President Crazypants Loses His Shit, Fans Stick With Him

This hasn't gotten any less surreal. And I'm still baffled at how
anyone can look up to this buffoon. Image from source.

What can even be said anymore, about what's actually going on in the country?

Traditional news outlets have been deemed "Fake News" by no less than the president himself, and the phrase is repeated by his cult of personality acolytes. Likewise, they refuse to believe anything that doesn't either conform to their already preconceived notions, or to the narrative the president wishes to be true.

Meanwhile, absolutely untrustworthy outlets like right wing talk radio and FOX "News" are now considered to be real news. This would be an awesome time to be a nutbag radio talker. They've got the president's ear! Anything they think might light his fire will be played up, and he's likely to believe it, hook, line and sinker, no evidence necessary.

Always bad at analogies and false equivalencies, conservatives are now apt to make wild comparisons that make apples and oranges seem like an inapt cliche. Maybe apples and Buicks? They're usually that far off. For instance, the comparison now being drawn between the Russia/Trump story--a story with many tangents, and lots of meat on the bone--to Trump's post-midnight Tweet-storm about President Obama having wire-tapped him illegally. There's literally nothing to the latter, and tons of info on the former. Yet, they're comparable as topics to conservatives.

People who were saying there should be no investigation into the Russia charges, because there "is no evidence" are now demanding an investigation into Trump's bizarre Twitter accusations! It's preposterously inconsistent. But, let's circle back to that lame argument, that you can't have an investigation if you don't have hard evidence. Really? Nearly the entire CBS prime time lineup is devoted to police procedurals on the eternal quest for evidence where none had existed. And I know these people watch TV!

[Excerpt]

Congress will investigate Trump's wiretap claims

Key members of Congress say they will honor President Donald Trump's request to investigate his unsubstantiated claim that Barack Obama overstepped his authority as president and had Trump's telephones tapped during the election campaign. A US official said the FBI had asked the Justice Department to dispute Trump's allegation, though no such statement has been issued. . .

Read more at: Business Insider

Donald Trump Again Easily Baited into Tweeting up a Storm

Ladies and gentlemen, the future President of the United States:

Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

I am not trying to get "top level security clearance" for my children. This was a typically false news story.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

The failing @nytimes story is so totally wrong on transition. It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

I have recieved and taken calls from many foreign leaders despite what the failing @nytimes said. Russia, U.K., China, Saudi Arabia, Japan,

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

Australia, New Zealand, and more. I am always available to them. @nytimes is just upset that they looked like fools in their coverage of me.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

Sooooo presidential.

The Gay Thing: Retribution for Gay Bashing in Philadelphia

The Concerned Women for America--a badly named, anti-gay hate group--recently filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court. They're arguing that case for marriage equality shouldn't be treated with heightened scrutiny, because gay people have too much "power." And, I know, with all the talk in Right Wing World about "gaystapos" and "gay mafias" and whatnot, you could take their overplayed rhetoric for more than it is.

In point of fact, in many places in America, a gay person can be fired for no other reason than their sexuality. They can face housing discrimination. Though our we have marriage equality in 19+ states, they aren't recognized in most of the rest of the states, and are only tenuous in some states where they are legal. Conservative Christians--especially from the safety of the internet--have no qualms and no limitations on the nastiness and invective they're willing to unleash. Increasingly, they're also trying to carve out exceptions to the public accommodations laws that do exist, so that they can legally shun gay customers from their businesses. And, we're still regularly subject to abuse, both verbal and physical.

Some of the thugs in question. Image from source, 6ABC

The attack that happened to a young gay couple in Philadelphia recently was only the latest in a string of gay bashings around the country. But this one grabbed people's attention for a couple of reasons. One, it was a crowd of relatively young adults, both men and women who initiated the attack. But more interesting that that, is that this crowd turns out to have been a reunion class from a Pennsylvania Catholic high school, and they gave themselves away via social media. They're busted.

[Excerpt]

CATHOLIC HS COACH FIRED IN CONNECTION TO GAY COUPLE ATTACK IN PHILADELPHIA

Police say they are questioning several people in connection to an attack on two gay men in the Center City Philadelphia area. Though, no suspects have been identified, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia confirmed that one of the people suspected in the attack worked as an assistant basketball coach at Archbishop Wood High School. The Archdiocese went on to tell Action News that person was terminated on Wednesday evening and will not be permitted to be a coach at any other Archdiocesan school. . .

Read more at: 6ABC

President Obama Authorizes Air Strikes, Humanitarian Aid in Iraq

Image from source, TPM

Ugh. I don't like any of this. I don't like the hovering threat of a renewed Iraq war. I don't like that we have to be involved at all. I don't like that the Twitter comments from #TCOTs was overtly negative before the President had finished a sentence. "Thanks Obama, you screwed up Iraq" is a paraphrase of the comments I saw rolling in.

Sure, Iraq was going perfectly when Dubya left office, right? And the end date he settled by treaty, the one that President Obama followed? Mistake! But Obama's mistake. Dubya was just goofin', seeing if the radical Kenyan socialist would fall for it, right? In reality, we should have stayed in Iraq forever. Right?

Listen, I don't pretend to be an expert on Iraq, the Middle East, or much of anything going on over there. Like most Americans, I kind of cringe, and hope it resolves itself before it gets out of hand, but I don't know why it's our problem. Other than that pesky "Pottery Barn Rule." But I sure would like to see conservatives act like Americans when there's a crisis, instead of blaming everything on the President as a reflex.

[Excerpt]

Obama Authorizes Military Air Strikes, Humanitarian Aid In Iraq

President Barack Obama announced Thursday night he had authorized the U.S. military to launch targeted airstrikes if needed to protect Americans from Islamic militants in northern Iraq, threatening to revive U.S. military involvement in the country's long sectarian war.

He also said the U.S. military had carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to Iraqi religious minorities under siege by the extremists. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Daily Show: Jon Stewart Creates #F**kYouRush Hashtag

Without the asterisks, naturally.

[Excerpt]

Jon Stewart blasts ‘rage heap’ Rush Limbaugh: ‘F*ck you’ for mocking missing Nigerian girls

Daily Show host Jon Stewart found himself with two choices regarding the #BringBackOurGirls online campaign: either he could side with activist Malala Yousafzai, who expressed solidarity with the drive to rescue nearly 300 missing Nigerian girls, or with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who called First Lady Michelle Obama’s own gesture of solidarity “pathetic. . .”
 

Read more at: Raw Story

Ann Coulter Gets Thrashed by Twitter

Proving that there is literally nothing either the President or First Lady can do that won't inspire outrage, Right Wing World is in a tizzy over a photo of Michelle Obama holding a card that says #BringBackOurGirls. It's part of an awareness campaign over the Nigerian girls who were taken to be sold into slavery. It's a horrible issue, and it's a widespread awareness campaign. But for some reason, Michelle is just awful for having participated. I have no idea why.

Ann Coulter--long past her sell-by date, but apparently unaware of that fact--still thinks she's relevant, apparently, and decided to join in on the "whack-the first lady" game that was going on, and took a parody selfie with a sign that said "BringBackOurCountry." Since Coulter herself is a horrible person, the Twitterverse reacted with wit and bite. And though Coultergeist thrives on attention, any attention, it's still fun to see her get a drubbing.

[Excerpt]

Twitter Trolls the Hell Out of Ann Coulter’s Attempt at Hashtag Activism

This is what happens when Ann Coulter tries to mock hashtag activism on Twitter. On Sunday night, Coulter decided to take what appears to be a shot at First Lady Michelle Obama by posting an photo of herself holding a sign with the hashtag #BringBackOurCountry (instead of #BringBackOurGirls, which the first lady recently posted in support of the kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria). . .

Read more at: MediaIte

Stephen Colbert Responds to #CancelColbert

Of course, the twitter 'splosion that was the short-lived #CancelColbert trend happened after Colbert taped his last show of the week last week. So on Monday, he finally got to respond. It was worth the wait.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive

For Anyone Still Advocating #CancelColbert

In case anyone doesn't believe that Stephen Colbert's "Ching-Chong Ding-Dong" character originated in a satirical response to an actually racist performance by Rush Limbaugh, here is the original clip. This is a lesson in not responding to a perceived "offensive" statement without first getting the context.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,Video Archive

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Breaking News: Hawaii House Passes Gay Marriage

After an excruciating process of the most unbelievable hatred, bigotry and unadulterated ignorance on parade, Hawaii has managed to get marriage equality over the hardest hurdles. Now that it's passed three (yes, for some reason three) votes in Hawaii's House of Representatives, it goes back to their Senate and to the Governor, both which are virtually assured to pass.

My favorite tweet from a very long evening reading my Twitter feed. Posted
by @KarenUniteWomen

So, the only question (besides what all of those hateful, obviously coached protestors are going to do with themselves) is, with Hawaii beat Illinois to the claim-to-fame of "15th state?" It will be a race to the finish between the governors and their signing pens! Either way, within days, there will be sixteen US states, plus DC with marriage equality. And that's a very good thing!

[Excerpt]

BREAKING: Hawaii Legislature Passes Marriage Equality
 
The Hawaii House has granted marriage equality its third and final passage with a vote of 30-19, as it had on Wednesday. The bill remains as it was amended in committee, which means it must return to Senate to passage before advancing to Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D), who is committed to signing it. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Ted Cruz Mounts Faux Filibuster, Right Wing World Goes Wild!

There are at least two things wrong with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his "defund ObamaCare" filibuster: a) he's "blocking" cloture on a bill he actually supports, and b) the actual "bill" is not yet before the Senate. It is therefore not a filibuster and has no practical effect whatsoever. It's grandstanding at its most overt and most self-congratulatory. Cruz is doing this to pump up Cruz in Cruz's base. That's it.

South Park's Randy Marsh, after having been denied access
to the internet for far too long. And, what the average
FReeper looks like right now.

It's working, in that limited scope. I checked out FreeRepublic.com* to see what they thought of the spectacle. Comments were racking up as fast as I could read them, and the overall attitude there could be best expressed in the image of Stan's dad Randy, from South Park, shown here. In short, they like it a whole, whole lot. To the point of absurdity. The cheerleading there exceeds the most rabid right-winger's idea of what an "Obama-Bot" feels for the President to a ridiculous degree.  What's more, most of them seem to be under the misapprehension that this is an actual filibuster. Those lonely realist FReepers willing to point out the obvious, are shrugged off in exchange for the euphoria the rest of the crowd is feeling. Which is why the South Park image is so perfect.

Feel free to check it out, but by all means, bring a moist towel with you: FreeRepublic.

By the way "fauxlibuster" has been trending on Twitter, and has been reacting with glee and snark in pretty much the opposite direction.


*And in case you're wondering FreeRepublic is a far-right wing website that fancies itself "real America." Though they are arguably fringe kooks, they are the Tea Party, the hardcore element of it, in any event. That's why I keep tabs on them, even though dipping a toe in that cesspool can be hazardous to ones health. And as a graphic artist, I have to also say that the site has never been redesigned since its debut in the mid-1990s. Calling it an eyesore would be too kind.

UPDATED: to add that upon reading more (why, I don't really know), it's kind of disturbing that you can't get through very many posts without calls to prayer, mentions of God and Jesus, and other intertwining of religion and politics. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised (God, guns 'n' gays, and all that), but these people are really treating this Ted Cruz sideshow like a religious experience.

Ben Affleck's #1 Fan?

I checked out Ben Affleck's Twitter feed (@BenAffleck) to see if he's said anything about his new gig as Batman in the follow-up to this year's Man of Steel movie, and. . .yikes. While the internets are on fire with "Noooooo!" responses to the news of Affleck's casting (with hashtags like #BetterBatmanThanBenAffleck), he has at least one fan. One very, very persistent fan. The screen caps here are both from just one of Affleck's tweets. There are more there. I've blurred the young man's picture and screen name in case he thinks better of it, and takes them down. But. . .wow. Click to embiggen.

 
 

For What It's Worth: This is Glee Star Cory Monteith's Final Tweet

For those of you who don't know (see previous post), Glee star, Cory Monteith--Finn, the football hero--died on Saturday. It's very sad, unexpected (at least to me), and a bit disconcerting to find that he was playing 19 but was 31. Anyway, perhaps even more surprising is the final tweet on Twitter by the actor. As a person whose family makes a living off of combing over estate sales and auctions, I'm used to the banality of a person's last days. But could anything be more awesomely random than Cory Monteith's final tweet?

All of that snarkiness said, I am sad that such a promising, attractive and talented young performer has passed from this mortal coil.

So, That Happened: What Twitter Thinks of Florence Henderson

Click to Embiggen

For some reason, this just struck me as hilarious. The other day, I followed Florence Henderson on Twitter, for no particular reason, other than she tweeted something funny. And today, Twitter helpfully sent me one of those "you may also like" emails. But their "match" for Mrs. Carol Brady were kind of peculiar. In addition to Tatum O'Neal (?) and Marilou Henner (closer), the top two picks were Morgan Fairchild--who looks nothing like Tommy Flanagan's wife in her profile picture--and Carson Kressley. You know the gayest of the supergay Queer Eye for the Straight Guy show? Maybe it's the Mr. Brady connection, I don't know. But what is up with Morgan Fairchild?

Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims Awesome for Several Reasons

An appropriate shot of Brian Sims
from his Facebook page.

For some time, a politician in Pennsylvania named Brian Sims has been on the liberal radar, mine included. Part of the reason is kind of shallow: he's a former football player who is big, beefy and very attractive. But after you discover that part, you find out he's also very smart, well spoken, and a strong liberal with integrity. That's pretty awesome. Then, if you didn't already know, he turns out to be openly gay, and was electable in a state where that hadn't happened before.

So, Sims wins a seat in the Pennsylvania legislature, and everyone who was paying attention probably still has him in their Twitter feed and is still following him on Facebook, and you start to see that he's a pretty awesome dude like, all the time. He really seems like the real deal, saying and doing all the right things, and looking great doing it. And now, he's really gone and done it: he's warmed the hearts of both the pro-choice constituency and those of us opposed to the intrusion of church into state.

I'm going to keep following him.

[Excerpt]

Brian Sims, Pennsylvania Democrat, On Abortion: We Did Not 'Swear To Uphold The Bible'

. . ."This legislation is about advancing an ideology of oppression and suppression, even if such a plan means ignoring the oath of office that each of us swore," Sims told his colleagues during a floor debate in the House of Representatives. "As a reminder, Mr. Speaker, I do believe this has been forgotten entirely by many of my colleagues today: Each of us put our hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. We did not place our hands on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible. . ."

Read more at: Huffington Post

Film Critic Roger Ebert Dead at 70

Image from Funny or Die

Roger Ebert had a strange last decade of life. He went through cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands, lost his lower jaw--along with it the power of speech and ability to eat--and got cancer again. But along the way, the popular movie critic (and former TV partner of the late Gene Siskel) also gained a different sort of following on social media. If you followed him on Twitter as I did, you know that this was a very smart man, with more than just refined movie tastes. He also had a layered sense of humor, and an eye for the oddly interesting and the interestingly odd. Much like George Takei's internet success, Siskel's showed an entirely different side of himself that really showed him in a different light.

When I was a kid, Ebert was half of the team somebody referred to as "the fat one and the gay guy," on Sneak Previews and At the Movies, even though Siskel wasn't gay, and Ebert not fat, at least not by today's standards. And while they pioneered movie reviewing on TV, and their "two thumbs up" style became their schtick, it was nice to see the interesting side of Roger Ebert in these last few years. I'm just sorry it had to be at the same time as a disfiguring and ultimately fatal disease. RIP, Roger!

[Update: Excerpt II]

(This is so much funnier than the one below, though it too is worth your time)

Roger Ebert's 20 Most Epic Movie Pans

. . .18. The Village

"To call it an anticlimax would be an insult not only to climaxes but to prefixes. It's a crummy secret, about one step up the ladder of narrative originality from It Was All a Dream. It's so witless, in fact, that when we do discover the secret, we want to rewind the film so we don't know the secret anymore. And then keep on rewinding, and rewinding, until we're back at the beginning, and can get up from our seats and walk backward out of the theater and go down the up escalator and watch the money spring from the cash register into our pockets. . ."


Read more at: BuzzFeed


[Excerpt]

11 Funniest Lines from Roger Ebert's Reviews of Bad Movies

. . .Mad Dog Time, 1996

 "Mad Dog Time is the first movie I have seen that does not improve on the sight of a blank screen viewed for the same length of time. Oh, I've seen bad movies before. But they usually made me care about how bad they were. Watching Mad Dog Time is like waiting for the bus in a city where you're not sure they have a bus line. . ."

Read more at: Funny or Die

Blogiversary: 10,000 Posts! 70 Months! I'm Still Here!

It's been a long time since I wrote one of these self-congratulatory, back-patting posts. And truth is, I'm a little bit late. This is actually my 10,034th post. But you know, there have been a fair amount of repeats in there along the way. But since I almost always include updates and additions even to reruns, I'm going to count it!

My mission at Greenlee Gazette has always been a bit fuzzy, which is probably why I don't garner a heavy following out there on the internets. I'm happy for every set of eyeballs I get, and truthfully would probably get stage fright if I ever broke through to big numbers. But I'm still having fun, even if it isn't quite as prolific fun as my first couple of years. In those days, I posted everything in a frenzy of blogging. But as the years go by, you get more discriminating, and there are more outlets (Facebook, Twitter, both of which I discovered years after the blog started), and more demands on my time.

Click Here for Greenlee Gazette on Facebook  •  Click Here for Greenlee Gazette on Twitter

I still spend an obscene amount of time in front of my computer(s). And my political angst-o-meter is somewhere between the boiling rage I was feeling during the waning days of the Bush years, and the placid relief I felt after President Obama was first elected. I've even felt relief when going back over some of my early posts, that even though I was a sufferer of Bush Derangement Syndrome, it was a far more honest and reasonable disorder than I see in the right's Obama Derangement Syndrome. I was even fair to Dubya when gas prices spiked to over $4, and the country was wigging out.

So, no, the Obama Era isn't perfect, though I never painted him as a messiah. There's still plenty to bitch about, whether it is disappointment with Harry Reid's lack of spine, or whatever right-wing wacko is calling gay people evil. And of course there are fun things to talk about, and pleasant distractions. I struggle to balance the serious stuff with some good ol' frivolity, to the point that I've actually had complaints that I'm not "newsy" enough. But I'll continue to put up new installments of Blast from the Past every weekend, whenever I have time.

So, as long as Google is still supporter the Blogger format, and I still get a couple hundred readers a day, I'll continue this little hobby. As always, thanks for stopping by, and please bring your friends!

Facebook to Make Changes, Outcry to Come!

Facebook users come in a lot of flavors, regardless of whatever stereotype you assign to the service. You have kids who can't spell, sharing way too much of their young lives that they're sure to regret later. You've got Gen Xers (who don't feel old enough yet) reconnecting with classmates and old friends who haven't aged nearly as well as they themselves have, like an ongoing, never-ending reunion. You've got moms and grandmoms who alternatively either live on Facebook (including all of the games), and those who just don't get it no matter how much you try to explain it to them. You've got people who use Facebook in tandem with Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other services to get their news, all the while interacting with others, including celebrities, journalists and other newsmakers.

I use Facebook daily, in a number of ways, both as an individual and as a blogger. I cross-pollinate it with Twitter and my blog, and am connected through several computers, my phone and my tablet. I sometimes have too many screens going at once, and I'm probably too plugged in, to be honest. I also still use AOL, despite its obsolescence, and despite my being a fairly advanced user. So, it is difficult to pigeonhole people who use any given service, or how they use it. Which was a long way to go to say that: "Uh-oh, Facebook is changing again, y'all, and people are gonna freak out!"

Image from source, Huffington Post

Whenever Facebook changes something, I see countless posts of people complaining about it. Threatening to never use Facebook again. Demanding that it change back. Even starting pages dedicated to getting things changed back to the way they were! Why can't they leave it the way it was?!? It's stupid!!#1`1! And then, they'll get used to it. And then they'll change it, and they'll be pissed that it isn't what they changed it from. If software developers listened to the average complaint on Facebook about changing things, we'd be stuck with version 1.0 of everything, and the internet would all look like Freerepublic.com or The Drudge Report.

[Excerpt]

Facebook Launches Feeds For Photos, Music, Friends-Only, And More

Today at Facebook HQ, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for news feed that uses a “mobile-inspired” consistent design across devices, lets you drill into specific content-type feeds, and offers larger images. Photo albums have gotten a facelift as well to be more immersive, and links shared will have longer blurb to preview what you’re about to click to. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

State of the Union: Obama Delivers Powerful Address

State of the Union Addresses always tend to bog in parts, and President Obama's was no exception. Tuesday night's address wasn't his most powerful speech. Neither was it the sleepy first debate performance, don't get me wrong. And it picked up about midway through, building to an emotional crescendo over the issue of gun control. But I'm glad I watched while reading my Twitter feed, because it made things much more entertaining (poor Marco Rubio, more on that in a bit).

[Excerpt]

Obama challenges GOP, presses big agenda at State of the Union

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Barack Obama challenged Republicans on major tax and entitlement proposals in Tuesday's State of the Union address, unveiling sweeping new initiatives to boost the middle class while taking aim at GOP recalcitrance. . .

Read more at: NBCNews

Mitt Romney Rapidly Losing Facebook "Friends"

Images from source, Huffington Post

After running a blog for over five years, and its attendant Twitter and Facebook offshoots, I know how fickle readership could be. No offense to you, dear reader, but paying attention to the number of followers I have on each of these platforms can be very, very frustrating! People who use RSS readers are the most fickle, followed by Twitter followers. Both of those groups will dump me in a heartbeat.  My Facebook friends have been a very small group, but so far very loyal. They mostly click "like" and then stick around.

Mitt Romney isn't feeling the love. His Facebook page--not the campaign site, his regular one--is losing "friends" in real time. It's kind of fascinating to watch. Just go there, wait 15 seconds, and refresh. WHOOSH, there goes 15 friends! It's kind of sad, and I'm sure there's eventually going to be a floor to this. He's not gonna drop to zero. But won't it be fun to see how far it goes? Okay, so I'm not done with my schadenfreude. But I'm fascinated that people actually take the time to unfriend things. I've got stuff in my "likes" from my first day on Facebook.

[Excerpt]

'Disappearing Romney' Website Shows Candidate's Plunging Facebook Popularity 

Mitt Romney is losing a lot of "friends" after his defeat in the presidential race last week.
Newly launched website "Disappearing Romney" tracks the onetime presidential hopeful's decline in popularity by providing graphs that illustrate his official Facebook Page's dramatic loss of "Likes. . ."

Read more at: Huffington Post