It couldn’t hurt Andy Borowitz: Inauguration Forecast Shows Temperature and IQ in the Twenties Here with the wind chill, it’s like 2 deg outside. And still I think I’ll attend our local MLK peace march and rally (if it’s still on) rather than throw shit at my TV. I need a stiff shot of not-crazy. I just need to remember to leave the TV on tuned to Animal Planet. He’ll lie about his inauguration’s ratings anyway, but what the hell. Make the “blackout” meme trend. It’s like chicken soup…. I know several couples of means who’ve already fled the country. But for the rest of us, Brian Klaas (okay, from England) offers suggestions for surviving the next four years now that tweets about “shooting shoplifters without a trial and executing America’s top general” barely register, and the Saudis can now bribe Trump without needing “to pretend to stay at a Trump hotel.” Klaas, with a Ph.D. earned in studying authoritarian regimes, knows whereof he speaks. He offers a few suggestions: Never Doomscroll: Smarter Engagement, Real “Self Care” Stay informed, but not constantly.
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I hope the American Prospect won’t mind that I am reposting this entire piece by Rick Perlstein from a while back. It’s really important on a day like today. (Be sure to click over to read all the other great stuff on the site all of which are equally important as we face the coming apocalypse.) What will you do if men in uniforms arrive in your neighborhood, and an immigrant neighbor gets a knock on the door and is led away in handcuffs? Or if the uniforms are not police uniforms, and there is not even a knock? What if the knock is for your daughter, and they’re coming for her because of a pill that she took? Will you open the door? Or if your teenage granddaughter, alone and afraid, calls you and begs you to drive her to a state where abortion is legal? Your governor has signed a bill making such “abortion trafficking” illegal, stipulating a penalty of 15 years. What will you do if you’re called to serve on the jury hearing the grandmother’s case? She is guilty beyond a hint of a reasonable doubt; no way around that. Do you vote to convict her, or do you hold out against 11 of your peers?
Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena. “Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said before putting his hand on his chest and then raising it in a salute that appeared similar to the “Sieg Heil” used by Nazis at their victory rallies. “It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” Musk said. I’ve just heard one Democrat after the other go on television and say that they will reach out their hands to work with Trump to lower prices and crime and illegal immigration (I’m not kidding) but they will oppose him if he goes over the line. Will they reach out their hands like Musk does above?
Instead of following the news, I’ve been watching The Equalizer. I like when complex problems are wrapped up in under an hour! I loved Leverage more, less killing. Leverage PREPARED for what the bad guys would likely say and do, then busted them harder when they did. The reveal at the end showed our heroes knew their mark and used it against them. They often got the mark in trouble in ways the legal systems wouldn’t. Today my friend Cliff Schecter talked about Pam Bondi’s hearing and how Adam Schiff prepared for her hearing and busted her. Cliff points out she was a lobbyist for Qatar in 2019, ( you know, Qatar where it’s illegal to be gay.) There were paying her a fee of $115,000 a month. Listen to Cliff point out all the problems with Bondi here. The exchange reminded me of a joke I wrote during the 1st Impeachment hearing. Pam Bondi says “Do you expect me to tell the truth.?” Adam Schiff, “No Ms. Bondi, I expect you to lie!” I posted this and someone said, “Goldfinger, right?” Correct! Here is the scene.
At least we know what’s expected. And it’s interesting that it’s not just votes, we have to give money to Republicans as well. Good to know.
This is a gift to the opposition if only they are smart enough to accept it.
Here is a typical blurb from the MSM in the last few days that I think is worthwhile to unpack. It’s from Semafor’s newsletter: US President-elect Donald Trump will begin his second term with political momentum, but his sweeping promises may come back to haunt him. His November victory was “by any historical measure… a squeaker,” wrote Ezra Klein in The New York Times, “but the vibes have been a rout.” Silicon Valley embraced him and the Trumpian right won social media, allowing Trump a “cultural victory” larger than his political one. But he needs to be careful: He has promised an end to inflation and a rapid economic boom, despite policies that economists think will actually accelerate price rises and slow rather than aid growth. Polling already finds Americans skeptical that he can fulfil those promises. It’s true that in the vibes economy (I can’t believe I’m writing that) Trump has been pretty triumphant during the interregnum. And yet many seem to think that the minute people realize that the price of eggs isn’t going down they will turn on him.
At 12:46 pm on January 20th Trump had the portrait of Mark Milley removed from the wall of the Pentagon. Biden pardoned Milley for good reason. Trump said he committed treason: In normal times, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the principal military adviser to the president, is supposed to focus his attention on America’s national-security challenges, and on the readiness and lethality of its armed forces. But the first 16 months of Milley’s term, a period that ended when Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump as president, were not normal, because Trump was exceptionally unfit to serve. “For more than 200 years, the assumption in this country was that we would have a stable person as president,” one of Milley’s mentors, the retired three-star general James Dubik, told me. That this assumption did not hold true during the Trump administration presented a “unique challenge” for Milley, Dubik said. Milley was careful to refrain from commenting publicly on Trump’s cognitive unfitness and moral derangement.
We lost Cecile Richards today. She was an organizer and advocate who did the job extremely well and made a difference. I met her a few times and she was always warm and engaging and extremely smart. Her family put out a statement: “If you’d like to celebrate Cecile today, we invite you to put on some New Orleans jazz, gather with friends and family over a good meal, and remember something she said a lot over the last year: ‘It’s not hard to imagine future generations one day asking: ‘When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do?’ The only acceptable answer is: ‘Everything we could.’” Word. She will be missed.
Today: It’s happening: President Trump on Monday signed pardons for members of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as executive orders addressing the first priorities of his administration. Mr. Trump gave what he described as “full pardons” for about 1,500 defendants tied to the attack. He said he also signed commutations of sentences for six defendants but did not say who they were. The lawyer for Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys who is serving a 22-year sentence on a seditious conspiracy conviction connected to Jan. 6, said Tarrio is currently being processed for release from a federal prison in Louisiana. Even though Trump has not yet formally granted clemency to Jan. 6 defendants, the lawyer, Nayib Hassan, said Tarrio could be out of prison by as early as Monday night. Lawyers for other Proud Boys convicted with Tarrio on sedition charges have also been called from their cells this evening to sign release papers, according to defense lawyers and Condemned USA, a group that has provided legal funds and advocacy for Jan. 6 defendants. The law and order president has spoken.