July 24, 2022

In Case You Missed It (v99)

What was shaking at veritable pastiche last week? Here's your recap. 

The week started with It Happened Again, a post referencing the Amadou Diallo murder from the 90s, American Skin (41 Shots), the Bruce Springsteen song inspired by it, and the Jayland Walker murder from last month. 
There were 46 entrance wounds on his 25-year-old body: 
  • 17 on his pelvis and upper legs, injuring major arteries to his leg and bladder; his pelvis and both femurs were broken.
  • 15 on his torso, injuring his heart, lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, and multiple ribs.
  • 8 on his arms and right hand.
  • 5 on his knees, his leg, and his foot
  • 1 on his face, breaking his jaw.
Adding insult to those injuries? He was handcuffed after he was murdered
Is it a gun, is it a knife
Is it a wallet, this is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin.

It happened again - and I don't know that I will ever understand why. 

In your Sunday School lesson, we were back in CNN's State of the Union classroom. Host Dana Bash talked with outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) about the Republican Governors Association.

Ducey talked about how the RGA works and how it works to "keep our states red ...but we don't support lost causes." Bash honed in Doug Mastriano in PA, wondering if he was a "lost cause."  Ducey said no decisions have been made yet given it's still early. 

When Bash asked if someone like Mastriano "should be in such an important swing state in the governor's mansion," Ducey said 

I also think this election should be about the future. I don't think we should think for one more moment about 2020. This is about the 2022 election cycle. And, as I said, the job of the RGA is to elect Republican governors, and that's what we're going to do in this cycle.

For your Extra Credit, it was Bash's conversation with Jared Bernstein, a long-time Biden economic advisor, that had left me scratching my head. Bernstein had to explain a couple of things to Bash that, in my opinion, should have been obvious.

...if we're going to talk about the damage that these high energy prices are having on family budgets, I think we have to talk about the benefits for when those prices come down a little.

And, he also had to explain, 

...the president is unequivocal by not calling 'mission accomplished' on any of this. We're talking about a decline that's completely insufficient when it comes to delivering the relief to family budgets that they need. So, that's why he continues to push on every aspect he can of this issue in terms of increasing the supply of global energy to help mitigate that price increase.

And then, a lightbulb: Bash said, "And you're right. The prices have come down, which is a good thing. It's better than them going the other way." BINGO! 

Compared to others in the administration, Bernstein is a breath of fresh air.

Also on Tuesday, I posted Part Three of our Future Tale. Parts One and Two were recapped, which explained why our narrator was in a really weird alley, and found

A revolving door. 

A revolving door? It was so completely out of place, I almost laughed out loud, but caught myself at the last second. Laughing seemed as out of place as the door, after what I had just been through, what I had yet to fully process. Heck, who am I kidding? I hadn't even begun to process what had happened behind me in the alley; I didn't even know where to start, but I knew laughing wasn't it.

I stopped a few feet away from the door, all glass and brass, ornate like the doors you find in classy old hotels, and simultaneously filthy like you find in abandoned ones. I half expected there to be a bellman in the vestibule, but this wasn't a hotel, there wasn't a vestibule. I'm in an alley for Pete's sake, I told myself, not in some old movie. 

My husband, trying to piece things together, said it made more sense when I explained it was part nightmare, part dream, part The Thoughts That Fly Around My Head When I Should Be Sleeping. I'll have more of the story for you later. 

For your Wondering on Wednesday, I was musing about another of those things I'll never understand: the stupidity of the Democrats.

Speaking of listening, I can't help wondering who on earth the Dems are listening to, that they think the answer to winning elections this year is to prop up Trumpers in their GOP primaries? The most recent example comes from yesterday's gubernatorial primary in Maryland, where Trump-endorsed Dan Cox beat actual Republican Kelly Schulz, who was endorsed by her former boss, Gov. Larry Hogan. 

The Democratic Governors Association - a bunch of goofballs, it would seem - spent over a million bucks propping up Cox, thinking he'd be easier to beat in the general election. 

And, of course, Cox is not the only one. They're also propping up Kari Lake, the goofball running to replace Ducey in Arizona. I swear you can't make this stuff up. 

For #tbt, I revisited this one: Ronald Reagan for President? It started when I, a lifelong registered Democrat (at that time, I was - not anymore) got a call from a survey asking "loyal conservatives" who they wanted for president. Deciding to play along, at least for a while, I asked who the choices were, and the caller told me it was an open question but gave me several of the leading responses, including Ronald Reagan, who passed away in 1989.

Excited that I had such great options, I responded emphatically "Ronald Reagan!" The woman answered, with a chuckle, "Yes, he seems to be a popular choice."  

A dead man is a popular choice to lead the Conservatives forward in their mission to take back America? Really? A dead man? 

I pointed out that it seemed that a dead man (even a dead former president) being a top mention as a 'leader' of the Conservative movement said either quite a bit about their message, quite a bit about loyal local Conservatives, or both. 

Mostly I think it says a lot about the state of affairs in America today. 

I had fun with this one, and so did the caller - and yes, I did confess my Dem status to her.

Friday brought a Quick Take on the bizarre doings at the Federal Election Commission, in particular a hissy fit about a question Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) asked. The FEC is a mess -for one thing, it's equally divided between Ds and Rs, on purpose. For another, there seems to be a commissioner who's a bit judgmental, which led to a Twitter spat.

After the meeting a fellow commish, Ellen Weintraubtweeted about Trainor's comment, saying in part 

I have never seen a requestor treated so disrespectfully by a member of this Commission. We do not 'pass judgment' on the personal lives of those who come before us asking for guidance.

And, because #thisisus, Trainor responded, misspelling Swalwell's name in the process. 

I've never seen campaign donors treated so disrespectfully! The Republic will persevere even if Swallwell (sic) doesn't get all the junkets he'd like.

To help Trainor our, I was more than happy to share some egregious examples of "campaign donors treated so disrespectfully!" from right here in my own backyard. I'll have more on the FEC for you coming up this week. 

We closed things out with an all good-week  TGIF. The post included a variety of folks involved in some with with the Trump insurrection, including the January 6th Committee's vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

Her closing remarks at the end of last night's hearing? I don't think I'd change a single word. There were many quotable parts, certainly; here are a couple of the most meaningful. 

Here is the worst part. Donald Trump knows that millions of Americans who supported him would stand up and defend our nation were it threatened. They would put their lives and their freedom at stake to protect her. And he is preying on their patriotism. He is preying on their sense of justice. And on January 6th, Donald Trump turned their love of country into a weapon against our Capitol and our Constitution. 

Off the top of my head, I don't know if any Republican could have handled it better. Neither could more Dems, truth be told.

See you back here later for Sunday School.

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