Video Thread 9/19/21

 Posted by at 11:56 am  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 192021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Why Was the J6 Rally a Spectacular Flop? Here are the Two Big Takeaways from Today’s Failed Rally

Meidas Touch – Scoop: DeSantis staffers MOCK him behind his back, call him WRONG DeSantis

The Lincoln Project – Democracy is Under Attack. No surprises, but TLP style is pungent.

Don Winslow Films – #FloridaIsVietnam

Really American – Madison Cawthorn Threatens Civil War if Democrats Keep Winning Elections

Colorado Turnout Project – Lauren Boebert: American Terrorist (made months ago but being resurrected for the “rally”

Beau – Let’s talk about comedians and journalists…. I’m sure there’s not a sould here who isn’t aware of this (most of us have been since George Carlin, or even before.)

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Open Thread for September 19, 2021

 Posted by at 7:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 192021
 

Yesterday, I listened to the opera on the radio (an even more obscure one than last week) but mostly just got ready for my long day today… and by the time wou read this I was be on the road. Yes, I promise to drive safely.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Law & Crime – North Carolina Court Issues Permanent Injunction Against State’s Voter ID Law Because of ‘Discriminatory Purpose’ Against Black Residents
Quote – “The majority of this three-judge panel now concludes that the evidence presented to the Court, when viewed in the totality of circumstances, points to the conclusion that S.B. 824 was enacted in part for a discriminatory purpose and would not have been enacted in its current form but for its tendency to discriminate against African American voters,” the court concluded… “[T]his Court permanently enjoins the law in full,” the judges noted.
Click through for details and some background. You may already have seen this good news, but not in this much detai.

Reuters – Amid high security, small pro-Trump crowd rallies at U.S. Capitol
Quote – About 100 to 200 protesters showed up, some carrying the flags of the right-wing group Three Percenters over their shoulders. It was far fewer than the 700 people organizers had expected and the thousands who brought mayhem to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hundreds of officers patrolled the Capitol grounds and a black eight-foot-high (2.44 m) fence that surrounded the white-domed building for about six months after the attack was reinstalled, reflecting unease about a potential repeat of Jan. 6. One hundred National Guard troops were on standby.
Click through for the story. I assume everyone knows this by now, butI still didn’t think it right to ignore it.

The Guardian – Jared Polis becomes first sitting governor to marry in same-sex wedding
Quote – “The greatest lesson we have learned over the past 18 months is that life as we know it can change in an instant. We are thankful for the health and wellbeing of our family and friends, and the opportunity to celebrate our life together as a married couple,” Polis and Reis said in a joint statement…. Reis told the Colorado Sun that Polis proposed last winter while the couple battled Covid-19 in their Boulder home. Right before Reis was hospitalized, Polis got down on one knee.
Click through for a bit more, including photo. Mazel tov, my governor. Mazel Tov. L’Chaim!

Food for Thought –

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Video Thread 9/18/21

 Posted by at 11:58 am  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 182021
 

Glenn Kirschner – If the J6 Rally on 9/18 is Relatively Peaceful, What Will That Tell Us About the Violence of 1/6?

Meidas Touch – Governor Newsom gives his victory speech after defeating the recall.

The Lincoln Project – The Fox Virus

MSNBC – State Republicans Seek Voters’ Personal Info As GOP Vote Count Stunts Threaten Security

Don Winslow Films – #TexasWarOnWomen

Parody Project – WITH THIS CREW

Beau – Let’s talk about General Milley’s actions….

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Open Thread for September 18, 2021

 Posted by at 7:26 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 182021
 

Yesterday, it was cool enough for me to turn off all the ceiling fans. Unfortunately, the same cannot be predicted for tomorrow. All protections against destruction by overheating of electronic, food, and whatever are go. Ironically, the visitation room itself is kept so cold all year round that I will still need a winter sweater inside (as well as a tank top under it to drive home in.) Good times.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Philly Cops Beat A Woman And Stole Her Kid For An Insipid Photo-Op — Now She Gets $2 Million
Quote – Philadelphia police have never even attempted to justify or explain their actions that night, which they normally do. They normally at least make up some kind of story about how they were frightened for their lives, how they thought the person they assaulted was someone else. But they didn’t, which sure does make it look like these cops were just enraged by the protests over another horrific police shooting and decided to take that out, violently, on a random Black woman, teenager, and toddler who were just trying to get home.
Click through for the story. This takes me back five years to when I started doing “Everyday Erinyes” and could easily find up to three stories like this every week (without the settlement) – except that this one is uglier than most. I guess I’ll seriously start calling it Phobadelphia, PA

The Hill – Pandemic frustrations zero in on unvaccinated Americans
Quote – Experts support stricter actions like mandates to boost the vaccination rate and protect the public, although several also encourage patience while acknowledging the increased irritation. President Biden and others, however, have indicated their “patience is wearing thin.”
Click through for advice which may be good but is virtually impossible to folow. Turns out sane people do not like people who willfully endanger them and their loved ones. Who knew.

Crooks and Liars – Dirty Trickster James O’Keefe Loses $165K To ‘Fraudsters’
Quote – Take a deep breath. Try not to laugh. Remember, this is an exercise in pretending to care, or at least giving the impression that you could be convinced to give a s!@#. Project Veritas has been had! They’ve been took! Hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! They’re out $165,000 due to what O’Keefe calls an “attack” by “fraudsters.”
Clck through for details. (File this under “karma”)

Food for Thought –

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Video Thread 9/17/2021

 Posted by at 12:04 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 172021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Given the FBI Failures in Both the Kavanaugh & Nassar Investigations, the FBI Needs New Leadership

Represent Us – The Freedom to Vote Act will save our democracy (This is the one originated in the Senate – it’s not as good as the one named after John Lewis, but it’s close, and it has a chance.)

Meidas Touch – OMG! These GOP Comments Will DISGUST You

The Lincoln Project – Governor Freedumb

Ring of Fire – Q Followers Question Their Beliefs After ALL Their Predictions Fail. One swallow doesn’t make a summer … and one Qnut doesn’t make an awakening. But, yes, even one is good news.

Really American – Milley Helped Prevent Nuclear War

Beau – Let’s talk about soft language and sensationalism…. Ah. So this is how he does it. I wish I thought anyone and everyone COULD do it.

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Open Thread for September 17, 2021

 Posted by at 6:52 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 172021
 

Yesterday was another quiet day – and also cooler, which was nice. I pulled together what I’ll be wearing Sunday

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – Militia Leader Gets 53 Years In Minnesota Mosque Bombing
Quote – Hari made a brief statement before she was sentenced, saying, “For how blessed my first 47 years of life were, I can’t complain about what the last three have looked like … considering my blessed and fortunate and happy life, I can’t ask the judge for anything further.” She also said the victims who testified during Monday’s hearing have been through a “traumatic ordeal” and she wished them “God’s richest blessings in Christ Jesus.” Frank said he was prepared to recommend Hari, who is transgender, go to a women’s prison, but said the Bureau of Prisons would decide.
Click through for story. Long in coming … but it looks like justice. 47 + 53 = 100, which is a healthy expectancy even for someone who is not trans.

ProPublica – THE SECRET IRS FILES
Quote – Taken together, [the collection of documents] demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most. The IRS records show that the wealthiest can — perfectly legally — pay income taxes that are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions, if not billions, their fortunes grow each year.
Click through for lots more. The link I’ve provided takes you to the cover page with a list of – and links to – all the articles that are related. The quote is from the lead story.

The Hill – How lawmakers aided the Afghan evacuation
Quote – The Hill spoke to nearly 20 lawmakers and staffers in both parties about what their offices went through over the fraught two weeks between when Kabul first fell, on Aug. 15, and the last U.S. military flight, just before midnight Aug. 30. The mission was personal for many of them: Some are veterans, or relatives of veterans, of the 20-year war, and some had even worked with local interpreters whom they considered key to their survival.
Click through for more. Traditionally, a part of every Congressperson’s job is to step in like an ombudsman for oppressed constituents. This is what that can look like. And, yes, it can be heart-wrenching. But it could also have been so much worse.

Food for Thought –

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Video Thread 9/16/2021

 Posted by at 11:35 am  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 162021
 

Glenn Kirschner – FBI/Chris Wray Failed to Investigate 4500 Tips about Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS nomination. INVESTIGATE NOW!

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – Sept 14, 2021

Josh Remillard – A Ruck (running against Cawthorn)

Really American – GOP Science Deniers

MSNBC – Rachel – On Concerns Of Trump Instability, Gen. Milley Built Shadow Authority Claims Book

Corey Ryan Forrester – Acclaimed British actor Nigel Davies on why British actors are cast as southerners /S

Beau – Let’s talk about problems big and small…. (This really touched me)

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Open Thread for September 16, 2021

 Posted by at 6:37 am  Open Thread, Politics
Sep 162021
 

Yesterday, I discovered that Bob Woodward’s new book, “Peril” (co-written with Robert Costa), is so packed with bombshells that I’m not going to be able to cover it properly. And it’s not even out until next week. I’m sure to be making allusions to it from time to time, though. Especially in the video thread.  But the high point of the day was seeing a dear friend who picks up for me the one prescription I can’t get delivered.  Thanks to the pandemic, including now Delta, that’s the only way I get to see her.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – QAnon Followers Threaten Hospital After Outspoken COVID Denier Dies Of COVID
Quote – Lin Wood — a far-right attorney Twitter permanently banned earlier this year after he predicted the execution of then-Vice President Mike Pence by firing squad — seized upon [Veronica] Wolski’s hospitalization to boost his own publicity. He used social media to urge his followers to contact staff at the hospital and demand Wolski be treated with ivermectin. Hundreds of people have since called and emailed the hospital, according to NBC Chicago. Some have threatened violence. In a post on Telegram after Wolski’s death, Wood told his followers they had a “responsibility” to stop “medical murders” and to “go to war.” Hospital staff reportedly called the police in response to bomb threats.
Click through for details. Sigh. “The party of personal responsibility” strikes again.

Crooks and Liars – Alabama Man Dies After 43 Hospitals With Full ICUs Turned Him Away
Quote – A reminder, if one were even needed at this point, that with all these COVID patients in ICU beds across the country resources are stretched to their limit. In Alabama things are especially dire, as they no longer have any ICU beds. When Ray DeMonia suffered his cardiac event they searched in vain for an ICU bed for him, finally finding one in Mississippi. But it was too late.
Click through for story. It’s a little cooloer as I type this, but it’s not cold enough for me to be cool with my blood boiling.

The Hill – Trump’s 2020 gains in rural America offset by Biden’s urban dominance
Quote – “We’re becoming more diverse, we’re becoming more urban, and most of that is happening outside of places Trump won,” said William Frey, a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution. “Even though Trump did better than he did in 2016 in some of those bigger places, the groups he was getting are shrinking parts of those populations.”
Click through for more. I would point out, first, that this data is based on the last election, and secondly, that if we don’t have voting laws in place nationwide that provide for actual majority rule, it doesn’t much matter.

Food for Thought –

Also, for those observing Yo Kippur, may the fast be easy and the day blessed.

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