Glenn Kirschner – NY AG Leticia James Subpoenas Donald, Don Jr. & Ivanka Trump, While Eric Pleads the 5th 500 Times!
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party
Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda Rips Sean Spicer Into Pieces
politicsrus – Tax Grab – The legacy of the Trump tax cuts
Liberal Redneck – Liberal Redneck – Trashin’ Mitch McConnell
Littlest Kitten Ever Grows Up To Be A Mini Cat
Beau – Let’s talk about what Flint can teach us about the 6th….
Glenn Kirschner – House Postpones Flynn & Luna Testimony; Flynn Should be Returned to Active Duty and Court-Martialed (I’ll bet Miles Taylor could tell us what a “body man”s duties were – and I’ll bet it had something to do with adult diapers.)
The Lincoln Project – Pearl Harbor Rememberance Day
CNN – Meadows SPOOKED, Subpoena Coming Next? (If he thought he could “make a deal,” he has no idea who the committe members are.)
RepresentUs – This Is What Corporate Welfare Looks Like
politicsrus – Democracy Is Hard Earned
Six13 a capella – West Side Chanukah Story (I really do think Lenny must be smiling down. BTW you can close it when they start talking – pitching – at the end.)
Beau – Let’s talk about a letter from Texas…..
Glenn Kirschner – House Select Committee Promises to Enforce its Subpoenas w/Criminal Contempt. Here’s How That’s Done
The Lincoln Project – Last Week In The Republican Party…
VoteVets – Retired Air Force Internal Medicine Physician Urges Everyone To Get Vaccinated
Robert Reich – The Democrats’ One Chance to Cut Child Poverty in Half
Really American – 50% of Trump Supporters Would Back Civil War
Mother Cat Secretly Looked After Kittens Whom She Hid In The House
Beau – Let’s talk about the difference between the parties and Trump’s legacy….
Glenn Kirschner – House Investigation of 1/6 Insurrection Issues 4 Subpoenas. Here’s an Overview of the Legal Issues
Really American – Richest Americans Pay Under 9% Taxes
Robert Reich – Democrats Have to Make This Choice
Puppet Regime – Angela Merkel’s Farewell Song
Parody Project/Freedom Toast – NO BUSINESS
Beau – Let’s talk about Missouri, a petition, and critical thought….
Glenn Kirschner – When Donald Sued Mary: Why Donald Trump’s Lawsuit Against his Niece and the NYT is Dead on Arrival
Thom Hartmann – Senator Whitehouse Exposes Plot To Seize Supreme Court
Now This News – Ad for Fake Funeral Home Trolls the Unvaccinated. (No words needed.)
Robert Reich – The Secret to Actually Taxing the Rich
The Daily Show – The Messed Up Hist-HER-y of Childbirth
Beau – Let’s talk about salad dressing and Flynn….
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 –
Well, still a little bit of tenderness and temperature around the injection site – but my actual normal temperature is so low that slight increas is probably right around normal. I’m now feeling confident and won’t mention it again unless something negative happens. So – now one to go. And now to business.
Cartoon
Short Takes
New York Times – Warnings of Democracy in Peril
Quote: [Senator Angus] King [I-ME] said the only reason voters lacked confidence in the voting system was that Republicans — especially Mr. Trump — told them for months that it was rigged, despite all evidence to the contrary, and now continued to insist that there were abuses in the process that must be fixed. “That’s like pleading for mercy as an orphan after you killed both your parents,” he said.
Click through for the full article. There is a paywall but you get one or two free articles a month.
The 19th – Barack Obama: Women have found themselves “in an impossible situation” – from a socially distanced interview
Quote – I’m just incredibly proud of the kind of human beings Sasha and Malia have become. Of course, like all of us, they followed the protests around our country. They got involved. And we had conversations about all of it. My advice to them is the same as it is to all young people, which is that protesting — raising public awareness, putting a spotlight on injustice, making the powers that be uncomfortable — that kind of civil disobedience couldn’t be more important. Throughout our history, that has often been the only way to get the political system to pay attention to marginalized communities. But eventually, I tell them, movements have to be translated into laws and policies — and in a democracy, that only happens when we elect government officials who are responsive to our demands. Basically, my advice is to reject the false choice between participating in protests and politics. Do both!
Click through for the rest of what made it in to the interview.
Rolling Stone – Al Franken – Tax the Rich! Also the Very Affluent! But Mainly the Rich!
Quote: Biden is eager for the infrastructure bill to be a bipartisan effort, however, and has been negotiating with Republicans to find a deal everyone can feel good about. But if the Obama years are any indication, Republicans will only feel good if a Democrat in the White House fails. So we shouldn’t hold our breath. Democrats can pass an infrastructure bill through the fast-track reconciliation process if they need to, which only requires a simple majority of 51 votes to pass, which still may prove difficult but is a lot more doable. Because Mitch McConnell naturally doesn’t like any of Biden’s big plans one bit.
Click througfh for a very clearly explained article.
Food for Thought
Rachel Maddow with an unusual take on McConnell – I hope she’s right.
Robert Reich – How to Tax a Billionaire
Al Franken’s first video! Longish – about 10 minutes – but a milestone.
Founders Sing – “Matt Gaetz Is Standing There”
Beau – Foreign Policy – this seems really obvious to me, but I’m sure he’s correct that it isn’t – not to most people. So let’s go ahead and put it into words.
Keith from last night