Tucker Carlson Says Wealthy Black People Don’t Understand Oppression

During one of his more ridiculous segments this past week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson spoke with Scott Bolden, a black lawyer who happens to be well off financially.

In the heated exchange between the two, Carlson repeatedly tried to claim that Bolden’s wealth is an indicator that (1) black people are not oppressed, and (2) that he’s never experienced real oppression because he has money.

Carlson grossly misstates the actual problem, and shows that he has no clue how oppression works, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



https://www.alternet.org/media/watch-tucker-carlson-flip-his-lid-when-hes-told-he-doesnt-understand-what-its-be-black

SCOTT BOLDEN: I've been brutalized by the police. I've been offended by the police.

TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): You're wearing thousand dollar cufflinks, don't give me the victim card.

BOLDEN: Doesn't matter. Race is the tie that binds us, economics may separate us but the police have wrongfully stopped me. They've spread me out in front of my Georgetown home.

CARLSON: I actually believe you but you're diverting from --

BOLDEN: But they haven't to you, they haven't to you. So you can't relate to it.

CARLSON: So I can't relate to it, OK. So because I'm white you're saying I have no voice in this conversation.

BOLDEN: You do.

CARLSON: You are fundamentally unreasonable and the position you are taking is an inherently racist one.

BOLDEN: We fundamentally disagree.

CARLSON: Because you are dismissing the position of someone on the basis of his skin color and that is outside the bounds.

BOLDEN: No, I'm dismissing it because of your experience or lack there of.

CARLSON: You know nothing about my experience.

BOLDEN: Have the police ever brutalized you? Wrongfully stopped you? Spread you on the ground?

CARLSON: Spare me, mister million dollar lawyer, this talk.

Conservative Logic: We LOVE Free Speech, But Shut The FUCK Up!

LOL Tomi Lahren forgets she was fired and sued The Blaze over for the same thing she’s now telling the NFL to do. Hosted by Hasan Piker.

Urgent Pentagon statement contradicts Trump: Half of Puerto Rico has no water and its getting worse

DoD Accelerates Hurricane Relief, Response Efforts in Puerto Rico

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2017 — The Defense Department is accelerating relief operations and the deployment of additional response capacity to Puerto Rico to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency's need for a comprehensive commodities distribution network able to reach isolated communities and provide sustained medical support for the island’s residents, Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement this morning.

 

In San Juan, Puerto Rico National Guardsmen load pallets of food and water onto an UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter for distribution to Orocovis, Puerto Rico, Sept. 29, 2017. The National Guard has partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other state and federal agencies in response and relief operations for Hurricane Maria. Air National Guard photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Michelle Y. Alvarez-Rea 

 

Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, who’s in command of the DoD response effort in Puerto Rico, is working with FEMA and service components to get distribution priorities right, Davis said.

Buchanan, assisted by his deputy, Army Brig. Gen. Richard C. Kim, assessed that the planned force flow will build the capacity necessary to support Hurricane Maria response priorities, the spokesman said.

Army Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, Chief of Engineers and commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers, is also in Puerto Rico overseeing the temporary power project, electrical distribution repairs and infrastructure improvements, Davis said.

The Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp is now involved in response operations in and around Puerto Rico, the spokesman said.

Davis provided the following updates and details of hurricane relief operations in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean region:

Puerto Rico Situational Update

-- FEMA reports assessments completed at 64 of 69 hospitals; 59 are partially or fully operational; five unassessed facilities are psychiatric hospitals that do not provide emergency care.

-- Forty-five percent of customers have access to drinking water. Ninety-five percent of customers remain without power; power has been restored to San Juan airport and marine terminals.

-- Eight hundred and fifty-one of 1,100 retail gas stations have reopened and purchase limits have been lifted. Forty-nine percent of grocery and big box stores are open.

-- Erosion repairs to the Guajataca Dam are scheduled to begin Oct. 1-2.

-- The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort departed Norfolk, Virginia, yesterday and it is estimated to arrive in Puerto Rico on Oct. 4.

-- Five of six FEMA-priority sea ports are open or open with restrictions; surveys of Ponce and Roosevelt Roads are ongoing.

U.S. Virgin Islands Situational Update

-- An assessment of the main hospital on St. Thomas will be completed today.

Details of DoD Response in Puerto Rico

-- U.S. Northern Command is deploying enhanced logistics capacity, centered on commodity distribution and medical support, and designed around a sustainment brigade. Northcom is flowing five force packages into Puerto Rico focused on logistics, tilt/rotary wing lift, and medical units. Force Package 1 is on the ground with leadership in Puerto Rico for planning and assessment. Force Packages 2 and 3 will deliver logistical units and associated command and control and is deploying. Force Package 4 will follow and deliver helicopters, aviation command-and-control elements and medical units. Force Package 5 will deploy next and provide more robust medical capacity.

-- The USS Wasp, carrying three MH-60 helicopters, is en route to Puerto Rico and will embark 10 additional aircraft. The Marine Corps has identified eight additional MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and two KC-130 fixed-wing aircraft that will self-deploy to support operations on Puerto Rico.

-- U.S. military helicopters moved 3 HHS Disaster Medical Assistance Teams with 12,500 pounds of equipment to Mayaguez, Arecibo, and Ponce from Roosevelt Roads to support the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ “hub-and-spoke” concept for the delivery of medical care. Seven federal medical stations will be co-located with each of the seven hospitals identified as ‘hub’ hospitals.

-- The Guajataca Dam spillway continues to erode; immediate risk reduction measures are ongoing to stabilize the dam spillway. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports two to three inches of rain has fallen, and an additional two to four inches each day over the next two days is possible.

-- U.S. Transportation Command will deliver super sandbags for spillway stabilization today; sandbag installation will follow on or about Oct. 1.

Foreign Disaster Assistance
 
-- U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Task Force Leeward Islands continues evacuations on Dominica. Following the evacuation of priority U.S. citizen medical cases, the Hurricane Response Task Force will transition to on-call status today.

Trump's Hypocrisy Problem: Private Planes, Private Emails, And Public Humiliation

Between the revelations that his appointees are zipping around the country on private planes at the expense of US taxpayers and the fact that at least 6 members of his staff – including his own family members – are using private email accounts to conduct official business, Donald Trump and the Republicans are suffering from a massive hypocrisy problem. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



http://thehill.com/homenews/house/352649-house-oversight-panel-to-investigate-cabinet-officials-using-private-planes

Another Trump Cabinet Official Caught Taking 10 Day European Trip At Taxpayer Expense!

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses more fraud, waste, and abuse within the Donald Trump Cabinet.

Majority wish Obama were president, as Trump labeled 'mentally unstable'

A majority of Americans wish former President Barack Obama was still in the White House and in charge of the nation according to a new poll.

A new survey from Public Policy Polling found that 52 percent of respondents wish Obama were in the midst of his third term. By comparison, only 41 percent prefer having President Donald Trump over Obama.

But it's not uncommon for a former president to see his popularity jump after he leaves office. 

A 2009 Gallup poll showed that only 35 percent of people liked former President George W. Bush, but after he'd left office and the news that he had taken up painting emerged, his approval rating has jumped up to 59 percent.

Unfortunately for the current resident, the poll included many other negative ratings. The survey found 54 percent of people claim Trump is dishonest, 47 percent say he's mentally unstable and 48 percent call for his impeachment. 

Former President Obama has made only a handful of forays into the political conversation, but has joined his fellow ex-presidents to call for relief after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria battered parts of the United States.

He's also continued to occasionally speak to the press on his personal life, recently admitting that he cried while dropping his daughter Malia Obama off at Harvard University this year.

Obama even found some time to hang out at The Presidents Cup golf tournament with former president’s Bush and Bill Clinton.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/poll-majority-wish-obama-were-150337409.html 

NBA players, Celebs and more Reactions to Donald Trump comments on Stephen Curry

As Puerto Rico Suffers, @realDonaldTrump Worries About Big Banks And Wall Street!

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses Donald Trump's lack of response in the wake of Hurricane Maria and the dire situation in Puerto Rico. Looked at are Trump's tweets and public statements.

Parables Involving Cliffs

Donald Trump, you lying hypocritical imbecile, you need to shut your draft dodging ass up about The American Flag!

Where were you when it was your turn to respect the flag?

"I didn't dodge the draft just so some son of a bitch could take a knee during the National Anthem."

7/18/15 UPDATE: Now that Donald Trump has maligned Senator John McCain as a phony war hero who got himself captured in Vietnam, below you’ll find a reminder--which TSG published the last time the Republican claimed to be running for president--how Trump avoided military service.

The son of a wealthy real estate developer, Trump received four student deferments that were followed by a 1968 medical deferment that came a few months after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

After denigrating McCain during remarks today at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, Trump faced reporters questions about his lack of service. Asked about the last of his five deferments, Trump said that his disqualifying medical condition was a bone spur in one of his feet (he could not remember which one). It is unknown on which golf course the injury was sustained.

HEY, DOTARD TRUMP!

 

APRIL 28--Despite Donald Trump’s claim this week that he avoided serving in the Vietnam War solely due to a high draft number, Selective Service records show that the purported presidential aspirant actually received a series of student deferments while in college and then topped those off with a medical deferment after graduation that helped spare him from fighting for his country, The Smoking Gun has learned.

During a TV interview Tuesday morning, Trump--who spent his high school years enrolled at the New York Military Academy--said, “I actually got lucky because I had a very high draft number. I’ll never forget, that was an amazing period of time in my life.”

He went on to recall, “I was going to the Wharton School of Finance, and I was watching as they did the draft numbers and I got a very, very high number and those numbers never got up to.” The word “deferment” was not mentioned by Trump during his chat with the morning show hosts on WNYW, the Fox affiliate in New York City.

However, Selective Service records reveal that Trump, the fortunate son of a multimillionaire real estate baron, took repeated steps to avoid serving in Vietnam.

By the time his number (356) was drawn during the December 1, 1969 draft lottery, Trump had already received four student deferments and a medical deferment, according to military records on file with the National Archives and Records Administration. An extract of Trump’s Selective Classification record, seen here, was provided in response to a TSG records request.

In fact, the December 1969 draft lottery occurred about 18 months after Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied business at the Wharton School. So, while claiming that he would “never forget” being at Wharton watching the draft numbers being drawn, the 64-year-old Trump seems to have misremembered, as candidates are fond of saying.

Trump obtained his first two Class 2-S student deferments in June 1964 and December 1965, when he was student at Fordham University in the Bronx. He was briefly reclassified as 1-A--or "available for military service"--in late-November 1966, but that classification was switched back to 2-S three weeks later.

Another 2-S deferment is dated January 16, 1968, just months before his graduation from UPenn (to which he transferred following his sophomore year at Fordham).

Following his UPenn graduation, Trump--no longer qualified for a 2-S deferment--was again briefly classified as available for service on July 9. However, three months later, on October 15, his classification was switched to 1-Y, which was given to men deemed qualified for military service “only in time of national emergency.”

The 1-Y classification came a month after Trump underwent an “Armed Forces Physical Examination,” according to Selective Service records, which note the results of the exam as “DISQ.”

While the military records do not further detail why Trump was granted the 1-Y deferment, a 1992 biography of the businessman by journalist Wayne Barrett reported that Trump received a medical deferment following the September 17, 1968 exam.

Trump’s 1-Y classification stayed in effect until February 1, 1972 when it was changed to a 4-F classification (which covered registrants not qualified for military service). The change in classification was likely prompted by the military’s December 1971 decision to abolish the 1-Y classification.

The Selective Service records also include a copy of the registration card signed by Trump in June 1964, 10 days after he turned 18. The possible future Commander-in-Chief, it turns out, has birthmarks on both his heels.

Housing Authority charges rent to tenants for apartments made uninhabitable by Hurricane Harvey

By Kelly Macias  

Friday Sep 22, 2017 · 8:01 PM EST

 

Why can't the government seem to do right by hurricane victims?

It’s almost shocking that, in this country, government at both local and federal levels has absolutely no clue how to treat victims of natural disasters. Almost. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, people were still living in FEMA trailers—which turned out to be toxic and made hundreds of people sick from the incredibly high levels of formaldehyde found inside. From a corrupt mayor, persistent crime rates a decade-plus later and a snail-paced recovery for the many in the city, we know from the example of New Orleans alone that we routinely fail victims of hurricanes and the poorest fare the worst of all. So we shouldn’t be surprised that Houston is already failing those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Residents of at least one Houston public housing complex have been asked to pay September rent for flooded units deemed uninhabitable, even as Mayor Sylvester Turner has publicly condemned private landlords for similar practices.

Half a dozen tenants of Clayton Homes, which is owned by the Houston Housing Authority, said property management asked them about rent earlier this month, even though Hurricane Harvey had rendered their units unlivable. Most paid after being told they otherwise would lose their spot at the complex, one of the city's few subsidized developments.

Surprised, no. Outraged, yes. People who are already low-income, who have lost almost everything and who been displaced by this storm are being charged money for apartments they can’t even use. And the completely incompetent local and federal governments are feigning ignorance. No one seems to know what’s going on and no one has a rational explanation. But that still hasn’t stopped them from taking residents’ money.

Houston Housing Authority President Tory Gunsolley initially said federal rules prevented the agency from forgiving rent, even in a disaster.

"The regulations don't contemplate us not charging rent and just waiving rent collection," he said.

Gunsolley changed course Tuesday afternoon, however, after questions from the Chronicle prompted a call from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Tenants of public housing authorities do not have to pay for units that are uninhabitable," HUD spokesman Scott Hudman explained.

So which is it? Can they charge people or can they not? Why does no one seem to know? (Answer: They can’t and they shouldn’t.)

So why is this happening and why can’t they figure out how to refund people their money immediately? And where is Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson? He recently laid out a very tepid plan to reform HUD but he’s been very quiet when it comes to helping hurricane victims.

A $50 rent, which is what they took from one of the tenants, may not seem like a lot of money to some of us. But to people who are struggling, who have lost homes, belongings and employment, $50 can mean the difference between eating for several days or starving. Or the difference between getting necessary medication or going without. When you don’t have much, don’t have resources immediately available to you and have already lost your place to live, losing $50 can be devastating.

It remained unclear Wednesday how long it would take the housing authority to reimburse the residents from whom it had improperly collected rent. [...]

The housing authority called last week to ask if [LaShondra Ford, a resident of Clayton Homes,] would be willing to move to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas or Fort Worth, but her children had just started in a new school in Conroe, and she had a new job working security.

"That's too far," she said.

Next, the woman from the housing authority asked if Ford would be interested in other public housing in Houston, but again Ford worried about uprooting her children.

"Do we have options? Do we get to choose?"

No, the woman said.

Somehow we haven’t learned any lessons in the years post-Katrina or any of the other devastating hurricanes or natural disasters we’ve experienced as a nation. We are still unorganized and unconcerned with people’s well-being and expecting the most vulnerable among us to take care of themselves. What a shame it is that so many lawmakers spend their days trying to outlaw abortion, take away health care, cut taxes for the rich, fund wars, build walls and prisons but leave people stranded and needy at the most desperate times in their lives. We really need to do better as a nation and get our priorities in order.

Donald Trump's Cabinet Acts Like Royalty - Flying Private Jets Paid For By Tax $$$

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses the horrendous hypocrisy of Donald Trump's Cabinet officials as they talk about saving tax dollars while spending HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars flying private jets all over the country!

Forthwith, He Shalt Be Known As The "Dotard"

Donald Trump Makes Up African Country of #Nambia In Front Of African Delegation!

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses Donald Trump's ignorance of the world's nations after his remarks before a delegation of African leaders at the United Nations, where Donald Trump invented the nation of "Nambia" and praised it for its advances in healthcare.

Trump, the Russians Oval Office snitch, is forcing federal employees to attend anti-leak classes

https://www.apnews.com/5907d7e83087480ab2b311e699782645

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/21/1700404/-Trump-the-Russians-Oval-Office-snitch-is-forcing-federal-employees-to-attend-anti-leak-classes

Bill Cassidy just won't stop lying about his healthcare bill

By Laura Clawson

Bill Cassidy

“This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face,” Jimmy Kimmel said on Tuesday night. And on Wednesday morning, Cassidy did a lot more lying about his healthcare plan. He lied on CNN:

“I’m sorry he does not understand,” Cassidy said of Kimmel. “Under Graham Cassidy Heller Johnson, more people will have coverage, and we protect those with preexisting conditions. States like Maine, Virginia, Florida, Missouri — there will be billions more dollars to provide health insurance coverage for those in those states who have been passed by by Obamacare, and we protect those with preexisting conditions.”

He lied on MSNBC:

“There will be more people covered under the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson amendment than are under status quo and we protect those with pre-existing conditions,” Cassidy said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

And the reality that Kimmel laid out so clearly—that Cassidy’s bill simply does not live up to the tests he set himself and will hurt a lot of people—remains:

That statement, similar to one Cassidy also made on CNN, is virtually impossible to defend. The Graham-Cassidy proposal, which Republicans are rushing to take up for a floor vote next week, calls for reducing federal spending on health care through two sets of changes. [...]
As for Cassidy’s other claim, that his bill would protect people with pre-existing conditions, that’s not true, at least in the sense most people would understand it. The bill would very explicitly allow states to waive existing rules, which the Affordable Care Act put in place, prohibiting insurers from charging higher premiums to people based on their medical status. With that flexibility, insurers could make coverage prohibitively expensive for people with a variety of medical conditions, from diabetes to cancer.

Cassidy wants to make his bill seem different from the wildly unpopular Republican bills that failed, but the only thing that’s really different is that this time, Republicans are up against a Sept. 30 deadline for repealing Obamacare and the pressure to get on board will be that much more intense. This bill will still gut the Medicaid expansion that’s gotten so many people the health coverage they need and it will still weaken protections for pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits and much more. He lies, he lies, he lies—and he lies in the service of harming millions of Americans.

Another Obamacare repeal bill?! It’s time to jam the congressional phone lines again. Call your senator at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to vote NO on any repeal bill.

The Short Bus To Armageddon: Trump At The U.N.

Posted by Rude One

When do we get to stop being embarrassed, huh? Every time that President Donald Trump opens his lamprey mouth and shakes his semen-colored mane, it's like another shiv in the gut while we stand in the prison shower that is the United States in 2017.

"Which group of shit-sniffing baboons is he gonna talk to this time?" we wonder. Will it be the crazed conservative hawks, the ones whose savagery make Democratic hawks look like confused parakeets?

Will it be his base, whose heads are evolving into the shape of a permanent dunce cap, the one-third of the American populace who pretend they want anarchy when, really, all they want are more guns and fewer dark-skinned people?

Will it be the unsatiated capitalists, the ones who would monetize child rape if they thought they could squeeze a few more pennies out of the bloodied anuses of babies? And usually, it's all three, to varying degrees, with Trump a carnival barker yelling at the freaks and carnies to scoop up the spilled popcorn and toss it back in with the rest to sell again tomorrow.

At the United Nations today, Trump spoke stiffly and boorishly, his pinch-fingered hand gesticulating like he was jacking off his own micropenis. It was like some kind of dumb college prank, where you make the stupidest freshman get up at karaoke and sing the National Anthem instead of some damn Ed Sheeran song. Put a MAGA hat on that bitch, and you've got a Trump voter.

Whatever you think of the U.N., most of the leaders in that room are people who have dedicated their lives to the politics of their nation. Most of them are vastly educated, well-read, worldly, and, to varying degrees, smart enough to know a fucking idiot when they see one. So you had to imagine the reactions to Trump at the General Assembly ranged from horror to bemusement to calculating how easy it would be to roll this rube (looking at you, Saudi Arabia).

Did Trump brag about how great things are now that he's been resident for all of 8 months? Fuck, yeah, you know he did. Actually, apparently, his residency started even earlier: "The United States has done very well since Election Day last November 8th. The stock market is at an all-time high -- a record. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 16 years, and because of our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people working in the United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back, creating job growth the likes of which our country has not seen in a very long time."

Yes, I'm sure Hage Geingob, the president of Namibia, who has a PhD in international relations from the University of Leeds, really thought that Trump deserved the credit for this. (By the way, interestingly, Geingob came to the United States to start college at Temple University, in Philadelphia, in 1964 before transferring to Fordham University in New York City. Trump started at Fordham in 1964 before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.)

Were there lines that should have made any sentient world leader just crack up with sad laughter? You bet. "In America, we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to watch," Trump had the gall to say as most of Central and South America, a good chunk of East Asia, and assorted islands from all over the world rolled their eyes so hard they saw their own brain pans.

Sure, but did he sound like a pathetic, low-level thug who wants everyone to think he's a made man? Aw, come on. That's his default mode. He warned, "We can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return." He threatened, "The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea." And, yeah he called Kim Jong-un "Rocket Man." In front of the U.N. It's like having your drunk aunt shake her bare titties at her nephew's graduation.

And, obviously, Trump talked as if no one else there has any idea how the world works. "If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph," he said in a line that's right out of his Captain America fanfic. He continued, "When decent people and nations become bystanders to history, the forces of destruction only gather power and strength." Certainly, every country that has dealt with terrorism, which is a fuck-bunch of 'em, appreciated being told they should not be bystanders.

On it went, with shitting on the Iran deal (which is working, despite every feeble protest Trump makes), praise for Russia and Turkey, called out the "loser terrorists," and repeated a blatant lie: "Our country has achieved more against ISIS in the last eight months than it has in many, many years combined."

Yeah, it was like piss from heaven that all the golden showers lovers on his side could bathe themselves in. And everything you need to know about the speech, and everything that you believe about it, is contained in how you think about this: One of the first people to praise the speech was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who tweeted, "In over 30 years in my experience with the UN, I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech."

Yes, it's so very brave to threaten to wipe out a desperate tiny country, to walk away from a peace deal, and to ignore the greatest threat to the planet, climate change, altogether. We're riding the short bus to Armageddon. And there are no stops ahead.

Trump’s Golf Ball Retweet Was Low, Even For Him

Donald Trump over the weekend decided to retweet a GIF of himself hitting a golf ball that had been merged with a GIF of Hillary Clinton falling down (the editors had made it look like Trump’s ball hit Hillary and that’s why she fell.)

This kind of behavior should be beneath the resident of the United States, yet Trump once again managed to sink well below the already-lowered bar that has been set for his administration. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Joy Ann Reid Calls Hillary Clinton "Insane" Having "Psychotic Break"

Fresh Health Care Fuckery: Your McCain Praise Was Probably Wasted

Posted by Rude One

Ah, remember when Mighty Maverick John McCain was the mighty maverick hero last time there was a vote on a bullshit health care "reform" bill with his mighty mavericky thumbs-down?

Remember the ejaculations of praise for this irascible cockhead doing something decent just to fuck with Donald Trump? Remember his slobber-coated speech where he said of the Senate, "Let's trust each other. Let's return to regular order"? Remember how he insisted, "Let the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray hold hearings, try to report a bill out of committee with contributions from both sides. Then bring it to the floor for amendment and debate"?

Yeah, fuck all that noise. Now that the new spiked dildo of health care, the Graham-Cassidy-etc bill, is threatening to be rammed up the hemorrhoidal anus of the American people, with just about every fucking terrible thing as the last attempt intact, McCain said that he wanted to hear from Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona. Ducey had opposed the previous Trumpcare bill because it dicked over Arizonans on expanded Medicaid. Now Ducey has said he supports Graham-Cassidy-who-the-fuck-cares, even though the aforementioned dicking remains, and McCain has tweeted that he's still feeling cranky about the process but is "inclined" to support the bill.

And even if McCain ends up going thumbs-down again, fuck him for even contemplating an upraised thumb. Either you've got principles or you don't, motherfucker.

In all the time the GOP has had, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, since the election, since the failure of the "Fuck You, We Don't Care If You Die Bankrupt" bill in July, they have not made a case for repeal except "We said we'd do it." It's like a bunch of morons promising to light their farts if their favorite team wins a championship. The only people who wanna see that are other morons. Right now, we're down to 8.8% of Americans without health insurance, and a good number of those are because of the assholes in Republican states not expanding Medicaid.

Who does this bill help? It's faith-based legislation. Republicans say that Obamacare is making you suffer, so, if you're GOP-inclined, you believe it's making you suffer (even if it's paying for your chemo or psoriasis medication). And you have staked your entire political belief system on your investment in this bullshit. You'd rather die a miserable death than admit that you were always the mark for a bunch of low-rent Barnums. This way to the amazing egress, idiots. Grab a snipe on your way.

I wrote last week about the remarkable care I received in the UK for free. I was in the middle of the fourth largest city in the country, and every complaint I've heard about single-payer was rendered utterly and completely false.

Yet here we are, unable to even agree that tens of millions of people, including those with pre-existing conditions, who are now covered by the Affordable Care Act, deserve to be treated as human beings. What a stupid goddamned society we've built. It's repulsive. It's disgusting. It's immoral. And yet so many of our dumb fellow citizens think this is the way things ought to be.

The cruelest trick that capitalists ever played on Americans was making them believe they didn't need everyone else. Our fake rugged individualism will be our undoing.

And for those of us who do give a shit about our fellow Americans, it's once more to the phones to make Senators fear for their careers.