Talking Feds – Crackpot Trump attorney on FULTON COUNTY witness list
The Lincoln Project – Fox News on No Labels
MSNBC – Nicolle: How Gen. Milley fought to contain an unstable Trump, protect ‘stability’ of democracy
Farron Balanced – Elderly Republican Senator Threatens To Wear Bikini To Protest Senate Dress Code
Cat Begs Dad To Let Him Come Surfing
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Meet the Press, and accuracy….
Yesterday, the radio opera was “La Fanciulla Del West” by Giacomo Puccini. If you have ever seen “The Girl of the Golden WEst in any other incarnation (there was a movie with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, for instance) You’ll know the story, complete with the blood dripping through the ceiling. (Estlin Usher got a pic of the set for that scene, but before the blood started dripping. He also got two of the bar and one of the final scene – no horse – but they look like they were taken from the very last row.) Minnie is one of the few Puccini heroines who survives the opera, but though the lovers are together, their future is far from certain as they ride off into the sunset. We can hope – and most if not all do – that it all works out. This is the last production from Beijing this season (and it was recorded in 2019); the rest of the schedule is in place, and I’m excited about it. There are some 21st century operas and some rarities from traditional composers – a lot will be new to me to hear, even if I have read about some of the operas. It will take us into December. And the Met’s radio schedule, which will pick up where this leaves off, is also out, and I am excited about it too. But that can wait. Also yesterday, the Carters showed up at the Plains Peanut Festival parade (in a vehicle). That choked me up. Finally, yesterday I had to bring out the space heater. Sigh. Now, off to see Virgil.
Cartoon – 24 new Jay + yom kippur (both loaded)
Short Takes –
HuffPost – The UAW Strike Poses The Biggest Test — And Opportunity — For Joe Biden’s Economic Agenda
Quote – Since taking office, Biden cast his domestic economic agenda as a repudiation of the free-market economic policies that have dominated since President Ronald Reagan won election in 1980. Reaganomics, with its “trickle-down” upper-income tax cuts, corporate deregulation and anti-labor actions, “failed the middle class, it failed America,” Biden said in a June speech. More than any other single event, how Biden handles the UAW strike could determine the political and policy success of his grand agenda.
Click through for explanation. HuffPost is talking about siding with the strikers. And my second take suggests that is exactly what he is doing – maybe not exactly the way that HuffPost suggests, but maybe even more strongly.
Axios – Biden to join UAW strike and picket with auto workers
Quote – President Biden said he’ll picket alongside the United Auto Workers in Michigan next week — in a rare act of a president visibly joining a labor movement…. Biden, who has previously called himself the “most pro-union president ever,” had urged U.S. automakers last week to share more of their “record profits” with the workers on strike. Biden’s visit is set for the day before former President Trump is expected to appear in Michigan instead of attending the second GOP primary debate.
Click through for details. HuffPost was not expecting this. But they also carry the story so if you like, you can compare the coverages.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Jim Jordan, who criminally defied a congressional subpoena, is now chairman of judiciary committee?
The Lincoln Project – Trump’s Instincts
MSNBC – Simply couldn’t be part of it’: Fmr. prosecutor breaks silence on quitting Trump-Russia probe
Farron Balanced – 2 Librarians Fired After Republicans Mistake Autism Symbol For Pride Display
Mystery dog kept showing up at nursing home. So naturally they did this.
Beau – Let’s talk about McCarthy math….
Yesterday, I received a Substack newsletter from Mary L. Trump about the Meet The Press interview with TFG. She watched it so you and I don’t have to. (Beau did the same thing, taking notes, but, since TFG can lie faster than Beau can write, his notes are incomplete.) And Mary’s article really also just hits low points. (There were appaently no high points.) Here’s the link if anyone wants it. Also, Andy Borowitz’s headline was “Zelensky Offers to Broker Peace Deal Between Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans.” Yahoo cut off the subject line after “between,” so I wasn’t expecting that – I was expecting something more like “red states and blue states.” So I did laugh out loud.
Cartoon – 23 0213
Short Takes –
The New Yorker – Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals
Quote – Both Esper and Milley found new purpose in waiting out the President. They resisted him throughout the summer, as Trump repeatedly demanded that active-duty troops quash ongoing protests, threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, and tried to stop the military from renaming bases honoring Confederate generals. “They both expected, literally on a daily basis, to be fired,” Gates recalled. Milley “would call me and essentially say, ‘I may not last until tomorrow night.’ And he was comfortable with that. He felt like he knew he was going to support the Constitution, and there were no two ways about it.” Milley put away the resignation letter in his desk and drew up a plan, a guide for how to get through the next few months. He settled on four goals: First, make sure Trump did not start an unnecessary war overseas. Second, make sure the military was not used in the streets against the American people for the purpose of keeping Trump in power. Third, maintain the military’s integrity. And, fourth, maintain his own integrity. In the months to come, Milley would refer back to the plan more times than he could count.
Click through for complete story. This article is a bit over a year old, but Milley is in the news again because the Atlantic has just published a profile. I can’t get into the Atlantic, but Steve Schmidt referenced this New Yorker article – which broke the existence of a never-submitted letter of resignation – as back-story, and I can get in to the New Yorker. The Atlantic profile also influenced Beau amd MSN and probably others to discuss it, so you could find more in a lot of places. My take is that the military is commonly considered to lean to the right – but “right” does not necessarily mean “authoritarian.” I (and I think Pat would agree, but she’s off now and through the weekend having fun) would trust the Generals in a crisis – with the caveat that they can function better when their promotions are confirmed, and only 3 of over 300 have gotten past Tuberville and those 3 were already months late. (Lawrence O’Donnell had some words on that. His Aunt Mary was a senior officer’s wife, and they had 7 kids.)
PolitiZoom – Zelenskyy: Russia Has Weaponized Food (In Addition To Energy)
Quote – So there’s that, but let’s get to the substance of what President Zelenskyy dove in to because it’s an impressive laundry list. BBC News has a nice piece that if you scroll down starts with the pre-speech stuff but it does a nice job of emphasizing those main points. Zelenskyy starts out throwing a hard punch, noting that Ukraine gave up the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons once upon a time. (If you didn’t know this was a carefully negotiated treaty and Russia signed on – with a promise not to try and take over Ukraine I might add) He flat out said it was Russia, who is acting as a terrorist State that should have had to give up its nukes!
Click through for article. My first reaction was that with TFG “promising” that if reelected he’ll weaponize – fill in the blank – DOJ is probably at the top of the list-he’s sure to pick up this too. He won’t have to read PolitiZoom. He’ll get all the info he needs from Putin.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Rudy Giuliani gets sued (again), this time for $1.3 million by his own former lawyers! [MAGA – Make Attornies Get Attornies]
The Lincoln Project – Fact Checking
PoliticsGirl – September 13, 2023
Liberal Redneck – Conservatives Trash the Military for Being “Woke” (commercial in the middle)
Disabled cat was about to be euthanized. This woman took her home.
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, the UAW, and unions….
Yesterday, I learned, because Talking Points Memo had an opinion I felt was both too accurate and too scary not to share, that TPM is also on Substack – along with Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Robert Reich, Robert Hubbell, Mary Trump, Margaret Atwood, and Wonkette, to name only a few. I predict that more and more of our best minds will be migrating to Substack, and this is why: “Since we transferred our shit over to substack, we’ve had a twenty-percent increase in paid subscribers. I haven’t cried about payroll ONCE, particularly since three (? math!) months later, I still have two months worth of payroll in the bank. When’s the last time I had two months of payroll in the bank? Oh, it’s been a long, long time.” That’s from one of Wonkette’s latest newsletters. I realize that scrolling and clicking to continue can be annoying. But I don’t want to quit sharing what I consider to be the best. So first, I promise you, I will never use paywalled content from Substack – I can’t see any of that myself, not being a paying subscriber to any of those I subscribe to. And second, if anyone really has difficulty accessing Substack artcles, let me know – with an email address. There are ways I can send Substack articles to you directly.
Cartoon – 22 block
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – It’s Time For A ‘Rural New Deal’
Quote – While “gerrymandering is a huge problem,” polarization is also an issue, as “rural voters are increasingly trending more to the right, and urban voters more to the left,” the Fix Our House report says. Members of Congress elected in uncompetitive districts fear primaries, so they focus on their voting base and refrain from working with “the enemy.” RUBI director Anthony Flaccavento said Tuesday that “the extreme political divide in our country robs rural communities of the resources and opportunities they need, while making it nearly impossible to address the biggest problems we face as a nation.”
Click through for article. Remember the New Deal? Remember the CCC? Maybe not from experience, but possibly from history, including oral history from parents. But thePeace Corps? That you may remember. The RND is being proposed at the same time as Joe’s and Kamala’s ACC (American Climate Corps). I think both are needed. Because it’s not just the economy which needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up and the middle out. Faith in Democracy needs the same makeover.
Talking Points Memo – House GOP Launders Disinformation Through Its Public Hearings – No Good Solutions To This Problem
Quote – Instead, the committee hearings give members the chance to inject the worst of the conspiracizing and crazy talk directly into the public record and into widespread media coverage – and the media still acts as if its powerless to stop participating in it. I could share with you the inane questions that Garland faced, where his face would contort with confusion over what whack-a-doodle premise was framing the question. Or Buttigieg’s exasperation with having to unpack all the lies and presumptions built into the questions he faced about EVs or his personal travel. But to do so would be to further mainline the disinformation. You get it.
Click through for full explanation of the problem (TPM is on Substack.) This is a big reason we need both of the programs in the first short take – and more. What these – people – are doing is poisoning the well. It reminds me of the incident in Willa Cather’s “Song of the Lark” – a tramp infected with typhoid is forced to leave town. He does – by jumping into the town well. He drowns, of course, but his act avenges his own death many times over. Many people wiser than I are saying the GOP is committing suicide with its irrational ideas and behavior. But if it is, it is also taking much of the nation down with it. Somehow we must address that.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s long-time executive assistant, Molly Michael, directly incriminates Trump on documents
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – September 19, 2023
Farron Balanced – Trump Hires Rookie Lawyer Who Immediately Gets Humiliated By Judge
Patrick Fitzgerald – The Big Rock Candy Mountains
This Woman Swears She Won’t Adopt Her Blind Foster Puppy
Beau – Let’s talk about Seattle and low value….
Yesterday, I broke down and ordered a “Dark Brandon” mug. I had figured I wouldn’t be able to resis it – and I was right. And, yes, it means I’m going to have to start drinking hot beverages again, which I haven’t for some time (there aren’t cobwebs on my drip-style coffeemaker, but there might as well be.) And keep the mug away from the dishwasher. But buying it is a campaign contribution – and it will be fun. The image of Joe in aviators changes to fiery-eyed Dark Brandon when hot liquid is poured in. You may have seen it already, but just in case you haven’t…
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks & Liars – Avengers – Unionize!
Quote – Marvel Studios’ visual effects workers unanimously voted in favor of unionizing with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE announced Wednesday. This marks the first time a unit of solely VFX workers have unionized with the group. VFX artists have faced increased workloads and tight deadlines to complete some of the industry’s biggest budget franchise films in recent years, leading to tension between these workers and studios.
Click through for story. Power to the people! Solidarity Forever!
HuffPost – Illinois Is First State To Fully Abolish Cash Bail In Move To Stop Caging Poor People
Quote – “There’s economic costs of detaining people that are sort of macroeconomic costs, where if a person loses their job, they can’t be a part of society, they can’t contribute in that way that is important to Americans and to each person who’s responsible to their families,” Cherson said. “And that’s an extensive cost that the state ultimately has to bear, whether it’s through increased benefit payments or supportive services that are completely unnecessary if otherwise we just let people continue their lives.”
Click through for details. This is a good move. Colorado, I believe, still has bail (although I’ve seen enough ads for bondsmen disappear that I can’t swear to it.) But it also has, and has had for at least 30 years to my knowmedge, “OR” – “own recognizance.” In other words, you are free to live your life until the trial. Assuming you don’t screw up before the trial – I’m sure there are things a defendant can do which would call OR into question. What this Illinois law appears to do is to make OR the default, rather than something one must petition for. I’m cool with that.
Food For Thought
