At Sxsw Confab, Democracy Rules

I'm old enough to remember conservatives freaking out over the Keystone Pipeline. Now Trump is telling business leaders at Davos that we don't need any stinking oil from Canada. During what critics panned as a "blathering" speech full of "lies and moronic claims," here's Trump lying about the economy during his first term, lying about our trade deficit with Canada, and pretending our economy won't suffer if he imposes the tariffs he keeps threatening. TRUMP: You know, during my four years, we had the cleanest air, we had the cleanest water, and yet we had the most productive economy in the history of our country. We had the most productive economy until COVID came, we had the most productive in the history of our country by far.

Donald Trump told a group of business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, that he had no idea when the Russian/Ukraine war would end because it was 'up to Putin.' Donald Trump campaigned heavily on the promise that he would end the war, by claiming the Russian invasion of Ukraine would've never happened if he was still president, and that he could end the war in a day. The host gave Trump a golden parachute by asking if the war would be over at the same time next year, but Trump couldn't even give a definitive answer to THAT question. He's a con-artist, after all.

Scientific gatherings and panels across federal science agencies were canceled on Wednesday, at a time of heightened sensitivity about how the Trump administration --and whack job Bob Kennedy -- will shift the agencies’ policies and day-to-day affairs. Via STAT: Several meetings of National Institutes of Health study sections, which review applications for fellowships and grants, were canceled without being rescheduled, according to agency notices reviewed by STAT.

Donald Trump's TV ratings were terrible for the January 6 inauguration. One of the cockwobblers' attack lines against his rivals is that they have horrible ratings, and nobody watches them. His weak performance showed that Americans do not give a shit about him or his day. President Joe Biden's inauguration beat Trump by a massive 9 million viewers.

Disgraced Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz defended the Proud Boys and the extremist shithole militia group's former leader Enrique Tarrio, who was just granted clemency by Donald, along with 1,500 lawbreakers. When Donald unleashed pardons for members of the neo-fascist militant organization, it's almost as if he sent them a 'stand back but stand by' message again. Unsurprisingly, Gaetz used a segment on his OAN show to defend the radical group, even though Tarrio celebrated his release from prison on Tuesday by calling into conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' show and calling for retribution.

Editor's Note: Bishop Budde's book on courage is climbing the charts rapidly. Ha! Fox News hosts and the entire right-wing MAGA media complex are triggered! To a person, they all unmercifully attacked Bishop Budde for asking the newly-elected president to show compassion to those less fortunate, particularly, migrants and the LGBTQ-plus community. Their reaction is not surprising, but it doesn't change the fact the MAGA cult is a dangerous fascist group. Free speech for me, none for you. Bishop Budde is not allowed to express any views that reflect either her personal faith or her position in the church, unless they support traitor Trump and his utterly disgraceful immorality. Laura Ingrahm's guest, crackpot Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, described Bishop Budde as a "cleric" who was no longer worthy to teach about Jesus. SEWELL: It was she was so arrogant the way she was. She didn't even acknowledge the president of the United States of America. She had an opportunity to minister the gospel. Instead of that, she is a heretic. She should never be allowed to preach the message of Jesus in her life because she's not even talking about Jesus. INGRAHAM: This is why no one's going to these.