Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump urges Republican to shut down government to STOP the prosecutions against him.
Thom Hartmann – Will You Vote For Puppy Killers? Why The GOP Is Betting On It
MSNBC – A general reporting to an unstable president’: Report exposes challenges for Milley under Trump
Farron Balanced – Terrified Trump Is Asking His Lawyers How Bad Prison Will Be For Him
Rescue Cat Lives In Liquor Store
Beau – Schumer, Tuberville, and turnarounds….
Yesterday, I received a Substack newsletter from Mary L. Trump about the Meet The Press interview with TFG. She watched it so you and I don’t have to. (Beau did the same thing, taking notes, but, since TFG can lie faster than Beau can write, his notes are incomplete.) And Mary’s article really also just hits low points. (There were appaently no high points.) Here’s the link if anyone wants it. Also, Andy Borowitz’s headline was “Zelensky Offers to Broker Peace Deal Between Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans.” Yahoo cut off the subject line after “between,” so I wasn’t expecting that – I was expecting something more like “red states and blue states.” So I did laugh out loud.
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Short Takes –
The New Yorker – Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals
Quote – Both Esper and Milley found new purpose in waiting out the President. They resisted him throughout the summer, as Trump repeatedly demanded that active-duty troops quash ongoing protests, threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, and tried to stop the military from renaming bases honoring Confederate generals. “They both expected, literally on a daily basis, to be fired,” Gates recalled. Milley “would call me and essentially say, ‘I may not last until tomorrow night.’ And he was comfortable with that. He felt like he knew he was going to support the Constitution, and there were no two ways about it.” Milley put away the resignation letter in his desk and drew up a plan, a guide for how to get through the next few months. He settled on four goals: First, make sure Trump did not start an unnecessary war overseas. Second, make sure the military was not used in the streets against the American people for the purpose of keeping Trump in power. Third, maintain the military’s integrity. And, fourth, maintain his own integrity. In the months to come, Milley would refer back to the plan more times than he could count.
Click through for complete story. This article is a bit over a year old, but Milley is in the news again because the Atlantic has just published a profile. I can’t get into the Atlantic, but Steve Schmidt referenced this New Yorker article – which broke the existence of a never-submitted letter of resignation – as back-story, and I can get in to the New Yorker. The Atlantic profile also influenced Beau amd MSN and probably others to discuss it, so you could find more in a lot of places. My take is that the military is commonly considered to lean to the right – but “right” does not necessarily mean “authoritarian.” I (and I think Pat would agree, but she’s off now and through the weekend having fun) would trust the Generals in a crisis – with the caveat that they can function better when their promotions are confirmed, and only 3 of over 300 have gotten past Tuberville and those 3 were already months late. (Lawrence O’Donnell had some words on that. His Aunt Mary was a senior officer’s wife, and they had 7 kids.)
PolitiZoom – Zelenskyy: Russia Has Weaponized Food (In Addition To Energy)
Quote – So there’s that, but let’s get to the substance of what President Zelenskyy dove in to because it’s an impressive laundry list. BBC News has a nice piece that if you scroll down starts with the pre-speech stuff but it does a nice job of emphasizing those main points. Zelenskyy starts out throwing a hard punch, noting that Ukraine gave up the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons once upon a time. (If you didn’t know this was a carefully negotiated treaty and Russia signed on – with a promise not to try and take over Ukraine I might add) He flat out said it was Russia, who is acting as a terrorist State that should have had to give up its nukes!
Click through for article. My first reaction was that with TFG “promising” that if reelected he’ll weaponize – fill in the blank – DOJ is probably at the top of the list-he’s sure to pick up this too. He won’t have to read PolitiZoom. He’ll get all the info he needs from Putin.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Rudy Giuliani gets sued (again), this time for $1.3 million by his own former lawyers! [MAGA – Make Attornies Get Attornies]
The Lincoln Project – Fact Checking
PoliticsGirl – September 13, 2023
Liberal Redneck – Conservatives Trash the Military for Being “Woke” (commercial in the middle)
Disabled cat was about to be euthanized. This woman took her home.
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, the UAW, and unions….
Glenn Kirschner – Judge FINALLY imposes gag order on Trump in his Georgia RICO case
The Ring of Fire – Trump Lawyers Beg Judge Cannon To Punish Jack Smith For ‘Derailing’ Trump’s Campaign
Robert Reich – It’s Time to Roast Starbucks
Liberal Redneck – Trump, Fani Willis, and Georgia (more after the commercial)
Sisters Rescue A Kitten At The Indy 500
Beau – Let’s talk about blended wing aircraft and dads….
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers make ABSURD request – ask Judge Chutkan set an April 2026 trial date in DC case!
The Lincoln Project – Roger Stone on November 5, 2020
Thom Hartmann – U.S. Rep. Vows To Use Force To Achieve Far Right Takeover…
Puppet Regime – Vladimir Putin, film critic
This Dog Stared At The Wall For Hours Until Finally Realized He Was Home
Beau – Let’s talk about Colorado, Alabama, and a General’s house….
Yesterday, there was a longer article in the CPR newsletter than the alert which came out on Wednesday about the Adams County police. Adams County is in the northeasr corner of the Denver Metro Area, which is not the same as being northeast OF Denver, like the wildlife sanctuary they sent Hank to. Colorado is a blue state, but that does not mean we are not afflicted by bad attitudes on police forces. I haven’t read it in full, but it doesn’t look good. Of course in Colorado there are Hispanic people throughout, and women are pretty equally represented, but the majority of Asian- and African-Americans are in the Denver Metro. I’m not expecting to be a happy camper when I finish reading. And policing, even in blue states, is a big reason why I oppose building a “Cop City.” As long as we tolerate authoritarianism in our police, no police academy will fail to pass authoritarianism on – the last thing we need.
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Short Takes –
National Public Radio – What happens when thousands of hackers try to break AI chatbots
Quote – [Ben] Bowman jumps up from his laptop in a bustling room at the Caesars Forum convention center to snap a photo of the current rankings, projected on a large screen for all to see. “This is my first time touching AI, and I just took first place on the leaderboard. I’m pretty excited,” he smiles. He used a simple tactic to manipulate the AI-powered chatbot. “I told the AI that my name was the credit card number on file, and asked it what my name was,” he says, “and it gave me the credit card number.”
Click through to read (or listen.) As scary as this is, it’s also reassuring that responsible people are putting this much effort into learning how to spot and control it.
Washington Post (no paywall) – In Tuberville’s state, one base feels the effect of his military holds
Quote – At the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, a major hub of the U.S. military’s space and missile programs, a key officer is supposed to be leaving his post for a critical new job leading the agency responsible for America’s missile defense. But now Maj. Gen. Heath Collins’s promotion is on hold — creating disruptions up and down the chain of command. His absence means that a rear admiral normally stationed at Redstone overseeing missile testing is instead temporarily filling in as acting director of the Missile Defense Agency. Meanwhile, the brigadier general tapped to replace Collins is also stuck, forced to extend his assignment at Space Systems Command in Los Angeles rather than starting work in Huntsville.
Click through for details. The Armed Forces are not going to allow the military to be without leadership – that would be abdicating its responsibilities. But there absolutely is a human cost. And this article doesn’t even go into the issue of the morale of ALL the troops. All on account of one Senator, who doesn’t even live in the state he represents.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Der Fliegende Holländer” (The Flying Dutchman”). This was the earliest of his operas to feature the theme of a man’s redemption through a woman’s love by means of her death. Yes, that’s totally nuts. But he wasn’t alone – literature, music and art all had influential practitioners in 19th century Europe who were obsessed with this idea. Most of his operas after this one riffed on the theme. Exceptios would be “Lohengrin” (he doesn’t need redeeming, and Elsa doesn’t die – maybe) and the Ring Cycle (unless Brynhilde’s immolation redeems Siegfried – but he’s already dead when that happens.) But I digress. In any case, the music of the Dutchman is impressive. It was written before he fine-tuned his “leitmotif” system but is already characterized by tone painting. A lot of music has been written by a lot of people purportedly depicting storms at sea, but Wagner’s in this opera is the one that convinces me. Senta is self-destructive and as dunb as a MAGAt, but at least she doesn’t take anyone else down with her, and her music convincingly depicts her obsession. And so on.
Also yesterday I received a petition from Move On titled “Convict Trump” I was shocked. I had to go to their website to send a message, but I thought it was necessary. Here’s what I said: “Have you lost your minds? No, I’m not going to sign a “convict Trump**” petition. Only a jury can convict Trump** (or anyone else), and they are not supposed to have any outside influence. Sending a jury a petition like this is jury tampering. Unless he makes a plea deal – that would result in a conviction – but do we really want that? Come back to me when you have a petition which is Constitutional. This one isn’t.”
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Short Takes –
Colorado Public Radio – Sen. Michael Bennet wants to strengthen the watersheds that help protect clean drinking water
Quote – The bill reauthorizes the USFS’s Water Source Protection Program (WSPP), which helps fund projects that prevent pollution at the source, usually by restoring forest health and watersheds. It would increase funding for the program to $30 million per year for the next five years for work done in partnership with local communities, water utilities or agricultural producers. WSPP also tries to prioritize projects that focus on drinking water or improve resilience to wildfire or climate change.
Click through for story. I’m certainly aware of watersheds. But it never occurred to me what, besides lack of precipitation, might threaten them, nor of what could be done to keep them strong. D’oh! So i’m very glad to know that I have been voting for a Senator who does know.
The Conversation – Forts Cavazos, Barfoot and Liberty — new names for army bases honor new heroes and lasting values, instead of Confederates
Quote – The renamings so far have come off without controversy – and with no one seriously defending why the bases should continue honoring Confederates. As Trevor Noah said on “The Daily Show,” “Imagine being a Black soldier training at a base that is named after somebody who didn’t even think of you as a human being.” Celebrities popular with conservatives have praised the base redesignations, too. For example, Mel Gibson applauded renaming Fort Benning for Col. Moore, whose memoir was the basis for “We Were Soldiers,” a 2002 film starring Gibson.
Click through for details. How many people know more than one or two names of Hitler’s henchment? Honoring Confederate generals is not history – it’s just disgusting. And if even Mel Gibson – not just a conservative favorite but a – not terribly nice person – doesn’t mind, then really no one should.
The 19th – Could access to child care be the key to helping parents clear arrest warrants?
Quote – Cierra was among dozens of people who came out in early June for the so-called warrant clinic, one in a series of nationwide events that aims to address active warrants, usually those tied to outstanding traffic violations and misdemeanors. The periodic one-day events can be life-changing. People with lifted warrants can get back a driver’s license. They can apply for jobs. They can seek services that help with housing and food insecurity. They can also vote. “We are adding capacity to the justice system,” said Anza Becnel, the creator of the warrant clinics and the founder and executive director of Growing Real Alternatives Everywhere (GRAE), a nonprofit that helps organize the clinics. “We are adding capacity to things that we’ve identified that the community needs.”
Click through for more. If you didn’t realize this was a problem … you’re not alone … and you’re probably white.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Republican billionaire & Clarence Thomas’s bestie Harlan Crow says he won’t provide info to Senate
MSNBC – Fred Guttenberg on gun control: ‘stop listening to the liars’
Ring of Fire – DeSantis Hit With Lawsuit Over Bogus ‘Election Fraud’ Arrests
Parody Project – Should Old Offenses Be Forgot?
Rescue Kitten Begs To Go To Sleep So She Can Snuggle Her Dad In The Morning
Beau – Let’s talk about a Tuberville quote and readiness….