JUNE 2021 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Pardoned Dirtbag Michael Flynn. Over the weekend, the now-pardoned traitor Michael Flynn appeared at a QAnon-themed event in Dallas, Texas, where he once again seemed to support the notion of a violent pro-Trump rebellion to topple the government. This was met with approval by the Trump-supporting crowd. The movement of oft-delusional conspiracy theory promoters is well represented among the seditionists who staged the Jan. 6 insurrection.  Those still demanding that individual state electoral totals be nullified because of unspecified frauds, believe that the entire election was a scam or undercover front and actually Trump is still the legitimate president. They point to an August date when Trump will drive his gilded golf cart back onto the White House grounds, arrest Joe Biden, and begins mass executions of all those who doubted him. Or something to that effect.

Yes, Michael Flynn may have been caught dead to rights in acting as influence-peddler for foreign government while moonlighting as Trump adviser—which, among Trump's many advisers, now seems to have been the most common single occupation—but now that Trump's freed him from his criminal past he appears to believe it is time for a good, old-fashioned coup. That's what he told the Q crowd, anyway.

A self-identified "Marine" in the audience posed the question, "I want to know why what happened in Minamar[sic] can't happen here?", a reference to the recent military coup in Myanmar that has been promoted in Trump-supporting circles as a playbook for reinstalling Trump as president in this country.

"No reason. I mean, it should happen here. No Reason. That's right," Flynn replied.

After video of these remarks exploded through the internet, the ex-national security adviser once again bizarrely attempted to claim that he specifically did not say the specific thing he was filmed saying. "There is NO reason whatsoever for any coup in America, and I do not and have not called for any action of that sort," he bellowed.

As the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake points out, this has become a routine for Flynn. He says something clearly supportive of martial law, an overthrow of government, or the QAnon movement itself, it gains national attention, and he or an ally responds by claiming he never meant the thing and you're all fake news for thinking he did. Flynn, however, is a liar through-and-through. He was ostensibly fired from his White House position in the first place for lying to federal investigators and to American Jesus Mike Pence. He's not good at it.  Like Trump, he simply gaslights his audiences with toddleresque claims that whatever you saw happening didn't. If you're a believer you'll go along with it, and if you're not then he doesn't care.

Flynn appears to be fully off the rails. It's not clear that he himself knows what he believes and what he doesn't, but he seems utterly unconcerned with the violence that he and his allies have already unleashed. Instead, those in Trump's orbit seem intent on pushing for more. You probably won't see Michael Flynn on the front lines of whatever new violence comes after the Jan. 6 insurrection, but at the conferences and meet-ups that validate those violent views, he continues to poke and prod for it.

MAY 2021 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Arizona House Rep. Joseph Chaplik. From the Church of the Perpetual Face Palm (aka the modern-day Republican Party) comes another wee dollop of “what the fuck?” So how do you even begin to respond to this?

The Republican-controlled Arizona House voted along party lines last week to allow state businesses to ignore any and all city, town, or county measures requiring their customers to wear masks. In other words, the state that flipped blue last year for the first time since 1996 has decided to flip the fuck out. Why? Well, as the sponsor of this anti-mask bill, Rep. Joseph Chaplik, would have you believe, it’s because we didn’t all die of AIDS back in the ‘80s.

In the House debate, Rep. Randall Friese, a Tucson Democrat who is a physician, said masks are part of the “very basic, important tools,” along with hand-washing and social distancing, to curb the spread.

Chaplik, however, argued that the mandates are an overreaction and that society has managed to survive other viral outbreaks without masks.

For example, he cited HIV “that was going to wipe our global destruction of human bodies with AIDS.”

“We heard about that in the ’80s,” Chaplik said. “Yet no masks were required.”

Uh … who wants to tell him?

People are fond of saying Republicans these days are virulently anti-science. But that suggests they actually know what science is. This feels more like a bunch of little kids who’ve never tried a vegetable saying they hate broccoli. I don’t know that they’re anti-science so much as they’re anti-scientist—because scientists keep telling them they can’t just eat Pixie Stix all day and expect to stay healthy.

They’ll do what they want, dammit, because FREEDOM!

Another GOP representative, Bret Roberts, questioned the overall effectiveness of masks, asking, “If they work, how are people still catching COVID?”

Uh, okay, now who wants to tell him?

Thank God we now have a president who takes COVID seriously. Unfortunately, we can’t just throw fools like this in the gulag because, you know, freedom.

But that doesn’t mean we have to keep reelecting them.

APRIL 2021 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Trump Attorney Sidney Powell. It’s been amply established that Sidney Powell bears a large measure of moral responsibility—at the very least—for creating the poisonous environment that led to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Powell was one of the main legal lowlives behind Trump’s misbegotten legal effort to steal another term.

Powell’s claims to fame were a series of lawsuits that alleged Dominion Voting Systems was in cahoots with Venezuela to steal victory from Trump—the infamous “Kraken” lawsuits. All four of them crashed and burned—but not before her claims led to Dominion and its employees facing vicious harassment and trolling. At least one Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, was driven into hiding.

Partly due to this, Dominion filed a whopping $1.3 billion defamation suit against Powell, her law firm, and her nonprofit organization, Defend the Republic. Well, early in the month, Powell sought to throw out the suit. Her reasoning? Wait for it—she now says “no reasonable person” would believe her claims.

No, this isn’t really snark. She actually said this in an actual legal filing.

In her motion to dismiss, Powell does not argue that the statements were true. She claims they are not actionable because they are protected statements of political opinion.

“Reasonable people understand that the ‘language of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes … is often vituperative, abusive and inexact,'” her motion to dismiss argues. “It is likewise a ‘well recognized principle that political statements are inherently prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.'”

Powell goes on to say that Dominion called her theories “wild” and “outlandish,” and in so doing support the notion that “no reasonable person” would take them seriously. Rather, she would have us believe her statements were merely “claims that await testing by the courts.”

So, in other words, Powell is tacitly admitting that when she made her much ballyhooed vow to “release the Kraken,” she knew it was based on hokum. And she also knew that when she was filing these statements that they were baloney.

I’m not a lawyer, but even I know that when you make court filings, you’re asserting that your arguments are based on fact. Not, though, if you’re a Trumper.

LEGISLATING FROM THE BENCH: THE REAL G.O.P. AGENDA

By Ronald T. Fox

If you’re like me and inclined toward progressive politics, you likely continue to be amazed as to why so many Americans continue to vote for Republicans when many of their political beliefs and actions, especially on economic and financial issues, are so broadly unpopular. Solid majorities of Americans support gun control, regulating big banks, reducing greenhouse gasses, a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy, laws to protect public health and safety, a wider access to healthcare, raising the minimum wage, protecting voting rights, and a progressive tax system that makes corporations and wealthy individuals pay more. These are all issues where republican lawmakers have defied the majority will of the American people.

How do they continue to get away with it? I’ve written in the past on Phronesis about how our political system is structured to thwart majority rule, citing the disproportionate influence moneyed interests, which are easily expressed through a constitutional system that in the electoral college, the small state-dominated Senate, and state and local governments stifles majority sentiment. I’ve written about the impact of gerrymandering and the failure of out communication outlets to educate the public on the realities of power and influence in our governance. I’ve addressed the failure of the Democratic Party to address working class concerns. I've posted about white resentment of identity politics. I’ve even pointed to the stupidity of voters (though such condescending academic preaching admittedly contributes to alienating ordinary Americans).

These factors help explain how Republicans, and their wealthy backers, have been able to thwart popular progressive legislation and retain their solid, if primarily white, electoral base. Still it is astonishing how a political party that has no clear legislative agenda other than obstruction, campaigns without a platform, goes at length to tell us what they’re against rather than for, has been so successful in achieving a policy agenda skewed toward rewarding the few Americans with wealth and power.

Ian Nillhiser’s opinion piece in the April 2, New York Times offers a clue: the Republican Party relies on the judiciary. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has for decades pushed an agenda that benefits corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. Court decisions have advanced the Republican vision in which government is prevented from regulating business, protecting civil and voting rights, and providing a basic social safety net.  Why should Republicans operate openly in the messy political arena when they can quietly achieve goals through the courts? How many Americans are aware of, and can comprehend, complicated court decisions, or non-decisions when they refuse to hear a case? You get the point: legislating from the bench enables them to dodge accountability for unpopular policies.

The conclusion for progressives and liberal to draw from the current reality of judicial legislating is depressing, to say the least. With conservatives controlling the Supreme Court and much of our nation’s networks of federal, as well as state and local, courts, and with most justices relatively young, we face years of rulings destined to benefit wealthy private interests and the broader agenda of conservatives. This endangers President Biden’s agenda, but, more ominously, our cherished Democracy.

I’m including Nillhiser’s op-ed below as a guest commentary. For a fuller exploration of his thesis, read his book: The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America.

MARCH 2021 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson. This is becoming a habit. In a Senate hearing investigating the security breakdown at the capitol, instead of asking the witnesses questions, as senators are expected to do, Johnson pulled out a statement from the leader of an anti-Muslim hate group, to explain why his “eyewitness” testimony was more valuable than that of any of the police officers on the scene, or the 300 million Americans who watched the tragedy unfold in real time. That’s because this witness had magic calibrated eyeballs, making him capable of discerning real Trump supporters from fake Antifa infiltrators.

Real Trump supporters are “jovial” and “friendly” people of the “working class.” But others don’t fit in. These people are, quoting now: “plain clothes militants, agent provocateurs, fake Trump protesters, and disciplined uniformed column of attackers.” These are the people who, according to Johnson, planned the attack on the Capitol.

But Johnson wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. According to his expert not-appearing-at-this-hearing witness, marchers were thrilled by the “courtesy gesture” of not seeing Capitol Police on every corner. With this invite, the Trump supporters “surged” toward the Capitol. In a good way. In a “talkative and happy” way. Because, after all, if they didn’t see any police trying to stop them, that was a perfect reason to step over, around, or through four levels of barricades between the street and the Capitol grounds.

Everyone was in “high spirits” until what “seemed like a scuffle” broke out between people in “ordinary clothes.” However, even though these people were wearing ordinary clothes that “fit right in with MAGA people,” Johnson’s expert could tell they were “plain clothes militants.” How he could tell is unexplained. Maybe he had X-ray specs. These people that looked exactly like regular Trump supporters but were clearly not as happy, talkative, jovial, or friendly got into a brief “tussle” with police. Then one of the police officers “fired a tear gas canister, not at the plain clothes militants at the front line, but into the crowd itself.” Apparently, police were unable to see the very subtle difference between good Trump supporters and evil fake Trump supporters that was obvious to Johnson’s pal.

This “changed the crowd’s demeanor” because “all of a sudden pro-police people felt like the police were attacking them,” read Johnson. “The pro-police crowd went from confusion, to anger.”

Then, having explained that the police were actually responsible for the deaths and injuries to police because they made all those jovial pro-police people angry, Johnson tried to enlist the police officials gathered in front of him in his claims that the police were to blame for Jan. 6. Shockingly, this did not go well. He started off asked former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund if it wasn’t true that Trump supporters were pro-police. Sund’s reply was that he didn’t know about that. However, he did note that some of the people shoving their way through police lines and assaulting his officers actually claimed to be police themselves. Somehow, that’s a lot more believable than Johnson’s claims about “agent provocateurs.” Funny how the people who have been arrested so far look like Trump supporters.

If you know any “jovial” and “friendly” Trump supporters, please forward their names to me. I’ve been searching for over four years now.

FEBRUARY 2021 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson. If you want to catch Sen. Johnson in a lie, just ask him a question. If you merely want to catch him, put a peanut in a box with a hole that’s big enough for him to slide his hand through but not big enough for him to remove his closed fist. When you finally show up three days later, he’ll be so desperate for your help he’ll grant you three wishes.

So, yeah, it’s no surprise that Johnson has already disgorged the clumsiest and dumbest post-impeachment take you’re likely to hear from anyone in Congress.

In an interview today with conservative radio talk show host Jay Weber, RoJo said this:

"The fact of the matter is this didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me. I mean armed, when you hear armed, don’t you think of firearms? Here’s the questions I would have liked to ask. How many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired? I’m only aware of one, and I’ll defend that law enforcement officer for taking that shot."

Good thing Rojo has set the record straight for we Americans who thought the attack on the Capitol was an insurrection. We need Johnson’s sharp analytical mind to make things clear for us, like World War II was just another street fight. Good thing Johnson set the media straight that Covid-19 is just a STD, Katrina was a Spring shower, and the February chill proves that global warming is a hoax.

Just when you think Senator Johnson can’t be any more asinine... Johnson claimed on Sunday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to blame for the riot at the US Capitol rather than President Donald Trump. While seeking to defend Trump, Johnson said in an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that the impeachment is part of a plot to divert attention from Pelosi, and what she "knew" ahead of the riot.

"Is this another diversionary operation? Is this meant to deflect away from potentially what the speaker knew and when she knew it? I don't know, but I'm suspicious," Johnson said of Pelosi.

Johnson had the delusional obstinance to claim he and Trump bore no responsibility for the mob attack on the Capitol and Congress, which was spurred by their repeated lies and false claims about the election.

What RoJo is attempting to posit here is that Nancy Pelosi anticipated the storming of the Capitol, and instead of taking measures to ensure its security, she allowed it to be overrun just to make Trump and Republicans look bad.

And you thought Louie Gohmert was moronic.

JANUARY 2021 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Ferris State University Professor Thomas Brennan. Although Brennan does not fit the “celebrity” criteria necessary for nomination for an IGGY, I’m making an exception in this professor’s case. The St. John university student newspaper, The Torch, covered comments Brennan made on a Twitter account under his full name about the novel coronavirus pandemic, as well as a number of slurs that allegedly appeared on the same account. According to screenshots, Professor Brennan allegedly tweeted that COVID-19 was a “stunt” to form “a leftist new world order.” According to MLive, during a virtual meeting for Ferris State University’s College of Arts, Sciences, and Education department in August, Brennan reportedly commented that “COVID-19 death rates in the United States were exaggerated, and the pandemic and rioting were leftist stunts.”

According to The Torch, the Twitter account also allegedly tweeted bizarre and horrifying remarks like “Covid19 is another jewish revolution” as well as homophobic and racial slurs. An anonymous student in a class of Brennan’s spoke to The Torch and reportedly told the outlet that the professor talks about conspiracy theories related to cellphones during class time.

In terms of racial slurs, Brennan wrote that he is “not racist against black people,” added that he loves and respects them, and argued, “the ’n-word’ is a mind-control spell designed to make us hate each other.” He went on to say that he used the word in order to “neutralize” its power. Yikes!

In speaking to local outlet wzzm 13, Brennan explained that he didn’t use the N-word “lightly,” and suggested that we’re “heading towards such a crescendo of madness where we're about to all be enslaved because of this COVID crisis." He added to the outlet that he said “some hyperbolic things to draw attention to what it is I wanted to say.”

In response to the controversy evoked by Brennan, FSU President, David Eisler, said: “We strongly reject these statements, condemn them and will not tolerate them. We have worked diligently to become a more diverse university, and these statements demonstrate vividly how one person can set back the work of many.” Brennan has been on administrative leave since Nov. 19, though it’s unclear whether the leave is specific to the alleged Twitter remarks, the COVID-19 remarks during the August meeting, both, or neither.

Brennan is clearly the kind of scientist Republicans can get behind.