Talking Feds (in lieu of September Recap) – Special Counsel finds NO JUSTIFICATION for Trump’s FRAUGHT request
The Lincoln Project – This is the GOP
Ring of Fire – Trump Threatens To Go After Unfriendly Media Outlets If He Wins Reelection
Brent Terhune – I’m Tired Of This Woke Shit
Tiny Naked Pink Puppy Has The Biggest Glow Up
Beau – Let’s talk about Virginia, luck, and leakage….
Yesterday, The Colorado District 3 race was still not yet counted. Boebert has moved into the lead by about 400 votes, but there are thousands not yet counted, and many of not most are from blue counties, or counties that went blue. The Frisch campaign is doing what it can to help “cure” votes (i.e. reach out to voters who forgot to sign their ballot envelop or made some other small error – most of these can be corrected by text message, but the voter haas to know it’s needed – and sometimes to be nagged a little. The deadline for that is the 14th, which is also the deadline to receive military absentee ballots.) They are also still in need of funds for the curing task , so if your heart is in it, you can go to Adam’s web page and help. (I did – a very small one – and also to Rev. Warnock.) I also finished up the cartoons for November, and took a look at the Denver NPR radio station’s “Christmas Carol Countdown” – which they are running like sports playoffs, which seems to me to be a good way to make the lmaximum number of people unhappy, but what do I know. Finally, I solved The New Yorker’s “Name Drop on the first clue. I almost went to the second clue, buthen I thought, if I’m right, I’ll never forgive myself.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
The Warning – Tim Ryan’s must-watch political speech
Quote – Tim Ryan is precisely the type of person Teddy Roosevelt spoke of in his speech detailing the obligations of citizenship in a republic…. Tim Ryan inspired people. He did it with conviction, decency and grace. He is not a savior, but he is a man of the highest integrity and character who stood tall…. [The speech] was delivered without notes, and entirely from the heart. This guy is the real deal.
Click through for article (and video – which does have CC, so there’s a transcript if you click on the three dots to the right of the line that has “share” in it.) Personally, I needed a hanky. BTW Robert REich also cited this speech, along with Fetterman’s victory speech.
Press Watch – It’s not a fluke, it’s a rot: Why the political media blew the 2022 election
Quote – Ever since they started handicapping the 2022 election – which means almost all the way back to 2020 – leading political reporters and pundits consistently predicted a midterm shellacking for Joe Biden and Democrats. It’s almost like they were looking forward to it…. After the Dobbs decision, they briefly entertained the notion that things might go another way. But then they dismissed it entirely…. This is not something that can be fixed with a little tweaking, and weak stabs at contrition. What we need is a wholesale revisiting of the rules of modern political journalism.
Click through for analysis. It’s right on point, and it’s very refreshing.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I heard from my BFF. The colonoscopy went well – she’s good for another ten years. But she has uterine fibroids, and (I guess because of the bleeding?) her medical team is concerned. They’ve changed her hormones and will periodically be administering shots in hopes of diminishing them. It’ll take several months to know, and they may recommend surgery. She appreciates very much any and all prayers (as do I on her behalf). Also, Steve Bannon was sentenced – only 4 months in prison, but that’s still something (and a $6500 fine … which is NOT something.) As I write I don’t know whther or not he was immediately remanded, or given some time to “put his affairs in order” and report. Also, the Fifth Circuit (TX, LA, MS) Court of Appeals ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is inconstitutional, and Public Citizen has a petition to sign about it.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Body Cams Show DeSantis Thugs Arresting People For Voting
Quote – According to the Times, Oliver, who served 18 years in prison for second-degree murder, filled out both a voter registration form and a change-of-address form in 2020 before voting, and the forms were reviewed by the State Department before she was given a voter ID. State registration forms require voters to swear that they have not been convicted of a felony or that their voting rights have been restored, but they do not clarify that people convicted of certain crimes are not eligible for restored rights.
Click through for story. I seriously hope these people sue the State of Florida – or, better, DeSantis personally – for entrapment, and can take him to the cleaners, because I’m sure this was deliberate on his part. Local election officials were working with state-supplied materials which were deceptive, but not the local officials fault, and even the “thugs” in the video (the Twitter one since the YouTube one has been removed) sound awfully polite for thugs.
The Progressive Magazine – The Government Is Actually Doing a Good Job
Quote – You wouldn’t know it from watching the news, but American children are doing better than they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least when it comes to having their basic needs met…. The child tax credit expansion ended at the beginning of this year. Now, some elected leaders are proposing to reinstate the expanded tax credit…. Regardless of what decision Congress makes, the success of the expansion highlights something else you wouldn’t know from watching the news: The federal government has demonstrably improved the lives of the vast majority of Americans over the last year and a half.
Click through for full article – and don’t keep it to yourself. As the article points out, and as In The Public Interest (who referred me to the article) is constantly pointing out, government run like government, not like a business, always tends tp provide more service at less cost than privatization.
Food For Thought
