Dianne Feinstein, centrist stalwart of the Senate, dies at 90

The Shambolic Trumpublican Party

 

Everything about Trump is fake. It's astounding that his cultists refuse to see him for the ugly fraud that he has always been and still is.

Trump's "union" visit: 

UAW president Shawn Fain said, “I find it odd he’s going to go to a non-union business to talk to union workers. I don’t think he gets it.” 

Craig Mauger of the Detroit News noted that one woman holding a “union members for Trump” sign acknowledged she wasn’t a union member, while a man with a sign that said “auto workers for Trump” said he wasn’t an autoworker. The plant where Trump was speaking employs about 150 people, but 400–500 Trump supporters were there for his speech.

And this:

The Trump-ordered fake impeachment inquiry hearings on President Biden:

"Frustration in the GOP over 1st impeachment hearing, as the GOP witnesses undercut their narrative and say no evidence of crimes. 

 “Picking witnesses that refute House Republicans' arguments for impeachment is mind blowing. This is an unmitigated disaster," said senior Republican aide.

 

H/T Dave Miller

TRUMPISM IS AN EVIL FORCE IN OUR AMERICAN LIFE

 

"The first problem with it is that the cult of Trumpism demands absolute fealty. One moment of honest dissent, and you are cast from the ranks. 

The second problem is that loyalty to Trump is ultimately enforced by the threat of violence. There were Republicans who chose not to vote yes on impeachment or conviction...because they didn’t want potential assassins coming after them or their families." from "Mitt Romney Has Given Us a Gift" 9/14/23

Donald J. Trump persistently committed fraud judge ruled today.

 

A New York judge ruled on Tuesday that Donald J. Trump persistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets, and stripped the former president of control over some of his signature New York properties. 

 "The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron is a major victory for Attorney General Letitia James in her lawsuit against Mr. Trump, effectively deciding that no trial was needed to determine that he had fraudulently secured favorable terms on loans and insurance deals. 

 Ms. James has argued that Mr. Trump inflated the value of his properties by as much as $2.2 billion and is seeking a penalty of about $250 million in a trial scheduled to begin as early as Monday." 

N.Y. judge finds Trump committed fraud and sanctions his attorneys

***************************

The current Republican/Trumpublican Party wants TRUMP, who repeatedly cheated and defrauded people, is currently under 91 felony indictments, and was found liable for raping a woman, to lead this country and represent America and American values!

 I'm not kidding. That's how twistedly sick 30 to 35% of the American voting public is. 

Anyone who still supports this corrupt malignant narcissist has to have more than the proverbial screw loose. 

Career military men who've honorably served their country have this to say about Trump:

Trump has 91 felony counts against him, was found, by a judge, to have persistently committed fraud, was found liable, by a judge, for raping a woman, incited an insurrection against the United States of America, and was the first POTUS to break the American tradition of a peaceful transfer of power (there's much, much more, but I haven't the time right now to list them all).

And the former Republican Party wants Trump to represent them and their values as well as represent our country and its values to the rest of the world.

Can someone explain this madness to me?

LIGHT POSTING THIS WEEK

 

Enjoying my family from California for the week.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT MUSIC

 

My nephew, Kevin Callahan, classical guitar composer and performer, premiered his newest concerto in July of 2023: The Myth of Persephone. 

I find it hauntingly beautiful. Enjoy:

  

 "Kevin Callahan's understanding of how to write for the guitar idiomatically, his effortless fluidity in combining influences from outside genres to form an utterly unique sound palette, his innovative use of compositional forms, and his ability to compose music that challenges the intellects of trained musicians while still appealing to general audiences makes him, in my opinion, the best composer for the guitar alive today (and I do not say that lightly). 

This groundbreaking concerto is one of the most significant additions to the guitar repertoire in recent memory, and I sincerely hope that it gets the recognition that it so justly deserves. More importantly, I hope that this concerto (as well as the rest of Callahan's extraordinary catalogue) inspires future guitarist-composers to find their own artistic voices and make their own advances in the guitar repertoire. And, of course, bravi tutti to Maestro Jara, Professor Rowan, and the rest of the excellent musicians who performed on this recording! Thank you to all of you for giving us this wonderful gift." --Thatcher Harrison

There is no Republican Party anymore...

there's just a bunch of crazed, anti-democracy chaos agents who've captured the weak and spineless Speaker of the House, Kevin "No Cajones" McCarthy and made him their beyotch! 

Since 1995, we have had five major government shutdowns; all of which occurred while the Republicans controlled the House.

************************

“The GOP has completely gone off its rocker—incapable of passing House spending, ranting and raving at AG, cooking up ludicrous and baseless impeachment, unable to greet Zelensky with joint a session." --Jennifer Rubin, WaPo 

************************

 What we're witnessing is an attack on the institution, similar to January 6 only this time coming from inside the chamber. MAGA extremists perpetrating the attack proudly support convicted Jan. 6 conspirators and openly welcome a civil war. 

"Burn the whole place down" is not a metaphor for them. They need to be confronted directly and handed a definitive defeat.

Who's surprised? Part the Infinity.

  

Florida man instructs his lackeys in the House to shut down and defund the government so that he won't face the consequences of his 91 criminal indictments.

Florida man is not interested in the lives or well-being of the American people. Florida man is interested only in his criminally indicted large posterior. The hell with how the government shutdown will affect millions and millions of Americans.

Florida man is a psychopath and malignant narcissist.

Don't be like Florida man.

 

 

Pro-Trump Lawyer Lin Wood Turned State’s Witness in Georgia Racketeering Case, DA Reveals

"From Evangelical Christianity to Christian Nationalism"

h/t Dave Miller

From Evangelical Christianity to Christian nationalism 

"The evangelical reaction to Trump’s victory pulled back the curtain to reveal an important truth: Many evangelical Christians today, because their religious identity is so infused with politics, particularly the politics of the Republican Party, are worshiping the political religion of Manifest Destiny. There is no distinction between their politics and their religion. They are one and the same. 

They have unknowingly confused the Christian religion with Christian nationalism. In fact, in the last six years, a shocking trend has occurred where there are an increasing number of people who identify as evangelical Christian, but have no connection to the Christian religion itself. Similar to Judaism as a cultural identity, Christianity has become a cultural identity for many who see the United States as the center of their worship. 

Indeed, many evangelical churches are knowingly complicit in cultivating this cultural identity among their followers. They promote a version of Christianity that emphasizes all the elements of Christian nationalism, while deemphasizing any teachings from Jesus that might undercut their very narrow perspective. They will say Jesus was a capitalist, when, in reality, Jesus despised materialism. They will say Jesus desires violence against the enemies of the United States, when, in reality, Jesus was heavily pacifistic. They will say Jesus deplores homosexuality and abortion, when, in reality, he never addressed the subjects at all in the Gospels. 

It’s no coincidence that there is such a high correlation between states that overwhelmingly voted for Trump and states with low educational achievement scores. The states ranked worst in education are the same states where evangelical churches are most likely to preach political religion from the pulpit."

 

*******************************

In some Christian denominations, this is considered blasphemy; in non-theism, this is considered lunacy:

TELL ME YOU'RE IN A CULT WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU'RE IN A CULT

“Trump never was a Christian candidate for president. He was a Christian nationalist candidate.”

Who's surprised?

 

Ex-President Donald Trump told his secretary to lie to the FBI:

Breaking on ABC- Trump told his secretary, Molly Michael, to lie to the FBI before her interview with them. 

TRUMP:  "You don't know anything about the boxes." 

He wanted her to say there were no boxes left and misdirect them. 

This will be firsthand testimony to Trump's obstruction of justice & witness tampering.

********************

This was candidateTrump in 2016 talking about Hillary Clinton and her being investigated over classified material: 

"This was not just extreme carelessness with classified material, which is still totally disqualifying. This is calculated, deliberate, premeditated misconduct, followed by a cover up that included false statements..." - Donald Trump

This sounds like consciousness of guilt. Trump has claimed that the boxes of top secret documents were “his” with stuff he was “allowed” to have, but then he wanted his secretary not to tell the FBI? 

Trump knew what he did was wrong, and he tried to hide it from the authorities.

Who are the fools who want this crook to regain the White House?

Also, this:

"Trump wrote 'to-do lists' for his executive assistant on the back of classified documents that were discovered at Mar-a-Lago, bombshell report claims 

"Aide Molly Michael discovered the notecards on documents with classified markings after FBI search, ABC reports 

She called the bureau, which then picked them up 

Michael followed Trump from the White House to Mar-a-Lago and resigned last year"

 

FUN FACT: While the Republican party is imploding on itself and groping people in public, young voters under 30 support President Biden over Donald trump by a whopping 65 PERCENT, according to a new CBS News poll.

AND THIS TRASH FROM TRUMP at the beginning of Rosh Hashanah :

"Donald Trump decided to take time during Rosh Hashanah — the start of the Jewish High Holy days and the celebration of the New Year — to blame “liberal Jews” for voting to destroy America and Israel. 

 

“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, presumably referring to the American Jewish support for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. 

“Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!”

Hitler would be so proud of him!

No class Lauren Boebert (R-CO) behaving like a strumpet in a public theater in Denver:

Republican family values on display for the nation to see:

 

No drag queens were involved in her and her date's public display of heavy sexual petting (what will we tell the children?!)

MeidasTouch

@MeidasTouch

·

16m

Lauren Boebert said her actions in a public theater — where she engaged in public sex acts, vaped, and was disruptive — occurred because she was a little “too eccentric” and agreed with the host that she was kicked out because of “liberals” complaining.

This Congresswoman from Colorado has said "Send your children to church, not drag queen shows."

It's the Trumpublican hypocrisy that's stomach-turning.

But wait!  There's more!

Married South Dakota governor Kristi Noem and married Trump advisor, Corey Lewandowski, have been having a years-long clandestine affair.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT MUSIC

 

Blevin Blectum is my late husband's niece.

"This music video was created for Blevin Blectum's remix of the Kirsten Volness piano/electronics piece Nocturne. 

The animations draw on stylings from sci-fi comics, op art, and anime to follow a nameless character undertaking dream-logic journey in search of an elusive piano. 

Over the course of the track this protagonist travels through worlds populated by illusory architecture, synaesthetic physics, and an exceptionally large example of the titular American bushtit."

 

Yes, it's satire, but truthful.

Satire from The Borowitz Report 

Republicans Demand Biden Tell Them Why They Are Impeaching Him  

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an irate letter to the White House, Kevin McCarthy and other congressional Republicans have demanded that President Biden reveal why they are impeaching him. The letter claims that, after Republicans announced their impeachment inquiry, “the White House has stubbornly refused to provide us with any reasons for our doing so.”

 By Andy Borowitz September 14, 2023

 

Hunter Biden Indicted on Gun Charges

The Justice Department charged President Biden’s son after the collapse of an earlier plea deal and amid an impeachment investigation by House Republicans.

Active addiction brings a whole host of clean-up in sober recovery. Sober recovery requires taking responsibility for the mess, cleaning it up, facing whatever the penalties are, and then moving on to a much better life. Hunter Biden is not the first nor will he be the last cleaning up the mess. 

It is sad, ironic, but somehow not surprising that HB is indicted on this charge. While the charge is plausibly warranted, the ironic part is that if HB were a Republican we can be certain that all Republicans would be defending him over gun rights, and they'd be furious about the existence of any gun laws. 

Since HB is the son of a Democratic president, the switch flips, and the Republicans are all for indicting over violation of the most minor of gun laws. 

It is an unholy irony that Republicans are celebrating Hunter Biden's indictment when they have been maniacally devoted to eliminating all forms of gun control, including the very licenses that Biden is alleged to have falsified. 

I guess "shall not be infringed" that -FJ bleated about in P.E. comments recently is indeed applied only to Republican gun ownership?  Irony indeed!

STUNNING

 

Revealed: Stunning text message Mitt Romney sent to Mitch McConnell on January 2, 2021 warning him of the Jan 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, that Trump is the instigator, and he may not help. 

(From McKay Coppin’s new book “Romney: A Reckoning”.) 

 Mitt Romney: “In case you have not heard this, I just got a call from Angus King, who said that he had spoken with a senior official at the Pentagon who reports that they are seeing very disturbing social media traffic regarding the protests planned on the 6th. There are calls to burn down your home, Mitch; to smuggle guns into DC, and to storm the Capitol. I hope that sufficient security plans are in place, but I am concerned that the instigator—the President—is the one who commands the reinforcements the DC and Capitol police might require.”

Mitch McConnell never responded.

Puppet Master Trump Calls For Biden's Impeachment

"Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said she told former President Donald J. Trump that she wanted the impeachment inquiry to be “long and excruciatingly painful for Joe Biden.” 

"... over halibut and Diet Cokes, Ms. Greene brought up an issue of considerable interest to Mr. Trump — the push by House Republicans to impeach his likely opponent in next year’s election. 

 “I did brief him on the strategy that I want to see laid out with impeachment,” Ms. Greene said in a brief phone interview. 

 Mr. Trump’s dinner with Ms. Greene came just two nights before Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced his decision on Tuesday to order the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, under intense pressure from his right flank.   --Doug Mills/The New York Times

 

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark speaks pure truth. “Kevin McCarthy has lost control of the gavel…Donald Trump is the puppet master. Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling the shots…MAGA extremists are running the House.”

"Republican investigations have not shown any financial benefit flowing to Biden or even presented a robust argument that the president was heavily involved in his son’s efforts — much less that the president violated the law. But three-quarters of Republicans think he did." 

And that, my friends, is why we got Trump for 4 miserable years:  His cultists believe lies, misinformation, and propaganda. And they believed the conman over their own eyes and ears. IOW, they're gullible deplorables.

Seven House Republicans, a Republican lawmaker, and a senior House Republican aide say THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FOR IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT BIDEN:

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) is among the most anti-Biden reps in the House, and HE said this about evidence,  it "doesn't exist right now," and, "I don't think that evidence has been presented."

VERY, VERY INTERESTING

 

How Donald Trump’s DOJ gave Biden a major assist in the coming impeachment probe 

 By KYLE CHENEY and JOSH GERSTEIN 09/12/2023 05:28 PM EDT 

Joe Biden has a literal Trump card to play against the House’s new impeachment inquiry. 

 In January 2020, the Donald Trump-led Justice Department formally declared that impeachment inquiries by the House are invalid unless the chamber takes formal votes to authorize them.

Hey, look, everyone! The guy who...

 

massacred children and babies in Ukraine, destroyed hospitals, orphanages, and schools while invading and attacking a sovereign nation, and who kills his political enemies --

is supporting Trump.

Makes sense, doesn't it. 

Trump attracts only the BEST DESPOTS, THUGS, MURDERERS, AND COWARDS.

Putin says prosecution of Trump shows US political system is 'rotten' Source: AP Updated 4:29 AM CDT, September 12, 2023 

 VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted Tuesday that the criminal cases against former U.S. President Donald Trump are political revenge that show the fundamental corruption of the United States. 

“As for the prosecution of Trump, for us what is happening in today’s conditions, in my opinion, is good because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others democracy,” Putin said at an Eastern Economic Forum gathering in Russia’s Pacific Coast city of Vladivostok.

It's like getting the backing and encouragement of Satan himself -- if there were such a thing. But Putin is the closest, IMO, of such a demon here on Earth.

 

THIS IS HOW SUPPORTERS OF A CROOK ACT WHEN THAT CROOK IS IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW:

 

Fani Willis asks court to protect jurors after doxing in Trump's Georgia case Fulton County District Attorney 

Fani Willis asked a judge last Wednesday to take steps to protect jurors who indicted former President Trump and over a dozen of his allies for their alleged attempts to flip Georgia's election results in 2020. 

Why it matters: Willis said at least 23 jurors in the case have had their personal information — including their names, ages, addresses and vehicle details —posted anonymously on "conspiracy theory websites" hosted by a Russian company as part of an effort to "harass and intimidate them." 

She and other members of her office were also doxed, and their personal information was often "intertwined with derogatory and racist remarks," Willis said in the filing. 

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT MUSIC

 

And a great song to dance to.

Just remembered this song and wanted to share:

 BREAKING NEWS

Laurence Tribe 

BREAKING NEWS: The federal court’s denial just now (Friday 9/8 at 6 pm) of Mark Meadows’ effort to remove the Georgia prosecution from state court is a massive victory for the rule of law. And it’s a huge defeat for Trump’s hopes to evade Georgia justice.

WHY WAS ENRIQUE TARRIO AT THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE J6 INSURRECTION AGAINST THE UNITED STATES?

 

On December 12, 2020, Tarrio indicated on his Parler social media account that he was invited to the Trump White House. 

 Really? 

And what was discussed at the White House three weeks before the  Jan. 6 attempted coup that involved that Proud Boy? 

Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio sentenced to 22 years in Jan. 6 case

Has any Republican spoken out against this proto-fascist gang, Proud Boys, the leader of which will now spend 22 years behind bars for committing sedition against the United States?

Tarrio was a guest at the White House?  Why?

• "Tarrio wasn't at the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot because he was arrested days earlier for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church in D.C. in 2020.
• However, prosecutors have argued that Tarrio maintained command over Proud Boys members after his arrest and cheered on the group as its members stormed the Capitol.
• Prosecutors also noted Tarrio took credit for the riot on behalf of the group.

What they're saying: "No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, than the Proud Boys, and they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol's defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government," said Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, in a statement.

• "The leaders of the Proud Boys and the leaders of the Oath Keepers, who conspired before, during, and after the siege of the Capitol to use force against their own government to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, have now been held accountable."