Glenn Kirschner – Rudy Giuliani admits in court filing that HE LIED about GA election workers Shaye Moss & Ruby Freeman
The Lincoln project is so hot just now that some of them will have to take their time to get posted)
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – July 25, 2023
VoteVets – Travel Ban
Farron Balanced – Ted Cruz Picked A Fight With Barbie And Lost
Tiny Kitten Becomes An Adventure Cat Like His Brother
Beau – Let’s talk about the Senate and NATO….
Yesterday, a hot topic was “many people are saying” that Mark Meadows has already flipped on Trump**. This mostly on the basis of his demeanor. But it shouldn’t be all that hard to prove or disprove – just find out who hired his lawyers. Also, I received a breaking news alert from Axios with the subject line “White House rules out pardon for Hunter Biden.” Well, duh. Because that’s what people who believe in accountability do. But what do you want to bet Rethuglicans scream just as loudly over this as if he had done the opposite. And one more thing – everyone discussing Mitch McConnell’s awkward moment is talking about strokes or TIAs. But Robert Reich’s theory is a petit mal seizure. It happened to him once, years ago now, and that’s how he was diagnosed. It seems unusual for a person with no history of epilepsy to have one little seizure and then no more, but apparently it happens more often than anyone but a specialist would imagine.
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https://joycevance.substack.com/p/on-being-wrong
Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance – On Being Wrong
Quote – The hearing turned out to be anything but a formality. It was more of a debacle, although I suspect that ultimately, the issues that emerged today will get resolved and a guilty plea will go forward. During the hearing, the plea deal between the United States and Hunter Biden was on again and off again, like a ping pong ball being batted back and forth. By the end of the hearing, it was off, at least for now. Hunter Biden’s plea remained one of “not guilty.” The Judge gave the parties 30 days to try and work it out. When a plea deal breaks down in court, it is almost always because a defendant doesn’t want to have to acknowledge, in front of friends and family, the crime or crimes they committed…. But that’s not what Hunter Biden’s situation is about. There seem to be two rather confusing issues that led to the derailment of the agreement.
Click through for full article. This happened on Wednesday, and today is Friday, and I expect eveyone’s heard it happened, but maybe not all the details. This really is very unusual. (Don’t forget to click “Continue Reading”)
The Hill – Will Alabama be allowed to defy the Supreme Court?
Quote – As for flaunting her state’s defiance of the law, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey added insult to injury when she tweeted, “The Legislature knows our state, our people, and our districts better than the federal courts …” Such contempt for courts is in service of national GOP power. Alabama journalist Brian Lyman reported that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had told state Rep. Brian Livingston, the map’s sponsor, “I’m interested in keeping my majority.” Meaning that the House GOP’s narrow, five-seat majority is at risk in 2024, and McCarthy can’t afford to lose a seat in Alabama to a second all-Black district.
Click through for full opinion. It appears we are approaching a moment of truth – one way or the other.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – 8 SEARCH WARRANTS were obtained in investigation of Trump’s documents/obstruction/espionage crimes
The Lincoln Project – #HitlERA
PoliticsGirl – Dear White Women
Parody Project – Pence Man
Summer Campers Find Out They’re Going Home With Rescue Puppies
Beau – Let’s talk about the Michigan elector claims getting strange….
Yesterday, I won’t say I overslept, becuse that implies I was planning to get up at a certain time, and I wasn’t. But I did sleep for a long time. I’m sure I needed it. But I did wake up in time to get ready for, and take in, a grocery order (which was rather a disappointment. But I did get everything I was actually out of, so at least I have time on my side.) Incidentally, I was also very late getting the Video Thread up – I had scheduled it for a day late and had to correct that, and I was late in discovering it. Sorry about that.
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The Daily Beast – Inside the DeSantis Doc That Showtime Didn’t Want You to See
Quote – The Daily Beast has obtained a transcript of that unaired documentary, “The Guantanamo Candidate,” which was anchored by Seb Walker, a longtime correspondent for the Emmy-winning newsmagazine. Among a number of insights into DeSantis’ past, the transcript features interviews with former prisoners and a former Naval staff sergeant-turned-Gitmo whistleblower who overlapped with DeSantis. All three allege inhumane treatment at the hands of the U.S. government, with the detainees directly implicating DeSantis—at the time, a junior-level military legal adviser—in approving and overseeing brutal measures…. Showtime’s decision to muzzle a report critical of a high-profile conservative politician also epitomizes the complaints that conservative politicians—including DeSantis—have habitually brayed in their crusade against so-called liberal “cancel culture.”
Click through for story. I can’t say I’m surprised that DeSaster didn’t want this to come out. Showtime – well, their defense woulf likely be the truth of the shade, but I can just see wanting to avoid an expensive lawsuit (especially since Republican candidates at all levels seem to be mostly deadbeats.) Of course VICE is not happy … but VICE is also apparently bankrupt.
Democratic Underground (quoted in full from Facebook, with permission) – Dear Jason Aldean – Father Nathan Monk
Quote – When I moved back to Tennessee a couple of years ago, I decided to stop by the corner store near my house to introduce myself to the neighbors. The lady working there was very friendly, and a guy was sitting in a rocking chair, going back and forth. It was country as hell, and I loved it. She starts to whisper in the way that Southern folks do when they are about to spill the sweet tea. She looks back and forth and then says, “Now, there is someone who lives on your street I wanna talk to you about. Now, sometimes, they dress as a man, but other times they dress as a woman…” I start to get nervous about what she will say next, but I bite my tongue and wait. “…well, you just better be okay with that. Because they are a nice fella and a sweet lady.”
Click through for full article, which is heartwarming. I’m not sure it’s even necessary to know what Nathan is responding to, but Jason Aldean (I don’t know for sure, but that’s probably him in the green T-shirt in the FFT) released a country song “Don’t Try That in a Small Town” (his “small town” is purely a majority white small town in the 1930’s or so) and it’s getting a lot of blowback. This is just one – but I think an outstanding one.
Food For Thought
Trying to get a little ahead in anticipation of next month’s recap
Talking Feds – Alabama Republicans OPENLY DEFY Supreme Court [I would agree that “that’s the legal term.”]
The Lincoln Project – VP Harris’ Speech on Revisionist History in FL
Michigan AG Dana Nessel Charges 16 ‘False Electors’ with Election Law and Forgery Felonies
Brent Terhune – Jason Aldean Stands Up For Small Towns (In case you haven’t heard about this controversy, click here or here for starters)
Cat Who Has To Wear Sunglasses Loves Getting Attention – BAGEL
Beau – Let’s talk about a NJ commutation and Trump….
Yesterday, Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letter from an American” for the previous night turned out to be a bit unsettling. Netanyahu has managed to push a measure through the Knesset limiting the power of the courts (to check excesses by the executive. It look like “Fascist Jewish State” is no longer an oxymoron. The letter also highlights, I’m sure without intending to, the superiority of the Political Compass, with its four directions, over the left-right distinction to describe political positions. Heather has to say “hard right” when what she really means is “authoritation right,” which I realize is longer, but has an exact definition, which “hard right” does not, and is therefore more clear. Also, as if that wasn’t enough, she touches on Abbott’s war crimes, Gym Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee, and Russia both bombing Odessa and raising the upper limit draft age. Here’s the link in case anyone wants a deeper dive (and hopefully isn’t too depressed already.)
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Common Dreams – Heatwave Chevron? As US Bakes, Former Meteorologist Names Heatwaves After Oil Companies
Quote – “I’m naming heatwaves to highlight this worsening climate problem and perhaps save lives by getting the public to focus on this weather threat,” [Guy Walton] wrote in an April blog post. “This year I’m naming major heatwaves after oil companies to shame them in the process and to identify culprits that are exacerbating these deadly systems.” Heatwaves are the deadliest type of extreme weather event in the U.S., according to The Weather Channel, killing more people on average each year than tornadoes or hurricanes put together. Yet they do not receive names like hurricanes or wildfires, and some experts have argued that changing this might help people take them more seriously and save lives.
Click through for story and evidence. The concept is not original to him – Seville in Spain has been doing it – but IMO it’s a good idea whose time has come.
The Inquirer – Why are Texas and Florida building their own large, sadistic armies?
Quote – This crucible of blood and bone is playing out against the cold slashing metal of barbed wire strung out along the Rio Grande River that divides the United States from Mexico in west Texas. The actors are a new breed of troops, accountable not to Washington but to an ambitious Republican governor in Austin, enforcing his Fox News bromides with brutal force.,,, In a story first broken by the Houston Chronicle’s Benjamin Wermund, based on a whistleblowing email from a state trooper complaining of inhumane conditions at Eagle Pass, and then amplified by the Times’ reporting, we’ve learned the past week that troops under the massive Texas state border operation dubbed Operation Lone Star are committing shocking acts that arguably add up to domestic war crimes.
Click through for details. The obvious answer to the question in the headline would appear to be that two governors (two for now, anyway) want to be absolute monarchs in their states and are forming armies to enforce that. But we can’t rule out the possibility that, unchecked, we could be looking at potential insurrection. And a possible shooting Civil War – again.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Has Mark Meadows flipped on Donald Trump? Here’s an important new data point
The Lincoln Project – They Would Be Ashamed of Him
Thom Hartmann – Russia Behind FAKE Hunter Biden Laptop Story? Shocking Revelations Revealed! [File under No s***, Sherlock]
Dog Obsessed With Water Goes to Waterpark (He’s a “yellow labmarine.”)
The Never Again Trump Song [parody of “Harrigan” by George M. Coham]
Beau – Let’s talk about Tupac….
Today, had she lived , would have been my mother’s 117th birthday (though that would have been extremely unlikely. ) She was a survivor of childhood abuse, widowhood with a newborn child, and a melanoma on her nose. She was not a woman who talked a lot, but one could generally take anything she said to the bank. When I was in high school and college it was never hard for me to get friends to come over, but sometimes it was hard to tell whether it was her or me for whom they were coming. At her funeral my last surviving sunt (who had always been known to be the most easily offended person in the family) said, that my Mom had been “the most loving person she had ever known.” And, both prior to that and to this day, Virgil has raised many eyebrows by saying that he never really knew what love was until he met his wife’s mother. Of course I miss her. But I would probably miss her more had she not put so much time and effort into preparing me to be strong and independent. Happy Birthday, Mom.
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Democratic Underground (Zorro) – They Checked Out Pride Books in Protest. It Backfired.
Quote – Adrianne Peterson, the manager of the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library, was actually a little embarrassed by the modest size of her Pride Month display in June. Between staff vacations and organizing workshops for graduating high school students, it had fallen through the cracks and fell short of what she had hoped to offer. Yet the kiosk across from the checkout counter, marked by a Progress Pride rainbow flag, was enough to thrust the suburban library onto the front lines of the nation’s culture wars. Ms. Peterson, who has run the library branch since 2012 and highlighted books for Pride Month for the better part of a decade, was taken aback when she read an email last month from two neighborhood residents. They informed her that they had gotten nearly all of the books in the Pride display checked out and would not return them unless the library permanently removed what they considered “inappropriate content.”
Click through for what happened next.This take is so that Colleen can get bragging rights for her city. The original article was in the NY Times, but I don’t have a gift link, and besides, the comments are pretty good.
Good News Network – Stunned Researchers Discover that Metals Can Heal Themselves ‘Without Human Intervention’
Quote – Scientists for the first time have witnessed pieces of metal crack, then fuse back together without any human intervention, overturning fundamental scientific theories in the process. If the newly discovered phenomenon can be harnessed, it could usher in an engineering revolution—one in which self-healing engines, bridges, and airplanes could reverse damage caused by wear and tear, making them safer and longer-lasting. The research team from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University described their findings today in the journal Nature.
Click through. I found this through CPR. I don’t often do an all good news day, and I didn’t plan this one, but I figured, since it is Mom’s birthday, I’d let it go.
Food For Thought
I made this. Marthe48 says “Please feel free to share.”
