Open Thread – Page 147 – Politics Plus

Open Thread June 7, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 072023

Yesterday, the Southern Poverty Law Center released its 2022 Report on Hate and Extremism. It doesn’t look pretty – not that we all didn’t already know that via gut feelings, but here are the numbers to demonstrate it. Also yesterday, I spent over two hours trying to report a package whuch was supposed to have beenbe delivered Mionday and wasn’t though it showed up in my Informed Delivery as having been delivered, with a delivery time time and everything – only to discover (fortunately before I found an actual person) that it had been delivered last week. The tracking number had not gotten into the system when I actually received it, and they were apparently belatedly trying to account for it. Weird.

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Short Takes –

The New Yorker – How a Fringe Legal Theory Became a Threat to Democracy
Quote – “If you’re used to the powers that be either passively ignoring you or actively screwing you over, for generations, it’s natural to hear about some new nefarious thing they’re up to and think, Same shit, different day,” [Sailor Jones, a democracy activist] said. “The challenge for us, messaging-wise, is to find a way to tell folks, You’re not wrong, but, also, this one really is different.” “This one” was Moore v. Harper, a Supreme Court case that was set to be argued in December and resolved by the end of June…. Even if the apparatus of democracy is not dismantled this year, or next year, it’s worth reckoning with how easily it could be.
Click through for details. I wish this were not important … but it is. Statistically, we actually have, or have the potential for, a majority in enough states that are considered solidly red that if we could only get people registered, turn out the vote, and generally turn up the enthusiasm, we could deal with this. But that is something we are as a group too rational to be really good at. If you are paywalled out, shoot me an email and I will send you the article.

HuffPost [Fringe] – Oklahoma School Board Approves 1st Taxpayer-Funded Religious School In U.S.
Quote – The Archdiocese of Oklahoma said in the “vision and purpose of the organization” section of its application that: “The Catholic school participates in the evangelizing mission of the Church and is the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.” Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said: “We are elated that the board agreed with our argument and application for the nation’s first religious charter school.”
Click through for story. I don’t know how far this would get if it were taken to court – and there are asome groups and people who will be taking it there. For one thng, the state’s AG says it is unconstitutional under Oklahoma;s constitution … and Americans United foor Separation of Church and State also appears to be on it.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/6/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:13 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 062023

Glenn Kirschner – Tape made by Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, now in hands of prosecutors. Is any of this normal?

MSNBC – Trump’s ‘panic’ on display when asked about docs case audio tape

Farron Balanced – Roger Stone Caught On Tape Explaining How He Manipulates Donald Trump

Robert Reich – What a Vietnam War Riot Says about Today’s Culture Wars

Watch This Sassy Cleft Palate Puppy Argue With His Mom

Beau – Let’s talk about the debt deal and what’s in it…. (Since filming, it has sailed through the Senate and been signed, but the points made are still valid)

Open Thread June 6, 2023

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

Jun 062023

Yesterday, I learned that the Smithsonian has three meerkay pups (aand also that the collective noun for meerkats is “mob.” Boy, does that ever fit!) They don’t have a live cam, but they do have a short (32 seconds) video. The parents are named Frankie and Sadie. The pups won’t be named for a while, because they have not been sexed (hey, this is America) and won’t be for a while because the keepers are staying out of the meerkats’ business. They do offer several photos for download in case anyone is looking for a new wallpaper.

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Short Takes –

The Conversation – US Army Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’ journey from enslaver to Union officer to civil rights defender
Quote – Hundreds of thousands of African American Southerners supported the Union by escaping slavery and serving in the Union army. But there were thousands of white Southerners who also supported the Union. George H. Thomas, known to history as “the Rock of Chickamauga,” is the most prominent of them…. When the Civil War broke out, nearly all the Southern career officers left the U.S. Army to serve in the Confederacy. But, as his adjutant and first biographer wrote in “The Life of Major-General George H. Thomas,” Thomas viewed his oath as an army officer to defend the Constitution as more binding than his feelings of loyalty to his native state.
Click through for full story. Transformations like this one are not common, but they do happen – perhaps it’s partly because they are rare that we are drawn to their stories.

New Mexico Political Report – Former GOP candidate faces federal charges for shootings of homes of prominent Dems
Quote – In 2022, [Solomon] Peña ran for the state House District 14 seat against incumbent Democrat Miguel Garcia. Garcia won the race with 74 percent of the vote to Peña’s 26 percent. “Refusing to accept his electoral defeat, Peña organized a shooting spree that targeted the homes of four elected officials and their families,” court records state. The shootings took place between Dec. 4 , and Jan. 3.
Click through for details. From a true-blue hearted General from a red state to a blood-red hearted ex-candidate in a blue state. Democrats, progressives, believe that everyone is a hman being and should be treated as such. But in today’s political climate, sometimes even we forget that – especially when it comes to red and blue states.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/5/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:52 am Open Thread, Politics

Jun 052023

Glenn Kirschner – ANOTHER damaging tape in Trump case, but this one was made by his lawyer!

The Lincoln Project – You think Biden Could do That?

MSNBC – Biden has once again defied expectations from haters and his own party

Parody Project – The MAGA Song – Make Attorneys Get Attorneys

Cat Chronicles His Journey With Unrequited Love

Beau – Let’s talk about Paxton and turning Texas blue….

Open Thread June 5, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:45 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 052023

Yesterday, My drive was pretty uneventful except for some pretty heavy rain on the way down. It didn’t last long, but it gave the wipers a challenge on their highest setting while it lasted, and affected visibility. We played four games of Scrabble, not competetively, but with the aim of using allt he letters legitimately – and succeeded on all but thelast one. We were left with 8 vowels between us and the poard so tight that there was really no place to put any of them. He returnes all greetings. Today, both short takes are from substack – I apologize for that, but both of them include Tulsa (the Greenwood massacre) in their contents, and that anniversary is already a few days old.

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Short Takes –

The Good in Us – Black Wall Street
Quote – Since the end of the Civil War, the thing most likely to incite white violence against emancipated Black citizens was their success. Giving Black Americans full rights, beyond the freedom that had so grudgingly been granted to them after the Union prevailed, proved to be a bridge too far for many whites—even Northern Republicans…. In retrospect, it seems self-evident that the driver behind the essential re-enslavement of Black people after Reconstruction was Black prosperity.
Click through for full column. Even before I realized how horribly many massacres there have been in the US, I had begun to realize that, although the impulse for anyone in a marginalized group is to demonstrate their own worth, that is often unsuccessful at best and dangerous at worst. But she says it better than I can.

Letters from an American – June 1, 2023
Quote – In other economic news, the Biden administration today announced actions designed to address racial bias in the valuation of homes. This sounds sort of in the weeds for administration action, I know, but it is actually an important move for addressing the nation’s wealth inequality…. Homeownership is the most important factor in creating generational wealth—that is, wealth that passes from one generation to the next—both because homeownership essentially forces savings as people pay mortgages, and because homes tend to appreciate in value…. There is a reason that the administration has centered its housing policies on June 1. This is the anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre,
Click through for full article. I’m very glad the Biden administration is doing this. I hope they stay on it when it comes to actually making it happen. For more than 150 years we have trusted people to do the right thing and, frankly, that doesn’t work.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/4/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:01 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 042023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump can’t find classified document he stole; DA Willis goes all RICO; Pence cleared of wrongdoing

The Lincoln Project – DEE/DUH-Santis

Thom Hartmann – Did An 80 Year Old WWII Warning Predict America’s Descent Into Fascism?

Armageddon Update – Ai, Ai, OH NO!!!

Baby Owl Goes Everywhere With Her Family

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s Day 1 promise….

Open Thread June 4, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:42 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 042023

Yesterday, the radio opera was Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute). If you saw “Amadeus,” you probably have an idea what a departure this was from the symphonic and opera seria music on which Mozart had built his career. It was actually addressed to a different social class from the ruling class for whom most of his works had been written. It’s also quite progressive (at least if you can ignore the fact that it’s patriarchal) – it can be summarized: virtue and justice require concentrated effort to obtain, but witht them, the world can be paradise. It premiered just two years after the storming of the Bastille, so revolution was in the air. Of course it is also highly allegorical and includes multiple references to Freemasonry, but one doesn’t need to know that to appreciate it. I suppose everyone has heard “The Queen of the Night’s aria” (Actual title – “Der Holle Rache” and affectionately known to musicians as “The Holy Racket”). But there are many other charming melodies. It’s not necessary to know that the setting is suporsed to be ancient Egypt, nor that the name “Sarastro” comes from “Zoroaster” to appreciate it all. Well, I’m off to see Virgil. I’ll check in when I get back.

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Short Takes –

HuffPost – 5 Takeaways From The Debt Ceiling Drama
They are: 1. Joe Biden set the terms of debate.
2. McCarthy surprised everyone by taming the Freedom Caucus.
3. Democratic ‘grown-ups’ held their nose and saved the bill.
4. Republicans will take the debt ceiling hostage again.
5. The next big fight over spending is just around the corner.
Click through for more on each. WRT #5, I would say “Be careful what you wish for.” Prior to there being a “debt ceilng, the President had to come to Congress every time he wanted to borrow any money. The debt ceiling was established to give him (it was always him then and so fr still is) some freedom to make borrowong decisions. If we abolish it, we need to make sure we don’t revert to that.

The Daily Beast – GOP School Board Members Bring Book Ban Debate to Newtown, Connecticut
Quote – But Republicans on the Newtown Board of Education sought to have Flamer by Mike Curato and Blankets by Craig Thompson removed from the local high school library as if Connecticut was some benighted red state. After the 20 youngsters and six staff members were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary school, there was a nationwide call for an assault rifle ban. Fools of the far right continued to insist that civilians should have easy access to such weapons of war even as another mass school shooting is followed by another and another and another. In recent years, those same fervent opponents of banning assault weapons have begun to clamor for banning books that professional educators have deemed appropriate for students.
Click through for story. This is not your normal book ban (not that any book ban is or should be normal – but the GQP is trying hard to make them so.)

Food For Thought