Apparently, today is a front-pager holiday, and I did not get the memo. Betty is out of town, Cole is crazy busy this week, and Anne Laurie gets to sleep sometime. If everyone else is at a party, I will be cranky.
Open thread.
by WaterGirl| 49 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Apparently, today is a front-pager holiday, and I did not get the memo. Betty is out of town, Cole is crazy busy this week, and Anne Laurie gets to sleep sometime. If everyone else is at a party, I will be cranky.
Open thread.
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
So many things happening on so many fronts!
🚨🚨🚨At his retirement ceremony, Gen. Mark Milley attacks Trump in a major way: “We don’t take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We take an oath to the Constitution. We are willing to die to protect it”.
— Spiro’s Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) September 29, 2023
⭐️
In indictment news:
Judge Scott McAfee DENIES Ken Chesebro’s (1) motion to suppress evidence obtained from his Microsoft email account and (2) motion to dismiss on grounds that Chesebro did the alleged conduct while “fulfilling his duties to a client as an attorney.” pic.twitter.com/wMmklIoF1n
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) September 29, 2023
⭐️
In a surprise move, Trump declines to seek removal. 2 upsides: 1) neednt preview his defense or testify (not that he would have); 2) case in front of republican state judge up for reelection, rather than Obama appointed federal judge. https://t.co/Ez6s7qmA7r
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) September 28, 2023
⭐️
If you were wondering why trump ordered the house republicans to shut down the government and kick children and infants off assistance and not pay our troops – here’s why: https://t.co/RLFzHK0a3G
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) September 29, 2023
⭐️
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of violating “federal law by tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees and by subjecting some of these workers to retaliation for opposing the harassment.” https://t.co/VHBWNo5FE4
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 28, 2023
⭐️
Open thread.
Oligarchs, Insurrectionists, Authoritarians, and Wanna Be DictatorsPost + Comments (210)
by WaterGirl| 63 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Political Fundraising, Targeted Political Fundraising 2023-24
In a post last week, we posed this question: Should we Join the Fight and get financially involved in the Virginia elections in November? Specifically, we opened up a conversation about whether BJ peeps want to get involved right away or wait a big to see how things pan out before jumping in.
Fired Up! Virginia’s General Assembly Elections (reposted for daytime peeps)
It seems like we all agreed on two things: that the elections in Virginia are a big Joe Biden deal and that this is a huge opportunity going forward. A win in Virginia would reverberate beyond Virginia and could help set the state for good things 2024.
First, Virginia is the last Southern state to permit abortions up to 26 weeks, and it’s a safe haven for women throughout the South who can afford to travel. A Republican trifecta would end that in a heartbeat. (Pun intended.) Second, a Democratic win would continue our momentum of winning most special and off-year elections in advance of the 2024 cycle. And finally, losing the Virginia House of Delegates and failing to regain the Senate may take the wind out of the Presidential prospects of fleece-west wearing stealth MAGAt Governor Youngkin.
BJ peeps were split on whether to jump in right away (early voting has already started), or to keep our powder dry for a couple weeks and see if enough money floods in that would make our contributions salt in the ocean. With some research, we have identified two toss-up races that could use our help immediately, and at least two others are on our “watch list.”
We’re primarily targeting candidates in the Hampton Roads area (Norfolk, Virginia Beach). Why there?
According to a Virginia based Political Scientist:
Of the three largest metro areas in Virginia – the other two being the Northern Virginia suburbs adjoining Washington, D.C., and the state capital region that includes Richmond – Hampton Roads is the most competitive. (Soure: Bob Holsworth, a former Virginia Commonwealth University political scientist who’s now with the Richmond-based firm DecideSmart.)
So we now have two thermometers for House of Delegates candidates Michael Feggans in District 97 and Kimberly Pope Adams in District 82. Both are young African-Americans with strong ties to the Hampton Roads community. They are both first time candidates. Both the reconstituted 97th and 82nd districts have more Democrats post-redistricting, so it is winnable.
Both Michael Feggans and Kimberly Pope Adams are challenging white Republican incumbents who narrowly defeated two previous African-American Democratic incumbents in 2021. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, these campaigns are neck-and-neck in fundraising: Kimberley Pope Adams had $673,000 to her opponent’s $666,000 (interesting symbolic number for a right-winger). Michael Feggans is slightly ahead of his opponent with $889,000 vs $852,000. New quarterly fundraising numbers are due shortly, but they always take longer than we’d like, so we’re not going to wait.
These numbers are close enough, and the dollar amount – while significant for a state legislative race – are not so overwhelmingly high that our contributions would be meaningless. So this is right in the sweet spot for our efforts.
I made sure to check the box so that your contact information is NOT shared with the candidates unless you click the box to do so.
For more on Michael Feggans check out his website! He appears to have rattled the Republicans. The House Republican Campaign Committee put up a hit website entitled tooextremeforvirginia.com trashing his record. It comes up on the first page in most Michael Feggans google searches.
This is who Micahel Feggans is running against: h/t Cheryl from Maryland
To find out more about Kimberly Pope Adams, visit her website!
Their opponents, Kim Taylor (v. Pope Adams) and Karen Greenhalgh (v. Feggans) are not raging MAGAts (although Greenhalgh is out front on the 15-week abortion limit). This may make them harder to beat. But Dobbs, redistricting, the bizarre Republican attacks on the military, and the potential government shutdown in a district with a substantial military population should provide a helpful tailwind.
In the meantime, we’ll be watching two other African-American candidates in the Hampton Roads area for possible inclusion after the next round of fundraising numbers come in.
Ready to get started? Let me know if you have any questions.
Open thread.
This post is in: Absent Friends, Democratic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, RIP
Diane Feinstein has passed. How sad that after a trailblazing career like she had, that my first thought has to be “oh, no, what about the Judiciary Committee?”
From the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein: pic.twitter.com/rvcAmVk8O0
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 29, 2023
click on the statement to embiggen for easier reading.
Open thread.
Update: I was about to put a fundraising post for our two initial VA delegate candidates when I heard the news about Diane Feinstein. I imagine Diane Feinstein will take up most of the oxygen, so I’ll save the post for later.
But in case anyone wants to take their angst about what will happen now with Judiciary, and use that for good in Viginia, the thermometer is in the sidebar (at the top) and I’ll include the thermometer here, as well.
This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Religion, Republican Venality
Eyes to the skies: it's Harvest Moon time!
Folklore tells us that the nearest full moon to the autumn equinox is so-called because it rises soon after sunset, allowing farmers to harvest their crops.
The last supermoon of 2023 peaks on Fri, Sep 29.#HarvestMoon #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/SQf9MLQVfe— Mark Rees (@reviewwales) September 28, 2023
Not that our, shall we say, alternatively sane neighbors need any more excuses, but IMO it’s not a good omen for getting anything useful accomplished this weekend.
“Democracies don't have to die at the end of a rifle. They can die when people are silent; when they fail to stand up and condemn threats to #democracy…The answer to the problems we face is engagement.” @POTUS offering hope and possibility — not MAGA’s#ExtremeRepublicanShutdown pic.twitter.com/eiOHWS6Oml
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) September 28, 2023
House Republicans have turned their backs on the bipartisan budget deal that two-thirds of them voted for just a few months ago and are marching us toward a shutdown.
It’s time for them to stop playing political games with peoples’ lives and keep the government open. pic.twitter.com/pz7HaA3RWz
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 28, 2023
Friday Morning Open Thread: Be Aware of the Autumn SupermoonPost + Comments (91)
This post is in: Birdwatching, Open Threads
As mentioned on the overnight thread, I’m off on a bird-spotting adventure today — heading up to the Big Bend and Panhandle areas of Florida in hopes of seeing (from a respectful distance) some of the flamingos that Hurricane Idalia distributed around the Gulf Coast.
An eBirder spotted a flamboyance off Cedar Key earlier this week, and Pinky, the famous winter resident who lives due south of Tallahassee, has allegedly been joined by some new pink friends.
The Cedar Key flamingos linked above are in a squad, but Tampa Bay’s Peaches (remember them?), now rehabbed and released, remains a solitary figure. That’s making some area residents sad. People are also up in arms about Peaches’ bulky tracking device:
It does look irritating, but in the linked Tampa Bay Times column, Jerry Lorenz, Audubon Florida’s state research director, explains that it “weighs almost nothing” and that researchers need the data birds like Peaches can provide to support efforts to repopulate Florida with wild flamingos. (Under a Democratic governor. He didn’t say that, but it’s true.)
Peaches is healthy, Lorenz said, eating, flying, preening and taking baths. Tracking animals “is backed up by literally thousands of years of research,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with that bird, but we do appreciate people being concerned. It’s good that people are out there keeping an eye on Peaches.”
Peaches is such a celebrity that they have their own Do Not Disturb sign courtesy of the DOT:
Anyhoo, I hope to see some of Peaches’ kin this weekend. I’ll be travelling solo but meeting up with some kin of my own at various points on my journey. I’m looking forward to discovering awful diners and drinking terrible coffee. Will try to post updates from the road.
Open thread!
by WaterGirl| 12 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
We’d originally planned to stay in Santiago for three nights, visiting the historic parts of town. But our niece, who’d spent a college year abroad in Chile, told us her favorite Chilean city was Valparaíso. Driving into Valparaíso with directions via Apple Maps was a bit daunting. As the app shows you the ‘fastest’ way, not the simplest way for gringos. And without cellular, we couldn’t improvise on the fly.
We dropped down into a series of very narrow twisty roads. At one point we needed to back up as we’d missed a sharp left switchback. An elderly man, standing on the side of the road, pointed us in the correct direction. As we finally cruised past our lodging, looking for a parking space, a young woman signaled that she was leaving and we were set. Left the car there till it was time leave (which we did by dropping down to the modern port, then using the main roads to find our way back to the highway to Santiago).
On The Road – way2blue – Valparaiso, Chile [2 of 2]Post + Comments (12)
More trompe l’oeil.