Robert Reich – Page 9 – Politics Plus

Open Thread September 7, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 072022

Yesterday, I received a fund raising email from Adam Schiff. That’s not unusual, but I usually don’t read them. This one drew me in with the subject line, and it turned out to be mostly about his daughter, Alexa, with a photo from when she was four. She’s now 24 and getting established in a career in fashion (Adam stresses that her fashion sense is and always was far superior to his.) Of course it gets more serious, but it’s very well written, and put a smile on my face. I also puttered arond a bit trying to organize more. And started on a new bag for the next pickup … which I have not scheduled, wanting to be under less pressure this time. Finally, yesterday, the first public servant since Reconstruction was disqualified under the 14th Amendment. He was a County Commissioner in New Mexico who took part in Jan. 6. But even though he wasn’y a Senator or a House rep, it’s still a BFD. Cheers for New Mexico!

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – For Labor Day: My “we-they” test for good places to work
Quote – In honor of Labor Day, I want to give you a simple way to test for a good workplace. I came up with it years ago when as secretary of labor I visited workplaces all over America. I call it the “we-they” test. Ask a front-line worker a general question like “how is it work here?” or “how’s your job?” or “how would you describe this workplace?” Then listen for the pronoun. If workers describe the company as “they” or “them,” it’s a tipoff that workers regard the company and its executives as being on a different planet.
Click through for examples. I sure wish I’d known this when I was twenty.

NPR – Fox producer’s warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
Quote – The November 2020 email from an anguished Fox News news producer to colleagues sent up a flare amid a fusillade of false claims. The producer warned: Fox cannot let host Jeanine Pirro back on the air. She is pulling conspiracy theories from dark corners of the Web to justify then-President Donald Trump’s lies that the election had been stolen from him. The existence of the email, confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it, is first publicly disclosed by NPR in this story. Fox News declined comment.
Click through for story (read or listen, or both.) This is definitely going to undermine any chance of theit claiming not to know any better.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 8/29/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:49 am Open Thread, Politics

Aug 292022

Glenn Kirschner – Georgia DA Fani Willis moves through Trump lackeys: Giuliani, Graham, Kemp and Meadows

Meidas Touch – Democratic Mom STUNS at school board hearing with speech of the year

Farron Balanced – DOJ Says They Can’t Trust Anything Trump’s Lawyers Tell Them

Robert Reich – How Republicans Could Steal The Next Presidential Election

Liberal Redneck – Student Loan Forgiveness

Beau – Let’s talk about hunger stones and more….

Video Thread 7/21/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:41 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 212022

Glenn Kirschner – Day 1 of Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress trial: jury selection. Many jurors voice their disdain

Meidas Touch – (NSFW) Texas Paul REACTS to Republican Obsession with TRAITORS

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party July 19

Robert Reich – Why Joe Manchin is Wrong About Inflation and Why We Need a Windfall Profits Tax

Puppet Regime – The Newsletter the PUPPET REGIME Wants You To Read

Beau – Let’s talk about systemic failures in Uvalde….

Video Thread 7/15/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:49 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 152022

Glenn – The evil of Team Trump’s witness tampering, and the danger of DOJ’s failure to promptly investigate

Meidas Touch – Anthony Scaramucci offers SCARED Steve Bannon $300,000 for televised debate

The Lincoln Project – The List

Farron Balanced – Angry Cops Threaten To Arrest Each Other In Deranged Video (Think harder, Farron – it’s about which jurisdiction gets the $$$ from the fine.)

Robert Reich on CNN – How Can We Improve The Economy? Start By Reining In The Power Of Corporations

Premature Chihuahua Puppy Loves Growling At His Favorite Toy

Beau – Let’s talk about leaving your state….

Video Thread 7/13/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:05 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 132022

Glenn – Steve Bannon’s ruse rejected by Trump appointed judge; Trump still using the big lie to sow division

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul DEBUNKS new Deranged Hunter Biden Conspiracy Theory

The Lincoln Project – The GOP’s Crazy Candidates

Robert Reich – The Secret to the GOP’s Assault on Your Rights | Robert Reich

Brent Terhune – The worst drag race I ever been to

Beau – Let’s talk about dominoes from the Colorado….

Open Thread July 2, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 022022

Yesterday, I started working ahead so I won’t lose sleep or sanity over juggling visiting Virgil and maintaining the blog. Speaking of Virgil, Colleen asked whether the half-day limit was related to the holiday and I said I didn’t thinks so but wasn’t sure. I didn’t say that the only facility he had previously been to with a half-day limit was an infirmary. So when he called today, I asked him, and he said, yes, he’s in an informary, but hadn’t told me because he didn’t want to worry me (ri-i-ight.) He said one of his legs collapsed. I said “Even with the walker?” and he replied “I couldn’t get to the walker fast enough.” So we’ll see what shape he is in. I pointed out that knowing that, yes, something happened, but he is getting medical care actually relieves my mind.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The beginning of the end of regulation
Quote – West Virginia v. EPA is the latest battle pitting America’s big businesses (in this case Big Oil) against the needs of average Americans. In this Supreme Court — containing three Trump appointees, two George W. Bush appointees, and one George H.W. Bush appointee – big business is winning big time. The financial backers of the Republican Party are getting exactly what they paid for.
Click through for article. The 2020s are looking more and more like the 1920s every day. I hope we get to the 1932 election while I’m still alive (and I hope it doesn’t take until 2032 to do it.)

The Daily Beast – The Sleeper ‘Wire Fraud’ Scheme That Could Nail Trumpworld
Quote – While the Jan. 6 hearings have delivered explosive testimony and evidence suggesting that a number of former administration officials may face criminal liability related to the attack on the Capitol—possibly all the way up to Trump—there’s another potential criminal liability that has largely been lost in the news. That would be the sprawling wire fraud conspiracy which the Jan. 6 special select committee alleged in its second hearing, on June 13, a scheme which legal experts say contains the ingredients for possible federal charges against officials with the campaign and the Republican National Committee—as well as Trump himself.
Click through for details. I know, y’all don’t care what brings hem down as long as it is something, and the sooner the better.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/30/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:46 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 302022

Glenn Kirschner – J6 hearing reveals Trump knew mob was armed, wanted to lead them to the Capitol to stop Biden’s win

Meidas Touch – Michael Cohen REACTS to Trump Officials Being Indicted and Subpoenaed

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – June 28, 2022

Robert Reich – This is Why We Need to Get Money Out of Politics

Liberal Redneck – Not So Supreme Court

Beau – Let’s talk about what they’re going after next….

Open Thread June 30, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:40 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 302022

Yesterday, the news was filled with testimony from Tuesday’s hearing. And rightly so – I guess a lot of people did not realize, and still don’t, who Trump** so obviously is. Of course he throws dishes against the wall. Of course he tries to do bodily harm to anyone who pisses him off. Of course he’s the last person in the world who shold have the nuclear codes. How did so may people miss that? And I don’t even mean his cultists. I mean how did so may sane people still manage not to see that? It’s not as if Hillary didn’t warn us. At least more people are realizing it now. The other thing that was in the news (at least my news feed) was our primaries. I already reported that Tina Peters, the County Clerk who stole the voting equipment, lost her primary to run for Secretary of State (the bad news is that the winner is almost as bad.) Other bad news is that Boebert won her primary. I had no part in that, but I still apologize on behalf of my state to the entire nation. We can only hope that Democrats and Unaffiliateds combine to oust her. Sadly, that’s merely a hope.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The “Gap” in the Constitution That Led to January 6th
Quote – Yes, it’s absolutely true that our Presidential-election system in particular has significant vulnerabilities. Some of those vulnerabilities are in the Constitution itself. As long as we retain the constitutional provision for the Electoral College, we won’t be completely out of the woods. State legislatures have the authority to replace a popular vote, to directly appoint the electors for their state. But they can’t do it retroactively. And that gets to what Giuliani and Trump were trying to do.
Click through for full discussion. All communication requires those communicating to share at least some assumptions (there’s a group exercise invilving peanut butter and jelly which brings this point home vividly), and one of those assumptions that we make without realizing it is that we expect our elected officials to act in good faith. For much of my life, though that wasn’t 100% true, there were enough who were that it was safe to assume it. Then came Reagan, Gingrich, and a host of others, and now it is no longer safe to make that assumption.

Robert Reich – The rogue court and the fight ahead
Quote – I keep telling the young people I work with and in the classes I teach that I grew up in an America that expanded constitutional rights, battled racism and protected voting rights, and enlarged the middle class. I tell them that if we did it then, we can do so again. They hear me but I’m not sure they believe me. Their young lives have been marked mostly by public failure. Many were motivated to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2016, and against Trump in 2020, but their patience is wearing thin.
Clivk through for full argument (there’s also a video). I know, voting is not enough, but it has to start with voting. We have to give good leaders some authority – something to work with. If we don’t, their leaders get authority.

Food For Thought – I think this is the first time I have seen a New Yorker cartoon depict a real person, though it’s probably happened.

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