We were talking the other day about governors we like. JB Pritzker impresses me. His actions during Trump 2.0 have been exemplary. He gets the gravity of the situation and is using his power for good.
I really like the role he’s playing in sheltering the Texas Dems who fled their state to break quorum. Noah Berlatsky wrote about it in a piece here called “Pritzker Models Solidarity.” Berlatsky writes about Pritzker treating Texas Dems like the political refugees they are at the moment.
He also writes about how the governor has stepped up to help ordinary folks from red states, welcoming women who need access to reproductive healthcare and trans people who just want to live their lives in peace without persecution.
“There are no red states or blue states, just the United States,” President Barak Obama famously declared. Since Obama, the US has only become more partisan, and the differences between right and left leaning states only seem more stark. At the same time, though, the ongoing fascist crisis, and Trump’s assault on the Constitution, has made the need for solidarity between people of every state more and more important…
Political chaos in Texas can seem like a big old colorful Texas mess… But as Pritzker knows, our neighbor’s mess is our mess too. Texas’ attack on democracy is going to affect the composition of the House, and that affects everyone in the country.
More, what happens in red states matters to us in Illinois because we have friends, family, colleagues, and countrymen and women in red states. Marginalized people in red states—trans people, women, Black people—need our help. And we need theirs too, because people in red states are uniquely positioned to fight against the erosion of all our rights. We’re all one country, which is why it makes sense for Texas legislators to fight for democracy by coming to Illinois.
We live in maddening times, so I can understand the temptation to say to hell with the red states, even though I live in one myself. But we’re in this together, whether we like it or not. Millions of people in red states oppose Trump and fascism, so we’re on the same side. It’s important not to lose sight of that.
Open thread.
Trollhattan
Governor to president has precedent, so maybe? IDK Pritzker at all, but Illinois is a big, important state. If Desantis runs again, he can maybe sit on Little Boots.
Trollhattan
I wasn’t aware she gets a vote.
suzanne
I don’t know too much about Pritzker, but I like everything I’ve seen so far. We have a lot of good officeholders, and I’m sure we will have many great candidates. That’s not what worries me.
Baud
I like JB.
I gave up on solidarity, but that covers everybody. I’m not singling out red state residents. Plenty of people in blue states that aren’t worth the trouble.
Citizen Alan
If JB Pritzker is a good guy with no skeletons and no form of incipient madness, everything I believe about billionaires is wrong.
FastEdD
No argument here- I think Pritzker is the rarest of the rare- a good billionaire. In other sad news, Terry Reid died yesterday. He had a haunting voice you’d never forget. I met him 56 years ago when we were teenagers and we’ve been friends since. I was fortunate to be at his last gig 4 months ago. I got to give him a hug and tell him I loved him. Even if it weren’t for music we would have been friends anyway. They say never meet your heroes, but sometimes that’s wrong. Sometimes they turn out to be magnificent human beings.
Fair Economist
@Trollhattan: Subjects of grand jury investigations do have a say in releasing the transcription. Of course the whole “release the transcripts” is an attempted distraction – the actual evidence is in the documents, and transcripts will be a summary that couldn’t even come close to all the evidence produces by Epstein’s billion-dollar trafficking ring.
Ishiyama
I will always support solidarity – “there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun”.
Trivia Man
@Ishiyama: I do have compassion for red states. Even if they voted for him i have compassion and pity. My gripe is that i feel any complaining they do to me is misdirected. Complain to your neighbors who DID vote for him!!
tobie
Just last week I saw a van on the road with the bumper sticker “I (heart) raw milk.” Today I read that 21 people have gotten serious bacterial infections from raw milk. Some are kids, who didn’t choose their parents, so I need to tamp down on my Schadenfreude.
I (heart) pasteurization.
Old School
@FastEdD: That’s cool and I’m sorry for your loss.
tobie
Just last week I saw a van on the road with the bumper sticker “I (heart) raw milk.” Today I read that 21 people have gotten serious bacterial infections from raw milk. Some are kids, who didn’t choose their parents, so I need to tamp down on my Schadenfreude.
Trollhattan
@tobie:
Make Tuberculosis Great Again!
tobie
@Trollhattan: yikes. Tb could be our next pandemic. We’re moving backwards afterall.
Shakti
J.B Pritzker seems to understand that doing the right thing is the same as the politically savvy thing in this moment.
Or at least is acting he understands what national leadership of a party even means and what his opponents are doing instead of pretending that what’s happening is not happening.
With the exception of Walz, I can’t think of another Democratic governor right now who I actually believe might have my back in a coalition right now.
WTFGhost
I agree – we’re on the same side, and it’s not wrong that red states are freeloaders, but, BUT (almost yelled, but just excellent diaphragm control!) we should make more noise about it.
“If we run government like a business – why isn’t California given more control over the government? We pay for FEMA – why can an ass bray out an EEEE-OOOO and we don’t get funding or help with firefighting/S&R, etc..”
(I’m re-entering my credentials, after flushing cookies from DuckDuckGo browser, in case anything goes sideways.)
lowtechcyclist
It’s always worth remembering that more people voted for Kamala Harris in Texas than in any other state besides California.
FastEdD
@Old School: Thanks. Terry leaves a big hole in the music community. He got tired of telling the story, but when he was young he was one of the best singers in England. Jimmy Page asked him to sing for a new band he was putting together but Terry Reid already had a band and a tour lined up. He recommended his friends Robert Plant and John Bonham. He opened for the Stones before he was 20. He was that good. Reid has lived in SoCal most of his life.
WTFGhost
@Trollhattan: If she wins a retrial, the release of the files will make it nearly impossible for her to receive a fair trial. So, she does get a vote, but, only because she’s actively appealing her conviction.
Mind you, she might not get a deciding vote, but, she does get a vote-like chance to affect the outcome.
They Call Me Noni
Thank you for this post Betty. Every time I read a “fuck the red states” post here it really makes me angry. All Democrats can’t live in blue states. We fight from where we are surrounded by people who confound us. But we do fight and don’t deserve the derision we sometimes get.
WaterGirl
@Citizen Alan: I held my nose and voted for JB Pritzker in his first run for governor, assuming he was another fucking rich entitled white billionaire – but better than a Republican.
He has turned out to be the best IL governor of my lifetime. And I don’t expect him to end up in jail, either, like a lot of our former govs.
Princess
When Pritzker was running for governor I was very skeptical and I voted for Daniel Bliss in the primary. The widespread feeling was the party was behind him because he’s a billionaire who could self fund. I heard him give a speech at a protest rally. He promised he was a progressive and said it was because of his mother. I didn’t believe him.
Boy, was I wrong. He’s walked the walk every single day he’s been in office in every way. I don’t know if he can get elected but I can’t think of a single person I’d rather see be president.
Princess
@WaterGirl: ha! We just wrote almost the same thing!
mrmoshpotato
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4h had Biden randomly wandered on the White House roof shouting at reporters about nuclear weapons, Jake Tapper would drop everything to pitch a new series of books and Hannity would anchor ongoing special coverage until 2029 but when Trump does it it’s just Trump being Trump!
Ishiyama
If it takes a thief to catch a thief, …
chemiclord
We’re in this together if for no other reason than there is no way to have a “National Divorce” that won’t end with a heinous amount of bloodshed.
Even if there was some way to untangle the US population into neatly contiguous tribes (spoiler alert: there isn’t), Trumplandia would never suffer a flourishing liberal/progressive neighbor for terribly long.
There is no scenario along that path that doesn’t end in a gruesome war.
mrmoshpotato
Many of us Illinoisans are impressed too!
I was pissed that a billionaire was running against a billionaire (didn’t vote for Pritzker in the first primary) but he’s been a really great governor.
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: & @Princess: He sure seems like a mensch, viewed from afar, and the testimony of constituents like y’all confirms it. I remember him posting a photo of himself from the early 1990s celebrating Pride. Not a lot of straight guys were doing that back then!
Tony Jay
@They Call Me Noni:
That’s the spirit. Democrats and reachable Independents in currently Red States need to be celebrated for what they (arguably) are – valuable enclaves of besieged sanity holding firm in occupied territory. They don’t need scorn, they need what every other resistance force needs while they await liberation; support, supplies and solidarity.
The bombing runs and elite paratroop deployments come much later.
Bill Arnold
@Fair Economist:
The grand jury would not, during the Trump administration, been given names of Epstein’s
clientsacquaintances, and certainly not Trump’s name.Sure Lurkalot
No dog in the fight but I expected Pritzker to be a wealthy conservadem and govern as such but every Illinoisan democrat I know loves him.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Well, be fair. It is just Trump being Trump. [/s] What this says about the MSM speaks for itself.
Parfigliano
Prltzker is on Colbert tonight
Baud
@Baud:
To be clear, I only like JB because he’s filthy rich.
Geminid
@Princess: Daniel Biss made a comeback after losing to Jay Pritzker by getting elected Mayor of Evanston. Now he’s running for Congress, for the IL09 seat Jan Schakowski is retiring from. Schakowsky first won that seat by beating none other than Jay Pritzker in the Democratic primary.
Daniel Biss taught mathematics at the University of Chicago before he ran for an Illinois House of Representatives seat in 2008. His specialty was Algebraic Topology. I’d to see what kind of gerrymander Biss could come up with!
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Trollhattan: I was not aware sex offenders and human traffickers could be housed in cushy minimum security prisons.
Did you see Thomas Friedman today? it is the NYT. It is a wow — that probably should have been written October last. Better late than never.
Baud
Hey Betty, you mentioned this morning that FL DOGE was unpopular. Now there’s this.
mrmoshpotato
@Citizen Alan:
You can still believe most billionaires are sociopathic assholes.
RevRick
@Trollhattan: @suzanne: He impressed me greatly with his commencement address about kindness (the truly smart people) versus cruelty (the really stupid people).
Kristine
@WaterGirl:
Yup—I did the same. Love all these pleasant surprises.
Also the no-jail part.
Chief Oshkosh
@Shakti: The governor’s of Maine, Washington, Oregon, Kansas, or Kentucky seem like they would have your back, too.
@They Call Me Noni: Three of the absolute best Democrats and best human beings I know live in blood-red Oklahoma.
They Call Me Noni
@Tony Jay: Thank you. Around here there are still Trump flags flying and people who shoot guns on their property. It’s very unsettling to me but they do have the right to do that. It has, however, kept me from flying the flag I would really like to. I keep my g-granddaughter a couple days a week and since I don’t personally know most of the people on our road I have no idea if they’re tolerant or not. Have to keep your head down and your powder dry.
Archon
@Citizen Alan: He used his family money to start a venture capital firm, which is basically the parasite class of the global economy so yes he has skeletons.
Doesn’t mean he can’t be a force for good now though.
mrmoshpotato
@FastEdD: Can you link to some of his songs?
Mr. Bemused Senior
OK [I read it] all I can say is it’s about time. I gave up on him after Crazier Than Thou.
RevRick
@Baud: I believe we should give a huge shoutout of solidarity to the people who attended GOP Representative, Mike Flood’s townhall and gave him a royal beat down, asking him, among other questions, “what is the price of fascism?”
sab
I was shocked and sad when Biden stepped down. My husband has outraged. We both love Kamela and hoped she would win, not just to beat TFG but also because we both genuinely liked her.
After the election I moved on to how do we fix this. My husband is still stuck in Biden was betrayed.
Many days I want to hit him upside the head with a two by four to knock sense into him.
So this outrage is still there and alive among Democrats.
I am sure we will get over it, but don’t think the Biden was betrayed folks are gone or forgiving. But Biden Democrats are still Democrats.
Baud
@RevRick:
I morally support all fighters. I just do so on an individual basis rather than through a meaningless concept of solidarity that hasn’t worked for us.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
Agreed!
ROFLMAO! Also, FUCK BLAGO!
mrmoshpotato
@Princess: Completely agree!
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Meaning is what you make of it, I guess? I don’t agree that it hasn’t worked for us. It hasn’t worked consistently — that’s true and regrettable!
They Call Me Noni
@RevRick: Have seen several clips from it and they are giving him ever more hell! Good to see.
mrmoshpotato
@Parfigliano: Thanks for the heads-up.
WaterGirl
@Princess: We did!
hells littlest angel
If people in red states don’t suffer for the crimes of their governments, their governments will blithely continue to hurt people all over the country.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Governor Fuck-me Boots is a fucking morons.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
What I mean it is that idea of solidarity has created bad dynamics. People demand support from others, and others demand that conditions be met in exchange for their support. It ends up being a circle jerk of one-upmanship.
I now prefer simply supporting people who do things I like, expecting nothing from anyone and promising nothing in return. Maybe we all end up aligning through individual actions, or not. We all just have to make our own choices
ETA: Take JB. If he ends up the nominee, some people are going to stop being in “solidarity” with us because of his wealth. That’s their right, and there’s no point scolding them for betraying us. Judge them, sure. But no one owes us anything, and we don’t owe them.
sab
Princess: Somehow I had decided you were Canadian. Any idea how I decided that was real?
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I don’t see solidarity as an all or nothing thing or something that’s strictly transactional. Of course some people will reject being part of a common cause action for reasons of their own, and those reasons might suck. But that doesn’t undermine the concept of solidarity or its power, IMO. People banding together for a common purpose is literally the only way to change things, for good or ill.
@sab: Same!
Princess
@Archon: Mm, I’d say hedge funds are the parasitic class of the global economy, not VC. VC is as good or bad as the companies it invests in.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
In our situation, IMHO, the number of people and the reasons they cite for going their own way are too numerous and fluid for us (me) to expect anything of anyone.
People can act together through some sort of structure (for example, a corporation) or make individual decisions that produce results (for example, when people individually choose to like a song and it becomes a hit). I see us more towards the latter with respect to politics.
Princess
@sab: You’re right — I am! But I lived n Chicago for 26 years and just moved back here two years ago.
JoyceH
@mrmoshpotato: You know why he was up there, right? He was looking for more places to stick curlicues and geegaws and then gild them. He’ll not rest until the outside of the White House looks as tacky and garish as the inside.
BTW, what’s going on with Bondi? Saw her on the news the other days and it looks like she’s aged at least fifteen years since the beginning of the administration. Maybe she’s just not spending as much time “doing her face” every day, but if this goes on, by the end of the administration she’s going to be a total hag.
FastEdD
@mrmoshpotato: Thread is probably over but sure.
Here’s a short 5 minute bio:
youtu.be/-tc6T2gBY6M?si=iN4TIGC3ocQrosXL
All I Have To Do Is Dream:
youtu.be/0oihu-8iNpQ?si=d6JkECD7FTtYFbZh
His voice brings me to tears. Every. Time.
sab
Went to the zoo today with granddaughter.
Zoo was amazing although capybara had died of old age. Replaced by a deer ( Mara).
It was amazing, although granddaughter liked the tiger and the bears. We have a photo of her nose to nose with a grizzly with only the glass in between. Her mom will be furious.
Later we learned, They have two grizzleys, boy and girl. Currently they dont much like each other. Much like our cats, we saw one leave the upper pasture when her wet brother came up from the pool.
Also too birds in rhe aviary and bats inside in bat displays. Husband was HORRIFIED by bats.
Granddaughter and I thought they were cute, but smaller than we expected.
mrmoshpotato
@JoyceH:
Most definitely! 🤮
JaySinWa
@mrmoshpotato:
I believe that even if they aren’t yet [and I believe this is how most billionaires become billionaires], it is almost impossible to not be drawn in to the vortex eventually. Suck ups are drawn to wealthy people like moths to a flame, and over time the mantra of never having a bad idea wears down your sense of reality.
ETA I hope Pritzger avoids the vortex.
mrmoshpotato
@FastEdD: Thanks.
Baud
@sab:
A good day.
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
Nick Lowe doesn’t see it that way ;-)
Tony Jay
@They Call Me Noni:
Things really should not be that way. One of the worst things about the world the Right have birthed is their decades long project to pit neighbour against neighbour by normalising a tribal mindset. It’s just a vile thing to do to people.
sab
@Baud: A great day, except I am so sorry the capaybara died of old age.
Martin
@HopefullyNotcassandra: We’re housing one in the White House, so why not? After Epstein’s first plea to sex trafficking charges he got house arrest and the ability to go to his office and continue to work.
RevRick
Mrs Rev and I went for a walk in the nearby wooded park and we saw five deer along the way. Three of them crossed the path about fifty feet ahead of us. Mother deer paused at the edge to gauge our intentions, so we stopped and she crossed into the hillside woods and her two fawn bolted behind her. Allentown has a rather spectacular park system, courtesy of Gen. Harry Trexler, an industrialist who founded Lehigh Portland Cement and Pennsylvania Power and Light.
Eyeroller
@Princess: “Private equity” firms, which may include hedge funds (I’m not sure of the details) are the “vulture capitalists.” That is sort of a pun on “venture capital.” Venture capital can be very beneficial to an economy–their purpose is to fund startups and innovative young companies who might have trouble getting funding from more conventional sources like banks. But some of the firms were/are predatory on those companies and of course the association with “vulture capital” hurts their image as well. So yeah, depends on the company and what they fund and how they manage the investment.
Moondoggus
@Trollhattan:
He is a very rich guy, and he also understands the working man like B Sanders. Presidential timber.
RevRick
@lowtechcyclist: Ha!
Baud
Working class hero
narya
JB has a cousin who is transgender, and her sister is a Buddhist lama. JB has all kinds of diversity right there in his family. And yes, I like him, too.
Professor Bigfoot
@WaterGirl: Isn’t the Great Khan actually Jewish?
narya
@Professor Bigfoot: and Ukrainian, I think.
They Call Me Noni
@Tony Jay: It is. And I don’t know, if I had my big “Fuck Trump” flag hanging where the Stars and Stripes used to be they might just flip the bird every time they drive past, but I don’t know that. Some folks are crazy eat up with their cult and me and the g-grand are outside a lot when she’s here.
Professor Bigfoot
@hells littlest angel: It stinks on ice because we blue dots will suffer right along with them; but until white people actually suffer from their choices, I don’t think there’s anyway to make them change.
I don’t wish this— I live in one of those “red states” and am SURROUNDED by red voters— but this is where we are.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Shakti:
Exactly. I can think of many, some of whom are glowingly fluffed (by some) in here who would be such nose holders, it would probably break something if forced to vote for them in a general election.
Tony Jay
@They Call Me Noni:
Cult is the right word. None of it makes sense, it demands blind belief in ever changing certainties, and it turns people into rabid beasts when ‘outsiders’ question the faith.
That a no-mark conman like Donald Trump was do easily able to make himself Grand High Tusk of the Divine Elephant tells you everything you need to know about the quality of their ‘truths’.
Stay safe, friend. Keep your close ones close and wait for a better day.
Baud
Kayla Rudbek
@Citizen Alan: there’s always got to be a certain percentage who mess up the classification system..l
Paul in KY
@Princess: I’d love to live in Chicago. Wife likes it, but hates the Winter she would get there and thus it is a nogo. We do love to visit, though.