CSotD: State of the Disunion
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Mike Marland on a local story that about put me off the road yesterday.
Yep, according to NHPR and a few other places, Steve Bannon is coming to the Granite State to raise money for a right-wing group, with the proceeds to "support training and support for local Republican candidates in 2018."
Presumably the ones they manage to get on the ballot.
Which is not hard, given that New Hampshire has the most state legislators per capita in the country, which means if you've got 20 friends, you can get elected at least to the House if not the Senate. As a result of this, you'll often see national stories about looney proposals in our legislature, most of which don't make it out of committee.
Well, with the help of the 603 Alliance, now they might, and the question then will be whether our regular, mainstream GOP governor will be bullied into signing whatever the Very Silly Party puts on his desk.
Which would be a local story except that I also heard somewhere — possibly the 202, and, yes, we all go by area codes — that, if there were to be a bruising primary between Arizona Senator Jeff Flake and whatever tinfoil loon the GOP fringe-dwellers put against him, he could end up taking stances that reasonable people in the state would not accept in the general election.
Thus opening the door to a Democratic Senator.
Now Flake has flaked out, and the GOP hardliners may get to nominate one of their own. We'll see if whoever they pick is horrifying enough to slide that prospective Dem into office.
Though, of course, the True Left will never accept victory without a fight, the latest evidence of which being the Ideologically Righteous Revolutionary Guard's response to W's criticism of Trump.
You might expect it to be accepted — as Flake's has been, as Corker's has been, as even McCain's has been — with celebration.
Instead, as Ted Rall says, the cool kids are rejecting it, since celebrating W's speaking up is thereby embracing everything he did as president.
I still contend that "Bernie Bros" were a Russian troll factory invention, but those trolls aren't stupid and they know where to plant their seeds.
The ability of the Left to turn upon itself is one of the Right's major advantages, and the aforementioned 202 is already suggesting that progressives in Arizona are likely to push back against the Democratic Party leadership's plan to find a mainstream candidate who might actually win election.
I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
— Will Rogers
More of a Progression than a Juxtaposition
Kevin Siers points out that an "empty barrel" is sometimes better than a full one, depending on the content.
Facebook is too ephemeral for me to try to search for the source (Update: Oh, wait, it was in the comments right here! Sorry, Hank!), but someone noted that John Kelly claimed to have been at the speech in which Rep. Wilson took credit for funding that building.
Which subsequently released tape of the speech shows she didn't.
So either Kelly lied about having been there, or at least he lied about remembering what she said and parroted the lies he was told.
Or he just lied.
And the fact that The Nation's Most Annoying Honor Student says there's nothing to apologize for is ample proof that we are in an area where insults are permitted and "alternative facts" are nothing to be ashamed of.
And David Fitzsimmons pulls no punches in suggesting that "Garbage In, Garbage Out" is no longer just about programming computers, but about electing presidents.
His caption says it all.
How could anyone in a position of authority act like this?
How could anyone who acts like this be in a position of authority?
And what does this spoiled prep-school brat know about military service, or sacrifice of any type?
Now, I'm sick of people who know nothing about the era claiming that taking a II-S deferment was "draft dodging."
That's not just historical nonsense but a grave insult to college graduates who subsequently enlisted and died in Vietnam.
But John McCain is right that bluecollar kids got drafted and rich kids got letters from their family doctors.
I took my II-S, and, at 18, planned to serve if called, but, as I learned more about the war, I hardened my intentions not to.
However, I have no idea what I'd have actually done if the lottery hadn't saved me from testing those intentions.
Which is the most anyone can say who never got that letter telling them to report, including those who weren't born yet.
Still, rich kids with letters from their family doctors — even if they had credible medical issues — were taking advantage of medical oversight a less wealthy kid might not have. That's dodging.
Oh, and, BTW, in those days of backalleys and coat hangers, their sisters were getting "D&Cs" from the same cooperative don't-ask-don't-tell family friends.
There are many harsh realities which rich kids were (and still are) able to dodge.
I question the third in this progression, in which Adam Zyglis assumes that people who revere our troops are having some kind of buyer's remorse.
I don't think so, except for those who assumed he wouldn't win and only voted for Trump to send a message.
The people who intentionally elected him already knew about his heel spurs and already knew what he had said about the Khan family.
And I believe he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose their support.
Even if he shot a baby in a stroller point-blank, they'd spin it to declare him a hero and say that, if more people packed heat, crime rates would plummet.
We shall always have such deplorables among us, but …
Robert Ariail concludes this progression by using the now-familiar quote to ask if we really should have an entire party acting as if they can't distinguish truth from lies, or honor from perfidy.
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