Good Day, Gnusies! Today’s roundup has stuff about the bananas J6 hearing yesterday and some other news. However, I had something suddenly come up last night and so my ability to sort out and polish the roundup was a bit hampered. Apologies for the slapdashery! But without further ado, come read the good news!
Start off with some good tips on how to handle the firehose of scary news (click on to read the whole thing; it’s worth it):
The Surprise J6 Hearing
Trump's legal exposure may be growing – and 4 other takeaways from the Jan. 6 hearing, Domenico Montanaro, NPR, June 28, 2022.
1. We've heard about Trump's temper throughout his life, but this was the most vivid detailing of it during his tenure as president.
2. The committee is methodically trying to establish intent and premeditation.
3. White House lawyer was worried about legal exposure for Trump and the White House.
4. Add Meadows and Giuliani to the list of those who sought pardons.
5. Republicans largely have their fingers in their ears about these hearings.
LOL Even Fox cannot hide their shock:
Palmer (and Mulvaney)’s probably right about this:
Harry Litman agrees:
Former Rep Riggleman:
Republicans in Disarray
Actually panic is more likely, but disarray too.
Former chief of staff!
Other Republicans at each other’s throats:
A hopeful message/perspective:
Good News from States
Arizona
New York
Mississippi
Idaho, Texas and (again) Mississippi
Colorado
Tina Peters appears to be losing (at 10 PM CT). She is the election official who is indicted on 10 charges (felonies and misdemeanors involving tampering with voting machines and giving data to Trumpists):
Colorado GOP rejects candidates who back Trump election lie, Nicholas Riccardi, AP, June 28, 2022.
DENVER (AP) — Colorado Republicans on Tuesday rejected two of the state’s most prominent election deniers, a setback for the movement to install those who echo former President Donald Trump’s lies about mass voter fraud in positions overseeing voting.
Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who gained national notoriety after her felony indictment for her role in a break-in of her own county election system, lost her bid for Colorado’s top elections position to Pam Anderson, a former suburban Denver clerk who has criticized Trump’s election lies. Anderson will face Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold in November. Peters was not formally endorsed by Trump but appeared at his Florida resort, Mar-A-Lago, and counted many of the former president’s backers as supporters.
State Rep. Ron Hanks, who attended the Jan. 6 rally and claimed President Joe Biden was not properly elected, lost his bid for the GOP’s U.S. Senate nomination to Joe O’Dea, a businessman backed by Washington and Colorado establishment Republicans.
oklahoma
Weirdo Scott Pruitt went down to defeat:
Nancy Pelosi
Should have known Speaker Pelosi would have our backs. She will bring legislation to the floor to address reproductive rights and then she won’t stop but will get in front of Clarence Thomas’s implied threat to all laws that rest upon the right to privacy (contraception, marriage equality, etc.): Opinion Pelosi has the right idea on abortion. The Senate must follow. Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, June 28, 2022.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did not get to where she is by misreading the public mood. She understands well how unpopular Republicans’ support for upending Roe v. Wade is. And she will make Republicans face the consequences of their radicalism.
In a Dear Colleague letter released on Monday, Pelosi writes that she intends to bring several abortion measures to the floor. First, she will bring legislation that “protects women’s most intimate and personal data stored in reproductive health apps” to address fears that such information “could be used against women by a sinister prosecutor in a state that criminalizes abortion.” ✂️
Second, Pelosi will bring forward legislation that makes clear “Americans have the Constitutional right to travel freely and voluntarily throughout the United States.” ✂️
Third, Pelosi will once more force a vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which she describes as the “landmark legislation to enshrine Roe v. Wade into the law of the land.” ✂️
Pelosi is not stopping there.
Polls Don’t Vote, People Do
...but if polls did vote, I like these!
Democrats developing strategy
Human spirit cannot be squashed
CGs pick:
This is hilarious 😄
LOL, keystone kops:
Epilogue to a story from last year:
Long overdue:
🌍 International News 🌎
NATO
President Biden was a key player in this negotiation, but as with the other work he’s done to reunify the western world, he was careful to let others take the bows at center stage:
Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO, Jill Lawless and Joe Wilson, AP, June 28, 2022.
MADRID (AP) — Turkey agreed Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, ending an impasse that had clouded a leaders’ summit opening in Madrid amid Europe’s worst security crisis in decades, triggered by the war in Ukraine.
After urgent top-level talks with leaders of the three countries, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that “we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.” He called it “a historic decision.” ✂️
U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated the three nations on taking a “crucial step.”
Amid speculation about a U.S. role in ending the deadlock, a senior administration official said Washington did not offer any concessions to Turkey to coax it to accept a deal. But the official said the U.S. played a crucial role in helping bring the two parties closer together, and Biden spoke with Erdogan Tuesday morning at the behest of Sweden and Finland to help encourage the talks.
Returning stolen artifacts:
🌱 Environmental News 🌱
The President was super busy this week, flying around Europe both for the G7 and then NATO meetings getting stuff done!
EU reaches climate crisis deal!
Something anyone with a yard can do:
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Here's every word from the sixth Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation, NPR, June 28, 2022.
⚡️ 9 Bombshells From Cassidy Hutchinson's Jan. 6 Testimony, Ryan Grenoble, HuffPost, June 28, 2022.
⚡️ Opinion: Bombshell hearing raises a question: Why was Trump’s lawyer terrified? Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent, Washington Post, June 28, 2022.
⚡️ Opinion Jan. 6 testimony shows that Donald Trump is unhinged. Voters must listen. Editorial Board, Washington Post, June 28, 2022.
⚡️ The Entire GOP Is Complicit in the Coup Attempt, Wajahat Ali, Daily Beast, June 28, 2022.
⚡️ No, Justice Alito, Reproductive Justice Is in the Constitution, Michele Goodwin, New York Times, June 26, 2022.
⚡️ Sarah Cooper on Trump ‘Fatigue’ and ‘Waking Up’ to Politics Again, Matt Wilstein, Daily Beast, June 28, 2022.
💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗
Put your beautiful bleeding liberal heart into it! 🥰
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
The only way they can win is by keeping people from voting. 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?
HERE’S HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS:
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121
* Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her:
Let them know what matters to you!
Contact your Representative
Contact your Senator
And remember, all politics is local and personal! Let’s work to flip state and local elected positions Democratic!
Sister District Project — organization that is working to help Dems win state legislature races.
NEW!! Goody set up this place to donate to elect Democrats in tossup House and Senate races:
Did you donate yet? C’mon… it’ll make you feel great! 😁
ALSO NEW!! The States Project
Finally, whenever you feel your hope fading, read this again:
The 3.5% rule: How a small minority can change the world — and recall that we are a majority.
Also check this out:
The Albert Einstein Institution’s 198 Methods of Non-Violent Action
There’s a multitude of people all over this country — in both so-called “red” states and “blue” — who feel just as strongly as you do about this world and its future. We can do this!
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday. Wishing everyone a safe and happy Wednesday!