May 252022
 

Yesterday, I tried to catch up on things I need to order, starting with two prescriptions. I succeeded in ordering one; the other one, after counting, I put off for a week since I have almost 4 weeks supply on hand. Then there were a few jewelry supplies I’d ben pl;anning ro order but was waiting for a sale (and it’s almost Memorial Day.) So I put that order together and placed it. Then I started looking for a small “boom box” (yes, they are still using that term – that surprised me too), but didn’t get far, because the combination of features I want is appaently unusual. I also started a list for a grocery order, but did not place it, because it was Tuesday, and Wednesday is the day that prices change (if they are going to), and I like to know what I am getting into, so I’ll place it today for tomorrow.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Wisconsin GOP Gubernatorial Candidate: None Of The Above
Quote – Wisconsin Republicans refused to endorse any of the four candidates for governor at their annual state convention for the first time — a symbolic rejection of the political apparatus that has been blamed by its own members for failing to deliver statewide victories in recent years.
Click through for answers to questions you undoubtedly have. There will eventually be a candidate, because there is a primary (sadly).

Robert Reich – Bombardment by the billionaires
Quote – This is the same crew, not incidentally, that’s been fighting unions and flooding Congress and statehouses with cash to support Trump election deniers, prevent tax hikes on themselves, and kill off Biden’s and the Democrats’ agenda…. This billionaire bombardment gives Biden and the Democrats an opportunity to tell America whose side they’re on and whose side they’re not on — in effect, to declare class war on the class warriors. Will they take it?
Click through for his reasoning and recpmmendations. The Reich on the left has a history of being right, and he has the education and experience to be. So I hope he is listened to. I franklly have no idea what, if anything, will work.

Just Security – Prosecuting Trump for the Insurrection: The Well-Founded Case for Optimism
Quote – For example, in one New York Times piece weighing the prospects for a Trump prosecution, the authors noted that Trump “would have a powerful argument about his mental state” against a claim that he pressured former Vice President Pence to violate his legal duties under the Electoral Count Act – i.e., that Trump “sincerely thought he was asking Mr. Pence to do something lawful” because of the “advice” he received from lawyer John Eastman, who concocted a baseless rationale for Pence to ignore the law. Likewise, in a second piece, the Times quoted a law professor for the proposition that “[t]he problem with Trump is defining his state of mind when it is so changeable. He believes whatever he wants to think and it doesn’t necessarily have to be grounded in reality. That’s a tough argument to a jury, to say he knew a particular thing.”
Click through for full article. This article was recommended by Glenn Kirschner, and it is very thorough – so thorough that I didn’t even try for a quote which summarized all the points.  So I recommend you either read the whole article or skip it. Or you could, of course, save it for when you have more time.

Food For Thought

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May 132022
 

Yesterday, I paid a couple of bills. I didn’t venture outside, though I suppose I might have, because besides the evacuations the day before, we also has spring winds (to blow them away) – but that’s a straight stick which points two ways, – the winds could aldo have brought the fires (and their smoke) closer. Not difficult to justify doing what I wanted to do anyway (grin.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

truthout – DeSantis’s Congressional Maps Deemed “Unconstitutional” by Judge He Appointed
Quote – Smith will likely replace DeSantis’s gerrymandered maps with one of two that the Republican-controlled legislature had previously passed, which the governor had vetoed earlier this year. Though still advantageous to the GOP, those maps are seen as somewhat better (though by no means perfect), in terms of respecting Black voters’ voices, than the ones DeSantis demanded be passed after his veto.
Click through for article. Here’s my take on DeSantis.

Media Matters – Fox News melts down following revelation Karine Jean-Pierre called the network racist. She’s right.
Quote – It’s not just people on the left pointing out Fox’s racism. In 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, The Daily Beast reported that it “spoke to more than a dozen Fox News insiders, who all suggested that behind the scenes there is a growing despair among employees about the network’s role in demonizing and spreading fear about Black Americans in particular.” One Fox staffer quoted in the piece described some of the network’s personalities as “a white supremacist cell,” adding, “This is rank racism excused by Murdoch.” Another described Fox programming as “white supremacist crap.”
Click through if you can stand to. Shall we expect Fox staff to treat Karine with even more disrespect than they did Jen? (OK, I grant I was shocked when Doocy said on camera that he would miss her because she’d always been a “good sport.”)

Robert Reich – Personal history: The Supreme Court I argued before fifty years ago
Quote – Douglas, Marshall, and Blackmun were the intellectual leaders of that Supreme Court. Their opinions gave the Court its moral heft. They drew not only from the Constitution as written but also from the nation as it had evolved. They understood the moral leadership America needed to protect the rights of the voiceless and the powerless. Today’s Supreme Court majority doesn’t have a clue about the Court’s moral authority, and couldn’t care less.
Click through for history, nostalgia, and moral clarity. Today’s FFT is a meme drawn from this article.  Feel free to share it.

Food For Thought

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 16: Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich testifies before the Joint Economic Committee January 16, 2014 in Washington, DC. Reich joined a panel testifying on the topic of “Income Inequality in the United States.Ó (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

 

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Mar 312022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Federal Judge Finds, by a Preponderance of the Evidence, that Trump Committed Crimes Against the US

Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican PArty

MSNBC – Sen. Whitehouse: Three New Supreme Court Justices Being Told What To Do By Donor Front Groups

Robert Reich – The Oligarchy’s Ultimate Political Weapon

Al Franken – Critical Race Theory – An ACTUAL Explanation

Liberal Redneck – Trump’s January 6th Burner Phones

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, a judge, DOJ, and a ruling…..

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Feb 052022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s Incriminating Outburst: “Pence Should be Investigated for NOT Overturning the Election”

The Lincoln Project – Winter Is Coming

Meidas Touch – Mike Pence: Trump is WRONG, his comments are ‘un-American’

Political Voices Network – An Unreal Story of Trump in Office

Robert Reich – “Legitimate Political Discourse”

Liberal Redneck – Recent Holocaust Rhetoric in America

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump going all in [last] weekend….

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Feb 022022
 

Glenn Kirschner – States Refer Fake Electors to DOJ for Investigation States Should Move on Prosecutions as Well

The Lincoln Project – Unlikely

Robert Reich – The Deficit Double Standard

Rebel HQ – Veteran SLAMS Newt Gingrich For Warmongering

Farron Balanced – Georgia Prosecutors Ask For FBI Protection Following Trump’s Weekend Rally

American Bridge – Stephen Colbert sings Ron Johnson’s Campaign Theme Song

Beau – Let’s talk about Deep Goat and releasing the transcript….

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Jan 202022
 

Glenn Kirschner – VA Gov Youngkin, a mini-Trump, Issues Legally Dubious & Dangerous Executive Orders on Day 1in Office

politicsrus – Say Something 2022

Farron Balamced – Authorities Tell Republican Texas AG He Can’t Hide His January 6th Involvement

Robert Reich – How to Avoid Burnout

Puppet Regime – Putin It Out There: Leverage 101

Rocky Mountain Mike – Sinema Girl

Beau – Let’s talk about Ukraine…. (Ordinarily I leave foreign policy to the experts, but Beau has an idea so creative [and funny]…)

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Oct 232021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Any Member of Congress Who Votes AGAINST Holding Bannon in Contempt, Aids/Abets Steve Bannon’s Crime (Answer: All but 9)

MSNBC – Rep. Schiff ‘Surprised’ 9 Republicans Voted To Hold Bannon In Criminal Contempt

Thom Hartmann – Could Harris Use Nixon Playbook To Break Filibuster?

Robert Reich – America is on Strike

Now This News – Elementary School Teachers Surprise Colleague With New Car. (This is the kind of community Beau wirks at making heppen.)

Kitten Refuses to Share Her New Puppy Sister with Anyone

Beau – Let’s talk about paternity leave…. (Just put this beside the article about Cawthorn in Tuesday’s (10/19) Open Thread…)

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Oct 062021
 

Glenn Kirschner – House Select Committee Promises to Enforce its Subpoenas w/Criminal Contempt. Here’s How That’s Done

The Lincoln Project – Last Week In The Republican Party…

VoteVets – Retired Air Force Internal Medicine Physician Urges Everyone To Get Vaccinated

Robert Reich – The Democrats’ One Chance to Cut Child Poverty in Half

Really American – 50% of Trump Supporters Would Back Civil War

Mother Cat Secretly Looked After Kittens Whom She Hid In The House

Beau – Let’s talk about the difference between the parties and Trump’s legacy….

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