Trolling: Dictators

Trolling from October, 2018:

• Oct 3 2018: RT @iyad_elbaghdadi: "Dictators only truly 'reform' under severe existential pressure. You can't appease them, give them space, give them money, give them world class PR, and *also* expect them to reform. That doesn't happen. That only makes them more dictatorial."
  I read this and honestly thought it was a comment on @realDonaldTrump, not Saudi Arabia.
• Oct 3 2018: "Expect a 'Presidential Alert' test message at 1:18pm Wednesday."
  If Obama were still president, I'd expect a flurry of crazy theories from the Right. Has anyone on the Left warned that Trump is, e.g., secretly installing listening apps on your phone?
• Oct 3 2018: Not quite synonyms. When you mean to say "duplication" but instead say "Questions will be screened for duplicity."
• Oct 4 2018: Trump has brought the country together.
  In Dec 2017, Trump said, The FBI's "reputation is in Tatters - worst in History!"
  In Oct 2018, with the FBI's sham Kavanaugh investigation, Dems agree.
  Win-win for Trump. He has to be pleased. (Putin, too.)

After the jump, more trolling.

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• Oct 4 2018: Some like to remember that Al Capone went to jail for tax evasion and hope for something similar today. Don't hold your breath. The IRS is a hollow shell of its former self. Kind of like if Al Capone himself were running the IRS in the era of gangsters.
• Oct 4 2018: People say there is no evidence to support Ford's accusation. Let's grant that for the sake of argument. So? There is still her eyewitness testimony on the table. People have been sent to death row on eyewitness testimony alone.
• Oct 5 2018: Let this sink in...
  RT @Scott_Gilmore: "Yesterday, after an 18 month investigation, the NYT revealed the President of the United States committed hundreds of millions of dollars of tax fraud - possibly one of the biggest scandals in the history of the Presidency - and 24 hours later we're no longer talking about it."
• Oct 5 2018: Chilling foretelling: "If the US has someone whom historians will look back on as the gravedigger of American democracy, it is Mitch McConnell." vox.com
• Oct 5 2018: Let's face it. Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court won't delegitimate the court. That already happened in 2000 when the GOP justices picked George W Bush for President, then found law and facts to support their prejudice. We've had a govt of men, not of law, since.
• Oct 7 2018: RT @nytimes: "Our investigation revealed that Donald Trump received the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire. Much of this money came through tax schemes, including instances of outright fraud."
  It's simply amazing that Trump has so normalized corruption that this story wasn't even a one-day story.
• Oct 8 2018: RT @mmorris011: "In today’s paper = 20% of new homes permitted in Houston in the year after #Harvey is in a floodplain, some on prairie developed for the 1st time after the storm."
  I'd insert here some witty comment about the classic definition of insanity, but it's all so damned depressing.
• Oct 8 2018: RT @AngieChenButton: "I'm staying focused on what matters most: lowering property taxes, improving our schools, and protecting families from crime."
  Why is it that every incumbent Texas legislator says they are for schools during their re-election campaigns, but public schools keep getting the short end of the stick during their service in the legislature?
• Oct 8 2018: Spam call: "Press 1 to receive information about... Press 9 to be placed on our do-not-call list."
  Me: "9."
  Spam call: "You have pressed an incorrect key. Please try again. Press 1 to receive information..."
• Oct 8 2018: RT @realDonaldTrump: "Christopher Columbus’s spirit of determination & adventure has provided inspiration to generations of Americans. On #ColumbusDay, we honor his remarkable accomplishments as a navigator, & celebrate his voyage into the unknown expanse of the Atlantic Ocean."
  I'm so confused. On Columbus Day, @realDonaldTrump wholeheartedly endorses the continent's original illegal immigrant.
• Oct 9 2018: A Star is Born (2018): After seeing too many mediocre films, I was ready for something good. Third remake doesn't lose a thing. Two stars on opposite trajectories in a classic tragedy. Convincing portrayal of addiction. Biggest surprise? Lady Gaga can act as well as sing. A-
• Oct 10 2018: A Simple Favor (2018): A fun mystery/thriller that keeps you guessing (and smiling) throughout. Is anyone who they say they are? Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively make for an instant movie classic odd couple. A-
• Oct 10 2018: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters." -- Donald Trump.
  So, don't expect that "almost every sentence [of Trump's op-ed] contained a misleading statement or a falsehood" to make a difference, either.
• Oct 11 2018: "I don’t think it makes sense to be talking about impeachment, not for a sitting president." -- Mitt Romney.
  I miss Mitt's awkward quotes. Remember his "binders full of women"?
• Oct 11 2018: "Trade wars are good and easy to win" -- Trump
  RT @davidfrum: "Wall Street has tumbled another 2.1% in its longest losing streak during Donald Trump's presidency — and every major stock market index in the country is now below its 200-day moving average."
• Oct 12 2018: RT @AngieChenButton: "Tired of skyrocketing property taxes & burdensome regulations that take more money out of your pocket? Me, too! I'm fighting to lower local property taxes to keep homeownership affordable."
  Those local property taxes pay for public schools. Increase state spending on public schools, @AngieChenButton, and I'll believe you are serious about keeping local property taxes low. Until then, it's an empty campaign claim.
• Oct 13 2018: Bemoan the disappearance of cursive handwriting? Blame the ballpoint pen, not the computer.
• Oct 14 2018: RT @Naija_PR: "Write a sad story using 3 words."
  President Trump. SAD!
• Oct 14 2018: RT @nowthisnews: "Gov. Rick Scott banned the term 'climate change' in Florida. The state was just hit by its worst storm ever."
  Sigh. Vote. For the planet, not just Florida.
• Oct 15 2018: Headline: "Elizabeth Warren releases DNA test with 'strong evidence' of Native American ancestry."
She's running.
• Oct 16 2018: RT @jimtankersley: "You may recall that many Republicans said their tax cuts would "pay for themselves" through increased growth/revenues. In the first nine months, they are not -- by any measure."
  I assume GOP politicians never believed this talking point. I assume GOP voters did believe and still do.
• Oct 16 2018: Dallas Morning News: "Button says she’ll find more money for schools in the next session, though how she plans to do so remains unclear."
  And that's my deal-breaker. Without telling us how, her claim to support public schools is just lip service.
• Oct 17 2018: First Man (2018): Neil Armstrong is too cold and distant to carry a movie. Space scenes are claustrophobic, not sweeping. I wanted to relive the thrill I remember from my youth but this movie never gets off the ground. More of Claire Foy's Janet Armstrong story please. B-
• Oct 17 2018: RT @MarkSalter55: "Your daily (and it's almost daily) reminder that @SteveKing is a white supremacist." twitter.com
  Fun fact: Steve King was @tedcruz's national campaign co-chair when he ran for President.
• Oct 17 2018: RT @LindaKoopHD102: "Too often, politicians focus on nasty political fights rather than what makes a difference to our families. I focus on solving problems. I make sure your voices are heard & highway needs are met with high-quality roads."
  Fighting for constituents is why they send you to Austin for. Politicians who don't fight for their constituents get played. Don't get played @LindaKoopHD102.
• Oct 18 2018: Angie Chen Button's mailer brags how she "cut Texas taxes" and "is working to stop out-of-control local tax increases." Cutting business margins tax and capping local tax increases isn't helping to fund our local public schools. She's no friend of public schools.
• Oct 20 2018: Bad Times at the El Royale (2018): A sketchy hotel's worth of sketchy guests, each with secrets. It's a mystery, a thriller, film noir, whatever, but it's great fun to figure out who's who and who will survive the night. Ending drags once everything is figured out. B+
• Oct 22 2018: "I'll go ahead and call some friends to see if they can help me make the TRE issues extremely polarizing. Tired of playing nice." -- Chris McNutt, treasurer of the "Vote NO" PAC for the RISD tax ratification election. facebook.com
• Oct 23 2018: RT @BudKennedy: "In 1990, the Richards-Williams #txgov election turned in the final days over Williams not owing income tax."
  I'm old enough to remember when not paying income taxes was considered disqualifying for a candidate, not something for him to boast at campaign rallies how it demonstrates how smart he is.
• Oct 23 2018: "Trump is celebrating violence and nationalism at his rallies."
  Because there is no bottom for this man.
• Oct 25 2018: The Old Man & The Gun (2018): Robert Redford as aging gentleman bandit who robs banks. Again and again. No dramatic arc here. Think of it as the "Sundance Kid in his Sunset." I see Casey Affleck is working again. No arc there, either, in movie or real life. B-
• Oct 25 2018: RT @MerriamWebster: "Ever wonder which words first appeared in print the year you were born?"
  "Birth control pill" and "church key". Related, do you think? A great time to be alive.
• Oct 26 2018: Ozark - Season 2 (TV:2018): Quiet accountant in the Ozarks launders money for a Mexican drug cartel. It's all about family. If that sounds like "Breaking Bad," well, Ozark lives up to the comparison. Season 2 is darker, more violent, but still all about families (plural). B+
• Oct 26 2018: RT @PeteSessions: "The data indicate a robust #job market and lower taxes continued to propel demand..."
  It's not surprising that trillions of dollars of new debt that the tax cuts caused can temporarily goose the economy, even one that was growing just fine without the artificial stimulus. I remember when we used the good times to pay down the debt, not grow it.
• Oct 27 2018: RT @marklamster: "What happens when a plutocrat decides to let the world come look at his toys--and pay for the privilege." dallasnews.com
  Oof. Now this is the kind of objective review a world-class newspaper offers. Turn this over to the editorial board and we'd probably get praise for a new world-class museum in Dallas.
• Oct 28 2018: RT @JohnCornyn: "Pelosi: If There Is 'Collateral Damage' for Those Who Don’t Share Our View, ‘So Be It’."
  Why in God's name would Texas Senator John Cornyn tweet this today? It's a ten day old article about a Pelosi quote taken out of context. She was talking about winners and losers of economic policy, not mass murder. Has he no shame?
• Oct 28 2018: Young Frankenstein (RCT): Mel Brooks's musical comedy on stage in Richardson. Large cast, great singing, dancing, and comic timing. Support local musical theater.
• Oct 29 2018:
  #Brexit,
  #Trump,
  #Orbán,
  #Salvini,
  #Bolsonaro...
  The world is moving hard right towards authoritarianism, xenophobia, racism. We're doing it to ourselves.
• Oct 29 2018: Eight people in line to vote at the Richardson Civic Center right now.
  Why was my ballot in Russian?
• Oct 30 2018: mid90s (2018): Hard-to-love teens slowly show they aren't as tough as they first appear in this slice-of-life look at a dysfunctional environment. The plot never really goes anywhere, but it may still be an important movie for teens and parents to both watch. C+
• Oct 30 2018: What do the Panic of 1907, The Great Depression, and the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008 have in common? Republicans were in complete control in Washington. Every "Unified Republican Government" since 1900 has led to a financial crash.
• Oct 30 2018: RT @AP_Politics: "We have deleted a tweet about President Trump's claim that the U.S. is the only country that grants birthright citizenship because it failed to note that his statement was incorrect."
  It's about time this rule about pointing out lies was added to the AP Stylebook.
• Oct 30 2018: The Staggering Unfairness of our State Tax System: "Texas has the second most unfair system in the country. bettertexasblog.org
  
• Oct 30 2018: RT @stephenfhayes: "It took the United States 193 years to accumulate its first trillion dollars of federal debt. We will add that much in the current fiscal year alone."
  MAGA-ing.