Last week’s Sunday Puzzle featured Andrea Salinas and Odessa Kelly, who are candidates for congress. Information about both these candidates coming up a little farther down the page…
The theme of Sunday Puzzle for the past 8 weeks (and for the next 6 weeks) is Candidates Worth Supporting, and tonight’s puzzle will spotlight two more. In addition to the puzzle, there will also be some cat pictures and a poll.
Speaking of which...
Last week’s poll asked how people thought we should deal with Ron DeSantis and the fraudulent stunt he pulled off on September 14th. Here’s what I suggested:
People have talked quite a bit about bringing criminal charges against DeSantis for kidnapping, or for human trafficking, or for whatever else they think he could be charged with. I wish he could be prosecuted and sent to jail for what he did, but I don't think that's practical; there are too many people (and not just diehard MAGA types) who will think those charges are too much of a stretch for what he did, meaning it's likely a jury would refuse to convict and he'd walk away with what he'd call a victory.
No, what I think should be done is to bring a class action civil suit against him. He pretty clearly engaged in deception and fraud as part of an effort intended to cause distress and anxiety among the migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard and intended to make life difficult for the people living on Martha's Vineyard who didn't know a planeload of people needing assistance was coming so didn't have any time to prepare in advance for their arrival.
I think a good case can be made that DeSantis, through his actions and the actions of people he engaged to take part in this scheme, inflicted emotional distress on the migrants when they found themselves suddenly dropped off at an unfamiliar place with none of the things they had been led to expect would be there. In some cases being dropped off at Martha's Vineyard may also have made it harder for them to get to the places and people they needed to go were trying to reach. (And this may have prevented or delayed some of them receiving medical care which they needed when they fled to the United States.) So they're entitled to compensation for those things...
Well, 2 days later a class action lawsuit against DeSantis and his accomplices was filed. From NPR:
A civil rights law firm filed a federal class action lawsuit on Tuesday against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others for transporting around 50 immigrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, without shelter or resources in place.
The firm Lawyers for Civil Rights, in conjunction with the migrant-led nonprofit Alianza Americas, filed the suit on behalf of the "Vineyard migrants and all similarly situated people who are fraudulently induced to travel across state lines by DeSantis and the State of Florida," the group told NPR in an email. In addition to Gov. DeSantis, the lawsuit also named the state of Florida, Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, and their accomplices as defendants …
Alianza Americas' Executive Director Oscar Chacón said that DeSantis used the migrants to "advance a hate-filled agenda." "That is why we have taken the steps to legally challenge what we view as not only a morally reprehensible action, but what we believe is also illegal," he said.
Attorneys want DeSantis and his fellow defendants to be banned from "inducing immigrants to travel across state lines by fraud and misrepresentation," as well as damages "for the harm suffered by the migrants" ...
I think the migrants have a very good chance of winning. It will certainly be an interesting case to follow. (And the information it brings out, such as the names of DeSantis’ accomplices who helped lure the immigrants onto the plane, should be helpful in bringing and winning criminal cases against DeSantis and the others involved in this scheme.)
.
All right, lets look at last week’s puzzle and the answers to it. First, here were the clues:
1. gamble
2. strike violently
3. place to sit
4. not likely to fall
5. college board
6. colony dwellers
7. nightgown material
8. Peter, Paul and Mary
9. round dessert
10. kind of piper?
11. longed for
12. agonized
13. found in Boston from November to March
14. take a nap
15. interest and exchange
16. take a run without any clothes on
17. found in LA from November to March
18. annoying person
19. raises the foot and brings it down
20. soaks in hot water
21. found in the Nebraska panhandle from November to March
22. bath, place, and welcome
23. very tiny things
24. not quite
25. draw
26. location
27. tries to lose weight
28. included in the phone book
29. found in Omaha from November to March
30. [ look at the picture posted above these clues ]
31. rigid social group
32. Abrams
In these puzzles, clues come in groups which form rows. In this case there were 4 answers per row.
Each answer in a row has all the letters of the previous answer in that row, plus one new letter. The new letters form form columns, and what they spell out is the answer to the puzzle. Here’s the answer grid:
bet A beat L table S stable
SAT N ants I satin S saints
pie D pied N pined A pained
EST R rest A rates K streak
PST E pest S steps E steeps
MST A mast O atoms L almost
tie S site D diets L listed
CST A cats E caste Y Stacey
Clue # 8 refers to Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Mary. Clue # 10 refers to the Pied Piper. Clues 13, 17, 21 and 29 refer to Eastern standard time, Pacific standard time, Mountain standard time and Central standard time. Clue # 18 refers to Lindsey Graham. Clue # 32 refers to Stacey Abrams. And clue # 30 refers to the picture posted above the clues.
The add-on letter columns read ANDREASA LINASODE SSAKELLY. When spaced properly those spell out Andrea Salinas and Odessa Kelly — two more Candidates Worth Supporting.
Andrea Salinas is the Democratic candidate for congress in Oregon’s 6th district.
I believe that change can happen in a generation if we work for it. I know, because it happened for me.
My dad immigrated to the US from Mexico in 1950 and worked in the fields picking cotton and tomatoes before he was in the first grade. Later in life, he would join the military, and after serving two tours in Vietnam, he was able to earn his US citizenship. He then spent the next three decades as a police officer. It was this good-paying union job that would provide a path into the middle class for our family….
My parents couldn’t afford to send me to college, so I juggled multiple jobs – from painting homes to pouring coffee – while attending UC Berkeley. It took me seven years, but I earned that degree and it opened doors for me that I hadn't thought possible before.
When my daughter was born 17 years ago, I felt in my core the same determination that drove my own parents: that there was nothing that would keep me from doing everything in my power to shape a stronger, more equitable future for Amelia and her generation.
So I went to work on the frontlines in Oregon, fighting for more accessible, affordable quality health care, including passing the nation’s most progressive reproductive health care policy that covers everybody in Oregon. I fought to raise the minimum wage, and pass the nation’s most progressive paid family leave bill. I introduced and passed a bill that made Big Pharma accountable to consumers and led to lower prescription drug prices.
In Salem, I championed efforts to protect Oregonians from harassment in the workplace. I have been a leader in the fight to reduce carbon pollution and invest in clean energy technologies to fight the climate crisis and ensure clean air, land, and water for our children and grandchildren.
There’s more work to do. I’m running for Congress because my daughter – and every Oregonian – deserves leaders who will work hard day in and day out to make their lives better….
Many of you may already be familiar with Andrea Salinas, as she has been endorsed and promoted by Elizabeth Warren, Pramila Jayapal, and many other notable people and groups. She’s a very worthwhile candidate to support in whichever ways you are able.
In contrast, I expect most of you have not heard about Odessa Kelly before. That’s because she’s running for congress in Tennessee’s 7th district and there seems to be a DNC and DCCC policy not to promote or even mention candidates who are running in Tennessee. (For some TN districts, it seems to be policy not even to try to recruit Democratic candidates, let alone support them.)
Even so, we’ve had some very good people choose to run and to do a good job of talking to people and working to convince them that they stand for much better and more helpful policies than the Republican candidates do.
Gayle Jordan, who ran for a seat in Tennessee’s state senate in 2016 and 2018, is a good example of the kind of candidate we need to see running in TN if we ever hope to turn TN back into the blue state it used to be.
If you’re not familiar with her, here are links to a few good DK diaries featuring her:
And you can find more at the GayleJordan Daily Kos tag link.
Gayle Jordan isn’t running for office this year, but Odessa Kelly is. And Odessa Kelly is another example of the kind of candidate we need to see running in TN if we ever hope to turn TN back into the blue state it used to be. She’s very good on the issues, and she’s very good at going out and talking to people, working to reach people, working to change red to blue.
Odessa was born and raised in Nashville. She grew up on the East Side in a community struggling with poverty, substance abuse, and gun violence because of political neglect and policy failure. With guidance from her family and mentors, Odessa followed in the footsteps of her father as a civil servant. She worked in Nashville’s Parks and Recreation department leading the Napier Community Center for more than a decade….
After nearly 14 years as a civil servant, Odessa had seen how young people at her community center were racially profiled by the police, how gentrification hurt residents with the deepest ties to the community, and how current leadership failed to deliver for the people who needed it most. Knowing she could do more for her community beyond her work at the community center, Odessa co-founded Stand Up Nashville in 2016 and took on big fights for racial and economic justice. When city officials gave the richest man in Nashville $275 million to build a soccer stadium, Odessa fought for a legally binding agreement that would return investment to the communities most heavily impacted by the stadium, ensuring 20% of all housing built at the development site would be Affordable and Workforce Housing, stadium workers would be hired directly and paid $15.50 an hour, and sliding-scale child care facilities would be provided.
When a tornado ripped through Nashville in March of 2020, Odessa petitioned to establish long-term community revitalization and economic recovery efforts to protect Nashville’s Black communities from further gentrification. Just weeks later, the pandemic hit and Odessa organized around the CARES Act to fight for funds to go directly to residents and small businesses most impacted by the pandemic.
In 2019, Odessa received the National Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Award for her work fighting for justice for working people, housing justice, and racial equity. She was also a National Courage Award recipient, Nashville Scenes 2018 Activist of the Year, and was awarded the Human Rights Rising Advocate award in 2018.
As she built her life and career in Nashville, Odessa saw the ways in which the system had failed her as a working class, gay Black woman and her community. Odessa saw real estate developers profiting off gentrification push her neighbors out of the communities they had spent their entire lives in. She saw firsthand that the dream of shared prosperity they were promised was no longer within reach….
The people of Tennessee need a leader like Odessa. A representative who knows their experiences and struggles, who’s made sacrifices for her family and community, and has dedicated her life to fighting for a brighter, more equitable future.
Unfortunately Republicans control the TN state legislature and did some very bad gerrymandering to the Nashville area after the most recent census, slicing blue areas up and putting the sliced pieces into largely red districts. Prior to the gerrymander Odessa Kelly would have been running in district 5 and had a fair chance of winning; instead she’s now in district 7 and winning will be difficult.
But that’s why we need more candidates like Odessa Kelly who are willing to take on the hard challenges and who are willing to work hard to make those areas winnable. And we need to do as much as we can to support candidates like Odessa Kelly.
“I’m running to give voice and power to those who have been neglected by the status quo.”
— Odessa Kelly
All right, who’s ready for this week’s puzzle? Here are the clues:
1. certain
2. deceptions
3. strong forward movements
4. price
5. person who goes ahead to look
6. woos
7. stock, sports, and police
8. studies at the last minute
9. cold, sour, and whipped
10. Ephron
11. large house
12. legendary le Fay
13. old, hard, and high
14. warms up
15. plays unfairly
16. urgent
17. bicyclist
18. Las Vegas player
19. Alaska city
20. shade of yellow
21. lacking humor
22. cause of illness
23. come together
24. scanty
25. prompted
26. two
27. lessen
And now, a question from Poll Cat:
.
.
“Of the many people who currently aren’t running for an elected office, who would you like to see run for office and get elected?”