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….
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.
Jennifer Rocha, the daughter of immigrants and the first in her family to attend college, shared this powerful graduation photo and I can’t stop thinking about it. pic.twitter.com/1xIq02MiI1
— Max Burns (@themaxburns) June 12, 2021
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
This is the thread I had ready for yesterday, but didn’t want to post it then as we all had other things on out minds. I am also posting it early so that a thread will be up early for comments So please consider it today’s Open Thread and hang comments on it. I have even included a “Blast from the Past” at the end (with a bit of explanation as it’s often misunderstood.)
Glenn Kirschner – “A Tale of Two Insurrections”
The Lincoln Project – Memorial Day
Armageddon Update – Yes, Titus can be tough to listen to. But his facts are sound. Sadly, that’s getting harder to find.
Ring of Fire – Giuliani phone call – Farron manages not to editorialize too much (and of course Hattie is always adorable.)
Thom Hartmann – Why so few plea deals? You may already be aware of this … but he explains it so well.
Beau – “Let’s talk about a second Operation New Life and counter arguments….” I want one of those T-shirts.
“Blast from the Past” – Going Home – Paul Robeson
There is more to this song (and to the singer) than most people are aware of. Sure Dvorak – but without two other men (both nlack) it would never have existed. Harry T.Burleigh. William Arms Fisher. It has CC but CC does badle with music, so the lyrics are here.
There will be more videos this afternoon, also.
The Lincoln Project – Well, this is interesting. I believe it’s called “stiring the s***.”
Meidas Touch – “Impressed?
Really American – Mo Brooks
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-fire-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy
Glenn Kirschner – I’m glad he’s taking this up … and has information on a petition (which I’ll spare you tracking down through Twitter)
Earth Day – “Trash TV” – Every time this video is watched, it will fund the removal of one piece of plastic from the ocean. I don’t know for sure if that is true for embeds, but you can always click through just in case.
LPLP – “Welcome home, Rattler! Michael “Rattler” Markus, “who served during the NoDAPL protests as an Akicita (defender), positioned between police and water protectors to keep everybody safe, was arrested in February of 2017. He subsequently accepted a plea to a civil disorder charge stemming from his presence on Oct. 27, 2016 — when law enforcement assaulted unarmed water protectors with sound cannons, tasers, bean bags, rubber bullets, and pepper spray.” Sprry about the spring plains wind, which can be heard throughiut.
5 Things Cats Do Better Than Humans!
This is something you don’t see every day. (You’ve probably figured out by now that Now This vids don’t need to be played all the way through.)
This is also something you don’t see every day. (Pat – hanky alert)
Republican Accountability Project – I think only Stephen Miller can claim more family members excoriating him.
This is a BFD!
Tiniest Baby Bunny Ever – also not an everyday sight
Just a bunch of bunnies doing Parkour – probably happens all the time, but who’s lucky enough to see it every day?
Beau – I certainly hope he is right.
Now This News … How petty… How Republican.
Now This News – Infrastructure Plan, Readers Digest version. No, it’s not enough, but it’s a heck of a good start.
Really American, now crediting Chip Franklin (makes sense to me)
OwlKitty vs. Godzilla. Short dialog at the beginning: “We need OwlKitty to stop what’s coming.” After that, just some sound effects and a little purring.
How could I post a video thread today with out a prank? And this one is epic – an epic fail, that is.
Beau on checking OFM’s science homework
The Lincoln Project – “Zero Sum Game”
[The Cloud Converter seems to get more popular every day… but the line moves fast enough.]
While you are sleeping Republicans across the country are attempting to turn Trump’s mega nastiness into the law. Bills that would dramatically impact access to your constitutional rights to a ballot, laws that would restrict vote by mail, even make giving water to those waiting in line to vote illegal. Why? Why would Republicans make this the spine of their party? They said it in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. The only way they can combat the Democrats’ Voting advantage is to play dirty. Politics is a zero sum game. Because that’s what this is to them – a game. While you work, while you pray, while you’re fighting for your families, the fight for democracy goes on.
Justice Matters – Democracy Matters – Can’t hurt.
Why Do We Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? | National Geographic – My theory is that “we” – now meaning people all overt he world, although it was in the U.S. that it really got big – celebrate it because it always falls in Lent, and, being a celebration, exempts one from fasting for that day. The same is true of Saint Joseph (March 19), though that didn’t take off as much, probably because he wasn’t associated with a group that shines at PR.)
This seems to me like going to ridiculous extremes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Who knew walruses cared?
The ultimate telemarketer prank. Good thing the script is all on screen. The announcers are laughing so hard it’s a challenge to hear.
Beau on border conditions