Wednesday

Visions of Teabagistan

Music

John Prine RIP

One of my favorites





Government

Jeffrey St. Clair

+ When the people running the government don’t believe in government why would you expect even the basic & essential services of the government to work? Every one of their own failures reconfirms their believe that government should be replaced by private enterprises…

Media - OAN

These fuckers should not be allowed in the White House press corps






Media - Who is Fake News? - The Propaganda Outlet

Almost everyone thinks Trump is an asshole in his press conferences. Fox presents it like the reporter is the problem.

Of course this is what Fox told you about the coronavirus.

Hannity. Rush. Dobbs. Ingraham. Pirro. Nunes. Tammy. Geraldo. Doocy. Hegseth. Schlapp. Siegel. Watters. Dr. Drew. Henry. Ainsley. Gaetz. Inhofe. Pence. Kudlow. Conway. Trump.

Today, we salute the Heroes of the Pandumbic. pic.twitter.com/35WLDgoHcf

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 3, 2020

Medicare for All

Wait a second, so you're telling me the government can just pay hospitals directly for medical care? And that health insurance companies are just unnecessary middlemen out to make a buck? Well, I'll be damned.... https://t.co/J2Ebpvs93B

— jordan (@JordanUhl) April 3, 2020

The Trump Clan

Trumps Clan

The Orange-One, Jared, Pence, Kemp, DeSantis, Kudlow, etc., it's like we're all in a reality TV show.

Must drive the price of oil up somehow.

Yep America, Donald Trump wants you to pay more for gas! MAGA


Oh Jared......Trump should be impeached for this alone.

JARED KUSHNER: "The notion of the federal stockpile was it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use." pic.twitter.com/9Q7j8QBCMv

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 2, 2020

Pompeo is a dick.

Mike Pompeo says countries that "build bombs and missiles and nuclear capability all while their people are starving" deserve to be sanctioned during the #COVIDー19 pandemic.

Luckily for Pompeo, no country he represents on the world stage does things like this. pic.twitter.com/EUxdKYjOOM

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 1, 2020

The Rude Pundit on Trump's Clan

Something kind of extraordinary happened at Monday's White House coronavirus task force press briefing. It happened when President Donald Trump asked Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma to say a few words. She stepped up to the microphone and said, "Let me start by saying, I want to convey my deepest sympathies to those that have lost loved ones to the coronavirus.  We’re all thinking of you."

What was extraordinary was that it was the first time in at least a week, if ever, that anyone in the Trump administration recognized the families of the dead and offered any condolences. I have gone through days of briefings and Trump appearances, searching for some sign of compassion for the suffering, and this was the only example I could find.

That's right. The President of the United States has not once sent his sympathy or conveyed any emotion at all about the sick or about the families of the dead, including grieving children and grandchildren. Think about that for a moment. It could have been so simple - a couple of words at the beginning of his opening remarks at one of the more than a dozen briefings he's done. But he didn't because that shows an acknowledgement that something's wrong. It moves the deaths from the abstract numbers he tosses around and gives them meaning in flesh and blood. Or maybe he's just utterly incapable of feelings beyond rage and pride and self-pity. Sociopaths aren't noted for their ability to empathize.

I've noticed my Teabagistan Facebook feed has changed. Fewer "Trump is going to save the world" posts. More jesus, more prayers, Pelosi, Biden, or Hillary are still the anti-christ and the military is great but there aren't as many Trumpers telling me how great he is.

Tuesday

Covid19 vs The Economy

Could Oil Really Fall To $0? -  A good middle east war can fix that.

Nobody Knows What Will Happen When the Rent Comes Due on April 1 - Or when those first quarter 401K-IRA statements hit the public.



Covid19 vs Life

This Is The Most Fun Way To Make Your Life Awesome (Pandemic Edition)

A network can perpetuate anything in it: not just fads, fashion, and trends, but happiness, unhappiness, kindness and cruelty can also spread like a disease.

This gives me hope that the Teabagger attitude that has been spreading via Fox News and other Right-wing outlets will eventually give way to something a little more productive.

Pictures

Shot of an old house in the Teabagistan district of eastern Indiana.

Sounds and Sadness

John Prine: singer-songwriter critically ill with Covid-19 symptoms, family says

Sunday

Corona Stats

The best Site I've found for numbers: https://avatorl.org/covid-19/

Best Site for Good links: https://www.lesswrong.com/coronavirus-link-database



Propaganda

As Virus Spreads, China and Russia See Openings for Disinformation - Our elite leadership just can't resist stirring up shit. Let's drop the Russia-China disinformation shit. Fox News and America's Right have been responsible for more disinformation over the last few years than either Russia or China.

Saturday AM

Sounds

Wish I'd Thought of This.

Lego waffles edition

COVID19

What’s Good, Bad, and Mediocre in the Coronavirus Stimulus Bill - That's a lot of money but at least some is going to the people.

An interactive visualization of the exponential spread of COVID-19

Red April: What happens on the first of the month when residents, restaurants, and retail stores don’t pay rent

Or more important to Mr. Market, what happens when those first quarter IRA, 401, and brokerage statements go out on March 31? More panic selling around April 3 or 4th?

Israel vs Palestinians

Israeli Occupation Authorities Demolish Makeshift Field Hospital in Palestinian Hamlet

Trump and The Cult

Trump and the Cult

The Rush, Hannity, Fox News, make-everyone-an-enemy method of politics that worked so well for the Cult when they were out of power, really doesn't work all that well when you have to get along and work together. Trump Being a Dick, Again.

Also, In Exchange for Aid, Trump Wants Praise From Governors He Can Use in Campaign Ads

"Trump’s apparent demand that the governors of U.S. states do him a political favor, though — by praising his response to the crisis on television, in exchange for him unlocking federal aid — strongly echoed the scheme he was impeached for last year. In that case, Trump withheld aid from Ukraine to coerce its president into agreeing to go on CNN and announce a sham investigation of Joe Biden, his likely rival in the November election."

Hell, he should be impeached for this statement alone. Found at Political Irony

Trump even mentioned two governors by name:
Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington. You’re wasting your time with him.
Don’t call the woman in Michigan. It doesn’t make any difference what happens.

Also, The lie like crazy and hope the lawyers can fix it doesn't really work either.




Hell, He should be impeached for this picture alone. (found here NYT)

We have lost...

... our fucking minds.

Wednesday Afternoon

COVID19

In last 24 hrs there've been prominent US voices calling for a stop to social distancing, citing rationale that they're worse than impact of COVID itself. It’s worth looking very closely at that claim, where we are in US COVID epidemic and what happens if we stop. 1/x

— Tom Inglesby (@T_Inglesby) March 23, 2020

The Superforecaster's Take


The Economy

Death to the people ! Long live our corporations! But, who are we going to sell to if the rest of the world stays on lock-down?  Coronavirus: Europe on lockdown


Media

Michelle Malkin: Chutzpah—ADL Wants A Federal Bailout - Malkin has always been dumb-as-a hammer but the wingers bring her out when needed. I'm guessing this will end her run.


Bullshit

They've been working on a bill for a couple of days. Finally agree. Then Republican Senators, Republicans, threaten to hold it up because it's too nice to the unemployed. Bernie makes a threat to act if the Rs do it. Zero-Hedge runs this as the headline.

Traders Puke After Bernie Sanders Threatens To Hold Up Coronavirus Package

Fuck Zero-Hedge propaganda.

Tuesday PM

Media

Jennifer Rubin: OANN's Chanel Rion Is A 'Propagandist' And A 'Kook' - This coming from one who is a Propagandist and a Kook. Wow.



Media / Leaders - Head in the Sand edition

My Gawd. This from our leaders via the [Fox Propaganda Network].

"The resolution argues that the Chinese government "made multiple, serious mistakes in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak that heightened the severity and spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which include the Chinese government's intentional spread of misinformation to downplay the risks of the virus, a refusal to cooperate with international health authorities, internal censorship of doctors and journalists and malicious disregard for the health of ethnic minorities."

Now read it again but replace "Chinese government" with "Trump Administration and Fox News"

Healthcare

Death Panels

Tuesday AM

American Capitalism 

It's like something out of a modern-day version of Dr. Strangelove.

“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF,”

or in other words,

"A few hundred thousand, maybe a million people will die but our great corporations will live on!"

or maybe

"This is too important to be left to the doctors and scientists. Bring me a Hoover Institution economist!

Monday

Media - Stupid Questions

Could Biden’s Weakness With Young Voters Hurt Him In The General Election?

Why wouldn't young progressives want to vote for a senile old white man who is damned-near a Republican? 

An exception to the rule that all question-headlines can be answered with a NO.

Wish I'd Written That

"We’ll then have a devolution into a kind of federalist free-for-all, with highly urbanized mostly blue states desperately trying to maintain some sort of real restrictions, while out in Jesusland people stock up on guns and ammo and dose themselves with whatever quack cures Fox News and the rest of the Scream Machine happen to be hawking at the moment."

Found here: PRESIDENT BIG BABY IS GETTING VERY CRANKY

Sunday

COVID19

Two really good articles on COVID19.

Original from March 10th:     Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now
New from March 19th:   Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance


Misinformation

Twitter crackdown on coronavirus ‘misinformation’ includes censoring jokes -

Damn, if Facebook ever cuts down on misinformation, my Eastern-Indiana Teabagistan Facebook feed will be empty.


Frank Rich: Trump Lies His Way Through a Pandemic

The challenge to the press remains what it’s been from the start: How do you challenge a lying president on the facts in real time when he is lying as fast as he can speak? The difference now is that more than ever lives are dependent on Americans getting the truth.

Roaming Charges: Always Look on the Bright Side of Death

The Trump administration is furiously blaming China for the COVID crisis and there’s no doubt that the Chinese acted slowly and covered up what was really going on in Wuhan during the early days. But China identified COVID-19 on 1/7 and shared its genetic sequence with the World Health Organization on 1/12. So that leaves a big, lethal gap between when the US knew the virus posed a pandemic threat and when the Trump administration finally took action (except for cronies selling stock). Trump on 2/28: “It will disappear like a miracle.”

Dump Trump

The Last Straw

"Without Rush, without O’Reilly, without Hannity, without Newsmax, Breitbart, and InfoWars there would be no Trump."

I agree but as long as the misinformation sites are allowed to spout propaganda there will always be another Trump waiting in line.

Donald Trump and Herbert Hoover

Trump, as Boot well pointed and points out, is a narcissistic megalomaniac, perhaps suffering from dementia, who has no demonstrated capacity for any of the arts of genuine governance, including eliciting loyalty based on anything other than abject fear, or demonstrating the slightest empathy for anyone who is suffering the consequences of his own degraded policies.

What day is it?

Disinformation

7 Tips for Spotting “Fake” Financial News - Pretty good but "Investigate the Source .... Did it come from a real media organization? " True, you should know your source but being from a real media organization adds basically nothing to the validity of the info. Some of the most famous TV market talkers are basically that, talkers. They are just throwing shit out there and seeing what sticks.

State Department summons Chinese ambassador over 'blatant' disinformation campaign on coronavirus - I'd bet Fox and the administration put out more disinformation than the Chinese.

How Fox Misled viewers about the Coronavirus

And the impeachment, and Benghazi, and the cause of the financial crisis, and the Iran deal, and the Trump economy vs the Obama economy, and Sarah Palin, and immigration, and on and on and on.

Americas Fox News Problem

The Risk to Fox News Viewers

and, from David Horsey

The Trumps

IT’S THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE: JARED KUSHNER EDITION

He is an idiot.  ‘It will go away’: A timeline of Trump playing down the coronavirus threat



Religious - Scammers

Jerry Falwell Jr. says coronavirus is North Korea-China weapon to hurt Trump - We really should have some rules for media folks who allow bullshit artists like this to freely spout  Bullshit.

'Dead Sea Scrolls' at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries




Medicare for All

The rest of the world has a good read on our healthcare system,  Coronavirus: Why systemic problems leave the US at risk



Coronavirus

Flattening the curve may not help.


Best line on Trump and the coronavirus. from The Rude Pundit

"To say that Donald Trump has been flailing about like brain-damaged squirrel is an insult to all those brave squirrels with brain damage."

Hey Google

Opinion pieces from the Propaganda Network are not "Headlines". 

Thursday

The Right

The Trump and the Rs have moved so far right they've made right-winger Bill Kristol sound like a leftist or..... his Twitter account has been hacked..

"This morning Bill Kristol, former Republican stalwart, reflected on Trump’s economic plans and tweeted: “Congress: 1. No bailouts for industries. 2. Targeted help for hospitals and the health care sector. 3. General relief directly to workers and families. The owners of capital have had a good decade and can weather a downturn; it’s labor that deserves a strengthened safety net.” (This prompted one wag to respond: “Wait, who are you?”)"

found here Letters from an American 

The Cult


A lot of crazy out there.  Coronavirus: Who Trump supporters blame for virus 'hysteria'

God-damned Fox News needs to be shut down. Coronavirus, Plunging markets, and our idiot President making headlines all over the planet today but the cult sees .. blame it on China and the libs, plus Ds want to bust the budget.