Glenn Kirschner – More missing J6 texts: now its DHS’s Wolf & Cuccinelli. The Remedy? Let it rain subpoenas.
Meidas Touch – Navy Vet SLAMS Republicans as the party of cowards
The Lincoln Project – VA Bill
Farron Balanced – Trump Practices His Defense As He Clearly Panics About DOJ Investigation
Foil Arms and Hogg – The Brexit Song (CC at YouTube in case it doesn’t show up here)
Beau – Let’s talk about an order from Karl Rove to Trump….
Glenn Kirschner – How to disqualify insurrectionists from Congress: interview w/John Bonifaz of Free Speech 4 People
Meidas Touch – SHOCK: Justice Alito disgustingly MOCKS critics of repeal of Roe v. Wade
The Lincoln Project – Trapped
MSNBC – Former Marine Dismantles Right-Wing Arguments On The Second Amendment
Randy Rainbow Re-Run – Clang, Clang, Clang Went Josh Hawley! – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody
Beau – Let’s talk about Republicans bizarre request of DOD….
Glenn Kirschner – Important new data points indicate DOJ does, in fact, have Donald Trump in its criminal sights
Meidas Touch – Rupert Murdoch TURNS ON TRUMP as Criminal Investigations Ramp Up
The Lincoln Project – This Woman Votes
Ojeda Live – Children Suffering in Somalia Thanks to Putin
Puppet Regime – Sing Along: The Really Bad People Song (CC included)
Beau – Let’s talk about Republican voting records….
Glenn Kirschner – With J6 committee revelations, it’s time for DOJ to indict Donald Trump & his co-conspirators
Meidas Touch – BREAKING: Democrats SLAM GOP for voting AGAINST contraception bIll
The Lincoln Project – Josh Hawley Is A B*tch
“Nyet Vladimir” – Ukrainian War Song (The Ukrainian version of the Finnish song “Nyet Molotov.” The Finns wrote the song during the 1939-1940 Winter War they were fighting against the Russians. Sadly, the Ukrainians had to adopt the tune with different lyrics in 2022.)
John Fugelsang – America’s Next President, Ron DeSantis
Beau – Let’s talk about privacy and your cell phone….
Glenn Kirschner – Bannon Trial, Day 4: Steve Bannon gets his chance to tell his side of the story – and stays quiet
Meidas Touch – Jamie Raskin STUNS Republican with epic 2nd Amendment FACT-CHECK in real time
Meidas Touch – Jamie Raskin STUNS Republican with epic 2nd Amendment FACT-CHECK in real time
The Lincoln Project – Deleted
Senators Reach Agreement On Bills To Stop Candidates From Stealing Elections
Robert Reich – How Amazon, Starbucks, and Other Companies Fight Unions
Parody Project – KETCHUP ON THE WALL – A Parody
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump losing Idaho….
Yesterday, The opera was Macbeth (Verdi). Everyone knows that story, of course. I was not familiar wih the soprano singing Lady MacBeth, but she was excellent. MacBeth and Banquo were sung by two stars who are also known for being drop-dead gorgeous. The baritone (Simon Keenlyside) is not as young as he was, but still very handsome, and the bass, Günther Grossböck, is younger (and generally taller than anyone else on stage.) I have seen both the play and the opera more than once – back to back once, at the Kennedy Center, when I was in the service and they were doing a mini-Shakespeare festival, and I may be the only person in the world who feels this way, but I have always felt that the play never quite worked. There are parts of it which just can’t be played naturally – they are always either underplayed or overplayed. It isn’t really the fault of any of the actors – it’s just written that way. But the opera – all you need for that to it themark is singers who can stand up and hit the notes. With that, it’s a winner every time. All the passion is i the score.
I also managed to finish reading Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter from Thursday night. She quoted an NPR host as saying: “the Democratic chair of the committee just gracefully, and with full confidence, turned over the running of tonight’s hearing to the vice-chair, who happens to be of another party, and they spoke with mutual trust and respect. That’s how it’s supposed to go.” Well, yeah. that struck meat the time also. You might say it isn’t evidence, and it indeed is not evidence regarding the insurrection. But it is evidence that, even now, people who disagree with each other, even violently, can still work together if they have decency, integrity, and courtesy. It’s no wonder Rethuglicans so hate courtesy, and find insulting terms like “political correctness” to describe it. And here we all are. Sigh.
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Short Takes – I’m just going to go with News of the Weird today and be serious again tomorrow.
The Daily Beast – A Judge Pulled a Gun in the Courtroom—and Then It Got Weird
“The whole trial was insane,” said one lawyer, who later reported the weapon-wielding jurist to the FBI.
PolitiZoom – AR Toting Lunatic Spotted in Local Park Threatening to Shoot His Foot Off
Yes, this was Ronny Jackson. Sigh.
Democratic Underground (Nevilledog) – Cops stood by while a woman was terrorized by a stalker in her home for 12 hours and then killed
Seriously? In San Diego?
ProPublica – Pharma Companies Sue for the Right to Buy Blood From Mexicans Along Border
A year after the U.S. barred Mexicans from crossing the border to sell their blood, pharmaceutical companies have acknowledged that those donations provided as much as 10% of the plasma collected nationwide as they seek to have the ban overturned.
Crooks and Liars – Remember That Other Secret Service Scandal?
We all remember that story about the two fake agents who were sucking up to the First Lady’s Secret Service detail. Well, one of them has filed a notification that he will now change his plea to guilty.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I had a rather crowded late morning/early afternoon. The radio opera was Vivaldi’s “Bajazet” which I had never heard of, let alone heard, before. However, atthe same time, Theater od War was mounting a Zoom production of Aeschylus’s play “The Suppliant” (an unusual word in English these days – but think “The Refugees”), as a vehicle to jump start a discussion on Ukraine, and with an all-Ukrainian chorus (including a very remarkable 12-year-old girl.) My final decision was to watch the play (and subsequent discussion) but with the opera softly in the background. So I’m not able to share much about the opera. In the end I made the right choice, I think. There was a note that the session was being recoorded – it is not yet posted at their site, but if and when it is I’ll share the link. Also included were three professional actors whose names you migh recognize – David Strathairn (Danaus), Oscar Isaac (Pelasgus), and Willem DaFoe (Aegyptus.)The play dates to the mid-fifth century BCE (450 BCE plus or minus 10) but so much has not changed. One line: “Those who speak in foreign tongues are never fully welcome.) As are all of their productions, it was very moving. On top of all that, I received cinfirmation to visit Virgil today – so I’ll be around even less than usual. But I’ll be in as much as I can.
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I didn’t know who Mola was either. He appears to have been Franco’s Jeff Clark (or Roy Cohn) but he died in an air crash in 1937 and his name disappeared.
Short Takes –
CNN Politics – Why Republicans want to redefine one word in the Constitution
Quote – The Constitution refers specifically to the “legislature” in each state determining the time and manner of federal elections. Backers of the “Independent State Legislature Claim” argue that since the Constitution doesn’t name other parts of state government — including courts — they should have no power to check the legislature on the subject of federal elections. Even if a state’s constitution or laws give power to courts or a governor, the theory argues legislatures should be able to ignore them.
Clck through for full analysis. The case in question is Moore v. Harper. I don’t want to forget that myself, nor do I want any of us to forget it. After it’s decided, we’ll know whether it’s OK to forget it … or whether we eill never forget it, whether we want to or not.
Mother Jones – Don’t Fall into the Collusion Trap on Trump and January 6
Quote – This question is an important one, but it is also a trap. Trump and his comrades have been rather deft at developing a tactic to protect him from charges of profound wrongdoing: They raise the bar. If Trump is caught holding a match outside a burning house, Trump and his defenders will say, “Do you have proof he doused the interior with gasoline? That’s fake news. A hoax.”
Click through for full explanation. Neither the Committee nor prosecutors are IMO likely to fall into this trap, but since public opinion can help or hurt a case, it still matters.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Theodora” be George Frederick Handel. This is sort of the opposite of last week, when an opera traditionally staged was presented in concert. Theodora was written as an oratorio, intended to be performed in cocert – but the Royal Opera House (London) fully staged it. It actually stages well, including – maybe especially – in modern dress (which thet used). I have a VCR of it from the seventies, directed by Peter Sellars (not the Englishman who spelled it with an “e” and was then already no longer with us, but the Australian who spells it with an “a” and is still very much alive and quirky), also in modern dress. I believe he was the first to fully stage it, but staging it has since become relatively normal. Sellars is a phenomenon in himself, but I won;t go into that today. The story is about a Christian woman – Theodors – who is in love with a Roman soldier – Didymus – at a time when Christians were still being hunted down by the Empire This can’t end well – and it doesn’t. Of course ther are other characters, and plot twists and turns. Handel actually wrote a lot of Italan style operas in his younger days, and Theodira would probably have been one of them had not John Gay and John Rich come along with “The Beggar’s Opers which made Italian opera obsolete overnight. Of course, without that happening, “Messiah” might never have been written (neither would “The Threepenny Opera,” but I digress.)
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Short Takes –
The Colorado Sun – Two Colorado students figured out how to clean an oil spill using human (their own) hair
Quote – Front Range Community College computer science instructor Diane Rhodes says the pair succeeded in part because they had a good idea, backed it with solid engineering and modeling work, and put in the time to overcome physical problems and fix broken parts. But their personalities also made a big impact, Rhodes said. Doing well at innovation competitions requires interaction, practice in public, and a bit of sales, Rhodes said. “They were very enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable. They were able to articulate their problem in a concise way. And they were not shy,… [a]nd I never once had to tell them to put their phones down.”
Click through for story. Good news is always welcome. And human (and canine) hair is a renewable resource.
Robert Reich – The Republican Party: God, guns, forced birth, and strongmen
Quote – The connections between these strands of rightwing ideology are growing clearer and louder — theocratic Christianity, gun violence, the subjugation of women through forced birth, and strongman authoritarianism. Christian nationalism now taking over the Republican Party envisions vigilante justice — “good guys with guns,” neighbors eavesdropping on neighbors, and action to stop what they call “abortion trafficking” — women crossing state lines to access legal abortions. Widespread access to guns is essential to keep everyone under control, suppress protests, and fuel fear. To call this a “culture” war is to understate its true meaning and potential danger. Those of us who still believe in separating church and state, guarding reproductive rights, ensuring racial equality, ending gun violence, and protecting democracy must understand that much of the Republican Party now stands for the exact opposite of these values.
Click through for details. Iam seeing many who write about American politics describe the nation as “asleep” – or “sleepwalking.” I fear that is accurate. REally, our best hope is that they have overstepped and that there will be enough outrage from liberals and other decent human beings to give us a Democratic sweep in both the House and Senate – preferably with no DINOs. If that doesn’t happen, this won’t end well.
Food For Thought
