Come Heller high water …- My favorite story from the Fourth of July was NPR tweeting the Declaration of Independence line by line, which Troll Nation clearly did not recognize. They tweeted back things like “NPR this is why you’re going to get defunded. Literally no one is going to read 5000 tweets about this trash” and “Try supporting a man who wants to do something about the injustice in this country. #draintheswamp” and “So NPR is calling for a revolution? Interesting way to condone the violence while trying to sound patriotic. Your implications are clear.”
- A sarcastic tweeter, aka my new hero, said, “Today, NPR should tweet War of the Worlds and see what happens.”
- Someone told me the other day, the best advice for making trolls go away is “Don’t feed the trolls.” Great advice. But I like the trolls. I’d rather know what they’re thinking than not.
- So I click on a Freep.com story today about three MSU athletes being kicked out for violations of the school’s relationship violence and sexual misconduct policy. That’s serious stuff. So what commercial played when I opened the story? Yup, a prescription for birth control. Unintentional, I’m sure, but still, c’mon, Free Press. A little quality control, please.
- And since I’m on the subject, you (meaning the Freep) shouldn’t have commercials that automatically play in the first place. That’s like an ad literally jumping out of the print product and screaming “Read me! Or click on me to go away!” Not the way to win friends and influence people. You wouldn’t need to do this if you charged to use the site, which is what newspapers should have done all along with their web portals. Just truthin’ ya.
- And since I’m already ranting unfairly about the Freep, as a newspaper, you rightfully decry the high cost of health care, and yet you’re accepting ads for a prescription drug when you know full well that pharmaceutical companies are a major driver of health care costs. Not exactly a morally defensible position, now is it?
- Even if the drug companies weren’t killing this country, you still shouldn’t accept their ads, which are a main reason I’ve cut way back on TV. I can’t stand those things. I don’t want to “ask my doctor.” Why? Because I’m not a friggin’ doctor, that’s why. If my doctor thinks I should be on something, I’d like to think she’s smart enough to know what to put me on without my advice. I didn’t go to med school. She did.
- I like the Free Press, by the way, even if (like all papers) it’s a shadow of its former self. May you someday return to your former glory, which includes adding engaging columnists. I miss the days of Talbert, Downey, Fitzgerald, Abcarian and others. I also miss the syndicated columnists you used to have, especially Royko, Grizzard and Dave Barry.
- Good Housekeeping magazine says Higgins Lake is Michigan’s most under-rated attraction. No, it’s not. Michigan’s most under-rated attraction is my back deck. The sunsets are impeccable and the bartender (me) is beyond compare.
- A new study more or less agrees with what I’ve been saying all along: That global warming may well be a lousy thing for most of the world but it’ll turn Michigan into the French Riviera of the United States. Even so, I’d prefer it not happen. We don’t need more tourists clogging up the beaches.
- The Donald tweeted this about North Korea’s missile launch: “Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us – but we had to give it a try!” Wait a second, during the campaign he didn’t say he’d “give it a try.” He said he was the Great Negotiator whose magic ways would make the world fall at our feet and tremble. What happened? Were we, gasp, misled?
- There’s hope for America yet. Or so I surmise from the news that 44 states told the Trump administration to shove it when it asked for in-depth personal data about voters. An NBC report said this: “Many officials have expressed disbelief and outrage at the commission’s call to hand over a staggering amount of voter data, some of which they say is confidential or sensitive. “I’m appalled that they even included that in their (letter),” Jim Condos, the Vermont Secretary of State, told NBC News. “They should know better.” Of course they should. That’s why I strongly suspect this overreach was so ridiculous as to be intentional. Cue the Trump tweet saying, “What are they hiding – evidence of the illegals voting that I said all along happened? Very sad. But it proves I was right.”
- “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police … yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home — all the more powerful because forbidden — terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.” – Winston Churchill.
The negative reaction of the NPR tweets of the Declaration of Independence truly shows how narrow minded the remaining tRump supporters are. Where were they during high school history or civics class?
Btw Andy – when does your deck and bar open to the public?
Andrew, dear, I am on your side, but please stop disrespecting the Detroit Free Press (= freep.com). They still have Leonard Pitts Jr. as an outside editorialist, and their own great people still write wonderful editorials. Plus, they have great Detroit coverage in politics and sports. I look at freep.com every day. It is easy to click through their ads and such. Please just click.
I was cleaning my windows the other day. I always use old newspapers to wipe my windows. I found an old newspaper page with you on it: The Grand Rapids Press, when it was a good real newspaper, used to publish you. That is how I got to meet you. This was an OLD newspaper. I wiped my bedroom windows with you. Is this something to apologize about?
I’m not surprised that many trolls who commented negatively to NPR had no clue about it being The Declaration of Independence. The head troll did say he loves “the poorly educated,” and they love him.
Good column today. You rant about all the right things.
The great negotiator didn’t mislead me only the fools that voted for him.
I read about the NPR tweet this morning and had a good laugh. Thanks trump trolls.
A trump troll said the other day; “remember the 4th of July is not about hotdogs and fireworks.” Sure, now can you tell us what it IS about?
I like the trolls better when they make an effort. Notice when you can actually engage them and they run out of ways to defend their positions? That’s when you know they are beginning see reality.
I Installed adblocker recently. Now things are smoother online. Even youtube commercials are blocked.
Sure, trump wants all the voter data to ensure a 2020 victory, but there is another angle people are forgetting to mention. He knows marketing firms will pay billions for that information to launch even tighter targeted advertising campaigns . If you thought you were being spammed before, watch out.
Be skeptical about the new North Korea missile threat. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident and “weapons of mass destruction”. Nothing like a full scale war to take attention off…oh I don’t know…say a probe on the possible Russia/2016 Election collusion.
Well I gotta go. Norris is blowing the game early because I am not paying attention.
The freep is still doing good reporting. About three years ago they uncovered wasteful spending, cozy contracts, and missed opportunities to shut down long-struggling charter schools in a comprehensive investigative report about charter schools in Michigan. Of course, this was ignored in Lansing and the state still demands little accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent and how well children are educated in charter schools. After all, look at how well Betsy is doing ($$$).
I think you will find that liberals from all 57 states agree with you Andy.
Ah yes, the ever reliable “Hey! Look over here!”
That always makes the fact or event that you don’t like no longer true, doesn’t it?
Or… its possible that the rest of us recognize “Hey! Look over here!” as a tacit but undeniable acknowledgement that you don’t have a defense for the indefensible so you’re not even going to try. Interestingly, the diversion almost always a non sequitur to the event or fact that the person doesn’t like.
I won’t patronize you by explaining what a non sequitur is since I’m sure that you, unlike the “patriotic” “conservatives” that didn’t recognize the Declaration of Independence, are a person of high intellect.
On a separate note, seriously, if you ever find yourself compelled to defend somebody from the words written by the founding fathers to object to the tyranny of a monarch… you might possibly be backing the wrong horse…
Just a thought, patriots.
It’s funny…. Democrats have been howling about the legitimacy of the 2016 election for months but as soon as a real investigation is announced, they don’t want to cooperate because they know they had votes from millions of illegals.
Identify the illegal voters. Imprison the violators. Deport the illegal aliens. Listen to the soothing sounds of Democrats howling!
Now tell us why the red states aren’t cooperating with that “investigation” either.
For some individuals, math is a four letter word.
♫♫♪♪
Doesn’t know much about history,
Doesn’t know much geography,
Doesn’t know much about science book,
Doesn’t know much about the math he took,
But we know we have tweet, tweet Trump,
And we do know that if he is dumped,
What a wonderful world this would be.
♫♫♪♪
A short list of activities where you need a photo id in order to transact business:
buy alcohol, buy cigarettes, open a bank account (checking, savings or a safe deposit box), apply for food stamps, welfare, buy a house, rent a house, buy car, gamble at a casino, adopt a pet, use a credit card, rent a hotel room, board an airplane, GAIN ADMITTANCE TO DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, etc… Just a short list.
But to ask for photo id to vote to prove that you are an registered voter is somehow very wrong in the eyes of the democrats.
Are the republicans asking for way too much information about who is on the voting rolls?
I am of the opinion that asking for SS numbers is little bit too much. They do not need SS numbers.
It is also true that I miss the musings of Dave Barry, Mike Royko and Flushing Michigan’s own Ed Love along with some other long gone writers.
The question you are avoiding is; what do they want this information for? This is not about checking IDs at the polls. Stop deflecting.
So you’re OK then with the govt. requiring people to buy health insurance, I take it. Great! Because after all, you have to buy car insurance, have to pay your taxes, have to ….
I am on the liberal side of this voter ID debate, but I wonder who these Americans might be who have no regular identification. Everybody I know, I imagine, has a driver’s license or a state ID card or a passport or some such.
I suppose there still might be people from the deep Mississippi Delta or the backwoods of somewhere, people who have no birth certificates, who do not even know how old they are… (???)
Come on… This is the twenty-first century. Are people from the far sticks, people who were born in the 19th century, people who have no ID actually going to make a difference in an election? There are very few of them. How could they count very much?
Reasonable ID requirements seem reasonable to me. Mostly, it would quiet the ding-dong right-wingers who try to make too much of this voter fraud fantasy.
Photo Ids are just one of the things the right wants to use for voter suppression. Some of our more poorer fellow citizens just don’t bother maintaining IDs, they don’t drive anyway, and don’t trust banks or travel, or any of the silly things Jim III listed,
You would be surprised how many people in this country don’t see the significance of spending even a little money on an ID, but does that make them less than citizens? Does that mean they shouldn’t be able to vote for someone who might help improve their circumstances to the point where having an ID will mean something to them? The right wants you to believe they are irrelevant if they don’t have the some basic things, and should be denied their rights.
When Democrats take back control of Congress in 2018, the first order of business after dealing with trump, should be to change election day to a Saturday or spread it out over a 7 day period or start a program to get people early voting by mail. Too many people cannot afford to take time off work to vote on a Tuesday and they are exhausted after work and have to take care of their families at home. Right wingers want you to believe these people are irrelevant for this reason also.
If right wingers had their way, only white men with good jobs and a photo id would be allowed to vote. And you know, it really wasn’t that long ago when most of this was a reality, when women and minorities knew their place, and white men made the rules. That’s the make America great AGAIN part we liberals just can’t seem to grasp.
Right on, Fred!
So, let our preposterous government provide everybody with a valid ID, rather than making people pay and strive for it. We need to provide and help, rather than impede. The Republicans lie about voter fraud, just because they believe they can get away with it. The Republicans are the actual perpetrators of voter fraud.
I like that idea, but even then they will start saying there are fake IDs being used by illegals.
N0 Andrew I am not for the federal government (democrats mainly) forcing a free citizen to buy insurance. The government needs to get out of the forcing people to buy insurance or face fines for not having insurance. The democrats like communist Russia was (and to a certain extent today) want to force people to live where, what kind of job to have and face deprivation. The only ones that do not face deprivation will be the leaders of the nation.
I have one question Fred, just how is asking someone for a photo id to vote a way to suppress voting rights? No democrat can come up with a valid answer. What they will do is use the trite phrase “it is discrimination to do so”. They do not have an intelligent answer. Democrats are quick to respond with the race card and scream racism.
One time I was listening to Hannity when he had Alan Combs on. They were talking about voter ID in Virginia or W. Virginia, when Alan made the following statement “If voters are required to have an Id in order to vote some of then will have to travel hundreds of miles to get one”.
The Virginia states are not that big. In most states all a person has to do is go down to the Secretary of State office and apply for one. No one has to travel hundreds of miles to get an official ID.
I have said it before that democrats are the most racist bunch on the planet.
You were listening to Hannity? Okay, that explains a lot.
I explained that already, scroll up.
You didn’t answer my question again, because you have nothing.
Democrats “want to force people to live where, what kind of job to have and face deprivation.” WTF are you smoking? Was it something Hannity gave you?
“I have said it before that democrats are the most racist bunch on the planet.”
In what way are Democrats racist? Oh never mind I already know what you think you have. Something about the KKK used to be Democrats way back in the 30s or something, completely ignoring the fact that both parties changed platforms.
YOUR party is the one that the Alt Right and other white nationalist groups have been flocking to in recent years. Please make an effort to address this when you are explaining how Democrats are the racist ones.
Voting rights in this country are the most basic rights that are allowed to all non felons over 18. They don’t need a GED or better, a good job, look a certain way, pass Government 101 in junior or have a decent IQ level. Even stupid hateful racists and anti government extremists get to vote.
Finally there has not been one shred of evidence to support trump’s widespread voter fraud claims, and several agencies have already debunked it. On the other hand, there has been much evidence and support from several intelligence agencies on the Russian election meddling, but you choose to believe unsupported rhetoric just because it came out of trump’s mouth. That is the definition of sheeple. Can you say baaaah?
Denial is a cowards way of hiding from reality.
’44 states told the Trump administration to shove it’
This is a lie. Why are you posting lies And Heller. I have not found where anybody told the Trump administration to “shove it” as part of the voter fraud investigation.
Please stop lying.
This is FAKE NEWS
Many clods are waddling in the GOP zoo,
Becoming absurd, ridiculous, and pathetic too,
Their bozo Donald duck with the mop hairdo,
Has turned them into clowns with the same orange hue.
The good reason to post here is, to have an original thought or an insight, and then to post here to share it. NOT, my friends, just to reiterate some lie or cliche. If you have an idea that you yourself thought of, please, by all means, post here. If not, please go away.
Facts and data are brought to the forum on quite a few occasions that are posted by conservatives.
The lemming democrats shout and throw hissy fits because it clashes with their narrow bigoted view of the world. If hilliary and the other democratic were to proclaim that the sun set in the east and rose in the west the democrat followers would spout that as a fact. They would shout down anyone that dared to oppose their new view of sun rise and suns sets.
From reading some conservative web sites who say that the Russians actually wanted Bernie Sanders in the White House. They were annoyed that the DNC rigged the the vote against bernie. Even though hilliary sold the Russians 20% of our uranium assets to them when she was SOS. Maybe they got upset that had to pay slick wiley $500,000 to ramble on at some Russian party of some sort.
If you want a good laugh about President Trump, go online to the Friday night (7 July2017) showing of America’s got talent”. It had someone making a parody of President Trump. It is very funny. The only bad thing was that “Mel” the british actress (?) voted no on him before he even started to do his routine. She was roundly booed by the audience.
This guy is way funnier than Alec Baldwin from SNL.