Tag Archive for free speech

Wrapped In The Flag; Carrying A Cross

Let’s face it, folks; the year 2020 sucks! The events of the last two weeks (not to mention the last three years) have profoundly disturbed and shook us, which is why we had to recently post some old photo-toons so we could wrap our heads about the ugliness of it all. First, there was the repugnant murder of an unarmed black civilian, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police officers. If you’re any kind of sentient, sane, compassionate, sympathetic human being, the video of the police officer with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck was nauseating to watch. Predictably and justifiably, protests broke out, not only in cities across America but in other countries around the world. Unfortunately, our Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump, decided to play authoritarian strongman and chose to throw gasoline on the fire by egging police and military forces to take harsh actions against any and all protesters. He called for governors in each state to ‘dominate’. It’s kind of ironic that just a couple weeks ago, when the MÆGAMorons protested not being able to get manicures because of the coronavirus shutdown, Trump was all for protesters to liberate their states.

The examples of brutality have become legion in the past week alone. Certainly, the most visible is the one Trump and his droopy-faced hound dog Attorney General William Barr instigated by scheduling a photo-op and sending tear gas into a crowd so Trump could waltz across the street from his White House bunker to St. John’s church so he could hold a bible upside down and proclaim that he’s doing God’s work. Really convincing, eh? Even religious leaders criticized Trump for his using the bible as a prop. Of course, Trump and his fascist gaslighters have denied using tear gas despite the evidence. Also notable at this incident, were several unidentified armored officers. Could these secretive security forces possibly be Trump’s version of brownshirts showing up to enforce the will of dear Leader Trump? It certainly seems like it.

We’ve commented many times about fascism and fascists, especially the prediction credited to Sinclair Lewis that when it comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. We even posted, before Trump was even elected, a handy dandy checklist comparing the NSDAP Party of 1930s Germany with 21st century Republicans. You know why? We’ve read a lot about the subject and when we see similarities we mention them. Like in Naomi Klein’s excellent book, The Shock Doctrine, Trump is following the playbook of authoritarian leaders who shock their own citizens into accepting their ideology and economic world view. The GOP has been planning this for the past twenty years. We even posted about it after Trump’s sham of an impeachment trial; it’s Trump über alles. Trump has been shocking us on a daily basis with a Twitter blitzkrieg for the last three years to crush our will and depress us. And what are the Republicans in Congress doing? They’re letting him get away with it because this is their plan. They’re goosestepping right behind him, pushing through laws that favor corporations and plutocrats while destroying the middle class as Trumpty Dumpty and Fox News, a.k.a. the Republican propaganda network, distract and gaslight us to death. Could these latest acts of authoritarianism and police brutality be the breaking point? We certainly hope so. We must continue to protest this clusterf*ck of a presidency and stand up against authoritarian rule. Fascism is unacceptable in America. Democracy and rule of law are what this country is all about. Freedom of speech is one of our most cherished freedoms. This is a country, by the people for the people; not by the corporation for the corporation. We the people must vote Trump and his fascist cohorts out of office in November!

Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump demonstrates that fascism has arrived in America by sexually abusing a flag (wrapped in the flag) and displaying an upside down bible (carrying a cross).
Impeached CEO/Dictator and petulant man child Donald Trump demonstrates that fascism has arrived in America by sexually abusing a flag (wrapped in the flag) and displaying an upside down bible (carrying a cross).

Money, Guns, Oil Trump Justice


There’s has been much criticism of not only Saudi Arabia lately but also of America’s CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, for tepidly responding to the cover up of the death of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, who was a vocal critic of the Saudi regime and also the Trump regime. The whole situation is very suspicious and definitely points to Saudi leaders knowingly murdering Khashoggi in Istanbul and then obfuscate any kind of justice for the slain journalist.

Our orange haired rage monster president finally acknowledged that the Saudi cover up was completely botched but didn’t seem particularly concerned about who ordered the crime or any serious punishment. Maybe this has to do with all the ambitious business projects Saudi Arabia has planned with the western countries like the United States. If Trump gets too tough in his criticism, that might jeopardize future deals for oil and arms with the enormously wealthy kingdom. It’s also par for the course for Trump, who once again is coddling an authoritarian regime much as he has Russia, North Korea and Philippines leader, Rodrigo Duterte.

As if on cue, senile evangelical preacher, Pat Robertson, entered the fray and decided to give his befuddled two cents worth. He said that the murder of a journalist just isn’t worth ruining the Saudi ties and all those sweet, sweet arms deals. Yes, Yes! That’s exactly what Jesus preached, isn’t it? Money, guns and oil come before everything else in life. We’re sure that Jesus, in retrospect, would solidly approve of Judas taking 30 pieces of silver for betraying him because… you know… money is more important than morality, justice or life itself. Cha-ching!

Capitalist Jesus, who is also very Republican, defends evangelical preacher, Pat Robertson, for defending American CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, for defending the Saudi's cover up of the murder of journalist, Jamal Khassogi, because of the significance of money, guns and oil, which are more important than life itself.

Capitalist Jesus, who is also very Republican, defends evangelical preacher, Pat Robertson, for defending American CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, for defending the Saudi’s cover up of the murder of journalist, Jamal Khassogi, because of the significance of money, guns and oil, which are more important than life itself.

Full On Fascism


America’s CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, has been busy this past week doing more outrageous, inane acts and his Republican cohorts in Congress keep shaking their heads, castigating him about the acts and then sitting on their ass doing nothing like the feckless cowards they are. This kind of complicit behavior is indicative that the GOP not only doesn’t have a problem with Trump, they approve strongly of his actions. Republicans have been wanting to establish permanent dominance over this nation for some time and now they’ve got their authoritarian bully in the White House to make it happen.

Trump and his sycophants at Fox News, a.k.a. the Republican Propaganda Network, have blabbered that a coup is coming by the Democrats using any means possible, like immigration protests. But as usual, Trump lies and deceives. No, the real coup arrived with the 2016 election when the Russians helped Trump and the radical, conservative christian Republicans win so they could stack the courts and jam their narrow minded agenda down not just this nation’s throat but the world’s throat. The Republicans are actively touting the truth as ‘fake news’ and vilifying the press or anyone for pointing out the GOP’s lies and deceptions. Take Trump’s recent Orwellian VFW speech where he told the attendees that “what you’re seeing is not what’s happening”. So, don’t trust your eyes and ears or your even your own thoughts. Believe only what Donald Trump tells you. Wow!!! A free press is vital to a functioning democratic society. But the Republicans are so hell bent on maintaining their power forever that they’re not even faking a tolerance for democracy. The GOP is going full on fascist!

We’ve commented before about Sinclair Lewis’s warning about fascism coming to America: “When fascism comes to America, it will wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Well, it’s here staring us right in the face. We’re basically a corporate oligarchy, a.k.a. the Holy Corporate Empire, where religion, money and big business converge and run our country with no dissent allowed. The only thing sane, educated, intelligent people are trying to do is prevent the United States from becoming an authoritarian, fascist dictatorship with an orange haired madman at the helm. We think that Republicans should review history to see what people did to fascist dictators in the past, i.e. Benito Mussolini during World War II. Our question to the GOP is this: do you really want to follow that disastrous path?

The modern day Republican party has apparently forgotten history and inexplicably wants to pursue the same disastrous path as Mussolini and his fascists did during World War II.

The modern day Republican party has apparently forgotten history and inexplicably wants to pursue the same disastrous path as Mussolini and his fascists did during World War II.

Trump’s New Tough Guy Alliance

The Trump-Kim summit has concluded and there’s some strange and disturbing things that have become crystal clear. One is that, apparently Trump has decided to end our alliance with freedom loving western democracies like France, Germany, Canada and Britain. His disrespect of those countries leaders during the G7 summit couldn’t have been more obvious. Then he proclaimed that Russia should be invited back into the group, again avoiding any kind of bad mouthing of authoritarian Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly repressed free speech and press in Russia as that country’s dear Leader since the 20th century.

Trump’s kind words for Kim Jong Un also brought concern since the North Korean dictator has proven to be a very cruel authoritarian leader in his own country. Trump even said that he wants the people of the United States to treat him the same way North Koreans treat their dear Leader; with awe and reverence. Most analysts conclude that this was clearly a victory for Kim. Trump’s actions have elevated a tin horn dictator to a seat at the adult table with the big boys of the world. So basically, we’ve made North Korea and Russia great and relevant.

So, America’s new tough guy allies are authoritarian dictatorships, North Korea and Russia. These are countries that value only true devotion to their leader and democratic institutions like free speech and freedom of the press are suppressed and punished with extreme cruelty and even death. The fact that so many Republicans are drinking the Kool-Aid and signing up for the ‘cult of Trump’ is truly alarming. Trump is looking more and more like a certain WWII dictator from Germany to us. Please refer to our handy dandy right wing conservative fascist checklist to see for yourself.

American CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, introduces America's swell new allies, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian strongman, Vlad Putin, who are super cool, way funny, bigly sexy and pretty gosh darn tough.

American CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, introduces America’s swell new allies, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian strongman, Vlad Putin, who are super cool, way funny, bigly sexy and pretty gosh darn tough.

Trump’s Newspeak Lackeys

America’s CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump, continued his assault on democracy and the freedom of the press with his whining about all the ‘fake news’ media outlets who have the utter nerve to broadcast his ludicrous, insipid, asinine, daily statements. And then our mendacious, duplicitous liar-in-chief has the audacity to say the media makes him look bad.

But what is really Orwellian is the fact that Sinclair Broadcasting Group has recently sent out to its news affiliates scripted news that news anchors must read; if they don’t…they’re fired. Sinclair Broadcasting Group is a extremely conservative and extremely aggressive in pushing its agenda on America. John Oliver did an outstanding piece on them last July. It’s no surprise that they’re taking the Fox News (a.k.a. Republican Propaganda Network) route and blatantly calling any news which is critical of our orange haired man-child, as being fake news.

This latest stunt by Sinclair is frightening because it shows the right wing media outlets are moving us more and more in the direction of Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine (also very right wing) which so effectively and brutally killed any kind of free speech and free press, which are cornerstones of our democracy and separates us from authoritarian regimes like Russia and China. We find it ironic that for eight years, conservative Republican outlets like Fox News vilified, mocked and derided President Obama at every turn and yet Obama let them exercise their right to free speech. He didn’t threaten them or call them names. Now that Trump’s in charge, nobody can criticize him. Of course, Fox did the same thing when ol’ Dubya was the decider (if you’re not for Bush, you’re for the terrorists). The Republicans who allow this disgrace of a presidency to continue will hopefully be bitch slapped this fall by the voters. Then, maybe, just maybe, Trumpty-Dumpty will finally have his great fall.

A local Sinclair Action McNews team warns viewers of fake news while touting the totally not fake news awesomeness of American CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump

A local Sinclair Action McNews team warns viewers of fake news while touting the totally not fake news awesomeness of American CEO/Dictator, Donald Trump.

Ajit Pai = A Shit Pie

The assholes keep coming out of the woodwork in the Trump administration. The latest jerk is none other than FCC chairman former Verizon lawyer, Ajit Pai,(or as we’re crudely calling him from now on, Ashit Pie, who this week brought an end to net neutrality and quite possibly will change how the Internet works in the future. Pie and his stupid, big ass coffee mug (because bigger is always better, folks), commented in the snarkiest way possible that the end of net neutrality will provide us with more freedom, which is corporate talk for even more profits for mega-rich telecom giants like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T and less bang for the buck for the average consumer and complete devastation for small businesses. He even produced a repulsive YouTube video (which we’re not going to provide a link to: FU Ashit Pie!) promoting all the things you can still do on the Internet, like gramming their food. Mark Hamill even slammed Ashit Pie for wielding a light saber in the video because a Jedi ‘would never enrich giant corporations’.

The surprising thing here is that the vast majority (83%) of the American public, covering the whole political spectrum( 75% of Republicans, 86% of Independents and 89% of Democrats), are in favor of keeping net neutrality regulations. You would think that most politicians on both sides of the aisle would be pushing to reinstate the laws. This opens the door for broadband providers to possibly throttle content based on politics, thus jeopardizing freedom of speech. It says in the Constitution that the general welfare of the United States citizenry should be promoted, not the coffers of a few already wealthy individuals. The Obama administration was right when it viewed the Internet as a public utility. In the 21st century, it is a basic part of every American’s life. Everyone should have access and all traffic should be treated equally just like electricity or water for our homes or phone calls. But thanks to corporate lackey Republicans, the American public is getting screwed once again.

No matter what happens, Ashit Pie is now one of the most hated persons in America behind pharma bro Martin Shkreli and just about everyone else in the Trump administration like Scott Pruitt, Mike Pence, Rex Tillerson, Stephen Miller, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin, Jared Kushner…sweet freaking Zeus, the list goes on and on and the swamp just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger… One thing’s for sure: Ashit Pie is one massive DICKHEAD! 

FCC chairman, big mug aficionado and colossal DICKHEAD, Ajit Pai, a.k.a. A Shit Pie, explains to a consumer peon how awesome freedom from regulation will be much to the delight of a nearby plutocrat telecom stockholder.

FCC chairman, big mug aficionado and colossal DICKHEAD, Ajit Pai, a.k.a. Ashit Pie, explains to a consumer peon how awesome freedom from regulation will be much to the delight of a nearby plutocrat telecom stockholder.

Take A Knee America

We’re back from our longer than expected respite from TFS(Trump Fatigue Syndrome)…for how long, we don’t know. Under normal circumstances, with a normal President, not that much would have happened in a month. But America’s CEO/Dictator Donald Trump does more stupid things in a month than most people do in a lifetime. Add to that the incompetence, cowardice, corruption and greed of the Republicans in congress, the invisibility of the Democrats, and the normalization of the right wing by the corporate media and we just don’t have much hope left for this country. We just may fold up our tent and move to a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific, far away from the selfish, egotistical, greedy, ultra-materialistic, ultra-competitive assholes who now seem to proliferate and run this country.

We’ve got some posts readied for the hurricane responses, but first we’ll take a look at the ‘feud’ between Trump and the NFL over players taking a knee during the national anthem, which culminated with Vice President and modern day Puritan Mike Pence leaving the stadium during the Colts-49ers game because some of San Francisco’s players kneeled during the national anthem in protest of racial discrimination in America. Trump admitted that this was a planned stunt. Not only that, but the cheap political stunt was at the taxpayers’ expense. We don’t care much for the NFL or any professional sports for that matter. Both the owners and players make WAY too much money and have WAY too much influence on modern culture. But that being said, players have the right to kneel in protest because…THIS IS AMERICA. We have a thing here which separates us from other countries called freedom of speech. The players were kneeling as a way to draw awareness to racial discrimination which still plagues this country. Their protest in no way was to disrespect the flag or those who fought for it. But the poor ‘widdle’ rich guys in the NFL executive front offices and the poor ‘widdle’ rich guys in the Republican party see it as an affront to their authority, which in their puny, narrow minded, conservative mind set is absolute. I mean how dare any one with less money criticize the actions of the people in charge. Of course, they had quite a different opinion during the Obama era.

Well if Trump and Pence are so sensitive to people taking a knee, we wonder what would happen if all of America took a knee during the national anthem. Would they leave the country? Hey, it’s worth a try, folks. We have no doubt, Trump and Pence could crash with their pal Vlad in Russia.

Maybe if all Americans took a knee during the national anthem, easily offended American CEO/Dictator Donald Trump and his Puritan Vice President Mike Pence would leave the country and stay with their old buddy Vlad Putin in Russia.

Maybe if all Americans took a knee during the national anthem, easily offended American CEO/Dictator Donald Trump and his Puritan Vice President Mike Pence would leave the country and stay with their old buddy Vlad Putin in Russia.

Pepe Trump’s War On Truth

American CEO/Dictator Donald ‘Pepe’ Trump started a war on the press when he was a candidate. He proclaimed that he was the only one America could trust and that the media was biased against him. The sheeple who voted for him bought his bullshit hook, line and sinker. What’s amazing is that it’s been two years since Trump officially started campaigning for President and some people are still buying his bullshit; that’s he’s the bastion for truth, justice and the American way. He’s claiming that the press, especially CNN, is out to get him and that the real enemy of the people is the media.

This is just rinsing and repeating for the GOP. They did the same thing during the Bush administration led by the ‘truth warriors’ at Fox News, a.k.a. the Republican propaganda network (at least Fox has dropped their ridiculous slogan ‘fair and balanced’.) Rush Limbaugh has made a career of railing against the ‘liberal media’ conveniently overlooking the blatant lies that he and other right wing ‘journalists’ promote as the truth.

Trump’s war on the media is insidious and incredibly dangerous for a free society. Freedom of the press is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. Everything Trump has said and done so far in his presidency has brought nothing but doubt and derision upon him from sane people, which explains why his approval ratings are so low. We have no doubt that Pepe will continue croaking his ‘fake news’ diatribe and we have no doubt that his acolytes will continue to bask in it and enable him like the sheeple they are.

When you want fake news and a never ending supply of bullshit, who you gonna call? PEPE TRUMP!!!

When you want fake news and a never ending supply of bullshit, who you gonna call? PEPE TRUMP!!!

Free Speech: But Only For Sycophants

American CEO/Dictator Donald Trump has made no secret about his admiration for authoritarian leaders throughout history and in modern times. He has openly praised dictators like Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, and Philippines leader Duterte. Maybe that’s because being a CEO of a corporation is like being a dictator on a much smaller scale. Which is why the Republican line that we need to make America more like a corporation is completely contrary to the actual democratic process. Corporations aren’t democracies. Nobody has say so except the CEO, the board of directors and the stockholders, who are only interested in making a profit.

Which brings us to some dangerous dialogues and actions that have popped up recently that nobody noticed because of the propaganda flak machine operating from the White House. First, Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus intimated that Trump was thinking opening up libel laws which would allow the President to sue the press for what he thinks is unfair coverage. This would mean shackling the right to a free press which is guaranteed in the Constitution and sets us apart from other countries on this planet.

Then take the odd case of a person getting fined and jailed for laughing at Confederate Attorney General Jefferson Sessions during his confirmation hearing. WTF!!!! Are you kidding us???!!! These Republicans complain all the time about liberals being so PC and so sensitive and yet they are even more thin skinned. They can dish it out but they can’t take it. The only way they can ‘win’ is by suppressing the voices of their opposition. That isn’t democracy. That’s fascism. Like Teddy Roosevelt said, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

Teddy Roosevelt said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

Contrary to current ‘President’ Donald Trump, one of the greatest Presidents in American history, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, acknowledged that it is morally treasonable to the American public to disallow criticism of the President.

America: Now Serving Nazis

One of the more disturbing appointments new CEO/Dictator Donald Trump has made has been the naming of former executive chair of the far right wing news site Breitbart.com, Steve Bannon, to the post of chief strategist for the Trump adminstration. He was also the CEO of Trump’s campaign and is widely viewed as a white supremacist, racist, anti-semite, who has promoted far right wing Nazi-esque theories and the alt-right movement while at Breitbart.

Bannon is already making headlines after telling the press to “keep it’s mouth shut” last week. The authoritarian Nazi in this dangerous man is coming to the surface already and it’s only the second week of Trump’s administration. You can see his influence in the Muslim Ban that Trump just signed. He even once called for a christian holy war a few years ago. There’s a reason that Neo-Nazis and white supremacists love him.

To make things even worse, Trump promoted him to the National Security Council a few days ago. So this man, who hates everyone who isn’t a white, christian male, is going to be making policy and be Trump’s right hand man. Not only that, he’s making sure that there isn’t a paper trail documenting the decision making process. America, who once fought against Nazis in World War II, now has a Nazi sympathizer in a very influential position in a modern American President’s administration. The brave men and women who fought and died against fascism during WWII must be rolling over in their graves.

Trump's chief strategist and fun loving Nazi, Steve Bannon, declares that the press must stroke The Leader, Trump's massive ego and they must like it.

American CEO/Dictator Donald Trump’s chief strategist and fun loving Nazi, Steve Bannon, redefines freedom of the press, fascist style.