A Country Divided

I recently started watching one of those extreme weather shows on the Discovery Channel; the ones that show tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, mostly cell phone video shot by people in the middle of the event. It’s epic, fascinating stuff. (Well, to me, anyway.)

Yesterday I watched the episode about 2024’s Hurricane Helene, which was absolutely devastating to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. What I remembered from the news at the time was how Republicans were asserting that Biden’s FEMA was only helping Democrats, adding to the victims’ sense of helplessness and abandonment. The fact that these statements were patently untrue didn’t seem to matter much, and in the face of constant repetition on Fox “News” and the like, it came to be understood as common knowledge.

I submit that this was one more example of Republican accusations actually being confessions, because we can see from the years hence that this is exactly what the current administration is doing with their own barely-existing FEMA. California was devastated by wildfires but was refused federal help at every request. Even in Red areas, they were still seen as part of the Blue state.

And just last week, it was discovered that an Administration member said in a sworn court affidavit that approved grants for energy projects had been rescinded in states that didn’t vote Republican in the last election.

The current pitting of the two sides of the country against each other to this extent would have been unimaginable just 10 years ago. No one could have believed the depths to which the government, as run by an Adderall-addled fuckwit, would sink. But look at us now.

“We need help.”

“Who did you vote for?”

“Them.”

“Denied. Piss off, vermin.”

***

To add to my general discontent, I’ve just started reading that new book by NY Times writers Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, called “Regime Change.” I’m only about 120 pages in, and already, I’ve learned plenty of appalling things. 

·         Stephen Miller is basically the Anti-Christ. He moves about the White House with impunity and tacit support from the president on everything he proposes. He’s so racist that even TFG noticed it. A quote from the book: “In a 2024 campaign meeting, Trump remarked that if it were left to Miller, there would be only 100 million people in the United States and they would all look like Stephen Miller.” A gruesome thought, to be sure.

·         Miller was enraged when the message emerged from the White House that ICE was only going after violent criminals, murderers, and gang-bangers during their deportation operations. He knew that they were going after everybody, and having that qualifier out there would make them look bad. (They weren’t picking up people at Home Depots and outside schools because they were going rogue; that was their mission in the first place.)

·         There has been very little thought put into who is getting tariffed and for how much. The president was basically determining tariffs the way you’d determine a tip for the gardener. “Let’s give’em 10%. No, make it 20%.” Apparently, no one in the president’s circle, nor any business leaders, thinks tariffs are a good idea, just TFG, who is always 100% sure of his own genius. All evidence to the contrary be damned.

·         They had invited 15 CEOs from the big fossil fuel companies to meet with them. The president asked for a list of ten projects the White House could help fast-track. The CEOs were amazed. Usually any request they made would get reviewed for political analysis, environmental impact, etc., before even being brought to the president. Said one of the CEOs: “He has a better sense of his executive authority than anybody else we’ve ever dealt with. [snip] I would never want a Democrat to have that same sense of executive authority. But this guy fucking does.”

Granted, we’ve known all along that Stephen Miller has been running the White House with racist intent, and the administration is totally in the pocket of big business and the fossil fuel companies, but it’s still jarring to see the details.

The Dog Daze of Summer

There’s a lot to talk about this week, from the president’s hallucinogenic speech to the nation about the 2020 election being stolen, to his fumbling about on the World Cup stage, to the condescending theater of the Acting AG “meeting” with Epstein survivors wherein he told them there was nothing actionable in the Epstein files, to the Iran War starting up again after they were already “defeated” several times, and so on. There’s so much, in fact, that it’s overwhelming, which I agree is the very strategy this Administration uses to protect themselves. There are literally too many atrocities going on at one time to effectively weaponize any of them. So instead I’m going to talk about dogs.

We’re usually a one-dog household. When I met Sweetpea, she had a 4-year-old yellow lab, who was in his prime. He is now a senior dog at the ripe old age of 13 and a half. We realize, given the traditional 9-12 year lifespan of labs, that we’re on “gravy time.” He’s slowed way down from his young adult activities to the point where he won’t walk much farther than a couple of blocks anymore. He mostly sleeps and asks for food. (His “feed me now” obsession continues unabated by time or creakiness.)

He still remains wildly photogenic.

This week, we’ve added a couple of beagles to the mix. We’re on a reciprocal dog-watching system with Sweetpea’s sister. When we go on vacation, she takes our lab. When she goes, we take her two beagles, Arthur and Minty. We’ve been doing this for as long as Sweetpea and I have been together.

Meet the Beagles: Arthur (front) and Minty (rear).

I never understood why Arthur was so unusually named. My first impulse was always to call him “Eddie.” But then I was told he is so named because he resembles Ron Weasley’s father in the Harry Potter movies. That made perfect sense to me, so now I get his name right on the first try a little more often.

His “sister” beagle (housemate, not litter mate) is named after Harriet Tubman, whose real name was “Araminta” or “Minty” for short.

Arthur is mostly reddish-brown, with more of a “hound dog” nose. Minty is the more traditional look with a black back-saddle, white chest, and tan all over, with a thinner nose. Both have long, velvety ears that dip into the water bowl every time they drink.

These two arriving in the house is like the circus coming to town. Once they hit the door, they fly into action, sniffing the perimeter of every room and hoovering up any stray bits of kibble leftover from The Lab’s food-dispensing rolly ball. (With his old age and failing eyesight, he sometimes misses them.) But the beagles find every last molecule of kibble, whether it’s behind the TV or under the sofa. The beagle nose is something amazing to behold. (More on that later.)

The dogs love attention, especially Arthur. Both will let you pet them until your arm falls off. But if you pet Minty first, Arthur, who is always more desperate for attention, will immediately jam himself in between you and his sister.

Minty is the diva of the two. She often holds herself aloof, and when she comes to you for a scritch, it’s not really a request. Back when I was working from home during Beagle Week, she’d stroll into the office and tap my leg with her paw. I’d lean over and give her pets and scritches, to which she would sink lower and lower before rolling on her back to present her tummy for rubs. Once I stopped, she’d stroll back out of the room, for at least three minutes before coming back to repeat the procedure for the next hour. Eventually she’d tire of it or amuse herself elsewhere.

I call her the Diva because once I was done for the day, dinner eaten, and took my place on the couch for the night, ready to pet her into a coma, she wouldn’t come near me. She’d stay on the other end of the couch. She only wanted my attention when it was going someplace else. She wants what she wants, on her terms, always.

“Like I have time for you peasants.”

Arthur, on the other hand, loves to jump up and snuggle in with you, and lick your face or whatever he can reach, until his tongue falls out. I don’t really want him licking on me, though, because he has a distinct predilection for eating his own doots, or any others, whenever he can. That leaves his dog-breath smelling like you would imagine. Eww. It’s nothing you want being applied to your face, trust me. But he’s such a charming little devil, so desperate for affection, that you can’t help love the little shit.

Feeding time is another story… It’s like a three-ring circus in the kitchen. When there is food in the air, the lab is always there underfoot, taking up a lot of space. Now when you add in two more slurping mouths dancing around on the tiles, you have to watch every step or else you’re going down hard.

Sweetpea already makes homemade food for our dog; our guests come with a laundry list of preparations… raw hamburger, veggies, vitamins, meds, it’s a whole ordeal. But then when it’s time to drop the food, it’s like when you see those tame carp at amusement parks, who all crowd the surface with their mouths opening and closing like machines. Minty tracks the bowl like a hawk, while Arthur spins around like the Tasmanian Devil, until the bowls are set down. You have to step on Arthur’s bowl because he noses in there so hard he pushes it around the room, often right into the other dogs. Ten seconds later, it’s gone; all gone. Nary a molecule left over.

The other thing about the beagles is the noise. The Lab is relatively quiet, especially in his old age. Even his barks, that used to rattle my brain as they echoed throughout the house, are more like raspy woofs now. The other two, however, sound like jet airliners landing. Any sound picked up from outside, from the mailman to the garbage truck to a plastic bag blowing by, warrants a full-throated howl that can be heard on Venus. Loud, shrill, non-stopping… Oh god, kill me now. Even when we’re asleep and something stirs outside, Arthur sends up the alarm, jolting me six inches out of bed. It takes some getting used to. I’ll let you know if that ever happens.

The other thing is when we let them outside. Sometimes, there’s a bunny in the yard. We have those around. If the beagles see one, it’s like their life depends on hunting it down. Both will run about the yard, nose to the grass, snuffling and baying, retracing everywhere the bun has been. Arthur is especially aggressive, snorting up the yard as if each blade of grass is covered with cocaine and he’s the dog-reincarnation of Charlie Sheen. It’s a trip.

They’re used to having a dog door at home, so they can go in and out at will. But they’re also trained to ring a bell hanging from the door, to signal their intentions.

This is a good thing, for the most part. It’s a clear signal for when they want out. It’s much less good when they ring it five minutes after coming back in, over and over. And you don’t want to refuse to open the door for them because you never know if it’s a potty request or just to go out and sniff things. You don’t want to risk an indoor accident.

Sweetpea had to deal with the other “outside” problem, wherein she let them out in the middle of the night and then had to wait around until they felt like coming back in. The Lab spoils us. When he wants out at night, he goes out, does his business, and trots right back in. He may sniff the air for a second or five, which I call “checking his email,” but he doesn’t prolong it. The beagles are not so inclined; being used to having their own late-night adventures.

So, we’re one night down, five more to go. As I tell them every day, “It’s a damned good thing you’re cute.”

I See Dead People

Or do I? We don’t know anymore. Between the habitual lying, political dirty tricks, and distrust of media, it’s hard to make heads or tails of the “Is he or isn’t he” situation with Schroedinger's Senator Mitch McConnell.

Yesterday, McConnell’s people released a picture that’s supposed to end the controversy over his condition and/or deadness. The problem is… OK, one of the problems is that the pic easily could have been created via AI, or even old-school photo-shopping.

I’ve seen lists of things considered hinky about the photo, indicating that it’s a fake. BUT, there are also ways to dispute each of those points. I’ve seen enough fake news coming from liberal sources of late that I no longer trust them out of hand. This could be one more.

But is there any wonder why? It’s 100% in character for Republicans in general and Senator Mitch in particular to scam their way into holding onto power. If he dies (officially)  before 8/3/26, state law requires an emergency election to fill the seat temporarily. Such a scenario could put a crimp into plans to keep the seat in Republican control, with the likelihood of former Rep. Massie running and splitting the Republican vote enough so that a Dem slips in. We know Republicans have no qualms about rigging election scenarios. And we know that Mitch has no qualms about bending rules to remain in power, for himself and his big-moneyed backers.

(Source: USA Today 2019)

Also, if Mitch is really as spry as he appears in the picture, he could have easily done a 30-second FaceTime or Zoom with the Governor and quash the whole thing. Something like this:

McConnell: “Mahwnin Govnah, les putta hoe thang a’baid.”

(Translation: “Good morning, Governor, let’s put this whole thing to bed.”)

But they didn’t do that; they sent out a picture, something that’s easily altered, which they had to know would keep the controversy coming.

So it’s no wonder there’s speculation over the veracity of the claims that Mitch is up and around, working on his rehab. Their actions, past and present, guaranteed that people would question their story. It’s like the Party that Cried Wolf.

At least Mitch isn’t casting Senate votes. As long as he’s away, that’s one less vote the Republicans have to screw the working class. When Mitch finally does kick the bucket, or news comes out that he already has, I won’t shed a tear. I may even do a small dance. No one has done more harm to our Republic since Newt Gingrich. His utter lack of principles, other than “protect the rich,” has made him Ground Zero for hypocrisy and unethical leadership. That hypocrisy, along with a total indifference to public opinion, allowed him to hold up an Obama Supreme Court nominee for 10 months, because it was too close to an election, and then rammed through a Trump nominee only eight days before an election, with a straight face. He considers this abomination to be his greatest legacy.

I agree, it’s a legacy of shame.

Then, in similar news, we’ve got the confirmed death of Senator Lindsey Graham. They didn’t bother trying to hide his death, I presume, for a couple of reasons. First, it was sudden… ruptured aorta, I heard. That’s one of those “Hey, what the”… and you’re dead kind of things. Depending on who was around, they may not have had time to formulate a strategy.

Or, maybe because it’s in South Carolina, they know they’ll be able to easily elect another presidential boot-licker. One out, one in, no sweat. Because there’s a Republican governor, he can appoint a replacement to relieve the short-term stress. From there, they’ll hold a general election for Senator in the fall. There shouldn’t be much stress about winning the seat in deep-red South Carolina. They’ve been re-electing a Republican chameleon who changes positions on command for decades.

It’s sad that these stories detracted from a couple of sadder passings, of Sam Neil and Bonnie Tyler.

Neil starred in several of the Jurassic Park movies (which I loved). Tyler was a tremendous singer with several big hits (and not much else). I’ll miss them both.

A Brand New Crisis from 1868

In catching a rare break from the Supreme Court, we can see the blatant racism that governs the MAGA movement. When SCOTUS found that the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution was constitutional (duh), the speed with which the MAGAts moved to capitalize on the moment was eye-opening.

Almost immediately, the talking points were obvious, with multiple talking heads and inside sources postulating fantastical stories about citizenship mills and birth tourism, all designed to replace white people in this country. They must have had this stuff already locked and loaded before the decision, with versions for either outcome. Steven “the Ghoul” Miller’s fingerprints are all over this.

Late last week, there was a letter to the editor in the formerly reputable Baltimore Sun, in which the letter writer decried this new “can of worms,” just opened to destroy America. In fact, many of the blurbs put out on social media employ this raging fallacy.

What makes it a fallacy is this: If the decision lets the 14^th Amendment stand, which has been in place for over 158 years, how in the bloody hell is this opening a “can of worms” if it's already been open for longer than anyone has been alive? There is exactly nothing new being put forth, just the clearly written law of the land, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Where is the wiggle room? Where is the “interpretation?”

There is no “interpretation” without making up a bunch of far-fetched crappola drawn out of thin air.

They talk about what they think the writers intended. I say if there were any caveats, they would have been written in, but they weren’t. It just says, in plain English, if you’re born here, you’re an American. Case closed.

Remember, these are the people who cling to a literal reading of (part of) the 2^nd Amendment, insisting that the rules made to cover single-shot, hand-loaded rifles were designed to expand to include guns that fire hundreds of rounds per minute, so no further interpretation is permitted. “The right to bear arms shall not be infringed,” that’s what they repeat and contend that it covers everything. (Of course, they always ignore the “well-regulated militia” part.) They are only constitutional “originalists” when it serves their purpose. Otherwise, like when it comes to brown foreigners entering the country, they’ll twist any explicitly written statute until it says the opposite of what was intended at creation.

All of these new doomsday predictions, in the wake of the decision, were just as possible two weeks ago, yet no one was talking about them. Apparently, it just wasn’t that important. But now, when the headlines go against the Administration’s stated goals of whitening America, they want to rally support for new legislation. After picking through the dissent of the three fascist-supporting judges, I’m sure they will find an angle that would be upheld under constitutional scrutiny. That’s what these guys do, even when a Republican measure fails; they leave breadcrumbs for the next time.

And there will be a next time. Republicans don’t have anything to offer in the way of economic or environmental relief, just tax cuts and support for the rich. So they need to produce something to draw votes, and racism, sexism, and homophobia are consistent winners. And best of all, it doesn’t cost rich people anything.

“Wait,” you say, “Won’t it cost business owners by removing all the people who work cheap?”

Yes, it would, except they’re already getting replacements lined up, namely, people like us. Look at the massive cuts to state and federal jobs. Look at AI and robotics taking over jobs done by humans. Look at brick-and-mortar stores that have disappeared in favor of E-tail. Suddenly, there is a glut of people looking for work. Do you think they’re all going to train to be coders? With the prices rising like they are, people who normally wouldn’t lift a shovel will be fighting to work on road crews and farms, just to keep the lights on.

It’s a theory, anyway. And I wouldn’t put it past these bastards to see it through. After all, Project 2025 sounded pretty far-fetched at one time. Now its contents are found in the daily news.

First Amendment Bluz

Last week showed that everything is indeed bigger in Texas, including Constitutional atrocities, as the state school board eviscerated the First Amendment by requiring Biblical passages to be taught in public schools.

Later in the article above (in a portion I clipped out for size), a supporter claimed it was OK because our 250 years “started as a nation of unwavering Christian values.”

Yes, so unwavering that the founding fathers specifically prescribed against the government having any hand in religion in the very First Amendment to the Constitution. But in Texas, the only Amendment they recognize is a mile-wide interpretation of the Second.

Optional religious student groups have been in place for a while now, and I don’t really have a problem with that, given the “optional” part. But once it’s required, it changes everything, especially considering they’re not including Quran or Talmud readings, or even the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s manifesto.

I can only hope that in the mandated teaching of this material, the teacher works in the Biblical exhortations to feed the poor, welcome the stranger, and turn the other cheek. Unless, of course, the Texas Board of Education releases their own version of the Bible and snips out of those Commie, Leftist, Liberal platitudes for which that book was originally known. Republicans aren’t really interested in freedom of religion; they’re concerned with freedom to be Christian. (Only without the pesky liberal Jesus stuff.)

Filing lawsuits to stop this indoctrination won’t do any good; there is a zero percent chance that the current SCOTUS will kill this action. In fact, upholding actions like this is exactly why the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation put the six conservative members there.

The infamous Project 2025 document contains many actions aimed at allowing what the Constitution clearly forbids. This is one of them.

So the only way any of this changes is at the local level. At least these new requirements won’t take place until 2030, by which time these evangelical school board members could be replaced by others who understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This is me, not holding my breath, though.

The Republican machine is strong in Texas and tightening its grip on Texas politics every day. As the population of prospective Blue voters increases, so do Republican operations to curtail their voting power through gerrymandering and the usual Election Day roadblocks to voting: reducing voting machine numbers in urban areas, reducing windows for early voting, sabotaging vote-by-mail, etc. And, of course, the Feds can send ICE into all the Latino precincts to scare off the Hispanic vote. With ICE’s propensity to scoop up and detain anyone foreign-looking, US citizen or not, who would risk their life and livelihood just to cast a vote?

The Republicans have complete power in the state now and will now give it up without a fight, dirty or otherwise.

A Message From Beyond

I mentioned, back in April, that my mom passed last September. Before that happened, there was a spooky little occurrence that I’d like to tell you about. (I’ll come back to current events and the latest political atrocities next week.)

In the weeks before passing, she’d been bedridden, either asleep or highly medicated. When awake, she didn’t always make a lot of sense, but would have occasional bouts of lucidity, holding conversation as if it were just another Wednesday in the parlor.

About three days before she passed, my brother was sitting beside her bed as she slept. On his cell phone, he received a text from his son, Sam, then a sophomore at Penn State, saying that he had been turned down for the fraternity he’d been trying to join. My brother never said a word, nor was his phone within Mom’s view.

Then suddenly, and quite clearly, Mom said, “I wonder how he’s going to handle the rejection,” before resuming her sleep.

My brother said he got chills up and down his body. He was astounded, as was I, when he told me about it. But that was completely in character for Mom. She always was a little “mystical.” She loved her crystals, horoscopes, lunar calendars, and such. So this didn’t exactly come out of left field.

I guess moms really do know everything their kids are up to. That “third eye” is real! Perhaps the door to the otherworld really does open a bit when one is at the end.

Mom at her 75^th birthday party, making good use of her magic wand.

Fixing Social Security 4 Dummies

I’d like to thank House Speaker and Trump Flunky Rep. Mike Johnson for handing Democratic candidates another perfect line of attack and ad fodder:

If ever there’s an issue to galvanize Baby Boomers and Gen X, it’s a threat to Social Security and Medicare, and Speaker Johnson just put it on the radar, front and center.

Know that by saying, “They have to be adjusted and fixed,” he does NOT mean endowed with more funding; he means cutting payments to us and raising/delaying the qualifying age.

Without intervention, given the next expected Cost of Living Adjustment, Social Security is calculated to be solvent for only seven more years. That should get the attention of everyone in their 50s, 60s, and up, or in other words, a ton of highly likely voters.

Republicans cannot be counted on to help with this in any fashion other than cutting payouts. They and the donors to whom they are obligated are against any more money coming from the wealthy. Their only solution is to cut the payments back to the public.

And this is coming at a time when inflation is soaring, and the cost of living is higher than ever, along with jobs being lost to AI and a general downturn in domestic production. Millions of Americans count on Social Security to keep their noses above water, even though they always say not to rely solely on Social Security. But many never had the opportunity to work for jobs offering pensions or 401 (k) participation. Many had health problems that sucked up their money, or kids going to college, ongoing disabilities or long-term under-employment.
The glaringly obvious solution is to raise the “cap” over which Social Security taxes are no longer paid, which for 2026 is $184,500. That means that the country’s million, billion, and trillionaires pay zero into Social Security after that first $184.5k. That’s a lot of dough to leave on the table.

Add to this that there’s no valid reason the cap exists, other than rich people want it that way so they can keep more money. Therefore, the rest of us end up paying a much higher percentage of our income than these rich bastards do. So they’ve done a good job of buying off one party completely, and enough of the other party to keep the status quo.

No, I don’t have any proof of the latter, but keep in mind that even when the Democrats had control of both Houses and the Presidency, there was never a real attempt to fix Social Security by raising revenue via any means. That tells me it hasn‘t been a Democratic priority for anyone but Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and maybe a few others.

Depending on how much the cap changed, raising it on Elon Musk alone could set up Social Security for decades or longer, and he would still have billions left over to buy into and destroy the next tech company he fancies.

One action fixes the entire problem, benefits hundreds of millions, and slightly inconveniences a couple of gazillionaires. It should be a slam dunk.

The question is, will anyone in Congress seriously get on board, in numbers enough to get it done? I think that should be a question put to every single Congressional candidate from now until it happens.

In every Q&A session, every town hall, every campaign stop, every interview, someone needs to ask, “Why is it more important for the cap to stay in place, benefiting millionaires, rather than changing it to benefit millions of average citizens?” Make them explain why they’re not taking aggressive action to raise the cap. Have them explain it like we’re five, and be ready to debunk the inevitable but fallacious claims that the cap provides capital to create jobs and pay increases. It doesn’t, or else we’d be flush with well-paying jobs right now. No, they have to explain why the rich are getting the special treatment at the expense of the rest of us, many of whom are barely clinging to keeping a roof overhead and food in the fridge. Get their answers on the record and use them to bombard the candidates with attack ads.

This needs to be made into a disqualifying position in the next and every subsequent election, for everyone running, regardless of party affiliation. No support for a cap raise, no vote for you.

We don’t have time left to screw around here. We can see the disaster coming, and the longer we wait, the harder and less effective any fix will be.

 

N. Carolina Eggs-ecutions

A couple of things bubbled up in my social media feed last week, and I want to talk a bit about them. First up, North Carolina wants to enshrine magical thinking into law:

The actual bill is more of a “personhood” item, bestowing full human rights to fertilized eggs. The fallout from that is that the NC GOP is pushing to allow “deadly force” to stop women they believe are having abortions. I’m sure you can see the can of worms that this opens.

“They believe.” That’s a pretty low bar to get over before murdering someone. One can believe anything. Will that now be a Get Out of Jail Free card for every guy who wants to knock off his wife or girlfriend?

“I’m sorry, Your Honor, I swear she was on her way to get an abortion. I had no choice but to beat her to death.”

Will this make murder the penalty for using an IUD? Or having a miscarriage? The language in the bill has chilling ramifications, and it’s all based on the massive assumption that “human life begins at fertilization,” which the bill characterizes as “a matter of indisputable scientific fact,” a highly contentious statement. (Ridiculous statement, in my opinion.) They reason that if one can use deadly force to defend one’s own life, it can be used to defend this prospectively defined human being/clump of cells.

So I can just see this being used as a tactic outside Planned Parenthood or other reproductive health clinics. A group of morons ring the clinic and shoot anyone who comes near, because “they believe” someone is about to have an abortion.

There are a whole slew of other ripples this bill would force us to handle. Are these cell clumps/fetuses counted in the census? Do they count as dependents and tax deductions? Can they inherit estates? Can they receive monetary gifts or own bank accounts?

On the bright side, so far, this is just a bill being introduced. It still has to pass both houses and be signed by the governor. Republicans may have the numbers to pass it; they enjoy a 71-47 advantage in the NC House and a 30-20 lead in the Senate. They have this edge because North Carolina is the “Poster State” for gerrymandering, and the state districts have been carved up to deliver the maximum GOP seats. The Governor, whose election is NOT affected by gerrymandering, is a Democrat, and House Republicans are one vote short of a veto-proof super-majority. That means the vote would be razor-thin to uphold a veto, but one bought-off or threatened Democrat could tip the scales.  But it would be politically perilous because popular sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of broader reproductive rights, not narrower.

Democrats in North Carolina (and nationally) should make this a billboard issue to make the point that Republicans are not finished with their assault against women. Unless cooler heads prevail and they chuck this insidious proposal, hang this bill around their necks and make them wear it like a scarlet letter.

***

The other thing I found noteworthy is this cartoon.

I found it on social media and saved it for later use, and then later saw it pop up on a couple of blogs I follow. So I know I’m not the first to run it, but I feel I have to because it’s perfect. It’s an absolutely accurate depiction of what’s going on right now, as well as during the last 20 years.

I’ve been saying for years that all the Republicans have to run on is fear; fear of brown foreigners, gays, Liberals, non-Christians, Atheists, etc. They use that for misdirection away from their true intentions (like creating a rich, white, ruling class, siphoning tax money from the lower and middle classes upward to the 1%, and invalidating the rights of non-white and non-male. Because they don’t have a platform that offers tangible benefits to the average American, they have to guide our attention elsewhere, and fear is a potent weapon. So they get everyone worked up about these scary assertions, many of which disappear immediately upon the end of Election Season, and ride the big wave of fear and distrust right into office. At that point, all their attention turns to the enrichment of themselves, friends, and cronies. And with this Administration, self-aggrandizement, persecution of enemies, and setting up a permanent thumb on the scales of elections to come.

We need to keep our eyes on what’s truly important, like fixing the economy, eliminating those damaging tariffs, making health care affordable (and getting it back in line with the science), repairing our international standing, and installing a rational immigration policy that doesn’t include concentration camps. (And a host of other cleanup items to undo the damage caused by this clown-shoes game show host.)

And I’m hopeful there will be resources available for the gargantuan task of removing “his” name from everywhere he smeared it.

No, They are NOT the Same

When I was a little boy, maybe third or fourth grade, I asked my dad what the difference was between Republicans and Democrats. There had been a boy on the playground who was going around threatening to beat up any kid who said he was a Democrat. I messed around with him by going, “I’m a Democrat…  OK, I’m a Republican. No, I’m a Democrat…” I wasn’t too worried about getting beaten up… he was a fat kid, so I knew he couldn’t catch me. (I still remember his name… He’s probably the president of his local RNC.) But later, I figured I’d get to the bottom of the whole thing and try to figure out what I really was.

Many parents would have told their child not to worry about such things at such a tender age. But Dad told me something I’d never forget. He told me, “Republicans want the rich to get richer, and the Democrats want the poor to get richer.”

I thought for a second and said, “Then I’m a Democrat.”

Dad said, “Good boy.”

In the fifty-plus years since then, I’ve never seen any evidence that Dad was anything but 100% right with that call. Everything Republicans do is for the ultimate goal of improving the lives and bank accounts of the rich, even if it’s just pandering via religion to stay in power. It used to be subtle, but no longer.

Such open market tampering should be illegal… It probably is for the president via the Emoluments Clause, which states that a president may not profit from the office. But here he is anyway, making stock trades where he can create motion in the market just by saying something. So when he talks about a company or industry, he knows the inevitable result in the market, so before the speech, he either buys or sells, depending on where he KNOWS the stock is going.

It’s like he’s Biff in Back to the Future 2, making bets based on a sports almanac from the future, which shows all the winners. And no one will do jack shit about it. The Justice Department is no longer an entity that enforces the law, they are the president’s personal legal team. Prosecuting him is not in their charter. But watch them charge Nancy Pelosi with the same thing!

Yeah, the Republicans have been howling about Pelosi’s stock trades for years, and ignoring their own Congress critters who do the same thing. Bills have been introduced to outlaw stock trades by sitting Congress people, but, surprise-surprise, have not gotten any traction in getting passed.

It’s like with term limits. Why would they want to eliminate a perk of their own job? It’s in their interest to keep things the way they are. That especially goes for those who aren’t already wealthy, which, granted, are few and far between. Even though the congressional salary of around $175k sounds like a lot to Middle America, it costs a fortune to live in the DC area. Apartments and real estate in the DC metro area are obscenely expensive. And it’s not like you always get bang for your buck, either. It’s not that the places are that great; it’s that they're near DC, that’s it. It’s like the LA of the East Coast, only with lousier weather.

As far as I’m concerned, they should establish Congressional Barracks, like a complex of row houses, earmarked for Congress and even support staff (who REALLY get reamed on cost of living). With housing covered, they can pass a law banning stock trades for all government officials. Transgressors would get hit with loss of the amount used for purchase or sale, with an equivalent fine to boot.

Whatever the details, our elected officials should not be using their positions to enrich themselves, especially not by manipulating the markets and then using insider knowledge to profit.

Another peek into the Republican psyche comes from this article on Shark Tank’s token money-worshipping rich prick, Kevin O’Leary:

The complete quote from the headline: “I hope they work for my competitors.” This is the Republican philosophy in a nutshell, regarding how they view non-rich Americans. We’re just cogs in their personal machines that convey dollars upward to them. They don’t care about our quality of life, our opinions, what makes us happy, or anything else. We are a resource to exploit for their own gain. They would rather we just thank them for keeping us busy.

Once upon a time, such things were never stated publicly; one could only surmise such a stance from evaluating their corporate policies. But the current regime has emboldened the 1% to seek out the same kind of praise and adulation for being large and in charge that the president craves so much.

They want to demand company loyalty, applying pressure to work longer and harder for less and less. And then they display no such loyalty back, rolling out layoffs and job eliminations to keep the bottom line where they want it. It’s not like they’re going to cut back on executive bonuses, are they?

They demand everything, give you as little as possible in return, and cut you loose at the first sign of trouble. That’s the corporate American way, which is synonymous with the Republican way.

And somehow, they get people to keep voting for them, showing how they are true masters of manipulation.

 

Don't Believe the Hype

I think the state of Maryland is a shining example of how elections should be conducted. They have ample time for early voting, sufficient voting machines, and automatic mail-in ballots to all who request them. They provide ballot tracking back to the voter, to ensure confidence that one’s vote is counted.

That said, they really stepped in it this time around.

When they mailed out the ballots for the upcoming midterm primary elections, they provided the wrong party’s ballot to some voters. That necessitated a complete scrap of the mailed ballots and a remailing to all voters who chose mail-in ballots. They said there was an error on the part of the third-party vendor who physically mailed the ballots.

You can guess how that went over in the media:

Top story, front page.

Right out of the gate, the Republicans are on the warpath, declaring a fraud in process. The local conservative-shilling newspaper was right there to put up front-page headlines. Together, they’re acting like it was the Governor himself, stuffing envelopes and licking stamps, with a nefarious giggle. And they completely ignore what’s being done to correct the error.

They’ve already sent out emails and mailings (both of which I have received) with instructions to disregard the first ballot and only return the second. And if, like me, one has already turned in his ballot, instructions are to vote again with the new ballot because none of the old ones will be counted. (Inevitable Fox “News” headline: “Governor tells Marylanders to vote twice!”) The new ballots will have clear watermarked language on them, saying that these are the only ballots to be counted.

Also, keep in mind that this is a primary, so Democrats aren’t competing with Republicans. If cheating was the goal, why do it now during intra-party elections?

So, all the old ballots they receive will not be counted. If they have any sense, they’ll destroy them all. And it should be evident among the ballots received that they don’t get counted unless they have the watermark. Simple process.

I don’t see what else they can do to rectify the situation. I believe the votes will be counted fairly and accurately. I’m just pissed that they gave Republicans a lever to yank on, to claim foul when Maryland goes even Bluer than usual. And I especially dread when the Feds want the State to turn over all the ballots for review. I’m uneasy with the party known for cheating the system being handed the very material they can most easily use to cheat. The mistake may not be fatal, but it makes the job that much harder. It’s all a giant unforced error.

Or was it? Maybe there’s an operative or two within this vendor that were planted for the purpose of sowing suspicion about election integrity. It wouldn’t be that hard to arrange. There are enough Congressmen being paid off by moneyed interests, why not some putz in a mailroom? If you ask me, they should have picked some other state that doesn’t vote so predictably Blue.

So, when you inevitably see national news of the Maryland primaries being called into question, take it from a Marylander: They’re conning you. The error is being mitigated and will have no impact on the final vote tally. But they don’t want you to think about that, only the hysterical charges and hyperbole with which they describe all their opponents’ actions.