Open Thread June 23, 2023

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 232023
 

Yesterday, I learned about the House voting to censure Adam Schiff for telling the truth. It probably came in the previous night, butit would have been after 10 pm my time, in one of the Substack newsletters. Ten pm is when I check for spam and close my email, even if i’m up later than that. I am actually less angry at the Republicans in the House than I am at the morons who sent them there. Adam’s full speech (a tad over 6 minutes is at his own website and also on YouTube, and one of my Substack sources provided a partial (but substantial) transcript:
“To my Republican colleagues who introduced this resolution, I thank you. You honor me with your enmity. You flatter me with this falsehood. You who are the authors of the big lie about the last election condemn the truth tellers and I stand proudly before you. Your words tell me that I have been affective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful.
“Speaker McCarthy would spend the nation’s time on petty political payback, thinking the censure or fine will force Trump’s opposition into submission. But I will not yield. Not one inch. The cost of the Speaker’s delinquency is high, but the cost to Congress of this frivolous and yet dangerous resolution may be even higher as it represents another serious abuse of power.
“I say this to Speaker McCarthy and others who wish to gratify Donald Trump with this act of subservience, try as you might to expel me from Congress or silence me with a $16 million fine, you will not succeed you might as well make it $160 million. The Speaker will never deter me from doing my duty no matter how many false justifications or slanders you level against me. You indict yourselves.
“Why were you silent, afraid, and unwilling to do your ethical, constitutional duty? Why did you cower? And why do you still? Will it be said of you that you lacked the courage to stand up to the most immoral, unlawful, and unethical president in history but consoled yourselves by attacking those who did?
“Today I wear this partisan vote as a badge of honor knowing that I have lived my oath, knowing that I have done my duty to hold a dangerous and out-of-control president accountable and knowing that I would do so again in a heartbeat if the circumstances should ever require it. I thank you, and I yield back.”

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Short Takes –

Politico – The sleeper legal strategy that could topple abortion bans
Quote – Revs. Jan Barnes and Krista Taves have logged hundreds of hours standing outside abortion clinics across Missouri and Illinois, going back to the mid-1980s. But unlike other clergy members around the country, they never pleaded with patients to turn back. The sight of the two women in clerical collars holding up messages of love and support for people terminating a pregnancy “so infuriated the anti-abortion protesters that they would heap abuse on us and it drew the abuse away from the women,” recalled Taves, a minister at Eliot Unitarian Chapel in Kirkwood, Missouri, as she sat on a couch at Barnes’ stately church in this quiet suburb of St. Louis.
Click through for details. It seems to me fairly self-evident. MAGA “Christians” could use a mandatory “refresher” course in what religious freedom actually is.

Wonkette – Sam Alito Is Just Humble Fisherman Drinking $1,000 Bottles Of Wine Served By Billionaires
Quote – [Alito:] I stayed for three nights in a modest one-room unit at the King Salmon Lodge, which was a comfortable but rustic facility. As I recall, the meals were homestyle fare. I cannot recall whether the group at the lodge, about 20 people, was served wine, but if there was wine it was certainly not wine that costs $1,000. [Wonkette:] Okay, a) how would Alito know what the wine cost if he wasn’t, as reported by ProPublica, paying for his stay, and b) Sam Alito knows what a $1,000 bottle of wine tastes like, and it does not taste like whatever swill he does not recall drinking in Alaska.
Click through. I figured if anyone could manage to put a more colorful spin on this story, it would be Womkette. They did not let me down.

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Open Thread June 22, 2023

 Posted by at 5:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 222023
 

Yesterday, I learned that the SPLC’s latest report on hate groups took the time and space to recognize Faithful America as one of the antidotes to hate. Coming after decades of Christofascists associating the word “Christian” with hatred, this is a refreshing developmen – which would not have been possible without the actions of authentic Chriatians. Thanks, SPLC, andthanks to all who have signed/written/donated to make it kappen.

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Washington Post (no paywall) – FBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year
Quote – In the two months since the siege, federal agents had conducted 709 searches, charged 278 rioters and identified 885 likely suspects, said Michael R. Sherwin, then-acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, ticking through a slide presentation…. But according to a copy of the briefing document, absent from Sherwin’s 11-page presentation to Garland on March 11, 2021, was any reference to Trump or his advisers — those who did not go to the Capitol riot but orchestrated events that led to it.
Click through for full article. I suppose we could argue forever about whether the “bottom-up” method was the best way to go in this case. It is having results now, but it did take a long time. Too long? Certainly too long for the gut feelings of Democrats and others who value democracy. But we are not out of time yet.

PolitiZoom – Surprise! Judge Cannon Isn’t Running The Trump Documents Trial. Jack Smith Is
Quote – Look, Smith isn’t just running circles around Trump’s defense team, he’s running them around Judge Cannon too. Trump’s defense team wants endless delays and hearings. Smith just deprived them of that oxygen by not giving them any reasons to ask foe hearings on Trump’s bail conditions. And now, Judge Cannon hasn’t even set the preliminary hearing date to open discovery, and Smith is already handing over all of his non classified material for the Trump team to go through. Which makes it harder for the Trump team, 6-8 weeks from now at the preliminary hearing, to ask for 4-6 months for discovery when they’ve already 90% of the stuff for 6-8 weeks.
Click through for article. Murfster does tend to see things others do not, and while no one s perfect, he does have a track record. He sees this trial as a three-way battle of wits in which two of the parties are unarmed. And he does make a case. I hope he’s right -and I think there’s a good chance he is.

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Open Thread June 21, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 212023
 

Yesterday, it was reported that charges were filed against Hunter Biden. Also, Axios is reporting that a “prelimiary trial date” has been set in the Trump documments case  (I suspect they mean a preliminary hearing) for August 14th. That date is just barely within the first half of August, which is the period for which Fani Willis requested that calendars be cleared, so she may get at least some of her licks in on schedule. Both stories are at the same link, just scroll down from Hunter to see the second story. (I’ll get to the Washington Post’s bombshell tomorrow.)

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AP News – Biden strikes economic populist tone during campaign rally before exuberant union members
Quote – Biden spotlighted the sweeping climate, tax and health care package signed into law last year that cut the cost of prescription drugs and lowered insurance premiums — pocketbook issues that advisers say will be the centerpiece of his argument for a second term. “I’m looking forward to this campaign,” Biden said to cries of “four more years!” before adding, “We’ve got a record to run on.” His choice of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania — and a friendly union audience — as his first official campaign stop reflected their crucial role in his reelection effort.
Click through for story. I see this as being a story about messaging.

Civil Discourse – Discovery in [Federal] Criminal Cases
Quote – What follows is a lot of procedural nitty-gritty, but the details matter. They’ll set the tone for everything to come. This order only covers discovery of unclassified material. The process for classified evidence will be defined consistent with the Classified Information Procedures Act…. Before classified discovery can take place, Trump’s lawyers will have to receive security clearances, so the timeline for that discovery to begin will be a bit longer.
Click through for full explanation. “Discovery” seems to me an odd word for it – but it has probably been used for hundreds of years and likely made more sense when first used. It is definitely critically important. Cases have been overturned for errors in discovery.

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Open Thread June 20, 2023

 Posted by at 6:12 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 202023
 

Yesterday was Juneteenth – a day to take a victory lap and celebrate one achievement in our history. And therefore today is a day to get back to work. Very few people can say that as well as John Pavlovitz (although the FFT, a cartoon originally published in 1876, is strong.) I hope your Juneteenth was pleasant and refreshing, since we all need to be refreshed periodically.

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John Pavlovitz – Are we there yet?
Quote – Yesterday, a friend who is a rabbi called to tell me that the Black Lives Matter flag in his yard had been ripped down, placed against their family’s car and set on fire. He and his family were of course devastated, but not just for his family but for what acts of violence like this represent and mean. In the fight against the cancer of racism, we are not there yet. But many people, like my friend and his family, people like you aren’t going to rest or be driven off course. We’re awake and alive in this day and that makes us dangerous to those still warring against equity…. Are we there yet? Not yet. Don’t let that truth dishearten you, let it move you.
Clck through for full column. Not much, if anything , I can add.

The 19th – What a teacher’s little red book taught the world about the Tulsa massacre
Quote – “Parrish’s work became a vital primary source for other people’s writings,” journalist Victor Luckerson wrote in his recently released book, “Built From the Fire.” “Yet her life remained unknown, even as the facts that she had gathered — such as several firsthand accounts of airplanes being used to surveil or attack Greenwood — became foundational to the nation’s understanding of the massacre. She was, quite literally, relegated to the footnotes of history.” Parrish’s great-granddaughter Anneliese Bruner is following in her footsteps as a writer and editor but didn’t learn of her connection to Parrish — or the events of Tulsa — until she was in her 30s.
Click through for story. Someone recently said that MAGA Republicans have the minds of toddlers – up to and including an obsession with genitalia. How many violent crimes have been based on lies involving genitalia?

The New Yorker – The Celebration of Juneteenth in Ralph Ellison’s “Juneteenth”
Quote – “We were owned and faced with the awe-inspiring labor of transforming God’s Word into a lantern so that in the darkness we’d know where we were. Oh God hasn’t been easy with us because He always plans for the loooong haul. He’s looking far ahead and this time He wants a well-tested people to work his will. . . . He’s tired of untempered tools and half-blind masons! Therefore, He’s going to keep on testing us against the rocks and in the fires. He’s going to plunge us into the ice-cold water. And each time we come out we’ll be blue and as tough as cold-blue steel! Ah yes! He means for us to be a new kind of human. Maybe we won’t be that people but we’ll be a part of that people, we’ll be an element in them, amen!”
Click through for details. I hope you can stand one more article about Juneteenth. Ralph Ellison is best known for “The Invisible Man.” When he died, he left a good deal of unfinished work, including “Juneteenth,” which was put together by an editor, but most of it is pure Ellison. If you are paywalled out, I’ll send it in an email if you let me know.

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Open Thread June 19, 2023

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 192023
 

Yesterday, I got to see Virgil, and passed on to him all greetings, all of which he returns. He did say that being with me was the best Fathers Day gift he could have received. We got in four games of Scrabble (using all letters, not scoring) although the fourth one by the end of it we were ignoring a bunch of rules. We finished it 3 minutes before visitation ended. The weather was about perfect both ways – warm (but the air conditioner was working) and just enough cloud cover to minimize glare.

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Today’s Edition Newsletter (Robert Hubbell) – A tactical retreat by the Supreme Court?
Quote – A string of surprising Supreme Court decisions has caused some people (i.e., me) to wonder if the Court’s conservative majority is engaged in a tactical retreat to prevent further damage to the Court’s legitimacy…. If that interpretation is correct—even in part—it should spur us to greater efforts to reform and enlarge the Court. Why? Because the reactionary majority may have changed course because it believed that the calls for reform are likely to succeed. If so, the worst thing we could do is to relent merely because the Court followed precedent in a handful of cases—something it should do in all cases.
Click trough for article. Emphasis is the author’s, but if he hadn’t, I would have.

The Daily Beast – Jack Smith Should Have Waited a Week to Indict Donald Trump
Quote – [O]n Thursday—one week after Trump was charged in Florida—the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the decision in Smith v. United States, a case that decided whether the wrong choice of venue in a criminal case would not only be reversible error but also irreparable error—meaning that the case could not be re-tried in the correct venue. In many ways, this decision is no surprise because, as the unanimous Supreme Court opinion stated, there is no reason to treat a mistake in venue any differently than any other violation of Constitutional rights—meaning it can be remedied. Per the Smith decision, a case that resulted in conviction but was brought in the wrong venue would have to be re-tried in the right place.
Click through for opinion. All that waiting would have accomplished (assuming the charges had then been filed in DC) the only result would have been delay. The document charges would still have had to be filed in South Florida eventually. But this decision does open up some possibiities. (Emphasis mine.)

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Open Thread June 18, 2023

 Posted by at 6:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 182023
 

Last week’s opera was the last one from the Metropolitan Opera until December. But WFMT will carry on through the summer with recordings of live performances from all over the world. Yesterday, the opera was “Fidelio,” the only opera ever composed by Beethoven, from the Vienna State Opera. The announcer today said it was based on a true story from the French Revolution; that was the first I’d heard of it, so I won’t swear to it. But it’s about the wife of a man who was politically fighting a fascistic governor, who has kidnapped him and thrown him into the (unfinished) basement of his private prison. It’s been two years, and everyone thinks him dead except his wife, who dresses as a man to get a job at the prison. She doesn’t find him until the evil governor’s boss send him a message that he’s coming to inspect the prison. The governor panics and orders the jailer to dig a grave in the basement, the wife offers to help, and there he is. The line that’s often quoted occurs when the governor is about to kill him and the wife comes between them and says “First kill his wife.” (She is armed and the governor falls apart and leaves, as does the jailer, from kinder motives.) But the line that gets me every time is when they are left alone and he, still in shock, says “Leonora! What have you done for me!” to which she replies, “Nothing, my Florestan. It was nothing.” Then they go up and out, and the governor’s boss and the chorus sing in praise of marriage. And with all that in my head, I’m off to see Virgil. As always, I’ll post a comment when I get back

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Robert Reich – The Five Elements of Fascism
Quote – How do we describe what Trump wants for America? “Authoritarianism” isn’t adequate. It is “fascism.” Fascism stands for a coherent set of ideas different from — and more dangerous than — authoritarianism. To fight those ideas, it’s necessary to be aware of what they are and how they fit together. Borrowing from cultural theorist Umberto Eco, historians Emilio Gentile and Ian Kershaw, political scientist Roger Griffin, and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, I offer five elements that distinguish fascism from authoritarianism.
Click through for all five. Many lists have more than five – but all of the lists nail Trump** and his MAGAts as pure fascists.

HuffPost – Biden Is Having A Very Productive Presidency, And This Win On Drug Prices Shows Why
Quote – If you want to understand why the Biden administration gets so little credit for its accomplishments ― and why, perhaps, it deserves to get a little more ― pay attention to a little-noticed policy announcement from last Friday. The announcement was a list of 43 prescription drugs that are covered by Medicare and whose prices have risen faster than the rate of inflation. The list included relatively well-known drugs like Humira, which treats a variety of inflammatory conditions, plus some more obscure medications like Leukine, which helps cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy stave off infection.
Click through for details. And pass it on

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Open Thread June 17, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 172023
 

Yesterday, I scored 8 out of 8 correct on the Conversation’s weekly quiz (after a few weeks of 5s and 4s), but I can’t take that much credit. All of the wrong answers were generated by AI. In the graph at the end I was expeting to see a huge increase in the number of 8/8 scores – but, although there was some increase, the biggest increase was in 7/8. Now I wish I had looked more closely at the percentage who got each question right as I was going through. Not that that’s important – just curiosity. Also yesterday, the first major motion in the Trump** trial has been filed, and it is a protective order on the discovery. The attorneys for the defense have agreed to the motion. Solid details in the Video Thread in a Meidas Touch video (almost 9 minutes but all information.)

Cartoon – 17 0617Cartoon.jpg

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The Conversation – George Soros hands control over his family’s philanthropy to son Alex,…
Quote – As a sociologist who researches immigrants and minorities in Europe and conspiracy theories about them, I study how Soros became a scapegoat and bogeyman for nationalists and populists and a target of people who harbor and spread antisemitic beliefs. Baseless conspiracy theories have at times clouded his legacy as one of the world’s biggest donors to causes like higher education, human rights and the democratization of Europe’s formerly communist countries.
Click through for story. I’ve often thought how difficult it must have been for him to be constantly confronted with conspiract theories and anti-Semitic libels. I’m grateful his son is willing to carry on his work.

HuffPost – The GOP Throws A Fit Over The Pride Flag
Quote – Republicans are observing this year’s Pride Month with complaints about the rainbow flag being flown on federal properties, including at the White House. It’s another way the GOP is leaning into culture war issues that are animating its base amid broader efforts to restrict transgender rights nationwide…. “I don’t know if you know it, but simply looking at a Pride flag will not make you gay,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who is gay, said at a hearing marking up the bill.
Click through for more. All this about “insulting veterans who died for the American flag.” Well, I’m a veteran, and I served with gay people who showed tremendous courage – who risked everything, including their lives, to have the honor of serving. People have died for the Pride flag too.

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Open Thread June 16, 2023

 Posted by at 5:46 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 162023
 

Yesterday, I got an email from John Pavlovitz – not that that’s unusual, and some of y’all get them too. But for those who don’t, I wanted to share some words from this one. He is featuring aome new merchandise specifically for Pride Month – including just about anything you can put a message on – and the messages are well said. “God is Non-Binary.” “LGBTQ Christian isn’t an Oxymoron. Hateful Christian is.” “We Say Gay.” More power to him! i also got a package with a bunch of AAA batteries, which I needed. My little (but powerful) flashlights all take three AAA batteries, and I have at least one in every room. And I was down to my last two batteries – which is the same as being completely out when you need three. And those flashlights are not just for power failures. My home was built in 1956, and in any building that age, every piece of furniture placed against a wall will lean in slightly – not enough to be dangerous, but enough for small items like beads and knitting needles to roll or slide off… and then roll or bounce into dark corners. I have a number of “grabber” tools to retrieve them with, but first I have to see them.  And yesterday was also the first day of that cringey time of year when, for a month anf a half, Donald Trump** and i are the same age.  At least it will be over soon.

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The Daily Beast – Former Fox Executive: Is It Time for the FCC to Take a Close Look at Rupert Murdoch’s Licenses?
Quote – I was a Fox executive from 1990 to 1997 helping to build Fox Broadcasting Company, the long sought fourth free-over-the-air commercial TV network…. In addition to Fox Broadcasting, Fox owns cable channels including Fox News Channel and 28 local broadcast TV stations. The Federal Communications Commission has almost no regulatory authority over cable channels like Fox News but heavily regulates local broadcast stations that use public airwaves. Section 308 (b) of the Communications Act requires the FCC to assess the character qualifications of parties licensed to broadcast on the public airwaves. The FCC considers conduct at the broadcast station and elsewhere. The FCC has revoked broadcast licenses based on character issues.
Click through for story. Now, if somene were to start a petition to the FCC on this, that would be a petition I could get behind.

Letters from an American – June 13, 2023
Quote – [Fox News Channel] has been hemorrhaging viewers since it fired Tucker Carlson, a threat to its bottom line that might have been behind its chyron tonight attacking Biden by claiming “WANNABE DICTATOR SPEAKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE AFTER HAVING HIS POLITICAL RIVAL ARRESTED.” In statements similar to the one from FNC, right-wing pundits spent the day flooding Twitter and other social media with furious insistence that Trump is being unfairly prosecuted, followed by attacks on former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and with allegations that there are tapes of President Biden accepting bribes—allegations that Biden openly laughed at this evening.
Click through for more (As always, click “Continue reading” on the pop-up). Yes, I’m beating up on Fox today. I’m aware that others exist, such as OAN and Sinclair, but Fox is still the most prominent.

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