Open Thread September 18 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 182025
 

Yesterday, I still couldn’t hear anything from the computer (it isn’t me – I can hear the radio just fine.) I went through all the troubleshooting in settings, and it says everything is just fine. So I’ve ordered new speakers. but they won’t come in time for me to hear Pénélope (by Gabriel Fauré) on Saturday. That doesn’t necessarily mean I shall never hear it – I looked it up on Wikipedia, and there are two existent recordings of it – one with Jessye Norman, of all people. No, I’m not ordering that right away. It would be quite a search, and I don’t have time. Maybe if we manage to survive this régime. Anyway, I will still have to get up earlier than usual Saturday to take my weekly Alendronate.

Robert Reich would like to remind us that no publication of his is sold by amazon. So if they claim to have, for instance, his new book, “Coming Up Short,” don’t buy it (in either sense.)

This is archived from from The Nation, where I didn’t even try to navigate to the full story through all the popups. But I suspect it speaks for all of us, at least in the sense that all of us will probably find something in it that says exactly what we were thinking.

File this from Wonkette under “Credit where credit is due, even if the amount of credit is small.”

Belle – I could not hear this, but I followed the CC as best I could. It seems important.

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Open Thread September 17 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 172025
 

Yesterday, technology was not kind to me. My radio station was off the air for about an hour and a half – playing static (rhythmic static, but still static); it took me another hour and a half (this time on the phone) to be able to log in to my HRA to provide substantiation for a VISA charge on their card (apparently, when I changed my email address for contacting me but not for my username because the site would not let me) it confused their system so badly it would not let me log in, and I ended up having to pretend I was opening a new account. Then my speaker died. All this was on top of my kitchen light fixture having shorted out (I do have some under-cabinet lights there, but they aren’t a substitute.) Color me irritable.

Yes, we’re past September 13. But Heather Cox Richardson‘s thoughts on narratives are not tied to a particular date. I think they are worth a look and a think.

From Wonkette – and demonstrates one of the reasons I keep subscribing to Wonkette, besides their irreverent style. They do tend to get hold of things that others don’t. Such as what Groypers are (and that they’re not just more right wingers – they have distinct opinons.) And that they have a tendency to violence which may even surpass that of other right wingers. So here it is, and it includes some links to older posts on the same subject. “If they are being opportunistic, we must be as well.” I couldn’t agree more. Incidentally, if the word “sedevacantist” is new to you, here’s a link which goes into that. I agree with Robyn that not knowing they exist and at least generally knowing who they are is “a luxury we cannot afford.”

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Open Thread September 16 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 162025
 

Yesterday, I really overslept. I’m not complaining – I do need that on Mondays as a rule to make up for sleep lost on the weekend. But it does mean I need to be savage with my inbox. Also yesterday – at one time there was a way to link an image to a website here – but that seems to have disappeared. I am concerned that, between its size and the elongation to images we are experiencing, the cartoon may not be legible – there’s so much in jt. So here’s a link where it can be read larger and in proportion.

Chris Bowers has established an Act Blue page addressed to the points he makes. I’m not intending to push that. What I take from this is, frankly, confirmation that, although we can now successfully elect women to the Senate and to be state Governors, even to be Vice President, we cannot yet elect a woman to be President. And, at least for a while, we should quit trying. Because we have only accomplished three things trying – we have ended one woman’s career and allowed her legacyto be tarnished, and we have damaged another woman’s career path (both outstanding women), and we have handed the country over to fascists. I am not saying there will never be a woman President (although I will not live to see one). I am saying we have done enough damage for a while and we need to rebuild the country first – and to work for changes which are not political but cultural in nature.

I confess I did not watch the video that Steve Schmidt included as evidence in this post. But I have no doubt Steve Schmidt has pretty much nailed it (except that I would say Miller is a full-sized Eichmann, not a little one any more.)

From Harry Litman of Talking Feds. Not so much about law as about history. It certainly clarifies the moment – although the moment is unquestionably a dark one.

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Open Thread September 13 2025

 Posted by at 6:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 132025
 

Yesterday, I got an email from No Kings via Move On (which is connected to Robert Reich) about their next demonstration scheduled for October 18. I’m pretty sure I already shared that date, but am repeating just in case. This (obviously) will be electoral politics related. And the climate related one, “Sun Day,” is still on for September 21st. I may not be able to go, but by golly, I can at least spread the word. Here’s the No Kings RSVP link. And yes, this is early. But they have a lot of events scheduled already, and they also have some training events scheduled

Thanks to the Mango Mussolini, everyone is scrambling for money these days. I suspect we should expect new paywalls where they have not previously been. Huff Post does not have a paywall, but they do have enough of a maze of asks that I archived this. You still need to scroll down – but that should be all. In view of the backlash just from a fine (two-term) President having brown skin, I think we need to take this seriously.

And this from The F* News was already under weigh before Charlie Kirk was assassinated. I do wish more people had paid attention. We did our best to warn them but so many did not believe us.

Another guest video – probably nothing you didn’t suspect, but it’s here now – it’s happening. At least it will all be out in the open – because discovery. Just under 12 minutes.

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Open Thread September 11 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 112025
 

Yesterday, I learned that the (Democratic) Governor of Kentucky was on Seth Meyers the night before. I don’t hav time to watch Seth much, and when I do, it’s usually just “A Closer Look. But I looked up this segment. It’s just under 11 minutes. If the Mango Monster gets wind of it, he’ll be calling for Seth Meyers to be fired along with Colbert and Kimmel.

Well, this is discouraging. I have not yet felt the consequences of DOGE in my Social Security checks – probably no one who has been receiving it electronically for over a decade and has no changes recently or in the near future has felt it, since the cuts so far have been personnel cuts which affect people dealing with new claims or claim changes. Or people receiving paper checks might be affected. Someone in the organization with more brains than God gave lettuce has set SSA’s computer to sent electronic checks early but make them “pending” until the day they are due – mine is due the second Wednesday of each month – but I could see it Monday and Tuesday as a “pending” transaction. There are cuts in the “Big Brutal Bill” but those have been set not to take effect at least until 2026 – possibly even after the midterms – Republicans know perfectly well how unpopular cuts to vital programs, not just SS, are and don’t want to lose their majority. Think that one through. They know they are not electorially safe in 2026 but think they will be in 2028.

There’s a good point being made here. And I’m sure everyone can think of multiple historical examples. If we do not have a way to hold someone accountable for a particular action, we are saying “Go ahead and do it” even if that is the last thing we intended. And it’s not as if we didn’t realize this could happen. My Lai was 57 years ago. We have had plenty of time to figure out how to deal with this. And we didn’t even try.

There’s really no need for me to comment on this article from The Root. It says it all. (Daily Kos covered it also, but it shouldn’t be missed.)

A guest video today – Heather Cox Richardson Longer than usual, but under ten minutes

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Open Thread September 8 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 082025
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. We had a wide variety of hands. If you have seen the riddle that Nameless posted Saturday, and read the comments, you may note that one hand I had was quite pertinent to it. Virgil was quite forgetful, but in a good mood (he pretty much always is when I visit.)  The drive was uneventful both ways – the weather and the traffic both cooperated. Also yesterday – here’s a little backstory – some months ago, one of the announcers at my local public radio station started a new program – his first themed continuing program) featuring Broadway musicals. Sometimes he’ll feature just one show, but more often it will be four or six shows which have something in common. I have missed having a regular Broadway feature – and it’s been so long since one has been available, I have gotten totally out of touch with the genre, so I listen to it pretty faithfully. Yesterday his show featured just one show – “Come From Away.” I had never heard of it nor of its writers or stars. Well, I have really missed out on something very powerful. It ran for well over 600 performances and won a bunch of awards, so it isn’t that it didn’t have publicity that I missed it – it was just me being out of the loop. I realize many people do not care for, or about, musical theater of any kind. But if you do, and if you aren’t familiar with this one, I don’t think you’ll regret looking it up.

This from The F* News suggests to me that irony may not be dead after all.

Dan Froomkin at Press Watch has the New York Times’s number. I can’t remember having heard or seen the term, “weasel word,” for a long time – possibly because the GOP hasn’t been using any, because they’ve been outright lying and misrepresenting everything. The word “great” really can’t be construed as a weasel word for “dictatorship.” And there are so many ways to spread lies.

Of course it’s not really possible to predict what someone is going to do, and it’s even harder when that someone is demented. But it is possible t recognize a playbook = especially one as well documented as that used by would-be dictators. And the Brennan Center does its homework.

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Open Thread September 6 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 062025
 

Yesterday, I received an email from Catholics for Choicea addressing the myth that the Catholic Church “cannot change,” which  is historically, demonstrably false. I won’t do a rant on this, but for anyone who cares about women’s rights, I’ll provide the link.

Pro Publica takes a deep dive into what the regime is on to about “mortgage fraud.” It’s about what constitutes a primary residence. Apparently, in many cases claiming two primary residences is perfectly legal. I don’t know what the criteria are for that, but I can certainly see it in the cases of “snowbirds,” who have a primary summer residence and a primary winter residence. Yeah, most people couldn’t afford that, but in thse cases that really is how they are using their properties. But even if some of these case aren’t technically lawful, anyone he attempts to prosecute will have a great “selective prosecution” defense, since three of his Cabinet members have multiple primary mortgages.

Steve Schmidt from The Warning. Yeah. That ship we just attacked was carrying drugs exactly like all those men we sent to CECOT were MS-13. Right. I’m positive of that.

Joyce Vance shares an analogy made by a federal judge and presented by NBC News. The anonymous judge, along with other quoted in the episode, was anonymous for self-defense. Theres a link to the (print) article in Joyce’s post. All of the article is onsistent with what I see and probably most hee ee, which eans that it may not be encouraging, but it does appear accurate.

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Open Thread September 4 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 042025
 

Yesterday, Trinette came by after her work day ended. She works at home, for the state of Colorado, on a program which was new last year to assist mothers and children. If it were for the Federal Government, she would be out of work now, you betcha. I am SO grateful she is working where she is! Also yesterday, I got the first fundraising email from the first candidate for one of California’s new provisional Congressional districts. She is a federal labor attorney and will run against Darrell Issa. She previously flipped a city council seat within the new district. You go, girl! Also, the press conference with Epstein survivors was recorded on video (by PBS News) and is available here. it’s almost an hour and a half but I really don’t know how it could have been much shorter. (you can always skip the introductions – although heaven knows it’s remarkable to hear MTG make sense. And all of them together only come up to about 18 minutes. Questions begin at about 52 minutes)

You may have read about this incident – I did – but I didn’t have the analysis then. Talking Points Memo is generally pretty good at that.

I drink coffee again, after I don’t know how many years not doing so. And I have to say I’m glad the EU is doing this, because we certainly won’t. Yes, it will affect prices. But too many people have somehow convinced themselves and others that there is no price to pay for keeping our planet livable. Or, for that matter, for doing right by others on a daily basis. And that just isn’t so.

It’s no secret that I’m big on analysis. Sometimes without good analysis (and occasionally even with it) it’s tough to tell whether news or potential news is good or bad. Take, for example, the possibility of the Mango Monster dying. Many people are all for it. I, o the other hand (and along with John Pavlovitz, among a few others) am terrified by the possibility. But I digress. The Brennan Center, which is also keen an analysis, is addressing “the shape of the big showdown on presidential power” in an article titled “Appeals Courts Rule Against Trump on Tariffs and Deportations.” Brennan doesn’t always link to specific articles, but I think I found a direct link to this one.

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