Morning rant

America is infested with fascists, beginning with our corporate overlords and their political wing, the Republican party . . . their media wing, FOX News . . . their army of battle-ready fascist cops protected by standard issue Get Out Of Jail Free cards   . . . their power-hungry colleagues, the racist evangelical churches, the party's foot soldiers, you know, that mob of ignorant motherfuckers worshiping Confederate generals in the name of Christian Jesus, those fucking alt.right vigilantes cheered on by the NRA . . . and the Karens and Kens of every color . . . fascist all. I'm done with all of it, all of it, all of it.

Where is America, shelter for those "yearning to breathe free"? Where is America, the "land of the free, home of the brave"? Fascists aren't free or brave. They are maggots fat on hate who scoff at facts and science, who think because their skin is "white" they are superior, or because there's a dick and balls hanging between their legs they're superior, or because they make a show of worshiping the white-skin version of brown-skin Jesus of Nazareth it's ok to betray their own ethnicity for a ride on the gravy-train. They're maggots thinking money and connections will forever keep them immune to the chaos they have created.

I'm done with the billion and trillionaire elites who hide in the ivory towers of their corporations then shove their US Supreme Court approved Corporate Personhoods into the world to do their dirty work. Corporate Persons . . . legal entities . . . created to absorb the consequences of criminal corporate activity, thus insuring the human power players remain above and beyond the law. I'm am so fucking done with them all.

The ultra-rich have turned America into a tax haven for anyone with enough cash and credit to buy-in. They are the ones who pay to change the law to fit their business plans and are draining the planet of its resources, destroying the beauty, poisoning the air, poisoning the water, poisoning the oceans, rivers, springs, lakes, wells, clouds . . . poisoning and eliminating top soil. They are destroying the very climate upon which life as we know it depends.

I am so done with the Republican Party and its president, Trump Corp, and all their climate change backers who live above the law in their corporate structures, skyscraper hideouts, island retreats, insider enclaves, underground palaces, international tax havens and whatever other fantasy worlds they have created to escape the consequences of their arrogance and greed.

There is, however, a footnote to all this.

Where do we go from here? It's chilling how successful the alt.right has been at brainwashing the unaware with their lies and loathing. I pity their obedient, hapless supporters who embrace wage slavery for themselves and their poorly educated children. I feel sad for everyone in America and around the world waiting for their fascist overlords to give a shit about them. They never did and they never will. 

It's heartbreaking realizing that collectively we humans have triggered a mass extinction on the planet, that all species on earth are being sucked into the environmental collapse with us. It's surreal looking through the web of lies America is suffocating in because . . . no matter what . . . no matter who or where we are . . . no matter what we think, feel, or believe . . . we are all in this together.


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Ok. Sometime I just have so yell into the void. Rant over. I've included an antidote to all this poison below . . .

Was it a mistake?

Gen. Mark A. Milley, was it a mistake or, now that you've given Trump his photo op, is this just camouflage? You fucking hell looked like the tool of a repressive, fascist government to me.

Rumsfeld's dance with nazis

Following up on Rumsfeld's recent accusation that any American critical of his war on Iraq is a nazi, the NYT just published an article by Frank Rich about Rummy and Saddam. Naturally Rumsfeld didn't embarrass the dictator by criticizing him for torturing political prisoners. I guess there's some kind of twisted honor among sociopaths.

Donald Rumsfeld's dance with the Nazis'

NYT via The Raw Story

" ...what made Rumsfeld's performance special was the preview it offered of the ambitious propaganda campaign planned between now and Election Day. An on-the-ropes White House plans to stop at nothing when rewriting its record of defeat (not to be confused with defeatism) in a war that has now lasted longer than America's fight against the actual Nazis in World War II.

Here's how brazen Rumsfeld was when he invoked Hitler's appeasers to score his cheap points: Since Hitler was photographed warmly shaking Neville Chamberlain's hand at Munich in 1938, the only image that comes close to matching it in epochal obsequiousness is the December 1983 photograph of Rumsfeld himself in Baghdad, warmly shaking the hand of Saddam Hussein in full fascist regalia. Is the defense secretary so self-deluded that he thought no one would remember a picture so easily Googled on the Web? Or worse, is he just too shameless to care?

...Well before Rumsfeld's trip, Amnesty International had reported the dictator's use of torture -- "beating, burning, sexual abuse and the infliction of electric shocks" -- on hundreds of political prisoners. Dozens more had been summarily executed or had "disappeared." American intelligence agencies knew that Saddam had used chemical weapons to gas both Iraqi Kurds and Iranians.

According to declassified State Department memos detailing Rumsfeld's Baghdad meetings, the American visitor never raised the subject of these crimes with his host..."







rumsfeld saddam nazi fascist

John Dean on Rumsfeld

Zendaba

"Nazi" and "fascist" are the New Big Buzz Words the neocans are rolling off the talking points assembly line this upcoming election season. These words are intended to fend off the growing awareness that it's the conservatives themselves who are fascist. As usual, the neocans hope to dazzle, baffle and intimidate voters into staying lock step with the party. The problem is that more and more people are catching on to the fact that, as Dean points out, this current government is a "textbook example of authoritarianism".

Rumsfeld's recent accusation that Americans who disagree with the war in Iraq are nazis is typical over the top offensive game they have played all along. The difference is that now the conservatives are getting desperate and sloppy in their effort to stem the tide by lobbing as many accusations of fascism against their critics as possible in an effort to own the word first. Until recently it has worked to boldly declare black is white, hot is cold, wrong is right but the magic has grown thin.

Seems we have reached a state of critical mass as people from both the "left" and "right" finally grasp the fact that the conservatives in power are a very sick blend of Christofascism and corporate fascism and their stubborn resolve is leading us over a cliff.

Zendaba
Karl, Rummy, Dirty Dick and the Bushman depend on team sport politics to support them but the election is not a football game and truth is not a team sport. People are getting tired of waving pennants from the stands as The Deciders run amok on the field. Americans died winning and protecting our right to dissent and this new strategy is designed to crush us into silence. Rumsfeld and company are the Nazis.

Keith Olbermann recently interviewed John Dean on Rumsfeld's Nazi speech. A lot of people have trouble asking simple, direct questions and even more trouble answering them but these guys do an excellent job of it. The only place I have a complaint is about 4 minutes in when Olbermann asked Dean if there can be a bigger threat to our democracy than the repression of open debate, never mind the issue. Seems to me Dean wandered a bit here, focusing on Rummy's speech instead of addressing the larger issue ... that open debate is indispensable for the health of a free society ... but the debate is on whether Rummy likes it or not.





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Is Bush is an idiot?

The question in this CNN segment is whether or not President Bush is an idiot. If you haven't see it check it out. I'd say it's an historical and appropriate question.


YouTube link



The answer? Yes! Naturally. Bush is an idiot but he's so much more. He is a maniacal ChristoFascist with more destructive power at his command than any other human being on the planet. That's a hair-raising thought in itself, a horror compounded by the fact that his vision of Armageddon shapes and guides both is domestic and foreign policy. It wouldn't be so bad if Bush were merely the village idiot but he's also a fascist, criminal mob boss with unlimited wealth and power at his quivering fingertips. Lovely.







CNN Bush idiot fascism christofascism

12 signs of fascism - No. 1

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”~ Benito Mussolini

Many of the politicians currently controlling the US are fascist. Don't believe it? Compare the 12 signs of Fascism with the actions of  leaders.

No. 1 from the 12 signs of Fascism

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, is always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity are common themes in expressing this nationalism. It is usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often borders on xenophobia.




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Voices in the divide

Generally, I think my opinion of the conservatives hell bent on turning America into corporate police state is pretty clear. And I think my horror of the glassy-eyed minions who support the conservative's wars, Karl Rove's zombie marching band, is well established. So it's downright refreshing to write about a Baptist minister (no less) who stands up to the idolatry of merging Church and State, in which so many Christians are currently mired.

Predictably, when Rev. Gregory A. Boyd denounced the right's infiltration and whopping successful take-over of evangelical Christianity, one thousand members of his mega church in St. Paul left. But four thousand remained. I'm from Nevada. That's a pretty good split. The house wins. Good for him. Good for them. I wish this were a trend but most of Christendom, even the so-called "moderates", are keeping a wormy profile as the right-wingnuts slash and burn their jagged path through the world. We shall see but at least Rev. Boyd is awake and making trouble. He's no liberal but he tossed out the politicians and money changers while the rest of shepherds and their flocks stand dutifully in the slaughter house line in Bush Co's deranged parallel universe.

The New York Times did an article on Rev. Boyd but I don't know how long it will be accessible before they lock it up in their archives and slap a price tag on it but there's also a thread on DailyKos that will remain available if you want to read more. Treat yourself. It's encouraging news, which is rare these days.








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Jimi, the Rockridge Institute, and the rest of my day

Mr. Lee drove to Soda Springs Idaho today to pick up an off-road trailer he bought on Ebay. He'll be back Sunday evening. All in all he'll drive over 1200 miles in about a day and a half. I didn't go because it would be too tough, my knee being in this shape. I slept until after noon, healing takes a lot of energy, then worked on the driftwork website. Unfortunately I was working on a wide screen and checking it now on the laptop, I see it isn't quite right. Later. I'm done for the day.

So no matinee, maybe tomorrow, but here's a sound clip you might enjoy. I'm listening to it at the moment and find it pretty interesting. It's a raw mix of comments, often from concerts, by Jimmy Hendrix.

And from the Rockridge Institute, a very sobering look at the accomplishments made by the Bush administration. Their point is that actually Bush is not an incompetent boob. In fact, his administration has done a lot to advance the conservative agenda. The problems we complain about are not because Bush is an idiot. It is because the conservative philosophy is so terribly flawed and designed to benefit only the wealthiest. Here's an example of the changes the conservatives have ushered in. It's chilling.

The idea that Bush is incompetent is a curious one. Consider the following (incomplete) list of major initiatives the Bush administration, with a loyal conservative Congress, has accomplished:

* Centralizing power within the executive branch to an unprecedented degree
* Starting two major wars, one started with questionable intelligence and in a manner with which the military disagreed
* Placing on the Supreme Court two far-right justices, and stacking the lower federal courts with many more
* Cutting taxes during wartime, an unprecedented event
* Passing a number of controversial bills such as the PATRIOT Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Medicare Drug bill, the Bankruptcy bill and a number of massive tax cuts
* Rolling back and refusing to enforce a host of basic regulatory protections
* Appointing industry officials to oversee regulatory agencies
* Establishing a greater role for religion through faith-based initiatives
* Passing Orwellian-titled legislation assaulting the environment — “The Healthy Forests Act” and the “Clear Skies Initiative” — to deforest public lands, and put more pollution in our skies
* Winning re-election and solidifying his party’s grip on Congress

These aren’t signs of incompetence. As should be painfully clear, the Bush administration has been overwhelmingly competent in advancing its conservative vision. It has been all too effective in achieving its goals by determinedly pursuing a conservative philosophy.

It’s not Bush the man who has been so harmful, it’s the conservative agenda.

More at the Rockridge Institute.

Another revolting development

1853

Village Voice
"Last week, however, Comey announced he was leaving the Justice Department to become the general counsel of the defense contractor Lockheed Martin. In his absence, Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum is the most likely choice to be named as the acting deputy attorney general, and thus the man overseeing special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald's work. But McCallum has been a close personal friend of President Bush. Justice Department officials are once more grappling as to how to best assure independence for investigators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are unlikely not to question any role in the leak probe by McCallum."

If you're at all conscious, you have at least heard of Plamegate. You get extra credit for knowing that Fitzgerald is the prosecutor in the case. He's investigating the administration's outing of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame. Now with McCallum's appointment, Rove has direct control over the prosecutor investigating him. Too bad for truth and justice. No surprise though. These days it's either "truth and justice" or the "American way". Can't have both. With the radical right, they are mutually exclusive. McCallum will do whatever Karl tells him to do, which is exonerate him and the rest of the administration's treasonist nazi bastards. Revolting.

Treasongate in Mordor

I know it's silly comparing the White House to Mordor. Melodramatic. Childish. Evil empires are always the other guys, right? And anyway, we're a democracy, aren't we? Apparently some think otherwise. According to New York Times reporter Ron Suskind, the Bush people consider themselves rulers of an empire. Add "evil" to that, and I'll go along in part. Treasongate is a peek at just how dirty they're willing to be for power. It's inconceivable but they outed a CIA undercover agent for personal political advantage. If it weren't so serious, I'd almost find it amusing how the conservative press and politicians are at fever pitch trying to discredit the story. It reminds me of the movie "Wag the Dog". Remember that one? Hollywood's comic attempt to portray the dark side of capitalist politics. The idea was people will believe anything if you sell them the idea long enough and with enough aplomb...as though the tail can wag the dog. Treasongate is the product of Karl Rove's regime and his signature game plan, shock and awe. It's like poop wagging the dog.

Merikans going along with it are like the Germans who went along with Hitler and his war. Looking back, it's inconceivable but now the same thing is happening in the US. Bush supporters are completely in denial about how evil this administration is. There's no excuse. Denial is voluntary ignorance. They're like people sitting in a burning house with paper bags over their heads. Too bad. Things will probably have to get even worse before they think about getting out and fighting the fire. In the mean time, the task falls to the rest of us.

Merikan's are responding to Treasongate with things like "Kerry lost. Get over it". Talk about stale rhetoric! These guys must be huffing glue. Pathetic doesn't begin to describe them. The Republican Party, the corporate media whores and their stooge followers are morally, spiritually and ethically bankrupt. Naturally they're all doing everything they can to shore Rove up. He is their ace in the asshole. For the moment Bush & Co. rule from the Land of Shadow. So be it. They are too dense and arrogant to consider the notion of karma i.e. the law of cause and effect. But it's simple. Even they are subject to consequences. They have really fucked up and at some point, some Smeagol will destroy their magic ring. Like they say, it's not a question of if, it's only a question of when.

So much for property rights. What's next?

As always, the rich are getting richer, richer and richer, all at the expense of anyone and everyone else. And why shouldn't they? Corporate Amerika and the US government are one and the same. Pfizer Inc., the largest drug company in the world, was just handed a huge plum by the Supreme Court in its latest ruling. Government may now seize and destroy private homes and small business properties when it benefits a corporation. Naturally this privilege extends to all the big companies. It's them against us and most of us (including those hard working guys with flags on their trucks) don't even know it. Enough is never enough for these rapacious, Nazi bastards. I bet that verdict was followed by a hardy round of cigar lighting and back slapping.