more visual versions of the Elon long trail unwinding…
Attribution by Creators Syndicate: About John Deering – John Deering is chief editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state’s largest newspaper. Five times a week, his cartoon comments entertain (or sometimes enrage) readers throughout Arkansas, in Washington, D.C., and across the country. Winner of the National Press Foundation’s 1997 Berryman Award, Deering also gained top honors in the 1994 national John Fischetti Cartoon Competition and was the seven-time winner of the Arkansas Press Association’s Best Editorial Cartoonist award.
In this powerful and urgent message, Bernie Sanders speaks directly to the American people about the alarming influence of billionaires like Elon Musk on American democracy. Sanders pulls back the curtain on how Musk is using his immense wealth to buy off Republican members of Congress, shaping policies and legislation to benefit the ultra-wealthy while leaving working families behind. Sanders emphasizes that this isn’t just about Musk—it’s about a broken political system where billionaires and corporations have outsized control over the government. He explains how campaign donations, lobbying, and financial backing allow figures like Musk to bend Congress to their will, ensuring tax breaks for the rich and deregulation that harms everyday Americans. In this passionate address, Sanders calls for urgent action to end the stranglehold of money in politics. He highlights the need for reforms like overturning Citizens United, instituting public campaign financing, and taxing the billionaire class to restore fairness to the system. This video is a rallying cry for anyone concerned about the growing power of billionaires and their ability to undermine democracy. Bernie Sanders delivers a stark warning: the future of the country is at stake if we don’t act to break the grip of oligarchs like Elon Musk on our government. Don’t miss this vital call to action!
feel free to add to/change the lyrics — surely cries out for better ones than mine — to be sung to
There’s Elon’s long trail un-winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the guys and gals are singing
And nothing’s as wild as it seems.
There’s a long long night of waiting
Until my dreams all come true,
Till the day we’ll vote again
Turning that long long trail to blue.
John Oliver discusses Elon Musk, the influence he has over more than just his businesses, and the perfect place for him and Mark Zuckerberg to finally have that cage match.
Fortune 500 companies, burgeoning crypto firms and individual billionaires are racing to help underwrite Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration – pledging seven-figure donations apiece to next month’s festivities as they work to ingratiate themselves with the new administration.
In return, big donors can attend a candlelight dinner with the president-elect and his wife, Melania, enjoy face time with members of the incoming Cabinet at a private reception, secure VIP tickets to a “Starlight Ball” and receive other exclusive benefits during three days of celebrations, according to a packet sent to contributors willing to donate or raise large sums.
America has 815 billionaires as of this year. Collectively they have a record $6.7 trillion in wealth. The bottom 50% of Americans control $3.7 trillion in wealth. When 815 people control more wealth than half a country’s population, we have a very serious problem.
Even MAGA must know they didn’t vote for an oligarchy, but will they ever admit it?
We Americans, sadly, are all hubris and no humility. We will not show remorse when the Trumps are finally defeated and disgraced. In the end, the surviving Germans are better than us, and the Japanese too.
Executive Pay Skyrockets Again, Wages Remain Stagnant.CEOs made an average of $17.7 million in total compensation last year (AFL-CIO “Executive Paywatch”)
Executive compensation has continued to rise steadily since 2016, increasing by 6% between 2022 and 2023. CEOs make 268 times more than the average worker. Workers also have less of a share in corporate income than they used to, going from a nearly 80% share of corporate income in 2020 to a 71% share as of July 2024. “Ensuring that workers can form or join a union is the best way to address these issues”, said AFL-CIO official Robert Roach.
What a stat: In 1965 CEOs made 21 times more than their workers. Today it is 268 times higher. And Trump is about to give them a massive tax cut, for them and their companies.
I remember when the standard was 40X their average employee. Amazingly, the US economy was at its height and every young married couple assumed they would buy a house. I just checked and the house my ex and I bought in 1964 for $21,900 sold recently for $2, 050,000.
Had some back-and-forth with MAGA radio guy Erick Erickson on X this morning:
My post: “Elon Musk’s X is the town square for the MAGA movement” — AXIOS. Not your thing? Come on over to Bluesky.
Erickson responds: “The problem with Blue Sky is it is way more insular than Twitter, chiefly being the place where the left decamped to after losing an election and blaming the proprietor of this site”.
Me: “Don’t forget Trump’s winning margin for the Electoral College wouldn’t fill three NFL stadiums. There’s a big market for Bluesky”.
Erickson: “There really wasn’t a ton to celebrate. A choice of two terrible candidates, one of whom I might agree with half the time, the other none of the time. The danger of Twitter and Bluesky now is the hive minds and group think will only get worse”.
Me: “X could have remained a place for both. But Elon turned the default ‘For you’ feed into his personal soap box. Sure, I created my own list I can switch to, but every time I open the site the first thing there is Elon and his chosen few”.
Erickson: “I refuse to use the “For You” feed for exactly that reason”.
A few days of sub 32F weather and I could finally empty the cooler of the remains from a Thanksgiving Day dinner appetizers, oysters. That was a Twenty twenty-three dinner. It has been a rough year plus, to have forgotten oysters in a cooler in the truck for over a year. Those are now bagged up and ready to drive the raccoon population wild until collected by the garbage collectors. No smell when frozen.
It seems sfb went quiet for the last couple of days.
Elon didn’t even have to spend a dime to get congressional Repugz to fall in line. All he had to do was promise they would be “primaried” if they didn’t play his game. Any expenditures for congresspersons are unnecessary until the midterms.
While tRUMPsky is talking dangerous nonsense about Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal, MAGAts are getting ready to gut Social Security, Medicare, ACA, farm subsidies, etc., when it’s spending bill time in mid-March.
So the Arkansas no books that offend thin-skinned religious nuts in the library law was ruled unconstitutional by US District Court Judge Timothy Brooks as violative of 1st Amendment rights of librarians, booksellers and patrons. Well, duh. WaPo. A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that threatened librarians and booksellers with imprisonment if they were found to have provided “harmful” content to a minor. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks ruled that two parts of Arkansas Act 372 — which Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed in 2023 — are overly broad and vague, and violated librarians’, booksellers’ and patrons’ First Amendment rights. The two parts of the law that were struck down would have established a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison, for librarians and booksellers who distribute “harmful” material to a minor. It also would have required local governments to create oversight boards to review challenged content, which often deal with themes of race and sexuality. The ruling, which will likely be challenged, comes as a growing number of GOP-controlled statehouses have considered similar laws that threaten librarians with prison. “Up until the passage of Act 372, it appears that Arkansas’s more pressing concern with respect to librarians was that they be insulated from meritless claims and time-wasting prosecutions,” Brooks wrote. “Times have changed.” If the statute’s purpose “was to protect younger minors from accessing inappropriate sexual content in libraries and bookstores, the law will only… Read more »
I’ve been unable to reach this site for the past few days. Belated Merry Christmas to all and a early Happy New Year to All! I made a few Christmas memes, that I didn’t share. Here is one of them. Santa working on a crossword puzzle.
more visual versions of the Elon long trail unwinding…
Attribution by Creators Syndicate: About John Deering – John Deering is chief editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state’s largest newspaper. Five times a week, his cartoon comments entertain (or sometimes enrage) readers throughout Arkansas, in Washington, D.C., and across the country. Winner of the National Press Foundation’s 1997 Berryman Award, Deering also gained top honors in the 1994 national John Fischetti Cartoon Competition and was the seven-time winner of the Arkansas Press Association’s Best Editorial Cartoonist award.
Attribution: President Musk by Marian Kamensky, Austria
in the beginning as foretold by Colbert in 2019
Cartoon Don Jr. makes a new friend in Silicon Valley tech genius Cartoon Elon Musk.
the beginning of the end? question is whose end?
Trump bristles at Musk’s rocketing profile as Democrats play on the president-elect’s vanity | CNN Politics
et tu, Bernie?
published 12/24/24
In this powerful and urgent message, Bernie Sanders speaks directly to the American people about the alarming influence of billionaires like Elon Musk on American democracy. Sanders pulls back the curtain on how Musk is using his immense wealth to buy off Republican members of Congress, shaping policies and legislation to benefit the ultra-wealthy while leaving working families behind. Sanders emphasizes that this isn’t just about Musk—it’s about a broken political system where billionaires and corporations have outsized control over the government. He explains how campaign donations, lobbying, and financial backing allow figures like Musk to bend Congress to their will, ensuring tax breaks for the rich and deregulation that harms everyday Americans. In this passionate address, Sanders calls for urgent action to end the stranglehold of money in politics. He highlights the need for reforms like overturning Citizens United, instituting public campaign financing, and taxing the billionaire class to restore fairness to the system. This video is a rallying cry for anyone concerned about the growing power of billionaires and their ability to undermine democracy. Bernie Sanders delivers a stark warning: the future of the country is at stake if we don’t act to break the grip of oligarchs like Elon Musk on our government. Don’t miss this vital call to action!
feel free to add to/change the lyrics — surely cries out for better ones than mine — to be sung to
There’s Elon’s long trail un-winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the guys and gals are singing
And nothing’s as wild as it seems.
There’s a long long night of waiting
Until my dreams all come true,
Till the day we’ll vote again
Turning that long long trail to blue.
John Oliver’s take on him from Dec. last year
published 12/18/23
John Oliver discusses Elon Musk, the influence he has over more than just his businesses, and the perfect place for him and Mark Zuckerberg to finally have that cage match.
Even MAGA must know they didn’t vote for an oligarchy, but will they ever admit it?
Price of eggs and bacon long forgotten. You’re on your own suckers.
CNN: “Corporate interests commit millions to celebrate Trump’s inauguration”.. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/26/politics/trump-inauguration-corporate-donors
AXIOS: “A MAGA civil war erupted over Christmas when an X post by Vivek Ramaswamy about American culture turned into a battle over race, immigration and billionaires vs. the working class.”
https://www.axios.com/2024/12/26/maga-civil-war-ramaswamy-musk-loomer-cernovich
Robert Reich:
We Americans, sadly, are all hubris and no humility. We will not show remorse when the Trumps are finally defeated and disgraced. In the end, the surviving Germans are better than us, and the Japanese too.
Hey MAGAts, this is what you really voted for:
Executive Pay Skyrockets Again, Wages Remain Stagnant. CEOs made an average of $17.7 million in total compensation last year (AFL-CIO “Executive Paywatch”)
What a stat: In 1965 CEOs made 21 times more than their workers. Today it is 268 times higher. And Trump is about to give them a massive tax cut, for them and their companies.
today’s meme…
meme #2…
Craig,
I remember when the standard was 40X their average employee. Amazingly, the US economy was at its height and every young married couple assumed they would buy a house. I just checked and the house my ex and I bought in 1964 for $21,900 sold recently for $2, 050,000.
Had some back-and-forth with MAGA radio guy Erick Erickson on X this morning:
My post: “Elon Musk’s X is the town square for the MAGA movement” — AXIOS. Not your thing? Come on over to Bluesky.
Erickson responds: “The problem with Blue Sky is it is way more insular than Twitter, chiefly being the place where the left decamped to after losing an election and blaming the proprietor of this site”.
Me: “Don’t forget Trump’s winning margin for the Electoral College wouldn’t fill three NFL stadiums. There’s a big market for Bluesky”.
Erickson: “There really wasn’t a ton to celebrate. A choice of two terrible candidates, one of whom I might agree with half the time, the other none of the time. The danger of Twitter and Bluesky now is the hive minds and group think will only get worse”.
Me: “X could have remained a place for both. But Elon turned the default ‘For you’ feed into his personal soap box. Sure, I created my own list I can switch to, but every time I open the site the first thing there is Elon and his chosen few”.
Erickson: “I refuse to use the “For You” feed for exactly that reason”.
https://x.com/craig_crawford/status/1872678496432210023
A few days of sub 32F weather and I could finally empty the cooler of the remains from a Thanksgiving Day dinner appetizers, oysters. That was a Twenty twenty-three dinner. It has been a rough year plus, to have forgotten oysters in a cooler in the truck for over a year. Those are now bagged up and ready to drive the raccoon population wild until collected by the garbage collectors. No smell when frozen.
It seems sfb went quiet for the last couple of days.
Elon didn’t even have to spend a dime to get congressional Repugz to fall in line. All he had to do was promise they would be “primaried” if they didn’t play his game. Any expenditures for congresspersons are unnecessary until the midterms.
While tRUMPsky is talking dangerous nonsense about Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal, MAGAts are getting ready to gut Social Security, Medicare, ACA, farm subsidies, etc., when it’s spending bill time in mid-March.
Thank you for posting the exchange, Craig. They’re really at a loss for truthful or accurate words.
So the Arkansas no books that offend thin-skinned religious nuts in the library law was ruled unconstitutional by US District Court Judge Timothy Brooks as violative of 1st Amendment rights of librarians, booksellers and patrons. Well, duh. WaPo. A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that threatened librarians and booksellers with imprisonment if they were found to have provided “harmful” content to a minor. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks ruled that two parts of Arkansas Act 372 — which Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed in 2023 — are overly broad and vague, and violated librarians’, booksellers’ and patrons’ First Amendment rights. The two parts of the law that were struck down would have established a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison, for librarians and booksellers who distribute “harmful” material to a minor. It also would have required local governments to create oversight boards to review challenged content, which often deal with themes of race and sexuality. The ruling, which will likely be challenged, comes as a growing number of GOP-controlled statehouses have considered similar laws that threaten librarians with prison. “Up until the passage of Act 372, it appears that Arkansas’s more pressing concern with respect to librarians was that they be insulated from meritless claims and time-wasting prosecutions,” Brooks wrote. “Times have changed.” If the statute’s purpose “was to protect younger minors from accessing inappropriate sexual content in libraries and bookstores, the law will only… Read more »
Craig,
How did your latkes turn out?
I’ve been unable to reach this site for the past few days. Belated Merry Christmas to all and a early Happy New Year to All! I made a few Christmas memes, that I didn’t share. Here is one of them. Santa working on a crossword puzzle.
Corey – Happy Holidays!
Ivy – Hummus recipe: Go to the deli section of the store and turn left at the guacamole.
NEW THREAD