Yesterday, the defendant in the case of the shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder, CO, was found guilty on 55 felony counts, incluing 10 counts of first-degree murder. It didn’t even take them a full day to come to that conclusion. I had not been following this story closely enough to have previously seen the names of the victims, but I read it this time, and saw two surnames, both relatively uncommon, which were the same as those of people I had known in Colorado – when I lived in the San Luis Valley. But when I looked then up, there appeared to be no connection in either case. Still, all the victims were known to and kin to and important to someone, and looking that up made the shooting very real to me.
Talking Points Memo’s Morning Memo was hot yesterday. Every time I finished a section and was going to file the email, I’d see the next title and realized I wasn’t ready. I got all the way to the end, in fact. Fortunatel, I can give you a link to the whole thing so you can decide what to skip.
Over the weekend, Heather Cox Richardson reviewed the history of the Electoral College. It’s a history which is little kown, even among people who consider themselves history buffs. And it’s a grand demonstration of how much and in how many ways an institution such as the Electoral College is vulnerable to manipulation – and in how many ways (the Electoral College is the reason we have two Dakotas, for one thing.) I wish that everyone in Amereica, voting age or not, could be forced to read or to listen to it. In whatever language they understand.
Yesterday, the radio opera was Puccini’s “Turandot.” It’s one of the most performed operas in the repertory, so I’ve almost certainly described it before. People who don’t care for opera often cite their feeling that it presents stories so improbable that it makes no sense. On this one they have a point, except that it’s supposed to be a fairy tale, so it’s not supposed to make much sense, if any. It does sweep the listeners and viewers along emotionally with great success, and maybe it’s better to just accept that and not try to make sense of it. Anyay, also yesterday, Steve Schmidt wrote a powerful piece about Ohio. I’ll just link to it, and you can see it for yourselves. Well, off to see Virgil now, and will report my safe return when I’m back, as always.
Heather Cox Richardson starts with (the disgusting) Mark Robinson, but soon swings in to the history of the two-party system, why the founders hated it, why they ended up with it anyway. Reminds me of the quote “Democracy is the worst possible system of government – except for all the other systems.”
This is certainly not news, although the way the word “Patriotism” was defined in 1774 and thereabouts would certainly be news to a lot of Americans today who think they are patriots. I hope on a Sunday you’ll have more leisure to digest it.
Cartoons by Tom the Dancing Bug are generally too large for me to just put them into a post here and still have them legible, and this one is no exception. Sometimes I can reorganize the panels and make it work, but time is tight just now, and I didn’t want to wait with this one. If the last line of the last panel doesn’t have an impact on you, you might want to check your pulse.
Yesterday, I was still tidying up. I have been known to make the same mstake twice, but hopefully not in a two-day period, so this should be on time. Also, the New Mexico Political Report announced a week starting today of articles discussing exactly what impact Project 2025 would have in New Mexico specifically. I realize that probably none of us live in New Mexico, but even if your state has zip in common with it, seeing it applied to a particular state could get us thinking about how it would apply to our own. I’m providing a link to the introduction, which has more details. While there , I went to the home page by clicking on the logo in the upper left, and saw two stories already on how Project 2025 will affect the climate in New Mexico. The New Mexico Political Report is (or used to be and I hope still is) a creative commons site, which means that as long as you follow their rules, you can repost complete articles and not violate copyright. And then there’s this (watch the embed here – don’t go to YouTube – it is censoring VoteVets
TomCat referred to the Reichstag fire often, as I’m sure everyone recalls. The first “assissination attempt” may have been actually an intended attempt, but I still do not believe it as a bullet which caused his ear to bleed (my vote goes to shattered glass “shrapnel.”) But this really does look ridiculous to anyone with a functioning brain. Not that that precludes it from being very dangerous, as Rober Reich has also remarked.
This is a report from the Project on Government Oversight on what happens in one state – Texas – when the Census is not conducted to count every head. NOte that Texas deliberately conducted the 2020 Census so as to undercount its population. WEll, it cost them a lot of money to do that. Not that they care about that. Red states are states which turn down Federal money even if the count is correct.
Yesterday, I came across a new Randy Rainbow, and this time I can’t cut the ad for Groun News without losing content. But after his last video, I looked it up, and it really isn’t bad. I can see why he and Trey both like it. Even without a subscription, it a lot franker than the MSM. Anyway, here’s the link to Randy
As you can see by her title, Heather Cox Richardson wrote this late on Tuesday (and I saw it Wednesday.) Very little of it was actually news even then. But it’s a nice potpourri of things that happened and what an eventful week it was, even as early as Tuesday. If you haven’t already fastened your psychological seat belts, this might be a good time to do so.
I’m very much not a fan of puppy mills, and I can’t believe that anyone here would be. But murdering a breeder is a couple of bridges too far. And if someone crossed that bridge, and took those puppies, you can bet any important body part that he or she didn’t do it to rescue them.
Yesterday, I read an email from Rick Steves. For anyone who doesn’t know, he is the dude who (for probably more years than I’ve been married) has been making travel shows which are broadcast on PBS. I’ve never been really into travel, but I am into inclusion and multiculturalism, and his shows are big on those. I don’t normally read his emails, but they are also so few and far between I haven’t bothered to unsubscribe – plus he’s a good human being who suports, among other, Bread for the World. Yesterday, for some reason, I did read it, and I’m glad I did. It tuens out he has prostate cancer. That, of course, is not necesarily a death sentence like pancreatic cancer, but it’s also no fun. It appears not to have spread and he expects to be scheduled for aurgery in late September, before which he plans (with his doctor’s permission) to film two new shows, both in France. Over the years he has become less and less a travel host and more and more a good will ambassador (and oh boy, do we need those right now.) If you’ve never seen one, there are 100 available at this link. I watched “Iceland” because it was at the top, being the featured one for August, but the farther down you scroll, the more options.
And now I need to rant for a bit. Not just here in the United States, but also all around the world. People think of politics as being defined by “Left” and “Right” – concepts which come from the first French post-revolution legislative body, in which the conservative members sat on the right side of the room while the more liberal sat on the left side of the room. It was convenient, so it stuck. But language has not caught up with the reality that “Left” and “Right” refer to economic theories, not to overall political opinions. Certainly still today people probably vote “Left” or “Right” and think about how each side’s policies will affect them financially. But there’s more to politics than economics. That’s why the “Political Compass” was invented – and this election displays why that matters. Because the distinction between “authoritarians” and “egalitarians” (the Political Compass site uses the term “libertarian” but, besides the fact that it has been stolen and no longer means what it used to, I doubt whether it would have been the best word even in its oldest sense.) – that distinction is what this election is all about. Not economics, even though that also matters. And this article IMO is an example of how one’s conclusions may not be reliable if one fails to recognize the dimensins of politics. (In fact, there may well be a third dimension based on whether one does or does not believe in accountability. But I’d have to think long and hard about how to describe it in two adjectives.) Bottom line, politics is not just one thing – and different people can have wildly different opinions even if they agree on economics – and can easily get sucked in supporting politicans who they would hate if they understood the implications of those politicians’ views – provided they and the politicians are equally “left” or equally “right.” OK, end of rant. For now.
Heather Cox Richardson writes about the history of conventions – which is connected to the history of parties – so she writes about that also
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Rusalka” by Dvorak, which is the Czech version of the little mermaid. Like the Andersen original, it does not end well (Czech folk tales in general tend to be noticeably grimmer than Grimm). After the prince spurns the rusalka for the foreign princess, the former princess spurns him, devastatingly, telling him to follow his witch to hell. Which he pretty much does. Wonderful music. The “Song to the Moon” may be the best known, but the Polonaise also gets a lot of play. And short enough for me to go back to local radio and hear again almost the last almost-an- hour of “Don Carlo.”
As you watch the Democratic National Convention on TV (or whatever) from the comfort of your home, be glad you are not a Smithsonian curator. Seriously, it’s difficult to keep track of everything the Smithsonian does to preseerve American culture and history. Every once in a while I like to take a look at it, and also remind others.
I realize everyone and his dog (or her cat) is coming out with information on Project 2025. If the aggregate of these guides does not yet surpass the number of pages in the Poject itself, it likely will soon. This is Lakota Law’s version, based on comparing it to “settler violence,” otherwise known as “US policy throughout the 19th century.” The comparison is, IMO, apt, and I think examining it can benefit far more people than just Native Americans and people of color.
Yesterday, since it was Friday, Robert Reich posted the latest episode in his “DEBUNK” series. Heather Cox Richardson posted a blistering bio of Paul Manafort.
Russian soldiers are, due to the lack of purpose-built vehicles, being compelled to use whatevet that can lay their hands on – such as golf carts – to attempt to attack. I am not pro-violence, and least of all am I pro-enjoying violence – but I have to say that Ukreainians have an excuse. Slava Ukraini!
Robert Hubbell has had it with corporate Democrats, and I don”t blame him. I have too. I am extremely upset with Adam Schiff and several others. I think Hubbell’s advice is excellent for anyone who can follow it. Since I’m obligated to post here, I cannot follow the “Keep your head down” part, but I’ll do my best to keep my blood pressure down at least. This is a two-parter and I’m sharing both parts today. And putting a quote from the second part into a second cartoon.
Yesterday, I got to thinking about how I would change mu initials if I felt I had to. I am blessed (or saddled) with quite an assornment of potential middle names. Starting with the one on my birth certificate, there’s “May” which was my father’s mother’s name, so there’s M. Her full maiden name was May Hurst, and occasionally I’ll use the H. Then there’s “Laura,” which I sometimes say is my Lutheran confrmation name, but actually I just liked it. L is the middle initial on my DD-214. Then there’s “Teresa” which actually is my Catholic confirmation name (I didn’t pick up one when I first became a Catholic since I claimed St. Joan of Arc as my patron – close enough to Joanne). But there is my own maiden name, “Stangenberger”, so I could go all the way up to JMHLTSD if I wanted to – but that seems unwieldy. Any thoughts?
I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a laugh from Andy. And this is a good one.
Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter for July 17 goes back in history to a July 18, and goes into the real life story celebrated in the movie “Glory.” I have not seen the movie, but its sound track is a favorite with clssical music radio programs, so I do know what it is about -but not how strictly it stays with the facts. Heaven knows the facts are dramatic enough. If you don’t know the story and want to read it here, you may need a hanky alert (I always do when this story comes up.)
