Politics – Page 299 – Politics Plus

Open Thread March 11, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:36 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 112022

Yesterday, It snowed again – which was not predicted – and stayed sub-freezing all day – which was predicted. And it felt cold, colder than usual, inside as well. The other day i made a reference to the ki-ki-bird, and I shall now explain it. It was a joke, when I was in service, that at bases like Adak, AK, one migh, when it was sub-zer, hear the call of the ki-ki-bird: “Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-RIST, it’s cold!” It’s not that cold inside today .. but I’ll bet it is outsode!.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

ProPublica – When Billionaires Don’t Pay Taxes, People “Lose Faith in Democracy”
Quote – [Senator Ron] Wyden’s bill seeks to counteract a technique that the ultrawealthy can use to avoid income taxes: They hold on to their assets and simply avoid the income — and tax — that comes when they sell them. The rich can live lavishly by employing a technique known as “Buy, Borrow, Die,” in which they buy or build assets, borrow against them and then avoid estate and gift taxes when they die.
Click through for details. It seems self-evident to me, but I’m sure some wont believe it without “receipts” (and some won’t believe it regardless of evidence.)

The Hill – FBI agent: Suspects in Whitmer kidnapping plot arrested over ‘real concern’ they might obtain explosives
Quote – This comes as prosecutors allege that the four men, [Adam] Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, plotted the kidnapping of Whitmer due to their frustration of statewide COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. They planned to snatch her from her vacation home and blow up a nearby bridge to slow authorities’ response to the incident.
Click through for story. May the conviction be swift and the sentence appropriate.

Women’s History – Huff Post – Republicans Keep Attacking Biden’s Judicial Nominees For Being Good Lawyers
Quote – It’s been a pretty over-the-top and performative few months for the Judiciary Committee. But cutting through the drama, what’s not amusing is what Republicans have actually been arguing: that poor people charged with crimes don’t deserve any legal representation at all, and lawyers representing them should be ashamed for doing it.
Click through if you can stand to. Cruz and Hawley in particular – it would be a real public service if they could be investiga6ted back to birth. You just know that crimes would be found. And I say that knowing that both hold security clearances.

Food For Thought:

Sorry but I just had to add this:

Video Thread 3/10/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:10 pm Open Thread, Politics

Mar 102022

Glenn Kirschner – Bill Barr Has Direct Evidence of Trump’s Criminal Intent & Must be Subpoenaed by DOJ for Grand Jury

Thom Hartmann – Did Young People Forget Cold War?

MSNBC – McFaul: Captured Russians Have No Explanation For Why They’re In Ukraine

Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda RIPS Into The “People’s Convoy”

RepresentUs – Elizabeth Warren Rails Against Dark Money

Women’s History – Armageddon Update – with Mrs. Titus

Beau – Let’s talk about why Lindsey Graham is on Russian TV….

Open Thread March 10, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 102022

Yesterday, more than one newsletter was so hot, I found myself overwhelmed. Just some samples – Headlines from Crooks and Liars: “Indictment of Rand Paul In-Law May Lead to Even Bigger Fish” “Trolling Putin: Street Renamed ‘President Zelensky [sic] Way in Front of Russian Embassy” “FINALLY: Senate Passes Anti-Lynching Bill, 67 Years Later” “Irishman Plows His Truck into Russian Embassy: ‘I’ve Done My Bit, Lads'” Headlines from The 19th: “Raising a transgender child in Texas has been one long political emergency” “2022 elections are important, women say — but a poll suggests they may be too overwhelmed to prioritize politics” Headlines from Wonkette: “You Want A Fugitive Uterus Act? Missouri Will Give You A Fugitive Uterus Act” “Michigan GOP Nominee, World’s Worst Dad Says Truly Vile Sh*t About Rape” “Grisly Murderer Goes All Mean Girls On Joe Biden” Not to mention the breaking news from Colorado Public Radio (i did put this in a comment on yesterday’s Open Thread, but in case you missed it) “Election security breach leads to charges for Mesa Clerk Tina Peters.”

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

NM Political Report – A small Texas-based group urges New Mexico counties to oppose 30×30
Quote – It didn’t take long for a small group founded by the daughter of a couple involved in the 1990s Sagebrush Rebellion to mobilize after President Joe Biden released an executive order in January 2021 that called for conserving 30 percent of the country’s lands and water by 2030. Since then, American Stewards of Liberty have successfully led counties across the United States to pass resolutions opposing the initiative, including five New Mexico counties—Chaves, Otero, Catron, Quay, Lea and Sandoval. San Juan County may pass such a resolution in the future.
Click through for details. Funny how right wing “grassroots” seem to alwats turn out to be well funded PACs.

ProPublica – Billionaire-Backed Group Enlists Trump-Supporting Citizens to Hunt for Voter Fraud Using Discredited Techniques
Quote – “Voter rolls are very, very important to the process,” Florida software and database engineer Jeff O’Donnell told the gathering of 300 in late January in Chippewa Falls, deeming the rolls “the ground zero” of what he called Democratic plots to steal elections. The only way former President Donald Trump could have lost his reelection campaign in 2020, O’Donnell said in an interview, was if voter rolls had been inflated with people who shouldn’t have been able to cast ballots.
Click through for full story. This is so deluded it would be laughable, were it not so dangerous.

Women’s History – The 19th – The only all-Black women’s unit sent to Europe during WWII is awarded a Congressional medal
Quote – Led by Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, the highest-ranking Black woman officer at the time, the 850-woman battalion departed from New York in 1945 for England and later France. The unit included medics, dining hall workers, police, transportation, administrative and other support service members. Their mission: processing millions of letters and packages that had been backlogged, unopened and collecting dust for months and even years, a crucial task that kept soldiers connected to their families.
Click through for story. I had not known this. Now that I do, I can only say “:About G-D- time.”

Food For Thought:

Joan Baez outside her house with one of her recent painting portraits. pic.twitter.com/5Gf1TpPa56

— Greg Mitchell (@GregMitch) March 8, 2022

(If you click on the link, you can see more of Joan)

Video Thread 3/9/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:25 pm Open Thread, Politics

Mar 092022

Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Bragg Ends Trump Investigation, Misleads about Reason for Not Releasing Resignation Letters OK, I was wrong. Dammit. This is not good.

American Bridge – Bloody Sunday

Don Winslow Films – #PutinIsLying

MSNBC – Why Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine Has Touched Such A Raw Nerve

Rebel HQ – Ukraine Ambassador Trolls Russians In Epic Fashion

Publicae – I’m in Kyiv! Defiant Ukraine President Zelenskyy counters Russian fake news and reveals his location

Beau – Let’s talk about preparing for a possibility….

Open Thread March 9, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:11 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 092022

Yesterday, unexpectedly, we had a high temperature above freezing (only 37°F, but still. Definitely too warm to hear the call of the ki-ki-bird.) I did go to the mailbox, because my informed delivery said there was a card or letter from my first cousin. Turned out to be a New Year’s card. Stiil worth getting. I donned a fleece coat and gloves, so I’m fine.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – A Message From an American Fighting in Ukraine
Quote – A week or so ago, Sergey Nevstruyev, a 59-year-old father of four and grandfather of three who owns construction and remodeling businesses in North Carolina, was in his home in Charlotte, watching the horrific images of Vladimir Putin’s illegal attack on Ukraine. Today he is in Kyiv, serving as a major in a Ukrainian brigade commanded by Serhiy Melnychuk, a well-known former member of the Ukrainian parliament and onetime military commander who led a volunteer militia that fought Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Click through for the rest of the story. I’ve long felt that David Corn is Mother Jones’s counterpart to the New Yorker’s David Remnick – just my opinion.

Robert Reich – Five ways Putin’s war could (possibly) make America better but only if we push for them
they are – 1. Help Americans endure higher fuel prices.
2. Move the nation toward green energy.
3. Trim the military-industrial complex.
4. Put democracy and human rights at the center of American foreign policy.
5. Protect and expand voting rights in America.
Click through for amplification.- The Reich on the left is right – as usual (approaching always.) Today’s Republican Party being what it is, I have doubts that pushing hard enough is possible. But that’s no reason not to try. Because if not now, when?

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Maria Mitchell
Quote – Mitchell was the first internationally known woman to work as both a professional astronomer and a professor of astronomy after accepting a position at Vassar College in 1865. She was also the first woman elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Cllick through for bio. I am using Wikipedia in order to be consistent, but I’ve drawn the names from a variety of sources. I had actually heard of Ms. Mitchell, but that was recently and in an obscure place. Anyone who is into astronomy probably knows about her – others, not so much.

Food For Thought:
(Dan Brown is a LinkedIn contact of mine. However, I don’t know his source (yes, the name is there, I just don’t know who he is). So I share this for what it is worth.)

Video Thread 3/8/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:13 pm Open Thread, Politics

Mar 082022

Glenn Kirschner – House Select Committee Files Court Pleading Saying Evidence Shows Trump committed Crimes Against US

Lincoln Project – Biden’s Response to Tyranny

Meidas Touch – Ukraine Will Win

MSNBC – Lt. Col. (Ret.) Vindman: Putin Is Taking Russia Back To The “Depths Of The Cold War”

Twitter – a statement from “Anonymous” (After watching Beau fpr a while now, love it that their Twitter handle is “@squad303”)

Who are we? Just an anonymous people… Why are we? To #fightforUkraine ✌️✌️✌️#OpRussia #UkraineUnderAttaсk #UkraineRussianWar pic.twitter.com/mgYaiP7eT2

— squad303 (@squad3o3) March 6, 2022

The Daily Show – Honoring the Fiendish Women in History (I considered using Peggy Arnold myself this month, but decided not to – even before I saw this,)

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Eastman, and the committee….

Open Thread March 8, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 082022

Yesterday, most of Sunday’s snow was gone. However, although we are expecting sun today, it won’t warm up to above freezing before Friday. Good thing I like staying inside.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Conversation – How do Russia’s reasons for war stack up? An expert on ‘just war’ explains
Quote – That’s not to say that [philosophers, theologians, politicians and military leaders] always agree on how to apply just war principles to an actual conflict. Given the Kremlin’s attempts to justify its invasion of Ukraine, including its groundless accusations of genocide, it’s worth analyzing Russia’s position through the lens of the just war tradition – the focus of my work as a political scientist who studies the ethics of conflict.
Click through for a crash course in what makes waging war morally acceptable. As she shoud, the author works hard to be fair. This question is not black and white, but multiple shades pf gray.

Great Power – There is no way back. [Part 1] [If we want the war to stay in Ukraine, we have to win it in Ukraine.]
Quote – Since the first boom, Ukrainian strategic decision-making was actually about looking for victory — which technically is what strategy is for; strategy is a theory of success in war — and about creating opportunity for something other than just dying quietly in the mud and the rubble. This has given them an incalculable advantage over Russia. And honestly, over us. We haven’t caught up yet.
Click through for the full article. I am not, of course, on Twitter, but someone at DU who is found this article recommended in a tweet by LTC Vindman.

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Grace Hopper
Quote – Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was an American computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming who invented one of the first linkers. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages.
Click through for bio. How could I possibly do a Women’s History month (and on a blog where Pat B is a prime contributor) without including “Amazing Grace”?

Food For Thought: