How can someone who was not born in the United States and thus ineligible to be president become Speaker of the House and be third in line for the presidency for which he is Constitutionally ineligible?
I’m neither a logician nor a Constitutional scholar, but one fact seems to eliminate the other possibility. However, I am quickly becoming a cynic and understand that the current SCOTUS will do whatever it damn well pleases!!!
So long as he is a US citizen Michael he can serve in any political position in the US the constitution permits it. But he can't be President, and that would cause a constitutional problem if Trump and Vance died, but they never travel together, so little chance of that absent a terrorist attack or a coordinated bombing, because the President and VP rarely appear in the same place at the same time.
There is no chance that Musk will be Speaker, he much prefers sitting at the right hand of "god", actually playing "god". My question is: How long will Trump tolerate him upstaging him, and can he now do anything about it?
On second thought Musk is to Trump as Martin Bormann was to Hitler.
Books and tons of documentaries written about Hitler but hardly anything about Martin Bormann. Bormann escaped Berlin, and never seen again, it is thought that he surfaced in Argentina.
1. Why is President Musk endorsing the “German neo-Nazi Party”? Apprently the same in UK.
Do they have laws that preclude foreigners from lobbying? From being involved in domestic politics? Nigel? Thom -- you lived in Deutschland.
2. Why doesn't someone (like Biden) put President Musk on notice he may be jailbait? Reprise: In September, DOJ asserted that Sergey Kiriyenko had created some 30 internet domains to spread Russian disinformation, including on Elon Musk’s X which was formerly known as Twitter. In October, the Wall Street Journal disclosed that Musk had been in contact with Kiriyenko and Vladimir Putin which Dmitry Peskov affirmed.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Kiriyenko
Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russias-prigozhin-admits-interfering-us-elections-2022-11-07/ What does Musk know and if he does know, when did he know it?
Biden will do nothing Daniel. I am of the opinion, that he is not, and has not been actually in charge. In any event, at this time in his life, the only thing he is concerned with is his own well being, safety and comfort and he knows that Trump may disavow campaign promises,but he will not disavow personal promises like seeking revenge.
That link is interesting but doesn't affect me. My social security is not affected by the offset, as there is a carve out for military retirement, and my wife doesn't receive social security benefits as she was employed by municipalities that had bought into a social security replacement plan, run now by Mission Square, and she hasn't touched it yet, because she has PERS and I have my own SS and pensions, including one from CalPers.
Could be a miracle for us. We've been concerned about this....as things stand, because she is a federal retiree, she gets nothing from my earnings record.
As I understand it,under current rules, Social Security beneficiaries have their checks offset by their federal retirement. As do other forms of income, except military retirement (not complaining, but not fair either)
Significant impact for teachers, firefighters, police, and state workers who are often covered under state pension plans. As a case in point in Colorado, these folks are covered by a system called PERA. The pensions are not very generous, and the salaries of many are low. Many leave for the private sector as soon as they vest but find out at retirement that their Social Security is reduced by the amount of the PERA pension.
It was one more of Reagan's ways to ensure that all government employees are treated like an underclass. To call it a "Windfall reduction" was almost Orwellian.
2 kinds, Not true. If a person like my wife, who retired in the old system, not entitled to Socual Security undr current law. Period. CSRS. Under the newer system, FRS, employees are in SS, also get a smaller pension and can get an advantage in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan.
If this becomes law, she will be entitled to take some Social Security anf if I go first, take some of my SS.
There is a hybrid system that applies to people who made an election while they dere covered by CSRS to accept FRS after it went into effect.
I think Musk is ketamine-impaired, but bc Trump is an intellectual midget, all he sees is rocket. Trump assumes that bc Musk works with technology, he knows all things; it's a dangerous assumption any teenage boy might make.
When the debt soars, it is because the government is not taking in enough tax money from the wealthy corporate “citizens united” to promote oligarchy. The debt ceiling forces our P2P spendthrift government to stop and consider raising taxes on the rich. Do MAGAs really still believe Reagan’s trickle-down mythology? Trickle-down was a great lie to con voters into cutting oligarch taxes by punching more and more holes in the safety nets that literally feed and house the poor and subsidize America’s quality of life generally.
Now the MAGAs want to attack Social Security – a program beneficiaries paid for their entire worklives. They want to cut Medicare to impoverish our aged parents and send them to an early grave. They want to gut veteran’s programs so that vets may commit suicide for lack of psychiatric care for combat PTSD, or to subsidize their income because they are too crippled to work in higher-paying jobs. Did you know that Congress already allows DOD to deduct the value of my $880 monthly VA disability compensation from my military pension? Thank you for your service - loser. Standby, the DOGE Boy billionaires intend to continue to screw the unfortunate to line their pockets with the gold meant for the unfortunate.
A president may not have much power to lower consumer prices, but implementation of MAGA tariffs and deportations of millions of undocumented workers would most certainly raise them.
Watch that press conference Trump gave this week and and you will step through the "looking glass", Alice. Our fellow citizens have voted for INSANITY, and now we shall all pay the price. And by the way, it is not our fault---IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don't blame Democrats for the future that some damn Republicans want.
Will the sadists do this or will the sadists do that? We are facing this for four years whether it comes from President Musk or the literal dithering idiot.
Utter dysfunction among Republicans is the best we can hope for while Trump, Musk, and Putin try to rob everyone on the planet. Dear Goddess, I hope they turn on each other!
Leave Wonderland. Find a happy-place and bring your sense of humor. Stay whole as best you can. Trying to help others will help us. Thanks, Thom.
The darker the picture becomes, the more likely others will choose what I’ll call the “Mangione option”. Because when hope dies and you feel you have nothing to lose, and live in this toxically polarized climate fomented by the morbidly rich, the media, and the MAGAt minions, that option seems almost sensible. Indeed it’s freedom, as Janis Joplin said—just another word for nothing left to lose.
Today the son stops its descent into the underworld, and lies in it's grave, motionless, for three days and then, I predict, on Dec 25th, the son will arise from it's grave, and eleluia, so long as the son also rises there will be everlasting life.
Silly Thom: You know the answers to the questions you ask.
Why is Musk backing the AfD? Because he is a NAZI.
Why don't the headlines simply say Trump lied? Because they are either cowardly or complicit or both.
Meanwhile, while the Democrats saved Christmas for government workers, and many they have sold out Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP recipients
According to Jennifer Scholtes of Politico, Republican leadership tried to get party members on board by promising to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion early in 2025 while also cutting $2.5 trillion in “mandatory” spending, which covers Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP nutrition assistance.
You give us the best illustrations. Where do you get them?
Hey, how about recommending what Greg Palast sent about Musk, that I did some clean-up editing on and sent as my weekly "Now What?" Substack? Our friend Greg is not good at getting his stuff seen and the piece is delicious, with data I hadn't seen anywhere else:
Greg Palast takes off on Elon Musk. This will get your blood boiling.:
If you listen to the Bulwark's focus groups, his voters do not care if he does not deliver. They seem to be totally transactional around the time of the election. They could vote in their disrupter, Elon, by voting for the Orange Guy. Now they are done and move on to the next fantasy football league.
The Italian word doge translates to "duke". It comes from the Latin word dux, which means "leader" or "military commander".
The title of doge was the highest political position in the Venetian Republic from the 8th to 18th centuries. The doge was the head of state and a symbol of Venetian independence and sovereignty. The doge was elected for life by the Great Council, the assembly of Venetian nobility. The doge's powers were limited by a legislature. The doge's wife was called a Dogaressa, and the office was called dogeship. Doge was used during the Renaissance era, especially from the, House of Medici (the de Medici family)
Happy winter solstice! May we have longer, sunnier, happier days.
I know, I know; in these bleak times, the salutation seems out of place. But we can't let the forces of darkness drag us down. We must remember what we're fighting for — the good in life, the truly precious things, and those who make it worth living.
This time of year, our family and friends have a great feast and then gather around a bonfire to write down three things secretly on separate slips of paper to throw into the fire: what we wish to unburden in our lives, what we want to add, and our most sincere message to those living and dead dear to our hearts.
How can someone who was not born in the United States and thus ineligible to be president become Speaker of the House and be third in line for the presidency for which he is Constitutionally ineligible?
I’m neither a logician nor a Constitutional scholar, but one fact seems to eliminate the other possibility. However, I am quickly becoming a cynic and understand that the current SCOTUS will do whatever it damn well pleases!!!
So long as he is a US citizen Michael he can serve in any political position in the US the constitution permits it. But he can't be President, and that would cause a constitutional problem if Trump and Vance died, but they never travel together, so little chance of that absent a terrorist attack or a coordinated bombing, because the President and VP rarely appear in the same place at the same time.
There is no chance that Musk will be Speaker, he much prefers sitting at the right hand of "god", actually playing "god". My question is: How long will Trump tolerate him upstaging him, and can he now do anything about it?
On second thought Musk is to Trump as Martin Bormann was to Hitler.
Books and tons of documentaries written about Hitler but hardly anything about Martin Bormann. Bormann escaped Berlin, and never seen again, it is thought that he surfaced in Argentina.
1. Why is President Musk endorsing the “German neo-Nazi Party”? Apprently the same in UK.
Do they have laws that preclude foreigners from lobbying? From being involved in domestic politics? Nigel? Thom -- you lived in Deutschland.
2. Why doesn't someone (like Biden) put President Musk on notice he may be jailbait? Reprise: In September, DOJ asserted that Sergey Kiriyenko had created some 30 internet domains to spread Russian disinformation, including on Elon Musk’s X which was formerly known as Twitter. In October, the Wall Street Journal disclosed that Musk had been in contact with Kiriyenko and Vladimir Putin which Dmitry Peskov affirmed.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Kiriyenko
Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russias-prigozhin-admits-interfering-us-elections-2022-11-07/ What does Musk know and if he does know, when did he know it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2024_United_States_elections
Did Musk violate both state and federal election law? In Pa, the penalty can be 7 years in a workhouse.
Biden will do nothing Daniel. I am of the opinion, that he is not, and has not been actually in charge. In any event, at this time in his life, the only thing he is concerned with is his own well being, safety and comfort and he knows that Trump may disavow campaign promises,but he will not disavow personal promises like seeking revenge.
I am still hopeful and miracles sometimes happen.
My wife and I may/may not be getting a present. https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-fairness-act-amendment-rand-paul-2004598
I don't believe in miracles Daniel.
That link is interesting but doesn't affect me. My social security is not affected by the offset, as there is a carve out for military retirement, and my wife doesn't receive social security benefits as she was employed by municipalities that had bought into a social security replacement plan, run now by Mission Square, and she hasn't touched it yet, because she has PERS and I have my own SS and pensions, including one from CalPers.
Could be a miracle for us. We've been concerned about this....as things stand, because she is a federal retiree, she gets nothing from my earnings record.
My wife just informed me that the Social Security fairness act has passed, now it is up to Biden to sign it.
As I understand it,under current rules, Social Security beneficiaries have their checks offset by their federal retirement. As do other forms of income, except military retirement (not complaining, but not fair either)
Significant impact for teachers, firefighters, police, and state workers who are often covered under state pension plans. As a case in point in Colorado, these folks are covered by a system called PERA. The pensions are not very generous, and the salaries of many are low. Many leave for the private sector as soon as they vest but find out at retirement that their Social Security is reduced by the amount of the PERA pension.
It was one more of Reagan's ways to ensure that all government employees are treated like an underclass. To call it a "Windfall reduction" was almost Orwellian.
2 kinds, Not true. If a person like my wife, who retired in the old system, not entitled to Socual Security undr current law. Period. CSRS. Under the newer system, FRS, employees are in SS, also get a smaller pension and can get an advantage in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan.
If this becomes law, she will be entitled to take some Social Security anf if I go first, take some of my SS.
There is a hybrid system that applies to people who made an election while they dere covered by CSRS to accept FRS after it went into effect.
I think Musk is ketamine-impaired, but bc Trump is an intellectual midget, all he sees is rocket. Trump assumes that bc Musk works with technology, he knows all things; it's a dangerous assumption any teenage boy might make.
When the debt soars, it is because the government is not taking in enough tax money from the wealthy corporate “citizens united” to promote oligarchy. The debt ceiling forces our P2P spendthrift government to stop and consider raising taxes on the rich. Do MAGAs really still believe Reagan’s trickle-down mythology? Trickle-down was a great lie to con voters into cutting oligarch taxes by punching more and more holes in the safety nets that literally feed and house the poor and subsidize America’s quality of life generally.
Now the MAGAs want to attack Social Security – a program beneficiaries paid for their entire worklives. They want to cut Medicare to impoverish our aged parents and send them to an early grave. They want to gut veteran’s programs so that vets may commit suicide for lack of psychiatric care for combat PTSD, or to subsidize their income because they are too crippled to work in higher-paying jobs. Did you know that Congress already allows DOD to deduct the value of my $880 monthly VA disability compensation from my military pension? Thank you for your service - loser. Standby, the DOGE Boy billionaires intend to continue to screw the unfortunate to line their pockets with the gold meant for the unfortunate.
A president may not have much power to lower consumer prices, but implementation of MAGA tariffs and deportations of millions of undocumented workers would most certainly raise them.
Watch that press conference Trump gave this week and and you will step through the "looking glass", Alice. Our fellow citizens have voted for INSANITY, and now we shall all pay the price. And by the way, it is not our fault---IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don't blame Democrats for the future that some damn Republicans want.
Will the sadists do this or will the sadists do that? We are facing this for four years whether it comes from President Musk or the literal dithering idiot.
Utter dysfunction among Republicans is the best we can hope for while Trump, Musk, and Putin try to rob everyone on the planet. Dear Goddess, I hope they turn on each other!
Leave Wonderland. Find a happy-place and bring your sense of humor. Stay whole as best you can. Trying to help others will help us. Thanks, Thom.
The darker the picture becomes, the more likely others will choose what I’ll call the “Mangione option”. Because when hope dies and you feel you have nothing to lose, and live in this toxically polarized climate fomented by the morbidly rich, the media, and the MAGAt minions, that option seems almost sensible. Indeed it’s freedom, as Janis Joplin said—just another word for nothing left to lose.
Billionaires for jingoism and SCOTUS
I had to look up "jingoism."
Here is a song for today
Solstice Song © Zack Danziger 12.21.24
https://youtu.be/a9rBq_TKTbo
I order seeds and plants from the catalogs to look forward to Spring. Thanks for the cheery song.
Today the son stops its descent into the underworld, and lies in it's grave, motionless, for three days and then, I predict, on Dec 25th, the son will arise from it's grave, and eleluia, so long as the son also rises there will be everlasting life.
Saturn. Saturnica.
The Druids are assembling at Stonehedge.
Down here in the tropics, the big day is epiphany although Babalu's birthday comes close.
Silly Thom: You know the answers to the questions you ask.
Why is Musk backing the AfD? Because he is a NAZI.
Why don't the headlines simply say Trump lied? Because they are either cowardly or complicit or both.
Meanwhile, while the Democrats saved Christmas for government workers, and many they have sold out Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP recipients
According to Jennifer Scholtes of Politico, Republican leadership tried to get party members on board by promising to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion early in 2025 while also cutting $2.5 trillion in “mandatory” spending, which covers Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP nutrition assistance.
You give us the best illustrations. Where do you get them?
Hey, how about recommending what Greg Palast sent about Musk, that I did some clean-up editing on and sent as my weekly "Now What?" Substack? Our friend Greg is not good at getting his stuff seen and the piece is delicious, with data I hadn't seen anywhere else:
Greg Palast takes off on Elon Musk. This will get your blood boiling.:
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/greg-palast-takes-off-on-elon-musk
MuskTrump et al are following neo-reactionary Curtis Yarvin, which is scarier than anything you've imagined thus far.
If you listen to the Bulwark's focus groups, his voters do not care if he does not deliver. They seem to be totally transactional around the time of the election. They could vote in their disrupter, Elon, by voting for the Orange Guy. Now they are done and move on to the next fantasy football league.
The Italian word doge translates to "duke". It comes from the Latin word dux, which means "leader" or "military commander".
The title of doge was the highest political position in the Venetian Republic from the 8th to 18th centuries. The doge was the head of state and a symbol of Venetian independence and sovereignty. The doge was elected for life by the Great Council, the assembly of Venetian nobility. The doge's powers were limited by a legislature. The doge's wife was called a Dogaressa, and the office was called dogeship. Doge was used during the Renaissance era, especially from the, House of Medici (the de Medici family)
Please HELP One Another And RESIST the fascist-publicans!
Happy winter solstice! May we have longer, sunnier, happier days.
I know, I know; in these bleak times, the salutation seems out of place. But we can't let the forces of darkness drag us down. We must remember what we're fighting for — the good in life, the truly precious things, and those who make it worth living.
This time of year, our family and friends have a great feast and then gather around a bonfire to write down three things secretly on separate slips of paper to throw into the fire: what we wish to unburden in our lives, what we want to add, and our most sincere message to those living and dead dear to our hearts.