Welcome 😄 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
26 Days until Biden is president. That is the best gift I can offer you. Biden, however, is offering us another: optimism.
I admit optimism, after the last four years, seems almost impossible, and really hard to trust. Now, readers may wonder at my attitude. Isn’t this Gnuville? Isn’t optimism the default emotion of the GNR? However, my own emotional target has been less ambitious. I have been working more on, “Don’t despair!” as opposed to positive optimism.
Optimism may seem unrealistic and naive, and some of us may worry that Biden is foolish to sound an optimistic note, especially about working with the Rs (those who are not corrupt, anyway). Besides, there are signs of cracking among the Rs, and some more moderate Rs may come along.
Optimism is useful. If you admit defeat before you begin, you are starting several steps behind. You may yet succeed, but it will be much, much harder, because who wants to fight for anything if they believe they will lose? However, if you think you will win (but don’t take it for granted), you’re more ready to fight.
Besides, I don’t think Biden is naive. This is a man who is clear-eyed about the mess tRump is leaving for him/the country.
“What this president has done and what his political appointees have done and what landmines are laid out there, I can’t tell you that I have a clear view of what they are,” President-elect Joe Biden says. “Many of the people with the competence to be able to tell us what exactly is going on in the Justice Department or the Energy Department, they’ve either been fired or they left — but they’re not there. And so I think it’s going to take a while to find out where the intentional as well as unintentional landmines are.”
If Biden, after what he has lived through, can be optimistic, maybe we can relearn this as well. There are good signs. Vaccines are being shipped. A new president is preparing. Optimism is something many of us will have to relearn, but hey, it’s good to be ambitious. I admit I don’t feel it yet, but I acknowledge it as a possibility.
Less than four weeks of this hell remain!
This, unless I substitute for someone, will be my last GNR in 2020. What a year it has been! I am grateful that we shared 2020 — and the last four years — together. Thanks, thanks, thanks, a million times, thanks. 💙 🌻 💙 🌻💙 🌻💙 🌻💙
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the very bad stuff that is happening. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💚 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. We have to keep demoralizing them. Name, blame and shame! IT IS WORKING! WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE DEMORALIZED!
💙 The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
⌛ Time of Transition ⌛
☀️ More on Biden’s optimism and realism Washington Post
"Well, let me tell you something. You guys have been saying that about me since the day I ever got into office. You said that when I announced, that I was a nice enough guy but didn’t get it, didn’t know what was going on,” Biden said. “I respectfully suggest that I beat the hell out of everybody else. I won the nomination, got everybody to come around and won by over seven million votes. So I think I know what I’m doing and I’ve been pretty damn good at being able to deal with the punchers. I know how to block a straight left and do a right hook. I understand it.” ✂️
“I’m going to be able to get stuff done on the environment that none of you are going to believe,” Biden pledged. “I could not have gotten it done six years ago, but all of a sudden, they now realize, ‘Holy, God!’ … ’Holy mackerel, I didn’t realize. When you have a part of the West Coast burn as big as the state of New Jersey to the ground, something’s up. Something’s wrong.’ ” ✂️
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to get, you know, anyone, from the Proud Boys to some of our really, really strident Republicans, 20 of whom I’m told in the Senate don’t want to vote for anything. … I’m not going to get those folks,” Biden admitted before adding, “I don’t have to get those folks, I don’t think.” For the president-elect, it’s all about making the case.
💉 Biden gets vaccinated USA Today
President-elect Joe Biden got vaccinated Monday against COVID-19, part of a campaign of high-level officials to demonstrate that the vaccine is safe and effective. ✂️
“I’m doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine,” Biden said after rolling up the left sleeve of his polo shirt and receiving the shot. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m looking forward to the second shot. So is Jill.” ✂️
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had urged Biden, who is 78, to get vaccinated as soon as possible to ensure continuity of government.
I am just thrilled that Biden, who is 78, has been vaccinated. Fauci was vaccinated too NBC News
AZ election fraud suit tossed USA Today
A Pinal County Superior Court judge on Tuesday jettisoned a lawsuit claiming widespread election fraud in Arizona, saying the plaintiff had no standing to challenge the state's election results because she was not registered to vote. ✂️
⚡️ 🌵 Additional AZ election suits have been rejected Wonkette
In the meantime, others are leaving the White House, and others are being told they will have to go, while others are whirling like drunken tops. (Note: I wanted to use the phrase “whirling dervishes” because “dervish” sounds cool, but then thought that might be insensitive/racist.) Wonkette
Politico had some reporting this morning that should have been comforting. A memo had gone out from the White House Management Office to people who work in the Executive Office of the President, instructing them to, starting Jan. 4, please start going through your desks, clean your microwaves and mini-fridges, return shit you have stolen from White House back to White House, and for the love of Christ, put all your Hitler-headed dildos in some bubble wrap and TAKE THEM HOME, STEPHEN MILLER. (ALLEGEDLY!)
Also if any staffers happened to accidentally take home the Bin Laden server that has all the evidence of Trump's traitor calls with foreign leaders, you need to BRING IT BACK. ✂️
But then we refreshed the page and Politico had changed its headline, to "Trump White House staffers receive conflicting messages about their departure." Oh, for Christ's sake. ✂️
Which brings us to some reporting in the Daily Beast that is more comforting. The Secret Service doesn't actually have a specific plan in place for what they would do if a large scaly orange blob of pus and bullshit named Donald Trump refused to vacate the premises Jan. 20, because that's unprecedented. But according to the Beast's sources, there is a plan in place that should work just fine.
In other words, most are planning on the end of the tRump presidency, even if they have to tiptoe about it.
💣 Republicans in Disarray 💣
tRump is mad at many Rs, including Mike Pence Wonkette
It was always going to end this way. And if the news headlines aren't scaring us enough, we need to take the time to laugh at them.
Because now Donald Trump is turning on Mike Pence, the one man who can DEFINITELY pardon him, you know, if Trump were to resign at 11:58 a.m. on January 20, so Pence could become president for two minutes and say, "By the power vested in me by Constitution, I, Bubbles Pence, pronounce you Man and Pardon!"
Axios reported this morning that Trump has been watching a Lincoln Project ad about how Pence is backing slowly away from Trump, and he's getting VERY ANGRY and very I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! "When Mike Pence is running away from you, you know it's over," the ad says. "On January 6, Mike Pence will put the nail in your political coffin when he presides over the Senate vote to prove Joe Biden won. It’s over. And Mike Pence knows it.”
I wonder if tRump pardon himself or if he will resign before the end of his term in order to have Pence pardon him. Does he trust Pence to pardon him? Or maybe he will do both: pardon himself and have Pence pardon him. Hey, two pardons are better than one!
At least one person — in a position to know — believes tRump will cling to power until the very last second. Vanity Fair
Do you think he will step down a day early so Mike Pence can pardon him?
No. That’s not going to happen. First of all, Donald Trump will never step down. Let’s go back to his fragile ego. That means he was forced to step down by small, simple people. That tattoos the stamp of loser to his forehead.
As most readers here know, tRump has gone down to Mar-a-Lago for Christmas. I hope he doesn’t return to the White House!
Rudy Giuliani and Kraken Sidney Powell are fighting over the last four weeks. Wonkette
But crazy as he is, even Rudy has his limits. Maggie Haberman says Giuliani is doing his darnedest to put the kibosh on Sidney Powell getting appointed as Special Counsel, a position shared by virtually everyone else in Trump's orbit.
"It's basically Sidney versus everybody," a source told Axios's Jonathan Swan. "That is why voices were raised. There is literally not one motherf—r in the president's entire orbit — his staunchest group of supporters and allies — who doesn't think that Sidney Powell should be on that first rocket to Mars."
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
Dominion worker sues tRump campaign and right-wing outlets Axios
An election worker at Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Trump, his lawyers and conservative media networks, among others, for spreading false conspiracy theories that he says forced him into hiding.
Why it matters: Trump and his allies' baseless claims of election fraud, including allegations that Dominion rigged its voting machines, have resulted in threats against election workers.
The big picture: Eric Coomer, director of product strategy and security for Dominion, became the face of these claims, the lawsuit states. Trump and his lawyers singled him out to millions of followers, calling him a "vicious, vicious man" who is "close to Antifa" and rigged the election for Biden, per the suit. ✂️
Of note: After Dominion and Smartmatic, another voting machine company, threatened right-wing outlets with legal action, Newsmax, Fox Business and Fox News backtracked on allegations of fraud and aired corrections and clarifications.
In the search for voter fraud, Texas LG put out a reward for it.
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️
This week’s medal of truth goes to the Kansas City Star, which took a hard look at its coverage of black and whites for the past 140 years and was horrified by its own racism. Kansas City Star
Today we are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong.
For 140 years, it has been one of the most influential forces in shaping Kansas City and the region. And yet for much of its early history — through sins of both commission and omission — it disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians. It reinforced Jim Crow laws and redlining. Decade after early decade it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice and recognition.
That business is The Kansas City Star. ✂️
Reporters were frequently sickened by what they found — decades of coverage that depicted Black Kansas Citians as criminals living in a crime-laden world. They felt shame at what was missing: the achievements, aspirations and milestones of an entire population routinely overlooked, as if Black people were invisible.
It is with work like this, as well as learning to tell more complete truths, we can move forward.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️ ️
After months of isolation, hug room in Italian nursing home lets people make contact Washington Post
GRECCIO, Italy — It had been nine months since the nursing home closed itself off to visitors, and the director sensed that the toll of isolation was getting "worse and worse." There were video calls and distanced hellos with loved ones on the front lawn. But one resident seemed to be slipping into depression. Another resident said that without her son nearby, every day "felt like a week." ✂️
Then, one recent afternoon, a white truck pulled up, hauling a contraption that was supposed to make nursing home life in the coronavirus era a little less lonely. It was a seven-foot-tall piece of plexiglass, molded into a three-sided booth. It had four cutout holes, where protective sleeves would be added for arms. It was known, in the strange language of the pandemic, as a “hug room,” but it was less a room than a barrier: residents on one side, relatives on the other.
My thanks to buglady99, who sent me several links!
And this:
🎁📎Odds & Ends & Gifts for You 📎🎁📎
🌻 States and companies are acting on the climate problem Axios
In the four years since the U.S. federal government last paid serious attention to climate change, the problem has become a top priority across states and corporations.
Why it matters: Washington, D.C. isn't the only place, or even the most important place, where meaningful climate change action is likely to happen in the coming years.
Where it stands: President-elect Joe Biden will attempt to force some changes at the federal level, but he's also expected to lean on states to show America’s progress on the global stage. Meanwhile, companies’ rhetoric on the problem in recent years will now be put to a test.
The big picture: Numerous states, cities and companies have pledged aggressive climate change goals over the past several years. It’s a trend driven by a multitude of factors, including growing urgency of the problem, cheaper clean energy technologies and investors increasingly concerned about the financial repercussions of a warming world.
⏳ Know your covid results in 15 minutes!?! Ladbible
A British start-up company has unveiled a new saliva swab Covid-19 test that it claims can return a result in 15 minutes.
Vatic's KnowNow test is a type of lateral flow test, but the company's chief executive Alex Sheppard said it 'works in a completely different way to every other antigen test that exists'.
It still needs approval, but things like this could make such a difference.
It’s possible that all of Santa’s reindeer (except Rudolph) are female Independent
And one Twitter user, Cat Reynolds, has given us even more reason to celebrate.
She posted that all of Santa's reindeer - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph - are female, an observation that immediately went viral.
According to experts, Reynolds' tweet is likely accurate - because male reindeer shed their antlers at the end of the mating season in early December, while females sport their thinner antlers throughout the winter.
Just neat. Thanks again, buglady99!
I do a lot of other writing. My most recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction. (It’s really good! It’s really cheap! Buy it! Review or rate it positively!) My less recent stories, based on Jane Austen novels and others on Greek mythology, can be found here.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.
Current projects:
See M247’s diaries for the Senate races in Georgia!
Progressivist Muse usually posts a comment about Postcards to Voters, although perhaps not today.
And some other ideas:
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
You can smile.
You can get out the vote for special elections.
You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
🍀 “My experience has been that work is almost
always the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.” 🍀
Eleanor Roosevelt
🔥 If you’re going through hell, keep going! 🔥
Winston Churchill
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.