;)
October 30, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Marie: The New York Times published an op-ed this weekend by biographer David Nasaw (linked below). Nasaw writes that Elon Musk is no special genius, but merely another boorish robber baron. Musk seems determined to prove this:
Kurtis Lee of the New York Times: "Three days after Elon Musk purchased Twitter, the billionaire posted a tweet that advanced baseless allegations about the recent attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.... On Saturday, Hillary Clinton ... posted a tweet assailing Republicans for spreading 'hate and deranged conspiracy theories' that she said had emboldened the man who attacked Ms. Pelosi's husband, Paul, inside the couple's home in San Francisco early Friday. Mr. Musk's tweet was later deleted, and it was not immediately clear who had deleted it. In a reply to Mrs. Clinton's tweet, Mr. Musk wrote, 'There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye' and then shared a link to an article in the Santa Monica Observer. The article alleges that Mr. Pelosi was drunk and in a fight with a male prostitute.... In 2016, for example, the publication advanced a claim that Mrs. Clinton had died and that a body double was sent to debate ... Donald J. Trump." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'll admit that "blaming it on the gays" was not a conspiracy theory that occurred to me, but maybe we're supposed to be pleased Twitter has become an equal-opportunity conspiracy hub. At any rate, all of this highlights the obvious fact that we have to tax the multi-billionaires into relative oblivion. See also Akhilleus' comment below.
Amy Wang & Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Washington Post: "Several Republicans on Sunday tempered their denunciations of an attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), casting blame for political violence on 'both sides' of the aisle.... Donald Trump has so far remained silent.... [And] Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said Sunday it was 'unfair' for Democrats to link Republicans' inflammatory rhetoric toward their political opponents to the attack on Paul Pelosi. 'I think this is a deranged individual,' McDaniel said on 'Fox News Sunday.'"
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Has anyone noticed that "Weekend Update," even with the absurd jokes included, is as accurate as Fox "News"?
Meet your GOP Senate candidates:
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Sadly this attack was inevitable. Political violence is on the rise. And instead of GOP leaders condemning it, they condone it with silence or, even worse, glorification. -- Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) ~~~
~~~ Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "In 2010, Republicans launched a 'Fire Pelosi' project -- complete with a bus tour, a #FIREPELOSI hashtag and images of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) engulfed in Hades-style flames -- devoted to retaking the House and demoting Pelosi from her perch as speaker. Eleven years later, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) joked that if he becomes the next leader of the House, it will be hard not to hit Pelosi with the speaker's gavel. And this year, Pelosi -- whom Republicans have long demonized as the face of progressive policies and who was a target of rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol -- emerged as the top member of Congress maligned in political ads, with Republicans spending nearly $40 million on ads that mention Pelosi in the final stretch of the campaign, according to AdImpact, which tracks television and digital ad spending. The years of vilification culminated Friday when Pelosi's husband, Paul, was attacked with a hammer during an early-morning break-in at the couple's home in San Francisco by a man searching for the speaker and shouting 'Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?'' A Politico story on the same topic is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: As Alex Wagner of MSNBC pointed out Friday night, Republicans take particular pleasure in vilifying female politicians -- Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, the Squad. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Davis & Dalton Bennett of the Washington Post: "The San Francisco Bay area man arrested in the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband filled a blog a week before the incident with delusional thoughts, including that an invisible fairy attacked an acquaintance and sometimes appeared to him in the form of a bird, according to online writings under his name. David DePape, 42, also published hundreds of blog posts in recent months sharing memes in support of fringe commentators and far-right personalities. Many of the posts were filled with screeds against Jews, Black people, Democrats, the media and transgender people. During October, DePape published over 100 posts. While each loads, a reader briefly glimpses an image of a person wearing a giant inflatable unicorn costume, superimposed against a night sky. The photos and videos that followed were often dark and disturbing." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Cue Republicans to immediately return to their "mental illness" crouch and absolve themselves from all responsibility for the actions of this sick fuck. ~~~
~~~ Blame Biden, Crime-Ridden Cities, Defund the Police: How Fox "News" Handled the Violent Attack. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Paraphrasing [a panel discussion that occurred just as the details of the news were breaking]: If this wasn't a function of politics, it is an act of heinous violence that represents precisely the sort of horrible, surging crime that Fox News has been warning its viewers about endlessly for weeks. If it was a function of politics -- presumably politics that cast Pelosi negatively -- then it's simply division, something that lamentably reflects our nation's sad state under Biden." MB: And now, they'll add mental illness to the mix.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The White House rejected a recommendation by senior Pentagon officials to promote an Army general who came under intense scrutiny after the Pentagon's slow response to the riot at the Capitol, defense officials said, pushing the officer to a near-certain retirement. Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, the director of the Army staff, was backed to become the four-star general at Army Futures Command by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth -- both of whom were appointed by President Biden -- and Gen. James McConville, the Army's top officer, said two defense officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. The White House declined to send a nomination for Piatt to the Senate for months, the officials said, effectively killing the possibility."
Zarar Khan of the AP: "A 75-year-old from Pakistan who was the oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was released and returned to Pakistan on Saturday, the foreign ministry in Islamabad and the U.S. Defense Department said. Saifullah Paracha was reunited with his family after more than 17 years in custody in the U.S. base in Cuba, the ministry added. Paracha had been held on suspicion of ties to al-Qaida since 2003, but was never charged with a crime. Last year in May, he was notified that he had been been approved for release." A New York Times story is here.
Chloe Folmar of the Hill: "NBA star LeBron James on Saturday called on new Twitter owner Elon Musk to respond to the 'scary AF' increase in the use of the N-word on the social media platform. James tweeted in response to a post sharing a Business Insider article that reported, based on what a social media research group told The Washington Post, that the use of the racial slur increased by 500 percent after Musk's takeover of Twitter on Thursday." MB: I think that means "scary as fuck," but I'm guessing & will stand corrected if, well, corrected. ~~~
~~~ ** David Nasaw in a New York Times op-ed: Elon Musk is just another robber baron who has developed his automotive & space businesses on government subsidies but who has an advantage over latter-day robber barons because of his "ability to promote his businesses and political notions with a tweet.... Elon Musk is a product of his -- and our -- times. Rather than debate or deride his influence, we must recognize that he is not the self-made genius businessman he plays in the media. Instead, his success was prompted and paid for by taxpayer money and abetted by government officials who have allowed him and other billionaire businessmen to exercise more and more control over our economy and our politics." (Also linked yesterday.)
November Elections
The Closer. Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "With midterm elections just over a week away, [former President Barack] Obama, 61, has stepped into the spotlight on the political stage with rallies to gin up interest in marquee midterm races in battleground states. A day after appearing in Georgia with Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, who is in a tight race with [Herschel] Walker, and Stacey Abrams, who is trailing in her rematch with Gov. Brian Kemp, Obama headlined rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin. The former president is regarded as the Democratic Party's top communicator to base voters, more in demand than President Biden, who has not been the sought-after surrogate in the top races amid a dismal approval rating. The president spent one of the busiest campaign weekends of the cycle at his home in Delaware, where he attended his granddaughter's field hockey game and, separately, cast his ballot. Democratic strategists say Obama is the sole party leader able to draw major base-motivating crowds without simultaneously angering the other side."
Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The vicious attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), is a reminder of what the 2022 election is about.... The backdrop of politics today includes a climate of possible violence, with rising numbers of threats aimed at individual lawmakers. It includes threats to local officials and citizen volunteers who administer elections. It includes intimidation of individual voters depositing ballots at drop boxes in Arizona.... A majority of Republicans on the ballot for Senate, House and key statewide races have denied or questioned the 2020 presidential election, echoing ... Donald Trump's unfounded claims. It all adds up to what has been stated repeatedly for the past two years: Democracy itself is at risk in this country."
Beyond the Beltway
California. AP: "A man who spent more than 38 years behind bars for a 1983 murder and two attempted murders has been released from a California prison after long-untested DNA evidence pointed to a different person, the Los Angeles County district attorney said Friday. The conviction of Maurice Hastings, 69, and a life sentence were vacated during an Oct. 20 court hearing at the request of prosecutors and his lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project at California State University, Los Angeles. 'I prayed for many years that this day would come,' Hastings said at a news conference Friday, adding: 'I am not pointing fingers; I am not standing up here a bitter man, but I just want to enjoy my life now while I have it.'"
Virginia. The Last Confederate Statue in Richmond. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Since 1892, the statue of Ambrose P. Hill, a Confederate lieutenant general, has towered over a busy intersection in Richmond, Va., built over the spot where his remains are buried. The statue is the last Confederate monument in the city.... Judge D. Eugene Cheek Sr., of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, this week ruled that the city had the right to dismantle the statue and donate it to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. The remains of the general will be reburied at a cemetery in Culpeper, about 85 miles north, according to his ruling."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Mark Santora of the New York Times: "Hours after accusing Ukraine of attacking its ships with a swarm of drones, Russia withdrew on Saturday from an agreement aimed at bringing down global food prices by allowing the export of grain from Ukrainian ports. The Russian decision, which United Nations and Ukrainian officials said could exacerbate hunger, brought to a screeching halt a rare case of wartime coordination that had allowed the movement of more than 9 million tons of agricultural products, many of them bound for poor countries. Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, called on the warring parties to ensure that the grain deal continued."
Iran. Miriam Berger, of the Washington Post: "The two female Iranian journalists who helped break the story of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman whose death in the custody of the so-called morality police last month sparked a nationwide uprising, were formally accused late Friday of being CIA spies and the 'primary sources of news for foreign media' -- the former a crime punishable by the death penalty in Iran. Journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi have been held in Iran's notorious Evin prison since late September as Iran's clerical leaders have struggled to contain an outpouring of public anger and protests calling for their overthrow.... In the joint statement sent to Iranian media late Friday local time, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard ... accused the CIA of orchestrating Hamedi and Mohammadi's reporting, and said 'allied spy services and fanatic proxies,' planned the nationwide, leaderless unrest." They also accused British, Israeli & Saudi spy agencies in participating in planning & organizing the protests.
Somalia. Omar Faruk of the AP: "Somalia's president says at least 100 people were killed in Saturday's two car bombings at a busy junction in the capital and the toll could rise in the country's deadliest attack since a truck bombing at the same spot five years ago killed more than 500. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, at the site of the explosions in Mogadishu, told journalists that nearly 300 other people were wounded. 'We ask our international partners and Muslims around the world to send their medical doctors here since we can't send all the victims outside the country for treatment,' he said."
News Lede
India. New York Times: “At least 70 140 people were killed after a century-old pedestrian bridge collapsed in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Sunday evening, sending hundreds plunging into the Machchhu River, officials said. About 350 people were on and around the bridge, a major tourist attraction, at the time of the collapse, said Brijesh Merja, a minister in the Gujarat government. A majority of those who died were children, women and older people, according to officials.”
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Reader Comments (9)
The preacher has been unreliable lately, more miss than hit, but someone just tossed this one in over the transom...
"Property taxes are due Oct. 31, just in time for Halloween.
Taxes often seem more trick than treat, so maybe I’ll get in line, put on my Ronald Reagan mask (remember those?), and grumble about taxes. It’s an American pastime, especially in years when tax-due dates coincide with an election. Why should I be any different?
In some ways I’m not. I don’t like regressive taxes, especially sales taxes that disproportionately target those whose major expenditures are on necessities. I don’t like the way property taxes affect some retirees on fixed incomes, and I surely don’t like to see the millions of parasitic Americans who do not pay their fair share (home. treasury. gov) and leave the burden to others.
But overall, taxes are just fine, even necessary. The government on which everyone depends for so much could not function without them. So why are Republicans telling scary Halloween stories about those mean IRS agents who will soon be knocking at your door?
The answer? Simply put, they don’t want government to function. Since 2010 Republicans have drastically cut IRS funding, deliberately shrinking the agency even as its responsibilities increased (cbpp.org), leaving hundreds of billions in taxes, largely from the wealthy, unpaid.
Since the Inflation Reduction Act reversed that trend, Republicans are again up in arms. In addition to running misleading anti-IRS ads fantasizing about "an army of auditors to harass middle-class taxpayers,” they promise to repeal the new IRS funding if they take the House majority (ap.com).
But there’s another story here behind the usual Republican election season scare-the-voters narrative. It’s about the kind of society their actions champion.
Instead of encouraging and supporting mutually responsible communities, they think selfish people should be rewarded for their greed and rank dishonesty.
That’s the real, very frightening Republican vision.
Boo!"
DYING INSIDE: If you have time, because this piece is long and throughly researched with many photos, read the reporting on the chaos and cruelty in Louisiana's Juvenile Detention Center. What kind of hell we put our children through makes anyone who claims "the life of the fetus must be protected" a joke. Children are dying––-literally and emotionally because they are treated like pawns in these places where they go for help and end up killing themselves.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/29/us/juvenile-detention-abuses-louisiana.html
Watched Obama in Wisconsin last night and wept. He has the gift of speaking like the best of Baptist preachers–-powerful, humorous, concise, and the ability to sock-it-to-em" without going into the dirt. We need him in Arizona post haste cuz we gots lots of Lakes that are overflowing.
"you're gonna miss me when I'm gone" he said as he walked off the stage back then. Clearly an understatement.
I couldn't find any good clips of President Obama's speech in Milwaukee, so here's the whole thing. Drop in anywhere.
I watched part of Obama, got in late...but honestly, he's really too good for today's politics. Any sensibleness, honesty, forthrightedness, compassion, intelligence, and all his other attributes are drowning in a sea of cruelty and treachery. Just hearing him makes me long for 2008, although I am not so blind and deaf as to not remember what 2008-2012 was really like. People using the N-word to the president's face, idiots wearing tea bags on their hats, real estate dishonesty, etc...it was not a time of unrelieved cheer. Obama remained civil and optimistic and the Rs resisted anything and everything, and the government barely functioned, although the wars went merrily on unhindered. No, I don't really want a return to any of that, but it seems carefree and innocent compared to the madhouse we currently live in. I am thinking I need more alcohol, more tea and cookies, more library books. And we need more Gitmo and more asylums to contain the dangerous lunatics loose in the land. Just let out the Gitmo people NOT involved with 9/11, or deport them or try them and put them in max prisons for life in solitary. Mental health is not the issue. Treason is. Oops. That's quite enough...I am getting more enraged by the typed letter...
Just saw a photo of the current makeup of the Unsupreme Court. Guess which two men are completely manspread on the front row... It figures. Tomorrow they plan to wreck college admissions...
Oh, this is what he means by “diversity of voices”…
Billionaire scumbag and head twit, Elon Musk, who promised he wouldn’t let Twitter become a “hellscape”, begins the descent into hell himself. I mean, why wait?
A day after scarfing up one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, gleeful white supremacists and antisemites go on a hate-fueled free for all, thrilled that their pal Elon is now in charge. And a day later, not to be outdone, Musk joins the right-wing pig pile (accent on pigs) in blaming anyone but those responsible for the attack on the Pelosis.
But, as it always goes in right-wing world, just pointing fingers away from the real perpetrators and promoters of violence isn’t enough, not by miles.
Musk retweeted a story by one of the most brain damaged far right conspiracy mongering sites and stated that it could very well be true.
The charge? That there was no break in, that this was all some kind of coverup to hide the fact that 82 year old Paul Pelosi was having a fling with a male prostitute. So he’s able to jam a load of hate in one tweet. First, there was no attack. The Pelosis are lying, as usual, and Paul Pelosi is…HORRORS!…GAY!
And just so you know where this asshole dug up this stinking pile of winger conspiracy crap, he got it from a dirt rotten rag called the Santa Monica Observer, the noble example of journalism that once claimed that Hillary Clinton was dead and Democrats hired a body double to run against Trump in a debate.
Musk promised a “diversity of voices” on his new toy. I guess this is what he means. And so nice of him to set the example himself.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-amplifies-baseless-conspiracy-theory-in-pelosi-attack
Reaching for a large audience. Unknown parties targeted Jacksonville Florida prior to, during, and after the Georgia-Florida football game with an anti Semitic hate barrage, https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2022/10/30/antisemitic-hate-message-tiaa-bank-field-florida-georgia-game-jacksonville-ye-kanye-west/10644279002/
Unfair!!!
Traitors are unhappy that their inflammatory, violent rhetoric could possibly be connected to the imbiber of such bullshit who attempted to murder Paul Pelosi. This is like saying a house fire couldn’t possibly be blamed on the guy who set it.
The harder they fall...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/30/brazil-election-lula-bolsonaro-live-updates/
But I suspect Bolsanaro will not go any more quietly than has his thuggish buddy up north.