Marjorie Taylor Greene Goes Into Rehab

 How weird has the American republican party become? Well, just two short years ago Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was considered by many reasonable people to be the single craziest person to ever take a seat in the United States House of Representatives. There was ample evidence to support this belief.

What else could you think about a person who had previously declared devastating wild fires in California were started either by, "blue beams of light," coming from outer space--generated by satellites controlled by rich jews--or, alternately, by then governor, Jerry Brown who wanted the forest cleared for a high speed rail system.  She also posted on social media the Covid pandemic was a hoax, then endorsed a call for Nancy Pelosi to be shot. 

She has also claimed the 9/11 terrorist attacks were inside jobs. And, before she was sworn in as a congresswoman, she participated in at least one White House meeting plotting the January 6th coup attempt. Publicly she has been steadfast in her belief the real winner of the 2020 presidential election was Donald Trump.

So yeah, given all of that it has been pretty easy to think of her as bat shit crazy.

Lately, however, Ms. Greene appears to have reached some sort of personal epiphany. A little while back she tried to write off her pre election social media posts by saying, "like many people," she was fooled by what she read on the internet. 

More recently she broke with the MAGA caucus, like Trump did, and voted for Kevin McCarthy during the speaker of the house balloting. In doing so she deepened the rift between herself and Lauren Boebert--which is sort of the GOP 's version of the Joan Crawford-Bette Davis feud. There was even a near violent incident in a capitol women's wash room between the two. 

In addition the congresswoman from Georgia had the good fortune to be around when George Santos entered the house. His unbridled lunacy dwarfs even hers. In fact Santos has made every republican, except for the detestable Matt Gaetz, seem a touch more intelligent and sane.

McCarthy has repaid Greene for her unexpected loyalty by naming her to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the House Committee on Homeland Security. These assignments come during her third year in congress. The first two, thanks to her statements and actions the democratic leadership wouldn't let her near a committee room. 

Now, in the last couple of days, rumors have been floating in the cable media that Greene is on Donald Trump's short list to be his vice presidential running mate. That means if the duo wins the 2024 race Donald Trump will be 78, going on 79 years old at his next inauguration and Marjorie Taylor Greene will be, as they say, one heart beat away from taking charge of the nation.

No matter how much she rehabilitates herself, no matter how many mea culpas she makes for her past behavior, that is a scenario no rational person can tolerate.

Whatever happens we now know Ms. Greene is done, at least on the surface, with being the possessed rebel she played during her first wo years in office. She was, by one report, the second most successful republican fundraiser during the mid-term elections That means some republicans in congress now owe her. And being owed something in American politics opens a road to power.

What we don't know is exactly how much power Marjorie Taylor Greene wants right now. Although one does get a serious case of thee heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.

sic vita est

1-27-23

Bryan Kohberger Proves Trump Won in 2020

We should have seen this coming. If we know one thing about the ultra right, it's that they will always use anything, absolutely anything, to validate their perverted fantasias.          

Think not? According to country and western singer, John Rich the arrest of murder suspect Bryan Kohberger proves the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. 

On January 5th of this year, Rich, one half of the C&W duo, Rich and Big, tweeted, "They caught the Idaho killer using cell phone ping data, the exact same method used to track the #2000 mules." Brother Rich's frustration was evidenced when he added, "One's praised as brilliant detective work, the other has been vilified as not credible. See how this works? We live in a mirrored fun house where every image is bent."

For those unaware of arcane Trumpista mythology, "2000 Mules," is a film released last spring purportedly proving how the democrats stole the election. It was co-written and directed by Dinesh D'Souza a prominent purveyor of conspiracy theories. According to the film, a network of leftwing nonprofits paid 2,000 individuals, the mules, spread out over five swing states to stuff ballot drop boxes with fraudulent Biden votes. The film's major proof this nefarious plot took place is based on cell phone tower pings--the same type of technology and data used to track Kohberger's movements before and after the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students in November.

Well, sort of. John Rich fails to mention a few fairly important details

First and foremost cell phone tracking doesn't prove you've done anything wrong. It can only say your phone was in a certain area, a fairly large one at that, at a certain time.  In other words it doesn't prove you were stuffing ballot boxes, or stabbing multiple people to death.

Secondly, the critics of, "2000 Mules," which are legion, have never said the technology used is wrong.  what they see is a deeply prejudiced methodology which is purposely flawed to show results the audience and producers desperately want to believe.

Authorities first identified Kohberger as the owner of a car which was similar to one seen several times in the area of the murders. It was only then they began looking at him and his cell phone foot prints. They were completely focused on tracking him and him alone. Even then he wasn't arrested on that evidence alone. Something called, DNA helped. Without it he would probably still be running around without a clue the cops were on his trail. Get it? Cell phone tower pings by themselves aren't enough, there has to be more. 

In, "2000 Mules," the, investigators are looking at a bunch of anonymous phone numbers with no idea who they belong to, their jobs, residences, or habits. In other words, The Mules, might have pinged on cell towers near ballot drop boxes a few times daily, or weekly simply because they live, or work nearby, or stop in at a bar a half mile away for a nightly martini. In short the film provides not  verifiable evidence of illegal ballot drop box fraud at all.  

Wikipedia states, "2000 Mules," did $1.5 million at the box office. It also reports, Salem Media, which was an executive producer of the film claimed it earned over $10 million during the first week of streaming and was viewed over one million times.  

Of course it was. 

The conspiracy business is big. The TV show, X-files proved it. Luckily most of us knew the series was fiction. That would be unlike, "2000 Mules," which was billed as a documentary and fits right in with the cracked quasi religion of warblers like John Rich.   

Can you say, Yee-haw? 

Yeah, I'd rather not either.

Ladies and gentlemen, the bar is open.

1-22-23

Soloman Pena Takes a Shot at Elective Office; After He Loses He Takes a Few More

 Last November, Soloman Pena ran as the republican candidate for New Mexico's 14th legislative district. Like most candidates for a state legislative seat he spent a lot of his time knocking on doors, handing out campaign literature, and asking people to vote for him. Apparently he felt he was well received because by election day he was convinced he was going to win. Mr. Pena seems to have overlooked a simple truth though. When people are face to face with someone running for office, especially on their own door step, they will smile and nod and maybe even wish you good luck. In some cases they might even lie about how they're going to vote just to get your ass off of their porch and out of their face. 

This might have been particularly true in Soloman Pena's case since it was well known at the time he had spent a little over nine years in the slammer for felonies such as burglary, larceny, receiving stolen goods, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. In fact his criminal record was such that Pena's opponent, democrat Miguel Garcia went to court in an attempt to disqualify him from the race. It didn't work.

It didn't have to. When the votes were counted Mr. Garcia won by a shade over 47%. Brother Pena, despite this size of the landslide, immediately howled the election had been rigged.

It really wasn't anything new for him. He had also claimed Trump's 2020 defeat had been fixed. To prove his belief he had gone to Washington on January 6th, 2021 to participate in the madness which took place that day. Although there is no proof he actually entered the capitol building he has proudly posted photos of himself running around the streets of Washington with the rest of the Trumpistas on social media.

Soloman Pena isn't a moron. He spent three years in the navy as a medial corpsman. According to him he also spent much of his nine years in stir, "studying." It is reported he attained a degree in political science from the University of New Mexico. That doesn't mean he won't buy into all the right wing bullshit floating around out there. He has tweeted there is overwhelming proof the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Most recently he has supported Arizona's Kari Lake who says if she isn't named governor, despite losing her election, the United States will become another Venezuela.

Reports are Pena approached three different county commissioners in his district with paperwork he says proves he won last November. They all turned him away. Faced with such deep state audacity Soloman Pena did what any self respecting Trumpian loon should. He opened fire on the homes of various democratic officials. Or, at least hired someone else to. Perhaps he was able to recruit these gentlemen from a cadre of friends he made while he was studying for those nine longyears

At this time no one is sure. However, police have said Pena was unhappy with their work because they were aiming too high. So the last job he took on himself, firing several rounds into the home of state senator Linda Lopez. 

Republican leaders in New Mexico are demanding Pena be prosecuted to the fullest extent for his crimes. They don't want any part of him and his particular style of politics, thus proving , at least in New Mexico, the party of Donald Trump has retained a degree of decency, not to mention common sense in it's ranks. Although thanks to Soloman Pena we know these attributes aren't unanimous.

 In fact right now such qualities in the republican party are rare. The terrible truth is  Mr. Pena didn't do anything any number of republicans sitting in congress have at least thought about doing. Just look at some of the old tweets written by Marjorie Taylor Greene. Given their Constant vitriol. we're just lucky more of these gullible clowns haven't gone over the edge. 

Of course, on the bright side, there might be a silver lining, of sorts to this dark cloud, at least for Soloman Pena. If justice is swift and sure he will have a lot more study time on his hands in the next few years. And then who knows, if things go right, maybe he will get his master's degree. 

Hey, who says America isn't great?

1-18-23

George Santos: International Man of Mystery and Intrigue Fits Right In

New York's 3rd congressional district, which includes some of Nassau County on Long Island and a small chunk of Queens is currently represented by republican, George Anthony Devolder Santos. well, at least that's the name he is using at the moment. Several years ago, on at least one occasion he used the name, Anthony Devolder. He has also identified himself as George Devolder., and Anthony Zabrovsky. 

Indeed, the newly minted congressman from New York (or, so he tells us) has proven himself to be a man of mystery and intrigue. And like any true enigma, there is a lot we might not know about him.

What we do know, however, is he has used a fourth name other than George Santos at least once. It was down in Brazil where he stole some blank checks from an unidentified man then forged an ID with the other man's name and a photo of himself. He used the checks to pay for about $700 worth of clothes and shoes. He later admitted he did it and promised he would pay restitution. As of this moment he hasn't gotten around to doing so and the check fraud case remains open in Rio de Janeiro. 

We also know that during the previous decade Santos was evicted three times from rental properties for non payment of rent. In fact right now, thanks to a Queens County court he still owes over $12,000 to one of his former landlords. When asked about it by the New York Post, he was quoted as saying he, "completely forgot about it."

Finally, we know that prior to his election he lied about his religion, education, work history, and wealth. All that, plus the records of his campaign donations, and expenditures are such a Gordian Knot of accounting even Donald by God Trump must be envious. 

So, given what we actually do know, one of the questions on the table must be, how did this crazy fucker get nominated, then elected to a federal office? 

Let's face it, back in 2020 when he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the same seat his background seemed so sketchy half his staff quit before things even got serious. And while we can hardly blame the republicans in the district for voting him in--because you know, republicans these days will vote for anyone who claims to be to a supporter of the aforementioned, Trump--how did the democrats not nail this habitual grifter from the word go? What kind of fool did the left run?

Has everybody in the 3rd district of New York, to borrow a line from Hunter Thompson, sunk to the level of dumb beasts?

Six republican members of the house, all of them from the Empire State have publicly demanded, George Santos resign. The republican committee of Nassau County, who bought every single one of his lies without question, has also called for his resignation. 

Notably House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy hasn't. Hey, you never jettison a guy who voted for you 15 times for the speakership, especially when you will continue to need his presence on the floor every time you want to pass or kill something.  

Yes, morality and the truth are the ideal, but national politics is a reality. It might be why the more cynical of us believe George Santos, or whoever the hell he is will eventually fit right in with the rest of those malevolent republican clowns now in charge of the House.

He is, after all, one of them.

1-14-23

Running Amok in Brazil: Something Sounds Familiar as Bolsonaro Lays Low in Orlando

 Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in as President of Brazil on January first, 2019. He was and apparently still is a huge fan of Donald J. Trump. That doesn't mean he is exactly like our Don T. For instance, Bolsonaro actually served in the Brazilian army for 15 years earning the rank of captain. He was also a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, giving him some political experience before he became president. 

Last October he ran for re-election against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as, Lula. Demonstrating his affinity for all things Trump, before a single vote was cast during the election, Bolsonaro began claiming the whole process would be rigged and electronic voting machines would be the main culprits. 

Sort of sounds familiar, doesn't it?

It is unclear if, as Trump's people charged, the long dead Hugo Chavez had anything to do with their corruption, or not. It is also unknown if Mr. Bolsonaro believes Italian satellites are in on the fix, or if the Chinese provided any magical bamboo paper for the printouts.

We do know Jair Bolsonaro began screaming foul as soon as the results were in, then began agitating his supporters to somehow overturn the election. He went as far at one point to ask the military to step in, but apparently, they weren't interested. 

However, demonstrations were held all over the country. Some included blocking highways and streets with large trucks and other vehicles. Even though his support went international as people like Fox News' Tucker Carlson, and the soon to be incarcerated Steve Bannon cheered him on, democracy seemingly was winning out.  On January first, Lula was sworn in as President of Brazil.

Then on the 8th of January, two years and two days after Don Trump's treasonous thugs sacked the U.S. capitol building, pro Bolsonaro mobs did the same in Brasilia, the capital of the world's fifth largest country by area. They were more ambitious than their U.S. counter parts. The mobs hit not only the Brazilian capitol building, but the supreme court, and the presidential palace. For days beforehand the attack had been coordinated through social media. Busses were provided by unknown sources to get many of them there.

Bolsonaro turned out to be a tad craftier than his idol though. Donald Trump stood in front of God and the world on January 6th and incited the U.S. riot on television. He even promised those crazed fucks he'd be there with them. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, was no where near the scene of the crime on the 8th.

There is quite the tradition of crime bosses hanging out in Florida. It predates Trump at Mar A Lago and DeSantis in Tallahassee by decades. In fact, it goes back to at least 1929 when Al Capone sat out the St. Valentine's Day massacre in Miami. Just like Big Al, Jair Bolsonaro was far away from the action, his choice of alibi was Orlando. He is still there, reportedly in a hospital due to stomach pains which began on, you guessed it, 8 January, 2023.   

Right now there is a growing call for Joe Biden to kick Bolsonaro out of the U.S. to send him back to Brazil. It isn't known, at this moment, what action Biden will take. What is certain though is Luiz Inacio, Lula da Silva is currently kicking ass and taking names in Brasilia. Instead of taking his own sweet time hundreds of rioters have already been arrested and Lula promises every single person who participated will go to jail. That includes anyone who incited or aided them in any way.

If the United States Justice Department had the same attitude about one half of the republicans currently sitting in the House and a few in the Senate would be doing time right now. 

Well, we can always hope.

At least we can take solace in the knowledge the fascists have been turned away from the gates once more. However, they're still here and the menace they present to democracy remains. 

Yes, they might call themselves patriots, but their notion of freedom translates to political power. And if they aren't running the place, any place, they will claim it doesn't exist.  

1-10-23

Tuesday's Danse Macabre in the House

 Yesterday in the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy learned a lesson people like the French and British found out the hard way back in the 1930's. it is, no matter how many concessions you make to fascists, they will always want more. That and they will stab you in the back. It is guaranteed. 

So, what happened on Tuesday in the house was that a hard knot of ultra right wing loons effectively ground one half of the legislative branch meant to govern this nation to a halt. Talking heads everywhere spoke of the type of, "negotiations," taking place, or would have to take place. They apparently don't understand there is no negotiating with the likes of Lauren Boebert, Marjory Taylor-Greene, Paul Gosar, and the rest. They don't want to negotiate anything, because they actually want democracy to fail. 

Chaos in the house? Hell, they love chaos. It brings them to orgasmic heights. 

It is the reason why McCarthy's wear them down strategy didn't work through three excruciating ballots to determine the house speaker. In fact, as we all saw, it actually lost him a vote by the third one. 

When former speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan ran into these Nazis they had enough political sway with the democrats to convince a number of them to leave the chamber beforehand, lowering the number of votes needed to win. That might not be an option for McCarthy, because there isn't a democrat around who respects him enough. Mr. McCarthy made sure of that when he traveled to Mar A Lago after the January 6th insurrection to kiss Donald Trump's ring and ass in that order.

Those of us on the left can sit back with bags of popcorn and laugh at all this, but when the Danse Macabre resumes shortly we all know we are watching a struggle between two evils. Indeed, there is no such thing as a moderate republican anymore, there are just some so far off the rails they make crazy somehow seem sane. 

Think not? This morning Donald Trump endorsed Kevin McCarthy for the speakership. As of this moment it has made no difference whatsoever.

11:37am

1-4-23

Murders in Moscow, A Suspect in Custody, and the Internet Justice System Has Different Rules

 The Moscow, Idaho police, the Idaho State Police, FBI, and others believe Bryan Christopher Kohberger committed murder most foul early in the morning of November 13th, 2022. So does TV personality, Nancy Grace. Grace, who is the Donald Trump of crime and court reporting is the least believable of any of the above mentioned entities. If cops arrest anyone for anything she immediately tells her audience the accused is flagrantly guilty and an inhuman creature straight from hell. Her bombasts are both crude and prejudicial and the volume at which she speaks renders microphones moot.

Nancy Grace aside, during the seven, or so weeks since University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernoodle, and Ethan Chapin were brutally murdered in their barely off campus rental place, more than a few have been called suspects, although none of them by the police. 

Indeed the internet justice system, as it were, has different rules than what we are used to. During that month and a half plus of official silence the internet went wild with speculation and baseless accusations. The first to fall victim to this hysteria was third year law student Jeremy Reagan. He was a neighbor of the four victims who was interviewed on the fledgling cable network News Nation. After telling the reporter the only thing he knew was he went to bed early that night many claimed he had to be the guy. 

Personal attacks and threats began to flood Reagan's inbox. Police had initially declined to take a DNA sample and it just intensified the insanity. Finally he marched into Moscow Police Headquarters and demanded they take a sample so he could prove to the faceless mob he wasn't involved. The cops took it, cleared him again, but doubts still lingered among web gumshoes everywhere.

There were others. The unidentified guy at a food truck in the hoodie for one. A security camera at the scene showed a brief exchange between one of the victims and him mere hours before the murders happened. Amateur audiologists and lip readers became convinced Ms. Goncalves told the man to, "fuck off," or said, "fuck you," or maybe something else equally hostile. The internet became enraged when the authorities seemingly failed to follow up on their suspicions. 

Kaylee's ex-boyfriend, Jack DCoeur was offered up as a suspect after it was reported she called his cell phone numerous times without success during the moments before the murders. The theory being DuCoeur committed the crime, then called himself from her phone to establish an alibi.

Then in a truly ugly turn, Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's father, began to be eyed by some because unlike the police, he spoke to the media too much.  

Finally, Tik Tok maven, Ashley Guillard declared UI associate professor, Rebecca Scofield committed the murders, or at least ordered someone to do it. The motive for the hit remains unclear, but according to Ashley Guillard the evidence was and even now is clear. Ms. Guillard's tarot cards told her so.  Ashley Guillard has over 100,000 followers on Tik Tok and her posts about Scofield have taken over a million hits. Some in her audience have taken time from their busy days to send the professor derogatory and threatening messages. Recently Scofield filed a federal lawsuit claiming Guillard has repeatedly defamed her and damaged her reputation. Guillard's response has been, bring it on.

Hey, being noticed, no matter how expensive it might prove to be, is better than not being noticed at all.

While all this nonsense was raging the local, state, and national law enforcement people were zeroing in on Bryan Kohberger. The public's demand for every detail of the ongoing investigation be damned, other than asking for information about a white Hyundai they weren't saying a word.  Although a quirky Idaho law prevents the authorities from releasing their probable cause evidence until the suspect arrives back in state, reports are a genealogical DNA search provided the tip that caused the arrest. That and the white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene similar to one owned by young Mr. Kohberger.

The dissecting of Bryan Kohberger's mind, behavior, history, and upbringing has already begun. Rumors immediately began to swirl about his oddness, his off-putting personality, and his taste for violence. If it is determined he really did do it, the media and the rest of us will all be amazed no one in his world didn't see it coming. We are, after all, a nation of Monday morning quarterbacks, especially when it comes to mass murderers. 

Law enforcement officials have not recovered the murder weapon, which is probably at the bottom of a pond, or lake somewhere between Pullman, WA and Scranton, PA. They also haven't come up with a motive yet, unless it is part of the information the courts won't allow released at this time.

The fact is right now all we know is a suspect in in custody, but, unless you are Nancy Grace he remains innocent until proven beyond a reasonable doubt he is guilty. And, in the supreme court of the internet, you can accuse anyone of anything without a shred of evidence and there will be rubes out there who not only believe it, but act on it. 

sic vita est

1-1-23