Without Daily Kos, I would have missed so much...

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Saturday August 05, 2023 · 9:56 AM PDT

2023/08/05 · 09:56

Without Daily Kos

I would have never grieved over the loss of exmearden a member of the DK Community whom I never met in person, but whose death in 2010 still echoes in me today, just from writing her name. Do yourself a favor and go read some of her stories.

Sara R wrote a moving tribute after exmearden passed away:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2010/11/29/924118/-

This is something exmearden wrote and Sara R quoted in that story:

How carefully that flag is folded. How carefully, tenderly, quietly proferred to hands that do not want to reach out, do not want to hold this flag, do not want to have to receive this flag, cannot grasp why a flag is offered.

How does one absorb the meaning behind a folded flag that will never fly again, never feel the breeze again, never raise to touch the sky again. How carefully do three flag points hold the heartfelt, heart-hurt meaning of every death and every sacrifice gone before, happening now?

Without Daily Kos

I would have never read the words of Steve Gilliard, here or at his own place The Newsblog.

So I would have missed what, for me, is the most important political messaging I’ve ever read.

It’s been 20 years since Steve wrote these words, and I’ve never forgotten them since the first time I read them sometime circa 2005-2006:

http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2003/12/im-fighting-liberal-you-know-ive.html

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

I'm a fighting liberal

You know, I've studied history, I've read about America and you know something, if it weren't for liberals, we'd be living in a dark, evil country, far worse than anything Bush could conjure up. A world where children were told to piss on the side of the road because they weren't fit to pee in a white outhouse, where women had to get back alley abortions and where rape was a joke, unless the alleged criminal was black, whereupon he was hung from a tree and castrated.

What has conservatism given America? A stable social order? A peaceful homelife? Respect for law and order? No. Hell, no. It hasn't given us anything we didn't have and it wants to take away our freedoms.

It's time to regain the sprit of FDR and Truman and the people around them. People who believed in the public good over private gain. It is time to stop apologizing for being a liberal and be proud to fight for your beliefs. No more shying away or being defined by other people. Liberals believe in a strong defense and punishment for crime. But not preemption and pointless jail sentences. We believe no American should be turned away from a hospital because they are too poor or lack a proper legal defense. We believe that people should make enough from one job to live on, to spend time on raising their family. We believe that individuals and not the state should dictate who gets married and why. The best way to defend marriage is to expand, not restrict it.

The rest of that rant will settle into some little corner of your mind, and never leave, I guarantee it.

Without Daily Kos

I’d never have had the good luck to get to know (most of them, from a distance) some of the best people in the world.

ericlewis0 — a truly funny and sharp witted fellow, with a heart the size of Texas

Meteor Blades — To be honest, in the early years, he is the reason I kept coming around here, because his written words spoke to me stronger and louder than any voice I’d ever heard with my own ears, and still do.

Sara R & winglion — my sisters from another mother, really. In every way that counts, I love them as much as my flesh and blood sisters.

Denise Oliver Velez — who made me, for the first time in my life at age 40something, re-examine my place in the world as a white person, and come up lacking quite a bit. I’ve spent years now, figuring out what I didn’t know for most of my life about American History, mostly because of the stories Denise has been writing here for a long, long time now. For which I am eternally grateful.

Angela Marx

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 18, 2023 · 4:54 PM PDT

2023/03/18 · 16:54

WithDr.FergieReidSr..jpg — Dr Reid Sr & Matt Rogers. I chose this image because it represents the past and the future of Virginia politics.

It is epic to live to your 98th birthday

but even better, it’s legendary to do so after a life lived in Service to your family, your Community, your State and your Nation.

What Dr Reid accomplished by the time he was only 30 years old:

Dr. Reid served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during the Korean War, with the 1st Marine Division, and later at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Returning to Richmond, he became active in civic and professional affairs. He served on the staff of Richmond Memorial Hospital, Richmond Community Hospital, Retreat for the Sick, Medical College of Virginia and St. Mary's Hospital. His professional associations included the American College of Surgeons, Richmond Academy of Medicine, Richmond Medical Society, Medical Society of Virginia, Old Dominion Medical Society, American Medical Association and the National Medical Association. He became a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery in 1955

source: https://richmond.com/dr-william-ferguson-reid/article_b26338cb-1e2d-5e59-94f9-be5d66da1787.html

Dr Ferguson Reid, Sr is one of those legendary people.

There have been many stories written here at Daily Kos about Dr Reid and his many (MANY) accomplishments over the years.

One of the best is this one:

A Man Ahead of His Time by Kboddye in 2017

If this causes you to ask about what is going on today with Voter ID laws, voter purges, racial gerrymandering, and all of the other tactics we’re seeing from the Republicans, you’re correct in doing so. What’s happening now isn’t new. They’re simply using new methods that were previously used by Southern Democrats.

Enter Dr. William Ferguson “Fergie” Reid.

Fergie helped revolutionized the way folks got organized and mobilized, recording not only where people lived and what voting districts they were part of, but what they’re interests were, what skill sets they had, and what groups they were part of. “Big Data” didn’t exist in he 1940s, and yet Fergie collected as much demographic information from voters as possible. Being able to know voters and would-be voters, their issues and their connections to others was a sure-fire way to appeal to them. Being able to draw upon people’s networks, passions and skills allowed them to not only get folks out to vote, but also to get more folks registered and involved. Expanding the voter rolls was just as important as mobilizing the existing base, and that largely holds true today.

Because of his work, Fergie was able to go from activist to legislator, becoming the first African American elected to the General Assembly after Reconstruction. Many argue — as do I — that he helped pave the way for Doug Wilder’s election as Virginia’s first African American Governor, along with Barack Obama’s historic election as the U.S.’s first African American President.

If you read that carefully, you will clearly see why KBoddye called Dr Reid “A Man Ahead of His Time”.

What is being described there is the same work that Democratic organizations across the nation are working on today, to build useful data for local and first time candidates, and higher Office candidates, too.

But he put that idea to work in Virginia before most of us were ever born!

His work in the decades following WWII is a clear line to the victories of (D) Virginia candidates clear up to the current era!

In all those years, it appears clear to me that Fergie was focused on the one thing which seems to be left out of most Democratic campaign action today — Registering New Voters.

“Expanding the voter rolls was just as important as mobilizing the existing base, and that largely holds true today.” — Dr Wm Reid, Sr

But like most politicians, Dr Reid also had a family at home, his wife Jacqueline, two daughters (Hollis and Kelly) and son Wm Ferguson Reid, Jr. All three children became medical professionals.

I spoke with his son, (Fergie Jr) about the effect of his father’s political life on their family recently.

These are questions I asked:

1) How did your father's decision to enter politics as a candidate affect your family life?
2) Did your dad's work as a doctor influence your own career path?
3) When did you & your dad get involved in speaking with candidates seeking Office for the first time?
4) Have State Dem Chairs spoken with you and your dad about the 90for90 org and how to set up the same kind of action in their state?
5) Did your dad ever meet with President Carter during his active political life?
6) Anything of note you'd like the general Daily Kos community to know about your dad's work and influence on Virginia politics?

These are his answers:

1) - Significantly — He made Virginia history in 1967, against long odds & entrenched powerful forces. Obviously, that is accompanied by many "positives & negatives".
2) Probably. Both of my older sisters & I are physicians.
3) Dad's been doing it since I have any memories - the early 1960s. I started helping in the 2012 cycle, making sure someone ran against Eric Cantor in Va. CD 7, where Mom & Dad lived at the time.
4) Some have done this.
5) Not sure about Carter. He did meet with LBJ.
6) The DK community should know that they are a great untapped source of political power. Dad & I made this clear to the DK Asheville group when we met them in 2015.
The DK community should know that their support of Dem candidates in the past, present, & future is a great strength within Dem party politics. Small donations from all over the country, & grassroots activism locally are a wonderful gift to any campaign. DK has the ability to bring both.

I’d like to take this moment to highlight that final answer.

Daily Kos has the ability to bring Small Donations and Grassroots Activism locally to affect state level campaigns.

It couldn’t be more clear in 2023, that state level offices are what the GOP has been working on seizing for a few decades now — and they have done so in an era where they have also managed to manipulate the membership of the Supreme Court Bench.

That’s a double whammy if you are looking at democracy in the United States in the 21st century.

I suggest that what should happen is that Daily Kos registered users and readers take note of what Dr Reid was able to accomplish in Virginia during an era where men of color were generally not seen as Voters, much less politicians. Take note of what he focused on as the means to change how his state worked for people of color — new voter registration.

Because for over a century in these United States, about 1 out of 3 people JUST NEVER BOTHER TO VOTE. That blue line is Presidential years, the orange is Midterms. Since around 1920, presidential elections see between 50% & 64% of voters turning out. Midterms are much worse, from just over 30% to 50%.

FOR A CENTURY.

Take to heart the message of Dr William Ferguson Reid, Sr and what he did with that idea, to improve the lives of so very many people in Virginia and beyond. The message that the organization started in honor of his 90th Birthday, 90For90.org, is founded on. More voters is a great idea!

If we want Democratic candidates to win more elections, we need to register New Voters, every single year.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Such a simple idea, and yet it is the heart of what has made Dr Reid legendary, in his own lifetime.

Angela Marx

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday July 30, 2022 · 9:34 AM PDT

2022/07/30 · 09:34

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez

This is a name you likely do not recognize, but I assure you that you should try and remember it, because it’s starting to get a lot more traction in political circles here in Washington State.

Because Marie is the only Democratic Party candidate on the ballot for Washington State voters in the 3rd Congressional District — outside of a candidate who will (unfortunately) be on the 2022 Midterm primary ballot as the only other (D) candidate and who has apparently raised ZERO dollars up to June 30th (in other words, not a serious candidate for this seat).

A district which voters like me (lifelong resident since 1961) know has been locked down by a Republican since the 2010 (remember the Tea Party wave election?) cycle, when she won the seat previously held by Brian Baird.

Baird was one of a list of moderate Democrats who held the seat since 1960, excepting the sole (R) who managed to win it for 4 short years, Linda Smith (1995-1999). Until the seat was won by a Republican in the Tea Party wave election of 2010, and is still held by Jamie Herrera Beutler — but this November, that is going to change…

Campaign provided data, image created by story author.

The numbers for that primary estimate come from the Marie Gluesenkamp Perez campaign and seem a likely outcome based on the past four cycles of election results combined with the 2022 in-fighting in the Republican side between the Trump endorsed (R) Kent & incumbent (R) Herrera Beutler battling it out for months now on the GOP side of the race.

Marie will need to do a lot better in the general, but she’s a moderate candidate and this district has been moderate my entire life (60 years and counting) and the history of that US House seat since 1960 supports that view (outside of the 4 years of Linda Smith in the 1990s, she was a Tea Party extremist before anyone ever dreamed of the Tea Party).

Angela Marx

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 29, 2021 · 11:32 AM PDT

2021/08/29 · 11:32

Tricia Wyse NN12 getting her quilt with SaraR and winglion (Ann). — L to R: Sara R, Tricia Wyse (the late Pootie Queen) and winglion (Ann)

I’ve been asked by a few folks in recent weeks

about what’s happening with Sara R & winglion (Ann) the two ladies who have been weaving love into quilting cloth and sending it out into the world for coming up on twelve years now.

As most of you will remember that back in early March our Sara found out that she had oral cancer and would be facing a serious surgery in just weeks.

When I found out it was just heartbreaking, because for me, Sara R & winglion are my sisters from another mother.

What happened earlier this year

Plans were quickly made to do something to make the future not as bleak for Sara and Ann, and I wrote a story about their situation. Ann is also facing some surgery on her arms, and she had to delay it earlier this year to allow her to provide post-surgical care for Sara, but it’s likely now going to happen in Sept/Oct so long as the Portland, Oregon hospitals don’t get overwhelmed with COVID patients (Oregon is seeing some scary rising numbers recently).

Sara had her surgery (very successful) and has been recuperating ever since. She is facing some new surgery now as part of her recovery. I’ll let her tell you about that later in the story. But since her surgery in April, she’s had to eat only liquid or smoothie food. A couple weeks ago, she found out that the frozen salmon fillets I got her from Costco (wild caught Alaskan, flash frozen) after cooking she could break them into tiny pieces small enough to swallow successfully! So it’s been tough, not to mention dealing with the crazy Delta Surge in COVID in Oregon recently which might force Ann to push back her surgery again.

All of this, including Ann’s increasing trouble from carpal tunnel, for which her surgeon has advised an open surgical field and not arthroscopy (making it tougher to heal from and more painful), has affected their ability to produce and sell their masks, cat toys, pootie pads and quilts.

Up until these healthcare related issues, Sara and Ann have been able to make a small living, although most in the PWPeeps world are well aware that it’s been too small for years, and they’ve had to accept help now and again. But the past year or so, it’s all just become too tough of a struggle, and painfully clear to them that it’s time to turn to Social Security for some long-term assistance.

Sara has already started the process for Social Security Disability, and Ann will be filing an application for Disability soon, depending upon her results and post-surgical outlook on her ability to continue to work or not.

Next steps

From Sara:

The first is part two of my cancer surgery, the putting-me-back-together part. As I understand it, it is necessary to wait for the jawbone to heal where it was cut before doing this. What needs to happen is the “flap” (the grafted tissue in my mouth) will be de-bulked. Right now, it is very fat and distends my cheek. Then something that will be 3D printed will be inserted to build back the profile of my jawbone. And screw holes will be put in to receive implanted teeth. Then, very durable “temporary” teeth will be inserted. I say temporary because they won’t be the super-special, fancy teeth that a prosthodontist would make — those would be crazy expensive, something like $20,000 to replace the teeth I lost in my cancer surgery. But they will do me and will last a very long time. These won’t be covered by medical insurance, however, and my surgeon will do them for $6000. I will have to pay that money up front before they will schedule this surgery. Obviously, I’d like to get it done ASAP.

There is a caveat. If, for whatever reason the surgeon finds these teeth can’t be placed at the time of this surgery, he’ll let me heal and I’ll be sent to a prosthodontist later for the $20,000 solution. I won’t be charged the $6000 at the time — that can be put toward the fancy teeth later. I am not worried about this however — I have full confidence in my surgeon and I believe the $6000 teeth are going to work and serve me very well.

As you know, Ann is expecting to have surgery on her right wrist and elbow in September or October for carpal tunnel repair. It won’t be arthroscopic surgery, the surgeon is going to open her up so he can clearly see the situation. There is some worry about permanent nerve damage. Healing from this will take two to three months, perhaps as long as six. Once she’s healed, she’ll need to have the same procedure on her left wrist and elbow. She won’t be able to drive for awhile.

So even though it SHOULD be covered as reconstructive surgery, it’s dental work, so Sara needs to raise $6,000 for her portion of the dental work her head & neck surgeon wants to perform to make it possible for her to eat normal food again.

From Sara on the reason she needs the dental reconstruction done as soon as possible:

The immediate problem for me is my mouth. My god, it was hurting yesterday — the mass of this flap feels like it’s pulling on the area where it’s stitched in. I am so anxious to have this taken care of. It’s not just the teeth — the surgeon will be thinning the flap and building back the profile of the bone structure that was “scooped” and I think this is going to matter a lot for my comfort.

I already have $2465 in my teeth fund, with $3535 remaining to make the $6000 I need.

For Ann, if her surgery does get scheduled quite soon and if she has a successful surgery and a great outcome, it’s still going to take months for her to recover.

A week or so ago, I got a surprise DKosmail message

from a Kossack who asked that they remain anonymous:

Angela,

I know Sara is going to need knee replacement surgery and that Ann needs surgery on her hand/arm. As you started the fundraiser for Catnip Manor back in the spring for Sara and Ann, I thought I would reach out to you about continuing/posting another fundraiser for them.

Brian Scott noted in the PWBPeeps diary today that he estimates they will need $1,100+ to meet expenses. Although he is a math genius, I think he's falling short on that estimate, as I'm certain Sara and Ann are minimizing the amount they truly need. I suspect to get them both comfortably through the next few months, they will need about $5,000, but they would not ask for the assistance.

I would like to offer an anonymous $1,000 match for them to kick off a fundraiser. Is this something you would be willing to do, or do I ask too much?

Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you.

After thinking about two seconds, of course I decided that it wasn’t nearly too much to ask that I write a story and let the Community know what has been happening and what’s in the near future for these two women who I dearly love.

You can send any amount to Sara’s Paypal
Please be sure to choose “family and friends” to avoid fees!

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/SaraRCatnipManor

So if any of you are so inclined, please either post a comment and the amount you’ve donated OR if you would rather others not know you’ve done so?

Send ME a short DKmail message CLICK HERE TO SEND

OR if you use Twitter I have open Direct Messaging so anyone can send me a message @AngieinWAState which is a private message no one but me will ever see. Include your DK “name” and the amount you sent.

I’ll post each donation and the amount of the match it covers.

I’m also adding a $150 Match of my own.

Also, because it must be said…

FUCK CANCER

Sara R

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 16, 2020 · 1:35 PM PDT

2020/10/16 · 13:35

Kentucky needs a new Senator, one who will actually help the people of Kentucky. Actually, we all need Mitch to retire for reasons well known and lengthy. Dislodging him may not be easy but if it’s going to happen, this year is the year.

You can help.

How to enter to win the Ditch Mitch Quilt

We are going to have a drawing on Monday, October 19, from all the entries we have received up through midnight of October 18 (Eastern time). There are two ways you can enter:

Go to the Ditch Mitch Quilt page on ActBlue and make a donation of at least $10. All the funds raised will go to the McGrath campaign.

Write an essay of at least 50 words stating why you think it’s time to Ditch Mitch, and send it to DitchMitchQuilt@gmail.com.

You can only enter once a day, but you can enter on as many days as you want.

And today there is a little extra incentive…

A mini- drawing today! Anyone entering, either by donation or by essay today has a chance of winning a set of five cotton face masks made by my sister and myself. You can pick your own fabrics shown here on this Flickr page.

Election angst making you bananas? We have a mask for that.

Angela Marx

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 22, 2020 · 6:53 AM PDT

2020/07/22 · 06:53

Iconic USGS photo of the towering ash cloud boiling out of Mt. St. Helens during the eruption of 1980. — I watched Mt Saint Helen's erupt on the morning of May 18, 1980, and I think we're all watching the Republic erupt in 2020.

There is an iconic meme out there about silence and atrocities… and this example from the timeline of professor Laurence Tribe exquisitely defines it’s meaning in the era of Donald Trump in America and this was almost exactly a year ago from today, July 22, 2020:

Ã¢ÂÂFirst they came for the socialists, and I did not speak outÃ¢ÂÂbecause I was not a socialist...Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outÃ¢ÂÂbecause I was not a Jew.Then they came for meÃ¢ÂÂand there was no one left to speak for me.Ã¢ÂÂÃ¢ÂÂMartin Niemoller.https://t.co/ivTOf8lwy9
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) July 14, 2019

But the execrable, faux-human currently occupying the Oval Office has gotten considerably worse in the intervening year.

In the past week, he has unleashed what can only be viewed as his first steps towards authoritarianism and a fucking crown.

He has sent unidentifiable paramilitary forces to snatch US citizens off American streets without warrants and over and above the requests and demands of local leadership in the Portland, Oregon area (including members of the Oregon Congressional Delegation) to remove said forces from their community.

Trump was interviewed on Fox News Sunday by host Chris Wallace on Sunday July 19, 2020 about the pandemic and his polling and lots of other issues. Trump apparently lives in an alternate universe. See the 4 minute version of that interview:

YouTube Video

This fucking lunatic is now sending what amounts to a Secret Police force into American cities. This is what Portland, Oregon has looked like lately:

YouTube Video

Portland, Oregon Mayor Ted Wheeler on July 14, 2020

I told the Acting Secretary that my biggest immediate concern is the violence federal officers brought to our streets in recent days, and the life-threatening tactics his agents use. We do not need or want their help.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) July 14, 2020

Dateline July 18, 2020

YouTube Video

U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley and Chris Murphy:

Donald Trump has made it clear that whatÃ¢ÂÂs happening in Portland is just the beginning. Trump must be stopped before he deploys federal occupying armies to cities nationwide. @SenJeffMerkley @ChrisMurphyCT and I have the bill to do it. https://t.co/i6cuWY79Zp
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 21, 2020

It is not hyperbole to say that Trump sees that he is going to beaten on November 3, 2020 and he has decided to do everything he can to prevent that day from arriving.

One of those ways would be to send in the military to quell unrest — except that without Mayors and/or Governors requesting federal aid, he can’t do that. The Posse Comitatus Act prevents that in almost all situations, using the Federal Military on U.S. soil to act as local policing forces.

So he’s done it by sending in unidentifiable paramilitary in camouflage & tactical gear designed to be scary to civilians, and to grab said citizens off the streets without warrants and transport them to unnamed destinations in violation of a whole tranche of civil rights.

Dateline July 19, 2020

YouTube Video

Reports say he intends to send these forces to other American cities.

He has said this about it via his latest bobble-head, over-paid Press Secretary:

“White House Backs Sending Federal Agents Into U.S. Cities”

YouTube Video

If he can’t win this November with votes, perhaps he can make that vote “like a miracle, just go away”… he can’t of course, but HE MAY WELL BELIEVE THAT HE CAN.

Just like a troublesome, egomaniacal King of old.

TODAY IN CONGRESS (C-Span TV), Yesterday's Votes & SUBPOENA WARS

Doctor Who

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 13, 2019 · 8:18 AM PDT

2019/06/13 · 08:18

This House is under THREAT by the President and his loyal henchmen (e.g., Barr)!

TODAY IN CONGRESS (C-SPAN TV SCHEDULE) & More:

I am posting the daily C-Span TV schedule, when I can, for those here who may be interested in tuning in to see what Congress is up to. Also, I have provided the results of the previous day’s votes on some significant Bills/Resolutions, when Congress was in session the previous day and an update on the status of numerous Congressional Subpoenas and other Committee action.

Here’s today’s schedule with the events I think may be the most interesting in bold. You can watch C-Span HERE. NOTE: Sometimes C-Span posts additional Congressional events not on my list, later in the day.

House:

9:00 am — House Session (The House will continue work on a spending package totaling $982.8 billion in discretionary spending for FY 2020 for four of the 12 appropriations bills: Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, State-Foreign Operations, and Energy-Water.)

9:00 am — House Intelligence Committee Hearing on National Security Risks of Artificial Intelligence (The House Intelligence Committee holds a hearing to examine the national security risks posed by artificial intelligence and “deepfake” videos.)

10:30 am — House Energy Subcommittee Hearing on Protecting Kids and Consumers From Dangerous Products (The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce holds a hearing on the dangers found in everyday products and how best to protect the consumer.)

10:45 am — House Speaker Weekly Briefing (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) briefs reporters and responds to questions on her party’s legislative agenda.)

Senate:

9:30 am — Senate Session (The Senate will continue to debate and vote on executive nominations. Senators are also expected to work on resolutions opposing the proposed U.S. arms sales to Bahrain and Qatar.)

9:30 am — Senate Agriculture Committee Hearing on Global Markets & Agriculture Sector (The Senate Agriculture Committee met to convene a hearing on global markets and the U.S. agriculture sector.)

10:00 am — Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Hearing on Wildland Fire & Management Programs (The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine the 2019 wildland fire and management programs.)

Yesterday’s Votes:

House:

1. House Resolution 436 (H.R. 436) Providing for further consideration of the bill (H.R. 2740) — A Bill making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Heath and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes (Vote on bringing H.R. 2740 to the House floor for debate and amendments).

Democrats- 232 Yes 0 No 0 Present 2 Not Voting

Republicans- 0 Yes 189 No 0 Present 9 Not Voting

Totals- 232 Yes 189 No 0 Present 11 Not Voting

PASSED

Voting Details HERE. Text of Resolution H.R. 2740 (as introduced) HERE.

2. Amendments to House Resolution 2740 (H.R. 2740) which were voted on yesterday’:

There were a total of 42 amendments voted on during yesterday’s session. Below is a summary breakdown of the results:

Democrat Introduced Amendments that were Agreed To (Passed): 31

Democrat Introduced Amendments that Failed: 0

Republican Introduced Amendments that were Agreed To (Passed): 6

Republican Introduced Amendments that Failed: 5

You can get voting results for each amendment HERE by clicking on the voting docket #s on the left.

You can get a summary of each amendment by reading through the Floor Proceedings HERE.

Senate: No significant votes in the Senate, just more nomination confirmations.

Comments:

Today’s Events –

House — On the House Floor they are continuing with the debate and amendment process on the $982.8 billion Appropriations Bill that they have been working on all week. Since its Thursday, we may be looking at a final vote today. There is also an Intelligence Committee Hearing on national security risks posed by artificial intelligence and “deepfake” videos (whatever “deepfake” videos are. First time I have seen the term).

But the highlight of today’s C-Span TV schedule is certainly Speaker Pelosi’s Press Briefing. Although it is supposed to be about the House’s legislative agenda it will likely be all about the “I” word (IMPEACHMENT). Will she get closer to supporting an Impeachment Inquiry, farther away, or just be ambiguous on the topic? We will know shortly.

Senate — I bolded the Senate Session simply because they may actually be debating something other than crap Trump nominees today. I’m both Shocked and Amazed!

Yesterday’s Votes:

House — The House passed a Resolution (H.R. 436) providing for further consideration of H.R. 2740, an Appropriations Bill for various governmental Departments and Agencies. Even though this vote was simply to allow further floor debate and amendment of the Bill, all of the Republicans present voted “no”. Are they against even discussing appropriating $$$ for our government to stay running? Who knows?

Anyway, it appears that the Democrats on the Rules Committee were again generous to the Republicans by bringing the Bill to the floor under an “Open Rule” allowing for numerous amendments to be introduced. I have simply posted a voting summary of these 42 amendments because I frankly don’t have the time to post each one. But if you click on the links I posted you will see that some passed along Party lines while others received overwhelming Bipartisan support with large numbers of Republicans supporting some Democratic amendments and visa-versa. Even a partisan like me likes to see our Representatives vote on the merits of a Bill/Amendment and not simply on whether it was introduced by a “D” or and “R”.

Senate — Sorry to once again sound like a broken record, but it was only another day of confirming crappy Trump nominees.

SUBPOENA WARS —

House Judiciary Committee Barr Subpoena — No official word yet from Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler of if or when he will use the authorization granted him by the Full House on Tuesday and drag Barr to Court to enforce the subpoena for the unredacted Mueller Report and all underlying documents. Most likely its a question of “when” and not “if”. Nadler is likely just waiting for members and staff to review all the FBI 302 reports which were produced during the course of the Mueller investigation (these FBI 302 reports are detailed notes taken by an FBI agent who was in the room during the voluntary interviews of all the witnesses conducted by Mueller’s team) which Barr is allowing. However, I don’t see Barr budging on all the information required by his subpoena, especially the “Grand Jury 6e” material (Rule 6(e)(2), Fed.R.Crim.P., prohibits "an attorney for the government" from disclosing matters occurring before a grand jury, except as otherwise provided in the rules.). So its probably just a matter of time (a short time at that) until Nadler plays his Judicial Branch card.

House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena — Unlike Barr, it appears that Nadler is ready to immediately use his new authority to drag McGahn into Court for defying his subpoena. It appears Nadler is simply waiting for Committee lawyers to draft their arguments. So it won’t be long until we see if McGahn decides to fight this in Court himself and/or whether the Trump Administration will seek to intervene in the proceedings and formally claim Executive Privilege.

House Judiciary Committee Mueller Testimony — The Committee is still in negotiations with Mueller’s team about his testimony. However, on Tuesday Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler said that he sees “Mueller testifying by 'end of summer'”. Time will tell.

House Judiciary Committee Hicks and Donaldson Subpoenas — Well, the good news is that Hope Hicks has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee (under threat of civil contempt for failure to comply with her subpoena). The bad news is that she has only agreed to testify behind closed doors, which the Committee has apparently found acceptable. However, the good news is that Chairman Nadler has said, “he planned to release the transcript publicly ”promptly" after her testimony.” The committee had originally subpoenaed her for public testimony on June 19, but no official word if that will be the date. Its a shame that this will not be publicly televised testimony which has a lot more impact on public perception than an after-the-fact transcript, but I suppose its better to get something now rather than getting nothing while you take her to Court. More details can be found in this Hill Story.

No word yet on whether Trump will officially invoke “Executive Privilege” to try to block her testimony. Also, no word on what Anne Donaldson (Don McGahn’s former Chief of Staff) plans to do with respect to her subpoena which she is so far defying.

House Intelligence Committee Subpoena — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) postponed a meeting to take “enforcement action” against the Justice Department after it agreed to turn over documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Schiff said that the department has agreed to turn over 12 categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials. However, while we wait to see what the Committee will do after it reviews the documents from Barr, the Committee held a hearing yesterday to discuss the lessons learned from Volume I of the Mueller Report which focused on Russian election interference. Two former FBI officials and a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York testified regarding their analysis of the report’s content. The most interesting moment (IMO) was when the Republican selected witness who was put on to debunk the Mueller Report as a “witch hunt”, clearly stated that Trump or any candidate for that matter should immediately contact the FBI when approached by a foreign entity offering campaign assistance. If you missed it, you can still catch the encore at this C-Span Link.

Also, on Rachel Maddow's Show last night, Chairman Adam Schiff announced that they are seriously considering subpoenaing FBI Director Chris Wray to testify as to what happened to the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation of Trump and his connections to Russia. Schiff stated that this investigation was started by former FBI Director Comey and then handed off to Mueller by Acting Director Andrew McCabe who had FBI Agents embedded into Mueller’s Team to continue the Counterintelligence Investigation. However, Schiff stated that there is nothing in the redacted Mueller Report regarding this investigation and the Committee is growing increasingly frustrated with DoJ in that they are not getting any answers as to what has happened to this investigation. So the idea appears to be to get Wray to provide answers as to what his FBI agents in their Counterintelligence Branch have done or are still doing with regard to the Counterintelligence Investigation of Trump.

House Financial Services Committee and House Intelligence Committee Deutsche Bank and Capital One Subpoenas (Trump’s Banking Records) — No change. A federal judge ruled from the bench and rejected President Trump's effort to block congressional subpoenas seeking his financial records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One. But the Trump Organization has filed an Appeal. The appeals court said Friday it will speedily consider President Donald Trump’s challenge to congressional subpoenas seeking financial records from two banks with which he did business. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued a brief order setting a schedule for written arguments to be submitted by July 18, with oral arguments to soon follow.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Subpoena (Financial Records) — No change. A three-judge panel on the appeals court will hear oral arguments on July 12 to determine whether the accounting firm Mazars can hand over Trump's financial records to House Democrats. The court also set a series of deadlines spanning June and July for parties to submit filings arguing their positions in the case.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Subpoena — From CNN:

“The House Oversight Committee voted on Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress over a dispute related to the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The vote was 24-15.

The vote came just hours after President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege over materials related to the citizenship question, a move that further escalated tensions between House Democrats investigating the 2020 census and the administration.

The Democratic-led committee voted on a contempt resolution that recommends that the House of Representatives find Barr and Ross in contempt of Congress "for refusal to comply with subpoenas." The contempt resolution includes citations for both civil and criminal contempt.

Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan joined with Democrats on the committee to vote in favor of the resolution.

Ross called the move an "empty stunt" in a statement and said, "Today, the Democrats maintained their shameless, weekly attacks on this Administration without consideration for the truth."

The Commerce Secretary said that the committee "isn't interested in cooperation" and "demonstrated its scorn for the Constitution" by holding the vote.

"This is a disappointing day for Congress and our country. America deserves better," Ross said.

The Justice Department fired back at the contempt finding, accusing the committee of playing "political games" and saying the panel's "attempt to define the Department of Justice's good-faith cooperation as 'contempt' defies logic."

Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec went on to say that DOJ had worked "tirelessly" to respond to the committee's requests.

"Today's action by Chairman Cummings and his Committee undermines Congress's credibility with the American people," Kupec said.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the committee, called the vote "unwarranted" in a statement as well as "a misuse of the committee's contempt authority."

"This vote was another act of political theater designed to interfere with the Supreme Court's consideration of the reinstitution of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census," Jordan said.

House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings said in a statement that the "contempt vote was the last thing I wanted to do," adding, "I bent over backwards to try to work with the Administration, but they delayed, dissembled, and degraded our Committee's efforts to conduct this investigation and fulfill our responsibilities under the Constitution."

It's unclear what will happen now that the committee has voted on the resolution. Depending on how the Departments of Justice or Commerce respond, House Democrats could go to the floor with both criminal and civil contempt. They could also drop criminal before going to the floor if some accommodation happens.

According to a committee aide, a criminal contempt vote would have to go through the floor. However, civil contempt could go through the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which is made up of the three highest-ranked House Democrats and two highest-ranked House Republicans.

With this vote, Justin Amash has definitely been permanently DISAVOWED by the ~~Republican~~ Trump Party.

House Ways & Means Committee Subpoena (Trump’s Tax Returns) — We are waiting for the Committee to enforce its subpoena against Mnuchin and the IRS, and get this dispute into Court. Although I have no idea what the hold up is, especially since this is a slam-dunk case. We are also waiting for Governor Cuomo to sign the Bill allowing NYS to provide NYS tax returns of Federal or State government officials to House Committee Chairman (McNeal) upon his request (including Trump’s NYS returns). But, Chairman McNeal announced last week that he will not request Trump’s State Tax Returns.

However, yesterday the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is moving ahead with a threat to hold up any Treasury Department nominees over resistance from two agencies overseeing the release of President Donald Trump's personal tax returns. More about Wyden’s blockade in this CNN Story.

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TODAY IN CONGRESS (C-Span TV), Yesterday's Votes, SUBPOENA WARS & More

Doctor Who

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Wednesday June 12, 2019 · 7:09 AM PDT

2019/06/12 · 07:09

The Four Horsemen of Trump's Apocalypse!

TODAY IN CONGRESS (C-SPAN TV SCHEDULE) & More:

I am posting the daily C-Span TV schedule, when I can, for those here who may be interested in tuning in to see what Congress is up to. Also, I have provided the results of the previous day’s votes on some significant Bills/Resolutions, when Congress was in session the previous day. Lastly, I have provided an update on the status of numerous Congressional Subpoenas and other Committee action.

House:

9:00 am — House Intelligence Committee Hearing on Mueller Report (House Intelligence Committee holds a hearing to discuss the lessons learned from the Mueller Report.)

10:00 am — House Morning Session (General Speeches)

10:00 am — House Oversight Committee meets to vote on Contempt Citations (The House Oversight and Reform Committee votes on holding Attorney General Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to a citizenship question added to the 2020 Census.)

12:00 pm — House Session (The House will consider a spending package totaling $986.8 billion in discretionary spending for FY 2020 for four of the 12 appropriations bills: Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, State-Foreign Operations, and Energy-Water.)

1:00 pm — House Armed Services Committee Hearing on the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (The House Armed Services Committee debates and considers changes to the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.)

Senate:

10:00 am — Senate Session (Following Leader remarks, the Senate will continue to work on judicial and executive nominations.)

Yesterday’s Votes:

House:

1. House Resolution 430 (H.R. 430) Vote On Passage of the Resolution “Authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas and for other purposes’’ (as amended).

Democrats- 229 Yes 0 No 0 Present 6 Not Voting 7

Republicans- 0 Yes 191 No 0 Present 7 Not Voting

Totals- 229 Yes 191 No 0 Present 13 Not Voting

PASSED

Voting Details HERE. Text of Resolution HERE.

Senate: No significant votes in the Senate, just more nomination confirmations.

Comments:

Today’s Events –

House — The highlight of today’s C-Span TV schedule is twofold. First up will be the House Intelligence Committee Hearing on lessons learned from the Mueller Report regarding the threat of Russian involvement in our elections. Then at 10:00, the House Oversight Committee’s debate and vote to hold both AG Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross in Contempt of Congress for defying Congressional subpoenas for documents related to the Administration proposed addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. More on these below under “SUBPOENA WARS”.

Senate — The most interesting and potentially the most politically explosive thing going on in the Senate today will not be happening in front of the C-Span TV cameras. It will be the Closed Door Hearing conducted by the Senate Intelligence Committee where they will hear limited testimony from Donald Trump Jr. regarding his interactions with Russian operatives during the 2016 election. While some on our side are hoping that Trump Jr.’s testimony today will further deepens the legal perjury hole he dug for himself during his last appearance before Congress, I am not so sure. I hate to sound cynical, but today’s testimony might be about allowing Trump Jr. to correct the record on his previous testimony to get himself out of the perjury hole so he does not end up in Cohen’s jail cell. Anyway, we will have to wait and see what rumors fly after today’s closed door Hearing to get at least a possible glimpse of Trump Jr.’s fate.

Yesterday’s Votes:

House — The House passed a Resolution (H.R. 430) authorizing the Judiciary Committee to go to Court to enforce Congressional subpoenas issued to AG Barr and former White House Counsel Don McGahn. So what exactly is this Resolution? I have been listening to many media pundits tell me what it is, some which have apparently not read it and are just making crap up based on what they think it is. What it is NOT, is a criminal Inherent Contempt citation by Congress (i.e., it does not authorize the Committee to fine or lock up either Barr or McGahn. Broadly, it is an authorization to the Committee to take Barr and/or McGahn to Federal Court in a Civil proceeding where the Court could issue a ruling requiring compliance with the subpoenas and even possibly impose personal fines for non-compliance with the Court’s Order.

But don’t let me tell you what this Resolution is or is not. Since it’s not that long, here it is for you to read and make your own interpretation:

“That the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives is authorized, on behalf of such Committee, to initiate or intervene in any judicial proceeding before a Federal court—

(1) to seek declaratory judgments and any and all ancillary relief, including injunctive relief, affirming the duty of—

(A) William P. Barr, Attorney General, to comply with the subpoena that is the subject of the resolution accompanying House Report 116-105; and

(B) Donald F. McGahn, II, former White House Counsel, to comply with the subpoena issued to him on April 22, 2019; and

(2) to petition for disclosure of information regarding any matters identified in or relating to the subpoenas referred to in paragraph (1) or any accompanying report, pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), including Rule 6(e)(3)(E) (providing that the court may authorize disclosure of a grand-jury matter “preliminarily to... a judicial proceeding”).

Resolved, That the chair of each standing and permanent select committee, when authorized by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, retains the ability to initiate or intervene in any judicial proceeding before a Federal court on behalf of such committee, to seek declaratory judgments and any and all ancillary relief, including injunctive relief, affirming the duty of the recipient of any subpoena duly issued by that committee to comply with that subpoena. Consistent with the Congressional Record statement on January 3, 2019, by the chair of the Committee on Rules regarding the civil enforcement of subpoenas pursuant to clause 8(b) of rule II, a vote of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to authorize litigation and to articulate the institutional position of the House in that litigation is the equivalent of a vote of the full House of Representatives.

Resolved, That in connection with any judicial proceeding brought under the first or second resolving clauses, the chair of any standing or permanent select committee exercising authority thereunder has any and all necessary authority under Article I of the Constitution.

Resolved, That the chair of any standing or permanent select committee exercising authority described in the first or second resolving clause shall notify the House of Representatives, with respect to the commencement of any judicial proceeding thereunder.

Resolved, That the Office of General Counsel of the House of Representatives shall, with the authorization of the Speaker, represent any standing or permanent select committee in any judicial proceeding initiated or intervened in pursuant to the authority described in the first or second resolving clause.

Resolved, That the Office of General Counsel of the House of Representatives is authorized to retain private counsel, either for pay or pro bono, to assist in the representation of any standing or permanent select committee in any judicial proceeding initiated or intervened in pursuant to the authority described in the first or second resolving clause.”

Now, with respect to the vote on this Resolution, it was along Party lines as most of you would suspect. However, I was a little surprised to see Republican Justin Amash vote with his Party against the Resolution. I have no explanation why the only Republican to come out boldly in favor of impeaching Trump would vote to against giving the Committee the tools to make the case for impeachment. Baffling!

Senate — Sorry to sound like a broken record, but it was only another day of confirming crappy Trump nominees.

SUBPOENA WARS —

House Judiciary Committee Barr Subpoena — Well, the House Resolution passed yesterday gives Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler the authorization to go to Court to enforce the Barr subpoena for the unredacted Mueller Report and all underlying documents. Although its unclear if or when Nadler will use this new authority. Presently, Barr is allowing House members and staff to review all the FBI 302 reports which were produced during the course of the Mueller investigation (these FBI 302 reports are detailed notes taken by an FBI agent who was in the room during the voluntary interviews of all the witnesses conducted by Mueller’s team). However, Barr is not presently allowing the Committee to actually obtain these FBI 302 reports, nor is he budging on his withholding of the redacted portions of the Mueller Report and all “Grand Jury 6e” material (Rule 6(e)(2), Fed.R.Crim.P., prohibits "an attorney for the government" from disclosing matters occurring before a grand jury, except as otherwise provided in the rules.). It seems Nadler is seeing how far Barr will let him go on simply the threat of taking him to Court before he actually takes him to Court, which IMO appears inevitable. Furthermore, it appears that Clause 2 of the House Resolution (see above) also gives Nadler the authority to directly argue for the release to Congress of all of the “Grand Jury 6e” material both redacted in the Mueller Report and in the transcripts of Mueller Grand Jury witness testimony. Since the Court directly controls the release of Grand Jury transcripts, this provides Nadler with somewhat of an end-around Barr’s subpoena defiance, however, Barr could still decide to have DoJ argue against the release in Court. We will just have to wait and see when Nadler decides to pull the legal trigger.

House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena — So like the Barr subpoena, Nadler has also been granted the authority hy the House Resolution to go to Court to enforce the McGahn subpoena to testify and produce documents. However, unlike Barr, it appears that Nadler is ready to use this authority. According to this CNN Report:

“Nadler said he wanted to go to court "as soon as possible" to try to force McGahn to testify, although the timing would ultimately be decided by the House counsel.”

So it won’t be long until we see if McGahn decides to fight this in Court himself and/or whether the Trump Administration will seek to intervene in the proceedings and formally claim Executive Privilege.

House Judiciary Committee Mueller Testimony — The Committee is still in negotiations with Mueller’s team about his testimony. However, on MSNBC's Show, "the Beat" yesterday Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler said that he sees “Mueller testifying by 'end of summer'”. Time will tell.

House Judiciary Committee Hicks and Donaldson Subpoenas — The House Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena both Hope Hicks (President Trump’s former long time personal adviser) and Anne Donaldson (Don McGahn’s former Chief of Staff) a few weeks ago. According to Politico, the subpoenas call on both women to produce requested documents by June 4. Then they are scheduled to testify with Hicks on June 19 and Donaldson on June 24. They have both been told by the White House to not respond and so far they have not. They missed the documentary deadline of June 4, so now my guess is the Committee is waiting to see if they are “no shows on June 24 before taking further action to enforce these subpoenas. However, bolstered by the new authority granted to him by yesterday’s House Resolution (according to this CNN Report) Nadler said:

“...that he would go to court to force former White House aides Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson to comply with the panel's subpoenas for the officials to testify later this month.”

“...will hear testimony from two former leaders of the FBI's national security branch to testify about the counterintelligence implications of Mueller's investigation. Both ex-FBI officials, Robert Anderson and Stephanie Douglas, retired from the bureau before it launched its investigation into the Trump campaign in summer 2016. By inviting them instead of agents involved in the investigation, Democrats are giving center stage to longtime career officials likely to be seen as more neutral and devoid of the political baggage that accompanies some of President Donald Trump's more outspoken critics, including former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and former agent Peter Strzok.”

Recommended viewing to say the least!

House Oversight and Reform Committee Subpoena — The House Oversight Committee is scheduled to vote today on a Resolution to hold Attorney General Bill Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Contempt of Congress after this pair of top Trump administration officials failed to cooperate with a probe into adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. However, according to this story from "The Hill":

“House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Tuesday that he would hold off on his committee’s contempt votes for Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross if officials provided certain documents to Congress by Wednesday.

In a letter sent to Barr on Tuesday evening, Cummings was critical of a Department of Justice (DOJ) letter sent earlier in the day that warned that the department would ask President Trump to assert executive privilege over the documents on the census citizenship question subpoenaed by the committee over the contempt vote, scheduled for Wednesday morning.

“In other words, without making any recognizable counter-offer with respect to the documents under subpoena, the Department appears to be indicating that it may stop producing responsive documents over which even the Department concedes no privilege exists—and that the Department may also withhold documents in other investigations,” Cummings wrote.

“The Committee cannot accept these terms. The Committee has a responsibility under the Constitution to conduct rigorous oversight of the Census, and we will not continue to delay our efforts due to your ongoing obstruction,” he added.

While he wrote that the DOJ had made “no commitments” to hand over certain documents and “no counter-offer with respect to these documents,” Cummings said he would be willing to delay the contempt vote if he received certain key documents by Wednesday.”

So we will have to see what happens during today’s Committee meeting.

House Ways & Means Committee Subpoena (Trump’s Tax Returns) — No change. We are waiting for the Committee to enforce its subpoena against Mnuchin and the IRS, and get this dispute into Court. Although I have no idea what the hold up is, especially since this is a slam-dunk case. We are also waiting for Governor Cuomo to sign the Bill allowing NYS to provide NYS tax returns of Federal or State government officials to House Committee Chairman (McNeal) upon his request (including Trump’s NYS returns). But, Chairman McNeal announced last week that he will not request Trump’s State Tax Returns.

More — And yes there is that little Closed Door Hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee where Don Jr. will testify to attempt to get his ass out of the sling he put himself in with his last Congressional testimony. Ah, how we would all love to be a fly on the wall of the Hearing room!

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Labor Day Weekend Signs From Freewayblogger (Lots of Pretty Pictures!)

freewayblogger

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 08, 2017 · 1:12 PM PDT

2017/09/08 · 13:12

"SAVE DACA DEPORT RACISTS" sign over I-10 — Up for two and a half days with daytime viewership of 100,000+ per day. That's 250K viewers for a nickel's worth of paint and $1 in bungee cords.

While we’re waiting for pictures from the Nationwide Labor Day Action to roll in to Freewayblogger HQ, here are my contributions to last weekend here on the west coast.

Impeach sign over US 101 north — San Francisco: at least 3 hours @ 8,000 cars per hour.

To those of you who intended to participate but got sidetracked, don’t worry. Labor Day weekend was just an arbitrary timeframe: my legal dept. assures me that our First Amendment rights are valid 24/7, 365 days a year. Of course with everything running so smoothly in our nation right now, it might be tough to think of anything to say, but maybe you can say something about how tired you are from all this winning.

Impeach sign over I-5 north — Los Angeles: duration unknown.

Impeach sign in Marinwood — Marin Co.: No attachment necessary — just squeezed into the space

Defend Our Dreamers sign over Hwy 110 — Downtown LA, 9,000 cph: duration unknown. Only took about six minutes to trace and paint this sign - I’ll probably be doing a lot more.

Can’t help thinking the Dreamers could use a shout out or two. I’m sure there’s plenty who’d like to do it themselves, but I can’t blame them for wanting to keep a low-profile. Technically speaking I guess they don’t really have First Amendment rights like you and I do. Or not anymore.

Brought here illegally by their parents, these scofflaw toddlers feel like they have a right to stay here because it’s the only country they’ve ever known. They say there’s about 800,000 of them, but there’s probably more. Call it a million. Only really a third of one percent of the population… and yet the entire heart and soul of the nation hinges on what happens to them. Politics sure is funny…

Hey Melania sign over I-10 — Had this up less than two hours after thinking of it. Up for at least two days over the Santa Monica Fwy. May even still be there.

Impeach sign over Hwy 99 north — Sacramento: squeezed in between rail and fencing.

Save DACA Deport Racists sign over I-80. — University Ave. Berkeley: My favorite bay area overpass. Park at the Seabreeze Deli, walk 300 feet or so, drop the signs in the slot, and walk away. Take pix from the pedestrian overcrossing.

back of impeach sign on fence next to 280 flyaway ramp — Backside of sign below.

Impeach sign next to flyaway ramp on the 280. — Fencing on hillside by Thurgood Marshall HS next to elevated section of 280.

The above sign is a perfect example of the point I’m trying to make. Fencing on hillsides by elevated freeways or flyaway ramps are practically impossible to get to from where they can be seen, but relatively easy for the sign poster once they’ve figured out how to get there to begin with. To reach this particular spot from traffic you have to drive about three miles before you can exit, backtrack three miles and then figure out which of some half-dozen dead-end streets will get you to the fence. Then you have to climb a hill and walk a few hundred feet to actually reach it physically. Signs I put up here generally stay up for weeks, even months. If you can find a spot like this where you live, a few minutes of effort will give you practically a constant voice.

Impeach him sign over I-5 south — “Him” held over from a previous “Lock him up.” sign mentioned here.

Deport Racists sign over US 101 — San Fernando Valley — Jesus sign to the right.

Dear Jesus People, I know you mean well, but your signs are a goddam menace. Using letters two or three inches tall forces people to slow down to read them and putting them on the outside of the fencing allows them to blow into traffic if they come loose. You could easily end up killing someone before they have time to repent, which is precisely the sort of thing that’ll buy you a one-way ticket to the Lake of Fire.

Remember when treason was bad? sign next to I-405 — Next to I-405 in Torrance: 25 feet from traffic, 7 miles if you want to get to it.

Impeach sign next to 280 flyaway ramp. — San Francisco next to the 280: pretty much the same deal as the Thurgood Marshall High School fence.

I think one of the biggest stumbling blocks we’re facing here at Freewayblogger is the fear that signposting on freeways is against the law. Let me assure you that it is. Even here in California, signs visible from freeways are subject to all sorts of rules and require all kinds of permission. Technically speaking, so does putting up a flag. Of course, there’s a bit of a paradox there, because the moment I have to ask the state’s permission in any way, that’s the moment it stops being “Free Speech” and becomes “government sanctioned speech.” So like the outlaw flag-posters, I figure I’ll just to go ahead and do my thing and if someone wants to arrest me for it, they’re perfectly welcome to. That’s how the system works.

By keeping my signs safe, legible, temporary and posted on freeways where billboards are plentiful, our well-staffed, highly trained legal department assures me I’m essentially covered against charges of endangerment, vandalism and driver distraction but that going to court is always a crapshoot. Nevertheless, I’d consider it an honor to defend what I’m doing in a court of law. And woe be unto any prosecutor who stands before the flag and calls my First Amendment free speech “litter”… I’ll gladly let them know that they might as well be calling the bloody footprints in the snows of Valley Forge “medical waste.”

Impeach and bandit sign on Hwy 110 — One of these things is not like the other.

Look at the picture above: Those are cops, and they’re passing by my sign calling for the impeachment of the President, and a sign advertising an upcoming Dominican merengue concert. Both of these signs are technically illegal, but the people who put them there did so knowing they were breaking a few rules for the benefit of being seen by thousands of people every hour. The difference, and it’s a crucial one, is that my sign, being a purely political statement, is 100% protected by the First Amendment, Hector’s isn’t. Unless that’s a free concert, where there’s not only no cover but they’re not even selling CDs or merch, their sign qualifies as a commercial advertisement, mine does not. So if Hector “El Torito” Acosta and I are both taken into court, I’m the one who’s going to be dancing out, even though he’s a professional merengue singer and I’ve got the rhythm of a metronome.

What have future generations ever done for us? sign over US 101 south — San Francisco: Quotation by Groucho Marx.

Impeach sign over Hollywood Fwt. — Los Angeles: Rampart Ave. overcrossing. Park, walk approximately 40 feet and drop sign in slot between rail and fencing. Walk back to your car and drive away.

Impeach sign next to US 101. — Los Angeles: Hollywood freeway southbound.

Impeach sign next to Hwy 110 — Pasadena Freeway by Dodger Stadium.

Impeach sign by Rowland Ave exit. — Marin County: 101 Southbound. Not that hard to reach, but Bay Area signs are generally what I call demographically protected.

Remember when treason was bad? sign right next to Harbor fwy. downtown Los Angeles. — This wasn’t a Labor Day sign, but put up over a month ago. Easily seen by at least five lanes of some of LA’s densest traffic, and still there as of yesterday. I love it when that happens.

Impeach sign next to Hollywood Fwy. — Hollywood Freeway northbound. Attached with spring clamp and duct tape.

Impeach sign in San Fernando Valley — San Fernando Valley: US 101 southbound.

Vote to Make America Putin;s Bitch SignHack — Buttonwillow, CA: Temporary post for the sake of the photo. Hoping to repost somewhere by Dana Rohrbacher’s campaign office. Soon enough though we’ll see it applies to many, many republicans.

Impeach sign in Rohnert Park by US 101. — Rohnert Park

Impeach sign next to US 101 north — Marin

Mind you, these are just my signs - we’re still tallying up the ones coming in from across the country. I spoke briefly with our publicity dept. and they want to hold out for all fifty states before sending out a press release and I think they’re right. So, if you’re listening and you live in Florida, Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina or Maine… just sit tight: you’re covered. The rest of you please send pictures to freewayblogger -at-yahoo-dot-com

Many Thanks!

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Ecopocalypse Now, Patriotism & Obama as President of the Nation We Were Supposed To Be...

freewayblogger

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Wednesday August 30, 2017 · 4:15 PM PDT

2017/08/30 · 16:15

Ecopocalypse Now sign over I-10 — I did a couple of hundred of these a few years back - probably a bit more evident by now

I heard someone once say that Barack Obama wasn’t so much the President of the nation that we were as much as the President of the nation that we were supposed to be. I thought of that while writing a note to send out to my mailing list to go along with the announcement for next weekend’s action. I haven’t written them in over ten years and thought about everything that’s happened since then. Obama hadn’t even been elected yet, and I thought back to that night and that moment of pure elation when Ohio got called and we knew Barack Obama would become our next President. And I think about the pride that I felt for my country that night as the television showed celebrations breaking out all over the world. And I’m trying to write this letter and I can’t because I’m thinking of where we were back then and where we are now and find myself crying so hard I literally can’t see the keys on my keyboard.

As a liberal that feeling of pride in my country isn’t one I get to experience all that often. And to all of the Republicans who’d point to that as proof that people like me are somehow unpatriotic - the ones who wrap themselves in the flag thinking that makes them patriots, and think that they own the whole concept of patriotism to a point where it’s become their tribal identification - allow me to explain something. Patriotism means something different to me than it does to you. To you patriotism is that feeling you get when you wave the flag and yell “We’re Number One!” and tell the world how great we are. To people like me patriotism is the feeling we get when it’s the world telling us how great we are. Big difference, that.

Thank You Mr. President signs for Obama after passage of the Affordable Care Act — I put these up after the passage of the Affordable Care Act

Thank You Mr. President Signs for Obama after passing the affordable care act. — I’ll do it for Trump, but only when he resigns

But after the Bush years the Obama Presidency was like an eight year long sigh of relief. And like the people on my mailing list and probably most of you, I took a break from politics knowing that the guy in the oval office at least had my back. In hindsight I wish I’d done more to show him that I had his too. But back then we could go for days, even weeks, without even having to think about our President - man, those were the days, weren’t they? I even took a break from sign hanging for awhile, but I started again and for a couple of years I posted signs about global warming. It was important to me to fight back against the deniers, and like I’ve always said it’s easy and fun and fucking somebody had to do it.

Sign over heavy traffic reading "Wake up and smell the permafrost." — I did so many of these for a brief spell “permafrost” replaced “coffee” after “wake up and smell the” on Google.

But I didn’t write to the people on my mailing list or do much else to get people to join me because after so many years of preaching about cardboard and paint I was simply tired of playing cheerleader. And that’s kind of a pity because maybe if I had we could’ve put some sort of price on the GOP’s obstruction. Or if nothing else when that bastard out of South Carolina shouted out “You Lie!” during the State of the Union address he’d have come home to a state covered in signs calling for his resignation. Or maybe we wouldn’t be in situation we’re in now - seeming so voiceless in face of a President whose party and base seem perfectly willing to support their lying, racist, narcissist and most likely syphilitic leader even if he’s obviously working for Vladimir Putin.

"I wish my President was less of a Nazi." Sign on I-80 — Using a projector allows you to use more words legibly, so in red states you could say “just a teensy-weensy little bit less of a Nazi”

Mark Twain once said something like “Don’t be negative: people don’t have time for that…” and I’ve worked really hard to stick by that rule. Sometimes it’s hard though, especially these days, and I know I haven’t done nearly enough to recruit you. Aristotle said “He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader…” and in my case that’s definitely true. If there’s one thing I hate it’s being told what to do, so I’m not very effective when it comes to telling others. But I’ll keep trying of course - there’s some kind of angle and I’ve just got to find it.

"Imagine your grandchildren dancing at the weddings of their grandchildren." sign by freeway. — You can’t paint this with spraypaint on a bedsheet.

It’s getting late and I still haven’t finished my letter. The mailing list has about 2,000 people - I call them the mighty Freewayblogger Nation - my vast but reluctant army… It’s funny because all of this happened pretty much by accident. It’s kind of hard to explain, but maybe someday I’ll try. But for now I just want to say that as much as I love my country and hate the all fascists and racists I see tearing it apart, and as much as I love the First Amendment and all of its power and potential and ache knowing how much more we could be using it… and even as much as I love my children and want to save this planet for them and their children’s children to come - none of that is why I keep putting signs up on freeways. The reason I keep doing it is because it’s such a great game, and even after all these years I’m still not tired of playing it.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll try to write about that.

Poll

68 votes Show Results

I'll be putting up signs...

68 votes Vote Now!

I'll be putting up signs...

Over Labor Day and sending you pictures

22 votes

Maybe over labor Day, but soon, real soon

12 votes

Later. They'll say "Don't get into the boxcars, it's a trick!"

34 votes

Dear Friends and Arguably Fellow Americans... An Open Letter to the GOP Leadership

freewayblogger

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 27, 2017 · 7:28 PM PDT

2017/08/27 · 19:28

#Treason sign over Santa Monica Fwy. — Remember, Labor Day Weekend is National Freeway Free Speech Weekend!

Dear Sirs, As you know, things are going badly wrong right now, with every indication that they’re about to get a whole lot worse. How much worse of course none of us can really know, although it’s fairly obvious that you all have a much better idea than the rest of us. With the only thing unravelling faster than your pretext of innocence being the President himself, this might be a good time to stop and weigh your options in what little calm remains before the inevitably coming storm.

Please understand that I fully appreciate the seriousness of this situation and that the following is merely pro forma and not meant as a joke:

“To put this all behind us and for the good of the nation, you should tell us the complete truth regarding any and all contacts, associations, collusion, transferences, payments etc. between yourselves and any Russian or other foreign entities, ”

Again, I’m sorry. That was just for the sake of protocol and not meant to make light of things. Grim as things are though, it is nice to have a bit of a chuckle.

According to the dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, those of you who have colluded with or accepted contributions from Russian agents include top officials of the RNC, a number of senators and as many as 100 GOP House members. As time passes and evidence mounts supporting the claims of the Steele Dossier, we have seen a growing number of its assertions that were once unbelievable becoming instead undeniable. Thus sadly it no longer seems wise to credit yourselves or your party with the benefit of doubts that would’ve normally been given without a thought. Frankly, the only thing that keeps me from assuming the whole lot of you as traitors across-the-board isn’t respect so much as it is a sort of wistful nostalgia.

I want you to know,it hasn’t been easy witnessing your party’s deterioration over the years. As pompous and wrong-headed as you may have been under Ronald Reagan, you managed at least the pretense of being in the game for reasons greater than merely winning. Even though I doubted you had much if any respect for the values on which the country was built, it was nice that you at least referred to them from time to time. And as insincere as it may have seemed to me, at least you paid lip-service to such ideals as equality, fairness and respect, and did so even with a touch of what might pass as humility. Since then though it’s just been a dismal parade of charlatans like the Atwaters, Gingriches and Falwells slavishly pandering to the very worst elements of our society. I won’t pretend that your constant insults and questioning the patriotism, morality and even humanity of the left didn’t cause some bitterness, but the worst of it was simply being forced to watch the slow and painfully ugly spectacle of your party’s decline into the hollow, flailing, partisan shell that it is now.

Now this next part might sound a bit mean… But trust me, however painful it may be to read, you can take solace in knowing it will be quickly forgotten in the horrors awaiting you in the days to come. Whether through greed, malevolence or sheer political cowardice, you have brought this upon yourselves, so I’d like to assure you that whatever consequences you suffer will be far less than you deserve. By which I mean I’d like to assure you of that, but sadly I can’t. Historically these things tend to get rather ugly, so it’s altogether possible that your retribution may in fact be equal to, or possibly even much more than, that which you deserve. However long and honorable your public service resume may be, or how high your stack of awards and achievements, I can assure you that bloodthirsty mobs aren’t known for being meticulous about paperwork. Even if your legislative talents made you practically a national resource, as traitors your capacity as a national resource will most likely be reduced to that of fuel. You should ignore this warning at your peril.

Having contemplated for some time, as I’m sure you have too, what dwindling options you have left, I’ve decided conclusively the best solution - both for you personally as well as the nation — is this: Get out.

That’s right: Go. When you have finished this letter, get up from your chair, collect your passport and briefcase full of rubles, leave the country and never come back. On your way to the airport you can call your wives, children, mistresses, male escorts, etc. and give whatever explanation you care to. However, I suggest using your time in the air for some sober reflection before making any arrangements to meet up with them anytime soon. You’ll probably want some time on the ground at your destination to do a bit of legwork and research into the finer points of exile and alternative citizenship before making any plans involving loved ones.

To the extent that any of you may be thinking you’ll be spared by joining Donald Trump in his last-ditch effort to save himself with an army drawn from his supporters, let me assure you that’s not going to happen. The only decision more catastrophic than the one you made by supporting President Pussygrabber, would be to enlist into the ranks of the chuckleheaded racists serving under Field Marshall Bonespurs. As treasonous, misguided and soulless as you may be, along with everything else I’ve called you so far, I have not called you stupid. That would be unfair.

Nor, I’d like to add, have I called you, or thought of you, as irredeemable. Frightening as it may seem to you at the moment, the journey you are about to embark on is almost guaranteed to be one of spiritual awakening. Though borne of necessity more than some philosophical decision, the first steps on the path of exile are those walking away from all material possessions. Along with them you’ll leave behind all the responsibilities, relationships, habits, and all of the other trappings of lives gone so tragically wrong as to bring your party and nation to the brink of collapse, as well as yourselves to this horrible nadir. Soon all of that will be gone - little more than a memory - and you can re-enter the world… fresh as babes. Do not be afraid: few people in history have needed spiritual cleansing as much as Republican lawmakers in 2017. Through the eyes of refugees you’ll gaze upon a whole new world you were utterly blind to as lawmakers… Your fall from power will soon mean nothing to you once you’ve seen how you’ve you’ve sinned against the powerless. But it’s a better world, I promise you. Do not be afraid.

The time has come: now rise up from your chair.

Want to push back against these white supremacists, including the one in the Oval? JOIN US Sept. 1-4

Angela Marx

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 20, 2017 · 10:31 AM PDT

2017/08/20 · 10:31

Before and After Freewayblogging. — 10s of thousands, maybe 100s of thousands can see a sign like this IN A SINGLE DAY in a major Metro area. Freeway Blogging is the use of Free Speech on the modern Public Square on our daily commute on highways and byways...

Free Speech is the original American Invention

This Labor Day weekend (September 1st through 4th) citizens around the country will be celebrating their Constitutional right to free speech by posting political messages on public property. In keeping with the First Amendment, signs will be posted on fencing around parks, libraries, government offices, freeways and interstate highways.

BY PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU!

Signs will be made out of cardboard and attached by wire and bungee cords to be easily removable in accordance with local ordinances - no graffiti, locks or adhesives will be used. Signs on overpasses and roadside fences will be legible and posted safely on the inside of fencing to eliminate any risk of falling into traffic.

Video showing how to make a Freeway Blogging sign in 5 short minutes:

YouTube Video

Speech protected by the First Amendment must be non-commercial, non-threatening and cannot advocate violence, political or otherwise. Signs will only be placed on roadways already containing commercial speech.

We are asking at least 1,000 people to take up Freeway Blogging for this Day of Nationwide Action

Will you join the Freeway Blogger and make a sign and put it up on a public space over the Labor Day weekend? Then take a picture and send it to him here:

Participants are asked to photograph their work and share on social media.
Please send pictures to:
freewayblogger - at - yahoo - dot - com
or post on our Facebook Group

Examples of previous actions can be seen here.

The steps to creating a Freeway Blogging sign:

1) Get some cardboard (bike and large appliance boxes are best) boxes and cut them open and lay out flat

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 1

2) Use white latex paint and paint the INSIDE of the box. Latex creates a shield that keeps rain from melting the cardboard!

How to make Freeway Blogger signs, step 2

3) Use duct tape to tape the flaps together and flat.

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 3

4) Hang the blank sign on a garage wall or a fence

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 4.

5) Decide on a message, use a computer and print the message out on a transparent paper

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 5.

6) Use an overhead projector and shine the message on the blank cardboard

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 6.

7) Trace the letters onto the blank cardboard

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 7.

8) Take the cardboard down and put on flat surface to paint in the traced-on letters.

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 8.

and repeat as needed …

How to make Freeway Blogging signs, step 9.

Why Freeway Blogging?

It’s INEXPENSIVE

It’s quick and easy

It’s available to anyone with the ability to use tools like Duct tape, cardboard and paint

It puts YOUR MESSAGE in front of thousands (maybe 10s of thousands) or more people IN A SINGLE DAY.

Your message stays there until someone takes it down.

It couldn’t be any easier.

So if you couldn’t be at a rally this weekend or next weekend?

If big crowds make you too nervous and you can’t attend these events?

Maybe Freeway Blogging is the way for you to join the growing number of Americans who just can’t sit silently anymore while pernicious forces work to cause violence and danger here in our nation.

So don’t just sit silently anymore.

Use some cardboard, paint and duct tape and SPEAK OUT LOUDLY to the commuters driving to and from their jobs. Be HEARD.

Because every voice in America matters.

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