Video Thread 11/19/22

 Posted by at 11:59 am  Open Thread, Politics
Nov 192022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Mike Pence reveals Trump’s crimes in book but WON’T testify about Trump’s crimes to the J6 committee

The Lincoln Project – Trump’s Announcement (I doubt they would, but technically, the people atopped from leaving could sue him for the tort of false arrest.)

MSNBC – Secy. Austin: Poland Missile Incident ‘Most Likely’ Caused By Ukrainian Air Defense

Ring of Fire – DOJ Hits Back At Trump Claims In New Court Filing

Colbert – The Announcement The Former President Should Have Made

Kitten Left Without a Home is Adopted by One Special Momma

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump as Speaker of the House…. (It took me a bit to check the cap … but way under 2 minutes.)

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Open Thread November 17, 2022

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 172022
 

Yesterday, I did manage to get the trash and recyclables out to the curb for today’s pickup. Also, more updates appear to indicate that the missile hitting Poland (and killing between 2 and 5 people – depending on the source) was not intentional on anyone’s part – although it would not have happened had ussia not been shooting missiles all over Ukraine out of pure spite.  NATO is going to have to do a lot of talking and thinking about it but, no one is looking at World War III.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – ‘Political Contamination’: Jamie Raskin Slams 155 Election Deniers In Congress
Quote – CBS host Margaret Brennan reported on Sunday that her network had tallied election deniers who will serve in the new Congress. According to the tally, deniers of the election won 155 House seats and nine Senate seats in the U.S. Congress. That was in addition to 18 wins at the state level. “That’s a statement about the political contamination of the GOP by Donald Trump,” Raskin told Brennan. “Kevin McCarthy and other leaders in the Republican Party are now required to make a decision about whether they’re going to try rid themselves of Donald Trump and his toxic influence on the party.”
Click through for article. Let’s for the sake of argument assume they have 218 seats. 218 – 155 = 63 non-deniers, at most. I find myself wondering whether McCarthy is even Trumpy enough for them. Because if he isn’t,  he’s toast. And his replacement could be far sorse.

Politico – Biden to Pelosi: ‘I Hope You Stick’
Quote – “I hope you stick,” Biden told Pelosi in a phone call after congratulating her on the caucus’s unexpected victories and asking about her convalescing husband, according to Democrats familiar with the conversation. Pelosi interjected to note her personal considerations and Biden continued, “I know it’s family first but I hope you stick,” before Pelosi deflected again. Biden wasn’t on the ballot and Pelosi faced little challenge in her San Francisco district, but you wouldn’t have known it from their reactions to the results. The soon-to-be 80-year-old president and the 82-year-old speaker, mutual admirers with similar roots and shared grievances toward critics and wise-guy pundits, were bullish about their prospects and felt vindicated by the party’s success.
Click through for – more details than you might like. The article degenerates into comments from just about everyone but Nancy herself about what she should do. (And I’m sick of hearing about Biden’s “low approval rating.” It’s higher than Trump** EVER had in all four years.) But the mutual respect between Pelosi and Biden shines through and makes up for that.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread November 11, 2022

 Posted by at 6:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 112022
 

Yesterday, we got some additional election results and we did not get others. Some of the results were good. Others not so much. And some of the undecided races are IMO nervewracking (Boebert’s district is still too close to call.) One thing that we do know is that the Georgia Senate race is headed to a runoff, which is the second-best news we could have from Georgia. We do know that Georgia Democrats are very good at getting turnout for runoffs – that is how Rev. Warnock got into the Senate in the first place. I’m sorry that it means more work (and more anxiety) for Georgia Democrats, but it is better than a simple loss, and it gives me hope. I did find a good news story (at least I think and hope so – one never knows what a fascist is going to spring on one), along with one which makes me want to scream. I do have a couple of new nicknames to share (for people I SO wish would just go away so the nicknames would not be needed) – “Pumpkin Spice Lardass” and “DeSanctimonious.” The latter is being credited to the former, but I seriously doubt whether he knows any five-syllable words.  Oh, and I got the Name Drop right again – but only because I’m not only so old, but because I was raised by my Mom who was born in 1906 and her Mom who was obviously even older (I called a refrigerator an “icebox” until I was in my 20’s.  I had some other paleologisms too.)

Cartoon (Pat B is in her local parade today) –

Short Takes –

Axios – Russia announces retreat from key Ukrainian city of Kherson
Quote – Kherson was the only provincial capital captured by Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February. Its liberation would represent a remarkable victory for Ukrainian forces. It marks another major setback for Moscow in the nine-month war, coming after Ukraine recaptured a major portion of Kharkiv Oblast and made significant gains in Kherson Oblast in earlier this fall Russian forces will also cede all of the territory captured on the western bank of the River Dnipro and will organize defensive lines on the opposite bank of the river.
Click through for article. I cannot guarantee that this is good news, but it certainly seems promising..

Crooks and Liars – Man Allegedly Shoots Neighbor Dead Because He Thought He Was A Democrat
Quote – An Ohio man died of multiple gunshot wounds, and according to the 911 call, the victim’s wife said that the armed neighbor murdered her husband because he thought he was a Democrat. The chilling 911 call reveals that Austin Combs had confronted Anthony Lee King, 43, over his perceived party affiliation on multiple occasions.
Click through for the (literally) gory details. I have heard many times people in AA saying, when someone started a sentence with “I thought…” “Did your sponsor tell you you could think?” Seems appropriate to me for MAGAts – except, who is going to tell them? Who would they listen to?

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 10/31/22

 Posted by at 11:52 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 312022
 

Glenn Kirschner – How federal law enforcement should respond to the attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi

Farron Balanced – January 6th Committee Gives Georgia Prosecutors Evidence That Could Sink Trump

MSNBC – Pelosi Home Invasion Comes After Years Of Trump Targeting The Speaker

Really American – Chip Franklin EXPOSES Republicans abundance of hate and absence of solutions

Rocky Mountain Mike (for Hallowe’en) – Ivana’s Casket (with CC) and if you miss the original – https://youtu.be/yuy2fA6alfE

Beau – Let’s talk about the exit strategy for Ukraine….

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Open Thread October 28, 2022

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 282022
 

Yesterday, I gather there were a few flakes of snaw, but I had a little difficulty getting to sleep the previous night, and you all know I am not a bit shy of sleeping in when that happens – so, I blinked and missed it. No more precipitation of any kind is predicted for the next nine days. And Weather Underground is pretty good at this. Those high winds we had last Sunday – WU predicted them nine days in advance. Also, I heard from James (who had his leg amputated) – he now has his prosthesis, and while it’s requiring some adjustment, he’s pain free and hoping to go back to work earlier than was anticipated before the surgery.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Russia Now Has a Second Frontline Set Up Just to Kill Its Deserters: Intel
Quote – Ukrainian intelligence on Thursday released an audio recording that appears to capture in disturbing detail the mayhem and internal rifts between Russian troops on the battlefield…. It was not clear where exactly the soldier was based. But there have been myriad reports of Russian commanders threatening to execute any of their own men who try to ditch the war.
Click through for article. I believe something like this was done by Confederates during our Civil War. But I don’t recall hearing or reading of it being done by Hitler, or Mussolini, or Stalin, even – at least, not systematically.

CREW – Secret Service received shooting threat against Chuck Schumer on January 6
Quote – Right-wing news channel Newsmax received a voicemail suggesting a shooting threat against Schumer shortly before 4 pm on January 6, roughly an hour after the Senate chamber had been breached and well before law enforcement was able to clear them out. A Newsmax editor emailed the voicemail to the Secret Service at 3:59 pm, indicating the timestamp at which the threat was made…. US Capitol Police did not receive the voicemail from PID until more than an hour after Newsmax had sent it. The records do not show how explicit the threat was made in the voicemail.
Click through for details. I’m sure it’s no news to anyone here that the Secret Service need to be purged – an ugly word but I cann’t think of a better way to describe what’s needed.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread October 26, 2022

 Posted by at 7:07 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 262022
 

Yesterday, this email notification was in my inbox:

So that is done. Although, as John Pavlovitz points out, on November 9, when we wake up, the world is still going to be there. And many things will still be the same. (And hope will still be there too.) Also, yesterday was World Opera Day, which I had not known existed. There’s always something to learn. As trivial as this is, I also learned (by looking them up) that the Met’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, is 5’5″ tall, one inch taller than James Madison, and six inches taller than Robert Reich. What’s that saying, good things come in small packages? (No offense intended to tall people.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Talent Agency Drops Kanye West For Anti-Semitism, But the Real Story Is Misogyny-to-Fascism Pipeline
Quote – But that’s not the real story. Before all of this blew up, Amanda Maricotte at Salon wrote a piece that got to the roots of what is troubling West and why he’s even worth taking a look at. He’s not just an isolated rich dummy, an over the hill artiste who hasn’t gone on tour since 2016. He’s part of something a lot bigger and a lot scarier, in addition to his particular brand of mental illness.
Click through for article – which looks to an article by Amanda Marcotte for Salon here, which in turn looks back to two earlier articles here and here, and just like that, the light dawns. It isn’t coincidence that these things go together, or, at least, it isn’t any more. It’s the conscious, deliberate use of misogyny to turn people, particularly men, into extreme fascists. And I can’t get into words how dangerous this is.

The Daily Beast – Pelosi Has a New Plan That’s Going to Make Putin Really Pissed
Quote – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is slated to attend the Crimea Platform parliamentary summit in Croatia this week as part of a forum to discuss kicking Russia out of Crimea and returning the peninsula to Ukraine. Her visit is meant to show the United States’ “ironclad solidarity” with Ukraine, the Democrat said in a statement. But while it may seem like just the latest expression of support from the West, the trip could reverberate all the way to the Kremlin.
Click through for details. I don’t think pissing Putin off is necessarily a bad thing. This is not actually an escalation in any way, but a reiteration of what our position has been since at least two years before Trump** moved in.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 10/24/22

 Posted by at 11:49 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – January 6 committee subpoenas Trump. Will he successfully use the courts to run out the clock?

The Lincoln Project – We’ve Been Warning You

MSNBC – House Member Criticizes McCarthy Over Threats To Cut Ukraine Funding

Farron Balanced – Conservatives Started An Anti Woke Bank And Immediately Went Bankrupt

Armageddon Update – Vote or Die!

Beau – Let’s talk about which party you want during a recession….

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Open Thread October 21, 2022

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 212022
 

Yesterday, I did get my ballot into the mail in time for the daily delivery/pickup. So I’ll be watching my email carefully for the “received” and “counted” emails (as if I didn’t always watch my email carefully.) In it (my email) today was a “The Warning” from Steve Schmidt – abbreviated because I’m a free subscriber – with perhaps the most blistering takedown of Kevin McCarthy you’ll ever see without profanity. And one from Jpoyce Vance had an analysis of the court decision on the Trump**-Eastman emails. I also received confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday. He called again also, and was much less confused, which was a relief.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Shadow Government in Putin’s Own Backyard Plots Against Him
Quote – Belarus’ opposition, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is plotting to form an alliance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to try to hamper any hopes that Russia may have of territorial expansion beyond Ukraine and further into Europe. The concern is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is eyeing Belarus much like how he’s eyeing Ukraine—and hoping to envelope Belarus into Russia itself, Valery Kavaleuski, a foreign affairs representative for the Belarusian opposition leader, told The Daily Beast. “Russians are looking at us in the same light as they look at Ukraine,” Kavaleuski said. “‘This is a state that is temporarily dependent. This is the nation that does not deserve to be next to Russia,
Click through for article. I don’t know how much of this is wishful thinking, and – maybe because – I don’t know how much real power Tsikhanouskaya has. I haven’t seen it elsewhere, but it claims to be an exclusive, so that alone does not discredit it.

Crooks and Liars – Paul Krugman: Here’s What Dems Should Do If GOP Gains House Majority
Quote – So what should be done to avert this threat? If Republicans do gain control of one or both houses in November, Democrats should use the lame-duck session to enact a very large rise in the debt limit, enough to put the issue on ice for years. Republicans and pundits who don’t understand the stakes would furiously attack this move, but it would be far better than enabling extortion — and would probably be forgotten by the time of the 2024 election.
Click through for the why, and the backup plan. I haven’t heard much from Krugman lately, presumably because I don’t subscribe to the NY Times. But he has always known what he is talking about, and he is right again. I hope he gets attention from those who need to hear this.

Food For Thought

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