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After Robert Mueller warned Congress that Russia is continuing to interfere in our election process, some bills were proposed to safeguard our elections and Senator Mitch McConnell would not allow them to be introduced.
I thought, "How can he not want to protect our election process from Russian interference? That just sounds incredibly strange. Maybe there's some angle that I don't see."
Then Senator McConnell appeared onscreen (I think it was last Friday) saying, in a sort of singsong, low-key whine: "This is a partisan bill" -- and that was it.
I thought, That sounds like what's meant by the word "mendacity."
But I thought, 'Am I the only one who thinks this sounds weirdly unexplainable...?'
Like -- who's not in favor of fair elections controlled by America, not by a hostile foreign power? - Hello???!!!
And then this week it all sort of broke out -- people calling him "Moscow Mitch,"
accusing him of treason. And then he was on Senate floor this week, complaining on his own behalf -- "I've been called a traitor."
And I thought, "Well -- don't BE one..."
Someone tweeted today -- if he doesn't want to "be called a traitor, then he should stop being one."
(OK -- that's what I was thinking, but I thought since no one else was saying it I must be wrong...)
It's like that episode of "Friends" where they're at the beach and Phoebe sneaks into Teri Garr's house -- Garr catches her -- "What are you doing?!"
Phoebe: "I didn't want to make any noise!"
Teri Garr: "Then don't break in!"
And then apparently this week Sen. McConnell (aka Moscow Mitch) grumbled that Democrats were doing "modern day McCarthyism" on him.
That someone of his age and in his position seems not to know what McCarthyism was, is baffling. (Could he be having cognitive issues...?)
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The Democrat candidates for president had a good debate tonight. (Or, I should say, half of the Democrats running for president had a good debate -- there's another one tomorrow night, 7:00 p.m. central time, for the other half.)
To paraphrase Chandler Bing -- "Could there BE more Democrats running??"
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders basically drove home the point in plain English that the only reason we haven't reformed health care is because the medical industry and the insurance industry aren't done ripping us off yet.
And the Republicans aren't done letting them. And many of the current Democrats in Congress aren't done letting them, either -- Marianne Williamson said we need to get the dark money out of politics and get all new people in there. (At least, that's the way I heard it -- they talked fast and a lot, and I didn't have time to take notes, so I might not have it letter perfect. [Don't yell at me, watch it yourself...])
Bernie Sanders is interesting: he speaks so I can understand, he calls bullshit when someone prevaricates and misleads, and when someone is saying something he knows isn't right, he looks at them while they're talking, respectfully, yet at the same time he's boiling with irritation at the wrong information being given, and you can observe his volcanic enthusiasm just straining at the leash to have his chance to contribute and correct things -- yet it's all overlaid with an attitude of firm respectfulness.
He's a sight to behold.
Like Mick Jagger -- he has a unique energy, which he applies.
I notice candidates who want to take away from the universal health care idea -- they kind of speak around in a bit of a circle, and then slip in an idea that someone's going to take something away from us. When they start trying to make me fearful, instead of describing a positive plan, I tune out.
When they argue against a proposal by trying to scare us, it only makes me wonder two things:
1. They don't have a good argument against the proposal; and
2. They're making money off the deal, the way it is now.
They make their scare agenda so obvious: they might as well hide and then jump out and shout, "Boo!"
I get the feeling Delaney is swimming in insurance company contributions.
Marianne Williamson isn't going to win, but her idea to take corporate money out of politics is an excellent one.
Every candidate can make valuable contributions even if they don't win. Each one has a function if they can articulate ideas that are meaningful for us, the people.
Detroit, the Debate City
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I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited -- they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island and somehow they ended up at Gatsby's door.
Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks.
Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.
{The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald}
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Thinking this week of someone who's gone too soon, I wondered what song I would play for him if he were here.
The song that came into my mind is on You Tube --
Let It Be (Remastered 2009)
When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be...
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"Every poet is an optimist."
~ James Baldwin
----------------------------------
Listening to some Robert Mueller on You Tube today -- legislators took turns asking him questions. Several of the Republicans would ask him a question and then drown out his answer, yelling.
One guy from Ohio -- it was either Jim Jordan or Mark Meadows I think -- ranted and wanted Mueller to investigate some guy in Italy instead...
Though he had posed a nominal "question" to Mr. Mueller, it was pretty clear the legislator from the Buckeye State would rather just be talking, himself -- at one point the Ohioan interrupted his own screed to say in a loud, staccato tone, as if he were a rapper or an entertainment pundit (or "pundent" as Kellyann Conway would say) --
"Here's the good news;
here's the good news!"
(When I was a child in Bible School they used to teach us about the "Good News" of God's love and Jesus saving us from our sins -- but that appeared not to be the "good news" to which this politician was referring....)
I thought, "It is clear that he thinks that sounds witty or something." And right when I thought that, a few seconds later -- he did it again, lol!
"Here's the good news;
here's the good news!" --
all sort of -- snarly...
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Someone I knew died, and I started thinking about things he said when he was living.
He once told me he could listen to George Carlin all day.
(At that time the reason he and I were talking about Mr. Carlin was because it was in the news that the famous stand-up comedian had just died.)
[2008]
When we listen to George Carlin on You Tube, people in the Comments say, "He isn't making jokes, he's just telling the truth."
There's a video: George Carlin Talks About "Stuff"
One of the Comments says, "God the word stuff sounds so weird after watching this haha. It's like it lost all meaning."
..."George Carlin wasn't a comedian, he was a philosopher with a sense of humor."
"George Carlin - undisputed champion of comedy"
"George Carlin is the voice I hear in my head."
---------------- "really? Mine's Morgan Freeman....."
------------------------ "Mine is Keith Richards. Sounds cool at the beginning, but I really can't understand what he's saying anymore"
"This guy is the best comedian to ever live. All his jokes are true."
"George Carlin, the Aristotle of the comedy world."
__________________________
Someone told me yesterday, of our co-worker/friend: "He's in a better place."
Maybe he's in heaven, hanging out with George Carlin.
---------------------- George Carlin-You Tube marathon, Now Until Further Notice....
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Drop, drop -- in our sleep, upon the heart
sorrow falls, memory's pain,
and to us, though against our very will,
even in our own despite,
comes wisdom
by the awful grace of God.
~ Aeschylus
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The other day -- was it Tuesday? -- when Pres. Trump directed a twitter-outburst at four duly elected United States congresswomen, suggesting they leave the country, Chris Matthews said, "This is a bad day for the Republicans. A bad day. Bad Day at Black Rock."
(He kills me.)
On that episode of All in the Family referenced here yesterday, Cleavon Little and Demond Wilson turn that logic around: once they realize "what we found here!"
(the "genn - you - ine bigg - ott")
...they laugh, high-five, and then Little leans down and speaks encouragingly to Archie Bunker -- "Come on, say something else"...
[The title of that episode is, "Edith Writes a Song" -- it's on You Tube.]
Some commentators and audience-commenters marvel at this president's powers of manipulation. But then one Comment said, "Trump's ability to manipulate is not caused by something he has, but by something he lacks. It's not genius; it's being psychotic and lacking all morality."
On the night of the South Carolina rally where they were chanting "send her back" one reporter on Hardball listed traditional Republican priorities such as balanced budget, limited government, and family values -- and then noted that the Trump-supporting base appears to not care about those items and instead, are "only in it for the race hate," which was in the past only implied.
Yikes.
----------------------------------------------
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After trump's "go back where you came from" tweets this week, the first image that was conjured up in my mind was -- I want to say something very layered with meaning, from a complex intellectual study on aspects of an historical moment and how it related to geopolitical... (that's what I want to say...) -- but No, all I could think of was:
go on You Tube
type in
Cleavon Little
titles will rise:
Cleavon Little Blazing Saddles
Cleavon Little all in the family
... Select the All In The Family one
and then select the video titled,
"Archie bunker gets called 100%..."
it's 1 and one half minutes --
it's funny.
I saw it the first time it was on;
I was in junior high, watching this show that was so different from anything else on television .. I was trying to keep up...
When Cleavon Little says, "Aaahhh -- look what we found here...!"
And the audience bursts out laughing after that line, and it's not the punch line! The punch line comes next! ...(when the audience starts reading the writers' minds and jumping in...)
...a gen - you - ine, one hundred percent, dyed-in-the-wool
bigg - ott!
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CBS News:
"When the House voted Tuesday night to formally denounce President Trump's racist tweets, only four Republicans voted in favor of the resolution. All four come from states that Mr. Trump won in the 2016 election."
_________________________________
The president's tweets about "go back where you came from" were freaky, to me -- this is how the hitler stuff gets started. They don't say on Day One, OK, we want to build factories to kill 6 million Jews before 1945. No, it goes in little steps, increments, changes that don't seem very good but people say, "Oh, well, we don't like it, but we can live with it."
As Anne Frank wrote in her diary, "Our freedom was strictly limited. Yet things were still bearable."
First it's undocumented immigrants at the border: families separated, children in cages deprived of daily necessities. Then, as Chris Matthews pointed out on Hardball, now the president has moved on from undocumented, to picking on people born in this country -- i.e., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- insulting them as unwanted "foreigners."
____________________________
Niemoller's poem:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Anthony Scaramucci, who used to defend Trump, criticized him on this, saying -- Every immigrant who comes to America has had to hear this -- i.e., the insult that says, "go home!" or "go back where ya came from!"
_____________________________
Voting in the U.S. House to formally denounce president's racist tweets:
Democrats: all of them
Republicans: four of them
The four Republicans who voted against the racism are
Representative Susan Brooks of Indiana
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
Representative Will Hurd of Texas
Representative Fred Upton of Michigan.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who voted No to taking a stand against this president's escalating, un-American prejudice, bigotry, and bullying are as follows, and they will be up for re-election and possible primary races in 2020....
from Alabama,
Bradley Byrne
Martha Roby
Mike Rogers
Robert Aderholt
Mo Brooks
Gary Palmer.
from Alaska,
Don Young.
from Arizona,
Paul Gosar
Andy Biggs
David Schweikert
Debbie Lesko.
from Arkansas,
Rick Crawford
French Hill
Steve Womack
Bruce Westerman.
from California,
Doug LaMalfa
Tom McClintock
Paul Cook
Devin Nunes
Kevin McCarthy
Ken Calvert
Duncan D. Hunter.
from Colorado,
Scott Tipton
Ken Buck
Doug Lamborn.
from Florida,
Matt Gaetz
Neal Dunn
Ted Yoho
John Rutherford
Michael Waltz
Bill Posey
Daniel Webster
Gus Bilirakis
Ross Spano
Vern Buchanan
Greg Steube
Brian Mast
Francis Rooney
Mario Diaz-Balart.
from Georgia,
Buddy Carter
Drew Ferguson
Rob Woodall
Austin Scott
Doug Collins
Jody Hice
Barry Loudermilk
Rick W. Allen
Tom Graves.
from Idaho,
Russ Fulcher
Mike Simpson.
fromIllinois,
Mike Bost
Rodney Davis
John Shimkus
Adam Kinzinger
Darin LaHood.
from Indiana,
Jackie Walorski
Jim Banks
Jim Baird
Greg Pence
Larry Bucshon
Trey Hollingsworth.
from Iowa,
Steve King.
from Kansas,
Roger Marshall
Steve Watkins
Ron Estes.
from Kentucky,
James Comer
Brett Guthrie
Thomas Massie
Hal Rogers
Andy Barr.
from Louisiana,
Steve Scalise
Clay Higgins
Mike Johnson
Ralph Abraham
Garret Graves.
from Maryland,
Andy Harris.
from Michigan,
Jack Bergman
Bill Huizenga
John Moolenaar
Tim Walberg
Paul Mitchell.
from Minnesota,
Jim Hagedorn
Tom Emmer
Pete Stauber.
from Mississippi,
Trent Kelly
Michael P. Guest
Steven Palazzo.
from Missouri,
Ann Wagner
Blaine Luetkemeyer
Vicky Hartzler
Sam Graves
Billy Long
Jason Smith.
from Montana,
Greg Gianforte.
from Nebraska,
Jeff Fortenberry
Don Bacon
Adrian Smith.
from Nevada,
Mark Amodei.
from New Jersey,
Chris Smith.
from New York state,
Lee Zeldin
Peter T. King
Elise Stefanik
Tom Reed
John Katko
Chris Collins.
from North Carolina,
George Holding
Virginia Foxx
Mark Walker
David Rouzer
Richard Hudson
Patrick McHenry
Mark Meadows
Ted Budd.
from North Dakota,
Kelly Armstrong.
from Ohio,
Steve Chabot
Brad Wenstrup
Jim Jordan
Bob Latta
Bill Johnson
Bob Gibbs
Warren Davidson
Mike Turner
Troy Balderson
David Joyce
Steve Stivers
Anthony Gonzalez.
from Oklahoma,
Kevin Hern
Markwayne Mullin
Frank Lucas
Tom Cole.
from Oregon,
Greg Walden.
from Pennsylvania,
Dan Meuser
Scott Perry
Lloyd Smucker
Fred Keller
John Joyce
Guy Reschenthaler
Glenn Thompson
Mike Kelly.
from South Carolina,
Joe Wilson
Jeff Duncan
William Timmons
Ralph Norman
Tom Rice.
from South Dakota,
Dusty Johnson.
from Tennessee,
Phil Roe
Tim Burchett
Chuck Fleischmann
Scott DesJarlais
John Rose
Mark E. Green
David Kustoff.
from Texas,
Louie Gohmert
Dan Crenshaw
Van Taylor
John Ratcliffe
Lance Gooden
Ron Wright
Kevin Brady
Michael McCaul
Mike Conaway
Kay Granger
Mac Thornberry
Randy Weber
Bill Flores
Jodey Arrington
Chip Roy
Pete Olson
Kenny Marchant
Roger Williams
Michael C. Burgess
Michael Cloud
John Carter
Brian Babin.
from Utah,
Rob Bishop
Chris Stewart
John Curtis.
from Virginia,
Rob Wittman
Denver Riggleman
Ben Cline
Morgan Griffith.
from Washington state,
Jaime Herrera Beutler
Dan Newhouse
Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
from West Virginia,
David McKinley
Alex Mooney
Carol Miller.
from Wisconsin,
Bryan Steil
Jim Sensenbrenner
Glenn Grothman
Sean Duffy
Mike Gallagher.
from Wyoming,
Liz Cheney.
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----------------- [excerpt] ----------- After May 1940 good times rapidly fled: first the war, then the capitulation, followed by the arrival of the Germans, which is when the sufferings of us Jews really began.
Anti-Jewish decrees followed each other in quick succession.
Jews must wear a yellow star, Jews must hand in their bicycles, Jews are banned from trams and are forbidden to drive. Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between three and five o'clock and then only in shops which bear the placard "Jewish shop."
Jews must be indoors by eight o'clock and cannot even sit in their own gardens after that hour.
Jews are forbidden to visit theaters,
cinemas,
and other places of entertainment.
Jews may not take part in public sports. Swimming baths, tennis courts, hockey fields, and other sports grounds are all prohibited to them. Jews may not visit Christians. Jews must go to Jewish schools, and many more restrictions of a similar kind.
So we could not do this and were forbidden to do that. But life went on in spite of it all. Jopie used to say to me, "You're scared to do anything, because it may be forbidden." Our freedom was strictly limited. Yet things were still bearable.
------------- [excerpt] --------------
...I will begin by telling you what happened on Sunday afternoon.
At three o'clock (Harry had just gone, but was coming back later) someone rang the front doorbell. I was lying lazily reading a book on the veranda in the sunshine, so I didn't hear it.
A bit later, Margot appeared at the kitchen door looking very excited. "The S.S. have sent a call-up notice for Daddy," she whispered. "Mummy has gone to see Mr. Van Daan already." (Van Daan is a friend who works with Daddy in the business.) It was a great shock to me, a call-up; everyone knows what that means.
I picture concentration camps and lonely cells--should we allow him to be doomed to this? "Of course he won't go," declared Margot, while we waited together. "Mummy has gone to the Van Daans to discuss whether we should move into our hiding place tomorrow. The Van Daans are going with us, so we shall be seven in all." Silence.
------------- [excerpt] ---------- Luckily it was not so hot as Sunday; warm rain fell steadily all day. We put on heaps of clothes as if we were going to the North Pole, the sole reason being to take clothes with us. No Jew in our situation would have dreamed of going out with a suitcase full of clothing. I had on two vests, three pairs of pants, a dress, on top of that a skirt, jacket...
...So we walked in the pouring rain, Daddy, Mummy, and I, each with a school satchel and shopping bag filled to the brim with all kinds of things thrown together anyhow.
We got sympathetic looks from people on their way to work. You could see by their faces how sorry they were they couldn't offer us a lift; the gaudy yellow star spoke for itself.
...I will describe the building: there is a large warehouse on the ground floor which is used as a store. The front door to the house is next to the warehouse door, and inside the front door is a second doorway which leads to a staircase (A). There is another door at the top of the stairs, with a frosted glass window in it, which has "Office" written in black letters across it.
That is the large main office, very big, very light, and very full. Elli, Miep, and Mr. Koophuis work there in the daytime. A small dark room containing the safe, a wardrobe, and a large cupboard leads to a small somewhat dark second office.
Mr. Kraler and Mr. Van Daan used to sit here, now it is only Mr. Kraler. One can reach Kraler's office from the passage, but only via a glass door which can be opened from the inside, but not easily from the outside.
From Kraler's office a long passage goes past the coal store, up four steps and leads to the showroom of the whole building: the private office. Dark, dignified furniture, linoleum and carpets on the floor, radio, smart lamp, everything first-class. Next door there is a roomy kitchen with a hot-water faucet and a gas stove. Next door the W.C. That is the first floor.
A wooden staircase leads from the downstairs passage to the next floor (B). There is a small landing at the top. There is a door at each end of the landing, the left one leading to a storeroom at the front of the house and to the attics. One of those really steep Dutch staircases runs from the side to the other door opening on to the street (C).
The right-hand door leads to our "Secret Annexe." No one would ever guess that there would be so many rooms hidden behind that plain gray door. There's a little step in front of the door and then you are inside.
__________________________
{excerpts from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Originally published: 1947. Original language: Dutch. Published in English: 1952. Translator: B.M. Mooyaart-Doubleday}
______________________________
First they came for the unarmed black men...
Then they came for the immigrants...
...and I did not speak out...
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Kamala Harris and Joe Biden going back and forth about -- busing (??) ... is kind of like a time warp ... (What year is it? How did I get here? South Boston? -- What??)
On Hardball, Chris Matthews seemed to understand Biden's comments as alluding to -- two things:
1. the history, progress, and change he (Biden) has lived and worked through, as a public servant, and
2. how -- you had those people -- segregationists from the South -- in the Senate back then and you had to find a way to deal with them.
Chris Matthews refers to them as "seggies" -- the same way people say "aggies" as slang for agricultural students, or schools.
He says in his inimitable way, "You had to find a way to work with them, because you needed the votes! You had to get along -- you had to sweet talk them and drink their bourbon..."
That line reminded me of Lyndon Johnson:
----------------- [excerpt] ----------- New York Times columnist Russell Baker remembers Johnson...
"...He was a character out of a Russian novel, one of those human complications that filled the imagination of Dostoyevsky, a storm of warring human instincts:
sinner and saint, buffoon and statesman, cynic and sentimentalist, a man torn between hungers for immortality and self-destruction."
Johnson, another journalist says, was more complex than any Manichaean picture of him can convey. He was not a case of good and evil living side by side but of "an unlovable man desperate to be loved, whose cynicism and idealism were mysteriously inseparable, all of a piece."
This journalist quotes Robert Penn Warren's observation in All the King's Men: "A man's virtue may be the defect of his desire, as his crime may be but a function of his virtue." Lyndon Johnson was a study in ambiguity. ------------------------------------- [end, excerpt - Introduction / Lone Star Rising, Robert Dallek's biography of Johnson]
I don't know about all of that, but I can imagine back in the day, if there was a deal to be made, LBJ would give as good as he got with the sweet-talk, and he would bring the bourbon....
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