Titan Tragedy Shows Just How Sick The Right Wing Can Get

It is official. The U.S. Coast Guard announced that debris was discovered on the ocean floor where they were searching for the Titan submarine. They said the debris field was consistent with a catastrophic implosion. 5 passengers lost their lives in this tragic incident.

There has been a lot of talk about this incident. There have been all sorts of discussions as to whether or not the Titan suffered from safety issues. There are reports that the owner, who was on the sub this trip, failed to follow advice from experts and failed to acknowledge the safety recommendations they made.

However, the right wing in our country are trying to lay blame everywhere except on the facts of the case. They have gone completely off the rails over this tragic event to try to make political gains off of the death of these people. That is about as sick as you can get.

Since the announcement, people have been arguing about a report that the Navy told the commander on the scene that they heard a sound in the ocean that was like an implosion. They are arguing that it was “kept secret” to cover up something. Well, let me explain. The sound made by a submarine imploding at those depths can travel as far as 1500 miles.

So, even if the commander on the scene received this message, he would not have called off the search because it could not have been shown it was the Titan that imploded. You don’t call off rescue operations until you are fairly certain there is no chance of survival. A sound in the ocean does not give you that certainty of disaster until you find wreckage.

But that doesn’t stop the wackos from trying to point the finger at anything that can be classified as “woke”. I don’t say that easily either. But, the proof is in the pudding as they say.

First up is Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) who claims this shows an “epic failure of leadership”. Just what the hell he is speaking about isn’t really that clear. He said: “I have been hearing a lot of concerning things from people, the civilian side who are involved in this. You know, we’ve got to look into it, see what’s true and what isn’t. … What appears to be the case is epic failure in leadership. Where exactly that leadership failure is, I don’t know. Is it the White House, Coast Guard, Navy? I’m not sure.”

Well, I am not sure what this clown is even trying to say. I know that he never served in the Coast Guard and has zero experience in search and rescue operations the Coast Guard are experts in. Just what is he trying to say? He is claiming that the failure of this sub is the fault of the Coast Guard, Navy or White House? How about it being caused by the company that built it?

There were reports of “tapping noises” the other day which gave some hope to the Coast Guard and the other agencies trying to find and recuse these people. But, those tapping sounds were not coming from the sub if it imploded on Sunday as we are now beginning to believe.

For someone like Crenshaw to make these accusations is astounding. He has no clue as to what he is talking about. He even said that “resources should have been there sooner”? Does he realize how much time it takes to get those resources ready and just how long it takes for a ship to travel the distance from shore to the scene? His statements are nothing more than a blowhard trying to become relevant over something he knows nothing about. It would be more useful if he just shut the hell up.

Then we have those wonderful right wing wackos who claim that everything that goes wrong is because of “woke”. Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company who operated Titan was onboard with the other passengers. The “woke” community has gone after him for the cause of the disaster because he suddenly became “woke”.

This all came about when a story reported that Rush said he had not wanted to hire “white guys”. Well, of course, in the anti-woke crowd that meant that because he didn’t hire all white guys, this disaster was all his fault. Of course it was Fox News that made the whole thing worse.

Referring to Rush, Jesse Waters said this: “There’s been lawsuits, there’s been accusations about slashing regulations. He’s quoted as saying he didn’t hire a bunch of 50-year-old white guys with military experience because he didn’t want his vessels to be not inspirational for a younger generation.” 

Of course, Charlie Kirk had to weigh in with his two cents: “If it is true, this person tragically passes away, the CEO of OceanGate and he says that he was choosing and selecting his personnel based on not wanting to have 50-year-old white guys, then you could make the argument, albeit rather cruel and blunt, he killed himself and his customers with wokeness.”

According to Republicans, everything tragic that happens is all because of “wokeness”. Just how stupid can that be. Besides, what they are suggesting in their comments is exactly what Republicans believe how businesses should act.

You know, that sounds more like a business man doing everything he can to keep the costs down. If you really look at their talking points, a CEO allegedly ignoring experts and choosing to hire inexperienced workers in lieu of higher-paid ones, while also donating to GOP candidates, would be the opposite of wokeness. That all seems in line with standard operating procedures for the wealthy.

But wokeness has become such a pervasive party of right-wing ideology that it’s not just progressive ideals getting slapped with the label anymore — CEOs who plan ill-advised trips to the bottom of the ocean now qualify, too.

If the sub did implode which seems like it did, it was not because some old white guy wasn’t at the controls. It was because of a flaw in the design and building of the sub in the first place. We have had all sorts of “experts” who said they would not go on the trip because they were concerned with the safety issues.

Why aren’t these right wing nut jobs complaining about that? Why aren’t they demanding an investigation into how the thing was built and designed and what may have been safety concerns that were ignored by the company? Isn’t that the logical thing to do after a disaster like this? Isn’t that how we stop it from happening again?

According to Republicans the answer to those questions is no. They don’t care about the people who lost their lives. They don’t care if the company cut corners for higher profits instead of making sure it was safe. They are only interested in making headlines with stupid comments about “being woke”.

We are seeing just how sick and depraved the GOP can get. It isn’t pretty.

Republicans – Cry About “State’s Rights” – But Only Under Conditions Defined By Them

The far right wing of the Republican Party always screams about state’s rights. They argue that only the state can determine if abortion access is legal. Only the state can determine if trans minors can receive medical treatment they need. Only the state can determine what books are allowed in libraries and schools.

This argument about state’s rights has been a major platform in the Republican Party’s agenda for decades. But, we must also remember that this idea of state’s rights can only be wielded if Republicans agree with what the state wants to do.

We have seen it over and over. We are in the midst of a battle over medical abortion. One Judge in Texas, with absolutely no scientific background or any medical training, has determined that one of the medical abortion pills should not have been approved by the FDA. He then said that this pill “cannot be sent via mail” to patients wanting it.

On the same day, a Judge in Washington gave a completely opposite decision. The Appeals Court rejected the idea that the pill was not approved properly and is therefore legal, but it hasn’t stayed the ruling to keep it from being provided by mail. So, if you live in a state where abortion is legal, this one Judge is blocking you from receiving the drug that your state says is okay to use and to receive it through the mail.

State’s rights only matter if Republicans decide that something is good or bad and every other state must follow their “right” and forget about their own “rights”. That is how Republicans use state’s rights arguments.

In another attempt to take away state’s rights, the fringe members of the House has decided that it is illegal for a state to prosecute a former president for breaking state law. We are watching this political dog and pony show play out right now.

But, the political antics of Gym Jordan and his cronies is just the beginning. The problem isn’t that they believe a former president shouldn’t be charged with crimes they committed, it is they don’t want Republican former presidents charged with crimes they committed. They especially don’t want a state with a Democrat majority indicting a former Republican president.

So, they think they have come up with a great idea. Even though the crimes were “state crimes”, they say the state cannot try the case. No, they claim that a former president who is charged by a state with crimes against that state must have that trial moved to federal court.

Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) is claiming he is going to write a bill that would prohibit state prosecutors from charging former presidents and that all such cases would be moved to federal courts. According to this lawmaker, with the full support of Gym Jordan, states don’t have the authority to prosecute former presidents for crimes committed in their state.

He claims that such prosecutions are “politically motivated” and therefore cannot take place. I am willing to bet that if a Democrat former president was charged with crimes in a state like say, Texas, there would be no push from this crowd of autocrats to stop such a prosecution. Instead they would be screaming about state’s rights to justify that prosecution. But, since it is their dear leader who has been indicted, then “state’s rights” do not exist in this matter.

Let me be clear about this, Republicans are not interested in state’s rights unless it helps them reach their goals to control our lives. The only states that have rights according to them are the ones they control.

We must ask who will they protect next? All of this nonsense about state crimes not being prosecuted by the state is just another attempt to protect their dear leader. There are more possible indictments coming down the pike including an election tampering charge from Georgia.

Just remember, when you hear a Republican cry about “state’s rights” they are really saying “the rights we determine to be valid” and nothing more. They are hellbent of creating an autocratic society and they will change any law they want in order to make that happen.

This is just another step in their march towards autocracy. This is no accident, it is on purpose and has a real end game. To make our country just like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. One person in power and one party as the politburo to rubber stamp everything. They intend to be that politburo and they don’t care about you or your family or your rights.

People’s Safety Just Doesn’t Matter To Today’s GOP

Okay, it is time to talk about the train derailment in East Palestine, OH. What happened there is a human tragedy. Because of this derailment, hundreds of people’s lives were disrupted and their safety has been placed at the bottom of priorities in favor of politics.

Train derailments are nothing new. We have had them since the railroad was invented. In my 70 plus years of living, we have witnessed train derailments under every administration. Not every derailment has caused anyone from the government to “show up” to the scene. There were derailments under trump and no one from the administration went to the scene.

However, in today’s “us v. them” Republican party, that has become a rallying cry for the fruit cakes. The problem isn’t that it took time for anyone from the administration to show up, the problem is that railroad safety has been downplayed by Republicans for decades.

Under the Obama administration, safety rules were put in place for the railroads. Included in those rules were a minimum of crews on trains, safer tanker car rules, electronic safety brakes on each car and even paid sick time for railroad workers.

However, under the trump administration, those rules were removed at the behest of the railroad industry. Profits obviously were more important to the railroad industry than the safety of their crews or the many towns and cities these trains traverse.

According to the initial findings of the NTSB, this derailment was cased by overheated bearings in axels. This caused the axels to fail causing the derailment. The warning systems apparently worked, but they triggered too late for the engineer to completely stop the train.

This train was carrying hazardous materials. In an effort to stop the spread of toxic fumes, they decided to burn the materials. The ground was saturated with the toxic material and rivers and streams near the site were contaminated. An estimated 44,000 fish were killed by the spill caused by this derailment.

We must also remember that Republicans always tell us that they don’t need the federal government. They claim that the state can handle these kinds of things, that is until one happens in their state. Then, all of a sudden, the federal government is supposed to sweep into the area and “fix” everything for the state.

The railroad company Norfolk Southern said they would clean it all up. But, as usual in situations like this, they botched everything and the EPA had to step in to make sure the cleanup went smoothly. They also ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for the cleanup.

I was involved in oil spills many times during my time in the Coast Guard. We took over cleanup of major oil spills and then the government had to sue the company to get the money back spent for the cleanup. I believe this case will be no different.

The main point is that instead of talking about new safety regulations for railroads, the Republicans are instead talking about how the federal government “failed” the people by not showing up even though they rarely show up when they are in charge.

We need to look at what happened, the cause of that incident, and figure out new safety regulations so something like this doesn’t happen again. The problem is that the Republicans have stood in the way of safety regulations for decades and show no sign of changing that perspective.

They always complain that new safety regulations would “harm” the railroads and cause them “great expense”. Instead of worrying about their constituents health and safety, they are instead worried about profits for the railroad industry.

So far since this incident has taken place, not one Republican has mentioned new safety regulations for trains. Not one Republican has talked about the safety of their constituents who were affected by this derailment. Instead they only complain about the time before the government officials showed up.

In fact, the head of the EPA, which is responsible to oversee the cleanup of this tragedy has been on scene several times. And, he didn’t bring with him 13 year old bottled water with his name on them. He went to oversee the cleanup and make sure it is being done correctly. Only, no one wants to talk about that because he did his job as expected.

Republicans have tried to blame the Secretary of Transportation for the derailment. However, the Secretary of Transportation can only enforce the laws as written and he has no involvement in the operation of a railroad. Since safety regulations were removed by the trump administration, there isn’t anything that the Secretary of Transportation could do differently.

I know that perception is important. It would have been better if he went to the site before yesterday. Then again, politicians showing up at disaster areas usually hamper the recovery efforts so it isn’t always a good idea for them to show up quickly.

This isn’t a matter of when or who shows up at a disaster. It is all about fixing the problems and working to keep our citizens safe from this kind of disaster from happening again. But since we can’t be sure exactly what happened yet, and since Republicans say “it wouldn’t have prevented it so why bother”, we are forced to watch the clown show once again.

Railroads are the backbone of our transportation system that supports and makes our economy run. That doesn’t mean we can allow railroads to dictate how they will operate themselves. We need oversight and we need regulations to protect our people.

Railroads are transporting hazardous materials all across the nation. Every city, town, township, county and state in the nation has hazardous materials being transported through their areas. If it isn’t by railroad it is by truck. It is not unreasonable for the government to put in place safety regulations to ensure this material is transported safely through our communities.

I dare Republicans to stop their “blame game” and start negotiating reasonable safety regulations for our railroads. They need to stop being the roadblock for safety regulations that keep our citizens safe. Instead of pocketing dollars from railroad companies for their campaigns and then doing nothing to regulate the industry, maybe it would be a good time to start doing their jobs.

The problem is that Republicans don’t believe they need to “do their jobs”. They believe they can sit back, do nothing, prevent safety rules from taking place, remove safety rules when they gain power, and then just point the finger at everyone else. By doing that, they believe they can fool their voters and save the railroads billions in profits.

The tragedy in East Palestine might have been avoided if Republicans took their responsibility to protect the people of this nation seriously instead of the profits of the companies. If they continue to be the roadblock for safety rules and regulations, you can be sure this kind of accident will happen again. When it does, they will pull out the clown show and point fingers again. Only, they should be pointing their fingers at themselves.

When it comes to public health and safety, there shouldn’t be any political games being played. But, we definitely learned with the COVID pandemic that Republicans will use anything for what they consider political gain. Even the death of over one million Americans. This incident is just a continuation of their heads in the sand attitude when it comes to your health and safety.

Simply put, they just don’t care about you or your families! If this opinion hurts Republican sensibilities, tough shit. It is the truth.

Florida – America’s Autocratic Test Case

In the 1960’s China’s leader Mao began what he called his “cultural revolution”. Under this plan, he wanted to “purify” communism in his country. He decided that anyone who may have any capitalist tendencies must be destroyed.

His first target was education in his country. He encouraged students to “attack” teachers who he believed was not pure communist. He went after heads of Chinese companies who showed capitalist tendencies and many, many more citizens and politicians. The result of this “cultural revolution” was the imprisonment and/or death of millions of Chinese who were not “pure” enough for the dictator.

Today, we are seeing a similar attack on citizens and corporations in another country because they do not agree with the “dear leader’s” interpretation of just how to live and what can be taught. Only, this new “cultural revolution” isn’t happening in a foreign country. It is being held in the State of Florida.

We have known for years that the so-called MAGA Republicans are leaning more and more towards autocracy, and in Florida, the Ayatollah DeSantis is using his state as a trial balloon for that purpose.

In Florida, and many other Republican controlled states, we are seeing “cultural” attacks on all sorts of civil rights. These attacks are not intended to improve the lives of citizens, they are intended to see if Americans are willing to live in an autocracy where one person decides what is “best” for us.

DeSantis has led the charge in the autocratic tendency. He has passed things like the “don’t say gay” bill. He has stopped the AP African American studies course in his state. He has used his politburo to pass laws to punish any corporation in the state that does not follow blindly his agenda. He has decided that the legislature should pass a new law allowing politicians, namely Republican, to sue opponents if they don’t fall in line or say anything against them. He has even said that events held at the capital in Florida can only be held if they align with his agenda.

He has made autocracy the primary form of government in his state with him as the Ayatollah of the state with total power over every part of everyone’s lives. Only he can determine what can be taught in schools. Only he can determine which civil rights people have in his state. Only he can determine just how private corporations must behave “culturally”.

Other Republican controlled states have been watching what is going on in Florida and they are trying to mirror this dictatorship. Several have passed laws preventing medical treatment for transgender children regardless of what the parent’s believe. They have banned books that talk about slavery in our country as it really happened. They have banned books that talk about LGBTQ issues.

In Alaska, a Republican showed just how low Republicans can be. In a State Judicial hearing about child abuse, he said “it could be argued that cases of fatal child abuse could be a cost savings since the child won’t need related government services”. I will say, for once, Republicans decided that was going too far and censured him.

What is going on in Republican controlled states shows us exactly what Republicans think about our country and our constitution. They don’t believe in it at all and only want total control over our lives. According to them, as being shown in Florida, we must do as we are told by their leaders and have no rights if we differ.

Marjorie Traitor Greene even said that if you are a Democrat and move to a “red” state, you should not be allowed to vote for several years. She also said that we need a “national divorce” which can only be interpreted as another secession problem that leads to civil war.

We also see several MAGA Republicans in Congress who are actually rooting for Putin to win his war against Ukraine. They want Putin to win because they believe it would be a “blow to democratic forces”. They don’t want us to be a democracy and a Putin victory, they believe, would hurt “democratic forces” around the world, including right here at home.

We just found out that the former Attorney General for Arizona, a Republican, sat on a report that proved the “big lie” of the election being stolen in 2020 was just that, as lie. But, since it went against Republicans lying about the election, he hid the report so it wouldn’t hurt Republican chances in the midterms.

The Ayatollah Ron DeSantis has taken the lead in moving our nation towards autocracy. His state has fewer civil rights today than ever before. He has decided that he is the “almighty prophet” of autocracy and he is going to force his will on the people of Florida no matter what it costs.

The one single indication of a dictator is when that person does whatever they can to “punish” everyone who is “against” their policies. We are seeing that indication in Florida every day. I am afraid we are going to see more Republican Governors try to use his formula to set up their own little dictatorships.

If the people of Florida continue to roll over and allow their Ayatollah to force his dictatorship on them, then we may see a larger movement across the nation. We will see more and more Republicans try the same tactic. That would be extremely harmful to our states and our nation and especially our citizens.

As you can see, the so-called “culture wars” being waged by Republicans is a mirror image of Mao’s “cultural revolution”. As a result, just who are the “real communists” in our country today? Certainly not Democrats.

Similar Yet Different And Different Reactions

There are two cases right now that are very similar and yet they are very different. The biggest difference is the reactions from each side in the cases. That is part of the real problem and that is something that will make such cases a possibility of happening again.

The two cases are the ones involving classified documents. Back in August, Mar-a-Lago was searched by the FBI and they discovered hundreds of classified documents, some of which had the highest classification possible. The other case involves President Biden when his lawyers turned over 10 classified documents they discovered at his old office as he was shutting it down. They then found six more at his residence.

The similarities are that classified material was found at each person’s places of business and/or residence. The major difference is that in the trump case, he refused to hand over documents once the National Archives asked him to and he refused to obey a subpoena to turn over the documents which led to the search warrant.

All through this case, trump refused to cooperate with the government and even said the documents “were mine”. He even tried to justify it by declaring that he “declassified” the material and that he could “declassify” the material just by thinking about doing so. All of that is bullshit of course. He also had his lawyers submit a false document stating all classified material had been handed over when it wasn’t as subsequent searches discovered.

In the second case, reports show that the Biden team are cooperating with investigators. Those reports show that they voluntarily turned over the documents once they were found.

The reactions about these two cases differ widely as well. When the documents were seized at Mar-a-Lago, Republicans went off the deep end. They defended the possession of the documents by trump. One said it was a “simple matter of storage”. When a special counsel was appointed to investigate the matter, Republicans went crazy with all kinds of accusations of the “deep state going after trump”.

The current chair of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said of the trump case that it “was not a top priority” for his committee to look into. On the other hand, he said “we have a lot of questions” about the Biden discovery. He even called the President’s home a “crime scene”. Words he never used in relation to Mar-a-Lago.

On the other side, Democrats are not running to the microphone to scream about the “deep state going after Biden”. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said the other day that it is possible that national security could have been harmed with the Biden documents. He said “I don’t think we can exclude the possibility without knowing more of the facts.” That is a far cry from it being a “simple storage problem”.

Schiff also said it was appropriate for the General Attorney to have appointed a special counsel to look into the matter, just like he did with trump. Another far cry about “persecuting” the man.

Schiff went on to say: “I’d like to know what these documents were. I’d like to know what the [intelligence community’s] assessment is, whether there was any risk of exposure and what the harm would be and whether any mitigation needs to be done. I think that would be appropriate and consistent with what we requested in the case of Mar-a-Lago.”

What everyone is missing here is the key point of just how classified documents are being handled inside the Executive Branch. It is becoming obvious to me that control of classified documents are not the same as the controls we had in the military. It is beyond me how so many classified documents could go “missing” in such an easy manner.

One thing that really needs to be done is to review all of the classified document regulations and handling inside the Executive Branch. We obviously need better oversight by people who are used to handling classified material to avoid such cases from ever happening again.

The biggest problem, from where I sit, is that too many people who have no experience handling and properly storing classified materials have access to that material and are quite cavalier about it. They need to have someone who knows the rules to be an oversight to ensure this can’t happen.

In terms of the National Archives, if they already don’t have someone there, maybe they should have experts in the White House going through all of the documents there to ensure they get everything they are supposed to get under the law during transitons of power.

I am going to wait and see what the two special counsels find in their investigations. However, I can see major differences between the two cases. That does not excuse either case.

This would be a very appropriate time for President Biden to get experts together to figure out a way that every document that is supposed to be turned over to the government is in fact turned over. It is time for a full review of just how these documents are handled in the Executive Branch.

It is also a proper time for Republicans to stop showboating and gaslighting the American people. These two cases are similar and yet different. However, they must be responded to in the same manner. The Attorney General has taken the first step in appointing the special counsels. In the House, if Republicans want to “get answers” from Biden, they must also “get answers” from trump. That is something they don’t seem too interested in doing. Or as Jake Tapper asked Comer on his show on CNN “Do you only care about documents being mishandled when Democrats do the mishandling?” I believe the answer is yes.

Let’s see what comes out of the investigations and then decide what to do. In the meantime, we need our government to review the handling of classified materials in the Executive Branch and drop the personal biases in such cases.

The GOP’s Driving Force Is Their Own Hallucinations

I tell you what. I have not seen so many hallucinations since LSD was a big drug problem back in the 1960s. The GOP and its members have completely gone into overdrive with their hallucinations. This has gone way beyond conspiracy theories into a false reality that is totally harmful to our nation.

The other day, Ryan Zinke, the Interior Secretary under trump who had to resign because of corruption allegations, stood on the floor of the House and went totally nuts. Zinke was elected to the House from Montana in November, and he clearly has shown that he doesn’t belong there.

In his rant he said this: “There is no doubt the federal government deep state coordinates with liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water. In many cases, they want to wipe out the American cowboy completely, remove public access to our lands and turn Montana into a national park.”

Say What???? He claims in this rant that liberals want to remove public access to our lands. Yet, as Secretary of the Interior, he backed an historically large reduction of national monuments while promoting the administration’s anti-environment policies. Turns out he was the one “removing public access to our lands” by removing national monument status and turning lands private.

Then we have the GOP outburst and outrage over, get this, “gas stoves”. Just a little background on this matter. Gas stoves have been shown to emit potentially unsafe levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants, even when they are not in operation. A peer-reviewed study earlier this month found that the appliances are responsible for approximately 12.7% of all childhood asthma cases nationwide. Some 40 million homes — over one-third of all U.S. households — have a gas stove.

Okay, so Richard Trumka Jr., a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, made comments earlier this week. In an interview with Bloomberg, he floated regulating or banning new gas stoves amid mounting research that the appliances emit harmful pollutants indoors, posing risks to human health. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” he told the publication, echoing concerns he voiced last month.

He then clarified exactly what he was talking about. He said in a tweet: “To be clear, CPSC isn’t coming for anyone’s gas stoves, any future regulation would apply only to new products.

But, that hasn’t stopped the hallucinations in the GOP from coming out. They are up in arms as indicated by tweets.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL)” “[Joe Biden] get your hands off our gas stoves!!!!”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) declared: “Democrats are coming for your kitchen appliances. Their desire to control every aspect of your life knows no bounds — including how you make breakfast.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) tweeted: “I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove. If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!”

On the other side of the ledger, in a letter last month, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and other lawmakers called on Hoehn-Saric, the CPSC chair, to take action to address the risks associated with indoor gas stoves. “In addition to the climate impacts, these emissions represent real health risks to millions of Americans,” they wrote.

Among other things, the lawmakers recommended the agency consider warning labels, requiring stoves to be sold with range hoods, and mandatory performance standards to address hazardous pollutants and leakage.

So, here we have a public health concern. On one side are people looking to find solutions for these health hazards that millions of Americans are facing in order to find solutions to make their homes safer for their families. On the other side we have hallucinating GOP members crying about losing their gas stoves. Just like they tried to convince us that the government was coming to take away our “burgers and red meat”.

Once again, we see Republicans totally ignoring the safety of the American People. Instead of showing concern for us, they show they are only interested in keeping power by using the driving force of their hallucinations.

This debate and research into gas stoves, is nothing more than a safety concern. Ensuring the safety of our people should be top priority of all of our Representatives in government. but the GOP disagrees with that idea.

Remember, they are the party that is passing laws at the state level, and now trying at the federal level, to take away our rights like the right to privacy, the right to free speech and the right to safety.

In reality, it is this group of hallucinating morons who are attacking our rights and freedoms. I don’t know, as I said earlier, I haven’t seen so many hallucinations since LSD was such a big fad back in the 60s. But it turns out that Republicans don’t need LSD to hallucinate. All they need is their own delusions.

It Is 2023 – The Sad Clown Show Is About to Begin

Today the new Congress begins. The House is now under a slim Republican majority. If what we have watched since the election holds, it is going to be the worst and most ineffective House we have ever seen in our nation’s long history.

Today we are going to see if Kevin McCarthy will actually be voted in as the Speaker of the House. He is facing strong opposition from the far right of the party and he is selling his soul to get their votes. The only question is will he succeed?

The fact is that even if he does win the speakership, he will undoubtedly be the weakest and most feckless speaker of the house ever. Since he needs to appease the trump maga nuts, he will not be able to do anything of essence while he is the speaker. We can be sure that no legislation that will help us fix any of our problems will reach the floor.

Whether or not you liked Nancy Pelosi, we all know that she was a very strong speaker of the house. She was able to keep her caucus together when it came to legislation that would help Americans. She was able to moderate between the far left ranks and the moderate ranks and was able to pass real meaningful legislation.

On the other hand, McCarthy can’t even come close to that strength. He really isn’t interested in governing our nation. All he wants is the title and the perks that come with the title of Speaker of the House. He has no agenda other than investigations. He has no solutions to any of our problems. He has no plans for immigration reform, health care, inflation or anything else. All he wants it the title of Speaker of the House not the responsibilities that go with that title.

How the vote for speaker ends up, will produce the weakest speaker in history and the most ineffective House in history. Republicans have shown their hand. They are not interested in the American people. They are interested in revenge against their supposed “enemies” and the supposed “enemies” of their hero trump.

Today’s vote will let us know just how miserable the House will be in the next two years. It will show us just how bad the party is and just what their “ambitions” are. The deals McCarthy is agreeing to get the votes of the right wing nuts is very dangerous.

We have seen chaos in Congress for a while. People have blamed the divide between Democrats and Republicans. The real problem we face now is the chaos that Republicans will create with their own infighting. Republicans will face off against each other for two years and nothing will get done.

As a famous sports caster would say “sit back and strap it down”. The very sad clown show is about to begin. The losers? The American People.

Mar-A-Lago Dinner Proves Trump Unfit To Hold Public Office

It seems the outrage over trump having dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes is not dying down yet. Some Republicans have come out and said he should never have met with the two men. Only one called trump out by name though.

Let us remember that Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has made several anti-sematic remarks in the past month or so. Nick Fuentes is an avowed white supremacist and antisemite as well. Fuentes was one of the leaders at the Charlottesville riots when trump was president and he said “there were bad people on both sides”. Refusing to denounce the white supremacists who started the violence.

Of course in his usual defense, trump claimed that “I didn’t even know who Fuentes is”. Every time trump mingles with his white supremacist and ant-sematic supporters, he always claims he “doesn’t know who they are”. That goes all the way back to 2016 when David Duke, a leader of the KKK, gave his full throated support to trump in his run for president. When questioned, trump said “I don’t know who David Duke is”.

Let me say this. The defense of “I don’t know who he is” is a clear example one of two things. One – trump is the most stupid and most ignorant man on the face of the planet or two – trump is the biggest liar on the face of the earth. Regardless of which is true, trump has shown he is totally unfit to hold any public office.

If he is the most stupid and most ignorant man on the planet, he does not have the qualifications to run a country. If he is the biggest liar on the face of the planet he cannot be trusted with running a country. Therefore, he should cease his “campaign for president” immediately.

That is one of the things that is missing in Republican condemnation of his dinner with these two morons. Not one Republican has said that the dinner disqualifies him to be the nominee from their party. If, as some have said, there is no room in the party for antisemites and white supremacists, then why haven’t they called on him to pull out of the campaign?

If, as Marco Rubio said, the dinner was “disgusting” why isn’t he stating openly that he would not support trump if he won the nomination? Of course, they won’t say anything bad about trump and his white supremacy and anti-sematic tendencies because they are all afraid he will say something bad about them on his truth social or on Fox News.

There is a simple fact behind all of this. By having dinner with two known antisemites and a white supremacist, trump is advertising his true beliefs. He is advertising that everything he says about supporting Israel is a lie. He is also advertising his white supremacy beliefs. Both of which should disqualify him to be our president.

Then again, we knew back in 2016 that this was all true about him, and he still won the election. His supporters, whom Republicans are afraid of, actually run the party and especially the primaries. That means they need to acquiesce to trump and his beliefs in order to remain in office. If they go against trump, his supporters will vote them out in the primaries.

As a result, the Republican Party has not only become more right-wing extremist, it has become more anti-sematic and more white supremist. All in the name of power and rule.

Unless a Republican comes out and states very clearly that meeting with these two despicable people disqualifies trump to be the nominee of the party, nothing will change and things in their party will get even worse than it already is. Don’t hold your breath, though.

“Who Controls The Past Controls The Future – The Way To Dystopia

The title is a quote from George Orwell’s book 1984. In that novel, a dystopian society was ruled by dictatorship and they controlled the past. They would “change history” in order to prove they were always right. Even going so far as to destroy anything written that went against their views.

Today, we are facing the same type of “history making” in our own country. Led by the Ayatollah DeSantis, so-called conservatives are trying to rewrite history and ignore the sins of our past. All in the name of making their views “mandatory” for the rest of us to follow.

Under his leadership, the Florida Republicans passed their infamous “Stop WOKE Act” also known as the Independent Freedom Act. The law prohibits the expression of eight different viewpoints related to race, sex, gender and sexual orientation in classrooms including University classrooms. It also includes this prohibition on in-state state corporations.

Yesterday, a Federal Judge blocked this act from being enforced at the University level. District Judge Walker wrote in his statement” “’It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen,’ and the powers in charge of Florida’s public university system have declared the State has unfettered authority to muzzle its professors in the name of ‘freedom.’” That was another quote from the book 1984.

In order to fully understand what this act really means we need to examine just what Republicans consider as “woke”. Woke has become another dog whistle blown consistently by Republicans to say we must “hate” everyone who disagrees with them and their views. This law was intended solely to force professors to “adhere” to the views of the state and not “make anyone feel guilty or ashamed” by learning the past history of our nation.

We hear Republicans using the word “woke” to prove that “liberals are just Marxists” by accepting the very idea of equal rights and equal protection under our Constitution. They believe that if they have control of a state legislature, they have unfettered rights to declare what views are acceptable or not acceptable in the classroom regardless of history.

In his ruling, Walker acknowledged the state does have a right to set curriculum, he also explained that there is no precedent for the State of Florida’s assertion that the state “has an unfettered right to prohibit professors from expressing viewpoints with which it disagrees.”

He further stated “Defendants essentially ask this Court to engage in ‘judicial activism,’ since accepting Defendants’ argument would require this Court to substitute binding precedent with Defendants’ policy preference.”  And that is whole point. The state wants to determine what can be discussed in classrooms based on their policy preferences. They are openly defying the First Amendment with these laws by trying to limit what views we can have, speak about or teach to students.

The ruling also says that by declaring the eight viewpoints banned by the law to be “repugnant,” the state cannot “do an end-run around the First Amendment … to avoid indoctrination,” in order to “impose its own orthodoxy and can indoctrinate university students to its preferred viewpoint.”

He also stated “The IFA is antithetical to academic freedom and has cast a leaden pall of orthodoxy over Florida’s state universities. Neither the State of Florida’s authority to regulate public school curriculum, nor its interest in preventing race or sex discrimination can support its weight. Nor does the First Amendment tolerate it.”

This is the same judge that blocked enforcement of this law against private corporations from hosting certain discrimination related trainings. As you can see, this law is intended to “control the thought process” of people who live in Florida and is intended to “indoctrinate” everyone to the Republican viewpoints and policies.

Since Republicans are against equal rights for everyone, are against abortion, are against the LGBTQ community and are against things like contraception, they want to ensure that these subjects cannot be taught in their schools in order to control their population and force-feed their policies on everyone.

It is obvious that the party that claims to “love freedom” means that “freedom” is only on subjects and policies they approve of and not anything else. The danger is that the Ayatollah is not alone in this march towards a “dystopian society” ruled by these autocrats. We are seeing it all across the nation where Republicans are in control.

Naturally, the State of Florida will appeal this decision. We don’t know how the upper courts will react or rule on this truly unconstitutional law. We do know that the drum beat of hate being spread by their constant use of the word “woke” will continue. It will infect our politics for years to come and that is the real danger.

The world has seen this kind of behavior before. Education in the Third Reich served to indoctrinate students with the National Socialist world view. Nazi scholars and educators glorified Nordic and other “Aryan” races, while labeling Jews and other so-called inferior peoples as parasitic “bastard races” incapable of creating culture or civilization.

Though the wording used today is not as explicit, the meaning is the same. We are seeing an attempt to “control the minds of our children” by a political party in order to establish their authority over the nation. They are willing to limit free speech to only what they believe. They are willing to “punish” anyone who goes against their wishes. The law also forces professors to abide by its regulations or face punishment up to termination.

We dodged a bullet in last week’s elections. But, the danger is not over. If we continue to allow these kinds of legislation to be passed without fighting back, we will soon be unable to teach real history instead of the one Republicans favor.

If this continues, the phrase from 1984 that “who controls history controls the future” will become a reality in our nation. This dystopian society is still banging on our door. We need to put an end to it to save our way of life.

Republicans – “Only We Can Define Free Speech”

Here we go again! Alex Jones faced a libel trial in Connecticut for his lies about the Sandy Hook Shooting. Yesterday, we was ordered to pay $965 million to the families he slandered. That on top of the $50 million he was ordered to pay in Texas in another trial for his slander.

But, as usual, the right-wing has attacked the courts and claimed that Jones did nothing wrong. They claim that he is being “persecuted” for lying about the situation and even causing his followers to issue death and rape threats against the parents who lost their children.

The apparent new leader of the Republican party tweeted this right after the verdict was announced: “No matter what you think of Alex Jones all he did was speak words. He was not the one who pulled the trigger. Were his words wrong and did he apologize? Yes. That’s what freedom of speech is. Freedom to speak words. Political persecution must end.”

First of all, the case was brought by the parents of those children murdered that horrible day. It was not brought by the Federal Government. So, how can we even think this is “political persecution”? Obviously the vacant space between her ears echoes with all sorts of stupidity.

Then we have to look at what is “free speech”. Yes, anyone can say anything they want. However, there are consequences to pay if those words are harmful to others. For example, if you yell “fire” in a crowded theater and people are injured in a potential panic, you can be held responsible for those injuries. Free speech says you can yell “fire” if you want, but if that results in harm to others, you can and will be held accountable.

The First Amendment does prohibit the government from issuing laws prohibiting free speech. But, there is nothing in the First Amendment that protects people from being sued over defamatory claims.

Alex Jones went on a full out attack on the parents of the victims of this tragic shooting. He claimed they were “actors” and that the shooting was a “false flag” to take way people’s guns. He claimed that the parents, who were suffering a terrible loss, were the “perpetrators” of this “false flag” and they should be the ones punished.

As a result of these false and defamatory claims, the parents suffered more mental anguish and were threatened with violence by Jones’ followers. Erica Lafferty, the daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, pointed out that Jones was holding a press conference outside the courthouse as she was inside testifying how Sandy Hook conspiracy theory backers threatened her with rape and death because of Jones’ falsehoods.

This incident alone shows absolutely no remorse on the part of Jones for his actions. Instead it shows his total disregard for the people he hurt and placed in danger from his followers. Yet, Greene doesn’t see it that way. She claims the whole thing is “political persecution”.

On the other hand, she isn’t afraid to declare that Democrats should be sued for defamation. Back in June she tweeted: “Defamation is a serious issue. Perhaps if Democrats keep lying about Republicans like @RepLoudermilk they should be taken to court”. This was over the report that Loudermilk held a “tour” of the Capitol the day before the Jan. 6 insurrection when the Capitol was closed to tours.

Nor has she spoken out against her hero, the former skunk, about his defamation suit against CNN for what he called a “campaign of slander and libel against him”. Hmmm. Sounds an awful lot like this case against Jones. He waged a “campaign of slander and libel against” the parents of slain schoolchildren.

I have been waiting breathlessly for anyone in her party to come out and denounce the tweet. I gave up because I was turning blue and I know no one will say anything bad against her or her words. They all seem to agree with them. But, that isn’t anything new. Republicans are always trying to change how and when people can sue someone, especially a company, but are very eager to run to court if their feelings are hurt.

We have all sorts of suits against people from Republicans. When they come out, not one Republican defends those being sued under the “free speech” claim they always make when they are the ones being sued. They believe only they have the right to “define what free speech” is. And, their definition is that they can say anything they want without consequences, but no one else can.

In my opinion, Alex Jones is a worthless piece of shit whose only purpose in life is to waste oxygen from our atmosphere. He offers no value to anything or anyone, except vacant headed people like trump and Greene. He is their spokesperson to incite violence.

Even after his verdict, he went on another rant this time about the Covid pandemic. After declaring it was a hoax for years, he now claims it was a “biological attack that killed tens of millions of people”. He also claims that when “we regain power” those responsible will be “arrested, tried and executed” for their crimes.

Of course, he did not offer any proof for this claim. Nor did he identify “those responsible”. An educated guess is he is talking about Democrats who tried to stem the pandemic through lockdown measure and the mandates for masks all of which he railed against at the time. I don’t know, maybe not mentioning his “targets” for those he wants “executed” was a result of his trial. Maybe he learned that naming people just doesn’t work that well.

We already know, from their own documents, that if the Republicans win control of the House, there will be over 70 investigations against their “enemies”. They have written it down and even named names of those they wish to “persecute” as Greene would say.

All of this shows exactly why Republicans must face the worst defeat in our nations political history in November. They are out for themselves and are willing to “sacrifice” anyone, especially parents of murdered schoolchildren in order to gain “support” from their wacko fringe.

From the very top of the ballot right down to the lowest level of government, Republicans must be defeated for the sake of our nation, our democracy, our freedoms and the future of our children.

Vote the bums out in November!