Open Thread for January 11, 2022

 Posted by at 7:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 112022
 

Yesterday, I was more or less back into routine. Although I was still waiting, after 6:00 pm, for an email that the phone outage had been resolved.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – GOPers Hit New Low, Protesting Harry Reid’s Funeral In Las Vegas
Quote – [Candidate for Congress Noah] Melgeri [who took part in the “protest”] is pure MAGA. He says COVID was “an intentional act” and that General Milley should be executed, on live television no less. His wife appears at the local school board meetings and spews anti-vaxx drivel. Pure performance art out of the Greene/Gaetz/Gosar school of political theater.
Click through. People take part in protests because they want change. What change did these people want? Did they want the Senator’s body to rot above ground? Or did they just want him cremated? They didn’t say. This was not a protest, but merely a public nuisance.

Democratic Underground (bigtree) – Yes, the boat hit the iceberg, but putting children in lifeboats is destructive to their psyche
Quote – Look, I too want to survive this sinking, but I look at how people insist on wearing constrictive life-vests and taking to life boats and I sympathize with those who wants to spend their time drilling holes in the hull. Better to show this ocean we don’t fear it than to cower.
Click through for fuller analogy – This is an unspooled (translation: readable) Twitter thread with an extended analogy comparing CoViD to the Titanic. I fear it won’t reach those for whom it is intended, but it’s very creative,

Medium – What Do We Do Now?
Quote – Building the kind of movement needed to win won’t be comfortable. It means working with imperfect allies and getting outside our comfort zones. It means being open to tactics we wouldn’t have been previously. It means, for many of us, putting our personal safety at risk against an opposition that’s more than willing to engage in violence against their opponents. But we can’t win without a common purpose and a willingness to let go of what’s no longer working in favor of something new. And we can’t win without thinking, and doing bigger things — outside of the systems and institutions currently failing us.
Click through for complete opinion. Medium has a paywall, but you get 3 free articles per month. This one is scary, but I believe accurate. Of course one can only do what one can do. But one can do that, whatever it is.

Food For Thought:

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Open Thread for January 6, 2022

 Posted by at 7:13 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 062022
 

Yesterday, I ran through all the online diagnostics before calling CenturyLink, and I’m glad I did so. I have had my current modem for more than 9 years, and it’s been obsolete for a while now. So I really have no right to complain. I checked out the current models available, and discovered that one of the three newest models is made by the same manufacturer as my old one, and the cord array looks exactly the same, so I can install it easily – no need to brinf a tech to the house in plague time. I’m expected to get it Saturday. Meantime, I have found a flow which will enable me to work faster by moving slower, so I will make it until (probably not without some colorful language in the process, though.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker (Borowitz – NOT THE NEWS!) Sean Hannity Informs January 6th Panel that Swearing to Tell the Truth Would Violate His Contract with Fox
Quote – In a written statement, Hannity said that taking an oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” would be “a betrayal of the solemn vow I made to Fox. +The members of the committee would no doubt require me to swear on a Bible,” he said. “However, I answer to a higher power: Rupert Murdoch.”
Click through if you aren’t paywalled out. Sounds like straight news to me (but I did LOL.)

Trump called her an ‘incredible woman,’ but Ashli Babbitt was a Q-nut with a violent past
Quote – Norris’ first encounter with Babbitt took place on July 29, 2016, when Norris says Babbitt rammed her SUV in a road-rage incident in Prince Frederick, Maryland. “She pulls up yelling and screaming,” Norris told AP. “It took me a good 30 seconds to figure out who she was. … Just all sorts of expletives, telling me to get out of the car, that she was going to beat my ass.”
Click through for backstory. I don’t say “full” because there is undoubteedly more to be learned. I would also call her incredible – but NOT as a compliment!

Merrick Garland speech – Assuming this would be the major topic everyome would be interested in, I listened to it. Twice. The second time with a YouTube video which has CC and therefore I could download a transcript (how good remains to be seen,) and I will figure out a way to make that available – that one, or a better one if someone beats me to it. But, to summarize, he said –
We are working on it and we won’t stop until we get everyone. If I told you any more, it would jeopardize the investigation (DOJ policy, based on experience and best practices.) We started at the bottom and are working our way up, and that is reflected in sentincing (which by implication will go up with the involvement of the offender – also best practices.) We are also working on voting rights (if the investigation takes too long, we are going to need voting rights as we never have before.) We are also working on death threats, (and you wouldn’e believe how many of those there are, and how many categories of people who have received them.) The time to deal with threats is when they are issued, not after a tragedy. First Amendment rights are important, but “protests” like 1/6 and death threats are not protected. (I thought it was clever of him to quote Scalia to support that instead of a more liberal justice, and it was a good quote.) Bottom line: We know how critical the investigation of 1/6 is for the survival of democracy, and we don’t intend to let anyone skate. We are working as hard as we can, that’s all we can tell you, so please get off our back and let us do our job.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 12/31/2021

 Posted by at 11:40 am  Open Thread, Politics
Dec 312021
 

Glenn Kirschner – House Select Committee Plans Public Hearings, Interim Report, Potential Criminal Referrals for Trump

Meidas Touch – Stephanie Winston Wolkoff Reveals Melania Trump’s LEAST FAVORITE Trump Kid

No Dem Lift Behind – LIARS’ FEUD: Richard Ojeda on Candace Owens’ latest lying scandal

Thom Hartmann – What Will You Do When Trump’s True Believers Try Again? (Spoiler – It really is all about race)

Ring of Fire – Cori Bush Pushes For Republican Traitors To Be Expelled From Congress

Really American – Let’s Go Darwin: GOP Cultists REJECT Science

Beau – Let’s talk about Burlington and LAPD…. Beau has been red hot, and I need to double up a bit. These two are related so it seemed appropriate.

Beau – Let’s talk about the X factor at Burlington….

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Open Thread for December 29, 2021

 Posted by at 7:24 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 292021
 

Yesterday, I got some replies on the commenting system. Most said whatever works will be fine. Administrators said they absolutely want to be able to put pictures in comments (I didn’t hear from Lynn yet, but she used to put a lot of pictures in comments when her health allowed her to be more regular, so I’ll take that as a yes on puctures.) So we have a preferred choice, which at this point is Disqus. I will be doing it in the middle of the night so there won’t be any gaps during the times people normally comment, and it will probably be Friday night, because I have something else administrative to do that needs to bedone Friday night. So I may be late in responding to comments Saturday. I will be praying hard for no glitches … and anyone is welcome to join me in that!

Cartoon –

Short Takes

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Alleged ‘dead’ Georgia voters found alive and well after 2020 election
Quote – Earlier in the year, the State Election Board found evidence that Sherry Cook of Trion had submitted an absentee ballot for her husband, Donald Cook, who died several months before the election. Cook told investigators that she and her daughter had returned the ballot after Donald Cook signed it before he died, but investigators said that was impossible because the ballot wasn’t issued until after his death.
Click through for details. All of the dead voters had dies before ths ballots were issued, but it is sort f implied that the ballot of someone who dies before Election day but after voting the ballot would count, as IMO it should.

truthout – LAPD Releases Footage From Police Killing of Valentina Orellana-Peralta
Quote – Orellana-Peralta was with her mother trying on clothes in a Burlington dressing room on Thursday when she was shot and killed by an officer whose name has yet to be released by the LAPD. Police said Monday that a bullet bounced off the floor and went through the wall of the dressing room.
Click through. You’ve probably seen news of this incident – I certainly have, but this is the first I’ve seen that mentions that the occasion for which she was shopping was her Quinceañera. That’s almost like shopping for a wedding dress. Both certainly conjure up images of the potential lost by the life being taken.

emptywheel – JUDGE TIM KELLY RELEASES OPINION ON OBSTRUCTION AFFECTING AS MANY AS TWO DOZEN PROUD BOYS
Quote – Perhaps the most notable language in the opinion rejects a comparison Nordean tried to make with the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court protests. ‘Arguing that the statute invites discriminatory enforcement, Defendants repeatedly point to charging decisions and plea deals related to other January 6 defendants… and the uncharged protestors on the Capitol steps during Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings…. But neither provides evidence of vagueness. Both merely show “the Executive’s exercise of discretion over charging determinations.” … And “Supreme Court precedent teaches that the presence of enforcement discretion alone does not render a statutory scheme unconstitutionally vague.” … [And] … “As always, enforcement requires the exercise of some degree of police judgment, but, as confined, that degree of judgment here is permissible.” ‘
Click through for full story. This may seem like – and it may be – a small point. But it’s one which it is very good to have cleared up now, before the big guns come out.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 12/14/2021

 Posted by at 11:58 am  Open Thread, Politics
Dec 142021
 

Glenn Kirschner – With Trump’s COS Meadows’ Democracy-Ending PowerPoint, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like . . . RICO

MSNBC – TRMS – Details Of Intimidation Of Georgia Election Workers Puts New Scrutiny On Trump Campaign (Barf Bag Alert)

Thom Hartmann – The Reckoning Is Coming For The Media

The Lincoln Project – Hotline

Really American – GOP Initiates Trump 2022 ‘Slow Moving Coup’

SumofUs – The Tiger & The Buffalo spoof ad

Beau – Let’s talk about voting traditions in the US….

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Video Thread 12/12/2021

 Posted by at 12:27 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Dec 122021
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY AG Tish James Subpoenas Trump; Will he Testify or Plead the 5th?

Thom Hartmann – Generals LIED To Congress About Trump’s Jan 6th Coup! (Politico is pretty right leaning, so this message has particular credibility)

Rebel HQ – AOC Bluntly Drops Truth On Coward Republicans

Ring of Fire – Trump Supporters Harassing People Door To Door Looking For Voter Fraud

John Fugelsang – Caffeinated – 10 Facts About ‘Illegals:’ A Guide for Racist Idiots

Puppet Regime – Xi’s Xmas Surprise

Beau – Let’s talk about the thing we missed in Crenshaw’s speech….

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Open Thread for December 7, 2021

 Posted by at 6:33 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 072021
 

Yesterday also quiet. Not that I got a whole lot done. I was trying to rest, and more or less did.

Cartoon –

Short Takes

Daily Kos (David Neiwert) – Right-wing so-called ‘journalists’ exploit Waukesha tragedy, drawing neo-Nazis there to protest
Quote – Ngo also disingenuously proffered as evidence a post by Brooks he described as “about how to get away with running people over on the street”—even though the post in question was actually written by an ex-Minneapolis police officer who encouraged drivers to run down BLM protesters, and Brooks had posted it as evidence of violent police attitudes. Of course, there is still zero evidence that Brooks ever participated in any BLM march or engaged in any protest organizing.
Click through for details. I am honestly more sick of fake journalists than I am of fake news itself. And don’t think there aren’t any on the left. We have to be responsible for moderating our confirmation bias … because RWNJs certainly will not moderate theirs.

The Nib – Why Are Everyone’s Catalytic Converters Being Stolen?
Quote – But catalytic converters have been round for nearly 50 years. So why is this happening now? The economic downturn caused by the pandemic might be one factor. Another is the soaring price of the precious metals that put the catalyst in catalytic.
Click through. Yes, this is what you might call a “graphic article.” But try to find a non-graphic one which lays out this information so clearly.

The 19th Explains: Women may soon qualify for the draft. Here’s what you need to know.
Quote – Kara Dixon Vuic, who studies gender and the U.S. military at Texas Christian University, said the passage of this amendment would be “huge, though largely symbolic” when it comes to the fight for women’s rights and gender equity in the military. “Right now, the only legal difference between what men and women do as civilians is men sign up for selective service,” said Vuic, who is currently writing a book on the history of military draft eligibility in the country. “It’s not that women don’t have to; it’s that they can’t.”
Click through for the scoop. I have always felt that if one really wants to be treated equally, then one must accept being treated equally. As obvious as that soounds, it seems to be a difficult concept when it comes to feminism. Perhaps that at least partially explains why misogyny is more powerful than racism (as the 2016 election proved.)

Food for Thought –

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Open Thread for November 30, 2021

 Posted by at 7:09 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 302021
 

Yesterday, my vision was back to normal when I got up, thankfully. Oh, and happy Hanukkah to all who observe it. It’s very early this year – I have already missed two days, for which I apologize.

Cartoon –

Short Takes

Daily Kos (Kerry Eleveld) – Republicans are desperate to believe 2020 was ‘stolen’ from Trump. Nothing will dissuade them
Quote – But when it came to Republicans, 62% misstated the results of the sham audit[in Arizona], with 32% saying the so-called audit found evidence of fraud and 30% saying it probably found fraud, when in fact the report located no 2020 fraud. So even when a sham process initiated by GOP lawmakers, promoted by Donald Trump, and conducted by pro-Trump sympathizers finds no fraud, a substantial majority of Republicans reject and distort the findings.
Click thrugh for more numbers – if you need them.

AP News – Jan. 6 panel sets contempt vote for former DOJ official
Quote – The committee on Monday scheduled a vote to pursue contempt charges against Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department lawyer who aligned with President Donald Trump as he tried to overturn his election defeat. If approved by the panel, the recommendation of criminal contempt charges would then go to the full House for a vote and then to the Justice Department.
Click through for more. This vote is for Clark, as you see. Meadows’s turn in the barrel will come.

The American media misses the true nature of the GOP threat — but an international outlet nailed it
Quote – While I don’t care about [Candace] Owens, and neither should you, we should care about the use of the right’s rhetoric of slander, of which the word “communist” has long played a part in American history. Liberals and progressives first looked to the government as a force of social reform in the early 20th century. Around that time, the Russian Revolution occurred (1917). Since then, the American right has smeared liberals by associating their policies and objectives with godless communism.
Click through for details. As we know, left and right have nothing to do with authoritarianism, or its opposite Sadly, most people don’t know that. I’m sure that’s part of what stood in the way of seeing this.

Food for Thought –

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