Friday, February 05, 2021

ANS -- HCR for Feb. 4

Here is yet another from Heather Cox Richardson.  She is really great on summarizing what it going on very clearly and meaningfully. In this one, she does some comparisons between Biden and FDR that are informative. 
There was one thing in here I hadn't heard about before:  " This morning, Jason Stanley of Just Security called attention to the film shown at the January 6 rally just after Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke. Stanley explained how it was an explicitly fascist film, designed to show the former president as a strong fascist leader promising to protect Americans against those who are undermining the country: the Jews."
--Kim


February 4, 2021 (Thursday)
Today Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) proposed giving at least $3000 annually per child to American families. This suggestion is coming from a man who, when he ran as the Republican candidate for president in 2012, famously echoed what was then Republican orthodoxy. He was caught on tape saying that "there are 47 percent of the people who… are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it."
Romney's proposal indicates the political tide has turned away from the Republicans. Since the 1980s, they have insisted that the government must be starved, dismissing as "socialism" Democrats' conviction that the government has a role to play in stabilizing the economy and society.
And yet, that idea, which is in line with traditional conservatism, was part of the founding ideology of the Republican Party in the 1850s. It was also the governing ideology of Romney's father, George Romney, who served as governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, where he oversaw the state's first income tax, and as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Richard Nixon, where he tried to increase housing for the poor and desegregate the suburbs. It was also at the heart of Romney's own record in Massachusetts, where as governor from 2003 to 2007, he ushered in the near-universal health care system on which the Affordable Care Act was based.
But in the 1990s, Republican leadership purged from the party any lawmakers who embraced traditional Republicanism, demanding absolute loyalty to the idea of cutting taxes and government to free up individual enterprise. By 2012, Romney had to run from his record, including his major health care victory in Massachusetts. Now, just a decade later, he has returned to the ideas behind it.
Why?
First, and most important, President Joe Biden has hit the ground running, establishing a momentum that looks much like that of Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt had behind him stronger majorities than Biden's, but both took office facing economic crises—and, in Biden's case, a pandemic as well, along with the climate crisis--and set out immediately to address them.
Like FDR, Biden has established the direction of his administration through executive actions: he is just behind FDR's cracking pace. Biden arrived in the Oval Office with a sheaf of carefully crafted executive actions that put in place policies that voters wanted: spurring job creation, feeding children, rejoining the World Health Organization, pursuing tax cheats, ending the transgender ban in the military, and reestablishing ties to the nation's traditional allies. Once Biden had a Democratic Senate as well as a House—those two Georgia Senate seats were huge—he was free to ask for a big relief package for those suffering in the pandemic, and now even Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who had expressed concern about the package, seems to be on board.
FDR's momentum increased in part because the Republicans were discredited after the collapse of the economy and as Republican leaders turned up as corrupt. Biden's momentum, too, is likely gathering steam as the Republicans are increasingly tainted by their association with the January 6 insurrection and the attack on the Capitol, along with the behavior of those who continue to support the former president.
The former president's own behavior is not helping to polish his image. In their response to the House impeachment brief, Trump's lawyers made the mistake of focusing not on whether the Senate can try a former president but on what Trump did and did not do. That, of course, makes Trump a witness, and today Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the lead impeachment manager, asked him to testify.
Trumps' lawyers promptly refused but, evidently anticipating his refusal, Raskin had noted in the invitation that "[i]f you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021." In other words: "Despite his lawyers' rhetoric, any official accused of inciting armed violence against the government of the United States should welcome the chance to testify openly and honestly—that is, if the official had a defense."
The lack of defense seems to be mounting. This morning, Jason Stanley of Just Security called attention to the film shown at the January 6 rally just after Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke. Stanley explained how it was an explicitly fascist film, designed to show the former president as a strong fascist leader promising to protect Americans against those who are undermining the country: the Jews. Stanley also pointed out that, according to the New York Times, the rally was "a White House production" and that Trump was deeply involved with the details.
Trump's supporters are not cutting a good figure, either. Today, by a vote of 230-199, the House of Representatives voted to strip new Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) of her assignments to the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. It did so after reviewing social media posts in which she embraced political violence and conspiracy theories. This leaves Greene with little to do but to continue to try to gin up media attention and to raise money.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had declined to take action against Greene—although in 2019 he stripped assignments from Steve King (R-IA) for racist comments-- and only eleven Republicans joined the majority. The Republican Party is increasingly associated with the Trump wing, and that association will undoubtedly grow as Democrats press it in advertisements, as they have already begun to do.
McConnell has called for the party's extremists to be purged out of concern that voters are turning away from the party. Still, the struggle between the two factions might be hard to keep out of the news as the Senate turns to confirmation hearings for Biden's nominee to head the Department of Justice, Merrick Garland.
Going forward, the attorney general will be responsible for overseeing any prosecutions that come from the attempt to overturn the election, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will question Garland, has on it three Republican senators involved in that attempt. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been accused by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of calling before Trump did to get him to alter the state's vote count. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) both joined in challenging the counting of the electoral votes.
It is hard to imagine the other senators at the hearing will not bring the three compromised senators into the discussion. The Republicans have so far refused to schedule Garland's hearing, although now that the Senate is organized under the Democrats, it will happen soon.
Trump Republicans are betting the former president's endorsement will win them office in the future. But with social media platforms cracking down on his disinformation, his ability to reach voters is not at all what it used to be, making it easier for members of the other faction to jump ship.
In addition, those echoing Trump's lies are getting hit in their wallets. Today, the voting systems company Smartmatic sued the Fox News Channel and its personalities Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and Jeanine Pirro, along with Giuliani and Trump's legal advisor Sidney Powell, for at least $2.7 billion in damages for lying about Smartmatic machines in their attempt to overturn the election results.
Republicans rejecting the Trump takeover of the party are increasingly outspoken. Not only has Romney called for a measure that echoes Biden's emphasis on supporting children and families, but also Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) today released a video attacking the leaders of his state's Republican Party after hearing that they planned to censure him for speaking out against the former president.
"If that president were a Democrat, we both know how you'd respond. But, because he had 'Republican' behind his name, you're defending him," Sasse said. "Something has definitely changed over the last four years … but it's not me."
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Thursday, February 04, 2021

ANS -- Another Symptom of Trump's Plague Hits Republicans

Here's a very short article about How Trump's lies and other pathologies seem to be contagious in the Republican Party.
I tried to get to the other article linked in this one, but I couldn't get it to load.  
--Kim



OpEdNews Op Eds 2/4/2021 at 16:07:24    H1'ed 2/4/21

Another Symptom of Trump's Plague Hits Republicans

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'Boy, the lies': Cuomo reacts GOP leader's QAnon remark House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy discusses freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) statement to GOP about her past inflammatory comments.
(Image by YouTube, Channel: CNN)   Details   DMCA

Minority leader McCarthy says he doesn't know what QANON is. Is there ANYone in the US who actually believes that? What kind of blatant lying has become acceptable to Republicans? Have they adopted the blatant lying their cult leader Trump established as his norm?

Last fall, I wrote, in my article, The Far More Dangerous Trump Plague: The Psychopath Trumpdemic, how Trump has unleashed a plague of psychopaths, narcisssists and psychopathic, narcissistic behaviors.




Chronic lying is a common characteristic of psychopaths and narcissists. McCarthy was referencing the five hour meeting congressional Republicans held to discuss how to deal with Congresswomen Greene and Cheney.

Supposedly, Greene, in the closed door, private meeting, she offered contrition, but not an apology for some of her most outrageous comments made on social media - including questioning the 9/11 attacks, blaming a space ray directed by a Jewish cabal for a deadly wildfire in California and challenging the actuality of school shootings where many children were killed.

Greene said she learned to be more careful in what she posted to social media.

I don't believe her. I don't believe McCarthy. They are lying. The 140 Republicans members of the House of Representatives who voted to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential elections were acting dishonestly.

What about the millions, probably tens of millions of people who support the QANON narrative? They buy these lies. I consider these delusional believers in QANON to be more deeply marinated-in-the-koolaid Trump cult members. And I see it as a form of mental illness.

These are all manifestations of the Trump plague. Trump supporters came up with the idea of TDS-- Trump Derangement Syndrome, characterizing people's angry response to Trump's behavior.

I'm calling the multiple pathologies manifested by Trump's cult members, including the lies told by McCarthy and Greene the "Trump Plague." I don't think it is going away soon. McCarthy has shown us that he is willing to lie of blatantly as Trump. The Republicans in the House of Representatives have made it clear that Greene's lunacy and threats will be not only tolerated but given Standing applause.

Like the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trump plague is going to get worse before it gets better.

 


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Tuesday, February 02, 2021

ANS -- From Heather Cox Richardson -- Feb. 1, 2021

Here's another from Heather Cox Richardson.  Note, in the paragraph that starts, "Explicitly....", she indirectly explains why they are having trouble getting the vaccines out -- states have had to cut down on employees drastically because of the lack of help from the federal government for this past year of epidemic.  
--Kim



February 1, 2021 (Monday)
Today's two big domestic stories are developments that will help to determine the future of our democracy: President Biden's insistence on a major new coronavirus relief bill and Trump's role in the January 6 insurrection.
President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion economic relief bill, called American Rescue Plan, to get the country over the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. This is a bold move that rests on the idea that the government must help to manage the economy. Republicans abandoned this idea in the 1980s and even today continue to insist that tax cuts and private enterprise are the keys to a secure economy.
But that theory took a beating even among previous adherents under the previous president, as corporate leaders invested money from tax cuts into stock buybacks, driving money upward, and as the administration refused to coordinate a coronavirus response and thus helped to create a disaster that has led more than 440,000 Americans to their deaths. Biden's attempt to pass a big coronavirus bill that supports ordinary Americans, as well as cities and states, contradicts the Republican orthodoxy that has come to dominate the nation.
Republicans don't like the plan, and even the Republicans willing to entertain the idea of another relief bill think Biden's proposed number is far too high. For nearly two hours today, Biden met with ten Republican senators who offered a $618 billion counterproposal. This was Biden's first meeting with lawmakers of either party, and giving that first meeting to Republicans was a sign that he is willing to entertain good-faith bipartisanship. After the meeting, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) expressed optimism that the two sides could continue to work together.
But the tide seems to be running away from Republicans toward the Democratic plan. On Friday, a bipartisan group of more than 400 mayors across the country begged Congress to provide aid to cities, aid that is in Biden's package and not in the plan of the Republican senators. Mayors and governors actually have to make government work and thus are often more practical and less ideological than national lawmakers.
Explicitly calling for Congress to pass Biden's plan, the mayors noted that "American cities and our essential workers have been serving at the frontlines of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for nearly a year" without direct federal assistance. Because cities and states cannot borrow to cover budget shortfalls, they look to the federal government—which can—to tide them over in times of crisis. This time, though, that aid was not forthcoming. Left with no choice, local governments have cut nearly a million local government jobs. Direct, flexible aid to cities will help suffering families and fuel a recovery, the mayors say, as well as enabling cities to vaccinate people. "Your quick action on President Biden's plan is a crucial step to making meaningful progress in one of the most challenging moments in our country's history," the mayors wrote to congressional leadership.
This morning, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, also backed the larger coronavirus package. "I absolutely believe we need to go big…. We need to quit counting the egg-sucking legs on the cows and count the cows and just move. And move forward and move right now." Justice's interview on CNN puts pressure on West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, who has expressed concerns about a big relief package.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders began the process of advancing the Senate process that will enable the Democrats to pass their own proposal without Republican votes. This process is known as "budget reconciliation," and it requires only a simple majority to pass. When they were in power, the Republicans used it to advance policies like ending the Affordable Care Act, so the Democrats' invoking of this rule is not unprecedented.
"Congress has a responsibility to quickly deliver immediate comprehensive relief to the American people hurting from covid-19," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a statement. "The cost of inaction is high and growing, and the time for decisive action is now." Later Schumer tweeted: "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen just told us: 'The smartest thing we can do is act big.' And that is just what this Senate is going to do: Act Big."
Tonight, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement that gave generous credit to the ten Republican senators who offered the counterproposal for "a substantive and productive discussion" and a "shared… desire to get help to the American people, who are suffering through the worst health and economic crisis in a generation."
But the statement also gave notice to the Republicans that the Democrats were willing to go it alone on a bold package. It noted that Biden had told them Congress must respond "boldly and urgently," and that their proposal did not address major issues. He told them he is eager to find common ground and to strengthen the measure, but he is willing to pass it with Democratic votes alone if he must. "He reiterated… that he will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment."
If Biden gets this bill passed and Americans feel that it relieves the economic crunch, it will go a long way toward erasing people's distrust of government action to regulate the economy.
While the Biden administration moves forward with an aid package, a clearer picture is emerging of the events of January 6, as well as of the road to them. Yesterday, the New York Times published a long exploration of the relationship between the Trump campaign and the January 6 rally that led to the attack on the Capitol; today it published a shorter synopsis of that material. The shorter article, written by Matthew Rosenberg and Jim Rutenberg, began: "For 77 days between the election and the inauguration, President Donald J. Trump attempted to subvert American democracy with a lie about election fraud that he had been grooming for years."
The picture they paint is of a man who insisted on a lie—that he really won an election he clearly lost—until he found enablers who would agree with him. Key lawmakers, including former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, indulged the former president because he wanted Trump's help electing two Republicans to the Senate in the Georgia runoffs. As reality-based Republicans backed away from the challenge to the election outcome, more radical lawyers and financiers stepped in to support the former president.
A coalition put together by activists in a group called Women for America First, funded by Trump advisor Stephen Bannon and the founder of the MyPillow company, Mike Lindell, pressured key senators to contest the election outcome. Women for American First began to organize the January 6 rally, but Trump decided to take it over. Several former members of the Trump campaign and the administration—including the former president-- began to work on the event. They were the ones who added a march from the rally to the Capitol.
The nonpartisan Coup D'état Project at the Cline Center of the University of Illinois, which analyzes and categorizes political violence, last week determined that the storming of the Capitol "was an attempted coup d'état: an organized, illegal attempt to intervene in the presidential transition by displacing the power of the Congress to certify the election." Its statement about the coup warns that "coups and attempted coups are among the most politically consequential forms of destabilizing events tracked by the Cline Center."

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ANS -- How to Respond When Someone Pisses You Off — Courtesy of a Very Smart Taxi Driver

This is short  and it's one of those "life lessons" sort of thing, so feel free to skip it,  but, it's good advice.  Taxi driver wisdom...
--Kim


How to Respond When Someone Pisses You Off — Courtesy of a Very Smart Taxi Driver

Image for post
Tim Samuel - Pexels

On a typical New York City day, David J. Polly grabbed a cab en route to Grand Central Station. A few minutes into the ride, a car jumped lanes and if it hadn't been for the quick reflexes of his driver, they would've had an accident.

It took David a minute to regain his composure. But seconds later he came to the edge of losing it again when the reckless driver started throwing f-bombs at David's driver.

David was in utter shock. But what really blew him away was how his driver responded. Instead of taking the angry man's bait and arguing back, he just smiled and waved as if nothing had happened.

"Aren't you going to say something?" David shouted. "It was clearly his fault! That guy's lost his damn mind!"

Again, David's driver just smiled. Then he looked at him through the rear-view mirror and said something that literally changed his life. Something David now refers to as "The Law of the Garbage Truck" —

"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You'll be happier."

Don't let the actions of others ruin your day

One of the few certainties in life is that people will do things that piss you off. They'll cut you off in traffic. They'll snap at you for no reason. They'll leave nasty comments on your articles.

Every single one of these things is out of your control. But what you can control is how you respond. You can fight back and run the risk of allowing that single incident to not only negatively affect you at the moment but also dictate your mood going forward. Or you can steal a line from David's cab driver and smile, wave, and get on with your day.

Do I really want to get involved in this?
Is this worth getting upset about?
Is this how I want to spend my day?

If the person who pissed you off is someone you care about, it's worth asking yourself if there's something going on that you don't know about. The same goes for reminding yourself that you can be annoying too and giving them a pass. Sometimes even, a fight may be the best thing you can do to clear the thick air.

But if it's a random person who drops trou and begins to take a leak in your Cheerios, there's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to skip breakfast.

The best part about getting older is patterns begin to emerge. One of the most glaring ones is that the happiest people I know don't get worked up every time a jerk in a Jag makes them mad. They do this for a number of reasons. But primarily because they understand the more energy they waste on meaningless things, the less energy they'll have for meaningful things.

It takes the average person 23 minutes to get back on track if they get distracted. Imagine how much time you waste when you get angry.




Remember this as you head into the new year. Think of David's driver. Remind yourself that a big part of your happiness depends on not allowing other people to make you miserable.

Then, the next time you feel your blood begin to beat red —instead of letting someone else's garbage get to you, move on instead.

When it comes to life advice, few things are more important than developing the skill to smile at trouble.


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