Ranting

Ranting https://www.dailykos.com/news/Ranting News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Sun, 26 Jan 2020 09:45:07 +0000 Sun, 26 Jan 2020 09:45:07 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) trump: ‘I Never Understood Wind’ https://www.dailykos.com/story/2019/12/23/1907485/--trump-I-Never-Understood-Wind Another incoherent rant from the windbag-in-chief: “I never understood wind,” Trump said. “I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody. I know it is very expensive. They are made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none, but they are manufactured, tremendous — if you are into this — tremendous fumes and gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right?” <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-attacks-windmills-in-speech-to-conservative-group-i-never-understood-wind/ar-BBYfIpV?ocid=spartandhp" target="_blank">The rest of it on MSN.</a> <blockquote> </blockquote> rss@dailykos.com (El Mimbreno) Incoherent Ranting Recommended trump trumprant Wind windmills _1907485 Mon, 23 Dec 2019 14:20:05 +0000 A rant: my ex-friend, the parking ticket, and a symbolic tale of white, evangelical rage https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/5/8/1762893/-A-rant-my-ex-friend-the-parking-ticket-and-a-symbolic-tale-of-white-evangelical-rage I have an ex-friend who is a Reagan-Republican. We mostly did well in our friendship over the years because politics were not such a divisive sport; as it is today. Though we were cordial, I had difficulty understanding my friend and his Libertarian angst. Now, with our country tap dancing to songs of deeply felt fascism and the rise of uber-Jackwagons, I am no longer friends with my old pal. I remember vividly vacationing with my old pal and his family in California. During lunch, my friend received a parking ticket for parking illegally in a non-parking spot. He tore up the ticket and threw it away, because it was unjust for the government to fine him and where he wanted to park. I drove away with my family, listening to the questions my children had about his behavior. None of us really understood. Meanwhile, my old pal is a devout Christian living in a $½ million-dollar home, sending his kids to private Christian school; they have all since graduated. He really prayed the Prayer of Jabez for a long period of time, praying for wealth for his family. In the end, I don’t think anything would make my old pal happier than to live on a ranch in Texas next to George Bush. It’s not so much about the ranch with my pal, it’s the whole narrative that he is bought into that matters, the need to be perceived by a body of Christian peers as righteous, that he passes muster. He is in the nexus of evangelical, saved, ranch living, gun supporting, do whatever I want, small government, blessed fabric of America. Of course, I question all of this. In my mind, it’s a failure to think long-term and rationally that places people in this camp, this nexus. We all confirm our own biases, do we not? We gravitate toward what we want to hear and how we want to live, but too little do we consider what we ought to hear and how we ought to live. There once was a time when great minds and even feeble minds spent time considering how one ought to live and what one’s obligation to neighbor ought to be. In all of my reading over the years from the greatest minds, I rarely recall a historical moment when the great minds cemented an axiom such as: make money at all cost, externalities be damned. They didn’t. We have not lived in a such a time as this where the profit making motive has so thoroughly captured society and the great questions of our time- how we ought to live and treat others- have come to matter little, or not at all. Everything in society has become a parking ticket that must be ripped up, the imposition of such nonsense into our lives by a government that means to harm us... As I continue to watch this train wreck of a presidency and all the negativity that flows from it, I have come to realize that my old friend was the early archetype, tame by comparison, of the 2.0 version that are arising on political landscapes across the country. One thing stands out, while there are several radicals rising on the right, I can’t help but to notice that they are, in the main, wealthy businessmen, usually white, and egotistical as all get out. While they may encapsulate religious dogma to their political advantage, the underlying premise of their quest for power is based on the desire to do what they want, when they want, and how they want to do it, without any interference, in the realm of profit making. My ex-friend and his real pain in being cited with a parking ticket for validly parking illegally, is a small story, a symbolic tale, that expands to capture what is going in our society. Old white-assed, business-men are angry as hell (and they are not going to take it anymore, yada yada...) because in the end, they want to do what they want to do and there are restrictions placed upon them. In this way, we see Trump really as the deity of free-markets and, childish grown men who have not grappled with the real questions in life, how a man ought to live and how a man ought to treat other people. The politics of today, the discourse, is really the acting out of a huge temper tantrum, that of a small, egotistical child who is not getting what he wants. We all see it in Trump. I saw it in my old friend. I see it in Joe Arpaio, I see it in Blankenship, et al. There are two narratives playing out, and both are valid. The Republican narrative, represented by my friend, and the Progressive narrative, that government is just and valid and taxes and regulations are appropriate for a civil and just society; necessary even. Of course, it’s much more complex than this, but let’s not ruin a good paragraph with detail, yeah? I side with socialist and progressive tendencies as I believe they lead to a more equitable, egalitarian, and community-oriented society. Let me be clear, I do not agree with authoritarian, centralized government, i.e., state communism. That’s not what I would argue for. If we looked at metrics across society for all classes of people- education, health care, happiness, home ownership, incarceration rates, wealth, savings, debt- we would find that wealth is increasingly being funneled to an increasingly smaller number of people, while more and more people are struggling. This is fact. On this account, I don’t worry about the future because it will necessarily be self-correcting. At some point, a critical mass will be met and if democratic government and elections are still valid, the people en masse will finally vote their own interests. This will be especially true as the middle-class continues to erode (correlated with decreased union activity) and once and finally, the middle-class realizes they have been had by the elite. So yeah, this is all a rant, but I needed to do some writing. It’s good for me to write, though I may ramble. rss@dailykos.com (dogmah) Politics ProgressiveThought Ranting Recommended Writing _1762893 Tue, 08 May 2018 19:56:42 +0000 And this is the best they can do......Seriously? https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/10/6/1704687/-And-this-is-the-best-they-can-do-Seriously FAKE NEWS!!!!! GET YOUR FAKE NEWS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only things missing are a soapbox, megaphone, and a flock of pigeons to shit on her. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m really fucking tired of the lies, disinfomation, misinformation, fabrications, half truths, and worst of all the “ommissions”. Where you “forgot” to tell the truth about things. Those that shriek the loudest are the biggest liars. There are currently an assload of them in the west wing. That place put out more bullshit than 100 feed lots. We are way past the time to offer these people any kind of respect. I do not care what position, authority, money, power, influence, or connections they have. You won’t speak the truth so you don’t get the respect. It really is that simple. Do your job. Tell the truth about what you’re doing and why you are doing it. I know why you can’t do it. So does every other American with a lick of sense in his or her skull. The politicians are OWNED by other people. It all revolves around money. Who has it, who doesn’t, who wants it, who needs it, and will they betray the people and the constitution to get it. Those who play the game are in the majority right now. The question is are we going to let them keep this up or not? So now you know an’ i’m gunna go...oh. Stat details under the pictures. LPM = Lies per minute, TR = Truthiness Rating, BQ = Believe-ability quotient, IntI = Integrity Index When the LPM is high there is too much bullshit being pedaled about for any of it to even think that some of it might be mistaken for the truth. TR, BQ, and IntI are all rated on a 10 point scale. 10 is a perfect score. Since you are at least able to think critically in order for you to get this site I’m quite certain you can figure out the rest. Now for you poor republican trumpie dumb fucks who followed this FAKE NEWS thinking Donny was gunna whoop ass on those retards an’ morans in the media an stuff. This is a scary place where thinking is encouraged. We like and embrace all kinds of people, even gay POCs. I know it scary crazy shit to you, but I gotta ask how you know about all that perverted shit that just came out of your mouth? The preacher told you? Liar. Then again, maybe not. Ever wonder how a preacher learned about all that? rss@dailykos.com (flycaster) Liars Ranting trump _1704687 Fri, 06 Oct 2017 14:35:12 +0000 I'm not laughing with you, Chuck Todd https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/9/16/1571125/-I-m-not-laughing-with-you-Chuck-Todd Hey, Chuck: I have never felt like vomiting while watching television before, but watching you tonight on "Meet The Press"....you did it, pal. I felt the anger boiling and then the bile rising. You went through a litany of what happened in the Presidential race this week and then threw up your hands wondering 'what is this race even about anymore'? Hahahaha. Yeah, Chuck, it's just fucking HILARIOUS that you and your fellow "journalists" have turned a Presidential race into a low-rent reality show. It's fucking HYSTERICAL that you've hoisted a carnival barker to within striking distance of having first strike capabilities. It’s so funny. It is. Just hilarious. You lament this race isn't about issues? That it's about chaos? It's because people like YOU want it that way. Guess what Chuckles, Donald Trump shouldn't be the one calling the shots over what is aired and talked about--YOU should be calling those shots. That's what an actual, you know, journalist would do. But you don't want to make this a fair race about issues. You WANT chaos, because you want ratings. And I'm getting the feeling you really, really want a President Trump, too. Chuck is it really funny to you that a white nationalist racist is so close to being the most powerful man in the world? Does it just tickle your little funny bone that the Klan and neo-Nazis are now running around this country spewing their bile with new fervor? Do you think it's entertaining that some of us literally fear for our lives if we express support for Hillary Clinton in public because the Klan guy down the block now feels free to do whatever he wants to us? Feels free to do that because of the rise of Trump? Do you find it worthy of a huge, mirthful laugh that a man who openly admires a dictator is this close to being President? Is it a laugh riot that Trump keeps up his subtle/not subtle calls for one of his followers to take a shot at Mrs. Clinton already? Is that just comic relief to you? Chuck, this race may be funny for you and your panel, but for many of us it's deadly serious. YOU have turned it into a carnival. YOU have spent more time dragging Mrs. Clinton through the mud then you have delving deeply into Trump's problems. YOU and your fellow "journalists" are the ones who have turned this race into chaos. Not Trump. You. You allow it, you encourage it, you feed it, you love it. I'm sure the whole thing is hilarious when you're an entitled, rich, white man. Those of us who aren't...the minorities, non-Christians, immigrants, the disabled, those of us with a conscience ...we ain't having so much fun. You make me sick you sorry excuse for a journalist, and I hope you're the first one on the chopping block when Fuhrer Trump goes after the press. (Although, you're such a spineless, rudderless toad you'd probably change your name to Goebbels and get heavily into making "documentaries" if Trump asked you to). I'll be off now to block MSNBC from my channel line-up. (Sorry. Just had to get that out somewhere). EDIT: Wow. Number one, I really didn’t think anyone would even see this let alone read it, so thank you! Number two, I have a message asking I take another look at today’s MTP show. I did. I still see and hear people laughing. I still see Chuck just wondering what in the world is going on, etc etc. Well, here is what is going on Chuck...what is Donald’s race about? Xenophobia, racism and sexism. It’s still all about what it’s always been about. And if you’d like Donald to elaborate on what his race about, why don’t you in the media hold his feet to the fire on it? Why don’t you show a little count-down clock showing how long it’s been since Donald had a real press conference, where he was asked real questions, with follow-ups, and he wasn’t allowed to filibuster his way out of it. There are a lot of things the media could do regarding Donald, and not one of them includes treating this all like an episode of The Real Housewives of a Political Campaign. Thanks again, guys! Just having DKos helps a lot of us get through these election seasons when we live in places where we’re totally out-numbered and truly afraid of our Trump supporting townfolk. rss@dailykos.com (mkidd) ChuckTodd Ranting Recommended _1571125 Sat, 17 Sep 2016 00:54:47 +0000 Stories at the Inn https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/3/8/1369399/-Stories-at-the-Inn <img align="left" width="300" hspace="5" src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc143/rserven/hate4b1.jpg" border="0" alt="Hate 4 photo hate4b1.jpg" />Today's offering was written shortly before the Christmas of 2008.  Let me stir your memory jut a bit by reminding you that President-elect Obama had chosen to have Rick Warren deliver they invocation at his Inauguration, which the LGBT community considered to be a huge slap in the face. I had been looking for a hook or two on which to hang my weekly Friday column.   The snow was blowing and the wind was howling.  It was going to be a dark and stormy night. The graphic is called Hate 4, from my Colors of Hate series. rss@dailykos.com (rserven) Activism Hate Ranting Transgender _1369399 Sun, 08 Mar 2015 23:00:16 +0000 Impossible to Publish https://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/3/31/1264964/-Impossible-to-Publish Ranting and raving about the constant working circle (yellow) is useless. rss@dailykos.com (MikeQ2) Diaries edit Ranting _1264964 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 19:28:46 +0000 Street Prophets: Rant on! https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/9/18/1239648/-Street-Prophets-Rant-on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/90099258@N08/9794489903/" title="Fall on the lake by BluJes, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7339/9794489903_776f9e7fcb_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Fall on the lake" /></a> ©BlueJessamine.     <table> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFF99">Welcome to the Wednesday Coffee Hour here on Street Prophets. This is an open thread where we can talk about what’s going on in our worlds. Everyone is welcome to discuss all topics of conversation and to post photos. Pull up a seat and share! </td> </tr> </table> rss@dailykos.com (BlueJessamine) Astrology BreastCancer Community Friendship KingHenryII Kossacks Lake Love LoveRelationships Meet up Meetup NewDay Photography Rant Ranting strategies Street Prophets StreetProphets TheLionInWinter venting _1239648 Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:12:07 +0000 We don't need no stinking commissions https://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/4/25/969993/-We-don-t-need-no-stinking-commissions After reading another plan by the administration to create yet another commission to study what to do about federal spending, I'm left wondering: why? Why do our elected officials want to forestall the issue of ramming through a solution by creating "study groups" and "commissions" and whatever other name for a group of people that will talk themselves into the chair's already predisposed conclusions? rss@dailykos.com (kjlopey) Commissions Debt Economics Ranting _969993 Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:59:20 +0000 Dear President Obama...You Promised John Stewart a Pony! https://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/9/874285/-Dear-President-Obama-You-Promised-John-Stewart-a-Pony I have been on a media fast for the past few weeks.  No cable news, no internets, no nothing...  I needed to finish working on a writing project that I had put off for too long.  I have to admit to cheating by watching my local news here in Chicago.  So it wasn't a complete media fast... rss@dailykos.com (mka193) BarackObama John Stewart JohnStewart ponies President Obama Ranting _874285 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:46:35 +0000 What is up with Chris Mathews https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/11/803529/-What-is-up-with-Chris-Mathews Chris Mathews seems gleeful...more after the fold rss@dailykos.com (acramer) Chris Mathews ChrisMathews NARL Ranting _803529 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:00:43 +0000 Is It A Holocaust? https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/1/788636/-Is-It-A-Holocaust Since Congressman Grayson spoke his now famous words comparing the loss of life in the healthcare crises to a holocaust I have heard many on both the left and right denounce his choice of words.  But I wonder, is it not a holocaust?  Can it be in the most true sense of the word A Holocaust, An Offering?  I admit I had to google the meaning to be sure.  I grew up in L.A. in a mixed race neighborhood and always had Jewish friends and I always believed that holocaust meant the genocide against Jewish Europeans.  Later on I picked up that it meant a religious offering and when I studied catholicism and read the bible I understood the original meaning a little better.  A sacrifice, an offering.  I learned something else in my catholic studies.  We were taught to offer our sufferings up to god.  To make our sufferings a gift to Jesus who suffered so much on our behalf.   Maybe it can be a holocaust.  But what are we sacrificing and to whom? rss@dailykos.com (stevie avebury) Health Insurance HealthCare HealthInsurance holocaustsacrifice Ranting Rescued _788636 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:09:28 +0000 I Just Fired my Yoga Teacher https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/7/622518/-I-Just-Fired-my-Yoga-Teacher Ok, the title is misleading.  I had been taking yoga from a particular instructor since 2003 and we had developed a bit of a friendship; we had gone on bike rides together, walks, etc. So today after yoga class, I walked down to the car with her and the subject of politics came up.  And a friendship ended. More below the fold rss@dailykos.com (onanyes) Barack Obama BarackObama Friendships Hillary Clinton HillaryClinton John McCain JohnMcCain PUMA Ranting venting venting. _622518 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:40:57 +0000 Economic Patriot Act https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/23/607693/-Economic-Patriot-Act George Bush may have been asleep behind the wheel; he may have ignored the ample warnings that Al Qaida was poised to strike US targets but his administration had already constructed the elaborate Patriot Act and was ready to go as soon as it was politically feasable. Running the country like a perpetual campaign, the Republicans were able to use a war that happened to them define what America stood for- what it stood for was strong Republican hawks ready to defend America. rss@dailykos.com (cc99999) Ranting _607693 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:37:35 +0000 The unfair world of airfares https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/13/597594/-The-unfair-world-of-airfares So I'm looking at a flight yesterday from my hometown airport, to London and then from Belin back home. This will be my great, European vacation for 2009. I'm so pumped! Excited!...all because I found a great (I thought) airfare. Total: $1029. Today, however, the same flight is going for $125 dollars more. It went up overnight! Not the cost of the ticket, but the fuel surcharge and taxes. So....do I book now before it goes up again? Or has what happened to me just another example of Hurricane Ike gouging? Just like our gas here in Nova Scotia jumped by  12 cents a litre on a day when it isn't allowed to jump?? We have regulation here, prices are set at Midnight Thursday. But no...our prices went up last night! I, of course..have an empty tank. rss@dailykos.com (MsLibrarian) AirFares Big Oil BigOil Ranting raving _597594 Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:09:10 +0000 New England Small-Town Politics: A Rant https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/24/541099/-New-England-Small-Town-Politics-A-Rant Allow me to preface this diary by saying that this is something of personal interest to me, as well as being a bit of (hopefully) relevant social and political commentary, so I apologize in advance if it seems a bit emotionally charged. I was witness last night to some rather terrible political shenanigans in my hometown of Winsted, CT.  For those who don't live in Connecticut, or who didn't follow the news a couple of summers ago, Winsted is a small mill town in Litchfield county of about 10-12000 people, mostly blue-collar.  Last night was the second town meeting to try and pass a budget for fiscal year 2008-2009.  The original budget proposed by the board of selectmen was defeated in referendum last month, which meant that the budget would be adjusted by the board, then brought before the town at a town meeting again, where residents could propose cuts, which could be voted upon by those residents in attendance.  Unfortunately, by the town charter, additions cannot be made at a town meeting, only cuts.  Additions have to be made by the board of selectmen at their meeting. rss@dailykos.com (Shadowmage36) Budget Connecticut Education Personal Ranting smalltown Winsted _541099 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:21:30 +0000