Transparency – Politics Plus

Open Thread September 13, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:45 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 132022

Yesterday, I added a video to the video thread after it had already published, because the breaking news in it appeared to me to be significant at lease. It was regarding an unplanned trip to DC made by Trump, in his jet, oddly dressed, with no publicity. The trip was late Sunday afternoon, and as of late Monday afternoon, there was still no word about it from the Trump** camp. The way Trump** broadcasts all of his movements down to the tiniest detail, the absence of publicity alone suggests that, whatever the trip was for, it must have been for some reason that was bad news for Trump**. And bad news for him is good news for us. That and one other thing inspired me so that I finished the September cartoons. (The other thing that cheered me was what Nameless posted about.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Salon – Biden’s speech worked: Nearly 6 in 10 Americans agree MAGA is a threat to democracy
Quote – President Joe Biden gave a speech… [which] led to a great deal of media worrying about whether Biden’s speech was “divisive” or could backfire by recasting the fight to save democracy in “partisan” terms. There was reason to be worried. Americans tend to distrust politicians, viewing their public proclamations as political noise better dismissed than taken seriously. But in this case, it appears Biden’s choice to give the speech worked to focus voter attention on the very real threat to democracy posed by Trump and the MAGA movement.
Click through – Of course he wasn’t going to reach active MAGA pushers, and eventually we shall have to deal with them. For now, the important thing is to get ALL non-MAGAs aware of the clear and present danger it reppresents.

CPR News – 4 things we learned from the first-ever release of data that shows how Colorado DAs prosecute cases
Quote – Eight district attorneys across the state — some representing rural areas, some from suburban districts and two representing Denver and Aurora — voluntarily participated in a year-long data project to shed some light on the secrecy behind prosecutions across the state in hopes of seeing how their offices could improve how they operate. The data, linked on eight different prosecutor websites, reveals some differences in how prosecutors treat white defendants and defendants of color, including Black and Hispanic.
Click through for full story. To me,though the results are predictiable (and not great), the most hopeful thing about this story is that the participants instigated it themselves because that wanted to/thought they should be more transparent. That is hopeful.

Food For Thought

Open Thread for October 29, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 292021

Yesterday, I finished a couple more cartoons for November. I admit they all look alike … but mostly there are others separating them which don’t. I looked at the weather and the almanac and learned I can get away with staying the full visitation time, but may have to pull off the road a bit at one point to adjust my visor. (The next visit will be on Standard time, and I will have to watch the almanac very carefully inded to know how early I need to leave. Staying over is becoming too much for me, especially since doing so no longer gives me an extra day to visit.) I have ordered a visor clip, but I won’t have it for tomorrow, and may not have it for the next visit either.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette – TN State Senator Indicted For Hilarious Campaign Finance Hijinks
Quote – Naturally, the “social club” run by Defendant Smith has a PAC, as all your better single-outlet eating establishments do. (LOL, wut?) And according to the indictment, the defendants used this PAC to move $106,000 from Kelsey’s state campaign coffers to support his 2016 run for the US House — an illegal use of so called “soft money” because the state campaign donations are not subject to federal campaign finance limits. So to disguise the transfer, these two geniuses moved the cash from Kelsey’s state campaign to the “social club” PAC, and thence on through one more PAC until it wound up at the American Conservative Union, which immediately dropped $80,000 on radio ads endorsing Kelsey’s federal campaign.
Click through for full description of indictment (plus a link to the real thing.) Enjoy this story. The next two are scary.

Mother Jones – How Do People Join Militias? A Leaked Oath Keepers Roster Has Answers.
Quote – Some of the explanations offered in the database are absurd: “Old man in Jarome, AZ at a little bar rocking some reggae,” reads one. Others are concerning: “An ICE agent,” another says. Some are both: “Funny story, I stopped a speeding truck driver, who had your decal on the side of his truck, I asked about it, he went on and on, I said, Damn I’m all about this. looked up online and here I am. I’m a poor broke cop. But, I’m TRUE BLUE/ AMERICAN,” reads an accounting from an Illinois-based police officer.
Click through for story. How can a nation protect itself against this?

Pro Publica – A Union Scandal Landed Hundreds of NYPD Officers on a Secret Watchlist. That Hasn’t Stopped Some From Jeopardizing Cases.
Quote – The list was created a decade ago amid a sprawling investigation into the city’s biggest police union and its role in helping officers “fix” tickets issued to family and friends for speeding, illegal parking and other traffic offenses. It grew to 664 names and was intended to help prosecutors vet cases that might rest too heavily on officers whose ties to the scandal could raise questions about their conduct and credibility. Ten years after it was first created, the No Fly List itself remains secret by judicial seal.
Click Through for discouraging details The Department has roughly 36,000 officers, and the list has 664. That doesn’t sound like a lot … but it’s still way too many. ONE would be too many.

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 6, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 062021

Yesterday, I dealt with the package from saturday which contained crafting supplies.. No, I didn’t make all the crafts, but I did get stuff put awaw. The other package was a small electronic with which I am still dealing. And rested.

Cartoon –

And, of course, I wish all a

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Democrats Should Be Fighting The Next War, Not The Last One
Quote – Here’s my unpopular opinion: Getting angry at Susan Collins now is a waste of time. Okay, sure, get angry. But don’t fight the last war. We had a chance to defeat Collins in 2020, and we blew it, badly. She won by 9 points. She’s not up for reelection for another five years.
Click through for what do do instead. At least some of it. There’s probebly something in your own state which is also more constructive.

Washington Post – One tactic to stop abortion bounty hunters from demolishing women’s constitutional rights
Quote – When thinking about Texas’s nefarious scheme to deprive women of their constitutional right to seek an abortion, I am reminded of the tactics White segregationists used in the years following the Brown v. Board of Education decision…. In the case of Texas’s antiabortion law, state lawmakers know that Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land, establishing a woman’s right under the 14th Amendment to control her own reproduction. So they came up with the idea to enlist private citizens to rat out women exercising their constitutional rights. They offered these people a bounty of $10,000. Think of them as hiring every Texas resident (and residents outside the state!) on a contract basis to make abortion services virtually impossible to obtain.
Click through to the Washington Post for the full editorial, or click through to Democratic Underground for a larger excerpt. I was paywalled out of the Post myself, so I’m supplying both links.

Law & Crime – Biden Will Declassify FBI Documents on Saudi Arabia’s Role in 9/11 Terrorist Attacks — Here’s What the Order Says
Quote – “When I ran for president, I made a commitment to ensuring transparency regarding the declassification of documents on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America,” a press release announcing the executive order notes. “As we approach the 20th anniversary of that tragic day, I am honoring that commitment.”
Click through for details and context. Another step in the direction of transparency – and something to look forward to.

Food for Thought –

BIG Mouth Awards

Every 1,000th Comment
20 – Infidel – 7/6/2011
21 – SoINeedAName – 7/25/2011
22 – SoINeedAName – 8/17/2011
23 – Maria – 9/7/2011
24 – Phyllis – 9/29/2011
25 – Tom – 10/22/2011
26 – Lynn Squance – 11/25/2011
27 – Deborah – 12/29/2011
28 – Patty – 1/19/2012
29 – Lynn Squance – 2/8/2012
30 – Jolly Roger – 3/8/2012
31 – Patty – 5/4/2012
32 – Marva Dasef – 6/8/2012
33 – Patty – 7/8//2012
34 – Edith Belcher – 8/12//2012
35 – Patty – 9/17/2012
36 – Tasunka – 10/12/2012
37 – Lynn Squance – 11/6/2012
38 – SoINeedAName – 11/29/2012
39 – Lynn Squance – 1/11/2013
40 – Lynn Squance – 2/17/2013
41 – Patty – 3/23/2013
42 – Edith Belcher – 5/29/2013
43 – Jim Phillips – 6/29/2013
44 – Patty – 7/27/2013
45- Lynn Squance – 8/21/2013
46 – Rixar13 – 9/12/2013
47 – Rixar13 – 10/4/2013
48- Lynn Squance – 10/25/2013
49 – Patty – 11/27/2013
50 – Lynn Squance – 1/13/2014
51 – Patty – 3/7/2014
52 – Yvonne White – 4/16/2014
53 – Edie – 5/20/2014
54 – Jerry Critter – 6/23/2014
55 – Lynn Squance – 7/29/2014
56 – Joanne D – 9/5/2014
57 – Patty – 10/19/2014
58 – Arielle – 11/16/2014
59 – Pat A – 12/26/2014
60 – SoINeedAName – 1/24/2015
61 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2015
62 – Joanne D – 3/21/2015
63 – Vivian B – 4/23/2015
64 – Joanne D – 5/23/2015
65 – Yvonne White – 6/22/2015
66 – SoINeedAName – 7/16/2015
67 – Lona Goudswaard – 8/6/2015
68 – Mamabear – 8/25/2015
72 – Judi Angell – 11/27/2015
74 – Judi Angell – 1/18/2016
75 – Jerry Critter – 1/2/2016
76 – Lona Goudswaard – 3/11/2016
77 – Lona Goudswaard – 4/4/2016
78 – Pat B – 5/5/2016
79 – Mitch D – 6/5/2016
80 – Joanne D – 7/3/2016
81 – Lona Goudswaard – 7/30/2016
82 – Mitch D – 9/2/2016
83 – Joanne D – 10/6/2016
84 – Pat A – 11/10/2016
85 – Pat B – 12/11/2016
86 – Pat A – 1/14/2017
87 – Lynn Squance – 2/18/2017
88 – Vivian Birdwell – 4/5/2017
89 – Vivian Birdwell – 5/16/2017
90 – Lona Goudswaard – 6/23/2017
91 – SoINeedAName – 7/30/2017
92 – Joanne D – 9/4/2017
93 – Pat B – 10/12/2017
94 – SoINeedAName – 11/20/2017
95 – Jerry Critter – 12/31/2017
96 – Joanne D – 2/12/2018
97 – Pat B – 3/27/2018
98 – Richard A – 5/5/2018
99 – Lynn Squance – 6/12/2018
100 – Mitch D – 7/20/2018
101 – Pat B – 8/30/2018
102 – Pat B – 10/5/2018
103 – Joanne D – 11/9/2018
104 – Animae – 12/18/2018
105 – Animae – 1/25/2019
106 – Colleen – 3/2/2019
107 – Joanne D – 4/11/2019
108 – Animae – 6/1/2019
109 – Pat B – 8/9/2019
110- Angelflowers – 09/20/2019
111 – Colleen – 11/5/2019
112 – Pat B – 12/25/2019
113 – None – My Bad
114 – Pat B – 3/24/2020
115 – Freya – 5/24/2020
116 – JL – 7/4/2020
117 – Colleen – 8/13/2020