Good Day, Gnuville. I am writing this as I await President Biden’s State of the Union speech and it has crossed my mind that with the terrible events unfolding in Ukraine, the President is going to be opening his remarks with a discussion of that topic — which is the right thing to do! I am looking forward to hearing what he says. I think much of the world will also be tuning in for his remarks.
However, these global events will necessarily elbow aside a number of domestic accomplishments due to time constraints (I expect POTUS will instead focus on what has yet to be done, rather than use a lot of time to highlight what has already been achieved). So while I am waiting to hear President Biden’s speech, I am going to start today’s GNR with a review of a 10 of the things Joe and Dems got done for regular Americans in the first year of the Biden presidency:
1. Created a record number of jobs
But wait! There’s more!
U.S. added 467,000 jobs in January despite omicron variant surge, Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post, February 4, 2022.
The U.S. economy added 467,000 jobs in January even as the omicron variant spiked to record heights, showing that the resilient labor market had enough momentum to power through one of the pandemic’s biggest surges. ✂️
“America is back to work,” President Biden said Friday at the White House. “Our country is taking everything that covid has had to throw at us, and we’ve come back stronger. … America’s job machine is going stronger than ever.” ✂️
In addition to the robust January, the Labor Department also more than doubled its tabulations of jobs gains for November and December. The U.S. economy added 647,000 in November, not the 249,000 the agency had earlier estimated. And the economy added 510,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said, not the 199,000 initially forecast. That means there were some 700,000 more jobs added at the end of last year than previously estimated, with employers working aggressively to draw in workers across a range of industries.
2. Reduced unemployment
3. Biden and the Democrats ushered in a great covid relief bill
The history books will tell the story of how Democrats saved our economy from COVID/Trump damage. This was step one.
Democrats held strong on the COVID relief bill
Many cynically expected (I expected!) Democrats to capitulate to Republican demands like they did while negotiating the 2009 health care bill when they eliminated the public option for no fucking reason. But they didn’t. Senator Chuck Schumer, emboldened by either the majority leader’s gavel or fear that he’s about to be primaried by somebody who New York voters find more appealing, has stood up to Mitch McConnell, stood up to bad faith negotiating by Republicans. What may have been an opportunity for Democrats to blame Republicans for watering down COVID relief became an opportunity for Democrats to show strength.
4. Biden strengthened unions
Protect the 99%? ✅
Execute order designed to protect workers
It is focused on protecting federal workers and contractors, in part by restoring collective bargaining power and worker protections by revoking measures that President Donald Trump had signed. It also eliminates Schedule F, a class of worker that Trump had established that stripped many federal civil service employees of job protections.
It asks agencies to take a look at which federal employees are earning less than $15 per hour and come up with recommendations to get them above that wage.
Biden Ousts All 10 of Trump’s Union Busters From Powerful Labor Panel
On Tuesday, Joe Biden demanded the resignations of all 10 of Donald Trump’s appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, a powerful labor relations board, in a major victory for federal unions. Eight members resigned, and two were fired after refusing to step down. Trump’s appointees—a group of partisan anti-labor activists—had hobbled federal unions for years, sabotaging their ability to organize and bargain collectively. Biden’s clean sweep, which was first reported by Government Executive’s Erich Wagner, marks a crucial step toward ending his predecessor’s campaign of federal union busting.
Biden’s support for unions if almost unprecedented
President Joe Biden made a historic statement in favor of workers’ right to organize and against employer intimidation of workers in a video released Sunday evening. “I made it clear when I was running, that my administration’s policy would be to support unions organizing and the right to collectively bargain,” he said. “I’m keeping that promise. You should all remember the National Labor Relations Act didn’t just say that unions are allowed to exist, it said that we should encourage unions.
“So let me be really clear: It’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union,” Biden continued. “But let me be even more clear: it’s not up to an employer to decide that either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers—full stop. Full stop.”
Biden’s video came days after a group of progressive organizations called on him to support the Amazon workers’ effort. Labor historians and worker advocates hailed the video as a major step beyond those Biden’s predecessors took.
“It’s almost unprecedented in American history,” Erik Loomis, a labor historian at the University of Rhode Island, told The Washington Post. “We have the sense that previous presidents in the mid-20th century were overtly pro-union, but that really wasn’t the case. Even FDR never really came out and told workers directly to support a union.”
”We haven’t had this aggressive and positive of a statement from a president of the United States on behalf of workers in decades,” said Faiz Shakir, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign manager and the founder of More Perfect Union. “It is monumental that you have a president sending a message to workers across the country that if you take the courageous step to start to unionize you will have allies in the administration, the NLRB, and the Labor Department. It means a lot.”
5. Biden and Democrats saved the pensions of over 1 million unionized workers
Protect the 99%? ✅
More than 1 million unionized workers who were poised to lose their pensions will now receive 100 percent of their promised retirement benefits for at least the next 30 years
the $86 billion is a taxpayer bailout for about 185 union pension plans that are so close to collapse that without the rescue, more than a million retired truck drivers, retail clerks, builders and others could be forced to forgo retirement income.
The bailout targets multiemployer pension plans, which bring groups of companies together with a union to provide guaranteed benefits. All told, about 1,400 of the plans cover about 10.7 million active and retired workers, often in fields like construction or entertainment where the workers move from job to job. As the work force ages, an alarming number of the plans are running out of money. The trend predated the pandemic and is a result of fading unions, serial bankruptcies and the misplaced hope that investment income would foot most of the bill so that employers and workers wouldn’t have to.
6. Biden ordered all federal contractors to pay their workers a $15 minimum wage and provide emergency paid leave.
Protect the 99%? ✅
Biden executive order takes steps to require federal contractors pay $15 minimum wage
Biden plans to sign an executive order that will expand protections for federal workers, including putting federal agencies on a path to require a $15 minimum wage for contractors.
7. Biden and the Democrats protected people from foreclosure and eviction
So many of my favorites fit into one theme: making life better from the 99% of Americans that Republicans don’t care about.
Extend foreclosure and eviction moratoriums
Biden directed key agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Department of Agriculture; the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to extend the current pause on federal evictions and foreclosures
Biden extends eviction ban amid fears of 'horrific crisis'
The Biden administration unveiled a raft of measures to prevent people who lost income during the pandemic from losing their homes on Thursday, including by extending nationwide eviction and foreclosure bans until July 31.
The White House and other federal agencies sprang into action amid growing concerns that state and local governments were not prepared to protect renters if the federal eviction ban expired next Wednesday. More than six million renter households are behind on rent, according to a recent survey by the Census Bureau.
8. Reduced the number of hungry Americans
Protect the 99%? ✅ This is an area where A TON has been done and it is all amazing.
Historic increase in food stamp benefits starts in October
Food stamp recipients will see their monthly payments go up in October thanks to a major update to the program, even though a special pandemic boost has now expired.
Benefits will jump 27% above pre-pandemic levels, on average -- the largest increase in its history. The change stems from
a revision of the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines the benefit amounts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for food stamps.
Biden Effort to Combat Hunger Marks ‘a Profound Change’
With more than one in 10 households reporting that they lack enough to eat, the Biden administration is accelerating a vast campaign of hunger relief that will temporarily increase assistance by tens of billions of dollars and set the stage for what officials envision as lasting expansions of aid.
The effort to rush more food assistance to more people is notable both for the scale of its ambition and the variety of its legislative and administrative actions. The campaign has increased food stamps by more than $1 billion a month, provided needy children a dollar a day for snacks, expanded a produce allowance for pregnant women and children, and authorized the largest children’s summer feeding program in history.
“We haven’t seen an expansion of food assistance of this magnitude since the founding of the modern food stamp program in 1977,” said James P. Ziliak, an economist at the University of Kentucky who studies nutrition programs. “It’s a profound change.”
President Biden to increase federal food benefits among executive actions aimed at stabilizing U.S. economy
Biden is asking the Department of Agriculture to allow states to increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — commonly known as food stamps — and to increase by 15 percent benefits awarded through a school meals program for low-income students started during the pandemic, according to Biden administration officials. That could give a family of three children more than $100 in extra benefits every two months, officials said.
Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters on a call Thursday night that the measures are meant as only partial solutions, as the administration kicks off negotiations with Congress on its $1.9 trillion relief economic proposal.
Biden’s order attempts in several ways to address the surge in hunger in America during the pandemic, with approximately 50 million people, including 17 million children, considered food insecure.
Perhaps the most significant change in this executive order is a reassessment of the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for determining SNAP benefits. Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, said the metrics are out of date with the economic realities most struggling households face. The president will ask the USDA to consider beginning the process of revising the Thrifty Food Plan to better reflect the modern cost of a healthy basic diet.
Biden Quietly Preparing for Food Stamp Increase Without Congress
The Biden administration is quietly laying the groundwork for a long-term increase in food aid for tens of millions of Americans, without going through the ordeal of a fight with congressional Republicans.
The instrument is an obscure U.S. Department of Agriculture shopping list used to determine food stamp benefits, known as the market basket.
A review of the so-called Thrifty Food Plan, ordered by Biden two days after he took office, could trigger an automatic increase in benefits as soon as Oct. 1, a day after expiration of a temporary 15% boost in food stamp payments that Biden included in his $1.9 trillion Covid-relief package.
9. Biden is keeping people’s homes warm in the winter
10. Improved the Economy in other ways too
It’s a Biden Boom—and No One Has Noticed Yet
Based on the data, President Biden and the Democratic Congress are set to preside over the strongest two-year performance on growth, jobs, and income in decades—so long as the current cycle of inflation eases, and the Omicron variant does not trigger another round of shutdowns. The future paths of inflation and the pandemic are large and important unknowns—but if they break right, everything else points to a Biden boom through 2022.
Over the first three quarters of this year, real GDP increased at a 7.8 percent annual rate—that’s adjusted for the current inflation. The Federal Reserve expects real growth of 5.9 percent for all of 2021, followed by another 3.8 percent increase in 2022. By any recent standard, these are extraordinary gains. From 2000 to 2019, real GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2.2 percent and never reached 3 percent. Investors have noticed: From January 20 to December 7, 2021, the S&P 500 Index jumped 21.7 percent.
Strong growth usually means healthy income gains, and the disposable income of Americans grew 3 percent after inflation over the 10 months from January to October. That far outpaces the gains of only 0.5 percent for the comparable period in 2019 and 1.7 percent in 2018. Wages and salaries comprise nearly all of most households’ incomes, and those earnings also are rising much faster than normal. From January through October, all wage and salary income paid by private businesses increased 2.4 percent aft
If the current high levels of economic, job, and income growth continue, the 2022 midterms could look different than most are predicting.
The above items and links came from Goody’s amazing One Hundred Things Biden and the Democrats Did in One Year! GNR. They’ve already achieved more great things — in Democratic led states and on a federal level.
🇺🇸 State of the Union 🇺🇸
I’ve just finished watching the SOTU speech and am hoping to get some reaction to include in this GNR. The WAPO panel who were live-tweeting the SOTU seemed to generally agree that it was a good speech (Jennifer Rubin giving it an A-). Everyone agrees that the invasion of Ukraine has changed the landscape, not only for Joe Biden and Americans but for the whole world. Nevertheless, Biden also talked about domestic priorities and concerns and he finished with a strong unity message.
Let me take a moment to note the history that VP Harris and Speaker Pelosi made last night: For the 1st time, 2 women are seated behind the president during a State of the Union , Heidi Glenn, NPR, March 1. 2022.
History was made at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night.
For the first time, two women were seated on the platform behind the president during a State of the Union address.
Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat behind Biden during his joint address to Congress last year, but that speech was not an official State of the Union address.
SOTU speech recaps
Biden’s State of the Union applauds unity against Russia, seeks more unity at home, Annie Linskey and Tyler Pager, Washington Post, March 1, 2022.
The speech unfolded against a brutal backdrop as fighting intensified in what has become the biggest European land war since World War II. In the opening moments of his address, Biden noted the rejection of Russia and embrace of Ukraine by Americans of all stripes as evidence of the country’s underlying commonality,
“We fought for freedom, expanded liberty, defeated totalitarianism and terror. We built the strongest, freest and most prosperous nation the world has ever known,” Biden said toward the end of his address. “Now is the hour. Our moment of responsibility. Our test of resolve and conscience, of history itself,” he said, adding “I know this nation will meet the test. To protect freedom and liberty, to expand fairness and opportunity. We will save democracy."
State of the Union: Biden vows to halt Russia, hit inflation, Zeke Miller and Colleen Long, AP, March 1, 2022.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.
Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever their political differences, are joined “with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.” He asked lawmakers crowding the House chamber to stand and salute the Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood and cheered.
It was a notable show of unity after a long year of bitter acrimony between Biden’s Democratic coalition and the Republican opposition.
On COvid
The president announced in the SOTU speech that anyone who has already ordered tests can now go and order a second batch of tests at covidtests.gov. He is also launching the “Test and Treat” program which will enable people to walk in to a pharmacy for a covid test and, if positive, receive the new and highly effective anti-viral pills immediately/free. Literally over the counter treatment, free, that has been shown to reduce risk of hospitalization by 90%. That seems like a real game changer and very good news.
Great news! Here’s some noteworthy reaction to Biden’s speech!
Here’s the most fun reaction in my book — Stephen Colbert:
🌎🇺🇦🌍 International News 🌎🇺🇦🌍
The horrific situation in Ukraine grinds on and the Ukrainian people continue to defend against the brutal Russian invasion. The battlefield is grossly uneven and another terrible day is ahead, but for now, this morning ...
Zelensky for Man of the Year
A Moment for Courage and Unity, Steven Beschloss, February 28, 2022.
He gained massive fame starring in the comedy satire “Servant of the People,” a hit TV show which he created, produced and starred in, playing a deeply honest high school teacher who becomes president of Ukraine after his rant against government corruption goes viral. In 2019, he faced off against the real-life president, Petro Poroshenko, who dismissed him as a “bright candy wrapper.” The comedian turned politician—who had earned a law degree from Kyiv National Economic University before pursuing a career in comedy—won the presidency with 73 percent of the vote.
Poroshenko had warned his fellow citizens during the campaign that Zelensky was too inexperienced to deal with Vladimir Putin, insisting, “An actor cannot fight the aggressor.” He didn’t know then what his successor would face less than three years later—or imagine that Zelensky’s remarkable courage and resolve would make him a Ukrainian folk hero or even a world historical figure. ✂️
It’s hard to quantify the impact of Zelensky’s decision thus far to stay in Kyiv and fight with his countrymen against the invading Russians. But his rejection of the US offer to evacuate—“The fight is here,” he reportedly told the Americans. “I need ammunition, not a ride.”—is already the stuff of legend. I wouldn’t underestimate how meaningful his courage is in sustaining morale and motivating Ukrainians, be they trained soldiers operating sophisticated weapons or even college students and grandmothers producing home-made Molotov cocktails to fend off their attackers.
I See Three Scenarios for How This War Ends, Tom Friedman, New York Times, March 1, 2022.
For all of these reasons I have to hope that at this very moment there are some very senior Russian intelligence and military officials, close to Putin, who are meeting in some closet in the Kremlin and saying out loud what they all must be thinking: Either Putin has lost a step as a strategist during his isolation in the pandemic or he is in deep denial over how badly he has miscalculated the strength of Ukrainians, America, its allies and global civil society at large.
If Putin goes ahead and levels Ukraine’s biggest cities and its capital, Kyiv, he and all of his cronies will never again see the London and New York apartments they bought with all their stolen riches. There will be no more Davos and no more St. Moritz. Instead, they will all be locked in a big prison called Russia — with the freedom to travel only to Syria, Crimea, Belarus, North Korea and China, maybe. Their kids will be thrown out of private boarding schools from Switzerland to Oxford.
Either they collaborate to oust Putin or they will all share his isolation cell. The same for the larger Russian public. I realize that this last scenario is the most unlikely of them all, but it is the one that holds the most promise of achieving the dream that we dreamed when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 — a Europe whole and free, from the British Isles to Vladivostok.
The Hague
They may wreak havoc, but they will not ultimately win
Russia Is a Potemkin Superpower, Paul Krugman, New York Times, February 28, 2022.
Before Putin invaded Ukraine, I might have described the Russian Federation as a medium-size power punching above its weight in part by exploiting Western divisions and corruption, in part by maintaining a powerful military. Since then, however, two things have become clear. First, Putin has delusions of grandeur. Second, Russia is even weaker than most people, myself included, seem to have realized. ✂️
So far, it hasn’t worked out as planned. Ukrainian resistance has been fierce; Russia’s military has been less effective than advertised. I’ve been especially struck by reports that the early days of the invasion were hampered by severe logistical problems— that is, the invaders had a hard time providing their forces with the essentials of modern war, above all fuel. It’s true that supply problems are common in war; still, logistics is one thing advanced nations are supposed to be really good at.
But Russia is looking less and less like an advanced nation.
The truth is that I was being generous in describing Russia as even a medium-size power. Britain and France are medium-size powers; Russia’s gross domestic product is only a bit more than half as large as either’s. It seemed remarkable that such an economically underweight state could support a world-class, highly sophisticated military — and maybe it couldn’t.
Putin revives the trademark brutalist Soviet incompetence
Russia's 40-mile convoy has stalled on its way to Kyiv, a U.S. official says, Bill Chappell, NPR, March 1, 2022.
Logistics problems are stalling a massive Russian convoy that's pushing its way toward Kyiv, according to a senior U.S. defense official. The convoy, which has been measured as stretching for 40 miles, is apparently being hampered by fuel and food shortages.
The news comes as Russia continues to concentrate attacks on the large Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv.
As night fell on Ukraine on Tuesday, Russia's large convoy was still about 18 miles north of Kyiv — representing little or no change from Monday, the official said. The official added that some elements within the military column are "literally out of gas" and having difficulty feeding their troops.
OUTSIDE RUSSIA, PUTIN’S PROPAGANDA MACHINE IS SWIFTLY CRASHING DOWN, Charlotte Klein, Vanity Fair, March 1, 2022.
Under pressure from the Ukrainian government and other foreign leaders, tech giants and cable providers are issuing a flurry of measures to curb the reach of Russian state media in Europe as Russia wages war on Ukraine. Google on Tuesday blocked the YouTube channels of RT and Sputnik, two Kremlin-owned outlets that serve as mouthpieces for Vladimir Putin’s propagandistic agenda across the continent. The move came a day after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok both said they would block RT and Sputnik content on their platforms in the E.U. Nick Clegg, Meta’s head of global affairs, cited “requests from a number of governments and the E.U.” and “the exceptional nature of the current situation” as he announced the restrictions, which prevent users across E.U. countries from accessing pages or content posted by the two state-backed outlets. Microsoft likewise took action against “state-sponsored disinformation campaigns” Monday as it blocked RT and Sputnik content from appearing on its platform in Europe and banned advertising from Russian state media. In doing so, the company joined Google, YouTube (which is owned by Google), Twitter, and Facebook, all of which have either restricted or banned state-backed media outlets from selling ads. ✂️
TV giants around the world are also under pressure to limit the reach of RT and other Kremlin-controlled media outlets, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reports. More than 20 providers in Poland, Australia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Germany “have started the turning off of the propagandistic TV channels on their satellites, cable networks and across other platforms and sources,” 1+1 Media Group, a Ukrainian media conglomerate, said Monday. In place of the Russian channels, some of the providers are airing United News, a 24-hour newscast that 1+1 is producing in collaboration with other Ukrainian media groups. U.K. media regulator Ofcom on Monday said it had “opened 15 new investigations into the due impartiality of news programs on the RT news channel.” The embattled Kremlin-owned outlet has seen multiple public resignations amid Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine.
Western Petroleum companies getting out of Russia
First BP (UK oil company), then Shell (Dutch oil company) and now Exxon (American oil company):
The west will seize oligarchs’ ill-gotten gains
POTUS mentioned this in the State of the Union address. He said we will seize oligarchs’ yachts and luxury apartments in the west. So much misery has been caused by greed and corruption. May we never turn a blind eye to it ever again:
Putin's War Shows West Must Clean Up Dirty Money, Paul J Davies, Bloomberg, March 1, 2022.
Putin has given the U.S. and its allies the perfect chance to crack down on the lax practices and loopholes that facilitate corruption and allow dirty money to swill around Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere. President Joe Biden has pledged that his administration would battle money laundering and tax evasion by kleptocrats and criminals, starting in the U.S.
Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine demanded a harsh and rapid response from world powers to try and cut off funding for Putin’s war effort. It is the time to strike at the regime’s shadowy offshore funds too.
“Before this, they couldn’t have gone after Putin without risking provoking him,” said Sony Kapoor, a banking and finance expert who runs a think tank, the Nordic Institute for Finance, Technology & Sustainability. “Now they can freeze, confiscate and repatriate assets from Putin and his inner circle directly.”
US will ban Russian aircraft from US airspace
POTUS announced this in the SOTU, too — USA joining most of the democratic west in closing airspace to Russian aircraft:
And...
Businesses are withdrawing from Russia
Maersk and others are suspending their shipping services to and from Russia (except for humanitarian shipments or food, medicines, etc). The maniac in Moscow is costing his country dearly:
The ruble is nearly worthless and now Russians will have no foreign currency credit either.
In Conclusion, Some more timely tweets
😫😵😵💫 Republicans in Disarray 😵💫😵😫
Arizona Senate censures Wendy Rogers
It’s bad when even H. Walker is avoiding you!
😂 From the Point&Laugh Department 🤣
You can NOT make this stuff up!
Much-Hyped D.C. Trucker Rally Turns Out to Be a Complete Joke, Zachary Petrizzo, Daily Beast, March 1, 2022.
Despite the initial hefty estimate that upwards of 3,000 attendees would show, only 12 rally-goers had actually assembled for the gathering just hours ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday evening.
The right-wing rally’s organizer, MMA fighter and Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Kyle Sefcik, opened the gathering—where press and police massively outnumbered protesters—by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before launching into a lengthy speech mixing shameless self-promotion with grievances aimed at the truckers who didn’t show up. ✂️
“Where are the trucks?! Where are the trucks?!” Sefcik yelled at one point. “I know the ones that I had planned coming… they’re not even allowed in because they need a commercial license and have proof of a checkoff today because of the checkpoints, so they weren’t even able to stage and make it look cool here.” ✂️
The “Stage of Freedom” flop came after right-wing media stars had spent days hyping and praising the rally.
LOL 😂
And just for the heck of it:
January 6 Committee Still Working
You know who else was closely involved with these people (especially Cleta Mitchell)? Ginni Thomas.
Six of Donald Trump’s lawyers subpoenaed by Capitol attack panel, Hugo Lowell, the Guardian, March 1, 2022.
The subpoenas – authorized hours before Biden’s first State of the Union address – targeted documents and testimony from Cleta Mitchell, Kurt Olsen, Katherine Freiss, Phillip Kline, Kenneth Chesebro and the pro-Trump One America News host Christina Bobb.
“The select committee is seeking information about attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of electoral votes and any efforts to corruptly change the outcome of the 2020 election,” said Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the panel.
“The six individuals we’ve subpoenaed today all have knowledge related to those matters and will help the select committee better understand all the various strategies employed to potentially affect the outcome of the election,” Thompson said.
The subpoenas reflect the panel’s focus on Trump’s schemes to stop Biden’s certification from taking place, so that the former president’s associates could buy time to co-opt state legislatures to send Trump slates of electors to return him to office.
⚖️ 🏳️🌈 Social Justice 🏳️🌈 ⚖️
My guv stood up for trans kids last week:
This just feels like the right picture to finish the social justice section:
🐩💙 CGs Picks 💙🐩
Hello Everybody, it’s me, Curlygirl! Mama says that this week has been the week from H-E-double hockey sticks, especially for the people of Ukraine and it’s my job to bring some nice stories about animals to help us remember the good in this world. I like that because animals are definitely good!
My first pick is about a bird who looks just like Rascal! Or at least a little bit — at least this bird seems to be kind of the same color as Rascal — well mostly the green parts. ANYWAY, here it is! HAHAHA I like this bird!
And now a story for alllllllll the beautiful cats and cat aficionados in Gnuville! This kitty is like a lion! Wait! It IS a lion!
And the last item I have for you today is very surprising! Listen!
That’s all the picks I have for you for this week. Bye for now! Luv, CG 🐾
⚡️ Lightning Roundup ⚡️
⚡️ The State of the Biden Presidency Is Strong, Timothy Noah, New Republic, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ That goes double for me, Max: Opinion: Thank goodness Biden, not Trump, is president during the worst European crisis since 1945, Max Boot, Washington Post, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ Biden’s Fresh Pitch for Prosperity: Fund My Agenda, Dammit, Abigail Weinberg, Mother Jones, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ Disinformation explainer and some ideas on countering it (from 2016, focused on Russia) The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model; Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It
⚡️”It’s important not to have any illusions — but equally important not to lose hope”: ‘Yes, He Would’: Fiona Hill on Putin and Nukes, Maura Reynolds, Politico, February 28, 2022.
⚡️ War fatigue, denial and greed: Why did it take the West so long to wake up to Putin's outrages? Natalia Antelava, CNN, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ Absolutely nothing: War, What Is It Good For? Paul Krugman, New York Times, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man, Eliot A Cohen, the Atlantic, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ Need some mental breaks? 20 Perfect TV Shows for Short Attention Spans, Shirley Li, the Atlantic, March 1, 2022.
⚡️ LOL go check out the reviews — panned across the board: Kim Reynolds began GOP's SOTU response with iPhone going off — and it just got worse from there: reports, Bob Brigham, Raw Story, March 1, 2022.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday — in a week that felt like a month.
These are very stressful times, Gnusies, so be sure to take extra gentle care of yourself. You are loved and needed! Eat nutritious food, get some rest and if at all possible, get outside for a few minutes a few times every day. Breathe in some fresh air and look up at the sky and dream impossible dreams of a better world.
I agree with President Biden — we can get this country and our world back on track toward peace, environmental sustainability and human dignity. It’s hard to believe in times like the last several years, but I do believe there are better days ahead.
Happy Wednesday, Gnuville!