TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2025
Yesterday, so did Musk: The times did seem to be a-changin' in 1964.
As we noted yesterday, an electrifying new song—it was released in February of that year—made that specific claim:
The Times They Are A-Changin’
[...]
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'
That's what was said in that song! And in fact, a great deal of change did occur in the years which followed.
The times, they actually were a-changin' in 1964! And then, starting at various points, the times began changing back.
As of last Tuesday night, this led to President Trump's joint address to the Congress. The ludicrous claims that president made were part of a Week That Was.
The president's address ran on and on for a full 99 minutes. Two days later, last Thursday morning, Chris Matthews critiqued it on Morning Joe:
"It is Mussolini," he eventually said. But what did he mean by that?
What in the world—what on earth—did Matthews mean by that statement? Tomorrow, we'll show you the text of his complete statement. On Thursday, we'll show you the text of a substantially different reaction to the address, in this case expressed by Bill Maher.
For today, let's focus on one of the ways the times have been changing back. Rather, let's focus on a type of change to which we the American people have never been exposed before.
We refer to the specific statement by President Trump to which Matthews referred.
As we'll show you tomorrow, Matthews specifically cited one part of the commander's address. At least in the colloquial sese, the madness filled the crowded House chamber when the commander delivered that part of his address.
What did the commander say in that part of his endless speech? We're working today from the official White House transcript. That included the audience reaction which that transcript records.
Full disclosure! You have to watch the videotape to see the dramatic pauses and points of emphasis in the president's presentation. Below, you see what he actually said:
THE PRESIDENT (3/4/25): The Government Accountability Office, a federal government office, has estimated annual fraud of over $500 billion in our nation, and we are working very hard to stop it. We’re going to.
We’re also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old.
It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119. I don’t know any of them. I know some people that are rather elderly, but not quite that elderly.
(LAUGHTER)
3.47 million people from ages 120 to 129.
3.9 million people from ages 130 to 139.
3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149.
And money is being paid to many of them, and we’re searching right now.
In fact, Pam [Bondi], good luck. Good luck. You’re going to find it.
But a lot of money is paid out to people because it just keeps getting paid and paid, and nobody does—and it really hurts Social Security and hurts our country.
1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159. And over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years old.
We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby [Kennedy Jr.].
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
Including, to finish, 1,039 people between the ages of 220 and 229; one person between the age of 240 and 249; and one person is listed at 360 years of age—
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Joe Biden!
(LAUGHTER)
THE PRESIDENT: —more than 100 years older than our country.
But we’re going to find out where that money is going, and it’s not going to be pretty.
By slashing all of the fraud, waste, and theft we can find, we will defeat inflation, bring down mortgage rates, lower car payments and grocery prices, protect our seniors, and put more money in the pockets of American families.
(APPLAUSE)
"It is Mussolini," Matthews said. We'll show you the full text of his statement tomorrow.
The times did seem to be a-changin' in 1964. At some point, the times, they started a-changin' back. Eventually, the change took us to the site of last Tuesday's address—to a place we'd never been before.
What exactly had the sitting president said in that part of his speech? As always, his specific claims were a bit fuzzy, but the suggestion seemed fairly clear.
If you total up his numbers, the commander said that Social Security's databases list more than 20 million "Social Security members"—whatever that term is supposed to mean—who are more than a hundred years old.
In fact, he said that many of these "Social Security members" are much older than that! Specifically, the commander of all the troops, and of all the facts, now told the nation this:
Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old.
It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119... [It also lists] 3.47 million people from ages 120 to 129, 3.9 million people from ages 130 to 139, 3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149.
And money is being paid to many of them...A lot of money is paid out to people because it just keeps getting paid and paid.
According to the commander in chief, "money is being paid to many of" these millions of impossibly old people.
According to the White House transcript, unnamed members of the House and the Senate produced {LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE] as the commander made these remarkable claims.
Once again, please understand:
To appreciate the scope of the commander's performance, you have to watch the videotape. You have to see the dramatic pauses in which the commander engaged as he rattled those fuzzy formulations and as he made those remarkable claims.
Full disclosure! Later in that same passage, the commander basically took it all back.
"We’re going to find out where that money is going," the commander now said. This suggested that, at that moment and as usual, the commander didn't actually know what he was talking about.
That apparent admission didn't stop the LAUGHTER or the APPLAUSE from the crowd gathered before him. Nor did it forestall the mocking remark from an AUDIENCE MEMBER about President Biden's age—a remark the White House chose to include in the official record.
The times actually were a-changin' in 1964. By the time of our recent Week That Was, the times had changed a long way back—and the times had moved on from there.
The times had changed in such a way that a sitting president could address the entire nation and make a bizarre presentation like the one transcribed above. For today, our question will be this:
Have you seen the New York Times devote a front-page report to the transparent madness of what the commander said?
Two weeks before the commander's address, USA Today had flatly debunked these "unsubstantiated claims" in this aggressive report.
Now, the commander made this bevy of ludicrous statements all over again. Our questions:
Have you seen the Times push back? And if you haven't, why not?
Yesterday, Elon Musk made these same claims in an interview with the Fox News Channel's compliant Larry Kudlow. By now, it's abundantly clear that Elon Musk is a genuine, stone-cold nutcase. But the stars of the American press corps seem to lack an established language which would allow them to suggest, report, debate or discuss such an obvious fact.
The times have changed a great deal! We're now lodged inside a world where presentations like the one the commander made have been almost wholly normalized.
"It is Mussolini," Matthews said. Tomorrow, we'll show you his (somewhat jumbled) full statement.
In the meantime, sad! When a little boy once cried out, saying an emperor had no clothes, the adults in that child's community were instantly able to see.
It is Mussolini, Matthews said, referring to what the commander had said. Five days later, Musk felt free to repeat the spiel, and Kudlow just sat there and took it.
This is the change we've agreed to accept! Tomorrow, what Chris Matthews said.
Tomorrow: What Matthews said
Thursday: Bill Maher's alternate outlook
What kind of childhood trauma would make someone grow-up to listen to Donald Trump?
ReplyDeleteMusk rightly says the government is giving money to NGOs that are essentially scams
ReplyDeletehttps://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/03/10/elon_musk_were_giving_billions_of_taxpayer_dollars_to_ngos_that_are_essentially_scams.html
That's nothing. The media says not all Republican voters are driven by bigotry.
Delete#freespeech
Pro tip for Musk:
DeleteBullshit has consequences.
"Musk rightly says"
DeleteThere's nothing in the link that confirms the 'rightness' of Musk's claim. It's his assertion.
Where's the facts? Where's the evidence? Learn to think, to reason.
Here's how the scam works
DeleteThe Biden administration funneled at least $20 billion dollars into environmental groups, most of which had only recently been founded, The Post has discovered.
In one case, former Vice President Kamala Harris handed over a check for nearly $7 billion to Bethesda, Maryland, based group Climate United Fund, which does not appear in the IRS’s charities database, and has no federal filings.
The non-profit fund had only been incorporated in Delaware on November 30, 2023, according to public records, five months before Harris handed over the cash in April 2024.
Once the money is in the hands of the so-called environmental group, they can do anything they want with the money. It no longer belongs to the government.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/375m-epa-slush-fund-handled-by-john-podesta-gave-billions-to-charities-founded-only-months-earlier/ar-AA1Aiigv
Calling it a “slush fund” is putting one’s thumb on the scales just a tad.
Delete1. Every group has to have been founded sometime.
Delete2. If the govt was giving money for a specific purpose, founding an organization to carry out that purpose is not wrong.
3. You skipped the parts where the group had to have submitted a request for funding by responding to a call for bids to perform that purpose.
4. You skipped the part where the qualifications of the organization, including resumes of its management, is examined and determined to be sufficient to carry out the work as contracted.
5. You skipped the part where the organization has to file progress reports and be audited and examined by the govt project manager in charge of that project. That would not be after 4 months but after the first year of an award of money.
6. The non-profit would have specified a plan of action and is required to stick to it. It is in no way allowed to do whatever it wants with the money.
7. A non-profit group is not a charity. It is simply not profit-making. Many research and NGOs are non-profit. An environmental group or a research or aid organization does not exist to make money but to help people. It is held accountable by the records kept and reports filed about the number of people provided services, the activities taken as an environmental group or the research results produced by a research organization. These are legitimate activities, not a slush fund.
Smearing non-profit groups because they are newly formed or run by someone with government expertise, is propaganda by the right wing, which no doubt opposes many of the objectives of the Biden administration (big surprise!). Caring for the environment is a legitimate government function that it cannot and generally does not carry out except except through the parks and forestry services. Outside people are hired for many functions because, as even Musk and Trump know, permanent govt employees are expensive.
Here is what Climate United Fund says it does:
"Climate United is a national public-private investment fund removing financial barriers to clean energy projects so every American benefits from good-paying jobs, lower energy bills, domestic manufacturing, and cleaner air."
It apparently funds clean energy start-ups, which helps develop new energy efficient technology. It has a 5-year grant and is not headed by Podesta (see below for CEO). Read the program plan and specified outcomes (goals).
https://weareclimateunited.org/
https://assets.ctfassets.net/urgx2rpiyypc/72Tz3d3NpXbkYdN6Obay7d/66a3bb3c518a4091a6528861e985c5e2/CUF_Program_Plan_-_Dec_2024_-_EPA_-vFINAL.pdf
Fuck you, Dickhead in Cal, they can still be audited, at least before orange chickenshit fired all the IGs. Congress can still hold hearings and investigate where the money is going. Fuck you straight to hell for calling it a scam. Just because you and your fellow maggots are always dreaming of ways to steal from the government, don't think everyone is that corrupt. Every right-wing accusation is a confession.
DeleteI have worked under several govt contracts. I have interfaced with auditors from the funding agency. They are thorough and demand documentation of everything. If irregularities are found, the grantee has to reimburse the govt. If too many irregularities are found or outright fraud, the govt prosecutes and requires payback of the money. The folks involved will never get another govt grant after that. When such a situation exists, typically all govt grant funding to an organization or institution (such as a company or a university) is immediately halted pending investigation. That is disruptive to everyone's research, so there is peer pressure within organizations to make sure everyone performs properly on their grants.
DeleteThe idea that grants are slush funds is a fantasy. Accounting on grants is detailed and is audited by staff who are trained in interfacing with the govt.
David in Cal,
DeleteBe honest (LOL).
Of all the fascists who have stolen our personal information and sold it to China, is Elon Musk your favorite?
Solid work, @11:43.
Delete
ReplyDelete""It is Mussolini," Matthews said."
So, someone named "Matthews" had a brain fart. So what?
"You have to see the dramatic pauses in which the commander engaged as he rattled those fuzzy formulations and as he made those remarkable claims."
No, I don't need to see any dramatic pauses, Bob.
You and your idiot-DemocRat comrades are desperate to preserve 10 million records of 120+ y.o. individuals in the government database. You will suffer when those erroneous records are removed. Okay.
Hey Trumptard,
Deletehow many erroneous payments have been made as a result of those 120 yr+ people? (hint: it's on the number line between negative 1 and positive 1)
For what possible reason, Soros-bot, a 200 y.o. idiot DemocRat kept in the database could be denied a payment?
Delete10:55,
DeleteIf 120-year olds are receiving Social Security payments, that just shows how much smarter they are than you.
Have you thought of any constructive ways to deal wth your jealousy, Soros-bot?
On the basis that he was dead. SS does not keep paying after death.
DeleteThe oldest person on the Earth (the entire planet) is 116 years old. She is a nun who lives in Brazil. There are no 120 year olds being paid SS in the US. Trump is lying about that.
The odd wording of @10:55's question suggests he or she is a non-native speaker of English. For what possible reason are such trolls commenting here?
Delete
DeleteThe whole point of the story, Soros-bot, is that they are listed in the database as alive. Including the one who is 360 y.o.
How do you know how they are listed in the database, 11:30? Have you seen the database? Is musk trustworthy?
Delete
DeleteI know how they are listed in the database, Soros-bot, because the president of the US told me.
How do you know you're not an AI script?
This is idiotic. Why wouldn't SS keep a database of all people who have ever participated in the system from day one? That's all we are talking about. No people who are 360 yo are currently receiving payments.
Delete" because the president of the US told me."
DeleteLO fucking L.
When you're 360 years old, they let you collect Social Security payments. You just walk up to the SS office, and grab them by the you know what. They let you get away with anything.
DeleteHa! Clever.
Delete1:36,
DeleteIt's what I voted for.
I’ve been writing a couple things about this whole SS database/payments thing. It’s not clear what database they’re talking about (it matters!) and there are lots of good reasons to suspect that there aren’t millions of payments going to dead people, and no evidence has been presented that there are. Excerpt from latest post:
Delete“ Say what? Two weeks after you made an explosive allegation from the Oval Office that generated headlines all over the country – it isn’t clear? Why not? Is it any clearer? Did no one look into it at all over those intervening two weeks? What are they working on that would take priority over settling a question that strikes at the heart of US citizens’ confidence in the hallmark of progressive legislation in this country?”
https://thepaulstory.wordpress.com/2025/03/07/what-is-the-social-security-database-and-why-is-it-so-mysterious/
Ukraine strikes back. NYTimes reports
ReplyDelete“ Russian officials said Ukraine attacked Moscow before dawn on Tuesday with its largest long-range drone bombardment of the war, as both sides stepped up attacks ahead of talks intended to find a way to end three years of fighting.”
It’s about time. Ukraine had no chance of winning this war as long as the Biden administration prevented them from making war on Russia. Russia was attacking Ukraine but Ukraine was NOT attacking Russia.
Fuck you, Dickhead.
Delete“ Ukraine was NOT attacking Russia.”
DeleteNot true.
Russia attacked Ukraine. Ukraine has attacked some Russian assets but it has not invaded Russia.
DeleteCorrection -- Russia invaded Ukraine
Delete"Ukraine had no chance of winning this war as long as the Biden administration prevented them from making war on Russia."
DeleteDavey, that's bizarre, even for you.
There is no evidence money has still been paid to anyone after their death, just because their name remains in a database that has the names of anyone who has ever received social security (or everyone who ever paid into the system, more likely).
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the INS has arrested and plans to deport a permanent resident with a green card (married to a US citizen), because the govt dislikes his politics (protesting about Gaza at Columbia University). His own lawyers do not know where he is being held. They have also been harrassing people here on legitimate unexpired tourist visas.
This is police state behavior.
Here's the evidence, Soros-bot: every 120+ y.o. individual is eligible. It's up to you, Soros-bot, to prove that every one of them hasn't been paid for decades after dying.
DeleteFirst of all, I saw what you had for breakfast this morning.
DeleteSecond, no. Musk/Trump are making the allegations, it is therefore up to them (and you as their commenting champion) to provide a single example. Which you can't. And they can't.
Boo!
...the INS has arrested and plans to deport a permanent resident with a green card (married to a US citizen), because the govt dislikes his politics (protesting about Gaza at Columbia University).
DeleteThis is the kind of "free speech" Dickhead in Cal can really get behind.
DeleteI gave you the evidence you asked for, Soros-bot: every 120+ y.o. in the database is eligible to be paid.
If you don't want evidence, don't ask for it.
I asked for evidence of an actual payment, not eligibility for a payment. Do you understand the difference?
DeleteWhy shouldn't 120 year olds be paid Social Security? They paid into it.
DeleteWe don't restrict gun owners from receiving Social Security, just because they sell their guns to criminals on the black market.
DeleteEligibility is an evidence, Soros-bot. Do you understand the difference between evidence and the proof?
In this environment, with liars running the government, I have seen no evidence of any eligibility of anything. I do know that these accusations are meant to undermine trust in the social security system.
DeleteEligibility is an evidence of what? Finish your sentence.
DeleteKeep in mind that English is not Boris-bot's mother tongue.
Delete
DeleteEligibility is an evidence for the claim that "money is being paid to many of them". Again: why wouldn't it be paid, if for all intents and purposes the record belongs to an individual old enough to be eligible? And of course there is no upper age limit for eligibility.
There is no evidence that any person over 120 yo has received a SS payment. Given that Musk has his fingers in the payment system, it should be easy for him to produce cases where someone dead was sent a check. SS fraud occurs when payees do not inform SS of a death. There are cross-checks and investigations that reveal such fraud, which is prosecuted by the govt, and is not widespread. The idea that all of the people with birthdates making them so old have been paid money after death, is probably not possible without detection, has not been reported by the media, has not been found by the govt, and has not been substantiated by Musk or DOGE or anyone else. This is a smokescreen and an excuse to fire a bunch of people and to claim that SS doesn't work, when it is the main source of support for most seniors still alive.
Delete
DeleteEligibility of everyone over 120 yo is an evidence that every person over 120 yo in the database has received an SS payment, Soros-bot.
"why wouldn't it be paid, if for all intents and purposes the record belongs to an individual old enough to be eligible?"
DeleteThe way we know it hasn't been paid was pointed out by 11:51. Musk has access to the system, and it should be a simple matter to take a few dozen of these payments and do the investigation to determine that the person a) is dead, and b) that a check was sent to them and cashed.
You sound like you're unfamiliar with the workings of large databases such as SS, which has many ways to filter out the records in question to prevent a payment from being made.
Either Musk or one of his inept minions would have been told about this field, but chose to ignore it, just as they made a big issue out of the lack of a Treasury payment code.
And you sound like an idiot Soros-bot, Soros-bot.
Delete@11:54 -- it is evidence that they most likely received a payment at some time in the past, perhaps back in the 1940s or 1950s. It is not evidence that they are still receiving payments after death.
DeleteThe people who maintain the SS system no doubt explained that to Musk & his crew. That makes the continued assertion a lie by Musk and Trump, designed to mislead the public about SS so that they can justify cutting a system that participants have paid into and expect to fund their retirement as promised.
I expect that if Trump and Musk try to play games with SS, they will be impeached (at least Trump will be). Perhaps Musk will go to jail. We can only hope. It will usher in a stong blue wave in the midterms, giving the House and Senate to Democrats, who WILL bring impeachment charges and remove Trump from office (with a Senate majority), unlike his last impeachments where the Republicans had more seats. Meddling with SS will be a bridge too far even for some Republicans.
Unfortunately, there will be disruption to the support of current SS recipients, many of whom depend wholly on their SS pension and will be forced to leave their homes and move in with adult children. They will default on leases and mortgages which will hurt the economy. Their ability to pay their way will impact their families, who will have less discretionary income, also hurting spending. Some elderly people will die prematurely, perhaps more preventable deaths than during covid. The anger caused by this disruption will be aimed at Republicans and perhaps lose them seats for a long time to come. This is why SS has always been called the third-rail of politics -- not to be touched.
Trump's advancing dementia is the only reason this is happening. His own people should be putting the brakes on this, not kow-towing to Musk because he has threatened to primary them. The lack of integrity on the right is the most shocking part of this situation, unbelievable, since leadership has always been accompanied by courage in the past.
Another result of this situation will be the rolling back of the ability of people with money to manipulate our electoral system. That will happen due to court decisions but also via legislation, once the Democrats are back in control of the House and Senate. That will keep peope like Musk from threatening lawmakers and engaging in self-dealing and destructive activities, like Musk is doing. The Republicans have a lot to lose. The sooner they put the brakes on all of this, the better.
Remember, Trump promised that there would be no cuts to Social Security and Medicare or Medicaid. Of course, since Trump is a pathological liar, DiC says we mustn’t look at what he says, but what he does. So there may or may not be cuts to Social Security Medicare and Medicaid. it’s wonderful having a liar in charge.
DeleteSS does not make payments after age 115, that's been a policy in place for years.
DeletePlease do not engage with the trolls.
12:31, Exactly, these people are trolling and are not engaging in honest good faith debate.
DeleteSS payments are not based on the SS data base. So, the egregious errors in that data base do not result in fraudulent SS payments.
DeleteHowever the SS data base is also used for other purposes. We do not know whether the errors in the SS data base result in mistaken payments under other government programs.
BTW when one sees one obvious class of errors in a data base or other product, that shows lack of care, which raises the suspicion that there might be other errors.
There are no "errors" and there is nothing "egregious" about SS.
Delete"SS payments are not based on the SS data base."
Deletea) How do you know that?
b) if true, then the Musk-Trump fraud claims are even more fraudulent.
"And you sound like an idiot Soros-bot, Soros-bot"
DeleteAnd they say wit is dead.
Correct. the Musk/Trump claims of fraud are themselves fraudulent.
DeleteMusk/Trump are both grifter snake oil salesmen, both are also sexual predators, Trump is a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist, they both have transitioned themselves more than the average transgender person; both are corrupt and engage in criminal activities.
It is unsurprising that they are both right wing and are out to cut SS based on phony and false claims of (nonexistent) SS fraud.
Old people are receiving Social Security payments, and it's making the Republican Party even more bitter and angry than usual.
DeleteIt's delightful watching them flail and whine.
@1:06 people have looked into how SS is handled. They found that procedures within the SS office determine how payments are handled.
DeleteI agree with you that Musk is combining true statements in a way that yields a false conclusion. It is true that people are in the SS data base shown as still living at ridiculous ages. It is true that official estimates show a substantial amount of incorrect SS payments. But, it is not true that the data base errors are the cause of the erroneous payments.
Delete"But, it is not true that the data base errors are the cause of the erroneous payments."
Huh. This, I'm sorry to say, comes real close to the most idiotic Soros-bot pronouncements.
@1:30 Yes, Trump is an excellent salesman. But, Musk has incredible accomplishments. Take a look at this brief video. This is amazing!
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfrLoG2CeNU&ab_channel=TODAY
These erroneous payments in the SS system were not suddenly discovered by Sir Mush. We already covered this here, Dickhead. IG's have been finding some overpayments and some underpayments and had. They have been recovering a good portion of the overpayments and wanted to deploy a new system to avoid these errors in the future, but republican congress didn't agree to fund the money needed.
DeleteMusk's "accomplishments" have been to tout inventing things that already exist (but Musk's versions are poorer quality and higher priced) and to tout things that will never exist.
Delete(For example, that rocket that lands by itself the fanboys cream themselves over? NASA invented that back in the 90s for a fraction of the cost)
Musk is the snake oil salesmen that some Americans have been falling for, forever. Sorry you got conned.
Trump is terrible at business and negotiating/making deals, turning the nearly half a billion he inherited from his dad into failing ventures including a record setting 6 bankruptcies.
That's why Trump keeps getting played by smarter foreign leaders.
I got a real kick out of Larry Kudlow slobbering all over Sir Mush yesterday. Almost as off-putting as our loyal Dickhead here in their reverence for Mush.
DeleteIt is beautiful thing to behold: slush funds for Dems are all drying up. USAID, gone. $20B from EPA for “environmental justice”, gone. Funding for DEI “consulting” in all the agencies, gone. Funding for Illegal Alien services, gone. Ukraine boondoggle, soon to be gone. And, DOJ will not settle any case for the next 4 years that pays off non-profits for “legal expenses”.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: Next time Dems want a rent-a-mob or rent-a-riot operation, their billionaires will have to pay for it from their own pockets. Added bonus: no more 6 figure income jobs in community organizing for people with crap degrees like Gender Studies. It’s not even the end of the beginning and I may be getting tired of all the winning.
Funny, you didn’t mention the economy tanking, prices going up, veterans losing their jobs, planes crashing, lack of proper weather forecasting, and the potential for millions to lose Medicare and social security. But hey, as long as “DEI” is “gone”, apparently you call that winning.
DeleteSo, I guess you are opposed to things like job training programs for the disabled, so that they can be productive instead of receiving disability checks? Given the increasing number of Nobel prizes won by women (like the ladies who invented the covid vaccine), I guess you are also opposed to programs that train girls in coding so that they can prepare for STEM careers. There are more female doctors (38%) now, women are 52% of pediatricians and obstetricians and 54% of those entering med schools are female due to such programs, headed by women who majored in Gender Studies. How do right wingers expect to increase the birth rate without doctors to birth those babies?
Delete"I may be getting tired of all the winning."
DeleteYou sound tired. How's the Dow today?
"Next time Dems want a rent-a-mob or rent-a-riot operation, their billionaires will have to pay for it from their own pockets."
DeleteFile under "Every Right-wing accusation is really a confession".
Down about 500 as of noon.
Delete
Delete@12:05 PM,
well, there are still millions of their flunkeys in useless government pencil-pushing offices, stealing and wasting taxpayers' money.
I think what's needed now is a few high-profile criminal trials.
I think the entire fashion industry is a stupid waste of money. I feel the same way about organized sports and reality TV shows. Pop music is a similar waste. Look at all the time wasted by children on video games. Shall we use the govt to restrict and/or destroy all of these, simply because the president doesn't value them (assuming he or she disliked such things)?
DeleteTrump is destroying the national parks, when he most likely has never visited one. He is doing away with the Dept of Education when he has no kids involved. He won't be alive to fully experience global warming so he doesn't care about alternative energy. That one perhaps seems like a waste to him (and you).
I think what's needed is an impeachment, trial and removal of Trump, who clearly does not understand that as president he is in charge of safeguarding the nation's resources and providing for the needs of ALL citizens, executing the wishes of Congress and safeguarding our Constitution and Laws. It isn't up to him to cut whatever he personally doesn't value, designating it as "waste" even though it was established by an Act of Congress. He is not performing his job properly and he needs to go.
2:40 well said.
DeleteRepublican Senate has abandoned their posts. Does anyone actually trust Lady Lindsey to do the right thing. Damn, the photos Putin has on him must be really fucking bad.
DeleteMatthews calls Trump Mussolini because he’s a corporate stooge in the same way as the Fox people. That over the top rhetoric seems just fine with you now Bob, just as your rhetoric is often Dowdesque in design when its toward your targets.
ReplyDeleteColumbia University has had a veritable war going on that has caused damages to their facilities and instilled fear in their Jewish pop. Anonymices call people here agents of foreign powers (traitors to the USA) all day long. The deportation of the Palestian guy with possible ties to Hamas will be decided in court, but spare us the anonymouse outrage.
😞 🎻
DeleteMy Jewish kid goes to Columbia and is part of Hillel and other Jewish groups, and the only ones they fear are the (antisemitic) bullies who terrorized the peaceful protests (which included many Jewish students) of the genocide of Palestinians, and the cowardly admin.
DeleteKhalil has been vocal about his opposition to antisemites and has no more ties to Hamas than Cecelia.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/us/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-ice-green-card-hnk/index.html
Khalil is a political prisoner, being held by a convicted felon and rapist, and that is just fine with Republicans. Good to know.
Yes, I’m sure Khalil is a dedicated progressive liberal and a humanitarian in the way that Americans in the HOP are not. Anonymices are so right- yes, that’s a given with you.
DeleteThe only question you have to answer is, was Khalil doing anything against the law? Protesting Israeli policies in Gaza is not illegal. First Amendment.
DeleteNo one is defending what Khalil says. We are defending his right to say it, even if it is not to Trump's liking. This is about the 1st Amendment, not about Gaza or anti-semitism or Israel. People have the right to express their opinions, even when they conflict with Trump's and even in public.
DeleteAnn Coulter gets this. Why doesn't Cecelia?
That "Palestinian guy" (as Cecelia puts it) was born in Syria and an Algerian citizen before coming to the US to study at Columbia. He just graduated, has a permanent resident green card, is married to an American citizen who is 8-months pregnant (thus unlikely to be a marriage of convenience). Most importantly, he has not been implicated in any violence or illegal activities in those Columbia protests, and he has BROKEN NO FUCKING LAWS. You cannot deport people simply for expressing ideas you dislike. This guy is not here on a student visa and there is no basis for detaining him, much less deporting.
DeleteThe courts have ordered that he not be deported and that a hearing be held on Wed.
Khalil's rights are our rights. If they deport him for political speech then any of us can be similarly deported.
A similarly troubling example of INS overreach is a British tourist here to hike the NW who crossed into Canada on her hiking trip, found out the area she wanted to visit was closed, attempted to cross back into the US and was detained by INS instead, for deportation. This is a tourist who had not exceeded the time period allowed on a tourist visa. Doing nothing political.
Was this done to inflate Trump's deportation numbers, so he could brag about aliens deported? If so, it will be bad for tourism as people from other countries hear about it. Many areas of our country depend on tourism for their local economies. Britain is not a controversial part of the world.
The US State Department issues warning to Americans wanting to visit other parts of the world, telling us which places to avoid because of unrest and dangers like these two people are experiencing. If the US gets put on the warning lists of other countries, we will see fewer visitors to our parks and places of interest. That will hurt us financially. That's why we, as Americans, try to be nice to foreign visitors who we encounter at places like Disneyland and Old Faithful. Trump is undermining an important part of our economy with these INS acts. Not to mention decreasing enrollment of international students in our universities. (They pay full tuition, unlike US students.) We can't afford political grandstanding by Trump over a non-existant border crisis.
Canadian tourists to the US are cancelling their summer trips and going elsewhere because of Trump's tariffs and the Canadian boycott of US goods. That is one immediate consequence of Trump's ill-advised hostilities toward our neighbors.
DeleteWhen I lived in the Palm Springs area, there were many Canadian snowbirds playing in the bridge clubs there. If they stop coming to the region it is going to severely affect not only the size of our bridge games but the prosperity of the entire area. It will be the same in the other areas (Tucson, Sedona) who have an influx of snowbirds each year.
Khalil is a foreign national who belongs to an organization that backs Hamas and has agitated against the nation of Israel. He isn’t merely a guy with an opinion, he is part of group that wrecked havoc on the campus of Colombia.
DeleteAnne Coulter has an opinion that she is free to express. Khalil is a foreign activist who has taken part in protests that intimidated other students and destroyed property on an American campus. Bye…
Jackass in Chief today ordered an increase in tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. In addition he threatened that he intends to shut down its auto industry.
DeleteWhat the fuck are we doing people?
Just because Khalil didn't sell any weapons to criminals, like the "good guys with guns" do, doesn't mean he shouldn't have the same First Amendment rights as the rest of us.
DeleteCecelia, Khalil has the right to belong to that organization as long as he himself has not broken any laws. You don't deport people for memberships when they are legal permanent residents of the US. This is an open and free society, not an authoritarian state that deports people who offend Dear Leader.
DeleteWhen someone participates in a protest and a window gets broken by someone else who is also at that protest, only the window-breaker gets charged with vandalism (or malicious mischief or whatever the crime was). You cannot go back and hold the entire group responsible for one person's actions, simply because the event was an organized protest. Khalil, by all accounts, did not engage in any destruction of property or violence and he was not an organizer of those protests that he attended.
Calling someone a "foreign activist" has the ring of calling them a terrorist. He was born in a foreign country and held a foreign passport prior to coming to the US where he attained permanent resident status. Calling him names like "activist" doesn't change that. There is no evidence he participated in wrecking havoc on Colombia. That's why people are upset on his behalf. The govt needs evidence to arbitrarily remove people who have permanent resident status here, because they don't like his ethnicity or politics.
1:45,
DeleteThat's nothing. Donald Trump is a foreign asset, acting on behalf of Vladamir Putin and Russian oligarchs, who have Kompromat on him.
The US auto industry is so entangled with the Canadian and Mexican auto industries that anything Trump does to try to hurt Canada will rebound onto our own auto industry. Economists have been trying to tell Trump that, but his dementia and delusional state seem to be impenetrable. So we will all suffer because Republicans thought it would be fun to get another tax cut.
DeleteCecelia,
DeleteLet's misunderstand the "one bad apple" adage to allow Khalil carte blanche, like we do with bad police officers.
There's no one that can stop him. Republican senators have abandoned their posts. He has ripped the guts out of the FBI and CIA. He is suing media organizations, signing EO's attacking private law firms, disregarding court rulings. Just plain straight out lying to the American people about SS. Starting the dumbest fucking trade war with a Canada and Mexico because he thinks the person who signed the last trade agreement with them must have been crazy, (hint, it was him).
DeleteWe're so screwed.
In this country, you get charged, tried and convicted based on your own behavior, not that of others who share characteristics with you, whether sex, gender, national origin, race, religion, membership in an organization (or we'd all be held responsible for those Boy Scout leaders who molest cubs scouts), participation in peaceful demonstrations, or just being on the street during a riot. Not only does Kahlil need to have done something wrong in order to have his green card revoked, but the INS needs to provide evidence in a court -- that is called due process and it is part of our rights as citizens and permanent residents.
DeleteAs a permanent resident (Green Card holder), you have the right to:
Delete1. Live permanently in the United States provided you do not commit any actions that would make you removable under immigration law
2. Work in the United States at any legal work of your qualification and choosing. (Please note that some jobs will be limited to U.S. citizens for security reasons)
3. Be protected by all laws of the United States, your state of residence and local jurisdictions
Your Responsibilities as a Permanent Resident
As a permanent resident, you are:
1. Required to obey all laws of the United States and localities;
2. Required to file your income tax returns and report your income to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities;
3. Expected to support the democratic form of government (“support” does not include voting. Permanent residents cannot vote in federal, state, or local elections.); and
4. Required to register with the Selective Service, if you are a male age 18 through 25.
https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/rights-and-responsibilities-of-a-green-card-holder-permanent-resident
@1:23 It turns out that this is not correct. "The only question you have to answer is, was Khalil doing anything against the law?"
DeleteHe can be deported even if he didn't break the law. Under US law, the Secretary of State can deport an alien who supports a terrorist organization
The key part of this listing of rights and responsibilities that protects Kahlil is #3, "Be protected by all laws of the United States". There are not separate laws for green card holders except the responsibilities listed in this govt publication. Unless and until the INS proves Kahlil broke the law or failed in his responsibilities, he cannot be summarily deported just because the govt has a whim.
DeleteSupporting a terrorist organization is a fucking crime, Dickhead. Peaceful protesting is not.
DeleteWhoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for ...
Disagreeing with our support for Israeli ethnic cleansing in Gaza by the criminal Netanyahu is not against the law, Dickhead, no matter how much you with it to be.
DeleteAccording to Kahlil's attorney, he has been careful to break no laws in his protesting activities.
DeleteCecelia, Khalil did not even participate in those specific protests.
DeleteFurthermore, it is highly possible the "destruction" in these protests are at the hands of right wing agent provocateurs.
There was no need for Khalil to be rousted at night and shipped a thousand miles away. If the Trump administration had a legitimate case against him, they could have had him summoned into court where they could lay charges against him.
DeleteThey chose not to do that. Instead, they took actions that serve to intimidate all opponents of its policies.
Like fascists do.
"Trump is acting like a king because he's too weak to govern like a president"
DeleteRight. Force is the only tool in his toolbox.
DeleteGOP
ReplyDeleteGOPers are patriotic in that they love the US when they are free to be as racist and sexist as they want to be, but in reality GOPers hate America because America is really just an amalgam of people and GOPers hate the American people.
ReplyDeleteGOP=hate
Anonymouse 1:35pm, pithy and perfect example of the process of anonymouse reasoning.
Delete1:49,
DeleteCope.
"Please do not engage with the trolls."
ReplyDeleteWhen right wingers, trolls or not, post incorrect information, letting it stand uncontested results in poor voting decisions. Fighting for the truth by rebutting incorrect info online, whether deliberate or ignorant, is important to maintaining our democratic system, which depends on correct info to inform voters.
It is not true that ignoring trolls will make them go away.
Meanwhile, calling people who disagree with you "trolls" is just name-calling, not discussion. The purpose of comment sections is to respond to what the blogger has posted and to engage in discussion with others in the blog community. Suggesting that people no respond to trolls suppresses discussion when there is no accurate way to identify who is a troll and who is a Republican. Discussion is good, even when it involves people who don't know what they are talking about or who are being deliberately disruptive.
That is part of the point of supporting the first amendment to our constitution. It even gives trolls the right to comment, and it gives the rest of us the right to engage with them, in whatever manner we want. It even gives you the right to deplore those who respond to trolls. Got it?
Please troll the trolls.
Delete2:26 below is a perfect example of the kind of troll I am talking about. There is nothing to respond to there.
DeleteTrolling the trolls is fine, but 1:50 is wrong about not engaging with the trolls, not engaging is effective, whereas engaging only feeds their worst traits. Trolls are people who do not argue in good faith, 1:50's stance is untenable, and therefore irrelevant on this subject.
DeleteIf they are being paid, then not reinforcing them is useless. That only applies to trolls who are trolling for their own enjoyment. I posted links to literature on this last time it was discussed. The point of responding to trolls is to leave some alternative information for lurkers who may be reading but not engaging with anyone. False info needs to be corrected, even if trolls like the attention.
DeleteSomerby is a major source of false information. For example, he keeps calling Biden senile when there is no evidence of that except a single bad debate (Obama had one too, but no one called him senile because he was middle-aged, even though early onset dementia is a thing). Somerby kept wrongly insisting that the MS reading score improvement was bogus. Somerby makes regular mistakes which he keeps returning to and repeating because he doesn't read the corrections in the comments. So we must repeat ourselves because new readers here won't know that he is advancing misinformation and repeating right wing propaganda while calling himself a liberal (thus someone who ought to be more reliable).
You do what you want in response to the trolls. I ignore them when they are obviously ridiculous or lack substance, but I will continue correcting their bad information.
He did respond to you about the MS issue in the comments of Kevin Drum's blog where you had posted there as "Perry". I think I remember him accusing you of missing the point and obsessing over a non-issue. It may not be that he is deliberately ignoring your comments but simply interprets facts differently or disagrees with them. And it may be that he ignores your comments because they are full of personal attacks (e.g. calling Somerby a liar), guilt by association (e.g. saying he spreads "right-wing propaganda" instead of showing how his claims align with conservative narratives) and really weak whataboutism. (e.g. comparing bad Obama's debate performance to Biden's).
DeleteHe probably doesn't respect your criticisms because they are primarily emotional, personal attacks that don't directly engage with his claims or provide evidence against its assertions.
You are the ultimate troll. You are the Babe Ruth of all trolls. And my guess is that Somerby will be damned if he's going to feed your fat ass.
I do admire your effort though. It's amazing in its crazy, sad way.
DeleteHe doesn’t respond to anyone’s comments. I am not Perry. Quaker posted a study contradicting Somerby that he never took into account. Drum backtracked because of it. Not Somerby, who continued repeating mistaken info. Calling me fat doesn’t change facts.
Delete"The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
ReplyDeleteThe slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'
That's what was said in that song! And in fact, a great deal of change did occur in the years which followed."
This is not the nature of the change in our current times. It is a facile list of opposites compiled by Bob Dylan back in the 1960s. Yes, our times are changing, but it matters what kind of change is occurring, and this stupid song lyric says nothing whatsoever about that.
How deep is it to say that things change? Not at all astute, so obvious as to be apparent to a toddler, not worth saying. It would be interesting to hear Somerby describe the nature of change, his opinion of something besides Trump's sanity.
Note that Dylan refers to that 1960s change as a curse. Looking back, those of us on the left see progress and important improvements in our society, including the right for women to wear jeans, pants and leggings and have their own credit cards, the ability of black people to vote and send their kids to school, the end to the Vietnam war, ultimately the right to love whoever you love and marry across sex and racial lines, improvements in health care, computers, cell phones, tornado forecasting via satellite data, movie special effects, all kinds of good things emerged from change.
So why is Somerby always doom splaining? Why did Dylan write that line when it is so clearly wrong? Who knows? Perhaps, as it seems, Somerby just grabbed the lyrics to fill space and put the idea of "change" on the table, even if he doesn't want to examine it. At least he cited his source! That's an important change for Somerby.
Yup, made this point yesterday.
DeleteLooking back, those of us on the left see progress and important improvements in our society, including the right for women to wear jeans, pants and leggings and have their own credit cards, the ability of black people to vote and send their kids to school, the end to the Vietnam war, ultimately the right to love whoever you love and marry across sex and racial lines, improvements in health care, computers, cell phones, tornado forecasting via satellite data, movie special effects, all kinds of good things emerged from change.
DeleteThis is why the reactionary right has to use force to implement their idea of change. We won the culture wars, and they can't stand it.
Exactly!
DeleteMy most precious right is my right to wear leggings.
Delete
ReplyDeleteThank God for Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and all the rest of the MAGA Team!
And we all know: as long as idiot-DemocRats are foaming at the mouth, everything goes well. The more foaming the better!
Good boy! Here's a treat!
DeleteLOL!!!!
ReplyDeleteZelensky agrees to the same ceasefire he has agreed to for the past several years and Trump returns military and intelligence sharing.
Once again, a foreign leader (Zelensky in this case) plays Trump like a fiddle, with Trump walking back/caving in embarrassment.
Again, it is the same ceasefire that Zelensky has been agreeing to for a long time.
Trump also walking back that Zelensky is a dictator and that Ukraine started the war.
Who runs this country???? Looks like Wall Street to a significant degree.
Trump is such an embarrassment.
Trump has declared a National Emergency along the Northern border with Canada, due to restrictions on electricity sharing by Canada.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what liberties Trump will take in the area under this "National Emergency"?
Word is Hegseth is enhancing his "Kill all Muslims" mantra, he is now wondering the halls shouting "Kill all Canadians".
DeleteHegseth may have killed some Muslims (what a cool dude!), but his sexual assault victims have all been White Republican women (that we know of), so at least Muslims and Canadians can feel somewhat at ease about that.
Republican men are so cool the way they can sexually assault women with impunity.
Germans and Russians both used rape as an act of war during WWII, as did Hamas on 10/7. This is despite it being outlawed by the Geneva Convention. Hegseth apparently decided to revive the tradition when he removed women from command positions in the US military, allowing male officers to again ignore rape complaints against our enlisted boys when they assault their own unit members.
DeleteTomorrow: What Matthews said
ReplyDeleteThursday: Bill Maher's alternate outlook
Thanks for the warning
Bill Maher is an asshole. Who cares what he thinks?
DeleteMy point exactly, Einstein.
Delete