Open Thread for October 26, 2021

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 262021
 

Yesterday, I moved some clothes around – put some away, took some out to be handy both to visit Virgil and to change into when I get home. Of course the pronblem with that is that it take twice as long to recover as it does to do. But I did manage. And rested a little with knitting. (One yarn company has as its motto “Knit. Relax. Repeat.” Almot too cute.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The 19th – The 19th Explains: Key races to watch in November 2 elections
Quote – The year after a presidential contest is not a big one for elections, but two states and several major cities are holding elections this year for governor, state legislators, mayors and more. The debates are shaped by local issues, like housing, and national issues, like the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click through for all eight. It mentions the NYC mayor but not the DA, in which Alvin Bragg is running to succeed Cy Vance. He may, of course, be unopposed.

Crools and Liars – Biden Breaks Stalemate As New Hope Emerges For Transformational Agenda
Quote – The details of the bill are still being worked out, but Jayapal has made clear so far that progressives’ priorities are still in the bill, even though they’ve had to scale back some of the proposals. Manchin and Sinema have continued to be the skunks at the garden party, but Biden seems to have pinned them down on both a price tag and their red lines in the sand.
Click through for the story. Crooks and Liars is an unlikely place to look to for hope, but I’ll take it where I can get it.

PolitiZoom – Gerrymandering On Steroids W. Virginia Governor says He’ll Accept Three Maryland Counties Who Want To Secede
Quote – This is either a Fox News publicity stunt which has gone too far, or maybe state lines will be redrawn in dramatic ways if this is real and it catches on. As you’ve probably heard, three western Maryland counties want to secede from Maryland and become a part of West Virginia. What’s that you say? Who in their right mind would want to leave the 15th largest economy in the nation and move to the 48th? Beats the hell out of me.
Click through for what little else is known. If they can do this without changing the number of House Representatives each state is now assigned, I say go for it.

Food for Thought –

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Open Thread for October 13, 2021

 Posted by at 7:09 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 132021
 

Yesterday, my ballot arrived in the mail! In addition to the fiscal measures I already mentioned (and have already researched), it does contain candidayes for my school board. I will have to google them So I won’t be returning it immediately. But I will as soon as possible.  Also, as promised, I did listen to the entire Garland interview, and I have two takeaways to suggest: first, that she asked very good questions. Almost everything we really want to know. (And, of course, the ones we really, really want answers to do involve ongoing investigations – so, only indefinite answers.) But the second thing was that, I never really thought about it, but he is still working on last year’s budget. And that means there are things he can’t do before getting his own budget, because the funds are just not there. No, neither of them said that – but I gathered it from what they did say.

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Short Takes –

Wonkette – John Birch Society Is BACK BABY, And They’re … Trying To Block Entrances To Your Kid’s School!
Quote – The JBS YouTube account, which has a shocking 85.1 thousand followers, is filled with videos with titles like “Bidens New World Order Agenda!” and “Installing the New World Order” and “COVID’S Lies Push People To Action,” because apparently the virus is a sentient being now. There is a whole series on the Illuminati and what those rascals been up to for the past several hundred years.
Click through for details. This is certainly something I never wanted to read or hear. But … we should have expected it. We should have known that if humanity as a whole were actually capable of evolving beyond this evil, we would not have seen any of it in our lifetimes.

The New Yorker – Attorney General Merrick Garland, Interviewed by Jane Mayer
Quote (from text intro) – At the 2021 New Yorker Festival, the investigative journalist Jane Mayer sat down for a conversation with Merrick Garland, the longtime federal judge now serving as President Biden’s Attorney General. Mayer asked about the central role that the Department of Justice plays in some of the most critical issues of our time: racial justice, domestic terrorism, threats to voting rights and abortion access, and the looming power of Big Tech companies.
Click through for podcast. As I type I have not listened yet (but will have done so by the time this posts.) An investigative reporter for The New Yorker has to be more than competent just to keep that job.

HuffPost – Progressives Resist Nancy Pelosi’s Plan For ‘Fewer Things’ In Budget Bill
Quote – At a press conference on Tuesday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reiterated that message. “If we need to cut some of them back to fewer number of years, we’d be willing to do that,” she told reporters. “Why is that? Because we are not going to pit child care against climate change. We’re not going to pit housing against paid leave. We’re not going to pit seniors against young people.”
Click through for story. Of course shorter terms are a gamble. But that gamble is based on making a good show of what we can actually do when we get the chance. I think it’s a gamble well worth taking.

Food for Thought –

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Video Thread 10/10/21

 Posted by at 11:27 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 102021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Bannon is in Criminal Contempt of Congress. The Legal Remedy? Inherent Contempt

For over a week now, Meidas Touch has been posting only complete podcasts (45 min and up), and for three days, so has the Lincoln Project. It’s a good thing I’m ahead on the open thread, because there’s an extra helping of fluff here today.

Now This News – What’s Next in the Fight for Voting Rights

Armageddon Update – President Pence?

A surprise performance of Ravel’s Bolero stuns shoppers!

Rob Rogers – Build Back (actually not fluff, exactly)

Parody Project/The Freedom Toast – The Problem With Manchin

Beau – Let’s talk about the costs of not passing the infrastructure bill….

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Video Thread 10/4/21

 Posted by at 12:16 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 042021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Omarosa Kicked Trump’s Butt. Here is the How, the Why & What it Means for Other Books About Trump (tomorrow will be the September recap FYI)

Meidas Touch – Rep. Debbie Dingell: Cannot let ‘pissing contest’ get in the way of passing historic infrastructure

RHQ – Pope Makes Conservative Heads EXPLODE {So much for religious exemptions – at least for Cathilics.} The Pope has translated CC – the announcer is not that important. The Cardinal with CoViD is, of course, American.

Really American – Carlson and Boebert Spread Baseless Conspiracies

Rocky Mountain Mike – “Hannity” (He hasn’t posted the full lyrics but promises he will)

Cat Prefers Dad To Mom — So Mom Starts Wearing Fake Beards

Beau – Let’s talk about the historic SNAP increase….

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Video Thread 10/3/21

 Posted by at 12:15 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 032021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Two Insurrectionists Sentenced; Prosecutors Promise “Consequences” for those who “Incite Riots”

Mother Jones – NEW EVIDENCE: Trump Rioters Brought Guns to the Capitol (This accompanies article in Open Thread)

RemoveRon – a newish PAC – Remove Ron – Florever Purge

politicsrus – Debt Ceiling Part II

The Late Show – John Lithgow as Rudy Giuliani (I started as Lithgow starts but you can click through if you want more.)

Keith – LET’S STOP THE PLEASANT EUPHEMISMS: They aren’t “anti-Vax.” They’re AFRAID OF GETTING VACCINATED!

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden’s surprising immigration announcement….

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Open Thread for October 3, 2021

 Posted by at 7:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 032021
 

Yesterday, when I got up, I had internet. Yay! That meant I could have opera. Every Saturday all year round, someone broadcasts a full opera. But it isn’t always my local station, whoch only broadcasts the New Yorkk Metropolitan Opera, roughly November theough May. The rest of the time it is broadcast on WFMT out od Chicago. They mke it available to any station who wants to broadcast it too, but it costs money which my local station doesn’t have. But it can be streamed on WFMT. So I did. Not, of course, before coming here to make sure everyone knew I was all right.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – Trump Extremists Brought Numerous Guns on January 6, Evidence Shows
Quote – Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer who represents the Oath Keepers organization and is close with Rhodes, told Mother Jones in an interview that an Oath Keeper member transported a cache of firearms by truck from North Carolina to the Comfort Inn Ballston shortly before the assault on the Capitol. The member who transported the weapons then stayed at the hotel to oversee the stockpile, SoRelle said. (That Oath Keeper member has not been charged; although Mother Jones corroborated various details from SoRelle’s account, we were unable to confirm that member’s identity.) SoRelle herself may be a subject of growing scrutiny from federal prosecutors; as Mother Jones was first to report recently, the FBI seized SoRelle’s personal phone on September 7 as part of an ongoing “seditious conspiracy” investigation focused on January 6.
Click through for what details there are. It actually sounds like we only know about a fraction of the guns which were there. Film at Video Thread (or at the link.)

The Hill – Where Things Stand With The Democratic Agenda: A Pause, A Reset And Maybe Hope
Quote – Afterward, Biden told reporters he was in no rush to pass his agenda, saying that whether passing both bills takes “six minutes, six days or six weeks ― we’re going to get it done.” In a sense, this week’s drama represents a triumph for progressives and party leaders over centrists. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the Democrat who has been most vocal in opposition to the Build Back Better bill, still has a lot of leverage ― but not as much as he did before.
Click through for the story and analysis. The Hill is about as liberal as Joe Scarborough … but even The Hill is talking about “hope” like it’s the good thing that it is.

Wonkette – David Brooks Actually Right About Thing, Wants To Build Back Better Too
Quote – David Brooks is actually right this time. Sort of. He’s about the most right David Brooks is capable of being. Brooks published a column yesterday about the Build Back Better reconciliation bill titled “This Is Why We Need to Spend $4 Trillion.” It seems fair to say that if David Brooks, a man who cannot figure out how to politely say “It’s ham” to a friend bewildered by sub shop options, can figure out that this bill is actually necessary, anyone ought to be able to.
Click through for the rest of the take. This is by Robyn Pennachia

Food for Thought –

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Video Thread 9/15/2021

 Posted by at 11:35 am  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 152021
 

Glenn Kirschner – California Recall Election Results Being Attacked by Larry Elder BEFORE the Election is Even Held

Meidas Touch – MAGA is getting CRAZIER because they are LOSING… And they KNOW IT! (I hope he’s right – I think.)

politicsrus – Abortion Part 2mp4

When will these attacks on American democracy end?

Ring of Fire – AOC Brutally Mocks Sarah Palin

Robert Reich – The $3.5T Bill Corporate America Is Terrified Of

Beau – Let’s talk about trying to debunk a claim about Delta….

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Open Thread for September 14, 2021

 Posted by at 7:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 142021
 

Yesterday, I received a grocery delivery. It was all there – and no substitutions – and I was smart enough for once to put out an insulated backpack on the porch for frozen stuff that melts rather than just thawing. So I got it all in with I’m pretty sure no loss. So I have a sense of accomplishment.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Hill – Dodd, Frank urge Biden to reappoint Powell
Quote – In a Monday op-ed for The Hill, former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) argued that Powell’s reappointment would give Biden “strong support” to pass a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and social services plan — what they called the “most important issue facing us today…. We believe the national interest will be best served by President Biden reappointing Jerome Powell to chair the Federal Reserve System,” Dodd and Frank wrote.
Click through for more. Yes, it’s THAT Dodd and THAT Frank. They have earned enough respect for me to listen and pay attention when they speak, whether or not I end up agreeing.

HuffPost – Texas Embalmer Shares Nightmare COVID Experiences: ‘Unlike Anything I’ve Seen Before’ TRIGGER ALERT
Quote – These folks were so swollen they were completely unrecognizable. We were also getting sent a lot of people who had died from COVID in nursing homes back at that time, and many of them had not been dead very long at all…. The blood tends to settle out because it’s no longer flowing and it’ll gravitate to the dependent part of the body. The longer a body sits, the more blood clots that they develop. I was having people that had only been dead for a few hours and there were major clotting issues. The clots were the size of pancakes ― you never, never see those with someone who didn’t die of COVID.
Click through if you can take it (it gets worse). I won’t say we have been lied to, but we have definitely not been fully briefed on what CoViD does to the human body. I can see why not … but I still thik it was a mistake.

Mother Jones – 59 Percent of Republicans Say It’s Important to Believe Trump Won the Election
Quote – Donald Trump definitely did not win the 2020 presidential election, but nearly six in 10 GOP voters polled by CNN say it’s at least somewhat important for Republicans to continue believing that he did.
Click through for the story. Fortunately it’s short.

Food for Thought –

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