Open Thread October 5, 2023

 Posted by at 5:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 052023
 

Yesterday, Kamala Harris swore Laphonza Butler in to the Senate. Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and James Comer announced themselves to be candidates for the Speakership. The Daily Beast published an article purporting to be about the opera “Dead Man Walking” which is really about Sister Helen Prejean, her experiences, her mission, her passion. It’s long necause there is so much in it. Here’s a link in case anyne wants to follow up on the status of the death penalty in America.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – About Merrick Garland
Quote – Asked about his objective as Attorney General, Garland said it was to “pass our democracy on, in working order, to the next generation.” That would have been mere pleasantry from any of his predecessors. For Garland, it’s serious business, and it’s important to hear him say it out loud. Joe Biden’s Attorney General was always going to be in a tight spot, no matter who he chose for the job. The weightiest of choices, whether to indict a former president, was always going to rest on their shoulders. And that decision was going to be made in the context of a Justice Department that had lost much of its credibility with the public despite the diligence of its employees, due in no small part to the deliberate efforts of Donald Trump to undermine the country’s confidence in the Department. Merrick Garland has been the subject of more criticism and outright disapproval by members of the party that appointed him than any other attorney general, at least since Watergate. And of course, he’s been the subject of criticism and abusive and sometimes dog-whistling antisemitic commentary from the other side.
Click through for article. Joyce Vance is a former DOJ prosecutor who raises silky chickens (and a few other breeds) and knits. How could I not like her? In this case I think that her point = that there is a whole lot that we don’t know, much of which we will likely never know, and the bottom line is we can’t know enough to make character judgments from the little we do know. Of course we can have opinions. But presenting our opinions as fact is as disingenuous as – well, as a Republican.

PolitiZoom – He’s a Hoochie Coochie Man – Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Rocks the State Department
Quote – As the ever enraging Orangeutan addressed fake Union Auto workers in Michigan and the also-rans for the Republican Nomination insulted ea[ch] other, First Lady Jill Biden and President Johnson’s Great Society from the Reagan Library in California, [Secretary of] State Anthony Blinken pulled out his Stratocaster and launched the Global Music Diplomacy with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters in attendance. Blinken will not be opening for The Rolling Stones anytime soon, but it was a laudable amateur effort:
Click through for details. I confess that, not that I had any doubts about Blinken, it makes me feel even safer to know that he has this side.

Food For Thought

 

 

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Video Thread 10/4/2023

 Posted by at 12:02 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 042023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s NY fraud trial: more dangerous attacks by Trump, and foolish arguments by Trump’s lawyers

The Lincoln Project – 2nd GOP Debate in 90 Seconds

Farron Balanced – Trump’s Mental Problems Exposed In Terrifying New Video

Patrick Fitzgerald – Big Bad Don

I’ve been avoiding Xitter, having seen others having difficulty with the embed function. But I just had to go for this. (In case it doesn’t work well for you – https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181892231

Beau – Let’s talk about the 2nd GOP debate….

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Open Thread October 4, 2023

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 042023
 

Yesterday, Trump** exhausted the patience of Judge Arthur Engoron by doxing his clerk, getting her name right, but calling her “Chuck Schumer’s girfriend,” which was and is a lie. Unfortunately, the gag order Engoron issued appears to only apply to mmembers of the judge’s staff. But it is something. Also, from Beau of the Fifth Column (I won’t post the video), if you have a second phone or any phone for your personal safety which other members of your family, or people who live with you, do not and must not know about, the Emergency Alert System today is runing a test which is likely to reveal it unless you turn it off – not on silent, but completely powered off. The test will be run in the time frame of 2:20-2:50 pm Eastern (11:20-11:50 am Pacific). Noone else (except perhaps someone who has such a phone for illegal reasons) needs to worry. If you need to know more, here’s the link. Also, McCarthy was ousted as Speaker – and says he will not run for that position again. I never quite know what to do when most people are breaking out the popcorn – I guess knitting would be the closest thing for me. But I’ll have to do it. This is going to be – interesting.

Cartoon – 04 new OrientX

Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – Looking Ahead: The Supreme Court
Quote – While the Court has come a long way from its earlier incarnations, with women and people of color now among its ranks, this is going to be a challenging term. It starts off with a bang, in a case called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association that will be argued on Tuesday, October 3. You may recall Elizabeth Warren’s tireless work before she became a senator to create a federal agency that would protect consumers from powerful financial interests that were unregulated and under-regulated. That’s the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency that protects students, military families, people doing business with payday lenders, and so much more. The CFPB has been in existence for just over 12 years and has done profoundly impactful work in that time to make sure Americans are treated fairly by banks, lenders and other financial institutions. But now, powerful forces who encouraged Republican senators to deny Warren the opportunity to lead the agency she worked so hard to create—she was nominated but the Senate refused to confirm her—are trying to put an end to the CFPB altogether. The legal issue is a technical one about whether the funding mechanism used for the CFPB, which is somewhat different from the usual path than for most federal agencies, is unconstitutional.
Click through for column. Yes, it came Sunday, and this is Wednesday, but they are hardly even getting into their stride yet. I think it’s pretty current – and some of it is future anyway.

Wonkette – NC Classical Station Scandalized By Operas About Anti-Death Penalty Nuns, Gay People, Malcolm X
Quote – A classical music station in North Carolina, WCPE, has announced that it will not be airing several of the Met’s productions this season, citing violence, adult themes (largely code for “gay people” or “racism, but not the kind of racism that is usual for the genre”) and, in one case, being “non-Biblical.” The stations general manager, Deborah S. Proctor sent out a letter explaining this to its patrons in late August…. Champion (which I look forward to seeing this year at the Lyric), is Terence Blanchard’s “opera in jazz,” telling the true life story of bisexual welterweight boxer Emile Griffith, who notably killed his rival Benny Paret in the ring, after the homophobic boxer had taunted him with anti-gay slurs. It’s an incredible composition — and it would be one thing if it were just an issue with the language, with not wanting to broadcast swear words on their classical music station, but Proctor’s suggestion that it’s an “unsuitable theme”? It’s pretty clear what that’s about…. Um. This woman runs a classical music station. Has she not heard of Tosca? I mean, I love Tosca, but there’s a whole lot of rape, murder and torture in that one as well. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which the station did decide to broadcast this year, is literally a comedy about a woman and her fiancé trying to trick her boss into not raping her before she gets married…. Dead Man Walking is, actually, the story of Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and anti-death penalty activist. The story of a Catholic nun is just too racy for Deborah.
Click through – I just had to share this. I like to say that opera is all about sex (including rape, adultery, and incest), death (including murder, both with and without torture, and suicide), treachery and betrayal – what is there about it not to like? (And I might add child endangerment, as in Hänsel und Gretel, for instance.) What they don’t like is pretty much everything that has me excited about the season. Sigh. I would love to publicize all over North Carolina that you don’t need a local radio station to listen to the Met’s Saturday Matinees for free. You can do it on the Internet.

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Open Thread October 1, 2023

 Posted by at 6:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 012023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was brand spanking new – the world premier (which was recorded, and that’s what we heard) was within the last three months – in July, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. The composer was Sir George Benjamin, and the title is “Picture a Day like This.” The premise is that a woman whose child dies is offered a chance at a miracle if she can find one person who is truly happy and cut a button from that person’s sleeve. I was not familiar with any of the singers, but the composer was, and wrote it specifically for their voices. There is no way of knowing at a premier whether or not an opera is going to “take off” – become part of the repertory – but still, it feels like listening to history – being present when history is made. I found it easy to listen to. It’s in a single act with seven scenes, and runs under an hour and a quarter (the program was almost an hour and a quarter but that includes all the opening summary and credits and closing credits.) It was a good day for the opera to be a short one, because later in the day I was able to watch and listen to Margaret Atwood reading her story “Patient and Impatient Griselda,” loosely based on “Patient Griselda” from the Decameron but told as it should have happened, through a narrator, an alien who looks like an octopus.  It was Zoomed thanks to Theater of War productions, as part of their new domestic violence project. So I ended up spending almost three hours chained to internet entertainment after all. (I did get my next 2 weeks of pills bottled, though.) The House also got something done – voted to delay a shutdown for a month and a half. Let’s see how fast the Senate can get it to Joe to sign.  I decided to tell “A Tale of Two Jamies” today. I’m very glad Raskin is on our side. Dimon, of course, is on no one’s side but his own.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – When Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, phoned me
Quote – So I want to talk about something else that’s brewing that could become an equally large problem: another banking crisis — and how powerful monied interests on Wall Street are opposing attempts to ward it off. When interest rates rise as fast as the Fed has raised them, banks have to pay more for deposits or borrowing. But what the banks earn on their loans and bonds they own hasn’t risen nearly as fast. This is causing a huge squeeze. With the shift to working from home, commercial real estate is a disaster — and another giant headache for the banks. Banks may not have enough capital on hand to weather an economic storm. The near failure of several middle-sized banks last March shows the continued frailty of the financial system.
Click through for narrative. I’m not a banker myself, but the Reich on the left makes it uncomplicated to see what’s going on. I don’t think we should be expected to bail out these jerks – AGAIN – when it can be avoided.

AlterNet – Raskin rips GOP over impeachment inquiry: ‘Flying monkeys on a mission for the wicked witch’
Quote – Congressman Raskin, a former constitutional law professor who served as the lead prosecutor for the second impeachment of Donald Trump, told the Committee, “like flying monkeys on a mission for the Wicked Witch of the West, Trump’s followers in the House now carry his messages out to the world: shut down the government, shutdown the prosecutions. But the cultmaster has another command for his followers, which brings us here today.”
Click through for details. The first rule of insulting effectively is, don’t call them whay you hate most. Call them what they hate most.” That’s no doubt why so many Democrats are picking up on calling MAGA “children” (with or without qualifying adjectives.) I doubt whether “Wicked Witch” and “Flying Monkeys” will do it – but “Cultmaster” might hit hard. The very best insults get picked up and used over and over until eventually they change meaning- “villain” today, for instance, has only a shadow of its original punch when it meant “country bumpkin” – including all the attributes that go with that stereotye: poorly dressed, poorly washed, poorly mannered, and poorly educated.

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Open Thread September 24, 2023

 Posted by at 6:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 242023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “La Fanciulla Del West” by Giacomo Puccini. If you have ever seen “The Girl of the Golden WEst in any other incarnation (there was a movie with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, for instance) You’ll know the story, complete with the blood dripping through the ceiling. (Estlin Usher got a pic of the set for that scene, but before the blood started dripping. He also got two of the bar and one of the final scene – no horse – but they look like they were taken from the very last row.) Minnie is one of the few Puccini heroines who survives the opera, but though the lovers are together, their future is far from certain as they ride off into the sunset. We can hope – and most if not all do – that it all works out. This is the last production from Beijing this season (and it was recorded in 2019); the rest of the schedule is in place, and I’m excited about it. There are some 21st century operas and some rarities from traditional composers – a lot will be new to me to hear, even if I have read about some of the operas. It will take us into December. And the Met’s radio schedule, which will pick up where this leaves off, is also out, and I am excited about it too. But that can wait. Also yesterday, the Carters showed up at the Plains Peanut Festival parade (in a vehicle). That choked me up.  Finally, yesterday I had to bring out the space heater.  Sigh.  Now, off to see Virgil.

Cartoon – 24 new Jay + yom kippur (both loaded)

Short Takes –

HuffPost – The UAW Strike Poses The Biggest Test — And Opportunity — For Joe Biden’s Economic Agenda
Quote – Since taking office, Biden cast his domestic economic agenda as a repudiation of the free-market economic policies that have dominated since President Ronald Reagan won election in 1980. Reaganomics, with its “trickle-down” upper-income tax cuts, corporate deregulation and anti-labor actions, “failed the middle class, it failed America,” Biden said in a June speech. More than any other single event, how Biden handles the UAW strike could determine the political and policy success of his grand agenda.
Click through for explanation. HuffPost is talking about siding with the strikers. And my second take suggests that is exactly what he is doing – maybe not exactly the way that HuffPost suggests, but maybe even more strongly.

Axios – Biden to join UAW strike and picket with auto workers
Quote – President Biden said he’ll picket alongside the United Auto Workers in Michigan next week — in a rare act of a president visibly joining a labor movement…. Biden, who has previously called himself the “most pro-union president ever,” had urged U.S. automakers last week to share more of their “record profits” with the workers on strike. Biden’s visit is set for the day before former President Trump is expected to appear in Michigan instead of attending the second GOP primary debate.
Click through for details. HuffPost was not expecting this. But they also carry the story so if you like, you can compare the coverages.

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Video Thread 9/21/2023

 Posted by at 12:01 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 212023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s long-time executive assistant, Molly Michael, directly incriminates Trump on documents

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – September 19, 2023

Farron Balanced – Trump Hires Rookie Lawyer Who Immediately Gets Humiliated By Judge

Patrick Fitzgerald – The Big Rock Candy Mountains

This Woman Swears She Won’t Adopt Her Blind Foster Puppy

Beau – Let’s talk about Seattle and low value….

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Video Thread 9/18/2023

 Posted by at 12:03 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 182023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Jack Smith seeks gag order to STOP Trump’s dangerous disinformation & jury-pool-poisoning lies

The Lincoln Project – Trump’s Charges

MSNBC – S***’s about to hit the fan’: Nicolle reacts to Jack Smith pushing a ‘gag order’ on Trump

Patrick Fitzgerald – Vape Ho

Clingy Cat Goes Everywhere With Mom

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, Iran, and $6 billion….

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Open Thread September 17, 2023

 Posted by at 6:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 172023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “La fille du régiment,” by Donizetti. This is a cute and funny opera, which is known outside the opera world for two reasons. For one, it is the opera which contains the aria which gave Luciano Pavarotti his nickname, “king [or admiral] of the high C’s.” (In this recording, it was, as it often is, encored. And then, just for a little more fun, in Marie’s singing lesson, they substituted “La Vie en Rose” for Donizetti. (It really isn’t possible to go over the top with this opera, since it’s over the top to begin with.) The other is that it is the opera in which Ruth Bader Ginsburg was given her first speaking cameo. {I’ll spare you the search – the link on her name is to the review, and here are links to video of the beginning and the end of the cameo. She wrote her own lines and spoke in English. Her reference to Marie’s birth certificate is not in the libretto, but is a poke in the eye at “birtherism.”) The comic plot centers on Marie (the daughter of the regiment) who was found as a baby and adopted by the regiment and raised as a tomboy. All grown up now, she falls in love with a local boy, Tonio, while the regiment is atationed in the Tyrol, and he with her. But the Regiment has sworn that she may only marry a member of the regiment. So Tonio signs up – just as a noblewoman (the Marquise of Berkenfeld) discovers that Marie is actually her illegimate daughter (though she says “niece” at first), and sweeps her away. Her mother hopes to get her married to the son of the Duchess of Krakentorp (which is where RBG comes in.) This would be a horrible fate, but it is sabotaged by Marie herself, her lover, the rest of the regiment, and especially the senior sergeant of the regiment, Sulpice (a charming role for a baritone – they are so often stuck playing the bad guy.) So all ends well. While I was listening, and checking my email, Robert Reich also cracked me up. He apologized profusely for missing his regular Saturday column, listing all the reasons why (all beyond his control, but he insisted he should have foreseen them) and ended by saying his New Year’s resolution is “to stop blaming myself for events over which I have no control, and to recognize when I have no control.” Right. Good idea, Bob.  Good luck with that.

Cartoon – 17 new Norton (+JNY)

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Plans For A Trump Dictatorship Are Already Drafted
Quote – There’s enough precedent — both historical and current — to show how dangerous this moment is, and what lies on the other side of the tipping point. It would be checkmate for democracy, perhaps permanently. I don’t think this will happen, at least not this time around. But the blueprint for seizing the reins of power has been in plain sight for some time. Then last week, an article in the Associated Press (AP) put it on the front burner.
Click through for details. It links to the AP story, should you want to pursue it further. Sorry it’s such a downer. But if we don’t know, we can’t fight it.

NBC News – Rep. Mary Peltola’s husband dies in plane crash in Alaska
Quote – “We are devastated to share that Mary’s husband, Eugene Peltola Jr. — ‘Buzzy’ to all of us who knew and loved him — passed away earlier this morning following a plane accident in Alaska,” Peltola’s chief of staff, Anton McParland, said in a statement. Responding to requests for comment, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said in separate statements that a single-engine plane crashed after takeoff around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday near St. Mary’s, a small city in western Alaska.
Click through for story. I suppose there are things happening which affect more people, but what hurts an at-large Democratic Congresswoman from a state with two Republican Senators and IIRC a Republican Governor hurts us all.

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