Open Thread – Page 271 – Politics Plus

Video Thread 1/30/22

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

Jan 302022

Glenn Kirschner – DOJ Investigating Fraudulent Electors Presents Opportunity to Flip Them Up the Criminal Food Chain

The Lincoln Project – Tucker Carlson Tonight: Moscow Edition

Thom Hartmann – Alabama Cops Are Terrorizing a Small Town

Robert Reich – How Corporate Greed Drives Inflation

Armageddon Update – CoViD Year Three

Ring of Fire – Documents Show Plot To Overturn Arizona Election Results Included Right Wing Media Personalities

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump and the Georgia special grand jury….

Open Thread for January 30, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:20 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 302022

Yesterday, the radio opera was Rigoletto – the second opera I ever owned a complete recording of. I haven’t seen/heard it as many times as I have La Boheme – but it’s the opera that got me an “A” in Conducting class. (I’m actually a terible conductor, but I was able to really “sell” the scene I chose – possibly the most tragic scene in an opera which is horrifyingly tragic. Verdi did that sometimes – sneaked the climax into the middle – and yet managed not to make the end a let-down. La Traviata is another example. So is Otello. And others. It’s almost as if he wanted to give the aude=ience a premonition – and a chance to warm up their emotions for the finale.) After the opera, I made 6 of the 10 new cartoons I need for February, and set up meds for the next two weeks.

Cartoon – 30 0130Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – After Stephen Breyer, who?
Quote – As a candidate for the Democratic nomination, Biden vowed to appoint a Black woman to the court if he were elected president. (He made the promise at a debate in February 2020, just days before winning the South Carolina primary that helped jump-start his flagging campaign.) The two most likely candidates are Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (who graduated from Harvard Law School and served as a law clerk to Breyer), and Justice Leondra R. Kruger of the California Supreme Court, who graduated from Yale Law School and served as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens.
Click through for more names, any or all of whom would be well qualified (not that it’s difficult to be more qialified than Kavanaugh and Barrett – combined.) I’d love to see a black woman on the court, provided it wasn’t Candace Owens, Diamond, Silk, or the like.

Crooks and Liars – Chuck Schumer Plans Rapid Confirmation For SCOTUS Nominee
Quote – Senate sources also say that the Senate can act on the Biden nominee before Justice Stephen Breyer officially steps down from the court. So Democrats expect to hold hearings and votes before Breyer officially steps aside at the end of his term.
Click through. The article also contains a reference to the Reagan quote (when he appointed O’Conno) which Jen Psaki used so expertly whan asked about “reverse racism.”

AP News – Here, kitty: Bidens welcome cat named Willow to White House
From the article: The name Willow refers to Willow Grove, PA< where Dr. Jill grew up. Willow is a two-year-old [former] farm cat.
Click through for 4 more pix and a link to a video. (I chose this pic to show off hre eyes.) Every cat person knows that you don’t adopt a cat, the cat adopts you – and Willow appears to be no exception.

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 1/29/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:41 am Open Thread, Politics

Jan 292022

Glenn Kirschner – Newt Gingrich Says Republicans will Jail Jan. 6 Panel Members if Republicans Take Power at Midterms

Meidas Touch – Democrat makes TRANSFORMATIVE pledge to protect voting rights in Texas

The Lincoln Project – Never Again

Thom Hartmann – Are Gun Makers Making AR-15 Assault Weapons for Kids?

Robert Reich – 5 Ways Your Company May Be Exploiting You

Armageddon Update – Stop The Steal

Beau – Let’s talk about what the media is getting wrong about the 6th….

Open Thread for January 29, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:27 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 292022

Yesterday, WordPress updated itself while I wasn’t looking, and all our data seems to be fine. But at some point I need to do a manual backup anyway. I need to know how to backup and how to reatore in the event of future changes to “plug-ins” which may affect past information.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jomes – Madison Cawthorn Just Became A Legal Guinea Pig
Quote – What makes North Carolina an interesting test case is that apparently they have state law stating that if credible allegations and evidence are presented, then it becomes Cawthorn’s responsibility to prove that he didn’t violate his oath, and is still qualified to run. Which, given his on record statements, is going to be problematic.
Click through for some legat details. It isn’t that complicated. Kudos to the attorneys bringing this suit.

The 19th – Should the ERA be in effect? On a key anniversary, it depends who you ask.
Quote – But the ERA’s addition as the country’s 28th Amendment has been ensnared in questions of legitimacy by opponents who say the last three states that ratified the ERA — Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018 and Virginia in 2020 — did so way past deadlines imposed by Congress in the 1970s and 1980s for ratifying the amendment. Litigation has followed, and some attorneys believe more legal challenges are on the way if people believe they can now cite the ERA in gender discrimination lawsuits
Clich through. The fact that it tool so long, and the fact tht there is any dispute about its ratification, are just two of the reasons I maintain that misgyny is stronger even than racism

Daily Kos (Laura Clawson) – ‘There’s something going on very, very haywire’ in Tennessee county’s banning of ‘Maus’
Quote – Like, say, banning a book about the Holocaust supposedly because it says “bitch,” and the schools whiting out all but the first letter of that word just isn’t enough censorship. It’s almost not clear which would be a more disturbing set of reasons for banning a book: discomfort with teaching about the brutality of the Holocaust, or really being so upset by a censored version of a word that is allowed on network television. At least some of the board members—though clearly not all—may be just that narrow and rigid.
Click through for article. The comments are filled with suggestions on “what next” will they ban, including “The Sound of Music.” But the movie was already neutered, dividing the cast into “us” (decent people) and “them” (Nazis.) The stage play includied a scene and a song, cut from the movie, which illustrated how “we” can slip into becoming “them.” Rodgers and Hammerstein knew what they were doing.

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 1/28/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:02 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jan 282022

Glenn Kirschner – Barr Talks to House Select Committee with No Leaks: Two Important Takeaways from this Revelation

American Bridge – Family values are for suckers: Ron Johnson unloads child care costs on families

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party

Thom Hartmann – What Biden Has Done That You Don’t Know! – The URL he gives has “expired” – I’d recommend opening a transcript [via the 3 dots to the right of the line just over the red subcribe button] and copying and printing it.

Rebel HQ – Trump’s Cult Is Full Of Mental Derangement

Really American – Rudy’s t shirts

Beau – Let’s talk about Clyde Bellecourt….

Open Thread for January 28, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:45 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 282022

Yesterday, I heard from WWWendy (we are still working on my getting ownership of the blog esablished at BlueHost) She added a personal update:

Right now, I am continuing work as a caregiver – I care for two clients – one with alzheimers and one with dementia. Both will probably need to be placed soon so I want to stay with them until the transition is made. What will I do after that? Not really sure- guess I will deal with that when the time comes. Give my best to everyone.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Capitol Rioter Invoked ‘Game Of Thrones’: ‘I Choose Violence’
Quote – “In stating, ‘I choose violence’, Cersei Lannister embraced — and then carried out — mass murder to achieve her political ends,” the document adds. “In the context of Caplinger posting this just two days after January 6, Caplinger’s adoption of this quote is alarming and provides insight into his mental state and intent in storming the Capitol.”
Click through for story. Maybe I should try to figure out the poll app so we can vote on who is stupider – this dude or the ones who called the “Lost and Founf.”

Mother Jones – Oath Keepers Anticipated “a Bloody and Desperate Fight” to Overturn the Election for Trump
Quote – “[Edwards] Vallejo and his co-conspirators coordinated at least three regional QRF teams stationed at a Comfort Inn in Arlington, Virginia, to support the co-conspirators’ plot and the January 6 Capitol attack. The QRF teams guarded an arsenal of firearms and related equipment and were prepared to speed those weapons into the hands of co-conspirators on the ground in Washington, D.C., when directed by Rhodes or other conspiracy leaders.”
Click through for details. We are not making this up. I don’t understand why more people aren’t terrified.

The Jerusalem Post – Biden references Colleyville in Holocaust Remembrance Day statement
Quote – “Today, and every day, we have a moral obligation to honor the victims, learn from the survivors, pay tribute to the rescuers, and carry forth the lessons of last century’s most heinous crime,” said Biden. “From the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, to a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, we are continually and painfully reminded that hate doesn’t go away; it only hides.” The president stressed the need to teach accurately about the Holocaust and to push back against attempts to ignore, deny, distort, and revise history, making reference to a US co-sponsored United Nations resolution to combat Holocaust denial.
Click through for more. Yes, I’m a day late. It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. In any case, as Joe said, “and every day.”

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 1/27/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:42 am Open Thread, Politics

Jan 272022

Glenn Kirschner – Jan. 6 Committee is Talking with Former AG Bill Barr, Signaling Further Trouble for Donald Trump

The Lincoln Project – Bloodlines

Ring of Fire – Some Of The Capitol Rioters Were Even Dumber Than Previously Thought

MSNBC – Records Request Points To Congressman’s Role In Assisting Fake Elector Meeting
Records Request Points To Congressman’s Role In Assisting Fake Elector Meeting

Liberal Redneck – Biden “Attacks the Press”

Mrs. Betty Bowers – Reading Ted Cruz

Beau – Let’s talk about agents, influence, and cultural opinion makers….

Open Thread for January 27, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:35 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 272022

Yesterday, It was pretty quiet. I ws able to assemble some earrings I had already put together the components of but not gotten any farther. One small thing off the desk. I also managed to do a little knitting.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Aeon – Those born later
Quote – Some local historians wrote about nefarious hometown Nazis – as was the case in Passau, where the teenager Anna Rosmus (aka the ‘Nasty Girl’) accessed municipal archives for a school essay competition in 1980, and exposed a web of complicity and cover-up. Other historians worked out the fate that befell local Jews, ‘members of our community’ (Mitbürger), as many Germans began to call them.
Click through for article. I don’t know how we can call ourselves “the home of the brave” with straight faces when we have no one speaking like this – and so many people so cowardly as to resist learning the tiniest truths about our own history.

Wonkette – Office Of Congressional Ethics Finds None In Rep. Doug Lamborn’s Congressional Office
Quote – Yesterday the Office of Congressional Ethics put out a wild report on the eight-term Colorado Republican, and it is not great. As first flagged by the Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger, the OCE found what appear to be multiple ethics violations by the congressman, his wife, and his chief of staff. The investigation was prompted by a lawsuit filed a by a former staffer who says he was fired for objecting to the congressman’s refusal to adhere to any COVID protocols because “I don’t care about you guys getting it.” The complaint alleged that staff were routinely forced to help the congressman and his family with personal tasks, and also made bizarre claims about members of the Lamborn clan bunking down in the Capitol building.
Click through. It’s no news he’s a scumbag. But it’s nice to see him get national attention for being one. I am aware of the Law of Unintended Consequences, but I’m still hoping to get him disqualified from the 2022 ballot (I have written our SoS).

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/01/rick-wilson-paints-picture-what-happens
Crooks and Liars – Rick Wilson Paints Picture Of What Happens Next If GOP Wins
Quote – McCarthy and McConnell are still playing the old game of Washington and their corporate donors are flooding them with cash. Little do those corporations understand that in the New Order, they’ll either toe the line politically or they’ll be punished for it. Bannon came right out and said, “We’re going to nationalize the social media companies.”
Click through for details. I’s basically an unscrolled Twitter thread. “When the autocrat tells you who he is, believe him.” And you’d also better believe it when his former closest associates tell you who he is.

Food For Thought:

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