Earth Day Quote of the Day

This should be reprinted every Earth Day, at least.

In 1854, the "Great White Chief" in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a reservation for the Indian people.The following was Chief Seattle's reply.

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man - all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The great Chief sends word that he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land.

But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.

The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.

He leaves his father's grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children and he does not care. His father's grave, and his children's birthright, are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beeds. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways.

The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings.

But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand.

The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand.

The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with pinion pine.

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.

But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.

And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that it is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept. I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of the land as his brothers.

I am a savage and do not understand any other way.

I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.

Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know.

All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all.

We shall see.

One thing which we know, which the white man may one day discover - our God is the same God.

You may think you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator.

The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all the other tribes. Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.

That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.

Where is the thicket? Gone.

Where is the eagle? Gone.

The end of living and the beginning of survival.

________________________________________

Happy Earth Day.

God help us all.

More on that Impeachment Trial

Again, from Heather Cox Richardson

February 13, 2021 (Saturday)

Today the Senate acquitted former president Donald Trump of the charge of inciting an insurrection. Fifty-seven senators said he was guilty; 43 said he was not guilty. An impeachment conviction requires a two-thirds majority of the Senate, so he was acquitted, but not before seven members of his own party voted to convict him.

The only real surprise today was this morning, when five Republicans joined 50 Democrats to vote in favor of calling witnesses.

That vote came after Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) last night released a statement recounting an angry conversation between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Trump during the violence, in which Trump refused to call off the rioters and appeared to taunt McCarthy by telling him that the rioters were “more upset about the election than you are.” Herrera Beutler’s statement suggested that Trump had deliberately abandoned Vice President Mike Pence and the lawmakers to the insurrectionists, although Trump’s lawyer had definitively declared during the trial that Trump had not been told that Vice President Mike Pence was in danger.

The vote to hear witnesses threw the Senate into confusion as senators were so convinced the trial would end today that many had already booked flights home. The House impeachment managers said they wanted to call Herrera Beutler to testify; Republican supporters of Trump warned they would call more than 300 witnesses, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris.

After the two sides conferred, the House managers gave up demands for witnesses in exchange for reading Herrera Beutler’s statement into the record as evidence. While there was a widespread outcry at what seemed to be a Democratic capitulation, there were reasons the Democrats cut this deal. Witnesses to Trump’s behavior, like McCarthy, did not want to testify and would have been difficult. The Republicans as a group would have dragged the process on well into the spring, muddying the very clear story the impeachment managers told. They allegedly said that if the Democrats called witnesses, they would use the filibuster to block all Democratic nominees and legislation.

So much pundits have noted.

But today was not just about Trump; it was part of a longer struggle for the future of the country.

Trump’s lawyers proceeded in the impeachment trial with the same rhetorical technique Trump and his supporters use: they flat-out lied. Clearly, they were not trying to get at the truth but were instead trying to create sound bites for right-wing media, the same way Trump and the rest of his cabal convinced supporters of the big lie that he had won, rather than lost, the 2020 election. In that case, they lied consistently in front of the media, but could not make anything stick in a courtroom, where there are penalties for not telling the truth.

In the first impeachment hearings, Trump supporters did the same thing, shouting and lying to create sound bites, and while the sworn testimony was crystal clear, their antics left many Americans convinced not of the facts but that then-President Trump was being persecuted by Democrats who were trying to protect Hunter Biden. So, while it’s reasonable to imagine that witnesses would illustrate Trump’s depravity, it seems entirely likely that, as Trump’s lawyers continued simply to lie and their lies got spread through right-wing media as truth, Americans would have learned the opposite of what they should have.

Instead, the issue of Trump’s guilt on January 6 will play out in a courtroom, where there are actual rules about telling the truth. Trump’s own lawyers suggested he should answer for his actions in a court of law, and in a fiery speech after the vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell set up the same idea. But even if that does not happen, the Capitol rioters will be in court, keeping in front of Americans both the horrific events of January 6 and their contention that they showed up to fight because their president asked them to.

The constant refrain of the January 6 insurrection mirrors the Republicans’ use of sham investigations to convince people that Democrats are criminals—think, for example, of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails—except, this time, the cases are real. This should address the problem of manufactured sound bites, and should benefit the Democrats with voters, especially as Republicans are now openly the Party of Trump.

McConnell tried to address the party’s capitulation immediately after the vote with a speech blaming Trump for the insurrection and saying that his own vote to acquit was because he does not think the Senate can try a former president. This is posturing, of course; McConnell made sure the Senate did not take up the House’s article of impeachment while Trump was still in office, and now says that, because it did not do so, it does not have jurisdiction.

McConnell is trying to have it both ways. He has made it clear he wants to free the Republican Party from its thralldom to Trump, and he needs to do so in order to regain both voters and the major donors who have distanced themselves from party members who support the big lie. But he needs to keep Trump voters in the party. So he has bowed to the Trump wing in the short term, hoping to retain its goodwill, and then, immediately after the vote, gave a speech condemning Trump to reassure donors that he and the party are still sane. He likely hopes that, as the months go by and the Republicans block President Biden’s plans, alienated voters and donors will come back around to the party. From this perspective, the seven Republican votes to convict Trump provide excellent cover.

It’s a cynical strategy and probably the best he can do, but it’s a long shot that it alone will enable the Republicans to regain control of the House and the Senate in 2022. For that, the Republicans need to get rid of Democratic votes.

That need was part of what was behind the party’s support for Trump’s big lie. The essence of that lie was that Trump won the 2020 election because the votes of Democrats, especially people of color, were illegitimate. Republican lawmakers were happy to sign on to that big lie: it is a grander version of their position since 1986. Even now, those Republicans who backed the big lie have not admitted it was false. Instead, they are using the myth of fraudulent Democratic votes to push a massive attack on voting rights before the 2022 election.

But they are no longer setting the terms of the country’s politics. By refusing to engage with the impeachment trial, Biden and his team escaped the trap of letting Trump continue to drive the national narrative. Instead, they are making it a priority to protect voting rights. At the same time, they are pushing back against the Republican justification for voter suppression: that widespread voting leads to Black and Brown voter fraud that elects “socialists” who redistribute money from “makers” to “takers.” Biden’s team is using the government in ways that are popular with voters across the board: right now, for example, 79% of Americans either like Biden’s coronavirus relief package or think it is too small.

It was disheartening today to see that even trying to destroy the American government was not enough to get more than seven Republican senators to convict the former president. But it is not at all clear that tying their party to Trump is a winning strategy.

Link:

How to Channel your Impeachment Anger

A Very Important Anniversary Today

Three years ago today, 17 students and educators were killed and 17 more were injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas—the deadliest high school shooting in US History. 

In just a day, countless students, teachers, staff, and family members were burdened with unimaginable grief and trauma. No parent should lose their child to an unspeakable act of hatred. No child should fear for their safety in the place they’re meant to learn and flourish.

Today, we remember the Parkland 17. And we will continue honoring all victims and survivors with action. 

Please join us. Let's work together on this. We are, we must be, better than this.

GUN CRAZED AMERICA

Now is the Time to Discuss Gun Safety & Insist on Appropriate Gun Laws !!!

Tim Cook, at Apple, Takes a Very Welcome Broadside Against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

Yahoo!!  (not the website).

Yes, Tim Cook, over at Apple, took this broadside at Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook this week (from Inc. Magazine).

Tim Cook May Have Just Ended Facebook

What happens when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object?

In a recent speech at Brussels' International Data Privacy Day, Apple CEO Tim Cook went on the offensive against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. Cook's speech seems to be a direct response to Facebook's recent attack on Apple, in which the world's largest social network took out full-page ads in several newspapers attacking Apple's new privacy changes.

But what's most fascinating is that Cook took direct aim at Facebook without ever mentioning the company by name.

Just check out the following excerpt:

"Technology does not need vast troves of personal data stitched together across dozens of websites and apps in order to succeed. Advertising existed and thrived for decades without it, and we're here today because the path of least resistance is rarely the path of wisdom.

If a business is built on misleading users on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform.

We should not look away from the bigger picture and a moment of rampant disinformation and conspiracy theory is juiced by algorithms. We can no longer turn a blind eye to a theory of technology that says all engagement is good engagement, the longer the better, and all with the goal of collecting as much data as possible.

Too many are still asking the question, 'How much can we get away with?' When they need to be asking, 'What are the consequences?'

What are the consequences of prioritizing conspiracy theories and violent incitement simply because of the high rates of engagement?

What are the consequences of not just tolerating but rewarding content that undermines public trust in life-saving vaccinations?

What are the consequences of seeing thousands of users joining extremist groups and then perpetuating an algorithm that recommends even more?

It is long past time to stop pretending that this approach doesn't come with a cause. A polarization of lost trust, and yes, of violence.

A social dilemma cannot be allowed to become a social catastrophe."

The fact that Cook doesn't name Facebook somehow increases its impact. Because as you hear Cook's 's speech, you can't help but immediately think of the house that Zuckerberg built.

If you're wondering how Apple and Facebook ended up at odds, you can read more of the details here. But the reality is these two tech giants have been heading towards a major conflict for quite some time.

The problem is that Apple's and Facebook's business philosophies are diametrically opposed to each other:

Apple is a lifestyle brand. And part of the lifestyle Apple sells is users having more control over their privacy.

Facebook, on the other hand, is in the data business. The more data they collect on users, the more effectively they can sell targeted ads.

But collecting and selling all that data comes at great cost, as Cook highlights. "The end result of all of this is that you are no longer the customer," said Cook. "You are the product."

Cook went on to further highlight the differences in Apple's and Facebook's philosophies, in no uncertain terms.

"We believe that ethical technology is technology that works for you," said Cook. "It's technology that helps you sleep, not keeps you up. It tells you when you've had enough. It gives you space to create or draw or write or learn, not refresh just one more time."

At first glimpse, it might appear that Apple and Facebook are on diverging paths. But in reality, they're on a collision course.

So, what does happen when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object?

One of them gets destroyed.

I personally think the author is overstating the effects Tim Cook and Apple will do here to Zuckerberg and Facebook but hey, it's an attack on Facebonkers and people are paying attention so it's a good thing, for sure.

Additional link:

Mark Zuckerberg’s squabble with Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook links Facebook's business model to violence

Happy Second Impeachment Day!

Yes sir and ma'am, wishing you all a very, very happy Second Impeachment Day! I know it's a great one for me and not just because we have wonderful mild weather here in the Heartland today.

Congress is, at this very moment working on the 2nd impeachment---history making!--of this Republican Party President one Donald J "Jenius" (or is that "The John"?) Trump.  And rightfully so after fomenting his treasonous, traitorous insurrection at our nation's Capitol last week which ended up costing 5 American lives and threatening the lives of our representatives in Congress and their staffs.

So were are we now, today, at this moment? There is nowhere better to look than here to a historian to  give us a summary and put things into clearer perspective.

Heather Cox Richardson

 

January 12, 2021 (Tuesday)

The news continues to move at a breathless pace. 

After making no comments on the January 6 coup attempt since the day after, when he continued his assault on the validity of the 2020 election, Trump today refused to acknowledge he has done anything wrong. He told reporters his speech to the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., that prompted the assault on the Capitol, was “totally appropriate.” He insisted that “other people” had said that the “real problem” was “the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places.”

Instead of addressing his role in the crisis, on his way to Alamo, Texas (not The Alamo, which is in San Antonio, Texas, about four hours away from Alamo), Trump blamed the Democrats for attacking him unfairly. He said that the Democrats who were pushing for impeachment were once again on a “witch hunt” that was “causing tremendous danger to our country.”

No one is buying it.

There are three real stories right now with regard to this crisis. The first is that what happened on January 6 when rioters stormed the Capitol, and what led to that attack, is getting clearer, and none of the details are good. The second, and related, story is that the Republicans are splitting, and their leadership is trying desperately to find a way to remain powerful. The third ties the first two together: lawmakers are preparing to throw Trump out of office.

Today the FBI finally briefed the public on the events of January 6. Contradicting reports that said there was no sign of trouble in advance, an FBI official said that on Tuesday, the bureau warned that extremists were going to muster in Washington, D.C., to launch a “war.” Today, the bureau announced 160 case files on the insurrection and said this was just the beginning. Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said people will be shocked about some of the things that happened inside the Capitol. He also said the Department of Justice is considering filing charges of sedition against some of the riot’s participants.

A separate briefing for House Democratic committee chairs seemed to leave them shaken by the scope of the insurgency. “This was not a peaceful protest that got out of hand,” they said in a statement. “This was an attempted coup to derail our Constitutional process and intimidate our duly elected leaders through violence.” “[W]e have grave concerns about ongoing and violent threats to our democracy. It is clear that more must be done to preempt, penetrate, and prevent deadly and seditious assaults by domestic violent extremists in the days ahead.”

Calls for Trump’s impeachment continue to escalate. Today the New York Times editorial board blamed Trump and his supporters in Congress and in the right-wing media for the Capitol attack, “a crime so brazen that it demands the highest form of accountability that the legislature can deliver.” Perhaps of more interest to Trump’s accomplices is that today Walmart joined other corporations in refusing to donate money to the Republican lawmakers who voted against counting the electoral votes for Biden in the states Trump falsely insisted had voted for him.

The pressure of those two things made Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY), the third most powerful House Republican, today come out in favor of impeachment. McConnell acknowledged that Trump had committed impeachable offenses and told other Republican leaders he welcomed the House's actions. In the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy opposes impeachment personally, but has decided not to try to lobby fellow Republicans against it, turning them loose to vote as they wish. For her part, Cheney announced she will vote to impeach the president.

Cheney’s statement suggests that part of what is driving the Republican willingness to entertain impeachment is that there will be more coming out about January 6 and Republicans want to dump Trump rather than be associated with him. She wrote: “Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

It is undoubtedly also of great significance to McConnell that the actions of Trump and his supporters in Congress have led major donors to close their wallets. The less money McConnell has to dole out, the less power he has, and the weaker the Republicans’ chances of retaking the Senate in 2022. McConnell wants that spigot of money to reopen.

He would also like to use this moment to get rid of Trump and his supporters from Republican leadership. Trump has led the party to a major defeat and made it so reviled that it has lost the White House and the Senate, defeats for which McConnell blames the president. Indeed, the Trump administration is so reviled that today European officials took the unprecedented step of refusing to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a scheduled trip to Europe this week. He was forced to cancel his trip at the last minute. 

McConnell may have been announcing his support for impeachment to put pressure on Trump to resign, which would enable Republicans to avoid voting on the issue and head off an irreparable split.

For their part, the Trump Republicans are doubling down. Law enforcement has installed metal detectors for congress members to enter the House chamber, and Louis Gohmert (R-TX), for one, simply walked around it. “You can’t stop me; I’m on my way to a vote,” he told the police officers.

Tonight, by a vote of 223-205, the House passed the Raskin resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing Trump from office. Pence had already told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he would not do so. In a letter to Pelosi, Pence said, “I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution.” He maintains that the 25th should be used only in cases when the president is incapacitated or disabled, neither of which, he says, is the case now. Pence’s statement gave Republicans in the House cover to vote against the Raskin resolution. Only one, Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) voted in favor.

That leaves Congress to move forward with impeachment, which it will do tomorrow. (Today, Wednesday). As of today, five House Republicans have announced they will join the Democrats in support of the measure.

Meanwhile, all eight of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the military, including chair Mark Milley, today reminded service members of their oath to the Constitution and warned against “violence, sedition and insurrection.” They reminded members of the military that “any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our tradition, values, and oath; it is against the law.”

“On January, 20, 2021," they wrote, "in accordance with the Constitution, confirmed by the states and the courts, and certified by Congress, President-elect Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief.”

There you are, Mr. and Mrs. America.  And yes, it is a glorious, beautiful, unfortunately very necessary day in our nation and in our nation's history. Oh, and by the way, we are now down to precisely only 7 days left in this President's administration.

Indeed, it is a beautiful, beautiful, very hopeful day. Enjoy.

Our Next National Hurdles Once Trump Is Gone

This is what I've said for some time. 

From The New Yorker yesterday.

The Next Big Challenge: 

Trump-Proofing the Presidency

Along with cleaning up so very many messes after this President and his presidency, we need to make sure that nothing, nothing even remotely close to Donald J Trump ever, ever happens again in America. And the way we do it is by, first, overturning Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court and then ending campaign contributions entirely in our nation. After that, also outlawing gerrymandering and voter ID laws that disenfranchise fellow American citizens from voting. Finally we need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine in our government and media.

I'm not hopeful. We could do it, we could it all but no, I'm not hopeful.

Links:

Get the Big, Ugly Money Out of Our Election System and Government

Outlaw Gerrymandering and End Voter ID Laws

Bring back the Fairness Doctrine

This Republican Party President is Having Another Meltdown Today

Yes, here we go again. This Republican Party President Trump is, one more time, having a social media meltdown. This morning:

He started with this about an hour ago.

Donald J. Trump

 

MOST CORRUPT ELECTION IN U.S. HISTORY!

Then went to this, minutes later.

THE BIGGEST WINNER OF OUR NEW DEFENSE BILL IS CHINA!. I WILL VETO!

It's getting, it's gotten old. It's tiresome. For and to his supporters, it's dangerous. He's still, still trying to overturn our vote, our votes, our election and to attack our Democracy. Sadly, unfortunately, it has lead to this.

Joe Biden 'Will Be Removed One Way or Another,' Alex Jones Tells Pro-Trump March

It's reckless, it's dangerous, it's deeply irresponsible. 

Added to this, the following shows where we are just now.

...the American coronavirus pandemic is entering its worst stage yet, with cases and deaths skyrocketing across the country. Last Thursday saw over 3,000 deaths — more than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor — and with ICU beds at or near capacity in most of the country, absent serious change it is possible there will be double or even triple that number per day in a matter of weeks. We may yet top the deadliest day in American history, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 that killed an estimated 8,000 people, very soon. President Trump is doing precisely nothing about this.

As we know, the Supreme Court, at long last, shot down Trump's and the Republicans' attempt out of Texas to overturn our election and votes. Tomorrow, Monday, the Electoral College will release their offficial election results, confirming, again, that Joe Biden won and is President-Elect and that--wait for it--Donald Trump lost. 

Sure, it's been a bad, 4 day weekend for the Donald but using his own words, "It is what it is." It's the reality. We voted him out. We desperately need to get fellow Republicans to talk this, their President down off his ledge and to, at long last, concede.

Link to above quoted article.

The Constitution has an answer for seditious members of Congress

Quote of the Day

 

The American History So Few Americans Know

 

“In Louisiana, black women were put in cells with male prisoners and some became pregnant. In 1848, legislators passed a new law declaring that all children born in the penitentiary of African American parents serving life sentences would be property of the state. The women would raise the kids until the age of ten, at which point the penitentiary would place an ad in the newspaper. Thirty days later, the children would be auctioned off on the courthouse steps 'cash on delivery.' The proceeds were used to fund schools for white children. . . many of [the black children] were purchased by prison officials.”

Source: American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment by Shane Bauer

No reparations, America?

Really?

Quote of the Day -- Thanksgiving, Republican Party Edition

A staggering one in EIGHT Americans reported they sometimes or often didn’t have enough food to eat in the past week. That’s nearly 26 million Americans who are going hungry the week of Thanksgiving. And a full quarter of out-of-work Americans with children at home reported not having enough food to eat. The numbers are worse for Black households than for white ones: 22 percent of Black households reported going hungry in the past week, over 2.5 times the rate for white households. Food banks are overwhelmed trying to meet the new surge in demand: “We'll be hard pressed to keep up. We’re just bracing for the worst,” said the CEO of Feeding Texas.

Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate last week and let them skip town early for Thanksgiving. He and his do nothing Senate Republicans get to go home to their families and sit down to a table bursting with food, while 26 million of their fellow Americans starve. As long as their rich friends are happy now that the stock market is soaring, they couldn’t be bothered to serve their constituents. It’s one of the grossest abdications of duty I’ve ever seen. There are no words to truly describe Mitch McConnell’s moral bankruptcy.

--Robert Reich

Thanks, Senator McConnell

Thanks, Republicans.

Links:

Robert Reich

Robert Reich - Wikipedia

Question of the Day -- State of America Edition

Trump is golfing, the Senate is on vacation, there is no COVID relief, food lines stretch for miles, 40,000,000 Americans face eviction, and Americans are dying in droves.

Is this what they mean by American exceptionalism?

--Professor Robert Reich

Links:

Robert Reich

Robert Reich - Wikipedia

 

Breathing a--Big--Sigh of Relief

No doubt you've heard the great, if overdue, news.

GSA Chief Says Decision to Allow Transition to Begin

Fantastic. A relief, as I said. Unfortunate it took this long, nearly 3 weeks to get to it.

And here are the markets response.

Dow crests 30,000 points on vaccine hopes, Biden transition

We're not completely out of the woods, so to speak, since the Orange Man is still technically in power and in the White House, of course, very unfortunately.

How Trump is sabotaging Biden -- and America

What he, Trump, is doing, is still doing:

--Sabotaging the Fed

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has demanded the Federal Reserve return $455 billion in unused funds from a lending program meant to prop up American businesses. The Fed could legally continue with the funds if Mnuchin didn't claw them back, but he argues the program should end at the end of this year -- a decision panned by the US Chamber of Commerce.

This will create political headaches for Biden, but it'll also have a negative impact on everyday Americans...

--Boxing Biden in on foreign policy

A report by CNN's national security team is emblematic of how Trump's administration is working actively in ways to make Biden's life more difficult.

The goal is to set so many fires that it will be hard for the Biden administration to put them all out, an administration official tells CNN in the report.
Trump's administration is:

• Further removing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq in the final days of Trump's time as President.
• Contemplating new terrorist designations in Yemen that could complicate efforts to broker peace.
• Rushing through authorization of a massive arms sale that could alter the balance of power in the Middle East.
• Planning a last-minute crackdown on China.
• Floating the idea of a last-minute military strike on Iran, according to The New York Times.
• Building a wall of sanctions that make it difficult for Biden to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal Trump scuttled.
• Sending Mike Pompeo on the first-ever official visit by a US secretary of state to an Israeli settlement....

--Handing Biden an economic grenade

Trump's failure to negotiate a new Covid stimulus with Congress will set Biden up for a political fight on Day One about how to help Americans hurt by the pandemic.
Here's what expires in December without further action:

• Provisions to beef up unemployment insurance
• A deferral on student loan payments
• A paid family leave provision
• Coronavirus relief funding for states whose tax base has been decimated
• And a moratorium on evictions...

--Weakening American democracy

The most important of these various nails left under the couch cushions is Trump's steadfast refusal to accept the legitimacy of Biden's win, an ultimately futile bit of pique, since Biden will take the oath of office and Trump will no longer be President in January.

Either because he wants to retire campaign debt, seed a new media empire of democratic disbelievers or is personally incapable of admitting defeat, Trump's actions will have consequences.

As if all that isn't bad enough, there's this horror of a thought.

Why Do All The Networks Keep Calling Biden The "46th President?" He'll Be The 47th

 It does look like Biden was just elected to be our 47th President.

Let’s not forget about the upcoming five-minute Presidency of Mike Pence, during which he will be allowed to say exactly twenty-one words: "I hereby pardon Donald Trump for all crimes, known or unknown, he has ever committed against the United States of America."

God forbid and heavens help us.

But for now, at least, Joe Biden is finally confirmed as President and he's picking his staff, the people in his administration.

Thank goodness.

Link:

Trump strips Biden’s options to boost the economy

Pennsylvania once again confirms and reassures.

Pennsylvania certifies Biden victory

Not done there, Nevada does same this morning.

Nevada Supreme Court unanimously approves Biden win

And just to remind us just precisely how small, petty and shallow he is, Trump did this today.

Trump makes one-minute appearance to tout Dow's 30,000

Meanwhile, This Is Going On

 While a man-child tries to ignore, deny our votes, election and Democracy, this, too, is going on.

Robert Reich    @RBReich    Nov 21

Walmart made $129B in profit last year, but at least 14,500 of their employees receive SNAP benefits. 

McDonald's made $11B in profit, but at least 8,780 employees receive SNAP benefits. 

Execs are paying workers poverty wages to boost stock prices and line their pockets.

Ain't America great?

Quote--Fact--of the Day -- Cowardice Edition

 Robert Reich @RBReich Nov 20

The cowardice of all but 2 Senate and 2 House Republicans in not criticizing Trump for refusing to accept the results of the election is one of the worst betrayals of public trust in American history.

________________________________________

It's speaking very loudly.

Quote of the Day -- Presidential Edition

 

Carl Bernstein  @carlbernstein

I'm not violating any pledge of journalistic confidentially in reporting this: 21 Republican Sens–in convos w/ colleagues, staff members, lobbyists, W. House aides–have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS. 

The 21 GOP Senators who have privately expressed their disdain for Trump are: 

• Portman 
• Alexander 
• Sasse 
• Blunt 
• Collins 
• Murkowski 
• Cornyn 
• Thune 
• Romney 
• Braun 
• Young 
• Tim Scott 
• Rick Scott 
• Rubio 
• Grassley 
• Burr 
• Toomey 
• McSally 
• Moran 
• Roberts 
• Shelby

With few exceptions, their craven public silence has helped enable Trump’s most grievous conduct—including undermining and discrediting the US the electoral system.

9:10 PM • 11/22/20

Let's do this, folks.

#Throwthebumout  

Trump Supporters Pledge To Do Us All a Favor If He Loses

 Check this out. This is magnificent.

From MSN today:

A viral video of protesters, as well as posts on social media platform Parler, indicate that Trump supporters are looking to boycott the upcoming Georgia Senate runoff elections.

Trump supporters in Georgia vow to destroy the Republican Party if Trump doesn't win pic.twitter.com/04dPRQFfC0

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) November 21, 2020

A video, shared on Twitter on Saturday, shows a protester speaking into a mic criticizing Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who are both Republicans. The protester calls them "traitors."

Seemingly reacting to certification from Georgia election officials that President-elect Joe Biden had indeed won the Peach State following an election recount, the protesters disavowed the GOP.

"Any Republican who allows this to happen is complicit, and we will finish you," the protester, donning a camo sweatshirt with an elephant on it, shouts into the microphone. "For any Republicans not explicitly helping Trump to 'stop the steal,' we will make sure you are never elected ever again."

How great, how fantastic is that?

They're going to do us all the favor.

What isn't to fear or loathe is to love. 

Where We Are Presently In This Trump Game

 

Thanks, Republicans.

#Throwthebumout 

Now 19 Days After This Election

We are now, as I said in the headline, 19 days after this presidential election and still, still this Republican Party excuse for a President refuses to recognize, accept, respect our vote, our votes, our election, even our Democracy. 

That's the bad news. That and this are the bad news. This was announced today.

Operation Warp Speed Head Says He’s Been Instructed Not To Share Vaccine Information With Biden Team

This is obscene. He is now openly hurting the nation in the middle of the worst, most killing, deadly international pandemic in the last more than 100 years. It's over 2 weeks since we voted. He needs to concede and everyone in his political party needs to speak up and point him in that direction.

Then this happened yesterday.

G20 leaders meet to discuss help for poorest nations in post-Covid world, Trump golfs

If there's good news, and there is, it's that all kinds of people, especially from his own political party, are starting to speak up to say what he should do, what should happen. First from the GOP's Senator Toomey from Pennsylvania.

GOP senator congratulates Biden, says Trump should accept 

And this is likely one reason he spoke up and out.

Federal judge dismisses Trump election lawsuit in Pennsylvania

The judge said Trump's lawsuit was--his words--"without merit." He wrote "...Trump’s campaign had used “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations” in its effort to throw out millions of votes.

In scathing opinion, federal judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania

And another. Another Republican Party Senator speaks up publicly, saying Trump should concede.

GOP senator calls for cooperation on Biden transition: 'I'd rather have a president who has more than one day to prepare'

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said on Sunday that it was "past time to start a transition" to a Biden administration adding he would "rather have a president that has more than one day to prepare."

Same conclusion in Michigan.

Republican Michigan congressman: 'The people have spoken

Then there's Maryland's Republican Governor Hogan. He makes a great point.

Hogan ramps up criticism of Trump: 'Stop golfing and concede'

Hogan is one of a handful of Republican governors, including Govs. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Mike DeWine of Ohio, who have criticized the president’s refusal to acknowledge the results of the election and called on him to concede to Biden.

Then this, based on this morning's Sunday morning talk shows.

Pressure grows from GOP for Trump to recognize Biden election win

Even Chris Christie is recognizing reality now. And keep in mind, Christie is also another member of the GOP, the President's own one and same political party.

Chris Christie: Trump's legal team has been 'a national embarrassment'

And Alan Dershowitz, for pity's sake.

Alan Dershowitz Tells Maria Bartiromo: 'The Outcome Of The Election Will Not Be Reversed'

One of President Donald Trump's most high profile legal defenders on Sunday said that he did not expect the results of the election to be reversed.

And John Bolton. Again. A person from Trump's own staff and administration at one point, of course.

'Just Say It's Wrong': John Bolton Begs Republicans To Stop 'Hiding' From Trump's Election Denial

In spite of all this, in spite of the time it is after this election, in spite of the numbers of people from his own political party saying he should, at long last now, concede, it was announced he plans to continue on.

Trump vows to appeal judge's dismissal of Pennsylvania election challenge

It is maddening. Not done there, he's doing this, too.

Trump Requests Georgia Recount, Meaning 5 Million Votes Will Be Tabulated A 3rd Time

More Georgia reality.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bluestein on Georgia recount: 'The results still stand'

The facts came out this weekend on, of all places, Fox, too.

Dominion spokesman: 'It is not physically possible for our machines to switch votes from one candidate to the other'

A spokesperson Dominion Voting Systems addressed conspiracy theories about the company on Fox News Sunday, saying it was “not physically possible” for its machines to change voter selections.

“This is a nonpartisan American company. It is not physically possible for our machines to switch votes from one candidate to the other,” Michael Steel said on Fox News’ “America’s News HQ” Sunday.

“Let's be very clear, our election system is run by local elected officials and nonpartisan poll watchers. We simply provide a tool to count the ballots and to print and count ballots,” he added. “There is no way such a massive fraud could have taken place and there are no connections between our company and Venezuela, Germany, Barcelona, Kathmandu, whatever the latest conspiracy theory is.”

I understand he wants so badly to stay out of jail but this is one desperate, very desperate man, folks.

And so, we gird our loins, so to speak.

Democrats gear up for last oversight showdown with Trump

The bad news is, with over 2 weeks behind us since the election, this failed President still hasn't and won't accept reality.

The good news is that more and more in his political party are. 

Links. While Trump fiddles, our Rome burns.

North Carolina passes 5,000 COVID-19 deaths

Active coronavirus cases hit new high in Arkansas

Jeff Stein: Trump 'seems to have lost interest in the stimulus,' only worried about the election

Poll: 61 percent of voters say it's important that Trump give concession speech