Personal – Page 113 – Politics Plus

Open Thread October 2, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 022023

Yesterday was National Coffee Day. I couldn’t help remembering that some believe that Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” was originally written for his “Coffee Cantata” as a metaphor for patriarchy – “God is our shepherd and I, your father, am your shepherd, and as your shepherd, I am telling you, my daughter, to stop drinking coffee!” I’m not sure that that’s true, and if it is, it might have been intended as satire of the pearl-clutchers of the time – there have always been some, and they have always been loud – but it does make a good story. I was also reminded I have a brand new coffee mug – so I made a point of using it. Yesterday was also Jimmy Carter’s birthday (although they held the party Saturday, just in case there was a shutdown, which would have kind of rained on the parade.) It was also Julie Andrews’s birthday (she’s 88), which I would have forgotten had it not been for Wonkette.

Today’s cartoon is the first of four I’ll be introducing over the month. After the fourth, I hope to get opinions on which one is the most effective – and/or if it would be more effective to use an element from one with an element from another.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Common Dreams – Democratic Senators Sound Alarm Over Koch-Backed Plot to ‘Eviscerate’ Regulatory State
Quote – Hours before ProPublica revealed new details about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ relationship with the Koch network, a group of Democratic senators filed a brief on Thursday warning that Koch-backed entities are closely involved in an upcoming case that could further gut the federal government’s regulatory power—and enhance the strength of the conservative-dominated high court. The case in question is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which stems from a New Jersey-based fishing company’s challenge to a law requiring certain fishing boats to carry federal compliance monitors to enforce regulations.
Click through for article. I’m glad these Senators are on this. I will concede that it is possible to over-regulate, but it’s clear that, as long as one person is being hurt by under-regulation or unenforced regulation, we are not even close to over-regulation. (Off topic, but I think that’s the first picture I have ever seen of Charles without the you-know-what-eating grin. If that means he is less happy – good.)

London Daily – British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read
Quote – “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”… [W]hile Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Click through for every last detail. I have seen this before – I think most recently during the actual Trump** administration – but it is very detailed and every detail worth savoring, so it’s time to re-share it.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 1, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 012023

Yesterday, the radio opera was brand spanking new – the world premier (which was recorded, and that’s what we heard) was within the last three months – in July, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. The composer was Sir George Benjamin, and the title is “Picture a Day like This.” The premise is that a woman whose child dies is offered a chance at a miracle if she can find one person who is truly happy and cut a button from that person’s sleeve. I was not familiar with any of the singers, but the composer was, and wrote it specifically for their voices. There is no way of knowing at a premier whether or not an opera is going to “take off” – become part of the repertory – but still, it feels like listening to history – being present when history is made. I found it easy to listen to. It’s in a single act with seven scenes, and runs under an hour and a quarter (the program was almost an hour and a quarter but that includes all the opening summary and credits and closing credits.) It was a good day for the opera to be a short one, because later in the day I was able to watch and listen to Margaret Atwood reading her story “Patient and Impatient Griselda,” loosely based on “Patient Griselda” from the Decameron but told as it should have happened, through a narrator, an alien who looks like an octopus. It was Zoomed thanks to Theater of War productions, as part of their new domestic violence project. So I ended up spending almost three hours chained to internet entertainment after all. (I did get my next 2 weeks of pills bottled, though.) The House also got something done – voted to delay a shutdown for a month and a half. Let’s see how fast the Senate can get it to Joe to sign. I decided to tell “A Tale of Two Jamies” today. I’m very glad Raskin is on our side. Dimon, of course, is on no one’s side but his own.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – When Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, phoned me
Quote – So I want to talk about something else that’s brewing that could become an equally large problem: another banking crisis — and how powerful monied interests on Wall Street are opposing attempts to ward it off. When interest rates rise as fast as the Fed has raised them, banks have to pay more for deposits or borrowing. But what the banks earn on their loans and bonds they own hasn’t risen nearly as fast. This is causing a huge squeeze. With the shift to working from home, commercial real estate is a disaster — and another giant headache for the banks. Banks may not have enough capital on hand to weather an economic storm. The near failure of several middle-sized banks last March shows the continued frailty of the financial system.
Click through for narrative. I’m not a banker myself, but the Reich on the left makes it uncomplicated to see what’s going on. I don’t think we should be expected to bail out these jerks – AGAIN – when it can be avoided.

AlterNet – Raskin rips GOP over impeachment inquiry: ‘Flying monkeys on a mission for the wicked witch’
Quote – Congressman Raskin, a former constitutional law professor who served as the lead prosecutor for the second impeachment of Donald Trump, told the Committee, “like flying monkeys on a mission for the Wicked Witch of the West, Trump’s followers in the House now carry his messages out to the world: shut down the government, shutdown the prosecutions. But the cultmaster has another command for his followers, which brings us here today.”
Click through for details. The first rule of insulting effectively is, don’t call them whay you hate most. Call them what they hate most.” That’s no doubt why so many Democrats are picking up on calling MAGA “children” (with or without qualifying adjectives.) I doubt whether “Wicked Witch” and “Flying Monkeys” will do it – but “Cultmaster” might hit hard. The very best insults get picked up and used over and over until eventually they change meaning- “villain” today, for instance, has only a shadow of its original punch when it meant “country bumpkin” – including all the attributes that go with that stereotye: poorly dressed, poorly washed, poorly mannered, and poorly educated.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 30, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 302023

Yesterday, arguments about whether DiFi should resign came to an end with her passing. Governor Newsom has said he will make an interim appointment. Even Chuck Grassley said nice things about her. Since I was born and grew up in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, this feels like the end of an era to me. I have known of her, and of her achievements, for so long – it’s true that at my age when someone who has been a fixture of one’s life for so long, one doesn’t grieve just that person, but also one’s own lost youth. Also, The White House made available online a partial transcript of Joe Biden’s speech at the John McCain Library in Tempe, AZ. There’s also an opportunity at this link to sign up for pratial transcripts whenever anyone in the administration says something significant. Wow. The first plea deal in the Fulton COunty case was sealed. And last (and kind of least compared to the preceding) my Dark Brandon mug came. So I immediately made a cup of coffee. And it works as advertised (what with being carried in a postal vehicle in the sun all day and then stuffed into a hot mailbox, the eyes were actually red when I opened it. The directions advised putting it in the freezer for a few minutes – which worked like a charm.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Why Are Republicans Playing Politics With Ukraine?
Quote – Over the course of more than 30 interviews with members of Congress, The Daily Beast set out to trace exactly how and why providing aid to Ukraine became such a controversial endeavor among Republicans. To Democrats, the $24 billion package in front of Congress right now is the best money Washington could spend on national defense…. The issue, many Republicans in Congress agree, shouldn’t be partisan. But these Republicans are also keenly aware of the reality—that it is…. The story of how that happened is a case study in the workings of a congressional GOP loyal to Donald Trump, one in which the former president and a small handful of right-wing figures wield immense power to set the agenda of the party base, which in turn commands immense power to shape the actions of lawmakers eager to use uncompromising tactics to achieve their goals.
Click through for full article. One thing that leaps out – if the poll cited is accurate, and 55% of Americans nationally do not support aiding Ukreaine, we need to ne doing a better job of messaging. 62% Democratic support isn’t enough.

Colorado Public Radio – What the impending government shutdown means for Coloradans
Quote – Perhaps the biggest impacts will be felt by the state’s approximately 38,000 federal employees and 12,000 active duty military service members, who will not get a paycheck during a government shutdown. Their first missed payday will be October 13, if the shutdown drags on that long…. Gov. Jared Polis is ordering the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan to use state money to keep the parks and other federal land in the state open, although any plan will need a federal sign off…. The governors of Arizona and Utah have also said they’ll use state funds to keep some of their parks open…. States that opened their parks in 2013 were never reimbursed…. When it comes to airport travel, a shutdown could fuel passenger exasperation and worsen staffing challenges at Denver International Airport….
Click through. As promised, here’s the shutdown article. Not every state is going to step in on National Parks (or anything else), and it’s not certain that Colorado is this time. But – like everything else – red states are going to suffer the most. And there’s more. CPR really looked at everything they could. It’s very thorough.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 29, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 292023

Yesterday, there were several stories from Colorado Public Radio which were tantalizing – a corrupt ex-sheriff and two top deputies getting charged with fraud (Nameless, as conscientious as you are about keeping up your continuing ed even though retired, I expect this would really piss you off) – A black woman who almost committed suicide under the pressure of racism interviewed for National Suicide Prevention Month – and a look at what a federal shutdown would mean for Colorado citizens, which would of course vary from state to state, but there would be similarities. But I just can’t bring myself to smother y’all in Colorado like that. I’ve linked to two of them here in case anyone is interested, and I’lll use the third Saturday, unless it isn’t needed any more, but I’m not holding my breath on that. (Also, I’ve made the holiday cartoon a live link to an article about the holiday.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Daily Beast – Here’s How Biden Can Be Pro-Labor and Pro-Electric Vehicles
Quote – President Joe Biden has a long history of union support. The moniker “union Joe” is drawn from Biden’s fiery speeches for organized labor, and his elevation of workers’ rights and fair wages. But that vocal support may run into conflict, as auto workers view Biden’s policy push for electric vehicles (EV) as a job killer that will quickly send American jobs overseas. The schism is real and the Biden campaign (up to this point) hasn’t come up with a strategy that eases the fears of auto workers. President “Union Joe” can’t run from this, he needs to address auto workers’ concerns head on…. Biden has to thread the needle of adapting much-needed innovation with the jobs of now (the future is here), while also maintaining an equitable workplace for auto workers.
Click through for full article. It’s a pity that this is necessary … but … it is. It seems to me mildly obvious that the best people – and by that I mean CEOS and boardrooms as well as unionized workers – to be building EVs are the people now building gasoline-fueled vehicles. But, clearly, that isn’t obvious to everyone.

In The Public Interest – My new [expletive deleted] book
Quote – Maybe the title seems a little out of character for In the Public Interest. We’re a think tank, after all! What, you might think, does this have to do with privatization? A lot, it turns out. It’s about how private interests have kept control over our most basic public goods, such as health, safe workplaces, economic security, clean air, safe food, and other things we all need to survive and thrive.
Click through for an overview. Donald Cohen of ITPI has, with two co-authors – written a book on – well – what the title says. And though this article is only a preview, there’s a lot in it already.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 28, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:56 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 282023

Yesterday, in Tish James’s New York suit against the Trump Organization, both sides had filed a motion for summary judgment. Only the one for the plaintiff was granted, and the judge had some words for the defendant and his lawyers. Wonkette is just one of the sources by which those words are getting covered, but it may be the most snarky one (it’s on Substack).
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-just-got-the-corporate-death

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – It’s Time For A ‘Rural New Deal’
Quote – [I]n May, Fix Our House released an analysis arguing that “Congress lacks the incentive structure necessary to responsibly handle crucial tasks like raising the debt limit.” While “gerrymandering is a huge problem,” polarization is also an issue, as “rural voters are increasingly trending more to the right, and urban voters more to the left,” the Fix Our House report says. Members of Congress elected in uncompetitive districts fear primaries, so they focus on their voting base and refrain from working with “the enemy.” RUBI director Anthony Flaccavento said Tuesday that “the extreme political divide in our country robs rural communities of the resources and opportunities they need, while making it nearly impossible to address the biggest problems we face as a nation.”
Click through for more, including details on what such a deal would include. I don’t see it happening as long as there is a GQP majority in even one house. Another reason to vote the full ticket.

Democratic Underground (Brooklynite) – Booker Statement on Senator Robert Menendez
Quote – For nearly a decade, I’ve worked in the Senate alongside Senator Menendez. As New Jersey’s junior Senator, I imagine that I’ve had more professional experiences with him than most others…. Senator Menendez is again facing a federal indictment, one that contains shocking allegations of corruption and specific, disturbing details of wrongdoing. I’ve found the allegations hard to reconcile with the person I know…. There is, however, another higher standard for public officials, one not of criminal law but of common ideals…. Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost. Senator Menendez has made these sacrifices in the past to serve. And in this case he must do so again. I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving.
Click through for full statement (with link to Sen. Booker’s government site.) Wow. Now, THAT is how it’s done.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 27, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 272023

Yesterday was the day when my neighborhood actually had a day that was twelve hours zero minutes long. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about trolls, what they did in 2016, what they are doing now (and I’m not at all sure we have learned anything.) I’d like to point out that in 2020, we didn’t see them in the same way they did in 2016 and are doing now – there wasn’t so much emphasis on dividing Democrats on our candidate – I don’t recall eeing any, actually. They may have realized it was futile, bcause it was clear that Democrats were united. They may have realized the only thing trying for division then would have accomplished would have been to show their hand. But now they have already been working for three years, and I deduce that they think they have a good shot at dividing us over Joe Biden’s age, as they did in 2016 over Hillary’s emails (but really over her gender.) But the fact that they are, and have been, doing this so early suggests that they want to see any andidate other than Biden – that he is the one they don’t think they can beat. We simply cannot allow it. In today’s short takes, you will learn something about their methods (in other words, what to look for) and something about what can be done. Both are old, but both are still valid – a refresher course in something this important can’t hurt. I do realize much of this is happening on social media, and most of us don’t use that. But people on Democratic Underground are starting to see some of it pop up there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Daily Kos is having the same experience. And there are probably other sites where Democrats tend to congregate, and it’s easy to think you are reading a Democratic opinion when you aren’t.

Back then, there were a few memes bearing the message “There are only two choices on the ballot this year – democracy and fascism.” I was struck (and inspired) by what Colleen said in a comment the other day, and am going to work on possibly as many as four that say “There are only two choices on the ballot – democracy, and a living hell.” At least that avoids the use of “fascism” – a word which seems pretty clear to me, but about which enough people argue that is clearly isn’t as plain as I think it is. I’ll use some here as I make them, on days in October when I don’t have one already, and I strongly invite opinions as they unfold on which are better or worse and why.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Russia’s ‘troll factory’ impersonates Americans to sow political chaos. How can the U.S. fight it?
This has both an audio file and a full transcript prepared by a human being.

How You Can Fight Russia’s Plans to Troll Americans During Campaign 2020
This is a straight print article. It highlights the multiple ways to sow division, not just among Democrats, but among all Americans. We cannot afford to be distracted.

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 26, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 262023

Yesterday, I decided that, before the week gets crazi(er), I would feature a couple of articles on disabilities. One is discouraging, but at least the more we know about it the better we can cope. The other is a pure feel-good story (although, like health care go-fund-me stories, it would feel better if the ADA were properly enforced so that this wasn’t needed. I am fortunate in that I can deal with my mobility issues myself everywhere I need to go. But there are a lot of places I can’t go because they are toxic to me with my allergies.) Then I ran into this story (more of an anecdote, really) and thought I would share. You can’t make this stuff up (But who would want to?)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The 19th – Nearly half of women with disabilities report experiencing sexual harassment or assault at work, poll finds
Quote – The number [of women with disabilities], 48 percent, compares to 32 percent of women without disabilities who reported experiencing sexual assault or harassment at work…. SurveyMonkey did not reach enough nonbinary people with disabilities to break out in this poll. However, the poll did find elevated rates of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace for disabled men: 23 percent of disabled men reported experiencing sexual harassment or abuse in the workplace, compared with 11 percent of non-disabled men.
Click through for details. This is a poll which the 19th ran itself, using Survey Monkey, and that could affect its application to society in general. However, if one realizes that sexual assault is less about sex than it is about power, and that the disabled are more vulnerable to predators than the abled, it does make sense.

Wonkette (via Substack) – BeyHive Rises In Formation, Helps Disabled Fan See Beyoncé Concert
Quote – Jon Hetherington from Oregon has been a fan of Beyoncé since her Destiny’s Child years and was looking forward to finally seeing her in concert at her Renaissance World Tour in Seattle. However, on his Instagram a couple weeks ago, he’d expressed concerns after a difficult experience when he’d seen Janelle Monáe. Hetherington has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair. The accessible transportation service he’d used apparently claimed 9:30 p.m. was just too late to take him home and he was almost stranded for the night. “I’m tired of not having the access most people in my life do,” Hetherington posted on his liberatedbygaga account. “I’m tired of having to fit ableist standards because society wasn’t built to include people like me.”
Click through for full story. While this is both heartwarming, and also revealing of the kind of people who become fans of Beyoncé, it doesn’t actually address the difficulty which mobility presents to so many disaabled people that it’s the kind of disability we think of first. (Nor does it address the issues of people whose disabilities are not mobility related.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread September 25, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 252023

Yesterday, I got to see Virgil. He was in good spirits, and returns all greetings. I could not find the cards, so we payed Scrabble. I also got to meet a new resident in his area, a very handsome one, named JJ – I think either a black lab or a black lab mix – and very polite although not fully trained yet (I don’t know for what.) Anials in prisons truly warm my heart. That is just so good for everyone concerned – staff, inmates, even visitors, and of course the animals themselves. We got to talking about animals, and I menitioned I had been thinking lately an wondering which cats in my life would be there to meet me, as opposed to having already crossed the bridge with someone else. Baba, for instance – the very first sat in my life, so early I don’t een rememebr her and just know what I am told (that she was virtually my nanny. Virgil said, “No wonder you’re a cat person – you were raised by a cat.” She will have crossed the bridge with my mother, and my father will have been delighted to see her. Other cats who will have crossed the bridge with Mom include Tina (the first cat I remember), Sombra (adopted by Mom after I joined the Marines) and a few more, but I don’t know for sure which. Now I am sure that Archie will be there to meet me, and I hope also Sherlock, Moonshadow,and DJ, but there may be more. I’ll try for the roll call, but I may leave some out – Sugar Bear, Raffles, Bunny, Princess Fukutsu, Mr. Rochester, Cyclone, Debby, Cimarron, Cobrisa, Irene, Boss, Marcy, Nero, Raffles II, Cindy, and Jane. pluas the aforementioned Archie, Sherlock, Moonshadow and DJ. But we never had more than 12 at any one time. Jane we had already when I met Virgil, but from the moment the two of them met, she was HIS CAT. Period. Virgil and I had DJ in the Springs for a while, but after he passed away (his bilirubin was off the charts) we adopted a cat whose human had died, named Grey Mouser (the cat, not the person – and I’m sure the person’s family would have been astonished to learn that name is from the Sword and Sorcery genre) Mouse for short, and she took over Virgil completely. Even half-heartedly tried to kill me a few times. And that doesn’t include any animals Virgil had as a kid – including a cat named Squirrely and a dog named Zot – and others. All were distinct personalites, and some were real characters.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (LuckyCharms) – Health Care Terms
There’s no way I can get a quote from this – it is simply a list of all the terms Americans need to know to navigate out health care system. It is (therefore) also a list of terms which no one anywhere else in the world needs to know.You don’t have to completely read through the list – its sheer length will get the point across – but of course you certainly can.
Click through for the full list. I’ll just throw this in –

Politico – Senators seek to stop shutdowns forever, after McCarthy’s spending stumbles
Quote – Senators and House members began circulating a letter on Friday pushing legislation that would automatically fund the government past spending deadlines like Sept. 30. It’s a longshot, but if passed it would amount to a permanent end to shutdown threats. Addressed to top party leaders on both sides of the Capitol, the missive asks for floor votes on the effort in both the House and the Senate, according to a draft copy obtained by POLITICO.
Click through – This is very good news which would be even better if it had a chance in the House. An do one had better start going on about the Founders not specifying this kind of action. None of them knew about the Mafia. Grrrr.

Food For Thought

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