Yesterday, I got the few Christmas cards I still mail ready to go, and am mailing them today. Also, I learned Larry Krasner is running for reelection for DA in Philadelphia, and is requesting contribution. Larry was the first and is still the most prominent progressive DA in the country, which means Democrats everywhere are looking to him, and Republicans everywhere are gunning for him. If there’s any room on your Christmas list, you might want to consider him. And, yes, today is Friday the 13th. Many people say TGIF every Friday, and the number 13 should have only a positive significance for the nation founded by 13 colonies which became 13 states (and to this day we keep 13 stripes in our flag to remember that.)
Dan Froomkin at Press Watch points out the obvious – we are all furious with mainstream media because they don’t do their job – but actually it has become a job whixh is impossible to do. And in the long run, it’s we who need to keep working to change the conditions. (And, yes, it feels impossible.)
I don’t cite Crooks and Liars often any more, because they have becone difficult to read unless you pay them. Bur this article, particularly the Bluesky at the end, is worth it.
Yesterday was pretty quiet. I put in a couple of medical claims for Thyroid, which has to come from a pharmacy which for some reason cannot accept HSA cards. (But the claims a paid promptly.) And that’s really all .
Like y’all, I was disappointed in Alvin Bragg when he first took office. But, oh boy, has he ever found some (courage, guts, balls, spine – pick your metaphor.) Now I am wondering whether this is newfound, or whether we underestimated him all along. Not that it really matters when an entire nation can best survive by simply taking one day at a time. Joyce Vance elaborates.
Yes, I am late with this Heather Cox Richardson essay. But I am always going to be late with hers and Vance’s, and Reich’s, and Hubbell’s, because they all send late enough that I generally don’t see them until the following day. At best, I ever see them untl after I have posted. But I fon’t consider that a reason not to share them when they are profound. This one is about the history of December 10 being international Human Rights Day. And all that that history implies.
Yesterday, The plumber was later than he had said (it snowed a little the night before and was still snowing when he got here – it wasn’t all that heavy then, but by afternoon the ground was a blanket of white. And even light snow means scraping all glass before driving) But once he got here he was through very quickly. He thinks I probably need a new toilet, but I don’t like doing that while I’m still paying for the water heater, so for now I’ll stock up on Drano and use it religiously
Joyce Vance is probably right about preemptive pardons. But even so, she agrees that they should be offered to the most vulnerable, without specifying exactly who she thinks they are. I would certainly include Dr. Fauci as one of the most vulnerable myself. He and his family have surely suffered enough.
I did not see this coming, and neither did The F* News. But in a kind of a sort of a way, neither of us is really surprised. People who helped round up Jan 6 rioters are people who are interested in the welfare of the country, and that probably more than they are interested in individuals.
Yesterday, the radio opera was Richard Strauss’s “Die Frau Ohne Schatten,” considered to be a “fairy tale” opera. It certainly is one that would likely warm the hearts of right wimgers, since the shadow of the title is a symbol of the ability to bear children. But, on the other side of the equation, it’s also all about choice. It’s long – four hours including intermission – but the music is powerful, and in its way so is the story.
Steve Schmidt goes through a lot of information before he gets to his title point, but that’s the point for which I am posting it.
Andy Borowitz gets serious with advice to survive Trump** II. Andy is the epitome of the jester of the past who through humor managed to be the wisest person in the room at any given time. I’ll take him seriously.
Yesterday, the exterminator came and checked inside and out. He said there was a little activity indoors, which didn’t surprise me because last time he came too early and didn’t check inside. I just need to make sure that either the email specified an afternoon time or else I call to confirm that. Here are a couple of extras – Andy Borowitz Richardson on the failed coup in Korea
This is from Driftglass, though I found it through Crooks and Liars. Sometimes a really crude analogy is what is needed to make a point (and this one is about as crude as it gets.)
This is a history from Heather Cox Richardson specifically of how the liberal consensus, which I grew up with and so did many of you, was formed – and of what happened to it. And why we need it back – but not exactly how to do that. In my opinion, it’s a keeper – not that I expect to be able to do much of the work. And I have no children or grandchildren. But those of you who do will want, I am sure, to preserve for them as much of it as possible.
Robert Reich endorses Ben Winkler for DNC Chair, and makes what I would consider a strong case. But, you know, there are a lot of Democrats in leadership positions who would disagree. We’d need to convincing that it isn’t just that we are losing with their mode – it’s that their model is causing the losing trend. (BTW, everyone else spells it “Wikler” so Robert Reich may be wrong in his spelling.
Yesterday, I had blood drawn for four tests. The appointment was for 3:00 pm, and I was prompt. The actual draw too well under a minute, and by 6:00 pm I could see the results on line. If I had been worried, that would have been a real blessing. In fact, just about everything was in normal range, and most right in the middle of normal range (I didn’t have to do the math – they gave me colored graphs.) I also had over 100 emails – but it was Cyber Monday and today is Giving Tuesday and Thursday is Colorado Gives Day. So that comes as no surprise. I have a bunch of stuff picked out, and most of it I still think is important, but I’ll try to put newer stuff in as extras this week. Also, as I came to post this, I realized I hadn’t posted yesterday. I do apologize.
Robert Reich provides the news sources he relies on for the truth. All are good (I will say the New Yorker has become a little to far right for me, and there are others.) I would add to Reich’s list Wonkette, The F*ing News because I often don’t have the time or energy to do my own sarcasm, and from them I get it ready made. For people who can tolerate videos, there’s “Legal AF” with Harry Litman, which is under the Meidas Touch umbrella, and he doesn’t have the annoying habit the brothers do of repeating things over and over, On Substack you can take your pick – besides Cox Richardson and Reich himself, I trust Joyce Vance, who doesn’t just stick to law and the courts, though that’s her area of expertise. Also, sign up for one unpaid subscription on Substack and whoever you subscribe to will occasionally (not often enough to drive you nuts) recommend other Substackers, and Substack will send you a short email with those recommendations. As Joyce often says, We are in this together.
So Erin Burnett at CNN is “an observant Catholic.” Well, I’m a Catholic. And I’d like to tell Erin Burnett a story. Many years ago – in the late seventies, to be precise, a gentleman named Charles Buswell was the bishop of the Pueblo, CO diocese. And I use the word “gentleman” advisedly. He was such a sweet, real Christian that he was written up by Time magazine. Alamosa was in that diocese then (may still be), and he had come to Sacred Heart parish there for I forget what ceremony – it might have been confirmations – and was relaxing at a barbecue afterward when I got into a conversation with him. In that conversation be mentioned that he has released from his vows a priest who was trans, and had recently completed surgery. “He said, I think that transgender is considered to be when the soul of one sex is born in the body of the other?” and I replied, “That is what I have always understood.” He grinned and replied, “Our diocese then should get the credit for having ordained the first woman priest.” That is how a real Catholic responds to transgender. You know, Christine Jorgenson was still alive then (she died in 1989). Her glory days were over then, but they lasted long enough into my childhood for her to be discussed in our home and for my mother to have given me the explanation on which I agreed with the bishop. Gender affirming care is not something frivolous. It’s much like needing an abortion when the fetus is already dead. Oh, wait – they oppose that too.
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Capriccio” by Richard Strauss. It addresses the age-old questin of whether the music or the words are more important in an opera. It does this theough the mechanism of featuring a poet and a composer both in love with the same woman expecting her to choose between them, In the end, she can’t. Some people think that Strauss hid the answer in the scoring of the final scene. But those people don’t always agree in which choice they think she made. So I don’t believe that. Operas have succeeded with strong music and weak libretti, and also the other way around. And some have failed in both of those categories. But a strong libretto with strong music is also no guarantee of success – and a weak libretto with weak music may be a hit for a while (though it’s unlikely to be remembered long. But good ones can be forgotten also. Welp, I’m off to see Virgil. I will check in in a comment when I get home.
This is late for Thanksgiving, I grant. But Andy Borowitz‘s tips may give you a SUnday smile or at least a Sunday snicker. nd Christmas is coming. And there’s always next year. And, speaking of Andy, there’s a video here – it’s about 15 minutes and is very funny, though just at the very end you may want a tissue.
This also appears to be good news, although Republicans seem always to find ways to take the joy out of everything. The F* News is snarky, of course. But it appears to be baseline true.
Yesterday, I continued some computer chores of moving infornation from one to the other. I also took in a grocery delivery, and though I haven’t checked it all yet against the order, I don’t think anything was missing. I aldo noticed – yes, I’m late to the party – that Elon Musk had posted something quite a while ago calling Kamala Harris “the ultimate diversity hire.” You may remember that my definition of “diversity hire” is “I can’t stand another ignorant white boy, I need someone who comes with actual qualifications.” Now that definition she might fit.
Our states are by no means all the same. I don’t suppose Ruben Gallego’s campaign strategy, as described by Huff Post, would work in every state. In fact, I believe that in many states our candidates should sound more progressive rather than moving center. But it did work for him (which means it also worked for all of us). and would work in many states.
Joyce Vance will sound overly optimistic to many of us, but she has some good points. And no one ever said or suggested that getting the Republic back could be done without a powerful resistance.
