Sixteen-year-old high school student Emma Stevens sang a version of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” in her native Mi’kmaq, to raise awareness of Indigenous languages and culture. Here & Now’s Robin Young speaks to Stevens and Katani Julian, who translated the song, about the experience. The audio of the interview is here
============================
I thought this was so beautiful. The interview is good, too, if you have time.
What a day. I have so many thoughts on everything, but a full day of work to distract me. Last night Kamala Harris said that she’d pursue charges against Trump after he’s out of office, and I think I want to hear all the Dem candidates make a similar pledge.
For now, I’m still for slow walking impeachment and following Speaker Pelosi’s lead. Her entire focus seems to be getting Trump out of office one way or the other. And Rick Wilson made me laugh with this take:
@TheRickWilson : “There are three things you don’t rush in life: sex, BBQing ribs, and impeachment.” https://t.co/jdfAwnyaAm
— Miss T (@TaMarasKitchen) May 29, 2019
McConnell is still my biggest concern as his traitorous behavior seems to be putting democracy at risk daily. So taking back the Senate is imperative.
I’m hoping his guy can show Graham the door:
I may not be a superhero, but I am a proud South Carolinian, and I'm ready to fight for a better future for our state and our country. I hope you are, too. Find out how you can #JoinJaime and get involved: https://t.co/2jIqtqbKAB pic.twitter.com/zTjktJ1RpA
— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) May 29, 2019
With a good campaign, I really think a hollow core door could beat Corey Gardner. And we have some good candidates in the running against him. So I am hopeful there.
What do you think the next steps should be in regards to Trump, Barr, impeachment, etc?
Open thread
TaMara (HFG)
And if I have time to upload, I have a few minutes of duck video – bath time and their usual antics when I open the door. So today or tomorrow, I promise, since I’ve had quite a few requests.
rikyrah
@TaMara (HFG):
would love to see duck video :)
Jerzy Russian
Great song. Can she do more? I would pay good money for that.
NotMax
Also naked mopping.
;)
Think you meant to say the Senate.
Plato
Yutsano
I think Pelosi got what she needed. She got enough info from Mueller to start getting the fence sitters in her caucus to move to the impeachment side. What she really is holding out for is one more Republican. Amash by himself isn’t going to cut it. But I can’t think of anyone else in the House who would go for that.
Mike in NC
Getting rid of the odious Lindsey Graham will be a very tall order. He’ll have a freight train of dark money behind his reelection campaign. Plus, South Carolina is wall-to-wall wingnuts.
Raoul
National news is big. But, as always, I’m advocating for us to be really focused on state and local races. The abortion fight is showing us how state legislatures matter so damn much.
I also just donated to the @CollectivePAC for their summer of Black Campaign School offerings. When more POC are in office, from city councils to US Senate (hey, Jamie Harrison), I think the ultra-caution from the Pelosi era Dems will not hold sway.
Cheryl Rofer
@Yutsano:
CaseyL
Mitch McConnell has destroyed the US as a democratic republic; Trump is merely the final coup de gras.
Getting rid of Trump would be a Pyrrhic victory, as Pence could do the same damage or worse.
The eye-on-the-prize is flipping the Senate. And then getting rid of the judges McConnell has confirmed.
Bill Arnold
@Plato:
Good she slid that in. Shaming those that haven’t read it and lie about it. In his report, Mueller was all “read my words carefully – I chose them carefully”
Now he has said it out loud on camera.
Baud
@TaMara (HFG):
Yes! BJ After Dark is awesome.
ETA: oh, you said “duck.” Never mind.
Taobhan
Well, Mueller today put lie to everything Barr and Trump has said about the Special Counsel’s report exonerating obstruction. It’s not new information but it carries so much more weight when you hear it coming out of Mueller’s mouth. I don’t expect that anything will happen faster because of Mueller’s comments today: Trump/Barr will continue to obstruct the House’s efforts to investigate Trump obstructive conduct and the House will keep pressing for Mueller’s unredacted report and other Trump records. I think the best we can hope for is that the courts will expedite their review of House subpoenas so the House can get the documents it needs to proceed. I hope I’m being overly pessimistic here..
Another Scott
“The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine” – Sextus Empiricus
We have to keep working through the process.
Virginia’s primary elections are on June 11. Here’s hoping we pick strong candidates for the fall.
Donnie is extremely unpopular. There’s every reason to expect that the 10+15% swing that we’ve seen since November 2016 can continue if we don’t take things for granted and if we work for every possible win. Will it be enough to flip the Senate? We don’t know, but we have to fight like hell for it.
We can’t get burned out – we have to keep working.
Cheers,
Scott.
Taobhan
@Mike in NC: Yep, Mike, your comment reminds me of James Petigru’s comment in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the US: “too small for a republic and too big for an insane asylum.” It still applies South Carolina politics today.
MattF
Wilson is an R operative who would have eagerly demonized Pelosi ten years ago. It’s fairly amazing to hear admiration and agreement from him now.
Mandalay
@CaseyL:
And what exactly is your cunning plan to do that?….
Bnad
Every time you read “impeached” add “and exonerated” because that’s what the Senate is going to do (unjustifiably, but they’ll do it).
Impeached and exonerated. The “exonerated” will be timed by McConnell for maximum election impact.
The best option is to slow roll impeachment so that the Senate doesn’t have time to exonerate.
Repatriated
@Baud:
Thread category: “BJ After Duck”.
germy
@Cheryl Rofer: “Some of the democrats are hypocrites, some of the aren’t.”
Unlike republicans? Who agree with him privately but won’t go on the record because they’re terrified of their angry and violent base?
TaMara (HFG)
@NotMax: I caught that right away, but BJ has been so slow loading today it took a minute to get the edit to load. Thanks!
Kent
@Yutsano:
Everyone with the slightest bit of political awareness knows that every Dem in Congress would vote to impeach at the drop of a hat if they thought there was even a 50/50 chance that the Senate would actully convict and remove him from office. The real problem, as always, is the GOP.
What we actually should be doing in the media and online is creating an absolute deafening drumbeat aimed at every single GOP senator and all the (few) non-wingnut GOP house members asking them every day if THEY think the president obstructed justice and if THEY think the president is unfit, and if THEY would support removal There should be thousands of people hectoring Susan Collins every single damn day asking her if NOW at long last she finally thinks the president is unit. And after whatever fresh hell comes out of the white house tomorrow they should be asking her again: “OK what about NOW? NOW do you finally think he is unfit?” And then again next week and the week after and the week after. It should be fucking relentless.
And then we should be asking them: Do you think Trump is hurting the GOP brand? Is he dooming GOP chances in 2020? Do you think the GOP is better served with someone less unstable and racist in the white house? And so forth. Endlessly.
Eural Joiner
@Mike in NC:
Don’t disagree with you there and I live here!
If I remember correctly, Lindsey’s polling has gone UP since he’s attached his lips to Trump’s ass. That is what you are fighting here.
bemused
As Scarborough commented on McConnell’s Supreme Court seat answer, “We’d fill it” smirkily smiling, “He thinks he’s cute”.
McConnell really gives me the creeps, particularly when he smiles.
Raoul
@Bnad: The best option is to slow roll impeachment so that the Senate doesn’t have time to exonerate.
My thoughts as well. Seeing that even Biden is swinging around to an ‘yeah, if we have to, we will’ mode, after the statement I was thinking that the way to play this is, indeed, a slow roll impeachment investigation. Letting McConnell ‘exonerate’ Trump would be a disaster.
Another Scott
Donated a little to Jaime’s campaign. We have to take the fight to them everywhere.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ohio Mom
Jaime Harrison is very appealing. I hope he has a chance (I know nothing about South Carolina except how to find it on a map).
You ask, what do I think is the next step re: Trump? It is pray even harder for Pelosi to find a way to right things than she is praying for Trump and our country. Because I think it all rests on her and her ability to quietly move the process along.
Raoul
McConnell really gives me the creeps, particularly when he
smilesrictuses his tortoise face so horribly.oatler.
@Another Scott: Plutarch retorts:
“Thus, I do not see what use there is in those mills of the gods said to grind so late as to render punishment hard to be recognized, and to make wickedness fearless.”
Just One More Canuck
This could be Tamara’s future:
https://www.facebook.com/AnimalNatureUS/videos/681060715684738/
Another Scott
Twitter:
Yes, keep hammering McConnell. He can’t continue to destroy our government without push-back.
Make Mitch a millstone around the whole GOP’s neck.
(via LOLGOP)
Cheers,
Scott.
James E Powell
Impeachment inquiry needs to begin soon, but first, the ongoing investigations need to be coordinated so that there is a ready list of what each one is looking into and where it stands. Second, we do not need Mueller to testify. We need the witnesses he called to testify in public hearings. If the White House orders anyone not to testify, that’s obstruction of justice, count whatever.
TaMara (HFG)
@Just One More Canuck: LOL. I should get video of Scout – she loves to climb in the pool with the ducks – they are less enthusiastic.
Duane
@Raoul: Missouri’s last abortion clinic is set to close Friday due to Division of Health requirements. Gov. Parson will hold a press conference today about that and say fuck you, too bad we win. The Republican nuts are quickly taking Missouri to the bottom .
MattF
@Raoul: I’m not a believer, but I like to think that McConnell is due for some special treatment in the Bad Place.
TaMara (HFG)
@Another Scott: Yes! His name and the word traitor should be linked together and heard daily.
Eural Joiner
Deep thoughts from some discussion here at work. One of the arguments against impeachment is that it will fail in the Senate and then Trump will find popular support for re-election on top of damaging the Democrat Party. But if that’s true doesn’t that point us to a much more existential and extreme crisis – that there is a sizeable minority in this country that are willing and able supporters of a corrupt and unconstitutional regime that is hell bent on attacking the foundations of our republic (with the aid of foreign and hostile governments)? Isn’t that just saying we are in the early stages of a civil conflict that must be ended in either: a) capitulation and surrender to their vision of America or b) an escalation into violence to wrench power from their cheating and corrupt base? Doesn’t all of this – and especially the behavior of McConnell – just show us that the Social Contract is already broken and that we must, inevitably, take much stronger actions to repair it?
trollhattan
@Eural Joiner:
IMO this is the moment Lindsey lost his shit permanently and possibly, showed his actual personal for the first time. Either way, he’s a poison on the politic and needs to be gone.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Way OT, I hope you made it through to Act 3 and Alfie’s reprise of “So in Love.” Perfection. And the cameraman has settled down by then.
Another Scott
@trollhattan: That was quite a performance, wasn’t it?
And oh so many in the press fell for it (making the story all about the theatrics rather than the substance of confirming someone for a lifetime judicial appointment).
Grrr….
Cheers,
Scott.
eclare
@TaMara (HFG): Can’t wait to see how Pearl is fitting in!
Kent
@Another Scott:
This. Dems are horrible at this sort of thing. But look at what the GOP did to Pelosi. They had lots of Dems in purple districts running on anti-Pelosi platforms out of fear. The Dem media machine (such as it is) should be doing the same damn thing to McConnell until every GOP Senator who has the slightest chance of a successful challenge is afraid to support him.
trollhattan
@Duane:
“Show Me” state sure showed us.
Josie
Is McConnell up for reelection this time? If so, does he have any possible opposition?
Betty Cracker
@Eural Joiner: IMO, the situation is that 1) there IS a small minority who are as you describe — Trump cultists who get all their info from Fox News, the kind of people who wear “better Russian than Democrat” shirts to MAGA rallies, and 2) an even larger group of people who don’t pay any attention to what’s happening and act on pablum spoon-fed to them by idiots like Chris Cillizza, who is perfectly capable of framing an impeachment in the House and failure to convict in the Senate as a swing and a miss for the Dems without providing any real context around Trump’s many corrupt and documented abuses of power. IMO, apathy is as great if not a greater enemy than true believers.
germy
@Josie:
https://amymcgrathforcongress.com/
zhena gogolia
@Josie:
I have a monthly donation in to “Ditch Mitch,” and they seem to be pushing Amy McGrath. Doesn’t sound promising to me, but giving the donation makes me feel slightly better.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/12/amy-mcgrath-vs-mitch-mcconnell-group-launches-campaign-draft-her/3131763002/
Raoul
Also, too, I agree with Jeff Fecke (though I’d maybe not use as much all caps):
Kent
@Eural Joiner:
You say say this like you are suprised and just noticing it.
Of course the third option, which most here support, is fighting and beating them in every election large and small until we finally take back our country. They are not invincible.
Cacti
@bemused:
Amending the Judiciary Act should be a non-negotiable position of any serious Dem candidate.
Yutsano
@Josie: A) Yes he is. B) I haven’t researched it honestly. Kind of hoping one of the Brashear clan go after him.
germy
Anyone would be an improvement over mitch mcconnell.
Betty Cracker
@Josie: He is and he does!
zzyzx
@Eural Joiner: Yes and if you have some practical ideas as to what can fix the problem of the Senate with our current rural/urban divide calcifying, I’m all ears.
I’m exceedingly pessimistic about there being a good plan. My best hope now is that we can at least go back to 50 semi independent states so at least WA can do good things. My fear is that we’ll end up with the minority that rules the country outlawing all of our attempts at good state laws.
Jeffro
@Another Scott:
I agree. Slow-roll it or fast-track it, Dems need to do their duty, and that includes a couple of things besides getting impeachment hearings going.
1) Let’s hear it every day, from every Dem member of Congress: “why are Republicans being given a pass on this? where’s the media? why aren’t they asking GOP officials ‘how can you have already made up your mind to defend THIS president*’?” And so on.
2) In the same vein, every Dem MoC simply MUST beat on McConnell and his historic betrayals, plural, of our democracy. It doesn’t mean we’ll unseat him in KY, but it does bind him tightly to trumpov and point out the damage he (McConnell) is doing to our country and might, just might help flip the Senate.
3) Nancy P: “Our path is clear…we must do our duty and follow the facts wherever they lead…justice must be served and the rule of law upheld in this country. No politician should be able to obstruct justice, even if it was done out in the open.” Every other Dem: “One thing is certain already: a hostile foreign power attacked us in 2016, and the current occupant of the WH won’t do a damn thing to protect us from it happening again. He ignores murders of journalists when the murderers line his pockets; he ignores missile tests when the dictator in question flatters him; he’s a clear and present danger and frankly even Republicans deserve a better president”
Raoul
@Eural Joiner: I don’t know. But for several years now I have thought that a second civil war is possible. Is it likely? I believe Adam has said in several FP posts that he doesn’t think so. I don’t at all think it’s inevitable, or that capitulation by the left and center is the only other choice. If anything, it seems somewhat more probable that eventual capitulation by the bulk of the right (with the not-small right fringe remaining bitter and disruptive, but not powerful). But even getting to that will be a slog. A rather unpleasant, dirty slog.
Sebastian
WaPo: Pelosi says altered videos show Facebook leaders were ‘willing enablers’ of Russian election interference
WILLING ENABLERS, MOTHERFUCKERS.
Now comes FB’s time in the barrel. At long last.
ETA: grammar
Cacti
Concerning McTurtle, I read yesterday that since wifey’s appointment as Secretary of Transportation, she still hasn’t divested her holdings in an asphalt company that does millions in business with her agency.
In the two years since her appointment, the value of her shares have gone up $40k.
They’re not even trying to hide how nakedly corrupt they are anymore.
Josie
Thanks, all, for the information about McGrath. Looks like another good place to put a few dollars each month. Baby steps
zzyzx
Since it’s an open thread and I only learned about this by accident, the Israeli election seems to be falling apart and they might need a do over.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/hours-left-to-deadline-netanyahu-races-to-dissolve-knesset-live-updates-1.7302559
It reminds me that the horror of the Senate, as bad as it is, isn’t the only problematic system.
MattF
@Sebastian: But… but… that’s Facebook’s business plan.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Gobbled the whole thing in one gulp. Interesting to see how little modification in staging from either Broadway or the big screen the TV production required, and also how well they managed with the (apparently) $7.95 allocated for sets.
As for that very busy cameraman, was impressed with his abilities and stamina, having myself worked behind some of those same bulky and heavy cameras in use at the time. One also has to keep in the back of the mind that although the kinescope is B&W, the production was broadcast live and in color*, so some of what looks flat or drab now was probably vibrant and simply didn’t weather the transition well.
*Which leads one to wonder if they did it live twice, the second time for the Pacific time zone.
Gelfling 545
@NotMax: I believe he was quoting Joy Reid.
Gelfling 545
@Cheryl Rofer: Then what use are they? They won’t even follow their own principles.
Kent
@Raoul:
No, it’s not possible. At least no in any military sense. The country would have to disintigrate to the level of Venezuela or Somolia to make armed insurrection any kind of viable option. Are you imagining that liberal states like Oregon and Vermont are going to raise armies to attack the Federal government? Or that rebel groups are going to take to the mountains?
I wouldn’t be surprised to see rising levels of political violence such as bombings of corporate or government targets, attempted assasinations, and so forth. But those sorts of things aren’t actually going to change anything. They didn’t in the 60s and they won’t today.
opiejeanne
@Kent: What did that do to Pelosi? How did it affect her behavior in the House now? It didn’t end in a big victory for Republican and none of those chickenshits is Speaker.
MattF
@zzyzx: There’s an informative NYT article on the parliamentary fight in Israel. Seems to stem, fundamentally, from a conflict between Netanyahu and Lieberman.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Oh, wow, I’d love to see the color version. And it was live? Their vocal performances were so great (I mean Drake and Wilson; I’m not crazy about Morison’s voice).
ETA: And I realize there is no color “version” unless you were watching in 1958 (which I believe I was, although it’s an infant memory).
Betty Cracker
@Sebastian: I’m glad Pelosi called them out. Facebook wants to hoover up the media sector’s profits without taking on any of the regulatory responsibilities that governed that industry. Fuck that noise.
Kent
@opiejeanne:
Because Pelosi is the best Speaker that the Dems have had in a century, if not ever. And they are starting to rediscover that. As is the rest of the country. But it was a valid GOP strategy at the time. Even my wife who is a loyal Dem was swayed by the anti-Pelosi media campaigns.
If you agree with McConnell’s objectives then perhaps he is the best Senate leader they have had in a long time too. I don’t know. He is pretty fucking effective. But unless you are a KY voter, all we can really do is turn him into poison. What else is there? But McConnell should be a fucking millstone around the neck of every GOP senator in a slightly purple state. Because he is the the most traitorous politician we have had in a century except perhaps for Trump himself.
Sebastian
@MattF:
Yes indeed. I keep saying that YouTube and FB are willingly spreading disinformation because behind the official facade they are no better than InfoWars. They make their money off the fanatics and power users, the folks who go down the rabbit hole and spend hours and hours watching. Because let’s be honest, who watches YouTube for hours unless you are a teenager watching some YouTube streamers (and many of those have gone to Twitch)? It’s all the ISIS, incels, alt-rights, fascists, etc.
Same business model like the NRA: flood the airwaves and public discourse to keep the right to sell merchandise to a micro-sub-group.
bemused
@Cacti:
If we ever get out of this freaking calamity, there are a ton of government issues that need to be fixed.
Sebastian
@Betty Cracker:
Yes, same for Google and YouTube. And lest I forget, the cesspool that is Instagram (a subsidiary of FB).
Kent
@Sebastian:
I think the only thing that will get FBs attention is if millions of users start posting a lot of anti-FB stuff on FB. Use the platform to attack it from within. And then when FB inevitably starts censoring out the anti-FB stuff that is hurting their image we can all say: “OK, so you CAN actually control content. Now let’s start doing it for Russian trolls and vile racists as well.”
trollhattan
@Sebastian:
Reversing the federal brain drain will take a generation at least.
Vaguely related, just try and pry this guy’s many victims away from Trump. Two peas in a pod.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
One thing the inner director noticed and admired was how well some of the shots inside her dressing room were set up – those which included the mirrors and managed not to show reflections of anything which shouldn’t be there (lights, cables, errant stagehands, etc.,).
opiejeanne
@NotMax: What show are you talking about?
opiejeanne
@MattF: They’ve got a Lieberman too?
NotMax
@opiejeanne
Hallmark Hall of Fame broadcast of Kiss Me, Kate, from 1958, available on Amazon Prime.
ThresherK
@opiejeanne: “So In Love” and Drake mentioned, I’m guessing “Kiss Me Kate”.
Zzyzx
@MattF: more like Netanyahu didn’t have enough seats to form a government without both the religious right and the secular right parties and those two have demands that can’t both be met.
And since both of those groups have far less to lose than Likud, they’re not backing down.
Origuy
@Sebastian: I watch a lot of YouTube and that alt-right stuff never shows up for me. I know it’s out there; maybe Google doesn’t offer it to me because I never go looking for it. I watch documentaries, both ripped from TV and specially made ones. Mostly history and linguistics, and how-to videos. Also standup comics and music of course. Same for Facebook; I see the stuff I care about, although occasionally some ads that I’d rather not see. Am I an anomaly? I don’t have right-wing relatives that watch Fox News all the time, or if I do, I don’t follow them on Facebook. The most I get is Bernie-friendly posts and I ignore those.
Aleta
@NotMax: thanks !
germy
Netanyahu’s Wife Agrees to Plead Guilty in Catering Case
https://www.wsj.com/articles/netanyahus-wife-agrees-to-plead-guilty-in-catering-case-11559153304
rikyrah
@zzyzx:
won’t the same result come again?
they allow everyone to run again?
zhena gogolia
@Aleta: @opiejeanne:
If you’ve never seen/heard Alfred Drake, it’s a must-see!
He created the roles of Curley in Oklahoma!, Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate, and Hajj in Kismet, but Hollywood gave the roles to the much inferior (but prettier) singer-actors Gordon MacRae and Howard Keel.
Aleta
germy
zhena gogolia
@Aleta:
Zzyzx
@rikyrah: possibly yeah. Parliamentary systems are their own mess
Brachiator
A poster recently mentioned kids moving to Denmark
Ran across this fun, long read …
Michael Cain
@zzyzx:
The flip side of that, of course, is that some other states would be able to do bad things. I’m a pessimist. Not as bad as the people suggesting a shoot-it-out civil war, or even widespread civil disorder, but I could see a partition as the different sides simply decide they would prefer that over sticking together.
humboldtblue
Humboldt County Schools just had 182 students receive their California Seal of Biliteracy in which they demonstrated proficiency in at least two languages one being English.
Two young ladies from Eureka High earned their biliteracy seals in the Yurok language and another student received an award for proficiency in English, German, Polish and Dutch.
The daughters of two close friends are also fluent Spanish speakers (one is 8 and had a jump start with Mom being Mexicana and the other, 12, a white girl who has spent all her schooling in Spanish immersion) and I am embarrassed to say I am still monolingual.
humboldtblue
@Cheryl Rofer:
These are quotes from our congressman who was interviewed last week specifically about impeachment. He is banging the drum for impeachment inquiries.
Aleta
@zhena gogolia: Thanks! I only knew the Ok role from Gordon ‘proforma’ MacRae and the bouncing Billy Crystal (jk) so definitely look forward to that.
Miles Davis – Surrey With The Fringe On Top 1956
Michael Cain
@humboldtblue:
If I had one part of my education to do over, I would replace the four semesters of college German with Spanish. German has turned out to be not useful and has all disappeared from my head; Spanish would have been very helpful while I still retained it.
At that time, at that university, and with my particular majors, Spanish was not an option. Had to be either German or Russian.
humboldtblue
@Michael Cain:
I spent way too much time studying French when I already had a good base in Spanish now I’m absolute shit at both.
Jay
@Origuy:
Sebastian published a link yesterday, to how the google/youtube game you,
https://www.fast.ai/2019/05/28/google-nyt-mohan/
through the autoplay/recommend features.
As an example, I often you tube for military history docs.
I’ve learned to always search for a specific event, and pay attention to the channel holders, because if I allow auto play or follow the recommends, you tube “feeds me” less and less history, more and more propaganda,
And if it’s WWII, it’s about 16 degrees of Kevin Bacon before it’s trying to feed me Nazi/SS apologia.
The Moar You Know
@Eural Joiner: Buy a gun and start signing up folks for your militia or you are nothing but just stupid talk, motherfucker. And if you decide to launch your great liberal revolution, let us know where you live so we can avoid it like it’s full of Ebola.
The rest of us Americans will be dealing with this like adults.
Jay
For those interested in Bad Boris’s Very Bad Day,
The Rectification of Names has a law explainer up,
http://yastreblyansky.blogspot.com/2019/05/uneasy-lies.html?m=1
It’s not a Freeze Peach issue, it’s misuse of public office.
Baud
@Michael Cain:
I’m trying to teach myself Spanish now. It goes slowly.
The Moar You Know
@Kent: Doesn’t work. I tried. Somehow, oddly, my postings never showed on a single friend’s FB feed. NOT ONE.
Wonder why? (I don’t wonder at all)
Yes, they absolutely can control content, and they can do it without people. They just refuse to.
zzyzx
@Michael Cain: well yeah, but I’m finding it hard to believe that we’ll be able to do good things on a national scale anymore. For example, my fear is less Roe v Wade being overturned (because I can’t see that not happening at this point) than a nationwide abortion ban.
Sebastian
@Kent:
Intriguing. Hm. Let me ponder that for a bit.
MattF
@Jay: Quite interesting. I’d never heard of ‘misfeasance’ before.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: @ThresherK: Thanks. I should have known from that number, but I didn’t remember that song at all.
Sebastian
@Origuy:
That’s because you have specific things you are looking for and if you are watching series, you have preselected playlists.
However, try this out: pick a fairly short video, maybe 10-20 minutes. Leave autoplay on and let it run for a few hours and observe where it took you.
These motherfucker algos have sent millions and millions of children globally into the black void of hate and CT. We will NEVER be able to undo this. An entire generation has been poisoned, THAT is the true legacy of YouTube and Facebook.
opiejeanne
@Zzyzx: I read that the religious right wanted Orthodox Jews exempted from the obligatory military service, and that they refused to back down.
Raoul
@Kent: You’re getting warmer with the “rebel groups take to the mountains” part.
Maybe my terminology isn’t quite right, but I think a militia movement, a la Bundys writ large, in some fairly organized way attacking a government they see as urban and Democrat isn’t at all impossible.
I don’t think secession and state against state has to be the standard to be called a civil war (civil insurrection might be closer, tho).
Again, as I said initially, I don’t think it is likely. But above non-zero.
zhena gogolia
@Aleta:
This video is a good sampler:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCOblpkH8WE
zhena gogolia
@opiejeanne:
It is one of the greatest songs ever written and no one ever sings it any more. Very hard to sing.
Roger Moore
@Kent:
How do you think you accomplish that? I have argued that impeachment is the only reliable way of forcing the Republicans to confront that question. If they aren’t forced to actually vote on the issue of whether Trump has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, they will be free to talk about how deplorable Trump is while refusing to lift a finger to stop him. Impeachment forces them to answer those questions and to answer them with actual binding votes rather than vague statements.
zzyzx
@opiejeanne: yeah and the secular right pro-war party wasn’t willing to accept that. I’m not sure how they get past that in the September election if there are similar results.
Duane
@germy: The entire Republican party is a scam. Left, right, up, down high and low. All-around they’re crooks. Now that they showed me who they are it makes things easier.
Sebastian
@Roger Moore:
We already know how to do that. We blast their phones.
Jay
@Raoul:
There have been Reich Wing “antigovernment” militia’s in the US since the 1970’s.
While there have been “lone wolf” and small group attacks, they have never been able to spark their RoHaWa or “Civil War”,
A) Cosplaying a patriot while yelling is much safer and physically less demanding than overthowing the Government,
B) Field Marshall Bubba Lefleur III of the Michigan Free State Militia ain’t ever gonna take orders from that treasonous son of a bitch Commedant Wolverine of the Michigan Patriot Army, and vice versa,
C) Their “comrades” are marks to be fleeced, by small cons like marked up tents, uniforms, mre’s, “combat training”, weapons, ammo, badges,…… or by pretending to be a Cartel Gang.
Origuy
@Jay: Thanks. That’s interesting, and discouraging. It also explains why I never see any of those videos. I rarely play anything on autoplay unless it’s another video from the same submitter and most of my suggestions are from subscriptions. I do get the “ancient astronauts” crap because I watch a lot of archaeology. I wonder if the YouTube upper management that are pushing this stuff came from Google or were from YouTube before the merger.
Mandalay
So Haberman was playing the confused and innocent bystander on TV this morning on why she is reviled and despised for being a tool for the Trump Administration.
And then right after her TV appearance, she tweets this:
Her point was that Huckabee Sanders has subtly changed her position on the Mueller Report exonerating Trump, but the casual reader is surely just going to see “…no collusion…no conspiracy…no obstruction”.
If your goal in that tweet (as a reporter for the NYT) is to highlight the mendacity of the Administration, why on earth would you phrase it in that manner, just regurgitating the quote from Huckabee Sanders?
Yet Haberman still wonders why she is seen as Trump’s stenographer.
Immanentize
@Jay:
FTFY
We think these are extraordinary times because they have unique qualities. I think this moment is historically “ordinary” and what we had between say, 1974 and 2000 (or 1946 and 2016 if you are willing to forget all the political violence and racism of the 50s and 60s) were extraordinary.
Jay
@Origuy:
It seems they came from Google, YouTube and the early Internet pol up Ad Sales companies.
And keep in mind, Google/YouTube deliberately monitized their “content” so that “content providers” could quit their day jobs, make radicalization content 24/7, and rigged the algorythms at their behest.
When the big Social Media companies were promising algorythms to reduce hate on the internet, they all brought in Nazi’s to make sure their filters left the hate up.
Frankensteinbeck
@Kent:
We cannot do this in any effective way. The electorate is too split. Republican voters love McConnell’s treason, corruption, and cruelty. LOVE it. Democrats already hammer Republican malfeasance. The anti-Pelosi campaign was a misogyny campaign, the same as the anti-Obama campaign was a racism campaign. We don’t have that kind of weapon in our toolbox, because we’re the party that’s against misogyny and racism. All we could hit McConnell for there would be being a rich old white man, and the people who care about that are already pissed.
Democrats and Republicans are two entirely different groups, with opposed values, who react to entirely different stimuli. Tactics that work for them generally will not work for us, and vice versa.
Jay
@Frankensteinbeck:
“All we could hit McConnell for there would be being a rich old white man, and the people who care about that are already pissed.”
Russian spy, traitor.
CaseyL
@Jay:
They don’t care. He gets them what they want.
Jay
@CaseyL:
You arn’t trying to change the spongy mass that is the ReThug brain,
You are trying to incite the non-voting middle, the Green suckers, the “independents”.
J R in WV
@Mandalay:
It’s easy, take them out to a nice dinner, best place in their district, and tell them they will be in the FBI spotlight the rest of their lives. If they ever meet a crook, ever borrow money without a payment book, ever invest in something without spending any money, they’ll go to jail for the rest of their lives.
Then, if they hesitate to resign, proceed to open every drawer, every envelope, read every email, until you find something worth prosecuting. We all know these guys were both corrupt and stupid. There is no way they didn’t accept dirty money, commit fraud, take a free investment in a real estate scam, something.
Even if they were never crooked, make it clear that they will be in a spotlight for the rest of their career, and something is bound to float to the surface if they don’t go away.
Jay
@J R in WV:
“It’s easy, take them out to a nice dinner, best place in their district, and”
Make sure they get e-coli from the salad, listeria from the steak and samonella from the cherries jubalee, legionaires disease from the AC, lock them up for a few days for driving while black, because the Courts are closed for the long weekend, there is no cell service and the payphone is out of order.
Annie
@Raoul:
I used to worry about a second civil war, but that has lessened because I think the right-wing nutcakes are (1) not organized, and (2) unwilling to really put their lives on the line. Remember the “occupation” of the national park a couple of years ago? The so-called occupiers who said they were defending liberty didn’t even bother to take gear or supplies with them. When a right-wing demonstration was planned in San Francisco in August 2017, a counter-demo was set up, and the right-wingers immediately canceled their demo and planned a news conference instead, at a different location. They said they’d gotten threats, but a police officer I know checked for me and said none had been reported. Gavin McInnes, the head of the Proud Boys, is upset and angry about lawn signs — lawn signs! — in his comfy suburb that say “hate has no home here.”
This is not the stuff that serious soldiers are made of.
J R in WV
@The Moar You Know:
Actually, they don’t refuse to control content — they refuse to control right-wing fascist content, which they love, a whole lot.
Zuckerburg is a fascist, he seems to believe being a right wing fascist will make him more money than being an American patriot. I don’t know if that’s the case, but Zuckerburg thinks it is, and thinks more money is more important than American values.
TenguPhule
@Jay:
After which the judges will be found dead in their cells, cause of death “suicide by hanging”.