a year ago the “reasonable” people running cover for trump -he’s not as bad as they say! he’s a moron but the media! don’t like him but he owns the libs!- yet again claimed to be horrified by the results of their work, and yet again returned straight back to running cover for him
— kilgore trout, cryptopolice chief (@KT_So_It_Goes) January 6, 2022
Given how insistently they proclaim their status as Independent Free Thinkers, maybe we just don’t mock the Repubs enough for their timidity, their tendency to flock up like pampered barnyard animals…
the “reasonable” people are so angry at the media and the libs all the time because they know their weakness and are embarrassed. they know they’ll once again be summarily shoved back out of the way the next time the open fascists sense an opportunity
the reasonable people are petting zoo animals the fascists keep around to distract everyone while they do their work advancing fascism. january 6th illustrated it perfectly.
anyway, this is my big takeaway. everyone pretended to be mortified but then returned to their lib-owning, media-dunking, tu-quoqueing hobbies. it was just another bump sharpied on a hurricane or access hollywood tape. the perfect farm animals for fascism.
baaaaaaaaaaa https://t.co/UnJCBErAxl
— kilgore trout, cryptopolice chief (@KT_So_It_Goes) January 6, 2022
fascism cannot succeed without a cover story. naked fascism runs out of runway too fast because it’s deeply unamerican and unpopular and will be fought tooth and nail. the reasonable people, willingly or unwittingly, running cover are very necessary for it to establish itself
fascism cannot succeed without a cover story. naked fascism runs out of runway too fast because it’s deeply unamerican and unpopular and will be fought tooth and nail. the reasonable people, willingly or unwittingly, running cover are very necessary for it to establish itself.
mooooooooooo https://t.co/Ip1yQwt8xm
— kilgore trout, cryptopolice chief (@KT_So_It_Goes) January 6, 2022
We’re never gonna change the minds of the high-dollar grifters quoted, but maybe a steady stream of abuse would discourage potential GOP Death Cult recruits from becoming ‘farm animals for fascism’?
VOR
Serious question: why does anyone pay the slightest attention to Hugh Hewitt or Ben Shapiro?
WaterGirl
@VOR: Who? :-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ted Cruz posts his own Ideological Reeducation by Commissar Tucker, to make sure everyone knows he loves Big Brother again. Still. Always.
Jerzy Russian
What is going on in the Chicago schools, and why should it be national news?
dmsilev
You have to have your priorities:
L.A. County reports record 37,000 daily coronavirus cases but says Super Bowl still on.
Right now, the plan appears to be ‘hope this all blows over in a month’.
dmsilev
@Jerzy Russian: Big fight between the teacher’s union and the city, especially the mayor. Teachers don’t think it’s safe to do in-person instruction, what with the whole omicron thing and all, mayor’s response was basically to say either it’s in-person or nothing, we’re not doing remote instruction.
Phylllis
@Jerzy Russian: Bingo. It’s a local story. Being used to make national political hay because Black Female Mayor (Gay, also too).
patroclus
@Jerzy Russian: The teachers don’t want to go back to work while Omicron is spiking, so the Union voted not to. They’ll be back in due course and school will last into June. The kids, like many college students, get a longer winter vacation than normal. It’s not that big of a deal, but Hewitt can waste his time on it if he wants.
Edmund Dantes
@Phylllis: it also helps the Mayor (either rightly or wrongly) is not liked a lot by the media as she has a very abrasive style (they love Trump and Christie though). She has also burned some bridges with the machine politics of the town. So it’s a bit of a slugfest
– she also has not always played well particularly on some of the Cop violence stuff. I think she got caught out in emails slow playing or lying about what she did or didn’t know about certain cases.
delk
Chicago teacher’s union? Same shit, different mayor.
James E Powell
@dmsilev:
Here in Los Angeles, our return to classes has been delayed one day to allow everyone – teachers, staff, and students – to get tested before we go back.
I am wishing that the district had not lifted the deadline for all students to be vaccinated. The original deadline would have had them all vaccinated before our scheduled return next Monday.
mrmoshpotato
@Jerzy Russian:
Because even downstate, in our state capital even, “Chicago” is code for the N word for racists*.
*I wish I remembered the episode of The Professional Left podcast where driftglass and bluegal point this out. They live in Springfield, IL, btw.
-Signed,
A white guy born, raised and still living in Chicago.
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev:
ShaunSuper Bowl of the Dead?delk
@mrmoshpotato: I’m an off-white guy born, raised, and still living in Chicago . ?
Redshift
@Jerzy Russian: The pundits have decided schools being closed in Chicago is all the fault of teachers unions, which is somehow significant despite hundreds of other schools being closed where that isn’t a factor.
(Also it’s because Obama is from Chicago, the same reason wingnuts endlessly focus on crime in Chicago.)
mrmoshpotato
@Jerzy Russian: Ran out of editing time, but, to clarify, Chicago Public Schools/Mayor Lightfoot vs the Chicago Teachers’ Union shouldn’t be a national story, because it’s really not.
Parfigliano
@Jerzy Russian: Gives Hewitt an opportunity to union bash.
eddie blake
covid is raging through the nyc school system. a lot of people just don’t give a fuck about teachers.
Anne Laurie
Serious answer: To get their priors confirmed.
Hewitt, in particular, established his credentials post-9/11… depending on what the C+ Augustus was shoved out to announce any given morning, Hewitt moved from ‘Four legs good, two legs baaaad’ to ‘Four legs good, two legs baaaeeeter’ without missing a step.
Shapiro, AFAICT, amuses them with his fussy, frenetic, shrieky little performances. He’s their pet… not-Christian Judeo-Christian, if you know what I mean and I think you do.
Elizabelle
I find it very interesting that the late Senator Johnny Isakson’s funeral was scheduled for January 6th, in Atlanta. He died on December 19th.
Gives all these weird flocking Republican birds an excuse not to be in DC, and that seems incredibly convenient. The family could have scheduled on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, but no, they chose Thursday, January 6th. Uh huh.
The FTF NY Times has a story. Seems like nostalgia for the former GOP, but also reads a tad like snark. (If so, well done.) And the funeral was bipartisan! Raphael Warnock (also a Senator from Georgia) was there! And a former governor, also a Democrat. And … silence.
I cannot access the Atlanta Journal Constitution (some issue with EU privacy standards; not available in Germany). Does anyone know of other major Democrats in attendance at this funeral? (Save me from watching Mitch McConnell’s eulogy, in the event he names them!)
NY Times: Republicans and Democrats come together in Atlanta to remember Senator Isakson on Jan. 6.
They stood up. In Atlanta.
Elizabelle
Not only teachers. From the Miami Herald:
Norwegian calls off voyages on 8 ships, marking first mass cruise cancellation due to omicron
Norwegian Cruise Line canceled voyages on eight cruise ships, nearly half its fleet, after one of its ships on Wednesday returned early to Miami due to a COVID-19 outbreak among crew members.
Elizabelle
I am really curious about that Bipartisan Funeral. Four states south, on January 6th. I can imagine Tim Kaine attending … Maybe Democrats are not as recognizable … it was a strange story.
Nettoyeur
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Cruze is a Cuck for Trump.
Danielx
Soylent Green is sheeple!
No, really, it is.
Poe Larity
I’m worried Rod Dreher might kill some puppies after Francis’ comments on selfish pet owners. Anything to get noticed.
Mary G
@Poe Larity: Papa F is way too liberal for Dreher’s tastes these days, but a Deep Fake tape from TFG Benedict advising it could get Dreher into a shelter armed to the teeth ASAP.
the pollyanna from hell
I’ve been repeating that question from the reporter: is the pandemic out of control? It was in the control of the anti-virus majority for a while, now it is in the control of the pro-virus terrorists.
Sam
I don’t think passing voting reform will solve the problem. It will solve a problem, but not the problem that puts our democracy at risk.
A very large chunk of the electorate has indicated that it doesn’t believe in laws or traditions, and is pursuing power. More laws will not solve that problem.
I’m really scared, and I’m scared of my fellow citizens. Only one electoral loss will produce the deluge, and nobody bats 1000.
opiejeanne
@dmsilev: The mayor of Chicago seems to have a lot of power over what schools do in that city. Most school districts I’m familiar with would tell the mayor to take a flying fuck.
James E Powell
@Sam:
We need voting reform, we need to end partisan gerrymandering, we need to somehow undo Citizens United, and, you are correct, sir (Ed McMahon voice), we need to work on that great mass of white people who want herrenvolk democracy.
But it’s like Commoner’s first law of ecology: Everything is connected to everything else.
mrmoshpotato
PSA: Don’t watch a food review just before bed. Time to dream of Aussie meat pies.
cain
@patroclus: It won’t matter, the teachers and the kids are getting sick. There won’t be anyone to teach.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: I just finished dinner, used the new air fryer to cook some Costco chicken cordon blue. It would usually take over 40 minutes to cook in the toaster oven, 20 minutes worked in the air fryer.
the pollyanna from hell
@Sam: Five years ago I suggested moving cross country to vote in a more strategic election, but then I was not free to follow my own advice. Now I might do it, and the rents here in Denver are too high anyway. Looking at red states I have family in Idaho and Missouri, and I suppose I could survive in either one.
If a million liberals joined me in migration we could solve half the problem. Pioneer liberal communities are already in place to welcome us with open arms. Just let this pandemic simmer down a little bit…
Sebastian
Is the identity of KT known? I follow them on Twitter and see them being quoted here quite often. However, it’s the name of a Vonnegut character so I’ll wager it’s a pseudonym.
Anyone know more about them?
Brachiator
Oh, Hugh…
The contemporary best example of the banality of evil.
JPL
@Brachiator: Fulton Cty Georgia schools did not have
did not have in person learning this week. I haven’t heard mention of that at all.
Good Morning! It’s cold this morning.
Jay
@Sebastian:
not really. If you search 25 Conservatives worth following on twitter, you will get a couple of links referencing him, if they open, ( they don’t for me),
he doesn’t really have an online bio, aside from being a tech bro, former ReThug/Libertarian/NeverTrumper, who has had the John Cole Epiphany in 2015.
gene108
@James E Powell:
Part of the problem we cannot tackle is EC votes and EC electors. EC electors actually choose the President, not the voters, and there’s room to exploit this by Republicans to say fuck you to Democratic voters.
If Pete Navarro is correct, they thought they could manage this in 2020, on January 6, 2021, before the insurrection. The terrifying thing is a Senator and Representative objecting to a state’s certification is perfectly legal.
A lot of the Republican voting bills passed last year aim to fine tune this constitutional loophole in selecting Presidents, so Republicans can claim the presidency even if they lose both the popular vote and EC vote, on the first pass of voting before EC votes are certified.
I’m not sure what can be done to stop this.
gene108
@JPL:
Lots of school districts, teachers and staff (union or non-union), and parents are struggling to figure out whether to have in person learning or virtual learning right now. It’s not unique to Chicago.
Jay
@JPL:
in my Department today, we have 3 out, 2 full time, one part time, in a Department that has 5 staff, so there’s just me, and one part timer left.
they, ( MGMT) has been “dredging in” anybody who ever worked there to try to fill in the gaps, even though they don’t know the current procedures, policies, software, ( and it’s quirks), or the products.
Tomorrow, by the schedule, ( and it should be a busy day), the two full timers won’t be there, ( Covid) and the part timer scheduled to show up at 5pm. So, nobody there from 6am to 5pm.
Luckily, it’s my 1 day off.
Fun Times.
Jay
@gene108:
it’s not unique to the US, here, all the post Secondary have gone back to remote learning, until this “wave” has passed.
Baud
Classic whataboutism from Hewitt.
ThresherK
@Jay: I did not know that about KT. Good on him–many people have had their Road to Damascus meaning during Trump’s reign, but I consider the late-Obama era a time when few did this, as there was still the veneer (or woodgrain plastic applique) of “respectable” R’s all in on birtherism and other crap.
sab
I went in to my local Staples yesterday to replace my dead printer and there were two employees in the whole store. One ran the cash register and the other ran the customer service/print service desk. It was nuts. They hadn’t had time to line up the few remaining printers in stock with the display models so I needed help to even find out what the prices were
ETA Response to Jay at #41
Jay
@sab:
yurp, it’s f’d.
and MGNT knew that was coming, and did nothing.
in my Department, they have been “throwing” James in. He’s a good guy, but less than 8 hours training, in an extreme Customer Service job, plus major broad based technical knowledge, when his prior job was lifting and returning carts, WTF?????????????
On the bright side, the morons in MGMT have decided he can “mirror” me, for a couple of days, ( that’s how desperate they are now that Omicron has “hit”, ) so, at least, I can teach him the very basics.
He’s a nice guy. smart, soft spoken, takes care of his parents, I hope I can help him, just not on the job, but dealing with the BS of the job.
It’s f’d up big time.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: I have to laugh at “mirroring.” That’s how my company trains everyone. Cause you know, training is over-rated.
P.S. It’s 3 degrees in Chicagoland this morning. * whine whine
Baud
@MagdaInBlack:
It’s a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of cloning the good workers.
raven
@Elizabelle: The AJC is behind a paywall.
lowtechcyclist
Yesterday, No Labels put out the most bullshitty of all bullshit polls on Twitter. It asked:
You could respond, “come together” or “sow division.”
Well sure, I’d love it if our elected leaders came together to repudiate the coup attempt of 1/6/21, along with the slow-rolling coup in progress right now. And I’d also like a pet unicorn.
But if standing up against those who would destroy our democracy is defined as ‘sowing division’ then there’s no other reasonable course.
I didn’t think No Labels could manage to be more ridiculous than they’ve been, but I think they managed it yesterday.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Parfigliano: Yeah, I think union bashing is a big part of the thrill Hewitt gets from this story
Kay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
The pile on is gross, and it’s not just on the Right. It’s all so dumb and lazy. They compare one school district with another without taking any of the differences into account. Public schools are public and they’re mandated to report just about everything. They have all the information they need to do real comparisons and come up with valid criticisms and/or praise for various districts but they’re too lazy to read it.
Kay
She wants to know why Donald Trump hasn’t set up a legal fund to help them. Because he doesn’t give a shit about any of you and the way this works is you give him money and he keeps it?
Baud
@Kay:
I saw a lot of visible online support for the John Deere union workers when they went on strike.
Not so much for teachers unions.
Wonder why? T’is a mystery.
ETA: And Kellogg workers.
Baud
@Kay:
He probably set up a fund. Doesn’t mean they’ll see any of the money.
Baud
Kay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Chris Hayes decided he should weigh in on it- his research consisted of asking people on Twitter questions like “what did schools do with the covid money?”. There are 600 school districts in Ohio alone. He’s going to need a lot of Twitter replies.
Aren’t these people supposedly employed full time in gathering and disseminating information?
Kay
@Baud:
I’m on the open schools side, as you know, if there is such a thing, but I don’t want to be on a team with the rest of the open schools people- they’re horrible and lazy- it’s just a gross uninformed pile on and bashing for the sake of bashing.
Baud
@Kay:
I often feel that way. Good issue, horrible “advocate.”
Kay
@Baud:
I read a longer article about a husband and wife who had supposedly left the cult after January 6th arrests but by the end I could see they were wavering and hadn’t really split off at all. I felt the headline was misleading :)
ThresherK
@lowtechcyclist: Last I saw it was Sow Division in a Boaty McBoatface-style runaway.
Kay
@Baud:
The “tell” is people who never bothered with public schools before (hence, they know nothing about them) just eagerly jumping in this pile on.
13 districts of the largest 100 in the country were either closed or had closed some individual “buildings” (districts call individual schools “buildings”) due to covid. Two were closed due to weather. Some are in strong union areas, some are not.
NotMax
@Kay
Call me hypercritical but I’m sensing a problem with the methodology.
“Research, Chris? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
//
Baud
@Kay:
In the internet age, everyone is an expert.
Kay
@NotMax:
He could even use Twitter!
There’s a nonprofit news source that covers public schools. It’s called “Chalkbeat” and this is a good reporter:
Matt Barnum
@matt_barnum ed policy reporter and wannabe wonk
@chalkbeat
; fake stats vigilante; [email protected]
Chris Hayes could just read him and he’d get all the charts. The NYTimes education reporter is also good- she’s really thorough and she talks to people who run schools.
Kay
@NotMax:
Oh, it got worse. They took the total amount of funding and divided it by number of schools- thereby determining how much money each school got. But that’s not the way it works. The money went to states and that’s just the first factor that makes their division problem just nonsense.
SFAW
@Kay:
And in the end, she’ll still crawl over broken glass to support and vote for him, because he will put those uppity Others in their places and put all the LIE-berals in extermination camps.
SFAW
@Baud:
Not to pick nits, but this is closer to his usual practice.
...now I try to be amused
One Kilgore Trout post was duplicated. Here it is with what followed, and IMO it’s the key post in the thread:
MattF
@lowtechcyclist: Worth noting that ‘sow division’ won, 93% to 7%.
TheTruffle
The reference to Animal Farm has to be intentional. Has to.
BigJimSlade
@dmsilev: It will be Super Bowl LVI, Omicron edition – you know, Roman numerals and Greek letters go together well.
Speaking of omicron, there are 9 letters between delta and omicron, what happened to all those variants?
J R in WV
@lowtechcyclist:
I signed up for that “poll” — you had to give them your name, so my first name was “Convict Trump for” and my last name was ” his Treasonous Insurrection”… wonder if that made a point?
ETA:
OK, that’s pretty interesting, thanks for that detail~!~