Holiday – Politics Plus

Open Thread July 4 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 042026

Yesterday, Adam Klasfeld sent a link to his live reading of Justice Brown-Jackson’s concurrence in the birthright citizenship case, which is now scheduled for today at 12:30 pm Eastern. Generally Substack videos are recorded and available after the livestream ends. I certainly hope this one will be, because the opera will be on, and it doesn’t record. Here’s the link:
https://open.substack.com/live-stream/264623

[Update: It did go live but there was no sound. It did record, and still no sound as of 45 minutes after start. It onlt took 4 minutes 20 seconds so if (and I suspect he will) gets the sound fixed I’ll repost]

Update #2: I got several emails, but the last one, which came up at 12:44 my time (2:44 Eastern) and it is a recording. It is longer than the aborted one – it clocks at 33 minutes 21 seconds Link

By all means laugh at the headline – and laugh more at the subhead about how Robert Reich manages to make it valid.

Not trying to make a hero of John Brennan. But it’s pretty obvious he is not the only innocent (at least of what he’s being slammed with) person in the US who will benefit from the precedent this suit if it is victorious, as it certainly ought to be.

The Root here focuses on black communities, which is fine, because it is a black publication. But poor people of any color are affected pretty much equally, and may be even more invisible. This is why our real fight is not so much a political one as an economic one.

I don’t often post Andy Borowitz, because his articles for unpaid subscribers are usually just one-liners. Consider this a bonus post.

Open Thread June 21 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 212026

Yesterday, the radio opera was Shostakovich’s “Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk.” It was quite popular, including internationally, until Stalin saw it and didn’t like it, and officially condemned it. After Stalin’s death, Schostakovich revised it under the title of “Katerina Izmailova.” The protagoniste isn’t much like Lady MacBeth. She does kill – two people by herself and one with assistance -but she has no remorse, and at least Lady MacBeth had a marriage where they apparently cared about each other. Katerina is in one kind of prison or another through the entire opera. A husband with zero libido, an abusive live-in father in law, then a lover who treats women like beer cans (why keep one around when the beer is gone?), and who, when they are in a group of other convicts doing a forced march to Siberia, tricks her into helping him seduce another woman. Normally, life has its ups and downs – but this is a story with no ups at all. It is supposed to have satirical aspects, but I don’t hear them. Maybe you need to understand Russian. Or maybe you need to be male and privileged. I just hear cringe. Which is not to denigrate the brilliance of the music. In the scene in which the jerk lover comes to her room, where she intends to flirt, but he rapes her, one criic described the music as “pornophony.” And I certainly cannot dispute that.

I may not follow any sports – but I’m not so distanced from those who do as not to recognize a rare achievement when I see one. As is generally true of the American ABC, it’s a video on loop, and may need to be unmuted.

For a change, an ABC (US) video that’s not on loop. But if you want to play it again, refreshing the page will do the trick.

When I was in high school and college, I did a little baby sitting on the side. This kind of sitting doesn’t compensate the siters monetarily, but I’ll bet it’s also a lot less work. And very rewarding emotionally.

Open Thread June 19 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 192026

Happy Juneteenth, y’all! Yesterday, from a comment on Malcolm’s show: “Trump [sic] didn’t get his HEU (highly enriched uranium) but he did get HEI (highly enriched Iranians).” Jim Acosta, on the other hand, called the signing foreign policy flatulence – the fart (maybe even the shart) of the deal.

Robert Reich – is singing my song. Well, except that no one is trying to tell me to slow down, because no one sees the actual work, which mostly consists of goinf through hundreds of emails daily in order to select a few topics – and minimize the explainer part – and minimizing is harder than it looks. But if anyone did say something – I’d have basically the same response.

To quote Nina Simone – “Mississippi God Damn.” Yes, I do know there are good people in Mississippi – that’s proven right in this story by the witneses who are coming forward to dispute the police account. But still.

Glad to learn that someone is taking Tommy Potatohead to court over where he actually lived – as opposed to just owns the houae.

This is a little bonus for today – because it officially opens today – because of course it does – although the big party was yesterday.

SocSecur

Cat

Open Thread June 15 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics

Jun 152026

Yesterday, Virgil and I played cribbage as usual. He loved the new outfit. I think I said I barely finished it in time, but I didn’t mention I didn’t even have time to sew the ends of the elastic in the waitline of the pnats, so I gambled on usinf a small safety pin, and it did not set off the metal detector. That’s good to know for sure. I told him about the Googlr doodle story and he was just as impressed as everyone else. The drive was pretty easy both ways. On the way down I stopped to drop off my primary ballot in a drop box. I figured that even if we win the mail-in ballots war, it’s still time for me to learn about drop boxes, so I read up on where they are, and there are two on the stretch of old-fashoned highway I use to get to the Interstate when I see him. The first one is on the right side of the road going, and the second is on the right side of the road when I return. I stopped at the first one, and the box was obvious, and the parking was good, so I just used that one, and probably will in the future if it doesn’t change. But I am still glad to know about the second one.

I personally favor “Scrap the Cap.” And, even if that’s not actually passable, enough people supporting it could make Reich’s suggestion easier to pass.

Knowing Senator Whitehouse as I do – not personally, but through following his work in the Senate and his thinking through various media, I’m confident that the reassurance he is asking for is something that he wants only if it is true – and tha if it is not, he wants the truth. I say this because I don’t feel the article makes that clear. He and Senator Merkley are two Senators I just named as people whose nomination for President I would vote for – and added that that were others, but didn’t name them. Yes, he is pushing 70, and Merkley is pushing 69 (their dates of birth are one year minus 4 days apart.) And no, One doesn’t need to be that old to know what one is doing and how things work – but both do.I’m not averse to someone younger, but I would like someone who gives me the quiet confidence which they do.

Does ths reporting from ITPI surprise anyone? It certainly doesn’t surprise me – it just depresses me.

Sam Adams

Dog &Duck

I confess that when I filled up yesterday on the way home, it cost only a little over half what it had cost the last time. I wasn’t completely out either time, and he amounts were comparable. I doubt that’s widespread – I suspect I just got lucky.

Open Thread May 25 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 252026

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. It was a brand new deck – no tears, no peeling, no sticking. Hands with a wide range of values (zero to 21.) It’s always cold in the visiting room – but it was extra cold today – and quite warm outside – too warm for comfort, actually – but at this time of year the sun is not in my eyes, for which I was grateful.

And on Saturday, I received a Memorial Day email from Major General Eaton (retired) of Vote Vets. He wrote about the wars in Iraq And Afghanistan, and included a statistic which was new to me. In those two wares combined we lost almost 7,000 military in combat – and more than 22,000 to suicide after they came home. More than three times as many to suicide as to combat.

Snarl at me if you like. Because I’m not postinng this from JoJo from Jerz for news value. I’m posting it because of the sheer beauty of the righteous rant. The pure vitriol of the analogies, metaphors, and needle-sharp points made. I’m in awe. I can come up with the occasional zinger, but I could never come up with a string of them like this.

We’re all familiar with the term “kleptocracy” – Maybe too familiar. The term “corruptonomics,” coined by Robert Reich, may help us look more closely at it. As he also says – “Please send to any candidates you care about.”

From Press Watch. The saying goes that a competent prosecutor could get a true bill from a grand jury on a ham sandwich. That’s an exaggeration for a competent prosecutor – but for a crooked prosecutor – maybe not so much.

Open Thread April 22 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 222026

Today is (International) Earth Day. It is also the last day of the US-Iran 14 day ceasefire, unless an extension has been or is negotiated. Today’s video is all about the SCROTUS “Shadow Docket.” It has an ad right in the middle – if I start after it, you’ll miss all the background. But he wears a very different shirt for the ad, so it should be easy to stop it, run the red dot past it, and pick up when he starts on the subject again.

From Ukrainform. You gotta respect Zelenskyy’s courage to push for a meeting with not one, not two, but three fascists, for peace negotiations. I am not a mind reader nor a prophet (my name is Joanne, not Jeane – remember her?), but I personally suspect that Putin will not stop until very single person in his military is dead, or until he is, whichever comes first.

About half of young Americans can’t name a single Holocaust site, repeating a pattern of ignorance seen in postwar Germany. Knowing what has happened to education in the US since I was in school, I shouldn’t be surprised – but I was, for about a second.

I do agree with Robert Reich. It would be a toss-up between him and Alito, if it weren’t for the fact that Thomas is a known sexual abuser.

Open Thread April 5 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 052026

Yesterday, the radio opera was La Gioconda. You have heard part of it, since this is the opera from which the Dance of the Hours comes, and if “Fantasia” didn’t do it for you, Allan Sherman or Spike Jones did. The performance is from 1968, but airing it yesterday was to celebrate its 1ts 150th anniversary. It’s (accurately) described as a melodrama, so I won’t go into detail. Today’s featured image is a pysanky (or pysanka) or Ukrainian Easter egg. Happy Easter to all who celebrate, and Happy Passover to all who celebrate. Off to see Virgil now – will check in.[

From The Root regarding Artemis 2. There is also a woman in the crew. I don’t know how they got it past the emperor.

From ABC News referred by The Smile. This is sweet. Joe Biden got to ring the bell when his cancer was gone, but he didn’t do this. And I certainly couldn’t – not ever – not at any age.

From CBS News, also referred by The Smile. This is so much better than the “Alpha Male Camp” earlier this week.

Open Thread April 1 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 012026

Yesterday, April Fool came early for me. My email client was experiencing problems – by 2 pm I had only received four emails, and that is deflinitely not normal. When something like that happens, the first thing I do is try a different browser. I tried a total of four – no joy. I kept refreshing my main browser. Meanwhile, I went through Substack to get to some of my main sources. I have not been looking forward to today.

On Monday, Malcolm pointed out that everything he has pointed out might be possible in the war has subsequently showed up in the national news (NYT, WSJ, WP, etc.) not soon enough for them to have gotten the stories from him directly, but rather, in a time frame for someone to have suggested to Kegsbreath and him to – at least verbally – run with it. And Netanyahu is now poisoning Iran’s and other Gulf states’ water (a war crime, in case anyone didn’t know. (We did it to Kishem Island a couple of weeks ago – Just one of our war crimes.) I am beginning to understand, not just with my brain, but with my heart, why many Jewish people, Israeli and diaspora alike, think it is antisemitism to criticize Israel. When people anywhere in the world, including within the US, criticize the US, even though my brain knows it is the Saffron Sauron and his orcs and nazgul they are criticizing and not me personally, I can’t help feeling sad and a little hurt.

I know we are all worried about the Supreme Court, and we all know something is needed to change it. But we don’t all agree on what needs doing – and I don’t think we really have so much as a concept of a plan as to how the necessary changes can be accomplished. So you may be as encouraged as I am by this conversation between former US Attorney Joyce Vance and Brennan Center Senior Fellow Jesse Wegman (who was essentially hired by Brennan to address the Supreme Curt, but also has a book out about the Electoral College.) It’s 28 minutes, and if that’s too long, there’s a transcript.

I did mention this, but there is much more information here. May Day is the day.

Yeah. Well, that’s the headline. But I’m not seeing them voting that way, or even saying much about it. Certainly not in the numbers needed to make it happen.

It’s been a minute since we had an episode of this series, and this sounds like the final one. My father (who served in WWII, but as a telegrapher) was not in this one, having been medically discharged prior to November 1944. (If he had been there, I almost certainly would not be here.) I could wish that more people remembered – if not from life, at least from education – how important this war was for all of us.

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