Good Day, Gnusies! I’m sitting in for arhpdx who lost power yesterday due to the storm system most of us have been contending with for the past 24-36 hours. How are you doing? I hope everyone is keeping warm! Let’s get to the good news — that oughta warm us all up!
First, some music! I can barely see the buildings across the street out my window due to the blowing snow, so, let’s start with a snowy song!
💪 Dems Get Sh*t Done! 💪
Yesterday, Jessiestaf pointed out that now that the Impeachment trial is over, we no longer need to have saturation coverage obsessed with DJT. And here is CNN to underline that fact and point to all the great stuff that our excellent POTUS Joe has been working on and will be moving ahead with aggressively now:
The end of Trump's trial lifts an oppressive cloud from Washington, Stephen Collinson, CNN, February 15, 2021.
The new President is already moving aggressively to fill the post-Trump vacuum. He forcibly pushed his $1.9 trillion Covid-relief plan on Monday morning in a statement marking the reopening of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act.
The legislation "will ramp up testing, tracing, and our national vaccination program," Biden said, adding that it would also "take big steps to lower health costs and expand access to care for all Americans, including those who have lost their jobs." ✄
The end of the impeachment trial means that for the first time since he became president last month, Biden will be able to bring the power of his office to bear, as he steps up his effort to win swift passage of his relief plan with a 50-50 Senate that Democrats control because of Vice President Kamala Harris' ability to break ties. The President will begin trips out of Washington this week — a rite of a new administration so far trimmed by Covid-19. On Friday, Biden will seek to restore US global leadership in another departure from the Trump administration, by taking part in a virtual meeting of G7 leaders to discuss the pandemic.
Biden, Hill Democrats plan to unveil immigration reform bill this week
Biden, Hill Democrats plan to unveil immigration reform bill this week, By Geoff Bennett, Julia Ainsley and Jacob Soboroff, NBC News, February 15, 2021.
The Biden administration and Hill Democrats are expected later this week to release an immigration reform bill, multiple sources familiar with the planning tell NBC News.
The legislative text of the “U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021” will reflect the immigration priorities that President Joe Biden unveiled on his first day in office. His proposal includes an earned pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, expands the refugee resettlement program and deploys more technology to the Southern border. There are additional protections that are being considered in the legislation, such as asylum processing in home countries for minors, expanded benefits for DREAMers and ending the public charge rule. ✄
“This plan is not only about fixing our broken immigration system, but building a better one that reunites families, brings the undocumented community out of the shadows and on a path to citizenship, stands up for human rights, addresses root causes of migration, and includes a smart border security strategy,” (Sen. Menendez D-NJ) said in a statement.
Dems roll back cruel Republican medicaid policy
Biden Admin Quietly Rolls Back Trump-Era Medicaid Work Requirements, Summer Concepcion, Talking Points Memo, February 15, 2021.
According to the New York Times on Friday, health officials notified states with approved work requirements that the Biden administration will withdraw the approvals. Additionally, the Biden administration removed a Trump-era online guidance document encouraging states to implement new work requirement plans.
Although President Biden signed an executive order requesting a review of the Trump-era Medicaid work requirements in the first week of his presidency, Friday’s policy changes were made made without a public announcement.
and by the way…
Speaker announces independent commission Into Capitol Attack
Pelosi says independent commission will examine Capitol riot, Hope Yen, AP News, February 15, 2021.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol.
Pelosi said the commission will “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.” ✄
Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. Pelosi, D-Calif., asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré to lead an immediate review of the Capitol’s security process.
In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, “It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened.”
Stuff Democrats in COngress Were already doing
This is the foundation of everything we hope to achieve as progressives, so let’s support our Democrats in Congress so that we can get this done:
THE “FOR THE PEOPLE ACT” WOULD MAKE THE U.S. A DEMOCRACY, Jon Schwarz, The Intercept, February 14, 2021.
SINCE THE 117TH Congress was convened on January 3, over 2,000 bills have been introduced in the House and Senate. But the very first legislation proposed by the Democratic Party majorities in both chambers — making it both H.R.1 and S.1 — is the “For the People Act” of 2021.
This is appropriate, because the For the People Act is plausibly the most important legislation considered by Congress in decades. It would change the basic structure of U.S. politics, making it far more small-d democratic. The bill makes illegal essentially all of the anti-enfranchisement tactics perfected by the right over the past decades. It then creates a new infrastructure to permanently bolster the influence of regular people.
The bill’s provisions largely fall into three categories: First, it makes it far easier to vote, both by eliminating barriers and enhancing basic outreach to citizens. Second, it makes everyone’s vote count more equally, especially by reducing gerrymandering. Third, it hugely amplifies the power of small political donors, allowing them to match and possibly swamp the power of big money.
Here are some ways you can help our Dems get stuff done
🎩 With many thanks to Goody, I am borrowing her list of actions we can take to support Dems in Congress to get HR 1/ S1 passed:
The only way Rs can win is by keeping people from voting so they are working like heck to make that happen and we need to do all we can to keep 2022 from being a year when they grab the Senate and House back from us.
How do we do that? Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
- Contact your local representative NOW to encourage them to pass the For the People Act. This link makes it easy to do!
- The ACLU plays a key role in filing lawsuits that often stop voter suppression. Get involved with them at this link.
- The League of Women Voters work year-round to combat voter suppression through advocacy, grassroots organizing, legal action and public education. You can get involved with them at this link
- Volunteer with Black Votes Matter at this link. They have on the ground work in 10 states and people from other states can write postcards, phone bank, fundraise, and text.
- Spread The Vote works to get voters IDs before voting begins. You can volunteer with them at this link.
- Finally, when it comes time to pass HR1 (the new voting rights act) the Democrats will have to end the filibuster to do it. It will not pass without that. 10 Republicans will not vote for it. So, when the time comes, you will need to call, call, call and call your Senators to push them to do this. If you live in Arizona, Montana, or West Virginia, you may want to put in for some vacation time to really devote yourself to it. It will be the only option. Get ready!
- In other words...
😨 Meanwhile, Things Not Going So Well in MAGAworld 😨
Wall street wolves wanna dump trump
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Tries to End Trump’s Political Career in Searing Op-Ed: Capitol Attack ‘Will Mar His Legacy for All Time’, Leia Idliby, Mediaite, February 15, 2021.
In their column Trump’s Non-Vindication, the editorial board maintained that on Jan. 6, “Mr. Trump’s behavior was inexcusable and will mar his legacy for all time.”
Noting that although Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was “lacerating in his criticism” of the former president, the Senate Minority Leader ultimately voted to acquit Trump, as he insisted impeaching a citizen had no “limiting principle.”
The column went on to argue that Trump is not the sole person responsible for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — noting that some have questioned D.C.’s lack of security. The board concluded, nevertheless, that Trump should be entirely blamed for “refusing for hours to ask his supporters to stand down.”
No honor among thieves (or terrorists)
FBI Informant Panic Is Ruining Friendships All Over the Far Right, Will Sommer and Kelli Weill, Daily Beast, February 14, 2021.
As federal authorities crack down on the far right after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the movement’s leaders have found new sources of suspicion: each other.
In the Trumpist “America First” movement and the far-right paramilitary group the Proud Boys, alliances are fracturing as extremists brand each other as potential informants. Now racist live-streamers are accusing their former comrades of attempting to turn over followers to law enforcement, while Proud Boys chapters are splintering from the national organization over similar fears. ✄
Proud Boys chapters in three U.S. states—including four local chapters in Indiana—now claim to have broken with the national organization over Tarrio’s work as a federal informant. (Tarrio did not return a request for comment.) ✄
The Capitol riots have been followed by still more rifts internationally.
Anti-fascist activists in Manitoba, Canada, also claim their province’s Proud Boys chapter has dissolved. The CBC reported that, while the chapter had been largely inactive for the past year, the group was confirmed dead this month, when the Canadian government designated Proud Boys as a terrorist organization.
The fault lines are widening for GQP
POLL: Record High 63% of Republicans Think a Third Party is Needed, Ken Meyer, Mediaite, February 15, 2021.
Gallup has released a collection of polling data they gathered in late January, which finds that only 33 percent of adults think that the Republican and Democratic parties adequately represent the country. By contrast, 62 percent of respondents think that a third part is necessary, a 5 percent increase from when Gallup asked the same question in September. ✄
The findings seem especially applicable to Republicans since Gallup found that conservatives are now almost as likely as independents to say the country needs a new party. Forty percent of Republicans called for a third party back in September; but now, the support has surged into the 63 to 70 percent range. By comparison, 70 percent of independents want a third party, as do 46 percent of Democrats.
The Gallup poll comes after multiple recent studies established that most Republicans are still loyal to former president Donald Trump. CBS and Hill-HarrisX found that between 60 to 70 percent of Republicans would consider leaving the GOP and getting behind Trump if he were to create his own political party.
‼️👀‼️
Qpublicans in Disarray — and how!
Republicans Celebrate Presidents Day By Kicking The Sh*t Out Of Each Other. Again. Liz Dye, Wonkette, February 15, 2021.
Last week, the Wyoming Republican Party voted to censure Liz Cheney for her vote to impeach former President Trump, and yesterday the Louisiana, North Carolina, and Nebraska parties moved to do the same to Senators Bill Cassidy, Richard Burr, and Ben Sasse.
"I voted to convict former President Trump because he is guilty. That's what the facts demand," Cassidy wrote in the Baton Rouge Advocate. "I have no illusions that this is a popular decision. I made this decision because Americans should not be fed lies about 'massive election fraud.' Police should not be left to the mercy of a mob. Mobs should not be inflamed to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power."
Nonetheless, within hours of casting his vote, the Louisiana GOP voted unanimously to censure him. Yes, that would be the same party that refused to censure former KKK grand wizard David Duke in 1989 when he was a state rep. Only the best people!
SD Gov. Noem abusing public trust? Say it isn’t so! 😱😒
These entitled jerks think they can get away with anything and it is time for the people to start pushing back hard. And we are! Here is an excellent investigative report from Raw Story — and they made Noem’s spokesman defend it. SD state legislators are showing interest and concern, too. Here’s hoping that will be part of a trend.
Exclusive: GOP governor Kristi Noem, potential Trump successor, used state aircraft for tens of thousands of dollars in political travel, Daniel Newhauser, Raw Story, February 15, 2021.
Newly unearthed flight logs show South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem used a state airplane to travel to right wing political events around the country, a revelation that has state lawmakers questioning whether she violated a state law forbidding political and personal use of the aircraft.
The flight logs, published for the first time in this report, raise questions about the propriety of tens of thousands of dollars' worth of taxpayer-funded flights to out-of-state events hosted by groups such as the National Rifle Association, Turning Point USA, and an organization affiliated with the late GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, South Dakota politicians and experts told Raw Story.
Also in question is whether Noem wasted taxpayer money by having the state airplane pick her up for official business when she was living at her family home in Castlewood, rather than in the governor's residence in Pierre, the state's capital where the airplane is kept. In one case, the airplane picked her up from her daughter's wedding in the far west part of the state.
Never Forget we are the majority
💗🐩 Not my curlygirl, but here are poodles in the snow 🐩💗
💉 Good Vaccine News 💉
There is lots of good news about our race to contain and tame the coronavirus pandemic. First two promising stories about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which is the one that doesn’t need supercold storage to remain viable.
Oxford-AstraZeneca begins a vaccine trial for children. It’s the youngest group yet to be tested. Kim Bellware, Washington Post, February 14, 2021.
Oxford University announced Friday it started testing its coronavirus vaccine in children as young as 6 in a move that expands coronavirus vaccine trials to the youngest age group yet.
The Oxford trial will include 300 child volunteers ages 6 to 17, with 240 of them receiving the vaccine co-developed with drugmaker AstraZeneca; the remaining participants will receive a control meningitis vaccine that has been proved safe in children but is expected to mimic side effects of a covid-19 shot, the university said in a statement.
Before the Oxford-AstraZeneca trial, testing had not included children younger than 12. Three other companies — Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen — have announced plans to start trials for younger children this spring.
WHO authorizes AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Oriana Gonzalez, Axios, February 15, 2021.
Why it matters: WHO's authorization "should trigger the delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to countries that have signed up for the U.N.-backed COVAX effort, which aims to deliver vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable," AP writes. ✄
Due to their "easy storage requirement," the agency found them to be suitable for low- and middle-income nations ✄
What they're saying: "Countries with no access to vaccines to date will finally be able to start vaccinating their health workers and populations at risk, contributing to the COVAX Facility’s goal of equitable vaccine distribution," said Mariângela Simão, WHO assistant-director general for Access to Medicines and Health Products.
Vaccination Pace accelerating:
Feeling crummy with 2nd dose is normal. Here’s why
The Second COVID-19 Shot Is a Rude Reawakening for Immune Cells, Katherine J Wu, The Atlantic, February 2, 2021.
Side effects are a natural part of the vaccination process, as my colleague Sarah Zhang has written. Not everyone will experience them. But the two COVID-19 vaccines cleared for emergency use in the United States, made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, already have reputations for raising the hackles of the immune system: In both companies’ clinical trials, at least a third of the volunteers ended up with symptoms such as headaches and fatigue; fevers like my husband’s were less common.
Dose No. 2 is more likely to pack a punch—in large part because the effects of the second shot build iteratively on the first. My husband, who’s a neurologist at Yale New Haven Hospital, is one of many who had a worse experience with his second shot than his first.
But much like any other learning process, in this one repetition is key. When hit with the second injection, the immune system recognizes the onslaught, and starts to take it even more seriously. The body’s encore act, uncomfortable though it might be, is evidence that the immune system is solidifying its defenses against the virus.
“By the second vaccine, it’s already amped up and ready to go,” Jasmine Marcelin, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told me. Fortunately, side effects resolve quickly, whereas COVID-19 can bring on debilitating, months-long symptoms and has killed more than 2 million people.
FYI, The Atlantic is putting all its Covid-19 articles and information up free for the public — it’s not behind a paywall. Here is another excellent article by Katherine Wu:
The Body Is Far From Helpless Against Coronavirus Variants, Katherine C Wu, The Atlantic, February 12, 2021.
The immune system is comprehensive, capable of dueling with just about every microbe it meets. It’s archival, ace at memorizing the details of its victories and defeats. It might be complicated, but it is also, simply put, cool as hell.
Now, a year into a pandemic, our immune systems face a new challenge. The coronavirus has picked up mutations that boost its ability to hop from human to human and thwart some of the antibodies that have reliably conquered it before. The protection offered by vaccines appears riddled with holes. Viruses evolve fast—faster than humans ever could. If the pandemic is a race, the coronavirus seems, at times, on the verge of lapping us.
But the immune system is not doomed to be discombobulated by a never-ending barrage of shape-shifting variants. For every trick the virus plays, the immune system arguably has an equally impressive one. Vaccines remain an essential ally, armoring the body before it encounters the virus. And although the variants have opened up gaps in that chain mail, the pliancy built into our bodies can at least buy time to repair them.
🎵 Musical Break — Vaccine Version 🎵
Progressives Fighting to Get Dark Money Out of Politics
An obscure Alaska court case could end super PACs and reshape our democracy, John Bonifaz, Ben Clements and Ron Fein, Business Insider, February 14, 2021.
-The Alaska Supreme Court could upend the big money systems that have come to fund US elections.
-The case argues that super PACs corrupt our systems of government by making politicians far too dependent on a small number of super-wealthy donors.
-Following a ruling in the Alaska Supreme Court, the question could go to the US Supreme Court. ✄
A favorable Supreme Court decision would impact the entire nation. For federal elections, Congress doesn't even need to pass new legislation: there's already a law on the books limiting contributions to independent political groups to $5,000 per year. (That's a lot of money, but it's much less than the multi-million dollar checks that megadonors write to super PACs right now.) After a Supreme Court victory, that law could be put back into effect with no further action from Congress. Other states or cities could revive old laws or pass new ones. We could finally put an end to the threat of super PACs in our elections.
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Help is on the way: You may be eligible for more COVID stimulus money. Here’s how to get it, David Lightman, McClatchyNews, February 14, 2021.
⚡️ I can’t resist a Valentine themed article, beautifully written 💗: The Type of Love That Makes People Happiest, Arthur C Brooks, The Atlantic, February 11, 2021.
⚡️ Ignore the clickbait title, this is an excellent book list about more than relationships! 13 Books That Prove You Don't Need A Relationship To Be Happy, Ariana Rebolini, BuzzFeedNews, February 14, 2021.
⚡️ Succinct, superb article: The Way Out of America’s Zero-Sum Thinking on Race and Wealth, Heather C McGhee, The New York Times, February 13, 2021.
⚡️ Biden is a uniter after all! Biden is winning Republican support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. Just not in Washington. Griff Witte, Washington Post, February 14, 2021.
⚡️ We sure hope so! Trump fears he'll be hit with criminal charges for inciting insurrection: report, Bob Brigham, Raw Story, February 14, 2021.
⚡️ Oh look! Here’s a list, so far: Here Are The Criminal, Civil Investigations Trump Faces After Senate Acquittal, Hayley Miller, HuffPost, February 15, 2021.
⚡️ This will happen: History Will Find Trump Guilty, David Remnick, The New Yorker, February 13, 2021.
⚡️ Investigative reporting on root of covid CTs: The superspreaders behind top Covid-19 conspiracy theories, David Klepper, Farnoush Amiri and Beatrice Dupuy, AP News, February 15, 2021.
⚡️ JUST IN: Quite a turnaround from the “axis of evil” guy, but it’s a good read about the danger of minority rule: The Founders Were Wrong About Democracy, David Frum, The Atlantic, February 16, 2021.
BONUS Just For Yousies, Gnusies!
💗 Here’s a belated Valentine’s present from me to you, dear gnusies! 💗 ENJOY! World Radio Garden
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
It’s pretty snowy here in Chicago and I understand nearly all of the country is experiencing challenging weather with this system. I hope everyone has power and a way to keep warm.
Today is Pancake Day — one of the best days of the year when I was a child. The tradition in my community was to have pancakes for supper (along with whatever protein and vegetables or fruits a family enjoys). The pancakes would randomly contain coins, a ring and a button. Our mothers would sterilize a few dimes, nickels and pennies plus one quarter and the ring and button in a dish of boiling water, then drop them one by one lightly into the pancakes on the pan, spooning a bit of batter over to conceal them. The person who got the ring would be first married; the button signaled bachelorhood and the quarter meant riches. The dimes and nickels and pennies were bounty we collected for the next trip to our corner store. When I was young, you could get loose candies like peppermint nobs or ju-jubes 3 for a penny; a chocolate bar for a nickel and a bottle of pop for a dime. So the pancake night money haul was pretty exciting! 😊
Happy Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, Everyone!