Grins

Grins's Journal

November 5, 2024

Why am I seeing this line only now? (The Economist)

I just saw this line while watching Bill Maher's show over the weekend. So I looked it up. And found it.

"An economy with an unemployment rate of 4%, and a per-person GDP of $85,000, does not have to be made great again; it is great." - The Economist, 17 October 2024.

The title of The Economist story: "The Envy of the World: America's Economy is Bigger and Better Than Ever."

And The Economist is a very conservative publication!

Why didn't the Harris campaign or DNC jump on this a day after it came out - 18-DAYS AGO?

You need a subscription in order to read it, but here it is:
Link: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/10/17/americas-economy-is-bigger-and-better-than-ever

NB: Three days earlier, The Economist:

"The envy of the world! The American economy has left other rich countries in the dust. Expect that to continue."

To which one can only say, "Thank you, Brandon!"

October 24, 2024

NB. When Trump refers to "the enemy within..."

When Trump refers to "the enemy within," he is referencing the title of Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy’s 1950 infamous speech, “The Enemy Within."

McCarthy, as in drunken fiasco Joe McCarthy. As in Ann Coulter hero, Joe McCarthy. As in chief counsel to Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn. As in Joe McCarthy fan-boi. William F. Buckley.

That is the origin of that phrase.

In the 1950's almost every major conservative journalist and politician defended Joe McCarthy.

Senator Barry Goldwater voted against McCarthy’s censure in 1954.

William F. Buckley went to bat for McCarthy in his 1954 book McCarthy and His Enemies.
Buckley applauded McCarthy for recognizing that “coercive measures” were necessary to enforce a new anticommunist “conformity.”

Can't get any more conservative than using coercive measure to get monolithic conformity, amiright?

October 8, 2024

Today's "Quote of the Day!"

“Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea. Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.” - Sen. Lindsey Graham, in Robert Woodward's book, "War," October 2024.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/08/trump-hurricane-helene-natural-disasters/

September 30, 2024

My FAVORITE Kris Kristofferson story!!!

From the 16 April 2009 issue of Rolling Stone, at the Beacon Theatre in New York where there was a concert to celebrate Willie Nelson's 70th birthday:

I could barely see Kris Kristofferson standing to my left. Willie Nelson was in the shadows to my right. Ray Charles was standing beside Willie, idly shifting his weight back and forth. A bit farther along the wall were Elvis Costello, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Shelby Lynne, Paul Simon and respective managers, friends and family. Everybody was nervous and tight. We were there for Willie Nelson’s 70th birthday concert in 2003.

Up from the basement came one of country music’s brightest stars (who shall remain nameless). At that moment in time, the Star had a monster radio hit about bombing America’s enemies back into the Stone Age.

“Happy birthday,” the Star said to Willie, breezing by us. As he passed Kristofferson in one long, confident stride, out of the corner of his mouth came:

“None of that lefty shit out there tonight, Kris.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me???” Kris growled, stepping forward.

“Oh, no,” groaned Willie under his breath. “Don’t get Kris all riled up.”

“You heard me,” the Star said, walking away in the darkness.

“Don’t turn your back to me, boy,” Kristofferson shouted, not giving a shit that basically the entire music industry seemed to be flanking him.

The Star turned around: “I don’t want any problems, Kris - I just want you to tone it down.”

Here it comes!

“You ever worn your country’s uniform?” Kris asked rhetorically.

“What?”

“Don’t ‘What?’ me, boy! You heard the question. You just don’t like the answer.” He paused just long enough to get a full chest of air. “I asked, ‘Have you ever served your country?’ The answer is, no, you have not. Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not. So shut the fuck up!” I could feel his body pulsing with anger next to me. “You don’t know what the hell you are talking about!”

“Whatever,” the young Star muttered.

Ray Charles stood motionless. Willie Nelson looked at me and shrugged mischievously like a kid in the back of the classroom.

Kristofferson took a deep inhale and leaned against the wall, still vibrating with adrenaline. He looked over at Willie as if to say, “Don’t say a word.” Then his eyes found me.

“You know what Waylon Jennings said about guys like him?” he whispered.

I shook my head.

“They’re doin’ to country music what pantyhose did to finger-fuckin’.”

That "Star?" Toby Keith. Eff that guy.

Note: Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force General, elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year and graduated college summa cum laude, then became a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University where he boxed on the boxing team. After Oxford he joined the Army as a 2LT, completed both helicopter pilot training and Ranger School, rose to the rank of Captain, and at the end of his military career was given an assignment to teach English literature at West Point. From West Point he went to Nashville to be a song writer. And the rest is history.

September 21, 2024

Early voting has begun in Virginia. And the turnout...?

21 Sept.2024
WTOP News (Washington, DC)

Thousands turn out in Fairfax Co. for first day of early voting in Va.

The strong turnout seen in Virginia Friday for the state’s first day of early voting in the presidential election isn’t something you see every election cycle.

“It’s not normal at all. We’re in record-breaking territory.” - Fairfax County general registrar and director of elections, Eric Spicer.

Lines were long at early voting locations, including at the Fairfax County Government Center where hundreds stretched from the front door to the parking lot.

...In the previous presidential election in 2020, Fairfax County saw about 1,200 voters for the entire first day of early voting. Turnout on Friday easily surpassed that.

According to Spicer, by mid-afternoon, 2,800 people had already voted in the county. By 7 p.m. his office said 4,232 people had voted at the three (County) locations.

The 2,800 ballots cast in 2020 to 4,232 ballots cast in 2024 is a 150% increase.

On a side note, I received a text message on Friday Fairfax County that my mail-in ballot had been mailed. I should get it no later than Tuesday or Wednesday.

September 18, 2024

Mitch McConnell quote yesterday

“One thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election.” - Mitch McConnell, 17 September 2024.

Commentary: When has being “politically beyond stupid” ever stopped them?

August 15, 2024

Don't donate money to the Harris-Walz campaign!

Actually, do!

But do this also. What helps a president Harris is a Democratic House and Senate. That gives them the legislative political power to get things done. So if you give to Harris-Walz, also give to those running for the House and Senate.

I particularly hate the guy who looks like he just ate roadkill, Ted Cruz, man who looks like a shaved testicle, Rick Scott, Josh "Running Man" Hawley, and past-her-expiration-date-and-getting-stinky, Marsha Blackburn.

In the House races I particularly hate Coup d'Etat aficionado, Scott Perry, nullification fan-boi Tom Emmer, and pupal-stage Sarah Huckabee Sanders - Elise Stefanik.

Your hatreds may vary. I'm giving to all their opponents!

May 31, 2024

I heard this line this AM: "Trump is too old to go to prison."

Trump is too old. Yeah, right.

28 July 2020
House Judiciary Committee

In February 2020, US AG William Barr pulled back on the DoJ's career own prosecutors sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone. Democrats pushed Barr on his decision and heard this:

“Let me ask you, do you think it is fair for a 67-year-old man to be sent to prison for seven to nine years?”

That was William Barr responding to Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia on his over-ruling the sentencing recommendation of Roger Stone - by his own DoJ Attorney's!!!

A perceptive onlooker might have pointed out that Bernie Madoff - then age 71 years - was sentenced to 150 years for his bilking investors out of millions. At age 82, four years older than Trump is today, Bernie died - in prison!

With that interference, all four Roger Stone DoJ prosecutors (Jonathan Kravis, Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed, Michael Marando) abruptly showed up in federal court and withdrew from the case in disgust; one of whom (Kravis) resigned from the department and government.

Former prosecutor Kravis would later write:

" (I) resigned because I was not willing to serve a department that would so easily abdicate its responsibility to dispense impartial justice. ...I left a job I loved because I believed the department had abandoned its responsibility to do justice in one of my cases, United States v. Roger Stone. At the time, I thought that the handling of the Stone case, with senior officials intervening to recommend a lower sentence for a longtime ally of President Trump, was a disastrous mistake that the department would not make again."

He later admitted he was wrong. Trump, with Barr again running interference, pardoned Stone AND Michael Flynn.

Postscript: When the news of Trump colluding with the Russians was exploding, a former Intel community Tweeted: "Trump will die in prison."

The Intel community should have turned on him after Helsinki. That they didn't hurt us all. Whoever wrote that back in 2017 - I hope you are having a great day - and wait until Smith gets done with Trump on the Top Secret documents he stole.

February 24, 2024

"Elections have consequences," part infinity... Nominating judges.

This is from a 20 Feb 2024 Washington Post column by Ruth Marcus.
Ms. Marcus is responding to a judge who had written to her asking:

“Why does the media insist on identifying the president who appointed the federal judges who make a newsworthy decision?"

Apparently the judge did not know that picking judges based on party ideology goes back to the early 19th century. A simple look at the influence of those judges from the gilded age through and beyond to the administration of FDR alone would have been an eye-opener.

Turns out there is a recent evidence about the decisions by judges and their party affiliations; a research project from Harvard that suggests we have underestimated the impact of party affiliation on judicial outcomes. This paragraph by Ms. Marcus struck me:

"Had Al Gore become president in 2000 instead of George W. Bush, ...a two-term Gore presidency, and the judges he would have appointed, would have changed the outcome in about 10,000 cases over the next 20 years, including 2,500 improved outcomes for individuals in civil litigation, about 1,100 improved outcomes for private parties in civil suits against the government, about 2,500 improved outcomes for criminal defendants in criminal appeal, about 1,500 improved outcomes for immigrants in immigrations appeals and about 1,100 improved outcomes for prisoners in prisoner litigation."

And each one of those cases affects who-knows-how-many other cases!

At the end, Marcus quotes the Harvard researcher:

“It’s important to know that this effect is not just in highly controversial cases. It’s in almost all cases.”

Here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/20/judge-political-party-president-trump-marcus/

October 19, 2012

Yup! No OB/GYN's would agree . My response to Joe...

"And just what is this "modern technology and science" of which you speak?"

Let him name it. 'Cuz "Doctors want to know!"

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