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In war "collateral damage" and "friendly fire" are two regrettable but often unavoidable things that happen. Innocent people die but it's war. If there is any doubt that the GOP's war on democracy has resulted death tolls that rival and surpass actual wars against foreign enemies? Donald Trump loves to ask, "Who killed Ashli Babbit?" The answer is he did. He brought her to Washington and inspired her to participate in the assault on the capitol. A woman died but she's become a good line to use at rallies. The vaccine debate might be expected at the Flat Earth Society but not in the halls of Congress. The former president and his party have no "policy" except to yell "socialist" and "freedom". It's as if saying those two words loudly actually explain anything about why they're willing to let people die. The Constitution they swore to support is the very one they're trying to destroy. Will future history books be praising the great leader Donald Trump or telling the truth about him? At least Benedict Arnold fought and bled for this country before he betrayed it. Trump never did the former and it's been a good deal for him to do the latter.

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You've written another fine essay, Heather. I would only add from here in northern California that the largest fire in California so far is twice the size of the Dixie Fire, at more than one million acres. The difference is that the Dixie fire is the largest single fire, while the largest combined one, the August Complex fire, was a blaze started by multiple lightning strikes in different places that merged into one. The Dixie Fire's single source was a tree that fell across PG & E power lines. The third largest single fire -- The Camp Fire -- that wiped out the town of Paradise, killed more than 80 people and sent PG & E into bankruptcy, also started from a PG & E power line failure. The location was about ten miles away from where the Camp fire started.

And here's a tip from my wife Mary Lou that's worth looking into. She and I both remember that about ten years ago, a bunch of Texas investors bought a controlling interest in PG & E. We all know that statewide, the Texas electrical system is substandard after that big ice storm and deep freeze killed scores of people last year. The question here as anger mounts against PG & E is whether the Texas brand of incompetence is now what is on display here in California. The headline in today's San Francisco Chronicle says "Dixie Fire rekindles mistrust of PG & E." The subhead reads "Critic says, 'They just don't learn from their mistakes.'"

PG & E came out a week or so ago with a plan to bury 10,000 miles of power lines, but that will take a lot of time to do and time is what we don't have anymore. There is quite a strong push here to cut to the chase and let the State of California mount a takeover and turn PG & E into a publicly owned utility.

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OK Democrats -- don't blow it now!

Pass the infrastructure bills -- then turn to voting rights in order to protect future elections.

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I want to take a break from returning to wildfires and draughts; children in the hospitals... and more that circulate in my mind. The vicious snarls of DeSantis and Abbott appear even when I walk in the park, clutching at trees with my eyes and smiling at young families. My bundle is seething. There is sadness and contemplation in it too. The earth is deeply wounded by the havoc of disregard, eruptions of gross ambitions with too little caring and scant regard for social accord.

'Governments prioritize their own energy and food needs, invest more in national security than in global development, and undercut international efforts to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases. In this future, carbon emissions will roughly double by the end of the century, hastening along with them the drastic array of catastrophic environmental effects linked to global warming, from the melting of the Arctic to heat waves that make whole regions uninhabitable to an intensification of the extreme droughts, wildfires and floods that have already blighted parts of the world this summer.'

'When some climate scientists speak casually, they categorize this imagined future as “Trump world,” a reference to former president Donald Trump’s rejection of climate science in favor of an aggressive nationalism that championed short-term economic growth over the looming calamities posed by a warming climate. But things don’t have to go that way.' (Todays World View, The Washington Post)

“Volusia County and Advent Health Orlando are finalizing the purchase of fleets of refrigerated mobile morgues amid Florida's COVID surge.” In Texas, Abbott today called on Texas hospitals to postpone elective procedures in order to clear more beds for Covid patients. The state’s health department is trying to find more health care workers to come to the state to help out. (Letter)

Malevolence, malevolence -- we are so sick of you.

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I feel Schumer is finally making headway. I have always wanted him to talk louder, get angry, you know…do the things that the Repubs are so good at. Instead, his soft demeanor seems to be coming in handy while negotiating with Repubs. Kinda shocking, really. We need every bit of the plans set forth to save our nation from hunger, disease, tyranny, homelessness, security, etc. I am trying not to get too optimistic because I am waiting for the wrench from Mitch to be thrown.

Something not mentioned is that a third Republican has joined the Select Committee. His name is Denver Riggleman, a former Congressman from Virginia. He is forthright about what happened on 1/6 and has always been a straight shooter. So rare for Repubs these days. He will be an adviser to the bipartisan panel.

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Not caring about the unnecessary illness and hospitalization of children in pursuit of one’s ideology is a record low.

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As a grandmother of a four year old who lives in TX, it scares me that so many little kids are getting sick.

I'm wondering if parents can sue the governor for depraved indifference if their kids get sick?

Again, it astonishes me that so many people just don't seem to understand that getting the vaccine is not only protecting yours and others, but you are showing your kids how to be responsible adults.

Too many selfish people.

Sad, truly sad.

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Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! This quote caught my eye: "Nonetheless, DeSantis and Abbott refuse to modify their ban on mask mandates, clearly seeing a strong stand on this issue as a political statement that they believe will win them Republican voters. But as infections and deaths, especially among children, rise, the wisdom of this move is not clear. " You would think these folks would be all in to protect their constituency from dying so they can vote for them when 2022 (and 2024) rolls around. But oh, wait. They're rigging the system with their voter suppression laws and jerrymandering, so no need to have majority numbers. Bless their hearts.

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Even though the world has been put on "code red" status by the U.N., Republicans will fight tooth-and-nail to preserve and expand the fossil fuel industry and further worsen Earth's plight. It saddens me beyond belief that there are millions and millions of people around the world who believe that sound science is nothing more than quackery. God help Joe Biden and the Democrats who believe in a better future through change. It is past the time to understand what we are facing.

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Hi everyone. This isn’t related to Heather’s post today (directly), but I just finished reading Caste: Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson, and I want to encourage this bright and caring group to read it. It made a deep impression on me; my mind and heart are full of the stories, concepts, and history I read. Has anyone else read it, and what did you think…? Thanks 😊

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Implicit in Heathers’ LfaA today is the political and cultural dichotomy of our times. It is exemplified in the willingness of the Republicans to increase the debt limit to accommodate their running “…up the debt during Trump’s term, adding $7 trillion to the debt while they slashed corporate taxes.” The benefit of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was supposed to trickle down to middle and lower classes, but instead they trickled up. Trump reportedly went around his guests at Mar-a-Lago bragging that it had made them very rich.

But when the Democrats want to raise the debt limit to accommodate their combined 4.5 trillion dollar infrastructure bills that would clearly benefit every American in multiple ways and our future survival, McConnell and his caucus are obstinate: NO.

“Damn the (filibuster and the debt limit); full speed ahead!”

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The Code RED from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change coupled with watching the people fleeing from devastating fires in Turkey, Greece and California giving credence to the Code RED is heart rendering. Between the pandemic, climate change, the rise of autocracy and the narcissism and greed of much of the human race it feels like we're not just seeing the death of democracy but the extinction of humans. Nature does not reward the stupid and right now it is saying that the survival of the fitness does not include humanity.

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In the city of Pittsburgh, US Steel was dead in the water during the depression. When World War Two broke out, the US Government funded the update and improvements to the mills to get the war production effort going. It created 100's of jobs and after the war the government sold the improvements back to US Steel for one dollar.

The mills provided jobs up through the 70's. By the early 80's the dumping by Japan and other steel producers put the mills out of business.

After US Steel closed all the mills in Pittsburgh the machinery was sold (for one dollar) and the machinery was updated by a private firm and sold to India, Korea, Brazil and other emerging manufacturing countries.

I am so tired of Republicans complaining about the government helping it's citizens when it has been subsidizing industry for decades.

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In the early part of the pandemic, some Fox News or other republican toady was advocating letting some old people die so people could go back to work. Now deSantis and Abbott seem to prefer allowing the sickening and death of children for their own political advancement. It’s hard not to be cynical about any republican motive.

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I cannot fathom the rationale of what the Republiqan governors are doing. It just does not make sense in any way, shape, or form. That party needs to die a quick and painful death so that we can, just maybe, survive this Code Red that we've created.

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Decorum prevents me from responding to Republicans who will refuse to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by refusing to vote for expanding the debt limit. The increase in debt we have already incurred as largely a result of the tax cuts passed repeatedly by Republicans without Democratic support. But now that we are making investments in the American people instead of simply cutting revenues to provide tax breaks to the wealthy, they have decided to be... well... bad people. Well, my feeling is f*** them. Democrats don't even bother asking for their permission or support, just pass it with reconciliation. And while your at it... Please end the damn filibuster. There is no need to continue to pretend there are any in the Republican party actually interested in governing responsibly.

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