Here's an Idea: Put a Certified Nutjob in Charge of Medical Research and Public Health

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told supporters on Monday that former President Donald Trump has promised to give him “control” of several public health agencies, including the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture, if he wins a second term in November.

Kennedy, who suspended his independent presidential campaign in August and endorsed Trump, said during a livestreamed organizing event that Trump told him he’d oversee a vast public health portfolio if the former president returns to the White House, and added that he’d prioritize his agenda for “making America healthy.”

“The key that I think I’m – you know, that President Trump has promised me is – is control of the public health agencies, which are HHS and its sub-agencies, CDC, FDA, NIH and a few others, and then also the USDA, which is – which, you know, is key to making America healthy. Because we’ve got to get off of seed oils, and we’ve got to get off of pesticide intensive agriculture,” Kennedy said, according to video of the event obtained by CNN.

Right, Good Ol' Bobby Brainworm is going to oversee health researchers. That will end well. He's been floating around the Felonious Celeb for seven years.

Meanwhile, Widdle Elon is promising hard times for most Americans if Trump wins, but you can bet the contracts for SpaceX won't feel a tremor.

Halloween Short Flicks

Tricking These Down, Here

Believe Him

What Trump says he'll do and the ramifications of that.

Arnold Endorses Kamala

In short, because Trump is a greedy fat fascist.

But don't take my word for it.

I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians.

I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor.

My time as Governor taught me to…

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) October 30, 2024

Of course, fifty million people have voted already, so the impact of this might be somewhat limited. But at least he took a stand.

Donald Trump, Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton Killed Josseli Barnica

So did John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Barrett. They all have blood on their hands.

Josseli Barnica didn't have to die. She had a miscarriage. The doctors refused to treat her for forty hours, because of Texas law. She died from a subsequent infection that was entirely preventable.

Every doctor consulted by Pro Publica agreed that what happened to Ms. Barnica was nothing sort of state-mandated malpractice. She did not have to die. She died because she had the misfortune to be pregnant and miscarry in Texas, a state that places zero value on the lives of mothers because members of the Christian Taliban rule the state.

To put it succinctly, Ms. Barnica was sacrificed on the altar of the Cult of the Fetus.

Her death was eminently foreseeable. Her death was a consequence of Texan abortion law that was made known to the cultists who enacted that law and to the justices who cleared the way for the law.

They all have her blood on their hands.

No Balls at All

It's just cowardice. As Stephen Colbert pointed out, the job of the editorial/opinion department is to have opinions. Until Murdoch trashed the WSJ, they were famous for having a wall between the news operation and the editorialists.

Bezos's craven groveling to Trump has cost his paper over a quarter-million digital subscribers, who had paid from $29/yr to $100/yr. So, maybe ten million bucks, give or take. But that's an amount that he can find under his couch cushions, unless Vance is using it.

Hmmm

The TOFF and widdle Elon have seventeen kids between them by six women.

Now, imagine if they were both women. Imagine the utter meltdown that the Right and the Christian Taliban would be having. Imagine the attack ads they would be running. Imagine the 24/7 misogyny from Republicans.

But when men do it, such as both of those Russian Assets, silence.

Anyway, just tossing this in:

The FOFF can't bring himself to denounce speakers at his MSG hate rally, instead, calling it an "absolute love fest."

Blitzing These Down, Here

Did You Seriously Expect Anything Else From Trump's Nazi Rally?

Outrage is continuing to mount following the racist anti-Puerto Rican remarks at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York as Democrats, celebrities and even some Republicans condemned the incident.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe came under fire for comments made about Latinos and Puerto Rico at the Sunday rally.

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said, among other controversial remarks.

He wasn't the only racist motherfucker on stage. Russia's favorite Fox personality engaged in racist bullshit. Neither of them were disavowed by the COFF when he took the stage.

Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Jews, women, all were insulted in the TOFF's little hatefest.

Find This Trumper and Lock Him Up Until the Launch of NX-01

Police said Monday that a “suspect vehicle” has been identified in connection with incendiary devices that set fires to ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state.

Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, Oregon, just before security personnel nearby discovered a fire inside the box on Monday, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner told a news conference.

That fire damaged three ballots inside, while officials say a fire at a drop box in nearby Vancouver, Washington, early Monday destroyed hundreds of ballots. The devices were attached to the outside of the boxes, police said.

He's either a MAGA terrorist or a Russian agent, but I repeat myself.

Works for Me!

Musk Plays Both Sides

Besides sucking up to the TOFF, he's sucking up to Putin.

For national security reasons, we may need to nationalize SpaceX before he tries to move it to Brazil or some other country that he can buy.

Lock Him Up!

Per today's Doonesbury.

The Last Vestige of Slavery in the Constitution

That is the Electoral College. It was put in place, in part, to give outsized influence in selecting presidents to slave states. It remains the most undemocratic part of our system of electing people, for it makes the presidency and vice presidency the only elected offices in the country for which it matters not how many people voted for them,

And if you live in a state that reliably goes one way or the other, your vote is more or less meaningless. Your only other way to have a say is to donate cash.

I know, it's not going to change, sort of a constitutional convention. Republicans like it because they have a shot at winning despite rarely having the most votes. The so-called swing states love it, because it means that people pay attention to them.

But it's undemocratic bullshit and if Republicans were honest with themselves, they'd admit that. They're depending on a slavery institution.

So you could argue that modern Republicans love slavery, which is a hell of a fall from their origins.

Your Sunday Morning Rotor Noise

The old, reliable Shithook!

The Reverse Midas Touch of the TOFF

Everything he touches turns to shit.

Caturday

Priss and Speck.

Profiles in Cowardice; WaPo Ed.

The editorial staff drafted an endorsement of Kamala Harris and the publisher overruled them. The publisher, let's not forget, is an ethically-challenged crony of Rupert Murdoch.

"Democracy Dies in Darkness" has been the WaPo's slogan for the past several years.

How about "Democracy is Dying Because We are Craven Cowards" for a new slogan for them? Or "Fuck Democracy, Lord Bezos Wants His Tax Break"? The TOFF was correct when he bestowed the nickname "Jeff Bozo".

Meanwhile, people are leaving the LA Times for similar cowardice.

The Two Faces of Donald Trump; Arab-Israeli Ed.

He's telling Bibi to "do what you need to" and telling Arab-Americans that he opposes the war.

If you vote for the SOFF because you oppose the wars in Gaza, Lebanon (and possibly Iran), then you have hummus for brains.

Because It's Friday

Fairy Queen, the world's oldest operational steam locomotive.

Stifle Your Anger and Figure It Out

I get that Arab-Americans are furious. I'm not denying or denigrating that.

But this is the choice: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

Anyone who thinks that there is no difference between the two should rethink that stance. It doesn't really matter which issue is at hand. There is a difference between the two. To those who are unhappy with both and are going to sit on their hands, I have three messages for you:

1. If you can vote and you don't vote, then you should shut the fuck up about what happens starting at noon, EST on January 20th, 2025.  You could have had your say, you chose to not bother, so not only should you shut the fuck up, go away until after you vote in the mid-term election in 2026.
2. Seek professional help.
3. Consider emigrating.  You evidently don't care enough about your freedom or this country to exercise your right to vote, so go to another country where elections don't matter or are organized farces.  May I suggest Russia or Hungary, for starters.

Not voting is choosing to miss your opportunity to make your voice heard (and yes, I've lived in places were elections were decided by two votes and even tied). A few votes can make a difference.

But for some, never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity is a long tradition.

Forking These Down, Here

Dig into a religious leader, find a kiddie fucker.

NRA Can't Catch a Break

Douglas Hamlin, who was appointed to lead the NRA this summer in the wake of a long-running corruption scandal at the gun rights group, was involved decades ago in the sadistic killing of a fraternity house cat named BK, according to several local media reports at the time.

I'm not going to discuss my thoughts about the sort of people who could do what was done to poor BK.

But man, if you're hiring for a company or organization that has a large public presence, do a deep dive on the web when you're vetting people. If you don't know how to do that, then drag your dead ass to your local university and hire a kid from computer sciences or library sciences to do it for you. A hell of a lot of newspapers have digitized their archives and dollars to doughnuts that searching those resources would have unearthed this story.

And if you're a candidate for such a job and you have some dirt like this in your past, then consider what will happen when someone digs it up. Even if the archives aren't searchable online, somebody out there will remember it and contact a reporter. So now, while few people may have know of it, now millions know about Doug the Cat-Burner

Late to the Party, NYT and John Kelly Ed.

Few top officials spent more time behind closed doors in the White House with President Donald J. Trump than John F. Kelly, the former Marine general who was his longest-serving chief of staff.

With Election Day looming, Mr. Kelly — deeply bothered by Mr. Trump’s recent comments about employing the military against his domestic opponents — agreed to three on-the-record, recorded discussions with a reporter for The New York Times about the former president, providing some of his most wide-ranging comments yet about Mr. Trump’s fitness and character.
...
He said that, in his opinion, Mr. Trump met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law.

Awfully nice of the New York Times to run this story now, after nearly twenty million people have already gone to the polls.

I'm not sure what they believe they are going to accomplish. It's not exactly news that the SOFF admires Hitler and is a fascist to his core. None of his supporters care about that.

What I suspect is that the owners of the paper, who may have wanted the FOFF to win because he'd cut their taxes, have finally woken up to either the danger that he poses to the Republic or, more likely, the chances that they will be blamed, in part, for the destruction of our democratic system should he win. That may be why they have stopped sane-washing him and have begun to cover his clear mental decline, after months and months of only focusing on Joe Biden's. That is why they are running this interview with Gen. Kelly.

Well, damn them all. There are plenty of other news sources out there. I, for one, will not forget their venality.

It Becomes Personal When They Target You

A decade ago, Jessie McGrath began a physical transition to make her body match her gender identity. More recently, she underwent a political transformation.

A veteran, NRA member and lifelong Republican, McGrath stuck with her political leanings even after starting gender reassignment surgeries in 2014 at the age of 53. Then Donald Trump and his opposition to gender reassignment surgery changed her mind.

Her situation is a living example of Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem about Nazism.

First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew

Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Catholics And I did not speak out because I was not a Catholic

Then they came for me And by that time there was no one left to speak out for me.

I'm happy for her that she has found peace in her life. It's a story that I've heard/read numerous times, far more than the bullshit and hate the far Right spreads around. But yeah, it is a little worthy of mention that Trump's bigotry didn't seem to bother her until it became personal.

It still doesn't seem to bother Caitlyn the Quisling.

N.B.: Anti-trans hate comments will not see the light of day and may result in the commenter joining the Banhammer List.

Praying These Down, Here