March 13, 2024

Another point regarding Hur's assessment that Joe Biden has a bad memory

In his Special Counsel report Hur wrote about Biden’s "diminished faculties and faulty memory" and said Biden couldn’t remember when he was vice president or the year his son Beau died.

Joe Biden denied those allegations... and as it turns out, after release of the interview transcripts, rightfully so.

Within the transcripts is a mention by Hur to Biden that his memory was "photographic", and Adam Schiff blasted Hur yesterday for selectively excluding that remark from his final report. Also, the transcripts proved that Biden knew/knows the EXACT MONTH AND DAY of Beau's death, so Hur blatantly misrepresented Biden's memory of Beau.

But apart from the obvious smear for political reasons, one has to ask: why on earth was Hur asking about Beau's death in the first place? How was that fucking relevant to the matter of Biden possessing classified documents? Except that it was an intended trap... a trap that apparently failed... but then Hur lied about it, anyway.

Which leads me to a second question: why didn't Merrick Garland ask the same question I just asked? How was that relevant, Mr. Hur? Why did you go there, Mr. Hur?

Lots of anger here. At Hur. At Garland. I believe as Adam Schiff does: that Hur KNEW he was delivering a political hit job. And, sadly, I also believe Garland saw that and allowed it... UNREDACTED, at that.

(An aside about remembering dates and years... I remember months and days automatically and immediately, but not years. I remember my wedding anniversary, but have to re-compute the year I got married in my head... if such a need arises. Same for my son's birthday. Same for other events in my life. I'm very good at history, geography, match, science trivia and such, but I couldn't tell you right now automatically what year I had open heart surgery. It seems that I store permanently what can't be readily computed, and not those things that can be. I'm probably not alone in that, and I'm probably not alone in the fact that I'm far, far from demented. So, I know where Joe Biden is coming from... I suspect he's just like me in those regards. And there's an irony in all that: it's not a sign of mental decline that he pauses when asked for such and such year, but a confidence in his mental acuity to call those up as needed.)

March 9, 2024

On the role of luck in success, and why I'm a Democrat

I was born into a poor white family,. to parents who were Democrats in the Solid South of the Fifties, but who changed their party preference just as soon as LBJ flipped the switch on civil rights.

So, as a child I would go to school and see better-dressed and better-fed fellow students.... and if you've never been in that situation I'm here to tell you that it affects just about every aspect of your growing life. Your educational opportunities are fewer because you can't advance beyond public schools. Your economic opportunities are fewer because your exposure to business practices and income methods are limited. Even your relationship opportunities are affected, because children can be really petty about the clothes you wear, the car you don't have, the snacks you can't afford, the proms you can't attend. I'm ambivalent about the free lunches I received in public school because of our income level, but I was mortified on a daily basis when the teachers came around the room handing out those tokens that allowed me to eat.

Now, through all of that I never resented anybody for their fortune... never felt jealous.... only felt unlucky.

And as I grew older I became more and more convinced that society should try to take better care of people born into unfortunate circumstances, and that government should be the director of that care. And at the same time I grew more and more befuddled, and, quite frankly, disappointed in my own parents for being Republicans... for constantly voting against their own financial well-being for what I saw was a simple matter of race.... i.e. no matter how low they were on the white ladder of income, no matter how many meals their children missed, no matter that we didn't have hot running water to bathe, they felt themselves superior to black people. And, by golly, they wished to keep it that way.

So, I'm a Democrat. And that's because while I don't agree with every last policy procedure or bit of legislation, and while I see that Democratic politicians are at times just as greedy as their Republican counterparts, I also see that the Democratic Party mostly functions to mitigate the circumstances of social misfortune by providing safety nets and equalizing opportunities. The Republican Party, on the other hand, exists to magnify the causes of social and economic differences.

Well, this has gotten a bit more long winded than I planned. All of that, I confess, was my intro into a very interesting YouTube bit, that I hope you'll watch, about the role of luck vs. hard work as the reason for personal success. Republicans will have you believe that you are what you make yourself to be, and while I find myself in old age financially secure through a bit of determination, study, craftiness, I couldn't have achieved this security without educational grants. This video shows how wrong Republicans are... in a pure mathematical sense:

[link:

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March 8, 2024

Saw something in Savannah today... made my day.

Driving out of town southward on Ogeechee Rd (US Hwy 17) and lo and behold was a very prominent billboard of donald trump with Jeffrey Epstein, sponsored by protecthechildren.org

haha!

March 8, 2024

Regarding Biden's SOTU and the "two state solution" for Palestine

I happen to think that a two-state solution won't solve much, and although it's better than what exists now, the only long-term solution for peace in Israel and Palestine is a ONE state solution wherein everybody's rights are protected and respected; wherein Palestinians are treated as equal citizens.

Be that as it may....

Sorry to have to say it, but just calling for a two-state solution in a speech does pretty much NOTHING.

President Biden, here's what you SHOULD have said:

"I'm calling for a two-state solution, and if President Netanyahu doesn't confirm a commitment to that then we will seriously reconsider the level of aid we give to Israel."

I mean... words are pretty cheap, even from our own President, whom I happen to think has done a great great job in office.

March 4, 2024

So, Merrick Garland spoke yesterday in Selma, decrying Republican efforts to curtail voting.

"That is why the Justice Department is fighting back," Garland said. "That is why one of the first things I did when I came into office was to double the size of the voting section of the civil rights division. That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements."

But, you know.... I think I've reached the just STFU up, Merrick stage. The FIRST thing you should have done when you came into office was to prosecute donald trump for obstruction of justice in the Mueller case, and then immediately thereafter you should have started a criminal investigation into trump's insurrection activities.

But, NO, you're going to stand there and bitch about voting rights when you, personally, did so much to hurt those by allowing its number one enemy to just go about his merry way, la la la la la.

Just STFU, Merrick... then resign.

February 29, 2024

I couldn't sleep because of this bullshit.

No way to polish this turd. This "Supreme" Court is corrupt.

And while I'm at it... why did it takes WEEKS to announce this decision to take up this case, except that it's a purposeful delay? This should have happened almost immediately.

Something else:

"Whether — and if so, to what extent — a former president enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office?"

Oh yeah? Who exactly did this "alleging"? Maybe I'm incorrect, but I don't recall the trump team claim that his Jan 6 activities were "official" acts. Isn't his claim for this absurd challenge that he should have had "absolute" immunity?

February 14, 2024

John Roberts demands swift response from Jack Smith to Trump's immunity claim

Roberts has given special counsel Jack Smith a week to file a motion explaining why former President Donald Trump should not have presidential immunity for election subversion crimes.

This is a bullshit flaw in the system. WHY ON EARTH should Jack Smith have to do any further explaining when it's already been explained in court, then in an appeals court?

READ THE COURT TRANSCRIPTS AND DECISIONS, you hopeless hack. The immunity claim is so absurd that the only notice you should be sending out on the matter is that the Supreme Court will not stay or review the case because the Court does not exist to countenance nonsense.

[link:https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/justice-john-roberts-demands-swift-response-from-jack-smith-to-trump-s-immunity-claim/ar-BB1idKpH?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=9c0b4a6d48ca438a83c1f45b1fbcebb8&ei=28|

February 9, 2024

Why did Garland allow this political hit piece to be released?

I'm disgusted.

There is no reason to believe that Robert Hur is anything other than MAGAt... having been appointed by donald trump as US attorney after trump had dismissed so many US attorneys because he suspected they were not.

And every single day that passes when trump is not in court only adds to the disgust. MOST of these crimes should have been tried at least a year ago. And now we're facing the very real possibility that an orange piece of shit will return to the White House.

February 2, 2024

I'm proud to be a "none"

I'm not particularly proud to be an American... that was just an accident of birth. And I'm certainly not proud to be white... I can't be proud of something I had no control over.

But I am 100% proud to be a "none". You see, I was born into a Catholic family, baptized, forced into Catechism and church every Sunday, forced to listen to sermons in both English and Latin. It would have been very easy to just accept all that as truth.

But I didn't. I overcame. I investigated. I thought. I decided. I'm a "none".

Can I now be talked into turning back into a "something"? Talked? Probably not. Shown? Sure... show me something convincing. Show me a sign. God, write across the sky in letters that science can't explain: "I exist." Or pay me a visit. Why haven't you done that if you're so important?

In the meantime, I'm a "none". Have been for 60 years.

[link:https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/01/24/religious-nones-in-america-who-they-are-and-what-they-believe/|

January 27, 2024

Wheeeeee.... I almost forgot.... we're still waiting on Judge Engoron!

I expect his verdict is going to be even worse news for the shitstain.