On this day, November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961 by the Soviet Union as a sign of its total authoritarian control over East Germany and East Berlin, was breached, a great day for freedom and democracy.
Today, the Mexico Border Wall that Donald Trump claims is being built, has already been breached by drills that have put holes and openings in the wall in the small amount of newly constructed or reconstructed areas, done by drug gangs and hoodlums, who have demonstrated that no such wall project will succeed, and in fact, will never be completed.
The whole idea of a wall is an authoritarian dictatorship attempt by the most corrupt, and lawless President in American history, and it undermines the whole concept that America is a nation of all nations, welcoming to refugees who are escaping crime, persecution, bloodshed, and hatred, and see the image of the Statue of Liberty as what makes America unique and great.
It is immigrants, and not all of them legal when they came in, who have made America a great nation. If someone commits criminal acts, such person should be prosecuted, but denying admission to victims is unAmerican, and denies the story of American history.
So on this anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling, and also the third anniversary of the Donald Trump victory assisted by Russian collusion and corruption, America must resolve that the Mexico Border Wall will never be accomplished, and that freedom and democracy will triumph over this illegal, unconstitutional attempt to destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights!
Well said, Professor. At least in parts.
The problem is that significant number of Americans who approve of the idea of building Trump’s “Great Wall of The Americas (South).” That number is even higher than the solid 40-45% who approve of the job he has done, is doing, and promises to keep doing. Or the 43% who voted for him back in 2016 on 11/9. [Have You ever considered the link between 11/9 and 9/11?]
And Trump knows this. And the folks up at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue know this, as well. Especially the ones running for re-election next year in those places where approval of both Trump and his Wall is high.
And those Trumpatistas do NOT view America as “a nation of all nations, welcoming to refugees who are escaping crime, persecution, bloodshed, and hatred”; and their view of the Statue of Liberty has absolutely nothing to do with what “makes America unique and great.”
In their view, that is, in fact, a big part of exactly why America is not “Great” any more, and part of exactly what their Boy wants to do: ie, to “Make America Great Again.” If only all the Snowflakes, PSJWs, libtards, and other leftist, socialist, progressivist, communist scum would let him.
In many ways, Trump is merely carrying on in the grand tradition of that great humanitarian and human rights actionist, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and his dealings with Japanese-American citizens after Pearl Harbor, and his refusal to make the US a refuge for the European Jews trying to escape Hitler.
In any event, on this, “the third anniversary of the Donald Trump victory assisted by Russian collusion and corruption… .” i thought Mueller reported no evidence of collusion. At least that’s what NBC has reported: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-embraces-no-collusion-part-mueller-report-overlooks-interference-n986846 . Isn’t that why that particular potential impeachable offense and charge has been quietly dropped?
And is that Trump’s corruption, Russia’s corruption, or both’s?
Or does it have anything to do with the total corruption of the whole American political system, the whole One Dollar=One Vote that everybody in The Game plays, because it that is how The Game is played, and it’s the only Game in town?
How much money has already been spent by all sides on Election 2020 [and that’s just what must be reported]? And we are not even 364 days away from it.
i can’t help but wonder if Russia had aided and abetted Clinton the way folks claim it did Trump, if this would be such a hot news item today. Sort of like if the election results had been reversed, with Trump winning the popular vote and Clinton getting the College. Who would be screaming for the obliteration of the Electoral College today?
Of course Russia involved [and involves] itself in our elections. Just like anybody else who can does and will. Why wouldn’t they and why shouldn’t they? Or is it because the United States NEVER involves itself in the elections of other nations, and, by golly, nobody should do that to us, either?
And the simplest way to keep at least the Drug Cartels from breaching Trump’s Wall is to legalize all the drugs they service and sell their American clientele so they lose interest in trying to. That would put those folks out of business very quickly.
But, that ain’t gonna happen for the simple reason that that would also put all the folks in the Drug Enforcement and Interdiction business out of business, as well. And, it would seriously impact the profits of those for whom both the Cartels and the Enforcers work.
And finally, how is The Great Wall of The Americas (South) an “illegal, unconstitutional attempt to destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights!” [sic] ? As long as the Democrat-controlled House ultimately goes along with funding it [which it will, as long as it gets ITs only fair recompense and trade-offs to get Its agenda fulfilled], then how is it “unconstitutional”?
And which specific Bill of Right does it violate?
Wannabe dictator, Twitler, wants to attend Putin’s military parade in May.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/08/politics/donald-trump-russia-visit-may-day/index.html
Go for it fat boy. I have no doubt Putin will reserve your favorite Presidential Suite for your stay.
Russia can have him, just so long as they keep him.
Ray Charles nails it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrnWp5O0DEs
We’ll convict him in absentia along with Pence, Barr, Pompeo and whoever else, and let someone with common sense and with smarts take over. Maybe we can give the job to Pelosi.
Agreed! Perfect time to impeach, convict, and remove him from office. Makes it a lot harder for him to try something like launching nukes.
Drop him off, leave him. He can film his new apprentice show in Moscow.
They could change the locks on the WH while he’s gone.
Could we also send Moscow Mitch and Leningrad Lindsey with him? Maybe also Iowa’s Steve King and Devin Nunes along with his cows should go.
I second that. All his besties like Kevin McCarthy should go along too.
If he stays in Moscow, we’ll have our own huge victory parade in the US.
lol. May golden showers trickle on his parade. 😉
A movie about Trump’s life will have to be X-rated, that’s for sure.
Wow. Such a range of views; such depth; such insight; such perspicacity. And all in one place on a Saturday morning.
‘Baby Trump’ balloon slashed and deflated by Trumpanzees at the Alabama-LSU football game.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/09/politics/trump-balloon-alabama-lsu-football-game/index.html
We’ll just come up with another balloon then. He needs to be humiliated.
The Conspiracy Theories Republicans Believe
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/11/10/the-conspiracy-theories-a-republican-must-believe-today/
As Donald Trump and his conservative defenders begin to construct a conspiracy theory that Adam Schiff personally orchestrated a massive conspiracy to entrap Trump in Ukraine, it’s worth noting just how many conspiracy theories you have to believe in just to be a standard Republican these days. Political parties in all eras have a number of questionable orthodoxies, but the sheer number of conspiracy theories that make up mainstream Republican ideology is remarkable. A quick rundown would include but not be limited to;
1. The belief that 10,000 climate scientists all around the world are either stupid, or engaged in a massive criminal conspiracy to concoct bad science in order to receive…more government grant funding. And that no other scientists are exposing it.
2. The belief that there is a giant conspiracy across all of news media to make Republicans look bad and elect Democrats–in spite of continually unfair press coverage of candidates like both Bernie Sanders *and* Hillary Clinton–in exchange for…what? It’s never really clear.
3. The belief without evidence that there is a giant conspiracy across local, state and federal elections officials all across the country to engage in mass wide-scale voter impersonation fraud. Needless to say, this would be insanely complicated, incredibly risky and hugely inefficient.
4. The belief that that there is a giant conspiracy to push migrants to the border in order to change the demographics of the U.S., in order to…increase taxes and gain “control� This is a pretty nonsensical conspiracy, but it’s among the most common. It’s no surprise that this sort of rhetoric echoes fascist antisemitic tropes, which is why George Soros is so commonly included.
5. The belief that there was a deep conspiracy to elect a man named “Barack Hussein Obama†to the presidency in order to implement socialism in America…and that the shadowy socialist cabal picked a guy named “Barack Hussein Obama†for the job. Or made up his birth certificate from scratch and decided on one of the most unlikely presidential names imaginable in his birth year.
6. The belief that the “Deep State†entrapped Trump with Russia entanglements before the 2016 in order to derail his presidency if he won, but didn’t use it to stop him from winning, but were blindsided when he won, but have stymied his every move afterward.
7. The belief that there is a giant unexposed conspiracy of 100,000s of teachers/faculty across PreK and higher education to indoctrinate young people. Rather than, you know, people not buying into garbage and bigotry once they learn something.
8. The belief that a tiny group of obscenely rich industrialists are the only truthtellers, the only ones looking out for the “forgotten manâ€, while millions of middle class professionals and civil servants are corrupt liars. This one is particularly ironic, as it represents a twisted funhouse version of Marxist theory.
9. The belief that millions of people want to disarm them to leave them defenseless against looters, burglars and Liberal Fascism â„¢, rather than just want their kids not to get shot at school again and again by trigger-happy Rambo cosplayers.
10. The belief that Green Energy is a scam to give connected companies money and make coal miners homeless, rather than an effort to save millions of lives from climate change, pollution and black lung.
11. The belief that social services are an intentionally corrupt scam to keep minority groups on the “Democrat Plantation†™, rather than a good-faith effort to make up for the predations of a brutal market in a society riddled with horrific structural racism.
It goes on and on. And that’s just the standard stuff you hear from most GOP politicians on any given day. It doesn’t even get into the really weird conspiracies that millions of Republican voters actively believe, like QAnon, secret 5th column communists, pedophile illuminati, etc. It also doesn’t touch the dangerously errant shibboleths like “tax cuts pay for themselves†or “anyone can escape poverty if they really want to†which, while not conspiracy theories, are false articles of faith with destructive consequences.
Again, it would be one thing if these beliefs were limited to the GOP base. But it’s not just the rubes. It’s the Senators and the Representatives. It’s the President and his lawyers. They all feed from the paranoid conservative infotainment trough, which has to up the ante every year in order to make the world as it really is match up somehow with false conservative ideological orthodoxy.
It’s conspiracy theory turtles all the way down. And needless to say, in a two-party system, it’s incredibly dangerous for one party to be this far gone from reality.
For me what’s truly troubling is the number of total gibberish conspiracy theories that used to be the kind of deplorable pablum we only expected to hear from InfoWars or QAnon that are now being injected into the mainstream over and over again thanks to the most dangerously deranged president ever elected and his ever more pressing need the attention of the electorate from his lies, his crimes, his ignorance and his failures….
(1) Uranium One
(2) Ping Pong Pizza pedos
(3) FBI plot to assassinate Trump
(4) Obama tapped Trumpy’s tower
(5) Black Lives Matter is a terror group
(6) The radical left wing war on Christianity
(7) Most American Muslims want Sharia Law
(8) Planned Parenthood sells baby parts for profit
(9) Agenda 21 is part of the UN plot to take over America
(10) The murders of Seth Rich and Vince Foster by the Clintons
(11) The “penetration” of the government by the Muslim Brotherhood
(12) Wild Bill handing a suitcase full of cash to Loretta Lynch on the runway
The list could go on and on. Trump’s clear intention is to create an entirely separate reality for tens of millions of low info., low curiosity, increasingly paranoid and easily riled Americans within which nothing is too outlandish to believe of the left…… like they’ll steal the election from Trump next year….
I keep wondering about the role of fundamentalist Christianity in all this swallowing of crazy conspiracy theories–they are people who have trained themselves to ignore reality (evolution, climate change) and who insist on the literal truth of 2,000 year old texts (both ignoring the fact that they are reading them in translation, and cherry-picking & twisting the specific texts that serve their political agenda.) Plus, they love to imagine they are under attack for their beliefs, a condition they seem to rather enjoy. They are so out of whack with modern reality that it is fairly easy to see how, say, denying evolution (’cause it invalidates Adam and Eve) leads directly to believing in a “deep state” that is out to get them and theirs. And how can someone believe in the MSM if they don’t believe in reality?
Rightwing conspiracy mongering goes way back. I think the biggest difference is that today they have a much bigger megaphone than they did in the past.
Here’s what the Mueller report says-
Volume I of the report concludes that the investigation did not find sufficient evidence that the campaign “coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities”. Investigators ultimately had an incomplete picture of what happened due to communications that were encrypted, deleted or unsaved, as well as testimony that was false, incomplete or declined. However, the report stated that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred “in sweeping and systematic fashion”, but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts. It also identifies links between Trump campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government, about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations. Mueller later stated that his investigation’s conclusion on Russian interference “deserves the attention of every American”.
Volume II of the report addresses obstruction of justice. The investigation intentionally took an approach that could not result in a judgment that Trump committed a crime, abiding by an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial, fearing that charges would affect Trump’s governing and preempt impeachment, and feeling that it would be unfair to accuse Trump of a crime without charges or a trial. As such, the investigation “does not conclude that the President committed a crime”; however, “it also does not exonerate him”, with investigators not confident of Trump’s innocence. The report describes ten episodes where Trump could have obstructed justice while president and one before he was elected, noting that he privately tried to “control the investigation”. The report further states that Congress can decide whether Trump obstructed justice and take action accordingly, referencing impeachment.
https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf
I agree with the investigators. I’m not confident of Trump’s innocence either.
Trying to obstruct investigations shows to me that he has something to hide.
If “the sheer number of conspiracy theories that make up mainstream Republican ideology is remarkable,” what does that make the current mainstream Democrat [be they corporatist liberals or neo-proto-socialist progressives] ideology, and the “conspiracy theories” that form Its foundation?
Among the working conspiracies, myths, fantasies, and lies embedded within the Democrat operative paradigm [and in no particular order] are:
1. That FDR’s New Deal solved the Great Depression.
2. That Obama wasn’t a Favorite Son of Wall Street from the very beginning of his political career; and that he didn’t more than deliver to his owners, operators, and handlers. Or that he actually deserved that Nobel Peace Prize in the first place, and deserved to keep it after Libya, Yemen, Syria, Africa, etc, in the second.
3. That any federal, national Gun Control Law could actually be enforced and would actually work. Especially out there in TrumpLandia.
4. That Democrats are anti-War and anti-Imperialism, and have no responsibility whatsoever for “The Forever War”; that they have not completely supported and endorsed it since 9/11, and will not continue to endorse it until a better “threat” and thus enemy can come forward, thus continuing to feed the M-IC monkey. Just like they have [with scant, token exception] with every other War this nation has gotten into since the end of World War II.
5. That socialism and communism were the most successful systems of political economy in the 20th century; and that some variant thereof is the best system for the 21st.
6. That the reason the so-called “War On Poverty” is a failure is because the US has not spent enough money on it.
7. That the reason the American Public Education system is a failure is because the US has not spent enough money on it, either.
8. That the reason the American Health Care system is so screwed up is totally the fault of greedy pharmaceutical and insurance companies and health care providers, and that American lifestyles, eating habits, exercise patterns, and prescription drug addictions have absolutely nothing to do with it. Or that a significant cost of American health care are not administrative, primarily for satisfying government-mandated paperwork requirements.
9. That the solution to the problems with poverty, education, and health care is more government spending, more government control, and more government taxes on certain portions of the population.
10. That seizing the wealth of the top 1% [or even 10%] and redistributing it evenly among the remaining 99% [or even 90%, or even lower 50%] will solve all of America’s cultural, social, economic, political, ethnic, racial, gender, and ethical problems.
11. That America’s $23 trillion national, sovereign debt [which does not include state and local government, corporate and business, or consumer and private debt] does not matter and can safely be ignored.
12. That the Trump/Pelosi-Schumer Debt Limit Ceiling deal last summer guaranteeing perpetual trillion dollar annual federal budgets far into the future is part of the solution, and not a direct manifestation of the root cause of the problem.
13. That Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and all Federal, State, and Local “Entitlements’ programs will soon be bankrupt is nothing to be concerned about either.
14. That the Republicans are the only ones in this country with Echo Chamber News and Views Silos all of their very own. And that the Dem’s media of choice never distribute mis-, dis-, or mal-information. especially when it comes to Trump.
15. That the Democrats have absolutely nothing to do with the American election system’s historical and current absolute and total corruption [whether by phantom voters, gerrymandering, black money, whatever]. Or that they haven’t mastered and don’t play the same $1 = 1 Vote Game that the Republicans have and do. How much money have the Dems spent on Election 2020, still just shy of a year away? And where’s all that money coming from?
16. That if the “Deep State” didn’t want Trump [or Obama, or Cheney/Bush the Lesser, or Billy Bobb] in the White House in the first place, that they could and would have gotten there anyway.
17. That if Trump doesn’t read his scripts and play his role as dictated by his owners, operators, and handlers in that “Deep State,” that he can and will stay in the White House anyway. And that that is not exactly why Obama, Cheney/Bush the Lesser, and Billy Bobb completed their full terms in office; ie, because they DID follow instructions. [As compared, say, to Kennedy.]
18. That Democrats in Congress have taken concrete steps to force this government to actually, really confront and deal with the refugee crisis at the southern border; instead of just using it to make noise and campaign points.
19. That that 43% who voted for Trump in 2016 ~ and that solid 40-45% that supports what he has done, is doing, and promises to do ~ that those folks really are just a bunch of “deplorable rubes” who have no business having anything to say whatsoever about how this government is run and who runs it.
20. That if the results of 2016 had been exactly reversed ~ ie, that Trump had won the popular vote and Clinton took the College ~ that the Dems would still be quite so resolutely against the “undemocratic” Electoral College system as they are today.
21. That if Russia had helped Clinton in 2016, that there would be any Democrats in Congress who would be calling for an investigation, let alone possible impeachment.
22. That the Democrats have never taken a dime from the fossil fuel industry and still aren’t today. To say nothing of from the military-industrial complex, the petro-financial web, the techno-infotainment matrix, the guns-n- drugs cartel, and the surveillance-secrecy-security-safety panopticon that runs America today.
And the list could go on and on. These are just some of those “dangerously errant shibboleths” and “false articles of faith with destructive consequences” to which the Democrats and their cohorts subscribe.
What’s really interesting about all this, tho, is that nobody subscribes to any conspiracy theories about the single most important thing to happen to this nation and planet certainly in the 21st century, if not since Pearl Harbor: The Terror Event of September 11, 2001.
Actually, they all pledge allegiance to one; the one anybody who wants to get to DC [or into the media] and stay there must, at a minimum, unquestioningly embrace. The one they all must dutifully and patriotically uphold is, of course, the “Official Conspiracy Theory”: the one pulled together by the 9/11 Commission and marketed and sold to the American people and the world by this government thru its media, and its gatekeepers in academia and pop culturdom. But that’s a separate rant.
So, if “it’s conspiracy theory turtles all the way down” [love that reference to William James’ encounter with the Little Old Lady], and if, “in a two-party system, it’s incredibly dangerous for one party to be this far gone from reality” as The Washington Monthly denounces the Republicans; then how dangerous is it when both parties are out to lunch?
[i’ve sent this to The Washington Monthly and will let Y’All know if i get even an acknowledgment, let alone a reaction and response.]
A cousin of mine messed up his life taking drugs. Even if they were made legal, I would still advise against using them.
Republicans have let the loonies take over.
Democrats are the party for sane people.
The response he gets at the Washington Monthly will be the same response he gets here or if he tries to troll at Huffington Post or Daily Kos. People there will also realize he’s crazy.
Haha. I found him over there. He’s listed as jgmoebus. He got marked as spam. LOL!
Yup. Exactly as I figured would happen. LOL!
Haha. Everyone there wants him to go away too. It’s a sign for him to go back to whatever right-wing blog he came from.
I second that Leia.
Hahaha…LOL… Hehehe… . Meh.
Yep. Spammed and Banned at WaMo; just like at Breifbarf. Those two rags have lots in common.
i’m working on getting banned from HufferPuffer and LostKoz, as well; but that may take a while. i’ll keep Y’All posted since You seem to find it all so entertaining and amusing.
i will say, tho, that there was at least some effort at actual engagement and give-and-take on the argument i presented; unlike here. But there were a lot of those flashy one-liner dismissals, put-downs, and GFYs. Very much like the fare here.
And yes, my actual, real name is jg or Jeffrey Moebus. For some reason i have no need to come up with flashy monikers like “Princess,” “Progressive,” “Rustbelt,” “Rational,” “Southern,” etc. Guess i’m too 20th century for that, eh?
And that i am consistently dismissed as a “right winger” indicates to me that You folks are seriously confused as to what a free-market libertarian is. Apparently, Y’All wouldn’t recognize one if it sent You a personal e-mail. Then again, Y’All may be confused as to the difference between a libertarian, a conservative, a “Right Winger,” and a Trumpatista. Which is completely understandable, given the Echo Chamber News and Views Silos from which You derive and manufacture Your reality.
He keeps claiming he got kicked off of Breitbart. I very highly doubt that.
We’re in favor of regulating capitalism.
You people don’t even know what “capitalism” is, Leia; having never experienced it in Your lifetime.
For our House of Delegates district in our state’s local election this year, the Republican candidate was challenged by a libertarian candidate. We have tended to find that most libertarians on the whole tend to favor more Republican positions than Democratic ones. For example, just like the Republican candidate, the libertarian candidate was anti-progressive on economic issues that would help people, such as raising the minimum wage. Since neither of them was a good choice for progressives to vote for, we wrote in “Neither”.
For our State Senate district in our state’s local election this year, the Republican candidate was challenged by an independent. The independent was going to run as a Democrat but the Democratic Party in our state decided not to run him. We voted for the independent because he sounded left-leaning, wanting pay raises for teachers and better funding for schools.
Of course, our neck of the woods is still heavily Republican-leaning, so the two Republican candidates won re-election.
http://www.progressivevotersguide.com was handy in informing us of the positions of candidates.
“Neither,” “None of the Above,” or “None of these Candidates” should be a Constitutionally-mandated option on every federal, state, and local election in this country.
Given that more people voted Against either Clinton or Trump in 2016 than voted For either, NOTC might have done quite surprisingly well back then.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what would have happened if NOTC got a plurality of votes in some State. One can only wonder how they’d handle the Electoral College vote, eh?
America Isn’t Really Set Up For Third-Party Presidential Bids
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/america-isnt-really-set-up-for-third-party-presidential-bids/
America has never had a “None Of These Candidates” third-party.