There are days I want to take any Republican I run across, grab him by the throat and smash his face with a ten pound sledgehammer. Repeatedly. Today is one of those days. God damn them all to hell! I’m speaking of the complete hypocrisy and total shitheadedness of what happened today in the House of Representatives: the expulsion of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from her position as a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
I just read a news report about the College Board’s pusillanimous catering to the outrageous insistence by Ron DeSantis and other right-wing crazies to water down an AP course on Black History.
Do you realize how you are shooting yourselves in the foot? What happened to academic rigor? Or freedom? What happened to your integrity? You gave in to the patently racist demands of some truly ignorant and sadly self-serving politicians of the worst kind.
Conservatives are for ignorance, not education. What kind of future do you intend for my children and grandchildren?
What kind of example are you setting for your children and grandchildren?
I can only conclude that somewhere along the line in your education you all skipped the critical thinking portion.
I am beyond disappointed. I am disgusted.
Daughter replied: Mom- say what you really mean…
So I texted back: Now this is a guy who always says what he means…
"Conservatives are for ignorance, not education." You have certainly hit the nail on the head. What a great letter! These people are in such an alternate reality, I wonder if they even have the capacity to feel pain?
I just had a dreamy vision of you spitting this out with fury on a Broadway stage. The audience slowly dropped their disbelieving jaws...they drool over the imagery....and then...and then.... a long standing ovation. People said they were so hoarse from screaming "YES, YES, YES!!!", they couldn't talk for days.
But then they all got on buses and went to DC. They visited the Capitol. And they screamed. A lot.
The whole thing went viral and then a rally ensued. The insurrectionist idiots were blocked from entering the place they tried to burn down. Thousands of grandmothers brought mace and baseball bats to use on the Fascists. They didn't need to use them. The traitors ran. tictok exploded. The world applauded.
TC, I share your rage. Gov. DeSantis spikes my B/P daily. My recently published letter to the editor was heavily edited by a once liberal stalwart newspaper, who now pull their punches. I followed up by writing a scathing observation to their board that they are avoiding conflict with the Governor by censoring themselves and me. Autocracy 101, silence the press. Here is my original letter:
“Who is Gov. DeSantis?
Now that the election is over, the mask comes off. Fake smile gone, he’s all snarling attack dog. And what he’s attempting to bring down is nothing less than liberal democracy, starting at its roots, education.
He’s packing school boards with his right wing buddies, threatening tenure and certification, firing liberal and moderate administrators and defunding anything that mentions racism, equality or diversity. I shudder to think what a DeSantis approved civics class would look like.
This is not “academic excellence” it’s a hostile takeover of education by a far right minority. It’s pure doublespeak when our governor accuses schools of indoctrination, while using the power of his office to establish his own brand of conservative religious indoctrination. His naked ambition and authoritarian tendencies are now visible for all to see. While he bellows “freedom” at every public appearance, he systematically undermines the very institutions that protect it. DeSantis is a clear and present danger to education and ultimately democracy.”
I share this because DeSantis has become a contender for the 2024 presidential election. A Freedom Caucus alumni and Yale & Harvard graduate, he is dangerous, ambitious and well connected. We must stop him.
Yeah, this was expected but nonetheless it was a sorry ass spectacle and there’s more of this kabuki theater shit to come. All the GOP has left is anger and resentment in its nearly empty bag of resources and this is only the beginning of it being unleashed.
what's particularly unfortunate (I'd be happy to change that to "disgusting) about this terrible turn Israel has taken is that the original settlers were Labor Zionists, who didn't embrace any specific religious point of view (many of them were agnostics, actually) and defined themselves largely as Socialists. and Martin Buber (one of the two or three most distinguished early Israeli citizens) frequently discussed the necessity of working out some kind of just modus vivendi with the resident Islamic population.
last year, an old girlfriend of mine, who was raised in the Marxist-Zionist movement ( she was my All Things Left-Wing Teacher) told me that she hasn't been able to think about Israel in any kind of affectionate terms for a very long time. this is a big deal because when I say she was raised in the movement, I mean it was a huge part of her existence and the reason she was unable to speak for more than three minutes with the often-ridiculous New Left types who were thick as thieves in pretty much every school in the country in the late '60s (to which it should hardly be necessary to add "especially at CCNY").
Irving Howe was one of my teachers in graduate school and was nothing if not Old Left and a lifelong Zionist, but after a few visits to Israel, he'd privately tell friends "I can't relate to Israelis...they're not like us...they're violent and nasty." that's going a little far, but I know exactly what he means. I spent some time in Israel with the aforementioned girlfriend in 1969 (is it possible I mention 1969 too much? what can I say?...it was a VERY good year) and I was pretty impressed, but it felt like all the Israelis I encountered who were in a position to make my life miserable were very eager to do so. if they could have thrown me out of the country, they would have thrown me out of the country because they felt like the last thing they needed was another hashish-seeking Jewish hippie. and I'm not gonna lie about the hashish part. I was told that during the Six-Day War, the only thing that remained the way it was before that war was the hashish trade. my point is that there was always a nasty streak in the most extreme Israelis, but they weren't running the country fifty-plus years ago.
even that professional putz Bret Stephens hates Netanyahu. the first time I saw him, I thought "uh-oh neighborhood bully." and he has proven to be just that. with bells on.
When I was in graduate school in 1972, I had an Israeli Sabra friend among the fellow students. He had been a platoon leader in the company of the Israeli Army that liberated the Wailing Wall in 1967. As they were praying there, the first Jews to do so in 20 years, he heard his company commander: "Help us, god - we won." Unfortunately there hasn't been much help there.
TC, you really need to let your feelings out and not keep them bottled up. This was a superb piece of writing, my only question is - Is there evidence that MTG was charging at the gym?
Thank you for articulating the rage I feel toward the entire GOP and those who support them. But it was gratifying to see a tiny Muslim woman make them look like the punk asses they truly are.
I'm grateful I live in a state now dominated by Dems who are emphasizing education because our previous dominance by the GOP made it clear that stupidity must has to be more than countered; it must be conquered.
“Burn in Hell forever, you miserable motherfuckers.” Isn’t that Bruce Willis’s line from...oh wait. Nope. Close, but yours is better. I got a chuckle, and Congresswoman Omar will get her day. It’s in the bag.
Thank you for speaking my mind so I don’t have to ... I used all those colorful words and more... my house panthers were as upset as I am. Those hideous cretins MUST be Removed either by law or righteous vote. I do believe lying Santos will be removed and hopefully extradited back to Brazil from whence he came. Do they still do firing squad there? One can dream.
Lord, What a way with words, couldn’t agree more. Somebody needs to stand up to these wannabe Nazis like few did in the 30’s. Sophie Scholl needs some admirers in this country before it’s too late.
Excellent venting, well aimed and well deserved. My only real surprise and complaint is why aren't millions more Americans emptying their spleens at reporters, radio stations, anyone they can? The indignant must outnumber the dipshits, surely?
As a supposedly neutral observer, I have been biting my tongue for days now regarding recent American diplomacy, which I perceive as too often being duplicity. Firstly the submissive sweeping aside of and refusal to pursue the matter of justice for American citizen and Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by an IDF soldier.
Then there's Blinken's visit this past week where he rightly condemned a lone Palestinian gunman retaliatory action but did not call out Israel's government for their contributions of killing women and children within their homes inside refugee camps. Netanyahu won't even say "Palestine" let alone recognize the possibility of them having a state - he is going to do what Putin is trying to do to Ukraine.
How did your House of Representatives get here? Apparently Trumplestiltskin stole the 2016 election. Or, more accurately, he had it handed to him by Putin, his oligarchs, the asleep-at--the-wheel captured media, a corrupted NY-FBI who influenced the DOJ to doom Hillary Clinton's campaign at the last minute. All cleaned up later by Barr and a handful of other useful idiots. That's if I'm comprehending part 2 of Prof. Snyder's latest substack correctly. It is a slog, with a lot of reference links worth examining, and I will be reading it again tomorrow to deepen my understanding, after letting it sink in a bit today.
They are terrible and shouldn’t be anywhere near power in government, fueled as they are by spite and lies and not much else. But I also can’t ignore their ordinary (economic status) backers across America who hate so much they blindly vote for those who work against the democratic system, even when it hurts them. There’s a national mental illness crisis we have going on here.
And why isn’t Jordan’s committee investigating the NY FBI since the arrest of McGonigal for espionage? That seems to be a pretty serious matter. Never mind, they wouldn’t know where to start.
Huh. Maybe I finally invented a meme word. I've been using it for about a year, watching all the political fakakte he created there. It's "open source," so use away.
I shared the letter I sent earlier today to the College Board re: their shameful capitulation to Ron deSatan with my daughter:
apcoursepilot@collegeboard.org
To Whom It May Concern at the College Board,
I just read a news report about the College Board’s pusillanimous catering to the outrageous insistence by Ron DeSantis and other right-wing crazies to water down an AP course on Black History.
Do you realize how you are shooting yourselves in the foot? What happened to academic rigor? Or freedom? What happened to your integrity? You gave in to the patently racist demands of some truly ignorant and sadly self-serving politicians of the worst kind.
Conservatives are for ignorance, not education. What kind of future do you intend for my children and grandchildren?
What kind of example are you setting for your children and grandchildren?
I can only conclude that somewhere along the line in your education you all skipped the critical thinking portion.
I am beyond disappointed. I am disgusted.
Daughter replied: Mom- say what you really mean…
So I texted back: Now this is a guy who always says what he means…
and pasted a link to your letter TC.
Thank you always!
Yours is very damn good too.
Good for you, mom. These ignoramuses shouldnt mess with moms - theres no telling WHAT will become of them!
"Conservatives are for ignorance, not education." You have certainly hit the nail on the head. What a great letter! These people are in such an alternate reality, I wonder if they even have the capacity to feel pain?
Thank you, Jeanne. Woke up thinking new license plate for the Sunshine State should read Floridumb and Dumber!
Dumber and Dumberer.
🤓
Brava, CC.
beautiful! I would have gotten carried away and ended up shooting myself in the foot, as it were.
Outstanding letter! Concise and absolutely on point.
TC!
I just had a dreamy vision of you spitting this out with fury on a Broadway stage. The audience slowly dropped their disbelieving jaws...they drool over the imagery....and then...and then.... a long standing ovation. People said they were so hoarse from screaming "YES, YES, YES!!!", they couldn't talk for days.
But then they all got on buses and went to DC. They visited the Capitol. And they screamed. A lot.
The whole thing went viral and then a rally ensued. The insurrectionist idiots were blocked from entering the place they tried to burn down. Thousands of grandmothers brought mace and baseball bats to use on the Fascists. They didn't need to use them. The traitors ran. tictok exploded. The world applauded.
Then I woke up.
Nice dream!
Nice screenplay.
If only!
Dream on Bill A!! What if it comes True? True!!
Keep dreaming Bill A. Nice one to come true! Think about that---true......
Love it Bill!
TC, I share your rage. Gov. DeSantis spikes my B/P daily. My recently published letter to the editor was heavily edited by a once liberal stalwart newspaper, who now pull their punches. I followed up by writing a scathing observation to their board that they are avoiding conflict with the Governor by censoring themselves and me. Autocracy 101, silence the press. Here is my original letter:
“Who is Gov. DeSantis?
Now that the election is over, the mask comes off. Fake smile gone, he’s all snarling attack dog. And what he’s attempting to bring down is nothing less than liberal democracy, starting at its roots, education.
He’s packing school boards with his right wing buddies, threatening tenure and certification, firing liberal and moderate administrators and defunding anything that mentions racism, equality or diversity. I shudder to think what a DeSantis approved civics class would look like.
This is not “academic excellence” it’s a hostile takeover of education by a far right minority. It’s pure doublespeak when our governor accuses schools of indoctrination, while using the power of his office to establish his own brand of conservative religious indoctrination. His naked ambition and authoritarian tendencies are now visible for all to see. While he bellows “freedom” at every public appearance, he systematically undermines the very institutions that protect it. DeSantis is a clear and present danger to education and ultimately democracy.”
I share this because DeSantis has become a contender for the 2024 presidential election. A Freedom Caucus alumni and Yale & Harvard graduate, he is dangerous, ambitious and well connected. We must stop him.
We must stop DeSatan
Diane, YES, YES YES! And did I say YES?
TC, I have to agree with Dave Conant. You have to really let
it all out! Don't keep it bottled
up inside.😁 This was most likely
what so many of us would really
like to say on the House floor.
Thanks.👍
Yeah, this was expected but nonetheless it was a sorry ass spectacle and there’s more of this kabuki theater shit to come. All the GOP has left is anger and resentment in its nearly empty bag of resources and this is only the beginning of it being unleashed.
Invest in popcorn futures! :-)
jeez, Tom, you're sounding like me.
what's particularly unfortunate (I'd be happy to change that to "disgusting) about this terrible turn Israel has taken is that the original settlers were Labor Zionists, who didn't embrace any specific religious point of view (many of them were agnostics, actually) and defined themselves largely as Socialists. and Martin Buber (one of the two or three most distinguished early Israeli citizens) frequently discussed the necessity of working out some kind of just modus vivendi with the resident Islamic population.
last year, an old girlfriend of mine, who was raised in the Marxist-Zionist movement ( she was my All Things Left-Wing Teacher) told me that she hasn't been able to think about Israel in any kind of affectionate terms for a very long time. this is a big deal because when I say she was raised in the movement, I mean it was a huge part of her existence and the reason she was unable to speak for more than three minutes with the often-ridiculous New Left types who were thick as thieves in pretty much every school in the country in the late '60s (to which it should hardly be necessary to add "especially at CCNY").
Irving Howe was one of my teachers in graduate school and was nothing if not Old Left and a lifelong Zionist, but after a few visits to Israel, he'd privately tell friends "I can't relate to Israelis...they're not like us...they're violent and nasty." that's going a little far, but I know exactly what he means. I spent some time in Israel with the aforementioned girlfriend in 1969 (is it possible I mention 1969 too much? what can I say?...it was a VERY good year) and I was pretty impressed, but it felt like all the Israelis I encountered who were in a position to make my life miserable were very eager to do so. if they could have thrown me out of the country, they would have thrown me out of the country because they felt like the last thing they needed was another hashish-seeking Jewish hippie. and I'm not gonna lie about the hashish part. I was told that during the Six-Day War, the only thing that remained the way it was before that war was the hashish trade. my point is that there was always a nasty streak in the most extreme Israelis, but they weren't running the country fifty-plus years ago.
even that professional putz Bret Stephens hates Netanyahu. the first time I saw him, I thought "uh-oh neighborhood bully." and he has proven to be just that. with bells on.
so much sickening shit happening...
When I was in graduate school in 1972, I had an Israeli Sabra friend among the fellow students. He had been a platoon leader in the company of the Israeli Army that liberated the Wailing Wall in 1967. As they were praying there, the first Jews to do so in 20 years, he heard his company commander: "Help us, god - we won." Unfortunately there hasn't been much help there.
his company commander was most prescient.
Hey Tom tell me what you really think! Yes, it certainly makes the ignorance prevalent in this chamber so very obvious, doesnt it?
She certainly fired right back at them tho - good for her.
TC, you really need to let your feelings out and not keep them bottled up. This was a superb piece of writing, my only question is - Is there evidence that MTG was charging at the gym?
I Laughed Out Loud. What she is allegedly best at doesn't involve anyone having to look at that face that's as ugly as her soul.
Thank you for articulating the rage I feel toward the entire GOP and those who support them. But it was gratifying to see a tiny Muslim woman make them look like the punk asses they truly are.
I'm grateful I live in a state now dominated by Dems who are emphasizing education because our previous dominance by the GOP made it clear that stupidity must has to be more than countered; it must be conquered.
“Burn in Hell forever, you miserable motherfuckers.” Isn’t that Bruce Willis’s line from...oh wait. Nope. Close, but yours is better. I got a chuckle, and Congresswoman Omar will get her day. It’s in the bag.
Thank you for speaking my mind so I don’t have to ... I used all those colorful words and more... my house panthers were as upset as I am. Those hideous cretins MUST be Removed either by law or righteous vote. I do believe lying Santos will be removed and hopefully extradited back to Brazil from whence he came. Do they still do firing squad there? One can dream.
Lord, What a way with words, couldn’t agree more. Somebody needs to stand up to these wannabe Nazis like few did in the 30’s. Sophie Scholl needs some admirers in this country before it’s too late.
Excellent venting, well aimed and well deserved. My only real surprise and complaint is why aren't millions more Americans emptying their spleens at reporters, radio stations, anyone they can? The indignant must outnumber the dipshits, surely?
As a supposedly neutral observer, I have been biting my tongue for days now regarding recent American diplomacy, which I perceive as too often being duplicity. Firstly the submissive sweeping aside of and refusal to pursue the matter of justice for American citizen and Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by an IDF soldier.
Then there's Blinken's visit this past week where he rightly condemned a lone Palestinian gunman retaliatory action but did not call out Israel's government for their contributions of killing women and children within their homes inside refugee camps. Netanyahu won't even say "Palestine" let alone recognize the possibility of them having a state - he is going to do what Putin is trying to do to Ukraine.
How did your House of Representatives get here? Apparently Trumplestiltskin stole the 2016 election. Or, more accurately, he had it handed to him by Putin, his oligarchs, the asleep-at--the-wheel captured media, a corrupted NY-FBI who influenced the DOJ to doom Hillary Clinton's campaign at the last minute. All cleaned up later by Barr and a handful of other useful idiots. That's if I'm comprehending part 2 of Prof. Snyder's latest substack correctly. It is a slog, with a lot of reference links worth examining, and I will be reading it again tomorrow to deepen my understanding, after letting it sink in a bit today.
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-trauma-of-2016-spy-scandal-part?r=8u0q8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
excellent link to Snyder's Substack. thanks.
They are terrible and shouldn’t be anywhere near power in government, fueled as they are by spite and lies and not much else. But I also can’t ignore their ordinary (economic status) backers across America who hate so much they blindly vote for those who work against the democratic system, even when it hurts them. There’s a national mental illness crisis we have going on here.
And why isn’t Jordan’s committee investigating the NY FBI since the arrest of McGonigal for espionage? That seems to be a pretty serious matter. Never mind, they wouldn’t know where to start.
Nitwityahoo!!!
And bravo to you for this whole post, Tom.
Nitwityahoo! Why hadn’t anyone coined that before? It seems so...natural. :)
Huh. Maybe I finally invented a meme word. I've been using it for about a year, watching all the political fakakte he created there. It's "open source," so use away.
Suggest we all donate to her, no matter the amount. Only way to beat the MFs at the moment is with $$ and defeat.
Yes! An excellent idea.