Yesterday, my inbox was packed even more than usual.
Somehow I managed to get it down – not completely, but at least manageable. By the time I scheduled this, I was seriously tired.
Archived from Axios because paywall. Yeah, it happened Tuesday. But though people talk frequwntly about the censure option, and we (Democrats) frequently recommend it to Republicans, it almost nnever happens. That it did now is noteworthy – and that rgw vote was 413 to 2 is breathtaking.
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I’m not convinced that any of these people even know what a conflict of interest is, nor believes they even exist. Their position appears to be something like “No conflict of interest here. Everything I do is in my interest. No conflict there.” Fortunately, we have Elizabeth Warren (for now anyway) to ask the right questions to challenge that – not that the challenges are getting through to the willfully ignorant.
Anyone surprised? I didn’t think so. Of course, the people who need to see this are the Secretariesof State of each state.
Yesterday, Dolly Parton died, aged 80. Many people will mourn her because of her singing, and the songs she wrote. And that is understandable. She was at the top of her genre, and it’s one which tugs at heartstrings. This the New Yorker speaks toall who will miss her. I will grieve because, while she lived, no majority black high school band in Tennessee ever had to fundraise to get band uniforms.
Today I have two medical appointments -one at 9:00 am (with 8:30 checkin) and the secoand the second at 4:30pm (with 4:15 checkin.) I decided my best chance of getting to both on time and awake was to stay up all night Monday, sleep all day Tuesday, and stay up all Tuesday night. We’ll hope it works.
From Talking Points Memo. This is quite an analogy – The Orange Ogre’s drug of choice is not adderall after all, , but his fantasies about reality,which he cannot accept. At this late date, after all these years, I doubt that an intervention is going to change anything.
Archived from the Old Gray Lady because paywall. Referred by Allison Gill. This does appear to be yesterday’s biggest news. This is why so many people are discovering that not all Democrats are alike – and that we don’t want coporate ones (also known as “third way” Democrats.)
I couldn’t agree with Robert Reich more. This should be painfully obvious. (It probably won’t be, given MAGA’s Trump Derangement Syndrome – but it should be.)
Yesterday, I saw Virgil, and we played cribbage. Besides being great to see each other, it was good to experience something more or less normal (even including the normal frigidity in the visiting room.) I have forgotten that, though I never found my original car key, Trinette did – in a place I would never have looked, and I try not to think of how it might hace gotten there, because that way lies madness. I’m just glad it has been found.
Yes I realize this is not new – certainly not to anyone here – but Robert Reich says things so well.
Black Star is correct that “nobody has noticed.” This is certainly the first I have heard of it, and I see some legacy media and more independent news outlets than any one person can possibly read. (This is also the first I have heard of Gary being predominantly black. I expext that would surprise Harold Hill if he were real and still alive. This is BS -not in the sense of fake, but in the sense of morally unacceptable.
Back in the seventies, I was a charter subscriber to Mother Jones magazune. It was always good reporting – eventually It got too good for me to deal with – even just on line. Dose of Democracy referred this artivle.
Yesterday, the CPR newsletter headline must have been written by Captain Obvious. It read “Drought dries up rivers.” I’m not complaining – I’m well aware how quickly the obvious can get lost, especially when people have strong feelings. As I do about this. A sweet little mountain town whixh leans heavily on tourism is being destroyed. And it doesn’t stop there. The river in question formerly continued on and fed into the Huerfano River, which in turn (I think still, but less) feeds into the Arkansas River, which provides water for the eastern half of the state, where the agriculture is.
From Colorado Public Radio. Weld County is roughly in the northeast corner of Colorado. It is at least ruby red – possibly garnet red. The corporation involved in this venture has no permits – and doesn’t appear to give a f*ck. The parts of Colorado east of I25 don’t get wildfires like the western part, I think mostly because they are low on trees, but they are by no means immune to drought. I think I wrote about the time – which must be more that six years ago, when I had to drive across half the state to see Virgil, I saw a nominal river (more like a creek really) actually burn up before my eyes. Seeing a creek in flames is an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And as far as I know, the creek died in the fire. I never saw water come back to it.None of Colorado’s rivers is as healthy as it was when I came tp the state in 1976, and I’m pretty sure they were already unhealthy then – because our history reports memorable floods before that year, and I know of none afterwards. The last thing Weld County – or any county in Colorado – needs is a data center.
Referred by VoteVets, specifically General Eaton. He sends a daily “Four Star” which includes 4 links to short summaries of news articles regarding the armed forcea. This one has Kegsbreath’s fingerprints all over it.
All I need to say about this article by Robert Reich is “AMEN!”
Yesterday, I didn’t do much other than wade through email. Virgil called, which was nice. I did get some knitting done. Today’s pet video is another spliced one – which I will be calling a 2-fer.
From ProPublica. You can talk about unintended consequences – and I am pretty sure this was not intended – but the Mango Moron and the desoicable Russell Voght probably both see it as a feature, not a bug.
From Adam Klasfeld. This pisses me off royally. Yrd, every profession, including medicine, contains people who, though highly educates, are dumber than rocks. (And no amount of intelligence guarantees courage comes with it.) Anthony Fauci is not merely an intelligent MD; he is also a fighter and a hero. And he’s older than I am – and under this stress is beginning to look it. This persecution needs to end – yesterday.
Talking Points Memo: James Comey is far from perfect – but he doesn’t deserve this. The detail that made me curse out loud was that,on a trip with his wife, they made a stop at the grave of their son who dies when still an infant. Thhey were under (illegal) surveillance the entire time. The in-person surveillance lost track of him, but the electronic surveillance picked it up and went there after the Comeys left – and took a photo of the flowers they left at the grave.
Yesterday, Kegsbreath announced that all military personnel would be required to take testosterone level tests, and, if indicated, to get testosterone therapy. If this is not the definition of “toxic masculinity,” I don’t know what would be. (And, as I have often said, saying “toxic masculinity” no more implies that all masculinity is toxic than saying “counterfeit money” implies that all money is counterfeit.
I have no idea what this is all about – but it certainly seems to be odoriferous, not in a friendly way.
I trust no one is surprised by this. Evil people are evil.
I don’t expect anyone to be surprised by this either. I think y’all are paying enough attention that you probably predicted it.
Yesterday, Wajeeh on Malcolm’s show reported that there was a scandal at the camel beauty conrest in Oman had to disqualify several contestants caught using Botox. This is for real, and it’s one more reason why people like Hegseth will never understand the Middle East (or, really, anywhere. He doesn’t even understand us, among whom he has lived his entire life.) And Frank Figliuzzi bumped thw atory of a STEM academy in Minneapolis serving the Somali community had a kindergarten graduation ceremony, and steamed it. I recommend not looking for or at the Prange Ogre’s Truth Social comment on this, nor any of the responses from his black-hearted cult, but if you must, have multiple barf bags on hand. And, not to be outdone, the state of New Hampshire picked now to notify Steve Schmidt that his (absentee) ballot on 2024 was not accepted and not counted, and that, since he therefore did not vote in that election, his name has been expunged from the voter rolls. Steve said this on the Jim Acosta show. I think New Hampshire picked the wrong voter to mess with myself.
Well, it isn’t June in January. Instead, it’s January in July. I wonder whether this murderer will turn out to have been a Jan 6 insurrectionist. I doubt we’ll ever know.
As convenient as the location of my Win10 is in some ways, there is no nearby mini-bookcase where I might put my pocket Constitution, as there was (still is) near my Win8. Oh well, it’s always on the internet, as are the Articles of Confederation which preceded it. In neither did I find the quote I was looking for. Which likely says more about me than it does about the documents. Not that it matters – the 14th would have superseded it anyway. I might just mention that it is possible to impeach judges – and justices – but we need to think about when it is a good idea, and when it is not. It’s not, for instance, a good idea to impeach and convict Thomas now, when the President will just appoint Aileen Cannon as his replacement and the Republican Senate will confirm her. Harry Litman’s take on the Barbara dissents is illuminating – and, like every former DOJ prosecutor who served in a better world, he knows whereof he speaks.
I think that all these officials (except, of course, our Orange Oligarch and his lackeys) have senses of decenct and decorum, as well as an understanding of unintended consequences, and along with self-control. They just aren’t going to spit in his eye or laugh in his face, as much as they might like to. And they all know – the whole world knows by now – that it isn’t possible to talk any sense into him, and that trying to do so results in tantrums. I really do think that good manners, as noncommital as possible, are the best way for foreign leaders to deal with him. At least until and unless there’s a warrant for him from the ICC.
Yesterday, after the resumption of hostilities in the Persian Gulf, Wajeeh described our so-called President as being surrounded by three drama queens (whom he named) – and hilarity ensued. This part of the conversation started at or just after the 30 minute mark, and took just a few minutes, so if anyone wants a good laugh, you can find it and it waon’t take much of your time. Unlike YouTube, I can’t set it to start there, but the timeline is easy to manipulate. Also, I did watch “The Last Class.” After some thought, I think maybe the way to say this is: Robert Reich is the most compact giant who ever existed. He has another movie coming out, and showed a trailer – although I think it’s still in progress – which is appropriate – because the title is “The Work in Progress.” In another also, Graham Platner withdrew his campaign fir the Senate. I have just two words – Al Franken. I’m not trying to say what you probably think I am. I am trying to say that when an aspersion involves money (like cheating on taxes, or embezzlement, or grift) or other types of immorality, we investigate. When an aspersion involves sex we just lose our minds.
Good Grief. Apparently, stupidity, or death wish, or delusion, or all three, or God knows what, is color-blind. “Christian nationalism” is bad enough, but we’re not up against just Christian nationalism, we’re up against White Christian nationalism. Any black (or darker than a brown paper bag) person who buys into that has to be suicidal.
If I were a Black woman in Florida, I would absolutlely fear for my life if a white man started to argue with me. Which is probably why she was carrying in th first place. If we had the statistics of how many people in the US have been killed in arguments over parking spaces, it would probably surprise you. I am confident that Stand Your Ground applies. And equally confident that no court in Florida will accept it from a Black woman. We shall see.
Archived from The Lever. Every time the present regime comes up with a new and innocuous sounding name for a project, it’s a bad sign. This “Task Force” is no exception.
