Politics Plus – Page 38 – Overcoming Republican insaniTEA, one day at a time.

Personal Update December 19, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 10:25 am Politics

Dec 192023

I’m having issues getting my HSA moved to a new provider, and with it I’m having issues keeping my part D on track. I think the Part D is resolved now, but the HSA is going to require a phone call and they say the best times to call are Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. (The Part D required a phone call too, but I was able to make an online appointment with them to call me, which they did.)

I realize this article, with all the comments, is basically an echo chamber of random people who belong to Democratic Underground. But it’s an echo chamber I agree with on almost every point.

This article, on the other hand, is the product of informed analysis and should you happen to be talking to anyone who is rational could be very helpful.

Here is Beau with some reporting from Pro Publica. He says it will get picked up widely, and this is already starting.

God, how I miss real journalism! Yes, ProPublica does it, and they do it well, and I’m grateful to them for it. But I still miss being able to count on it – being able to read a newspaper for facts – or turn on the TV and see Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow and be confident the reporting had been researched and confirmed – and in the rare instance something did slip through, there would be retractions and apologies. Remember those days?

Personal Update December 18, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:56 am Politics

Dec 182023

It’s a quiet weekend . but I wanted to share this ad – I may have mentioned it, but it wasn’t easy to find in a form I could embed it fully and without interruptionn – and without enriching Elon Musk (not that YouTube is much better, if at all, but at least they don’t interrupt embeds – yet)

This is from Mothers for Democracy, and it must have been hard to make, because it’s hard (at least for me) to watch. But it’s necessary to be this blunt. And it’s about time someone was.

Here’s a thought for the season (and I’m betting that everyone gets it) …

SOUND OFF! 12/17/23 Project 2025

Posted by Freya at 1:06 pm Politics

Dec 172023

If you know anything about Project 2025, you should be worried. This vile plan that right-wingers would put into motion if the GOP regains the Oval Office is horror piled upon horror. The more I read about this madness, the more I realize it slithered out of the most sordid depths of the pit of pure evil. This coalition of some 75 partner organizations, led by the ultra-conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, is preparing for the next conservative administration with plans that will totally shred the Constitution, the very heart and soul of this country. They will undo nearly a quarter of a millennium of progress.

The Project involves invoking the Insurrection Act, which would put the Orange Ogre in charge of the military and the police. Since many police departments in this country are already militarized, and since racism and other forms of bigotry run rampant in U.S. constabularies, this will make life a lot worse for many marginalized segments of the population. What’s even worse, the Project doesn’t depend entirely on the Mango Menace – any ol’ Republicanazi will do.

T-Rump claims that he’ll be dictator for only one day. One day my ass. Give him a millimeter, he’ll take an entire kilometer. The Project calls for an executive branch with essentially unlimited power and zero accountability to Congress, or the public. It seeks to ban pornography – and its definition of porn is extremely broad, encompassing ANY discussion of gender, abortion, or sexual identity that is not straight. They want the Executive Branch to dominate without any checks or balances. If that isn’t fascism, what is?

Project 2025 has four goals: 1) Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect children, 2) Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people, 3) Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders and bounty against global threats, and 4) Secure our god-given individual right to enjoy the “blessings of liberty.” I can here the snickering from here. The only family they acknowledge is the jejune Leave It to Beaver nuclear family in which Dad works and Mom stays home as a “domestic goddess.” Dismantling the “administrative state” means getting rid of numerous necessary regulations and departments that keep our air and water clean, protect consumers from fraud, and ensure the reasonable purity of our food and medicine.

The noted supporters include Donald Devine, best known as Ronald Reagan’s “terrible swift sword” because he was always eager to slash spending (except on defense, of course); Stephen Moore, Heritage Foundation distinguished fellow and Faux News contributor; and Peter Navarro, one of the few people in tRump’s inner circle who didn’t get fired.

It involves dismantling the FBI and Homeland Security. Funny, seems to me that these reich-wing bugnuts ought to LOVE Homeland Security. It calls for eliminating the Department of Education (Make America Ignorant Again) and the Department of Commerce (put the corporate Fat Cats in charge). It would also put POTUS in direct charge of the Department of Justice, among other departments. How could that NOT be a dick(tator) move? There is a reason why the U.S. Constitution has built-in checks and balances to prevent any one person from gaining too much power.

Women will lose all of the rights they have fought for so fiercely over more than a century. Not only will abortion be totally illegal, womb-bearers will have to report their pregnancies. What happens if a pregnancy ends in a miscarriage or stillbirth? Will the mother be charged with murder? Imagine how swiftly prisons will fill with women who were innocent victims of rotten luck. Imagine what their partners and their children will suffer.

LGBTQ people will have to hide in the closet once more. POCs will have little recourse to fight the inevitable tsunami of racism that the Project will set into motion. Remember what I wrote earlier about the police? When cops and soldiers are practically identical, just imagine what police will do to non-whites whom they arrest, and to non-white neighborhoods. (On the other hand, don’t – it would be serious nightmare fuel.) Hate crimes will be not just legal, but the law.

Hitler is dancing in Hell.

You can read the entirety of Project 2025 here – that is, if you want to. It runs for approximately 950 pages, so unless you are into marathon reading you probably want to read only a segment here and a segment there.

If this doesn’t scare the pants off you, either you’re not paying attention, or you support this insanity.

Personal Update December 16, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:18 am Politics

Dec 162023

Yesterday, after posting here (including the update), I felt enough better to look up today’s radio opera – it’s “The Magic Flute” in the abridged English language version aimed at kids – and who doesn’t love that! There are five-year-olds out there getting kicks out of singing the Queen of the Night’s aria (and pretty durned well, most of them.) Sure, it’s sexist, but no worse than Disney, and it does have goodies, baddies, and figures of pure humor of both genders, which even Disney doesn’t consistently do.

I also listened to the full RBG CD. You know how CDs come with booklets with some backstories and with lyrics sometimes – this comes with two booklets – one of each, lyrics and backstories. The poems were selected to give a mixture of history, humor, and heart. I thought the funniest one was about Ruth’s son Jamie stealing the elevator at his prep school (yes, the same James who now owns the record label which put it out) and the most heartbreaking was Marty’s note to Ruth written in hospital shortly before his death. But I will not argue with anyone who thinks the pot roast recipe is the funniest (I’d surely love to taste that pot roast.)

Also, Robert Hubbell put out a second day of analysis. I know it’s not the same as getting my take, but at this point, he is paying attention and I’m not.

And Mary Trump posted and emailed this – I held it for a couple of hours but have found out it is a real story – it was carried at least by CNN and y’all may have heard it – but her viewpoint really is like no one else’s

I was thinking about looking for a cartoon … but so little happened on December 16 through history that “On This Day” was reduced to reporting that, on this date in 1997, Bill Clinton named his Labrador Retriever “Buddy.”

Here’s a Christmas vid for the animal lovers –

Personal Update December 15, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 10:29 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 152023

Reading yesterday’s comments, I think I need to be a bit more clear. My donations are still catching up with years of not getting them done every year. The pickup yesterday came at about 11:30 but I was still wiped out for the rest of the day. It consisted of about 10-12 cardboard boxes, ranging from some small enough for me to actually carry up to about 3′ x 4′ x 12″, plus an old (and now too large) wheelchair and an old oxygen concentrator. That is not going to fit in a PT Cruiser, nor in anything smaller than a dually. Also, I was warned upon leaving rehab not to drive until I had a doctor’s clearance to do so, which I don’t. Not that the car will start. Trinette managed to keep the battery powered while I was not home, but it only takes one small slip to lose that, and I don’t see the point of getting it jumped when I can’t go anywhere. But the picking up is done by the Vietnam Veterans of America, a group I can support, and they don’t charge for it. And, believe me, there’s more where that came from. I’ll be happy if I can start getting stuff out faster. I did learn after the first pickup last year that there’s no point in using trash bags – the porch is covered but not enclosed, and they are too flimsy. But cardboard boxes work well and can be left out to wait.

But enough about that. Today I caught up on two of the last three days of email, and found two substack articles, wildly different, but both deserving of attention. One was from Margaret Atwood, who, now having received her pacemaker, was finally able to travel to Scotland to receive her honorary Doctorate of Letters, and to give a graduation speech and to preach a sermon – both of which she extensively quotes – and the sermon was about the power, and the dangers of that power, of words.

The second was from Robert Hubbell, and, basically, takes the events from the first half of the week and breaks them down into what they might portend for the future. That, to me, is important, since it’s very tricky to predict what the effects of any political move may be in the long run. It entirely possible – though far from certain – that fifty or a hundred years from now the Republican sham impeachment of Joe Biden may be perceived as a great honor for him, and a horrid black mark against the Republican Party, maybe even one which was highly influential in its dissolution.

This was in Freya’s newletter – and so perfectly expresses how I feel – I have to share it.

Quick update:

I just got a call from Virgil. He is in the hospital himself, having had surgerrry for a broken hip. I had not had a call from him for some time and was worried but had not said anything because – well, I just couldn’t. But now that I know where he is, I can. He sounds good and has nothing but praise for the hospital and the surgeon.

Personal Update December 14, 2023

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

Dec 142023

I have a donation pickup coming today and I don’t know when (between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.) It’s all ready, but I have questions so would like to be there. So I did this yesterday afternoon.

I know I am worried about 2024, and I believe we all are. I don’t think this article – “Democrats’ Secret Weapon in 2024” – should 100% neutralize that. For one thing, it’s based on public information, and is therefore no secret – although the extent to which it has been and is being underplayed by the media may make it seem like one. for another, it’s from the DLCC – and it’s their job to elect ane re-elect Democrats. Ane when one wants something that badly, it can be hard to see straight. But it does makes some good points. It does NOT mean we can stop working.

If Republicans will not go public with their [lack of] evidence to impeach Joe Biden, then by God, Hunter Biden will.

Personal Update December 13, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 132023

I’m typing this on the 12th, but the 12th is almost over, and the article/email I want to share didn’t come in until late. It’s from Joyce Vance, and it’s in regard to Kathy Griffin. Griffin and Vance are personal friends, which would probably cause Joyce to recuse from the case (in an abundance of caution) if she were a judge, but IMO should not prevent her from weighing in on the legal merits, and legally speaking there are two issues, one being the first amendment, and the second being jurisdiction. In fact, the title of her piece is “Can A Court in Tennessee Rule Against You If You Live In California?”

It’s no news to anyone here (and probably no news to anyone anywhere in the country) that Kathy is outspoken and woke, and outspoken about wokeness. I can’t help wondering how much this lawsuit is prompted by misogyny (misogyny which was amply displayed in the incident which ultimately led to there being a lawsuit.) Of course, hate, being an emotion, can’t very well be illegal, or made illegal. The law can only deal with the actions it inspires. I’ll just leave opinions at this point for y’all to decide.

I still haven’t listened to the RBG album yet. I have read through the composer bios and the lyrics – there is much in both to inspire laughter, tears, or both at once. (The last one is her big aria from Scalia/Ginsburg, sung by the composer.)

Personal Update December 10, 2023

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

Dec 102023

Yesterday’s radio opera was “Florencia en el Amazonas” by Daniel Catán. It was a joint commission in 1996 from the opera companies in Houston, Los Angeles, and Seattle, and premiered in Houston. It’s said to be based (loosely) on “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel García Márquez, but the story line is not so much Márquez’s as are the characters and mythical occurrences. From the very beginning, when Riolobo starts to serve as a quasi-narrator, it should be pretty clear just from his name that the opera is in a space where things happen which are not strictly explainable by science. And they do. I’m not a big fan of Ailyn Perez, for reasons which have nothing to do with opera, but perhaps it’s time for me to let that go – everyone else seems to have done so. The music is very listenable – and manages to avoid all the cliches that Americans (including me) associate with Spanish music, much of which was built up by French composers (I’m sure with good intentions.)

Peter Gelb – the managing director of the Met – really is trying to bring opera together with America – and to beinr America together through opera. Don’t say “Impossible” just yet. Even if opera is not for everyone (which I’m not convinced of, but will accept as a basis for discussion) it definitely is for a lot of people who don’t know it yet.

Interestingly, Heather Cox Richardson this weekend makes an understated but interesting case for using art (visual art) as a means to bring Americans together – and for the government’s role in doing that. Heather doesn’t say so – but we all know that Republicans aren’t actually opposed to spending money – they are only opposed to spending money on things that would help real prople – which certainly includes things which would help all Americans (or at the very least, more Americans) come together to work toward goals which would help all Americans. And that may be the best evidence that spending money on art helps real people – regardless of the genre of the art in question. I might also express this principle a different way by pointing out that there’s a reason Republicans like things to be bleak.

I don’t have a profound though tor image to hand just now … but Il’ll throw in a critter vid. They generally generate something on the order of joy, or at least restored faith.

Woman Becomes Third Wheel In Her Cat And Husband’s Relationship

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