Oct 062022
 

Yesterday, I realized that today is Yom Kippur – it began last night at sunset. I didn’t make a graphic greeting for it, because it is such a serious holiday and I did not want to be unintentionally fippant. But I will offer G’mar Chatima Tovah to all who celebrate.

I also learned that the group Faithful Americahas a new website up, “False Prophets Don’t Speak for Me,” to oppose Christofascism.  If you agree, you can sign there to say so.  Obviusly, just being one of the signers helps.  Of course they ae also requesting donations, but it’s not a requirement.  It shows who they consider to be the top 30 false prophets currently.  I found it a bit scary how many I didn’t know about.  And it’s interesting who is not on the list also.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Daily Kos (staff Aysha Kumar) – After 2 years of threats, Gaige Grosskreutz, surviving victim of Kyle Rittenhouse, wants name change
Quote – “[T]he real story here isn’t that I am seeking to change my name, but that a process that is supposed to protect and shield those in danger was undermined and sealed information was released to the right-wing media within hours of my filing…. I was told that my filing was confidential. I demand that the court investigate how this was leaked to ensure that those seeking protection in the future receive the protection to which they are entitled. On Tuesday, I was denied that protection.”
Click through – The story was leaked by the Kenosha County Eye, which is run by MAGAt who organized a Faeebook group to “protect” the community from “BLM,” and who “covered” Rittenhouse’s trial as a free-lance photograoher, but could not resist yelling in the face of one of the prosecutors. The Milwaukee County “Clerk of Courts” (a vilid title, but I can’t e=define it) “said he has begun looking into the matter.”

ProPublica – How America’s Democracy Is “Ripe to Be Exploited”
Quote – Voters in Sweden this month gave a leading role to a far-right party with neo-Nazi roots. Italy is also on the cusp of putting a party in power that has fascist origins. And of course, in the United States, one party has increasingly embraced election denialism and attempted to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. To try to understand what, exactly, is happening, I talked with Barbara Walter, a political scientist at the University of California San Diego who studies democracies across the world…. Rather than talk about the prospects for political violence, we discussed why many democracies are retrenching and how the U.S. stands alone — and not in a good way.
Click through for full conversation. I am old enough to have immediately thought of Barbara Walters – needless to say, they are not the same.

Food For Thought

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Sep 212022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s new $3 million criminal defense attorney paid for by his Save America PAC/his supporters.

Meidas Touch – BREAKING: Appeals Court RESPONDS to DOJ Mar-A-Lago Search Motion and SETS DEADLINE for Trump (Whew – that was fast)

The Lincoln Project – S.O.S. (I sent this to my Secretary of State, who is running for re-election. Maybe TLP will let her use it on TV.)

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse – The Scheme 18: Leonard Leo’s $1.6 Billion Payday (You can find ## 1-17 here [scroll down a bit], all neatly lined up) https://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorWhitehouse

Hey Fletch – GOP HAS GOT TO GO (The Midterm Song)

Beau – Let’s talk about who gets to pick Georgia’s next gov….

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Sep 162022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Bill Barr’s abject corruption; 40 subpoenas & 2 seized cell phones; & Trump’s special master pick

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Republicans CAUGHT training poll workers to SECRETLY CHEAT in Elections

The Lincoln Project – The List

Robert Reich – A Tribute to the Teacher Who Changed My Life

MSNBC – A Network Of Local Sheriffs Is Helping To Spread The ‘Big Lie’

Beau – Let’s talk about midterm strategy and marriage equality….

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Aug 042022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers preparing for him to be indicted; looking to blame Trump’s crimes on “fall guys”

Meidas Touch – Tucker Carlson LOSES IT after President Biden Takes out 9/11 Plotter

The Lincoln Project – Weekend

Robert Reich – The Current Plot to Rig U.S. Elections

If Social Media Were Honest | Honest Ads (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok)

Beau – Let’s talk about the Supreme Court altering football….

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Jul 302022
 

Yesterday, the Hawley Run for your life video inspired someone on DU to resurrect Randy Rainbow’s song about him … and it certainly stll sounds very current. How about we do an informal poll on bringing some of his older productions back into the Video Thread (starting with that one)? Also, I received a grocery order which included nothing frozen and very little refrigerated . Much easier to put away than usual.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – https://crooksandliars.com/2022/07/fl-republican-may-have-disqualified
Quote – Introduced by state Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, and signed into law last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the new statute requires a candidate vying for a party’s nomination to be a registered party member for 365 days before qualifying for the post begins. Elections supervisor records show that Stark did not re-register as a Republican voter until January 2022.
Click through for story. Not the most important story in the world – but good for a smile anyway. I hope they enforce it. Snit fits should have consequences.

The New Yorker – Will Wisconsin’s Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?
Quote – In the time since she’d moved to the [nursing] home, more than a year earlier, no staff member had mentioned voting to her. Three weeks before the April primaries, [Jessica] Nell asked a senior staff member how to change her address in order to vote. The staff member refused to help, according to Nell. “I’m not going to go room to room and tell everybody about voting, because ninety per cent of the people here shouldn’t be able to vote,” she recalled him saying.
Click through for the climate and the stakes. Before is was Fitzwalkerstan, Wisconsin used to be reasonab’e. Them it bacame fascist before fascism was cool. And neighboring Minnesota seems almost equally infected.

Food For Thought –

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Jul 222022
 

Yesterday, reading Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letter” from the 20th, my eyebrows went up when Iread that 100 million Americans were under heat warnings – my thought was, “Dear God, that’s a third of the country!” I think we actually have 330 million people, so that was a slight exaggeration – but still – that’s, shall we say, impressive.  of course I also watched the hearing, but that was late enough that I won’t discuss it here.  I will eventually of course.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – Is it time for Democrats to kick Joe Manchin out of the party?
Quote – In fact, the way things are right now, Biden and the Democrats have the worst of both worlds. They look like they control the Senate, as well as the House and the presidency. But they can’t get a damn thing done because Manchin (and his intermittent sidekick Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema) won’t let them. So after almost two years of appearing to run the entire government, Democrats have accomplished almost nothing of what they came to Washington to do…. By kicking Manchin out of the party, Democrats could at least go into the midterms with a more realistic pitch: “It looked like we had control of the Senate, but we didn’t. Now that you know who the real Democrats are, give us the power and we will get it done.”
Click through for argument. I won’t say he sold me, but he did get me to seriously consider it.
Update: I don’t bug Mitch too much (on top of other issues he’s having surprise cataract surgery next week) but he sent out a Daily Kos article on Manchin, so I sent him this one.  His response: “Biden needs to get out on the hustings and PUSH for more Dem. senators…PUSH LOUDLY! If Manchin, and Sinema can be made virtually irrelevant, we might then be able to rejoin the rest of the western democracies.”

The Daily Beast – Liberal Panic Could Help Trump Steal the Next Election
Quote – As both a critic of the theory being advanced in Moore and an advocate of urgently needed reforms to avoid another presidential election crisis, I feel it is important to set the record straight. In defending democracy against the very real threat of Trump-style subversion, we must get the details right. Crucially, we need to be able to distinguish serious conservative legal scholarship and arguments, even when they are wrong, from worst-case scenarios based on fringe crank theories and total lawlessness. The current majority on the Supreme Court might endorse the former, but we should not concede the latter by falsely conflating the two.
Click through for full analysis. Personally, I think the author vastly underestimates the determination and the ingenuity of the criminal GOP. I think this case is more like the head, shoulders, and hump of the camel in the tent. And I don’t see how liberal panic would help Trump** – the more panicked we are, the more likely we are to vote. But I thought (and think) readers here are perfectly capable of drawing their own conclusions, and I though this should be seen.

Food For Thought

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Jul 182022
 

Glenn Kirschner- Secret Service deletes Jan. 6 text messages. A move to protect Trump? Also, Mike Pence MUST testify

Meidas Toush – Michael Cohen REACTS to bombshell revelations from recent Jan 6 hearing

The Lincoln Project – Our President

Thom Hartmann – Insidious Voter Purge Method Exposed! Don’t Lose Your Right To VOTE!

MSNBC – Judge Once Again Declines To Delay Steve Bannon’s Contempt Of Congress Trial

Beau – Let’s talk about the institution of the Presidency and policy decisions….

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Jul 082022
 

Glenn – Supreme Court parade of horribles: what we CAN do about the court revoking our constitutional rights

Twitter – Ken Harbaugh is the Governor Missouri needs. But alas, he isn’t even running. (The CC is accurate.)

Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda RIPS Steve Bannon’s Podcast

Represent Us – Retired Four-Star General Issues a Dire Warning for America

Mrs. Betty Bowers – Don Jr’s Intervention

Beau – Let’s talk about Moore v Harper and SCOTUS….

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