Trump coming out of the gate and blaming everyone else following the tragic plane crash, reminded me of Putin's 'flooding the zone' following the accidental shooting down of that Malaysia flight by Russia during the first Crimea war. It's a tactic. For Trump, maybe he panicked, thinking he'd be somehow blamed. (I don't think he's to blame, but I think his instincts by default go to self preservation.) So, first things, he had his people scrutinize the FAA's DEI policies for anything he could use to divert public perception from that. Then he rushed out in front of the camera to game the narrative again.
The democratic senators at the confirmation hearing of Russell Vought decided not to vote because Vought is so dangerous to democracy. How does that make any sense?
Must be the brainstorm of the inept and stupidity of Chuckles Schumer.
Just remember their role> increase shareholder value.
A general statement:
At a minimum, in reporting on The Donald, the "free" press should first state that the President elect is a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist. Then give the Trump delusional blabber and/or the media opinion. The last sentence should re emphasize the first sentence that The Donald is a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist.
Re education: School shootings, book bans and the ten commandments in school. No wonder the kids scores are down. Active shooter drills add a little anxiety to the education of our youth. What a great education!
Maybe the MAGApublicans support this work plan because it adds to their cult of buffons and dolts.
This blaming of diversity for the crash was only slightly worse than 1/6 and Ukrainian treason.
He’s that savage. But the depths to which his loyalists spun it!
JD too? He no longer can be assumed to be”know better”.
Ditto Hegseth and Duffy.
They are so drunk on power and their own psychoses it’s becoming literally deadly to innocents.
We are so ridiculously gone societally. We are going to “function” sure - the stock market will rise, sure. But oh my freaking lord as we enter 250yrs old what is going on?
If they feel they need to feed the beast they created this much, this brazenly, before any facts arise - do they even understand the monster they created.
Oh to have enough Republicans stand up. Maybe the Dems need to be more solicitous and praising of line crossers. Maybe not enough praise of Liz Cheney. I imagine the SNL sketch mashing up the J6 committee and the film, Dirty Dancing:
Reskin? Kinziger more handsome though but he is the same side of tracks as Liz so it doesn’t work as well]
“Sir, nobody puts Cheney in the basement”
[the couple takes the stage]:
“…going to do my kind of dancing with a great partner…not only a terrific dancer but somebody who has taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people, no matter what it costs them. Somebody who’s taught me about the kind of person I want to be.”
"The percentage of eighth graders who have “below basic” reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history—33 percent. The percentage of fourth graders at “below basic” was the largest in 20 years, at 40 percent."
"There was progress in math, but not enough to offset the losses of the pandemic."
In their DEI-influenced wisdom, the majority-minority state board of education in my overwhelmingly white state of Oregon suspended the requirement that a student pass certain proficiency tests in order to graduate from high school. The reason? Why, because proficiency testing "harms" black students. The result is that black grads' proficiency will be in doubt for lack of proof.
Before we get too carried away on Donald's distraction/dumping on "DEI hires" in air traffic control, keep in mind this controller was doing double duty due to chronic staffing shortages at Reagan. This person was managing both planes and choppers, which is not the recommended or customary practice for the air corridor. My question is what does Donald's administration actually plan to do about the real problems afflicting our air travel infrastructure, which is a nationwide concern. Blaming Joe Biden and DEI will not fly. Pun intended.
Just hours prior to the Washington D. C. crash, Thomas Schaller, a Political Science Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, took to X to issue a warning about the hiring freeze. He stated: "An FAA employee I know confirms agency already lacks sufficient air traffic controllers. The so-called 'buyouts' and other attacks on federal employees won't help. Remember that fact when the flight delays (crashes? ) commence and Trumpers start falsely blaming DEI or Biden."
Running a country of 320M might just be more difficult than some think.
Thanks for the link. This was a good article summarizing the sad state of how we get information today, although perhaps I think it’s good simply because it echoes many things that I have been saying for some time (such as the idea that Fox “knowingly lied to its audience”). However, there is one point that I believe he didn’t get completely right. He writes: “This conception of democracy requires two aspects of democratic governance to function in tandem if the system is to survive: government accountability and the availability of accurate information.” I believe that there is a third element here, and that is the requirement that the electorate do at least some work and get their information from multiple sources and (most important of all) THINK about what they have just read (or heard). How much critical thinking does it take to realize that there is no evidence to back up the Q-Anon conspiracy, for example? But instead of approaching the whole idea of Q-Anon with the appropriate amount of skepticism because of the outlandish nature of its claims (the operative mantra should be “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”), too many act as if it’s up to us sane people to prove to them that it’s not true (which, of course, as a matter of logic can’t be done). They have it backwards. And this logic applies to lots of other issues such as The Big Lie or the government being behind January 6.
Just because you can bathe all day, every day in misinformation doesn’t mean that you should.
I find myself hoping (I know, I know) that someone will find some integrity somewhere and vote against confirmation of at least one, even just one would at least be something, of these nominees. They are all unfit to be sure, but could I please get one "No"? Come on! Please?! (A "Hell, no!" would be better than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween combined.)
Anyone interested in looking at the actual data regarding the mid-air in DC might wish to check out the blancolirio channel on YouTube. Preliminary indications are that the DOD helicopter involved was based across the river and was on a training flight. The commercial aircraft was on a stable approach and the helicopter appears to have mistakenly identified another aircraft as the commercial flight it was attempting to avoid. Helicopter and commercial aircraft were both in communication with ATC but not on the same frequency so they could hear ATC but not each other. Classic case of misidentified air traffic and miscommunication, apparently.
I expect the NTSB will issue a preliminary report in the next few days.
Trump coming out of the gate and blaming everyone else following the tragic plane crash, reminded me of Putin's 'flooding the zone' following the accidental shooting down of that Malaysia flight by Russia during the first Crimea war. It's a tactic. For Trump, maybe he panicked, thinking he'd be somehow blamed. (I don't think he's to blame, but I think his instincts by default go to self preservation.) So, first things, he had his people scrutinize the FAA's DEI policies for anything he could use to divert public perception from that. Then he rushed out in front of the camera to game the narrative again.
The democratic senators at the confirmation hearing of Russell Vought decided not to vote because Vought is so dangerous to democracy. How does that make any sense?
Must be the brainstorm of the inept and stupidity of Chuckles Schumer.
Re media: same ole stupidity, day after day.
Just remember their role> increase shareholder value.
A general statement:
At a minimum, in reporting on The Donald, the "free" press should first state that the President elect is a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist. Then give the Trump delusional blabber and/or the media opinion. The last sentence should re emphasize the first sentence that The Donald is a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist.
Re education: School shootings, book bans and the ten commandments in school. No wonder the kids scores are down. Active shooter drills add a little anxiety to the education of our youth. What a great education!
Maybe the MAGApublicans support this work plan because it adds to their cult of buffons and dolts.
The high school Latin got a good workout today. I got most of them, but "in pectore" was a new one on me.
This blaming of diversity for the crash was only slightly worse than 1/6 and Ukrainian treason.
He’s that savage. But the depths to which his loyalists spun it!
JD too? He no longer can be assumed to be”know better”.
Ditto Hegseth and Duffy.
They are so drunk on power and their own psychoses it’s becoming literally deadly to innocents.
We are so ridiculously gone societally. We are going to “function” sure - the stock market will rise, sure. But oh my freaking lord as we enter 250yrs old what is going on?
If they feel they need to feed the beast they created this much, this brazenly, before any facts arise - do they even understand the monster they created.
Was it a factor that we were well below 1/4 moon last night- moon only 1% visible would require extra diligence with night vision equipment.
Oh to have enough Republicans stand up. Maybe the Dems need to be more solicitous and praising of line crossers. Maybe not enough praise of Liz Cheney. I imagine the SNL sketch mashing up the J6 committee and the film, Dirty Dancing:
Reskin? Kinziger more handsome though but he is the same side of tracks as Liz so it doesn’t work as well]
“Sir, nobody puts Cheney in the basement”
[the couple takes the stage]:
“…going to do my kind of dancing with a great partner…not only a terrific dancer but somebody who has taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people, no matter what it costs them. Somebody who’s taught me about the kind of person I want to be.”
[cue music. Vote no on Tulsi and RFK.]
"The percentage of eighth graders who have “below basic” reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history—33 percent. The percentage of fourth graders at “below basic” was the largest in 20 years, at 40 percent."
"There was progress in math, but not enough to offset the losses of the pandemic."
In their DEI-influenced wisdom, the majority-minority state board of education in my overwhelmingly white state of Oregon suspended the requirement that a student pass certain proficiency tests in order to graduate from high school. The reason? Why, because proficiency testing "harms" black students. The result is that black grads' proficiency will be in doubt for lack of proof.
“Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that.”
Genius , Walter. Was the front missing too?
https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM?si=bJEPsr4sF4vjibFJ
Before we get too carried away on Donald's distraction/dumping on "DEI hires" in air traffic control, keep in mind this controller was doing double duty due to chronic staffing shortages at Reagan. This person was managing both planes and choppers, which is not the recommended or customary practice for the air corridor. My question is what does Donald's administration actually plan to do about the real problems afflicting our air travel infrastructure, which is a nationwide concern. Blaming Joe Biden and DEI will not fly. Pun intended.
Why ask silly questions. Trump’s administration is going to do nothing. We all know that. PS. I liked your pun.
The crash wasn't his fault, but:
Just hours prior to the Washington D. C. crash, Thomas Schaller, a Political Science Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, took to X to issue a warning about the hiring freeze. He stated: "An FAA employee I know confirms agency already lacks sufficient air traffic controllers. The so-called 'buyouts' and other attacks on federal employees won't help. Remember that fact when the flight delays (crashes? ) commence and Trumpers start falsely blaming DEI or Biden."
Running a country of 320M might just be more difficult than some think.
Who's responsible?...surprise, turns out its Biden, Pelosi and the Democrats, and a whole bunch of DEI
And my favorite line in all of the OMB nonsense was Leavitt's "Why? To end all confusion created by the court's injunction."
AS IF the confusion was caused by the court's intervention into a chaotic, crazy and totally illegal action by the President!
Read of the day:
https://substack.com/home/post/p-155998561
Thanks for the link. This was a good article summarizing the sad state of how we get information today, although perhaps I think it’s good simply because it echoes many things that I have been saying for some time (such as the idea that Fox “knowingly lied to its audience”). However, there is one point that I believe he didn’t get completely right. He writes: “This conception of democracy requires two aspects of democratic governance to function in tandem if the system is to survive: government accountability and the availability of accurate information.” I believe that there is a third element here, and that is the requirement that the electorate do at least some work and get their information from multiple sources and (most important of all) THINK about what they have just read (or heard). How much critical thinking does it take to realize that there is no evidence to back up the Q-Anon conspiracy, for example? But instead of approaching the whole idea of Q-Anon with the appropriate amount of skepticism because of the outlandish nature of its claims (the operative mantra should be “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”), too many act as if it’s up to us sane people to prove to them that it’s not true (which, of course, as a matter of logic can’t be done). They have it backwards. And this logic applies to lots of other issues such as The Big Lie or the government being behind January 6.
Just because you can bathe all day, every day in misinformation doesn’t mean that you should.
I find myself hoping (I know, I know) that someone will find some integrity somewhere and vote against confirmation of at least one, even just one would at least be something, of these nominees. They are all unfit to be sure, but could I please get one "No"? Come on! Please?! (A "Hell, no!" would be better than Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween combined.)
Anyone interested in looking at the actual data regarding the mid-air in DC might wish to check out the blancolirio channel on YouTube. Preliminary indications are that the DOD helicopter involved was based across the river and was on a training flight. The commercial aircraft was on a stable approach and the helicopter appears to have mistakenly identified another aircraft as the commercial flight it was attempting to avoid. Helicopter and commercial aircraft were both in communication with ATC but not on the same frequency so they could hear ATC but not each other. Classic case of misidentified air traffic and miscommunication, apparently.
I expect the NTSB will issue a preliminary report in the next few days.