Now, as you move atop your meditation pillow...

after you have lit your candles and cleared your mind of distractions, be sure to chant this mantra: "President Pence... President Pence..."

18581574_10100271419941001_722880961625236961_n_0.jpg

Soon a feeling of sheer bliss will wash over you and you will experience nirvana... or not.

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detroitmechworks's picture

would require an ACTUAL coup.

Or secession.

Or any of those other things that Democrats absolutely despise that the Right Wing will even TALK about.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

@detroitmechworks Ruling that the election was bogus and Clinton should be President. Or maybe president-for-life.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

lotlizard's picture

@detroitmechworks (which they lost in 2014), by tradition the president pro tempore of the Senate would be the longest serving Democrat, Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

However, the Senate has the right to elect any senator they want to this position. Now if somehow they could be persuaded to make Bernie Sanders president pro tem, he would automatically become number three in the succession for POTUS.

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I don't think anyone believed that Trump could stay the course, it's too hard. Easy-D.

However, Trump is such a nasty mindless piece of shit that I'll be happy to see the back of him even if it means Pence.

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Cassiodorus's picture

@LaFeminista More effective than Trump! More decisive than Clinton! Less holier-than-thou than Pence!

(But, like all of those, evil...)

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

featheredsprite's picture

@Cassiodorus By all reports, Satan is not self-righteous. And is probably quite intelligent.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

Cassiodorus's picture

@featheredsprite has every virtue the Democrats respect. He can raise lots of money, cut great deals with powerful people, and support policies to keep America "on track." He's practical, he's pragmatic, he dresses nicely, he's got an appealing smile and a firm handshake, all that.

Of course, there is the problem of pure evil. But if Satan can show that his pure evil is better for the economy than that of his Republican opponent, he's good to go!

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Cassiodorus

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

@LaFeminista
resignation by April the night he was elected. So I'm only a couple of weeks off.

He was so crazy and undisciplined during the campaign, why would anyone think he would be different in office? The Devin Nunes stunt is when I think they truly lost the reality bubble and really started spiraling downward.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

gulfgal98's picture

@LaFeminista I am still not sure that impeachment is viable yet unless Congress knows a lot more than they have let on. IMHO, the FBI thing with Comey is weak sauce since Comey himself testified before Congress that no one had asked him to hold off on the investigation. The more likely scenario will involve the emollients clause but then they are wading into some very murky waters since Clinton used her position as Sec of State to enrich herself and family through the Clinton Foundation. And it throws dirt on Obama because he knew. The Dems have to be very careful lest they soil themselves on all of this.

Right now, I believe the play we are watching is being choreographed by the deep state to try to bring Trump in line. If he doesn't fall in line, then we may see more. Frankly, I do not see him lasting his entire four years. I do not think he likes being this constrained and I would not be surprised to see him up and quit.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

thanatokephaloides's picture

@gulfgal98

Right now, I believe the play we are watching is being choreographed by the deep state to try to bring Trump in line. If he doesn't fall in line, then we may see more.

Since he doesn't have enough backing from anywhere to do battle against the deep state, this makes perfect sense.

Frankly, I do not see him lasting his entire four years. I do not think he likes being this constrained and I would not be surprised to see him up and quit.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Herr Drumpf attemot to learn that he has almost no power at all, the hard way, before he up and resigns.

Gak.

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

featheredsprite's picture

@gulfgal98 "up and quit"

Perfect description of how he would do it!

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

snoopydawg's picture

@gulfgal98
Look at how many people were pleased with Trump when he bombed the Syrian airport. Someone actually said that "he has finally looked presidential". An act of war was all it took for congress to lay off criticizing him.
If he lets the boys put 50,000 more troops into Afghanistan and starts talking about their war with Iran, then he stays past April. If he doesn't get on the MICC bandwagon then he's toast.

The Time's article has a bunch more of things that Russia did during the election, and people will buy any of their propaganda because they have been believing it since Hillary lost. They don't realize how they are being used.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

SnappleBC's picture

@gulfgal98

I found this pretty amusing and could only nod as I read it.

TL;DR: It's battle of the memos!

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/05/21/cynthia-dill-impeachment-what-impe...

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A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

thanatokephaloides's picture

@LaFeminista

However, Trump is such a nasty mindless piece of shit that I'll be happy to see the back of him even if it means Pence.

Not if it means Pence!

You're lucky in this regard: Living in Europe, you dwell in the part of the world whose Kings rid it of Pence's evil, dangerous cult religion way back in the age of Kings. Those of us who live in the USA aren't so fortunate; we live where those Kings exiled that religion's adherents to. (Hence Pence.)

Trust me on this: you do. not. want. to be living under a State united with Pence's Church! And that's exactly what we'd get if they impeach Drumpf.

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides It's a President Pence owned by the deep state, and every subsequent potential candidate who might have the inclination and ability to try to buck the system or rein in the intelligence and permanent war complex, terrified to ever try it because it's been proven that (s)he will be taken down mercilessly with the surveillance apparatus of the state, the Deep State Media, and no real evidence ever actually presented. Just ravenously cheering mindless partisans sustained by a diet of 24/7 hate (either meatless or junk food, whatever applies to the rabidly *partisan subjects of the day).

* When I use the word partisan, I don't necessarily mean loyal to a party. I mean a loss of independent, critical thinking, prone to and manipulated into rabidly taking sides to the extent that they'll see entities like intelligence agencies as their savior and lose all sight of their own best interests.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Joanne Leon
thought through what would happen if Trump gets impeached? I wonder if they have thought that line of reasoning through to its conclusion which means that Pence becomes the president.
If he does then we are still going to get everything that Ryan wants, but we'll get a huge dollop of his extreme Christianity on top.
The Deep State out did itself this last election.
Hillary, or Trump then Pence. Either way they win.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg
are a very small price to pay for soothing Hillary's ego.

Additionally, many of these people want the same things Ryan does.

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lotlizard's picture

@Joanne Leon Add Dominionism to the Deep State and what is likely to result?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dominionism+pence&t=ffsb&ia=web

https://fsrn.org/2016/11/2016-election-winwin-for-the-christian-right/

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@lotlizard to summarize it. And yes, it's terrifying.

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@LaFeminista

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Is brain cancer better than massive stroke?

Would you rather die from Cyanide or Nicotine?

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@LaFeminista I don't understand this at all. Never have, never will.

You'd rather have someone who's evil in all the ways Trump already is, but with woman-hating pray-the-gay-away-Jesus-Is-Coming-Soon-So-Let's-Nuke-the-Place Dominionism on top?

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@LaFeminista
Trump is irrational, therefore inconsistent and unfocused. This limits the damage that he will do. Pence is a christian dominionist, therefore focused and genocidal. There is no limit to the damage that he could do other than the number of people in the world for him to kill.
The only question: Is Pence a quicker death for atheists or muslims or the wrong type of christians?

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On to Biden since 1973

Pricknick's picture

without republicans.
They know their base is rabid. If they remove him without one hell of a cause, they know the base will blow up in their face.
Is it possible that both parties go down together?
Make it so.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Dhyerwolf's picture

@Pricknick They can't bring it to the floor without Republicans agreeing since Republicans set the floor agenda, and they can't pass any impeachment without Republican votes.

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Pricknick's picture

@Dhyerwolf
I don't see it happening.
It would take something other than what we've already heard for enough republicans to jump ship.
They know their base better than democrats do.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Dhyerwolf There's Republican voters, and then there's Republican politicians.
A lot of the former will be pissed off, perhaps violently, if Trump is removed.
The latter? Most of them won't give two shits.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Pricknick

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@Pricknick

that Trump has little popular support, but this could easily be a false impression. I suppose we'll find out soon enough.

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native

janis b's picture

@native

from Nashville ...

Trump's base is still loyal and passionate.

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@janis b

I may not agree with them about much else, but I find it encouraging that they at least, are able to see through msm's blatant lies and misrepresentations. If only the Democrats could be equally perceptive, we might be able to arrive at something approaching honesty.

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native

ggersh's picture

as next in line, watch who you're messing with Cassiodorus

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Cassiodorus's picture

@ggersh woman Presidents will be illegal, so we'll be safe. Or not.

And they'll move Atwood's Handmaid's Tale novel to the nonfiction section until the bookstores are all closed and the TV series banned from the airwaves.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

ggersh's picture

@Cassiodorus 5 of the most fucking scariest words ever put together

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

@ggersh

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@ggersh Feminists and LGBT activists will usher in the far-right Christian theocracy.

Awesome.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

ggersh's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal most times it's the unintended consequences that
become the kryptonite

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@ggersh Good point. I'm curious, if you care to elaborate.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

ggersh's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal was a good thing. O pushing and pushing for TPP during the
election and whoops.

tptb don't seem to mind being so arrogant in their actions.

etc.etc.etc.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

boriscleto's picture

Christo-Fascist, Dead-eyed Granny Starver, Cultist, Oil company CEO, Vulture Capitalist...

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

Cassiodorus's picture

@boriscleto It does highlight the ridiculousness of impeachment talk like a charm, doesn't it?

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Cassiodorus Always has.

The only thing that's worse is Hillary leading the McDonald Resistance.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal the McDonalds Resistance , stinks of those consultants who rule the politician's brains, what little is left inside. For me it is precedent setting, it is "What's the point?" to the eXtreme. Taking the piss out of solidarity, Ds are lost in a propaganda war trying to start a real war, while citizens go homeless and hungry, can't pay bills etc.. The slide continues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_the_piss

Much ado for very similar crooks on both sides, why bother to defend either? Evil is as evil does, dominion or whatever. Who cares if I get burned at the stake, or starved on the street? Nobody, no Ds no Rs, maybe Bernie but so what. I can't believe people fall for such blatant b.s., this is where the "suspension of disbelief" would come in handy again I guess.

Peace

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@eyo If we want something real, we will have to build it ourselves.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

“... what's to be done if the sole and express purpose of every intelligent man is babble--that is, a deliberate pouring from empty into void."
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

How can replacing Trump be anything but, with that cast of buffoons in the line of succession?

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Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

orlbucfan's picture

He has done so since Utah put his real fascist arse in the Senate! I read that it is his lifelong dream/goal to convene a Constitutional Convention. He will then eliminate the firSt 10 amendments aka The Bill of Rights. I am not religious but he is the walking epitome of evil/Satan. Rec'd!!

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

snoopydawg's picture

@orlbucfan
a lot like him and his ideology. Look up the White Horse prophesy and see if that settles your nerves.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

TheOtherMaven's picture

@snoopydawg

Didn't quite work, mainly because he was trying to unseat a popular incumbent.

I still don't know why he didn't saddle up again in 2016 - was one failure that much of a blow to his pride? Or was he passed the word to Keep Out Or Else?

It's become impossible to be paranoid enough, these days.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

that I've seen so far:
https://lbo-news.com/2017/05/17/the-post-trump-era/

Meditations for President Pence? I love you guys but you've lost your partisan freaking minds.

Going to interview Henwood tomorrow and go on the record about this. Not that it will make any difference. But I do have to say it takes my breath away to see the way this is playing out by what looks like most of the Left (tho might just be the loudest Left and most are afraid if they say something it will look like a defense of the indefensible Trump). Seriously, have you lost all sense and logic? Usher in neocon foreign policy and an immeasurable strengthening of the deep state without even a whimper? This is the kind of thing that made me quit the Dems and has me wondering often if I want to even be associated with the Left. I'll never fit in with the Right. Labels don't matter that much to me but I'm hoping this political realignment that is happening creates some sort of new category.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@Joanne Leon @Joanne Leon

Meditations for President Pence? I love you guys but you've lost your partisan freaking minds.

Ride easy there, Joanne.

The essay was rich in snark. From essayist Cassiodorus' Comment on his own Essay above:

It does highlight the ridiculousness of impeachment talk like a charm, doesn't it?

The point being: there are worse possibilities out there than four years of Trump, one of which being a Pence Presidency.

Since neither political party can gain a conviction in impeachment without some votes from the other, I think we're moderately safe.

(Please Cat!!)

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides and my apologies to Cass.

All day long I see Dems and others from the left raucously cheering for impeachment as a solution. Have a look at Jeet Heer's Twitter lecture today. Tons of people see him as a voice of wisdom and rebroadcast his messages. I'm talking about people we would tend to follow and read. https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/865226931448369154

John Cusack (who unless my memory fails me used to be a pretty rational actor and good activist) is crooning to the fbi (you probably think I'm kidding but I'm not). Same kind of thing happening with journos and writers who are highly respected by progressives.

Maybe worst is that so many of these people have been so wrapped up every detail of the election and political battle for the past 2 years that (unlike the people here at C99) they haven't been watching the slow, careful drumbeat for a major war for the past 3+ years in E Europe, 6yrs in Syria/Iraq. They haven't paid attention to warnings from people like Stephen Cohen and his allies. They bought the unprecedented war propaganda around the Syrian war. They don't see the real geopolitical factors driving the post-election chaos. By some miracle the ones that supported Hillary didn't bother to pay attention to the war plans her defense secretary Michele Flournoy was rolling out before the election either, that would almost certainly spark a war with Russia and Iran.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Joanne Leon
we kept hammering away at them and telling them to wake the fuck up because if she became president then she would have created a no fly zone over Syria which would need to have at least 70,000 troops on the ground. And she knew that because during one of her speeches to Goldman Sachs, a person asked her about that and that was her answer.
But her supporters kept telling us that we were spreading right wing talking points and then the Ides of March happened.
She has been a warmonger during her whole history of being in politics.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Cassiodorus's picture

@Joanne Leon @Joanne Leon Remember that at the end of the essay I said:

Soon a feeling of sheer bliss will wash over you and you will experience nirvana... or not.

I thought the "or not" would be enough, though I suppose I could have said that one's more likely response to extended meditation on President Pence would be this:

But how would that be funny?

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Joanne Leon John Cusack, my favorite actor since I was a teenager.
Down the hole with John Lewis, Dolores Huerta, Bruce Springsteen, NOW, NARAL, Ms. magazine, the Nation, and so many others--even Noam Chomsky and Tim Robbins, FFS.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Joanne Leon thanks, nice to see another voice for peace. Keep going.

Hi Fidelity was one of my favorite films, I went around counting Top 5 everything for years, in fact I still do it sometimes. Opensecrets does it too. Biggrin That record store lives inside me, reminds me of the one on Carmine Street in Greenwich Village across from the building my aunt and uncle lived in. It was still there on street view last time I snooped. Vinyl lives on, amazing.

John and Joan Cusack, admired them both. Good people, I thought. These are strange times.

Peace

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@eyo

John and Joan Cusack, admired them both. Good people, I thought. These are strange times.

Peace

The Cusacks may yet be good people still.

The Clintonian corruption runs deep. Our Cusacks may not yet have arrived where the theft of the Democratic Presidential Nomination has delivered us here at c99p. But it may yet occur, which is one reason why we don't allow that to be forgotten.

And Peace be upon you as well.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@Joanne Leon

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native

@native I don't get through all the comments here though usually catch the posts

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Ben freaking Carson
"mad dog" Mattis
Rick "dumbdumb" Perry
Jeff confederate Sessions

Orrin Hatch is the only believable one and he would be the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Sister Havana's picture

that Orrin Hatch would probably be the least bad (I can't bring myself to say "best") option out of that group?

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Aramis Wyler's picture

It's altogether possible that the Trump-Russia bit can take out Trump, Pence, and Ryan. If that's the case, Orin Hatch would just shit himself to be suddenly installed as president, and I imagine some special elections might be held shortly thereafter.

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Currently reading: How to Create a Mind - Ray Kurzweil