The Conversation -- January 22, 2024
Alex Seitz-Wald & Mike Memoli of NBC News: "The New Hampshire attorney general's office says it is investigating what appears to be an 'unlawful attempt' at voter suppression after NBC News reported on a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden telling recipients not to vote in Tuesday's presidential primary. 'Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,' the attorney generals office said in a statement. '... New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely.' The investigation comes after a prominent New Hampshire Democrat, whose personal cell phone number showed up on the caller ID of those receiving the call, filed a complaint."
CNN has a liveblog covering E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against Donald Trump, but the court adjourned for the day because of a sick juror. "Both Trump and Carroll were in the courtroom when the cancellation was announced.... Trump attorney Alina Habba told the judge that the former president plans to testify in the trial, but he cannot be in court on Tuesday because of the New Hampshire primary." MB: Nothing forces Trump to be in New Hampshire on primary day. ~~~
~~~ Update. Maria Cramer & Kate Christobek of the New York Times have the story here. Judge Lewis Kaplan had not yet decided as of Monday morning when the trial would continue but he told Trump lawyer Alina Habba, who requested the trial be delayed until Wednesday, "Circumstances may result in your getting what you ask for. And maybe not." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Chris Jansing of MSNBC said on-air that Donald Dirangio wrote 41 derogatory social media posts about E. Jean Carroll Monday morning. ~~~
~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump defended his confusing GOP primary rival Nikki Haley with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier, saying he recently aced a cognitive test.... [Bret Baier of Fox asked Trump in an interview,] '[Nikki Haley] said, are you mentally fit? That's basically what she said.... How do you respond to that?' 'Well, I did a cognitive test recently, and I aced it,' Trump replied. He then explained his previous gaffes, like when he appeared to confuse Obama for Biden, that it was all part of a bit[.]" MB: Hall doesn't say so, but Trump took the "recent" cognitive test he claims to have aced about four years ago. Update: I just heard a clip of Trump's saying he took the test "a few months ago." It is not impossible that a doctor readministered the test, but my own doctor told me doctors are not routinely giving these cognitive tests anymore. ~~~
~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite: Donald Trump "made a series of flubs and missteps that serious minds should want to know more about. And yet, his stumbles are barely getting covered on cable news.... There also seems to be some reticence over the issue in light of [President] Biden's apparent decline." ~~~
~~~ E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: "... don't mistake [Donald Trump] for a colossus leading a mighty band. This view ignores the opportunism behind many of the endorsements he is winning and the sharp split between Republicans who want to govern and those who don't.... Trump's apparent dominance distracts from what the behavior of elected GOP politicians in Washington teaches us day after day: The party is a mess."
Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A Georgia judge unsealed a divorce case on Monday that has entangled the Atlanta district attorney prosecuting ... Donald J. Trump, but halted plans to force the testimony of the prosecutor, Fani T. Willis. One of the parties to the divorce, Nathan Wade, is the lawyer whom Ms. Willis hired to manage the election interference case against Mr. Trump and his allies.... The accusations do not change the underlying facts in the Trump prosecution.... But [they] complicate the case considerably.... The judge ... stayed Ms. Willis's deposition [demanded by a subpoena from Mr. Wade's wife, Joycelyn Wade], which had been planned for Tuesday, saying he wished to hear from Mr. Wade first."
Mark Walker of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration recommended late Sunday night that airlines begin visual inspections of door plugs installed on Boeing 737-900ER planes, the second Boeing model to come under scrutiny this month. The F.A.A. said the plane has the same door plug design as the 737 Max 9, which had 171 jets from its fleet grounded after a door panel was blown off one of the jets shortly after an Alaska Airlines flight left Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5., forcing an emergency landing. The door plugs are placed as a panel where an emergency door would otherwise be if a plane had more seats."
Kentucky. Roshan Abraham of Vice: "Republican politicians in Kentucky are rallying behind a new bill that would authorize the use of force -- and potentially deadly force -- against unhoused people who are found to be camping on private property. The bill would also criminalize unsanctioned homeless encampments and restrict cities and towns from preempting state laws. The bill, known as the 'Safer Kentucky Act,' or HB5, would target homelessness, drug possession and mental illness by drastically increasing criminal penalties for a range of offenses. Introduced last week by Republican state representative Jared Bauman, it already has 52 sponsors in Kentucky's House of Representatives. A vote is scheduled for this week.... The bill says the use of force is 'justifiable' if a defendant believes that criminal trespass, robbery or 'unlawful camping' is occurring on their property. In addition, it says that 'deadly physical force' is justifiable if a defendant believes that someone is trying to 'dispossess' them of their property or is attempting a robbery or committing arson, language that could also have ramifications for tenants overstaying their lease."
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Wisconsin on Monday morning to host an event in support of abortion rights while President Biden brings together a task force on reproductive health care in Washington. Both events are designed to call attention to the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, and to announce new steps that Mr. Biden's administration has taken to support abortion access since the court struck it down in 2022.... The administration's task force on reproductive rights announced on Monday what officials said were new steps to help Americans get contraceptives, including new guidance meant to clarify standards to insurers of federal employees. It also released a letter, issued by Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, that will inform private insurers of their obligation to provide contraceptives to those they serve." ~~~
~~~ Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "The Biden re-election campaign rolled out a new campaign ad Sunday, signaling a shift in emphasis to reproductive rights that the White House hopes will carry and define Democrats through the 2024 election cycle. The campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue almost 18 months after his nominees to the supreme court helped to overturn a constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v Wade, which would have turned 51 this week."
~~~Winnie the Poop
We will fight the woke in education, we will fight the woke in the corporations, we will fight the woke in the halls of Congress. -- Ron DeSantis, Iowa speech early in his campaign, June 2023
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. -- Winston Churchill, after the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." -- Winston Churchill." -- Ron DeSantis, in a post on X announcing the end of his campaign.
There is no record of the former British prime minister, who died in 1965, saying those words, according to the International Churchill Society. -- Angelo Fichera, New York Times ~~~
~~~ Law of Physics: An Empty Suit Will Implode. Nicholas Nehamas, et al., of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida suspended his campaign for president on Sunday and endorsed ... Donald J. Trump, marking a spectacular implosion for a candidate once seen as having the best chance to dethrone Mr. Trump as the Republican Party's nominee in 2024. His departure from the race just two days before the New Hampshire primary election leaves Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, as Mr. Trump's last rival standing.... Chaos punctuated the last days of [DeSantis's] campaign, just as it had the first, when he kicked off his campaign with a widely mocked and technically marred livestream event on Twitter.... After announcing his run for president in May with lofty expectations, Mr. DeSantis and his campaign proved a costly flop, spending tens of millions of dollars in concert with well-funded outside groups to little apparent effect.... At points, it felt as if Mr. DeSantis was careening from one embarrassment to the next, as his campaign dealt with setbacks like mass layoffs and the fallout from producing a social media video that featured a Nazi symbol." ~~~
~~~ The Thousand-Piece Puzzle. Matt Dixon & others at NBC News write their post-mortem of the DeSantis campaign's "total failure." ~~~
But Usually, the Problem is Not the Campaign. Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "In a short video on Sunday, the Florida governor ... papered over his deeply imperfect campaign. He touted his own leadership and, perhaps with an eye toward running again in 2028, endorsed the Republican kingmaker, Donald Trump. It wasn't a terrible performance, especially under the circumstances. But watching DeSantis's now-famous awkward smile and listening to his unnatural cadence, it was hard not to think: Yeah. I can see why this guy's candidacy is deader than disco.... The more people saw him, the less they seemed to like him. On the presidential campaign trail, he was robotic and awkward, rude and arrogant, with the interpersonal skills of poorly designed A.I." She goes on. Emphasis original. Near the top of today's Comments, Akhilleus captures the essence of Rhonda. One whiff will do ya.
~~~ Marie: Ron DeSantis's dropping out of the presidential* race Sunday is the reason I have not knocked myself out for the past year cataloguing every development in the race. I'll admit I linked to some stories about the race, especially if these little episodes provided a window into the party of nihilists -- and I have spent a lot of effort following what Der Furor was up to. But if you woke up today and had never heard of, say, Doug Burgum or Vivek Ramaswamy, you would be okay. Anyhow, buh-bye, Rhonda. ~~~
~~~ So here are the New York Times presidential* race developments for Sunday, with terribly, terribly sad news (also linked yesterday):
"Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida suspended his campaign for president on Sunday and endorsed the race's front-runner, Donald J. Trump, as the primary race in New Hampshire enters its final 48 hours.... It marked a spectacular implosion for a candidate once seen as having the best chance to dethrone Mr. Trump as the Republican Party's nominee in 2024. His departure from the race leaves Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, as Mr. Trump's last rival standing.... Mr. DeSantis flew home to Tallahassee late Saturday after campaigning in South Carolina. He had been expected to appear at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon, but one person familiar with the matter said that was no longer the case."
If you're an elected Republican, you lie. If you're a supposedly ever-so-Christian elected Republican, you lie:
Chris Cameron: "Haley said that Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina ... had lied when he said earlier on CNN that he had texted Haley to inform her of his endorsement of Trump before it was publicly announced. 'He didn't call, he didn't text, he didn't tell me that he was going to do this,' Haley said. 'Am I disappointed? Yes. But that's his decision to live with.'"
The AP's report of the end of the DeSantis campaign is here.
Ted Johnson of Deadline: "Donald Trump's campaign refused to agree to let an NBC News correspondent travel with him on New Hampshire campaign stops [Sunday] as the designated pool reporter, leading to access being cut off for the day.... Correspondent Vaughn Hillyard was informed 'that if he was the designated pooler by NBC News that the pool would be cut off for the day.'... It's believed by sources at the network that the campaign refused to allow Hillyard in the pool because of his questions on Saturday to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a Trump surrogate.... 'Do you believe E. Jean Carroll?' Hillyard asked. Stefanik said, 'They are all witch hunts against Donald Trump and the reason is he is pulling ahead of Joe Biden.' She seemed to be irritated by the question and added, 'The media is so biased. This is just another example of the media being out of touch...' Hillyard [responded], 'It's not me. It';s not the media, it's a jury that found...'."
Marie: Joe & Kamala may be addressing actual problems of actual Americans in their campaign, but their No. 1 Opponent has other things on his mind: ~~~
~~~ Grandpa Ranty's Ahistorical Ignorance Tour, 2024 Edition.TM Rick Wilson Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: In a campaign speech Sunday night, Donald Trump said, "'We won world wars out of forts.... Fort Benning, Fort This, Fort That, many forts. They changed the name, we won wars out of these forts, they changed the name, they changed the name of the forts, a lot of people aren't too happy about that.... They changed the name of a lot of our forts, we won two world wars out of a lot of these forts and they changed the name,' he said. 'It's unbelievable.' Nine U.S. military installations named for Confederate generals have been renamed to honor people who haven't fought against the United States. The Fort Benning referenced by Trump was named for Henry L. Benning, who NPR noted was not just a Confederate general but a 'virulent white supremacist.' It was renamed Fort Moore last year in honor of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Compton Moore, who Military.com called 'one of the Army's most influential couples.'" Appropriate X responses follow. MB: I'm not sure who This & That are, but Forrest M. may know, as it turns out he was stationed at forts named in their honor.
Shayna Jacobs & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "At 79, after decades on the bench, [Judge Lewis Kaplan] is one of the most well-regarded legal minds in New York. And he has a unique history that makes Donald Trump's courtroom behavior over the past week potentially dangerous for the former president of the United States. Trump is on trial in a civil case as writer E. Jean Carroll seeks damages from Trump, who has been found liable for defaming her when he made disparaging remarks denying he sexually assaulted her decades ago in a department store. Trump has claimed that he intends to testify in the case on Monday -- which would probably produce a dramatic courtroom showdown. But it's unclear whether Trump will really show up.... If he does testify, legal experts said, his time on the witness stand could be something akin to a suicide mission."
Amy Gardner & Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "After nearly two weeks of salacious headlines [alleging a romantic relationship between Fulton County, Georgia DA Fani Willis & her lead prosecutor in the Trump RICO case], Willis has still not denied or directly addressed the accusations. Trump and other critics have willingly filled that vacuum and amplified the most sensational claims. Regardless of what Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, decides to do -- and regardless of whether the accusations are true -- Trump has found a new line of attack on the validity of the Georgia case and Willis's decision-making.... The allegations threaten to undermine public confidence in Willis's prosecution of Trump.... [Longtime Willis ally Norm] Eisen told reporters Saturday that while there is no legal basis to disqualify either prosecutor, [prosecutor Nathan] Wade should voluntarily step away from the case.
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected what he said were conditions proposed by Hamas for the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, including the end of the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip, which would leave Hamas in place. He also reiterated his opposition to the two-state solution backed by the United States, putting him at odds with the Biden administration and other allies." ~~~
~~~ CNN's live updates for Monday are here.
Russia. Andrew Osborn & Maxim Rodionov of Reuters: "Russian energy company Novatek ... said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack. The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets. It processes stable gas condensate - a type of light oil - into light and heavy naphtha, kerosene and diesel to be shipped by sea."
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Reader Comments (34)
I told you white people were inferior. (See yesterday's Comments for context.)
The good news for Rhonda.
First, he doesn’t have to put all that effort into trying to come across as a real human being any longer. What a chore that must have been! Pretending to be more approachable than a pissed off porcupine and less robotic than the homicidal HAL 9000 from that movie.
No more awkward exchanges like the following:
“Hey, Governor DeSantis. I’m a big fan. My wife and I drove 100 miles through a binding snowstorm to meet you!”
Rhonda: “Okay,” (walks away)
No more attempts to prove he has more charisma than an egg carton.
No more having to take smiling lessons so’s he doesn’t look like his dentist just told him “Show me your teeth.”
No more staged photo ops designed to show his “regular guy” side, which all come across as if he isn’t really having a panic attack either, so stop saying that!
No more questions about why he’s attacking a cartoon mouse.
And best of all? He can go back to eating pudding with his fingers!
He can back to relaxing in his usual state, a narcissistic douchebag, and a most unpleasant prick who can’t believe people don’t immediately recognize that he’s waaay smarter than they are.
Also, his wife can go back to wearing her favorite jacket, the “I don’t really care, do you?” one, autographed by Melanie.
Ah…Ronnie, we hardly knew ye. And to know Rhonda IS to hardly know him.
Oops, here’s that screen door, Rhonda…don’t let it…well, you know the rest.
Bye now.
Dems are making progress regarding illegal immigration,
coordinating efforts with Mexico.
R's: Let's impeach those persons making progress before the public
finds out, or at least block all their efforts. USA, USA, USA.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas-us-mexio-immigration-
coordination-producing-results-official-says-2024-01-21/
And it ain't just the Chevron doctrine....
Living in a mostly rural area as I do, the stain of homelessness is not as obvious as it is in some places...and that difference likely influences my reaction to the issue.
I know I'm not as upset by the tent cities that have sprung up under freeways and in empty lots as I would be if they were a constant presence in my life, as they are for a long-time friend and professional liberal who lives in Oregon, in a city where the homeless camps have taken over many public spaces.
He doesn't like them, hates them in fact, so much so that the issue has affected his politics. He's even voted for some Republicans.
So this recent exchange:
I sent him this (maybe to provoke him a little...):
https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/us-supreme-court-could-overturn-landmark-ruling-on-homeless-camping-in-oregon-lawsuit-johnson-v-grants-pass-robinson-v-california-addiction-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-public-spaces-unhoused-sleeping-bags-low-barrier-shelter-amici-briefs-encampments#
He responded:
I have never understood why someone has the constitutional right to camp in public places anywhere they want. I hope the Supreme Court overturns the case
Me, this morning:
Remember worrying a little when we (only) occasionally pitched our tent in a grassy alpine area instead of the NP-designated, rocky camping spots?
We were wild in those days...
*********
The morning's amusement, but about a serious matter that will not go away. Homelessness continues to increase. Housing has truly become unaffordable for many. Our state legislature is wrestling with the issue, adjusting building codes and funneling millions of tax money to subsidize low income housing, but it seems we fall ever further behind....
I wonder what our SCOTUS will have to say. Something thoughtful and realistic? Or will they go all in on ownership and property rights, a position they seem sold on as long as it's not a woman's body?
Trump is pissed because military facilities named for treasonous
white supremacist slavery advocates who waged war against the
United States were renamed to honor actual Americal heroes. That's
what he and his audience are pissed about.
Said he in his speech (rant?) yesterday: "We won world wars out of
forts, Fort Benning, Fort This, Fort That, they changed the names of
the forts, we won two world wars out of those forts."
I can proudly say that I was stationed at Fort This in California for
two years, and from there I was sent on TDY to Fort That in Louisiana,
and to Fort Whatchamacallit in Virginia. I had orders to go to Fort
Why in Japan, but something came up and I was needed at the secret
command center in an Eastern U.S. state, can't discuss it, top secret.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-chooses-absolutely-baffling-
topic-090905507.html
DeSantis drops out
Legal fees for 6 months from one Trump super PAC.
"FEC records show that between January 1, 2023, and June 30, 2023, Donald Trump’s Super PAC, SAVE AMERICA, made payments to the following law firms[...]
The total amount paid to these firms between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023 by SAVE AMERICA is almost $19 million.
$18,789,359.07 actually
28 law firms so average of $671,048 per firm"
Lulu Garcia-Navarro, in the New York Times Magazine interviews Kevin D. Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, as he works toward "institutionalizing Trumpism ...including leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power. "
Roberts believes "Unitary executive theory ... is the proper constitutional understanding of our government, provided — and this is a vital thing for us — that the legislative branch is much more active and maybe even proactive and ambitious in the assertion of its authority."
Roberts casts doubt on whether Biden won the election, citing an election-fraud database at Heritage. He stated that the Black Lives Matter "riots were awful. They were far worse than Jan. 6. A lot of the people in Jan. 6 were just knuckleheads. The amount of ink that has been spilled, the amount of political gain that Congresswoman Cheney has made as a result of that is just atrocious. And I think the far bigger threat to our republic is the Biden family."
He believes "Joe McCarthy largely got things right".
What is truly atrocious is the thought of a trump presidency led and organized by his foundation!
Institutionalizing Trumpism
"... provided — and this is a vital thing for us — that the legislative branch is much more active and maybe even proactive ... "
When that happens, people in Washington DC will need to carry heavy duty umbrellas, every day, because of all the flying pigs, with attendant falling pigshit. You think the Canada geese there now are bad?
It's not really a problem, a proactive lege is now un-American. Won't happen.
Why does that Times guy write that Rhonda has “suspended his campaign” to be dictator? This is just another example of someone using what they think is a more high falutin’ sounding word of Latin origin. More to the point, “suspend” ain’t what’s happening. Suspending something means to temporarily halt things, as in “Flights have been suspended due to bad weather.”
Is Rhonda planning on un-suspending his turkey of a campaign? If the writer wanted something even more fancy pants, and less accurate, he could have written “Rhonda adjourned his campaign” or had it “prorogated”, or that the campaign was in “recess”.
OR…maybe he was intimating the secondary definition of suspend, that is, the campaign was being dangled or hung, as from a noose.
Nah. That’s not accurate either. It could still be alive and wiggling.
What’s needed is a good old fashioned, workaday Anglo-Saxon word.
Rhonda killed his campaign. The thing is dead. As in croaked, deceased, pushing up the daisies, or in Rhonda’s case, encouraging the growth of poisonous weeds.
Dear Times guy. Call it what it is. It ain’t suspended, it’s fucking dead.
You’re welcome.
AK, it might be more accurate to say that Rhonda "put his campaign down," although Florida textbooks will teach that it's frolicking on a farm just outside Pensacola.
"Putin Signs Decree Declaring Sale Of Alaska Null & Void
The Russian president allocated funds to have all Russian property abroad, including property in the former territories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union returned"
Corporate greed know no bounds as I just personally found out.
An unusual Phillips light bulb burned out the morning. I figure it must
be at least 10 years old because it was in the fixture when a neighbor
moved away and gave us a lot of his stuff.
So I contacted Phillips Corp., because no one had this bulb with the
same numbers on it, to find out if a bulb with other numbers would work.
The chat person (robot?) said that they would be delighted to answer
my question if I would give them my credit card into, etc. because
they charge $5.00 to answer questions.
One would think they would make enough money selling product.
Sound like a trump enterprise.
AK,
Maybe Rhonda put his campaign to sleep.
Can't be have'n none of that Woke stuff.
For those who are unable to read the link from RAS Re: Putin's
decree:
https://news.yahoo.com/putin-orders-hunt-property-russian-
091640990.html
He wants Alaska back?
I haven't read anything to this effect, but it appears to me that DeSantis must be somewhere on the Spectrum.
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas thinks it's time for secession from the
United States (again).
He's tired of the federal government telling the states what to do, things
like immigration, etc.
He should think about those 15 federal military bases in Texas, an
impact of about 100 billion dollars.
And he says he has enough signatures. There are 30 million people
in Texas. Does he have a majority of signatures? If so, that's enough
paper to fill a 40 foot semi.
And then there's the constitution that he hasn't thought about. Where's
that secession provision?
@RockyGirl: He's definitely on the Spectrum, but no alone. Lots
of MAGAs to keep him company.
Rocky Girl: that thought dominates my inability to see BOTH DeSantis and Dumpsterfire as anything but slightly used and muchly damaged. I don't see that with any of the other late GQP candidates who were unable to make a dent in the foul sauce that is the Dumbster. I have not seen it written either, but maybe in the post-campaign whining, listing and complaining? The harangues being reported as "speeches" absolutely put Dumbster in the "stark staring crazy" category, but the vicious, noncaring way the FL governor rules FL puts him in the despot category, and maybe also the category of people who love to humiliate others, so domination is his thing, or as you suggest, not a real person? He's reportedly smarter than Dumbster, but not having him as a danger only ramps up the danger of masses of ignorant, hypnotized followers re-electing a lunatic.
Somehow, I doubt if Alaska inmates want to go back to being Russian. How much did we pay for them?
Russia also had trading posts along the coast in northern CA. Most of those areas remain liberal, so Putin likely doesn't want those back.
Inland northern CA, with the f.... Biden signs, however, might be another story...
Putin wants Alaska back? For real? At first I thought this was one of those Andy Borowitz “stupid enough to be true” gags.
Well, sure. Why not?
Okay, lessee, old Bill Seward bought Alaska off the tsar in 1867 for $7.2 mill, right? Not a bad price, even considering the PR shellacking he got for it, “Seward’s icebox” and all that sort of thing.
Okay, so Vlad the Impaler wants it back. Okay, but we’re not gonna just give it to him. First, we figure what $7.2 mill comes to today. About $125 mill, so they say. But hold on, now you have to add in oil reserves and what could be expected from those wells for oh, say, the next 100 years. Then add in precious ore deposits (might still be some gold left, and you know Putie will start strip mining the place a week after he gets his hands on it), rare minerals, etc. Then infrastructure. Oh, yeah. Can’t forget infrastructure. Hey, did they ever build that bridge to nowhere? No? Okay, well that knocks off $10 or $20 mill. So let me get out the old abacus here.
Okay, oil, gas, gold, other neat stuff, infrastructure, roads, Alaska pipeline, the bears…don’t forget the bears. Add in that famous international observation post, the Palin’s back porch…that’s gotta be worth a packet…Hmm…X + Y times 10 to the 38th power, plus that Alaska Airlines plane where the door blew off in midair…okay, we’ll knock off a couple thou there…blah, blah, blah, carry the 9….
$750 trillion dollars. And 39 cents.
Fork it over, Baldy.
Oh, hey. Tell ya what. You agree to take the Palins, we’ll knock off a couple mill. Deal? She’ll be great at running one of the gulags.
Sign here and it’s yours. And no funny money. US dollars, cash on the barrel head.
Why Putin is a better dictator than Trump.
Fatty wanted to BUY Greenland.
Baldy wants to TAKE Alaska.
Stick with it, Fatty. One-a these days…
@Ken Winkes: Maybe your Republican friend should move to Kentucky. If Republicans in the Ky. state legislature get their way, your friend can just shoot any homeless "campers." See new link above.
Marie,
As I scrolled thorough the new entries, have to admit I had some version of the same unkind thought about my friend who is drifting to the right.
But their many and often complicated causes aside, those homeless encampments are a definite political problem for the left.
Of course Republicans in most states will deal with it like they deal with immigration.
I don't know why Putin should limit himself to Alaska. I see by the Internets that Russia also established Fort Ross in what is now Sonoma County, California. Ross is an anglicization of Russia, so another Fort This or That, according to Donald Trump. Trump could just cede California to Putin, and get rid of a clump of Democratic electoral college votes. Another Fort This or That: Fort Elizabeth, Hawaii. Might as well give away Hawaii, too.
@Ken Winkes: Homelessness is a problem for all of us, not just for the left. For a percentage of homeless people, there are no very good solutions, because some people will never be able to care for themselves or will persist in resisting efforts to meet minimal standards of conduct necessarily required by shelters.
But the left at least is trying to address some of the less intractable problems with viable, humane solutions, some of them short-term. Shooting people because the rent is too damn high is not, IMO, a solution.
I sort of bristle at the oft-quoted biblical admonition attributed to Jesus that "the poor will always be with us." While that was true in biblical times, because of advances in agriculture & technology (and birth control), it isn't absolutely necessary now.
Nonetheless, when I see a homeless person, I always think, "There but for fate, go I." And for me, that is as true today as it ever was. Republicans continue to try to make inroads in the social safety net, on which I partially depend: Social Security & Medicare. Not only that, under Trump, Republicans significantly raised my taxes while they lowered taxes on the wealthy. It's only uninformed and confused voters who have almost inadvertently stopped them from continuing to punish me and reward the rich.
As long as Republicans remain more like Trump and less like Ike, we live in a time of great insecurity and instability.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/22/supreme-court-texas-biden-border-razor-wire/
Presume (damn well hope) the Biden administration will bill Texas for undoing the damage they're done....
@ Marie
You might remember--I think I linked it here some months ago--that poor will always be with us nonsense made me bristle, too.
https://www.populist.com/29.13.Winkes.html
re Jesus and the poor always with us.
I like to ask people, what do you think he meant? Is it possible that he meant it as a rebuke? Knowing us as he did, he knew that no matter how often he told us to love and care for each other, we would never do so adequately. He could have said “Greedy selfish assholes you will always have among you, and therefore many children will go hungry”.
I went back to read the later comments I missed yesterday, and I missed a great discussion about the MD flag. We used to see one at a beach house we passed in the Outer Banks, and loved it. So elegant and messy! Also, our daughter went to school at Goucher in Balmer, so we have been pronouncing it correctly for years, hon!
@D in MD: Jesus said: Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you.
Republicans say: Do unto others and cut out.
Also: with regard to pronunciation: we started noticing right after we moved to south central PA that the "l" sound disappears altogether:
Pennsvania. Also, we live in Lancaster, pronounced LANKster, not LANG-kaster. (It's British, y'all--)
Jeanne,
And of course here in the Good Ol’ US of A we are all Merkins.
As the latest trial involving the rape and defamation of a citizen by the much beloved (by maggots) PoT front runner, the Wall Street Journal is hard at work covering the proceedings.
Are they concerned with whether or not a convicted sexual predator might slither back into the White House? Or are they concerned with how an innocent woman was attacked, raped, and then repeatedly defamed and slandered by her vicious attacker, who demands that everyone punish her and stop bothering him about something as insignificant, to him, as his right to sexually assault whomever he chooses?
Nope.
What they’re really concerned with is what she was wearing!
Because that’s how they roll in Trump World.
Is this evil bitch trying to juke the jury and set them against
the Dear Leader by trying to look respectable all of a sudden?
The horror!
Seriously, just the fact that the WSJ thinks this is appropriate reporting is beyond belief. I mean, they’re not Elle, or Cosmo, or Women’s Wear Daily.
Then again, they love Trump. Fucking appalling.