because I’m somewhat compulsive about clutter, but everytime I finish one, I think, “I need to post that,” so I can’t close them. I’m going to do another multi-post here; links and a snip, but all are good/important/pertinent to our interests, so enjoy/read, anyway, these stories.
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Salient points in this one, and she’s not the only one to whom this has occurred:
Snippet:
<snip> So, the Bush folks felt ecstatic when they got the White House–finally! In 2001. After two long terms of the Bubbas! The grown-ups were in charge! And they pretended the little thing with the missing “W”‘s was a big old riot of Democrat malfeasing–
And they didn’t have their eye on the ball about the PDB that said Bin Laden was planning an attack on our soil.
This is where I think the Trump people are. Trump is off-gassing about “owning” Gaza, He wants to ship about 2 million human beings who have already been through some major shit to Jordan or Egypt. These countries obviously don’t want to be responsible for about 1 million each refugees. Trump should know that, because he doesn’t want any kind of refugees, ever, here in the US.
He’s taking out experienced foreign office and military professionals, He’s offending the hell out of our allies, and making the likelihood of sharing intelligence less favorable. He’s putting in naifs and flakes in important roles.
And then says really offensive shit absolutely guaran-damn-teed to stir up some pot somewhere.
It’s like he figured out antifa isn’t going do a Reichstag with any credibility, so he needs an international crisis to go create bizarre national powers for himself. <snip>
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The Eyes Have It by Samantha Bee
What’s next? Read on Substack
<snip> Not to be all Cassandra about it, but a very big part of the problem is that we are incapable of anticipating what Donald Trump can whip up in his imagination.
Like you know how sometimes you wake up from a dream and you say “oh my god I just had the funniest dream that the dog wouldn’t stop laughing, and her laugh sounded like James Earl Jones!!” and everyone is just thinking “stop telling me about your dreams.”
I think he wakes up from his dreams and says “I am the boss of Canada now.” Or, he takes an elderly man’s nappie-poo in the afternoon, wakes up groggy, slurps a Diet Coke and muses “wouldn’t it be fun to do a WWE RAW in the Concert Hall at the Kennedy Center? The acoustics are huge.” “Or what about one of those cool political rallies where we all do this random gesture together because no one is capable of stopping us?”
Well, we better damn well figure out how to stop this mayhem, because we are learning that things change quickly and without warning. <snip>
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(This one’s just, well, holy-shit-what’s-happened-to-her-brain weird.)
Rep. Nancy Mace accuses ex-fiancé and associates of assaulting her and raping others in House speech
CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina on Monday used a nearly hour-long speech on the U.S. House floor to accuse her ex-fiancé of physically abusing her, recording sex acts with her and others without their consent, and conspiring with business associates in acts of rape and sexual misconduct.
Mace said she was speaking out because her home state’s top prosecutor didn’t take action even after she alerted investigators. That same prosecutor is likely to be Mace’s opponent if she runs for governor of South Carolina in 2026, which she is considering. <snip>
The AP wasn’t able to independently verify Mace’s claims. Bryant told AP: “I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name.”
Mace accused South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson of slow-walking any investigation of Bryant and the other men after she brought the photos and video to state authorities.<snip>
Mace, 47, won a third U.S. House term in November and has said that she is “seriously considering” a 2026 run for South Carolina governor. If she enters that race, she will likely face Wilson — in his fourth term and also the son of Rep. Joe Wilson — in the Republican primary. <snip-the whole thing makes better sense as a whole, but not a lot more sense.>
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And finally, a little statement for hope:
What Can Be Done?
Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill, on setting realistic expectations and saving enough of the foundational bricks of democracy to be able to rebuild in the future:
The truth is that we will NOT be able to stop every terrible thing that this administration seeks to do. Elections really do have consequences – as many of us tried with tremendous urgency to make clear last year. But we can slow things down, win some battles, throw sand in the gears of others. If we save some lives, some jobs, some critical government agencies, some measure of press freedom, some medical and subsistence benefits, academic freedom for some schools and universities, and protect the dignity, safety and constitutional rights of some of our most vulnerable fellow Americans, it will be worth it.
And it will be from whatever remainder of democratic structure, values, and policies we are able to protect that we will have the space and platform on which to do the work of building an urgently needed new democracy in our country. So our fight today is worth it.
Scottie's Playtime 