Another ban at another Nazi subreddit

That would be r/Texas, which welcomes libruls (sic) of the BlueAnon type, tolerates MAGAts, but doesn't like lefists who call a librul a librul.

And, contra the lying ban message, I am a leftist. And you the mods are still libruls. I wonder if I triggered two different mods, too. Showing up one message newer in my email, though time-stamped to the same minute, I also got a 28-day mute suspension notice. Maybe my doing a Stephen A. type troll on the Cowboys for the second time triggered another mod for another reason?

Here's my comment:

Hi, Raven I'm a leftist (as in non-duopoly leftist) who sees more concern about Trump 2.0 than Trump 1.0 but still believes a lot of librul (sic) panic attacks are overstated. And, I'm not alone. Non-leftists of note like Ryan Grim and Ken White, aka Popehat, have had broadly similar takes. (I'll take any downvotes.)

And, yes, I am a leftist, contra the Anon Y. Mouse coward(s) behind the "mod team." Maybe individual mods are hidden now that I'm banned, but I doubt that.

The chuds obviously think any call-out of the sainted Democrat Party and BlueMAGA thinking can only be done by MAGAts. Cue up yet another crappy election cycle in 2026 and 2028, if this thinking is very pervasive.

In a related matter, I was already planning some sort of piece about how more and more subreddits are banning Shitter links, and I will eventually follow through.

Meanwhile, the "Nazi-hunters" within the BlueMAGA world inside and outside of Reddit? Many of them have, per the Dissident, per Mark Ames, Yasha Levine, Ivan Katchanovski and others on Shitter, etc., long tolerated Ukrainian fascism. It's been at least since the semi-coup (still can't see it as a full coup) at the Maidan in 2014, per that Dissident link. And, we haven't even talked about the BlueAnon supporters of Kamala is a Zionist Cop supporting the fascists in Israel. And yes, per Mondoweiss and many others, they are; as it told Elmo, you can be both a Zionist and a fascist.

At the same time, the ever-greater number of ads at Reddit make it less and less interesting.

Pinch Sulzberger, gutless wonder; Kevin Kruse, BlueAnon blowhard

 It is weird — or laughable — that the New York Times publisher and owner chose to write the op-ed mentioned in this Substack in the Washington Post and not his own paper.

The jokes aside?

The substance?

"Both sides" reporting is still good, Pinch says. Well, sure. It prompts subscribers.

That said, the Substack IS Kevin Kruse, a good librul Democrat type who has no problem with his party putting thumbs on scales against third-party and independent candidates. Having 2-starred his most recent book, I know that.

The complaints against the NYT are valid, and on a LOT more than electoral politics.

For example, beyond not doing "both sides" on climate change, how seriously does the NYT report on and about and from climate scientists more alarmed than climate change Obamiacs Michael Mann, Katharine Hayhoe and their ilk? You know that.

How much does it really report about the reality in Gaza? You know that. Mondoweiss earlier this week noted another pro-Palestinian American citizen killed by the IDF. (This one was in the West Bank, not Gaza.) That link also notes the NYT's lack of coverage.

The reality of American exceptionialism that Kruse accepts? You know that.

This is Kruse working the refs first, with serious concerns about journalism a distant second.

The fact that this was another piece of dreck Kuffner had on his weekend link dump speaks volumes right there.

WHY Sirhan Sirhan shot Bobby Kennedy: he saw him as a Zionist

This is an update and condensing of an old blog post about Robert F. Kennedy's assassination by Sirhan Sirhan. The original was written for the 50th anniversary of the assassination, and its truckload of conspiracy theorists. The update is partially for them, and partially for Democrats attempting to explain away the reality of Sirhan and his mindset.

See below, halfway down, on WHY Sirhan Sirhan shot RFK, his mental status at the time and afterward and more, that refute not only conspiracy theories but modern Democrats attempts to explain away the assassination, which was ultimately caused by Sirhan perceiving Kennedy as a Zionist.

It involves setting aside the high-grade heroin of Camelot, that spilled over from Jack to Bobby, as well as looking at the reality of Sirhan Sirhan, too.

But, this is ultimately about Bobby, not Jack. 

Let's dig in.

First, Bobby's 1968 political future.

Per this Politico piece, Bobby had about zero chance at the nomination. It reminds us only 14 states had primaries back then. The other states, through caucuses and conventions, were still largely controlled by "machines." LBJ made sure they stayed Humphrey.

Almost three-fifths of conventional delegates were selected by county committeemen, state party officers and elected officials, and those officials were squarely behind Humphrey.

In fact, that's why some were wondering if LBJ wasn't going to parachute into Chicago and elbow aside Hubert. And, had Bobby not been shot, he might just have done it.

And, on the ballot, Humphrey took two-thirds, not three-fifths, of the vote. Sure, some of Bobby's delegates went to him, instead of Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, or somebody else. But, Bobby wasn't going to win, period.

(Also, there's the myth that Eugene McCarthy couldn't win Democratic primaries in minority-heavy states, which itself isn't so true, as the results show him beating Bobby in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Yes, it's true Bobby contested none of those, but that may be because he knew he couldn't win. And, Bobby was FROM Massachusetts, too. At the same time, Wiki repeats the Camelot 2.0 myth, claiming the antiwar movement was kaput with Bobby's death, which would be news indeed to McCarthy and many of his backers. [Note: He never would have released pledged delegates to Bobby, anyway. Never.])

At the same time, showing Wiki's problems with lack of editing uniformity, but further undercutting conspiracy theorist James DiEugenio, in his first major campaign speech in 1968, per Wiki's piece on his campaign, he admitted:

"I was involved in many of the early decisions on Vietnam, decisions which helped set us on our present path."

Original quote from this piece, among others. Not quite either Camelot 1.0 OR 2.0. (In my original,  DiEugenio accused me of trolling in another comment to one of his pieces. If telling the truth is trolling, so be it. And, I'll get to that in a bit.)

The Politico piece also notes that if Bobby had somehow pulled off a miracle in Chicago, he might have had almost as much a George Wallace problem as Humphrey did. (Part of Camelot 2.0 is claiming "Clean Gene" was a racist; his eventual Republicanism made that smear easier. The truth? McCarthy lost the California primary by honesty; he said in a debate he wanted subsidized housing moved from Los Angeles [Watts, etc] out to the suburbs, and Kennedy VIRULENTLY opposed that.)

Now, the Ambassador Hotel.

Sirhan Sirhan has gun in hand. He was in the right position to fire the fatal shot. He admitted the shooting. He described why he shot Bobby — over his support for Israel. (His journals are quite explicit as to all of this, too.)

Sirhan Sirhan?

Or, some lame conspiracy, or set of them, as, although less wild than with JFK, multiple RFK assassination conspiracy theories exist.

Occam's razor.

Oh, and I don't give a fuck that RFK Jr. claims that Sirhan Sirhan didn't do it. Bobby Jr. is an antivaxxer in particular and a believer in conspiracy theories in general himself. RFK Jr's new book, which is a total teh suck of high-octane mendaciousness, basically claims the CIA did it.

And, some of the specific claims, like Sirhan Sirhan was given post-hypnotic suggestions and other stuff? Crazier yet. And lies. He was not hypnotized. Nor was he mentally ill and he was never adjudged to be mentally ill.

That said? Per an essay by Dan Moldea, Sirhan Sirhan had fired about 400 rounds with the revolver before he shot Bobby. Per Jeff Greenfield, what set him off was seeing Bobby wearing a yarmulke at an Israeli Independence Day celebration. And, that's not alt-history. The Jewish Press confirms it, complete with photo.

 

And, it wasn't the only time Bobby wore a yarmulke in public. Brainworm Bobby shared the following one himself on Twitter recently.

Background? Per the Tweet, that's Menachem Schneerson, the late Lubavicher Rebbie, back right of Bobby. Second, Schneerson's ties to starting Chabad aren't a good thing. Chabad has been fronting for Zionism, including fighting against pro-Palestinian protests here in the US.

Second, yes, per Counterpunch and many other sites, Schneerson himself said that there were big differences between Jews and goys, including that gentile souls were satanic and that they were a different physical species. See Wikiquote for more.

Oh? He said that before Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Bobby. And, he never abandoned these ideas before he died.

 

That doesn't stop Chabad — in fact, it encourages it — to do all the semi-direct denialism it can, while being careful not to do direct denialism.

Original AP photo, May 26, 1968. Just a week before
his assassination on June 6, 1968, Senator Kennedy,
then a candidate for the presidency, wears a traditional
yarmulke in his appearance before a Portland synagogue.

Anybody who doesn't believe in conspiracy theories about Bobby's death but has read much of Sirhan Sirhan's numerous parole hearings and other things will realize he'll say whatever he thinks will get him parole. (At other parole hearings, he's admitted shooting Bobby, while blaming booze or something.)

Wouldn't you?

And, the conspiracy theories, including but not limited to Manchurian candidate ones with hypnotic suggestion, have even less credibility than the JFK ones.

Even more interesting, but perhaps because it would be self-undercutting, no conspiracy theorist that I know of has proposed the most reasonable one.

And that is that some Palestinian organization — whether PLO, PFLP, or someone else — put Sirhan up to it. The undercutting would be that that would still mean he did it, unless combined with one of the actual conspiracy theories like a two-gunman idea.

Beyond that? In one of the very few true things he's uttered from prison, Sirhan Sirhan (Wiki) himself said he shot Bobby because he was a Zionist. Also, Sirhan Sirhan was NOT mentally ill. He was never legally adjudicated as such, and that's otherwise a Democrat lie. 

UPDATE, Oct. 10, 2025: All of this is one big reason why the latest JFK assassination conspiracy theory du jour, the "Israel did it," is full of shit, even by JFK conspiracy theory standards. 

And, there's at least one #BlueAnon Democratic snowflake on Twitter, a political candidate, promoting THAT bullshit, and it's just as much bullshit as the conspiracy theories.

One question I still really have unanswered is, per the writings of James Bamford, and per James Ennes and others, how much did Bobby know about the truth of Israel's attack on the Liberty? And, a related unanswered question is, per my favorite JFK assassination conspiracy theory (because I invented it), of Mossad whacking Jack, based on historical background — how much did Bobby know about Jack's fights with Ben-Gurion, then Eshkol, over Dimona? (Per the reality, Israel agreed to inspections, which LBJ continued, though with no vigor. I'm guessing Israel hid enough stuff on the inspections, especially with advance notice. Document 46 at the end of this National Security Archive piece that was the basis for my conspiracy theory says some sort of handwaving did indeed appear to be done.)

Roundup of Democrats being Democraps

Meet Tim Walz, Zionist toady and not much better than Josh Shapiro. Perfect Veep pick for Kamala is a Zionist Cop. So, sorry, Mike Elk, both might be good on labor, but I wouldn't pay for you to cover them. Related? Harris shouts down protestors; Walz won't even meet with non-protestor Palestinians.

Why does Gavin Newsom hate rooftop solar? Answer: the former Mayor Pothole is a neoliberal and a solutionist.

Earlier this year, Colorado Democrats passed into law a new bill exempting Legiscritters, which they control by a wide margin, from state open meetings law. Gov. Jared Polis signed it so fast he probably got paper burns. That said, the state's Rethuglicans in the Lege appear to be going along.

Jill Stein remains on the Wisconsin ballot for now. But Democraps, after an initial legal screw-up, said they'll be back.

Gretchen Whitmer has failed on many promises, including many that involve no needed legislative action, like more executive branch government transparency. Sounds like the Democrats in the Colorado Lege on that. Instead, with things like non-disclosure agreements, she's even gone backward.

It's not just elected officials, either. The #BlueAnon rank and file who continue to post things on Twitter like #StagedAssassinationAttempt? Who would want to be part of your club, per Groucho Marx?

Israel doubles down again on warmongering

Israel's assassination of Ismail Haniyeh is having plenty of fallout in most circles that are not either US wingnuts or Kamala is a Zionist Cop #BlueAnon. Part of the fallout is Iraq's government again calling for the US to leave Iraq, and again being ignored, as both the left and right hands of the US imperium duopoly have done for years.  

Jeremy Scahill has much more for the Charles Kuffner #BlueAnon lackeys of the world. Ken Klippenstein chips in with a new note.

Also on Substack, Murtaza Hussain talks about the possibility of an Israel-Iran war.

Vaguely related? Michael Moore has no problem with being a genocide whisperer in general, along with no problem turd-polishing Dementia Joe's decision to stand down. Moore's long, clearly been a tribalist for the the left hand of the duopoly, but he's now reached a greater degree of fabulism than he ever showed in any of his movies, and to reverse the old cliche? That's a high bar to hurdle.

Biden's term limits on SCOTUS justices — still unconstitutional, contra Chris Geidner and Brennan Center

I pulled this from the Texas Progressives weekly roundup to run it separately.

Law Dork analyzes the Biden/Harris Supreme Court reform proposal. There, Chris Geidner ignores that the term limits part is surely unconstitutional without amendment. (An active justice/senior justice model, rather than flat term limits, as discussed by the Brennan Center, might pass muster without amendment.)

However, per Wiki's page on senior status, it appears that this is a voluntary, "opt-in" provision. A judge at the district or appellate level can only be forced into senior status if the chief judge deems they have a disability. Yeah, the Angel Hernandez "umpire" of the Supreme Court is going to do that to Clarence Thomas. Sure.

And, beyond THAT? The Brennan Center doesn't tell you the dirty secret. We ALREADY have that senior status for the Supreme Court! Here, from that same Wiki page.

In 1937, the option was extended to Supreme Court justices, although justices so electing are generally referred to as "retired" justices rather than having senior status. A senior justice is essentially an at-large senior judge, able to be assigned to any inferior federal court by the chief justice, but receiving the salary of a retired justice. However, a retired justice no longer participates in the work of the Supreme Court itself. That same year, Willis Van Devanter became the first Supreme Court justice to exercise the option. Since this option became available to Supreme Court justices, only ten have died while still in active service, the most recent being Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020.

This is sad. It's clear the provision is voluntary and applies only to judges who have already decided to retire.

The primary author, Alicia Bannon, clerked for Sotomayor. So, beyond sad, this is tribalist. Geidner claimed that coment to that end on his site was "nonsense." Well, he's a tribalist, too. And Law Dork, if not him personally, have been tagged in a Twitter follow-up to my original comment to Brennan and Bannon. I called Geidner a BlueAnon a month ago and once again, he's proven me true. Indeed, per a search of my blog, though the term didn't exist then, Geidner was a BlueAnon FIFTEEN years ago. Then, he was DEFENDING Dear Leader claiming that Slick Willie's indefensible Defense of Marriage Act wasn't that bad, and co-defending Barney Frank making the same claim. It's no wonder Kuff loves him.

So, once again, this is clearly all tribalist, and that's how and why Chris Geidner richly earned being called a #BlueAnon. It's more surprising that the likes of an Elie Mystal signed off on this. But, not totally surprising. He knows where his duopoly bread is buttered at The Nation. But, you're wrong too.

That said, Biden's reforms aren't the be-all and end-all. Eliminating the idea of justices hearing all cases en banc is another, per Steve Vladeck's book. Expanding the size of the court to, say, 13 so each appellate court has a justice "riding circuit" with no doubling up is another.

Interestingly, and where the graphic came from, a site called "SCOTUS Term Limits" was launched back in 2020. Way back then, it peddled the same bullshit that we're now getting today, the claim that "during good behaviour" allows term limits without an amendment. At least it wasn't tribalist on it.

Steven Calabrisi at the Volokh Conspiracy gets the issue right, and cites British common law back to 1761. Sadly, he goes wingnut-libertarian tribalist in claiming this attacks an independent federal judiciary.

Wrong. Rather, contra both originalists and librul originalist Constitution interpreters, just as the "Founding Fathers" (Rush Limbaugh voice) did not envision California with 60x the population of Wyoming (vs Virginia with 12x that of New Hampshire) on electoral votes, nor machine guns as "weapons," nor computers and social media on free speech, they didn't envision a significant chunk of Americans, including judges and justices, living into the second half of their octogenarian decade.

Side note: whenever a libertarian, without explicitly identifying with a capital L, calls out Democrats on something like this, it's a tell they're actually a Republican.

Term limits is the right thing.

But, there's only one way to get there.

==

One last side note: Though both Congresscritters and Presidents of both parties pretend to know the Constitution, this couldn't of course be applied to current justices as its an ex post facto law. (The same would be true of an amendment, IMO, at least unless that language was written into the amendment.)

I say this because our alleged constitutional law scholar president signed into law, and willingly, a bill of attainder against ACORN.

Ryan Grim does some #BlueAnon mendacious fluffery on AOC and The Squad

The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution by Ryan Grim
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book is mendacious by silence in some big ways, one above all.

In other words, beyond the scattershot writing and relative lack of actual political biography mentioned by other low raters?

If you want a #BlueAnon PR piece, read away.

Speaking as a non-duopoly leftist, if you want an honest political bio of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, let alone the rest of the "squad," this ain't it.

The biggie?

The so-called Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal was actually crafted by the Green Party, then latched on to and watered down by the Sunrise Movement, which in reality is the youth wing of Gang Green environmental org Sierra Club, along with the Democratic Socialists of America (which are NOT a third party, their pretenses aside) then further latched on to by AOC, with more watering down.

Despite, per his index, the GND getting approximately 30 pages of discussion, Grim tells you none of this. In fact, "Green Party" ain't in the index.

But I am. I wrote several times about it; this is the biggest. Of course, Grim also lied by omission at The Intercept, Sadly, alleged leftist Adam Tooze lies about that too; that's even though neoliberal mags have told the truth. Wikipedia also has the truth, about its GP start in 2012, under its Green New Deal page.

So, the rhetorical question is: Is DC insider Grim, reporter for Politico, contributor to MSNBC, then DC bureau chief for Puff Hoes before the Intercept, that idiotic, or mendacious? I think you know the answer.

Next? Israel-Palestine.

Oh Grim has lots of coverage, but most of it is national-level Democrat and Democrat funder inside baseball focused on New Jersey Congresscritter Josh Gottheimer.

Grim gets lucky to write his book before Oct. 7, 2023, when AOC and the rest of The Squad gets put to the test. And, found wanting, when put to the test more by Dementia Joe's "I'm still running" line, with even Ilhan Omar kissing the ring. Or that AOC has now been unendorsed by the national DSA.

There's plenty of other dross below the electroplated gold of AOC. I've got that too, since Grim doesn't.

And, since I was at light grokking, no, looking at the index and moving toward DNF at this point?

I've called Grim out before for turd-polishing the whole Squad, and beyond that, the whole Congressional Progressive Caucus, or Pergressuve Cucks, as I call them.

Related to that link? Almost all coverage about Russia is about 2016 election meddling, and Ukraine isn't even in the index, so Grim can hide where the Squad and the Cucks stand on the lead-up to a proxy war and the war itself.

I reserve the right to move this down to 1 star. The only reasons it isn't, right now, is that I hit the 2-star starring, and also because of the book's illumination of Grim. We have clear evidence he's a Blue Anon and willing to go to all ends for that, and related, that, political inside baseball/chess game floats his boat as much as or more than big ideas.

Beyond the review, knowing Grim well enough here, this doesn't surprise me.

I recently signed up for the Substack he and Jeremy Scahill created upon leaving The Intercept, but if it gets to be too much Blue MAGA, I'll unsub.

View all my reviews

Rick Perlstein fellates Josh Marshall

In his weekend link dump, Kuff fellates American Prospect fellating Zionist Josh Marshall. No, really; the word "Israel" is nowhere in the story. Perlstein also doesn't call Marshall out when he claims his audience is "left-wing," even though Marshall earlier admits that he's hated on the "socialist left." (A left-neoliberal audience is NOT "left-wing," Josh.

He's even more hated on the anti-Zionist left. That, in turn, is a mix of funny/ironic/sad because, in his Twitter feed, Perlstein himself seems at least moderately anti-Zionist, certainly on the current war. I don't know what Josh has written about the war itself, but before it, he was a full-on blank-check Zionist.

So, to riff on Perlstein? Yeah, he's had success, fiscally etc. So has Daily Kos, without Markos bigfooting the site in the foreground anymore.

Has either one had POLITICAL success other than as new font of online #BlueAnon tribalism?

Hell, no.

It's no wonder that Kuff, himself a BlueAnon tribalist who continues to maintain radio silence on Gaza, including Texas' own DPS busting up pro-Palestinian protestors at Texas universities, loved this piece. 

In response on Twitter, Perlstein gave me the old "this is the institutional framework, the duopoly is it" spiel on that. I told him that, as a member of the print media, I mentioned third parties from time to time. On Zionism, he admitted that "others were that bad, too."

As for Perlstein? Sadly, I thought he was better than this. And, I think I'll pass on his latest book when it comes it. It sounds like little more than a suaver Dan. Froomkin.

COVID: The truth is still in a triangulated third side on St. Anthony of Fauci and Blue Anon vs wingnuts

Dr. Brad Wenstrup is probably less wingnut than many GOP Housecritters. But, at the same time, he's ex-military, ie, Nat-Sec Nutsacks™ material. Dr. Raul Ruiz is is certainly among idealists among House Democrats.

That said, the truth on COVID, and on Anthony Fauci, is in between.

Fauci has lied before, contra many Democrats who still do a blank-check defense.

His original one over mask efficaciousness was perhaps a Platonic noble lie, but at the same time, for setting the stage for the level of tribalism and COVID denialism we're at today, was arguably the worst of his lies. That was followed by a somewhat less Platonic one over herd immunity and vaccine percentages. And, his leaked emails revealed further lies and his reveling over being BlueAnon's St. Anthony of Fauci, as well as showing his decades-long skill at bureaucracy and political infighting. Much more on those emails here.

Shortly after that, on his emails, he started getting more publicly butt-hurt.

Meanwhile, he (and Collins) lied by minority-accepted-only definition on supporting or not supporting gain of function research, which ties directly to Peter Daszak and his EcoHealth Alliance.

And, the lab-leak remains plausible on COVID. That said, contra Republicans, these lab leaks have happened in the US, too, often associated with Peter Daszak and his EcoHealth Alliance.

So, today's latest grilling of Fauci will likely have turned out to once again be Kabuki theater as much as anything. Until EcoHealth gets federal sanctions (which Dems and Team Biden won't support) Daszak won't run a better ship in either the US or China. A lawyered-up Fauci will continue to give buttoned-down answers.

And, the tribalism? Gaslighting Peter Hotez. Cheap-points-scoring American Humanist Association.

There's tribalism on the other side, too. Wenstrup is not running for re-election, so probably not him personally, but the Rand Pauls of the world, yes. See above about how Fauci indirectly fueled some of this.

As for the possibility of a lab leak? Fauci's lies by definition had him also stating that we should continue to fund the then-stonewalling and still-stonewalling Wuhan Institute of Virology. Try defending that one, Ruiz. (Hotez has also gotten gain of function funding.)

As for the possibility of a lab leak? I still support what ProPublica wrote two years ago, and its defense of that. The indefatigable (on COVID ONLY!; he's getting a takedown here next week) Jamie Metzl pushes this even more, along with a blistering call-out of Daszak.

As for more nefarious possibilities? I originally rejected a weaponization idea. I have since let that door open a crack, but still lean against it.

==

Testimony takeaways: The biggest, per CNN, is that Fauci threw Daszak under the bus and supports suspending funding for EcoHealth.

Nat-Sec Nutsacks, BlueAnon and pseudoleftists have Havana Syndrome

I "understand" (well, I actually don't want to understand the dude) why quasi-BlueAnon conspiracy theorist, and general batshit crazy conspiracy theorist, Jim Stewartson, believes that Havana Syndrome is "real." Here's a non-crazy (sort of, he's a cell phone radiation nutter) BlueAnon type who thinks the same.

I certainly "understand" the Nat-Sec Nutsacks, the professional ones, want to believe that Havana Syndrome is real, not only the ones who talked to "60 Minutes" but the avid retweeters. This is Cold War 2.0 stuff, whether Moscow gets blamed more or Beijing. And, Greg Edgreen is exactly that. Here's another in Twitter drag, whatever his ALLEGED "three-letter agency" was.

Because of why they're suffering, and the fact that they thing an illness being psychogenic, or psychosomatic, means they're crazy, I get why sufferers want to believe it's real.

The "pseudoleftists," though? And yes, they're out there. This guy, from the non-Merikkkan division; even more as a Beijing fellator. I've seen American ones, too.

All wrong!

IT IS psychogenic/psychosomatic. Post-mortem is right. except for "60 Minutes" trolling for ratings. And, Robert Bartholemew, co-author of the "post-mortem," as well as others, were on the trail three years ago. Per one story about that, it's also Cold War 2.0-mongering by calling it "Havana Syndrome," as the World Health Organization officially advises against giving illnesses geography-based or country-based naming.

I think one problem, re the sufferers, is that people think that identifying an illness as psychosomatic means they're being told the symptoms aren't real. No, they're very real, including on Havana Syndrome, and that's per a neurology professor. I have little doubt that, besides the sufferers, their lawyers are confused.

Perhaps identifying it with the label of "functional neurological disorder" might reduce stigma, per the excellent book by Suzanne O'Sullivan.

The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A simply great, and straightforward, book on psychosomatic illness, or functional neurological disorder, as O'Sullivan notes the more modern term is.

She visits several sites to see modern such cases in action, or in a couple of cases, at their tale end or afterward. Some involve a few individuals, but others involve larger groups. She notes that in such cases, it's not mass psychogenic illness, but mass sociogenic — the group is part of the induction.

Especially with groups, she notes people don't want to accept such prognoses, because they find it shaming and believe that this is a claim they are "faking it." O'Sullivan notes that is not the case, while also noting officials making pronouncements of psychogenic illness often don't explain that in particular and don't present the diagnosis well in general.

And so, alternative explanations are sought, such as in traditionalist religion in some cases, or things like antivaxxer conspiracies in others. [Or now, Cold War 2.0 nonsense.] With individuals, sometimes it's outside society that doesn't want to accept a psychogenic illness identification because they know it's an indictment of wider society. Here, O'Sullivan's first case, children of asylum seekers in Sweden who have had their asylum claims rejected at least once, and many the maximum three times, exhibiting "resignation syndrome" (also displayed elsewhere) come to mind. The Swedish doctor in the book, at least, clearly doesn't want to accept that these children are reacting to their parents' asylum claims being rejected, their internalization of their parents' fear, etc.

View all my reviews

The pseudoleftists and Nat-Sec Nutsacks? Either not confused about what psychosomatic means, and willfully lying, or without even thinking one way or the other, willfully lying. Lying for where their bread is buttered.

America as failed/-ing state: Cheap political gotchas by alleged leftists

First, the America as failed/-ing state is, I think, going to become a semi-regular, occasional, series of blogging.

Second, as is my wont, it will look beyond twosiderism to some degree. It will this time for sure.

The part of the header after the colon was inspired by two items on Twitter Feb. 13, both of which were actual/alleged leftists doing gotchas on BlueAnon/BlueMAGA Democrats.

The first, was from one of my email alerts. Randy Credico prasing by quote-tweet Marjorie Taylor Greene's attack on the "Super Bowl Sunday warhawk bill."

Reality, Randy? MTG (Trevor Lawrence in drag and yes I went there and take a look at her and agree) voted for all of Trump's tax cuts that created a huge amount of that $34 trillion in debt she professes to hate. Reality No. 2? She only hates the Russia-Ukraine proxy war because it's Biden's war. If Trump gets re-elected and wants more bombs and drones for Ukraine, she'll be down with it. Reality No. 3? She's pushing the Israel button no matter what.

The second was lefties laughing (and Blue MAGA was trending on Twitter because of this) at Blue MAGA getting butt-hurt because Jon Stewart was bagging on Biden. Reality? First, it's low-hanging fruit. Second, Blue MAGA can be craptacular while Stewart is just about as craptacular himself. He's yesterday's news, and frankly, compared to old backup man Stephen Colbert, never had as much zing on his fastball at his peak, and certainly doesn't now. Anybody who's watched him over the past 2-3 years before he decided to relaunch his show knows that in today's political world, he should be called "No Labels Jon Stewart."

Jon Stewart is every white man in America that thinks he is irreplaceable. He saw black, brown, yellow & women doing his old job better & expanding the platform & got mad & decided to come back due to his ego. pic.twitter.com/LV6ZBHoruX

— Sons of Killmonger & Disciple of Dark Brandon (@2Strong2Silence) February 13, 2024

I repeated the "No Labels" observation to this guy and one other commenter to him. I said I thought it was just a case of a rich man with big ego refusing to accept he's behind his sell-by date.

This type of stuff, as much as the "I'm rubber, you're glue" between Blue MAGA and MAGAts, is what makes many Europeans shake their heads.

That pseudo-pharmacy? Was Dear Leader's before Trump's

I had heard the news about that so-called pseudo-pharmacy in the White House last Friday, but didn't pay attention until I saw Ambien trending on Twitter and #BlueAnon bagging on Ronny Jackson.

Most Tweets just had dueling mugshots of him and Hunter Jackson, with comments of the nature of "You can attack Hunter, but look at Ronnie Jackson."

Then, several tweets down, saw an Ars Technica link. OK, real news.

The real real news? The inspection by the Department of Defense Inspector General (WH physician is traditionally military officer, or else DoD civilian) was from 2009-2018.

Lemme see.

As I put it on Twitter, first, Dear Leader Obama was president most that time.

As I put it on Twitter secondly, Ronny Jackson was Dear Leader's doc during most that time. He became director of the White House Medical Unit in May 2010 and Physician to the President in July 2013.

I love it when #BlueAnon scores an own goal!

Now, it's true that most the investigation was on the Trump years.

It's also true that not having a pharmacist to run was was therefore by definition a pseudo-pharmacy also goes back to Obama's time, if not earlier. And STAT, which broke the story and is linked by Ars, noted that Obama-era staffers were interviewed as part of the investigation.

The full report notes other problems.

First, the WHMU has tripled in size in 15 years. (Counts back to ... 2009!)

Second, and this one I think DID fall mainly in the Trump-years focus, and that was providing health care, meds, etc., to ineligible WH staffers, families, etc.

That said, back to that own goal? The previous IG investigation of Jackson himself? Much of the behavior it looked at occurred on Dear Leader's watch.

Addressing misinformation part 3 means don't spread it first, or, the ballad of the reality of Jessica McCabe and Ryan Knight

Calling out "proud socialist" Ryan Knight this time, with a reminder he was a Berner before he was a Green. Here's the tweet.

She’s right and if your reaction is to mock her then you’re part of the problem too. Until the people of this country come together and reject both capitalist parties who use the state to enrich themselves & their corporate donors things will continue to get worse. https://t.co/ZZ0KdlN15p

— Ryan Knight ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) August 10, 2023

In my last response, I said:

And, listening through her rant? She's in Alabama. Tell me where in Alabama you have to have a six-figure salary to get a little bitty place to live. $2,000 for a studio apartment? Trulia shows lots of full 1-bedroom apartments @ $1,000-$1,500. Off to blog https://t.co/7BLVEYOnaz

— TheRealSocraticGadfly (@real_gadfly) August 12, 2023

Simple facts. That's not mocking, Ryan. It's "fact-checking." 

That said, "fact-checking" won't change her mind, but, to riffing on part two of this semi-series, one can't preach against the motivated reasoning behind misinformation without first recognizing that misinformation is at hand. And it is, Ryan.

Jumping from the price of a one-bedroom apartment (I don't know if Birmingham is more or less expensive than Montgomery, Mobile or Huntsville, to cite some other larger places in Alabama) to nearly twice that for a studio is not just hyperbole, it's misinformation, Ryan.

Besides, did said mom live by herself after moving out on her own, or with roommates? Has her son not considered that? After moving back out from my dad's, I never did that, but? I lived frugally. That includes living in an actual studio.

The reason I note Ryan used to be a Berner was that Bernie himself, of course, ostensibly made a class-based appeal to voters regardless of ethnicity in 2016. And, offered up similar blind spots himself.

I'm not saying that Bama Mama is a full-on Karen; I am saying she should be treated skeptically.

 

I add to that by noting that Bama Mama Jessica McCabe's video had the classic social media influencer framing; and, the fact that it was amplified on Fox adds to this. (It also raises the "coincidence or not" angle.) Someone sitting in the front seat of a car, as if they had thoughts that just happened to pop into their head while stopped at a red light, goes off on a rant. (McCabe is also on Instagram. And, she went semi-viral with a radio station profile 14 months ago. And, part of the story there is that she gave a smackdown to one of her sons about just how viral she could go, which means we should be more skeptical yet, right Ryan Knight?)

 

OK, TikTok says Millbrook, Bammy. Metro Montgomery. So, the same Trulia info I tweeted to Ryan with change of city? And, it's even WORSE for her truth-stretching and Ryan's suckerdom. Trulia for Montgomery not only shows plenty of 1-bedroom apartments for $1,000-$1,500 a month, but even duplexes and a few houses (two or three bedroom) that look at least OK.

Millbrook itself? Per City-Data, rents nowhere near that high.

 

Be more skeptical, Ryan. If not, you'll get mocked if anybody does. You're also — yes, we're at that point — going to get mocked for doing a cheap ex-Berner attempted drive-by on Blue Anoners without doing your own research.

And (although he falls into it himself at times)? Per Jeff St. Clair? Ryan, don't be in the more credulous precincts of the left.

 

Finally, the phenomenon demonstrated by Ryan, and also by other Berner types on things like COVID deserves its own hashtag, and so I invent #BernAnon to deliberately play off #BlueAnon. Deal with it.

Mueller She Wrote or Fraud She Wrote?

Mueller, She Wrote #BlueAnon / #Russiagate Tweeter Allison Gill is apparently as much a fraud as the Steele Dossier and some other parts of Russiagate. (Sorry, though, conspiracy theorists, the DNC — AND THE RNC — were indeed hacked by the Russians.) Anyway, on Gill? This guy has the goods on Twitter. She's lied about her grandpa dying in WWII, about her serving in the Navy during the actual Gulf War, about her "dismissal" from her VA job and more.

That said, as to whether or not Gill actually has violated the Stolen Valor Act of 2013? I think not. Go here for why, and the issue of a generic use of “stolen valor,” per Tweeter Fraudian Slip, vs legal reality.

As I quote-tweeted the first tweet, I was reminded: Has Marcy Wheeler, aka Emptywheel, ever named the guy she narked on? (A number of people on a later Twitter thread to which I responded seem to think Wheeler is a straight shooter and will make corrections if necessary. Maybe at times, maybe not, and her toady/henchman Bmaz, per that link? Not at all. But I digress.)

Even without knowing the backstory, her Tweeting has seemed some mix of sanctimonious and backbiting. Plus, as a semi-pacifist leftist, Dems who are war cosplayers, even if not full warmongers, turn me off.

And, per the Twitter OP, it is at least an open question as to whether or not Allison Gill is violating not just some generic idea of stolen valor but the Stolen Valor Act of 2013. Since Gill's podcasting and other career has indeed generated money, and is based on part on her military honors claims, it's not an issue that I'd just dismiss. (This sets aside the issue of whether or not the act, like its 2005 predecessor, violates the First Amendment.)

Update: It gets better and others are piling on. Like this Tweet which has a clip from one of her comedy events, calling a vegan a fag. More from same Tweeter here. I'll add more as I see them!

==

Sidebar: Fraudian Slip, per his currently pinned tweet, appears to specialize in Stolen Valor takedowns. Problem? While the takedown in his pinned tweet is great, pretending to be a spook isn't pretending to be military. (That's of course setting aside Arbenz, Bay of Pigs, etc.) It's specifically about fraudulent claims to various military service medals, in fact, AND, gaining value through such false claims. Lack of that was part of why the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was rightly ruled unconstitutional.

Update, Feb. 19, 2024: That account has been suspended, for whatever reason.

I've had a bit of professional experience myself with people claiming "X violated the Stolen Valor Act." In the couple of alleged cases brought to my attention, no, that wasn't true, so I wrote no story about it. And, by the actual act, I don't think Gill broke it, either. Is she a Class A grifter? YES. Is she also a #BlueAnon war cosplayer? YES. Did she perhaps violate the spirit of someone's definition of "stolen valor"? Yes. Did she break the law? Absolutely not, per the original thread and what citations, etc., I saw listed that she allegedly claimed. She may have claimed to serve in a military theater, loosely defined, but nothing more.

And, per my third and fourth paragraphs up top, my take on her fraud, and my interest on her fraud, is probably different from his. I'm pretty sure my interest is different, in fact.

Update, Feb. 19, 2024: That said, per Emptywheel, or Emptyhead, or whatever, shock me that Gill has partnered with another A-list grifter, former head of the FBI affairs department, Andrew McCabe, in the podcast world.

Texas Progressives say "So long, Kenny Boy" (sort of)

Note: Per various sources, the Texas Senate will meet June 20 to discuss rules of Ken Paxton's trial. Lite Guv Dan Patrick has already named a committee of senators who will report to the full Senate then. Quorum Report says the trial will be held no later than Aug. 28.

With that all said, I want to laugh at members of the Texas division of #BlueAnon who claimed a week ago on Twitter that Patrick would have no such trial. I knew then that Goeb has no trouble throwing away former allies or political friends of convenience once their usefulness to him has expired. 

Off the Kuff was all over the impeachment proceedings against Ken Paxton. (With large chunks of quote-texting MSM sources.) In a further update after sending out the Roundup, he speculates about why it happened now as well as how he hopes the Senate trial plays out, and how this ties to Dems' 2024 state race chances.

Also on the Kenny Boy impeachment, Harold Dutton showed that at least one Democrap in the Lege can be just as cynical as any Rethuglican, and in addition, be as naive about Dems' statewide chances as Gilberto Hinojosa, Democrats' captain of the SS Minnow. Harold, meet Kuff. Kuff, meet Harold.

And, with that, on to the rest of the Roundup.

==

SocraticGadfly explained what the new short-term tweak to the Colorado River Compact does and does not mean.

Multiple sites and people paid tribute to the great Houston-based writer and Texas original John Nova Lomax, who died this past week at the age of 53. A sampling, from the people who knew him and the places where his writing flourished: Houston Chronicle Houston Public Media Texas Highways Texas Monthly CultureMap Houston Houston Press The Press also dug up JML's classic series of stories called "Sole of Houston" in which he'd walk the entire length of an iconic Houston thoroughfare, sometimes over more than one day, and documented the experience in word and photo.

The Observer attended a memorial service for Uvalde victims on the one year anniversary of that massacre, which the Republicans in the Lege completely ignored.

Steve Vladeck wrote about being singled out for criticism by Justice Sam Alito for daring to mention the "shadow docket".

Mean Green Cougar Red offers a bit of perspective on the potential for a relocated NHL team in Houston.

"Congrats" to Boris Kagarlitsky for implying only Russia, not Ukraine, has draconian thought censorship, and "congrats" to Counterpunch for finding a Russian Eric Draitser.

Zionists trying to call Roger Waters a Nazi can fuck off. Sincerely, Mondoweiss.

Does the origin of COVID really matter?

That question, raised rhetorically, seems to be more and more the new trope by BlueAnon-type, if you will, thought leaders, whether politicians and political advisors on the one hand, or PhD scientists in the relevant disciplines on the other.

It appears to be their response to the Department of Energy report (they've ignored, it would seem, Sen. Richard Burr's Senate committee minority report from last year, as reported by ProPublica and blogged about here, precisely because he is a Republican) about the possibility of a lab leak, and putting it enough in the public eye it can no longer be denied. (I don't know if deep-shit level BlueAnoners like Peter Hotez have even gotten to the level of being willing to express a rhetorical question yet. And, per Kuff of here at Texas Progressives, since I extracted one of his Roundup items a week ago to make into a separate post about Your Local Epidemiologist, I don't know if he's gotten past his "so-called" framing yet. Or will in the near future.)

But I digress.

Answer?

Yes it does, and arguably a lot.

Here in the US, it's possible that with Donald Trump as president and his mix of semi-denialism and racist comments, that even if BlueAnoners had been open to the possibility of a lab leak in 2020 and early 2021, that wingnuts wouldn't have taken COVID seriously. But, that's no excuse for the early squashdown of the lab leak idea, not only here in the US, but Britain and elsewhere, as UnHerd reminds us.

First, just like Donald J. Trump, BlueAnoners have contributed to further erosion of public trust in science.

Second, by not being more forthright right away, they've contributed to further erosion of international cooperation on public health. With Xi Jinping as president of China, along with Trump as president of the US at the same time, this might have happened anyway, but it's once again no excuse. Outside the US and Western allies, it's most certainly no excuse from the World Health Organization.

Third, and derived from that, they've enabled reflexive anti-American writers like Max Blumenthal to run more flak for Xi's regime and to enable his stonewalling.

Fourth, it matters because it means that lab safety and security at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — AND at other labs, including at North Carolina here in the US — where lab leaks have happened before, still are not being addressed with as much safety as they should. That's even more a concern when you have labs doing gain of function work, and even more when St. Anthony of Fauci lies about that.

Fifth, the BlueAnoner stance has encouraged a few (maybe more, but not me) actual leftists like Sam Husseini to go horseshoe theory and believe there was bioweaponizing.

That said, Kuff is in "good" company with BlueAnon Kevin Drum, 

Sadly, a non-BlueAnon like Jonathan Katz also derides the idea. (Why Kuff linked to his footnotes instead of the body, I don't know.) I know that Katz's framing is wrong; the reality is there is a theory, but because China is not Haiti, per his comparison to events there in 2010, it's hard to get either confirmatory or disconfirmatory details. As for some theoretical exposition shifting from WIV to the Chinese Centers for Disease Control, that's part of that issue, and doesn't make such theories nothing but talk, in my opinion. Per Katz, it is good that (as far as we know!) the CCDC didn't do gain of function research, but, for me at least, gain of function is not a "required" part of the lab leak idea. It would be an adjunct worry, instead, if if the lab leak theory is correct, and WIV not CCDC is the culprit. Katz comes close to a red herring here. Per Katz, I'm OK with "hypothesis" or even "working idea" rather than "theory," but "just talk" or "all talk," I'm not.

At this point, I think Kuff is treating the whole discussion in a tribalist manner.

Update: Markham Heid got 19 PhD scientists to speak not for attribution about this and related matters. I think the one who says, re the lab leak hypothesis itself, that 75-25 is their odds on a natural angle vs a lab leak, sounds about right. Others, multiple others, on the issue of "absolute certainty," say Worobey is surely right on "preponderance of evidence' but wrong if he's pushing "absolute certainty" on natural origin. One of these people says he is absolutely doing that. Richard Ebright, maybe?

Dear Yankee Dum Fuqs: It's ice, not snow in Texas

I wasn't born in Tex-ass, nor, contra the Tex-ass immigrant cultist saying, did I get here as fast as I could. And, for the right position in the right location, I'd leave. (That said, I could be in a lot worse places.)

That said, the Yankees laughing at Texans over their driving in the recent ice storm, and related cluelessness, is too much. My locales before getting here include St. Louis and Michigan. I've driven on plenty of snow, and have driven on enough bits of snow in North Texas, that I haven't entirely forgotten that. Now, in part it's due to how long I've lived here, but I've driven on more ice here than all other places combined.

First, per the header, it's ice, not snow. Yes, there are some dum fuq drivers here either driving too fast for conditions, or being Texas yahoos. (And don't get me started on people driving without their daytime running lights in general, let alone in bad weather.) If the header doesn't convince you, ice going all the way down to greater Austin, per the pic at left, from Pflugerville, will hopefully do the trick.

But? Many people have simply been trying to do their best to get around, and not always being fully successful.

Monday-Tuesday, on precipitation, all we had in my neck of the Tex-ass woods was either sleet or freezing rain. Those combine well to become ice.

The street in front of my office was a pebble-grained sheet of ice yesterday.

One of the "gotcha" attempts on Twitter was by a person called "FROSun Liberal." I quote tweeted her, and I see that now she's deleted:

I didn't vote 4 either Abbott OR Beto, aka R(ump) F(uck) O'Rourke. Ice storms happen here in Tex-ass cuz of this big thing called the Gulf of Mexico combined with North America, unlike Europe or Asia, not having a major east-west mtn range. Feel free 2 bring more science nxt time https://t.co/ioq15LAhbH

— TheRealSocraticGadfly (@real_gadfly) February 1, 2023

Maybe a small bit of guilty conscience on deleting her tweet?

Or maybe not. 

She was also saying this was comeuppance for Abbott being governor.

Anyway, as far as the meteorology? Yes, ice storms happen in the plains because of that geography. Ditto on tornadoes, and it's a factor in Gulf hurricanes. It's why North America has the most and most varied severe weather of any continent.

Second, as far as 340K people being without power as of the time I was typing this Wednesday evening? No, that's not good, but, some perspective? In a state of nearly 30 million, that's 1.1 percent of the population. Ice storms up north do worse. And again, nothing to do with Abbott.

Third? Texas does use salt, at least down as far south as Austin. (City of Austin uses only dolomite crushed stone for grit, not salt.) And, that includes pre-treating roads in advance of storms with brine.

Fourth? I hadn't thought of that new play on the name of Beto-Bob until yesterday.

Fifth? #BlueAnon gotchas on something like this are like Kos himself, Markos Moulitsas, saying "poor whites" in red states had earned their COVID deaths.