Glenn Kirschner – J6 committee refers Donald Trump to the DOJ for criminal prosecution for the insurrection
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – December 20, 2022
Thom Hartmann – Fascism Has a Friend in Car Repossession
Ring of Fire – Republican Attacks On Critical Race Theory Flopped Hard In Midterms
Girls On a Long Bike Trip Pick Up a Stray Kitten
Beau – Let’s talk about the committee, the symbolic, and civics….
Yesterday, there was not a lot of snow on the ground – there was some – but there was also a lot of soil and road showing through it. However, it was COLD. Today should still be sub-zero C, but not also F. There should be sun, but not much melt. I did finish my electronic Christmas cards (readers of the weekly newsletter should get one. If you get the newsletter and didn’t get one by Saturday, let me know.) I am trying to stay with positive news as much as I can over the holiday.
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NM Political Report – The New Deal and the story of a New Mexican family
Quote – New Mexico has more than 300 buildings and other structures built by the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps nearly a century ago. These buildings include courthouses, schools, women’s clubs and some structures and trails on National Parks and Monuments such as those at Bandelier National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The CCC and WPA could not have been successful without the people working for them.
Click through for story. Mr. Wooley is a person to be remembered. And New Mexico was far from alone in receiving such service. Probably every state can say the same.
Wonkette – Biden Admin. Declares Housing A Human Right, Announces Plan To End Homelessness
Quote – We have a pretty big problem in this country. We need people to do low income jobs. If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that the vast majority of the workers most essential to our daily survival are the workers making the least amount of money. At the same time, the cost of housing has increased exponentially, so that there is no way these workers can afford to actually live anywhere. The plan points out that “there are only 37 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renters” in the US and that there is no place where someone working full-time, earning the federal minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom or studio in the United States is about $2,000 and 40 hours a week at the federal minimum wage nets only $1,208 before taxes.
Click through for background and details. Robyn Pennacchia can be snarky witht the best of them, and she also knows when that’s not appropriate.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Will J6 committee make criminal referrals of lawmakers: McCarthy, Jordan, Perry, Biggs & Brooks?
Thom Hartmann – Trumps Real GOP Rival Is Worse Than DeSantis
Farron Balanced – Former Advisor Torches Trump For The ‘Insanity’ Of His Judgement
Ojeda Live – Boebert vs. MTG in a Battle for Stupid-Supremacy
Guy Promises He’s Not Going To Keep His Foster Dog…
Beau – Let’s talk about Texas wanting to remove teens from social media….
Yesterday, though the high for the day was only 47°F, when I went to take out my carts for the grocery delivery (around noon) the sun had been shining on the porch for 4-5 hours and if felt much warmer. Today and tomorrow, we are expecting sub-zero (centigrade: -14°F and +5°F respectively) high temperatures with snow possible tonight. I’m glad I ordered when I did. I don’t like making the delivery folk go out in severe weather. Sure, they get tipped, and I can increase it, but there’s really no tip that can adequately compensate for those conditions. Also, it tool me a while and a little research, but I think I have found the phrase for us to throw back in the faces of those who say “Democrats in disarray.” How does Republicans in rupture” strike you? Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!
And, yes, I saw the Joint Session with President Zelenskyy’s address. I have set this link to start when he actually started speaking If you want to see the announcements of the names of the ushers, the entrance of diplomats, and the entrance of the Cabinet, you can use this link insted – it is the whole enchilada. I will note that there appears to be ab echo in the closed captions (you will see what I mean if you use them) and there are some errors, which happens even with perfect dictio (if there is such a thing). But the message – including the comparison to Christmas 1944 – comes through. If you just want a summary, this one is stunning.
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Crooks and Liars – Fox’s Favorite Priest Defrocked By Vatican Over Abortion Stunt
Quote – Pavone, founder of anti-abortion group Priests for Life, frequently posts on social media about politics and abortion, largely in support of former President Donald J. Trump and the Republican party’s anti-abortion platform. The Vatican said it provided Pavone “ample opportunity” to defend himself, but he provided “no reasonable justification for his actions,” according to the letter.
Click through for (frankly disgusting) details. When I first saw a headline on this, I thought he was being defrocked for not being anti-abortion enough, and I was disappointed. My faith in the current Pope has been restored.
The Daily Beast – Trump Special Prosecutor Has a History of Indicting Presidents
Quote – The story may sound familiar, if not a bit like resistance fan-fiction. But this story is actually about Smith’s efforts in Kosovo, a small country in southeastern Europe that was historically an Albanian enclave in Serbia. It was difficult every step of the way. Smith had to defend his work from widespread accusations that he was conducting an unfair political prosecution to remove the nation’s favorite leader. And the narrative was that cooperators are traitors—and that these lawyers like Smith were trying to destroy the country. It may prove to be an invaluable experience.
Click through for background. BTW, that purple you see in his photos, which looks either affected or athletic, is actually a robe worn in the international court. Here, only judges wear robes, but that’s not true in all courts, and especially in Europe (at least he didn’t need to wear a barrister’s wig.)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Rep. Adam Schiff: J6 report will show, “sufficient evidence to criminally charge Trump.”
The Lincoln Project – Uh Oh, Donald
MSNBC – Trump Is A Shriveled, Diminished Figure On The Political Scene Says Remnick [and
Armageddon Update – Bit Coin Off More Than He Could Chew!
This Stray Cat Ask To Be Let Inside To Keep Her Kittens Safe
Beau – Let’s talk about Republicans addressing the elephant in the room….
Yesterday, Joyce Vance shared this link at the New York Times for the Executive Summary of the January 6 Committee’s Report. This is not the full report, but it is 154 pages, so it still may be a bit long for anyone who has a life. I also placed a grocery order for tomorrow.
Also, the top tentative news was that President Zelenskyy might be in Washington DC today, and if so, may address a joint session of Comgress this evening. Of course, evening in Washington is pretty much afternoon elsewhere. I could not find a specific YouTube channel for Congress as a whole like the one the January 6th Committee has/had. But you can bet if that happens, and if it isn’t classified, everyone will carry it live. So keep an eye out – I certainly will – and I’ll post a link afterwards even if it takes me all day/night to find it.
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PolitiZoom – A British Village Displays Its Feelings For Vladimir Putin In Graphic Terms
Quote – “A penis-headed statue of Vladimir Putin has been erected in the village of Bell End to commemorate him as “Bellend of the Year” in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”… And it doesn’t stop there. The villagers also gave eggs to passers-by in case they wanted to throw them at the statue.
Click through. There are photos. I personally am speechless. (Correction: there is no village called ‘Bell End’ but there is a Bellend Road, which is where the statue is. ‘Bell end” is British slang for the tip of I’m sure you can guess what)
The Daily Beast – Onetime Friends Lauren Boebert and MTG Go to War Against Each Other
Quote – At Turning Point USA’s winter student conference on Monday, Boebert said that her support for McCarthy isn’t as firm as Greene’s—before ripping into the Georgia Republican over her belief in “Jewish space lasers.” But Greene wasn’t about to let Boebert get the last word, with the 48-year-old firing back at her younger colleague on Monday evening with a trio of tweets accusing Boebert of partaking in “high school drama.”
Click through for story. I never in a million years expected to be saying that it appears Boebert is a little smarter than Marge … but it certainly looks like it. Maybe she just has better advisers. (Anyone know a word which roughly means the same as “disarray” but begins with an “R”?)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – January 6 committee to refer Trump to the DOJ for prosecution. Here’s why the charges WILL STICK
Twitter – Chuck and Nancy
Hot soup and stone cold facts — that’s how we get the job done For The People. -NP pic.twitter.com/SiEbBxLnl9
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) December 16, 2022
Armageddon Update – Where We At?
Dog Saved From Meat Truck Travels Across The World To Her New Family
Beau – Let’s talk about Louisiana, the AP, and movement…. Link to background
Yesterday, as I’m sure everyone knows by now, the January 6 Committee voted to send criminal referrals to the Justice Department for Donald J. Trump**, John Eastmaan, “and others.” It also voted to refer to the Hoouse EthicsCommittee four Congressmen; these were not identified in the hearing, but Politico says they are Kevin McCarthy, Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, and Andy Biggs.
And now for something completely different – The New Yorker has a new puzzle. It’s a jigsaw puzzle, 36 pieces and I can’t say it’s teribly difficult – it isn’t time-limited, though it will tell you your time. But after it’s done, there’s a second challenge – to name 8 famous New York buildings. That’s probably not much challenge if you live there, but I could only name one; though I found several which were distinctive, I didn’t know their names.
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Common Dreams – The 50-Year Takeaway From Middle-Class America
Quote – Instead, through decades of financial manipulations orchestrated by neoliberal economists and financial experts and political leaders, the tremendous wealth generated by our country’s productivity has been redirected to a special few who deem themselves innovators and self-made success stories. To add to the insult, business-backed media has convinced many Americans that this is the beauty of capitalism, that any hard-working individual can be a billionaire, and that any concession to social responsibility is anti-American, bordering on communism. So, as a result, many of us accept our grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth as a natural result of progress.
Click through for article. Yet another issue which could have been avoided through education. Public education needs to be defended as fiirecely as does democracy – because, without the one, we will lose the other, and with it, everything.
New Mexico Political Report – How anti-abortion pregnancy centers can claim to be medical clinics and get away with it
Quote – The women later discovered they weren’t at the abortion clinic they’d intended to visit, but at the similarly named Women’s Help Center, one of more than 2,500 crisis pregnancy centers across the country that aim to discourage people from getting abortions. Henderson, then in her early 70s, wasn’t a “cancer doctor,” as she allegedly informed one client, or indeed any type of licensed medical professional. Her only medical experience was as a radiation therapy technologist, and her license had expired 10 years earlier…. [A]s the newly unearthed Jacksonville case highlights, beneath the veneer of medical professionalism is an industry that state and federal authorities have done almost nothing to regulate. Only a few states require pregnancy centers that provide medical services to be formally licensed as clinics, a Reveal investigation has found. And, because their views are grounded in a particular ideological viewpoint, the centers aren’t subject to many other rules designed to protect patients – rules that would require them to be transparent about their operations and medical credentials.
Click through for details. This is likely to get worse before it gets better (which it will not do at all withot a lot of work, investigation, and legislation.)
The Daily Beast – Want to Win in Politics? Be More Like Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell.
Quote – Establishment elites may not be popular, but they get shit done. And my unpopular hot take is that we need more of them to win elections, not to mention to grease the gears running our governmental machine. Recent events underscore this reality. Yet, take a close look at how the two major parties treat their elites. Are they vilified or celebrated? Look no further than the difference between how Republicans are treating Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and how Democrats are treating outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Click through for full argument. I know, it would be challenging to find two people more different (restricting the pool to non-criminals). But there are parallels. And while I couldn’t be like Nancy myself, I can recognize her qualities and aregue for them to be demanded whe selecting our leadership.
Food For Thought
(Yes, that’s Theodore Roosevelt)
