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Attracting Traffic Through Social Media from Mary Zimnik on Vimeo.

Does anyone feel the same way I do today? That with John McCain's passing, he remains with us not only because we mourn the loss of this genuine hero and statesman, but, because in the midst of this present Constitutional storm, he's the clearest example of what we aspire our best leaders to be. 

McCain frustrated many of us over the years (elevating Sarah Palin and her followers, for instance), but there was never a doubt that he, through achievements and fumbles, was the true and honorable patriot that is quintessentially 'American' — what your character reveals when you don't win, who you are when life hits you with its hardest blows. 

I think today it's emerging through his death, clarifying like coming out of a fog, that we want this back. We want optimistic people like he was to lead us. It's not lost, even though it's felt that way since the evening of Nov. 8, 2016. We yearn again for hope and courage, and we can easily forgive the imperfect as long as the bounce back is toward valor not fear and greed. Because America at its best has always been about decency, moxie, heroism, nerve and boldness, and it can be again. 

#BananaRepublican - #Trump

Alex Jones, Free Speech and Imaginary Fires in Theaters 

When the major tech companies nearly all banned #InfoWars' #AlexJones, my first thought was that this is a mistake. Our Constitution protects #FreeSpeech, no matter whether or not you agree with or like that speech. However, the Supreme Court's critical decision on free speech in 1919 correctly bans 'dangerous' speech: "The idea of falsely shouting "fire" in a crowded theater arose from the Supreme Court's 1919 decision in the case Schenck v. United States. The Court ruled unanimously that the First Amendment, though it protects freedom of expression, does not protect dangerous speech." 

What these companies decided about Jones was just and important, given the absurd propaganda from Trump's close friends like Jones. 

Electing Stacey Abrams — a Step Toward a Remedy

So, the Trump tape ... either the other 11 will be nothing at all interesting, or Cohen will leak them out like a kidnapper sends out more and more important body parts to motivate the target to better respond (in this case, pardon him). Anyway ...

Something I am curious about ... does this not sound to anyone else like a bad script from "The Sopranos" — a scene with Tony and one of his fixers in his car in a dark parking lot?

Here's the relevant bit:

Cohen: And, I've spoken to [Trump Organization CFO] Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with...

Trump: So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?

Cohen: ...Funding...Yes. Um, and it's all the stuff.

Trump: Yeah, I was thinking about that.

Cohen: All the stuff. Because—here, you never know where that company—you never know what he's—

Trump: Maybe he gets hit by a truck.

... wait! WHAT? First, this sounds to me like discussion over hiring the guy who threatens these women into silence, no? Second, that "Maybe he gets hit by a truck" bit sounds like it's then about taking that guy out!