Glenn Kirschner – Prosecutors ask judge to sentence Steve Bannon to 6 months in prison & a $200,000 fine for contempt not long now!)
The Lincoln Project – Social Security
Eric Swalwell’s new ad
Ring of Fire – Conservative Group Loses Bid To Stop Biden’s Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
Liberal Redneck – OPEC, Foreign Oil, Gas Prices, etc
Beau – Let’s talk about a positive note for the weekend…. (…last weekend – I warned you I’d get behind.)
Yesterday, an email from Faithful America informed me that the group was a contributor to a PBS Frontline documentary calledc”Michael Flynn’s Holy War,” which had aired Tuesday night. I went looking for it to see whether I could stream it, and I did find it here. So, I streamed it. The URL does not look like one needs to be a Passport member to stream it, but I am one, so I can’t be sure. But I’m sharing it anyway, because this is important information in my opinion. Also yesterday, I filled out my ballot, signed and sealed the envelope, stamped it, and added the most aggressively patriotic stickers I could find. I dated it as of today, so I’ll try to get it out before the mail is delivered/picked up. On top of that, (don’t faint!) Trump** sat for a deposition in the Carroll defamation case. No content released yet. This is a civil suit, which means if he took the Fifth, the fact that he did s CAN be used against him.
Cartoon – 20 1020Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
First we have a story from a collection of sources regarding John Durham and the investigation Bill Barr instigated into Christopher Steele, which has taken three and a half years. In all that time, he only charged three people, of which only one resulted in conviction (on a plea deal, with a sentence of probation only, which is not nothing, but it’s also not much. Incidentally, the one charge that person pled to was unrelatred to the investigation.) Two people went to trial, and the second has just been acquitted of all remaining charges (one charge was dropped.) The first trial also resulted in acquittal. Durham still hadn’t given up, but will likely now get more pressure to do so. The “investigation” appears to be simply a scavenger hunt for mares’ nests.
The Daily Beast – Humans Are Hardwired to Cheat. Here’s How We Stop Ourselves.
Quote – What evolutionary and economic theories have to do with stuffing fish filets into fish and sneaking an (alleged) vibrating butt plug into a chess match may not be immediately apparent. But behavioral scientists like University of Arizona associate professor Mary Rigdon think about sporting competitions in much the same way that biologists like Strassmann study evolution. “We have this idea that competition should naturally lead to better athletes and more exciting and entertaining sporting activities,” Rigdon told The Daily Beast. “But we started to ask the question: Is there a possibility that competition can actually generate unethical behavior?”
Click through for article. It’s not about elections, but it certainly has some application to them. But it also has application t other things. Have you ever said, or wanted to say, “It isn’t a competition” in a conversation when one person appeared to be “one-upping” others? I certainly have. Is it possible that the discomfort (or more) that many white people feel about white privilege stems from a feeling that they are being accused of cheating? I think I’ll be saving this article.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – What will J6 committee do if Trump defies subpoena? Rep Adam Kinzinger answers that question
Meidas Touch – Ron Johnson gets UTTERLY HUMILIATED with the MOST SAVAGE Response During Debate (Not sure you can humiliate someone who has no shame – but it’s short at least)
The Lincoln Project – Protecting The Capitol
Robert Reich – Election Deniers Could Pick the Next President Without You
Crooks and Liars – A Ukrainian Boy Laments Attack On His Playground (hanky alert)
Beau – Let’s talk about hybrid Abrams…. [nothing to do with Stacey]
Yesterday, Colorado Public Radio News had a couple of unusual animal news stories. Nine Ukranian refugees have received amnesty at Keenesburg, CO’s Wild Animal Sanctuary. And our native Bighorn sheep and introduced (70+ uears ago) mountain goats are having a turf war over nutritional supplements newly accessible due to climate change. I’ll just provide the links in case anyone wants details. Also, Virgil called – to tell me he’s in prison – apparently he had one of the vivid dreams he has been having and thinks are real, but this time, instead of thinking someone from his past had phoned him, he thought he had been home – and called to tell me where he was. What with all the other dreams, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised – but this is a new level and it kind of shook me. At least he still remembers who I am and that we love each other. On the bright side, my ballot arrived. 24 hours from mailing to arrival is pretty darned good, IMO.
Cartoon – 19 Cornwallis RTL
Short Takes –
truthout – Ron DeSantis’s Ousting of Elected Official Sets a Dangerous Precedent
Quote – In an early August press conference, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered a shocking announcement: He was abruptly suspending Andrew Warren, the elected chief prosecutor for Hillsborough County (Tampa) and an outspoken critic of the governor…. All three of Warren’s opinions cited by DeSantis… stand in direct opposition to the governor’s political goals. The two public officials have clashed over these and other issues repeatedly over the past several years…. Warren … argues that his removal violates the will of Tampa voters who elected him in 2016 and 2020. These voters were further disenfranchised when his replacement was handpicked by DeSantis, who lost Hillsborough County by a nine-point margin in the last gubernatorial election.
Click through for details. This is not even the first time DeSantis has done this. I thought the first time that this couldn’t possibly be legal or constitutional. Yet he seems to be getting away with it.
The Daily Beast – New Book Reveals Jim Jordan’s Dirty Tricks With Impeachment
Quote – The book presents a less than flattering portrait of Jordan, who would likely be the Judiciary Chairman if the GOP takes back the House. He is instead consistently shown to be far more interested in defending Trump than getting down to the truth. The book includes scenes like Jordan heading to the White House to read a transcript of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before it was released to the public, only to receive a partial account that excluded more concrete evidence of a quid pro quo. Trump’s team, Bade and Demirjian say, wanted House Republicans to go on the record defending Trump before they knew all the facts.
Click through for more, including specific examples. It should be no surprise that Jordan is not actually the loose cannon he appears to be – that is a deliberate choice to muddy whatever waters are likely to impede fascism.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – J6 panel subpoenas Trump; Supreme Court rejects Mar-a-Lago docs case; could indictments be next?
Meidas Touch – Bombshell January 6 Footage EXPOSES GOP LIES about Nancy Pelosi (Repetetive, but at least short)
The Lincoln Project – Time for Answers
Ojeda Live – Politics IS NO JOKE!
Tiny Foster Kitten Becomes King Of His House
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, Hannity, and a voicemail….
Yesterday, I got the email that my ballot is in the mail to me. So I dropped what I was doing and reviewed the last three (out of 11) measures I hadn’t already revieed, and marked my cheat sheet Then I started on the county and local measures, and discovered part of the flyer was missing (it hadn’t been stapled.) I don’t live inside any city limits, but I do live in a school district (obviously) and two special districts – water/sewer and fire. I think the rest of the flyer may be in the car, and I will check when I get a chance, but in the meantime I was able to find a sample ballot on the web for my county, and none of those districts have any measures on the ballot. So I think I’m ready.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
The Bulwark – The Munich Model for Trump’s National Security Extortion
Quote – And even if these documents fail to work as a get out of jail free card, Trump has another card to play. He could call on his waiting army of supporters to threaten more violence on the public order. He has done this—and carried out such a threat—before. And he has already said, plainly, that he might do so again. Those in charge of prosecuting the former president should keep in mind history’s clearest example of everything wrong with appeasing a narcissist: the calamity of Munich.
Click through for full op-ed. I am beginning to think that, or at least to wonder whether, the delay in indicting is due in whole or part to exactly this – and wanting to gat defense mechanisms in place in advance to miniize the destruction. And that the presebce of MAGAts in police forces, national guards and other agencies complicates the effort, in part by making secrecy dauntingly difficult. It’s not as if we have’t see agencie formed for our protection include individuals bent on destruction.
Letters fron an American – October 15, 2022
Quote – Kinzinger’s point was that Trump clearly knew he was leaving office because he was deliberately trying to create chaos for his successor. When he abruptly pulled the U.S. out of northern Syria in October 2019, he abandoned our Kurdish allies, forcing more than 160,000 Syrians from their homes and making them victims of extraordinary violence. The Pentagon considered Trump’s November 11 instructions “a rogue order,” since they had not gone through any of the appropriate channels, and disregarded them.
Click through for full letter. There is a great deal more analysis. I picked this quote to demonstrate that complete and total obedience in the military is neither desirable nor expected. This example demonstrates how not obeying an order which is not lawful is supposed to work – and does work more often than you might think.
Food For Thought
In the upcoming midterm elections, Democrats are hoping for a Blue Wave, while Republicans are hoping for a Red Wave. Both parties, though, and especially Republicans, need to beware another wave – the Pink Wave.
After SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade, there was a major surge in women registering to vote. Women have been raising serious hell since the news of the overturn was leaked. Politicians who support abortion bans are on thin ice, while judges and voters alike are blocking antiabortion laws or finding ways around them. Petitions calling for making reproductive rights the law of the land abound; I have signed and shared a number of them. Some Republicans are even calling for the party to at least review its abortion stance.
Cue the late Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.”
For far too long, women have been second-class citizens of the United States. Our grandmothers, great-grandmothers, great-great-grandmothers, and further back fought like tigresses to secure the right to vote. It took 133 years from when the Constitution was first written down to when women gained suffrage. It took another century for a woman to be elected Vice President of the US. Even today, women are under-represented in government at many levels. We have plenty of ladies in Congress, in state and local positions, even some women governors; but still the percentage of female elected officials does not reflect the percentage of our population that has XX chromosomes. In addition, some of these women are Republicans, members of the very party that is plotting to undo decades of social and moral progress. They are of course entitled to their political views, but supporting the degenerating GOP reeks of hypocrisy.
Women today still face discrimination and bigotry in many fields, as well as healthcare. Female patients frequently suffer arrogant dismissal of their symptoms. Pregnant women are often treated like brood livestock – an OB/GYN’s attention is all too often 100% on the fetus and 0% on the womb-bearer. Even women doctors fall into the trap of prejudice against female patients.
In the job world women are still second best. The gender pay gap still persists, and is worse for women of color than for white women, though it is gradually closing. Women tend to be overlooked for promotions in many fields even when their work is just as good as that of their male peers, if not better. They are underexposed in the art world, which is the reason for the legendary Guerrilla Girls. Of all the people who have won the Best Director Academy Award, so far only one has been a woman.
We women are mad as hell, and we’re not gonna take this anymore. More and more we are flexing our political muscles. Remember the Women’s March in 2017, which caused hobby shops to run out of pink yarn because so many people knitted Pussy Hats? It was the largest single day protest in modern US history, and five and a half years later the activism it stirred up hasn’t ebbed. As mentioned above, there has been a serious uptick in the number of women registering to vote over the last few months. More and more women are running for office, from dogcatcher to State Governor.
The ERA, which should have been part of the Constitution decades ago, may be on the cusp of ratification. The current U.S. Congress has more female members than ever before, the majority of them Democrats; and we voters have an opportunity to increase that number even more this year. The 2022 elections are a watershed that could tip the balance of power back towards Regular Joe and Jane, and reverse many of the gains by the sexist extreme right.
Patriarchs beware: Females of the species are getting politically active and politically savvy. We are women, hear us roar in numbers too big to ignore.
Glenn Kirschner – J6 committee subpoenas Trump, and he responds with a letter that is . . . sharply self-incriminating
Meidas Touch – BREAKING: New York AG Files EMERGENCY MOTION to STOP Trump’s Continuing FRAUD (It won’t be breaking any more when you see this – but so much else was happening, it may have slipped under the radar. BTW, Meidas Touch is putting up a lot, but it’s getting very difficult to find anything under 10 minutes, let alone under 5 minutes.)
The Lincoln Project – What They Believe
Mothers Against Greg Abbott – No Choice
Parody Project – RUBLES WORTH NOTHIN’ – a Parody of Money for Nothing
Beau – Let’s talk about Pirates, Emperors, Russians, and Ukrainians….