Archive for January, 2022

Well, Isn’t That Special?

January 18, 2022 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

It seems that there aren’t enough voter registration cards to go around in Texas.

Sam Taylor, assistant secretary of state for communications,said supply chain issues have made it harder and more expensive to get paper, which means the Secretary of State’s office will be giving out fewer voter registration forms to groups ahead of elections this year.

“We are limited in what we can supply this year, because of the paper shortage and the cost constraints due to the price of paper and the supply of paper,” he said.

The League of Women Voters registers 30,000 new citizens every year at naturalization ceremonies, and of course that is the group being most impacted by this shortage

Grace Chimene, president of the League, says the Secretary of State’s office has told the League to seek out donations instead of relying on the state for voter registration forms. She said she “didn’t appreciate” this considering the fact her group is a non-partisan nonprofit. However, Chimene said, her group will try and do what it can.

You know, we have plenty of money for our felony indicted state Attorney General to file a mountain of lawsuits against the federal government that are going nowhere, but damn, I’m sure we won’t have enough paper to print ballots in low income neighborhoods.

 

Collin County GOP Candidate Opposes LGBTQ-friendly Donors

January 18, 2022 By: Jet Harris Category: 2022 Election, Congress, Insurrection, Sumbitches, Trumpists

Well, it’s an election year. Just like any other Texas election, the Republican candidates jostle among themselves to prove which of them is the meanest sumbitch. They pull no punches; in most districts, the winner of the Republican primary will be the de facto winner of the general election.

The race that caught my eye is for U.S. Representative for District 3. This is the district in which I reside and in which I must suffer to see the Republican yard signs in about 1 out of every 3 houses I pass. All of my adjacent neighbors, people I consider kind and often make small talk with, have signs in their yard that say SELF for United States Congress.

Self is challenging incumbent Republican Van Taylor, one of the two Texas Republican representatives that had the cojones to vote for the January 6 commission. This vote, along with the vote to certify the presidential election results (Note: Trump won Texas) has earned him a few primary challengers.

I haven’t seen any poll numbers, but I can tell you that the Republicans of Collin County have SELF yard signs. All of them. I’ve seen 50 or so signs for this guy and not one sign for Van Taylor or any of the other candidates that have declared. He is likely to win the primary based on this anecdotal evidence.

In a ploy to out-sumbitch the rest of the candidates, Self has decided to raise a fuss about a major donor to the Collin County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner. In this annual fundraiser, a dinner is catered and B list Republicans are often paid to headline the event. The 2022 Guest of Honor and headliner is Glenn Beck.

Keith Self wrote the following letter, in which he excoriates the Collin County Republican Party for taking money from a law firm that *checks notes* serves LGBTQ clients. The letter is so poorly written that it is difficult to follow. He is declaring his opposition to marriage equality, and somehow gets a couple of digs at his opponent and shows off his pro-life bonafides, all in one rambling letter. I’ve shared some below, with my comments in bold:

. . . I was disappointed to learn that one of the largest donors to the Collin County Lincoln Day Dinner is a law firm that seems to advocate, almost exclusively, on behalf of homosexual couples. It is not my intent to cast aspersions [That is literally the point of the letter] but I could not sit idly by without saying something. I also feel compelled to remind those in authority that our GOP platform recognizes marriage to be between one man and one woman.

Our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior has guided Tracy and me throughout our lives. We had the opportunity to have children at one time, but we could not adhere to the rigid rules that the doctor imposed that could have required abortion. [Isn’t this kind of over-sharing? And completely irrelevant?] I share this with you because we deem every life precious, even the lives of those who do not share our values. [We value those who do not share our values, but don’t dare take money from people who are friendly to them?]

What we don’t view as precious are the agendas of those who use positions of power to advance agendas contrary to God’s word. God’s word is clear on homosexuality, but just as clear that Christ came to save.”

The law firm in question is called O’Neil Wysocki. Michelle O’Neil responded as such:

“I am stunned and ashamed for Keith Self and for those who support him in his hateful, bigoted, sanctimonious campaign. 30 years ago I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of this country. I have advocated for thousands of people from all walks of life who needed and deserved a voice in our justice system. I have advocated for those in the LGBTQ+ community to have justice in our legal system for literally longer than I have been a lawyer. I am proud that I have done so. I do not support HATE SPEECH or hateful thought or unconstitutional injustice to any citizen being cloaked in the name of the Christian faith OR a political party.”

Her response is nice, but why on earth are they donating to the Collin County GOP? I guess that’s a question for another day. If I was trying to raise funds for the Democratic party, now would be the time to call O’Neil Wysocki.

Keith Self might be just another sumbitch trying his damndest to appeal to the most hateful and backward of his political base, but his is a serious campaign. The “loud crowd” in Collin County are clear that they want Van Taylor gone. Van Taylor, who is just as anti-gay as the rest of them, signed an amicus brief in the Obergefell Supreme Court case declaring that just because Texas has to allow same-sex partners to marry, they certainly do not have to treat them equally or offer benefits that opposite-sex marriages receive.

Self’s strategy here is to position himself to the right of all of the other candidates. His website opposes Taylor’s membership in the Problem Solver’s caucus that “tries to negotiate big-spending agreements between Democrats and Republicans.” (Why is there a dash between big and spending?)

He is going to send even more National Guard members to guard the border AND close the border to commercial traffic altogether. He will oppose burdensome regulations on private businesses. He will pass regulations that ban private companies from banning Donald Trump’s speech. He will mandate that there can be NO mask or vaccine mandates and make sure doctors are “encouraged” to prescribe meds for COVID that are popular on social media and right-wing blogs. I think this week’s COVID cure from the right-wingers is to drink your own urine. I wish I was making that up. That link is from Reuters, for Pete’s sake.

Last but not least, Keith Self will demand an audit of the 2020 Presidential election in Texas, where Trump won by 5 1/2 points.

This might be amusing if every gay child in Collin County wasn’t passing dozens of homes with his signs in the yard on the way to school each day. Each house with a sign in the yard is one more voter who “opposes” who these children are, how they were born. I hope I am wrong in my prediction that Self will win the Republican primary in March. The race to the bottom continues each election, with no end in sight.

 

 

Justice Snidely Whiplash

January 18, 2022 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

Where is Dudley Do-Right when you really need him?

Justice Snidely Whiplash Gorsuch has got himself on the Supreme Court.

It’s hard to conger up how evil you have to be to purposely expose someone with diabetes to a disease that would kill them.

 

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1483452924093243399?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1483452924093243399%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joemygod.com%2F2022%2F01%2Fgorsuch-refuses-to-mask-up-for-diabetic-sotomayor%2F

To matters even worse – Gorsuch sits next to Sotomayor during judicial conferences. Every other damn justice – even Clarence Thomas and Justice I-Like-Beer suited up and wore a mask.  Not Gorsuch.  Honey, you gotta have a mean streak as wide as Trump’s rump to do something like that.  Sotomayor could not attend except sitting in her office down the hall and calling in by telephone.

 

You’d think a Supreme Court Justice would …  I give up.

 

Every Which Way

January 18, 2022 By: Nick Carraway Category: Uncategorized

There are lots of moments when federalism just seems to bog down. I remember watching former governor Rick Perry fumble around during hurricane relief when he was tasked as being a go between with the federal government and local government. Bill White (the mayor) got so exasperated that he told him to just stand in the corner while he worked directly with the federal relief people.

When it comes to a response to COVID, we are rapidly getting to that level of gross incompetence. The fact that the state actors are the ones again in the crosshairs shouldn’t be lost on anyone. The state level is dominated by Republicans while the local level has been dominated by Democrats. That alone is a good explanation for why things have gone awry.

In a time when it would be great to have one unified voice of how to proceed we have voices on four different levels. We have the national government making rules and recommendations. State governments have virtually punted any response or responsibility. This is especially true for those that have possible 2024 aspirations. So, that leaves local authorities and or private businesses to pick up the slack.

My daughter had a volleyball tournament this past weekend. Except, they weren’t allowed to go. One member of the team had been exposed to COVID. So, the whole team was barred from coming. I think the tournament organizers really don’t understand what they were doing here. See, there wasn’t one player on the team that was exposed. There were multiple players exposed.

Kids on these sorts of teams go to multiple schools. Those multiple schools have multiple rules in terms of COVID and exposure. Some tell you if you have been exposed and some don’t. Some advise you to get tested when exposed and some don’t. Obviously, a lot of people know these rules and will be less than honest about their exposure. That’s especially true when you consider the consequences of reporting that exposure.

I’d have to imagine that if every team were following the rules to the letter there would be no tournament. So, in a roundabout way they were actually guaranteeing more exposure and not less. Obviously, the situation caused a lot of frustration for the girls and for their parents. Frustration leads to less cooperation and less following of the rules. I imagine that is not what we are after.

That’s just one isolated situation. Multiply that numerous times and you’ll get what we currently have. You get a situation where national, state, and local entities say three different things. Public and private entities say two different things. Multiply that by the number of private entities we deal with on a daily basis and the number of public entities we may deal with and you get a recipe for frustration and confusion. That’s for the people who are inclined to follow rules and recommendations in good faith. As we know, many people are not that way.

In that world, it shouldn’t be surprising that some people won’t follow the rules and instead may resort to drinking their urine to fight back the virus. This is federalism problem, but it really is a problem where some people are not invested in finding solutions. Some people are more invested in making sure others fail. They want frustration. Frustration is a path to their electoral success. At least we are all on the same page as far as that is concerned.

Look Who I Found Traveling

January 17, 2022 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

I’m adding a little to El Jefe’s theme this morning.

It seems that in the Czech Republic a woman has been punished for spreading false information about The Covid.

She posted false information online about some people who died in a nursing home after receiving the vaccine. It was untrue. She was the first Czech citizen to be convicted under a new law that you can’t do that.  And if you think about it, it is kinda like yelling fire in a crowded theater when you spread lies to encourage people not to get the vaccine.

“Jana Peterková is obliged to public official apologies on her social networks and website. She also needs to pay financial compensation in the amount of CZK 250,000 crowns and cover the costs of the proceedings.”

I looked it up and CZK 250,000 is $11,684.17 at today’s exchange rate. That is still a hefty sting.

But, what ready got my attention is the picture of Jana Peterková.

 

 

Y’all, it’s KAREN!

All I can figure is that the Czech version of Karen is Jana.

 

Finally, One for the Good Guys

January 16, 2022 By: El Jefe Category: Anti-Vaxxers, Coronavirus

Right now, tennis bad boy, notorious anti-vaxxer and all-round shitty person Novak Djokovic is winging his way from Melbourne Australia to Dubai after being deported for violating Australian immigration laws, lying about it, and then insisting that rules don’t apply to him.  He dragged immigration officials, tournament officials, the tennis world, and indeed the entire population of Australia through almost two weeks of drama just because he doesn’t want to get a simple safe and effective vaccination.

A three federal judge panel ruled on Sunday afternoon that Australia immigration officials were within their rights doing their damn job and enforcing the country’s immigration laws.  Even better, there was no court that would receive an inevitable appeal from Djokovic.  The decision was final. The decision was unanimous and, to add insult to justice, the panel ordered Djoker to pay all of the costs incurred by the government for this sorry chapter of his life that resulted from his own decisions and conduct.

After years of bad guys all over the world getting away with actual murder, from Rodrigo Duterte Wrecking to Philippine government to Vladimir Putin’s murderous rule over Russia, to TFG’s teflon life where he’s never been personally held to account for his entire corrupt existence, wins for good guys are few and far between.  Of the thousands of Deplorables who stormed the US Capitol only about 700 were charged with crimes and most of those are only petty charges.  Less than 20 are charged with serious crimes and only 11 charged with what all were guilty, sedition.  Bad guys get off scott free on a daily basis, especially willfully ignorant anti-vaxxers who are participating in mass illness and death simply because they’re assholes.

Because bad guys win almost all the time, it’s rare when one of them gets theirs, especially famous ones like Djoker.  Like other narcissists, he believes that simply because he’s really good at hitting a tennis ball he can inflict his warped existence on everyone around him with no consequences.  Australia proved him wrong, and that victory is especially sweet.

What’s infuriating, though?  This entire episode was easily avoidable by Djokovic doing the right thing and just getting vaccinated.  Just think of all the lives he could save, especially in his native Serbia where anti-vaxxers have caused the virus to surge again in a population that’s only 47% vaccinated.  That’s the real tragedy of Djokovic’s failure at being a decent human being.