Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let me file that under fuck it.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Giving up is unforgivable.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

“woke” is the new caravan.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Good News On Several Fronts

Good News On Several Fronts

by | 104 Comments

This post is in: 

There really is some positive news out there.  I put this together yesterday, and I see that Anne Laurie did something similar this morning, with good news tweets.  Great minds and all that.

Twenty-One States Announce Historic Governor-Led Reproductive Freedom Alliance

We should remember these names.

California Governor Gavin Newsom
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs
Colorado Governor Jared Polis
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
Delaware Governor John Carney
Hawai’i Governor Josh Green
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
Maine Governor Janet Mills
Maryland Governor Wes Moore
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
New York Governor Kathy Hochul
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee
Washington Governor Jay Inslee
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers

12 Attorneys General Sue FDA to Make Abortion Pill More Accessible  (Washington Post)

Led by Washington and Oregon.  Joined by Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont.

We should remember these states.  Surprising that CA isn’t on there!

Encouraging signs for Democrats in first 2023 elections  (Washington Post)

(We may want it more than they do this time.)

News Outlets Demand Release of Jan. 6 Footage given to Tucker Carlson  (Washington Post)

Attorney Charles Tobin sent a letter on behalf of CBS News, CNN, Politico, ProPublica, ABC, Axios, Advance, Scripps, the Los Angeles Times and Gannett, arguing that the footage should be available to other groups as well.

We should remember those organizations.

Tempered in a Crucible of Violence, Zelensky Rises to the Moment  (NYT)

(We are so lucky to have the real deal in Zelenskyy and Biden, when we need that the most.)

President Biden is Ready for Reelection Run, First Lady Says  (Washington Post)

(He’s not done yet!)

The GOP’s Ukraine supporters begin to summon their voice  (Washington Post)

Mitch McConnell (spit!), Lindsey Graham (spit!), Nikki Haley (spit!), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss), Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

(Not many, but some is better than none!)

Here’s a palate cleanser after having to type the names of some vile people just above.

Disqualification From Office: Donald Trump v. the 39th Congress  (Lawfare)

Paragraph 2

The idea of using the 14th Amendment to bar Trump from holding the presidency a second time is gaining traction. Members of Congress are considering legislation that would create the “legal mechanics” to implement the disqualification provision. Meanwhile, a public interest group has promised to file lawsuits pursuing Trump’s disqualification under the 14th Amendment, citing “overwhelming” evidence that he “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Jan. 6 attack.

Closing

The only remaining question is whether he participated in an insurrection. The persons who framed Section 3 of the 14th Amendment regarded persons as participating in an insurrection if they incite, aid, or support an assemblage committed to preventing the implementation of federal law by force or violence. The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol provides an answer, detailing in its report “how Donald Trump, along with a handful of others, planned to defeat the transfer of Presidential power on January 6th.” The committee’s conclusion that Trump was a participant in an attempt to prevent the implementation of federal constitutional provisions and statutes governing presidential elections, an attempt that involved resistance to those federal laws by force and violence, combined with the framing understanding that the president is both an officer of the U.S. and an officer under the U.S. compel the conclusion that Donald Trump is constitutionally disqualified from seeking a second term as president of the United States.

The only question that remains is whether—and how—that will happen.

Back to my hate-hobby horse, was all the talk of regulating crypto just a flash in the pan?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

104Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    News Outlets Demand Release of Jan. 6 Footage given to Tucker Carlson (Washington Post)

    Attorney Charles Tobin sent a letter on behalf of CBS News, CNN, Politico, ProPublica, ABC, Axios, Advance, Scripps, the Los Angeles Times and Gannett, arguing that the footage should be available to other groups as well.

    What took them so long?

  3. 3.

    Ohio Mom

    Five years or so ago, I don’t remember which talk show, probably Colbert, Jill Biden appeared extremely ambivalent about Joe’s decision to run (this was before the official announcement, during the “He’s considering it” phase). This time around, she’s all in. As am I.

    On another note, Zelensky demonstrates strong ego boundaries when he says, ‘Russia’s business is Russia’s business, not mine.’ I like the alignment of geographical and psychological borders.

  4. 4.

    Anonymous At Work

    Back to my hate-hobby horse, was all the talk of regulating crypto just a flash in the pan?

    As much as crypto is proving to be a flash in the pan.  As much as the market for NFTs needs regulation.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    @Ohio Mom: The clip of Zelenskyy is only 29 seconds, but it says everything about who he is, what he values, and how he sees the world.

    He is the epitome of “eyes on the prize” and never seems to let anything distract him from that.

  7. 7.

    Honus

    I’m still trying to get my head around McCarthy’s justification for releasing government documentation to a single overtly-biased commentator.  But I’m sure a district court judge in Texas will educate me.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    Attorney Charles Tobin sent a letter on behalf of CBS News, CNN, Politico, ProPublica, ABC,Advance, Scripps, Axios, and the Los Angeles Times and Gannett, arguing that the footage should be available to other groups as well.

    I’m glad they didn’t go with Jeffrey Toobin.

  10. 10.

    japa21

    WG, I may be the only one hear that feels this way, but there is an old axiom that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to or should do it. Like using different colors for your print.

     

    ETA: But thanks for the roundup.

  11. 11.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: Probably a check of laws, House rules, Federal regulations, and precedent.  Unusual question about partial release of public records to exclusive use by/to one private, for-profit entity for commercial use by (either) a single Officer of House of Representative/Congress or the Speaker of the House.

    I’d imagine that if this action is allowable as anything other than the Speaker of the House having clear and sole discretion for releasing public records to a single private entity for exclusive use, then Democrats can release the same records to general public or media, either as Senate Majority Leader or a general Officer of the House of Representatives.  If the exclusive use is not supported, then a public release is now all-but-mandated.  If the exclusive use is supported but not to a private, for-profit entity for commercial use, then again, public release may end up being the mandate.
    Lots of wrinkles to check.  Congress (aka Legislative Branch) is hard to sue by design.  You typically sue the person [hopefully “faithfully”] executing the law, aka the Executive Branch.  The only exception could be at play here: when the Legislative Branch does not follow its own rules

    EDIT: Cough IAAL but not practicing and not a legal opinion here COUGH

  12. 12.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: Crypto is proving to be every bit the flash in the pan that NFTs were: the latest variation of tulip bulbs.  No one regulates the market for tulips anymore since time has rendered that speculative market defunct.

  13. 13.

    Leslie

    Do all the pretty colors in the post have any particular significance, or are they merely decorative? Either way, I do appreciate hearing about the positives.

    ETA: not a critique.

  18. 18.

    Jerry

    Since North Carolina has set term limits on the Governor, ‘huge Caniac’ Roy Cooper is on his way out. Our current state AG, Josh Stein, has already declared his candidacy for the top state office. He is awesome and deserves any penny that you can send his way because he going to, more than likely, run against NC’s current Lieutenant Governor, Mark Robinson, who is a maga freak and homophobe extraordinaire.

    Here is Josh Stein’s website.

  20. 20.

    WereBear

    Everything has the lowest common denominator. If you remember television with three channels and a lucky UHF, you know what I mean.

    It’s the simplest message which reaches the most. But it doesn’t mean it’s a bad message.

  27. 27.

    Frankensteinbeck

    incite, aid, or support

    I think ‘incite’ and ‘support’ will be damned hard to prove for January 6th.  All Trump has to do is shrug and say “I didn’t specifically tell them to invade the building, and I thought the hot heads were just running their mouths.”  Might be able to nail him on ‘aid’ though, because he refused to do anything to stop it when his advisers were asking him to.  He just sat around and watched it on TV.

    Back to my hate-hobby horse, was all the talk of regulating crypto just a flash in the pan?

    No, but the press being interested in talking about it was.  Regulations are slow to take effect, but there are some coming into effect this year that are causing a whole lot of whining and despair among the scammer crowd.

  28. 28.

    J R in WV

    Our Governor, Jim Justice, recently had a round table on taxation in West Virginia. He invited ( and no doubt paid ) Grover Norquist — noted expert in the economy and commercial organization here in West Virginia — NOT — to attend. Amazeballs !!! I wonder what Mr Norquist recommended? Big tax cuts for industry and the rich folks.  No doubt.

    So our poor state will have less money to work with…

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @japa21:

    but there is an old axiom that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to or should do it. Like using different colors for your print.

    well aware of that, thanks.

    I do it for a reason.

    edit: there’s also a lovely axiom to the effect that it’s much more effective to correct people ,or challenge them, in private, not in public.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @Leslie:  I think it’s fair to say that most people on BJ do not read the whole post.

    It’s also fair to say that people won’t read a whole wall of text.

    I tend to color the parts that I hope people will at least notice as they skim the post.

    I meant it when I said we should remember the ones who are fighting for us.

  34. 34.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    California already seems to be very strong on this issue of freedom from conservative bullshit. Gov Newsom has his own style but seems pretty strong on this issue. So I’m not worried about his legislating agenda. Now it would be nice if CA joined in on this topic, it is a bit important and all the strength possible to fight for it seems wise. What I really wonder is not that no one has asked him but why CA hasn’t joined, I’m not sure I see any downside.

  37. 37.

    zhena gogolia

    I read the NYT so you don’t have to. Yesterday I saw an article that was on the front page but seemed to be an opinion piece. It said that both Zelenskyy/Biden and Putin are claiming to be confident of victory, but neither side articulated what victory would mean.

    Uh, for Zelenskyy/Biden, victory means Putin gets his ass out of the country that has borders that were internationally agreed upon (including by Russia) in 1991. It’s very simple.

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @Honus:

    I thought this was pretty clear. He’s a worthless hack who had to play to the worst of the worst conservative bullshit because he’s a worthless hack. The people he sucked up to for his own 15 seconds of infamy seem, what’s that word, nice is it? At least it exposes conservative BS for exactly what it is, performative bullshit.

  43. 43.

    Geminid

    I thought Aaron Rouse’s January victory in the Virginia 7th Senate special election was another good development. The 7th District is in Virginia Beach and was vacated by Republican Jen Kiggans when she won the 2nd CD seat from Elaine Luria. Democratic Senate leader L. Louise Lucas can use another block for her “Brick Wall,” and Rouse is a solid one.

    Aaron Rouse is 39 years old and had been a Virginia Beach City Council member since 2019. Before that, he was a well known football player from Virginia Beach who played several seasons in the NFL, after graduating from Virginia Tech. Rouse will run again this fall in a redrawn Senate district.

  53. 53.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Frankensteinbeck: What is the legal definition of “support,” I wonder?  But yes, trying Trump for 1/6 (from the angle of inciting) has always been WAY MORE OF A STRETCH, than most people assume.

  55. 55.

    Craig

    Ned Lamont. I didn’t realize he become Gov. of Connecticut. Good for him. Hopefully he’s a good Governor.

  56. 56.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Actually he did seem to support it.

    A number of his actions/inactions, things he stated, who he stated them to, all of this was way out of the concept of the job he was trying to steal. Some of this was more behind the scenes but I believe that there is enough evidence to fix him on this and I believe that the Jan 6 investigation by congress and with Jack Smith now in charge, we will get there. I think the going after the insurrectionists first builds that case for who was/is their leader. His actions/inactions on Jan 6 show that he is the leader. All roads point to that one person. All that needs to be done is to show that overwhelmingly and that is happening.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    @Craig:

    I didn’t realize he become Gov. of Connecticut.

    I had that exact thought as I was typing the list!  I really do think it’s important for us to take note of the leaders who are fighting for us.

  60. 60.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Alison Rose:

    lol and a model interaction with someone who misunderstood a comment.

    belated condolences, sorry to hear about your dad; it’s so difficult. may his memory be a blessing.

  63. 63.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Omnes Omnibus: To confuse things further, at least here in RI (someone else can speak to CT or MA) the type of establishment where you take your dinner jacket after spilling half a glass of Pinot Noir on it is sometimes called a “cleanser.” So you drive down the block and see, say, “Superior Cleansers.” That usage seems to be fading, though.

  68. 68.

    Anyway

    @Gin & Tonic:

    cleanser.” So you drive down the block and see, say, “Superior Cleansers.” That usage seems to be fading, though.

    Ok, that’s weird. Never seen that. I’d see that sign and think juice cleanse and new-agey hokums…

  70. 70.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Ruckus: Today’s Jack podcast has Andrew McCabe talking about precisely this: how DOJ/FBI/USAttorneys build case against organizations by working their way up and establishing the links and who the leader is/are.  And at the end of the day you always need someone very high up (like Meadows, Pence, attorneys like Cippolone etc.) to give you enough to go at the King.  It’s very difficult, especially with someone like Trump who is smart enough to not put things in writing/email/texts, and it takes a long time.  But it can be done and prosecutors/FBI do this all the time.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @UncleEbeneezer: But everyone keeps telling me that there is more than enough evidence out there already and the only thing stopping the DoJ/Garland/Smith is cowardice or secret Republican sympathies.  You can’t possibly be correct.

  74. 74.

    JWR

    I realize this isn’t exactly good news, but at least it got him “cancelled” for a while:

    New York (CNN) — Newspapers across the country dropped the “Dilbert” comic strip over the weekend after the creator of the satirical cartoon went on a racist tirade, calling Black Americans a “hate group” and suggesting that White people should “get the hell away” from them.

    […]

    The move came after Scott Adams, the cartoonist behind “Dilbert,” effectively encouraged segregation in a shocking rant on YouTube. His comments came in response to a poll from the conservative firm Rasmussen Reports that said 53% of Black Americans agreed with the statement, “It’s OK to be White.”

    The Anti-Defamation League has noted that the phrase emerged on the infamous message board 4chan in 2017 as a trolling campaign and has a “long history” in the white supremacist movement.

    I thought Adams outed himself as a POS some time ago. Better late than never.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    @Frankensteinbeck: What’s that old saying?  Something something the law is an ass.

    :-/

    “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

    “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women,” Trump told his supporters shortly before the Capitol assault. “We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

    etc.

    Of course he was the leader of the insurrection. Of course he was inciting a mob. We all saw it building for months. We saw it live on TV as it was happening.

    Whether this is the thing he’s convicted on, dunno. They got previous mobsters on things other than organized crime and murder, but we all know who the ringleaders were…

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Geminid:

    excellent point, especially important since Rouse flipped a Republican held seat rather than winning a D seat by a larger margin, as in most of the elections in the article.

    do you know how redistricting will affect this seat, Democratic prospects for state legislature in general?

  78. 78.

    MomSense

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Hot damn!  I was once working an ocean trail next to a farmhouse and came across a giant Maine Coon cat.  He was clearly assessing whether or not to let me pass. I’ll never forget that stare.

  79. 79.

    Falling Diphthong

    I’m okay with the government not regulating crypto in the same sense that I am okay with them never regulating the beanie baby market.

  80. 80.

    MomSense

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I love your colors!  I bought some yarn at the fiber  festival yesterday and thought I had picked different colors from my usual but when I got them home, I realized they blend right in.

  81. 81.

    Scout211

    I am not sure why Attorney General Bonta did not add California to the lawsuit against the FDA but maybe he will in the future.  In the meantime, the legislature and the administration in California is moving ahead with the strongest set of laws in the nation to protect reproductive health. And Bonta is already busy defending those laws as they are being challenged.

    Warning:  Politico link, with an awful headline, but some good information.

    California enacts new abortion laws, expecting copycats

    The first-in-the-nation mandate for student health centers to carry abortion pills is just one of more than a dozen new California policies that aim to make the state the nation’s leading haven for abortion rights. Now, Democrats are holding up California as a model as New York, Washington, Illinois and other blue states prepare to enact similar policies in 2023.

    “People look to California for leadership, and in these dark moments, we want to be a bright light,” Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is already defending some of the new abortion-rights laws from legal challenges, said in an interview. “We made a menu of options that’s now publicly available for anyone. These laws are ready to be duplicated and replicated.”

    Health workers at UCSB spent more than a year preparing to implement the program, and even began prescribing the pills last April, well ahead of the January deadline. They’ve written prescriptions for about 50 students so far.

  85. 85.

    Leslie

    @WaterGirl: I see. I typically do read walls of texts and entire posts, and wouldn’t have guessed that this bunch was reading-averse, but you would know better than I. The colors are very pretty, as I said; I just wondered if you were encoding any extra layers of meaning. (Different colors for D governors in blue states vs. red, or that sort of thing.)

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    He’s not near as smart as the 20s and 30s mob bosses.

    By a wide margin.

    He thinks he is but then his thought process is rather fucked up.

    He thinks he’s pretty. He forgot the necessary adjatiave – shitty.

    He thinks he’s smart, and he might be – for a head of cabbage.  (I refer to him as SFB with good reason)

  87. 87.

    MomSense

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I have a giant box full of them in my attic – some needed pretty extensive surgical repair.  When my middle kid was little I thought it was so cute that he loved beanie babies – then I saw how he and his friend played with them.  Beanie battles.  Poor babies.

  88. 88.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MomSense: My mother accidentally collected them.  Someone gave her one that looked like our cocker spaniel and then people somehow decided that she collected them.  She ended up with around 20 of them.

  89. 89.

    Geminid

    @BlueGuitarist: The new maps were drawn by two special masters appointed by the state’s Supreme Court, after Virginia’s new redistricting commission deadlocked. They appear to be neutral. The main complaints I’ve heard were about incumbent Senators and Delegates ending up in the same district.

    The House of Delegate map should be an improvement. Republicans gerrymandered that map in 2011, and aside from 11 districts (east of Richmond) changed by a Voting Rights Act lawsuit it remained static through the 2021 election. In that time Democrats went from a 35-65 minority in 2015 to down only 49-51 in 2017, and then up 55-45 in 2019. Some close losses put them back down 48-52 after the Youngkin’ election in 2021. Democrats have good prospects in the House this fall, I think.

    The Senate map is more of a mystery. The last one was a sort of status quo map with an emphasis on incumbent protection. Democrats still managed to gain a 21-19 majority by 2019. The new map has not been tested, and the different results in 2019, 2020 and 2021 makes outcomes hard to predict. I think Virginia Republicans have put themselves on the wrong side of majority opinion though, on issues like abortion, gun safety and education, and Democrats will make them pay in suburban districts this fall.

    I don’t know much about Rouse’s new district, but he seems like a strong candidate who will likely stay in the Senate for a while.

  90. 90.

    MomSense

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We have so many. I finally had to get rid of the houses he built for them. I just didn’t have room for beanie baby houses made out of Clementine boxes and duct tape.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    I guess Woody Harrelson decided his SNL monologue was a good time to roll out his anti vaxx conspiracies.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @Leslie: I actually did start the first color or two with meaning in mind, well-known vs. names I had never heard of, states that were surprising, etc, but the list was long and I eventually said fuck it and just went with colors to call attention to various names.

  96. 96.

    AM in NC

    @Jerry: Thanks for posting this. Josh Stein will be a good Governor, and I don’t even want to think about what would happen to our state should total freak Mark Robinson become Gov.  Good bye reproductive freedom. Hello even more gerrymandering and vote suppression. Good-bye freedom of religion, because Christofascism will be the order of the day. Hello educational system that will rival Alabama’s.

    Scary, scary shit

  98. 98.

    divF

    @schrodingers_cat: All this talk of Faber-Castell and India ink makes me think of my father. He dropped out of high school when he was 16 to support his family, enlisted in the Army at 19 in 1946, where he ended up in the Corps of Engineers. He took great pride in his drafting and lettering skills, and maintained a collection of pens, lettering guides, french curves, compasses etc. (mostly made by Faber-Castell).

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    @BlueGuitarist: The Blue Virginia blog is a good resource for Virgina elections generally.  It has a Democratic bias but is still fairly objective. Local media will be following Aaron Rouse and his campaign.

  101. 101.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    Thanks for the good news pileup, watergirl! The way the news is you would think that there isn’t any.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    Yes, I’m with you. Thanks for the good news accumulation. The bad news gets plenty of attention on its own. Good news needs all the help it can get.

    And Slava Ukraine !!!

  103. 103.

    El Muneco

    @Omnes Omnibus: “Richard Osman’s House of Games” has a round called “You Spell Terrible” where the contestants pair off, and are presented with a trivia question. When one of them buzzes in correctly, the other one has to spell the answer in order for them both to get a point – the gimmick being that of course the words are going to be hard to spell.

    One episode, the question writers gave the contestants “palate”, “pallet” and “pallette”.

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