The only big thing I see today is that Bob Smietana of the Religion News Service broke the story that evangelical Beth Moore, a hugely popular leader, has left the Southern Baptist Church. A survivor of sexual assault, Moore objected to her denomination’s support for Trump in light of the Access Hollywood tapes in which he boasted of sexual assault. She has increasingly parted ways with church leaders and now has announced that she is leaving the denomination. Her departure could lead a number of women out of that church.
As Brian Williams pointed out tonight on "11th Hour" (shouting mine) THERE ARE ONLY SEVEN STATES IN THE UNION WHERE THERE ARE NOT BILLS BEING PUSHED IN LEGISLATURES TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Joe Biden once said to Barack Obama, "This is a Big Fucking Deal!!!"
In his interview with Rachel Maddow tonight, Mark Elias also called on American citizens, who care about our country and about saving our democracy, to speak out in every way possible against the proliferation of voter suppression bills.
I have to think that there is a movement to suppress the vote in every state. There are at least 5 bills pending in Colorado, which haven’t gotten a lot of press, perhaps because our only daily regional newspaper, The Denver Post, has been stripped of its reporters who covered the legislature, thanks to the vulture investment fund, Alden Global Capital, which purchased the Post several years ago. Alden is intent on destroying the Post and any other newspaper it purchases. Their most recent grab is The Chicago Tribune.
I digress, but my point is that in many cities and states, newspapers have been crippled from comprehensive state and local news coverage, so it is likely to take some effort to stay on top of what is happening in state legislatures. It is essential for every concerned citizen to know what bills are pending, and to go directly to your legislators to insure your voice is heard. We need to understand how a bill becomes a law, how to reach our legislative representatives, and how to testify at legislative hearings. We have been very focused nationally, but we can’t overlook the important work that needs to be done every day at the local and state level.
Others have posted organizations that are working on many issues. I have found one of the best sources of information to be my local and regional Indivisible groups. Join one of these groups or start one; connect on social media, such as FaceBook, even if that is all you do on social media; write letters to your newspaper’s editors; find any pathway, any platform, to speak out against voter suppression, because it is happening right now.
Trump shouldn’t have a future in any party. I hope there are enough decent republicans who can get the GOP back on track. The slew of voter suppression legislation is very scary. Just removing Trump from office is obviously not enough. Somehow we need to rid the GOP of trumpism. Tip of the hat to Ms. Moore and Mr. Kinzinger.
I am feeling joy today, again. Ever since I woke up this afternoon in the hotel. No small part of it is this community, although of course there are a number of other aspects as well. Like my story project, my marriage, my job, and my home.
Writing is a joy. Talking to all of you is a joy.
My “Thank You For Everything” post yesterday, and TC in LA’s magnificent discussion, are outlets for my gratitude.
Snow is coming in to the mountain passes tonight, but it will be behind me. Other drivers with my company are having to deal with it.
Here’s why I mention it: if I-5 gets closed due to snow in the mountains, we have to take the coastal route through Santa Barbara. For me, it happens about once a winter.
So I regret to inform you that I will not have an opportunity to wave at Oprah, Meghan and Harry and Archie, and Tyler Perry, because I won’t be driving through Montecito, where they live.
For a change I am paying attention not just to racism, sexism, and gayism in America, but in the land of our society’s origins as well. The Iroquois Confederacy contributed to our democracy, of course, but white English ancestry people were actively involved.
The rebellion against and secession from British royalty is a foundation of our society. So why not take this opportunity to help them clean up some of this stench as well, beginning with the British media. Adios Piers Morgan, first real casualty of the interview, and there is no more deserving candidate in England, that’s for sure.
The Southern Baptist Church is a dangerous fundamentalistic denomination. In theology class we had to watch them. An Afro-American student was waiting for their leader to say the N word. I (coming from the Netherlands) was waiting for him to say Heil Hitler. Good for Beth Moore that she is breaking with them. All women should follow her example as it is no place for women. Sorry for her it took her so long. Congratulations on her decision.
“I am begging America and the media to pay attention to this" - Marc Elias
Well, fine and dandy, except here's the problem: TQRepublicans don't give a tinker's damn about a BIPOC's right to vote so they will ignore any outlet that decries voter suppression. How are we going to address that? State lawmakers are acting on these suppression measures right now. They were brazen enough to reject the 2020 presidential election results and censure Republicans who supported the legitimacy of Biden's election... what's going to stop them from shoving suppression measures through during the current legislative sessions?
As for Beth Moore? Too little, too late. She waited until NOW to leave the Southern Baptist Church? She stayed with the denomination through Trump's first campaign, through his entire presidency and 2nd campaign. She stayed through his lies and refusal to accept Biden's win and through 6 January? Think of the women she could have influenced if she'd walked in 2016 or at any time during Trump's presidency. But no. She walks now. A quick search shows her net worth to be between 2.5 - 10 million dollars. Was she more concerned about the hit Living Proof Ministries and her pocketbook was going to take or doing the morally courageous thing? SMH.
Half of my first COVID-19 government check went to my granddaughter who was unable to work for six months prior to starting college in September. My second check in December/January went to food pantries in my area. My third check will be donated to any credible organizations that fight for fair voting laws and against voter suppression.
I cannot believe voters in IA, GA, TX, MO and other states where voter suppression measures are in the works aren’t up in arms. I’d be all over my state representatives like stink on garbage.
So many are in a world of hurt for so many other reasons.
Heather arrives at the biggest story last, with a perfect opening line for a standup comic, 'Republican lawmakers are planning to get around their unpopularity by suppressing the vote'.
Oh, are they: Republicans in 43 states have introduced 253 bills and probably more by now. It's not funny; it's a rapid assault.
Trump's BIG LIE and Biden's win put the Republicans in overdrive. Election lawyer Marc Elias, is doing all he can to counter Republican state legislators' bills to cut voters' access, particularly for minority and young voters. I saw him on The Rachel Maddow Show last night. While lucid and strongly begging for our attention, he looked desperate. Behind his pleading eyes was the knowledge of how this could go.
In yesterday's Letter,, Heather mentioned the tug of money between Trump and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party's serious disadvantages on that score was not mentioned. I think this is an important story. Many of us have spent a lot time on the filibuster, as though the democrats, their experts and old-hands haven't been going over and over it. Let's take a bit of time to see what we may do to get money to 2022 democratic candidates. The old guard Republicans are retiring. Trump will be very active in getting his people elected. Can you imagine the Republican Party worse than it is today? It will be. My comment yesterday contained excepts from a long piece in Reuters about how well the Republican party is doing in terms of attracting donors, how the Democratic Party pales in comparison and how political fund raising has changed. The following is in from that article:
'(Reuters) - Right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, dozens of U.S. companies announced they would halt political donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn Donald Trump’s presidential election loss. Two months later, there is little sign that the corporate revolt has done any real damage to Republican fundraising.'
'If anything, the biggest backers of Trump’s false election-fraud narrative - such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene - have been rewarded with a flood of grassroots donations, more than offsetting the loss of corporate money. And contributions from both small donors and rich individuals looking to fight the Democratic agenda have poured into the party’s fundraising apparatus.'
'The boycott’s limited impact underscores the diminishing role of corporate money in U.S. politics. Individual donations of $200 or less have made up a growing share of campaign money in recent years, while the share given by corporate America shrinks. That trend has accelerated with the rise of anti-establishment figures on both the right and left, ...'
'
Reuters examined contributions by more than 45 corporate donor committees that vowed to cut off the 147 Republicans - eight senators and 139 members of the House of Representatives. The review found that the political action committees (PACs) gave about $5 million to the lawmakers during the 2019-2020 election cycle - or only about 1% of the money the lawmakers raised, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures.'
'By comparison, Republican fundraising operations supporting Senate and House candidates raked in a combined $15.8 million in January alone on the strength of small-dollar donations. These groups outraised their Democratic counterparts by more than $2 million that month, regulatory filings show....'
'The brisk fundraising since the insurrection indicates that most Republican voters are “comfortable” with the party that has been remade in Trump’s mold, says J. Miles Coleman, a nonpartisan analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
“The Republican Party – it’s not going to go back to the party it was before Trump,” he said.'
It has taken too long for the women of the SBC as well as other evangelical denominations to stand up and be counted against men the likes of trump and other men who would silence them and relegate them to insignificance. I hope this is just the small leak that will start a flood.
When Biden was elected I thought perhaps I would get a small break from political activism but voter suppression is alive and thriving not just in the south but apparently all across the land. There will be multiple ongoing lawsuits against the states that seek to disenfranchise in subtle and not so subtle ways but that does not release us from our vigilance.
Let's give a thought today also to the Women of Arkansas who now, as the Governer has signed a Bill into Law which practically bans abortion in the State. If they weren't already doing it they will have now to travel out of the State to have an abortion should they wish it....and can afford to pay for it! In French the "back-street" abortionists that damaged so many women were called "Faiseuses d'anges".....makers of angels! A quel Prix!
It seems obvious to me that ALEC and The Federalist Society has been sending boiler plate to state representatives. There was probably a workshop at the Conservative Convention to teach various methods to suppress the vote. Bet the room was packed.
When someone steals, you call him/her a thief. It's the word for their behavior. It's blunt, direct, and "hurtful" to the person being called a thief. But if they did, in fact, steal, that is entirely their problem. It's not my responsibility (or anyone else's) to dance around what they've done.
When you call that thief a MOFO, you're now name-calling. It's difficult to even describe what this term means. If it's applied to a male who has sired children, it is a true and largely meaningless statement: he did, in fact, fuck his children's mother. So what? But of course, that isn't what the term means at all. It's an epithet, a statement of anger, disgust, contempt, rejection. The intent is not to describe, but to demean.
Calling Former Occupant a seditionist and traitor is not name-calling: it's a description of what he did. It isn't my responsibility to soft-pedal that.
Calling Former Occupant many of the things I have called him in my mind (and aloud), is pure spite.
Demeaning by name-calling does two things. It shames the target, and it relieves the speaker (and other listeners) of the discomfort of facing the actual offense, and (usually) the injustice his offense has resulted in.
In the case of Former Occupant, it will not shame him because a) he will never hear my epithets, and b) his malignant narcissism is a potent protective mechanism against precisely that sort of shaming.
It does relieve my discomfort with his crimes, at least momentarily. It "lets off steam." But that steam is precisely what drives people to action, such as demanding justice for the things Former Occupant has done. He should be tried for sedition, conspiracy to commit murder by proxy, treason, and a long list of other capital crimes. If convicted, he should be executed; and if we are going to quibble about the death penalty, then he should spend the rest of his life in a high-security federal prison. In this regard, our system of government has already failed.
Calling him a MOFO in the face of such injustice relieves us from the discomfort that would drive us toward such justice.
That said, given the realities of the utter failure of justice in his case, perhaps it's a good thing to relieve our impotent rage through epithets.
For the record, my current pet name for Former Occupant is Little Lord Shittychin. Because, of course, every time he opens his mouth....
As Brian Williams pointed out tonight on "11th Hour" (shouting mine) THERE ARE ONLY SEVEN STATES IN THE UNION WHERE THERE ARE NOT BILLS BEING PUSHED IN LEGISLATURES TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Joe Biden once said to Barack Obama, "This is a Big Fucking Deal!!!"
In his interview with Rachel Maddow tonight, Mark Elias also called on American citizens, who care about our country and about saving our democracy, to speak out in every way possible against the proliferation of voter suppression bills.
I have to think that there is a movement to suppress the vote in every state. There are at least 5 bills pending in Colorado, which haven’t gotten a lot of press, perhaps because our only daily regional newspaper, The Denver Post, has been stripped of its reporters who covered the legislature, thanks to the vulture investment fund, Alden Global Capital, which purchased the Post several years ago. Alden is intent on destroying the Post and any other newspaper it purchases. Their most recent grab is The Chicago Tribune.
I digress, but my point is that in many cities and states, newspapers have been crippled from comprehensive state and local news coverage, so it is likely to take some effort to stay on top of what is happening in state legislatures. It is essential for every concerned citizen to know what bills are pending, and to go directly to your legislators to insure your voice is heard. We need to understand how a bill becomes a law, how to reach our legislative representatives, and how to testify at legislative hearings. We have been very focused nationally, but we can’t overlook the important work that needs to be done every day at the local and state level.
Others have posted organizations that are working on many issues. I have found one of the best sources of information to be my local and regional Indivisible groups. Join one of these groups or start one; connect on social media, such as FaceBook, even if that is all you do on social media; write letters to your newspaper’s editors; find any pathway, any platform, to speak out against voter suppression, because it is happening right now.
Trump shouldn’t have a future in any party. I hope there are enough decent republicans who can get the GOP back on track. The slew of voter suppression legislation is very scary. Just removing Trump from office is obviously not enough. Somehow we need to rid the GOP of trumpism. Tip of the hat to Ms. Moore and Mr. Kinzinger.
I am feeling joy today, again. Ever since I woke up this afternoon in the hotel. No small part of it is this community, although of course there are a number of other aspects as well. Like my story project, my marriage, my job, and my home.
Writing is a joy. Talking to all of you is a joy.
My “Thank You For Everything” post yesterday, and TC in LA’s magnificent discussion, are outlets for my gratitude.
Snow is coming in to the mountain passes tonight, but it will be behind me. Other drivers with my company are having to deal with it.
Here’s why I mention it: if I-5 gets closed due to snow in the mountains, we have to take the coastal route through Santa Barbara. For me, it happens about once a winter.
So I regret to inform you that I will not have an opportunity to wave at Oprah, Meghan and Harry and Archie, and Tyler Perry, because I won’t be driving through Montecito, where they live.
For a change I am paying attention not just to racism, sexism, and gayism in America, but in the land of our society’s origins as well. The Iroquois Confederacy contributed to our democracy, of course, but white English ancestry people were actively involved.
The rebellion against and secession from British royalty is a foundation of our society. So why not take this opportunity to help them clean up some of this stench as well, beginning with the British media. Adios Piers Morgan, first real casualty of the interview, and there is no more deserving candidate in England, that’s for sure.
The Southern Baptist Church is a dangerous fundamentalistic denomination. In theology class we had to watch them. An Afro-American student was waiting for their leader to say the N word. I (coming from the Netherlands) was waiting for him to say Heil Hitler. Good for Beth Moore that she is breaking with them. All women should follow her example as it is no place for women. Sorry for her it took her so long. Congratulations on her decision.
“I am begging America and the media to pay attention to this" - Marc Elias
Well, fine and dandy, except here's the problem: TQRepublicans don't give a tinker's damn about a BIPOC's right to vote so they will ignore any outlet that decries voter suppression. How are we going to address that? State lawmakers are acting on these suppression measures right now. They were brazen enough to reject the 2020 presidential election results and censure Republicans who supported the legitimacy of Biden's election... what's going to stop them from shoving suppression measures through during the current legislative sessions?
Brennan Center state Voting Bills Tracker
https://www.brennancenter.org
As for Beth Moore? Too little, too late. She waited until NOW to leave the Southern Baptist Church? She stayed with the denomination through Trump's first campaign, through his entire presidency and 2nd campaign. She stayed through his lies and refusal to accept Biden's win and through 6 January? Think of the women she could have influenced if she'd walked in 2016 or at any time during Trump's presidency. But no. She walks now. A quick search shows her net worth to be between 2.5 - 10 million dollars. Was she more concerned about the hit Living Proof Ministries and her pocketbook was going to take or doing the morally courageous thing? SMH.
Representative Tim Ryan gave a brilliant fervent speech in the House today. This is the way Democrats should be calling out the Republicans for their obstruction. "Stop talking about Dr. Seuss and start working with us on behalf of the American worker!" I liked it so much I'm going to send him a donation! https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/what-joe-biden-has-said-about-war-powers/2021/03/09/0b60fb9b-349a-41e7-a097-26e30c7b0677_video.html
Half of my first COVID-19 government check went to my granddaughter who was unable to work for six months prior to starting college in September. My second check in December/January went to food pantries in my area. My third check will be donated to any credible organizations that fight for fair voting laws and against voter suppression.
I cannot believe voters in IA, GA, TX, MO and other states where voter suppression measures are in the works aren’t up in arms. I’d be all over my state representatives like stink on garbage.
So many are in a world of hurt for so many other reasons.
Everyone, take care!
Thank you for featuring stories of people working to save democracy rather than shamelessly trying to end it.
Heather arrives at the biggest story last, with a perfect opening line for a standup comic, 'Republican lawmakers are planning to get around their unpopularity by suppressing the vote'.
Oh, are they: Republicans in 43 states have introduced 253 bills and probably more by now. It's not funny; it's a rapid assault.
Trump's BIG LIE and Biden's win put the Republicans in overdrive. Election lawyer Marc Elias, is doing all he can to counter Republican state legislators' bills to cut voters' access, particularly for minority and young voters. I saw him on The Rachel Maddow Show last night. While lucid and strongly begging for our attention, he looked desperate. Behind his pleading eyes was the knowledge of how this could go.
In yesterday's Letter,, Heather mentioned the tug of money between Trump and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party's serious disadvantages on that score was not mentioned. I think this is an important story. Many of us have spent a lot time on the filibuster, as though the democrats, their experts and old-hands haven't been going over and over it. Let's take a bit of time to see what we may do to get money to 2022 democratic candidates. The old guard Republicans are retiring. Trump will be very active in getting his people elected. Can you imagine the Republican Party worse than it is today? It will be. My comment yesterday contained excepts from a long piece in Reuters about how well the Republican party is doing in terms of attracting donors, how the Democratic Party pales in comparison and how political fund raising has changed. The following is in from that article:
'(Reuters) - Right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, dozens of U.S. companies announced they would halt political donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn Donald Trump’s presidential election loss. Two months later, there is little sign that the corporate revolt has done any real damage to Republican fundraising.'
'If anything, the biggest backers of Trump’s false election-fraud narrative - such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene - have been rewarded with a flood of grassroots donations, more than offsetting the loss of corporate money. And contributions from both small donors and rich individuals looking to fight the Democratic agenda have poured into the party’s fundraising apparatus.'
'The boycott’s limited impact underscores the diminishing role of corporate money in U.S. politics. Individual donations of $200 or less have made up a growing share of campaign money in recent years, while the share given by corporate America shrinks. That trend has accelerated with the rise of anti-establishment figures on both the right and left, ...'
'
Reuters examined contributions by more than 45 corporate donor committees that vowed to cut off the 147 Republicans - eight senators and 139 members of the House of Representatives. The review found that the political action committees (PACs) gave about $5 million to the lawmakers during the 2019-2020 election cycle - or only about 1% of the money the lawmakers raised, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures.'
'By comparison, Republican fundraising operations supporting Senate and House candidates raked in a combined $15.8 million in January alone on the strength of small-dollar donations. These groups outraised their Democratic counterparts by more than $2 million that month, regulatory filings show....'
'The brisk fundraising since the insurrection indicates that most Republican voters are “comfortable” with the party that has been remade in Trump’s mold, says J. Miles Coleman, a nonpartisan analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
“The Republican Party – it’s not going to go back to the party it was before Trump,” he said.'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Think about 2022 and the the Democrats' odds of maintaining or even increasing their numbers .
It has taken too long for the women of the SBC as well as other evangelical denominations to stand up and be counted against men the likes of trump and other men who would silence them and relegate them to insignificance. I hope this is just the small leak that will start a flood.
When Biden was elected I thought perhaps I would get a small break from political activism but voter suppression is alive and thriving not just in the south but apparently all across the land. There will be multiple ongoing lawsuits against the states that seek to disenfranchise in subtle and not so subtle ways but that does not release us from our vigilance.
Let's give a thought today also to the Women of Arkansas who now, as the Governer has signed a Bill into Law which practically bans abortion in the State. If they weren't already doing it they will have now to travel out of the State to have an abortion should they wish it....and can afford to pay for it! In French the "back-street" abortionists that damaged so many women were called "Faiseuses d'anges".....makers of angels! A quel Prix!
It seems obvious to me that ALEC and The Federalist Society has been sending boiler plate to state representatives. There was probably a workshop at the Conservative Convention to teach various methods to suppress the vote. Bet the room was packed.
The vote suppression B$ is just making me ill.
Thoughts on being "nice."
When someone steals, you call him/her a thief. It's the word for their behavior. It's blunt, direct, and "hurtful" to the person being called a thief. But if they did, in fact, steal, that is entirely their problem. It's not my responsibility (or anyone else's) to dance around what they've done.
When you call that thief a MOFO, you're now name-calling. It's difficult to even describe what this term means. If it's applied to a male who has sired children, it is a true and largely meaningless statement: he did, in fact, fuck his children's mother. So what? But of course, that isn't what the term means at all. It's an epithet, a statement of anger, disgust, contempt, rejection. The intent is not to describe, but to demean.
Calling Former Occupant a seditionist and traitor is not name-calling: it's a description of what he did. It isn't my responsibility to soft-pedal that.
Calling Former Occupant many of the things I have called him in my mind (and aloud), is pure spite.
Demeaning by name-calling does two things. It shames the target, and it relieves the speaker (and other listeners) of the discomfort of facing the actual offense, and (usually) the injustice his offense has resulted in.
In the case of Former Occupant, it will not shame him because a) he will never hear my epithets, and b) his malignant narcissism is a potent protective mechanism against precisely that sort of shaming.
It does relieve my discomfort with his crimes, at least momentarily. It "lets off steam." But that steam is precisely what drives people to action, such as demanding justice for the things Former Occupant has done. He should be tried for sedition, conspiracy to commit murder by proxy, treason, and a long list of other capital crimes. If convicted, he should be executed; and if we are going to quibble about the death penalty, then he should spend the rest of his life in a high-security federal prison. In this regard, our system of government has already failed.
Calling him a MOFO in the face of such injustice relieves us from the discomfort that would drive us toward such justice.
That said, given the realities of the utter failure of justice in his case, perhaps it's a good thing to relieve our impotent rage through epithets.
For the record, my current pet name for Former Occupant is Little Lord Shittychin. Because, of course, every time he opens his mouth....
My $0.02.