Even though it’s a month early, the House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Jim Jordan, will celebrate Festivus on Thursday. Expect the usual airing of Republican grievances about Democrats.
Damn, Gym Jordan must be the slowest learner since trump's dad bought him a Wharton College degree. Osmosis is not really working for either of those 2 clowns, nor for Comer either. Some Democrat should bring a bill forward that basically calls for actual work on behalf ofcthe American people be taken up by Congress, not wasteful time spent on ploys to entertain Putin & Musk with. I yield my time back.
Comer is skating on very thin ice when trying to maul Hunter Biden. Keep up the good work Jamie Raskin!! Pull the curtain back on the fake and smarmy wizard from Kentucky.
Comer's 1st Congressional District sure looks gerrymandered. It covers large swaths of western Kentucky but artfully misses the major urban centers. Huh. No wonder he manages to keep being a thorn in the side of the non-MAGA crowd. Look at the map just to see what gerrymandering can be.
Actually, the conservative wing of the party hated him passionately. Throughout his military career, he did as all other professional officers did then and was apolitical. Nobody knew what he was - the Democrats even thought about trying to nominate him for president in 1948 when they were terrified Truman would lose. The GOP "pragmatist" wing brought him in because they were tired of being in the political wasteland for 20 years and figured all the ex-GIs would vote for The Supreme Commander - they were right. the pragmatists defeated the Taft wing (Senator Robert Taft having been a pre-war Isolationist who was involved with much of the pro-Nazi stuff Rachel Maddow describes in her new book "Prequel").
The three "good" Republican presidents are Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower. Each was a "fluke". They were hated by the conservatives each time, and were supported by the "pragmatists" who thought winning was a good idea. The party hated TR so much, they made him VP to sideline him, forgetting what happens when a presidential assassination occurs.
Nobody knew what he was politically in 1948, because American professional officers remained apolitical while in service. There was a group of Democratic hand-wringers (see "No Labels" today) who just knew that Truman was a loser, so they wanted to draft Eisenhower to run in the 1948 election.
Joyce, my first thought was that you were going to talk about that episode of "Seinfeld." Once I started reading this, my thought went to, "Wow! That show was fiction, and funny, but this here is REAL, and not at all funny!" I'm sure that Gym Jordan will do an excellent job, because he never disappoints. Just happy that it's not Mr. Ed or her friend Matt being the ringmaster.
I cannot WAIT for the GOP (goof-off party) to do something that will actually benefit us, the taxpayers.
If we could each receive a dollar for every time they whine about Democrats, we'd be rich, wouldn't we?
Thank you once again for not just giving me something to look forward each day, but, as Stephanie says on MSNBC, making me smarter!!!
If Republicans do anything to benefit the taxpayers, it will only be the 1%, maybe 2%, and the unregulated corporate interest who heard the call to inflate and kept the Federal Reserve busy fighting that terrible cancer while the little guy paid for their high profits. Just look at today’s Dow nearly reaching its year high thanks to good profit reports.
Thank you Joyce. "We need elected representatives who are committed to working for us, not just showboating and trying to accumulate power for themselves." Great advice to all. Showboating and power grabs are the only agenda for the MAGA Republicans of today.
Good idea. That screeching will be worse than a teacher writing something on the blackboard with chalk. Back when they had blackboards and chalk, that is.
It’s not about working at all. Much like Trump, it’s about showing off the permission to say or do anything to get his name in the media, and granting others permission to be publicly obnoxious and take pride in their own willful ignorance.
In addition to encouraging people to register to vote (and then vote), the courage good people to run for office. Local cities, school boards and counties need good, smart people to run. It’s a big commitment but oh so important.
Good luck with that. After I retired from medicine I got on my newly formed HOA Board of Directors and ultimately served as President. Dealing with just ~150 different homeowners (and their spouse/partner etc. in about 2/3 of those 150 homes) just wore me out, as did dealing with the 4 other Board members’ personalities. People are complicated, many don’t have enough of an attention span to absorb or remember the details, others take detail SO obsessively that they can barely function. I understand reluctance to run. Smart doesn’t necessarily equal efficient at governing. Look at Ted Cruz! Harvard degree and ever the obstructionist. We need good and PRACTICAL, action-oriented people to run for and serve in office.
I represented many HOA Defendants in my legal career including a 20 Day Trial for on Cross-complaints for Contempt which is a "quasi-criminal" procedimg.
Accordingly I prohibited my high functioning Mother, the Head of "HR" Human Relations at a LA Teaching Hospital from ever serving as the HOA President.
My real estate attorney, who represented HOA members, including us, and some associations, told me 'attorneys never live in condominiums:) Brava to you for protecting your mom.
You are a smart man, Bryan. The board upon which I served had its share of wild-n-crazy shenanigans, enough to put me off ever serving on another board. Too risky!
It might be a huge improvement if people without millions (or billions) were able to run for office. Their priorities would be just a tad different than the present bunch.
That is likely much more true in a state or especially federal level. But local elected officials are more likely to be “regular” people, at least in my experience.
Ted Cruz was elected to office because he was corruptible. Then he was/is corrupted. He hired Steve Bannon (Cambridge Analytica) to run his 2016 presidential campaign. This entailed using unauthorized information from American citizens. Degrees do not mean one is 'smart.' Intelligence is 'knowing the difference' and 💙 Intelligence can be defined as having a set of skills to make it possible for a person to solve problems in life. I lived at one time in an ocean front condominium among millionaires and several billionaires (with homes in several locales in the US and Europe. But my husband and I (I with a PhD policy researcher, he a psychologist) used to say the smartest guy in the building was the maintenance guy. He spoke broken English and his education career ended in 7th grade. There were 80 some cars in the parking lot on two levels. He memorized every license plate; and knew when every resident traveled - and when they were returning - including the day, and time of the airline flight. Thus, he knew who was using a parking space they should not be in (he informed us one day that 'so and so's girlfriend was visiting while the guy's wife was away). We didn't care who had affairs: but we were totally amazed at our friend's memory. We asked him if he had ever told anyone else that he was keeping track of the cars and he said 'never.' HOA's can be horrid. But they are pretty much at the bottom of governance. I've been on several HOA boards (tough duty) and a member of a community garden. The members acted like the dirt was their own and made formal complaints about weeds, even when a plot neighbor was going through a personal tragedy. Boards are indeed tough, whether profit or not-for-profit. Bravo to you for volunteering to serve your community. I found that board members usually had a personal agenda - and wanted their 'single issue' addressed. If one is lucky, the board members can look past the personalities to get to the mission. You've reminded me of some 'real pain' and a chair throwing episode. But the all-time worst is what we are watching from Republicans with challenges to cage fights (?!), elbows in backs, devolving, imploding and heading off the cliff. Let's let them go. One would think that there would be a bit of civility in our House and Senate.
Fantastic. You are on the top of your game. Festivus, reminds me of “After school day care” it’s what you do to occupy your time once your school day is over and before you start your homework.
Mike Shellenberger is not an environmentalist in the way we think about those persons. He spews in the local Bay Area papers. Here's what that Wikipedia link says about him.
'Michael D. Shellenberger (born June 16, 1971) is an American author and former public relations professional who writes about politics, the environment, climate change, and nuclear power. In his book San Fransicko, Shellenberger makes the argument that progressivism is linked to homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness. He is a co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition.[1] Shellenberger founded the pro-nuclear non-profit Environmental Progress in 2016.[2]'
In other words, a greenwasher. About as authentic as say Matt Taibbi or Russell Brand. If you don't want to use Wikipedia as a source, fine. I always invite people to do their own research and compare.
Jim Jordan and his committee are playing to their constituents, employing outrage and shock to turn out their vote and to incite the spread of disinformation to other vulnerable groups, and those groups are being worked by bad actors. Such vulnerable constituencies can include, for instance, young voters who are frustrated by the high cost of housing or low wages. They can be moved to distrust Democrats and Republicans and vote for third party candidates.
And, although their hearings and findings may look ridiculous to us, they aren’t perceived that way by their partisan audiences or to the people who are being swayed by the many purveyors of influence operations. See Alexander Vindman’s great brief read on that:
I am just working my way through a brand new report by the American Psychological Association entitled “Using psychological science to understand and fight health misinformation.” The report acknowledges parallels to political mis- and disinformation. It explores partisan motivation to spread misinformation even if one believes otherwise. In other words, I believe we’re mostly looking at cynical politicians spreading false content that their followers want to believe — and claiming that one believes it favors one’s status in the in-group. The report includes recommendations to counter the spread of misleading content, falsehoods and lies.
Here’s a link to the press release that summarizes some of the reports findings and links to the report.
Thanks. Everyone who is involved in trying to salvage the democratic and Enlightenment values that are currently under global oligarchic and extreme populist attack would do well to become familiar with the basics of psychological manipulation and the misuse of mass media to control our political and social narratives.
Social media and the deployment of algorithms in this long term info war on free thought by bad state players is resulting in a speeding up of narrative feedback loops and therein intensifying propaganda messaging. This has resulted in an extreme rather than gradualist political dualism which is now getting out of control, exposing their Wizard of Oz manipulations and fomenting potential civil wars across the world.
I'd very much like to see heavy coverage of these hearings by the Columbus Ohio TV and print media. I can imagine very few things more off-putting than listening to Gym Jordan bloviate for more than 5 minutes. On any topic. He's a bully and he runs rough-shod over witnesses, unless they are making his points for him. He is the living embodiment of a powerful man weaponizing government to serve for his own glorification. There is a vanishingly small chance that his committee will discover anything that you couldn't have learned by listening to Steve Bannon.
Comely Comer complaining about Dems abusive behavior-he must wear earplugs and have a blind spot in his right eye sitting next to the most abusive abrasive loud-mouthed flapping lips Gymbag sitting right next to him. Wish his elbow had a trigger motion set off by Gymbag lips flapping. That would be fun to watch.
Hi, Bryan, that's a great additional word! I will start to incorporate it in my thinking. I actually was referencing "willful suspension of disbelief," as coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief). Almost all R propaganda requires its targets to believe the unbelievable -- hence "suspension" of reality-based analysis. Many R voters have been primed for decades to swallow wholesale lies that embed via repetition (following the Nazi playbook). Trump has ramped up the rhetoric / frequency to a fever pitch, which feeds this truly dangerous narrative. His followers sincerely "believe" the US is on the brink of economic collapse, fueled by dirty immigrants, unruly women (-;), nefarious Jews, and immoral LGBTQ people. Of course, this "terrible" state of affairs is because "Demonrats" foment it. We have our return-to-sanity work cut out for us!
Clowns are actually very serious people who study and work hard to create their characters, unlike the quarter-wits who can flunk the IQ test low enough to qualify as Republicans.
What you say about real clowns is true. My late mother was a clown at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in the city where I grew up. She went to a clown school, made her own costume, and her character and clown-name had to be original. I was proud of her. It was always fun (and sometimes challenging) to find a clown-related thing to give her each Christmas.
One big difference between clowns (think Clarabelle from "Howdy Doody Show," if you're old like me) and the Republicans, especially cult ones, is that real clowns don't talk! Wouldn't that be refreshing if these men and women had to be quiet?
I suspect that all this wheel spinning, bringing silly cases to the attention of the public by Republicans, cases with no evidence, the Hunter Biden sadness and the dangerous activities Tuberville is involved in, and the all consuming Dobbs decision attention grabber, are just ways to manipulate the future and stall for time before the election, time they are using to organize and maybe mobilize their next big thing. Something bad. Never underestimate these people.
Susan, I agree. Things are changing, but not in a good way at all. I worry way too much about my grandchildren, who won't be old enough to vote for quite a few more years. I'm afraid for what life will be like for them, what freedoms that we enjoy today may no longer exist for them, will they ever know what their history books won't be allowed to tell them? If someone had told not even 20 years ago how much destruction one evil person, and his evil followers, could cause our country, I would never have believed them. It didn't take long for the hair to stand up on the back of my neck once I saw the infamous "escalator ride." That was all I needed to know about what would be in store for me. It was worse than I'd imagine, and even though he's no longer POTUS, he's still pulling strings. I'm so scared that he'll be elected again next year. You're right, Susan, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THESE PEOPLE.
I believe without reservation that Trump will be disqualified or overwhelmed by the good people of our country. The ONLY chance he has is if they are able to correograph some sort of major, unexpected, dirty trick that blindsides millions of Americans at the last minute. I also believe without reservation that his popularity is significantly overrated. It has to be. He doesn’t have any chance if the general public doesn’t believe he’s surging ahead. Always surging ahead. No news media would dare report he’s falling behind or that people are bailing out in droves. Which I do brazenly state HE IS and THE ARE.
Steve Bannon is using psy warfare in his 'The War Room' six days per week, targeting Republicans. He was a founder of Cambridge Analytica (who acknowledged they ran Trump's campaign and used a third party app to access personality indicators from 87 million Americans without their consent or knowledge). Do not expect the dirty tricks to abate unless there are guilty verdicts from court trials. We have FAB litigators. Bannon is being tried in New York for his 'build the wall scheme' for which the DOJ charged him, and Trump pardoned him prior to trial. But evidently some of the scammed were New York residents. So Bannon will be tried in New York in May. The Manhattan DA, Alvin L. Bragg brought those charges. So: my take is that Trump gave Bannon a get out of jail free card pardon with the agreement that he would do his dirty tricks psychological warfare to help Trump in his presidential campaign for 2024. Trump will not be elected (I know it isn't over till it's over....but we won't let that happen). I am hoping beyond hope that Bannon is in jail during Trump's summer campaign but I say 'beyond hope' because of the appeal thing. Cambridge Analytica was forced into receivership and the executives made agreements that they cannot do business in the US. I'm wondering how Bannon avoided that penalty? His co-workers have said that 'everyone knew Cambridge Analytica was Steve's baby.' So he had the psychological warfare knowledge from his military career, used it at Cambridge Analytica, and brought it to Ted Cruz's campaign - and Trump's. I'm an old hippy-dippy and have had a lot of difficulty with the idea of anyone being incarcerated. But Steve Bannon is dangerous. And that is not allegedly. He is bad to the bone.
Susan, thanks for writing back. I really hope (and pray) that it works out that way. The thought of living in a police state led by a narcissistic psychopath scares the heck out of me!
Deflect, deny, and lie is the central Trump GOP tactic to regain office. Project 25, the Heritage Foundation initiative led by Trump enablers including nativist Stephen Miller and Freedom Caucus co-founder, former Trump Chief of Staff and indicted Trump co-conspirator Mark Meadows is the plan to stay in power by installing cronies and purging political enemies and career civil servants in order to assure loyalty to Donald Trump, himself wholly unprincipled and unfit to lead a democratic republic “like the world has never seen”. Vote.
Diane, I was a Christian clown back in the '80's. We studied mime, as well as clown school. We were silent. When we put on heavily rehearsed dramas at various churches and non-church events, we had narration and music, but no speaking. When the outfit and makeup went on, the voice turned off.
A lot of time and effort, just to keep your mouth shut..
Gus, I cannot imagine performing in a drama without any words. I don't like getting up in front of people, which was one reason I never got a decent grade when reading a book report. Kudos to you for what you did!
Doom and Gloom everywhere. Something has to give soon for Truth and Accountability. This everyday wearing down. Is not sustainable. We must Vote and we cannot accept Lies we just can’t. What do we do? Freedom of Speech has never been seen as bad until it has been abused by our government. I🇺🇸
Damn, Gym Jordan must be the slowest learner since trump's dad bought him a Wharton College degree. Osmosis is not really working for either of those 2 clowns, nor for Comer either. Some Democrat should bring a bill forward that basically calls for actual work on behalf ofcthe American people be taken up by Congress, not wasteful time spent on ploys to entertain Putin & Musk with. I yield my time back.
Comer is skating on very thin ice when trying to maul Hunter Biden. Keep up the good work Jamie Raskin!! Pull the curtain back on the fake and smarmy wizard from Kentucky.
Comer has got to go.
Comer's 1st Congressional District sure looks gerrymandered. It covers large swaths of western Kentucky but artfully misses the major urban centers. Huh. No wonder he manages to keep being a thorn in the side of the non-MAGA crowd. Look at the map just to see what gerrymandering can be.
What? and earn their money. What a novel idea (:-)
The Democrats can beat the Republicans at “feats of strength” any day. Today is a good day to prove it. Go Jamie!!
William
Alito is adamant that the right to disseminate “disinformation” shall not be abridged
What a guy
Alito to Jordan, “I got your back”
Alito to Comer “You still can’t think to breathe. Come back when the Stupid subsides
But it should be counted with the truth based on published facts.
They deserve to be pooped on most definitely.
Further proof that Harry Truman was right back in 1948, when observed that "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies."
Ooooh! I love that saying! It's true as can be . . . . .
That explains why the fat guy is still standing.
Lol. But Eisenhower was a good Republican.
Actually, the conservative wing of the party hated him passionately. Throughout his military career, he did as all other professional officers did then and was apolitical. Nobody knew what he was - the Democrats even thought about trying to nominate him for president in 1948 when they were terrified Truman would lose. The GOP "pragmatist" wing brought him in because they were tired of being in the political wasteland for 20 years and figured all the ex-GIs would vote for The Supreme Commander - they were right. the pragmatists defeated the Taft wing (Senator Robert Taft having been a pre-war Isolationist who was involved with much of the pro-Nazi stuff Rachel Maddow describes in her new book "Prequel").
The three "good" Republican presidents are Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower. Each was a "fluke". They were hated by the conservatives each time, and were supported by the "pragmatists" who thought winning was a good idea. The party hated TR so much, they made him VP to sideline him, forgetting what happens when a presidential assassination occurs.
TC I did not get any of that history in high school, TAFT High School in Woodland Hills, CA.
One of the good things though about that Valley 'burb was that I grew up off Mullhullannd Dr in a town that really was in wooded hills.
But was Ike a Republican at the time Truman was quoted as saying ...?
Nobody knew what he was politically in 1948, because American professional officers remained apolitical while in service. There was a group of Democratic hand-wringers (see "No Labels" today) who just knew that Truman was a loser, so they wanted to draft Eisenhower to run in the 1948 election.
True.
I had to edit, change Like to Ike.
Auto Incorrect strikes again!
Wow
Joyce, my first thought was that you were going to talk about that episode of "Seinfeld." Once I started reading this, my thought went to, "Wow! That show was fiction, and funny, but this here is REAL, and not at all funny!" I'm sure that Gym Jordan will do an excellent job, because he never disappoints. Just happy that it's not Mr. Ed or her friend Matt being the ringmaster.
I cannot WAIT for the GOP (goof-off party) to do something that will actually benefit us, the taxpayers.
If we could each receive a dollar for every time they whine about Democrats, we'd be rich, wouldn't we?
Thank you once again for not just giving me something to look forward each day, but, as Stephanie says on MSNBC, making me smarter!!!
Will Festivus include "feats of strength" like elbows to the kidneys and shoving?
No feats of anything but, Santos' real name will be revealed.
Santos said he was the 'it girl.'
That'll probably be part of the Opening Ceremonies.
They only elbow, shove and challenge to mud wrestle or whatever in the Senate and hallways to rep offices.
GOP =goof off party! Excellent. May I use it?? ✌️
If Republicans do anything to benefit the taxpayers, it will only be the 1%, maybe 2%, and the unregulated corporate interest who heard the call to inflate and kept the Federal Reserve busy fighting that terrible cancer while the little guy paid for their high profits. Just look at today’s Dow nearly reaching its year high thanks to good profit reports.
Thank you Joyce. "We need elected representatives who are committed to working for us, not just showboating and trying to accumulate power for themselves." Great advice to all. Showboating and power grabs are the only agenda for the MAGA Republicans of today.
I will be wearing noise-cancelling headphones so I don’t have to listen to the 10 decibel cattle caller who never wears appropriate clothing.
Good idea. That screeching will be worse than a teacher writing something on the blackboard with chalk. Back when they had blackboards and chalk, that is.
I've yet to hear him say anything positive that would even come close to being described as working FOR his constituents.
It’s not about working at all. Much like Trump, it’s about showing off the permission to say or do anything to get his name in the media, and granting others permission to be publicly obnoxious and take pride in their own willful ignorance.
Exactly.
Good point.
🤣 I’m not even going to go there today, disgusted to the Max, gotta take a break from the Circus that we actually pay to “serve us” what a joke.
Another day at the GOP circus.
In addition to encouraging people to register to vote (and then vote), the courage good people to run for office. Local cities, school boards and counties need good, smart people to run. It’s a big commitment but oh so important.
Good luck with that. After I retired from medicine I got on my newly formed HOA Board of Directors and ultimately served as President. Dealing with just ~150 different homeowners (and their spouse/partner etc. in about 2/3 of those 150 homes) just wore me out, as did dealing with the 4 other Board members’ personalities. People are complicated, many don’t have enough of an attention span to absorb or remember the details, others take detail SO obsessively that they can barely function. I understand reluctance to run. Smart doesn’t necessarily equal efficient at governing. Look at Ted Cruz! Harvard degree and ever the obstructionist. We need good and PRACTICAL, action-oriented people to run for and serve in office.
Many a political career was scuttled at the entry-level HOA. I feel your pain (and frustration) from personal experience, Jacki.
I represented many HOA Defendants in my legal career including a 20 Day Trial for on Cross-complaints for Contempt which is a "quasi-criminal" procedimg.
Accordingly I prohibited my high functioning Mother, the Head of "HR" Human Relations at a LA Teaching Hospital from ever serving as the HOA President.
My real estate attorney, who represented HOA members, including us, and some associations, told me 'attorneys never live in condominiums:) Brava to you for protecting your mom.
You are a smart man, Bryan. The board upon which I served had its share of wild-n-crazy shenanigans, enough to put me off ever serving on another board. Too risky!
Concur
It might be a huge improvement if people without millions (or billions) were able to run for office. Their priorities would be just a tad different than the present bunch.
That is likely much more true in a state or especially federal level. But local elected officials are more likely to be “regular” people, at least in my experience.
Some do.
Ted Cruz was elected to office because he was corruptible. Then he was/is corrupted. He hired Steve Bannon (Cambridge Analytica) to run his 2016 presidential campaign. This entailed using unauthorized information from American citizens. Degrees do not mean one is 'smart.' Intelligence is 'knowing the difference' and 💙 Intelligence can be defined as having a set of skills to make it possible for a person to solve problems in life. I lived at one time in an ocean front condominium among millionaires and several billionaires (with homes in several locales in the US and Europe. But my husband and I (I with a PhD policy researcher, he a psychologist) used to say the smartest guy in the building was the maintenance guy. He spoke broken English and his education career ended in 7th grade. There were 80 some cars in the parking lot on two levels. He memorized every license plate; and knew when every resident traveled - and when they were returning - including the day, and time of the airline flight. Thus, he knew who was using a parking space they should not be in (he informed us one day that 'so and so's girlfriend was visiting while the guy's wife was away). We didn't care who had affairs: but we were totally amazed at our friend's memory. We asked him if he had ever told anyone else that he was keeping track of the cars and he said 'never.' HOA's can be horrid. But they are pretty much at the bottom of governance. I've been on several HOA boards (tough duty) and a member of a community garden. The members acted like the dirt was their own and made formal complaints about weeds, even when a plot neighbor was going through a personal tragedy. Boards are indeed tough, whether profit or not-for-profit. Bravo to you for volunteering to serve your community. I found that board members usually had a personal agenda - and wanted their 'single issue' addressed. If one is lucky, the board members can look past the personalities to get to the mission. You've reminded me of some 'real pain' and a chair throwing episode. But the all-time worst is what we are watching from Republicans with challenges to cage fights (?!), elbows in backs, devolving, imploding and heading off the cliff. Let's let them go. One would think that there would be a bit of civility in our House and Senate.
Can I offer edit: “Encourage good people to run for office.”?
Sorry. You’re right. That was an auto correct in my phone. It’s what I meant to say.
Joyce,
Fantastic. You are on the top of your game. Festivus, reminds me of “After school day care” it’s what you do to occupy your time once your school day is over and before you start your homework.
Hee hee!
Mike Shellenberger is not an environmentalist in the way we think about those persons. He spews in the local Bay Area papers. Here's what that Wikipedia link says about him.
'Michael D. Shellenberger (born June 16, 1971) is an American author and former public relations professional who writes about politics, the environment, climate change, and nuclear power. In his book San Fransicko, Shellenberger makes the argument that progressivism is linked to homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness. He is a co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition.[1] Shellenberger founded the pro-nuclear non-profit Environmental Progress in 2016.[2]'
In other words, a greenwasher. About as authentic as say Matt Taibbi or Russell Brand. If you don't want to use Wikipedia as a source, fine. I always invite people to do their own research and compare.
Environmentalist sounded strange.
Oy. Taibbi. That guy has taken the trolley to crazy town.
That trolley's getting quite crowded.
Never thought someone (Matt) of his intelligence and capability could be radicalized! Seems I have underestimated the right!
Jim Jordan and his committee are playing to their constituents, employing outrage and shock to turn out their vote and to incite the spread of disinformation to other vulnerable groups, and those groups are being worked by bad actors. Such vulnerable constituencies can include, for instance, young voters who are frustrated by the high cost of housing or low wages. They can be moved to distrust Democrats and Republicans and vote for third party candidates.
And, although their hearings and findings may look ridiculous to us, they aren’t perceived that way by their partisan audiences or to the people who are being swayed by the many purveyors of influence operations. See Alexander Vindman’s great brief read on that:
https://alexandervindman.substack.com/p/active-measures-and-influence-operations
I am just working my way through a brand new report by the American Psychological Association entitled “Using psychological science to understand and fight health misinformation.” The report acknowledges parallels to political mis- and disinformation. It explores partisan motivation to spread misinformation even if one believes otherwise. In other words, I believe we’re mostly looking at cynical politicians spreading false content that their followers want to believe — and claiming that one believes it favors one’s status in the in-group. The report includes recommendations to counter the spread of misleading content, falsehoods and lies.
Here’s a link to the press release that summarizes some of the reports findings and links to the report.
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/11/psychological-science-misinformation-disinformation
Thanks. Everyone who is involved in trying to salvage the democratic and Enlightenment values that are currently under global oligarchic and extreme populist attack would do well to become familiar with the basics of psychological manipulation and the misuse of mass media to control our political and social narratives.
Social media and the deployment of algorithms in this long term info war on free thought by bad state players is resulting in a speeding up of narrative feedback loops and therein intensifying propaganda messaging. This has resulted in an extreme rather than gradualist political dualism which is now getting out of control, exposing their Wizard of Oz manipulations and fomenting potential civil wars across the world.
Hi Gary, Thank you for this information and the source link. I shall read as well.
Excellent!
I'd very much like to see heavy coverage of these hearings by the Columbus Ohio TV and print media. I can imagine very few things more off-putting than listening to Gym Jordan bloviate for more than 5 minutes. On any topic. He's a bully and he runs rough-shod over witnesses, unless they are making his points for him. He is the living embodiment of a powerful man weaponizing government to serve for his own glorification. There is a vanishingly small chance that his committee will discover anything that you couldn't have learned by listening to Steve Bannon.
Comely Comer complaining about Dems abusive behavior-he must wear earplugs and have a blind spot in his right eye sitting next to the most abusive abrasive loud-mouthed flapping lips Gymbag sitting right next to him. Wish his elbow had a trigger motion set off by Gymbag lips flapping. That would be fun to watch.
Love that button, but my vision isn't so good this evening. I think it reads, "There is no democracy with the vast majority of our journalists."
There is no democracy without journalism.
Strong truth!
Not with any journalism, only honest journalism.
Agreed.
Oh
What is the proper term for "beyond disbelief"?
Unfathomable? Outrageous? Abysmal?
Maybe 'Beyond belief?"
Unimaginable?
A movie.
For movies to work, the viewer must willingly and willfully "suspend disbelief" -- in other words, to buy the set-up.
This is what Trump and his MAGA politicians have convinced their sycophants to do, to the point of self-harm (financial, social welfare, etc.).
Sheila, I believe the word your are looking for is "verisimilitude". Per Oxford Languages, verisimilitude is the APPEARANCE of being real.
We do have some screenplay writers in the community who may confess that they use 'details' to simulate truth which must not be formulaic.
But, more importantly is you spot on conclusion that the phenomenon is ultimately a form of self-harm.
Hi, Bryan, that's a great additional word! I will start to incorporate it in my thinking. I actually was referencing "willful suspension of disbelief," as coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief). Almost all R propaganda requires its targets to believe the unbelievable -- hence "suspension" of reality-based analysis. Many R voters have been primed for decades to swallow wholesale lies that embed via repetition (following the Nazi playbook). Trump has ramped up the rhetoric / frequency to a fever pitch, which feeds this truly dangerous narrative. His followers sincerely "believe" the US is on the brink of economic collapse, fueled by dirty immigrants, unruly women (-;), nefarious Jews, and immoral LGBTQ people. Of course, this "terrible" state of affairs is because "Demonrats" foment it. We have our return-to-sanity work cut out for us!
Spot on!
Wow! Sheila Strand! Brilliant:)
Merci beaucoup ;-)! TGIF, my friend.
Well said, as always! Clowns 🤡!
Clowns are actually very serious people who study and work hard to create their characters, unlike the quarter-wits who can flunk the IQ test low enough to qualify as Republicans.
What you say about real clowns is true. My late mother was a clown at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in the city where I grew up. She went to a clown school, made her own costume, and her character and clown-name had to be original. I was proud of her. It was always fun (and sometimes challenging) to find a clown-related thing to give her each Christmas.
One big difference between clowns (think Clarabelle from "Howdy Doody Show," if you're old like me) and the Republicans, especially cult ones, is that real clowns don't talk! Wouldn't that be refreshing if these men and women had to be quiet?
I suspect that all this wheel spinning, bringing silly cases to the attention of the public by Republicans, cases with no evidence, the Hunter Biden sadness and the dangerous activities Tuberville is involved in, and the all consuming Dobbs decision attention grabber, are just ways to manipulate the future and stall for time before the election, time they are using to organize and maybe mobilize their next big thing. Something bad. Never underestimate these people.
Susan, I agree. Things are changing, but not in a good way at all. I worry way too much about my grandchildren, who won't be old enough to vote for quite a few more years. I'm afraid for what life will be like for them, what freedoms that we enjoy today may no longer exist for them, will they ever know what their history books won't be allowed to tell them? If someone had told not even 20 years ago how much destruction one evil person, and his evil followers, could cause our country, I would never have believed them. It didn't take long for the hair to stand up on the back of my neck once I saw the infamous "escalator ride." That was all I needed to know about what would be in store for me. It was worse than I'd imagine, and even though he's no longer POTUS, he's still pulling strings. I'm so scared that he'll be elected again next year. You're right, Susan, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THESE PEOPLE.
I believe without reservation that Trump will be disqualified or overwhelmed by the good people of our country. The ONLY chance he has is if they are able to correograph some sort of major, unexpected, dirty trick that blindsides millions of Americans at the last minute. I also believe without reservation that his popularity is significantly overrated. It has to be. He doesn’t have any chance if the general public doesn’t believe he’s surging ahead. Always surging ahead. No news media would dare report he’s falling behind or that people are bailing out in droves. Which I do brazenly state HE IS and THE ARE.
Steve Bannon is using psy warfare in his 'The War Room' six days per week, targeting Republicans. He was a founder of Cambridge Analytica (who acknowledged they ran Trump's campaign and used a third party app to access personality indicators from 87 million Americans without their consent or knowledge). Do not expect the dirty tricks to abate unless there are guilty verdicts from court trials. We have FAB litigators. Bannon is being tried in New York for his 'build the wall scheme' for which the DOJ charged him, and Trump pardoned him prior to trial. But evidently some of the scammed were New York residents. So Bannon will be tried in New York in May. The Manhattan DA, Alvin L. Bragg brought those charges. So: my take is that Trump gave Bannon a get out of jail free card pardon with the agreement that he would do his dirty tricks psychological warfare to help Trump in his presidential campaign for 2024. Trump will not be elected (I know it isn't over till it's over....but we won't let that happen). I am hoping beyond hope that Bannon is in jail during Trump's summer campaign but I say 'beyond hope' because of the appeal thing. Cambridge Analytica was forced into receivership and the executives made agreements that they cannot do business in the US. I'm wondering how Bannon avoided that penalty? His co-workers have said that 'everyone knew Cambridge Analytica was Steve's baby.' So he had the psychological warfare knowledge from his military career, used it at Cambridge Analytica, and brought it to Ted Cruz's campaign - and Trump's. I'm an old hippy-dippy and have had a lot of difficulty with the idea of anyone being incarcerated. But Steve Bannon is dangerous. And that is not allegedly. He is bad to the bone.
Susan, thanks for writing back. I really hope (and pray) that it works out that way. The thought of living in a police state led by a narcissistic psychopath scares the heck out of me!
THEY.
Deflect, deny, and lie is the central Trump GOP tactic to regain office. Project 25, the Heritage Foundation initiative led by Trump enablers including nativist Stephen Miller and Freedom Caucus co-founder, former Trump Chief of Staff and indicted Trump co-conspirator Mark Meadows is the plan to stay in power by installing cronies and purging political enemies and career civil servants in order to assure loyalty to Donald Trump, himself wholly unprincipled and unfit to lead a democratic republic “like the world has never seen”. Vote.
Like Project 2025...
Diane, I was a Christian clown back in the '80's. We studied mime, as well as clown school. We were silent. When we put on heavily rehearsed dramas at various churches and non-church events, we had narration and music, but no speaking. When the outfit and makeup went on, the voice turned off.
A lot of time and effort, just to keep your mouth shut..
.
Gus, I cannot imagine performing in a drama without any words. I don't like getting up in front of people, which was one reason I never got a decent grade when reading a book report. Kudos to you for what you did!
Yes!
Doom and Gloom everywhere. Something has to give soon for Truth and Accountability. This everyday wearing down. Is not sustainable. We must Vote and we cannot accept Lies we just can’t. What do we do? Freedom of Speech has never been seen as bad until it has been abused by our government. I🇺🇸
John Wayne Gacy kind of put a damper on clown costumes.
Gloria, that's for sure....
I can't believe I forgot that!
Yup, but the horns are OK.
Not much diff from ‘nothing to say’, right! BabbleOn
Did not intend to insult clowns.
Of course you didn't. :-)
But, they have always scared me !
Off Topic: In the NY tfg Fraud trial the Gag Order has been reinstated & includes Court staff before anyone is injured.
Thanks for posting this update, Bryan. Just saw notice flitting by; will read more fully, now.
Thank you Bryan. Good news!