Because It's Friday

The Durango & Silverton RR.



Steam has been run continuously on that railroad since it was built.

Yes, It's Bribery

I've been calling what Trump was trying to pull as "soliciting a campaign contribution from a foreign government", but Nancy Pelosi is correct: He was soliciting a bribe. Trump was holding up Congressionally-authorized aid to Ukraine until they agreed to do something that benefited him personally.

The Defenders of All Things Trump like to claim "the aid was ultimately released, so no harm, no foul". Which is, of course, ridiculous. if you want to test this (at your own risk), shoot and miss at a Trumpanzee and see if they complain about it.

Beyond that, another thing that Pelosi said before was also correct: Whenever Trump does or does not do something in the realm of foreign policy, the ultimate beneficiary is Putin.

Ohio May Be For Idiots

The Ohio House on Wednesday passed the "Student Religious Liberties Act." Under the law, students can't be penalized if their work is scientifically wrong as long as the reasoning is because of their religious beliefs.

Science is based on facts. Religion is based on belief. If a kid is taking an astronomy test and claims that the Earth is the center of the solar system, that answer is wrong, no matter what belief system they claim to follow.

This sort of "accommodation" is perniciously evil. As is the Christian Taliban, which has far more in common with folks like Mr. Bone Saw than they'd admit.

Another Wall Street Hack Runs for President

Deval Patrick.

Right. Another clown who has gotten rich from being a parasite (subprime mortgages, vulture capitalism) is just who we need in the race.

Which reminds me: What is Helicopter Harold doing these days?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Chinese Communists' Primary Concern

People’s Daily, an official government newspaper in mainland China, said in a commentary: “Only by supporting the police force to decisively put down the riots can a peaceful environment be restored and fair elections be held, and help Hong Kong start again.”

That's right, Chairman Xi and his government are so, so concerned about fair elections.

Right. Xi cares for fair elections about as much as does Putin or Erdogan.

It Is to Laugh; Lindsey Graham Ed.

A key ally of President Donald Trump is dismissing the latest developments in the impeachment investigation, calling it a “bunch of B.S.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t plan to read the transcripts Democrats are releasing from the impeachment investigation, despite demanding that they be made public. He says he’s “written the whole process off.”

One has to have mush for brains to believe that Lindsey Graham is going to pay any attention to the evidence against Trump. Graham is a Trump sock-puppet. Graham is so far up Trump's ass that he gets to taste Trump's hamberders virtually undigested.

Graham was hot to impeach Bill Clinton for lying under oath about a blow job. But when it comes to Trump's pressure campaign to get the Ukrainian government to investigate Trump's political rival (which is a crime), Graham is dismissive.

Twenty years ago, Graham was really big about preserving the integrity and the dignity of the presidency. Now, having sold his miserable soul to Trump for a pittance, he couldn't care less about such things.

If you want to know what is truly wrong in Washington, you need look no further than the vapid political whore which Lindsey Graham has become.

Also, this, because I don't feel like starting another post:

so the five-time draft dodger who shirked his duty to his country by finding some quack doctor to gin up a bullshit note about imaginary bone spurs and stole money raised for veterans is heading up a Veterans Day parade because we live in the stupidest fucking country imaginable

— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) November 11, 2019

Veterans (Armistice) Day

Today is the 101st anniversary of the day that the guns fell silent on the Western Front, ending the hostile fire phase of the First World War. The day was first set to honor those had fought and died in that war;

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Armistice Day became Veterans Day in 1954. The Worshipers of Mammon sought to make it into yet another three day weekend, but that was soon reversed. They still are at it, with "Veterans Day Sales" and similar bullshit. Everyone who is running a "Veterans Day Sale" should be consigned to a special circle of Hell, where they are forced to swim in lakes of molten gold or silver.

In the British Commonwealth, they do a much better job of remembering the day.

We should not forget that this day began to remember a day when peace broke out. When the shooting stopped. When the killing ceased. It is proper to remember those, living and dead, who have served the nation. It is not a day to glorify the wars that often made such service necessary, if not mandatory.

(Other things I've written for this day)

Aww, Poor Trumpie

Donald Trump Jr. wrote about a trip to Arlington National Cemetery just before President Trump’s inauguration in his newly released book, where he reflected on his family’s sacrifices since his father took office. ... Trump said he considered all of the sacrifices the Trump family made in order for Trump to serve in office as an Army Band bugler played “Taps” in front of the tomb.

Aww, poor baby, the pitiful, hairy bag of self-important protoplasm.

Nobody in the Trump family has ever spent a day in uniform. When the Twin Towers fell, Baby Donnie was in his early twenties. He could hae gone to war. His younger brother turned 18 a few months afterwards, he could have served. His sister was 19, she could have served.

But no. Not a single Trump has ever worn their countries' uniforms. Donny's dad was a draft-dodger. His great-grand-father was a draft-dodger. The closest any of them ever came to combat was his grandfather, the wartime profiteer.

Little Donnie ought to drag his overly-inflated ass over to Walter Reed or any VA hospital, where he could meet men and women who had truly paid the price in service to this country. Hell, he could stroll around Arlington and gaze at the grave markers of those whose lives were taken from them in service to this country.

The Trump family has sacrificed for this country? That doesn't even pass the giggle test.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

P-38 Lightnings: