Yesterday Iit was a little warmer, but not too bad. I just kind of took things slow and easy as much as I could.
Cartoon –
Short Takes
The Hill – Supreme Court decision could set off gerrymandering ‘arms race’
Quote – To be sure, the courts will continue to have a role to play in the looming redistricting fight. At the federal level, for instance, it remains illegal to carry out gerrymanders based on race. According to Parsons, however, state lawmakers will be particularly careful to frame their map drawing as motivated by party interest, as a way to side-step federal litigation. “In the wake of Rucho I expect many states will pack districts quite aggressively and explicitly argue that they are doing so based on partisan affiliation and not race,” he said.
Click through for deets and implications. This is not good. And saying, “Hopefully, Congress accepts that invitation before it’s too late” is not helpful. The House has written and passed the For The People Act which would address this. The Senate will not allow it to move forward – barring a miracle. So let’s not blame “Congress.” More than half of the states have some legislative or costitutional protection which could challenge attempts to gerrymander (or preclude them before they start) – but it only needs a few heavily gerrymandered states to poison the entire House and/or Senate. Ballotpedia and the National Council of State Legislatures have state-by-state information if anyone wants to check their own state.
The Week – The USPS awarded a $120 million contract to a company with financial ties to the postmaster general
Quote – “There’s no question he’s continuing to profit from a Postal Service contractor,” said Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Even if DeJoy complies with legal requirements, Canter added “it does create an appearance issue about whether it’s in his financial interest to continue to make policy that would benefit contractors like XPO.”
Click through for story.
CBS News – Florida breaks record for new daily Covid cases for third time this week
Quote – “This is real. And it didn’t have to be this bad,” Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, tweeted Saturday. “We need everyone to do their part — #GetVaccinatedNow & #MaskUp. If not for yourself, for your friends, family, and neighbors. For our kids. For our doctors & nurses. For Florida.”
Click through for more info. You will be happy to know (even though it means he’ll be missig here) that our Mitch is outta there for a bit under a week (and having fun.)
Food for Thought –
10 Responses to “Open Thread for August 8, 2021”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Cartoon: Yep! Pretty much!
The Week: This literally makes me ill in reading about this. This guy (DeJoy) needs an investigation, and to be fired.
CBS: Yikes! Real stuff! This is getting scary….yes, get vaccinated, and mask up, for heaven’s sake!! Self, and family.
FFT: Yep. Pretty much the truth!!
Mitch and family, take care. Enjoy the day, and Thank you, Joanne for post.
THIS JUST IN: “The future of the auto industry is electric — and made in America. Today I’m signing an executive order with a goal to make 50% of new vehicles sold by 2030 zero-emission — and unveiling steps to reverse the previous administration’s short-sighted rollback of vehicle standards.” ~ President Joe Biden ~
2. “Have seen some on the right who’ve never served a day in their life- attack these officers for their courage, or see their tears as weakness. There is more strength in these men than all our politicians combined.”
~ Adam Kinsinger ~
3. “91% of the Navajo Nation is fully vaccinated. If the Navajo Nation were another country—it’d be the most vaccinated in the world.” ~ Lakota Man ~
4. “When I first met then Senator @Barack Obama in 2007, I was Team McCain thru and thru. We disagreed on many issues. I never thought he was evil. Though I was on an opposing camp, we interacted with civility and even laughed. It was so long ago he had black hair…and I had a neck.” ~ Ana Navarro Cardenas ~
5. “If you’re anti-masks in schools and anti-vaccines, you’re not pro-life.” ~ Robert Reich ~
TJI #1 – Good.
#2 – Amen!
#3 – That is a blessing. I hope other native tribes are approaching that goal also.
#4 – Even then, that was beginning to get rarer.
#5 – The Reich on the left is right … as usual.
TJI#1: Great news.
TJI#2: So true.
TJI#3: Wonderful news. I too hope other tribes do the same.
TJI#4: Sad…Good things never last.
TJI#5: True.
TJI #1:
TJI #2:
TJI #3: And I’m sure this is down to the Navajo Nation itself as soon as the vaccines became available.
TJI #5:
Short Takes: None of those were uplifting. It’s up to us, the “little” people, to get off our hinies and raise hell. Only if we can maintain a Democrat majority in the House, and gain one in the Senate, will we have any hope of turning this country around.
Food For Thought: Very true; unfortunately, the choice of font color makes it hard to read. Just a tip.
Thanks Joanne.
I read that it is just 31 states where the legislature controls redistricting, with a little over half being in GOP control. So 19 have commissions, etc. do it and up to 15 of the legislatures are at least partially in DEM control. These numbers may not be as promising as they look because of a SCOTUS case questioning the legitimacy of such commissions…so could be a messy year with added court cases, etc. related to commissions. And already crazy tentative map in Blue NM was drawn to split neighborhoods, existing districts of persons of color…
Lots of grounds for concern and we all do need to push for Senate action before the recess and to watch what is emerging in our states.
Excellent, thank you!!!!
Appreciate the vote of confidence.
Cartoon: Sure looks like their type of gathering…very uninviting.
The Week: I have been signing all sorts of petitions to get rid of dEjoy. He definitely needs to go.
CBS News: Really sad to hear about Florida’s Covid-19 cases. Too bad they have a flipping governor who cares less about following the CDC or President Biden’s suggestion about masks. The ones under 12 have had their cases up too, yet he threatens the school’s funding if they go by the rules. He’s insane!
Food for Thought: Ain’t that the flipping truth?
I too hope Mitch and his family members are doing well in Florida and they enjoy their time together.
Hope your day went well.
Take care. Thanks Joanne
Cartoon: A bunch of rowdy white men surrounded by too much booze. That sums it up well.
TH: I won’t go too long on another of my rants against the idea that you have to register as a member of a party before you’re allowed to vote. It’s none of a government’s business what anyone votes; this makes voters sitting ducks for gerrymandering. I’m sorry, but America’s voting system was never the most democratic in its functioning and unless some fundamental changes are made to it, it will become less democratic by the day in the hands of Republicans. The country is already ruled by a minority, but as changes are not in the interest of that minority it will only get worse from here.
TW: How come DeJoy is still there and allowed to continue “his” business as usual? The board of the USPS has some explaining to do too.
CBS: Florida’s governor and presidential wannabe, DeSantis, needs to appear in The Hague for crimes against humanity. Now.
FFT: Too True.