Glenn Kirschner – Special Counsel Jack Smith/DOJ seek interview with Mike Pence about Trump’s insurrection crimes
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – November 22, 2022
MSNBC – Cherokee Nation Calls On Congress To Fulfill 187-Year-Old Promise
Armageddon Update – We Did Good!
Tigers Freed From Abandoned Train Car After 15 Years
Beau – Let’s talk about Colorado and what we can expect….
Glenn Kirschner – Cassidy Hutchinson & Mike Flynn to testify to Georgia grand jury about Trump’s election crimes
Meidas Touch – Zelensky Raises Ukrainian Flag in Kherson After LIBERATION (It’s too long, but the Kherson footage is worth hanging on for.)
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party, November 15, 2022
Ring of Fire – Lauren Boebert’s Seat In Danger As More Ballots Are ‘Fixed’ (by thie time this posts it may be over. But it’s a good description of the “curing” process, which 24 states allow.)
Cat Abandoned When Owners Moved Jumps Into His Rescuer’s Arms
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump in heels and Kari Lake….
Yesterday, I did manage to get the trash and recyclables out to the curb for today’s pickup. Also, more updates appear to indicate that the missile hitting Poland (and killing between 2 and 5 people – depending on the source) was not intentional on anyone’s part – although it would not have happened had ussia not been shooting missiles all over Ukraine out of pure spite. NATO is going to have to do a lot of talking and thinking about it but, no one is looking at World War III.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks & Liars – ‘Political Contamination’: Jamie Raskin Slams 155 Election Deniers In Congress
Quote – CBS host Margaret Brennan reported on Sunday that her network had tallied election deniers who will serve in the new Congress. According to the tally, deniers of the election won 155 House seats and nine Senate seats in the U.S. Congress. That was in addition to 18 wins at the state level. “That’s a statement about the political contamination of the GOP by Donald Trump,” Raskin told Brennan. “Kevin McCarthy and other leaders in the Republican Party are now required to make a decision about whether they’re going to try rid themselves of Donald Trump and his toxic influence on the party.”
Click through for article. Let’s for the sake of argument assume they have 218 seats. 218 – 155 = 63 non-deniers, at most. I find myself wondering whether McCarthy is even Trumpy enough for them. Because if he isn’t, he’s toast. And his replacement could be far sorse.
Politico – Biden to Pelosi: ‘I Hope You Stick’
Quote – “I hope you stick,” Biden told Pelosi in a phone call after congratulating her on the caucus’s unexpected victories and asking about her convalescing husband, according to Democrats familiar with the conversation. Pelosi interjected to note her personal considerations and Biden continued, “I know it’s family first but I hope you stick,” before Pelosi deflected again. Biden wasn’t on the ballot and Pelosi faced little challenge in her San Francisco district, but you wouldn’t have known it from their reactions to the results. The soon-to-be 80-year-old president and the 82-year-old speaker, mutual admirers with similar roots and shared grievances toward critics and wise-guy pundits, were bullish about their prospects and felt vindicated by the party’s success.
Click through for – more details than you might like. The article degenerates into comments from just about everyone but Nancy herself about what she should do. (And I’m sick of hearing about Biden’s “low approval rating.” It’s higher than Trump** EVER had in all four years.) But the mutual respect between Pelosi and Biden shines through and makes up for that.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump fails to appear on J6 subpoena; Pence details Trump’s crimes; Trump-classified docs are “mine”
MSNBC – Sen. Murphy: It Makes A Difference To Have A 51 Vs. 50 Seat Democratic Majority
Ojeda Live – BREAKING NEWS: Russian Missiles Strike Poland [I bumped another video to get this one up fast]
Really American – Context
Tiny Kitten Tackles Giant Husky When He’s Fully Grown | The Dodo
Beau – Let’s talk about how the republicans plan to raise the voting age….
Yesterday, the weather forecasts that we are finally in “almost winter” (I should ixplain that Colorado’s four seasons are actually almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction.) Highs mostly in the thirties, single digit lows (one negative low), and maybe a little snow. I’ll be staying in until Sunday (assuing my visit planned for Sunday gets confirmed – I have no reason tho think it won’t; just being cautious.) Since we are still waiting for election results, I’ll continue to strive for one good news (or at least cute) story each day for a while yet. Not knowing is just as stressful now as it was before the election – at least for me – so I’m guessing it is for others too. Meanwhile, Andy does real news again. And CPR projects that we won’t know the Boebert-Frisch result until Wednesday. On the other hand, a late-breaking alert from Axios – Kari fake Lake is toast.
(And – I should probably mention – my satire went a little astray Sunday. There is no such organization as “Antifa” in the united States. “Antifa” is short for “anti-Fascisy.” The last time the United states had an organtization to oppose fascism was in World War II (and it was called the Army, Navy, and Marines.) Those elderly dudes are intended to be World War II Veterans And “their next attack” is just silly.
Cartoon – 15 1115Cartoon.jpg reworked loaded
Short Takes –
ProPublica – About the “Shadow Diplomats” Investigation
Quote – The investigation shines light on one of the least-examined roles in international diplomacy: the honorary consul. These volunteer diplomats work from their home countries to promote the interests of foreign governments, typically in places without an embassy or consulate. Many honorary consuls provide valuable services. But the system, intended to leverage the experience and connections of upstanding citizens, has empowered unscrupulous operators and imperiled vulnerable communities around the world.
Click through for full article. I had never heard of an “honorary consul” – if you have, I salute you. If you scroll down about half way you will find links to three other articles on this investigation; each addresses different details. Sigh. there’s no idea good enough but that someone will find a way to corrupt it.
People Magazine – Rep. Katie Porter’s Son Delivers Hilariously Cute Speech as Mom Awaits Results of Reelection Bid
Quote – In introducing his mom, Paul told a cheering crowd, “Right after Trump won in 2016, that was when my mom first told us that she was going to run for Congress. My brother Luke and I looked at each other and said, ‘This hobby isn’t going to last long.’ We gave it a couple of months, tops. Now, six years, three elections and two terms later — oof, we really got that one wrong.”
Click through for full speech. As I type she is holding at 53+% but only 72% of the vote is in. But, win or lose, this story is still sweet.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – AG Garland moving toward a prosecutorial decision on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents crimes
MSNBC – Chris Hayes: Three Reasons Democrats Avoided A Red Wave In The Midterms
Farron Balanced – Executive Throws Trump Under The Bus During Tax Fraud Trial
Real Subtitles? – A disastrous press conference.
Feral Cat Holds His Foster Mom’s Hand
Beau – Let’s talk about who outside the US won the midterms….
Glenn Kirschner – Mike Pence reveals in his book that he refused to report/covered-up Donald Trump’s election crimes (While I agree that was wrong – who was he going to tell? Bill Barr? Jeffrey Clark? Anyone else in Donald Trump**’s Justice Department? Yes, he could have talked to Biden’t DOJ once it existed. Or, yeah, a Federal judge.)
MSNBC – Huma Abedin: Everything Has Now Changed For Biden
Thom Hartmann – You Won’t Believe What Far Right Did To Stop Midterm Votes For Democrats (sorry it’s so long.)
Ring of Fire – Trump Staffers Admit To Treating Him Like A Toddler To Appease Him
Liberal Redneck – 2022 Midterm Results
Beau – Let’s talk about the economic power of the parties…
Yesterday, The Colorado District 3 race was still not yet counted. Boebert has moved into the lead by about 400 votes, but there are thousands not yet counted, and many of not most are from blue counties, or counties that went blue. The Frisch campaign is doing what it can to help “cure” votes (i.e. reach out to voters who forgot to sign their ballot envelop or made some other small error – most of these can be corrected by text message, but the voter haas to know it’s needed – and sometimes to be nagged a little. The deadline for that is the 14th, which is also the deadline to receive military absentee ballots.) They are also still in need of funds for the curing task , so if your heart is in it, you can go to Adam’s web page and help. (I did – a very small one – and also to Rev. Warnock.) I also finished up the cartoons for November, and took a look at the Denver NPR radio station’s “Christmas Carol Countdown” – which they are running like sports playoffs, which seems to me to be a good way to make the lmaximum number of people unhappy, but what do I know. Finally, I solved The New Yorker’s “Name Drop on the first clue. I almost went to the second clue, buthen I thought, if I’m right, I’ll never forgive myself.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
The Warning – Tim Ryan’s must-watch political speech
Quote – Tim Ryan is precisely the type of person Teddy Roosevelt spoke of in his speech detailing the obligations of citizenship in a republic…. Tim Ryan inspired people. He did it with conviction, decency and grace. He is not a savior, but he is a man of the highest integrity and character who stood tall…. [The speech] was delivered without notes, and entirely from the heart. This guy is the real deal.
Click through for article (and video – which does have CC, so there’s a transcript if you click on the three dots to the right of the line that has “share” in it.) Personally, I needed a hanky. BTW Robert REich also cited this speech, along with Fetterman’s victory speech.
Press Watch – It’s not a fluke, it’s a rot: Why the political media blew the 2022 election
Quote – Ever since they started handicapping the 2022 election – which means almost all the way back to 2020 – leading political reporters and pundits consistently predicted a midterm shellacking for Joe Biden and Democrats. It’s almost like they were looking forward to it…. After the Dobbs decision, they briefly entertained the notion that things might go another way. But then they dismissed it entirely…. This is not something that can be fixed with a little tweaking, and weak stabs at contrition. What we need is a wholesale revisiting of the rules of modern political journalism.
Click through for analysis. It’s right on point, and it’s very refreshing.
Food For Thought
