Political Venom: June 2017

Make lobbying a capital offence and SO many problems would be solved....

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/27/opinions/fixing-americas-health-care-sachs/index.html

This gives you an idea of how Fucks News shapes its audience without you having to torture yourself by watching that dreck yourself:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/business/media/fox-news.html

Just to put things into perspective for progressives who thought Hillary was as bad as Trump:

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/25/1675169/-To-the-Idiots-who-rejected-Clinton-as-no-different-from-Trump

Just a reminder to reference the PolitiFact file on Trump whenever anyone tries to defend his words:

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/

People wanting to seem fair like to blame both the left and the right...but by far it's mostly the right:

http://billmoyers.com/story/sorry-entirely-rights-fault/

"Looking at both plots and attacks carried out, the group tracked 201 terrorist incidents on U.S. soil from January 2008 to the end of 2016. The database shows 115 cases by right-wing extremists ― from white supremacists to militias to “sovereign citizens” ― compared to 63 cases by Islamist extremists. Incidents from left-wing extremists, which include ecoterrorists and animal rights militants, were comparatively rare, with 19 incidents."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/domestic-terrorism-white-supremacists-islamist-extremists_us_594c46e4e4b0da2c731a84df

An interesting and encouraging analysis:

http://time.com/4826856/russia-trump-north-korea-china-war/

An interesting look into the development of the special counsel investigation:

http://time.com/4828081/robert-mueller-special-counsel/?xid=newsletter-brief

And this is probably even more of a nightmare:

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/21/1673807/-EPA-completes-purge-of-scientists-from-it-s-scientific-advisory-board??detail=emaildkre

No scientists on a board whose entire decision-making process is supposed to be based on science???

This is what happens when you let power go to your head:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/

It may explain Trump's gradually decreasing sophistication with language.

Surely this is too alarmist...but it's not a good sign at all:

http://time.com/4816374/trump-cabinet-praise-scary/

"the more you watch television, the more likely you’ll embrace authoritarian tendencies and perspectives":

http://time.com/4813250/television-democracy-impact/?xid=newsletter-brief

This is a compelling and dismaying description of why Trump is sucking up to Russia and Saudi Arabia. It's all about a petroleum-run world in opposition to green energies:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/is-donald-trump-launching-a-new-world-order_us_593eb1e6e4b0c5a35ca1861f

Nice to see whole states threatening to sue over emissions standards:

https://futurism.com/in-letter-at-least-12-states-will-sue-to-block-any-rollback-of-emissions-standards/

More evidence that conservative policies toward sex education just DON'T WORK:

http://nypost.com/2017/06/06/texas-sees-high-rate-of-teen-births-despite-abstinence-only-sex-ed/

For when you encounter someone who says Obamacare doesn't work:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/covered-california-obamacare_us_5936cf84e4b013c4816b639f

Not exactly on-topic, but the Dunning-Kruger effect occurs is something I run into often when arguing with fundies, and it seems to be an epidemic among Republicans. Most especially Trump:

https://qz.com/992127/studies-find-high-achievers-underestimate-their-talents-while-underachievers-overestimate-theirs/

Nice way to stick it to Hair Furor. Thanks a pant-load, Trump:

https://futurism.com/france-is-now-offering-u-s-scientists-grants-to-research-climate-change/

Another slice of evil Republicans are serving to America:

http://www.npr.org/2017/06/08/532036374/house-passes-bill-aimed-at-reversing-dodd-frank-financial-regulations

"Hensarling's nearly 600-page bill would defang Dodd-Frank by repealing the so-called Volcker Rule, which prevents government-insured banks from making risky bets with investments. It would also scrap a requirement, which goes into effect Friday, that retirement advisers put their clients' interests ahead of their own."

Did ANYONE except the banks and financial advisers want this? It's like Republicans learned nothing from the Great Recession....

With the Republicans in control, I wouldn't expect impeachment to gain much traction unless there is a smoking gun. Even then...

http://time.com/4808071/donald-trump-impeachment-polls/?xid=newsletter-brief

And it's not likely Comey's report will do much either, at least not in the short run:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-james-comey_us_59389f4de4b00610547f42e7?v5

The unfortunate side effect of getting rid of Trump would be President Pence. However, repugnant as many of his beliefs may be, he likely wouldn't ruin the US's relationships and reputation like Trump has:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-pence-is-sounding-better-and-better/2017/06/06/c1bf0f52-4af3-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html?utm_term=.4be8461231c2

California and Kansas were the two states testing competing ideologies. California went progressive, Kansas went conservative. California is doing very nicely. Kansas...not so much:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/6/1669506/-Kansas-Gov-Brownback-tax-experiment-comes-to-end-as-legislature-overturns-veto

Conservative tax-cutting does not work!

If the Democrats just become a party of no, 2018 could be a lost opportunity, and Trump could win in 2020:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/04/a-noun-a-verb-and-vladimir-putin-215224

I'm anxious to see how Comey's report turns out on Thursday.

For people who think a few degrees of increased world average temperature isn't a big deal, and might even be a good thing, think again:

http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/what-the-world-will-look-like-4degc-warmer

It really drives home the potential impact, but one thing it doesn't mention is that with almost all of Africa and South America becoming desert, we will have lost a major source of the world's oxygen. The entire continental US becoming uninhabitable is a pretty sobering thought.

Nice to see California leading the way and giving a big fuck you to Trump:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-climatechange-idUSKBN18X068

So we finally get an inside whistle-blower to reveal how Fox News operates:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/4/1668913/-Tobin-Smith-Fox-Paid-Contributor-Confirms-What-We-Always-Suspected-About-Fox

This is good reason to regulate news organizations...although that would be a bitch to do, considering the First Amendment, for one.

The forces of sanity are acting as a check on Trump's destructive policies:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/americas-deep-state-moves-to-thwart-donald-trump_us_5933bf08e4b00573ab57a44a

This article gives some interesting insight into the Never Trump camp. I sure don't mind seeing the previous generation of Republicans realize that even their base doesn't support their agenda, although clearly the current generation sucks. I like that the socially progressive, fiscally conservative Republicans are trying to make a comeback:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-gop-critics_us_59318288e4b02478cb9adc65

It wasn't so much the loss of manufacturing jobs, but distribution of education and race that had the greater influence:

http://voxeu.org/article/working-class-s-role-trump-s-election

I hate to see China become so influential, and we have Trump to thank for that:

By Gideon Lichfield:

The US’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will be bad, but not that bad, for the rest of the planet. Every other country but Syria and Nicaragua is still committed to it, and the accord itself was pretty weak anyway. The global economy is decarbonizing on its own as renewables get cheaper. And climate-change mayhem is coming no matter what—it’s only a matter of degree(s).

For the US, however, pulling out of Paris may mark the beginning of the end.

China has the biggest renewables industry by far and is ahead of its target for bringing down its emissions and coal dependence. As fossil-fuel use further declines, Chinese firms will dominate the alternatives, while enjoying the most clout in setting global energy policies.

What’s at stake isn’t just opportunities in the cleantech industry (solar already employs more than twice as many Americans as coal). It’s a world in which China stands to become not only the biggest economy within a decade or so, but, eventually, an energy superpower. Its growing military muscle and wide-ranging global investments in infrastructure will add to its influence, and its pro-globalization (and now pro-climate) stance will even lend China a grudging moral authority with the world’s other rich nations.

This is an entirely new geopolitical order—one in which, unless Europe overcomes its splits, an opaque autocracy will be the chief agenda-setter. Because of its size and weapons, the US, like Russia, will never not be a superpower. But, like Russia, it is on its way to becoming a second-tier one.

China will take the throne. And Trump, for all his complaints about China’s ambitions, has just dusted off the cushions and invited it to have a seat.

This is EXACTLY how I view Trump. It's not about promoting any positive agenda, but about undoing Obama's legacy:

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/2/1668186/-Donald-Trump-is-a-petulant-whiny-man-child-and-treating-him-like-an-adult-just-cost-the-world?detail=emaildkre

YES. This is a great fuck you to the Trumpster fire:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/1/1668055/-Three-Major-States-Already-joining-Paris-Accord?detail=emaildksc

May there be many more.

He's never let facts get in his way so far, so is anyone surprised?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-paris-speech-fact-check_us_59309ab8e4b02478cb99f151

Domestic terrorists really need to be called out as such, and the source of their radicalization should be make evident:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/portland-attack-domestic-terrorism_us_592d92bee4b0df57cbfd8b31

So much for draining the swamp. You can't get much more opposite than this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-house-staff-waivers-ethics_us_592f9f45e4b0540ffc8473c6

Unfortunately, Trump is doing some serious damage to our country despite his scandals:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-scandals-policy_us_592f1effe4b0540ffc841a46?z5r

It's almost as if he is on a mission to do the worst he can for our country....

If this is true, it WOULD be nice if Republicans would realize this...but they're to stupid to do so. ;-)

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/5/31/1667602/-Kushner-admitted-Trump-thinks-Republicans-are-stupid?detail=emaildkre

Friday, June 30, 2017

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