Glenn Kirschner – More & more defendants are pointing the finger at Trump, & the flipping WILL begin accelerating
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – September 5, 2023
MSNBC – Trump tells Republicans to impeach Biden or ‘fade into oblivion’
Patrick Fitzgerald – The Donald Called Down To Georgia –
Hungry Cat Went to a Store with a Leaf to Buy Fish, Then the Seller Did Something Unbelievable! (hanky alert)
Beau – Let’s talk about the Treasury report and you….
Glenn is over-simplifying a bit. You don’t have to be 35 to be running. You need to be 35 on Insuguration Day in case you win. If you start running more than a year in advance of the inauguration Day, you could even be 33.
Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump is ALREADY DISQUALIFIED under the 14th Amendment from being president again.
The Lincoln Project – FAFO is right
Farron Balanced – Trump’s Indicted Lawyers Want Speedy Trials To Destroy His Legal Defenses
Patrick Fitzgerald – Over on Truth
“Zorse” Thanks His Rescuer In The Sweetest Way
I couldn’t agree more with Beau. I said the same thing about Boehner – and when it happened, we got Paul Ryan.
Beau – Let’s talk about McConnell and being careful what you wish for….
Glenn Kirschner – Judge orders that Donald Trump’s Georgia state RICO trial will be televised
The Lincoln Project – Electile Dysfunction
The Ring of Fire – Trump’s Legal Team Gets Scolded Before Judge Rules Against Them
Parody Project – Not You, Ron-Ron – A Parody
Woman Finds Stray Mama Cat And Kittens Outside Her Office
Beau – Let’s talk about impeachment in Wisconsin….
Yesterday, the radio opera was Richard Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” from Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). The events of the opera have a definite historical date – during the lives of the real people Wolfram von Eschenbach and Walther von der Vogelweide, but it’s far from historical. As it starts, Tannhäuser has been living in the Venusberg (which means “the mount of Venus,” and yes, the double meaning in English also exists in German) where the goddess Venus has been keeping him satisfied for at least months if not years. The “Venusberg music” is supposed to be a bacchanale (orgy), but I certainly don’t think “orgy” when I hear it and I doubt anyone here would. Now, Saint-Saëns bacchamale from “Sanson et Dalila” is hot. Richard Strauss’s “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome is wicked hot. The Venusberg music is inspiring and even noble, but not hot. But Wagner’s (IMO very odd) attitudes toward sexuality don’t really come out until later. Anyway, Tannhäuser decodes he wants to go home where there are other minstrels and a girl, Elisabeth, who loves him, and he arrives just on the eve of a big singing contest, in which he is expected to participate. His entry is too erotic for everyone else, and when it comes out he has been in the Venusberg, all heck breaks loose, and Elisabeth’s uncle (the local feudal lord) in particular, but everyone really, demands he travel to Rome and get absolution from the Pope. He goes to Rome, and the Pope tells him that his staff (a piece of pretty old, very dead wood) is as likely to bear green leaves as he is to be forgiven (terrible theology, BTW). He comes back, travelling with a bunch of ordinary Pilgrims, whose chorus is very familiar outside the opera house, as is Wolfram’s song to the Evening Star, which he sings not long before Tannhäuser gets back. Tannhäuser tellsWolfram what the Pope said, Elisabeth dies (the salvation of men through the deaths of women is a very common 19th century romantic trope, it’s not just Wagner, but Wagner kind of did beat it to death), and green leaves burst out of his staff (very glad I never had to build that prop). It really is beautiful musically, which certainly saves the ridiculous (even offensive) story line. Wagner is not known for realism – his one comedy, Die Meistersinger, does actually show people with real feelings and quirks, and if you can get past the magic love potion, so does Tristan und Isolde, but mostly his characters – humans, gods, giants, dwarves, witches, dragons, birds – seem a little off. But one can get carried away by the music in spite of that.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Zip Recruiter – Professional Troll
Quote – As of Aug 25, 2023, the average hourly pay for a Professional Troll in the United States is $67.39 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $141.59 and as low as $5.29, the majority of Professional Troll wages currently range between $16.35 (25th percentile) to $129.57 (75th percentile) across the United States. The average pay range for a Professional Troll varies greatly (by as much as $113.22), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
Click through. It likely wil come up with information on your area. Someone at Democratice Underground found this … and found it scary. I concur.
MSN/Axios – AG Merrick Garland denounces election worker threats as DOJ charges over a dozen people
Quote – The DOJ announced Thursday that two men in two separate cases in Arizona and Georgia had pleaded guilty to threatening election officials in Arizona and Georgia in separate cases, brought by the the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force — which has now brought charges in 14 cases…. “The Justice Department will continue to investigate and prosecute those who target election officials and election workers as part of our broader efforts to safeguard the right to vote and to defend our democracy.”
Click through for a bit more. I’m glad they are taking this seriously, and hope there are not people failng to report for fear nothing – or worse – will be done.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Judge rules Rudy Giuliani is LIABLE for defaming Georgia election workers Shaye Moss & Ruby Freeman
MSNBC – Lawrence: Who to believe about Giuliani’s drinking habits, Rudolph Giuliani or Rudolph Giuliani?
The Ring of Fire – Ford Has Insane Plan To Replace Striking Factory Workers
Rocky Mountain Mike – Mug Shot – Parody of “Bus Stop” by The Hollies
Growling Street Puppy Falls In Love With The Person She Didn’t Trust
Beau – Let’s talk about big union news…. (Yes, we know this happened, but Beau puts it so well. And good news is alwats welcome.)
We know the court date. The other answer we don’t know at time of posting. I want to know too. Also, IF Meadows gets his trial transferred to Federal court, he will still be tried under Georgia law (which is tougher on RICO than the Fed law.)
Glenn Kirschner – Two big court hearings on Monday: Trump’s DC trial date to be set; & Mark Meadows mockery in Georgia
The Lincoln Project – #TrumpMugshot
Thom Hartmann – Is America Run By A Psychopathic Cult? w/ Seth D. Norrholm
Parody Project – WE’RE TRUMPUPPETS – The Maga Theme Song
[Jackson Galaxy] Inmates Find Redemption Through Cats [Long, but worth every second, and the CC is professional]
Beau – Let’s talk about who won the debate….
Glenn Kirschner – Two of Trump’s RICO co-defendants, Chesebro & Powell, want speedy trial. This is bad news for Trump.
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – August 22, 2023
Farron Balanced – Steve Bannon Attacks Fani Willis And Suggests We’re Close To ‘Revolution’
Rocky Mountain Mike – Headloose
Guy Risks Life To Rescue Cats From Trees
Beau – Let’s talk about how McCarthy can fix the House….
Yesterday, the radio opera was “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” (The coronation of Poppaea) by Claudio Monteverdi, who is considered to have invented what we recognize as opera. His first operas were based on Greek/Roman mythology, but this was the last one he wrote, and was about historical figures (although the characters given to them are nor exactly historical. Not that history, certainly at this period, is all that reliable. Ancient historians were like the Fox News of their day. A lot of it was just flat made up, and sometimes with an ulterior motive. Nero never fiddled while Rome burned {he wasn’t even there} and he didn’t attempt matricide with a collapsing boat, because it’s impossible for a boat of the the type which was supposedly used to be made to collapse the way it supposedly did. Of course none of that means that he had no flaws, or even that he never tried to eliminate his mother – but he didn’t do either of those things as described. Just as Marie Antoinette never said “Let them eat cake.” OK, end of rant.) Nero seems really to have had an affair with Poppaea, to have divorced and exiled his wife at the time in order to marry her, and to have ordered the suicide of Seneca, for whatever reason. The plot is essentially set up to lead into Nero’s and Poppaea’s final rapturous love duet, which is somewhat repetitive, but – as anyone who has ever been in love knows – there are only so many ways to say “I love you” in any language, and lovers’ conversation tends to be repetitive. This production was recorded in Barcelona in July of this year, which informs me that WFMT wanted (and waited) to present up-to-the-minute productions now that there are enough live performances to do so, which is why they have only scheduled through September 9 at this point, when they expect to be going through November. Also, yesterday was National Dog Day. To all who celebrated, I hope the day was happy – and woof. Off to see Virgil, will post when I get back safely.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Colorado Public Radio – Northwest, West Denver’s House District 4 will soon get a new state rep. Here’s how residents can be part of the process
Quote – How the process of filling the vacancy works: A vacancy is filled by the representative’s party, in this case Democrats. A vacancy committee is formed by Democratic precinct organizers who will go on to elect the new representative. That election will take place on Aug. 26. On Saturday, community members can attend the committee meeting, which includes a forum between the candidates and the actual voting from committee members. Check-in for the event starts at 12 p.m., followed by the forum at 1 p.m. and the voting at 2 p.m. It’ll take place at Peter Claver Hall at Regis University, 3333 Regis Boulevard. The event can also be streamed here. [Yes, it’s over – but should be still up .]
Click through for details. Every state does this differently (and we do it differently if the removal was due to a recall) – this is very different from what happened in Tennessee with Justin and Justin – and both are different fom how we handle a vacancy in the US Congress. But understanding the differences can help us evaluate what’s the most fair – and by fair, I mean fair to the consituents.
Reuters – NLRB paves way for workers to unionize without formal elections
Quote – The U.S. National Labor Relations Board on Friday resurrected key elements of a policy it eliminated more than 50 years ago requiring businesses that commit labor law violations to bargain with unions without holding formal elections…. In Friday’s decision, the Democrat-led board partially revived a doctrine known as Joy Silk, named for a 1949 case in which the NLRB said employers must bargain with unions unless they have a good-faith doubt that majority support exists. The NLRB abandoned the Joy Silk doctrine in the early 1970s after the U.S. Supreme Court imposed a different standard in the 1969 case NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co. In Gissel, the court said the NLRB could force employers to bargain when they engage in misconduct so severe that any election would be tainted. Friday’s decision came one day after the NLRB announced a final rule reviving Obama-era regulations designed to speed up the union election process, which is seen as giving an advantage to unions.
Click through for story. If Reuters paywalls you, yu can go to your preferred search engine (mine is DuckDuckGo), put in NLRB and then select “news” as the filter and you’ll have multiple options. This is a BFD for unions. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get stuff dne with it before SCROTUS steps in.
Food For Thought
