Blog Betty (Thomas Friedman is a Great Man was an online novel)

Monday, December 23, 2024

Fat and gassy Tara Reade wants to share

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & ANN'S MEGA DUB & THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS & THE COMMON ILLS -- THE KOOL AID TABLE

NASTY ASS NOTED FATSO TARA READE LOVES HER SOME MATT GAETZ. SHE DEFECTED TO RUSSIA -- POSSIBLY TO ELUDE BILL COLLECTERS THOUGH THE TRUTH ESTRANGED READE HAS ALWAYS INSISTED SHE DEFECTED TO RUSSIA BECAUSE THEN U.S. HOUSE REP. MATT GAETZ SAID IT WAS TOO HOT FOR HER IN THE U.S. SO SHE RUN -- OR AT LEAST MOVE AS QUICKLY AS A WOMAN OF HER SIZE CAN.

LIVING IN RUSSIA, SHE HAS EMBRACED MATT FROM AFAR -- MAINLY BECAUSE WHILE MATT MAY BE UGLY, HE'S NOT ATTRACTED TO UGLY WOMEN -- OR UGLY GIRLS. YES, THE UNDERAGE. IT'S NO LONGER SPECULATION, THE REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELEASED THEIR FINDINGS ON REPUBLICAN MATT GAETZ WHICH CONCLUDED HE "VIOLATED HOUSE RULES AND OTHER STANDARDS OF CONDUCT PROHIBITING PROSTITUTION, STATUTORY RAPE, ILLICIT DRUG USE, IMPERSMISSIBLE GIFTS, SPECIAL FAVORS OR PRIVILEGES, AND OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS."

AS LATE AS DECEMBER 22ND, TARA READE WAS TWEETING ABOUT MATT RUNNING FOR THE U.S. SENATE. BUT REACHED FOR COMMENTS MOMENTS AGO BY THESE REPORTERS -- BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & ANN'S MEGA DUB & THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS & THE COMMON ILLS -- FATTY FIRST CHASTIZED US FOR INTERRUPTING HER TWO HOUR BREAKFAST (IT IS ALMOST 8:30 AM IN MOSCOW CURRENTLY) AND WE WERE GLAD TO HEAR THAT. ONLY A TWO HOUR BREAKFAST NOW? SHE MUST BE CUTTING BACK.

ASKED IF SHE FELT DIFFERENTLY ABOUT HER FRIEND GAETZ NOW THAT SHE KNEW HE DRUGGED WOMEN AND COMMITTED STATUORY RAPE, THE MORBIDLY OBESE WOMAN INSISTED, "I'M JUST FINE. I'VE NEVER CARED ABOUT OTHER WOMEN, ONLY ME. I SURROUND MYSELF WITH RAPISTS AND PEDOPHILES -- MATT, SCOTT RITTER, PUTIN, YOU NAME IT. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. SOME PEOPLE ACCUSE ME OF BEING A HYPOCRITE BUT I SAY AS LONG AS VLADIMIR PUTIN IS WILLING TO PAY MY GROCERY BILLS, I'M WILLING TO SAY AND DO WHATEVER HE TELLS ME. FUNYONS DON'T GROW ON TREES, YOU KNOW -- NOTHING EDIBLE OR TASTY DOES. ARE YOU RECORDING THIS?"

YES.

"WELL COULD YOU PLEASE NOT MENTION MY FARTS? I THINK I'VE FARTED ON EVERY WORD I'VE SAID. OOPS! ANOTHER ONE. OOPS! NO, NOT ANOTHER ONE. A LITTLE MORE THAN JUST GAS SLIPPED OUT WITH THAT ONE."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Now let's deal with some stupidity from the left or 'left':

An AI image? Oh, I love crap-ass lying Socialists because they make their stupidity so very obvious from the very start. Lamentably Awake isn't using a photo either. He was apparently some Twitter god for Elon Musk's social media once upon a time. And I'll stick with he because he writes like either a "he" or a "man identifying woman." And that latter term has nothing to do with a trans person. It has everything to do with a queen bee who disowns her sisters to be the sole woman in the room (see Gloria Steinem's REVOLUTION FROM WITHIN if you're new to the queen bee).

La-La really needs to find a lane and stay there. Veronica McDonald is a Democrat. She's talking about a Democrat. And she's holding a Democrat accountable.

Now, I get it, since US SOCIALIST WORKER went down in flames and accusations and charges, it's been hard for the JACOBIN left and 'left' to educate their followers but there's nothing right-wing about what Veronica Tweeted. Or are we unaware of the Spanish Loyalist War? How damn stupid is La-La?

I don't have time to educate the intentionally stupid.

Rashida Tlaib is Zell Miller -- a Democrat who betrayed the party in a presidential election. She made the decision to work to take down the party's presidential nominee. In terms of party politics, she's a Benedict Arnold. B-b-b-but Palestinians!!!

Palestinians didn't elect her to the Palestine Congress.

She was elected to the US Congress and took an oath to uphold the Constitution-- an oath she abandoned when she worked to support Chump's campaign. With her sister, she worked to destroy Joe Biden and, when Joe dropped out, she worked to destroy Kamala.

Gaza was important to her than the Democratic Party or the American people or immigrants in this country or addressing climate change. Suggesting that she take her protected ass to Palestine and fight for the last thing she supposedly believe in isn't a right-wing talking point. On the left, it was often deployed against those in the US who favored the military uprising in Spain -- the left suggested that right-wingers take their safe little asses to Spain and fight for the fascism that they rooted for.

Veronica Tweeted nothing that was offensive unless you're a whiny ass cry baby outside the Democratic Party who thinks you have a say in this. Because you really don't. This is a party matter and we don't need nor do we want your input. She took money from the DNC and would not have been re-elected without it. She then turned and s**t on the Democratic Party. That was her choice.

She has to live with that choice now. We're not going to ignore her betrayal. We will laugh at her hypocrisy. Such as this:

In the crucial last month before President Joe Biden leaves office, immigrants and allies on Tuesday urged the president to offer protections for immigrant communities before Donald Trump is inaugurated.

The president-elect has promised the largest deportation in U.S. history, stoking fear and uncertainty among undocumented immigrants and immigration advocates over a sweeping platform that marked the core of Trump’s GOP presidential campaign.

Speaking near the U.S. Capitol, the “Home is Here” campaign featured immigrant youth, allies and advocates demanding Biden take executive action.

[. . .]

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib also voiced her concerns Tuesday over the president-elect’s immigration plans.

“We cannot underestimate, as you all know, what will unfold the moment Trump takes office in January, and we need as many people as possible working to resist this hateful agenda,” the Michigan Democrat said.

Tlaib noted that Biden “still has power to take immediate executive action to protect our immigrant communities.”

She also said “we must continue to work incredibly hard, not only to outwork the hate, but to really promote love and justice within our communities.”

Shut your lying mouth, just shut it. You don't care about immigrants. No one who does would have ever voted for Donald Chump. No one who cares for immigrants would have worked to defeat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

You made your decision and you'll have to live with it. And Home Is Here and other organizations are going to have to learn that she's not going to pull people over to the cause. No, she's as toxic now as, for example, Cynthia McKinney was when they ran her out of Congress the first time. That's not me endorsing the running out of Cynthia. That's me noting reality that others try to ignore. Rashida's done. Her actions in 2024 have doomed many people in this country and no one's going to paper over that to make it pretty. She has to be held accountable for her part in putting Chump back in the White House. She has to be held accountable for all that follows.

And her fan base of uneducated Socialist -- not all Socialist are uneducated -- most are highly educated -- though many DSA-ers are come off as home schooled -- can glom to her and try to protect her but that's not going to work. It never has historically. She's done. Fork in her ass time. It's over. Whatever national platform she once had is over. So much so that I'm sure even Chump considers her more of a joke than a threat and she won't make his enemies list.

If it helps any, I don't think she was motivated just by her desire to put Chump back in the White House. I also think Rashida was motivated by her hatred of Black women.

And, one more thing, when you've actively done your part to destroy the Democratic Party's presidential ticked in 2024 the way Rashida did, you're a f**king hypocrite to think you can then make demands on Joe Biden in the final days of his presidency. You're gall is appalling.

"Iraq snapshot"

"Chislers Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur"

"Donald Chump Small and Exposed"

"So much blame to share"

"Slow Cooker Ham in the Kitchen"

"Rachel Maddow's PSA"

"Brie & Green Bean Bundles in the Kitchen"

"One-Pot Creamy Spinach Lentils in the Kitchen"

"Self-Crust Pumpkin Pie in the Kitchen"

"The Scum Also Rises"

"Racists Adam Johnson and Othman Ali"

"Queen of the KKK Mama Musk"

"Another reason to get on BlueSky"

"BlueSky"

"BlueSky gets millions of new users while Twitter l..."

"Dining in the age of MAGA"

"Books"

"Judith Butler"

"A Racist Named Goodman"

"Good for Joe!"

"Look what we've become"

"C.I.'s right, Rashida is the new Zell Miller, get her out of office"

"Don't support racists like Adam Johnson"

"The Crooked Court eroded public trust"

"Listen to Thom Tillis whine"

"Science grab bag"

"More like Boofasa"

"AMERICAN SPORTS STORY: AARON HERNANDEZ"

"A new daytime soap opera"

"TV"

"Weekend Box Office"

"
"Phil Collins"

"MAGA a cult of closet cases"

"Let's hear it for . . ."

"The death is greatly exaggerated"

"Rudy G -- the 'g' is for grifter"

"Louisiana's problems just get worse"

"He is not really an American"

"The continued embarrassment"

"A new wrinkle in Trump world"

"Junior doesn't get his wittle way!!!"

"swalwell sees the trouble facing our country"

"Nut jobs Elon and Greg"

"nut jobs tucker carlson and tara reade"

"mark robinson exposed again"

"the cry baby insurrectionists"

"Chase Rice"

"Junior even spits on his own family"

"Did all that bleach damage Marjorie Taylor Greene's brain?"

"I like that idea"

"Dumb Marjorie just gets dumber"

"Idiot of the Week"

"Who TIME should have picked for Person of the Year"

"Donald Chump is a brat throwing a tantrum on the world stage"

"Soon-Shiong and his common law wife Elon"

"Incredible Dionne, disgusting Donald"

"Live stream Speaking Truth to Power right now"

"Black Women talking hard truths in live stream -- if your lily White ass can handle it"

"Live stream this powerful conversation that Black women are leading"

Friday, December 20, 2024

C.I.'s right, Rashida is the new Zell Miller, get her out of office

Sorry, I was tired. We did a roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin like we do every Thursday but this one got deep and involved. I had to fly to Georgia -- spending Christmas with my parents -- this morning so I went immediately to sleep after the roundtable and still nearly overslept this morning, almost missing my flight.

First up, let me note THIRD:

It was a full edition. The first since the election. We're all trying to take some time for ourselves. I don't think I will ever get over the results.

This isn't a case of sour grapes. That took place in 2004. John Kerry lost to Bully Boy Bush. That took place in 2000 when the Supreme Court stopped the recount so that Bully Boy Bush could be handed a victory he did not win.

This was an election like none before. You had a qualified candidate (Kamala) and one that wasn't qualified. You had one who had served as an attorney general in California, as a member of the US Senate and as a vice president. And you had one who wasn't just a convicted felon but was also someone who had destroyed the country when he was previously president and who was making threats and spewing lies non-stop on the campaign trail.

And instead of rallying behind Kamala, too many Democrats and too many leftists and 'leftists' attacked her and savaged her -- depressing turnout, that's why the turnout was lower.

So THE NATION and DEMOCRACY NOW! and all the other crap ass outlets claiming to be for the people instead attacked Kamala and we've got Donald Trump coming back into the White House as a result.

I do not know who will be running in 2022 but I will be donating to any Democrat that stands up and primaries Rashida Talib.

C.I.'s exactly right, she's Zell Miller (see C.I.'s Iraq snapshot from yesterday which is posted in full below). She needs to be pushed out of office.

She took Democratic money to run her election but refused to support the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Kick her ass out of Congress.

She's trash and she's garbage. She needs to go home.

And she's made enough enemies that it shouldn't be too hard to get her out of office and it shouldn't be too hard to find a better Democrat -- a real one -- from her district to elect. If not, let it go Republican, it's a racist (anti-Black), sexist (Muslim fundamentalists) and homophobic (ibid) community. They can all f off. And I hope the pain that this country feels over the next four years is felt even harder in Dearborn and Hamtramck, I hope the people who betrayed us because a Black woman isn't good enough for them, I hope those people suffer, really suffer.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, December 19, 2024. Elections have consequences. Let's discuss some.

Let's start with a basic note. We're not a supermarket bulletin board. Just because you've decided to teach guitar lessons, it's not my job to note that. A number of people are frustrated -- people I don't just not know but have never heard of -- because they're e-mailing their articles or their videos to get them highlighted here. Martha and Shirley are the main ones working the e-mails but they aren't the only ones. Something from David Bacon comes in? They know to move it to a folder I will try to work from, we're always happy to note his work which is both journalism and art and he's one of the few labor reporters that the country has. David's only problem is me finding time to get whatever up here. But those of you who are new to me? You're not going up automatic and some of you, when I get the time to review what you're asking be noted, are at the wrong damn site.

We have changed and we are changing and maybe that causes some confusion. In the past, I tried to play fair. I'm not interested in that. I'll give you an example. I know Katie Couric, we're not great friends but I know her. And have real respect for the body of work she's provided. A fright-wing and centrist took to attacking her in videos. Didn't want to play gatekeeper so I included them here. I'm no longer interested in that. The rank hypocrisy of the circle jerk left is never addressed or even acknowledged. Right now, a woman who is often noted here and will not be noted for a while.

In 2022 when the nonsense first started, we just ignored it and acted like it wasn't happening.

I'm not in the mood anymore. As I've noted repeatedly, Chris Rock is a friend. I have no idea why, with your political talk show, you have felt the need to do not one but two attacks on Chris. In one week. You're a Black woman who has refused to seriously explore real issues that many of us in the community are exploring and have been -- including serious discussions about how the intersection of race and gender impacted Kamala Harris' campaign.

But you've got time, in one week, to do not one but two lengthy segments attacking Chris?

I'm not in the mood.

Trump, Tulsi, Hegseth, Junior, Elon -- and how many more nightmares are out there but you're attacking Chris Rock.

I'm not interested anymore in being 'fair' and saying, "Oh well, difference of opinion, we'll just highlight other things from" _____. Not interested at all. You pulled this s**t when Chris got attacked in 2022 at the Academy Awards ceremony. We were kind then. I'm not interested being kind now.

I think it's important to highlight voices of color but you're not the only voice of color out there and two attacks in one week on Chris? I'm not interested in you. We'll probably note you some in the new year -- if I'm not still angry -- but I'm not in the mood now.

And again, for a woman of color to do so little right now -- in the wake of all the pain among Black women over the election results -- doesn't speak highly for you but, I'd argue, two long segments in one week picking on Chris didn't argue highly for you either.

As for the centrists with all their pieces explaining why the Democratic Party needs to move right, no, you're not going to be posted here and we're not going to endure your nonsense.

Get over it. That's a line from Stevie Nicks' "Hard Advice" and you can stop reading now if you came by for fluff and nonsense. We're about to address a serious issue regarding loyalty and betrayal.

He gives such hard advice

He says don't think twice

Turn off the radio

It was finished long ago

Go write some real songs

This is all wrong

Sometimes he's my best friend

Even when he's not around

But the sound of his voice

Well, it follows me down

And reminds me

Sometimes he's my best friend

Even when he's not around

But the sound of his voice

Well, it follows me down

And reminds me

You have to get over this

This pain's gone on too long

Go and write some real songs

Stay out of music stores

Don't buy that doll

-- "Hard Advice," written by Stevie Nicks, first appears on her 24 KARAT GOLD: SONGS FROM THE VAULT

I'm being asked in real life if I'd oppose or support a challenge -- primary challenge -- in 2026 for Rashida Talib who is in the House of Representatives and uses the party i.d. of "Democrat." I begged off until today for providing an answer. I slept on it last night and my answer is yes.

Rashida has done real damage.

What has she accomplished?

We have to constantly defend her as a Democratic Party. We have to defend her foul mouth because she never grasped the way we expect a politician to speak. We have to defend her positions. We have to defend her statements.

And that's fine in many ways.

When does it stop being fine?

Zell Miller.

That's what it comes down to.

You're lying and you're justifying and minimizing if you can't grasp that.

Oh, the pain she's in over her family!!!!

I don't give two s**ts and you shouldn't either.

We didn't write excuses for Zell. We didn't ponder what pain he might be in. We didn't care and we shouldn't have.

There are many things we can disagree on.

But when it comes time to elect a president?

No.

Zell, for those who don't know, elected in 2004 -- he was in the Senate and also used the label "Democrat" -- elected to speak at the Republican Party's convention and to promote Bully Boy Bush.

That was the end of it for Zell and Rashida's actions (and her sister's) should spell the end for Rashida.

She actively worked (as did Rashida's sister) to defeat the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

Until the day before the election, US House Rep Rashida Talib was encouraged to endorse Kamala Harris in the presidential election. She refused to do so. In fact, Jeffrey C. Isaac had an entire column about that published at COMMON DREAMS on November 4th:

And because the race is so tight, and every vote counts, and because so much of importance rides on the outcome, it is important, now, to think critically, in an intelligent way, about a very disappointing thing which happened this weekend: Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s unfortunate refusal, at a UAW campaign rally in Detroit, to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket.

Tlaib’s rationale is both straightforward and legitimate: the Biden administration’s strong and unwavering support for Israel’s criminal campaign of murder and destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, and the Democratic Party’s refusal to allow even one Palestinian-American to give voice to Palestinian concerns at the party’s convention last summer, represent intolerable disregard for Palestinian lives. As she explained: “Our trauma and pain feel unseen and ignored by both parties. One party uses our identity as a slur, and the other refuses to hear from us. Where is the shared humanity? Ignoring us won’t stop the genocide.”

Tlaib is a brave and savvy political leader who has consistently spoken up against oppression and who, as the only Palestinian-American in Congress, has spoken bravely on behalf of Palestinians in the face of outright hostility expressed by Republicans but also by many Democrats.

When she was attacked last year for her criticisms of Israeli war crimes, I strongly defended her in two pieces, published in rapid succession, that received substantial attention: “To Censure Rashida Tlaib Would Be to Censure Democracy Itself,” “and ““The Attacks on Rashida Tlaib Are Attacks on the Ethos of Pluralist Democracy .” In a third piece, “Defending and Respecting Rashida Tlaib’s Standpoint Does Not Mean Abandoning My Own ,” I also offered a sympathetic criticism of some of her rhetoric, which I thought alienated many allies to her cause.

It is in this spirit that I am writing now. I am not one of those who believes that Palestinian and Arab-Americans are under a moral duty to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket, or that they are somehow morally blameworthy should they refuse to so vote on grounds of either conscience or simple identity. For all politics involves mobilizing identity, and the Harris campaign is going all out to mobilize women in support of reproductive freedom and women’s health--as it should do.

The writer took that to COMMON DREAMS which might not have been the best place for it -- read the comments. Until early in October, COMMON DREAMS was part of the effort on the left to elect Donald Trump -- via microaggressions and assorted other tricks. To their credit, COMMON DREAMS did do a self-evaluation and drop that nonsense. But their readers were already indoctrinated and you can see that in the comments on the article.

I don't believe Rashida who came out of the gate in 2021 with "Mother F**ker" has ever worried about alienating allies.

Rashida, maybe in your post-Congressional career, you can explain why you chose to call a man a MF as an insult?

As a feminist, I don't even like to use the term "bastard" in my writing (I've used it once) because it's always been used as a judgment on the woman (the mother). So I'd love to hear you on that and know that you're not part of the rank sexism in the Dearborn and Hamtramck.

No, Rashida's always been very clear that she's going to do what's best for her.

And as a private citizen, she can do just that. Her sister's a private citizen and we only mention her in relationship to their combined effort to defeat Kamala Harris.

But Rashida's not a private citizen.

She's a member of Congress who took an oath to the Constitution.

I don't see how working to put a convicted felon back into the White House reflects or honors that oath.

More to the point, not one dime of Democratic Party money should have gone to her re-election.

She took party money, she therefore was required to advance the party in the election.

She refused to do that.

She's Zell Miller and she's proven that she can't be trusted. The party can't afford a turncoat.

Back to the column:

As I stated last week, in “A Few Words to Those Currently 'Uncommitted' to Voting for Harris ,“ many Arab-Americans are clearly so disgusted by Biden administration policy that they cannot support Harris, and it would be both foolish and morally tone deaf to tell them that their sense of identity is less important than any other. Arab-American fellow citizens have a right to feel outraged and ignored and to act accordingly.

That's interesting. I don't remember anyone fretting over being "foolish and morally tone deaf" in telling Black women -- who've suffered in this country for centuries, who've been raped and murdered in huge numbers, who've been exploited and had their labor and work stolen -- "that their sense of identity is no less important than any other." No, what I saw was that Black women were spat on. But let's continue.

The question I want to pose here regarding Tlaib’s decision is a question of political responsibility.

Tlaib is a Palestinian-American citizen, whose family is currently in danger in Israel-Palestine. As a citizen and as a conscientious moral individual, she has every right to refuse to support or to vote for Harris, by abstaining, or voting for Jill Stein, or whatever. It would be presumptuous for anyone to judge her as an individual, for only she knows what the current destruction of Palestine means to her and those whom she holds most dear.

But Tlaib is not only a Palestinian-American citizen. She is also a member of Congress and leader of the Democratic Party and the progressive left more generally.

She was a leader of the Democratic Party. She's not now. For those who don't know, Rashida didn't work alone to defeat Kamala, her sister was part of the Muslim effort in Michigan to destroy Kamala. Rashida made her choice -- that was to re-elect Trump and if you don't get how f**ked Rashida is now as a result, you're just a dumb fanboy online who thinks politicians never exact revenge.

And she has a distinct political responsibility that comes with this leadership. It requires that she be accountable to her constituents. But it also requires the she exercise the judgment necessary to truly lead, and to act publicly in ways that promote the interests of her constituents; the policies she cares about; and the survival of democracy itself. What she does publicly is by nature about much more than her. And her decisions carry more weight than ordinary citizen decisions.

A second Trump administration, especially linked to a buoyed MAGA Republican Congress, would be a simple disaster for everything that Rashida Tlaib has long bravely supported, from civil liberties to the dignified treatment of immigrants—including Arab immigrants—to justice for Palestinians. For Trump is an ally of Netanyahu and his Greater Israel agenda, and he will surely green-light even more aggression, dispossession, destruction and death for Palestinians than we have seen over the past year.

Rashida Tlaib is not morally wrong for refusing to support the Harris campaign. But her refusal, I submit, is politically mistaken, because it is likely to bring about results that are politically noxious for her supporters and their values, and for American democracy more generally.

It was beyond politically mistaken and it was ethically wrong. She needs to leave the Democratic Party. She needs to leave now. She's most likely going to be primaried and she should be. On the basis of party loyalty, she no longer belongs in Congress.

B-b-but she's Palestinian-American!

She's Zell Miller.

She didn't take an oath to defend her ancestor's homeland. She took an oath to defend the Constitution and to defend this country, the United States of America.

By helping Donald Trump get re-elected, she failed to honor her oath.

People like her did real damage. And want to talk Palestine? People like Rashida have destroy support -- decimated it -- for the Palestinians. In the US, people have walked away. London? They turn out a crowd every weekend to protest.

Here?

There's an attitude of "No, thank you."

And that's while Joe Biden's still in the White House. Satan Trump hasn't been sworn in and can't sick the military on protesters right now.

People are done.

You overplayed your hand and turned into the freaks that never could get the message across.

You had a window and opening and the American people were listening.

And then you proved yet again that you were freaks.

The most important issue in a US presidential election really isn't what's taking place in another country.

I say that as someone who opposed the Iraq War, spoke out against it and did everything I could to get those who supported it out of office.

Democracy is under threat now. Because Gaza Freaks and others f**ked around with our election, we're now in a very bad place and will be for the next four years.

Immigrants and those who look like they might be immigrants are about to be targeted and rounded up.

So was it worth it, Rashida?

He's not even in the White House yet, but Satan's already declared that the Justice Dept should be going after any news outlet that reports on a story he doesn't like. Not that's wrong, mind you. That wouldn't be the Justice Dept's business either. But let's be very clear about what's happening right now. He's attacking a paper because he didn't like the polling results the paper covered.

Was it worth it, Rashida?

Do we need to talk about Ken Paxton suing New York?

What are you seeing, Rashida, that says, "Great job, Rashida!"

Because what I'm seeing is my country going down the tubes.

What I'm seeing is people of color, LGBTQ+, all women, the press, free speech, et al being under assault for the next four years.

You made your choice and you chose wrong.

Kamala wouldn't have given you everything you wanted on the plight of the Palestinian people. That's reality and I know you can't deal with reality.

Here's some more reality, you are never going to undue the prejudice against the Palestinian people that the American people have been taught by their media in one or two years. It is a long struggle.

Yes, people will die in Gaza during this struggle.

No, it's not fair.

But that's why you do your best to mitigate and continue attempts to educate.

Donald Trump was never going to help the Palestinian people.

Kamala would have pushed for a cease-fire.

And I don't need to hear from Adam Johnson or some other idiot telling me differently. Please see Ann's "Racists Adam Johnson and Othman Ali." As noted here forever and a day, I've known Kamala for years. We were not friends. I did not support her 2020 run. I did not scream, "Joe step down and give it to Kamala!" Joe did need to step down and thankfully he did. But that was it for me. We needed a new nominee. When she began emerging as the party's potential nominee -- one of many -- dictating a snapshot, I started out dismissing the idea. And then, as I thought about it, it became very clear that she would be a solid nominee and could be a great president. Again, I wasn't not part of her base or a Kamala-stan. We honestly did not get along. And that's due to personal issues and I will gladly cop to it being 100% all on my side.

But my point in sharing this is that she was the best choice and would have made an outstanding president and I didn't drag all my personal issues into it to trash her.

Rashida did.

I don't know what to tell you, Rashida. You're damaged goods now. Not just with the party but with Democrats across the country.

You've asked a lot of us over the last four years.

And we delivered.

We defended you.

We stood up for you.

And our thanks was you did your part to elect Donald Trump.

That didn't help the Palestinians.

And it damn well didn't help this country.

You're Zell Miller.

You chose to make yourself that and you should be left on your own for now, you should be primaried in 2026 (if you are, I expect I will be maxing out with my donations to your opponent).

Ahead of the US election, Rashida felt the need to Tweet the following:

Rashida Tlaib

@RashidaTlaib

Nov 3

The Israeli government bombed children while they were trying to get their polio vaccination.

Oh, you care about polio vaccines, Rashida?

What about American children? Your actions mean Junior's probably going to be Secretary of Heatlh and Human Services and he is on record opposing the polio vaccine.

So what about American children?

How did you defend them, how did you protect them, by working to defeat Kamala?

Everything is not about you.

You took an oath to uphold the Constitution but you couldn't even vote to uphold the Constitution. Why? Because the Israeli government was yet again attacking the Palestinians.

At the beginning of THIRD's recent "Roundtable," Jim noted the participants: "The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava, and me, Jim; Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude; Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man; C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review; Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Ruth of Ruth's Report; Trina of Trina's Kitchen; Wally of The Daily Jot; Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ; Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends; Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub." and from that roundtable:

Jim: Ann, I'm turning to you for a number of reasons. First off, you were raised a Green Party member. You always voted Green. This year, you announced you'd be voting Democratic. You were very vocal about Jill Stein being an embarrassment. You're also a Black woman and so there were other revelations for you.

Ann: I had no idea just how much racism there was in this country. None. I knew it was out there. I liked to think it decreased with each year. I mean, Cedric and I have two kids. I had thought they were growing up in a country that was getting better and better. That's not the case. Kamala was the most qualified candidate. And the White progressives are forever showing up after the election talking about how Black women as a group repeatedly vote for the Democratic Party nominee. Is Laura Flanders semi-closeted? I can never keep up. She was an out lesbian for years when she was doing a public radio program. Then she went to work for AIR AMERICA RADIO and ran back in the closet. I think she's out again but I can't keep track of her or her cowardly ways. She's the worst among the White women. She'll start extolling Black women after a presidential election and talking about how we saved the election for the Democrat. That's her posing on air. She's not a Democrat and didn't even vote for John Kerry -- though she pretended over night on AIR AMERICA RADIO the night of that election that she had voted for Kerry and that she was a Democrat only revealing a couple of years later that she voted for the Green. At any rate, shove your garbage talk about Black women back up your ass, Laura. She couldn't stay off INSTAGRAM with her attacks on Kamala as the election approached. Betrayal? Black women turned out for the Democratic Party over and over and here was one of us, a couple of yards from the presidency, and you could have elevated us and showed us support but instead you showed your racism and ripped us apart.

Cedric: I want to build on Ann's point in a way that people haven't. Reparations. We supposedly believe in them. Now a big cash check to every Black person? I don't think that's going to happen in my lifetime. So I tend to advocate for scholarships and assistance and investment into Black communities -- for reparations payments to happen that way. I don't see most White people going for individual checks -- not even on the left -- because it becomes a wah-wah where's my check too? Kamala Harris was the most qualified candidate in that race. And if you truly believed in reparations on any level, you should have voted for her grasping the historical importance of voting for the most qualified candidate when she was Black. But various people on the left -- a lot of them White -- refused to support reparations and put a Black woman in the White House. So Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, Katrina vanden Heuvel and all you other White fake asses grasp that we see you for the racists you truly are. And we don't need to hear from you and we don't want to hear from you.

Jim: I think Cedric's pulled us into the heart of this roundtable. We were trying to approach it. Ruth you wrote down that you wanted to address Gaza Freaks so I'm going to toss to you.

Ruth: Something cruel and criminal has been taking place in Gaza since October of last year. Many people became part of a movement to stop it. The Gaza Freaks were the loudest and they'd pretend that they were the first. They are, always, the first to turn people off to the cause. That is due to the fact that they are off putting and crazy. They worked overtime to elect Satan by advancing grifter Jill Stein and/or advocating for Satan and attacking Kamala Harris. They did not put the Palestinians first. They lied and told everyone not to vote for Vice President Harris. Now Satan's headed back to the White House and they want to pretend that's not their fault, they want to pretend that Satan's decision to destroy Gaza is not their fault. Yes, it is. You freaks cannot elect anyone but you damn sure can ensure that the wrong person gets into the White House.

Isaiah: And I'm not working with the Gaza Freaks. They're dishonest liars. I will never work with them on any issue. If they're included, I'll find another action to take part in.

Rebecca: And that is the reaction. I've spoken out for the Palestinians since college. I would often cry about the fact that they didn't get their support they needed and that they were being slaughtered. We're going back to college years. C.I. would talk realistically to me. She'd note what could be done at this moment and what couldn't be done and why. It went to the fact that the US people had a view of the Israeli state and that they conflated that state with people being Jewish. It went to our government's relationship with the Israeli government. When the illegal Iraq War started, C.I. noted that this would help the Palestinian people by educating Americans on occupations. October 7th saw the Israeli government finally overplay their hand. And C.I. and other non-Gaza Freaks shaped a message day after day that the American people could embrace. And the shift is finally taking place. Enter the Gaza Freaks. It's really over now. You would need people like C.I. who know how to shape an argument and how to win support. And she's not going to work with the Gaza Freaks. She's not the only one. COMMON DREAMS, every weekend, tries to highlight some London protest for Palestinians. They have to go to London because Gaza Freaks burned the bridge in America. They put Donald Trump back into the White House and no one's forgiving them for that. Nor should they.

Mike: I'll jump in. I'm someone coming to the issue late. And I didn't have strong beliefs one way or the other until October and the way that coverage was addressing it. I cared about the Palestinians. CODE PINK and it's ancient 'leadership' didn't make that happen. Amy Goodman and her half-truths didn't make it happen. It was the people who led on it for the first time following October 7th. They set new parameters and they made real arguments. The Gaza Freaks? They worked for decades and never managed to shift US opinion. So now they're back in charge and America just doesn't care -- more likely just doesn't care to be working with those fringe freaks. We still care about the Palestinian people. But the Gaza Freaks ensured Trump got elected and, in doing so, they ensured the deaths of Palestinians will continue.

Ty: The Gaza Freaks also threatened and bullied and attacked Black people -- especially Black women -- online. And that's not forgotten. It's not acceptable. And I'm not going to pet them on the head and act like they're cuddly and cute. They're racist, they're sexist and they're homophobes. And when Orange Cheeto rains hell down on them, they have only themselves to blame. They showed the Black community their true nature and we're done.

Stan: I cover entertainment at my site but I do watch and learn. And there were times something would be in the news and I could argue it was entertainment related and cover it and using the tools C.I. repeatedly accessed while writing at THE COMMON ILLS, I would get some e-mails saying that they hadn't seen the Palestinian issue that way before. But, like Mike said, it's going to need a full revamp at this point. The Gaza Freaks took over and sent everyone running off over disgust with the Gaza Freaks. It's a real setback for the Palestinian cause.

Let's talk Junior. Savannah Kuchar, Sudiksha Kochi and Riley Beggin (USA TODAY) reports:

While other Trump Cabinet picks have been in the glare of the spotlight – including embattled defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and potential director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard – Kennedy's nomination has recently become more divisive following reports that one of his allies took aim at the long-trusted polio vaccine.

Aaron Siri, Kennedy’s top adviser helping him pick health officials for the incoming Trump administration, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to revoke or limit approval of the polio vaccine. If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy would oversee the FDA and other departments.

Kennedy has questioned the effectiveness of vaccines for years and promoted debunked claims that certain vaccines are linked to autism. Trump, wary of vaccines in his first term, has said recently he is not against them even as he defends his nominee.

“Vaccines are incredible, but maybe some aren’t, and if they aren’t, we have to find out,” Trump told NBC earlier this month. He has since said he supports polio vaccinations.

Some Republican senators have embraced that uncertainty. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said there is an “epidemic” of autism in the United States (an uptick that experts have attributed to improved diagnoses practices). “The question of vaccines, he has a right to question it,” Mullin said.

And Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) adds:

A public health expert scorned Sen. Tommy Tuberville's analysis of vaccine mandates as illogical and unscientific.

The Alabama Republican met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is Donald Trump's nominee for health secretary, and came away saying that they agreed that children are required to get too many vaccines instead of just three, as both septuagenarians had gotten as children in the 1950s, and Dr. Paul Offit faulted his reasoning during an appearance on CNN.

"That's called survivor bias," said Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital, Philadelphia. "I mean, the notion is that, you know, we were fine, so therefore everybody else is fine. This thing about transparency [in research] is very upsetting to me, because you can see all the data that everybody else sees. It's all open to the public. I mean, when we, the FDA vaccine advisory committee, reviewed, for example, the Covid vaccines in December of 2020, we reviewed about 800 pages of data. That was all on FDA's website for anybody to look at."

"I don't know what Tommy Tuberville is talking about," Offit added, "but one thing that Tommy Tuberville said that should be a key to exactly what RFK Jr. is going to do is he said, 'I just talked to RFK Jr., and we talked about how, do we really need all these vaccines. That tells you everything about what RFK Jr. is about to do. He is about to do everything he can to destroy the vaccine program in this country, and I think it is a dangerous time to be a child in the United States of America."

Are you happy now, Rashida?

Elections have real consequences. The world is going to be living in a world of hurt with Satan headed back to the White House and it's time to see some accountability from those who helped him win.

The following sites updated: