Video Thread 6/28/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 282021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Bill Barr’s Shocking Atlantic Interview Reveals Incriminating Evidence of Trump’s Corrupt Intent (Referring to oneself in the third person has a name – it’s called “illeism.” It is not exclusive to marcissists – far from it – but they, monarchs, and toddlers are probably the groups which use it the most.)

Meidas Touch – Joe Tripp – On other words, it’s not right v. left, it’s up v. down. Seriously – see The Political Compass. https://www.politicalcompass.org

CNN – Stelter: I watched Hannity’s show for a week. Here’s what I found. Political amnesia is real. If you don’t think so, that’s because you have it. (It can be slective.)

Rebel HQ – OK, funny, but the message is serious. And there will be people injured – there always are.

A different kind of blast from the past – an interview.

Dodo – Two Orphaned Baby Foxes Go Nuts When They Meet For The First Time

Beau – Let’s talk about DeSantis beating Trump….

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Video Thread 6/20/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 202021
 

Glenn Kirschner – DOJ Brief Says “Proud Boy” Defendant Committed Act of “Terrorism.” This is What Trump Incited

The Lincoln Project – Juneteenth

Now This News – Teen Receives Racist Attacks After Anti-Racist Graduation Speech

Ring of Fire – Former Nixon Lawyer Says Trump’s Behavior Was WAY Worse Than Nixon’s

Thom Hartmann – Choose: Voting Rights or The US Chamber? (w/ Karl Frisch)

What Happens When You Leave a Barrel Hanging in a forest

Beau – Juneteenth and reactions to it

(*On You Tube, I can cut miscellaneous stuff at the beginning .. but not at the end. So I like to let you know when you can stop one early without losing content.)

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Open Thread for June 20, 2021

 Posted by at 7:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 202021
 

It is now possible to hear an opera broadcast on every Saturday all year round, and not just during the Metropolitan Opera’s season. Yesterday’s opera is “Tosca,” by Puccini, which premiered in 1900, based on an 1887 play. In it the political is the personal, and I would ccll it prescient except that, sadly, the struggle between authoritarians and the rest of us has been going on forever. But it does, at least to me, make it more poignant to consider that what happened to Tosca and Mario (and Angelotti) could conceivably happen to any of us at any time if we fail to preserve our democracy.

Cartoon TomCat has run this cartoon every Father’s Day since at least 2010 (probably before that, but I don’t think the prior blog, which was on Blogspot, remains accessible). He always protested strongly that the litter was not his progeny.

Short Takes

INDEOENDENT (UK) – The Republican Party has turned fascist – it is now the most dangerous threat in the world. (And apparently everyone can see it except us.)
Quote: Two strategies, though never entirely absent from Republican behaviour in the past, have become far more central to their approach. One is a greater willingness to use or tolerate violence against their opponents, something that became notorious during the invasion of the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on 6 January. The other change among Republicans is much less commented on, but is more sinister and significant. This is the systematic Republican takeover of the electoral machinery that oversees elections and makes sure that they are fair. Minor officials in charge of them have suddenly become vital to the future of American democracy. Remember that it was only the refusal of these functionaries to cave in to Trump’s threats and blandishments that stopped him stealing the presidential election last November.
Click through for the full article. Share it if you can.

Crooks and Liars – What’s The ‘Critical Race Theory’ Uproar Really About? Making Enemies For 2022
Quote : The whole campaign against CRT, in fact, appears to be primarily the work of a handful of astroturfing “dark money” right-wing organizations. And its central figure is named Christopher Rufo, a longtime right-wing think tank activist with a history of promoting various kinds of spurious enemy concoctions.
Click through for details. But remember, just because only one person is behind it doesn’t mean it hasn’t already infected multitudes. Donald Trump** ia onlt one person too.

Sad news – Champ has passed. (BTW this looks like a Twitter account worth following if one were on Twitter.)

Food for Thought

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Open Thread for June 19, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 192021
 

I thik I have today covered … always extra posts on weekends. If you don’t get my emails (or if you do but don’t want to wait for it) be sure to see WWWendy’s “Hello Again” post. There is now something we can do. Happy Juneteenth (actual.) I shall be making do with Fruit Punch Gatorade (not my choice, it was an unauthorized substitution in a delivery) and strawberry soda (at least that was my choice.)

Cartoon

Short Takes

The Bitter Southerner – Juneteenth Jubilee. One tradition for celebrating Juneteenth is eating red food and drinking red beverages. This mixologist has a special recipe (doesn’t have to be “adult”).
Quote: According to culinary historian Adrian Miller, red drinks — which rule the bar at Juneteenth parties — have their roots in West African and Caribbean beverages that came to the United States through the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved people stewed hibiscus flowers to make a reddish-purple tea called bissap, Miller points out, and they mixed powdered kola nut (one of the ingredients in Coca-Cola) with water to make a refreshing, naturally stimulating drink. This practice of adding reddish substances to make sweet, palatable drinks was common and naturally made its way to the Juneteenth celebration table. Soon, red-colored drinks — like the Texas-made soda Big Red, introduced in 1937 — had become part of the Juneteenth culinary tradition.
Click through for the actual recipe (at the very end) but also for more facts about the holiday.

Crooks and Liars – Florida Republican Threatens To Send Russian-Ukrainian ‘Hit Squad’ After Rival. Yes, you read that right.
Quote – “I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation last week, according to the recording exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f—ing speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
Click through for more details – not that you will be surprised – he is a Republica.

Wonkette – Yay! House Votes To Repeal Bad Iraq War Authorization. In case this got lost in other news, I wanted to highlight it in Wonkette’s distinctive style.
Quote – [McConell] is correct. To borrow a turn of phrase, it should not be tossed aside lightly, it should be thrown with great force. But we should thank Mitch for his opposition to this. The only people who have been held to account for their bad Iraq War votes have been Democrats. As soon as things turned bad, the Right went from worshiping Dubya to “We don’t know her” and pretending that Hillary Clinton was personally responsible for the whole thing happening in the first place. This way, Republicans voting against this can be held to account for their votes against a thing that absolutely no one wants anymore. More of this, please.
Click throughfor the rest of the well-earned disrespect of (some) Congresscritters.(The Wnkette Newsletter is talikg a two-week vacation so I may not see their stories for that length of time.)

Food for Thought

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Open Thread for June 18, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 182021
 

My settled routine is more or less back, which is a blessing. It enables me to stop and knit a little, or bead a little, or eve play a computer game a little. And those little breaks keep me going. There’s pretty much good news today. It’s all in the nature of clawing one more step forward from having been pushed two steps back … but it’s all good nonetheless. Happy Juneteenth (observed) to all.

Cartoon

Short Takes

The Hill – Supreme Court upholds ObamaCare in 7-2 ruling
Quote: “We do not reach these questions of the Act’s validity, however, for Texas and the other plaintiffs in this suit lack the standing necessary to raise them,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the majority.
Click through to see which Trump**-appointed Justice(s) voted the right way. You know at least one did, just by the numbers.

Sojourners – JUNETEENTH: ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS’
Juneteenth is, of course, tomorrow. But it has been announced that the Federal Government will celebrate it today. So here is a very personal yet also historical article about the first one.
Quote: The next day, Friday, June 19, when Granger arrived, the more than 1,000 enslaved people working in Galveston’s ports, houses, hotels, cotton fields, and barber and smithing shops would have witnessed thousands of Black men in blue uniforms as far as the eye could see as their liberators…. It was the beautiful presence of authoritative Black bodies that made these words real.
Click through for the full story.

Crooks and Liars – Teachers Push Back On GOP ‘Critical Race Theory’ Nonsense
Quote: Teachers across the country have spoken out against bills like [Texas] S.B. 2202, with thousands gathering in more than 20 cities last weekend for a National Day of Action organized by the Zinn Education Project, which publishes educational materials based on Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” and other writings. Several thousand educators have also signed a pledge stating, “We, the undersigned educators, refuse to lie to young people about U.S. history and current events—regardless of the law.”
Click through for more detail. Howard Zinn rocks, so if you haven’t read his “people’s histry” you may want to look it up.

Food for Thought

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Video Thread 6/15/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 152021
 

Glenn Kirschner – America Is Back:

The Lincoln Project (released yesterday)

The Franklin Project – Good leaders keep us on track. Good citizens keep them in check.

Now This News – Ohio GOP Backs New Restrictive Voting Bill – MY SOS tells it like it is.

Puppet Regime – Authoritarian Airlines

Liberal Redneck – Flag Day

Corey Ryan Forrester – an a capella country song for Pride month (NSFW)

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump vs McConnell in 2022….

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Open Thread for June 14, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 142021
 

I didn’t mention possible reaction yesterday because I am such a delayed reactor. And, in fact, it wasn’t until after 8 pm yesterday that I noticed a tiny bit of soreness around the injection site – so little I’m not sure I would have noticed it if I weren’t looking for it, but definitely thee.  And I still can’t even find the injection site visually with a mirror and a flashlight.. If I do react to a shot, it’s almost always to a preservative.. I guess the fact Moderna (and Pfizer) have to be kept so cold means that they are very low on preservatives. Tough on the front line handlers , but beneficial to me.

Cartoon for Flag Day

Short Takes

This is especially for Colleen because it’s in San Diego (at least the University is) … but I think we can all enjoy it.

Democratic Underground user “elleng” quotes in full an email from Steve Schmidt. He, along with other Lincoln Project members, have been in the Republican Party a long time – and they know what that party is capable of. So when they speak about that, I listen.
Quote: What we all have to realize is that we are falling into a trap. The media, Democratic leadership, former Republican leaders – we are mistakenly believing this is still a two party system, and we’re missing the point. Everyone is still making an assumption that there are these two parties…but that’s not the fight we’re in. There is only the Democratic Party, and on the other side is an authoritarian movement fueled by Donald Trump. That movement has grown to hold so much power in what used to be the Republican party that it has purged former leaders and left them fearful for the future.
Click through for the full text.

Daily Kos user (“kossack”) Magnifico – I don’t really know Magnifico, but they, like NewsCorpse, hold top mojo, and this article is largely based on two books each by an author I do know and trust – Hannah Arendt and Madeleine Albright.
Quote: The Republican Party’s assault on our democracy is accelerating. The Trump-era has seen the Big Lie be weaponized against truth and facts. At least 14 states, all Republican controlled, have enacted laws this year to restrict voting and elections. Republicans are now escalating the culture war in order to shape and control what people think and believe making a totalitarian state increasingly likely. Democrats, especially those who lead our nation’s institutions, are not reacting with enough speed or force to counter the momentum building against our republic and their slim majority in the Senate is so fractured and paralyzed by money and age to be able to unify to shore up democracy for even the next federal election cycle.
Click through for the full article.

Food for Thought – Republican coin

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