Open Thread March 22, 2023

 Posted by at 6:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 222023
 

Yesterday, someone over at DU pointed out that the closest thing we have to a precedent for charging a President or a former President is the “arrest” of Grant for speeding (in his horse-drawn carriege.) I had forgotten about it, but, yes, this really happened. Grant, however, accepted accountability and paid the ticket. Since this happened in the open, there were no walls, but who would not wish to have been a horsefly on site in order to have seen it?

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The Undeserving Rich
Quote – Markets depend on who has the power to design and enforce them — deciding what can be owned and sold and under what terms, who can join together to gain additional market power, what happens if someone cannot pay up, how to pay for what is held in common, and who gets bailed out. These are fundamentally moral judgments. Different societies at different times have decided these questions differently. It was once thought acceptable to own and trade human beings, to take the land of indigenous people by force, to put debtors in prison, and to exercise vast monopoly power.
Click through for full article. Is the idea of “The Deserving Rich” a real thing? I think not. But it’s been around for a long time. If you remember Jesus’s remark about the rich getting into heaven is like a camel getting through the eye of a needle, you may remember his listeners were sghast, and aske, “If they can’t get in, then can anyone?” The name “Prosperity Gospel” may be new but the illusion is not.

The 19th – Nearly 300,000 women served during the Iraq War. Two decades later, they remain ‘the invisible veterans.’
Quote – Theresa Schroeder Hageman, a political science instructor at Ohio Northern University who served as a nurse in the Air Force from 2005 to 2010, said that she’s noticed that veterans like herself who served during the post-9/11 conflict years don’t always claim the veteran status. Schroeder Hageman said she cared for active-duty and veteran patients at one of the country’s largest Air Force hospitals, but she was never deployed overseas. “Sometimes I don’t claim the status because I didn’t deploy, so I feel less than, which is silly,” Schroeder Hageman said. “You think, ‘I’m not a real vet.’ Some women who were deployed but didn’t serve outside the wire will say they’re not a real vet.”
Click through for story. I would say to vets like Schroeder Hageman, “Claim it. It may get ignored. Claim it anyway.”

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 10/30/22

 Posted by at 12:07 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 302022
 

Glenn Kirschner – rump flunky Kash Patel pleads the 5th; is DOJ investigative circle really tightening around Trump?

More Perfect Union – Why These Workers Endorsed Their Boss’s Opponent For Congress

Ring of Fire – Tucker Carlson Says Biden Is Arresting People For Having ‘Wrong Thoughts’

VoteVets – WIsen – The Oath (captions) [VoteVets has gone to doing ads for particular districts, many for people I don’t know. But we all know RoJo.]

Liberal Redneck – Inflation and the GOP

Beau – Let’s talk about a cancer vaccine….

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Video Thread 10/9/22

 Posted by at 11:59 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 092022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Three former Oath Keepers/military veterans testified at trial today. Here’s why it left me hopeful

Meidas Touch – Fox News Guest STUNS NETWORK says Biden was RIGHT on Marijuana LIVE on TV

The Lincoln Project – Mitch Found Out

MSNBC – Oath Keepers Trial Is DOJ’s ‘Biggest Case And Biggest Challenge

Steve Schmidt – trailer for documentary AMERICAN THEOCRACY. He encourages all to share it widely before the midterms because it won’t be released until January and we can’t wait.

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump packing the boxes himself….

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Video Thread 10/4/22

 Posted by at 12:20 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 042022
 

Glenn Kirschner – This would have been the monthly recap, so I have substituted this from MSNBC

Meidas Touch – Navy Vet RESPONDS to Ben Shapiro’s PATHETIC ATTACK on the US Military

The Lincoln Project – DJ Trump (Wilmington Remix)

Vote Vets – Rep. Elissa Slotkin Rebukes Republicans Who Want To Ban Abortions For Veterans Who Are Rape Victims

Hyperobject Industries – Chevron Ad (Yeah, I want more too, but this is their first video – no idea when or if they’ll make another.)

Beau – Let’s talk about Ian and being overtaken by events….

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Video Thread 9/25/22

 Posted by at 11:43 am  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 252022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Appeals court reverses Judge Cannon’s ruling, FBI investigation of Trump/classified docs can resume

Meidas Touch – Furious Navy Vet SLAMS MAGA Group who BLOCKED Veteran Crisis Prevention Hotline

The Lincoln Project – Rally of Darkness

MSNBC – Trump Charges?: Anticipated Jan. 6 Report Hits #1 On US Book Chart Before It Is Released (Jamie Raskin is writing the actual report and David Remnick is the editor.)

Mrs.Betty Bowers – America’s Busiest Troll

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump getting exactly what he asked for….

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Open Thread August 31, 2022

 Posted by at 7:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 312022
 

Yesterday, I was thinking about TomCat and his amputation, because there is now another reader of PP who is going to have an amputation of one leg below the knee. He doesn’t comment, but he does get and read the Sunday emails. I’ll call him James, because that’s his first name. In hiis case, the amputation is necessitated because, after a bunch of years, the titanium rod and steel screws which were put in after an injury are still not working, and he has never been pain free since they were put in. He was denied SSDI so doesn’t have Medicare, and has had other personal issues, so has never been in a position to demand better care, as TomCat was when providers messed up. I asked for and received his permission to request prayers (and/or of course however you communicate with the universe), so I’m requesting.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Phoenix VA Predator Doc Faces 2nd Accusation—How Many More?
Quote – [T]he VA does not appear to have responded to everything MRFF asked for—specifically the “immediate and aggressive investigation” of Cheron. We know that because another veteran abused by Dr. Cheron, Stephen Brittle, has stepped forward after reading our earlier story. He had already lodged a similar complaint against Cheron before Rinsem’s case reached a crisis point. He, too, raised the prospect of Dr. Cheron “brow-beating other patients, given how he acted,” in a letter to the VA dated July 23.
Click through for more. This is the same doctor named in a short take from August 24. Yes, MRFF is on it but how many more are there? And more to the point, how many veterans have died because of his fanaticism?

Axios – Study: Greenland ice melt will raise sea levels by nearly a foot
Quote – The study indicates that human-caused global warming driven by greenhouse gas emissions has effectively locked in a certain amount of sea level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice sheet…. The researchers estimated that the ice sheet will lose about 3.3% of its total volume within this century, which corresponds to 110 trillion metric tons of ice and an average global sea level rise of at least 270 millimeters, or 10.6 inches.
Click through for more information. This is based on the assumption that human action causing warming were to stop immediately – and as we know, that isn’t happening. So it’s actually worse. And there’s 96.7% more of it to melt.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 8/18/22

 Posted by at 12:10 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 182022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Lindsey loses in court; Rudy’s now a target in GA criminal probe; Trump says FBI took his passports?

Please note: after this video was recorded, the Department of Justice reportedly indicated that Trump’s passports were not seized. So Donald Trump may have . . . lied about that? Shocking, said absolutely no body. – Glenn Kirschner – 08/15/2022.

Meidas Touch – Military Veterans Facing Toxic Exposure REACT to President Biden Signing PACT Act

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in The Republican Party – August 16, 2022

Ring of Fire – Rest Of The World Is Freaking Out That Trump May Have Leaked Nuclear Secrets

Mrs Betty Bowers – “Religious Freedom is Neither”

Beau – Let’s talk about thr ultimate American test…. (Spoiler” There are a hundred questions avaiable, but the examiner chooses ten for any given applicant or group of applicants. Six is passing. I got 7 [and two more half right, which would not count, but would not need to.])

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