Open Thread – Page 137 – Politics Plus

Open Thread September 11, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 112023

Yesterday, I was able to see Virgil. When I went over to the game cabinet to see what was avaiable, my jaw about hit the floor – there was a brand new deck of standard cards. It’s amazing how much easier it is to concentrate on, and have fun with, a game of cards when none of them stick together, and none are creased in half to the point of falling apart. When I left, I told the offcer who was supervising, “I don’t know who came up with the new deck of cards, but please tell them they get to go to heaven without doing anything else.” (As usual, that got a smile.) I needed the air conditioning on in the car on the way down, but coming back, it was cooler, and there was even a little rain, so I didn’t. I had to stop for gas on the way home, and yes, it’s pricey here too, but when a single tank lasts me two months I really don’t have a lot to gripe about. As usual, I was exhausted upon return. I think what is going on is that, even when I don’t realize I am, I get nervous about everything that could go wrong – and after it’s all gone fine, and there’s nothing more that could go wrong, I melt with relief.

Also, I did finish the last 2 cartoons in September and was able to look at October. TC made only 2 cartoons in October 2015, for the 30th and 31st, and they were both personal medical mayhem topics. So I’ll need a bunch. There are some images which could be made into cartoons with a frame and a watermark, and I’ll start by doing something with those. I didn’t count them. I did notice that Nameless uploaded images for an exquisite fall foliage post around the 16th. I didn’t look to see whether any were gifs or slideshows – but the images were lovely just by themselves.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Projest On Government Oversight – Routine Disqualification: Every State Has Kept Ineligible Candidates Off the Ballot, and Trump Could Be Next
Quote – In addition to the disqualification clause, the U.S. Constitution imposes several qualifications for federal elected offices. Representatives, senators, and presidents must meet minimum age requirements (ranging from 25 to 35 years of age); must be United States citizens (natural-born for presidents); and must live in the state they represent (or in the case of presidents, must have lived in the country for at least 14 years). In addition, the 22nd Amendment prohibits individuals who have already been elected to two terms as president or served more than one and a half terms from being elected president again, and the 12th Amendment prohibits a president and vice president from residing in the same state. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that these qualifications are exclusive; Congress and the states cannot create additional qualifications for these federal offices. However, as will be discussed in this report, states do have the authority to ensure that candidates for federal office meet the Constitution’s requirements.
Click through for full article. This could have been titled “Everything you wanted to know about disqualification but didn’t know enough to ask.” In addition to general rules, the article includes case studies in several states of diqualification for different offices. Some of them it’s challenging to believe that a candidate not intelligent enough to realize they were unqualified would even apply for candidacy, or challenge the Secretary of State when exceluded.

HuffPost – 6 Things To Know About Biden’s Bad Polling
Quote – 2. The anti-bedwetting brigade is out in full force, and mostly correct. “I don’t worry about any polls a year and a half before the election,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told HuffPost. While his timeline was not entirely accurate, he’s correct to say the predictive value of polls this far out is essentially nil. Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both came back for clear victories after trailing the leading GOP contenders at similar points in their presidencies.
Click through for all six. Yes, another article on polling. There are two potential negative consequences to overreacting to polls. One can get overdonfident, on the one hand. And, on the other, one can get discouraged enough to fail to vote. In 2024, we can’t afford for any of us to make either mistake. We need to find middle ground. If this doesn’t help, don’t get hung up on it.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 9/10/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Politics

Sep 102023

Glenn Kirschner – Georgia grand jury recommends indicting Lindsey Graham, Mike Flynn, others. What now?

MSNBC – A siege mentality’: Former Evangelical church leader on why his flock votes for Trump

Joe Biden – War Zone | Biden-Harris 2024

The Soggy Bottom Boy [Patrick Fitzgerald] – In the Jailhouse Now

Husky waits 733 days to meet her familly [Don’t miss the organization’s name at the end LOL]

Beau – Let’s talk about the 14th amendment, Trump, and a GOP candidate….

Open Thread September 10, 2023

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

Sep 102023

Yesterday, the radio opera was “The Ballad of the Canal” by Yin Qing. It is not a “Chinese Opera” which is a genre all its own. It is a western style opera in Chinese, with Chinese subject matter and roots in Chinese folk music. It does borrow some from the Chinese Opera genre, but that is but one element among others such as bel canto and singspiel. It centers around life during the Ming Dynasty around the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the longest canal in the world (and, at 1104 miles, likely to remain so). There is a main plot, but the opera is hughly episodic, and thus can juxtapose characters from various social classes effectively. IIRC, when I was in school, this format was referred to as “a slice of life.” The performance was recorded in 2022. It was very easy to listen to, and not all that hard to follow. The brief interviews with the performers about their characters before it started and during intermission helped.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Fani Willis Roasts Jim Jordan’s D**k Over Open Fire
Quote – We are going to resist the temptation to share every hilariously shady comment, every time she just brutalizes Jim Jordan…. Quoting established case law, Willis writes that Jordan’s subpoenas are only valid if related to a real task of Congress, and investigations only for the aggrandizement of the investigators, or to punish those being investigated, are indefensible. “This unprecedented action serves no legitimate legislative purpose and would set a dangerous precedent for future Congresses… the American people deserve better,” she wrote, quoting directly from a letter written by [checks notes] Jim Jordan to Bennie Thompson, chair of the House January 6 Select Committee, back in 2022. That’ll set the tone for you. But it gets so much nastier.
Click through for full (NSFW) article. I doubt whether Jordan will ever learn not to leave himself wide open like that. Not if he hasn’t learned by now. (Oh yes, and it’s Substack now.)

The Daily Beast – How ‘Free Speech’ Warrior RFK Tried to Bully a DailyKos Blogger
Quote – “In truth, Mr. Kennedy gave a speech for peace and freedom in Berlin on Aug. 29, 2020, initiated by the group Querdenken—a democratic movement whose name means ‘lateral thinking’ and who vehemently oppose all forms of fascism and extremism,” the Barnes-written document reads, referring to Kennedy’s rant about Bill Gates and 5G. “Despite requests from Mr. Kennedy, Defendants have failed and refused to take down the Defamatory Article.” The problem with this argument is that The Daily Beast and numerous other organizations have extensively documented Querdenken’s extremist affinities and associations. Not only does it indulge in QAnon conspiracies and fawn over Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, but the U.S. State Department has highlighted its “anti-Semitic rhetoric and views,” and a top police official in the German city of Bremen has described it as “a serious threat to public security.”
Click through for details. “DowneastDem,” IMO, is entitled to wear this as a badge of honor. Kennedy’s siblings all (publicly) disagree with his claim not to be or associate with Nazis. (As do I – but I don’t have the standing.)

Food For Thought
I’d save this for a day when TFG is testifying – except that I’m not crazy enough to believe he will ever testify.

Video Thread 9/9/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:08 pm Open Thread, Politics

Sep 092023

Glenn Kirschner – Jim Jordan tries to assist Trump in avoiding accountability; obstructs Georgia RICO prosecution

Thom Hartmann – Ticking Bomb Inside GOP’s Plan To Defund Trump Prosecution

MSNBC – Lawrence: If Jan. 6 leader of ‘Trump’s army’ gets 22 years, what about Trump?

Armageddon Update – To My Republican Countrymen…

Street cat had enough, convinces human to adopt him

Beau – Let’s talk about how Smith is still investigating and Trump….

Open Thread September 9, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 092023

Yesterday, the sealed Special Grand Jury report from Georgia was released, and woo-hee! It’s not surprising that clickbait-headlining Meidas Touch calls it a bombshell, but when Glenn Kirschner also uses the word bombshell, that’s noteworthy. By the time you read this, it’s probably all ove the place, with names like “Lindsay Graham” and “Michael Flynn” being screamed. But I had to look around to find the fullest version with the least patwall and the most respect. I chose PBS, and here you are. I assume this news has completely overshadowed Nancy Pelosi’s announcemnt that she will run for another two-year term. However,t the Federal Judge denied Mark Meadows’s motion to remove his Georgia indictment to Federal Court was denied, and that mayhave seeped through.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – This Gloria Johnson Ad Should Make Sen. Blackburn Very Nervous
Quote – But Johnson is running on more than just gun reform. The ad continues with her saying that she had to sleep in the hallway as a child to avoid being shot because her father “brought the KKK to justice.” She goes on to note that politicians don’t like her much “because I speak my mind. And when it’s bullsh*t, I call it bullsh*t.”… Tennessee is so ruby red that it hasn’t elected a Democrat for statewide office in nearly 20 years. But I think this is the kind of message that just might do the job.
Click through for article. It’s mostly a video, much of which is quoted in the text, and in which keywords are shown in large type, so it’s not tough to follow. We surely could use her in the Senate – and, given what we’ve seen in the Tennessee State House this year, I’m not worried that she might not be replaced there by another Democrat.

Robert Reich: Election season has come. Here’s what you need to do to stop Trump from winning

Robert Reich: The Terrifying Road Ahead (same article, different link)
Quote – This particular week after Labor Day also marks the start of a terrifyingly high-stakes ride for America — five months until the beginning of the primaries, eight until Trump’s trial for seeking to overturn the 2020 election, 10 until the Republican convention in which Trump is almost certain to be nominated, 14 until the presidential election of 2024. All the while, Trump and House Republicans will be throwing up every conceivable distraction and roadblock — threatening to or actually closing the government, impeaching Joe Biden, and holding more hearings on “woke” capitalism, Hunter Biden, the alleged “weaponization” of the Justice Department and the FBI.
Click either one for full opinion. The second link is to Substack so you’ll need to click. The first is at The Guardian, kindly sent me by Evelyn B. IIRC the Guardian has a paywall but not on the first visit within whatever their timeframe is. So – your choice. (The Wall Street Journal poll he alludes to is the one I mentioned yesterday which Trump** helped pay for).

Food For Thought

Video Thread 9/8/2023

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

Sep 082023

This might have been a good opportunity to use the word “penultimate” – or even “antepenultimate” to allow for people like Giuliani and Eastman filling the “penultimate” positions.

Glenn Kirschner – Proud Boys Tarrio sentence to 22 years, but Trump – not Tarrio – is the “leader” of the insurrection

MSNBC – ‘Voters in Fulton County, Georgia elected her to’ take on big cases like 2020 election interference

Thom Hartmann – Why Term Limits Won’t Save America From Oligarchs Like Mitch McConnell

Liberal Redneck – Freeze, Mitch! (And the Scourge of Ancient Evil)

Momma Dog Has Her Babies In A Tiny Hole In The Ground

Beau – Let’s talk about a new government website….

Open Thread September 8, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 082023

Yesterday, Peter Navarro was found guilty of contempt of Congress. Yay! Now we just need a decent sentence. Numerous other stuff happened in various court filings in multiple cases also. I won’t even try to list them all. If I find a comprehesive list, i’ll definitely pass it on.

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Short Takes –

Robert Hubbell – One more time with feeling: Ignore the polls!
Quote – [M]ajor media outlets and respected commentators treat the polls as if they are meaningful and predictive. They are neither. Instead, they are clickbait wrapped in statistics that misleads by confusing precision and truth. If someone tells you that the universe will end in 3,198,642,971.25 years, that is a “precise” prediction. Whether the prediction is “true” is a different question entirely. So, too, with the polling…. For those of you tired of reading my response to such polls, I apologize for the repetition. You may want to set aside this newsletter and start afresh with tomorrow’s newsletter. To those of you who need reassurance, read on! Because we will see many similar polls over the next fourteen months, I will use the WSJ poll as an example of how pollsters can distort the truth and why we should generally ignore the polls.
Click through for article. It appears that the stakes just keep getting higher and higher, which makes it very tempting to follow polls closely. But he makes good points. Also, it’s not really possible to think productively or do the things that need to be done, and that’s even if the polls are in good faith. I recently saw a story about a poll published by the Wall Street Journal hich came up with a low approval rate for Biden. What the publication did not include, and that the author of the article critiquing it did, was that the participants included two Republicans for every Democrat polled (and a sample size of only about 1,000.) Remember this poll for tomorrow’s OT. This is Substack so you’ll need to do a little clicking to read it all.

HuffPost – A 2024 Trump-Biden Rematch Isn’t Boring. It’s Something Entirely New.
Quote – The likely 2024 Biden-Trump contest should be viewed less as a rerun and more as the rare reboot that actually ups the stakes: Compared with each man’s first successful run for the presidency, both are taking positions that repudiate past governing commitments of the American state in ways that we probably haven’t seen before. In pursuit of a national hand in economic policymaking, Biden is rhetorically attacking the neoliberal paradigm that has dominated American domestic and foreign policy for the past 40 years. His Democratic predecessors Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did so too at times, but Biden is also enacting actual policies that turn the page on this era. Trump, on the other hand, is running to turn the presidency into something akin to a monarchy. He has deemphasized the old conservative “tax and spend” discourse in favor of an all-out attack on government depth. Yes, he still embraces cutting taxes for the rich and slashing government spending. But the policy that he and his allies are emphasizing most in pursuit of conservative aims is placing the administrative state and its 2 million-plus workers, including law enforcement and investigatory bodies, under his direct control by gutting civil service protections and the independence of agencies. If you can’t cut the size of government, you can at least make it bend to your wishes, or so the thinking goes.
Click through for (IMO well-founded) opinion. The thought that an election, or any other event, upon which one’s life depends, could possibly considered boring, simply boggles my mind. But here we are.

Food For Thought