It's true, or false, or maybe it's both...
 

The last hour of this BBC Doc. makes The Shock Doctrine's central theory seem like a benign fairy tale: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-fny99f8amM

Re: Whoa.
 

Whoa, indeed.

I believe I can say, with little credible dissent, that Trump is dumb enough to tag a gorgeous Russian in Moscow. Doubtless he has never seen this classic video within a video scene from James Bond's "From Russia With Love."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaA7_aOD2ig

This morning's press conference is must see TV Currently scheduled for 11:00 Eastern.

Re: It's true, or false, or maybe it's both...
 

In an effort to make me hypersectionally woke, a friend recommended that I watch Adam Curtis (starting with "Hypernormalisation") a few months ago. I may or may not be on the way to woke, but boy am I depressed.

And while I think some of Curtis' theories in this doc are silly (the UFO craze of the 1990s? Please. He doesn't even mention the UFO craze of the 50s or 70s, and his theory that the military used UFOs to cover up new weapons systems is the exact opposite of what the government said back then -- that what people thought were UFOs were actually high tech planes, etc.), I think that his observations about where we are in terms of how society looks at facts and "facts" are spot on.

The section that I found very interesting was the discussion of Putin's aide Vladislov Surkov and his use of avant garde theater techniques to promote Putin's regime. It hit me like a shot -- Trump and his supporters either stole the concept from Putin or Putin gave it to him. For example, everything that Trump and Pence and his people were saying about the deal to keep the air conditioning factory in Indiana -- it's pure theater. And the completely self-contradictory positions of so many in the GOP (from McConnell on confirmation hearings for cabinet nominees and Supreme Court nominees to Ryan allowing house members to gut ethics and punish individual civil servants by cutting their pay to $1) shows that the phenomenon is not limited to Trump. And let me preempt you by saying, no, both sides do *not* do this. Dems may play all sorts of games, but there is no equivalence. Obama may have been lying or wrong in 2009 when he said "you can keep your doctors," but he didn't say last night that "I promised you that you could keep your doctors, and I kept that promise."

Anyway, carry on.

Re: Lock Him Up
 

I think it is important that these charges all be vetted with the same care as Trump used on Obama's birth certificate.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Jesus Christ. I'd trade that - in a heartbeat - for him not causing the deaths of kids and people with compromised immune systems by being an intellectually lazy blowhard who ignores facts about vaccines.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Can we throw in there not causing the deaths or bankruptcy of people who have had cancer and so will hit any lifetime maximum insurance companies can set on policies after the repeal of O-care? Because cancer recurs.

Asking for a friend.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Of course. There are an unlimited number of Not Good things that will/could happen in a Trump Administration, and the effects of an ACA rollback is high on my own list, too.

But my "Jesus Christ!" was prompted by Sebby's #goldengate response to Flower's specific point about Sebby being entertained by the Trump Show despite deaths caused by his idiocy on vaccines.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

The Trump Show is not entertaining. It is sad and it is disturbing. Sebby should just read Celine if he wants this kind of entertainment.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

For Sebby: Comey probably cost Clinton the election. Particularly relevant today, now that we know what Comey kept to himself about Trump and Russia.

You ain't a-reachin' me, no how, no way.
 

I admire your persistence. Perhaps Zeus will relent one of these days, and allow the rock to reach the top of the hill.

Re: You ain't a-reachin' me, no how, no way.
 

And maybe that fucking eagle will stop eating my liver every day, but it's not looking good. We've done this Daily Dose already, but it is hard to not to replay the Funkadelic song that opens with a reference to being peed on, amirite???? Standing On The Verge of Getting It On, a driving funk guitar-oriented rocker:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmJqDfdGmV4

Re: You ain't a-reachin' me, no how, no way.
 

This Vox piece is good too.

Re: You ain't a-reachin' me, no how, no way.
 

He talks like Palin. Except I think he knows that he's letting his audience hear what they want. I'm not sure she did.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I get annoyed by listening to Obama speak and detest his smug selfishness. I also got a case of the dry heaves when GWB mispronounced the word "nuclear". But nothing can compare to how much I truly hate Trump and the way he speaks. It is worse than nails on a chalkboard. But my annoyance cannot be limited to the way he speaks, because turning off the sound and reading the closed captioning also makes me want to throw up in my mouth. It will be a long four years. It's at the point where I don't know if it's solely because he objectively sucks, or if I also have some weird aversion to him like I do Hilary Swank. I cannot put words to why I hate Hilary Swank as much as I do, and I have never even seen one of her movies, yet I inexplicably hate her guts. To be honest, the dread I feel for the next four years is pretty much how I felt when Obama was elected and the Dems held the House and Senate. But exponentially worse, because now I get to see those who used to be on my team engage in the same conduct they used to bitch about. Man, I can't be on the winning side for anything.

I have been told by Trump supporters that I am forgiven (not that I require forgiveness, because while I was wrong about Trump's electoral prospects, I continue to assert that I was right about his character), or that I am the enemy they are coming for due to my apostasy. Whatever. Seeing Rubio grill Tillerson today made me sad. We could have had him as President instead. Gang of 8 is small potatoes compared with what we are staring down now.

Re: You ain't a-reachin' me, no how, no way.
 

Screw Zeus. Bring in the heavy equipment and flatten the hill.

Fill the swamp.