Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Gloaters, Gloating

It’s the gloating. 

Like President Biden, I accept a verdict rendered by twelve citizens, because that’s how it works, and that’s that. Perhaps the instructions they were given by the obviously partial and borderline-nuts judge were a fair rendering of Wisconsin law on self-defense, which, as I understand it, is the stuff of NRA dreams. Poor kid was scared for his life, wept convincingly, so… 

The gloating, though. It burns through what ought to be, on this day after Thanksgiving, a pleasant post-tryptophan fog. It’s a reminder of what we’ve become, and where it leads. Well, not “we,” really. They. “Rhymes-with-Tucker” Carlson already making a laudatory “documentary” about him, had a crew in the car that drove him from the courthouse. The Republican House’s most despicables (tough call) scrambling to be the first to offer him a job, fundraising off it. Madison Cawthorn, after the verdict, saying “Be armed, be dangerous, be moral.” (“Moral.” Nice touch.) Trump, Jr., wanting to gift the boy a real AR-15. Rightwing media, green-light orgasmic

Because, when you have only anger, not a single idea (in the case of the despicables, not a single piece of legislation) that might make life better for non-millionaire fellow Americans, sticking it to the libs and gloating about it is the best you can muster. Seeing them die? Even better.

Their hero may be legally innocent, but he was, and is, no human innocent. Filled with the juvenile version of white resentment and delusions of grandeur; after announcing, before crossing state lines to “protect businesses” that didn’t need it, that he planned to become famous, he had his mommy (!) drive him to Kenosha. Carrying an illegally-obtained assault-style weapon, he placed himself amongst demonstrators, possibly responding to a rightwing call to "take up arms." As people bravely tried to disarm him (fearing for the lives of others) after he’d already killed one, he was firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Squeezed off a few more rounds, killing one more and wounding another. Wish granted: a rightwing hero before the smoke cleared, nor the blood dried.

Did his trial-tested tears come from non-rehearsed remorse, or pre-trial coaching? After all, immediately following his “not guilty” plea he headed to a bar, where his underage drinking, paid for by the assembled crowd, was Wisconsin-legal because his mommy (!) accompanied him. There, he posed with Proud Boys, flashing the white-power hand-sign and wearing a T-shirt that said “Free as F--k.” That’s who he is, whom Trumpists adore.

And it’s who they are, these self-described patriots. By definition, that ought to make every true patriot sick. Feeling ill at where they’re taking America is now what distinguishes Democrats from Republicans. We feel sick; they gloat. The sicker we, the gloater they. Oh, but he isn’t a racist, he told Tucker. Loves him some BLM.

No matter the finer points of Wisconsin’s finest laws, imagine if the kid were black, had showed up, armed unlawfully, at a rally of unarmed white people; paraded through the crowd, then killed a few who tried to take his weapon. Even if he claimed he feared for his life, how likely is it he’d be exonerated?

There followed, of course, the predictable, counterproductive rioting from the usual crowd (whoever they really are) in Portland. Probably too soon after the verdict for Trumpism’s best to organize a lib-hunt. Next time, now that they’ve seen there being no consequences. If not Portland, somewhere. Count on it

And count on the kid being all over rightwing media. Lionized at Trump rallies. Probably running for office someday. Winning. Look out, Gaetz, Cawthorn, Gosar, Taylor-Greene, Boebert, Gohmert, McCarthy, Cruz, Hawley, McConnell, Blackburn, Paul, Graham... You have tough competition for the Deplorability Gold Medal. What a list. People offering nothing positive, voting against their constituents’ best interest at every opportunity. In a party that glorifies violence; rewards those who encourage or commit it. Make anime about it. And, always, receives praise from Trump.

Millions of them, gloating. Even as President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, whom they hate more than they care about their children’s future, are, unlike that thrombus of Congressional Rs, producing non-socialist legislation that will make life better for them and America.

It’s more proof of the effectiveness of a constant deluge of disinformation on people made irreversibly ignorant by their calculatingly dishonest, deliberately inciting media sources. Hero-worshipping a smirking white-supremacist-would-be for killing libs, convinced the ones getting things done on their behalf are their enemy. Not in the most dystopian novel, ever, would such a premise be considered believable. It’s that. All of it. 

And the gloating.

17 comments:

  1. Your link is no longer...So here's the one that won't disappear soon.

    "There, he posed with Proud Boys, flashing the white-power hand-sign and wearing a T-shirt that said “Free as F--k.” That’s who he is, whom Trumpists adore."

    https://www.google.com/search?q=There,+he+posed+with+Proud+Boys,+flashing+the+white-power+hand-sign+and+wearing+a+T-shirt+that+said+Free+as+F--k.+Thats+who+he+is,+whom+Trumpists+adore.&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS910US910&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjB6obEjLj0AhWqJTQIHaa9BE8Q_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1920&bih=976&dpr=1

    From the Daily KOS article you suggested...

    "Other “Patriot” Movement extremists saw the verdict as vindication for vigilantism and militia organizing. The “Washougal Moms,” a militia-friendly group from eastern Washington state, opined:"

    "Today the jury and legal system has reaffirmed our rights as citizens. The second amendment in all aspects, to form a well regulated militia, the right to bear arms in self defense, and against enemies both foreign and domestic!"

    That Daily KOS article is a real steamy pile of White hate. It kinda covers it all from the nether regions of society. I read it top to bottom. Inside and out.

    Without getting into the politics or get too far into these peoples minds, I think it's very important to say...

    These people with all this hate and rage. With alll their self imposed "green light" white justice fervor. They are not coming for you. They just ain't.

    So who is it they are targeting? The politicians. The name brand politicians. Maybe a donor or two.

    Will there be armed clashes with multiple civilians? I seriously doubt it.

    These people want STAR POWER. Like the guy who murdered Travon Martin. He's long gone. I barely recalled his name just now. I'll never forget Travon Martin. Never. I know exactly what he dealt with that night. I've had to deal with it too. Like this poor excuse for a human being that got off. Lucky him...But guess what? He's still an a-hole and he always will be an a-hole. Watch, he'll mess it up. Just like a hillbilly who wins the lottery. It's the beginning of the end. They will use this kid up and spit him out.

    I know it all sounds very scary. Because it is. It's scary words. It's scary actions. It's all very terrifying. It's supposed to be. It's stuff normal folks never deal with. The thought of going to war. Or just the thought of armed conflict. We are not allowed to peacefully protest anymore without the cops or white terror coming down on you.

    It will change...It will take time and work. It will take each and every one of us to do their part. The first part is stay safe. Then take it from there.

    If none of these people involved in the coup attempt are severely punished, we are really screwed. But until that happens, I am going to continue to pay very close attention. We need to aggressively federally prosecute everyone involved. Simple as that. You want to save the nation? Make them all stand trial.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Butch. I changed the link to one that works. Dunno what happened.

      Delete
    2. Right wing something if I had to guess. Who knows.

      Delete
  2. Saw this in the local paper...

    "Comment: This Thanksgiving, thank farmers, too, for the meal. Compared to what you pay for turkey, stuffing and more, farmers earn a few cents for what they provide"

    https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-this-thanksgiving-thank-farmers-too-for-the-meal/

    Seeing as how we are talking about gloating...

    "Pam Lewison is the agriculture research director for the Washington Policy Center and a fourth-generation farmer in Eastern Washington. Her work can be found at washingtonpolicy.org and on Thanksgiving tables around the Northwest."

    So Pam decides to write a self serving piece about how the farmers are the only thing between us and starvation.

    There's a 90 year old who's thankful she can see and hear in the list of thankful folks. But only Pam decided to grind her axe.

    Shall we thank the coal miners? After all, we certainly owe them our deepest bow for making it all happen. In fact let's just wrap it up. God bless the fly over states. For they are the "real 'murcah" and we are sniveling nonfarmers, not worthy of praise. Speaking of praise...Not a damn thing happens w/o God! But that's something Godless coastal elites know nothing about. I, on behalf of the "unsaved" thank you in advance for saving me. I thought that was a job for Jesus. Mission accomplished. I again thank you for saving us all in spite of everything you supposedly believe in.

    I could go on, and it seems to me Grocery stores and weed shops were also necessary infrastructure. So technically, weed growers deserve equal praise for making 'mucah great.

    What about the military? I thought they made everything possible. I guess not...It's actually the weed guy. My dealer went from fugitive to necessary.

    Wait!

    A farmer can't feed hardly anyone but himself without John Deere. We should be thanking them! Not some farmer who can't even pull a plow.

    I just get tired of alt right blowhards who think they are somehow better than anyone else. No, you are an ignorant out of work coal miner. That said, we the unwashed, still accept you for who you are. We are gonna send even more of our tax dollars to help these sniveling panty wastes. Why? Because they are too limp to get their own shit together. Slavery was free labor. They complained they can't make money w/o free labor. All the way to "Right to work" laws.

    The Confederacy has NEVER made a single dollar that didn't come from exploitation.

    It's always the ones doing the talking that has the real issues. They know they are hypocrites and do not care.


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  3. Not that I ever like to disagree with the esteemed doctor, but I don't recall seeing any actual tears from that little cretin. I remember the sobs and gasping for breath, and faced with being convicted of murder I guess I'd do the same, but no tears. Having known some drama queens in my day, I would put him firmly in that category.

    I take heart in the other verdicts which have been rendered in favor of suppressing White Supremacists--Derek Chauvin's murder of George Floyd and the three whiteys in Georgia found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Yes, thank you, more please. The convictions, not the murders, of course.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's the pathetic snively, snivel, snivler,...

      This is their hero. Their tough guy.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54ylg--I9E

      Delete
    2. Yeah, I noticed a lot of the same.

      My ex and my kids do the same thing. I finally got the kids to stop it. But it was too late to save many relationships. It's about doing wrong, and never paying the consequences. It's the thought of the consequences that causes an emotional outburst. NOT the act of killing them.

      I've dealt with this a long time. Once you figure it out, it completely disarms them.

      It goes from "you're are guilty and we are holding you accountable" to...

      "get away from me and go figure it out. Your whining and sniveling won't save this relationship."

      But there's a whole lot of destruction in the middle that is endured. Now? I understand, and it's up to each person to fix whatever is internally wrong.

      People are manipulative and incredibly destructive. Especially if they are perpetually enabled. My alky Dad is a great example of it. Until decades later he got a lesson he never forgot.

      This kids lessons are only beginning.

      Delete
  4. On seeing Rittenhouse's emotional breakdown on the stand, my Special Ed teacher wife assessed his reaction and emotions to be genuine, and that he almost certainly had been a Spec-Ed kid. Clearly he has some limitations that must have influenced his behavior.

    What limited opportunity he might have had to reflect on this life lesson and change, it's clear that it will never happen. The immediate exploitation by Fox, hate groups, and the Republicans slammed that door in his face. That's a crime, too.



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    1. I defer always, to the expertise and observations of educators. I stand, if not corrected, then at least further enlightened.

      Is this the second or third generation of kids who are being raised by parents who are ill-equipped or non-equipped to raise them after the simple biology of creating them? This is another form of generational poverty, IMHO.

      Delete
    2. I agree...There's a lot of factors involved that it's impossible to completely put your finger on.

      I know for a fact how much money you have increases your chances of "succeeding".

      Sometimes growing up at the right time and place is all it takes. Like growing up in the 60's in Silicon Valley. But if you lived East side San Jose, you prolly went to jail, died or never had a career. If you lived in Sunnyvale, Cupertino or many other places in Santa Clara county you got free state college educations. You could grow up in Santa Cruz and be a Banana Slug and have a great career without a whole bunch of suffering or effort.

      Today?

      The profiteers dig their claws in before they leave HS. You are in debt 10's of thousands of dollars. 100's of thousands for advanced degrees at the 'namer' schools. (Harvard, Yale etc.).

      Yup, those were the days...It was never paid forward though. It is all "I got mine and you can too, pull up your boot straps".

      Well, that's awfully easy to say. But say it to someone who can argue in opposition and see what happens then.

      The fact is this...

      After WW2 a shit ton of money was poured into children from the states and feds. That lasted till Nixon. From there it went down hill till just recently. People are finally fed up and it's way past due. There's 5 decades of suppression on the poor and lower middle class. Clinton sealed the deal with Work First. It provided companies slave labor. Labor for pennies on the dollar and the last nail in unions coffins. Collective bargaining, pensions and alllll the other nice paying with medical jobs disappeared. There's 100's of examples but here's one everyone can relate to.

      If you were a grocery checker. You could send your kids to school. But a nice house and a car that runs well. Take a nice vacation, not a "staycation". Pay for the daughters weddings. On and on and on...

      Now? You barely get by. Maybe after 20 years you start seeing the fruits. Barely. After 40 years you could retire and live comfortably. Not constantly worried about housing and food. The lifetime of stress can not be overstated. Stress is associated with the 6 leading causes of death.

      Today's checkers? They are "ESSENTIAL"!!! So says the feds and the entire rest of the known world. Well, except for the flash mobs who steal from stores. They really have no use for checkers. But I bet they all have good use for a raise.

      And if the cops are so fantastic? Why can't they stop them? They easily kettle protestors and gas them, brutalize them. But actual criminals? Not so much. Seems the cops are really terrific at subduing harmless people. But not so much the folks who need to be subdued. If the cops decided to ignore them they can. It's within their 'rules' to do whatever they decide to do or not do. Never held accountable. Yet teachers are too far away because of their evil unions. We can't just fire them like they allll deserve to be! Especially the Godless teachers. They defiantly need to be burned at the stake in the town square. Let's send the cops after them! Mehhhh...That doesn't happen often. I wonder why? Why do protesting kids get the rough treatment and lives ruined. And other folks never seem to suffer the same?

      I don't know. It just seems to me to be raised right, ya gotta have some kinda foundation to build from. Teachers have been raising our kids for 50 years. While Mom and Dad work. Most homes only have one parent.

      Generational poverty and generational wealth.

      When it all goes down. Food and water are always the 2 that get the poor pissed off with that "Nothing left to lose" smell to it.

      That's where we are now.

      When the white people move into newly gentrified areas, the black folks are thankful for only one thing really. What's that you say? I'll tell you.

      The white people are bringing salad with them!

      ...and that's about it.

      See what I am sayin'?




      Delete
  5. This isn't about gloating...Although the one kid has every justifiable right to...lol
    It's Christmas and to me this is more Christmassy than 98% of the crap I see and hear.

    I just wanna hug em' all!


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh1Z1jhk6nY

    ReplyDelete
  6. A snippet I snippetted from this article...

    https://www.heraldnet.com/business/job-seekers-today-are-choosy-forcing-employers-to-adapt/

    "There have been some surprises this past year."

    "Employers expected to see more job applications when special federal unemployment payments — an extra $300 a week on top of state jobless benefits — ended in September, Lambert said."

    "The surge “lasted about a week, and then it returned to the same as before,” Lambert said."

    "While the economy has rebounded “quite nicely” from COVID, employers are desperate, Lambert said. That’s good news for job-seekers as many firms are upping the ante."

    “We’ve seen significant pay increases at all levels, including entry-level jobs,” Lambert said."

    "Locally, manufacturers and distribution centers have the greatest number of open positions. Starting pay in those industries typically ranges from $16 to $24 an hour, she said."

    "Hiring bonuses have become a staple at some firms."

    "A Monroe cabinet maker is advertising $1,000 hiring bonuses, and the Frito Lay Distribution Center on Merrill Creek Parkway in Everett is offering $3,000 signing bonuses."

    “Once upon a time those hiring bonuses were for high level positions. Now they’re being offered to entry-level employees,” Lambert said. “Employers are pulling out all the stops to compete.”

    "But there’s a catch to offering extra cash, she cautioned."

    "Bonuses are a “complete waste” unless the pay is competitive, Lambert said."

    “A bonus gets want ad views, but that’s about it, Lambert tells employers."

    "Wages are usually a job seeker’s first concern if the position pays less than $75,000 a year, she said. “You have to post the pay rate or people won’t respond,” Lambert said. “It’s not that $75,000 is a magic number — it’s about being able to support your family or pay the rent.” (A living wage for one adult and one child in Snohomish County is $36.33 an hour, or $75,566 a year, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator.)"

    "In October, the number of job openings in the U.S. was pegged at 9.4 million, a historic high."

    Back to me...IT was not long ago we were fighting for $15 an hour and getting pummeled by just about everyone. Not just the Confederacy. But blue dogs barked too.

    Well? The "right to work for less" and this notion of "Unskilled work" and "Unskilled labor". Could anything be more demeaning? EVERY JOB REQUIRES SKILLS. Every single one of them. Every person has skills. Every single one of them.

    This notion of throw away people. So who has that notion? That people are only worth what someone thinks you are worth. But it's not your actual value. It's always well below that line. Why? Because for good service and products you have to pay a little more. Their "servants" are lucky they create jobs for them. Because they have no skills. They need more motivation, these unskilled, doing the unskilled tasks. So having to depend on others generosity daily is a life sentence. Depending on generosity for rent, car payments, heat, food and allll the other stuff. Then put them down if they need welfare to make ends meet. NEVER blame the job creator for working the system. Ask Walmart and McDonalds how they subsidize workers via DSHS. Corporate bailouts are now part of the banks business models. ALL the banks. The car manufacturers and so on. Bailouts are baked in. Too big to fail.

    This is where we are and it's the kids who are changing the rules. The unskilled ones especially. $15 an hour won't get an employer an employee. It's too little too late. Continuing to demand $15 an hour is a hilarious thought.

    Also? Automation...

    It was supposed to free us up to do other things. Like enjoy a picnic instead of washing laundry on a rock all day.

    But what happens when the machines make 80% of our goods? Who gets that money? That's why we should all get a "freedom dividend".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Freedom bucks explained...

      Andrew Yang is the one who is the poster child. Of course there are well known others who agree with Andrew.

      https://2020.yang2020.com/what-is-freedom-dividend-faq/#:~:text=The%20Freedom%20Dividend%20is%20a,or%20fulfill%20a%20work%20requirement.

      Delete
  7. I found this interesting. The filibuster is the only way the alt right has any power at all. Threaten that one and only tool and Lumpy folds.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/30/mcconnell-going-soft-debt-limit/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_opinions&utm_campaign=wp_opinions

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is promising...Barely...but it qualifies as promising.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RspFfaRD8cs

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  9. Here's another boo hoo for the camera.

    https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mccarthy-tries-fails-resolve-gop-s-newest-feud-n1285152?cid=eml_mra_20211201&user_email=fc66f1f7269b229e2460170946fa6f41e6153bc57ef9c5d002f9aa613fcb2eea

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here's another example...Just go to @1:50 to get to 'the moment' but it's worth the watch. This guy was coming to Drumpfs rescue. As he tried to cry.


    https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/new-fbi-video-shows-interrogation-of-jan-6th-defendant-accused-of-tasing-officer-127588421984?cid=eml_mra_20211202&user_email=fc66f1f7269b229e2460170946fa6f41e6153bc57ef9c5d002f9aa613fcb2eea

    ReplyDelete

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