Joanne Dixon

Sep 162025
 

Yesterday, I really overslept. I’m not complaining – I do need that on Mondays as a rule to make up for sleep lost on the weekend. But it does mean I need to be savage with my inbox. Also yesterday – at one time there was a way to link an image to a website here – but that seems to have disappeared. I am concerned that, between its size and the elongation to images we are experiencing, the cartoon may not be legible – there’s so much in jt. So here’s a link where it can be read larger and in proportion.

Chris Bowers has established an Act Blue page addressed to the points he makes. I’m not intending to push that. What I take from this is, frankly, confirmation that, although we can now successfully elect women to the Senate and to be state Governors, even to be Vice President, we cannot yet elect a woman to be President. And, at least for a while, we should quit trying. Because we have only accomplished three things trying – we have ended one woman’s career and allowed her legacyto be tarnished, and we have damaged another woman’s career path (both outstanding women), and we have handed the country over to fascists. I am not saying there will never be a woman President (although I will not live to see one). I am saying we have done enough damage for a while and we need to rebuild the country first – and to work for changes which are not political but cultural in nature.

I confess I did not watch the video that Steve Schmidt included as evidence in this post. But I have no doubt Steve Schmidt has pretty much nailed it (except that I would say Miller is a full-sized Eichmann, not a little one any more.)

From Harry Litman of Talking Feds. Not so much about law as about history. It certainly clarifies the moment – although the moment is unquestionably a dark one.

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Sep 152025
 

Yesterday, I got an email from DLCC (not unusual, but this one had some statistics.) DLCC works with Democrats in or runnung for State legislatures. Yes, I realize that this effort doesn’t affect Congress. But it does affect out bench for Congress. So it’s still good to know that we won more than 30 special elections this year. Three of then have flipped Republican seats (one of those flips, in Iowa, broke a super-majority). Five seats that we won for already Democratic seats have kept our supermajorities in those bodies. Also yesterday, this showed up at DU to remind us, I guess that irony is not dead.

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From Wonkette – regarding Epstein – very gossipy but with evidence. Feel free to grab a barf bag – or just to ignore. One thing that is positive in this whole mess is that sane people and MAGAts now more or less agree that teen girls are not women but children. For most of history, girls were considered to be women the instant they began to menstruate. Juliet Capulet was 13. Yes, that’s fiction, but no one questioned it. Margaret Beaufort was thirteen when she gave birth to the baby who became Henry VII of England (and a Trumpian ruler he was too – he lacked the appeal to any of the public, but at that time, it wasn’t needed.) One queen in Europe married into the throne at the age of 6 – at least that marriage was not immediately consummated.

I apologize for two from Wonkette in one day. I certainly didn’t plan it. Both just went where others didn’t.

Hoo Boy! Kudos to Iowa – or at least to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in Iowa. (I would like to set his mind at rest a little about the Evergreen shooting that day – the shooter killed himself, but only injured three students, all of whom are alive the least I heard, although one is probably still in critical conditions. Another was struck by the shooting but suffered minor injuries and is out of the hospital. A third was not injured by the shooter but suffered injuries while fleeing the scene. He was treated at the same hospital as the other two and released also.

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 Comments Off on Open Thread September 15 2025
Sep 142025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera (although for the rest of the season, starting yesterday, I’ll be listening on line. Not surprising. Broadcasting these costs local stations money which they now do not have) was another double bill – this one more conventional than the previous one this season – it’s so standard that Opera lovers often just call it “Cav and Pag.” The “Cav” is Cavalleria Rusticana, and the “Pag” is I Pagliacci. Both are from the “verismo” school, which means they are about ordinary people, no nobility or divinity allowed. And they are generally fairly violent. In Cav the violence occurs off stage, but in Pag it is right on stage – and the killer gets the last word – “The comedy is over.” Both include some absolutely gorgeous music, such as “Vesti la giubba” from Pag, which at least used to be very well known way beyond the circle of opera lovers. I don’t know whether it still is..

“Martini Glambassador” is a fan, not an employee of Wonkette. But every day, seven days a week, she provides a .gif file for its “TABS” newsletter. Sometimes they are cute and funny – sometimes just funny – sometimes just cute. I took a screenshot from this one because I wasted to say, “Just look at that tail!” Snow leopards’ tails are distinctively thick, particularly when compared to the tails of other felines. They are also long, but you can’t really see that anywhere in the .gif. The snow leopard who showed off for me in the Pueblo Zoo made a point of showing me the length of his/her tail as well as its girth.

I’m not trying to push Wonkette – I do realize its style is not for everyone – but this certainly appeared to fit into the category of good news. And, yes, I am envious. I don’t have a clue how hard it is for a sentence to hold up in Brazil – but st least they have arrived at one, which is certainly more than we can say.

Of all states which sometimes show up in the news cycle for leading the way – let’s just say New Mexico appears less often than some others. But today, here it is – and a really important way to be leading. I expect this will radically improve the economy of the state. If it spills over into neighboring states, I hope we are one.

This story is courtesy of our Mitch. And I received it just in time for today. Many thanks, Mitch

John D. Cundle is a Canadian doing his best to help us.

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Sep 132025
 

Yesterday, I got an email from No Kings via Move On (which is connected to Robert Reich) about their next demonstration scheduled for October 18. I’m pretty sure I already shared that date, but am repeating just in case. This (obviously) will be electoral politics related. And the climate related one, “Sun Day,” is still on for September 21st. I may not be able to go, but by golly, I can at least spread the word. Here’s the No Kings RSVP link. And yes, this is early. But they have a lot of events scheduled already, and they also have some training events scheduled

Thanks to the Mango Mussolini, everyone is scrambling for money these days. I suspect we should expect new paywalls where they have not previously been. Huff Post does not have a paywall, but they do have enough of a maze of asks that I archived this. You still need to scroll down – but that should be all. In view of the backlash just from a fine (two-term) President having brown skin, I think we need to take this seriously.

And this from The F* News was already under weigh before Charlie Kirk was assassinated. I do wish more people had paid attention. We did our best to warn them but so many did not believe us.

Another guest video – probably nothing you didn’t suspect, but it’s here now – it’s happening. At least it will all be out in the open – because discovery. Just under 12 minutes.

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Sep 122025
 

Yesterday, I received an email about an upcoming demonstration, not sprcifically on electoral politic, but on climate, called Sun Day. It’s scheduled for September 21. They havealready scheduled over 350 events in 46 states – fewer that, for instabnce, No Kings, but very large for a climate demonstration. And they’d be happy to add more if there’s not one near you. For anyone interested, here’s the link.

As if the murder of Charlie Kirk wasn’t enough, we had another school shooting in Colorado on Wednesday. Colorado Public Radio reports.

It’s been a week with lots of news – and too much of it important for me to be able to begin to share it. But this by Robert Reich, which came out Tuesday has to be shared. We can’t afford not to. Reich is a specialist in labor, and from that place also an economist. He knows it will hurt. He also knows that any other course of action will hurt worse in the long run.

This is long for a Borowitz Report (at least it is for a free one) and it’s not terribly funny (although it is cute in its way). But it may come in very useful.

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Sep 112025
 

Yesterday, I learned that the (Democratic) Governor of Kentucky was on Seth Meyers the night before. I don’t hav time to watch Seth much, and when I do, it’s usually just “A Closer Look. But I looked up this segment. It’s just under 11 minutes. If the Mango Monster gets wind of it, he’ll be calling for Seth Meyers to be fired along with Colbert and Kimmel.

Well, this is discouraging. I have not yet felt the consequences of DOGE in my Social Security checks – probably no one who has been receiving it electronically for over a decade and has no changes recently or in the near future has felt it, since the cuts so far have been personnel cuts which affect people dealing with new claims or claim changes. Or people receiving paper checks might be affected. Someone in the organization with more brains than God gave lettuce has set SSA’s computer to sent electronic checks early but make them “pending” until the day they are due – mine is due the second Wednesday of each month – but I could see it Monday and Tuesday as a “pending” transaction. There are cuts in the “Big Brutal Bill” but those have been set not to take effect at least until 2026 – possibly even after the midterms – Republicans know perfectly well how unpopular cuts to vital programs, not just SS, are and don’t want to lose their majority. Think that one through. They know they are not electorially safe in 2026 but think they will be in 2028.

There’s a good point being made here. And I’m sure everyone can think of multiple historical examples. If we do not have a way to hold someone accountable for a particular action, we are saying “Go ahead and do it” even if that is the last thing we intended. And it’s not as if we didn’t realize this could happen. My Lai was 57 years ago. We have had plenty of time to figure out how to deal with this. And we didn’t even try.

There’s really no need for me to comment on this article from The Root. It says it all. (Daily Kos covered it also, but it shouldn’t be missed.)

A guest video today – Heather Cox Richardson Longer than usual, but under ten minutes

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Sep 102025
 

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, CHARLIE KIRK WAS SHOT AND KILLED LAST NIGHT WHILE SPEAKING IN UTAH.

Yesterday, I’m not excited about rehashing things, especially when there is so much rapid-fire news. On the other hand, G. K, Chesterton had it eight when he said “The human race does not need to be instructed so much as it need to be reminded.” We know that George Washington warned us about Trump**(*) (not a prediction so much as a general knowledge of human nature.) But The Conversation recently published a scholarly article addressing the details of that warning. Also yesterday, this from Liza Donnelly – you may find some of it elsewhere, but as I type, it’s all new to me (some, but nowhere near all, is from Heather Cox Richardson – I checked because they are close friends.) And also, I have noticed that Heather Cox Richardson and Joyce Vance have done a Substack Live and I have really wanted to see it – and today I was able to see it through Preet Bharara’s Substack. Both are knitters (and I knitted while watching.) If you want to watch but skip the knitting talk, start at 4:20. Also, it says it ends at 52:47 but it actually ended at 48:43 – and that’s including a bit about book tours, which can be skipped.

I have gotten to the point that when I come to a headline in The Root which begins “Black People Need To Know About”, my immediate gut reaction is “Sure, but do white people and other non-Black people know enough about this, since we are the ones doing it, and maybe the ones in the best position to do something about it?” In this particular case, sane white people have been opposing it for decades – maybe forever – and haven’t had much luck. But now is not the time to give up.

I think of Jennifer Rubin as being a journalist, not a lawyer – but I looked her up in Wikipedia and she does have a Juris Doctor degree – in fact, headed her law school class. So her opinions on the Courts – what they are doing, and what it means – are at a minimum educated thoughts.

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Sep 092025
 

Yesterday, Carrie B (“NannyCarrie”) emailed me the link to this article. 44 years it was there. That’s longer than I’ve been married. And the Papaya Poopy-Pants lived in the White House for four years out of those 44 and apparently never noticed it. And has now lived there for more then seven additional months and never noticed it. But it’s “a hazard” to people visiting the White House. No one could make this up.
also yesterday, there was an update on the “Ban Atwood in Alberta” story.

Not paywalled, but you’ll have to close a pop-up subscription ask. I said a while ago that I’d have to start looking at The Lever more closely. This is a good example.

I referenced the RFK hearing last week and provided a link to the video – but it was quite long and appeared to contain nothing we hadn’t heard before, so I didn’t really expect anyone to watch. Kudos if you did. Whether you did or didn’t, Heather Cox Richardson‘s analysis should be valuable.

Well, this from The F* News is interesting, to say the least. I wouldn’t call it credible. Has anyone seen this elsewhere? I did see it in “Daily Dose of Democracy.”

Yes, this is a cartoon. You just don’t usually see them along with the complete back story.

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