Equality + freedom = Tyranny?

https://www.facebook.com/bbcnewsnigh...4216506956200/

And the canary in the coal mine may end up being Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

https://www.facebook.com/bbcnewsnigh...4316269711200/

What Dan Rather said.

Here's a good (and short) article about what Bannon meant (at the CPAC conference) by "deconstructing the administrative state." It's obvious that Trump's "anti-establishment" rhetoric is actually aimed at sidelining the State so the most dangerous elite, greedy big business, can get on with devouring the world.

Trump at the CPAC the other day referred to his audience of privileged white folks as "the forgotten men and women of America." You can't make this s*#t up (unless you're Orwell).

That's what autocratic kleptocracy is all about.

Thanks for the BBC videos, Jim.

From the twitter feed of Gary Kasparov, former world chess champion:

“A free press can never be the enemy of the people. It is Trump’s chosen enemy because his real fight is against accountability and the truth.”

“It’s an element of how autocracy can rise so fast. Cutting off critics leads to an even smaller bubble, full of sycophants and worse ideas.”

“Rhetoric sets the stage for action. Demonizing ‘enemies’ before persecuting them. It’s why discarding Trump’s threats is wrong.”

“There are tipping points between rhetoric and action. E.g. ignoring intelligence vs. manufacturing it, criticizing the media vs. limiting it.”

“If you can convince people that real news is fake, it becomes easier for them to convince you that their fake news is real.”

“Soviet Pravda was laughed at because the Party tried to be the sole arbiter of truth. Now regimes know that doubt is enough to divide.”

Edward, Last night at the often cringe-worthy Oscars, Sting stepped onstage and sang a simple song about the journalist James Foley who was beheaded by Islamic militants in 2014. The lyrics are sumptuous and speak to the heart of what falls victim to freedom when you deny free speech.

No, the current administration is not calling for beheadings of journalists. We are a more civilized, lawful society. Instead, we are effectively cutting off fingers and cutting out tongues.

Here are the lyrics and the link to the performance:


THE EMPTY CHAIR
Artist & Composer
Sting & J. Ralph

If I should close my eyes, that my soul can see,
And there's a place at the table that you saved for me.
So many thousand miles over land and sea,
I hope to dare, that you hear my prayer,
And somehow I'll be there.

It's but a concrete floor where my head will lay,
And though the walls of this prison are as cold as clay.
But there's a shaft of light where I count my days,
So don't despair of the empty chair,
And somehow I'll be there.

Some days I'm strong, some days I'm weak,
And days I'm so broken I can barely speak,
There’s a place in my head where my thoughts still roam,
Where somehow I've come home.

And when the Winter comes and the trees lie bare,
And you just stare out the window in the darkness there.
Well I was always late for every meal you'll swear,
But keep my place and the empty chair,
And somehow I'll be there,
And somehow I'll be there.

Sting performing song at Oscars:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movi...IrJ/story.html

I’m not sure of the rhetorical term for the repetitive weave the Trumpster weaves (ploce, maybe), but I’ve been noticing his frequent use of “enemy” and “military” and “war” lately (once saying the Democrats want to start one; classic projection?), so I wasn’t shocked when the first thing I heard him say today was that we had to start “winning wars again”! Of course, Adolph, that old cliché, was a master of it. Either T is brilliantly playing the clown to dupe us, perhaps willing to cause a war to distract us from his ineptness—or is an idiot whose predatory instincts are so well honed it comes to him naturally (as unnatural as he may be).

We are obsessed with labeling Trump’s disorder. Pinning it like a butterfly to a board. So be it. Trump is a hyperbolic hypocrite. Can you be that and also be a leader? No, not a good one. To condemn reputable news agencies for being imperfect is the epitome of hypocrisy. He has made capital out of it. If he is anything, he is King of Capital.

Another list:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...02a1e7dac3ca6?

Hold Your Nose!
 

Wow, whata list! Guess that makes him the Big Daddy of Mendacity (and other disgusting smells).

Waiting For Godot’s Obamacare Replacement Starring Patrick Stewart:

https://youtu.be/kQI06jiNsR8

It looks like there really is truth to that assertion that Saturdays are particularly dangerous for Trump because Jared Kushner is observing Sabbath, and there's nobody else around between Donald and Steve Bannon.

So now we have that string of idiotic and misspelled accusations that Obama was "wiretapping" Trump Tower. No facts, of course. It appears to be something Donald saw on Fox News.

By the way - has anybody else been turned on to the major brand new scandal brewing about the Russian Oligarch's private plane being tracked to at least five US airports at the same time as Donald's plane, by some weird coincidence, was parked at the same airport. All in the months and days close to the election. He's the same individual who purchased a Florida estate from Donald a few years back for close to $50 million more than Donald paid for it two years earlier. Check it out. Is the guy a paymaster, or just a messenger passing on the latest directions from the Kremlin? Or are he and the Donald just two old buddies who like to get together and watch reruns of the Miss Universe contest?