Politics Plus

Yesterday, Ohio’s victory was all over the news (as it should be!) Steve Schmidt in his Substack quoted the same Garfield speech which Heather Cox Richardson quoted Sunday (and which I quoted from her quote on Tuesday.) Steve quoted slightly different parts of it, and between them, they made me want to look up the whole speech. And I found it quickly in the Library of Congress. Garfield, besides being an anti-racist, was an interesting fellow. He was not just ambidestrous, but “could write a sentence in Latin with one hand while simultaneously writing the same sentence in Greek with the other.” (The History Channel thinks that may be a slight exaggeration, but whatever he did, it definitely impressed people.) When one looks at all the Americans who have been assassinated, and I don’t mean Presidents only, but other leaders, I have to wonder how many of these killings were done for money, and how much of that money came from greedy plutocratss. I’m not a historian, and I’m not a trained researcher, but I can look into history as far as a couple thousand years and see at least some assasinations which were quite convenient for the wealthy of the time. I wish someone who is a historian would take this on.

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Short Takes –

HuffPost – Alabama Boaters Charged After Attack On Black Co-Captain Spurred Riverfront Brawl
Quote – [A] massive brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, … began when white boaters attacked the Black co-captain of a riverboat…. The incident began at around 7 p.m. on Saturday after the riverboat, The Harriott II, attempted to dock in its usual spot but was blocked by a pontoon boat. The riverboat, which was carrying more than 200 passengers, waited nearly 40 minutes for the smaller boat to move, Albert said…. Multiple videos show the moment [Damien] Pickett[, the co-captain of The Harriott II] is attacked, which led to an all-out brawl as others, including workers with The Harriott II, came to Pickett’s defense. That included a 16-year-old identified as Aaren, who was seen on video jumping into the water and swimming to Pickett to defend him.
Click through for details – such as they are. I have to say it’s nice to here that the white attackers were arrested and charged (although – misdemeanor?) in Alabama, particularly after other recent news from there. Illegal parking on land is problematic enough – illegla parking on water – well, let me put it this way. Boaters who aren’t aware that harbors and docks have assigned parking for good reason may not be competent to be on a boat at all.  I might just add that earlier reports, including the video showing Aaren, identified Pickett as a “deckhand.”  I mean, either way, he was doing his job – but thats a heck of a thing to call a captain.

The Daily Beast – ‘Green Jim Crow’ Is a Ridiculous Insult to Black Communities
Quote – Black and Brown communities face the brunt of failed climate action and lackluster environmental policy. But there are those who believe it’s actually government efforts to ease the effects of calamitous effects of climate change that are to blame for the hard times of lower income communities. They’re calling it “Green Jim Crow.”… Though there are some compelling arguments in [self-described left-leaning environmental and civil rights lawyer Jennifer] Hernandez’s study—such as the proposed new housing map designed to increase the use of public transit only serves to reinforce segregative housing policies of the past—the premise of the idea is simply wrong.
Click through for article. I hadn’t heard the term, but, since everything with Republicans and racists is projection, I can’t claim to be surprised. This verbiage was bound to be picked up by them, since it solves nothing.

Food For Thought