Tag Archives: John McCain

Blog, Media, Politics

Thank God Al Franken Is Back On The Air

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Gotta get this down in writing before the devastation of the daily news-stream once again causes my brain to put up a wall to all incoming information as part of the intellectual prophylaxis that’s become a part of my new normal.

John McCain and Al Franken, were our nation’s political saving grace. One is now dead and the other was kicked to the curb. Republicans should be flogged for their rejection of McCain and their resulting dive into Fascism and Democrats, for what they did to Franken, cutting off their overly-PC collective nose to spite their overly-PC collective face.

These are things to consider, as the nation approaches 50,000 dead from the Cronavirus. A bug that might have been at least partially stopped, saving thousands of lives, had safety mechanisms put in place by the Bush and Obama Administrations been left where they were instead of being defunded by Donald J. Trump and his fascist friends with their crash and burn philosophy of non-governance. That is to say, the Bannon process, whereby you disassemble government, for, of and by the people, by defunding government, for, of and by the people, leaving the door wide open for corporate raiders and other fascist vultures to swoop in, compromising, cornering and coercing nearly everything in sight.

If you don’t want to pay taxes to support a federal or state government, then don’t complain when those same governments can doing nothing for you in a time of crisis. Which is precisely where we are.

How much of the $2.2-trillion bailout went to the very wealthy, who are in no need of a bailout, while Trump and his minions insist upon no oversight of the bailout process? According to Politico, the package contained “a $500 billion bailout fund for big businesses and a $170 billion tax break for real estate investors like the president. ”

In a very real sense, the tragedy of Covid-19 is a friend to the fascist greedheads who care only for themselves, led by a narcissist in the Oval Office who is now recommending that his medical advisors look into the possibility of injecting household disinfectant as a possible treatment for the virus while he, with his typical Roy Cohen-type diversionary nonsense, blames immigrants and Iran.

This is beyond stupid, it’s nuts. It no longer matters whether Trump actually understands what he’s doing or whether he is, as the Russians like to say, a “useful idiot.” Either way, the damage has been done. Anybody who isn’t awake enough to understand this yet has got to be in an intellectual coma. Why is anybody out there still supporting this Republican Party? Is it because their only news source is a single cable channel serving as Donald Trump’s private pipeline of belligerent blather? Or is it because the party is represented almost entirely by white men? Is that it? Fear born from racism with a healthy dose of sexism? What else can it be? These Republicans have given up on nearly every conservative economic principle ever conceived, so it can’t be that.

Kudos, to MSNBC, for bringing Al Franken back as a guest commentator. Intellectually vibrant free-thinkers like Franken, are part of the solution as we approach 50,000 deaths.

Currently, there are 49,963 and counting, adding to what will surely be the legacy of Donald J. Trump. The idiot man-child who slipped through an electoral college which failed the nation miserably, to support our enemies, betray our allies and generally just muck things up.

Blog, Politics

Orlando: Playing Politics With Tragedy

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What an interesting confluence of events, even while the President was in Orlando attempting to comfort shattered American lives.

Event number one was CIA Director, John Brennan, warning the Senate Intelligence Committee  that Mr. Obama is failing in Syria and Iraq, that U.S. led efforts have not slowed ISIS,  and that the terror group is undoubtedly working up a variety of new methods to smuggle their people into the west.

At the same time, CNN International continues to report that ISIS is being forced to retreat from its former stronghold in Falluja, being beaten back by US-aligned Iraqi forces.  This and other media reports appear to contradict Mr. Brennan’s report to the Congress.  There is also a statement from the President just a few weeks ago, when he said,“…our coalition is on the offensive. ISIL is on the defensive, and ISIL is going to lose.” 

It’s fascinating to see such a vast gap in opinion between the media, the White House and the CIA.   In this case at least,  media reports appear to side with the President.   US-supported forces are making progress against ISIS, even while the CIA Director insists that the glass is half-empty.

Event number two, was Senator John McCain, making the outrageous comment that President Obama, was somehow directly responsible for the mass shooting in Orlando, even though there is no confirmation that the shooter was anything other than a madman, with no direct link to ISIS.

Event number three is this morning’s New York Times article with information said to have been “leaked” by an official from the State Department to the effect that “More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire in the country’s five-year-old civil war.”    Kinda feels like an attempted strike three, doesn’t it, with all three pitches against the Administration coming in such rapid succession?

It’s probably all coincidental though, with no evidence that all three events were in any way coordinated by those on the right who prefer more and not less war in the Middle East and North Africa, and who, again coincidentally, are all deeply invested in the Republican Party.   A body threatened by implosion as it attempts to draw attention away from the inane ravings of its presidential candidate while struggling to tamp down that same candidate’s out-of-control rhetoric going forward, his statements including the bizarre implication that the President of the United States may be an ISIS sympathizer.

Surely, it’s all nothing but coincidence.