than ever before.

28/08/2022

04/07/2022

For a fraught Independence Day, Crawford shares the (slightly edited) thoughts of a Duke Constitutional Law professor. What fun! Hooray!

04/07/2022

NEW PODCAST EPISODE!
Ruminations on patriotism on a difficult Independence Day.

For a fraught Independence Day, Crawford shares the (slightly edited) thoughts of a Duke Constitutional Law professor. What fun! Hooray!

25/06/2022

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas voted to keep Trump's Jan. 6 insurrection records hidden. Now, texts show that his wife, Ginni Thomas, played an active role in the insurrection. SIGN THE PETITION: Justice Thomas must resign or be impeached!

24/06/2022

So, uh, now that the pro-life movement has finally achieved its long-term goal of overturning Roe v Wade, I suppose they'll now direct their energies towards abolishing the death penalty, right? RIGHT?!!!

12/05/2022

Interesting perspective on the NYT yak page. Telling quote: "Those of us outside the conservative movement and the religious right tend to think of them in terms of what they’re against, but it is helpful here to think in terms of what they want. Judging from their priorities, as well as their leaders and intellectuals, these movements want a hierarchical society of traditional morality and patriarchal family structure, where male-led households are disciplined by an unrestrained free market."

No one wages a generational battle to reshape American society for the sake of a partial victory.

03/05/2022

The leaked memo r.e. the imminent abortion of Roe v. Wade has cemented in my mind the fact that McConnell et al have finally succeeded in turning the Supreme Court into an activist wing of the GOP. The rot that set in with the Citizens United decision has come to fruition. When future historians document the decline and fall of American democracy, Justice John Roberts' name will be on the first page of the first chapter.

23/04/2022

Good Old Party Hypocrisy Parade!
But how can you have hypocrisy when you don't have a conscience?

The Republican leader’s false claim that he never urged President Donald J. Trump to resign — disproved by an audio recording of the comments — drew little outrage from members of his party.

21/03/2022

Story from the last AP press team in Mariupol - utterly heartbreaking.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-edf7240a9d990e7e3e32f82ca351dede

Over the last three weeks, a team of AP journalists have been documenting the agony of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol from inside the city center. They quickly became the only journalists on the ground, taking risks to show the world the war's human toll.

18/03/2022

Consumers may incur an extra $2,000 in fuel costs this year, and fuel prices could still be headed higher.

12/03/2022

Talk about rats leaving a sinking ship. Adios, as**at!
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/03/oregon-republican-chair-resigns-citing-greater-evil-than-the-democrats.html

Dallas Heard's resignation, effective Friday, comes just one year into his two-year term as head of the statewide party.

08/03/2022

Part of me regrets that regular Russian citizens will have to bear the economic brunt of Putin's delusions. This is especially true of the poor schlubs who were conscripted and sent to war with no heads-up.

On the other hand, Putin was hardly an unknown quantity. The Russian people have been countenancing this maniac and putting him in high office for the last two decades. Now it's their choice: they can go in the streets and remove this madman who has been playing them for the last twenty years, or they can spend the next twenty years living like North Koreans.

08/03/2022

War is over, if you want it.

02/03/2022

A sobering view of Putin and Russia from a true expert. We really need to look at this terrible situation in the same way Hill does; a great deal depends on our doing so.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/28/world-war-iii-already-there-00012340

Putin is trying to take down the entire world order, the veteran Russia watcher said in an interview. But there are ways even ordinary Americans can fight back.

27/02/2022

It seems to me that all of those soldier boys are going to go home sooner or later. It's probably best that we see how we can make it sooner; that way fewer of them will be going home in boxes.

I seem to recall Vonnegut saying that all wars about the ammunition business.

23/01/2022

Out of the mouths of wiseasses:

06/01/2022

JANUARY 6TH POT-STIRRING
I do not for a zeptosecond believe that the 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen," but just as a thought experiment, I will suppose that it was.

That means that Trump - who was pi***ng and moaning about election-rigging well in advance - was unable to stop it, despite holding the most powerful office in the world.

Further, he was subsequently unable to present credible evidence that this rigging and/or stealing ever took place, even to judges THAT HE HAD APPOINTED.

Anybody who could be so totally outplayed by "senile" Joe Biden doesn't deserve to be president, anyway. Either Trump failed to get reelected or he failed to stop an egregious attack on American democracy. Either way, he's a FAILURE.

This never happened, and it really doesn't matter. Trump is just a dumb, rich bully with pathological daddy issues. If he hadn't been born to a rich father, he'd most likely be selling car stereos out of the trunk of a taxi in Yonkers.

30/12/2021

When you're speaking to a "fu***ng girl reporter," always make sure the call has ended before talking smack.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/dr-oz-senate-pennsylvania.html

His campaign to be the next Republican senator from Pennsylvania is facing one major problem: Republicans in Pennsylvania.

24/10/2021

Crime and violence are out of hand in Portland, yet our elected officials sit on their hands while the problem metastasizes. Help send a message to elected officials in Portland and Salem that "defund the police" is not a workable policy; we need sensible police reform!

Police reform is a complicated subject, and it must be addressed with workable solutions that aren’t just sops to the shrillest elements in the community, state and country. The Alliance Party of Oregon wishes to implement sensible solutions to make our communities safer and more equitable, withou...

20/10/2021

This is finally getting some traction in Portland - at long last.

The last eighteen months have been difficult ones for the country and for Oregon. One of the most urgent issues arising from the recent turmoil is the need for sensible and effective police reform. The Alliance Party of Oregon supports efforts to make our communities safer while increasing police tr...

18/10/2021

Libby Bakalar

19/09/2021

Portland's gun violence crisis needed urgent action from the Portland City Council months ago, the editorial board writes. While there are signs that leaders are finally feeling that urgency, it remains to be seen if such sentiment results in action.