Voting Rights – Page 7 – Politics Plus

Video Thread 1/21/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:14 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jan 212022

Glenn Kirschner – Ex-Girlfriend of Rep Matt Gaetz Granted Immunity, Testifies before Grand Jury.

politicsrus – Let my people vote 2022

MSNBC – Giuliani, Other ‘Clownish’ Trump Allies, Subpoenaed In January 6th Investigation

American Bridge – One year since President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration

No Dem Left Bahind – We organize, we cultivate relationships, and we knock on doors

Meidas Touch – Rudy, you’re in DOODY

Beau – Let’s talk about history and an oppressor narrative….

Video Thread 1/20/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:25 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jan 202022

Glenn Kirschner – VA Gov Youngkin, a mini-Trump, Issues Legally Dubious & Dangerous Executive Orders on Day 1in Office

politicsrus – Say Something 2022

Farron Balamced – Authorities Tell Republican Texas AG He Can’t Hide His January 6th Involvement

Robert Reich – How to Avoid Burnout

Puppet Regime – Putin It Out There: Leverage 101

Rocky Mountain Mike – Sinema Girl

Beau – Let’s talk about Ukraine…. (Ordinarily I leave foreign policy to the experts, but Beau has an idea so creative [and funny]…)

Open Thread for January 20, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 202022

Yesterday, I got boosted – yippee! There was virtually no snow on the ground. but there was a lot of ice on the glass, and between the windows steaming up and my glasses steaming up, it was terrible. If they decide on another booster, or if they come up with a universal vaccine, I surely hope it is in the summer.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Colleyville’s Synagogue Hostage Crisis And White Supremacy
Quote – The fact that millions of Jews watch in horror, generational trauma triggered, the oldest bigotry still raging, as four innocent Jews are held captive by someone we recognize we’ll need to protect once it is over — even while it is going on — is a mind-f*ck of epic proportions.
Click through. Every person in the United States needs to read this.

Huff Post Fringe – How Hatred Of Women Is Fueling The Far-Right
Quote – McLeod’s case is an example of the ties between misogyny and easy access to guns that Everytown for Gun Safety highlights in a new report this week, which was shared with HuffPost ahead of its publication. The group documents at least six high-profile misogyny-driven mass shootings in the U.S. since 2014, and the ways that guns and hatred of women have served as a unifying tie for many far-right groups online.
Click through for more. We, at least we on the left, have figured out that pointing out that racism exists is not itself racist. But we don’t seem to have figured out that pointing out that misgyny exists is not itself misogynistic. Well, we need to. Because misgyny is even more prevalent than racism, has a much larger persentage of the marginalized who buy into it themselves, and will destroy the country if we try to elect a woman President before the nation is ready, even if she walks on water.

Medium – Restoring the Senate to Protect the Freedom to Vote {Op-Ed)
Quote – If the Senate cannot even begin to debate and vote on something as foundational as voting rights, we must reform Senate rules and restore the chamber to its rightful place as “the world’s greatest deliberative body.”
Protecting the freedom to vote should not be a partisan issue. In 2006, for example, the Senate voted 98–0 to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act. The Help America Vote Act passed 98–2 in the wake of the chaos of the 2000 election. One of its primary proponents was Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
Click through for full letter. Nine former Senators have signed it, including Doug Jones (who sent it to me) and Mark Udall (IMO the best Senator Colorado has ever had – at least since I have lived here.)

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 1/19/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:57 am Open Thread, Politics

Jan 192022

Glenn Kirschner – Is Garland’s DOJ Investigating Trump and Company? Here Are Some Clues From Garland’s Past Work

Meidas Touch – How PLAYBOY saved Reporter Brian Karem’s Life on Jan 6!! |

politicsrus – Its Your Moment

MSNBC – Rep. Raskin: Jan. 6 Public Phase Will Hopefully Be Like Watergate Hearings (I didn’t realize how deeply good trouble ran in his family. That explains a lot.)

Really Americn – Republicans STEALING Americans Right To Vote

Rocky Mountain Mike – Pee All That You Can Pee

Beau – Let’s talk about Tucker, the lost and found, and the way it is….

Video Thread 1/15/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:27 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jan 152022

Glenn Kirschner – The case for Subpoenaing/Investigating Reps Jim Jordan & Scott Perry for Covering-Up Trump’s Crimes

American Bridge – AB21 Co-Chair Steve Bullock discusses NYT Op-Ed on CNN

No Dem Left Behind – NDLB’s Richard Ojeda on why Trump remains a grave threat to the Democratic Party

Crooks and Liars – If you can’t convince them with reason, can it hurt to try absurdity?

KAYAK – Mom’s a KAYAK Denier (oh. my!)

Beau – Let’s talk about why they aren’t talking to the committee….

Open Thread for January 8, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:22 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 082022

Yesterday, the new modem arrived. I didn’t install it because I read the directions (what kind ofperson does that, for heaven’s sake?) and they said it would not be activated until 5 pm today. So, I figured better slow internet than none at all. I still managed to gt two posts up for today and Erinyes ready to post tomorrow with two clicks.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Daily Beast – Liz Cheney Torches Trump on Fox News
Quote – After praising speeches marking the anniversary from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris earlier in the day, Cheney quickly pivoted to attacking Trump. “This was a mob that was summoned by and provoked by the president of the United States in an effort to stop the counting of electoral votes, which is a Constitutional process,” she said, explaining how the events of January 6 were different from the outside threats that hit America in the cases of 9/11 or Pearl Harbor.
Click through for more, including a video. I think that the Committee is doing thiings exactly right, and that includes Liz. No Republican will listen to a Democrat, not will they listen to Kinzinger, who is leaving Congress (redistricted out.) But Liz is not going anywhere, and she can always trot out her dad, to demonstrate even an old-school war criminal Republican approves of her stand, as she did at the Capitol Thursday. [She and Dick were the only two Republicans present.]

Mother Jones – Merrick Garland Issues Dire Warning About Voting Rights on Eve of January 6
Quote – In his speech, Garland referenced the Supreme Court’s decision in the 2013 case Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act and eliminated the provision barring historically discriminatory jurisdictions from altering voting laws without preclearing those changes with the DOJ. Without new legislation to restore those powers, Garland implied, the department lacks the proper tools to protect the right of every American to vote.
Click through for story. So far, Noah and I appear to be the only ones who actually grasped that warning. Given what Republicans are doing, we could win every Congressional, Senatorial, and Gubernatorial race by a margin of 75-25, and still have all the races in red states overturned. And if that happens, it’s game over.

CNN – Manhattan district attorney announces he won’t prosecute certain crimes
Quote – His office will focus on accountability, he said, not sentence length. “Research is clear that, after a certain length, longer sentences do not deter crime or result in greater community safety,” he said, adding that his department will expand its use of “restorative justice programming.”
Click through, with the caveat that CNN is not impressed, and the police and the police union are losing their solid waste. Mr. Bragg has the right priorites. At least the mayor is kinds sorta behind him. All Bragg is saying is “We’re going to treat people of color like white people (and LBGTQ like we treat cis peole, etc.” And that’s what has all those panties in a knot.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread for January 6, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:13 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 062022

Yesterday, I ran through all the online diagnostics before calling CenturyLink, and I’m glad I did so. I have had my current modem for more than 9 years, and it’s been obsolete for a while now. So I really have no right to complain. I checked out the current models available, and discovered that one of the three newest models is made by the same manufacturer as my old one, and the cord array looks exactly the same, so I can install it easily – no need to brinf a tech to the house in plague time. I’m expected to get it Saturday. Meantime, I have found a flow which will enable me to work faster by moving slower, so I will make it until (probably not without some colorful language in the process, though.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker (Borowitz – NOT THE NEWS!) Sean Hannity Informs January 6th Panel that Swearing to Tell the Truth Would Violate His Contract with Fox
Quote – In a written statement, Hannity said that taking an oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” would be “a betrayal of the solemn vow I made to Fox. +The members of the committee would no doubt require me to swear on a Bible,” he said. “However, I answer to a higher power: Rupert Murdoch.”
Click through if you aren’t paywalled out. Sounds like straight news to me (but I did LOL.)

Trump called her an ‘incredible woman,’ but Ashli Babbitt was a Q-nut with a violent past
Quote – Norris’ first encounter with Babbitt took place on July 29, 2016, when Norris says Babbitt rammed her SUV in a road-rage incident in Prince Frederick, Maryland. “She pulls up yelling and screaming,” Norris told AP. “It took me a good 30 seconds to figure out who she was. … Just all sorts of expletives, telling me to get out of the car, that she was going to beat my ass.”
Click through for backstory. I don’t say “full” because there is undoubteedly more to be learned. I would also call her incredible – but NOT as a compliment!

Merrick Garland speech – Assuming this would be the major topic everyome would be interested in, I listened to it. Twice. The second time with a YouTube video which has CC and therefore I could download a transcript (how good remains to be seen,) and I will figure out a way to make that available – that one, or a better one if someone beats me to it. But, to summarize, he said –
We are working on it and we won’t stop until we get everyone. If I told you any more, it would jeopardize the investigation (DOJ policy, based on experience and best practices.) We started at the bottom and are working our way up, and that is reflected in sentincing (which by implication will go up with the involvement of the offender – also best practices.) We are also working on voting rights (if the investigation takes too long, we are going to need voting rights as we never have before.) We are also working on death threats, (and you wouldn’e believe how many of those there are, and how many categories of people who have received them.) The time to deal with threats is when they are issued, not after a tragedy. First Amendment rights are important, but “protests” like 1/6 and death threats are not protected. (I thought it was clever of him to quote Scalia to support that instead of a more liberal justice, and it was a good quote.) Bottom line: We know how critical the investigation of 1/6 is for the survival of democracy, and we don’t intend to let anyone skate. We are working as hard as we can, that’s all we can tell you, so please get off our back and let us do our job.

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 1/5/2022

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

Jan 052022

Glenn Kirschner – From Trump DOJ Official Pleading the 5th to Congress on Cusp of Subpoenaing its Own: December Recap

Meidas Touch – Michael Cohen thinks Jan 6 text leaks are not what they appear (and he has some good points)

The Lincoln Project – In Their Words

NBC News – Remembering Those We Lost in 2021 – I said I was dreading this, but it’s worth knowing (Yes, Betty White died on December 31, but they made this on the 31st before the news got out.)