Ballot Access News does a bit of slouching to Gomorrah

Recent idjitry by Richard Winger is the specifics here. He has, not once but twice fluffed Trump's pardon of Ross Ulbricht, and in both cases, these don't have anything to do with ballot access. As I told Winger at the second piece, not only Jill Stein but Brainworm Bobby finished ahead of Libertarian-tards in 2024, despite LP head Angela McAwful trying to tie this back to 2020.

In both the first and second cases, he links, first, and second, to Reason interviews.

Seriously, the second piece is nothing but McAwful trying desperately to get her party back to a modicum of relevance when she herself passively-aggressively enabled the anti-Chase Oliver shitshow within the party. And, Winger has written enough about that that he knows that.

Maybe he has hard-on for Ulbricht?

In any case, as I made even more clear re the first piece? This is nothing but transactional pandering to the crypto community by The Donald after he and wife Melanin released their own new memecoins. If Winger's that fucking dumb, that's bad enough.

If he has an undisclosed financial "position" that's at background here, that's even worse.

Re the first piece? Maybe Ulbricht doesn't deserve life without parole. But, he doesn't deserve a pardon, either. A commutation would be different. Silk Road WAS a criminal enterprise. And, even if one favors decriminalization or even full legalization of "hard" drugs (I don't) its criminality went beyond drugs. As did the Ulbricht trial period's "shenanigans" by fanbois.

Beyond that, as the mag admits, the likes of it and Winger are already getting owned by Trump in other ways on civil liberties.

Beyond THAT, Winger, LP, McAwful? By the time I was composing this Jan. 22, they'd already dropped 50 percent from Jan. 17. Kevin Drum has more about the grifting shitstorm these coins are.

And, yes, I posted that to the second BAN piece. After my first comment there, he tried to claim it DOES show the power of a minor party, even though I pointed out McAwful's bait and switch, and of course, this all happened two months AFTER the 2024, not 2020, election.

Jordan at Independent Political Report has engaged in her own degree of suckerdom, as has one commenter there, beyond Nutbar Nuña, off in his own world.

Seriously, are these people more that fucking desperate, or that fucking stupid?

As for the McAwful types in the Libertarian, or Libertariantard, Party, whether full on Mises Mice or not?

To further the mash-up, they're TrumpTarianTards. It's like Jill Stein and other Greens who are AccommoGreens, Greens who really hope to just nudge Democrats. In fact, I see more direct parallels between LP head McAwful and de facto Green head Stein. Namely, they're both attention whores within the third party world, and it's usually in ways like this, triangulating off one half of the duopoly or another. 

And, the attention whore is resigning! Per IPR (no follow on link) she going to another opportunity that she said didn't allow time for running the LP but claimed that details of the move will make heads explode. Maybe, per the info about her grifting at that link — info that should have made BAN, IPR and Reason all take her Trump-influencing claims with multiple grains of salt — she's avoiding getting the boot. And, the big reveal? No, McAwful's fellators, she's not joining Trump's cabinet. She may, perhaps, be joining his memecoin PR team. (She's part of the reason the LP was going broke nine months ago.)

Slab City and East Jesus — Civilization and Its Discontents; Freud, Aristotle and more

I tumbled, after getting back from vacation and editing and posting my video of East Jesus, reading Spin's relatively new early 2024 story about East Jesus and Slab City, and grokking other videos (I'm not looking at a full 140 minutes on one video, oy) that what we were talking about was in the second half of this piece's title, specifically yes ....

Freud's book "Civilization and Its Discontents" (Wikipedia), with a summary moderately longer than Wiki here. I understand the discontents. I'm not sure this is the best place or the living here is the best way to address them. I know it wouldn't be for me, whether at my age today, or 20 years younger.

And, beyond personal observations, there's a larger flip side to that, and, I had already posted that to one of those other videos.

It's Hobbes' "Warre of all against all," and when you read about people burning each other out, or one relatively long-time denizen talking in this video about how "some crazies shouldn't mix with others," but neither she nor the videographer offer insight as to which crazies are "better" and which are "worse," especially with no functioning public law, you're at Hobbes.

Like Freud, or maybe like a quasi-Marxian anarchist (don't forget that Marx himself was nowhere near anarchism and hated the likes of Proudhon), I see the discontents. I feel them.

But, I don't want to give up civilization's comforts. Nor its safety and security.

And, per another commenter on that same video, one can abandon, or at least lessen, the desire to "get ahead" and yet live in a life with the physical comforts and amenities of some degree of civilization. Buddhism? Or monastic orders in it or Christianity? Or the various dervish orders of Sufism? Note that in all three of these traditions, it's "orders." Individual ascetics have been frowned on in all three and beyond.

To move from Freud, and Proudhon, and more than 2,000 years earlier? Aristotle was right when he said "Man is a civilizational animal." (That's much better than the old-time common translation of "Man is a political animal." It's more informative than "Man is an urban animal," or even "Man is a civic animal," which gets close to the πόλις in Greek behind the πολιτικὸν, translated by Latin by "civis." It's also more accurate, or definitely more informative, than "Man is a social animal." In all cases I'm using that first word for "humanity," of course.)

And, that all said. Freud's ideas on the origins of civilization, which presume to involve a social contract type conscious "leap" into being civilized, are themselves problematic. In reality, the development of civilization was incremental,  more organic, and with various swirls and eddies similar to the development of agriculture.

As part of this, I add that Freud probably was not that close to correct on the origins and developmental history of religion. That is a complex field, and some metaphysical aspects of what developed into "religion" surely arose long before modern civilization did.

As for Slab City and East Jesus? A fair chunk of this is NOT freedom when you're addicted. The Kinks got it right:

Paranoia WILL destroy ya, especially when you're strung out on meth.

As for those who aren't tweakers? More power to you ... if you want to live off solar panels for A/C and either spend bigly on bottled water or else ration yourself and filter irrigation canal runoff while avoiding the eyes of the Imperial Irrigation District, and in either case, per some videos, using some sort of runoff water for bathing.

In addition, whether its agrichemicals or something else, the respiratory infections along the Salton Sea, especially at its southeast corner, don't help things.

Texas Progressives talk this and that

SocraticGadfly looked at the Dustin Burrows Speaker election in some detail and wonders just how much House Dems will actually get from it.

Related? The Lone Star Project celebrated the defeat of Rep. David Cook in the Speaker's race. Also, Lone Star Left appreciates a little Speaker's race trolling.

Bayou City Sludge has an early legislative vibe check. 

Off the Kuff looked at the 2024 Harris County precinct data for the District Attorney and County Attorney races.

Trump 2.0 may get Kenny Boy Paxton off the federal legal hook as former Land Commish Pee Bush, if not personally, gets put on it.

Will last August's federal finding of sexual abuse in the Juvenile Justice Department, reported by me here, lead to reforms in this year's Lege? The Barbed Wire ponders. Advocates of reform have some hope — more than I do.

7-OH is the newest C-store drug of abuse.

As the possibility of mass deportations looms, the Observer notes that Mexico has whacked the budget of its Foreign Ministry, which will affect consular services here in the States. It adds that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her government is read to handle a surge, but the reality says otherwise.

The TSTA Blog reminds us again that private school vouchers is just a form of welfare for rich people.

The Barbed Wire ponders the eternal question about Texas' lack of high speed rail.

Paradise in Hell marks the last days of sanity, at least for now.

Neil at the Houston Democracy Project said that the First Amendment is your permit for protest in the challenging days ahead.

A kudo with sidebars for Biden — commuting Leonard Peltier; Reality Winner? another black mark for Counterpunch

People on Twitter like me know the #FreeLeonardPeltier hashtag.

Well, per the AP, with more at Counterpunch, we can now retire that; Biden has commuted his sentence. That said, it's a half-kudo, as Huff Post has us read between the lines. (Donald Duck has apparently had his White House tech staff officially haul down the official executive order; I got a 404 Monday night; Puff Hoes has a link to a screengrab.) 

This:

It also references Peltier’s “underlying crimes,” which were never proven. This can certainly be read as the White House throwing a bone to the FBI.

Is the between the lines.

NBC, meanwhile, has a much longer story, with full-of-shit FBI responses, including from Christopher Wray, the departing director. Most of them, and families of the two killed agents, said "we had him, legitimately." Wray carefully doesn't go that far.

I recommend two related books. 

One is probably known by many in my circles: Peter Matthiessen's "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse."

The other deserves to be known much more. "The Unquiet Grave" is about the big picture of just how much COINTELPRO wrecked the American Indian Movement, but it's also about internal problems, like the same type of sexism that also was a problem with Black Power groups at this time. Author Steve Hendricks, to triangulate on Biden and Huff Post's Susan Bendery, thinks Peltier did fire the coup de grace shots. I think it likely, presumably with Robert Robideau, and / or Dino Butler and / or Joe Stuntz. Robideau and Butler were acquitted in an earlier trial, Stuntz had been shot dead in the firefight, and the FBI and a racist judge wanted somebody's coonskin on the wall.

As for why? 

For all of Biden's other presidential, and general political, faults, I think that he really believes in "minority outreach" or whatever you want to call it, and this is one example. It's the same that makes Black Congresscritters like James Clyburn love him. It's the same, combined with reading or watching "Exodus" too many times, that makes him an ardent Zionist.

He's a true believer.

That said? Wounded Knee? Per Wiki's page on Peltier?

Beyond the trial being a travesty, the stop itself was unwarranted. Literally, as in no warrant, and also, as in lies about the type of vehicle and other things. All four names above, plus Norman Charles, were arguably (I won't say unarguably) acting in self-defense. That said, some combination of those names?

Some combination of the four I mentioned, per Hendricks? Robideau, decades after acquittal, said, "I pulled the trigger." Did he?

On the other side of the coin, though not addressing all the Wiki evidence, this "Trials of the Century" piece by whomever claims Matthiessen is weak tea. And, it's wrong there, and beyond there, starting with Mr. Linder getting the make and color of Peltier's vehicle wrong.

That said, to the above?

Trying Peltier, Robideau and Butler all at the same time, but in three separate cases, might have produced something interesting. Whatever the federal version of something like involuntary manslaughter might have been, charging all three on that, rather than murder, and also on accessory charges?

=

That said, Counterpunch wonders why no clemency, or even a pardon, for Reality Winner? I could see commutation but NOT a pardon.

The material she stole didn't prove Russiagate, but her actions and background show she was a Russiagte true believer. Whether that's more on her on her own, or more on the national security state, I don't know. Otherwise, the only thing I learned from the dreck-level "Bottoms Up" is that long before she stole the document, she had a psyche far more fragile than the then-Bradley, now Chelsea, Manning. And, let us hope the Winner biopic mentioned by Counterpunch doesn't depend too much on this book.

THAT said, this is another reason why Counterpunch ain't getting added to my updated blogroll:

There was reasonable suspicion that the 2004 election was stolen in Ohio, twice as galling after the Supreme Court gave Dubbya the 2000 election by stopping the Florida recount. Ohio was still a Purple bellwether state that could go either way back then, before the brain drain problem that turned it Red for Trump. 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry would later admit that he harbored suspicions about what went down, but chose not to raise them out of alleged fear that doing so would only toss the decision back to the Supreme Court again.

NONE of that is true. HERE (one-third down) is the reality. I link there to Mark Hertsgaard, and here, who demolishes 2004 claims about Ohio. Even Counterpunch admits that Brainworm Bobby was one of the two chief pushers of this — a conspiracy theorist. Another top pusher? Brad Friedman, an elections conspiracy theorist.

And, as I note here, if election fraud were that easy, why isn't it done more often?

Thank doorknob I ditched Ted Rall

Old Teddy, or the website now hosting him, now thinks you need 20-second AI-type voiceovers to go with each of his cartoons to talk about similar cartoons and urge you to visit his whole website. No, really, here and here as examples.

His biggest stupidity of the last seven years, as deconstructed by Popehat Ken White, with follow-up by me, was his inane suit against the LA Times after he was fired. Full story here.

Then, in 2019, he fellated RT and Sputnik while passing on misinformation.

In 2020, he mixed stupidity about COVID with continued whining about the LA Times.

Later in 2020, he used a bankshot off himself-wrong Glennwald as part of stupidity about Trump, largely in service of fellating him.

In 2022, I revisited old comments by Rall that abortion is murder (not just killing, but "murder") and said that he was full of shit and in all likelihood knew that he was full of shit and was trolling-triangulating.

Dear Keen boots: Your recycling effort is undercut by your hypercapitalism

I bought one pair of Keen boots, listed as running narrower than other boots of theirs, a little over a year ago after seeing my sis rock a pair of their running shoes.

They're on the lighter side on weight, and probably on durability, but they work pretty well for lighter hiking. And, Keen touts its commitment to recycled materials.

Then, after a December sales push this last December, I bought a pair of decent, higher durability boots from them.

And?

I opened the doors of capitalist hell in return.

Every other day, at least, it seems that I get bombarded with another email saying this, that or the other shoe or boot is on sale.

A week ago, I made a mistake clicking one of the email links. It apparently had a tracking cookie that got past Ghostery and Firefox, because, just a few hours later, I got a new email about determining sizing. (I had clicked on the button for my size after looking at that particular boot.)

ENOUGH!

I've already been thinking that, should I need a boot again in the next five years, I'll visit one of the European companies that's cut narrower, and uses Continental tire rubber instead of Vibram for the soles.

Hey, Keen? As long as you're recycling, why not replace Vibram with recycled tires?

Update? The company has not responded to being tagged on Shitter or Fuckbook. I may have to drop the link on one of their Hucksterman posts. And the "how did you like the boots" email as well as its "buy these" emails are all "dead" or, rather, one-way "unmonitored" emails.

Top 10 reasons Kamala lost

I had said some time ago I'd offer a more complete roundup after some earlier posts. This will have to do, so we have something for today to warm the hearts of #BlueAnon even as they pull their pussy hats out of storage for four years.

Some of these will apply to the 2024 election in general, not just Biden.

1? Joe Biden himself, the big picture, mainly the Dementia Joe. Breaking his one-term promise (maybe he forgot he made that) then, until the last week of his term, being Irish Alzheimer's stubborn enough (or maybe just actual Alzheimer's stubborn enough) to insist he would have won had he stayed in the race. By not dropping out MUCH sooner, he (in part) prevented an actual primary cycle.

2? Joe Biden being full of shit up to the very end and Kamala as a Zionist Cop not rejecting that, nor Democratic national leaders in general.

3? Linked in that No. 2, Biden going Cold War 2.0. That said, he wasn't alone; behind the hawks of Tony Blinken and others on the inside, plenty of Democrat Congresscritters signed off on the Ukraine War and on Warmonger Joe stonewalling Putin day and night from the beginning.

4? White House, and Dem Congresscritter, enablers. Some of that's at the link above. More here at the Guardian:

In public, Phillips was ridiculed. In private, others shared his concerns. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, recalled receiving a call from a Democratic senator in late January or early February 2024.

“I said, ‘Is there any particular reason why you called me? I’d like to know.’ He said, ‘You do realise, off the record, that Joe Biden is not going to be our nominee?’ I was stunned. I said, ‘What, how, why?’ He said, ‘I just was at a meeting with him with several other senators and he couldn’t even function. We can’t run him.’”

Sabato added that the senator in question tried to raise the issue, which angered the White House. “He was punished, as several of them were. They gave him the cold shoulder for a while. The point is that a lot of people had figured it out but they didn’t care. I’m stunned that they got away with it and have produced term two for Trump and it’s going to be the longest four years of our life.”

More weirdly yet, James Clyburn continues to be as much of a true believer in-non Dementia Joe as is Biden himself, as detailed at that link.

5? Media enablers. Here, I'm talking about MSM that many rank and file #BlueAnon thought were picking on Biden early-to-mid 2024, but even more, MSM-like opining sites. Some of these are smaller, but some are big enough they had not only heard the rumors about Biden's competence; whether being gatekeepered by the people in No. 4, or else having personal interactions, they knew the score with Biden. And kept silent. Per that Guardian piece, some of the insiders at these sites were picking up on at least bits of this a year ago themselves. And for "access" reasons like those above, taking a pass. That's detailed:

The administration continued to play down concerns about Biden’s age and gave short shrift to any journalist who dared raise it.

There you are.

That even more includes intra-Democrat opinion media. Like the full-of-shit Akilah Hughes.

6? Dem Party potential primary candidate enablers. Eugene McCarthy, consequences be damned, challenged LBJ while chickenhawk Bobby Kennedy sat on the sidelines. RFK Jr had jumped ship long before this, but wasn't popular anyway. Ditto for Marianne Williamson. But, where was a Gretchen Whitmer, or Cal's Gov. Pothole, Gavin Nuisance, now among 2028 nomination touts? Hell, where was Bernie Sanders? So, you lose a third time as Dear Leader finds a replacement for the late Harry Reid to shiv you. Instead, you stayed silent, too. That said, contra Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski, no, you wouldn't have won. But, you didn't even run. You didn't even talk about running.

In other words, even if Biden was stubborn, nobody but backbencher Dean Phillips would challenge him, setting aside Brainworm Bobby and Ms. New Age, until it was too late to do anything but shove Harris forward.

7? Related. Democrat tribalism, infighting and self-preservation that became ever more visible after Election Day started well before.

8? Beyond Biden, the Democrat Party's general national stance on Israel-Gaza. Even the touted, vaunted, full of crap herself AOC couldn't bring herself to vote against much, because her goal is climbing the Dem organizational ladder.

9? Misreading the midterms. This applies a bit in general, but primarily to Biden. Dems' success in Congressional races numbed them to Biden perhaps not connecting to the general public, discussed at that Guardian link by old Clintonista Paul Begala. Democrats as a party misread the 2022 midterms room for 2024 on Dobbs, above all. The fact that red states, even, in more than one state, extended abortion protections while voting Trump at least as solidly as 2022 shows that. OTOH, Dems made up five seats, with vacancies, in the House while holding Republicans to no gains, and lost only two Senate seats. So, here, the misreading was primarily Harris' — and Biden's before that.

10? Kamala Harris is a bad campaigner. It ain't hard getting elected to statewide office in California. You just have to win the Dem primary. But, her 2020 presidential campaign showed she wasn't ready for the big stage, and other than the post-DNC surge last year, nothing in 2024 showed otherwise. Sure, she had the difficulty of Team Biden staff second-guessing her, as did some Obama alums, but her campaigning in places like Pennsylvania was horrible all on its own.