While the failures of the Silicon Valley and Signature Banks got most of the oxygen today, the more important news of the day is likely the meeting in San Diego, California, between President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom.
You might want to call Republican efforts to smear President Biden and their Democratic political opponents 'Investigate-gate'. These congenital malcontents are absolutely pathetic. Investigating this. Investigating that. Making wild allegations but having no facts to back them up. It must be excruciatingly tiresome to have to get up in some committee meeting, and refute those false accusations, tit for tat. All that for a party that has no track record of probity or integrity. But they keep coming, like cockroaches looking for food under the sink or in the pantry. We can't let up on them, and it's draining our energy, attention, resources, and your sanity. Scandal does not slow them down a bit, even when the facts show them to be lying through their teeth, they're utterly shameless in their denials. I don't know how these people can live with themselves, or how their families can stand to be around them. Just being in the same room with them is toxic.
President Biden's handling of the spate of bank failures has been nothing short of masterful. The Club for Growth is complaining that this is an example of 'crony capitalism', when in fact it is the third-party depositors who are being saved by the FDIC out of the fund that is replenished by the banks themselves. Important to note is that investors holding stock in those failed institutions get nothing. There will be no residuals to divvy up. Senior management has been fired; what would be nice however, is to have those bonuses issued to selected employees before the banks went under clawed back. As I have said elsewhere, these individuals should be banned from the banking industry for the rest of their lives. They can go to work for Starbucks and become baristas and make their mortgage payments from their tip money.
We understand the importance of national security. But we wish we could spend that kind of big money to build modern high-tech net zero schools in our rural areas and low-income neighborhoods. Etc.
It's very nice to have an adult at the helm in the White House working with our allies, instead of the child who wanted to throw sand at everyone. In 1814 we were fighting the Britts and Canadians...thankfully for the last time...and we got a National Anthem out if it...because of the...drum roll please...the Privateer ships we built right here in Baltimore, in Fells Point specifically, that vexed the Britts so much, they came up the Chesapeake...not for crab cakes...but to burn the White House and desecrate the Capital, with the intention of coming here and destroying our ability to build these incredible ships. (which are now represented world wide by our Pride of Baltimore II Captained by Jan Miles) The folks in DC put up a shallow defense and ran away. But not here in Baltimore. We worked together....black, white, free, enslaved, women, Rev War Vets...wow, it was a woke mob...defended this house (thanks to Under Armour for the slogan) and defeated the strongest nation on earth....and got a song we now play at Football games. Fast Forward to 1940. FDR...yea that socialist guy who who worked with the commies to help defeat the Nazi's...FDR started us on a path to building Liberty Ships to help keep...you're correct, our old enemy the Britts free. And we, the US, built more Liberty Ships in Baltimore at Fairfield, right across the river from Ft. McHenry than anywhere else during WWII...helping to turn the tide on Herr Hitler. And I'm extremely proud that my grandmother Elsie christened the last Liberty Ship built in 1944 at Fairfield. #384 the Samar...(named for a not wonderful part of our history) and the Samar ended up serving in and around China. Which gets me back to Biden and our allies. I'm glad he plays well in the international sandbox...and has a clue. Lets build subs together and protect this house. Thus endeth the local history lesson....from the land of the free and home of the brave. Cue the fly over by A-10's.
Biden (aka Sleepy Joe) at 80 keeps rolling up his sleeves and, with his amazing teammates, attending to the people’s business - which includes making the world a freer and safer place for lives and democracy. I can’t help but think that, in making choices, he considers present and future generations.
How sad for the future of our children. Our planet. From today’s letter. It is more than a budget line. It is the failure of humanity to need war to find its way to PEACE. “…the Pentagon’s proposed 2024 budget proposal…is the largest peacetime budget in our history. It’s about $25 billion more than the $816 billion budget Congress approved for 2023.” Those who know war and violence firsthand know war and military arms do not lead to permanent peace. We rob our children of a peaceful future.
Martin Luther King Jr:.”A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” Dwight D. Eisenhower. Speech in Washington, 16 Apr. 1953,
Gandhi: “ If we are to create peace in our world, we must begin with our children.”
I get a sense of how long I've been out of the country when I see veterans lumped in with "Blacks and LGBTQ+". Who will Kessler deem unessential next? And when all those fat old white men have eliminated everyone else, they will turn on each other. Best to skip to the chase and let the fur fly.
This is, as always, interesting and insightful. I would like to know what you make of the Chinese brokered normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It is the first time I have seen China pull off anything of the sort, but I would love to hear your views, HCR.
Amazing in a way: Anthony Albanese - Italian-Asutralian PM of Australia, Rishi Sunack -- Indian Punjabi South African-Englishman PM of the UK, and Joe Biden -- Irish-American President of the United States meeting to make global decisions.
besides 91% of their board being independent and 45% women, they also have ‘1 Black,’ ‘1 LGBTQ+’ and ‘2 Veterans.’ I’m not saying 12 white men would have avoided this mess,” Kessler wrote, “but the company may have been distracted by diversity demands.”
Interesting how the label "wokeness" has become a substitute for "them Darkies," etc. among Republicans. It's just pure, unadulterated racist language by another name, with a thick under-layer of contempt for anything humane.
I am not hearing Biden calling out Trump and the Republicans on the easing of bank regulations and oversight that allowed the SVB debacle to happen as directly and forcefully as he should. Bank runs scare EVERYONE and the Republican obfuscation machine is cranking up. Joe can't just say "Trust us" on this one. Especially when there are likely to be other shoes that will drop.
Elizabeth Warren had a piece in the Times that pointed the finger appropriately but not in a particularly easily understandable way.
Does Jamie Raskin (D-MD) or any other source have access to the alleged "settlement agreement" referenced in tfg's attorney's letter to Mazar's attorney? If so, please post lawfully, accessible Link. 🙏
Heather, might you write about Alaska, oil and Biden's surprising decision to allow drilling? It's wildly disappointing, given his firm commitment not to permit it.
It has never been more abundantly clear that repubs will spin, blame, and rewrite history to lay every bad thing at the feet of Dems, probably going back to Hoover’s mess in the 30’s. HST knew this and called them out. Adlai S knew this and called them out with “I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends…that if they will stop telling telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”
Republicans have learned over the decades that made up problems, like “woke,” CRT, replacement theory, and a myriad of other non-issues could be weaponized to tar good-faith efforts on behalf of all citizens. Democrats have their flaws, but they have taken on the mantle of Lincoln that the republicans threw in the trash.
From Bill Maher, some time ago, democrats have moved to the right and republicans have moved into a mental hospital. I just say that every accusation is a confession. If only our MSM knew and would say that…
You might want to call Republican efforts to smear President Biden and their Democratic political opponents 'Investigate-gate'. These congenital malcontents are absolutely pathetic. Investigating this. Investigating that. Making wild allegations but having no facts to back them up. It must be excruciatingly tiresome to have to get up in some committee meeting, and refute those false accusations, tit for tat. All that for a party that has no track record of probity or integrity. But they keep coming, like cockroaches looking for food under the sink or in the pantry. We can't let up on them, and it's draining our energy, attention, resources, and your sanity. Scandal does not slow them down a bit, even when the facts show them to be lying through their teeth, they're utterly shameless in their denials. I don't know how these people can live with themselves, or how their families can stand to be around them. Just being in the same room with them is toxic.
President Biden's handling of the spate of bank failures has been nothing short of masterful. The Club for Growth is complaining that this is an example of 'crony capitalism', when in fact it is the third-party depositors who are being saved by the FDIC out of the fund that is replenished by the banks themselves. Important to note is that investors holding stock in those failed institutions get nothing. There will be no residuals to divvy up. Senior management has been fired; what would be nice however, is to have those bonuses issued to selected employees before the banks went under clawed back. As I have said elsewhere, these individuals should be banned from the banking industry for the rest of their lives. They can go to work for Starbucks and become baristas and make their mortgage payments from their tip money.
We understand the importance of national security. But we wish we could spend that kind of big money to build modern high-tech net zero schools in our rural areas and low-income neighborhoods. Etc.
It's very nice to have an adult at the helm in the White House working with our allies, instead of the child who wanted to throw sand at everyone. In 1814 we were fighting the Britts and Canadians...thankfully for the last time...and we got a National Anthem out if it...because of the...drum roll please...the Privateer ships we built right here in Baltimore, in Fells Point specifically, that vexed the Britts so much, they came up the Chesapeake...not for crab cakes...but to burn the White House and desecrate the Capital, with the intention of coming here and destroying our ability to build these incredible ships. (which are now represented world wide by our Pride of Baltimore II Captained by Jan Miles) The folks in DC put up a shallow defense and ran away. But not here in Baltimore. We worked together....black, white, free, enslaved, women, Rev War Vets...wow, it was a woke mob...defended this house (thanks to Under Armour for the slogan) and defeated the strongest nation on earth....and got a song we now play at Football games. Fast Forward to 1940. FDR...yea that socialist guy who who worked with the commies to help defeat the Nazi's...FDR started us on a path to building Liberty Ships to help keep...you're correct, our old enemy the Britts free. And we, the US, built more Liberty Ships in Baltimore at Fairfield, right across the river from Ft. McHenry than anywhere else during WWII...helping to turn the tide on Herr Hitler. And I'm extremely proud that my grandmother Elsie christened the last Liberty Ship built in 1944 at Fairfield. #384 the Samar...(named for a not wonderful part of our history) and the Samar ended up serving in and around China. Which gets me back to Biden and our allies. I'm glad he plays well in the international sandbox...and has a clue. Lets build subs together and protect this house. Thus endeth the local history lesson....from the land of the free and home of the brave. Cue the fly over by A-10's.
Thank you Heather.
Biden (aka Sleepy Joe) at 80 keeps rolling up his sleeves and, with his amazing teammates, attending to the people’s business - which includes making the world a freer and safer place for lives and democracy. I can’t help but think that, in making choices, he considers present and future generations.
How sad for the future of our children. Our planet. From today’s letter. It is more than a budget line. It is the failure of humanity to need war to find its way to PEACE. “…the Pentagon’s proposed 2024 budget proposal…is the largest peacetime budget in our history. It’s about $25 billion more than the $816 billion budget Congress approved for 2023.” Those who know war and violence firsthand know war and military arms do not lead to permanent peace. We rob our children of a peaceful future.
Martin Luther King Jr:.”A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” Dwight D. Eisenhower. Speech in Washington, 16 Apr. 1953,
Gandhi: “ If we are to create peace in our world, we must begin with our children.”
I get a sense of how long I've been out of the country when I see veterans lumped in with "Blacks and LGBTQ+". Who will Kessler deem unessential next? And when all those fat old white men have eliminated everyone else, they will turn on each other. Best to skip to the chase and let the fur fly.
This is, as always, interesting and insightful. I would like to know what you make of the Chinese brokered normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It is the first time I have seen China pull off anything of the sort, but I would love to hear your views, HCR.
Amazing in a way: Anthony Albanese - Italian-Asutralian PM of Australia, Rishi Sunack -- Indian Punjabi South African-Englishman PM of the UK, and Joe Biden -- Irish-American President of the United States meeting to make global decisions.
besides 91% of their board being independent and 45% women, they also have ‘1 Black,’ ‘1 LGBTQ+’ and ‘2 Veterans.’ I’m not saying 12 white men would have avoided this mess,” Kessler wrote, “but the company may have been distracted by diversity demands.”
Ah, the "Great Replacement". Such a bother.
Interesting how the label "wokeness" has become a substitute for "them Darkies," etc. among Republicans. It's just pure, unadulterated racist language by another name, with a thick under-layer of contempt for anything humane.
So angry by the headlines of the NYT and others which falsely hint at disaster in order to sell papers.
I am not hearing Biden calling out Trump and the Republicans on the easing of bank regulations and oversight that allowed the SVB debacle to happen as directly and forcefully as he should. Bank runs scare EVERYONE and the Republican obfuscation machine is cranking up. Joe can't just say "Trust us" on this one. Especially when there are likely to be other shoes that will drop.
Elizabeth Warren had a piece in the Times that pointed the finger appropriately but not in a particularly easily understandable way.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/opinion/elizabeth-warren-silicon-valley-bank.html that was a foreceful indictment of the Republicans.
Does Jamie Raskin (D-MD) or any other source have access to the alleged "settlement agreement" referenced in tfg's attorney's letter to Mazar's attorney? If so, please post lawfully, accessible Link. 🙏
Is there another way to start an investigation into former president Trump’s financial records. I'd love to see it happen.
Heather, might you write about Alaska, oil and Biden's surprising decision to allow drilling? It's wildly disappointing, given his firm commitment not to permit it.
It has never been more abundantly clear that repubs will spin, blame, and rewrite history to lay every bad thing at the feet of Dems, probably going back to Hoover’s mess in the 30’s. HST knew this and called them out. Adlai S knew this and called them out with “I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends…that if they will stop telling telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”
Republicans have learned over the decades that made up problems, like “woke,” CRT, replacement theory, and a myriad of other non-issues could be weaponized to tar good-faith efforts on behalf of all citizens. Democrats have their flaws, but they have taken on the mantle of Lincoln that the republicans threw in the trash.
From Bill Maher, some time ago, democrats have moved to the right and republicans have moved into a mental hospital. I just say that every accusation is a confession. If only our MSM knew and would say that…