Open Thread – Page 242 – Politics Plus

Open Thread July 19, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 192022

Yesterday, I slept in so got a late start – but woke up thinking “Ah – special days are nice but it’s good to sink back into routine.”There was also lots of news – nothing huge, but interesting. I even found a couple of soties to far out I might want to do a “News of the Weird” post (unless Nameless wants them forst.) On Thursday, a new public hearing is expected, and I do look forward to one that I won’t have to juggle. I also think we can expect that it wont be the lastone. Some of the additional evidence is going to be (well, if they spoke up, I guess I can too,) but some is going to be (OMG, I thought for sure someone would have reported that, I thought there were dozens of us who knew,” and that is going to be special. BTW, don’t miss Nameless post yesterday.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Carol Leonnig Drops Small Grenade About Secret Service Records
Quote – “I learned about an episode that has never really been reported, in which a series of boxes, and only the boxes that contained the juicy bits, so to speak, disappeared from the Secret Service archives at the same time then a committee that replaced the Warren Commission, if you will, a committee of Congress was investigating a series of reports the Secret Service agents and headquarters had received numerous warnings and early red flags that Kennedy was being targeted by people who wanted to shoot him from a high spot in a building,” she said.
Click through – it’s short – certainly thought provoking.

Letters from an American – July 17, 2022
Quote – Shaw and his men had shipped out of Boston at the end of May 1863 for Beaufort, South Carolina, where the Union had gained an early foothold in its war to prevent the Confederates from dismembering the country. The men of the 54th knew they were not like other soldiers: they were symbols of how well Black men would fight for their country. This, in turn, would be a statement of whether Black men could truly be equal to white men under the country’s laws, once and for all, for in this era, fighting for the country gave men a key claim to citizenship. The whole country was watching…and the soldiers knew it.
Click through for full story – which is also the basis for the movie “Glory.” Not that I’ve seen it, but the musical score is a favorite of people who make radio shows arounf film music, and I’vs heard the music a lot. And occsionally a quote. One quote, attributed to Shaw’s father, always cokes me up – “My God! What a bodyguard he has!” Yes, it smacks of privilege, but it’s also a tribute.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/18/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:38 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 182022

Glenn Kirschner- Secret Service deletes Jan. 6 text messages. A move to protect Trump? Also, Mike Pence MUST testify

Meidas Toush – Michael Cohen REACTS to bombshell revelations from recent Jan 6 hearing

The Lincoln Project – Our President

Thom Hartmann – Insidious Voter Purge Method Exposed! Don’t Lose Your Right To VOTE!

MSNBC – Judge Once Again Declines To Delay Steve Bannon’s Contempt Of Congress Trial

Beau – Let’s talk about the institution of the Presidency and policy decisions….

Open Thread July 18, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:21 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 182022

Yesterday, I got to see Virgil. I got to the facitity a coupe of minutes after the – I don’t think this is what they call it – but I’ll say screening time started (11:30). We fill out forms (if we haven’t done so at home), get searched, turn over our driver’s licenses and car keys and receive a numbered brass disc for a receipt, then go through two electronically locked gates, go into the main building, ago and go theough two electronically locked doors to the visitng room – where I arrived at just about 12:00, which is when visitation itself starts. Virgil was asleep at the time, and between waking him up and getting him to the visitation room with his walker, it was about 12:30. (If I had a nickel for every time he has been asleep when I got there for a visit – well, I wouldn’t be rich, but I’d have maybe $10.00.) I passed on all wished, including the ones I didn’t see till I got home but knew they were coming, and he was appreciative. The next time I see him he will have turned 79. He never expected to live that long. Only one of his six uncles on his mother’s side did, and that was the one who was married to a diabetic (he may even have hit 90 – but at least lived well into his 80’s. But i digress. Coming home I forgot that to go south and west from the facility, I first need to get on the interstate eastbound. So I got a little tour of some odd parts of Denver. Though irritated with myself, I had no trouble staying calm, knowin I was in a triangle of interstates and that it didn’t really matter which I found first – they’d all get me home eventually. It didn’t consume all that much time either – less than a half hour. And I wasn’t going for speed.

Cartoon – If ha had been playing an instrment, that is the one it would have been. However, he was not in Rome when the fire broke out, and by the time he got there his own home was destroyed – so he certainly didn’t play and sing from his balcony, because it was gone. He seems to have acted like a conscientious ruler for a white – raising money to help rebuild – but what pissed people off was that he earmarnked far too much of it for his own home instead of theirs.

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Fulton County DA Fani Willis Just Took Off The Kid Gloves.Exploding GOP Heads To Follow
Quote – One former federal prosecutor appearing on MSNBC today referred to the target letter by its internal nickname, the heart attack letter. Think about it. A prosecutor has just told you that you are at serious risk of indictment on criminal charges. The letter always reminds the target of his or her 5th Amendment rights, advises them to seek and obtain legal counsel, and carries an oblique reminder that if the target is having a Come to Jesus moment, it’s always the first rat to jump on the government gravy train that gets the most cheese.
Click through for story. This broke Friday evening, and whatever else it is, it is delightful.

Crooks and Liars – Ex-US Attorney Lays Out How To Charge Donald Trump For Manslaughter
Quote – “The other thing that is coming clear to me is there is a potential charge here against Donald Trump for manslaughter,” McQuade said, referring to the seven deaths connected to the Jan. 6 attack. “The other thing that is coming clear to me is there is a potential charge here against Donald Trump for manslaughter,” McQuade said, referring to the seven deaths connected to the Jan. 6 attack. She added: “Knowing that this crowd is armed, he has a duty as the president of the United States, as the commander-in-chief to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to call off that mob and do everything he can to stop it. Instead, he sits idly by during those 187 minutes.”
Click through for reasoning. I realize at this point prety much no one (incliding me) caress “for what” as much as “how soon” and “how long.”Plus, the more potential charges, the better the likelihood that some will stick.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/17/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:33 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 172022

Glenn Kirschner on Fire! DOJ Needs a Backbone Now! Thoughts on Bannon & Trump w/ Stephanie Miller.

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Sarah Palin’s INSANE Speech at Trump Rally

The Lincoln Project – Part of the Plan

Twitter – Trigger warning –

“The sound of children screaming has been removed” https://t.co/H0p4FNfMJe pic.twitter.com/83s22tEt8h

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 15, 2022

MSNBC – Senators Close To Releasing Bill Preventing Candidates From Stealing Elections

Liberal Redneck – Uvalde Footage

Beau – Let’s talk about Jefferson, Monticello, and Fox….

Open Thread July 17, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:16 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 172022

Yesterday, I had a rather crowded late morning/early afternoon. The radio opera was Vivaldi’s “Bajazet” which I had never heard of, let alone heard, before. However, atthe same time, Theater od War was mounting a Zoom production of Aeschylus’s play “The Suppliant” (an unusual word in English these days – but think “The Refugees”), as a vehicle to jump start a discussion on Ukraine, and with an all-Ukrainian chorus (including a very remarkable 12-year-old girl.) My final decision was to watch the play (and subsequent discussion) but with the opera softly in the background. So I’m not able to share much about the opera. In the end I made the right choice, I think. There was a note that the session was being recoorded – it is not yet posted at their site, but if and when it is I’ll share the link. Also included were three professional actors whose names you migh recognize – David Strathairn (Danaus), Oscar Isaac (Pelasgus), and Willem DaFoe (Aegyptus.)The play dates to the mid-fifth century BCE (450 BCE plus or minus 10) but so much has not changed. One line: “Those who speak in foreign tongues are never fully welcome.) As are all of their productions, it was very moving. On top of all that, I received cinfirmation to visit Virgil today – so I’ll be around even less than usual. But I’ll be in as much as I can.

Cartoon –

I didn’t know who Mola was either. He appears to have been Franco’s Jeff Clark (or Roy Cohn) but he died in an air crash in 1937 and his name disappeared.

Short Takes –

CNN Politics – Why Republicans want to redefine one word in the Constitution
Quote – The Constitution refers specifically to the “legislature” in each state determining the time and manner of federal elections. Backers of the “Independent State Legislature Claim” argue that since the Constitution doesn’t name other parts of state government — including courts — they should have no power to check the legislature on the subject of federal elections. Even if a state’s constitution or laws give power to courts or a governor, the theory argues legislatures should be able to ignore them.
Clck through for full analysis. The case in question is Moore v. Harper. I don’t want to forget that myself, nor do I want any of us to forget it. After it’s decided, we’ll know whether it’s OK to forget it … or whether we eill never forget it, whether we want to or not.

Mother Jones – Don’t Fall into the Collusion Trap on Trump and January 6
Quote – This question is an important one, but it is also a trap. Trump and his comrades have been rather deft at developing a tactic to protect him from charges of profound wrongdoing: They raise the bar. If Trump is caught holding a match outside a burning house, Trump and his defenders will say, “Do you have proof he doused the interior with gasoline? That’s fake news. A hoax.”
Click through for full explanation. Neither the Committee nor prosecutors are IMO likely to fall into this trap, but since public opinion can help or hurt a case, it still matters.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/16/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:57 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 162022

Glenn – Trump’s criminal “Hub-and-Spoke” conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election: an explainer

Meidas Touch – John Fetterman hilariously TROLLS Dr. Oz with BRILLIANT Plane Banner

The Lincoln Project – A Warning From Jason Van Tatenhove

Thom Hartmann – Mary Trump On What Trump Will Do If Indicted

Farron Balanced – Conservative Outlet Could End Up Wiped Out From Defamation Lawsuits

MSNBC – Revelations About Trump’s Conduct Bring New Questions For DOJ

Liberal Redneck – Uvalde Footage

Beau – Let’s talk about Texas, ERCOT, and the future….

Open Thread July 16, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:48 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 162022

Yesterday, Robert Reich’s column brought up the movie “Casablanca.” I’ll provide the link, but warn that it’s a major hanky alert. He posts a clip of the scene he primarily writes about. He doesn’t say – but may well have thought – if those people could survive, the least we can to today is get out and vote. The full movie is available on YouTube, if you want some tough inspiration. It’s short by today’s standards – but there is so much in it.

Cartoon – 16 0716Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

NMPR – Niece of vanished Navajo woman embarks on 2,100-mile walk to call attention to missing and murdered indigenous women crisis
Quote – “It tested our beliefs so bad. Prayers weren’t working. It was so hard. I understand why they didn’t want us looking for remains. If you’re going to actually walk in beauty, you have to let go of things, and when you go back to revisit it, you’re bringing back all that bad stuff. It affects your mind and heart. But then again, for someone to just go and do this to my aunt… How are we going to walk in beauty when someone can just so easily do this?”
Click through for background and interview. This is just one case out of so many. And sadly, law enforcement misfeasance is not confined to tribal police and FBA+I. Thestatistics on unsolved missing/possible homicide cases on all Americans are chilling. I understand why law enforcement doesn’t want to be looked at – but I don’t understand why so many people who claim to want “law and order” don;t want to look.

CNN – Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 — after oversight officials asked for them, watchdog says
Quote – “The Committee on Homeland Security received a letter from the DHS Inspector General regarding the Secret Service deleting text messages the Office of Inspector General requested as part of its investigation into the January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Thompson said. “The Committee will be briefed about this extraordinarily troubling destruction of records and respond accordingly.” While the letter does not say whether the DHS watchdog believes these text messages were erased intentionally or for a nefarious reason, the incident adds to growing questions about the Secret Service’s response to the US Capitol attack.
Click through for details. This story has been all over the place since it broke – but thiss is the site and the article that broke it. One thing strikes me as particularly odoriferous: what use is it to have an Inspector General if that person may not review evidence until the agency head has vetted it? Imaginne a CEO telling an auditor, “I think I have an employee who is embezzling, and youcan look at the books as soon as that employee reviews them.”

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/15/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:49 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 152022

Glenn – The evil of Team Trump’s witness tampering, and the danger of DOJ’s failure to promptly investigate

Meidas Touch – Anthony Scaramucci offers SCARED Steve Bannon $300,000 for televised debate

The Lincoln Project – The List

Farron Balanced – Angry Cops Threaten To Arrest Each Other In Deranged Video (Think harder, Farron – it’s about which jurisdiction gets the $$$ from the fine.)