Open Thread May 19, 2022

 Posted by at 7:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 192022
 

Yesterday, I watched a Sixty Minutes segment (during that hour I avoid the radio -its only about 27 minutes, so I also watched something else – a documentary about the WWII British equivalent of Tucker Carlson – mildly interesting.) If you watch 60 mnutes you have probably seen the segment. If not, you may want to bookmark this for when you have a spare half hour. It’s the story of a black family who purchase a large home which turns out to have been, not just a plantation, but the plantation on which their ancestors were enslaved. Simply amazing. Here’s the link. I also managed to get trash ans recyclables out to the curb (It only took me about a half hour and a few extra CBD gummies to recover from that.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

CPR News – ‘I’m not giving up’: Sen. Michael Bennet’s drive to make the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent
Quote – The pandemic-relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan, expanded the Child Tax Credit for one year, made it fully refundable, so the poorest families could benefit, and for the last half of 2021, sent it in the form of monthly checks to families, turning it into a reliable income supplement…. Bennet’s frustration that the expanded benefit was not made permanent, or even just extended, is palpable…. “I’m not giving up. And I don’t think we should give up. And I, frankly, I’m not giving up until we have an economy that when it grows, it grows for everybody, not just the people at the very top. And I think we can do that too,”
Click through for story. Colorado would have to be crazy not to re-elect Senator Bennet. (And it’s because part of Colorado IS crazy that I became a – small- monthly donor to the campaign.)

HuffPost – Living With The Far-Right Insurgency In Idaho
Quote – [White nationalist Vincent James Foxx] is one of many far-right activists who have flocked to Idaho in recent years, where a large and growing radical MAGA faction in the state’s Republican Party has openly allied itself with extremists to a shocking extent, even for the Trump era. This faction is accruing more and more power in Boise, the state capital: Imagine a statehouse full of Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Steve Kings. At the local level, they have seized seats on school boards and county commissions at a fast clip.
Click through for details. Idaho is pretty much every bit as LDS as Utah – just not as publicly. I don’t know what the position, or the participation of the LDS Church is in this – but I’ll bet there is some. The church just possibly could surprise us.

The Hill – House passes domestic terrorism bill in mostly party-line vote
Quote – The bill calls for establishing a Domestic Terrorism Unit in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the DHS, which would be tasked with observing and examining domestic terrorism activity, in addition to a Domestic Terrorism Office in the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division of the DOJ, which would look into and prosecute domestic terrorism incidents and communicate with the Civil Right Division about occurrences that may be considered hate crimes.
Click through for discussion and details. This could work, if only the government (federal and atate) would stop assuming that it’s only terrorism if a non-white person does it – when the reverse is closer to the truth.

Food For Thought

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Video Thread 5/18/22

 Posted by at 11:55 am  Open Thread, Politics
May 182022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Unrestricted guns + unrestricted hate speech = today’s American. Our government CAN tackle this

Meidas Touch – Francis EXPOSES Tucker Carlson’s influence on Buffalo Hate Crime

MSNBC – Garland Signals Criminal Case That May Involve Donald Trump Is Not Out Of Bounds (just in case you missed those magical, musical words “Grand Jury”)

No Dem Left Behind – No Dem Left Behind Endorses John Fetterman for U.S. Senate (PA)

San Francisco DA Recall – Dr. Angela Davis Opposes Prop H (I know everyone remebers her.)

CNN – ‘Millions of people absorb this garbage’: Acosta calls out Carlson for dangerous rhetoric (Acosta can usually be counted on to speak out … but one Acosta is not enough. We also have Lawrence, Ari, Mehdi, Chris, and Rachel – whom too few people watch.)

Beau- Let’s talk about why I look left and expectations….

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Video Thread 5/17/22

 Posted by at 11:47 am  Open Thread, Politics
May 172022
 

Glenn Kirschner – If Kevin McCarthy defies subpoena, concealingTrump’s crimes, he is guilty of misprision of a felony

Meidas Touch – School Board member BLASTS parents for using religion to target LGBTQ kids (Academy District 20 is in northern Colorado Springs. Yay!)

The Lincoln Project – What was that, Elise?

MSNBC – Chris Hayes On Taking Paxlovid And What He Learned From His Covid Experience

San Francisco DA Recall – Lawrence Krasner Opposes the Recall (Remember him? Progressive Philadelphia DA? I’ve written about him, and he was in a Sam Bee segment. (IMO if we are ever going to get police reform, it will be through progressive prosecutors.)

I try not to put two Beaus in the same post, but these two make one story, so I made an exception.
Beau – Let’s talk about inflation and Biden….

and
Beau – Let’s talk about baby formula, Biden, and solutions….

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Open Thread May 17, 2022

 Posted by at 6:34 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 172022
 

Yesterday, my radio station played (an orchestral arrangement of ) the Welsh song usually translated as “Men of Harlech.” I first learned it when I was a little girl – but today it made me think of Ukraine. It’s known to date back to the Wars of the Roses, but may be even older, from 1408, when Prince Hal (the future Henry V) invaded it to annex it. Here’s a short quote from the oldest published English translation (1873):

Know that freedom’s cause is strongest,
Freedom’s courage lasts the longest,
Ending but with death!
Freedom countless hosts can scatter,
Freedom stoutest mail can shatter,
Freedom thickest walls can batter,
Fate is in her breath.

Sadly, the Welsh lost that battle and became part of the UK … but not part of England, even now. They have held on to their language and culture, and their status as a nation, to this day.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Media Matters – Fox’s modest proposal for baby formula crisis: Starve migrant babies
Quote – Meanwhile, there is currently a major shortage of baby formula in the United States. There are many reasons for this shortage, including the consolidation of formula suppliers, supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, bacterial contamination that forced a recall of some formula stocks and the shuttering of a major manufacturing plant, U.S. trade policy, and the general disregard U.S. policy has for children. The shortage is a crisis for many parents, who are unable to find the food they need for their babies.
Click through for more. ICYMI, the term “Modest Proposal” is a reference to a satirical essay by Jonathan Swift regarding famine and babies (written IIRC during the Irish potato famine.)

Letters from an American – May 15, 2022
Quote – They also drew from America’s own version of a theory of replacement. That theory comes out of the 1870s and was explicitly connected to voting…. The violence of the 1876 election, along with fears of what their lives would look like in its wake, led Black Americans to leave the South in a movement known as the Exodus…. When Black Americans began to come to their state, Indiana Democrats immediately howled that the Republicans were importing Black migrants to shift the state back toward the Republicans in the 1880 election…. [T]he conspiracy theory took root. White Hoosier Democrats met Black migrants with showers of rocks and vowed to “clean out all the g–d d– –n***ers in the county before the [1880] election.”
Cick through for history and discussion. The only replacement of voters which is happening is in the course of nature, Yes, a few people do leave the US, and a few come here (though it takes a while to become a citizen, but the biggest influence is that older peole die and children reach voting age.That process happens to people of every color, and incidentally every gender – and has done so since the beginning of time. (Although Texas Paul has a slightly different take on it.) Wouldn’t you think Talibangelicals would think that trying to stop or change it was against God’s will? Alas, no consistency there.

The Daily Beast – Hero California Church Members Hog-Tied Gunman Who Killed 1, Hurt 5
Quote – After the initial gunfire, Hallock said, “a group of church-goers detained him and hog-tied his legs with an extension cord and confiscated at least two weapons.” The man had two handguns, police said…. Peggy Huang, a Yorba Linda city councilwoman who[se] parents are members of the congregation but were not present, told the Los Angeles Times that witnesses told her that after the shooting started, the pastor hit the gunman with a chair and other members accosted him.
Click through for details. Most of the parishoners appear to be in their seventies and up. There was no “good guy with a gun” here – the only weapon used was a chair. Older people are often underestimated.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 5/15/22

 Posted by at 11:46 am  Open Thread, Politics
May 152022
 

Glenn Kirschner – J6 committee subpoenas McCarthy, other representatives. Here’s what’s at risk if they fail to comply

Meidas Touch – Top Democrat DESTROYS Justice Thomas with speech of the year!

The Lincoln Project – The Crazy Ones

MSNBC – Swalwell: ‘Inference of Guilt’ If GOP Reps Don’t Honor Jan. 6 Subpoenas

CNN – Republican didn’t want the press at his event. So CNN got creative (unfortunately, so did the CC -which is gibberish – and the transcrip is no better. But the chyrons help.)

Shirley Serban – If I Were a Rich Man

Beau – Let’s talk about Quadry Sanders and Oklahoma…. (Wow!) —->> https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-oklahoma-officers-charged-manslaughter-unarmed-mans-death-rcna28032

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Video Thread 5/14/22

 Posted by at 12:15 pm  Open Thread, Politics
May 142022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump election lawyer John Eastman caught telling PA legislators to just “retabulate” vote for Trump

Meidas Touch – Top Democrat BLASTS these two crazed Republicans in scathing speech [while wearing a tie in the colors of the Ukrainian flag]

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – May 10, 2022

MSNBC – Lawrence Explains Just How ‘Monumentally Historic’ The McCarthy Subpoena Really Is [and how fundamentally – and rapidly – things have changed]

Sky News – Finnish President tells Russia ‘You caused this’ as he signs security pact with UK

Really American – Dr. Oz EXPOSED voting in Turkey’s election, denying Armenian genocide

Beau – Let’s talk about Natives, history, and volume being released….

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Video Thread 5/13/22

 Posted by at 11:54 am  Open Thread, Politics
May 132022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Elon Musk wants Trump back on Twitter, saying that Twitter’s ban was a “morally bad decision.”

Meidas Touch – Mitch McConnell FACT-CHECKED on his Roe v. Wade Lies!

The Lincoln Project – Last Week In The Republican Party

MSNBC – Ted Cruz Slammed By Father Of Former Marine Released By Russia For Lack Of Support

VoteVets – Best Chance

ACKAH TV – Amanda Gorman Speaks on Roe (CC more legible on full screem)

Beau – Let’s talk about what Republicans said with the vote in the Senate….

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A Red Flag in Colorado

 Posted by at 10:27 am  Politics
May 132022
 

This is the first lead article I have posted since I took over the senior editor spot. I don’t plan to do it unless there is something extraordinary that comes up, and even then not when the material is accessible on the web for a Short Take. Therefore, most of the time, as now, it’s going to be a message from an email (which I can quote in full).

I received this email from Ike McCorkle, the presumptive Democratic Candidate for Congress in the district currently held by Ken Buck. I don’t suppose what is happening there could happen in every state – but it could happen in any state which mandates county, district, or state assemblies of parties as all or part of the candidate selection process, and it explains a lot.  Here’s what Ike has to say:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We’re writing today to give you an early warning about something truly dangerous unfolding on Colorado’s Eastern Plains.

Ike McCorkle (L) Ken Buck (R)

In April, Colorado politics watchers were shocked to see Incumbent Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) take a humiliating defeat at the Colorado Republican assembly for Colorado’s 4th Congressional district that saw him lose his spot at the top of the ballot and nearly lose his Congressional seat in one fell swoop.

The man who dealt the unexpected blow to Buck was one Bob Lewis, an Elbert County real estate agent. While Lewis is a political outsider and little is known about him, what we do know should be deeply concerning.

At the assembly, Lewis criticized Buck for referring to believers of the 2020 stolen election theory as “conspiracy theorists” and received assistance from the extreme right-wing FEC United, a Castle Rock based Colorado militia group, known for calling for Governor Polis to be hanged.

Everything known about Bob Lewis

Much like how the traditional Conservative Scott Tipton was unseated by insurrectionist aiding Congresswomen Lauren Boebert. Across the state we are seeing a resurgent wave of extreme right voters throwing out their own members of Congress who they don’t believe are radical enough. In CD-7 an election conspiracist also managed to beat a sitting Republican Congressman, Doug Lamborn, making it to the top of their ballot as well.

If Bob Lewis beats Buck our campaign will be the only thing holding back a Boebert 2.0 from representing over 700,000 Coloradans in Congress. 

This November, whether we are taking on the devil we know, Congressman Buck, or the devil we don’t, Bob Lewis, we will be running on bringing people together, not dividing them. We’ll be fighting for the notion that rural Coloradans deserve a right to good jobs, fair wages, election integrity, and bodily autonomy.

We are running an honest campaign based on the real issues affecting Eastern Coloradans. Partisan rhetoric and furthering divisive conflict between Americans solves nothing and should not be the ambition of leadership.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I have been to assemblies in Colorado (in 1992 I actually made it to the state one), so I know how people get there. They start the process by turning out one cold night in February to attend a very small meeting of people from their precinct. Those who turn out for this are only the most dedicated (even fanatical) of party members, and not even all of those. It excludes people who work swing shifts. It excludes people who cannot drive at night (as I no longer can.) It excludes parents who cannot get child care. No doubt you can think of other categories who might be excluded. It is also a bloody nuisance. But it is where the delegates to the County Assembly are decided (based on what percentage of the vote their candidate gets in February). And the County Asssembly is where the delegates to the State assembly are decided (also based on percentages of votes  received by their candidates.) If a party contains extremists, it is practically inevitable that they will be over-represented at State Assemblies. Fortunately for Colorado, these assemblies only determine who will be on the primary ballots, not on the general election ballots, so there is time and means to correct some of the worst travesties. But that doesn’t always happen. Lauren Boebert is a case in point.

My recommendation to every Democrat – and even to every sane Republican – is to read up on your state’s election processes, and find out if there is a way – short of venturing out into a blizzard – that you can get involved in that process in your state before it comes time to cast your ballot in November. Particularly if there are any political storms brewing. Buck has, I believe, a decent chance of winning the primary. But it’s not a certainty. It’s much closer to certain that whoever wins the Republican primary in that district will win the general. And if that candidate is not Buck, we will have lost the only Colorado Republican in the House who was willing to work with Senator Bennet to get National Historical Monument designation for the Amache internment camp from World War II. Fifteen years ago – even five years ago – if you told me I’d be writing in defense of Ken Buck, I would not have believed it. But that is where we are now.

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