Thursday, August 20, 2020

MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD

  Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS' "Ellen's Latest Lies."
ellenlie

At my site, Brady noted, I've covered FRINGE, MODERN FAMILY and MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD. He wondered if there was any other show I watch? 

Yes. 

Now that we've got YOUTUBE TV and unlimited cloud space, I'm watching THE GOLDBERGS. I have watched it before but not often. And I didn't record it in the past on the DVR because my daughter has her programs that she records. On HULU, when you reached the max, it continued to record but it would kick out the oldest episodes. Do not mess with a kid and their cartoons! 

On MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD -- two longterm readers say they are catching up this coming weekend. So I'll wait until next week to write a recap. I can note two things right now. MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD? I always called it MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD and didn't realize it was "MARVEL'S" until the last two episodes. :D The last two episodes of the show. I've written about it since it came on and I have gotten the title wrong the whole time. :D Seven seasons, I've gotten it wrong. So that's one thing I can note. 

The other? 1.46. That's how many people watched the first hour and also how many watched the second hour of the last two episodes. That's good in that it didn't dip. A lot of time, two hour closings see a dip. And when BLINDSPOT did a two hour -- not the final episode wind up -- this summer, people tuned in for the first hour and then drifted off. So everyone stayed with the show for both hours. That's the good news. 

Bad news? It was their lowest season ender. It really was time for the show to go. And last season was wretched. The season this summer needed to beef up Mac but, otherwise, was a big improvement over last season. 

Looking back, my favorite characters? 

Here's my top ten. 

1) Daisy 

2) May 

3) Mack 

4) Lance 

5) Bobbi 

6) Deke 

7) Yo-Yo 

8) Lincoln 

9) Robby Reyes (Ghost Rider) 

10) Ward 

 

Jemma? I loved Jemma but her eternal victim status keeps her off my top ten. Fitz? He looked bizarre in the last two episodes (when he finally shows up for the first time of the season). He creeped me out. Maybe he lost too much weight? I don't know but he was creepy. There's more but I'll note that when I do my recap. My least favorite character was, of course, Coulson. Mincing men who think they are cute always grate on my nerves.

 

 

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

 

Thursday, August 20, 2020.  Another day, another wasted 'convention' night.


The farce goes on -- and the farce goes on -- yes, the farce goes on.

Last night, at the Democratic Party's national infomerical pretending to be a convention, Barack Obama spoke.  A number are seeing his words as a repudiation of THE NEW YORK TIMES' 1619 Project (click here for WSWS' latest criticism of the project with links at the bottom of the piece to earlier pieces).  Some will pretend it was inspired, some will pretend it's wonderful.  Even if you're paid to whore, honestly, what's the point?

Words from Barack?

Like his promise to shut down the prison/torture center at Guantanamo? 

I'm sorry did he keep it?  Hell no.

His promise to remove all US troops from Iraq?

Again, no.

Oh, I know, his second term promise to end veteran's homelessness, he kept that one, right?  Wrong.

How much did the whorish, corporate press have to do with the election of Donald Trump?  I don't mean in 2016.  I mean the previous eight years when they refused to tell the truth.

When Barack failed to keep the promise he made on veterans' homelessness, you didn't see him called out.  You saw them whore with 'it's a little better than it was, he deserves credit for that . . .'  The president of the United States made a promise to the people and he did not keep it.  Those were the facts.  But the press couldn't serve up the facts, they had to whore.

And this whoring came after they lied about Iraq.  They lied to sell that war and they lied to keep it going.  The press has the reputation it has earned.  It's a bad reputation and that's its own fault.  We saw the corporate press work overtime to demonize Bernie Sanders.  

I've noticed, by the way, that 'bravery' among the so-called independent press has been redefined.  This week, as the DNC's infomercial plays out endlessly, 'bravery' for the 'independent' press has been redefined as silence.  Go to, for example, IN THESE TIMES and find nothing on the convention.  The same with COUNTERPUNCH and CONSORUTIUM NEWS.  

Now THE PROGRESSIVE does serve up an article -- a really bad one -- by Ruth Conniff, a really bad writer, but that was published elsewhere, they're just republishing it.  It's cute, by the way, how Ruth whores.  It's a typical convention, she insists at the opening.  She falsely presents Julian Castro to readers as though he were part of the actual televised convention when, in fact, he was not.  But if you trudge through all her words, you finally find criticism.

Via Ruth?


Oh, no.  She's a whore.  She hides behind her children.  Her children were dismayed.

Ruth?  She loved it.  She loves conventions.  She loves it.  

She shows up late to praise Michelle Obama.  The same Michelle who used the opener of her podcast to trash young voters with her special guest Barack who joined her in trashing young voters?

When does she ever go high?  Seems like Michelle's been low-balling it her whole life.


So hopey-changey showed up last night to offer some new lies.  Let the sunshine in, indeed.


About the only time Barack's been remotely interesting these days was when POLITICO published their article explaining that Joe Biden had Daddy issues.  Joe's lukewarm run this year?  All about proving Daddy underestimated him -- in a recasting, Barack is playing Daddy.   Yes, that's how pathetic Joe Biden is, he's made Obama his daddy, Barack who is over 18 years younger is Joe's Daddy figure.  

By the way, CONSORTIUM's silence really surprises me.  In yesterday's snapshot, I noted that Colin would speak Wednesday night.  Wrong.  He had already spoken the night before that snapshot.  I got lucky and missed Colin's entire speech.  This was for real by the way, not like in 2008 when Spencer Ackerman hated Hillary Clinton and was pimping Barack so he pretended CSPAN went out in the hearing so he wouldn't have to cover Hillary -- who did a better job than Barack who just breezed in, if you'll remember, while John Kerry held his hand -- that was his hand that John's was holding, right? -- to make him look better.

I honestly missed Colin and I'm not going to cheapen that gift by taking the time afterwards to stream that speech.  I might have if CONSORTIUM had done any work.

I mentioned in yesterday's snapshot that Colin's problems don't start with the Iraq War.  Had he spoken Wednesday night (and I caught it), the plan was to go all the way back to Vietnam and his betrayals there.  Why?  Because the truth matters, of course.  And also because the late Robert Parry did significant work exposing the realities of Colin Powell.  So we would have been referencing his work up at CONSORTIUM.  But why should we bother when CONSORTIUM didn't even bother?

Again, multiple people appear to have mistaken silence for bravery.  

The belief seems to be, 'If I just swallow this s**t burger' -- to use Nina Turner's phrase - 'and don't praise it, I'm not really a whore.'

If you're eating a s**t burger, you pretty much are that and much worse.

Kamala Harris spoke.  The junior senator from California.  If she becomes Vice President, do we finally get Kevin Leon as a senator?  Or Loretta Sanchez?  It's amazing, as I look back on it, how my state has led on . . . suppressing Latino leadership.  

At WSWS, Niles Niemuth offers:

Harris’ closing remarks at the convention last night were preceded by those of Obama, of which we will have more to say later. Suffice it to say that Obama, the first African American to be nominated by the Democrats and win the presidency, proceeded to bail out the banks, continue the wars of George W. Bush, implement a policy of drone murder, and deport more immigrants than any of his predecessors.

It was the right-wing policies of the Obama administration that paved the way for the ascension of Trump to the presidency.

The Democrats hope that the endless celebration of the trite, empty symbolism of Harris’ candidacy will serve as a repeat of Barack Obama’s run for president in 2008, deploying identity politics to cover over the right-wing content of her record and that of the Democratic Party. This is the logic of the reactionary politics of racial, ethnic and gender identity, promoted incessantly by the pseudo-left opponents of Marxism.

However, the elevation of an increasing number of women, African Americans and other ethnic minorities into positions of power, from city councils, to mayoral offices, police departments and the presidency itself, has done nothing to advance the interests of the working class. In fact, over the last four decades wealth inequality has grown most rapidly within racial groups, as a small layer of the population has been elevated into positions of power and privilege while conditions for those of all races and genders in the bottom 90 percent have deteriorated.

In addition to Obama, the likes of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, national security advisors Condoleezza Rice and Susan Rice, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—and, one might add, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and German Chancellor Angela Merkel—have shown that women and racial minorities can pursue the interests of the financial oligarchy as ruthlessly as any other representative of the ruling class.

There is something fitting in the selection of Harris to co-lead the Democrats’ ticket. The response of the Democrats to the mass multi-racial and multi-ethnic protests against police violence that erupted earlier this year was to divert them into the politics of racial division, using the reactionary and false claim that what was involved was a conflict between “white America” and “black America,” rather than a conflict between the working class and capitalism. This effort now culminates in the selection of the former “top cop” of California as the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate.

This is aimed at blocking the emergence of powerful, united movement of the working class. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the criminal indifference of the entire ruling elite to the lives of the working class. As was shown with the near unanimous passage of the trillion-dollar CARES Act bailout, their concern is for their stock portfolios and corporate profits at the expense of more than 175,000 people who have now died and the more than 5.5 million who have been infected by coronavirus.


I'm not a Kamala fan.  I thought in terms of presentation, she gave a strong speech.  In terms of facts?  I'm sorry I've spent all week making the hard calls while the likes of Krystal Ball pulled their punches.  I know they won't with Kamala, there's a special hatred that have for the woman.  I don't hate her, I just don't like her and that has nothing to do with anything in the last few years, I go back before her ascent, long before, to the days where she was . . . Oh, let's be kind and just stop the thought there.  She'll get plenty of attacks today and, again, in terms of presentation, she can't be faulted for her speech last night.

Which brings up two men: Barack and Joe.

Let's start with Barack and his new sassy do.  Who was that sassy senior on stage last night?  I thought at first Ciecly Tyson had showed up and without her wig but, no, it was Barack.  And he's still not learned to speak -- though liars will tell you he's moving and he's amazing and he's . . .


Sandy Dennis.

All these years later, he's still Sandy Dennis.  In 1962, Sandy became a star on Broadway in A THOUSAND CLOWNS.  She never gave a different performance in all the years that followed.  In February of 2009, Ava and I observed:

We watched Monday in full as Barack uh-uh-uhed and spoke in that robotic manner that allows him to find more unnatural pauses than Estelle Parsons and Kim Stanley combined. "He's our Method president!" we quickly gasped while wishing we could have one president this decade capable of normal speech. If he gets any worse, he'll be Sandy Dennis.

Last night made clear that he is Sandy Dennis.

And he is a lousy speaker.  For anyone to pretend otherwise at this late date is just sad.  

Once upon a time, he was a blank slate the nation could project upon and that allowed many to believe that a crooked Chicago politician could deliver change.  But those days are long gone and who's still deluding themselves?

Kamala was way ahead of Barack as a speaker.  Forget what she's saying, regardless of the topic, Kamala is a strong speaker and has always been one.  And she was strong last night.

If there was any speech of significance (meaning more than 60 seconds) in the convention to praise, it would be Kamala's speech.

I didn't catch MSNBC but I'm sure RISING will tell us what happened later today.  Did they praise Kamala?  Did they give her the praise she deserved?

The reason I'm asking is, unless they give Joe another 'vitamin' shot before training the camera on him for his speech tonight, Joe's speech is going to look very weak when compared to Kamala's and that's really going to be the entire campaign going forward.  In terms of energy, drive and speech, Kamala's going to outshine him every day.  

I'm not sure how that plays into building support for Joe.

Hillary chose Mr. Bland and, one good thing there, many can't remember his name to this day -- allowing her to shine.  (Tim Kaine, if you forgot.)

Hillary showed up last night.  In pink -- or white?  Looking awful with yet another new hair style.  Why does she keep changing hairstyles, a friend asked noting that since 1992, she's changed every four to six months at least.  Good question.  Best answer: She's still not one that's flattering.

Poor Hillary.

She's not a speaker.  Her flat, grating voice went on and on as she delivered her speech from -- what was that, a Lazy-Boy?  


Moving on to other topics, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeop Tweeted:



Had a productive meeting with Prime Minister
@MAKadhimi
today to reaffirm our partnership and discuss the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue. The U.S. will continue to work with Iraq on ways to address their economic challenges in light of COVID-19 and decline in oil prices.
Image
5:34 PM · Aug 19, 2020


Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is in the US.  He's scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump.  They are supposed to discuss a number of topics including the continued US military presence in Iraq.  The government of Iraq notes the following joint-statement issued by it and the US government:


The following statement was released by the Governments of the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America:

Begin text:

The Government of Iraq, led by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and the Government of United States, led by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, held a meeting of the Higher Coordinating Committee today in Washington, D.C. as described in the 2008 Strategic Framework Agreement for a Relationship of Friendship and Cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq (SFA). The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to a robust and productive bilateral relationship. Separate sessions covered economics, energy, health and environment, political and diplomatic issues, security and counterterrorism, and education and cultural relations.

 

In the economic session, Iraq outlined its ideas for economic reform plans that would unleash faster growth and a more vibrant private sector. The United States reiterated its support for Iraq’s economic reforms and identified areas of cooperation that could help Iraq implement its plans. Both countries discussed coordination with international financial institutions to help Iraq recover from low oil prices and COVID-19 and put the country on a more sustainable fiscal path. Both nations plan to cooperate on e-government, financial sector reforms, and private sector partnerships to boost U.S.-Iraq trade and investment. The two governments look forward to holding a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting later this year to follow up on the June 2019 meeting.

 

In the energy session, the United States and Iraq discussed the Government of Iraq’s efforts to increase domestic electricity and gas production, reduce wasteful gas flaring, and implement energy market reforms. The two governments plan to hold an Energy Joint Coordination Committee meeting soon to discuss these topics in more detail. On the sidelines of today’s meeting, the Government of Iraq signed substantial energy agreements with U.S. companies, including General Electric, Honeywell UOP, and Stellar Energy, as well as Memoranda of Understanding with Chevron and Baker Hughes, as concrete examples of the U.S.-Iraq energy partnership. Iraq and the United States noted ongoing cooperation with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to develop plans for electricity tariff reform in Iraq. The two governments plan to continue cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member-states and Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority on Iraq/GCC electricity connections and energy investment. The United States welcomed the progress in the talks between the Iraqi Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government with regard to budgetary and energy issues.

 

In the health and environmental session, the United States and Iraq noted their ongoing partnership to combat COVID-19 and their intent to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to expand bilateral health trade. The two governments also discussed ongoing cooperation on environmental, water, and scientific issues and plan to hold a separate Joint Coordination Committee meeting on those topics.

 

In the political and diplomatic session, the United States reaffirmed its respect for Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and relevant decisions of the Iraqi legislative and executive authorities. The two sides discussed how the United States could best support the Iraqi government as it prepares for parliamentary elections, including by increasing support for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq. Both nations reiterated their support for freedom of expression and media freedom, and the necessity to hold accountable the perpetrators of violence against peaceful protesters. The United States supports Iraq’s efforts to improve relations with its neighboring states and plans to assist the Iraqi Government in this endeavor. The United States reaffirmed its continued commitment to supporting Iraq in advancing durable solutions for internally displaced persons that are voluntary, safe, and dignified, and to help those communities that have been targeted for genocide by ISIS. The two sides recognized the need to improve access for humanitarian organizations.

 

In the security and counterterrorism session, the United States and Iraq reaffirmed their commitment to achieving common objectives through bilateral security coordination and continued cooperation between the Iraqi Security Forces and the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The two delegations praised the growing capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces and their joint success in the fight against ISIS, which has enabled the Global Coalition to transition to a new phase focused on training, equipping, and supporting the Iraqi Security Forces. The Iraqi government expressed its gratitude to the Global Coalition and asserted its willingness to facilitate this transition and confirmed its obligation as host country to provide protection for the Coalition’s personnel and diplomatic facilities in Iraq. Adapting to the requirements of this new phase, the Global Coalition has been able to depart from some Iraqi military bases and reduce combat forces in Iraq. The two sides plan on separate technical talks to manage the timing and transition to the new phase, including any associated redeployments from Iraq. The U.S. and Iraqi delegations recognized the progress of the Iraqi Federal Security Institutions and the Kurdistan Regional Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs in coordinating their efforts to combat ISIS remnants and discussed ways to further this cooperation.

 

In the education and culture session, the two governments discussed both past and current U.S. support for Iraq’s efforts to strengthen higher education in cooperation with American universities in Iraq, through the Fulbright program, and through the U.S. Embassy’s Higher Education Partnership initiative. The United States and Iraq identified additional ways to support Iraq’s plans to address higher education reform priorities and strengthen U.S.-Iraqi university partnerships. The two sides also reviewed progress in the return of the Baath Party Archives to Iraq as an important artifact of Iraq’s history. The two delegations discussed their mutual efforts to preserve Iraq’s rich cultural heritage and religious diversity and reaffirmed their commitment to cooperating in the return of Iraqi cultural property illegally imported into the United States to their rightful place in Iraq.


The following sites updated:




Posted by at

Listen to Jamarl

 C.I.'s been noting Jamarl Thomas so I've been checking him out.  I think this video commentary is an important one.



We are being sold out.  We are not being listened to.  Our needs are being ignored.

But they think we owe them our vote?


No, we don't.

They don't work for us -- though they're supposed to -- and they don't care about our needs.  We don't need them.  

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

 Wednesday, August 19, 2020.  Night two of the infomercial being passed off as a convention goes no better than the first night.


The embarrassment that is the Democratic Party's national convention continued last night.  Key takeaway?  Vote Republican.


Some corporate whores are telling you a propaganda film narrated by Cindy McCain -- wife or c**t of the late War Hawk John McCain (that's what he called her, take it up with them -- and with the DNC for celebrating a sexist like John to begin with) -- told you how great a friend Joe was with the thankfully dead John McCain.  He worked with John.


Yes, he did.  Joe worked repeatedly with John to destroy the world.  Murder allies, that's what they were, complicit in the murders of millions but let's put a happy face on it and call it 'bipartisanship.'

Question: Do Democrats want control of both houses of Congress?  Do they want control of even one house of Congress?


The DNC's nonsense does not draw a line between the two parties.  Yes, the DNC exists every four years to promote the presidential ticket.  It also exists to expand the party.  That's why you choose someone you think will be a rising star to deliver the keynote address.  (We'll get back to Michelle Obama in a little while.)  You also use the convention to promote your candidates for Congress and to put out the party line that argues why you should vote Democratic.

But they're not doing that.  This obsession with Donald Trump has defeated them.

Donald Trump may win a second term.  If he does, he does.  The United States will go on.  Life will continue.  B-b-b-but his policies!  Congress could fight back on any policy.  They didn't the last four years.  They were too busy with nutty conspiracy theories and Nancy Pelosi's empty gestures and attempts at bad political theater.

Grasp that in the midst of a pandemic, the party is offering nothing.  There is no monthly stipend -- despite most Democrats in office -- and most of the American people -- feeling that there should be.  Nancy and her lazy ass can't even protect unemployment benefits.  They're promising America nothing.


To garner votes, they are promising nothing.

And, on top of that, they're spending a week promoting Republicans who argue for slashing school funding, who are anti-choice and don't even believe in abortion if the girl or woman is raped or the victim of incest.  They are telling you these people are the 'good guys.

They aren't the good guys.

But watching this garbage, why in the world would you feel the need to vote Democrat?


Let's get to the supposed postal crisis.  I don't believe it.  It feels like more theater drummed up by a desperate party that will not meet the needs of the people.

But what I do know is mail-in ballots are not 'the answer.'  I'm all for mail-in voting.  But the notion that this makes it easier?  

I'm sorry, is it 2020 or 1950?

How stupid are we?  How stupid are leaders of the Democratic Party?  They're pretty damn stupid.

Mail-in ballots?  If I vote absentee -- and I have -- I don't just fill out a ballot, put it in an envelope (my own or one that comes with the ballot) and drop it in the mail.

I have to put something on it.

A stamp.

In 2020, how many people do you know who have a damn stamp?

Oh, just buy one!!!!

At the grocery store?  Most customer service booths/desks are going to tell you that you need to buy a book.  I think that's a little under ten dollars right now.

So it's the Monday before the election and you're feeling like maybe you should vote, so you fill out your ballot and you put it in the envelope and then . . .  A stamp.  You need a stamp.  Are you driving to a grocery store?  If so, when you're told you need to spend $10 dollars -- talk about a poll tax! -- are you going to do it.?

These are issues that should have been addressed and talked about.

Unemployment is huge.  I mean, I guess the Democrats don't want that vote.  That would explain why unemployment benefits were cut weeks ago and Nancy Pelosi still can't come up with a package to restore them.  If I'm unemployed, I'm not wasting ten dollars for a book of stamps.

'You can go to the post office!'  Post offices aren't always nearby.  And, if it's after hours, is it going to take change and are you going to have change?  Or is voting now going to be just for those with a credit card?  Also, you want someone to drive cross town?  Better choice would be a FED EX pick up location which would probably sell stamps.  And that's something the convention could have educated on since, clearly, the elected Democrats are not bothering to.  

Elected Dems have quickly become the biggest idiots in the world.  Most haven't mailed anything themselves in years.  (Having an assistant drop something in the plastic box where someone picks up office mail is not using the post office yourself.)  They are so out of touch, they are beyond George H.W. Bush's apparent shock over the fact that groceries are scanned at check out.  They are out of touch.

And on the post office, they're out of touch at at time when many voters don't use the post office to mail letters or bills.  Grasp that this is the first presidential election in which people born in this century, the 21st century, will be voting.  Grasp that people born in the 90s aren't postal senders either.  E-mail, text, social media, that's largely taken the place of pen pals and letters.  

Good luck with mail-in ballots when you've not bothered to factor in how many people do not use the mail that way (for sending) and how many have not ever used the mail that way.

Out of touch and stupid, today's Democratic Party.

And that's what the convention conveys.

It's an infomercial that forgot about the need to be live.  No one wants canned speeches.

And why do we need Bill Clinton?  The 90s were forever ago.  His abuse with regards to Monica Lewinsky is not something we need to be reminded of.  He was a married man, fifty-years-old and occupying the most powerful job in the US -- some would say in the country.  He began an affair with a 22-year-old.  And he was a selfish pig, let's be honest.  Calling it an affair is being kind.  He got off and wasn't too concerned whether she did or not.  He abused the office, he abused the position.  She was working for the government which made him her boss.  It was wrong in every way possible including his attempts to get her to lie.


But there he was blustering his way through like we don't all know that he was visiting Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile island and like we don't all know that he lied about it.  Like we don't all know that Juanita Broaddrick's charges of rape are highly credible.  There he was acting like he was on the stage at MTV and they were all giggling over his answer to boxers or briefs.

Bill is as outdated as that question.  He didn't belong on stage and shouldn't be again.

He has a lot to answer for.

John Kerry spoke.  Why?  To make Bill look better?  John doesn't belong on stage.  Hillary Clinton will speak this week and she doesn't belong on the stage either.  John lost in 2004, Hillary lost in 2016.  Why are they on the stage?

In 1988, Michael Dukakis lost to George H.W. Bush.  Anyone remember the 1992 convention?

For those who don't, Michael Ross, LOS ANGELES TIMES, July 15, 1992:


Like Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, he was hailed as a man of vision and skill, someone who could unify the Democratic Party’s fractious ranks and lead it to victory in November.

That was four years ago, however. Mention the name of Michael S. Dukakis at the party’s current convention and eyeballs roll, shoulders shrug or fingers cross in the fervent hope that it won’t happen like that again.

[. . .]

While Clinton basks in the limelight this week, the fallen stars who preceded him to the banner-draped podium in election years past also are on hand: Dukakis, former President Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Walter F. Mondale and former South Dakota Sen. George S. McGovern.

But, with the exception of Carter--who as an ex-President has special status--all of these former champions of the party’s quadrennial quest for the White House are buried in the background of the gala festivities unfolding in and around New York’s Madison Square Garden. Grim reminders of earlier defeats, they have been consigned to the political shadows as the ghosts of conventions past.

“The Democratic Party tends to put you on the shelf after you’ve lost,” acknowledged McGovern. “It can’t afford to look back. It must always look toward the next election, not the last.”


Not this year.  This year they promote the saggy mashed potatoes -- wait, the dried mashed potatoes, that's how old and moldy these speakers are -- while doing their best to undercut politicians who are actually popular with the people.  Perfect example?  US House Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Name a politician who's gotten more heat and more support in the last four years.  You can't.  And so the party responds by letting her speak for . . . sixty . . . seconds.

She should have been the keynote speaker.  

But instead, we get Republicans.  Apparently, the Democratic Party can't celebrate it's own but it can celebrate any nut job from 'across the aisle.'  War Criminal Colin Powell will speak later this week, we'll note it then and we'll note how his War Crimes didn't start with the speech to the UN -- that speech filled with lies about Iraq. [ADDED: I got lucky, Colin spoke last night, I got lucky and missed it.  Patrick Martin covers it at WSWS.]


So stars like AOC are sidelined or ignored -- the Squad deserved 15 minutes on stage together, at the very least -- and tired fixtures from the last century are brought on.

It's not your party, 21st century Americans.  It's a party of the past.


There has never been a worse convention.  


Let's go to Michelle Obama finally.




We called her out yesterday morning.  We were right to.


Corporate whores and partisan hacks lined up to tell you she was amazing.  She wasn't.  She wasn't even adequate.

How are you going to speak to the electorate when you don't even understand them?

You lie and whore and that's supposed to be repeated often enough to confuse the American people and make them vote for you?

The American people ditched Michelle.  Check the ratings.  They didn't get many viewers to begin with (especially compared to 2016) but notice the drop off the minute Michelle starts speaking.  It's there in the ratings Americans who bothered to watch decided to stop watching when she started speaking.

That's not a surprise.

She's not an elected politicians.  She's accomplished nothing with her life.

She's a professional spouse.  That's all she is.  A First Lady is popular when she's not political.  That's reality.  Michelle got political.  It's not a role anyone wants to see her in.  The ratings proved that.

AOC should have been the keynote speaker, not some tired fixture from a few years back who has make-work projects to busy herself with.  She doesn't speak to the American people.  The press loves her -- they're paid to love her.  There's no reason for the rest of us too and it's way past time that a hard hitting biography was published on her and it addressed how she harmed healthcare in Chicago.


Let's move! -- away from that topic?  Michelle would like us to.


Best Tweet this morning?  Yashar Ali:


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Upgraded To Full DNC Speaking Slot After Announcing Support For Iraq War
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Upgraded To Full DNC Speaking Slot After Announcing Support For Iraq War
All the latest politics coverage from The Onion, America's finest news source.




Apparently, that's what it will take for her to get a real slot of time at the convention.


The following sites updated:


Posted by at

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Joe Biden's a loser

 First up, Jimmy Dore.




Nobody's watching that crapfest 'convention.'  And if they're not watching, as Jimmy asks, will they be voting?

Less people watched than watched in 2016 -- a lot less.  A lot less.  And this is during a pandemic when there's been so little -- pretty much nothing -- to watch.  And it's on every channel.  No one wants to watch.

Big surprise, no one wanted Joe.  Oh, the DNC powerbrokers wanted him.  They rigged the primaries for him.  

But the people wanted Bernie.

Bernie brought enthusiasm.

There's a very good chance that we're going to have a second term of Donald Trump.  If that hapens, that's on the people in charge of the DNC for giving us an uninspired -- and uninspiring -- candidate like Joe Biden in the first place.  He belongs in a nursing home.  He's clearly lost his grip on reality. 

But he's a good whore for the corporations so they set him up to be president.  

He's unfit for the presidency.

And America doesn't want him.

We want Medicare For All.  We want and need assistance during the pandemic.  He's not for it.  He's not for anything that helps us.  He's just the whore of corporate America.  He'll spit or swallow, Big Business, just let him know which you prefer.  Paint his face, if you feel like it.

Joe Biden is a loser and that was obvious long, long ago.



Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


 Tuesday, August 18, 2020.  Fake Ass Michelle Obama presided over the fakery sold as a convention.


The job shouldn't have been that hard.  Air a boring convention that reassured those who were starting to weaken on Joe.  No fancy guest stars, no innovative camera work.  Just bore America into believing that Joe could be trusted.  

But they failed.  Epic failure, in fact.

Before we go further, can anyone explain why Michelle Obama was speaking -- in prime time, no less.  What elected office did she hold?  That's right, none.  What other former First Lady gets to speak?  In 2004, it was a fight to get Hillary Clinton on in prime time.  And she was a sitting US senator.  The DNC had a real woman problem but because of the pushback and because Hillary was a senator and was a fundraising star, the Democratic National Committee finally caved.  Michelle's husband isn't running so why is she speaking at all?

Not only did she speak, she spoke for 18  minutes and forty seconds.


18 minutes.

Someone running for office could have used that time -- as was the case in 2004 when her husband was the keynote speaker and was running to become a US senator.  

He gave the keynote speech which, by the way, Michelle did last night.  Last night?  We'll come back to that.  But grasp that a spot that's always used to promote someone running for office was given to someone who held no elected office.  And who had nothing to say.  

She had nothing to say.  

She had nothing to say yet she spoke longer than her husband did in 2004 -- and he had to take periodic breaks for applause and cheers.


Michelle had no audience to cheer her on -- just whores who were paid off.  Stephen Colbert -- looking more like a child molester than ever now that he and others go without make up -- was happy to show what a whore he was:


Stephen Colbert on Michelle Obama's DNC speech: “I’ll be honest with you. My job is to have a joke for every time somebody says anything in public. After watching Michelle Obama’s speech, I have never been more happy to fail at my job.”




Where the wealth's displayed 

Thieves and sycophants parade 

And where it's made, 

The slaves will be taken 

Some are treated well 

In these games of buy and sell 

And some like poor beast 

Are burdened down to breaking

-- "Dog Eat Dog," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album DOG EAT DOG.

Sycophant -- that's Colbert.


No jokes?


How about . . .

Was it past her bedtime?

Were they afraid she'd show up at the podium in granny panties, the way she did in 2008?


There was a lot to mock.  Some wrongly think a cat fight is brewing between Michelle and Senator Kamala Harris.  Why do they think that?  Because Michelle spoke -- and spoke and spoke and spoke and spoke still more -- for nearly 20 minutes and she never once mentioned Kamala.


It's not a cat fight, it's not jealousy.


It's that Kamala was announced as Joe's running mate after -- after -- Michelle recorded the speech that aired last night.  No, she wasn't live.  What's worse?  Her keynote speech -- one of the most important speeches of the convention, of any convention -- was canned.  It was filmed ahead of time.  And not, grasp this, earlier that day.  

Seven days ago, August 11th, Joe announced his pick.  

Michelle's speech was filmed before that.  AP:

In keeping with the virtual nature of the convention because of the coronavirus, Mrs. Obama’s remarks were recorded before Biden’s announcement last Tuesday that he had chosen California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. 


This isn't a convention, it's an infomercial and it's a really bad one.  But sycophants will tell you differently. 

The garbage and hate Michelle served up included, "Right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another.  They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages [. . .]"  As Micheala Watkins character used to say on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, "Bitch, please."

POLITIFACT, September 2019:

But Biden mentioned "cages," specifically, and reporting from the time he was vice president described an enclosure for migrant children with that word.

Controversial use of ‘cages’ description

The term "cages" has continuously been used by Democrats in attacks against Trump and the detention of immigrants arriving at the border. The Trump administration says that the facilities it uses are not cages.

The description has been used to refer to chain-link enclosures holding immigrants at border processing facilities during both the Obama and Trump administrations. 

Notably, critics of Trump’s "zero-tolerance" policy that resulted in family separations circulated a photo that purportedly showed children face down on the floor behind a chain-link enclosure during Trump’s tenure. However, the photo was from 2014 when Obama was president.

Our fact-check showed the Associated Press photo was taken in 2014 at a Customs and Border Protection facility in Nogales, Ariz. The photo was used in an Arizona Republic article centered on an influx of children arriving at the border unaccompanied by a parent or guardian.

The Arizona Republic article, in part, said: 

"They are undocumented. They entered the country illegally. And when they were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, they were shipped to Nogales from overwhelmed processing facilities in Texas.

"But they are still children in cages, not gangsters, not delinquents. Just children, 900 of them, in a makeshift border-town processing center that is larger than a football field."

The article adds that the children are "housed behind 18-foot-high chain-link fences topped with razor wire." 


Jane C. Timm (NBC NEWS), "The Obama administration did detain people in cage-like structures, earning criticism from activists. Last year, Democratic activists circulated photos of children inside chain link fenced spaces in an attack on President Donald Trump, only for onlookers to later realize the photos were from 2014."

With her blow out and extremely false eye lashes, you had to wonder if she recorded early so she could work a hotel lobby?

You're a real whore when you get on national television to repeat a lie that's already been endlessly fact checked and determined to be a lie.

And you're a bigger whore for acting outraged about cages while staying silent while your husband put people into them.  Michelle had nothing to say of value because she's just a liar.  That's all she's ever been and that's all she ever will be.  In 2008, the times were still incredibly sexist and she benefited from that.  She gave a disgusting and anti-woman speech and the press lapped it up (we called it out in this community).  Now it's the #MeToo era and she wants to style herself as a feminist -- forget that she and Barack asked Harvey Weinstein to create an internship for their daughter -- so we're all supposed to pretend that she's some sort of feminist.  She's nothing.  She had a lifetime to make some accomplishments.  She did nothing.  

And last night, she spewed lies and preached hate.  

What an accomplishment.

The most amazing thing about 2016 was how hard the Democrats had to work to almost beat Donald Trump in the election.  It's a sign of how pathetic and corrupt they were that they had to work so hard.  They're even more pathetic and corrupt today.

They've got nothing to help the American people -- in the midst of a pandemic, no less -- so they offer attacks on Donald Trump's character.  That didn't work in 2016 so this time around they're going to just lie.

Donald Trump, grasp this, is not disgusting or offensive enough to the Democratic officials, they have to lie to make him worse.

That's because the Democrats in office agree with the Republicans.  That's why we never end wars anymore.  It's why the American people are suffering.  

And Michelle thought she could lie her way through a key note speech?  Shame on her. 


And shame on the DNC for putting Kristin Urquiza on stage.  She lost her father to the coronavirus.  And she was on stage to rip Donald Trump apart for it.

Really?

Because they also featured, among other, Andrew Cuomo.  I love Andrew.  I thought he showed leadership when none was being offered -- national leadership.  RISING has repeatedly noted the problems behind his speeches and how his actions impacted, deaths he's responsible for.  I love Andrew, but we've reposted that coverage here.

When you use someone to attack Donald Trump over coronavirus, you don't then put Andrew on stage.  

When you do that, it makes it clear that it's not about the coronvirus, it's about destroy and trash Trump.  You've taken a national tragedy and you've turned it into a partisan issue.  It's ugly and it's not helpful.

Jamil Smith Tweeted:

The

@DNC

keeps trying to be down with plutocracy rather than turning out its base. Bloomberg, Kasich, and Whitman are speaking at the convention this week. But not Latino Democrats like

@JulianCastro

, whom I spoke with about his party’s issues last year.


Julio Ricardo Varela Tweeted:


 Am still taken aback at how the only Latino presidential candidate in 2020,

@JulianCastro
, is not speaking during any prime time slot at
@DNC
convention this week. It's not like he was a keynote speaker in 2012. Dems are sending a really bad message here. Do they want to win?


No time for Julian, no time for Muslims or Latinos.  The big-tent they're proposing is really just letting some really disgusting Republicans take the stage.


Wally Wests Tweeted:

ohio voters @ the dnc Am I A Joke To You?



What's he talking about?  This DNC Tweet:


FACT: As governor, John Kasich cut $1.8 billion from Ohio public schools' funding.
Image
10:51 AM · Jul 21, 2015


Republican John Kasich was put on stage.  To speak at length.  AOC will only get sixty seconds.  She's a Democrat.  She's a Latina.  But Republican Kasich, whom the DNC warned about many times, was given the mike and treated like a hero.


That's whoring.  There's no other word for it.  You embrace someone as disgusting as John because you both don't like Donald Trump -- excuse me, because you both hate Trump.  You're ruled by hate and it's why you look so desperate and pathetic.  

And yet, as soon as he's out of office, Michelle will be sharing candy with him and hugging him.  Just like she did with Bully Boy Bush because whores get paid off.  And she certainly did.  A really bad book that went through multiple ghost-writers.  Podcasts no one wants to listen to and NETFLIX 'programming' that's a joke.  She got paid off big time.  


That the DNC has produced garbage TV is no real surprise.  They're a party at war with their base.  They're unable to make even the mildest of concessions.  They want your vote, they just don't want to earn your vote.  So they're going to tell you Donald Trump is worse than they are -- and, to really convince you, they will lie about him like Michelle did.  How corrupt do you have to be to invent lies to make Donald look worse than he already is?  

They have no Muslims this year.  In 2016, they used a family to make Donald look bad.  As though they hadn't been engaged in the witch hunts against Muslims, as though Barack's Drone War hadn't terrorized Muslims.  But they don't really care about Muslims so they ditch them this year.  They use everyone they can.  They'll use anyone, tell any lie.  What they won't do is come up with actual programs and plans that would help the American people.

While you're pretending Joe Biden didn't assault Tara Reade, you can also pretend that the party's working overtime to help the American people.

In 2008, Barack went around the country promising to end the Iraq War with shouts like, "We want to end the war and we want to end it now!"  He had eight years in office and US troops are still in Iraq.  He's a liar and his wife's a liar.  But Colbert found nothing 'funny' about a ridiculous woman wearing cow-eye lashes and a fake weave on national TV in that ugly  dress as she spouted lie after lie and appealed to you not to remember the promises made before -- promises never kept.

The Iraq War continues.  That alone should silence Michelle Obama.  That alone should shame her into silence.  Instead, she shows up with a round of new lies.

The biggest lie -- that a pre-recorded informercial is a live convention.


I forgot to include this yesterday, Kat's "Kat's Korner: Haim and how it took a lifetime to get here" went up Sunday night.  


The following sites updated:







Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)