GOP Incompetence – Page 18

Video Thread for 7/3/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:47 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 032021

Glenn Kirschner – Trump Org/Weisselberg Indictment Suggests 2 Other “Trump Employees” Also Up for Possible Indictment Two remarks – first a quibble – nothing here “begs the question.” Glenn means it “raises” or “poses” or “suggets” the question. “Begging the question” something completely different. Second, after this (and Richard Wagner and James Livine and others) I surely hope I never again have to hear anyone say that “Music is ennobling.”

Meidas Touch – Traitors

Now This News – Biden on Surfside Florida Condo Collapse (Hanky alert, as if you couldn’t figure that out.)

Vote Vets – Rep. Moulton and Rep. Auchincloss Discuss Evacuating Afghan Interpreters

Ring of Fire – Homeland Security Warns Of Future Violence From Angry Trump Supporters. (Beau also addressed this – I’ll get to his in a few days – it needs reminders from time to time)

A Cat’s Guide to Training Your Human

Beau – Let’s talk about the Republican investigation into the NSA….

Open Thread for June 29, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 292021

The opera last night was “Marnie” – based on the same bool as the Hitchcock movie. It premiered in 2019 to good reviews and good audience response too. So it’s very new. (I’m a fan of the mezzo-soprano for whom it was written, Isabel Leonard, and was lucky enough to get to see her in person in another new opera, “Cold Mountain,” when it premiered in Santa Fe.) I’m sure the movie left out things that were in the book, and the opera has left out things from both, but it’s still a plenty twisted story.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Out-of-Practice Trump Forgets to Strand Rally Crowd in Parking Lot
Quote – “People have come to expect that, at the conclusion of one of our rallies, they will be marooned in the middle of nowhere for hours, often in inclement weather,” Harland Dorrinson, a Trump aide, said. “On Saturday night, we didn’t get it done.” Dorrinson said that the entire Trump team would be conducting a postmortem of the rally to find out why attendees were able to leave the event without incident.
Click through for details. Andy, it’s harder to strand a crowd when it’s small to begin with and much of it gets boored and leaves early.

Daily Beast – YouTube Permanently Bans Right Wing Watch, a Media Watchdog Devoted to Exposing Right-Wing Conspiracies
Quote – “What are we going to do?” he asked. Launched in 2007, Right Wing Watch has posted thousands of clips of prominent right-wing figures making controversial comments, perhaps most famously including televangelist Pat Robertson and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. In fact, Right Wing Watch’s exposure of Jones’ false and conspiratorial rhetoric was key to YouTube and other social-media platforms eventually removing his channel InfoWars from their sites. Notably, many of the right-wing outlets and personalities that Right Wing Watch chronicles are not currently suspended or banned from posting content to YouTube, while RWW has been booted for merely exposing their comments and content—something Mantyla noted as being particularly ironic.
Click through for full story. This is NOT good news. They are still on Vimeo, at least.

Independent – GOP senator says roads and bridges are ‘a woman’s problem’ because women ‘do the shopping’
Quote – “My wife says that roads and bridges are a woman’s problem if you will,” said Mr Cassidy. “Because oftentimes it is the woman – aside from commuting to work – who’s also taking children to schools or doing the shopping…. And the more time that she spends on that road, the less time she spends doing things of higher value,” he added.
Click through for absolutely not satire. Yes, Senator, women are human beings, and human beings need roads and bridges. (And your wife sounds brainwashed.)

Food for Thought

Open Thread for June 26, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 262021

Colleen was expecting to get released after her surgery around 3 or 3:30 pm. i’m hoping she did – but I also realize that there are many benign reasons whay that may not have happened. My day here was quiet enough. I hope everyone will be kind to b=me and overlook typos, duplications, and whatnot for a week starting monday, as the Met streams 7 American operas, one each day, for the week. I’ll try not to slack off, but I may be a wee bit short on sleep by Sunday.

Cartoon

Short Takes

The Hill – Department of Justice sues Georgia over voting law
Quote – The suit was announced alongside another initiative from the Justice Department to battle rising threats made against local election officials. A memo from Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco establishes a task force across the FBI, as well as DOJ’s criminal division, the civil rights division, and the national security division.
Click through for the full article.

The Hill – Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years prison for murder of George Floyd
Quote – Per state guidelines, the maximum sentence for unintentional murder in the second degree is 40 years, but because Chauvin has no previous criminal record, the presumptive sentence is 12.5 years, with an acceptable deviation range of 10.67 years to 15 years. But because Cahill agreed with the prosecution’s aggravating factors motion, the judge had the discretion to increase the sentence.
Click through for more, and of course it’s also being reported elsewhere.

Politico – Graham: Biden made GOP look like ‘f—ing idiots’
Quote – “If he’s gonna tie them together, he can forget it!” Graham said. “I’m not doing that. That’s extortion! I’m not going to do that. The Dems are being told you can’t get your bipartisan work product passed unless you sign on to what the left wants, and I’m not playing that game.”
Click through if you don’t mind thir format which makes it a bit tough to be sure you’re still in the same article. (Personally, I’m all for any Dem who can make the GOP look like – what he said.)

Food for Thought

Open Thread for June 2, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 022021

Wednesday already – and so much going on. Well, let’s dig in.

Cartoon

Short Takes

The Hill – The Memo – For years I was predicting a French-Revolution-style uprising based on the way government was ignoring, not just the will of the people, but also the needs of the people, including needs the people didn’t themselves recognize (such as climatee change). Then the Trump** presidency seemed so much more like the rise of Hitler that I shifted my concerns. But now it seems I was wrong. We are re-living, in some ways, the French Revolution – and we are now approaching the Reign of Terror stage, and mob rule. A mob with no leaders with any power to restrain it. Empty Greene seems like an unlikely Mme. Defarge (and I’d be astonished if she can knit), but there it is. (And, believe it or not, I wrote this first – and then found TC’s cartoon. My timing could not have been better.)

QConference – The “Conference” at which Michael Flynn made the remarks on camera which he now denies having made was observed by the author of this Twitter thread. I’m sorry, it’s not in a neat thread reader, but I found it worth going through. The chief “takeaways” – This a near-religious movement, and they are preparing to enact violence if they don’t get their way in future elections. The talk of war is now preparation for it.

Robert Reich – H/T Mitch – Of course the Reich on the left is right. What may be more of personal annoyance to me than a major danger to democracy – but it seems that, having lived through four years of a Trump** presidency (not to mention the campaign before and the insurrections after), we seem to have all forgotten who has the authority to doo whatm and who does not have authority to do certain things. This sentence from the article: “So there will be no investigation.” – I won’t say it’s just wrong, but it’s not an established fact. A House Select Committee has not beed ruled out. A DOJ investigation (has not been ruled out (and if they are already investigating and have not told us, they are not going to tell us before it’s over.) But it kind of gives a wrong impression. Keith makes a similar error as to who can do what, and I’ll address that in the video thread. I’m sure a big part of it is that those of us who recognize the enormity of what we are facing are somewhat in a panic. But a better handle on who can and should do what would, for one thing, help us target the right people in petitions. And it should also help us to think more rationally, and God knows we’ll need that.

Video Thread 5/15/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 3:57 pm Open Thread, Politics

May 152021

Glenn Kirschner – Implications of Greenberg’s Guilty Plea. One thing this suggests to me is that he may also be able to give them other witnesses to minimize his need to testify in person.

Meidas Touch – Rick Wilson on personalities

A new project is coming – The Franklin Project – here’s the beginning.

Ring of Fire – Yes, this is funny. But also sad.

The Red Dot (Trailer)

Beau on the 1033 program. We don’t hear the saying much any more “You can’t legislate morality” (and maybe we should.) But maybe we should also add “You can’t legislate intentions.”
cat

Video Thread 5/8/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 2:09 pm Open Thread, Politics

May 082021

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is promoting this video poem on sugar – public health – and slavery

Meidas Touch – McVonnell’s War on America

Now This News. This is what Colorado legislators – and those in many other states – have to deal with. Every. Day.

The Damage Report – Side Effects of Tesr Gas and the like

Armageddon Update – the Big Lie (nothing we don’t know)

Ring of Fire – IMO Farron needs to grasp that real professionals know what their authority is, and that no good comes of trying to exceed it, or to rush things. But aside from that, he makes some good observations.

Now This News – File under “Everything Old Is New Again.” 2000 years ago, they used to be able to flood the arena to stage fake naval battles – ad events where condemned people were set afloat in “romatic” boats, only to be devoured by crocodiles (to loud cheers and much laughter).

Beau on the GOP proving him wrong. Stay with him.

Keith – I love to watch him, yet hate to see a new one because a new one means something awful has happened or is happening.

Video Thread 5/4/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 1:31 pm Open Thread, Politics

May 042021

The Lincoln Project – “Swamp Thing”

Meidas Touch with Michael Cohen

Now This News – How he managed to get elected in Oklahoma – well, kudos to his constituents.

Now This News – I am not going to join TikTok, but I will find out whether I can embed some of these without joining, I promise (The large CC is incomplete and the small CC at the top is … small/)

Really American without Chip today. I’m sure Andy Biggs needs to charged with, and convicted of, sedition first before he can be expelled. But whatever the order, both need to happen.

Beau on unintended consequences (and incidentally on why it’s always cheaper to be a good person.)

Video Thread 4/24/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:22 pm Open Thread, Politics

Apr 242021

The Lincoln Project – “His Psrty”

The Republican Accountability Project – THAT press conference

Really American – “Tough Guys” (I really don’t know what this trend with no CC is here)

Meidas Touch – This is the first of three from Roland, all three of which I will eventually wor in. And of course he is right about this. And it is no excuse to call it the fault of black people. It is anything but that.

Now This News – Racist? Sexist? (spoiler – both)

This was funny when she first reported it … and now that Jimmy Kimmel has picked it up, it’s even funnier. (I set it to start when he brings up Ursula … you can turn it off when he finishes with Ursula)

Beau on why the Chauvin verdict doesn’t feel like winning

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