Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump THREATENS NY DA Alvin Bragg in violation of NY state law; additional charges likely?
The Lincoln Project – Mr. DeSantis
Ring of Fire – Fox Host Begs Trump To Shut The Hell Up About 2020 Election
Armageddon Update – HELLthcare
Cat Is SO Gentle With His Squirrel Brother
Beau – Let’s talk about if NY is handling it wrong with Trump….
Yesterday, I visited Virgil (who returns all greetings). I hadn’t slept all that well, having been awakened over an hour early by pain in my left shoulder – I had been being careful with it, but I guess not careful enough. But I was fit to drive – I assume, since I navigated both ways without incident. The Scrabble set was in use when I arrived, but that visitor left early, so we got to use it right up to closing time. We didn’t keep score, just went for making things that worked. We played one complete game using every tile, and then a second with which we were in the end game when visitation ended. When I play with Virgil I don’t play any game competetively, since it’s not fun for either of us. Not keeping score helps that. I was mostly trying to spread out the board so there would be lots of openings, in which I only partially succeeded. But it was fun for both of us. Before I leave you with the news, I want to share this little tidbit., about what happens when cendorship gets so hot and heavy that a class in Renaissance Art gets censored – such as this one in Florida – and MSNBC picks it up and shares the censorship with a rude pun which they may or may not have known was a rude pun (in my experience, the usage is pretty much restricted to certain regions.)
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Short Takes –
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/why-waco?
Civil Discourse – Why Waco?
Quote – Waco is a dark tale. It’s important for us to understand what it means for Trump to go there today. It’s not the sort of thing that should be brushed off as Trump being Trump. His presence will hold meaning for people who can be moved to action by it, just like the Proud Boys heard Trump’s call during the 2020 presidential debates to “stand back and stand by” as a call to future action. There is risk in tomorrow’s rally. That risk will continue as long as Trump remains on the public stage. It’s more important than ever that he be held accountable, both by the criminal justice system and by the voting public.
Click through for history. This is really not flying over the heads, or under the radar, of those who pay attention to current affairs. However, way too many do not.
Daily Beast – How an Old Affidavit Could Undercut Trump’s Future Defense in the Stormy Daniels Case
Quote – back in 2000, Trump submitted a sworn affidavit to the Federal Election Commission demonstrating a complex understanding of some of the same campaign finance laws that now appear central to Bragg’s case. “I neither reimbursed, nor caused any other person to reimburse, any employee of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. or its subsidiaries for his or her contribution to Gormley for Senate,” Trump wrote at the time…. That case was fairly complex for a layperson, and it forced Trump to develop and express a sophisticated understanding of specific federal campaign finance laws.
Click through for details. It would not surprise me if Trump** does plan to claim ignorance as a defense. Certainly his allies appear to be claiming it for him. It is to be hoped that that will not go well for him.
Food For Thought
There is a lot more information here.
Talking Feds with Harry Litman – Former Prosecutor Decodes the Manhattan DA’s TRUMP INDICTMENT Plans (long, but very nuts and bolts – and Glenn skipped a day.)
MSNBC – Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg receives threatening letter with white powder
Farron Balanced – Fox Host Whines About Democrats Making Conservatives Look Like Idiots
Afroman – Will You Help Me Repair My Door? (This is funny [and the CC is not bad], but the incident was not at all funny.} https://www.wonkette.com/humiliated-cops-sue-afroman
Bulldog Obsessed With His Skateboard Hates When His Parents Try To Take It Away From Him
Beau – Let’s talk about the permafrost zombie virus….
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Norma,” by Vincenzo Bellini, who died young, but during his lifetime was known for his long flowing melodic lines; at a time when everyone was wrtting long, flowing melodic lines (the bel canto period), he was nicknamed the Swan of Catania. Norma’s plot is quite intense, and yesterday the intensity was heightened by the illness of the intended soprano star, which led to the debut of a relative unknown (here. She’s very well known in Australia and Europe.) This does happen in real life, not just in the movies, and sometimes it is a triumph, but it’s not guaranteed. Judging by the applause after her opening aria, “Casta Diva,” at the very least this performance will open doors for her here, and deservedly so. Had she been married to a conductor (as Sutherland was) we would have heard of her long before now. The plot of “Norma” is a love triangle, but an unusual one. the sisterly relationship between the two women turns out to be stronger than either of their relationships with the tenor, and in the end Norma’s principle is stronger than both. (In fact both women are principled, which confounds the tenor, who is accustomed to having women do as he says, and here there are, not just one, but two, who don’t. I find it refreshing.)
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Colorado Public Radio – Colorado Springs mayor says Trump told him he was holding Space Command decision until after the election
Quote – Outgoing Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers wrote to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall earlier this month to air his concern that former President Donald Trump’s decision to move Space Command Headquarters to Alabama was a political one…. Suthers said he decided to write the letter after talking with Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper. “Senator Hickenlooper suggested that it may be important for me to weigh in and relate these conversations because they do clearly show that it was [Trump’s] perspective, this was gonna be a political decision,” Suthers said,
Click through for story – I have lived in the Colorado Springs area since 1991, but outside the city lmits since 2002 so its mayor does not affect me. As Republicans go, he keeps a low profile, but I still would not have expected him to confide in Hickenlooper, let alone take his advice. Not that we needed any more evidence that Trump** cannot keep his mouth shut.
Wonkette – Li’l Nebraska State Sen Lady Machaela Cavanaugh Sets Up Early Bid For BADASS OF THE YEAR!
Quote – Last month, Nebraska state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh declared that she’d filibuster every damn bill the Republican-controlled legislature put forward unless it pulled proposed legislation banning gender-affirming health care for transgender youth…. Cavanaugh wasn’t shy about her intentions. She said, “If people are like, ‘Is she threatening us?’ let me be clear: Yes, I am. I am threatening you.” She added, “If this Legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful; painful for everyone. Because if you want to inflict pain upon our children, I am going to inflict pain upon this body.”
Click through for details. I’m glad this came out in Women’s History Month, because it’s more proof that we are not done with making history.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Jim Jordan tries to interfere in Trump’s NY case, DA Alvin Bragg SCHOOLS Jordan on the Constitution!
Politics Girl – Trump Arrest
MSNBC – Judge rules Trump lawyer must testify in special counsel probe of classified documents
TYT – Georgia Rep. Completely CRUSHES Republicans (hanky alert?)
Reasons My Cat Wouldn’t Survive In The Wild
Beau – Let’s talk about the GOP getting news from the budget office….
Yesterday, well, actually a few days ago, so you may have seen it, Disney fired a shot at DeSantis by announcing that Disney World will be hosting a “major summit on gay rights” in September. And Steve Schmidt made a rare exception and released his entire column to unpaid subscribers, I presume because the ignorance of the Constitutional law displayed by Republicans, including members of Congress, impelled him. I’d bookmark this one, or print it out, for when I encounter talking points which make out the Constitution to be whatever Republicans want it to be.
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Robert Reich – What connects Trump’s likely arrest with the bank bailouts?
Quote – Thiel and other wealthy self-described “libertarians” want Trump to be re-elected president in 2024…. Charges of hypocrisy have been leveled at Thiel and other wealthy depositors who claim to be libertarians but were rescued by the government. There was nothing hypocritical about it. Thiel and others like him aren’t really opposed to government, per se. They’re opposed to democracy. They prefer an oligarchy — a government controlled by super-wealthy people like themselves.
Click through for story. I might suggest that it is indeed htpocritical to call yourself a libertarian when you are in fact an oligarchist. But there’s certainly a precendent in Ayn Rand.
Civil Discourse – A nightmare for women in Idaho could be coming to all of us soon
Quote – Bonner General Health wrote that it was forced to take the step because of physician shortages and a downturn in births. Then it explained the context in which it was being forced to shut down its labor and delivery unit: “Idaho’s legal and political climate – Highly respected, talented physicians are leaving. Recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult. In addition, the Idaho Legislature continues to introduce and pass bills that criminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care. Consequences for Idaho Physicians providing the standard of care may include civil litigation and criminal prosecution, leading to jail time or fines.”
Click through for details. Translation: When government tells doctors how to practice medicine, that is a threat to ALL doctors practicing ANY kind of medicine, and they will go elsewhere. If this spreads, the ENTIRE United states could lose ALL its doctors and medical facilities.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Judge ORDERS Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran to testify AGAINST Trump, and appellate court agrees!
Thom Hartmann – Fascist Bullies Don’t Stop… Unless We Stop Them
Ring of Fire – Trump’s Biggest Legal Problem Isn’t Getting Enough Attention
MSNBC – Supreme Court hears case on Navajo Nation water dispute
Abandoned Puppies Are All Grown Up And Looking For Their Forever Homes
Beau – Let’s talk about the water situation out west…. (Most of the snowpacks are above normal. There is ONE which is at only 80%. It is the one that feeds the arkansas River. The Ark is rhe river I would drive along after turning left at Pueblo when Virgil was in Las Animas. I feel like Rick – “Of all the basins feeding all the rivers, the one that is below normal is mine.”)
Yesterday, there was a very odd story out of Russia – first a bit of background: “eternal flames” are not unknown here, but apparently in Russia there are a gazillion of them, relics of the Soviet era. In a town in the Moscow region but not Moscow, a fifth-grade boy apparently had had enough of the one there, and literally estinguished it. Using a fire extinguisher of the type that are required in cars there), he didn’t spray it (which would not have worked) but tossed it into the flame. An explosion ensued and the flame was gone. I guess there are bunches of dissatisfied people just about everywhere, and some will go to ridiculous lengths to make it known.)
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Crooks and Liars – Dark Money Groups Sue To Remain Anonymous
Quote – At the heart of the lawsuit is the argument that anonymous political speech is protected by the First Amendment. Terry Goddard, a former Arizona attorney general and the driving force behind the Voters’ Right to Know Act, said the arguments against disclosure aren’t new — and have been rejected by courts.
Click through. Because of course they do. If you were pouring money into taking away other people’s money so you could kep more of yours (and keep getting more), you’d not want anyone to know who you are either.
ABC News – What is gender dysphoria and what does transgender youth care consist of?
Quote – Across the country, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that restricts transgender health care for minors. At least eight states have passed laws or policies restricting this care, and 23 more state legislatures are considering similar legislation of their own. Medical experts say that understanding transgender identities, gender dysphoria and how gender-affirming treatments work is key to understanding the impact these bans may have on patients.
Click through for details. I’m counting this as a women’s history month article. That’s because I have a theory that LGBTQIA+ phobia ia all based in misogyny. Anything other than straight male is othered. (And if we could eliminate all fear of LGBTQIA+, misogyny would remain.) But we must keep trying. All of us.
CPR – The beloved musical ‘1776’ is coming to Denver, and its cast is as diverse as the Second Continental Congress was not
Quote – A reimagined take on a Broadway classic is coming to Denver, and it’s challenging audiences to think about our country — who we are and why — with a new perspective…. When it premiered on Broadway in 1969, the musical “1776” won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. This iteration of the musical still depicts the Second Continental Congress meeting in the summer of 1776 to write the Declaration of Independence. But, this new production — by directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus — features a diverse cast reflecting many representations of race, gender, and ethnicity. That is to say, it’s not all white guys.
Click through – in a way this is fluff – which is why I made it an extra – but I bring it up not because it’s Denver, or because it’s a musical I love, but because of the inclusivity.
Food For Thought
(I wish this were actually from Campbell’s. But “Customer Service” ia a private account, a person or geoup that loves returning the finger to those who give it to “woke” products.)
