Midnight Meme Of The Day!

-by Noah

To some, the kneeling football player thing is tired. Some see it as a distraction or even a diversion from "bigger issues." I don't see it that way so I'm posting about it again. To me, the story gets to the core of what Señor Trumpanzee is, a sadistic, racist psychopath who seeks out every opportunity to inflict pain upon others. Case in point: His obsession with undoing anything his predecessor did; anything, even if it benefited the health of American citizens, our reputation with our allies, the lives of our allies, or even our own national security. Even his tax plan is sadistic towards those he looks down upon and has cheated all his life in that it raises the taxes of working class families while cutting the taxes of those in his own bracket by 4% or more, while also cutting estate taxes for only the very wealthy.

Trump and his wingnut supporters see NFL players kneeling as a chance to do one of those things they most love to do, i.e. put down African-Americans who dare to make an effort to defend themselves from injustice, even death. Trump's supporters lie about the kneeling having something to do with insulting "the flag," "the anthem," or "the troops." Some of them may even believe that, having rationalized their bigotry into a cover story that makes them feel righteous. There's a ton of irony in that. After all, one of the key reasons the players are doing what they are doing is that bad cops have been doing the ultimate put down of African-Americans, with their guns. In denigrating the protests of the players, the wingnuts are protesting those who protest racism. That's not surprising. Republicans enjoy their racism. They embrace it as a motivating force in who they are. So, of course, they protest those who kneel. How dare anyone protest against racism! The severely mentally ill Donald Trump knows this. He knows who and what his supporters are. They are him. His money is just a different wrapper.

For this reason, the story of NFL players taking a knee during the pre-game playing of the national anthem is not a tired story to me. We can't let Trump's propagandistic message about this issue be one-sided. From Trump's continuing tweeting about it to his Mike Pence stunt, it gets to the essence of what a divisive cancer Trump is for our country. And, for him, it's not just about having yet another opportunity to wave his racist freak flag, the flag that means so much more to him than our country's stars and stripes.

There's even more behind Trump's attacks on NFL players. He is also attacking the NFL itself, trying to turn his wacko supporters against the league. Why? Yes, he can use it all to rally his "very fine people", but it's also a very personal thing for him to attack the NFL as a whole. It's not just the players, it's also the owners, many of whom actually contributed large sums of money to his hideous campaign. The reason for the attack on the whole NFL? Simple. The NFL wouldn't let him join their club. Poor, sick in the head Donnie has felt rejected by the other rich guys for decades.

Once upon a time, in the early 1980s, Trump had a professional football team. It was the New Jersey Generals of the upstart United States Football League (USFL), a league that he helped establish back in 1982. HIs marketing and legal"strategies" for the league's growth, such as it was, is usually credited with leading to the league's demise. It's yet another example of a Trump failed business: Steaks, Wine, Airline, Football, raising his kids, and now America. The man is a failure in everything. He surrounds himself with gold but he has demonstrated a reverse Midas touch. As the USFL was going down in flames, Trump even thought some of its teams, especially his Generals, could be absorbed into the NFL, not unlike the former American Football League had been in the previous decade. That might have happened, if not for the fact that the NFL owners of the time wouldn't touch Trump with a 20 foot pole. They couldn't stand him. They saw him as the scumbag huckster con man that he is. Many of the NFL owners are no prizes themselves, but, even they had some standards, and, low as they were, Trump didn't even meet them.

Debbie Stabenow May Have To Face Up To A New Kind Of Campaign And A Newish Kind Of Republican

Ever hear of Debbie Ann Stabenow? She's the senior senator from Michigan. She was first elected to the Senate in 2000 after serving in the state House (1979-1991), the state Senate and Congress. In her last reelection effort (2012), she trounced Rep. Pete Hoekstra 2,735,826 (59%) to 1,767,386 (38%) [Hoekstra was a kind of DREAMer who moved to the U.S. from Holland with his parents at age 3, went on to become the very right wing and super-racist congressman from Grand Rapids-- where the video up top was shot-- and was recently appointed ambassador to Holland by Señor Trumpanzee.] Stabenow is a middle of the pack Dem, rated an "A" by ProgressivePunch, the 29th most progressive Democrat in the Senate (our of 48). The GOP always underestimates her and she always kicks their ass.

Now she may be facing a very different kind of Republican though-- one with a lot more in common with Donald Trump than with, say, Jerry Ford... or even Pete Hoekstra or Rick Snyder-- she may need to approach the election differently... or maybe not. Kid Rock is a joke... but, as you well know, so is Donald J. Trump, the country's fake president.

Trumpanzee won Michigan's crucial 16 electoral votes 2,279,543 (47.50%) to 2,268,839 (47.27%)-- a 10,704 vote margin. Wassermann Schultz and the other party bosses could't have picked a worse candidate for Michigan than the avatar of the status quo, Queen Hillary. Although she won 73 Michigan delegates to the nominating convention to Bernie's 67, he beat her in the primary by a bigger margin than the margin Trump beat her by-- 598,943 to 581,775. Trump won 76 counties. Hillary won 7. Bernie won 73 counties in the primary; it should have sent a message to the Democratic Party that their pre-anointed corporate shill was in trouble. Unfortunately for all of us-- and for the whole world-- it didn't.

And Bernie didn't just beat Hillary in many of the swing counties in the state, he beat Trump on primary day as well. Here are 20 counties, big and small, where Bernie beat Trump in the primary but where Trump beat Hillary in the general:

• Alger Co.- Bernie- 622; Trumpanzee- 517
• Allegan Co.- Bernie- 5,545; Trumpanzee- 5,327
• Bay Co.- Bernie- 6,363; Trumpanzee- 5,738
• Benzie Co.- Bernie- 1,650; Trumpanzee- 1,278
• Calhoun Co.- Bernie- 5,810; Trumpanzee- 5,800
• Clinton Co.- Bernie-4,524 ; Trumpanzee- 3,777
• Eaton Co.- Bernie- 7,007; Trumpanzee- 5,386
• Emmet Co.- Bernie- 2,589; Trumpanzee- 2,244
• Gogebic Co.- Bernie - 790; Trumpanzee- 753
• Grand Traverse Co.- Bernie- 8,091; Trumpanzee- 5,891
• Gratiot Co.- Bernie- 1,812 ; Trumpanzee- 1,799
• Houghton Co.- Bernie- 2,029; Trumpanzee- 1,497
• Ionia- Bernie- 2,812; Trumpanzee- 2,676
• Isabella Co.- Bernie- 4,024; Trumpanzee- 2,180
• Keweenaw Co.- Bernie- 188; Trumpanzee- 184
• Kent Co.- Bernie- 43,375; Trumpanzee- 22,742
• Leelanau Co.- Bernie- 2,359 ; Trumpanzee- 1,613
• Manistee Co.- Bernie- 1,646 ; Trumpanzee- 1,552
• Shiawassee Co.- Bernie- 4,452 ; Trumpanzee- 3,864
• Van Buren Co.- Bernie- 3,656; Trumpanzee- 3,287

Add to that some of the big blue-leaning swing counties where Bernie swamped Hillary but where she still managed to eke out a win in November anyway. Those are counties where Bernie would have run up much bigger margins. Examples:

• Ingham Co.- Bernie- 22,909; Trumpanzee- 8,056
• Kalamazoo Co.- Bernie- 20,146; Trumpanzee- 8,655
• Muskegon Co.- Bernie- 10,062; Trumpanzee- 5,757
• Washtenaw Co.- Bernie- 38,063; Trumpanzee- 10,206

Yes, Bernie certainly would have won Michigan. And if Stabenow, who was a big Hillary booster, is smart she'll co-sponsor Bernie's Medicare-For-All bill and ask him to campaign with her in Battle Creek, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, Muskegon and most of all, Grand Rapids. And she'll politely demur if Hillary volunteers to campaign for her in the state.

This is what Kid Rock had to say to his followers at a concert/campaign rally last Wednesday night in Grand Rapids, after the introduction, "Will you please welcome the next senator of the great state of Michigan, Kid Motherfuckin' Raaahhhhhkkk:

What’s going on in the world today?
It seems the government wants to give everyone health insurance
But wants us all to pay.

And to be very frank, I really don’t have a problem with that.
Cuz’ God has blessed me and made my pockets fat.

But a redistribution of wealth seems more like their plan
And I don’t believe that you should have to save, sacrifice, do things by the book, and then have to take care of some deadbeat milking-the-system, lazy-ass motherfuckin' man.

Now, the issue of struggling single parents is an issue close to my heart
But read my lips: we should not reward all these women who can’t even take care of themselves but keep having kid after fuckin' kid.

Of course we should help them out. I don’t want to sit here and sound like a jerk. Let’s help them out with child care, job training, and put their God damn asses to work.

And you deadbeat dads, who refuse to be a man, who refuse to raise your sons up to be good men. You ghetto glorifiers and gangster wannabes. I say lock all you assholes up and lock away the fucking keys!

And if you want to take a knee or sit during our Star-Spangled banner: call me a racist cuz’ I’m not PC and think you have to remind me that black lives matter.

Nazis, fucking bigots, and now again the KKK: I say screw all you assholes and stay the fuck away!

It’s no secret we’re divided and we all should take some blame. We should be ashamed that we all seem scared to call him by his name!

So please almighty Jesus if you’re looking down tonight. Please guide us with your wisdom and give us the strength to fight. To fight the tyrant evils that lurk here and abroad and remind us all we are still just one nation under God.

Now let’s get down to brass tacks before I hit you with this funk. Like it or not, Hillary Clinton lost and your president is Donald Motherfuckin' Trump!

If Kid Rock for Senate has got folks in disarray, wait till they hear Kid Rock for President of the U.S.A.

Cuz’ wouldn’t it be a sight to see: President Kid Rock in Washington, D.C.
Standing in the Oval Office like a G.
Holding my dick ready to address the whole country.
I look the nation dead in the eyes live on TV and simply tell them: you never met a motherfucker quite like me.

It would be a different campaign than any Stabenow has ever contemplated. I doubt that'll be his stump speech... but there's not much he will be able to do to change it all that much. What will Michiganders think of some of his ideas-- like... well, on single mothers: "put their goddamned asses to work" and "lock up all these women, who can’t even take care of themselves."

No one thought Arnold Schwarzenegger could possibly win in California either. Low-info minority kids helped the GOP bring it home for an exciting celebrity on October 7, 2003, in a special election to recall a dull, establishment Democrat that people did;'t know much about-- and in a far bluer state than Michigan!

Michigan-- Senator Kid Rock? I Wouldn't Count On It

Earlier today we looked at the results of the Marist poll for NBC News in Wisconsin. I didn't mean to slight Michigan. Much of the attention the Michigan poll got was because it shows some kind of viability for possible GOP Senate candidate Kid Rock.

NBC News' Carrie Dann asked in a provocative headline whether Kid Rock is popular enough in Michigan to win, referring to him as "the provocative musician who calls himself the 'Pimp of the Nation' and peppers his lyrics and political rhetoric with unprintable language." The poll found Kid Rock's popularity ratings aren't in line with other Michigan political figures. Hasn't that poor state suffered enough?

Shockingly, Trump won Michigan's 16 electoral votes last year-- by a whisker: 2,279,543 (47.5%) to 2,268,839 (46.3%), a margin of 10,704 votes. Like in Wisconsin, Clinton was the wrong candidate. Although Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the corrupt Kings Landing Democratic establishment had rigged the process so that Hillary was able to walk away with 73 convention delegates to Bernie's 65, Bernie beat her statewide by almost 20,000 votes. Primary day totals:

• Bernie- 595,222
• Hillary Clinton- 576,795
• Señor Trumpanzee- 483,751
• Ted Cruz- 330,015

Let's look at 10 key counties that Trump won in the general against Hillary, but that Bernie had won against Clinton. The bolded counties are the ones that had voted for Obama in 2012 and flipped to Trump last year. It's very likely that had Bernie been the candidate in November, he would have beaten Trump, probably substantially.

• Allegan Co.- Bernie- 5,545; Trumpanzee- 5,327
• Bay Co.- Bernie- 6,363; Trumpanzee- 5,738
• Calhoun Co.- Bernie- 5,810; Trumpanzee- 5,800
• Eaton Co.- Bernie- 7,007; Trumpanzee- 5,386
• Grand Traverse Co.- Bernie- 8,091; Trumpanzee- 5,891
• Isabella Co.- Bernie- 4,024; Trumpanzee- 2,180
• Kent Co.- Bernie- 43,375; Trumpanzee- 22,742
• Midland Co.- Bernie- 4,568; Trumpanzee- 3,909
• Ottawa Co.- Bernie- 14,334; Trumpanzee- 11,600
• Shiawassee Co.- Bernie- 4,452; Trumpanzee- 3,864

As far as current favorable/unfavorable numbers among Michigan registered voters:

• Trumpanzee- favorable-34%; unfavorable- 59%
• Debbie Stabenow- favorable- 39%; unfavorable- 32%
• Kid Rock- favorable- 36%; unfavorable- 34%
• Rick Snyder- favorable- 37%; unfavorable- 48%
• Obama- favorable- 63%; unfavorable- 31%
• Bernie- favorable- 58%; unfavorable- 32%
• Democratic Party- favorable 43%; unfavorable- 43%
• Republican Party- favorable 30%; unfavorable- 55%

As far as control of Congress, 48% of Michigan's registered voted would like to see the Democrats in control and just 35% would like to see the Republicans maintain control. The DCCC, as they always do, is busy recruiting and supporting crappy status quo candidates that are unlikely to generate much enthusiasm, like doing everything they can to discourage candidates running on the issues that made Bernie so popular in the state.

Michigan 6th congressional district is still occupied by out-of-touch Republican multimillionaire, a Paul Ryan rubber-stamp, Fred Upton. It's a swingy district that Obama won in 2008 (53-45%) and lost in 2012 (50-49%). Last year Trump beat Hillary there 51.3% to 42.9%. She drastically underperformed Obama. And this is Bernie country. There are 6 counties in the district. Trump beat Hillary in each one except Kalamazoo. But Bernie wiped out Hillary in the primaries there:

• Kalamazoo- Bernie- 20,146; Hillary- 12,593 (Trumpanzee- 8,655)
• Berrien- Bernie- 5,942; Hillary- 6,546 (Trumpanzee- 7,817)
• Allegan- Bernie- 5,545; Hillary- 3,489 (Trumpanzee- 5,327)
• Van Buren- Bernie-3,656; Hillary- 2,484 (Trumpanzee- 3,287)
• St Joseph- Bernie- 2,219; Hillary- 1,382 (Trumpanzee- 2,528)
• Cass- Bernie- 1,683; Hillary- 1,657 (Trumpanzee- 2,859)

The DCCC refused to help Paul Clements last year. In Michigan, they were too busy spending money on reactionary Blue Dogs, all of whom, waiting for Hillary's coattails to sweep them into office, lost. For example, the DCCC + Pelosi's House Majority PAC spent $2,367,918 on worthless Blue Dog Lon Johnson in MI-01. He lost the open seat to Republican John Bergman 201,153 (55.3%) to 144,319 (39.7%). In the 6th, the DCCC refused to spend any money on Paul Clements whatsoever and Pelosi's PAC chipped in a grand total of $10,971. Clements lost to Upton by around the same numbers that Johnson lost to Bergman but who knows what would have happened if the DCCC hadn't wasted their money on the reactionary Blue Dog and spent it on the progressive instead?

Will Kid Rock Use His Sex Tape With Scott Stapp As Part Of His Campaign For Michigan Senator?

Julian Carroll turned 86 last April. He's even older than Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn-- and until this weekend he was the Democratic minority whip in the Kentucky state Senate. In 1968 he was elected Speaker of the Kentucky House and in 1974 he was elected governor of the state in a 470,159 to 277,998 landslide. His credibility suffered a severe setback when he was accused of taking insurance kickbacks and took the Fifth Amendment in front of the Grand Jury. He ran for governor again in 1987 but came in fifth in the Democratic primary. He's been in the state Senate since 2004.

The reason he's no longer minority whip is because Saturday he was accused of propositioning and groping a 30-year old man in 2005. The Senate Democratic Caucus is also urging him to resign from the Senate. Funny how no Republicans urged Mitch McConnell to resign from office when he was caught groping a much younger man during the few weeks he served in the Army (and was then booted out). A spokesman for the Kentucky Democratic Party said, "We are terribly concerned by the events described in the Pure Politics piece concerning Sen. Carroll. While we acknowledge and greatly appreciate Sen. Carroll’s life-long career of public service, we cannot overlook the severity of these allegations and take them seriously." Carroll says the charges are false.

When approached in a hallway in the Capitol by Spectrum reporter Nick Storm, Carroll denied the allegations. “It is ridiculous,” said Carroll. “It did not happen.”

Spectrum obtained a copy of a Kentucky State Police investigation into the matter, including a letter indicating that the Lincoln County Attorney decided not to prosecute the case.

“Without proof of more than a request for sexual contact, I do not believe a criminal case could or should be sought,” the letter from April 2005 said.

Carroll was married and had four children at the time.

As to why the recording is surfacing publicly now, Spectrum pointed to an article last August by Washington D.C.-based Roll Call about Kentucky’s 2016 U.S. Senate race. In that article, Carroll was interviewed about whether Lexington Mayor Jim Gray’s sexual orientation mattered in the Senate race. In that interview, Carroll was asked whether he thought being gay is a choice.

“I know my Christian friends don’t approve of it,” Carroll told Roll Call. “And quite frankly, it’s not a choice I choose to make.”

He added: “You can choose to ask God to convert you and heal you of that choice.”

A few days ago, a friend of mine told me he was about to interview a very senior congressional Democrat and asked for suggestions about the interview. I suggested he wait 'til the last question-- since it would probably be the last no matter when he asked it-- and they say something along the lines of "It's 2017; is it still appropriate for you to be living a lie in the closet and pretending to not be gay? Since everyone knows anyway, doesn't that expose you to a political attack or even blackmail? Why not just get the hell out of the closet already?"

It's so... Republican for Democrats to still be creeping around in the closet. [Here at DWT we don't out him because his voting record on LGBT issues in absolutely fine.]

Anyway, you've probably heard all that chatter about Kid Rock, a Republican, threatening to run for senator in Michigan. Republicans are very excited and encouraging him to declare his candidacy. None of them seem to care that Kid Rock and Scott Stapp singer in the fake Christian band Creed caused a messy little scandal with a sex tape from 1999.



The scandal was over a tape of the two rock'n'roll Republicans getting completely drunk and having some random groupies blow them on camera, with Stapp moved to scream "It's good to be the king!" Stapp, kept the tape in a safe and back them he had a home-- which, he claims, was burglarized in 2002. (Kid Rock's camp claims Stapp was strung out and broke and that he actually sold the tape for drug money. Kid Rock has never spoken to Stapp again.) In 2006 the company Stapp sold the tape to, Red Light District-- yep the folks behind the Paris Hilton sex tape-- said they were releasing the tape and even did a YouTube promo, which Kid Rock's lawyers made YouTube remove. Meanwhile, Stapp-- in an autobiography-- has claimed that the tape was really just a Kid Rock tape with him digitally imposed... although that's been proven false. Will the sex tape come out during the Senate campaign? Will any Republicans care? I mean after Trump, are there any boundaries left anyway (at least for Republicans)?