Video Thread 10/27/22

 Posted by at 12:08 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 272022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Clarence & Ginni, Donald & Lindsey, and the stench of conflict and corruption at the Supreme Court

The Lincoln Project – Answer The Question, Ron

MSNBC – How Democrats Can Combat A Morally Bankrupt GOP

Robert Reich – The Huge Problem With Voting (It’s Not What You Think)

If Virtual Reality Was Honest

Beau – Let’s talk about what’s happening in Gulfport, Mississippi…. (I have no idea why… but I can’t help thinking how close we are to the election … and wondering whether that is a factor.)

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Video Thread 10/26/22

 Posted by at 11:51 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 262022
 

Glenn Kirschner – The Trump Organization “show trial” kicks off today. But Donald Trump will not be held accountable

The Lincoln Project – Tyranny

Meidas Touch – Roevember Is Coming!

Katie Porter brings inflation receipts.

MSNBC – Yamiche Alcindor: Felons Who Are ‘Legal To Vote’ May Be ‘Intimidated’ By FL Election Police Arrests

Beau – Let’s talk about the economy and a democratic problem…. (and Beau brings the receipts alsoi.)

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Open Thread October 26, 2022

 Posted by at 7:07 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 262022
 

Yesterday, this email notification was in my inbox:

So that is done. Although, as John Pavlovitz points out, on November 9, when we wake up, the world is still going to be there. And many things will still be the same. (And hope will still be there too.) Also, yesterday was World Opera Day, which I had not known existed. There’s always something to learn. As trivial as this is, I also learned (by looking them up) that the Met’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, is 5’5″ tall, one inch taller than James Madison, and six inches taller than Robert Reich. What’s that saying, good things come in small packages? (No offense intended to tall people.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Talent Agency Drops Kanye West For Anti-Semitism, But the Real Story Is Misogyny-to-Fascism Pipeline
Quote – But that’s not the real story. Before all of this blew up, Amanda Maricotte at Salon wrote a piece that got to the roots of what is troubling West and why he’s even worth taking a look at. He’s not just an isolated rich dummy, an over the hill artiste who hasn’t gone on tour since 2016. He’s part of something a lot bigger and a lot scarier, in addition to his particular brand of mental illness.
Click through for article – which looks to an article by Amanda Marcotte for Salon here, which in turn looks back to two earlier articles here and here, and just like that, the light dawns. It isn’t coincidence that these things go together, or, at least, it isn’t any more. It’s the conscious, deliberate use of misogyny to turn people, particularly men, into extreme fascists. And I can’t get into words how dangerous this is.

The Daily Beast – Pelosi Has a New Plan That’s Going to Make Putin Really Pissed
Quote – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is slated to attend the Crimea Platform parliamentary summit in Croatia this week as part of a forum to discuss kicking Russia out of Crimea and returning the peninsula to Ukraine. Her visit is meant to show the United States’ “ironclad solidarity” with Ukraine, the Democrat said in a statement. But while it may seem like just the latest expression of support from the West, the trip could reverberate all the way to the Kremlin.
Click through for details. I don’t think pissing Putin off is necessarily a bad thing. This is not actually an escalation in any way, but a reiteration of what our position has been since at least two years before Trump** moved in.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 10/24/22

 Posted by at 11:49 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – January 6 committee subpoenas Trump. Will he successfully use the courts to run out the clock?

The Lincoln Project – We’ve Been Warning You

MSNBC – House Member Criticizes McCarthy Over Threats To Cut Ukraine Funding

Farron Balanced – Conservatives Started An Anti Woke Bank And Immediately Went Bankrupt

Armageddon Update – Vote or Die!

Beau – Let’s talk about which party you want during a recession….

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Video Thread 10/22/22

 Posted by at 11:47 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 222022
 

Glenn Kirschner – DOJ prosecutors conclude they have enough evidence to indict Donald Trump for obstruction of justice

Meidas Touch – Herschel Walker SKIPS DEBATE and moderator’s response GOES VIRAL

Lincoln Democracy Institute – Pressure

MSNBC – Ron Klain: GOP Has ‘Horrible, Horribler, And Horriblelist’ Ideas To Cut Social Security

Farron Balanced – Trump’s Attorney Is FURIOUS He Won’t Be Indicted Before The Midterms

Beau – Let’s talk about the most important midterm issue….

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Open Thread October 22, 2022

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 222022
 

Yesterday, I heard from my BFF. The colonoscopy went well – she’s good for another ten years. But she has uterine fibroids, and (I guess because of the bleeding?) her medical team is concerned. They’ve changed her hormones and will periodically be administering shots in hopes of diminishing them. It’ll take several months to know, and they may recommend surgery. She appreciates very much any and all prayers (as do I on her  behalf). Also, Steve Bannon was sentenced – only 4 months in prison, but that’s still something (and a $6500 fine … which is NOT something.) As I write I don’t know whther or not he was immediately remanded, or given some time to “put his affairs in order” and report. Also, the Fifth Circuit (TX, LA, MS) Court of Appeals ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is inconstitutional, and Public Citizen has a petition to sign about it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Body Cams Show DeSantis Thugs Arresting People For Voting
Quote – According to the Times, Oliver, who served 18 years in prison for second-degree murder, filled out both a voter registration form and a change-of-address form in 2020 before voting, and the forms were reviewed by the State Department before she was given a voter ID. State registration forms require voters to swear that they have not been convicted of a felony or that their voting rights have been restored, but they do not clarify that people convicted of certain crimes are not eligible for restored rights.
Click through for story. I seriously hope these people sue the State of Florida – or, better, DeSantis personally – for entrapment, and can take him to the cleaners, because I’m sure this was deliberate on his part. Local election officials were working with state-supplied materials which were deceptive, but not the local officials fault, and even the “thugs” in the video (the Twitter one since the YouTube one has been removed) sound awfully polite for thugs.

The Progressive Magazine – The Government Is Actually Doing a Good Job
Quote – You wouldn’t know it from watching the news, but American children are doing better than they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least when it comes to having their basic needs met…. The child tax credit expansion ended at the beginning of this year. Now, some elected leaders are proposing to reinstate the expanded tax credit…. Regardless of what decision Congress makes, the success of the expansion highlights something else you wouldn’t know from watching the news: The federal government has demonstrably improved the lives of the vast majority of Americans over the last year and a half.
Click through for full article – and don’t keep it to yourself. As the article points out, and as In The Public Interest (who referred me to the article) is constantly pointing out, government run like government, not like a business, always tends tp provide more service at less cost than privatization.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 10/21/22

 Posted by at 11:47 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 212022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Judge David Carter rules Trump KNOWINGLY filed false documents in court, lying about election fraud

Meidas Touch – Marco Rubio HUMILIATED on live TV in VIRAL debate MOMENT OF THE YEAR

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party — October 18, 2022

MSNBC – Trevor Noah On American Racism Vs. Overt Racism In South Africa

Liberal Redneck – Trashin’ Alabama for Three Straight Minutes

Beau – Let’s talk about two cars in Jacksonville and being a man…. ( did read about this. I recommend a hanky. I won’t write about it because I can’t express anger constructively as well as Beau can.)

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Open Thread October 21, 2022

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 212022
 

Yesterday, I did get my ballot into the mail in time for the daily delivery/pickup. So I’ll be watching my email carefully for the “received” and “counted” emails (as if I didn’t always watch my email carefully.) In it (my email) today was a “The Warning” from Steve Schmidt – abbreviated because I’m a free subscriber – with perhaps the most blistering takedown of Kevin McCarthy you’ll ever see without profanity. And one from Jpoyce Vance had an analysis of the court decision on the Trump**-Eastman emails. I also received confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday. He called again also, and was much less confused, which was a relief.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Shadow Government in Putin’s Own Backyard Plots Against Him
Quote – Belarus’ opposition, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is plotting to form an alliance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to try to hamper any hopes that Russia may have of territorial expansion beyond Ukraine and further into Europe. The concern is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is eyeing Belarus much like how he’s eyeing Ukraine—and hoping to envelope Belarus into Russia itself, Valery Kavaleuski, a foreign affairs representative for the Belarusian opposition leader, told The Daily Beast. “Russians are looking at us in the same light as they look at Ukraine,” Kavaleuski said. “‘This is a state that is temporarily dependent. This is the nation that does not deserve to be next to Russia,
Click through for article. I don’t know how much of this is wishful thinking, and – maybe because – I don’t know how much real power Tsikhanouskaya has. I haven’t seen it elsewhere, but it claims to be an exclusive, so that alone does not discredit it.

Crooks and Liars – Paul Krugman: Here’s What Dems Should Do If GOP Gains House Majority
Quote – So what should be done to avert this threat? If Republicans do gain control of one or both houses in November, Democrats should use the lame-duck session to enact a very large rise in the debt limit, enough to put the issue on ice for years. Republicans and pundits who don’t understand the stakes would furiously attack this move, but it would be far better than enabling extortion — and would probably be forgotten by the time of the 2024 election.
Click through for the why, and the backup plan. I haven’t heard much from Krugman lately, presumably because I don’t subscribe to the NY Times. But he has always known what he is talking about, and he is right again. I hope he gets attention from those who need to hear this.

Food For Thought

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