Finally, an honest Republican--Oklahoman "Markwayne" Mullin admits he DOESN'T work for his constituents!
20 April 2017 update:
Hello again, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders!
Again, just when I think it's going to be a slow n00z day, it ain't. Imma get right tuit: a few headlines and a few moar m00bies.
Scroll all the way down to the peas if you wanna follow me on Twitter...and don't forget to celebrate the Pastafarian holy day tomorrow--we can all celebrate surviving another week (assuming that we do, in fact, survive that long).
Also don't forget--I lurves ya madleh!
- Dot Calm's shadow
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Headlines & commentary
tRump claimed we were ready to take out North Korea
--we weren't even within a thousand miles. What a great message to send our friends and allies: "Don't trust a word tRump says!"
Page, Manafort, and Stone are the ones the FBI wants to talk to. Not Flynn, not RUDEy (Doody? Ghouly?) Giuliani. Oh sure, Flynn and Giuliani desperately want to flip, but the FBI doesn't need them! I hope that means that the FBI will be prosecuting them to the full extent of the law! FOR TREASON!
Randi Rhodes would like to remind us tRump is the only world leader among our allies who congratulated Erdogan on devolving Turkey's democracy into a dictatorship. Why? Because tRump has buildings in Turkey.
HuffPo Hill would like to remind you that Bill O'Reilly had a better 4/20 than you did. Remember his $25 million golden shower parachute? Yeah, that li'l thang. Y'gno what's really sad? BillO murdered Dr. George Tiller with his own hands, as definitively as if he'd personally pulled the trigger. BillO gave us the teabaggers, who blame Black, brown, and poor people for the many evils done to our society by the rich. BillO created tRump and gave him to us as so-called president. And it wasn't even his career of serially harassing and abusing women that got him fired--oh no, it was all of us bitching to his advertisers and boycotting them. It was money, not wrongdoing, that got BillO canned to the tune of a severance check that you or I would need to hit the lottery ever to see the likes of. Smh. But at least we DID get the racist, sexist asshole fired, and that IS something! Yay, Resistance--w00t!!
Who will replace BillO on FUX Noise? How about Michael Flynn? He can do it from his prison cell if they don't hang him for TREASON. Maybe tRump will give his good "he did nothing wrong" buddy BillO spicey sphincter's job so that ol' sphincter-boi can go back to a job he's qualified for, like wearing the creepy Easter Bunny costume.
MAGA: Millionaire Asshole Golfing Again
As tweeted by yours truly in response to @Thom_Hartmann lamenting the GOP's priorities of money and poisoning kids: "Poisoning kids is VERY important to GOP--poisoning adults, too. We should all be walking around in safe wombs."
As tweeted by yours truly in response to @Thom_Hartmann lamenting the GOP's priorities of money and poisoning kids: "Poisoning kids is VERY important to GOP--poisoning adults, too. We should all be walking around in safe wombs."
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Choo choo time headlines
BuzzFeed: 23 Things LGBT People Wish They'd Actually Learned In Sex Ed
...Very enlightening list for those unfamiliar with the unique challenges of not being straight and cis-gendered.
The Guardian: John Oliver on Donald Trump: 'A bully in the White House'
The Guardian: Devastation and a war that rages on: visiting the valley hit by the Moab attack
...Still no civilian casualty counts. Hunh.
Reuters: Exclusive: Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 U.S. election - documents
...And if you're wondering why there aren't very many choo choo time headlines today, it's because my thumbs are totes addicted to RESISTBOT! Resist, resist, resist! I got more confetti yesterday, w00t!!
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"Democracy Now!" headlines
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Moar m00bies!
Holy crap--climate change could literally blow up Russia! Friends, have you ever heard of a pingo? Walp, an alternative pingo is like a pingo but full of explosive methane. Melting the permafrost will unseal both the benign pingos and the more dangerous methane-filled alternative pingos. This vid is great right up until about 8:03--the rest is just yammering and BS. Gotta love me for sharing a li'l ol' PSA with y'all cuz I respect your time.
Friends, I had the good fortune of catching a full episode of Randi yesterday shortly after it had been live-streamed, but YouTube took it down. Here's a clip
--buy a stinkin' podcast to see the rest!
Here's a clip that was posted today. There's a live show from today that you might be able to catch if you hurry.
I think all the BillO send-offs have been great, but Randi Rhodes's and Trevor Noah's have got to be my two faves.
Good for a chuckle
Ya wanna bet he's up to his shifty eyebawls in Russian shit?
Ugh.
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18 April 2017 post:
Greetings, fellow Dot Calm Readers, Freedom Fighters, and Truth Crusaders!
Friends, I have been behind the 8-ball for so long that I've forgotten what it feels like to be on top of things for this blawg...
Here, we finally had a slow n00z day, and what do you think CNN did? Bring up just a few of the tRump scandals that have gotten overrun by the constant tsunami of even worse tRump scandals?
Nooooo...
Nope, they shoved their thumb up their collective ass and sat on it all day when they could have made hay while the sun shines.
Why, there's a handy list of tRump/Republican scandals right here they could have used...
Here are just a few for starters:
Three individuals who were assaulted at a Trump Kentucky rally in March 2016 named Donald Trump in a lawsuit against the two protesters that physically assaulted them because they claim that Trump encouraged supporters to "get them out of here." Trump has claimed immunity from the suit now that he is President, but he is on shaky legal footing because he was not President at the time of the incident.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that Donald Trump will not release a list of people who meet with him at the White House to the public. This breaks with the Obama Administration's policy of releasing the names of all people who visited Obama in the Oval Office outside of those deemed too sensitive for national security reasons.
Trump Endeavor 12 LLC, a company owned by Donald Trump, was ordered to pay $315,484.87 to a paint supply company after a judge found the it was at fault for not paying the paint company after they completed renovations on one of Donald Trump's golf resorts.
The Trump Administration said that they will not release the logs of individuals who visit the White House or meet with Donald Trump, reversing a policy set up by President Obama.
Donald Trump bragged to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he just bombed Syria while they were eating the dessert portion of their dinner. Trump told an interviewer that the two were eating "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you've ever seen" when he told President Xi Jinping about the missile strike. Trump then claimed that President Xi Jinping was silent after being told about it.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions called immigrants who cross the border without documentation "filth" and said that the Trump Administration will do whatever it can get them out of the United States. He then said that “[t]his is a new era. This is the Trump era.”
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to suggest that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was worse than Hitler because he said that Hitler never used chemical weapons. Spicer seemed to gloss over the fact that Hitler is responsible for using chemical weapons to kill millions of people in gas chambers during World War II. Spencer was then asked to clarify his remarks and only made matters worse by claiming that Hitler wasn't using them on his own people, but was merely bringing people to "Holocaust centers" to kill them.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from his affair with a top aide. Bentley resigned after admitting that he failed to file a major contribution report and knowingly using campaign contributions for personal use.
Donald Trump's "favorite business" is shutting down after numerous models refused to work for the agency. Trump Model Management, Donald Trump's modeling agency, told investors that they are officially closing down for an undisclosed reasons, but numerous sources say it is because models are refusing to work for it due to Donald Trump's divisive politics.
Christian values proponent, and republican Alabama Governor, Robert Bentley, resigned after being charged and pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges relating to an alleged affair with his aide that he had at first denied. The alleged affair became public following the release of inappropriate phone conversations with his aide by his ex-wife.
K.T. McFarland, a senior adviser to Donald Trump, was removed from the National Security Council principals committee after a reorganization gave National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster more authority to shape the council in his image. NSC Adviser H. R. McMaster and McFarland were often at odds and Trump gave him the authority to remove her after McMaster insisted on having more control of the council.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and Donald Trump confidant secretly worked with two White House officials to release cherry picked information in an attempt to impede the House investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 Presidential election. Nunes secretly went to the White House to get the information, held a press conference about the new "information" without informing the other members of the committee, then went back to the White House to present what he "found" to President Trump. Update: Nunes has recused himself from any House investigation on Russia's involvement in the 2016 election.
Presidential Senior Adviser Steve Bannon was removed from his position on the National Security Council principals committee after a reorganization gave National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster more authority to shape the council in his image. Bannon's original seat on the council drew concern from many areas of government due to his lack of expertise in international affairs and political position within Trump's White House.
Donald Trump praised Bill O'Reilly and said that he doesn't " think Bill did anything wrong" one day after it was reported that Bill O'Reilly and Fox News reached a $13 million dollar settlement with five women who accused O'Reilly of sexual harassment and intimidation. The lawsuit claimed that O'Reilly “would create a bond with some women by offering advice and promising to help them professionally [and] he then would pursue sexual relationships with them, causing some to fear that if they rebuffed him, their careers would stall.” O'Reilly denied the accusations, but he and Fox News still settled the lawsuit because, in O'Reilly's own words, he is "a father who cares deeply for my children and who would do anything to avoid hurting them in any way.
Judge Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump's pick for an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, is accused of plagiarizing extended portions of his 2006 book "The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia.” Gorsuch apparently copied a long passage from an Indiana Law Journal piece with minor edits and without giving attribution. He also had a footnote "that’s replicated verbatim from the article, down to the exact same use of ellipses in citing a pediatrics textbook."
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was photographed carrying plans that propose to track "aliens" from high risk areas and to create "extreme vetting questions for high-risk aliens” while heading into a private meeting with Donald Trump. Kobach is one of the leading contenders for leading the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump Administration and would be the lead person in implementing a plan like that if he were to be confirmed to the position. Update: A federal judge has ordered Kobach to hand over any notes he was photographed with during his meeting with then President-elect Trump.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blamed President Obama for a chemical attack Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out on his own citizens. Spicer suggested the attack was a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution."
Donald Trump's son tweeted his praise for the author of the "PizzaGate" by suggesting that he should receive a Pulitzer Prize. The author, Mike Cernovich, is responsible for a conspiracy article that claimed the Clinton's were running a child sex ring out of a litany of restaurants on the east cost and became the catalyst for a disturbed man to enter a pizza store in Washing, D.C. with his assault rifle in an attempt to save the women.
Donald Trump secretly signed an updated version of his supposedly blind trust that allows him to withdraw money "at his request." The updated terms Trump signed by Trump says that the "Trustees shall distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request, as the Trustees deem necessary for his maintenance, support or uninsured medical expenses, or as the Trustees otherwise deem appropriate."
Sebastian Gorka, a top national security adviser to Donald Trump, supported a right wing Hungarian militia that was outlawed by the Hungarian government for human rights violations.
...and you thought these people had no integrity!
But I digress.
CNN must wonder why, after hiring FUX Noise rejects and giving credence to trumpanzees, they have zero credibility...
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Hey, tRumptard snowflakes,
Imma remind you:
...in contrast,
the election ISN'T over
if your boi CHEATED
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As I mentioned in the title of this post,
That's right, folks--like all good Republicans, ol' "Markwayne" represents only himself, privileged boi that he is.
That's why he got a mad on when his constituents took him to task for not representing them during a recent town hall. He huffed and puffed and pouted and stamped his ickle feetsies because, heck, what did these smelly peasants want--wasn't it enough for them that he was gracing their lives with his presence and sanctifying the air for them by breathing it first?
How dare they demand he do the job they hired him to do!
If bitter ol' "Markwayne" did represent his constituents, he'd appreciate that his $174,000 congressional salary comes from his constituents' taxes--not from his own businesses, trust funds, grift, or whatever else he does to pad his pockets.
At least "Markwayne" is man enough to admit that he doesn't give a shit about the people he supposedly represents. At least he's man enough to shout his disdain at them.
Of course, confusion over whom Republicans actually represent is not new...
...When he was in the Department of Justice, Neil Gorsuch "forgot" that his client was the American people--he thought that his client was the Bush administration, that sadistic bunch of torture-mongers.
...Devin Nunes "forgot" that his constituents are his first responsibility--he thought he worked for tRump.
...and don't all of the tRumps have...erm...misconceptions over what government is, what its role in society is, what public service means, and what, in fact, service in general means?
Friends, we all know that Republicans are magical thinkers, divorced from reality and its crazy little features like cause and effect. We can but hope that crap like this is enough to wake up just enough tRump voters to stop voting against their own self interests for a change.
Even if the Peasants for Plutocrats party voters just stayed home during the next election, it would help...as in, it would help THEM...and us.
I know it's a long-shot, but I can hope, can't I?
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tRump's deregulation = chemical warfare on YOU
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Melania is a Russian spy
Hasta be...
she always looks, acts, and talks
so WEIRDLY...!
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Just a few headlines for y'all today...
The Guardian: Stop swooning over Justin Trudeau. The man is a disaster for the planet
...Apparently, I'm not the only one who noticed. Bill McKibben is founder of 350.org and a man we all need to take seriously if we value life on this planet.
Mediaite: Donald Trump Jr. ‘Likely’ Paid $50k+ by Russian Allies for October Speech
...And don't forget that both "boys" talk with "daddy" all day every day about how his businesses are going!
New York Daily News: Ivanka Trump won China trademarks while dining with its president
...Like the headline above, Imma put these here in case you didn't think there were enough tRump scandals in the list above!
American NewsX: Traces Of Roundup Weed Killer Found In Breakfast Cereals & Snack Foods
...Oh, snap--this apparently includes products like Cheerios...I have a box of those in my house right now!! Beware, though, friends--don't get your knickers in a twist about no conspiracy theories: according to Snopes, there was no Monsanto effort to quash any government probes or cover up the findings--nor is it an established fact that glyphosphate is carcinogenic...not that I personally think it's a good idea to eat weed killer. In other words, take anything you see from people like the "food babe" Vani Hari or Joseph Mercola with a rather large grain of salt. If you really want to know what's going on, Snopes early and often and check out SciBabe, with her awesome if partial list of bullshit websites.
The Guardian: 'Like a slow death': families fear pesticide poisoning after Trump reverses ban
...Like I said, eating weed killer is never a good idea...and this shit kills pets and children. My dog-loving neighbors won't let that crap anywhere near their lawns--they also opt for play-sand rather than doggie-paw-burning salt to deal with winter ice.
Newsweek: Is InfoWars' Alex Jones Actually a Performance Artist?
...Yup--more yummy right-wing scandal! Alex Jones is embroiled in vigorous divorce hearings, and his soon-to-be-if-not-already-ex-wife is suing for custody of their three children, complaining about Jones's broadcasts being done in the house, with the kids around, and Jones's inappropriate language, behavior, ripping his shirt off (eww!! Now there's an image that'll come between me and my sleep!), etc. So Alex Jones's lawyer says that Alex Jones is a fraud--a "performance artist" who doesn't believe a word he screams into the microphone...that it's all just a great big happy clappy show for entertainment! Hum...does tRump know this?
Talking Points Memo: Voting Equipment Stolen In Georgia A Few Days Before Special US House Election
...As always, Republicans know that they can't win without cheating....
The Hill: CNN's Jeffrey Lord: Think of Trump as Martin Luther King of Healthcare
...And, like I said, CNN wonders why it has zero credibility these days...
MSNBC: Trump cited Turkey 'conflict of interest' in Bannon interview
...Teaser: "Rachel Maddow shares a clip of a December 2015 interview between Donald Trump and Steve Bannon on Breitbart News in which Trump explains how his political view of Turkey is complicated by his business interests there."
The Guardian: Nuclear war has become thinkable again – we need a reminder of what it means
...Scary, scary shit, my friends. I fear for the children.
The Guardian: Melania Trump nudges Donald during Easter egg roll national anthem
...Because it's so hard to remember to put your hand over your heart when you don't have one that you need
Washington Post: Trump signs hat, throws it back into crowd at Easter Egg Roll
...In a total dick move, tRump takes a kid's ball cap, autographs it, and--instead of giving it back to the kid
--throws it into the crowd as the kid screams, "NOOOOOOOOO!" I guess it's never too soon for a young tRump supporter to learn the lesson that tRump taketh but doth not giveth back.
Mercury News: 'Calexit' campaign dropped as leader bolts for Russia
...That's right, friends--Randi Rhodes called it: Russia wants to weaken the US, including by breaking it up. I guess California is going to have to stand and fight like the rest of us. Luckily for us all, they're up to it.
NBC News: Guess Who Came to Dinner With Flynn and Putin
...Her initials are JILL freakin' STEIN. Remember when she and the Greens supported tRump over Hillary, and I said I'd never EVER vote Green? I wonder how all the Green party voters are enjoying all of tRump's environmental and clean energy rollbacks, since this is what they all voted for...!
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M00bies!
So sad. I don't for one moment believe she committed suicide. I'm betting it was a hate crime.
In case you weren't sure what
Oh gawd, these are brill...
She's b-a-a-a-a-a-ack!
I love when straight-man Michael Che can't even keep from laughing...
Oh, snap...apparently, ban'em did just that...snap. Not that we ever doubted for a moment that every last loon in tRump's swamp is unstable...
Tighten that noose, o FBI, CIA, and the rest of you--lasso this asshole before he gets us ALL killed!
May the French learn from AmeriKKKa and Brexit--may they live up to their superiority complex, please!
The immigrant nudges the heartless to put his hand over where his heart should be...
tRump is getting crazIER...
Last treat for the day!
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Well, friends, that's it for today. Until we meet again, don't forget to RESIST with Resistbot:
text "Resist" to 50409
...and check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website so you can protect your online privacy:
https://www.eff.org/
...and don't forget to read Dot Calm's shadow's favorite independent sources of news and information:
Randi Rhodes's Homework page
DCReport.org
MaddowBlog
Michael Moore's FB page -- go here first and do whatever activism he suggests
Daily Kos
AlterNet
Democracy Now!
Democratic Underground
Boing Boing
Vox
Conservatives are Destroying our Future
Conservative Clown Car
God, the Good Lord Above
...skip the media outlets in the boycott list unless you want trump propaganda. And TELL their advertisers WHY you are boycotting those media outlets!
On the lighter side:
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
And check out these great channels:
Randi Rhodes Air Force
Keith Olbermann: The Resistance
Thom Hartmann
Late Night with Seth Meyers
LastWeekTonight
Secular Talk
The Young Turks
The Thinking Atheist
MisterDeity
NonStampCollector
Also, don't forget to add these to your Twitter feed if you haven't already:
@joyannreid
@georgetakei
And now you can add me, too!
@dotcalmsshadow
And now you can add me, too!
@dotcalmsshadow
Peas, friends. Take care of yourselves for me. Trust me--you're worth it! And go have a Fireball and some chocolate while you still can, will ya? Time is short now that the mouth of
- Dot Calm's shadow
Consider the preemptive Blogger phuqued-up phormatting disclaimer to be in effect. Grrr.
-- Dot Calm's shadow
posted by Dot Calm @ 7:56 PM
