She called out to him, where he was working on Christmas dinner, a very Dad thing for him to do, and all I heard in the distance was a strangled yell and “GOD. DAMNED. CAT!” and Mom laughed and said he can’t come to the phone right now.
So those were my father’s last words to me. I have tried to live by them ever since.
The next morning my mother called to say he had died in his sleep. I missed my chance to talk back and tell him all the things Chabon said to his father. Oh well. We were never estranged, there was never any conflict between us, so I guess we just lived those things instead.
I’d still like to have that conversation, though. God damned cat.
Trump’s ego won’t allow him to face the reality that his presidency is coming apart at the seams. In what appears to be an effort to persuade himself, as well as his glassy-eyed cult followers, that he is uncommonly popular, Trump repeatedly posts that he has an approval rating of 95% among Republicans. While he has tweeted this at least 29 times this year, he has never once provided a source for that wildly implausible number. Recent polling from the real world shows that his Republican support is at a career low of 74 percent. Nevertheless, Trump tweeted this bizarre commentary Monday morning:
Never has the Republican Party been so united as it is now. 95% A.R. This is a great fraud being played out against the American people by the Fake News Media & their partner, the Do Nothing Democrats. The rules are rigged by Pelosi & Schiff, but we are winning, and we will win!
Let’s set aside the awkwardly comical phrasing in this tweet wherein he appears to say that his own claim of party unity “is a great fraud.” Trump is clinging desperately to a delusion of wide scale GOP adoration. Even if it were true, it would represent a tiny sliver of the electorate which is only about 29% Republican, compared to 31% Democratic and 38% independent. There is no rational argument that he is well-liked by any constituency beyond his worshipful Deplorables. So he resorts to some tiresome sloganeering about the “fake” this and the “do nothing” that.
Children Should be Taught Facts, not Religious Beliefs, in Ohio Public School Classrooms
Suppose a teacher asks on a test this question: how old is the universe? The correct answer is: approximately 13.7 billion years old. An Evangelical student taking this test would be able to, at the very least, give the correct answer AND a wrong answer at the same time: 6,023 years old. What remains unknown is whether, due to his sincerely-held religious beliefs, the student could skip giving the correct answer, answering instead, 6,023 years old, and have it not be counted wrong. Imagine the dilemma faced by high school science teachers, especially in small, rural communities. Taking a stand against interjecting religious ignorance into their classes would surely lead to outrage from offended Evangelicals, and likely lead to their teaching contracts not being renewed. Such teachers, knowing the lay of the land, so to speak, would likely cave to pressure from creationists. Rare is the teacher willing to stand for truth when tied to a pyre and surrounded by outraged Evangelicals with lit torches in their hands.
Ohio state government is currently controlled by right-wing Christian Republicans. One need only watch what this cabal has done on the abortion issue over the past decade to see what Ohio Republicans want to do concerning “religious freedom.” They will not rest until Christian prayers are uttered by teachers at the start of each day or sent school-wide over school intercoms, teachers begin the day with readings from the Christian Bible, abstinence-only sex education is taught in health classes, and young-earth creationism and/or its gussied up sister intelligent design, is taught science classrooms. In other words, Republicans will not rest until they drag Ohio children back good old days of the 1950s.
It is no longer a matter of repairing the country. The country cannot be repaired. We can no longer pretend that we can once again become a United States if we just find a Mighty Uniter who will say and do just the right things i just the right way. Modern history has shown that when Democrats elect uniters, Republicans become exponentially more deranged.
No, the question before us is who will get to rebuild a New America in the ruins of the Old America — which, when you think about it, is the story American.
Will the New America be shaped those of us who want our nation to look a lot like the old America, but with a greater explicit commitment to fairness, justice, shared prosperity and responsible stewardship of out planet? Or will it be some grotesque parody of America? Fascism, wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible?
Trump Warns Republicans That If They Vote to Impeach He Will Campaign for Them Like He Did in Louisiana
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Delivering an ominous threat to members of his own party, Donald J. Trump warned congressional Republicans on Monday that if they vote for impeachment he would come to their states and campaign for their reëlection.
In a series of intimidating, early-morning tweets, Trump made it clear that if Republicans wobble on impeachment, “I will hold rallies in your state and support you with everything I’ve got.”
My report from the hearing room: Republicans spent the first day of impeachment hearings in an alternate reality. (Please read, RT, and share.) https://motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/republicans-spent-the-first-day-of-impeachment-hearings-in-an-alternate-reality/ via
@MotherJones
The thing that House Republicans have yet to observe is that, while much power has been invested in President Trump, and even though he enforces that power on Twitter and in his extraordinary public rallies through what might be termed the “bullying pulpit”, there is an extent to which he has no influence–his word does not, actually, change facts. In this way, he is like an unwitting King Canute, demonstrating to his courtiers that he does not, in fact, have power over the tides. The GOP House members have not actually altogether realized this yet, anymore than they have discovered that the emperor is not clothed. One of the things thus far demonstrated is that Trump’s “tide” hasn’t risen the boats of Bevin (an incumbent governor in Kentucky) nor Rispone (a challenger for governor in Louisiana). His efforts have not elevated Republicans–he is only, at best, able to promote himself.
He appears to be a reflection of a kind of personality cult, but not a political movement. His coattails are those of a bolero jacket.
Infidel753 dives into the deep right wing bubble and emerges back into the light with a thoughtful, as always, conclusion. The impeachment hearings will change no minds. We should finish them and get back to the reality of electoral politics. Largely true, I suspect. Still, I won’t be surprised at a profound political effect. There were many problems in 2016 – Putin subterranean interference, Comey mountaintop interference, the Electoral College. The biggest anti-democracy influence was resigned apathy. The hearings may, without changing minds, get democracy back to work.
Marie Yovanovitch served for thirty years for presidents of both parties, sometimes in highly dangerous situations. She is a hero. tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors covers my president’s smear attacks on her during her testimony and the stunned reaction of some at Fox News.
Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged brings us a 27 second video of Nancy Pelosi explaining how exculpatory evidence could work for Donald Trump while gently burning his lack of intelligence. He’ll get angry. As soon as someone explains it.
Andy Borowitz reports as angry Republicans address a long simmering injustice, demanding that everyone in the federal witness protection program appear on national television. It’s only fair.
Dreamers are Americans who were brought here as kids, average age 6, and who grew up in the United States. Most do not even remember any other country. News Corpse reports as Donald Trump attacks Dreamers themselves, and President Obama for letting them stay. NC points out the high number of falsehoods in a single Donald tweet and refutes each lie.
Oh my. Tommy Christopher quotes the recently discovered white nationalism communications of Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Conservative MSNBC co-host Joe Scarborough blasts the GOP for silent complicity with racism.
Ah, a competition! Max’s Dad may be the world’s best ranter. If you ever tick this guy off, you’ll want to apologize RIGHT away. Turns out he doesn’t much care for former Ambassador to the UN and former Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley. And he doesn’t much care for US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. He runs a comparison to figure out which of these two Trumpers is worse.
So Donald Trump, Jr. toured Arlington National Cemetery. As he listened to the slow, mournful, notes of “Taps”, his thoughts, according to his own words, went to horrific, heroic sacrifices. No, not the sacrifice of life for freedom – the sacrifice made by those in final rest at each marked grave.
Rather he was thinking of the sacrifices he, his siblings, in fact the entire Trump family, made to install Donald Trump in the White House. Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit reads those words and manages to express a calm bit of disapproval.
Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara saluted veterans this past week, but reserved his highest praise for those most responsible for supporting the military, productive, wealth producing, wealthy Americans. This anti-government ideologue embraces a case study: the astonishing production of weaponry during World War II. An interesting illustration, since the mobilization was organized and carried out by government.
Ant Farmer’s Almanac apologizes in advance to Rodgers and Hammerstein, offering anti-boomer lyrics to the tune of Oklahoma. Okay, so we’ve attacked the climate, the seas, the economy, the society, and simple morality in the treatment of refugees and their children. But we should at least be allowed to scream at kids to get off our lawns.
After six decades of the pure joy and relief of being too young to be a boomer, nojo is outraged to find his generation grouped with mine. So now he’s as guilty of OK-boomer-itis as am I. You know this piece will be good. For one thing, it’s by nojo, who seems congenitally unable to write anything that isn’t golden. For another, the first sentence is: We’ve hated our generation since Disco.
Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson is a genuinely good writer. His thoughts are insightful. He presents those thoughts crisply and clearly.
But he’s not perfect, a fact he illustrates while complaining about a Republican passed state law that says a state commission is required to use a disreputable method that has a history of disenfranchising legitimate voters. James is not complaining about an unjust, anti-democratic law. His beef is with a state election commission that is not using the law as it was intended. Instead, members voted to add safeguards to be sure valid voters are still allowed to vote.
The practice is known as voter caging. When used unethically, a mail piece is sent to voters. The piece is non-forwardable. Non-wealthy, non-owners are more likely to move short distances away. Those pieces will be returned as non-deliverable. Around the country, Republicans have used the method to file legal complaints against voter registrations. When voters show up to vote, they are told they are no longer registered. When used aggressively, tens of thousands of legitimate voters are told they are no longer voters. Some don’t show up, since reminders are sent only to those still on file.
The national Republican Party eventually signed a consent agreement that has the force of law. They agreed never to use voter caging again, because … well … the rights of voters should be protected.
Sometimes, today’s Republicans use state governments to get around the consent agreement. When they get control of a state legislature they use the state itself to perform voter caging. The consent agreement only keeps the Republican Party from unfairly keeping voters from voting. It doesn’t keep state governments from doing the disfranchising.
In Wisconsin, the Election Board is using caging, but they are taking additional steps, like giving voters more time to show they are still state residents.
James is pretty upset. He approves of a lawsuit by a conservative organization that seeks to force the commission to cancel voter rights within 30 days after a mailing is returned. After all, the law is the law, right?
There could be reasoned arguments against additional safeguards. Perhaps the national Republican consent agreement against caging was a bridge too far. Maybe, if done carefully, caging is okay. Perhaps a call or visit could ensure that only folks who move out-of-state are purged. Or perhaps there are other arguments for what otherwise would look like a naked attempt to undermine democracy.
If a voter shows up to vote and is unexpectedly barred from voting, Wisconsin does allow that voter to go home and dig up hospital birth papers, marriage licenses, and other documents, then to return and re-register on the spot, and vote. Many forms of ID are not allowed. This is a bit of a burden, especially for non-drivers who rely on bus schedules to commute to work, to shop, and to vote. James argues that the Wisconsin same-day home trip document provision is absolute proof that caging presents no burden on low income voters.
Aside from that, James relies primarily on accusation. He charges that a failure to purge these voters will cause voter fraud. In reality, when elections are stolen, it is by behind-the-scenes fiddling with vote totals, not illegal voters showing up to vote. An amazing number of studies have shown voter fraud is vanishingly rare, while the denial of voting rights is alarmingly common.
James does not document his discredited accusation. He does not bother to defend his stance from well-known arguments against it. In fact, he does not mention those arguments.
He neglects the Republican history of abuse, and the Republican consent agreement, and the danger of purging valid voters and making it impractical for them to re-register.
To be fair, James has, over his writing career, repeatedly proven he can do better than this.
Hearsay evidence is considered statements that one person says that a third person had said. In the jurisdictions or venues, I worked that could be one neighbor telling another that he overheard a subject say, “I am going to kill you”, shortly followed by 2 gunshots. That is hearsay evidence and normally would be disallowed in court. However, if, while investigating a murder at the subject’s home that the second person told the investigator, that subject would soon be in an interrogation room for a long, long time trying to convince interrogators that it was not him.
There are several factors that would go into getting the hearsay statements admitted into evidence. One, of course, is statements made during the interrogation. If he or someone with direct knowledge, like his chief of staff, basically said that he did make the statement, then the overheard statement becomes evidence and the hearsay statement becomes a corroborating statement. In other words, you can believe the overheard statement because he immediately told another person. That is the point that Representative Jordan was trying to make. What he didn’t understand, however, was that the alleged hearsay witness was simply carrying out his sworn duties as an official representative of the United States government.
Is this representative more believable than the neighbor, probably, within the same consideration of a police officer telling a judge and jury what another officer told him? Both are representatives carrying out their sworn duties.
