Bobstandard
Bobstandard's JournalWine country winter
Here in the Alexander Valley of Sonoma, California we had quite the unusual dump of snow over Thursday night, Friday morning. The area gets a dusting every few years, but, according to neighbors who’ve grown up here—who had to query grandparents to get a read—nothing like this in 50 to 60 years.
That does it, Trump walks! (For your Monday entertainment)
Maggie Haberman has put the another nail in the coffin with her reporting about Special Council Jack Smith’s investigation:
According to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer, Smith was "moving aggressively" after being named to head the investigation three months ago.
When Maggie weighs in you know she’s been fed “the word” from her Republican/Trumpist insider sources. They’re all saying, oh yeah, this is a big, deep, wide investigation that will turn up everything and anything, so you just wait, you’re gonna find out all you need to know! (Bless your little heart).
I’m guessing what we’ll find out is that Jack couldn’t find quite enough information about any of Trump’s obvious transgressions to be absolutely, definitely, unambiguously, perfectly, 110% certain of a conviction. And so he’ll not recommend to Garland that they prosecute. For anything.
And Garland will say, well, there ya go. If Jack had recommended, then we might have, but he didn’t so, what can I do?
And all we’ll hear about is the recommendation. None of the evidence Smith reviewed or discovered will ever see the light of day.
And Maggie Haberman will say, “after an intense, wide ranging investigation that included subpoenaing the Vice President, “…..
As I said, I’m just guessing. Now, I know there are a lot of you that think I’m wrong. And there are many more who think I could be wrong. Well I say, I hope you’re right.
Our best hope: Kevin's a ratf**ker
It’s clear that Kevin McCarthys’ only path to the speakership was to promise the insurrection wing of the Republican Party whatever they wanted. And because, depending on who you’re talking about, they’re either ignorant, venal, sociopathic, traitorous, or dangerously delusional, those ‘asks’ most certainly represent a danger to our form of government, the economy, and the quiet enjoyment of our every day lives.
Gaetz and company held out against KM not only to get those ‘asks’ but because they hated how he’d burned them in the past by reneging on promises.
It’s a frightening irony that now we have to hope that the insurrectionist caucus was right all along. We have to hope that their fears prove prescient and that ‘ol Kevin was lying when he promised to give them whatever he did to finally win their votes. Our best hope is that KM still has a slightly patriotic bone in his body, that he harbors a tiny bit of good will for the folks the House is supposed to serve, and even that he harbors enough malice in his character to want to burn Gaetz, MTG, Borbert et al, enough that he turns around and denies them whatever spoils he promised.
Faint hope, I know. But wouldn’t it make for great drama? A person can dream, can’t they?
What if-and can-Dems vote to elect McCarthy?
Democrats have voted to select their leader unanimously. The GOP can’t get their job done.
What if a few Dems now voted to support McCarthy? We don’t need a unanimous vote for Hakeem Jeffries to become the Democratic House leader. The statement of unity has already been made.
What if a few Dems peeled off to vote for McCarthy?
I confess I don’t know if this can happen. But I love the implications!
The crockpot wing of the Republicans who are waging war against McCarthy would be thwarted and livid. They, and the rest of the Republicans, would forever worry that he’s beholden to us. And in fact he would be, at least a little. He’d never live it down. We’d be able to mock him at every turn.
At the least it would be hilarious. Properly messaged it would be a millstone around his neck and that whole cabal.
The reach of FTX is longer than you think
I’m having dinner in a modest far Northern California Chinese restaurant The check comes and with it a fortune cookie, fortune peeking out of one of the cookies fold. I pull it out.
The fortune side reads: What does the future hold? Below that, lucky numbers: 2, 7, 19, 39, 62
And on the flip side? The full FTX logotype and stylized logo!
Admit it, you're going to end up at a bar tonight
I tended bar at place with live rock and roll mist every night. We battened down the hatches for thanksgiving night. It seems that at some decent interval after the Thanksgiving meal is completed, many folks decide they just have to get out of the house. A large number of them would end up drinking and dancing at our bar. In fact, we could count on it being as big a night as New Years.
The vibe was different than New Year’s Eve too. New Years revealers have planned their night out and prepared fo it they arrived a little desperate for a good time. The Thanksgiving folks were often surprised to find themselves at a bar. They arrived with a sense of escape and relief from the strictures of their Thanksgiving dinner/day experience. They felt free to cut loose a bit more than on a usual night out. Beer, wine, and spirits flowed like a river. The dance floor never emptied and the tips were the best of the year. Folks had a gas.
So if you find yourself a little restive when dinner concludes and find yourself edging to the door to make your way to a favorite watering hole, don’t feel guilty. Your participating in another-but lesser known-Thanksgiving tradition. And traditions are important.
DU calls Hobbs race just before MSNBC
To be fair, and you know how we are about that around here, the call was from Katie Hobbs' campaign manager via DUer Ocelot got the news up at least a minute before Chris Hayes. Well done! (Were you wearing kahkis Ocelot?)
My guess: Trump REFUSES to run!
I think TFG will announce that not only is he not running, he refuses to run. After all, why would he run since the whole system is broken, corrupt, fixed, blah, blah, blah? He won't run, and he'll blame it on us. Loudly. Hysterically. Think of the bombast, the ego pumping bullshit he'll unleash in that announcement!
It's the perfect out for him. He won't have to risk being humiliated again. Melania won't leave him. He'll continue to be able to fund raise. And he'll have time to work on his defense.
He'll also have time to prep for, and the freedom of movement, to flee the country if he's ever indicted. He'll frame that move as a surprise but long-secretly-planned world tour to raise awareness for how he's been wronged, blah, blah, blah. And just by coincidence if he's ever indicted he'll quickly be ensconced in a luxury suite in a grand hotel in a country that, again, just by coincidence, doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US.
"Where are the commercials?"
Kieth Olbermann, in a recent podcast that I just had a chance to listen to, had a question that many of us here have been asking. Where are the commercials?
Where are the commercials calling out Republicans for:
Their plan to cut Social Security
Their plan to cut Medicare
Their plan to refuse abortion services to any woman, under any condition, everywhere in this country.
Keith Olbermann goes on to list virtually the entire list of issues that will cause actual harm to many in this country. And he's right when he says that the Democratic establishment refuses to flood the airwaves, social media, and other channels in a concerted, focused way that will get people's attention regarding these bread-and-butter, life-and-death issues and, yes, trigger their fear response.
Republicans have been doing this for years using non-existent social issues, issues that cause virtually no harm to anyone, much less the Magats the ads are aimed at. And it works!. Democrats, on the other hand, can point to real, actual, immediate harm, but refuse to do so.
Sure, a few candidates, and a few organizations on are side are doing this. But it's not happening on the scale we need.
Olbermann's podcast on this topic, and the others he's covered in his recent stuff, is full of the fire and anger that this moment demands. Many of us here have been saying the exact same sort of things. I wish the Democratic establishment would pay attention to him, because they sure haven't listened to those of us in the "hair on fire" brigade.
I swear Olbermann is the only "pundit" that has a full grasp of what's going on in this country and he sure seems to be the only one with the brass to tell it like it is.
I just read that Obama's pollister and advisor has said that his research shows that listing Democratic accomplishments doesn't help us win voters. Hell, it seems to hurt! Can we please try something else?
Here's a link to the Olbermannspecific podcast:
[link:https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-countdown-with-keith-olbe-99705496/episode/make-the-commercial-before-its-too-103467900/
Kieth Olberman is right: Trump is America's Hitler
Kieth Olbermann makes the undeniable case that Trump is America’s Hitler in his podcast today. He points out that what Trump and Mastrianno said at their rallies this weekend, and their followers making those Hitlerian sig-heil hand gestures, seals the deal. He also describes how Trump has brought together MAGA world, the Republican Party, Christian Nationalists, and now even Q-anon, and subsumed them to his will.
It’s clear now that Trump doesn’t plan to be re-elected, he plans to be installed. He doesn’t believe in the rule of law and, Kieth points out, the rule of law doesn’t seem to be equal to the challenge Trump represents. Witness the simple fact that Trump’s many in-plain-sight crimes go unpunished, the DOJ seems afraid to indict, and the judiciary seems ready to let Trump slide anyway.
Kieth Olbermann’s hair is on fire, my hair is on fire and if your’s isn’t, it ought to be. Give Kieth’s podcast a listen. It’s at the very least an important perspective that we ignore to our great peril.
[link:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/countdown-with-keith-olbermann/id1633301179?i=1000579883342|
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