Pedophilia, A Republican Family Value

Roy Moore is this year's poster child for the many Republicans who have won elections by wrapping themselves in the flag, quoting passages from the Bible, and proclaiming that they uphold family values in public while they molest children behind closed doors guarded by zealots and ideologues with closed minds.

Pedophilia is not restricted to Republican politicians, of course, but they alone have elevated public support for that perversion to an art form and deemed it unimportant when the outcome of an election is at stake.

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Using A Corker To Plug A Leak

Yesterday the GOP used a Corker to plug one of the many leaks in it's "tax reform" scam.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who had previously opposed the legislation on the grounds that it would raise the deficit, changed his mind. He claims that he has negotiated a trigger that will kick in additional revenues should the GOP's targets not be met.

A trigger, of course, is just another way for Republicans to flimflam the public and avoid accountability when the deficit they rail against increases; and it will increase as it always does whenever they are in power.

Which brings me to this...

Three men were in a boat, and the oars began to leak.

My father used to say that in response to ridiculous situations or events he encountered.

As a child, I didn't understand this clever metaphor; but, now that I'm an adult and the GOP has control of all three branches of our government, it makes perfect sense.

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Donald Trump, Indian Giver (If the pejorative fits…)

Yesterday Donald Trump held an event ostensibly to honor WWII Navajo Code Talkers; but, in true Trumpian fashion, it was actually another opportunity for him to attack his perceived enemies for the benefit of his mouth-breathing base.

The event was staged in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson, who was responsible for the Trail of Tears, a a series of forced removals of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands, in which thousands perished.

Donald J. Trump is an ass.

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A Lakota Sioux Reporter Just Gave The BEST Response To Trump’s Native American Slur

BY NATALIE DICKINSON

PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 27, 2017

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Pocahontas was a pre-teen who was kidnapped, held hostage & raped by European invaders. Stop using her name as a racial slur & how dare you insult these brave Native men who risked their lives for this country. https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/935235170487201794 …

3:26 PM - Nov 27, 2017

U.S. Congress Inaction - A Brief Report

Note: The word Inaction in the title is not a typo. It's the lead-in to the bare facts exposed in today's post.

Having passed absolutely no meaningful legislation since the 2016 election, Republicans are feverishly working to short-change the middle class in time for Christmas with a tax cut for the wealthy that is projected to leave a permanent stain on the bottom half of the economic pyramid.

That's what happens when Santa Claus slides down chimneys to bring presents only to rich little boys and girls.

Meanwhile, in an under-cover maneuver, Congress used a tax-supported slush fund to pay over $17 million to settle cases against its members whose hands had reached into places other than the pockets of the electorate.

Isn't it touching to realize that members of Congress can accomplish so little for the good of the country yet manage to cover their assets?

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Insanity and Trickle-Down Economics

Dear Republicans,

Since the 1980s the GOP has worked unceasingly to pass tax cuts for the wealthy, claiming that they will create jobs and help the middle class despite incontrovertible evidence that they do neither.

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, your slavish devotion to those who support trickle-down economic theory suggests strongly that you are insane.

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However, if voting for the GOP does not mean you are insane, there's another adjective that definitely fits.

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Little Donnie's Tired, and I'm Sick and Tired of Him

Since Donald Trump has been in office, he has undermined the rule of law, coddled dictators abroad and hate mongers at home, alienated allies, and signed executive orders which threaten the very viability of the planet.

The world is much better off when Little Donnie is asleep.

Bedtime for Bozo

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Oooooh! Oooooh! Color pictures! Color! Lots of color! Especially ORANGE!

Nap Time for Knucklehead

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Ummm, folks…

You can't disturb Little Donnie. He's already disturbed.

Happy Republican Thanksgiving!

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Ummmm..and prayers. Thoughts and prayers for those less fortunate than the 1%. Oh! and a big tax cut to make sure those less fortunate stay that way or become even less fortunate. 😎

Red State Science, Economics, & Religion

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these four pictures with carefully selected text should save you from having to read thousands of paragraphs in order to understand the mindset of the folks who live in so-called red states - states whose politics and policies are dominated by Republican ideology.

Science

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Economics

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Religion

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A Peek Inside Trump's Id-iotic Mind

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At dictionary.com Id is defined as

the part of the psyche, residing in the unconscious, that is the source of instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in accordance with the pleasure principle and are modified by the ego and the superego before they are given overt expression. link to source

That definition clearly does not fit the observed behavior of Donald Trump, whose ego and superego do not appear to modify his instinctive impulses in any meaningful way. With Trump, instinctive impulses are immediately given overt expression - sometimes in early-morning Twitter storms, sometimes in contradictions to statements of position made mere minutes earlier, and always, if he believes he is being criticized, in tirades against his perceived enemies.

The following article (or video below the article) offers a much better description of Trump's psychology and his unchecked, id-iotic mind.

The Narcissist's Inner Judge (Superego) and Inner Critic

By: Dr. Sam Vaknin

The narcissist is besieged and tormented by a sadistic Superego which sits in constant judgement. It is an amalgamation of negative evaluations, criticisms, angry or disappointed voices, and disparagement meted out in the narcissist's formative years and adolescence by parents, peers, role models, and authority figures.
These harsh and repeated comments reverberate throughout the narcissist's inner landscape, berating him for failing to conform to his unattainable ideals, fantastic goals, and grandiose or impractical plans. The narcissist's sense of self-worth is, therefore, catapulted from one pole to another: from an inflated view of himself (incommensurate with real life accomplishments) to utter despair and self-denigration.
Hence the narcissist's need for Narcissistic Supply to regulate this wild pendulum. People's adulation, admiration, affirmation, and attention restore the narcissist's self-esteem and self-confidence.
The narcissist's sadistic and uncompromising Superego affects three facets of his personality:
1.     His sense of self-worth and worthiness (the deeply ingrained conviction that one deserves love, compassion, care, and empathy regardless of what one achieves). The narcissist feels worthless without Narcissistic Supply.
2.     His self-esteem (self-knowledge, the deeply ingrained and realistic appraisal of one's capacities, skills, limitations, and shortcomings). The narcissist lacks clear boundaries and, therefore, is not sure of his abilities and weaknesses. Hence his grandiose fantasies.
3.     His self-confidence (the deeply ingrained belief, based on lifelong experience, that one can set realistic goals and accomplish them). The narcissist knows that he is a fake and a fraud. He, therefore, does not trust his ability to manage his own affairs and to set practical aims and realize them.
By becoming a success (or at least by appearing to have become one) the narcissist hopes to quell the voices inside him that constantly question his veracity and aptitude. The narcissist's whole life is a two-fold attempt to both satisfy the inexorable demands of his inner tribunal and to prove wrong its harsh and merciless criticism.
It is this dual and self-contradictory mission, to conform to the edicts of his internal enemies and to prove their very judgement wrong, that is at the root of the narcissist's unresolved conflicts.
On the one hand, the narcissist accepts the authority of his introjected (internalised) critics and disregards the fact that they hate him and wish him dead. He sacrifices his life to them, hoping that his successes and accomplishments (real or perceived) will ameliorate their rage.
On the other hand, he confronts these very gods with proofs of their fallibility. "You claim that I am worthless and incapable" – he cries – "Well, guess what? You are dead wrong! Look how famous I am, look how rich, how revered, and accomplished!"
But then much rehearsed self-doubt sets in and the narcissist feels yet again compelled to falsify the claims of his trenchant and indefatigable detractors by conquering another woman, giving one more interview, taking over yet another firm, making an extra million, or getting re-elected one more time.
To no avail. The narcissist is his own worst foe. Ironically, it is only when incapacitated that the narcissist gains a modicum of peace of mind. When terminally ill, incarcerated, or inebriated the narcissist can shift the blame for his failures and predicaments to outside agents and objective forces over which he has no control. "It's not my fault" – he gleefully informs his mental tormentors – "There was nothing I could do about it! Now, go away and leave me be."
And then – with the narcissist defeated and broken – they do and he is free at last.
Note: Placating the SuperegoIn the patient with a personality disorder, the sadistic and disparaging inner voices that constitute the Superego (in Freud’s parlance) are implacable. If the patient is successful these introjects, or inner representations (of narcissistic parents, for example), become virulently envious and punitive. If the patient fails in his endeavours, these internalized avatars feel vindicated, elated, euphoric and morally justified in their quest to inflict pain and castigation on the patient.
But why does the patient not resist? Why doesn’t s/he rebel against these embedded tormentors, at least by doubting their omniscience, infallibility, and veracity? Because it feels good to satisfy them (it feels good to cater to mother’s emotional needs and thereby to be a “good boy”, for example). It is a masochistic Stockholm Syndrome, a shared psychosis (follies a plusieurs). The patient doesn’t experiences these harsh juries sitting in judgement over him, his traits, skills, and actions as alien, but as an integral part of himself. Their gratification at his self-immolation is also his.

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Definition of Terms:

id |id| nounPsychoanalysisthe part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest. Compare with ego and superego.ego |ˈēɡō| noun (plural egos) a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance: a boost to my ego.• Psychoanalysis the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity. Compare with id and superego.• Philosophy (in metaphysics) a conscious thinking subject.superego |ˌso͞opərˈēɡō| noun (plural superegos) Psychoanalysisthe part of a person's mind that acts as a self-critical conscience, reflecting social standards learned from parents and teachers. Compare with ego and id.

Roy Moore: Real Fake News & Fake Good News

Real Fake News

Roy Moore is an Honorable, God-fearing, Public Servant

All Roy Moor needed in order to become a supreme court justice in Alabama was to claim - and loudly proclaim - that he was a devout, God-fearing Christian. People who knew the truth about him never called him out. After all, he was not only a Christian, he was a Republican in the reddest of red states.

Now that Moore wants to be a U.S. Senator, five women have come forward and told the nation how he molested them when they were teenagers and he was in his thirties.

But this is Alabama, and evangelical Christians are rallying behind the devout Mr. Moore with supposedly Biblical proof that his behavior toward those teenage girls was justified.

What does that tell us about politics and religion in Alabama?

Furthermore, what will life in America be like if we continue to follow the GOP as it marches toward establishing, nationwide, a fundamentalist theocracy in the Alabama tradition?

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Fake Good News

Evangelical Christians Use the Bible to Support Roy Moore

Separation of church and state is anathema to traditional (i.e. dominant, old, white, protestant male) Alabama thinking, and Alabamans are quite attached to their traditions, both religious and pre-Civil War political.

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Between Real Fake News and Fake Good News

One Final Cartoon and Comment

How can it be that the following cartoon falls between real fake news and fake good news?

Well, if you know Alabama, you would know that the response of a wife in a real Christian family would be, "Yes, dear."

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Do you think I'm blowing smoke about wives in a real Christian family in Alabama? Read on...

Roy Moore’s Wife Forged Old Letter to Show 50 Pastors Support Him

After the Washington Post published a story detailing how Alabama’s Republican candidate for Senate Roy Moore initiated sexual contact with multiple teenager when he was in his 30’s, his wife posted a letter of support from 53 pastors on Facebook.

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A Trumpian Time Warp

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Last evening (it was this morning in Korea), the world watched as the imbecile-in-chief read an encyclopedia account of the Korean "War" (police action) to the people of Korea; and the world was thankful that, for the most part, he stuck to the simplistic, just-jingoistic-enough narrative his handlers had given him in the hopes that he wouldn't stray off topic and start World War III.