Oh, Canada! I expect better from you.

I know you're not perfect, Canada. You probably have some flaws. I can't really think of any except maybe curling? Oh, and you did give us celine dion and Justin Bieber, but you also gave us Kids in the Hall and kd Lang, so I guess we're even on that score. Oh, and Leonard Cohen! I almost  forgot Leonard Cohen, forgive me, gods of music.
Anyway, I know it's unfair to expect you to always be better than us in every way, but really - THIS?

Canadian town refuses to remove swastikas from park as mayor defends local history

Okay, why in the Hell are there swastikas in a Canadian park? Canada fought on the right side of WWII. My late father-in-law dropped bombs from a RCAF plane onto those Nazi bastards. Who the hell is putting swastikas in your parks, Canada?

A Canadian village has refused to remove swastikas from a local park after an activist tried to paint over the controversial symbols.
The Nazi emblems are on an anchor that is on display in Pointe-des-Cascades, about 50 miles west of Montreal in Quebec.

Oh. Okay, maybe I'm wrong. Is this an anchor from a Nazi warship that was sunk by the Canadian Navy? It's a war trophy? Because that would change everything.

Corey Fleischer, founder of a group called Erasing Hate, was trying to paint over the symbols last Thursday when he was stopped by the local mayor, Gilles Santerre, who called police to have him removed from the park.

Seriously? The mayor doesn't have bigger fish to fry? The Mayor is out patrolling parks looking out for vandals?

Stressing it was part of the area's local history, he said the anchor, which belonged to a merchant vessel, predated the Second World War and was discovered by divers 25 years ago.

Oh yeah, you gotta preserve that local history. Let us never forget that time in 1992 that a couple of local fellas found that anchor. That was pretty cool, right? You know, cuz it was pretty old, like an antique or something. We will never let anyone take away that moment of glory!

He cited a Radio Canada article that said the swastika was a symbol of peace before 1920.

Yes, and the word "f__got" used to mean " a small bundle of sticks," but no decent person would be okay with that word being thrown around in a public park.

 The mayor sad the symbols would not be removed, but promised to place a more descriptive plaque next to the anchor to clarify its history.

 Oh, yeah. You gotta clarify that this well-known symbol of hatred and murder has an important place in your town's history, having been stumbled upon by a couple of scuba divers and all.

David Ouellette, of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said Mr Fleischer should not have acted without consulting the village but said it was important the anchor's history was made clear to the public.
"If you're going to display publicly the swastika, it's important to give the full context," Mr Ouellette told the CBC.

Or you could, ya know, just not display the goddamned swastika!

Come on, Canada! People down here look up to you. You have to set a better example. Remember, you're a role model.

It could be worse. You could live in Maine!

What's the matter, Bunkie? You say your governor is a right-wing ass? And your state legislature is chock full of Tea Party nutjobs? And your Congressional delegation is an embarrassment to humanity? Is that what's troubling you, Bunkie?




Okay, this is way too much effort to go in to a joke that even I'm not old enough to get.

Anyway. . . whenever you feel bad about the leadership in your state, just thank whatever gods or goddesses you believe in that you don't live in Maine. At least you don't have this gross thing as your governor.



Sorry, wrong picture!

Here we go:

Ugh! So much worse!

Anyway, Maine governor Paul LePage, who, besides just being an awful terrible horrible person in general, is also a first-class lunatic (Google Paul LePage + Sovereign Citizens) decided to weigh in on the Civil War and the removal of Confederate monuments.  Now you would think that if asked about Confederate monuments, a New England governor might answer "well, thank God we don't have to deal with that up here in Maine, God knows we have enough troubles without having to worry about Confederate shit." But, no. No, he decided to weigh in with some really atrocious bullshit.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage: Civil War was initially fought over land, not slavery

By Nathan McDermott and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN

(CNN)Maine Gov. Paul LePage defended monuments to the Confederacy in a radio interview on Tuesday, claiming that 7,600 Mainers fought for the South and that the war was initially about land, not slavery.

Two Civil War historians contacted by told CNN disputed LePage's assertions.

Wait, you're telling me that Civil War historians DON'T agree with Governor fatfuck's interpretation of history?

"What was the war? If you really truly read and study the Civil War, it was turned into a battle for the slaves, but initially — I mean, 7,600 Mainers fought for the Confederacy," LePage, a Republican, said in an interview with Maine radio station WVOM.

Wait. Seriously? Seven thousand six hundred Mainers fought for the South? Were there even seven thousand people in Maine at the time? Did they just want an excuse to head South during the Winter?

Well, I did what is known as a "Google Search" for "how many Mainers fought for the Confederacy?" which I guess is something that Governor SackoCrap couldn't be bothered to do, and this was the first result:

Search Results

Top stories

LePage said 7600 Mainers fought for the Confederacy. It was maybe 30.

Bangor Daily News · 2 days ago



Also. "Mainers?" That's what they call themselves? Not "Mainiacs?" Realy missed the boat on that one, Mainers.

"What was the war? If you really truly read and study the Civil War, it was turned into a battle for the slaves, but initially — I mean, 7,600 Mainers fought for the Confederacy," LePage, a Republican, said in an interview with Maine radio station WVOM. "And they fought because they were concerned about — they were farmers — and they were concerned about their land. Their property. It was a property rights issue as it began. The President of the United States, who was a very brilliant politician, really made it about slavery to a great degree."

 

Ugh. . . here we go again. . .

The Civil War Was About Slavery.
Not only about slavery, I'm sure there is more than one causus belli for pretty much every war, but for God's sake, just take a few minutes and glance at the various states' declarations of secession - if you have the stomach.


Here's what Mississippi had to say on the subject:

In the momentous step, which our State has taken of dissolving its connection with the government of which we so long formed a part, it is but just that we should declare the prominent reasons which have induced our course.

Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery - the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product, which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.

Here's the opening of Georgia's declaration:

The people of Georgia having dissolved their political connection with the Government of the United States of America, present to their confederates and the world the causes which have led to the separation. For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery.

Here's a little excerpt from Texas's

In all the non-slave-holding States, in violation of that good faith and comity which should exist between entirely distinct nations, the people have formed themselves into a great sectional party, now strong enough in numbers to control the affairs of each of those States, based upon an unnatural feeling of hostility to these Southern States and their beneficent and patriarchal system of African slavery, proclaiming the debasing doctrine of equality of all men, irrespective of race or color-- a doctrine at war with nature, in opposition to the experience of mankind, and in violation of the plainest revelations of Divine Law. They demand the abolition of negro slavery throughout the confederacy, the recognition of political equality between the white and negro races, and avow their determination to press on their crusade against us, so long as a negro slave remains in these States.

You get the idea.

It is the worst, sickest kind of historical revisionism to pretend that the Civil War was not fought by men who were willing to go to war against their own nation in order to preserve the institution of slavery. It is the height of disingenuousness to say that the Civil War was a fight for "states' rights" when you know good and goddamm well that the "right" the Confederate states were fighting for was the "right" to own and enslave other human beings. It is a particularly noxious brand of bullshit to claim that the war was about preserving "property rights" when you are fully aware that the "property" the Southerners were worried about losing was enslaved human beings. And it is just bizarrely ridiculous to claim that farmers in Maine were somehow worried about losing their farms so they fought for the Confederacy. I can't imagine anything you could say that would be as offensive and just plain stupid as that.

LePage also said that removing confederate monuments could lead to the removal of history books and monuments to the Oklahoma City bombing and the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. 

Touche', Governor. Touche'.

Connecting Unconnected Stories with Gifs

Okay, so a Navy ship collided with a civilian craft a couple days ago and some sailors are M.I.A. and there was a search and rescue operation underway, and apparently Trump gave it the ol' Jerry Seinfeld response.

Trump on USS John McCain Crash: ‘That’s Too Bad’

And the best part is, no one cares.
It's a sign of how far we've come in the last 7 months that no one is upset about Trump shrugging off the possible deaths of US Servicemen.

If Obama had responded like this to a similar incident, the right would have been up in arms and rightly so.
If Dubya had been this cavalier about missing sailors, progressives would have pilloried him. And rightly so.
But Trump? You hear that Trump just blows off something like a Naval shipwreck and everyone just goes "yeah, that seems right."





I mean, he didn't call the missing sailors "losers." He didn't take the opportunity to brag about his yacht. He didn't even try to blame it on Obama. All in all, I'd take this as a win.

He didn't blame Obama.

So someone had to.

Fox's Ralph Peters Blames Obama For Naval Crash This Weekend

By John Amato

yes, Ralph Peters, the man who perpetually looks as if he's just sat in something damp, is once again called upon to explain how everything bad that happens snywhere is the fault of some durn lib'rul.

Guest host Ashley Webster asked Fox News' military and strategic analyst, Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, why with our fabulous technology, these crashes keep happening.
At first, Peters blasted the officers and the crew, "The obvious conclusion is the officers on the bridge and the seamen don't have basic navigation skills. They don't, no longer are drilled in basic seamanship. They don't have the discipline they should."

[Heh heh heh "seaman!"]

And you know no one has a better grasp of the current state of the Navy's training programs that a retired Army Colonel who last served in 1998.


Although I assume he is partly right, they probably don't spend as much time learning to navigate because there are now computers that do a lot of the navigating for them. Not a lot of call anymore for a fella that can work a sextant.
[heh heh heh, "sextant!"]

Peters continued, "You had the horrific behavior of the sailors who were grabbed by Iran without a fight."

Wait, what?




You're upset because a handful of US military personnel didn't try to start a war with Iran? That's what you consider "horrific behavior?" That these sailors didn't recklessly get themselves killed over nothing?
And what the fuck were they going to do? One US ship versus the entire military of Iran? On Iran's homefield? What are they, the magnificent Seven? Are they a bunch of John McClanes? They're going to somehow defeat the entire nation of Iran by themselves? What the fuck is wrong with you?

Peters continued, "But I think they're -- one of the parts of this problem, part of it is fundamental. Those sailors did not have the basic seamanship skills, but by God, they got their sensitivity training, they got their race relations training, they got their sexual harassment training and we have for a long time, but particularly under Obama, turned the military into a social engineering experiment."

Oh my God, I see it all now. You teach a sailor to not be a racist or not to be an asshole to gay people, or not to sexually assault female sailors, of course they're going to forget how to steer the boat! Oh, it's all so obvious now!

And speaking of obvious. . .


Can we please please please stop having these news stories about "Idiots who voted for Trump are still idiots and still like Trump."

CNN Focus Group Thinks Everything Trump Does Is Great

By Susie Madrak

Alysin Camerota sat down with a group of Trump voters from Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Alabama and Georgia to see how they react to Trump's policies -- including his decision to increase troops in Afghanistan. She asked who supported the move. Everyone raised their hands.

Yeah, of course they did. You put out a casting call for people who are still horrid enough to support Dolt 45, did you think there was a possibility that THIS was going to be the last straw for them? Like someone was going to say "I 'm fine with him supporting Nazis, I'm fine with him trying to start a war with North Korea, I 'm even okay with him trying to strip healthcare away from 20 million Americans, but this! This increase in troop levels? That is a bridge too far!"

"I think it's a serious problem that we've kind of not taken that seriously in the last eight years of Obama. and this is what he said he was going to do, that he was going to --"
"No, he didn't," Camerota said, quickly pointing out that Trump criticized Obama for doing the same thing.
"How many generals did he talk to before he tweeted that?" one person asked. "None. He didn't have the information at that time."

Oh, well defended!
And this doesn't at all raise the question of whether, having zero fucking information on the subject, he should have been shooting off his stupid fat ugly mouth about it!






Also, tRump's supporters insist that everything is fine now, because he has these generals, these experts, that he listens to who tell him what to do. Would these be the same generals that Cheeto Mussolini said he knew more than? [pardon my syntax]

These people aren't worth talking to. They are completely divorced from reality, immune to facts, and allergic to logic. They add nothing to the discussion.
Of course the same could be said for any and all of Trump's actual paid spokespeople.

Case in point:

Katrina Pierson Calls Slavery ‘Good’ in Hilariously Awful Attempt to Defend Trump

Katrina Pierson, currently with the America First Policies group, said on Fox and Friends Monday that there are reasons to keep markers of the 1860s rebellion against the United States.
“Americans actually love their history, their culture, good and bad because it helps them learn and it helps keep people educated about why America is so great to begin with,” Pierson said.
  “It absolutely deserves a place, because bad history is still good history for this country.” “Slavery is good history?” Osefo asked in disbelief.

“Considering where we are today! Where we are today! Absolutely!” she said. “Slavery is good history? Absolutely? Oh, wow,” Osefo shot back. 

Weekend Random Observations.

1. There was actually a more terrifying appointment made this week than any appointment Il Douche has made:

Michele Bachmann Named ‘Pastor To The United Nations’

August 16, 2017 by Michael Stone

86 Comments

Yeah, THAT Michele Bachmann: 

Now I don't know who supposedly "named" her pastor to the U.N. I doubt anyone actually has that authority. I assume her actual job will be trying to talk security into letting her in the building so she can pass out a few pamphlets.

Former congresswoman Michele Bachmann says her new ministry to the U.N. is “a vital part of preparing the world for the End Times.”

Because of course it is. I mean one would think that preparing for the "End Times" would be something that the Almighty would do himself, but I'm sure he can use all the help he can get. Especially from a nutjob like Bachmann.


Bachmann explained that her new ministry to the UN is a vital part of preparing the world for the End Times just “as the clock is striking 11:59 on God’s time clock and as history is culminating as read in Revelation.”



Does it ever occur to these End-Times doomsday people that Christians since New Testament times have believed that the return of Christ was imminent and that every single person who has ever thought that has been wrong? I mean, Saint Paul thought that the second Coning was right around the corner. You think you have more insight into the inner workings of God's mind than Saint Paul?
I mean, the Apostles could certainly be forgiven for thinking that Christ's return was coming any day now, since Christ Himself had said unto them: the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 26And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.. .  30Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.(Mark 13: 26, 30)


Although, he also said 32But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

"Oh, and also Michele Bachmann," He probably meant to add. The angels don't know, hey-even I don't know, but I'm pretty sure Bachmann has it figured out.

I believe that God is starting a new thing, and because the time is short before Christ comes again to this earth, He is giving everyone one more chance.

Yes, a "new thing." That's exactly what I'm starting, a "new thing.". The all-powerful ruler of Heaven and Earth is starting "a new thing." **sigh**

“There was an attempt in the book of Genesis for all of the nations to come together and to raise a fist against God in pride and arrogance,” she said. “It was called the Tower of Babel and God dispersed the people at the Tower of Babel. Never again did all the nations of the earth come together until the League of Nations under President Woodrow Wilson. That broke up, it didn’t work and then we had World War II and the UN was started and it’s been an organization that has had a lot of negative repercussions because it is not under a holy authority of a mighty God and there’s been vain imaginations of raising a fist again against an almighty God.”

Yes, the United Nations runs a lot of different programs. There's UNESCO, there's UNICEF, there's the Raising a Fist Against an Almighty God program.

Also, Bachmann is a member of the Wisconson Ev. Lutheran Synod. I grew up in that denomination and women are absolutely no-o-o-t allowed to be pastors in their dogma. Hell, they aren't even allowed to vote on Congregational issues. They have to leave the room before the men vote on calling a new pastor, or expanding the church building or whatever. So how is it okay for her to suddenly be the "pastor" to the UN?

Anyway, it all seems very silly, but what makes it scary is that Bachmann not only seems to believe that the end of the world is nigh, but that she should participate in the bringing about of the Apocalypse. And if she actually manages to get any influence inside the United Nations, nothing good will come of that. She wants "wars and rumors of war." Especially in the Middle East.

2. People who are not helping:

Tina Fey





Yes, this bit was funny. Probably the funniest I've seen Tina Fey be when not doing Sarah Palin. But this is terrible advice. Ignoring the problem is how we got Dolt 45 in the first place. Ignoring the rise of fascism is what allowed Hitler to come to power in Germany and to not be challenged by other nations until he had built a formidable war machine. If you feel like you want to stress-eat a cake and scream into it, fine. Do that. But then get up the next morning and go back to the fight. Ignoring Nazis has never been a winning strategy.


Democratic state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal

'I hope Trump is assassinated!': Missouri lawmaker's Facebook post leads to calls for resignation

Two days after President Donald Trump once again blamed "both sides" for violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Democratic state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal went on her personal Facebook page Thursday morning to vent.
"I put up a statement saying, 'I really hate Trump. He's causing trauma and nightmares.' That was my original post," she told the Kansas City Star.
The Facebook post received many responses, Chappelle-Nadal said, and to one she replied, "I hope Trump is assassinated!"

 I get it. You hate Cheeto Mussolini. All decent people do. But you can't say that you hope he is assassinated. Now every time that some right-wing asshole like Ted Nugent threatens the life of an elected official, you're going to be the person that his supporters point to and say "see, the Left/Democrats/Progressives are just as bad!" And they will do that. They probably already have. I'm sure you're probably a perfectly decent person, you probably are trying to do good for your constituents, but you need to resign. I'm sorry, hopefully you can start collecting some of that sweet sweet George Soros protesting money!

Today on Twitter

1. When he's right, he's right!

If #RobertELee is to be erased from history, why not erase #ChristopherColumbus whose arrival ignited genocide of Native Americans?

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 16, 2017

This may be the first time in history that anyone has said "you know, Geraldo Rivera has a point." Of course, it's not the point he thinks he's making, but still.

I assume he thinks that the point he's making is that removing a statue of Columbus would be absurd, and that taking down a statue of Lee is therefore equally absurd.

But really, saying "hey, why not take out Christopher Columubus too?" is like someone sayong to me that I should go to the dictor for a checkup now and again ad me responding " oh sure, the doctor. Hey while I'm at it, maybe I should go to the "dentist" too. And get my "teeth" "cleaned." Oh, and I should probably "join a gym" and maybe "read a book once in a while."

2. Talking Points

WH talking points: President is "entirely correct." (This is just a portion provided by a source) pic.twitter.com/0uTPOgc5RF

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 16, 2017

Cheeto Mussolini's head is going to fucking explode when NONE of the Republicans  dutifully recite these talking points. I mean, a few will, but only because they're the kind of scumbags who actually believe them **cough** PENCE! **cough**

But, hey, Orange Julius Caesar, no one's afraid of you anymore. No one wants your endorsement. No one is going to spout this ridiculous bullshit just because you tell them to.


3. This guy. Hahahahahahaha!!!

Tiki Torch White Nationalist From #Charlottesville Crying Like A Baby...who's the snowflake, beta-male now? pic.twitter.com/ZL4lxdJogc

— Trump's ZombieLand (@StevenReyCristo) August 16, 2017

Waaaahhhh! What options do we have left?
Um, maybe one option might be to not march around with swastika flags? Maybe not throw up the seig-heil salute? Maybe just accept that the days of honoring traitors who went to war against the United States in order to preserve the institution of slavery are at long last slowly coming to an end?

“I’m terrified you’re going to kill me, I really am,” Cantwell says while choking back tears. That’s a considerably different tune than he was singing earlier in the day while surrounded by his Nazi cronies. “We’re not non-violent, we’ll fucking kill these people if we have to” he said then, adding that it was good that 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed by a fellow white supremacist at the rally.
“I’d say it was worth it,” he said. “The fact that nobody on our side died, I’d go ahead and call that points for us… I think a lot more people are going to die here.” [source]

4. There is no bottom to the corruption of Dolt 45

Justice Gorsuch will address a conservative group next month, at the Trump International Hotel, naturally pic.twitter.com/3uAg87qrek

— Adam Liptak (@adamliptak) August 16, 2017

This is, of course happening as the emoluments case against Il Douche winds its way slowly towards the Supreme Court. Anyone want to make odds on whether Gorsuch will recuse himself?