Glenn Kirschner – Prosecutors ask judge to sentence Steve Bannon to 6 months in prison & a $200,000 fine for contempt not long now!)
The Lincoln Project – Social Security
Eric Swalwell’s new ad
Ring of Fire – Conservative Group Loses Bid To Stop Biden’s Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
Liberal Redneck – OPEC, Foreign Oil, Gas Prices, etc
Beau – Let’s talk about a positive note for the weekend…. (…last weekend – I warned you I’d get behind.)
Yesterday, an email from Faithful America informed me that the group was a contributor to a PBS Frontline documentary calledc”Michael Flynn’s Holy War,” which had aired Tuesday night. I went looking for it to see whether I could stream it, and I did find it here. So, I streamed it. The URL does not look like one needs to be a Passport member to stream it, but I am one, so I can’t be sure. But I’m sharing it anyway, because this is important information in my opinion. Also yesterday, I filled out my ballot, signed and sealed the envelope, stamped it, and added the most aggressively patriotic stickers I could find. I dated it as of today, so I’ll try to get it out before the mail is delivered/picked up. On top of that, (don’t faint!) Trump** sat for a deposition in the Carroll defamation case. No content released yet. This is a civil suit, which means if he took the Fifth, the fact that he did s CAN be used against him.
Cartoon – 20 1020Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
First we have a story from a collection of sources regarding John Durham and the investigation Bill Barr instigated into Christopher Steele, which has taken three and a half years. In all that time, he only charged three people, of which only one resulted in conviction (on a plea deal, with a sentence of probation only, which is not nothing, but it’s also not much. Incidentally, the one charge that person pled to was unrelatred to the investigation.) Two people went to trial, and the second has just been acquitted of all remaining charges (one charge was dropped.) The first trial also resulted in acquittal. Durham still hadn’t given up, but will likely now get more pressure to do so. The “investigation” appears to be simply a scavenger hunt for mares’ nests.
The Daily Beast – Humans Are Hardwired to Cheat. Here’s How We Stop Ourselves.
Quote – What evolutionary and economic theories have to do with stuffing fish filets into fish and sneaking an (alleged) vibrating butt plug into a chess match may not be immediately apparent. But behavioral scientists like University of Arizona associate professor Mary Rigdon think about sporting competitions in much the same way that biologists like Strassmann study evolution. “We have this idea that competition should naturally lead to better athletes and more exciting and entertaining sporting activities,” Rigdon told The Daily Beast. “But we started to ask the question: Is there a possibility that competition can actually generate unethical behavior?”
Click through for article. It’s not about elections, but it certainly has some application to them. But it also has application t other things. Have you ever said, or wanted to say, “It isn’t a competition” in a conversation when one person appeared to be “one-upping” others? I certainly have. Is it possible that the discomfort (or more) that many white people feel about white privilege stems from a feeling that they are being accused of cheating? I think I’ll be saving this article.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – J6 panel subpoenas Trump; Supreme Court rejects Mar-a-Lago docs case; could indictments be next?
Meidas Touch – Bombshell January 6 Footage EXPOSES GOP LIES about Nancy Pelosi (Repetetive, but at least short)
The Lincoln Project – Time for Answers
Ojeda Live – Politics IS NO JOKE!
Tiny Foster Kitten Becomes King Of His House
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, Hannity, and a voicemail….
Yesterday, I got the email that my ballot is in the mail to me. So I dropped what I was doing and reviewed the last three (out of 11) measures I hadn’t already revieed, and marked my cheat sheet Then I started on the county and local measures, and discovered part of the flyer was missing (it hadn’t been stapled.) I don’t live inside any city limits, but I do live in a school district (obviously) and two special districts – water/sewer and fire. I think the rest of the flyer may be in the car, and I will check when I get a chance, but in the meantime I was able to find a sample ballot on the web for my county, and none of those districts have any measures on the ballot. So I think I’m ready.
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The Bulwark – The Munich Model for Trump’s National Security Extortion
Quote – And even if these documents fail to work as a get out of jail free card, Trump has another card to play. He could call on his waiting army of supporters to threaten more violence on the public order. He has done this—and carried out such a threat—before. And he has already said, plainly, that he might do so again. Those in charge of prosecuting the former president should keep in mind history’s clearest example of everything wrong with appeasing a narcissist: the calamity of Munich.
Click through for full op-ed. I am beginning to think that, or at least to wonder whether, the delay in indicting is due in whole or part to exactly this – and wanting to gat defense mechanisms in place in advance to miniize the destruction. And that the presebce of MAGAts in police forces, national guards and other agencies complicates the effort, in part by making secrecy dauntingly difficult. It’s not as if we have’t see agencie formed for our protection include individuals bent on destruction.
Letters fron an American – October 15, 2022
Quote – Kinzinger’s point was that Trump clearly knew he was leaving office because he was deliberately trying to create chaos for his successor. When he abruptly pulled the U.S. out of northern Syria in October 2019, he abandoned our Kurdish allies, forcing more than 160,000 Syrians from their homes and making them victims of extraordinary violence. The Pentagon considered Trump’s November 11 instructions “a rogue order,” since they had not gone through any of the appropriate channels, and disregarded them.
Click through for full letter. There is a great deal more analysis. I picked this quote to demonstrate that complete and total obedience in the military is neither desirable nor expected. This example demonstrates how not obeying an order which is not lawful is supposed to work – and does work more often than you might think.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I managed to get in a grocery order. It came within the first ten minutes of the two-hour window, and I had it all put away before that window was half over. No substitutions, and only two things missing – one I had ordered as an afterthought just because the website had it (they so often don’t), and the other was one flavor of something I had ordered nine flavors of. Eight out of nine is even better than two out of three. So that’s all good. I think I’ll throw in Robert Reich’s latest caption contest above the TC cartoon, because the winner, Harry Sanderford, must have worked so hard to get it just right.
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The New Yorker – Donald Trump, January 6th, and the Elusive Search for Accountability
Quote – So did any of the committee’s work matter? When the January 6th hearings began, on June 9th, Trump’s average approval rating in the polls was 41.9 per cent, and his average disapproval rating was 53.5 per cent, according to FiveThirtyEight. As the hearings ended, Trump’s average approval rating stood at 40.4 per cent. All that damning evidence, and the polls were basically unchanged. The straight line in the former President’s approval rating is the literal representation of the crisis in American democracy. There is an essentially immovable forty per cent of the country whose loyalty to Donald Trump cannot be shaken by anything.
Click through for article. Not for the Committee, but for our Deomcratic Republic – vote like your life depends on it.
ProPublica – A User’s Guide to Democracy
Quote – Sign up for a series of personalized emails in which our journalists will help you answer questions like:
What are my current representatives doing about the issues I care about?
Who’s running for office in my district?
How can I hold my representatives accountable?
How does Congress even work, exactly?
How can I safely vote during this pandemic?
Click through for details. This is less an article than a signup for a newsletter. And you likely do not need it. But you may know someone who does. I was unable to put in my address (I tried two browsers), but of course, I know my district.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Il Corsaro” by Verdi. I had never heard of it, but I instantly assumed it was based on Lord Byron’s poem, “The Corsair,” and it turns out I was correct. It’s early Verdi, before 1850. The protagonist (the pirate) has his headquarters on a Greek Island (Byron was obsessed with the Greek Islands) while the antagonist is a Turkish pasha. Being grand opera as it is, three of the four principal characters are dead by the time it ends, and I wouldn’t be too sure the fourth won’t also suicide after the curtain falls (although she might not. She’s pretty tough.) The music is stunning. I can see why some of the 20th century’s biggest stars wanted to bring it back into the repertory. Sadly the 20th century – at least the second half – was a tough time for “new” opera (“new” meaning anything unfamiliar to the sudience.) Opera lovers are not yet completely out of that mind set, but it is getting better. More forgotten operas are getting revived, and mre new ones are being premiered by major houses – and getting good responses – than any time in my life. Many are not what one would expect. One was based on “Marnie” (not the Hitchcock movie, exactly, but the book that inspired it.) Another was based on a Luis Buñuel movie (surrealism – think Salvador Dali but in a movie. In other words, weird.)
Before diving into the short takes, I want to quickly share this link from Joyce Vance where you will find all 291 of the election deniers who will be on the ballot in 24 days, sorted by how likely they are to win their elections, and searchable by state and by office they are running for. If for any reason it doesn’t work for you, here’s the link to Joyce’s newsletter and you can try from there, but you will be confronted by a couple of silky chicken moms, each with two chicks, and I warn you, they look strange.
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The Daily Beast – The Jan. 6 Committee Gave Us Some Bad News About the Secret Service
Quote – The Secret Service has too many secrets. The Federal Bureau of Investigation requires a thorough investigation. These are among the most striking conclusions that emerged Thursday from the last public meeting of Congress’s Jan. 6 committee. Laying out its meticulously crafted case against former President Donald Trump for leading an insurrection against the government he had sworn an oath to protect, the committee made it clear that there were many targets that warranted further investigation. Not least of these were the two law enforcement agencies that had long prided themselves on being among the U.S. government’s most shining examples of integrity and service.
Click through for story. The emphasis here stood out to me.. If you would prefer a more panoramic view, you can check out HuffPost also.
HuffPost – The Most Important Midterm Elections Have Nothing To Do With Congress
Quote – Over the last two years, state legislatures have served as the epicenter of the far-right’s assault on American democracy. Republicans have used their dominance of that level of politics, one that often sails beneath the radar in major election seasons, to enact new restrictions on voting, target state election systems with conspiracy theories meant ultimately to undermine them, and potentially pave the way for future efforts to overturn elections they lose in ways former President Donald Trump failed to do in 2020.
Click through for the details. This is going to be harder to track down.The Colorado General Assembly (as we call our State House) has 100 seats, and the Colorado State Senate 35, and we have 8 Congressional Districts. Californioa has 52 Congressional Districts. I don’t know how big the State Legialatures are, but I’m guessing bigger than ours. And so are those of multiple other states. Just vole blue.
Food For Thought
Yesterday – Well, that was interesting. My best advice is to get earplugs or noise-reducing headsets out th protect aganst the deafening howls and sceams coming from Mar-a-Lago. (If you need to make some, don’t use loose cotton strands – they get stuck too easily. Rolled up fabric or pieces cut from sponges are safer.) In other news, a new poll shows Adam Frisch tied with Lauren Boebert (however, see short take #2.)
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Democratic Underground (UCmeNdc) – FBI Source in Mar-a-Lago Investigation Shot and Left for Dead at Canadian Resort
Quote – So yeah, that’s not good. Man helps the FBI, and then the man ends up getting shot by three men who escape in a black SUV. And those files don’t necessarily pertain just to his “partner,” they could be files she scooped up in Mar-a-Lago itself. Speculating, this woman fits the perfect profile of a spy. She speaks Russian. She is a Ukrainian but some Ukrainians were more loyal to Russia than Ukraine. There are a lot of moving parts here and the Tarasenko’s injuries are grievous enough that he wasn’t shot as a message to him.
Click through for story. The source is provided if anyone wants to dig deeper. A lot of speculation here, but fewer facts.
Robert Reich – Warning: The dirty little secret of polls
Quote – But wait. There’s reason to doubt these optimistic numbers. The debacle of 2016 election polls showing Hillary Clinton with a healthy lead, and the 2020 election polls overstating Biden’s lead over Trump, reveal a dirty little secret: Election polls overstate Democratic strength and understate Republican.
Click through for the three reasons he gives. The first two are unavoidable – just as the opposite unavoidably happened in 1948, when polls were done by telephone at a time when most non-wealthy peole didn’t have telphones in their homes. The third – I don’t knw – has anyone ever seen a shy Trump** voter? They seem pretty blatant to me – and confident that everyone agrees with them. In any case, GOTV efforts are, as always, vital for Democrats.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Lindsey Graham’s ongoing legal tantrum, trying to avoid testifying about Trump’s Georgia crimes
The Lincoln Project – Liz Cheney: Flip or Skip
MSNBC – GONE VIRAL: The Political Ad Women Have Been Waiting For
Robert Reich – How Wealth Inequality Spiraled Out of Control
Shared from Twitter by In The Public Interest (ITPT) – How the Dutch built a tunnel under a highway in one weekend (No sound – the visual says it all.)
How the Dutch build a tunnel under a highway in one weekend pic.twitter.com/jjy549deRu
— H0W_THlNGS_W0RK (@wowinteresting8) October 4, 2022
Beau – Let’s talk about spears and relief logistics…. (Beau was so hot on Monday that I am going to get a bit behind with his videos. If I need to, I’ll double up some.)