Are We Finally Heading Towards A GOP Extinction-Level Event?

Another year, another moment closer to... the collapse of the Republican Party?

...so much winning, amirite?

Last year, I wrote that we, as a country, needed a Republican Extinction-Level Event.  As it turned out, the Republicans won.  Donald John Trump ascended to the Presidency.  The Republicans had run the table.  They controlled the Presidency, the majority in both houses in Congress, and the majority in the Supreme Court.  So, it would seem that the Republicans finally have their mandate to push whatever God-forsaken agenda through that they see fit, right?  The prophecies of Grover Norquist had reached fulfillment, and the Republicans finally found an idiot who had enough working digits to sign whatever legislation is thrown in front of him, right?

Right?  RIGHT, CHARLIE MURPHY?

Continue to rest in peace, Charlie.  I'll take it from here.

It seems that despite Dolt 45's promises of much bigly winning, he's having a bit of a challenge getting his agenda passed.  And by having a bit of challenge, what I mean is that his agenda is a veritable dumpster fire.

His plans to repeal and replace ObamaCare?  Crashed and burned.

Travel bans?  Judges keep laying the smack down.

The Wall?  Don't make me laugh.

In the Senate, the GOP had a razor-thin margin, and could not afford to lose anyone.  John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins put the goon hands to the repeal procedure.  McCain seems to be on a path to redeem himself and claim the mantle of "maverick" that he never really earned.  And now, a bigger update.

Two Republican Senators are not running for their seats again, and they are going HAM on Dolt 45.  Senator Bob Corker (R - TN) has invoked images of a day care with his tweets to the President, and I would never be a fan of Corker.  But his hashtag #AlertTheDaycareStaff in response to a Trumpian Level Covfefe Tweetstorm is pretty darned funny.  And Jeff Flake of Arizona is retiring and is having his own come-to-Jesus moment by condemning the President in no uncertain terms.

As a side note, a couple of things:  

1)  Neither of these guys are heroes.  They both voted for all of Dolt 45's cabinet choices, except for one each.  And these two gentlemen are speaking up NOW, since they decided that they have nothing to lose.  To use a favorite analogy of mine, it would be like Dr. Victor Frankenstein openly stating that the monster is out of control.

2)  Both of these gentlemen, as well as the Republican Party, helped to build Trump.  They supported his agenda, voted for his cabinet picks, and would have supported Trump's agenda if Trump himself wasn't about as appealing as onions disguised as taffy apples.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

But what are the long-term consequences?  Is it a victory for human oxygen thief and white supremacist propaganda chieftain Steve Bannon?  After all, he can use his connections to add harder-right Republicans to the mix.  Will it be a victory for the Democrats?  Only if the Democrats can mobilize and take advantage, even though these are red states.  Will other Republicans join Flake and Sessions and publicly condemn Dolt 45?  Will we have to wait until after the GOP tries to pass their disastrous tax cut plans for the obscenely rich?

Only time will tell.

But not too much time, since Dolt 45 seems to want to push us ever closer to nuclear midnight... as of now, we're only 3 minutes to midnight.

Can We NOT Normalize George W. Bush?!

There are a lot of things going on with the wretched administration of Dolt 45.  He's vile, petty, vindictive, and completely unfit to serve.  He may have legitimate psychological problems.  He's a racist, and he previously had a propaganda chieftain for white supremacists serving as his chief adviser.

Some Republicans have completely distanced themselves from Trump, and others have different lines of demarcation that determine when they've had enough.  Some of their "come to Jesus" moments arrive when they realize that Dolt 45's plans, mindset, policies, and the like affect them PERSONALLY.  People like Joe Scarborough are some of the Doctors Frankenstein that helped to legitimize Trump.  And to this day, while Joe rails on about the monster that's ransacking the village, he still has not offered a mea culpa for HIS role in creating monster.

And speaking of monsters, this brings us to the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.  Donald Trump is so awful that people are longing for the bumbling idiocy of Bush.  Today, a former President who was so reviled that he couldn't even campaign for his successor delivered a speech that some are saying makes him one of the "faces of the resistance." 

NO.

Um... NO.  That's not cute.  Never forget.

Do you see this picture?  It's one of the many that is helping to sanitize George Bush's image, and make him palatable and respectable.  And before we go about longing for the carefree days of Uncurious George And The Administration That Couldn't, we need to remember his real track record and "accomplishments."

(Note:  I'm not angry at Michelle Obama for snuggling with that dopey moron of a POTUS, I'm bothered by the memes that this picture generated which helped to normalize him.  So there.)

HURRICANE KATRINA:  Under his watch, New Orleans suffered catastrophic losses in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  His appointed Director of FEMA, Michael Brown, had absolutely no experience in emergency management.  As Rachel Maddow put it, Brown's appointment was seen more as a patronage hire than one to bring the best man on for the job.  As American citizens suffered, Bush applauded Brown by infamously stating that Brown was doing "a heckuva job."

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN:  In the aftermath of 9/11, America had a ton of global capital.  The whole world was pretty much with this country.  And what did Bush do?  He created a propaganda machine that led us into war with Iraq who -- and this is important -- HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11.  We went to war against a regime that had done nothing to us, against a leader that, by all objective measures, was secular and kept sectarian violence down.  Taking Saddam Hussein out created a power vacuum, and since nature abhors a vacuum, that vacuum was filled by extremists.  

As for Afghanistan, it was almost an afterthought that turned into a quagmire.  There's a reason why Afghanistan is called "The Graveyard Of Empires."  

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I wrote this to express my disgust at what 9/11 has become, most of which happened during the Bush Administration.  I also wrote this to express my disgust at the Republican Party's snuff film tribute to 9/11 during the RNC Convention in 2008.  And for God's sake, how can you forget THIS?

Still want him back?!

I could go on, including how he got elected in the FIRST place.  And don't get me started on the fact that his two Supreme Court appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, voted to support Citizens United.

I understand the need for Republican allies.  There are some great ones in the form of Anna Navarro, Steve Schmidt, and others.  But we shouldn't be so bereft of allies that we have to depend on one of history's greatest monsters as an ally, simply because he's a Rhodes Scholar and Elder Statesman in comparison to his Republican successor.  A 16-minute speech does not a real ally make.

If I Ruled The World - How I Would Have NFL Players Respond To Roger Goodell And Dolt 45

The "take a knee" protests continue.  They were started by Colin Kaepernick, who protested by sitting out the playing of the National Anthem when the San Francisco 49'ers played.  Since then, players have been taking a knee across the league, and Kaepernick has been "de facto" blackballed by the NFL owners.  Oh, you can SAY that there is no collusion between the owners, and you'd be partially right.  There is no WRITTEN policy that says that the NFL owners have agreed to keep Colin Kaepernick from a job.  But that doesn't automatically exonerate the owners.

After all, the Miami Dolphins decided to beg Jay Cutler to come out of retirement to play, and he did so reluctantly.  You can't convince me that under different circumstances, Kaepernick would have at least been given a first or second look.  Then again, the world just found out what may have contributed to the decision to bring in Cutler, at least partially.  Via video.  Heh.

But I digress, as I am wont to do.

Afterwards a bunch of owners (and players, reluctantly) usurped the protest message to turn it into a message of "unity", where the owner locks arms with the players.  In one case, the Dallas Cowboys showed just how a league owner can change the narrative of a protest.  They took a knee BEFORE the playing of the National Anthem, and then stood up during its play.  Owner Jerry Jones took it a step further and said that "anyone who disrespects the flag will not be allowed to play."

Enter NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  Goodell, caving to pressure from on high by the prince of darkness himself (aka Dolt 45 and his burgeoning kleptocracy) stated in a letter that everyone should stand for the National Anthem.  He says that this is an effort to "move past the controversy."  That "controversy" being pro football players silently protesting against police brutality, in case anyone forgot.  In other words, "Alright you uppity nigras, you did your thing long enough... time to shut up and do what we tell you do to... BOY."

How will the players respond?  Will players in Dallas risk taking a knee?  Will other owners follow Jerry Jones' lead and bench players who decide to protest?  The players here have the power in numbers, and if they use it, they can create a seismic shift in protests for social justice.  And how would I do it?

Here's how.

On a given Sunday afternoon or night, or Monday night, the players take the field as usual.  The coin is flipped, and the kicking team kicks to the receiving team.  At the first play from the line of scrimmage, the center snaps the ball.

The defense instantly takes a knee.

The offense then takes a knee.

And since the play isn't considered "dead" until the player with the ball (in this case, the QB) is tackled, takes a knee, or runs out of bounds, he remains motionless.  The quarterback holds the ball in one hand.  And with the other hand, he slowly raises a fist to the air.  Then, after about a minute, in front of worldwide sponsors with advertisers throwing a conniption fit, he slowly descends to take a knee.

The play is then whistled dead, and the rest of the game continues, as if nothing ever happened.  

When asked why they did this, a spokesman for either team can say that they will not be threatened into silence by their owners or by a sitting President of the United States.  And if the owners don't like it, what are they going to do?  Bench both teams?  Fine them?  Suspend them?  Any negative consequences will mushroom far beyond what the owners had intended.  The players have strength in numbers.

Will they do this?  It's doubtful.  But hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

Name-Checking And Concern-Trolling Chicago -- Will It Ever Stop?

Here we are, in the wake of another mass shooting.  The shooting on the Las Vegas Strip at a Country Music Festival is going down in U.S. history as the worst ever.  As of now, 59 people are dead, and hundreds are injured, and recovering from their injuries.

Of course, this means that conservatives take their lead from the blood-soaked terrorist organization disguised as a lobbying group, the National Rifle Association, or NAMB... er, NRA.  We have seen the usual talking points, including the "thoughts and prayers" comments from the Republicans.  As a side note, let me add this:

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS FROM REPUBLICANS ARE USELESS.  They have blood on their hands, as well.  The NRA has bought them, lock, stock and barrel.  To hear them talk about "thoughts and prayers" is beyond infuriating.  As a Christian, and especially as a minister, I'm not dismissing the power of prayer.  My faith tells me that there is supernatural power in prayer.  But my teachings ALSO inform me that "faith without works is dead."  That's Scripture, according to James 2:26.  And the website "GotQuestions" elucidates on this point by stating "Faith without works is dead because it reveals a heart that has not been transformed by God."  Don't tell me about any conservative "thoughts and prayers" when they continue to accept NRA blood money and parrot the same NRA talking points, especially in the wake of tragedies involving guns, and propagate obscene lies about President Obama planning a massive gun grab, because screw the Constitution.

But I digress.

My point here is that, as usual, Chicago has become the favorite talking point to deflect from any legitimate conversations.  It started in earnest with President Obama, with GOP idiots (and some "woke" folks -- but that's a point for another time) saying that President Obama didn't magically fix Chicago since he became President of the United States.  It's become a classic Battle Cry of the Stupid Conservative:

REASONABLE PERSON:  We need to do something about crime.

Conservative:  OH YEAH?  Well what about Chicago?  Crime is skyrocketing, and President Blackie McBlackenbush did nothing to fix it!

RP:  Black Lives Matter is holding a march to protest police brutality.

Con:  OH YEAH?  Why aren't they marching in Chicago against the killings?!

Even Dolt 45, aka the President, is no stranger to name-checking and concern-trolling Chicago.  He made the "hellscape" of Chicago a cornerstone of his campaign, and he continues to mention Chicago in situations that don't call for it.

This brings us to the present day.  Enter sentient colostomy bag, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of evangelical charlatan Mike Huckabee and Press Secretary to the President.

"I am not a very smart woe-man..."

After this weapons-grade moron (who almost makes you long for the days of Sean Spicer hiding in a bush, dodging reporters) said that we shouldn't politicize the massacre, she said this in regards to a conversation about gun laws.

"I think if you look to Chicago, where you had over 4,000 victims of gun-related crimes. Last year they have the strictest gun laws in the country and that certainly hasn't helped there, so when that time comes for those conversations to take place, then I think we need to look at things that may actually have a real impact."

Then, she followed it up by saying this:

I think that the problem there is pretty clear that it’s a crime problem. I think that crime is probably driven more by morality than anything else...

If Huckabee is going to concern-troll and name-check, she should at least come close to getting her facts right.  Yes, Chicago has strict laws.  But guns still find their way here.  Why?  Because neighboring states have gun laws that are a lot more lax.  For example, if someone wanted to, they could hop right across the border to avoid the soda-pop tax get a gun.  Even as far back as 2012 - 2013, there were indicators that traffickers were using an informal Dixie Pipeline to transport guns from southern states (again, with very lax gun laws) to here.  Thankfully, lots of people, including my Congressman Robin Kelly, pushed back with factual information.

I'm under no delusions that my fair city is a utopia where gun violence is a thing of the past.  Chicago, like every major city, has its issues, and issues involving gun violence and the Black community cannot be resolved with simple slogans and finger-pointing.  And it would be nice if we had a President of the United States who didn't feel the need to scapegoat and play the blame-game when things got hot.  And we could have had that...

...but her emails.