Delta variant is rampant now in all 50 states. We are returning to being masked and cleaning our hands with antibacterial soap more often. Quite frankly, I personally never want to see one Repub ever win anything ever again
I once told a R candidate for county executive I could never vote for a republican again in my life when W was president because of all the lies and incompetence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today's Republicans make the Bush - Cheney administration look like a golden era of democracy compared to the Trump years. Charlie Dent was my Representative until he quit after trump was elected but not before he voted for the tax cuts and everything else the R's got through trump's first year. He sounds so reasonable on CNN but the reality is he took the money and ran rather than try and change the party from within. The dozens of other R's who did the same gave up on democracy by avoiding a primary battle and guaranteeing that radical anti-democracy Trump supporters could more easily take over what used to be a party and is now nothing more than a real life version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
I did the very same thing in 2020, when the former mayor of our town was soliciting votes door-to-door. He was an affable fellow, and had done a decent job in his role as mayor, but when he asked if he could count on my vote for the state senate, I told him there wasn't a chance in Hell, despite his good works, and that anyone who still clung to the Republican party with TFG as its leader must be considered a threat.
Poor guy, I felt a tiny bit sorry for him. He took it well, and I did tell him that he'd done a good job while in office, but if he wanted my support, he'd have to step over the line and become a Democrat.😜
Republicans don’t really have human constituents to look out for. Republicans have big donors like the Koch’s for that. Voters to them are just things to be lied to.
Same here! Pre-trump I used to vote split ticket, investigating the various candidates and picking the ones I thought would do the best job for the office they were running for. After the Rethuglicans chose trump and no one in the party, from national to tiny local towns denounced that horrible choice, I decided I would never vote for another one again.
Me, too!! I always did my research and would invariably vote a split ticket. I don’t see myself ever voting for a republican going forward.
I am still trying to figure out why I am receiving weekly flyers in the mail for republican candidates in a special election (there are 3 candidates and I received flyers for 2-3 of them every week for the last 6 weeks), and have received a grand total of zero for the two democrats on the ballot. 🤔😡
I have decided to start sending the political fliers from local (and good, except now gutless) Republicans back to them, with a $5 check, telling them why this is my last contribution unless I see them split off from trumpism.. Maybe $1.
The alternative party needs to change it's name. "Republican" has lost all meaning. The more proper label of trump and his base is Dictatorship wannabes?
But Lynell, our democracy is currently in the toilet. Our only saving grace is the Biden administration. The Supreme Court is a lost cause unless we convince Biden to add more justices and that time is now because Mitch has more dirty tricks up his sleeve. Morning, by the way!
Even then, it won't matter to me - a relief, possibly, but they contributed to the horror that we experience every day. From Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes, to trash like Gingrich and his ilk, the current "good" Republicans can never eradicate the stench from themselves.
I agree, but there are few in this crew who are demonstrating that they've learned a thing. Far too many Republicans have become addicted to the Kool Aid, and they blindly cling to the faulty dogma that they've adopted. Apparently, they're incapable of deductive reasoning. If Democrats behaved the way their opposition has for years, I'd run away screaming.
I'm loving the renewed "spunk" of writers replying today. btw, soap has always been antibacterial. Adding more antibacterial ingredients isn't necessary.
I hope news organizations and the Democratic party are stockpiling footage of anti-vax comments and statements emitted by hypocritical GOP politicians to use against them in upcoming election campaigns. Voters must understand how utterly dishonest these people are, and how false is their appparent change of heart.
I don't think they mind looking hypocritical. Think of how many times they've said something and later said the exact opposite. They have no shame. After all, they are copying the style of their favorite lord and savior, Donald T***p.
I'm afraid he is not the only top politician to indulge in linguistic summersaults as recent experience in France and Macron's position on obligatory vaccination and masks flopping in the wind.
The trumpist politicians have no difficulty with "hypocritical"....they love wild game safaris and the honourable contest between proud savage beasts and the M15 rifle....just like the Teddy Roosevelt of memory. If the don't understand the word in the first place there is little chance of them caring.
Good morning all! I'm going to lighten the tone a bit here, mostly because I think we are both in a terrible place and in a hopeful one and I am too wary about getting het up concerning either. I admit that Friday is my favorite day of the week (even though I am sort-of retired now this is still the truth) in part because I can almost ignore the news at the weekend, so the anticipation of some relief is great. Also, for those who are not aficionados of KC public radio, Friday evening includes the fabulous local program The Fish Fry with my colleague (he is the director of the amazing Marr Sound Archives) Chuck Haddix. https://www.kcur.org/show/fish-fry If you like blues, jazz, zydeco, funk--on public radio (!)--check it out.
So the death-eater cult of the Ghastly Obstructionist Party is now moaning about the non-vaccinated because they have come to realize that their own voters are now the most vulnerable to the disease they have spent the last 18 months pretending doesn't exist. It is amusing to see the deeply stupid MO governor, Mike Parson, looking a wee bit nervous now that his fave white supremacists in southern MO and his own district in the northern rural counties are overwhelming the health system. Parson's idiocy means that we in KC are also vulnerable because the dumbasses in the surrounding suburbs and exurbs have not been vaccinated either. Yesterday, 200+ "pastors and ministers" started pleading with "Christians" to get vaccinated--the irony of this has not escaped me, as they are claiming it is the "Christian duty" of all of their congregations to get vaccinated for the "good of the community". https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article252898078.html This after how many years of claiming that radical individualism is the way to go? Also, the subtextual messages are super interesting: are they implying that Jews and Muslims have already been vaccinated or are they hoping that we'll all get infected and die, leaving the Christian idyll they dream of? The group clearly did not include rabbis and imams in their messaging. Missouri remains weird.
In the meantime, some better news: the MO Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, smacked down the MO legislature and we are finally getting the Medicaid expansion the voters overwhelmingly supported in 2020. So at least something is happening that should happen.
The R’s have never cared about their supporters dying of covid. If I read HCR correctly, their new interest in vaccines is more about being afraid that too many surviving voters will now turn against them for killing Aunt Mary or Dad.
I'm more cynical than Heather - I think they're waking up to the fact that their already-minority party is losing voters, and they can't afford that, even with voter suppression.
Thank you for calling out the politicians and evangelicals in this about face of theirs. Nothing leaves a more bitter taste in my mouth than this rankest of all hypocrisy.
Good morning, Linda! We have a local show "Dead Air" on KLCC (also public radio) on Saturday nights. Deb features Grateful Dead in a two hour show. Lots of fun to listen to!
On a musical note, may I also suggest our wonderful classical station (which includes much more than Mozart and Bach) in Portland, OR, allclassical.org which is 24/7, 365, and can be streamed. They make an effort to help folks relax. Our latest battle, aside from getting them vaccinated, here in Salem, is with the use of Riverside Park without permits, by fundamental Christian groups who also spew hate with their message. The Proud Boys have been around on occasion as well. People are now putting pressure on the city to follow their own ordinances. Our masking has been lifted except in places like medical facilities. In Lane County a flurry of cases at an assisted living facility in Florence, probably brought in by an unvaccinated worker. Sigh.
We just celebrated the first birthday of our 24 hour classical station, which is a sister-station of KCUR: Classical KC. It is wonderful! And is building local programming into the regular stream schedule. I admit that my favorite of the streamed programs is Wednesday Extra Eclectic--all 20th and 21st century music, which as a person who grew up in a home that banned rock music (for real: my mother refused to allow us to listen to any of it, although she relented a bit by allowing Simon and Garfunkel 🙄; my grandmother was an opera diva--coloratura soprano) I never thought I liked but I absolutely LOVE.
Nice to know you have a 24 hour classical station which seems to be pretty rare these days. My mother did not like rock and roll at all and it took me a while to appreciate classical music. Times here are PST: modern composers, Saturday 9-10, The Score, movie music, Saturday and Sundays in the afternoon, my favorite, Sunday Brunch, Sundays, 10-1 usually around a theme and may include a recipe from a local chef. During the Met season, opera on Saturday 9 or 10 am depending on the length of the opera. The rest of the time it is the wonderful Ed Goldberg playing a lot of Americana and more.
We have basically zero classical stations down here now. It's hard to fathom how a metro area of about 6.5 million people (Atlanta) cannot even find its way to having a station that plays classical music. IF they do, it is only very late at night. (OF COURSE, you can stream it, but what happened to getting decent music THROUGH THE ETHER??) The rest of the time it's mainly just non-stop talk, or constantly dwelling on Atlanta's "diversity". No more "music by a bunch of long dead old white dudes", which is how I once heard it referred to. Right. Just insult how I used to make my living. I grew up with the Met Opera broadcasts--they were my oxygen!--now not one station in Atlanta carries the Met. (I have to listen online via OTHER classical stations around the country.) Now, when I say "station" in Atlanta, I mean one with a halfway strong signal. It is aggravating!!
I miss that so much expecially with Atlanta traffic. Listening to our symphony and chorus was always so calming. I am so bored by most of their talk radio substitutions.
It seems to be an attempt to try to counter conservatives ruling the airwaves with their talk radio, so NPR stations have now largely ditched music programming to fight it. I'm glad they're trying to give folks an alternative (and more truthful, usually) viewpoint on news and events, but I just hate that it had to come at the expense of the music I know and love.
I am sorry about the situation there. Our station keeps telling us how rare they are. They are wonderful, very much attuned to the community. We have been able to stream them and hear quite well while in Chicago and overseas. I might add that all classical has a very broad definition of what that is. They make an effort to include works by a wide range of composers, living and dead, and not all white or male either. Same with artists. They have the five o'clock favorite, suggested by listeners, to get commuters home and the Wednesday Wander for those who want to get outside and wander with the music.
Yes, he is from Yamhill, so an Oregonian. I will vote for whomever the Ds nominate. The R party here by in large, has gone the bonkers route. Kate Brown has had a thankless job and she is not popular and likely thankful that she will be no longer have to make the hard decisions. So the fundamentalists want to hold their service now in the state capitol mall park. There is some question about permits, but since they are not petitioning the government or protesting the government, they may need one. So far unresolved as far as I can tell. It is clear that the people in charge wish they did not have this problem. We will see what happens.
Thanks, Linda. And she is right about The Fish Fry! Sadly, there are churches (some of my relatives attend) which warned congregations it showed a lack of faith to take the vaccine. How will they turn that around?
And, I am also celebrating the Medicaid expansion (again) and hope it finally moves forward to help so many.
Although my comment was a bit flip in its wording, it does seem to me that anyone who believes in a Gd who created/creates the world - such as the people in the church in question - has to acknowledge that science is part of that world. Certainly there is evil in this world, and we have to recognize that whether or not we can explain it (which I can't). The breakfast I just ate was cooked by me, from food grown by people working on farms and transported by people working in trucks. I thank Gd before and after eating it for the entire chain of being that brought it to me. Life-saving vaccines are as much a gift from Gd as the food we eat. Making both available to everyone is important. As a person of faith, rejecting public health measures makes no sense whatsoever.
If voluntary measures (vaccination, renewed mask wearing and attempts at crowd avoidance) fail to halt the spread of Covid19, particularly its extremely contagious Delta variant, mandatory measures will start to come back into play, since those who do not do these things voluntarily, whether they get sick or not, endanger everyone else to some extent. Such measures would be difficult to enforce since their politicization would be unavoidable, despite many hypocrites (like the clergy mentioned above and some Republicans) starting to dislike what they see when they look in a mirror.
Mandatory anything (masks, vaccinations, etc.) will not happen in the states that need them most. Today’s paper had a story about Governor DeathSantis doubling down on not requiring masks even in schools. And nursing home staff here are less vaccinated than almost every state and the residents are contracting COVID and in some cases, dying. But he still won’t require staff to get vaccinated.
I’m really worried about elementary schools and kids under 12. I’m worried about all unvaccinated kids and families. We know what’s coming. Even if everyone got a shot today, they need a 2nd shot in 30 days to get to 88~94% protection. We can not stop what is coming. It is the fault of Republicans anti government, anti vaccine message. It’s gonna get worse before it get better.
It’s definitely a pattern for all respiratory viruses. But even more dangerous when novel. Every few months a new variant of concern has raised the stakes. Can we now talk about what happened in the fall of 1918?
A couple of days ago on one of the morning news programs it was reported that there were 23,000 new pediatric cases of Covid19. This morning, our local news station reported on a lawsuit filed against the mask mandate in California for school kids. Reasons reported, among others, that "there is no scientific evidence that masks protect from Covid". I'm hoping the court will toss the suit forthwith.
And let’s not forget the focus of the GOP on the unborn. Another chance to prosecute a female in many red states if the virus should cause a miscarriage.
You are in the midst of his cruel and unusual punishment of the people. We feel it with you and with all Americans suffering as a result of the country's politics in extremis.
Those who refuse vaccination and won't wear masks have made their own decisions and deserve whatever ever happens to them. But that should not apply to those to whom they spread the virus in schools, nursing homes and elsewhere. That is where government must step in. Even in a backward place like Florida, that will happen after the 2022 governor's race, if the Democrats don't shoot themselves in the foot, as they often do.
Mandatory measures can only work as part of a public education campaign that convinces most people to act voluntarily. There has to be both. If those death cult politicians had joined "it has to be voluntary" with an emphatic " and everyone even the least bit patriotic has to choose to do it, " so many people dead from covid would now be alive.
To enable a political and economic structure to survive, in addition to saving millions of lives, democracy may have to temporarily take a back seat. Those "death cult politicians" and those who support them are made possible by our democracy. Jim Jordan and his kind were legitimately elected by the people who voted for them.
Jack, would you say Brian Kemp was 'legitimately elected' governor in 2018? He got a majority of votes that were cast - but his margin was far less than the number of voters he purged before the election. Similar applies to many office holders in voter suppression states.
The man should be arrested for illegal possession of excess talent. Everyone watched Stephen Fry as "Jeeves" but it was Laurie's "Wooster" that made the show. The only comedian I can compare him to is Stan Laurel.
For me, it was Laurie's reoccurring roles in Rowan Atkinson's "Black Adder" series that sealed him as a genius in my mind, along with my spirit animal Stephen Fry (I have devoured ALL his books!). I was so fortunate to be living in Europe and having access to the BBC to watch "A Bit of Fry & Laurie", which was their weekly variety show, plus first-runs of "Black Adder" (one of the funniest shows ever on television, IMO!), in addition to "Absolutely Fabulous" and "French & Saunders". There were some others too that never really made it over here to "the colonies". I sure do miss those golden years of BBC comedy!!
Yeah all of those. I always wished Black Adder hadn't jumped from George III to World War I - I think they could have done something really fabulous with the period of Gladstone-Disraeli. Doing Queen Elizabeth I as a ditz was pure genius.
Queenie and Nursie used to have me in stitches! Actually, I think the Regency era ones are some of the funniest and wittiest episodes. Yes, it does make one wonder what they could've done with the Victorian era, but I did like the WW I setting--Fry's General and "Capt. Darling" were hysterical...and poor Baldrick. As you can tell I am a HUGE fan of British humour!!
Thank you KCMO Linda: I’m another Linda, but from STL side—you brilliantly articulated our sad state of Missouri with Gov. Hee-Haw and the Repub Legislature. It was a wonderful day yesterday (Thursday) that at least our Supreme Court vindicated “we the people.”
Good morning, Linda! Thanks for the link to The Fish Fry; I'll be tuning in tonight and tapping my toes, since those are some of my favorite music genres.
None of this means anything to Trump supporters. They live in their own world where every argument in support of their political heros can change with the weather.
It's the determination of the rest of us, Republicans without a party, Independents, Democrats, moderates and progressives of every type to be a coalition for democracy with solutions to our growing existential challenges.
Splitting our vote or staying home worrying that someone isn't or is too progressive is like turning down the covid19 vaccinations because they were created quickly and haven't been around as long as the smallpox and polio vaccines.
“It's the determination of the rest of us, Republicans without a party, Independents, Democrats, moderates and progressives of every type to be a coalition for democracy with solutions to our growing existential challenges.”
I guess now that Republican politicians and pundits realize that their anti-vax position is killing off their revenue stream they're urging their faithful to get vaccinated. It's all about the money...
I think that the Republican politicians and pundits realize that convincing their followers to refuse the vaccine is causing their supporters to die. That could lead to a shortage of Republican voters in the next election. It's all about the power too.
PACS. Maybe DT uses the 75 million as leverage on the billionaire class to fund those PACs to fund the candidates he chooses? Weird stuff going on behind those doors.
The stock market responded negatively to the news of increased COVID infections throughout he United States. That's what caused GOP legislators to call for increased vaccinations among the MAGA crowd. Increased infections are not good for business and campaign donations.
I agree with the sentiment that whatever results in more people getting vaccinated is a good thing. I am ok with sending out press gangs and holding them down while recruiting them to the ranks of the vaccinated by force. Whatever it takes.
What is the procedure for impeaching a sitting Supreme Court justice? If McGahn is behind gagging the FBI, he should be disbarred. And, Susan Collins better be hiding in the corner hoping her constituents will not remember her vote in the Kavanaugh hearings, etc.
So shameful. Thanks for the link. In addition to a complete lack of investigation of Kavanaugh’s possible sexual misconduct, there has been no investigation (or no news of such) about how his debts disappeared.
“Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils. How could they better gratify this, than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the union?”- Alexander Hamilton, 1788 ( from The Road to Unfreedom, opener to chapter 6.
We underestimate the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Most real estate businesses cratered and so should have the former guy, Kushner Properties, and so many other real estate businesses. But they didn't. Banks would not lend to them. How did they survive? Who threw them the lifeline of credit and sales at inflated prices?
Yes, and Olear's definition of "Devil's Triangle" immediately brought to mind Christine Blasey Ford's accusations against Kavanaugh and "the other guy" in the bedroom with him.
It was chilling to see his face twist in righteous indignation, continually bleating that he was in the top percentage of his class at Yale, as if that was proof of his superlative character, and his blatant disrespect of Amy Klobuchar when she asked about his drinking. Amy's cool handling of his rage served to magnify his utter lack of character. I decided then that regardless of the validity of his accuser (I believed every word that Blasey Ford said), Kavanaugh lacked the temperament to be on the Court.
Until recently, I was foolish enough to think Chris Wray was decent, but should have factored in his political party and that he'd agreed to work under the most base monster to ever occupy the White House.
Wray stood up to T, to his credit, and did say after the election and responding to T's insistence that he'd won, that there has never been a more secure election, no (wide spread) fraud, Biden had won.
I read this too Pam--and hoping that some reckoning is going to happen. The financial situation is, as Jeanne points out, also "interesting" as he lives in a Mcmansion he could in no way afford. The only SCOTUS justice to be impeached was Samuel Chase in 1804 (yes--I had to look this up: I knew there was at least one), but he was not removed because he was acquitted by the Senate. Sound familiar?! https://www.fjc.gov/history/timeline/samuel-chase-impeached
Excellent work Margaret. I don't know if the WH of Justice Department can have the investigation reopened and be a real investigation. Here are two of the latest reports I could find on the matter.
NWLC Responds to FBI and Trump White House’s Mishandling of Kavanaugh Investigation
I read somewhere and now frustratingly I cannot find it, but it said that after the FBI gives their information to the WH on background checks, they can ask more or if there is something questionable or the President can just OK it going through. I read it assuming it is similar to how Trump overrode the background check for security clearance on Jared. This seemed a fishy way to Ok someone for the highest court. I also assumed that this information was not necessarily shared with the Senate Judicary committee. Whitehouse is trying to make a law limiting the amount of people from the WH who can discuss investigations with the DOJ, which sounds great unless they are both corrupt and in it together. This also makes me wonder about how the idea to tell people to call the FBI tip line came about if they were just dumping it in the WH without any followup. Certainly doesn't seem ethical, but is there something illegal being it was involved in a Congressional confirmation?
I am not prone to guesswork except as a way to seek out sources. My thought is to stick with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's office. What is the senator doing about this matter as well as asking what avenue or avenues are available for examination of the handling by the previous administration of this matter and whether either or both the White House and Department of Justice have the authority to open investigation of this matter? What happened to the 4,500 tips? Does the FBI have a record of them? There's smoke Margaret. I'm off now but will keep in touch if I have any news.
Meanwhile, and on a related topic, Terry Gross had a captivating interview with Ron Brownstein of The Atlantic regarding the GOP state voter laws. Most importantly, and apparently, to address THESE laws, our ONLY course of action is at the federal level. For states not yet affected, we must elect Dems to control as many state legislatures as possible. This is very problematic, because of the gerrymandered boundaries for state house and senate seats.
On the federal level, to address those states who have already acted, Brownstein stated that Dems and liberals must support the Manchin compromise in order to enlist SInema AND make the serious effort to recruit the necessary 10 Republicans WHILE at the same time holding the card labelled ‘Fillibuster’ as the last card on the table, should the Manchin compromise fail to garner the necessary Republican support. Apparently, we have no other choice re: these statewide attempts.
What this means to me is to rally my friends and family to call their Dem Senators to publicly state their support of Manchin’s efforts while stating the threat to Democracy of these state efforts. As well, we must call Republican Senators to support this compromise, and state the same. Regarding the Republicans, imho, calls would be most effective to specific Republican Senators in AL, ME, NC, LA, NE, UT, PA, FL (Rubio), OH, and WI.
Also, I feel it worthwhile to connect with one’s local Dem party, where others may feel inspired to launch a campaign to save our Democracy by tackling this specific effort. A letter written to the editor of the regional daily newspaper would be helpful, as well as calls to the producers of the local NPR outlet, to cover the story from its state perspective, or have the local call-in program feature this issue.
Of all of the above action items, I feel it most valuable to become active in your upcoming, local Democratic Party meeting, to express your willingness to help organize all of the above.
Thx for this list, Ellie! My county Dems will be meeting next week by zoom. I will report to the group on their effort to mount a campaign for Senators King and Collins in Maine, as well as request Maine Public Broadcasting to feature this issue on their daily call-in radio show. And I will commit to sending out messages to my friends and family to join their local Dems group
Morning, Ellie!! I attended a Zoom meeting last evening of my local Catoctin district for our upcoming gubernatorial election (Nov 2021). As well, on the ballot will be Democratic challenger Paul Siker to Republican's Dave LaRock for House of Delegate District 33. I will be writing postcards. I have been donating, too! Let me see what else your links can lead me to do!
Frederick, if you think there’s ANY chance of Rubio getting on board, I’m afraid you’re delusional. I say that with no hostility, but living here in Florida and having written multiple letters to Marco, I know that as a fact. I do agree with your recommendation to get involved with your local Democratic Party. I was in a Zoom meeting with mine as we are working to find out how we can legally register new voters, especially on college campuses.
THE issue to place tremendous pressure on Marco (not Mario), and justify the use of the filling-buster as he turns his back on the citizens of Florida. You gotta make the effort and be visible, loud and “make trouble"
While I appreciate your stance and this is not only the best avenue available but the only one. I am reminded that the DNC is a corporation that is NOT beholden to its voters.
Rather than reflecting on the consternation everyday voters are having over the conduct of the Democratic presidential primary, the Democratic National Committee is doubling down on the assertion that the primary election belongs to the people who control the party -- not voters. 2017.
For this reason I support ranked choice voting to eliminate the corrupt two party system and expand the field.
Maine instituted Ranked Choice Voting for the Congressional and Gubernatorial elections of 2018, and it is a rousing success! The Maine Democratic Party was the driving force behind this initiative, spurred on previously by the Green Independent Party of Maine and the efforts of clean elections supporters.
I’ll put my energy into efforts which bring the most result, and I have found that in a small state like Maine, the Democratic Party is still responsive to those who show up. If you don’t show up, you don’t have a voice. In larger states, perhaps the Dems are more beholden to large donors. But as we have seen in large states, the Congressional victories of progressives like AOC (NY), Cori Bush (MO), Jamaal Bowman (NY), Barbara Lee (CA) and Raul Grijalva (AZ) all show that outsiders can win a seat with the big boys (and big girls, now!!
I live in a red state (IN) and have become so disillusioned. I’m 66 and ready to flee my state. My state rep Chris Campbell is awesome but she’s out numbered by vicious red vipers who have passed open carry laws, voter suppression laws and relaxed regulations for protecting wetlands in the most polluted state in the Midwest. It’s very sad here.
It is. Truly disheartening. A little story that wasn’t officially reported on here but my local Nextdoor had a debate about it. We have a small water park. Someone wanted to know why patrons were seen fleeing the park. Turns out some entitled yayhoo thought it would be amusing? A show of strength? To walk around the park open carrying an assault rifle. While parents then panic and try to protect their kids. But he didn’t break any laws or do anything wrong. What is wrong with us?
Carla, I empathize with you. I am glad you are ready to leave. I have a thought for you to consider -please consider moving temporarily to a vital state for 2022. I ask you to consider ... Pennsylvania, on the northern edge of greater Pittsburgh (a dynamic small city). You would be near the OH border; two US Senate races and two US House races would be within ten miles. I’m speaking w my wife about taking a rental in this area, because it is my home area, I love the area, and it is VITAL for our future. The PA candidate is Lt Gov. John Fetterman, and the OH candidate is Rep. Tim Ryan. Just tuck this away in your thinking cap, if you would ....
In California, there are a number of municipalities which use ranked choice voting (RCV) for local elections and efforts continue to bring it about in others. Last year, an initiative petition for RCV failed to make it to the statewide ballot, and in 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a legislative bill to allow cities, counties and school districts to implement RCV. The Ca. League of Women Voters supported that bill and our local League continues to work on the issue as part of a coalition.
Hey, Carla. I'm interested in having ranked choice voting, too. In the meantime, in lieu of the DNC, who/what would be the best way to donate to the candidate of your choice?
I never donate to actblue. I always donate directly to the candidate. As I understand it (I could be wrong) actblue designates where funds go, per their corporate agenda.
Actually that’s not entirely correct. ActBlue acts like a processing center/clearing house for candidates. Once you have an ActBlue account, if a candidate asks for a donation, you can donate directly to them through the ActBlue account. I do that quite a bit.
I don’t like donating via act blue but my US rep, Angie Craig, uses it and if I click on her donate button from her web page or anywhere else, I go to the Actblue website. So I have to live with having an Actblue acct. or remember to send in a check. Using Actblue gets it done. The only time Actblue uses money “their” way, is when they are doing the fundraising directly on behalf of candidates that usually the DNC has designated as key races. Actblue is a processing center for specific candidates AND groups of candidates they want to support. They will ask for a “tip” to support admin costs. I usually pay that too- annoying but important service that helps my rep raise more. The RNC spent millions here in 2020- fifth closest Congressional race in the country.
As you write, the 'tip' supports admin costs and ensures the entire donation you give is received in toto. Sort of like pre-paying the percentage cost charged to businesses accepting credit cards instead of the business paying the 3%(?). You can choose the tip amount or give no tip. Emily's List is among those entities which used ActBlue. I trust them and when I donate through ActBlue (usually referred there from the entity's Donate page), I receive email acknowledgement of the donation and a second one for the 'tip' amount.
I'm reminded of the story of the American Communist leader who picketed the White House weekly opposing US involvement in World War II during the period of the Stalin-Hitler Pact. He was out front of the White House on picket duty on June 22,. 1941, when a friend came up and told him the news that Hitler had just invaded the Soviet Union. He left and was back 30 minutes later with a new sign: "Second Front Now!" Given how totalitarian the collection of clucks we have to be embarrassed to call "opponents" are, they operate like Big Brother's party: "We have always been at war with East Asia." And Trump forces them to say he's raised four fingers when he's only raised three.
I think if we don't lose heart - and we stop listening to the over-educated under-intelligent over-privileged white boys of the Washington Press Corpse and the Cretin News Network - that we will beat them. Look at how Pelosi has in 24 hours turned the Okiefornian Dumbass McQarthy into what James Carville tonight called "a quivering mass of protoplasm" as she continues to walk all over him while he steps on his own wee-wee. In World War II we were lucky to be fighting the Nazis, who were led by a moron. This time the enemy is led by another moron. By this time next year, El Blobbo del Mar A Lardo is either going to be sitting in court charged with one of his numerous crimes, in the looney bin after the Alzheimer's he's following his father with becomes even more prominent, or six feet under from that one too many hamberders. He and fellow sex offender Bill O'Lielly aren't selling too many tickets to their Fleece The Rubes Tour.
I'm currently reading James Holland's "The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History May-October 1940" (which is where all the recent references to bamboozled French generals have been coming from). We're not facing anything as bad as they did, or the Union did in the first six months of 1863.
"...and we stop listening to the over-educated under-intelligent over-privileged white boys of the Washington Press Corpse and the Cretin News Network." My husband prefers to call these people "educated idiots."
We have to remember that we are still the majority. It's hard for me to imagine that would change against our favor unless Biden really screws up. And it's possible that we will gain more in numbers as things either start to get better or people realize it's not going to get better unless they follow the Democratic line, the the repubs have misled them. It will be interesting to see if and how much that number shifts.
Correction: The fleece the rubes tour is properly called
"The His Story Tour," because well, we know that it will consist of the same whining rant aka the big lie. What boggles the mind is the notion that anyone at all would fork over 100 or 300 bucks for the privilege of listening to these two old têtes de noeuds.
I go to French sometimes to avoid the language police. Recently, in a neighborhood communique I conveyed my dismay about something in English and was told not to use fowl (sic) language. The admonition was broadcast to the neighborhood via 'reply all'. I had to slink around for days...
True story... Waiting for my partner to exit from the clinic after a Dr. appointment yesterday, I got into a conversation with an older gentleman in a wheelchair. "I can't understand," he said, "why people won't get vaccinated." The conversation ended with a thud when I replied, "It's a religious thing. They're following the teachings of Saint Donald."
Those Republicans choosing trembling fealty to Trump in the hope he will help fund their electoral campaigns are delusional. His well documented history of a lack of interest in funding anything beyond his own self-interests should be clear to all. I am however unsurprised their lemming like eagerness to hurl themselves off the cliff of irrationality. It seems this is now qualifying characteristic of membership in the Republican party.
I’d wager that you are right Bruce. DT is not giving up any of that $75 million. He needs it to pay rent and eat at Mara Lardo.
I'll wager Desantis losses the Florida Governor’s race after this Delta wave decimates Florida. 25,000 reported cases in one day in Florida this week is a canary, that community spread of delta is much more widespread, a lot asymptomatically... So I'd would also wager we will see here soon 100,000 new cases a day in Florida. This is how exponential growth curve models work. After 18 months of waiting, Florida Hospitals, like the rest of the US, are 60% to 80% full of patients that put off critical procedures, so not covid, but they are recovering. These vulnerable are sitting ducks, while new Covid patients flood the hospitals.
Ill wager that soon Florida Hospitals will resemble a MASH unit. I don't see how Crisis Standards of Care operations wont be Florida's near future. 10 million are unvaccinated in Florida, leaving the possibility of a flood of desperate and sure to die, only increasing the mortality rate.
I see protests of the angry outside Versailles! Oops I mean Maga Lardo!
I hope you’re right right about DeathSantis losing. I’m not confident that the voters here will “see the light” but if too many of them die, maybe we’ll have a chance!
Calculating that former guy is not going to let go of that $75 million for anyone, let alone Deathsantis. Once former guy is out of cash, and unable to raise more because his followers will once their loved ones die in masse, he wont have a base to fund from. He is facing more lawsuits too. I bet he catches a flight to Moscow.
$75 million in Republican donations since Jan 6th. But the former guy has not funded anyone else’s campaign with any of it yet. And he alone controls that money. so it’s no wonder why the sycophants keep towing his line of demagoguery, they are desperate for funding dispersal to execute their campaigns.
I don’t think he will fund anyone. No banks will lend to him. Loans payments are due. Under Federal and NY scrutiny he’s not able to sell grossly inflated condoS to dark foreign shell LLCs (Russian oligarchs/Putin’s cash). He’s under indictment and hated in NYC. He’s using that 75 million for living expenses and debt service like a snorkel. But the traffic cone of treason is headed for the deep waters of bankruptcy. He has de frauded the entire country. Sorry Republicans but you have been played.
I've been thinking all along that the only punishment we can probably count on is his looming bankruptcy. Frankly, his sycophants will get exactly what they deserve - nothing.
I’m sure he paying his own “campaign costs and legal bills and such. I hear he’s still charging security detail exorbitant amounts to stay at his properties.
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! For me, it's all about this November's election for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General in the State of Virginia.
Terry McAuliffe(D) is challenging Glenn Youngkin(R) for Governor of the state. Also on the Democratic ballot will be Hala Ayala for Lt. Governor and Mark Herring (incumbent) for Attorney General. If they have a "D" next to their name, I will vote for them.
McCaullife(D) served as Governor from 2014 to 2018, but Virginia law allows you can hold office for only one term, so he could not run in the 2018 election. This is Youngkin(R)'s first entre into politics. He is an independently wealthy guy who has poured mega bucks into his campaign. You can see the results of this by his tv ads on display several times a day, with McAuliffe notably absent on the screen. Still, I am hopeful.
My eyes are really on the battle for House of Delegates in my district, 33. Paul Siker is the Democratic challenger to incumbent's Dave LaRock (R) who has served since I believe 2014 in that seat. Among his accomplishments, he was present on the Capitol grounds January 6, calling for VP Pence to nullify Virginia's electoral college votes. Basically, though, LaRock believes in less government, preferring to block legislation rather than pursuing programs to help Virginians (my take).
Personally, I am glad that he refused to resign. Among other things under his leadership, Virginia has abolished the death penalty, repealed voter ID laws, made Election Day a state holiday and expanded access to early voting.
So that's what's going on (politically) in my neck of the woods.
Morning, Lynell! Sounds like your state politics will be interesting. Ours will be as well, since our Democratic Governor is term-limited. I sincerely hope that we continue to have a Democrat in that office. My local Republiqan friends are standing on the fact that they haven't been able to elect a non Democratic governor as evidence of "voter fraud". They really get testy when I suggest that it is because of their politics, not the party...
Afternoon, Ally!! I hope you get your wish when it comes time for your next gubernatorial election! In the meantime, hoping Oregon's heat dome has gone by now. And that the fires are under control?
I’m concentrating my efforts for Stuart Navarre to defeat Rob Whitman in the 1st District of Virginia. Rob was a good guy pre Tea Party but devolved into supporting the Texas lawsuit and voting against the peaceful transfer of power following the 1/6 insurrection. The district is horribly gerrymandered and I hope to see some change in the fall.
This reflection was written by a local Mérida woman, Rosa Soares. Rosa has been providing daily Corona Virus updates for the state of Yucatán, in translation, since the beginning of the pandemic. Rosa provides these daily updates as a commitment to the community. When the pandemic struck, Rosa was forced to close her Market Tour business, transitioning her business page to a page devoted to solid Corona Virus information. Today, Rosa devotes her energy to her family, including schooling her son, and her community. No matter where on earth you live, Rosa's efforts exemplify and define what it means to be a patriot.
"My reflection of the day:
Many have ancestors who went to fight in wars and battles, in hope for a better future for their family, country and world.
Many have parents and ancestors who voyaged across stormy oceans, both literally and metaphorically, to immigrate to a new land for a better future for their family.
Many wake up and go to work, stick at a job that they hate to provide for their family.
Many have taken the covid-19 vaccine for a better future for their family, friends, work colleagues, and humanity.
We might not be on a battlefield in trenches fighting against an enemy, fearing death by a bullet. We might not have braved the sea and new cultures for a better life for our family. We might not even hate the job we go to everyday but what we can do today is take a vaccine for the greater good of humanity. Taking two vaccines is minimal compared to the wars our ancestors fought so you and I, could live a better life today.
Today is time to repay our debt to humanity, by trying to do what is best.
No one wanted to risk their life to go to war... but they did.
No one wants to leave their homeland... but they do.
No one wants to have a vaccine... but we do, because it is the least we can do to honour the better life our ancestors fought for in wars, and in turn we have the vaccine hoping for a better future for our children.
So step up and take one for a better future, which we may not ever see."
Republicans and their cheering section at Fox News will find it very difficult to walk back their anti-science/anti-vaccination positions. The damage is done and the next wave of the Covid pandemic is now upon us.
You all may have seen this on TV: a guy in the hospital who survived covid being interviewed; he says he would NOT take the vaccine bc he doesn’t want it “shoved down his throat.” (The “propaganda” to take it.) You can’t fix stupid.
You're being unkind to the merely stupid. Supporting Trump is a new variant of stupidity sometimes referred to as "willful ignorance" or "biting off your nose to spite your face". There is no fix for that either.
I have a brother who has not gotten vaccinated yet. One thing that bothers me is that he doesn't mention this to people he is getting together with, i.e. family for one. Fortunately I heard it through the grapevine before a family gathering last week. Uggh.
I have only ever had one sibling and she lives in FL, I used to say ‘if we weren’t related, our paths would never cross’, however, after our parents and my hubby died, we have become closer and I try to see her annually (she comes ‘home’ very sporadically, too cold for her taste). Having said that, after I texted her an article about the Delta spike in her area and getting a response ‘I live here, I know that and life is scary’! and my question response ‘so did you get vaccinated’? ‘Nope’ ‘Please do so at earliest possible’ ‘ I thought you weren’t going to vacation shame me’ ‘It’s not that, I just don’t want to hear that you are sick and on your deathbed, dear one’
She sounds very much like my sisters in Florida, they did get vaccinated but were terribly careless before and now on vacation and don't wear masks. And they say GA is too cold for them!
as I was just about to post that this wave could open some eyes and make a space for idjt's widgets to reconsider getting vaxxed...it appears even Covid can't fix stupid.
Delta variant is rampant now in all 50 states. We are returning to being masked and cleaning our hands with antibacterial soap more often. Quite frankly, I personally never want to see one Repub ever win anything ever again
I once told a R candidate for county executive I could never vote for a republican again in my life when W was president because of all the lies and incompetence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today's Republicans make the Bush - Cheney administration look like a golden era of democracy compared to the Trump years. Charlie Dent was my Representative until he quit after trump was elected but not before he voted for the tax cuts and everything else the R's got through trump's first year. He sounds so reasonable on CNN but the reality is he took the money and ran rather than try and change the party from within. The dozens of other R's who did the same gave up on democracy by avoiding a primary battle and guaranteeing that radical anti-democracy Trump supporters could more easily take over what used to be a party and is now nothing more than a real life version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
I did the very same thing in 2020, when the former mayor of our town was soliciting votes door-to-door. He was an affable fellow, and had done a decent job in his role as mayor, but when he asked if he could count on my vote for the state senate, I told him there wasn't a chance in Hell, despite his good works, and that anyone who still clung to the Republican party with TFG as its leader must be considered a threat.
Good for you, Nancy. It must have left him a bit nonplussed!
Poor guy, I felt a tiny bit sorry for him. He took it well, and I did tell him that he'd done a good job while in office, but if he wanted my support, he'd have to step over the line and become a Democrat.😜
Republicans don’t really have human constituents to look out for. Republicans have big donors like the Koch’s for that. Voters to them are just things to be lied to.
Invasion of the Mind & Body Snatchers. Yes, I agree.
Good Morning, MaryPat. I hope that you have a great summer Friday.
Sharp and revealing analysis of those Republican hasbeens. Thank you, Lawrence.
Great analogy with "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
Same here! Pre-trump I used to vote split ticket, investigating the various candidates and picking the ones I thought would do the best job for the office they were running for. After the Rethuglicans chose trump and no one in the party, from national to tiny local towns denounced that horrible choice, I decided I would never vote for another one again.
Me, too!! I always did my research and would invariably vote a split ticket. I don’t see myself ever voting for a republican going forward.
I am still trying to figure out why I am receiving weekly flyers in the mail for republican candidates in a special election (there are 3 candidates and I received flyers for 2-3 of them every week for the last 6 weeks), and have received a grand total of zero for the two democrats on the ballot. 🤔😡
I have decided to start sending the political fliers from local (and good, except now gutless) Republicans back to them, with a $5 check, telling them why this is my last contribution unless I see them split off from trumpism.. Maybe $1.
Maybe tape a quarter to the flier?
Love it! Or a dime!
But be sure to tell them it's your last contribution. Great idea.
$1. Maybe a penny
Me, three, Kasumii and Cathy!
Morning, Marlene!! HCR says we need two parties to function as a democracy. But I hear you loud and clear!
The alternative party needs to change it's name. "Republican" has lost all meaning. The more proper label of trump and his base is Dictatorship wannabes?
Dictarians
You left out the "k" after the "c", Kim. ;-)
Libertarian Dicktarians…Libertardicks!
Both of these are good ones!
Good one!
Haha! You're right!
This too!
Hahaha
🤣
Then instead of Dems and Reps it will be Dems and … 😆
YES!
😂
Yup! 😂
Got it! Good one!
...Not Dems?
Kim, as in Dictator? I thought you meant.... 🤭
Love it!
Bravo! 🎉
Libertarian dictations. They have fooled the Eisenhower Republicans.
Made my day!!
We need a new second party.
2nd party of the people, not of the PACS.
One party is of the people. The other party is ONLY of the “PAC”.
Well, yeah, Ted. Yet, I don't think "they" will allow us to have two Democrat parties!
For decades I have said we need a party called the "Independents."
The Democrats are, by themselves, at least two parties.
Yes.
But Lynell, our democracy is currently in the toilet. Our only saving grace is the Biden administration. The Supreme Court is a lost cause unless we convince Biden to add more justices and that time is now because Mitch has more dirty tricks up his sleeve. Morning, by the way!
Morning, Marlene. I think the above comments have solved the problem of having a two-party system. I'm okay with that! Mine is Dems and Not Dems😁
But we don't need THIS repugnant party.
Maybe Liz Cheney, Bill Kristol, and some others like that will start a new one. I'm dreaming, but maybe...
Even then, it won't matter to me - a relief, possibly, but they contributed to the horror that we experience every day. From Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes, to trash like Gingrich and his ilk, the current "good" Republicans can never eradicate the stench from themselves.
I think people are capable of learning.
I agree, but there are few in this crew who are demonstrating that they've learned a thing. Far too many Republicans have become addicted to the Kool Aid, and they blindly cling to the faulty dogma that they've adopted. Apparently, they're incapable of deductive reasoning. If Democrats behaved the way their opposition has for years, I'd run away screaming.
I'm loving the renewed "spunk" of writers replying today. btw, soap has always been antibacterial. Adding more antibacterial ingredients isn't necessary.
I hope news organizations and the Democratic party are stockpiling footage of anti-vax comments and statements emitted by hypocritical GOP politicians to use against them in upcoming election campaigns. Voters must understand how utterly dishonest these people are, and how false is their appparent change of heart.
I don't think they mind looking hypocritical. Think of how many times they've said something and later said the exact opposite. They have no shame. After all, they are copying the style of their favorite lord and savior, Donald T***p.
I'm afraid he is not the only top politician to indulge in linguistic summersaults as recent experience in France and Macron's position on obligatory vaccination and masks flopping in the wind.
The trumpist politicians have no difficulty with "hypocritical"....they love wild game safaris and the honourable contest between proud savage beasts and the M15 rifle....just like the Teddy Roosevelt of memory. If the don't understand the word in the first place there is little chance of them caring.
Good morning all! I'm going to lighten the tone a bit here, mostly because I think we are both in a terrible place and in a hopeful one and I am too wary about getting het up concerning either. I admit that Friday is my favorite day of the week (even though I am sort-of retired now this is still the truth) in part because I can almost ignore the news at the weekend, so the anticipation of some relief is great. Also, for those who are not aficionados of KC public radio, Friday evening includes the fabulous local program The Fish Fry with my colleague (he is the director of the amazing Marr Sound Archives) Chuck Haddix. https://www.kcur.org/show/fish-fry If you like blues, jazz, zydeco, funk--on public radio (!)--check it out.
So the death-eater cult of the Ghastly Obstructionist Party is now moaning about the non-vaccinated because they have come to realize that their own voters are now the most vulnerable to the disease they have spent the last 18 months pretending doesn't exist. It is amusing to see the deeply stupid MO governor, Mike Parson, looking a wee bit nervous now that his fave white supremacists in southern MO and his own district in the northern rural counties are overwhelming the health system. Parson's idiocy means that we in KC are also vulnerable because the dumbasses in the surrounding suburbs and exurbs have not been vaccinated either. Yesterday, 200+ "pastors and ministers" started pleading with "Christians" to get vaccinated--the irony of this has not escaped me, as they are claiming it is the "Christian duty" of all of their congregations to get vaccinated for the "good of the community". https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article252898078.html This after how many years of claiming that radical individualism is the way to go? Also, the subtextual messages are super interesting: are they implying that Jews and Muslims have already been vaccinated or are they hoping that we'll all get infected and die, leaving the Christian idyll they dream of? The group clearly did not include rabbis and imams in their messaging. Missouri remains weird.
In the meantime, some better news: the MO Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, smacked down the MO legislature and we are finally getting the Medicaid expansion the voters overwhelmingly supported in 2020. So at least something is happening that should happen.
Happy Friday, all.
The R’s have never cared about their supporters dying of covid. If I read HCR correctly, their new interest in vaccines is more about being afraid that too many surviving voters will now turn against them for killing Aunt Mary or Dad.
I'm more cynical than Heather - I think they're waking up to the fact that their already-minority party is losing voters, and they can't afford that, even with voter suppression.
They are also losing donations.
A surge in covid will affect the stock market.
Exactly, and one of the reasons TFG refused to sound the Covid alarm.
Thank you for calling out the politicians and evangelicals in this about face of theirs. Nothing leaves a more bitter taste in my mouth than this rankest of all hypocrisy.
Good morning, Linda! We have a local show "Dead Air" on KLCC (also public radio) on Saturday nights. Deb features Grateful Dead in a two hour show. Lots of fun to listen to!
https://www.klcc.org/programs/dead-air
Only in Eugene... lol
You got that right!!
On a musical note, may I also suggest our wonderful classical station (which includes much more than Mozart and Bach) in Portland, OR, allclassical.org which is 24/7, 365, and can be streamed. They make an effort to help folks relax. Our latest battle, aside from getting them vaccinated, here in Salem, is with the use of Riverside Park without permits, by fundamental Christian groups who also spew hate with their message. The Proud Boys have been around on occasion as well. People are now putting pressure on the city to follow their own ordinances. Our masking has been lifted except in places like medical facilities. In Lane County a flurry of cases at an assisted living facility in Florence, probably brought in by an unvaccinated worker. Sigh.
We just celebrated the first birthday of our 24 hour classical station, which is a sister-station of KCUR: Classical KC. It is wonderful! And is building local programming into the regular stream schedule. I admit that my favorite of the streamed programs is Wednesday Extra Eclectic--all 20th and 21st century music, which as a person who grew up in a home that banned rock music (for real: my mother refused to allow us to listen to any of it, although she relented a bit by allowing Simon and Garfunkel 🙄; my grandmother was an opera diva--coloratura soprano) I never thought I liked but I absolutely LOVE.
Nice to know you have a 24 hour classical station which seems to be pretty rare these days. My mother did not like rock and roll at all and it took me a while to appreciate classical music. Times here are PST: modern composers, Saturday 9-10, The Score, movie music, Saturday and Sundays in the afternoon, my favorite, Sunday Brunch, Sundays, 10-1 usually around a theme and may include a recipe from a local chef. During the Met season, opera on Saturday 9 or 10 am depending on the length of the opera. The rest of the time it is the wonderful Ed Goldberg playing a lot of Americana and more.
We have basically zero classical stations down here now. It's hard to fathom how a metro area of about 6.5 million people (Atlanta) cannot even find its way to having a station that plays classical music. IF they do, it is only very late at night. (OF COURSE, you can stream it, but what happened to getting decent music THROUGH THE ETHER??) The rest of the time it's mainly just non-stop talk, or constantly dwelling on Atlanta's "diversity". No more "music by a bunch of long dead old white dudes", which is how I once heard it referred to. Right. Just insult how I used to make my living. I grew up with the Met Opera broadcasts--they were my oxygen!--now not one station in Atlanta carries the Met. (I have to listen online via OTHER classical stations around the country.) Now, when I say "station" in Atlanta, I mean one with a halfway strong signal. It is aggravating!!
I miss that so much expecially with Atlanta traffic. Listening to our symphony and chorus was always so calming. I am so bored by most of their talk radio substitutions.
It seems to be an attempt to try to counter conservatives ruling the airwaves with their talk radio, so NPR stations have now largely ditched music programming to fight it. I'm glad they're trying to give folks an alternative (and more truthful, usually) viewpoint on news and events, but I just hate that it had to come at the expense of the music I know and love.
Tell me, are these people ok with the living old white dudes in politics? Sorry, Bruce, just had to ask!
They're probably totally clueless...they would be the kind to care more about the music they listen to than who's running the country.
I am sorry about the situation there. Our station keeps telling us how rare they are. They are wonderful, very much attuned to the community. We have been able to stream them and hear quite well while in Chicago and overseas. I might add that all classical has a very broad definition of what that is. They make an effort to include works by a wide range of composers, living and dead, and not all white or male either. Same with artists. They have the five o'clock favorite, suggested by listeners, to get commuters home and the Wednesday Wander for those who want to get outside and wander with the music.
Hey, I just read that columnist Nickolas Kristof might run for Governor of Oregon. He’s be wonderful!
Yes, he is from Yamhill, so an Oregonian. I will vote for whomever the Ds nominate. The R party here by in large, has gone the bonkers route. Kate Brown has had a thankless job and she is not popular and likely thankful that she will be no longer have to make the hard decisions. So the fundamentalists want to hold their service now in the state capitol mall park. There is some question about permits, but since they are not petitioning the government or protesting the government, they may need one. So far unresolved as far as I can tell. It is clear that the people in charge wish they did not have this problem. We will see what happens.
Thanks, Linda. And she is right about The Fish Fry! Sadly, there are churches (some of my relatives attend) which warned congregations it showed a lack of faith to take the vaccine. How will they turn that around?
And, I am also celebrating the Medicaid expansion (again) and hope it finally moves forward to help so many.
Lack of faith? How about some faith in the amazing science that the good Lord gave us?
God did not give us science - scientists gave us science.
Although my comment was a bit flip in its wording, it does seem to me that anyone who believes in a Gd who created/creates the world - such as the people in the church in question - has to acknowledge that science is part of that world. Certainly there is evil in this world, and we have to recognize that whether or not we can explain it (which I can't). The breakfast I just ate was cooked by me, from food grown by people working on farms and transported by people working in trucks. I thank Gd before and after eating it for the entire chain of being that brought it to me. Life-saving vaccines are as much a gift from Gd as the food we eat. Making both available to everyone is important. As a person of faith, rejecting public health measures makes no sense whatsoever.
Because "the Lord works in mysterious ways"? Hey, just because He's God doesn't mean He can't change His mind every now and then, right?
Yes, She's flexible, Bruce. And "She" (thank you) seems to like variety.
She …. works in mysterious ways men will never understand
If voluntary measures (vaccination, renewed mask wearing and attempts at crowd avoidance) fail to halt the spread of Covid19, particularly its extremely contagious Delta variant, mandatory measures will start to come back into play, since those who do not do these things voluntarily, whether they get sick or not, endanger everyone else to some extent. Such measures would be difficult to enforce since their politicization would be unavoidable, despite many hypocrites (like the clergy mentioned above and some Republicans) starting to dislike what they see when they look in a mirror.
Mandatory anything (masks, vaccinations, etc.) will not happen in the states that need them most. Today’s paper had a story about Governor DeathSantis doubling down on not requiring masks even in schools. And nursing home staff here are less vaccinated than almost every state and the residents are contracting COVID and in some cases, dying. But he still won’t require staff to get vaccinated.
I’m really worried about elementary schools and kids under 12. I’m worried about all unvaccinated kids and families. We know what’s coming. Even if everyone got a shot today, they need a 2nd shot in 30 days to get to 88~94% protection. We can not stop what is coming. It is the fault of Republicans anti government, anti vaccine message. It’s gonna get worse before it get better.
Agree! Who’s to say that the next variant doesn’t focus on killing kids, the last group to infect?
It’s definitely a pattern for all respiratory viruses. But even more dangerous when novel. Every few months a new variant of concern has raised the stakes. Can we now talk about what happened in the fall of 1918?
exactly
A couple of days ago on one of the morning news programs it was reported that there were 23,000 new pediatric cases of Covid19. This morning, our local news station reported on a lawsuit filed against the mask mandate in California for school kids. Reasons reported, among others, that "there is no scientific evidence that masks protect from Covid". I'm hoping the court will toss the suit forthwith.
Could the American Academy of Pediatrics be wrong? hardly. Here's a press release recommending masks for all kids. Vaccinated or not. All kids.
https://services.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2021/children-ages-2-and-up-who-arent-fully-vaccinated-should-continue-to-wear-face-masks/
And let’s not forget the focus of the GOP on the unborn. Another chance to prosecute a female in many red states if the virus should cause a miscarriage.
And all the pregnant women or those who recently gave birth who could not been vaccinated yet.
It already is.
https://www.wjcl.com/amp/article/i-have-lost-my-best-friend-dad-says-after-5-year-old-georgia-boy-dies-from-covid-19/37111557
It’s a dangerous state to live in and yet people are moving here in large numbers daily.
I’m happy to hear the cruise lines are taking our Governor to court over vaccine passports.
You are in the midst of his cruel and unusual punishment of the people. We feel it with you and with all Americans suffering as a result of the country's politics in extremis.
Those who refuse vaccination and won't wear masks have made their own decisions and deserve whatever ever happens to them. But that should not apply to those to whom they spread the virus in schools, nursing homes and elsewhere. That is where government must step in. Even in a backward place like Florida, that will happen after the 2022 governor's race, if the Democrats don't shoot themselves in the foot, as they often do.
Mandatory measures can only work as part of a public education campaign that convinces most people to act voluntarily. There has to be both. If those death cult politicians had joined "it has to be voluntary" with an emphatic " and everyone even the least bit patriotic has to choose to do it, " so many people dead from covid would now be alive.
To enable a political and economic structure to survive, in addition to saving millions of lives, democracy may have to temporarily take a back seat. Those "death cult politicians" and those who support them are made possible by our democracy. Jim Jordan and his kind were legitimately elected by the people who voted for them.
Jack, would you say Brian Kemp was 'legitimately elected' governor in 2018? He got a majority of votes that were cast - but his margin was far less than the number of voters he purged before the election. Similar applies to many office holders in voter suppression states.
As I said somewhere recently, Democracy has an Achilles heel and its foes have found it, and use it to suppress it by what passes for legal methods.
If you want what Chuck does 24/7, you want WWOZ - all N'Awlins all the time.
https://www.wwoz.org/ - blues, jazz, zydeco, funk
If you want great jazz 24/7, go to KKJZ: https://www.kkjz.org/
If you want proof Hugh Laurie should be declared illegal for possessing way too much talent, check this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXGMYpBilrY&t=2476s
(stick around for the duet with Tom Jones and get your mind blown)
or this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOiTxr5nw0&list=PL3KpIUy03TWEeGSwy6kOkfsaQM0Fe-3-5
I have Hughs first CD of Delta Blues--he played all the theme music for all of his TV programs both in the UK and here, you know.
The man should be arrested for illegal possession of excess talent. Everyone watched Stephen Fry as "Jeeves" but it was Laurie's "Wooster" that made the show. The only comedian I can compare him to is Stan Laurel.
For me, it was Laurie's reoccurring roles in Rowan Atkinson's "Black Adder" series that sealed him as a genius in my mind, along with my spirit animal Stephen Fry (I have devoured ALL his books!). I was so fortunate to be living in Europe and having access to the BBC to watch "A Bit of Fry & Laurie", which was their weekly variety show, plus first-runs of "Black Adder" (one of the funniest shows ever on television, IMO!), in addition to "Absolutely Fabulous" and "French & Saunders". There were some others too that never really made it over here to "the colonies". I sure do miss those golden years of BBC comedy!!
Yeah all of those. I always wished Black Adder hadn't jumped from George III to World War I - I think they could have done something really fabulous with the period of Gladstone-Disraeli. Doing Queen Elizabeth I as a ditz was pure genius.
Queenie and Nursie used to have me in stitches! Actually, I think the Regency era ones are some of the funniest and wittiest episodes. Yes, it does make one wonder what they could've done with the Victorian era, but I did like the WW I setting--Fry's General and "Capt. Darling" were hysterical...and poor Baldrick. As you can tell I am a HUGE fan of British humour!!
And The Liars Club
Whom he played in a biopic . . .
Thanks, TC! I've added these to my collection, too.
Happy Friday!
Thank you KCMO Linda: I’m another Linda, but from STL side—you brilliantly articulated our sad state of Missouri with Gov. Hee-Haw and the Repub Legislature. It was a wonderful day yesterday (Thursday) that at least our Supreme Court vindicated “we the people.”
A truly informative post, Linda. Thanks for the KCMO news!
Missouri remains weird.
QED
Good morning, Linda! Thanks for the link to The Fish Fry; I'll be tuning in tonight and tapping my toes, since those are some of my favorite music genres.
Happy Friday!
Thanks for the good news, Linda! Happy Friday!
None of this means anything to Trump supporters. They live in their own world where every argument in support of their political heros can change with the weather.
It's the determination of the rest of us, Republicans without a party, Independents, Democrats, moderates and progressives of every type to be a coalition for democracy with solutions to our growing existential challenges.
Splitting our vote or staying home worrying that someone isn't or is too progressive is like turning down the covid19 vaccinations because they were created quickly and haven't been around as long as the smallpox and polio vaccines.
Yes, we need to be part of the "coalition for democracy!" Well said, David.
“It's the determination of the rest of us, Republicans without a party, Independents, Democrats, moderates and progressives of every type to be a coalition for democracy with solutions to our growing existential challenges.”
THIS!!
Dead on target 👍👍👍
Hear, hear!
Absolutely.
"Republicans without a party" are key.
I guess now that Republican politicians and pundits realize that their anti-vax position is killing off their revenue stream they're urging their faithful to get vaccinated. It's all about the money...
I think that the Republican politicians and pundits realize that convincing their followers to refuse the vaccine is causing their supporters to die. That could lead to a shortage of Republican voters in the next election. It's all about the power too.
They also may be worried that their own voters won’t go to polling places, but request the very absentee ballots they just made illegal.
Astute observation
Very true.
Frankly I think somebody woke up to the fact that a lot of their voters might be the ones dying off as well.
Yes, but remember, campaign donations are essential fuel. No voter = no $.
PACS. Maybe DT uses the 75 million as leverage on the billionaire class to fund those PACs to fund the candidates he chooses? Weird stuff going on behind those doors.
I don't see TFG using any of that 75 million for anyone but himself.
Really! Survival of the fittest comes back to bite them! :)
Except they don’t believe in evolution. You know, it’s just a “theory”. Like gravity:)
"...god created the world in six days...on the seventh, he rested..."
And the world was created about 5,000 years ago, right?
Actually, we were taught about 6K. In Sunday School.
How fitting is that?
They may find that their restrictive voting bills may make it harder for their own people to vote also (?)
I wouldn’t mind if the find everything a little harder like maybe even looking in a mirror.
I also read someone must have done a polling and the numbers came back really bad because of the vaccine messenging.
Yes, b/c a number of them have encouraged vaccinations lately.
I’ve never understood how killing off your base was a good idea.
Yes, Denise, but you are a sane, rational human being.
It’s always the “crisis” real or created that they want.
Yes, anything to keep fear at top of mind, which tamps down reason.
And there needs to be an "enemy". Its classic Orwell.
The stock market responded negatively to the news of increased COVID infections throughout he United States. That's what caused GOP legislators to call for increased vaccinations among the MAGA crowd. Increased infections are not good for business and campaign donations.
This is such an important point. They don’t care about lives. They care only about money and holding power.
They have proven this over and over. 600,000 plus times over.
At this point, with so many lives (and especially children's lives) at stake, I don't care how selfish their reason is.
I agree with the sentiment that whatever results in more people getting vaccinated is a good thing. I am ok with sending out press gangs and holding them down while recruiting them to the ranks of the vaccinated by force. Whatever it takes.
And the bond market too
Yes it did. Thank you for noting it.
Just another bit of news these days..... It appears the FBI was "gagged" when investigating the sexual abuse allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. Only this week did they release findings to the Senators who asked for the info back in 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/22/fbis-investigation-kavanaugh-is-laughable/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F34377aa%2F60fa93359d2fda945a138cbe%2F596b15a7ae7e8a44e7d151fe%2F38%2F59%2F60fa93359d2fda945a138cbe
What is the procedure for impeaching a sitting Supreme Court justice? If McGahn is behind gagging the FBI, he should be disbarred. And, Susan Collins better be hiding in the corner hoping her constituents will not remember her vote in the Kavanaugh hearings, etc.
So shameful. Thanks for the link. In addition to a complete lack of investigation of Kavanaugh’s possible sexual misconduct, there has been no investigation (or no news of such) about how his debts disappeared.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/09/the-many-mysteries-of-brett-kavanaughs-finances/
Follow the $$$. I'd be looking at some Deutsche Bank accounts adn justice what's his name's son. Just saying.
“Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils. How could they better gratify this, than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the union?”- Alexander Hamilton, 1788 ( from The Road to Unfreedom, opener to chapter 6.
We underestimate the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Most real estate businesses cratered and so should have the former guy, Kushner Properties, and so many other real estate businesses. But they didn't. Banks would not lend to them. How did they survive? Who threw them the lifeline of credit and sales at inflated prices?
I’m reminded of that quote by Alexander Hamilton.
Oh absolutely. Kennedy’s son was the Trumpy banker at Deutsche Bank. Shady shady shady.
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/who-owns-kavanaugh-index
One of the best 'follow the money' reports on the Little Boofer.
Yes, and Olear's definition of "Devil's Triangle" immediately brought to mind Christine Blasey Ford's accusations against Kavanaugh and "the other guy" in the bedroom with him.
Saw this earlier today too about Kavanaughty-Boy. As always...follow the money.
So in agreement with you!! I was livid watching Kavanaugh trying to explain himself during his hearing! They are all a bunch of thieves of truths.
It was chilling to see his face twist in righteous indignation, continually bleating that he was in the top percentage of his class at Yale, as if that was proof of his superlative character, and his blatant disrespect of Amy Klobuchar when she asked about his drinking. Amy's cool handling of his rage served to magnify his utter lack of character. I decided then that regardless of the validity of his accuser (I believed every word that Blasey Ford said), Kavanaugh lacked the temperament to be on the Court.
Corruption. Bye bye Chris Wray!
Until recently, I was foolish enough to think Chris Wray was decent, but should have factored in his political party and that he'd agreed to work under the most base monster to ever occupy the White House.
As the story develops, Pressure will build on firing Wray and impeaching Justice Bret.
Those results would be second only to capital punishment for TFG!!!
Wray stood up to T, to his credit, and did say after the election and responding to T's insistence that he'd won, that there has never been a more secure election, no (wide spread) fraud, Biden had won.
I'll give him points for that, but it appears that these spineless creatures not only enabled him, but also were complicit in their silence.
or not the right person for the job. I'm just not sure.
I read this too Pam--and hoping that some reckoning is going to happen. The financial situation is, as Jeanne points out, also "interesting" as he lives in a Mcmansion he could in no way afford. The only SCOTUS justice to be impeached was Samuel Chase in 1804 (yes--I had to look this up: I knew there was at least one), but he was not removed because he was acquitted by the Senate. Sound familiar?! https://www.fjc.gov/history/timeline/samuel-chase-impeached
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/how-to-impeach-a-supreme-court-justice/ar-BB19WPdb
I found this article interesting on how the FBI is only able to do so much unless the WH orders further investigation. It seems like the Senate Judiciary Committee could have started an investigation, but obviously that never happened.https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/opinions/sheldon-whitehouse-fbi-kavanaugh-background-check-rangappa/index.html
And this one goes into more details of the FBI involvement.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-the-fbis-role-in-the-kavanaugh-proceedings/
Excellent work Margaret. I don't know if the WH of Justice Department can have the investigation reopened and be a real investigation. Here are two of the latest reports I could find on the matter.
NWLC Responds to FBI and Trump White House’s Mishandling of Kavanaugh Investigation
https://nwlc.org/press-releases/nwlc-responds-to-fbi-and-trump-white-houses-mishandling-of-kavanaugh-investigation/?ms=hero
https://www.wsaw.com/2021/07/23/dems-renew-questions-about-fbi-background-check-kavanaugh/
I read somewhere and now frustratingly I cannot find it, but it said that after the FBI gives their information to the WH on background checks, they can ask more or if there is something questionable or the President can just OK it going through. I read it assuming it is similar to how Trump overrode the background check for security clearance on Jared. This seemed a fishy way to Ok someone for the highest court. I also assumed that this information was not necessarily shared with the Senate Judicary committee. Whitehouse is trying to make a law limiting the amount of people from the WH who can discuss investigations with the DOJ, which sounds great unless they are both corrupt and in it together. This also makes me wonder about how the idea to tell people to call the FBI tip line came about if they were just dumping it in the WH without any followup. Certainly doesn't seem ethical, but is there something illegal being it was involved in a Congressional confirmation?
I am not prone to guesswork except as a way to seek out sources. My thought is to stick with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's office. What is the senator doing about this matter as well as asking what avenue or avenues are available for examination of the handling by the previous administration of this matter and whether either or both the White House and Department of Justice have the authority to open investigation of this matter? What happened to the 4,500 tips? Does the FBI have a record of them? There's smoke Margaret. I'm off now but will keep in touch if I have any news.
I really like Senator Whitehouse, he is doing very good work.
...and Barr, Pam, standing shoulder to corruption with Trump. May we see just deserts and just deserts, until justice is served.
Meanwhile, and on a related topic, Terry Gross had a captivating interview with Ron Brownstein of The Atlantic regarding the GOP state voter laws. Most importantly, and apparently, to address THESE laws, our ONLY course of action is at the federal level. For states not yet affected, we must elect Dems to control as many state legislatures as possible. This is very problematic, because of the gerrymandered boundaries for state house and senate seats.
On the federal level, to address those states who have already acted, Brownstein stated that Dems and liberals must support the Manchin compromise in order to enlist SInema AND make the serious effort to recruit the necessary 10 Republicans WHILE at the same time holding the card labelled ‘Fillibuster’ as the last card on the table, should the Manchin compromise fail to garner the necessary Republican support. Apparently, we have no other choice re: these statewide attempts.
What this means to me is to rally my friends and family to call their Dem Senators to publicly state their support of Manchin’s efforts while stating the threat to Democracy of these state efforts. As well, we must call Republican Senators to support this compromise, and state the same. Regarding the Republicans, imho, calls would be most effective to specific Republican Senators in AL, ME, NC, LA, NE, UT, PA, FL (Rubio), OH, and WI.
Also, I feel it worthwhile to connect with one’s local Dem party, where others may feel inspired to launch a campaign to save our Democracy by tackling this specific effort. A letter written to the editor of the regional daily newspaper would be helpful, as well as calls to the producers of the local NPR outlet, to cover the story from its state perspective, or have the local call-in program feature this issue.
Of all of the above action items, I feel it most valuable to become active in your upcoming, local Democratic Party meeting, to express your willingness to help organize all of the above.
Terry Gross interview of Ron Brownstein on 7/22/2021, "GOP-Controlled State Legislatures Are Taking a Sharp Right Turn:"
https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2021/07/20210722_fa_01.mp3?orgId=427869011&topicId=1003&d=2276&p=13&story=1019289255&dl=1&sc=siteplayer&siteplayer=true&size=36346554&dl=1
Yes, like Frederick says, now is the time to walk your talk! Choose your weapon:
https://deadlinefordemocracy.org/
https://represent.us/
https://resist.bot/
https://5calls.org/
Thx for this list, Ellie! My county Dems will be meeting next week by zoom. I will report to the group on their effort to mount a campaign for Senators King and Collins in Maine, as well as request Maine Public Broadcasting to feature this issue on their daily call-in radio show. And I will commit to sending out messages to my friends and family to join their local Dems group
Morning, Ellie!! I attended a Zoom meeting last evening of my local Catoctin district for our upcoming gubernatorial election (Nov 2021). As well, on the ballot will be Democratic challenger Paul Siker to Republican's Dave LaRock for House of Delegate District 33. I will be writing postcards. I have been donating, too! Let me see what else your links can lead me to do!
Thank you ❤️🤍💙
Thank You Ellie! May I cooy and post?
Please do!
Frederick, if you think there’s ANY chance of Rubio getting on board, I’m afraid you’re delusional. I say that with no hostility, but living here in Florida and having written multiple letters to Marco, I know that as a fact. I do agree with your recommendation to get involved with your local Democratic Party. I was in a Zoom meeting with mine as we are working to find out how we can legally register new voters, especially on college campuses.
Well, perhaps Rep Val Demings will quiver Mario cajones un peqeuno!
THE issue to place tremendous pressure on Marco (not Mario), and justify the use of the filling-buster as he turns his back on the citizens of Florida. You gotta make the effort and be visible, loud and “make trouble"
Si!
While I appreciate your stance and this is not only the best avenue available but the only one. I am reminded that the DNC is a corporation that is NOT beholden to its voters.
Rather than reflecting on the consternation everyday voters are having over the conduct of the Democratic presidential primary, the Democratic National Committee is doubling down on the assertion that the primary election belongs to the people who control the party -- not voters. 2017.
For this reason I support ranked choice voting to eliminate the corrupt two party system and expand the field.
Maine instituted Ranked Choice Voting for the Congressional and Gubernatorial elections of 2018, and it is a rousing success! The Maine Democratic Party was the driving force behind this initiative, spurred on previously by the Green Independent Party of Maine and the efforts of clean elections supporters.
I’ll put my energy into efforts which bring the most result, and I have found that in a small state like Maine, the Democratic Party is still responsive to those who show up. If you don’t show up, you don’t have a voice. In larger states, perhaps the Dems are more beholden to large donors. But as we have seen in large states, the Congressional victories of progressives like AOC (NY), Cori Bush (MO), Jamaal Bowman (NY), Barbara Lee (CA) and Raul Grijalva (AZ) all show that outsiders can win a seat with the big boys (and big girls, now!!
I live in a red state (IN) and have become so disillusioned. I’m 66 and ready to flee my state. My state rep Chris Campbell is awesome but she’s out numbered by vicious red vipers who have passed open carry laws, voter suppression laws and relaxed regulations for protecting wetlands in the most polluted state in the Midwest. It’s very sad here.
Why are the "vicious red vipers" so intent upon killing us and our Earth? Don't they have children? Grandchildren? Mind-numbing and heart-breaking.
It is. Truly disheartening. A little story that wasn’t officially reported on here but my local Nextdoor had a debate about it. We have a small water park. Someone wanted to know why patrons were seen fleeing the park. Turns out some entitled yayhoo thought it would be amusing? A show of strength? To walk around the park open carrying an assault rifle. While parents then panic and try to protect their kids. But he didn’t break any laws or do anything wrong. What is wrong with us?
Indeed
Carla, I empathize with you. I am glad you are ready to leave. I have a thought for you to consider -please consider moving temporarily to a vital state for 2022. I ask you to consider ... Pennsylvania, on the northern edge of greater Pittsburgh (a dynamic small city). You would be near the OH border; two US Senate races and two US House races would be within ten miles. I’m speaking w my wife about taking a rental in this area, because it is my home area, I love the area, and it is VITAL for our future. The PA candidate is Lt Gov. John Fetterman, and the OH candidate is Rep. Tim Ryan. Just tuck this away in your thinking cap, if you would ....
I’m sorry.
In California, there are a number of municipalities which use ranked choice voting (RCV) for local elections and efforts continue to bring it about in others. Last year, an initiative petition for RCV failed to make it to the statewide ballot, and in 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a legislative bill to allow cities, counties and school districts to implement RCV. The Ca. League of Women Voters supported that bill and our local League continues to work on the issue as part of a coalition.
FYI a group of HCR Substackers has formed to support activism for democracy, and several work with LWV. For more info, email:
heathersherd@gmail.com
Hey, Carla. I'm interested in having ranked choice voting, too. In the meantime, in lieu of the DNC, who/what would be the best way to donate to the candidate of your choice?
I never donate to actblue. I always donate directly to the candidate. As I understand it (I could be wrong) actblue designates where funds go, per their corporate agenda.
Actually that’s not entirely correct. ActBlue acts like a processing center/clearing house for candidates. Once you have an ActBlue account, if a candidate asks for a donation, you can donate directly to them through the ActBlue account. I do that quite a bit.
This has been my experience, too, Annette. Many candidates use them, so I am trusting that it is legit.
I don’t like donating via act blue but my US rep, Angie Craig, uses it and if I click on her donate button from her web page or anywhere else, I go to the Actblue website. So I have to live with having an Actblue acct. or remember to send in a check. Using Actblue gets it done. The only time Actblue uses money “their” way, is when they are doing the fundraising directly on behalf of candidates that usually the DNC has designated as key races. Actblue is a processing center for specific candidates AND groups of candidates they want to support. They will ask for a “tip” to support admin costs. I usually pay that too- annoying but important service that helps my rep raise more. The RNC spent millions here in 2020- fifth closest Congressional race in the country.
As you write, the 'tip' supports admin costs and ensures the entire donation you give is received in toto. Sort of like pre-paying the percentage cost charged to businesses accepting credit cards instead of the business paying the 3%(?). You can choose the tip amount or give no tip. Emily's List is among those entities which used ActBlue. I trust them and when I donate through ActBlue (usually referred there from the entity's Donate page), I receive email acknowledgement of the donation and a second one for the 'tip' amount.
All God's children gotta make a living. Think of it as contributing to the economy!
Thanks, Sheila. I get direct appeals from my US Senator, Mark Warner. He uses ActBlue, so am trusting that all is well.
Thanks, Carla. I don't know how to track down info like this. Last election I was doing both. It became too expensive!
Try:
https://blueprint.swingleft.org/
https://ourrevolution.com/
Ahh, Ellie, I was hoping you'd hear my plea...thanks so much!
Thanks.
I don't see Republican Senators from Alabama as vulnerable. Or did you mean Alaska (AK?)
YES, you are correct. I meant Lisa Murkowski, from AK! Good catch Carol and Jim!
And Alaska has ranked choice.
Thank You Frederick!! May I copy and post?
Yes you may. You can personally email me your results
Thank you ❤️🤍💙
I'm reminded of the story of the American Communist leader who picketed the White House weekly opposing US involvement in World War II during the period of the Stalin-Hitler Pact. He was out front of the White House on picket duty on June 22,. 1941, when a friend came up and told him the news that Hitler had just invaded the Soviet Union. He left and was back 30 minutes later with a new sign: "Second Front Now!" Given how totalitarian the collection of clucks we have to be embarrassed to call "opponents" are, they operate like Big Brother's party: "We have always been at war with East Asia." And Trump forces them to say he's raised four fingers when he's only raised three.
I think if we don't lose heart - and we stop listening to the over-educated under-intelligent over-privileged white boys of the Washington Press Corpse and the Cretin News Network - that we will beat them. Look at how Pelosi has in 24 hours turned the Okiefornian Dumbass McQarthy into what James Carville tonight called "a quivering mass of protoplasm" as she continues to walk all over him while he steps on his own wee-wee. In World War II we were lucky to be fighting the Nazis, who were led by a moron. This time the enemy is led by another moron. By this time next year, El Blobbo del Mar A Lardo is either going to be sitting in court charged with one of his numerous crimes, in the looney bin after the Alzheimer's he's following his father with becomes even more prominent, or six feet under from that one too many hamberders. He and fellow sex offender Bill O'Lielly aren't selling too many tickets to their Fleece The Rubes Tour.
I'm currently reading James Holland's "The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History May-October 1940" (which is where all the recent references to bamboozled French generals have been coming from). We're not facing anything as bad as they did, or the Union did in the first six months of 1863.
And remember what Charlie Sykes says: "Clowns with flamethrowers still have flamethrowers."
"...and we stop listening to the over-educated under-intelligent over-privileged white boys of the Washington Press Corpse and the Cretin News Network." My husband prefers to call these people "educated idiots."
Shorter is always better.
Feel free to use if you want.
We have to remember that we are still the majority. It's hard for me to imagine that would change against our favor unless Biden really screws up. And it's possible that we will gain more in numbers as things either start to get better or people realize it's not going to get better unless they follow the Democratic line, the the repubs have misled them. It will be interesting to see if and how much that number shifts.
Thank You for this Kim. Hope in the morning.
TC, I really learn things from your posts. You also have just interesting turns of phrase such as “El Blobbo”.
Lol!
Mar Lardo! 😂
“Washington Press Corpse” made me lol.
Correction: The fleece the rubes tour is properly called
"The His Story Tour," because well, we know that it will consist of the same whining rant aka the big lie. What boggles the mind is the notion that anyone at all would fork over 100 or 300 bucks for the privilege of listening to these two old têtes de noeuds.
Yes, sometimes French is the only language containing adequately descriptive words.
Double-checked my understanding of 'tête de noeud'. It was as I thought. Found this in images for the phrase: http://www.iconovox.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/tete-de-noeud-president.jpg
I go to French sometimes to avoid the language police. Recently, in a neighborhood communique I conveyed my dismay about something in English and was told not to use fowl (sic) language. The admonition was broadcast to the neighborhood via 'reply all'. I had to slink around for days...
🙀
Another good way around is to use English (i.e. British) "Anglo-Saxonisms." "Wanker" is always good. Also "Bloody".
And there’s always Italian, especially with the hand gestures!
Love the Bill O'Lielly.
Sizzlin’ TC, sizzlin.
True story... Waiting for my partner to exit from the clinic after a Dr. appointment yesterday, I got into a conversation with an older gentleman in a wheelchair. "I can't understand," he said, "why people won't get vaccinated." The conversation ended with a thud when I replied, "It's a religious thing. They're following the teachings of Saint Donald."
Always good to start my day with a laugh. Thanks for this!
Those Republicans choosing trembling fealty to Trump in the hope he will help fund their electoral campaigns are delusional. His well documented history of a lack of interest in funding anything beyond his own self-interests should be clear to all. I am however unsurprised their lemming like eagerness to hurl themselves off the cliff of irrationality. It seems this is now qualifying characteristic of membership in the Republican party.
Bruce, I think it is a forked cliff with greed on one side, hope on the other and a steep fall to disgrace at the center of it all.
I’d wager that you are right Bruce. DT is not giving up any of that $75 million. He needs it to pay rent and eat at Mara Lardo.
I'll wager Desantis losses the Florida Governor’s race after this Delta wave decimates Florida. 25,000 reported cases in one day in Florida this week is a canary, that community spread of delta is much more widespread, a lot asymptomatically... So I'd would also wager we will see here soon 100,000 new cases a day in Florida. This is how exponential growth curve models work. After 18 months of waiting, Florida Hospitals, like the rest of the US, are 60% to 80% full of patients that put off critical procedures, so not covid, but they are recovering. These vulnerable are sitting ducks, while new Covid patients flood the hospitals.
Ill wager that soon Florida Hospitals will resemble a MASH unit. I don't see how Crisis Standards of Care operations wont be Florida's near future. 10 million are unvaccinated in Florida, leaving the possibility of a flood of desperate and sure to die, only increasing the mortality rate.
I see protests of the angry outside Versailles! Oops I mean Maga Lardo!
https://covidactnow.org/us/florida-fl/?s=20951016
I hope you’re right right about DeathSantis losing. I’m not confident that the voters here will “see the light” but if too many of them die, maybe we’ll have a chance!
Calculating that former guy is not going to let go of that $75 million for anyone, let alone Deathsantis. Once former guy is out of cash, and unable to raise more because his followers will once their loved ones die in masse, he wont have a base to fund from. He is facing more lawsuits too. I bet he catches a flight to Moscow.
I like "Mega Lardo"! So many possibilities...
I think it's called Maga Lardo these days.
Ha ha! Luv that Stephen!
Attorney fees are #1. The high power attorneys in New York will walk away in a minute if they don't get paid.
Hence Rudy at the door.
$75 million in Republican donations since Jan 6th. But the former guy has not funded anyone else’s campaign with any of it yet. And he alone controls that money. so it’s no wonder why the sycophants keep towing his line of demagoguery, they are desperate for funding dispersal to execute their campaigns.
I don’t think he will fund anyone. No banks will lend to him. Loans payments are due. Under Federal and NY scrutiny he’s not able to sell grossly inflated condoS to dark foreign shell LLCs (Russian oligarchs/Putin’s cash). He’s under indictment and hated in NYC. He’s using that 75 million for living expenses and debt service like a snorkel. But the traffic cone of treason is headed for the deep waters of bankruptcy. He has de frauded the entire country. Sorry Republicans but you have been played.
🤣 Ted, you do have a way with words.
"Traffic cone of treason." Love it. Repubs should have known he would be keeping all of that money himself!
Dumb and desperate McCarthy is.
I got that one from Steven Colbert. He's been on fire, sharing these not from his writers but from his audience sending them in!
There have been some doozies! They deserve to be used more than once tho.
I've been thinking all along that the only punishment we can probably count on is his looming bankruptcy. Frankly, his sycophants will get exactly what they deserve - nothing.
I’m sure he paying his own “campaign costs and legal bills and such. I hear he’s still charging security detail exorbitant amounts to stay at his properties.
But he could cash in some of the Billions the Trump Org. made while he was President.
The chances that Trump will use any of his war chest to help Republican candidates in 2022 are zero. Any money that comes his way stays with him.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them. A con man doesn't change.
... to pay his growing legal fees, although we know he doesn't always pay his bills!
or always doesn't pay his bills.
Always never...
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! For me, it's all about this November's election for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General in the State of Virginia.
Terry McAuliffe(D) is challenging Glenn Youngkin(R) for Governor of the state. Also on the Democratic ballot will be Hala Ayala for Lt. Governor and Mark Herring (incumbent) for Attorney General. If they have a "D" next to their name, I will vote for them.
McCaullife(D) served as Governor from 2014 to 2018, but Virginia law allows you can hold office for only one term, so he could not run in the 2018 election. This is Youngkin(R)'s first entre into politics. He is an independently wealthy guy who has poured mega bucks into his campaign. You can see the results of this by his tv ads on display several times a day, with McAuliffe notably absent on the screen. Still, I am hopeful.
My eyes are really on the battle for House of Delegates in my district, 33. Paul Siker is the Democratic challenger to incumbent's Dave LaRock (R) who has served since I believe 2014 in that seat. Among his accomplishments, he was present on the Capitol grounds January 6, calling for VP Pence to nullify Virginia's electoral college votes. Basically, though, LaRock believes in less government, preferring to block legislation rather than pursuing programs to help Virginians (my take).
As for soon-to-be history, People Magazine recently published an article about Governor Northam and the "blackface scandal" of 2019. To me, it was a very balanced piece. https://people.com/politics/ralph-northam-says-his-2019-photo-scandal-opened-my-eyes-to-systemic-racism/
Personally, I am glad that he refused to resign. Among other things under his leadership, Virginia has abolished the death penalty, repealed voter ID laws, made Election Day a state holiday and expanded access to early voting.
So that's what's going on (politically) in my neck of the woods.
Morning, Lynell! Sounds like your state politics will be interesting. Ours will be as well, since our Democratic Governor is term-limited. I sincerely hope that we continue to have a Democrat in that office. My local Republiqan friends are standing on the fact that they haven't been able to elect a non Democratic governor as evidence of "voter fraud". They really get testy when I suggest that it is because of their politics, not the party...
Afternoon, Ally!! I hope you get your wish when it comes time for your next gubernatorial election! In the meantime, hoping Oregon's heat dome has gone by now. And that the fires are under control?
☹
I’m concentrating my efforts for Stuart Navarre to defeat Rob Whitman in the 1st District of Virginia. Rob was a good guy pre Tea Party but devolved into supporting the Texas lawsuit and voting against the peaceful transfer of power following the 1/6 insurrection. The district is horribly gerrymandered and I hope to see some change in the fall.
Thanks for letting us know, Gail. There's something strange in that tea, I'll wager.
Is McAuliffe running a more targeted campaign focused on the areas where Democrats dominate?
I read this morning that Biden will travel to VA to campaign for McAuliffe. Let's hope that will encourage others to hop on the campaign bandwagon.
Yes, he is in Arlington, VA now, Pam. Too far from where I am, so will just read the news about it.
I hear that's the case. But I don't have boots on the ground to say definitively.
This reflection was written by a local Mérida woman, Rosa Soares. Rosa has been providing daily Corona Virus updates for the state of Yucatán, in translation, since the beginning of the pandemic. Rosa provides these daily updates as a commitment to the community. When the pandemic struck, Rosa was forced to close her Market Tour business, transitioning her business page to a page devoted to solid Corona Virus information. Today, Rosa devotes her energy to her family, including schooling her son, and her community. No matter where on earth you live, Rosa's efforts exemplify and define what it means to be a patriot.
"My reflection of the day:
Many have ancestors who went to fight in wars and battles, in hope for a better future for their family, country and world.
Many have parents and ancestors who voyaged across stormy oceans, both literally and metaphorically, to immigrate to a new land for a better future for their family.
Many wake up and go to work, stick at a job that they hate to provide for their family.
Many have taken the covid-19 vaccine for a better future for their family, friends, work colleagues, and humanity.
We might not be on a battlefield in trenches fighting against an enemy, fearing death by a bullet. We might not have braved the sea and new cultures for a better life for our family. We might not even hate the job we go to everyday but what we can do today is take a vaccine for the greater good of humanity. Taking two vaccines is minimal compared to the wars our ancestors fought so you and I, could live a better life today.
Today is time to repay our debt to humanity, by trying to do what is best.
No one wanted to risk their life to go to war... but they did.
No one wants to leave their homeland... but they do.
No one wants to have a vaccine... but we do, because it is the least we can do to honour the better life our ancestors fought for in wars, and in turn we have the vaccine hoping for a better future for our children.
So step up and take one for a better future, which we may not ever see."
Rosa Soares
A song, a hymn for all of us to hear. Thank you, Rosa Soares and to Daria Wilber for sharing it with us.
Republicans and their cheering section at Fox News will find it very difficult to walk back their anti-science/anti-vaccination positions. The damage is done and the next wave of the Covid pandemic is now upon us.
You all may have seen this on TV: a guy in the hospital who survived covid being interviewed; he says he would NOT take the vaccine bc he doesn’t want it “shoved down his throat.” (The “propaganda” to take it.) You can’t fix stupid.
I guess he would prefer a ventilator tube shoved down his throat. No you absolutely cannot fix stupid.
You're being unkind to the merely stupid. Supporting Trump is a new variant of stupidity sometimes referred to as "willful ignorance" or "biting off your nose to spite your face". There is no fix for that either.
I have a brother who has not gotten vaccinated yet. One thing that bothers me is that he doesn't mention this to people he is getting together with, i.e. family for one. Fortunately I heard it through the grapevine before a family gathering last week. Uggh.
I have only ever had one sibling and she lives in FL, I used to say ‘if we weren’t related, our paths would never cross’, however, after our parents and my hubby died, we have become closer and I try to see her annually (she comes ‘home’ very sporadically, too cold for her taste). Having said that, after I texted her an article about the Delta spike in her area and getting a response ‘I live here, I know that and life is scary’! and my question response ‘so did you get vaccinated’? ‘Nope’ ‘Please do so at earliest possible’ ‘ I thought you weren’t going to vacation shame me’ ‘It’s not that, I just don’t want to hear that you are sick and on your deathbed, dear one’
Crickets
She is a died in the wool Dem.
I am speechless.
She sounds very much like my sisters in Florida, they did get vaccinated but were terribly careless before and now on vacation and don't wear masks. And they say GA is too cold for them!
"I live here, I know that and life is scary" is almost verbatium what they told me as well.
'Died in the wool' Freudian slip?
I will let you know if she does!
Ha!!
Heh, heh!
Yikes, Kim. Just like the HIV/AIDS virus of the eighties. People (men) not wearing condums nor telling their partner they tested positive.
as I was just about to post that this wave could open some eyes and make a space for idjt's widgets to reconsider getting vaxxed...it appears even Covid can't fix stupid.
Idjt's Widgets (tm)
However, as a cartoon I saw recently, Covid *can* fix Stupid. Permanently unless they're very lucky.