Chris Krebs

UPDATE: 12/2/20 - one of Trump's lawyers, Joe diGenova, made the public statement that Krebs should be "drawn and quartered" and "taken out at dawn and shot".

Remember Chris Krebs? A while agoI posted a video of him and FBI director Christopher Wray and others on the security of our election. He was the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency until Trump recently fired him with a tweet because he dared to say that the 2020 election was a safe one.

Tonight he was interviewed on 60 Minutes. What Krebs had to say shows how baseless and dishonest Trump's claims of voter fraud are. Here's a clip ...

Some music

Eagles, 1977, Capital Centre, Maryland (I think).

Assassination

Top Iranian Nuclear Scientist Assassinated, State Media Report

A top Iranian scientist believed to be responsible for developing the country's military nuclear program has been killed, Iranian state television said Friday.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed while in a car just outside the capital of Tehran by attackers using explosives and machine guns, the state media said, describing the assailants as "armed terrorist elements ..."

So, who had him killed? Israel? Trump? Israel and Trump? Don't forget that Trump had another Iranian assassinated - major general Qasem Soleimani. And Israel is purported to have killed a number of Iranian scientists in the past.

According to CNBC: The Pentagon, Department of State and the National Security Council declined to comment. President Donald Trump did, however, retweet a news article and commentary about Fakhrizadeh’s death.

This will, of course, make it harder for Biden to revive a nuclear accord with Iran in the future. From Trump's pov, it's all good.

I see dead people

On this Thanksgiving, thousands of families are missing their loved ones who have died of the coronavirus. When people disregard COVID restrictions, they put other people's lives at risk, not just their own. Maybe that's easy to do if all you see are death numbers on a screen. But every number represents a real person who is missed by their friends and families ...

Death cult

The fruits of a Trump presidency were on display as the Supreme Court's reactionary Catholic judges voted to allow churches to free themselves of COVID restrictions, even though churches are a major source of virus spread.

One of the plaintiffs in the case was Nicholas DiMarzio, Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn, accused of past sex abuse of children (Brooklyn bishop accused by 2nd man of sex abuse in the 1970s).

In a 5-4 ruling, Supreme Court sides with religious groups in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions in New York

In a 5-4 ruling, the US Supreme Court sided with religious organizations in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions put in place by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo limiting the number of people attending religious services.

The case is the latest pitting religious groups against city and state officials seeking to stop the spread of Covid-19, and it highlights the impact of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the court. The decision comes as coronavirus cases surge across the country ....

Conservatives go on about "religious liberty". Sometimes that means the ability of churches to discriminate against others, like women and LGBTQ people, with impunity. In this case, it means the ability to spread a deadly virus in the name of God. Way to be a death cult.

Thanks

Woodstock

I dreamed last night that I was posting this song written by Joni Mitchell on my blog. In my dream it was the Crosby, Stills & Nash version, which has the words a little different ...



When I was young I believed that we were special in a good way, that we had the potential to make the world a better place. Now half the country is comprised of a would-be dictator's meat puppets. So disappointing.

Don't risk

Here's Rachel Maddow, who has been quarantining since her partner caught the virus: "Your Risks Could Hurt Those You Love Most" ...



I understand this. My sister, my brother-in-law, and I are in a bubble ... if one of us gets it, it's probable that we all will get it.

Bad governor

Let it not be said that I am such a partisan Democrat that I ignore when my own people mess up. Case in point: my governor, Gavin Newsom ...



The first clue of his fallibility? He was married to this ...

Jonestown

Yesterday was the anniversary of the Jonestoen massacre (11/18/1978) ...

In total, 909 individuals died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some Peoples Temple members on an audio tape of the event, and in prior recorded discussions. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at Port Kaituma, including United States Congressman Leo Ryan, an act that Jones ordered. Four other Temple members committed murder–suicide in Georgetown at Jones' command.

Terms used to describe the deaths in Jonestown and Georgetown evolved over time. Many contemporary media accounts after the events called the deaths a mass suicide. In contrast, most sources today refer to the deaths with terms such as mass murder–suicide, a massacre, or simply mass murder. Seventy or more individuals at Jonestown were injected with poison, and a third of the victims (304) were minors. Guards armed with guns and crossbows had been ordered to shoot those who fled the Jonestown pavilion as Jones lobbied for suicide.

I bring this up because I am reminded of it, given the death toll that's being created by Trump and his administration. As mentioned before, a stidy has shown that Trump's rallies have caused the deaths of over 700 people from COVID. And it's not just Trump's rallies - his refusal to wear a mask, his attacks on COVID restrictions, his lies about the deadliness of the virus, all have contributed to American deaths.

And then there's Trump's latest protegé - radiologist Scott Atlas - who advises people to rise up against COVID restrictions, advises them to have large gatherings at Thanksgiving with elderly family members ...



Jim Jones was a murderous cult leader, responsible for the deaths of 900+ people. How many is Trump responsible for?

3 cats

I tried to get a photo of the squirrels in the pecan tree but they eluded me. Instead I got some pics of my cat companions ...

Here is Hansel sitting amid all the pecan schmutz ....

Mouse was on his favorite dead tree stump ...

Here's Mango, who lives down the street but stops by every day ...

Maskinng

Remember when Trump predicted that on November 4, the day after the election, states would open up and the virus would disappear, because it was just a hoax the Democrats created to get votes?

He lied. Again. The pandemc is now worse than ever. There is a vaccine on the distant horizon, but in the meantime all we have to rely on is basic avoidance - social distancing and masking.

Here's Dr. Vin Gupta on The 11th Hour tonight, talking about the best masks ...



I only recently realized that the polyurethane mask I've been wearing over and over again for the last 8 months is not made to filter out viruses like COVID and should be disgarded after only 3 wearings. Eeeeek! (Can Japanese Pitta Masks Protect Against Coronavirus?) That's what I get for buying a mask with a product description in a language I can't read ;)

Pompeo

And the Obsequious Toady Award goes to Mike Pompeo! Another Republican kisses Trump's loser ass by pretending his boss has won the election - something that only 3% of Americans believe.

Trump praised Mikey in a tweet, mentioning him as first in his class at West Point. They must be so proud.

Pompeo is planning to run for pesident someday. Trump is planning to keep control of his base of voters after ke leaves office through the formation of a PAC, and Don Jr. and his harpy girlfriend are planning to take over the RNC. So, Pompeo must continue to kiss ass indefinately.

Celebrate

There is dancing in the streets as Americans around the country celebrate the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Our victory. The last four years of a national nightmare will soon be over.

Yay!

The AP ...

Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided US

Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by the historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil. His victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots. Biden crossed 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania ...

Thank God.

We Are the Champions

During the Trump years, the Republicans, and especially Trump, never missed a chance to stick it to the Democratic (not "Democrat") party. The counting of the ballots is not yet over, and there was no blue wave, but I feel that our (almost certain) winning of the presidency is enough to make we Democrats the champions :)

Steve Kornacki

I now know way more about election details than ever, all thanks to MSNBC's Steve Kornacki. During this crazy election, his expertise has made him famous ...

MSNBC 'map daddy' Steve Kornacki emerges as election #chartthrob

Election followers hanging on every vote tally from the hotly contested US presidential race this week have found a spark of joy from high-energy, math-tastic, khaki-clad MSNBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki.

The election may be divisive as President Donald Trump dukes it out with Democrat challenger Joe Biden, but Twitter appeared united in its love for Kornacki's on-the-fly math skills and ability to function for hours on end with no sleep ...

The best people

Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, a conservative Catholic (Steve Bannon and U.S. ultra-conservatives take aim at Pope Francis), has had one of his Twitter accounts suspended because he has advocated chopping off the heads of Dr. Fauci and FBI director Chris Wray and displaying them on pikes at the White House.

I wrote in my last post that it was disturbing to realize there were so many Trump supporters in the country, and I called them "bad". I felt a little guilty about that, but maybe I shouldn't have. I'd really like to hear the "good" person's argument for Trump and all the scumbags and nutballs he has foisted uponn this country these last four years. I don't believe there is one.

Election results

At least so far. It looks like Biden has a small lead in electoral votes, and may get more when all the mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania and other states are finally counted. But the Democrats couldn't flip the Senate.

And of course, Trump wants the voting to stop, as he declares victory, and he promises to go to (his minions at) the Supreme Court to get a win. Good luck with that.

The most disturbing thing: polls don't really seem to be working anymore. Apparently, about half of the country sees a lying, racist, sexist, crooked and deadly would-be dictator, and says, "yes, I want four more years of that".

I don't get it. Can that many people really be (yes, I'm going to say it) bad? Holy sh*t!

More later, as the polling continues.

The walk-back

Remember when Pope Francis said that he was for LGBTQ civil unions?

And remember when I posted here that nothing would come of that? Here is the inevitable walk-back from the Vatican ...

Vatican says Pope's comments on same-sex civil unions were taken out of context

[...] "It is clear that Pope Francis was referring to certain provisions made by states, and certainly not to the doctrine of the Church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years," the letter [from the Vatican] explains ...

The church has a vested interest* in trying to insure that gay people cannot have legal families like the rest of us ... spouses and children. ... and this is why they lobbied against making marriage equality legal in the US. The church will not recognize civil marriage equality, much less marry gay people in the church. And the church will not allow LGBTQ people to adopt children from Catholic run facilities. The party line is that gay relationships are "intrinsically disordered" and that basically, God doesn't want gay people to get married.

The Pope is fully on board with this stance - do the research if you don't believe me. Stop saying he is a liberal. Stop hoping he is going to make any meaningful changes for the better in the church. He wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't a party man.

This is one of the many reasons I've given up on the church.

* About the vested interest .... I'll ask you to imagine how few Catholic priests we would have if the church couldn't convince gay Catholic men that their only option for having a family was joining the priesthood.