Trumpidy-doo-dah was hoping that would intimidate Paul. He was wrong. I am grateful Paul has found some backbone lately. I wish we knew if it would last and that it is permanent.
Phil, Iāve noticed Rand Paul is actually saying reasonable things lately. Who knows if it will last. I think Libertarians
became Magas, or at least many of them did. Senator Paul may finally get
that theyāve gone too far. Or maybe itās DTās 100% insensitivity to what we call civilized behavior that bothers Paul. Weāll never know. But one thing is certaināthis country is on a very dangerous path that could seriously
The Cato INstitute has fretted about the imperial presidency for a long time, but libertarians in the Heritage Foundation think that a "temporary" emperor is need to destroy the "deep state." They are delusional.
"Deep state is a term used for (real or imagined) unauthorized and often secret networks of power operating within a government but independently of its political leadership, in pursuit of their own agendas and goals." -- Wikipedia
But there are legitimate uses of the term or similar terms as you can find by searching for "what are some examples of real 'deep state' groups or activities".
Pamela, it is deliberately vague because there is no "deep state on the Democratic side." It is just another figment of Republican imagination to scare and intimidate people they don't like. The closest thing we have as a "deep state" to me would be the Heritage Foundation and similar con "think tanks where as little thinking and a lot of undermining of our government are going on. That is truly scary. They have already nearly imposed project2025 on a people that does not want it. That's pretty deep!
The ādeep stateā that conservatives so despise is merely government employees performing their duties as per the relevant statutes and administrative rules, as opposed to conservative political operatives.
Victor, you are right about so many in the country, particularly Libertarians being delusional. That is probably because the Libertarians are focused nearly exclusively on themselves, their personal rights, and how to keep from participating positively in society, or at least that is how I understand it. Hiding one's head under a basket as many have done gets one nothing good.
Libertarians differ from liberals in their claim that the state has no right to impose responsibilities on them. Conservative anarchists at heart they know that they cannot survive without strong state protection. In his Afterward to The Road to Serfdom, titled Why I am not a Conservative, F. Hayek, once a libertarian darling, warned that conservatives, due to opposition to change and lack of principle, have an extremist tendency. Some of them are good critics of government programs, but they have nothing positive of their own to solve social problems. Margaret Thatcher, one of their great heroes, even claimed that there is no such thing as "society,"
Good to know. And I am not at all surprised. The "Tech-bros", or "broligarchs", are just like Musk. They believe they are somehow superior to everybody else. I used to live out there and knew quite of few nerds, back before the dot.com bubble burst. Many of them are like Idiot-savants, except without the savant part.š
Courage? Courage is going to work every day facing the possibility of being abducted by masked ICE agents. Courage is going to Temple to worship not knowing if some armed anti-Semite will rush in and start shooting. Courage is NOT simply voting against a self-professed Nazi sympathizer. Thatās their job in Congress. No round of applause from me.
Evelina, I see where you are coming from and I don't disagree with you. I felt it is appropriate to recognize the few Congressional Republicans who, for once, stood up to Trump and the regime.
I'm well aware of that. I've been watching this group of clowns for years. I think we need to recognize it when they actually do the right thing. It may encourage them to do it again; although, I'm doubious.
I'm not particularly impressed [read: AM disappointed] by numbers of the Democratic Senators - my own "Leader Schumer", chief among them - and wonder how close You, Charles, may be to seeing little difference in the top party office holders?
And do not hold your breath (just your nose) cos the large female has yet to sing regarding this stormtrooper's nomination. 5 may become 0 b4 long (after a few calls overnight)?
I didnāt think they had one ā based on their actions since Jan 25. This is definitely good, but too little and too late. Maybe itās because the guy was so prominently anti-Semitic. Thatās the only deplorable behavior they pretend to care about anymore. Everything else is A ok.
Yes. This Nazi regime/ennablers don't care at ALL about real anti-Semitism. They're using our Jewish community as a smokescreen for bludgeoning universities, schools, blue states, etc; to get the power the Criminal-in-Chief wants over them. He'll turn on us sooner or later (and in fact, he's pulled millions allocated for synagogue security, which would actually help, and is so needed these days, but which costs a fortune!)
The Criminal-in-Chief has embraced the most rabid anti-Semites, from Kanye West to many others, and in all my years, I've never seen a President do such a thing. It's beyond frightening. And clearly, many people do think that he cares about Jews. No. He does not.
Totally agree that the right wing and MAGA are antisemitic at their core and itās a serious and scary issue. But they do āperformā anti-antisemitism when it works for them. Thatās all I was saying. They donāt even perform being anti-racist or anti-misogynist.
Just as drugs and crime are a smoke screen for placing his goon squad called ICE plus the National Guard in our cities and towns. Now he is using the same smokescreen to gin up a war with Venezuela so he and his buddies the oil tycoons can seize the massive Venezuelan oil reserves, the largest in the World.
Louise - Well, they did take down a really big/bad criminal when ICE in Oregon assaulted and manhandled a 4 foot 6 inch blind man. They must be so proud of themselves.
Or, he wants a full blown war in Venezuela to get the military out of the country while he declares martial law and imprisons his critics in hellholes in Africa. Apparently the Venezuelan army is much more powerful than the administration is claiming and thousands of American soldiers would die in an unnecessary war.
Just to be clear that is what the military Brass my be thinking. After all, the four star General charge of the Southern Command says he is retiring before the end of the year, wanting no part of this war. The other reason besides wanting the oil, is he thinks it will give him a get out of jail free card as he has America rally around the flag pole! After all, it works for Putin and Netanyahu! All of them vile.
IMO a kind of replay to the run up to the Iraq/Afghanistan war. WMD ??? nah - to protect the flow of oil from Iraq and through the pipelines through Afghanistan ~
Once again I'd like to point out that there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between Judaism and Zionism. The people in the far-right Israeli government who want to wipe Gaza off the map are Zionists. That's the Jewish version of Nazis.
P.S. I am of Jewish ethnicity. I can't help that. But the persecution of other, non-Jewish ethnicities as repugnant to me as the Nazis. Hasn't anyone learned anything from WW II?
Well said, Shelley. It's like all the acolytes to Agent Orange in the House and Senate are members of drumpler's "very fine people" on the Nazi side of the street, and that goes double for Herr j d "wanze". If those five senators are driven from the Party, then we will have arrived in Berlin of Feb. 1933.
Thank you, Dennis. We are already in 1930s Germany, but 7-8 million of us showed at the rallies last Saturday that we're resisting and will continue to resist in any way we can!
And many more of us at home all add our little actions to the resistance! Vote! Boycott,! Write postcards and letters to other voters, write and comment, inform! They recognize that they are losing, which makes them all the more dangerous! Was it Churchill who said, "We have nothing to fear except fear itself!"
The absolute prerequisite for any sort of āpeaceā in the Holy Land is that Hamas has to be utterly crushed. All civilised people should root for Israel. If you support Hamas, psychologically you donāt belong in the West. It IS that simple. Bringing Netanyahu before the ICC makes the latter organisation an even more sicko montypythonish institution than it already is.
Total bollox. About ninety-five percent of anti-Semitism comes from āSickostiniansā and their supporters, and you guys are about to elect one of them āmayorā of the ruins of Nieuw Amsterdam. And whoās calling for the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister?
Actually, Robert, almost everyone! Most of Netanyahu's motivation these days is trying to forestall being tried and sent to prison for massive corruption.
My ONLY reply to Robert: I was going to ignore your comment. But I must say that I feel sorry for you when you call a U.S. community (Jews) 'you guys' and make stereotypical, broad statements that paint all of us as supporting the government of Israel. And I'm very sorry that you've brought your negative comments into a respectful dialogue.
Beth - I am actually surprised that there were even 5 of them to oppose. I mean he has all of the āqualificationsā that the others had when they were confirmed. He is loyal only to T, he has a small d*ck/small man problem, he spews horrible rhetoric for which he got caught for, and he has a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment (due to canceling a female co-workers hotel room and making her sleep in his room). Isnāt that what they are looking for in this administration now?
With putting my sarcasm aside I am glad that there were at least enough people to deny him his nomination but he also needs to be fired from his White House job.
Beth, please clarify. What didn't you think they had, one backbone or a real pair of gonads? I'd like to think they have both. There's a first time for everything with this Congress.
I think tearing down the east wing of the People's House without any sort of permissions or oversight might be a step lower. Either way, he's easily the most despicable "president" (of only red states) to ever hold office.
Definitely. Stand by for next week's (or tomorrow's, or this evening's) further lowering of the bar to still greater depths of soulless depravity and inhumanity, exhibited directly by some and indirectly by the blithe dismissal or condoning of same by others.
JDV ācreates stories.ā He admitted it to Dana Bash on CNN 9/16/2024: If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thatās what Iām going to do, Dana.ā He wasnāt VP yet. Not sure how he wasnāt disbarred for that. https://www.yahoo.com/news/putting-springfield-spotlight-j-d-093000731.html
The cat memes were accurate, and not even āfake butā. Far less untrue than the rubbish the fake news media puts out. And the same thingās happening with swans in the U.K.
Robert, you conclude: "Unlike Vance and the GOP operatives who feel that their loyalty to Trump allows them to promote the sickest and most hateful views imaginable, Senate Republicans have a bottom below which they wonāt sink." What is missing is a critical word like "a few" or "some". But alas the majority are still ok with brown noses. They also at a bottom but not the one you are referring to.
(Tangentially, I can't conceive why Martin Luther King, Jr. Day should go to the seventh circle, which is the circle of the violent: those people (especially powerful people who are violent against other people, people who experience suicide, and people who are violent against God. What on earth does he mean? Even aside from the day being a holiday and not a person, why the violent?)
Only five Rs opposed him?!? I mean, Iām grateful, but that means what - 48 or so supported him? š³
They probably drew straws. I don't think any of them have the nerve to do it on their own
Not true, Rand Paul was the only Republican Senator not invited to the White House for lunch! Just saying!
Trumpidy-doo-dah was hoping that would intimidate Paul. He was wrong. I am grateful Paul has found some backbone lately. I wish we knew if it would last and that it is permanent.
Rand Paul should consider himself lucky. Lunching with this bunch might cause serious indigestion. It might even include a Putin pudding...
Isn't Rand Paul a libertarian? I read Reason magazine, and they do not like Trump at all.
Phil, Iāve noticed Rand Paul is actually saying reasonable things lately. Who knows if it will last. I think Libertarians
became Magas, or at least many of them did. Senator Paul may finally get
that theyāve gone too far. Or maybe itās DTās 100% insensitivity to what we call civilized behavior that bothers Paul. Weāll never know. But one thing is certaināthis country is on a very dangerous path that could seriously
disrupt all of our daily lives.
Rand Paul should watch his six. Trump could do an Ernst Rƶhm on him.
The Cato INstitute has fretted about the imperial presidency for a long time, but libertarians in the Heritage Foundation think that a "temporary" emperor is need to destroy the "deep state." They are delusional.
What exactly is meant by the "deep state "? I see the term used disparagingly but to my mind it appears to be undefined.
Pamela, As far as I know the ādeep stateā is a fantasy conjured up by republicans
"Deep state is a term used for (real or imagined) unauthorized and often secret networks of power operating within a government but independently of its political leadership, in pursuit of their own agendas and goals." -- Wikipedia
But there are legitimate uses of the term or similar terms as you can find by searching for "what are some examples of real 'deep state' groups or activities".
Or just read the Scientific American article at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/state-secrecy-explains-the-origins-of-the-deep-state-conspiracy-theory/
Pamela, it is deliberately vague because there is no "deep state on the Democratic side." It is just another figment of Republican imagination to scare and intimidate people they don't like. The closest thing we have as a "deep state" to me would be the Heritage Foundation and similar con "think tanks where as little thinking and a lot of undermining of our government are going on. That is truly scary. They have already nearly imposed project2025 on a people that does not want it. That's pretty deep!
The ādeep stateā that conservatives so despise is merely government employees performing their duties as per the relevant statutes and administrative rules, as opposed to conservative political operatives.
Victor, you are right about so many in the country, particularly Libertarians being delusional. That is probably because the Libertarians are focused nearly exclusively on themselves, their personal rights, and how to keep from participating positively in society, or at least that is how I understand it. Hiding one's head under a basket as many have done gets one nothing good.
Libertarians differ from liberals in their claim that the state has no right to impose responsibilities on them. Conservative anarchists at heart they know that they cannot survive without strong state protection. In his Afterward to The Road to Serfdom, titled Why I am not a Conservative, F. Hayek, once a libertarian darling, warned that conservatives, due to opposition to change and lack of principle, have an extremist tendency. Some of them are good critics of government programs, but they have nothing positive of their own to solve social problems. Margaret Thatcher, one of their great heroes, even claimed that there is no such thing as "society,"
They may get instead a true deep state that runs roughshod over everyone, including the Heritage Foundation. But people don't see these things.
Indeed. They ought to learn from the Russian experience.
Thiel and most of the Silicon Valley crowd are Libertarians and donāt believe in Democracy. They may hate Trump but hate voters with voices more.
Good to know. And I am not at all surprised. The "Tech-bros", or "broligarchs", are just like Musk. They believe they are somehow superior to everybody else. I used to live out there and knew quite of few nerds, back before the dot.com bubble burst. Many of them are like Idiot-savants, except without the savant part.š
Fair enough!
Marjorie was invited????
MTG is not in the Senate.
Opps!!!!!
It wasn't an open or even closed floor vote. These were 5 Republicans who voted to not forward the nomination out of committee.
I commend them for their courage. A flash of integrity is a sea of spinelessness.
Charles, alas, a tiny flash of integrity which may or may not go further.
Courage? Courage is going to work every day facing the possibility of being abducted by masked ICE agents. Courage is going to Temple to worship not knowing if some armed anti-Semite will rush in and start shooting. Courage is NOT simply voting against a self-professed Nazi sympathizer. Thatās their job in Congress. No round of applause from me.
Evelina, I see where you are coming from and I don't disagree with you. I felt it is appropriate to recognize the few Congressional Republicans who, for once, stood up to Trump and the regime.
And by "is" I assume you meant "in"?
Thanks for clarifying
I'm well aware of that. I've been watching this group of clowns for years. I think we need to recognize it when they actually do the right thing. It may encourage them to do it again; although, I'm doubious.
I'm not particularly impressed [read: AM disappointed] by numbers of the Democratic Senators - my own "Leader Schumer", chief among them - and wonder how close You, Charles, may be to seeing little difference in the top party office holders?
Does that mean there will be no public record of the vote - unless the media makes it known?
Still watching their backs... and their jobs?
Probably enough - the bare minimum - did the right thing and stopped him getting the job!
Phew... could dodge that bullet, too! Lucky day for me!
Perhaps they're holding out for an even lower life form? There's still a few at the bottom of the barrel at Fox.
Barrel's empty, Paul, but the cesspool is overflowing. It won't take long.
Or 48 are more afraid of being seen as disloyal to the president than adding a very dangerous man to special council.
And do not hold your breath (just your nose) cos the large female has yet to sing regarding this stormtrooper's nomination. 5 may become 0 b4 long (after a few calls overnight)?
48 Nazis. At least we now know.
Yeah, progress is slow with the GQP. Trump is a liability to their political future. The numbers will grow.
I didnāt think they had one ā based on their actions since Jan 25. This is definitely good, but too little and too late. Maybe itās because the guy was so prominently anti-Semitic. Thatās the only deplorable behavior they pretend to care about anymore. Everything else is A ok.
Yes. This Nazi regime/ennablers don't care at ALL about real anti-Semitism. They're using our Jewish community as a smokescreen for bludgeoning universities, schools, blue states, etc; to get the power the Criminal-in-Chief wants over them. He'll turn on us sooner or later (and in fact, he's pulled millions allocated for synagogue security, which would actually help, and is so needed these days, but which costs a fortune!)
The Criminal-in-Chief has embraced the most rabid anti-Semites, from Kanye West to many others, and in all my years, I've never seen a President do such a thing. It's beyond frightening. And clearly, many people do think that he cares about Jews. No. He does not.
Totally agree that the right wing and MAGA are antisemitic at their core and itās a serious and scary issue. But they do āperformā anti-antisemitism when it works for them. Thatās all I was saying. They donāt even perform being anti-racist or anti-misogynist.
"Perform" is the perfect verb, Beth.
āin all my years, I've never seen a President do such a thing.ā
You really havenāt been paying attention. Think of Obama and Farrakhan.
Just as drugs and crime are a smoke screen for placing his goon squad called ICE plus the National Guard in our cities and towns. Now he is using the same smokescreen to gin up a war with Venezuela so he and his buddies the oil tycoons can seize the massive Venezuelan oil reserves, the largest in the World.
Louise - Well, they did take down a really big/bad criminal when ICE in Oregon assaulted and manhandled a 4 foot 6 inch blind man. They must be so proud of themselves.
Or, he wants a full blown war in Venezuela to get the military out of the country while he declares martial law and imprisons his critics in hellholes in Africa. Apparently the Venezuelan army is much more powerful than the administration is claiming and thousands of American soldiers would die in an unnecessary war.
Just to be clear that is what the military Brass my be thinking. After all, the four star General charge of the Southern Command says he is retiring before the end of the year, wanting no part of this war. The other reason besides wanting the oil, is he thinks it will give him a get out of jail free card as he has America rally around the flag pole! After all, it works for Putin and Netanyahu! All of them vile.
IMO a kind of replay to the run up to the Iraq/Afghanistan war. WMD ??? nah - to protect the flow of oil from Iraq and through the pipelines through Afghanistan ~
[[maybe???]]
I completely agree and have edited my comment to say that they āpretend toā care about antisemitism
Thank you, Beth, I appreciate your response, and have also edited my original reply.
Once again I'd like to point out that there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between Judaism and Zionism. The people in the far-right Israeli government who want to wipe Gaza off the map are Zionists. That's the Jewish version of Nazis.
P.S. I am of Jewish ethnicity. I can't help that. But the persecution of other, non-Jewish ethnicities as repugnant to me as the Nazis. Hasn't anyone learned anything from WW II?
Well said, Shelley. It's like all the acolytes to Agent Orange in the House and Senate are members of drumpler's "very fine people" on the Nazi side of the street, and that goes double for Herr j d "wanze". If those five senators are driven from the Party, then we will have arrived in Berlin of Feb. 1933.
Thank you, Dennis. We are already in 1930s Germany, but 7-8 million of us showed at the rallies last Saturday that we're resisting and will continue to resist in any way we can!
And many more of us at home all add our little actions to the resistance! Vote! Boycott,! Write postcards and letters to other voters, write and comment, inform! They recognize that they are losing, which makes them all the more dangerous! Was it Churchill who said, "We have nothing to fear except fear itself!"
FDR is the one who made the statement about fear. But Churchill of course also made so many great statements.
The absolute prerequisite for any sort of āpeaceā in the Holy Land is that Hamas has to be utterly crushed. All civilised people should root for Israel. If you support Hamas, psychologically you donāt belong in the West. It IS that simple. Bringing Netanyahu before the ICC makes the latter organisation an even more sicko montypythonish institution than it already is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaN31JVNdoI
Total bollox. About ninety-five percent of anti-Semitism comes from āSickostiniansā and their supporters, and you guys are about to elect one of them āmayorā of the ruins of Nieuw Amsterdam. And whoās calling for the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister?
Actually, Robert, almost everyone! Most of Netanyahu's motivation these days is trying to forestall being tried and sent to prison for massive corruption.
My ONLY reply to Robert: I was going to ignore your comment. But I must say that I feel sorry for you when you call a U.S. community (Jews) 'you guys' and make stereotypical, broad statements that paint all of us as supporting the government of Israel. And I'm very sorry that you've brought your negative comments into a respectful dialogue.
āyou guysā refers to commenters here, by no means all of whom are Jewish.
And far too few of you are supporting the government of Israel, under unprecedented attack from real terrorist sickoes.
Sorry. They foment antisemitism.
Beth - I am actually surprised that there were even 5 of them to oppose. I mean he has all of the āqualificationsā that the others had when they were confirmed. He is loyal only to T, he has a small d*ck/small man problem, he spews horrible rhetoric for which he got caught for, and he has a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment (due to canceling a female co-workers hotel room and making her sleep in his room). Isnāt that what they are looking for in this administration now?
With putting my sarcasm aside I am glad that there were at least enough people to deny him his nomination but he also needs to be fired from his White House job.
Beth, please clarify. What didn't you think they had, one backbone or a real pair of gonads? I'd like to think they have both. There's a first time for everything with this Congress.
The GQP is coming around now because association with Trump is toxic to their political careers.
Vance's full throated defense of these vile people makes me wonder just what kind of jokes JD has been sharing...
Vance is vile. He has no integrity heāll back anything that makes him one of the deplorables.
But itās not THE bottom.
Trust me on this.
Yes, Macman. Trump has never once disappointed me -- every time I think he's bottomed out, he finds a way to go still lower.
Although at the moment It's hard to think of anything lower than his social media post on No Kings Day (but I have faith -- he'll find a way).
I think tearing down the east wing of the People's House without any sort of permissions or oversight might be a step lower. Either way, he's easily the most despicable "president" (of only red states) to ever hold office.
Definitely. Stand by for next week's (or tomorrow's, or this evening's) further lowering of the bar to still greater depths of soulless depravity and inhumanity, exhibited directly by some and indirectly by the blithe dismissal or condoning of same by others.
He is 30. What experience could he possibly have which would qualify him to be a Special Counsel?
No one in trumpās cabinet are qualified for their job
SPECTACULAR ass-kisser, LOVES to be on his back and is woefully under-educated. Those are the only qualifications needed.
There are no qualifications for the tRump Regime except absolute fealty and the willingness to abase themselves for the Orange Monster.
If we in red states keep hammering away with the outrage, we might peel off a few more.
And yet they meekly go along with the absolute protection of child rapistsā¦ā¦
JDV ācreates stories.ā He admitted it to Dana Bash on CNN 9/16/2024: If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then thatās what Iām going to do, Dana.ā He wasnāt VP yet. Not sure how he wasnāt disbarred for that. https://www.yahoo.com/news/putting-springfield-spotlight-j-d-093000731.html
JD lies and is full of it.
The cat memes were accurate, and not even āfake butā. Far less untrue than the rubbish the fake news media puts out. And the same thingās happening with swans in the U.K.
10% of the R Senators oppose revealing that the party has been taken over by Hitler fans. Whoopee!!
Not sure there is any bottom to their depravity.
Robert, you conclude: "Unlike Vance and the GOP operatives who feel that their loyalty to Trump allows them to promote the sickest and most hateful views imaginable, Senate Republicans have a bottom below which they wonāt sink." What is missing is a critical word like "a few" or "some". But alas the majority are still ok with brown noses. They also at a bottom but not the one you are referring to.
Wrong. They have no bottom, and they have ruined this country.
I really find this disgusting.
(Tangentially, I can't conceive why Martin Luther King, Jr. Day should go to the seventh circle, which is the circle of the violent: those people (especially powerful people who are violent against other people, people who experience suicide, and people who are violent against God. What on earth does he mean? Even aside from the day being a holiday and not a person, why the violent?)
Do you think that JDV has even read Dante?
JD Vance didn't even know that Greenland is ice covered.
Just Dance wouldn't know Dante if you bitchslapped him with a Dante book.
No
It doesn't sound like it.
Exactly
Amazing... how wonderful to know that FIVE (5) R's have a bottom.
They oppose him now, but will they be convinced to vote to confirm?
He withdrew himself from consideration. The nomination didn't make it out of committee, so it won't face a confirmation vote,
thankfully.