Glenn Kirschner – J6 committee recommends Trump be banned from office. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution agrees. (Sure. But the Amendment is not self-enforcing. The committee is correct. Legislation is needed.)
MSNBC – Why 2022 Was A Major Legislative Year For The Democrats [Yes, it was, and we are entiled to a victory lap]
Ring of Fire – Does Farron Need to CALM DOWN? [Spoiler: yes. And he’ll work on it.]
Nine year old Oksana cut 70 cm of her beautiful hair to sell it and buy a tactical helmet for a soldier fighting in Bakhmut. She has definitely saved someone’s life.
Yesterday, I was glad to see that we finally found someone acceptable to swap for Britney Griner, who is now on her way home. About time, too. Of course Republicans are screaming bloody murder. But there are a few other good news items which got me through the day. and I got to see my BFF, who ca me by to bring me a prescription so I don’t have to go into a store and get exposed to heaven knows what. The three items which I think really command attention concern Lizzo, Biden, and Kamala Harris.
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Wonkette – Germany Arrests 25 In QAnon-Fueled Coup Plot, Proving America Does Too Still Export Stuff
Quote – The plot included a plan to attack Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, to kill members or take them hostage. By golly, we have seen that movie…. In addition to the plan to storm the Bundestag, the group allegedly planned to attack Germany’s electric grid and use the resulting chaos to foment a civil war. All told, while only 25 people were arrested, a total of 50 have been accused of involvement in the terrorist organization. Click through for story. This appears to be a bit of a scoop – there was a short clip on MSNBC and that was all I found (it’s in the video thread.)
Crooks & Liars – ‘Religious Freedom’ Bites Forced-Birthers Where The ‘Son’ Don’t Shine
Quote – Jewish people, for instance, don’t believe the fetus has a soul until it draws its first independent breath. We prioritize the life of the pregnant person above the life of the fetus for the entirety of the pregnancy, including in situations that put the pregnant person’s emotional health at risk. With the imposition of the GOP’s fetus-fetish laws all over the nation, however, Jews and others whose religions don’t subscribe to the ideology of these nutters are fighting fire with fire. Click through for details. I applaud this work. I’m so tired of people claiming to be Christians saying abortion is murder when the Bible does not say so, but implies it is not. What clearly IS murder is failing to treat pregnancy issues and thereby causing death. If you’re going to outlaw abortion, you might as well also outlaw the Heimlich maneuver.
Yesterday, I did manage to get the trash and recyclables out to the curb for today’s pickup. Also, more updates appear to indicate that the missile hitting Poland (and killing between 2 and 5 people – depending on the source) was not intentional on anyone’s part – although it would not have happened had ussia not been shooting missiles all over Ukraine out of pure spite. NATO is going to have to do a lot of talking and thinking about it but, no one is looking at World War III.
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Crooks & Liars – ‘Political Contamination’: Jamie Raskin Slams 155 Election Deniers In Congress
Quote – CBS host Margaret Brennan reported on Sunday that her network had tallied election deniers who will serve in the new Congress. According to the tally, deniers of the election won 155 House seats and nine Senate seats in the U.S. Congress. That was in addition to 18 wins at the state level. “That’s a statement about the political contamination of the GOP by Donald Trump,” Raskin told Brennan. “Kevin McCarthy and other leaders in the Republican Party are now required to make a decision about whether they’re going to try rid themselves of Donald Trump and his toxic influence on the party.” Click through for article. Let’s for the sake of argument assume they have 218 seats. 218 – 155 = 63 non-deniers, at most. I find myself wondering whether McCarthy is even Trumpy enough for them. Because if he isn’t, he’s toast. And his replacement could be far sorse.
Politico – Biden to Pelosi: ‘I Hope You Stick’
Quote – “I hope you stick,” Biden told Pelosi in a phone call after congratulating her on the caucus’s unexpected victories and asking about her convalescing husband, according to Democrats familiar with the conversation. Pelosi interjected to note her personal considerations and Biden continued, “I know it’s family first but I hope you stick,” before Pelosi deflected again. Biden wasn’t on the ballot and Pelosi faced little challenge in her San Francisco district, but you wouldn’t have known it from their reactions to the results. The soon-to-be 80-year-old president and the 82-year-old speaker, mutual admirers with similar roots and shared grievances toward critics and wise-guy pundits, were bullish about their prospects and felt vindicated by the party’s success. Click through for – more details than you might like. The article degenerates into comments from just about everyone but Nancy herself about what she should do. (And I’m sick of hearing about Biden’s “low approval rating.” It’s higher than Trump** EVER had in all four years.) But the mutual respect between Pelosi and Biden shines through and makes up for that.
Yesterday, thanks to Crooks and Liars, I found a new parody video site. It’s a hoot – it shows genuine non-English-speaking clips nd adds parody CC. The first one I saw (which will be in today’s video thread) showws a Putin press conference (note to Americans – 10cm is approximately 4″ – that should give you a feel for the numbers.)
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PolitiZoom – Read A Beautiful Tribute To Joe Biden, Penned By A Former Republican
Quote – Democrats can be obtuse. And we had some terrific candidates, which in a sane world, which the years leading up to the 2020 election emphatically were not, we might have put together on a dream ticket. One such dream ticket would have been Elizabeth Warren in the top spot with Pete Buttigieg as her VP. That would have been a fine use of our talent. But it never would have flown against Trump. Biden was the only one who could do it[.] Click through for full tribute (what I have quoted isn’t even part of it.) It’s well worth your time
Civil Discourse – Democrats Hold the Senate—and the Ability to Appoint Federal Judges
Quote – At the end of the Obama administration, there were 104 judicial vacancies in the district courts and the courts of appeal, plus the one at SCOTUS. That’s unheard of. Appointing federal judges is one of the most important jobs of the presidency, shaping a legacy that lasts well beyond a president’s time in office. Ronald Reagan’s appointments had an impact for decades, with 15 or so of them still on the bench. On the floor of the Senate, after Barrett’s confirmation, McConnell said with glee, “A lot of what we’ve done over the last four years will be undone sooner or later by the next election. They won’t be able to do much about this for a long time to come.” Click through for full article. Of course Joyce is a lawyer, so this is the first thing she thinks about, probably for every Federal election. But it’s one of the first things I think about also, for exactly the reasons Mitch McConnell shared. He is a wily old – mmphmm, bird.
The US midterms showed more than a weakened Trump and a relieved Biden. Are the prophets of doom right about America?
I’ve been posting disappointed, cynical and perhaps even angry comments on Politics Plus since the polling booths closed. That may seem a little unfair to many Democrats who are happy the Red Wave didn’t come to fruition and election day was spared expected violence from the right. However, as seen from afar through a democratic lens, both events are not enough. We had hoped for more. I leave it to Stan Grant, an Australian analyst, to explain what the American midterms mean to a long-term ally. His article is taken in full from the ABC News site.
America has been spared Donald Trump’s political resurgence but for how long?(AP)
You can hear the sighs of relief that the anticipated red wave in the American midterm elections did not happen.
The United States has been spared a resurgent Trumpism … at least for now. The question is: why did anyone think there would be a resounding Republican triumph?
Remember the presidential election? The same pundits were predicting a blue wave. An America exhausted by the turmoil of the Trump years, they said, would swing behind the Democrats and Joe Biden.
Well, just like now, there was no wave. Yes, Biden won the presidency. But nearly 70 million people voted for Donald Trump, the highest number of votes ever for a sitting president.
America is divided. That’s the point. These midterms have just underlined it.
The US is wracked with political tribalism, cutting across fault lines of class, race and geography. So weird is American politics that in a poll before the midterms most Americans believed the Democratic Party, not the Trump Republicans, is the more extreme.
America is so unruly. So apparently ungovernable that some have even wondered if the Union itself will hold. At their most breathless, prophets of doom have warned of civil war.
Of course, America has been here before. It has actually had a civil war. In the 1960s the United States was torn apart by political assassinations, riots, racism and economic strife. In the 1970s it weathered Watergate and the corruption of the Nixon presidency.
America can always rebound. It is still a beacon for so many. At its best it remains a dazzling place. But equally the past 50 years may just prove that America’s unravelling is long and deep.
America has survived tumultuous presidencies before, including corruption of the Nixon years.(ABC News: Shakira Wilson)
American decline continues
Those breathing a little easier now need to ask themselves what they are celebrating. A Biden reprieve? The likelihood of another Biden term at the next presidential election? What is there to be relieved about in an ailing nation where far too many have abandoned hope?
Biden has not arrested American decline. Inflation is rampant. The economy is shrinking. The poor are getting poorer. Life expectancy is decreasing. Americans have less faith in democracy, not more.
When Biden took power he promised to re-energise the country. America would build things again. It would regain its moral core. It would lead the world, not shrink from leadership. America is back, said Biden.
But what has happened? Serious questions are being asked about Bidenomics: his stimulus cash splash only fuelled inflation. His America is more protectionist. He urges Americans to buy American; laws promote the use of American iron and steel and hands out subsidies to local manufacturers in industries like electric vehicles.
All of that might boost local jobs. But analysts warn there is a downside. Protectionism hurts other nations. It inspires tit for tat – beggar thy neighbour – economic retaliation.
The Economist newspaper recently warned of increasing red tape, of higher prices for goods, dulling Biden’s “go-green” environmental push. It warned that such measures tempts other countries into China’s orbit.
The Economist wrote: “Rather than putting up barriers, America should reap the benefits of openness.”
Abroad, Biden’s first two years in office were marked by the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan. The most powerful military in the world humbled by the Taliban.
Yes, Biden has sought to rally democracies. He has thrown his support – but not troops on the ground – behind Ukraine in its defence against Russian invasion.
Biden says don’t bet against America. But the jury is out on that.
Xi Jinping is a wild card
Putin’s Russia is not Xi Jinping’s China. There is a greater threat looming: war over Taiwan. Biden has been confused and confusing in his response. He pledges that the US will defend Taiwan only for the White House to have to walk back his words.
China, not Russia, looms over the 21st century. It is on track to usurp the US as the biggest economy in the world. Even as its economy slows it is still growing at around 4 per cent while America stands on the brink of recession with growth at 1 per cent.
Joe Biden will now sit down with Xi Jinping, a meeting of the world’s two most powerful leaders. Both leaders need the meeting. Both face headwinds. But Xi Jinping believes he needs America less than America needs China.
For certain, Biden cannot dismiss Xi. The unipolar world – the American century – looks to be over. The era of great power competition is upon us again as the Chinese ask: Can two tigers live on the same mountain?
Xi Jinping is a wild card. President for life. He dresses in military fatigues and warns of war. But Xi is not Vladimir Putin. He cannot easily be put in the deep freeze and Biden must talk with him.
A rapprochement is too much to expect but new Cold Warriors who think China can be isolated, who imagine a showdown with China, flirt with catastrophe.
Xi Jinping can not be put in the deep freeze and Joe Biden must continue to talk to him.(Reuters: David McNew)
What do the midterms tell us?
This is the backdrop to the midterm elections: war, the threat of war, economic strife, an ailing America and a nation far from the so-called shining city on the hill.
What do the midterms tell us? Donald Trump is weakened but it is too soon to write him off. He still has a grip on the Republican Party.
Trump is a carnival act. An American Barnum and Bailey creation. He’s personally odious and politically dangerous. He has concocted conspiracies. Incited insurrection. Exploited racism. Bragged of his misogyny and sexual predatory.
Yet he speaks to the dying heart of the country. His vision is American carnage, not American dreams. And right now, for too many Americans, that sounds right.
After the elections American politics faces gridlock. Neither party commands the country. But the midterms were not just about Democrats and Republicans. They were about America.
And that means they were about all of us.
Stan Grant is the ABC’s international affairs analyst and presenter of Q+A on Thursday at 8.30pm. He also presents China Tonight on Monday at 9:35pm on ABC TV, and Tuesday at 8pm on the ABC News Channel.
Glenn Kirschner – Mike Pence reveals in his book that he refused to report/covered-up Donald Trump’s election crimes (While I agree that was wrong – who was he going to tell? Bill Barr? Jeffrey Clark? Anyone else in Donald Trump**’s Justice Department? Yes, he could have talked to Biden’t DOJ once it existed. Or, yeah, a Federal judge.)
MSNBC – Huma Abedin: Everything Has Now Changed For Biden
Thom Hartmann – You Won’t Believe What Far Right Did To Stop Midterm Votes For Democrats (sorry it’s so long.)
Ring of Fire – Trump Staffers Admit To Treating Him Like A Toddler To Appease Him
Liberal Redneck – 2022 Midterm Results
Beau – Let’s talk about the economic power of the parties…
