The Erickson Report, Page 4: Ya Just Gotta Laugh

The Erickson Report, Page 4: Ya Just Gotta Laugh

Okay, so much of the news is so bad that sometimes, well, sometimes ya just gotta laugh. There's nothing else you can do.

It's well-known that Ambassador William Taylor testified before the House committees looking into impeachment that Tweetie-pie did withhold U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to secure an "investigation" of Joe and Hunter Biden, that this was clearly conveyed to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government understood what was being demand.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board jumped to The Great Orange One's defense, including among the usual talking points this intriguing argument: Quoting:

Mr. Taylor says in his statement that many people in the Administration opposed the Giuliani effort, including some in senior positions at the White House. This matters because it may turn out that while Mr. Trump wanted a quid-pro-quo policy ultimatum toward Ukraine, he was too inept to execute it. Impeachment for incompetence would disqualify most of the government, and most Presidents at some point or another in office.

That is, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal is saying that there may be no quid pro quo - and thus, they argue, no basis for impeachment - because Tweetie-pie was too incompetent to pull it off!

This is how you know that they know that they are in deep do-do. Sometimes ya just gotta laugh.

24.7 - Ya Just Gotta Laugh: TheRump "vindicated" by Comey

Ya Gotta Just Laugh: TheRump "vindicated" by Comey

This is one of our occasional features: Ya Gotta Just Laugh, for those occasions when there really is no other response.

TheRump's private attorney, Marc Kasowitz, said His High Orangeness felt "completely and totally vindicated" by James Comey's opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee because it included references to three occasions where he told TheRump that he wasn't the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation about possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Of course, that same statement also described a dinner where TheRump asked Comey if he wanted to stay on as FBI director and then said "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty" - which any reasonable person would read as "If you want to keep your job, you'll do what I want" - and a meeting a couple of weeks later where he told Comey, referring to then-national security adviser Michael Flynn, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," which is classic obstruction of justice: As Comey noted, when the president of the US takes you aside privately and says "I hope you can see your way clear" to doing such-and-such, that ain't no "just expressing a hope." Because if it is, then the Mafia boss saying "Nice little business you got here; it'd be a shame if something happened to it" is "just expressing a desire for your safety."

But don't worry, TheRump surely hears that "many people say" that he is totally vindicated.

Ya gotta just laugh.

What's Left #24

What's Left
for the week of June 8 to 14, 2017

This week:
Good News: Supreme Court supports right of third-party repair
https://www.wired.com/2017/06/impression-v-lexmark/?google_editors_picks=true
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-1189_ebfj.pdf
https://www.wired.com/2017/03/right-to-repair-laws/

Potential Good News: Supreme Court will review a case of cell phone tracking
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/06/supreme-court-will-hear-significant-cell-phone-tracking-case
https://www.eff.org/document/united-states-v-carpenter-sixth-circuit-court-appeals-csli
http://fortune.com/video/2017/06/05/supreme-court-data-privacy-case/?xid=gn_editorspicks&google_editors_picks=true

Footnote: Supreme Court might reconsider "third party doctrine"
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/05/graham-enbanc
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/05/third-party-records-privacy-doesnt-require-secrecy

Not Good News: Congressional reactionaries want to make Section 702 of FISA permanent
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2015/05/2036-traitor-act-provisions-up-for.html
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/way-nsa-uses-section-702-deeply-troubling-heres-why

News on Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2010/12/they-say-that-information-wants-to-be.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2010/12/once-more-into-leak.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/julian-assange-wikileaks-us-charges/index.html
https://theintercept.com/2017/04/14/trumps-cia-director-pompeo-targeting-wikileaks-explicitly-threatens-speech-and-press-freedoms/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-14/wikileaks-issues-response-cia-director-mike-pompeo
http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/hypocrite-cia-director-who-delighted-in-wikileaks-dnc-release-threatens-julian-assange/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/politics/kfile-mike-pompeo-wikileaks/index.html

Update on voter ID laws
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/06/233-good-news-north-carolina-voter.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article154384454.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/5/1668987/-Massive-win-Supreme-Court-strikes-down-North-Carolina-s-GOP-drawn-maps-for-racial-gerrymandering
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article151912142.html

Ya Gotta Laugh: TheRump "vindicated" by Comey
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/06/07/trump-says-he-feels-completely-and-totally-vindicated-after-co/22131560/
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/trump-expected-loyalty-sacked-fbi-boss/news-story/db911fdb61b6bad91401e808f2fcc510

Clown Award: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/20/what-is-fueling-fake-hate-crimes-across-u-s.html
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-model-society
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/05/209-clown-award-mick-mulvaney.html

Outrage of the Week: TheRump quits Paris Accord
https://weather.com/news/climate/news/paris-climate-agreement-fact-check
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americans-oppose-climate-pact-pullout-plurality-rejects-economic/story?id=47847725
https://weather.com/science/environment/news/mayors-governors-denounce-trump-climate-accord-decision
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/01/climate-alliance-washington-california-new-york-239038

15.5 - Ya Gotta Just Laugh: TheRump supporters think ad for sci-fi series is real radio station

Ya Gotta Just Laugh: TheRump supporters think ad for sci-fi series is real radio station

This is an occasional feature, filed under the heading of Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

On its streaming TV service, Amazon is running an adaptation of a 1962 novel called The Man in the High Castle by noted sci-fi author, the late Philip K. Dick. It's an alternative history story in which the Allies lost World War II to the Axis at least partly because Germany got "the Bomb" first. The story is set in 1962 and the US has been divided into an eastern zone controlled by Germany, a western zone controlled by Japan, and a lawless neutral zone between. There, a fledgling resistance movement is trying to get started.

As part of the advertising for the show, Amazon set up a website called resistanceradio.com featuring three looped streams supposedly from three pirate radio stations that are part of the show's fictional world. The company also set up a sponsored hashtag on Twitter, #ResistanceRadio.

Well, apparently a number of TheRump supporters heard about this and without even looking at the site, without doing one bit of thinking or checking, stomped over to Twitter to complain about the "liberal bias" of this non-existent station and to fume about "lefty loonies" who "would rather USA fail then admit Trump does anything good" and are "resisting facts like Trump is President."

It's true: sometimes all you can do is laugh.

What's Left #15

What's Left
for the week of March 16-23, 2017

This week:
Good News: victory for voting rights in Texas
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/03/132.html
http://www.tristatehomepage.com/news/politics/texas-redistricting-plan-violates-voting-rights-act-judges-say/670602463
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/11/1642452/-Huge-Court-strikes-down-Texas-Republican-drawn-congressional-map-for-illegal-racial-gerrymandering
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9wwbLsQNKXEV2d5SlhhLVF6VTA/view
http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Perez-congress-opinion-3-10-2017.pdf
http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/redistricting-congress-states

Good News: more support for drug importation bill
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/01/104-outrage-of-week-dems-choose-big.html
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/28/14765092/cory-booker-pharma-bill

Not Good News: TheRump goes after clean water rules
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-rsquo-s-order-may-foul-u-s-drinking-water-supply/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapanos_v._United_States
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/28/1638639/-Trump-ignores-Supreme-Court-ruling-in-EO-to-roll-back-Clean-Water-Act-protection
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/clean-water-rule-repeal-risks-trump_us_58b91b1fe4b05cf0f3ff7372

Footnote: even TheRump is for "clean water"
http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/pollution/water/water5.html
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Cuyahoga_River_Fire?rec=1642
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZVgNwD14pA

Ya Gotta Laugh: TheRump supporters think ad for sci-fi series is real radio station
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/11/1642522/-Trump-Supporters-Reaction-to-Amazon-s-Resistance-Radio-is-both-Sad-and-Hilarious
http://resistanceradio.com/
http://io9.gizmodo.com/trump-supporters-get-mad-because-they-think-the-man-in-1793159888

Clown Award: TIME magazine
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/03/14/kansas-sen-steve-fitzgerald-compares-planned-parenthood-to-nazi/21887598/
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-merrill-promotes-voter-id-selma-anniversary-service-church-patrons-walk-out
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/bloody-sunday-selma-alabama-march-7-1965
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/13/1642890/-Onlookers-gasp-as-a-Wall-Street-Bro-humps-the-acclaimed-Defiant-Girl-statue-on-Wall-Street
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/10/a-lawyer-named-amal-clooney-gave-a-powerful-speech-at-u-n-some-only-saw-her-baby-bump/
http://www.elleuk.com/life-and-culture/elle-voices/articles/a34621/amal-clooney-yazidi-genocide/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide_of_Yazidis_by_ISIL
https://twitter.com/TIME/status/840004347337551877

For the Record: resistance continues
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/15/1643796/-Thousands-are-showing-up-to-welcome-Trump-to-Tennessee-with-a-Protect-our-care-rally
https://twitter.com/hashtag/ResistTrumpTuesdays?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

For the Record: best country in the world?
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/overall-full-list

For the Record: vibrator company tracks product use
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-we-vibe-privacy-lawsuit-settlement-0314-biz-20170313-story.html

Update: DAPL
http://www.triplepundit.com/2017/03/confidential-dapl-memo/
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3480350-MemoDAPLUSACEApril2016ICN.html

Update: repressing protest
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/27/1638278/-Arizona-GOP-plans-new-restrictions-on-the-ballot-initiative-process-after-major-progressive-wins

Update: government spying on citizens
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/12/1642731/-Best-Buy-s-Geek-Squad-provides-extra-service-a-search-of-your-computer-and-a-report-to-the-FBI
http://www.ocweekly.com/news/fbi-used-best-buys-geek-squad-to-increase-secret-public-surveillance-7950030

248.4 - Ya Gotta Just Laugh: what TheRump wants in a VP

Ya Gotta Just Laugh: what TheRump wants in a VP

And then there all times when all you can do is laugh.

In this case, it's one of those things where you're annoyed because you've said it but can't prove because you didn't write it down anywhere (or, in my case, blog it): A while back I was telling people that you could understand everything about Donald TheRump if you just bear in mind one fact: He's a real-estate salesman.

More recently, I've been saying to friends that I don't think TheRump wants to be president. I think he just wants to become president. He wants to see if he can make the ultimate score, can he pitch himself into the presidency.

Well, this is what Paul Manafort, TheRump's current campaign chairman and chief strategist, had to say about what TheRump is looking for in a vice-president:

He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn't want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO.

It appears I was righter than I knew. And ya gotta just laugh.

Sources cited in links:
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/26/1531171/-Trump-adviser-Trump-wants-a-white-male-vice-president-to-do-all-the-presidenting-he-won-t-do

Left Side of the Aisle #248

Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of June 2-8, 2016

This week:

Good News: Mr. Death loses a couple
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2016/05/john_roberts_s_court_sees_racism_in_foster_v_chatman.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/im-not-saying-the-supreme-court-is-passive-aggressive-but/484007/
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/supreme-court-foster-chatman
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/05/31/supreme_court_makes_death_penalty_less_inhumane_in_lynch_v_arizona.html
http://www.npr.org/2016/05/31/480181285/amid-strong-dissent-supreme-court-weighs-in-on-2-death-penalty-cases

Not Good News: "End of the road" for antibiotics in sight?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/26/the-superbug-that-doctors-have-been-dreading-just-reached-the-u-s/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_p1most-partner-1
http://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2016/05/26/dreaded-superbug-found-for-first-time-in-u-s-patient-a-physicians-perspective/#752e7a786241
http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/organisms/cre/index.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/05/27/1531441/-First-superbug-resistant-to-a-last-resort-antibiotic-confirmed-in-US
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/03/1-in-3-antibiotics-prescribed-in-u-s-are-unnecessary-major-study-finds/?tid=a_inl
http://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2016/05/26/dreaded-superbug-found-for-first-time-in-u-s-patient-a-physicians-perspective/#752e7a786241

Hero Award: Rep. Zoe Lofgren
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Lofgren
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/zoe-lofgren-witness-bigot-transgender

Ya Gotta Just Laugh: what TheRump wants in a VP
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/26/1531171/-Trump-adviser-Trump-wants-a-white-male-vice-president-to-do-all-the-presidenting-he-won-t-do

"Disqualifying" change by "disqualifying" Bernie Sanders
http://fivethirtyeight.com/
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/06/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-democrats-unity/
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2016/04/2455-what-now-for-progressives.html
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/after-new-york-win-clinton-campaign-says-bernie-sanders-attacks-help-republicans
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/glenn-thrush-clinton-aide-fck-bernie
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ivonaiacob/2016/05/27/top-donors-hillary-clinton-superpac/#48d875222740
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/clinton-fundraising-leaves-little-for-state-parties-222670
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/clinton-must-release-wall_b_9857934.html?m=false
http://www.thehill.com/opinion/markos-moulitsas/281114-moulistas-sanderss-socialist-coup
http://www.xojane.com/issues/bernie-vs-hillary-is-only-about-sexism
http://heavy.com/news/2016/05/bernie-sanders-supporters-not-violent-nevada-democratic-convention-what-happened-shots-fired-at-campaign-office/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea-nRWrEDTs

Footnote: media ignore poverty in debates
http://fair.org/home/in-nine-democratic-debates-not-a-single-question-about-poverty/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/11/23/youre-more-likely-to-be-fatally-crushed-by-furniture-than-killed-by-a-terrorist/

Left Side of the Aisle #224

Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of October 22-28, 2015

Good News: Interior Dept. cancels plans to sell leases to drill for oil in the Arctic.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article39543321.html

Good News: gun control laws in NY and CT upheld by federal appeals court.
http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/7541c52a-9924-4ba1-af2b-59f16bbeb2a5/3/doc/14-36_14-319_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/7541c52a-9924-4ba1-af2b-59f16bbeb2a5/3/hilite/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/federal-court-gun-laws_56250954e4b08589ef4816a6
http://www.wsj.com/articles/appeals-court-upholds-core-parts-of-two-post-newtown-gun-laws-1445272717
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/heller_decision_leaves_room_for_new_gun_restrictions_retired_justice_steven/

Footnote: gun control being Constitutional means little if the laws can't get passed.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/19/us-usa-court-guncontrol-idUSKCN0SD1NA20151019
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gun-control-poll_56252adae4b02f6a900d2865

Outrage of the Week: the continuing toll of gun violence.
http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts/guns-per-capita-america-us
http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts/guns-international-comparison-us-homicide
http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts/gun-homicide-decline-crime-drop
http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts/gun-homicide-effect-increase
http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts/gun-suicide-attempt-control
http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/53345/states-with-most-gun-laws-see-fewest-gun-related-deaths
http://www.vox.com/cards/gun-violence-facts/mass-shootings-rare-united-states
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/oct/02/mass-shootings-america-gun-violence?CMP=ema_565a
http://shootingtracker.com/wiki/Mass_Shootings_in_2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/14/people-are-getting-shot-by-toddlers-on-a-weekly-basis-this-year/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/09/04/how-often-do-children-in-the-u-s-unintentionally-shoot-and-kill-people-we-dont-know/
http://www.examiner.com/article/boy-kills-girl-over-puppy-boy-11-charged-with-first-degree-murder-of-girl-8
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/10/11/gun-violence-researchers-becoming-an-endangered-species/21247776/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetstemwedel/2015/10/01/congress-still-bans-cdc-scientists-from-studying-gun-violence/

Ya Gotta Just Laugh: TX to allow guns on campus - while Texas A&M bans nerf guns.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/15/1432991/-Texas-university-will-allow-guns-in-dorm-rooms-but-nerf-guns-are-strictly-prohibited

Clown Award: AK Gov. Bill Walker
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/10/alaska-gov-says-state-urgently-needs-more-oil-drilling-pay-climate-change
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34501867

Everything You Need to Know: about money in politics
http://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/hiv-aids/news/online/%7B745d9cc5-df37-4139-b1ac-6dde7b8ae463%7D/daraprim-price-jump-raises-concerns-among-id-groups-providers
http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/2015-09-21%20EEC%20Sanders%20to%20Turing%20Pharmaceuticals.pdf
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/10/15/bernie-sanders-rejects-ceo-martin-shkreli-campaign-donation/FcSKxu1VIr7pubg9cI3CQN/story.html

Only the poor face drug tests to receive any public aid or benefit
http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/drug-testing-and-public-assistance.aspx
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/26/court-rejects-florida-law-requiring-drug-testing-for-welfare-recipients/
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Drug-testing-welfare-applicants-popular-but-can-4416545.php?t=0dbaab4db5b05374ef
http://www.tbo.com/ap/politics/welfare-drug-testing-yields--positive-results-252458
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/BillHtml/143634?generalCourtId=12
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20151019/GZ01/151019454/1101