Glenn Kirschner – Proud Boys seditious conspiracy convictions moves the accountability needle closer to Trump & Co.
Thom Hartmann – Divorce Illegal!?! We Told You GOP Wanted To Turn Women Into Property
Farron Balanced – Pathetic Marjorie Taylor Greene Only Reported SIX Donors From Her Own District
Armageddon Update – BYE, TUCKER!
Cat Obsessed With Baby Brother Thinks He’s Also A Baby
Beau – Let’s talk about Brandon, books, budgets, and Biden….
Yesterday, I got 8 out of 8 correct in the Conversation’s weekly quiz for the second week in a row. I can’t possibly keep this up. This week, most of the credit goes to the quiz author. The wrong answers were mostly so off the wall that it wasn’t really difficult. The only one I actually had to guess was the one about Karl Lagerfeld, and that was a true-false, so the odds were better than when there are four answers. and, yes, Virgil called to say Happy Anniversary. You knew he would (I certainly did.)
Cartoon – My Everyday Erinyes (#369) is up here:
Short Takes –
Letters from an American – May 4, 2023
Quote – Weirdly, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) at a Senate Budget Committee hearing today blamed Democrats for not raising the debt ceiling themselves last year without help from the Republicans. Kate Riga of Talking Points Memo broke down this argument. If the Democrats had raised the debt ceiling through reconciliation, without Republican votes, Republicans would have insisted that it was the Democrats, not them, who had burdened the country with debt when, in fact, the Republicans added almost $8 trillion to the debt under Trump. Romney’s complaint amounts to berating the responsible Democrats for not protecting the country against the Republicans, who are willing to burn down the country. As Riga put it: “Darn you Democrats for not taking care of the debt ceiling then, because you knew we’d refuse to raise the limit unless you conceded to our demands, and look what a sticky spot we’re in now.”
Click though for much more (Click “continue reading”). They used to say “Seinfeld” was a show about nothing. This, on the other hand, is a letter about everything.
Crooks & Liars – Texas Bill Would Allow State To Overturn Harris County Elections
Quote – The measures call for the “abolition” of election administrators in counties with populations larger than 1,000,000—a metric that only applies to Harris County, which Republican state lawmakers have taken a keen interest in in the aftermath of the 2022 midterm elections…. Since then, the Harris County Elections Office report concluded that they couldn’t determine if potential voters were pushed away because of the issues at polling centers.
CLick through for story. This is so blatant that even now I can hardly imagine it succeeding though the courts. Even the courts we have now. But there is always a possibility. Clearly they think they are on to something.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – 3 stories: Rudy’s broke; Trump’s defenseless; & Special Counsel Jack Smith is busy in the grand jury
Robert Reich – How to Stop Republicans From Tanking the Economy
MSNBC – Eric Holder: NC Supreme Court acting not on principle nor precedent—but on personnel
Ring of Fire – Biden Expertly Dismantles Republicans Over Their Attempts To Gut Veterans’ Benefits
Little Girl And Her Dad Save A Wild Mouse!
Beau – Let’s talk about Tuberville and promotions….
Today, Virgil and I have been married for 39 years. No, I won’t see him until Sundey (but you can bet he’ll call,) Now, next year, being a leap year, the day will be on a Sunday. And it will be 40 years. I think that’s cool. (Incidentally, tomorrow’s radio opera will be Puccini’s “La Boheme.” If you were ever curious what inspired “Rent,” this is it. It’s easy to listen to, very melodic [Della Reese recordsed one of the arias with English words as “Don’t you know”] The four acts average maybe 20 minutes each of actual music, though of course with intermissions the broadcast will be longer, and besides the music there’s usually applause. If you don’t know of a local station, cpr.org/classical, kcme.org [both mountain], and wfmt.com [central] are always available.)
Also – Robert Reich is trying to give away the chair which was his official chair when he served in the Cabinet. It’s huge, and looks comfortable, if one is tall enough (I’m not tall, but I seem to have long femurs for my height – I would love it but have no room for it.) Any takers?
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Short Takes –
Pro Publica – What You Need to Know About Stillbirths
Quote – Every year, more than 20,000 pregnancies in the U.S. end in a stillbirth, the death of an expected child at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. Research shows as many as 1 in 4 stillbirths may be preventable. We interviewed dozens of parents of stillborn children who said their health care providers did not tell them about risk factors or explain what to watch for while pregnant. They said they felt blindsided by what followed. They did not have the information needed to make critical decisions about what happened with their baby’s body, about what additional testing could have been done to help determine what caused the stillbirth, or about how to navigate the process of requesting important stillbirth documents.
Click through (they’ll offer you the newsletter but you can just click on “No, thanks, I’m all set”). Back in the day, there was an expression, “Just the same, only different.” That’s the case with miscarriages and stillbirths. And, with the increased push for men to control women’s bodies, it’s more an more important to understand both. I am way past menopause, but every woman of childbearing age – and all the men in throir lives – need to know this material. So I’m bookmarking it.
Southern Poverty Law Center – MALE SUPREMACY IS AT THE CORE OF THE HARD RIGHT’S AGENDA (caps are theirs)
Quote – The hard right, in other words, wants to revive an older social order, before the Civil Rights Movement, women’s and gay liberation movements, and other social and political transformations upset what was a thoroughly white-dominated, patriarchal society. Gender, then – how it is understood, practiced and described in our laws – is clearly of central concern to the hard right. Their goal is to uphold male supremacy, a movement that scholar of right-wing movements Chelsea Ebin describes as “a complex system that serves to assert, support, and promote the supposed superiority of men,” and subjugate women, trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people.
Click through for details. I’ve been yelling this for years – glad to see someone else yelling too. If we don’t know our enemy, we will lose battles and eventually lose the war. Never forget Hillary. Never forget “Sure, I’d vote for a woman – just not this woman.” I never want to need to say “I told you so,” nor do I want it to need to be said “She told us so” after I’m gone.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner’s recap for April would have sppeared today. I was able to find a substitute.
Talking Feds with Harry Litman – BRAND NEW Trump Criminal Probes are Beginning ACROSS the Country
Sen. Whitehouse Delivers Opening Statement at Judiciary Cmte Hearing on Supreme Court Ethics Reform+
MSNBC – Democrats have a ‘legislative secret agent’ to fight GOP on debt ceiling crisis
Farron Balanced – Fox Feared Release Of Disgusting Tucker Carlson Texts So They Fired Him
Parody Project – A DAY IN THE LIFE (of a Swindler)
Tiny Shivering Kitten Gets Huge And Floofy
Beau – Let’s talk about understanding term polling….
Yesterday, I finished the last of the cartoons needed for May. That’s a relief. Nothing much else happened. But in the CPR Newsletter, I followed a link to a sweet story about an original play for two actors, a young girl whose growing up is complicated by being an outsider, and her imaginary superhero, “The Falcon” – who has some insecuroties of his own, so that they end up helping each other. Written by a person of color (for people of color), I can imagine it being inspirationsl to just about any young person, as well as some of us older ones. Who isn’t insecure sometimes? (Well, besides narcissicists – who probably are too but can’t recognize it.) I’m not commenting on Putin’s claim because I’m still putting pieces together (but I strongly spspect BS.)
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Short Takes –
U.S. Department of Labor – Three McDonald’s Franchises in Kemtucky Pay $212K in fines after Federal Investigations Find 305 Minors – Including 10-year-olds – Working Illegally
Quote – Working in a kitchen late at night near dangerous cooking equipment is a reality for many adults in the food service industry. But finding 10-year-old kids in such a work environment is a cause for concern and action by the U.S. Department of Labor. Investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division found two 10-year-old workers at a Louisville McDonald’s restaurant among many violations of federal labor laws committed by three Kentucky McDonald’s franchise operators. The investigations are part of the division’s ongoing effort to stop child labor abuses in the Southeast region.
Click through for report. Tuesday we saw how Republicans are trying to legalize child labor. Now we see that some of them literally can’t wait.
The 19th – Colorado becomes the first state to ban controversial abortion pill reversals
Quote – The Abortion Pill Rescue Network is run by Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion group that promotes a controversial practice called abortion pill reversal, in which a patient is given progesterone within 72 hours of taking mifepristone, the first pill administered in a medication abortion, and before taking misoprostol, the second pill. The organization said more than 4,000 infants have been born since 2013 after people went through the reversal process. KFF Health News couldn’t independently verify that number, which Heartbeat International said is based on internal patient data.
Click through for story. I am not trying to push Oregon out of leading the way. But the combination of an expanded majority Dem legislature and a term-limited Governor’s second term seems to be having a positive effect.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Jury in Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial sends judge note; hints at problem reaching verdicts
Robert Reich – How to Make Congress Less Terrible
Ring of Fire – Democrats Refuse To Let John Roberts Ignore SCOTUS Ethics Problems
Puppet Regime – Vladimir Putin sings one for his “friends”
Duck Thinks He’s A Dog And Walks On Leash (Sorry about this – it’s too cute not toshare, so I hope you don’t mind – and have no trouble – clicking through.)
Beau – Let’s talk about what Biden’s Dark Brandon embrace might mean….
Yesterday, I was short of sleep, and I hope you will forgive any typos I made in comments yesterday (and in todays posts, slthough the mechanics of putting up a post generally allows for better proofreading than the comments get from me.) I did do a couple of cartoons, and am now good through the middle of May, with only four more to make for the rest of the month. That’s quite a relief.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Daily Beast – Canadian Farmer Turned ‘Superman’ Escaped Putin’s Troops to Save Little Girl (hanky alert)
Quote – Paul described the decision to risk his life that day as a no-brainer. “When I said I was going to go down and get a 6-year-old girl, I was, I didn’t really think about my own personal safety anymore. I didn’t think about it, I didn’t do a risk analysis or anything. I just, yeah, go get this kid. Right?,” he told The Daily Beast. “Sometimes you get that call to go and do something that’s incredibly dangerous. And if you don’t take the call, then that means somebody else must. So, yeah, it’s passing the buck.”,,, “Paul is Katya’s Superman now. She tells me how he picked her in a car with all of those missiles landing around and saved her. Katya calls him ‘Superman’ every time we mention him. I wish there were more people like him in the world,” Julia said.
Click through for story. I added a hanky alert, but an outrage alert is also in order – outrage at the fascist Republicans who support Russia over Ukraine.
Robert Reich – Advice to Biden on how to handle House Republicans’ demands for raising the debt ceiling
Quote – My advice to Joe Biden: Ignore McCarthy and the Republican radicals. Mr. President, your oath to uphold the Constitution takes precedence. As the supreme law of the land, the Constitution has greater weight than the debt ceiling. Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution states that “The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.” A debt ceiling that prevents the federal government from honoring its existing financial commitments violates the Constitution. So, if House Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling, you are obligated by the U.S. Constitution and your oath of office to ignore the debt ceiling and continue to pay the debts of the United States.
Click through for details (you may need to click on “keep reading.”). Bipartisanship is nice (assuming it’s real, and not just a code word for extortion.) But the Constitution is nicer – and far more important.
Food For Thought
(The one on the left is Mrs. Matt Schlapp. I assume everyone recognizes Kari Lake on the right.)