Open Thread December 10, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 102022
 

Back in the day, when I was in my teens, there used to be a daily syndicated cartoon called “Dondi.” Dondi was a pre-teen refugee from IIRC eastern Europe. He was in America with a foster family. Except that he found that a difficult word, so he referred to his “frosted” family. My Mom and I picked up the term to describe those folks – you know everone has at least one – who are not actually related by blood or marriage but whom you come to consider family. Yesterday, Virgil called all twitterpated to tell me he had rewceived a Christmas card from my frosted sister (of about 64 years standing now.) I think she may be the only person who even knows his address maiing address besides me. She has sent him cards in the past, and (especially with his memory issues) he is as thrilled each time as if it were the first time. I can hardly tell you how grateful I am for her. Aside from that, it was a pretty normal day – spent some time wondering whhether I had the energy to tackle this ir that, and mostly deciding I didn’t.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Trump Losing To Liz Cheney In Red State Utah Poll
Quote – Apparently, Utah Republicans are tired of Trump, and truth be told, probably never liked having a fornicator-in-chief anyway…. In the poll, Rep Cheney, who has built her brand of politics over the last few years around taking swipes at the twice impeached president for his conduct inside and outside the Oval Office, placed second[.]
Click through for story. Don’t get too excited – both are trailing DeSanctimonious bigly – but that does put Trump** into third place.

PolitiZoom – The Perfect Gift For the MAGA In Your Life...
Quote – There is a new MAGA puzzle out and it’s a trick puzzle. It’s got Trump’s face on the box but when you put it together, you get Joe Biden. And MAGA is not amused. No, Sir, they are not.
Click through for a good laugh. I would really have to be angry at someone before I would spend money to demonstrate it – but if anyone is that pissed, this would be great.

Mother Jones – Dem Dysfunction, Tabloid Hellscapes, Crime: How New York Almost Went Red
Quote – [Lee] Zeldin [who lost the Governorship to Kathy Hochul], a 42-year-old Long Island congressman first elected in 2014, and Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid were aligned on the idea that only one issue really mattered this year: crime. At rallies, Zeldin told crowds that he’d use his first minutes in office to declare a “crime state of emergency”…. If the legislature didn’t cooperate, Zeldin promised to unilaterally repeal New York’s 2019 bail reform law, along with other criminal justice measures passed by Democrats. He spent seven figures on a television ad mostly featuring Black men committing violent crimes.
Click throuh for story. The irony here, if one can call it that, is that when a good prosecutor is voted in, one who actually does address crime and public safety, they recall (Chesa Boudin) or impeach (Larry Krasner) him or her. Which makes everything far more dangerous.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 9, 2022

 Posted by at 7:20 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 092022
 

Yesterday, I was glad to see that we finally found someone acceptable to swap for Britney Griner, who is now on her way home. About time, too.  Of course Republicans are screaming bloody murder.  But there are a few other good news items which got me through the day. and I got to see my BFF, who ca  me by to bring me a prescription so I don’t have to go into a store and get exposed to heaven knows what.  The three items which I think really command attention concern Lizzo, Biden, and Kamala Harris.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Germany Arrests 25 In QAnon-Fueled Coup Plot, Proving America Does Too Still Export Stuff
Quote – The plot included a plan to attack Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, to kill members or take them hostage. By golly, we have seen that movie…. In addition to the plan to storm the Bundestag, the group allegedly planned to attack Germany’s electric grid and use the resulting chaos to foment a civil war. All told, while only 25 people were arrested, a total of 50 have been accused of involvement in the terrorist organization.
Click through for story. This appears to be a bit of a scoop – there was a short clip on MSNBC and that was all I found (it’s in the video thread.)

Crooks & Liars – ‘Religious Freedom’ Bites Forced-Birthers Where The ‘Son’ Don’t Shine
Quote – Jewish people, for instance, don’t believe the fetus has a soul until it draws its first independent breath. We prioritize the life of the pregnant person above the life of the fetus for the entirety of the pregnancy, including in situations that put the pregnant person’s emotional health at risk. With the imposition of the GOP’s fetus-fetish laws all over the nation, however, Jews and others whose religions don’t subscribe to the ideology of these nutters are fighting fire with fire.
Click through for details. I applaud this work. I’m so tired of people claiming to be Christians saying abortion is murder when the Bible does not say so, but implies it is not. What clearly IS murder is failing to treat pregnancy issues and thereby causing death. If you’re going to outlaw abortion, you might as well also outlaw the Heimlich maneuver.

Food For Thought – OMG, this is beautiful!

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Open Thread December 8, 2022

 Posted by at 6:42 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 082022
 

Yesterday, after Senator Warnock’s victory, I was at least able to breathe again. Sadly, that was a real nail biter. But it ended well. So I decided it was time to move on to the Supreme Court. Both of today’s short takes are – not eacttly hopeful. But we need to know about them. If you need some comic relief, you can check out this BuzzFeed article on misconceptions (no pun intended) that men have about women’s anatomy and bodily functions. They reach never-before-published levels of absurdity.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – Con Law: How a Fake Document Could Help the Supreme Court Diminish Our Democracy
Quote – So this August, historians of the Constitution were alarmed to see Pinckney’s fraud credulously cited in a brief submitted to the Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper, a high-stakes case that will be heard on Wednesday and whose outcome could usher in new state-level voter suppression and gerrymandering schemes. If the decision rests on Pickney’s alleged plan or similar shaky foundations, it may also prove to be the most dramatic example of a troubling new trend at the court: the flaunting [sic] of inconvenient facts and the adoption of alternative ones in their place.
Click through for article. Of course the author means “flouting” – flaunting is something quite different – almost the opposite actually. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is a horrible danger. It is impossible to trust Thmas, Alito, and the MAGA three not to fall for it. I would love to be proved wrong.

Colorado Public Radio News – Supreme Court seems poised to side with Colorado web designer in 303 Creative case
Quote – The case, 303 Creative v. Elenis, pits a Colorado website designer named Lorie Smith against state officials trying to enforce Colorado’s Anti Discrimination Act. Smith wants to start creating custom wedding websites. Specifically, she wants to post a message on her company’s site that she would not create websites for same-sex marriage “or any other marriage that is not between one man and one woman,” according to a brief in the case. But state officials would consider that discriminatory behavior based on the state’s laws, so Smith sued the state.
Click through for details. If I tried to express my deepest opinion on this, I would become incoherent, so I’ll fall back on my favorite bumper sticker: “Jesus called. He wants his church back.”

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 6, 2022

 Posted by at 7:08 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 062022
 

Yesterday Today is the runoff election for the Senator from Georgia. I’m devoting as much time and space to that as I reasonably can. I am not expecting final results today, although it certainly could happen.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – Are The Frogs Boiled?
Quote – All too often, elected officials get away with ducking. They avoid the cameras, they say it was a joke or that Trump didn’t mean it. They refuse to hold public meetings with constituents to avoid being asked point blank questions. Sometimes they condemn Trump, as on January 6, but then return to the fold. They know they can do that, because the media moves on with the news cycle. And they get away with it. So this, what’s happened now, has to be a job for all of us. It’s civil discourse. Let’s ask our elected officials where they stand and stay on them until they answer. Or not. Because sometimes a repeated, documented, failure to respond tells us what we need to know.
Click through for full column – it’s short. Out of four officials (Governor, two Senators, and Representative), I only need to write to one. Poor Joyce has a quadrifecta. I most certainly am referencing my own oath as a veteran (particularly since my rep spends so much time and effort BSing veterans.)

Politico – Warnock focuses on turnout as early voting ends in Georgia runoff
Quote – “If you have already voted, spend all weekend calling the folks who haven’t voted, or you don’t know if they voted,” Warnock told the crowd. “Call them — that’s your job. Your job is not over.” The event was part of what is often called “Souls to the Polls” events, where faith leaders like Warnock, who is also a senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, host events that end with attendees voting. These events, often held at predominantly Black churches, are also key to engaging Black voters, a core constituency of the Democratic Party.
Click through for article. Like every other article on this race, is devotes attention to how much money has been spent in this campaign. Money alone wll not determine the winner. Turnout is what does that.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 5, 2022

 Posted by at 6:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 052022
 

Yesterday, I visited Virgil – I passed all greetings on to him, and he returns them all. The deck of cards was in use when I got there, but tat visitor left after a while and I acarfed them up. I got home safely ithout incident … but without a whole lot of energy. So I’m being brief.

Cartoon 05 Charlemagne loaded

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The one thing you need to know about the railroads
Quote – Let me be clear. A strike and shutdown of the nation’s railroads would be terrible for the economy. It would worsen inflation. But legislation effectively prohibiting a strike would impose unfair working conditions on employees in one of the most profitable industries in America — further tilting the nation’s economic imbalance toward large corporations and Wall Street, and against working people. Here, a concentrated industry has gained record profits by understaffing — squeezing its workers to the breaking point. Prodded by Wall Street, the big rail companies have intentionally gutted their own spare capacity.
Click through for full opinion. Well, it’s done now. I do hope it comes back to bite railroad owners and executives. It would be nice if it were to happen in some way that doesnt hurt all the American people. But I don’t know whether that’s possible.

HuffPost – Three Ways The New Primary Calendar Could Change The Nominating Process
Quote – The proposed changes come from President Joe Biden, although they have the support of a large chorus of party leaders, activists and officials — all of whom have grown frustrated with the outsized influence of Iowa and New Hampshire, which have traditionally gone first and second. Under the plan, South Carolina would go first, replacing Iowa. New Hampshire would still have its primary one week later, but it would share its day with Nevada. Two larger states, Georgia and then Michigan, would be next.
Click through for more specifics. If you read down on why this is desired, you will see one word – diversity. I hope it goes through in all the states.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epz7ej/is-cocaine-bear-really-based-on-a-true-story
Vice – Is ‘Cocaine Bear’ Really Based on a True Story?
Quote – The upcoming Cocaine Bear movie does what it says on the tin: it’s all about a bear getting high on cocaine. [NSFW]
Click through for more. Apparently the short answer is yes. Poor thing.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 4, 2022

 Posted by at 6:44 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 042022
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was yet one more comedy – “L’Elisir d’Amore” by Donizetti. I’m not sure when or where they have set it, but, from the look of the steam engine, it might be 19th century America, in country which wold not then have been flyover country, but would have been country where the train didn’t stop unless someone rang the bell for it to do so. I’ve seen it once befrore done in that period, and it’s a good fit – the country lad tenor becomes a cowboy, the Italian recruiting Sergeant becomes a Civil War recruiting sergrand, and – the shake oil salesman stays a snake oil salesman. And the heroine, the hard-to-get farm owner, becomes a hard-to-get ranch owner. The names given to the three male principals are clues to their personalities – I’ll only mention Nemorino, which means “kittle nobody.” His big aria is “Una furtiva lagrima” (a tear she tries to hide) is done a lot in concerts and recitals, and in times when encores are allowed, it gets encored a lot (the first tie Caruso did it at he Met it was encored 3 times in one performance.  It was encored in this performanc, but only once.) Despite missteps and misunderstandings, it all ends happily – including for the snake oil salesman, who sells a lot mor of his “elixir” on the strength of Nemorino’s success. This is the last opera from China (this year) – next week the Met broadcast season starts. I’m assuming my local station will carry it, but in case it doesn’t, WFMT will. Tomorrow, I see Virgil.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

truthout – Evangelical Lobbying Threatens Supreme Court’s Independence
Quote – It is likely not a coincidence that both decisions served the conservative evangelical agenda and both were leaked by people with advance knowledge of the results. Although the right-wing members of the court had probably already made up their minds in these two cases, the leaks were apparently designed to strengthen their resolve. The operation was called the “Ministry of Emboldenment,” Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker reported in their explosive November 19 New York Times article, quoting whistleblower Rev. Rob Schenck who used to run Faith and Action. Its goal was to “embolden the justices” to write “unapologetically conservative dissents.”
Click through for details. It is a no-brainer that any kind of lobbying involving gifts and/or favors is wrong. (Although it’s certainly difficult to draw a solid line. When you or I sign a petition to someone in government, we are lobbying. How far up the ladder is it legitimate to go?) But lobbying the Courts – by anyone – wherever the line is, that is definitely past it.

PolitiZoom – It’s Official, Trump’s Got A Babysitter. ‘Official Will Be Present With Him At All Times’ After Fuentes Fiasco
Quote – [W]e have since learned that Fuentes and Milo Yiannopoulos were there to embarrass Trump. He did it to himself. Trump can’t afford any more screw ups like this. There is no other candidate for any high office, let alone president, who doesn’t know who s/he’s sitting down to dinner with publicly and what the ramifications of a wrong move could be. This isn’t the old days, with Trump as the iconoclast. He’s the icon now, supposedly. The MAGA icon at least…. Trump needs to tread the straight and narrow now, and that’s not his style. He has no discipline. This is going to be torture for him, having to do things by the book. Frankly, I’m wondering if he’ll stay in the race.
Click through – Of course the point of this story is that Trump** is and always will be a behavioral toddler. But I was also interested to learn the identity of “The Third Man” (apologies to Graham Greene and Harry Lime.) I was beginning to think it must have been Milo after I saw a photo of him, Ye, and Nick on a private jet together, but now I’m sure. Oh, and, in an update, Trump** is denyng this.

Democratic Underground (CousinIT) – Tribe: Why Raskin’s role in leading Jan.6 efforts to wrap up recommendations is a BFD
Quote – The best news in a long time is that Jamie Raskin was recently named chair of a Jan. 6 subcommittee in charge of “wrapping up outstanding issues and recommending possible criminal and civil charges, while the full panel finalizes the report. I say that because, ever since Rep. Raskin was my student back in the day in constitutional law, and in all my work with him in the years since, he has demonstrated a uniquely deep and historically rich understanding of the democratic and egalitarian aspirations underlying the best features of our complex and compromised constitutional structure and has exhibited an uncanny ability to translate those features into practical realities that people can appreciate and get behind.
Click through for more and sources. This is quoted from Lawrence Tribe. Generally, teachers are very aware of, and very accurate on, the capaiities of their students.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 3, 2022

 Posted by at 6:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 032022
 

Yesterday, I learned a new word – new to me, at least. A forb is an herbaceous flowering plant other than in the grass family. I get a “Bird of the Week” email from the American Bird Conservancy, and this week’s bird, the Chestnut-collared Longspur, they tell me, seeks shelter among grasses and forbs. Who’da thunk. I also continued listening to a Rachel Maddow podcast, “Ultra,” about a plot from 1940. There are 8 episodes altogether, and each episode has a complete ranscript whic has been edited and proofread, and indicates at all times who is speaking. It doesn’t get any better than that. Also, the episode I listened to on Wednesday included a few commercials, and the transcripts do not. The full 8-episode podcast corcens events which happened in 1940 of which you have probably never heard (I hadn’t) but which are spookily similar to today. (The one person whose name I had heard was Father Coughlin, and I was aware he was terrible, but exactly how terrible, no.) The fact is, eternal vigilance really is the price of liberty. And yet, it’s also true that Democracy requires a lot of mutual trust in order to finction well. Those two truths constantly work against each other, yet neither one is safe alone.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

truthout – Fracking Firm Agrees to Pay a Small Town’s Water Bills for 75 Years
Quote – After years of legal wrangling, the company formerly known as Cabot Oil & Gas agreed to plead no contest to 15 criminal violations of state environmental laws and pay nearly $16.3 million for the construction of a new public water supply for Dimock. Activists say some Dimock residents went years without access to clean tap water, and Coterra Energy, the company that bought Cabot, will pay their water bills for 75 years under a plea deal with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. It remains unclear whether Coterra would be permitted to frack the area in the future, but production was halted years ago as the scandal unfolded.
Click through for story – This is something we don’t see every day (but probably should.) I was thinking that if one ever wanted a prosecuting attorney, the prosecutor in this case would be the one you’d want… but he’s not available. He just got elected Governor.

Crooks & Liars – Russian Propagandist Admits: If Russia Loses, We’re All Going To The Hague
Quote – “I want to say that if we manage to lose, the Hague, conditional or concrete, is even waiting for the janitor who sweeps the paving stones behind the Kremlin wall. What do we need from the fact that another district of Kyiv will be left without electricity or not? The scale of the catastrophe for our country, if we manage to do it [lose] is unimaginable. To be afraid of The Hague – do not go into the forest, ”said Simonyan. However, propaganda host Vladimir Solovyov summed up at the end that if Russia loses, there will be no The Hague. According to him, if this happens, then “the whole world will go to dust.”
Click through for a little more. Yes, this fear has substance. The Iternational Court has formed (or is forming) a court specifically to investigate Russian war crimes.

The 19th – Bipartisan bill would require human trafficking hotline to be posted in every U.S. port of entry
Quote – Senators introduced on Thursday the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, bipartisan legislation which was shared first with The 19th. The bill would direct the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security to ensure the hotline is also visible in every individual plane, bus and train restroom. The companion bill, introduced by Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, and Darrell Issa, a Republican, passed in the House in July. Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said transportation hubs are a “common-sense place to intercede” by letting victims and bystanders know who to call for help.
Click through for details – I’m going to try not to be snotty, and just say this is a good idea, and it’s good that it’s (at least to some extent) bipartisan.

Food For Thought (updated by me.)

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Open Thread December 2, 2022

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 022022
 

Yesterday, I got an email from Adam Frisch concerning the mandatory recount. In it, he cast some serious shade at the Republican PArty which would (if they had any shame) leave a mark (but they don’t.) Just one paragraph:

While I am fully supportive of the recount process, based on the history of Colorado recounts, I could not, in good faith, perpetuate false hope that there is a good chance of the recount changing the outcome of this election. That is why on November 18th, I publicly conceded this race to my opponent. When I launched this campaign, I promised to run this race with integrity because that is who I am. I could not look people in the eye and raise money when the votes were already cast, ballots cured, and the final election results were in the hands of Colorado’s competent Secretary of State – and no amount of money could change them.

I also received a grocery order. The weather was windy, and will be today, so I was glad I hadn’t put the carts out – it doesn’t take much to knock them over or sling them around, and I didn’t have enough in them to stabiize them.

Finally, Joyce Vance put out a quick newsletter to discuss the combination alsp in the face and kick in the gron which was the 11th Circuit’s response to Trimp** and Ailees Cannon.  One short quote: “Trump’s “task was to show why he needed the documents, not why the government did not.'”  Well, gee – surely they didn’t expect that he would tell the truth, that he wanted them to seel to the highsest bidders?

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Colorado Public Radio – The mother of the Club Q shooting suspect was arrested and charged the morning of the shooting
Quote – Laura Lea Voepel, 45, was charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest and a petty charge of disorderly conduct by Colorado Springs Police between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Nov. 20, according to court documents. Records show she was arrested on North Union Boulevard for making “unreasonable noise” near a private residence just hours after the shooting at Club Q…. Police records say Voepel used physical force and violence against officers during her arrest. Further details are unavailable at this time.
Click through if you like. There’s not much more detail, though there is a link to an earlier incident. File this under “Tha apple doesn’t fall far…” (Unless you prefer the NSFW version.)

HuffPost – House Votes To Impose Union Contract With Paid Sick Leave To Avoid Rail Strike
Quote – The measure now heads to the Senate where a vote is expected in the coming days…. The House also approved a resolution that would give rail workers seven paid sick days per year, but that separate measure seems unlikely to make it through the Senate and to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Click through for more.   IThe House is somewhat between a rock and a hard place here. If we could run this by the current House and next year’s Senate,we might get it through (with the extra seat in the Senate we might be able to dodge the filibuster.) But there isn’t the time for thaat, even if it were legally possible. The best we can do is make it clear that cutting the sick leave is not the work of the Democrats. And, if the cartoons I’m seeing are any indication, that fact may be met with disbelief anyway.  (Update – Looks like the Senate did vote testerday and killed the sick leave.)

Food For Thought

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