Glenn Kirschner – Trump White House Attorney Stefan Passantino tampers with witness Cassidy Hutchinson
Meidas Touch – DOJ busts INSURRECTIONIST PLOT to ATTACK Investigators
Farron Balanced – Republicans Tout Homeland Security Chief’s Successes While Calling For His Impeachment
Six13 – Elton Johnukah (just barely got it in)
This Perfect Little Baby Is Called A ZEBU
Beau – Let’s talk about responses to Minnesota’s proposed regulations….
Yesterday, of course, was Christmas Day. I got to the mailbox to pick up the cards which had come since the recent snowfall. As I was doing that, the “neighborhood cat” came byand I found him some treats. Sadly, he doesn’t like to be touched. But he did like the treats. I did a little knotting – though at the point I was in the project, I did more counting and calculating than actual knitting. Just a nice, peaceful day. Hope all of your days were equally peaceful!
Cartoon – 26 george RTL (and Kwanzaa-RTL)
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Trump-Paid Lawyer Takes Sudden ‘Leave Of Absence’
Quote – Stefan Passantino, the original advisor to key Jan. 6 witness former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, has taken a leave of absence from law firm effective immediately, as documented evidence and related scrutiny grows about his initial guidance for Hutchinson to mislead the Jan. 6 committee during her testimony.
Click through for a few details. It’s the arrogance that gets me. When she fired him, and hired someone unconnected with Trumpworld, why would he think she would not testify, and testify truly, about the “advice” he gave her? He should have quit long before now, and left the country. But I’m glad he didn’t.
Common Dreams – Biden Admin Opens First-of-Its-Kind Civil Rights Probe Into Book Banning in Texas Schools
Quote – The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has opened an investigation into Granbury Independent School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as NBC News, ProPublica, and The Texas Tribune first reported Tuesday. The district was the subject of a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) earlier this year regarding school superintendent Jeremy Glenn’s order that school librarians remove 130 titles from library shelves–“one of the largest mass book removals in the state,” according to NBC News. Nearly 75% of the books that were flagged for removal had LGBTQ+ characters or plot themes, said the ACLU of Texas.
Click through for story. The “Independent State Legislature Theory” is a pipe dream – but I’m sure there are limits to what the Feds can enforce in a state. And I’, just as confident that Biden and his staff know those limits precisely as I am that Abbott will lie about them.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, the radio opera was Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” – not the whole thing, but an abridged version aimed at children. And sung (and spoken) in English. With sets and costumes by Julie Taymor (very fairy-tale-y and lots of puppets.) The Queen of the Night‘s famous “Holy Racket” aria is included, of course. They’ve been using this production for some time (they have another production for the full opera in German) and their experience is that the kids are always most enthralled by Papageno. Not unexpected. He’s the most childlike – not in the sense ob being uncomplicated, but in the sense of being easily distractable, and that’s where all the humor comes from.
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Short Takes –
Good Word News – How do Christmas traditions vary around the world? See the pictures
Quote – In a show of resilience among Christmas celebrants, 40 Ukrainian refugees in Krakow, Poland, sold handmade items such as candles, tree ornaments and gingerbread cookies during a Christmas craft fair organized with the help of the United Nations Refugee Agency. A stall at the Ukrainian Christmas Market in Krakow, Poland…. It was an opportunity to showcase the “great talent within the refugee community,” Argaz said, adding that the idea for the event was born when UN staff members received a stone “ intricately painted” by one of the residents of a collective center, which is a dwelling that houses a large number of refugees.
Click through. There are other parts of the world included, but this struck me as special.
Good News Network – Man Spells Out ‘Hi Kevin’ in Lights for 20 Years–to Honor His Neighbor
Quote – Witmer says passersby are sometimes confused by his lights, which read ‘Hi Kevin’ across his roof, but it’s to honor the memory of a young boy who passed away from cancer in 2010…. “When I heard he had cancer and was going through chemo and radiotherapy, I wanted to support him. I had this idea to write ‘Get Well Kevin’ in my Christmas lights—what 11-year-old doesn’t want to see their name in lights?” Witmer continued to do it every year, even after his cancer went into remission and Kevin went off to college….
Click through for full story. (Hanky alert)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Despite criticism, J6 committee’s criminal referral of Donald Trump to DOJ was right thing to do
Farron Balanced – Republicans STILL Don’t Understand Why The Public Hates Them
Puppet Regime – Zelensky vs Santa Claus
Rocky Moutain Mike – Elon Musk is Watching Your Feed
Wild Groundhog Won’t Let Woman Go Home Without Her
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s move with McCarthy….
Yesterday, to be honest, I concentrated on getting posts ready for today, tomorrow, and Monday – which means all three days will contain a lot of fluff.That’s probably fine – this is supposed to be a season of peace. If something horrendous (or stupendous) breaks, I’ll squeeze it in somehow. But I’ll be content if it ddoesn’t.
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Short Takes –
Common Dreams – Record Number of US Cities, Counties, and States to Raise Minimum Wage in 2023
Quote – By the end of 2023, additional increases are planned in five states and 22 localities—with 21 reaching or topping $15 an hour—bringing the total for next year to 86: 27 states and 59 cities and counties, says the report, Raises From Coast to Coast in 2023. The totals take into account that multiple increases are planned in Michigan and four local jurisdictions. “The raises we are seeing are a true testament to the power of organizing,” said Yannet Lathrop, senior researcher and policy analyst at NELP, in a statement. “These raises were achieved in a variety of ways, from ballot initiatives to statehouses to workers making their demands to employers directly.”
Click through for details. At least it is something.
The Grio – McClellan wins Democratic nomination for Virginia US House seat
Quote – McClellan won the nomination with 23,661 votes in Tuesday’s firehouse primary over [State] Sen. Joe Morrissey, who netted just 3,782, and two other candidates. She will be the overwhelming favorite in the heavily Democratic 4th Congressional District when a special election is held Feb. 21.
Click through. The special election is February 21. No, this wouldn’t give us the House. But it couldn’t hirt.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, there was not a lot of snow on the ground – there was some – but there was also a lot of soil and road showing through it. However, it was COLD. Today should still be sub-zero C, but not also F. There should be sun, but not much melt. I did finish my electronic Christmas cards (readers of the weekly newsletter should get one. If you get the newsletter and didn’t get one by Saturday, let me know.) I am trying to stay with positive news as much as I can over the holiday.
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Short Takes –
NM Political Report – The New Deal and the story of a New Mexican family
Quote – New Mexico has more than 300 buildings and other structures built by the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps nearly a century ago. These buildings include courthouses, schools, women’s clubs and some structures and trails on National Parks and Monuments such as those at Bandelier National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The CCC and WPA could not have been successful without the people working for them.
Click through for story. Mr. Wooley is a person to be remembered. And New Mexico was far from alone in receiving such service. Probably every state can say the same.
Wonkette – Biden Admin. Declares Housing A Human Right, Announces Plan To End Homelessness
Quote – We have a pretty big problem in this country. We need people to do low income jobs. If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that the vast majority of the workers most essential to our daily survival are the workers making the least amount of money. At the same time, the cost of housing has increased exponentially, so that there is no way these workers can afford to actually live anywhere. The plan points out that “there are only 37 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renters” in the US and that there is no place where someone working full-time, earning the federal minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom or studio in the United States is about $2,000 and 40 hours a week at the federal minimum wage nets only $1,208 before taxes.
Click through for background and details. Robyn Pennacchia can be snarky witht the best of them, and she also knows when that’s not appropriate.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – DC Bar counsel finds Rudy Giuliani committed ethics violation, recommends he be DISBARRED
MSNBC – Fauci Addresses Elon Musk’s Critical Tweets: ‘I Don’t Pay Attention To That’ (Ignore Mrs Greenspan – Fauci has something to say which needs to be heard.)
Robert Reich – How the Corporate Takeover of American Politics Began
Mrs Betty Bowers – Grooming Children with Bibles, Not Drag Queens!
Twitter Willow
Willow can’t get enough of her first Christmas at the White House with @FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/QyeQNqQMHd
— The Dodo (@dodo) December 16, 2022
Beau – Let’s talk about my son’s questions about Christmas cards….
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Rigoletto” by Verdi. It’s pretty well known, and I’ve written about it here before. Din I mention it’s based on a play by Victor Hugo? I know I’ve mentioned many operas are based on his works. (In the late 19th-early 20th century it was David Belasco. But Puccini, though he set a couple of Belasco’s, did’t so much look at the author – he’d go to see plays in languages he didn’t know, and if he could follow the plot anyway, he’d consider the property. That’s one reason why his operas were immediate classics – it was a very effective way to choose properties which had deep and broad appeal.) “Rigoletto” was the second operea of which I ever owned a complete recording, and yes, that was on vinyl, and yes, I still have it.I didn’t buy it – it was a parting gift from the enlisted Marines whose boss I was at my forst duty station, and I’ll never forget their kindness – particularly the kin=dness of the corporal who volunteered to find out what opera I wouls like without letting on that was why he wanted to know. He was just about the last person I would have suspected of that, and his patinence at my rambling – it must have been a real challenge for his wife, also a corporal in the office, not to break out in giggles. Today, I’ll be seeing Virgil. Of course I will pass on all greetings to him, and will post a comment here when I get back.
Cartoon
Short Takes –
Robert Reich – When will the GOP reach the anti-Trump tipping point?
Quote – When will the GOP finally reach its anti-Trump tipping point — when a majority of Republican lawmakers disavow him? Again and again, it looks like the tipping point is near but the GOP remains under Trump’s thumb…. [per Mitt Romney: “He’s got such a strong base of, I don’t know, 30% or 40 % of the Republican voters, or maybe more, it’s going to be hard to knock him off as our nominee.”
Click through for his thoughts – I’m pretty sure he (and therefore Mitt) are right. And that brain-dead base doesn’t care about anything that actually matters. This trading card fiasco may chip away at the base, but I’m not holding my breath for a major reversal.
Left Jabs – SCOTUS is Developing a Taste for Chaos
Quote – State-v.-state lawsuits are already starting to fly, and the legal positions are already being hardened. Interstate cooperation — a crucial component of daily life — is already fraught, and could at any time turn ugly. It’s almost as if chaos were the point. The six “conservative” justices — they’re conserving very little these days — are pushing everything in the direction of chaos. Whatever the democratic institution they’re invited to tear down, they seem willing to go there. Like they’re remaking the legal system in the image of Ginni Thomas.
Click through for full opinion. TomCat called the Court “SCROTUS” (R for Republican, and pun intended) since Roberts became Chirf Justice – And now it’s far beyond that. I’m not expecting the outcome of this particular case to be quite as bad as “Left Jabs” thinks, but I can’t think it will be good either.
Psyche – Heartbreak is more than a metaphor. Are you at risk?
Quote – But how much medical truth is there to ‘heartbreak’? This was a not a question that was taken particularly seriously – not until an unusual syndrome began appearing in Japanese hospitals in the 1990s. In X-rays, doctors saw the hearts of traumatised patients changing shape. They resembled takotsubo, the small clay pots used in Japan to catch octopus. The story of Takotsubo syndrome, and how it got its name, is the story of how heartbreak became more than a metaphor.
Click through for details. There is plenty of ancedotal evidence, through the centuries, for this. But the imaging results – showin two clearly different ways the hear can actually reshape itself under stress and/or grief – not to mention the preavalence of each differing by gender and age – that’s amazing.
Food For Thought
