GOP Violence – Page 21 – Politics Plus

Open Thread for October 29, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 292021

Yesterday, I finished a couple more cartoons for November. I admit they all look alike … but mostly there are others separating them which don’t. I looked at the weather and the almanac and learned I can get away with staying the full visitation time, but may have to pull off the road a bit at one point to adjust my visor. (The next visit will be on Standard time, and I will have to watch the almanac very carefully inded to know how early I need to leave. Staying over is becoming too much for me, especially since doing so no longer gives me an extra day to visit.) I have ordered a visor clip, but I won’t have it for tomorrow, and may not have it for the next visit either.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette – TN State Senator Indicted For Hilarious Campaign Finance Hijinks
Quote – Naturally, the “social club” run by Defendant Smith has a PAC, as all your better single-outlet eating establishments do. (LOL, wut?) And according to the indictment, the defendants used this PAC to move $106,000 from Kelsey’s state campaign coffers to support his 2016 run for the US House — an illegal use of so called “soft money” because the state campaign donations are not subject to federal campaign finance limits. So to disguise the transfer, these two geniuses moved the cash from Kelsey’s state campaign to the “social club” PAC, and thence on through one more PAC until it wound up at the American Conservative Union, which immediately dropped $80,000 on radio ads endorsing Kelsey’s federal campaign.
Click through for full description of indictment (plus a link to the real thing.) Enjoy this story. The next two are scary.

Mother Jones – How Do People Join Militias? A Leaked Oath Keepers Roster Has Answers.
Quote – Some of the explanations offered in the database are absurd: “Old man in Jarome, AZ at a little bar rocking some reggae,” reads one. Others are concerning: “An ICE agent,” another says. Some are both: “Funny story, I stopped a speeding truck driver, who had your decal on the side of his truck, I asked about it, he went on and on, I said, Damn I’m all about this. looked up online and here I am. I’m a poor broke cop. But, I’m TRUE BLUE/ AMERICAN,” reads an accounting from an Illinois-based police officer.
Click through for story. How can a nation protect itself against this?

Pro Publica – A Union Scandal Landed Hundreds of NYPD Officers on a Secret Watchlist. That Hasn’t Stopped Some From Jeopardizing Cases.
Quote – The list was created a decade ago amid a sprawling investigation into the city’s biggest police union and its role in helping officers “fix” tickets issued to family and friends for speeding, illegal parking and other traffic offenses. It grew to 664 names and was intended to help prosecutors vet cases that might rest too heavily on officers whose ties to the scandal could raise questions about their conduct and credibility. Ten years after it was first created, the No Fly List itself remains secret by judicial seal.
Click Through for discouraging details The Department has roughly 36,000 officers, and the list has 664. That doesn’t sound like a lot … but it’s still way too many. ONE would be too many.

Food for Thought –

Video Thread 10/27/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:09 pm Open Thread, Politics

Oct 272021

Glenn Kirschner – Rolling Stone Article: Members of Congress Assisted Insurrection Organizers; Gosar Dangles Pardons

Meidas Touch – Terry McAuliffe calls Glenn Youngkin ‘Trump in Khakis’

The Lincoln Project – What’s on the Ballot?

Armageddon Update – Vaccine Mandate

PBS – GOP lawmakers were ‘intimately involved’ in Jan. 6 protest planning, new report shows. So nice to see PBS getting into this.

MSNBC – Congressman Reacts To Latest Draft Of Biden’s Social Spending Plan

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Cowboys, Rolling Stone, and a bumpy ride….

Video Thread 10/22/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:58 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 222021

Glenn Kirschner – Bannon is Poised to be the “Target” of a Grand Jury Investigation; Trump Poised to be a “Subject”

Meidas Touch – Matthew Dowd: Democrats are the ONLY party that supports democracy

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party

MSNBC – Charlie Sykes: Understand The GOP Is Setting Itself Up For Restoration To Power. This is late, but it’s a good review and a good discussion

Really American – Trump Again Claims He Doesn’t Like To Be Peed On

City News – Heroic effort by international students saves lives of two hikers in B.C. A Sikh’s turban is both a religious symbol and a part of his identity. This is sort of as if you or I had taken all our clothes off to make that rope. I am so impressed – awed, really.

Beau – Let’s talk about Mayor Pete messing up the supply chain….

Open Thread for October 15, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 152021

Yesterday, it was pretty quiet. I worked some on a new project which will be largely acrylic and long sleeved but still kind of light weight. I started with the yoke, wondering what it would look like if I made a boat neck with a technique which is usually reserved for buttonholes. It actually looks very good. And O now realize I can use the trick that makes it work to make other kinds of neckline look better too. So, a win-win.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Vanity Fair – KATIE PORTER HAS THE FLOOR
Quote – Over burgers, [Ann] O’Leary [formerly the head of Berkeley Law School’s Center on Health, Economic & Family Security] and Porter observed that part of being a congressperson is the committee structure, where members can use the bully pulpit. When you get your time in a hearing, that time is yours. O’Leary says she saw “a switch [go] off” in Porter. “There are always instructions from leadership,” Porter says. “ ‘This is how you vote, this is what our priority is, this is how you should message, this is how much money you need to raise’—and the questions in hearings, you can show up and do what you want. It’s like looking around and saying, where is it that nobody is trying to control me?”
Click through for story. Is there anyone here who doesn’t love Katie Porter? What looked like a blank paywall popped up for me, but I was easily able to read the full article by scrolling. And I also “printed” it, just in case.

The Daily Beast – Capitol Rioter Decides to Represent Himself in Court, Accidentally Admits to Two New Felonies
Quote – Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst reportedly got Fellows to admit that he gained access to the Capitol through a broken window, and that he tried to get a previous judge removed from the case using the judge’s wife’s contact information. At the end of the hearing, McFadden ordered Fellows back into custody and told him: “You’ve admitted to incredible lapses of judgment here on the stand, not least of which was seeking to disqualify a New York state judge.”
Click through for brief story, and through again from there for more details. Keep it up, seditoinists.

The News Tribune via MSN – Arson investigation underway at Islamic Center of Tacoma after fire damages building
Quote – The fire started at the Islamic Center of Tacoma just before an evening prayer was scheduled to begin. Two people were inside but they were able to evacuate, and no one was injured. An arson investigation was started by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Jeffrey Papen said witnesses reported seeing someone who may have started the fire fleeing the scene.
Click through for what is known. This makes me both sad and furious.

Food for Thought – Share widely. People who want these things don’t always know that they are in the bill.

Open Thread for October 12, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 122021

Yesterday, My glue had cured and I was able to get back to that last project. And I finished it. This petition came in yesterday also, so it’s a day late for the day, but still important.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The Moral Bankruptcy of Facebook
Quote – In any kind of church—not to mention a multilevel-marketing scheme, or a doomsday cult—there are true believers. If you start to get the creeping feeling that your church’s core ideology is indefensible, you have two options. You can do whatever it takes to defend the indefensible, or you can leave. For most true believers, though, the latter option—choosing apostasy, which is a kind of self-exile—is not really an option at all. If this is the dilemma that binds a follower, how much more strongly does it bind the church’s founding pastor, or its prophet?
Click through for full opinion with reasoning. (With which I heartily concur … and there are other people to whom the same reasoning applies.)

Mother Jones – My Neighbor the Tear Gas Factory
Quote – In 1995, CSI built the company’s new headquarters in Jamestown, and the Lauries’ nightmare began. The pond where John and Tom Laurie fished as kids was replaced by CSI’s manufacturing plant and a firing range. The peace and quiet the Lauries had prized was now interrupted by loud and repeated explosions, by ominous smoke floating in their direction.
Click through for details. No one should be surprised to hear that corporations lie. But this is ridiculous. Dude has receipts.

Business Insider – Capitol rioter suspected of stealing laptop from Nancy Pelosi’s office is charged. Her plot to sell it to Russian spies is still being investigated, says report.
Quote – Williams’ involvement in the Capitol riot came to light partly through a tip-off from an ex-boyfriend, according to a January affidavit…. The boyfriend claimed she had told people she intended to send the stolen laptop to a friend in Russia, who would then sell it on to its foreign intelligence service…. The laptop has still not been recovered.
Click through for more. I imagine we can expect a superseding indictment in this case. At least I hope so.

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for October 11, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:17 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 112021

Yesterday, I was working on that final cotton knitting project, and was within spitting distance of finishing it, when the circular needle I was using on it “broke.” I put that in quotes because they don’t actually break – what happens is that the (nylon or plastic) cord which connects the two working ends has a glue failure, and slips out. Dropped stitches do ensue and often so does colorful language. But this time the dropped stitches were few and easily seen and picked up onto a stitch holder. I reglued it right away. But the jewelers’ super glue which I used is not like regular super glue – it has wiggle room and therefore must cure for 24 hours before being subjected to any stress. So I am still waiting. But it’s not like I have nothing else to do.

Cartoon – (This is from 2013. How TC knew that David would die first so that this would still be valid … I can’t explain.)

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The Battle of January 6th Has Just Begun
Quote – Trump is, per Pew and other recent polls, both the overwhelming favorite among Republicans for 2024 and their continuing spiritual leader. (Two-thirds of the Republicans and Republican-leaning independents that Pew surveyed wanted Trump to continue to be a major national figure, a total that’s gone up by ten points since January. Yes, that’s not a typo—it’s gone up.) Just as important, he has succeeded in selling his party on his Big Lie about the 2020 election, on January 6th revisionism, and on taking a series of specific actions—from changing how states certify elections to purging state Republican officials who did not go along with his 2020 coup attempt—that will affect American democracy for years to come, whether or not Trump runs again.
Click through for opinion. I see a lot of different takes on just how popular Trump** is or isn’t. I fear this one is closest to fact.

Crooks and Liars – Minn. Cops Went Hunting For Civilians During Protests
Quote – A sergeant leading the unit says, “Let ’em have it, boys, let ’em have it … Right there, get ’em, get ’em, get ’em, hit ’em, hit ’em!” At one point, an officer firing less-lethal rounds on a distant group of protesters says “Gotcha!” as he hits someone. There’s laughter, and the officer is congratulated on his shot with a fist bump and “Good hit, buddy.” “You guys are out hunting people now and it’s just a nice change of tempo,” one officer says. “F*** these people.”
Click through for details. I didn’t put this in the video thread because the video is not the point. The video is merely evidence for the point which needs to be taken fron this story.

ProPublica – Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge
Quote – A few weeks before, a video had appeared on YouTube. It showed two small boys, 5 and 6 years old, throwing feeble punches at a larger boy as he walked away, while other kids tagged along, some yelling. The scuffle took place off school grounds, after a game of pickup basketball. One kid insulted another kid’s mother, is what started it all. The police were at Hobgood because of that video. But they hadn’t come for the boys who threw punches. They were here for the children who looked on.
Click Through. You don’t need to read every word, but the title and one quote are not enough either. As Mark asks in today’s Doonesbury … “What country is this?”

Food for Thought –

And … for Squatch …

Open Thread for October 10, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 102021

Yesterday, the opera was “Billy Budd,” based on the novella by Herman Melville, and composed by Benjamin Britten. It goes to some dark places, and I can’t call the ending happy, though it does achieve a measure of peace. Of course the music is lovely. While it was on I organized both morning and evening meds for the next two weeks … so I am ahead of my usual accomplishment with them.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Bears Ears Inter-Tribla Coalition – “We Did It!”
Quote – The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC), comprised of delegates from the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Zuni Tribe, issued a statement today in response to President Biden’s upcoming announcement that the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument will be restored…. This statement represents the joint views of the five Tribes making up the Coalition. Each Tribe, acting as sovereign nations, may also offer independent comments.
Click through for quotes from members. I certainly needed some good news today, and assume y’all do too. You can sign a thank-you note here, courtest of the Grand Canyon Trust, if you like (And you’ll get a nice reply pretty quickly.)

Quote – Unfortunately, in a big black eye for her reputation, Beeman’s own racist comments in a University of Connecticut online forum on “critical race theory” were noticed by Hartford TV station WFSB, which reported on the comments yesterday. The station didn’t specify when the forum took place, but it had a screenshot, and Beeman was quick to insist that heavens no, she didn’t mean anything bad when she’d typed “Helping kids of color to feel they belong has a negative effect on white, Christian, or conservative kids.” Of course she didn’t! Here’s the video, cued up to the story so you don’t have to be confused by several minutes of silence at the start, yeesh, guys, you work in teevee.
Click through for clip woth quote. “Tone deaf” doesn’t even begin to describe this. The implication alone that Chrstians can’t possibly be black is nauseating.

Crooks and Liars – Maryland Man Fatally Shot His Pharmacist Brother For ‘Killing People’ With The COVID Vaccine
Quote – Burnham is being held without bond in Allegany County, where he is charged with stabbing Rebecca Reynolds, 83, to death inside her Cumberland home on Sept. 29. Police said he took her car and fled to Ellicott City, where a day later he killed Robinette, 58, and his wife Kelly Sue Robinette, 57. He faces first and second-degree murder charges in the couples’ deaths.
Click through – Apparently we are already in a shooting Civil War. “Brother against btother.” (I didn’t look for Law & Crime’s take on this but I’ll bet it’s epic.)

Food for Thought – Chyron of the Year