Oct 062022
 

Yesterday, I realized that today is Yom Kippur – it began last night at sunset. I didn’t make a graphic greeting for it, because it is such a serious holiday and I did not want to be unintentionally fippant. But I will offer G’mar Chatima Tovah to all who celebrate.

I also learned that the group Faithful Americahas a new website up, “False Prophets Don’t Speak for Me,” to oppose Christofascism.  If you agree, you can sign there to say so.  Obviusly, just being one of the signers helps.  Of course they ae also requesting donations, but it’s not a requirement.  It shows who they consider to be the top 30 false prophets currently.  I found it a bit scary how many I didn’t know about.  And it’s interesting who is not on the list also.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Daily Kos (staff Aysha Kumar) – After 2 years of threats, Gaige Grosskreutz, surviving victim of Kyle Rittenhouse, wants name change
Quote – “[T]he real story here isn’t that I am seeking to change my name, but that a process that is supposed to protect and shield those in danger was undermined and sealed information was released to the right-wing media within hours of my filing…. I was told that my filing was confidential. I demand that the court investigate how this was leaked to ensure that those seeking protection in the future receive the protection to which they are entitled. On Tuesday, I was denied that protection.”
Click through – The story was leaked by the Kenosha County Eye, which is run by MAGAt who organized a Faeebook group to “protect” the community from “BLM,” and who “covered” Rittenhouse’s trial as a free-lance photograoher, but could not resist yelling in the face of one of the prosecutors. The Milwaukee County “Clerk of Courts” (a vilid title, but I can’t e=define it) “said he has begun looking into the matter.”

ProPublica – How America’s Democracy Is “Ripe to Be Exploited”
Quote – Voters in Sweden this month gave a leading role to a far-right party with neo-Nazi roots. Italy is also on the cusp of putting a party in power that has fascist origins. And of course, in the United States, one party has increasingly embraced election denialism and attempted to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. To try to understand what, exactly, is happening, I talked with Barbara Walter, a political scientist at the University of California San Diego who studies democracies across the world…. Rather than talk about the prospects for political violence, we discussed why many democracies are retrenching and how the U.S. stands alone — and not in a good way.
Click through for full conversation. I am old enough to have immediately thought of Barbara Walters – needless to say, they are not the same.

Food For Thought

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Oct 012022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Stewart Rhodes/Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial kicks off in DC. Here’s what to expect.

Meidas Touch – Pete Buttigieg BRINGS THE HOUSE DOWN with epic response to GOP political stunts

The Lincoln Project – Making America Fascist

The Alt-Right Playbook: The Cost of Doing Business This is thr first new chapter in two years. And it’s a hard hitter. (And, sadly, long.)

Parody Project – NO SURPRISE (Student Debt)

Beau – Let’s talk about women’s rights, republicans, polls, and reality….

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Sep 282022
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY judge tells Rudy Giuliani to pay up or get locked up; Ginni Thomas to testify to J6 committee

Meidas Touch – MAGA Republicans MOCK Marco Rubio in new MEGAVIRAL Supercut by MeidasTouch

The Lincoln Project – Kevin’s Plan

MSNBC – The Rachel Maddow Show 9/26/22 Part 1 and Part 2of the fascism segments

Liberal Redneck – Stacey Abrams, Heartbeats, and Georgia

Beau – Let’s talk about the Electoral Count Act of 1887 being clarified….

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Sep 282022
 

Yesterday, I set my alarm to get up today in time to hear the January 6 committee hearing (Fortuately I heard about the postponement – due to Ian – in time to un-set it.) I also, as usual, pre-posted today’s Open and Video threads. I’d like to point out that in the Video thread today there are two videos from Rachel – parts 1 and 2 from a detailed history and updates view of fascism (but not complete – the full video I saw is not private.) In her monologue, and then with David Corn, she gave a history of the last 100 years of fascism, not in every country, but in several. Corn made the point that that cadre of extremists is always present, in any society, which I have occasionally pointed out too, but he does it better and brings better receipts. I want everyone to know it’s there, because it as much information about fascism as you are ever likely to find in one place. If you are a member of YouTube and can sign in, and want to go deeper, this is the address. And finally, the underwear model was convicted on all five counts.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – The Oath Keepers Go To Trial
Quote – [Yesterday] morning, jury selection [began] in the case of the leader and four members of the Oath Keepers group, indicted on seditious conspiracy and other charges. The trial itself, with opening statements, is expected to begin later in the week, and could have serious implications for Trump. The Washington Post reports, “Prosecutors plan to call as many as 40 witnesses over a projected five-week trial, draw from 800 statements by those charged and summarize tens of thousands of messages, hundreds of hours of video footage and hundreds of phone call, location and financial records, according to pretrial proceedings.”
Click through for everything you wanted to know about the Oath Keepers, and probabaly a lot that you never wanted to know. Thia has been long in the making, and will have profound effect – let’s hope for justice, not against it.

Law and Crime – Questionable Credibility of Two Key Witnesses in Matt Gaetz Probe May Lead to No Criminal Charges: Report
Quote – The Post explained the problems with what the ex-girlfriend allegedly revealed: “The 17-year-old at issue in the investigation was also on that trip, though by that time she was already 18 or older, people familiar with the matter have said. She has been a central witness in the investigation, but people familiar with the case said she is one of two people whose testimony has issues that veteran prosecutors feel would not pass muster with a jury.” The newspaper said prosecutors further believe Greenberg’s veracity would also cause serious problems at a hypothetical trial.
Click through for article. If he is not going to be prosecuted, we certainly deserve to know why not. I would point out tat “questionable credibility does NOT necessarily mean the witnesses are not telling the truth. It means they are unlikely to convince a jury that they are telling the truth. I was on a Court Martial once where the prosecution’s main witness was “not credible.” When we came to deliberate, we all had a gut feeling the defendant was guilty as sin, but that the prosecution had not even come close to proving it. We had to acquit with nausea. I would not wish that experience on anyone. I might add the picture of Gaetz with this article makes one (at least me) want to jump through the page and punch him.

Food For Thought

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Sep 262022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Where is Sidney Powell? Gaetz skates? Judge Dearie tells Trump’s attorneys to put up or shut up

Meidas Touch – Michael Cohen REACTS to NY AG Filing on Trump Based On His Testimony

The Lincoln Project – A New Dark Age

This Week at Justice – September 23, 2022

Ojeda Live – Trump claims he can declassify documents “even by thinking about it.”

Beau – Let’s talk about the DISCLOSE Act….

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Sep 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY AG Leticia James sues Trump, Don Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump & others in massive fraud case

Meidas Touch – NEW: Senate CONDEMNS Trump’s DESPICABLE anti-FBI conduct in SCATHING UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION

The Lincoln Project – With Age Comes Wisdom

MSNBC – ‘This Reversal Will Be A Permanent Part Of Judge Cannon’s Legacy’: Dave Aronberg

The Riccardis – Boy from Mar-a-Lago (FBI Raid Edition)

Beau – Let’s talk about a stark warning from an Arizona republican….

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Sep 232022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Special Master Judge Dearie puts Trump’s lawyers in their place; wants answers on declassification

Meidas Touch – Mississippi Governor CAUGHT Disgustingly MOCKING Jackson Amid Historic Water Crisis

Lincoln Democracy Institute – Fascism

MSNBC – What Could Come From Ginni Thomas’ Meeting With The Jan. 6 Committee?

Shirley Serban – “I’m Feeling Time-Worn Again.” (CC by Shirley – therefore accurate)

Beau – Let’s talk about what we can learn from Arkansas….

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Sep 062022
 

Yesterday was, of course, a holiday – so I was going to fall back on “News of the Weird” in the short takes for a little comic relief. Then I saw the article on Ken Burns’s newest docuentary, whch is about the Holocaust, centering on American behavior during that period, and staring soe truths in the face that most of us would rather not see.I encourage everyone to look it up on your local PBS station, especially if your local station has more than one channel (mine does, and they’ll be screening it on the main one 9/18-9/22 and on the fourth one from 9/25-10/10), but essentially there are just three episodes (which may or may not be 2 hours each), named after lines in the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statur of Liberty: “The Golden Door,” “Yearning to Breathe Free,” and “”The Homesless, the Tempest Tossed.”

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Conversation – Dog owners take more risks, cat owners are more cautious – new research examines how people conform to their pets’ stereotypical traits
Quote – In another study, we wanted to get individual-level data, so we used an online survey tool to recruit 145 owners of either a cat or a dog – not both. We gave participants an imaginary US$2,000 and asked them to invest any portion of it in either a risky stock fund or a more conservative mutual fund. Dog owners, who made up 53% of participants, were significantly more likely to invest in stocks and also put more money at risk than cat owners.
Click through for details. I see only correlation here – do cat peole avoid ridk because their pets do, ot do risk avoiders seek out cats as kindred spirits? I know I am a cat person and a risk avoider, but since I have been around cats literally since I was born, I have no way of knowing which came first. I do know that. when I vote (which I would do in any case), what’s uppermost in my mind is generally avoiding the havoc that Republicans would wreak.

The Daily Beast – Why Ken Burns Is Exposing America’s Evils During the Holocaust
Quote – An in-depth study of fascism, intolerance, and the push-pull between ideals and complex political/social realities, The U.S. and the Holocaust, buoyed by testimonials from scholars and survivors of the Holocaust, is informative and heartbreaking in equal measure. For Novick, it’s also an inquiry that’s apt to shock many. “I think this will be, for the general public, somewhat surprising and a little hard to ingest,” she says. “That we could be both the liberators of freeing the world from tyranny and fascism, and unwilling—as Daniel Greene says in the film—to do much to rescue the victims of fascism.”
Click through for article and interview.

Food For Thought

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