Glenn Kirschner – Special Counsel Jack Smith subpoenas Mike Pence to testify to grand jury about Donald Trump’s crimes
Meidas Touch – Marjorie Taylor Greene LOSES IT during Hearing and it’s HILARIOUS
The Lincoln Project – This Is Leadership
Steve Schmidt – World War Stupid
Couple Cries After Sending Their Skinny Rescue Dog To New Home
Beau – Let’s talk about polling on a second Biden term….
Yesterday, the opera was a double bill – Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, by Mascagni and Leoncavallo respectively. One is one act (though I could make a case for it being in two scenes; there is no intermission, but there is an instrumental interlude) and the other is in two acts. They are so often perfomred together the duo is known to opera lovers as “Cav and Pag.” There have been some efforts to pair one or the other with something else, but while no audience ever spit in their eyes, none has been successful enough for anyone to try to repeat any of them. Both are from the early 20th century, both are in the style called “verismo,” and both exemplify my quip “Opera – sex, betrayal, murder – what’s not to like?” (And, now that I think of it, in both it is the cheating partner on the receiving end of the knife.) They were played from a single recorded historical performance, the only matinee that Bernstein ever conducted. I’m not sure why that’s so – it wasn’t that he didn’t like opera – he wrote more than one himself, and the recording of his conducting Carmen with Marilyn Horne and James McCracken is legendary. I’d guess he probably just preferred evenings. I can definitely see that. If you leave after a matinee performance, even if it ends as late as 5 ot 6, there is still a fair amount of day ahead of you in which the spell can be broken. The leading singers are again legendary (which makes sense – there are so many recordings in the Met archives, why look for one without legends when there are so many with
them?) I don’t really want to start on them; there’s way too much to say, and I need instead to share first, that here is my Superb Owl for the day – this one because he is a ring made from precious stones and precious metals – how could he not be superb? And secondly, that I chose two Colorado stories for today, and at least one of them is not intense. (Also, I promise to greet Virgil from everyone and to check in upon return.)
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The Daily Beast – How an FBI Informant Derailed Denver’s BLM Movement
Quote – “If you post something, a story about me saying supposedly I work for the FBI, I will sue the shit out of you,” Windecker told Aaronson in a voicemail. “I will take you to court and I will break you off in court for defamation of character and slander. I have already notified my attorney about this. My previous landlord notified me and sent me these papers that you put on the old door that I used to live at, stating that I work for the FBI. I do not work for the FBI. I’ve never worked for the FBI. You get proof of me working for the FBI, then I’ll say otherwise, but there’s no proof because I didn’t work for them.” Presented with documents and recordings that showed his work for the FBI, Windecker stopped responding to Aaronson.
Click through for story. I could make the point that in the summer of 2020 this was Trump**’s FBI – but the fact is, there are Nazis everywhere in law enforcement, even when there are sane people at the top.
Colorado Public Radio – ‘Loving nature drove the success of my photography’: John Fielder on donating his life’s legacy to History Colorado
Quote – The 72-year-old Fielder is now donating a gift of the best of those photographs to the state he has called home for nearly half a century. He is giving his life’s work to History Colorado and thus to the people of Colorado. It will be free for anyone who wants to see Fielder’s work digitally. It will also be part of rotating displays at History Colorado. Fielder’s gift includes more than 5,000 photos he selected from his vast trove. It also includes reams of narratives that are part of his 50 books, along with oral narratives explaining what it took to capture some of those photos and Fielder’s thoughts on what drew him to special places. Some of the equipment it took to get there, as well as some of his photography apparatus, will also be part of the display.
Click through for background and a breathtaking sample. Fielder is giving his legacy to Colorado, and I want to pass it on to all of you. The destination site is still under construction, but save the link for when it becomes available.
Food For Thought
“Rocky Mountain elk in the aspens, Arapaho National Forest” by John Fielder.
Glenn Kirschner – At Proud Boys trial, jury hears that Proud Boys were “jubilant” at Trump “stand by” call to action
The Lincoln Project – Achievement Unlocked
MSNBC – ‘I’m impressed’: Michael Cohen on new Manhattan DA team behind Stormy Daniels hush money probe (I hope he’s right.)
Lehto’s Law – Greatest Story Ever! (Yes, it’s long, but it is a great story, and it looks like it happened either in or very close to Kevin McCarthy’s District)
Cross-Eyed Kitten Takes His Grandma’s House By Storm!
Beau – Let’s talk about the balloon coming down….
We’ve long known that when Georgia’s 14th Congressional District re-elected MTG Greene, they were sending a clown to Congress.
But little did we realize that she’d be an amalgam of all the obnoxious qualities of Bozo the Clown combined with the wicked attributes of Stephen King’s Pennywise.
(They do look like two peas in a pod, don’t they?)
For whatever demented reason she conjured, MTG decided to bring her “A” Game of “Toddler Temper Tantrums” to Pres. Biden’s State of the Union speech last Tuesday – for which we Democrats can only heartedly and resoundingly say: “THANK YOU!”
At first it was hard to tell if she was dressed as a worn out street corner Russian hooker or the bargain basement version of Cruella de Vil. But it soon became clear when she shouted out to George:
Naturally MTG’s impersonation of Cruella de Vil was rapidly and widely recognized on the Internet:
One of these woman is a symbol of greed, vanity, and evil who commits immoral acts to satisfy her mania and is regarded as a "witch" and "devil woman."
The other is Cruella De Vil#SOTU pic.twitter.com/unFg486Sis
— Eric "@echamp on Post" Champnella (@champnella) February 8, 2023
MTG really did a bang-up job of mimicking Cruella’s evilness with her …
Arrogant, Churlish, Crazy, Crude, Disgusting, Loathsome, Loutish, Boorish, Narcissistic, Nasty, Obnoxious, Offensive, Rude, Tasteless, Tawdry, Ugly, Uncouth, Vulgar & ___________ [Insert your own favorite pejorative adjective here] antics.
Rep. Raskin offered a succinct observation of MTG’s lack of decorum:
Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t know the difference between the State of the Union Address and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. She just showed everyone how ridiculous MAGA is. And why did she keep yelling “liar” at George Santos? That wasn’t nice.
— Jamie Raskin (@jamie_raskin) February 8, 2023
And if you needed further proof:
Not surprisingly, Pres. Biden also brought his “A” game to the speech doing a great job as Dark Brandon by ad-libbing lines when confronted by hecklers:
Fortunately there is a Mrs. Frazzled who took MTG & George out into the hall to lecture them on proper decorum. (It’s gotten over 800,000 views! Loved her admonition to MTG: “Leave the balloon!”)
Friend, that was disrespectful to the man speaking and everyone who was trying to listen. Come sit with me and George, please. Thank you. #StateOfTheUnion pic.twitter.com/G9cS3X6KAX
— Mrs. F (@ms_frazzled) February 9, 2023
Slightly off topic, but since I’ve been commenting on MTG’s fashion sense with that white fur coat, I have a related fashion question concerning Sen. Sinema: Can someone tell me when the airbag sleeves of her Big Bird dress deployed? I missed that.
And as long as we’re discussing fashion, how about a “Who Wore It Better” contest:
Yesterday, after reading about this development in Jackson County, MS, I decided it was time to resurrect and update a joke I first heard in somewhere around 1967. (If anyone has any fine tuning ideas before I start making it into a meme, I’m listening.) Anyway, it seems a brand new college graduate was trying to figure out how to get ahead the fastest, when he came upon an internet ad for BrainZinc, a company selling brains. So he sent off an email to ask what kind of brains were available, and what price range.
From: BrainZinc To: NewGrad Just about any kind of brains. For instance, teachers’ brains are $45.00 a pound.
From: NewGrad To: BrainZinc That sounds reasonable. Do you have small business owners’ brains?
From: BrainZinc To: NewGrad Of course. Those run $90.00 a pound.
From: NewGrad To: BrainZinc Golly. Maybe I can afford something even a little better. Do you carry billionaires’ brains?
From: BrainZinc To: NewGrad Yes. Those run $10,000.00 an ounce.
From: NewGrad To: BrainZinc Ouch. Are they really that much better?
From: BrainZinc To: NewGrad No, it’s just that we have to put so many billionaires together before we come up with an ounce of brains.
A Black History event – the Theater of War presented on Zoom, and recorded, “The Frederick Douglass Project” and it’s now available on YouTube. The presentation portion comprises Keith David performing a speech delivered by Frederick Douglass at the National Convention of Colored Men in Louisville, Kentucky on September 24, 1883. After that there is community discussion, which can also be very revealing, but I’d call it optional. So don’t get scared off by the length. There is CC.
For anyone who plays cards with real cards, Banana Republic Cards has a satirical deck with TFG as the Joker and featuring 52 useful idiots. there’s a discount code, bananas!elPresidente45theflusherking, good for $5 off per pack up to 3 packs, through Thursday 2/16.
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Mother Jones – The Website That Wants You to Kill Yourself—and Won’t Die
Quote – Most websites aren’t known for having a “kill count.” Kiwi Farms is. Its victims reportedly include Julie Terryberry, who in 2016 took her life after being targeted by users of the site. Two years later, after years of harassment from Kiwi Farms trolls, Chloe Sagal lit herself on fire in a public park. In June 2021, an American video game developer based in Japan, named David Ginder, took their life amid a campaign of Kiwi Farms abuse.
Click through for story. The site has been removed from Cloudflare, but it isn’t over.
Civil Discourse – They wanted to take down the power grid. Now they’re facing federal charges.
Quote – There is a long history of domestic terror in this country, much of it centered around white supremacist groups like the KKK that committed acts of violence to preserve what they saw as their way of life. That history includes people like Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who wanted to topple the government and set off the Oklahoma City bomb that killed 168 people, including 19 children, injuring several hundred more. It includes Richard Poplawski, a white supremacist with anti-government leanings, who gunned down three police officers in Pittsburgh. It includes Eric Robert Rudolph, responsible for three bombings in Atlanta, including one at Olympic Park and others at LGBTQ clubs, as well as one at a Birmingham, Alabama, abortion clinic that killed an off-duty policy officer. The shooting deaths of nine people at Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. The deadly protest in Charlottesville. And it includes hundreds of others, both familiar names and acts, and lesser-known ones. But the point is, domestic terror is a pervasive problem in modern-day America, and instead of treating each crime as a one-off incident, it’s time to address it systemically, in the same way law enforcement attacked foreign terror after 9/11.
Click through for details.This may be the end of this incident, but it’s very likely the start of a trend. Beau of the Fifth Column (whose videos appears on our Video Thread – not all of them as he makes three to four a day) is recommending that everyone in the US – literally everyone – prepare for an nearby attack as one would prepare for a natural disaster – evacuation plans, a bag packed in advance, deciding in advance where to evacuate to, etc.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Twitter executives testify at congressional hearing; make Jordan, MTG and others look foolish
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – February 7, 2023
Political Voices Network – Joyce Vance: Trump’s House of Cards Crumbling! New Twist in Navarro’s Trial, & Barr Exposed!
Robert Reich – The Dangerous Reality of Police Traffic Stops
2-Pound Great Dane Puppy Has To Start Walking Before He Gets Too Big
Beau – Let’s talk about the male scale….
Yesterday, I placed and received a grocery order. I had tried to place it the night before, but I couldn’t get the site to take my substitution instructions, and this morning was no better. So I switched stores, and got the order placed (not identical because there are things each carries that the other doesn’t – but close enough.) It had snowed, and it was pretty cold – there was wind, which would blow flakes around, but wasn’t going to help if the snow had gotten heavy by freezing up. Oh well, today and he next few days should be much warmer, and it will be mostly gone for Sunday when I go to see Virgil. Also, if you want to learn more about “the balloon,” other balloons, and what we were able to learn from this one, Heather Cox Richardson has more information that I expect the main stream media to present … since some brain cells are required to digest it all, and the MSM doesn’t generally cater to folks who have those.
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Crooks and Liars – Not Just Ginni: John Roberts’ Wife Prompts SCOTUS Ethics Questions
Quote – According to the letter, [Kendal] Price [a co-worker of Mrs. Roberts] was fired in 2013 and sued the firm, as well as Mrs. Roberts and another executive, over his dismissal. He lost the case, but the litigation produced documents that he sent to Congress and the Justice Department, including spreadsheets showing commissions attributed to Mrs. Roberts early in her headhunting career, from 2007 to 2014. Mrs. Roberts, according to a 2015 deposition in the case, said that a significant portion of her practice was devoted to helping senior government lawyers land jobs at law firms and that the candidates’ names were almost never disclosed.
Click through for details, which are not as dramatic as those surrounding the Thomases, but are every bit as unethical.
The Nib – Black and Red
Quote – [W]hen the Bolsheviks took power… America’s northern cities saw themselves transformed by the arrival of the black proletariat…. At least 500,000 black southerners migrated north between 1914 ans 1920.
Click through for graphic article. The title refers to black people and red politics (before the right commandeered the color red.)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Prosecutor Mark Pomerantz pursued racketeering indictment of Donald Trump, DA Alvin Bragg said “no.”
Meidas Touch – MAGA Governor UNLEASHES HELL on Her Own State as it CRUMBLES (did anyone listen to her response to the State of the Union address? I couldn’t. I was actually pretty wrung out after the SOTU.)
Politics Girl – To My Fellow White Americans… (I don’t know why she soometimes posts twice – I’ve been reposting the newer one.)
Liberal Redneck – State of the State of the Union
Guy Who Only Liked Dogs Cat-sits For The First Time
Beau – Let’s talk about the 5th Circuit Ruling….