Category: Politics

Trying not to start the public floggings

Wrong Targets

Politics

As Putin’s little adventure continues apace, the retaliation against Russia grows, in various forms, both serious and silly.  The latter is exemplified by stuff like this:

EA is removing all Russia-linked teams from its wildly popular FIFA and NHL video game franchises.

Ouch.  That’ll get the Russkis out of Ukraine toot sweet, you betcha.  As will this:

FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia’s national teams and clubs from international football until further notice due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.  The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year’s World Cup and the women’s Euro 2020 tournament.

That’s going to hurt a little more, because the Russkis are football crazy.  Still, not much in terms of geopolitical leverage.  Then there’s this:

The Haas Formula One team has terminated Russian driver Nikita Mazepin’s contract “with immediate effect” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  The decision comes on the back of F1’s decision to terminate its contract with the Russian GP. That contract had been until 2025.  Haas also ended its sponsorship with Russian company Uralkali, owned by Mazepin’s father.

Now that’s interesting because the F1 cognoscenti  will note that the hapless Nikita was easily the worst F1 driver in years, only getting his seat because his Daddy owns Uralkali, Haas’s largest sponsor.

(As such, Haas may have killed two birds with one stone, so to speak.)

But they announced Mazepin’s termination before they pushed Uralkali away — which I have to admit, made me a tad uneasy.  Granted, Mazepin’s father is a crony of Putin, but it seemed a little like overkill to axe the driver — he wasn’t responsible for the Ukranian invasion, and if we’re going to toss every individual Russian out of their field of endeavor just for being Russian, that seems to me to be wrongheaded, as so many of these blanket actions so often are.

Which brings me to this injustice:

Soprano Anna Netrebko withdrew from her future engagements at the Metropolitan Opera rather than repudiate her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, costing the company one of its top singers and best box-office draws.

Anna who?  This Anna, is who:

But that’s not the relevant part of this.  (As it happens, the 50-year-old Netrebko is not the svelte little thing she was at age 20, but then, who is?)

But all that aside, Anna Netrebko has one of the greatest soprano voices of the past century, and as she’s got older, it has only got better.  Forcing her to quit engagements simply because she “refused to repudiate her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin”  is clearly a bad thing.

Let’s be clear, here, and remember exactly who we’re dealing with:  regardless of her actual sympathies, if she were to come out and say, “This asshole Putin should quit invading Ukraine”, not only would her career end, but there is a good chance that she would be assassinated by the loathsome Unit 29155 for her opinions.

Think I’m exaggerating?  Try this, and this, and this.  Note that none of this took place in Russia:  nowhere in the world is safe when it comes to this criminality.

We should quit being childish about this — it’s not the first time, either;  remember “freedom fries”, FFS? — and while I have no issue with punishing teams or people actually representing Russia, let’s not take out the sins of the country on its innocent citizens, cursed simply by an accident of birth.

Oh hell;  Anna’s also one of the most beautiful women in the world, so why not indulge ourselves?

Stolen Vote!!!

Elections, Politics, Two-Minute Hate

I arrived at the polling station in a good mood, having established beforehand that yes, I was a registered voter and registered to vote in 3rd District TX withal.  Also, I found the address of the nearest polling station and off I went, all ready to cast my primary vote against that little crapweasel Rep. Van Taylor and for the righteous judge, Keith Self.

My good mood evaporated when I got my ballot paper.  There, at the top of the list were three names I’d never heard of before.  So I went back to the polling folks and said, “I think there’s something wrong — these aren’t the 3rd District Republican House candidates.”

“Oh,” came the reply, “you’ve been redistricted into the 4th District.”
“No I haven’t.  I checked on the official TXVote.org website just a couple hours ago, and according to them, I’m registered in the 3rd.”
“Ah,” came the airy reply, “I don’t think the website was updated in time.”

I didn’t do what I wanted to do because I’d left my guns in the car and anyway, I think it may be illegal to destroy those poxy voting machines with gunfire.

So I didn’t vote for any of the strangers, because I don’t know them.  I did, however, vote for the Usual Suspects — Jim Abbot, Ken Paxton and the other top Republican worms, and pretty much nobody else except the names I already knew from previous elections.  (I nearly voted for ex-LTC Allen West instead of Abbott in protest, but he can run again, and then I will.)

I was going to write to the Governor demanding heads on pikes, or worse, for the incompetent assholes who are supposed to do this stuff — aren’t computer systems wonderful? — but I had to allow my wrath to cool, because apparently it’s against the law to say some of the things I was going to say.

Anyway, all has ended well, because the little crapweasel has canceled his reelection campaign, no doubt because he was only going to lose the runoff to Judge Self as more and more voters realized what a little crapweasel he really is.  Strange that in an ultra-conservative district, voters aren’t going to take too kindly to his support of anti-Trumpers and shagging some houri  extramaritally.

Which means that a former LTC and -judge and staunch conservative is going to Washington on our behalf.  I mean their  behalf, because I’ve been shunted out of his district.  I have no idea what the 4th District is all about, and now I know how the Wandering Jew felt.

By the way, in learning about the candidates, I discovered that two of the Democrat nominees are an ex-Californian and ex-Bostonian respectively.  Fuck me, that didn’t take long.

And thankee muchly to the Loyal Readers who emailed me about Crapweasel’s withdrawal.

 

New Blood Needed

Elections

Longtime Readers may remember that I held our former House Rep, the late Sam Johnson (PBUH) in the highest regard, and while I understood why he retired (age, Vietnam POW, etc), I was sad that he did, sadder still when he passed away last year.

He was replaced by a slightly oily little worm whom I’d actually met prior to his election as Mr. Sam’s replacement — but as he was the best of a rather poor bunch, I voted for him.

How times have changed.  Today is primary day, and Van Taylor is being challenged by several Republicans in the Third District.

Just so we’re all clear as to why Taylor’s being challenged, this slimy little RINO voted in favor of the disgusting Jan 6 House Commission (one of two Texas reps, and one of twenty-three Reps nationwide to do so).   He’s proven himself to be a Never-Trumper, and I’m not going to vote for him.  (He’s also been caught bonking some chick in Washington, but I don’t care as much about that as the other stuff.)

Looking over the candidates, former judge and arch-conservative Keith Self seems to have the right stuff:

Infantry Platoon Leader, Special Forces Detachment Commander, Company Commander, as the Executive Officer to a Major General in Egypt, responsible for managing $2 Billion in security assistance.  In addition, Keith served in Joint Staff assignments in US European Command and later in NATO Military Headquarters in Belgium.
During his career, Keith received the Master Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, Special Forces Tab, and held some of the highest level of security clearances. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Upon retiring from the U.S. Army after 25 years of service, Keith ran for and was elected County Judge in Collin County. In that position, Keith stood up for us when others wouldn’t—cutting taxes 25%, defending private property rights, and solving the pension crisis.

See you at the polls today, Judge.

Fed Forces Gather

Government Thugs, Gummint, Resistance

Well, now:

The Department of Defense (DOD) said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the deployments of the guards, which had been requested by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and U.S. Capitol Police (USCP).

“The people who live, work and visit the District are part of our community, and their safety is our first mission priority,” Maj. Gen. Sherrie L. McCandless, D.C. National Guard commanding general, said in a statement to news outlets.

Sure sound nervous about a bunch of truckers, don’t they?  Oh wait:

“Our MPD and USCP partners have asked for our help in ensuring people can demonstrate peacefully and safely, and we stand ready to assist.”

Oh, so they’re going to guarantee the safety of the protesting truckers, are they?  Against whom, precisely?  BLM?  Zombies?  Militant vegans?

Fucking lying bastards.

And since when was the National Guard a “partner” to law enforcement?  (I know, since forever, never mind that pesky Posse Comitatus  thing.)

Anyway, here’s the tally:

The approval will enable around 400 D.C. National Guard members to “provide support at designated traffic posts, provide command and control, and cover sustainment requirements.”

“Sustainment”?  Getting food and such to the protesters?

Guards deployed to the area will not be armed and will not help with law enforcement or carry out domestic surveillance activities.

Pull the other one.  Fool me once, etc.

Austin also approved USCP’s request for assistance for up to 300 National Guard troops from outside the Washington area to help at certain traffic posts and Capitol entry points, Breitbart reports. That will begin later than 7 a.m., on Saturday, February 26, according to Breitbart, who note that 50 large tactical vehicles will also be placed at designated traffic posts on a 24-hour basis in the area.

“50 large tactical vehicles”, eh?  And their purpose is… what, exactly?  How about this:

Police around DC area have told the [National] Guard that the trucker convoy intends to shut down the [DC] Beltway and major roads leading in and out of DC. The Guard is scrambling to secure heavy tow trucks to haul away semis which may try to block roads.

My question (and it’s a serious one):  Are the feds trying to provoke a confrontation?

The evidence seems to support that they are.