February 23, 2024

TGIF 2/23/24

Let's get right to the good week / bad week lists, shall we?

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), a 55-year-old guy running for president as a Democrat, thinks Sen. Amy Klobuchar (also D-MN) shouldn't be running for re-election in November. It's not because of her age (63), it's that this is her 18th year as a senator, and if she wins re-election, she'll serve at least 24 years.

Turn it over to other Americans who wish to serve the public. We're precluding other generations of Americans from participating, and what do they do? They kind of give up. And that's what's happening all around our country right now.
He's not wrong - I mean, if folks never leave, what chance do we have for new people, new outlooks, and new ideas to come forward?  I'm all for term limits, I really am. And if Phillips wants to make a point, he'd call out these House colleagues who have declared for re-election: James Clyburn, 83, first elected in 1992; Nancy Pelosi, 83, first elected in 1987; Steny Hoyer, 84, first elected in 1981; Eleanor Holmes Norton, 86, first elected in 1991; Bill Pascrell, 87, first elected in 1996; Hal Rogers, 85, first elected 1981; and Maxine Waters, 85, first elected in 1990. 

I'm giving voters in Wisconsin a shout-out: the Republicans in the state opted not to fight the latest redistricting maps, not out of the goodness of their heart, but because they were afraid if they took the maps to court, they'd end up looking even more fair for voters than they did in the redrawing. And now, a bipartisan ethics group has referred former president Trump's Save America PAC and a host of Republicans for prosecution for their role in trying to skirt campaign finance laws in the 2020 election.
 
There's a measles outbreak in Florida, which is really sad, especially since there's a highly effective vaccine that's been available since 1968; it's so effective the disease was declared eliminated from the US in 2000.  The outbreak is only a few cases now, but time will tell how long that'll be the case, thanks to the state's Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo. Per the Miami Herald, Ladapo sent a letter to parents acknowledging the common practice -- keeping unvaccinated kids home from school - but  

Ladapo, then, however, wrote that, “due to the high immunity rate in the community,” the Department of Health “is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance.”

It's too hard, I guess, to follow the science.

Remember the My Pillow Guy, and his "Prove Mike Wrong" contest, offering to pay $5M to anyone who could prove he didn't find evidence of election fraud? Yeah, a guy named Robert Zeidman proved it and asked for the $5M. Feet were dragged, arbitration ensued, and a judge ordered the payment, plus interest from last April be paid within 30 days. 

Beyonce has her first #1 single on the Billboard Country chart, the first Black woman with that achievement in the history of the chart. And some folks don't seem happy about it.
Sure, if a Black woman either native to country music or coming up through the country music ranks would have achieved a similar goal, it would speak to the opening up of the genre to women of color. But that’s not what’s happened here at all. Instead, Beyonce is leveraging her global superstar status earned in the pop and R&B/hip-hop world, the enthusiasm of her Stan army the Beyhive, and the coercion of country music’s institutions to ensconce herself atop the genre.

On the other hand, people are line dancing all over the place to the song - including the Savannah Bananas - does that mean this whole thing is a wash?

Who made your lists this week?


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