Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Consistently wrong since 2002

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You cannot shame the shameless.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

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

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Stay strong, because they are weak.

No one could have predicted…

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

This really is a full service blog.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

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Interesting Read: “What Happened to QAnon?”

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Philip Bump, at the Washington Post — “What Happened to QAnon?”: [gift link]

As the 2020 election approached, President Donald Trump had two problematic groups of supporters that he didn’t want to alienate. One was the Proud Boys, an extremist group that had already earned a reputation for engaging in violence against opponents. The other was more loosely knit: adherents of the QAnon movement.

QAnon was problematic for very different reasons. While there had been crimes linked to the movement (including at least one killing), the political challenge was primarily that the most fervent supporters held views that were somewhere between bizarre and deranged. There’s an international cabal of prominent people in entertainment and the Democratic Party that worships Satan and traffics children to ingest a chemical they produce? Got it.

Those views sat at the extreme, certainly. But even more anodyne manifestations of QAnonism were dubious, centered on an anonymous figure, Q, who allegedly worked in the Trump administration and was helping the president combat the evil deeds of his enemies. Q began posting cryptic messages online a few months into Trump’s presidency, with tens of thousands of people subsequently parsing them for hidden meaning.

By mid-2018, QAnon was a prominent part of Trump rallies. Supporters held up signs or large “Q’s” to get on camera, with success. By early 2019, after a spate of news stories drawing attention to the movement’s bizarre beliefs, adherents reported being asked to hide any Q insignia at the president’s rallies.

Then the election rolled around. Trump’s campaign slowly began to embrace members of the movement, recognizing its scale and loyalty to his politics. He refused to condemn even the more extreme forms the movement took and, only weeks before Election Day, even endorsed the idea that QAnon members were combating child trafficking…

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War for Ukraine Day 770: Kharkiv Is Under Attack!

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Screen shot of new artwork by NEIVANMADE. The background is black. In the bottom foreground are grey Ukrainian homes and apartment buildings being bombarded by red Russian missiles with the Special Military Operation "Z" symbol on them. Above the missiles, written in red is the word "Ruzzians". Below the buildings being attacked is the statement "Turns Homes Into Graves".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

As I write this Kharkiv is under attack!

Right now all of eastern Ukraine is under air raid alert.

 

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Wednesday Night Open Thread

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It appears I can take building an ark off my to do list, as the rain has finally subsided. Up next, a temperature drop and snow flurries. Maybe Arizona summers aren’t that bad after all?

At any rate, I am doing quite well, and stopped taking the as needed meds I was prescribed two years two weeks ago. Been busy with work, doing things around the house, and taking Callie for walks.

I wish I had more to say, but I am just pooped. I’ve stuck with my sleeping schedule I had out west and am going to bed shortly after sundown and getting up at the crack of dawn, so by this time at night I am spent. But a good tired.

The eclipse was today, right? I couldn’t tell a difference between the eclipse and the usual shitty weather around here.

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Smith to Cannon: Put Up or Shut Up

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We talked about this a little in the overnight thread, but it deserves its own post: DOJ prosecutor Jack Smith submitted a filing last night that indicates he’s had enough of Judge Aileen Cannon’s foot-dragging bullshit. Here’s a PDF of the filing. An excerpt of TPM’s analysis below:

In a new filing that bluntly confronts U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, Special Counsel Jack Smith takes a new tone of incredulousness and disdain for her mishandling of the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

The issue at hand is her failure to have yet ruled on Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss based on his inane, unprecedented, and counterfactual reading of the Presidential Records Act. Instead of rejecting the argument out of hand, Cannon not only is entertaining it but ordered the two sides to propose jury instructions based on two different deeply flawed interpretations of the PRA…

Smith ripped her interpretations of the PRA: “both of the Court’s scenarios are fundamentally flawed and any jury instructions that reflect those scenarios would be error.” He said her “legal premise is wrong” and her requested jury instructions “would distort the trial.”

Smith all but threatened to take Cannon up on appeal, urging her to rule promptly and not wait until a jury has been seated and thereby deprive the government of the opportunity to appeal. At this point, Smith would prefer an adverse ruling to no ruling at all: “Whatever the Court decides, it must resolve these crucial threshold legal questions promptly. The failure to do so would improperly jeopardize the Government’s right to a fair trial.”

I’m not a lawyer, but Cannon’s delay on the PRA-based motion to dismiss and demand for juror instructions seems like putting the cart before the horse. Since she’s moving with the blazing speed of a three-legged turtle, Cannon hasn’t even set a trial date, so jury instructions aren’t urgent. But by delaying the ruling, she deprives Smith of the opportunity to ask appeals court judges to explain how the PRA works to her.

Maybe it’s a risky move on Smith’s part, challenging Cannon like that — he all but called her a dumb poopy-head. But I don’t think he had any choice.

Open thread.

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For the Night Shift

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Even though fundraising for Worker Power was last week :-) I thought you’d be interested in reading the announcement about Ruben.  And read a little bit about what Worker Power did in 2022, with our help!  Ruben’s looking good, don’t you think?

We have an angel match to keep us going for AZ and an another angel match to keep us going for NV.  The NV Angel is matching up to $700 for their state, and the AZ Angel still has $900 available on his match.   There are separate thermometers so you can choose which state(s) you want to donate to!

To count toward the match, let us know about your donation in the comments, or you can drop me an email message if you prefer.  Let me know which state or state in the comments.

ARIZONA

 

NEVADA

Auto Draft 98

Worker Power, poised to run the state’s most extensive electoral field operation, announced its endorsement of Congressman Ruben Gallego for the U.S. Senate. Worker Power joins a coalition of labor and progressive groups in endorsing Congressman Gallego.

“Worker Power is immensely proud to endorse Congressman Gallego for Senate. He has always been a staunch supporter of Arizona’s working families. His integrity, compassion, and dedication to improving the lives of all Arizonans–no matter their race, age, gender identity, or socioeconomic status–are the foundation of what makes him the right candidate for Senate,” said Brendan Walsh, Executive Director of Worker Power.

“Congressman Gallego is one of us,” said Maggie Acosta, Worker Power Field Director. “He has a working-class background and understands the needs of families in Arizona. He symbolizes what we are fighting for: opportunity no matter where you come from, the rights of people over corporate greed, and a future where we can all live with dignity.”

In 2022, over 400 canvassers with Worker Power and UNITE HERE Local 11 knocked on a total of 750,000 and had 120,000 conversations with voters in Arizona advocating for U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes, Kris Mayes, and other state and local candidates.

Remember, we helped fund a Worker Power team in AZ in 2022, and we raised funds for all for the listed candidates, and a few others from AZ, I believe.

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World Central Kitchen: Protect the Helpers

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Chef José Andrés wrote a powerful guest opinion piece for the New York Times in response to the death of seven WCK aid workers in an IDF strike earlier this week. Here’s a gift link. Excerpts below:

In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always.

The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war…

From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly and passionately for the release of all the hostages…

We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war.

Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today.

In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up…

Like the humanitarian he is, the chef acknowledges the immense suffering on all sides — the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the hostages still being held there and the victims and survivors of Hamas atrocities. The worst currently have free rein. I sure hope the best figure out how to show up.

Open thread.

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