…marched them up to the top of a hill [DOT 26/1/20]

26/1/20 SplinterRIP 8

…ah, Sunday…Sunday, Bloody Sunday

…so many to choose from

…but that’s not the kind of bloody Sunday I mean this time…I mean the talk show spin-cycle…you know, that balmy oasis that comes after “the Death Valley of T.V.”

…so the things getting massacred today are more by way of your abstract ideals…things like truth, justice, the American way, respect for due process & the mechanisms of a lawful state apparatus, the sanctity of the justice system in the context of the notoriously fickle court of public opinion & the last vestigial traces that the game of politics bears any resemblance to a thing founded on the wishes of an informed electorate.

I so much want that to be hyberbolic nonsense in the vein of exactly the kind of unhelpful obfuscatory verbal snake oil dipshit-tasticus & his pet shyster billy-boy barr peddled when Mueller’s extraordinarily damning report came out…& then again when the House discussed the reasons for the articles of impeachment & the overwhelming body of evidence in support of the fact that not only are they valid but they outline the mere tip of a veritable iceberg of literally indictable shit the man is literally cowering from behind a stolen flag…but it just isn’t.

If anything it’s an understatement of the facts.

…the folks at the Financial Times aren’t exactly an excitable bunch…markets are skittish at the best of times & rocking the boat isn’t something the bulk of their readership is big on…so when they mention Stalin it’s not like a fresh twist on Godwin’s Law…

When the impeachment process began last autumn, the White House said it would refuse to co-operate. Rather than wait for the courts to enforce subpoenas, which could take months or longer, Democrats went ahead with the witnesses they had. These included senior political and civil service figures involved in Mr Trump’s pay-for-play manoeuvre on Ukraine. Their testimony removed any doubt that he had used the threat of withheld aid to pressure a foreign leader to interfere in the US presidential election.

The only question is whether this amounted to “high crime or misdemeanour”, which America’s founders characterised as abuse of public trust. Having deprived the House of Representatives of critical witnesses and records, Mr Trump is now bragging that his accusers lack proof.

“We have the material,” Mr Trump said this week. This is the equivalent of the accused pronouncing from the dock that he is withholding critical evidence because the court has no standing. Stalin might have chuckled at that approach. Mr Trump’s Senate allies are dutifully repeating it.

Mr Cipollone’s second defence is that presidents routinely investigate corruption in foreign countries. The fact that Mr Trump has never shown interest in pursuing corruption anywhere other than Ukraine — and in only one instance — is surely relevant.

Indeed, Mr Trump wants to abolish the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans American companies from paying bribes. It is also clear that Mr Trump only wanted Ukraine to announce a probe into Joe Biden and his son Hunter, rather than open an actual investigation. His goal was to throw enough dust into the US electorate’s eyes to reduce Mr Biden to his level.

Linking each expedient defence of Mr Trump is the view that whatever the president does is legal. The spectre of an unchecked executive is precisely the tyranny that America’s founders sought to prevent by writing the impeachment clause.

https://www.ft.com/content/b8e67780-3d85-11ea-a01a-bae547046735

…but…& stay with me here because the obvious nature of this particular bit of obtuse lo-fi skulduggery is brutal in the overwhelming force of its stupidity

…you wouldn’t know that if you only listened to team #alternativefacts

by the by…the “actual transcript” would be a fucking transcript…not a series of excerpts…but then isn’t that very much the point of propaganda…or whatever we’re calling outright lying in the service of achieving malignant political ends these days

…I have no particular faith that this time it’ll be any different…but just for today…at least until that shit show resumes on Monday & we find out what narrowly-defined, intentionally-ignorant bout of senseless abuse to language & the spirit of the law the Geriatric Oligarchy Posse put together next in their desperate bid to hose down the narrative with sufficient bullshit to occlude from the relevant slice of swing voters come November that literally the whole globe is painfully aware that their so called president is 100% indistinguishable from the kind of tin-pot megalomaniacs that made famous the connection between mustaches & dictators

…so I guess if it works & enough willfully clueless idiots who pride themselves on how their decision about who to vote for hasn’t been swayed by all this “partisan sniping” or the “left wing bias” ascribed to objective reality & material fact & choose to guzzle down the half-baked narrative these assholes are serving up in the sure & certain knowledge that they’ll keep “hurting the right people” get together & vote Gluteus Maximus Orange-ass-ius back in for a second chomp at his stolen cherry…well…we’ll know a couple of things

…the US will officially be a 1st world banana republic…the actual meaning of words will cease to be meaningfully defined henceforth & humanity as represented through the medium of the American electoral system of democracy will be categorically too stupid to live

…oh, yeah – & it’ll probably be worth putting down a bet on Trump requisitioning Bolton’s upper lip for a graft

…in fact, you know what…fuck this…I’m going back to bed

…if this shit happens, though…someone better wake my ass up with popcorn…well, actually I don’t go for popcorn…beer nuts & beer would work…just for the record

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/24/george-conway-oped-impeachment-witness/

…if the GOP is going to march its out of shape ass all the way to the top of Capitol Hill & commit electoral suicide live on air you bet your ass I want to see that shit go down

…speaking of things that it’s nice to see…even if it might not be worth getting out of bed for just yet…& with thanks to Earandil the Mariner for the link

https://www.cnet.com/news/clearview-ai-faces-lawsuit-following-facial-recognition-privacy-concerns/

…may it prove to be a veritable Waterloo for the Napoleonic aspirations of noted asshole Peter Thiel

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8 Comments

    • that reminds me of something…something people say about stuff…oh, yeah…

      “it’s funny ’cause it’s true”

      which, on balance, may not be the good kind of funny…which is confusing because she certainly seems to be?

  3. Not a single Rethuglican is going to vote to remove Biff from office. My only hope is that the public has seen enough evidence to vote against Pol Potbelly and his minions in November. But even if they do I’m not convinced that they’ll lose given the GOP’s willingness to cheat. It’s important to remember that people like trump, McConnell, and Graham were not corrupted by power. They gained power because they were corrupt. They are operating within the guidelines of their party. The rot runs through the entire GOP. This isn’t a cult, they aren’t afraid of crossing Biff, they aren’t supporting him in spite of his worst qualities. They embrace his lust for power, win at all cost tactics, and greed. Uncle Joe Biden isn’t going to rescue us and restore democracy. Neither is Mayo Pete. They don’t even want to! I think we are well and truly fucked.

  4. Personal feelings aside,** thisis a HUGE loss for the sport of Basketball, and I feel terrible for Vanessa, and their daughters.

    Kobe: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kobe-bryant-dies-helicopter-crash_n_5e2dec53c5b6d6767fd679ec

    **I’ve personally loathed him as a person for decades–imo, he was always a smarmy, smug asshole. A great, legendary player, absolutely. But because of the “me first” way Jellybean raised him, as a player, especially as a Minnesotan & KG fan, I couldn’t stand the selfish way Kobe played, and I always felt like the Lakers would’ve been even BETTER, had he been less if a “me first” player, and more of a team guy.

  6. View post on imgur.com

    “So, why is this important? Well, voters in primaries are open to changing their minds, and if they do, they’ll probably jump to a candidate they already like. We know from these polls that voters have positive views of multiple candidates. So, if one of the front runners starts winning early states, it’s possible many supporters of the others will jump on the bandwagon.”

    as long as it’s either of the first two it’s fine!

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