Glenn Kirschner – While Trump gets prosecuted in NY, the classified documents/MAL/obstruction of just case heats up!
The Lincoln Project – Indictment Requiem
Thom Hartmann – New GOP Motto Reveals Their Real Agenda
Liberal Redneck – Trump Indictment (For Real Though)
18-Pound Cat Decides To Be Dad To Teeny Kitten
Beau – Let’s talk about Disney vs Florida….
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
~ Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
As someone who takes Dylan Thomas’ advice to heart, I’m please to let centenarian and “Craftivist” Grace Linn introduce herself to us all:
“I am Grace Linn. I am a hundred years young. I’m here to protest our school’s district book-banning policy. My husband, Robert Nicoll, was killed in action in World War II at a very young age. He was only 26, defending our democracy, Constitution, and freedoms.”
And with that opening salvo clearly aimed at DeSantis earlier this week, Grace Linn brought the house down at the latest Martin County School Board meeting in Florida! Most of the 500-plus overflow crowd was there to show their support for Ms. Linn’s personal and heartfelt protest of Ron DeSantis’ fascist book banning obsession.
She continued:
“One of the freedoms that the Nazis crushed was the freedom to read the books they banned. They stopped the free press and banned and burned books. The freedom to read, which is protected by the First Amendment, is our essential right and duty of our democracy. Even so, it is continually under attack by both the public and private groups who think they hold the truth.”
While addressing the crowd comfortably seated on her walker, a friend of hers displayed the quilt she made last year of just some of the books that have been banned. At DeSantis’ goading, Florida’s public schools’ libraries have now banned close to 200 “offensive” tomes from their shelves.
Each square of Linn’s quilt shows a stack of books that have been banned and targeted – many of which have been penned by authors honored with numerous literary awards, including several by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.
Linn said that burning books and banning books is done for the same reason: fear of knowledge.
She made clear she was there to oppose Florida’s schools that are being goaded by DeSantis to ban books that irritate right-wingers and evangelical fundamentalists – a danger she compares to the evil her first husband fought and died for fighting against Nazism in WWII.
“Banning books and burning books are the same. Both are done for the same reason. Fear of knowledge. Fear is not freedom. Fear is not liberty. Fear is control. My husband died as a father of freedom. I am a mother of liberty. Banned books need to be proudly displayed and protected from school boards like this. Thank you very much.”
On her departure, Ms. Linn was greeted as the hero she truly is …
During a later interview Ms. Linn explained the purpose of her quilt:
“To remind all of us that these few of so many more books that are banned and targeted need to be proudly displayed and protected—and read, if you choose to.”
Having lost her first husband in WWII’s battle against Nazis and Fascists, along with two brothers (one who was wounded while battling Hitler’s forces and the other suffering PTSD from personally participating in the liberation of Auschwitz), Ms. Linn (who still drives and lives by herself) promised to continue the good fight.
“I always feel that it’s my duty. When history is forgotten or not used and not allowed to be used, history will repeat itself and we had enough of that during the Nazism that occurred in Germany.”
Yesterday, I heard from my BFF. The colonoscopy went well – she’s good for another ten years. But she has uterine fibroids, and (I guess because of the bleeding?) her medical team is concerned. They’ve changed her hormones and will periodically be administering shots in hopes of diminishing them. It’ll take several months to know, and they may recommend surgery. She appreciates very much any and all prayers (as do I on her behalf). Also, Steve Bannon was sentenced – only 4 months in prison, but that’s still something (and a $6500 fine … which is NOT something.) As I write I don’t know whther or not he was immediately remanded, or given some time to “put his affairs in order” and report. Also, the Fifth Circuit (TX, LA, MS) Court of Appeals ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is inconstitutional, and Public Citizen has a petition to sign about it.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Body Cams Show DeSantis Thugs Arresting People For Voting
Quote – According to the Times, Oliver, who served 18 years in prison for second-degree murder, filled out both a voter registration form and a change-of-address form in 2020 before voting, and the forms were reviewed by the State Department before she was given a voter ID. State registration forms require voters to swear that they have not been convicted of a felony or that their voting rights have been restored, but they do not clarify that people convicted of certain crimes are not eligible for restored rights.
Click through for story. I seriously hope these people sue the State of Florida – or, better, DeSantis personally – for entrapment, and can take him to the cleaners, because I’m sure this was deliberate on his part. Local election officials were working with state-supplied materials which were deceptive, but not the local officials fault, and even the “thugs” in the video (the Twitter one since the YouTube one has been removed) sound awfully polite for thugs.
The Progressive Magazine – The Government Is Actually Doing a Good Job
Quote – You wouldn’t know it from watching the news, but American children are doing better than they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least when it comes to having their basic needs met…. The child tax credit expansion ended at the beginning of this year. Now, some elected leaders are proposing to reinstate the expanded tax credit…. Regardless of what decision Congress makes, the success of the expansion highlights something else you wouldn’t know from watching the news: The federal government has demonstrably improved the lives of the vast majority of Americans over the last year and a half.
Click through for full article – and don’t keep it to yourself. As the article points out, and as In The Public Interest (who referred me to the article) is constantly pointing out, government run like government, not like a business, always tends tp provide more service at less cost than privatization.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump Lawyer Christina Bobb questioned by FBI, points finger at another Trump Lawyer Evan Corcoran
Meidas Touch – Fulton County DA SECURES COOPERATION of Former Top White House Aide in CRIMINAL PROBE
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – October 11, 2022
More Perfect Union – Republican Corruption EXPOSED In the Closest U.S. Senate Race
Brent Terhune on Twitter (I checked, and it’s on Youtube, but only as one of their new “shorts” which can’t be embedded)
Leave Ron Desantis pic.twitter.com/Xuxx53riEq
— Brent Terhune in Ann Arbor 10.14-15 (@BrentTerhune) October 4, 2022
Beau – Let’s talk about a new parenting approach….
VIDEOS (9/29)
Glenn Kirschner – Mark Meadows is AGAIN subpoenaed to testify about Donald Trump’s crimes. Will he show up this time?
Meidas Touch – BREAKING: Trump Lawyers make DESPERATE ATTEMPT to stop witnesses from testifying in Jan 6 probe
The Lincoln Project – Tide
Faiths United to Save Democracy – Well, this is something positive. It’s only in certain states (which I think are well xhosen) and they are looking for actual clergy.
Farron Balanced – White House Staffers Were SHOCKED By How Stupid Trump Was
Beau – Let’s talk about 60% of Miami and the future….
Yesterday, although I’m not really ready to go back to three short takes, there were three stories so different but so connected I could not decide which one to leave out. Also, Tish James’s fraud investigation is now to the point where she can formally file (a civil) suit against Trump** personally, three of his children, and several officers. (The investigation has been done under a filing against the Trump** Organization, not anyone personally, so this is a bigger step than it may sound.) Also, though it wasn’t all that easy, I did manage to take out trash and recyclables for pickup tomorrow. Which pretty well wore me out for the rest of the evening. I need to post Shirley Serban’s parody of “Let’s do the time warp again,” which she calls “I’m feeling time-worn again,” in the video thread, because it expresses exactly how I so often feel. It won’t be today – I need to address my “Parody Project” backlog first – but maybe tomorrow.
Cartoon – 22 0922Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
Talking Points Memo – The Search for Perla
Quote – [E]ven the barest look at the details we know [about the story of the Venezuelan immigrants shipped off to Martha’s Vineyard] make it very unlikely this was an official or on-the-books government operation. And yet it’s one Gov. Desantis has publicly taken credit for and said was paid for with taxpayer funds from Florida. [Representatives of LULAC, the Latino civil rights organization] went to Martha’s Vineyard on Friday to talk to the asylum-seekers and get more details about what happened. They were able to flesh out the story about “Perla” and her team in San Antonio.
Click through for quite a story. As far as I know, “Perla” has not yet been definitively identified. These people – these MAGAts – just will not stop criming long enough for investigations to make any progress.
Mother Jones – DeSantis Flying Migrants to Martha’s Vineyard Is Part of a 60-Year-Old Segregationist Playbook
Quote – Bell and Williams were among almost 100 people to be shipped under false pretenses to the resort town over the spring and summer of 1962 as part of a white supremacist campaign to send Black people from the South to northern cities. Overall, some 200 people were bused to Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, and other cities in Indiana, Idaho, and New Hampshire. The political ploy was a retaliation for the Freedom Rides from the previous year, when a group of 13 Black and white civil rights activists with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) embarked on southbound buses from Washington, DC, to protest continued segregation in interstate transportation despite the Supreme Court having ruled that it was unconstitutional.
Click through for history. Not only will they not stop criming, they can’t even be bothered to think of anything new.
Daily Kos (Vetwife) – So many executive orders moving DA’s and Judges around in Florida. What is this about?
Quote – I took a look at DeSantis Executive orders and all I see for the most part is soooo much moving District Attorneys (called state attorneys in Florida) and Judges around. Were these people not elected? There are also some Executive orders marked “ Confidential” and you cannot see them. Not clickable anywhere so much for Sunshine State. We need to be looking under every rock this guy is hiding with his pen. God only [knows] what he is doing in secret.
Click through for more. Vetwife is community, not staf, but she is no dummy and has a nose for corruption. She implies that in FLorida both prosecutors and judges are elected. If that is the case, ALL of these executive orders MUST violate SOMETHING – if not the Sate law or Constitution, surely Federal law or the Constitution? IANAL, of course.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, the Hawley Run for your life video inspired someone on DU to resurrect Randy Rainbow’s song about him … and it certainly stll sounds very current. How about we do an informal poll on bringing some of his older productions back into the Video Thread (starting with that one)? Also, I received a grocery order which included nothing frozen and very little refrigerated . Much easier to put away than usual.
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Crooks and Liars – https://crooksandliars.com/2022/07/fl-republican-may-have-disqualified
Quote – Introduced by state Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, and signed into law last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the new statute requires a candidate vying for a party’s nomination to be a registered party member for 365 days before qualifying for the post begins. Elections supervisor records show that Stark did not re-register as a Republican voter until January 2022.
Click through for story. Not the most important story in the world – but good for a smile anyway. I hope they enforce it. Snit fits should have consequences.
The New Yorker – Will Wisconsin’s Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?
Quote – In the time since she’d moved to the [nursing] home, more than a year earlier, no staff member had mentioned voting to her. Three weeks before the April primaries, [Jessica] Nell asked a senior staff member how to change her address in order to vote. The staff member refused to help, according to Nell. “I’m not going to go room to room and tell everybody about voting, because ninety per cent of the people here shouldn’t be able to vote,” she recalled him saying.
Click through for the climate and the stakes. Before is was Fitzwalkerstan, Wisconsin used to be reasonab’e. Them it bacame fascist before fascism was cool. And neighboring Minnesota seems almost equally infected.
Food For Thought –
Yesterday, I didn’t need the TENS unit for my back. So I jumped in and used it on my shoulders, which have been complaining lately. A couple of hours when I got up, and then I left the pads in place and did another hour in the evening, I don’t often have the luxury to skip the back, so I wanted to get as much as I could (and it’s very awkward to place the pads for where inside the shoulder the pain is, so it makes sense to leave them in place.) I did feel much better. I also got my forms filled out and scanned for requesting to visit Virgil next Sunday. I can’t sent the email till today … but I may just have sent it a little after midnight. I also inventoried and ordered over the counter meds. And I even finished knitting a vest.
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Short Takes –
PolitiZoom – Biden Knows Just How To Handle McConnell. And McConnell Hates It
Quote – You can’t work together in a small body like the U,S. Senate as Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell have, and not get to know each other pretty well. As Biden weaves his way through a deadlocked Senate, requiring VP Kamala Harris to cast tie breaking votes, it becomes crystal clear that Biden paid a whole lot closer attention to McConnell than McConnell did to Biden.
Click through for mini-civics-lesson. Murfster is pretty shrewd. Let’s hope he’s right on this one.
Crooks and Liars – DeSantis Ruthlessly Mocked For Idiotic Claim About Old Cartoons
Quote – “Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Pepe LePew cartoons featured bestiality, people (or ducks) getting shot in the face with a shotgun, and stalking/sexual assault.”….“When we were younger, we watched cartoons about a French skunk who raped female cats which was totally fine because he was heterosexual.”
Click through for more examples. All the salacious examples people came up with are from Warner Brothers. But I could argue that Disney’s rigis gender roles did as much damage, if not more. (And neither Snow White not Sleeping Beauty consented to those kises.)
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paigeskinner/gun-violence-medical-labor-photos
BuzzFeed News – One Bullet Can Kill, But It Takes More Than 100 People To Save A Gunshot Victim’s Life
Quote – More often than not in Philadelphia, it’s a police officer who transports a gunshot victim to the hospital in what’s called a “scoop and run,” which eliminates the time waiting for a paramedic. Gun violence is so prevalent that Sgt. Gregorrio Santiago said he takes part in a scoop and run nearly every day. After “scooping” the gunshot victim into the backseat of a cruiser, police will alert hospital workers to be ready at the entrance to immediately put the victim on a stretcher. Philadelphia’s scoop-and-run program means more gunshot victims make it to the hospital alive, Santiago said.
Click through for – there’s a member at DU who invariabley comments on the daily political cartoons, “Thank you fot this depressingly excellent collection” – a depressingly excellent article.
Food For Thought
