Wokeness – Politics Plus

Open Thread October 14, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 142023

Yesterday, I got to thinking that a House of Representatives with no Speaker, at a time when we have no budget, and have our foreign policy focused on the Middle East shooting war, is pretty damned convenient for Russia. Ukraine is holding strong so far, but there’s going to come a point when it will need resources badly. Is anyone investigating, or contemplating investigating, Matt Gaetz for being a Russian agent? Yes, I know he’s a pedophile and is himself intellectually and emotionally an adolescent (and will probably never grow up.) But that doesn’t mean he can’t be useful to Russia. Au contraire. See the Food for Thought below.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Root – What In The Actual Hell: CVS Abortion Med Mixup Led To Black Woman’s IVF Termination
Quote – [Timika] Thomas and her husband had trouble getting pregnant and after two ectopic pregnancies, Thomas had to have her fallopian tubes removed. Even though their insurance didn’t cover IVF, they decided to do it and pay out of pocket anyway. Thomas’ doctor prescribed a vaginal suppository to replace the injections required to jumpstart her hormones. After taking two of her required doses, she immediately knew something was wrong…. “They just killed my baby. Both my babies, because I transferred two embryos,” [Thomas said.]
Click through for story. This would be unacceptable, no matter how the pregnancy occurred, but for an IVF pregnancy it’s exponentially worse. IVF is expensive, so expensive that it’s a last resort among fertility treatmernts. It often doesn’t “take” for multiple attempts. The best analogy I can come up with is – one is like you studued and worked hard, took the SAT or whateve they are using, sweat blood over your essay, and got turned down. the other is like you decided when you were five you wanted to go to a particular college and started saving monet from your allowance and odd jobs. You applied in your seniot year of high school and wewre turned down. You alloied in the first year after graduation and were turned down again. the second and third year after graduation you applied again and were turned down both times. Finally, in the fourth year after graduation, you applied and were accepted. Two days before freshman orientation the college burned down.

PolitiZoom – Anti-WOKE: Even Your Name Can Get Book Banned
Quote – Imagine if you will having had a successful career as a children’s book author. Your work has been widely acclaimed, published in a dozen languages and you’ve won lots of awards. Your work includes several series including a pair of them about siblings – one from the perspective of a little girl named Stella and the other from her little brother named Sam. The Stella series which ran from 1999 to the last book about Stella and Sam building a doghouse was published in 2013. including one about the adventures of a little girl named Stella and her brother…. Does the book delve into topics that might, only might mind you raise “content” questions about whether topics like human sexuality or race relations or religion are “age appropriate?” Nope, as I’ve stated it’s about a pair of siblings building a dog house. So by now you’re wondering why the hell this book wound up on a “we’ve got to BAN these books from the library” list in the first place. The author’s name is Mary-Louise GAY.
Click through for article. Yes, compared to the first short take, this is small potatoes indeed. But it still hurts people. And the people most harmed are among the most vulnerable.

Food For Thought

Open Thread June 20, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 202023

Yesterday was Juneteenth – a day to take a victory lap and celebrate one achievement in our history. And therefore today is a day to get back to work. Very few people can say that as well as John Pavlovitz (although the FFT, a cartoon originally published in 1876, is strong.) I hope your Juneteenth was pleasant and refreshing, since we all need to be refreshed periodically.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

John Pavlovitz – Are we there yet?
Quote – Yesterday, a friend who is a rabbi called to tell me that the Black Lives Matter flag in his yard had been ripped down, placed against their family’s car and set on fire. He and his family were of course devastated, but not just for his family but for what acts of violence like this represent and mean. In the fight against the cancer of racism, we are not there yet. But many people, like my friend and his family, people like you aren’t going to rest or be driven off course. We’re awake and alive in this day and that makes us dangerous to those still warring against equity…. Are we there yet? Not yet. Don’t let that truth dishearten you, let it move you.
Clck through for full column. Not much, if anything , I can add.

The 19th – What a teacher’s little red book taught the world about the Tulsa massacre
Quote – “Parrish’s work became a vital primary source for other people’s writings,” journalist Victor Luckerson wrote in his recently released book, “Built From the Fire.” “Yet her life remained unknown, even as the facts that she had gathered — such as several firsthand accounts of airplanes being used to surveil or attack Greenwood — became foundational to the nation’s understanding of the massacre. She was, quite literally, relegated to the footnotes of history.” Parrish’s great-granddaughter Anneliese Bruner is following in her footsteps as a writer and editor but didn’t learn of her connection to Parrish — or the events of Tulsa — until she was in her 30s.
Click through for story. Someone recently said that MAGA Republicans have the minds of toddlers – up to and including an obsession with genitalia. How many violent crimes have been based on lies involving genitalia?

The New Yorker – The Celebration of Juneteenth in Ralph Ellison’s “Juneteenth”
Quote – “We were owned and faced with the awe-inspiring labor of transforming God’s Word into a lantern so that in the darkness we’d know where we were. Oh God hasn’t been easy with us because He always plans for the loooong haul. He’s looking far ahead and this time He wants a well-tested people to work his will. . . . He’s tired of untempered tools and half-blind masons! Therefore, He’s going to keep on testing us against the rocks and in the fires. He’s going to plunge us into the ice-cold water. And each time we come out we’ll be blue and as tough as cold-blue steel! Ah yes! He means for us to be a new kind of human. Maybe we won’t be that people but we’ll be a part of that people, we’ll be an element in them, amen!”
Click through for details. I hope you can stand one more article about Juneteenth. Ralph Ellison is best known for “The Invisible Man.” When he died, he left a good deal of unfinished work, including “Juneteenth,” which was put together by an editor, but most of it is pure Ellison. If you are paywalled out, I’ll send it in an email if you let me know.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/8/2023

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

Jun 082023

Glenn Kirschner – Mark Meadows testifies in grand jury about BOTH the insurrection & Trump’s classified docs crimes

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – June 6, 2023

MSNBC – Lawrence: Mark Meadows could be second White House Chief of Staff convicted of crimes

Thom Hartmann – Are You Scared Of Woke?! Fox News Propaganda Exposed

Tiniest Abandoned Puppy Is Found In A Box On The Curb

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, wokeness, and branding….

Video Thread 4/4/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:00 pm Open Thread, Politics

Apr 042023

Glenn Kirschner – While Trump gets prosecuted in NY, the classified documents/MAL/obstruction of just case heats up!

The Lincoln Project – Indictment Requiem

Thom Hartmann – New GOP Motto Reveals Their Real Agenda

Liberal Redneck – Trump Indictment (For Real Though)

18-Pound Cat Decides To Be Dad To Teeny Kitten

Beau – Let’s talk about Disney vs Florida….

Video Thread 11/12/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:51 am Open Thread, Politics

Nov 122021

Glenn Kirschner – This is from the Stephanie Miller show from October 31. So nothing new, but phrased and inflected differently whan he’s talking with Stephanie.

The Lincoln Projrct – Last Week in the Republican Party

Meidas Touch – Kyle Rittenhouse FAKE CRIES on stand as trial goes OFF THE RAILS!! (Sobs but no tears…)

Thom Hartmann – Media Lies Said Youngkin was Education Candidate

RepresentUs – More on Gerrymandered Pizza

Really American – Garland Stalls, Trump and Accomplices Roam Free of Consequences

Beau – Let’s talk about an internal Democratic party debate….

Video Thread 6/12/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 1:00 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 122021

Glenn Kirschner – Rep. Ted Lieu & House Judiciary Committee Urges AG Garland/DOJ to Reverse Course in Carroll Case

Meidas Touch – THIS Is How You Fight For a Living Wage

Now This News – Why Japanese American Internment Still Matters Today

Thom Hartmann – His title is a bit misleading; makes it sound like SS is treacherous, when it’s actually Republicans – as always.

What Happens When You Leave a Tetherball Hanging in a Forest

Beau – Let’s talk about Snake Eyes and woke GI Joe…. This certainly explains a joke (which I’ll put in a comment in a little while.)

BIG Mouth Awards

Every 1,000th Comment
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78 – Pat B – 5/5/2016
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113 – None – My Bad
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