30 thoughts on “Happy Trails Again!”

  3. He’d rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.  He’s just trying to make sure he doesn’t win. He wants to ride away into the sunset with all the money and a buncha broads laughing as he goes….
    Government-in-Exile is the only way out.

  6. Glad to see the trail is back.  Too busy to spend much time, but good to see the world has returned to normal (sort of).

  7. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/politics/kevin-mccarthy-resigning/index.html

    McCarthy also released a video outlining his decision. “But now, it is time to pursue my passion in a new arena,” McCarthy said in the video. “While I will be departing the House at the end of this year, I will never, ever give up fighting for this country that I love so much.”

    What “new arena”?

    “McCarthy is leaving Congress having made a few enemies within the House GOP Conference. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was quick to take a victory lap, posting “McLeavin” and promoting a previously released thirteen-minute video based on the ouster of McCarthy, which he led.”

  8. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/politics/trump-2024-fox-town-hall/index.html

    ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, ‘No, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling.’ After that I’m not a dictator,” Trump said.

    He is not fit for office. He is a danger to our country.

    I wonder if any of this will come up at tonight’s debate? Sadly, tech bro, Vivek Asswaamy, will be there bloviating and sucking up to Orange Adolf. Of all those who are debating tonight, I hate Chris Christie the least, and that’s not saying much. He sounds the most like an old-school Republican, and they are less ugly when standing next to right-wing nuts.

  12. It would have been nice if Rep Stefanik had asked one or two of those perfessors to explain their answer.  Instead of a tautly stretched “Yes or No!” You could have had a child’s question of, “Why?”

    Those perfessors deserve a town hall to at least be able to tell what it was that was in the way of their willingness to answer yes or no. I’d at least like to know why. Being perfessors I bet they got good answers.

  15. Sturg, I see the problem as being the form of the question, and although Stefanik didn’t like their answers, the answers were responsive to it.  The question was whether calling for the genocide of Jewish people violated their schools’ code of conduct.  They could have simply said [No, but] “if the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes.” as Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, told Stefanik, and 

    “It is at odds with the values of Harvard,” [Harvard President Claudine] Gay replied. Pressed again on whether it violated Harvard’s code of conduct, Gay said Harvard embraces “a commitment to free expression and [gives] a wide berth to free expression, even of views that are objectionable.” Like Magill, Gay said that, when that kind of “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”

    WaPo.
     
    Yeah, that kind of speech is offensive and is more akin to the BS spouted by the new KKKluckers in Charlottesville than what you might expect to hear on the Harvard Yard, but their answers were responsive to Stefanik’s dumbass questions, and Stefanik’s continued Badgering would have drawn that and an “Asked and Answered” objection after about the 3rd time she asked it and didn’t get the answer she wanted. 
     
    But really – we don’t generally countenance actions by colleges and universities – at least not public ones –  against their students because they say things that hurt the feelings of others, no matter how offensive such speech may be.  Something about the First Amendment.  Well, except at church-based schools – I’m talking about you, Liberty, etc. – no matter how much the fascists on the right wished we did. And private schools are free to engage in such actions – but not because the government wants them to.  There’s probably a line somewhere out there that mere speech might cross, but it ain’t gonna be found at Harvard or Penn.

  16. Somebody in Biden administration (or some organization) should put up a sign:   We have gone x days without a dictator, and keep the count going.    (Someone who likes math will have to calculate all of the days since we became a country and correct for leap years.)
     
    When folks see a huuuge number of dictator-less days, the potential of even one day will be a stark reminder of what’s at stake.
     
    Plus, we know that tRUMPsky is lying.   He is running to overthrow our system of government to become Dictator.   Not President.  Dictator. C’mon Lincoln Project.  Get on it! 

  17. Will tonight’s debaters only offer thoughts & prayers to today’s victims of gun violence, or will they also say now is not the time to talk about gun laws?  

  18. Inflation is corporate greed and price gouging.  Case in point, Spotify announcing that despite high profits, they were going to lay off 1,500 employees.  

    Inflation is the Fed raising interest rates, pushing for higher unemployment.  They want to hurt folks.  They do not care.  Taylor Swift and BeyoncÊ pumping money into local economies and it gets squashed by the greedy and the Fed.  

    Gas was $2.79 here this week.  Some groceries are back to pre-pandemic levels, but mostly as loss leaders.  Well, that’s what you buy that week.   I hear folks griping about $5 cereal, but if you go to a different store or wait a week, it’ll be $1.99.  Pumpkin spice everything was on sale, and I bought muffin mix for 42 cents a bag, and it doesn’t expire until next December. 

    What folks can’t cherry-pick is having a roof over their heads.   The price gouging by landlords who decided they were going to get any wage increases their tenants may have gotten is sinful.  It should be investigated.

  19. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/biden-can-win-swing-districts-by-cracking-down-on-corporate-price-gouging-new-poll-says-exclusive-95f47c34

    “Biden can win swing districts by cracking down on ‘corporate price gouging,’ new poll says: exclusive”

    “Americans want lawmakers to side with them, not corporate lobbyists and CEOs who needlessly raise prices to pad their profits,” said Tony Carrk, the executive director of Accountable.US. “Working families care about the Biden administration’s crackdown on hidden junk fees and corporate price gouging because it will lower their costs.”

    The path to victory!

    Reminder: Capitalism is not the same thing as democracy.

  21. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/politics/trump-donor-america-first-policy-institute-invs/index.html

    “Conservative think tank laying groundwork for a second Trump term raised millions from a single anonymous donor”

    “…raised more than $23 million last year – nearly a third of which came from a single anonymous donor, previously unreported tax documents show.”

    “The documents show that America First Policy Institute – a think tank that’s been described as a “White House-in-waiting” and has released a spate of conservative policy proposals – burned through most of the funds it raised, spending $22 million over the course of the year. That included the rental of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a fundraising gala that featured a keynote speech by Trump himself.”

    The grift is real! Maybe we could just pay him to go away.

    “…Trump and his allies have laid out a vision for a second term in which he would wield presidential power in radical and unprecedented ways.”

    “As a charitable organization under tax rules, AFPI is barred from engaging in campaign activities, and it has said it’s preparing policies for the next Republican president – whether that’s Trump or someone else. But the group’s leadership looks like a Trump administration reunion, with officials such as former Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon, former National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow, former acting director of the Domestic Policy Council Brooke Rollins, and former acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf.”

    “…approximately 31% of the Organization’s contributions in 2022 were provided by one individual,” which would mean a total donation of more than $7 million. The donor was not named, and the group is not required to publicly disclose their identity.”

    “Good government advocates have argued that large anonymous donations to groups like AFPI should be concerning because they allow megadonors to shape policies that a future president could enact.”

    “According to the tax filing, the group employed 81 people and had 50 volunteers in 2022. It spent more than $22 million, with about $9.4 million going to salaries and benefits, including more than $550,000 in total compensation for Rollins, the group’s CEO.”

    “The group also listed expenses of $963,000 as “rent/facility costs” for a fundraising gala that included a speech by Trump at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The tax return reported that AFPI spent a total of about $1.1 million on the event and raised $1.6 million from it.”

    You do the math.

  22. Chris Christie is the only one who sounds like an intelligent adult tonight; he’s winning the night, followed by Nikki, Blinky, and Vivek.
     
    Many more would’ve died with DuhSantis and Vivek’s view on public health/vaccines.  

    ps – The government didn’t force me to take any of the six Covid vaccines I’ve had. I have relatives who insist the government forced everyone to get the first two. I have a relative (who has a Masters Degree) who was disgusted and walked out of the room when Travis Kelce’s Pfizer commercial aired during a football game. How many on that debate stage tonight were vaccinated? How many were spared because if those of us who did get vaccinated?

  23. Inflation is the Fed raising interest rates, pushing for higher unemployment.  They want to hurt folks.  They do not care. 

    only tool in their toolkit, inflation disproportionately affects lower-income people, is Biden’s Fed

  24. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4346248-biden-mcconnell-republicans-ukraine-funding/

    “Biden’s request for military aid to Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian assistance for Gaza and funding to secure the southern border now appears to be in serious jeopardy after talks over border security broke down Friday.”

    “With only two work weeks left before Christmas, senators acknowledge it’s looking more likely that Congress won’t pass new money for Ukraine this year, and some are calling on Biden and McConnell, who have a long history of negotiating major deals, to get more directly involved.”

    “…Biden and McConnell put together a major deal to avoid the fiscal cliff at the end of 2012, after negotiators in Congress couldn’t reach a deal on the expiring Bush-era tax cuts.”

    “McConnell also worked with Biden to avoid a national default in the summer of 2011 and to temporarily extend the Bush tax cuts after the 2010 midterm election.”

    Dang if Yertle isn’t still relevant.

  25. …another mass shooting, i guess Gen Alpha will have to solve that problem because we sure as shit won’t 
     
    keep your head down until then

  26. heard this on the radio today and wondered why i didn’t hear it on the radio before 🤔 🕺✌️

  27. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/politics/ethics-committee-requests-interview-withwitnessin-gaetz-probe/index.html

    “The Republican-led House Ethics Committee has reached out to at least one witness as part of its investigation into GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz to schedule an interview in the coming weeks, the latest sign that the once dormant probe remains open.”

    “The Ethics Committee, which at the time was controlled by Democrats, originally opened its Gaetz investigation in 2021, publicly announcing that its was examining a range of allegations including that Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, used illicit drugs, converted campaign funds to personal use and accepted a bribe, among other claims.”

    “Committee investigators have yet to reach out to several key witnesses at the center of the federal sex-trafficking probe, including the woman who was just 17 years old when she allegedly had sex with Gaetz, or an ex-girlfriend who testified before the grand jury and was considered a key witness for the government, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.”

    “Investigators for the panel have also not requested to interview Gaetz’s longtime friend and convicted fraudster, Joel Greenberg, who cooperated extensively in the Justice Department’s sex-trafficking probe into Gaetz, according to one of the sources familiar with the investigation.”

    Santos isn’t around to draw fire anymore and the spotlight is back on Matty now.

  28. They surely meant “Back to Moose Jaw”. They must have taken the wrong road just west of Winnipeg. 

    Did you know there’s a street in old Charleston which starts at “The Battery” (where the Citadel Cadets fired upon the boat attempting to resupply Ft Sumter) and runs straight northwest until it crosses the border into Canada, changes names,  and then dead ends into Moose Jaw.  Hwy 52.  Seems like that would be at least as fabled as Rte 66.

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