EOMMD

It's time once again for the "End Of Month Meme Dump".

The Miracles of Jesus

45 is no Woody Allen

Either Peggy Noonan was being prophetic below or slow on the draw.

Trump is Woody Allen without the Humor

by Peggy Noonan

The president’s primary problem as a leader is not that he is impetuous, brash or naive. It’s not that he is inexperienced, crude, an outsider. It is that he is weak and sniveling. It is that he undermines himself almost daily by ignoring traditional norms and forms of American masculinity.

He’s not strong and self-controlled, not cool and tough, not low-key and determined; he’s whiny, weepy and self-pitying. He throws himself, sobbing, on the body politic. He’s a drama queen. It was once said, sarcastically, of George H.W. Bush that he reminded everyone of her first husband. Trump must remind people of their first wife. Actually his wife, Melania, is tougher than he is with her stoicism and grace, her self-discipline and desire to show the world respect by presenting herself with dignity.

Half the president’s tweets show utter weakness. They are plaintive, shrill little cries, usually just after dawn. “It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their president.” The brutes. Actually they’ve been laboring to be loyal to him since Inauguration Day. “The Republicans never discuss how good their health care bill is.” True, but neither does Mr. Trump, who seems unsure of its content. In just the past two weeks, of the press, he complained: “Every story/opinion, even if should be positive, is bad!” Journalists produce “highly slanted & even fraudulent reporting.” They are “DISTORTING DEMOCRACY.” They “fabricate the facts.”

It’s all whimpering accusation and finger-pointing: Nobody’s nice to me. Why don’t they appreciate me?

His public brutalizing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions isn’t strong, cool and deadly; it’s limp, lame and blubbery. “Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes,” he tweeted this week. Talk about projection.

He told the Journal’s Michael C. Bender he is disappointed in Mr. Sessions and doesn’t feel any particular loyalty toward him. “He was a senator, he looks at 40,000 people and he probably says, ‘What do I have to lose?’ And he endorsed me. So it’s not like a great loyal thing about the endorsement.” Actually, Mr. Sessions supported him early and put his personal credibility on the line. In Politico, John J. Pitney Jr. of Claremont McKenna College writes: “Loyalty is about strength. It is about sticking with a person, a cause, an idea or a country even when it is costly, difficult or unpopular.” A strong man does that. A weak one would unleash his resentments and derive sadistic pleasure from their unleashing.

The way American men used to like seeing themselves, the template they most admired, was the strong silent type celebrated in classic mid-20th century films—Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Henry Fonda. In time the style shifted, and we wound up with the nervous and chattery. More than a decade ago the producer and writer David Chase had his Tony Soprano mourn the disappearance of the old style: “What they didn’t know is once they got Gary Cooper in touch with his feelings they wouldn’t be able to shut him up!” The new style was more like that of Woody Allen. His characters couldn’t stop talking about their emotions, their resentments and needs. They were self-justifying as they acted out their cowardice and anger.

But he was a comic. It was funny. He wasn’t putting it out as a new template for maleness. Donald Trump now is like an unfunny Woody Allen.

Who needs a template for how to be a man? A lot of boys and young men, who’ve grown up in a culture confused about what men are and do. Who teaches them the real dignity and meaning of being a man? Mostly good fathers and teachers. Luckily Mr. Trump this week addressed the Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia, where he represented to them masculinity and the moral life.

“Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I’m in front of the Boy Scouts, right?” But he overcame his natural reticence. We should change how we refer to Washington, he said: “We ought to change it from the word ‘swamp’ to perhaps ‘cesspool’ or perhaps to the word ‘sewer.’ ” Washington is not nice to him and is full of bad people. “As the Scout Law says, ‘A Scout is trustworthy, loyal—we could use some more loyalty, I will tell you that.” He then told them the apparently tragic story of a man who was once successful. “And in the end he failed, and he failed badly.”

Why should he inspire them, show personal height, weight and dignity, support our frail institutions? He has needs and wants—he is angry!—which supersede pesky, long-term objectives. Why put the amorphous hopes of the audience ahead of his own, more urgent needs?

His inability—not his refusal, but his inability—to embrace the public and rhetorical role of the presidency consistently and constructively is weak.

“It’s so easy to act presidential but that’s not gonna get it done,” Mr. Trump said the other night at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio. That is the opposite of the truth. The truth, six months in, is that he is not presidential and is not getting it done. His mad, blubbery petulance isn’t working for him but against him. If he were presidential he’d be getting it done—building momentum, gaining support. He’d be over 50%, not under 40%. He’d have health care, and more.

We close with the observation that it’s all nonstop drama and queen-for-a-day inside this hothouse of a White House. Staffers speak in their common yet somehow colorful language of their wants, their complaints. The new communications chief, Anthony Scaramucci, who in his debut came across as affable and in control of himself, went on CNN Thursday to show he’ll fit right in. He’s surrounded by “nefarious, backstabbing” leakers. “The fish stinks from the head down. But I can tell you two fish that don’t stink, and that’s me and the president.” He’s strong and well connected: “I’ve got buddies of mine in the FBI”; “ Sean Hannity is one of my closest friends.” He is constantly with the president, at dinner, on the phone, in the sauna snapping towels. I made that up. “The president and I would like to tell everybody we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are.” Chief of Staff Reince Priebus better watch it. There are people in the White House who “think it is their job to save America from this president, okay?” So they leak. But we know who they are.

He seemed to think this diarrheic diatribe was professional, the kind of thing the big boys do with their media bros. But he came across as just another drama queen for this warring, riven, incontinent White House. As Scaramucci spoke, the historian Joshua Zeitz observed wonderingly, on Twitter: “It’s Team of Rivals but for morons.”

It is. And it stinks from the top.

Meanwhile the whole world is watching, a world that contains predators. How could they not be seeing this weakness, confusion and chaos and thinking it’s a good time to cause some trouble?

Sorry, no link here.

a coup?

Historian Timothy Snyder see some pretty sinister stuff brewing with #45.

Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy

by Chauncey Devega

American democracy is in crisis. The election of Donald Trump feels like a state of emergency made normal.

Trump has threatened violence against his political enemies. He has made clear he does not believe in the norms and traditions of American democracy — unless they serve his interests. Trump and his advisers consider a free press to be enemies of his regime. Trump repeatedly lies and has a profoundly estranged relationship with empirical reality. He uses obvious and naked racism, nativism and bigotry to mobilize his voters and to disparage entire groups of people such as Latinos and Muslims.

Trump is threatening to eliminate an independent judiciary and wants to punish judges who dare to stand against his illegal and unconstitutional mandates. In what appears to be a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, Trump is using the office of the presidency to enrich himself, his family and his inner circle by peddling influence and access to corporations, foreign countries and wealthy individuals. Trump and his representatives also believe that he is above the law and cannot be prosecuted for any crimes while in office.

What can the American people do to resist Donald Trump? What lessons can history teach about the rise of authoritarianism and fascism and how democracies collapse? Are there ways that individuals can fight back on a daily basis and in their own personal lives against the political and cultural forces that gave rise to Trump’s movement? How long does American democracy have before the poison that Donald Trump and the Republican Party injected into the country’s body politic becomes lethal?

In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University. He is the award-winning author of numerous books including the recent “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning” and “Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin.” Snyder’s new book, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” explores how the American people can fight back against Donald Trump’s incipient authoritarian regime.

Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. A longer version can be heard on my podcast, available on Salon’s Featured Audio page.

Read the interview here.

Liam Dutton

Weatherman Liam Dutton has no problem pronouncing the weird name of a town in Wales, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

how low can they go?

The GOP continues to descend further into the cesspool. How low can they go before even their base gets disgusted?

Click me, you cocksucker!

TIFT.org

It's just about time for the 78th Annual Texas International Fishing Tournament (TIFT). I'm not joining in this year, but next year is much more likely.

Texas International Fishing Tournament

Surrounded by the sparkling waters of the Laguna Madre Bay and Gulf of Mexico, Port Isabel and South Padre Island play host to Texas’ largest saltwater fishing tournament—the Texas International Fishing Tournament.

Founded by Doc J.A. Hockaday in 1933, the tournament was designed to tell the story of phenomenal fishing in the Rio Grande Valley to anglers from around the world. Now entering its 78th event, TIFT offers the best of bay and offshore fishing to enthusiasts of all ages. Scheduled to be held August 2 – 6, 2017, TIFT is expected to attract as many as 1500 anglers and more than 500 boats during its two days of fishing activities.

Fisherman young and old will compete in one of three divisions: bay, tarpon and offshore. Dockside, more than 10,000 spectators will turn out to view impressive catches of blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish brought in by the big boats offshore. Bay anglers will be weighing in mouthwatering catches of speckled trout, redfish and flounder during the two days of fishing. One of the most rewarding sights at the weigh docks are the junior anglers weighing in their stringers of catches that range from a single small piggy perch to impressive catches that adult anglers will envy. Every child registered in the tournament is awarded a trophy for their effort.

The tournament starts with late registration on Wednesday and Thursday with a special Playday for junior anglers on Thursday. Fishing gets underway early Friday morning with bay boats required to return to their berths each night and offshore boats being allowed to stay out overnight while still adhering to tournament start and stop fishing times. For more information on offshore rules changes, see the related link on our home page. The tournament wraps up with a lunch and awards ceremony on Sunday.

TIFT’s mission statement is to provide a quality family oriented fishing tournament for anglers of all ages and it is a pledge the tournament’s Executive Board takes seriously. Planning for each year’s event begins immediately after the awards ceremony.

If you’d like to catch the action at TIFT, join us in 2017. Remember, when it comes to big catches, luck often wins over skill! We hope to see you at the 78th! August 2 – 6, 2017.

For more information or to get involved, visit www.tift.org or call (956) 943-TIFT.

what you get

Did we, as Americans, ask for this fucking circus? No doubt the majority of us did not consent to all of this bullshit.

This is what you get when you elect Republicans

by Paul Waldman

This has been quite a week in Washington, a week full of terror, intrigue, suspense, backstabbing and outright chaos. While we might not have been able to predict the particular contours of the catastrophe that complete GOP rule has been, we should have known it would turn out something like this.

Guess what, America: This is what you get when you elect Republicans.

It goes much further than their repugnant and disastrous effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but all the contemporary GOP’s pathologies could be seen there: their outright malice toward ordinary people, their indifference to the suffering of their fellow citizens, their blazing incompetence, their contempt for democratic norms, their shameless hypocrisy, their gleeful ignorance about policy, their utter dishonesty and bad faith, their pure cynicism, and their complete inability to perform anything that resembles governing. It was the perfect Republican spectacle.

It’s remarkable to consider that there was a time not too long ago when the Grand Old Party was known for being serious, sober, a little boring, but above all, responsible. They were conservative in the traditional sense: wanting to conserve what they thought was good and fearful of rapid change. You might not have agreed with them, but there were limits to the damage they could do. The devolution from that Republican Party to the one we see today took a couple of decades and had many sources, but its fullest expression was reached with the lifting up of Donald J. Trump to the presidency, this contemptible buffoon who may have been literally the single worst prominent American they could have chosen to be their standard-bearer. I mean that seriously. Can you think of a single person who might have run for president who is more ignorant, more impulsive, more vindictive and more generally dangerous than Donald Trump? And yet they rallied around him with near-unanimity, a worried shake of the head to his endless stream of atrocious statements and actions the strongest dissent most of them could muster.

So now we see the results of putting this party and this president in charge. Let’s take a little tour around the news and see what’s going on, shall we?

• Republicans came within a single vote of passing a bill that would crash the individual health insurance market, send premiums skyrocketing and cause 16 million people to lose their health coverage — and that was the least damaging version of their health-care bill. Getting that close required an insane twisting of the legislative process, a bill written in secret with not a single hearing and tossed at the Senate mere hours before a vote. And only three of the 52 Republicans in that body opposed it, all because they were scared of being punished by a base they’ve been lying to for years.
• The president of the United States is apparently trying to get his own attorney general to quit by publicly humiliating him in interviews and over Twitter, all because the AG has not been sufficiently cooperative in quashing an investigation into ties between the president’s campaign and a foreign adversary that helped him get elected.
• The newly installed White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, is in open war against his ostensible boss, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, a war he is conducting with the encouragement of the president, who reportedly enjoys setting his employees against one another. “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c–k,” Scaramucci told the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, adding that “Reince is a f—ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.” Later that day, Scaramucci tweeted, “I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won’t happen again,” because despite holding the most important press relations job in America, he is apparently unclear on the meaning of “off the record” and “on the record.”
• The president announced a sweeping military personnel change in a couple of tweets, apparently without the knowledge of the Pentagon, when he declared that transgender servicemembers will be barred from serving in the military in any capacity. Nobody has any idea how this astoundingly malicious and retrograde policy is going to work.
• That was only one of three anti-LGBT policies the administration announced on Wednesday; they also intervened in a private lawsuit to argue that the Civil Rights Act does not protect gay people against employment discrimination and nominated fiercely anti-gay governor Sam Brownback to be U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Brownback is getting the heck out of Kansas, the state he has practically run into the ground over the past few years after slashing taxes in what was trumpeted as an experiment in pure conservative governing. Because of his disastrous policies, Brownback is the second-most-unpopular governor in America, ahead of only New Jersey’s Chris Christie.
• Congress will be following up its health-care failure with an effort to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, which they will present with the same bogus justification they always offer for such tax cuts, that they will cause such an explosion of economic growth that the benefits will trickle down to everyone.

I could go on and delve into the president’s plan to blow up the Iran nuclear deal, or the climate-denial initiative at the Environmental Protection Agency, or all the fossil-fuel lobbyists now staffing the Interior Department, or any of a hundred abominable policies and programs. But the point is, we’re getting just what we should have expected. Donald Trump isn’t an aberration, he’s the apotheosis of contemporary Republicanism.

Republicans don’t care about making an honest case for their priorities; Trump lies nearly every time he opens his mouth. They’re unconcerned about the details of policy; he knows less about how government works than your average sixth-grader. They’re indifferent to human suffering; he literally advocates destroying the individual health-care market so he can blame Barack Obama for the lives that wind up ruined. They advocate a mindless anti-government philosophy; he has so much contempt for governing that he puts his son-in-law in charge of everything from solving the opioid crisis to achieving Middle East peace. They whine endlessly about the liberal media; he spends hours every day watching “Fox & Friends” and takes advice from Sean Hannity. Trump is the essence of the GOP, distilled down to its depraved and odious core.

America was given a reprieve last night, saved from the Republicans’ cruelest plans by a Democratic Party that stood strong, thousands of activists and ordinary citizens who organized in opposition and the GOP’s own incompetence. But this what you get when you give today’s Republican Party complete control of the government. Have no doubt: There are more horrors to come.

Original.

Shin Lim

Been watching Penn & Teller's Fool Us show on "The CW" channel. This guy, Shin Lim, is amazing, and he just fooled Penn & Teller for a second time on the latest show. This video is from his first appearance on the show a couple of years ago.

and this one is from the recent show.

FFRF Convention

Hey, we are finally going to attend the Freedom From Religion Foundation's annual convention for the first time. Every other year, they have it in Madison, Wisconsin, and that's where we will be this year. 

 Join us for an unbelievably good time

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to be hosting its 40th annual national convention in Madison, Wisconsin, this year! The event will include speeches and entertainment by illustrious personalities, a tour of FFRF's Freethought Hall headquarters, and a two-hour leisurely boat cruise around Lakes Monona or Mendota. 

The convention takes place the weekend of September 15-17, primarily at the lakeside Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wis. You can sign up now.

We'll be hosting a pre-convention open house tour of FFRF's stunning Freethought Hall, in downtown Madison just blocks from the convention site, from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, Sept. 15. We welcome you to mingle with others, chat with our staff, and visit FFRF's monument to Atheists in Foxholes (military and veterans). You can also stop by the charming Freethought Library to snap a souvenir photo with our life-size mannequin of Charles Darwin. Enjoy complimentary locally-made pastries, coffee, tea, and Mimosas or Champagne in the sunny fourth-floor auditorium featuring an exquisite grand piano.

Relax and enjoy a breathtaking new view of Madison on an optional boat cruise on the city's Lake Monona or Lake Mendota starting at 10:45 a.m. on Friday. You'll be out on the water for two hours, returning to shore at 1 p.m. Passengers on the cruise will be served a buffet-style lunch. Although the boarding area for the cruise is within walking distance, a shuttle bus will be offered. Learn more. Sorry, sold out.

Friday evening, between program sessions, join us at the first-ever, Wisconsin-style FFRF Tailgate Party, held on the Rooftop Garden at Monona Terrace. Music from Madison's own Forward! Marching Band will liven the atmosphere. Grab your tailgate dinner and, if the Wisconsin spirit moves you, a traditional brandy old-fashioned at the cash bar. Then join in a game of bean bags, and meet some new secular friends. 

Steven Pinker

Maryam Namazie

We're thrilled to announce a distinguished list of speakers and entertainers! Engaging talks will be given by FFRF honorary president and Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, writer Katha Pollitt, author and columnist Michelle Goldberg, human rights activist Maryam Namazie, science educator Cara Santa Maria, social justice activist Kimberly Veal, composer Brent Michael Davids and renowned sculptor Zenos Frudakis. A roster of victorious state / church plaintiffs will be recognized, including 2017 Freethinker of the Year Marie Schaub. 

Additionally, 12-year-old Kelly Helton will give a short talk about her activism. FFRF's legal team will present its traditional legal accomplishments panel, reporting a behind-the-scenes take on FFRF's 2017 legal work. Read more about speakers and honorees here.  

Paula Poundstone

Famed comedian Paula Poundstone will stage a stand up routine that you won't want to miss, and satirical singer-songwriter Roy Zimmerman will perform a repertoire irreverent songs as will FFRF Co-President Dan Barker at the piano with his own collection. Julia Sweeney, actress and comedian, will close out the night with her trademark humor.  

Roy Zimmerman

Other annual events will include the Saturday "Non-Prayer Breakfast," the yearly drawing for "clean," pre-"In God We Trust" currency, and the opportunity to browse FFRF book and sales tables.

A Christian Nation?

pic of the moment

Planet Earth II

The BBC recently released 10 hours of bonus video from the Earth II series. Enjoy!

from Science Alert

Leonard Pitts

45 is wrecking this country as fast as he can. And it appears the Dems, while in the minority, have no one with the guts or brains to take him on.

Let’s not be shy about why Trump is president

by Leonard Pitts, Jr.
So here we are, six months later. How time has trudged.

But the calendar does not lie. On Thursday, we will be half a year through the Trump Era. And, contrary to his signature promise, America seems less great by the day. Nor are his other promises faring particularly well.

There is no sign of progress on that border wall, much less any idea how he is going to make Mexico pay for the thing. His promise to preserve Medicaid and provide health care for everyone has dissolved into a GOP bill that would gut Medicaid and rob millions of their access to health care.

Meantime, the guy who once said he would be working so hard he would seldom leave the White House spends more time on golf courses than a groundskeeper.

But for all that Trump has not achieved, there is, I think, one thing he indisputably has. He has taught us to live in a state of perpetual chaos and continuous crisis. Six months later, the White House commands the same horrified attention as a car wreck or a house fire.

In that sense, last week’s revelation that the Trump campaign, in the person of Donald Trump Jr., did in fact meet with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election was just another Tuesday. Sure, it might have been shocking from the Bush or Obama campaigns. But under Trump, we live in a state of routine calamity.

Besides which, a few days from now, there will be something else. With Trump, there inevitably is. Things can always get worse — and usually do.

And when they do, we can count on the GOP, that inexhaustible fount of righteous outrage, to stand tall and courageously look the other way. For almost 20 years, the party has never seen a minor episode (“Travelgate”), a sheer nothing (Whitewater) or even an international tragedy (Benghazi) it could not turn into Watergate II. Yet, as credible accusations of treason, obstruction, collusion, and corruption swirl about this White House, the GOP has been conspicuous in its acquiescent silence. It seems the elephant has laryngitis.

But the rest of us can’t stop talking.

Indeed, from the studios of CNN to the bar stools of your neighborhood watering hole, amateur psychoanalysis has become America’s favorite pastime in the last six months. Dozens of theories have been floated, all aimed at answering one question:

What is wrong with him?

But I have come to believe that question misses the point. Sixty-three million people voted for this. And make no mistake, they knew what they were getting. It was always obvious that Trump was a not-ready-for-prime-time candidate, but they chose him anyway. And the rest of us need to finally come to grips with the reason why.

It wasn’t economic anxiety. As a study co-sponsored by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic reported in May, people who were worried for their jobs voted for Hillary Clinton. But people who dislike Mexicans and Muslims, people who oppose same-sex marriage, people mortally offended at a White House occupied by a black guy with a funny name, they voted for Trump.

That’s the reality, and it’s time we quit dancing around it.

This has been said a million times: Donald Trump is a lying, narcissistic, manifestly incompetent child man who is as dumb as a sack of mackerel. But he is the president of the United States because 63 million people preferred that to facing inevitable cultural change. So I am done asking — or caring — what’s wrong with him. Six months in, it’s time we grappled a far more important question.

What in the world is wrong with us?

Original.