Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson Take on the Transgender Terrorists and the Real Problem

 Audrey Elizabeth Hale was nuts. She knew it, her parents knew it, and now we all know it. Before opening fire Monday at the Presbyterian sponsored Covenant School,  she legally bought seven firearms from five different Nashville gun stores. While she was purchasing the weapons she was in the care of a physician who was treating her for mental health issues. Her parents, worried about her condition, had been relieved when they thought she had gotten rid of the one and only gun  they believed she owned.

Does any of this sound familiar? 

Let's see, the shooter is mentally disturbed, but unbeknownst to parents and doctors running around legally stockpiling weapons and ammunition while preparing to carry out mass murder. The killer is completely unencumbered by any federal, state, or local laws from doing so. In fact, in certain places like Tennessee, lawmakers are quite proud this sort of insanity can take place without interference from authorities. When he, or in this case she opens fire the nation reels in terror while thoughts and prayers are offered up by those who actually think the answer to the carnage is more guns.

When confronted by the media about the sheer number of killings and asked why mass school shootings plague America like no other place in the world, they respond as republican congressman Tim Burchett did during an interview yesterday, "Other countries aren't as free as we are." 

Really?

Other than being able to go out and buy as many military grade assault weapons as we want exactly how are we more free than say, the Canadians?  How much more free are we than the British, or the Swedes, or the Dutch?  

But hey, we've covered all this ground before. What was different Monday was Audrey Hale personally identified as transgender and referred to herself with masculine pronouns. That was all it took for slugs like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson to steer the conversation away from gun control to the latest threat to the American way of life--Transgender terrorists.

 Greene, became so worked up about the subject she had one of her Twitter accounts suspended for repeatedly posting about an impending, "Trans Day of Vengeance," sponsored by that great right wing bugaboo, ANTIFA.  She has spent much of the last 24 hours, or so complaining to Elon Musk about censorship by woke individuals in his employ who are labeling her tweets as both disinformation and hate speech.

Carlson, on the other hand, hasn't had any problems broadcasting the dire  threat of violence the transgender community presents to Christians everywhere. According to Tuck, the horror at Covenant school was just the opening salvo in this new conspiracy. He went so far as to say National Public Radio is advising trans listeners to arm themselves. In his words, "The trans movement, it turns out, is the mirror image of Christianity and therefore its natural enemy. People who believe they're God can't stand to be reminded they're not."

While I'll admit my contact with the local trans community is extremely limited, I've never heard any of them declare themselves to be God Almighty. Such boasts are normally reserved for leaders of doomsday cults--you know--like Donald Trump.

In addition, both Carlson and Greene have ham handedly hinted the hormones Hale received during her transition to a male and the unnamed drugs prescribed to her by her doctors caused her deadly rampage. In other words the problem isn't deranged people legally buying guns, it is medical professionals and the witches brew of chemicals they feed their patients. 

Indeed, don't get rid of the weapons, just ban science. 

And transgendered people. 

And anyone who thinks all this gun violence shit in America has gone too far.

They are, after all, the real problem.

3-29-23

Donald Trump Makes it Clear

 What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed & also known that potential death and destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country? Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely hates the USA!

Late night social media post by Donald John Trump, 45th President of the United States

All this maniacal stuff started last Saturday when Don T predicted he would be arrested on Tuesday. At the end of his prophetic message that day he called for protests and pleaded with his supporters to take back the country. When neither event happened on the appointed day something inside Mr. Trump's noggin seemed to come unmoored. In fact, given what he has said about Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg and others it isn't unreasonable to conclude the former president has gone full bore bat shit crazy.

What else can you say about a man who led up to last night's message by calling the New York DA, "satanic," an, "animal," while writing, "OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED AS THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL." Not to mention posting, "THIS IS GESTAPO, THIS IS RUSSIA AND CHINA BUT WORSE. DISGRACEFUL."     

In the past, Mr. Trump has been likened to a mafia boss, all lawyered up, backed by big money--a hulking well dressed menace who doesn't need to stoop to overt threats of physical violence. However, in all honesty, this past week his language isn't so much akin to Vito Corleone's, but rather like Sonny Barger's the guy who led the Hells Angels into infamy. 

In reality Trump's behavior has been so erratic lately it is hard to tell whether his anger has been fueled by the prospect of an indictment, or the lack of being hit with one. After all, his increasingly vitriolic--even for him--name calling appears to be an effort to provoke Bragg into action. Obviously no one knows what exactly is going through the Trumpian mind. Maybe he simply feels it is unseemly for someone to claim martyrdom then not get persecuted--that it takes the shine off the whole halo thing.

What we do know is house republicans are doing everything in their power to make Donald Trump happy. Alvin Bragg has received notifications from various committees demanding that he stop what he is doing immediately so they can grill him about...well, whatever they want. These demands are aa bit of stretch since Mr. Bragg and the charges he might bring against Donald Trump have nothing to do with the federal government, or federal statute. Bragg's investigation and the grand jury involved are strictly state affairs. Unfortunately, as we know, the GOP has never paid attention to such details.

We also know that while Richard M. Nixon was as corrupt and venal as any human on the planet he never called for violence in the streets to achieve his political goals. It was a line he and every other president in the history of the republic have been unwilling to cross. For all of them it was what separated us from the beasts and chaos.

Tragically, Donald Trump is a beast and he feeds on chaos. This truth has never been clearer than during the past six days.

3-24-23

Donald Trump Sucks Up All the Air Time Again

Obviously Donald Trump decided this past week that it was time to, as they say, pump up the volume. On Thursday he posted a video which showed him declaring, "Our foreign policy establishment keeps trying to pull the world into conflict with nuclear armed Russia based on the lie that Russia  represents our greatest threat. But the greatest threat to western civilization today is not Russia. It's probably more than anything else ourselves and some of the horrible, USA hating people that represent us."

When that didn't raise the temperature enough, on Saturday he posted on his social media site that he would be arrested this coming Tuesday. He demanded his supporters to not only protest, but take their country back--presumably from those horrible USA hating people. 

That was the button he was looking for. Democrats howled in outrage and fear while republicans in congress and points beyond rose to defend their persecuted leader. The response was so overwhelming, within 24 hours everyone, both left and right, understood exactly who is in charge of what passes for the 21st century GOP. And his name isn't Ron DeSantis. 

Of course the NYC DA's office who is supposed to make the arrest seemed as surprised as the rest of  us by Trump's post. That doesn't mean they aren't going to indict him, but just not as early as Tuesday. After all if you are going after a former president of the United States you had better make sure you have the goods on him. 

Professional republican war monger, John Bolton said as much. During an appearance on CNN he claimed if Trump was indicted, but found innocent he would win the 2024 presidential election.  Marjorie Taylor Greene and Steve Bannon went further. They both promised a landslide Trump victory in the event he is indicted. The verdict wouldn't matter. An indictment is all it will take. None of them considered winning the nomination a problem for The Big Orange Guy.

The major threat right now, if you listen to the talking heads on MSNBC and CNN is the immanent threat of street violence. There is a little uncertainty about where it would happen, but memories of January 6th are clear. Chatter on pro Trump on line forums seem to support the notion things could turn violent. How much muscle is actually behind the talk is questionable.

A lot of the Oath Keeper and Proud Boy types have to remember their boy Don J. left them hanging after January 6th. Many are doing time, or awaiting trial. How many of those left are willing to make another full scale assault on Trump's behalf has to be problematical. As does their willingness for personal sacrifice.

It may not matter. This whole week might have just been Donald Trump creating a media and political crisis of sorts. Listen, that ego must be massaged and given a boost every now and then. How better to do it than provoking every republican from Keven McCarthy to local trailer park Barbies into jumping as high as they can just for you. Not to mention causing the opposition media to talk about you and what you might do rather than what Joe Biden has actually accomplished during his presidency.

Yes, suck up all the air time, baby. It doesn't matter what they are saying about you. What counts is they aren't talking about anyone else. 

Hey, as we all know far too well. it has worked before.

sic vita est

3-19-23 

The Lesson Americans Never Learn

Americans are an odd lot. When times are good we completely forget what made them good. Within years of overcoming some great crisis we toss out all those things which rid us of it  In short we as a nation have the collective attention span and memory of fruit flies grown fat from over ripe plums.

The latest example of this peculiar national quirk occurred last week when Silicone Valley Bank collapsed so quickly it took the breath away. It was a magic trick even more accomplished than those of Penn and Teller of Las Vegas fame. On Tuesday all that money was there, but by Thursday it had disappeared. Poof--all gone.

Of course one of the great advantages American bankers have is not only do the vast majority of Americans not understand the banking industry, but hell, we don't even want to understand it. All we know is we put the cash in and by God, when we want to we can get it out. The aversion to banking knowledge is so great, in fact, most of us would rather read the owner's manual of a riding lawn mower we don't own than bank regulations.

That doesn't mean we don't take notice when banks fall. Anything that rattles the financial stability of the nation does. This is especially true of us who have roots here in the middle of the country which reach back a few generations. Indeed, unless your family was extraordinarily lucky odds are someone a branch, or so over, in the family tree had a horror story, or two to tell about the great depression, bank foreclosures, failures, and lost savings. 

In theory those days are gone now. Most of us are saved by the F.D.I.C. which was established by Franklin Roosevelt in order to prevent the average depositor from losing everything because some jughead in a suit screwed the pooch with your money.

Which brings us to the failure of Silicone Valley Bank. What the fuck happened? How did SVB come to this point of failing? As with anything these day it depends on who you ask. 

Way back in 2008, under republican George W. Bush, the people who ran big banks went a little funny in the head and managed to blow an unimaginable pile of assets. Their failure was so monumental the entire nation seemed on the verge of a second great depression. This caused the feds to intervene in order to bail these institutions and the greed heads who ran them out. 

After Barack H. Obama became president he pushed through some modest regulations which were designed to keep small and moderate size banks safe from idiots. You know, people who were willing to risk other people's money on sucker bets with odds so fantastical they made investing in the power ball drawing seem sane by comparison.

Conservatives and banking types from coast to coast moaned and groaned about the regulations. However, once Obama was gone and Donald J. Trump was in office they saw a chance to get rid of them. In 2018, after SVB CEO, Greg Becker, among others, lobbied hard for the regulations to be lifted Don Trump did just that.  

Now if you listen to republicans, especially the hard core MAGAs, Trump's deregulation of banks--and railroad safety measures for that matter--have nothing to do with any recent disasters, financial, or environmental. According to Fox News talking heads SVB failed because it was a woke institution. In other words its board of directors was so busy promoting and investing in high risk liberal projects they forgot to watch the bottom line.

The outrageous charge steps over into surrealism when one realizes a chief venture capitalist associated with SVB is Peter Thiel. Brother Thiel is a MAGA supporter and contributor who has funneled millions into pro Trump political action committees over the years. Theil's involvement in the bank was so deep there are reports floating around which say his actions early in the week actually began the run which doomed the bank.

With all the mounting evidence showing their policies and guys fouled up, no wonder the rubes at Fox are invoking the woke boogie man. You have to divert attention away from the truth, right? In today's journalism that's what happens.

But hey, Fox News willingness to lie aside, in the final analysis the entire SVB mess has proven once again capitalism is far too fragile to be left in the hands of capitalists. They will fuck it up every time. Despite history, it is the lesson Americans never learn. 

3-15-23

mcc

Tuck Rewrites History Just Because He Can

 Tucker Carlson's idea of what tourists are appears to differ a tad from what many of us believe. His concept of what tourists do also diverges from the commonly held perceptions of how they act, or at least should act.

Well, some fundamentals must change when you take on the Orwellian task of completely rewriting history, like ol' Tuck has. As the song says, you have to make everyone believe,, "...every cop is a criminal. And all the sinners saints." And that's tough when millions upon millions watched as Capitol Police Officers were maced, peeper sprayed, and had their heads bashed in with clubs and the occasional fire extinguisher. 

In the face such well documented evidence one has to wonder why Tucker Carlson is doing this massive editing job? What does he hope to gain from it? He certainly isn't doing it to exonerate Donald Trump and while he might seem to mourn for those whose only crime was sitting at Nancy Pelosi's desk, he knows the very act of them sitting there was indeed a crime. 

We do know our man Tucker has an inordinate interest in the price of Fox's stock Some of his texts prove as much. Perhaps stock options are part of his pay package and he is desperate to protect his investment.  Winning back the extremists from News Max and OAN might just help shore up the old bottom line. 

We do know all those touristas were there on January 6th because of Donald Trump's lies about the election results. We also know Fox and Carlson perpetuated those lies, despite knowing how insane the allegations of fraud were and are. Is Tucker Carlson trying to minimize the crimes of others because he drove them to commit those felonies in the first place?

Oh please. A man who was a happy member of The Dan White Society while in college doesn't feel guilt about anything. (Dan White was a former San Francisco supervisor who assassinated Mayor George Moscone and fellow supervisor and gay activist, Harvey Milk.)

Yes, the feeling here is something else is afoot and as always the answer is spectacularly simple. Tucker Carlson is publicly altering history just so we will pay attention to--that's right--Tucker Carlson. We may hate him, but by God, we are talking about him. He might be lying out his ass, producing the basest sort of propaganda, and damaging democracy forever, but ratings are up, baby. 

At least Marjorie Taylor Greene actually hates democracy. She does what she does in order to destroy it. It is becoming increasingly evident that's not the case with Tucker Carlson. He does what he does simply because he can get away with it while people watch.

Hey, that's the way it is when you've lived a life of entitlement. You don't become a real journalist, or a real historian Hell, you don't even become a real politician. No all that shit is too hard. What happens is you end up being a two bit subway vandal with a never ending supply of spray paint.

sic vita est

3-10-23

A Lost Episode of St. Elsewhere and the Thrill was Gone at CPAC

 A week ago today I continued a long tradition among the men of The House Howard by having a heart attack. Unlike many family traditionalists, my brother included, I survived the incident and am carrying on so to speak. As always, to what end remains unknown at this time

While I was mired in what could be described as a lost episode of the 1980;s medical drama , "St. Elsewhere,"  conservatives were gathering at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland. Well, at least some of them anyways. 

All reports say Donald Trump owned the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference The annual get together which features all manner of ultra right speakers, merchandise and hallucinatory aids, returned to the D.C. suburbs after a two year stay in Orlando. As usual the highlight was a straw poll taken among attendees to determine who they'd prefer to be the republican nominee for president. 

Brother Don won the poll, overwhelmingly, to no one's surprise. That's what happens when only one other major candidate for the highest office in the land shows up. This shocking lack of attendance by other hopefuls can be explained in one of two ways. Either all the others didn't have the guts to face the big man, or his supporters. Or they simply felt they had someplace more productive to be.

This concept that there was a more productive place to be rather than the CPAC convention turned out to be Donald' Trump's big problem this past weekend. Not only did the other candidates have somewhere else to be, but so did a lot of right wing movers, shakers, and foot soldiers. Rather than packed halls and roaring mobs' speakers were greeted with half filled rooms and crowd responses only a level, or two above tepid. If this CPAC conference was designed to signal a triumphant return of Donald Trump to undisputed king of all media and things republican it failed. Neither the people, or their hearts were there. They had all seen it before. The thrill was, a t long last, gone. 

Not even Trump at his darkest could raise them from their stupor. At the end of a two hour harangue on Sunday he said, "In 2016 I declared I'm your voice. Today I add:  I am your warrior, I am your justice, and to those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution." In 2016 that line would have brought the house down. Sunday it received polite applause.

Unfortunately one weekend doesn't rid us of Donald Trump. He remains the only republican candidate out there with an established base in each state. Depending where one is, Trump doesn't have to do a single thing to earn upwards of 30% of the GOP vote. And, as we've seen, if Trump is the nominee the remainder of the party will close behind him like a phalanx of Spartans on meth.

In addition, Trump is quite possibly insane enough to claim he is the nominee no matter what the outcome of republican primaries nationwide. In act it is too easy to envision an alternate republican convention with alternate delegates all voting for Donald John Trump. Third party? Who needs a third party? Republicans are whoever Donald Trump says they are. 

Yes, Trump might be a wounded beast, but he is still a dangerous one. And, as the media was quick to point out the last two days, still the one to beat.

3-7-23