Echinocentric @Echinocentric@qoto.org

Imagine if there was a bank robber who committed the largest bank robbery in history, he got caught but through some technicality he didn't go to prison. Instead, he got elected to congress and they put him in charge of banking regulation.

That's Rick Scott and Medicare.

“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.”

Joseph Heller
#Quotes #EmotionalIntelligence

“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them”. - Ray Bradbury

The Republican controlled Missouri state house voted against banning minors from openly carrying firearms without adult supervision

The ban failed in a 104-39 vote. Only one Republican voted in support

> Guns are the #1 cause of death for children according to the CDC

> Missouri immediately banned abortion after Roe was overturned…

because nothing days “pro-life” more than giving children guns

FYI—Working at McDonald’s is skilled labor.

“Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

Zhuangzi

President Biden wished congressional Republicans “lots of luck in your senior year” during his State of the Union speech. Here’s what that taunt meant. https://t.co/nBvT9WmMDk

In this season
a mask is a fine way
to keep your nose warm
though regardless
of the thickness of your sweater
there is nothing you can wear
to protect you
from the cold emptiness
you feel in your stomach
when you look around
and see that so many
can’t be bothered to mask.

Fact:

People in western democracies who spread Russian narratives and are pro putin and work to further their agenda are "Russian assets"

"Siri, show me what New York Times' op-ed writer Pamela Paul would write about Ron DeSantis's grotesque bigotry using the same slimy, dishonest 'parents have legitimate concerns' strategy anti-vaxxers employ to support the lie that #vaccines cause #autism?" https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/ron-desantis-democrats.html

@antonioserrata Clearly media ownership is in on it, they're framing in favor of the fascists has been shockingly consistent for years. I thought it was crazy in 2000 that not a single major media outlet called out the fact that SCOTUS decided to not count all the votes. But now I think that the framing may have gone on longer and I just didn't notice.

Yesterday’s Big Tech Twitter hearings were a bust for the GOP, but that didn’t stop them from acting like dangerous jackasses. Nor did it stop Democrats from making some important points and introducing into the record the best thing ever. My piece is out and walks us through the sound and the fury. https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-tweet-smell-offailure?sd=pf

The buffoonery on display here is just embarrassing. @JimmyGomezCA spanked Greene for spreading misinformation about Covid. Greene tried to interrupt and was cut off by the GOP chair. Absolute buffoonery.
---
RT @KurtWagner8
Rep. MTG is now up and says she is not going to let the witnesses speak during her 5 minute Q&A because they banned her account and wouldn't let *her* speak on Twitter...
https://twitter.com/KurtWagner8/status/1623362052436656128

Though I recognize
that they are not
a native avian species
to this continent
I cannot help but think
that if this country wished
to select a bald headed bird
that truly represented the nation
it should have gone
with the ostrich
and not the bald eagle.

Thanks to @snolen from the NY Times for putting the spotlight on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and their abominable behavior on Trikafta. This is the same sort of profiteering and BS we saw from AIDS drugs manufacturers in the 1990s. They deserve the same criticism and opprobrium. This is medical apartheid.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/health/cystic-fibrosis-drug-trikafta.html

Biden calling out republicans for wanting to end social security and Medicare

"Social Security and its bookend, Medicare are off the books now, right? We have unanimity"

And now, the Republican response:

Ladies and Gentleman, last night our unhinged, wackadoodle former president gave what he calls the *real State of the Union* address.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-real-state-of-union-victim_n_63e38070e4b0c8e3fc88971b

Mike Lee : I want to get rid of social security
Rick Scott : I want to get rid of social security
Ron Johnson : I want to get rid of entitlements

Joe Biden #SOTU : guys Republicans don't like Social Security

GOP : OMG OMG LIAR BULLSHIT LIAR LIAR WE WOULD NEVER *pearls clutch*

#Politics #SOTU

https://www.newsweek.com/video-resurfaces-senator-mike-lee-vowing-gut-social-security-1756796

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/us/politics/republicans-social-security-medicare.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/03/ron-johnson-medicare-social-security/

The choice is between normal or crazy, huh?

#SOTU

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Delivers The Christian Fascist White Grievance Incel Shut-In SOTU Response https://www.wonkette.com/sarah-huckabee-sanders-state-of-the-union-responsesarah-huckabee-sanders-state-of-the-union-response

#Arkansas #China #Donald_trump #Grammy_awards #Kim_jongun #Little_rock_central_high #Mike_huckabee #Russia #Sarah_huckabee_sanders #Sarah_huckabee_sanders_sotu_response #Sarah_huckabee_sanders_state_of_the_union_response #Sir_stories #Sotu #State_of_the_union #Ukraine #Vid