Greetings Gnuville! I am glad to be back and grateful to arhpdx for sitting in for me last week.
💐THANK YOU, arhpdx!💐
So let’s dive in to the news. Today’s theme is FAFO and I cannot improve on this article for opening remarks:
The Long Summer of, Uh, Let’s Say “Messing” Around Is at Last Turning Into the Fall of Finding Out, Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate, September 13, 2022
since around 2015—or perhaps even earlier, depending on your feelings about whether unpopularity and public scorn were sufficient punishment for the individuals responsible for the Iraq war and the 2008 financial crash—the people in the United States who have done the most prominent f—ing around haven’t done much finding out. The biggest example of this is Donald Trump, whose ability to avoid the consequences of his own actions over the course of two impeachments, a special counsel investigation, and other official inquiries has become the subject of its own famous online saying.
What’s more, the Republican Party that encouraged and enabled Trump—as well as his many imitators and supporters—appeared, until about a month or two ago, to be a safe bet to win both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections. This remained true for some time even after Supreme Court justices appointed by Republicans handed down a widely unpopular ruling that allows for the total criminalization of abortion.
But! Since late July, there has been a wave of activity—electoral, political, and prosecutorial—that one could describe as tending toward just desserts for bozos. Consider:
(the writer goes on to list about 10 significant things that have happened to begin the “finding out” phase for the traitors, then also mentions the caveats (whah whahhhh), but you know I still like our chances because shoes are still falling! *nifty*)
🎶 Music for September 🎶
🐴💙 Democrats Deliver 💙🐴
Biden’s accomplishments mount
Biden’s Legislative Accomplishments Mount - Horowitz, Rob Horowitz, GoLocalProv.com, August 23, 2022.
Fueled by what turned out to be a highly productive summer, President Biden has assembled an impressive list of legislative accomplishments as he nears the half-way mark of his first term. Taken together, the adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act, accelerating the needed transition to non-producing renewable energy, lowering prescription drug prices and buttressing Obama Care, the Chips and Science Act, greenlighting a major investment in domestic production of semiconductors and in science research, the PACT Act, expanding health care for veterans exposed to burn pits, and what NPR accurately called the “first major gun safety law passed in nearly 30 years,” adds up to the most productive legislative summer in recent memory. These accomplishments come on top of the passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure package and the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
The president’s significant legislative achievements are all the more remarkable, given the slender majorities Democrats have in Congress. With a 50-50 Senate, the administration cannot afford to lose a single senator to realize success on most of its initiatives. There is only a bit more wiggle room in the House, where the current partisan breakdown of 220 Democrats and 211 Republicans means that the desertion of 5 Democratic members can result in a bill being defeated.,✂️
Mr. Biden, for example, succeeded in passing major infrastructure legislation that will repair and upgrade our decaying roads, bridges, airports, public transportation and sewage systems, while these needed investments were stalled under his two immediate predecessors. He was also successful in shepherding a landmark climate initiative as part of the recent Inflation Reduction Act, providing nearly $400 billion to incentivize the transition to non-carbon producing renewable energy. Independent experts estimate that this investment will put us within striking distance of the administration’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases to 50% below 2005 emissions by 2030. This major legislative accomplishment has restored United States credibility on the climate on the world stage, an important precondition for the kind of proactive and effective United States climate diplomacy needed to persuade other large carbon emitters to do their share. This greatly improves the odds of keeping the rise in global temperature to the 1.5% Celsius or 2.7% Fahrenheit increase from pre-industrial levels that scientists tell us is essential to avoiding the worst consequences of global warming.
Biden’s American Rescue Plan cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021
...and it reduced poverty overall by several points, too. Let’s vote in a huge blue wave so Democrats can make this kind of progress continue for the American people.
COVID-19 Relief Spending Pushed Poverty To Record Low In 2021, Arthur Delaney, HuffPost, September 13, 2022.
WASHINGTON — Poverty fell to a new low last year thanks to new federal spending passed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to new federal data released Tuesday.
Extra unemployment benefits, stimulus checks and a monthly child allowance helped push the poverty rate to 7.8% in 2021, according to an annual Census Bureau poverty measure that accounts for tax benefits and stimulus payments. The rate had been 9.1% in 2020. ✂️
But Tuesday’s release from the Census showed that early estimates showing a sharp drop in child poverty were right. The supplemental poverty measure, which accounts for tax benefits, showed that child poverty declined from 9.7% in 2020 to 5.2% last year, the decline resulting almost entirely from the six rounds of monthly payments.
“It is pretty stunning,” Indivar Dutta-Gupta, president of the Center for Law and Social Policy, said in an interview. “This was obviously a very well designed and targeted program if your goal was to keep kids out of poverty.”
And love this!
the January 6 Hearings
Jan. 6 panel weighs options in final leg of marathon probe, Rebecca Beitsch and Mike Lillis, The Hill, September 13, 2022.
Speaking with reporters after the panel’s first in-person meeting following the August recess, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the panel would likely hold its next hearing in late September, with its work stretching into the fall and even into the lame duck session.
“At this point, the goal is the 28th [of September] for the first hearing and we’re in the process of deciding on a topic,” he said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), another member of the select committee, had one early suggestion.
“There’s a symphony of different ideas about what needs to be built into that final hearing to complete the story,” Raskin said Tuesday. “And what I’m most interested in is seeing that we explain how a lot of the threats that were manifest on Jan. 6 are still out there today. Some of them have expanded in nature.”
Thompson said an additional October hearing is “not off the table” and that the panel could “absolutely” continue its work past the midterms.
🎶 More September Music 🎶
😡😫 Republicans in Disarray 😩🙃
I mean — even Republicans cannot stand these MAGA Republicans!
Texas
Second Republican leader announces endorsement of Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor, Briauna Brown, wfaa.com (abc), September 8, 2022.
Republican State Senator Kel Seliger announced Tuesday he was joining Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley in endorsing Democrat Mike Collier for Lt. governor against Republican incumbent Dan Patrick.
Seliger is the former mayor of Amarillo and currently represents one of the most Republican-leaning state senate districts in Texas (SD-31).
Following Seliger’s announcement, Collier issued the following statement:
"I could not be more proud to be endorsed by Sen. Kel Seliger who has represented and fought for the people of the Panhandle for more than a decade. We are building a coalition across the state and across the aisle, and as Lt. Governor, I will work with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike to fund our schools, rein in our property taxes, protect our rights, and fix the damn grid.”
Seliger’s endorsement comes after Judge Whitley’s shocked the world of Texas politics this past weekend.
pennsylvania
More Republicans line up behind Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor. Here's who they are. Dustin Racioppi, York Daily Record, August 30, 2022.
Another batch of Republicans have endorsed Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor of Pennsylvania, saying their party's nominee, Doug Mastriano, is "extreme" and "unworthy" of leading the commonwealth.
The eight Republicans include former state lawmakers and Jim Schultz, who served on former President Donald Trump's 2016 transition team. The latest round of endorsements brings the number of Republicans backing Shapiro to 17, after nine GOP officials publicly announced their support for him last month.
"Josh has a proven ability to bring together qualified people from across party lines to accomplish important work," one of his latest backers, former Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler, said in a statement.
"Although I am a Republican, I consider Mr. Mastriano to be completely out of his league. He is ill informed, divisive and unworthy to be governor of this commonwealth."
Arizona
Momentum grows as more Republican leaders back Mark Kelly’s campaign, Mark Kelly, Medium, August
Republican and Independent leaders from across Arizona continue to throw their support behind Senator Kelly
In July, we launched “Republicans for Kelly”, a coalition of nearly 50 Arizona Republicans and Independents who’ve come together to support my re-election campaign. Today, I’m proud to announce that our coalition is growing, and I’m honored to have the support of over 40 additional Republican and Independent leaders.
Arizonans are tired of the gridlock and partisanship that has become the norm in Washington. That’s why I’ve worked to be an independent voice that fights for what’s best for our state. I’ve led on bipartisan legislation to combat drought, fix roads and bridges, and create tens of thousands of great-paying jobs.
The truth is, it’s not about whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat. We’re all on Team Arizona.
— Mark Kelly
What these leaders have to say about Mark:
Paul Hickman, President & CEO of Arizona Bankers Association and Former State Director for Sen. John McCain
“Many of us have come to appreciate Mark’s approach to lawmaking. Mark flies himself across the state, speaks to and listens to Arizonans, whether they’re mayors, community leaders, veterans, students, or seniors. And then he brings it all back to Washington to deliver results. Senator Kelly puts his state and its needs at the center of his work, and Arizonans know he has their back. I’m proud to endorse Senator Kelly for reelection — this was an easy decision to make.”
– Paul Hickman
Mayor Tim Elinski, Cottonwood
“I’ve served here for 17 years, so I know that partisan politics has no place in what we do. That’s the reason I really support Senator Kelly in his bid for Congress. He is a gentleman that has time and again fought for us here in Cottonwood, and improved a lot of infrastructure projects that were desperately needed to keep our rural economy going. So it’s an easy choice for me this November.”
– Mayor Elinski
Heather Carter, Former Arizona State Senator (District 15)
“I am proudly endorsing Senator Mark Kelly. He has done a tremendous job for Arizona and he is able to cut through all of the hyperpartisanship back in DC to do wonderful work for our state. Please join me in supporting Senator Kelly this November.”
– Heather Carter
Paul Brierley, Yuma Community Leader and Rural Advocate
“I appreciate Senator Kelly’s attention to rural and agricultural issues. He has done the hard work of regularly meeting with agriculture folks and digging into how he can help solve our pressing problems. Especially in today’s unprecedented political environment, Senator Kelly has earned my vote and my endorsement.”
– Paul Brierley
Mayor Chip Wilson, Apache Junction
“I appreciate how Senator Kelly tackles the problems affecting us now, while looking to the future and investing in the Valley’s economy. Best of all, throughout his time in the Senate, Senator Kelly has proven that he’s willing and capable to roll up his sleeves and get things done without the partisan bickering we’ve all become too accustomed to these days. He’s got his head on straight and he’s laser focused on problem solving — and I think we could all benefit from that kind of attitude in this climate. So I’m happy to endorse Senator Kelly for re-election.”
– Mayor Wilson
Councilman Bart Turner, Glendale
“Arizonans of all political affiliations and backgrounds can count on Senator Kelly to show up for us and bring our voices to the Senate with him. Sadly, too many elected officials in Washington these days resort to partisan bickering that stalls progress. Mark pushes partisanship aside, gets past the typical Washington gridlock, and makes concentrated, earnest efforts to bring about real progress for his state. I’m proud to give Senator Kelly my wholehearted endorsement. I encourage folks on the fence to join me.”
– Councilman Turner
The full list of Arizona Republicans and Independents endorsing Mark Kelly can be found below: (click link above to see list)
⚖️⚙️ Wheels of Justice Grind On ⚖️⚙️
Walls are closing in on TFG & Co-conspirators
‘Should be game over’: DOJ ‘decimates’ Trump’s argument in new filing, according to legal expert, Bob Brigham, Raw Story, September 13, 2022.
DOJ wrote Trump "has characterized the government’s criminal investigation as a 'document storage dispute' or an 'overdue library book scenario.' In doing so, [Trump] has not addressed the potential harms that could result from mishandling classified information or the strict requirements imposed by law for handling such materials," DOJ argued. ✂️
"Brilliant moves here by DOJ," he explained. "First, they call Trump's bluff here -- that he has never asserted in court that he declassified/made records personal. Second, if he did declassify any, it would be hugely important for IC/FBI/DOJ to have those records to assess the impact."
Goodman continued, "Next pointed and irrefutable argument by DOJ: If Trump wants to claim he made these records "personal," then his claim of executive privilege evaporates. Personal records = no executive privilege Trump's lawyers' and advisors (eg Tom Fitton) have dug themselves a hole here."
Trump’s Lawyers Reveal That Garland’s DOJ Has Backed Them Into a Legal Corner, Shan Wu, Daily Beast, September 13, 2022.
This is where the special master gambit comes into play. Asking for a special master is an effort to exert some measure of control over what documents the DOJ gets to see, presumably with the hope that the DOJ will not see enough to make a criminal case, for example under the Espionage Act 18 U.S.C. 793 for the unauthorized possession of and refusal to return national defense information.
But the DOJ’s clever response out-maneuvered Trump’s team by focusing on the fact that a criminal investigation involving national defense cannot take place without access to the materials implicating national defense and asking simply that the investigation be allowed to continue even as the parties fought over whether a special master was necessary and the exact scope of what the special master might oversee. ✂️
Ironically, one of the perceived potential weaknesses of Attorney General Garland is that he has spent the majority of his career as an appellate judge and may have lost whatever combative prosecutorial instincts he might have possessed earlier in his career. But here, as the DOJ navigates uncharted legal territory with historically high stakes, Garland’s 20-plus years’ experience as an appeals judge may give the DOJ a big advantage.
Merrick Garland lulled Trumpworld 'into a false sense of security' — and is now hitting the gas: prosecutor, Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, September 12, 2022.
"Just how much of an escalation does this represent in this overall investigation?" asked anchor Wolf Blitzer.
"A big one, Wolf," said Aronberg. "Now we know what Steve Bannon was referring to when he said publicly that there were 35 MAGA leaders who had their homes raided. We couldn't figure out what he meant, because that would have been out in the public and we didn't see that. Well, what he did was confuse search warrants with subpoenas. But, still, subpoenas are a big deal. And the timing is not a coincidence ... this comes right before the 60-day quiet period before the midterm elections when DOJ tries not to influence an election. That's why this all came all at once."
"But the fact that Bannon and other MAGA leaders seem shocked that this happened shows to me that Merrick Garland has lulled many in Trumpworld into a false sense of security," continued Aronberg. "This is the kind of slow build that Attorney General Garland has been known for in his prosecutorial career. It's like that boiling frog that doesn't realize the temperature has been turned up until too late."
Justice Department Issues 40 Subpoenas Linked To Trump Behavior Before Jan. 6: Report, Nick Visser, HuffPost, September 12, 2022.
The Department of Justice has issued dozens of subpoenas in the last week to people who were familiar with the efforts by Donald Trump and his top aides to remain in power after the 2020 election and the former president’s actions before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, The New York Times reported Monday.✂️
One subpoena obtained by the Times requested information about any member of the Trump administration or legislative branch who helped plan or took part in the Jan. 6 rally preceding the attack on the Capitol. Prosecutors asked for any information on those who tried to “obstruct, influence, impede or delay” the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results.
About 20 of the subpoenas asked for information and communications about the fake elector scheme, the Times added.
The newspaper said prosecutors also appear to be homing in on a new line of investigation involving Trump’s Save America political action committee, a major fundraising arm for the former president.
👀 🚨‼...⬇
Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate Barr’s DOJ activity
“Trump turned DOJ into his personal law firm”: Senate probes prosecutor’s claim of Trump corruption, Igor Derysh, Salon, September 13, 2022.
Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that the panel will investigate claims of "astonishing and unacceptable deviations" by DOJ officials to pursue partisan prosecutions and Barr's efforts to replace Berman with a "Trump loyalist." Berman's claims "indicate multiple instances of political interference," Durbin wrote, calling on the DOJ to produce all documents and communications related to Berman's claims.
"It violated all the norms and traditions of the Department of Justice, which is supposed to be independent from politics," Berman told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday. "Trump turned the department into his own personal law firm. He put in people who would do his bidding. And they would, you know, target Trump's political enemies and assist Trump's friends. And it was a disgrace."
Berman, a Republican former Trump transition official who served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until he was fired by Trump in June 2020, wrote in his upcoming book "Holding the Line" that he "resisted the worst of the attempted interference, whether from Main Justice or the White House," according to an excerpt published by The New York Times.
Berman was fired by Trump after he refused Barr's request for him to resign after he led the prosecutions of multiple Trump allies, drawing allegations of "corruption" at the DOJ.
SC Justices (including CJ) whining about correct public perception of partisanship
CG and I would call it corruption, but partisanship will do I guess since one party seems to be synonymous with corruption:
John Roberts Can’t Admit What’s Happened to the Supreme Court, Dahlia Litchwick, Slate, September 13, 2022.
Chief Justice John Roberts, offering his first public remarks since the Supreme Court’s disastrous 2021 term ended, went with the standard victim blaming opening. At a judicial event in Denver last week, Roberts bemoaned the linking of the court’s continued legitimacy to its abysmal public approval ratings. This simply makes no sense to him. To hear Roberts tell it, the problem is not a hyperpoliticized court that reversed precedent, ignored its own doctrine, and imperiled many women’s lives. The problem is that people who are angry about those things rather correctly believe that it was the Supreme Court that brought them about. No, Roberts would prefer that the people suffer in silence. Here is how he put it: “Yes, all of our opinions are open to criticism. In fact, our members do a great job of criticizing some opinions from time to time. But simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for criticizing the legitimacy of the court.”
M’kay. When Justice Antonin Scalia told people to just “get over it” after Bush v. Gore, the message was the same, but at least he was being honest about it. ✂️
Roberts knows better than to suggest that the court’s problem this past term was simply a matter of “people disagreeing with a decision.” The court was handed to wealthy secret donors because of his own jurisprudence. And the court’s problem is now that it happened in plain sight. With all due respect, it is not that the public didn’t like the final score at the end of the term when the lights went out in June. The problem wasn’t just the losses; the problem was that his team moved the game to another field, then stole the ball and replaced it with a time bomb, then changed the rules, then lied about it, and then set the entire field ablaze. Now he wants everyone to shake hands and go home. The public is not so inclined. He is far too smart to believe we are all this stupid, which suggests to me that he knows we are right.
🎶 Music for End of Summer 🎶
🍎📚 Education News 📚🍎
Right wing extremists have been gunning for public education for a long, long time. A poorly educated populace is much easier to control, while a well-educated people might question the goals, motives and authority of authoritarian power structures. One of their biggest goals — now mostly achieved thanks to Republican malgovernance — was to drain funds from public schools and funnel them to private (usually religious) schools. The impoverished public schools then struggle to provide for the children in an area, whose parents then begin to think the private schools are a better option for their children. Then, in the religious schools, children are often indoctrinated with a right wing worldview and sometimes deprived of real, useful education. For dominionists and other extremists, that’s the mission accomplished.
This week a New York Times report revealed that extremely conservative Hasidic yeshivas are among those private schools that have failed abysmally at educating children. For once, however, this concerning news has been responded to with the kind of action we have long needed throughout the country. A declaration of intent to commence real oversight of schools that use public funds!
Private schools will inevitably protest this kind of oversight, citing “religious freedom” (in particular, it is the powerful conservative Christian groups who have successfully cowed governments all over the country and evaded oversight — and the fact that it is a relatively small group of Jewish schools that finally elicits the response is a problem in itself — we’ve got a lot of problems to address!) but I hope states and municipalities (and the federal government) will stand up to them all and get serious about oversight. This is a start:
Statement from Comptroller Lander on Board of Regents Vote on Academic Standards at Private Schools Receiving Public Funds, Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller, September 13, 2022.
“Every single New York City child is owed a solid education that prepares them to thrive – yet as The New York Times report this week made starkly clear, too many yeshivas are failing that essential task. That so many young people have been denied the necessary skills they need to succeed in the higher educational opportunities, jobs, and diverse cultural and civic life of our city is a tragedy. That some of them may have been subjected to physical abuse is a shande.
“It is entirely possible for yeshivas to offer enriching English, math, and science education at the same time as a strong grounding in religious texts and Jewish tradition – indeed, many do. I know it personally, because many of my friends and colleagues are smart, well-educated yeshiva graduates.
“It’s also true that too many of our public schools fail to provide the enriching education that every one of our students deserve. The answer, of course, is to do all we can to demand accountability from all our schools – not to use the shortcomings of some to excuse those of others.
“Like all other private and public schools in New York State, yeshivas receive public funding to help meet the needs of and their obligations to their students. The government has an oversight responsibility to ensure those public dollars are spent as intended. Unfortunately, in recent years both the City and State have failed to hold yeshivas to appropriate educational standards. It is time for that to change.
“Today, the Board of Regents adopted regulations clarifying the City’s oversight responsibilities to ensure that private and parochial schools offer a substantially equivalent basic education. As Comptroller, I’ll work to make sure we meet them.”
☑️🗳 Midterms 2022 🗳☑️
Like many people, I am heartily tired of living in fear that the next election could be the last free/democratic one or that my humanity/rights/life may become even further reduced than they already are in our still patriarchal culture. Unfortunately, that is still the reality I have to deal with, so my response is going to be to fight with everything I’ve got to ensure that we preserve the Democratic majorities (and hopefully increase them) in the House and Senate. I’m also going to try to throw some support to state legislative races, because it was in the states that we first started to backslide from the progress we had finally begun to achieve in the 1960s.
Abortion Rights must be protected
For women to avoid being more fully relegated to second-class citizenship, abortion rights must be protected and expanded. This is an issue that Democrats are running with, thank goodness!
Abortion Is Galvanizing Voters. Michigan’s Ballot Measure Will Show Us How Much. Abby Vesoulis, Mother Jones, September 13, 2022.
In a 5-2 decision on Thursday night, the state Supreme Court ordered the ballot referendum to be reinstated in the upcoming election. The Michigan Board of Canvassers then voted unanimously to follow the court’s order on Friday, which was the state’s deadline to certify ballots before clerks can begin sending them to voters ahead of the November 8 election. ✂️
More so than any other individual race or ballot referendum, the results of this measure in this particularly purple state will reveal the degree to which middle-America voters support strong abortion protections in practice rather than in the abstract. This November, Michiganders aren’t merely voting for a US House candidate who promises to advocate for abortion rights in a Congress that has thus far failed to move the needle on the issue, nor are they voting to secure abortion in cases of rape or incest, in the first trimester, or in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy. Instead, for the first time since Roe fell, a swing state comprising many Americans in the center of the I-support-abortion-rights bell curve will have to decide whether to enshrine in their state constitution full abortion rights for all through roughly 23-24 weeks of pregnancy, or leave it up to the whims of future state lawmakers to legislate abortion access. ✂️
In a political moment defined by the aphorism, “Roe is on the ballot,” what happens in this race will signal to both national political parties exactly how motivating that sentiment is. “The unknown going into the 2022 national elections and statewide elections is whether this will be a mobilizing issue on the pro-abortion-rights side of things,” says Ken Kollman, a political science professor at the University of Michigan. “That’s the million dollar question.”
A “million dollar question” indeed. Let’s GOTV, people! Also, this next story is great and I couldn’t decide if it should go here or in Rs in Disarray. Finally decided on here ⬇️:
Lindsey Graham Nice Enough To Make Free Campaign Ad About Abortion, For Democrats, Evan Hurst, Wonkette, September 13, 2022.
Graham promised that if Republicans take the House and the Senate there will definitely be a vote on his bill to make sure Lindsey Graham gets to be the boss of your privates just like Samuel Alito is boss of your privates. Likewise, he said if Democrats in charge, he doesn't know if Congress will EVER vote to come up with some kind of timeshare system whereby white Republican men take turns bossing around your privates. ✂️
But wait, why are we here again? People have been noting today that several months ago, this very same Lindsey Graham who looks today like he slept in a dumpster after a rough night at the club said repealing Roe v. Wade would make abortion a state's rights issue. And now here he is trying to do a national abortion ban. How can Lindsey Graham explain this, outside of saying "Ha ha, what a liar I am"?
He said it's easy to explain, because when Democrats introduced a bill to codify abortion in American law, he "thought it'd be nice to introduce a bill to define who we are."
Yes, do tell us who you are, Republicans! Loud and clear!
He’s just saying...
The Joy of Voting (It’s good for you), Tom Nichols, the Atlantic, September 13, 2022.
Americans sometimes forget that voting is not only a right and a duty, but an experience that can make us feel better about our communities and system of government.✂️
I voted today. I cast a ballot in a primary election that, where I live, will not affect the ongoing fight to preserve American democracy but will have an impact on my community. A few names on the ballot had no opponent, but otherwise, I had a reasonable range of choices for state and local offices. (I am happy with my member of Congress, but as a rule, I don’t like to see people run unopposed at any level.) It took me about 10 minutes. ✂️
I had no idea who in that room was a Republican and who was a Democrat, and I didn’t care. The workers, police, and volunteers were helping other members of their community exercise their rights as citizens of the United States of America (and as Rhode Islanders, of course), and in that moment, I felt the optimism about and goodwill toward American democracy that has eluded me for so long. I put on my i votedsticker—I am still wearing it as I write this—dodged the rain, and headed to a small local deli.
A man was coming out of the store as I arrived, and he held the door for me. He was also wearing his i voted sticker. We smiled at each other. Neither of us had any idea who the other had voted for, and at that moment, it didn’t matter. We were both Americans.
🌏🌍 International News 🌎🌍
Ukraine performs masterfullyl-executed counter-offensive
Ukraine Pulled Off a Masterstroke, Phillips Payson O’Brien, the Atlantic, September 12, 2022.
What happens on the battlefield is rarely the thing that decides a war. Normally, the preparations beforehand determine what happens when the fighting begins—and these preparations are what settle the outcome of the war itself. This truth is playing out along the roads and in the towns of Kharkiv Oblast, the province that includes Ukraine’s second-largest city. The stunningly swift advance of Ukrainian forces, which started around September 1 and sped up soon after, has easily been the most dramatic—and for Ukraine and its supporters, the most uplifting—episode of the war since the current Russian invasion began on February 24. In a few days the Ukrainians liberated about as much territory as Russia had captured in a few months, while causing the disintegration of Russian forces around Izium, Kupyansk, and other logistically vital cities. From the outside, Ukraine appears to have changed the whole complexion of the war.
This stunning Ukrainian advance was anything but sudden. It resulted from a patient military buildup, excellent operational security, and, maybe most important, the diversion of some of the Russian army’s most powerful units from Kharkiv Oblast itself. The overall planning by the Ukrainian government and armed forces worked well on so many levels that it produced one of the greatest military-strategy successes since 1945. ✂️
Though the war is far from over and Russia can find new ways to punish Ukraine, collapsing Russian forces have not only been pushed back; in abandoning their former headquarters in Izium, they also left behind large stores of equipment and ammunition that the Ukrainians can now use against them. Even if the Russians stabilize the line in the coming days, they will be in a far worse position than they were on September 1. Building on months of careful efforts to both prepare Ukrainian forces and waste Russian ones, Ukraine has achieved a strategic masterstroke that military scholars will study for decades to come.
Victory in Ukraine could rejuvenate democracy around the world
This writer predicted in the spring that Ukraine would prevail over Russia. Here he repeats his prediction and expands it to say that Ukraine’s success will inspire people all around the world to reject authoritarian oppressive regimes:
Why Ukraine Will Win, Francis Fukuyama, Journal of Democracy, September 2022.
If Ukraine defeats Russia’s massive army, the ripple effects will be felt across the globe.
The prospect that Ukraine can actually regain military momentum is entirely possible; indeed, it is likely in my view and unfolding as we speak. The Ukrainian general staff has been extremely smart in its overall strategy, focusing not on the Donbas but on liberating parts of the south that were occupied by Russia in the first weeks of the war. Ukrainian forces have used NATO-supplied weapons, particularly the HIMARS long-range rocket system, to attack ammunition depots, command posts, and logistics hubsall along the front. They have succeeded in attacking supposedly secure Russian rear areas deep in the Crimean peninsula. At the moment, 25,000 to 30,000 Russian troops are trapped in a pocket around the southern city of Kherson, which lies on the west bank of the Dnipro River. The Ukrainians have succeeded in taking out the bridges connecting Kherson to Russia, and have been slowly tightening the noose around these forces. It is possible that the Russian position there will collapse catastrophically and that Moscow will lose a good part of its remaining army.
More broadly, morale on the Ukrainian side has been immensely higher than on the Russian side. Ukrainians are fighting for their own land, and have seen the atrocities committed by Russian forces in areas the latter have already occupied. The Russian military, by contrast, has had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to replace the manpower it has already lost, recruiting prison convicts and people from the poorer ethnic minorities to do the fighting that ethnic Russians seem unwilling to do themselves. ✂️
If the Ukrainians don’t simply hold out against Russia but actually defeat Russia’s massive army and force it to retreat, the positive reverberations will be felt across the globe. Populist nationalists around the world, from Viktor Orbán to Matteo Salvini to Marine Le Pen to Donald Trump, have expressed admiration for Putin’s style of strongman rule. A Russian defeat and humiliation will puncture this narrative of the advantages of authoritarian government, and might lead to a rekindling of democratic self-confidence. It has been easy for publics in Western democracies to take for granted the peace and prosperity brought about by the liberal world order. It may be the case that every generation needs to relearn the lesson that the alternatives to liberal democracy lead to violence, repression, and ultimately economic failure. Such a lesson will be driven home if the world sees brave Ukrainians fighting for their country succeed beyond all expectations.
Ukraine will win. Slava Ukraini!
Goalkeepers Report on World Progress
The World Really Is Getting Better, Derek Thompson, the Atlantic, September 13, 2022.
Since 1990, poverty and hunger have declined dramatically while life spans have increased on every continent. According to the report, the share of global smokers has declined by about 20 percent; children are roughly 30 percent less likely to be malnourished or stunted; rates of tuberculosis have similarly declined by about one-third; maternal deaths per live births have declined by 40 percent; the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases such as dengue and leprosy has declined by roughly 70 percent; and the share of the global population with access to toilets and safe plumbing has increased by 100 percent. The quality of data collection varies by category and country. But overall, it is hard to argue that human progress is some sort of sales pitch from the pathologically optimistic. Progress is simply a fact.
The report also contains deeper lessons about how sustained focus on the poor can dramatically improve the world. Consider the decline in AIDS-related deaths, which is one of the great underappreciated triumphs of the 21st century. Decades ago, public-health experts projected that about 5 million people would die of AIDS in 2020. In 2003, President George W. Bush announced a new policy, nicknamed PEPFAR, to combat the HIV epidemic around the world. At the same time, other countries and global-health organizations distributed millions of antiretroviral drugs throughout Africa, where cases were rising fastest. As a result, the number of global AIDS deaths has declined every year since 2005 to roughly 500,000 in 2020, according to the Goalkeepers Report. That means nine in 10 projected deaths were prevented thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of governments and public-health advocates. ✂️
Another bright spot in global health is the decline of deaths in children under the age of 5. In 1990, more than 8 percent of children died before their fifth birthday. But that figure fell to 3.6 percent in 2021. When I spoke with Gates, I called this the best piece of news on the planet. He didn’t correct me. “The biggest reason the number’s gone down is that we got vaccines out to almost all of the children in the world” for diseases like measles, Gates told me. Groups such as Gavi, which is partly funded by the Gates Foundation, help buy and distribute vaccines, which drives prices down and improves access. The WHO has estimated that measles vaccination has prevented more than 20 million deaths in Africa since 2000, with the benefits concentrated among children
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirl! I want to tell you that I found this video with the dog and the sea dog playing fetch at the beach and I was so excited! Because playing fetch at the beach is my very favorite game! And I would love to play it with a sea dog!
Now, I understand that arhpdx posted this video yesterday, but I hope you will enjoy it again because I am so excited about it!!
Also, Mama wants to know if you remember Sea Dog matches? Because that’s what this sea dog reminds her of! (nifty: it might have been a Canadian thing — but they were ubiquitous when I was growing up! 😃).
Next, I am going to show you something cool but it has NO ANIMALS in it! I don’t usually look for items with no animals, but to be honest, I put this in for Mama because she likes stuff like this. The buildings they choose are not always the ones you would expect (or most commonly associated with the places):
I keep trying to convince the human in this household that we need a PUPPY! So far, my entreaties have been in vain, but THIS may do the trick! 😁😍
And I super duper love this dog’s life and I would like to try it for awhile!
That’s all I have for you for this week. See you next week! Bye! Luv, CG 💙🐾
💗 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:
On Saturday, Goodie introduced a new fundraising action for Gnusies with a goal of $38,000, and by the end of the day it had raised $31,000!!! As of yesterday evening, it had reached $37,210.50!
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!
Here’s a visual to help us keep our eyes on the prize:
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Biden’s accomplishments match up well with well-regarded former presidents, Thomas C Oakes, Chicago Sun Times, August 28, 2022.
⚡️ How to show your friends you love them, according to a friendship expert, Kavitha George and Sylvie Douglis, NPR, September 13, 2022.
⚡️ Sounds oddly familiar 🙄: Putin, tone deaf and isolated, pursues war ‘goals’ and refuses to lose, Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, September 13, 2022.
⚡️ Long read (gift link): Opinion: Trump should fill Christians with rage. How come he doesn’t?, Michael Gerson, Washington Post, September 1, 2022.
⚡️ Cautious hopefulness: Can Stacey Abrams Turn the Tide in Georgia? Joan Walsh, the Nation, September 13, 2022.
⚡️Opinion: For Democrats, Alaska’s special election offers singular lessons, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, September 13, 2022.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday!
As you probably know, yesterday was the last primary day of the 2022 season (Delaware, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, I believe) and the results will be out this morning. Apparently there was a very close Democratic primary for RI governor, but I do believe the incumbent squeaked out a victory in the end.
Voting is essential, everybody, so start gearing up not only to vote yourself but to encourage everyone you know to vote, too. The pundits all say “Midterms historically...” and “sitting presidents party...” and whah whah whahhhh…. but you know something? The history books are full of BIG SURPRISES and turning points and people rising up to say NO to oppression and fascism. That could be us right now. If we weren’t so thoroughly exhausted by TFG and frightened by how viciously the right wing extremists hate us and hate democracy — we would likely see all that’s been happening (the numerous court cases, subpoenas, arrests, investigations, evidence, etc.) as patently obvious signs that the corrupt cabal IS going down.
But of course, they won’t go down without a fight — this is life or prison and they know it. Expect the worst they can dish out. We’ve been through a lot and they will probably try to throw more but we are as determined as they are. And we have righteousness on our side. (not to mention the majority of the people).
Whatever the odds, we have the majority on our side. Whatever the obstacles, we the people can overcome them if we work hard, encourage each other and GET OUT THE DARN VOTE!
So, we have our assignment! Get ready, gnusies: get enough rest, eat nutritious food and get plenty of fresh air (even if you have to simply sit by an open window while you write those postcards to voters!). Take good care of yourself so that you will have the health and strength you need to take care of our democracy.
Thanks again to arhpdx for subbing for me last week when I had to be out of town again.
Happy Wednesday, Gnusies!