Welcome to the Sunday edition of Good News Roundup.
In case you are new, this is a place to leverage good news to offset the bad and to inspire ourselves to fight on. Our focus is on stories that are good for the resistance, the country and the world.
If you believe the sky is falling or insist on crying wolf you are in the wrong place. We know your view is popular. But we aren’t you. If your intent is to disrupt this space, I’d appreciate it if you hung out at ItsOverTheyWon.com instead of trying to hijack this space.
Don’t forget to check out oldhippiedude’s Tweets ‘o the Week later on today and tune in again tomorrow at 7AM when Jessiestaf brings us Monday’s Good News Roundup.
In addition to 2thanks’ regular resource comment, Yusef52 publishes a daily diary of ways to get involved
The Cold Open Summer Replacement Program
This is from last August. It’s still holding up well.
The Breaking Good News
Apologies to all of you. I was a bit pressed for time this week and missed covering some things I had hoped to include (at least I have a head start on next week). There are probably more typos than normal, as proof reading was only in my imagination.
tRump’s Canadian Catastrophe
It’s official. The President of the United States is a delusional nincompoop. tRump left the G7 early and in his closing remarks, shoehorned in between those trademarked brags and lies, claimed a great relationship with the other leaders who attended. Global News: Donald Trump says relationship with Canada, G7 countries is ‘10 out of 10’
U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped his short trip to Canada extolling his relationship with the G7 countries as a 10 out of 10, and blasting reports of rifts between the U.S. and world as nothing more than “fake news.”
In a freewheeling news conference at the G7 summit in La Malbaie, Trump defended his contentious case for bringing Russia back to an expanded G8, and he riffed again on what he said are unfair trade deficits with his country.
He blamed past world leaders, including past presidents, for that situation, but said the current crew — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — now know that the “gig is up.”
A few hours later, after Trudeau’s closing remarks tRump recinded US endorsement of the G7 final statement. Look for tRump’s tantrum to have fallout that further erodes tRump’s already nonexistent standing in the world CBC: Trump's tweets undo a weekend of G7 diplomacy - and baffle Canadian officials
In the hours after Donald Trump launched a personal Twitter attack on Justin Trudeau from Air Force One, Canadian officials were at a loss to explain the U.S. president's anger over statements Trudeau made during his press conference to close the G7 summit.
Nothing Trudeau said in his news conference was new. The prime minister's office later made that point in a statement, adding that Trudeau had made those comments privately to Trump as well.
"Based on Justin's false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the communiqué as we look at tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!," Trump tweeted.
Maybe Donnie is pissed because someone explained to him that Trudeau stealth trolled tRump by giving him a framed photo of tRump’s grandfather’s brothel. Daily Kos: Oopsie. Trudeau Trolls Trump with Photo of Grampa’s Canadian “Hotel”. Joke’s on Sarah Sanders.
He acted like an unruly toddler the whole time he was there. For example, tRump displayed his great diplomatic skill and ability to play well with others Daily Kos: Infantile Trump is ‘tired of Theresa May’s school mistress tone’: refuses to talk to her at G7
Rudy Is an Ass
Our national embarrassment, Donald tRump has his very own world-class embarrassment. If someone decided to market a Rudy cologne, it would smell like ass. Daily Kos: Porn Star Pushes Back At Rudy Giuliani's Sexism, Says He 'Makes A Case' For Lawyers Being Filth
Mother Jones: Stormy Daniels’ Lawyer Wants Your Help Proving That Rudy Giuliani Watches Porn
In case you needed more proof that we’re living through an episode of Jerry Springer, there’s this: On Saturday, Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti asked the Twitterverse for evidence that Rudy Giuliani has watched porn:
The tweet wasn’t unprompted. As The Hill pointed out, Rudy Giuliani was at the “Globes” Capital Market Conference in Israel on Wednesday when he said that he doesn’t respect women who act in pornographic films, and didn’t believe Stormy Daniels’ claims that she had an affair with the president in 2006. “I don’t believe her,” he said. “Sue me, but her credibility is like that of a lawyer who gets thrown off a case.” He added: “I respect women—beautiful women and women with value—but a woman who sells her body for sexual exploitation, I don’t respect. Tell me what damage she suffered. Someone who sells his or her body for money has no good name.”
Don’t Forget Pruitt
Pruitt keeps on getting busted by the media. At some point it would be nice if law enforcement got involved. The Atlantic: Climate Change Is Going to Make Scott Pruitt Need So Much Moisturizer
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency faced renewed scrutiny this week—with the latest allegations of unethical behavior veering, at times, into the utterly absurd.
For example, Scott Pruitt reportedly attempted to use his position to secure a Chick-Fil-A franchise for his wife; dispatched an aide look into purchasing a mattress from Trump International Hotel; and had security agents drive him multiple places in search of a moisturizing lotion available at Ritz-Carlton Hotels.
It is strictly prohibited for public servants to ask subordinates to do personal errands, so this Mad Lib menagerie of ethical breaches is notably high-risk, low-reward. Together these stories paint a picture of a man who is not simply misusing his office—misappropriating taxpayer funded resources for personal convenience and profit—but appears to not even appreciate that this is wrong. If you’re going to abuse your power in such a way that could get you fired, at least go big.
This Is the Week That Was
tRump the Traitor
tRump’s inexplicable soft spot for Putin has come under increasing scrutiny. Whether or not Putin owns tRump, tRump would find it difficult to do anymore for Putin than he already has. I think the case can be made to indict tRump for Conspiracy Against the United States based solely on his pro-Russia policy decisions.
Daily Kos: Former FOX News Military Analyst is "Convinced Vladimir Putin Has a Grip on Donald Trump" - And More
CNN: The only world leader who can rely on Trump is Vladimir Putin
Washington Monthly: Trump Is Making the Case That He’s Putin’s Puppet
tRump the Trader
tRump is displaying just how little he understands about global trade. He understands less about trade than I do about particle physics and I don’t know anything about particle physics beyond what’s on Big Bang Theory. When you put incompetence on display this openly, there is no place to go but down.
Wall Street Journal: Trump Won’t Exclude Allies From Tariffs, White House Says
NPR: Trump's Tariffs Worry A Small Steel City In Pennsylvania
Vox: Trump hit Mexico with steel tariffs. Mexico is hitting back — and targeting Republicans.
NBC News: Trump on defense as Congress pushes back on tariffs
Politico: Corker targets Trump’s tariff powers
King Donald the Worst
tRump has been working up to claiming an imperial presidency for months. It culminated this past week with the claim he could pardon himself. That claim led to much scoffing from the assembled punditry. It remains to be seen whether the slack-jawed mouth breathers who adore him will notice or care that he’s gone so far beyond the pale that he’s now flushed.
CNN: Trump's above-the-law presidency
Los Angeles Times: Trump doesn't think he's above the law. He thinks he is the law
The American Prospect: Inevitably, Trump Declares He Is Above the Law
Way back in December we had New York: Trump’s Lawyer Claims the President Is Above the Law
In March 538 asked the question: 538.com: Is President Trump Above The Law?
So did The Atlantic: Is President Trump Above the Law?
This week Trevor Noah at The Daily Show had an excellent take on tRump’s claim to godhood. The Daily Show: Team Trump's Above-the-Law Legal Argument [Video 6:18]
There’s been a response to tRump trying to usurp the legal system waiting at moveon.org: Nobody Is Above the Law—Mueller Firing Rapid Response with more than 350,000 people signed up for an instant protest at more than 900 locations so far.
In something of a surprise, some high profile republican office holders pushed back. The Independent: Paul Ryan warns Trump ‘nobody is above the law’ and rejects spying allegation.
Things Get Worse for Manafort
It couldn’t happen to a nicer slimier guy. Paul Manafort stepped in it again when he tried to suborn perjury and the prospective subornees immediately called Mueller to tell him about it. Daily Kos: The Trump Campaign Chair has been indicted for conspiracy and collusion with a Russian Intel asset
Flipping the Red to Blue (aka Flipping the Bird to tRump)
Politifact verifed an earlier version of this spreadsheet. It’s a list from Daily Kos Elections of all the republican seat that have flipped since Nov, 2016. As of today there are 46 of them. This includes results from State House and Senate special and regular elections as well as US House and Senate special elections. Daily Kos Elections Red to Blue shifts
After All the Damage, Comey Is Doing Some Good
Back in May, during his Redemption Tour, Comey elaborated on his tRump as a mob boss comparison. He made a point that bears repetition. Bloomberg Business Week: James Comey on Leadership, Trump, and Why He’s No Longer a Republican
You explicitly draw comparisons between the mob and President Trump. Did you struggle with whether to include that?
Yes. In fact when the thought first occurred to me I pushed it away, convinced that it was too dramatic. And it kept coming back. And so, yes, I tried actually to not think that, but the leadership styles were so strikingly similar, that’s why it kept popping back in my head. I guess there’s some risk that people think I’m saying the president is robbing banks or breaking people’s legs like a mob leader. I mean the leadership culture is strikingly similar.
In what regard?
In that it’s entirely boss-centric. The only thing that matters is what you can do for me. How does the decision we’re going to make benefit the boss? It’s all about the boss, not about any external values or anything higher than that, and that’s the way the Cosa Nostra family is run, and that’s why the comparison kept striking me.
Roundup Redux
Every week the roundups cover a lot of good news. I didn’t realize how much until I started putting together these summaries. If you didn’t see coverage of your favorite good news earlier in this roundup, chances are one of our other writers already wrote about it.
Monday — Jessiestaf covered: Dan Helmer taking over on Fox; net neutrality in California; Corker working against tariffs; tRump pardoning tRump; What is there to investigate if Congress actually does its job?
Tuesday — Goodie the First, after noting we’ve made it through 500 days of Idiocracy, covered: A lot of investigation news mostly about the push back against King Donald trying to coronate himself and place himself above the law; election news from Iowa, the hinterlands; California, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas summer registration tour and links to get involved; Democrats vs ICE and North Korean appeasement; Reagan’s kid dissing tRump in his dad’s name; Apple resisting Russia; unpacking the Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling; mountain gorillas; and SCOTUS ruling in favor of the ACLU regarding the DOJ attempt to to have them sanctioned in the Jane Doe abortion case.
Wednesday — pr0gressivist gave us a midweek smorgasbord: Papadopoulos’ wife wants a pardon for George; tRump asked OPEC to up production; farmers are softening on tRump; Social Security is under attack; cabinet idiocy; David Koch is stepping down; peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea; Zuckerberg got some ‘splaining to do; Facebook & Google need to do more to track political ads; no more swimsuits; a judge recalled; Weinstein class action suit; EU supports same sex; free classes at Google; Bing drops gun ads; Tesla doesn’t get forced arbitration; Tesla installs batteries; Hawaii going carbon neutral; and Pruitt has to show scientific support for his climate change denial.
Thursday — oldhippiedude opened with a medley of election news. He then segued into pot in Texas, sourcing execution drugs and failing Fox News. Then it was on to Google getting out of the target identification business, insurance companies refusing to insure armed teachers and some quick riffs before closing the show with Kool & the Gang’s Jungle Boogie.
Friday — Chloris Creator did the Maddow tRump collusion recap; the Ryan rejection; Putin’s fear; Pruitt getting kicked out of a WH lunch counter; former Fox military analyst Ralph Peters calling Fox a “propaganda machine;” the tax scams lack of popularity; republican infighting; positive Democratic polling results; some odds and ends; and a lot of links to ways to get involved.
Saturday — Goodie the Second began with an inspiring essay of sorts about what we are fighting against and the dangers of hatred. She went on to cover: football; tRump & Nixon; republican push back; a mountain of election news (9 topics); Charges against Manafort and Kilimnik; Kurt Weldon’s Russian connections; Cohen flipping; Manafort’s witness-tampering troubles; Manafort’s friends abandoning him; Merrick Garland runs the DC Circuit Court; proposed legislation to stop family separations; legislation to expose emoluments; hesitant GOP donors; elections in Malaysia; and a lot of links about how to get involved.
Musical Interlude
Calling Out the Broadcast Media
tRump has a pattern. It starts when he gets caught out in some vile or criminal activity. After that it’s distraction by any and all means available. He doesn’t care if he looks the fool (probably doesn’t even know it when he does). The goal for him is to drag the media away from the bloody carcass they should be feasting on until the bones are picked clean. And like gullible puppies chasing squirrels, our broadcast media lets him get away with it. His strategy is to keep the entire media bandwidth churning so that his misdeeds never fully register. Murdoch, the Smith Family and iHeart help him with this. But, if the rest of the broadcast media engaged in honest journalism, tRump would already be toast. tRump is a denial of service attack against honesty.
tRump’s advisors are getting indicted and pleading guilty. It’s not a witch hunt (unless he’s the head of a coven) and the media should be making that clear every time he tries to play the innocent.
David Farenthold’s reporting on tRump’s skeevy charity won him a Pulitzer Prize. Yet whenever tRump makes baseless attacks on the Clinton Foundation, there’s no instant push back from our broadcast media.
As part of his deflect and distract playbook, tRump has promoted ridiculous conspiracy theories based on no evidence whatsoever. The Obama wire tapp fantasy; the liberal FBI conspirators; the nothing burger Nunes memo series; the fictitious 13 angry democrats running the Mueller investigation; the non-existent FBI spy in the campaign. It’s all a giant mountain of BS and our broadcast journalists have given it far too much attention.
The current President of the United States is a proven liar. He’s a repeat offender. When he’s called out, he doesn’t lie better, he just lies louder. Our broadcast media is hesitant to make this point.
It’s not that hard to do. Much of the print and online text media manages to hold Mr tRump accountable for his lies and actions. It’s well past time for broadcast journalists to do their jobs.
By not doing their jobs they are giving undeserved cover to the craven congressmen who refuse to stand up to the desecration of our government by the most unfit person ever to represent a major political party in the history of The United States.
We all know this. It’s not new. Broadcast journalist have been letting us down for years. Bothsiderism, whataboutism and the need to attract viewers takes them away from honest journalism. It’s all about flashy headlines and clickbait points of view.
So, what can we do? Michelle Wolf called out journalists. She had an effect. They’ve improved a bit since she embarrassed them. We can be vocal about the poor job broadcast journalists have done. We can have an effect too.
Sunday Funnies
Randy’s newest.
Colbert continues to shine.
Maher wan’t hitting all those off-key notes he’s been trending toward recently.
Rooting About in the Grass(roots)
At the moment, I’m mired in a struggle to find usable data for one of my projects. So, instead of sharing those frustrations, here’s a plug for Penzey’s Spices.
Penzey’s Spices is a corporate citizen who’s unashamedly liberal. Here’s the opening paragraph from their most recent email.
It’s June. Celebrate marriage in this, the month of marriage equality. It was June 12, 1967 that ended the ability of states to ban marriage based on race, and just three years ago on June 26, 2015 that states' ability to stand in the way of a lifetime commitment to love because of gender met the same end. None of this happened by itself. Each verdict was the culmination of decades of struggle by so many. For all those that gave so much to make this country a more loving place, often at great risk to themselves, you have much to be proud of, and our endless respect as well.
I don’t think many tRump supporters shop at Penzey’s (but, in fairness, you don’t need spices for burnt steak and ketchup). If you like to cook and you like to support liberal businesses, you can check off both boxes with Penzey’s. [Unless someone from Penzey’s happens to read this and decides to send me stuff, I have no other relationship with them, except as a customer]
Cat Dog Picture of the Week
The cat decided to take the week off and told me “mrrow mrrow meow mrrow.” I interpreted that as meaning get something from the archives. Her name was Nicomi (Comi for short) and she is the reason I wrote my first ever Daily Kos diary, Another Open Letter to Director Comey, at the end of October, 2016. I lost Nicomi last year 2 months short of her 15th birthday. Her she is, grabbing a bite with not one tiny iota of guilt.
Today’s Quote
Bobby Kennedy has been gone for 50 years now. He still has the power to inspire me. I hope he also inspires you.
The future is not completely beyond our control. It is the work of our own hands. — Robert Kennedy
Finale
Ok guys, go ahead and play us out.
Disclaimer: Those hives and the itching sensation you are blaming on seeing the word tRump spread all over your screen are not my fault. You can just use Whiteout(tm) to cover them up (just like the republicans do whenever he does something stupid).