Humor – Page 7 – Politics Plus

Open Thread October 18 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 182024

Yesterday, I learned (and I may be late to the party, but I think not, since this is so damning) that Sheldon White house (God bless him) has released a report that during the Kavanaugh confirmation, the FBI didn’t even see the content the thousands of tips called in, because all calls were redirected to the White House. Meanwhile, Axios reports that Democrats have initiateed a llawsuit against the FEC for allowing the GOP to put out ads which are not just morally but also legally questionable. Also, for a while now Steve Schmidt has been sounding increasingly nervous because Kamala Harris has not been as forceful as he would like to see. But her interview with Bret Baier on Fox appears to have satisfied him. Finally, I think this is the first time I have seen Belle pissed off. Personally I found it both amusing and inspiring. See what you think.

I have been aware for some time that Rolling Stone, though not the first name most people thing of when the phrase “news outlet” comes up, does do journalism, much of it on subjects other news media won’t touch,some of it outstanding. I just never went there till now. Maybe I thought I’d be paywalled, and maybe if I go to the well too often I will be. But i was able to see this story. You know, back in ancient Greece and Rome, and even up into the Middle Ages, European rulers literally did kill the messenger who brought bad news. I thought humanity had grown beyond that by now – I suppose the pandenic should have given me a clue.

This is perhaps an extreme example, but it is an example of what Republican policies of starving the government so they can drown it in a bathtub will always lead to. But you knew that. Although you may not have expected to see quite so blatantly it in real time.

OK, I realize this post is getting crowded, but trust me, you do not want to miss the letter which former Governor of Georgia (who is now a lawyer representing Fani Willis personally and professionally) wrote to Jim Jordan. Joyce Vance publishes a photo and describes it as “civil discourse with a little twist of bless your heart attached.” (I magnified it to 500% just to see what it looked like and it’s still very legible, just a bit blurred.)

Open Thread September 27 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:59 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 272024

Yesterday, Steve Schmidt referred and linked to an opinion piece in the New York Times by Stanley McChrystal, a now retired General who was in command in Afghanistan intil President Obama relieved him of that command for running his mouth in Rollong Stone. Steve didn’t provide a gift link, so I am providing an archived one. It’s titled “Why Kamala Harris has won me over.” It’s another “policies are not the issue, the issue is character” essay, as was, for instance, Judge Luttig’s, but it’s longer with examples (and it’s interesting that his examples of character were two Deomoctats and a Republican, and the Republican was Lincoln, while his one example of lack of character was Republican Nixon. But that’s among us. I don’t want to step on his centrist stance. Particularly when the only people who are going to listen to him are centrists. MAGAs are mostly lost, and the few who are coming around are doing sofor reasons that won’t get published in an op-ed.) Also yesterday, Senator Hickenlooper used his “Giddy-Update” newsletter to spread the truth about Aurora, Colorado, which, despite all the furor about Springfield getting louder, has also bee receiving harassment from MAGA dupes.

Sometimes living in Colorado can be un-bear-able. Thank you. I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your waitstaff.

If you aren’t able to read or watch Joe Biden’s speech to the UN on Tuesday in full (Robert Hubbell has links: full text and video), Heather Cox Richardson‘s summary is a pretty good substitute. I admit I teared up when I came to “My fellow leaders, let us never forget, some things are more important than staying in power. It’s your people…that matter the most.”

Open Thread August 27 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 272024

Yesterday, of course, the big news was the NPD data breach, and that a security firm called Pentester (pentester dot com) can tell you whether your Social Security number was compromised or not. I looked at the page they put up to notify people whether or not their SSN has been compromised, and I noted that it asked only for first and last name, state of residence, and year (not the full date) of birth. In other words, you don’t need to provide your SSN, and I can see a legitimate need for those four chunks of data in order for them to be positive, but I don’t see it as enough information to compromise you without also having the number. Before requesting, however, I also read three reviews of Pentester on line. One said it’s a scam. The second gave it a rating of 71.5 out of a possible 100. The third said it is absolutely not a scam. I decided not to send the form. If you are worried, I suggest you look up Pentester reviews yourself and make your own decision. Also yesterday, I got an email from “levi + artie”, subject “WOOF!” which started “we are jawn’s dogs.” It went on to say “will you please chip in 10 dollars (we are told they are a form of human treats but you can’t eat them so we are not sure what exactly the point of that is)” The “jawn” in question is Fetterman. I just had to share the chuckles.

Joyce Vance’s “The Week Ahead” this week starts with today, Tuesday, because today is the day Jack Smith appears in Cannon’s court to appeal her dismissal of the documents case. And there are enough possibilities that it would be a challenge just to make a flowchart. Since Joyce knows what she’s taling about, she makes it as simple as possible. Personally, I would love it if Jack would ask to speak to the judhe in chambers and then give her an earful. But, unless it would be the best thing for the case, he won’t.

Well, dang! There are some sane Republicans left in Colorado! Though you wouldn’t know it by, for instance, Boebert. There are enough to vote to oust the state party chair (a JD Vance lookalike – and apparently the resemblance extends to personality). Apparently he is still refusing to step down, calling the meeting where the vote was taken “illegitimate” and “a fake takeover.” CPR thinks the state party is headed for a schism. I’m for it. The story is still being updated as new events occur, so it’s far from settled.

Open Thread July 19 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 192024

Yesterday, I got to thinking about how I would change mu initials if I felt I had to. I am blessed (or saddled) with quite an assornment of potential middle names. Starting with the one on my birth certificate, there’s “May” which was my father’s mother’s name, so there’s M. Her full maiden name was May Hurst, and occasionally I’ll use the H. Then there’s “Laura,” which I sometimes say is my Lutheran confrmation name, but actually I just liked it. L is the middle initial on my DD-214. Then there’s “Teresa” which actually is my Catholic confirmation name (I didn’t pick up one when I first became a Catholic since I claimed St. Joan of Arc as my patron – close enough to Joanne). But there is my own maiden name, “Stangenberger”, so I could go all the way up to JMHLTSD if I wanted to – but that seems unwieldy. Any thoughts?

I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a laugh from Andy. And this is a good one.

Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter for July 17 goes back in history to a July 18, and goes into the real life story celebrated in the movie “Glory.” I have not seen the movie, but its sound track is a favorite with clssical music radio programs, so I do know what it is about -but not how strictly it stays with the facts. Heaven knows the facts are dramatic enough. If you don’t know the story and want to read it here, you may need a hanky alert (I always do when this story comes up.)

Open Thread July 15 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 152024

Yesterday, I was able to see Virgil. The drive was uneventful both ways. Bless his heart, he brags about how wonderful I am all the tine to anyone who will listen, and today he introduced me to two staff who wanted to meet me. The first was LeeAnn (don’t know about the spelling), whose two children are both Marines, and we had duty stations in common, so we chatted about that for a while. The second was Robinson,who helps him when he can’t handle the technology to phone me (which I’m afraid is getting more and more frequent.) We did get to play crobbage, and he’s also having more and more difficulty counting the hands. But he’s still Virgil, and seems to be in good health otherwise. And he has no trouble remembering me. I don’t know whether I have said this before, but I am very glad he is in the facility it is in – it’s the one which is solely for inmates with mental issues, whch means they know how to take care of him Far better than I could, actually. And I did get the memo about the shooting Saturday. But I don’t know enough yet to comment.

Heather Cox Richardson has quite literally ben thinking about this for years before requesting an interview with Secretary of State Blinken. Yes, it was under Reagan that the Cold War more or less ended (Putin is still fighting it – and so is Trump**) And since then, with a few exceptions, our Presidents have been mostly Republican. Beau likes to liken the Republican party to a dog chasing a car who catchs it and has no idea what to do with it. I would say foreign policy is one of those cars. In any case, the interview was videotaped, and half of that is in this column. She will follow up with the rest of it – and so will I. And do read the text also.

I would like to point out that “ultra wealthy Christian” is an oxymoron. When the rich young man came to Jesus, Jesus told him to “Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor.” Suffice it to say, he didn’t. It’s in every Gospel but John, but Mark 10:17-31 is one of the citations.

Open Thread July 7 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:09 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 072024

Yesterday, the radio opera was Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” I think everyone knows the “Don Juan” story, and I have seen and heard it many times since I was introduced to it in college. I think this is the first production which attempted to bring a little “Me Too” spirit to it – for one thing, setting parts of it in a butcher shop. Of course being Mozart, the music is wonderful, and the singers were competent. I also received a grocery order – not large in volume but kind of pricey. Light bulbs and fancy coffee will do that, despite other sales.

This is one of his best columns. It’s on the topic od down-ballot roll-off. I remember TomCat used to complain about it. But now at least someone is doing something about it. He has a video with her (but no CC – sigh), but he also talks about her organization “Sister District,” and what it’s doing. At the end of his article, he provides a link to an interview of Heather Cox Richardson by Christiane Amanpour whish does have CC (it has it in the upper left of the screen, and if you accidentally let your mouse slip into the video part of the screen, it gets covered. Also, after you click on the video in the list, you need to scroll to the top of the screen to see it. Not difficult, just different.) She doesn’t mince words.

I didn’t even hear the rumor until yesterday. Of couuse I don’t frequent places which peddle stuff like this, so that’s probably why.

Open Thread July 3 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 032024

Yesterday, The Borowitz Report addressed the Supreme Court. Andy apparently can’t count, and only two of his proposed replacements are lawyers, but it’s still delicious to think about – and the devil is in the details.

I expect that everyone remembers [retired conservative] federal judge [J. Michael] Luttig from his testimony to the January 6 Select Committee. His delivery was so slow and deliberate that some people thought he was age-impaired, but that was not the reason. The actual reason he spoke that way was because the matter was (and is) so important and he wanted to make sure that not a syllable was missed. Well, he’s in the news again, and this time with thoughts so powerful that no one else has the spine to say them out loud. I hope Jack Smith has the spine to hear them. I suspect that if anyone does, it is he.

Robert Reich‘s point, expressed in the first few paragraphs is something I have known foe so long that I tend to forget that not everyone knows, which allows so many to be misled. Heck, I learned in business school that the very word “bureaucracy” was coined to describe what Reich must now call the “administrative state” because the other has been so tarnished. Federal agencies and the regulations they impose are designed to protect we the people from the most dangerous monster on earth – corporations.

Open Thread June 27 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 272024

On Tuesday, Ukraine began official accession negotiations with the European Union. It’s nice to have some good news to offset what came out of the Supreme Court yesterday, and the ridiculous number of decisions not yet decided by the same. Also, I learned that Steve Schmidt has a wicked sense of humor, as is shown by his remarks about the Alan Shepard prayer.

I would think that Pete Buttigieg would be among the very last of white people to think that black lives – quality as well as quantity – don’t matter. I’d advise them to go directly to him. But I do realize that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Of course this is a concern, because bullies willalways look stronger to stupid people than they in fact are, and leaders with genuine inner strength will not look strong to stupid people. But if Joe just does what he did in the latest SOTU (and we know he can, bcause we watched him pull it off), people who are not brainwashed will get the point.

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