Welcome 😄 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
We’ve had several years now of the worst bullies being in control of our government. The nerds — those studious experts — have now organized and are coming forward or are taking charge. The nerds have also found several ways to stop the bullies from being in charge of everything.
We’re seeing it in the testimonies being offered, mostly behind closed doors. That’s not just OK, that’s a brilliant tactical decision on the part of Schiff and others. First, the witnesses can go into details that may be too sensitive for the public. Second, the fact that future, somewhat hostile witnesses won’t know what the others have said will encourage them to tell the truth. Third, the Republicans have no reason to act up before the cameras.
We’re seeing it in Pelosi’s refusal to have an impeachment inquiry vote is also wise. First, that would take up a lot of time. Second, Trump really wants this, because he wants the R congresscritters to be forced to make a decision — Pelosi wants to give them the chance to be persuaded, either by the evidence or by the polls. Third, Pelosi’s refusal is a show of strength — Trump doesn’t get to dictate how the House conducts its investigation (besides, he would still refuse to comply).
We’re seeing it in the rulings of the courts, or in the smackdown by some of our side’s lawyers.
The stonewalling, the refusal to testify, to hand over any documents, is no longer working for Trump. Important witnesses — Marie Yovanovitch, George Kent, Kurt Volker, Fiona Hill — have already appeared, risking the displeasure of the executive branch.
This is good for several reasons. First, obviously, it is helping the House to uncover what happened — and that is important, and probably easier without the distraction of the cameras. Second, the fact that people (usually nerds) are coming forward both encourages other nerds and makes Trump et. al. look weak. That bluster is pretty much all that Trump has (and is why so many guys admire him). Burst the bluster bubble, and some of the support goes away. Third, the stonewalling means that the evil guys are not in charge of the narrative anymore. The nerds are. And that is terrific.
Besides, I’m all too happy not to have to watch the barr-faces lies of Lewandowski, Barr, Pence, and so on. They have been bullying us for too long. Too many lies have been told. I’m sick of lies. I’m sick of bullies.
Go, Nerds, Go!
Now on to the GNR, which is why you’re here.
*I must give credit for the Revenge of the Nerds reference to Joyce Vance, who referenced the movie on Monday’s The Last Word.
Are you having trouble finding the GNR because you’re not always available when it comes out? Follow me and the other authors and you’ll be able to find it in your activity stream at any time of day.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the very bad stuff that is happening. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💚 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. We have to keep demoralizing them. Name, blame and shame! IT IS WORKING! WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE DEMORALIZED!
💙 The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
💙 Toxic 🍄 Trump Matters 👎 & Russia, Russia, Russia 🐻
The nerds (experts) and some of the others have been speaking to the House. Marie Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, George Kent, Gordon Sondland. This has been stressing out those in the WH, especially Trump.
So, Mick Mulvaney, who seems to be up to his eyeballs in all this, went and confessed on TV. (Talking Points Memo)
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged Wednesday that President Trump held up military aid to Ukraine over a conspiracy theory about the DNC servers hacked by Russians in 2016.
“Did he also mention to me in passing the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely,” Mulvaney said at a press conference Thursday. “No question about that.”
“That’s it, and that’s why we held up the money,” Mulvaney said, citing other factors in addition to the DNC server conspiracy.
The DOJ was surprised by Mulvaney’s confession (Raw Story)
Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge said that the comment has sparked “strong and quick reaction” from officials at the Justice Department.
“They have been sending out guidance to us over the last 15 minutes,” she said. “We are told that the Justice Department was ‘utterly confused and angry’ about Mulvaney’s comments that linked the suspension of foreign aid with the cooperation from Ukraine into the Justice Department investigation that’s being led by the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, John Durham.”
Durham is the person tasked with probing the beginning of the Russia investigation and whether procedures were followed.
I think what Mulvaney was doing was innoculating himself against the bad news that is coming out, especially Gordon Sondland. And with Bill Barr and the Republican red wall, and the hope of presidential pardons, we’re not sure they’re going to get punished any time soon.
Anyway, Mulvaney is trying to deny it now…
🚌 Sondland throws Trump and Giuliani under the Bus (the Daily Beast)
Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, will tell Congress that President Donald Trump told him to help his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani with his plan on Ukraine.
In his opening statement, which was obtained by The Daily Beast, Sondland wrote that any plot to encourage a foreign government to influence an American election would have been “wrong.”
“I did not understand, until much later, that Mr. Giuliani’s agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrainians to investigate Vice President Biden or his son or to involve Ukrainians, directly or indirectly, in the President’s 2020 reelection campaign,” he will say, according to the written version of his opening statement.
Sondland has had the choice of being corrupt or stupid in his defense. He’s choosing stupid.
Information on someone who was playing a part in that agenda...
We’re not going to forget. Not this time.
💙 Democrats Are Great 🌊
Republicans 🐘 Got Nothing 👎
Americans generally have a poor opinion of Congress. Since we keep electing cretins like Mitch McConnell and Devin Nunes, that opinion has been earned. But take a look at this Gallup poll:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives work through an impeachment inquiry regarding alleged abuses of office by President Donald Trump, approval of Congress is now at 25%. That is up from 18% in September, prior to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing the impeachment inquiry following news of possible wrongdoing by the president in communications with Ukraine.
The increase in approval of Congress over the past month is the result of a 15-percentage-point jump among Democrats (from 19% to 34%) as well as a smaller increase among independents (from 19% to 25%). Republicans' rating of Congress is stable, at 17%.
This update, from an Oct. 1-13 Gallup poll, also finds that Trump's approval rating remains flat, at 39%, compared with 40% in the late September update. It is on the low end of the 37% to 46% range recorded in 2019 so far, with the 37% readings coming in January during the government shutdown. Currently, 87% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 5% of Democrats approve of the job Trump is doing.
Numbers from Pew (Axios)
What they found: Pew's October report found that about 1 in 10 adults — or 9% of those surveyed — who previously opposed the inquiry now approve of it.
- Of those who resisted the inquiry as of last month, but now support it, 35% identify as Democrats, 26% lean Democratic, 21% are Republican-leaning, and just 10% identify as Republicans.
- The survey determined that neither party has a lot of confidence that their members of Congress will be “fair and reasonable,” during the impeachment inquiry.
Meanwhile, the House is not just investigating, but legislating:
And the one that will go down in history
What is wrong with Trump that he thought this was a good idea? He really cannot see how weak he looks? And why haven’t any men stood up to him? What’s wrong with them?
As many of you know, Pelosi said she was either telling him that he kept leading back to Putin and/or was standing up to leave when she was standing there. She went out and explained to the press that he had had a meltdown Talking Points Memo
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday described her meeting with President Trump as a “meltdown” and said she was likely “excusing” herself from the room or telling Trump that “all roads lead to Putin” when an iconic photo of the gathering was snapped. ✂️ uestioning.
“I think I was excusing myself from the room,” she said of the photo. “I conveyed to the President in the meeting about the 354-60 vote in the House disapproving of his Syria actions, A. B, my concerns about all roads leading to Putin. … At that moment I was probably was saying ‘all roads lead to Putin.'”
Pelosi has reveled in the release of a photo that shows her literally standing up to Trump. The President posted the image on Twitter Wednesday evening, and Pelosi promptly made it her Twitter banner image.
How many meltdowns before he gets taken out? A doctor friend of mine is sure he’s got dementia.
There seems to be one brave Republican
Could there be a Republican in the Senate who would dare run an investigation showing in minute detail what Russia did to boost Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House in 2016—let alone as the president, secretary of state, attorney general and American’s former mayor are caught red-handed trying to gin up alternate facts?
There is. Senate Intelligence chair Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, has been laying out the evidence as it was impartially gathered, hand in glove with an unlikely sidekick, Democratic ranking member Sen. Mark Warren.
And look, I found a second:
Another negative reaction
And here’s a cowardly Republican
And this is from the October 15 The Last Word, where a Congresscritter is reporting on what he’s witnessing behind some of those closed door hearings.
REP. JAMIR RASKIN (D-MD): We have this parade of extremely capable, competent, patriotic government servants, public servants who have spent decades working in the government and working to advance the public interest.
And the juxtaposition is so striking between them and the kinds of people that we`re talking about in the Trump administration that I think it has somewhat shamed and embarrassed our colleagues and they`re acting increasingly sheepish as these hearings go along.
Of course, nerds like numbers. Here are some numbers:
BEYOND THE BELTWAY
And for that election coming up in Kentucky next month:
🌈 Governor Sisolak (Nevada) to march in Pride Parade
The Las Vegas Pride Night Parade will feature a first in state history, as Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday will become the first sitting Nevada governor to take part in the event.
Tod Story, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, called Sisolak’s participation “huge.”
“To see him walk in the parade here in Southern Nevada as the governor sends a very strong message to where he is philosophically,” he said.
This is news from last Friday, so I presume it has already happened.
Sisolak to weed out corruption in weed
Gov. Steve Sisolak announced last week that he’s “outraged” — really, really mad — about potential corruption in the state’s fledgling marijuana industry, so he has formed a task force to investigate the issue.
The panel will be “robust, real, significant and substantial,” Michelle White, the governor’s chief of staff, insisted on Friday.
What pushed the governor into a lather, among other things, was a federal indictment in New York alleging campaign finance violations against a handful of foreign nationals. One of the allegations involves their supposed attempts to gain influence with political figures in order to advance their business agendas, including an effort to land a Nevada retail marijuana license.
New Democrat launches US Senate campaign in Kansas
A Kansas lawmaker who left the Republican Party last year now hopes to become the first Kansas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in decades.
State Sen. Barbara Bollier launched her campaign for U.S. Senate on Wednesday by promising an independent approach. She condemned dysfunction in Washington as she seeks to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.
“I’m doing it to be a voice of reason … Washington is broken right now. It is a mess and I think Kansans deserve a senator who will put politics aside, and I’m all about common ground and common-sense solutions,” Bollier said in an interview.
🐍 Schadenfreude 🍎
Sandy Hook father awarded $450,000 from authors who wrote Nobody Died at Sandy Hook
The father of a boy killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting has been awarded $450,000 by a jury in Wisconsin after he sued a conspiracy theorist who claimed the massacre never happened.
Leonard Pozner, whose six-year-old son Noah was among the 26 victims at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, sued James Fetzer and co-author Mike Palacek over their book Nobody Died at Sandy Hook, which claimed Noah’s death certificate is fake and Pozner lied about his son being dead.
While Palacek reached an undisclosed settlement with Pozner last month, the defamation suit proceeded against Fetzer. In court, Pozner, a retired Minnesota professor, claimed the statements and the harassment he had received because of the book had given him post-traumatic stress disorder
I almost didn’t include this because I can’t imagine the horror of doing this to someone who lost a six-year-old child. But I also want to punish these conspiracy theorists.
📣🏅 Let’s Honor Truth 🏅☀️
This week’s virtual medal of truth goes to Marie Yovanovitch, who went boldly to the House last Friday in order to testify, ignoring the displeasure of her boss, and leading the way for those who have followed. I’m not going to show her entire statement, because it’s 10 pages long, but here is an excerpt:
Before I close, I must share the deep disappointment and dismay I have felt as these events have unfolded. I have served this nation honorably for more than 30 years. I have proudly promoted and served American interests as the representative of the American people and six different presidents over the last three decades. Throughout that time, I—like my colleagues at the State Department—have always believed that we enjoyed a sacred trust with our government.
We make a difference every day on issues that matter to the American people—whether it is war and peace, trade and investment, or simply helping with a lost passport. We repeatedly uproot our lives, and we frequently put ourselves in harm’s way to serve this nation. And we do that willingly, because we believe in America and its special role in the world. We also believe that, in return, our government will have our backs and protect us if we come under attack from foreign interests.
That basic understanding no longer holds true. Today, we see the State Department attacked and hollowed out from within. State Department leadership, with Congress, needs to take action now to defend this great institution, and its thousands of loyal and effective employees.
We need to rebuild diplomacy as the first resort to advance America’s interests and the front line of America’s defense. I fear that not doing so will harm our nation’s interest, perhaps irreparably.
That harm will come not just through the inevitable and continuing resignation and loss of many of this nation’s most loyal and talented public servants. It also will come when those diplomats who soldier on and do their best to represent our nation face partners abroad who question whether the ambassador truly speaks for the President and can be counted upon as a reliable partner. The harm will come when private interests circumvent professional diplomats for their own gain, not the public good. The harm will come when bad actors in countries beyond Ukraine see how easy it is to use fiction and innuendo to manipulate our system. In such circumstances, the only interests that will be served are those of our strategic adversaries, like Russia, that spread chaos and attack the institutions and norms that the U.S.helped create and which we have benefited from for the last 75 years.
Her action opened the floodgates for others. And here’s the link to the entire document.
Another medal goes to Chris Hayes, who challenged his own network and its handling of Farrow/Weinstein in his Monday show. Deadline
MSNBC host Chris Hayes devoted a portion of his show on Monday to praising Ronan Farrow, breaking with NBC News executives who pushed back against Farrow’s reporting in his new book Catch and Kill. ✂️
Earlier in the day, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim sent out a memo to staff in which he vigorously denied some of Farrow’s claims, including Farrow’s assertion that executives knew about allegations against Matt Lauer before he was fired and didn’t do anything about it. He also pushed back against Farrow’s claim that the network withheld his investigative work on Harvey Weinstein under threat that Weinstein would find a way to go public with the Lauer story.
“One thing is indisputable,” Hayes said. “Ronan Farrow walked out of NBC News while working on the Weinstein story and, within two months, published an incredible article at The New Yorker that not only won a Pulitzer but helped trigger a massive social and cultural reckoning that continues to this day.”
Finally, I must honor Elijah Cummings — my eyes are pricking as I write this — who stood tall for truth and love and justice.
“When we're dancing with the angels, the question will be asked, in 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact? Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing? Did we play games?” —Rep. Elijah Cummings
I know we’re all working hard.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Toddler describes meeting adoptive parents Good News Network
In the video, Gabby says that she was only 4 years old when she first met her the couple from Dallas, Texas.
The adorable youngster goes on to describe the encounter in the cutest way possible. At the very end of the video, she lowers her voice to a secretive tone and asks her mother about the first time they met.
“Do you know what happened to my heart?” whispers Gabby. “Well, when the first time I saw you, my heart fall in love with you!”
There’s a video, but I couldn’t get it to embed.
📎📎Odds & Ends 📎📎
🌻 Rise of renewables may get us off fossil fuels sooner than we expect The Guardian
The world’s rising reliance on fossil fuels may come to an end decades earlier than the most polluting companies predict, offering early signs of hope in the global battle to tackle the climate crisis.
The climate green shoots have emerged amid a renewable energy revolution that promises an end to the rising demand for oil and coal in the 2020s, before the fossil fuels face a terminal decline.
The looming fossil fuel peak is expected to emerge decades ahead of forecasts from oil and mining companies, which are betting that demand for polluting energy will rise until the 2040s.
But energy experts are adjusting their forecasts as clean energy technologies, including wind and solar power, emerge faster than predicted and at costs that pose a direct threat to coal-fired electricity and combustion-engine vehicles.
Given the corruption in the fossil fuel industry, and the fact that oil is what powers places such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, this is a welcome way to look at things.
The Guardian also has eight suggestions for tackling the fossil fuel industry. I won’t list them all here, but they include important ideas such as eliminating fossil fuel subsidies. They receive (on a worldwide basis) $10 million a minute. We’re paying them to end the world.
New test can detect Lyme disease in 15 minutes EcoWatch
Biomedical engineers have developed a new, rapid test capable of detecting Lyme disease in just 15 minutes.
Current testing for Lyme disease requires two complex tests required to detect antibodies responding to the bacterium and requires experienced personnel in the lab working over the course of several hours. The new test is capable of detecting Lyme disease antibodies between 97.5 and 100 percent of the time.
I have had Lyme disease, and even though I had the textbook (livresque) red bull’s-eye on my leg, the first test was negative.
🚽Students invent door handle that can clean & sanitize itself Good News Roundup
Now you can grab that public bathroom door handle without fear—a solution to the conundrum of how to gracefully exit after washing your hands is finally here.
The two student inventors are among 20 finalists selected for the international James Dyson Award for their “illuminating” solution to bacteria-ridden doorhandles.
Despite the use of sanitizers and routine cleaning of public areas, the bathroom door handle presents a unique challenge. University of Hong Kong graduates Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li set out to design a solution that was self-powered and avoided the chemical cleansers that are sometimes harmful to human health.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time. However, given that we have taken back the House, the tactics moving forward need to be different. Indivisible has ideas to share.
Indivisible 2.0
This Guide is for what comes next. The 2016 Indivisible Guide was about using constituent power to defend our values, our neighbors, and our democracy. This Guide is about using our constituent power to go on offense.
Offense is exciting, but it’s more complex than defense. We have the opportunity to use congressional oversight to hold Trump and his cronies accountable. We can set the legislative agenda with a bold progressive vision rooted in inclusion, fairness, and justice. But none of this is automatic — we have to demand it of Congress.
And some other ideas:
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
You can smile.
You can get out the vote for special elections.
You can reach out to upset Republicans. Remember, a lot of them crossed over in the midterms! Get them to feel good about being blue.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
🍀 “My experience has been that work is almost
always the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.” 🍀
Eleanor Roosevelt
🔥 If you’re going through hell, keep going! 🔥
Winston Churchill
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.