Vote The Midterms
"...Thus, it largely comes down to which side gets more of its reliable voters to the polls ... to vote against the other party."
Politics
A Small {r} Republican’s Argument for Monarchy
One of the main problems with our constitutional republic, based upon an idea, is that most people are not good with theory and principle
Living Wage v Minimum Wage
The minimum wage does not provide a living wage for most American families.
The FBI’s On The Hot Seat – Again
It's a funny thing. Back in the sixties and seventies, we were all sure that the FBI WAS a criminal enterprise that spent its time spying on the anti-war movement
Why Trump
The thing about Trump, the huge thing about Trump, is that he gets it. He’s the Only Sane Politician. Everything that’s obvious to you but not obvious to the politicians and the media
The terrorist next door
I didn’t hear anything in the morning when it happened. I was downstairs getting breakfast. I don’t think any shots were fired at the FBI building.
Another Something to Think About
What do privacy and democracy have in common?
And, Stupid People Shall “Inherit The Wind”
Proverbs 11:29: He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart.
On Stupidity
My view has always been that Trump managing to clear this bar only says something about the way that we think about intelligence
Inflation Is:
There are some who see making a profit as an element or component of good citizenship and patriotism.
A Poem for the 4th of July
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The Ruling in Dobbs and the 13th Amendment
An astute constitutional originalist or textualist might easily conclude that forced pregnancy is subsumed into the phrase; "involuntary servitude".
Thomas is Clueless re Appointment to Supreme Court
Clarence Thomas is on the Court because he's a special kind of house Negro and a garden variety hypocrite who got lucky...
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
...the party of small government and conservative judicial restraint has brought the country beyond autocratic rule...
The Origin and History of The Big Lie
“A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.”—Mark Twain
White Supremacy, The Grift that Keeps On Giving
Trump has succeeded in instinctively tapping into this American reflex and created a persona made out of political whole cloth.
A Takeaway from the 1st Jan 6 public hearing
If Trump was a black man...
The founding fathers’ implied promise of white supremacy…
Trump's MAGA movement and cult resonates, either intuitively or instinctively, with nearly half of the predominately white American population who America 'belongs' to white folks...
Racism and Guns in America
You want effective gun control?
I've said this repeatedly:
Advise and urge black people to exercise their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms...
Carlin destroys pro life conservatives in one minute
The hyperbolic punchline is as apt and accurate today as it was more than 20 years ago.
An oversimplified juxtaposition?
The juxtaposition of the terms can explain, to a degree, the Trump phenomenon with a through line...
My latest thinking on Palestine
This particular path comes from wondering about Palestinian self-determination. I’ve noticed that the Palestinians seem far more concerned with getting the Jews out of Israel
Prohibition, Abortion and The Bad Court
A leaked memo indicates that five members of the sitting Supreme Court of the United States are on record favoring the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal
Ban The Bullets, Not The Guns
THERE IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE THAT PROTECTS THE RIGHT TO PURCHASE, OWN OR MANUFACTURE AMMUNITION.
How Qualified Do You Have to Be?
Black people have been saddled at birth with the burden of overcoming this social, political, legal, and cultural barrier through the entirety of the history of this country.
Ginni and Clarence Thomas v 28 U.S. Code § 455
If you really want to know where the bar is re spouses of federal judges, read the entire statute.
A story about Madeleine Albright
"Did you notice who we just passed?" I asked my wife. She hadn't. "Madeline Albright." "You're right."
Va Fa Napoli
The Ukrainians did not want the Russian warship there. Telling them to go to Naples seems like a reasonable thing to say in that circumstance.
Nukes
Vladimir Putin recently brought up the idea of using nuclear weapons. When he talked about invading Ukraine he wasn’t bluffing. About using nuclear weapons
Russians
“….it’s such an ignorant thing to do if the Russians love their children too…”
Bluffing Comment
The concept of bluffing is not limited to how a bluff works in a game.
How will you know if the news is real or fake?
Quora is a site where people pose questions and whoever feels like it answers them, with or without listing credentials. I sometimes find questions I’m interested in answering
Freedom: Not Just Good. It’s the Right Thing to Do.
It has been said that democracy is not the best form of government, but it is the best we have. I find this analysis to be valid because it allows for choice, and the accountability for those choices.
Kasparov with Velshi on MSNBC Re The Matter of Putin’s Bluff
"Putin isn't playing chess. He's playing poker, and he is bluffing."
January 6th 2021 the Constitution and the Rule of Law
The Constitution of the United States of America
Amendment 14, Section 3
A Covid Question
Trump cultists believe that they are demonstrating their fealty to Trump and his MAGA movement by refusing to get vaccinated and wear masks.
Touch of Depleted Uranium
Today is a little different, though. Did you notice? The tanks are back. In our American morning, there is still a sort of silence. We can pretend that coffee time is the same, but tanks are being called to an assembly in Europe and the noise is rising.
Economic Sanctions Won’t Work
Frankly speaking, diplomacy, as such, won't work with an individual who is incapable of responding to anything other than the power of money and military might.
Brace for Impact
Individuality became a power to rival the power systems created by humans since humans settled onto plots of land and started declaring ownership of it…and the people on it…and women.
MLK and Cognitive Dissonance
The impact of Kings speech and the nonviolence of the Civil Rights Movement can be heard in the speech given by LBJ as he addressed a joint session of Congress in 1965...
Dear Madame Vice President
A short footnote for Kamala Harris' and her fundraisers.
Question for A Saturday Revised With An Answer
Nowhere in the Trump manifesto is there any sort of reference to Jeffersonian Equality and/or Madisonian Democracy.
Voting Rights Legislation: Schumer v McConnell
While it is said that the truth will prevail, it must also be said that the truth cannot prevail if we don't know what the truth is...
The First Anniversary of January 6th by the Numbers
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity.
Kim Potter found guilty in death of Daunte Wright: The Question
Ex-officer Kim Potter found guilty on two counts of manslaughter
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D GA) Nails the Hypocrisy of Bipartisanship
If you care about democracy at all, this is must see TV:
Justice Sotomayor’s Question
”Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?”
The Arbery Verdicts: Guilty!
At the end of the day, the Arbery verdict is about what equal justice under law is supposed to look, sound, and feel like...
A Question About the Rittenhouse Verdict
...and all else being exactly the same...
Fascism and Racism
It begins with the disregard of fundamental human and civil rights and the declaration that the very presence of the "other" in the general population is somehow fraudulent and illegal...
Monosentence Monday: the Filibuster
it’s a one sentence post, just read it
Why the spike in the price of gas at the pump?
The people who are in control of the vagueries of gas and oil production and prices in this country are not friends of Joe Biden or Democracy.
Black Pastors and Fair Trials
The defense attorney here is the embodiment of 'living history' and provides us with the opportunity to relive history in real time without the need for a dramatic reenactment...
Politics Girl: Talking Common Sense About Messaging
"In general, the reason the Democratic Party always sounds so helplessly incoherent is because its lawmakers are trying to simultaneously appease their corporate donors and look like they are fulfilling their public promises to fix problems created by those corporate donors.
Sell the Brownie
Democrats need to stop selling the recipe...
Failure to Appear: Update! Bannon Charged With Crimnal Contempt
Subsequent to a contempt citation, the presiding officer of the chamber can be instructed to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Abortion
there are a lot of politicians and judges…not really trying to reduce the number of abortions in America by the most logical means, which would be reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies, putting the lie to what this issue is really about.
Here’s a Question or Two
Would the country be able to withstand the aftermath of a Trump guilty verdict?
The Evil That Men Do
In short, government mandates re public education and public health are as American as apple pie and the flag.
The State of the Political Union
When lies and hypocrisy are treated as the rhetorical and moral equivalents of truth and fact In public discourse, reason and reasonableness no longer matter.
Bill Baird: The Forgotten Pro-Choice Hero
Bill Baird gave a single condom and some contraceptive foam to a female Boston University undergraduate. He was promptly arrested for violating the Massachusetts Crimes Against Chastity law in 1967. In 1972, SCOTUS overturned the law.
Incentivizing Oppression, Then and Now
Like its 1850 precursor re slavery, this law is not as much about abortion as it is about oppression.
Democracy Is Going Down The Tubes…Again
The top House Republican said his party would retaliate against any company that cooperated with an order to preserve the phone and social media records of G.O.P. lawmakers
Biden is Having a Hard Day’s Night
Defending democracy is not one man's job. Defending democracy is not a spectator sport.
One sentence post: what defines conservatives
It’s a one sentence post
Voter ID: White Folks Can’t Leave Home Without It
The Republican message to nonwhite people who wish to exercise the right to vote:
What's in your wallet?
A single sentence and a question about voting rights
Why isn't this enough?
The Alamo Myth:Texas and Slavery
It's virtually impossible to get people to stop lying to you, when they won't stop lying to themselves and each other.
Joy Reid is Spot On: Reprise
If America doesn't continue to evolve toward a multiracial, multicultural egalitarian democracy it must surely devolve into a plutocratic autocracy predicated on white supremacy....
Critical Race Theory: Two Views
It doesn't seem possible that both Barack Obama and Ted Cruz. graduated from Harvard Law School.
Understanding American wealth distribution
The problem with looking at wealth is that we don’t have a sense of scale.
Is Manchin Preparing to ‘Bait & Switch’ His Way to the Presidency?
It may well be that his long range plan is to wait until Trump himself becomes politically irrelevant due to federal and state prosecutions.
The End of the American Experiment?
A small diatribe on the subject of what is happening to the American experiment in self-government.
Bipartisanship Through the Looking Glass
Legislative bipartisanship is little more than a rabbit hole the exploration of which will accomplish nothing more than the waste of the time remaining on the legislative clock that will run out by the end of July.
4,000 attempted murders that somehow don’t count
That’s over 4,000 attempts to kill civilians. If this was being done on the ground we’d call it terrorism, which is of course what it is.
It’s Been A Year
Since testimony began on March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement nationwide, with Black and Latino people representing more than half of the dead. The average was more than three killings a day.
Guest Post: We hold all of these truths
In case you’re wondering what liberal Zionism looks like outside of me
Jessica Anderson Personifies the Case for Passage of HR1
"We did it in Iowa and nobody noticed." ----Jessica Anderson
If You Missed It: Liz Cheney Speaks Truth In Defence of Democracy
"Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar."
---- Liz Cheney
A Midterm (Civics Exam) Question
We know what happened on January 6th, 2021.
East Jerusalem and what’s happening in Sheikh Jarrah
If Israel wants East Jerusalem to be considered other than occupied territory, it is incumbent on the Israeli government to treat the Arab population there like they are treated within Israel’s borders and not like they are treated in occupied territories.
Let’s Flip This
It’s 2020, President Hillary Clinton runs for reelection and loses. She does not, however, accept her loss.
One sentence post: Fringes
One sentence post, you don’t need an exerpt
Why Trump? A Question and Answer
In short, Trump is the composite face of the white people who fear becoming the numerical, political, and social minority in America.
Strategy and Tactics
Losing to people who would destroy American Democracy and establish an Americanized version of apartheid, rule by the white minority, is not an option.
Fact v Truth
To this day you would be hard pressed to find a Yankee fan who would relent and accept the fact of the umpire's call at the plate.
One and Done!
Given the current political climate, proof of vaccination may well become an element of exercising the right to vote, travel, see a movie, or a ball game.
Biden’s Speech: Historical in Speaking Truth Unto the People Update
Narry a word about the colonials taking over the ramparts and the airports!
A Step Toward Economic, Racial, and Social Justice
"It is an important step toward economic, social, and racial justice, and an economy that works for all Americans.”
Guilty On Alll Counts! (Update)
Has anything changed?
Pat Robertson, when you’re right, you’re right!
I have often asked: When, oh when will white people put a stop to this shit?!
Pat Robertson and I may be on common ground here.
The Invention of the Police
Why did American policing get so big, so fast? The answer, mainly, is slavery.
Europe 1348
Art thou more afeared of side effects than of death?
Scene from a Georgia voting line
see attached clip from Ben-Hur
Accountability – one sentence post
It’s a one sentence post. There’s no sense in reading an excerpt, particularly given that this excerpt contains one more sentence than the post does.
You said you want numbers
The poll — which was conducted July 9-12, before the death of civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis — found that a majority of voters, 56 percent, say that American society is racist, while 40 percent disagree.
53 years ago today, March 31st, 1968
A Democratic president from Texas--a Democratic president who had been a segregationist for most of his career--finally and firmly embraced civil rights.
LBJ, The Ides of March, and Voting Rights
In a 'whites only' America, the votes of nonwhite citizens are fraudulent by definition.
Attacking 15th Amendment now, 19th later
“Because it puts us at a disadvantage relative to Democrats.”
Texas, Take 3
You’d think that with all that weather-related power grid crap that the Texas government wouldn’t do anything else stupid.
You’d think.
Texas, Take 2
On August 29, 2011, I published a post on Open Salon called “Governor Perry’s Flirtation With Secession.” I’m reprinting it here, with an epilogue.
Re Domestic Terrorism: There Ought to Be a Law
Domestic terrorism is a national problem. It should also be a federal crime.
It’s Official….Take Note!
Without accountability, there can be no decency. Without decency, there can be no democracy.
Seeing the Capitol
Seeing it was jarring. I’ve never had a negative reaction to it before. It means something different now.