Politics Plus – Page 28 – Overcoming Republican insaniTEA, one day at a time.

Open Thread July 20 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:08 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 202024

Yesterday, since it was Friday, Robert Reich posted the latest episode in his “DEBUNK” series. Heather Cox Richardson posted a blistering bio of Paul Manafort.

Russian soldiers are, due to the lack of purpose-built vehicles, being compelled to use whatevet that can lay their hands on – such as golf carts – to attempt to attack. I am not pro-violence, and least of all am I pro-enjoying violence – but I have to say that Ukreainians have an excuse. Slava Ukraini!

Robert Hubbell has had it with corporate Democrats, and I don”t blame him. I have too. I am extremely upset with Adam Schiff and several others. I think Hubbell’s advice is excellent for anyone who can follow it. Since I’m obligated to post here, I cannot follow the “Keep your head down” part, but I’ll do my best to keep my blood pressure down at least. This is a two-parter and I’m sharing both parts today. And putting a quote from the second part into a second cartoon.

Open Thread July 19 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 192024

Yesterday, I got to thinking about how I would change mu initials if I felt I had to. I am blessed (or saddled) with quite an assornment of potential middle names. Starting with the one on my birth certificate, there’s “May” which was my father’s mother’s name, so there’s M. Her full maiden name was May Hurst, and occasionally I’ll use the H. Then there’s “Laura,” which I sometimes say is my Lutheran confrmation name, but actually I just liked it. L is the middle initial on my DD-214. Then there’s “Teresa” which actually is my Catholic confirmation name (I didn’t pick up one when I first became a Catholic since I claimed St. Joan of Arc as my patron – close enough to Joanne). But there is my own maiden name, “Stangenberger”, so I could go all the way up to JMHLTSD if I wanted to – but that seems unwieldy. Any thoughts?

I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a laugh from Andy. And this is a good one.

Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter for July 17 goes back in history to a July 18, and goes into the real life story celebrated in the movie “Glory.” I have not seen the movie, but its sound track is a favorite with clssical music radio programs, so I do know what it is about -but not how strictly it stays with the facts. Heaven knows the facts are dramatic enough. If you don’t know the story and want to read it here, you may need a hanky alert (I always do when this story comes up.)

Open Thread July 18 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 182024

Yesterday, the biggest news appeared to be that Joe Biden is adding Spureme Court reform to his platform. I expect you can watch, or read about, this development just about anywhere. How very welcome this is can probably be measured by how vitriolic Trump**s remarks about it in his social medium (I made that singular because he only has the one.) Of course, the formation of an agency by NATO is also pretty big. But I’ll let Beau talk about that.

Apparently, we have zebra mussels in our waters. They are native to Russia, as are Siberian elms, another invasive species we have. Grump.

Joyce Vance has some things to say – about the apparent attack on Trump** and reactions to it – on both sides. Normally, IMO, if something is balanced, it is by definition not fair, because both sides are not the same. But she shows it can be done.

(jJst a snaoshot)

Open Thread July 17 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:09 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 172024

Yesterday, There was a thunderstorm warning , not exactly for my area, but for an area I’m on the fringes of. I heard one crash of thunder, but I didn’t see the Lightning, so I have no clue how far away it was. I lost no power, but my modem started refusing to stay connected to the ‘Net. I rebooted it once but that didn’t help – but I then rebooted a second time, this time leaving it disconnected for over an hour, and it’s working now. Fingers crossed it keeps working. Another 9 days of storms like this are predicted, and tha’s as far in advance as they rpredict, so there could be more. So now, though the modem is working, somehow the zoom size of my inbox in my opera browser got trashed. Everything else on that browser works, but can’t read my emails (my main source.) So I’m having to read them on edge. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough I can make it work with the screen magnifier. So I learned that, according to Axios, there is now evidence tat Netanyahu is working behind the scenes for Trump**. I hope this news reaches some coters who are wanting to not vote for Biden because, basically, he honored a treaty he was legally bound to honor. At least he’s doing his best to hold Bibi back. Trump** will say, “Do whatever the hell you want.” If anything else new comes it, it will have to wait. I need to get this posted while I still can (at least I hope so.)

Steve Schmidt’s response to the shooting at the Trump** rally byposting a video of Bobby Kennedy’s speech in response to the death of MLK. It was a powerful speech then, and it’s powerful now, but what really hit me was one of the comments (which I normally never look at – this must have been the first time in over a decade that I have done so.) A viewer usernamed “@tedb3966” simply wrote, “The greatedt President we never had.” But Steve himself has some powerful things to say too.

I know y’all are alert and atay informed, so you probably know that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has set his sights on Clarence Thomas. But I also thought youmight be as interested as I was to read about it from a black news outlet.

Open Thread July 16 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 162024

Yesterday, Trump** announced the selection of J.D. Vance for his Vice President. I’m not sure why people are losing their minds about it. Anyone Trump** selected would have been equally awful, and this selection at least may open a Senate seat in Ohio and give Tim Ryan a second chance {although I admit it does make me want to change my initials). There wasn’t much in my inbox about the Trump** shooting. One petiton asking Republicans who have condemned it to now condemc all political violence. I signed it – but good luck with that. The second half of Heather Cox Richardson’s talk with Secretary of State Blinken has been posted. As I type I haven’t watched it, but by the time you see it, I will have done so. And, apparently, RFKJ is getting Secret Service protection – that, to me, is the worst news – or at least tied with the news that Loose Cannon dismissed the documents case. At least, the factor which pushed the SS to decide this was not a jump in the polls – it was the shooting at Trump**’s rally.

I did get an email from “Oil Change International,” a climate change fighting organization. Their website is here. And here is a source to check how your state is dealing with the issue of “certified gas.” Looking at the map of Colorado, I note that all the emissions events they map occurred in the vicinity of Denver. It’s not clear to me whether Denver (along with its environs) is particularly bad at this, or if it’s just that the population is so much denser there, and so is the usage, that the emissions events in that area are more obvious, more measurable.

This may not the biggest story – but it does, as Ursula says, make a big difference. So I’m posting it in case you missed it. See what you think.

Open Thread July 15 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 152024

Yesterday, I was able to see Virgil. The drive was uneventful both ways. Bless his heart, he brags about how wonderful I am all the tine to anyone who will listen, and today he introduced me to two staff who wanted to meet me. The first was LeeAnn (don’t know about the spelling), whose two children are both Marines, and we had duty stations in common, so we chatted about that for a while. The second was Robinson,who helps him when he can’t handle the technology to phone me (which I’m afraid is getting more and more frequent.) We did get to play crobbage, and he’s also having more and more difficulty counting the hands. But he’s still Virgil, and seems to be in good health otherwise. And he has no trouble remembering me. I don’t know whether I have said this before, but I am very glad he is in the facility it is in – it’s the one which is solely for inmates with mental issues, whch means they know how to take care of him Far better than I could, actually. And I did get the memo about the shooting Saturday. But I don’t know enough yet to comment.

Heather Cox Richardson has quite literally ben thinking about this for years before requesting an interview with Secretary of State Blinken. Yes, it was under Reagan that the Cold War more or less ended (Putin is still fighting it – and so is Trump**) And since then, with a few exceptions, our Presidents have been mostly Republican. Beau likes to liken the Republican party to a dog chasing a car who catchs it and has no idea what to do with it. I would say foreign policy is one of those cars. In any case, the interview was videotaped, and half of that is in this column. She will follow up with the rest of it – and so will I. And do read the text also.

I would like to point out that “ultra wealthy Christian” is an oxymoron. When the rich young man came to Jesus, Jesus told him to “Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor.” Suffice it to say, he didn’t. It’s in every Gospel but John, but Mark 10:17-31 is one of the citations.

SOUND OFF! 7/14/24 – Project 2025

Posted by Freya at 7:18 pm Politics

Jul 142024

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Thanks to new circumstances I hope that I can contribute more Sound Offs, and more often now.

There is a good chance you have heard about Project 2025, the sinister plan to remake the US Government from top to bottom. I have not read the entire document, but one does not have to drink the entire beer to know it has gone skunky. This Project is nothing less – or more – than a blueprint to destroy the United States and what this country is supposed to represent and defend. It would undermine the rule of law and erase the separation of powers. It caters to the darkest and ugliest desires of Christian Nationalists.

Project 2025 is the brainchild of The Heritage Foundation, an infamous right-wing think tank, and has the blessing of dozens of extreme right-wing organizations, including – but, of course, not limited to – the American Family Association, Center for Renewing America, Moms for Liberty, Tea Party Patriots, ALEC, Eagle Forum, the NRA, and Liberty University. It calls for eliminating the Department of Education, NOAA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (funny, I thought right-wingers love that one), and the Department of Commerce, among others. The FCC and FTC would no longer be independent of the Oval Office, but will have to answer directly to it. Environmental protections, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ gains will be rolled back, if not eliminated completely.

Tens of thousands of government workers would become political appointees, meaning that competent people who have worked under multiple administrations could be replaced with cronies and stooges who demonstrate party loyalty rather than the ability to carry out the duties of their positions. History shows that this kind of spoils system very rarely works for the better, and usually for the worse.

The plan will effectively make the POTUS a dictator and the country subject to his whims. Even if tRump keels over of a heart attack between now and the election, a GOP victory still means Project 2025 will be carried out because it is a guidebook for the next right-wing President. One need but look at past dictators to see what devastating affects they had on their countries. There is no question that Donald tRump is a control freak, as well as quite unhinged. Lessee – what other unhinged control freak once ruled a powerful country? What makes it worse is the fact that the USA is, albeit somewhat arguably, the most powerful country on this planet. We definitely have the mightiest military when one takes into account the sum total of ground, naval and air power. Now imagine such power in the hands of a madman.

Yep – yikes.

We need to prevent Project 2025 from ever being launched. Plan A is we prevent tRump from being re-elected. Plan B is to resist it. Right now we need to assemble a coalition of organizations and individuals who will work together to resist the extreme right-wing machinations that aim to destroy democracy, freedom and justice. Fortunately, many institutions and politicians are already making plans to oppose Project 2025.

Even if we re-elect Biden, even if we have a Blue Wave in November of 2024, we will not be out of the woods. After they lick their wounds, the right-wing bugnuts will regroup and try again. Two words: January 6th. We must remember that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. We need to be vigilant against those forces that seek to destroy democracy and freedom, as they will never give up. If Biden wins in 2024, the Hate-ritage Foundation and its allies will come up with Project 2029, 2033, 2037…

And We The People, those of us who know what the US of A is supposed to be and represent and protect, will oppose them.

Open Thread July 14 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 142024

Yesterday, the radio opera was Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” the prologue to his Ring Cycle, but the last of the four libretti written, as he wrote them so to speak, backwards. He didn’t intend there to be four of them, but with each of the first three, he wasn’t satisfied, feeling more backstory was needed (he was right about that). However, since he wrote all the libretti before even a note of music, this one was the first one composed and the first one performed. It’s short for a Wagner opera – under three hours. The production is interesting – the only colors in it are the bright gold, and people’s skin tones (the skin which is visible – there are a lot of tattoos.) Everything else is black, gray, or white. (The Rainbow Bridge scene wasn’t photographed – I don’t know what they did with that.) I remember in the late seventies the Met tried a black and whie production, but for some reason they did it with Carmen. The run was a success because they had Jon Vickers and Marilyn Horne, but they never did that again. It does suit Das Rheingold a bit better – it’s a sordid story, and the beauty of the music can’t conceal that, even had he wanted to. In my opinion, which with $5.00 or se will get you a cup of coffee, the easiest of the four to listen to is “Die Walkure,” but “Das Rheingold” is the next easiest. After those, it gets complicated. I’m off to see Virgil now. I’ll comment when I get back.

This is the kind of story which really scares me. I may be staunchly PC as opposed to Apple – but that certainly doesn’t mean I think Microsoft is perfect. Far from it. If fidgeting with my hair were one of my coping mechanisms, I would be tearing it out daily over updates which reduce efficiency. But I never thought it was this bad. But here we are. And now what do we do?

Heather Cox Richardson (and Joe Biden) on the history of NATO. It occurred me that if our membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organiztion is in fact a Treaty in the sense that the Constitution requires our membership in it to be authorized by Congress, then getting out of it should require Congressional approval as well. And – while we could, we got Congress to pass a law to that effect.

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