GOP Murder – Page 3 – Politics Plus

Open Thread May 17, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:53 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 172023

Yesterday, Crooks & Liars (probably along with every other news outlet, paper or on line, TV and all kinds of video) published some details of Noelle Dunphy’s lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani. It definitely needs a barf bag warning. She does have receipts too. If only there were a way to know exactly what is missing from these Republicans (and somehow put it into them) that they think they can do anything imaginable (or unimaginable to normal people) with absolutely no consequences whatsoever. Sigh. In the short takes, I am sharing two articles about Jordan Neely, because they are so different in their outlook and details. This was not a case of a bad cop, but I’m not inclined to expect much if any accountability – certainly not without a lot of protesting demanding it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

New York Magazine “The Cut” – The Cost of White Discomfort
Quote – In the wake of Jordan’s murder, Kenneth Jones’s and Tema Okun’s definition of the “right to comfort” haunts me: “The belief that those with power have a right to emotional and psychological comfort … I have a right to be comfortable, and if I am not, then someone else is to blame.” When Daniel Penny was not comfortable on the F train, he single-handedly decided that Jordan was to blame.
Click through for article. This rage is justified. Is any other white person as humiliated as I am that people with our skin tone are so fragile as to kill out of discomfort – and so privileged to get away with it? White Americans who whine about the excessive privilege of the British royal family need to look in a mirror and see their own. (But they won’t. That would be uncomfortable.)

The New Yorker – The System That Failed Jordan Neely
Quote – There are more than two hundred thousand residents of New York City living with severe mental illness; roughly five per cent of them are homeless. That’s thirteen thousand people with schizophrenia, major depressive and bipolar disorders, or other significant mental- or behavioral-health diagnoses, all of whom regularly spend the night at a shelter, in the subway, on the street. They’re the ones you recognize—the people whom, for the past fifty years, every mayor has either tried to help, harass, or hide from view. Rudy Giuliani’s cops were known to chase people out of midtown, forcing them into the Bronx and Queens. Michael Bloomberg largely avoided public initiatives that addressed mental illness. Bill de Blasio allocated almost a billion dollars for a mental-health plan, but it was criticized for failing to track outcomes or prioritize treatment for those who needed help the most.
Click through for details. What we had before Ronald Reagan became Governor of California (and then President) was far from perfect, but it was better than this. Constantly reading about people, many in disadvantaged groups besides being mentally ill, killed publicly with no consequences – particularly since the disadvantage is often the cause of the illness (e.g. lead in drinking water) and is itself the result of apathy or malice on the part of the demographic doing most of the killing. It’s like beating someone up, and then killing them because their bruises make us uncomfortable.

Food For Thought

Open Thread May 10, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 102023

Yesterday, I found out that ProPublica’s project on stillbirth (remember the first short take from last Friday) ia a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. I did say it was important, but even I didn’t grasp that it’s this important. Kudos to ProPublica, and may they win! Also, the Carroll II v. Trump** verdict came out – Guilty of Sexual Assault and Defamation, roughly $5 million in various damages, broken up into chunks as big as $1.7 million and as small as $20,000. And – oh, my, this didn’t take long – Care2 already has a petition up to put him on the national sex offender register (I would hope the New York State one as well.) And then, just to cap the day,the feds in New York have indicted George Santos. Don’t know for what yet – the indictment is still under seal – but whoopee! Joyce vance speculates here.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The 19th – Just 37 members of Congress are mothers with minor children
Quote – The report found a number of barriers that stagnate mothers’ representation in office: unpredictable work hours, including votes during late nights and weekends; expectations for near constant fundraising, especially for first-time candidates; and cultural and political expectations that members’ children remain residents of their respective districts instead of moving to Washington, D.C., creating long commutes for members to see their children.
Click through for full article. The 19th is anticipating Mothers Day – as they should – with some reality. Yes, mothers of monir children are underrepresented – and some of the representation they do have is worthless (looking at you, Lauren.)

Daily Beast – ‘RWDS’: What the Patch Found on the Texas Gunman’s Chest Stands For
Quote – The suspected gunman, identified as a 33-year-old man named Mauricio Garcia, has no prior criminal record. But, according to FBI records obtained by Rolling Stone, his social media accounts contained “hundreds of postings and images to include writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi materials and material espousing the supremacy of the white race.” The outlet also reported that Garcia may have had ties to a local neo-Nazi group
Click through for details. These people are not exactly calling themselves “pro-life.”

Food For Thought

Open Thread April 18, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:50 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 182023

Yesterday, I received a “Damn-Giver Dispatch” email from John Pavlovitz. Some of y’all probably did also. But, in case you didn’t, or in case you did but missed this column, I want to link to it: “Yes, I’m A ‘Hateful’ Human Being.” I really like the way he turns things around. It’s the closest we can come to holding a mirror up to the deluded. Some, of course, will never see anything but what they want to see. But – sometimes – we have to try.

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Short Takes –

Daily Beast – Black Teen Shot in the Head After Ringing the Wrong Doorbell: Family
Quote – The alleged gunman, who has not been identified [to the media], was taken into custody and brought to a police station to give a statement. Placed on a 24-hour hold, he was released pending further investigation, something the chief of the Kansas City Police Department spent much of a short Sunday press conference justifying. “The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released pending further investigation,” Chief Stacey Graves said. “In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile throughout the weekend.”
Click through for story. You may have seen it. The killer opened the main door, and there was a glass door which he shot through. There is video of him calmly sweeping up the broken glass. The “right” house was one block over, on a street with the same name except “Terrace” instead of “Street.” The victim is still alive, miraculously. Virgil was 21 when he survived major head injuries (from a car crash). No one ever fully gets back everything lost from injuries like that.

The 19th – A Black Texas couple chose their midwife’s care over a hospital. Now their newborn is in foster care.
Quote – A custody case currently unfolding in Texas has separated a newborn from her parents and highlighted two systemic realities in the United States: the policing of Black families by child welfare systems and the disregard of midwifery expertise by many doctors. It has been 20 days since infant Mila Jackson was taken from her parents by Child Protective Services in Texas after they sought guidance from their licensed midwife to treat a common infant condition rather than following a directive from their pediatrician. Now a court will decide if she’ll be returned to their custody.
Click through for details. With good prenatal care and no complications, a trained midwife is at least as competent as a doctor. Women were having babies assisted by midwives for centuries while doctors thought it was a waste of time to wash their hands between patients and were killing people thereby. Some of these child welfare people need to be tied down and forced to watch all the seasons of PBS’s “Call the Midwife.”

Food For Thought

Video Thread 4/16/23

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:06 pm Open Thread, Politics

Apr 162023

Glenn Kirschner – Jack Smith expands criminal probe, investigates Trump’s wire fraud by fundraising off the big lie

Thom Hartmann – Will Nasty GOP Policy Starve Poor Americans?

Farron Balanced – Jim Jordan Abuses His Power By Attacking Colleges For Fighting Disinformation

Titus and Bradley – The George & Gracie Show: “The 2nd Amendment” (O, man, this takes me back.)

Girl Is Determined To Earn This Cat’s Love

Beau – Let’s talk about confusion, conflation, and currency…. (If you get the Crooks & Kiars newsletter, you’ve seen ads trying to scare you about this.)

Open Thread March 28, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 282023

Yesterday, I once more got the New Yorker’s Name Drop puzzle on the first clue – and I’m willing to bet that most of y’all will or would too. The image of that red coat and sunglasses will take shape in your brain as it did in mine, and the face behind the sunglasses will be very familiar. (In fact, you may get it from just what I have said.) Aside from that, it was pretty quiet. I think I got pretty well caught up on my sleep, but also found a new quote from Robert Reich to console me in case I didn’t. “The sleep fairies do not favor the elderly.”

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Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Trump’s Calls For Violence More ‘Blatant’ and ‘Overt’ Than Before
Quote – Lofgren brought up Trump’s horrific Truth Social post (that he fortunately deleted) –the one that shows Trump holding a baseball bat right next to a photo of Bragg. She also mentioned Trump’s continual parade of insults and name-calling and his threats of “death and destruction,” coupled with his comments during the rally Saturday. “This is cause for concern,” she said. “We know that certainly not all of his followers are inclined to take up arms, but there’s enough of them who are willing to do battle in his behalf that someone could get killed. And people were killed, obviously, on January 6.”
Click through for details. If you have already noticed this yourself, let me assure you that you are NOT imaginng it. It is real.

The New Yorker – The Myth of the Alpha Wolf
Click through for details. I’m not quoting, because I have a lot to say on this, and if you are paywalled out, let me know – I will send it. It’s been known for some time that the initial “research” which came up with the terminaology in the title werenot carried out on wolves in their wild habitat, but exclusively on wolves in zoos. This is like doing research entirely in prisons and then claim that it applies to civilization as a whole. It’s really no wonder, is it, that almost all of the people who seriously buy the “alphamale” image are actual or potential criminals.
But what is new in the latest research (and which surprised the researchers so much that it sent them looking to other species – and fining similar reaults) is the fact that, when two packs battle, the pack that stands the best chance of winning, by a significant margin, is the pack which contains one or more older wolves. Ant that is the most impostant single factor. Apparently, respect for our elders has actual, solid survival value. I believe we should seriously think about this.
We don’t know whether wolves (or elephants or other species) are vulnerable to dementia, and that does make a difference. No one wants Dianne Feinstein to run again for the Senate. But that’s a matter of health, not simply aging. When we have elders like Joe Biden – Nancy Pelosi – Elizabeth Warren – Bernie Sanders – GRACE LINN – who literally have knowledge of what works and what doesn’t,because they have seen, time and time again, what works and what doesn’t – I think we need to stop talking about age as if it were a disqualifier.

And speaking of wolves (and canines in general) and prisons, here is an extra, which I would have used in the video thread if if had beeen possible to embed it. (The srticle ccontains an embed code, but it doesn’t do anything through my computer, not did it work for Lona, who passed it on to me.) I hope y’all will enjoy it. The Colorado prison system does have a “Prison Trained K9 Companion Program” – in fact they just picked up a bunch a couple of weeks ago who were rescued from a hoarding situation – but no lifers that I know of. So I have also sent information on the article to the DOC (not the live link – they have to be suspicious of links – but the defanged link and the information to find it through a search engine.) Do click through for a sweet story.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 2/27/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:59 am Open Thread, Politics

Feb 272023

Glenn Kirschner – Jack Smith goes on offense, asks judge to preemptively order Mike Pence to testify before grand jury

Ring of Fire – Kyle Rittenhouse Hit With New Lawsuit From Man He Shot In Wisconsin

Robert Reich – The Biggest Economic Lies We’re Told

Puppet Regime – ChatGPT vs Puppet Regime

Tiny Kitten Meets His New Brothers And Falls In Love

Beau – Let’s talk about how social media is changing….

Open Thread February 26, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 262023

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by Dmitri Shostakovich. It was based on a novella of roughly the same name, as unfair as that name is to the protagonist, who is essentially reacting to being abused, not only by her husbamd, but by her father-in-law, and then by an employee of the family business with whom she has an affair which essentially begins with a rape. No, murder is never justified, but it really is not hard to have empathy for her. There is a revised version from 1962, which the composer felt was different enough to rename it “Katerina Izmailova,” but it’s the original version (and the original title) which is usually heard today. The opera is one of many of his works which got him into deep doodoo with Stalin (he used to keep a fully packed suitcase by his front door so that if the secret police came in the middle of the might he’d have some possessions to take with him.) As always, I’ll comment when I get back from seeing Virgil.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Why Hasn’t Russia Destroyed Even One US HIMARS System In Ukraine?
Quote – The HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) has been credited with changing the trajectory of the war. Though Ukraine only has about 20 of these systems sent from the United States, Russia seems to have no counter. And many have wondered why Russia has not managed to destroy a single one of them
Click through for article and video. I don’t know much about Czech history or culture. I would not have expected this. But, upon reflection, it fits very well with the little I do know. (And it’s most amusing.)

A Jim Crow–Era Murder. A Family Secret. Decades Later, What Does Justice Look Like?
Quote – It’s like “legal archaeology,” Burnham says. The students read old newspapers, travel to Southern towns to obtain court transcripts, and speak with surviving families. “It’s really not enough to say, ‘Those were horrible days,’ and let them pass,” Burnham told the Northeastern Law magazine in 2010. “The details matter. These stories are important, and to the extent these people are still around, their stories deserve to be told.”
Click through for story. I don’t really have words. I’m thankful for this project – but then I look at the complete erasure of reality DeSatan is perpetrating in Florida. I hope these stories do not disappear like the family photographs mentioned.

Food For Thought