ChrisWeigant.com

Friday Talking Points -- Um... Madison Cawthorn Getting Naked In Sweden?

[ Posted Friday, April 29th, 2022 – 17:17 UTC ]

As we write this, everyone inside the Beltway is getting ready for the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner, which President Joe Biden has said he will be attending (after a hiatus of presidents attending due to COVID and, earlier, due to Donald Trump having incredibly thin skin). But, as usual, our invitation seems to have been lost in the mail or something. Ahem.

We are excited with a sort of "something good is about to happen" feeling, however, because the House Select January 6th Committee has finally announced a preliminary schedule for public hearings. Here's the story (as it stands so far):


Jan. 6 Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) plans to hold eight hearings throughout June, including some in primetime for television viewers. The first is expected to take place on June 9, Thompson told reporters Thursday.

"We'll tell the story about what happened. We will use a combination of witnesses, exhibits, and things that we have," Thompson said. "We have tens of thousands of exhibits … as well as hundreds of witnesses we've deposed or talked to in general. It will give the public the benefit of what more than a year's worth of investigation has borne to the committee."

Primetime? That could certainly be interesting!

Meanwhile, more and more leaks have appeared, including those from an upcoming book by New York Times journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, which mostly cover Kevin McCarthy's initial reaction to the insurrection attempt (spoiler: McCarthy reacted somewhat sanely, condemning the insurrection and Trump, for which is he now being forced to abase himself in front of the rest of the party for insufficient loyalty to the Dear Leader). McCarthy initially tried to deny all the allegations as fake news, but had to walk that back after tapes were released proving exactly what he had said.

The Republican world held its collective breath for a day or so, until Trump bestowed his blessing upon McCarthy, which saved McCarthy's dream of becoming speaker of the House next year. Once Trump had registered his approval, McCarthy spoke to his caucus, who reportedly gave him a standing ovation.

Just another week in Trumptown, in other words.

However, the prize for most scandalous behavior within Republican ranks this week has to go to Representative Madison Cawthorn. Which led to one snarky article musing about what Cawthorn was actually up to:

The young, right-wing first-term member of Congress has generated so many horrible news stories, ranging from the personal to the ideological, that observers have grown obsessed with locating the unifying thread that explains it all. Is he a secret Nazi? Some kind of sex weirdo? A compulsive liar?

These are all plausible theories. But I am increasingly drawn to a novel explanation of Cawthorn's frenetic generation of terrible news stories: He has made a list of every major political scandal and is attempting to commit all of them.

The Washington Post had the best rundown of what Cawthorn has been up to of late, though:

The 26-year-old Republican congressman from North Carolina was caught bringing a loaded gun through airport security, his second such incident. Police released footage of him getting pulled over for driving with expired tags and being told to surrender his revoked license. The Washington Examiner reported allegations against him of insider trading. Politico published photos of him partying while wearing women's lingerie. And a former congressional aide filed a workplace complaint against him.

Most public figures would call a stretch like that good reason to resign. Cawthorn might just call it "April."

Earlier this year, Cawthorn called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug" and his government "incredibly evil." He alleged that his congressional colleagues engage in coke-fueled orgies. He committed the latest of many driving offenses (three court dates are pending). Earlier, four women accused him of sexual misconduct, in a BuzzFeed article; Cawthorn denied the allegations.

All of that is pretty hard to top when it comes to outrageous scandals -- especially the photos of Cawthorn wearing lingerie -- but today Cawthorn managed this feat. Fittingly, it appeared in a British tabloid, the Daily Mail. Here's the story:

New video of scandal-ridden GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn having his crotch felt by a close male friend and staff member is at the center of a complaint calling for an investigation into him and filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics today, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The extraordinary footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and seen here for the first time today, shows Cawthorn, 26, in a car with his close aide and his scheduler Stephen Smith, 23.

Cawthorn sits in the driver's seat apparently filmed by Smith as he adopts an exaggerated accent and says, "I feel the passion and desire and would like to see a naked body beneath my hands."

The camera then pans back to Smith who says, "Me too" as Cawthorn can be heard laughing. Smith then films himself reaching his hand over and into Cawthorn's crotch.

The video is one of several exhibits filed in support of the ethics complaint drafted by political group Fire Madison Cawthorn.

. . .

Among the many allegations is the claim that representative for North Carolina's 11th district provided thousands of dollars in loans and gifts to Smith, a staff member, with whom, the complaint states, he is engaged in an improper relationship characterized by steamy postings on social media and so close that the staffer joined Cawthorn on his honeymoon to Dubai in April 2021.

According to the filing Cawthorn has provided free housing, travel and loans to Smith, none of which have been declared or repaid.

The complaint also requests an investigation into the nature of Cawthorn's relationship with Smith stating that the junior member of staff lives with Cawthorn.

Um... "joined Cawthorn on his honeymoon"?!? Wow. No wonder his marriage only lasted eight months! And then there were all the Venmo payments. Which came with flirty little suggestive notes to explain the payments, such as:

Getting naked for me in Sweden

For loving me daily and nightly

The quickie at the airport

The stuff we did in Amsterdam

...and one that was more concise, consisting of a single word: "Nudes."

Nothing like the "party of family values," eh? If you're waiting for his fellow Republicans to denounce Cawthorn or call for his resignation, you must have just woken up from a coma that lasted at least seven years. These days, the only thing that Republicans condemn is being insufficiently worshipful to the Dear Leader -- pretty much everything else gets a pass. As Madison Cawthorn seems intent on proving, as many different ways as he can.

This could all fit in rather well with one message Joe Biden has been deploying with more and more regularity: "This ain't your father's Republican Party, folks." Democrats should lean in to the warning that if Republicans take over the House in November, it won't be Kevin McCarthy leading them (no matter what title he has), it will be the likes of Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and all the rest of the lunatics the GOP not only allows within its ranks but supports and seems to almost celebrate. This is today's Republican Party, make no mistake about it.

It's gotten so bad, in fact, that when a Republican actually lives up to her oath of office to the Constitution, it is such a rare event that she is given a Profile In Courage award for doing so.

What else? Donald Trump had a rather busy week, with some notable ups and downs. He was held in civil contempt by a court in New York, for refusing to provide documents that the prosecutor has requested. Trump will be forced to pay $10,000 a day until he produces them.

But the criminal grand jury in New York dissolved this week, after the new district attorney refused to move the criminal fraud case against Trump forward. So it looks like he's off the hook for any criminal penalties, at least in New York.

The most amusing Trump news of the week, however, came from a deposition Trump had to sit for in a case involving protesters against Trump who are suing him for his security guards assaulting them back in 2015. While being questioned about a campaign rally he gave in 2016, where he invited the crowd to "knock the crap" out of any protesters who tried to pelt him with tomatoes (going as far as saying he would "pay the legal fees" of anyone who did knock the crap out of a tomato-thrower), Trump revealed yet another item on the long list of things that he is terrified of -- killer fruit:

"I wanted to have people be ready because we were put on alert that they were going to do fruit," Trump said in the October 2021 deposition, according to a transcript of the proceedings.

He added that "tomatoes are bad" and that "some fruit is a lot worse."

"But it's very dangerous.... I remember that specific event, because everybody was on alert. They were going to hit -- they were going to hit hard," he said.

. . .

"Yeah, I think that they have to be aggressive in stopping that from happening," Trump said. "Because if that happens, you can be killed if that happens.... To stop somebody from throwing pineapples, tomatoes, bananas, stuff like that, yeah, it's dangerous stuff."

. . .

"It's worse than tomato, it's other things also," Trump continued. "But tomato, when they start doing that stuff, it's very dangerous. There was an alert out that day."

If he's this inarticulate and frightened in a case about his security guards, one can only imagine what he might say in a real deposition into a crime that he was guilty of committing. No wonder he wages such a fierce legal battle to avoid getting questioned under oath!

 

Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week

We've got a lot to get to in impressive Democratic behavior this week, we are happy to report.

Runners-up this week (who all deserve an Honorable Mention) were led off by Elizabeth Warren, who is out there trying to light a fire under her fellow Democrats to get some things done as soon as possible, because she knows that would be the best way to increase the party's chances in the midterms.

Meanwhile down in Florida, Chaz Stevens had an excellent idea. He's the same guy who put up a Festivus pole at the state capitol's year-end holiday display, to show that neutrality in government's handling of religion must be absolute. Now he's trying to make another important point, by sending challenges to 63 Florida school districts, to try to get them to remove the Bible from school libraries. He's doing this to spotlight a new law passed by Republicans which was intended to target books inclusive of L.G.B.T.Q. and Black students, but (as with most laws of this type) was written in an effort to pass constitutional muster by not explicitly saying which books should be targeted. So Stevens filed challenges that they probably never expected:

His three-page petition critiques the Bible for its depictions of bestiality and cannibalism, its "eye-popping passages of babies being smashed against the rocks" in Psalms 137 and its "strong pro-slavery position," citing Ephesians 6:5-7.

"As the Bible casually references... such topics as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, and fornication -- or as I like to think, Date Night Friday Night -- do we really want to teach our youth about drunken orgies?" the petition asks.

Stevens is a political prankster, no doubt. But he's standing on pretty firm legal ground:

Erica Goldberg, a University of Dayton Law School professor who studies First Amendment rights, said Stevens's petitions could showcase that the new law may cause school boards to engage in "viewpoint discrimination," or removing information because of dislike of the ideas it contains, which is impermissible per the Supreme Court.

She noted that the Bible is replete with episodes of violence and sexual abuse, including the rape of Dinah in Genesis, which leads her brothers Levi and Simeon to kill every man in the city of Shechem to avenge her honor; the incestuous rape of King David's daughter Tamar by her half brother Amnon; and the brutal dismemberment of a concubine in Judges. She said the Bible is at least as sexually explicit as some of the books parents are labeling inappropriate, raising the question: Why can the Bible stay in the library when those books have to go?

"This stunt is going to illuminate," she added. "Many of our First Amendment rights get meted out by edge cases or by people looking to make statements."

In what might initially look like a political stunt, Utah Democrats have decided not to back a candidate for the upcoming Senate race, and instead to endorse Independent Evan McMullin. This should give McMullin a much better chance at unseating Mike Lee, and far from being a stunt it was actually a prime example of putting country over party (we wrote about this at length earlier in the week).

And in any other week, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham would have easily won the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week for the sheer magnitude of what she just accomplished:

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced Thursday that New Mexico will cover the costs of child care for most residents through June 2023. The benefit, which covers families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, makes New Mexico the first state to offer no-cost care to such a broad range of incomes, officials said.

"It's free, no more co-pays, no more waiting," Lujan Grisham said to a crowd of preschoolers at East Gate Kids Learning Center in Albuquerque. "This is the road to a universal child-care system."

The median household income in New Mexico is $51,243. Under the new program, which begins May 1, a family of four earning up to about $111,000 would be eligible for free child care. The state recently expanded a federal child-care subsidy to middle-class families. On Thursday, Lujan Grisham said it would eliminate co-pays for them, too. Officials estimate both changes will make child care free for a total of 30,000 families.

Advocates welcomed the initiative at a time when families are still recovering from the economic fallout of the pandemic and are grappling with rising prices. "It is hard to overstate the impacts of ensuring that all families can afford great child care," said Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, an advocacy group. "It helps our families. It helps our workforce. It helps our businesses. It's such an important step forward for New Mexico, and it comes at a time when families are in real need of any economic relief."

Mario Cardona, the chief of policy and practice for Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable child care, called the announcement "the type of thing that we should be seeing across the country."

That is pioneering and progressive and shows that this sort of thing can be done, no matter how many naysayers try to paint it as some radical "far left" idea. Democrats should take note, because this is precisely the sort of thing Congress should be doing (if it weren't for Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, of course). We hope, at any rate, that some other blue states follow suit.

But just for jaw-dropping impressiveness, we are obliged to give the coveted MDDOTW award this week to a candidate for Minnesota state senate, who didn't even get her party (the "Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party," in Minnesota) to endorse her, losing out to another candidate at the party's recent meeting. Why would we find such a losing bid impressive? Well, for one major reason:

For months, a running joke inside Erin Maye Quade's campaign for the Minnesota state Senate was that the candidate, pregnant with her first child, might actually give birth April 23, the day Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party delegates would gather to vote on who would be the party's nominee for the race.

It would be a grueling convention, packed with speeches, in-person campaigning for delegates' support and potentially multiple rounds of balloting.

As fate would have it, at 6:15 a.m. Saturday, the day of the convention, Maye Quade texted her campaign manager, Mitchell Walstad, to let him know that she had gone into labor four hours earlier.

"We weren't sure she was going to make it," Walstad told The Washington Post. Nevertheless, Maye Quade arrived at the convention hall, and her team devised a plan to slowly walk her around to greet delegates, then whisk her back to their campaign room every 15 or 20 minutes when a new contraction would start.

By the time the candidate speeches began, her contractions were intensifying.

"This is our moment to build our future together," Maye Quade told the roughly 200 delegates in attendance, as captured in a video shared on social media. "To unlock the powerful, life-affirming, transformative kind of politics that means we can... create economic opportunity and prosperity, and safeguard our civil and human rights..."

Here, Maye Quade paused for a beat and touched her stomach. Another contraction was starting.

"...and strengthen our human and public infrastructure... excuse me," she said, before stopping again. She doubled over and gripped a nearby surface with both hands, in visible pain.

By now, it was obvious Maye Quade was in active labor. Many in the crowd cheered her on.

The article also notes (with pun almost certainly intended) that she also had to "labor through" a question-and-answer period after her speech:

"It was like 10 questions back and forth," Walstad said. "At one point, they had to switch up the order, I believe, because she was having a contraction in the middle of when she was supposed to answer."

. . .

"Erin had a contraction during her speech in front of a room of 200 people and then again during her Q&A," [political director of Women Winning Emma] McBride told the Post. "While her opponent continued on answering the question, she was bent over in the chair holding her wife's hand -- and then immediately afterward was handed the mic and expected to answer a question, which she did and she did flawlessly."

Personally, we are left speechless (which doesn't happen often, to us). This is a performance no male (politician or otherwise) can ever even begin to understand. For showing such grit and for her commitment to her candidacy, we think at the very least Erin Maye Quade deserves this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week.

And for those wondering, the story has a very happy ending: 12 hours later in the wee hours of the morning, she delivered a baby girl she named Harriet. Who will get to hear that story pretty much every single birthday she has for the rest of her life. She shouldn't mind, though, because the story is so breathtakingly impressive.

[Since she is no longer a candidate, we do not as a rule provide contact information for private citizens, so you'll have to look up Erin Maye Quade yourself if you'd like to offer your congratulations, sorry.]

 

Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week

We're going to return to what has become our default for the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week this week, by handing it to Joe Manchin, just on general principles.

We should mention in passing that there was one other contender for the award this week, but we don't really consider him a Democrat even though he's running as one for a state senate seat in Michigan (using the party to get on the ballot doesn't really make you a party member, in our eyes at least). But we do have to admit he is odious. Far-right radio host Randy Bishop said this week that the mainstream media is attempting to "destroy the nuclear family," for which he had a rather antediluvian definition: "Can't even watch a college basketball tournament without commercials telling me I have to feel guilty because I think a family should be a White mom, a White dad and White kids." Hoo boy.

But back to real Democrats (or, at least, "Democrats for the time being..."). Senator Joe Manchin has begun his Dance of the Seven Veils again, teasing the entire rest of the Democratic Party with the slight possibility that he might vote for a reconciliation bill which gets a few things done before the midterms. However, he has cried "Wolf!" far too often for most Democrats to even take him seriously this time around. The White House is attempting to bargain with him, but since Manchin feels no compunction about agreeing to something and then later saying he can't agree to it, this will probably wind up going nowhere. Manchin is also involved with an effort to pass an energy bill with a bipartisan group of senators -- another effort that is likely to go precisely nowhere -- which means oodles of time wasted and no urgency to strike an energy deal with his fellow Democrats in the meantime.

On top of all this, the new book from the two New York Times journalists leaked an interesting excerpt showing Manchin has indeed considered switching parties:

You don't have to join our caucus, [Senate Minority Whip John] Thune told him. Just become an independent and caucus with us.

Thune suggested [Senator Joe] Manchin would likely be rewarded for taking such a step: You could write your own ticket, the South Dakotan told him. Chair a committee, we'll help you raise money for your campaign.

Manchin heard them out and gave Thune a politically deft response.

John, he said, if you were the leader I would do it.

It was not a hard no, but Manchin was not about to put Mitch McConnell back in charge of the Senate.

So the only thing that saved Democratic control is Joe Manchin's dislike of Mitch McConnell. Which is truly disappointing, and is why Manchin can add one more Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week to his growing collection.

[Contact Senator Joe Manchin on his Senate contact page, to let him know what you think of his actions.]

 

Friday Talking Points

Volume 660 (4/29/22)

These are all kind of loosely based on the same theme this week -- all variations on the first talking point, really. Except maybe the last one, but then with anything dealing with Rand Paul it's going to be so loony that it defies description, really.

 

1
   Not your dad's GOP

Hammer this one home, because it is so true.

"Joe Biden recently remarked: 'This is not your father's Republican Party by any stretch of the imagination. This is the MAGA party.' He's right. Today's Republicans have forsworn just about everything the party used to stand for, all in obeisance to a completely amoral and narcissistic con man. Donald Trump's lack of human empathy and any moral compass has filtered down to the rest of the party, to the point where they now celebrate the violent attempted overthrow of a presidential election and are working diligently to steal the next presidential election by taking over the machinery which verifies the vote, in state after state. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney summed up the difference between the two parties nicely when he said: 'We're for jobs. They're for mobs. We are fixing your country, and they are fixing elections.' Couldn't agree more. This is not your father's Republican Party, folks. It is now a party morally unmoored and adrift, with no respect for basic democracy at all."

 

2
   The race to the bottom

There are just so many examples to choose from.

"Republicans are in a real race to the bottom, in fact, as they seem almost to be trying to outdo each other in what used to be universally considered disqualifying behavior for a public servant. Madison Cawthorn is a total Dumpster fire all on his own, and after the month he's had it'll be interesting to see how he tries to top it next month. So many Republican candidates for office have been accused of beating their spouses or children that it is actually hard to keep track of them all anymore. In Idaho, a former state representative was just convicted of raping a 19-year-old intern. Meanwhile, 'one of the most powerful senators in the North Dakota legislature' actually did step down after it was revealed that he had exchanged 72 text messages with a guy who was being held in jail on child pornography charges. This is the Republican Party of today, people. What's most astounding is that as they continue this race to the bottom, with every lurch downwards, within their own ranks they have normalized behaviors which used to be career-killing but are now seen as not as bad as what the rest of them are doing. It is disgraceful and disgusting, and it is indeed today's Republican Party."

 

3
   Rapists' rights

This used to be an extreme position even on the right, but no more.

"Republicans at the state level are falling all over themselves to pass the most restrictive abortion laws possible, in anticipation of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court. This means we can all see precisely how extreme Republicans have become on the issue. In Ohio a bill was being debated that (it was pointed out during debate) would force a 13-year-old girl who was raped to carry her rapist's baby to term. The Republican who authored the measure agreed:"

It is a shame that it happens, but there's an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she's going to do to help that life be a productive human being... Rape is a difficult issue, and it emotionally scars the individual... for the rest of their life, just as child abuse does. But if a baby is created, it is a human life, and, whether that mother ends that pregnancy or not, the scars will not go away -- period.

"We think voters should ask themselves before entering the voting booth this November if this is the future they want to see for America. Because if Republicans take control of Congress, they very well could try to pass such abhorrent laws for the entire nation. The Republican Party has become the party of rapists' rights. Think about that when you vote. Because that is exactly where they want to take us all, make no mistake about it."

 

4
   Book burnings, too

Again, this is not just an isolated example, it is a trend in red states across the country.

"Republicans used to be the party of small government -- you know, 'get the government out of my life,' that sort of thing. But now they're not only fighting hard to force women to carry rapists' babies to term, they're also trying to ban books they don't like -- a category which apparently includes any discussion of Black people or other minorities, or any suggestion that any relationship other than a heterosexual marriage even exists. In Tennessee, one Republican state representative even admitted what his real goal was. When asked what he'd do with all the banned books: 'You going to put them in the street? Light them on fire?' the Republican answered back: 'I don't have a clue, but I would burn them.' So this is what Republicans mean by 'small government'? Deciding what is allowed to be on bookshelves? And then burning any books they don't approve of? This is today's Republican Party, plain and simple."

 

5
   Big Lie going strong

It's not just social issues, either.

"In state after state, Republicans are running for the offices that control elections with one goal in mind -- guaranteeing that any election which shows more people voted for Democrats than Republicans is thrown out and replaced by just anointing the Republican the winner. This is the inevitable end goal of Donald Trump's insistence on his Big Lie, that somehow (without the tiniest shred of evidence) he won the 2020 election. The race for Georgia governor had an interesting debate this week, where the Trump-endorsed candidate spent the first 23 minutes of the debate slamming his opponent for not just chucking out all the votes and proclaiming Trump the winner the last time around. He's not the only one, either -- there are plenty of Big Lie cult members running for state offices all around the country. And while it looks right now like the Georgia Trumpista is probably going to lose in the primary, some of them will manage to get their party's nomination and some may even win their election in November. Which could spell the end of fair and free elections in more than one U.S. state. This is today's Republican Party, folks -- they believe that if they lose an election, they should still get to rule anyway, and they are actively plotting to make that a reality, no matter what the voters have to say about it."

 

6
   Profiles In Courage

This is really astonishing, when you think about it. Or it should be, at any rate.

"In normal times, Republican officeholders who uphold their oath of office to the United States Constitution would not be news, it would be expected of them all. But these are not normal times, and there are so few Republicans left that do stand up for free elections and doing what is right that they are being singled out for their bravery. This week the Profile In Courage awards were announced, and not only did Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy get one but also Representative Liz Cheney and three elections officials in Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia -- all for simply doing their duty. When Donald Trump tried to steal the last election, it was people like these who prevented it. And now they are such rarities within Republican ranks that they are fully deserving of Profile In Courage awards. That's kind of sad, when you think about it -- how far the party has fallen, really."

 

7
   Sarah might have something to say about that, Rand

And finally, in the stupidest thing said all week category (a tough bar for Republicans to hit, these days), we have Rand Paul.

"In a hearing this week, Rand Paul uncorked some prime Russian propaganda while questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Paul seemed rather fine with Russia attacking Ukraine and other countries (Georgia and Moldova), pointing out: 'You could also argue the countries they've attacked were part of Russia, or were part of the Soviet Union.... The countries that were attacked were part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s.' Vladimir Putin was no doubt delighted to hear Paul parroting Kremlin talking points, one assumes. Using Rand Paul's logic, after all, it would be entirely reasonable if the United Kingdom tried to recapture the East Coast of America, or France launched a war to take back the Louisiana Purchase. Or, perhaps more to the point, Russia's next invasion could be launched to reconquer Alaska. Rand Paul seems to be suggesting this would be acceptable, but I would bet that Sarah Palin (and hundreds of millions of others) might have a different take on seeing Russian soldiers land in Anchorage."

-- Chris Weigant

 

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground

 

155 Comments on “Friday Talking Points -- Um... Madison Cawthorn Getting Naked In Sweden?”

  1. [1] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    just more evidence of cake-pocrisy from the two cake parties. cawthorn may leave his wife to cavort with his male staffer in europe, but heaven forfend he partake of pie! bake him for refusing pie, and bake you for failing to report it!

  2. [2] 
    andygaus wrote:

    Democrats should certainly point out that Republicans are trying to steal elections. They should also point out that they think your wife should be forced to bear her rapist's baby. But I think the most widely applicable thing they could do is to try to rechannel the voter rage that the Republicans have whipped up. "You want to be angry? Don't be angry at people who don't look like you or speak the same language. Be angry with the richest of the rich who are robbing you of your last penny while rousing up divisions to distract you from the theft."

  3. [3] 
    Michale wrote:

    And know for the facts that TPTB don't want ya'all to know.. :D

    Trump grand jury ending in N.Y. with no charges against ex-president

    NEW YORK — A six-month grand jury that was convened late last year to hear evidence against Donald Trump was set to expire this week, closing a chapter in a lengthy criminal investigation that appears to be fizzling out without charges against the former president, people familiar with matter said.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who took office in January, inherited a probe launched by his predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who was convinced that there was a case against Trump for crimes related to manipulating the value of property assets to secure tax advantages or better loan rates.

    The grand jury was convened in November with a mandate to hear evidence against the former president. But the decision on whether to finish the presentation and ask the panel to vote on charges would ultimately fall on Bragg, who decided to pause the process, according to people with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that has not been declared publicly.
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-grand-jury-ending-in-n-y-with-no-charges-against-ex-president/ar-AAWL0Cu?ocid=uxbndlbing

    And ANOTHER Trump/America hater steps up to the plate..

    AND....

    A SWING AND A MISS!!! ANOTHER SWING AND A MISS!!! HERE'S THE FAST BALL!!! SWING AND A MISS!!!! YER OUTTA THERE!!!!

    :D

    Once again, President Trump is completely and 1000% *INNOCENT* of all accusations against him..

    You people really need to come to grips with reality... President Trump is going to return to the Oval Office in 2025....

    This is pre-ordained..

  4. [4] 
    Michale wrote:

    Disney is learning it's lesson well.. :D

    Disney Strategy Is to Stay Silent to Soften Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Blow

    Governor surprised company and many fellow Republicans as he pushed them to eliminate Disney’s tax benefits; ‘Shock and awe from the governor’

    After Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed lawmakers to pass a bill to eliminate Walt Disney Co. ’s special tax benefits in Florida, the company, which boasts one of the largest and most influential lobbying teams in the state, crafted a new strategy: Keep its mouth shut.
    Disney had been burned too many times over the past two months tangling with Mr. DeSantis, the company’s allies in the state legislature said, and keeping quiet would give the company the best shot at working out a resolution with the governor, according to people familiar with the situation.
    The company’s about-face, after initially enlisting sympathetic lawmakers to help it fight back and delay the passage of the bill, is a fresh reminder of the perils companies face when they weigh in on hot-button issues. Mr. DeSantis, one of the most popular Republican politicians in the country and a possible presidential candidate, proved surprisingly willing to go to the mat with a beloved consumer brand that is also one of his state’s biggest employers.
    https://archive.ph/cIPCd#selection-257.0-279.461

    If only Disney had just kept it's mouth shut and didn't butt in about a law that the MAJORITY of Republicans **AND** Democrats support in Florida..

    If only Disney would have told it's whiney cry-baby VERY SMALL minority to shut the frak up.. "Whaa?? Ya'all want to stage a walk out?? Fine.. Just keep on walkin' and don't bother coming back!"

    If only Disney had done the SMART thing.. :^/

    Chalk up another win for Governor DeSantis and patriotic Americans everywhere!! :D

  5. [5] 
    Michale wrote:

    “The bill will be a sword of Damocles over Disney’s head for at least the next year,” he said. But the speed with which the governor moved to punish Disney, which employs nearly 80,000 people in Florida, “sends a powerful message to other businesses that disagree with him: If they’re willing to take on Disney, they’re willing to take on anyone.”

    When you have moral, ethics and the law behind you, this is the best way to address bullies..

    You pick the biggest, baddest bully in the crowd of bullies and you deck him...

    Makes every other bully think twice about messing with you..

  6. [6] 
    Michale wrote:

    Florida has got it going ON!! :D

    How DeSantis Transformed Florida’s Political Identity

    The state has become an unlikely laboratory for right-wing policy, pushed by a governor with presidential ambitions.

    MIAMI — Florida feels like a state running a fever, its very identity changing at a frenetic pace.
    Once the biggest traditional presidential battleground, it has suddenly turned into a laboratory of possibility for the political right.
    Discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity prohibited in early elementary school. Math textbooks rejected en masse for what the state called “indoctrination.” Schools and employers limited in what they can teach about racism and other aspects of history. Tenured professors in public universities subjected to new reviews. Abortions banned after 15 weeks. The creation of a law enforcement office to investigate election crimes. A congressional map redrawn to give Republicans an even bigger advantage.
    And, perhaps most stunning of all, Disney, long an untouchable corporate giant, stripped of the ability to govern itself for the first time in more than half a century, in retaliation for the company’s opposition to the crackdown on L.G.B.T.Q. conversations with young schoolchildren.
    https://archive.ph/MHvs2#selection-521.0-561.196

    Of course, all of that list is simply Left Wing spin of what is actually going on..

    But Florida and Floridians have declared with ONE VOICE that Democrat WOKE Anti-America garbage WILL NOT be tolerated in Florida...

    And, come November, as Florida goes, so goes the rest of the country.. :D

    Life is good.. :D

  7. [7] 
    Michale wrote:

    The question now for Mr. DeSantis — and virtually everyone else in Florida — is whether the rightward lurch will stop, either by court intervention, corporate backlash or, come November, electoral rebuke. But given Florida’s trends in recent years, the more likely outcome could be a sustained campaign toward a new, more rigid conservative orthodoxy, one that voters could very well ratify this fall.

    Yup.. Yup... Yup....

    Florida is locked.. No Democrat Woke crap is welcome here in FL... :D

  8. [8] 
    Michale wrote:

    Very good assessment of Elon's take over of Titter.. :D

    So the last two weeks or so, I’ve torn myself away from more important stories – such as monitoring the state of Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, or considering whether Amber Heard dropped a deuce in Johnny Depp’s bed – to watch everyone’s favorite Asperger’s billionaire, Elon Musk, announce that there was a new sheriff in the public square, or what passes for our public square nowadays. “He is taking over Twitter!” wailed the always tolerant lib-weenie blue checks, perhaps afraid that they might once again have to, you know, actually tolerate people who see the world differently than they do. (One top Twitter lawyer actually cried at a staff meeting – which is what I often want to do when reading Twitter for longer than thirty seconds.)

    Right-wingers, on the other hand – newly susceptible to joining strongman cults, having had a lot of recent practice – seemed to regard news of Musk’s Twitter takeover as being on a par with the Second Coming of Christ. (Last time, it was to die for our sins, this time, it’s to Own The Libs– even better than saving us from perdition!) As a free-speech lover, I sympathize with them a bit. Too many have been suspended or banned – sometimes for good reason, sometimes on the thinnest of pretexts if there has been any pretext at all. Twitter’s often arbitrary enforcement of its standards, such as they are, seem to only have one recurring theme: if you’re anywhere to the right of Ilhan Omar, and say something we don’t like, we reserve the right to ban you. Which is no way to run what’s supposed to be a free-speech enterprise, in which everyone – even deranged conspiracy-mongering sociopaths like Alex Jones – should be able to have a go.

    https://mattlabash.substack.com/p/can-elon-musk-save-twitter-and-can/comments?s=w

    I am still somewhat gabberflasted that there has been no official Weigantia mention of Elon rescuing Twitter from the clutches of the evil America hating Democrats..

    It's my guess that TPTB are hoping that if they ignore this wonderful news, it won't happen and Twitter will remain in the hands of the CensorShip happy Democrats and other assorted Trump/America haters...

    "Well... Lemme know how that works out for ya..."
    -Jim Carrey, BRUCE ALMIGHTY

    :D

  9. [9] 
    Michale wrote:

    As far as Governor DeSantis going after Disney..

    Let's keep in mind that Disney chose to pick up a weapon and become a combatant...

    Disney can't hid behind neutrality and free speech after doing that...

  10. [10] 
    Michale wrote:

    It’s no better for Biden, whose approval with Black Americans plummeted 30 points since he took office. Black GOP Congressional candidates like Texas’ Wesley Hunt and Michigan’s John James are proof that skin color doesn’t dictate values or political affiliation. Our strategic engagement with Black Republican candidates, elected officials, and community leaders through our RNC Black American community centers are helping Republicans establish a presence in districts previously dominated by Democrats all over the country.

    These trends are part of a broader story. For generations, Democrats thought they had a monopoly on minority voters. But now, Democrats’ failed promises, polarizing agenda and rising prices are catching up with them. We’re building relationships and making significant investments in these communities. We’re winning over new voters by taking our message of freedom and opportunity to their doorstep. And we’re identifying and equipping young Republican leaders from minority communities through our RNC Rising Star program.

    Democrats are simply doubling down on their failed policies and overplaying their divisive rhetoric — without offering solutions or plans to keep families safe, empower entrepreneurs and create opportunities for advancement. Meanwhile, Republicans are committed to enacting policies that will lift all Americans from every background. Come November, Democrats will be in for a rude awakening.
    https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/3471496-minorities-are-finding-a-new-political-home-with-the-republican-party/

    It's dark days for Democrats..

    And there is no light on the horizon...

  11. [11] 
    Michale wrote:

    Disney’s recent corporate behavior has been therefore to defer to those it cannot defy, and to dictate to those whom it can dominate. When it comes to China, Disney chooses appeasement. In the U.S., Disney faces cancellation from the Left and cultural elites if it defies them, hence the willingness to fire fan favorite Gina Carano from the hit Star Wars spinoff series “The Mandalorian” for refusing to put pronouns in her Twitter bio and being a Republican. Carano, one of the first female MMA fighters, is a trailblazer, but she was fired because Disney assumed any outrage among viewers or conservatives would be minimal, while their left-wing employees and the entertainment media would harass the company until they acted.

    Disney has been correct in their calculus – until now. That is the real purpose of Florida’s actions. It is not, per se, about Disney’s opposition to the recent law. Efforts to stop it were ineffective, and the law passed. It was rather about changing the incentive structure. Disney was willing to oppose the Florida law and Governor DeSantis because the company believed that if they did not, left-wing activists and the media would attack them, but if they did, they would get cheers from the left and media while DeSantis and Republicans would shrug and do nothing. The incentive was clear. Being “woke,” even ineffectively, was free. That, in a nutshell, explains corporate wokeness: it is a rational cost-benefit calculation, not a broad-based ideological commitment to some sort of post-modernist Marxist worldview.

    By not “doing nothing,” but rather taking action, Governor DeSantis, the Florida legislature, and newly assertive conservatives have sent a very clear message not just to Disney but to every company: the incentives have changed. If you decide to attack conservatives on the assumption they will merely “take it,” then you will now face retaliation.

    https://amac.us/conservatives-make-clear-that-corporate-wokeness-will-now-carry-costs/

    The gloves are off, Woke Democrats...

    If you choose to become a combatant in the culture war, you will be hit.. HARD... Again and again and again.. Until it sinks in..

    "The sport ends.. The massacre begins.."
    -Primus T'Ceal, THE FINAL FRONTIER

  12. [12] 
    Michale wrote:

    In other words, pandering to loud whiney bitchy small minorities will no longer be cost free...

    This has nothing to do with Free Speech..

    Corporations can freely choose to cater to the woke minorities..

    But corporations will pay for that choice dearly. And that cost will be imposed by the other 97% of their customers...

    It's that simple...

  13. [13] 
    Michale wrote:

    Elon Musk’s right: The left has gone insane

    Elon Musk sparked a firestorm this week by tweeting a meme that calls out the radical drift of left-wing politics in America, showing how the rise of the ultra-left has made people like him suddenly seem right-of-center though their views haven’t changed.

    Why the furor? Because the meme is right. As he explained in a follow-up, “I strongly supported Obama for president, but today’s Democratic Party has been hijacked by extremists.”

    The American left has, over the past decade and a half, gone insane.

    Firm support for affirmative action was overtaken by the insanity of “anti-racism” and critical race theory. Rather than accepting LGBTQ people, the litmus test became embracing gender transition for kids, mandatory use of “preferred pronouns” and denial of the obvious facts about trans athletes.

    Criticism of law-enforcement excesses morphed into “Defund and Abolish.” Supporting immigration, into outright opposition to any border control.

    That’s to say nothing of free speech. An American left that long cherished it now deems it an insidious form of “white supremacy.”

    And it all comes packaged in fury at anyone who hasn’t gone along, let alone those who dissent.
    https://nypost.com/2022/04/29/elon-musks-right-the-left-has-gone-insane/

    The facts clearly show that Elon is dead on ballz accurate in his assessment of the Democrat Party in the here and now...


    TODAY'S DEMOCRAT PARTY

    Who could have POSSIBLY realized that such a Left ward President Trump-based hate would be SOOOOO detrimental to the Democrat Party's standing in America...

    Oh... Wait... :D

  14. [14] 
    Michale wrote:

    "Hay!! Let's create a MINISTRY OF TRUTH!! What could POSSIBLY go wrong!!???"
    -Democrat Party

    DeSantis: Biden Admin's "Ministry Of Truth" Wants To Put Out False Narratives Without People Being Able To Speak Out

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday spoke out against the Biden administration's proposed "disinformation board" run by the Department of Homeland Security.

    "I honestly thought this was a belated April Fool's joke but they are actually going to create, in the Department of Homeland Security, a bureau of disinformation," DeSantis said. "It's basically a Ministry of Truth. And what they want to do is they want to be able to put out false narratives without people being able to speak out and fight back. They want to be able to say things like Russia collusion and perpetuate hoaxes and have people like us be silenced."
    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/04/29/desantis_biden_admins_ministry_of_truth_wants_to_put_out_false_narratives_without_people_being_able_to_speak_out.html

    I have to ask and let's be honest now..

    Is there *ANYONE* here who supports this MINISTRY OF TRUTH by the Democrat Party???

    ANYONE at all???

  15. [15] 
    Michale wrote:

    Big Lie going strong

    Yes.. The Big Lie is STILL going strong..

    Stacey BIG LIE Abrams *STILL* hasn't conceded the 2018 Governor race..

    Funny how Democrats don't comment on THAT Big Lie, eh?? :^/

    Democrats are PERFECTLY OK with THAT "Big Lie".. :^/

    "Hypocrisy. It's not a bug in Democrat programming. It's a feature.."

  16. [16] 
    Michale wrote:

    Russ,

    So what prevents someone from demanding to see your daughter’s medical records if they think your daughter is taking a medicinal regimen necessary to help them feel like the gender they identify with?

    It's a bullshit question.. My daughter is not claiming to be a different gender in order to garner an advantage..

    This Lea Thomas moron is..

    For all we know, this whole thing is the messed up byproduct of parents remembering Wheaties boxes with Bruce Jenner on the cover and thinking how unfair it would be for Caitlyn Jenner to be able to compete against their perfect track princesses.

    Non sequitur... You'll have to explain exactly what you are bitching about here and how it pertains to my comment..

    No male athlete wants to win so badly that they’d be willing to identify as a female in order to achieve sport “greatness”!

    And yet, we have the FACT of this Lea Thomas guy who did exactly that..

    Was like 250th in men's swimming.. He was obviously tired of losing and decided to compete in WOMEN'S sports where he would have an obvious advantage...

    DUH...

    No, that would be something a father trying to achieve, through their child, the sports greatness that eluded them when they competed.

    And do you have ANY FACTS to support that it's this guy's FATHER who is pushing this Lea Thomas guy???

    ANY facts at all??

    No?? :D

    Of course ya don't.. But I still love ya anyways.. :D

  17. [17] 
    Michale wrote:

    "OK, let's brass some tacks here.."
    -Metatron, SUPERNATURAL

    Let's just lay it out, Russ..

    Is gender based on biology?? On science?? Or is gender a "state of mind" as Democrats believe.. That any guy or gal can, in FACT, be whatever gender they choose to be..

    Don't give me any of this nebulous or equivocal identity crap..

    I want a cold objective SCIENCE BASED fact..

    Is gender science fact? Or is it a state of mind..

    Easy question.. Let's see if you can answer it..

  18. [18] 
    Michale wrote:

    CNN's Harry Enten: Growing Number Of Black Conservatives Are Driving "Erosion" In Biden's Polling

    CNN reports Biden’s approval rating among Black Americans is “really down,” a 20-point drop.

    "It's really down, you can see at the beginning of his term, he was at 87%, look where he is over the last few months, 67%, that's a 20-point drop. Not only is it a 20 point drop, that 67%, Barack Obama the last Democratic president never dropped below 75% in any Gallup Poll. This was lower than Barack Obama ever was.
    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/04/29/cnns_harry_enten_growing_number_of_black_conservatives_are_driving_erosion_in_bidens_polling.html

    Biden is losing support all across the board...

  19. [19] 
    Michale wrote:

    “A newer trend that we saw in the 2020 election and already in the 2022 midterms is that disinformation is being heavily targeted at Spanish-speaking voters, sparking and fueling conspiracy theories. DHS and its components play a big role in addressing myths and disinformation in Spanish and other languages."
    Democrat Rep. Lauren Underwood

    Will iddn't THIS interesting..

    Biden's handlers are creating an open border to allow tens of millions of illegal Democrat voters into the country..

    And now we learn that Biden's MINISTRY OF TRUTH has been created to target "disinformation" in spanish...

    Coincidence??? :^/

  20. [20] 
    Michale wrote:

    The American people are decidedly disinclined to pay $26 for a book about the life of President Joe Biden's primary caretaker. Politico reports that a recently published biography of Dr. Jill Biden, Ed.D, sold just 250 copies in its first week of circulation.

    The Politico article, which documents the professional anxiety of White House correspondents who find it "boring and difficult" to cover an administration whose policies they wholeheartedly support, cites the poor sales of Jill: A Biography of the First Lady by AP reporters Julie Pace and Darlene Superville as an example of why journalists are so bummed out now that a Democrat is in charge.
    https://freebeacon.com/democrats/jill-biden-book-flop/

    Apparently, no one really cares about Joe Biden's live in caretaker...

  21. [21] 
    Michale wrote:

    Elon Musk Bitch-slaps Occasional Cortex! :D

    'Stop hitting on me, I'm really shy': Elon Musk accuses AOC of FLIRTING with him when she called him a 'billionaire with an ego problem' and blamed him for an 'explosion of hate crimes' after buying Twitter

    Ocasio-Cortez, 32, was responding to Musk's intention to acquire the social media giant on Friday

    AOC called him a 'billionaire with an ego problem' who'd been made to
    feel 'special' by Tucker Carlson and Peter Thiel

    'Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy,' he wrote, adding a pink-faced
    emoji to go along with it in response

    Earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez took exception to Musk's claim that
    the 'far left' had taken over the Democratic Party

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10769311/Elon-Musk-accuses-AOC-FLIRTING-tweet-blaming-explosion-hate-crimes.html

  22. [22] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    WOKE? It’s funny that the only time you hear this outdated term being used; it’s by Conservatives who think it makes them sound current and phresh! If you don’t want liberals to laugh at you, stopping the use of out-dated phrases goes a long way to making it stop!

    “You’re so two-thousand and LATE!” — Black Eyed Peas

    It's a bullshit question.. My daughter is not claiming to be a different gender in order to garner an advantage..

    No, it’s not bullshit as there have been multiple cases of cis-gendered female athletes wrongly accused of being transgender when they were just butch lesbians. Not all trans people choose to be openly trans — to avoid the type of harassment and judgement your type tends to wallow in — so that means I could falsely accuse your child of being trans and they’d need you to prove she isn’t trans to compete. See how much fun it is when your child is the focus of such hatred?

    And yet, we have the FACT of this Lea Thomas guy who did exactly that..

    Was like 250th in men's swimming.. He was obviously tired of losing and decided to compete in WOMEN'S sports where he would have an obvious advantage...

    You know what motivated Thomas HOW exactly? Did you find a video diary entry from Thomas where she breaks her plan down step by step? No, I almost missed that you used FACT in your statement — which we all know means whatever you are calling a FACT is not actually factual. Glad I caught that or else I’d be left thinking that you were truly a mentally challenged bigot!

    https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/transgender-athlete-loses-track-race-lawsuit-ciac-high-school-sports/520-df66c6f5-5ca9-496b-a6ba-61c828655bc6

    One of the girls who filed a lawsuit seeking to ban trans athletes from competing because it gave them an unfair advantage beat the trans athlete in a competition four days after filing the lawsuit. She must be super-trans I guess. It sure seems like these Republicans fixated on trans females are just wanting any excuse to pull up girls dresses looking for ding-a-lings!

  23. [23] 
    Michale wrote:

    WOKE? It’s funny that the only time you hear this outdated term being used; it’s by Conservatives who think it makes them sound current and phresh! If you don’t want liberals to laugh at you, stopping the use of out-dated phrases goes a long way to making it stop!

    That's because Democrats are trying to hide it.. DUH... :D

    One of the girls who filed a lawsuit seeking to ban trans athletes from competing because it gave them an unfair advantage beat the trans athlete in a competition four days after filing the lawsuit.

    So the guy is smart enough to tank a race..

    Doesn't prove the facts of the case, Russ..

    You really need to come to grips with reality..

    Yer precious Democrats are destroying women's sports..

    Just like their are trying to indoctrinate toddlers with their gender bending crap...

    }}}}Is gender based on biology?? On science?? Or is gender a "state of mind" as Democrats believe.. That any guy or gal can, in FACT, be whatever gender they choose to be..{{{{{

    I'll accept your concession on this.. :D

  24. [24] 
    Michale wrote:

    But since yer hear, answer me this..

    You complain that the FL AntiGroomer might make it possible that a toddler who MIGHT have a mental issue about gender confusion MIGHT be unable to turn anywhere for help..

    IGNORING the FACT that the toddler can turn to their parents, where they should and IGNORING the FACT that, at such a young age, toddlers don't even COMPREHEND the issue of gender...

    Which odds are greater???

    The odds that a gender confused toddler might not get the "help" they need???

    Or

    The odds that a normal well adjusted toddler might be so frak'ed up in the head by Democrats pushing this gender bending crap that they are emotionally scarred for life???

    You and I BOTH know that the odds are INFINITELY greater that a NORMAL toddler would be psychologically harmed than an actual gender-dysphoric toddler would not get the help they need..

    But that is what Democrats want to do.. They want to frak kids up..

    Either by murdering them when they are gestating or by fraking them in the heads when they are toddlers..

    WHY are Democrats so insistent on fraking up people's kids.. Kids that aren't even their own!!!

    I mean.. It's bad enough that Democrats are ALLOWED to even HAVE kids that they can torture and abuse..

    But Democrats even INSIST on murdering and fraking up kids that aren't even their own!!

    Why is that???

  25. [25] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Is gender based on biology?? On science?? Or is gender a "state of mind" as Democrats believe.. That any guy or gal can, in FACT, be whatever gender they choose to be..

    Don't give me any of this nebulous or equivocal identity crap..

    I want a cold objective SCIENCE BASED fact..

    So you are asking me if it is based on biology — which is a science — or if it is based on psychology — which, get this, is ALSO A SCIENCE!!! I could answer it for you, but since I can tell you really want to learn this info and get it right…I’m gonna let you go look this us and provide us with your finding based in SCIENCE! You are welcome!

    Seriously, Michale, what does it say about the kind of man you are when you claim that Disney wanting to be inclusive and sensitive to another group of people is the equivalent of them turning their backs on you?!? They are not going to change the way they treat you! You just have a problem that they are going to treat a group of people, that you obviously have issues over, the same way they treat you. Is your heart truly that hate-filled? If Disney treating them with respect angers you this much, maybe it’s time for some deep introspection.

  26. [26] 
    Michale wrote:

    So you are asking me if it is based on biology — which is a science — or if it is based on psychology — which, get this, is ALSO A SCIENCE!!!

    Nice dodge... I knew you couldn't answer the question.

    So you concede that the gender bending aspects of the Democrat agenda is ABNORMAL Psychology..

    Gotcha.. :D

    Seriously, Michale, what does it say about the kind of man you are when you claim that Disney wanting to be inclusive and sensitive to another group of people is the equivalent of them turning their backs on you?!? They are not going to change the way they treat you! You just have a problem that they are going to treat a group of people, that you obviously have issues over, the same way they treat you. Is your heart truly that hate-filled? If Disney treating them with respect angers you this much, maybe it’s time for some deep introspection.

    Because Disney is forgetting Spock's age old wisdom..

    The needs of the many.. Outweigh the needs of the few..

    Disney is willing to frak up the minds of the 99.999 percent on the OFF CHANCE that there is a .001 chance of a person suffer'ing from a psychology abnormality..

    I mean.. THAT is bad enough..

    But Disney is willing to do this **SOLELY** to further an Anti-America HATE BASED ideology...

    That's just the lowest of the low...

    That is what is so sad about what you believe..

    It's based SOLELY on the hate of 99.999% of what Americans believe....

    It's really REALLY sad..

    But, at least we have some common ground here..

    Democrat "science" is based solely on normalizing abnormal psychology..

    I am glad you admitted that.. It makes your position so much more understandable..

    It's a shame you don't have any children of your own.. It might help you to understand MY position..

  27. [27] 
    Michale wrote:

    People suffering from COVID is ALSO based on "science", Russ...

    Does that mean we should "normalize" their suffering?? Allow them to suffer thru the pain and horror of COVID??

    Or does it mean that we should use SCIENCE to help people recover from COVID???

    Just like we should help people who suffer from gender-dysphoria to help them recover from the illness..

    You want to play the science card?? Fine... Then play it factually...

  28. [28] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    You complain that the FL AntiGroomer might make it possible that a toddler who MIGHT have a mental issue about gender confusion MIGHT be unable to turn anywhere for help..

    Toddler? Geez, before much longer you are going to be complaining that teachers are running up to pregnant women and indoctrinating through the womb! Once again, your need to use such rhetoric is just proof of how weak your base argument is.

    My problem isn’t with the first part of the law saying teachers can not have sexual education as part of their teaching curriculum for K - 3rd grade. I know of no school system that has ever had “The Joys of Anal Sex” listed as part of a 1st graders teachers’ lesson plans. I doubt any of the schools here have ever seen a copy of “Horton gets a Hummer” by Dr. Seuss.

    My issue is with the second part that says any teacher believed to be discussing issues the parent believes are not age appropriate to be having with their child can sue regardless of the student’s age or grade level. THAT is the problem! You cannot define what is inappropriate and think letting the parent define it is going to do anything but cost the school system in frivolous lawsuits. Parents have the right to homeschool… conservative kids are already screwed up as it is…might as well go for broke!

    Where are all the frak’d up kids that have been so harmed because you did not care enough to think of it sooner? This law that you keep claiming is an anti-groomer law doesn’t do anything to punish actual child molesters! It allows a parent to sue civilly in court, but there are no criminal charges for the guilty party? Republicans think this is gonna stop child molesters? Geez, leave it to the GOP to have Jarred from Subway write up their bill to fight grooming!

  29. [29] 
    Michale wrote:

    Toddler?

    Democrats want to indoctrinate 4yr olds..

    4 yrs is close enough to toddler to be relevant..

    My problem isn’t with the first part of the law saying teachers can not have sexual education as part of their teaching curriculum for K - 3rd grade. I know of no school system that has ever had “The Joys of Anal Sex” listed as part of a 1st graders teachers’ lesson plans. I doubt any of the schools here have ever seen a copy of “Horton gets a Hummer” by Dr. Seuss.

    And yet, there is ample FACTS to support that such lessons ARE a part of kindergartner curriculum..

    The "It doesn't happen" argument is an epic fail of an argument because the FACTS clearly show that it does..

    Being that it DOES happen, are you willing to concede that it SHOULD be prevented, since you don't have a "problem" with that part of the FL Anti Groomer law..

    You cannot define what is inappropriate and think letting the parent define it is going to do anything but cost the school system in frivolous lawsuits. Parents have the right to homeschool… conservative kids are already screwed up as it is…might as well go for broke!

    PARENTS are not in a position to define what is INAPPROPRIATE **** FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN ****!!!????

    Did you actually JUST SAY THAT!???

    Yea.. Terry McAwful tried that argument..

    It didn't work out too well for McAwful.. :^/

    But, inadvertently I am sure :D, you have hit on the EXACT problem..

    Democrats believe that *THEY* should the sole arbiter of how children are raised and that Parents just need to butt out...

    And THAT is why Democrats lost in Virginia..

    And THAT is why Democrats are going to lose in November..

    And, as long as Democrats continue to push the parents aside, Democrats will continue to lose elections..

    The majority of DEMOCRATS in Florida support the Anti-Groomer law..

    What part of that is so difficult for you people to understand??

  30. [30] 
    Michale wrote:

    As far as teachers being afraid to be sued??

    The solution is simple..

    If kindergartner teachers wouldn't teach what they want to teach in FRONT of the parents, then they know it's wrong and they shouldn't be teaching it to kindergartners at all..

    It's VERY simple..

    If teachers want to HIDE their lesson plans from parents (an ALL too common of a practice that is WELL DOCUMENTED) then teachers KNOW that they SHOULDN'T be teaching it...

    It cannot be any simpler...

    To put it into a context that you can relate to..

    If an LEO wants to take an action but doesn't want said action to be recorded on his body cam, then the cop should KNOW it's the wrong action to take...

    See??? Simple..

  31. [31] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Disney is willing to frak up the minds of the 99.999 percent on the OFF CHANCE that there is a .001 chance of a person suffer'ing from a psychology abnormality..

    I mean.. THAT is bad enough..

    But Disney is willing to do this **SOLELY** to further an Anti-America HATE BASED ideology...

    DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF?!?! Disney is willing to frak up the minds of the 99.999 percent HOW? By being inclusive to the .001 percent as it is with the 99.999 percent? That’s the Anti-America HATE BASED ideology you are so afraid of — putting the words “that all men are created equal” into action?

    How fragile your ego is turning out to be is really quite shocking, honestly! Disturbingly so.

    That is what is so sad about what you believe..

    It's based SOLELY on the hate of 99.999% of what Americans believe....

    What’s the saddest part — that you believe what you are saying is true.

    Of course, in the gay community we have learned that those who are most vocal against us are almost always closet cases who are too cowardly to embrace their own truth. Just sayin’….

    Here’s the part that I find funniest…

    It’s the attitude and arguments of people like you that make the world see people having the courage to be who they believe they truly are, like Caitlyn Jenner, as HEROES!

  32. [32] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    Not simple at all, nor the same. When there are thirty different kids in the classroom, that's sixty different sets of preferences and expectations, not counting step parents. We have to balance what everyone wants, not just the one parent who can't deal with some other kid saying boys have a penis and girls have a vagina. If a teacher says yes, most of the time, that's not reasonable grounds for a lawsuit, except now in Florida it is.

  33. [33] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Heh.

  34. [34] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    pie.

  35. [35] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    trevor noah was frickin hilarious.

  36. [36] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    PARENTS are not in a position to define what is INAPPROPRIATE **** FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN ****!!!????

    But unless the teacher is aware of the what the definition of INAPPROPRIATE is, your child is going to be taught by someone who must choose to not answer your child’s questions in order to avoid a potential lawsuit! Yes, the kid can always ask their parents without fear of the parents being angered or the child being made to feel ashamed for asking it…in the perfect world that none of us live in!

    So what happens if in a class of thirty kids, 29 parents are OK with how the teacher responded to a question, but one is not? That one parent can sue the school for their child being taught “inappropriate material” that is not universally considered “inappropriate”. Are you so blinded in your worship of conservative bullshit that you cannot see how this law will bankrupt your schools! I thought conservatives were against people getting handouts when they have done nothing to deserve it?!?

    That is why I said that you needed to define what is and isn’t appropriate beforehand…to avoid the conflict.

  37. [37] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    nypoet22 [40]

    Exactly! Spot on! This law does nothing to stop the grooming of kids. Doesn’t contain any language that would address such activities. This bill was meant to make parents feel like they have a weapon to use against the education system that doesn’t do everything the parent wants them to do — and done the way the parent wants it done! Or the school is going to have some major lawsuits coming their way!

  38. [38] 
    Michale wrote:

    DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF?!?! Disney is willing to frak up the minds of the 99.999 percent HOW? By being inclusive to the .001 percent as it is with the 99.999 percent?

    Let's say Disney is a medical program.. And it wants to be "inclusive" to the .001 percent of the population by giving EVERYONE an injection..

    But the injection is VERY harmful to 99.999 percent of the population..

    And YOU want to applaud Disney for being "inclusive" by catering to the .001 percent of the population, even though they are greatly harming 99.999 percent of the population.

    Do you comprehend how completely and utterly WHACKED your position is??

    Of course, in the gay community we have learned that those who are most vocal against us are almost always closet cases who are too cowardly to embrace their own truth. Just sayin’….

    We're not talking about the gay community who chooses a different lifestyle..

    We're talking about a science-based mental disorder which you yourself have conceded...

    It’s the attitude and arguments of people like you that make the world see people having the courage to be who they believe they truly are, like Caitlyn Jenner, as HEROES!

    So, you concede that a President Trump supporter is a hero?? :D

  39. [39] 
    Michale wrote:

    That is why I said that you needed to define what is and isn’t appropriate beforehand…to avoid the conflict.

    It's well defined.. DO NOT teach about sexual activity or gender bending issues..

    If a teacher CAN'T understand that, they have no right to be a teacher..

  40. [40] 
    Michale wrote:

    JL,

    What you posit is not even part of the law so your entire claim is non-sequitur..

  41. [41] 
    Michale wrote:

    Russ,

    This bill was meant to make parents feel like they have a weapon to use against the education system that doesn’t do everything the parent wants them to do — and done the way the parent wants it done!

    Which is EXACTLY what school should be..

    School exists to TEACH children.. Not indoctrinate them with Left Wing gender bending garbage..

  42. [42] 
    Michale wrote:

    It's well defined.. DO NOT teach about sexual activity or gender bending issues..

    To kindergartners thru 3rd grade..

    WHY are you people so insistent that such garbage MUST be taught to toddlers???

    Do ya'all hate kids SOO MUCH that you want to get a good head start on ruining their lives..

  43. [43] 
    Michale wrote:

    This law does nothing to stop the grooming of kids.

    That's because it's NOT designed to do that!! DUH!! :D

    It's just an added bonus.. :D

    The law is designed to back up parents with the force of law when their kids are abused by the Leftist School system..

    And, as you concede, it does that perfectly..

    And, let's not forget the ONE fact ya'all constantly ignore..

    The law is supported by the majority of Democrats in Florida... They law is supported by the majority of Americans in Florida..

    So, the WISE course of action would be for ya'all to simply accept the law because it IS the law of the land.. :D

  44. [44] 
    Michale wrote:

    Twitter CEO faces employee anger over Musk attacks at company-wide meeting

    Employees also told executives they feared Musk's erratic behavior could destabilize Twitter's business
    https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/twitter-ceo-faces-employee-anger-over-musk-attacks-at-company-wide-meeting

    I just LOVE the taste of Democrat tears in the morning..

    It's so... so... quenching.. :D

  45. [45] 
    Michale wrote:

    "I'm tired of hearing about shareholder value and fiduciary duty. What are your honest thoughts about the very high likelihood that many employees will not have jobs after the deal closes?"
    -Whiney Democrat Titter Employee

    Apparently, this whiney employee was dissatisfied that there was no cheese to go with their whine...

    Titter is going to become INCLUSIVE and allow ALL facts and opinions...

    Get over it, whiney Democrats..

  46. [46] 
    Michale wrote:

    Abbott Threatens to Declare an ‘Invasion’ as Migrant Numbers Climb

    For the past year, Mr. Abbott has transformed an unceasing flow of migrants over the border into a potent political message, seizing the role of defending the country from unauthorized migration as he runs for a third term in November. His aggressive posture has done little to stem the tide and also exposed him to fierce criticism that he is using his authority to meddle in a policy area that belongs to the federal government. Still, his efforts to tighten border security and harden Texas’ 1,254-mile frontier have helped Mr. Abbott, a Republican, hold off challenges from his right and made the lawyerly governor into a regular on Fox News.

    Now Mr. Abbott is weighing whether to invoke actual war powers to seize much broader state authority on the border. He could do so, advocates inside and outside his administration argue, by officially declaring an “invasion” to comply with a clause in the U.S. Constitution that says states cannot engage in war except when “actually invaded.”
    https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/30/abbott-threatens-to-declare-an-invasion-as-migrant-numbers-climb/

    Once again, a Republican Governor proves the incompetence and ineptitude of the Biden Administration..

    If Biden can't do the job, then states should be allowed to..

  47. [47] 
    Michale wrote:

    The Democrats have become the party of miserable, whiny grumps
    https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/newspress-collage-22092484-1651282105383.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1651268346&w=744

    Oooo... Someone got triggered! :D

    Consider the response to a Florida judge recently striking down the Biden administration’s loathsome air-travel mask mandate. Social media was immediately flooded with videos of flight attendants and passengers overjoyed that they had unfettered access to oxygen again. Liberals could only sulk.

    “Wearing my mask no matter what non-scientists tell me I can do,” tweeted former Obama White House aide Valerie Jarrett. She included a photo of herself decked out in an N-95, hair pulled back alarmingly tight and one of the lens of her glasses fogged up from her covered mouth.

    A perfect mascot for liberal misery.

    Similarly at The Washington Post, columnist Kate Cohen wrote Wednesday how awful it is to see Americans ditching their masks in celebration. “I still planned to wear a mask while COVID circulated in my community because I was afraid of spreading the virus to vulnerable people,” she said. “Surely we can personally be ‘done’ with this pandemic while respecting the fact that others are not.”

    Covid is OVER people.. It's a threat that never was...

  48. [48] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    So, how did Biden do at the big dinner last night?

  49. [49] 
    Michale wrote:

    Went over like a ton of bricks.. :D

  50. [50] 
    Michale wrote:

    And, for the Democrat Party, the hits just keep on comin..

    Op-Ed: Are Biden and the Democrats in danger of losing young voters?

    LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 3, 2020
    One of the most remarkable developments in the last two national elections was the surge in voting among young people, historically a low-turnout crowd who proved pivotal to Democrats winning a House majority in 2018 and Joe Biden winning the presidency.

    A lingering question has been whether that was a Trump-era anomaly or whether it marked an enduring change in voting behavior.

    The good news, according to a new poll of 18-to-29-year-olds released this week by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, is that turnout among the young is on track to be as high as it was in the 2018 midterms. However, that may bode ill for Democrats — more young Republicans are eager to vote this year than in 2018, and among Democrats, the mojo is fading.
    https://news.yahoo.com/op-ed-biden-democrats-danger-101034513.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

    With every voting bloc, the news is bad bad bad for Democrats..

  51. [51] 
    Michale wrote:

    Woops.. Apologies for all the bold..

  52. [52] 
    Michale wrote:

    The share of young Republicans saying they will definitely vote in 2022 is up 7 percentage points over this time four years ago; definite Democratic voters are down 5 points. The erosion was especially steep among young Black voters, who now seem less likely to vote than young Republicans.

    Among likely voters under 30, 55% still prefer Democratic control of Congress compared with 34% preferring Republican control. But that is about half the 41-point partisan advantage Democrats enjoyed in the spring 2018 poll, when 69% favored Democratic control and 28% preferred Republican control.

    Bad news upon bad news upon bad news for the Democrat Party...

    Almost feel sorry for them if it wasn't for the fact that Democrats are pushing such a hate-filled Anti America agenda...

  53. [53] 
    Michale wrote:

    The whipping story is a chilling example of real disinformation that can be devastating for individuals and destructive in politics. The story of white officers whipping Haitian migrants at the southern border was utterly irresistible and eagerly embraced by many media and political figures. It was based largely on a misleading photograph of a mounted border officer, despite an available video that clearly refuted the whipping claim. Even the image’s photographer stated at the time that the story was false and “nobody saw a Border Patrol agent whipping” anyone.

    Still, many in the media went into a familiar feeding frenzy, encouraged by key political figures. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) declared that the alleged whipping was just the latest example of “white supremacist behavior.” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said the incident was “worse than what we witnessed in slavery” and decried “the cowboys who were running down Haitians and using their reins to whip them.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned the purported “inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol — including the use of whips.”

    The verdict was in, and President Biden went on every network to announce it at the start of the investigation. He expressed disgust over watching what he termed the “horrible … outrageous” actions of the agents as they “strapped” migrants — and Biden declared: “I promise you, those people will pay.”

    For his part, Mayorkas — the official tasked with investigating the allegation — said the alleged conduct of the agents “correctly and necessarily were met with our nation’s horror.” He then promised that his department would complete the investigation “with tremendous speed and with tremendous force … thoroughly, but very quickly. It will be completed in days, not weeks.”

    That was more than six months ago.

    As early declarations of Biden and others quickly fell apart, the White House went into uncharacteristic silence. The promised speedy investigation mysteriously dragged on. The facts supporting or disproving the whipping allegation were evident within 24 hours — but a finding that the agents never whipped any migrants would be embarrassing to Mayorkas and the president. Accordingly, rather than announcing a finding in a matter of days, the agents continue in limbo.

    This month, it has been reported that the agents were cleared of criminal assault. Yet the White House has refused to apologize, and Mayorkas has refused to publicly state that the agents were cleared.

    And the Biden administration wants to create a MINISTRY OF TRUTH!!????

    The stoopidity is simply MIND-BOGGLING...

  54. [54] 
    BashiBazouk wrote:

    And the Biden administration wants to create a MINISTRY OF TRUTH!!????

    It complements the Republican's introduction of Doublespeak...

  55. [55] 
    Michale wrote:

    It complements the Republican's introduction of Doublespeak...

    You mean, like Democrats claiming that border patrol agents on horseback whipped Haitian immigrants??

    Like Hunter Biden laptop was Russia disinformation..

    Like THAT kind of doublespeak..

    Please show me facts that show your claims of Republican doublespeak...

    Also, does your response indicate you support the Democrat Ministry of Truth???

    Finally, what's the easiest way to quit out of an app in OCULUS.. I have found the only sure way is to simply turn off the Oculus which is annoying if I want to continue playing with it and just want to get out of the current app I am in..

  56. [56] 
    Michale wrote:

    The 6 Jan Committee is going to end with a whimper, not a bang.. :D

    Avalanche of leaks risks Jan. 6 committee delivering on blockbuster hearings

    The source of the leaks has become the subject of Washington speculation.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/avalanche-leaks-risks-jan-6-committee-delivering-blockbuster-hearings-rcna26549

    It's going to be the Russia Collusion Delusion con all over again..

    Hyped to unheard of heights and then...????

    A Mueller-esque announcement, "Nope... Nothing to see here... Move along... "

    :D

    And once again, I will have the last laugh.. :D

  57. [57] 
    Michale wrote:

    Very interesting article...

    Why is Canada euthanising the poor?
    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-canada-euthanising-the-poor-

  58. [58] 
    Michale wrote:

    Rachel Levine says pediatricians all agree on importance of 'gender-affirming care' for children

    'Gender-affirming care' includes irreversible surgery for adolescents on a 'case-by-case basis,' according to HHS
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rachel-levine-no-argument-pediatricians-gender-care-adolescents

    It's simply IMPOSSIBLE to accept the words about REAL Science from a cross-dresser who doesn't even know what gender he is..

    I mean, honestly...

    Once again.. Proof positive that Democrat "science" is nothing but very poorly disguised Democrat activism..

  59. [59] 
    Michale wrote:

    REAL science proves that Levine is a man.. No matter how much his state of mind wishes him to be a woman he will ALWAYS be a man in the eyes of REAL science..

    This is fact that no amount of Democrat activism or wishful thinking will change..

    The sooner Levine realizes that, the faster he will be on the road to mental recovery from his psychological abnormality..

  60. [60] 
    Michale wrote:

    Once again, I have to comment on the hilarity of Democrat hysterical hypocrisy..

    CNN's Zurawik: Elon Musk Buying Twitter Is "Dangerous," We "Need Regulation" Of Social Media

    When we focus on the personality of people like Elon Musk, there's a bigger problem about how we are going to control the channels of communication in this country."

    "FCC wasn't great but it is still regulating the broadcast industry."

    "We gave away our internet airwaves to Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and we are in so much trouble," Zurawik said. "Those guys believe in making money."

    "You need regulation. You cannot let these guys control discourse in this country or we are headed to hell. We are there. Trump opened the gates of hell and now they’re chasing us down."
    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/05/01/cnns_zurawik_elon_musk_buying_twitter_is_dangeorus_we_need_regulation_of_social_media.html

    When DEMOCRATS are in control of the Social Media, they are FINE with how things are going..

    But when a Free Speech advocate gets control, an advocate who WON'T censor ideologically inconvenient FACTS, all of the sudden Democrats are HYSTERICALLY calling for more regulation and more control...

    Hegemonic control of the narrative is so vital to Democrat Party power that losing even a small piece of their propaganda apparatus results in endless apocalyptic and hysterical rhetoric..

    It's hilarious!!

  61. [61] 
    Michale wrote:

    Joe Biden’s ‘Ministry of Truth’

    The Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that it has launched what is being dubbed a Disinformation Governance Board, to combat “misinformation.”

    No, really.

    A government agency creating a “ministry of truth” to combat what it deems misinformation? And it’s going to fall under the leadership of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas? The guy presiding over the worst border crisis of our lifetimes, who publicly denies it is a crisis at all, while privately admitting it is? Who better to give more

    responsibility — in a democracy that largely rejects government intervention over free speech? What could possibly go wrong?
    https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/3472878-joe-bidens-ministry-of-truth/

    Again, it's remarkable that Democrats seem to be going OUT OF THEIR WAY to create the impression that they are as Anti America as the FACTS indicate they are in order to lose in November of 2022...

  62. [62] 
    Michale wrote:

    The great American free-speech panic

    Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has revealed how terrified the elites are of freedom of speech.https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/04/30/the-great-american-free-speech-panic/

    Democrats are hysterically petrified with fear that they will no longer be able to censor and bully their critics into silence..

    Democrats are hysterically petrified with fear that actual facts will get out into the wild that show their ideology is based solely on hatred and bigotry..

    Democrats are finally being exposed for they hateful and bigoted liars that they are..

    And I, for one, am ECSTATIC!! :D It's about frakin' time!!!!

  63. [63] 
    Michale wrote:

    Freedom of speech is the ‘dread of tyrants’. That’s how Frederick Douglass, the American abolitionist, statesman and former slave, put it in his seminal 1860 speech, ‘A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston’ – taking aim at a racist mob who had shut down an abolitionist meeting and the authorities that had refused to protect it.

    The battle lines in America’s free-speech wars are very different today, as of course are the stakes. ‘Slavery cannot tolerate free speech’, thundered Douglass. He saw open discussion as the means to liberation. Today, those who might consider themselves his heirs think you can censor your way to utopia. But one thing at least remains stubbornly the same: more than 160 years later, free speech still fills the American elites with dread.

    What else could we conclude from the week-long meltdown over Elon Musk buying Twitter? The political and cultural elites have been gripped by panic. Human-rights groups are up in arms. Woke celebrities are threatening to flounce off the platform. All because Musk – a self-touting ‘free-speech absolutist’ – says he wants to pare back Twitter’s content-moderation policies, to ensure that Twitter functions as a freer ‘digital town square’.

    Those who are so hysterically against Elon buying and running Twitter are those who are the biggest censor bullies in this country...

    AKA The Democrat Party...

  64. [64] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Welcome, everyone, to the CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party where we set aside our robust political debate and discussion for a few fun hours in favour of spinning the tunes. (see what I did there!?)

    Ahem. So, thanks to Caddy for suggesting the theme for tonight - favourite covers of songs. Hopefully, we will get a huge turnout tonight so we can learn about some cover versions of songs we may never have heard of before. Sorry in advance if we've played some of these favourites before on some other Sunday night but, well, they are favourites, after all, so ...

    Okay, first, I'd like to get to something I stumbled upon by sheer accident the other day and it made me laugh out loud. As a special dedication, I'd like to send this one out to our host here at CW.com and namesake for our Sunday Night shindigs, Chris Weigant, himself! I don't think I have ever thanked him for his grand indulgence in letting us really hang loose in this wonderful space, put on our dancin' shoes and kick up our heels. So, from one music lover to another, THANK-YOU CHRIS for letting us turn it up loud all these Sunday Nights!!! :-)

    And, speaking of Kick, I think she'll like this one, too!

    Bohemian Catsody

  65. [65] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    I have played Parallel 49 - United We Rock in these parts before but not this one.

    Their most recent release is a PRiSM tune written by Mr PRiSM himself, Al Harlow, featuring the majestic vocals of Rod Raslack (Georgia, US), the extraordinary musicianship of Chris Knowles (Thunder Bay, CA) and their wonderful bandmates on both sides of the best border in the world.

    What makes this track extra special is that current PRiSM keyboardist, Marc Gladstone (also of Doug and the Slugs fame) plays on it! And, Marc's cousin, John Hall, was the original master of the keys for PRiSM during their heyday, the Ron Tabak Era (1977-1980).

    Speaking of Ron Tabak, as Al tells it, this tune was Ron's favourite to sing.

    As usual, Parallel 49 walk the fine line of being true to the original song while making it all their own ...

    Parallel 49 - Take Me Away (PRiSM cover)

  66. [66] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Toque, defined as

    (1)A close-fitting knitted or crocheted cap having no brim or a brim that is folded up to create an extra layer of fabric for warmth for extra cold Canadian winters, and

    (2)A rock band consisting of 4 brilliant Canadian musicians destined to celebrate the best in Canadian music.

    It is the latter Toque that I'd like to celebrate here with a cover they did of an old Sheriff song that didn't become a hit for Sheriff until after that band had long disbanded, thanks to an American dj (out of Las Vegas, I think) who played it one day and got a ton of great feeback from his listeners and the rest, as they say, is history.

    It's a great song sung beautifully by Sheriff lead vocalist Freddy Curci and, here, by Toque's Todd Kerns (Todd might actually hold that high note even longer than Freddy!!!!) ...

    Toque - When I'm With You (Sheriff cover)

  67. [67] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Hey, everyone, we started things off a little early here tonight - on right coast time, if you will - so everyone could play their favourite covers!

    Is there anyone alive out there?

  68. [68] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    This fabulous cover of a Rolling Stones song by a wonderful Canadian classic rock band is definitely one of my favourites ...

    Streetheart - Under My Thumb (Rolling Stones cover)

  69. [69] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Fire up the bombers and stand up for the Canadian national anthem!

    Toque - Armageddon (PRiSM cover)

    (I haven't forgotten about you, Caddy!)

  70. [70] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Another k.d. lang, this time in a tribute to Roy Orbison...

    kd lang - Crying (Roy Orbison cover)

  71. [71] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    One more from me tonight ...

    Any Montrose fans out there this evening?

    Parallel 49 - Rock Candy (Montrose cover)

  72. [72] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Well, that was fun! Heh.

    Have a great rest of the evening, everyone and stay safe!

    I'll end my part of tonight's festivities with my new theme song ... not a cover, sorry.

  73. [73] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Hehehehehehehehehehehe ... that's not my new theme song! Really! It is an exqusite Parallel 49 cover and I love it but, this right here is my theme song, naturally ... :(

  74. [74] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    @liz,

    good selection!

    @m,

    hard science doesn't apply to gender; it's a sociological phenomenon and has been since the dawn of civilization, circa six thousand years ago.

    however, even in terms of genetics and sex organs, more than one out of every hundred humans does not have a typical set of DNA and/or plumbing. to cite one of your favorite movie lines, did you actually WANT to talk about science, or were you just making chit-chat?

  75. [75] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Don't you have any favourite covers, Joshua?

  76. [76] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:
  77. [77] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    well liz, if you insist

  78. [78] 
    nypoet22 wrote:
  79. [79] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Joshua[88],

    Okay! Now, THAT got me dancin' around the living room!!!

  80. [80] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    That jungle boogie tune reminded me of this, the latest release and video from Nick Walsh and Famous Underground...

    Like An Animal

  81. [81] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Nice one, Caddy!

  82. [82] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:
  83. [83] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    before i pass out, this one is a bit odd because i initially didn't even realize it was a cover. jeff foucault wrote the tune, but it is so much in the style of richard shindell that he might as well have.

    northbound 35

  84. [84] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Take it easy there, my friend!

    Yes, I remember Richard Shindell ... you've hightlighted him before. Good stuff!

  85. [85] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    do i have to get this party going in the early afternoon? :)

  86. [86] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    This is sooooo sweet that it has got to be fattening:

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took substantial legal action to punish Disney for stepping into the state’s political arena by moving to dissolve Reedy Creek, a special district that’s given the company enormous self-governing powers for over half a century. But rather than put the dispute to bed, his decision opened up a Pandora's box of new problems for the state.

    The day before DeSantis signed the bill into law, Reedy Creek looked back to its original contract and pointed to language that implies the state might not be able to destroy it so easily.

    Florida established the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 with the passage of the Reedy Creek Act. The district said in a statement posted to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board that in that original act, Florida pledged not to interfere with Reedy Creek’s operations or its ability to “fulfill the terms of any agreement made with the holders of any bonds or other obligations of the district” until all its bonded debt, including interest, has been paid.

    With nearly $1 billion in bonded debt, Reedy Creek plans to move forward with business as usual in the face of the law’s effective date of June 1, 2023.

    “In light of the state of Florida’s pledge to the district’s bondholders, Reedy Creek expects to explore its options while continuing its present operations,” it said in the statement. The district said it will continue to collect its taxes on Disney and make payments on its debt.

    Reedy Creek’s taxes on Disney make up its primary source of revenue, which it uses for its own maintenance and services, like road repair and its fire department. Thanks to its special district status, it can also issue bonds to fund large infrastructure projects and as a result take on massive debt.

    The law dissolving Reedy Creek does not include language to answer what will happen with that debt. It also doesn’t outline how Orange and Osceola counties, which Reedy Creek straddles, will take on the land’s maintenance once the district no longer exists to do so. Reedy Creek currently operates on an annual budget of over $150 million.

    When we only knew that the two counties would have to absorb Disney’s (Reedy Creek’s) budget, it was projected that to cover the $150 million per year budget, property taxes in the two counties would have to be raised by 20% to 25%. But now the state will have to cover the over $1 billion in bond debts before it can close down Reedy Creek in 2023.

    In one attempt to make Republicans think he was kicking liberal ass and taking names, DeSantis stuck Florida with the largest tax increase ever signed into law! WAY to GO! Guess ya’ll got WOKE’d UP!

  87. [87] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Let's say Disney is a medical program.. And it wants to be "inclusive" to the .001 percent of the population by giving EVERYONE an injection..

    But the injection is VERY harmful to 99.999 percent of the population..

    And YOU want to applaud Disney for being "inclusive" by catering to the .001 percent of the population, even though they are greatly harming 99.999 percent of the population.

    Inclusiveness is NOT a medical condition, which further demonstrates how Republican’s hatred of education is harmful for everyone! “Do no harm” would prevent the imaginary injection from being given to the public.

    But since there is no real reason to talk about this in imaginary terms, you still have failed to say how inclusiveness is VERY harmful to 99.999 percent of the population???

    Fragile, little thin-skinned snowflakes! So afraid of everything that you don’t understand.

  88. [88] 
    Michale wrote:

    DeSantis stuck Florida with the largest tax increase ever signed into law! WAY to GO! Guess ya’ll got WOKE’d UP!

    EXCEPT...

    Except for the FACT that Disney will be the one PAYING those taxes.. :D

    So, nice try, Russ.. But no facts.. :D

    But since there is no real reason to talk about this in imaginary terms, you still have failed to say how inclusiveness is VERY harmful to 99.999 percent of the population???

    If you define "inclusiveness" as forcing gender bending psychological abnormalities on impressionable toddlers??

    Yes.. Your definition of inclusiveness is harmful..

    What you propose is like giving active COVID virus to healthy toddlers..

    It's utterly and completely moronic...

  89. [89] 
    Michale wrote:

    And you STILL haven't addressed the FACT that the majority of Democrats in Florida support the Parent Rights Anti Groomer Law..

    Why do you ignore that fact, Russ??

    Because it totally and completely decimates your argument..

  90. [90] 
    Michale wrote:

    If the FL law was as you claim it is, Russ.. Then Democrats in FL would be against the law..

    But the fact is, the majority of Democrats in FLORIDA support the law..

    So, obviously your argument is not factually accurate..

  91. [91] 
    Michale wrote:

    And lets not forget.. You have conceded that gender-bending dysphoria IS a psychological abnormality.. It's a mental sickness that needs to be cured, not catered to..

    WHY would Democrats want to cater to and CREATE a mental sickness??

  92. [92] 
    Michale wrote:

    Gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder in which children experience intense emotional distress because they feel that they were born as the wrong gender.

    A mental health disorder.. A disease.. A sickness.. That must be treated...

    And here Russ is, advocating that we should CREATE this mental health disorder in 99.999% of toddlers, because it might possibly HELP the .001% of toddlers who might have this mental health disorder..

    where is the logic in that???

    Never mind the totally irrational idea that one should cater to a mental health disorder..

    No matter which way you want to spin it, Russ.. Your argument is completely and utterly whacked and ignores the mental health of toddlers..

  93. [93] 
    Michale wrote:

    In my day, it was fashionable to wear all black.. We called them WOBs...

    I guess today it's fashionable to be considered a different gender than the gender one really is.. :^/

    I like my day better..

  94. [94] 
    Michale wrote:

    JL,

    Question for you...

    Before you mentioned that if your 4 year old had questions about their gender identity, you would want them to be able to talk to their teacher about it..

    Suppose your 4 yr old's teacher was a dyed in the wool President Trump supporter.

    How would you feel about your 4 yr old talking to their teacher NOW??

    You see my point??

    You are fine with having your 4 yr old talking to their teacher as long as their teacher pushes the same BS ideology that you believe in..

    But suppose their teacher is a rabid President Trump supporter..

    ALL of the sudden, you are not too keen about your 4 yr old talking to their teacher about stuff, right??

    NOW you want to SHIELD your child from their teacher's teachings...

    Now you know how the vast majority of American parents feel.. Patriotic American parents want to SHIELD their kids from this BS gender bending ideology that believes the NON SCIENCE position that gender is a state of mind and not actual biology..

    It's not so cut and dried when the shoe is on the other foot, eh?? :D

  95. [95] 
    Michale wrote:

    Let's even take that a step further..

    Let's say your child's teacher is a QANON fanatic instead of a calm and rational President Trump supporter...

    Still OK with your child going to THAT teacher for gender-bending questions??

    I mean, you are fine when the teacher is a rabble rousing molotov throwing BLM and AntiFa supporter...

    But what if the teacher is a rabble rousing molotov throwing QANON supporter..

    ALL OF THE SUDDEN, you DON'T want your child to go to their teacher with gender bending questions..

    AMIRIGHT??

    Of course I am.. No sane parent on the face of the planet WANTS their kids to be instructed on such personal questions by a fanatic..

    NOW you know how patriotic Americans feel about Democrat teachers teaching THEIR children about very personal questions of gender and such...

  96. [96] 
    Michale wrote:

    I am curious..

    The Biden administration has been making moves and statements of late to achieve a victory for Ukraine against Russia...

    How does this current effort to WIN compare to the Weigantian Administrations claim that such actions merely postpone the inevitable Russia victory?? That it's inevitable that Russia will win..

    Inquiring minds want to know.. :D

  97. [97] 
    Michale wrote:

    Bashi,

    Since yer the only other Oculus aficionado here in Weigantia, I have some questions..

    I have to admit I am somewhat disappointed in my Oculus... I am hoping such disappointment is borne of ignorance and high expectations rather than the anything on the part of the Oculus..

    For one, I was hoping for some more PC integration.. I have a nearly top of the line gamer PC but there doesn't seem to be much I can do with the PC in Oculus...

    Especially in the sense of being able to create accounts and such on new apps.. I load up an app on the Oculus that looks promising but then it prompts me to create an account for the new app, but there is no way to do that THRU Oculus.. And I don't want to have to go back and forth from PC to Oculus signing up for an account..

    One thing I might be limited by is I don't really want to pay for anything yet.. Times are tight and I can't afford a bunch of purchases and such...

    What's your PC integration like with your Oculus?

    Any help would be most appreciated..

  98. [98] 
    Michale wrote:

    Mayorkas admits he ‘could have done a better job’ explaining mission of ‘disinformation’ board

    DHS secretary says the board tackles 'disinformation that presents a security threat to the homeland'
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayorkas-better-job-disinformation-board

    How would Biden's MINISTRY OF TRUTH handle the following disinformation:

    Kyle Rittenhouse was a white supremacist..

    Border Patrol agents were whipping illegal immigrants..

    The Hunter Biden laptop was nothing but a Russian ploy..

    The COVID virus was NOT created in a lab..

    Masks and lockdowns are 100% effective against COVID..

    BLM is a good organization who only wants to help black Americans..

    AntiFa is a myth and doesn't really exist..

    And so on and so on and so forth..

  99. [99] 
    Michale wrote:

    DeSantis delivers a roundhouse blow to Disney

    Putting children's innocence ahead of corporate clout
    When was the last time we saw a Republican leader actually take the fight to the foe?

    Apart from the tweet-happy but profoundly effective previous occupant of the Oval Office, the answer is, we can’t remember.

    Until now.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just hit the Disney empire with a roundhouse blow, signing a law depriving them of their longtime special tax district status in Orlando. Ouch. Right on the chin.

    Many “conservative” leaders talk a good game but often later explain that, darn it, they just couldn’t do much about the left’s latest attack on the moral order. They are too polite to engage in the kind of smash-mouth politics that Democrats routinely deploy. And here’s Mr. DeSantis doing it with a smile.

    Here’s a recap: Florida schools were caught aggressively corrupting children sexually, even in the youngest grades. Prodded by Mr. DeSantis, the Republican-dominated legislature passed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which bars schools from introducing kids in kindergarten through third grade to “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.”
    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/1/desantis-delivers-a-roundhouse-blow-to-disney/

    And the ONE fact that NO ONE here has addressed is that the majority of Democrats SUPPORT the FL Parental Rights Anti-Groomer law...

    :D

    And, as far as the tax issue.. Disney has gotten away with avoiding BILLIONS in taxes...

    Now that their special status is revoked, Disney will now pay BILLIONS in state and county taxes.. Impact fees ALONE will cover any taxes that normally would be paid by citizens for the next several years..

    I am surprised there is opposition to this action here.. I mean, aren't ya'all ALL ABOUT making corporations pay their fair share..

    Now that Disney is going to be forced to pay their fair share, NOW ya'all are on the big bad corporation's side...

    Is WOKE so important to ya'all that you would give Disney a break from paying their fair share???

    DeSantis has definitely won this round and Disney is suffering..

    Disney decided to pick up a weapon and become a combatant..

    And got slapped down by Governor DeSantis...

    What's the beef??

  100. [100] 
    Michale wrote:

    Pressed by LGBTQ activists inside and outside, the Walt Disney Company management denounced the bill and promised to double down on pushing homosexuality and transgenderism in every Disney product and venue. A Disney executive was caught on tape promising to make up to 50% of characters reflect LGBTQ identities.

    Where is the logic in catering to 1% of the target audience that would turn off 99% of the target audience??

    Shouldn't the diversity of Disney match the diversity of the target audience??

    It should be when you take being WOKE out of the equation...

  101. [101] 
    Michale wrote:

    You’d think that the Trump phenomenon and Biden’s catastrophic presidency would have awakened the corporate world to the existence of a vast Silent Majority of parents of all races. They are looking for someone to champion their values with actions, not just words.
    Going after children is the bridge too far for many previously disengaged citizens. There is a fast-growing Mama Bear movement and Disney got between them and their cubs.

    Disney’s tone-deaf response to parents desperately fighting to preserve their children’s innocence is evidence that the suits still don’t get it, but soon will.

    Meanwhile, God willing, Mr. DeSantis’ example may stiffen other backbones across the land.

    When you start to harm America's children, the gloves come off..

    Disney has poked the bear one too many times... And now Disney will pay the price...

    It's that simple..

  102. [102] 
    Michale wrote:

    The political environment is terrible for Democrats -- and it may get worse

    Joe Biden's term has become a punchline -- even to the President.

    Biden might have been a good sport in poking fun at himself, his dented approval ratings and his failure to fully enact his domestic agenda at the White House Correspondents' Association annual gala dinner on Saturday night.

    But his jokes were rooted in the painful reality of a presidency hostage to economic and global forces beyond his control and compounded by some of the tactical errors of his White House.
    The result is that a year after his approval rating was comfortably over 50%, the President and his party are facing the most treacherous political backdrop in years in the run-up to midterm elections in November.

    It's possible that high gas prices, the worst inflation in 40 years, the war in Ukraine and a persistent pandemic could all ease by November. But the trajectory of those crises -- and the impact they exert on issues that matter to and can hurt Americans, like the price of groceries -- could also get worse.
    https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/politics/election-2022-biden-democrats-political-environment/index.html

    About the only way that Biden could stave off a Democrat uber nuclear biblical shellacking is if he suddenly got patriotic and started channeling President Trump..

    Of course, Biden's handlers will have none of that.. So they will continue to double down on stoopid and enact more Hate America policies..

  103. [103] 
    Michale wrote:

    Hispanic Americans are the largest minority voting bloc..

    In 2020, 61% of hispanic Americans supported Biden with their vote..

    In the here and now, only 26% of hispanic Americans support Biden..

  104. [104] 
    Michale wrote:

    DeSantis: Legislature Will Pass 'Constitutional Carry' Gun Law

    Gov. Ron DeSantis reaffirmed his support for an open carry law for firearms, which supporters call “constitutional carry,” and predicted the Florida Legislature "will get it done."

    "I can’t tell you if it’s going to be next week, six months, but I can tell you before I am done as governor, we will have a signature on that bill,” said the Republican governor during a press conference in Friday in rural Levy County to talk about a separate issue— local infrastructure funding.
    https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2022/05/01/desantis-constitutional-carry-become-florida-law/9602819002/

    Well, aww right!!! :D

    "An armed society is a polite society"
    -Robert A. Heinlein

    Who knows how many lives would have been saved if one of the Pulse nightclub goers had been carrying at the time..

    Governor DeSantis proved once again, his patriotic American bona fides..

  105. [105] 
    Michale wrote:

    Florida mom filing suit after child transitioned at school without her consent: 'Happening all over' US

    January Littlejohn is suing her daughter's school after it held secret gender talks without parental knowledge or consent
    https://www.foxnews.com/media/florida-mom-january-littlejohn-lawsuit-transgender-school

    The fact that Democrats support this kind of thing is abhorrent..

  106. [106] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [107]

    I am curious..

    The Biden administration has been making moves and statements of late to achieve a victory for Ukraine against Russia...

    How does this current effort to WIN compare to the Weigantian Administrations claim that such actions merely postpone the inevitable Russia victory?? That it's inevitable that Russia will win..

    Inquiring minds want to know.. :D

    Yeah, this is what CW write as the invasion began:

    Russia is redrawing the geopolitical lines in Eastern Europe and the rest of the world is going to have to adjust to the new reality. This is all very grim to contemplate, obviously. We are going back in time to the 20th century, when wars of aggression were a reality that killed untold millions. So it behooves us to look ahead to what this new order will mean, especially what it will mean militarily.

    This is forgivable, because on paper Russia should have just rolled over Ukraine, right?

    BUT wars are not fought on paper.

    A week later CW wrote,

    It is hard to admit, but the world should really not get its hopes up too high for any sort of outcome in Ukraine other than the one Vladimir Putin initially set out to achieve. Putin wants to completely subdue and occupy Ukraine, which he sees as nothing more than a part of Russia. He will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. And although not inevitable, the most likely outcome by far is that Russia will completely crush the Ukrainian military and eventually conquer every city in the entire country.

    HEY, EVERYONE should have the right to be incorrect, no?

    For the record you sure were wrong about Trump NOT losing the House, the Senate and then the Presidency so it can happen to the best of us.

  107. [107] 
    Michale wrote:

    HEY, EVERYONE should have the right to be incorrect, no?

    Absolutely..

    I am just curious if the Weigantian Administration still holds the view that Russia's win is inevitable..

    For the record you sure were wrong about Trump NOT losing the House, the Senate and then the Presidency so it can happen to the best of us.

    And, if it wasn't for well documented and factual Democrat cheating and disinformation pre and post election, I would have been dead on ballz accurate.. :D

  108. [108] 
    Michale wrote:

    DC elementary school gave 4-year-olds ‘anti-racism’ ‘fistbook’ asking them to identify racist family members

    'It’s not your fault for having white privilege, but it is your fault if you choose to ignore it,' a presentation told kids in Pre-K through 3rd grade
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dc-elementary-anti-racism-fistbook-racist-family-members

    Completely and unequivocally inappropriate Democrat indoctrination

  109. [109] 
    Michale wrote:

    Democrats are already creating the Hitlerjugend and trying to get little kids to inform on their parents.. :^/

  110. [110] 
    Michale wrote:

    https://twitter.com/USMiniTru

    Great Job Democrats :^/

  111. [111] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Behold, Nerd Relationship Building.

    Couple minutes, tops. And priceless.

  112. [112] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [118]

    And, if it wasn't for well documented and factual Democrat cheating and disinformation pre and post election, I would have been dead on ballz accurate... :D

    If only!

    DID YOU MISS the part where Trump and his co-Insurrectionists lost over sixty court cases, largely because lawyers must have proof to file court actions?

    IT SEEMS THAT lawyers can't just make stuff up and automatically be regarded as anything but waiting judicial resources. So they didn't, and Trump lost.

  113. [113] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, did you enjoy the play?

  114. [114] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Okay Michale,

    I've been reading your about Florida at length. Please get me up to speed:

    Do you mean to say this so-called problem only became a problem when Biden took office?

    That it wasn't a simmering pro-pedophile evil lurking in the background of the so much winning Trump administration?

    That, thank God, DeSantis stopped -- just in the nick of time?

    I'd hate to think this was simply part of the Fear, Firearms and Facism Republican Party platform.

  115. [115] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    And for the record, where would you put Kiddie Grooming on your Top 10 problems facing America? In other words, how afraid should I be?

  116. [116] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Michale, you have to admit that you rather have made a fuss about this, no?

    What's the big deal?

  117. [117] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Except for the FACT that Disney will be the one PAYING those taxes.. :D

    Which would mean that the special purpose district won’t be shut down until 2029 at the earliest (when the bonds are set to be paid off). If Florida wants to violate their state constitution and shut the district down to punish a corporation for exercising its First Amendment right to free speech, then the state will have to pay off what is owed.

    If you define "inclusiveness" as forcing gender bending psychological abnormalities on impressionable toddlers??

    I don’t, but it is obvious that you do. Of course, that is not what is happening, but in your imagination, can you explain how that would occur?

    Michale, the more you have to bullshit and lie about it, the quicker that people will start to support trans people out of not wanting to be associated with asshats such as yourself!

    I’m curious, since both DeSantis and Trump will each want to be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024, at whose feet will your knee pads drop in front of? You can take solace in the fact that which ever one you choose to service, you’ll be blowing a narcissistic sociopath that will say anything he believes will gain him power. YOU just have to be as dumb as they both are counting on you being for their grift to work!

  118. [118] 
    Michale wrote:

    Russ,

    You are obviously not comprehending what's happening here in Florida..

    Disney will have to pay BILLIONS in taxes and fees per year that they didn't have to pay before..

    That will more than off set any obligations FL tax payers would normally incur..

    You can spin it all you like.. But the facts are the facts.. And Disney got took to school by DeSantis.. :D

    As far as the Fl Parent Rights AntiGrooming law, since you refuse to accept the FACT that the majority of DEMOCRATS in Florida accept and support the law, I accept your concession.. :D

  119. [119] 
    Michale wrote:

    MC,

    You DO realize that the majority of Democrats in FL support the Parent Rights Anti Groomer law, right??

    Since this is fact, the only question remains..

    Why do you and Russ have a problem with the law??

  120. [120] 
    ListenWhenYouHear wrote:

    Now that their special status is revoked, Disney will now pay BILLIONS in state and county taxes.. Impact fees ALONE will cover any taxes that normally would be paid by citizens for the next several years..

    I am surprised there is opposition to this action here.. I mean, aren't ya'all ALL ABOUT making corporations pay their fair share..

    You must take great pleasure when you speak about things without having any idea of how they work! I mean, you just enter post after post showing off your ignorance and a general stupidity that would embarrass most people so badly that they’d stop adding fuel to the fire — but not you! Nope, with you I sometimes wonder if you aren’t trying to out-stupid yourself with some of the garbage you spew.

    Special purpose districts aren’t a way to avoid taxes. In Disney’s case, what they pay in taxes is far more than what the two counties they are located in and that would have to absorb them currently pay. The special purpose district didn’t keep Disney from having to pay state taxes, either. But again, I get it…when you have to lie to get people to support you as much as Republicans have to, it gets to the point where you just cannot stop lying anytime you say speak. Heck, there is hardly a single post from you on here that you haven’t included a glaringly dishonest statement! And even in ones that you don’t lie, they are still suspect thanks to the frequency of your lies!

  121. [121] 
    Michale wrote:

    And yet, Disney has been avoiding BILLIONS in taxes that they would normally pay to the County..

    Disney pays those billions to themselves..

    NOW Disney will pay those billions to the county..

    It's obvious that you are ignorant of how things are here in FL...

    Learn some facts before you whine and complain..

  122. [122] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    K, Elizabeth Miller,

    Here are my condensed Ukraine points:

    1- Russia is long and flat and has been invaded, like, forever. The Mongols were an especially memorable low light.

    2- Russians understandably hate being invaded and the Romanovs were installed to stabilize Russia to protect Europe's eastern flank.

    3- Starting with Catherine the Great, Russia has sought to establish compliant buffer states (think Warsaw Pact) all around it to give it strategic depth. This is a big deal in geopolitics.

    4- This certainly worked vis a vis Napoleon, Hitler and from the Soviet/Russian view, NATO.

    5- Russian demography and future economic prospects (read: Green energy) are dismal. Putin is old, has his billions and has always lamented the fall of the USSR so this was his last chance to do something about it.

    6- This had nothing to do with Biden. Obama was a pussy and Trump acted like #PutinsBitch so Putin was getting most of what he wanted out of those two clowns. But old hand Joe wasn't going to do likewise, so Putin rolled the dice.

    Trouble is that the Warsaw Pact weapons showed up without the Warsaw Pact military dominance. Whoda thunk? I didn't think Ukraine would last, either.

    7- But let's say Putin conquered ALL of Ukraine back in 2014. That was probably his last opportunity, it now seems…

    8- Putin would now be fighting in Poland and Moldova (having presumably conquered the Baltic states.) He has to nestle up against the Carpathians and wester Poland to shorten Russia's front against NATO.

    9- Putin has already lost no matter what happens in Ukraine, to wit:

    A- Ukraine has essentially fought Russia to a standstill. Western arms will preserve the Ukrainian war effort and Ukraine’s political will to completely liberate all (read: Crimea and Donbass) Ukraine is effing indomitable.

    Please trust me on this, I'm Ukrainian-Murican. I recall accompanying my grandfather Ivan Wasyl Diachun to Ukrainian Nationalists meeting in Detroit in the late 60s.

    I could understand a damned Ukrainian word exclusively spoken there, but there was no mistaking the sentiment in that auditorium.

    B- War sucks butbetter we fight them over there than over HERE, right, Conservatives? Al Queda and ISIS were not existential threats to America but Putin is!

    C- NATO is more united than mid-Cold War. Even the Germans, kinda sort of.

    D- The West gets to test out all kinds of latest generation military toys, killing the bad guys and ultimately killing Vladimir. Payback for 22 years of doesn't work and play well with others. What's not to like?

    E- Even if every last sanction against the Rooskies was lifted today their economy will suffer for years.

    So, it's too bad Putin fucked up. All we gotta do is keep financing Ukraine and IMO its just a matter of time before somebody puts a bullet in Putin's brain.

    It's a Rooskie thang, you wouldn't understand.

    Anyways, Elizabeth, I fully grok your antiwar sentiment. You are Canadian, after all. But Putin screwed the pooch and it makes no sense to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Which is what you advocate in the name of peace.

    Besides, in 1991 6 of 7 Ukrainians showed up to their Independence Referendum and voted 10 to 1 for Independence. You wouldn't want to deny 81 million, er, 44 million votes just to keep Vladimir happy, would you?

    I rest my case, Darling.

  123. [123] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    There.

    That'll shut her up! :D

  124. [124] 
    Michale wrote:

    It's hilarious..

    Ya'all are AGAINST the Fl Parent's Rights Law which the majority of Florida Democrats support.

    And ya'all are AGAINST making corporations pay their fair share..

    Which ALL Democrats support..

    In other words, you just hate that it's DeSantis who is doing all this.. :D

    It's HILARIOUS... :D

  125. [125] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [130]

    Since this is fact, the only question remains..

    Why do you and Russ have a problem with the law??

    Because this law attempts to fix an imaginary problem. Please respond to my [125]-[127.]

    Because buying in to fixing an imaginary wedge issue "problem" is giving in to the cray-cray.

    Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln...

  126. [126] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Ukraine is in the same position as the Vietnam Cong. They don't have to win they simply have to not lose. Matter of time before Russia kills Putin (or hands him over to the Hague in return for immediate sanctions relief.)

  127. [127] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Anyways, good deal Michale. The tone around this joint is substantially more user friendly than I can ever recall.

    As always, I urge you to emphasize your own commentary over posting the extra couple of paragraphs of text. You are far more useful when I hear how you interpret the right-wing universe.

    I regularly surf Fox, OAN and Newsmax so it's not that I'm not exposed to it. For the record I don't do any trolling as others are doing a fine job of it.

  128. [128] 
    Michale wrote:

    There.

    That'll shut her up! :D

    "Yea.. Well, good luck with that.."
    -Jim Carrey, BRUCE ALMIGHTY

    :D

  129. [129] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Haha, no kidding.

  130. [130] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Should I watch BRUCE ALMIGHTY?

  131. [131] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    In regards to the Republican alternative come November, Marjorie Taylor Green ...was referring to “martial law”, the use of the military to control all features of American life and to shut down our constitutional system of government. Greene was telling the then White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that some Republican members of Congress were allegedly advocating to end the 225-year tradition of power transferring peacefully after elections and instead using force to keep the loser in office. By passing the idea along, she suggests she is willing to entertain it herself.

    All because Trump said?

  132. [132] 
    Michale wrote:

    Because this law attempts to fix an imaginary problem. Please respond to my [125]-[127.]

    Apparently NOT, since the majority of Democrats in FL support the law..

    But even if you are correct, then there is no reason NOT to have the law if it doesn't address any problem..

    Because buying in to fixing an imaginary wedge issue "problem" is giving in to the cray-cray.

    So you are calling the majority of Democrats in Florida cray cray????

    OK... :D

  133. [133] 
    Michale wrote:

    Should I watch BRUCE ALMIGHTY?

    You mean you haven't!!! Most definitely you should watch it..

    And it's sequel EVAN ALMIGHTY..

    Both hilarious movies. :D

  134. [134] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Michale, that's why you believe. Because Trump said...no other evidence.

  135. [135] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    No, I'm calling the entire state of #FloridaMan cray-cray. It's not important that a polling question phrased in a certain way gets majority support to correct a nonexistent problem.

    Again,

    Do you mean to say this so-called problem only became a problem when Biden took office?

    That it wasn't a simmering pro-pedophile evil lurking in the background of the so much winning Trump administration?

    That, thank God, DeSantis stopped -- just in the nick of time?

    I'd hate to think this was simply part of the Fear, Firearms and Facism Republican Party platform.

    And for the record, where would you put Kiddie Grooming on your Top 10 problems facing America? In other words, how afraid should I be?

  136. [136] 
    Michale wrote:

    Michale, that's why you believe. Because Trump said...no other evidence.

    Actually, there is TONS of evidence..

    The Hunter Biden Laptop alone would have put President Trump back in the office if Democrats didn't cheat and hide it from the general public..

    Democrats buying entire election boards and stocking them ONLY with Democrats is another factor that, had it not been done would have ensured President Trump re-election...

    These facts are WELL DOCUMENTED...

    I only have to point to everyone's reaction here on election night to prove there was cheating..

    But it's aww right...

    Cheaters Never Prosper..

    Which is why Democrats are having such a tough time now and why there will be a MAJOR correction in November.. :D

  137. [137] 
    Michale wrote:

    The majority of Democrats in Florida support the Parental Rights Anti Grooming law..

    That is all that needs to be said on that issue..

    Anyone who DOESN'T support the law is simply ignorant of what the law is all about...

  138. [138] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    back during my miami days i used to attend florida democratic events. florida democrats have some smart individuals among them, but as a collective they're dumber than rocks.

  139. [139] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Oh Elizabeth!

    F- Vixtory in the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis is 9 May 2022.

    Three days later Finland is going to formally apply to add 830 miles of NATO to Russia's borders.

    So much winning for #TrumpsMaster, eh, Tovarishch Mikhail?

  140. [140] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [149]

    Here's the thing, nypoet22. Democrats somehow get stuck with the Defund the Police! Man-bun crowd but Republicans don't get stuck with the Jews! Will not! Replace us! Fashi crowd.


    Go figure.

  141. [141] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    *shrug* i've heard they're fine people on both sides

  142. [142] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    It's enough to make me think that Corporate MSM wants to somehow distract us from the real problems keeping our oft' brilliant American Experiment from fashioning the first More Perfect Union. Among ALL her peoples, including the heretofore marginalized least among us, too.

    I'm not particularly religious either, Michale. But how do you choose Republicans as the Party that is more likely to achieve this?

    Or do you oppose this?

  143. [143] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [152]

    Me, too. And I heard that Southern Christian Churches were okay with slavery for hundreds of years.*shrug back*

  144. [144] 
    Michale wrote:

    JL,

    back during my miami days i used to attend florida democratic events. florida democrats have some smart individuals among them, but as a collective they're dumber than rocks.

    So, because Democrats in FL don't think like you, they are dumber than rocks.. :D

    I am sure they say the same thing about Democrats who hysterically and IGNORANTLY oppose this parental rights law..

    I am still betting that if teachers were, on the whole, rabid President Trump supporters, you would LOVE the Parental Rights law.. :D

    K sara sara...

  145. [145] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [156]

    So...you're a Southern White Christian churchgoer? What's your point?

  146. [146] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    At (46:53) this FRANCE 24 panel discussion of Ukraine is a bit of a listen, but I must herewith kind of quote what the guy at 38:10 said of Putin Trump:

    Vladimir Putin Trump does not operate in the world that we operate in and everything else sort of follows. The Generals GOP still speak of victory [in 2020!] and the Diplomats GOP speak as though they are still part of a civilized patriotic conversation.

    This is why I'm not so sure that Muricans are going to put the cray-cray back in power come November. Crow all you want, Michale, but I rather that you didn't do so much of it that you disappear for months like you did after 2020...right when us Libtards needed you the most!

    Step away...from the premature crowing... and no Libtard will get left behind. ;D

  147. [147] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    I mean, the Triumph of Progressivism celebration wouldn't be the same without you, Tovarishch!

  148. [148] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Just to be sure, step away from the [Russell] Croweing, too!

  149. [149] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Actually, there is TONS of evidence..

    The Hunter Biden Laptop alone would have put President Trump back in the office if Democrats didn't cheat and hide it from the general public..

    Democrats buying entire election boards and stocking them ONLY with Democrats is another factor that, had it not been done would have ensured President Trump re-election...

    These facts are WELL DOCUMENTED...

    So well documented that...Biden is President, Tovarisch. Yup.

  150. [150] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Oh. I live in Southern California so I've the right to think that Rooskie nukes would be headed here long before they'd be launched at America's Flaccid Penis, Florida. Or maybe simultaneously.

    So do, Mister 30-40% the nukes will fly give us a heads up out here.

    We're three hours behind, you know?

  151. [151] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    It would leave me enough time to roll down to Reagan's grave and piss on it for all the damage he did to the American Dream. Bucket list and stuff.

  152. [152] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Hey Murica! How's that Reaganisn thing working for ya?

  153. [153] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Michale[139],

    Indeed.

  154. [154] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    MtnCaddy,

    I waited a very long time - and, patiently, I hasten to add - for your researched response to my Ukraine stuff.

    You can damn well do the same.

  155. [155] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Hey, Caddy ... hope you're not too angry with me. Guess I misinterpreted your comment and didn't see the Ha Ha Ha until just now. Should have known better.

    It's been kinda busy and I needed a bit of a break from all of the news and analyses Re. Ukraine. But, I really appreciate all the research and time you put in to your responses here - you remind me of me! :) - and I will get to them!

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