Missouri – Politics Plus

Open Thread October 21 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 212024

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and of course we plauyed cribbage We had quite a mix of hands, from terrible to meh to good to great. The drive was easy both ways. I decided to get off the interstate this time at the same exit I always get onfor the return trip, and that worked very well. This aftermoon I have someone coming to switch over my phone and internet service; I did not initiate this, but CenturyLink who has done both for me formore than a decade at least is getting out of local internet and quite possible phone service as well, and this is who they chose to recommend as a replacement. I’m dreading it – i already put it off for over a month But the day is now here. Wish me luck.

Crooks and Liars picked this story up. It may not make headlines, but maybe it should. Not that the DOJ has enough staff to go into every county – or even just every county with a MAGA Sheriff.

I almost put this from Wonkette into my intro because I’m speechless.

Open Thread May 22 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 222024

Yesterday, and I can still hardly believe it, I spoke with Lynn Squance (Squatch). My phone rang, and after 2 rings stopped, and I hadn’t had time to read the full caller ID, but I thought the first two letters were BC,so I checked my call log, and checked my contact list, and it was her number. Except that in my contacts there was one wrong number – I had the last two digits as 81 and it was actually 61. So I called back, and she said she hadn’t called, but was happy to hear from me. She’s fine. All her cats that we knew are at the Rainbow Bridge, but she has another now named Simon who was born the day after her last prior cat died. We haven’t seen her lately because she tried to register at Disqus, and was told she was already registered, and had no idea under what username or password. We talked about ways to get around that – “logging in” through facebook, Xitter, or google – or starting a new profile. She mentioned a couple of usernames, so if she follows through, I’ll know it’s she and will pass that on. The relief is overwhelming.

Today, after a day filled with snark, we have a day with two articles “as serious as a heart attack” (though, I hope and believe, not equally life-threatening – but instead I hope life-inspiring. Although – I have seen the results of one actual heart attack which was amazingly life-inspiring – and life transforming – for the survivor. I’ll have to write about that. It’s quite a story. But not today.)

Robert Reich digs into the possible reasons why so many people are so wrong in their evaluations of Trump** and Biden – and what can be done about it.

Heather Cox Richardson covers Biden’s commenceement speeach at Morehouse College last week, adding some historical background here and there.

Open Thread April 2, 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 022024

Yesterday, it literally took me more than four hors to payy just one medical bill with a credit card. A big part of that was that the bill showed a single figure which I had to go through 11 MSNs (formerly EOBs) where i found more than 10 line items for this particular service, not all of which were from this provider, and the only way I could find out which were was by trial and error adding p combinations until I foundthe combination that matched the bill. That took about three hours. Then I spent 15-20 minutes making a PDF of just the claims which applied to this provider,because it would have taken even longer to do it later, and w=even paying by credit card on line I willl eventually have to provide documentation to my HRA. The outher hpur was spent fighting with the provider’s billing agency’s website. I wasn’t expecting that, and after spending all that time just putting the information tpgether, I was not in a good mood to begin with. And then I had to get back to my email inbox, which was pretty well stuffed.

This is a “Missouri leads the way” story, which I can now put up because Nameless’s computers (yes, that’s plural – everything was down) are fixed. It’s not the Missouri government, of course – it’s individual Democrats working together to unsure there is a Democrat in every race.

This is a very moving story about an extraordinary person, who has a warning for all of us.

Open Thread January 27, 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:20 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 272024

Yesterday, I didn’t have to prepare for today’s opera – it’s “Carmen” by George Bizet. I’ve heard it a lot of times and seen it several times as well. For one production, I played second violin in the pit orchestra. All the string parts are extremely difficult, mostly because Bizet liked to run very fast scales starting in the basses and running all the way up to the first violins umpteenth position, and then back down again just as fast. I did my best (which wasn’t very good). But even then, I can’t say it was a bad production. There may not be such a thing as a really bad production of Carmen. And today’s radio cast is outstanding. Now, next week will be another story.

This certainly doesn’t surprise me. We have simply got to stop believing everything a Republican presents as fact. They just make things up.

I know there are many Democrats who think that, like Manchin, Jon Tester (D-MT) is useless other than for keeping our Senate majority (which is oretty thin.) I would invite all of those Dems to read at least parts of this article about two Republicans, one of whom will be in the Senate if Tester loses his reelection bid. Sheehy is the crazier of the two, but Rosendale is close behind.

By now everyone will have heard this, because it is, to quote the article’s headline, “a big non-fracking deal.” And it certainly took climate experts by surprise. Bill McKibben said, “[I]f it’s true, and I think it is, this is the biggest thing a U.S. president has ever done to stand up to the fossil fuel industry.”

Video Thread 9/27/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Politics

Sep 272023

Thing is, he is entitled to Secret Service protection (until and unlessCongess legislates otherwise.) The Secret Service has a legitimate interest in setting terms for his detention. You can talk 24/7/365 about why he should be locked up. But unless those discussions include the Secret Service, it ain’t gonna happen.

Glenn Kirschner – Trump threatens witness Gen. Milley; Trump should be revoked on release & detained pending trial

Farron Balanced – Trump Tells Republicans To Obstruct His Prosecutions Or Shut Down The Government

Robert Reich – Say Goodbye to Lousy, Low-Paying Jobs: The Benefits of a Jobs Guarantee

Armageddon Update – “Family Values”

Street dog starts living indoors. Guess the first thing he did.

Beau – Let’s talk about Missouri, change, and elections….

Open Thread December 30, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 302022

Yesterday, my eyebrows were raised hearing that I25, north of Denver, southbound was closed by a 25 vehicle crash, at about 2:30 p.m. (Then, to rub it in, the station played “Journey through the snow” from the Nutcracker.Clearly, Denver and points north have snow. We don’t. We have dry ground. That shouldn’t be surprising, given that in the years I have lived in Colorado, I have seen things liek an actual line on the roadway with snow north of it and dry ground south of it. Many places in the US and the world use the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.” Only Colorado, in my experience, scan say, “If you don’t like the weather, just move about a hundred feet – in any direction.” Of course, it isn’t always true – but it can be true fairly often. Also, I did receive confirmation to see Virgil Sunday. ( was getting nervous!)

Cartoon – (background if you are interested)

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Far Right Turns on ‘Faker’ & ‘Liar’ Marjorie Taylor Greene
Quote – In a phone interview with The Daily Beast, [far-right radio host Stew] Peters said that Greene was “actually a threat to national security” and declared that she would “burn in hell” one day. “Marjorie is NOT America First, but regrettably a faker and a liar who raised millions claiming she would impeach Biden, and now backs a man for Speaker who refuses to impeach Biden,” he said Friday evening. Additionally, Peters—like many other far-right pundits—engaged in an extremely sexist attack referencing the allegation that Greene had an affair with a “tantric sex guru” ahead of her recent divorce.
Click through for details. This may sound like good news – but it isn’t really. The iissue is that she’s not extreme enough for those who are turning against her. We might be able to use that to our advantage in the battle for the Speakership, but I don’t know that our delegation is savage enough to do so.

Crooks & Liars – Blue America Says #DraftLucas
Quote – Blue America started running [a #DraftLucas ad campaign] across Missouri [Monday] morning before dawn. So far, the ads are on Facebook and Instagram. We’re primarily asking people in Missouri to join us in calling to #DraftLucas– and anyone else… please use #DraftLucas on social media.
Click through for details and video ad. This is really for Nameless, as the rest of us aren’t big social media users – but useit when you can (maybe put it in an email signature?)

Food For Thought

Video Thread 4/29/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:00 pm Open Thread, Politics

Apr 292022

Glenn Kirschner – Jim Jordan does Elon Musk’s bidding, sends “preservation letter” demands to Twitter board members

Thom Hartmann – Why Canceling Student Debt Can Save America & Get Out The Vote (His last vid ended with a cliff hanger, so I kind of had to post this one)

Twitter – Never forget

Never forget the time John McCain said Rand Paul works for Putin on the Senate floor because it’s still true to this day pic.twitter.com/uXJKEPOrM6

— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) April 26, 2022

RepresentUs – Michael Douglas Thanks Missouri Better Elections Team

Crooks and Liars – Jimmy Kimmel Recommends A New Drug For Marge

Puppet Regime – Putin’s Friendship of No Limits

Beau – Let’s talk about Bishop Evans and Operation Lone Star….

BIG Mouth Awards

Every 1,000th Comment
20 – Infidel – 7/6/2011
21 – SoINeedAName – 7/25/2011
22 – SoINeedAName – 8/17/2011
23 – Maria – 9/7/2011
24 – Phyllis – 9/29/2011
25 – Tom – 10/22/2011
26 – Lynn Squance – 11/25/2011
27 – Deborah – 12/29/2011
28 – Patty – 1/19/2012
29 – Lynn Squance – 2/8/2012
30 – Jolly Roger – 3/8/2012
31 – Patty – 5/4/2012
32 – Marva Dasef – 6/8/2012
33 – Patty – 7/8//2012
34 – Edith Belcher – 8/12//2012
35 – Patty – 9/17/2012
36 – Tasunka – 10/12/2012
37 – Lynn Squance – 11/6/2012
38 – SoINeedAName – 11/29/2012
39 – Lynn Squance – 1/11/2013
40 – Lynn Squance – 2/17/2013
41 – Patty – 3/23/2013
42 – Edith Belcher – 5/29/2013
43 – Jim Phillips – 6/29/2013
44 – Patty – 7/27/2013
45- Lynn Squance – 8/21/2013
46 – Rixar13 – 9/12/2013
47 – Rixar13 – 10/4/2013
48- Lynn Squance – 10/25/2013
49 – Patty – 11/27/2013
50 – Lynn Squance – 1/13/2014
51 – Patty – 3/7/2014
52 – Yvonne White – 4/16/2014
53 – Edie – 5/20/2014
54 – Jerry Critter – 6/23/2014
55 – Lynn Squance – 7/29/2014
56 – Joanne D – 9/5/2014
57 – Patty – 10/19/2014
58 – Arielle – 11/16/2014
59 – Pat A – 12/26/2014
60 – SoINeedAName – 1/24/2015
61 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2015
62 – Joanne D – 3/21/2015
63 – Vivian B – 4/23/2015
64 – Joanne D – 5/23/2015
65 – Yvonne White – 6/22/2015
66 – SoINeedAName – 7/16/2015
67 – Lona Goudswaard – 8/6/2015
68 – Mamabear – 8/25/2015
72 – Judi Angell – 11/27/2015
74 – Judi Angell – 1/18/2016
75 – Jerry Critter – 1/2/2016
76 – Lona Goudswaard – 3/11/2016
77 – Lona Goudswaard – 4/4/2016
78 – Pat B – 5/5/2016
79 – Mitch D – 6/5/2016
80 – Joanne D – 7/3/2016
81 – Lona Goudswaard – 7/30/2016
82 – Mitch D – 9/2/2016
83 – Joanne D – 10/6/2016
84 – Pat A – 11/10/2016
85 – Pat B – 12/11/2016
86 – Pat A – 1/14/2017
87 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2017
88 – Vivian Birdwell – 4/5/2017
89 – Vivian Birdwell – 5/16/2017
90 – Lona Goudswaard – 6/23/2017
91 – SoINeedAName – 7/30/2017
92 – Joanne D – 9/4/2017
93 – Pat B – 10/12/2017
94 – SoINeedAName – 11/20/2017
95 – Jerry Critter – 12/31/2017
96 – Joanne D – 2/12/2018
97 – Pat B – 3/27/2018
98 – Richard A – 5/5/2018
99 – Lynn Squance – 6/12/2018
100 – Mitch D – 7/20/2018
101 – Pat B – 8/30/2018
102 – Pat B – 10/5/2018
103 – Joanne D – 11/9/2018
104 – Animae – 12/18/2018
105 – Animae – 1/25/2019
106 – Colleen – 3/2/2019
107 – Joanne D – 4/11/2019
108 – Animae – 6/1/2019
109 – Pat B – 8/9/2019
110- Angelflowers – 09/20/2019
111 – Colleen – 11/5/2019
112 – Pat B – 12/25/2019
113 – None – My Bad
114 – Pat B – 3/24/2020
115 – Freya – 5/24/2020
116 – JL – 7/4/2020
117 – Colleen – 8/13/2020