Vox Populi, our weekly live chat about the week’s events begins tonight at 7:00pm PST. Hope to see you then!
AdLib4 hours ago
Hey TW! Nice article!
AdLib3 hours ago
Ad, I know I’m early but I what the heck there is so much to talk about. Read the ruling from the court of appeals it the just blew Trump’s arguments out of the water.
twilson117
3 hours ago
Ad, thanks I rewrote that at least five times
twilson117
3 hours ago
The work you put into it shows! It publishes tomorrow morning!
AdLib3 hours ago
Appreciate that.
twilson117
3 hours ago
Yes, lots of good news this week. The 11th Circuit stomped Loose Cannon flat and Trump’s BS arguments with her.
AdLib3 hours ago
I like how they’re changing the Dem Primary order and getting rid of IA and its insane caucus.
AdLib3 hours ago
Musk is getting beaten down over his pro-MAGA push on Twitter.
AdLib3 hours ago
Kanye just turned even the GOP against him!
AdLib3 hours ago
I also wrote one on Kanye thought about submitting it, but decided not to.
twilson117
3 hours ago
Forced Elon to suspend him just after cheering him back on.
AdLib3 hours ago
Why?
AdLib3 hours ago
Well my approach is from the view he has lost his touchstone and that’s why he’s behaving like a total a-hole. I will put it after the session you can review and if you feel it’s good to go then I’m ok with it.
twilson117
3 hours ago
I have a twitter account but moving to shutting it down since I really don’t use it all that much.
twilson117
3 hours ago
First off, your perspective is always appreciated and it’s a good thing to look at things from a different angle. I haven’t figured out exactly what his motivations are but I hop over that to a bottom line, whoever becomes a victim of the anti-Semitism and hatred that Kanye promotes isn’t going to care what motivated him. He is just as guilty of hate speech and contributing to the attacks and killings of innocent people as any other hate-filled bigot.
AdLib3 hours ago
Yes, I have been cutting way back on Twitter, I’ve set up an account on Mastadon.
AdLib2 hours ago
I also want to reinvigorate folks to use Short Posts here for short comments on things. If we can build that back up, I will work at bringing folks from Twitter and Mastadon over here.
AdLib2 hours ago
Because many good people are leaving Twitter which is becoming a sewer.
AdLib2 hours ago
I have a quote in it from James Baldwin from his essay on Negros Are Anti-Semitic Because They Are Anti-white which was very powerful on Baldwin’s part when he writes why he stopped hating Jews.
twilson117
2 hours ago
But, you’re right if someone acts out because of his words it won’t matter what anyone writes because the damage will have been done.
twilson117
2 hours ago
TW – I would really like to read more about that, Balwin’s POV. He was brilliant.
AdLib2 hours ago
I will post it after the session.
twilson117
2 hours ago
I think it is a very valuable area to explore as to why people become bigoted so that’s important. But feeling a sense of urgency right now, as all kinds of bigotry is growing, my view is to not let anyone off the hook for inspiring hate crimes, make it toxic and inescapable first but meanwhile, it would be good to understand what drives people to this in order to undermine it.
AdLib2 hours ago
Great!
AdLib2 hours ago
I think Kanye’s issues are the same as Trump, Musk, MTG, and all the other RW narcissists. They know that saying horrible and hateful things will get them double the attention that they crave, quoted by the majority who are outraged and quoted by the MAGA crowd as they cheer it all.
AdLib2 hours ago
West, in my opinion, is dealing with some inner demons and he is lashing out, but the fact he is blaming Jews for his problem is scapegoating for his failure on a number of fronts I believe.
twilson117
2 hours ago
I can agree he has gotten full of himself and believes all the bs he’s been told by others and himself about how great he is and having the kind of money he has that seems to have gone to his head as well.
twilson117
2 hours ago
I have no problem recognizing that Trump, Kanye, Elon, MTG, etc. have inner demons and are narcissists which twists them into needing attention for hateful words. But there are many people walking around with inner demons and who are narcissists but aren’t cheerleading hate crimes. So the acting out is the corruption of wealth and fame.
AdLib2 hours ago
Can’t argue with that. Those folks you speak of seem to have found ways to deal with their issues and not cause harm to others.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Apparently, after Musk suspended him on Twitter yesterday, Kanye went on Truth Social to be defiant and claim that he is Jesus. I don’t see Kanye as that complicated, he is an insecure narcissist like Trump, Elon, MTG, etc. who needs to be at the center of attention, whether hated or loved, and knows that saying outrageous things brings that attention day after day.
AdLib2 hours ago
He went on Truth social to claim he was Jesus? You have got to be kidding me. Now that is time for the folks with the white coats to show up because he is totally off his rocker.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Deep down, I think Kanye knows he is a mess and an addict for attention but like other addicts, he feel he needs to BS about how great he is, how victimized he is while saying outrageous things to stay in the spotlight and be thought about and talked about each day.
AdLib2 hours ago
Yep, but he’s claimed to be Jesus before and he is operating a church/cult where he is the “Jesus” in it. Trump also positioned himself as the Second Coming of Jesus. This is not new for narcissists, they need to at least tell the world they are the Chosen One so all should worship them.
AdLib2 hours ago
I agree with that statement, the reason I titled the piece Kanye Lost His Touchstone. Can He Find Another? He needs someone to pull him back that won’t feed into his ego but tell him that he s f-ings things up and going down a path he might be able to come back from.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Well as long as he doesn’t start getting into the Jim Jones mode and offering everyone grapejuice.
twilson117
2 hours ago
At Kanye West’s Sunday Service, ‘He Is The Church
AdLib2 hours ago
Maybe he can, if he goes back to his medication. But for a narcissist, this is the biggest high he can chase, being talked about by the whole country and the center of attention. Going back to acting like a sane human being would take that all away from him.
AdLib2 hours ago
Hey CL!
AdLib2 hours ago
Hey everyone! Ad and TW – good to see you!
choicelady
2 hours ago
I’ve seen mixed polls in GA, I don’t think most polls are very accurate but the early voting stats sure seem like Warnock is going to do very well.
AdLib2 hours ago
So how was your Turkey day?
twilson117
2 hours ago
CL is in the house
twilson117
2 hours ago
We had three days of leftovers, that’s all I could do. The one week anniversary was yesterday so had to bid the remaining leftovers bye-bye.
AdLib2 hours ago
Ad Saw headline Walker is begging for money that’s never a good sign, I hope his campaign goes broke.
twilson117
2 hours ago
I need to update you all. The first homeless man we took in, Pat, was a Vietnam vet. He took over the care of Puppy, the dog that belonged to ANOTHER vet who died in our alley in 2014. We had promised to take the dog, but Pat did, and we bonded from there. Long, long story of knowing him, finding his wife whose contact info he’d lost, and getting them reunited in Iowa, Well – after all those ups and downs, they were waiting for a Section 8 apartment when he got sick this past Thanksgiving day and, after the EMTS refused to help him only finally taking him locally, NOT to the VA, he died Monday. We are gutted.
choicelady
2 hours ago
TW – I saw the money race between Warnock and Walker, Warnock gathered around $50M and Walker around $25M. Literally doubled Walker’s contributions. I think Repubs know he is unlikely to win.
AdLib2 hours ago
CL that’s rough, 
twilson117
2 hours ago
I read that Black men in GA have dropped from double digit support for Hersh to 3%. That alone bodes well.
choicelady
2 hours ago
That’s terrible to hear, so sorry CL. You’ve talked about him before. I know you have to be devastated. We’re with you.
AdLib2 hours ago
What’s your thoughts on the Lt Gov who waited in line and decided because he was a Repub couldn’t vote for either Walker or Warnock.
twilson117
2 hours ago
CL – Hadn’t heard that stat yet, that would decidee the race. Walker had around half of the black male vote in the first vote, didn’t he?
AdLib2 hours ago
TW – That is a great story and should hopefully discourage at least some Repubs in GA from voting. The LT Gov just gave permission for Repubs to do the same and skip voting for Walker.
AdLib2 hours ago
I think Warnock will win by at least 3% – 4%.
AdLib2 hours ago
Did you hear Obama skewer Walker about wanting to be a werewolf?
AdLib2 hours ago
TW – yes. Loved that old rascal. Can’t take it in. His widow and I are going to the same crematorium where our other long time friend was taken during COVID when he died. The VA told Jeannie they’d pay for everything – hallelujah! – but if not, we will because it’s pretty affordable. Then they will send her back to Iowa near her stepdaughter, Pat’s daughter, to get her own place. But get this – they just now determined Pat should have been getting disability since – wait for it – 1975, and they are paying her BACK INCOME for all that time until he got it c. 2015. That is FORTY YEARS of income. That is around $300,000. She will be able to buy a house of her own. DAYUM.
choicelady
2 hours ago
Ad hopefully by more, but I’ll take it.
twilson117
2 hours ago
I so want Warnock to win. He’s a decent man. Walker is NOT.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – On one hand, I’m happy that his widow and will receive that windfall but as you probably think too, had he received that $300,000 a year ago, he might be alive today.
AdLib2 hours ago
CL, Wow, at least there is something good that will come out of her lost. 
twilson117
2 hours ago
Walker would be the worst and most unfit person to become a Senator in American history and he has a lot of competition.
AdLib2 hours ago
I want to see the RW gutted, routed, vanquished, and humiliated.
choicelady
2 hours ago
Ad, he and Tuberville would = Dumb and Dumber.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Ad – He got GREAT care at the VA. Money wouldn’t have helped that. The problems (too much to go into) were of longstanding. I LOVE the way he was cared for at the VA, but that’s NOT where he wound up, and they missed he was going septic. I will never forgive the EMTs.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – Same here, the only way to really put an end to this fascist and hateful GOP is for them to lose terribly in election after election.
AdLib2 hours ago
TW – Tuberville always makes me think he should be doing soft shoe in Vaudeville. Nothing else.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL with you on that.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Have either of you listened to Maddow’s podcast on the Nazi sympathizers in Congress 1940-44? It’s on msnbc.com/ultra I ABSOLUTELY recommend it., It’s our lives now. LOTS of lessons for our nation in the ‘rinse but don’t repeat’ things we need to know.
choicelady
2 hours ago
TW – Tuberville is a racist moron and among the worst Senators ever elected but Walker takes it to a level that no one can compete with. Attempted murder, abandonment of multiple children, lying about everything in his past, admitting he has personality disorders, rage issues, played Russian Roulette, held a gun to a woman’s head, on and on, he is a human crimewave like Trump but obviously an idiot too.
AdLib2 hours ago
Ad – wasn’t the woman his WIFE? Who – WHO – does that? That’s just sick.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – Oh, well that is good to hear. At least he would have had the money to enjoy his last years as much as possible. But very glad to hear the VA took such great care of him.
AdLib2 hours ago
CL I have but haven’t yet, have plans to listen to it over the weekend.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Ad – yes the money would have helped BUT I doubt he’d have gotten sober if he’d had it. We can never know what anyone would do, but in terms of health care, the VA did great by him.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – Tuberville comes off to me as the guy at the small town general store who sees a tourist come in to buy groceries and threatens him to get out of town.
AdLib2 hours ago
TW – I HATE podcasts and LOVED this one. She is an outstanding narrator, the two historians who helped develop the program were on air, and there are clips from the archives of the original speeches and other things. Listen while reading the segment’s archival material. It is MIND blowing. It is EXACTLY what we’re going through now.
choicelady
2 hours ago
If Tuberville and Walker were in the Senate together all they would do is talk about football nothing else, because that’s all they really know.
twilson117
2 hours ago
Ad – Yup. Tuberville could be that. He’s awful.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – No, I haven’t listened to Ultra yet but I’ve hear her talk a lot about it on her show and other shows on MSNBC. It’s pretty eye opening. I did see the PBS documentary, “The US and The Holocaust” though which talks a lot about the high degree of anti-American sensibilities that most Americans had.
AdLib2 hours ago
I think the PBS series is a perfect companion to Maddow’s podcast. I know this era of history well, but NEVER knew about this!!
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – Right, that was his wife, he held a gun to her head. I can’t imagine any politician running who did such a horrible thing even running, let alone running for The Senate. He is clearly mentally ill! And yet, as long as he has an “R” next to his name, those cultists automatically vote for him.
AdLib2 hours ago
One needs to tuck it into the book on the origins of today’s Religious Right – Jeff Sharlet’s “The Family”. It started right about the time of the attempted coup against FDR and drew support from those people. An abbreviated version is a five part series on Netflix. The book is far better, but it IS dense.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – And I think we’ve discussed The Plot to Overthrow America thwarted by Smedley Butler, right?
AdLib2 hours ago
Ad I’m going to have to watch that PBS special. Racal has been talking about it on various shows and one of the points I picked up was those groups that were formed during WWII have remnants that are still around.
twilson117
2 hours ago
CL – Yes, adding in The Company Plot, the reality of what was going on in America through most of WWII has been covered up. This was not the most patriotic country at the time, not as many thought it was at the time and looking back.
AdLib2 hours ago
Ad and TW – MUCH of the problem with the sickness so prevalent on the right comes from a new interpretation of being “born again.” Rather than imposing great responsibilities on people who have “taken Jesus into their hearts”, it has trumped (sic) Catholic confession – now if you’re “born again”, you can do ANYTHING you want, no matter how heinous, and at the hour of your death, you are forgiven and will go to heaven. I am NOT making this up. You don’t ever have to repent or go to confession – it’s a lifetime “get out of jail free” card. We now know of over 900 cases of born again clergy, youth leaders, and GOP politicians who have been arrested and convicted on sex crimes. They think they can do whatever they desire – God has already forgiven them.
choicelady
2 hours ago
CL – Good point! The Family is part of The Evil Axis that tried and is still trying (and partially succeeding) in helping overthrow our democracy.
AdLib2 hours ago
Ad – I once wrote a history of Bethlehem Steel. I learned through that work that American corporations kept ties to Germany all during the war.
choicelady
2 hours ago
TW – Yes, it sure looks like the WWII period was a greenhouse for growing autocratic and theocratic cults.
AdLib2 hours ago
CL religion, religion, religion. Religion seems always seems to be at the forefront of all this crap.
twilson117
2 hours ago
There is an historical gap between the end of WW II and the 1960s on who was doing what. Sharlet noted that “The Family” were instrumental in bringing former Nazis into the US,. I am NOT talking about Werner von Braun and other rocket scientists – actual NAZIS. We need more work to tie up the threads of who was in America First then and whose kids and grandkids are in it now.
choicelady
2 hours ago
I just heard MTG will be campaigning for Walker. What could possibly go wrong.
twilson117
an hour ago
CL – That is so insightful. Absolutely, once you have a dogma that alleviates all personal responsibility for doing terrible things, many will feel free to do them. There is little difference between that messed up BS of “Born Again” and sociopathy. In the latter case, one is born without caring of how others are harmed by their actions and words. In the Former case, it is a license to be a sociopath.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad – that is why MY work has gotten death threats, stalking, etc. – the MAJORITY of American faith traditions are NOT Dominionist, and we are IN the majority. But they are rapidly losing members and ratcheting up the danger – they are terrified of losing and getting more violent in pursuit of a Christofascist theocracy.
choicelady
an hour ago
TW – I think Marj campaigning for Herschel is his death notice politically.
choicelady
an hour ago
CL – Yes! Bethlehem Steel, Ford Motor Company, many of the US Robber Barons were like corporations today (Koch Industries was supporting Nazi Germany too) who support autocracy, plutocracy, and theocracies including Nazi Germany because they are greedy sociopaths. The Company Plot to overthrow FDR and have Smedley Butler lead a military coup was planned by the same Robber Barons who were giving support to Hitler.
AdLiban hour ago
So I want to update you on another issue – I go to the “Low Vision Clinic” of the Society for the Blind this coming Wed. They should be able to tell me what is happening with my vision. With ANY luck at all, I need to have different pairs of glasses. With no luck it’s something I don’t anticipate at all. Keep your fingers crossed this is fixable. I’m tire of not being able to see clearly. I CAN still drive in daylight. NOT at night.
choicelady
an hour ago
And in daylight it is blurry around the edges. Reading is hard save on my Kindle, and computer stuff is difficult. So I need answers. Hope I get GOOD news.
choicelady
an hour ago
Ad am I wrong is seeing the thread of where they want to go back to the days of Fiefdoms?
twilson117
an hour ago
CL – As to The Family supporting the import of Nazis, remember that it is part of the authoritarian playbook for the dictator to align with a corrupt RW religion. Hitler did it, Stalin did it, Putin did it with the Russian Orthodox church. This is a perfect fit with radical religious types who want and need a political theocrat to take their country over.
AdLiban hour ago
Cl, hope everything works out for you.
twilson117
an hour ago
Since we’re talking about Germany and
twilson117
an hour ago
Since we’re talking about Germany and Germans have either of you seen the series Man In The High Castle?
twilson117
an hour ago
TW – That’s funny but think about this, if Trump is being forced to stay away from campaigning for Walker because Walker’s people see it as a negative, how can Trump run in 2024? He has lost 3 straight elections and is going to be criminally indicted and tried! I think Trump and the GOP will blow up in 2023 and 2024 will be a nightmare for them.
AdLiban hour ago
Tw – I have NOT seen that series. We dumped cable and out TV. I’ll suss it out online.
choicelady
an hour ago
BRB
choicelady
an hour ago
I’m pretty happy Trump is now a pariah. Bodes well for sanity.
choicelady
an hour ago
Ad, they’re trying to do everything they can to keep him from running and think DeSantis is their answer but if they actually do dump him he will run as an independent an insure they will never will an election for a long time.
twilson117
an hour ago
CL – I know you have to be careful of real risks from these religious nutjobs, it’s infuriating to think of what you have to worry about for being a good and conscientious person. They are the minority and these Dominionists have been drooling as it seemed more and more likely that they were going to get their dictatorship. Now that it’s lost some momentum and their numbers are shrinking accordingly, they are of course more desperate. I worry about coordinated attacks, so far it has been lone wolves but a snake is never more dangerous than when it is cornered.
AdLiban hour ago
CL got to ask, what is your take on the 11th Circuit ruling?
twilson117
an hour ago
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think DeSantis is potentially WORSE than Trump. His private police force and vicious control on issues in FL that piss him off make him even more dangerous because too little is public about him.
choicelady
an hour ago
TW – I am DANCING IN THE STREETS over the 11th!!!
choicelady
an hour ago
Have you seen the Trading Places meme for Walker? He is literally being chaperoned by two old white men during the entire runoff!
AdLiban hour ago
Ad – LOL!! YES!!! Whoever did that was inspired!
choicelady
an hour ago
CL read it busted out laughing Trump got what we called back in the day ‘a real ass kicking.’
twilson117
an hour ago
Ad I just busted out laughing when the trading placing reference.
twilson117
an hour ago
CL – Hope the clinic identifies the fix for your vision swiftly. Will be thinking of you on Wed!
AdLiban hour ago
TW – and Trump got that ass kicking from people HE APPOINTED. I have often said that the majesty of our law makes most judges fairly decent. Not ALL, obviously – like the bitch in the 5th. Not Alito. But MOST are quickly overcome by the power of this nation’s laws and findings. And they bend to it, not to rancid politics.
choicelady
an hour ago
Thanks for the good wishes, Ad and TW. I will certainly let you know. what they say. I would love to have NOT blurry vision! 
choicelady
an hour ago
TW – You’re right on the money, all the RW extremists out there want a return to the facist/theocratic rule of the past, they are freaked out about the loss of white supremacy and the ability to use the power of a government to force people to live by their rules.
AdLiban hour ago
CL that is what I was thinking. Not all judges see their role to do the bidding of the rich but, sadly that those who still hold high standards seem to be diminishing.
twilson117
an hour ago
TW – Yes, I watched The Man in the High Castle years ago, it was very good, based on a Phillip K. Dick story and he is one of my all time favorite authors.
AdLiban hour ago
But, upon THAT note, I’m having more and more trouble seeing the keys and reading your posts, so I’m bugging out. Glad everyone had a tolerable T’giving. We didn’t do a dinner but went to Ashland OR for a play, so I might make dinner this weekend. In any case – hope to see you next Friday. Be well. I always enjoy seeing you both. 
choicelady
an hour ago
Ad, I still have the last season to watch. For some reason I can’t seem to get back to it. But want to as it’s really good.
twilson117
an hour ago
I see CL has left will, well will give you a call in a sec.
twilson117
an hour ago
TW – I am imagining an indicted Trump, being criminally and civilly charged in multiple cases, going full blown insane as DeSantis and others run against him in the GOP primary and blowing his top while urging his cult to leave the GOP.
AdLiban hour ago
Sounds good, TW!
AdLiban hour ago
AdLiban hour ago
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