Chris Coons went on Fox News yesterday, as is his wont, but for a change broke decorum when confronted with his interrogator’s mushroom-sucking sycophancy. He even kept talking when she tried to talk over him. The anchor was trying to claim Trump has a plan for Venezuela, when it’s obvious even to Chris Coons that there is no plan.
https://www.rawstory.com/martha-maccallum-2674854098/
The demented little asshole running the country, Stephen Miller, is a quivering wimp – you can tell by the way he takes every opportunity to act butch. His ego swelled by the Venezuela adventure, he went on CNN to proclaim that Greenland will belong to the Reich United States.
This attitude has been criticized in all corners except the ones where MAGAts breed, but something I’ve seldom seen mentioned is that almost 90% of Greenland’s 57,000 or so residents are Inuit. Given the U.S. government’s treatment of indigenous peoples, even before Trump, that bodes ill for the native Greenlanders.
The U.S. has coveted Greenland, which is almost 50% bigger than Alaska, ever since occupying it in World War II in response to the Nazi takeover of Denmark. In 1946 the U.S. offered to buy the island for $100,000,000 – the equivalent of $1.62 trillion today, a sum way out of Trump’s price range. The U.S. has maintained military bases there since 1951.
Denmark supports Greenland economically, but its control understandably chafes. In the wake of an independence movement, home rule was established in 1979 and greater autonomy granted in 2008. But for some Greenlanders, independence remains the goal. Yesterday Icelandic singer Björk lent her voice to the call.
“[T]he chance that my fellow Greenlanders might go from one cruel coloniser to another is too brutal to even imagine,” she wrote. “Dear Greenlanders, declare independence!!!! Sympathetic wishes from your neighbors.”
Björk said “Human Behavior,” the first song released as a single from her 1993 solo debut, “Debut,” represents humans from the viewpoint of an animal. It’s not surprising that we treat animals badly – look how we treat each other.
If you’re a progressive Democratic Party voter, you’re constantly told to shut up and vote for whatever centrist wins the nomination. “Vote Blue No Matter Who” is what the party believes and practices no matter who … hold on, I’m getting an update. It turns out that if a social democrat wins the nomination for, say, mayor New York, corporate Democrats like Kirsten Gillibrand get to beat him like a rented, red-headed mule. I used to have a dog that was scared of his own farts. He was braver than most elected Democrats.
Sometimes left-leaning Democrats get elected anyway, at which point it becomes the job of corporate Democrats to undermine them in every way possible. The indispensable Karl Stomberg puts it quite eloquently in his essay for Delaware Call calling out Delaware’s no-change agents and listing – it’s a long list – all the ways they are working for secrecy for themselves and against the public interest.
If you’re a betting person, you’ll never go wrong banking on the cravenness of the people running U.S. institutions. The University of Virginia tried to sidestep its DEI programs by changing the name, but super-genius Stephen Miller – if he’s not a super-genius, why’s his head shaped like a light bulb? – wasn’t fooled. The administration demanded the resignation of the school’s president, who stepped down so the administration wouldn’t strip the school of federal funding.
Anyone who thinks Trump’s bombing of Iran was anything but kayfabe in service of showing what a “peacemaker” he is should check out what diarrhea-mouth said a couple of days ago: He claims he agreed to let Iran bomb the U.S. base in Qatar, and now he’s claiming he stopped Israel from targeting their Supreme Leader. As the reporter for TPM notes, our useless mainstream media hasn’t deigned to even take notice, let alone connect the dots.
Speaking of the world’s worst people, Jeffrey Bezos got married in Venice. Everyone else in Venice was not pleased. As protested pointed out with a sign that covered a big chunk of Piazza San Marco, if you can rent Venice for your wedding you can afford to pay more taxes.
The floor’s yours.
Uh, guess there’s no turning back now:
The United States has entered Israel’s war against Iran.
American warplanes dropped bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday, President Trump announced on Saturday night, bringing the U.S. military directly into the war after days of uncertainty about whether he would intervene.
After a week of mixed signals, President Trump, who has long vowed to steer America clear of overseas “forever wars,” authorized U.S. forces to strike Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear installation, deep underground. The goal, American and Israeli officials have said, is to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
For days, Mr. Trump had been weighing whether to provide Israel the powerful munitions needed to destroy Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment facilities, at an installation known as Fordo. Only American bombs known as bunker busters are believed up to the job, and only American aircraft can deliver them.
Israel and Iran, sworn enemies for decades, have been exchanging attacks since June 13, when the Israelis launched a surprise assault that targeted Iranian infrastructure, including nuclear installations, and military leaders. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation had no choice but to act if it wanted to stave off a nuclear “holocaust.”
Remember, kids, the person who ordered these actions is a deranged narcissist who appears to be sinking deeper into dementia with every passing day.
In other words, Situation Normal: All Fucked Up.
Is it war yet? More to the point, is it our war yet? Pundits are sucking their thumbs extra-hard trying to figure out if and when Trump will join the Israel-Iran missile-exchange program, but most fail to consider the question, “What would an unimaginative reality-show host do?” They’d do exactly what Trump is doing – string out the decision to keep the spotlight on himself as long as possible. Hence his declaration that he’d make a decision in the next two weeks, his go-to timeframe for things he never gets around to. Will he or won’t he? Stay tuned, suckers!
Speaking of thumbs, everyone thinks Democratic leaders are twiddling theirs, but let’s give credit where it’s due: They’re manufacturing excuses at a breakneck pace. Some people have even noticed their One Weird Trick for inaction: Whatever Trump-induced horror you’re asked about, say it’s just a distraction from what you proclaim the real problem, which is anything the reporter didn’t ask about.
What is it with undistinguished-or-worse ex-governors running for mayor? I thought it was strange when John Carney, who was merely ineffectual, did it. Now Andrew Cuomo, who actually had to resign the New York governorship in disgrace, is favored to win New York City’s mayoral primary on Tuesday. Cuomo’s race is more complicated than Carney’s – there are nine candidates, and the ballot employs ranked-choice voting – but I’d bet his name recognition carries the day.
Speaking of ranked-choice voting, why do progressives keep falling for the One Weird Trick fallacy? Consider this New York City mayoral primary. Voters have to rank nine candidates, so instead of just settling on who you want, you have to strategically rank the rest to your guy’s benefit. Here’s an article praising the glories of ranked-choice voting, the One Weird Trick that will salvage our flawed system. Hey, guess what, you utopia-addled dreamers? Most voters can’t be bothered to learn anything about any candidate, and now you want them to study up on nine of them, and to calculate who to rank last to best help their top choice? Yeah, right, that’ll work great, because American voters take the process soooooo seriously, and they’re so good at math.
We’re under an official Excessive Heat Watch through Wednesday. Today highs will approach 90°, but the humidity will make it feel worse, and temperatures of 100° are expected Monday and Tuesday. Stay hydrated out there.
The floor’s yours.
Elect a professional-wrestling president, you get professional-wrestling kayfabe. Everyone knew the moment Trump was elected that the U.S. would abandon Ukraine. Everything else is Trump’s reality show.
Historian Timothy Snyder’s take.
The U.S., Russia and Israel are the new Axis of Evil. Discuss.
The floor’s yours.
Every member of the House GOP folded and voted for Trump’s More Money for Billionaires budget. Every one of them should be forced to answer the question, “Why do billionaires need more money?”
As bad as things are, they’d be a lot worse but for Musk and Co. personifying the Dunning-Kruger effect. For example, they have belatedly realized that having Musk run it makes everything he’s done illegal. So they’re pretending someone else is running DOGE, and it took them several days to find someone they can make believe is in charge. Signs are good that judges aren’t falling for it.
An unknown but deadly disease is on the loose in the Congo. I suggest RFK Jr. visit for a hands-on assessment.
If you thought Florida couldn’t get any worse, think again. Ron DeSantis – ‘memba him? – doesn’t want Trump’s endorsed shitbag to be the next governor. He thinks his loonball wife should get the job. Rising sea levels have their silver lining.
The floor’s yours.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/15/israel-war-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-news-hamas/
A hostage and ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel has been reached Wednesday following more than 15 months of extraordinary bloodshed and violence in Gaza, said a senior U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions. Details of the agreement are to be announced shortly in Doha, the Qatari capital, where intense negotiations have taken place between Israel and Hamas over the past several weeks. The agreement follows an intense period of meetings and calls over the last several days, including by President Joe Biden to the leaders of Israel and mediating partners Qatar and Egypt. Steve Witkoff, President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, has also played an instrumental role, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend to express Trump’s interest in attaining a deal before his inauguration on Monday.
When Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, many pundits pointed out that what seemed like a truncated campaign, a three-month “sprint” to Election Day, was the full length of campaigns in most Western nations. Skip ahead two months, and with six weeks still to go it already feels like it’s been going on forever. I blame the media, which I tend to do anyway, but they deserve it. They’re the ones who’ve continued to report every chunk of logorrhea that spills from Trump’s face sphincter for the past four years, which is why Kamala Harris has been able to treat Trump as if he’s the incumbent.
You don’t have to look hard to find articles that will reinforce, or challenge, any future you care to envision, and you’re going to get six more weeks of them. The only thing you’ll get more of is appeals for money from candidates who have your phone number and email address. No wonder people watch football games.
I’m so old I remember when God directed his wrath, expressed as hurricanes, on one state at a time, but Trump voters are such raging assholes that he sent Helene to inundate the entire Southeastern U.S. in a probably futile bid to show them the error of their ways. That bit in Genesis about never destroying Earth in another flood? You shouldn’t bet your house on it. Oh, wait…
Democrats are slow learners. Two decades after Howard Dean, the Patron Saint of Delaware Liberal, showed the wisdom of the 50-state strategy, the Democratic National Committee will, for the first time ever, send money to all 50 states to support down-ballot races. I don’t know whether to applaud on bang my head on my desk.
An Israeli airstrike on the Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut killed the militia’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The IDF used one-ton bunker buster bombs to destroy the subterranean complex, located beneath an apartment complex that was destroyed in the attack. No matter how many militia leaders they kill, I recall the adage attributed to various French generals: The graveyards are full of indispensable men.
The floor’s yours.
Taylor Swift cancelled three shows in Vienna after three suspects were arrested and charged with plotting an attack on her show. Police found bombs and ISIS propaganda, indicating again that Islamic terrorists consider music venues fair game. As a music fan, this does not predispose me to expressing any sympathy for the goals of Islamic terrorists.
The song was the lead single from Swift’s 2017 “Reputation” LP. It of course went to No. 1.
The “Fascism on the Worldwide March” storyline took a major hit the past few days. First voters in England rejected the Tories. Now France’s far-right party, Marine LePen’s National Rally, which seemed poised to take over the premiership, got its ass mightily kicked in the country’s second round of elections. Not only did they not win, they finished third, behind both Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and a new coalition of leftist parties, which actually finished first. This still leaves the country in uncharted territory – unlike most countries under parliamentary systems, France has no experience with coalition governments. OTOH, it was cooperation between the centrists and leftists that led to the right’s decisive defeat. Big picture, these results undermine the idea that countries everywhere have gone nativist and conservative. I think it shows that people want change, and they don’t much care which direction. Which, IMHO, is a point in favor of replacing Biden.
Biden, for his part, shows every sign of failing to go gentle into a stormy night, and his strategy apparently is to shore up his support among Blacks and unions. Whether or not it ends up working is immaterial to the click-hungry media masses, so expect the drama to continue for as long as they can prop it up.
Interesting story in ProPublica about the federal cyber safety board’s failure to investigate a security breach involving a known security flaw in Microsoft software that the company failed to address. Greed kills.
Your Day in Stupid: Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted out an Independence Day factoid notable for its lack of factual information.
The average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 was 44 years old, but more than a dozen were 35 or younger: Thomas Jefferson: 33 John Hancock: 39 James Madison: 25 Alexander Hamilton: 21 James Monroe: 18 Aaron Burr: 20 Paul Revere: 41 George Washington: 44
Two of that octet – for you MAGAts, that means a group of eight – actually signed the document, so give her a score of 25 on her self-administered history quiz. That’s probably better than Trump would do.
The floor’s yours.
If you’re looking for something more esoteric to worry about than World War III or the climate-induced collapse of civilization, you might want to look into the latest outbreak of avian flu, which has infected two farm workers – one in Texas, the other in Michigan – who caught it from dairy cows. Pasteurization kills the virus, so your supermarket milk is safe, but it’s a particularly inopportune time to be relaxing restrictions on raw milk. Yet the state Senate passed SB 273 would do just that, despite objections by Sen. Stephanie Hansen, AFAIK the only one of them who’s actually worked in a laboratory.
If Trump’s latest antics aren’t moving your Rage-o-Meter anymore and you’re looking for something that will infuriate you, consider Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), a corporate tribunal system in which a panel of unelected lawyers decides whether a company is owed compensation if the actions of national governments leave its assets “stranded.” Corporations are using it to sue when their projects are scuttled by ecological concerns. The Guardian found that governments have paid out over $100 billion in what economist Joseph Stiglitz calls “litigation terrorism.” Read it and fume.
It seems Europe, like the U.S., has a sizable voting bloc of white people in panic. Far-right parties made big gains in European Union elections, mostly at the expense of the Greens, and in many countries the big issue was keeping out foreigners with their strange culture. The Neanderthals probably felt that way, too, and look where it got them.
Give the Rolling Stones some credit: They’re an oldies act, sure, but they put in the effort to write an album’s worth of new songs last year. Donald Trump’s Heat Stroke Summer tour’s gig in Vegas was nothing but old material, highlighted by an extra-long performance of “My E-Boat Is Sinking in Shark-Infested Waters.” That’s the one where he offers a thought experiment in which he has to choose between electrocution or death by shark. This is a particularly stupid bit in that batteries on electric vehicles have to meet safety standards that would prevent electrocution, but it’s a good indication that the guy has the brains and imagination of a not-very-bright 10-year-old. Reporters didn’t know why he was rambling on about this, but they keep missing an important fact about the Dunning-Kruger poster boy: He thinks he’s a funny guy.
Good economic news doesn’t go unreported, it just seems that way. New jobs once again beat predictions by a wide margin while wages grew, but it got less media attention than Trump’s shark story rerun.
The floor’s yours.
Their dangerous rival just got convicted on 34 felony charges, and the reaction from Democrats is just what we’ve come to expect: They not only don’t know how to capitalize on it, they’re not even sure they should mention it. Now do you understand why they lose?
Self-doubt is not something that Republicans ever have to deal with. You might have noticed that MAGAts are calling for violence. Or maybe not, since they call for violence pretty much all the time. I blame this on the hours they spend in mom’s basement playing Call of Duty.
Hunter Biden’s trial on gun charges starts today in Wilmington. If Republicans want to whine about politically motivated prosecutions, they don’t have to look far.
If there’s a through-line of consistency to the Biden administration’s foreign policy, it seems to be a desire to avoid escalation. They won’t confront Netanyahu in part because they fear a wider regional conflict, and they wouldn’t allow Ukraine to use American weapons to strike on Russian soil. The fear there is that Putin will go nuclear; these authors argue he’s bluffing, and Biden should join Europe in calling that bluff.
If the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are having a race, famine seems to have seized the lead from pestilence. The starvation in Gaza is being matched by starvation in Sudan. Meanwhile, in America, sales of Ozempic are soaring.
Mexico elected its first female president Sunday, but that seems less important than the fact that her background is in climate science. Try to imagine that happening here.
The floor’s yours.