Open Thread August 16 2024

 Posted by at 5:49 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 162024
 

Yesterday, I wondered whether anyone who comes here lives in Chicago. Because Wonkette is having a sort of party there on Sunday. I believe there will be snacks, and I’m certain there will be drinks. (If they were bringing their own bartender, there would be drinks you did not know existed. I’ve read some of his recipes and he is a perfectionist. But they’re not. So it will be mostly beer.) It will be between 5 and 7:30 PM in the bar of the Kaiser Tiger. Details here. Also, Tim Walz’s dog Scout is on the cover of Vogue’s September issue, Also, too my stuff got picked p – so my porch is cleared and ready for more.

Robert Reich on what Harris could do as President to make the economy better. Yes, it gets a bit technical. But it’s Robert Reich, so it’s clearly explained.

CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has done an investigation of the Republican plan to infiltrate state election systems with themselves in order to refuse to certify elections they don’t like the results of. I’ve seen stories on this, and I’m sure you have too, but nothing beats an investigation report from a responsible citizens’ group. You do have to use the “download” button in order to read it. It downloads as a PDF and does so very rapidly, and it requires less than 7MB of disc space.

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Open Thread August 9 2024

 Posted by at 6:07 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 092024
 

Yesterday, VoteVets advised me that the Trump** campaign is swiftboating Tim Walz already. And they are already pushing back. (For the record, if anyone had asked me while I was on active duty what a “Command Sergeant Major” is, I would most likey have said, “That’s a Sergeant Major who can walk on water.”) I have no link to Vote Vets, but here’s one to Wonkette.
And yes, I realize the whole couch story may be just fake news (if a little more believeable than most), but the gif (from Wonkette) was just too good not to share.

This is a couple of days old, but this kind of thing will never get old. I’ve found that on DU one can watch an embed from Xitter full size, without having to go there. Hopefully that will also work for y’all.

They are now trying to break Project 2025 down into “This is what we’re really going to do” and “Just kidding.” Aside from the fact I don’t (and you shouldn’t) believe the “just kidding,” there is literally nothing inthe more than 900 pages of Project 2025, not one thing, which is acceptable or tolerable.

 

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Open Thread August 8 2024

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 082024
 

Yesterday, +I noticed that election season is now in full swing – from the number of my emails. Aand that’s OK. In november I’ll have to do some unsubscribingfor my sanity. But tlections are important, and this one especially. Also, if you know even a tiny bit of French, you will appreciate that “Ms Beau” is now “Belle.” I hope y’all will give her a chance, as you did me when we lost TomCat. She’s been working with Beau a long time and the analysis is there. Also the hat, the shed, and the Tshirts (on a hanger to the right.) And when I say that he analusis is there, I’m basing tht on more than you see – the channel (Belle) is still posting 4 every day. I watch most of them, Occasionally I will skip if a title appears irrelevant to our blog, but, I try noy to do that because the titles are still enigmatic. Also, if you are too young for the reference in the cartoon below, here’s a link. Yes, it’s offensive, but somehow Trump** manages to be more offensive – even just in a cartoon.

There’s a lot in here that y’all already know, and some tha you may have known and forgotten, but also some things which are not new but are newly getting publicity. So there’s way too much to remember – but also some terrific points to make.

I’ve been trying not to bitch about it, but yes, grocery prices are too high. (And a merger of Kroger and Albertson’s would absolutely not help.) Glad to see the FTC will be looking at it.

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Open Thread August 7 2024

 Posted by at 5:56 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 072024
 

Yesterday, the exterminator came, and my rep is still out on family leave. The replacement didn’t kow whether it was a boy or a girl,so I asked him to take both to the office for the new dad and tell him to just keep the other one for the next addition. I may not have any childen of my own, but I still have a by God commitment to the future.

Steve Schmidt has a new video title: “The Schmidt Storm” I don’t know whether he plans on changing the name of his column or if this is just for the election – heaven knows it would fit either way. About this first use, he says “In the first edition of “The Schmidt Storm”, I answer your questions about the post-Trump Republican party, battling negative Kamala Harris narratives and preparing for another MAGA loss”

This story from The 19th was reproduced from Politifact. I couldn’t find it there (probably just didn’t have the patience), but I did want to point out that the “we” in the last sentence is “we at PolitiFact.” not “we at The 19th.”  I don’t know about the 19th, but personally, I would rate it “Pants on Fire.”

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Open Thread August 5 2024

 Posted by at 6:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 052024
 

Yesterday, I went to the mailbox and picked up the note from Paul Whelan. The note I sent was dated December 15, 2022. He received it, or at least wrote a response May 8, 2023. The envelope has Russian stamps and postmarks with a postmark date of June 19, 2024. it was a lovely note. I had mentioned Virgil was incarcerated and he included “please do pass along my regards to your husband.” And just about then Virgil called, so I passed along his regards right away.

Pretty sure this means the entire State Department is also on the same page. I realize many feel this is way too late. But a nation cannot just desert an ally without warning – and particularly if there is a treaty, which under the Constitution is the law of the land. He has hated this from Day One. But he goes by the book because the country comes first.

This was written Saturday, but I didn’t see it until Sunday. So Friday, August 2, was the date Chutkan received the case back. No, she isn’t wasting any time.

Dog

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Open Thread August 3 2024

 Posted by at 6:15 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 032024
 

Yesterday, I started the day by looking for baby booties, and in fact found 9 pair (10 if I can find the mate to the last one.) I can’t just ignore a baby born on my birthday. So I am now ready, be it boy or girl. Also, since it was Friday, here is Robert Reich’s episode #10 of DEBUNK.  In regard to Beau, since I live in Colorado, I should tell you that I followed that Democratic primary – started in advance, right after the state Democratic convention, and it appeared there were two front runners. She wiped out both of them, seemingly coming from nowhere. Not that it will make a difference in a district as red as that, but she’s remarkable.

Wonkette sent me to this article in People magazine. But The Root also had thoughts. I can’t begin to sort out my mixed feelings about this – but one thought which leaps out is “Now all the gun nuts will be saying, ‘See! We told you it wasn’t the guns!'”

I’m not sure when I subscribed to Press Watch, but I’m glad I did. What POGO (Project on Government Oversight) does for the Federal Government (some would say “to” the Federal government), Press Watch does for – or to – the main stream media. I like that – and I think the Founders would too. They were under very few illusions about what can go wrong in a democracy.

 

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Open Thread August 1 2024

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 012024
 

Yesterday, my computer speaker died. Actually, it was a couple of days prior, but yesterday was when I actually went through the steps to learn whether some adjustmeny would fix it – and none wuuld. So I had to get out the new one I had planned to use on a newer computer and set it up. This one does work – good thing, since I will need it Saturday to stream that day’s opera. It’s possible that the old one still works – but it’s highly unlikely it will work on a newer computer. But it might work on an older one, and I do have several of those. Meanwhile, I’ll shop for another newer one.

This, dated Monday but more accurately from Tuesday (it may have reached Alaska and Hawaii while it was still Monday, but it was not still Monday anywhere in the lower 48 when sent) addresses SCOTUS (or SCROTUS if you prefer), its various issues, and what might be done and how it might get through. I am still no fan of term limits, so I made a little model.If this system has started with Reagan’s first term, it would have taken us until Biden’s pPresidency to win a slim majority under it – and thats assuming starting from scratch. If I go back to the actual composition of the court in 1980 and apply the concept (and assun that coonservative presidents never nominate liberals and vice versa), then by the end of Reagam’s term, and through Bush 1’s term, there qould have been 9 conseervative justices, and at the end the end of Trump**’s term we’d have exactly what we have now – 6 conservative and 3 liberal justices – just different faces..  Biden would be able to get that down to 5-4 and then o 4-5.  But after that the lomgest serving justices would be Clinton- appointed liberals, so there’s be no change in the court for a while.  (I didn’t take into considerations death, because it would likely not have been Scalia in that seat, and the same with Ginsburg.  I’m giving Ike credit for appointing liberal judges, because at least they would have been sane.

I assume you saw this news two days ago. But your source may not have included the audio with the departing Kevin Roberts admitting that he knows Donald Trump** is lying about not knowing about Project 2025 in order to fool Americans into voting for him.  (And at least one source now says he is not “stepping down” but “stepping over” – I find that believable.)

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Open Thread July 31 2024

 Posted by at 6:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 312024
 

Yesterday, I came across a short post sharing that MSNBC had shown an image of JD Vance over the chron “Look what the cat dragged in.” That gave me a smile. I also attempted making cookies, oatmeal raisin, with a non-wheat flour. I knew I would need more liquid than I normally use on account of the oatmeal (I used instant) but I overdid it a little. So they look odd. But they taste alright.

It may have been done before – but I have not seen this quote about fascism applied to democracy (don’t worry, it’s not negative) in this way – particularly combined with the concept that it happens a lot, in and outside of government in both small and large ways.

(non-paywall link) I don’t know how Rolling Stone does it – but so many scoops that are truly significant seem to start there. The New Yorker used to do that, with reporters like David Remnick and Ronan Farrow, but I’ve lost confidence in them. This story, of course, we’ve known what seems like forever – at least in the general outlines – but the details are now included.

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