Donald Trump continues to hype a possible military response to North Korea, while North Korea does that same.

Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2017

#USAF B-1B Lancer #bombers on Guam stand ready to fulfill USFK’s #FightTonight mission if called upon to do so https://t.co/O3oVeFrNrG pic.twitter.com/IAm2qLwcWY

— U.S. Pacific Command (@PacificCommand) August 11, 2017

Those were Trump's early morning tweets today, though he also took a moment to suggest that Mitch McConnell might need to quit his job.

Yep Trump seems very committed to escalating this thing all out of proportion.

And North Korea seems totally down with that.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

In brief footage played during Shepard Smith Reporting, an unidentified spokesman blasted the U.S. President as “senile” on North Korean state media. 

“We cannot have a sound dialogue with a senile man who can’t think rationally,” the spokesman said. “And only absolute force can work on him. This is the judgment made by our soldiers of the strategic force.”

I hate it when I find myself somewhat agreeing with an unnamed North Korean spokesman. (Not about the absolute force part of course, but definitely with the senility part.)

But here's the thing, it is a strong possibility that both of these so-called "world leaders" are overreacting to hype.

Yesterday during the opening of her show Rachel Maddow made the point that the initial reporting on North Korea's ability to miniaturize an atomic warhead and place it in a missile was from a single source, that had been wrong about this very thing four years ago.

Here is Rachel discussing this very issue with a former CIA analyst and professor who specializes in North Korean relations. As you can see not only does this interview raise questions about the veracity of this recent reporting, but it also points out that Trump's reaction to it has been unnecessarily aggressive in response to the actual threat.

However now that Trump has reacted in this way, he has triggered a similar chest thumping response from North Korea and now we really ARE  facing a potential catastrophe.

When all of this first started to heat up at the beginning of this month I suggested that all of this might be nothing more than a distraction designed to pull our attention away from the Russian probes.

And that may very well be true. But the problem is that if more journalists like Rachel Maddow don't start raising that possibility and working to verify the sources suggesting that we are headed to World War 3 are accurate, we may well find ourselves actually IN World War 3.

As Bloomberg points out from the time that Trump gives the order it might only take five minutes before a nuclear armed missile is leveling the city of Pyongyang.

The question we have to continually ask ourselves is "How many people is Donald Trump willing to sacrifice in order to shut down the investigations into his possible collusion with Russia?"

I think we all know the answer, and it is terrifying.

Son of homeschooling mom sees first male Covergirl model on TV, homeschooling mom kind of loses it.

Courtesy of Homeschool Base: 

Mommy, why doesn’t daddy wear makeup? This is the question my 6-year-old asked me on Friday afternoon. We were watching Countdown to Christmas on ABC, and a commercial came up in between watching Toy Story.

The first image is of a boy in a backwards hat with ink and black makeup. He narrates the commercial, but doesn’t reappear until the end. In the last few scenes, he is arching his back and holding his thighs next to six or so other girls. His appears to be the most feminine of all the poses. The tagline read, “Equal is beautiful.” The final image was branded with #LashEquality. 

My son watched this commercial while I wasn’t paying any attention. Because it was just a CoverGirl commercial, I didn’t think I would need to cover the screen. I was pre-occupied, speaking with David (my husband). 

Both of us were caught off guard, we didn’t know how to answer. I don’t know why, but the most logical thing we could think of at that moment was to say, “No, that’s a girl.” 

The commercial comes on a second time. It is undeniable, it’s a guy.

So what is a backward thinking, over protective parent to do when the Satanic world they are attempting to protect their little snowflake from comes bursting into their lives adorned in eye makeup?

Well misrepresent that world of course.

“Daddy doesn’t wear makeup because makeup is for girls.”

This of course is a ridiculous thing to say as her son JUST saw somebody who was NOT a girl on TV wearing makeup.

The mother then compounds her ignorance by responding with this; “That is how his parents chose to raise him...”

That of course is also ridiculous as parents cannot actually "choose" who their children will be. Nor should they try.

All we can do is love and support our children, and help them to make choices which empower them and allow them to be the best they can possibly be as adults.

And we cannot choose their sexuality, which seems to be the suggestion made by this mother, and her deepest fear.

In the end this sad creature decides that she will simply change her brand of makeup, and then makes this rather pathetic observation:

"Our world is headed in a direction where my 6-year-old son is having to grow up so much faster than I want him to."

Now remember her world was undone by a GUY WEARING MAKEUP. 

I mean this is not a video of somebody brutally killing another person on screen, or her son overhearing inappropriate language from an R rated movie, or the death of a beloved pet.

This is just some young guy wearing makeup.

Do you know how you handle that?

You say, "Well he must like to wear makeup, and that's his choice." and you move the hell on.

The fact that this woman sees this as some kind of existential crisis seems to indicate that perhaps SHE needs to start getting out of the house more herself.

Geez!

(H/T to The Friendly Atheist.)

Mike Pence gets booed by the audience while attending "Hamilton." Donald Trump blames cast, demands apology.

Here's Pence getting booed as he gets to his seats at Hamilton pic.twitter.com/IRQG68x1sB

— David K (@dkipke12) November 19, 2016

As you can hear this is the reaction of audience members, and done of their own accord.

In fact the curtains are closed and the show has not yet started.

However thin skinned Donald Trump thought that this was the fault of the cast members and sent off this tweet in response.

Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016

The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016

Blaming the cast for the actions of the audience, before a show even starts?

Overreact much?

Actually the cast showed remarkable restraint, and at the end of the show the lead actor Brandon Victor Dixon had this message for Mike Pence: 

“We have a guest in the audience this evening. Vice President-elect Pence I see you walking out, but I hope you will hear us just a few more moments. There’s nothing to boo here ladies and gentlemen. We have a message for you sir. We hope that you will hear us out. I encourage everyone to pull out your phones and tweet because this message needs to be spread far and wide. 

Vice President-elect Pence we welcome you and we truly thank you for joining us here at Hamilton, an American Musical. We really do. We sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, out children, our parents or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. All of us. We truly thank you for sharing in this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men, women of different colors, creeds and orientations and we truly hope that you heard our message sir, because you all represent all of us."

Not sure how that gets translated into being rude in the eyes of Donald Trump, but if this is how he responds to everything I think our first new war will be starting less than a week after his inauguration. 

The Washington Post reaches out to make a very reasonable request for Sarah Palin to contribute an article about his election, and she flips out.

We can win, we can win, we can win!

Courtesy of Psychotic Sally's Facebook page:  

Media mocks Trump's "rigged election" warning to its own peril. More evidence in my inbox, this time from the Washington Post requesting I write an op-ed commemorating their coronation of Hillary - 10 days from now. This is hilarious! Good ol' reliable WaPo - continuing its embarrassing fail that's reminiscent of their forced correction after irresponsibly, absurdly claiming I joined Al Jazera; announcing to the world their goal was to not mention my name in print for an entire month (oh, what a blessed month that was!) ; and relentlessly suggesting my (and other Conservatives) irrelevancy in national discourse - assuming I'd participate in their in-the-tank shenanigans for the Globalists. (The "Globalists?" Well somebody has certainly been getting their daily serving of Alex Jones lately.) No, Mr. WaPo Editor, can't say I'm interested in writing for you. But I'd love a copy of your pre-printed post-election edition shipped to me in Alaska. Your bold "Clinton Defeats Trump" headline will be framed right next to another old rag we're all familiar with...

Palin then posts this iconic image from the past to accentuate her insanity.

 Now that is a fairly breathless and mouth foam speckled tirade, and it's crazy enough on its own.

However Palin also provided the actual e-mail that she received from the Washington Post, and that is where things go from the ridiculous to the even more ridiculous.

Okay that's it.

All the Post was asking for was a little write up of Palin's thoughts IF Hillary Clinton were to win this election. (I guess they thought as the first female governor of the state of Alaska she might have an interesting take on what it means for the country.)

They were not stating as a fact that Hillary WOULD win, only that if she did win that an article contributed by Sarah Palin might be interesting to their readers.

So if Trump wins obviously this article would never see the light of day, and yet Palin would still be paid for her contribution.

There is literally no downside.

But in Palin's frenzied, Trump must win or it is the end of civilization, mindset she is completely unable to entertain even the possibility that he might lose, and even the mere mention of that fact is enough to cause her to have a minor psychotic break.

This leads me to wonder just how long Palin's stay at API will be once this election comes to a close.

Don't think it could be long enough personally.

Writer of the HBO movie Game Change says that Sarah Palin's overreaction to the film helped with its success.

Julianne Moore winning Emmy for her role in "Game Change."

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Danny Strong wrote "Game Change," the television adaptation of the dishy book depicting the 2008 president election. Sarah Palin was decidedly not pleased with her portrayal -- which earned both an Emmy and Golden Globe for Julianne Moore -- but the Alaska governor's anger made Strong and the team behind the film very happy. 

When Strong talked with HuffPost Live about "Empire" on Tuesday, host Ricky Camilleri asked about Palin's response to "Game Change." Strong said he's never spoken to her personally, but her team did the film a big favor before it premiered. Strong explained: 

"The people that were working for her held a huge press conference the week before the film came out, and they said, 'We have not seen this movie, but it is all lies.' And it was kind of amazing because the amount of press we got -- that they sparked by holding that press conference -- propelled the film into being the most-watched HBO movie in a decade because it dominated the press cycle. And I just always thought it was strange. Why did they attack it before they had seen it and point out things that they said weren't accurate? And then when the film came out, they said, 'We have seen the movie now, and it's all lies.' And it didn't get much media coverage because they had already sort of said it was all lies before they had seen it. It was intense, but we were grateful to the press because it was great for the movie."

That's our Sarah Palin for you.

She did the exact same thing when Joe McGinniss moved int next door, when the Shailey Tripp accusations fist came out, and when I wrote Splitsville. 

By the way when Sarah Palin comes out with guns blazing against some "lie" being told about her, that is your guarantee that it is the cold hard truth. 

Texas fourth grader suspended for threatening to magically make a fellow student disappear.

One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them; One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A fourth grader in Kermit, Texas was suspended for making “terroristic threats” after allegedly telling a classmate that he had a “magic ring” that could make the boy disappear, the Odessa American reports. 

According to Kermit Elementary School officials, 9-year-old Aiden Steward told a classmate that he possessed a magic ring forged in Mount Doom — a fictional location from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series. 

Aiden’s father, Jason, told The Daily News that his family had just watched The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies earlier that week, and that his son “didn’t mean anything” when he told his classmate he was in possession of the “one ring to rule them all.” 

“Kids act out movies that they see. When I watched Superman as a kid, I went outside and tried to fly,” he said. 

“I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend’s existence,” he added. “If he did, I’m sure he’d bring him right back.” 

Kermit Elementary Principal Roxanne Greer told the Odessa American that she could not comment on the suspension, because “all student stuff is confidential,” but Steward said that she told him that any and all threats to a child’s safety — including magical ones — would be taken seriously by the school.

So to be clear, in Texas guns good, magic bad.

What can actually cause you harm is considered safe, and what can never cause you harm is something to be feared.

I think I just invented the new Texas state motto.

In wake of Boston Marathon bombings, Fox News contributor "jokingly" suggests killing all Muslims.

Courtesy of Global Post: 

A tweet by Fox News contributor Erik Rush — that all Muslims should be killed in response to the Boston Marathon bombings — has set off a firestorm of debate on Twitter. 

The hashtag #muslims was trending as pro- and anti-Islamic voices weighed in. 

In what was widely described as a "joke," Rush tweeted:

Everybody do the National Security Ankle Grab! Let's bring more Saudis in without screening them! C'mon! #bostonmarathon
— Erik Rush (@erikrush) April 15, 2013

When a responder tweeted, "Are you ALREADY BLAMING MUSLIMS??" 

Rush responded: "Yes, they're evil. Let's kill them all." 

He later tweeted that he was being sarcastic.

As of right now we have no idea just who was behind this terrible attack, but some evidence is indicating that it is more likely an act of domestic terrorism rather than a foreign entity.

However of COURSE many people in this country will automatically assume it involves Muslims, which makes what this asshole did completely despicable as it may result in acts of revenge focused on innocent Americans.

Why am I not surprised he works for Fox News?

The response to President Obama's new gun control plan from the Right Wing is...well as crazy as you would expect it to be. Update!

"If'n they come fer our guns we gonna lock'em right up!"

Courtesy of DNJ in Tennessee:  

Saying Americans should be able to 'defend themselves from tyranny,' state Rep. Joe Carr said today he is proposing a bill that would allow federal agents to be arrested for enforcing new gun-control laws.

Isn't suggesting a response like THAT to law enforcement kind of the reason that Alaska terrorist Schaeffer Cox is doing time in Federal prison right now?

Looks like old Schaeffer might get him a bunk mate.

And he better have a roomy bunk because even BEFORE the President outlined his plan Texas Rep. Steve Toth was making similar plans to handcuff federal agents:

Republican Rep. Steve Toth told WOAI 1200-AM that his Firearms Protection Act will make trying to enforce a federal gun ban in the state subject to a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison. 

"At some point there needs to be a showdown between the states and the federal government over the Supremacy Clause," Mr. Toth said. "It is our responsibility to push back when those laws are infringed by King Obama."

"King Obama?" Isn't this idiot being a tad melodramatic?

In Mississippi they simply decided to make laws against the new laws, making those laws no longer laws. Can they do that?  

In a letter sent to his lieutenant governor and the state speaker of the house that was posted on his Facebook page, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) on Wednesday called for immediate legislation that would make any "unconstitutional order" on gun policy taken by President Barack Obama "illegal to enforce in Mississippi by state and local law enforcement." 

Bryant wrote that the president's executive order on guns — Obama and Vice President Joe Biden actually unveiled 23 executive actions on Wednesday — would likely infringe on the Second Amendment "as never before in American history."

Damn I wish I had the market cornered on blood pressure medication in the South. I could be making a killing!

So to speak.

Update: Well of course Alaska can't let Texas do something crazy without jumping onto the crazy bandwagon right along with them.

Courtesy of KTUU:

A bill introduced in the Alaska House would make it a misdemeanor for a federal employee to try to enforce any new restrictions on gun ownership. 

HB69, from House Speaker Mike Chenault, was introduced the same day President Barack Obama unveiled a package of executive orders and legislative proposals aimed at curbing gun violence. Obama's proposals include background checks for all gun sales and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

His bill would deem unenforceable federal laws, orders, rules or regulations that seek to ban or restrict ownership of a semiautomatic firearm or magazine, or require a firearm, magazine or firearm accessory be registered. 

It should come as no surprise that Chenault, pictured above, represents the Kenai/Soldotna area which is of course the SAME area where many of these militia assholes, including Norm Olsen, live.

Fucking Alaska!