politician – BilgeBucket Gazette

Rewind: Supreme Corruption

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the BilgeBucket Gazette. Our first issue was on May 19, 2003 and we’ve been shoveling it to the public, just like the corporate media, ever since. We changed our format to a WordPress blog in 2011 so all of our earlier material was archived. We’ve been reposting many of those archived articles, headlines, photo-toons, BilgeBucket Lists and other content over the past twelve years. In honor of our 20th, and because we’re sick of the current state of affairs in the world, we’ll be reposting more items from 2003 through 2009 throughout this year.

In our last post we recycled a photo-toon showing how corrupt the Supreme Court had become since the 2010 Citizens United decision which gave the rich unfettered power to influence politicians. We had a link to an old post with another photo-toon about the Supreme Court’s corruption which we’ve decided to repost as well.

We’ve already talked about Clarence Thomas’ luxury trips courtesy of conservative billionaire Harlan Crow. It’s come out now that Justice Thomas has been influenced even more by an elite circle of plutocrats. Surprise, surprise! Lawrence O’Donnell gave an excellent commentary about Thomas the other night which is pretty much right on the money, pardon the pun. Is it any wonder that so many Americans have no faith in the Supreme Court. Like we’ve said before, the current Supreme Court is supremely corrupt and the justices who have accepted gifts from wealthy benefactors should resign if they are truly interested in maintaining a judicial system based on ethics and morality.

Poor Plutocrats everywhere are rejoicing now that their corporate lackeys on the Supreme Court have given them control of America. — Plutocrats everywhere are rejoicing now that their corporate lackeys on the Supreme Court have finally given them a voice in the running of America.

Thoughts And Prayers Aren’t Working

Another day, another mass shooting. Ahhhh, America! Memorial Day weekend was celebrated with eleven mass shootings. We’ve commented about the ineptitude of our lawmakers in relation to common sense gun laws numerous times before here over the years. And the cowardly corporate lackeys who call themselves Senators and Representatives are once again trotting out the empty platitudes of ‘thoughts and prayers’ after the deadly Uvalde school shooting last week and the horrendous massacre at supermarket in Buffalo on May 14th. Will these shootings be the ones that will get some gun control legislation passed? Sorry to be pessimistic, but no. This nation has a colossal problem and that is the love of guns is institutionalized in every aspect of our life; media, movies, culture and economy. Our politicians are nothing more than corporate lackeys for weapons industry and the NRA. The term ‘gun fetish’ is very appropriate. We’ve got people in this country who love guns more than life itself. And many of these people are the same ones who state that they are pro-life. The truth is that there are many people in this country who’ve never owned or shot a firearm and are living very happy, healthy, productive lives.

We’re repeating our photo-toon from our February 14, 2020 post. Once more, we say that if you love your guns more than life itself than do not call yourself pro-life. Guns exist to kill, not give life. So, go home and f*ck your guns, you hypocritic assholes.

Here's a handy dandy gun control solution for all those gun enthusiasts out there who love their guns more than life itself. Guaranteed to be a mind-blowing experience! — Here’s a handy dandy gun control solution for all those gun enthusiasts out there who love their guns more than life itself. Guaranteed to be a mind-blowing experience!

Beware The Lincoln Project

There has been a lot of buzz this election season, or as we call it around here, Con-a-thon 2020, because of the caustic, acerbic ads produced on a daily basis by a group called the Lincoln Project. This organization is led by a several so-called Never-Trumpers who oppose America’s Impeached CEO/Dictator Donald Trump that include George Conway, Rick Wilson and Steve Schmidt. All these people are Republicans who supposedly are fed up with the current state of the GOP and have decided to make devastating videos that attack the President. These videos have had a disastrous effect on Trump’s poll numbers and could lead to the Republican’s not only losing the White House but also the Senate. Even we’ve posted links to a few ads.

So, what’s bad about that? Getting rid of this slimeball President and his asskissing Republicans is a good thing, right? Keep in mind that all three of the above people in charge of the Lincoln Project are POLITICAL STRATEGISTS. Also keep in mind that they all VOTED FOR TRUMP, which they don’t really mention a whole lot. It was pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that Donald Trump was ill-equipped to be President in 2016. We even joked about it back in 2012 after Mitt Romney lost the election, when Trump bloviated forth and proclaimed he’d start a revolution. Well, apparently Mr. Conway, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Schmidt have less than half a brain.

Consider this about each one, too, and you’ll realize the whole Lincoln Project just doesn’t pass the smell test. Conway is married to Kellyanne Conway, the President’s Prevaricating Puppet who tries lamely to spin every stupid thing Trump says into a fountain of wisdom. How can this man remain married to this woman? What’s more, As staff curmudgeon Chester Einstein put it, “How can I trust someone who’s married to this little lying con artist?” The whole operation is a kabuki theater of bullshit but yet Americans seem to be fascinated and repulsed at the same time.

Steve Schmidt was famously John McCain’s campaign manager and actually thought it was a good idea to have Sarah ‘Ms. U-betcha’ Palin on the ticket. Should anyone trust what this man says ever? Yet, he’s making the rounds on all the talk shows as the face of the Never-Trumpers and the liberals are treating him like royalty because he dares to stand up to the President. He’s definitely saying the right things challenging Trumpty Dumpty. But it took him until 2018 to speak up. Could it be that Schmidt’s the chosen one in this grand ol’ political theater orchestrated by the GOP who’s playing the ‘reasonable guy’? Sorry, folks; we just don’t trust the guy.

Rick Wilson is the one who tried to tie then Democratic Senator Max Cleland, who was a disabled veteran and silver star recipient, to Osama Bin-Laden and Saddam Hussein all in an effort to help Saxby Chambliss win the Senator seat. The mudslinging worked and Chambliss won. He also tweeted in 2012 a picture of a cooler that proudly proclaimed ‘the South shall rise again’. The Tampa native’s slimy fingerprints are all over many of the Lincoln Projects ads.

The people who run the Lincoln Project are doing nothing more than setting things up for the Republican Party, post-Trump. They are laying the groundwork for politics where devastating hate ads, which may or may not be true, will hold sway over vulnerable people who don’t have the capacity for critical thought or investigating stories on their own. Unfortunately, the negative smear campaigns have worked like a charm in the 21st century. In election after election, Republicans bombard the airwaves with them (i.e. Swiftboating against John Kerry) as Democrats try to take the high road which, unfortunately, has rarely worked. We are actually old enough to remember when elections weren’t all attack ads. Now, with the Lincoln Project, dirty politics will become the norm and a whole new generation of ratf*cking Republicans will slither forward and take over spreading hateful misinformation to every gullible Gus and Gerty around.

In summary: if these ‘noble’ Americans of the Lincoln Project were so concerned about Trump, why didn’t they release the ads in 2016. Trump hasn’t changed. He was just as obnoxious back then. Sane, intelligent citizens should relish that these vile rats are attacking the other vile GOP rats but DO NOT be conned into thinking they’re on your side or you’ll be sorry.

Heads up, Democrats: The effective, acerbic, caustic ads against Donald Trump by the Lincoln Project, headed by George Conway, Rick Wilson and Steve Schmidt, will be used against Democrats for the remainder of the 21st century.

Foolproof Gun Control Solution

The coronavirus has gained the attention of the world recently with more than 65,000 cases reported globally and almost 1,5000 deaths. America’s Impeached CEO/Dictator Donald Trump even took an aggressive stand by issuing travel restrictions with China where the virus originated. But many feel that the travel ban could backfire. While we applaud this act of preparedness, health officials and the CDC say that the flu is much more dangerous and has already claimed 10,000 lives in the U.S. since October.

But there is one deathly scourge that continues to be ignored by the corporate media and the corrupt, conservative Republican corporate lackeys in Congress who continue to look the other way and do nothing. That menace is none other than gun violence. In America, gun violence kills far more people than coronavirus every year (36,000 gun deaths each year with more than 100,000 shot and injured) but yet the corporate media chooses to gaslight us and continue to scare the sheeple with the occasional and over-hyped biological threats. Over-hyped is a strong word but look at the numbers. According to the CDC, 445 people are under investigation in the U.S. for coronavirus. There are about 325 million people in America, so that means that 0.00013692307 percent of Americans have the virus. In China, which has almost 1.4 billion people, there are 60,000 confirmed cases. So, that means that 0.00428571428 percent of the Chinese population have the virus. There are already questions concerning the numbers being reported from Chinese officials.

This is par for the course for the Republicans and their cohorts in the corporate media. Would Trump ever consider signing an executive order banning assault weapons? Are you kidding???!!! The Republicans love using viruses as way to scare the sheeple. Look at the 2014 election, when the GOP announced to everybody that Ebola was coming to get them. Ebola can only be transmitted if you’re in direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, but that didn’t bother the Republicans from lying their asses off to get their permanently scared constituents to vote for them to ‘save the day’. We’ve seen how much more corrupt they’ve become since then with their whitewashing of Trump during his impeachment trial and the complete collapse of the now corrupted Department of Justice.

Since Republicans refuse to do anything about our biggest crisis, we here at the Bucket have a foolproof method of gun control. Sure it’s a bit crude but you know what, so are today’s right wing conservative gun nuts. So, just in time for Valentine’s Day, if you love guns more than life itself:

go home
give your favorite firearm a blow job
bring that gun to orgasm

Or in simpler terms: Go F*ck Your Gun! We guarantee it will be a mind-blowing experience and we might finally be able to pass some decent legislation making America safe and sane again before the next round of mass shootings.

Moscow Mitch; Or Moscow’s Bitch

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a.k.a. Turtle Boy, has been in the headlines a lot lately. Apparently poor little Mitchy doesn’t like his new nickname, ‘Moscow Mitch’, given to him for his refusal to pass election security bills that would ensure Russia doesn’t interfere with the 2020 elections like they did in 2016. Why would anyone, especially a United States Senator, want a hostile foreign nation to interfere with our democratic elections?

Well, Turtle Boy knows that without Russian help, Republicans have no hope of winning. Ever since 1988, Republicans have only won the popular vote in the presidential elections once – that’s right folks – one time(2004). The only reason they’re even competitive in the House of Representatives is because districts are so gerrymandered by GOP controlled states that Republicans have a distinct advantage over Democratic candidates. Even Robert Mueller warned of Russian interference in his recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. The Russians hacked elections in all fifty states in 2016. Furthermore, Moscow Mitch knew about it and still did nothing to stop it in 2016 and he will continue to nothing about it because Moscow Mitch places the Republican party above country.

Moscow Mitch also has dubious ties to Russia in that Kentucky has gotten some pretty sweet deals from Russian oligarchs. Yes, Moscow Mitch has sold out his country for fun and profit and yet he has the audacity to accuse Democrats and media outlets of ‘modern day McCarthyism’. How is this dipshit still getting elected despite an approval rating in the thirties in his home state of Kentucky? Maybe its because voting machine companies donate heavily to his coffers. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen; Corporate America has fixed it so Moscow Mitch gets elected time and time again because . . . you know. . . corporations are people, too. Thanks Supreme Court!

So, poor wittle Turtle Boy better get used to being called Moscow Mitch because he will be called Moscow Mitch up until he loses his seat next November. But fear not; after he loses, at least Moscow Mitch can move to Russia to stay with Vladimir Putin and his Russian oligarch pals.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a.k.a ‘Turtle Boy’, whines about his new nickname 'Moscow Mitch' while his boss Russian President Vladimir Putin suggests a more appropriate moniker. — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a.k.a ‘Turtle Boy’, whines about his new nickname ‘Moscow Mitch’ while his boss Russian President Vladimir Putin suggests a more appropriate moniker.

Top AZ Wingnuts Endorse Trump

We’ve commented before about the dismal politicians in our home state of Arizona(here, here, here, and here for starters). And unfortunately, they keep on delivering the crazy much to the embarrassment of reasonable and sane Arizonans.

There’s the primary election fiasco on March 22nd (we’ve got a photo-toon coming on this one.) Then there’s the obstructionism of Arizona’s senators on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee (we’ve got a couple photo-toons coming on this one, too.) But this post deals with the endorsements of Donald Trump by former governor Jan ‘Skeletor’ Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe ‘Just Call Me God’ Arpaio.

Jan Brewer has never impressed us here at the Bucket. Just take a look at her awful performance in the 2010 gubernatorial debates and you’ll get an idea of her incompetence. She’s like an older, blonder Sarah Palin.

As for Arpaio, he’s been in office so long (since 1992), he thinks he’s not only the law, but that he’s above the law. Now we don’t think Arpaio is all bad. He strongly punishes animal abusers, which is a good thing. And like we’ve said before, the pink underwear and the Tent City thing was a hoot — in the nineties. Arpaio’s schtick has worn thin over the last fifteen years. Now with his support of birtherism, SB 1070 (racial profiling) and being sued for abuse of power and racial profiling by federal prosecutors(which has cost the taxpayers of Maricopa County a whopping $142 million), we think it’s time for Sheriff Joe to ride off into the sunset in true old Western fashion.

We guess it’s no wonder that Arpaio and Brewer endorsed Trump. Look at where the rally for Trump was held prior to the March 22nd primary. Fountain Hills, along with Paradise Valley and North Scottsdale (or Snottsdale as we call it here in these parts), is one of the most exclusive communities in the state and Arpaio lives there. And that pretty much sums up the Republicans motto: exclude everyone except if you’ve got money, you’re christian, you’re white and you accept that because of your fortuitous financial status, you should be able to rule everyone’s life. It’s also not surprising that some protesters got arrested for trying to disrupt the rally. Get used to it America. If Donald Trump becomes President there will be no protesting or free speech. It’s going to be Trump’s way or pink underwear in Sheriff Joe’s Tent City.

Arizona authoritarian demagogues, former Governor Jan 'Skeletor' Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe 'Just Call Me God' Arpaio announce their support for national, authoritarian demagogue Donald Trump for President, who clarifies who is the bigger God in true Donald Trump fashion. — Arizona authoritarian demagogues, former Governor Jan ‘Skeletor’ Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe ‘Just Call Me God’ Arpaio announce their support for national, authoritarian demagogue Donald Trump for President, who clarifies who is the bigger God in true Donald Trump fashion.

The Maverick Corporate Lackey

The majority of the United States Senate tried to pass a constitutional amendment that would overturn the abysmal Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010. The vote went 54-42 with Democrats and Independents in the majority and all 42 Republicans voting to, as New Mexico Senator Mark Udall said, “filibuster this measure and instead choose to support a broken system that prioritizes corporations and billionaires over regular voters.” Yep, that pretty much says it all. Among the Republicans filibustering was Arizona Senator John McCain, who not so long ago was considered a ‘maverick’ on campaign finance reform. We’re Arizonans here at the Bucket and as such we feel we have a right to say this to Senator McCain on his actions concerning this measure.

Senator McCain Sir, YOU SUCK!!!!

Arizona Senator John McCain proves what a 'maverick' he is on campaign finance reform by voting to let corporations give unlimited funds to the corporate lackey...er...politician of their choice.