(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Take That, Foul Tyrant - GNR for Bluesday, February 21st [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-21 Yesterday, President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. went to Kyiv. He even told Putin he was coming. The importance of this visit, four days before the anniversary of the Russian invasion, cannot be overstated. It was an unequivocal demonstration of support for Ukraine. It was the act of a statesman. The trip floats in a sea of symbolism — Biden putting himself in harm’s way, getting together with President Zelenskyy on President’s Day. To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time a US President has ever gone into a conflict zone that did not involve US troops. I am so damn proud of our President. Yesterday, Joe made a point of standing up to a tyrant. It’s something we should do more often. If you consider yourself a part of our long humanist tradition, with its roots in the Ages of Reason and Enlightenment, you have already enlisted in the struggle against tyranny — embodied today as those duel tyrannies of thought and capital. One reason autocrats, despots, dictators, fascists and their ilk exist is because they’ve managed to enforce a tyranny of thought by bombarding their citizens with a constant flow of propaganda. They use their captive media, a perversion of religion, and thugs masquerading as officers of the law to promote monolithic group thinking. We tend to describe this as brainwashing. Another road to tyranny is through working the system to gain control of the money. By concentrating the wealth of a nation into the hands of fewer and fewer ultrarich captains of industry we end up with a cabal of oligarchs calling the shots. Sound familiar? It’s what Putin has spent the last 20+ years putting together in Russia, and is currently destabilizing with his ill-advised incursion into Ukraine. It’s also what the Putin Caucus (formerly the Freedumb Caucus) and the Murdoch/Koch/Thiel/Musk Axis of Evil is trying to accomplish in the United States. You can call them psychopaths, sociopaths, wannabe overlords, or humongous flaming assholes. It doesn’t really matter. They flagrantly and gleefully violate every civilized norm they encounter (as well as their oaths of office and a robust selection of federal and state laws). The question we continually ask ourselves is, “How did such a miserable excuse for a human being ever attain elective office?” The answer we come up with is some combination of indifference, stupidity, Stockholm Syndrome, bigotry, racism, gullibility, and, of course, the vast sums of money invested by our very own gestating cabal of oligarchs. This is our fight. This is our opportunity to stand up to tyranny here at home. Ripping children away from their parents as a political solution is not acceptable. It’s not acceptable in Ukraine and it’s not acceptable here. Those who perpetrated it are reprehensible. They have more than earned any scorn or loathing they have received. They have no legitimate excuse, no rational argument, no leg to stand on. Our goal is to drive them from the halls of government. They have no place there. We have the power. We have the ability. We can and we will do this. Slava Ukraini! Remember the Children Screw you, Samuel Alito Stephen celebrates a secret trip to Kyiv and excoriates those responsible for the current situation in East Palestine. x YouTube Video Here’s Sarah Silverman from the Daily Show last week. I particularly enjoyed her take on wokeism, starting around the 1:52 mark. x YouTube Video And we are off to the news. Today’s Top Story Most times, when I’m putting together one of these roundups, we don’t have a top story. Today we do. CNN: Kevin Liptak, Phil Mattingly: Months of planning and days of secrecy led to Joe Biden’s historic trip to Kyiv Warsaw, Poland CNN — Around 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night, was out in Washington on a Valentine’s week date-night, lingering over rigatoni with fennel sausage ragu before returning with his wife to the White House. — Around 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night, President Joe Biden was out in Washington on a Valentine’s week date-night, lingering over rigatoni with fennel sausage ragu before returning with his wife to the White House. The next time he was seen in public was 36 hours later, striding out of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv into a bright winter day, air raid sirens wailing a reminder of both the risks and reason for visiting Ukraine as it nears a second year of war. Cloaked in secrecy and weighted with history, Biden’s trip was the work of months of planning by only a small handful of his senior-most aides, who recognized long ago the symbolic importance of visiting the Ukrainian capital a year after Russia tried to capture it. “One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden declared Monday. “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.” CNN: Rob Picheta, Olga Voitovych, Vasco Cotovio, Kevin Liptak: Biden’s Ukraine visit upstages Putin and leaves Moscow’s military pundits raging CNN — President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine sparked anger and embarrassment among many of Russia’s hawkish military pundits on Monday, increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin as the Russian leader prepares to justify his stuttering invasion in a national address. — President Joe Biden’ssparked anger and embarrassment among many of Russia’s hawkish military pundits on Monday, increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin as the Russian leader prepares to justify his stuttering invasion in a national address. Biden’s historic visit came days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, providing a symbolic boost to Kyiv at a crucial juncture in the conflict. But the visit caused fury in Russian pro-military and ultranationalist circles, as it upstages Putin on the eve of a major address in which the Russian president is expected to tout the supposed achievements of what he euphemistically calls a “special military operation.” “Biden in [Kyiv]. Demonstrative humiliation of Russia,” Russian journalist Sergey Mardan wrote in a snarky response on his Telegram channel. “Tales of miraculous hypersonics may be left for children. Just like spells about the holy war we are waging with the entire West.” The Atlantic: Eliot A Cohen: Biden Just Destroyed Putin’s Last Hope The long-range missiles matter. So do the super-accurate artillery shells, the surface-to-air missiles, and the winter weather gear; the training in the English countryside or the muddy Grafenwöhr maneuver grounds; and the intelligence provided from the eyes in space and the ears on airplanes that circle outside the battle zone. President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv matters just as much as any of these. Other heads of government preceded him, earning deserved credit. But it is an altogether different thing when the president of the United States—who is, indeed, the leader of the Free World—shows up. His words mattered. He pledged “our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” And even more important, that the United States will stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes.” A Member of Putin’s American Operation Is Headed Off to the Grey Bar Hotel Gee whiz. This fellow is related to Ron Paul. Do you think it’s a family thing? Mother Jones: Russ Choma: GOP Operative Sentenced to 18 Months for Funneling Russian Money to Trump Campaign On Friday, a federal judge in Washington, DC sentenced a veteran GOP operative to 18 months in prison for funneling $25,000 from a Russian businessman to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Jesse Benton, a longtime aide to both Ron and Rand Paul, was convicted in November on six related charges. The court found that he and another GOP operative accepted $100,000 from Roman Vasilenko, a St. Petersburg-based influencer who wanted photos with Trump to display on his social media accounts. Benton kept most of the money for himself but donated $25,000 to the Republican National Committee as part of a plan to secure two tickets to a fundraising event for Trump in Philadelphia. At the event, Vasilenko was allowed to sit close to Trump at a roundtable discussion and later took a photo with him. Foreign nationals, like Vasilenko, are not allowed to donate to US political campaigns or committees, and it is illegal to make a donation on behalf of someone else. Benton, who is married to Ron Paul’s grandaughter, was previously convicted in 2016 of a scheme to pay an Iowa state senator to switch his endorsement from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul ahead of the state’s 2012 republican presidential caucus. In that case, Benton, after pleading that he had reformed and had a family to support, was sentenced to home confinement. Just six days later, the Trump fundraiser at which Vasilenko met Trump took place. A few weeks after that, Benton was caught in an undercover sting orchestrated by the British newspaper The Telegraph, whose reporters posed as representatives of a Chinese businessman who wanted to donate $2 million to Trump’s campaign. Benton told them he could arrange it. He apparently violated the terms of his home confinement in the Iowa case to meet with the undercover reporters. Lies and Lying Liars, Part I tfg has entered the full squirm and wiggle phase of his post-presidency. His attempts to pretend he didn’t say the things he said are reaching new heights of absurdity. I gleefully await the imminent full collapse of the tower of lies, and tfg’s subsequent bleats of denial. Vanity Fair: Bess Levin: Trump Is Trying to Ban the Access Hollywood Tape From His Rape Trial (Because It Makes Him Sound Like He Could’ve Raped Someone) In April, Donald Trump’s lawyers are set to defend him in civil court against allegations from writer E. Jean Carroll that he raped her in a department store in the mid-’90s. When they do, they really, really want to ensure that jurors are not allowed to hear the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump brags about grabbing women “by the pussy” without their consent. Why? Because they know how bad it makes him sound! In court papers filed late Thursday, Trump attorneys Alina Habba and Michael Madaio argued that the 2005 tape, which emerged while Trump was running for president the first time, should be banned from the trial. (They want both the tape itself and any references to it blocked.) Calling the recording “irrelevant and highly prejudicial,” the attorneys claim, per the Associated Press, that it “might unjustly be used to suggest to jurors that Trump had a propensity for sexual assault and therefore must have raped Carroll.” Why might the tape give jurors that idea, you ask? As a reminder, Trump told Access Hollywood host Billy Bush: “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]. I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” Not surprisingly, Trump’s attorneys also reportedly want to block testimony from two women who have alleged sexual misconduct by the ex-president. (Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 26 women and has denied any and all allegations against him.) Lies and Lying Liars, Part II An organization dedicated to lying for fun and profit has ousted it’s founder an chief liar? Will wonders ever cease? Wonkette: Evan Hurst: James O'Keefe's Dildo Lube Boat Runs Aground Maybe For Last Time It's funny to read a headline about the board of Project Veritas ousting James O'Keefe and kicking him out on his ass. Board? Firing O'Keefe? Is Project Veritas some kind of real entity and not just the name that weirdo gave to his "me" time? But yes, we guess Project Veritas grew into an entire organization of selective editing and dishonest conservative propaganda bullshit, with a board and donors and everything. We had a thing a couple weeks back on how the organization hated him so much he was put on a paid leave of absence. An internal memo painted a picture of an O'Keefe who had become completely paranoid and a "power drunk tyrant," who stole sandwiches from pregnant women, and who was wasting donor money using Project Veritas to finance his failed theater kid dreams. He and his allies denied it all, of course. But now we guess his dildo lube boat has run ashore for the last time, at least in its current incarnation. Maybe he can spend all his new free time auditioning for regional theater productions of Oklahoma Lies and Lying Liars, Part III This article covers the chasm between what he said on the air and what he said off the air up through the Insurrection. It’s a case study in deception and deceit by Tuckems. Gee, I wonder what else Tuckems has been lying about? Slate: Jeremy Stahl: Tucker Carlson’s Dominion Text Messages Are a Thing of Beauty ✂️ Carlson’s messages are delightful to read, because of the ridiculous gap between what Carlson and his less popular Fox colleagues were telling one another in private and what they were refusing to tell their viewers on the air. Here’s a quick timeline of those statements. • On Nov. 5, Carlson seemed to acknowledge that there was a financial incentive for Fox News to go along with Trump’s fraudulent claims about the election, while also acknowledging just how dangerous they were. “We worked really hard to build what we have. Those fuckers are destroying our credibility. It enrages me,” Carlson wrote to his producer, of the Fox News decision desk that had been calling key races for Biden. The primetime host continued to express to the producer his belief that his team had to kowtow to Trump: “What [Trump]’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.” • On Nov. 7, as the presidential election was being called for Biden, Carlson expressed to a producer his dismay at how the network was presenting the news: “Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we’ve lost with our audience? We’re playing with fire, for real … an alternative like newsmax could be devastating to us.” (Dominion argues that this proves that Fox News had a financial incentive to lie to its viewers about the election results and defame the voting machine company.) Still, there were certain lines Carlson wouldn’t cross. That same day, Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo began airing Powell’s deranged theories about Dominion. “The software shit is absurd,” Carlson wrote at the time in a text. “Half our viewers have seen the Maria clip.” • On Nov. 10, Carlson said to his producer that it had been a “mistake” to not present Trump’s voter fraud claims while also acknowledging, “I just hate this shit.” So, of course Qevin decided to give Tuckems exclusive access to the January 6th video archive. Wonkette: Evan Hurst: Kevin McCarthy Gives Tucker Carlson J6 Tapes, Because Nothing Matters Anymore Yesterday, before Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene began her morning of tweeting out treason and sedition, she tweeted that she "Can't wait for the real news tomorrow," and also, "I love being right." Once news broke that Barely House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had turned the full January 6 tapes over to Tucker Carlson, it was clear that Greene knew that news was going to break this morning, because she and McCarthy are so strangely close now. Now, along with everything else she's furious about this morning, she's furious that people are laughing at this news and correctly pointing out that McCarthy only gave the tapes to Tucker so he could use them for lying and propaganda. She's furious people don't think this is the real news. "Just wait more is coming," she tweeted without punctuation. She's welcome to keep hollerin' until she's hoarse, fuck if we care. Axios reports that Tucker now has 41,000 hours of January 6 footage, and that he's going to start airing "excerpts" in the "coming weeks." Tucker told Axios, "[T]here was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret. ... If there was ever a question that's in the public's interest to know, it's what actually happened on January 6. By definition, this video will reveal it. It's impossible for me to understand why any honest person would be bothered by that." Because Tucker Carlson is an inveterate liar and we know what conservatives like to do with selective video editing. Lies and Lying Liars, Part IV What would a sequence of articles about liars be without an appearance by Anthony Devolder George Santos? I guess we’ll never know. There’s a sad part to the interview. Morgan appears to be trying to rehabilitate Santos. It must be a rule that pieces of shit have to stick up for each other. AlterNet: David Badash: Watch: Santos says kept lying in 2022 campaign because he 'got away with it' in 2020 U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY), the serial liar who refuses to step down from his fraudulently-won congressional seat, says he thought he would get away with his massive lying because he “got away with it” the first time he ran, in 2020. And while he admits thinking no one would find out was “stupid,” he also claims, “this wasn’t about tricking anyone.” At one point in a Monday interview with Piers Morgan, who was conducting what he suggested was a “redemption” interview, the British TV host confirms, “You never got a Master’s in Business at New York University.” “No, like I said, no,” Santos replied, admitting to just one of countless lies the New York GOP lawmaker has told. Throw the Book at Them Already While the underlying story is horrific, catching these bastards and raining down consequences is the kind of good news that should have other child labor abusers rethinking their policies. Salon: Jessica Corbett: "Egregious": Meatpacking plants busted illegally employing 100+ children in dangerous conditions Federal investigators revealed Friday that one of the nation's largest food sanitation companies illegally employed at least 102 children in dangerous jobs at 13 meatpacking facilities across eight states, leading to $1.5 million in fines. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said its Wage and Hour Division "found that children were working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws, and head splitters." The probe determined that children ages 13 to 17 unlawfully worked for Kieler, Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services Inc. at plants in Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Texas. Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator of the DOL's Wage and Hour Division, said the child labor violations "were systemic" and "clearly indicate a corporate-wide failure by Packers Sanitation Services at all levels." Ah, Spring Is on the Way and Treason Is in the Air Empty Greene is an embarrassment to embarrassments. She’s one of those people who deserves all the slings and arrows she gets. It’s nice to see Liz Cheney throwing some of them. I guess this a case of once and insurrectionist, always an insurrectionist. If Jack Smith manages to indict MTG, I’d be happy to travel to Washington and give him a big kiss on behalf of a thankful nation. Raw Story: Matthew Chapman: Liz Cheney smacks down Marjorie Taylor Greene for advocating secession On Monday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to Twitter to argue for secession of Republican-controlled states from the United States, an idea she euphemistically termed a "national divorce" — something a number of Southern states famously attempted in 1861 over the question of slavery, leading to the Civil War. "We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government," wrote Greene. "Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done." These comments drew the ire of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who reminded Greene of her core responsibility as a federal legislator. "Let’s review some of the governing principles of America, @mtgreenee: Our country is governed by the Constitution," wrote Cheney. "You swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution." Nikki Takes a Shot and Is Losing Altitude Ok, so it’s not the thuglicans calling her out for this yet, and it may be a bit brutal. But it’s accurate and it should contribute to the upcoming ugly “submerged in sheep dip” wrestling contest for the (R) nomination. Huffington Post: Lee Moran: MSNBC Guest Calls Nikki Haley 'Perfect Manchurian Candidate’ For White Supremacists Wajahat Ali slammed GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley as an “alpha Karen with brown skin” and the “perfect Manchurian candidate” for white supremacists and racists. On Sunday’s episode of MSNBC’s “The Mehdi Hasan Show,” the playwright and political commentator explained why he was “disgusted” by Haley, the daughter of two Indian immigrants, who has been criticized for trying to play both sides of MAGA nationalist and unifier with her campaign launch. “Instead of pulling us up from the bootstraps, and pulling others from the bootstrap, we’re told to take your boot and put it on the neck of poor browns, immigrants, refugees, and Black folks,” Ali said of the former GOP South Carolina governor and Trump-era U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “And that’s what she did in her ad,” he continued. “I see her, and I feel sad Mehdi because she uses her brown skin as a weapon against poor Black folks and poor brown folks and she uses her brown skin to launder white supremacist talking points.” Andy Speaks, I Listen (Well, Mostly I Chuckle) I wonder what Andy will have to say about Qevin giving Tucker exclusive access to the January 6th video archive? The New Yorker: Satire from the Borowitz Report: Tucker Carlson Fears That Leaked Texts of Him Telling Truth Will Kill His Brand WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Newly surfaced texts showing Tucker Carlson telling the truth threaten to damage his brand irrevocably, the Fox News host fears. After publication of the texts, which indicate that Carlson knew Donald J. Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud were false, the anchor, concerned that his reputation for mendacity had been permanently tainted, spiralled into despondency. “Tucker is in a very dark place right now,” a Fox News colleague said. “To be unmasked as an honest person is literally his worst nightmare.” Somebody Has a Long History of Drinking Do you think they found any bar tabs laying around on clay tablets? GoodNewsNetwork: Andy Corbley: 5,000 Year-Old Tavern Found in Iraq It doesn’t get much older than Sumeria, but even the modern concept of going out to eat was already established 1,000 years before the Great Pyramids were built. In the ancient Near Eastern city-state of Lagash, the foundations of a tavern were recently found by archaeologists that included an open-air sitting area, and a kitchen complete with a clay oven, clay chiller, and ancient crockery. One of the oldest areas in Ancient Mesopotamia, Lagash was already inhabited in the fifth millennium BCE. Today it’s located on a mound 4,000 yards in length and 2,000 yards in width. Musical Interlude Some advice from Mr. Dylan. There are many here among us Who feel that life is but a joke But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that And this is not our fate So let us stop talkin' falsely now The hour's getting late, hey x YouTube Video Music from Ukraine Here’s another stellar performance from DakhaBrakha x YouTube Video On the Lighter Side (with an Edge) Quote(s) of the Day All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force. — George Orwell The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant. — Maximilien Robespierre There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy, hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny. — Frederick William Robertson When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives. — Robert A Heinlein The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human. — Aldous Huxley Closing Notes The Dead played this every 4th of July. To me, it seems appropriate for today. x YouTube Video [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/21/2154049/-Take-That-Foul-Tyrant-GNR-for-Bluesday-February-21st Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/