David...David...David Ignatius on...on...on Mourning Joe:

His…halting…cadence is designed to…to…make you think that he’s carefully…contemplating every nuance of every word. Extremely annoying.

I used to know this guy who spoke that way and one day I said to him: Why don’t you think and consider what you want to say and then, only then, say it, instead of wasting my time while you’re choosing your words.

Phoney, empty vessel. He’s not said one thing ever that any reasonably up to date informed individual couldn’t say, no matter the political viewpoint. Shallow…but…he…speaks…slowly so therefore he’s “learn-ed”.

"We don't know from one minute to the next..." -

“Commentator” on MSNBC.

That’s the first correct statement I’ve heard today. You have not one iota of ability to accurately predict what’s going to happen during and after this trial.

As many here have, I lived through the OJ Trial and listened to hours of this crap spewing out of all these experienced trial lawyers, retired judges, retired DA’s, retired defense attorneys, police, FBI, neighbors, friends, psychologists, psychiatrists, media personalities, OJ teammates, OJ Coaches, sports commentators, real estate agents, DEA Agents, stress-management personnel, probation officers, and many many many others. Did I refer to many others? It was unending. It was a minimum of ten pages per day every day in major newspapers.

And it was all bullshit. It was hundreds of thousands of hours of people who can no more predict the future than Johnny Carson’s Karnak character could and it was an utter and complete waster of time, a ante-historical masturbation of epic proportions. But the amount of advertising sold was astronomical and more people made money in media than ever before.

If you think about it, the number of individual in world history whose name was on everyone in the world’s lips in their era is infinitesimally small. I would begin a list in my awareness as so: Chaplin, FDR, Stalin, Hitler, Eisenhower, Muhammad Ali, Elvis, The Beatles, Obama, and Trump. Of course others may well be suggested such as MLK, Jagger or Mandela but to be frank, I would say that billions of people in the world may have heard their names but have no concept of their significance. AND I AM NOT DENIGRATING THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE LEAST.

The people whom I listed are, or will be, significant chapters in any world history book written in almost any country in the world. AND I KNOW YOU’RE GONNA ARGUE. I UNDERSTAND THIS BUT THUS IS MY LIST. YOU ARE WELCOME TO HAVE YOUR OWN AND PUBLISH IT HERE OR WHEREVER YOU LIKE. (You can tell I’ve posted here before)

Trump is on that list, as is Hitler: he is universally notorious for being a viciously stupidly dangerous force in America and he needs to be marginalized thoroughly. All I can say is thank God he’s not in his forties.

But the difference between Trump and anyone else on that list is that he’s a dope -he’s a mentally deficient uneducated (and I don’t give a shit from where he graduated) moron who is incapable of a coherent stream of thoughts lasting 75 seconds. He is facilitated by a willing populace who identifies with his brazen ignorance and crudity as well as his cruelty.

I could go on and on but I’ll spare you…

My question to New Yorkers or those who closely followed the Gotti trials

Did the court have to be as concerned with juror intimidation and interference in the courtroom and outside as much for the Teflon Don as they do for this miscreant, tinhorn Mussolini/Al Capone? I’m certain there were issues but I doubt if unconnected individuals were a threat, but perhaps I’m wrong.

This is beyond the pale. These people are afraid for their lives from a guy who is running for President.

"Resting his eyes.... RESTING HIS EYES!!???!!????

That did not fucking play in fourth grade. I cannot believe that the on-site reporters are saying that he may be “resting his eyes“.

If President Biden blinks too quickly, they accuse him of being asleep or having a seizure for crying out loud. I’ve never seen the President fall asleep and they’re have been no reports of him doing so in a cabinet meeting or anywhere else other than his bed. I am so fucking mad I could spit.

For your viewing pleasure:

Omg. This is a psychiatry resident:

More details at the linky. This guy is fucking nuts.


A state medical board suspended the medical license of a Philadelphia-based physician last month, saying he posed an immediate danger to public health and safety, state records show.
Tarik Zeid, 32, is accused of assaulting a woman in his apartment, telling her that he has killed people, and saying his preferred weapon was a sniper rifle. The woman later told police that Zeid demanded sex, and choked her when she refused him, law enforcement records show.
Zeid, a doctor completing his training in psychiatry, was arrested in December and charged with aggravated indecent assault, strangulation, terroristic threats, and related crimes. He is awaiting trial with his next court hearing scheduled for June.
Zeid’s lawyer, John Rooney, declined to comment last week. The Inquirer attempted to reach Zeid directly but was unsuccessful.


https://www.inquirer.com/health/pennsylvania-board-medicine-license-suspension-assault-20240415.html

I remember when, during the Gulf War

SCUD missiles rained down upon Israel and there was no retaliation as per the wishes of President GHWB in order that the US could maintain the coalition of the Saudis and the other avowed Israel haters/deniers in order to score a quick military victory over Iraq. In fact, we essentially eradicated their armed forces and could have marched unimpeded to Baghdad but did not for a variety of reasons. The Israelis took it on the chin for the world’s oil supply and other issues which were germane to the world at that time.

I also remember decades prior how the Egyptian army had massed to the west and Jordan and Syria from the east and north were clearly planning a simultaneous invasion of Israel. First on the agenda was the eradication of the Egyptian Air Force which lost their planes for the most part, sitting on the ground. That plus the destruction of the runways neutralized the army because it had no air cover. The Israelis defeated this massive Pan-Arab dream in six days, a work of military art the likes of which had never been seen before.

But the Israelis did let their guard down in 1973 and misread the activities of their enemies and was reeling from an invasion which commenced upon the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar. It is to be noted how careful the US and other Western nations are with respect to Ramadan and Arab sensibilities. The Israelis with reluctant assistance from President Nixon and Henry Kissinger turned back the invasion and learned many lessons. There was a great loss of life in Israel and much was restructured to attempt to prevent a similar occurrence.

Then there was the hijacking of the airline flight to Entebbe, Uganda and it was considered that Idi Amin was going to at the very least see to it that Israelis would be held, tortured, and then killed. The Israelis showed up and every media outlet spoke of the miraculous rescue of everyone, except of course Bibi Netanyahu’s brother Yonatan.

And then there were all the post-Shabbat terrorist bombings and suicide missions as well as bus bombings. How many Sunday mornings did I awaken to a Special Report showing dead bodies and body parts all over the streets and pieces of flesh blown into the walls of buildings?

Israel had war declared upon her literally minutes after her creation in 1948 and it has not ceased. Last night we watched hundreds of launched projectiles and drones not destroy a decent proportion of the country. When it is stated that Iran was just firing warning shots over the bow by announcing their intentions early, their intentions are always known. They want to eradicate not only the State of Israel, but to massacre civilians en masse, and they would do so without hesitation. Israel knows this and has ensured that it shall not happen.

Make no mistake, the attack was launched to kill and destroy and the fact that they utterly failed to do so demonstrates the advanced technology of the Israelis and of the US and Great Britain and the relative incompetence of the Iranians and their proxies. The Israelis, once again, are being instructed to hold back, for fear of a wider war, read: higher gasoline prices. We shall see what happens. Hamas mutilated, tortured, and killed Israelis and somehow the return of the hostages and the surrender of Hamas is rarely mentioned. Iran sent 300 lethal projectiles last night and has been sending rockets via their proxies for decades and Israelis are just supposed to lean back and call it a day. We shall see what happens. In the long run, nothing good for the Iranians I would bet.

I'm gonna go out on a BIG limb here re:the Middle East:

The Hamas attack and horror was designed to manifest the outrage of Israel and they absolutely welcomed the serious warfare waged against them and used the media and some easily-made-queasy folk to turn against Israel and the Jews.

They bided their time until this moment when they felt that they maximized global ill-will against Israel and that the forces were involved in Gaza and have launched an attack against civilian centers and air defenses most likely.

Now when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait we sent 400,000 troops to reestablish the sovereignty of that country. I expect that if Israel is truly threatened, there will be equivalent Hell to pay for the Iranians. I will add that it doesn’t matter one whit what any of us think or feel on this or any other message board. These decisions are made by people who have information and devices of which we know nothing.

The game has changed, and not for the better.

Olbermann's "eulogy" to O.J. Is brilliant:

It’s in the first block here:

https://overcast.fm/+7Jq18-IbI

You will learn much.

Benign almost-funny political joke for the day:

Not great but best I could do:


As I was driving to work one day, I noticed a sign on the side of the road. It said “Republican puppies for sale”. At the time I thought nothing of it.

But, a couple weeks later, I was driving by and it said “Democratic puppies for sale” so I stopped and spoke to the boy that had the puppies.

I asked him why the sign said Republican puppies two weeks ago, but Democratic puppies now.

His answer was priceless: “Well, sir, they have their eyes open now.”