Open Thread October 6 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 062025
 

Yesterday, I went to see Virgil. As usual we played cribbage. Most of our hands were mediocre to dire, but what the heck. We play to pass the time in each other’s company, not to win. Before I left to go see him, I received an update from Carrie on Barry. It’s not as good as I had hoped, but it’s also not as bad as my worst fears. It’s short, so I’ll quote it in full: …

I wanted to let you know Barry will be transferred to a long term acute care facility sometime next week. He had a tracheotomy last week so they could get the tube out of his mouth. Since he is still on a ventilator, the tube goes through the tracheostomy. They have turned the ventilator off from time to time, but he is only able to breathe on his own for about 30 minutes. At least he is no longer under heavy sedation. At present he is completely paralyzed. I will be seeing him tomorrow for the first time since he had the tracheotomy. He cannot speak, but is still answering simple yes or no questions by blinking. Please keep praying for him.*

*Or as always, however you communicate with the universe.

Late breaking news

It’s easy to criticize the media, and the MSM in general is indeed doing a terrible job of getting out the truth about this regime. But maybe at least some of the problem is that, being unaccustomed to government lies and fraud on this scale, they really don’t know how to report it. And I have to agree that the method proposed here is simple, but by no means obvious.

From Robert Reich‘s keyboard to God’s monitor or iPhone, whatever he’s using these days.

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Open Thread July 9 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 092025
 

Yesterday, I read in Wonkette about a new Superman movie coming out this summer. If you can go to theaters (my allergies preclude my doing so) you may want to go see it. MAGA will be boycotting it, so there’s that. Monday evening’s radio program on movie scores talked about Christopher Reeve, and how he got cast even though no one thought he looked muscular enough, but they expected him yo wear a “muscle suit,” and instead he worked out and bulked up from 185# to 225# of pure muscle. It appears no one considered that aspect this time – but that’s not what has MAGA’s panties in knots. It’s that he’s being shown as kind. And a refugee. Both of which he always has been but which was not always a deal breaker for anyone. Also in Wonkette, they covered the breaking of the story about ICE and the National Guard invading MacArthur Park under the headline “Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain.”

I generally go to Harry Litman for interpretation of the law and of court actions. Yes, this is a court action in a sense – it’s the settlement of a lawsuit – but his analysis goes beyond that aspect and into politics.

You may already be aware of the “Seven Mountains Mandate” – it has been around a while among authoritarian “Christians” (quotes because no one actually following what Jesus actually taught can possibly be an authoritarian) but it was always a fringe aberrancy. Now it’s a political force and getting stronger.

($70 Mil of this belongs to Colorado)

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Open Thread July 27, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 272023
 

Yesterday, I won’t say I overslept, becuse that implies I was planning to get up at a certain time, and I wasn’t. But I did sleep for a long time. I’m sure I needed it. But I did wake up in time to get ready for, and take in, a grocery order (which was rather a disappointment. But I did get everything I was actually out of, so at least I have time on my side.) Incidentally, I was also very late getting the Video Thread up – I had scheduled it for a day late and had to correct that, and I was late in discovering it. Sorry about that.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Inside the DeSantis Doc That Showtime Didn’t Want You to See
Quote – The Daily Beast has obtained a transcript of that unaired documentary, “The Guantanamo Candidate,” which was anchored by Seb Walker, a longtime correspondent for the Emmy-winning newsmagazine. Among a number of insights into DeSantis’ past, the transcript features interviews with former prisoners and a former Naval staff sergeant-turned-Gitmo whistleblower who overlapped with DeSantis. All three allege inhumane treatment at the hands of the U.S. government, with the detainees directly implicating DeSantis—at the time, a junior-level military legal adviser—in approving and overseeing brutal measures…. Showtime’s decision to muzzle a report critical of a high-profile conservative politician also epitomizes the complaints that conservative politicians—including DeSantis—have habitually brayed in their crusade against so-called liberal “cancel culture.”
Click through for story. I can’t say I’m surprised that DeSaster didn’t want this to come out. Showtime – well, their defense woulf likely be the truth of the shade, but I can just see wanting to avoid an expensive lawsuit (especially since Republican candidates at all levels seem to be mostly deadbeats.) Of course VICE is not happy … but VICE is also apparently bankrupt.

Democratic Underground (quoted in full from Facebook, with permission) – Dear Jason Aldean – Father Nathan Monk
Quote – When I moved back to Tennessee a couple of years ago, I decided to stop by the corner store near my house to introduce myself to the neighbors. The lady working there was very friendly, and a guy was sitting in a rocking chair, going back and forth. It was country as hell, and I loved it. She starts to whisper in the way that Southern folks do when they are about to spill the sweet tea. She looks back and forth and then says, “Now, there is someone who lives on your street I wanna talk to you about. Now, sometimes, they dress as a man, but other times they dress as a woman…” I start to get nervous about what she will say next, but I bite my tongue and wait. “…well, you just better be okay with that. Because they are a nice fella and a sweet lady.”
Click through for full article, which is heartwarming. I’m not sure it’s even necessary to know what Nathan is responding to, but Jason Aldean (I don’t know for sure, but that’s probably him in the green T-shirt in the FFT) released a country song “Don’t Try That in a Small Town” (his “small town” is purely a majority white small town in the 1930’s or so) and it’s getting a lot of blowback. This is just one – but I think an outstanding one.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread October 15, 2022

 Posted by at 6:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 152022
 

Yesterday, my BFF had a colonoscopy, which I know because she needed me to give her a ride home, which I gladly did. She had hoped to be able to drive herself home, but anyone who has either had a coloscopy ot sat beside a loved one having one, knows that’s a no-go. Her son will help her get her car back home later. She’ll hear more detailed results Monday and I may be in as much suspense as she is. She mentioned “an endometri-something” and I said,”If you do have an endometriome, wherever it is, don’t wait until it is over 9 pounds like I did.” In other news, I confirmed that the Social Security COLA for 2023 wioll be 8.7%, and the Part B Medicare premiums will go down. Very cool.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – ‘2000 Mules’ Has Radicalized The 2022 Midterm Elections
Quote – By June 2, the right-wing polling outfit Rasmussen said 15% of survey respondents had seen the film. Multiple Republican candidates, including two secretary of state nominees in pivotal swing states, have praised the film publicly, a HuffPost review found. And the movie has inspired groups across the country to hold stakeouts at drop boxes and to mobilize again around Donald Trump’s lie that, as the then-president said in August 2020, “the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.”
Click through for story. Just what we needed – NOT.

The New Yorker – Has the C.I.A. Done More Harm Than Good?
Quote – It can be hard to sort out which agencies do what; players in the espionage business aren’t always good with boundaries. Both the C.I.A. and the N.S.A. make use of satellite resources, including commercial ones, but there is a separate agency in charge of a spy-satellite fleet, the National Reconnaissance Office—not to be confused with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which deals with both space-based and ground-level imaging, or with Space Delta 18, the nation’s newest intelligence agency, which is attached to the Space Force. Abolishing the C.I.A. might do nothing more than reconfigure the turf wars.
Click through for details. I honestly don’t have a problem with there being 18 agencies, provided they’re not all incompetent i the same ways at the same time (And also provided that whatever part of the Executive Branch they report to both reuires accuracy and also takes the reports seriously when they come in.) Obviously, the Secret Service and the FBI are weak on one or both of those points.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread October 5, 2022

 Posted by at 6:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 052022
 

Yesterday, at roughly 1:41 a.m. her time, Heather Cox Richardson sent out her daily email for Monday, and when I got up I read it. She touched on a wide variety of topics, of which possibily the most unnerving was Moore v. Harper and the “independent state legislature” doctrine. If this case is wrongly decided, we can kiss democracy goodbye- that’s assuming we can ever get close enough to it to kiss it. I know I’m sarting to sound like the proverbial broken record, but I admit I am afraid.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Offshore Tax Havens Move On Shore
Quote – Research published Wednesday details how a handful of U.S. states that are “subservient to the trust industry” are helping oligarchs and money launderers from around the globe evade taxes and hide their wealth within the nation’s borders…. “The concept of the ‘offshore’ tax haven has very much washed ashore,” says the report, which exposes how 13 U.S. states “shield the fortunes of the world’s richest people.”
Click through for details, including which states. I knew that a fw states’ laws were more favorable to credit card companies, which is why ao many are incorporated in South Dakota and Delaware, but I didn’t know about this. I’m surprised, actually – not at the states’ greed, but at the blind faith of the billionaires. Should a Republican win the Presidency in 2024, it will all be confiscated.

The Warning – Media corruption at the “paper of record”
Quote – His name is Donald John Trump from Queens. He has a “psychiatrist.” Her name is Maggie Haberman. She is the lead Trump reporter for The New York Times, and has become, like him, a singular totem of corruption. The corruption of the American media has fueled the extremist movement that threatens the republic as the journalistic ethic forged by Ed Murrow, Fred Friendly, Dorothy Thompson, Walter Cronkite and a generation of truth seekers gave way to a generation of information profiteers. The money that flows from anger, division, confusion and insanity can be counted in the tens of billions of dollars. That is the business of much of the American media. It is certainly Maggie Haberman’s business.
Click through for story. There will be a pop-up to subscribe – just click on “Let me read it first.” He certainly nails Maggie.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread September 24, 2022

 Posted by at 7:12 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 242022
 

Yesterday was chilly again. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Oh well, it’s Colorado. Eventually, it did warm up.  Also, a new Betty Bowers video came out (It’ll be in tomorrow’s video thread) and by a strange coincidence, the answer to the Wordle was “Glory!” I am having plumbing issues, but can’t get a plumber unti Monday. Sigh. These things happen.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The Truth I’m telling Congress today (Part II) [A continuation from yesterday’s article. We seldom get such a quick response.]
Quote – This is the process, folks. The media begin to change how they report on a public problem such as inflation, because the current facts don’t square with the older view. This starts to reframe the debate. The reframing educates the public, and encourages lawmakers to talk differently about the problem. Which in turn encourages the media to further reframe it in line with current realities.
Click through for article. In his email he also refers to a New York Times article (sorry I don’t have a gift link) which also carries the message. Good news.

The Daily Beast – Donald Trump Tells Hannity He Can Declassify Docs Just by ‘Thinking About It’
Quote – When Hannity asked about the declassification process, Trump replied: “There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it. Different people see different things. But as I understand it, there doesn’t have to be. If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified. Even by thinking about it,” he asserted. “It doesn’t have to be a process. It can be a process but it doesn’t have to be. You’re the president. You make that decision. So when you send it [to Mar-a-Lago or “wherever”], it’s declassified. We—I—declassified everything,” Trump insisted, even though his lawyers have not made that claim in court.
Click through for more, including a video if you can stand it (I didn’t even try.) This is so FRIKKEN ridiculous you have probably already heard it.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread June 17, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 172022
 

Yesterday, I went to see VirgilWe kissed (we are allowed 2, one coming and one going) and hugged (ditto), and we also, as we didn’t do for quite a few years, played some cribbage – for some reason we find that having something to do with out hands stimulates conversation, though it took us years ti realze that.. How the Department of Corrections handles games and game playing during visits wold take a whole column, and I won’t start on thet today. I passed on all greetings you all exprressed to Virgil, and he returns all with thanks.

After getting home, I checked my email inbox whch had hit almost 150 emai and then turned to the hearings. I had pre-written today’s posts except for this introduction, so after getting home and making dinner, I was able to jump into today’s hearing. Again, none of the actual evidence surprised me – even things I didn’t know had happened were so in tune with Republican morals and behavior they were not surprising. But I did get two non-evidential surprises – first, that I can now see why those who are not totally disgusted with his political positions might actually like Mike Pence (I will never understand that about Trump**). Second, I was surprised to learn there is one Republican who has not only actually read goodly chunks of the Bible, but understands it well enough to come up with a whole chapter that is extremely pertinent (it was one of his former attrorneys, a Mr. Jacobs, and the chapter was Daniel 6 [which could be differently numbered in the translation used by Catholics – I know that book has some extra stuff in it which is not in the Bible most Protestants use].) Again, I used the recording from the house.gov link here.  And then I goofed around a little and went to bed exhausted.

And – I almost forgot – the email telling me my ballot had been received came in at 11:34 am and the one saying it has been counted came in at 5:35 pm.

Cartoon – 17 Mahal RTL

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – ‘Pack Your Stuff and Get Out of My House,’ Says Patriot Front Member’s Mom
Quote – Amsden said that after her son was released from jail, he told her he’d continue to stand with the group, so she delivered an ultimatum. “I told him, ‘Well, then you can’t live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I can’t quit Patriot Front.’ I’m like, ‘Well, then you’ve just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house.’”
Click through for background. Old saying: “desperate times require desperate measures.” This must break her heart (I assume he doesn’t have one) – but I don’t see what else she could have done.

Wonkette – CNN’s New Boss Remaking Network Into Centrist Safe Space For Republicans
Quote – Licht will give existing talent “a chance to prove they’re willing to uphold the network’s values so that they don’t tarnish CNN’s journalism brand.” If they can’t adjust, they’ll presumably join Chris Cuomo on the unemployment line. Axios specifically mentions Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter as being under the partisan microscope[.]
Click through for more. Personally, I would trade Chuck Todd for Acosta in a heartbeat – but I’m not in a position to.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 5/16/22

 Posted by at 12:02 pm  Open Thread, Politics
May 162022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Federal prosecutors open grand jury probe into Trump’s removal of top secret docs to Mar-a-Lago

The Lincoln Project – Thank you, Jen.

MSNBC – America ‘Needs To Prepare For’ Insider Threats To Elections

Twitter – CNN – White supremacist terrorism

Politics Girl – Quick Civics

Food-Obsessed Cat Has Taught Himself To Open Containers With His Teeth

Beau – Let’s talk about a cliff analogy….

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