Open Thread – Page 171 – Politics Plus

Open Thread March 4, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 042023

I have been so disorganized lately that I have not gotten around to sharing this website, not a new one, but one which has finally clicked for me: More Perfect Union. The name, of course, evokes the Constitution. But the “Union” they have in mnd in their name is a reference to labor unions. Their offerings include a YouTube channel called “The Class Room” with presentations which are sort of like TED talks garnished with documentary clips, only a little bit shorter. Notice that it’s not spelled “Classroom” but “Class Room.” tha “class” to which they are referring is not an academic class, but social class, as in Class Wars.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Trump Ordered Meadows To Leak Classified Docs To Discredit Adversaries
Quote – Brad Moss, an attorney specializing in national security law, explained to me: “Anything Trump had in his possession that was still classified and that he gave to a reporter or anyone else unauthorized to receive it, after 12:01 pm on January 21, 2021, was unlawful as a legal matter.” I’m sure this isn’t the only instance of Trump committing a felonious act with classified documents.
Click through for article. You can also click through to his source, Murray Waas, for a lot more detail (you may have to click “keep reading” on a popup). This behavior has never been litigated, because so far no one has ever been such an evil excuse for a human being as to do it, or so incompetent as to be caught doing it. As Pat would say, Holy cannoli!

The 19th – 99% of women-owned businesses say the federal government hasn’t done enough to support them, survey finds
Quote – That figure, from a new survey by Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program, illustrates a frustration that is universally shared among women-owned businesses. The findings, first exclusively shared with The 19th, represent responses collected over the past week from nearly 900 women small-business owners across 47 states and Puerto Rico. As many as 89 percent of women small-business owners said they feel they are not on a level playing field with men who own businesses, and 72 percent said that if they had to grade the federal government on the effectiveness of its programs, services and resources, they would give it a “C” or below.
Click through for details. Ninety-nine percent is a substantial percentage. Anyone besides me remember “99 44/100% pure”?

Food For Thought

Video Thread 3/3/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:03 pm Open Thread, Politics

Mar 032023

Glenn Kirschner – w/Eric Swalwell on Lawrence – in lieu of February recap

Ring of Fire – Fox Host Humiliates Himself Trying To Find A Single DeSantis Supporter At Florida Diner

Channel 9 Denver – Colorado’s cold air helped create the perfect conditions for ‘light pillars’ (No, I’ve never seen one, and no, I don’t expect to.)

Patrick Fitzgerald – He’s Always a Moron

Pittie Is Foster Mom To Over 50 Kittens

Beau – Let’s talk about two GOP hurdles for 2024….

Open Thread March 3, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:56 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 032023

Yesterday, as you are no doubt aware, I was very late posting. Eventually, I did get both daily posts up, but not until after many hours had passed. I’ll try not to do that again. If you panicked, I;m terribly sorry. My best advice is not to panic unles it goes into a second day with nothing – and I’m not even sure you should panic then. I did eventually reach my doctor’s office, resolved my prescription, reported the pain in my side, found out my difficulty faxing was likely on account of their equipment, not anythng I was doing, and got an email address (yay!) which I can use for non-emergency communication.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

ProPublica – Barricaded Siblings Turn to TikTok While Defying Court Order to Return to Father They Say Abused Them
Quote – Two siblings in Utah have barricaded themselves in a bedroom at their mother’s home in defiance of a judge’s order to return to the custody of their father, despite state child welfare investigators determining that he had sexually abused the children…. The showdown is the fallout from the latest family court battle over “parental alienation” — a disputed psychological theory in which one parent is accused of brainwashing a child to turn them against the other parent.
Click through for story. I trust I don’t have to explain the misogyny underlying this abomination. The fact that these children are 15 and 12, not toddlers, also suggests that only straight, white, adult males are to be believed – which is almost beyond irony.

Colorado Public Radio – ‘They’re not gonna help you’: Why domestic violence survivors say they’re being failed by police and the ‘red flag’ law
Quote – The former couple are among the first people to go through Colorado’s new “red flag” process, which allows courts to remove firearms from people deemed a threat to themselves or others. The experience gave her a measure of power over a terrifying situation, she said, but it also left her disillusioned. Her story and others show just how difficult it can be for a private citizen to pursue an “extreme risk” petition — especially when local police aren’t helpful. It’s a situation playing out all across Colorado. In some cases, police simply aren’t familiar with the new law, or may be hesitant to use it. In others, the authorities are intentionally avoiding it.
Click through fpr details and implications. And this is in Colorado. Imagine if this couple were living in Texas or Florida.

Food For Thought

Open Thread March 2, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 3:24 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 022023

Yesterday, I got caught up in trying unsuccessfully to fax to my doctor’s office, and ended up failing to schedule these posts. I do apologize. I finally have reached them by phone – i left amessage and it was promptly returned. I am actually feeling much better today but I did describe the side pain, so maybe I’ll learn something. I will have everything up in time for tomorrow.

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Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (kpete) – An open letter to Jimmy Carter from Michael Moore.
Quote – The news last weekend that you’ve decided to enter hospice — an “end of life” hospice as the news reports called it — was devastating. I broke down and cried. People will say that at 98 years old you’ve been blessed to live such a long life. And of course, that is true. But I’m not crying over you. I’m crying for us. We need 10,000 more of you, not one less as you leave us. Pundits will continue to “explain” and misunderstand your presidency. The Right despises you because you’re the Christian they fake-claim to be themselves. You’ve lived like a true Christian — humble, kind, forgiving, and always making sure your actions matched your words. You could have had a lucrative post-presidency, raking in the big bucks by sitting on corporate boards and investing in growth capitalism (greed).
Click through for full letter. He really speaks for all of us, IMO.

Keith Giles – The 6 Genders According To The Talmud and Biological Science
Quote – Both scientists and ancient Jewish texts agree that there are 6 different human gender types. Let’s start with the Ancient Jewish sources since, for most Conservative Evangelical Christians, the Jewish religious sources are likely to be more credible. Let’s start with the Jewish Mishnah…. The Mishnah identifies 6 different categories that include the binary “Male” and “Female” but also 4 other types that fall in between that spectrum.
Click through. I’m stretching a bit here, including Gender History under Women’s History. But I believe that’s appropriate. Certainly irrational prejudices based on gender go way beyong pure misogyny. Some sources read eight genders, some read six, and C.S. Lewis referred to seven genders, so maybe he was familiar with both and took an average. Most people of faith, even the crazies, usually concede that “what God does is well done.” What they don’t get, and need to, is that multiple variations on gender are “a thing that God does.”

Food For Thought

Video Thread 3/2/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 3:03 pm Open Thread, Politics

Mar 022023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s unhinged rants about prosecutors Jack Smith & Fani Willis signal Trump knows what’s coming (and in other news, water is wet.)

Farron Balanced – Trump Goes Completely Nuts After Fox News Talked About Ron DeSantis

Twitter – Blind Spots

.@BryanCranston explains to Chris Wallace why “MAGA” is a racist remark. (So well done, worth a watch.) pic.twitter.com/c3SdlyzFwe

— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) February 25, 2023

Liberal Redneck – Tennessee Drag Ban

Little Seal’s Family Waits Nearby While Someone Saves His Life

Beau – Let’s talk about maintaining hope….

Video Thread 3/1/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:05 pm Open Thread, Politics

Mar 012023

Glenn Kirschner – Judge unseals order directing Rep. Scott “Pardon Me” Perry’s cell phone disclosed to prosecutors

Robert Reich – Deregulation is Destroying Us

VoteVets – The Line

Patrick Fitzgerald – George Santos (not brand new but PolitiZoom just found it)

Dog Rescued From Side Of Road Gives His Cat Friend Kisses

Beau – Let’s talk about when the boss shows up and photos….

Open Thread March 1, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 012023

Yesterday, I did get my grocery order, along with some problems. One was nobody’s faukt – I woke up feeling as usual, but sometime between then and the order arrival. several body part involved in lifting and moving stuff decided to become really, really painful. But the other problem was unauthorized substitutions. In theory, they emailed me early enough that i was supposed to be able to get into the site and change them (delete them really), but I couldn’t. I tried more than once on more than one computer and nothing. So, besides the frustration, what with the pain getting everything in, it took me hours to put away perishables, and to just get non-perishables into the rooms where they will be put away (And it was a comparatively small order.) I took some extra OTC pain meds before bed, in the hope that sleep would help resolve the pains. (Those of you who pray, I’;; remn=ind youthat it is perfectly theologically sound to pray for an outcome which, at the time you are praying, has already either happened or won’t, provided that you don’t know which.)

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Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – Judge Luttig Weighs In
Quote – It has become popular in some quarters for pundits to dispense legal opinions that are results-oriented—they figure out what political corner they want to land in and then shoehorn their views of the facts and the law to get there. Judge Luttig doesn’t indulge in that sort of gamesmanship here. As a former Scalia law clerk who has been dismissed by progressive groups as an ultraconservative who leaned too far right to be considered for a Supreme Court seat, you might expect him to. But lawyers and judges are trained in law school to evaluate the facts and the law from 360 degrees and come up with the right answer, not the expedient one. That’s what the best ones do.
Click through for details. You may remember Judge Luttig as the J6 committee witness who spoke so slowly many people assumed he was recovering from a stroke (He wasn’t – that was his wa of being passionate.) When a conservative says/does the right thing it’s newsworthy IMO.

Slate – If the “Abortion Pill” Gets Banned, There’s Still One Good Move
Quote – It’s an alarming possibility that underscores the recklessness of giving politicians and appointees full authority over the nation’s reproductive health: An unelected official could singlehandedly revoke the FDA’s approval of a safe, widely used medication—and the Supreme Court may be inclined to let him…. But there’s an alternative: Mifepristone is only one of two drugs consumed in a standard medication abortion. In higher doses, the second drug, misoprostol, can also terminate a pregnancy on its own.
Click through for article. Counting on right-wing ignorance (even as prevalent as it is) is proably not the best long-term strategy. But in the short term, this is good knowledge to have.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 2/28/2023

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

Feb 282023

Glenn Kirschner – EVEN MORE classified documents found in Trump’s office, & these docs had been uploaded to the cloud!

Thom Hartmann – Did Far Right Turn Religion Into Authoritarian Cult?

Politics Girl – Wanna Save Democracy? (Yes, the primary is over now – Janet Protasiewicz won the open primary, and that’s good. But she won with a plurality, not a majority, and now we need to win the general. As far as I can gather from what I have found about the candidates, Wisconsin could really use its own Stacey Abrams right now.)