Thursday, August 06, 2020

White House Update: "Are You a Junkie?"

This Update ought to be all about Trump.  Both Facebook and Twitter punished him for shitposting on the coronavirus, operatives of his are busily helping Kanye get on the ballot in swing states like Ohio and Wisconsin*, and now he wants to accept the GOP nomination from the White House, questionable legally but unquestionably unethical.
 

Those ought to be the most important stories of the week, as the incumbent's re-election chances swirl the drain and the August heat bears down like COVID on a senior's heaving chest.  Like the hot breath of a nasty landlord clamoring for the rent (and the late fees).  Like the stress of a pile of dunning letters and a full inbox of messages from bill collectors.  And like watching the Congress and the White House squabble over a bit of relief from them.

But instead we got more Joementia, opening the door of his basement and yelling at those kids in the press to get offa his lawn.


I suppose you read the news that he's still trying to make up his mind about a running mate.


IIRC Biden would have picked Amy Klobuchar back in May, after Obama cleared the field for his nomination.  But then George Floyd was murdered, and the nation's mood shifted, and while Joe kept saying he would put a Black woman on the Supreme Court, he made no such promise about veep.  Finally Amy removed herself from consideration, making it obvious what he should do (I expect we'll read in one of those TIME magazine-styled inside-the-campaign reveals a year or two from now that Jill Biden and Valerie Owens Biden leaned on Klobuchar to do that).

So here we are three months later, with the Kossacks who groveled for Warren left at the altar, Kamala twisting in the wind while Joe drools a little over Susan Rice, and Karen Bass blowing up on the launch pad of Scientology.  Tammy Duckworth is the best longshot, but I still expect the KHive to make it happen for their shero.


Instead of things like this being the top story ...


... this is.


Instead of this ...


... this.


And then there's this.


No, Bernie. This isn't good enough to get me to vote for your friend Joe, or any other Democrat.  
 
Update: There seems to be no humiliation Sanders will not endure for the sake of keeping his status in the Democratic Party and the Senate secure; reports indicate that he will share the stage with John Kasich, speaking together on one of the first nights of the (virtual) convention, in some pathetic display of broad unity and coalition assembly.

Hard pass.
 
David Collins -- your most progressive option in the Texas Senate race -- wrote a Tweet thread everybody should read.  He's gentler than I.


And Walter Bragman, an excellent point.


I am weary of this.



Here's our Daily Jackass: Chris Wright, posting at OpEd News.


A few words about Kanye.


Update: 
 
Amid various reports that Republican and Trump-affiliated political operatives are trying to get Kanye West onto various state ballots for November’s presidential election, the billionaire rap superstar indicated, in an interview by text today, that he was in fact running to siphon votes from the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.

Asked about that directly, West said that rather than running for president, he was “walking,” quickly adding that he was “walking . . . to win.”

When it was pointed out that he actually can’t win in 2020 -- that he won’t be on enough ballots to yield 270 electoral votes, and that a write-in campaign isn’t feasible --and thus was serving as a spoiler, West replied: “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”

 
Last:

-- The tickets representing the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also the Peace and Freedom Party (Gloria La Riva is the presidential nominee) have replaced Leonard Peltier, due to his declining health, with Sunil Freeman as its veep.  The parties' nominees will appear on the ballot in California, New Mexico, and a few other states.

-- The Alliance Party (Rocque de la Fuente/Darcy Richardson) has a campaign and ballot access update.  Richardson was recently interviewed, along with the Prohibition Party's Billy Joe Parker (click on the link just for his mugshot) and Tiara Lusk of the Life and Liberty Party, by WikiNews.
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Monday, August 03, 2020

The TexProgBlog Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance will not be delaying the publication of this week's round-up of the best from around and about the Lone Star left from last week.


"Heightened tensions" is an understatement.


This underscores the need for independent media and journalists on the scene; those who are willing to risk the police abuse, tear gas, pepper spray, and "non-lethal" (sic) munitions fired upon the protestors in order to document and report on what is actually happening.

Corporate-funded media simply isn't going to do that.


Socratic Gadfly, in light of ongoing protests about policing, talked about bad cops he has personally known.  And in Dallas, a drive-through rally for police supporters inexplicably chose an African American church to stop at and antagonize people.


The COVID crisis in the Rio Grande Valley has been severely exacerbated by Hurricane Hanna.


Dos Centavos looks at the national reporting of the effects of the virus on the Mexican American population in South Texas.  A combination of bad public policy, bad leadership, and bad personal decisions has made the region a pandemic nightmare.  And the Texas Signal brings news of a mutual aid effort for Hanna victims in the RGV.

COVID-19 is, as we are all acutely aware, changing how we live our lives -- now, in the short-term future and in the long-term.  And our elected leaders are demonstrating that they are completely unable to meet the challenges at hand.


The most appalling thing to this blogger appears in the form of those calling for change who understand what the problems are, but have stridently declared that they have no intention whatsoever of doing anything meaningful about solving them.


"Access to healthcare" IS NOT healthcare.  Expanding Obamacare does nothing for people who cannot afford an insurance policy that barely covers a portion of hospital medical expenses.  Fortunately there are some candidates on your ballot that get it.  Most of them are not Democrats.


I do have some political headlines.

SD14: Sen. Sarah Eckhardt was sworn in following Rep. Eddie Rodriguez’s decision to withdraw from the special runoff election. There are now 10 women serving in the Texas Senate for the first time in state history.

CD23 open: Raul Reyes Jr. will seek a recount of his 46-vote Republican runoff loss to Tony Gonzales II. “We want to ensure all ballots were counted properly through an expeditious recount process as allowed under law.”

Texas Libertarian Convention: At its convention in Big Spring, the state's Libertarians nominated Kerry McKennon as its candidate for U.S. Senate. He received 2% of the vote in 2018 as the Libertarian nominee for lieutenant governor. The party’s delegates elected four women to its top leadership positions, including Whitney Bilyeu as chair and Bekah Congdon as vice chair. 

TXElects has also has some analysis of statehouse races in Collin and Denton counties.  Kuff pondered the implications of having a Democratic majority in the Texas House on the redistricting process.  Jon Fischer, writing for Quorum Report and republished at the PAAT, lays out the possible ways that the 87th Legislature could operate differently under pandemic conditions. And Reform Austin urges greater vigilance in protecting the right to vote.


With the latest environmental developments:


Kendra Chamberlain at the New Mexico Political Report writes about the concerns of worsening air quality in the Permian Basin.

Let's talk about teachers.


Has this Wrangle been long enough for ya?  Let's end here with something cool and refreshing.

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Sunday, August 02, 2020

Sunday 'Delaying the Inevitable' Funnies

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