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

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Did you see this "A Gallup survey published Tuesday found that public confidence in America’s courts had fallen by 24 percentage points since 2020, to a historic low of 35%."?

Imagine that, right? Shocking. Who could have ever guessed? Only everyone paying even half attention.

Our Crooked Court is corrupt and does not work for the people.

Lilith Foster-Collins (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Americans' confidence in the U.S. judicial system has fallen to a record low of 35%, according to a new Gallup poll.

This marks a sharp 24-point drop over the last four years, setting the U.S. apart from other wealthy nations where trust in judicial systems remains higher on average.

[. . .]

The decline in trust follows major judicial events in recent years, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended nationwide protections for abortion.

The crooks destroyed our trust in the Court.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE CVOMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, December 17, 2024. Another day, another day of Satan lying, his pick for Secretary of Defense just gets more disgusting, the right wing attacks BLUESKY, and much more.

BLUESKY continues to add users. Some of which are not wanted. Sarah Perez (TECHCRUNCH) reports:

Now with 25 million users, Bluesky is facing a test that will determine whether or not its platform will still be seen as a safe space and place of refuge from the toxicity of X. In recent days, a large number of users on Bluesky have been urging the company to ban one newcomer for his opinions and works shared both on and off the platform.

Writer and podcast host Jesse Singal joined Bluesky 12 days ago to the horror of much of the Bluesky community. Singal has been cataloged by GLAAD’s Accountability Project for his writings on transgender issues and other matters. The GLAAD project “catalogs anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and discriminatory actions of politicians, commentators, organization heads, religious leaders, and legal figures, who have used their platforms, influence, and power to spread misinformation and harm LGBTQ people.”

He is now the most blocked user on the social network, and user outrage over his participation on the platform is growing. People are demanding that Bluesky take a stand: It’s either a place that promises it won’t host bad actors, or it’s a place that promises not to inflate the reach of bad actors thanks to its various moderation tools.

It cannot be both.

That's reality. He's hate merchant who got propped up by a lot of hate merchants. Why isn't he staying in his cesspool? Twitter is where he belongs. His hate speech doesn't belong on BLUE SKY.. He's carved out his home on the racist, sexist and homophobic Twitter.

Well it seems sugar pants is no longer happy there. And, oh look, there's Ben Smith another piece of crap. We're going to limit this because I've just noted Ben Smith. We're going to wrap this up real quick. That garbage dump that no one would f**k without a blindfold always sucks up to right wingers and always has. We were the first ones to write about a nominee for an ambassador post -- to write about it why it wouldn't go through and it didn't go through but Ben all those years ago, elected to give credit to someone who wrote about it nearly two days later which we only found about when that person -- the right winger -- e-mailed to say he was sorry because he had read it on this site and, more to the point, in his write up at his site, he clearly gave credit to this site in the first sentence of his write up. In addition, he forwarded his e-mail to Ben and Ben's reply where the right-wing blogger explained that he had merely reported and quoted from what I wrote -- and he'd credited me for it -- so Ben needed to do a correction and Ben replied back that he didn't need to and why he didn't need to (he didn't care for THE COMMON ILLS). That's Ben Smith for you -- human garbage with a stronger stink.

We could go into so much more about Ben -- and may at a later date - but for now if you come across his garbage and think why is he attacking Sarah for the article she wrote, it's because he's garbage. There's nothing "bizarre" about what she wrote for TECHDIRT it's just that Ben Smith is dirt and always and forever will be.

Trash needs to stay at Twitter with the breasty Shamoo.

Yep, that's Elon Musk -- vain enough to have his ass hair transplanted to his head to cover up the balding but apparently too afraid to get a much needed breast reduction.

Maybe he and Satan Trump could go in and each get a much needed breast reduction procedure at the same time? Ted Johnson (DEADLINE) reports the latest on Satan's legal woes:

A New York judge ruled Monday that Donald Trump does not have immunity from his conviction on 34 felony counts in his hush money case.

Judge Juan Merchan concluded that the case did not stem from Trump’s official acts as president. Trump’s attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed based on a Supreme Court ruling last year.

The case centered on falsification of business records related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, before Trump became president.

Merchan wrote in his ruling that the evidence in the case “relate entirely to unofficial conduct and thus, receive no immunity protections.”

Still the convicted felon -- several times over.

Holly Honderich (BBC NEWS) adds:

Now, following Justice Merchan's ruling, Trump's team is almost certain to seek further delays and appeals.

And the judge is still yet to decide whether to issue a sentence before Trump assumes office in January, after his term ends in 2029 or not at all.

Interesting.

He can do that after January 20th when he's sworn in?

Haven't presidents repeatedly argued over the years against legal issues being decided whil they're in office? Claiming that it would be a distraction to carrying out the duties of the office.

Convicted felon. It will always follow him around. That's what he is, a crook. He's a liar. Daniel Dale (CNN) did a fact check on the lies the crook told in yesterday's liary before the press:

Here are some of the false claims Trump made at the Monday event.

California and the vote count: Trump falsely claimed that “they’re still counting the vote in California.” While it’s true that California does, for various reasons, take longer than other states to finish counting votes in federal elections, it is not still counting today; the state’s secretary of state certified the 2024 election results on Friday.

Europe and pesticides: Trump falsely claimed, “Europe doesn’t use pesticides, and yet they have a better mortality rate than we do. They don’t use pesticides.” Pesticides are widely used in Europe, though some particular pesticides that are used in the US are banned in the European Union.

Conflict under Trump: Trump repeated his familiar false claim that there were “no wars” during his presidency, this time saying, “Think of it: four years ago, we had no wars.”

In fact, there were dozens of unresolved wars and armed conflicts in late 2020 and when Trump left office in early 2021. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks armed conflict in countries around the world, said in a June email that it estimates there were active armed conflicts in 51 international states in 2020 and again active armed conflicts in 51 international states in 2021.

When Trump left office in early 2021, US troops were still deployed in combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq; civil wars in Syria, Yemen and Somalia continued, as did the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was also ongoing, as were the conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, between Israel and Syria and between Israel and Iran; Islamist insurgents continued their fight in Africa’s Sahel region; there was major violence in Mexico’s long-running drug wars; fighting continued between Ukraine and pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s Donbas region; and there were lots of other unresolved wars and conflicts around the world.

Trump’s tax cut: Trump repeated his false claim that he signed “the biggest tax cuts in history.” Expert analyses have found that his 2017 tax cut law was not the largest in US history, either in percentage of gross domestic product or in inflation-adjusted dollars.

Tariffs on China: Trump repeated two of his regular false claims about tariffs on imported Chinese products. He falsely claimed that the US took in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs “from China” during his presidency, then falsely claimed that before his presidency, “no other president took in 10 cents, not 10 cents.”

The US was generating billions per year in revenue from tariffs on China before Trump took office; in fact, the US has had tariffs on Chinese imports since the 1700s. Second, US importers pay these tariffs, not China, and often pass on some or all of the cost to consumers. Study after study has found that Americans bore the overwhelming majority of the cost of Trump’s tariffs.

He lies and he lies again. He's a convicted felon. Michael Albert (ZNET) notes:

Trump is a pestilence, an abomination. Really. He is. No more debate. It is as evident as a cloud of locusts. It is as undeniable as his pronouncements, appointments, and Project 2025. What name should we give all that? Call it anything you like. But by any other name fascism is still fascist.

Whether from day one in an avalanche of proclamations that seek to bury all opposition in a shock and awe flash, or, less apocalyptically and more strategically, over many months in a careful slow boil that burns a bit at a time until we are all cooked, Trump and his minions mean to impose horror on all but themselves. They are preparing a carpet bombing of vile policies that range from massive anti-human deportations to incendiary anti-economic tariffs, and from suicidal drill baby drill for oil billionaires to unlimited repressive incarceration to stifle effective disobedience. That is already a whole lot, but don’t overlook the long term. Trump and his minions also mean to transform government agencies and political institutions to ensure persistent one-thug rule. Goodbye guardrails. Hello holocaust.

So, be against Trump? Of course. But how? Once mobilized, I don’t think it is rocket science. Mass movements that raise costs for elites are what can win change. Organize to generate ever-widening solidarity and understanding. Provide sanctuary to protect allies and block incarcerations. Educate to awaken ever-broader circles of resistance. Rally, boycott, occupy, and strike to block and to simultaneously develop capacity to resist further. Volunteer for or join movement organizations. Each person decide to join the collective fight, or not—and then find entry and welcome. That is the hard part, not once aligned, once prepared, what to do. That will have many answers, yes, to be sure, but only one of the plausible answers will be widely daunting and confusing.

Satan's disappointing and embarrassing administration nominees are the result of his not being qualified for the job himself. Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) reports:

One of Donald Trump's nominees was escorted on Capitol Hill by a former soldier who left the military after he was accused of brutally beating a civilian role player during a training exercise.

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth has been accompanied this month by former Army Special Forces Master Sergeant John Jacob Hasenbein, who left the service after witnesses said he kicked, punched and hogtied a former Iraqi soldier during a 2019 training exercise, reported the New York Times.

“This guy has real anger issues,” said Ahmed Altameemi, the former member of the Iraqi Army’s elite counterterrorism service who Hasenbein was charged with assaulting. "He is not a safe man. I don’t know why they gave him this position. Don’t they do any background checks?”

The Army charged Hasenbein, who had deployed to Iraq eight times, with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, and a military jury found him guilty in a court martial in 2020. But the judge overseeing the case declared a mistrial after learning that a friend of Hasebein had been talking to a juror.

A supervisor alleged that Hasenbein, now 45, rubbed Altameemi’s face into a concrete pillar, kicked him and repeatedly struck him with “hammer-fist” blows to his ribs and “knee strikes” to his face.

“The other guys realized things were wrong and started to calm down,” said another company employee involved in the exercise. "[Hasenbein] didn’t calm down — he never calmed down."

That is yet another action the renders Hegseth unfit for the position of Secretary of Defense. He's a disgrace and he's not able to meet a higher standard of leadership. He's a drunk and a liar and he assaults women. Now we know that he would rather be seen with someone who should be in prison than with the upstanding members of the US military.

In other news, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following:

“The U.S. government’s record with AI/AN children has eroded Tribal communities’ trust in the traditional child welfare system.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study into child abuse and neglect in indigenous communities to help inform Congress’ work to support Tribal child welfare programs.

Historically, American Indian (AI) and Alaskan Native (AN) communities have been subjected to trauma by the United States government. In the 19th and 20th centuries, hundreds of thousands of children were displaced into over 500 boarding schools, where they experienced physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Then between the 1950s and 1970s, an estimated 25 to 35 percent of all AI/AN children were removed from their families and placed by child welfare agencies in foster care far from their tribal communities or were adopted, primarily by non-Indian families. Even today, AI/AN children are over-represented in the foster care system.

Tribal child welfare programs are systematically underfunded. In August 2016, GAO published a report revealing that over half of the Tribes interviewed lacked adequate resources for their foster care programs. These funding gaps have led to a lack of adequate child welfare infrastructure, including a shortage of trained child welfare professionals, inadequate technology for maintaining child case records, and a lack of emergency intervention services.

“To best support Tribal child welfare programs, we need to better understand the common barriers Tribes face in accessing federal and state child welfare funding and technical assistance, the best practices that Tribal child welfare programs employ, and the gaps in federal data on AI/AN child abuse,” wrote the senators.

The lawmakers urged GAO to consult with Tribes to examine existing child abuse and neglect prevention programs and resources, and produce a report with recommendations on how to better support Tribes’ child welfare programs.

“The federal government has a responsibility to invest in Tribal child welfare programs and to not repeat the harms of the past. This research is critical to better understanding those programs’ urgent needs,” concluded the senators.

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And we'll wind down with this from THE BLACK COMMENTATOR:

The Black Commentator Issue #1020 is now Online

December 12, 2024