Aug 012025
 

Yesterday, I got an email that Jeopardy is now on Substack When I said (and it must be over a year ago) that eventually “everyone” would be on Substack, I certainly didn’t imagine that. But here we are. Today marks the end of a difficult month-and-a-half for me, which is uncomfortable every year. Today I am not longer the same age as the Apricot Antichrist. And in three days it will be Barack Obama’s birthday. If you didn’t get an invitation to sign a digital birthday card for him, this link should take care of that.

There are federal agencies, some of which are intended to be “independent” in the sense that they are supposed to decide policy on the basis of expert knowledge, not on any political opinions. And then there are Non-Government Organizations  (NGOs), which like every other good thing, are now in danger. There is much more in this memo, but it’s this first section for which I am posting it.

Joyce Vance looks at history (since she is a lawyer, it is legal history and a judge.) This was in my lifetime, so I have memories of it, but I was also more than half a continent away from it and very young, so I didn’t have all these details. I also do not remember newspapers publishing court judgments the way not just Joyce but many communicators do now on the internet. It might have been better if they had done so.

And this is why I subscribe to The Root. Some stories are mainly of interest to people of color – but now and then one of those stories will – or should – be of interest to everyone who is human. It’s a pity Missouri can’t just out all its Republicans in government at every level.

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Dec 212024
 

Yesterday, Steve Schmidt had this to say about Elon Musk. It’s short, and it’s painfully humorous, as only dumb-criminal-level stupidity can be. So I’m throwing it in as an extra. Also the Talking Points Memo compared Congress to pro wrestling.  Happy Solstice to all who celebrate!

 

As Heather Cox Richardson points out, last Monday, actual President Joe Biden designated a new national monument in honor of Frances Perkins, secretary of labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She deserves it. Much of what FDR achieved was due to her ideas and her pushing for them. Almost everything which os keeping us alive (certainly what is keeping me alive) was her concept and promoted by her. Every human being in America should rejoice at her getting a National Monument. Sadly, too many white men (no, not all not by a long shot, but still way too many) are doing their best to make themselves inhuman in the name of “masculinity.”

This article from Lawfare was referred to me by Talking Points Memo. I’m sharing it because it addresses my own biggest worries about a second Trump** administration, and that is that we are going to lose some battles, and it’s not predictable which battles they are going to be. And a big part of that is because we are going to have to pick the hills we are willing to die on. And that is at least in part because there are only 100 Senators, and only about half of them are Democrats. Steve Schmidt for one is saying we must fight hard against everything, and he is not alone. And I would love to be able to do that – but it simply is not going to be possible.

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