80 thoughts on “Hey, Republicans! Aren’t You Sick Of Drinking Orange Kool Aid?”

  1. BiD, the problem if they do is

    de program might be switching to de Red program and not the red white & starry blue one.

  2. liz seems to be making an effort in the right direction according to daily beast reporting about her interview on fox last night:

    As Baier continued to press Cheney on her anti-Trump stance and whether that will hamstring her future in her home state and the GOP, the congresswoman reiterated that the party—and Fox News—shouldn’t be enabling lies.
    “We all have an obligation. And I would say Fox News—especially, especially Fox News—has a particular obligation to make sure people know the election wasn’t stolen,” she declared.
    “We’ve said that numerous times,” Baier shot back.
    “Bret, I’m going to answer your question, Fox News needs to make sure the American people—” Cheney began before Baier cut her off.
    “No, but you’re mentioning Fox News, you need to know that this show has said that numerous times,” the anchor insisted.
    “Bret, you’re doing the interview, I’m answering the questions,” Cheney fired back. “We need to make sure that the American people recognize and understand that the election wasn’t stolen. That we shouldn’t perpetuate the ‘Big Lie.’ And that there’s real danger.”
    Moments later, after Baier noted that former President George W. Bush’s nephew had criticized her for calling out Trump’s lies, Cheney once again said it was imperative for Fox to push back on bogus election fraud claims.
    “Everyone watching this show, everybody who works at Fox, everybody who is elected to office, all of us have to love our country more,” she said. “And that means that there are moments when you have to put politics aside, when you have to say, ‘I will not be part of unraveling the democracy.’ That is a fundamentally important thing.”

  3. now that we’ve had a taste of what it’s like to have the gas grid hacked, are we ready yet to face the other grids going down?   

    they still could mess with utilities (no or toxic untreated water and no electricity), hospital computer systems ransomed, no NOAA or air controller radar functioning. 

    colonial pipeline was just a gentle breeze compared to the winds of war that could blow our way.  and it won’t be your grandfather’s kinda war either. 

  4. mother jones:

    In a private meeting last month with big-money donors, the head of a top conservative group boasted that her outfit had crafted the new voter suppression law in Georgia and was doing the same with similar bills for Republican state legislators across the country. “In some cases, we actually draft them for them,” she said, “or we have a sentinel on our behalf give them the model legislation so it has that grassroots, from-the-bottom-up type of vibe.”
    The Georgia law had “eight key provisions that Heritage recommended,” Jessica Anderson, the executive director of Heritage Action for America, a sister organization of the Heritage Foundation, told the foundation’s donors at an April 22 gathering in Tucson, in a recording obtained by the watchdog group Documented and shared with Mother Jones….. […]
    The leaked video reveals the extent to which Heritage is leading a massive campaign to draft and pass model legislation restricting voting access, ….
    […]
    To “create this echo chamber,” as Anderson put it, Heritage is spending $24 million over two years in eight battleground states—Arizona, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Texas, and Wisconsin—to pass and defend restrictive voting legislation. Every Tuesday, the group leads a call with right-wing advocacy groups like the Susan B. Anthony List, Tea Party Patriots, and FreedomWorks to coordinate these efforts at the highest levels of the conservative movement. “We literally give marching orders for the week ahead,” Anderson said. “All so we’re singing from the same song sheet of the goals for that week and where the state bills are across the country.”
    […]
    Heritage Foundation fellow Hans von Spakovsky, a former George W. Bush administration official who for two decades has been the driving force behind policies that restrict access to the ballot, spoke alongside Anderson at the donor summit.
    “Hans is briefing governors, secretaries of state, state attorney generals, state elected officials,” Anderson said. “Just what three weeks ago, we had a huge call with secretaries of state, right?”
    “We’ve now for several years been having a private briefing of the best conservative secretaries of state in the country that has so annoyed the left that they have been doing everything they can to try to find out what happens at that meeting,” von Spakovsky replied.
    “So far unsuccessfully,” Anderson said. “No leaks.

    [lengthy article continues]

  5. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/13/chip-roy-leadership-donald-trump/

    “Can’t imagine Republican House Members would go with Chip Roy—he has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district,” Trump said in a press release. “I support Elise, by far, over Chip!”

    Orange Adolf keeps weighing in on things as a poll of who is still loyal to him. However, some Republicans are only pretending to be members of the cult because that’s how they will stay in power.

    The lie about the election results is driving states to make it more difficult to vote. They are pouring their cup of Kool Aid down the drain and goIng along with those who are true believers.

  6. Pondering the new version of 2021 – maskless.  Hmm.  Okay, I will not be roaming around in public without one.  Until there is more known about COVID-19 in 2021 my mask will be on.  For giggles and grins, Bill Maher has COVID-19.   How is that for a kick?  He is fully vaccinated and marinated over two weeks.  That “minuscule” possibility of post vaccination infection hit one hundred for him.  I travel in backwoods Virginia a lot, some of the locals are not of the persuasion to have needles in their arms that might be a vaccination against bad stuff. 
     
    I expect to hear an occasional dismissal of my concerns.  These are my concerns until we know the virus is reduced to the same level as the flu.  No six hundred thousand dead each year, perhaps thirty thousand is easier to handle. 
     
    My body, my mask.

  7. Rafe Hollister didn’t want one of them vacci-nations either, but Andy talked him into it.   
    Rafe lived so far out the sun set between his house and the road.

  8. I for one will gladly take off my mask. Now what do I do with all these disposable masks, keep them as an investment for the next pandemic?
    Jack

  9. bbronc,  very wise decision to keep your mask handy even if not on when out and about.

    all kroger grocery stores are still requiring masks.  so are some other retail establishments.

  10. Things I’ve discovered, disposable masks are washable, just put them a shirt pocket when you do laundry. They come out of the dryer  clean and soft, ready to use.
    Jack

  11. abc7 news:

    Representatives for Kroger, Home Depot and Starbucks said they will keep their policies mandating shoppers and employees wear masks.
    […]
    Unions representing grocery store workers and retail workers said Thursday that stores should continue requiring customers to wear masks to protect workers.
    Marc Perrone, president of United Food and Commercial Workers’ union, said the CDC guidance was “confusing” and “fails to consider how it will impact essential workers who face frequent exposure to individuals who are not vaccinated and refuse to wear masks.”The guidance “creates ambiguity” for retailers because “it fails to fully align with state and local orders” mandating masks, Lisa LaBruno, senior executive vice president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said in a statement. The group represents top retailers such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot.

  12. The politics of mask wearing on both the right and left wings of the twitter verse are amusing. Just  proves a point I’ve been making for sometime, the political right  and political left are just sides to the same crazy coin.
    Jack

  13. wonder if franklin just fired the first volley in a holier-than-thou war among evangelicals.   new effort for the so-called pro-lifers?

  14. Cotton masks have a bunch of uses beyond anti-covid measures- i use them when i cut grass now, for instance

  15. Just like it was patriotic to put it on, you’re going to have to take it off, eventually, unless you like criminals getting a pass to wear them in public

  16. Washington just announced full opening for June 30.  Until then, I expect stores to require masks.

     

  17. Well, when I hoard gas I stand the cans up in the back of the car.
     
    Had to take the dog to the vet this morning – she’d become unable to walk or control her bowels because of nerve issues affecting her from her waist down and was refusing food and water.  Vet said they couldn’t do anything about that at her age other than hydrate her and give her some sugar through an IV and agreed it was time to put her to sleep.  She had a good run – 2 months shy of 16 years, which for a lab is a longer than expected life.  Sorry to have to put her down, but aside from sore joints and such, she did not seem to suffer at all.  I just couldn’t see trying to do anything heroic just to let her lie around in her own poop.  

  18. Oh Pogo I’m so sorry about your pup.  Always a hard job.   wow gas hoarding    I hope that couple didn’t get rear ended

  19. Thanks KC.  She turned out to be a good dog, but I joked for the 1st 5 years we had her that she was on borrowed time and that if she didn’t shape up I wouldn’t hunt her down the next time she ran away.
     
    FWIW other than a mild panic Wednesday, the hoarding isn’t bad at all here.  All the places I get gas are still selling the stuff and they are mildly crowded at best now.   I drive home past two convenience/gas stores that are across the street from each other, and at 6:30 yesterday of the total 20 pumps between them there were probably only about 8 cars pumping gas.
     
    I’ll be going to the Great Sea of the Unwashed (Walmart) either today or tomorrow to pick up a few odds and ends and will provide a mask update – I figure that masks will be much scarcer than they were when I was there last Saturday.

  20. Pogo…  so sorry…  always hard to lose a pet.  I have a 17 yr old cat that will make that trip sooner rather than later.
     
    Rick and I went out to breakfast at our favorite diner this morning…  we wore masks until we were seated.  We went grocery shopping afterwards….  we wore masks in the store.  I will be going to our local farmers market tomorrow morning…  it’s outside…  no mask then.  In about 3 weeks we will be going to Cape Cod….   can’t wait for an actual vacation!

  21. the sun:

    STARBUCKS, Walmart, and Target are among the stores that will keep mask mandates in place despite the Centers for Disease Control relaxing its guidelines on Thursday.

    Several large chain stores have indicated that workers and customers will still be required to keep face coverings on even if they have been fully vaccinated against Covid.

    Others are reassessing their policy in light of the new federal guidance and are yet to announce if they will lift mask mandates.

    Target said all of its coronavirus safety measures will remain in place throughout its stores “while we review today’s guidance from the CDC and re-evaluate the guidance we offer our team and guests.”

    CVS announced that it is evaluating its in-store policy, as is Macy’s.

    “The safety of our employees and customers will continue to guide our decision-making process,” a CVS spokesperson told Business Insider.

    All 3,000 Kroger stores will keep mask mandates in place and Walmart will also require face coverings.

    “We serve millions of Americans every week and believe our policy of requiring associates and customers to wear masks in our stores has helped protect them during the pandemic, and we’re not lifting those measures at this time,” Walmart said in a statement.

    Both Starbucks and Home Depot said that there was no plan yet to change the mask policy in its stores.

    Walgreens has not yet confirmed if it will change in-store policies in accordance with the new CDC rules.

    Gap said that its policies are currently under review.

    [continues]

  22. would be interesting to see how wearing masks have cut back number of days lost due to other illnesses too.  could be decision for some of this continuation of mask requirement resulted from business being told/advised by their insurance and accountants and HR folk that it saves money in long run.

  23. You know that song “gimme 3 steps”?   Kind of a funny tune for the bar life but I lived thru a real one one time in a little dive bar in panhandle Florida. Ft Walton.   Playing the beach with 4 goobers from all over but mostly w Tennessee……So, long about dusk, having applied a couple hours wortha beer, Wolf, Landis, and me are sitting at the corner of the bar most towards the door.  Moe, a wiseacre from some weird place, maybe out west but could just be Michigan for all that’s worth—Moe wore a Hoss Cartwright hat, fancied himself a ladies man. So Me Wolf and Landis are just sitting there bored as hell with the tv on and nothing on it when the front door violently slams open against the wall and Moe runs in heading past us at a rapid pace toward the pool table.   “Back me up on this one, Boys!”  he yells as he goes past and grabbing a cue stick assumes a defensive stance behind the pool table. 

  24.  …the front door violently slams open against the wall and Moe runs in heading past us at a rapid pace toward the pool table.   “Back me up on this one, Boys!”  he yells as he goes past and grabbing a cue stick assumes a defensive stance behind the pool table. 

    don’t leave us hanging, sturge.  what happened next?

  25. And just like that, a letter has gone out to tell folks in my office they no longer need to wear masks, etc.  Dammit, CDC! 

  26. getting a bit testy there in critterville

    Swalwell to Greene Staffer: ‘Don’t Tell Me What to F—Ing Do’ About Masks (businessinsider.com)

    Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell on Friday scolded Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s spokesman for telling him to remove his mask.
    The altercation first reported by The Hill involved Greene’s spokesman, Nick Dyer, telling the California congressman: “Biden says you can take off your mask.” 
    According to Swalwell, Dyer shouted at him for wearing a mask as he stepped off the House floor. Swalwell confronted Dyer and replied, “You don’t tell me what to f—ing do!”
    “No one should be bullied for wearing a mask. So I told the bully what I thought of his order,” Swalwell tweeted after the incident. “Predictably, he went speechless. I regret I wasn’t more explicit.”
    […]
    The Senate does not have a mask mandate for its members, but the House still requires lawmakers to wear a mask on the floor. Those without masks can face fines up to $2,500. The penalties were established in response to the January 6 Capitol insurrection, when several lawmakers sheltered in place together but many were maskless. At least a handful of lawmakers tested positive for coronavirus afterward.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the House rule would stay in place, despite the CDC guidance. She said that not all lawmakers have been vaccinated yet.

  27. Don’t most gasbags already have at least one MAGA hat?
     
    …talk about “market saturation”!

  28. So there’s Moe with a cue stick  doing Lou Gehrig behind the pool table, Wolf is where the bar meets the wall under the tv, I’m to his right, and Landis is where the bar turns the corner and goes left and we’re all just like WTF? And then in the doorway appears the biggest man I’ve ever seen……Andre the giant had nothing on this guy.   And he’s a Biker, he’s covered in spider web tattoos.   And he’s looking for Moe (who as it turns out has recently smoked a joint with the mountain’s girlfriend.). This guy immediately glares at us 3, Moe’s bandmates…..Wolf immediately reaches up and makes like he’s fine tuning the tv or something, I had no tv so I pulled my foot up onto the barstool and started trying to tie my shoe, and the mountain starts heading for Moe.   Right here is where Moe should have started talking about those 3 steps, lol.   Turns out peaceful because Landis was friends with the guy and talks him out of killing Moe, at least for the time being.  But Wolf and I didn’t know Landis was gonna defuse the situation and we was awful busy with the tv and my shoe.   

  29. Left to right:   Wolfred Manz, from Moose Jaw; Landis Rich, from West Tennessee;  MoJo Jackosahn; my self,  and Nyman Furr, West Tennessee, “The Tennessee Fiddler” who wasn’t there that evening.

  30. The guy in my office whom I suspect of being a ~proud~ boy was on a call with someone this afternoon, laughing that he wasn’t getting vaccinated because folks are still getting sick anyway.  He’s ex-military and talks about shooting guns on a regular basis.  His wife is in theology school so, yeah, they fit the profile. 

  31. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/14/texas-covid-19-guidelines-masks/

    “Polling suggests that along with an increasing number of vaccinated people without masks, there will be many others who are unmasked but unvaccinated — posing a public health hazard to themselves and to other unvaccinated people with whom they come into contact.“

    “Asked whether it would be safe to engage in each of 14 routine activities ranging from going to work, staying in a hotel and flying on an airplane, to attending an event at an indoor arena, going to a movie or eating at a restaurant, Texans who are hesitant to receive a vaccine found these activities safer, on average, than those who aren’t hesitant.”

  32. 49 years ago: From left to right: Steve Wesson, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Tony Pearson, Joe Ely. 
     
    Strug I see a theme here , Steve Wesson played the saw. 

  33. Flatlanders on anniversary tour, about to release new album

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/flatlanders-on-anniversary-tour-about-to-release-new-album/2012/06/22/gJQAvudSvV_story.htmlBioFollow

    June 22, 2012

    How does a band make it to the point where it can celebrate 40 years together? If you’re the Flatlanders, you do it by spending most of those 40 years apart.
    The group’s core members — singer-songwriters Joe ElyJimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock— met ages ago in their home town of Lubbock, Tex. Music lovers with wildly divergent tastes, they hung out, moved into a house together, and eventually formed a band, playing music that borrowed from country, rock, folk and bluegrass and splashing it all with modern, often trippy brush strokes. In a sense, they were Americana before Americana was cool (or, for that matter, before Americana was a music genre).

     
     

  34. My coal fired computer from my in-law “Daisy”  is circling the drain . 
    This is the 4th one I’ve ridden to the  ground .  I hope to land it on the freeway .

  35. La Nina  is dead , now into neutral , thank  God. 
    We are looking at entire week of chances for rain  here .  It’s been over a year here since we have seen this kind of forecast. 
     
    “Let her buck”

  36. Infrastructure # 101 –
    The I- 40  bridge over the river is closed to traffic, at Memphis.   It’s 40 years old .
     Paying a ransom to one of Putin’s nest of gangsters  ain’t gonna fix this problem.  And it is a huge problem ! 
     
    God works in strange ways , Biden meets the whole crew about the infra bill , and one of America’s  largest arteries fails. 
    Watch for the wing nuts to claim Biden sabotaged the bridge to get his price tag.  

  37. Rudy has hired  Harvey Weinstein’s legal team .
    Matt’s procurer has rolled  on him. 
    The New York D, A, ‘s  are closing in on Trump . 
    It looks like that turd  Liz has been voted out of the “punch bowl”. 
     

  38. Dick Cheney  after 9-11 –
    ” We may have to go to the dark side”
    I don’t think he’d going to let his “little girl” get treated this way.  And if there’s one guy that was in DC that knows where a lot of bodies are buried. 
    It’s that Dick from Wyoming. 
     

  39. pogo – I’m sorry about your puppy.  It’s not easy but your dog had a good home and that’s everything.

    OM – The ground is saturated here, so I’m not looking forward to another 1/2 foot of rain next week.  You can have it.
    Did you see Greta on PBS this week? Clothing created more emissions than aircraft and shipping, combined.

  40. The I-40 bridge at Memphis –
     
    I had a job once,  with the  contractor  that did all the in store signage  when Lowes  was doing their build out .  It was huge,  we when everywhere all across the East. 
    I forget where we were going , but I was driving when we crossed the I-40 into Tenn.  at night , My crew of 4 was all Texmex .
    The Tenn. state troopers have these cut outs  in the median  where they park their squad cars shielded  by trees and brush.  They shine their headlights  across the East bound lanes.  We were in a van with windows ,and they saw those 4 brown faces. 
    They pulled us over , one white guy and four brown guys.  With Texas plates . They called for the dog , and ran him around the van. 
    And then we were on our way again. 
     
    I had about 1/4 of oz. packed in the center of my duffle bag.  
     
     
     

  41. Blue –
    Gerta is straight out of central casting .
    I never dreamed  of her , but I followed her acrossing the Atlantic. 
    She gives me hope, and that is in fucking short supply these days. 
     
     

  42. One other item to watch  –
    Huntington  West Virginia is suing  3 drug whole sellers. For the opioid plauge  in their county, town. 
    These guys dumped around 7 million pills  in a county of around 150,00.
    The whole sellers defense –
    They are just ” logisticts” people, and the DEA said it was ok. 
    This entire story  is one where an entire industry captures the guardians  set up to protect us. 
    That onion is being peeled in court right now. 
    But we are treated  to how Harry had a hard life. 
    Not the Huntington trial. 
     

  43. What is wrong with our media  ?
    Gale King  and her co-hart  chase   the queen .
    While Americans OD in  the backwaters. 
    The CBS News is not reporting on this trial.
     
    I am really sick of the British Royal Family . 
    They may be the largest pack of  inbred  parasites   for a thousand years. 

  44. Gale rides with Oprah  in her jet . And good for them,  They made it . 
    But what have they done ?  Besides  burning a lot of Jet-A. 
     
     

  45. My friend’s son piloted private planes.  He flew Jon Bon Jovi from the east coast to Val Kilmer’s ranch somewhere for an afternoon. Carbon offset?
    As Greta noted, all of this carbon neutral stuff is a nice idea.  Yeah, they plant trees, but it’ll take 50 years of growth to help.

    Biggest problem is all of the feed for animals for humans to kill and eat. They are clearing rainforest to create farmland for grain to feed cattle and hogs. The less meat and fewer animal products eaten, the more it will help.

  46. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/14/business-money/cdc-mask-guidelines-employers/index.html

    “If you are going to continue to require the mask, you don’t really have to deal with ‘has the person been vaccinated or not?’ and regulating who wears their mask.”

    “I think the trend is gong to be more employers mandating now because of what happened yesterday,” (the CDC announcement)

    That would be great, but does anyone think small employers will make it mandatory?

  47.  https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/14/business-money/cdc-mask-guidelines-employers/index.html

    “Generally speaking, employers can mandate workers get vaccinated and require proof of inoculation before they return to the office. But federal protections allow for some exceptions. Workers with underlying medical conditions might be exempt under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And Title VII of the Civil Rights Act could allow employees with “sincerely held” religious beliefs against a vaccine to seek accommodations.“

    What about HIPAA? Can they even ask?

  48. Money belays   everyone ,  read  Jarrod Diamond. 
    This is why they chase Harry. 
    Money . 
    I would remind everyone , money does not exist in nature.  It is a complete fiction in the mind of man.

  49. The Third Chimpanzee is a great book.  Which of Diamond’s other books do you recommend?

  50. Yep, OM.  That’s what crypto is showing folks.  As long as you think it’s worth whatever and can get others to agree, you’ve really got something…until you don’t.

  51. Blue –
    A cow in a feed lot burns  over 40 percent of the soybeans  we feed it , just to overcome gravity , and maintain it’s body temp. 
    Things that live in water, do not  do this. 

  52. Plant based is becoming normalized, thank goodness.  Once upon a time, I went to a seminar for work where the only thing at the luncheon I could eat was carrots.  There were tiny shrimp in the salad (tiny, like sea monkeys), bacon in the dinner rolls, and of course, the entree was cow.  

    OM – All of your fish in the ocean are filled with bits of plastic.

  53. That’s the one I was thinking of. I read it a million (or 20) years ago. Need to read it, again.
    I can hear the street racers in the distance.  Gasoline here is plentiful and kids (and grown-ass men) can waste it.

  54. The fight over eating beef  is not over cow farts , it’s about chain sawing  the  rainforest  to plant soybeans  to feed beef. 
    Next time in the drive thru,  think about your beef. 
     
    There’s the  fulcrum ,  cheap beef at the drive thru is driving the death of the rainforest , same thing in the east . Palm Oil is driving  the death of beings we never saw.

  55. When I stuffed dollars into strippers  G strings , I always told them  it was just  dirty green paper. 
    They loved the idea. 

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