The Wisdom of Pooh

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Stephanie Grisham Says Trump's White House Was 'a Hot Mess 24/7' [[businessinsider.com)

Gotta love her descriptions of the man baby and the state of affairs in the WH.

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[Jerry Oz]

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Congress had to OK a new debt ceiling so the United States wouldn’t go into default, and the Republicans threatened to block the action and shut down the government just to make Joe Biden look bad. They eventually caved, but. . .



Arizona Republicans announced the result of their bulllshit “audit” of the 2020 Presidential election, a process that was in the hands of an iffy Florida outfit called Cyber Ninjas, and the count was:

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Yes, Povertyneck Hillbillies is a real band. Google it [[like I had to).

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Oh those Republican's dogs!

[Jerry Oz]

[Jerry Oz]

The Cheatles
Frankie Goes To Trumpywood
Loston
Peep Durple
Stray Rats
Uncultured Club
Don Petty & the Fartmakers

[Jerry Oz]

[Jerry Oz]

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Alabama was one of the hardest hit states during the first go-round of the pandemic, and even harder hit during this latest outbreak, so what does GOP Governor Kay Ivey do with the COVID-19 relief funds her state received from the federal government? She signed a new law using those coronavirus virus funds to build new prisons in the state. No, not for more room in hospitals, which are overflowing with COVID patients as well as others; not for relief for people who may lose their home due to unemployment during the pandemic; not for vaccines, vaccine education, equipment for those on the front lines. Prisons; because prisons make money for Alabama Kay Ivey cares more about for-profit prisons that people in her own state getting sick and dying of COVID because she’s a Republican who puts coins before people. Early in 2020, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s daughter, Kassidy Peters, had applied with the state for an appraiser’s license and was denied. In July 2020, Noem summoned to her office the state employee who ran the agency, the woman’s direct supervisor and the state labor secretary. Oh, and for some inexplicable reason, Kassidy Peters was also there. And four months later Kassidy Peters obtained her certification. The following week, the labor secretary called the agency head, Sherry Bren, who initially denied Kassidy Peter’s application, and demanded her retirement, according to an age discrimination complaint Bren filed against the department. No one knows what transpired at that July 2020 meeting in the governor’s office. Kristi Noem has only said she was trying to make the process more equitable, and added: “I never once asked for special treatment for Kassidy. She is my daughter and I’m proud of her. I raised her to accomplish things on her own.” Funny, though, that her desire for equality in that department only happened after her daughter was denied a licenses. Also funny, is that her daughter didn’t get the license until after mama stepped in and the department head was pushed out.

[Jerry Oz]

[Jerry Oz]

[Jerry Oz]

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Once more for the people in the back, raising the debt ceiling is not about preventing the government from spending more money, it’s about paying back money the government already spent, like the $7.8 trillion in debt that Thing 45 and the complicit GOP racked up in the last four years. The GOP will fuck America rather than pay its bills.

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After news of yet another school shooting in Texas, Ted Cruz offered thoughts and prayers for about ten seconds, and then said, “We are here today because of the Biden border crisis." The GOP stops caring about children once they’re out of the womb.

Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Monday said it was a mistake to work for the former President. Not a mistake, however, was to write a book and try to make some money off a bad decision, eh Steph? Piss off.

[Jerry Oz]

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Pope Francis, on the scale of child sexual abuse within the Catholic church in France: “There is, unfortunately, a considerable number. I would like to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma that they suffered. It is also my shame, our shame, my shame, for the incapacity of the church for too long to put them at the center of its concerns.” Hey Frank? Shove your sadness and shame. I don’t think the more than 330,000 French children who were raped by Catholic priests and other church authority figures since 1950 want your shame and sadness. They want their rapists punished and jailed, along with every member of your church who helped hide this sin.

Lil Nas X, on how the success of Old Town Road gave him the push to come out: “I don’t think I would have ever came out [but after Old Town Road hit] I honestly felt like it was kind of my duty. Especially if I wanted to move forward. And what I was doing, because authenticity is very real, and I feel like people can see right through that. And that’s a part of me. [But] I felt like [my insecurity with my sexuality] was my fear of people judging me for how I would act post-coming out. I used to ‘like’ comments where people were like, ‘Oh, I like him, because he’s not all in your face about it.’ And then I realized kind of what that was. It’s kind of like when people say, ‘Oh, I have a Black friend,’ and that kind of sits on everything that have to do with their Black history and culture, whatnot. I’m kind of like, I’m not that person, you know?” This is gonna make me sound old, but that is one smart kid. He did a great service to young people of color by coming out. We need more of that.

Billie Eilish, trashing Texas lawmakers during a concert in Austin over the state’s new anti-choice law: “My body, my fucking choice. When they made that shit a law, I almost didn’t want to do the show … because I wanted to punish this fucking place for allowing that to happen here. But then I remembered that it’s you guys that are the fucking victims, and you deserve everything in the world. And we need to tell them to shut the fuck up! Makes me sick how many men say nothing when it comes to women’s rights. If you and your ‘homies’ or bros’ aren’t talking about the abortion laws in Texas, chances are you’re part of a problem.” Nice, I guess, but I wonder how much more effective her rant would be if she decided not to play in Texas and tell her fans it was because of the law and shew won’t play there until those who created it, and the law itself, are history.

Lisa Boothe, Fox News host, on the news that Merck is seeking authorization for an oral COVID treatment. “This is all such a scam. We could repurpose ivermectin for so cheap. None of this is about public health, it’s about cashing in or paying in favors for Big Pharma.” Now, we all suspect these Fox “News” hosts are idiots and here we have actual proof, because Boothe is accusing Merck of trying to profit off COVID with their new drug and wants y’all to take the horse paste instead … which is made by Merck. Do better, Lisa. I kid, cuz you can’t.

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[Jerry Oz]

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This reminds me of a story I found on Reddit. A Deplorable spent a lot of energy pushing misinformation before catching COVID and dying. Turns out his pastor had used a lot of his own energy by telling his congregation that the vaccine is something from hell and that all who take it are doomed to end up there. The pastor didn't seem to think it was important to tell his flock that he'd been vaxxed, though.

There's no word for how evil they are.

[Jerry Oz]

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This reminds me of a story I found on Reddit. A Deplorable spent a lot of energy pushing misinformation before catching COVID and dying. Turns out his pastor had used a lot of his own energy by telling his congregation that the vaccine is something from hell and that all who take it are doomed to end up there. The pastor didn't seem to think it was important to tell his flock that he'd been vaxxed, though.

There's no word for how evil they are.

Dare I say.....AMEN!

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You're probably wondering why I'm posting two of the same photo.

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Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Matthew Shepard Died Today*

He was just a kid. A slight kid, a sweet kid. A gay. But it wasn't the kid who got noticed on this day eleven years ago, it was his murder that caught us all, gay and straight, off-guard. Matthew Wayne Shepard was a twenty-one year-old college student at the University of Wyoming. And he was gay. And, for being gay, he was tortured and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming. His attack occurred on October 6, but Mathew didn't die until almost a week later. Matthew was born in Wyoming, and grew up there. He spent his last high school year at The American School in Switzerland. After high school, he attended Catawba College and Casper College before he relocated to Denver before becoming a first-year political science major at the University of Wyoming. Political science. Matthew might have been a politician, or a community organizer, or a gay rights activist. Or a teacher or a bartender or any number of other things which we'll never know because he never got the chance to be anything else. He was described by his parents, Judy and Dennis, as "an optimistic and accepting young man [who] had a special gift of relating to almost everyone. He was the type of person who was very approachable and always looked to new challenges. Matthew had a great passion for equality and always stood up for the acceptance of people's differences." He might have done so much. But Matthew knew he was gay, and so did many other people. And like so many in the LGBT community, he faced physical and verbal abuse all throughout his life, and death. In 1995, during a high school trip to Morocco, he was beaten and raped, leaving him withdrawn from friends and family and battling depression and panic attacks. But he soldiered on, went back to school and seemed to be coming out of his depression. Then, just after midnight on October 7, 1998, Matthew met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in a bar. McKinney and Henderson offered Shepard a ride in their car. They took him to a remote area, tied him to a fence, robbed, pistol whipped, tortured him, and left him to die. They also found his address and decided to rob his home as well. Matthew Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, who mistook the beaten, dying young man for a scarecrow. Matthew was barely alive. And suffering. There was a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital functions. There were also a dozen or more lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Matthew Shepard never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on October 12, 1998. Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun as well as the victim's shoes and wallet in their truck. The two men had attempted to persuade their girlfriends to provide alibis. They used the gay panic defense, arguing that they beat, tortured and killed Matthew Shepard because he came on to them. They even tired to say they only wanted to rob him, not hurt him. But they hurt an entire community. Russell Henderson pleaded guilty in April, 1999, and agreed to testify against Aaron McKinney to avoid the death penalty; he was given two consecutive life sentences. The jury found Aaron McKinney guilty of felony murder, and as they began to deliberate on the death penalty, Shepard's parents brokered a deal, resulting in McKinney receiving two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. In a statement read to the court, Dennis Shepard told McKinney the sentence means: “You won’t be a symbol. No years of publicity, no chance of commutation, no nothing—just a miserable future and a miserable end. It works for me …. Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it.” He was just a kid. A slight kid, a sweet kid. A gay kid. And he could have been any one of us, but in death, Matthew did what hadn't really been done before. He shone a light on hate crimes against the LGBT community. He gave us a face and a smile that needn't have been snuffed out so readily. He could have been any one of us. He is every one of us.

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In an excerpt from the soon-to-be-released Betrayal by ABC News’s Jonathan Karl writes that Thing 45 was “intrigued” by a theory presented to him by Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, whom Thing 45 wanted to install as acting attorney general:. “[Clark] believed that wireless thermostats made in China for Google by a company called Nest Labs might have been used to manipulate voting machines in Georgia.” Thermostats. Really.

Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, Lakewood Church, has repaid the government $4.4 million in pandemic loans after going viral for the outrageous handout. Osteen, worth $50 million, took $4.4 million in taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans at the height of the COVID pandemic last year. Osteen owns a $300,000 Ferrari and a $10.5 million mansion, and travels on his own luxury jet, but appears on TV and in the pulpit urging people to not “focus on what [they] have or don’t have.” Osteen is the same man of “god” who was forced to open his church to victims of Hurricane Harvey after an uprising on social media. The “god”-fearing Osteen didn’t want dirty homeless people in his church. He, of course, can fuck all the way off.

This week Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that he is moving his company from California to Texas because California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Tweeted this to him: “F—k Elon Musk.” All the money in the world cannot buy Elon Mush granny panties that don’t get twisted.

Imagine being Michael Elizabeth Pence and being so delusional that you refer to a day when your rabid followers chanted that they wanted to hang you by your neck until you were dead as “One day in January.” Delusional and traitorous. And stupid.

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I Didn't Say It

George Clooney, on President Biden and what he has taken on since the election: “It’s like taking a battered child and thinking everything’s going to be OK his first day in school. There’s a lot of things that have to be repaired, there’s a lot of healing that has to happen, and it’s going to take time.” Think of what Biden inherited, what a mess he was given from COVID, to unemployment, to climate change, to Afghanistan and more. That’s a lot to take on, but I have hopes he’ll get some things done.

Lindsey Graham, on Fox News, proving, yet again, that she has lost her damned mind: “The border patrol is doing the best they can but they told me that the likelihood of a terrorist attack coming from our Southern Border grows by the day. And what you see in Texas is moving to Arizona. A 1300 percent increase in illegal crossings in the Yuma Sector in the last few months. Why? We changed the Remain in Mexico Policy. The policy choices of Biden are all over the world now. We had 40,000 Brazilians come through the Yuma Sector alone, headed for Connecticut, wearing designer clothes and Gucci bags. This is not economic migration anymore. People see an open America, they’re taking advantage of us.” 40,000 Brazilians come through the Yuma Sector alone, headed for Connecticut, wearing designer clothes and Gucci bags? WTF is this queen talking about? Somebody get her fainting couch STAT!

Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, former NY Senator, and the woman who won the popular vote in the 2016 election, on the crisis in America thanks to Thing 45: “You know, I think we not only came close to a full constitutional crisis, I think we’re still in it. That gives me absolutely no satisfaction in saying this because I think we’re in a very dangerous continuing high-level attack on the legitimacy of our government and the election of our president. And obviously, our former president is not only behind it, he incited it, he encouraged it, and he continues to do so. And you have leaders of the Republican Party who have willingly going along as though they’re members of a cult, not a political party but a cult, and they’re continuing attacks on the election, their refusal to say, ‘You know what, we’ve counted these votes. It’s over. We’re gonna move on,’ has sown so much doubt and then you combine it with the disinformation network known as Facebook, and you’ve got a volatile mix. So yeah, we are still in the midst of a concerted well-funded effort to undermine American Democracy.” Clinton, once again, is 100% correct, and the only way to fix this is to, what? Say it loud from the back: CAST A GODDMANED VOTE in every single election in which you vote. When Democrats vote, Democrats win. Stand up, speak up, and VOTE!

Wendy Rogers, Arizona State GOP Senator and asshat, read for filth about her Tweet about Superman coming out as bisexual: “Superman loves Louis Lane. Period. Hollywood is trying to make Superman gay and he is not. Just rename the new version Thooperman so we can all know the difference and avoid seeing it.” No typo is more perfect and telling than misspelling Lois Lane as “Louis Lane.” But the use of “Thooperman” as a reference to the “gay lisp” stereotype shows what a homophobic bigot this C U Next Tuesday is.

President Joe Biden, commemorating National Coming Out Day by condemning the array of anti-LGBTQ legislation circulating through state governments while continuing to offer words of encouragement to LGBTQ+ Americans: “Today and every day, I want every member of the LGBTQ+ community to know that you are loved and accepted just the way you are regardless of whether or not you’ve come out. To LGBTQ+ people across the country, and especially those who are contemplating coming out know that you are loved for who you are, you admired for your courage and you will have a community—and a nation—to welcome you. My administration will always have your back, and we will continue fighting for full measure of equality, dignity and respect you deserve. I am proud to lead an administration with LGBTQ+ officials serving openly at the highest levels of government—and prouder that together we have made historic progress advancing protections and equal opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community. My administration has been clear that we will continue to champion dignity, equality and wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community. Despite the extraordinary progress our nation has made, our work to ensure the full promise of equality is not yet done. Anti-LGBTQ+ bills still proliferate in state legislatures. Bullying and harassment—particularly of young transgender Americans and LGBTQ+ people of color—still abounds, diminishing our national character. We must continue to stand together against these acts of hate, and stand up to protect the rights, opportunities, physical safety, and mental health of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. From defeating discriminatory bills to passing the Equality Act, we have more work to do to ensure that every American can live free of fear, harassment and discrimination because of who they are or whom they love.” It’s nice to once again have a President, and administration, acknowledge us, and stand for us and by us, after four years of being erased from view by Thing 45.

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[Jerry Oz]

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