History Note: Death of a Dictator

Eighty years ago today.  My dad, a mechanic on a USAAF flight line, was in Aachen, on the western border of Germany, helping destroy the last remnants of Nazi power.  We must never forget the blood, tears, toil, and sweat it cost humanity to rid the world of that monstrous evil that destroyed so many millions of innocent lives.

Sic semper tyrannis.

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Now They're Arresting Judges

Judge Hannah Dugan.

The dictatorship is here, and it's real. Whatever the issue is in this case, it will be something else next time.  Finally, it will be whatever the Tyrant wishes, and nobody will be safe, undocumented aliens or natural-born Americans.  

NOW do you understand what your boring old civics teacher meant by "separation of powers" -- ??

 

Read more about it here: Congress Erupts over FBI Arrest of Wisconsin Judge

See also First Letter to All Judges - about the court system in Nazi Germany.  Excerpt from the commentary:

On October 1, [1942,] less than six weeks after his appointment, [Reich Minister of Justice] Thierack issued the first in a series of so-called Letters to All Judges, which served as official guidelines to be used in sentencing. Dealing with such varied cases as divorce, legal determination of Jewish descent, treatment of antisocial elements, refusal to give the Nazi salute, and looting, these letters presented the state's position on political questions and on the legal interpretation of Nazi laws. In practice, Thierack's letters pressured judges, who were under public threat of removal from office, to choose the path of least resistance and decide a case according to the examples set out in them, although no judge was ever removed from office for the explicit reason of having failed to do so.

The letters were classified as state secrets because the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst, or “SD”) of the SS was convinced that the public would protest the intensification of state control over the judicial system. In a report on May 30, 1943, the SD declared, “The people want an independent judge. The administration of justice and the state would lose all legitimacy if the people believed judges had to decide in a particular way.”

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THIS JUST HAPPENED

From the official White House Twitter/X account:

"CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!"
–President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/IMr4tq0sMB

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2025

The Independent (UK) reports: 

Donald Trump declares himself ‘king’ after striking down New York congestion pricing 

Pride goeth before a fall.--Proverbs 16:18

What did I tell you just yesterday about the REIGN OF TRUMP?  What more proof do you want?  And just what will the Republicans have to say about this?  Just wait and see how they twist and turn, hem and haw, and try to laugh it off.  THEY HAVE NO BALLS.

But of course, that's just what they want:  an all-powerful king to completely remake American government and society, sweeping away all opposition.  And that's what a majority voted for, too.  Oh, what weeping and wailing there will be when their fantasy turns into nightmare.

So stop trying to figure out the whys and wherefores of shithead's pronouncements:  there's only one purpose to it all, and you see it in the picture above.  He wants to be the Emperor of America, from the North Pole to the Equator.  Meanwhile enriching his billionaire buddies beyond the dreams of avarice, to use an antique phrase, and getting endless praise for himself from millions of adoring fanatics or slaves.  (Just like the dick daddy dictators he admires so much - they are the father figures whose approval he desperately craves.)

THAT is his one and only ambition - limitless power and worship to fill the gaping hole where his soul ought to be.  And the gutless wonders in Congress are lapping it all up.  No one else in all of American history would have lasted five minutes in office if they put out something like the image above.  No one else in American history would have dared even to think of it.  But here we are.

Fasten your seat belts, boys - it's going to be a bumpy ride.

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PURGE: "It's What We Voted For," Say Republicans

Citizens around the country on this frigid winter day protested the Tyrant's massive purge of the federal civil service, including about 30 who showed up in the pretty little town of Granbury, seat of Hood County, southwest of Fort Worth.  Excerpt from the WFAA report:

"They're dismantling agencies of the United States government that have been here for decades," Hood County protester Payton Fletcher said. 

But Republicans said they voted for a downsize, and they're not concerned by the way it's being accomplished. 

"President Trump is doing exactly what we elected him to do," Hood County Republican Party vice chair Tina Lawrence said. "The first time, he tried to be slower and nice. See what that got him? I couldn't be prouder for what he is doing." 

What he is doing is DESTROYING THE CIVIL SERVICE AND DEMOLISHING THE RULE OF LAW.  In other words, TAKING A WRECKING BALL TO DEMOCRACY.

People, it's not about budget deficits or national debt or anything but SEIZING COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. 

It's also about DESTROYING ALL POSTWAR ALLIANCES that our fathers and grandfathers set up to keep the world steady and at peace. 

It's all about ONE MAN RULE. Complete, absolute, unquestioned. Yes, the DICTATORSHIP is here.

Probably soon to be followed by financial depression, food shortages, famine, pandemics, and war. (Ukraine is a dead duck. Europe may be next.)  All these will be used as excuses to rachet up support for the Tyrant - who by then will control all sources of information.  The propagandists are already working full time.

And what little help the government might provide through all this will no doubt be limited to LOYAL FOLLOWERS OF THE LEADER. (No need to go out and buy a party card; an algorithm will determine your loyalty for you.)

Why am I the only one who foresees this?  Am I the only one left who ever read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich?  Now our very own nightmare empire is arising before our eyes.

Of course, I could be wrong. I'm an old graybeard without a crystal ball or even a smartphone, so what do I know? 

But all that the Democrats foretold about the REIGN OF TRUMP is coming true, so watch out! 

The world we have known all our lives up till now is gone. Welcome to the "golden era" - fool's gold, that is. 

For the record, here's just two videos that sum up what's happening now, here and abroad. I fear that much worse is yet to come.  God help us all.

Addendum:  As of this writing, here's a list of agencies where layoffs have taken place or which have been infiltrated by that overgrown teenager and his goon squad of sticky-fingered geeks, doing who knows what damage to millions of financial and personal records in government files:

"A Tiger in a Petting Zoo": What's the Endgame?

The naked truth is plain to see.

I can't keep up with all the news, and you fellas don't expect me to.  So here's just a few items worth noting.  But first, the legit weather report from the Washington Post, off my Google newsfeed:

Senators Schumer and Warren sound the alarm about that overgrown juvenile delinquent and his geek squad who now have their grubby fingers in all your government records and on your bank account:

 

And because they know all about you, they could tailor your Social Security check as they please - or withhold it for "undersirable" behavior. Does your retired Aunt Sadie, so upset about the price of eggs, know about this? What about disabled, gun-loving Cousin Clem in his red cap? Whenever the news finally trickles down to them and their pocketbooks, I hope they choke on it. 

Senator Adam Schiff tells it plainly: "this is a corrupt scheme to turn this country into one-man rule, and enrich Donald Trump and his wealthy friends like Elon Musk."

And now, not content with scooping up Canada, Greenland, and Panama - a costly invasion is not necessary; economic terror is enough to bring them all into submission - the Very Stable Genius wants to take over Gaza and rebuild it as "the Riviera of the Middle East" - after expelling the 2 million people who live there:

 

And here's a headline from Canada, which just got played like a hockey puck over tariffs, where all those nice, polite, friendly folks are trying to figure out the game plan:

 

Now you can watch the video if you like; suave Andy Chang has some very good charts and facts to show the big picture, but he misses the really big picture.  So your Head Trucker is going to cut to the chase here.

iT'S NOT ABOUT DRUGS.  IT'S NOT ABOUT TRADE BALANCES.  IT'S ALL ABOUT TOTAL DOMINATION BY GLORIOUS LEADER:  EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALWAYS.

Why am I the only one who sees this?

Canada, stop trying to find a logical reason for the tariffs; there is none. If it's not one issue, the Orange One will make up another.  Any hammer will do to beat you into submission while he takes all your valuables.

People, it's all right out of Hitler's playbook:  Border problems.  Fake outrage about neighboring countries.  Scare tactics.  A police state.  Removal of civil servants and political opponents.  Demonizing one section or another of the citizenry.  A constant barrage of lies from state mouthpieces.  Scrubbing away facts from books and schools.  Keeping other states in perpetual fear of what might happen next.  Lebensraum - i. e., fake justification for seizing foreign territory.  Redrawing the map, renaming things.  Deportations.  Concentration camps.  And there is more yet to come!  It's only just begun . . . 

And fellas, cut the crap about "Oh my, we still have 1400+ days to go before his term ends."  HIS TERM WILL NEVER FUCKING END.  If good ol' Joe Biden had to be prised out of the Oval Office with a crowbar, do you really think Tyrant Trump will just quietly walk away from the power and glory?

Seriously, people??  HE'LL NEVER LEAVE.  HE WANTS TO BE KING OF THE WHOLE WORLD.

There now, I've said it.  You have been warned.  What to do about it, I don't know.  You'll have to figure that out for yourself.

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The Message and the Signs

Well, the first week of Trumpocracy has gone just about as we expected.  For anyone who may have slept through it, handsome Ezra Kline, a brilliant journalist, decodes the message of Trump's inauguration:

 

But this is only the beginning of sorrows.  Four refugees from foreign dictatorships tell how we can expect the tyranny to grow, step by step:

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Trump Promises "You Won't Have to Vote Anymore" if He's Elected

Chilling words.  Of course he means what he says.  And Christianity has nothing to do with it.

 

His Christianist followers say we Democrats are inciting violence against Trump by saying mean things about him, like he's a dictator and a threat to democracy. 

As if that's just some ridiculous notion we dreamed up out of thin air. 

Listen to his words. Read His Lips. 

He is the golden idol of a massive cult, and his followers are chugging down the Kool-Aid. 

We just can't let American history end this way. 

Vote!  While you still can.

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Convicted Felon Picks "Never-Trump Guy" for Veep

I think that I’m going to vote third party because I can’t stomach Trump.  I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.

--J. D. Vance, 

NPR "Fresh Air"

August 17, 2016

The words quoted were spoken when Trump was making his first run for the Presidency. Vance is now the junior Republican senator from Ohio, who began his political career just 18 months ago in January 2023 and today was formally named the vice-presidential candidate at the Republican convention in Milwaukee.  

Vance's remarkable rise from childhood poverty to Yale Law School to author and journalist to the heights of national politics is very well documented in his Wikipedia article as well as today's report on his nomination by the Associated Press.  I recommend these sources to all my truckbuddies for reading and reflection.

In 2016, Vance repeatedly condemned Trump harshly.  But by 2021, Vance had become one of Trump's staunchest supporters.  Now what on earth could make a smart guy like that do a total 180?  I wonder.  I highly recommend watching the following reports by Rachel Maddow and by Nicolle Wallace on Vance's stunning transformation from outspoken never-Trumper to toady-in-chief:

And if there's still any question in your mind where Vance stands, check out this New York Times report from last December that begins, "When a historian wrote an essay the other day warning that the election of former President Donald J. Trump next year could lead to dictatorship, one of Mr. Trump’s allies quickly responded by calling for the historian to be sent to prison."  Yep, it was Senator Vance - himelf a published book author and writer for the likes of CNN and the NYT -  who wanted a fellow writer thrown in jail merely for daring to suggest that the divine DJT could ever possibly become a dictator.  Perish the thought.

Who's really on the side of democracy here, and who's all for dictatorship, hmm?

For another perspective on the crisis in American politics, listen to the remarks by former U.S. Representative (R-Ill.) Adam Kinzinger on the Stephen Colbert show earlier this evening:

Part 2 of 3 - remarks about Vance

While in Congress, Kinzinger was an outspoken critic of Trump - one of the very few Republicans who had the guts to call a spade a spade - and served as one of the two Republican members on the January 6 Committee that conducted an exhaustive inquiry into Trump's failed self-coup in 2021.

And just for laughs, though it is no laughing matter, you could read this dimwitted opinion piece (or plain old propaganda?) by a completely cluleless Guardian contributor in the UK:  

Blue MAGA:  We Need to Talk about the Cult-like Turn of the Democratic Party.

That's as Orwellian a wordfuck as I ever saw:  black is white, white is black, and 2 + 2 = 5.  Sad!

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The Firehose of Falsehood

Trump isn't nuts, he's trying to make you nuts, writes Mark Follman at Mother Jones.  Excerpt:

Trump may well be a dangerous psychopath, but he isn’t crazy. He doesn’t spread lunatic conspiracy theories because he believes them. Not for a moment does he actually think that Joe Biden secretly arranged the murder of Navy SEALs in a scheme to stage the takedown of Osama bin Laden. When Trump shared those claims recently on Twitter, his motivation was, as always, to provoke, entertain, confuse, “trigger the libs,” and change the subject from his own failures. . . .

It’s worth looking again at the big picture here, one Mother Jones began documenting shortly after the 2016 election: Trump is using the autocrat’s playbook. Vladimir Putin’s, to be specific. As contributor Denise Clifton wrote more than three years ago, Trump’s deluge of demagoguery and lies “echoes a contemporary form of Russian propaganda known as the ‘Firehose of Falsehood.’” With Election Day nearing, the comparison has never been more apt.

In 2016, the nonpartisan think tank RAND published a study of the tactics and techniques used in Kremlin-controlled media. The end goal of what the researchers called “a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions” was to entertain, confuse, and overwhelm the public. (The entertainment component can serve as inspiration for loyal followers—for example, a string of broadcast traveling stage performances showcasing a greatest-hits of outrage and outrageousness.)

Look back at just about any point in Trump’s presidency and it’s evident how he has fulfilled four defining features of the Kremlin playbook, as identified in the RAND study:

• “High numbers of channels and messages”: Trump by no means controls the American media, but he has access to an unprecedented version of state-controlled television in Fox News, along with enormous unfettered reach through Facebook and Twitter (which further feeds all manner of news outlets).
• “Rapid, continuous and repetitive”: There are countless instances of Trump repeating a lie or line of attack multiple times during interviews, press conferences, and campaign rallies.
• “Lacks commitment to consistency”: In one recent example, Trump pushed for more coronavirus aid from Congress before railing against it and then calling for it again, in a span of less than 24 hours. In another, he turned his back on aid for wildfire-stricken California only to quickly reverse his position.
• “Lacks commitment to objective reality.” This one is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case… here are 20,000 examples.

Follman's well-written essay is worth reading in full.  Bottom line:  don't give up, don't look away, keep hope alive and VOTE HIM OUT!

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Fret Not: Another Time Out

Almost heaven:  the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

Okay, as I did in late June, I now have to take another break from infuriating, disgusting, outrageous, maddening, horrifying current events before I get a mental overload.  When I was younger, I used to chew on my anger as a dog gnaws a bone, whether directed at private or public persons; but such is not the course of wisdom.  Anger eats you up inside, and has no effect on the other party:  a bad habit that I am finally trying to break after sixty years of learning the hard way.

So if I don't post about current events for a while, I hope my truckbuddies will understand that it's not that I don't know what's going on, or have stopped caring; but I have to take care of myself first, or I will be no good to anyone.  I'm sure my truckbuddies can see the present situation in this country as well as I can:  it's entirely obvious, the contrast between Good and Evil, True and False, Democracy and Dictatorship - or should I say, Dicktatorship.  You don't really need me to tell you that.  But I have to step back awhile and catch my breath.

In the meantime, I recommend Psalm 37 for anyone who needs a mental break, a bit of fresh air, a calming thought just now.  As an Episcopalian, not a Bible-thumper, I say take it all merely as poetry, if you please.  I offer prayers and psalms and such on this blog not to proselytize, but simply as a means to inner peace, renewal of hope, and faith in the power of goodness:  the Love that moves the sun and other stars, as Dante put it.

If it works for you, fine; if not, I hope you will discover another path that does.  This is the spiritual grammar and vocabulary that I understand, that works for me.  Sometimes, anyway.

Excerpts:

1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.


7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.


35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.


39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

40 And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

MIchelle Obama: Vote Like Our LIves Depend on It

The former First Lady gave an impassioned keynote speech yesterday on the first night of the (virtual() Democratic National Convention, and while it might have sounded a bit less scripted before a live audience, her message was right on target. Excerpt:

So what do we do now? What's our strategy? Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, "When others are going so low, does going high still really work?" My answer: going high is the only thing that works, because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that's drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight.

But let's be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we've got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences.

And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free: the cold hard truth.

So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.

Now, I understand that my message won't be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention. But enough of you know me by now. You know that I tell you exactly what I'm feeling. You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children.

So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don't make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.

What I Say:  All my truckbuddies, take heed.  There is no reason to fear that Trump will start a dictatorship if he wins this election.  The dictatorship has already begun.  It's here.  It's real.  This is happening.



Trump says, If I lose, it means the election is rigged.  Or to put that another way:  No election is valid unless I win.  If that is not the declaration of a dictatorship over these United States, what the hell is?  You waiting for a nice, polite little ceremony in the Rose Garden or something?

It's no longer a question of if or when: he has the Constitution in one hand, and a lighted match in the other. What are you going to do about it?

I'll tell you what, boys: your Head Trucker is old and infirm, and can barely make a circuit around the grocery aisles anymore, much less stand all day and night in a voting line, but with God's help, he is going to do all he can to make sure his vote counts on November 3rd.

I hope you will, too. Or else you might never get to vote again. Don't think it can't happen here. It already has.

Robert Reich: "A Malignant Megalomaniac" and How to Stop HIm

The Trump-O-Matic
one of many intriguing prints and posters available at The Art of Mark Bryan

Robert Reich (b. 1946) is a political commentator, professor, and author who served as Secretary of Labor during the Clinton Administration.  He currently teaches in the Goldman School of Public Policy at Berkeley.  (Note for the benefit of my overseas truckbuddies:  Berkeley, just across the bay from San Francisco, has always been a hotbed of left-wing thought.  The 1960's were invented there.)

Reich has made a number of short, thought-provoking YouTube essays on the current constitutional crisis;  here is a sampling.

Today's Quote: What Kind of Country Are We?

Time cover, issue of July 2, 2018. Click to enlarge.

Karl Vick of Time magazine poses the question:

Presidents have many jobs, and one is telling us who we are.

For the first 240 years of U.S. history, at least, our most revered chief executives reliably articulated a set of high-minded, humanist values that bound together a diverse nation by naming what we aspired to: democracy, humanity, equality. The Enlightenment ideals Thomas Jefferson etched onto the Declaration of Independence were given voice by Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama.

Donald Trump doesn’t talk like that. In the 18 months since his Inauguration, Trump has mentioned “democracy” fewer than 100 times, “equality” only 12 times and “human rights” just 10 times. . . .

A week after his return from the June 12 summit with North Korea’s dictator, family separation dominated the national conversation like no other political story since former FBI chief James Comey was shown the door. A steadily building wave of revulsion washed over the political spectrum, from MSNBC to the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal to Franklin Graham and into the White House living quarters, when a spokeswoman for the First Lady said she called for “a country that governs with heart.”

Which leaves us facing a question: What kind of country are we? The world has been nervously asking that since November 2016. And while Trump ultimately capitulated on the forced separation of children, his new order suggested that families would be detained not only together, but perhaps indefinitely. For many Americans, the forced separation of immigrant families left them looking into the void from which the brutal policy emerged: the dark space left by the words Trump does say. . . .

What values does America’s billionaire President embrace in place of the Founders’? A kind of gimlet-eyed competition. Trump purports to run the country as a business, the most meaningful metric being exports vs. imports: if you have more than your counterpart, you’re a winner, and the other guy a loser. But even in the bloodless world of accounting, “goodwill” has a place on the ledger (the left side; it’s an asset) and the U.S. may be writing down a loss. Its economy is strong. The people pitching up at its borders surely count as proof of that.

It was Alexis de Tocqueville, the French observer of the early American character, who recognized the danger of placing too much value on business, law and order at the expense of the higher values. Warning of the country’s obsession with material gain and the enforcement of order necessary to pursue it, he wrote, “A nation that asks nothing of its government but the maintenance of order is already a slave at heart.”

Which is why the test posed with Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy is as much about our future as it is about the tragedy of the families separated by its implementation. Trump may have backed down on the specific practice of family separation, but the larger question remains. In the balance between the integrity of the U.S. border with Mexico and a parent’s love for a child, where will we come down?

“Without a Border, you don’t have a Country,” the President wrote on June 19. Everyone knows that. The question is, what kind of country?

The photographer who took the photograph of the child explains the background of her story:




What I say: If this misled, misguided country does not repent and shed the cruel, uncaring, unjust evil twining about its heart, and quickly, it may be in store for a terrible retribution at the hands of Fate. For as everyone knows: What goes around, comes around.


Those who yearn for a truly "Christian nation" had best examine their own hearts and heed these words of warning:

Matthew 25:31-46 King James Version (KJV):

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The Whole World's Watching

In tribute to the Iranian protesters,

being hunted down and killed

by their own government:

Someday you will see how long we've waited for the time
To show you how we've died to get together with you all . . .

Notice how with her last breath, this dying woman looks to the camera as if to say, See what they are doing . . .

A sample of unconfirmed tweets from Andrew's blog:

4.22 pm. Conf'd Iran Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

Call from Iran reports severe skin burns due to the unknown liquid dropped from helicopters.

unloaded massive amounts of guns for more than 500 basijies whom had been sent there several hours earlier to confront the demonstrators.

Reports from Tehran, Azadi St., Sanati Sharif University indicate that more that 10 helicopters landed inside the university,

Fatemiyeh Hospital Tehran: 30-40 dead as of 11pm; 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

Reports: Security Forces attacked to Khomini Hospital to arrest Injurd protesters, It is said at least 30 injurd are there...

Reports: At Least 10 Protesters Shoted By Bassij, Bassij Opend Gunfire to People at Haft Hooz SQ.

2.58 pm. good source: Hospital close to the scene in Tehran: 30-40 dead thus far as of 11pm and 200 injured. Police taking names of incoming injured.

Voice from Iran: Shame on a country in which foreign embassies are safer than hospitals :(

2.31 pm. Canadians, call your foreign office. It's confirmed Canadian Embassy rejects injured protesters

Australian Embassy reportedly accepting injured

My Friend Wounded At Haft Hooz SQ, No Clinic Is Open!

2.19 pm. IT IS NOT OVER, IT IS JUST BEGUN!

FB report: shouts of Allah o Akbar in holy city of Mashhad "explosive"

Reports: People Pushed Back Millitas at Gisha St.

From a source in Tehran: allah akbar just started and it's the most intense yet. so surreal.

RT ASAP! TAKING WOUNDED Portugese Embassy No.30, Nezami St., Abbas Pour St., Valy-e-Asr

Reports: Bassij Millita attacking People at Haft Hooz SQ, Heavy Clashes Just Strated...

1.52 pm.

People Shouting on the roofs, all over the Capital: "Death to the Dictator"!

12.46 pm. Helicopters did not spray boiling water. It was a type of ACID, similar to what Mojahedeen used in '78-'82.

I feel like I'm in a police state for 1st time. Pple are so pissed, starting to feel scared. As of late aftrnoon Basij are everywhere

My heart is pounding fast as I'm hearing about dead ppl lying on streets in Tehran

Will chemical warfare B next by the gvmt to kill ppl? Seems they're doing anything 2 stop ppl

Bassij opened gunfire on people near Sadeghieh, West of Tehran.

hospital source - Tehran hospitals report hundreds of casualtys -

Unconfirmed - The Army will not follow orders to kill the people

European embassies reportedly open doors for injured, tell families to take them there.

Lincoln:

. . . that government of the people, by the people, and for the people should not perish from the earth.

The President's Statement on Iran

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 20, 2009


Statement from the President on Iran

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

Excerpt from a reader comment on Sullivan's blog:

These citizens are done with their leadership. The trust has completely and irretrievably dissipated, and the fear, although present, is not sufficient, especially as it becomes more clear the army will remain on the sidelines. And the mullahs have opened all the playbooks on repression and crowd control simultaneously; it's a smorgasboard attempt at blocking the rising tide of resentment; if you'll recall, that's called the mullah's-ass-on-a-pressure-cooker-lid-to-retard-fulmination rule. If things look bad with the pressure cooker, piling more mullahs on the lid will only result in a more spectacular finish.

If the Warsaw Ghetto uprising had been broadcast to the entire world, Hitler's demise most surely would have come several years sooner. The mullahs have no way out. They are, essentially, fucked. It's now only a matter of time. And Iran's negotiations on their nuclear program? Suspended indefinitely due to lack of credibility; nobody will believe anything they say now.

TICK, TOCK, MOTHERFUCKERS...


[Sullivan:] From his mouth to Allah's ears.

How to write your Congresspeeps

Quick and easy, you don't even need to hunt for a stamp: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

I've already let my senators and representative know how I feel about this financial mess and the abdication of Congressional powers to the executive branch. Have you?

"Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" : something today's utterly worthless Republican party flatly does not understand and flatly does not believe in.

As witness the worst presidential bad joke in all of American history:



Let's hope he goes quietly and doesn't pull another shock-and-awe stunt on the public before the election. Don't think it couldn't happen. I wouldn't put anything past that piratical crew.