Mendocino County Today: Friday, June 4, 2021

Westerly Flow | 4 New Cases | Graduation Season | Young Ansel | Live-in Helper | Grass Swirl | Police Calls | AV Villagers | Free Booths | Expensive Gas | Electric Fence | Smoke Concern | 55 Gallons | Ed Notes | Eureka Magazine | Double Supes | Ukiah 1939 | Hardwick Standoff | Yesterday's Catch | Aunt Jemima | Sweater Shopping | Boone's Farm | Funeral Crashing | Math Quiz | Smear Journalism | Procrastinating Horsemen | So Long

WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT will help promote onshore flow to the region. Marine influence along the coast is enhanced with stratus and areas of fog prominent at night and during the morning hours. Increasing northerly winds each afternoon may provide some sunny periods. Interior areas will continue to see sunny and warm days with cooler temperatures coming early next week. (NWS)

4 NEW COVID CASES reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.

RAISED BY (LAUGHING) HYENAS

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

Graduation season is everywhere, and be happy if you needn’t sit through yawn-inducing ceremonies celebrating the most recent students bumped from the educational assembly line.

School administrators permit speakers to address graduates only if they have nothing to tell them. Orators guaranteed to bore listeners nearly to death take the stage to tell nonstop lies to unsuspecting teens about how much they’ve already accomplished. 

Another staple of graduation season is the party. Ukiah graduation parties are all about streamers and confetti, signs saying “ConGRADulations!” and a cake from Safeway. Relatives hand the kid a card with $50 inside.

Ahh, the party angle. A long time ago we staged a graduation party, allegedly to honor son Lucas for having surmounted every academic challenge Pomolita Middle School could throw in his path, but actually designed to induce psychological trauma in his older sister. 

Plans were planned, people were contacted and everyone was in on the scheme.

Except Emily.

To give the appearance of a generic graduation party we had some guests, some pizza and a big fancy cake Trophy had labored over since yesterday. There were envelopes from well-wishers, and maybe some alcohol.

First pizza, then cake, and now it’s time to open all the card-bearing messages people had sent to demonstrate the pride and awe that Lucas had inspired in them via his mighty scholastic achievements. 

The first card came from neighbors Kevin & Danna. She slid a turquoise-colored envelope across the deck table, Lucas pulled out the card and extracted a check for $500. Five hundred bucks!

Emily’s eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead. She said something like “Whaaa . . . ?” while Lucas said something like “Wow! Thanks you guys!”

And over the next few minutes Lucas hauled in:

1) A card from Aunt Carol in Pennsylvania with a check for $750; 

2) A card from Uncle Bill living in South Carolina, and a $1200 check. 

Emily: “W-w-whadda . . . ? Whadda they think—he graduated from . . . Harvard? I mean . . . ” Her voice trailed to a whisper. She had the blank look of someone in shock and maybe she was. No doubt Emily still remembered that when she graduated from Pomolita a few years earlier she was happy to get a $25 gift certificate from the Mendocino Book Company. 

3) But the capper came from Uncle Pete in New York. Included in the card was a color photo of him leaning against his beloved red ’65 Mustang convertible, holding up a certificate that the card’s inscription said was the registration. 

“ConGRADulations!” Pete wrote. “All yours! Fly back, pick it up and drive it home!” 

I took surreptitious photos of Emily documenting what must have been among the weirdest and least comprehensible experiences in her young life. Each picture was timed to capture her response at the instant she learned of the latest outrage against common sense and family tradition. In the pictures she looks blank, stricken, as if she hasn’t taken a breath for at least five minutes. 

“Stunned” might be the word, like a sledge to the head of a slaughterhouse cow, or news of a Dow-Jones wobble that drains your last nickel, or when Martians land, walk in the back door and ask what’s for dinner.

The main event concluded, Emily sat back looking seasick. We let her stew a few minutes, absorbing the fact her 13-year old brother was up to his armpits in money, a cool car, plus a trip to Disneyland someone had tossed in the pot.

Then we nursed her back to emotional stability by tearing up the bogus checks and assuring her that all Lucas had actually received for his middle school triumphs was a gift certificate to the Mendocino Book Company for $30. 

Semi-cruel pranks are woven into the fabric of my family history. I could easily fascinate and horrify a veteran professional family therapist counselor with matter-of-fact tales of family vacations, holidays and other special events targeting one sibling or another in complex trickery contrived to make them doubt their own sanity. 

All in good fun of course. No harm intended. Cantcha take a joke?

After all, look how normal and healthy I turned out.

(Tom Hine recalls the year our parents took special joy in ruining my older brother’s summer by convincing him we were unable to afford the usual cabin-on-a-lake vacation and would instead be camping out of our car several miles away. Or when mom and the three oldest kids waited until Peter, 5 years old, went to bed on Christmas Eve. then moved the decorated tree into a back bedroom, hid gifts in the pantry, and told him the next morning he’d been dreaming. A November calendar on the kitchen wall was proof. TWK, horrified, is looking for a new writing partner.)

3RD GRADE CLASS PROJECT AS ANSEL ADAMS

AV VILLAGE MEMBER seeks live-in helper - please spread the word.

Kristina, an AV Village Member, is looking for a live-in helper in exchange for free rent at her place in Yorkville. The helper would have their own private 2 + bedrooms and bath in exchange for helping Kristina with meal prep and house cleaning. The time commitment would between 10 and 20 hours a week to be determined between both parties. The helper would have time to have their own job. Kristina suffers from depression and anxiety and having live-in help would be a great support for her - it's a win-win! And she has pets too. If you are interested or know someone who may be perfect for this contact Kristina: (415) 342-1540 

IN THE WEEDS

RANDOM UKIAH POLICE LOG CALLS, last week:

Juvenile problem N Spring St, Ukiah. Reporting juvs carrying large object that they dropped and broke and are now running through the soccer field at loc//ls running towards low gap. Unable to locate/gone on arrival.

* * *

Drunk in public So. State St, Ukiah. Male subject requesting to speak to crisis. Call transferred and crisis worker recontacted advised per security subj is 647f (drunk) and they can not respond or transport for intoxicated subject. [Later] Arrested Sean Flinton, Ukiah. Chg-647f pc. Booked at County Jail.

* * *

Disturbance So. State St, Ukiah. Adult Male causing disturbance at bus stop, yelling racial slurs, Suspect is a white male adult with blonde ponytail and all black clothing with black cane. Subj contacted and counseled.

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE MEMBER PROFILES

Welcome to Anderson Valley Village. We are a locally inspired and managed non-profit organization. Our mission is to help older adults remain active, connected, and independent in the place they call home while enhancing the quality of life in our community.

We currently have 57 members and 54 trained volunteers ready to lend a hand! Please reach out if you need a friendly volunteer to call you for a chat, shop for you, do outside chores or errands, tech support, etc.

Since the pandemic has made gathering in groups impossible, we’ve struggled with how to continue to build community and relationships without the traditional social interactions we were used to. This is one idea — to introduce members of our community to each other, by sharing a photo and a few words about each person. 

Barbara Lamb, Village Member

1. How long have you been in the Valley?

I bought my property 46 years ago in 1975 but I was working as a school Psychologist in the LA area so I only came up for summer, Christmas and Easter vacations and between semesters. I moved up full time in 1996, when I gave up my “Bright Lighter” status.

2. Where did you grow up and where were you coming from when you moved to the Valley?

I grew up in Los Angeles and was living in Pasadena for 33 years before I moved up to Yorkville. As of next September, I will have been here a quarter of a century. My how time flies when you're having fun!

3. Did you have a career or a passion project so far in your life that you would like to tell us about?

I worked as a school psychologist and I taught Parent Effectiveness Training and Teacher Effectiveness Training. I was President of the PTA, and of Pasadena Association for the Gifted, and Vice-President and Program Director of the American Nutrition Society. I can't believe I did all that while raising four children. Other passions were singing, playing guitar, gardening and always knitting. Then I got very much into photography and had my own studio and darkroom.

4. Favorite place to be outside of the Anderson Valley?

Southern California. I go to Pasadena regularly, usually about four times a year, because my daughter and son-in-law and my youngest son and his fiance live there. I also have a grandson, his wife and two great grandsons in Long Beach. I also go to Oceanside to stay with my sister and visit with nieces and nephews every time I go to Southern California. Family is very important to me.

* * *

Jeanne Collins, Village Volunteer Extraordinaire!

1. What is your main motivation for becoming an AV Village Volunteer? Or what is your favorite part of volunteering with us?

We are lucky we have so much at our fingertips here in AV — health center, senior center, restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc, but I've often wondered what it will be like when I'm older and unable to drive an hour to run a specific errand as I do now. Then one day I heard about the AV Village, and I knew I wanted to do my part for folks who couldn't get around as easily as I can. My work involves driving all over the county, so it's easy for me to do errands for people. I also love visiting the Village Members who are assigned to me. It's so interesting listening to their stories, and I always seem to learn something. Lastly, I have an elderly mother who lives in Napa, and prior to the pandemic, she received support from volunteers at an agency called Molly's Angels who would drive her to appointments and classes. Volunteering for the Village is a way I can help someone else's mom as volunteers have helped mine.

2. How long have you been in the Valley? 

38 years

3. Where did you grow up and where were you coming from when you moved to the Valley?

I grew up in Napa Valley. Prior to moving to AV, I lived in Fresno where I went to college and taught Deaf students for a few years. I made a quick stop in Ukiah for a few months before landing in Philo in the fall of 1983.

4. Did you have a career or a passion project so far in your life that you would like to tell us about?

I loved teaching American Sign Language (ASL) and English as a Second Language (ESL/ELD) to students at AV Jr/Sr High School. My ASL & ESL students were so eager and motivated to learn, they made my job easy. I always enjoyed seeing my ASL students chat with Deaf students from CSD, Fremont who came to the Redwood Classic every year. The newcomers in my ESL classes generally had me for three periods a day, and within a year they were fairly fluent in English. I was so proud to be their teacher!

5. Luckiest thing that has happened to you?

I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunities to travel and see many states in the USA and many parts of the world, including most of Western Europe, many states in Mexico, and several countries in South America. I think visiting other countries and learning about other people's cultures is fascinating. There are still states in the USA that I want to see like Wyoming & Montana, and I hope to get to Africa & Asia someday. Hopefully, I'll get there!

* * *

Anjes De Ryck, Village Member

1. How long have you been in the Valley?

Since 2001

2. Where did you grow up and where were you coming from when you moved to the Valley?

In Belgium

3. Did you have a career or a passion project so far in your life that you would like to tell us about?

Yes, I was a nurse for many years, first in Belgium and then here in California.

COME AND GET 'EM! FREE BUCKHORN BOOTHS!

All different size booths. Free. Pick up behind the Buckhorn, take what you want. (Natalie Matson)

THIS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS STATION has the most expensive fuel in the country.

Guess where?

sfgate.com/travel/article/Northern-Calfornia-Mendocino-most-expensive-gas-16220638.php

FARMWORKERS in Napa Valley are worried about smoke exposure as the region braces for another wildfire season. The smoke may present health dangers, writes Sarah Klearman in the Napa Valley Register, and simultaneously presents financial concerns for workers who may lose wages. (Esther Mobley, SF Chron)

MEMO OF THE WEEK

ED NOTES

A PLEASANT young woman named Laura Brickman stopped in this afternoon. She's doing site prep for a documentary film on the Bari Bombing saga. Rather than drag you, dear reader, on familiar paths, assuming you pay any attention to my overly-frequent mentions of the case, I'll confine myself to two major points about the alleged mystery of who tried to kill the 1990 diva of Northcoast dissent. (1) Not a single member of the Bari family, including her parents when they were alive, and her well-placed sister, Gina Kolata of the New York Times, or the children of Mike Sweeney by Sweeney's former wife and the two daughters he had with Bari, have ever said a public word about the case. Don't know about you, Dad, but if my kid was blown up in a murder attempt this dad would still be out in front of the Federal Building with a placard demanding that the bomber be pursued. (2) Neither the Oakland Police Department nor the FBI looked at Bari's ex-husband as the logical perp, making Sweeney the biggest elephant in the smallest room, ever.

INTERESTING STAT. According to the Marin County Grand Jury, there are 100,000 guns among Marin's roughly 250,000 serene citizens, one of which belongs to me, but I keep my other gats up here in mellow Mendo, feeling foolish at both venues because of the obvious: Someone bent on harm inevitably has the drop on you, the vic.

A KAYAKER reports on the Navarro: "The water is warm (sandbar blockade is up) and the level is high (near the coast). But you can already see the beginnings of the great algae bloom. It's going to be a very bad year for algae (and last year was horrible).

TOMMY WAYNE'S COL on graduation, reminds me of the hours I've endured in the hot box Boonville gym, hostage to hours of home movies of the grads as toddlers and, one particularly horrific year, every ennui-inducing word translated from English to Spanish, exhausting both audiences. Our former superintendent, since elevated to county superintendent, Michelle Hutchins, finally had the good sense to move the graduation event outside, and subsequent to her, high school principal, Jim Snyder, separated the awards part of the ceremony to the day prior to the grads getting their diplomas.

ONCE IN A RARE WHILE, a graduating high school kid goes rogue, as Paxton Smith did in Texas this week for her valedictory speech: “I was going to talk about TV and media and content, because it's something that's very important to me. However, under light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in the state. Recently, the heartbeat bill was passed in Texas. Starting in September, there will be a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest…"

SUPES SCHEDULE TWO MEETINGS NEXT WEEK

Board of Supervisors Meeting Agendas - June 8th and 9th, 2021

Community Partners, Colleagues, and Interested Parties:

The Board of Supervisors Meeting Agendas for the Tuesday, June 8th, 2021, and Wednesday June 9th, 2021, meetings are now available on the County website: https://mendocino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Please contact Clerk of the Board at (707) 463-4441 if you have any questions regarding this message.

CODE ENFORCEMENT NEWS

(UPDATE) Ukiah - Non-permitted commercial cannabis cultivation in non-permitted structures

Post Date: 06/03/2021 4:00 PM

Action Date: 05/26/21

Location: 400 Block of Hardwick Lane in Ukiah (UPDATE)

Information:

The Mendocino County Code Enforcement Division is continuing to conduct an investigation regarding non-permitted commercial cannabis cultivation at the listed location.

The Code Enforcement investigation confirmed that commercial cannabis cultivation was occurring in non-permitted structures without a County Cultivation Permit or State Cultivation License. The responsible party refused to abate the 100 cannabis plants being cultivated and Code Enforcement subsequently issued Administrative Citations with penalties as follows:

1.) $260 per day for non-permitted structures used for cannabis cultivation.

2.) $2,000 per day for violations of the Mendocino County Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance.

3.) A $20,000 (100 plants x $200 “per plant”) one time penalty for non-permitted commercial cannabis cultivation.

As of 5/26/21, the responsible party continues to cultivate and is still refusing to abate the 100 cannabis plants being cultivated. Code Enforcement subsequently issued Administrative Citations with penalties as follows and will be exploring further criminal and civil enforcement remedies to gain compliance:

1.) $1,400 per day (increased from $260) for non-permitted structures used for cannabis cultivation.

2.) $2,000 per day (still accruing) for violations of the Mendocino County Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance.

3.) $20,000 per day (100 plants x $200 “per plant”, increased from one time to daily) for non-permitted commercial cannabis cultivation.

The Code Enforcement Division receives all Cannabis and General Code Violation complaints in the unincorporated areas of the County. Complaints can be made in person at our offices or by visiting our website at: www.mendocinocounty.org/government/codeenforcement to file an online complaint. Cannabis specific complaints can also be filed by calling the Cannabis Complaint Hotline at: (844) 421-WEED(9333).

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, June 3, 2021

YOHALMO CRUZ, Santa Rosa/Piercy. Attempt to record false or forged documents, probation revocation.

KIANA FLORES, Redwood Valley. County parole violation.

DANIEL HEATH, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

SKYLAR HENDERSON, Willits. Protective order violation, paraphearnalia, resisting.

AILEEN MCLEOD, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs, concealed weapon in vehicle.

DANIEL MOLINA, Vallejo/Willits. Burglary.

AUNT JEMIMA!

The guy in the apron was just some dude who owned a grocery store in Vevay, Indiana. The gorgeous lady on the right? Aunt Jemima herself! 

All the other people around? They were there to meet Aunt Jemima and eat her delicious pancakes! So, tell me again why we are erasing her from her brand? Like she never existed! Like, she didn't get crowds like this at ever grocery store she visited!? I hate this for her legacy. Its obvious from this picture that lots of people loved her, wanted to meet her, and wanted to eat and enjoy her cooking. So so sad.

GETTING READY TO GO

by Bill Grimes

Like others or at least like oldie others, I had not purchased any new clothing, not even online in fifteen months. Living alone I wore the same shirt and jeans for a month. The only people my scruffy appearance might bother were the shoppers at Safeway and Walgreens who found my appearance pre-covid nothing to look at and anyway they weren’t dressed for a job interview at Goldman Sachs. 

But this morning I’m getting spruced up. Took my first shower in a week. (Big drought here.) I’m busting out of covid jail tomorrow on a United flight East, three weeks of new old sights. I’m a meticulous packer maximizing every inch of my mid-sized, two wheel Eagle Creek carry-on. Thinking of twilight time with friends and family: cocktails poolside in Connecticut and Long Island and a screened-in porch in Atlanta, I’d need a cotton sweater. I knew where to look. 

On a shelf in my bedroom closet I found one forgotten and frayed, faded frayed blue with a country club insignia I didn’t recognize. Not good but it may have to come along. I tried it on. Having gained undisclosed pounds since March 2020, the sweater wore tight, freakishly tight said my honest mirror. (That weight gain. How could I have stopped it? With restaurants closed for a year plus I cooked all my meals, and dining alone every night I failed to resist the temptation of having another helping of this or that, and finishing that bottle of Pinot Grigio.) I left the sweater where I found it. If and when the town’s thrift store reopens I’d take it there.

With no time to receive an order online, I recalled there was a Macy’s store in a nearby shopping center. Maybe it was like so many other Macy’s stores: closed or everything must go. Its website said its Corte Madera store opens at 10AM. Maybe I’d find a sweater there but if not there was a Nordstrom’s on the same shopping campus which for probably twice the price I could find a nice summer sweater. 

* * *

Macy’s Incorporated was founded in 1858 in New York and expanded over the decades by new store openings and acquisitions. By the middle of the twentieth century it owned over one thousand stores in 45 states and was an American icon revered in the same breath as Chevy, Burma Shave, and our national pastime, MLB. On Thanksgiving Day Macy’s was synonymous with family, turkey and cranberry and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. National television, Millions of people at home, thousands more following the action in the streets of New York.

As the new century arrived Macy’s had suffered from emerging online competition, crippling debt service, staid products failing to attract and retain new demographic shoppers, and management turnover. Today it owns about 500 stores.

I drove to the Macy store in the nearby Corte Madera shopping center. This vast shopping center on 2500 acres was the home of 60 shops, several eateries, a batch of clothing boutiques plus a cool Apple store and a Tesla showroom. Macy's store was located at one end of the center with Nordstrom's at the other. As the two largest stores each had a large parking lot. I pulled into a space near the Macy store entrance. The two door openings required a hefty pull, unusual since my recollection was department store doors opened electronically as one entered and departed. Was that a sign of Macy’s problems?

Inside I saw one or two shoppers at the cosmetics and fragrances area in conversation with an employee behind the counter. There were two floors of merchandise and the sign read Men’s on the Main Floor. Good that’s where I was. However it took me about five minutes of wandering to find it; the store footprint was about the size of two football fields. There I could find only one employee and she was standing on a step ladder stacking denims at the Calvin Klein section. I asked where I could find sweaters. At first she didn’t understand me but I prevailed by brushing my hands across my chest and arms adding a brief shiver motion. And saying men’s sweaters, sweater, sweater. Ah, her eyes lit up but her face showed frown. “No, think we have no.”

I didn't like the idea of walking a half mile to Nordstrom’s so I decided to look at every men’s clothing module which included stops at Tommy Hilfiger’s, Calvin Klein, Docker’s and Lacoste. Not a sweater anywhere. Not a sales clerk. Two, maybe three other shoppers passed by silently. As I was about to give up I saw one more clothier, POLO RALPH LAUREN. Finger’s crossed. There were shelves of short and long sleeve shirts, hanging slacks, shorts, jeans and hoodies. Not a sweater in sight until I noticed in the Coats and Jackets area at a floor level shelf, near buried from sight, and lo and behold there were four cotton sweaters, two red, two black, three XL and one L which was black. With no employee or shopper in sight I decided to try it on right there, no need to find a changing room. It fit. The quality seemed good. 

The price on the tag read:

ORIG 125 

SAVE 65% 

DEAL 43.73

Hooray.

Now how to buy. I hadn’t seen a check out clerk in the men’s section so I found my way back to the women’s section where I saw a woman behind a counter busily scanning a dozen or more clothing items. The shopper, an Hispanic woman with three kids, watched intently. Finished, the clerk bagged the items and looked at the computer screen and said, “One hundred eighty three dollars.” No please, no smile. no give a fuck. The Hispanic mother, the three kids had her face, produced two one hundred dollar bills which the clerk placed on a small screen device beside the screen. Then with proof the bills were real US Government printed bills the clerk returned the woman’s change and receipt. 

My turn now. The clerk, languid and expressionless with a hand held device scanned the sweater price tag. The computer screen read item $43.73 and $5.22 California state tax. Gotta be helping the state’s current $74 billion budget surplus. While inserting my credit card, I said, trying to get a little life out of the clerk. “That nice shopper lady before me got a great deal. Lots of good clothing for $183 dollars.” That drew an apathetic nod. 

“No bag, please. Not good for the environment. Have a nice day.” Response: a limp stone face thanks.

* * *

I thought about the long ago, once majestic elegance and the hustle and bustle of customers at Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan. I could see the Thanksgiving Day Parade with its dozen floats with Looney Tunes, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Barbie characters bigger than life. I could hear exuberant music of the marching bands, was that Stephen Foster here and there? the rolling floats sprinkled with flowers of the rainbow, and the overhead balloons of all sizes and colors. I could see row after row of cheering spectators, mommies and daddies with their little buckaroos frolicking and bopping with joy on both sides of the Avenue as the parade marched north. 

I felt sorry for Macy’s. I felt bad for America. Another national icon biting the dust. In the jukebox of my mind I heard Bye, bye, Miss American pie. I thought of the long ago national pastime: Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio. I could see the six consecutive wooden signs on West Virginia country roads with rhyming Burma Shave advertisements. Train approaching / Whistle squealing / Stop / Avoid that run-down feeling / Burma-Shave.

I got in the Jeep with its screen featuring many driver-friendly applications. I touched the Sirius symbol and tuned in to the Fifties Channel. Stopped at my favorite pizza place, had an IPA and headed home to my Mac computer to write this story and email it to you. Things were good back then in the Fifties. They’re better now.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY 

Actually attended a funeral dinner today. Seniors love ’em, regardless of who died. They don’t have to make supper and it’s a chance to shoot the breeze with Republicans and Democrats alike Everyone seemed to have reverted to their “old roles” Pandemic…what pandemic? Who is Darnella Frazier, anyway?

CONGRATULATIONS, ELITISTS: Liberals and Conservatives Do Have Common Interests Now

by Matt Taibbi

“Trump-defender” Glenn Greenwald. The hilarious headline in the Beast which read like a cross of Clickhole and Izvestia circa 1937: “Is Glenn Greenwald the New Master of Right-Wing Media? FROM HIS MOUTH TO FOX’S EARS!”

The story, fed to poor Beast media writer Lloyd Grove by certain unnamed embittered personages at the Intercept, is that their former star writer Greenwald appears on, and helps provide content for — gasp! — right-wing media! It’s nearly the exclusive point of the article. Greenwald goes on TV with… those people! The Beast’s furious journalisming includes a “spot check” of the number of Fox items inspired by Greenwald articles (“dozens”!) and multiple passages comparing Greenwald to Donald Trump, the ultimate insult in #Resistance world. One of them made me laugh out loud.

In a self-perpetuating feedback loop that runs from Twitter to Fox News and back again, Greenwald has managed, like Trump before him, to orchestrate his very own news cycles.

This, folks, is from the Daily Beast, a publication that has spent much of the last five years huffing horseshit into headlines, from Bountygate to Bernie’s Mittens to classics like SNL: “Alec Baldwin's Trump Admits 'I Don't Care About America'.”

The best example was its “investigation” revealing that three of Tulsi Gabbard’s 75,000 individual donors — the late Princeton professor Stephen Cohen, peace activist Sharon Tennison, and a person called “Goofy Grapes” who may or may not have worked for Russia Today host Lee Camp — were, in their estimation, Putin “apologists.” Speaking of creating your own news cycles, this asinine smear inspired serious stories by ABC News and CNN, and when Gabbard denounced it as “fake news,” Politico jumped in with the now-familiar retort that “Fake news” is a favorite phrase of President Donald Trump… 

For years now, this has been the go-to conversation-ender for prestige media pundits and Twitter trolls alike, directed at any progressive critic of the political mainstream: you’re a Republican! A MAGA-sympathizer! Or (lately), an “insurrectionist”! The Beast in its Greenwald piece used the most common of the Twitter epithets: “Trump-defender.” Treachery and secret devotion to right-wing politics are also the default explanation for the growing list of progressives making their way onto Fox of late, from Greenwald to Kyle Kulinski to Aaron Mate to Jimmy Dore to Cornel West.

The truth is, Trump conservatives and ACLU-raised liberals like myself, Greenwald, and millions of others do have real common cause, against an epistemic revolution taking hold in America’s political and media elite. The traditional liberal approach to the search for truth, which stresses skepticism and free-flowing debate, is giving way to a reactionary movement that Plato himself would have loved, one that believes knowledge is too dangerous for the rabble and must be tightly regulated by a priesthood of “experts.” It’s anti-democratic, un-American, and naturally unites the residents of even the most extreme opposite ends of our national political spectrum.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY #2

Yep, when you allow corporations to decide policy and buy politicians, when the rich get richer, when the minimum wage hasn’t changed with current costs, when you create a divide and conquer political landscape, when cheating and lying become the norm, when the population is fixated on their phones and celebrities, when White Nationalism rears its ugly head, when education is defunded for over 50 years, when just about every facet of a person's life is a corporate grab for their money, when the military industrial complex is handed an obscene amount of tax payers money, when a fraudulent professional bullshitter is elected as if he’s god's gift, when equality and justice have to be fought like a war, yeah, this country is going down the tubes. No amount of flag waving is gonna bring it back, it’s too far gone. There is too much that needs fixing and there’s a contingent of citizenry that love the old antiquated status quo even though it’s killing the good old USA.