“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” — William Shakespeare

If the Texas GOP political delegation were a cast of characters they would almost certainly come from the Wizard of Oz. Louie Gohmert would almost certainly be the scarecrow in search of a brain. Dan Patrick would play the role of the Tin Man searching for a heart. That would place Ted Cruz as the lion searching for courage.

Whether he’s bailing the state when the freeze comes, buckling under to Donald Trump even after Trump insulted his wife and father, or assuming the position with Tucker Carlson, Cruz has long established that he is far from being the king of the jungle.

One could analyze his statements about the insurrectionists and then his overwhelming desire to somehow take it back. Psychologists could analyze the whys and what fors until the cows come home. I think what we know and what we suspect are not all that far away from each other. Cruz was a part of a plan to delay the certification of the election. I’m sure they trusted him with the parliamentarian side of the plot. No one ever accused Cruz of being dumb.

The less you know in a conspiracy the better. I’m willing to guess he didn’t know about the violence before January 6th. Goodness knows what he would have done with that information had he known. Maybe he would have assumed the position. Maybe he would have blown the whistle. My guess is that the human part of him was horrified at what transpired.

That’s the part that came out and called the participants terrorists. It is one thing to steal an election through parlor tricks and slight of hand. It’s another to steal it on the tip of a sword. As per usual, his first words spoke the truth before he forgot who was in charge.

This brings us to the real scary part of this dilemma. The story is not that Cruz was groveling, but who he was groveling to. We would expect him to grovel to Trump. Having him grovel to a prime time talking head is a cross between bizarre and unsettling. How did Carlson get this much power and who exactly is Carlson accountable to?

A number of folks have thought Carlson could make a run for president. I suppose it makes sense. He has money. He has name recognition. He has a brain. He can match being an outsider with his knowledge of the key players on the inside. However, this would involve him getting in the game. He can snipe from the outside and wield much more power. Power and a lack of responsibility is a dangerous combination. No one on the left has this kind of power. It could be about Carlson, but it really isn’t. Democratic politicians don’t grovel to the talking heads. As long as the wizard denies Cruz and others their courage people like Carlson will be in total control.

So, you know how Alex Jones begs for money on his radio show?  Maybe you don’t because you, like me, don’t listen. But, there are people who get paid to listen and then talk about it.

Huffington Post, of all places, found some information that caused me to gasp. Me. I mean, you gotta jump over some alligator pits surrounded by fire to make me gasp because I thought I had pretty much seen it all.

Nope. I had not.

Despite his pleas for money, Infowars’ store ― where Jones sells an amalgamation of dietary supplements and survival gear ― made $165 million in sales from September 2015 to the end of 2018, according to court filings related to a lawsuit Jones recently lost over his lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre.

That means this guy, who made his name off Sandy Hook, brought in $165 million off the horrific death of children and teachers.

God only knows how much he’s made once he got popular.  I would imagine he’s bringing in that much yearly now.

And you can see from 2015 – 2018  for yourself right here.

It appears there’s a lot of money to be made as a mucky creepy sumbitch.

These days usually creep up on all of us and that is no less true for days where we disagree on the meaning. Last year, a bunch of MAGAs decided to invade the capitol in hopes of derailing the certification of the 2020 election. These are the facts and yet a number of people still want to dispute them. Millions of people are trapped in what we might call an information silo.

If you have lived in Texas for any length of time you have seen a silo. My mother’s hometown had those outside the city limits. Of course, we could scarcely call her hometown a city. There were only about 5000 residents. In this case, the silos were responsible for holding and sifting through rice. Unless you really know what you’re doing, you should never go inside a silo. The impending result could be disastrous.

It’s in this backdrop that we address the news that the House January 6th committee wants to hear from Sean Hannity. The Fox “News” night time host apparently was involved in text messaging with Mark Meadows prior to, during, and after the events of January 6th. We already know he’s involved. The question is how much more involved was he than what we already know through the text messaging.

Since 2007, 80 people have died in silos around the country. Usually they are teenage boys that should know better but don’t. The process is downright frightening. When you are inside you can suddenly be engulfed with whatever the silo is sifting through. It’s quick and deadly. You can’t just be pulled out. It usually requires heavy machinery and in some cases they can’t get to you in time.

The term “information silo” is particularly apt in this case. Sources like Fox News and talk radio have been broadcasting for over 30 years. If you get inundated with enough bile, it is impossible to simply extricate yourself or someone you know from that life. We can trace these information silos back to the eradication of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

Hannity has become the newest symbol for this, but he might not even be the most guilty party. However, the notion of a media member participating in an insurrection is downright frightening. Yet, the relationship between Fox and their hosts is fascinating to say the least. Hannity is represented, but he isn’t represented by any attorneys working for Fox. He is being represented by one of Donald Trump’s former attorneys. It brings to mind that whole notion about two masters and what not.

So, Fox both promotes Hannity (along with Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham) and then distances themselves from him at the same time. They do the same with the others as well (particularly Carlson). It’s almost as if they know how dangerous the silo has become. When the monster becomes self-aware we have broken through the fourth wall. When you consider just the amount of malarkey that Fox spews it is easy to see how 25 percent of the public can think the events of last January 6th were just another day in paradise. Watch enough Fox News and you can find yourself trapped in an alternative reality. It really is just like a silo.

Here’s One —

Okay, so who created the scientists and the chemicals and the education and the fingers and the knowledge?

And when you get through answering that, tell me who created Covid?

You can’t have your communion wafer and eat it, too.

You know, check the stats on how herd immunity is working vs. the vaccine. And then let God speak for her herself.

Okay, he ain’t dead but he is flopping around on the floor.

It seems that Trump’s friends talked him out of a press conference tomorrow.

Among other things, several advisors – formal and informal – told him the press conference was a mistake and/but it was becoming clear he wasn't likely to get the live TV coverage he was hoping for.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 4, 2022

Awwwww, too bad so sad he can’t draw a crowd anymore.

I think there’s more involved. I think his minions know he’s nuts.  New text messages uncovered:  This was written on January 10th by Sean Hannity.

“Guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in 9 days,” Hannity wrote to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “He can’t mention the election again. He can’t mention the election again. Ever. I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I’m not sure what is left to do or say, and I don’t like not knowing if it’s truly understood. Ideas?”

Land the plane?  On January 19? Maybe, just maybe, he meant the inauguration and getting Trump  out of town because not having “a good call” with a crazy man who you’re not sure understands you can’t be a nice place to be.

And, Darlin’, when you’re asking Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan for help with a psychotic, you just bought a ticket to a goat rodeo.

Thelma said that Ted Cruz is testing the Jesus in her.  I get it, I really do.

Ted has his own podcast now.  I can’t listen to it under strict orders from a pretty good cardiologist, but I am told that his latest babble is that ..

Sen. Ted Cruz said that a Republican-led House after the 2022 elections likely will consider impeaching President Biden on “multiple grounds.”

In the latest episode of his podcast “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” the Texas Republican said he was extremely confident that his party will win Congressional majorities and that this would open the door for retaliation against the Democrats for impeaching then-President Donald Trump.

His theory is that Republicans don’t need a reason to impeach Biden because Democrats didn’t have a reason to impeach Trump. They are going to do it just for retaliation.

Remember how they spent eight years suing Obama?  And none of it worked?

Look, I know we’ve got Joe Manchin, but they’ve got two ultra rightwing drama queens fixin’ to bitch slap each other.  Dan Crenshaw and Majorie Taylor Greene are baring their teeth, Honey.  I mean, when even your subgroups are infighting, you’ve got some repair work to do.

Meanwhile, Ted’s out there leading a one man parade. It’s gonna take some pom-poms and glitter for him to get noticed and that’s what this impeachment stuff is.