The big conference in Paris didn’t nail any kind of enforceable environmental contract but it did get almost 200 countries to agree that these things had to be done. Those that don’t agree, live unfortunately in this country, and are members of the Republican Party. Clowns like, Mitch McConnell step forward and open their lying mouths and regurgitate factually untrue theories based on the benefits to big oil, big gas and big coal, all means of energy production that are guaranteed to destroy our planet for the short term gain of the corporations that extract them from the earth.
One would think that the presence of all these countries, and the cooperation that they see as essential to the continued well being of the planet, should shame traitors to humanity like McConnell and the leaders of the fossil fuel corporations into some kind of cooperation. But they have no shame, nor any moral structure. They are simply greedy pigs who care nothing for their planet or the billions who inhabit it.
Even as I am writing this a commercial is running on the TV, speaking to finding ways to solve the problems of undrinkable water all over the planet and bragging that Koch Industries is the one seeking this solution. For those one or two people in the world who don’t know that Koch Industries, a major player in oil and gas products, is one of the major polluters on the planet, and thereby a major cause of undrinkable water, let me assure you that this commercial is pure, unadulterated bullshit. In it they are bragging about trying to find a solution to a problem that they are causing. One wonders if either of the Koch brothers ever considered that if they stopped polluting they wouldn’t need to find a solution to pollution. Only a greedy bunch of degenerate pigs would ever consider running a commercial like this one, and low and behold, it is quickly followed by a similar one from Exxon.
*****
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, announced in a very load voice, today, that he is a bigot and just doesn’t belong on the highest court in the land. I’ll let you figure out what he said.
******
You don’t have to be Republican to be stupid and insensitive. Democratic Representative from Orange County California, Loretta Sanchez has decided that between 5 and 20% of Muslims are terrorists. That would, according to this math wiz, make between 80 and 400 million Muslims terrorists. You just can’t make this shit up.
*****
Bob Herbert asked the big question today, the question that this blog and many others have been asking for years. Why is Iowa important in this election? Aside from being the first state to vote, Iowa has nothing to indicate that the person they elect will get any other votes at all. This is a state full of religious fanaticism, bigotry, misogynism and corn. Its population is mirrored in no other state except possibly Arizona and they don’t have the corn. Just look at the last election where Rick Santorum won in a walk and then soared into oblivion. The reality is that aside from producing all that corn and voting first, Iowa has zero significance.
*****
The senile fool was back on the tube on the first day of the year, blathering about how Obama has failed and how he and George Bush got it right in Iraq. How does a semi-functional program that wants to be taken seriously encourage a clown like Dick Cheney to spew his drivel on their show? We all know that Morning Joe is a platform for right wing untruth tellers but letting Cheney and his daughter on air without a keeper is an act or moral degeneracy.
Here we have a war criminal, who claims the situation in Iraq was stable after we left. Just what Iraq is he talking about? He speaks to the new heart that keeps him functioning. I can imagine the guy who donated it spinning in his grave.
Both father and daughter talk against Obama’s plan but when asked what he should do they simply state that it needs more. He’s doing more but they aren’t bright enough to realize that.
It takes John Kerry to come out and explain to those who are too slow witted to understand, that the Iran agreement is the only thing that will keep an arms race in the Middle East from happening. If Iran doesn’t sign the treaty, the Arab nations of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, The UAE, Turkey, Bahrain and Egypt will all fall in line and try to buy or develop nuclear programs to combat Iran.
*****
Loved the story about Katrina Pierson, the current Trump campaign manager who had been collecting unemployment payments while working as a consultant for Ted Cruz. She was also arrested for shoplifting. I guess she was consulting with Cruz about how to stay out of jail. This is the way Trump vets his employees? So I guess we could expect more of the same if he ever got elected.
*****
Trans Canada, the scum that tried to poison the Mid-West with the Keystone Pipeline is suing the Obama Administration over his edict to put it out of business. Russ Girling the sleaze that runs that despicable organization filed the suit this week. It is the epitome of nuisance suits and our government should counter-sue Girling personally and TransCanada as a company for malicious service. We should also make sure that no TransCanada business is done with any American company.
TransCanada in their greedy attempt to move the most poisonous oil ever dragged from the earth across our biggest western water supply intended to endanger hundreds of thousands of Americans. In that, they exhibited the most dangerous of terrorist tactics and as such should be treated as terrorists. This is a company that the US government should do everything in its power to destroy but as long as there is a Republican majority in both houses, that will never happen.
*****
Watched Jeff Jackson make an intelligent, logical speech to New York State’s Republican’s condemning the way they have presented the state budget with no discussion or debate simply because they are in the majority. This young man is a comer. We should all keep our eyes on him. He gets it.
*****
Wrote a blog last week about how we have to stop with the scandal and gossip and get down to serious questions in our election fights. Then on Sunday I was privileged to watch just such a serious discussion of our foreign policy on Fareed Zacharias’ GPS. Richard Haas, Anne Marie Slaughter and Ian Bremmer showed us how it should be done. Two days later Bremmer found himself on a much less serious show, Morning Joe, where he proceeded to explain to Joe Scarborough how the world, especially in the Middle East works.
It was really uplifting to hear Bremmer tell Scarborough and his sycophant lineup that Iran has the best chance of being our principal ally in the Middle East. I loved it, because I have been saying that for years to the jeers of all Republicans and even many Democrats.
Look, Iran is a non-Arab nation, far more diverse than any other Middle Eastern nation, with a rich history and a functioning educational system. There are, a raft of Iranians who have escaped the religious government to live overseas, ex-pats who would eagerly return to a free nation, bringing western values and concepts. Iran has the potential to be our strongest ally in the region because it is more like us than any of the Arab nations.
Then there’s the Starbucks factor. I know that the GOP loves to tell us how Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union but the fact of the matter is that TV defeated the Soviet Union, just like Starbucks will defeat the Ayatollahs. And it won’t take long. Give Iran five to seven years of no sanctions, more free cash and the influx of Western diversions that will inevitably come with that situation, and the Ayatollahs will be gone. Once that happens Iran will be NYC on the Gulf.
*****
The criminal wearing a state trooper uniform, who took Sandra Bland into a custody, resulting in her death, wants his job back. Really? His lawyer says his firing was unwarranted. Really? Has anyone seen the tape of his actions in arresting Ms Bland? This is a mad dog, acting out like a Nazi storm trooper. This guy should be in jail or a mental institution. No one with these anger problems should ever be allowed to carry a gun. This is exactly the kind of person who should never be a cop.
***
Watched Paul Ryan over the weekend. This is a very smart guy who has a really firm grasp of what is wrong with the country at many levels but almost no concept of how to really fix anything. Why? Maybe it’s because of his Republican ethos. He spoke very strongly on poverty, something that the GOP rarely acknowledges or understands. He understands that most people don’t want to be poor, he knows that only a small percentage of those on the dole want to be there, but he really has no idea of what to do about it, mainly because he is a Republican and Republicans don’t represent the poor, they represent the rich and as such, they have no skin in the poverty game. You can’t be backing billionaires that are crushing the poor so they can have a spare yacht and still be finding a solution to kids who don’t get enough or the proper food to eat. Fortunately Ryan seems to recognize this flaw and would appear to be enough of a leader to seek a solution to it.