Al Franken resigned from the US Senate after some unsubstantiated charges of unsolicited touching of a number of females during the Me Too Movement of a few years ago. Since then, he has said if he had to do it again he would not have resigned and had the investigation (which he called for) be held. I am not defending Franken if the alleged charges against him are true. But he held himself to a different standard than Republican members of Congress, and certainly different than the current occupant of the White House who brags about his unsolicited sexual conquests (grab em by the pu**y) and has over 20 legitimate cases of rape or sexual assault hanging over his head.
Franken has seen and heard enough of Trumps lies during this pandemic and called him out for the lying, which of course, stretches back to his first days in office.
Al Franken: “Well, it finally isn’t funny anymore – the grandiosity, the ignorance, the cruelty, the bullying, the racism, the petty insults and incessant stupidity. But especially the non-stop lying. The greatest asset that a president can bring to a crisis is credibility. On Day One of his presidency, Donald Trump chose to pick a fight with the media about the size of his inaugural crowd. On the morning of January 21, 2017, after fewer than 24 hours in office, Trump sent out Sean Spicer to tell the press corps a laughable and easily disprovable lie – that Trump’s crowd was the largest in history ever to attend a presidential inaugural. The very next day, Kellyanne Conway let Americans know of the existence of something called “alternative facts.” Oh. So, that’s how it’s going to be, huh?
Since then, the lies have come so fast and furious that keeping track has been impossible. How do you remember the last one when three or four equally ridiculous lies are almost certain to follow that day? “Don’t take him literally,” his supporters insisted. “Take him seriously.” Really? Well, no. What they really were saying was how happy they were that he would be appointing pro-life, pro-corporate Federalist Society judges, cutting taxes to benefit the wealthy, undoing regulations to help corporations exploit their employees and destroy our environment, and pulling us out of the Paris Agreement and the Iran Nuclear Deal. That the President of the United States is a malignant narcissist who could allow no fact to stand that contradicted his insatiable need for self-aggrandizement has been of little concern to establishment Republicans. The stock market was climbing. They were getting richer. And they had cover from the right-wing media to fool enough of his base into believing his limitless dishonesty. At this year’s State of the Union, the First Lady bestowed upon Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an honor he now shares with Mother Teresa, Cesar Chavez, and the crew of Apollo 13. In 1995, I wrote a book entitled Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations for a reason – the same reason that I wrote Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right a few years later. Without Rush, without O’Reilly, without Hannity, without Newsmax, Breitbart, and InfoWars there would be no Trump.
Until this crisis, Trump has paid no real price for his constant, pathological mendacity. Before politics, the man had spent his entire career in a business where, evidently, there was no accountability for inveterate lying. But for this crisis there is accountability. And instead of leading, Donald Trump’s focus has been where it always has been – on Donald Trump. “I give myself a ten out of ten.” “We are very close to a vaccine.” “I don’t take responsibility at all.” “Anybody who needs a test can get a test. And the tests are perfect. Like the letter was perfect. The transcript was perfect.” Of course, no leader could have prevented the devastation that this virus has and will continue to exact. But because Trump’s focus has been on himself, his reelection, and his fragile self-image, our federal government squandered our most valuable commodity. And the amount of suffering which that lost time will cost our nation is as tragic as it is unknowable. Trump will not step away. He will continue to take the stage and our focus – but he will not be able to claim the credibility he never earned. We are left to proceed despite our president and find the leadership we need elsewhere. From governors and mayors and other civil servants. From health care professionals and scientists and economists. From community leaders and each other. It is time for each of us to step up and fill the vacuum at the top – first by staying home. And for those fortunate enough to weather this storm financially – to help those who cannot.
Lest we forget Trump’s Houdini-like ability to escape the traps he’s set for himself, it is also time for us to commit to his defeat in November. For now, find a way to do that from home. But when it’s time to come out into the light, it must be our collective mission to make this godawful human being pay the price for every lie he has ever uttered.”
Wisconsin governor Tony Evers has made it clear…he would change the date of Tuesday's election if he could. Better yet, make it all absentee ballot by mail. He can't change the date under law. The legislature has too. But the slimeballs who run the statehouse in Madison have no interest in that. Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald know that by having the election during a pandemic it will probably hold down the vote in Milwaukee and Madison. This helps them get partisan right wing shill Daniel Kelly re-elected to the Supreme Court. Vos and Fitzgerald are on board for more people to be put at risk and undoubtedly get sick to suppress the vote. Trump even said out loud in an interview on Fox last week, what the Republican strategy is because he, like Vos and Fitzgerald know, that the more people that vote, the worse it is for Republicans. Trump said unless the voter turnout is kept down, Republicans would have a hard time winning an election ever again. Vos and Fitzgerald are also calling for the Guv to open up churches for Good Friday and Easter. How many church gatherings around the country that have ignored social distancing laws and requests only to find a bunch of their parishioners come down with the virus do you need to see before realizing how misguided these guys are?
Oh, and Trump at one of his mentally unhinged briefings last week claimed that it would be Democrats that would try and cheat if elections were held by mail or absentee. Once again, the opposite is true. It was the Republican Party who was caught cheating on absentee ballots in the House race in North Carolina. I know the cult doesn't care when Trump, Vos, Fitzgerald and the rest of them lie so easily…but just know…it's not the Democrats who are trying to fix tomorrows election…or risking your health.
Amazon Prime has a new one out called “Tales From The Loop”
I watched the first episode of “Tiger King”. I'll probably watch the rest but don't really want to spend all that time with such unappealing people
And……Can't get enough of “Tiger King”? Well, you're in luck. Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner tweeted a video Saturday of zoo owner Jeff Lowe, saying Netflix will be adding another episode to the popular docuseries next week. The true-crime series has taken off since debuting March 20th.
Happy Birthday to Billy Dee Williams who turns 83 today. If you want a different sports movie to watch during your self-isolation try Billy Dee in this one. It's good!
Tom Dempsey died over the weekend from complications of the coronavirus. He held the record for the longest field goal in NFL history for quite awhile. Not bad for a guy who not only kicked straight on…but also only had half a foot.
Covers Of The Day ( a couple of Bill Withers classics re-done)
Quotes Of The Day
Howard Stern: 'I can honestly tell you that Donald doesn't give one sh*t about public service'
“No surprise that Trump was behind the firing of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Navy Captain. The man fires a hero who was trying to protect his Sailors, but applauds & rewards a war criminal who is a disgrace to the uniform. I hate this asshole.”-Andrew Goss USAF
https://businessinsider.com/trump-says-capt-brett-…
“There's one surefire way to end your career in the Trump Administration: tell the truth.”-David Rothschild
“Trump’s incoherent, lie-filled, profanity-laced attack on IG Michael Atkinson, whom he just fired, was a pathetic performance by an unfit president. As a Public Corruption prosecutor at the DC USAO, Michael was highly-regarded, universally respected & entirely ethical.”-Glenn Kirschner
“Life in the Capone Presidency”-Peter Gammons
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1246265049…
“We need to start preparing now for fact that Trump & GOP will use coronavirus to make election rules as unfair as possible for everyone except their own voters & engage in voter suppression unseen in modern times.”-Ari Berman
https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/124620649730806…
“The same people who had a problem with Hunter Biden’s qualifications are totally cool with the president’s know-nothing son-in-law playing a big role in solving a global pandemic. It’s almost like they’re completely unprincipled scumbags”-Adam Parkomenko
“Jared Kushner might be the least self aware person in the entire country.”-Matthew Miller
“When Jared finally does go to jail, it'll be the 1st time he's ever gotten anywhere all on his own.”=John Fugelsang
#JaredKushnerForPrison
“Sweetie, I worship and follow the example of a Brown-skinned, socialist, Jewish refugee and migrant who preached against war and wealth, treated sex workers and disciples as equals, and advised praying modestly behind closed doors. And that is exactly what I'm doing today.”-Charlotte Clymer
https://twitter.com/MQSullivan/status/124655817807…
Pls help repeat the truth more often than the lie.”-Jenny Cohn
“COVID19 and our societal response will require big structural change. The New Deal of the 21st century. These aren’t radical lefty ideas. It’s the editorial board of the Financial Times.”-Ilan Goldenberg
“Trump appears to be unraveling as the consequences of his own ineptitude come into focus. Where are we going to be in a month?”-Ben Rhodes
Thanks to my old high school friend Peter Mergendahl for alot of these classic memes
