From Pine View Farm

August, 2023 archive

Just Another Day at the Office 0

Mark Meadows attempts to wiggle out of the Georgia indictment by claiming that conspiring to undermine an election was just another day in the life, at least for a Trump toady. Here’s a bit from the report at Above the Law:

Unlike his former boss, who spent the past week screeching into the ether about “PHONEY FANI WILLIS,” and the “perfect perfect phone call,” Meadows and his lawyers immediately sprung into action. Within 24 hours, they filed a motion to remove the case to federal court, alleging that the conduct at issue was part of his official government duties.

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QOTD 0

John Gay:

A Wolf eats sheep but now and then;
Ten thousands are devour’d by men.
An open foe may prove a curse,
but a pretend friend is worse.

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All in the Family 0

Farron visits Eric Trump’s fantasy world.

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The Transmogrification 0

Dick Polman marvels at the state of today’s Republican Cult of Trump Party. A snippet; follow the link for the rest.

The party that used to pride itself for being tough on crime indulges a criminal defendant in its midst. The party that used to pride itself for being tough on national security has uttered nary a peep about Trump’s latest suckup to Vladimir Putin: “I was the apple of his eye.” Presidential candidates like Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott are debasing themselves by defending Trump; Scott says the Trump criminal probes are “un-American and unacceptable.”

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Still Rising Again after All These Years 0

Woman wearing red hat bearing the Confederate flag says,

Via Yellowdoggranny.

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Republican Family Values 0

Words fail me.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Yet another “responsible gun owner” shoots himself someone in the foot.

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All That Was Old Is New Again 0

A reference in a Philo Vance mystery led me to pull out my old copy of The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology* the other day.

As I was idly thumbing through it, it occurred to me that there are many similarities in the events it recounts and the current Republican-fed hysteria over “grooming,” trans kids, and LGBTQ+ in general. Both are based on fiction, feed on ignorance and fear, and persecute the innocent and faultless, while empowering the despotic and tyrannical, who cynically exploit them.

I’m sure more parallels will come to me over time.

________________

*I’ve had the book for years. I got it in connection with a research paper I was doing back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un.

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Pathology 0

Michael in Norfolk argues that we–and especially the pundocrisy–ignore Donald Trump’s somewhat obvious mental–er–challenges at our peril.

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QOTD 0

Wangari Maathai:

Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect.

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Geeking Out 0

VirtualBox VMs of Slackware –Current, Ubuntu MATE, and Mint MATE on Mageia v. 8 under the Fluxbos window manager.

Screenshot

Click to view a largerl image.

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And Now for a Change of Pace 0

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Fire on the Disinformation Superhighway 0

Rebecca discusses the cavalcade of crazy surrounding the fires on Maui.

If you prefer, you can read the transcript.

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Devolution 0

Writing at the Hartford Courant, David Holahan finds himself dismayed by flood of lies in dis coarse discourse and by those who would dismiss justify them as somehow being “free speech.” Here’s a bit of his article (emphasis added):

We are enduring a prevarication pandemic of late. Pettifoggers for perfidious pols are telling us that lies are nothing more or less than good old fashioned made-in-America free speech, our great gift to global governance.

(snip)

America has devolved from the home of self-evident truths to the land of felonious falsehoods.

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Tubervillainy 2

Methinks Grung_e_Gene may be onto something.

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By the Numbers 0

Frame One:  Picture of Joe Biden labled

Click for the original image.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Yet another child is sacrificed to the NRA’s leaden idol.

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A Notion of Immigrants 0

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Will Bunch makes a strong case that Texas Governor Abbott is simply being mean for the sake of mean.

I think a pretty strong case can be made that, if the majority of immigrants at our Southern border were white like me, they’d not be greeted with such hostility.

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QOTD 0

James Bolam, in the voice of Jack Halford:

You never see arms manufacturers on the breadline. You can always afford a war.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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