This is only unthinkable if you are rich white tech liberal, everyone else sees rich white men helping each other #uspol #larryellison

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21135722/larry-ellison-donald-trump-fundraiser

21st Century Autocracy https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/02/11/21st-century-autocracy #uspol #autocracy #trump

(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)

Unacceptable. Americans, please give this a read, Helen is speaking truth about us.

Ro had this article sitting in his "saved" list, and I've been reading it all afternoon on and off. It's by Helene Schouten, and was written in October 2015, and it's a real eye-opener. I won't quote it yet, because that would mean reducing it to "important" or "notable" parts and I haven't spent nearly enough time with it to tell which parts to safely extract without breaking it.

Mo Martin on truth, uncertainty, and Trump

Man, Mo nails it - the current political climate (it's been building for a generation or two) is post-truth and it intentionally breaks down the epistemological connections we need for a functioning society.

Sound the dread alarm Through the primal body Sound a reveille To be or not to be #uspol #democracy

Senate Republicans just paved the road to American authoritarianism:

The precedents they have set are alarming. Trump’s defense partly argued that a president must violate a specific crime in order to be impeached.

The defense made the argument, probably with the guidance and support of the right honorable Mitch McConnell and co, who than affirmed it. This whole debacle was an exercise in providing cover for Republicans to make their predetermined votes. And their complaints about the House Democrats amount to "it's their fault for bringing this to the Senate when they know we rigged it -- what did they think was going to happen?"

But imagine the following scenario: This weekend, Trump tweets that he will pardon anyone who engages in blatant voter suppression or voter intimidation before the November election. Hundreds of henchmen take it upon themselves to act, helping ensure his reelection. Trump’s legal and constitutional authority to pardon them is unquestioned. It would be a corrupt abuse of presidential power, but not a crime.

Trump now has a blank check. We all know that he will try to cash it.

He'll cash it, and cash it, and cash it, with the Senate Republican's co-signing and cackling the whole time.

Republican Senators today are telling us that none of us should be allowed a fair trial, while sending a signal to this and all future US Presidents exactly how to avoid impeachment, and to other countries that we don't mean it when we tell them to fight corruption honestly.

https://twitter.com/allatti2d/status/1223376266893516800

I think we're looking at the coming end of a government with co-equal branches. The Senate Republicans, tying their pursuit of personal power to Trump's own, have abdicated their Constitutional role and are effectively handing Trump a monarchy.

I suppose they cannot imagine a Democrat taking the position again, or believe in that case they will simply find a way to again redefine the Presidency on their own terms? I don't know.

#kingtrump #uspol #crimeboss

President Season: I’ve been mostly quiet about the presidential race because… to be honest I’ve been quiet about everything about #politics for a while.

I do want to write a bit about the pro

https://t.co/y0I9Rktqlj

I've been mostly quiet about the presidential race because... to be honest I've been quiet about everything about #politics for a while.

I do want to write a bit about the process, and the President, and I will be posting more as the race goes on, but here are a few opening thoughts:

I'm embarrassed that our nation elected Trump, and I've spent the last 3 years trying to pretend it didn't happen. That I can simply ignore the state of things is a sign of my immense #privilege as a middle-class white dude who is very gainfully employed in tech in America, and I'm looking for more ways to use that privilege to lift others.

I want to vote for a woman (again), so I'm looking for ways to help out.

I will vote Biden if I absolutely must, and Bloomberg was wrong to ride the "white, non-Bernie, non-woman wave" rather than putting his $$$ behind one of the current Democratic candidates.

Right now I like Klobuchar and support Elizabeth Warren. I'm glad Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand ran, but they've dropped from the race due to lack of financial support.

In general, I really like the themes that we see in Klobuchar's and Warren's campaigns: hard work and planning, two things that are the antitheses of Trump's candidacy and presidency.

RT @StremorJoe: it's ALIVE!!!! http://t.co/f6pUBoS2 is out of beta and ready for the public. Check out our #epic Heuristics Engine #pol ...

RT @StremorJoe: Unpartial teaser video. http://t.co/KP1UTkOe Follow the action http://t.co/I7l0FtJH #politics

'str' object has no attribute 'spit #politecode