#and kentucky voted to defend abortion

[madtomedgar]

5 states including kentucky (!!) voted to protect abortion access. 3 states did away with slavery (prison labor) as punishment for a crime. 3 states made massive commitments to affordable housing. illinois made collective bargaining a protected right. 2 more states legalized weed. connecticut is moving towards early voting. alabama removed racist language from the state constitution and is investing in statewide public broadband internet. california massively expanded funding for arts and music programs in public schools. colorado raised on the wealthiest in order to provide universal free school lunch to students. georgia may no longer pay cops who are suspended on a felony indictment. massachusetts massively expanded funding for public education and infrastructure, massively expanded dental insurance, and will allow residents to get a drivers license or state id regardless of immigration status. montana will now require a search warrant for access to electronic data. nebraska will increase its minimum wage to $15. new mexico will massively improve and expand senior facilities, public libraries, higher ed, special public schools, and tribal schools, residential utilities (water, internet, electricity). new york is putting 4.2 billion towards climate change mitigation. rhode island is increasing funding for public education and environmental protection. south dakota expanded medicaid.

[tomorrowusa]

Extremist fundamentalists of different religions seem to have more in common with each other than they do with moderates of the same faith. They are invariably intolerant control freaks who feel they have the right to impose their wills on others. MAGA Mike Johnson would fit in well with Iran's theocrats.

Since his fellow Republicans made him their leader, numerous articles have reported Johnson’s religiously motivated, far-right views on abortion, same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights. But that barely scratches the surface. Johnson was a senior lawyer for the extremist Alliance Defending Fund (later the Alliance Defending Freedom) from 2002 to 2010. This is the organization responsible for orchestrating the 303 Creative v Elenis legal arguments to obtain a ruling from the supreme court permitting a wedding website designer to refuse to do business with gay couples. It also played a significant role in annulling Roe v Wade. The ADF has always been opposed to privacy rights, abortion and birth control. Now Roe is gone, the group is laying the groundwork to end protection for birth control. Those who thought Roe would never be overruled should understand that the reasoning in Dobbs v Jackson is not tailored to abortion. Dobbs was explicitly written to be the legal fortress from which the right will launch their attacks against other fundamental rights their extremist Christian beliefs reject. They are passionate about rolling back the right to contraception, the right to same-sex marriage and the right to sexual privacy between consenting adults. Johnson’s inerrant biblical truth leads him to reject science. Johnson was a “young earth creationist”, holding that a literal reading of Genesis means that the earth is only a few thousand years old and humans walked alongside dinosaurs. He has been the attorney for and partner in Kentucky’s Creation Museum and Ark amusement park, which present these beliefs as scientific fact, a familiar sleight of hand where the end (garnering more believers) justifies the means (lying about science). For them, the end always justifies the means. That’s why they don’t even blink when non-believers suffer for their dogma.

There was recently a big experiment in rejecting science with the far right campaigning against COVID-19 vaccinations. That may have cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the US. MAGA Mike would like to apply that to all sectors of life in the US.

Setting aside all of these wildly extreme, religiously motivated policy preferences, there is a more insidious threat to America in Johnson’s embrace of scriptural originalism: his belief that subjective interpretation of the Bible provides the master plan for governance. Religious truth is neither rational nor susceptible to reasoned debate. For Johnson, who sees a Manichean world divided between the saved who are going to heaven and the unsaved going to hell, there is no middle ground. Constitutional politics withers and is replaced with a battle of the faithful against the infidels. Sound familiar? Maybe in Tehran or Kabul or Riyadh. But in America?

By doing anything other than voting Democratic in an election (i.e. voting Republican, wasting a vote on a loser third party, writing in a dead gorilla, not voting at all) people help pave the way for a fascist theocracy in the US.

Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson is already second in line for the presidency. That is WAY too close.

Voting may not always be convenient but theo-fascism is far less convenient.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Marci A Hamilton: The new House speaker, Mike Johnson, knows how he will rule: according to his Bible. When asked on Fox News how he would make public policy, he replied: “Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.” But it’s taking time for the full significance of that statement to sink in. Johnson is in fact a believer in scriptural originalism, the view that the Bible is the truth and the sole legitimate source for public policy. He was most candid about this in 2016, when he declared: “You know, we don’t live in a democracy” but a “biblical” republic. Chalk up his elevation to the speakership as the greatest victory so far within Congress for the religious right in its holy war to turn the US government into a theocracy. Since his fellow Republicans made him their leader, numerous articles have reported Johnson’s religiously motivated, far-right views on abortion, same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights. But that barely scratches the surface. Johnson was a senior lawyer for the extremist Alliance Defending Fund (later the Alliance Defending Freedom) from 2002 to 2010. This is the organization responsible for orchestrating the 303 Creative v Elenis legal arguments to obtain a ruling from the supreme court permitting a wedding website designer to refuse to do business with gay couples. It also played a significant role in annulling Roe v Wade.

The ADF has always been opposed to privacy rights, abortion and birth control. Now Roe is gone, the group is laying the groundwork to end protection for birth control. Those who thought Roe would never be overruled should understand that the reasoning in Dobbs v Jackson is not tailored to abortion. Dobbs was explicitly written to be the legal fortress from which the right will launch their attacks against other fundamental rights their extremist Christian beliefs reject. They are passionate about rolling back the right to contraception, the right to same-sex marriage and the right to sexual privacy between consenting adults. Johnson’s inerrant biblical truth leads him to reject science. Johnson was a “young earth creationist”, holding that a literal reading of Genesis means that the earth is only a few thousand years old and humans walked alongside dinosaurs. He has been the attorney for and partner in Kentucky’s Creation Museum and Ark amusement park, which present these beliefs as scientific fact, a familiar sleight of hand where the end (garnering more believers) justifies the means (lying about science). For them, the end always justifies the means. That’s why they don’t even blink when non-believers suffer for their dogma.

Setting aside all of these wildly extreme, religiously motivated policy preferences, there is a more insidious threat to America in Johnson’s embrace of scriptural originalism: his belief that subjective interpretation of the Bible provides the master plan for governance. Religious truth is neither rational nor susceptible to reasoned debate. For Johnson, who sees a Manichean world divided between the saved who are going to heaven and the unsaved going to hell, there is no middle ground. Constitutional politics withers and is replaced with a battle of the faithful against the infidels. Sound familiar? Maybe in Tehran or Kabul or Riyadh. But in America? When rulers insist the law should be driven by a particular religious viewpoint, they are systematizing their beliefs and imposing a theocracy. We have thousands of religious sects in the US and there is no religious majority, but we now have a politically fervent conservative religious movement of Christian nationalists intent on shaping policy to match their understanding of God and theirs alone. The Republicans who elected Johnson speaker, by a unanimous vote, have aligned themselves with total political rule by an intolerant religious sect.

[The Guardian]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

In November, millions of voters in red, blue and purple states voted on the future of our health care directly on the ballot. And Senator Warnock ran his re-election campaign and run-off on health care. Health care, and Warnock, won decisively.

Voters decided to expand Medicaid in South Dakota, meaning more than 40,000 low-income South Dakotans will finally have the health care they should have had years ago. More than 17 million Americans have gained health coverage as a result of Medicaid expansion, part of the Affordable Care Act that became optional as a result of a 2012 Supreme Court decision. Every time expansion of health care through Medicaid is on the ballot, health care wins.

In Arizona, the voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 209, the Predatory Debt Collection Act, with a whopping 72% approval. This measure will protect Arizonans from predatory debt collection, including families suffering from medical debt.

Voters in states as varied as Michigan, Vermont, California, Kentucky and Montana supported abortion rights. In Michigan, Vermont and California, voters approved ballot measure enshrining abortion rights into their state constitutions. In Kentucky and Montana, voters rejected initiatives to restrict access to reproductive health care.

And in Oregon, Measure 111 passed. Voters there made Oregon the first state in the nation to guarantee affordable health care as a constitutional right. Now the state legislature needs to deliver on it, perhaps by moving forward a state-based public health insurance option as Colorado, Nevada and Washington have done so far.

Senator Warnock just won re-election in Georgia as a champion for lower drug prices, as did candidates across the country last month such as Representative Susan Wild in Pennsylvania.

Health care was on the ballot across the country, and the results are clear: Americans want affordable, accessible health care.

This issue is personal for me, because I've been on the front lines fighting for my health care and for the health care of 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions like me. I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2017. The day after my first chemotherapy treatment, Republicans in the U.S. House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act – the insurance paying for the treatments I needed to survive. But health care voters fought to defend the Affordable Care Act from a Congress and President determined to repeal it. We won.

And in the past couple years, health care voters have finally seen progress from Congress: with the American Rescue Plan making health insurance more affordable than ever, and the Inflation Reduction Act lowering prescription drug costs for seniors and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices at last. Yet already those gains are under attack.

Whether voting to expand health insurance through Medicaid, protect families from medical debt, preserve the right to reproductive freedom, or guarantee health care as a human right, Americans showed up and made their priorities known. Health care is a winning issue, no matter the state or political party of the voter.

Voters in South Dakota and elsewhere also demonstrated that state legislatures are blocking overwhelmingly popular legislation. It's time for Representatives in the remaining eleven hold-out states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, to do their jobs. They must represent the interests of their constituents by finally expanding Medicaid so low income Americans in their states can get health care too.

It's also time for Congress to get on board and work to expand lower drug prices to all, instead of threatening to take away what gains on affordable prescription drugs we made through the Inflation Reduction Act.

And once again, we are reminded that the majority of Americans support affordable, legal and accessible abortion access. Abortion is health care. We must continue to advocate for reproductive freedom and show our elected officials that their restrictions on our bodies are unwarranted and unwelcome.

Our fight for affordable, accessible health care continues. There's so much more to do, from tackling prescription drug costs for the rest of us not on Medicare, to ensuring lower health insurance costs to ensure everyone can get access to care.

Voters want health care. Listen up, elected officials.

[mariacallous]

Last week, when Joe Biden remarked that democracy would be “on the ballot” in the midterms, he was criticized by some for not focussing on other issues. However, his warning was well founded. In this year’s elections, according to a tally by Bright Line Watch, a group of political scientists that monitors democratic practices and the potential threats to them, between thirty-one per cent and fifty-five per cent of all G.O.P. candidates for Congress or top statewide office had expressed support for the unfounded claim that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. Candidates for attorney general were the least likely to endorse the stolen-election claim, whereas candidates for the U.S. House were the most likely. The election deniers included Republicans running for the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, governorships, and for state offices that oversee the election process—usually secretaries of state.

In addition to the risk of election deniers gaining power, there were concerns that right-wing militia groups could interfere with voting. In parts of Arizona, vigilantes bearing arms and wearing tactical gear lingered near voting drop boxes, prompting a federal judge to order the members of one right-wing group, Clean Elections USA, to stay at least seventy-five feet away from the boxes and refrain from carrying firearms or wearing body armor. Another legitimate concern was that some defeated Republican candidates might mimic Trump and refuse to accept the results, prompting a rerun of 2020, albeit on a smaller scale.

Despite all these threats, democracy prevailed. In many closely watched races, voters repudiated Republican proponents of the Big Lie. Despite logistical issues in a few places, voting and vote-counting went ahead largely without incident. And, in something of a surprise, many of the defeated election deniers have publicly acknowledged that they lost. “The basic institutions of democracy held,” Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth who is a co-director of Bright Line Watch, told me. “We had another round of free and fair elections, and the major institutions of state haven’t been taken over by election deniers.”

Among the prominent Big Lie losers were the U.S. Senate candidates Don Bolduc (New Hampshire) and, it seems likely, Blake Masters (Arizona), along with the gubernatorial candidates Doug Mastriano (Pennsylvania), Tudor Dixon (Michigan), and Tim Michels (Wisconsin). In Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico, election deniers lost in races for secretary of state, and their vocal counterpart in Arizona, Mark Finchem, appears to be heading for a defeat, too, although that race remains undecided. Joanna Lydgate, who heads the nonpartisan election group States United Action, told the Times, “The voters stepped up to defend democracy.”

That they did, and they also delivered a message to the unrepresentative and far-right Supreme Court, which took it upon itself to overturn Roe v. Wade. In California, Michigan, and Vermont, voters approved amendments to their state constitutions that would guarantee abortion rights. In Kentucky, which Trump carried by more than twenty-five points in 2020, voters rejected a constitutional amendment in the opposite direction, which would have ended protections for abortion. Regardless of one’s view on Roe, these ballot measures indicated that the institutions of U.S. democracy are doing what they are supposed to do—giving the citizenry a voice.

In sum, Tuesday’s election showed that American democracy is in better shape than some people feared. But there were also some less encouraging developments. In the U.S. Senate races in Ohio and Wisconsin, J. D. Vance and Ron Johnson, two Republicans who have questioned the 2020 result and toadied to Trump, both prevailed. In some deep-red states, including Alabama, Indiana, and Wyoming, promoters of the Big Lie were elected as secretaries of state. And, according to the Washington Post, “at least a hundred and fifty G.O.P. election deniers running for the U.S. House won their races as of Friday.”

“There are going to be a lot of election deniers in the new Congress,” Nyhan noted. “We can’t be confident that the G.O.P. has repudiated election denialism. It has taken over the Party. The fact that the Democrats have done well in this one election doesn’t mean that the threat has been eliminated.” As if to emphasize this point, Trump is set to announce his 2024 candidacy, in which he will surely renew his assault on the norms and institutions of democracy. Although many Republican leaders are privately alarmed about the prospect of having Trump at the top of the ticket again, and though the conservative media outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch appear to have turned on him, the former President still has a great deal of support among the Republican base.

With Trump back out there whipping up the MAGA faithful, will other G.O.P. politicians, who have caved to him so often in the past, behave any differently? And would a defeat for Trump in the 2024 G.O.P. primary, perhaps at the hands of Ron DeSantis, actually end the threat of democratic erosion? “On the one hand, Trump is the locus of election denialism and the threat to democracy,” Nyhan said. “At the same time, though, he has demonstrated the appeal of an authoritarian populist approach, and there may well be other Republican candidates who will adopt it after him.” It was only three months ago that the audience at a conference of conservative Republicans warmly greeted Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian exponent of illiberal democracy, who has squashed his domestic opposition. “The results of the election were generally good news, but we have to keep up our vigilance,” Nyhan said. “There are still many grounds for concern.” ♦

[coochiequeens]

WASHINGTON — In a stunning display of broad support for at least some abortion rights, voters in a handful of key states voted to defend abortion rights in the first major test of public sentiment after the Dobbs decision.

Voters in Kentucky shot down a proposal that would have explicitly denied abortion as a right in its constitution, though the procedure still remains all but banned in the state. In a closely watched fight in Michigan, voters passed a measure that would protect abortion access in the state constitution. Voters in California and Vermont also voted to codify abortion as a constitutional right, while in Montana, voters weighed in on a measure requiring care for fetus born alive after an abortion attempt. That measure was largely expected to pass but remains in close contention with 80% of votes counted.

The Michigan measure was the first such vote since the Dobbs decision in a swing state with sizable populations of both Democrats and Republicans. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was locked in a tight race with GOP opponent Tudor Dixon, who is anti-abortion and has skirted the issue on the campaign trail, but Whitmer was elected to a second term.

“In the Midwest, a lot of states have already banned abortion. So Michigan is an incredibly critical access point for people across the region,” said Ianthe Metzger, director of state advocacy communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Planned Parenthood and partners EMILY's List and NARAL Pro-Choice America poured unprecedented funds into supporting abortion rights ballot measures and pro-abortion political candidates, as well as battling anti-abortion proposals such as Kentucky’s ballot measure.

“We definitely did all we could,” said Planned Parenthood’s Metzger, who said the group put $50 million into their drive. “It was our biggest mobilization ever.”

The advocacy groups’ campaigning is on top of record Democratic spending on abortion-related advertising including $94 million in gubernatorial races alone, according to Ad Impact data shared with The Washington Post. 

Stephen Billy, vice president of state affairs for anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, insisted that the Michigan vote is not a bellwether for Americans’ sentiments on abortion policy.

Related: ‘We’re sick of watching women die’: In Michigan, doctors rally to protect abortion access

“I don't think it tells us anything about the national abortion environment,” said Billy. “I think what it tells us is that the abortion industry can use tens of millions of dollars.”

SBA List has backed a number of conservative gubernatorial and congressional candidates that have run on banning or severely restricting abortion access, among them Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dixon, Nevada gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo — whose stance on abortion has shifted — and Tim Michels, who is running against Wisconsin incumbent Gov. Tony Evers. 

“Many Republicans running for governor and for Senate, we've seen over the past few months trying to scrub their records and to rewrite their records on this issue,” said Metzger. “That alone is an indication that they know that abortion rights are popular.” 

Candidates that have softened their rhetoric include Arizona Republican Blake Masters, who has backtracked from calling abortion “demonic” and supporting fetal personhood to saying he supports bans on late-term abortions, but not all procedures. In Nevada, the Republican running for U.S. Senate, Adam Laxalt, has been a vocal anti-abortion advocate but also recently insisted that he would vote with Democrats against a federal abortion ban. 

Related: Online requests for medication abortions spiked after the Dobbs decision

Vermont voters were largely expected to approve their measure after it passed both chambers of the state legislature with a two-thirds majority in both the 2019-2020 and 2021-2021 legislative sessions, giving it the necessary votes to secure a spot on the ballot.

“Enshrining this right in the Constitution is critical to ensuring equal protection and treatment under the law and upholding the right of all people to health, dignity, independence, and freedom,” stated the proposal written by state Sens. Tim Ashe, Becca Balint, Virginia Lyons and Richard Sears, all Democrats. The governor will sign a document adding the abortion measure and another outlawing slavery to the constitution on Dec. 13.

California's measure was also projected to pass because of high polling in favor of reproductive rights, though it remains unclear from the ballot language if it would protect abortion past the point of a fetal viability, which typically happens around 24 weeks. 

Kentucky’s ballot measure, Amendment 2, would bar the use of public funds for abortion procedures and banned state courts from considering its constitutionality, but it's trending to be rejected by voters in the largely red state.

This story has been updated with election results in California, Michigan, and Kentucky. 

[ausetkmt]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s monthslong absence from the Senate to recover in California from shingles has become a vexing problem for Democrats who want to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees to the federal courts. Now there is some pressure from within her party, and her state, to resign.

With frustration mounting among Democrats, Feinstein on Wednesday asked to be temporarily replaced on the Senate Judiciary Committee while she recuperates. The statement came shortly after a member of California’s House delegation, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, called on her to step down, saying it is “unacceptable” for her to miss votes to confirm judges who could be weighing in on abortion rights, a key Democratic priority.

It will not be easy to temporarily replace Feinstein on the influential committee. Republicans could block such a move, given that the full Senate must approve committee assignments.

The conundrum for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stems from his party’s fragile hold on power. Democrats are clinging to a 51-49 majority in an aging Senate where there have been several absences due to health issues this year.

A look at the politics surrounding Feinstein’s absence, and how Democrats are navigating the situation:

EXTENDED ABSENCE

Feinstein, 89, has been away from the Senate since Feb. 27, just two weeks after she announced she would not run for reelection in 2024.

Her office disclosed March 2 that she had been hospitalized in San Francisco and was being treated for a case of shingles. “I hope to return to the Senate later this month,” she said in a statement at the time.

Now, six weeks later, Feinstein’s office will not give a timeline for her return, even as Congress comes back into session Monday from a two-week recess.

It is unclear how long Feinstein expects to be away from Washington or whether she might resign before the end of her term. She has already faced questions in recent years about her cognitive health and memory, and has appeared increasingly frail. But she has defended her effectiveness.

STALLED JUDGES

Since February, Feinstein has missed more than 50 votes. Her absence on the Judiciary Committee means that Democrats can only confirm judges who have some Republican support because Democrats only have a one-seat majority on the panel.

The committee chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has acknowledged that the pace of confirmations has slowed.

“I can’t consider nominees in these circumstances because a tie vote is a losing vote in committee,” Durbin told CNN.

There are currently 12 federal judge nominees whom Democrats say they have been unable to advance because of Feinstein’s absence. It is not clear how many would have Republican support.

AN UNUSUAL REQUEST

Feinstein’s request to be temporarily replaced on the panel is uncommon and the politics at play are complicated.

Committee assignments are typically approved easily in the full Senate at the beginning of each two-year session. Replacements are generally only made when a senator dies or resigns.

To change the committee membership, Democrats will have to hold a vote. While committee rosters are generally approved by a voice vote, just one Republican objection would trigger a roll call. Because of Senate rules, Democrats probably would need 60 votes to replace Feinstein — meaning at least 10 Republicans would have to help Democrats and support the move.

That is far from assured. Judicial nominations are a high-stakes matter for both sides, and the process has become steeped in partisanship.

Republicans have so far stayed quiet. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he will return from his own medical absence on Monday, after a head injury in a fall last month.

CALIFORNIA POLITICS

Feinstein’s February announcement that she will retire from Congress when her term ends next year has triggered a scramble for her seat in a strongly Democratic state.

Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have already launched Senate campaigns to succeed Feinstein.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in 2021 that he would nominate a Black woman to fill the seat if Feinstein were to step aside before her term ends. Khanna has endorsed Lee, who is Black.

Other Californians — including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — have come to Feinstein’s defense.

Pelosi told a San Francisco TV station that she’s “seen up close and firsthand her great leadership for our country, but especially for our state of California. She deserves the respect to get well and be back on duty.”

Pelosi suggested sexism has played a role in the way Feinstein has been treated.

“I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way,” Pelosi said. “I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.”

A STORIED CAREER

Feinstein has been a political trailblazer since she was the first woman to serve as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the 1970s. First elected to the Senate in 1992, she was the first woman to head the Senate Intelligence Committee, privy to the nation’s top secrets, and the first woman to serve as the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat.

While she often has worked across party lines, she faced criticism in recent years from Democrats who said she was letting Republicans off easy in bruising judicial fights.

Feinstein infuriated liberals in 2020 when she closed out confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett with an embrace of the then-Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and thanked him for a job well done.

A month later, she announced she would remain on the committee but step down as the senior Democrat.

[blackmagicspecialist786-blog]

Idaho Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Bans

Idaho has three different prohibitions: one permits relatives of the fetus who died to bring lawsuits against the abortion provider in civil courts, another which bans abortions after the six-week mark of gestation and the third one prohibits all abortions after conception, with an exception for the purpose of rape, incest, or a medical risk to the health of the mother. The most stringent one of three law has been in effect since the end of August. A lawsuit filed from The U.S. Justice Department has been able to block a section of the law that permits doctors and abortion clinics the right to file lawsuits and convict in criminal courts. This case is currently waiting to be decided. According to the law, doctors who are found guilty could can be sentenced to as long as five years in jail and may be denied their medical license for at minimum 6 months. Doctors are able to refer to the rape, incest, or the attempt to save the baby's life to defend themselves during a trial. The woman has to submit an official police report in the case of incest or rape. Right to Life of Idaho who believe that the abortion of a woman is murder applauded the decision of the court. Justices "upheld pro-life laws that were passed by the representatives of the people." Rebecca Gibron, chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky she said this has been "a dark day for the state of Idaho," however, she added she believed that "our fight is far from over." Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis She said the decisions made from Idaho as well as South Carolina underscore the importance of the state supreme courts, especially in states such as Idaho where elections are held for judicial purposes. Five justices from Idaho are chosen by non-partisan elections as well, in the event of a midterm election, elected by the governor. Five of the currently sitting justices are from Idaho are from a very Republican state, and who decided to vote to elect Donald Trump for president in 2020 and were appointed by an incumbent Republican governor. Read the full article

[atheisticsnail]

On Despair

I’ve been watching alot of my online friends and acquaintances fall into despair over the last several months. I’ve watched them become more and more afraid. I’ve watched them be pushed further and further. I’ve seen it in myself. And I want to offer some hope to them and myself that I think we have forgotten. We are winning. I know it ABSOLUTELY does not feel like it. That it FEELS like the unempathetic immoral bigots are winning, but they are not.

How do I know that? Because the facts our on our side. There should have been a huge Red wave at the mid Term election this month. That did not appear. We kept the Senate, we won a HUGE number of state run battles. And we did that in the face of enormous voter suppression and gerrymandering. Think about that. Our side fought so hard that we overcame huge handicaps to save the people we love and care about. Because I doubt hardly anyone fighting for Trans Rights, for Abortion Rights, For Voting Rights, for Equality is doing it just for themselves. History shows that humans almost always fight harder when they have loved ones to protect. And all the people I know? They are fighting because they are terrified for their loved ones, and that is so powerful.

What else shows we are winning? How about the fact that in Kansas, an undeniable red state Voters OVERWHELMINGLY opposed a constitutional amendment that would have removed bodily autonomy. Voters in Kentucky and Montana (also red states) also voted to restrict abortion rights. Voters in California, Michigan,and Vermot voted to protect abortion rights.

Trans Rights are massively under attack in the United States. I will not deny that. BUT we are still winning there. 64% of Americans favor laws and policies that would protect transgender people from discrimination in jobs, house, and public spaces. 20 years ago most Americans barely knew transgender people existed. And I won’t lie, the public is deeply divided about education about Trans people in school, and sports and other areas. BUT we are making progress. Yes it is a battle that it shouldn’t be, BUT there is hope. The American Psychiatric Association supports Trans Rights. Research into improving medical and psychiatric care for Trans people has been amazingly done in the last 20 years and continues. Numerous support groups exist to help Trans people exist and hopefully thrive.

How about some other hope? The Courts. Despite all of the rights attempts to complete fuck up the United States Court system, in many ways they are failing. Alex Jones owes almost a Billion dollars to the Sandy Hook Parents who’s lives he tried to destroy. He has managed to silence himself and hang himself with a debt he will drag forever like Sisyphus and his bolder.

A Judge in Flordia told Desantis to fuck himself by blocking his law attempting to silence workers at Florida Colleges. Marc E. Elias and the Democracy Now group is winning cases all across the United States defending our voting rights. And they have been doing this for the last several years.

Drumpf’s Business’s in New York I likely going to either be shut down or take a ginormous financial hit thanks to the Criminal and Civil Fraud Case.

For all the rights screaming about the January 6th Hearings and their attempts to get people not to watch it, the watch numbers of it have been insane. And while it is not shaking those who have bought the big lie. It is helping provide information to those of us who didn’t. Because Facts matter. Getting the Truth out matters

I look at where I was in 2004, having never heard the work Asexual and now thanks to the wonder of the connected world knowing who I am. And finding my footing. And I look at all the GRSM people I know and I take so much joy in the fact that we live in a world where we can reach out and care for each other. Even when others try to stop us. When they spread hate and vitriol.

Because that is what the side of empathy has more than those that hate. We care about what is happening to others. And I get that watching the damage that is happening, the lives that are being damaged and in some cases ruined can lead to despair. And that is totally fair, but don’t give into it. Do not let them make you into them. That is the thing I fear the most. That if we look into the abyss that is the hate, bigotry, and fear that we will start to reflect them.

The answer to their hate, bigotry and fear is not to return like with like. Many of the bigots are starting to spread Stochastic terrorism and use language about Civil wars. And that is absolutely terrifying. It is. But I would say we need to look at their fear and not take it into ourselves. The ability of those speakers, Walsh, Tucker, Jenna Ellis, Libs Of TikToc, Rittenhouse to cause an actual Civil War is almost zero. They can radicalize individuals and their words will cause deaths like those that happened at Club Q, but they don’t have the power to set the states fighting each other. All they can do is radicalize the mob.

And that is a terrifying power. But that power comes from fear, and if we feed back their fear to them they win. They want us afraid of them. They want us to behave like they have more power than they do. That they have more support than they do. They are talking heads representing about 29% of the population. So how do I suggest we fight them? With our empathy. With Knowledge, and with our willingness to stand for each other.

What do I mean by that? Call them out, but remember they are human at the same time. They are sad broken people who have so much fear of the world that they are lashing out at people who have no ability to hurt them. Tucker Carlson is an angry lying bigot who is such an idiot that his own lawyers say no one should believe him about anything. Would you really want to be him?

Kyle Rittenhouse is not even 21 years old and he will have to live his entire life knowing he killed 2 people, and while he might justify it to himself that is all his life is about now. That is all he has. Look at him. Really look at how pathetic his life is. Hes a mascot with no education, who is being slowly mentally poisoned even more than he already was by the people around him. That is not a life I would wish on almost anyone. The odds on him escaping that thinking are small, and he will have to live in that terrifying place. He is a child puppet for bigots. I’m not excusing his words or his behavior. He absolutely should be called out for that. But I won’t do what he did. I won’t other him. He is responsible for his words and actions, but he is a human as well.

I would rather be me. I would rather make a difference by showing empathy. I’ve heard people I know say they don’t think they have made a difference. To you, you are wrong. Even if you haven’t seen it you have made a difference. The small fanfiction writer who posted a Johnlock story about an Asexual Sherlock will never know that they helped me find AVEN and changed my life because I was not able to find that story again and thank them. But that small story changed my life. The hope you put into the world by sharing your stories helps. Even if you never see it. Just as the evil you put out their can damage, hope can help. Empathy can help. Care can help.

So share the stories. Support each other. If you want a more active role, find somewhere to volunteer. Examples:

The Trevor Project has a volunteer program that teaches you how to help talk to and become a crisis support counselor. (Be aware they have a wait list for people to take applicants, but if you are interested get on the list)

Want to help with politics? The Warnock Run off in Georgia needs volunteers to Make Calls, Knock on Doors, and Protect the Vote. I’ve made calls for elections. You can do it from home. Its weird and uncomfortable but it can and does help.

Volunteer at a local food pantry. If your city has a homeless shelter volunteer there. Volunteer at a local animal shelter. Make a Sign and put it up in your yard or window supporting Trans Rights, or Abortion Rights, or your personal group.

Because just because you don’t see people seeing your support. Someone does. Someone takes hope because there are people out there who see them as human.

See humanity. Please show the world that you care.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 7, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 8, 2023

Today was Election Day across the country. In a number of key state elections, voters rejected the extremism of MAGA Republicans and backed Democrats and Democratic policies. 

Four of the most closely watched races were in Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.

In Ohio, voters enshrined the right of individuals to make their own healthcare decisions, including the right to abortion, into the state constitution. Opponents of abortion rights have worked hard since the summer to stop the measure from passing, trying first to make it more difficult to amend the constitution—voters overwhelmingly rejected that measure in an August special election—then by blanketing the state with disinformation about the measure, including through official state websites and with ads by former Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson, and finally by dropping 26,000 voters from the rolls. 

None of it worked. Voters protected the right to abortion. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, voters in all seven state elections where the issue was on the ballot have fought back to protect abortion rights. 

Today’s vote in Ohio, where the end of Roe v. Wade resurrected an extreme antiabortion bill, makes it eight.

Abortion was also on the ballot In Virginia, where the entire state legislature was up for grabs today. Republican governor Glenn Youngkin made it clear he wanted control of the legislature in order to push through a measure banning abortion after 15 weeks. This ploy was one Republicans were using to seem to soften their antiabortion stance, which has proven terribly unpopular. Youngkin was taking the idea out for a spin to see how it might play in a presidential election, perhaps with a hope of entering the Republican race for the presidential nomination as someone who could claim to have turned a blue state red. 

It didn’t work. Voters recognized that it was disingenuous to call a 15-week limit a compromise on the abortion issue, since most serious birth defects are not detected until 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

Going into the election, Democrats held the state senate. But rather than giving Youngkin control over both houses of the state legislature, voters left Democrats in charge of the Senate and flipped the House of Delegates over to the Democrats. The Democrats are expected to elevate House minority leader Don Scott of Portsmouth to the speakership, making him the first Black House speaker in Virginia history.  

Virginia voters also elevated Delegate Danica Roem, the first known transgender delegate, to the state senate. At the same time, voters in Loudoun County, which had become a hot spot in the culture wars with attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals and with activists insisting the schools must not teach critical race theory, rejected that extremism and turned control of the school board over to those who championed diversity and equity.

In Kentucky, voters reelected Democratic governor Andy Beshear, who was running against Republican state attorney general Daniel Cameron. A defender of Kentucky’s abortion ban, Cameron was also the attorney general who declined to bring charges against the law enforcement officers who killed Breonna Taylor in her bed in 2020 after breaking into her apartment in a mistaken search for drugs. 

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Daniel McCaffery won a supreme court seat, enabling the Democrats to increase their majority there. McCaffery positioned himself as a defender of abortion rights. 

There will be more news about election results and what they tell us in the coming days. Tonight, though, political analyst Tom Bonier wrote: “My biggest takeaway from tonight: in '22 abortion rights had the biggest impact where it was literally on the ballot, less so when trying to draw the connection in candidate races. That has changed. Voters clearly made the connection that voting for GOP candidates=abortion bans.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[old-fashionedgentlman]

2024 POSSIBLE ELECTION CANDIDATES (DEMOCRAT)

Potential Democratic Presidential Candidate, Current Job Graduated/Degree Education Location ####-####: Qualification *Voted in Support Of -Supports RED FLAG <~> -What They Did

Stacey Abrams, 2018 gubernatorial candidate Bachelor's Spelman College, 1995 Graduate University of Texas, Austin, 1998 Law Yale Law School, 1999 -High-Quality Day Care -Universal Pre-K -Excellent Public Schools -Affordable Higher Education -Strengthen Small Businesses -Workplace Equality -Help Poverty Stricken Americans -Affordable Healthcare -Criminal Justice Reform -Protect Environment -LGBTQ+ Ally -Support Veterans -Support Military -Keep Guns Out of Wrong Hands -Support Domestic Violence Survivors -Protect Voting Rights -Affordable Housing

Michael Bennet, U.S. senator from Colorado Bachelor's Wesleyan University Law Yale Law School 2009-Present: U.S. Senator from Colorado 2005-2009: Superintendent, Denver Public Schools 2003-2005: Chief of staff to mayor of Denver 1997-2003: Managing director, Anschutz Investment Co. 1997: Special assistant U.S. attorney, Conn. 1995-1997: Counsel to U.S. deputy attorney general *Block border wall *Renew PATRIOT Act *Convict Trump of abuse of office *Convict Trump of contempt of Congress *End military actions against Iran *Against banning abortion after 20 weeks *Provide federal aid for coronavirus *Renew FISA surveillance law -Pro Immigrant -Agriculture Plans -College Affordability -Job Creation -Pro Education for Minors

Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky <1> High school Henry Clay High School Bachelor's Vanderbilt University Law University of Virginia School of Law -Strengthening Public Education -Affordable Healthcare -Wage Growth -Pensions -Against Corruption -College Affordability -Criminal Justice Reform -Pro Diversity -Equal Pay -Legalize Betting and Online Casinos -Job Training -Marriage Equality -Medical Marijuana -Reproductive Rights -Anti Opioid Distribution -Voting Rights -Heroin Treatment -Anti Child Abuse -Protect Seniors -Protect Jobs MULTIPLE LAWSUITS MADE AGAINST HIM <~> -Modifications to Education Board Memberships -Boards of Trustees Abolishments -Education Budget Cuts

Cory Booker, U.S. senator from New Jersey 2013-Present: U.S. Senator from New Jersey 2006-2013: Mayor of Newark, New Jersey 1998-2002: Newark City Council 1997: Graduated from Yale Law School with a J.D. 1994: Graduated from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar 1992: Graduated from Stanford University with an M.A. 1991: Graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. *Block border wall *Convict Trump of abuse of office *Convict Trump of contempt of Congress *End military action against Iran *Against banning abortion after 20 weeks *Provide federal aid for coronavirus *Renew FISA surveillance law

Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend Bachelor's Harvard University Graduate Pembroke College, Oxford 2021-Present: U.S. secretary of transportation 2019-2020: Democratic presidential candidate 2012-2020: Mayor of South Bend, Indiana 2009-2017: Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve 2007-2010: Consultant at McKinsey & Company -Support Black Communities

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York <2> High school Archbishop Molloy High School, 1975 Bachelor's Fordham University, 1979 Law Albany Law School, 1982 -Civil Rights -Criminal Justice Reform -Gun Safety -Women's Equality -LGBTQ+ Community -Educational Opportunity for All -Expand Healthcare -Protect Environment -Repair/Rebuild Infrastructure -Stronger Middle Class -Against Income Inequality CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT MADE AGAINST HIM <~> -Five women claimed sexual assault <~>

Kamala Harris, U.S. senator from California Bachelor's Howard University, 1986 Law University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1989 2021-Present: Vice president of the United States 2017-2021: U.S. senator from California 2011-2016: Attorney general of California 2004-2011: District attorney of San Francisco 1990-1998: Deputy district attorney, Alameda County, Calif. *Block border wall *Renew PATRIOT Act *Convict Trump of abuse of office *Convict Trump of contempt of Congress *End military action against Iran *Against banning abortion after 20 weeks *Provide federal aid for coronavirus *Renew FISA surveillance *Criminal justice reform -Civil Rights -Equality for All -Protect Environment -Expand Higher Education

Jay Inslee, governor of Washington High school Ingraham High School, Washington Bachelor's University of Washington Law Willamette University School of Law Other Stanford University 2013-present: Governor of Washington 1999-2012: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington's 1st Congressional District 1997-1998: Regional director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1996: Unsuccessful run for Governor of Washington 1993-1995: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington's 4th Congressional District 1988-1992: Washington House of Representatives 1976-1984: City prosecutor, Selah, Washington -Better Paying Jobs -Expand Middle Class -Improve Education -Improve Transportation -Healthcare Expansion

Joe Kennedy, U.S. representative from Massachusetts Bachelor's Stanford University Law Harvard Law School 2013-Present: U.S. Representative from Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District 2011-2012: Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex County 2004-2006: U.S. Peace Corps *Terminate border wall *Re-impose federal net neutrality rules *Expand restrictions on online campaign ads *Regulate foreign involvement in campaigns *Federal approval before states can change voting practices *Impeach Trump for abuse of power *Impeach Trump for obstruction of justice *Direct Trump to end hostilities against Iran *Against renewing foreign surveillance authorization *Federal aid for coronavirus -Small Business Support -Job Creation -Balance Budget -Renewable Energy -Healthcare Reform -Improve Education -Social Justice -Women's Rights

Amy Klobuchar, U.S. senator from Minnesota Bachelor's Yale University Law University of Chicago Law School 2007-Present: U.S. Senator from Minnesota 1999-2006: Hennepin County Attorney Partner at Dorsey & Whitney and Gray Plant Mooty law firms *Block border wall *Against budget caps on federal spending *Convict Trump of abuse of office *Convict Trump of contempt of Congress *End military actions against Iran *Provide federal aid for coronavirus *Renew FISA surveillance

Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of New Mexico High school St. Michael's High School Bachelor's University of New Mexico Law University of New Mexico 2019-present: Governor of New Mexico 2013-2019: U.S. Representative from New Mexico's 1st Congressional District 2010-2012: Member of the Bernalillo County board of commissioners 2004-2007: New Mexico secretary of health 2002-2004: New Mexico secretary of aging and long-term services 1991-2002: Director of the New Mexico state agency on aging -Improve Education -Improve Healthcare -Support Veterans -Support Seniors -Legal Medical Cannabis -LGBTQ+ -Improve Economy -Create Jobs -Increase Police -Public Safety -Anti Gun Legislation -Agriculture -Support Indigenous -Clean Energy -Improve Higher Education -Women's Rights -Fiscal Responsibilities -Improve Schools

Gavin Newsom, governor of California Bachelor's Santa Clara University, 1989 *LGBTQ+ *Healthcare access *Legalize marijuana *Background checks on ammunition purchases -Defend Immigrant Communities -Women's Rights -LGBTQ+ -Criminal Justice Reform -Gun Safety -Support Veterans -Support Military -Healthcare Access -Support Mental Health Treatment -Support Communities of Color -Protect Animals and Wildlife -Eliminate Child Poverty -Financial Foundation for College -Expanding Access to Higher Education -Increase Access to Affordable Housing -Universal Healthcare -Improve Education -Support Small Business -Grow Jobs Through Fiscal Responsibility -Economic Growth -Renewable Energy -Build Infrastructure -Improve Education -Improve Access to STEM Education -Attract and Retain Quality Teachers -Affordable Higher Education -Combat Climate Change -Improve Water Supply -Clean Air -Affordable Housing -Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts -Workforce Housing -Housing Production -Protect Tenants -Address Homelessness

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. representative from New York Bachelor's Boston University College of Arts & Sciences, 2011 -Support Immigrants -Medicare For All -Housing As a Human Right -Federal Jobs Guarantee -Criminal Justice Reform -End Private Prisons -Immigration Justice -Abolish ICE -Renewable Fuel -Supports Climate Change Reform -Higher Education For All -Women's Rights -LGBTQ+ -Support Seniors

J.B. Pritzker, governor of Illinois Bachelor's Duke University Law Northwestern University -Protect Net Neutrality -Women's Rights -Economic Inclusion -Protect Seniors -Protect Immigrant Families -Protect Environment -Legalize Marijuana -Anti Gun Violence -LGBTQ+ -Raise Wages -Youth Mental Health -Mental Health -Treatment For Opioids Over Incarceration -Economic Stability -Support Veterans -Justice Reform -Expand Stable Housing -Expand Healthcare -Domestic Violence Prevention -Early Childhood Education -Increase Jobs

Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan Bachelor's Michigan State University, 1993 Law Michigan State University, Detroit College of Law, 1998 -Fix Roads -Affordable Healthcare -Cleaner Drinking Water -Hold Government Accountable -Skill Training For Jobs -Improve Education -Decrease Poverty -Repeal Retirement Tax -Women's Rights -Support Veterans -Expand Treatment For Addiction

FEEL FREE TO ADD ON TO THIS POST! I’M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW INFORMATION AND WILL TRY TO KEEP IT UPDATED!

[foreverlogical]

Sarah Pitlyk has devoted her legal career to rolling back access to reproductive health care and vouching for the conservative credentials of men like U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. And Republicans are about to reward her with a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.

President Donald Trump has nominated Pitlyk to be a federal district judge in Missouri, a state where conservative lawmakers have focused on passing one extreme anti-abortion ban after another. Should she be confirmed, she will no doubt give any anti-choice law challenged in her courtroom the go-ahead to take effect.

Pitlyk is in many ways a quintessential Trump judicial nominee. She’s young, white, and a member of the Federalist Society. The fact that she’s a woman makes her stand out among the pool of more than 150 federal judges Republicans have confirmed during the Trump presidency. A graduate of Yale Law School, she clerked for Kavanaugh from 2010 to 2011, when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Pitlyk came to Kavanaugh’s defense early in his nomination process, assuring fellow conservatives in the National Review that Kavanaugh would be a reliable vote against abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Pitlyk praised Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion in Garza v. Hargan, the case involving the Trump administration’s efforts to deny undocumented minors in its custody access to abortion care. Pitlyk noted in the National Review piece that Kavanaugh’s dissent endorsed the Trump administration’s position that it did not have to facilitate “abortion on demand,” anti-choice rhetoric used to describe routine access to abortion care services.

As an attorney in private practice and as special counsel at the Thomas More Society, a conservative litigation mill, Pitlyk has defended some of the most extreme abortion restrictions in the country. For instance, Pitlyk defended Iowa’s six-week abortion ban, one of the first extreme pre-viability bans that are now all the rage in states run by Republicans. She lost that case: In January, a state court judge rightly declared the Iowa law unconstitutional.

Pitlyk also was involved in an amicus brief in Box v. Planned Parenthood Indiana and Kentucky. The case involved a challenge to two Indiana abortion restrictions: one that mandates disposal methods for fetal remains and another that bans abortion based on the race, sex, or possible disability of the fetus. The Roberts Court last summer ruled the fetal remains requirements were constitutional but that Indiana’s “reason ban” was not. Pitlyk argued in her brief that abortion and contraception are rooted in eugenics. “Given its strategic location of abortion clinics near minority neighborhoods and its blatant marketing of abortion to the minority community, the abortion industry’s claims to bear no responsibility for the staggering numbers of minority abortions beggars belief,” she writes. Justice Clarence Thomas picked up her disproven theme and ran with it when the Court ruled on the case.

Pitlyk’s anti-choice credentials don’t end with defending extreme abortion bans and advancing myths of abortion as Black genocide. She has a history of attacking in vitro fertilization and assisted reproductive technologies. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Pitlyk and other attorneys for Hobby Lobby equated hormonal birth control with abortion, arguing that providing employees birth control coverage at no additional cost or co-pay as mandated in the ACA requires employers to “cooperate in the destruction of human life.” She has also defended Planned Parenthood smear-campaign architect David Daleiden in a number of cases. Pitlyk describes this work as “defending undercover journalists against civil lawsuits and criminal charges resulting from an investigation of illegal fetal tissue trafficking.” Daleiden falsely accused Planned Parenthood of profiting from fetal tissue donations. These claims helped fuel an upswing in threats and violence against abortion providers, including in 2015, when Robert Lewis Dear Jr. killed three people while laying siege to a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs.

In September 2019 the nonpartisan American Bar Association (ABA) unanimously found Pitlyk “Not Qualified” to serve as a federal judge. She is the eighth Trump judicial nominee to be found “Not Qualified” by the ABA and one of four to be unanimously declared “Not Qualified.” The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider her nomination on Thursday.

[bond-villains-are-winning]

Making America Grotequely Antiquated (17Jan19 edition)

Circus of Distractions. Today’s events in the Big Tent:

COLLUSION. Rudy Giuliani says he, RG, only said that the President of the US never colluded with Russia. But that he, RG, did not say that members of the Campaign had not colluded. TRANSLATION A: Obama did not collude but Citizen Trump did? TRANSLATION B: Candidate Trump colluded but President Trump has not?

CONSPIRACY? Evidently Mr. Mueller has confirmed evidence that Mr Trump instructed his attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to the Congress about the Trump Tower. The House Intelligence Chairman is interested in investigating the allegation.

THE TRUE ENEMY. The House has sent 8 separate bills to the Senate but Mcconnell, the true mastermind of the assault on the Republic, has 8 times blocked blocked any consideration. However, pressure may be building against his position in Kentucky. SUGGESTION: Dems need to name McConnell as a big part of the problem.

SHUT DOWN. Some financial giants are expressing concern as to the Economic consequences for the US. QUESTION: if the Rich and Wall Street and GOP crash the Economy every 10 years (Bush 1992, Bush 2001, 2008, Trump 2019) what “value” do they serve other than to put us out of work so they can foreclose on our homes and repossess our cars? We can confiscate their stolen plunder with a few strokes of a pen.

PUERTO RICO Top HUD official resigns because Trump is attempting to block recovery funds.

TODDLER TANTRUM in response to Pelosi’s suggestion that the scheduled State of the Union be postponed until the government reopens, the Orange Son of a Klansman acts his emotional age and tells Pelosi she cannot fly to Afghanistan on a military flight. Squirt pistols or paper towel cardboard tubes at dawn?

WALL STREET CASINO. In response to an airline raising wages for pilots the Casino expresses outrage. How is this not theft? QUESTION: How is our current Oligarchy an improvement on the Soviet Ministries?

RUSSIAN SANCTIONS. Evidently Benedict McConnell has been busy getting the senate to allow the Putin Puppet to eliminate sanctions on a Russian firm. Evidently this is FAR more important than either the Crises at the Border or the Epic Catastrophe of the Government Shutdown.

IMPEACHMENT Atlantic Monthly calls for the Impeachment of the the Orange POTUS.

ABORTION. Benedict McConnell also took time today for an anti-abortion bill (AKA “anti-uppity women controlling their lives”) that was voted down in the Senate.

INSANITY. We still have Troops stationed at the border to defend us from Honduran grandmothers. A fear expressed only by alt-Right alcoholics, meth addicts and (wink wink) Adderall sniffers.

CAGED KIDS. Trump’s kiddie gulags have more kids than previously indicated. FOLLOW the MONEY: You do know that it costs 3x as much per day per child in a Trump Concentration Camp than it does in a bleeding heart Social Sevices facility? Costs more despite the poor food, terrible conditions, lack of teachers, lack of medical facilities, and lack of trained personnel. Gosh, I wonder how much of the cost is profit?

Updates 9:00, 5:30 & 4pm pacific coast time USA.

Is it too soon to discuss the significant changes that most of our National Community would like to see? Or do we kow tow to those who have bribed Congress to cut their taxes from 90% on extreme wealth to 39.4%. (How the Rich “earned” their money - shift the tax burden to the middle class and blue collar workers.)